Reviewer Response:
N/A
Another two-parter episode. I'll get more into why at the end of this part, but I do have reasons. Aside from that though, there's not much to say, so let's get going!
Time to begin the next episode.
Chris stands around, smirking before he begins. "Last time on Total Drama Elemental Islands! The contestants had to hunt down their fellow contestant's secrets!"
"Bob got a plan together to save himself from Gary's blackmail, and it seemed like it'd work with nobody knowing a thing…. Until Nadia joined the group and leaked it to everyone to stop Gary from doing it again." Footage shown includes Bob, Carol and Xavier talking about the plan and Bob and Carol leaving with the plush, before cutting to Nadia opening the doors to their discussion and bringing everyone over to expose Bob's secret. "Spicy!"
"In the end, the Frozen Lions won again, and Myron, Susan and Lauren all had to compete in a tiebreaker challenge. Overall, Myron ended up losing and so he had to take the launching into loserdom!" Footage shows the Electric Tigers sighing, the three contestants getting ready for the tiebreaker and Myron getting launched away.
"Now that we're down to eleven, who's going to be the last camper to miss out on the final 10? Find out in the most exciting episode yet of TOTAL! DRAMA! ELEMENTAL ISLANDS!"
Suddenly, a phone starts to ring, and with a confused expression, Chris pulls his out. Noticing it is from the producers, causing him to shrug and puts it to his ear. "Chris McLean." As he continues, the unknown voice of a producer rings out, causing Chris to recoil the phone back. "What the?" Putting it back to his ear, he starts to nod. "You want me in for a meeting tonight? Alright, sure, whatever." He then shrugs, hanging up the phone, before looking at the cameraman, "wait, you're still filming this?"
The camera then cuts to the intro.
Opening Guitar Riff:
The intro starts with the rock theme that is known so well to Total Drama fans, before a camera pops out from under some water, a microphone comes from the side towards some ground that hasn't been touched by raging fire around it. A light turns on from the side of a cave, illuminating it and a second camera pops from the bottom of a chunk of land floating, with a gopher holding on to it.
Dear Mom and Dad I'm doin' fine,
The camera zooms past the dock speeding through the elimination area and the cabins before it goes towards one end of the island.
You guys are on my mind.
The camera goes past Chris arguing with Don before it zooms into the sky showing all five islands and zooms to Water Island.
You asked me what I wanted to be
On Water Island, Hannah and Tegan, both in Scuba gear, attack each other angrily. Meanwhile Jake and Nadia find a yellow rock before Nadia turns around and angrily yells at the two fighting above.
and now I think the answer is plain to see,
Inside a cave on Earth Island, Myron, Megan and Carol walk inside, with Carol holding up a comic book and excitedly commenting on it to a not interested Myron and Megan, who look at each other worried about the cave.
I wanna be famous.
Susan writes in a small notebook furiously while making a small smile before she looks at the camera and smiles and waves at the camera.
I wanna live close to the sun,
Inside the confessional, Lauren looks around excited before she looks at the camera and makes a determined smile to the camera.
Go pack your bags, 'cause I've already won,
On Air Island, Bob punches a punching bag clean off what was being hanged, while Jemma watches and writes something on her notepad before Scuba Bear comes out of the bushes and prepares to attack them, which scares both of them.
Everything to prove, nothing in my way
Xavier is seen showing Gary a few costumes, first a cowboy costume where he's swinging his hat on his finger, then a 1930s mobster suit and making finger guns and finally a rapper costume where he pretends to rap. Gary isn't paying attention and instead makes a small smirk
I'll get there one day.
Fire Island appears with Richard standing there bored before he looks at the camera
Cause, I wanna be famous!
Morgan then runs over and pushes him over so he can appear in the camera lens. An angry Rory then runs over and helps up Richard, who just sighs and shrugs.
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!
Back at the dock of Base camp, Alfred looks at the camera, a smug smile plastered on his face before he starts bossing around a couple of interns, including Katrina who was chatting with them before. Katrina and the interns get annoyed and push him into the water, the resulting splash of water covers the camera and the time changes to night.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous (Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!)
Rory and Susan look at each other lovingly before they lean forwards, only for Chris to get up and blast his megaphone, making them jump back in surprise, Susan puts her hand on her heart in shock and Rory holds his head, as the camera zooms out to the rest of the campers whistling the closing notes of the song.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
Lauren begins the episode, glaring at the camera.
The camera changes angles to show her staring at the table, deep in thought.
"Hmm," she mutters, as Carol walks past.
"What's wrong?" The hero asks.
Confessional:
"I got two votes last night…" Lauren answers the question. "That… isn't particularly amazing. I fully admit I've let the villain stuff be on the back burner the last couple of days. I was gonna get back to it, but I thought I'd let the drama play out with Susan, no point risking my game when someone else has already risked and failed with theirs. Turns out that… was a mistake. I just need to get a proper plan together, half-assing stuff isn't going to help me at all."
Confessional Ends:
"I'm just trying to figure out what the votes were last night. Cause they were weird."
"Oh, yeah, it was really weird!" Carol comments, "I mean, a three-way tie?"
"That I was a part of… I mean, I thought we'd just all vote for Susan, not me or especially poor Myron. What did he even do wrong?"
"I… I was a vote for Susan…." Carol says quickly, suddenly stiffening.
"Were you actually?" The fangirl asks her. Carol pauses for a moment, closing her eyes with a pained expression.
"Okay fine I voted Myron," she sighs. After a moment, the Superhero quickly clarifies, "But I convinced Susan to vote for Myron instead of you! He was the one we could both agree on. I dunno if you would have been safe if I didn't convince her."
Confessional:
"Carol saved me?" Lauren questions shocked before it morphs into a smile. "Okay… I know she's bad at lying so this is probably legitimate. Good to see she's still at least a bit loyal to me… I can work with this."
Confessional Ends:
"Still, it's weird I got two votes against me…" Lauren adds, "Who has an issue with me?"
"I'm not sure about that… Maybe Myron voted for you?"
"Possibly…."
Confessional:
"It wasn't Myron…" Lauren stares dully at the camera. "He was dead set on Susan." She then groans. "Okay, for the sake of argument, I'll cross Carol and Susan off too for now…. That means it's two out of Rory, Nadia and Jake. Out of all those potential groups, Nadia and Jake are a really obvious pair, but that would mean Rory voted himself. Still, why would Rory vote for me? What have I done wrong to him? I doubt Susan weaselled her way back into his pants, anyways." She then continues thinking, "Yeah… this is a puzzler."
Confessional Ends:
"We really can't know for sure who voted who. I mean, I trust you, but maybe the votes aren't how they appear?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing really, but it's interesting to think about." Carol looks concerned.
Confessional:
"Why's she saying this to me?" Carol asks, "Does she not trust me?" She then starts to look stressed. "Or does she think Susan voted for her? Cause that sounds dumb… doesn't it?"
"Just planting that first seed of doubt. I can take it further in multiple directions now depending on what's better for me at the time."
Confessional Ends:
As Jake walks downstairs, Susan taps him on the shoulder.
"What?" The leader asks.
"I want to explain the vote. And why it happened the way it did." Jake raises an eyebrow.
"Give it a little bit then. I just woke up. I have other things I both want, and need to do first."
"Sure," the genius sighs before walking away.
