Chris and Chef had finally returned from their vacation, though it was a bit odd that Amphitrite and Poseidon weren't with them on the returning submarine. There was a third person in there with them, however…someone who was wrapped up in ropes and had tape over his mouth. Chef whistled nonchalantly, almost completely ignoring the poor guy on the floor of the submarine until he wriggled around a whole bunch. "Man, will you quit your squirming? Ungrateful, washed up celebrity."
The man mumbled through the tape, though it was impossible for anyone to discern his words. Chef groaned and ripped the tape from his mouth. "OW!" He screamed, his face quickly turning red from the suddenness of this. "What is wrong with you guys? Don't you know who I am? People are gonna be looking for me the second they find out I've gone missing!"
"Heh, don't kid yourself man!" Chris snickered and waved the man off. "Everybody knows that Joey Hawk doesn't actually exist anymore, he lives in some weird sort of simulation where everyone knows who he is but no one cares enough about him to notice if anything happens to him. We've seen your social media posts, we know that your life is sad!"
"...Geez man, that's kinda harsh." The man huddled up on the ground, soon whispering to himself. "This is what my mom told me would happen if I became a popular surfer. I'd end up getting kidnapped by two people that I've never met in my entire life."
"Yeah, keep whining to yourself, it's not gonna make your situation any better." Chris turned to face the camera, stepping out of his seat and standing on top of the poor man, causing him to wheeze in pain. "Well, last time on Total Drama: Lost City, it was time for a well earned vacation, so Chef, Poseidon, Amphitrite, and myself scooted our way out of Atlantis, leaving it in the hands of Bonnie and a little boytoy that came to help out! We saw Amelia making some power plays, changing up her diary to make her look all innocent in front of Luna, splitting up that nasty Luna Liz friendship that we all hated so much. Of course, Liz went crying to Papa Tony, who insulted his team and ended up catching the ear of Flint, who tattled on him. A simp, and a tattle tale! We also had a little bit of a romantic spark between Damien and Jianne, which made one viewer like…really happy. I mean, he sent in hundreds of letters about it. Anywho, we got along to the challenge, where Mr. Green Haired Hottie just couldn't keep Bonnie off of him. The goal was to sing a love song duet, with the two best people for the job being picked from each team. Tony and Liz gave everything they got into their performance, but Jianne and Damien just…like, wow, they swept the floor with them. Such a touching scene…AND THEY KISSED LATER! Sadly, the villainous couple that had such a great run last season saw their early departure. Just goes to show, never trust an actor. We've got a lot more chaos on its way, though! Will Damien and Jianne smooch some more? Will Flint find all his little crystal things? Will Alexis make more enemies? Find out, right here, 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.
Everyone was still well asleep, considering how early it was in the day. The Crabs were down to just three boys in the men's room, Flint, Natt, and Nicolás. While two of them were sleeping just fine, there was one of them in particular that was having a hard time. Flint tossed and turned, throwing his blankets and pillows all about as if he was having some sort of nightmare. He grumbled to himself in his sleep, a frightened look on his face.
A look into the boy's mind showed exactly what it was that he was so terrified of. He was running on a fiery highway, with no shoes on, of course. His soles were burning from the blacktop, but he just couldn't stop running. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Thomas was running after him…but not just regular old Thomas! No, this Thomas was a towering giant with a massive katana in his hands. Flint screamed, though his scream came out to sound like a little girl's voice, and he wet himself while he ran further and further. As he kept looking back, he failed to notice that the highway was ending, and he ran right off of it, falling into a whirlpool which swallowed him up.
Flint shot awake, gasping out of fear. He peeked at the bunk that was attached to his, sighing in relief as he noticed that Thomas was still gone from it. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, standing up from his bed only to find that he had actually wet himself in fear of it all. "Aw, man!" He yelped in shock, soon covering his mouth as he realized what he had done. Nicolás and Natt hadn't woken up, luckily for him, but he had to do something about his drawers.
He scooted over to his dresser, reaching into it and grabbing a fresh pair of underpants before running out of the room and straight to the bathroom. He finally got to the room, making sure to shut the door tightly behind before turning to face the sink, only to see Benjamin sitting there on the toilet, reading the newspaper…upside down. "Hm…interesting stuff in here about the Dow Jones…" The goofball looked up from his paper to see Flint standing there, and the two just stared at each other for quite a long time. "...Are you just gonna stand there and look at me, or are we gonna start spontaneously screaming at the top of our lungs?"
"I think probably that second thing sounds like a good plan to me." The two boys nodded at each other briefly before clearing their throats and letting out a high pitched shriek that could shatter the skies. The camera panned out to show and outside view of both the Sharks' and the Crabs' buildings, where many people could be heard groaning after the sound woke them from their deep slumber.
Confessional
"It's only seven in the morning, and Flint is already crying out to the skies, begging for answers to questions we don't understand." Amelia rubbed her tired eyes, clearly irritated with the speedster and his antics. "If I had the manpower, I'd get him out of the game in a heartbeat…oh, wait! I do!" She giggled innocently while smiling almost like how a young child would when they're pretending they didn't do something bad.
"I was just- and then he was just- and my underpants got soaked!" Flint couldn't really form a coherent sentence, still startled by what had occurred in the bathroom. "You tell 'em, Benjamin!"
Benjamin, who was sitting right next to Flint in the confessional, nodded his head. "He was just- and then I was just- and his underpants got soaked!"
"Yeah!"
