Total Drama Snowscapes Chapter 6: Dig Your Way Out, a total drama series fanfic

-Episode 4: Dig Your Way Out-

Chris was standing in Chef's kitchen, twirling a carrot in his hand while one snapped in half lad on the counter in front of him. "Last time on Total Drama Snowscapes..." Chris began the recap, with the accompanying footage starting right after it. Each of the campers were shown breaking off into their groups to gather their specific items for their snowmen. "Our campers were tasked with a winter staple, making a snowman! Both teams opted to divide their members up to gather supplies, which went better for some than others. Katelyn showed some suspicious behavior, Sienna was in her element finally, and Raphael's leadership proved good once again. The Felines had it rough though, Foxtrot and Destiny got held up by Chef, the nerds struggled putting their snowman together, and Lola talked everyone's ears off as usual! She didn't learn from last time I guess. The Pythons blew the Felines out of the park, and Felines sent Lola the chatterbox home for just being a pain overall, good riddance! Will the Felines be able to focus now that they have some peace and quiet? Or will their losing streak continue? Find out right here, on Total, Drama, Snowscapes!"

Intro:

Dear Mom and Dad I'm doing fine

The title sequence began with cameras popping out of random places covered in snow, one of them popping out of a tree and facing toward the ground, completely useless. Chris was standing in front of the snow lodge, one hand raised towards it and the other on his hip. As the camera zoomed past him and into the lodge, Chris dove out of the way.

You guys are on my mind

Katelyn was filing her nails at the lodge bar, having a disinterested look on her face while Preston sat next to her and watched, holding all of the beauty supplies on his lap. Sienna was waiting for her turn to use them, and when she opened her mouth to say something, Katelyn glared at her to shut her up.

You asked me what I wanted to be, and now I think the answer is plain to see

Further into the common area, Mathias was counting each of the breaks that made up the fireplace out loud while Roxanne was chilling on one of the chairs just listening to her music, with Foxtrot sitting near her to listen in. His counting was getting annoying, so Roxanne turned up her volume, which then annoyed Mathias.

I wanna be famous~

Chef was walking out of the kitchen towards the common area where the others were sitting, with a tray of cookies in his hands. He heard the loud music and frowned, although Sharon zipped by him and snatched a cookie off the tray while he was standing still. Mario tries to take one as well, although Chef moves the tray away from him.

I wanna live close the sun

Going into the dining hall that Chef had just come from, Ralph was showing a card trick to an unamused Grecia, then pulled a card out of her ear seemingly out of nowhere. Miriam was watching the trick, and smirked as she pointed at the card in his sleeve and ruined the trick.

So pack your bags 'cuz I've already won

Outside of the lodge, Hedrick was sitting behind a bush and watching a trap he set up in the snow to catch something. Lucas was unfortunate enough to walk into it, which snatched him up with a rope net and held him from a tree. Hedrick rolled his eyes while Lucas began to yell at him.

Everything to prove nothing in my way, I'll get there one day

Raphael and Keith arrived at the lodge after a long run, with both of the boys fairly tired. They both gave each other a fist bump out of respect, although Raphael quickly noticed Lucas in the trap and rushed to help him.

'Cuz I wanna be famous~

Destiny was sitting by herself at the top of a hill making a snowman, although it nearly got knocked over by Van's snowboard as she and Lola ran by to ride down the hill.

Nanananana, nanananana nananana

Lola and Van rode side by side down the snowy hill, soon catching up to Cynthia, who gave the two of them a polite wave. Lola waved back, which made her lose her balance and begin tumbling down the hill.

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous

Biff was skiing further down the hill, and he was soon crashed into from behind by Lola, and the two of them now snowballed all the way down to the bottom two rocks of the hill, which made the snowball they had built from tumbling down burst, throwing both snow and dollar bills from Biff at the screen.

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous

The snowball burst on the screen melted away and transitioned to a bonfire outside the lodge in the Elimination Peak, where Chef was handing out hot chocolate to everyone. As the cast whistled the final bits of the song, everyone including Chris raised their cups with a smile, while the shot zoomed out a little bit to show the name of the season on a wooden sign.

It was already noon, and the campers were having lunch in the common area. At least, the Pythons were enjoying lunch indoors in the common area. The Felines had to sit outside due to losing the prior challenge. "2 in a row, congrats team! It's an honor to lead this platoon!" Raphael congratulated his team, raising up a BLT sandwich.

"To the Pythons! We'll take this winning streak to the extreme!" Sharon cheered, raising her sandwich as well.

Mario had just swallowed a bite of his sandwich, letting out a pleased hum. "If the reward keeps being this good, then I'm all for giving it our all every challenge. Let's a go!" Mario joined in the cheer, raising his half eaten sandwich.

Katelyn wasn't eating a sandwich, with Preston just eating his as delicately as possible. "Why are you eating so slow man?" Keith asked.

Preston gestured to Katelyn, who was brushing her hair instead of eating at the moment. "If I bite down too hard, the spread or ketchup might splatter onto my sister. I would hate to have that happen, and Katelyn advised me to eat this way for her sake." Preston answered, then took another tiny slow bite.

Keith raised an eyebrow at this, seeing as how Katelyn was sitting about 5 feet away from him anyway, as everyone was in their own chair. "Uh, bro, I don't think that would happen even if you smashed the sandwich with your hands. Chris is probably gonna call us for our challenge soon, so you gotta finish." Keith advised him, chuckling awkwardly at Preston's over preparedness.

Preston still shook his head. "I will be fine. Thank you for your concern." Preston replied politely, then took another slow nibble.

Sienna had been given the sandwich Katelyn didn't eat, relishing the taste. "These are pretty good! I always had a feeling Chef could cook! On my blogs, I did a few recipes, although the algorithm didn't really care for them that much, so I didn't get too far into cooking." Sienna commented.

