Responding to reviews here seemed to work last time, and I actually like doing it this way, so I'm going to keep doing it. Here we go!
Michaelfang9: Thanks for the review! Yeah, Beardo should've stayed instead of Leonard in canon. I feel he had more potential than Leonard did. Sorry that you're sad that Ella left.
Liz the Sweet Writer: Yeah, Ella was unfairly eliminated in canon. The way it happened was dumb too.
Madness is a State of Mind: Glad you enjoyed the episode! Yeah, Dave's going to flip over the next challenge, you'll see.
SideshowJazz1: Yeah, Ella didn't get to develop. I think she's particularly hard to develop since she's so happy-go-lucky, and hardly shows any anger. If she was as emotional as fellow happy-go-lucky Owen, then maybe she'd be easier to do that for. As for Scarlett's intelligence, it seemed only natural considering B is about as smart as her and what he managed to accomplish in the canon episode. I suppose your reasoning about the helmet's effects could be interpreted that way, but in all honesty, I just had the beetle listen to her for the sake of making the Rats lose so Ella could be booted. I already messaged you about your question so that's covered.
sdgeek: Thanks for the compliment!
SilentSinger948: I'm happy that you're enjoying the story. Yeah, due to the challenges being so different from the ones they canonically participate in, they are allowed to develop at a quicker pace and change up the elimination order. Also yeah, Ella could probably win a lot of challenges later on in the season, and that's exactly why she had to go so soon. The season wouldn't be as entertaining if she aced them all like that, and there just isn't room for her in the merge.
VIPGuest: I'm glad you enjoy the concept. I do too, and have since I thought of it back in 2015. I can't say anything about the merge, but I hope the group in the merge isn't too predictable. I'll see what I can do about making sure the challenges specialize strengths and weaknesses, I feel like I've done a good job of that already with Sky's gymnastics in the first two episodes, and Scarlett's intelligence in the previous one. I can't say about Dave/Sky because spoilers.
Fangren: No need to apologize, life can get in anybody's way, and that's perfectly understandable. Yeah, Ella's song doesn't compare to her canon one, but since she didn't get to sing a whole lot in this story, I thought I'd at least give her the one song. In regards to the helmet, when I began planning the episode, I knew that the helmet would make a perfect component of the episode's story, plus it's fun to include nods to canon. Time will tell if people notice Scarlett's behavior, as it will if Topher's advice for Dave works or not.
With reviews answered, onward to the episode!
Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama, or anything within the franchise. I only own a DVD of season one.
Episode 4- Finders Creepers
"Last time on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, the campers climbed a wall, and played in the snow. Max played with a toy of his own creation, and then Scarlett played with it to make her team win. Sugar had it out for Ella, and managed to convince her team to send Ella packing. Wish Ella didn't pack a song, though.
"And now," Chris narrated as he appeared onscreen with the moon behind him in the night sky, and a candle in his hand. "Tonight's challenge is about fear, and fear is a dish best served in the dark!" The host began to laugh spookily. He halted when he noticed something to his left. "Huh? Chef?!"
The scene zoomed out, showing Chef in a showgirl costume, complete with a peacock tail. "Wardrobe was all out of vampire costumes," explained the burly cook to his cohort's scowl.
The camera swirled around to face camp, and Chris walked away from his cook. "It's all scary," he continued his narration before jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at his friend, "other than that. Right here on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
(cue theme song)
Bubbles ran along the surface of the lake until they hit the beach, at which point they ceased, and a figure rose out of the water.
The figure was covered in algae and seaweed. They let out a monstrous growl. Some nearby animals, a really long-eared rabbit, a winged goat, and a three-eyed frog all panicked at the new arrival. Using its long ears, the rabbit took flight along with the winged goat. The three-eyed frog appeared to teleport away in a flash.
A flash transitioned to the sight of Jasmine, asleep in her tree with a length of rope around her foot. Shifting over to a tree a few feet away, Shawn could be seen wide awake with a length of rope around his foot as well. It seemed as if he had taken a page out of Jasmine's book, and tied himself to the tree to prevent himself from falling to the ground.
Blinking, Shawn looked around.
(Confessional- Shawn)
"In the event of a zombie apocalypse, I've trained myself to stay awake as long as I can. You never know when the enemy might spring up on ya. That, and I heard noises coming from the woods earlier tonight. A mutant might've come and attacked."
The conspiracy nut jerked as he heard some rustling, and turned his attention to where the noise came from.
In the tree-line not too far away from him, as well as Jasmine and the cabins, he could spot an ominous figure trying to blend in among them. It was the same figure from the lake. Not knowing what it was, Shawn made the only conclusion he could.
"Z-z-zombie!" He cried out. Just after he screamed, a shrill noise pierced the air- a horn. Caught off-guard, Shawn yelped as he fell off his branch.
"Run! Run for your lives!" The voice of Chris McLean called over the noise.
The other campers burst out of their cabins, fully-dressed for some reason despite it being the middle of the night.
Sammy hurried out of the girls' side of the Maggots' cabin, asking, "What's happening?!" Seeing her teammates run down the porch, she followed suit. Max yelled out, "Evil overlords first!" while Rodney declared, "I'll protect you, Scarlett!"
On the porch of the Rats' cabin, Dave stood in confusion, scratching his head. Before he could open his mouth to ask any questions, Sugar bowled him aside so she could slide down the cabin railing while barking, "Outta mah way!" Sky screamed, rushing out of the girls' side of the Rats' cabin while Beardo came out making alarm clock noises.