Confessional End
Meanwhile, Damien and Jianne were sitting outside of the Sharks' building, trying to ignore the scream that just pierced the sky. They sat at the bench together, although keeping a little distance between each other, thinking about what they should do moving forward from the kiss that they shared not too long ago. "So…you know…about the other day," Damien rubbed the back of his neck, shifting his gaze, as he was blushing and he knew that looking Jianne in the eyes was only going to make him blush worse. "I mean, that was really nice…and I had a lot of fun doing the challenge with you…but I've been feeling a little weird about it."
"Yeah, me too," Jianne leaned back on the bench, looking up at the sky…well, the sea, considering they were still well underwater. "You're a cool dude and everything, so it's not like I have anything against you…or kissing you, or whatever. But, considering I was just dating your friend…if he's still your friend, I mean. Anyway, considering that, I think I need some time before I rush myself into another relationship…I don't wanna sink another ship if I still haven't quite learned to control my competitive urges and all that jazz, I'm sure you understand."
"Completely, one hundred percent!" Damien finally brought his glance back over to Jianne, and his blush faded from his face. "That's why it felt so weird to me, and I just wanted to make sure that you weren't upset by it or anything. And, to be honest, I know I still haven't fully gotten over…well, the whole March thing. I know I should, but, man…it's a lot harder when you know millions of people saw it happen on television." The boy let out a chuckle, shaking his head a bit. "Can you believe a dude like me wants to be a Broadway star? You'd think I could handle the spotlight better!"
The two of them laughed at Damien's comment, soon smiling to each other, with no hard feelings from either party in the slightest. Jianne sat up, turning to face the boy who sat next to her and holding out her hand. "So, we're still friends, then?"
Damien nodded back to her, taking her hand in his and shaking it firmly. "Of course…I wouldn't let a silly kiss ruin that. Besides, I need a friend I can count on to be honest with me, even if her version of honesty is being as blunt and brutal as it gets." The boy joked, earning himself a playful jab to the shoulder from Jianne.
"And I need friends that ain't got a way to outshine me. I'm number one, after all!" She swiped her nose with her thumb, boasting that egoistic grin that she always had about her. Damien rolled his eyes, finding it hard not to keep laughing at how ridiculous she was being. "Hey, you think Chris may have another challenge for us today? Honestly, I've been itching for a chance to show off how perfect I am since we dominated the last one."
"You know, I'm not sure if he will or not, but I feel the same way. Well, not exactly the same way, more like I've just been a bit bored since the last challenge and I've really wanted something to do. Considering that the boys that I'm left with now are Vicente, who spends most of his time with Dusty, and Zachary, who…well, is Zachary, I don't have many options for entertainment." Damien tapped his chin, thinking about it for a brief moment. "Though, I suppose I could always just do something with you…if I feel like getting my butt handed to me on a silver platter."
"Oh, please, I'm sure I wouldn't beat you that bad…bah, who am I kidding? I'd slam dunk you into the pavement, no matter what the contest is!" Jianne stood up, closing her eyes and proudly pointing to her own chest. "Guess you're just not as skilled as-"
"Hi guys!" A familiar voice called to the pair, drawing their attention off to the side. As they looked, their eyes widened, baffled by the fact that March was standing right across from them. "It's been a while since I've seen anyone! How've you two been? Oh, we gotta talk a whole bunch later, I gotta take my stuff to my room and all that jazz, you know how it goes around here!" She rushed over to the two, pulling them both in for a group hug, though they were still astounded. When she finally broke the hug, she looked between the two of them, smiling politely before rushing inside of the Sharks' building, leaving them completely dumbfounded and speechless.
Confessional
"What is she doing back here! I mean, I was under the impression that she went and got herself eliminated, but now she's back!?" Damien was hyperventilating, his stress levels rising. "I know she did what she could to apologize, but with what just happened and…gah! Am I overthinking things? She's not gonna cause any problems because of all that stuff, right? I don't know! Why is this happening!?" The boy slumped down into the corner of the room, shaking as he was hoping that this very thing wouldn't happen. "C-chill out, buddy! It's not gonna be bad, nothing bad is gonna happen…you and March are through, and you and Jianne only kissed each other, you're not dating or anything! That means there shouldn't be any problems, right?"
"Well…March is suddenly back, out of nowhere. Nothing wrong with that…nothing wrong with that, at all!" Jianne gave a thumbs up to the camera, still wearing that confident grin of hers. "...Of course, I know that she makes Damien really uncomfortable…bah, it'll be just fine! Don't overthink anything, just treat her like how you treat the rest of the people around this dump!"
"I'm so happy to be back in Atlantis, I really didn't have enough time to hang out with people when I was here!" March giggled sweetly while she kicked her feet. "I had that nasty little breakup earlier on, but it's all good now! I'm here to have fun and do my best to win the game! After all, I made it to fourth place last season! I gotta show everyone that I'm no joke!"
Confessional End
It didn't take long for the contestants to gather outside of their buildings, along with the two contestants that had been previously eliminated. It was quite the shock to see them, and not a great shock for most of them. Chris had journeyed over to see the contestants, grinning and evil grin as he eyes over the fourteen of them. "Well, well! Good morning, divers! It seems that you've already gone and discovered my little secret, kinda killing the fun of revealing them to you, but I guess that's fine. I was checking the confessionals, and some reactions have already filled me with laughter!"
The host cackled to himself, soon wiping a single tear from his eye before winking at Damien, who glared back at him. "Anywho…yes! March and Benjamin are back in the game, baby! And that means that one other thing is coming along now…yes, you all know what I'm talking about! The Atomic Sharks and the Cosmic Crabs are no more! That's right! I'm abolishing the teams, officially bringing us to the merge! The Sharks' former building will now be the home for the girls of Atlantis, while the Crabs' former building will be for the boys! You've got yourself a little bit of time to get settled in before I call you all back for your first challenge on your own, so use it wisely!" Chris turned to head back to the fallen space station, where his office was, before suddenly turning around. "Oh, right…that reminds me! We're keeping the very same rules from the previous season! Since there are no more teams, there are also no longer any voting ceremonies! Each challenge will have a clear winner that gets a reward, and a clear loser that is eliminated from the game!"