Confessional:
"Damn it, that's annoying." Susan sighs, "Alright. At least I have more time to think about what I'm going to say."
Confessional Ends:
Gary steps out of his cabin and stares around, "Great…" he mutters, before walking down the stairs. Grabbing some of the victorious breakfast as he sits down next to Jemma, who simply says.
"Hey," to him.
"Hey," he says back.
"So…" Jemma starts, "How'd you sleep?"
"Fine I guess," Gary questions her, "Why do you want to know?"
"Cause you're a teammate and I want to talk to someone. I know we didn't get along but we can at least be respectful to each other." She then leans in, whispering. "Especially since we're allies right now,"
"Okay, I can accept that," the pair then awkwardly stare at each other.
"We… don't have much to talk about really," Jemma frowns, "Well uh… alright, looks like I've cleared my plate. I'll uh… go and walk around."
"Sure." Jemma then stands up and walks away. Gary gets up a few minutes later after finishing his meal and walks around a little bit before he comes across Katrina, who smirks and walks over to him.
"What are you here for this time?" Gary's voice sounds bored. Katrina smirks before saying.
"What? Are you sad or something?"
"No… just bored."
"Bet you want to go home, eh?"
"No, I still want to win. But it gets a bit dull when the annoyance fairy goes 'Hey! Listen! You're going home!' It's just boring at this point."
"Well, I'm being honest."
"Wow, honest, that's what you're calling it now."
"Oh whatever," Katrina begins with an eye roll, "I just want to ask, how's it feel to suck?"
"Well with how much you've been focusing on one-upping me, it starts to feel like you've got a crush on me or something, and you think beating me is the way to get me to love you." This causes Katrina to look confused.
"What? That's… as far from the truth as it could be."
"Eh, it's just a theory."
"Anyways, a girl has to have some standards," Katrina mocks.
"Oh yeah, you have all the standards in the world… with you and your unibrow," Gary says to Katrina, who blushes angrily.
"It's not a… It's not a unibrow," she mutters to herself.
Confessional:
"Okay that's it," Katrina says to herself with a bitter tone in her voice, "I'm growing out bangs after the season finishes, "I've been debating it to myself for months, but hey if it covers the… eyebrows up. I'll be happy."
Confessional Ends:
Katrina quickly pushes the Theatre Kid over, saying, "Oops, must have misjudged that."
"That was intentional," he yells back.
"Not really…" Katrina's face darkens, "I was gonna punch you." Gary quiets, "Just shut up, and try to win challenges with us." She then walks away.
Gary glowers at her, simply commenting, "Must have struck a nerve… good." He then follows up that by making a throat-slitting gesture with a mad expression before turning around and walking off.
Katrina walks over to the door of the Frozen Lion's showers and begins knocking on it hard. "Hey Bob, BOB? YOU IN THERE?"
A several-second silence happens.
"Yeah?" Bob's voice comes from inside. "Look, give me five minutes."
"Nobody gives a shit about your stupid plushes anymore," The ex-intern yells before she throws the door open. The giant is currently wearing his regular grey shirt alongside a towel around his legs.
"Okay, first of all, you're damn lucky I hadn't hung my towel up yet." He grunts, annoyed. "Second of all… you had to bring them up?"
"Oh uh, sorry?" She responds, "Didn't think you'd be so creased about them."
"Well seeing as you swung the door open, you may as well tell me what you're here about." Bob ignores her response.
"I'm just offering an alliance to take out Gary."
"I'm done with alliances for the moment," Bob begins, "But taking out Gary? I'm on board for that."
"Good to know." Katrina nods. "Now I'm… just going to leave you here."
"Yeah, I'd definitely prefer that." Katrina then closes the door, quickly walking away.
Xavier opens up the cabin, rubbing his eyes, and as he takes a step, he misjudges where the first step is and trips, falling to the ground, "Ow…."
Confessional:
"Is it just me?" Xavier asks, "Or have the last couple of episodes felt like… At least a year? Maybe longer."
Confessional Ends:
After the Method Actor stands up and dusts himself off, he walks over and sits down to have breakfast. Gary sits next to him. "I would be mad," Xavier begins, "but really… why are you even talking to me?"
"Cause I don't have anything better to do," Gary admits, "What? Wallow in self-pity? No. I'm not letting any of you get the satisfaction of seeing that."
"Okay…" Xavier responds, "Fair enough."
"Anyways. I'm here with a warning. Sure I'm public enemy number one, but who's next? Bob's the physical powerhouse that gets us wins and Jemma's alliance is gone so she's not an issue. We all know about you and Bob being friends and that's two votes on a four-person team. All Katrina has to do is split yours and Bob's votes and then she and Jemma can just vote you, sending you out in a 2-1-1 vote."
"That is if we aren't in the merge. Anyways, what's to say she won't target Bob because of the reasons you said before."
"Are you really willing to sacrifice your friend like that? Anyways, that's all the more reason to target you. You've been giving Jake 'fuck me' eyes most of the season. Do you really think nobody else has noticed this? Katrina can just get Carol, or Susan, heck, even Lauren on her side for even more votes against you. What can Nadia and Jake even do to protect you?"
Xavier glares, and says, "Yeah, I doubt that."
"You don't have to believe me… I just think it's a what-if you should probably think about."
"Nope," Xavier glares, "I don't need to listen to you."
"Okay," Gary says, standing back up. "Your funeral." He then walks away.
Confessional:
Gary smacks his fist against the wall of the confessional. "Fine… Y'know what? Fine," his voice betrays his words as he sounds angry. "This is going to need more focus then."
"We literally just got Bob away from him," Xavier glares. "He's not getting me. I mean, we're just about to finally get rid of him!"
Confessional Ends:
Morgan leans up against a wall, lying in wait, commenting to himself, "come on, hurry up already…" before Lauren walks over to him.
"Hey, Morgan."
"What's up?" Morgan responds. "Why do you want me?"
"I'm gonna need your help with something."
"Depends on what it is."
"It'll help get back at the team."
"Weren't you one of the people that voted for me? I mean, Myron and I were the only ones that didn't vote me off?"
"Did you see the confessionals?" Lauren asks.
"No."
"Well, I said not to take it personally. I honestly thought you were Susan's slave. So I guess me betraying you might be Susan's fault?"
"See I get what you're saying… but that's a massive stretch, even for me. Plus, why should I help someone who voted me off anyways?"
"Okay then, let me put it this way then. Wouldn't it be awesome if you were the one person out of the game to get someone else out while still being on the islands?" Morgan pauses. "Imagine all the articles written about you? The paparazzi, the fan clubs?"
"You had me at articles," Morgan quickly says.
"Good, 'cause I want you to do reconnaissance. Find out the votes at the last elimination ceremony and bring them to me after the challenge."
"Consider it done," Morgan smiles as he walks away.
Confessional:
"What an idiot." Lauren laughs. "Anyways, yeah, Amy probably counts at least to an extent as an already eliminated contestant that got someone else out at the location itself, but he doesn't need to know that."
Confessional Ends:
Susan walks out of the cabin and walks over to Jake, tapping him on the shoulder.
"Oh… hey Susan," The leader starts, guarded.
"Look. Let's just get this over with," she begins, "I want to explain what happened yesterday."
"Okay," Jake starts, "sure, let's hear."
"You're… gonna just let me?"
"Obviously. I want to hear your side too."
