Chapter 27: A Mine Is A Terrible thing To Waste
Reviews:
Perfectlove990: Thanks. I wasn't sure how I could incorporate the mountain climbing part with so many campers. It worked with only 11, but 29 is too many. Beth made a risky move for sure, but it's not inconceivable that it could be a big reward. I admit I rushed Harold's elimination, but I didn't really know how to make it more telegraphed while at the same time taking the immunity idol out of play, especially since Team Chris Is Really(x4) Mean winning was a last-minute change of plans. And the idol being played will be important soon. I liked the sponsorship running gag as well.
Gucci Mane LaFlare: Thanks. Yes, I realize Sugar is usually the load, but I do think she has a skills set, just not a traditional one.
QueenAzulaThinksYourWorthless: I just didn't have anything left for Harold to do. Sugar does have a skills set, just an unusual one. As for Lindsay, she does have some secret skills, but Scott can hardly be blamed for discounting them as very few of them have come into play so far. Thanks.
OniKamiUltraInstinct2020: Yeah, too bad for him. Owen may give off the initial impression of a moron, but every so often, he surprises you. And the campers at the Campfire Ceremony were very, very surprised.
DSX62415: Well, it wasn't like he could do much of anything else. After all, Owen and Lightning helped him find it. Yes, this is that part of the game.
Knifez: I love Harold, but I just couldn't think of anything to do with him. And I'll try to update as often as I can, but like I said, the best of my update schedule is behind me.
TDFan: Yes, but for whom? That is the question.
HashtagJustMonika: Thanks. I needed this break.
LvD: Thanks.
TDFan: Thanks.
AndrewNotCarranza: Eh, you haven't reached the point of me needing to complain about your update schedule yet; give it maybe six months. Thanks.
Guest: Yeah, I knew what the expectation is for OCs in stories like this, so I intentionally made Aiden as unsympathetic as I could. Payoff.
Teams:
Team Chris Is Really Really Really Really Mean: B, Beth, Brick, Courtney, Dave, Heather, Jasmine, Katie, Lindsay, Sammy, Scarlett, Scott, Topher, Tyler
Team Survivor: Alejandro, Bridgette, Cameron, Dawn, Duncan, Geoff, Leshawna, Lightning, Noah, Owen, Shawn, Sky, Sugar, Zoey
The episode began with a montage of members of Team Chris Is Really^4 Mean searching for the two remaining immunity idols, with no luck. Despite searching various locations across the island, none of them were able to find either of the two immunity idols.
Confessional: Jasmine
"Blimey, these things are near impossible to find. How the [bleep] did Owen find one?"
End confessional
While the teens were at breakfast, Chris barged into the Mess Hall. "Challenge time, campers! Follow me!"
Chris led them to the mine entrance in the mountain in the center of the island. "Hey, I been here!" Lightning said. "I didn't go in there, 'cause it was so sha-dark, you can't see nothin'." Upon hearing that, Brick visibly cringed.
"Well, you'll be going in there today," Chris said, to the horror of both Brick and Jasmine. "You'll be looking for this statue of me." He held up a picture of a silver full-body statue of himself. "It's not real silver, obviously. Find it, and your team wins."
"Originally, the challenge was supposed to involve bringing it back as well, but I talked him out of it. It's a maze down there, and we're probably going to have to send interns to lead you all to the exits," Intern Charlie said, appearing in the entrance of the cave, wearing night vision goggles.
"Wait, what were you doing in there?" Chris asked.
"I just finished hiding the statue, as you requested," Charlie told him. "I had to find a good place for it. Should be at least a few hours before someone finds it."
"Good. I knew I hired you for a reason. Seriously, the rest of the interns on this show aren't worth the chump change I pay them," Chris complained. "I asked for a mojito, and one of them gave me a margarita."
"Well, I wouldn't know anything about that," Charlie began, before Topher cut him off. "Excuse me, but...getting sidetracked?"
