SideshowJazz1: Every character has their flaws. Scarlett thinks because she represents one extreme, she needs to eliminate those that possibly represent the other extreme or those that share her extreme. If she is the only extreme, she is more likely to win. Good points on why she might go after Shawn or Sammy in the next vote. As for a girl-girl finale? We'll have to see.
The Phenomenal Flair (previously known as OmniPlanckInstant): Yeah, underestimating Sammy was a mistake on Scarlett's part. And yeah, the invincibility statue was the safety net. Unlike canon, where it was used immediately after it was found, I wanted to save it for a dramatic twist. Topher should definitely not be underestimated; everyone can be a surprising player when given the chance. Topher's success in Cast Swap is largely attributed to his lack of ability to talk with Chris. Because the challenges are action-oriented and Chris is watching from far off, Topher can't really ditch the challenge to try and speak with him. Heather will probably learn to respect people around her age someday when she's off her high school power trip, at least until she gets an executive position in a company or something. Yeah, Chris is ultimately the main villain of the series, but since he's not a contestant, opportunities to knock him down a peg need to be taken sometimes to even the score.
Nicky Haugh: Thank you!
That British Guy: Yeah, that's one of Topher's flaws. Sorry that you're going to miss Beardo.
Fear the Darkness Inside: Thank you, and kudos to you for recognizing the tiebreaker. I put that in as the tiebreaker because Total Drama is based off that show, and I wanted a quick way to break the tie and get the elimination I wanted. Interesting final two prediction and reasons why you think that to be the case. Yeah, Chris is going to be pretty pissed with Shawn. It's going to be fun to watch!
sdgeek: I aim to surprise!
SilentSinger948: Interesting final two prediction. We'll have to wait and see if you're right. Yeah, it's a nice sight to see Sammy confident, and yes, Shawn's got trouble on his hands.
Joel Connell: Unexpected is what I was going for. Commando Sammy is possible, but you'll have to wait and see if it happens. As for Sammy being Gwen's friend in All-Stars, I cannot answer that question because spoilers. I'll consider doing an ending that explains what happened to all three generations, but it depends on what ends up happening to the canon series in the future and how I want to end my story.
The Fat Albert: Thank you for the compliment! Thanks for the predictions too.
sunset: Thank you! Wait no longer because the next episode is here!
RedHornedUnicowz: In Sammy's defense, she was caught up in her confrontation with Scarlett so she didn't make the connection until Shawn brought it up.
Fangren: Thank you! I understand you're not completely sold on Scarlett's plan. I thought that considering she doesn't really like other people, she'd prefer working on her own when the game allows her to do so and she'd finally be able to stop playing nice. Thank you for your final two prediction. Time will tell if your prediction is right. Also, thank you for being my 100th review on this story! Thanks to you, I was able to close out 2017 with a solid 100 reviews on this story, and that made me so happy!
Now with the reviews out of the way, it's time to cook some mutated food and hunt some dorks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama, or anything in the franchise. I only own a DVD of season one, and a few Total Drama shirts.
Episode 11- Eat, Puke, and Be Wary
"Previously on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island," Chris narrated as clips of the previous episode began to play. "An epic air battle turned into an epic fail when Samey crashed Scarlett's ride and her chances of winning. Beardo and Topher attempted to join Shawn and Samey in taking down Scarlett, but Scarlett was immune thanks to the invincibility statue.
"A tie in votes occurred," the host continued over a clip of the campers staring at him in shock as he gave the news, "and a re-vote was in session. After weeks of flying under everyone's radar, Beardo got put in the spotlight, and got hurled."
A flash cut to the present, where two kites were seen floating in the wind. The viewpoint shifted to show that Chris and Chef were the two kites' fliers.
"We're down to the final four. Who's going to the finals, and who's going to be cut loose?" Chris took out a pair of scissors, and snipped the line of Chef's kite. He chuckled as the kite crashed into the lake, and Chef gave him a glare. "Yeah, like that. Find out right here on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
(cue intro)
Three pink birds chirped happily together on a tree branch. A laser squirrel scampered up the tree trunk to their level, and zapped the poor things, making them explode in a pile of feathers. The squirrel chittered mischievously as the camera panned down to the ground with the feathers.
Sammy picked one out of the air, and stared at it as she followed behind Shawn. After a moment, she looked up. "Shawn, do we really have to talk strategy all the way out here?"
Holding up one hand, Shawn stopped in his tracks, making Sammy do the same as he proceeded to bend down and examine one of his traps he was setting up at the beginning of the previous episode. "Yes, we do. Scarlett could be trying to follow us and eavesdrop on our plans. We need as much space between her and us as possible. Also," he said as he stood upright, and gestured for Sammy to follow him again, "I want to make sure all of my traps are still in working order, and that none were set off by anything other than a zombie."
"You really don't like zombies, do you?"
"Nope," Shawn answered, popping the 'p' in his answer. "Ever since I first learned about them when I was little, they've been my mortal enemy." He paused for a moment as he considered that sentence. "Actually, make that immortal enemy since they're already dead. Anyway, now that we flushed out Scarlett's invincibility statue, we just need to prevent her from winning the next challenge so we can vote her off."
"Sounds easy," Sammy commented with a smile, and then frowned. "I just hope the next challenge isn't a mental one, otherwise we might actually be in trouble."
Shawn nodded. "Yeah, that's a concern of mine too." Stopping again, he held out his hand to signal Sammy to do the same. "Stop! Pit trap." At Sammy's curious look over his shoulder, Shawn stuck out his foot and tapped it against the ground three times until the trap gave way and showed itself. "Ninety-nine percent sure that zombies can't climb, so ya know, hole."
(Confessional- Sammy)
"While Shawn and I were on different teams, I thought he was kinda strange," Sammy admitted meekly, almost as if she was unsure she should be making a comment like that about Shawn. "Once Jasmine left and she asked him to help me out, I've found out that he's kinda cool once you get to know him, and he's a lot like Jasmine in several ways. I'm sure if they got set up on a date somehow, they'd be perfect for each other."