Miriam perked up when Sienna mentioned her blogs, turning to look at her. "Hey, you've mentioned your blogs a few times now, what's your blog called anyway? I might've heard of it. I follow a few dance tutorials online, might've seen ya in my recommended." Miriam asked her.

Sienna shook her head though, giving a wave of dismissal quickly. "Ohhhh ummm, we don't need to get into that! Let's just enjoy the sandwiches!" Sienna dismissed the question, then took another bite of her second sandwich.

Miriam would've pressed further, but Ralph sat down next to her with his cards. "Hello~ care to draw a card to see how your day will go?" Ralph greeted her, spreading out a deck in his hands.

Miriam raised an eyebrow, hesitating to take a card. "Why did you pick me for this? You tryin' to recruit me for your circus act? Just for your information, I've got a 'circus' of my own." Miriam joked, smirking at Ralph.

"I drew a card to decide who would draw a card, so here I am. Let's see your fate." Ralph answered, moving the hand holding the deck closer to her.

Miriam pulled out a card, being the four of clubs. "Ooh... that's not a good one. I have a hunch that your game will see some blight today. You'll be pushed to the brink of failure." Ralph told her, which made Miriam tense up a bit.

She didn't stay nervous for long though, shaking off that feeling near immediately and just wearing a confident smile. "Weird that your card says that when there isn't anything written on it. Glad I don't believe in that kind of stuff, or I'd just be as weird as you are." Miriam replied.

Ralph didn't oppose what she said, just solemnly putting her card back into his deck and walking away.

Confessional: Polar Pythons: Miriam

Miriam still had a confident smile, sitting with her arms crossed in the confessional. "I've bought a lot of weird stuff in my life, mostly trinkets for some dance routines, but I ain't buying that! Bet he's just trying to get in my head."

Confessional Over

Outside, the Frozen Felines had to eat their cold slop lunch on a frozen over picnic table next to the lodge. "This is just great. First we lose again, now we're stuck eating out here!" Van complained, very frustrated with their losses.

After Van complained though, no one really responded.

Roxanne had the music in her headphones cranked up, just so the enjoyment of her techno playlist would outdo the crummy taste of the gray slop.

Foxtrot was too shy to say anything, not wanting to disagree with Van for sake of getting yelled at, while Destiny was just daydreaming at the moment, staring off at nothing. "Cool..." Destiny replied absently.

"Solution, don't lose again. We get it." Hedrick told Van bluntly, also annoyed with their loss.

Mathias nodded in agreement. "Simple as that! We'll have to make our performance in today's challenge count! Literally, you all need to count everything. I was having to manage all of our resources because no one else would." Mathias advised, getting some confused looks.

"Mathias, we appreciate the effort, but there wasn't much to manage to begin with." Cynthia pointed out, but still kept a gentle tone.

Mathias shrugged, twirling his spoon in his bowl. "It's always good to be prepared. You never know when you have to call back to prior information. Don't discredit counting so fast." Mathias replied snootily.

Van rolled her eyes at his insistence. "And just how will counting help us win today? We don't even know what the challenge is! Quit bein' a jabroni." Van shot back, annoyed by how Mathias was playing himself up.

"He wath thtill more helpful than mothst of uth yethterday." Grecia grumbled, barely touching her food.

Hedrick nodded his head. "Nope. We'll just cut another weak link if we lose again." Hedrick stated bluntly.

Grecia glared at Hedrick, now standing up in her seat so she could look at him properly. "Wath Lola a weak link then?" Grecia asked sharply.

"She was annoying... so yes..." Destiny answered, tuning into the conversation a bit now.

Grecia shook her head, then pointed at Destiny. "We'll thee if we win without her then, thince you all theem to think we don't need her." Grecia spoke in an almost challenging tone, then hopped down from her seat and walked away with a very bothered look. She grabbed the salt shaker off the table as well, just so the others couldn't use it.

"What's that jabroni's damage?" Van asked the others.

Hedrick just shrugged, not caring for Grecia that much to begin with. "Kid having a temper tantrum. Simple as that." Hedrick answered, then went back to eating his slop.

Hedrick didn't get much time to eat his slop though, as Chris's voice soon rang through a megaphone on the other side of the lodge outside. "Alright campers! Hope you enjoyed your lunch, because it's challenge time! Meet me outside in 5!" Chris ordered.

"At least we... don't eat, umm, the slop." Foxtrot tripped up on his words a bit, getting out his seat after the announcement.

Confessional: Frozen Felines: Grecia

Grecia carried a cardboard box into the confessional this time, tossing it onto the toilet seat before standing on it herself. "Thtatuth of the team, complete and utter dithathter. Not only did we juth lothe our motht powerful player, they treated her just horribly. Complete lack of of compathtion. If I don't take things into my own handth and remedy thith team, we will only further plummet into ruin. I with I could have comforted Lola lath night, but thpeaking out ith incredibly dangerouth. A clique hath formed, and I am not in it clearly. If I thpeak out too much, I will likely face elimination dethpite contributing to the team. Lola, if you are watching thith, I WILL avenge your unfortunate demithe."

Confessional: Frozen Felines: Foxtrot

Foxtrot looked very nervous, twiddling his fingers as he sat down. "So... I don't think team... they not like me... almost left, but safe for now. Hedrick scares."

Confessionals Over

Both teams were quickly gathered in front of the lodge, where Chris was waiting for all of them. "Hello campers! You ready for all kinds of fun today?" Chris asked the teams as the Frozen Felines arrived.

Ralph looked over their members, frowning when he saw that Lola was gone. "The cards said we would hit it off, what a shame." Ralph commented sadly, before turning his attention back to Chris.

