SideshowJazz1: Sammy standing in for Cameron? Hmm, maybe? So, you don't want Scarlett to win, and you also want to see Topher go? Interesting...
Fear the Darkness Inside: Yeah, that's true. Everybody in the original cast has backstabbed somebody at one point or another, at least most of them that is. Interesting analysis of everyone left in Scarlett's path, and how they stack against her. I dunno if Topher's a regular moron, though. Topher's shown some skills of his own before.
Nicky Haugh: Thank you!
That British Guy: Good to know.
SilentSinger948: Yeah, Scarlett better watch out for Sammy.
OmniPlanckInstant: Yeah, Scarlett made a few mistakes. Let's see if they cause her some trouble. And yeah, Topher making a painting of himself at the first landmark might not have been the smartest move, but I needed Sammy and Scarlett alone for their confrontation, and it seemed like an in-character thing of him to do. Yeah, Shawn has skills. I like to think lock-picking and fixing a vehicle would be among skills a person would need for a zombie apocalypse scenario. Don't worry, considering I plan on doing AS and PI as well, there's plenty of chapters (or episodes, rather) to come.
Guest: Interesting thoughts. Keep in mind I already have the elimination order set up, though.
With reviews answered, time for the final five to take to the skies!
Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama, or anything within the franchise.
Episode 10- Up, Up, and Away in my Pitiful Balloon
"Last time on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island," Chris opened with his usual narration, "the players went on a smash-and-grab graffiti race!" The clips from the previous episode showed the remaining contestants doing various parts of the challenge. "Jasmine and Shawn experienced a lock-up, Samey nearly fell to her death thanks to Scarlett, and Beardo and Topher stayed in the middle of the pack.
"Scarlett won the challenge," the host continued as clips of the elimination ceremony began to play, "and despite Sammy confronting her over recent lies and betrayals, she stuck to her guns and voted off Jasmine with her sole vote."
The footage flashed to the current scene which included Chris supervising two interns cleaning the Hurl of Shame. "Missed a spot," he cheekily teased at the one sitting in the catapult's bucket. He then turned his attention to the camera filming them. "We're down to five competitors, and you'll never guess who's next to ride the Hurl of Shame!" He sent a hand signal to Chef, who was at the catapult's lever, and the burly man grinned as he cranked the lever.
The female intern in the bucket cleaning let out a Lindsay-like scream as she flew into the daylight sky.
"Hehe, told ya," Chris chuckled, only for the male intern that had been helping clean to walk away with a frown. "What? Catapults are expensive. I need to get my money's worth." Shrugging, he said, "But someone else will be flung before the day is over. Find out who right here on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
(cue intro)
The scene faded in from the intro, showing Shawn kneeling in the woods, tinkering with something the camera couldn't see.
The viewpoint changed, and Shawn's hands could be seen laying what looked like a lasso on the ground.
"There, that's the last of… fifty zombie traps set up around camp," he declared wiping sweat from his brow. "While being on an island helps, it doesn't hurt to have a second line of defense."
A large shadow loomed over him, and his eyes widened.
"And maybe just in time too! That might be the government coming to tell us that the zombie apocalypse has begun!" Jumping to his feet, he dashed in the direction the shadow was going.
The other four remaining contestants were standing in front of the destroyed cabin, which still had the giant block of concrete sitting on top of the wreckage. As Shawn joined the group, the camera zoomed out to show the moving shadow over Shawn was actually a zeppelin that seemed to bear Chris' McLean-brand logo at the nose. Beardo, Sammy, and Topher all oohed in terrified awe.
"Okay, this might be cause for alarm," Shawn began to say as he joined them, "the government's probably here to- ah!" His train of thought thoroughly halted when an anchor came crashing down on his foot.
While she enjoyed Shawn's pain, Scarlett walked past him, tapping her chin as she looked up at the aircraft. "A zeppelin? Not my first choice of aircraft considering its slow speed- ugh!" Much like the anchor interrupting Shawn, a ramp came down on Scarlett.
"Wrong, Scarlett! It's the McLean Mobile Air Command Center, where I will recline in luxury while you compete in today's challenge- an aerial obstacle course!" Chris corrected from the door of the zeppelin, disembarking with Chef while Scarlett groaned underneath the ramp, the redhead's feet sticking out from underneath.
Topher beamed as Beardo and Sammy helped Shawn with the anchor, "An aerial challenge? Awesome! I don't think the show's done one like that before. The ratings are going to be sky high!"
"You got that right, Tophe!" Chris pointed at him with double finger guns. "And they're going to be even more sky high with today's guest! Here to demonstrate, please put your hands together for Total Drama classic competitor, Heather!"
Heather stepped into the doorway, her hair back to its original season one length and a scowl on her face.
Beardo, Sammy, and Shawn all murmured in shock, quite intimidated by the former player. Topher, on the other hand, looked just about as ecstatic as Chris was.
Scarlett groaned more as Heather descended the ramp.
"Wow, you're the Heather?" Sammy spoke up, her fear giving way to pleasant surprise. "I just mentioned you to Scarlett the other day, but I had no idea you'd actually show up!"
Heather rolled her eyes at the good twin's comment. "Sorry, I have this policy of not talking to losers."
"Just because we're newer to the game than you, doesn't mean we're automatically losers," Sammy replied, glaring at Heather for the rude response.
Interrupting the conversation, Chris explained, "Heather will now demonstrate the aerial challenge while wearing a jetpack."
Heather grunted as Chef dropped Chris' regular jetpack onto her shoulders, and he pressed a button on a remote. Heather's face morphed into an expression of horror when the jetpack ignited, and she took off into the air. The campers watched with concern as Heather went on to demonstrate, Scarlett joining them with an air of irritation as she rubbed her sore head.
The former contestant screamed as she haphazardly flew through several rings of fire before circling back towards the zeppelin. Her screams only got louder when the jetpack sputtered, and she began to spiral out of control.
