Hi guys. I'm so sorry that it's been taking a while for the chapter to come out. I'm about 2/3rds done with it, but freetime's been limited due to grad school work. So to hopefully ease the wait, here's a preview of the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
The camera shown Chris standing in the dining room. "Last time on Total Drama Voyage! Teams were taken to Kochi India, where they put their spice endurance to the test. Some shown their nerves of steel, while others just couldn't take the heat." Footage of the contestants eating various spicy dishes are shown. A brief clip of Dawn calmly finishing ghost peppers is shown, followed by clips of Scott and Harold screaming on the ground in pain.
"Afterwards, teams raced each other to finish delivery routes, and a few bombs were dropped. Not just literally." A clip of the speedboats taking off is shown, interspliced with various clips of explosions caused by Chef's meatballs. "Scott started arming some bombs of his own, convincing our favorite delinquent to vote off Mike, and trying to provoke Mike to hit him in front of everyone. And as bonus, later getting some payback against a long nemesis." Clips of Scott talking with Duncan at the bar, calling out Mike after the spice eating challenge is shown, and finally, him blasting Fang away with an explosive meatball are shown.
"Bridgette dropped a bomb on Brody that not everybody's going to like his carefree atittude. Including her." A clip of Bridgette lecturing Brody on the top deck is shown. "But the biggest bomb came from Gwen, who after some pushing from Kitty, finally revealed that her mystery crush was none other than Duncan." Footage of Kitty talking to Gwen on the speedboat and the SS McLean is shown, being followed up by a clip of Gwen confessing her feelings to Duncan.
"In the end, Brody ultimately got the boot. Because despite taming the spice, he cost time for the team by being nice. And in Noah and Emma's eyes, that ended up being his greatest vice." A clip of Brody chugging down a bottle of Pepper X is shown, followed by a clip of Dawn and Brody pulling Bridgette and Leshawna's smashed speedboat back to the dock. Finally, footage of Brody saying his farewells to the team and boarding the Boat of Losers is shown.
The camera switched back to Chris in the dining room. "Who will-" Chris was interrupted as a ladder hit him in the head. "Ow!"
The camera panned over, revealing Bridgette and Gwen to be holding the ladder, the latter smirking at Bridgette's mistake. "Oh, sorry!" Bridgette said. She and Gwen placed the ladder against a wall before Bridgette climbed up it, and began hanging up party streamers.
"Can you kids quit interrupting my recaps?"
"Not our fault you keep hosting them in places anybody can walk in." Gwen replied.
Chris rolled his eyes. "Who will be sailing home next? Hopefully one of those two. Find out today on Total! Drama! Voyage!"
Leshawna, DJ, Gwen, and Bridgette were in the dining room. DJ finished setting up the final table. "There! We're all ready."
"We finished faster than I thought we would." Leshawna said.
"Brody did some preparation himself last night." Gwen explained
Harold came walking in. "And the word is out."
Bridgette high-fived Harold. "Thanks Harold. Now all we gotta do is wait and see who comes."
Harold smiled, as he pulled out a piece of paper he wrote on. "I don't think anybody will be passing up on the party. Not with invitations like these."
He tossed the invitation to Bridgette. "Party at 9:00, dining hall, food and games..." Bridgette stopped as she read the last line. "Chance to win the immunity idol?"
"I made that last part up." Harold said proudly.
"Yeah. We figured." Gwen replied.
"Harold, what fool is gonna believe that if someone found the invincibility statue, they'd announce it to the whole yacht, and give it up in party games?" Leshawna asked.
On cue, Scott came walking in, a determined smile on his face.
"Yeah. That explains it." Gwen said.
With the exception of Alejandro and Heather, all the remaining contestants were gathered in the dining hall. B was on the stage, installing a monitor on the wall of the stage. Leshawna and Harold were also on the stage dancing together while a nearby machine played music. Noah was reading at the bar section, away from the rest of the competitors. Everybody else was mingling or eating.
Scott was crossing his arms annoyed. Duncan took a break from laughing at Harold and Leshawna's dancing to nudge Scott by the shoulder. "Lighten up man. A party's a party."
"Yeah. A party that doesn't have an invincibility statue."
"Your fault for falling for something like that to begin with."
Scott grunted in annoyance before taking a look at another table. Emma, Kitty, Gwen, Bridgette, Mike, Dawn, and DJ sat together. Various bottles of alcohol were lined up, each holding a shot glass. Kitty was naturally taking a selfie of the table. "Looks like the others are getting more comfortable around Mike now. We gotta get him out quick before he wins the team over." Scott said.
"Relax dude. I already convinced DJ to vote out Mike if we lose next time. With your vote and my leader vote, Mike's a guaranteed goner."
"Heh. That's what I like to hear."
