Nicky Haugh: Yes, indeed.
Fear the Darkness Inside: Thanks for the review! And thanks for enjoying my interpretation of Sky's character.
sdgeek: Thanks for liking my portrayal of Scarlett's evil side. Her evil side was there in canon, you just had to pay attention to details like her first words when she first appeared in the first episode and the knives in her globe in her audition tape. I think she would've strategized in canon if Max wasn't always bothering her. Thanks for liking my interpretation of Sky. Only time will tell with All-Stars.
SideshowJazz1: Yeah, Amy took her mutation a lot harder than Dakota did, and yeah, it'll be easier to tell the twins apart now. I wouldn't get my hopes up about this event helping Amy and Sammy's relationship. Someone I follow once said that abuse survivors don't need to have a good relationship with their abusers. I forget who told me that, but it's good advice about characters that have bad blood between them. She's a b about the way Gwen looked for the same reason she is to Sammy, because she's a b.
That British Guy: Yeah, she made some mistakes that cost her game.
OmniPlanckInstant: It's okay to have mixed feelings about Sky. I do too.
SilentSinger948: I'm glad that you liked my portrayal of Sky. Yeah, I felt it would be cheap to have Amy mutate the same way Dakota did, so I came up with my own mutation for her. Will the mutation make her become nicer? Maybe, or maybe not? And yeah, I felt like Max really held Scarlett back from her potential, and that's part of why I got him eliminated so early on. With him gone, Scarlett can really play.
WeirdAlfan101: Okay... sure?
Joel Connell: Thanks for the review! Interesting predictions. Let's see if your're right.
Reviews have been answered. Get ready, it's merge time!
Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama, or anything within the franchise. I only own a DVD of season one.
Episode 9- Grand Chef Auto
"Last time on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island," Chris narrated as clips from the previous episode were shown. "Our players went on a hunt for buried treasure, aka Gwen and Amy.
"Scarlett began a plot to eliminate physical players from her game. Smart move," he continued over footage of Scarlett writing notes in the confessional, then talking to Sammy in the swamp, and finally talking to Sky on the cabin porch. The footage then changed to the elimination ceremony. "In the end, Sky got hurled because of Scarlett's plans, and now Scarlett just might have a target on her back.
"Maybe not such a smart move after all," Chris chuckled as the recap footage came to an end, switching to him on the Dock of Shame. "Who will be the next hurl, and how will we injure them before hand? Find out right now, right here, on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
(cue intro)
On a tree branch, a pink bird sat innocently, chirping a greeting to the morning as an equally pink tentacle slithered up behind it and swatted it away. A siren began to sound, and the camera pulled back to show the tree squid blinking its eye in the direction the siren was coming from.
Chris stood on top of the Maggots' cabin, wearing an old war helmet and cranking the siren. The remaining campers congregated to see what the commotion was about; Scarlett, Sammy, and Topher came out of the Maggots' cabin; Beardo came from the Rats' cabin; and Jasmine and Shawn came walking up to the cabins with their backs to the camera. Once everyone was present, Chris stopped cranking.
"Good morning, campers!" The host greeted cheerily. "Today, we have a very special treat!"
Sammy gasped excitedly, "Packages from home?"
Beardo raised an eyebrow from the Rats' porch, guessing, "A private concert?"
Shawn pumped a fist. "Government-issued zombie apocalypse gear!"
"Nope," Chris answered, shaking his head and causing Shawn to frown, lowering his pumped fist. "It's merge day! No more Team Rat, and no more Team Maggot!" Chris jumped off the Maggots' roof, and grunted off-screen as he made his landing.
Topher laughed at Chris failing his landing while Scarlett smirked and Sammy appeared concerned.
Dusting himself off as he stood, Chris scowled at Topher's laughter before continuing to say, "From now on, it's every man, woman, and Samey for themselves!" Sammy's concern turned into a glare of annoyance at Chris' mean-spirited joke. As she glared at him, Scarlett and Topher shared a sinister look between each other.
(Confessional- Scarlett)
"The merge at last," Scarlett stated while folding her hands on her lap politely. "Now that I'm no longer tied down by inferior intelligence, I'm free to act as I desire." She reached behind herself, and pulled out her notebook, looking over her notes. "Sky's elimination was a good start to my strategy for the second half of the competition, and now I need to focus on eliminating the other two major threats to my victory. Being without a team any longer, it shouldn't be too hard to succeed."
"Um, why are you coming over here?" Beardo asked as Chris walked over to the Rats' cabin.
"You'll see," Chris mysteriously replied before pulling out a walkie-talkie. "Chef, drop it like it's hot!"
In a helicopter, Chef grinned, and pressed a button on his joystick. Outside the helicopter, a large cube of concrete was detached, and quickly descended out of the air.
Their eyes going wide with horror, Topher and the girls ran from their cabin porch screaming. The scene cut to Beardo and Chris, the latter nonchalantly closing his eyes and the former raising his arms up protectively while also screwing his eyes shut. A loud crash occurred and chunks of wood flew past them. Once the wood shower was over, Beardo hesitantly opened his eyes.
Shawn, Jasmine, Topher, and Sammy were all on their butts, staring at the newly destroyed cabin, parts of it splintering out from underneath the concrete block. Scarlett was chest down and facing away from the wreckage.
"You crushed our cabin with a block of solid concrete?!" Sammy exclaimed incredulously.
Chris smugly said, "I had a bunch leftover from building a monument to myself. I call it, Mount Chrismore!"
The monument in question was shown. It was a fairly large mountain-like monument in the shape of Chris' head. A pair of mutant seagulls perched on top of it, and one of them pooped on it, its defecation landing on Chris' left eye and making it look like it had a tear falling down its face. The seagulls crooned with laughter, and gave each other a high-five with their wings.