"Everyone just be cool," Chris calmly addressed the campers still watching Heather, "There's a parachute built into it."
The campers proceeded to wince as Heather dove face first into the ground a few feet in front of them, and the parachute popped out only after she had crashed.
The host chuckled, "Best challenge ever!"
The other campers watched as Beardo hesitantly pulled the parachute up, and looked underneath. "She's not dead or anything, but this challenge just seems really unsafe," Beardo said, knowing what the others were thinking.
"No, it's totally unsafe!" Chris clarified with a laugh. He then raised a finger to add an extra point. "Did I mention you'll also be attacked by flying, mutant, fire-breathing goats?" He asked as casually as if one would ask what another was doing that weekend.
Shawn, Sammy, Scarlett, and Topher all gasped in shock. Beardo instead glared at Chris, stomping his foot.
"That's it!" The human soundboard exclaimed. "I've been quiet for most of this game, but I have to say something now! No way I'm doing that. Beardo is out, y'all!"
Chris smirked at Beardo's defiance. "Okay, but before you go, you can say goodbye to this!" Reaching down beside him, the host held up the briefcase holding the million dollars, and opened it, showing off stacks of money inside. "The ultimate Total Drama prize- one million dollars!" A breeze flew a few dollars out of the briefcase. "Give or take."
Beardo popped over by Chris, looking at the money as if he had found the most perfect DJ-ing equipment in the world. "So much coin… alright, Beardo is in!"
"Count me in, too!" Sammy added, pointing at herself with her thumb. She sent a sideways scowl at Scarlett. "I need to make sure a certain liar doesn't win!"
"I highly doubt your ability to emerge victorious over me," Scarlett responded, not even fazed by Sammy's proclamation. "Although, if you feel like risking your game just to get back at me, please do so. That'll make your defeat much more simple and satisfying."
(Confessional- Sammy)
"Scarlett brings out the same anger in me that Amy does," Sammy said as she stood in the confessional outhouse instead of sitting like she usually does. "I don't like being mad, but Scarlett voted off my best friend and reminds me of my horrible sister. People like them need to be taken down a peg."
Handing the case to Chef, Chris continued to relay more instructions, "Now, to perform your aerial feats, you'll first have to construct your very own flying machines!"
Topher leaned over to Scarlett conspiratorially. "Hey," he whispered, "you're smart. If I help you stay away from getting cornered at elimination, will you help me build my machine?"
"Build it yourself," Scarlett snapped in an equally quiet tone. "I work alone."
"For now," Topher smirked.
(Confessional- Topher)
"This whole season, I've been wondering who our Heather, Courtney, or Alejandro is," Topher admitted, sitting with one leg propped up on the toilet seat beside him. "At first I thought it might've been Max, but he was kinda… Max. Part of me worried that we might've voted them off already, and the season would be boring. But after seeing Scarlett these last few eliminations, I've realized it must be her," he stated with a wide grin.
Putting his leg down from the seat, he faced the camera directly. "So, my plan is to keep her in the game just a little bit longer, to make her think she's safe until the end, but at the final three or four, I surprise her and become the cause of her elimination. I do that, and I instantly join the ranks of the Total Drama greats."
(Confessional- Scarlett)
"I don't need Topher's help," Scarlett immediately said when the confessionals switched. "I have a plan, and if I stick to that, my victory is guaranteed. Though, it might benefit me to string him along for extra assurance."
(Confessional- Sammy)
"So I have to beat Scarlett in something I've never attempted before," Sammy summarized, rubbing her arm nervously. "You know what? That's okay. I nearly did it the other day, and I can do it again."
(Confessional- Shawn)
Shawn shrugged as his confessional began. "So, it wasn't the government coming to warn us about the zombie apocalypse, but the challenge is just as important. I need to-"
(Confessional- Topher)
"-win this challenge-" Topher stated while pounding a fist down into an outstretched palm.
(Confessional- Sammy)
"-kick Scarlett's butt-" Sammy declared, curling her hands into fists as a determined expression formed on her face.
(Confessional- Scarlett)
"-outwit the others-" Scarlett added simply with a knowing eyebrow raised.
(Confessional- Beardo)
"-and win that million!" Beardo concluded his statement with a sigh, and then slapped his hand to his forehead. "What have I gotten myself into?"
After the final bit of static from the rapid confessionals disappeared, the scene had changed to an area with many huge piles of random junk. The camera panned over the piles until Chris and the contestants were found standing amongst them. Chris was wearing yellow rubber gloves, and a fly-ridden trash bag sat at his feet.
"Welcome to your one-stop shop for flying machine parts- the dump!" Chris announced as the camera zoomed in on him. "Revolting," he commented as he picked up the bag and held it out, "and reasonably priced." While the camera panned over the grossed-out faces of the contestants, Chris explained, "Each player will pick a card representing their mode of flight. Pick 'em like your nose, losers!" The host then gagged as he opened the bag.
Shawn stepped forward first, and reached into the bag. He sloshed his arm around in whatever was inside before pulling out a card. The card had a picture of a helicopter on it. "A helicopter? Well, there's worse flight transportation for escaping the zombie apocalypse."
As Shawn moved forward, Scarlett approached the bag next, and wrinkled her nose as she reached for a card. Her card had the picture of a plane. "A plane? Time-consuming, but not out of my area of knowledge."
Beardo put his hand into the bag next, and pulled out a card with a picture of a rocket. "A rocket? How about dang near impossible?"
"I can't imagine getting something worse than a rocket," Sammy thought out loud as she reached for a card next. When she pulled her hand out, her card had a hot-air balloon. "A hot-air balloon? Oh em gee, that is better than a rocket. Sorry, Beardo." She added sympathetically as she walked past Chris.
Topher was last in line. He reached into the bag, and pulled out his card. On the card was a picture of a bird. "A bird? Fitting for someone who's going to soar over all the others," he quipped pleasantly before joining the others.
