Here is the second multi-chapter story from AnonBrowser! Tom McGillis unfortunately made it clear during a 2018 Q&A on Reddit that (unless counting the Ridonculous Race spin-off) the canon series won't give any follow-up to its sixth season. He gave a cheap cop-out with "there's no market for this experience in the wider entertainment marketplace right now" when asked whether the show would continue past that, which quite frankly is absurd and obviously didn't factor in how enthusiastic the fans on here and other sites still are after its last episode aired in 2014. I therefore decided to make a season 7 myself. Be warned that this story contains spoilers for seasons 1-6, so it's strongly recommend that you watch all of those in full before you read further.

It had been slightly over a year since Total Drama Pahkitew Island, the sixth season of Total Drama, aired its finale. Even more time had passed since that and its preceding episodes were recorded. Due to a combination of a media backlash for his sleazy actions on camera and losing lots of funds from lawsuits over what happened during season 6, its narcissistic host Chris McLean couldn't host the show again as soon as he would've liked. Production was put on an indefinite hiatus. The host was rather upset over that. It seemed like that hiatus could become permanent. His assistant and only friend, Chef Hatchet, tried to console him.

While both sat in a bar, the former got a text about how much money their fundraiser earlier that day had made when trying to come up with enough to cover the necessary expenses for continuing their show. The verdict? It didn't reach even a quarter of their goal. He sighed dejectedly before sharing this with his friend and reluctantly lamented "It's official, old buddy; I'm a has-been. We may as well formally cancel the show now."

As McLean continued to drown his sorrows with whiskey, Hatchet replied "Not in a million years did I ever think I'd hear you say that." before taking a sip of beer.

What were they to do? It seemed like their careers were over. Alcohol couldn't solve every problem the duo had. A couple minutes after both concluded all hope was lost, the cook's phone rang loudly. He quickly answered it. While neither of them recognized the number, what followed was quite a game-changer: an anonymous donor (who was only audible to the one using the phone) had decided to send lots of money their way, more than enough to reach their goal AND increase the grand prize for whoever won!

Noticing a look of pure joy on his assistant's face, the host eagerly asked "Chef, did that caller just give us enough cash to resume our show?"

His friend happily responded with "That along with much more, Chris; we're now back in business! Let's toast to this."

Both men cheered afterwards and clinked their beverages together in celebration. They left to prepare for the show after finishing and paying for their respective orders. Who would return to compete again now that a seventh season was happening? That was the first question these guys pondered. Next, they had to figure out what the challenges would involve. After deciding to bring back 6 members from each of the 3 generations of contestants from prior seasons, they chose to dub their new season Total Drama Generation Showdown.

A week later, Chris and Chef were both ready to have 18 people compete for not just $1 million like every season except for the first (which offered $100,000 instead), but a grand prize of $10 million thanks to their increased budget! Those who came back would really have to put in their best efforts for any hopes of getting the crown. One bad move could easily cost someone their chances to win. Since the mechanical island from season 6 had gone haywire and Camp Wawanakwa had sunk to the bottom of a lake at the end of season 5, they had to find a new location. This ended up being an island somewhere in Toronto.

The men stood at a deck with big smiles as they waited to welcome the returning players, who would be coming in by boat. Its host enthusiastically greeted the cameras with "Welcome to Total. Drama. Generation Showdown! This season, we're bringing back some familiar faces, and have a new prize of $10 million for whoever comes in first place! It's fantastic to be back, and our players should be coming in soon."

His aid followed that up with "Believe it or not, we managed to get multiple confessionals, a new cafeteria, and two hotels set up here all within a few days! One hotel goes to us, the other is for the contestants. It wasn't an easy task, but to the one who sent us over the needed money to pay for it all, both of us thank you immensely! It means more than you know.", seeming more cheerful than usual.

(Begin Confessional: Chris)

"What is up with Chef?" the host inquired as he sat in a secluded room with no windows that only contained a chair along with the camera and its tapes. "I can't help but suspect he's hiding something. It's hard to think of any other reason we'd see him so chipper, and I can somehow tell it's not just the joy of being able to continue our show. Anyway, we decided to change things up this season by putting the confessionals here in a separate building because using bathrooms for that was starting to feel monotonous."

