With the 21st chapter comes yet another challenge. After more review responses, you'll learn how it plays out.
OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: Brick certainly did have a better run here than in the fourth season. While I didn't like how it felt to kick him off, this was necessary for some of the story's plot. You'll see what I mean soon enough.
Rockin' D-99: I had a feeling you'd like Sky's guest appearance last chapter and that scene where she consoles Trent for getting last place in the challenge. Upon seeing the opportunity to make a Star Wars pun by giving this gymnast a surname of "Walker", I simply couldn't pass it up :P. Her parents being fans of those movies was to provide some in-universe rationale for giving their daughter a name that refers to the Skywalker family. She certainly disapproves of Jo's underhandedness and hated how Chris let it slide. Regarding Max, it didn't cross my mind that he could come off as a floater when previously working to vote with the jockette as part of a survival strategy (until betraying her last chapter), but I'm not spoiling how far that dude will go in the contest.
Now for the final 6!
When Chef woke up to his morning alarm, he saw mostly cloudy skies outdoors. Seeing it prompted him to mutter "I guess it's a good thing Chris scheduled today's challenge to be an indoor one."
Shortly after getting out of bed, the cook heard McLean approach the other side of the bedroom's door and state "Yeah, there was no way I could let weather interfere with my plans today, rain or not. We should get going with breakfast plans before setting that up."
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"What we have for this challenge is unlike any other from the season. You'll see what I mean soon."
(End Confessional)
Breakfast that morning was omelets, with the option of adding bacon, ham, mushrooms, or sausage unless contestants wanted to have one just containing cheese. As they were eating, it had started to sprinkle outside. Chris informed them "The drops won't stop our challenge of the day as it's within a contained space, and even when it's not supposed to be bad, I'd recommend finishing quickly so we can get there without getting too wet."
However, the rain began falling harder almost immediately after he finished that sentence. Leshawna remarked "You were saying?"
He told her "I honestly didn't believe such a thing would happen! However, we've got enough umbrellas for everybody to use."
"Just give me one of those ASAP." added Jo, who was still fuming with bitterness over Brick's departure the previous night.
"They can be found right near the building's exit." replied the host, not wanting to antagonize the jockette any further.
"Those might not be enough and we're better off waiting for the weather to clear." said the cook.
"Ugh, fine; I'll let everyone know once that happens." his boss relented.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"It looks like I'm on my own after last night's elimination ceremony. While it sucks big time to lose my handsome cadet when he was the only vote I could always count on, I'm still more than a match for everyone else and can wipe the floor with them! They'll regret pissing me off."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Trent)
"Part of me is proud to have orchestrated an elimination by myself with nobody swaying me. While axing Brick was the most strategic choice with Jo immune, I also feel bad for him when he's a great guy."
(End Confessional)
After finishing breakfast, Dakota and Sam could be seen in the lounge talking with one another privately. Ms. Milton gulped with fright prior to asking "What are we supposed to do now that you-know-who obviously is aware of our most recent voting choice? It's like we signed a death warrant!"
The gamer's response was "Aside from getting invincibility, we'll have to ensure everybody else votes for Jo, which shouldn't be too hard when none of them seem to like her. I just hope neither of us have to deal with too much rage today."
Before either of them could say anything else, Chris used the speakers to inform everyone "It's now challenge time! Please meet me outside ASAP."
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"I have an unshakable gut feeling that something bad will follow no matter who gets immunity today."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"Not gonna lie; I'm worried about how we'll be targeted for what we did last night, though winning this challenge should help things."
(End Confessional)
Once all 6 players had gathered outdoors, McLean informed them "We're about to enter a confined space for the entire challenge. Don't exit it until the whole thing is over."
Everybody went indoors right afterwards. The cook added "We're about to have a game of tag. Whichever player gets tagged the fewest number of times will be the winner and earn an advantage for the next challenge. There will be no voting afterwards because whoever is 'it' at the end of 40 minutes will automatically be eliminated from the contest. That player will get one last dinner before getting sent off, though, and the one who gets tagged the most often without finishing as 'it' will get a penalty for the next challenge which you'll learn more about tomorrow."
"Who will start as 'it' today?" inquired Max.
"That will be the poor sucker who hilariously finished in last place yesterday, namely Trent." answered the host with a chuckle.
Frowning with resentment over this mockery, the guitarist stated "You don't have to rub it in."
"I actually did, and you can avoid the boot by tagging any competitor you wish." replied Chris. "Just wait for the timer to start before you run towards them."
"We also need everyone to first move towards different part of the rooms." instructed his aid.