With all the players having their cards, Chris dropped the bag to address them. "The first camper to show me their finished flying machine wins an advantage- a McLean-brand smoke machine!" He gestured to Chef nearby, holding said advantage. "Use it as a smokescreen, smoke bees out of your attic, or just create spooky ambiance," he advertised as Chef showed off the item. "Check it!"
Chef pressed a button on top of the machine, and white smoke blew out of the machine, causing the contestants to cough as it blew right in their faces.
"Sweet, right?" Chris asked, not caring how they were reacting to the smoke. "The first to finish their contraption wins that smoky bad boy. Okay, campers, prepare to get your dump on… now!"
At the signal, the contestants immediately split up to go separate ways.
Jogging alongside Sammy after going off to the camera's left, Shawn spoke up, "So, Jasmine told me to help you out if you need it. Need some help? I know my way around building stuff."
"Um, what did you have in mind?" Sammy asked, glancing at him.
"You're building a hot-air balloon, right? Try to find something you can stand or sit in, some really big sheets, and something to burn hot air into the sheets."
Sammy blinked at him. "Oh! Is that all a hot-air balloon needs? Thanks, Shawn! That's really helpful."
Shawn smiled at her. "Just doing what Jasmine asked."
Beardo then jogged up behind them. "Hey, either of you guys know how to build a rocket?"
Bent over at the waist, Topher rummaged through an old oil drum, tossing parts left and right. Soon after throwing out the last part, he pulled his upper body out of the drum.
"Ugh, how am I going to build a bird?" The aspiring TV host lamented.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you need to build a bird," Scarlett spoke up, causing Topher to look to his right, the camera zooming out to show Scarlett walking past with her card in hand. "I believe you're supposed to build wings. That's how birds fly, after all."
Topher nodded in realization, "Oh… good point. Thanks!"
"Of course," Scarlett waved her hand behind her as she focused on her card in her other. "Hm… a plane… I'll need a cockpit, a propeller, an engine, and a set of wings for myself." Looking up from her card, she saw a purple couch at the base of a pile as a triumphant jingle played. "I suppose I found my cockpit." She looked around, and saw some steel plates at the base of another pile as the jingle played a second time. "I suppose I found my wings as well." Scanning her eyes around the junkyard once more, she spotted a propeller at the base of another pile as the jingle played again. "My propeller? Finding three out of the four things I require in the same moment is highly coincidental."
The scene flash-transitioned to Beardo walking amongst the junk, groaning. "Build a rocket? How's a guy supposed to do that in one afternoon? This ain't a cartoon." In the midst of his distracted thoughts, he bumped face first into something metal. "Ow! What the?" He winced, rubbing his forehead, and then blinked as he realized what he had just walked into.
Beardo had walked right into a jet engine.
Staring with wide-eyes, Beardo's jaw dropped, an anchor-dropping sound coming out of it.
Topher laid down a set of wings that looked eerily like the wings from Gwen's bike from the season one bike race on an abandoned desk. "Okay, I've got wings. Now the question is how do I wear them?" Tapping his chin thoughtfully, he looked down at the wings. "Maybe I should see if I can find a harness of some kind…" Deciding to try that, he walked away from his workspace, still tapping his chin.
As Topher walked across the screen in search of something to help him wear his wings, Sammy and Shawn were hard at work building their flying machines in the background. Once Topher had passed, the camera zoomed in on the two.
Sammy attempted to tie a burner to a wheelchair as Shawn tugged what looked like Chef's old motorcycle into the workspace. Finally reaching the area, Shawn let out a loud exhale of relief as he dropped the old bike to the ground.
Sammy looked up, raising an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"
"Building a helicopter," Shawn answered while glancing at her. The conspiracy nut pointed to the motorcycle. "I wasn't able to find a cockpit for a regular helicopter, so I thought I could use this and put the blades underneath instead. I saw a fan on my way back that looked big enough for this to sit on."
"Oh, that sounds like it could work, I guess." Sammy took her hands away from the burner, and smiled when she saw it stayed where it was underneath all the ropes and knots. "There, that should hold."
Shawn smirked, "Hey, that looks really good. Just get a big enough thing of fabric for a balloon, and you'll be good to go."
"You think so? I hope so. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I win the advantage and Scarlett's a step closer to losing." The cheerleader twin looked around. "What would make a good balloon?"
"Why are you so suddenly against Scarlett?" Shawn asked as she walked past him to search a junk pile next to his work area. "I get that she eliminated Jasmine, and that you two were friends. I'm mad too, but this still seems a bit weird."
Sammy sighed, throwing one thing to the side as she looked. "You had to be there. Scarlett tricked me into helping her vote off Sky, and then she left me hanging at that totem pole… People like Scarlett shouldn't win competitions like this. Yet, the last two ceremonies have gone her way. With how many people are left, I'm worried what that means for the rest of us, especially with her mentioning a safety net- whatever that means."
"Safety net?" Shawn repeated, his brow furrowing.
"Yeah," the cheerleader twin looked up at him, "when I confronted her at Mount Chrismore the other day, she mentioned that she had a safety net in case the merge wasn't going like she planned. I still don't understand what she meant by that, though."
Shawn stared at her for a moment before smacking his forehead, gnashing his teeth in the process. "Seriously?! You didn't know what she was talking about?"
"Um, no?"
Shawn frowned at her, pulling his hand away from his face. "She was clearly talking about the invincibility statue! If she wasn't immune from the vote and most of the votes were for her, she could pull that thing out and save herself. That's what she meant by having a safety net."
Sammy gasped, turning to him. "You don't think she really has it, do you?"
"I do," Shawn nodded, starting to pace. "Chris said two challenges ago that the statue was found, so we can assume that nobody found it before then because he made that announcement otherwise he would've announced it was found sooner. Your team lost two challenges ago, right? Did anybody use the statue?"
