We are now moving into the third act of the story. The competition will be no more and the Game Master will take his conspiracy to the next level. Now our Running Men will have to prepare for anything during this calm before the storm in this chapter of Total Drama: Running Time!

Aztec 13: Keep in mind that most of the elements here are from the show.

Note that this chapter is relatively shorter than usual.

We see the Running Men in the circular room waiting for the third set, patiently or impatiently.

"So, good news. I have breached through the firewall." Scarlett breaks the news.

"Whoo!" Carrie yelled.

"Alright!" Kitty yelled.

"But is there any bad news?" Duncan asks.

"Yeah, anything bad?" Heather asks.

"No, not much. But you still have to enter the game before I can release them." Scarlett states.

"Why exactly?" MacArthur asks.

"Well, you need a way to get to them, and if I release them from control, someone else will get to them before you." Scarlett explains.

"I guess that makes sense." Shawn agrees with the condition.

"The final set of the final match of the Running Man Championship begins now!" The robot announces.

"I guess I'll be the King. Not that it matters anymore." Kitty states.

"We're gonna get our friends back, guys!" Owen yells in excitement.

"Let's do this!" Mike yelled.

Everyone goes into the portals one by one.

We see Kitty landing into the Path of Ice, immediately slipping on it's slippery floor.

"Whoa-oogh!" Kitty grunts as she lands on the floor. "Man, of all the places I land, why does it have to be on this path?" She groans in pain.

Kitty uses her katana to anchor herself onto a wall so she can look around.

"Right about now, Scarlett may have released them." Kitty concludes.

Suddenly, the entire path flickers with a red light and an alarm sound.

"Game suspended! Game suspended!" The robot announces.

"Now we just need to find them." Kitty says.

Kitty takes out her Spirit and inserts it into her watch.

-Spirit of the Wind-

Kitty flies from the scene to begin the search.

We see Duncan, Heather and Owen walking around the Super Arena. The alarms were still blaring up.

"Game suspended! Game suspended!" The robot announces.

"Man, this alarm only started blaring for 15 seconds and it's already starting to annoy me." Heather complains about the alarm.

"Just don't mind it. I don't." Duncan states.

"Saying that is the equivalent of forcing someone to be happy just because someone else is." Heather states.

"Look! Over there!" Owen yelled.

They look forward to see Gwen, Alejandro and Courtney lying on the ground. Their metal masks were seen on the ground, detached from their faces and was slightly leaking red gas.

"Come on. Let's get them to the War Tower." Heather states.

Duncan takes out his Spirit and inserts it into his watch.

-Spirit of Strength-

Duncan picks up the bodies of his former campmates and lifts them onto Owen's back. First was Courtney, next was Gwen. But as he lifts Alejandro up, Owen stops him.

"Wait, stop. I'm not sure they can hold on when they're still unconscious." Owen states.

"Well then what?"" Duncan asks.

"Well I'll carry these two girls, and you carry Alejandro." Owen states.

"What? I don't want to carry Alejandro." Duncan states.

"Come on, just do it!" Heather prompted.

"If you're so insisting, why don't you carry Alejandro?" Duncan asks.

"You've got the strength to do it." Heather states.

"And I feel very uncomfortable carrying my enemies as if they're my friends." Duncan states.

"Well, at least he has a relatively simple history with you. How about these two?" Heather states, referring to Gwen and Courtney. "Would you rather take one of those two, or take Alejandro?"

"Um…" Duncan was taken aback by the question.

"Well?" Heather was waiting for an answer.

"Ugh, fine. I'll take Al." Duncan gave in.

Duncan then carries Alejandro over his shoulder.

"You called him Al on purpose, didn't you?" Heather asks.

"Hey, I may be carrying him, but I still hate him." Duncan states.

"Agh, whatever. He doesn't even know you said it." Heather states.

"Come on, let's go." Duncan states.

The three went off to find a suitable path to the War Tower.

We see Kitty flying around the 3rd floor of the Ultimate Tower.

"Okay, find the DV8 and get them to the War Tower. That's the plan." Kitty was cycling the plan through her head.

Kitty eventually finds Devin and Brody lying down in one of the rooms.

"Okay, I guess this is a good start." Kitty states.

Kitty creates an air cushion to lift Brody up, and carries Devin up around. As she makes her way to one of the nearby portals, she realises something.

Something's wrong.

"Wait a minute…" Kitty notices something off.

Kitty puts down both boys and places her finger on Brody's wrist, checking for a pulse.

"Hmm… the pulse is low. But it's still not normal." Kitty observes the pulse.

Kitty then moves to Devin and checks his pulse.

"Still abnormally low. They're alive, but in very deep sleep." Kitty comes to a bit of a conclusion. "Crap. What should I do?"

Suddenly, an idea pops up.

"Okay, you guys are gonna get help. And if the others are also in deep sleep, we can help them too." Kitty says.

Kitty then puts them back in the positions she was carrying them in and makes her way out another portal.

We see the Game Master walking down a hallway, slightly agitated. He was followed by a robot accompanying him.

