Heyo, the wait is now over as we move on to Episode 5! Once again, thanks to everyone for being patient with this release! The past month had been super busy, but with that out of the way, I hope you guys enjoy this episode!


Episode 5: Tàiyáng Shēng Qǐ


Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine

The camera zooms into the two large entrance doors of Manoria. Chris immediately greeted the camera with a malicious smirk on his face.

You guys are on my mind

The view now shows the living room, where Laila was seated on the couch with her legs up on the ottoman. Maelle comes in and serves her tea, but accidentally trips, causing the tea to spill on both girls.

You asked me what I wanted to be

The tea splashes onto the camera (luckily the camera is tea-proof) and it washes away to reveal us a view of a bedroom. Gerald was busy looking at himself in the mirror but suddenly turns around due to someone tapping him on the shoulder. The person doing so was Foster. Gerald immediately hid behind on what or who seemed like another being known as Allan. Foster blinks at the sight, and as soon as he opened his eyes again, they were gone.

And now I think the answer is plain to see

The camera now zooms through the window to get a view of the garden. Pandora was seen taking a picture of a beautiful chrysanthemum flower patch when Tala unknowingly passes by. This causes Pandora to snap a picture of Tala by accident. The two girls looked at each other before slightly blushing and looked away.

I wanna be famous

In another part of the garden, we can see Fridge, Aditi, and Jessica playing with a ball. Fridge throws the ball towards Jessica with a powerful force. Luckily for Jessica, she was able to duck down just in time as the ball flew past her, however, it hits Aditi who was behind her, sending the shorter girl flying towards a flower patch.

I wanna live close to the sun

The scene changes to the study room where Sheldon was busy reading and calculating stuff from a book. To his dismay, Rory and Sua were on the other side of the room jamming to music, with Rory slamming his hands on a table to the beat to improvise drumming and Sua singing, or rather, screaming some lyrics.

Well, pack your bags 'cause I've already won

Sheldon became angry and crumpled up a piece of paper to throw at the two. Hector however passes by the room on his wheelchair with Jace pushing it and Hector is accidentally hit on the head with the paper. This causes Jace to send a glare towards Sheldon.

Everything to prove, nothing in my way

Back outside just near the forest that was near the manor was Tyler with a hunting bow and arrow with him, ready to aim and shoot. Suddenly, Jeremy scares him from behind by singing and acting out some gestures from musicals… with a hand drawn clown mask on his face. Tyler accidentally shoots aimlessly towards a tree, sending birds flying away, which now surprises the musical nerd.

I'll get there one day

The scene cuts to Wyonetta who was now in a dark room. She looked cautiously everywhere with a flashlight on her hand and began to step backwards as a sign of almost wanting to run out of the room. When she turned back, she accidentally ran into Eli, who was a bit shocked by her running into him but nonetheless bore a smirk on his face.

'Cause I wanna be famous

In the foyer, Summer was seen putting a disk on a phonograph. She smiled, giving the audience a sign that music began playing from the phonograph though no one can hear as what we are hearing right now is the theme song. A hand then was in front of her, in a 'may I have this dance?' kind of motion. Summer looked up and saw Pierre who wore a smile on his face. She gladly accepted his offer and the two began to dance.

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na!

In one of the bedrooms, Laverne was seen trying on some outfits she brought along with her. Naka was also watching her do so, complimenting on how the model looked. Laverne then gave Naka an outfit to try on as she thought it would fit her but Naka's expression says otherwise.

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous

Dustin was back in the basement, looking at the room full of the Manorian treasures. The only light source in the room then begins to run out, resulting in only pure darkness.

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous

The darkness clears up, revealing a rather ghostly being looking much like a human, only a ghost or some spirit. He had grayish hair, and a blue outfit that made him look like some kind of royal guard. It cannot be Dimetrius, right?

*whistling in tune*

Mist takes over the screen and eventually clears up as the cast now gathered up in the foyer's main staircase for a cast picture. As the camera snapped the picture, the words Total Drama Knightfall showed up on screen.


Rory sat there on the top floor, frantically looking everywhere. His eyes widened in horror as he could see some of the smoke going towards the top floor through the hatch.

"Shit shit shit shit shit–" he muttered under his breath, unable to think of a quick solution in such little time.

He saw the windows that looked as if they were a teensy bit opened. Rushing to them, he looked down to see how high up would it be from the top.

He winced.