"No," Sammy shook her head, watching him pace back and forth. "And nobody used it at the last ceremony either, we were all there."
"Right, which means that the statue should still be in play. And considering what she told you, we can only assume that she's the statue's holder."
"Okay, but there's one other thing we have to figure out. Who's her next target? She obviously set up the last two eliminations, so what's her next move?" Sammy pointed out.
Shawn tapped his chin. "Scarlett's smart, so there has to be a pattern. What did Sky and Jasmine have in common?"
Sammy thought for a moment, and then gasped once more. "When she convinced me to vote for Sky!"
"Total Drama is more of a physical game than a mental one," Scarlett reasoned, tapping the side of her head for emphasis. "Our own games are better off if we eliminate the strong ones before they can do the same to us. Just something I'd think about." Her final word on the subject said, Scarlett began to wade into the swamp.
Sammy exchanged wide-eyed glances of realization with Shawn as the flashback ended. "She's going after…"
"Me," Shawn concluded with a gulp.
Scarlett growled as pounded the propeller into place on the front of the couch with a wooden mallet she had found lying around. "You better stay put," she sneered at the part before putting down the mallet and climbing up into her makeshift cockpit, closing the cushion that acted as a door. She thrust a lever on the engine that had been put in place of a cushion, and the makeshift plane sputtered to life as the propeller began to spin. "Success!" The genius redhead grinned, and then looked over the side of her contraption. "Going to need wheels to help lift off, though."
Beardo connected some wires and then used a wrench to tighten some bolts. "I really hope that holds…" he murmured to himself, climbing out of the jet engine's internal workings. A lounge chair and a joystick were now fastened to the top of the jet engine, and he took a seat in the chair. Grabbing hold of the joystick, he pressed the button on top.
The jet engine whirred to life, turbine spinning. It seemed to build up power until the sound petered out.
"Aw man, for real?" The human soundboard moaned.
At Topher's work area, he had attached the wings to an old parachute pack he found, and was fastening the harness of the pack on.
"Sweet," he smiled as he slipped his arms through the grips of the wings. "Now to fly to Chris and get that advantage!" Getting a running start as he flapped his wings, he jumped up, flapped his wings several times only to crash to the ground. "Ow!"
A flash fast-forwarded to Sammy and Shawn's work area. The camera panned from the top of Sammy's inflated makeshift hot-air balloon down to the ground where she and Shawn stood. Beside Shawn was the motorcycle he had found on top of a large fan with ropes laying around the base.
"That looks great! I'm surprised you found enough material for the balloon," Shawn said.
"I know, lucky find." Sammy agreed, and then clambered onto her flying contraption. "Now to make sure Scarlett doesn't get that advantage. Mind untethering me?"
Shawn bobbed his head. "Sure thing!" Kneeling down next to the post Sammy's balloon was tethered to, he pulled the rope around the post, releasing it. No longer tied to the ground, Sammy's balloon began to rise.
"It's working! I did it!" Sammy cheered, glancing down at Shawn below. With a grin, she pulled at the control of her balloon, and navigated it in a certain direction.
Down on the ground, Chris smiled as Sammy lowered her balloon in his vicinity.
"Is this okay?" She asked Chris politely.
Chris nodded appraisingly. "Yep, that's a hot-air balloon." Raising a megaphone in his hand, he announced, "We have a winner! Sammy gets first, and gets a smoke machine!"
Various sounds of protest piped up from all over the junkyard.
Sammy pumped her fists. "Woohoo! I did it!" In her excitement, she lost balance on her seat, and fell out, her foot catching the leg rest. She ended up hanging from her contraption upside down, nearly face to face with Chris. Noticing gravity was starting to overturn her cheerleading skirt, she yelped, and quickly corrected it with her hands. "Don't look!" She pleaded with Chris.
Chuckling, Chris turned to the camera. "Who will fly high? Who will crash and burn?"
From far off a rocket engine's roar could be heard, along with the sounds of Beardo's screams, before both cut off by a loud crash.
"Literally," Chris continued, rather pleased with Beardo's unfortunate accident, "And how many Gemmies will I win for this episode? Find out when we return on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
"Um, can someone help me?" Sammy requested as the show faded to commercial.
When the show faded back in, the contestants were lined up and apparently ready with their flying machines. Topher was ready on the far end with his pack of wings, Scarlett to his left (the camera's right) with her couch-plane, Sammy to her left with her hot-air balloon once again tethered to a post in the ground, Shawn to her left with his motorcycle helicopter, and Beardo on the end with his jet engine.
Scarlett finished final inspections of her plane before walking over to where Sammy stood, holding her newly won advantage of a smoke machine.
"So, you won an advantage," Scarlett said as she approached Sammy, an unimpressed expression on her face. Sammy frowned at her tone. "It doesn't matter. You may have built your machine the quickest, but it'll still be the slowest in the sky."
"Don't talk like you already know the results of the challenge, Scarlett," Sammy snapped.
Scarlett held up a hand. "I'm just saying that your aircraft was meant for ascending and descending, not flying horizontally through rings, which we saw was the challenge earlier. With how inferior you are to me, I fail to see how you can possibly succeed over me in this challenge."
Glaring at Scarlett, Sammy said no more words, and instead held up her smoke machine, pressing the button on it to release smoke right into Scarlett's face. Scarlett began to cough and hack, raising her sleeve to her mouth and backing away from Sammy.
(Confessional- Sammy)
Standing in the outhouse, Sammy let out a noise of displeasure as she clenched her hands into fists. "She sounds so much like my sister… they could be a set of pom-poms!"
When the static cleared, the scene was focused on the rings that Heather had previously flown through, Chris' zeppelin flying in the background.
"Players, prepare to be challenged in the obstacle course of doom!" Chris announced from the zeppelin via megaphone.