Back at the campgrounds, the rest of the campers joined Beardo and Chris over by the Rats' former cabin as Chris continued to explain, "From now on, you'll all share one tiny, cruddy, little cabin!"
"But all our stuff was in there!" Sammy protested.
Chris raised a finger. "Yes, and because I'm nice and not heartless, I'll help you get it out." Sammy and Topher briefly smiled until Chris held up a pickaxe. The camera pulled back, and the pickaxe was shown to be small enough to be held between Chris' thumb and index fingers. "One McLean-brand pickaxe, children-sized!" He flicked it over to the campers, and Scarlett yelped in pain.
Scarlett was shown rubbing her forehead, grumbling indignantly as Topher examined the pickaxe now in his hand.
"Enjoy! Later, taters!" Chef's helicopter came around, a rope ladder hanging from it. Chris climbed on, and as Chef swept Chris away, Chris had the misfortune of being low enough to smack into the concrete block along the way. "Ow, Chef!"
A flash forward showed Jasmine, Shawn, and Beardo standing by the wreckage of the Maggots' former cabin.
"Man, I'm so glad that wasn't our cabin," Beardo remarked.
Shawn shrugged his shoulders, humming in indifference. "It doesn't really matter to me. I don't even sleep in a cabin."
Putting her fists on her hips, Jasmine glanced down at the boys. "Even so, we should help them get their stuff out. It'd be the right thing to do."
Beardo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's give them a hand." He walked over to the wreckage, intending to help.
At that moment, Sammy walked up to Jasmine and Shawn from behind. "Hey, Jasmine! I was thinking, since we're no longer on separate teams, want to work together again? This time in an alliance?"
Jasmine smiled at her friend. "That's a mighty keen idea there, Sammy. I'd be willing." She glanced at Shawn. "How about you, mister zombie expert? Care to join us?"
Shawn tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Eh, sorry. I'm going to have to go with no. I'm more of a solo guy, but I wouldn't be against helping you out if you need it." His answer complete, he walked over to start digging through the wreckage.
When Shawn had left them alone, Sammy gazed up at Jasmine in confusion. "Why'd you ask him to join our alliance?"
"I thought it wouldn't hurt to try," said Jasmine. She briefly glanced Shawn's way, and then leaned down closer to Sammy to whisper, "besides, not only is the guy a wilderness expert like myself, he's kinda cute." Sammy blinked at that, and opened her mouth to press the topic, but the scene transitioned before she could get a word out.
Scarlett banged the small pickaxe against the destroyed cabin's roof, and after a few attempts without making any progress, she held it up to her eyes, scowling at it.
"Chris and his childish tomfoolery," the genius redhead grumbled, clenching the pickaxe and throwing it away from the wreckage.
"Hey, Scarlett!"
Scarlett blinked at someone calling her name, and glanced down over the edge of the roof to see Topher standing there. "May I be of assistance?"
"Yeah, have you found any other shirts that look exactly like the one I'm wearing right now?" Topher inquired, tugging at his shirt for emphasis.
"…You have copies of the same outfit?" Scarlett clarified, giving Topher a strange look.
"Well, yeah! All of the greatest TV stars have a signature look," Topher reasoned. "I mean, Chris usually wears the same shirt layered over the white long-sleeve with the khakis and the gray shoes, and he always wears that little pouch necklace of his." He raised a hand to his neck, feeling its bare skin as he glanced down at it. "I wonder what he keeps in that thing anyway…"
Scarlett rolled her eyes at Topher's distracted thinking. "I regret to inform you that I have not seen any of your shirts. If you want them, find them yourself."
Topher stared flatly at her, lowering his hand from his neck. "Wow, harsh way of saying you haven't found any." Deciding the conversation was over, Topher walked onward.
(Confessional- Topher)
"I'm in the merge!" Topher cheered, raising both fists in the outhouse. He brought them down as he ecstatically looked down the barrel of the camera. "If that doesn't put me into consideration for being the next host of Total Drama, then it should at least put me into consideration for competing in another season!"
Shawn grunted with effort, trying to pull a blanket out from under the wreckage.
"Need some help?" inquired Beardo, walking over to Shawn.
Shawn answered between grunts, "Would definitely… appreciate it…"
Beardo wrapped his arms around Shawn's middle, and tugged him off his feet, both of them pulling at the blanket. They both gave it a few seconds of effort before Shawn spoke up again.
"Stop, stop! I think if we pull any harder, it'll tear."
Beardo complied with his request, and stopped pulling, setting Shawn back on his feet.
"I guess that's one thing we won't be able to salvage," Beardo commented, looking at it and then the concrete block. "Man, I can't believe I'm still here. I wasn't even sure I'd last past the first ceremony."
"Me neither," agreed Shawn, "I thought people would find my warnings about the zombie apocalypse annoying, and vote me off early."
Beardo scratched his afro absentmindedly. "Nah, for how much you go on about that stuff, you definitely have the skills we needed around." He frowned, "unlike me, I didn't even do very much. I just stayed in the background, hoping no one would pay enough attention to me to vote me off."
Shawn smiled at him. "Hey, don't sell yourself too short. You've had skills we needed around too, like your sounds helped us get the yeti, and you freed us from the gophers."
"Um, thanks? Still don't feel like I did very much, though."
"Well, now you're going to," Shawn declared, lifting up his hands. "We're in the merge now. We're all on the front lines; nobody can hide in the background anymore, even if they're flying solo like us."
Beardo sighed, "I guess so."
(Confessional- Beardo)
"It's nerve-wracking to be in the merge," Beardo confessed, twiddling his thumbs as he sat in the outhouse. "I can't stand back and make sure I don't do anything to make myself a target, at least not in the same sense as before. If I somehow make it through the merge without getting voted off, I'll surprise myself."