(End Confessional)

(Begin Confessional: Chef)

The cook leaned into the camera and told its viewers "Here's something I didn't tell my boss: the unidentified donor who helped fund this season also sent me some cash to cover the long overdue paychecks Chris refused to give me earlier, plus my salary for this season in advance! That's why I'm in such a good mood today. Aside from not disclosing their identity right away, one of the conditions this person gave me was to let them appear in at least one episode. They also insisted I give them some of the food served to contestants AND that it had to be of better quality than what I previously offered. You'll find out eventually who that is. Probably not before there are any eliminations, but the time will come. Not even McLean knows yet who gave us that money. All I can safely tell you for now is that it wasn't any of the returning players."

(End Confessional)

A boat showed up with six people who subsequently walked onto the deck. Chris greeted them with "From the first three seasons, please welcome Justin, DJ, Leshawna, Eva, Trent, and believe it or not, MILDRED!", spiting the lattermost with deliberate emphasis on her formal first name in that introduction, who angrily snapped "Too soon to piss me off like that; call me Blaineley!"

"That seems pretty tame of him compared to some other things he's done, so consider yourself lucky that it wasn't anything worse." the guitarist Trent remarked, prompting Blaineley to shrug her shoulders in response.

"Up next, we have-" Chef began, only for his boss to cut him off with "Don't you DARE steal my introductions! Anyway, returning from season four, we have Dawn, Brick, Jo, Sam, Dakota, and Anne Maria."

The contestants from Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, the show's fourth season, gathered on the deck after coming off a boat of their own. Dakota had mostly been restored to her pre-mutation form, with the only noticeable differences being she was slightly taller than before and now had shoulder-length hair as opposed to it flowing down her back. As Anne Maria sprayed her giant poof of hair with a can of hairspray, the others choked when its fumes created a giant cloud near them. The gaming enthusiast Sam was the first to speak up. He pleaded "For the sake of our lungs, please give it a rest!" while struggling to breathe.

Luckily for them, her can quickly ran out, so she reluctantly stopped before replying with "I'm only pausing now because this thing is empty." and tossing said can aside.

"It is inadvisable to rely so much on that spray, soldier." added Brick the cadet. "Easing up on that would help everybody."

The hairspray user turned to retort with "Just because you can't handle beauty and its enhancers doesn't mean-" only to get sidetracked by the sight of Justin the male model, and then said "Hey, speaking of beauty, it's nice to see another good-looking person around here!" before giving that guy a flirtatious wink.

Quickly catching onto her attraction to him and not feeling the same way, said model bluntly shot down his new admirer with a harsh "Not happening. I'm not into anybody who relies on applying garbage to their hair.", causing her to pout in defeat.

Chris continued with "Getting back to who's joining the contest, we're bringing back the following people from last season: Beardo, Dave, Rodney, Sugar, Ella, and Max."

The Pahkitew players got off their boat as well before joining the others. The obese blonde girl known as Sugar inquired "Is this everybody? I'm hoping Leonard shows up."

"That wannabe wizard isn't returning, and you bunch were the last to arrive." answered Chef. "That means we'll head over to the challenge soon, so try to keep your words brief until we get there."

With a combination of disappointment and anger, she followed that with "Dammit! He was the one contestant I looked forward to seeing here."

"If it's any consolation, he can't be eliminated again when not present." said Dave the germaphobe, trying to ease her mood so she wouldn't complain so much about this absence, which didn't help because her response was a resentful "Bold of you to say that when you were one of the people who voted him off."

"You've also got quite some nerve even showing up again after what happened in the last season's finals, clean freak!" Jo the lady jock added.

The germ-hater sighed dejectedly and frowned before responding with "Long story short, I wish I hadn't overreacted as much as I did with my rage attack and am deeply sorry for irking anybody who watched that, plus I ended up giving both finalists an apology for my behavior in between seasons. You can ask them this and they'll confirm it. Maybe now we can focus more on what's about to follow. I'm never going so out of line like that again, especially not after rewatching the episodes featuring me. That's a promise! The viewings also made me realize I wasn't so 'normal' to begin with. Any sense of normality I may have had was gone by the time I got voted off, so I also apologize for judging people as much as I previously did for their eccentricities."