Up in the zeppelin, Chris and Chef chuckled, looking out the window of the zeppelin's gondola at the course. Heather stood behind them, disinterested at the challenge at hand. When she looked over her shoulder away from the window, she noticed the case holding the prize money sitting next to a pair of crates full of Gemmie awards.
Heather smirked darkly, her mind forming a plan.
Down on the ground, Beardo patted his rocket on the side right before Shawn hopped down from his helicopter.
"We need to make sure Scarlett doesn't win today," Shawn told Beardo in a hushed voice, getting straight to the point. Beardo's eyebrows shot up as Shawn elaborated, "after that, we need to vote for her to flush out the invincibility statue. Samey and I are voting her off. Can you do the same?"
"Flush out the invincibility statue?" Beardo parroted, a shocked look in his eyes. "Are you sure she has it?"
Shawn nodded his head. "Positive. I know we haven't been the closest teammates since day one, but Samey and I could really use your help. You in?"
Beardo went silent, and looked up past Shawn. The viewpoint cut to Sammy and Scarlett, glaring at each other while standing by their respective contraptions. Past Scarlett, Topher gave his wings an experimental flap.
When the viewpoint switched back to him, Beardo reached out and grabbed Shawn's hand. "I'm in."
(Confessional- Beardo)
"This whole season, I've been standing back and avoiding the drama as much as I could," Beardo lamented, nervously tapping his fingers together before staring at the camera. "Now Shawn's asking me to help with a major game move? This might be just the thing I need to step in and finally get involved."
Chris continued to chuckle as he and Chef watched from the zeppelin. "Wow, looks like they really hate each other now," he mentioned in reference to Sammy and Scarlett. "Beardo and Topher could be a bit more involved, but I smell another Gemmie coming on."
He had no idea how accurate the phrase was in more ways than one. Heather snuck up behind the two men with one of Chris' awards in hand, and slammed it on the backs of their heads. The two men grunted in pain as the scene cut to outside the zeppelin.
Suddenly, the side door of the gondola opened, and Chris was sent falling out, followed by Chef.
"One Gemmie for you," Heather declared as she poked her head out the door, holding the award in one hand and the case in the other, "and one million for me." With her declaration, she slammed the door shut.
Both men screamed as they fell down towards the junkyard. From afar, the cameras recorded as Chris and Chef landed in the junkyard, letting out cries of 'Oof!' upon impact.
On the ground underneath Chef, Chris groaned, "I think I sprained my stubble…"
"Chris," Shawn spoke up as the camera zoomed out to show Shawn standing beside the two fallen men, "Heather's stealing your mobile air command center."
"Whatever," Chris responded passively, "got it at the air force garage sale."
"And my million dollars!" Scarlett added furiously, sliding over to the host and shoving Shawn over Chef.
"Whatever, not my million bucks."
Topher then walked over, interjecting, "And all your Gemmie awards~!"
That point seemed to snap Chris out of his passive behavior as he suddenly became outraged. "My Gemmies!" He roared, pulling himself out from underneath Chef and Shawn and taking an aggressive stance. "Cancel the obstacle course of doom! Your new challenge is to stop that zeppelin!"
Up on the blimp, Heather leaned out the side door, shouting, "Don't try to stop me! I've got gold statuettes, and I'm not afraid to use them!" Making good on her threat, she tossed two down.
"I've got you my preciouses!" Chris cried out, racing to catch them. He disappeared behind piles of junk, and two noises rang out, signaling that the awards had clocked him in the head.
(Confessional- Topher)
"I knew the moment Heather stepped off the blimp this morning that things were going to get interesting. I mean, Heather's ruthless. As if she's just going to make a visit to the island without trying to take the money," Topher pointed out before humming in thought. "I wonder if Chris would notice an award or two missing…"
Chris returned to the contestants, both awards in hand and a giant bruise on top of his disheveled head. "Get your flying machines airborne, and shoot down that zeppelin! Aim for the engine!" He said immediately upon return. As he explained what to do, Chef, also on his feet, returned with a basket full of blue eggs. "Here's your ammo- flying mutant, fire-breathing mountain goat eggs."
Scarlett fixed her glasses on her face. "According to my studies of animal biology, mountain goats are mammals. They don't lay eggs."
"They also don't breathe fire, unless they live here," Chris countered smugly, chuckling. "Thank you, toxic waste!"
The contestants sent each other strange glances.
"Whoever takes down Heather wins immunity. Oh, and look out for the flying mutant, fire-breathing mountain goats. They're super ticked for some reason." As Chris mentioned this warning, Chef whistled innocently when Chris looked at him.
A flash transitioned to a flashback of the mountain goats resting in their nests on a cliff when Chef rappelled down to them, and sounded an air horn. The noise frightened them, and they flew away, leaving their eggs unguarded.
Grinning, Chef threw away the horn, and picked up an egg.
When the scene returned to the present, Scarlett was seen climbing into her plane. "Even with the change in objective, Samey will still not reach the zeppelin before I do. This is going to be an easy win." Smirking, Scarlett pulled the lever of her engine, and her plane started up. The wheels on her plane started to roll forward, and as her aircraft began to pick up speed, it started to leave the ground.
Sitting in her balloon, Sammy tugged at her rope tether, pulling her close to the ground. "There's no way Scarlett's going to stop Heather before we do," she said as she got close enough to her tethering post to unhook her rope. Once the rope was free of the post, Sammy pulled at her burner's lever to rise higher in the air. "Shawn, come on!"
"Right behind you!" Shawn called back, hopping onto the seat of his helicopter. Revving the engine, his helicopter began to float as the engine roared to life.
The camera zoomed out as Sammy and Shawn's flying machines rose up over the junkyard, and started in the direction of the stolen zeppelin and Scarlett's plane.
Sitting on top of his rocket, Beardo jiggled his joystick while pressing the button on it. "Come on! Work, please work!"
After several failed attempts to start up, one final click of the button seemed to do the trick.