It looked way high up considering the lighthouse was around four storeys high. The water looked a bit deep but not Mariana Trench deep.

He looked back at the hatch. Bits of smoke started to rapidly enter the room. He looked again at the window's view before opening it, and went up the window sill. He had no choice.

Jumping out of the lighthouse, Rory soared for what seemed like three seconds before making a big splash on the bay. Luckily, he did not hit any rocks or stones in the process, because otherwise he would have several injuries. Or worse, a concussion.

He ran to Chris and Dustin who were just by the entrance of the lighthouse.

"Hey..." the drummer panted as soon as he reached the two. "Do you guys know how are we gonna get all the smoke out?"

Dustin grabbed a fire extinguisher that was located from the side. "We have this, I'm not sure though if it will work. Wait… did you jump?"

"No time for that." Rory dismissed. "We have to get the smoke out."

"We will try the fire extinguisher anyway." Chris declared, the host wanting to waste no time at all. "We need to make sure that they're not dead or anything or else I'm screwed."

The three rushed to the lighthouse, eliminating all signs of smoke in the premises. Once all the smoke was gone, they couldn't help but realize that everyone else was missing.

"What the–" Rory gasped to himself as he reached the floor where he and Lytsari were hanging out just a few moments ago. No one was there and everything was as quiet as mice. "Everyone was just here like a few minutes ago!"

Dustin jutted a finger on his chin in deep thought. "Where do you guys think they could've gone?" asked the chess player.

"No idea." The host quickly answered him. He rushed back outside with both Dustin and Rory which they were also being followed by some cameramen and staff. Chris had no hesitation as he approached the bus and boarded. "As much as I don't want to, we're gonna have go back to Manoria."

"Wait, you have got to be kidding me. After everything that had just happened the other day, I swear I was hoping that we wouldn't go back." the drummer visibly pouted. "What are we even gonna do there anyway?"

Chris gave a sigh of frustration as soon as he faced Rory. "Where else do you think they could've gone, hmm?"

The drummer was silent for a few seconds, coming to a conclusion that they could possibly be in Manoria. What was the smoke? Teleportation? Smoke screen? Or were all just those special effects from Dimetrius?

With that, they boarded the bus and sped off back to Manoria.


▪ Box 1 ▪︎

Aditi laid on the floor in the middle of a small room. There was nothing in it, just white floors, white ceilings, and white walls surrounding her.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, not being able to comprehend her surroundings for a brief moment of time. When she looked around, that was when she began to feel queasy.

"Guys? Hey– is anyone there?" Her usually cheerful voice turned into a slightly distressed tone, the same unsettling tone that she had been using for a few days from now.

"You were always so loud and cheerful…"

Aditi's head snapped to the side of where she thought she heard the sound of Dimetrius' voice. She wasn't sure about where it was coming from but she stayed like that, not moving a single inch.

"You were always so happy…"

The wanderer just sat there, not moving an inch. She didn't know what to expect. Was she supposed to be scared or afraid? Was she supposed to feel hurt and offended? Was she supposed to feel proud and happy for herself for being this way?

"You never shut up!"

The lights suddenly flickered on and off.

And on and off.

And on and off.

And on.

And off.

Until nothing but pitch darkness arose.

"Wait!"

Aditi was interrupted by the sudden feeling of being in the air and thrown against the wall.

She now had a few bruises due to the move, but what didn't left her sight was the fact that she saw a door. Was she supposed to open it?

The Turkish girl found it difficult to move her body. That fall did a toll towards her small frame and Dimetrius' words never helped her even for a bit.

"Have you considered being quiet?"

"Not real…" Aditi breathed, her hand right on the doorknob. She did not hesitate to turn it with all her might and ran away, never looking back.

She never looked at the other side of the room to see if anyone else was there with her, but there was.

Eli was on the the ground and didn't felt like moving. He was not injured at all and he just stared at the ceiling. It had been quite some time since he woke up but nothing was happening. He wanted to get out, but for some odd reason, his body didn't.

"You were always so calm with everything."

Eli wasn't bothered at Dimetrius' voice at all. In fact, it felt as if he was already used to it. The voice shock had already been worn out of his system, so hearing Dimetrius talk sounded like an everyday routine for him.

"You are so unbothered."

The couch potato still continued to lay still as if he didn't wanted to move at all. Was he really that lazy to do anything?

"You are such a potato!"

Eli couldn't help but let out a laugh as soon as he heard the word potato. He was the cast's couch potato after all.