The two teams found Chris standing in the common area in front of the cabins, and gathered in front of him. Jasmine and Shawn joined their teammates from the other direction as Chris released his hold on what appeared to be a blowhorn. Even after he stopped, Beardo was still going. Dave slapped him across the cheek to get him to stop.
"Good night, everybody!" Chris greeted with a cheeky smile.
(Confessional- Topher)
Topher sat eagerly on the toilet seat with his hands moving about as he spoke. "So we're all sleeping soundly for a couple hours when boom! Chris wakes us up with that air horn of his. Now, it's too early for it to be the merge seeing as we've only had four eliminations, so I figured out that it must be a nighttime challenge! Every season has at least one."
As the footage went back to the gathering, Shawn stammered, "C-Chris! Something in the woods! Zombie!"
Chef rolled up a monitor to the group as Chris shook his head. "Silly Shawn, there's no zombies in the woods. Just a challenge!"
(Confessional- Topher)
"Called it!" Topher pumped a bragging fist.
Scarlett scowled at the host. "Cognitive function is dependent on REM sleep. If you want us to perform a challenge at optimal efficiency, then we should return to our slumber."
"Where's the fun in that?" Chris chuckled before getting down to the nitty-gritty. "Your challenge? A scavenger hunt for three creepy souvenirs. Your locations? A haunted forest, a spooky pet cemetery, and an extra spook-tastic cave. First team to each location gets a special clue. Watch out for booby traps, I really went to town with them. So move fast, and stick together! You'll be penalized for every player you lose," he explained, unintentionally pronouncing penalized like 'pee-nalized'.
Max chuckled, interrupting the host. "You said pee."
Tentatively, Dave raised his hand to ask a question. "What does the spider represent, exactly?"
"Oh yeah," Chris realized, "there's no zombies in the woods, just a giant, mutated spider sort of running loose around the island."
The answer stirred a lot of murmuring and whispering between the campers, voicing their protests and worries about the challenge and the spider.
"Well, that's just the gravy on top of the rotten mashed potatoes," Sugar complained. She turned to her team to complain some more, but the complaints died when she raised an eyebrow. "Hey, he okay?"
Beardo and Sky stared at Dave, who had his arms wrapped around himself and was quaking in place.
(Confessional- Dave)
"I hate spiders! They're a sign of dirty places! They hole up in unclean places, and weave their sticky, gross webs all over the place, like my grandpa's attic and basement!" Dave stated, curled up in a ball on the outhouse toilet seat.
Holding up his air horn, Chris quipped, "There's nothing to fear but mortal terror itself. Talk soon!" Briefly, he sounded the horn, and then the teams reluctantly started their jog into the woods.
The moon could be seen over the top of the woods.
The Maggots soon arrived at the base of a tree with a pit in front of it, and a loudspeaker snaked around the tree itself.
"Yay, we made it here first!" Sammy cheered lightly, not wanting to attract much attention in the dark forest.
The loudspeaker screeched to life with Chris' voice, "Welcome to the Haunted Forest! Your clue can be found at the base of this tree."
Jasmine kneeled in front of the pit, and hummed. "Anyone got a long stick?"
Rodney bent down to the ground, and picked one up. "There's one right here," he said, walking over and handing it to the explorer.
"Why did you need a stick?" Sammy asked right before she heard a metallic clang, and winced.
"Inside a bear trap," Chris finished with a laugh that quickly ceased when Jasmine showed the stick.
Pulling the stick out, Jasmine showed her team the stick with a bear trap clamped to the end. The stick, noticeably, wasn't as long as when Rodney gave it to her. "This is why," she answered, not even fazed by the trap. She threw it aside, and reached back down into the pit again, this time bringing up an envelope with her hand.
"Oh no," Sky moaned sadly as the Toxic Rats reached the post. "They beat us here."
Topher let out a laugh. "Yeah, we did. Advantage, Mutant Maggots."
His eyes darting every which way, Shawn urged, "Let's keep going. I don't think we're safe here with that zombie out on the loose."
"I agree with Shawn," Sky nodded her head. "About the 'keep going' thing, not about the zombie thing. Come on!"
The Rats jogged ahead further into the forest, and when they were at a decent distance from the Maggots, they came to a stop.
"Ugh, all this running is tiring me out. Can we sit down for a spell?" Sugar huffed, hunched over.
"Not here," Sky said, "we need to find out where the Maggots are going next. Everyone, find a place to hide. Maybe we can listen to the Maggots read the clue."
Shawn scrambled up into a tree, Sky and Dave jumped into a nearby thorn bush, and Sugar hid behind the tree Shawn climbed into. Beardo ducked behind a set of rocks next to the thorn bush, but was partially exposed due to his huge afro. Doing his best to sit still behind the rocks, he pretended his afro was also a bush.
Moments later, the Maggots walked through the clearing with Jasmine reading the contents of the envelope.
"Inside the knot is a nest, your souvenir lies with a pest, find Polaris to travel northwest," the Outback explorer read.
Adjusting her glasses, Scarlett explained, "Polaris is the north star." She looked up at the sky, and pointed. "It is there, which means we have to go in this direction," the genius pointed down a path.
"Great job, Scarlett! Let's go!" Rodney cheered, and the team ran down the path to the right.
Once they were gone, the Rats quietly came out of their hiding places, and hurried after their rivals.
The Maggots ran down a wide, open path. As they ran, the camera zoomed in on Rodney's smiling face.