(Begin Confessional: Dave)

"It was inevitable that somebody would bring up how I overreacted big time to learning Sky was technically still in a relationship with a guy named Keith during our time on the show together, though was already planning to end things with him before we met. Yes, I was angry with how she exploited my feelings with a kiss in the finals for her own benefit and never previously brought that boyfriend up when having plenty of chances to tell me. That doesn't change my regrets for overreacting. I also wish I listened better without interruptions or jumping to conclusions so soon on where I stood with her throughout the game. Thankfully Shawn was willing to hear me out, and he helped improve things for us by serving as a go-between after hearing about my remorse. She felt quite bad about how things went down as well, and even though I'm not sure one could call her my friend again after our huge falling out, we did part on civil terms either way after meeting up to apologize and get closure. Looking back, it's for the best that we didn't end up dating because the two of us were always on different pages with what we wanted prior to those finals. This would've led to relationship problems even without what happened that day. Not sure why my buddy and his girlfriend Jasmine aren't competing again, but for anybody who's wondering, they're still happily together as a couple."

(End Confessional)

One contestant quickly supported him. It was Ella, a lookalike of the Disney princess Snow White who had a magical way with animals and loved to sing. She commented "He's been through enough agony already and has evidently learned from his mistakes. We could cut him some slack.", which brought a smile to his face.

Most people weren't entirely certain whether he was being honest. DJ the gentle giant asked "Can we trust you not to let anger get the better of you again? I'd hate to see another vicious lashing."

Dawn the aura-whisperer affirmed "Yes we can. Dave truly feels guilty about his actions and did sincerely apologize to Sky after what happened. She also said sorry for exploiting his feelings for personal gain as well as not being more transparent about her relationship status and intentions with him throughout the competition. It's all over his aura. Before anybody asks, the two didn't become a couple following this exchange, but nowadays they can be civil towards one another. While it was a long and difficult discussion for both, each are glad they had it when it ultimately helped them make peace and improve their situation. Shawn, who helped serve as a go-between in this regard, also knows how bad he felt about the whole thing and got an apology from him as well for going out of line."

(Begin Confessional: Ella)

"Like Dawn, I know sincere remorse when I hear it, and Prince David most definitely feels that. One could see the truth in his eyes. Do I approve of that rage attack during last season's finals? Not at all, but I do understand why someone in his situation would feel upset. He's not an evil person at heart and knows it was a very inappropriate action that shouldn't be repeated. I'm certain we'll never see anything nearly as bad from him again."

(End Confessional)

"Good enough for me. That girl never fails to sense truth when reading peoples' auras." the sassy and no-nonsense Leshawna remarked with a shoulder shrug.

Dave felt much happier and thanked the aura-reader with "Very grateful for that, Dawn.", who told him "No problem."

(Begin Confessional: Dakota)

"Glad we don't have to deal with bitter rage again. For anybody who's wondering how I got rid of my mutated form, the answer is lots of expensive surgery. I somehow needed separate operations for removing my spikes, reducing my height, getting my hair back from green to blonde, and restoring my skin color from that orange exterior. Without our host endangering me again with toxic waste or anything similar, I should be fine. Good thing my boyfriend Sam is competing with me again either way. If I win the prize money, then I'll give it to my dad to thank him after he paid for my medical expenses."

(End Confessional)

Wanting to get on with the competition, Chris said "Consider yourself lucky that the press didn't give you even half as much flack for your actions as they did Scarlett for going totally berserk in the final six. She's banned from competing after that incident. Now, after everybody brings their bags to the front door of the contestants' hotel, they meet me out front in 20 minutes or less. There isn't enough time to unpack them yet."

"With that traitor out of the way, I can focus more on my EVIL ways without interference!" Max the wannabe villain exclaimed before laughing deviously.

"You just wish you were as evil as her or Sugar." Eva the athlete retorted with some irritation.

(Begin Confessional: Max)

"Sooner or later, all who have doubted my potential will regret it!"

(End Confessional)

All 18 returning players moved their bags accordingly and were outside within the imposed time limit. Hatchet was present outdoors, but not McLean. He instructed "For today's challenge, you must go through a racetrack that our interns have set up for you. The first two people to complete three laps around the course get to choose their teammates. There's also some obstacles on the track, so watch out for those."

The tall and muscular farm boy Rodney asked him "If the teams aren't formed today, then won't they be imbalanced with somebody getting voted off beforehand?"