"Challenge time!" Chris announced as the final six gathered in front of the mess hall. Next to Chris stood the monitor he used in the previous episode on the beach. "Today, it's all about grabbing 'em and tagging 'em. And to show you how it's done, I give you Total Drama's favorite juvenile delinquent- Duncan!"
Chef rolled a hand-truck up to the campers. On the hand-truck was Duncan, tied up by rope with a mask covering up his mouth.
"Duncan owes me some camera time for skipping out on Total Drama World Tour, so I saved an extra painful challenge demo just for him," elaborated Chris.
"Eat dirt, McLean!" Duncan snapped through the mask.
Cheekily, Chris walked over and pointed his finger in Duncan's face. "No, that's your job!" As he continued to explain the challenge, the monitor came to life and showed the interior of the mess hall. "First up, the Smash and Grab! Hidden somewhere in the mess hall kitchen are six keys to Chef's prized collection of vintage go-karts. Some drive like well-oiled machines, others not so much."
"Chris," Chef interrupted, "don't let these clowns drive my karts! They're going to smash 'em!"
Chris nodded, "Yes, and car crashes equal ratings! Demo time, Duncan! Chef, let this perp out on a day pass."
Still rather miffed at Chris, Chef untied Duncan's rope restraints. The moment he did, however, Duncan pulled the mask off his face and ran off, shouting, "Later, losers!" His cackle grew faint as he gathered more distance from the host and the campers.
Uttering a noise of surprise, Chris folded his arms over his chest. "Should've seen that coming." Chef bobbed his head in agreement.
Standing beside her friend, Jasmine smiled down at Sammy. "Are you ready to kick this game up a notch?"
"So ready!" Sammy grinned back.
(Confessional- Sammy)
"I honestly thought I wasn't going to see the merge when the show started," Sammy confessed, placing a hand over her heart. "I was sure Amy was going to make sure I got sent home long before that happened, but Jasmine made it go the other way around. I'm so happy I met Jasmine, and that we became friends. Now we're both in the merge, and Jasmine's even got a crush on one of the boys. I really have to find a way to thank her for everything, and maybe this challenge will help me find a way to do that."
Lined up in front of the mess hall, the campers got into starting positions as Chris, now standing on the mess hall porch, raised his hand. "Players, commence smashing and/or grabbing now!" He swung his hand down, and a white flash transitioned the scene.
Inside the kitchen, Beardo ran up to a shelf next to the walk-in freezer, and picked up a jar that was sitting on it.
"Key, key, key," Beardo chanted, unscrewing the lid and tipping the jar upside down. A mound of salt fell out, and plopped on the floor. "Nope, nothing but salt."
On the other side of the kitchen, Jasmine grabbed the handle to a cupboard, intending to pull it open.
"Isn't a cupboard a little too easy of a hiding place?" Sammy questioned, standing next to her alliance partner.
Jasmine shrugged with one arm. "Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to check." She pulled the cupboard open, and after a moment of staring inside, shook her head. "No key in there." When she closed the cupboard, her eyebrows shot up when she saw a mutant roach sitting on her outstretched arm. She only had a brief second before it leaped at her face. Sammy yelped in fright for her friend.
Topher was on his knees, searching under the table in the middle of the room. He had one arm under the tablecloth as he tried to feel around for a key. "If I find a key under here, I can call myself lucky on my first try!" He pulled his hand out from under, and held up a bag of peanuts. "Peanuts? I'm more of a popcorn guy myself, but eh, a snack is a snack." Shoving the bag down his shirt collar, he reached his arm under the table again.
Underneath the table, a roach with a hungry face sat on a pan as it shook some salt onto Topher's searching hand.
Topher continued to search until he heard a loud chomp, and cried out as he withdrew his arm, showing it to be bent out of shape from the roach biting it.
Kneeling down next to a shelf underneath the sink area, pots clanged as Shawn tossed them out left and right, looking inside for a key briefly before discarding each one. "We've only been at this for a few minutes, and we're getting nowhere," the conspiracy nut remarked to Beardo, who was searching a nearby cupboard next to a closet.
"It's a kitchen, man," reminded Beardo, glancing at Shawn as he lifted up a canister to look underneath it. "We'll run out of hiding places fast." He put the canister down, and picked up a small bag, opening it up. "If you're done with the cupboard down there, you could try the closet. I don't think anyone's touched that yet," he suggested with a point of his free hand's thumb.
"Good idea," Shawn agreed, standing up and opening the closet. As he peeked inside, he frowned. "There's nothing in here but mops." As if on cue, a roach flew out of it, and latched onto his face. Shawn let out a muffled scream, and flailed his arms in an attempt to get it off while Beardo watched on in horror.
Scarlett kneeled on the floor next to a mop bucket, eyeing the bucket with revulsion. "Not the most sanitary place to hide a key, but I suppose that's the point," she said, trying to look in closer. A roach leg poked out of the bucket, and stole her glasses from her face. "Hey, those happen to be prescribed eyewear, you little insect!" She snarled, and stuck her arms into the bucket.
(Confessional- Scarlett)
"I can't see very far away without my glasses," Scarlett explained, wearing her glasses as she waved her hand in front of her face. "While I'm annoyed that I need them, they are necessary if I am to perform any task adequately. Without them, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a person and a robot duplicate."
Shawn continued his struggle with the roach on his face, and eventually managed to pull it off of him. Acting quickly, he stuffed the roach into a pot on the nearby stove, and slammed a pot lid on top. "That sucked," he sighed in relief.
"You think that sucked," Beardo began to say off to the side, prompting Shawn to look up from the pot. "I've resorted to looking through the trash." Beardo walked over, holding a stained, fly-ridden trash bag. He reached a hand in, and made a face as he rummaged around. "Oh, that's gross! And that's extra gross!"