"My turn. Never have I ever..." DJ smirked at Bridgette. "Made out in a tanning bed."
"Oh, that's targeting!" Bridgette yelled, but she took a shot with a smile.
"Your turn Dawn." Emma said.
"Hmm...never have I ever destroyed the windshield of my father's car after he divorced my mother?" She asked.
Most of the people at the table gave a confused look to Dawn. "That's...oddly specific." Mike said.
"And accurate." Gwen said, casually taking a shot.
"Dawn, we've been over this. Using your aura reading for this game makes things awkward." Emma told her.
"Oh. My apologies."
Kitty turned to Duncan and Scott. "You guys wanna join in? The more the merrier!" Mike didn't exactly look thrilled about the idea.
Scott shrugged as he walked towards their table. Duncan looked a bit conflicted. "Eh..maybe some other time." Duncan stood up and walked towards the bar section, pouring himself a glass of vodka.
Gwen looked down at the table. She had a feeling she knew why Duncan was turning the offer down.
"I feel like it would be safer to have people around you when you overdose." Noah said as Duncan sat at the bar section.
"Just because you'd pass out with one shot doesn't mean I would." Duncan replied. He then pulled out a book while drinking.
"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd huh? That's one of Agatha Christie's most famous books."
"You can drop the small talk Noah. What do you want?"
"Oh thank God." Noah then tilted his head towards Mike. "Mike's on your team now, right? Meaning you could ask him questions about our Lupin impersonator."
"What, you think Mike's in on it?"
"Not sure. But something happened, and the members of Team Heather seem to know what it's about. Or in his case, former members. Maybe you could find out from Mike what happened to get Chris so on edge."
"And why should I care about this?"
Noah smirked. "You know, that book's ending is considered to be one of the biggest twists in the entirety of the mystery genre."
Duncan widened his eyes and closed the book. "Ugh. Fine. I'll ask Mike if he knows anything."
"Good. Though the best way to get Mike to talk would be to get him to warm up to you."
The camera panned back to the table. "Your turn Scott." DJ said.
"Never have I ever been dumped." He said. Emma and Bridgette both took shots. Mike, after mulling it over, took a shot as well.
"Didn't Courtney break up with you in All-Stars though?" Kitty asked.
"I dumped her. There's a difference."
"Yeah, and you're desperate to get her back." Gwen muttered.
"Nobody was talking to you, gothball."
"Oooh, I'm a goth. Real original."
"Guys, cool it." Bridgette told them.
"Yeah, we're here for a good time." Mike added.
"You're right. Sorry." Gwen said.
"Feh. Whatever." Scott replied.
Suddenly the lights began to flicker, the music dying down. "Umm...we having power issues?" Leshawna asked.
B gave a thumbs up, his sign of telling everyone that things will be alright.
Soon, the lights cut off entirely, the room going pitch black.
"Seriously?" Gwen asked.
A few more seconds passed before the lights came back on in the dining room.
"Huh. Well, at least it didn't last long." Mike said.
"Wait a second. B, does this mean-?" Harold began to ask.
B nodded.
"Oh. I was wondering when it would be set up." Dawn said.
"Um...anybody want to explain this for the people who don't read minds?" Emma asked.
"The karaoke machine is set up!" Harold announced.
"Oooh. I love karaoke!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Don't expect me to sing." Gwen said.
Noah turned to Duncan and tilted his head towards Mike. Duncan shrugged as he walked towards the rest of the contestants.
(Confessional: Noah)
"I'm aiming for every advantage I can get this season. If it turns out one of the contestants is Lupin, then I can rat them out to Chris and have them get the boot. Meaning one less competitor to worry about. And if it turns out the thief is just somehone like an intern or stowaway, I can just haggle Chris for some cash in exchange for the info. Either way works for me."
The camera cut to Heather relaxing in a sauna, towels wrapped around her head and waist. This was easily her favorite part about being on the SS McLean. It's a shame that she had to share it with the losers on the other teams, but at least she didn't have to do chores this time.
Suddenly, something hit Heather on the head. "Ow!" Heather looked down and saw a wall tile on the ground. "Ugh. Figures Chris would cheap out in some areas.
Heather picked up the tile and put it back in place. As she did, she heard some cluttering from inside the wall. "Huh?" Heather started pulling away the tiles and pried away some drywall to discover the source of the noise. She then widened her eyes before giving out a smile.
Dawn and Harold were on the stage, Harold wearing his beanie and sunglasses.
"Like fate scoops up a fish, struggling in a net. Its brittle wings are torn by the tears as it trembles in cold sweat!" Dawn sang.
"You tore your wings now cry!" Harold rapped.
"The spider comes, a thirst in its eyes"
"A butterfly with no wings is a moth in the flame! Just a rat on the floor with another name!"
"The venomous fangs sink into the soullll."