"You're so smart. You know that, Scarlett?" Rodney asked, getting silence as an answer. He looked back to where Scarlett was trailing at the back of the group, but she was no longer there. Gasping, he skidded to a stop. "Scarlett? Scarlett!"
The rest of the team stopped with him, and Sammy let out a gasp of shock, "Oh em gee! The penalty Chris was talking about!"
Jasmine walked over to Rodney, and closely examined the ground. "This is strange. She left no traces of disappearance. How'd she manage that?"
"Forget about her, she was a terrible sidekick." Max scoffed from off to the side. "Look what I found!" He pointed at an upcoming tree with a big hole in it along with paint marks right under the hole. "A knot with a nest, you're welcome," The villain remarked smugly.
The rest of the remaining team ran over to join him. As she started to climb up the tree, Jasmine praised, "Good spot, Max."
Max smirked, folding his arms in front of him. "Naturally."
Reaching the knothole, Jasmine peered inside. "Hm, souvenir… souvenir… souvenir…"
To her surprise, a giant eye opened in front of her, and tentacles slid out of the other holes in the tree. The rest of the team screamed in fright as they were confronted with what appeared to be some sort of tree squid. The squid wrapped a tentacle around Jasmine, and pulled her away from the tree.
"Whoa, hey!" She yelped in surprise, struggling to pry the tentacle away from her midsection.
"We've got to help Jasmine!" Sammy declared, though thoroughly scared. Spotting some rocks at their feet, she bent down to pick them up. She quickly handed some to Rodney and Topher, the two nearest to her, while keeping some for herself. "Quick, throw rocks at it!"
Focused on Jasmine, the squid slapped and poked at her. It managed to poke her in the eye once, and after that, the explorer managed to grasp a tentacle and hold it in place.
Jasmine barked a laugh, "Hah, not so tough now, are ya?" She felt something hit her backside. "Hey, what's going on back there?!"
Rodney winced down on the ground. "Sorry," he apologized as he threw another stone. "Might be aiming too high."
"So what if your aim is off, this is hilarious! Keep doing it," Max delightfully ordered.
The squid eventually threw Jasmine down to the ground, and the rest of the team scattered as it swung its tentacles around. Max was unfortunate enough to be the squid's next victim, and he was hoisted up upside-down. He screamed in terror.
Sammy hurried to Jasmine's side, helping her friend up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I've been thrown around a lot worse," Jasmine confided, adjusting her hat back to its regular position.
The two jumped when they heard a screech, and looked up at the tree, shutting its eye in pain. Max, meanwhile, was slammed into the ground much like Jasmine was.
Holding a stone, Topher pumped his fist. "Hah, bullseye! Somebody get the souvenir!"
"I'll get it!" Sammy volunteered while Jasmine got her bearings. She hopped up to the tree, and climbed up to the hole. Reaching in, she pulled out the souvenir. "A key! The souvenir's a key! Hey guys, this must- aaah!" Something white and sticky latched onto Sammy's head, and stole her away, making her drop the key.
The key fell at Jasmine's feet, and she picked it up. "A key? You blokes have any idea what this- where's Sammy?" Jasmine looked up, and searched around the immediate area.
Topher's eyes went wide. "Oh man! We're getting picked off!" He exclaimed as the show switched to infrared vision briefly, detecting the remaining team members' body temperatures. "Huh, classic night challenge twist," he added with a touch of fondness.
The show switched back to normal vision, and Max and Rodney walked over to join Jasmine and Topher.
"Who cares if that goody-goody twin is gone?" Max huffed. "She and the sidekick were dead weight."
"No, they weren't," disagreed Jasmine sharply. "No team member is dead weight."
Rodney looked over his shoulder, and frowned. "Hey, you guys? We better get moving."
At that moment, the Rats arrived at the tree.
"Wow, down two people already?" Sugar asked with a chuckle. "You Maggots are going down faster than my cousins at my family's last Boxing Day feast."
Topher rolled his eyes, narrowing them at Sugar. "We are not down two people. Scarlett and Samey just went on ahead to see if there were any traps." He walked away, tugging at Rodney's hand to get him to follow. "Come on, let's catch up with them."
Jasmine nodded assertively. "I agree." She and Max followed the two boys away from the tree.
Beardo looked away from the Maggots, and spotted something. "Yo, team! I think this is it." He pointed at the tree. "Team colors!"
"Oh no! I am not looking in there. What if that spider is in there? What if it's already been zombified?!" Shawn protested immediately.
"Well, somebody has to," Sky spoke up in a calm tone, and looked between her teammates. "So, who's going?"
Sugar held up a hand brightly. "I volunteer Dave!"
"Wait, what?!" Dave questioned, blinking rapidly. Before he knew it, Sugar had him held above her head. "Wait, nononono!" Ignoring her teammate's pleas, Sugar threw Dave into the hole. "Aaah! Ouch!" There was a bit of shuffling in the hole, and then Dave poked his head out. "Hey, I found the souvenir! It's a key," he told his teammates while holding it out to show them. As he showed it, he noticed a tiny spider crawling across his hand and the key. "Ah, spider! Get it off, get it off!" In his flurry of motion to shake the spider off, he fell out of the tree to the ground in front of Sky's feet.
Sky smiled down at him, along with Beardo. "Nice work, Dave."
(Confessional- Beardo)
"On my first day here, I thought my team was a bit wild, and I couldn't say a word to them," Beardo recalled. "Now that it's been a few days, I think my team is pretty awesome when they want to be. Heck, I can even talk to them now."