"Relax, we'll just edit it out in post-production," Chris told him. "But anyway, Lightning brought up a good point. You'll need light if you want to find anything in that mine. So, for Team I Am Wicked Awesome, you get Larry DeLite's LED Flashlights!"
He held up a flashlight and faced the camera, which zoomed in on him. "Shines brighter, and lasts longer, than the competition. And they even glow in the dark." He then turned back to the campers, and the camera zoomed out. "Yours to take home after the challenge.
"As for you, Team Survivor, you get the interns' flashlights. Fresh 8-hour batteries, just to make sure I don't get sued, but not as bright. And these ones, I'm going to want back after the challenge. We good? Good. Let's go!"
The scene cut forward to the twenty-eight campers trekking down the mineshaft. Jasmine was visibly on the verge of a panic attack. "We could be buried alive in here!" she whispered sharply.
"Doubtful," Cameron told her. "While the supports down here are old, they're actually very well-built. Obviously, whoever originally built this mine cared quite a bit about safety standards."
"So...not Chris," Topher inferred.
"Probably not."
"Hey, guys," said Owen, who everyone had pretty much universally agreed would go down first (given that he was the second-heaviest camper of the bunch, and was less sure-footed than the #1 or #3). "Look, the tunnel opens up."
Which was true. The tunnel led to a wide circular area, with multiple tunnels branching off.
"So...we just pick one?" asked Beth. B just shrugged in response.
"I don't like this place," Shawn said. "Dark, only one visible exit, no real defenses to speak of, and no emergency supplies. If the zombies attack while we're down here, we're as good as dead." He walked towards the second tunnel from the right. "I'm going this way. Hopefully one of us finds that statue quick."
And with that, the teens started to move in random directions.
The camera cut forward to one of the tunnels, which contained Noah, B, and Dawn. As they walked, Dawn looked at B. "What is it that you want to talk to me about?"
B looked at Noah suspiciously. Noah just shrugged. "Don't mind me. I cannot overstate just how much I do not care." With that, he walked a bit ahead.
B took out his text-to-speech device. "I'm worried about the divide that has formed on my team. Scott and Courtney seem to really hate Scarlett, and the feeling is mutual, and they've roped everyone else into their feud. I'm questioning whether throwing in my lot with the two of them was really a good idea."
Dawn thought for a moment. "I'll be honest with you, this is a pretty bad situation. Courtney is ambitious to a fault due to the pressure that her family has put on her for her whole life, and Scott thinks he's smarter than everyone around him because of how much of his life he's spent with that being the case. But Scarlett..." She shivered slightly. "I've never seen so much hatred in one person before, and I can't even find a reason for it in her aura."
B cringed. But before he could reply, he heard Noah's voice. "Hey, look at this."
Noah was shining his flashlight on a carved-out section of the tunnel wall. Obviously, something had been dug out of the wall, but that's not what had caught his interest. "Fresh dynamite. Fresher than anything else down here."
"Maybe Chris is storing it here for a challenge later?" Dawn surmised.
B bent down to examine the crate. "It's not wired or anything, so that's probably it. Still, odd place to store it."
Confessional: Chris
"Oh, just you wait for next challenge. You'll love what we'll be doing with that."
End confessional
Meanwhile, Dave, Lindsay, Tyler, Leshawna, and Cameron were exploring another tunnel. As they did so, Tyler and Lindsay were making out as vigorously as they could while walking. Dave glared at them for a few seconds.
Confessional: Dave
"How did I get roped into watching these two? I'd leave them behind, but I don't trust them to keep it in their pants."
End confessional
Leshawna looked at them out of the corner of her eye. "How do they breathe like that?"
Dave shrugged. "I don't know. I just wish they would stop. Freaks."
As they walked, the group ran into a fork in their path. Tyler and Lindsay went to take the left path, only to be stopped by Dave. "Not so fast. I'm not letting the two of you go off on your own. Tyler, you're taking the left path. Lindsay, you and I will take the right one."