Susan, not expecting his willingness, pauses for a second, before shaking her head and straightening up. "Well alright then. The truth is-."
"Okay campers! It's time for the challenge!" Chris suddenly yells through the loudspeakers.
"Seriously?" The Brainiac asks, annoyed.
"Well, we're gonna just have to put that on hold," Jake admits, "Sorry. We'll get back to this either during or after the challenge, don't worry, if I forget just remind me and I'll hear you out."
"Sure. Fine." Susan groans before she stomps away. Jake shrugs, before going in the same direction.
Bob looks around awkwardly as everyone walks towards the way to Air Island. Lauren runs past, yelling, "Out of the way!"
Walking down the stairs he notices Nadia and stares her down.
"Hey Bob," Nadia says as she stops, "You… doing alright after yesterday?"
"No…" Bob mutters, before saying, "whatever." And walking away.
Confessional:
"Well he doesn't want to punch me at least," Nadia notes, "That's something at least."
—-
"Does everyone have to mention what happened yesterday?" Bob groans. "Especially Nadia. Xavier and Carol are basically the only people I fully trust right now. Maybe Jemma if we can get an actual chat in, but I'm going to be respectful but stay far away from the others for now."
Confessional Ends:
Chris and Chef stand in a tent near the entrance to Air Island. "So…" Chris comments, slightly nervous. "That meeting with the producers tonight… what's it gonna be about?"
"Probably about that challenge a few days ago," Chef admits. "'Cause there's a pretty big elephant in the room there.
Chris looks somewhat nervous at this response, before he shakes his head, "Nah dude, it's just about how great of a host I've been!" He then starts to chuckle, "Y-yeah, it's how great I've been doing!"
"Keep telling yourself that," the Co-host rolls his eyes.
"Well okay mister doom and gloom, let's change the subject then. Who do you think is gonna get here first?" Chris questions his friend. "I'm leaning towards the fangirl."
"Hmm," Chef starts as they walk outside I'll…" his eyes go wide, "Uh… her," he points away from the two of them. Chris turns his head and sees Jemma already waiting for them, causing him to yell out in surprise.
"What are you doing here already?" Chris questions, confused.
Jemma shrugs before explaining, "I didn't have anything to do so I just… started walking around. Turns out I was right by the way up when you announced the challenge was here so I just came up here to wait for everyone."
Lauren then suddenly runs over and snaps her fingers in annoyance, "Darn it! I'm not the first one here!"
The scene cuts to later, as Bob walks over, being the last contestant to arrive. Chris then turns to the group of campers and says, "Welcome to Air Island campers! Are you excited for your next challenge?"
"Not particularly," Gary calls out.
"Sucks to be you then!" Chris responds, smirking. "Today's challenge is an upgraded version of a classic! The paintball challenge! Mixed with a classic type of game! Capture the flag."
"What's the twist?" Susan questions.
"I'm getting to it," Chris chastises her. "Both teams will have to make their way to a castle over that-a-way." Pointing behind him, a small castle looms in the distance, causing everyone to look surprised. "The first team to make it there defends it from the other team. If a while passes and it's getting boring, then the defending team wins. If it's taken, the attackers win."
"This seems… Really simple," Katrina whispers to her team…"Too simple…"
"Here's the fun part!" Chris calls out, holding up a bag with wires connected to a watch. "You'll have to wear these, 'cause these, have the 'health' you have, alongside more paintball."
Katrina rolls her eyes, "Yep… too simple."
The campers nod in understanding before Chris continues, "The watches have the 'lives' you have in the challenge. Green, orange and red. Run out of lives, and you'll have to make your way back here to watch everything that's happening in the challenge!"
"Oh the colours, they're like traffic lights!" Xavier suddenly calls out. All eyes turn to him.
"Yeah… I guess so?" Chris shrugs.
Confessional:
"Why did I have to say that out loud?" the Method Actor questions, facepalming. "And it was a while after Chris mentioned it too…."
Confessional Ends:
Jemma changes the subject by asking, "And if all the people on one team lose all three of their 'lives'?"
"If the other team has people left then your team automatically loses. Simple as that." The contestants look around worried.
"Hang on a sec!" Gary calls out, "They have six people! We only have five! How's that fair?"
"Right you are," Chris begins, "I'd love to watch you suffer with that, but since the Lions both have less and also won the last challenge, their reward today is that they get the aid of good ol' Scuba Bear 3.5 as their sixth teammate!" The contestants all look concerned as the robotic bear walks in.
"Not 4.0?" Jemma notes.
"It's only a slight software update, not anything major, so not 4.0 yet."
"Oh… alright," The journalist responds, sounding nervous.
"So would we have gotten it if we won the last challenge?" Carol asks.
"Nah," Chris shakes his head, "It would have been four vs eight then. I would have loved that, but the producers probably wouldn't have. They might have made me put earlier boots or even the interns with the Lions in that case."
"Darn."
"So, it won't kill us, right?" Jemma questions.
"Nope. Scuba Bear is completely house trained, willing to help your team, and will more than likely perform strategies you ask it to."
Confessional:
Scuba Bear performs a thumbs up.
Confessional Ends:
"Feel free to grab from this weapons rack here," Chris then presses a button causing a wall of weapons to appear from the ground. "Cause if you don't then well… It'll be on you if your team loses."
On the weapon rack, a large group of blasters stand as well as tubes of paint.
"Oh, and the tubes are paint bombs, thought they might spice things up a little. They're courtesy of the War movie challenge in Action."
Confessional:
Instead of being in one of the actual confessionals, Don stands in a studio setting. "You viewers find this nostalgic, right?" He questions, "look! The paintball challenge? The war movie one from Action? Cool, right?"
Confessionals End:
"Interesting…" Lauren mutters under her breath.
"Anyways campers," Chris cuts her off. "It's time for you to start the challenge." He then claps his hands, pointing at the eleven contestants and Scuba Bear. "You'll have thirty seconds to choose your weapon, they're all the exact same, so it doesn't matter much, but still." As everyone prepares to run, Chris pulls out an airhorn and comments.
"On your marks….
Get set….
GO!" Before he blasts the air horn, causing the contestants to run for the weapon rack.
As the contestants run over, they start to look at the weapons, Lauren grabs some small tubes of paint and a button trigger.
Lauren turns to Chris and says, "Hey so We can use as many of the explosives as we want, right?"
"Yeah," Chris responds.
Confessional:
"Good… I'm gonna use a lot then."
Confessional Ends:
Anyways, first to the castle, gets to protect it from the other team, with all the vantage points and other stuff it gives you!"
"I'm liking the sound of vantage points," Nadia notes, "everyone ready?"
"Yep," Jake nods, walking over.
Carol walks over to the weapon rack and pulls a gun off, concerned.
Confessional:
"Superheroes and guns… don't mix well," the superhero admits, rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess I can just say these have magical, non-bullet shots in them, heroes are more likely to have them." She smiles, "Well, paint isn't bullets either I guess. Alright! I can justify it to myself, sweet!"
Confessional Ends:
The contestants then all grab various guns and start to run off. However, Lauren and Gary stay behind.
"We're on Air Island," Gary whispers, "remember what we discussed? We should look for the idol."
"Oh yeah, 'cause it won't be suspicious if we just split up from everyone in the challenge, right?"
"I meant after we got out."
"That's fine then, but let's at least try at the challenge first."
