All was quiet in the meeting room down in Atlantis, the kind of quiet that could only be caused by endless hours of indecision, something that Poseidon and Amphitrite were quite used to. Chef and Chris on the other hand, well, they weren't enthused about the nagging chirp of crickets as they sat down at the table with the cooperating party. Poseidon tapped his chin in thought while Amphitrite clicked her pen over and over again, the soft noises only bringing a glare to Chris's face. "Ugh, we haven't gotten anywhere! We've been sitting at this stupid table forever, and none of us have any clue what to do for the merch situation!"
"Ahem, none of us have any clue yet. Need I remind you, Christopher, that the process towards these decisions can take hours, days, or even weeks." Amphitrite nodded her head at the host in a matter of fact way, something that he did not take kindly to in the slightest. He groaned loudly, garnering a hateful gaze from the assistant. "Perhaps you have a better idea as to how we should handle this particular task, since you want to be so obnoxious about your lack of patience, hm?"
"You know...I actually do have a better idea! We can't think about what kind of merch to put out there because we're all old and out of touch...well, at least the three of you are. What if we pushed today's challenge to another day...and replaced it with a challenge to see which team can come up with better merch plans?" Chris grinned as he noticed the room light up, his compatriots all for that idea. "It's settled, then! We'll have the guinea pigs- I mean, contestants, do this for us as a challenge!"
"That's such a wonderful idea, Chris! Bravo, bravo!" Poseidon started clapping his hands excitedly, causing Chris to roll his eyes in annoyance.
"Right, now that we have that all decided...ahem, last time on Total Drama: Lost City!" Chris interrupted the others with his intro before they had a chance to speak up, something he did frequently. "Things were anything but normal all around, with the alliance between Liz and Luna obnoxiously ramping up. Seriously, having those two befriend each other is a pain for everybody down here...but, hey, it's kinda hilarious to see them mucking everything around. Tony showed Amelia that he isn't a chump that'll be pushed around by just anyone, effectively putting the two of them in a stalemate. Not sure that's gonna help him all too much, but I guess we'll see what other tricks he has in store later on. Zachary's orb thingy that he got spat at him a good while back has shown that it's more than meets the eye, seeming to put everybody that isn't Zach himself into some sort of trance where they will obey his every command...so glad the chaotic dude got a hold of that thing. Oh, Taylor and Gretchen were totally making out right before the challenge kicked up, big surprise there. When we finally got to the challenge, the objective was to catch a rare deep sea creature. The Crabs surprisingly worked quite well under Natt's leadership, though he did need Tony around to avoid freaking out from being alone. The Sharks, on the other hand, flopped like a fish out of water, thanks to matchmaker Anne helping Vicente get a shot with Dusty. Things worked out for them, but not so much for TV's favorite comedian, whose time on the show was hooked away from her. Which team will prove to have better cash grabbing ideas? Find out, right now, on Total Drama: Lost City!"
The camera hovered over an ocean, quickly descending beneath the water and happening upon Atlantis, zooming in on the wreck of the Chris space station, where the host himself was on his knees, sad that there was an asteroid in his face, while Poseidon patted him on the shoulder and Amphitrite sighed in annoyance.
"Dear mom and dad, I'm doing fine," the camera quickly shifted over to the carnival zone in Atlantis, showing Natt and Anne on a large Ferris wheel, enjoying their time together until it suddenly fell out of place and rolled away.
"You guys are on my mind," down at the controls, Zachary and Amelia were revealed to be messing with them, laughing maniacally until Vicente came over and bonked both of them on the head with plastic baseball bats.
"You asked me what I wanted to be and I think the answer's plain to see," in one of the carnival tents, March and Luna watched Benjamin in awe as he rode a unicycle while bouncing on a trampoline, juggling bowling pins, and holding a torch with his teeth.
"I wanna be famous!" Tony tossed a frisbee at the wheel, causing Benjamin to fall on top of an unsuspecting Bonnie, and the torch to set his shirt on fire before the bowling pins landed on his head, which caused Liz to give him a thumbs up with an evil grin on her face.
"I wanna live close to the sun," out in the ocean, Alex was in his diving suit, trying to catch a sea monkey, but failing utterly, just like he had when it was a space monkey, while Dusty shook her head in disappointment, lassoing the creature back to them, but catching Jett instead.
"So pack your bags, cause I've already won," on the seafloor, Archie studied a squid closely until it shot ink all over his helmet's glass shield, which made Jianne giggle a little bit before wiping it off.
"Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day," not too far from where the two were, Damien and Gretchen ran away from a massive shark, which knocked them off to the side, showing that it was swimming away from Flint, who was throwing rocks at it while Alexis chased after him.
"I wanna be famous!" The camera switched gears to show a submarine, with arcade-esque machines in it that Taylor and Crustacean were fighting over.
"Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na," zooming into a "pod" of sorts near the arcade games, a virtual world that was full of immaculate fantasy aspects and monsters was shown.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" Nicolás, dressed as a knight, was running in fear as blasts of dark energy were tossed at the ground behind him, each blast destroying part of the ground.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" the camera revealed Thomas, in dark mage garb, as the source of the blasts, floating in the sky and laughing maniacally until Maggie, dressed as a witch, flew over to him on her broom and tackled him to the ground, making out with him before he blasted the camera with one of the energy balls.
Afterwards, the whole group was seen on a nautically themed aftermath stage, which Sebastian and Haley were at the center of, glaring at each other while all of the contestants, accompanied by Maggie, who was hugging Thomas tightly, whistled.
Taylor whistled to herself as she paced back and forth in front of the Sharks' building, almost as if she was waiting for someone to come out. Eventually, the door swung open, bringing a grin to her face which was suddenly replaced with annoyance when she realized it was Alex. "Oh, it's just you." She let out a long, drawn out sigh, causing Alex to roll his eyes back at her.
