OK now it's time for the 19th Chapter of this story. Before anything else, more review responses will follow.
OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: I'm replying to your three most recent comments at once here now that you've caught back up. DJ and Ella did indeed have good runs before getting voted off. Glad you enjoyed the third aftermath, and if Jo knew what everybody said about her there, then she'd urgently try to keep all of it secret from Brick and the others. Our cadet's affections most definitely have left him oblivious to how sneaky the jockette became this season.
Rockin' D-99: While I'm not spoiling what will follow for Jock, Dave has made his opposition to the pairing quite clear. Creating that collection of embarrassing clips involving Blaineley was the most fun part of the chapter for me to write, and nice to know you were amused by it :P. I won't get too far into the "Duncan is a better winner" vs. "Beth is a better winner" debate for season 2, but I went with the most realistic explanation I could think of for DJ making his choice and personally I'm one of those people who don't think either should've even been finalists as the latter was forgettable-at-best prior to the teams being dissolved and former surviving the bottom two for three consecutive ceremonies post-merge was overkill. Lindsay getting the boot over an accidental self-vote felt forced and made it obvious the writers were hellbent on keeping him in the game, and I would've liked to see the blonde and Harold make the finale instead (which is my guess on who would get there without that self-vote and anybody else who wants the details on this theory is feel free to ask me through a PM as I'd be happy to share them with such users like I once did with you). Oh well. Getting back to the story here, even though I admittedly have never watched any of the Total Dramarama spinoff except for occasional preview clips and still am not at all interested in doing so (especially after the PM you sent me complaining about flaws it has), I thought it would be fun to defy any expectations of being like that incarnation. The shows are technically from different universes and having the counterparts differ also helps emphasize it. I definitely see why she's the last contestant you expected to have a breaking point, and it's a relief to know you accept her apology for temporarily being moodier than usual.
On with the challenge!
The day began with the sun shining brightly among clear skies. It was easily the hottest morning of the season. Over in McLean's bedroom, he was shown sound asleep. This didn't last long with an alarm loudly going off close to his ears. Chris groaned in irritation before deactivating that. The host subsequently complained "I now regret setting that for earlier than usual today." with a yawn.
From the other side of the door, Hatchet added "You also could've used a quieter setting."
"That's a good idea; I'll be sure to do so in the future." replied his boss.
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"Somebody needs to do a better job of thinking things through. Too bad I'm not in charge."
(End Confessional)
A few minutes later, both men were fully dressed and gathered outdoors with a kart full of toasted English muffins to serve everyone for breakfast. The cook also brought along some spreads for these (butter, jam, cream cheese, and peanut butter) and a coffee-making machine. McLean pulled out an airhorn and a megaphone. He pressed on the former before loudly shouting into the latter "Rise and shine campers: we've got your food outdoors. Get a bite while it's still hot!"
The 7 remaining contestants unhappily complied, and all looked groggy when approaching them. They yawned repeatedly before the cook pulled out a bag of coffee and advised "You'll definitely need to be alert for what follows, so eat up and maybe drink some of this."
Chris immediately recognized it and reprimanded "What the hell? I specifically stated you aren't allowed to ever touch my kitchen supplies!"
"They need it much more than we do." replied his aid while starting to brew a fresh pot.
"Sneaking around to defy your orders, huh? How EVIL of you! I fully approve." Max added.
"Whatever, but every contestant can only get ONE cup each." the showrunner relented.
With a mouthful of food, Leshawna followed up with "Any amount should help."
(Begin Confessional: Trent)
"Looking back, I haven't been on my best game lately. Let's see whether drinking this makes any difference." said the guitarist, who took two gulps of the coffee before quickly opening his eyes wide in alert and telling the cameras "Holy crap it did! I now can think much more clearly."
(End Confessional)
20 minutes later, they all had finished their breakfast and went over to an area with seven big green outlines of squares. Each had a contestant's name attached to them. Chef instructed "Today you will dig for treasure. Every outline has a real one buried somewhere deep within it. There are also some chests with dud prizes among each, which are orange cubes. The first one to uncover the real deal—namely a purple movie ticket—wins the challenge. Our winner will get to choose a film to view in the theater and take one fellow competitor with them."
"Wait, does the reward mean it's another non-elimination challenge?" asked Dakota.
"Yes indeed!" affirmed Chris. "Before you take breaths of relief, though, please remember that what you're about to do isn't something that can be completed quickly. It's almost 7:30 AM and I'm hoping to be done before noon when the sun will be its hottest, so we woke up everyone an hour earlier than usual this morning to reduce the chances of sunburns. My skin is too precious for that!"
"Why not just get some sunscreen for all of us and yourself?" Sam inquired.
"Because we couldn't afford both that and enough shovels for today." explained the host.
"It probably would've been better to schedule this for a cooler day." added his second-in-command. "You need to check the weather more frequently."
McLean brushed this off with "Oh well, it's too late for that now. Better start digging!"