While Sky crouched down to pick up the key, Beardo opened his mouth to comment, but the same white stickiness that took Sammy latched onto Beardo's afro, and carried him off before he could make a sound.
"Hey, Beardo? What do you think this key could be for?" Sky asked her teammate, standing upright once more. When she didn't get a verbal response, she looked next to her, and gasped. "Um, guys? Where did Beardo go?"
Rubbing his head, Dave stood. "Great," he sarcastically remarked, "the one time we actually want him to say something, he disappears."
"It's got to be the zombie!" Shawn griped, clutching his hat with his hands. "We made so much noise, and we're out here in the open for the taking. We're probably next!"
Sugar walked over to him, slapping him upside the head. "Get a hold of yerself, zombie guy."
Touching his face where he had been smacked, Shawn glanced at Sugar in surprise. "Did you just slap me?"
"Just to shut ya up, think nothin' about it," Sugar replied, and walked back past the tree. "Now come on, we gotta move if we're gonna beat those Maggots."
"What about Beardo?" Sky asked, holding the key in her hand.
"There's a spider, and maybe one of those zom-bee things running around. The longer we stay, the sooner one of them will find us. Now, let's go!" Sugar reasoned, pointing onward.
(Confessional- Sky)
"I didn't want to leave when Beardo could be left behind, but I had to believe Beardo was going to be fine. He's got a lot of hair, so maybe if the spider got him, it would just lay eggs in his hair as a second nest."
The remaining members of the Maggots ran down a forest path with Jasmine in the lead, followed by Topher, Rodney, and then Max.
"This trail is too quiet and peaceful," Topher said, "When is Chris going to give us another booby trap to liven things up around here?"
Jasmine rolled her eyes at Topher's remark. "We don't want another booby trap. Though, if it's like the bear trap, I could probably handle it."
(Confessional- Jasmine)
Jasmine sighed at the start of her confessional. "I'm worried about Sammy. She's like this little sister I never had that I need to keep an eye on, and teach the ropes of survival to. I wish she were still with the team. Being alone with these boys is not all that fun."
Continuing to run, Jasmine vaguely noticed Rodney coming up beside her.
"Um, Jasmine, can we talk? There's something I need to tell you," the country boy began to say, jumping over a rock in the process.
Jasmine gave him a brief glance, and then said, "Bark it out, mate." She jumped over a tree stump.
"See, the thing is I think we should-"
"Stop!" Jasmine suddenly shouted.
Only then, Rodney noticed the unofficial team captain stop running. "What?" He asked before the ground under his feet exploded, sending him into the air with an orange blast. Rodney let out a scream, falling onto a clearly displaced mound of dirt. The moment he made contact with it, that one blew up, sending him back in the air. The process then began to repeat.
Jasmine watched with wide, incredulous eyes. Max and Topher caught up to her, watching in shocked awe as their teammate set off a bunch of land mines. After a few more blasts, the explosions were over.
Rodney, gray and covered in bruises, laid dizzily on the ground, surrounded by open holes in the ground.
At that moment, the Rats overtook the Maggots. Sugar let out a malicious laugh.
"Thanks for setting all those off, pardner!" She crowed, cackling while her teammates weren't laughing at all.
"No problem…" Rodney mumbled in pain.
Jasmine and Topher rushed over to him, visibly worried, and Max joined them a moment later, walking instead of running.
The wannabe villain scoffed, "Nice going, letting them take the lead."
Up ahead in area full of gravestones, a graveyard, the Rats entered. Tired from their run, they panted while the loudspeaker came to life.
"Welcome to the Wawanakwa Pet Cemetery!" Chris chuckled.
Sky spotted something near the loudspeaker, and pointed. "Hey, what's this over here?" She walked over, and found a coffin in a shallow hole. Seeing it could open, she pried at the two-flapped cover, and opened it. "Guys, there's numbers in here. Six, six, eighteen, six."
Dave scratched the back of his head. "So we have to look for some sort of code in a disease-ridden pet cemetery? This is the worst night ever."
A flash forward showed Shawn cautiously wandering throughout the cemetery.
"We really shouldn't be here," he said to himself. "Cemeteries are the first place a zombie appears. Oh, I really hope we don't meet that zombie here…"
"Boo!" Sugar exclaimed, popping up from behind a gravestone.
"AAAAAH!" Shawn screamed, and took off running.
The pageant queen laughed, slapping her knee and pointing in the direction Shawn ran. "Gotcha!"
Panting while he hid behind a tree, Shawn breathed out, "That… was not funny!" Even though he was not in Sugar's presence, he felt like saying it anyway. He shook his head. "Man, what is wrong with me? With that zombie out there, I'm even more on edge than normal," he sighed. "Of course, that spider out there doesn't help matters."
The camera's viewpoint switched to infrared, continuing to watch Shawn.
Elsewhere in the cemetery, Dave and Sky met up.
"Find anything?" Sky inquired.
"Only the most beautiful thing in the cemetery right now," Dave flirted with a grin.
Blushing at the comment, Sky opened her mouth to say something, and then she burped.
Dave's eyebrows shot up, not out of surprise, but rather excitement. "Did you just…"
Sky's face turned even redder. "Yeah, I did-!"
A familiar scream pierced the air, interrupting the moment. The two Rats gasped, "Shawn!"
They ran to where Shawn's scream was heard, and Sugar was already there. "Welp, guess it's down to the three of us now," Sugar shrugged, not at all concerned by Shawn's disappearance.