Sammy pulled at the roach latched onto Jasmine's face, calling, "I've got it, I've got it!" With one final thrust, she managed to pry it off. "I got it!" She squealed with delight, happy to have helped out a friend. The roach whirled around in her hands, and hissed at her. Shrieking in fright, she immediately threw it away from her and Jasmine.
Unfortunately for Shawn, just when he had gotten rid of one roach, he got another one. He let out a scream as the second one began to attack his head, and tried to pull it off. "Don't bite the head, don't bite the head!"
Jasmine and Sammy panted heavily from their troubles, and Jasmine shared a tired look with Sammy. "Let's not open any more cupboards, and focus on surfaces, shall we?" suggested Jasmine. As Sammy nodded, Jasmine, being the taller of the two, raised her arm up to the top of the cupboard and felt around. "Hey, I think I found one!" Bringing her arm down, a small, silver key could be seen in her hand.
"Yay! Great job, Jasmine!" Sammy clapped for her friend.
(Confessional- Jasmine)
"I'm not really surprised to be in the merge," Jasmine said, hunched over in the outhouse seat with one leg crossed over her lap. "I led my original team for up until I swapped to the Rats, and I like to think I'm a pretty strong competitor. Up until that roach started giving me trouble, I don't think I've had all that much of a hassle in getting this far." She smiled as another thought came to her. "I'm glad that Shawn and Sammy are still here. I've grown real fond of them both. Maybe together we can take the final three by storm."
Now standing up, Scarlett attacked the mop bucket with the mop that it was paired with, scowling. "Give me back those glasses!" The roach in the bucket popped out of the bucket, and coughed out a key into Scarlett's hand, causing her to blink surprisingly. "Oh, that's convenient." She then glared as the roach retreated back into the bucket. "My glasses…" she demanded in a scarily neutral tone. One of the roach's legs emerged and chucked the glasses at her face. She grunted in annoyed pain as they smacked her.
Standing by a trash can, Sammy had her arm in it up to her shoulder as she rummaged around in search of a key. A smile soon appeared on her face as she pulled her arm out, her hand holding a key. "Found one!"
The table in the middle of the kitchen shook as a scuffle occurred underneath. The roach that had been occupying the space under it bounced out, and Topher poked his head out from under the tablecloth, his hair messed up and one eye bruised. "Hah! Not so hungry now, are you?" He taunted, holding out his hand which now contained a key as well.
Still searching the garbage bag he found, Beardo smiled as he withdrew his hand. In his hand was a key, but it did not look like any of the others. "Cool, a gold key!"
The key was a bright gold color, and the camera zoomed in on it in Beardo's hand, displaying it with a yellow and orange background.
Admiring his key, Beardo had to blink to snap back to reality as Shawn stumbled by him, still prying at the roach on his head. "A gold key? Are you kidding me?!" Shawn incredulously asked, unwittingly crashing into the cupboard by the closet that Beardo had searched earlier. A few jars fell from the cupboard upon impact, and smashed to pieces on the floor. Somehow, as that happened, Shawn made his way back to the stove, and finally got the roach off, quickly stuffing it into the same pot he did with the first one. As he slammed the pot lid on it again, he stared at Beardo out of the corner of his eye. "What's this about a gold key?"
"Isn't it cool?" Beardo questioned with a smile, holding it up for Shawn to see. "I found it in the bag."
Shawn sighed, "Well, I'm happy you have a key, but I still don't have one." Something caught his eye, and he raised an eyebrow. "Hey, what's that?" He pointed, and Beardo followed his gaze.
Among the broken jar pieces on the floor by the cupboard was a bit of silver. "It's a key!" Beardo exclaimed upon recognition.
The scene flashed white, and Chris and Chef were shown walking outside, with Chef furiously marching after Chris.
"You let them trash my kitchen!" Chef exploded, throwing his arms out to his sides. "Chris, man, you have any idea how long that's going to take to clean up!" He angrily pointed at his boss and best friend.
Chris smiled in his usual, sadistic way. "Chef, buddy- brother from another mother! Relax, it's cool." He held up a mop, and thrust it into Chef's hands before continuing on his way. "See? I got you a new mop!"
As Chris walked onward, Chef stayed back and growled, snapping the mop in half.
The scene transitioned again, this time to a fenced in lot with a neon sign that looked like Chef's face.
"Say hello to challenge part deux!" Chris began as he and the campers were shown inside the lot. Each of the final six were holding a yellow, electronic pad in one hand, and a can of spray paint in their other. From left to right, Topher was holding a can of blue paint, Shawn had orange, Beardo had black, Jasmine had green, Sammy had pink, and Scarlett had purple. "Grand Chef Auto! You've each been given a can of spray paint and a GPS map of the island. Your mission?
"Race your go-karts around the island and be the first to graffiti tag three landmarks," the host continued to explain as Topher's GPS was shown with three blinking red dots on its screen. "The rock wall of Mount Looming Tragedy, the spooky tree in the haunted forest, and the tippy top of a giant totem pole!" Each location was shown as Chris introduced them, and then the attention returned back to Chris. "Oh, and the go-karts? You'll have to steal them from Chef!"
Chef, standing in front of his collection of go-karts, growled at the campers. Sammy swallowed hard at the thought of going up against him.
Chris finally said, "The first person to completely tag all three landmarks wins immunity, and they get to choose who will be eliminated."
Raising an eyebrow, Scarlett spoke up, "Doesn't immunity and the sole vote to select who will be eliminated seem redundant?"
Briefly glaring at the redhead, Chris snapped, "Shut it, Scarlett! Alright, and go!"
Moments later, the six stood across from Chef, the large man staring them all down.
"So, does anyone want to take first crack at Chef?" Topher asked, breaking the silence.
"I say we all rush him at the same time," suggested Jasmine, sharing a glance with Sammy. "He can't get all of us at once."