"So glad to feel loved by my team...you're always such a pleasure. What are you doing just walking around in front here?"
"Is that really any of your business?" Taylor waved the boy off, soon crossing her arms and turning to face the other way. She peeked back over her shoulder, sighing as she saw that he was still standing there, even after she essentially told him to buzz off. "Shoo, boy! Can't you see I'm waiting for someone and you and your bad stubble is getting in the way of that?"
"My stubble isn't bad, it looks just fine, thank you! And you're seriously waiting for someone on your own team? Just...like, go inside the building or something. It's weirder that you're just pacing out here like some sort of stalker." Taylor tapped her chin in thought for a moment, only to soon shake her head.
"Why does it matter anyways, Mr. Nosey Nose Man?"
"Ah guess it doesn't matter, but if you're going to get cranky when someone other than the person you're waiting for comes out of the building, it would save us all a lot of trouble." Alex was starting to get annoyed with Taylor's attitude, though he was never fond of it to begin with. He narrowed his eyes at her, only for her to do the exact same back at him. "Ah know that Ah can't stand that nastiness you got about yourself, and Ah wouldn't doubt that some of the others are feeling like that as well."
"Who are you to preach to me about what the team likes or doesn't like? As I seem to recall, you don't particularly have that many friends or allies on the team, now that Anne is gone and all that." Taylor stuck her tongue out at him in a mocking manner before Gretchen suddenly came out of the building, interrupting their session of bickering. "There you are! I was starting to worry that you were getting held up by Zach and his dumb love of himself."
"He does tend to do that weird thing where he blocks off the entire hallway to monologue about how much he loves himself...but, no, I haven't actually seen him in there. What're you two talking about out here? Sounded pretty loud, so it must be exciting!" Gretchen inquired about the two, both of which looked between each other before looking back at her.
"Well, we were actually just discussing how Taylor-" Taylor quickly rushed over to Alex, placing her hand over his mouth to interrupt him from carrying on any longer, causing Gretchen to raise her eyebrow out of curiosity.
"How hot I think you are! Heh, sometimes I can't control myself when I talk about you, and that stuff just pops up!" Taylor chuckled nervously, though Gretchen was still a bit confused.
"If that's all it was, why are covering his mouth like he's about to expose you or something?" The adrenaline junkie looked back over at Alex, who had his arms crossed and was glaring at her.
"U-uh, well, I may have used a lot of vulgar language when I was talking about you and your...features. I mean, you're a total smokin' babe! I can't help myself sometimes, honestly!" Gretchen looked over at Alex in question, only for him to slowly nod at her, causing Taylor to sigh in relief.
"Guess I can't blame you for doing that," Gretchen blushed lightly, soon walking over to Taylor and grabbing her by the hand and pulling her along with her. "Come on, we gotta get to the cafeteria before they call a challenge or something like that." Taylor nodded, looking back at Alex to see that he was still glaring at her.
Confessional
"Ah may not have the best relations with Taylor, but Ah don't wanna be some sort of jerk that ruins her love life because of how she treats me. But...if she wants to keep a girl like Gretchen, Ah just know that she's gonna have to start treating some of us a little bit better." Alex had his arms crossed as he let out a slight sigh. "She's the type of big sister that'll definitely get physical if you mess with her friends."
"I dunno why Alex didn't rat me out there, but I still don't like him! I'm seriously gonna have to do something about him, he gets on every single one of my nerves!" Taylor grumbled to herself, hardly paying attention to the camera.
Confessional End
Natt sat down out in the field outside of the Crabs' building, staring up at the ocean with hardly any expression on his face, something that wasn't out of the ordinary for the boy, but he gave off a sort of vibe that suggested he was just hiding how he was feeling. Nicolás noticed him as he left the building, feeling just a bit curious as to what he was doing. Truthfully, the nerdy boy was never very good at striking up conversation with others, but it was something he wanted to get better at. With a deep breath, he started his way towards Natt, stopping and standing just a few feet away from him. "Uh…hey there, Natt," he murmured, a weak smile on his face as the dull boy looked back over at him. "How you doing, buddy?"
"Eh, could be better…but to be fair, it could also be worse. That's probably the way that Anne would look at it." Natt scratched his chin in thought, a blank look still on his face. "I knew that not everybody who made it really far last season would have another good run, but it does kinda suck to see her drop out this early. You know, at least it was for a good cause. I just can't help being a little bummed out about it, but I'll get over it soon. She would want me to make it all the way to the end."
Nicolás looked down at his feet awkwardly, he still didn't quite understand how Natt could have such a great outlook on things, even when they went sour. "It must be nice to have someone to love and all that. I remember back a good long while ago when I had a crush on a girl," he rubbed the back of his neck, looking off to the side. "Things didn't exactly go great when I tried to ask her out…b-but don't worry about me, haha. You just made me think about something else…do you think that those of us who…well, had lackluster runs last season…do you think we could make it far?"
"You're really asking me this?" Natt couldn't help but chuckle a bit, rising from his spot on the ground to walk towards Nicolás and pat him on the shoulder. "Well, if you haven't noticed yet, you've already outlasted six of the others. That's a pretty big step up from last season for you, isn't it?" The nerd gained a look of surprise on his face, almost as if he hadn't noticed just how many people were out of the show at this point. "You're out here worrying about your chances so much that you've failed to realize just how well off you are already."
"You know, you're actually right…I dunno, I guess I just got caught up in all the drama that's been going on that I didn't even notice how far in we are already. Six people down and out already…wow." Nicolás smiled to himself for a moment before gasping and covering his mouth as if he had just said something offensive. "Sorry, it's not a good thing that people are out of the show, I was just…impressed with myself? I don't know, I usually think that I'm pretty pathetic."