"Chef, you don't control this challenge; I do!" Chris interjected while entering the scene. "To answer that question on teams: they'll start off perfectly balanced because nobody will get eliminated today."

A sound producer named Beardo, who often created noises when shy around new people until feeling more comfortable/acquainted with them, made a victory trumpet sound before joyfully responding with "That news is fantastic!"

The others cheered as well. Their host put a stop to that with "As much as I appreciate the predictable enthusiasm, we don't have all day. Follow me over to the course."

A few minutes later, they had arrived at the scene of the challenge. There were eighteen go-karts at the start line, so every contestant could use one. "Cool; this will be like Mario Kart!" a certain gamer excitedly cheered upon seeing the karts.

"I hadn't thought of that, but good observation." the cook replied while shrugging his shoulders.

Every player grabbed the first karts they could reach. Once all of them had gotten in, their host instructed "Remember, this race has obstacles to avoid and requires 3 laps for completion, not just one-and-done. Anybody who wipes out or has their kart break down automatically loses and must go sit on the benches. On your marks, get set, go!" and blew an airhorn afterwards.

"Time to evil!" proclaimed Max as he and the others took off.

Early on, it was neck-and-neck between Blaineley and Jo for first place. The former decided to play dirty by ramming her kart into the latter's. This prompted a retaliatory bump before shifting away to avoid further damage. Behind them, Trent was swerving to keep from hitting anybody else or a couple of walls placed in the middle of the path. He was especially cautious after seeing Eva narrowly avoid a pothole in the track, not wanting to hurt himself or her. Brick's engine began to fail. The military boy frowned upon this sight as his kart slowed down. He cried out "Don't die on me now!", which prompted Sugar to laugh tauntingly while passing by and tell him "Eat my dust, sucker!"

(Begin Confessional: Brick)

"How was I supposed to know that would happen to me so soon? It's not like Chris gave us any sense of what condition the karts were in."

(End Confessional)

Without much time to spare, this soldier had to think and act rather quickly. He tried hitting the engine based on the notion that it sometimes jumpstarted things. It didn't work after a couple of tries and the kart soon came to a stop. From the sidelines, McLean told him through a megaphone "Sorry for that, Mr. MacArthur, but you've been disqualified from this race. The benches are waiting for you.", prompting the cadet to groan in defeat before complying.

Meanwhile, Sam was making good progress and catching up to the leads. Dakota wasn't too far behind. Her luck ran out when approaching Rodney's kart and she failed to swerve soon enough to avoid crashing into him. They were both out of the race, and it upset the gaming nut to see this happen to his girlfriend, but he knew getting distracted for too long would cost him the challenge as well and kept speeding on forward after briefly calling out "Hope that didn't hurt too badly!"

Neither had any major injuries. She apologized to the farm boy with "Sorry for the crash, Rod; it's a crowded track and this was hard to avoid.", who blushed while gazing at her with a grin and nervously replied with "Nothing you need to worry about. There's lots of karts, and hearts, and, um, pain with, uh, something else I forgot." before facepalming once he realized how little sense his comments made.

Correctly sensing Rodney had become infatuated with her, Dakota tried to be polite when rejecting him with "I know that look, and as flattering as it is that you're into me, I can't sugarcoat the fact that the most we could ever be is friends. The truth is I already am happily taken and have no interest in calling off my current relationship for anyone. Someone else might be willing to give you a chance but you either way should focus on the game ahead first."

The guy frowned as Chris gave an announcement of "We have our first two wipe-outs! Go sit on the benches with Brick until this race is over."

(Begin Confessional: Rodney)

"Crap! I said something coherent at first, only to screw it up afterwards! There's something special about Dakota. Maybe we could've gone further without Sam in the way. Oh well. Perhaps I could later vote that guy off."

(End Confessional)

Both disqualified contestants approached said benches to join Brick. While the farm boy was disappointed to hear that he had one-sided feelings, part of him was grateful that she let him down gently (in contrast to harsh rejections other girls had previously given off-camera). The three watched on as everybody else continued to race. Before anybody could complete their first lap, Leshawna's engine also died out. That prompted McLean to say "Another breakdown means another benching! You're out of the race.", and she complained "This totally sucks big time." in response while joining the other disqualified racers.