(Confessional- Scarlett)
Scarlett pinched the bridge of her nose, groaning in an annoyed tone. "My plan was going perfectly, and that last elimination screwed it up. Shawn was supposed to leave, and that would leave me and my superior intelligence against Samey's mediocre athletic skill, Beardo's unique vocal skill, and Topher's… whatever he has. This is not how the final four is supposed to be. In addition, my invincibility statue has been used, so now unless I win the next challenge, I am in extreme danger of not securing my victory.
"I've contemplated my possible moves since the last elimination," Scarlett stated as she pulled out her notepad. "From what I've assessed of my current situation, my best plan is to turn enough attention away from me to survive this next elimination should I not receive invincibility, and then focus all of my efforts on winning the next challenge. To that end, it might be time for Topher to be of use to me."
The static transitioned to the porch of the former Toxic Rats' cabin, where Topher seemed to be reading through a magazine with Chris on the cover.
The aspiring TV host glanced up from his magazine, and smirked, lowering it. "Well, isn't this an interesting turn of positions?"
Scarlett frowned at him as she walked over. "Topher, we need to speak."
"Let me guess," Topher replied, still smirking. "You're here to offer me an alliance so you can save your butt from being the next one in the catapult."
Scarlett's eye twitched at Topher's cocky tone and choice of words. "That is… a succinct summary of what I'm here for. Listen, I'm aware that should I not receive immunity from the next challenge, the other two will more than likely vote for me. That is why I propose to counteract their votes, we vote for whichever one does not receive immunity, and force a tie."
"And if you do get the immunity," Topher added, "they're more than likely to vote me out over each other, so I would need the tie to stay in." Staying quiet for a moment as he thought the situation over, he shrugged as he lifted up his magazine to read again. "Alright, you have a deal."
"Excellent," Scarlett smirked before shooting Topher a dark look, "but I warn you. Should you betray me, I will hunt you down once we are outside of this show. I am not a very forgiving person." Her warning given, she turned on her heel and walked away from the cabin.
Rolling his eyes at Scarlett's threat, Topher casually turned the page of his magazine. "She really needs to chill out."
A set of bushes nearby rustled, and Sammy poked her head out. Looking every which way first, she stepped out of the bushes, and walked over to the cabin.
"Hey, Topher? Got a second?" Sammy asked.
"You want me to join you and Shawn in voting off Scarlett if she doesn't win immunity," Topher guessed without even looking up.
Sammy blinked, taken aback by how spot-on he was. "Oh, um, yeah. That's what I was going to ask."
"Figured as much. Look, I'll think about it. I've got my own game to think about too, and how that would help me in the long run."
"Okay," Sammy said unsurely, "just please consider doing it." She then walked back the way she came.
The camera focused squarely on Topher reading his magazine, and then he glanced up at the camera filming him with a raised eyebrow and a grin.
(Confessional- Topher)
Topher stood in the outhouse with his magazine rolled up in one hand. "This is great! Two sides really need me for their own purposes, and I hold all the power of the next elimination in my hands." Thinking thoughtfully, he tapped his magazine to his chin. "I play my cards right, and I'm in the final two for sure!"
The final four stood lined up in front of Chris and Chef, who were standing by the communal washrooms.
"Challenge time!" Chris announced, beginning to walk past the campers. "And since you've been abused so flagrantly, today's challenge is a super safe fun challenge!"
Shawn, Sammy, and Scarlett all cheered while Topher actually did the opposite and complained.
Continuing to walk past the final four, Chris explained, "Get ready for bubbles, flowers, and cotton cand-!" His explanation cut short when the sound of something snapping occurred, and Chris went wide-eyed for a moment before something picked up his body and threw it into the washrooms with a scream from the host's mouth.
Sammy, Scarlett, and Topher all cringed in disgust and sympathy. Shawn, however, froze in realization. "Oh man, Chris just set off one of my zombie snares!" The conspiracy nut exclaimed.
Chef rushed over to the washrooms, and threw open the door, soon waving his hand in front of his face. "Hoo-wee! I need five interns and a fire hose ASAP!" He looked inside, showing an expression of concern for his friend inside. "We'll get you out of there soon."
Inside, Chris gagged before his voice turned outraged, "Those ungrateful puppets just crossed the line! Remember your nasty challenges, Chef?" The camera briefly cut to the final four, all looking nervous about what Chris was saying. "The ones that got the red light? Yeah, the light just turned green!"
A menacing smile on his face, Chef closed the door and turned towards the contestants. "I'll bring the pain," he declared before breaking into a maniacal cackle as thunder boomed and lightning flashed.
The final four all darted their eyes upwards in horror until they noticed that the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in sight. They returned their gazes to Chef as the effects continued, and gave him dirty looks.
As it turned out, a trio of interns were helping make the effects. One was flickering a light for lightning, another had a sheet to make the sound of thunder, and the other raising and lowering a tarp. After a few more moments, Chef raised his hand to signal for them to stop. "Okay, cool it!"
The scene flashed forward to where the final four were all stationed behind what looked like wooden portable kitchens. Scarlett was set up on the far left of the camera's view, Shawn to her right, followed by Sammy, and then Topher on the end.
"Listen up, dirtbags!" hollered Chef as he marched past them, "I'm gonna push you until you break. Then, I'll take the filthy broken bits and give them another good breaking." He mimed breaking something into two pieces before turning back to address the contestants. "No wimps are going to make it to my finale. Do you understand?" He held up a finger. "First challenge- the cook-off!"
"Cooking?" Topher raised an eyebrow. "Don't you remember that Chris' cooking show was so bad it got cancelled after one episode?" A frying pan flew on-screen and clonked him in the head. "Ow!" the aspiring host yelped as he fell down in pain.
"Shut it, or I'll shut it!" Chef ordered as he raised his hand to catch the frying pan as it somehow boomeranged back to him. Once he had it, he looked over his shoulder. "Bring in the TD classic competitor."