"Have you ever consider working out to get rid of that fat of yours?"

The blond did not really like where it was going now. Yes, he found it funny, yes he did not find it offensive or whatsoever but for some reason, he felt bad. Why bad? He thought he went to far.

For some odd reason, he couldn't stand up. It felt like some force was pulling him back down to the ground. He felt like he was stuck.

"What did you do?"

"You were lazy so I felt that you needed a little help with that."

He tried standing up. However the more he tried, the more his body hurted.

He pushed himself up even harder until he could feel his body becoming sore. With all his might, he stood up after a few falls to the ground. He looked at the door and made a dash for it.

"Don't even try pinning me to the ground again, Dimetrius!" He threatened the spirit before leaving to look for Aditi.


▪︎ Box 2 ▪︎

Foster was pacing around and around, not knowing what to do.

"You were always so strong."

He stopped pacing around. He already knew that that voice was coming from Dimetrius but he stopped and listened anyway.

"You are so active at everything."

He didn't move an inch. Sure, this was ptetty much true considering how active he was due to how many situations he had to survive and this was no exception.

"But you were so scared over someone who practically doesn't exist! Pathetic!"

This ticked him off. He wasn't scared of Allan. Well, maybe he was since it was something he had never experienced before.

"Have you considerd manning up?"

He tried his best to ignore the question. It was a bit hard to digest but he did it. He did it because he got distracted by something.

Or someone.

He saw Gerald on the floor just waking up. He wasn't moving that much, but he could tell that he was conscious as he saw the boy's eyes fluttering open in front of him.

"You are so considerate of everyone."

"What?"

"You are so respectful."

Gerald was so confused. He looked around in hopes of finding Dimetrius to attempt to stop him but the only one he sees is Foster with a look confused as his.

"But you made friends with a total lie!"

"He's not a lie!" Gerald yelled back. "He was real!YOU took him away from me!"

"Have you considered standing up on your own two feet?"

Now this pissed him off. The boy stood up with pure vengeance in his eyes, willing to destroy Dimetrius if he were given the chance until Foster grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the door.

"Look Gerald, you have to keep a hold of yourself! I can't just keep on dragging you and snapping you back into your senses–"

Gerald swatted his hand away. "Maybe I would've listened to you if you weren't being such a coward." He sneered. before opening the door and walking away, leaving Foster alone. "Maybe Dimetrius was right. Maybe you are a coward."

Foster stood there, digesting what Gerald had rephrased from Dimetrius before running away from the room. Maybe Gerald was just upset that he lost Allan and couldn't accept it, he thought.


▪︎ Box 3 ▪︎

Hector could feel himself drowsily waking up on his wheelchair. He wasn't on the floor or anything as he was just sitting there. His hands fumbled to its wheels as he tried moving his wheelchair away from the room but the wheels were stuck on the floor.

"What…"

"You were always so hardworking."

He flinched at Dimetrius' voice. He thought he would get used to it… guess he didn't.

"You were so good at enduring everything."

"Like what?"

"But do you know that two arms aren't enough?"

Hector couldn't help but feel the urge to ask. Even though he knew for sure he isn't getting a proper answer. "What are you talking about?"

"Maybe try to consider breaking a leg or two! Literally!"

His wheelchair tilted in a split second as the handicapped brunet fell to the ground. He let out a groan of pain knowing that he can't get up again.

"Hector!" Jessica's voice rang from the other side. This was followed by her running footsteps that were rushing towards him. She knelt down and tried to pick him up…

"You really know how to bring others to the light."

Jessica tried to not care. She straightened his wheelchair and placed it on the floor in its proper way.

"You really do have the qualities of being on top and guiding those who you think are below you."

She still continued to ignore it as she attempted to lift up Hector with all of her might.

"But do you ever listen?"

At that point, she felt herself getting heavier. It was even getting difficult for her to lift him up.

"Jessica?"

"Maybe try consider listening to people who you care about!"

"Jessica hey, don't listen to him!" Hector commanded, his hand lightly slapping her a few t1imes in attempt to snap her back into her senses. He was already up enough so he sat on his wheelchair. He looked up to see Jessica in some sort of trance.

"Hey Hector?" The midwestern wrangler called his name in a rather sad tone, one that was pretty unusual from someone like her. "Am I a terrible listener?"