His frown deepening into a scowl as the background music grew tense, he muttered, "Nobody touches my stuff. Nobody." Raising one hand, he snapped his fingers.
As if on cue, dozens of laser squirrels popped up around the go-karts, chittering dangerously and causing the campers to gasp.
"Laser squirrels!" Shawn yelled, the camera zoomed in on the horrified expression on his face.
The squirrels started firing lasers from their eyes, and the campers started screaming in terror.
Off to the side, Chris laid in his lounge chair, smiling to the camera. "I love when Chef gets mad, don't you? Who will survive his wrath? Find out after the break right here on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
As the footage faded to black for commercial, the screams of the campers could still be heard.
When the show returned, the campers were shown running back and forth across the lot, dodging the lasers.
At one point, Shawn and Jasmine ran in the same direction, and ended up in a corner, where Chef approached them with a dark grin.
"Hehe, game over! You're coming with me!" He told the two survivalists with a gleeful chuckle. They stared at him with horrified expressions, not liking what that could possibly mean.
Eventually, the squirrels stopped firing, and bounded over to the campers, starting to attack them personally.
"Ah, they're in my hair!" Sammy cried, a bunch of squirrels covering her body. She grabbed at two that were clinging to her blond locks.
Scarlett stopped running, and took note of Sammy's situation. She smirked to herself. "If they're bothering you, then that means they're not bothering me, which leaves me an opening." She started running in the opposite direction she was originally running, passing Topher.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Topher yelped as a bunch of squirrels seemed to bite him all over. "Watch the hair! Hey, don't snack on me! Snack on these!" He reached into his shirt, and pulled out the bag of peanuts that he had found earlier in the kitchen. As he held it up, all the squirrels in the lot seemed to freeze, including the ones that were attacking Sammy. "Go get 'em!" He tossed the bag.
Chef had been guiding Jasmine and Shawn away when the peanut bag clocked him in the back of the head, and flopped over his head, landing in his outstretched hands.
"Peanuts? Nice!" Shawn briefly smiled before he, Jasmine, and Chef noticed the squirrels coming towards them. Letting out screams, the three began running away from the hairless rodents.
With the squirrels busy, Topher jumped into the first go-kart he saw. "Winner's circle, here I come!" Pressing his foot to the gas, he sped off with a shout of enthusiasm.
The camera shifted slightly to the right as Beardo hopped into a differently-colored go-kart, this one matching his gold key. "Not if I get there first!" He put the key in the ignition, and turned the vehicle on. He pressed the go pedal, only to find that he didn't accelerate when he did. "What the?" He looked down, and the camera zoomed out to show that the gold go-kart was missing its two front tires. "For real?!"
Chris walked over, chuckling, "For very real, and just so you know, no take-backs on the karts."
At that point, Scarlett arrived at the go-kart next to Beardo's. "Sometimes, it's best to have the same one as all the others. Good luck getting that to move," she remarked snidely before driving away.
"Sorry Beardo, gotta go!" Sammy called as she zoomed past Beardo in her own kart, making him gasp in surprise at falling behind yet another camper.
Elsewhere, Jasmine and Shawn appeared to be locked in a cell with Chef standing outside it.
Shawn gripped the bars of the cell, looking up at Chef. "You can't do this! Is this even allowed?"
"Yeah, I have claustrophobia, you know," Jasmine added, her voice starting to tremble near the end of her statement.
Chef smirked, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb, "Tell that to your prison guard!"
Mentioned prison guard was Fang, who was chained to a post in a mud pit next to the cell. Fang snarled, trying to reach for the two imprisoned campers.
Shawn and Jasmine gasped in horror as Chef walked away, cackling to himself.
Sammy's icon on the GPS map blinked right next to the first landmark.
"First landmark, and I'm the first to tag it!" Shaking her can of spray paint, Sammy proceeded to paint a pink smiley face on the side of Mount Looming Tragedy. "This is amazing! I feel so alive!" She ran back to her go-kart passing Topher on the way.
"Enjoy it while it lasts," Topher quipped, sliding up to the landmark. Shaking his can, he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "What to tag, what to tag…" Snapping his fingers as a thought came to him, he began to paint.
At that moment, Scarlett showed up in her go-kart. She jogged up to the landmark, shaking her can and proceeding to spray a purple pi sign. Moving to return to her kart, she briefly eyed Topher still painting. "Um, what're you doing?"
"Painting my tag," Topher replied, not looking away from his work.
"Yes, but you don't have to…" As Scarlett trailed off, gears in her mind churned, and then a small grin formed on her face. "You know what? Never mind." Turning away from him, Scarlett hurried back to her kart.
Topher stopped painting to look back in Scarlett's direction. "Huh?" When he saw that she was already gone, he shrugged, and continued painting.
Back at the lot, Beardo rolled two tires over to his kart. "Got to make this quick so I can catch up. Good thing this place had a lot of extra tires laying around." He put one on the axle further away from the camera, and quickly used a wrench to tighten bolts on to secure it. Then, he circled around, and did the same with the axle that was closer to the camera. Examining his work with a glance, Beardo grinned. "Perfect!"
Not too far away, Jasmine and Shawn were still trapped in the cell.
Jasmine hugged herself, her shoulders shaking. "I've got to get out. I don't do well in tight spaces for very long…"
Shawn patted her on the shoulder. "And we won't stay in here for very long. Look, I know how to pick locks. Just let me pick this, and then we'll be out."
As Jasmine shuddered, Shawn pulled his hand away from her shoulder, and reached into his vest for a small pin. He put it into the key hole of the bar door holding them prisoner, and started to jiggle it around.
Sammy squealed with delight as she returned to her go-kart, her smiley face tag now adorning the spooky tree from the haunted forest. "Two landmarks down, and I'm still in the lead!" She pressed the accelerator, and drove off just as Scarlett arrived.