The jet whirred to life, and Beardo beamed. "Yes! Finally!" Just as he finished his exclamation, the jet zoomed out of its resting place. Beardo was moving so fast that the force of the jet engine's speed was pushing him into his chair. Despite the strong resistance, he managed to pull back on the joystick, and the jet engine began to climb into the air.
Sammy and Shawn gaped as Beardo whizzed past them, both shaken by the sheer force of his speed.
Scarlett had caught up to the zeppelin, and was arming herself with an egg.
"Alright, time to secure another victory," she murmured to herself. Just as she was about to throw, she heard-
"Look out!"
Scarlett looked up, and gasped as Beardo sped past her, blowing her plane off-balance.
"Gah! Watch where you're flying!" She reprimanded, clinging to her spinning plane for dear life.
"Sorry!" Beardo called, attempting to make his rocket circle around when it cruised out in front of the zeppelin. At that point, he seemed to be getting control of his machine.
(Confessional- Beardo)
"Okay, that was an accident," Beardo said carefully in the outhouse, "but since we need to make sure Scarlett doesn't win, I'll say I did that on purpose." He gave an awkward smile before the confessional ended.
As both Beardo and Scarlett attempted to regain control over their respective transports, Sammy and Shawn approached the zeppelin.
"Hand over that million, Heather!" Sammy shouted, tossing an egg at the zeppelin.
"Yeah, and the blimp too!" Shawn added, throwing an egg of his own.
Both eggs bounced harmlessly off the zeppelin's balloon.
Inside the gondola, Heather laughed at their attempts.
When the pair saw that the eggs had no effect, Shawn frowned as he held one up. "Chris should've known that the eggs wouldn't work."
"Got any other ideas?" Sammy called over to him.
"This just in!" A new voice cut in, and the pair looked behind them. The camera cut to Topher, apparently now in the air and flapping his attached wings. "Topher is in the air! In other news, so are the goats!" The camera zoomed out to show, hovering a few feet away from Topher were the three mutant, flying goats that Chef had stolen the eggs from. "And they're extra mad!"
The goats bleated, and began to spew fire from their mouths. Topher yelped, and dove out of their way.
"Hey, don't be mad at us! We weren't the ones that took your eggs!" Sammy yelled at the goats as she and Shawn maneuvered to avoid the flames.
"Yeah, the guy who owns the blimp? He stole the eggs," Shawn explained, pointing at the zeppelin. "Be mad at him instead!"
The goats seemed to take the advice, and flew up to the zeppelin.
Topher flew back up, joining Shawn and Sammy in their airspace. "Manipulative! I like it," he praised Shawn.
The goats began to swarm the gondola, and Heather gasped, running to the side door. She leaned out, holding more Gemmie awards. "You want a piece of me? Huh?" Clearly irritated, she started to throw the statuettes.
Sammy held her arms up, covering her face as the statuettes bounced off her balloon. "Hey, watch it! Those could puncture my balloon!"
Shawn frowned, twisting the handlebar of his helicopter. "I've got your back, Samey!" He flew his machine in front of Sammy's balloon, and started navigating it in front of every statuette that came their way, even spinning the helicopter to knock one away.
"I'll take a couple of those, thank you!" Topher sang cheerfully, catching one and then another either from Heather herself or off of Shawn's rebound.
At that point, Sammy heard the familiar sound of a plane, and looked ahead. "Oh no, Scarlett's coming around again!"
Indeed, Scarlett had flown ahead of the zeppelin, and was now turning around for another circle.
"If she's found a way to take out the blimp, we're screwed!" Shawn shouted.
Topher flew up beside the two again. "What's the big deal? Scarlett winning immunity can't mean the end of the world, can it?"
"Actually, it can!" Shawn replied, shooting Topher a look out of the corner of his eye.
Sammy looked up at Topher pleadingly. "Scarlett has the invincibility statue! If we don't make her play it now, she has a chance of reaching the finale!"
"Scarlett has the statue?!" Topher repeated before grinning. "That gives me an idea! Samey, find a way to keep Scarlett from stopping the blimp! Shawn, ram your helicopter into the front!"
"What? What good will that do?"
"Just trust me!" Topher then flew away from the pair.
"You have any idea what he's thinking?" Sammy asked Shawn.
"No clue, but it might be our only shot if we want to stay in the game!" Shawn answered, shrugging helplessly before flying on ahead.
Sammy watched him go for a moment before looking at the smoke machine in her lap. A scowl formed on her face not too different from Amy's usual one.
Scarlett tilted her lever back, and snickered sinisterly to herself as her plane began to rise up towards the zeppelin. "She won't see me coming from down here."
"Hey, Scarlett!" Sammy's voice called out, making Scarlett blink as she tilted her head curiously.
Sammy lifted the smoke machine in her hands.
"How's this for inferior?" The cheerleader twin quipped, throwing the smoke machine down with all her might.
Scarlett gasped in a close-up of her face, her eyes going wide. The scene zoomed out, just in time to see the smoke machine collide with her propeller. The contact resulted in Scarlett screaming as her plane exploded, herself falling out of the sky with only a couch cushion.
(Confessional- Scarlett)
Scarlett sat rigidly, her hands out in front of her and both hands along with one of her eyes frequently twitching. "Must… stick… with… plan!"
Sammy sighed blissfully, looking down and watching Scarlett fall. "That felt so good…"
"Watch out!" Beardo's voice rang out.
"Huh?" Sammy looked up, and screamed. The camera zoomed out on her contraption this time as Beardo's rocket flew right past her balloon, sending it into a frenzied spin. Sammy shrieked as her balloon began to spin rapidly.
"Sorry!" Beardo apologized loudly as he pulled on his joystick. "Man, just when I thought I had the hang of this." He might've been pulling a little too much on the joystick during his time in the air because the joystick snapped in two. "Aw, for real?" He began to scream as his rocket began to incline even more. By the time it passed the zeppelin, it was vertical enough for Beardo to fall out of his seat. He grunted as he bounced off, fell down past the zeppelin, and managed to snag his hand on the chair of Sammy's balloon.