"What? No! No, you're not! Dimetrius is just trying to… make you feel bad." The engineer answered through his teeth. He grabbed Jessica's arm with one hand ans maneuvered his wheelchair with the other, guiding them to the door that was just right behind them. It would've been easier if Dimetrius didn't try to put them down. "Let's get out of here, yes?"


Hector (Ritter): "Okay, I will be honest. Sometimes she is. Specifically whenever Laila or Laverne argue or whatever… I just don't want her to dwell on that matter any longer. Dimetrius was just trying to put her down emotionally, right?" He chuckled lightly but sheepishly. "He did put me down though… literally."


▪︎ Box 4 ▪︎

Fridge woke up in an empty room as if he was in his bed, getying ready for anothee normal day.

"You are so powerful."

"Why thank you, unseen friend!" The dumb jock had a smile on his face. "I guess this is a wonderful compliment to start the day!"

"You were always so friendly to others."

The big boy stood up, the smile on his face never fading. "Of course, friend! I'm not like some others who pretend to be friendly, right?"

"But you are so dumb at every single thing in this rotten world!"

Fridge stopped in his tracks. Sure he was dumb, but that's just how who he is. That's how he was made to be that person he is today. That was how Fridge became… Fridge. And boy, did he not liked being called dumb like that. "...What?"

"Have you considered listening to your teachers?'

"But I do listen!" He whined. "Once I got this huge x on a math problem. It said what was 1 + 1 and I put 11 because 1 and 1 go together, right? I got so happy when the teacher put an x on it, because you know what pirates say, x marks the spot! And that x meant that my answer was right as treasure!"

After his rambling, he noticed Jace on the corner of the room, sitting alone and lost in thought.

"You were so witty."

Jace never moved an inch.

"You are so full of ideas."

He still never moved. Of course he was. He genuinely loves thinking even the craziest of ideas for whatever he writes.

"Yet do these ideas ever go anywhere?"

He blinked. He remembered when he was being told that he writes for nothing. Do these really go anywhere? Were these even for his own satisfaction? Has he ever been satisfied with what he writes?

"Maybe try consider talking to people and not just on some stupid notebook!"

All of his trains of thought halted when he heard a voice call him.

"Friend!"

Jace snapped his eyes wide open as Fridge came into view. He was pointing towards a door. He never even knew that he was stuck in a room with him.

"Uh… I'm Jace." he said randomly, somehow thinling that Fridge didn't know him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jace! My name is Fridge!" The bigger bpy grinned frlm ear to ear, eager to introduce himself to someone who isn't frlm the Ritter team.

"Uh… it's just Jace."

"I see, I see!" Fridge continued to grin. "We have to get out of this room! Luckily, I found the door that could lead us out of here, so please follow me, Just Jace!"

"...gotcha."


▪︎ Box 5 ▪︎

Jeremy rolled over on his back in the floor of his room. There was nothing to look at other than a ceilimg full of nothingness so for some reason, he decided to look at the floor. A very wise decision indeed.

"You are so passionate about what you love."

"Um… thanks? Who is talking?"

"You were so passionate about having fun."

Jeremy hissed underneath his breath the second he realized the voice. "Oh fuck me with a chainsaw—"

"But god, you can be so annoying!"

"Says the spirit who is annoying himself…" The musical nerd murmured. He thought the best way to quiet down Dimetrius is to jeer him with his own insults.

"Have you considered keeping to yourself?"

"Of course, I have! Yeesh, you better pipe down because if not then I will fuck you with a chainsaw."

Laila rolled her eyes as she heard Jeremy and Dimetrius arguing like there was no tomorrow. When Jeremy piped down, she had a bad feeling that the spirit was going to target her next.

"You think you're so rich."

Jeremy looked at Laila, not knowing how is she going to react. Much to his surprise, her annoyed face stayed the same as if she never heard the comment at all.

"You're always so classy and posh."

"Psh, you know that is correct, don't you?" Laila chuckled heartily, loving the fact that even Dimetrius knows her antics.

"But you always treat people like everyone is below you."

Her smile faded. This was true, yes, but she realized that this was also the reason why she was there in the first place. Was it for the prize money? No, since she is already hella wealthy. But her aim was simply to make friends. And it was difficult.

"Ever heard of being humble?"

No. No, she had never thought of that. Not even during her fights with Laverne. Was this the reason why she's always been disliked by many people? Was it because of the fact that she always thinks she is the queen?

Jeremy and Laila weren't the only ones in the room. There was Summer in the far edge, looking at them anxiously. Their reactions were something that she didn't expect. Though maybe yes, she expected them to be scared in one way or another but she never expected a mind game and could only think of what negativity would Dimetrius say of her.