"Why do I have to go on my own?" Tyler whined. Dave responded, "Because you strike me as being slightly smarter than her."
The scene shifted to another tunnel, where Owen and Sugar were exploring. Sugar was watching Owen intently, while Owen was oblivious.
Confessional: Sugar
"I was gonna take out Bridgette first. Her nicey-nice girl act ain't foolin' me. But she can wait. Owen's happy-go-lucky act is convincin' e-nuff that it fooled me at first, and he found one a' them immu-nity idols. He's too dangerous to leave alone."
End confessional
The episode continued in a time-lapse, with the small groups of players that had gone together into tunnels separating as the tunnels themselves branched off.
Eventually, the tunnels began to connect to each other. In one of those tunnels, Dave ran into Scarlett. "Oh, it's you," he said. "I have to ask, how do you put up with those two morons?"
"They're abysmally stupid, but they know their place," Scarlett answered. "Even so, listening to them is a chore, and Lindsay frequently insists on painting my nails, or giving me a makeover, or something else pointless. I have to keep in mind that it will all be worth it in the end."
Dave sighed. "Well, it could be worse. Could be on the other team. With Sugar. I had to put up with her for weeks, but now I'm finally free."
"She was rather irksome in the brief time she was on my team," Scarlett agreed.
Cameron was walking through a tunnel when he saw something reflect the light from his flashlight. "Could it be...?" he mused, and ran over to it. However, upon running over to it, he realized that it was not, in fact, the Chris statue. Rather, it was a metal spike that had been driven into the cave wall that somehow hadn't completely rusted yet.
Suddenly, the ground collapsed beneath Cameron. Reacting quickly, he managed to catch the ground before he completely fell into the new hole, and managed to climb his way out.
Confessional: Cameron
"No way I could have done that back at the start of the season. I guess I really have gotten stronger."
End confessional
After he had climbed his way out of the hole, Cameron smelled something gross. "Flatulence. At a guess, I'd say Owen." He followed the stink back to its source, only to find not Owen, but Sugar holding what appeared to be a diamond.
"Aw yeah, Sugar's goin' to college!" Sugar said to herself. "I don't even need ta win now! I can just go to that fancy-schmancy resort for the rest of the game!"
"That's not a diamond," Cameron said, looking over her shoulder. "The formation of a diamond here would be geologically impossible."
Sugar jumped slightly at Cameron's voice, but then relaxed when she saw who it was. "How do you know? I reckon you're just tryin' to trick me so that you can have the diamond for yerself!" she accused.
Cameron saw a half-rusted chisel on the ground and handed it to her. "Diamonds can't be scratched by metal. Try scratching it with this."
Sugar eyed him suspiciously. "How do I know that's true?"
Cameron gave her a look that showed he thought very little of her intelligence, but he finally said, "Well, why do you think diamonds are so expensive? They have to charge money for them because cutting them to be small enough to be used in jewelry requires special tools and is very hard."
Sugar thought about it for a little while, then said, "I thought it was just 'cause they're purty."
"No, it's because diamond jewelry is so difficult to make," Cameron told her. "Plenty of things are pretty that aren't as expensive as diamonds. For example, quartz is much easier to work with, and despite being pretty, only rare varieties of it are valuable."
Sugar thought a bit more, then scratched her gem with the chisel. After dusting off the rust that came off, she was disheartened to see a scratch on the gem. "Oh, boo."
"Yeah, it's just cubic zirconia," Cameron told her. "You might still be able to get a few thousand dollars for it, but it won't pay your college tuition."
Elsewhere in the tunnels, Topher was searching. As he searched, he narrated to himself. "And the handsome future host of Total Drama continues to search the dark tunnels." He then looked at the wall, and saw the lower half of a body stuck inside one of the shafts to the surface that had been used for ventilation.
"I'll help you!" Topher shouted and pulled Shawn out of the shaft. Shawn screamed, but then calmed down when he saw that it was just Topher.