"We've lost almost over half the team now," Sky reminded her, "and you're not concerned by that at all?"
"Nope," the pageant queen answered, popping the 'p'.
Sky frowned at Sugar. "That is a really bad attitude to have about teammates."
Dave nodded, and mimicked Sky's frown. "I agree with Sky. That's really slimy."
Sugar hummed freely, ignoring the scowls of her two remaining teammates, "Eh, I've heard worse. Let's go find that code."
Elsewhere in the cemetery, Topher stood in front of a pile of coffins.
"Okay, this place has the ambiance, I'll give it that, but I'm disappointed in the lack of traps. Was Chris too lazy to put any in here?" He thought out loud, and pulled at the cover of an upright coffin leaning against the pile. Upon opening the coffin, he was met with the face of a grinning Fang. Yelping, he closed the coffin with a forceful shove. "Ask, and will receive!" The junior Chris ran off with Fang bursting out of the coffin in pursuit.
Kneeling next to a pit, Max admired it. "Ooh, a pit of doom! My future lair could use a pit like- augh!" As Topher ran behind him, he unwittingly knocked Max into the pit. The wannabe villain cried out as he landed with a splash in what seemed to be a brown liquid. Fang passed the pit, and continued after Topher.
In an attempt to escape Fang's range, Topher dove over a newly buried grave. Fang attempted to follow, but he clipped an upright shovel, and fell into the grave.
"Mm-hmm! I smell fries!" Sugar licked her lips, following a scent as she walked through the cemetery. She soon came to the pit Max was in. "Hey, is this where the smell's coming from?"
"Hello? Hello! Anybody? Your evil master needs some help down here! His undies are getting all soiled!" Max called out.
Sugar gasped, "Talking hole!"
"I'm not a talking hole, you imbecile! It's me, Max, your future overlord!"
"Oh, I know you! You're that funny little guy on the other team. Hey, are there any fries down there?" Sugar asked, ignoring Max's predicament.
"What?!" Max cried indignantly. "No, there are not! There's nothing down here but lots and lots of grease."
Sugar frowned, snapping her fingers. "Well, boo! I thought for sure there were fries 'round here somewhere. Stupid grease, playing tricks on my nose…" The pageant queen walked away in a huff.
"Wait! Come back here, and help me out of here, you insipid buffoon!" The same white, sticky string shot into the pit. "Ew, what is this? Looks like spider web-ah!" Almost in lightning speed, the string hauled Max out of the pit and away.
Chris chuckled, watching the action on a set of monitors while casually sipping a drink through a straw. On the monitor to the right of the one that depicted the grease pit, Jasmine seemed to have climbed up a tree in her search. On the monitor to the left of the pit's, Dave appeared to be vigorously rubbing his hands with sanitizer.
"Will anyone even make it to the spooky cave? And if so, how can they possibly make it to the finish line? Less brain, and more pain when we return!" Chris punctuated his narration with another slurp of his drink.
"Come on," Sky pleaded to no one in particular as she tried to find the numbers in any nook or cranny she came across. "Those numbers have to be here somewhere."
Behind her, Dave moaned in exhaustion. "This is hopeless," he exclaimed, "it's late, or early depending on what time it is, we're tired, and we're in a germ-infested graveyard that could give us who knows what kind of diseases." Walking away from Sky, he took a seat on top of a gravestone. "I just want this to be over already."
Sky went over to him. "I want this to be over too, Dave, but we can't give up. We're one person weaker than the Maggots, and we need to secure that immunity." Glancing down at the gravestone Dave was sitting on, she scrunched her eyes. "Wait a minute… Dave, move your legs."
Confused, Dave consented, "Um, sure?" Moving his legs, Sky could now see the whole gravestone's writing.
"June sixth, eighteen-o-six?" Sky read out loud. "Dave, I think this is it! We found it!"
Dave hopped off the gravestone, and looked at it. "We did?" He read the same thing Sky did, and his hopeless expression on his face became more hopeful. "Hey, we did!" He pumped his fist, facing Sky. "Oh yeah, who's the man?!"
(Confessional- Dave)
"That's one of the things I like about Sky," he told the camera. "Just when the challenge seems too tough, and it seems like a better choice to give up, she finds a way to give us a second wind."
(Confessional- Sky)
Sky smiled to herself. "Dave's kinda cute when he gets excited. He's pessimistic about a lot of the challenges, but when we make progress like this- boom! He's happy, and seeing him happy is a nice sight."
Sugar walked over to the happy couple from the left side of the screen. "What's all the hubbub? You know there's another team here looking, right?"
"We found the location of the next souvenir," Sky told her, holding up the key. "We were just about to use the key, actually."
"Ooh, let me do it. A gentleman should be the one to unlock things for the ladies in the area," Dave took the key, adopting a suave tone. Before Sky and Sugar could voice any objections, Dave slid the key into a hole on the gravestone, and twisted it.
The reaction was immediate.
A coffin sprung out of the ground in front of the gravestone, and Dave was sent flying off-screen. Sky and Sugar winced at Dave's cry and crash.
The girls opened the coffin as Dave recovered, and found a number of flashlights inside.
"Flashlights… we must need these for the cave," Sky deduced, scooping up the flashlights into her arms. She stepped away, and looked at Sugar. "Sugar, could you put that coffin back? We don't want to tip off the other team."
"Might be a little late for that with you two's hollerin' but okay," Sugar shrugged, and shoved the coffin back into the ground. The two girls walked off to collect Dave, and head onto the cave.