"That's not the best state of mind to have…I mean, trust me, I've been there before. You aren't pathetic by any means. If it weren't for you, none of that Thomas drama would've been resolved back on the space station. Dude was really a wacko, but it was thanks to you that Flint and Alexis were able to knock him down a peg." Nicolás beamed at the recognition of his work, standing up taller than before.
"Y-you're right! I almost forgot all about that happening! Haha, I put a stop to a psycho killer! Thomas ain't got nothing on me!" The nerd did a little bit of a victory dance, getting a chuckle back from Natt.
"I wouldn't get too cocky about it. You still got a lot of stuff ahead of you to worry about…and who knows? Maybe Thomas will come back into the game at some point!" Natt put the smallest smirk possible on his face, immediately wiping all of the confidence that Nicolás was displaying away and replacing it with that overwhelming nervousness that everyone had grown to be so used to. "You alright, bud? It was just a little joke, that's all. I doubt he'll be coming back at all."
"Y-yes…I'm good. Just thinking about him can really give me the shivers. But you're probably right…there's no way he would come back to the show. Not unless he was working with someone crazy enough to break him in." Nicolás sighed, shaking his head soon after. "I just need to stay focused! Then I'm sure to make it far, maybe even farther than you!"
"Don't you get ahead of yourself now," Natt narrowed his eyes at Nicolás, who nervously grinned and rubbed the back of his neck again. "Anywho, I'm gonna head on back inside. I'm sure Chris is gonna pester us all with an imminent challenge or something, per usual. See ya then." He walked past the nerd, waving back to him as he did.
Confessional
"Nicolás ain't a bad guy, but dude has some major self esteem issues. They seem to be getting a bit better by the day, though…that's something, right?" Natt shrugged his shoulders, "Ah, I'm sure he'll get a hang of the whole confidence thing eventually."
Nicolás was rocking himself back and forth as he sat on the confessional bucket, sucking on his thumb like a startled toddler. He glanced over at the camera, briefly pulling his thumb out of his mouth to shakily speak. "Thomas won't be back to kill me, Thomas won't be back to kill me, Thomas won't be back to kill me…"
Confessional End
"Attention, conestanitos!" Chris's voice came booming from the loud speakers, echoing throughout all of Atlantis and ruining what little peace and quiet that the teens had left. "We're gonna need all of you to report to the fallen space station for the next big challenge! This one is gonna be suuuuuper important, so you better bring on your A-game today! Don't pull any punches!" Just like that, he was done speaking. There was something about the intensity of his voice that was far different than it usually was, but it had the contestants curious as to what this challenge might be.
"What do you make of that, Tony?" Flint nudged the conman with his elbow, "Sounds to me like it's gotta lead to a huge reward if he's saying all that hubbub about being our best today."
"A reward, eh?" Tony scratched his chin, his mouth soon twisting into a grin and his pupils forming into dollar signs. "Man, I could sure go for a reward! It's been far too long since Chris last treated us with anything nice, don't you agree? What do you think it'll be? A five star meal? A trip to a massage parlor? Oh, a cannon filled with jewels and gold?"
"Uh…knowing Chris, if there was a reward, it would probably be something like a bag of old clams. I mean, we've all seen the types of rewards he's given people before." Flint thought back to the previous season, where Alexis had won a challenge during the merge. "Urk…I can't imagine being given a sack of books. That would surely kill my excitement from winning a challenge."
"Bah, whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to be great! I mean, the rewards we were getting later on in that season were pretty stellar. Ah, nevermind that! Let's just get ourselves over there so we can get this over with!" Tony soon rushed out of the room, leaving Flint well behind him.
Confessional
Tony was drooling over the thought of getting a reward before suddenly noticing the camera and wiping the drool away with a handkerchief. "Don't you be judging me! I need this reward after the roller coaster that this season has been to begin with! We've got Amelia acting like she's the big boss around here, Luna and Liz becoming best friends for some reason, and Damien getting more screen time than anyone, yet somehow avoiding elimination every single episode. We all could use a bone thrown our way!"
Confessional End
The two teams met up in front of the space station, the mouth of it being wide open for them to enter. One by one, they started walking inside, meeting Chef at the top of the stairs that led into the lobby, as they recalled. He held the door open for them, allowing them all to pass through. Once they entered the lobby, they noticed that there were two massive tables on either side of the room, with a smaller one in between them. At the small table, there were four chairs, three of which were filled out by Chris, Amphitrite, and Poseidon. Chef soon shut the door and walked back over to the table, sitting down in the last available chair.
"Well, you guys sure showed up fast! I bet you've got some high expectations for what'll be happening in this challenge, eh? Like…I dunno…some sort of reward or something?" The contestants all gained excited looks on their face, with Chris grinning back at them. "Well, there is a reward, but I can't tell you what it is until the challenge is all over!"
"Aw, man!" Zachary snapped his fingers annoyedly, "You can't just tease us like that! I wanna know what it is we're supposed to be looking forward to!"
"That's why it's called a surprise, dummy," Vicente shook his head at Zachary, who stuck his tongue out back at him. "Oh, very mature. Still can't believe we haven't gotten rid of you, yet."
"Is that any way to talk to your beloved teammate?" The fallen star smirked self-righteously before he was knocked to the ground by a horseshoe flying in out of nowhere. Vicente looked over to see that Dusty was holding a couple of those horseshoes in her hands. She blew a kiss to him, causing him to blush brightly.
"Awwww, so cute! Not!" Chris spoke up over the couple, causing them both to glare back at him. "Now, if I can get into what the challenge is supposed to be, that would be wonderful! Today, our two lovely teams will be working together to come up with…merch ideas! That's right, you guys will need to come up with the best money grabbing ideas possible to keep yourselves afloat. The idea must have something to do with this current season of the show…I mean, the ocean is a broad enough theme, isn't it? Crabs get the table on the left side of the room and the Sharks get the table on the right side of the room."