"I thought you were a zombie," he said. "I guess I can't fit through those. Guess I'll have to fight them if they show up."
"Sure," Topher said. "Don't you think you've played the zombie thing out a bit? I'm just worried that you might be considered one-note and annoying."
"Well, sorry for looking out for my safety! I just don't want to die, that's it."
"Well, given some of the things our host has made us do, that may actually be a legitimate concern on this show," Topher admitted.
"Yeah, Chris sucks," Shawn said. "Why do you keep poking at him? Seems like you could incur his wrath like that."
"I'd count it as a victory," Topher told him. "You know, my father was actually considered to potentially be the host of this show. He got turned down in favor of Chris because Chris was a bigger name in the industry. But, if Chris were to wrongfully eliminate me, and I were to sue and get him dismissed, then Dad could get his job, and I could be his assistant. And then, when dear old Dad decides to move on to new projects, well then, he has a perfectly good son with a few years of experience with the show, both as assistant host and as a contestant."
"The logical choice for host."
"Of course."
"Smart."
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Shawn asked Topher, "Wanna see something cool?"
"Sure."
Shawn reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a large tooth. "It's a dinosaur tooth. I got it from Boney Island."
"You did what?" Topher panicked. "But what about the curse?"
"Relax, I doused it in holy water," Shawn told him. "I even tested the water on a real-life vampire. It's the real thing."
Topher just looked at him. "I think we should split up again. After all, we're on different teams. We can't both find the statue."
Confessional: Topher
"Someday, I'm going to get the full story behind the vampire on Boney Island. But right now I don't want to hear it."
End confessional
In yet another part of the mine, Zoey and Beth ran into each other. "Oh...hi," Beth said awkwardly.
"Hi," Zoey awkwardly replied. "You got to this tunnel first?"
"Yeah, but don't bother searching inside," Beth said. "It's a dead end."
Suddenly, the light from Beth's flashlight reflected off of something mostly hidden in the cave wall. The two girls scrambled and fought to pull it out of the wall...only for dust to start falling from the ceiling. Zoey saw it and tackled Beth out of the way just in time, but the exit was blocked by falling rocks.
Beth gingerly approached the pile of rocks and pulled a mostly rusted metal pole out. "I think we pulled out a structural support beam."
Zoey began to panic, but Beth calmed her down. "See, there are still a few cameras here. They know where we are. They won't leave us down here."
Confessional: Chris
"Won't I?"
...
"No, I won't. But it looks like those two won't be much help for their teams in the challenge now."
End confessional
Dawn slowly walked through a tunnel. "This would be much easier if Charlie left more of a trail." She got down on her hands and knees and peered closely at one of the rocks in front of her. "A-ha. Fresh soil. I'm on the right track."
"No, that was me," said Heather's voice. Dawn stood up and saw Heather looking into a pit, which was around eight feet deep. "I thought the statue might be in there, but it doesn't look like it."
Dawn stood next to her and looked down. "No, it doesn't." However, she wasn't expecting Heather to shove her, and she fell in.
"Don't worry," Heather told her. "The interns will get you out of there after my team wins. For now, just stay there and relax. And put some thought into how you're going to explain this to your team later." Chuckling to herself, the queen be turned and left.
Dawn looked like she was about to get angry, but instead sat down and just took several deep breaths.
Then she abruptly stopped. "Ah, that was calming. Now to find a way out of here...I can't climb these walls; they're too slippery."
After seeing part of the minecart rail stretch over the edge of the pit into the empty space above her, she had an inspiration. "Yes, that could work." She then looked at her sweater sadly and bit a small hole in it, and then started unraveling it.
Confessional: Dawn
"And I liked that sweater, too..."
End confessional
Brick trembled as he slowly walked through the mine. When a flashlight shined at him, he flinched
"Brick?" Sammy asked, and the camera revealed that she was the one holding the flashlight.