"Got it, but we better not be the final two." Gary frowns
"We can look more then." The Fangirl shrugs
"With everyone watching us. I mean, we're the final two, all the eyes will be on us, 'cause there's probably cameras watching the challenge."
"… Fair point, I didn't think of that."
"Hurry up Gary!" Katrina yells from offscreen.
"Okay, gotta go." Gary nods, running off. Lauren pauses for a second before starting to run to her team as well. She stops.
"Actually…" she thinks, before walking around. She watches the Lions travel further into the woods, as Katrina questions.
"Okay, who's on Scuba Bear duty?"
"I'm fine with it," Gary says as he raises his hand.
"Ok, how about you Jemma?" The intern completely ignores the Theatre Kid before looking at the other girl on the team.
"I mean… I guess?" Jemma responds, before walking over to the robotic bear slowly.
"How about I lead you around?" The Journalist starts, "We can shoot the Tigers together?"
Scuba Bear nods before going back on its hind legs, grabbing the Journalist in one hand and carrying her away.
"AGH! What the?" That is all the girl can say before she disappears into the trees.
"Jemma!?" Bob calls out, surprised.
Lauren pokes her head out from behind the bush and aims, before shooting at the distracted team. Her shots manage to hit Bob and Gary several times, pushing them forward.
"Behind us!" Xavier yells before running over and shooting into the bush. Lauren then quickly runs off, managing to avoid the paintballs.
"They can get us already?" Bob questions.
"Yup!" Chris calls out through a loudspeaker. "As long as you don't end the challenge before either team reaches the castle, you can have at it with the other team!"
Lauren arrives back at the Tigers with a smirk. Rory looks at her and says, "Where were you?"
"Getting us an early lead," the Fangirl smirks.
"You split off from us?" Jake asks.
"Yeah."
"Well that worked out at least," Jake nods. "But still, there's six of us, we can leave in pairs at least if we're doing moves like this. I don't want the bear going after us."
"About that," Lauren says. "It just… grabbed Jemma and ran off."
"Wait, really?" Rory jumps in, "is she alright?"
"I dunno, but I trust Chris."
"Back on track," Nadia jumps in, "if we're going to attack the Lions, then we have to do it in pairs."
"Did… did you not hear what Lauren said?" Rory questions, "Jemma's been taken by a bear!"
"She'll probably be fine."
"What if she isn't!?" Susan jumps in. Rory quickly backs off from the argument, seeing who joined in.
"Then that would suck, but unfortunately, we need to do the challenge. Chris wouldn't be stupid enough to put two contestants in life-threatening situations within three challenges."
Confessional:
"She's being… really blasé about it," Rory comments, aghast.
—-
"You really could have worded that better," Susan notes, annoyed.
Confessional Ends:
Carol quickly tries to stop the brewing argument, saying, "hey Rory, Susan, do either of you wanna go check on the Lions?"
"Not really," Rory responds.
"Sure I guess," Susan adds.
"Cool!" Carol then starts to drag Susan away, much to the Brainiac's surprise.
Meanwhile, Xavier, Bob, Gary and Katrina walk around. Gary sighs before admitting, "It might be worth it to split up. I mean, we can cover more ground this way."
"The Tigers could team up and get us though," Xavier comments.
"Yeah, but we have a bear out there softening them up for us."
"Who took one of our teammates hostage while splitting up from us?"
"If Jemma was mauled Chris would cancel the challenge, let's be honest," Gary notes.
"He kept the treasure one going for a bit when I nearly drowned," Xavier deadpans, "You think he cares about someone being mauled anymore?"
"Cause the producers probably won't let him anymore," Gary responds, "They're probably pissed at him, and Chris is gonna play it safe so he can keep his job."
"You're confident on that," Katrina notes, pointing at him.
"Well maybe I'm just trying to think positively and that our teammate isn't fighting for her life against a raging robotic monster. Plus Chris said it's not gonna attack us, as much as he's an absolute ass, he's not gonna lie about something like that without immediately backpedalling."
"Y'know what, that's pretty reasonable," Bob adds, "We'll just have to hope she's fine and keep going ahead."
"Sure, whatever," Katrina rolls her eyes. Suddenly, Bob stops in his tracks, which Xavier notices.
"What's up big guy?" Xavier questions.
"It's quiet here… too quiet." He then looks around slowly, before his eyes go wide and he yells, "GET DOWN," tackling the trio as several shots hit him in the back.
"How'd you see us?" Susan asks as she and Carol walk out.
"Should have adjusted for my line of sight," Bob groans as the other three get up and aim at Carol. The Superhero dodges one shot before being hit by the other two.
"We've gotta go!" Carol yells, looking at her watch, with it turning Orange.
"Tactical retreat got it!" Susan responds with a nod.
Carol then grabs Susan's arm and starts to pull her away, however, paint manages to hit Susan on the chest, causing Carol to gasp in horror before picking her up and carrying her away bridal style. As they disappear, the Brainiac adds, "I… can run, y'know?"
"How's it going, Bob?" Xavier asks him, the giant stands up before showing his watch turned red.
"Not the best, I'm probably gonna have to play safer now."
Confessional:
"Well, gold and orange are… sort of similar?" Carol shrugs. "At least it's close to matching my colour?" She then groans, "Nope, doesn't make it better."
Confessional Ends:
"We're bunched up like sardines here," Katrina groans. "Hate to say it, but I think we might have to split up a bit."
"Thanks for the credit," Gary mutters.
"I'm not that big of a fan, what if one of us goes down?" Bob questions.
"Look we can stay in pairs if you want, I just feel like we should split up a bit more to cover more ground."
"Oh, alright," Bob responds with a note, "Xav, wanna go with me?"
"Yeah," the Method Actor responds with a nod, the pair then split off as Gary and Katrina eye each other.
"So are we going to split up? Or…" Gary questions.
"No… I said yes to the pair's idea, and I'd prefer to keep an eye on you, so you can stay with me."
"Whatever," Gary rolls his eyes before the pair jog off.
A few minutes pass of the groups walking through the trees and not attacking each other before the Tigers, Gary and Katrina run out into a clearing, seeing the castle just up ahead.
"This feels… too easy," Jake comments to the team, who generally nod in agreement.
"Right you are!" Chris yells out through a loudspeaker. "Did you really think we wouldn't use the island? At least a little?"
"Well considering you barely used it the first time," Katrina remarks.
"Okay, shut up," Chris mutters, before the ground starts to shake, and several chunks of land raise into the sky.
"You had to make it harder," Gary chastises his teammate.
"Okay, this wasn't my fault! Chris had this planned already."
"Sure, whatever," he groans before starting to climb up a platform.
"Okay," Jake comments, "let's all get on a platform before we continue upwards."
"Isn't that gonna take more time though?" Susan questions.
"Yeah, but we won't separate as much so we can't get picked off unless they're attacking the whole team."
"Okay, fair enough."
The Tigers then begin their climb and begin to close the gap between them and the duo of Lion's.
"Nice try!" Lauren yells out at the opponents. "Have fun at elimination!"
"This isn't even all there is to the challenge!" Gary calls out.
"But it'll be easier to pick you all off from in there!" The six then start to extend their lead.
"Ah screw this!" Gary rolls his eyes and sits down, resting. "Just let them through."
"Hell no we aren't!" Katrina kicks Gary in the gut. "We're getting that castle!"