The force from his fall was enough to make the balloon stop spinning, and was enough to jerk Sammy out of her seat.
Sammy's screams continued as she fell.
Seeing what had happened, Beardo reached out his hand that wasn't hanging onto Sammy's balloon helplessly. "Samey!"
Sammy's screams cut off abruptly when she landed on something furry.
Opening her eyes, Sammy blinked, and she noticed she was on the back of one of the goats. "Um, nice goat?" She said kindly.
The goat bleated, and started flying around to try and shake her off.
"No! Please don't! Bad goat! Bad goat!" Sammy shrieked as the goat flew every which way. From afar, Beardo watched her as he successfully climbed up into Sammy's chair. "STOP!" Sammy exclaimed, grabbing hold of the goat's horns and pulling roughly.
The goat bleated once more, grimacing at the pain Sammy was inflicting on it. Almost instantly, it obeyed Sammy, and stopped to hover mid-air.
"That's better," Sammy panted heavily, slumping on the goat's back. "That's much better." Blinking, she looked up as the other two goats joined up. "What the? Do I control them all now?"
Beardo pumped his fist, watching. "Woohoo! Way to go, Samey!"
Shawn glanced down at the handlebars of his helicopter, and thought out loud, "I don't know what kind of plan Topher has, but I hope it's a good one. Yah!" The conspiracy nut did just as Topher told him to, and rammed his helicopter into the front of the zeppelin's gondola.
Heather screeched in horror, diving to the floor and away from the steering wheel as glass shattered around her. When she saw her intruder, she scowled and grabbed the money.
"That was painful," Shawn mumbled to himself. At that point, he noticed Heather walking towards him, and stood upright. "Game over. Hand over that million!"
Looking at him, Heather sniffled. "I'm sorry. All I wanted was the money, but this has gone too far."
Shawn raised an eyebrow at her, caught off-guard by her sudden surrender.
"Here," she continued to say as she held up the case, "just take it."
Still eyeing her, Shawn reached a hand for the case when Heather started swinging it at him. "Ow! What's wrong with you?" he asked between blows until she had him on the floor.
"I was robbed!" Heather complained, giving him the stink-eye. "I deserve this money!" Turning away from Shawn, she moved to head back to steering the gondola.
"The only thing you deserve is a hurl on the catapult!" Shawn shot back, reaching out and grabbing her foot, forcing her to trip.
"Augh, let go of me you smelly creep!"
The duo wrestled for dominance, and for the case. As they fought, the scene transitioned to outside the gondola where Beardo attempted to figure out how Sammy controlled her balloon. Meanwhile, Topher flew up to the gondola.
"Sweet! The coast is clear," Topher grinned while flying up to the side door. He gripped the handle and flung the door open, intending to climb in, but his wings prevented him from doing so. "Ugh, stupid wings." Unclipping his harness, he let the wings drop while he slipped inside the gondola.
The sight Topher was immediately met with was Shawn and Heather wrestling on the floor with the case between them.
"Let go!" Heather demanded.
"Never!" Shawn replied.
Fortunately for him, neither seemed to notice that he had entered. So when he noticed the steering wheel and the control panel, it was easy for him to slip by them to get to it.
"Uh, how do you turn this thing around?" The aspiring TV host wondered to himself. The controls looked all so complicated, and he doubted that the zeppelin would just turn around with a spin of the wheel. Chris did say they didn't have to bring the zeppelin back, just stop it so he could save his awards. "Let's see… Press this, press that, flip this, spin that, and there we go!" Deciding to heck with it, he pressed a few random buttons, flipped a switch, and then spun the steering wheel.
As soon as he did that, the floor underneath all three began to shift. Topher managed to grip the control panel, but Shawn and Heather ended up slamming into the wall.
"Ow!" Heather winced as her back hit the wall. Shawn ended up on top of her, along with the case, and she shoved away both in anger. "Get off of me!"
Shawn stumbled to his feet, clutching the case. Noticing Topher was now present, he asked, "What did you do?"
"Stop the blimp, just like we planned," Topher answered, glancing out the window. "Looks like it worked. This thing's going down!"
"What?!" Heather gasped.
"We gotta get out of here!" Shawn declared, scrambling for the door Topher had come through.
"Hey, me first!"
Topher moved to join them, and all three stumbled out of the rapidly descending zeppelin one by one.
"I don't like falling like this, but at least I still have the case," Shawn commented, holding out the case in front of him.
As if on cue, Chris flew up with his jetpack and claimed the case by the handle. "A million bucks, finders keepers!" Then the host took off again.
"You're welcome!" Shawn sarcastically hollered, putting a hand to his mouth. Something the camera couldn't see stopped his fall. "Huh?"
The camera zoomed out to show Sammy had one of the goats catch him by the back of his jacket.
"You're welcome," Sammy giggled, winking at him.
Shawn blinked, and then smiled at her. "Thanks, Samey!"
Down in the lake, a soaked Scarlett treaded water, using the cushion she had fallen with as a flotation device. She muttered to herself, "Must not change plan… must not change plan…"
Twin screams sounded out from above, and she looked up to see Topher and Heather falling down onto her, causing a big splash.
Afar, Sammy and Shawn could be seen flying back to the island on the goats while Beardo trailed behind in the balloon, the late afternoon sun low and turning the sky orange.
Later that evening, the final five sat in the front row together. Topher sat on the camera's left end with a marshmallow in his hands. Scarlett sat beside him, followed by Beardo, Shawn, and Sammy at the far right end. Like Topher, Shawn also had a marshmallow in his hands. Topher was pleased, Scarlett was indifferent, and Beardo, Shawn, and Sammy
"Elimination time!" Chris announced. "Shawn, you took out Heather, and Topher, you stopped the zeppelin, so you both are safe. The rest of you are on the chopping block. Regular marshmallow means you're safe. Toxic Marshmallow of Loserdom means you're out, and probably mutated. Beardo, you're safe."