"You were always so interested with many things of the past."

She slowly nodded. This was true. She was and has always been a fan of everything in tbe 80s: songs, history, food, aesthetics…

"You just love sharing what you like."

At this point, she was starting to anticipate the negative view of her.

"But you know what, that just makes you so boring… so unforgettable."

No, that's not true. She isn't forgettable. She has people that love her and care for her. But was she boring? Boring for loving the things she loves? She hoped she wasn't. She blinked thrice just to keep her tearful eyes away, hoping that this was not what the others think of her.

"Ever heard of change?"

Change for what? Change for the better? But she was already good enough. Change for the worst? Too good for that. In fact, this made her completely lost in her train of thought.

Jeremy grabbed her arm. He was struggling as he was also dragging Laila with another hand. "Fuck me with a chainsaw, please snap out of it, you two. I'm getting us out of here." He declared, attempting to drag both of them towards the opened door he saw unlocked.


▪︎ Box 6 ▪︎

Maelle sat in the corner of the room looking at both Sheldon and Pandora who were both in other corners. She wasn't sure who is Dimetrius targeting first but she knows its coming.

"You know, you look like you've always been doing things for others."

Was this directed at her? She was a maid after all. But then again, it seemed as it was the opposite. She had been leading her team after all.

"You always look out for others."

Maelle slowly nodded. It wasn't going as bad so far as she thought. Then again he would probably do something bad soon.

"But last time…. why did you question the happiness of others?"

Questioned the happiness of others? Oh. Was it because she scolded Pierre and Naka when they were being happy with each other's company? In her defense, they were in a middle of a challenge.

"I wasn't questioning their happiness—"

"Think before you do, hmm?"

"My actions are always planned out." Maelle defended herself. This whole matter didn't really upset her, but she felt like she was being accused of something she didn't do.

Pandora looked at Maelle, then at the cut she had received in her leg the night before thanks to Naka's fiasco. It was healing, but not as much.

"You're always so curious with everything."

The photographer already knew that the spirit was coming after her this time.

"You were always so fascinated."

It's true. She was interested on many different things. What was the reason why she had her her camera with her all the time.

…right. Her camera…

"Are you fascinated with scary things?"

"...It depends…" she spoke meekly. "What kind of scary things?"

"Maybe you should give those a try, hmm?"

Pandora froze as she did not know what was coming next. Before you know it, she was being brought upward by some force, causing her to levitate in the air.

Sheldon's eyes opened wide as she found her in the air. He shouted towards the ceiling, "Evil spirit! Send her back to ground right this instant!"

Dimetrius' evil laugh was only heard as an answrer to Sheldon's plea. "You are such an intelligent individual."

"What? This matter has nothing to do with Pandora in the air right now! Put her down!"

"Your way of talking is so impressive."

At this point, Sheldon could only stare at the ceiling. He did not even notice Maelle who jumped and grabbed Pandora's feet in hopes ofher getting down.

"Help!"

"Sheldon, do something!"

"But at the same time, you are stupid."

The black haired boy looked down in shame. Was he that stupid? Did he really thought he could help Pandora?

"Try not to be so brainy, would you?"

Sheldon jerked his head towards Maelle and Pandora. The photographer was already choking and she was inches away ftom the ceiling. Maelle at this point was beyond two feet above ground.

Sheldon ran from the other side and took a big leap of faith. His hands successfuly landed on Maelle's feet and so, he yanked her down so that she and Pandora could reach the ground. Dimetrius had finally stopped holding onto both girls as both of them landed with a loud thud, Pandora having more bruises on her than Maelle did. Sheldon helped both of them up, with Maelle holding Pandora with one arm.

"Hey can you walk?" asked Maelle with concern.

Pandora wheezed for a few seconds before regaining her breath. "Kind of."

"Let's go, there is a door we can use as exit." Sheldon hurriedly said. The three did their best to rush to the door before Dimetrius could do something else.


▪︎ Box 7 ▪︎

Laverne looked as if she fell asleep in the ground. She didn't knew about how much time has passed. It was probably night time by now but she didn't care.

"You are so full of fashion and beauty."

The model never thought of her as the most orettiest girl in the cast but she knew she had a good sense of fashion just by even judging what she was wearing right now.

"You always know what you were doing."

Yes, she does. But always? Didn't seem like always.