Brick sighed and relaxed. "You surprised me. I'm just really tense here...in the dark..."
Sammy took his hand and the two walked together. "Let's take your mind off the dark. What are you planning do do if you win?"
"Promise you won't laugh?"
"Promise."
"I want to go to fashion school," Brick admitted. "I may have some love for various aspects of the military but I can't see myself in combat. I suppose logistics wouldn't be too bad and it's my backup plan, but I've actually been fascinated by fashion for some time, even before military school. Yeah, I know the army princess dress was a disaster, but...I mean, Chef loved it so much he made his own! And I can only improve from there, right?"
Zoey and Beth were attempting to clear the rocks out of the way of their escape. "And just because I'm short and need glasses, none of the other girls take me seriously!" Beth said. "Is it that hard to believe that I like chick flicks and makeup, not video games and foreign films?"
"I get it," Zoey responded. "I mean, I have a similar problem. I've tried to connect with other people who like comics, and tabletop games, and indie films...but I either get treated like a fake-fan, sexually harassed, or both. I can't be friends with other geeks because they won't accept me as one of their own, and I can't be friends with the popular crowd because I can't relate to them. Sometimes I wish I looked like you."
"I wish I looked like you too," Beth sighed, as she moved another piece of rubble aside. She then saw a light. "Hey, over here! Help us!"
The lights got closer, revealing Geoff and Lightning. "Sha-dang! What happened here?"
"We got blocked in by a rockslide!" Beth said.
Geoff immediately got to helping dig the two girls out. Lightning hesitated briefly.
"Hey, help us out, dude!" Geoff said.
"R-right," Lightning said, and got to helping as well.
Lindsay stepped in a stream. Having no idea where she was going, she decided to follow the water and see where it went. After following it for a while, she saw a flash of metal. "What's this?" she asked herself, picking up the silver Chris statue.
"And Lindsay has found the statue!" Chris's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Please stay where you are; the interns will come for you shortly to guide you out of the mine."
After the interns had safely extracted all of the teens from the mine, Sugar found Alejandro and Sky discussing something. "Hey, you gonna vote for Owen tonight? He ain't been too helpful from what I seen."
"He hasn't done too much lately," Sky admitted. "I'd be surprised if he wasn't the one to go home tonight."
"I was going to vote for him anyway," Alejandro agreed. "Sharing a cabin with him is no muy bueno. The stench is hard to stomach."
"You do that," Sugar told them. "He found that i-mu-nity idol. I think he's more of a threat than he looks like. He's acting all happy-go-lucky, but he's schemin' and plannin' all this time."
Unbeknownst to Sugar, Shawn was listening in.
Confessional: Shawn
"Okay, while I did immunize Owen out of prior commitment, I also had a second, less altruistic goal in mind. I wanted to see how the rest of the team would react to Owen. Observe their interactions and opinions of him over time. But us losing today might have just ruined that plan. Owen's the obvious target tonight. I need to know who's going to try to get him eliminated when he isn't. I just hope I can find someone else to shift the target to."
End confessional
At the Campfire Ceremony, Chris addressed Team Survivor. "Here again already, huh? And this time, none of you can be blamed for your loss today, so it could be any of you on the chopping block. Cameron, you're the least athletic member of your team. Are you worried that it might be you?"
"Not really," Cameron told the host. "I might have worried earlier in the season, but I think I've proven myself by now."
"Well, what about you, Zoey? You spent almost the entire challenge trapped behind some rocks and had to be rescued."
"Hey, that was not my fault!" Zoey protested.
"Dawn, you have yet to prove yourself to Team Survivor. Could you be the next one gone?"
"I am slightly worried," Dawn admitted. "But I have performed adequately in challenges while still on the Gopher team, so my teammates know that I do at least have relevant skills. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep me safe tonight."
"We'll see," Chris told her. "What about you, Noah? Are you worried that your teammates might not appreciate the attitude?"
"I think you already know the answer to that," Noah told him. "And you're just trying to build tension. It's not working."