The camera shifted over to a tree nearby, and Jasmine poked her head out from behind it. "Interesting… better round up the boys."
"Welcome to your final destination," Chris' voice greeted Sky and Dave, the two standing at a cave entrance with team flags positioned on each side. "Your clue is just inside the entrance, and down the tunnel into total darkness. Good luck!"
Sky glanced at Dave, who had an unnerved frown on his face. "Dave, are you alright?"
"No, Sky, I'm not. It's just… the spider could be in that cave. I hate spiders. Spiders, next to dust bunnies, represent all that is dirty and unclean."
The gymnast rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. Sugar and I will be right beside you the whole time. We'll get in there, find the clue and the souvenir, and get out as quick as we can. Okay?"
Dave gulped audibly. "I guess so… just one question, though."
"Yeah?"
"Where is Sugar?"
The pair looked around, realizing that their third remaining teammate was not with them.
"Hey, where'd Sugar go? I thought she was right behind us," Sky said.
"I stopped hearing footsteps a while ago, so maybe she stopped to take a break. We have been doing a lot of walking tonight," Dave reasoned. He turned back to the way they came from the cemetery. "I'll go and find Sugar. You stay here in case the Maggots turn up. We can't have you going in there alone if the spider is in there."
Sky nodded. "Okay, but hurry back."
"Yes, ma'am!" Dave chuckled lightly, giving a mock salute. He hurried back down the trail.
As Dave left, Sky stared at the cave entrance. "I know I told Dave I would stay here, but the clue could just be inside… and if the spider does live in there, it probably lives deeper in. Just step inside, get the clue, and get back out." Exhaling a deep breath, Sky steeled herself, walking into the cave.
Inside the cave, she shined a light on a skeleton hanging on a spider web. It was dressed in intern clothes, and had a note attached to its shirt.
"It was just inside like I thought! Yes!" Sky cheered quietly. "Feel bad for this poor guy, though." She peeled the note off the shirt, and read it. "By hook or by crook, the end is near if you look. What does that mean? Augh!" The sticky string returned, this time assaulting Sky from behind. It wrapped her up, and forced her to drop her flashlight and the clue. "Oh no, I should've listened to Dave!" She screamed as she was carried off.
"Sugar? Sugar!" Dave called, walking down a forest path between the cemetery and the cave. He soon found his teammate bending down in front of a bush. "Sugar, there you are. Come on, we need to hurry back to Sky. What are you doing?"
"Sometimes I get hungry in the middle of the night, and have a midnight snack." She held out a few oddly-colored berries she picked from the bush. "Here, try some of these. They're delicious."
"Sugar, those grew here! They've probably been mutated by toxic waste, or something. You have any idea what they'll do to your digestive system?!" Dave ranted, rather panicked.
"Nope," she shook her head, and popped a few more berries in her mouth, causing Dave to cringe. "What? Do I have juice smeared on my face?"
A flash forward brought the two into the cave, and Dave called out, "Sky? Sky!"
Sky's flashlight was found on the ground. "Oh no, Sky's flashlight! I told her not to come in here without us." He flicked the device off, saving the battery, and turned to Sugar. "First Beardo, then Shawn, and now Sky? Could this night get any worse?"
"Well," Sugar opened her mouth to answer, but was shushed by Dave's finger.
"Don't answer that," he hissed with a scowl.
(Confessional- Sugar)
"Geez, that boy needs to learn to unwind. So what if most of our team got caught, or eaten, or whatever? At least we're still kicking!" Her stomach rumbled, causing her to fart, and then the confession came to a close.
"By hook or by crook, the end is near if you look. What do you think that means?" Dave asked Sugar, the two walking further into the cave.
Sugar shrugged. "I dunno, but that rock has a really weird hairdo." She pointed up ahead to a skull-shaped stone with hooks sticking out.
"Hey, those look like hooks. Those must be the last souvenir!" Dave declared.
Somewhere, Sky's voice called out, "Dave, watch out!"
Dave looked up. "Sky? Whoa!" He pushed Sugar back a step as he stepped back himself. A shot of white string hit the ground right where Dave had been standing. "That was close," he commented as the string retracted with nothing in its hold. He looked up, and his eyes lit up with glee. "Sky, you're okay!"
"We all are," Sky replied, shown tangled up in white webbing before the camera zoomed out. Everyone that had gone missing during the challenge were there. Scarlett, Sammy, Beardo, Shawn, Max, and Sky were all accounted for. "In a way, anyway."
"Not gonna lie, being the first one taken from my team sucks," Beardo commented.
"I agree with the sentiment," Scarlett agreed.
(Confessional- Scarlett)
"Of course, being picked off first has its perks," Scarlett personally amended in her confessional. "After doing all the work in the last challenge, it was like I was given a break this time around."
"Could someone get us down from here already?" Shawn cried out. "I'm really not looking forward to being that spider's midnight meal!"
The spider hissed from its perch on a stalactite.
"Scarlett, you're alive!" Rodney exclaimed as he and Topher led a shivering Jasmine onto the scene.
"And so are Max and Samey," Topher noted, looking up as well. He nudged Jasmine in her side. "Jasmine, look. Samey's alive."
"So small…" Jasmine whimpered with frightened eyes wide. She heard Topher's comment, and her panic subsided slightly. "Sammy?"
"Jasmine, help! Get us down from here!" Sammy pleaded, seeing her teammate and friend.
Jasmine's fear seemed to disappear a bit more, and she set her face in a determined expression. "I'm on it." She began jogging over to where the spider's web was.