"The challenges have been pretty tame, so what do you have in store for us? For once, you might not be a lying dirtbag." Miriam remarked, somewhat optimistic about the challenge.

Chris pulled out two maps, then tossed one to Van and one to Raphael. "You guys will be going on a fossil expedition today, does that sound fun?" Chris announced what the challenge was, giving Miriam a sharp look.

"Doesn't sound completely miserable." Lucas commented, also doubtful on how the challenge would go.

Chris pulled out a third map and unrolled it while Raphael and Van did the same. "There's a cave just further up the mountain from here, you guys probably already caught a glimpse of it yesterday when you were searching for coal. That's where your expedition begins!" Chris explained, with the map he was holding showing all kinds of paths and branches in the cave.

Van caught on quickly as she looked over the map. "So we just have to navigate through here and find one of the fossils at the end of the path? Sounds easy." Van asked, since there were two fossil symbols on the other side of the map.

"I was getting to that..." Chris muttered as he nodded his head. "There are plenty of paths to take as you try to find your fossils deep in the mine, and all of them were littered with traps rigged by Chef!" Chris informed everyone.

Footage was shown as Chef in the cave, just lazily tossing around bear traps, nails, and sticks of dynamite instead of carefully laying them out like Chris told him to. "I don't get paid enough for this man." Chef commented as he didn't even bother looking to see where the traps fell.

"You just can't have us do anything normal can you..." Destiny commented, then yawned afterward.

Sharon was excited though, having an eager smile on her face. "This ain't normal, it's EXTREME! Those traps could wipe us out... OR we could avoid them all in super cool fashion! Right on with the challenge design Chris!" Sharon exclaimed.

"Thank you Sharon. Oh, there's another reward by the way, but you'll have to race to the top of this hill and reach the cave for it! Now go!" Chris ordered, not actually saying what the reward was.

Both teams still ran off as soon as Chris said to, with Raphael leading his team while the Felines just sprinted off together. "Single file team, no one gets left behind!" Raphael barked at his team, and they indeed followed his orders.

Confessional: Polar Pythons: Raphael

Raphael had both hands on his waist, smiling proudly at the camera. "I take great pride in leading my team through challenges. We were able to obtain victory through my tough leadership, and we will continue to do so! The enemy squadron tossed away their strongest player, so the task has become much easier. We will not rest on our laurels however, we will continue to pave our way to victory!"

Confessional Over

Both teams ran through the woods up the snowy hill, although with the snow boots Chris had provided with their outfits, the trudge through the snow wasn't as bad. Hedrick was far ahead of his team, as was Van. "Hey, you're doing fine this challenge dude." Van complimented Hedrick, since he was keeping up with her.

"Don't talk to me." Hedrick told her coldly, then ran a little faster.

Van still kept up with him though. "Imma keep it real with you, I really don't like our chances now." Van stated, still trying to talk to him.

"Get to the point." Hedrick firmly spoke, wanting to cut the semantics.

Van narrowed her eyes, annoyed with his attitude. "Fine, our team is full of jabronis, and those jabronis are gonna stick together. So you and I should form an alliance to deal with 'em." Van proposed.

"Fine. You're the least useless, so it works. Now leave me alone." Hedrick quickly agreed, then continued to run ahead with Van.

The rest of the Felines were having trouble keeping up, trudging through the snow and running through dead bushes and trees. "687... 688... ugh... 689..." Mathias counted tiredly.

"Are count again?" Foxtrot asked Mathias meekly, hearing the counter count in front of him.

Mathias nodded, taking a moment to stop and catch his breath. "I was counting my steps. I should do it more often. Running isn't important as counting, but it'd probably help if I didn't stink at it." Mathias admitted, then continued running and counting.

Cynthia heard this and looked back at Mathias. "Don't worry, you don't stink. Your talent just isn't running. Let's keep going shall we? I know you can do it." Cynthia encouraged Mathias.

Grecia and Destiny were a little ahead of them, while Roxanne was jogging ahead to the beat of her music. "I do hope thome of our future challengeth are more mental focuthed. Thith lackluthter performance is below the average teenager ability." Grecia commented.

Destiny just shrugged, not caring too much. "Whatever you say... we have Van and Hedrick for physical stuff..." Destiny replied droningly.

Confessional: Frozen Felines: Destiny

Destiny looked bored, resting her head on her palm. "I don't really get the talk about challenges... why don't we just win or something. Doesn't seem too tough."

Confessional Over

The Polar Pythons ran in a single file line as they made their way up the hill, with Raphael in the front and Katelyn and Sienna in the back. "Keep up the pace platoon! We must stay on track for victory!" Raphael demanded.

Sienna was growing tired though, while Katelyn just wasn't trying that much. "Can... we take a small break?" Sienna requested.

Raphael looked back and saw that Sienna was growing tired, so he stopped in place for a moment. "Hold on soldiers, man down!" Raphael shouted as he ran back to Sienna.

Raphael hoisted Sienna over his shoulder, then began to run again and soon continued leading the Pythons. "All good soldiers, keep running!" Raphael ordered.

"You don't have to carry me, I just needed a break, but thank you!" Sienna thanked Raphael, now catching her breath.

"We are a team, we support each other! No man left behind!" Raphael declared, having no trouble carrying her.

Katelyn was still at the back though, and Mario soon took notice of how slow she was going. "Hey Katelyn! Itsa challenge we're in, you need to a run!" Mario reminded her.

Katelyn just continued to mom-walk though despite this. "Ummmmmmm... no. If I run, I'll sweat, and then my look is just totally ruined. Sorry hun, I don't make the rules." Katelyn replied.

"That doesn't make a sense! Just run!" Mario shouted, since her reasoning wasn't even tiredness related.