The short, chubby intern with glasses wheeled over a hand cart with a big, familiar gentle giant tied to it with a cloth tied over his eyes.
Sammy beamed, pointing. "Hey, it's DJ!"
Chef whipped off DJ's blindfold, and DJ got a look around. "No, not here! I vowed to never be back as long as there was breath in my lungs!"
In response, Chef held a stack of papers up to DJ's face. "Your contract disagrees, Dough Boy." The man faced the contestants. "You slime buckets are going to cook something tasty, and this bag of mush will be the judge," he explained while jabbing a thumb at DJ. "You've got twenty minutes to make a tasty lunch with whatever you find on the island. I believe in eating locally. Ready?"
"Um, what will we have for seasonings?" Shawn spoke up, raising his hand.
Chef raced over with two pans, shouting, "Get cooking!" Shawn yelped, ducking as Chef banged the two pans together as if the man was going to smash his head between them. Once given the signal, Shawn ran off with Sammy and Scarlett on his tail.
The scene flashed as it transitioned to somewhere in the woods. A moose with bat wings for antlers grazed on the grass until the camera picked up the sound of someone panting and running. The moose flapped its antler-wings, and flew away just as Topher entered the scene.
"Okay, got to make something," he murmured to himself while looking around, "what's easy enough to make that doesn't require a whole lot of effort or ingredients?" Briefly looking down at his feet, he soon snapped his fingers in realization. "Soup! I'm going to need some stuff like vegetables to put in it." With an idea of what to make, he ran off in search of vegetables.
Elsewhere, the camera zoomed in on some glowing mushrooms growing on the side of a tree before pulling back to show Shawn appraising them. The tree precariously stood as it seemed a beaver had nearly chewed through the trunk.
"Hm, mushrooms? They could be useful. Lots of dishes include mushrooms as an ingredient," he said thoughtfully before reaching up to pick them.
"An excellent choice," Scarlett spoke up from off-screen, causing Shawn to look over his shoulder as she appeared. "Mushrooms are not only gluten-free and low in calories, but they also provide valuable nutrients such as vitamin D and potassium. Care to split them?"
Shawn huffed, turning his attention back to the mushrooms. "Go away, Scarlett. I'm not sharing any of my ingredients."
"I suspected as much." Scarlett pursed her lips, deciding to change tactics. "I understand that you and Samey are targeting me, and I understand the reason why. However, you must understand what I did was purely strategic, no personal motives behind it in any way or form."
"Even if it wasn't personal," Shawn gathered the mushrooms in his hands, "it still is personal to those it affects."
"True, but I do have a suggestion about strategy. Instead of eliminating myself, you should focus on eliminating Topher," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Shawn paused, staring at Scarlett, who raised an eyebrow at him. "…Topher? Why him?"
"While he does not possess any unique skill sets, Topher does have one advantage on his side- Chris. Even if Chris is supposed to be impartial as a host, we cannot deny that he has bent the rules for contestants he is fond of in the past. Don't you think it would be possible for Chris to put the finale in Topher's favor, should he get that far?"
Shawn frowned as Scarlett's words sunk in, and he glanced at his mushrooms. "That does sound like something Chris would do…"
Scarlett smirked, "Consider how Topher's presence may affect your future. With how far Topher has come without being as specialized as you or I, it is certainly something to ponder."
As Scarlett left, the conspiracy nut leaned against the now mushroom-less tree. "What do I do?" He wondered to himself, and then felt the tree leave his back, causing him to look up in alarm. The already tipsy tree fell over onto a wooly beaver, and the beaver poked its head through a knothole in the tree, growling at Shawn. The conspiracy nut yelped, and ran off.
Back at the washrooms, the braces-wearing intern with the ponytail lounged against a pipe while sipping from a coffee.
"Hello?" Chris called from inside. "Someone give me a hand? I'm almost free! Oh no, wagh!" The intern looked up from her fingernails as she heard the sound of water sloshing. She smiled happily as Chris cried in despair, "Why?"
Still in the woods looking for ingredients, nearly all four of them seemed to hit a snag in their search. Shawn ran across the screen in the background, pursued by the wooly beaver. Topher ran through the foreground in the opposite direction, pursued by bees while he held what vaguely looked like a carrot and an onion. In the mid-ground, Scarlett ran the same way Shawn did while clutching a handful of eggs that most likely belonged to the flying mutant goats that were chasing her. Once Scarlett left the screen, Sammy ran onto it, skidding to a halt as she stopped by a vine.
"Maybe I should do something safe, like a salad? That doesn't involve cooking anything," she mused while plucking leaves from the vine.
Sammy hummed a tune as she tossed her leaves and what looked like blackberries in a bowl with two spoons. Moments later, the salad came alive as vines protruded from the bowl. One vine grabbed hold of Sammy's head while the other grabbed one of the spoons and began to whack her with it.
At Topher's station, the aspiring host put a pot in his sink, and turned on the tap to fill the pot with water. His faucet made a groaning noise, prompting him to raise an eyebrow and remove his pot so he could take a look at it. Leaning underneath it, he squinted one eye up at it, only for a jet of water to spray down on him by surprise.
As Topher gurgled frantically, the camera panned over to Shawn at his station with a pan ready and his collected mushrooms in a bowl. "The mushrooms should make a good quiche," the conspiracy nut thought out loud before dropping a few of them in the pan and starting to cook them.
(Confessional- Shawn)
"I have a bakery job at home," Shawn noted fondly. "So I'm pretty good in a kitchen. It pays well, and I'm so great at cake-decorating, I could decorate myself and camouflage to hide from the zombies."
As Shawn continued to cook his mushrooms, Scarlett watched from her station as she cracked open a goat egg into her frying pan. "While the eggs are more than large enough, an omelet requires more ingredients for an enjoyable eating experience," she thought to herself before looking at one of her unused eggs and donning an evil smirk.