"I'll rescue you, Scarlett!" Rodney boldly stated, following Jasmine.
Topher hesitantly followed his teammates. "Wait, shouldn't we go after the souvenir first?"
A devious smirk formed on Sugar's face, and she stuck her foot out in front of Topher.
"Oof," the wannabe host grunted as he tripped over Sugar's foot, and knocked into Rodney's back, causing both boys to fall over. With both of them down, the spider took the opportunity to wrap them up in webbing. "Ah, not the hair!" Topher panicked as they were wrapped up.
"Hoowee, that's a laugh," Sugar chuckled while Dave watched in horror. The pageant queen jogged ahead. "Come on, let's go get that souvenir!"
"What about Sky?" Dave asked timidly, "and the others?"
Jasmine came to a wall, and started to climb it. "Hang on, everyone! I'll have you down sooner than a kangaroo can kick."
"I think you might be a little late for that," Sammy replied in a frightened tone as the spider was now on the web, and crawling towards the captured campers. "Somebody do something!"
Seeing this, Shawn scrunched his eyes shut. "Just pretend it's a zombie. Pretend it's a zombie. Zombie!" He snapped himself out of his webbing, and flung at the spider. "Zombie!"
(Confessional- Shawn)
"Fear might not be a positive motivator, but it's one of the best motivators," the conspiracy nut noted.
Jasmine continued to try and climb the wall to reach the web, but without handholds, it was hard. "Come on, Jasmine! Get it together! Your teammates are in trouble, now's not the time to let your claustrophobia keep you from being on your game," She berated herself as she slid down the wall once more.
"Need some help?" Rodney offered, walking over with Topher stuck to his back via webbing.
The explorer smiled at him. "That'd be great."
"I still say we go for the souvenir, win the challenge, and come back for them later," Topher spoke up.
Rodney linked his fingers together to make a foothold. Jasmine placed her foot in it, and the country boy launched her up. On her way up to the web, she managed to land on Max, and pushed herself off him to get up a bit further so she was at the center of the web. The force of her leap off Max broke him off the web, and sent him down to the ground.
The wannabe villain let out a yell of pain as he hit the floor.
"That was amazing, Jasmine!" Sammy praised, smiling wide.
Sky nodded, "I think that jump was worthy of a gold medal."
Jasmine smiled at them. "Thanks, mates. Let's get you out of there."
Sitting up, Max found his webbing was torn, and was able to move his limbs again. He rubbed his head with one hand, moaning, "Ow, my evil head…" He blinked, noticing Sugar taking a hook from the rock. Max then stared up at the web holding the other contestants. He glanced back at Sugar, who saw a cliff with a rope line leading deeper into the cave. "Every evil genius for himself!" Rising to his feet, he hurried over to the rock.
Still stuck in the web, Scarlett saw what Max was doing, and her eyes went wide. "You fool! Don't! If you leave us here, we'll lose!"
"You still think this is a challenge? You're the fool!" Max argued, and removed a hook from the rock. "I'm not going to be spider food." He then ran over to where Sugar was.
"The penalty, Max, the penalty!"
"Zombie, zombie, zombie!" Shawn chanted, pounding away at the spider. The force of his blows started to break the stalactite the spider was hanging from.
Sugar looped the hook around the rope. "Sugar holla!" She exclaimed with glee, jumping off the cliff, and riding the rope down into the cave further.
"Die, zombie!" Shawn declared as the stalactite finally broke, causing the ceiling of the cave to start crumbling. Shawn, the spider, Jasmine, and the remaining webbed campers all fell, screaming. Rodney, Topher, and Dave shrieked, attempting to take cover.
At the end of the cliff, Max looped his hook, and jumped off the edge with a terrified cry of, "Mommy!"
The cave-in ceased, and the dust cleared. Everyone, except Shawn, was on the ground and broken out of their webbing.
"Everyone alright?" Sky asked. She got moans and groans of pain as an answer. Jasmine in particular had curled up into a fetal position, and was shivering.
In a dark part of the cave, only illuminated by the eyes of dark creatures lurking around, Sugar's eyes passed through the area as she gave an excited whoop. Max's eyes followed soon after hers, the wannabe villain wailing in fear.
Outside the other end of the cave, Sugar came sliding out.
"Yeehaw!" She hollered, coming to the end of her ride and dropping from her hook.
"Waaah!" Max yelped, hitting the unexpected end and also dropping from his hook.
The two seemed to have fallen on their backs, and as Max blinked, trying to process everything that happened in the last few minutes, he was shoved off by Sugar.
"Get off of me!" She growled, getting to her feet.
"I am off of you, fool!" Max retorted.
Before the two could descend into bickering, Chris walked over to them. "Well, well," he hummed cheerfully, "both teams made it to the finish line."
"Wait," Max got to his feet, "we still had a challenge going on? I thought with that spider attacking us, the challenge was off!"
"Nope, the challenge was always on," Chris replied smugly as Max paled even more than he already was. "Speaking of the challenge, the winning team is… the Rats!"
Sugar pumped a fist. "Booyah, that's how Sugar does!"
"But-! I thought-!" Max babbled, trying to make sense of what just happened.
"Don't worry, even if you didn't totally abandon your team and even if you did get here before Sugar, you would've lost anyways. You lost five team members while Sugar only lost four," Chris delightfully explained, patting Max on the head.
Sugar cackled at the look on Max's face, and pointed at him. "You totally screwed up!" She began to howl with even more laughter.