"She is not going to ruin my merge strategy," Scarlett muttered darkly, getting out of her go-kart to approach the tree. As she prepared to paint her tag, the squid inhabiting the tree awoke, and snatched her up with its tentacle. "Hey, let me go!"
Shawn continued to pick the lock until he heard a definitive click. "Aha, there we go!" With a push of his arm, the cell door swung open. "Jasmine, look! We're free!"
"Got to get out!" Jasmine exclaimed frantically, bursting out of the cell with enough force to knock Shawn into the mud, and made a mad dash for the go-karts. She jumped into the first one she could find, and sped off.
Sputtering, Shawn propped himself up with his arms where he was face-down in the mud, scowling in Jasmine's direction. "An 'excuse me' would've been fine!" He heard a snarl next to him, and hesitantly turned to his right, coming face to face with Fang. He cringed, "Oh man…" Fang tried to take a bite out of him, but he rolled out of the way just in time. "Sorry, gotta run." Getting to his feet, he ran to the last remaining go-kart, and hopped in.
The go-kart roared to life, and then pathetically burst to just a few feet from where it started, and stalled.
Shawn sputtered, "Are you kidding me?!" A flash forward to a few minutes later had Shawn still in the lot, using a wrench to tune the go-kart's engine. "Okay, just twists here… readjust that…" He then picked up his GPS, and raised an eyebrow as he looked at the screen.
A video had popped up over the map, showing Chris, who was looking a bit odd. "Listen- up-," the host said in a rather choppy way, "three- landmarks- wasn't- tough- enough- so- I- added- a- fourth- landmark. It's- a- doozy- mountainside- right- in- the- center- of- the- island." A fourth dot appeared on the GPS map somewhat centered between the three other ones. "Now- get- tagging- and- don't- spare- the- paint. McLean out."
As the video ended in static, Chef was shown holding the old, rubber dummy of Chris being dead from season two's murder mystery challenge and a tape recorder.
As Chef pulled his finger off a button on the recorder, he eyed the camera with a scowl. "Nobody touches my stuff," he grunted, "Nobody!" He let out a maniacal cackle.
Still at Mount Looming Tragedy, Topher pulled his can away, smiling. "And done!" The camera zoomed out to show Topher, dressed in Chris' TDA tuxedo, winning a Gemmy award in front of a crowd in blue paint. "Yeah, everyone give a round of applause for that handsome devil."
At that point, Beardo arrived in his now-working golden go-kart. He got out of his go-kart, and approached Topher.
"Dude, your art is sick," Beardo commented, shaking his spray paint and tagging a black music note- an eighth note to be precise. "But all you needed to do is paint a star, or something." Once his tag was complete, he hurried back to his go-kart.
Topher looked between Beardo and his elaborate tag before palming his face.
Meanwhile, up atop a cliff, Sammy climbed the totem pole, the third landmark on Chris' list. Given he said 'the tippy top', that meant the campers had to make their tag at the top of it.
"Just two more and I win! My first win all by myself! That sounds so good!" Sammy happily thought out loud as she climbed.
Scarlett arrived at the base of the totem pole, and remarked, "Hate to burst your bubble, but you still have to beat me." She quickly found a gripping point, and began her ascent.
"I will beat you," Sammy replied, reaching the top of the pole and bringing out her spray can, "right after I tag these last two landmarks."
"Might want to save yourself first!" Scarlett quipped, throwing her own can up in Sammy's direction. The can slammed into the cheerleader's face, and forced her to release her grip on the pole and her can.
Sammy let out a scream, quickly catching herself on the outstretched wing of the totem. "Help!"
Scarlett climbed up past her on the other side. "I would, but I have a victory to secure first. Not sorry."
Sammy's eyes followed Scarlett's form, and the cheerleader asked, "What's going on with you? You lied to Sky, and tricked me into helping you vote her off. I thought you were nice."
Reaching the top, Scarlett retrieved her can from on top of the pole where it sat after bouncing off Sammy's face. "I wasn't being nice. I was being tolerant of everyone except Max," she continued to speak as she sprayed her pi symbol, "you really think I would draw so much attention to myself so early in the game?"
"Heather did it, and she got to the final three."
"Yes, and that turned out so well for her," Scarlett sarcastically replied, descending back down to the ground. Smoothening out her skirt and sweater, she glanced up at Sammy. "Now, you can either save your pathetic life, or you can fall to your inevitable death and grant your sister's wish of being an only child. Your choice."
"I thought you were going to help me! You said you would!"
"As if I care for your life," Scarlett said, turning away and returning to her go-kart. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a challenge to win."
Sammy's eyes went wide with panic. "Wait! You can't just leave me here! Scarlett!" She cried out as Scarlett sped off.
Somewhere in the woods, Jasmine drove along. As she drove, she smelled sharply. "Something reeks. Hey, wait… I know that smell!" She whirled her head around back and forth.
"Yeehaw!" Shawn hollered, flying off an unseen ramp and landing slightly behind Jasmine. "Woo, this go-kart drives like a dream now!" He gave Jasmine a wave of his hand. "See you at the landmarks!" He pressed down on the accelerator, and he sped up, passing Jasmine.
Jasmine's mouth dropped open, the Outback girl wondering how he was going that fast.
Back at the totem pole, Sammy's grip started to slip. "Jasmine! Somebody, help!" Her fingers finally slipped, and she screamed for dear life as she fell to her death.
Before she could hit the ground, Beardo drove onto the scene, and his momentum absorbed Sammy's impact when she fell on the front of his go-kart. To Beardo's surprise, the action rocketed him out of his seat and up to the top of the totem pole.
"Whoa! Wasn't expecting that," Beardo blinked, getting a good look at his position on top of the pole before glancing down below. "Thanks, Samey!"