Kitty, Emma, Bridgette, DJ, Leshawna, and Gwen were at a table watching the two sing. The former four were looking somewhat unnerved at the performance, while Gwen was pleasantly surprised.
"Dawn's taste of music is...unexpectedly morbid." Emma noted.
"Kinda dig it, not gonna lie." Gwen said.
Mike was heading out of the dining room.
"Hey Mike, wait up."
Mike turned his head and saw Duncan walk up to him. "Oh. Um...hey, sorry about-"
"Relax man. Most of us have been through worse. You heading out?"
"Yeah. I'm not much of a karaoke guy, and after the drinking games, I kinda need to lie down."
"I get that. Still kinda weird how we're all on the yacht though, you know? Lupin's really got McLean on edge."
Mike widened his eyes and frowned. "Let me guess. You wonder if I know anything about who the mystery thief is?"
Duncan shrugged. "I could go either way."
Mike rolled his eyes. "If you have to know, apparently Sierra was working with the thief. After she was eliminated, she apologized to Arsene as the boat was leaving."
"Huh. Wasn't expecting that. Thanks man." Duncan walked off.
"...Sure." Mike walked off.
It was the next day. Gwen was getting up from bed in one of the bedrooms while rubbing her head.
"Mornin'!" Kitty cheerfully said, giving Gwen a glass of water.
"Thanks Kitty." Gwen drank from the glass before putting it down.
"How much do you remember about last night?" Kitty asked.
"Pretty much all of it. Why?"
"All of it? You even remember asking out Duncan in front of everyone?"
Gwen dropped the glass in shock. "I DID WHAT?!"
"Ha! Gotcha! Duncan's your mystery crush!"
Gwen widened her eyes and facepalmed. She fell for that hook, line, and sinker.
(Confessional: Kitty)
Kitty chuckled. "Like I said. I have a strong love detector."
Harold was laying in bed, fast asleep. Suddenly, a voice played over the intercoms, waking him uo.
"Rise and shine, sailors. We'll be docking at our next destination in about 40 minutes."
Harold got out of bed, and stretched while letting out a yawn. He then turned to the bed. "We better get ready Leshawna."
"Mph. Literally the worst day for Chris to get us up so early." Leshawna said. Harold started picked up his underwear from the floor as Leshawna rose up from the covers. "Umm...by the way Harold..."
"I know. You still want to keep it secret that we're together again."
"Half right. But I'm also saying we're not together."
Harold was surprised. "Huh?"
"Look, I like you. A lot. But I dunno if we're ready to get back together. It's still too fast."
Surprisingly, Harold smiled. "Don't worry. I know you're not ready yet. But you don't have to rush. For love, I'll wait until the end of time."
Leshawna smiled. "Thanks Harold baby." She gave Harold a peck on the cheek before getting out of bed and heading to the showers. After she left, Harold let out a sigh.
The camera cut to the contestants standing on the beach shore of an island. Not too far away from the cost was a prarie, and even further back was a forest. Chris was in front of the contestants. "Sailors, welcome to Kangaroo Island. One of the largest islands in Australia, and the location of your next challenge."
Alejandro turned to Heather. For some reason, she brought a backpack with her. "Any reason you brought that with you?"
"Since we're on an island, I figured we'd be doing a survival challenge." She quickly said.
"Well, you're not entirely wrong Heather. You will be tested in your survival knowledge. But for this challenge, it'll be all about hunting!" The femtosecond he said that, a hand shot out and started choking Chris. "Grk! Can't...breathe!"
"What did you say?" Dawn calmly yet menacingly asked.
"Gah! Let me...finish! All animals...have to be caught alive!"
Dawn widened her eyes. "Oh. My apologies." Dawn let go of Chris' throat and casually walked back to the, understandable nervous, Shortcakes.
Chris took a few seconds to catch his breath before continuing. "See, according to our legal team, we've been a bit too cruel to animals over the seasons."
"What's the next shocking revelation? That you don't treat your interns well?" Noah asked.
Chris ignored Noah's comment. "So to prove how much we care, this challenge is gonna be all about building sanctuaries for animals."
"Wait, so your way of proving that you care about animals is to have us hunt them down, take them out of their homes, and stuff them in shelters that might not even be well-made?" Gwen asked.
"...Anyway, for a challenge like this, more survival expertise is required for the judging phase. So I'll be aided by a few former competitors." Chris said.
On cue, two people came swining from the forest on vines. One was an incredibly tall dark skinned girl wearing beige survivalist garb and a hat. The other was a pale boy with shaggy brown hair, wearing a white shirt and orange vest. They both lept off their vines and landed on both sides of Chris.
"G'day mates." The tall girl said. She had a strong Australian accent.
"Who are these guys?" Duncan asked.