The contestants gasped at his announcement, some of them familiar with this concept from last season, while others hadn't had this happen before. The host chuckled to himself some more, shaking his head as he kept on walking back to his office. "Just make sure to keep that in mind during the challenge today! You're gonna wanna bring your A-game if you don't wanna go back up to shore!"
Confessional
"Of course…March just had to come back. Well, bad news for her! I am officially over her!" Luna crossed her arms and turned her chin up at the camera. "I don't need her and her antics, so I won't be taking her back! I don't care how many times she has to get eliminated for us to finally get rid of her, but I'll be making sure her time back doesn't last very long!"
Benjamin had a note in his hand, one that he was reading over very carefully. "So, Tony gave me this note before I got sent back to Atlantis. He wanted me to try my best to sabotage the person that got him and Liz out, something about payback and all that. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at reading, so I haven't really figured it out yet." He rubbed the back of his head, showing the note to the camera, revealing that it had Amelia's name on it. "I did promise I would take care of it, once I figured out who it was, anyways. …What? Tony wasn't nice to me last season? Yeah, but…forgive and forget, right? I like having as many friends as I can, so doing a favor for him isn't so bad for me!"
Confessional End
The few girls that remained in the Crabs' building, those being Amelia, Dusty, and Luna, were quick to collect their things from their room, heading back towards the Sharks' building while passing by Vicente, Zachary, and Damien. Vicente blew a kiss to Dusty, who just rolled her eyes and pulled him in for a real kiss. Zachary glared at the two of them, "You two could get a room, you know? Oh, right! That's what we're all doing right now! Come on, Mr. Reality Man!" The actor grabbed his former teammate by the shirt, dragging him away from Dusty. "You'll have time to lip wrestle with the cowgirl when you're not in front of everyone else."
"Leave it to you to be bummed that the spotlight isn't on yourself." Vicente grumbled to himself before continuing towards the Crabs' cabin. "In any case, I am interested to see how things are, now that we'll be rooming with the other boys. Well, we all know Benjamin can be like, but Natt, Nicolás, Flint? I hope they're not as obnoxious as you, Zachary."
"Ha! They wish they could be as obnoxious as me!" The actor opened the door to the building, making sure to walk through before the other two boys that he was walking with. "I'm sure that they're all just gonna be boring, like Vicente here!" Vicente glared at Zachary for the comment, though the latter made it clear he didn't care that it offended him. "Well, welcome to our new home!"
The three boys were met by the sight of Flint, a rope tied around his waist, hanging from the ceiling like some sort of pinata. They looked up at him in utter astonishment while Natt walked out of one of the bedrooms, sighing while he noticed him. "Well? What did you learn from this experiment?"
"That I'm not a distant relative of Arachnid-Man," Flint grumbled in defeat, crossing his arms and pouting, while also refusing to look back at Natt.
"What else did you learn?" Natt grabbed a step stool from the room, standing on top of it to start untying the rope, causing it to release Flint, which made him crash into the floor and yelp. "Yelping doesn't answer my question, Flint."
"I know, I know! Yeesh!" Flint shot up from the ground, dusting himself off and crossing his arms again. "Don't convince Benjamin to take part in my antics because he doesn't know any better."
"That's right. Nicolás is still trying to convince him not to jump off the roof, since you told him that he could be your sidekick: the Fly…with the power to fly." Suddenly, a loud thud could be heard from outside, and Natt sighed, pinching the top of his nose in disappointment. "Looks like he went and found out that he can't actually fly." The motherly boy looked over the roof access panel, soon shouting over at it. "Nicolás, what the heck happened out there?"
Nicolás poked his head down from the panel to answer Natt, "Well, I told him that he's not actually the Fly, and he said some nonsense about already being a superhero once before. I didn't know what he's talking about, and he said 'Chrisvengers, baby! I'm the Untouchable Bulk!' And then he jumped off the roof."
"Of course he did…anyways, it's neat to have you guys here." Natt looked back over at the three newcomers of the building before gesturing to the former girls' room. "No one is in this room anymore, so I guess you'd probably all wanna go in there, right?" It wasn't long before Benjamin burst through the wall in that very room, leaving a giant opening in it. "...I guess it may be a little too drafty there. You may wanna bring some extra blankets."
The three newbies stood there with their jaws dropped, utterly astounded by all the chaos that just went down in the first minute of being in their new building.
Confessional
"This place is the coolest thing in all of Atlantis!" Zachary pumped his fists in the air, excited to see all the nonsense that was going on. "People ignoring the boring nerds so they can jump off the roof to find out if they are a superhero? This is the perfect place for me! Ahhh…home sweet home!"
Confessional End
As the boys were just getting used to their new home for the rest of the competition, the three girls from the former Crabs were just entering the former Sharks' cabin. Dusty took one step back into the room, taking in a breath of the sweet air and letting out a loving sigh. "Ahhh…ain't nothing like the smell of home sweet home! Oh, look!" She rushed over to the room that she initially slept in when she was still on the Sharks, seeing that her bed was not yet claimed by anyone. "They even left my bed open for me! Shucks, ya fellas really are too sweet!"
Alexis leaned over to March, who was sitting next to her on her new bed. "Like…who was gonna come in and take the bed? We don't typically get new members in." March shrugged her shoulders in response before Luna and Amelia entered the room as well. She politely waved to the two of them, only getting a glare back from the model while the actress didn't even look at her.