"Thank you for breaking my fall," Sammy replied, smiling and waving up at him. Her expression grew dark as she started going over to her go-kart, and Topher arrived at that moment. "Now I'm going to break Scarlett for leaving me like that."
Beardo finished spraying his tag, and glanced down. "What was that?"
(Confessional- Beardo)
"Since I'm shy, I don't talk to people a whole lot," Beardo stated in the outhouse. "I say a few words, or make a few noises, and that's it. Now more than ever, I feel like I'm seriously out of the loop with the other contestants in the merge." He shrugged, "I only know a bit about Shawn and Jasmine, but that's as far as I've got."
Later, Shawn and Jasmine had arrived to the third landmark. Having gotten there first, Shawn was already way up while Jasmine was just getting started.
Chef and Chris drove up in a jeep, and Chris stood. "And the winner of Grand Chef Auto is…" He trailed off when he noticed that hardly anybody was around. "Where is everyone?"
Shawn hopped down from the totem pole into his go-kart. "Going for that last landmark."
Jasmine came down a moment after him, adding, "Yeah, the fourth one you added. Remember?"
The two campers zoomed away, leaving Chris to scratch his head in confusion while Chef could only whistle innocently. "What last landmark?" He picked up his GPS map to see where everyone was, and gasped when he identified the location they were headed to. "Mount Chrismore?!" The host clenched a hand into a fist. "Duncan!"
"That Duncan is one bad dude," Chef said slyly, going along with Chris' line of thinking if it meant his own involvement was covered up.
Chris demandingly pointed his finger. "Drive! We have to terminate this challenge with extreme prejudice!"
Chef obliged by slamming his foot on the accelerator, and Chris fumbled into the cargo bed out of surprise at the rapid movement of the vehicle.
At the base of Mount Chrismore, Sammy arrived, getting out of her go-kart and looking around. "Wha? Where's Scarlett? She was way ahead of me."
"Right behind you." Scarlett's voice said off-screen.
Yelping, Sammy spun on her heel and saw Scarlett standing behind her. "Wha? How'd you?"
Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you and the others are so gullible. Did you really believe that video?" She gestured to Mount Chrismore. "Do you really think Chris would willingly allow us to deface a monument of his face?"
Sammy glanced down at her feet, rubbing her left arm. "When you put it like that…" She shook her head, and curled her hands into fists. "That's not important! What's important is that you lied to Sky, and you manipulated me into helping you achieve your own selfish goals."
"Chris lies to all of us and manipulates us for his own purposes, like the mine for example. How is that any different?" Scarlett pointed out.
"Chris is the host, and we can't vote him off. I listened to you, Scarlett; to you and your plans for every challenge when Jasmine didn't have a better one, and to your advice when I wasn't sure who to vote for. I trusted you."
"And that was your own fault. Honestly, you're so dependent on everyone else that you can't even make your own decisions."
"I'm not dependent on everybody!" Sammy shouted, stomping her boot. "You think I'm dependent? I've done my homework AND Amy's for the past eight years by myself! Every project that Amy could choose her topic, I chose her topic when she was too lazy or uninterested to pick one herself. I've done everything Amy doesn't want to do, like chores, and you're calling me dependent? If anyone's dependent, it's Amy."
Beardo and Topher arrived, and saw the argument going on. "What's happening here? Some sort of cat fight?" Topher spoke up.
Sammy gestured to Scarlett. "Scarlett left me at the totem pole to die. She's the reason I fell in the first place. She lied to Sky, and manipulated me to accomplish her own game."
Topher got out of his go-kart, and walked over. "Um, you're surprised? That's the kind of game Total Drama is, and that's the kind of thing that brings in the ratings. If Total Drama had no lies and no manipulation, the show would've been over after season one."
"We can play a game without lying and using each other if we respect each other as human beings," Sammy said, "I've been used by Amy for years, and I'm done being used by her and anyone else for that matter."
Beardo looked between the three of them, and then held up his can of spray paint. "So no one's going to tag the last landmark? No? Okay, I guess I will." He walked past them, and made his way over to the monument.
Topher glanced at him. "Hey, wait! If anyone's going to tag Chris' monument, it's going to be me!" Taking out his paint, he jogged over.
Sammy and Scarlett watched them for a moment before returning their gaze to each other.
"I don't see why you're trying to out me to them. It's quite pointless. You want to know three reasons why? One, I'm superior to all three of you in this game combined. Two, I have a safety net should the merge not go my way, and three, I'll let you figure that one out for yourself." Scarlett reasoned with a flat tone and unimpressed expression.
Sammy appeared confused at Scarlett's explanation. "What are you talking about?"
Next to the monument, Beardo and Topher jockeyed for whoever got to tag the monument first, shoving at each other and trying to block each other like little kids trying to play keep away.
"I'm going to tag it!" "No, I am!" "Out of the way!"
Jasmine pulled up the ramp to the monument, and stood up with a groan. "Oh no, we're too late." She glanced to the side, and raised an eyebrow when she noticed a distinct lack of conspiracy nut next to her. "Shawn?"
A honking noise caught the attention of the arguing Sammy and Scarlett, the fighting Beardo and Topher, and the lone Jasmine. Up another, higher ramp came Shawn on his go-kart.
"I don't know how I got up here, but I'll take it!" Shawn grinned as he flew off the ramp. His go-kart sailed through the air, and he jumped from the go-kart.
Down below, Beardo and Topher dove for cover as the go-kart came crashing down in their direction, and bounced once, colliding with something off-screen.
Shawn, on the other hand, grabbed a grip on one of the monument's eyes. With a grin, he produced his paint, and sprayed a giant 'Z' on it before letting go and dropping down to the ground.
"My face!" Chris cried, heralding his and Chef's arrival. He stood up in the jeep in outrage. "My beautiful fifty-foot concrete face!" The host then slapped Chef, who was holding a soft drink. "Did you have to stop at the drive-thru?"