"Shawn and Jasmine. They were from Pahkitew Island." Bridgette explained.
"That was Sky's season, right?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah. Shawn in particular was the winner of that season. Jasmine got fourth place." Noah added.
"Heh. Someone's been doing their homework." Jasmine joked.
"Better be careful about showing how much you know though. A bigger brain means a bigger meal for the undead." Shawn said.
"...Wha...?" Emma reacted.
"Shawn has massive zombie paranoia." Bridgette explained.
"You're kidding, right?" Heather asked.
Shawn gave a sigh. It was disappointing, but not surprising, how few people bothered to prepare themselves for the apocalypse.
"Here's the idea. Teams will have 12 hours to create their own sanctuaries for the animals. Teams will be judged on things like their food supply, the shelter, the health of the animals themselves, and so on."
"The three of us will be judging your sanctuaries." Shawn explained. "Not just by how many animals you captured, but also from the shelter you built, to the food you collected, to your water supply, to the location you picked. You name it."
"The team with the best overall sanctuary wins the challenge for the team" Chrs said. "And of course, you'll need to forage for food and water for these little guys. Wouldn't be a sanctuary if they can't provide for themselves. The only animals you're allowed to kill are stuff like fish or insects to feed your meat-eaters. Otherwise? Avoid harming them as much as you can."
"Either way, this'll be a slam dunk for us. We got a master survivalist right here." Duncan said, nudging at Mike.
"You're forgetting how we have a nature expert ourselves." Emma replied, pointing her thumb at Dawn.
"Loving the spirit here. But before we begin, there's an important announcement to make. Both last place AND second place will be losing a team member tonight." Chris said.
"What?!" Kitty reacted.
"What's the point of even having second place then?" Leshawna asked.
"You'll see." Chris responded.
"All of you will have twelve hours to capture animals, gather food for them, and set up their shelters. Me and Shawn will be roaming around to pull you out of any serious danger." Jasmine said.
"But of course, you can't expect us to hold your hand the entire way through. Everything else about survival you gotta find out for yourselves." Shawn told them.
Chris clapped his hands. Soon, three interns walked up to the teams, each carrying a bucket, which contrained a handful of supplies, and a pair of baskets. "These will be the only resources you guys get. Everything else, you'll need to find or make for yourselves. You got 10 minutes to talk strategy before the challenge starts." Chris said.
The Shortcakes huddled up. "Alright, we'll need to delegate." Emma said. "Dawn, you'll be in charge of finding animals. Gwen, Kit. You guys look for food. Noah and I will look for materials to set up shelter."
"We'll regroup here in about two hours before we start building." Noah stated.
The camera panned over to the Blades. "So Mike, what's the plan?" Duncan asked.
DJ, Leshawna, Bridgette, and Mike were confused. "Um...shouldn't we be asking you that?" Bridgette asked.
"Yeah, I'm not team leader." Mike said.
"For a survial challenge like this? You might as well be." Duncan told him.
Scott smirked.
(Confessional: Scott)
"Which means if we screw-up, we know who to blame."
Mike raised an eyebrow suspiciously, then shrugged. "First step will be collecting branches and leaves from inside the forest. After we mark a site and gather branches, we'll split up into groups. Duncan, Scott. I know you guys are good at making traps, so you two will be in charge of trapping and bringing animals."
"Sweet!" Scott exclaimed. "I've been hunting critters ever since I was 6."
"Just remember. You need to bring them alive. Leshawna, Bridgette, DJ. You three will make the shelter. I'll look for water, and forage for food we can use to feed the animals."
The camera panned over to Team Heather. "So, what did you bring in your backpack Heather?" Harold asked.
"If you suspected this would be a survival challenge, surely you have some resources we can use?" Alejandro asked with a smirk.
"You heard Chris. We have to make our own tools unfortunately. Can't be helped." Heather replied.
Harold and B shrugged. Made sense. Alejandro however was naturally skeptical.
"So, where will be our site?" Harold asked.
"Here on the beach. We'll save on time that way. Plus, we can fish for food." Heather replied. "We'll build shelters and make tools first. THEN we'll go looking for animals."
Chris got an airhorn. "And...begin!" Chris blew the airhorn.
The teams dispersed. The Blades headed towards the forest, while the Shortcakes split up as they ran through the prarie Noah and Emma started picking up any sticks and leaves they could find along the way. Team Heather started heading towards the beach shore.
Chris turned to Jasmine and Shawn. "I'll be heading back to the SS McLean until it's judging time."
"What about the challenge?" Shawn asked. "Don't you need to keep an eye on things?"
"Hello? Why do you think I brought you two along. Holler if you need me." Chris started to head towards the yacht, before turning his head back. "Don't need me."
Hope you enjoyed the preview! I'll try to get the full chapter out by next week, but I can't promise anything. Have a great day!