"So true," Chris agreed with a nod of his head.
Back in the cave, Shawn coughed, walking over to where the spider laid. "Not my best fight- huh?!" His eyes went wide as he looked down at the spider.
The spider was torn open, and there were canisters inside along with no blood spattered anywhere. The whole thing appeared to actually be a costume. The most surprising part was the costume's occupant was none other than Izzy.
Dazed, Izzy noticed that she wasn't alone. "Oh, boo!" She started laughing.
(Confessional- Shawn)
"Okay, so the mutant spider wasn't really a mutant spider after all. It was just Izzy from the first three seasons in a spider costume," Shawn summarized in the outhouse, and swatted a spider lowering from the ceiling. "So, I don't have to be concerned about that anymore, but I'm still concerned about that zombie I saw earlier. Wait, was it really a zombie, or just another person in a costume?" Confused, he started to scratch his head as he thought.
"So, fun night, huh?" Chris asked the Mutant Maggots, all of whom did not look happy to be at the bonfire.
"Oh, it was loads of fun," Jasmine answered sardonically, rolling her eyes.
"While it contained the classic night challenge twist," Topher spoke up, sounding rather critical, "the challenge could've used a different one, or added one. I mean, I'm no host, but that's what I would've done."
"May we please cut the chit-chat," Scarlett interrupted. "It is really unnecessary, and we all know who the blame for us being here is." She glared at Max, who scoffed and looked away from her.
Max argued, "We were being attacked by a mutant spider. It's like I said, in moments like that, it's every evil genius for himself."
Chris shrugged, "I would, but Chef hasn't shown up with the Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom." He squinted his eyes, and scratched his head as he looked around. "Where is he?"
Elsewhere, Chef stood tied to a post, and a number of plungers stuck to his face. His expression set in a frown, he reacted as another one stuck itself onto his face. Across a small campfire pit from him, Izzy held a bow while wearing a tribal headband. She laughed uproariously at hitting her mark. Chef sighed in resignation of his current position.
"So, if Chef isn't here, does that mean the ceremony is canceled?" Rodney inquired.
Sammy agreed, "That would be nice. I want to go back to bed, and not have our team lose another member."
At Sammy's comment, Chris smiled. "Oh, but your team is losing a member tonight. Tonight's eliminated Maggot is tomorrow's new Rat." He pulled out some slips of paper, and glanced at them. "And according to your votes, the eliminated Maggot is Max!"
Max furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait, so I'm not leaving the island? I'm just being put on a new team?"
"That's right! From here on in, you'll be competing against the Maggots!" Chris confirmed, earning gasps of shock from Rodney, Jasmine, Topher, and Sammy.
Barking out a huff of laughter, Max victoriously pointed his finger in Scarlett's face. "In your face, sidekick, or should I say, former sidekick! You will not be rid of your future supreme overlord so easily!" Scowling, Scarlett said nothing in response to the taunt.
"Whatever, Max. Kinda disappointed nobody's going for a catapult ride, though," Chris said, leaning on his oil drum podium, clearly bored by Max's outburst.
Topher dismissively waved his hand. "Just get one of the interns to do it. It's not like you care about keeping them around."
Chris' eyes lit up at Topher's suggestion. "Ooh, good idea!"
A flash forward saw Chris standing at the Hurl of Shame. Since Max was the eliminated camper, he chose the intern that resembled Max the most to hurl, namely the short, chubby one with black hair. Around his waist was a duck-themed floaty. In moments within being seen on camera, the floaty deflated. The intern quickly noticed this.
"Um, Mr. McLean, I need a new-!" He screamed as he was flung into the night sky.
"Not quite the same as hurling a camper, but still satisfying," Chris remarked with a smile. "Will anyone actually be hurled next time? How will Max fare with his new team? Find out next time on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
Another flash showed the Maggots returning to their cabin. Max was not with them, and the moment they reached the cabin's area, they paused their trek when they heard the intern's scream, which quickly faded.
"I'd say that was the intern that Chris decided to hurl," Topher casually assumed, and resumed heading to the cabin. "Good night!" He said to the others.
The others bid him good night, saying good night to each other as well, entering their respective sleeping quarters. Jasmine broke off from the group, and climbed up her tree.
"Good night!" Sammy said, being the last one to do so, and walked into the girls' side of the cabin.
The camera zoomed out, showing the boundary line of bushes and trees. Hidden in the bushes, a dark figure spied on the cabin. Some sinister notes played as the figure watched for a few moments before the show switched to the credits.
Ella- 12th
Amy- 13th
Leonard- 14th
So, no elimination this episode. Some of you probably saw that coming. It's all part of the plan. Outside of science, Max is pretty much an idiot in regards to everything else. Him abandoning his team to the (actually fake) mutant spider is probably the most evil thing he's done in the game so far, or maybe the only evil thing he's done in the game so far. Max was also in a canon team swap so that works nicely.
I had a systematic approach to the vanishing teammates thing. I wanted to spread around the spotlight a little better over the course of the season, and I thought taking out those that were most beneficial to their team in the last challenge early on in this one, such as Scarlett, the key component to her team's win last episode, getting taken out first. I also knew that Shawn, as a survivalist, would be hyper aware of his surroundings at all times, so I needed to shake him up to allow him to get caught. That's what the figure at the beginning was for. In addition, because ROTI is more action-oriented than team-oriented, I needed Dave and Sky to last a while in order to expand their relationship for the plot.
Review in the box below, and remember, reviews are awesome!