Confessional
"Jackpot!" Tony raised his fist into the air with an excited smile on his face.
Confessional End
The Sharks started to shift their way over to the right side of the room, each of the remaining members seating themselves in chairs that could only be described as uncomfortable to the maximum. Much to his disappointment, Zachary was stuck next to Vicente. The actor stuck his tongue out at the reality tv pro, only to get flicked on the forehead in response. "Ow, watch the merchandise!"
"You're the one sticking that slobbery tongue of yours out at me. I'm simply making sure you don't try to lick me or anything nasty like that." Vicente smirked at his own witticism, though he didn't expect Zachary to actually go through with that very suggestion and lick him right on the cheek. "Dude, that is so nasty! What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"I'm sharing some of my stardom with you, duh. I mean, it was you that suggested I should do that, after all." The two got up in each other's faces, growling and gritting their teeth up until Taylor pulled them apart and sat them back down.
"Boys, I get that you're having a hard time fighting the urge to make out right now, but you've got a challenge to focus on! Remember, Chris said we're gonna get some big reward if we win this one!" The adrenaline junkie looked over at the Crabs' table, noticing that Tony was maniacally rubbing his hands together, essentially drooling over the thought of the reward. "And knowing just how good of a challenge this is for Mr. Conman over there, we should probably actually try to work together here."
"As much as Ah hate to admit it, Taylor has got a right point here." Alex stood up, placing his hands down on the table as if he were suddenly in charge of a business meeting. "Now, do any of us know the slightest bit about merchandising knowledge? What do the Sheilas and Sheldons out there want?" The adventurer looked around to see a group of blank looks shooting back at him from his team. "Damien? Gretchen?"
"U-uh…I mean, when I was a kid I always liked to listen to the soundtracks of musicals and movies that I was into. Maybe we could do a soundtrack for the show?" Damien meekly suggested the musical route, though even Gretchen looked a bit adverse to the idea. "Come on, who doesn't like a good soundtrack?"
"You're basically suggesting that we make our own version of Kidz Bop, but the people who'll be listening are in their teens," Zachary stated, both rudely and proudly. Damien seemed dejected from the response, and shrunk down in his own seat. "Now, I myself do know a good deal about merch! I mean, peep this out!" The actor tore his own shirt open, revealing that he was wearing another tee shirt underneath it with a picture of himself dressed up as Batguy plastered on it. The other members of his team sat in silence, eventually causing him to groan and plop himself back down in his seat, covering himself up with the tattered shirt.
Confessional
"These goons don't know nothing! About nothing! I show them nothing but the best of the Batguy line of clothing, and all they do is stare at me like I just pulled my shorts down in front of a bunch of ten year olds at a playground!" Zachary crossed his arms and pouted with his lip. "Harumph!"
"Zachary can really be…eccentric, to say the least." Gretchen rubbed the back of her head, trying to forget just how badly the boy had just embarrassed himself.
Confessional End
The Crabs had a clear leader in the challenge, none other than the egotistical, yet clever enough to back up the ego, Tony. "Alright, fellas, I know that a lot of you may…well, to be nice about it, know nothing about how to make the big bucks. Good thing for you is that you've got me! I'm a couponing genius that could sell a half eaten piece of cake to a homeless person for all the change they've garnered for a week!" The conman soon noticed that this point only got him some glares from members of the team that weren't as scummy as him, though Amelia, Luna, and Liz hardly seemed to care. "Point is, I'm going to be our saving grace here!"
"Is that true, though? I mean, are you sure you haven't lost your touch?" Flint's sudden comment caused the others to look over at him in question, unsure of what he meant by that. "You guys know that Tony has gotten a lot softer than before, he's hardly the same guy that he was last season! He's too busy making financial decisions that benefit him and his girlfriend, not ruthless, cutthroat ones that reel in the big bucks."
"Flint, while I do love my little brainiac to death, I would sooner drop her off the side of the cliff if it meant I could reel up a sack of money instead. Ain't that right, Liz?" Mr. Business glanced over at the scientist, who was glaring intensely at him, though she did nod. "So, let's not doubt my money making abilities here. Now, as far as planning goes, teenagers like to be outlandish just because they can, but what people like more than that is…little figurines with oversized heads!"
"Seriously? You're suggesting that we should put out a line of Crunko Pop figures?" Amelia sighed in disappointment, shaking her head at the mere suggestion of that. "That has got to be the absolute lamest thing I have ever heard you say."
"Yeah, I gotta agree with Amelia…Crunko Pops are considered dweeby and nerdy even among the dweeby nerds, like me." Nicolás rubbed his arm nervously as he spoke up, feeling bad about disagreeing with someone.
"Be that as it may, have you seen just how well they sell? I guarantee you that, if you looked at sales charts for Crunko Pops, you would notice pretty quickly that profits are through the roof!" Tony pulled out a convenient sales graph from his pocket, revealing it to his team, all of which were shocked to see just how high the profits were.
"You…you just have that with you at all times?" Luna giggled a little at the sight of the chart, though Tony made it pretty clear that he wasn't embarrassed by this.
"Of course I do! I've also got a calendar marked with every day that companies send out their coupon books, a mini ATM so I can easily deposit my own money into a private account on the spot, or withdraw, and eighty-two different checkbooks, each with different types of checks for all sorts of occasions! You want a cat? A bee? A pirate ship? A bowl of yogurt? I got 'em all in my collection!" As he brought up the items in his strange collection, he pulled them out of his pockets, causing his team some shock as they saw everything.
Luna leaned over to Liz, nudging her with her elbow before whispering to her. "Your boyfriend is a total freak." The scientist nodded in agreement, though Tony still didn't seem to mind.