Wondering about the kart conditions, Chef walked up to his boss and inquired "Were all of these in bad shape when you last checked?", only to get an answer of "I didn't even check them at all. That was for the interns to do."

"Let me guess; you imposed it on them because you were too lazy to inspect those after smoking weed again last night." surmised the cook.

The host chuckled before confirming "Yeah, pretty much. I hope you aren't too mad.", and his assistant replied with "Not really, but I wish you invited me over for that and took care of other things first.", only for the host to shrug his shoulders in response.

After that, both men subsequently turned their attention back towards the race. They failed to notice how DJ and Dawn somehow got ahead of everybody else. Both were closing in on the finish line. The latter narrowly reached it first, which prompted Chris to proclaim "Aura-reader begins her second lap before anybody else does, followed closely by our big teddy bear!"

Two other players failed to qualify for that lap. Sugar got distracted by Justin's looks, and was too busy flirting with him to notice her kart was headed towards a small ditch as she said "Hey hot stuff! Maybe you could pull over and do a favor for a lovely lady by giving her a ride. It would help show you haven't lost your touch with girls."

The model turned to respond with "Save your breath, Honey Boo-Boo. You quite frankly are pure filth who I wouldn't spend time with even as a last resort for attention.", much to her dismay.

Shortly afterwards, she got ejected from her kart and landed face-first on the ground when it crashed into said ditch while the wheels on his kart came loose and fell off before he could reach the finish line, prompting him to lament "Are you serious!?"

"The benches await two more racers!" Chris announced through his megaphone, and the newly benched contestants exited the course as the remaining twelve continued onwards.

Curious how Justin managed to attract females, Rodney asked "How did you become so popular with the ladies?"

The narcissistic model patronized him with "For one, I don't dress as a hillbilly like you do. Furthermore, I use lots of hair products and skin conditioners to make myself look shiny. Maybe later I'll do you a favor and give you my list of beauty enhancers. Once you've got a good hairstyle going, and yours is far from appealing, try whipping it around sometimes. Looks can help you score big points. By the way, not every girl who interacts with you wants to be your girlfriend. It was absurd how last season you easily you fell in love with girls over the simplest of things and were under the delusion how those meant you had anything more than friendship going on with them. Maybe today's rejection helped get that notion through your thick skull."

"While Justin has a valid point that interactions don't necessarily mean they're dating you or even hope to do so, Rodney, I think his comments were overly harsh." Brick remarked and went on to say "Looks also aren't everything even when they sometimes provide a nice visual treat. Anybody who's worth keeping around will want substance and appreciate what's within a person, especially when you treat them with dignity and honor. In fact, somebody who only wants a partner for their looks will eventually be turned off when appearances change over time, plus they might find nothing appealing beneath the surface. You could also try to be someone's friend before pursuing any romance with them, or simply maintain a platonic relationship."

"Speak for yourself, military boy. I doubt you've won any hearts like I have plus I look just as good as I did when first competing on this show." Justin vainly retorted, which prompted a response of "Not that it's a competition or that I keep track of how many girlfriends other guys have had compared to me, but for the record, I have had meaningful relationships prior to competing in the fourth season. Those girls were honorable and didn't just want me for my outsides. I also valued them for their personalities. We parted on amicable terms."

The conversation came to an end when a loud alarm caught everybody's attention. It was coming from Beardo, who panicked while struggling to maintain control of his kart with a flat tire after getting a failing to avoid hitting a spike on the tracks. He ended up crashing into Eva and Anne Maria, who couldn't swerve fast enough to avoid the impact. All three wiped out as a result. McLean eagerly shouted "Epic triple-whammy! Each of you lose."

They went to the benches, leaving only half of the contestants still in the race. Out of those who hadn't been disqualified, Sam was in the lead while Dave was furthest back, having fallen behind when taking extra time to avoid filthy obstacles. Playing announcer, Hatchet used his boss's megaphone to call out "It looks like gamer boy could win it all. Will that last?", only to have said boss quickly swipe it from his hands afterwards and reprimand him with "Those comments on the contestants are for ME to make, not the second-in-command! You also can't use my megaphone."

Chef grunted in frustration over that. He retorted "You sure are one greedy son-of-a-bitch, and probably take pride in that.", which the host affirmed by nodding his head.