After a bit of being smacked by her own salad, Sammy finally had enough, and reached under her station for a surprisingly large wooden mallet, and pounded the attacking vines into submission. When they stopped attacking her, Sammy sighed in relief.
Topher plopped a few slices of chopped up onion into the large pot sitting on his stove, stirred with a ladle for a few moments before taking out the ladle and taste-testing his creation. "Hm, needs a little something…" Reaching down under his station, he brought up the three-eyed frog seen in a previous episode, and squeezed it, causing it to squirt a pink liquid into his pot.
Shawn had put on the crust of his quiche, and was preparing to put it in the oven when something collided with the back of his head.
"Huh?" He wondered, feeling back with his hand, and once he brought his hand back around to examine, he saw a liquid coating his fingers. "Ahh!" He screamed, too distracted by his find to notice Scarlett swipe leftover mushrooms from his station.
(Confessional- Scarlett)
"I had more than enough eggs for an omelet. I could spare one of them for a distraction," Scarlett explained.
Sammy added a squirt of a white substance that looked a lot like salad dressing on her creation, and then put the bottle aside, lifting up her bowl. "Done!" The camera zoomed in on the creation, a bright yellow background behind it as angelic music played, which quickly took an ominous tone as the vines twitched and the blackberries uncurled into spiders.
"Me too!" Topher added, spooning a ladleful of his soup into a bowl. Like Sammy's creation before it, it was zoomed-in on with the background and music playing, also taking an ominous tone as the oddly-colored soup bubbled.
Scarlett scooped her rather large omelet onto a plate, and held it up for the camera to see. "My omelet is finished as well." While the omelet was shown in the same way Sammy and Topher's creations were, the music finished on a flat tone as the omelet looked largely unimpressive.
Seeing Scarlett finished, as well as his other competition, Shawn frowned, tapping his finger on his station in wait.
A flash forward showed Chef standing next to the still cart-bound DJ, lowering his fingers as he called, "Three, two, one! Spatulas down! Well? Dish it up, cupcakes! Move, move, move!"
Not wanting to invoke Chef's wrath further, the final four quickly scrambled into a line, each bearing their finished product. Shawn was in front with his decent-looking quiche, Scarlett in second with her omelet, Sammy in third with her salad, and Topher in the back with his soup.
Shawn stepped forward, presenting his creation to DJ. "I made a quiche," he said as DJ smiled at him, "with toxic mushrooms." DJ squeaked at the mention of that.
"Next!" Chef barked.
"I made an omelet," Scarlett said shortly.
DJ raised an eyebrow at her. "It looks kinda big."
Scarlett shrugged, "Not really an issue I could fix. The goat eggs were the only eggs I could find on short notice."
"Goat eggs?!" DJ nearly screeched in horror.
"Next!" Chef declared.
The genius redhead scowled at both Chef and DJ before reluctantly moving out of the line.
Walking up to DJ, Sammy blushed as she held up her bowl. "I-I made a salad. Don't ask about the dressing."
It was at that point somebody noticed the spiders. The spiders crawled from the bowl onto DJ, and the gentle giant whimpered as they skittered all over his body.
Topher's hand reached out to grab Sammy's arm, and pulled her and her salad away as she cried, "hey!" in protest. The aspiring host then stepped up in her place.
"I give you the Topher Final Four Special, with a hint of frog," Topher grandly introduced as he held out his bowl to DJ.
The camera zoomed in on Topher's soup, which continued to bubble. The bubbling seemed to increase rapidly, and it became so fast and grew so big that the entire thing just exploded. Some of the soup splattered all over Topher's face and shirt.
The same happened to DJ, but for him, that was the last straw.
Screaming in terror, the gentle giant broke free of his restraints, and quickly untied his legs before running off past Chef with his arms in the air.
Chef watched DJ go in surprise, but then regained his composure. "Welp, looks like we just lost our taste-tester. Rule change! You gotta eat all of your own weird grub," he told the contestants.
Sammy, Scarlett, and Topher all made noises of complaint while Shawn shrugged, not seemingly bothered by having to eat his own dish.
"You hurl, you lose!" Chef continued as the camera turned back to him. "Who's got guts of steel, and who's going to blast a barf bomb? It's a throw-up throwdown when we come back on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
Topher scoffed, "Chris does it a thousand times better." This comment earned him the stink-eye from Chef as the show faded to black for commercial.
When the show faded back in, Chef and the four contestants stood at a long table with their dishes in front of them.
"Alright, con-pest-ants, it's time to eat the disgusting crud you cooked up before the break," Chef announced.
The camera zoomed in on Sammy's salad, which twitched, and then panned up to Sammy's nervous expression.
"Whoever finishes their meal first without spewing wins the challenge," Chef continued as Sammy shared a look with Scarlett. "Man, this is gonna be nasty."
Taking a fork, Sammy poked it at her salad, and the spiders still on it moved around, making her wince.
On the other side of Chef, Topher scratched at his hair. "Aw man, why did I think adding the frog would be a good idea?" After voicing his thought, he glanced at Shawn next to him, who eagerly readied his silverware.
Holding up an air horn, Chef called, "Three, two, one, eat it!" Blaring the horn, that was the signal for the contestants to start eating.
Scarlett cut a piece of her omelet, and forked it into her mouth. After a few moments of chewing, she swallowed hard, and shuddered.
(Confessional- Scarlett)
"I'm beginning to think that mutant goat eggs are not the proper eggs one should use for an omelet, or any kind of egg-based dish."
Beside her, Sammy ate a forkful of her salad, and then immediately clutched at her throat. "Ugh, I think a spider is trying to crawl back up!"
Taking a deep breath, Topher lifted up his bowl, intending to chug his soup down while Shawn happily cut a piece of his quiche. Lifting the bowl to his lips, the aspiring host started to slurp before his eyes widened, and he set the bowl down on the table, bending over to the side to vomit.
Seeing Topher vomit, Scarlett scrunched her eyes shut and looked away from his direction. "Don't look at it, don't think about it, it'll set off a social psychological react-!" Before she could finish her muttering, she couldn't hold it back, and threw up.