"Isn't it?" Chris asked. "But you're right, you're not going home tonight." He tossed Noah a marshmallow. "Neither is Geoff, Lightning, Alejandro, Shawn, Leshawna, Duncan, Sky, or Bridgette.
"Cameron, you're right. You have proven that you can keep up with your team." Cameron caught his marshmallow and ate it.
"Zoey, yes, your team did not blame you for what happened today." The host tossed her a marshmallow as well.
"And Dawn, you're safe too." The pixie-like girl caught her marshmallow with an audible sigh of relief.
"No, the campers whose safety is in question are Owen and Sugar. Sugar, you're a returnee who got eliminated fourth and you've gotten on some people's nerves, but you have done well in the past couple of challenges. And Owen, many of your teammates like you and you have sometimes been able to keep up with your team, but your performance in the last few challenges hasn't been all that good, and the immunity idol drew a lot of attention to you.
"And tonight's loser is...
"Owen! You're done!"
"Aww, and I was having so much fun, too," Owen sighed. "I guess all good things must come to an end. I'll miss all of you!" he dramatically stated, raising his arms for a group hug. Several of his teammates obliged him (though not Sugar or Alejandro), but once they hugged him, he let out a fart which sent them all reeling. "Sorry."
Chris held his nose. "Just get on the Boat of Losers." Owen did so, and the boat departed (notably slower than usual).
Still holding his nose, Chris quickly said, "The rest of you are safe for tonight," then briskly walked away from where Owen had been standing.
The next day was a free day. As his team was getting up, Lightning scowled at Sugar. Then he began to smile evilly. "Sha-tention! It's time for the daily team workout! That means all of you!"
"I thought it was just the old Moose team that had to work out with you," Duncan complained.
"That was before," Lightning said. He then poked Sugar's stomach. "And Lightning thinks some of his other teammates could use the strength training."
"Hey, don't touch me!" Sugar protested.
"Okay, Lightning wants to see all of you do a hundred sit-ups!" He stared at Sugar and smirked. Sugar scowled at him.
With school having ended, there was no reason for me not to work on this. Except a lack of inspiration, which contributed to this chapter not being as good as I'd like it to be. But hopefully, as I get back into the swing of writing, I'll begin to feel more inspired.
I like Owen and all, but I wish he hadn't stuck around for so long in TDA. He was a good winner for TDI (good social game, decent in challenges, and lucky but not improbably so), and he made a great comedic duo with Noah in both World Tour and the Ridonculous Race, but he was mostly just annoying in TDA after Izzy got eliminated.
Please review, it really helps me! And please add to the TVTropes page!
Elimination order:
Dave, the Germaphobe (RETURNED)
52: Staci, the Compulsive Liar
51: Dakota, the Fame-Monger
Sugar, the Pageant Queen (RETURNED)
50: Amy, the Evil Twin
49: Leonard, the LARPer
48: Anne Maria, the Jersey Shore Reject
47: Izzy, the Psycho Hose Beast
46: Rodney, the Lovesick Farm Boy
45: Max, the Super-Villain Wannabe
Jo, the Take-No-Prisoners Jockette (RETURNED)
44: Ezekiel, the Homeschooled Guy
42 (Tie): Gwen, the Loner
(Tie): Dawn, the Moonchild (RETURNED)
42 (Tie): Eva, the Hothead
41: Ella, the Fairytale Princess
40: Justin, the Eye Candy
39: Cody, the Flirty Geek
37 (tie): Mike, the Thespian
37 (tie): Aiden, the OC Hate Sink
36: Sadie, the other BFFFL
35: Beardo, the Human Soundboard
34: Sam, the Gamer
33: Sierra, the Super-fan
32: DJ, the Brickhouse with Heart
31: Trent, the Musician
30: Jo, the Take-No-Prisoners Jockette
29: Harold, the Nerd with Mad Skillz
28: Owen, the Optimist