"Let's just get the whole thing over with." added Brick.
"This treasure hunt better not give me any burns, or you'll be sorry." Jo threatened. "Either way, I'm first getting on some shorts and a T-shirt."
"You've got 10 minutes to change, and everyone else can head over to your respective outlines now, but please wait for our signal before starting." replied the cook.
It didn't take long for each player to do just that after each taking one shovel. The jockette joined them after putting on different clothes within five minutes. Once they all had gathered, their host instructed "However long it takes, we're going to keep digging until somebody finds a treasure chest. I simply would prefer this happening sooner instead of later. Any questions?"
"If two people finish at the same time, then will they both win?" Trent inquired.
"Yes, though I personally don't think we'll see that happen." Hatchet answered.
"Me neither, and once I sound off my airhorn, you may begin." added Chris, who pulled that out and waited seven seconds before pressing it.
Every player started digging immediately afterwards. The guitarist was the quickest, still feeling a caffeine rush from his coffee earlier. He began feeling more confident in himself and muttered "Maybe this challenge won't be as bad as I thought."
"Speak for yourself, foolish minion." the aspiring evildoer added, who couldn't go even half as fast.
"Just focus on the digging please and we can be done sooner." requested Leshawna.
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"I could be wrong, but am guessing that was his first coffee ever, hence the carefree hyperactivity."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)
"Nice to see Trent in a better mood, especially when I know the past couple days were tough for him."
(End Confessional)
15 minutes passed without anybody finding their treasure. However, Jo hit a landmine full of smoke which promptly exploded in her face. Everyone else except Brick cracked up over this. The laughter halted all digging. In the middle of a chuckle, Chef remarked "I forgot where those smoke bombs went."
With a growl of anger, the jockette accused "No way; you planted those there on purpose and tried to keep it a secret!"
"Actually, it was me who put them among your digging areas." admitted McLean, who continued to giggle before adding "I thought it would be funny for someone to randomly hit those like you just did."
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"The lovebirds laughing at my landmine incident today only further proves they turned against me. Now I just need to decide which of them I should take out first. Both are lucky it's not an elimination challenge today."
(End Confessional)
Once their former ally shot them a death glare, Dakota and Sam abruptly fell silent. She threatened "You better keep your traps shut for any repeats of this or you'll be sorry!"
"It wasn't really that amusing." Mr. MacArthur added while resuming his digging.
"You only say that because the two of you are dating." a certain guitarist remarked.
"Well, how would you like hitting a landmine?" inquired the cadet.
"It would be unpleasant, sure, but I got a kick out of how sudden that came up." replied Trent.
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"OK maybe we shouldn't have laughed so much; that easily could've blown our cover!"
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"Uh-oh; did either of us just give away how we defied orders the last vote and switched sides?"
(End Confessional)
Half an hour later, Leshawna got excited upon finding a chest in the sand and promptly opened it. To her dismay, this ended up containing a cube. She tossed that aside and complained "Talk about a buzzkill!"
"First dud of the day! You better hope the next one is a winner." proclaimed Hatchet. "Seriously, I hope to be out of this heat ASAP just like everyone else does."
Not long afterwards, Trent's shovel hit another landmine, which promptly exploded on him. One minute later, his next find was some fake treasure. He quickly threw it away and muttered "Damn that sucks, but I can't stop now." while continuing to dig.
"Remind me, how many fakes did we bury per outline?" inquired the host.
"Nine, so there's a good chance others will be dug up today." replied his assistant.
Dakota groaned in irritation before asking "Why didn't you say so sooner?" and uncovering one of her own duds.
"Because I somehow couldn't quite remember until now." Chef truthfully answered.
"Regardless, we might as well just keep at it." added Sam shortly before hitting a chest in his own outline, frowning upon opening it and realizing this had another false treasure.
Jo felt agitated and warned the host "It must be at least 40 degrees Celsius out here, and if it gets one degree hotter, I'm gonna kick your ass and then bury you dead or alive in my outline."
"I'd be careful there: didn't you learn from Scarlett's rage last season that trying to kill others gets you disqualified?" inquired McLean.
"At ease; he's not worth going to jail over." a certain soldier added, trying to defuse the situation.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"Remember this: I know how to manipulate my fellow campers." the host remarked with a smug grin and chuckled before adding "Nobody here can hurt me without facing consequences."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Brick)
"The heat undoubtedly is getting to her, and while I can fully understand that feeling, I didn't want any unnecessary violence to occur."
(End Confessional)
Another hour passed without anybody finding purple tickets. However, they had each hit one landmine and uncovered at least three orange cubes and by this point. Everybody was shown sweating and panting. The guitarist's caffeine high had ended and left him feeling tired. Max questioned "Is there any chance we could find drinks within our winning chests? EVIL is feeling quite thirsty."
"That reminds me: you will indeed get those." affirmed the host. "However, I doubt they'll still be cold by the time anybody finds their prize."