"So, we're all on the same page here? I'm in charge of the challenge's creative direction?" He glanced from teammate to teammate, grinning as he noticed that not a single one of them could try to contest the position.
Confessional
"A challenge where Tony is in charge and things would totally go sour for him if we ended up losing?" Amelia grinned devilishly, tapping the tips of her fingers together. "Why, I see this as an absolute win!"
"Tony is such a…ugh! He gets on every single one of my nerves!" Liz tugged on her hair out of frustration, despite how short it was and how difficult to get a grip on it. "So why on earth do I still like him so much!?"
Confessional End
As the Sharks continued to bicker, Jianne and Alexis could only grow more nervous about their chances to win the challenge. "Urk…we don't really have a conman mastermind on our side here. Do you have any bright ideas as to what we should do, Alexis?"
"Hm…I mean, considering my main interests are boy bands and books…well, I'm probably single handedly the worst person on the team to ask for ideas for merch." Alexis chuckled awkwardly, though she could tell that something was brewing in Jianne's mind. "Are you thinking of anything special?"
"Special? Psh, everything I think about is special!" The egoist smirked proudly before realizing how narcissistic she was being, yet again. "Ah, sorry…but I was thinking that we may have to do something along the lines of clothing…right? I mean, everybody needs clothes, and people buy graphic tees and hats all the time. It seems to me like that is a sure fire way for us to make some moolah."
Alexis scratched her chin for a moment, thinking about what Jianne had suggested. "You know, you're totally right. But the next question would be…well, what on Earth do we put on the clothes to make them interesting and unique? Chris said that it has to have something to do with this season of the show, so I guess the best thing to do would be to-"
"Design the shirts based off of the teams!" Zachary slid over to the two girls, sitting right between them as he placed his arms around their shoulders, a massive grin on his own face, despite the heinous looks he was getting back from them. "Good to know that we got some competent teammates around here! I mean, this was mostly my idea and all, but I'll let you two take some of the credit, I suppose." The girls sighed before shoving the actor back and sliding their chairs to the other side of the table. "Aw, ladies, come on! We made a perfect team together!"
Confessional
"Zachary is someone I could do without…I mean, seriously! The dude is a total wackjob!" Alexis scowled at the camera, cursing the teammate that was trying to take credit for Jianne's idea. "I'd rather have Flint flirting with me all day long than this weirdo doing all the annoying stuff he does on a daily basis. I think he's been talking to himself out in the fields, too."
"Keep it cool, Jianne, you don't need to take credit for everything," Jianne was taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down as she sat in the booth. "E-even if this idea was all yours and that little Batfreak just came in and claimed it as his own…gah, who am I kidding, why should he get to claim that glory!? That was my amazing idea! I'm number one, I'm number one, I'm number-" Jianne had risen from her seat as she was chanting proudly, though she froze up when she glanced back at the camera, soon sitting herself back down. "...Sorry, almost lost my cool there."
Confessional End
Amphitrite was sitting next to Poseidon at the table in the center of the room, scribbling down on her clipboard and occasionally shifting her glance over to him, though always looking back down to her clipboard quickly. She let out a soft sigh before she dropped her pen, revealing that she had drawn a picture of her boss…in just his boxers…and definitely a lot more muscular than he actually was. "Oh, Poseidon…won't you notice how much I love you?" She thought miserably to herself, not noticing what was going on around her.
"Well, there, Amphitrite! What have you been scribbling down there this whole time, you looked to be pretty busy!" Poseidon attempted to peek at the woman's work, though she swiftly ripped the page from the clipboard, crumpled it up into a ball, and stuffed it in her mouth. He was shocked to see her start chomping down on it as if it was her favorite snack. "Er…I guess paper has a lot of fiber in it, if that's what you're eating it for. Good on you for trying to…er…stay healthy?"
"Healthy, yup!" She managed to squeeze those two words out as she chewed and chewed, though her voice was a little hard to understand through the paper. Soon enough, she swallowed the page, gasping for air after she had done it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, sir, I need to find a first aid kit. I do believe I've just received several papercuts in my esophagus." She rose from her seat, rushing down one of the hallways and leaving Poseidon to be shocked in his seat. Chris and Chef snickered to themselves as they watched the scene.
"What are you two laughing about? Aren't you worried that she might be injured?" Poseidon seemed to be irritated a tad bit by their laughing, though even in his most irritated state, he still sounded like he was in a chipper mood.
"Oh, we aren't laughing about that," Chris waved him off, still snickering a bit. "We're just laughing at how oblivious you can be, of course." Chef nodded in agreement, only confusing Poseidon even more.
"Oblivious? I don't know about that, I'm just hoping that she's alright. Isn't that what a good boss would do?" Chef and Chris glanced between each other for a brief moment before returning to their giggling, leaving the businessman utterly stumped. "I may never understand you two and your inside jokes."
"Trust me, the only joke here is how you ain't seeing signs so obvious," Chef retorted, quickly getting a high five from Chris. "Just you wait, man. You'll see why this is so funny to us some day."
"I sure hope so…jokes are always more fun when you can share them with everyone around you!" Poseidon boasted a cheery smile, only getting annoyed looks back from the two hosts, though he was still unsure why that was. Meanwhile, Amphitrite had fled to the restroom, where she was rinsing her throat down with cold water. After she swallowed that down, she took a good look at herself in the mirror, sighing as she set her glasses down on the sink. Her eyes were sad and droopy, and she couldn't help but sigh again. She took a deep breath onto the mirror, using the fog to draw Poseidon's face on it.