"But you always hesitate."

She does. Laverne twiddled with her fingers. She hesitates a lot. She wish she was braver enough to do so.

"Maybe try and become braver."

Laverne rolled her eyes. She was brave enough to model. Not all girls and boys are brave enough to show themselves off in different aspects. But to her, it's okay to be scared. Besides, who won't be brave enough to hold a gun?

"You are so smart."

This was directed to Tala this time. She didn't even listen to Dimetrius that much as she stared at the floor, only thinking about the person in the show that mattered to her the most: Pandora.

"You were always in the top when it comes to the things you enjoy the most."

This comment didn't struck her either. But she had to agree. She enjoyed the things she likes like reading and maths and studying… something that made her stood out. But what she didn't like was that—

"But you always hide what you feel!"

—yup. She never liked hiding her feelings but she had to. She never liked how she hid her feelings for Pandora but she had to. She just didn't want to get hurt by it… again.

"Have you considered talking about your emotions and what drives you crazy?"

Tala squeezed her eyes shut. The fact that Dimetrius was blurting all of this… in front of Tyler, Laverne, and Wyonetta. What are they going to think of her, now?

Tyler was currently working on how to open the door. He had several nails next to him, all of different shapes and sizes.

"You have such good aim."

He stopped in his tracks as he realized that Dimetrius was talking to him, yet he did not say a word.

"You have such a good eye for things."

He still wasn't moving. He wanted to hear everything he had to say first before he actually does something.

"But you can't just rely on your bow and arrow."

"Of course I can't, why would I?" He butted in.

"Do you know what to do without those?"

Tyler just let out a sigh. He admitted that he hasn't been doing much. He grew up holding a bow and arrow. He grew up with his love for hunting. He grew being surrounded by nature and just test his skills in said hobby. He swallowed a lump in his throat and kept on working with the door.

Wyonetta had an annoyed look on her face as she sat crisscross applesauce in a corner of the room. She looked at Laverne just laying down on the floor, Tala just staring at her, and Tyler trying to get the door to open.

"You're really good at defending your point."

"So? I don't like it when people come after me. If they do, they will taste my fist."

"You are so skilled in sports."

"Of course I am Dime-wit. Explain why I am a hockey player. A professional one if I do say so myself—"

"But were you ever actually nice?"

Wyonetta had stopped talking when Dimetrius had blocked her way of thinking with the question. She hadn't been very much nice throughout the course of the competition so far and as much as she knew, she didn't really ever thought of the other reactions towards her.

"Have you consider doing something good for someone?"

"I'll do it when I feel like it."

"You lot don't know how to get out of this, huh?"

The lights shut off as the four all screamed and yelped and gasped in shock.

"Ugh, Wyone–"

"Not my fault, tacky!" she jeered, cutting off Laverne.

Tyler still had his hand on the doorknob. "How are we going to get out of here?"

Wyonetta rolled her eyes even though no one could see. "Easy. Just follow my lead."

Tala, Tyler, and Laverne all anticipated what was she about to do.

"Okay. Three… two… one…" She breathed. "AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Thanks to Wyonetta's screams, the lights went back on.

"Well that was stupid." Tala commented. "Hey Tyler, does the door open?"

The hunter turned the doorknob once more and it successfully opened. "Yup. Let's go."


"Ugh…"

A soft groan can be heard through the immensely thick pitch of darkness. Everything seemed dark at the moment and it was impossible to see things.

"Where am I?"

The voice presumably came from a boy, though he seemed like he just woke up after god knows how long of being unconscious.

"We're trapped, duh." A female voice rang in a very annoyed tone, which clearly her voice was mostly emphasized on the third word.

"Shut up, Paige! We don't know where we are, we don't know what's going on, and we don't even know what time it is!" Minghao nearly hyperventilated at that moment which was evident in his loud and shaky voice.

Paige fell silent for a few seconds. He had a point. There was nothing they could do. They couldn't see anything. "Wait… how did you get here?"

Minghao flailed about, tied in his own rope. "I don't know! Dimetrius locked me up all alone in this big ass room and hit me in the head with something and then next thing I know, you're here!"

Maybe there is something they could do…

"Silence!" Dimetrius' voice echoed throughout the room. "I've brought back your little noisy black-haired friend… turns out, he is a hundred times more annoying when alone."

The archer took the opportunity to laugh at the city boy. "Well that wasn't surprising."