Hearing those words immediately motivated all seven contestants to dig faster. Leshawna was the next one to find a treasure chest. However, that didn't have the prize either. This time she just silently kept on with the digging. 10 more minutes passed until two players simultaneously found their winning prizes. Who uncovered them? Defying all expectations, it was a gaming enthusiast and the one he loved. With a mixture of surprise and joy, they triumphantly proclaimed "Just found it!" in unison before guzzling down their accompanying prize drinks.
This immediately prompted everybody else to halt and drop their jaws in shock. A baffled jockette was the first to speak up and asked them "How in the flying fuck did either of you finish before me!?"
"It doesn't matter; Dakota and Sam both are victorious!" Chris declared before asking the couple "It seems safe to say that only one winning would've chosen the other anyways. Am I right in guessing you simply wish to go by yourselves?"
"Yes, we do." they quickly answered at the same time.
"Totally understandable as couples sometimes just need their privacy." Chef added, and after the couple nodded in affirmation, he requested "Please just don't do anything illegal or sexual in there!"
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"Did those traitors really think I wouldn't figure out their ulterior motive? They clearly are too cowardly to spend time alone with me after going against my orders for the last vote, not wanting to show signs of guilt during a face-to-face confrontation, also taking anybody else to the theater tonight would've just made the betrayal even more obvious. I'm not so easy to fool! Sooner or later, I'll end up running this show without any struggles. Thankfully I already got rid of their bothersome friend Ella after she became too smart for her own good."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Trent)
"I don't feel too bad over losing to Sam and Dakota today. They're both decent folks who've worked hard to get this far. Things could've gone much worse, plus it was a non-elimination challenge, so I didn't have to worry about getting voted off."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"OK the truth is we didn't only want a night alone. We wanted to avoid Jo!"
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"If a certain someone learns about our most recent votes, then it won't end well. Not taking any risks!"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the winners of the day eating popcorn at the movie theater and getting close to the end of The Princess Bride, having already picked up where they left off before getting interrupted for the paddle dueling challenge. While grateful to have won the challenge, neither could shake away worries of their former ally discovering what happened. Chef picked up on such concerns while bringing in their dinner of hot dogs with French fries. He told the two "Let me save you the suspense: Jo has already figured out you didn't vote with her in the last elimination ceremony. Trying to conceal your actions is therefore futile."
Hearing that confirmed their suspicions of being targeted and made them nervous. At the same time, it was a relief they no longer had to hide anything. Dakota replied with "All the more reason to kick her off at first opportunity."
Sam added "I don't see any other way we could survive."
"You may as well enjoy your last worry-free meal. I can't make any guarantees on who will survive the next vote. Don't let this go cold!" the cook said before exiting.
Both boxes of popcorn were already close to empty when Hatchet came by, so it didn't take the winners long to finish those and start their meals. The movie was also approaching its end. After swallowing a final bite of hot dog, the gamer flirtatiously stated with a smirk "We may as well make the most of whatever private time we have left in here to ourselves uninterrupted."
Ms. Milton could tell precisely what he had in mind, and with a mouthful of French fries assured him "Believe me, I was already planning on that.", giggling a bit afterwards. "It's bound to be fun."
They took another minute to finish their food just the credits finished playing and turned off the screen. Both promptly started to kiss each other with a mixture of lust and love. However, they both knew that full-fledged sex or even taking off any clothing was prohibited, and thus avoided letting their make-out session lead into that.
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"That time alone was something we definitely needed." said the gaming nut, whose face was covered in kiss marks, before chuckling and continuing with "The best part was no distractions tonight."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"No matter what happens next in this game, I'm very glad we won today!"
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"I still take pride in my cooking, and while they obviously wanted to be affectionate without me around, I couldn't let perfectly good food spoil!"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Chris standing outside the hotels, finishing a coffee. He subsequently signed off the episode with "I most definitely didn't expect either of today's winners to finish first, but it goes to show how people can beat the odds. Will either of them manage to outrank Jo? Can she continue to conduct schemes without losing Brick? Only the future will tell. In any case, don't you dare stop watching now, or you might never see how far everyone left goes here on Total. Drama. Generation Showdown!"
Another non-elimination challenge has concluded, but Chapter 20 WILL have somebody get voted off. Feel free to make guesses in advance as to who that will be. Dakota and Sam were elated to win something after the teams got disbanded while Trent's coffee helped him more than he expected. While this chapter was shorter than usual, I hope it doesn't come off as feeling too bare; the challenge was pretty straightforward with one simple task and I couldn't think of any good ideas to implement aside from what was showed here.
Elimination Order:
Sugar (18th place), Justin (17th place), Rodney (16th place), Anne Maria (15th place), Eva (14th place), Beardo (13th place), Dawn (12th place), Dave (11th place), Blaineley (10th place), DJ (9th place), Ella (8th place)
Remaining Players:
Brick, Dakota, Jo, Leshawna, Max, Sam, Trent
Chapter posted: September 24, 2022.