Once each contestant was spread out, the host declared "Once I sound off my horn, the 40-minute timer will begin counting down. Remember to avoid being 'it' when that expires or you're out of the game!"
"Is everyone ready for this?" Hatchet questioned.
After each contestant simultaneously affirmed "We are.", McLean pressed the airhorn to begin things.
The timer immediately started counting down. To nobody's surprise, the guitarist went after Jo first. She sprinted to avoid contact with him. While not wanting to be "it" either, the others didn't feel as threatened as there was an unspoken agreement that they all had the same target. He spent five minutes chasing her without any luck. She wasn't feeling so angry now and got cocky, deciding to patronize the guy with "You're too pathetically slow!"
However, hearing that unexpectedly gave him a speed boost. 30 more seconds later, Trent caught up to tag his target and declared "Now you're it!" before running off.
Blindsided by the tagging, she struggled for a moment to decide on a target. Her choice ended up being the slowest runner at the time, namely Max. Jo sped away after taunting "Have fun being 'it', sucker!"
Not confident in his abilities to catch up to the jockette, he could be seen panicking, but knew better than to simply stand in place. The wannabe villain spent two minutes chasing after Leshawna, who was closest. She was easily able to escape and asked him "Why don't you just call it quits?"
He took a moment to catch his breath before retorting "EVIL doesn't give up so easily."
By the time that sentence was finished, the sassy one was too far out of reach. Max decided to go after Trent, who was closer by. The guitarist didn't take long to start running faster upon noticing the change of direction. However, he ended up tripping after a minute, giving the aspiring evildoer an opportunity to quickly tag him before escaping. Trent once again opted to tag Jo, fully determined to get her out of the game. In the meantime, Chris yawned prior to complaining "I'm starting to get bored, so let's spice things up!" and pressing a button.
As soon as the host did that, the lights went out, and the only thing visible was the timer glowing in the dark. Sam incredulously asked him "Is this supposed to be some kind of joke!?"
Dakota added "You could've at least given us glow-in-the-dark vests in advance like those used during the target-hitting challenge."
"I'm not sure how anybody will manage to tag an opponent." Chef remarked.
With an irritated sigh, his boss relented "Fine, I'll give some more lighting, but it still won't be as bright as earlier." and activated a switch to bring out some spotlights that shined sporadic spots in the room.
Even though it wasn't what they had hoped for, each player felt grateful to have any light at all outside of the timer's glow. There were now 31 minutes left in the challenge. When unable to immediately spot his first choice of a target, the musician had to enter the unlit area and hope for the best.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"Adding that darkness was well-needed! I didn't want the challenge to be a snore-fest, also seeing those fools fumble without brightness amused me."
(End Confessional)
Four minutes later, Trent managed to catch up with Jo and tag her back. He managed to disappear into the darkness before she could find him. The jockette decided to instead go after Ms. Milton, who was closer and more visible at the time. It only took 70 seconds to accomplish this. Dakota began to freak out, especially when unable to see anybody else right away. 65 seconds later, she went for the first player in sight, namely Leshawna, and stated "Sorry, but this was my only choice." prior to vanishing.
"I hear you there." she replied understandingly. "Now to find Jo."
The sassy player spent 75 seconds searching before finding her target. However, the jockette was running too fast to be caught this time. Leshawna reluctantly turned around after 2 minutes and found Sam, whose glasses had recently fallen to the ground. He was too focused on finding those to notice her approaching until it was too late. She felt some pity when tagging him, and quickly ran off after saying "Nothing personal, just trying to keep myself in the game."
With 22 minutes remaining in the challenge, the gamer knew now wasn't the time for hesitation. Sam started running before long. As the halfway point approached, he found Trent and inquired "No hard feelings, right?" while tagging him, running off afterwards.
With a sigh, the guitarist muttered "Even though I won't hold this against you, I do wish that it had been someone else." and went to find someone else.
Another minute passed before he spotted Jo, who was temporarily pausing to take a breath. Trent took full advantage of this and tagged her. He bolted after saying "Enjoy the giant boot!"
With five options available and all roughly the same distance away, she couldn't immediately decide who to follow next. The cook remarked "Hesitation won't help you now." right before his phone started ringing loudly.
McLean didn't approve of that and remarked "I thought I told you to turn that thing off! At least take the call outdoors so it won't distract anybody else." as Jo went after Leshawna.
With a nervous chuckle, Hatchet explained "You did, but the donor wanted me to be reachable in case of emergencies today." before answering with "Hey there! I don't think you'll have to wait much longer before your appearance on the show. Please update me on anything new since we last spoke." and heading for an exit.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"I have no doubt he's trying to hide more than just an identity from me, but what other secrets are there? Any other details are probably quite big."