Sammy couldn't take much more of her salad either, and released her throat so she could puke as well.
Swallowing, Shawn smiled at his empty plate. "Oh man, it's been weeks since I had such good food! My compliments to the chef, hehe, myself!"
"The challenge is over! Shawn wins!" Chef walked over, and lifted up one of Shawn's arms in victory.
Topher now stood beside the girls, and they all moaned woozily from their previous vomiting.
Turning towards the three losers, Chef grinned, "That's why he doesn't have to wear one of these tracking collars." Holding up three metal collars in one hand, he tossed them around their necks. "Challenge part two, I give you- Dork Hunter!" The man then held up a tracking device with a screen. "The challenge is simple. You're the dorks, and I'm the hunter. You run off into the woods; I hunt you down. First dork to the flag pole wins!
"Pray that you make it before the dork hunter blasts you into a whole new dimension of pain," Chef held up a bazooka, and then a can with his face surrounded by flames on it. "Rocket-propelled spaghetti cannon," the man introduced as a commercial jingle played, "featuring my own special recipe. Chef Hatchet's In-Your-Face Spicy Spaghetti. Dinner is served… in your face!" He loaded a can into the bazooka, now sitting in a jeep, and fired.
The four contestants ducked, and the spaghetti blasted at them instead hit a nearby intern who was mowing the grass. The spaghetti hit the intern into a nearby rock, and the intern cried out, "It burns!"
Chef chuckled darkly, "Spicy… you've got twenty minutes to run, hide, and say your prayers. Now move out!" He fired his bazooka again, and the final four began running into the forest as they dodged the next few blasts.
The four split in two paths, Scarlett and Sammy took the left while Shawn and Topher took the right.
Behind the washrooms, three of the male interns, including the one that Chef had hit, gathered by the septic tank.
Still stuck in the washrooms, Chris shouted, "What's taking those interns so long?"
Two of the interns snickered while the third shushed them, and connected a pipe to the tank.
"There's no way they could've forgot about me. I own them!" continued Chris.
As the intern that Chef had hit held the pipe up to the tank, the next closest intern twisted the valve on top, and stuff could be heard moving through the pipes.
"More sewage?!" The trapped host exclaimed in horror while the interns snickered. "Help!"
Barf fell over a wild flower, drenching it. The camera zoomed out to show Sammy was the offender.
"Oog, I think I may have ruined salads for me for life," she moaned in despair. The sound of zapping and someone yelping in pain nearby made her look up.
She noticed it was none other than Scarlett.
"Infernal device," the genius redhead growled, "it appears to have an anti-removal feature which sends a strong electric current to the central nervous system."
Sammy walked over to her. "So basically, if we try to take it off by ourselves, we'll get shocked for it?"
Scowling at the cheerleader, Scarlett nonetheless nodded, "You are correct. If I had my calculator that Chris confiscated and a screwdriver, I could've reconfigured it to send out a small electromagnetic pulse to disrupt the collar's function and release us."
"Too bad we don't have either of those," Sammy replied, glaring back at her.
Rolling her eyes, Scarlett turned on her heel and began walking away. "Let's just keep moving and put some distance between us and that psychopath of a cook. I have no intention of staining red today."
(Confessional- Topher)
"Shock collars?" Topher said in disbelief as he spread his arms out in the confessional outhouse as much as he could. He crossed his arms, and glared at the camera. "Let the record show that when I become host of this show, none of Chef's challenges involving shock collars will ever get the green light!" His collar shocked him the moment he finished his declaration. "Ow!"
The static transitioned back to the challenge, where Chef was chuckling as he fired his bazooka.
His target was apparently Topher, who was running ahead of him.
The handsome boy ducked under a blast of spaghetti. "Chef, please! Watch the hair! You have any idea how long it takes in the morning to get it to look as awesome as this?" Looking ahead, he gasped and came to a stop. He had apparently ran to a cliff, and was out of room to run. He glanced over his shoulder.
"Hunt's over, dork!" Chef declared.
Holding his arms out in front of him, Topher desperately stated, "Please don't! I don't just look up to Chris; I look up to you too! Heck, my cat is named after you!"
Raising an eyebrow, Chef lowered his bazooka. "Really?"
"Oh yeah," Topher confirmed, calming down a bit. "I went out and got him after your first boot camp challenge. We're really close."
Static transitioned to what looked like some home footage inside Topher's home. The home video camera stepped closer and closer to an orange tabby cat lounging on a desk.
"Okay, Chef, time to look the part!" Topher said behind the camera. One of his hands appeared in the camera's vision, his hand holding a little chef's hat. "Here, let's put on the hat and the apron."
The cat opened one eye to look at its owner, and then leaped at the camera.
The camera shook as Topher shouted, "No! Bad Chef! Bad Chef!"
The footage skipped ahead, the cat once again lounging on the desk, but this time it was wearing the hat.
"Okay, no apron. We can work with the hat," Topher decided, sounding somewhat tired.
A static cut brought the footage back to the show. The aspiring host gave a hopeful smile to his hunter.
Chef hummed in thought, "Hm, flattery will get you somewhere with Chris." His grin turned devious. "But flattery won't get you anywhere with me." He pressed the trigger on his bazooka, and a ball of pasta and saucy meat flew out.
"No!" Topher cried out as he was struck, and fell backwards off the cliff.
"Maybe I'll come back for him," the substitute host considered before chuckling, "if I remember." He started to cackle as he put the jeep in reverse.
The camera panned down the cliff that Topher had fallen off of. Not too far down was a ditch, and the handsome boy appeared to be lying chest down in it. He groaned in pain, pushing himself up with his arms. "Okay, forget his challenges with shock collars. When I'm host, I'm getting a new co-host altogether." Looking around, he frowned. "Great, looks like I have to climb out of here before I can try and win." Sounding annoyed, he got to his feet and walked over to the opposite rock wall, beginning to climb it.
"Woohoo!"