"We'll be fine, just like, back off." Katelyn told him, speeding up her jogging ever so slightly but still not exerting herself.

Mario frowned at this, since he could see she wasn't trying at all. "If we lose, I'm sure the others would vote for you for costing the challenge." Mario reminded her to try and motivate Katelyn.

Katelyn rolled her eyes, then sped up slightly again. She still wasn't trying though, leaving Mario growing more frustrated.

Confessional: Polar Pythons: Mario

Mario looked visibly annoyed, crossing his arms. "Itsa one thing to get tired when running, but Katelyn isn't even trying! If we lose, I know who to blame for breaking our winning streak."

Confessional Over

At the top of the hill, Chef and Debbie were waiting with a draped cart at the cave entrance when Van and Hedrick soon arrived. "Heck yeah! We got first! Let's gooo!" Van cheered, while Hedrick didn't show much joy over arriving first.

"Whatever. Where's our reward?" he asked Chef right away.

"Gotta have your whole team! You ain't got your whole team!" Chef told them, seeing as how it was just the two of them.

Hedrick kicked the snow, then looked down the hill. "Great. Held up by them." Hedrick complained sarcastically, with Van also turning to look down the hill.

Instead of seeing their team right behind them, Raphael and the Pythons came up the bend of the hill, where Debbie clapped for them as they arrived. "Way to go guys! You won the reward!" Debbie cheered for them.

"Great job dudes, good thing we stuck together." Keith praised the others while Raphael set Sienna down and Katelyn arrived.

Roxanne showed up shortly after the Pythons, letting out a silent groan as she saw them. "What took you fools so long? We just lost the first part!" Van questioned Roxanne.

Roxanne gestured behind her with her thumb, having a deadpan expression. She then made a running motion with her arms, before sticking her tongue out and wiping imaginary sweat from her head. "They got tired. Weak." Hedrick commented disappointedly.

Destiny arrived, closely followed by Grecia afterward. The other three arrived almost a minute later, with Cynthia trying to comfort Foxtrot and Mathias. "You two did your best, that's alright." Cynthia assured them.

Foxtrot fell to his knees to catch his breath, while Mathias hunched over with his hands on his knees. "1129 steps..." he uttered.

"It's not alright, we lost." Hedrick chimed in, looking down at the three of them with disgust.

Lucas walked up to Chef, since he didn't see their reward anywhere. "What did we win for getting here first? It better be good." Lucas asked sharply.

Chef reached down into the snow, pulling out an old mining pickaxe that was formerly hidden under the snow. "You guys get a pickaxe, it'll make gettin' your fossil or whatever easier." Chef answered, with Raphael taking the pickaxe instead of Lucas.

Debbie grabbed the drape over the cart and pulled it off after Chef handed over the pickaxe, revealing a bunch of old miner helmets. "You guys are gonna need these too, gasoline headlamps!" Chef told the teams.

"Gasoline? That's not the best for the environment, especially out here." Cynthia noted as Debbie handed out the dingy helmets to everyone.

Chef nodded his head. "That's why we were able to get 'em super cheap. Chris used most of the budget on his own lodge, so we ain't got much left for the challenges. Now put your helmets on and go!" Chef yelled at everyone.

Both teams got their helmets on quickly, then ran into the cave. The Pythons were the first team to actually head in though, as Mathias and Foxtrot needed some time to catch their breath before the Felines could set out.

Confessional: Frozen Felines: Hedrick

Hedrick let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This team is completely and utterly useless. At this point, I just need to secure one win for our team, just so at least I can make it to the merge. Once things turn solo, I should be fine. But that's a long way from now. Our team is packed with fodder at least, and with my alliance with Van, picking them off won't be tough."

Confessional Over

Inside the cave, Raphael continued to lead the Pythons in the front. "Keep your eyes peeled for traps troops! Danger lurks in every direction!" Raphael warned everyone.

They weren't running anymore either now that they were further into the cave. With only their headlamps to guide them, it was too risky to run. Well, all the Pythons except for Katelyn were wearing their helmets. "Hey uh, Katelyn? Why no helmet?" Mario asked, annoyed to see Katelyn just ignoring a part of the challenge again.

"It'll mess up my hair. Duh. Prezzie, can you get this fashion failure away from me?" Katelyn answered, looking to her brother for help.

Preston nodded, then stepped between the two and began to gently push Mario ahead. "Sorry, but it is improper to harass my sister." Preston told Mario politely.

"Harass!?" Mario blurted out, now alerting the others. "I was just pointing out that she didn't have a helmet on! Whatsa wrong with that?" Mario defended himself, confused by this quick change.

"I'm sure it was more than that if Katelyn insisted that you harassed her. Please just don't do it again." Preston requested politely.

"But I didn't harass her! She just needs to put on her helmet! It's dark in here!" Mario argued, pointing at Katelyn.

Katelyn began to cry though, but she tried to wipe any tears that appeared on her face. "Please just stop! First you call me slow and useless on the jog up here, now you want me to ruin my hair!" Katelyn cried out.

Keith walked up to the trio, now feeling bad for Katelyn. "Dude, can you chill? I know you're strong and all, but that doesn't mean you can just insult and yell at her. Not cool dude." Keith chastised Mario.

"But I didn't yell at her!" Mario pleaded, sounded more exasperated now.

"You're yelling right now though." Miriam quipped, joining in.

"Because I'm trying to defend myself here!" Mario now yelled at Miriam.

"THAT'S ENOUGH SOLDIERS!" Raphael shouted, silencing everyone for a moment with his harsh voice. "We are wasting time arguing! Mario, do not harass Katelyn again, and Katelyn, try to stay close to someone if you aren't going to wear your helmet!" Raphael ordered.