"Master, the DV8 has been hacked by an unknown signal and released. It appears we can no longer move on with the game. Shall we begin the next stage of the plan?" The robot asked.

"Yes." The Game Master answered. "Is Project Gold complete?"

"Affirmative." The robot answers.

"Charge it up. Make one final check on it. And prepare for the forces." The Game Master says.

We see the 1st floor of the Ultimate Tower. There was Mike, Owen, Heather, Duncan and Carrie waiting around. There was also Jasmine, Brody, Gwen, Emma, Courtney and Alejandro.

"So, what now?" Duncan asks.

"We just wait for the others. Scarlett's group is preparing for the conspiracy." Heather states.

"And hope that the DV8 might wake up." Duncan states.

"You know, you can now call them our friends." Mike states.

"Force of habit. These past few days have been confusing." Duncan states.

Shawn jumps out a portal, with Cameron being carried on his back.

"Took you long enough." Heather states.

"Eh, the only problem I had was navigation." Shawn states. "Your friend is unbelievably light, Mike."

"Yeah, Zoey also remarked on that." Mike states.

Shawn sets Cameron down next to the rest of the DV8.

"There was something off though. He had an abnormally slow pulse." Shawn states.

"Really?" Heather asks. "Let me check."

Heather walks to Cameron and checks his pulse.

"You're right, his pulse is strangely low." Heather states.

Heather moved to the others to check their pulses. They had the same result.

"My gosh, the others." Heather states. "They also have abnormally low pulses."

"Hold on, let me check." Carrie says.

Carrie takes out her Spirit and inserts it into her watch.

-Spirit of Clairvoyance-

Carrie begins to scan the DV8.

"Okay. Their energy is low too. And their breathing is slightly impaired due to the red gas." Carrie states.

Then Kitty flies into the scene with Brody and Devin.

"Guys, their pulses are low." Kitty states.

"Yeah, we already found that out." Duncan states.

"Oh. Okay then. But I think I know how to get them back to normal." Kitty states as she sets Devin and Brody on the floor.

"Really?" Carrie asks.

"Heather, you can give energy, right?" Kitty asks.

"Yeah, what of it?" Heather asks. "Oh! I know where you're getting at."

"We can revive them using your Spirit." Kitty states.

"But their breathing is impaired. I should help too." Carrie states.

"Okay then." Kitty agrees.

Heather and Carrie take out their Spirits and insert them into their watches.

-Spirit of Energy-

-Spirit of Healing-

Heather and Carrie put out their arms, and the bodies of the DV8 emit a green and blue aura.

"Yes! It's working!" Owen yelled.

Once the aura dissipates, the DV8 wakes up one by one.

"Ugh… what happened?" Emma wakes up, feeling pain.

"Emma!" Kitty yelled.

Kitty goes for a hug. Emma accepts this with confusion.

"Kitty? What happened?" Emma asks.

"Don't worry. I'm just glad you're alright." Kitty says with tears of joy.

"Ugh… why does my head hurt?" Courtney wakes up.

"I… remember us being in a room together, then some cloaked figure came… and after that, things went fuzzy for me." Devin groans.

"Devin!" Carrie yelled.

"Carrie!" Devin yelled. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry, we'll get you up to speed." MacArthur said.

A red portal appears. Scarlett, Scott, Sanders, Noah and Zoey went through.

"Emma!" Noah yelled.

"Noah? What's going on?" Emma asks.

"Crikey! What is Scarlett doing here?!" Jasmine woke up to the surprise.

"Don't worry, she's on our side." Shawn reassures her.

"Shawn?" Jasmine recognises him.

"Scott?!" Cameron yelled.

"Duncan?!" Gwen and Courtney yelled.

"Hold on. What exactly is going on?" Brody asks.

"Yeah. And why is Gwen's hair red?" Courtney asks.

"Wait, what?" Gwen then checks her hair. "Okay, who dyed my hair?"

"Your hair isn't important now!" Heather yelled. "We need to prepare for…"

Heather was cut off by the entire building shaking.

"Whoaa!" Cameron yelled.

"What the heck is going on?!" Alejandro yelled.

A holographic screen appears next to them, revealing the Game Master in an ominous purple background.

"My plan may have had a bit of a setback, thanks to you guys." The Game Master states.

"Hey! It's him!" Courtney yelled.

"And by my own competitors, as well? Disappointing. Now I have to deal with you myself." The Game Master says. "Any I have never forgotten you two, Scott and Scarlett, two of my most skilled competitors.

"Wait, competitors?!" Devin was confused.

"Guys, what the heck is going on here?!" Alejandro asks.

We cut to the outside where the floor of the colosseum opens up, revealing an incredibly big hole. The Portal Stadium glows white, and disappears, leaving our team without a floor under them.

"Whoaaa!" They all yelled.

They fall into the massive hole, as the entire colosseum lights red.

Okay, shortest chapter of the fic done. Now our Running Men have released the DV8. It's only a matter of time to get prepared. Anyway, time for another wait for the thrills.

Omae wa mou shindeiru!