The duo refocused their attention on the race just in time to see Max get ahead of everybody else and proudly declare "Nobody can stop me now!"

Shortly afterwards, the engine from Trent's kart began to give out. It fully stopped ten seconds later. He sighed in defeat and complained "Talk about bad luck." before calling out "I already know the drill, Chris, so save your breath." and heading over to the benches.

The remaining eight all desperately hoped to not crash or have their engines fail. Things appeared to go well for them as they prepared to begin their third lap. Jo decided playing dirty would soon help. She grabbed a rock lying on the tracks and waited somebody was close enough for her to sabotage by throwing that at their kart. Before that could happen, Chris announced "Blaineley somehow becomes the first to begin lap three! Remember, this is the last lap, so be sure to make it count." as said contestant crossed the finish line.

As the others trailed her, each was equally determined to win. They sped up to catch the one in first place. It varied for a couple minutes who was ahead of who. Not even first place firmly stayed with one racer. Wanting a fast way to divert attention, the player carrying a rock targeted the nearest competitor. She called out "Hey game junkie; your girlfriend is naked over at the benches!"

"Really, where?" Sam excitedly asked, getting distracted enough for Jo to toss her rock at his vehicle, which didn't have much impact and bounced off its side instead of jamming the wheels like she hoped.

Upon noticing that rock, he realized it was all a bluff and told its thrower "Attempting to prank me like that isn't cool, especially not when done for underhanded purposes!", who simply replied with "What can I say? It honestly was worth a try."

Both contestants focused their attention back on the race. What Jo failed to notice in time was how her kart was headed towards a couple of spikes in the ground. Its wheels popped upon impact before she could avert them. Dawn called out "Serves you right for your trickery!" while passing by.

After giving the aura-whisperer a middle finger, she got out of the kart and headed towards the benches as Chris shouted out "Karma can strike when people don't expect it to!"

"Sounds like you're speaking from personal experience. Am I right?" inquired Chef, who got an angry growl from his boss in response, not in the mood to be reminded of he lost money from lawsuits post-season 6 or got heavily criticized by the press.

(Begin Confessional: Dave)

"Since karma was brought up during today's race, I'll say now that my parents successfully sued Chris for negligence when that jackass temporarily left me behind on the island with a mechanical bear. It thankfully didn't hurt me too much and I was rescued after about 10 minutes, but I now have a big fear of those creatures. The cash we got from our lawsuit was just enough to pay for the therapy I underwent to regain sanity after that clusterfuck of a finale. My psychiatrist was the one who recommended I rewatch the season to learn from my mistakes, which did help. Now I'm hoping to use this season's earnings to buy a car and then cover my tuition bills for college someday."

(End Confessional)

One last engine gave out before anybody finished lap three. It belonged to Dave, who got frustrated and sulked "The thing just HAD to give out now. Yes, I know what this means." as he joined the other benched contestants.

The other six continued onwards for another minute. Everybody was drawing in closer towards the finish line. McLean announced "It's a super close race, and the winner of today is…

Max!"

Said contestant in the meantime had somehow retaken the lead with a sudden speed boost. He won the race a minute later, with Ella coming in a close second place, DJ in third, fourth place going to the one who hated being called Mildred, and fifth went to Sam before Dawn was the sixth and final contestant to cross the finish line without being disqualified. The host continued "Believe it or not, our wannabe villain got first place! He and the runner-up Ella will later choose their respective teammates."

"Wannabe!? I'll have you know that I actually am a TRUE villain, and today proves I shouldn't be underestimated!" Max insisted.

"Whatever. Just try to decide in advance who you want as teammates for the season. Same goes for our Disney princess. We'll let everyone know when the time for choosing arrives." said Chef.

"No problem at all." Ella replied.

The contestants subsequently left to go back to the hotel they were given. It was far more appealing than what past seasons offered. Not even the hotel from Total Drama All-Stars, the show's fifth season, came close to this. How was that the case? Chris went into such detail with everybody once they approached said hotel. He told them "Inside this hotel, you will find a downstairs gym, an indoor swimming pool, a kitchen, a lounge room, a spa, and individual bedrooms for everybody that even have their own showers and toilets! Go pick a room and unpack your bags. Dinner will be served in two hours.", prompting the competitors to enthusiastically cheer.