Katelyn nodded, grabbing Preston's arm and walking with him while Mario reluctantly remained quiet and just walked with the rest of the team. "Awkward..." Lucas mumbled.

This arguing allowed the Felines to have enough time to catch up though, and they passed the Pythons with a brisk walk by. "Wonder what got them fired up..." Destiny pondered as they passed by the scene.

Confessional: Polar Pythons: Katelyn

Katelyn continued to cry in the confessional, before just sitting up with a smirk. "They bought it again. I, am, good. Mario thinks he can tell me that I might get voted off? I can just play the harassment card in that case, and I've got Prezzie to back me up every time. Knew it was a good idea to bring his pathetic butt along."

Confessional Over

The Felines soon arrived at a fork in the cave, with two paths in front of them that led down different tunnels. "Which way is the right one? Van, you have the map right?" Cynthia asked, looking to their captain.

Van opened up the map, tilting her head down a bit extra just so her helmet light would shine on it. "This thing ain't clear at all. No way that the tunnels wiggle around like this." Van told the team, with the map having very exaggerated twists and turns seemingly.

Roxanne looked at the map, doing a quick scan on both of the tunnels branching from where they were. She pointed at the map, then traced her finger along the top squiggle. She moved her hand away from the map afterwards, then brought her thumb and index finger close together to indicate that it was small.

"Left path? Are you sure about that girl?" Van asked her, since it was hard to tell at a glance which path was actually shorter.

Roxanne nodded her head, making the hand sign again. Grecia looked back, gasping when she saw Raphael and the Pythons coming up behind them. She snatched the map out of Van's hands, then looked it over herself. "It appearth that the left route ith quicker, we thould make hathte if we want to win! Follow me, I'll handle navigathion!" Grecia declared, then began to jog into the left tunnel and lead her team.

Van was bothered by this, but she didn't have time to call out Grecia as she and the other Felines ran with her. "This better work!" Van told Grecia as they ran.

The Pythons reached the branch, and Raphael glanced at his map for a moment. "Right path troops! It's better if we avoid engagements with the enemy!" Raphael ordered, and the Pythons soon entered the right tunnel without skipping a beat.

In the left tunnel, the Felines were heading further down into the mountain, as the ground was angled down. "Chris said traps, wonder where..." Foxtrot pondered nervously as they ran down.

It became apparent where the traps were though as they went lower. Since Chef had just tossed them lazily, most of the traps had tumbled down the path. Bear traps littered the ground, bringing the Felines to a halt. "There's so many, I'll have to count them all before we can proceed." Mathias stated, walking closer to the traps than the others.

As soon as Mathias stepped close though, one of the bear traps slammed shut, catching his boot and squeezing his foot. "Eep! That's one trap set off!" Mathias shrieked, backing away and attempting to pry the trap off his boot.

Hedrick was the first to try and navigate past the traps, although it wasn't going to be an easy task. There were about 150 bear traps spread out in just this one part of the tunnel, stretching across 70 feet. "Just step around them. Not that hard." Hedrick told the others, not having a problem stepping between the traps so far.

Grecia helped pull the trap off of Mathias's foot, then held it for a moment. "Hedrick, I have an eathy tholuthion for thethe trapth. It'd be much leth painful for you if you came back here!" Grecia called to Hedrick.

"Save it. I'm fine." Hedrick snapped back at her, then continued to walk.

Grecia sighed, hesitating to test her solution. "I did warn you. Here goeth." Grecia said to herself, then tossed the bear trap into the sea of traps.

As soon as it landed, this set off a chain reaction of bear traps snapping and moving around due to the sudden closing. These movements set off other traps, and the entire sea of bear traps were now going off. "Woah... that's kinda cool..." Destiny commented in mild amazement. All of the Felines backed away for a moment, just because the traps were flying all over the place soon enough.

Hedrick began to run to the other side as the bear traps went off, although he ended up catching bear traps on each of his arms, as well as one on his right leg. "Gah! What the heck is wrong with you!?" Hedrick yelled, soon trying to pull them off once he reached the other side.

The bear traps were all activated after a few more seconds, making it safe to cross. "Are you okay Hedrick!?" Cynthia rushed to Hedrick quickly, helping him pull the bear traps off.

Hedrick rejected her help though, pulling all the beartraps off himself. They were old, so it wasn't that difficult. "No, I'm fine. Let's go." Hedrick replied coldly, then continued to run ahead. There wasn't a need to question it, so all the Felines just continued down the path.

Confessional: Frozen Felines: Cynthia

Cynthia looked a bit saddened, sitting with her hands on her lap. "I worry for Hedrick. I feel like he could use a friend or two. He seems so closed, it makes you wonder what happened in that poor boy's life that made him as cold as he is. Perhaps he came to the show to make friends and open up more? If someone came here with that purpose, I'd gladly give them the comfort they deserve."

Confessional Over

Over in the right tunnel, this one went upward. "These challenges sure do have a lot of running to them! Glad I hit the gym a bunch before coming to the season!" Keith commented, not breaking a sweat as he ran.

"Easy for you to say. The cards did not foretell this much exercise. It's a safe bet that you'll probably be fine this season, I don't even need the cards to say that." Ralph told Keith, running right behind him. He was sweating though, growing tired from this running.

Going uphill wasn't helping much either, but the team was sticking together. Another issue presented itself though, that being a bunch of tripwires lined up just before the ground stopped being angled upward. They were all about three feet off the ground as well. "Uh oh, these are definitely the traps Chris was ah talking about. Does it show those on the map?" Mario asked Raphael.

Raphael looked at the map, then shook his head. "No, the only thing ahead of us is a waterfall? That's odd. It's best we avoid these wires still. Be careful troops!" Raphael instructed everyone, taking slow measured steps over each of the wires.

"EXTREEEEEEEME!" Sharon shouted, sprinting towards the wires instead.