"Did I give you permission to talk, greenie?" Dimetrius had a glaring voice towards Paige… and it was most likely thanks to her green uniform that earned her that nickname.

The three– or, two… froze as they all heard the door slowly creak open. Neither of them knew how or what to react, but whatever it is could be potential danger to them at this point.

Even then, Paige had the guts to call out whoever opened the door. "Who's there?!"

Everything was silent. The two thought that it was safe to assume that Dimetrius' spirit had left.

"Hellooooo? Are you deaf? I am literally asking who just opened the damn door– whoa!"

Paige yelped as she could feel her rope being undone. Even thougu it was dark, she could see who was doing the deed when she squinted her eyes.

"Rory!?"

"Shhhh!" The drummer shushed her. He was using a small knife to untie the archer. And if you were wondering, yes, this was the same knife that he used to untie Laverne and Laila a while back. Why did he still have it with him? For defense probably, especially since there's paranormal activity in every single step they make.

"How did you get here?!" Paige asked in a frantic whispering manner.

"Chris, Dustin, me, and the staff came looking for you guys." Rory's gaze shifted towards Minghao, crawling to undo his rope when he was done with Paige's. "And the rest of the cast. They went missing earlier."

"Well, yeah. They're probably here because Dimetrius was wrecking havoc earlier… wherever he is. Can't believe he disappeared again." Minghao frowned. When his rope was gone, he rubbed his wrists in pain. "Gosh, I am never letting myself get tied up ever again."

When the two have been set free by Rory, they all stood up.

"Let's get out of here." Paige declared, leading the three to run out of the room before Dimetrius could catch them.


Rory (Lytsari): He chuckled sheepishly as he had a hand rubbing behind his neck. "Guess it's my gig to save people who are tied up on ropes, heh."


Rory, Paige, and Minghao sauntered on the deep and barren halls of Manoria. Assuming the rest of the cast were held hostage or the like, they were doing their best to check almost every single room that they pass by in case if any sign of them show up.

"Ugh, why is everything so dark?" Minghao began to complain, not being able to see anything ever since he and Paige were trapped.

"That's because it's night time, you idiot." Paige retorted.

Minghao could feel his eyes drop towards the floor and back up on his face again. "It's night!? What the fuck–? How long have we been here?"

Rory shrugged as he continued to walk straight. "Well it had been a few hours since I started looking for you guys, so there's that. I know for sure Chris and Dustin are looking for the others too."

"Then why did you guys split? I mean, you seriously know that there are some random bullshit happening in this area and I know that you know for sure that splitting up isn't a good idea." The archer scoffed and crossed her arms, upset at the fact that they may possibly have to find the host and his assistant too in case they also go missing.

Rory raised his arms defensively. "Not my idea to make us split up, cutie patootie."

Paige rolled her eyes at the pet name. "Whatever. As long as we find them, then I'm happy." This caused Rory to fist up most of his fingers leaving his middle fingers held up.

"Jiejie–" Minghao sighed. "Can you promise us that you will stop complaining? I'm surprised Dimetrius isn't annoyed by you."

"Well Minghao," Paige gave him a completely annoyed look, the 'bitch if you don't shut the fuck up I will knock your teeth off and make sure you go home with the bloody mouth of a beaten up boxer' look. "Can you promise us that you will speak English and only English? How many languages can you speak anyway?"

"Three." Minghao said proudly. "English–"

Paige and Rory looked at him.

"Chinese—"

Paige and Rory both had an eyebrow up.

"—and Chinglish."

"Chinglish?" Rory asked.

"Chinglish." said Minghao. "Chinese-English."

"I can't deal with you two anymore. Let's just hurry up and find the others already." Paige groaned.

Further into the hall, they could hear several cries of help and knocking on the doors.

"Okay what on earth am I hearing? Are we seriously going to go through another earthquake?" Paige asked, slowly beginning to panic after all the earthquakes the cast had to endure the other night.

"Impossible, I don't think there'll be any earthquakes here. Besides, this place looks so dead thanks to Dimetrius and his ritual of evil yesterday." Rory answered with a hint of certainty in his voice.

"Yeah there will be aftershocks, you ding-a-ling. Dimetrius is gonna do another ritual and make sure none of us gets out alive especially you."

Rory laughed for less than a second and gave off a sarcastic scoff directed right at Paige. "Wow, so this is how adorable girls say thank you after a guy saves her sorry butt."

Paige scoffed even louder. "Yeah right, thank you!" She said sarcastically.