"Oh, sir…you're just so handsome. Won't you be mine?" She stared lovingly at the fog drawing before suddenly lunging forth and placing her lips on his, holding onto the mirror like it was the real deal. She was holding the kiss for quite some time, and she only stopped when she heard a sudden "ahem" from behind her. She gasped, pulling her lips off the mirror, wiping away the fog, and turning to see that Bonnie was standing in the doorway. "B-Bonnie! Whatever are you doing here? Shouldn't you be hosing down the bathrooms or something? And why didn't you knock!? It's rude not to knock!"
"Well, to answer your last question, I didn't knock because I'm a pervert, adoy!" Bonnie shrugged and rolled her eyes as if that answer should've been quite obvious, though it only got a glare from the assistant. "Second of all, I feel like I should be the one asking questions, considering you've been making out with inanimate objects. I think it's pretty clear that you have the hots for Mr. Macho Ponytail in the suit."
"H-how dare you accuse me of falling for my boss! Your accusation is baseless and quite rude! Why, if it weren't for the fact that it's entirely true, I would have half a mind to slap you upside the head with my clipboard!" Amphitrite hadn't realized exactly what she said until she said it, soon gasping again and covering her mouth with her hands.
"Reeeeeeeelax, lady! You don't gotta be all defensive about your little crush! In fact, I think I should give you a hand with it!" Bonnie was making an inappropriate gesture with her hands, though she quickly pulled her hands down and put them behind her back. "Uh…sorry, force of habit. Normally when I say 'give you a hand' I'm talking about-"
"Bonnie, I don't think I want to know what it is that you mean by that, please and thank you." Amphitrite shuttered at the thought of the dirty subject, soon shaking her head off to forget about it. "And, as far as help goes, I think I'm perfectly fine. I've come to the conclusion that this silly workplace affection will die out in due time. It's inappropriate to bring romantic feelings into a professional relationship, such as the one that me and Poseidon have."
"Blah, blah, blah, that's soooooooooo boring, lady! Isn't life more fun when you break some rules and test some boundaries? You know, go streaking through a Burger Queen parking lot just because you can!" Bonnie seemed entirely proud of her statement, though Amphitrite was clearly disgusted. "Fine, maybe not doing that exactly, but there ain't nothing wrong with a little lovey dovey tango in the workplace."
"I've never broken any rules at any of my jobs before, never will. I'm pretty firm on that, you perverse little goblin." The assistant crossed her arms, holding her chin up proudly.
"So…if you aren't gonna be going out with him, I guess that means I can just claim a mega MILF, such as yourself, as my own then?" Bonnie licked her lips, soon drooling out of habit, causing Amphitrite to gulp nervously.
"On second thought, maybe breaking one little rule wouldn't be so bad, would it?" The pervert nodded at the assistant as she spoke, wiping the drool from her lips. "So long as it keeps me safe from the likes of…well, you."
"Now that's the spirit!" Bonnie jumped up excitedly, clapping her hands together. "You should totally bounce up and down with me! It'll be super fun to see your boo- I mean, super fun!"
Confessional
"Goodness me, that intern is quite the character…" Amphitrite had her arms crossed over her chest as she sat down, feeling as if she was being watched.
Confessional End
The Crabs were huddled over their table, looking at some rough drawings that they had done of what some possible Crunko Pops could look like. Tony stroked his chin, impressed with how good the drawings actually turned out, considering the lack of artistic skill from most of the team. "Dang, Natt. I didn't know you were one of those artsy folks. These ain't half bad."
Natt shrugged his shoulders at the compliment, looking off to the side before murmuring a bit. "Yeah, well, you probably would've known if you had paid any attention to anything I did during the last season." Nicolás patted the taller boy on the back, causing him to glance back at him. "It's whatever, I just don't like taking orders from…him."
"Yeah, I can't say I much like having him in charge either. Unfortunately, this challenge is just…well, it's way too perfect for a guy like him." The nerd glanced over at Tony to see that he was organizing the drawings into three separate piles.
"So, here's the thing about Crunko Pops…they always release them in series. The series usually have six or so in them, so I figure we can work off of that. Now, as far as the first series goes, we need to include…I'd say three people from each team." Tony tapped his lip for a second before spreading out the contents of the first pile of drawings. "We could use Damien, Jianne, and Vicente from the Sharks. As far as we go, well, me, obviously…and maybe Dusty and Liz. Then, as a final bonus to the series, we can have Amphitrite in there. Teens always love the stern mother types."
"Hold on just a moment! Why does the cowgirl get to be in the first series but I don't!?" Amelia crossed her arms, getting a glare shot her way from Dusty. "She hasn't even been on this team for that long and you're giving her an honor that high?"
"Hmph, maybe it's because I'm more of a team player than yerself, tutz." Dusty comically spat into a bucket, causing a loud "ping" noise to echo from it. Amelia gained a look of disgust fairly quickly. "What's a matter, city girl? Am I too redneck fer the likes of ya?"
"If by redneck you mean utterly degenerate…" Dusty and Amelia were soon in each other's faces, similarly to Vicente and Zachary, although this time, Liz and Luna were watching excitedly, chanting Amelia's name as if they were about to brawl.
"Ladies, ladies! Can't you just calm down for a moment and realize how close we are to greatness? The reason we have Dusty in the first round is..well, she's dating Vicente! People would totally want to buy both figures to have the couple complete, wouldn't you agree, Amelia?" Tony leaned towards the actress, who mumbled to herself and looked away. "That's what I thought. Besides, we need you for the second series…as a special pre-order bonus at select stores! Demand for a newer member of the cast will be incredibly high, and to hear that there is a limited stock? We could charge big bucks for something like that! Of course, it would be yours at certain stores, and Zachary's at others."
"That's…well, that's actually a pretty great idea. Not that I'm saying you're smart or anything, but…maybe you aren't being a complete imbecile, like you usually are." Amelia sighed, backing away from Dusty finally, much to Liz and Luna's disappointment.