Shawn swung on a vine through the woods.
"This challenge was made for me!" Shawn exclaimed happily, eventually letting go of the vine and dropping to the ground in a tuck-and-roll. "I pretty much know the woods like the back of my hand now, and I don't even need to set up traps to delay Chef from finding me. All of my zombie traps could be Chef traps!" The conspiracy nut laughed, acting like the kid he still was.
After a moment of laughter, he stopped and put his fists on his hips. "I wish Jasmine were still here. She would've made great competition for a challenge like this." A determined expression flashed across his face. "But she's not anymore, and if Samey and I are going to avenge her, then one of us has to win so we can boot out Scarlett."
"Would you cease following me? I will not have anyone piggybacking on my victory."
Sammy and Scarlett both jogged through the forest, each still wearing their shock collar.
"Um, who said I was following you? If anything, you're following me since I run faster!"
"Speed is irrelevant. I am the one who selected to attempt this direction, and you came this direction after I did. Therefore, you are following me."
The two girls were so involved in their bickering, neither saw the trip wire until it was too late. The moment Sammy's foot hit it, a net appeared from under them and snatched them up in the air.
"What the? A trap?" Scarlett asked, for once befuddled.
Sammy gasped, "Oh em gee, one of Shawn's zombie traps! He has like fifty of these things set up around the island!"
"Now you comprehend why I desire to eliminate him from the competition? If he can set up things like these, who is to say he wouldn't be able to win the finale," the genius redhead pointed out.
"I'm not helping you vote off somebody else, much less a friend," Sammy replied with a scowl.
Some nearby bushes rustled, and out came Chef Hatchet. The man eyed the trap, and chuckled, "What have we here? A couple of caught dorks!"
Scarlett shot Sammy a displeased look. "You see what you and your conspiracy theorist have gotten us into? Had we voted him off, we could've avoided this."
Sammy glanced at Chef. "Chef, don't shoot! At least, not at me! Shoot at Scarlett, and I'll do anything you want. I promise."
Chef hummed momentarily before grinning, "No deal!" He fired his bazooka, and both girls screamed as they were hit with hot pasta. Satisfied with his hit, the man slung his bazooka on his back, and went back to his jeep.
Up in the net, the two girls started wiping off the pasta from their skin and clothes. "He'll get his comeuppance," Scarlett muttered disdainfully, "I assure you."
"For once, no argument," Sammy agreed. The sound of sizzling caught her ear. "Hey, what's that sound?"
The two girls glanced up, and their mouths opened in shock. Apparently Chef's pasta was so hot, it was burning the ropes. Within moments, the pasta burned through the ropes, and sent them both crashing to the ground.
Chef drove along in his jeep, and checked his tracking device. "Huh, looks like the baby Chris got himself out of his hole."
The viewpoint changed, showing Topher wading his way through a bush onto an open path. The boy smiled as he walked onward, but a call forced him to look over his shoulder.
"Back for more, boy?"
Topher yelped in fright, and ran ahead. Soon as he left the screen, Chef appeared on it in his vehicle. Still driving, the man took aim with his bazooka, intending for a hit-and-run. However, as he was doing two things at the same time, he did not notice the trip wire that Topher luckily stepped over in his run and that his jeep snapped.
Without warning, a giant log smacked the jeep, sending Chef flying out. Having noticed the commotion, Topher stopped running to look back at Chef, and grinned at what he saw.
"Hah! What comes around, goes around! Right, Chef?" The boy taunted.
Provoked, Chef returned to his feet, and took aim with his weapon. Topher screamed, and continued his escape. "That's right! You better run, dork!"
The scene flashed forward, showing Shawn as he once again swung on a vine and landed in a clearing. The shaggy-haired boy grinned as he took in the sight before him.
"The flag pole," he exclaimed as said object was shown in an over-the-shoulder view. "I found it!" The viewpoint shifted back to the usual side-view as Shawn moved to claim victory, but before he could complete a single step, something collided with his back.
Shawn stumbled forward, too stunned by the sudden collision to avoid triggering another trap. He gave a yell as he fell into a pit, and was soon landed on by the very same thing that had collided with him moments before.
Groaning in pain, Shawn looked up and realized that what had knocked into him wasn't a what, but a who.
"Topher?" Shawn found himself asking as the camera showed Topher laying dizzily on top of him.
"That's my name," Topher replied as he regained his bearings, "don't wear it out." Shaking his head, he looked upward along with Shawn as a dark shadow loomed over the pit.
"Look what we have here," Chef taunted with his bazooka on his shoulder, "one dork found another dork, and right by the flag pole too."
Shawn and Topher screamed in fright, their eyes widening.
Chef loaded a new can of pasta into his bazooka. "I think we're all going to enjoy this serving, if not you two then at least I will." He fired.
Quickly throwing a glance below him, Topher rolled below Shawn and held the conspiracy nut above him like a shield. Shawn shrieked as hot pasta struck him.
"Sorry," Topher apologized, "but I've been shot at way too much today!"
Above the pit, Chef grinned to himself, "Ah, the sound of pain is delicious. Let's go for another round."
The viewpoint shifted to Chef's back as a camera rapidly approached it, shaking almost as if it were running.
Before Chef could fire more pasta at the boys, a pair of slim arms landed on his shoulders and vaulted off. Chef looked up as the owner of the arms flipped through the air.
On the other side of the pit, a pair of white, heeled boots landed perfectly, and the camera panned up the body to the smirking face of Sammy.
"Sorry, Chef, but dinner is no longer served!" The cheerleader twin boasted.
"Oh, is it?" Now realizing who had interrupted him, the brute of a cook smiled tauntingly. "Because I'm the cook here, and dinner isn't over until I say it is."
"Apologies, but we'd rather have dessert instead."
Chef whirled around at the new voice, and a burst of red and pale yellow shoved into him. The hulking man teetered backwards, wind-milling his arms desperately as he instinctively dropped his bazooka, and eventually fell into the pit with a short, deep scream.