"What's the point?" Gary questions, clutching his stomach and wheezing. "Look how far ahead they are, they're gonna get to the castle first."
"Yeah, especially with that defeatist attitude about you."
"Well okay, it's not like we're gonna get some way to close the gap!"
As if on cue, the leaves behind the platforms start to rustle, before suddenly Scuba Bear comes barrelling out of the trees on all fours, Jemma riding on its back. The duo then start to leap up the platforms at a fast pace as Katrina smirks at Gary.
"How was I supposed to know?"
Confessional:
"Well okay, it's not like I suddenly have a million dollars and don't have to compete on the show anymore…?" Gary questions. A few seconds pass before he says, "I said-."
Confessional Ends:
"Okay, I think I can pick off some of the Tigers if you stop for a moment," Jemma whispers to Scuba Bear. Scuba Bear does as it's told, and Jemma aims, managing to hit Lauren with one shot as several others miss the other team.
"Look, Rory, she's safe, happy?" Nadia snarks at the jock.
"Yes," the jock responds, annoyed, "as a matter of fact, I am."
"Come on guys, get them!" Jake calls out as he, Susan and Carol all aim. The two groups start to shoot at each other while Katrina and Gary quietly start to climb.
Scuba Bear blasts some paint onto Jake's face, causing him to stumble back, nearly falling off. "W-W-woah!" As Jake falls, Rory quickly turns around and ducks down, helping the leader up.
Jemma then aims her blaster before successfully shooting Susan, causing her to fall over, though she stays on the platform.
Carol aims at Scuba Bear before shooting at it. Jemma notices this, calling, "Watch out!" Before running into the line of fire, taking the shot for her teammate. Scuba Bear looks shocked at the journalist, causing her to say, "Well, we're on the same team, one teammate looks after another!"
Scuba Bear nods at her before loading the gun more and shooting a few blasts at the Tigers. It then picks Jemma up and drops her behind it. Scuba Bear's shots knock Carol over with a good amount of force, causing her to screech out, "Yowch!"
Scuba Bear then ducks under a couple of extra shots as they sail past it and fly towards Katrina and Gary. Katrina gasps and grabs Gary, holding him in front of her, forcing him to get hit by the rogue shots.
"OW!" The incensed actor complains. "What was that for?"
"I panicked, now let's keep going," Gary groans at Katrina's response but follows after her.
Confessional:
"Her 'panicking' lost me my second life!" Gary complains. "Look, if I'm out early I can look for the idol, but Lauren was right, being the first person out for the Lion's is going to paint a target on my back. So give it to Bob or someone like that! I don't need the target for that, I'm already a target enough!"
Confessional Ends:
Rory peaks above the firefight, noticing Gary and Katrina climbing upwards. He then glares and calls out, "They've got other people climbing up!"
Jake turns to the team while wiping the paint off his face and says, "Carol, Rory, you're our best physically, make a climb for the castle!"
"Got it!" Carol nods. The pair rush upwards, jumping upwards away from the fight.
The other four contestants on the Tigers quickly turn around and continue to shoot at Scuba Bear, eventually leading to Lauren landing a shot on the Bear's stomach.
"I got him!" Lauren calls out before Scuba Bear gets struck a few more times. In a panic, the bear quickly grabs Jemma and retreats downwards a few platforms.
"Okay!" Nadia calls out to the other three people there. "Let's go!"
"What she said!" Jake responds.
Carol and Rory continue to climb, considerably higher than the rest of the Tigers and closing the gap on Katrina and Gary.
Rory turns to Carol and says, "So… I've seen you uh… hanging out with Susan a bit lately?"
"You have?" Carol responds.
"Y-yeah," Rory admits sheepishly. "Did you… forgive her or something?"
"We had… a big conversation," Carol admits. "It's tough to say, but I think I'm generally alright with her again. I'd say I'm a little bit more guarded though."
"Why though?"
"Well, I was mad at the time, but I guess I just got her side and decided to give her a second chance."
"Did she manipulate you though?" Rory questions her, which causes Carol to pause for a moment, before shaking her head.
"I doubt it." The two then arrive at the top first and cheer. "We've made it up!"
"Alright!" Rory cheers, "Quick though, let's keep an eye out for the other team."
A few moments later, Katrina and Gary pull themselves up to the top, quickly going to dash ahead. However, Rory strolls over and aims his paintball gun at them. "Going somewhere?"
"You're doing this as a two-to-one fight?" Katrina notes. "You're brave." A shot then splats in front of Katrina, causing her to step back before looking upwards. Carol waves at her from on top of the castle, a fake smile on the superhero's face.
"Hi! That was a warning shot!" Katrina then leans in and whispers to Gary.
"Normally I'd say we could take them, but since they have the vantage point makes it feel a bit harder."
"Fall back?" Gary responds. Even as Katrina starts to nod, Gary has already run off, jumping onto a platform below. He then pops his head out and calls out, "Hey, I'm down to one life! Don't mind me!"
Katrina shakes her head before walking off, saying, "Okay, okay, I'm out of here." Before jumping off.
Down below, Bob and Xavier make it out of the woods, seeing the platforms they have to climb up.
"I've got a… dumb idea," Bob comments, turning to his friend.
"What is it?"
The scene cuts to Xavier flying through the air and landing on the ground a few platforms up. He looks down and does a thumbs up to Bob, "not what I expected, but still, got the job done." Bob smiles at him, putting his arm down from the throw.
Confessional:
"I said it was dumb," Bob rationalises.
Confessional Ends:
Jake manages to pull Susan up onto the platform before helping Lauren to pull up Nadia. The four remaining Tigers then rush into the castle before Carol and Rory pull up the drawbridge.
"And the Electric Tigers are on protecting duty!" Chris' voice rings out over the loudspeaker. "Frozen Lions, you're on the attack!"
"Good job!" Jake smiles at the duo. "Okay, we'll need people protecting on the inside, on the top, and outside.
"I'll take the walls!" Lauren smiles. "Trust me! I've got an idea!"
"Really?" Lauren then opens her bag, revealing a bunch of paint explosives inside.
"Oh yeah… really."
"They'll blow the castle over!" Nadia yells out.
"Then they'll have to look through the rubble, and it'll probably be buried under a lot of it, letting us pick 'em off."
"Look, it can't hurt doing it," Jake shrugs. "It'll probably scare 'em off the walls at least. Then we can focus on other parts."
Nadia looks around, before sighing. "Alright."
"Cool," Lauren smirks. "Let's do this then!" She then runs off.
Down on the platforms, Jemma and Scuba Bear look around. Scuba Bear turns around to its teammate before kneeling down and looking at her. Strangely, its face seems to be concerned.
"Uhh… you alright?" Jemma asks Scuba Bear, who pauses before nodding and then picking Jemma up. "W-what the?"
Confessional:
"I'm still not used to it picking me up," Jemma admits. "Seriously, it's weird."
Confessional Ends:
A few minutes pass before Xavier and Bob successfully reach the top of the platforms. The two quickly hide behind a tree.
"How're we going to get there?" Bob questions.
Xavier shrugs, "No idea, maybe we should lead some away?"
"That'll just get eyes on us though, I'm fine being a human shield or something for my last life, but you've got all three of your lives still, do you want to risk losing them?"
"What do you think then?"
"Have you ever gone rock climbing?" Bob turns to Xavier, pointing at the wall of the castle.