"Huh…guess Luna's still a bit sore about the breakup. Oh well, no skin off my back!" March hugged Alexis to one side and grabbed Gretchen to hug her close to her other side. "I'm just glad I get to hang out with all my old friends from last season's merge! We're gonna be sharing the room together, too! Man, this really is the best!"
"Well, glad you're back in such bright spirits! With Jianne's competitiveness and Gretchen being nasty to me, I've been hoping for some positivity!" Alexis hugged March back, not realizing that she had just called Gretchen nasty right to her face.
"Being nasty to you, huh? Here I was, thinking I was gonna apologize to you for the other day, but I don't think I will now!" The rocker pulled March away from Alexis, hugging her alone. "Don't worry about getting all tangled up with Miss Hurts Her Own Teammates, you can chill with me and we can have jam sessions together! You can play an instrument, right? You totally look like you'd be good on bass!"
Alexis glared at Gretchen, soon pulling March right back to her. "Of course, why play music when we could just listen to the newest singles that the Boris Brothers dropped instead? You seem like you would share my appreciation for boy bands, you'd definitely help me get backstage with how cute that face of yours is!"
"Uh, Alexis, dude? Yeah, March was chilling with me first, so I think you can just lay off with the boy band stuff." Gretchen grabbed a hold of March's left arm, tugging her back a bit. "Besides, rock music is definitely a better stimulant than that silly pop garbage. Isn't that right, March?"
"Um, well, actually, I-" March tried to speak up for herself, only for Alexis to immediately cut her off, as well as try to tug her back by her right arm.
"She told me that she loves boy bands just as much as I do! We even have matching tee shirts for the tour we were planning to see together!" The mistress of all accidents reached off to the side, holding up two matching shirts for the Big Time Thrill tour. "And we're gonna go get them signed when we meet the band with our backstage passes!"
"...When did you even-"
"Oh, I stumbled into a room this one time and I found one of the boys from the band with some lady that wasn't his wife. He gave me these shirts and premium tickets to the show because of it!" Alexis smiled an innocent little smile, which vanished soon as Gretchen tugged March right back to her.
"March doesn't think it's cool that you blackmailed that singer into giving you all that free stuff, isn't that right, March?" Gretchen and Alexis gritted their teeth at each other, each of them tugging March from side to side until the girl finally managed to free herself from their clutches.
"O-okay, ladies! I think I should maybe take five and go talk to all the others! There's enough of me to go around for everyone, though! I promise!" March giggled nervously and waved to the two girls before zipping over to Dusty and hiding behind her, knowing that she was safe from danger there.
Confessional
"Geez, I didn't expect people to miss me that much! All this talk about playing music and listening to music, don't get me wrong, I'll do anything with my friends, but I'm more of a classical girl. It helps get my inspiration flowing when I'm working on drawings or paintings!" March reached down to hold up a picture she had drawn, which was of the starry sky. "I did this one while listening to Leethoven!"
Confessional End
Chris had come back to the buildings a good bit after he initially left and let the folks get settled into their new rooms, or to get settled with their new roommates. In one hand, he had an airhorn, which he pressed down upon loudly, while holding it to a megaphone, which was in his other hand. The loud horn beckoned the contestants to burst out of their rooms and come outside, where they were met by the host, with that evil little grin of his. "Looks like all of you are either enjoying yourselves already or having a horrible time, doesn't matter to me as long as it generates some more views for the show. Anywho, it's time for us to get along with our first challenge of the post-merge! Have any of you heard of Joey Hawk?"
"Joey Hawk? You mean that totally awesome pro surfer that pretty much redefined the surfing world as we know it with all of the new tricks he invented?" Flint's eyes sparkled with amazement as went on about the surf legend. "Of course I've heard of him, it's always been a dream of mine to meet the guy!"
"Well, you're gonna be in luck, Flint! Ladies and gentlemen, here you are!" Chris gestured off to the side, where Chef was standing next to a man. The man was the very same one that was in the submarine before, now much more discernable in regular light and not bound up. He was about average height, perhaps slightly taller, and he had a lovely tan that you could only gain from daily trips to the beach. His hair was blonde, and tied back into a ponytail with a light green band. His eyes were a similar shade of green to the band, and he had a goatee sprouting on his chin. Atop his head, there was a baseball cap, that which was striped, light green and light blue, with a white space in the front that had a green "x" running over it. He had a Hawaiian shirt on, one which was blue and had a wave-like pattern on it, which was left open to expose his well-toned chest, and dark green shorts that had another wave-like pattern on them. Of course, he wore light blue, beach sandals, and a clam necklace.
"Yo, kids, what's up?" The man loosely waved to the crowd, a faint smile on his face after hearing what Flint had said. For the most part, the group of contestants blankly stared back at him, without a clue as to who he was.
"...Who the heck is this guy?" Flint scratched his chin, not recognizing the very same idol that he just said moments ago he dreamed of meeting. "You know, he kinda looks like Joey Hawk."
"Yep, I get that a lot." The man rubbed the back of his head, the smile fading to more of a dull look.
"Everyone, this is Joey Hawk, pro surfer. I know, he's that one celebrity that you always recognize, but never piece two and two together. He's going to be watching our challenge today, and judging who will move on to the second round of it!" Chris clapped his hands together, ushering Chef to go ahead and reach for fourteen surfboards of sorts…though they had some weird mechanism on them. "Now, obviously you can't just use a surfboard underwater, so we rigged these ones with air tanks! The air flow can propel you guys through the water, and allow you to properly perform tricks and whatnot. Each one of you goofy kids is gonna get one of these, and pull off your sickest moves to impress this superstar! The four that impress him the most will move on to our second round of the challenge, which is a race to the finish."