Down in the pit, Shawn and Topher groaned in pain as Chef laid on top of them.
"Just as I promised," declared Scarlett as she and Sammy looked up from the pit, standing on opposite sides of it. "I did state he would get his comeuppance."
"Yeah, you did," Sammy admitted with a nod of her head.
"Now there's one thing left to take care of."
Sammy glanced over her shoulder, knowing what Scarlett meant. "The flag pole! It's so close!"
"Maybe for me, but for you, not quite."
Confused by what Scarlett meant, considering she was closer to the flag pole than Scarlett was, the cheerleader twin looked back at her enemy, and gasped.
Scarlett had claimed Chef's bazooka, and for such a tiny girl in comparison to it, was holding it quite effectively.
Sammy took a shaky step back away from Scarlett and the pit, a step closer to the flag pole. How was she supposed to go up against Scarlett and a pasta bazooka?
Scarlett grinned viciously. "I'd start running now." She fired a blast.
Yelping, Sammy ducked and ran for the flag pole. Moments later, Scarlett followed while still firing.
"Almost there…" Sammy griped, dodging the redhead's volleys. The viewpoint shifted to Sammy's perspective, the goal getting closer and closer. When the viewpoint shifted to the side again, Sammy tripped and fell to the ground. Lifting herself up with her elbows, she saw that Scarlett had managed to hit her foot, the pasta and sauce making her foot stick to one spot. She glanced up, and saw the flag pole was within reach, and then behind her, Scarlett discarding the bazooka and making a mad dash towards her. Not giving up, she stretched her arm out to the pole. "Come on… just reach…"
Scarlett ran closer.
"Just a little…" Sammy strained to reach.
Scarlett got closer.
The camera zoomed in as Sammy's fingers were mere inches from touching the pole.
A close-up of Scarlett's foot stepping by Sammy's body was shown.
Pulling back slightly, Sammy scrunched her eyes and thrust herself forward.
The next close-up was of a slim hand wrapping around the pole.
"Yes!" Sammy called out in victory as Scarlett slid to a stop on her knees beside her, crying out "No!"
The light on top of the pole began to spin, and an alarm started to sound. The camera panned down to the base of the pole where the two girls were, Sammy smiling proudly as Scarlett stared in shock.
"Samey wins immunity," Chef's voice said from off-screen, prompting the girls to look in the direction of the pit. Chef was trying to crawl out of the pit while explaining, "nobody can vote for Samey to-night!" With a cry of surprise, he fell back into the pit, eliciting groans from Shawn and Topher once more.
The scene flashed forward to that night's bonfire. The final four sat lined up in the front row, and Chef had put on his hazmat suit. Chris was still nowhere to be seen, and Chef had the box reserved for the Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom in his hands.
"Elimination time, dorks!" began Chef as the camera panned over the final four one last time before one of them would be eliminated. "One of you is going home tonight except for Samey, who has immunity."
The mentioned girl smiled up until Scarlett began to speak. "That victory should've been mine, but I will concede congratulations on actually winning a challenge."
"Thanks," Sammy said warily before smirking, "you actually had me for a moment there."
"Zip it!" Chef snapped, now holding four slips of paper. Clearing his throat, he began to read, "Now to the votes, we got one vote for Shawn…"
The named conspiracy nut sighed. "I expected that."
"One vote for Topher…"
The eyebrows of the named aspiring host shot up. "What?!"
"Shut up and let me read the dang votes!" Chef interrupted, looking up from the slips. "One vote for Scarlett…"
Scarlett frowned, narrowing her eyes at the substitute host.
"And the final vote goes to…"
The camera panned over the three endangered campers, from the nervous Shawn, to the worried Topher, and the serious Scarlett before returning to Chef.
"…Topher!"
Gasping in shock, Topher jumped to his feet. "I repeat myself! What?!" He looked around to the other members of the final four. "What happened? This was supposed to be a tie, and we were supposed to do a tiebreaker!"
"That's what I wanted you to think," Scarlett spoke up, now smirking as she stood.
"Come again?" Topher asked, confused.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" Sammy added, looking at the redhead.
"I figured out that with the two of you acting as one team," Scarlett explained, gesturing to Shawn and Sammy, "I would be forced to align with Topher and force a tiebreaker. However, given the unpredictability of tiebreakers on this show, I realized I needed a more concrete solution to secure my place in the final three, so I created a new strategy that would ensure that. I had to make sure that nobody caught onto my new plan, so I did as Topher predicted I would, and offered him an alliance."
Topher blinked in shock as Scarlett went on.
"With Topher in a comfortable position and seeing no need to change his strategy, which would've disrupted my own, I sought to change Shawn's target from me to Topher since Samey would probably have refused to listen," she continued.
Shawn gasped, "When you came to me and suggested I vote for Topher instead of you! I thought that you were insane for trying to change my mind, but I actually started to consider it after the thing with the pit!"
Topher winced at the mention of the pit, and exclaimed, "I said I was sorry for using you as a shield!"
"Regardless if you're sorry for that or not, it was still the perfect action to sway Shawn to follow my plan. For that, I thank you," Scarlett remarked, enjoying the frazzled state Topher was in.
"But, but, but…" Topher stammered, his eyes darting around. "This wasn't supposed to happen! You weren't supposed to backstab me! I was going to backstab you! I was going to take you to the final three, and backstab you so I could become a Total Drama legend! Could you imagine the kind of ratings that kind of betrayal could've generated?"
Scarlett narrowed her eyes, which eerily glowed red in her scowl. "You were going to what?"
Disturbed by the way Scarlett was looking at him, Topher quickly backtracked. "Erm, nothing!" It was at that point Chef held out the Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom in a pair of tongs, and Topher flinched away. "Ah, keep that away from me!"
(Confessional- Topher)
Topher pounded a fist on the wall of the outhouse. "Augh! I shouldn't have waited until the final three! I should've done it now! Ugh, I can't believe I fell for that alliance offer!" Crossing his arms, he frowned at the camera. "I'm going to get even with her one day. Just watch!"