"So…where do I fit into this marketing scheme?" Flint cracked his knuckles, looking through all of the drawings, but failing to find his in any of the three piles. "I don't seem to be here anywhere."
"Exactly! Because, your figure wouldn't be in a series, but would release in a trio pack as a special! You, Alexis, and Thomas! Surely, people would empty their wallets for such a deal, don't you think?" Tony grinned to the athletic boy, who couldn't help but smirk back before nodding at the idea. "We can fill in some gaps here and there, but with these plans, we're sure to have one killer sales revenue! There's no way that those Sharks will beat us! The reward is ours for the taking!" Tony found himself inadvertently drooling as he thought about the reward in question, though he still didn't know what it was.
Confessional
"Darn…it really is a shame that Tony is coming through strong on this challenge. Oh well, I suppose winning isn't the end of the world…I would still kill to get rid of him, though." Amelia grumbled to herself, though she clearly admired how clever Tony was when it came to all things money related. "What? You seriously can't be thinking I'm saying he did a good job? This is just a…distraction from how terrible he usually is! He's doing average, so it seems to be great to an untrained eye! …Yep."
Confessional End
Alex was humming a tune to himself while he worked hard at making a unique design for the tees and hats for each team. The Crabs had a constellation of a crab on a blue background, while the Sharks were given a warhead that looked like a shark on a red background. His team hovered over him like drones, trying to get a peak at what he was drawing. He soon sighed, turning to face them with a scowl. "Ya know, it sure would be right easier for me to work on these designs without the paparazzi hounding me down. Could you all back up just a tad bit?"
"Right, right, sorry." Gretchen backed up a bit, only to find herself now standing next to Taylor, which was a bit startling to her, considering she hadn't seen her move at all. "W-wow, you sure know how to sneak up on a girl, don't ya?"
"Meh, it's a benefit you get from sneaking around to avoid your annoying family all the time. You know, dad's getting on your nerves about failing in school and mom won't let you leave the house showing all that skin." Taylor had grown an annoyed look on her face for a moment, but she soon shook it off. "Sorry, sorry, they can still get on my nerves when I think about how irritating they could be. I'm sure you had your own issues with annoying family members and all that."
"Oh, well, not really. I actually got along with my family quite well! In fact, I'm closer to my brother and father than most other people in my life." Gretchen gestured down to her shirt, which had the graphic of her with her brother and her father on it. Taylor scratched her chin for a moment, quite unsure of what to make of this.
"Huh…kinda weird to think about what it would be like to have a family that you can relate to. I bet that's pretty cool." Gretchen nodded at Taylor's statement, bring a smile to the adrenaline junkie's face. "I'm sure I can learn a lot from you and your family, you spunky lass, you." The rocker chuckled, and the two soon leaned in to kiss each other, though they were swiftly split up by Zachary.
"Ladies, please, leave the lovey dovey nonsense for when the challenge is done!" The actor stood proudly between them, though Taylor socked him in the jaw and knocked him flat to the floor.
"And it's all done!" Alex held the two drawings up in the air for his team to see. The lot of them had their eyes widen in amazement at just how wonderful the drawings were, none of them expecting to see something so amazing from the adventurer.
Confessional
"Ah know, Ah know, what's an adventurer like me doing with all this skill in the arts? Well, if you want to be able to make precise maps that can be followed for generations to come, you've gotta be good with a pen!" Alex smiled cheekily, pointing at himself with his thumb. "This Joey's got more surprises up his sleeve than you might think!"
Confessional End
Chris yawned loudly, stretching his arms out before standing up at his table. "Are you guys all done, cause like…I kinda got some me time that I have to get to. I wanna get this challenge all wrapped up and everything."
"Oh, we're more than ready to share our genius with you, Chris!" Tony snickered as he grabbed his papers, soon heading to the center of the room. "Lady and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the next hit business idea for Total Drama…Lost City Crunko Pops!" The conman unveiled the drawings, showing them in the series that he had planned. "With some special event releases and pre-orders, we're sure to make millions in revenue from these suckers. People will be buying them nation- no, worldwide! That's right, they'll be a staple in everyone's collections! I'd like to see the Sharks top that!" Tony grinned at Alex, who put his game face on, grabbing his drawing and meeting him in the center of the room.
"Well, Crunko Pops may be one thing, but they only really appeal to the nerds of the world! No offense, Nicolás." The adventurer waved at the boy, who glared at him. "But our idea is something that fits the bill for everyone! Tee shirts and hats with designs for the Cosmic Crabs and Atomic Sharks on them!" He showed his two fantastic drawings to the group of adults in the center of the room, a smirk on his face. "Everybody needs clothes, so it makes sense that more of these puppies would sell than some silly figurines, wouldn't ya agree, Chris?"
"Hm…you know what I think, kiddos? I think, before I announce the winner of this here challenge, I should fill you all in on what your reward is!" The teams found themselves looking to the host with wide eyes, waiting to hear what it was that they were working so hard for. "That's right…the reward that we've got for you is that…no one is going to get eliminated today!"
"What!?" Tony and Alex choraled in shock, immediately dropping their drawings to the floor.
"You heard me right! The real winner of this challenge…is me! You've all just saved me from having to sit in a boring merch meeting that ends up going nowhere because we don't understand what people your age are into! So, thanks for that, but you can all scuttle on back to your rooms! Challenge over, no elimination!" Chris snickered, soon shuffling over to the two boys and snatching up the drawings that they had done. "I'll be taking these, of course! Thanks again, boys!"
One by one, the teams started to leave the space station, each of them grumbling in disappointment. The four adults soon passed Tony and Alex by, leaving them alone in the room, sitting in shock and despair.