"Wait…why is there a second part to the challenge if the four best performers move on? Wouldn't the worst performer get eliminated in the first part?" Natt shrugged his shoulders, not understanding what the host was getting at. "Seems kind of anti-climactic to me."
"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? For this challenge, it's gonna be a bit different than our typical breed of 'who's the best and who's the worst?' This time, the reward winner will be the person that makes it to the finish first in the second part…while the loser and unfortunate eliminatee of this challenge will be the person that crosses the finish line last!" The contestants gasped as Chef handed them their surfboards, a grin on his face that was as evil as Chris himself. "I know, I know, I'm just the worst!"
"Yeah, you're gonna seriously eliminate one of the top four players in this challenge? That's, for lack of a better word, bogus!" Everyone groaned when they heard Alexis and her surfer talk. "Oh, come on, it was fitting for the theme!"
"We can all worry about hating Alexis for her attempts at being funny later. Right now, you contestants need to suit up in your diving gear and get ready to surf! We've only got Mr. Hawk for a little bit of time, anyhow." Chris tapped a watch that was on his wrist, "Now, get a move on, ladies and gents!"
Confessional
"So, one of the best competitors is gonna get eliminated in this challenge? Can't say that much shocks me…Chris has a tendency to pull that kind of thing." Vicente sighed, shaking his head as he looked down at the ground before glancing up at the camera. "Is the reward really worth possibly getting eliminated?"
"Well, if Joey Hawk is gonna be watching, I'll need to bring out my A-game! Then again, Flint Goldenrod is always on his A-game…everyone else just follows in suit!" Flint stood proudly on top of the confessional buckets, soon losing his balance and falling to the floor.
Confessional End
The surfers gathered themselves outside of the bubble, while Chris, Chef, and Joey Hawk settled inside the submarine, well above them. They had a good view of each contestant, and direct access to the speakers in their diving suits, so it wasn't like they couldn't hear them. "Alright, divers! You guys're gonna start your tricks in just a minute here, so if you've got any dumb questions for me, you better get them off your chest now!"
"Yeah, I got one for you, Chris!" Amelia spoke up into her microphone as she sat down on her surfboard. "What's the point in us even trying to do cool tricks if it might get us eliminated? The reward had better be diamonds, at that point!"
"You know, I'm actually glad somebody is asking about this. Why try to do your best when one of the top four is getting eliminated? I guarantee you, the reward is beyond worth it!" Chris chuckled to himself, only piquing the interest of the contestants. "In my hand right now, I have a singular ticket. This ticket is super important, so it isn't just a piece of paper. Why, you ask? Well, the ticket can be exchanged at the end of any challenge…if you lose the challenge, you'll be safe from elimination, and you get to transfer your elimination to any other player that's still in the game!" Each of the divers gasped, some of them soon getting worried looks on their faces, while others looked greedy and wanting the ticket. "I knew that was gonna spark things up for the lot of you! Now, let's move along to the challenge. You'll go one by one, of course…alphabetical order works for me. That means that Alexis is up first, and Zachary is up last!"
"Great, now I have to perform just when the stakes are high and everything. Oh well, I'll still strive to do my best here!" Alexis came to the center of the group, swimming with her surfboard held close to her side.
"Yeah, queen! You got this, show these posers how it's done!" Flint clapped his hands as he hollered for Alexis, only gaining some judging looks back from other contestants that were around him. "What? Just because we haven't worked together pretty much at all this season, we've been separate because of the teams, and she accidentally hurt me a couple times before doesn't mean I still can't support my queen!"
"Right, right," Alexis chuckled nervously as she got up onto her surfboard, soon swallowing the nervousness down. She looked up at the submarine, anxious to actually get started. "You know, on second thought, maybe I shouldn't-" The girl tried to back off of her surfboard, only to hit a pedal with her foot, turning on the oxygen. This caused her to propel forward at quite a fast rate, also startling her enough to scream the entire way. She reached down to her board, trying to turn off the oxygen, and successfully doing so, although her board was still going forth. "S-stop!" She wrapped her arms around the surfboard, trying to pull it back so it would screech to a halt, which it did, although it did several backflips with her on it, spiraling her right back to her starting point. She gasped as she finally stopped moving, entirely frightened by all that had just happened.
"You know, that was actually kinda gnarly." Joey Hawk spoke to the girl through her speakers, still sounding like he would've much rather been home for this. "I don't really know how I'm supposed to rate these tricks or whatever…maybe out of ten? Yeah, I'll give that one a nine out of ten. Haven't seen someone do that many successful backflips without falling off before."
Confessional
"I'm a surf master!" Alexis held a thumbs up to the camera, her hair frazzled and her glasses tilted while she wobbled back and forth on the bucket, soon tipping forward into the camera.
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"Pfft, all we have to do is spiral out of control and you'll go ahead and give us a nine out of ten? Well, that's just too easy to top!" Amelia snickered as she paddled towards the center of the aquatic stage, soon climbing atop her board. "Everyone, I hope you're ready to see a master in action!" The actress kicked the oxygen pedal behind her, a bit too confident in herself. She didn't have a great stance, and the second the air pumped, the board slipped out from under her, crashing into a rock in the distance and blowing up. Amelia blinked a few times as she stared at the wreckage, astounded by the suddenness of it all.
"Hmm…I mean, busting a board up is kinda cool if you're in a fit of rage since you chose a career path that leads you to being unrecognizable by the public after years of great content, but here it's a bit bland. Gotta say, one out of ten for that one" Joey Hawk didn't sound particularly amused by Amelia's stunt, only causing the actress to grumble to herself while she returned to the sidelines, floating over near Luna, who patted her back to console her.