"Sharon no! You idiot!" Lucas yelled as Sharon ran, but there was no stopping her.

Sharon jumped over each of the wires though, as if they were just hurdles. "Booyah! That was fun!" Sharon exclaimed as she reached the other side of the wires.

Most of the team was stunned by this feat, although Preston politely clapped. "Congratulations Sharon, that was impressive." Preston complimented her as he stepped over the wires.

Katelyn was stepping over the wires with Preston, although he was guiding her with his hands just to make sure that she wouldn't touch them. "Yup, just like that. Can't touch the wires, they might be sharp. If they cut my skin, then I'll have a scar, and that's just gonna kill my leg photos!" Katelyn told Preston, horrified at that idea rather than the traps themselves.

Miriam stepped over a couple of the wires, then looked over at Ralph to see how he was doing. When she looked at him though, she got a bit uncomfortable as she saw the worried look on his face. He was looking right back at her, as if he was worried for Miriam herself. "Ralph? What's with the look? You look like you just had your bluff called in a round of poker!" Miriam tried to joke, but he didn't laugh.

Just seconds later, Miriam ended up tripping over one of the wires, falling face first onto another wire, setting both of them off. "What's happening?" Sienna asked nervously, wondering what the tripwires did now that they had been activated.

The tunnel ceiling opened up once the tripwires went off, and nails soon began to rain down on the Pythons. "Prezzie! Protect me!" Katelyn shouted, picking Preston up and holding him above her. Preston just stayed still like a wooden plank, taking all the nails hits for Katelyn.

"Run troops! I don't see these stopping!" Raphael ordered, now ignoring the tripwires and just running the rest of the way uphill, as did the rest of the Pythons.

Up at the top of the tunnel hill, the waterfall was now visible, just dipping straight down after the tunnel hill ended. "Guess we gotta jump! Sounds like a blast!" Sharon exclaimed, then jumped down to land in the water below.

Nails were pelting all of the Pythons, so they all just jumped down without hesitation since it beat the pain that came with the nails. Sienna was the only one who hesitated, being the last one to jump. "Here we go, you can do this!" Sienna motivated herself, then jumped down to join her team.

Confessional: Polar Pythons: Sharon

Sharon laughed in the confessional for a moment, having a big smile on her face. "Okay, so that was AWESOME! It felt like a spy movie! Right down to Miriam being the lousy agent that sets off the trap! But I crossed over just fine! Then the nails started dropping, and I got like a huuuuge rush! I love this game!"

Confessional Over

Now down below in the depths of the cave, the Felines ran along the side of an underground spring in the cave. "Chef didn't leave traps anywhere else it looks like, I think we're good y'all!" Van declared, not seeing any other traps.

"And we thould be approaching the fothils any moment now, leth juth hope the Pythonth were leth efficient than we were." Grecia added, still holding the map.

As they continued to jog through the tunnel, sticks of dynamite were seen just sitting on the ground. "Are those supposed to be there... Chef didn't set them up..." Destiny pointed at them.

"Ignore 'em, they ain't in our way, and I don't need us gettin' blown up 'cuz we were curious." Van ordered, not even wanting to humor the curiosity on what the sticks were for.

Sticks of dynamite continued to be littered along the ground, although the Felines' attention was taken away by two large blocks in the cave wall. "The fossils! Two of them! That wasn't as fun to count as I imagined it would be." Mathias noted, his excitement diminishing quickly.

The fossils were typical trace fossils, not actual bones of dinosaurs. "Thath dithappointing, I wath hoping to thee thome indigenouth thpecieth to thith area frozen here." Grecia commented, adjusting her glasses as she looked up at the encased fossil.

"How we get it out?" Foxtrot asked, knocking a closed hand on the ice a couple times. It definitely felt thick.

"If we had the reward pickaxe, this would be easy, but I suppose we'll just have to crack the ice ourselves." Cynthia suggested, as they had no other equipment.

"On it." Hedrick replied immediately, then rammed an elbow into the ice block just a bit below the fossil. A small crack formed, but the block was huge, so it really wasn't that much progress.

Van saw this, and soon began to kick at the ice block. "Everyone! Start hitting the ice! We gotta crack this thing as quick as we can before dem Pythons get here!" Van ordered, prompting everyone except for Grecia and Foxtrot to begin punching, kicking, and elbowing the ice block to try and break it down.

Around this time was when loud splashes were heard just near where the Felines were though. "What that?" Foxtrot asked, sounding just a bit scared to hear the sudden noise like that.

Van looked to where the splash had come from, then gasped as she saw the Pythons now all running toward the ice blocks. "Crap! They're here! Everyone, pick up the pace!" Van shouted, now kicking with much more might than before.

Sharon had the pickaxe though, and she was quick to just run up to the second ice block and swing at it. Due to the running start and strength she had, the block shattered instantly, dropping their fossil to the floor. "Woah! That was easy! Way to go Sharon!" Keith cheered for Sharon as he ran up and grabbed their fossil.

Raphael was pleased with how quickly the excavation went, clapping for them. "Bravo troops! We can head back to home base then! Onward!" Raphael declared, then began to head back up the path that the Felines had taken.

Roxanne grimaced as the Pythons all took off, spending roughly 15 seconds in total in the area. "Great. We lost again." Hedrick conceded, since their chances already seemed horrible.

"Not quite. I have another tholution!" Grecia exclaimed, pulling out the salt shaker she had taken earlier.

Grecia hurled the salt shaker at the ice block, shattering it and spreading salt all over the ice block. "Everyone, lick the ithe block!" Grecia instructed.

"Lick..?" Destiny questioned Grecia, confused by this instruction.

"Not happening." Hedrick turned the idea down immediately.