(End Confessional)
The 16-minute-mark passed by shortly before the jockette tagged her target and teased "Hope you're ready to go home!"
Leshawna started to feel more worried with less and less time remaining. She ran off to find someone else before it expired. With Trent being her closest option, the sassy one went after him, though was reluctant to do when trusting that musician more than any other remaining competitor. He could also sense the hesitation and held no grudge when sensing this pursuit wasn't anything personal or malicious. While the guy did his best to avoid becoming "it" again, she did tag him with 14 minutes to spare and vanished after apologetically stating "I'm sorry for that and didn't want it to come to this."
He muttered to himself "For my own sake, I just hope to not be 'it' at the end." and pondered who to go after next when unable to spot another competitor right away.
Who did Trent end up chasing? None other than Max, who was the first to be seen under the lights. It only took 90 seconds to catch him, prompting an exasperated "How DARE you tag evil?" in response.
The musician disappeared into the darkness immediately afterwards. Not wanting to leave the game so soon, the wannabe villain had to quickly find someone else. He ran around looking for a target, finding a certain gaming enthusiast close to the 11-minute-mark and promptly tagging said contestant before running away. Sam complained "Why did it have to be me?", though knew better than to stay put and dwell over the situation.
He scanned the area for fellow competitors. The first one to be spotted was Jo. Embracing a golden opportunity, Sam didn't hesitate to follow her, though underestimated how fast the jockette could be. She turned around after a minute to inquire "Why waste your efforts on the toughest one to catch?"
However, Jo was too distracted to notice Leshawna up ahead until it was too late, bumping into her 10 seconds later. The gamer took advantage of this chance to tag his target and bolt prior to proclaiming "So glad to not be 'it' anymore!"
Upon recovering from the crash, it didn't take long for the jockette to tag the one laying down next to her and boast "Have fun in Loserville!", vanishing a few seconds later.
With slightly over 9 minutes remaining, Leshawna knew somebody else could potentially get eliminated, but wasn't yet sure who. She looked around to find somebody else and said to herself "Things can't end like this."
Upon spotting Dakota, the sassy one began her chase. Ms. Milton wasn't willing to go out so easily and took off. Such luck ran out when getting tagged at the 8-minute-mark. It didn't help for Dakota how her tagger was quickly out of sight. Feeling panicked, she desperately looked for another player. Who did this wealthy 18-year-old find next? None other than the game's guitar player. With slightly under 6 minutes to spare, she tagged him and left with a request of "Please don't hold anything against me."
With a confident grin, his response was "I won't, especially when I know just what to do."
"You better hurry or the chance will pass by!" Chef said from the sidelines.
The musician searched for Jo in both light and dark. She anticipated such a choice and did her best to stay unseen. Failing to spot her or anybody else besides Sam, he hesitantly charged after that guy instead and apologized with "Sorry for not getting you-know-who, but she couldn't be found." upon tagging him at the 4-minute-mark.
With the musician nowhere in sight, the gaming nut worried with how little time was left. However, he managed to spot the jockette running in and out from spotlights. She didn't notice Sam until 2 and a half minutes were left. By this point, it would be hard to evade his touch. The gamer tagged her 30 seconds later and moved away from the lights while saying "The end is drawing nearer." and smirking.
She began to sweat and sounded noticeably anxious when retorting "I could still survive." and looking around for the others.
Each of the other four players were found near different spotlights. As the clock kept counting down, Jo struggled to decide which of them to tag when they were all roughly the same distance away. All four noticed her and began to run. Once the clock had 70 seconds, Chris called out "Just over a minute left, and I don't know how things could change now unless one of you badly fucks up."
What the host didn't anticipate was how hearing that prompted the jockette to sprint even faster. She got closer and closer to the others and reached out an arm for tagging. The cook remarked "This goes to show how much fear can sometimes motivate a person."
To the shock of everyone else, Jo did manage to catch up to someone with 5 seconds to spare. She tagged the player closest to her and stepped away immediately afterwards, and that was…
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Ms. Milton! With nobody in reaching distance, this contestant was left as "it" when the timer expired and buzzed loudly. Chris turned all the lights back on while declaring "Time's up, and Dakota is out of the game! I personally didn't think that would happen."
With a sigh of defeat, the newly eliminated contestant frowned and told him "That totally sucks, and I wasn't expecting it either."
Her boyfriend was both saddened and angered by the outcome. He complained "It shouldn't have ended like this as I was hoping we'd both reach the finale, but I loved making the upper third with you." before the two hugged and shared a goodbye kiss.