(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)

"After getting kicked out of today's race early on, getting this hotel was a nice consolation plus a very welcome contrast to the living spaces of past seasons. It also gave me a good chance to relax. I hear that the new hotels and vastly better food could only be afforded because of somebody giving a large donation to keep the show going. Big thanks to whoever did that!"

(End Confessional)

Two hours later, the cook was serving everyone a choice of either gourmet swordfish or delectable tomato soup. The only servings on this show that came even close to being as good as that where those served in the season 5 hotel. All the players loved what was provided. The Pahkitew contestants were particularly grateful for tonight's offerings when they had to forage for their own food unless winning a prize meal. Sugar gorged herself on two servings of the former option. During the meal, Dave asked Beardo "Is there a particular reason you make so many sound effects?", who nervously gulped and was temporarily at a loss for words to answer that.

Dawn, who was sitting at the same table as both, noticed his nerves and offered "Perhaps I can help.", prompting a nod of approval from the human soundboard before she explained "His aura says that it largely stems from social anxiety. When not trying to be humorous, the sound productions are often used as a coping mechanism for how he gets shy around new people, and it feels easier for him to make noises than potentially say something awkward until getting more comfortable/acquainted with others."

Beardo smiled in gratitude for the assistance with this disclosure. It helped put him at enough ease to vocally affirm "That's quite accurate, and thanks for the help. Anxiety also hindered my participation last season when I was trying not to let my nerves get the better of me or lead to any panicking. Furthermore, I wasn't quite sure how to be of help when we didn't get very many useful materials to build our shelter in the first place within our time limit. I'm sorry for the instances it bothered you or anybody else. When it was time for me to leave, I figured that was my last chance to say anything on camera, so I took the opportunity. In the future, I'll try to reduce those."

Feeling sympathy for him, the germaphobe replied with "Apology accepted. Had any of us known that during the first challenge, you probably would've gotten another chance instead of Leonard, who already was useless either way and ended up costing us the next challenge." as they shook hands.

They were interrupted by Sugar loudly burping and declaring, "I must have more of that and try what else is offered!"

Hatchet firmly insisted "No soup for you! Save some food for the other players.", and she pouted in response.

(Begin Confessional: Trent)

"Chef, I believe I speak for everyone when I say thank you for preventing more gassy episodes from a certain glutton."

(End Confessional)

After everybody had eaten enough, some bedrooms were displayed. Each had windows looking outside. The beds were much more comfortable than the bunks previous seasons had within cabins. Anne Maria was shown relaxing on hers, sighing contently as she shook a can of hairspray.

(Begin Confessional: Anne Maria)

"It's nice for a queen like myself to have more luxurious offerings when returning for another season! With nobody invading my room, I can spray my poof as much as I want and not have to deal with complaints. I'm also grateful for a mattress that's easier to sleep on."

(End Confessional)

Over at the spa, Justin and DJ were seen getting massages. It felt like heaven for both guys. The former commented "Not sure about you, but I plan on visiting this place at least once a night for as long as I'm in the game.", prompting the latter to reply with "Me too! I could really get used to what we have now."

The cameras cut to the host. He signed off the episode with "That was your inside look on what our contestants have in between challenges. Who will Max and Ella choose for their respective teams, and who will be the first eliminated this season? For answers to both questions, be sure to tune in for the next episode of Total. Drama. Generation Showdown!"

That was the first chapter. I decided not to kick anybody off right away since I felt it could help develop the characters more no matter how far they go in the game. For anybody who's wondering how I chose which ones to bring back, here's what I can tell you without spoilers: I knew well in advance that no finalists would compete again when they wouldn't win anyway (the show has an unspoken rule where nobody ever reaches the finals in more than one season), so leaving them out of the contest makes the elimination order less predictable. People like Staci and Leonard also didn't return because I didn't want the first axe to be too obvious. Courtney and Lindsay already participated in 4 seasons each, so neither of them came back when I wanted to give more screentime to those who had less. Aside from DJ and Leshawna (who I feel both deserved another chance after getting screwed over in TDWT), the people who I brought back only had 1 or 2 seasons under their belts. The twins from Pahkitew didn't come back since the sisterly abuse ploteline is painful for me and something I feel is best left in the past. Reviews are very much encouraged!

Chapter posted: December 5, 2020.