Grecia narrowed her eyes at Hedrick, looking up at him. "Lick. The. Ithe." Grecia instructed, sounding a bit more forceful.

Hedrick rolled his ice and began to lick the ice, as did all the other Felines while Grecia watched. As they did this, more water noticeably dripped from the ice block, which made a confident smirk appear on Grecia's face.

Confessional: Frozen Felines: Grecia

Grecia faced the camera while standing on her cardboard box, still smirking confidently. "The thalt impedeth the ability of the water moleculeth to form tholid ithe crythtalth. Thith phenomenon ith betht known ath freezing point deprethion. Ith how thtreet cleanerth melt thnow tho fatht. Ith important to note that the thalt mutht be in a tholution with liquid water in order for thith prinrhiple to be obeyed. Thath why I had them lick the ithe. It wath ath effective ath I thuthpected."

Confessional Over

The ice block quickly melted thanks to the combination of the relatively warm saliva and the salt, soon making their fossil grabbable. Van reached over and grabbed the fossil once it was exposed, somewhat pleased. "We got the fossil, but we're still mad behind. I say we just run for it and hope for the best y'all." Van suggested, as the Pythons were long gone by this time.

Grecia shook head though. "I have a more practical tholution. Path me your helmeth, juth watch." Grecia held out a hand, waiting for the others to give her their helmets.

Mathias and Foxtrot did as told right away, giving their helmets to Grecia. "We won't have to run in the dark right? It makes it difficult to count all the dirt particles on the ground." Mathias asked her.

"You were counting those..?" Destiny questioned, giving Mathias a confused look.

"It never hurts to count!" Mathias snapped at her, annoyed that people kept questioning his counting.

Roxanne and Cynthia handed over their helmets as well, and that seemed to be enough for Grecia. Grecia knocked a fist on the cavern wall until she found a more light sounding spot. Once she found this spot, she pulled the glass caps out of the helmets, then blew out the fires in each of them. She then proceeded to dump out the remaining gasoline in each of them, lining the ground near the wall with gasoline and making a small trail leading away from it. "What are you even doing. This is a waste of time." Hedrick stated with a deadpan expression.

"Juth you watch, thtand back everybody!" Grecia told everyone as she grabbed several of the sticks of dynamite that were laying around and piled them all up against the wall. After getting 14 sticks piled up, Grecia looked back at the rest of the Felines. "Theriouthly! Thtay approximately thifty feet away from here!" Grecia instructed everyone.

While the Felines all walked further away, Grecia then took the cap off of her helmet and dumped out the burning gasoline onto the gasoline on the ground. It quickly caught the trail on fire, and Grecia then ran away to join her team. She covered her ears, and the rest of the team took her cue except for Roxanne, who just turned the volume on her headphones up.

The flames quickly reached the dynamite, and a massive explosion occurred right after that, completely blowing up the cavern wall. "Thunlight! Yeth! It worked! C'mon everyone!" Grecia cheered, then began to climb up the rocks that led up and out the hole to the surface she had just created.

Confessional: Frozen Felines: Hedrick

Hedrick had his arms crossed, looking a bit bothered still. "Hmph. Guess that runt isn't completely useless."

Confessional Over

Over near the entrance cave now, the Pythons had just made it past the bear trap field and were heading into the main tunnel before the branch. The bear traps were already all deactivated, so it was much easier to get through there. "Almost there troops! Any sign of the Felines back troops?" Raphael asked those in the back of the group.

Sienna looked back for a moment, and the Felines weren't even close to being on their tail it seemed. "No sir! The enemy is nowhere in sight!" Sienna answered, playing along with Raphael's military act now.

The team was in high spirits, and soon the natural light that poured into the cave was visible. The helmet lights weren't completely needed now, and the natural light only got brighter as they got closer to the entrance. Keith pumped a fist in the air as he saw Chris, with his other hand holding the trace fossil. "And that's another win for the-"

"Frozen Felines!" Chris announced the winner, having just been handed the trace fossil from Van the Felines had thawed out.

The mood for the Pythons sank instantly as they stepped into the light, seeing that the Felines were already here. "Wha... how did you guys a beat us? Was there a warp pipe in the cave?" Mario asked, astounded by their win.

Hedrick smirked for just a moment as he looked at the Pythons. "Simple. We were just better. That's all you need to know." Hedrick answered, keeping their method completely hidden.

Chris shrugged, not seeing a need to reveal it either. "Yeah, the way they won doesn't really matter. What matters is that you guys lost! I'll be seeing you at the elimination ceremony tonight!" Chris told the Pythons, chuckling afterward.

Lucas groaned, crossing his arms. "We almost had it. If those nails and tripwire didn't slow us down, that would have been our win." Lucas complained, looking over at Miriam.

Ralph had a guilty look on his face after hearing that, so he drew a card to decide what to do. He sighed when he saw it, then slipped it back in his deck and stayed quiet. "Well troops. I'm not sure how we lost, but the effort you all put in was well worth it. We stuck together, and we lost as a team. I wouldn't let this get us down." Raphael tried to lift the mood of the team, but the impending elimination made that nearly impossible.

Voting Confessionals

Sharon

Sharon quickly grabbed Miriam's card, then scanned it. "I can handle the extreme stuff, and you kinda blew it. You didn't really cost us the challenge... but we gotta blame somebody right?"

Preston

Preston had Mario's card, and he gracefully scanned it. After that, he wiped down the card scanner just in case for the next person. "I do not appreciate those that harass my sister. My sincerest apologies, I wish it didn't have to come to this."

Mario

Mario picked up Katelyn's card, then swiped it with an annoyed look. "Katelyn's attitude just isn't going to last her long at all in this game. Itsa time we send her packing!"