Beardo smiled as he caught his marshmallow. Scarlett's scowl instantly deepened while Sammy bit her lip.
"Samey, Scarlett," Chris began to say, "one of you are about to receive the Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom. That person is…"
Scarlett dropped her scowl, and instead smirked, folding her arms over her chest. Sammy noticed this, and her eyes flickered over to Shawn meaningfully. Shawn noticed the gaze she was giving him, and he nodded his head. Sammy then glanced back at Chris.
"…Scarlett!" Chris finally said.
Chef moved to give her the glowing marshmallow when she spoke up. "Actually, I won't be receiving that marshmallow." Scarlett reached behind her, and pulled out the invincibility statue Chris had shown them on the first day. "I have immunity. I had a feeling that I would be the one voted off if I didn't win a challenge, so I made sure to have this on hand just in case."
"The invincibility statue, nice!" Chris complimented.
"She really had it?" Beardo confirmed, his eyebrows shooting up.
Topher threw his marshmallow in his mouth, saying, "Talk about a twist on the usual ceremony."
"I knew it!" Shawn stood up, staring at Scarlett. "I knew the moment Samey said you told her about a safety net. I knew that was it."
"So, I get the Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom now?" Sammy spoke up, hesitant to be saying those words.
"That's exactly what happens," Scarlett smirked as she glanced down at Sammy, lifting a finger. "Let this be a lesson to all of you to not be a thorn in my side." She waved that finger in all of her fellow competitors' faces.
Chris grinned, "Actually, not quite." He held up slips of paper. "Scarlett had three votes, but the other two votes were for one person each, Beardo and Sammy. With the invincibility statue played, that means all votes against Scarlett are now void. It's a tie!"
Topher shot Chris a finger pistol. "Now that's a twist!"
"So how do we decide who leaves now?" Shawn asked.
Chris glanced at Chef. "Well, on World Tour we had a mini challenge right at the elimination ceremony if there was a tie, but I didn't have anything planned for here. Might as well do a re-vote, except this time you can only vote for Beardo or Sammy, and those two can't vote this time." The five campers looked at each other. "So, Topher, Scarlett, and Shawn, get voting."
"You're going to want this marshmallow back," Beardo held out his marshmallow that he had previously received.
The following clips were of Scarlett, Shawn, and Topher each scribbling a name down on a slip of paper in the confessional outhouse.
"The votes have been cast," Chris declared. Holding them up, he read the ballots, "in a vote 2 to 1…"
Beardo stared at the host pleadingly.
Sammy bit her lip again, and started rubbing at her arm.
"The one going home is… Beardo!"
Beardo stood up, pupils shrunk. "Say what?!"
Sammy sighed in relief, Shawn placing his hand on her back comfortingly. Scarlett looked annoyed, and Topher had a poker face.
Looking at the others, Beardo sighed. "You know what? I might not have gotten farther, but I'm glad I got this far. On the first day, I couldn't even speak to y'all, but now? I feel comfortable saying a few words to all of you."
"Sorry it had to be this way, man," Shawn apologized, approaching Beardo and giving him a fist bump.
"No hard feelings?" Topher asked, also approaching to give a fist bump.
Beardo bumped fists with both of them. "Not a one."
Sammy walked up to him, and hugged him goodbye. "Take care, okay?"
"I will." Releasing Sammy's hug, Beardo nodded to Scarlett.
Scarlett nodded back to him. "Had things gone as they were supposed to, you would still be here if that means anything to you."
"Thanks, I think," Beardo acknowledged, though a bit confused.
Chef approached, opening the box containing the Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom again.
Seeing it, Beardo waved it off and walked past him. "No need, I'm going, I'm going."
A flash forward showed him in the Hurl of Shame's bucket. Chris stood by the bucket while Chef stood at the lever.
"Any final words?" Chris inquired.
"It was nice meeting all of you!" Beardo stated as Chef pushed the lever, and the human soundboard disappeared into the night sky.
"And then there were four," Chris began his outro in an extreme close-up of his face. "Who will win the million? Who will get crushed while millions watch and laugh? Find out next time on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
(cue end credits)
Beardo- 5th
Jasmine- 6th
Sky- 7th
Sugar- 8th
Dave- 9th
Rodney- 10th
Max- 11th
Ella- 12th
Amy- 13th
Leonard- 14th
So, Scarlett's plan failed this time, but does this mean it'll work next time? We'll have to wait and see. Beardo's elimination also marks the end of a set of eliminations interesting over the story's development. Funny story, in the original draft I had for the elimination order, Beardo was supposed to be eliminated last episode instead of Jasmine. I'm not entirely sure, but I think my reasoning was because he was originally voted off first in the teams in canon, so he would be first eliminated in the merge since that required him to be more involved with the other competitors. Then before I had solidified the team swap between Jasmine and Sky, Jasmine was originally Scarlett's first planned elimination, and that left Sky slated to be eliminated at the final five. Once the story became more developed, the three of them shifted up an elimination slot (or down two in Sky's case).
Beyond having Beardo last through the first elimination instead of Leonard, I had no idea what I was going to do with Beardo. I suppose as I wrote along, Beardo's story eventually became a story about slowly warming up to the others, hence why it took him until episode three to say a word to the others. Beardo's a shy person, so I imagine he wouldn't want to get himself very involved with these strangers he's only known for less than two or three weeks. By not getting too involved other people's lives and only helping out when he was asked, he became a very UTR character. Now that he was in the merge, and couldn't hide behind the rest of his team's tension, he was thrust into the spotlight and was forced to get involved. As one can see, that backfired spectacularly in a way.
Review in the box below, and remember, reviews are awesome! Oh, and happy holidays! Consider this episode my holiday gift to you, my readers! See you all in 2018!