These words prompted a response of "I feel the exact same way. You know exactly what I'll want later."
"It will be my pleasure to do that." Sam assured his girlfriend prior to giving Jo a death glare.
Unfazed, the jockette retorted "I'm not at all scared and you're no match for me! Also, nice to see I was right about surviving."
"On another note, what are the advantage and penalty for next challenge?" inquired Leshawna.
"We'll tell you about that at dinner. In the meantime, the loser needs to get packing before sendoff." replied the second-in-command.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"Today was dangerously close, but I do feel very relieved after getting out of such a pickle! Hopefully I won't get into such situations again. Who should I go for next?"
(End Confessional)
The meal was served at 5:15 PM in contrast to the season's usual 6:30 PM. It was also held outdoors rather than inside the cafeteria. Chris addressed the changes with "In case you're wondering why dinner isn't being carried out like before, it's because we already know who's getting the boot tonight. No need to drag out that matter any further."
He and everyone else could be seen eating salmon for dinner. Max was surprised to find himself feeling sorry for the couple who had gotten so far together only for one half to be eliminated. He sympathetically told them "Today's unfortunate verdict aren't what I wanted either, and I'd be happy to join in voting off that last tagger today when the chance comes up."
"I'd very much appreciate that." Dakota gratefully responded with a smile.
"You've got a deal there!" Sam replied.
"Nice to know, and we can rule this competition together villainously!" replied the aspiring evildoer, which led to both giving him strange looks in response.
Trent requested "Before I forget, could you please tell us what we can expect for the next challenge based on today's results?"
"Oh right. I'll start with the penalty and say that Jo gets it after being tagged the most today, namely five times." Chef answered, prompting enthusiastic cheers from every contestant except the jockette, who scowled angrily.
McLean added "On the flip side, Max was only tagged twice and that's less often than anybody else, which means he'll start with an advantage."
"How glorious!" proclaimed the wannabe villain with triumph.
"Wait, for real?" asked the sassy one.
"Yes, and further details will be given tomorrow." affirmed Chris. "On another note, Trent was tagged on four occasions today, and everyone else got tagged thrice."
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"As much as I enjoy wreaking havoc, I don't want Jo dominating the contest, so it's a good thing she'll be penalized in the final 5 while I get a boost."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"At least Ms. Evil will be hindered in the next challenge."
(End Confessional)
After the meals were finished, Ms. Milton was shown on the giant target. Chef asked her "Is there anything left that you'd like to share with us before exiting?"
Dakota's replied with "Just that I hope Sam wins the finale, and that I really hope Jo doesn't get that far. I wish I had voted her off pre-merge when I had the chance.", prompting the jockette to snarl and give a middle finger in response.
Chris didn't hesitate to activate the boot immediately afterwards, sending Ms. Milton away. The gamer had tears in his eyes, though quickly wiped them away when fury began to grow, resenting how the jockette singlehandedly eliminated the one he loved. Trent attempted to console him with "There's still a chance to get her out before the finals. If you're willing to give this your all, then I'll stick by you until the very end."
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"Sooner or later, I have no doubt that a certain devil will suffer consequences, and that disadvantage tomorrow is just the beginning of them."
(End Confessional)
As the remaining five players walked away, the showrunner signed off the episode with "We're getting pretty close to the finale, and now there are no more couples competing together in the game. Can our gaming nut avenge his cherished lady next time? What else is up Jo's sleeves? You can find out by watching the following episode of Total. Drama. Generation Showdown!"
One half of our tech-loving pair has bit the dust. This elimination might not be much of a surprise when I had started foreshadowing it at the end of Chapter 17. The only ambiguity was when she'd go out. To the Dakota fans: I'm sorry to do this when she's someone I also am fond of, but her luck couldn't go on forever. On another note, I give thanks to Danicus Green for the idea of a "tag" challenge where whoever finishes as "it" when a time limit expires is automatically out of the game. Adding in the bits on fewest/most tags was my own idea that I came up with later on.
Reason for elimination: Still bitter over Brick's elimination, our jockette decided to retaliate by splitting up the couple who contributed to that outcome, also feeling that negative emotions over such a loss could hinder Sam's performance. Ms. Milton reaching the finale also didn't seem realistic enough to carry out. Furthermore, I wanted to switch things up by having the male half of a pairing outrank the female half after twice using the reverse in this story (Ella going further than Dave, Jo sticking around longer than Brick).
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), Brick (7th place), Dakota (6th place)
Remaining Players:
Jo, Leshawna, Max, Sam, Trent
Chapter posted: November 10, 2022.