Raphael

Raphael grabbed Miriam's card, then showed it to the camera so the audience could clearly see it. "As team captain, I must vote purely based on merit. It would be unfair if I did otherwise! Miriam, you cost our team some time that we may have won the challenge if we didn't lose. It was an honor to know you, but that is where my vote falls."

Confessionals Over

That night on Elimination Peak, the 10 members of the Polar Pythons had gathered and sat in two even rows of 5 on the stump seats there. "Regardless of who goes home, it was an honor to have you on our team." Raphael told everyone, just to try and set the tone and ease the tension.

The tension wasn't ease though, as Chris and Chef now arrived. Chris had his tray of 9 smores, while Chef had the skis ready. "Greetings Pythons! How does your first loss feel?" Chris greeted the team, spinning the tray in his hand.

"Not good. I really don't want to have to send anyone home! You all seemed so nice!" Sienna answered, also not harboring any ill feelings, just like Raphael.

Chris nodded his head, grinning at Sienna. "I see. But that's not how this game works. Someone has to be eliminated. And that someone will not receive their own warm smore. When you hear your name, you are safe and get to enjoy your treat after coming up and grabbing it. If not, then the Cliff of Shame awaits!" Chris began the ceremony now, then setting the tray down on his podium.

"Smores go to..."

...

"Preston."

Preston walked up to the podium as if it was a formal ceremony, bowing in front of Chris before grabbing his smore and walking back to his seat.

...

"Ralph."

Ralph sighed with relief, although he cast Miriam a worried look again as he walked back to his seat after getting his smore.

...

"Sharon."

"WOOOO! Safe! Heck yeah!" Sharon cheered, completely killing the silent tension for a moment as she ran up and grabbed her smore, taking a bite of it on the way back.

...

"Raphael."

Raphael walked up to Chris and gave him a salute, then grabbed his marshmallow and headed back to his seat.

...

"Sienna."

Sienna let out a huge sigh of relief, then merrily walked up to the podium to grab her smore. She savored the taste of the treat on the way back to her seat.

...

"Lucy."

Lucas made sure to walk as girly as he could, crossing his legs with each step as he approached the podium. He raised one pinky as he held his smore, taking a small bite of it after sitting back down.

...

"Keith."

Keith walked up to the podium with his hands in his pocket to keep them warm, then briefly pulled one out to grab his smore before heading back to his seat.

...

"Katelyn."

Katelyn got a small grin on her face, strolling up to the podium and snatching her smore off the tray.

Now only two Pythons remained without a smore. Miriam grew nervous as she realized there was only one smore on the tray left, but she kept a strong face, believing it was for her. Mario raised both eyebrows as he realized he was in the bottom two, crossing his arms and staying calm the best he could. "Mario, Miriam, you both got on your teams' rough side today. I don't think I have to explain how either." Chris told them both, letting it sink in why they were here.

Both Mario and Miriam eyed the final smore closely, waiting for Chris to deliver their name. "It was close, but the final smore goes to..."

...

"Miriam."

Miriam dropped her strong face, now just insanely relieved to be safe. She hurried up to grab her smore, with Ralph also sighing with relief seeing that she was safe. Katelyn took a bite of her smore, having a satisfied smirk on her face as she heard this result. "What did I a do? Itsa me! Mario! Why vote for me?" Mario asked, looking to his ex-teammates.

"Harassment isn't cool dude. Plus your argument cost us a ton of time." Keith answered, shaking his head disapprovingly at Mario.

Katelyn just kept her smug smirk as she chewed the chunk of smore in her mouth, and Mario realized what had happened. "Oh great. You guys actually believed I was in the wrong? Thatsa not cool. But good luck, I hope you all realize how wrong you were tonight." Mario didn't throw a huge fit over losing, instead just standing up from his seat and walking over to Chef.

Chef laid the skis down on the snow in front of Mario, and the plumber soon stepped onto them. "Good luck! Thank you so much for playing my gaaaaAAAAAAME!" Mario yelled as Chef suddenly kicked him, sending him flying off the Cliff of Shame.

Chris waited for Mario's yelling to fade out before turning to the Pythons, smiling at them. "Wonder what he was on about. Anywho, you all should get some rest. You won't have your nice breakfast or lunch tomorrow, since you guys are today's losers! Hope you like slop!" Chris told them all.

"We don't. And we'll win next time, right Pythons?" Raphael asked the others as he stood up from his seat.

"Right!" all the Pythons answered in unison. Now motivated to try again tomorrow, the Pythons all got up from their seats and headed inside to rest up for the night.

Chris watched them all leave, then turned to face the camera. "A peppy bunch aren't they? Can Raphael actually turn things around? Or did losing their plumber doom them? Can the Felines agree on anything? And just how cold is it gonna be tomorrow? Find out next time on Total, Drama, Snowscapes!" Chris concluded the episodes with a retro game over sound effect playing afterward.

Polar Pythons: Raphael, Sharon, Katelyn, Preston, Lucas, Keith, Miriam, Ralph, Sienna

Frozen Felines: Van, Hedrick, Grecia, Destiny, Cynthia, Roxanne, Foxtrot, Mathias

Eliminated:

Mario, Lola, Biff

To those that still care about this fic, thank you for reading! I again apologize for the delay. I wasn't expecting this to happen, but I received some less than kind private messages. In fact, many of you did what Preston would call harassment, but for real. Took me a bit to feel motivated to try and write this episode. I would like to thank Tech-Star in particular for actually reaching out and offering some kind words in the private messages. It definitely helped. Onto the episode itself. Mario was someone who I think everyone liked at the start. That's why I needed him to be foddered. Unlike our other early boots, I feel like Mario has plenty of potential to be expanded upon. But someone needs to go down to further the plot, so that unluckily was Mario. Let me know what you thought in the reviews, and I'll see you all next time.