Confessional
"So…it was all for nothing then…" Tony lamented to himself, staring down at the floor in utter disappointment. "I should've known it was too good to be true…stupid…"
"Well, that was one big ol' waste of time!" Alex grumbled, kicking the wall lightly. "Ah mean, what was the point of leading us to believe we were gonna get something cool for winning this challenge? Leave it to Chris to lead us on."
Confessional End
The challenge was over and, luckily, nobody was biting the dust this time around. Well, there was a good amount of annoyance from being used by the show's host, but that was almost to be expected at this point. That's all there was to it…or was it? In a dim room, there sat a boy in a chair, one who had a tablet in his hands. On the tablet, there was a bit of what had happened earlier on in the day, when Natt and Nicolás were talking with each other. "'Thomas ain't got nothing on me!'" The boy chuckled as he heard the cockiness from the nerd, soon pausing the video and setting the tablet down on a table in front of his chair.
"Ain't got nothing on you, eh?" The boy rose from his seat, causing the room to light up and his frightening grin to shimmer. It was none other than Thomas himself, in a place that no one from the show had seen before. "Oh, my dear Nicolás, it does amuse me to see how proud of your minor accomplishments you can be." He laughed as he walked to the doorway, soon leaving the room and coming out into a grand hallway, one which had a red carpet racing all the way down it. Maggie was standing out there, waiting for him patiently.
"What's got you in such a delighted mood, kuku? You were watching more of the show, weren't you?" She stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss upon the boy's cheek. "You know, someday you're gonna grow tired of them. They can't be all that amusing."
"You think so? I find them to be rather entertaining…they're kind of like cavemen wandering around in a big city. Just a bunch of simpletons here for my enjoyment, that's all." Thomas cracked his knuckles before taking hold of Maggie's hand, walking down the hallway with her. "So, is the big guy ready to talk to us? We got here like two weeks ago and still haven't seen him in person."
"Yes, he should be all ready for us…what do you think he's going to be like? I mean, he's a real big league fella. He's gotta be some other level of terrifying, right?" Maggie grinned as she looked up at Thomas, who could only shrug in response.
"Beats me…it doesn't matter anyways. All we need to do is secure our position in his ranks and then we'll be set for life! Father Time is the organization known for its ruthless killers…but not one of them has ever been seen! Every single one of their jobs can only be identified by their calling card…that stopwatch they leave." Thomas squealed in delight like a kid in a candy store. "To even be considered for something like this is far greater than anything else I could ever want in life!"
"Ahem," Maggie glared at him, pulling her hand back from him and crossing her arms firmly. "I'm standing right here, you know."
"Right, sorry dear…but surely you must know just how amazing an opportunity like this is for me! It's more than reasonable that I might forget about trivial things while fixating on this!" Maggie gasped upon hearing the word "trivial," soon slapping him across his face and leaving a red mark on his cheek. He soon rubbed it, rolling his eyes back at her before stopping in place, noticing that the large door that was typically shut tight was now wide open. "I'll apologize for this later! For now, we've got something bigger to attend to!" He let go of her hand, walking right into the room with a look of pure amazement on his face.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She trailed behind him, staying a few feet away from him as he stopped in the center of the room. Thomas looked on ahead to see a massive, golden throne, one that was shaped to look like an hourglass. There was a man that sat on top of it, one who looked like he had seen better days. He rose to his feet slowly, standing over at a measly height, likely due to his hunched back. He was entirely bald, though he did have a very long beard that went from his chin all the way down to the floor. His eyebrows were incredibly bushy, and, like his beard, as white as snow. His skin was quite wrinkly, and it looked as if he hadn't seen the sun in years with how pale it was. He was wearing a black bathrobe, one that covered up his entire body beneath his neck. The couple stared at this man with…curiosity on their faces. He was not the type they would expect to see in this position, yet, here he was.
"Um…are you-" Thomas was quickly interrupted by the man raising his wrinkly hand out of the pocket of the robe.
"Chronos…my name is Chronos, boy. You'll get a warning this time, but never speak unless spoken to around here." Thomas nodded in response, though he was back to being just as excited as he was before. "I know your work well, young Thomas…and despite one glaring failure, you've impressed me. You can see this as an opportunity to come back to the field…a second chance, if you will. I'm helping you, you're helping me. You may now speak…"
Thomas looked over to Maggie for a moment, only getting a shrug from her before he turned back to face the elderly man. "Yes, sir. If I may ask, what is it exactly that you need from me? I'm willing to do anything I can to prove that I may be of some use to you, anything at all."
"Yes, yes…what I need from you. Well, to put it simply…you're a mere distraction in the grand scheme of things. I just need to cause a scene to keep some people busy while I do my work. You may now speak…"
"A distraction? Surely I can be of more use than just a distraction-" Thomas quickly shut his mouth, seeing as Chronos was glaring holes into his eyes. "R-right, a distraction…I can do a fine job at that, I think. But, if I may ask, who exactly is it that me and you will be going after?"
"Who are we going after? Oh, young one, I think you'll be delighted to hear that the person we're going to remove from this timeline is none other than…" Chronos' voice grew quieter and quieter, but Thomas heard him loud and clear. The boy had a look of pure shock on his face, but, soon enough, the shock was replaced with a maniacal grin.
Author's Notes:
*Another non-elimination!? I know, I'm just the worst, aren't I? Sorry it took me so long to get this one out, but I was having some motivation issues. But I'm back, baby! I tried to make this one as entertaining as I could, and I hope it worked out. As always, let me know what you thought about this episode! I do love to see the reviews!
*Oh, in not so good news, I have COVID again! It's alright, I will be fine. I'm using the time off from work to get a lot done for the story, so I will try my best to keep some steady updates going!
*Placements: 22nd - Crustacean; 21st - Thomas; 20th - March; 19th - Benjamin; 18th - Archie; 17th - Anne