Chef taking a sip of his drink was enough answer.
"So, Chris?" Shawn strode up to the jeep. "Do I get that one vote?"
Chris stepped out of jeep along with Chef, holding his hand out in front of Shawn. "No, no vote for you."
"Huh?!"
"You fell for an obvious prank by Duncan," Chris explained as he and Chef walked over to the vandalized landmark.
"Sorry, bro!" Duncan's voice called out, stopping the two men in their tracks with horrified looks.
Duncan poked out from behind some nearby rocks. "That wasn't me." He held up a remote, and a button.
The monument exploded into a shower of debris, leaving the bottom half of its face.
"Now that? That was me," Duncan proclaimed before laughing.
Chef began to laugh as well while Chris stared in shock at his once-lookalike monument. When the host noticed Chef pumping a fist in support of Duncan's prank, he glared at his assistant, forcing the bulkier man to stop and grumble quietly.
"Yes!" A nearby shout caught Chris and Chef's attention, and they looked in the direction it came from.
Beardo stood next to Topher, shaking his head as Topher finished spray painting a replica of his face.
"Chris might not have a monument of his face anymore, but I have a painting of mine!" Topher boasted.
A flash transitioned the scene to the elimination ceremony that night, the bonfire a blaze and Chef holding the Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom in a pair of tongs.
"The real final landmark was the totem pole," Chris explained, "so immunity and today's sole vote goes to the first person who completely tagged it… Scarlett!"
Scarlett smirked as Sammy gasped in shock. Shawn glared in contempt, feeling his victory had been stolen. "Naturally," she remarked, confidently crossing her arms.
"Scarlett, eliminate the player of your choice!" Chris declared, making a slicing motion at his neck. Raising a hand to his mouth, he stage-whispered, "Choose Shawn or Topher."
"Hey!" Shawn and Topher protested in unison.
Scarlett stood from her seat, and adjusted her glasses on her face. "Well, seeing as I had a plan for the merge when it came, it was easy for me to make my choice." Tucking her arms behind her back, she glanced at her intended target. "Jasmine, you're eliminated."
"What?!" Jasmine, Shawn, and Sammy all exclaimed at once.
Topher glanced over at Jasmine, thoroughly surprised. "Whoa…" Next to him, Beardo's jaw dropped, the human soundboard mimicking the sound of dynamite exploding.
"This is how you treat me after all those challenges we did together, leading our team to victory?" Jasmine rose to her feet, staring Scarlett in the eye.
Scarlett shrugged. "I could care less about our 'team'. You're a threat to my game, and I'm simply removing you from it. It's that simple of logic."
The eliminated girl glared at her, only to be startled by someone hugging her waist. She looked down, and saw Sammy.
"Jasmine, I'm so sorry! I almost won until she knocked me down the pole. If I had just been a little quicker…" The cheerleader apologized tearfully.
"Hey, it's okay." Jasmine patted her on the back. "What's done is done."
Sammy gazed up at her friend. "You've done so much for me. Becoming my friend, helping get rid of Amy, and lots more. I promise I'll win for you and for myself."
Touched by Sammy's words, Jasmine hugged back. "Thanks, and stay strong, will ya? You'll need to be strong if you're going to win."
Sammy nodded. "I'll try."
"Jasmine," Chris spoke, forcing the girls to break the hug, "the Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom is yours!"
Chef held the tongs holding the marshmallow towards Jasmine. Sammy ducked behind Jasmine, both girls flinching at the glowing treat.
A flash cut had Chris, Chef, and Jasmine now down at the Hurl of Shame. Being so tall, Jasmine's legs awkwardly hung over the lip of the bucket. Chef stood at the lever while Chris stood next to the bucket.
Chris smiled, "Well, Jasmine, it's been nice knowing ya."
At that point, Shawn rushed up. "Hey, uh, I just want to say that I was kinda mad how you shoved me into the mud earlier, but since you have claustrophobia and you're kinda eliminated, I'm not really that mad."
"Thanks for telling me that, you're a real stand-up guy," Jasmine replied, smiling at him. "Even if you do smell and go on tangents about zombies." She chuckled, and then continued, "Do me a favor? Keep an eye on Sammy, will you?"
Shawn held up his hand as if he was swearing an oath. "You have my word."
"Thank-aaah!" Jasmine's voice trailed off as Chef flung her into the night sky.
Chris chuckled, noticing the concerned frown on Shawn's face. "Love hurts, don't it?"
Shawn glanced at him, sputtering. "Love? What're you talking about?!"
"Oh nothing," Chris shrugged, turning his attention to the camera, "Who will be the next loser hurled? What humiliating challenges lie in store? Where will I build my next monument to me? Find out next time on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
(cue end credits)
Jasmine- 6th
Sky- 7th
Sugar- 8th
Dave- 9th
Rodney- 10th
Max- 11th
Ella- 12th
Amy- 13th
Leonard- 14th
My apologies to any Jasmine fans. It was all part of Scarlett's plan. Jasmine is a very strong player, and anyone can see that, which is why Scarlett had to get rid of her.
This challenge is one of my favorites in Revenge of the Island, along with Ice Ice Baby, A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste, and Up, Up, and Away in my Pitiful Balloon. This was very fun to write. Jasmine and Shawn's scenes after getting captured by Chef were originally going to occur differently, such as Jasmine pulling the bars apart like Lightning did, and Jasmine was originally the one to fall into Fang's mud pit with Shawn being just a bit too enthusiastic in getting free. This would've made Jasmine mad like the PI episode 5 challenge did in canon. After the roles changed, Shawn was going to be mad at her for knocking him into the mud and into Fang's range, but since she has claustrophobia, I found it a bit out-of-character for him, so I toned it down.
Review in the box below, and remember, reviews are awesome!