"Nope? Never tried it in all honesty. Anyways, are we gonna risk it?"
"Yeah. We'll improvise on the rock climbing then, you go first, and I'll push you up."
"Is that how it works?"
"Not really, but we don't have any rock climbing gear, so again, improvising!" Bob puts his hands up at the last word, emphasizing it.
"Alright, I trust you," Xavier nods. "Let's do it." Bob then begins to push the Method Actor up the wall. Xavier then starts to grab the rocks.
"Yeah, it's not exactly like it, but grab any gaps or holes you can find," Bob explains.
"Alright." The two then start to climb up, before Lauren walks over to them.
"Fancy seeing a pair of Lions here."
"Eh," Xavier comments. "Just here to take out some Tigers, prove we're the king of the jungle."
"Geez, attacking a poor, endangered species."
"You'll still have five members of your species." Bob smirks, "you can live."
"I sure hope we can. Not quite sure about you though." Lauren responds.
"So…" Bob begins. "You're not taking a shot at us?"
"Nah, more fun when you realise what you've been putting your hands on."
"What?" Bob questions but Xavier simply notes.
"They're… ticking." The duo look to see they've been climbing up paint bombs. Bob's eyes go wide, but he quickly says.
"We just need to get up fast then. Get up there, and do what we need to do, win the challenge."
"That's the thing," Lauren adds with a smirk, "There's one thing you don't want to do that you're currently doing now."
"And what would that be?" Bob questions.
"Don't fuck with the fangirl!" she yells as she reveals and presses two detonators… Which don't go off when she presses them. "W-what?" Lauren questions, pressing the buttons several more times.
"Was that supposed to scare us?" Xavier questions, continuing to be pushed up by Bob before Lauren starts to sweat.
"Well uh…" She then hears a pop, signifying the fuse being lit, "Oh, there we are," She smiles. "Now where was I? Oh yeah! Don't fuck with the fa-."
BOOM!
The paint explosion goes off mid-sentence, sending not only Bob and Xavier, but herself as well, off the wall, and covering them in green paint. Surprisingly, after rumbling a little, the castle actually stays up, though the wall they were climbing appears to be completely covered in green paint.
"That… Didn't go how I thought it would," Lauren admits, still laying down. Looking at her watch, it turns red.
Bob sits up, sighing as his watch changes from red to no colour. A tube then pops out from the ground, attempting to suck Bob up, with him calling out, "What the-?" Unfortunately for him, he becomes stuck in the tube. "Seriously?" The giant questions, angrily.
"And we have our first out of the challenge!" Chris yells. "The Tigers are now leading, six to five!"
Lauren sits up, laughing, "I did it!" Before cheering. This is stopped as Xavier quickly scrambles to his feet, picks up his blaster and shoots paint at Lauren. This causes Lauren's watch to go completely off. "I… walked into that one, didn't I?"
"Scratch that, five to five," Chris yells out over the loudspeaker as another tube of air pulls Lauren in, far more successfully.
Xavier quickly stands up, saying, "Sorry you had to lose early, Bob."
"No worries. I can't do well in every challenge. Just make sure to do well and it'll be all good." He then groans as he says in an annoyed tone, "Okay, seriously… just suck me up already!"
Another larger tube then bursts out of the ground and successfully sucks Bob in, leaving Xavier alone. The Method Actor then quickly runs over and leaps into the bushes, escaping.
The scene then cuts back to Chris sitting at the entrance to the forest as two tubes come by and drop Bob and Lauren off at some bleachers.
Lauren starts to wring paint out of her hair, noting, "Oh great, this stuff is gonna stick in there for weeks."
"At least you have the spa hotel showers," Bob comments back, annoyed.
The scene conveniently cuts to Morgan, annoyed. "Yeah, I'm not doing the showers."
Confessional:
"I want to see those votes," Morgan admits. "So I just need to use my frankly massive brain to get my way into where Chris keeps them!"
Confessional Ends:
"Hey, Norville!" Morgan quickly runs over to another intern. Said intern quickly turns around with a frown, though his expression is partially covered by the fringe he's got over his eyes.
"What is it?"
"You wanna trade shifts? I'll do Chris' tent if you do the spa hotel kitchen and showers."
Norville pauses, seeming to think about Morgan's request. "What do you want out of me?"
"Nothing, I just feel like changing it up this time!" The other intern pauses, before staring his colleague up and down.
"Eh, sure. I'm sick of dealing with Chris' stuff anyways."
"Cool!" Morgan smiles before it becomes more devious. "You're a lifesaver."
"A lifesaver?" Norville questions.
"Oh, I uh… left something in Chris' cabin."
"I'm the only one that does Chris' quarters."
"Yeah," Morgan rolls his eyes, "but I also have to tell Chris about the stuff I do to mess up the losers on the Tigers and all that, so yeah…."
"Whatever, I don't care." Norville shrugs. "Just, do it."
Morgan nods with a smile but as the other intern walks away, the Perfect Guy stares for a few seconds before walking away, sighing with relief.
"Idiot." He simply chuckles, walking off to fulfil the next part of his plan.
Elsewhere, Carol stands outside the castle, twiddling her thumbs awkwardly before pacing. "So… nobody around, nothing to do…."
"Hey! What are you doing?" She hears another voice call out, causing her to jump up in surprise.
"Oh shoot, crime in progress!" She calls out, running away towards the noise. Carol slides onto the scene, aiming the gun with one hand while posing with the other, "Don't worry! The Golden Swan is-." The superhero then trips over.
"Probably hurt," Nadia notes. "You alright Carol?" Susan next runs over and helps her up.
"Thanks," Carol smiles, "I'm fine, but… I heard fighting, was someone shooting at you?"
"What?" Susan questions, "No? I was just minding my own business when Nadia came over and started chastising me."
"You weren't paying attention!" Nadia defends herself, "Look, we've lost a couple of challenges in a row, we need to be paying attention for us to win, I don't want us to be tied with the Lions in players."
"I looked down for like, one second," Susan responds.
"That one second is all that they need to shoot us."
Carol closes her eyes, trying to block out the argument, "Okay, Owlman #489… time for a mental read," she whispers.
"Carol, come on, she's being unreasonable, right?" Susan turns to the superhero.
"Carol, she was probably just about to be lazy," Nadia then responds.
The Comic Fan's eyes shoot open as she says, "Guys, can we just leave the fighting for AFTER the challenge?" She then angrily says, "I mean, this is distracting us as much as looking down is. And the Lions are gonna be able to hear us anyways." Both other girls pause.
"That's… a good point," Nadia admits. "Okay, sorry about that."
"No worries." Susan nods.
Confessional:
"All the worries actually," Susan admits. "I'm still playing it safe with Lauren's idol, and honestly, as much as it'll hurt Jake, Nadia is probably my next best target on the team, especially with how she's been treating me."
Confessional Ends:
"Good, now that that's dealt with…" a paintball then comes flying out, hitting Carol, as an onslaught of more fly out, with some more hitting the hero.
"Carol?" Both other girls call out surprised before they look up and aim at the two figures, who simply run back into the woods.
"Good job Scuba Bear!" The voice of Jemma rings out as the figures get out of sight.
"Aww man, this sucks," Carol sighs before a tube appears and pulls her in.
Carol lands between the pair of contestants currently out, seeing who it is and questioning, "Bob? You're out?"