"Oh, oh! That means that I get to go next, right? B is after A…so it's great that my name is one of those letters! I can hardly remember anything other than those two!" Benjamin proudly paddled to the center of the group and climbed on top of the board, his large frame stumbling a bit while he stood. The other contestants didn't expect much from the simpleton, some of them chuckling as they watched him fumble around. He glanced around at his feet, soon identifying the pedal behind him and stepping down on it hard. He propelled forth a bit, soon grabbing the front tip of the board and tipping it up, striking an iconic pose while he stealthily avoided a maze of rocks in front of him, eventually coming full circle and ending up back at the center of the group. "Woah, that was a lot of fun! Even the part where I puked in my own suit!"
"Woah, man, you hurled in that tin can? That's sick…and your surfing skills are on point. That's a solid eight out of ten for you, dude!" Joey Hawk sounded far more enthused by his performance than the shabby one that Amelia brought about. The simple-minded boy pumped his fists up and down as he swam back to the group, patting Damien on the back so hard that he shoved him right to the center of the group. "Alright, D-man, show me your stuff."
"Gee, I don't know if I'll be able to do anything as sick as the others have, but I'll try my best." Damien nervously climbed onto his board, buckling down into posture before kicking on the air pedal. He started shooting forward through the water, aiming towards a circular opening in some rocks. He came closer and closer, hoping to hoop through it, but getting stuck while his board sped on without him, eventually disappearing into the ocean. The theater kid tried his best to squeeze out of the rocks, only for one of the others to surf over to him and pry him out on her own. "Heh…thanks for the save there-"
"Yeah, no problem!" March giggled, smiling that innocent smile of hers. Damien gasped at the very sight of her, soon swimming away from her as fast as he could and hiding behind Benjamin. "Uh…okay, see you later!"
"Gotta say, ditching the board and sinking a solid opportunity with a girl doesn't really make for any good pointage. Your 'step-sis, I'm stuck' moment is only gonna net you a two out of ten, my man." Joey Hawk noted his disapproval of Damien's flop, causing the boy to shrink down and sigh.
"I'm glad the last one of these fellers to go up there was a disappointment, cause that just means yer gonna like what I've got for ya that much more!" Dusty swam to the center of the group before climbing onto her surfboard, holding her lasso in her hands. The others seemed a bit confused by what she was trying to get at, but no one questioned it. She kicked on her air pedal, letting herself burst forth a bit before wrapping the lasso around the front of the board. "Time to show y'all that a horse ain't the only thing this cowgirl can ride! …Don't take that out of context!" She soon tugged on her lasso, trying to turn the board up, but only losing her balance from how much she was focusing on pulling. She slipped off the board but held onto the rope tightly. After a good wrangling, she managed to pull it right back to herself, and the air turned off.
"You know, it was a bit sloppy, but still entertaining. I'll drop a five out of ten for that display…coulda been better, coulda been worse." Joey Hawk leaned back in his seat in the submarine, growing board with the lack of true skill that was being shown to him. "Who's next? There's so many of you left…I'm hoping at least one of you can really whip out a ten out of ten trick."
"Well, wait no more, because Flint Goldenrod is on the scene! I know, I may sound cocky, but I'm the guy who's got the skill to back it up!" Flint swam to the center of the group, mounting his board…by laying flat on his back. Amelia glared at his cockiness, rolling her eyes, as she expected him to instantly bore the guest. He lazily kicked the air on as he laid there, soon bursting off with great speed from how little resistance he was putting out. The boy looked ahead of himself, noticing a massive rock structure coming up fast. With a grin, he kicked the air off, causing the board to slow down a bit. With a slight tug, he changed his trajectory to aim towards the submarine, which he skidded across the bottom of. This soon angled him directly towards the ocean floor, which the tip of the board stuck into, kicking up a good amount of dust. When the dust cleared, everyone could see Flint, leaning his back against the board and crossing his arms proudly. "How's that, my man?"
"The attitude is something I could live without, but you're right, your tricks speak for themselves. I'll drop that ten out of ten to you, man. Your skill is…pretty sick." Joey Hawk seemed to be a bit impressed by the boy and his trick, much to Amelia's disgust.
Confessional
"That obnoxious little show off…it's supposed to be my job to outshine the rest of these dweebs, not his!" Amelia grumbled to herself, lightly kicking the wall while crossing her arms in defiance. "Can't vote him out, can't outsurf him…" Her frown soon curved into a grin while she realized what option she did have left. "...But I can make sure he doesn't win the race!"
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"Alright, alright, that was pretty sick, but it's time for something that'll rock your world!" Gretchen was already on top of her surfboard, though not at the center of the group. She was rather at a rocky range, right at the very top of them. "Let's get this show started, lads!" The rockstar kicked her air pedal on, soon skidding down the range all the way, sparks flying from her board while she played the air guitar. It wasn't long before she lost her traction, and her board spiraled out of control, flinging her into the distance. Jianne reached up, catching the girl before she could fly by. "H-heheh…thanks for the save there, mate!"
"It was pretty neat to see all of those sparks flying, you're definitely as rocktastic as you say, but it looks like the energy was a bit much for ya." Joey Hawk chuckled, shaking his head as he sat down in the submarine. "Gonna have to give you a four outta ten…definitely could've ended better for ya."
"Yeesh…that's not even the top four of who's gone already." Gretchen rubbed the back of her helmet, embarrassed that she scored so low.