(Confessional- Shawn)
"Okay, I probably shouldn't have voted for Topher," he admitted while scratching his soul patch, "but with what Scarlett said and him using me as a shield from Chef, she kinda got in my head." He shook it off, and a determined expression formed. "Now that it's just us and her, I'm not going to make that mistake again."
(Confessional- Scarlett)
"Samey may have won the challenge, but I'm still here at the end of today, so technically I win," Scarlett said confidently while making notes in her notepad. "I really do have to thank Topher for his moment of idiocy helping sway Shawn in my plan's favor. Now I just have to analyze possible final three challenge scenarios, and ultimately decide who will be my opponent in the final two. Shawn's still a greater physical threat, but with how Samey has acted out since Jasmine's elimination and today's victory, she might be an even greater adversary than I originally examined."
(Confessional- Sammy)
"That win was way too close," declared Sammy with a sweep of her arms. "That said and even with Scarlett not voted off yet, winning an individual challenge was kind of nice. I hope I can win the next one, or even the finale, and make sure Scarlett doesn't win!"
When the static cleared, everyone appeared to be down at the Hurl of Shame. Topher sat in the bucket while Chef stood by it, and behind him the final three stood watching the elimination.
Putting his fists on his hips, Chef grinned, "I've been waiting to be the Hurl Master of this game."
"And you're gonna keep waiting," said Chris' voice. To the surprise of Chef and Topher, Chris descended onto the Dock of Shame via his jetpack.
"Chris!" The final three exclaimed.
"Yup, I'm the Hurl Master around here! You see, Topher, the Hurl of Shame is shameful and painful," Chris said, to the unease of the loser himself. "Right now, I can't think of anything anymore shameful than being hurled by the very person you want to be like."
Frowning at Chris, Topher replied, "You know what, Chris? You're right. That is shameful, and painful too. I do want to be like you, except when I'm host of this show, I'll be a thousand times bet-!"
Before Topher could finish his statement, he was flung into the sky and his voice faded in the distance.
"Chris, good to have you back, man!" Chef proclaimed, walking over to the host with a slice of glowing quiche on a plate. "I even saved you some quiche."
Chris grinned at his assistant host. "Chef, you are the man!" Swiping the slice from the plate, he stuffed it into his mouth in one bite. His cheeks bulged, and he bent down out of the camera's sight, proceeding to puke.
Chef chuckled throughout all the vomiting, "You are the Hurl Master."
Standing upright again and holding his stomach, Chris pushed through his outro. "Who will be hurled next? How much are they going to hurl before we hurl them? When will I stop hurling?" At that point, he ducked out of sight to hurl again before continuing the outro. "Find out next time on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island!"
The camera zoomed out to show the island in full, and Chris could be heard puking for a third time.
(cue end credits)
Topher- 4th
Beardo- 5th
Jasmine- 6th
Sky- 7th
Sugar- 8th
Dave- 9th
Rodney- 10th
Max- 11th
Ella- 12th
Amy- 13th
Leonard- 14th
Apologies for the episode taking so long to crank out, nearly a month since the last one. I've started up what is hopefully my last semester at college, and this episode was giving me troubles in the plot progression department. Hopefully I can get the next one out sooner.
It's with a heavy heart that I had to make Topher leave here. Of the PI fourteen, Topher's been my favorite from day one, and he's third in my overall cast rankings. Back in 2015, I had favoritism issues surrounding him in the first draft of this story, so when I came back to this project in 2017, I attempted to fix that and it led to Topher's current placement.
One of the reasons why I spent so much time trying to get this episode right is because I find Topher's elimination to be really important in the grand scheme of things. His elimination sets up a number of things down the road, and it plays an important part in this episode's flow. In addition, I find Topher being eliminated in this episode highly ironic, considering that this is the one episode of TDRI where Chef hosts instead of Chris, Topher's idol.
The other reason I took so long on this episode is Scarlett's strategy for the episode. Originally, I attempted to write her plot by having her team up with Topher against Sammy and Shawn, and then they'd go into a tiebreaker at the elimination ceremony between whichever two it ended up being based on who won immunity. When it came to the climax, I really struggled to write it, and that led to a realization. Having worked alone since the merge, and generally not being a people person, it wouldn't make sense for someone like Scarlett to team up with someone else at this point, especially with how unpredictable the tiebreakers are because of Chris. It would make more sense for Scarlett to try and devise a strategy that solidified an elimination instead of leaving possibilities uncertain because of an unknown tiebreaker. Having made that realization, I rewrote Scarlett's plot in a way that alluded to my original plan, but also made the new plan in-character for her. Had Topher not made that blunder with Shawn, it might not have worked. Hopefully the whole thing makes sense for everyone.
In regards to the food, it wasn't that hard to decide what everyone would make. Shawn's canonically a good cook, so I gave him Cameron's quiche. Sammy, while having good cooking skills from making whatever food Amy demanded she make, would want something that seemed relatively harmless. By that logic, I gave her Zoey's salad. Scarlett's omelet was borrowed with permission from Fangren's Total Shuffled series because hers was the hardest to come up with, and because the omelet represents her willingness to kill to get ahead. I didn't want to copy all of canon's dishes, so I had Topher make soup to represent the fact he's an okay cook, but would rather make something easy. I also chose what I did because I have no real knowledge of cooking and couldn't do more complex dishes.
Speaking of easy, surprise to all those who thought that Shawn would have an easy win on this challenge! Nope! And as an added bonus, with this challenge's winner, all of the final four have had an individual challenge victory. Oh, and the pit trap that Shawn and Topher fell into? Canon implied that Zoey was the one to set that since Scott didn't. Personally, I think it might've been Chef because the pole was just standing out in the open, and I doubt Chef would let them walk over to it that easily. I meant to include the revelation that Chef set it in the episode, but couldn't find a way to fit it in.
After saying the most I've probably ever said post-episode, review in the box below! Reviews are awesome!