"Turns out your teammate there knows how to use explosives. Anyways, I'm a bit of a big target."
"Ah well." Carol looks away, slightly blushing as Bob gives her a small smile.
"Why are you disappointed?" Lauren questions suddenly, breaking Carol out of her stupor.
"Wait, no, I'm not disappointed," Carol responds quickly, "I-I mean, uh, I, uh."
"Don't worry, I'm joking."
"Oh, alright."
Carol then sits down with a frown as Lauren jokingly says, "Gee I didn't think my joke was that bad."
"Oh, sorry, I'm just thinking about something."
"You can tell me if you want, I'm always free to hear."
"I just want to do it mentally." Lauren then quiets at Carol's response but smirks.
Confessional:
"And so, time for a few more seeds."
Confessional Ends:
"You know Carol," Lauren begins with a smile. "If I'm overstepping my boundaries, then let me know, but people don't give you enough credit, it feels like you're carrying the team on your back sometimes."
"Oh come on, I'm not that good," Carol chuckles.
"I mean, with how aggressive people on the team are, it's like you're the only one keeping together when we all fight."
"I mean, if I can stop a potential criminal case, I consider that a win."
"Exactly! Love it or hate it, I think you're the popular kid right now on the team. I mean, nobody hates you," Carol's eyes go wide.
"The popular…?" Carol begins, "Woah, Woah, Woah, no, I'm… I'm not the popular kid, right?"
"Well, let's see, I like you, Susan likes you, Jake likes you, Rory likes you enough and Nadia tolerates you. Seems pretty popular to me, at least on the Tigers."
Carol pauses, blinking a few times, "W-wow…."
Confessional:
"So I've said this before, but I'm like… solidly in the bottom three popularity-wise at home." Carol admits, "If this is what it's like being popular," she smiles. "I kinda like it!"
"That's actually true," Lauren admits, "She's more popular than she thinks she is… which is why I need her on my side for at least a little bit."
Confessionals End:
"I'd say the only people that don't like you are on the Lions, and that isn't even all of them, plus we outnumber them anyways."
"Why are you telling me this?" Carol raises an eyebrow.
"Well, with popularity, comes people wanting to use that popularity for their own gain, and since the game's getting harder, I'm just warning you that people like Susan could be potentially trying to play you like a fiddle."
"I'll uh… keep that in mind," Carol nods.
"Anyways, it's just a little sage advice that you don't have to think about if you don't want to."
Confessional:
"Is it risky telling her that?" Lauren questions, "Yeah, but it's a risk with rewards attached if it's successful."
—-
"I'm not gonna say anything about it yet," Bob sighs. "But, call me paranoid, but that conversation felt… off."
Confessional Ends:
"Hey, can we talk for a minute?" Bob starts, tapping Carol on the shoulder. "Alone?"
"I'm alright with it," Carol says, "Chris? Can we go for a bit?"
"As long as you don't rejoin the challenge, sure." Chris shrugs.
"I'm gonna walk around too then," Lauren quickly says before running off.
"Sure, whatever," Chris looks away, uncaring.
Confessional:
"The best thing about being out early is that I can look for that immunity idol for longer without getting people annoyed at me." The Fangirl then chuckles. "While I didn't last in the challenge as long as I wanted to, this works too."
Confessional Ends:
Back at the challenge, Nadia and Jake walk along above, chatting. "So Carol and I had a chat and well… I got to see another side of her and she isn't… as annoying as I've thought she was." Nadia admits.
"Baby steps," Jake smirks back.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"Try not to get too friendly with people," Jake warns her before his face turns into a smile. "You might stop making snarky comments at their expense."
"You seem to be managing fine to me," Nadia responds. "Anyways, we've got a challenge to win, go off and find some of the Lion's."
"Yes, Ma'am." Jake salutes before jogging off.
From down on a platform below, Gary and Katrina watch the situation.
"Only one of them there now. Let's ambush her." Gary comments, holding his gun up.
"No, we need to keep a low profile. It's better to do so." Katrina explains.
"Why?"
"Cause it'll keep us safer for further in the game."
"Or they'll just notice us and take us out."
"Perhaps," Katrina pauses before she smirks, "Hey Gary?"
"What?"
"If you want to go up there so bad, then how about you take one for the team?"
"Wait, what?" Before the actor can say anything, the Intern throws him upwards onto the higher ground. Looking up, he sees Nadia looking at him disdainfully.
"Hey, Gary…" The Hot-Blooded spits.
"Uh… uncle?" Gary meekly sputters out.
The scene then cuts to Gary sitting on the loser's bench, wringing paint out of his hair, saying, "am I seriously the first one out?"
"Nope!" Chris smirks, "You outlasted three people, actually!"
"Where the heck are they then?"
"Bob and Carol went that way, Lauren went over there," the host doesn't seem to care that much, but Gary quickly stands up and follows after the fangirl.
Back in the challenge, Katrina pops her head up with a gun and shoots Nadia's legs, causing her to drop to the ground, "Gotcha," she whispers with a smirk.
Confessional:
"Now that Gary's gone, my strategy is simple," Katrina begins. "Let everyone else tire themselves out, take the occasional pot-shot and then swoop in and win the challenge for the team." She leans back before explaining more. "We've got Scuba Bear, it alone should mess up the Tigers. I'll come in later when only like, one or two are left while I have a few lives left, brute force my way into winning, and then boom, the challenge has been won, by the Frozen Lions, and more importantly, me."
Confessional Ends:
"I've been hit!" Nadia yells. Jake runs over.
"How many lives do you have left?" The leader asks.
"I'm good so far, I've still got two, but still, I kinda wanted a perfect run."
"Where'd you get shot from?"
"Over that way."
"Craaaaap," Katrina mutters, before going over to the next platform over. She makes it over just before Jake looks down. Unfortunately for her, Jake sees her in his peripheral vision.
"Found her," Jake says before shooting at Katrina. After dodging some shots, Katrina gets hit by a few of them before managing to scurry away onto a lower platform.
"She got away, but I got her once."
"My hero," Nadia jokingly says.
"Alright, let's keep going," Jake helps her up.
Over at Base Camp, Morgan looks around quickly, before walking into Chris' quarters with a feather duster and garbage bag in his hand. He glares ahead as he starts to clean a shelf.
"Okay… if I was Chris, where would I put the tapes…?" He whispers to himself.
Looking around, he sees a draw labelled, 'Not for Interns, don't look!'
"Cause that isn't suspicious at all," the perfect guy bluntly comments before opening it up and seeing a pile of VHS tapes inside.
"This was… way easier than I expected." He notes before looking through the tapes. Eventually, he grabs a tape labelled, 'Episode 9 voting confessionals', before smirking. He then looks around before putting it in the trash bag and closing the drawer, before walking around, and starting his actual cleaning.
Confessional:
"Well, my side of the job is done. Don't worry Myron, I'm getting revenge for you." Morgan sighs, "I wonder how that intern girl's doing?"
Confessionals End:
Katrina slows down her running, before quickly moving to a sitting position and sighing with relief. "Okay… gonna have to stop doing the potshots I guess." She admits with a sigh. Looking around, she sits down, tapping her fingers before commenting. "Well, it's boring, but hopefully effective."