"Well, when you've got an all star going right after you, it can be hard to focus on doing the perfect trick!" Jianne climbed onto her board, grinning as she cracked her knuckles. "Yeah, you tried to pull some sick biz there, but it wouldn't even hold a candle to me, success or not!" Gretchen glared at the egoist as she kicked her air on, soon whirring past the rest of the group. "I call this one the…uh…the…hang on, I didn't think of a good name for the trick yet!" Jianne tapped at her helmet in thought as she propelled through the sea, not realizing how fast she was going. Eventually, the board stuck into the dirt on the ocean floor, sending her sliding forward as if she had been punched by a superhero.
"Yikes, man…that's your idea of a trick that an all star's got? Kinda lame, if you ask me…gonna have to give you a three out of ten. I could do better in my sleep, no offense." Joey Hawk glanced over at Chris and Chef, who were playing cards as they waited to get to the second part of the challenge. "So…which one of you guys is going next? Watching you wipe out is almost slightly entertaining enough."
"Oh, that would be little ol' me! Don't worry, I'm plenty of entertainment!" Luna smirked as she climbed onto her surfboard, soon glaring a competitive glare at March, who flashed her a thumbs up with a bright smile. This only made Luna feel more competitive, as she kicked down hard on her air was sent cascading forward into the sea, soon noticing a school of fish heading right for her. She gasped, avoiding them as best she could, though she ended up getting in the dirt, albeit not nearly as embarrassingly as Jianne did before her. "Curse you, fish!"
"You know, your fish dodging skills are honestly pretty good. I think I'll give you a six out of ten for not wiping out due to the obstructions…putting you right in fourth place as things stand." Joey Hawk clapped his hands together, not incredibly impressed, but not really disappointed. So long as one of the remaining five doesn't outshine you, you'll make it to the next round."
"Ha! Between the rest of them, I don't think there is a single one that could match something like that! Especially-" Luna was cut off as the next surfer got right into the game, kicking her air on and flying right past her. March flew right past a massive air bubble that Luna's board had left behind, bursting it and speeding her own board up a good bit. She kicked down on the front of her board, causing the top of it to skid along the sea floor impressively before finally coming to a stop.
"That was so much fun! I see why people like surfing so much!" March clapped, jumping up and down off the sea floor with a bright look on her face. "I should try doing this when we're done with this season!"
"Yeah, you honestly should…you did a pretty good job with that nose dive. I'll drop an eight out of ten to you, as well…booting that last girl from the top four and placing yourself there in her place." March squealed out of excitement from Joey Hawk's judgment, while Luna crossed her arms and continued to glare at her.
Confessional
"Ugh…leave it to that nuisance to outclass me! I can't stand her, I swear!" Luna continued to grumble to herself, severely more angry than she would be if anyone else had outclassed her.
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"Alright, let's get on with the rest of you guys…I wanna get back to my house sooner than later, and Chris said I couldn't until we-" Joey Hawk was cut off by Chris covering his mouth with his hand.
"Would ya shush up about all that stuff? Natt, you're the next in the alphabet, show the man what you can do so he stops complaining about kidnapping and other nonsense. I think the sea is getting to his head." The surfer rolled his eyes at the host, who soon went back to his game of cards.
Natt sighed as he went to the center of the group, having low expectations for himself. He went and kicked his air pedal, though nothing happened. "Huh? What's the matter with this thing?" He looked down to see what the issue was, only for the board to suddenly stutter on, knocking him clean off of it as it sped off into the distance. "...Typical. Chris and his low budget technology on this big budget show."
"Technology's fault or your fault, doesn't really matter to me…your skills are down in the dumps, same with your measly score of one out of ten. Sorry, man." The pro surfer sighed, disappointed by another contestant's tricks.
"D-does that mean that I have to go on one of the boards, next? Yikes…seems a bit dangerous, doesn't it?" Nicolás muttered to himself as he brought himself to the center of the group, soon climbing on his board. "I'm not sure if I'll be any good at this or not, but-" The nerdy boy was cut off as Damien's board, which was still going strong from before, knocked him clean off of his own, causing him to stumble onto the new board, which was propelling him forward at an alarming rate. He held on for dear life, only for Natt's board to come around again and knock him off of that board as well, though this time he just sunk to the ocean floor. "A-ah…am I gonna get some consolation points for being attacked by an unforeseen event?"
"Nice try man…your wimpiness was lame, just as lame as your riding skills. You get a two out of ten, maybe hit the gym so you aren't so easy to knock off your feet." Nicolás sighed as he swam back to the other divers, defeated by the pro surfer's harsh judgment.
"Hm, guess I'm gonna follow up on your act, eh, Nicolás?" Vicente cracked his knuckles as he paddled to the center of the group, soon climbing onto his board. He grinned, kicking on his air pedal and bursting forth, maintaining good posture as he did. Eventually, he kicked the air tank, causing him to shoot off to the side, eventually doing a massive loop before landing back in a centered position and stopping. "Woohoo! That was actually a lot of fun, not gonna lie!"
"You know, your skills ain't half bad, man. I'm gonna give you a solid seven out of ten…nothing to get you in the top four, but if you keep at it, you're gonna be killer someday." The pro surfer showed his approval to the boy, who shrugged his shoulders while he returned to the others, only to get tackled in a hug by Dusty.
"Vicho, that was awesome! The way ya did that loop there was just, by golly, the coolest trick ever. That guy up there ain't know a lick of what's cool and what's not!" The boy blushed as his girlfriend fangirled over him, only for the two of them to be shoved aside by Zachary.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it…you guys are lovebirds. Better get out of the way before you get absolutely styled on by Batguy himself!" Zachary climbed onto his surfboard, striking an intimidating pose before turning the board, and himself, upside down. "I call this one…justice!" The actor turned his on, soon propelling forward. He came upon a rock, which he entirely intended to dodge by turning the board rightside up, though he was just a tad late on the draw, and he smacked right into it. The other contestants cringed as they saw him sink to the ocean floor, completely out cold.