Jemma currently sits on Scuba Bear's shoulder, looking around, "Nothing else here?" The bear nods before the Journalist says, "anyways, wanna talk about anything?" Scuba Bear doesn't respond, simply tilting its head. "Well okay, you're a bear, you can't talk, but in my defence, you're robotic, what's to say Chris didn't put a voice chip in you or something?"
"You can talk to me if you want?" Both react surprised before seeing Xavier waving at them. "I'm trying to find a way in," he admits. "Or at least some way to get a few of them out."
"And I'm guessing you want our help?" The Journalist adds.
"Bingo."
"I mean, if we can help, we'll try, right, Scuba Bear?" The Bear pauses, before nodding. The three then go into the bushes to hide.
The trio watch on, before Jemma questions, "how are we gonna get in?" Scuba Bear shrugs.
"I have an idea…" Xavier whispers before pointing at the trees. "We'll also be able to get someone out easier."
"And how are we gonna do that?" The Journalist asks.
"You and Scuba Bear go in the trees, leave the hard part to me."
The scene changes to Susan leaning against the wall of the castle, before she hears a rustling in the bush. "Who's that?" She asks, before seeing Xavier walking out.
"Tell me why!" The Method Actor sings before he spots Susan, causing him to quickly turn around and run off.
Confessional:
"This is obviously a trap," Susan rolls her eyes, "So I needed backup…"
Confessional Ends:
Susan looks around before turning a corner and walking over to her closest teammate, Rory. "Oh uh… hello," Rory awkwardly comments.
"I saw the actor guy running in the woods," Susan quickly says.
"Gary?"
"No, the other one."
"Oh, Xavier."
"Yeah. He's run into the woods, probably a trap so I could use another person to help me out, want in?" Rory rolls his eyes.
"Sure," the two then jog off, following their prey.
Xavier pauses, smirking, before calling out, "Ain't nothing but a heartache!"
"Now," Xavier whispers, diving into a bush, before calling out, "Tell me why!"
Susan runs ahead before she bumps into something fuzzy. Susan looks up to see Scuba Bear leering down at her with a growl.
"Grab her!" Jemma calls out before getting out of the bush. Scuba Bear grabs the Brainiac with one hand, aiming at her with the other.
"Ain't nothing but a mistake," Xavier finishes his singing session with a smirk. "You know I heard you right? You knew this was a trap?"
"It's pretty freaking obvious," Susan grunts as she drops her gun. Scuba Bear kicks it away.
"Well anyways, where's your teammate?"
"Right here!" Rory yells before running in, aiming his gun at Xavier, "Get Scuba Bear to drop her and you won't be shot."
"Funny thing," Jemma notes, walking out from behind Scuba Bear and aiming her weapon at Rory, "You're not in any place to bargain here." She then looks over at Xavier and says, "Is that quippy enough?"
"Yeah, it works," Xavier nods at her.
"Looks like it's a stand-off," Rory notes, "well maybe if we just let go of and stop aiming at each other and slowly walk away, things won't end up dirty?"
"Nice try bud," Xavier jokes, before saying to Jemma, "Don't let up, I have two lives left, I can take a shot." He then turns around and sees the watch Susan is wearing. "By the looks of things, your buddy here only has one life left. This really is nothing personal, but basically, walk away, and we'll take her out of the challenge, but you can keep going, don't, and you'll be losing a life too…."
"And what if I refuse?" Rory questions.
"I… just told you… you lose a life too."
"It's smarter to go," Susan calls out, struggling and failing to get out of the bear's grip "do a tactical retreat, I'm not cut out for this challenge anyways, I'm expendable here."
"Ooh wait! I have another joke!" Xavier calls out happily, "How's that for a bear hug!?"
"Seriously?" Jemma questions her teammate, distracted. "Chill with the jokes, you're sounding like Gary here."
"Sorry, sorry," Xavier puts his hands up. Rory takes this opportunity to shoot Jemma, who stumbles back, gasping.
"Thanks for the joke," Rory comments sarcastically, "I needed it."
Scuba Bear throws Susan to the ground before it shoots wildly at Rory, who gets pushed over onto his back from the force of the blasts. The Bear then picks up Jemma before looking with a worried expression. He then carries the contestant away.
"Hey, hang on a sec!" Jemma fruitlessly calls out.
Xavier blinks before noticing Susan crawling to her blaster. "No, you don't!" He yells, shooting the genius quickly. He then walks to Rory and says. "I didn't actually expect a quip like that, we need to banter more."
Confessional:
Jemma is joined by Scuba Bear, who is aiming a blaster at the confessional door. "Well, that could have gone better…" Jemma begins, before her eyes go wide in realisation, "Wait, did we just take a hostage? Wow, that… that's pretty far actually, holy crap."
Susan sits in the confessional, panting before she finally wheezes out, "That grip was strong… wow."
Confessional Ends:
Xavier then looks around quickly before he runs away. Rory gets to his feet and looks at his watch, turning orange. He helps Susan up, who says, "Alright, I'll wait with the others."
A pipe then appears and sucks her in, with both currently there yelling out in surprise.
Susan lands next to Chris, exasperatedly saying. "What's with me not being allowed to walk today?" She then looks around and sees the empty area, saying, "I'm not first, I know for a fact Carol's out too."
"Yeah, you're elimination number five," Chris says, "the other four decided to ditch watching."
"Well I have nothing better to do," Susan shrugs. "I may as well watch."
"Yeah, you may as well," Chris glares, before his face goes back to a smirk and he stares at the camera. "It's currently 4-3 in the challenge! But who's gonna win it? Will the Lions push their advantage, or will the Tigers get a come-from-behind victory? Find out, after the break!" The camera then fades.
Electric Tigers: Carol, Jake, Lauren, Nadia, Rory, Susan
Frozen Lions: Bob, Gary, Jemma, Katrina, Scuba Bear, Xavier
So… this is a two-parter. If chapters go on way longer than I want and I can't cut anything, then I'll probably do this. Also, while I have this episode fully done by the time this is getting posted, I am gonna hold off on the release of part 2 for a couple of days. I realised that if I post a couple of chapters at once, one of them gets mostly ignored, so I'll try to do that to curb it, and build up suspense for the elimination and stuff.
Anyways, fun fact! Originally all the blasters in this challenge were going to be unique and different with all kinds of different types. Eventually, I realised this would be a nightmare to write for and had to cut it, so unfortunately you don't get the different unique weapons.
In other news, we now not only have the designs, but also the names for the new season's cast! And out of all of them, Scary Girl better make it far lmao. She's easily my fave, but I also like the designs for Axel, MK and Zee specifically.
Also uh… incredibly minor detail, but I slightly edited the intro. In Jemma and Bob's scene, the regular bear got replaced by Scuba Bear. I know it's a really small thing, but I thought I'd bring it up anyways cause someone's gonna notice it if I don't bring it up. I'll probably edit the previous episodes to change it to Scuba Bear at some point. Might not, who knows?
Anyways, I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not at least a little nervous about posting this now, but I do think it's good to post at this point. Hopefully I'm not proven wrong lol.
1st – 11th: ? (Find out 11th in part 2)
12th: Myron (The Ungifted Nerd)
13th: Tegan (The Complainer)
14th: Morgan (The Perfect Guy) (Though he isn't off the islands)
15th: Megan (The Quiet Band Girl)
16th: Hannah (The Jerky Contrarian)
17th: Richard (The Incredible Bore)
18th: Alfred (The Influential Rich Kid)