"...Well, that was kind of anti-climactic. I'll give him a three out of ten for a solid wipeout, but it was nothing to write home about. There ya go…your top four is gonna be Alexis, Benjamin, Flint, and March. Best of luck in the race." The four top billers for the challenge cheered for themselves, each clutching their boards tightly to their sides.
Confessional
"Woohoo! I'm gonna get that ticket, and it'll basically be a free trip for me to get to the finale!" Flint pounded his fist against his chest like a territorial gorilla, soon snickering to himself.
"I have a one in four chance to win and get that ticket…which is also a one in four chance to lose and get eliminated. Can't say the odds are great, but I've beaten bad odds before." Alexis smiled nervously, albeit a bit less nervous than she was in the first portion of the challenge.
"I'm gonna March past the finish line in first place! Haha! Get it? Cause…ah…well…maybe I'll leave the puns to Anne." March giggled as she rubbed the back of her head, a bit embarrassed that she made that joke.
"Time to make like Thunder McMean and kerchow! He's a car…I think!" Benjamin tapped his chin, not all too sure what he was referencing.
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"Alright, divers, the race is pretty simple. You're starting at one set of rocks, and the set of rocks a little ways in the distance is your finish line." Chris pointed down at the four contestants that were all on top of their boards by a rocky range before tracing a line to the other range. "Like I said…first across the line wins the challenge and the reward, while the last one is out of the game!"
"Heheh," Amelia snickered to herself while she swam up behind the surfers, as sneaky as she could possibly be. "Let's see you try this out for size, speedster!" She plunged a large rocket into the air pipe of Flint's surfboard, soon swimming away as fast as she could, making sure that nobody saw her there.
"Alright…on your marks…get set…surf!" The host called the start of the race, and each of the contestants that were in the second half kicked their air systems on. Benjamin, Alexis, and March all went speeding off into the distance, while Flint's engine halted. The speedster was surprised to see that he wasn't moving, and he went to inspect the cause of this. It was then that he discovered the rock in his air pipe, but as he pulled it out of the pipe, the board began to speed up. He was surfing out of control, and while the other three went on towards the finish, he ended up plunging into the sea floor. One by one, the other three passed the finish line…first Benjamin, then Alexis, then March…with Flint stuck in the back line. "And the race is set and match! Ironically, Flint, our favorite speedster, has taken a plunge…and is officially eliminated from the game!" The contestants gasped in shock from the announcement, while Amelia snickered to herself, only being noticed by Vicente.
Confessional
"That Amelia…she had to have something to do with Flint's false start there. He surely would have won the race if it wasn't for that…and she was the only one laughing at him." The reality tv pro scratched his chin in thought for a moment, "I don't know what she did…but I'll keep a close eye on her from here on out. She's just…bad news."
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The contestants met back up at the fish bowl, with Chef and Chris standing off to the side, Joey Hawk right next to them. Flint sighed as he stood in front of the water slide, ashamed to have lost in such a manner. "Man, I was really sure this challenge was a shoe-in for me! I guess anything can happen when the merge rolls around." The speedster turned to face the others, looking right at Alexis. "Alexis, I want you to know that I still dream of being your noble knight, one day!"
"R-right…sorry that you're out of the game already." The girl blushed, looking down at the ground to avoid looking him in his eyes.
"It's okay…oh! But there is one thing!" Flint quickly ran out of the fish bowl, coming back in a brief moment with his hands full of odd, crystalline shards. "I have these…but I never managed to get the last one! Seriously, I'm one piece away from the answers to this mystery…the mystery of our missing memory from a few weeks back! Someone needs to finish this business for me…and I choose…" Flint's eyes wandered throughout the group, eventually landing on Vicente. "You!"
"M-me?" Vicente was shocked as Flint handed the cluster of crystals to him. He hardly had a good grip on them, but he didn't have room to complain, as the speedster wouldn't let him.
"Now, I have passed on my task to a worthy successor…I shall take my leave!" The boy turned to face the water slide again, saluting Chris before plunging headfirst into it, sliding all the way down to the Submarine of Losers below.
"Well…the challenge is over. Does this mean that I get to go home now?" Joey Hawk glanced at Chris in hope, only for the host to shove him into the water slide as well. He could be heard screaming as he spiraled all the way down. "Cuuuuuuurse yoouuuuuuuu Chriiiiiiissss McLeannnnnnnn!"
"Meh, I could care what that guy thinks about me…he'll make it home, one way or another." Chris shrugged his shoulders before heading over to Benjamin and holding a ticket out to him. "Big guy, you won the challenge…so this ticket is yours." The weak-brained contestant happily snatched the ticket and tucked it into his pocket, a big smile on his face. "Well, you've seen it all, folks! The first post-merge boot has happened, and things can only get crazier from here on out! Who will be the next to spiral out from the game? Find out, next time, on Total Drama: Lost City!"
Author's Notes:
*Yep, the merge is here, and we've already lost the resident simp of the show. I know, I know, everybody loves Flint and we hate to see him go, but this just wasn't his season. He did amazingly last season, so I don't feel too bad about cutting him out here. Benjamin and March are back in it to win it, as well! We're down to the final thirteen, and things will only get more intense from here on out!
*Placements: 22nd - Crustacean; 21st - Thomas; 20th - Archie; 19th - Anne; 18th - Alex; 17th - Taylor; 16th/15th - Liz/Tony; 14th - Flint