"You're welcome!"

"Come on, old people!" Minghao begged them to stop. "We are literally right where we can hear the cries for help, so can we please just help them open the door and get them out?"

"What if it's not them?"

"It IS them, you fucking waldo!" Minghao fired at Paige before looking at the door. "Okay, enough fighting for the day, the viewers had enough. Let's just open this door already."

The trio began attempting to open the door by having Rory turn the doorknob a bit.

"Locked."

"Great. Now we need a key." Paige scoffed. She realized that her bow had a pin. She grabbed its hairpin and inserted it right at the doorknob's key hole but no luck.

"Looks like the Sua lock technique didn't work for you, missy." Rory laughed at the girl, causing the archer to roll her eyes before smirking.

"Maybe we could bang it." Minghao suggested. He stepped back and ran to door, delivering a huge punch to it, enough to make him go on his knees and wail in pain.

"What a doofus." Paige sighed. "Now what?"

"What if–" Rory asked himself as he approached the door. He turned it until it almost reach a full 360° circle and…

Click.

"Why do I feel so embarassed now." Minghao yelped.

The door opened, and the rest of the cast were indeed inside the room.

"What the– how did you guys get in here?" Rory asked in surprised seeing everyone with some scratches and bruises… not to mention some are totally in a bad shape.

No one dared to speak for a few seconds before Foster became the representative.

"Well to sum it all off, he began, we were all trapped in a room each and had to escape." he explained, trying his best to keep his composure as much as possible. "Then for some reason we all ended up here."

Paige winced just by looking at everyone. "Guess that's a reasonable explanation."

"Look. Let's just all get out if here as fast as we can before Dimetrius does anything stupid." Minghao suggested out loud.

"Yeah, that's a great idea. Let's go!" Wyonetta shouted without any hesitation and immediately dashed outside the door.

Right when Wyonetta got to the hallway, the door behind her slammed shut right before anyone else could exit or enter.

"Wait… what the fuck!? WHAT THE FUCK!?" Wyonetta hyperventilated, repeatedly banging on the door over and over again. "Guys!"

The rest of the cast were still inside the room, unable to get out.

"Wyonetta!" Sheldon shouted. "Letting your heart increase its beats per minute will definitely NOT help you, you know!"

"It's called panicking, idiot! Now unlock the door!" The hockey player scolded him.

"Have you thought of turning the doorknob instead of repeatedly hitting it?"

The sounds of the doorknob were heard. "Not working, bowlhead! God, why are you so stupid?"

"Is it because I have the brain of Einstein?"

"Oh my god idiots, I think Dimetrius is at it again, isn't he?" Laila began to panic. "God when is this rubbish gonna end?! I literally signed up here to enjoy getting everything I need and not this!"

"Everything you need– what do you mean by everything you need?" Laverne lashed at her.

Laila was at a loss of words for a second, before a pole hit her head.

"Now isn't the time for arguing, you know! Get something to defend yourself with!" Jessica commanded as she was the one who threw the pole at her.

"I really don't like where this is going, you guys." Tyler gulped as he had a bow with him. No, it wasn't his own as he left it somewhere yet again, but he surprisingly had a spare with him in case emergencies like this happen.

Hector sighed in frustration. "I am honestly so done with this. When are we gonna get a break?"

Everyone didn't move an inch as they could hear footsteps echoing in the room. It didn't sound like it came from outside the room they were in. It sounded like the person walking is with them in the room.

Gerald began to slightly tremble. "Allan? Hey, you don't have to do this, you know! You have me, and you have the rest of us! That Dimetrius isn't going to help you–"

"Oh, he IS going to help, actually!" Dimetrius' voice rang in the room as he revealed himself in his human form, walking towards the cast. "Welcome back to Manoria—"

Bam!

A potted cactus rammed into Dimetrius' head, interrupting his welcome home speech. The being's eyes went around and around before he slowly fell to the ground.

"Uh… whoopsie." Fridge rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"No no no, not whoopsie! You just bought us time, Fridge! Now we can get out!" Aditi happily cheered.

"Yay time!" Fridge jumped.

"Celebrate later! We have to get out of here! To the door!" Maelle ordered as she went out followed by the rest who dropped everything they were carrying before running out.

"About damn time." Wyonetta sighed in relief and joined them as soon as she saw everyone went out of the room.

"How'd you hit him?" Eli asked Fridge in astonishment. "I don't understand, we hit him with a bullet last night and that didn't work but it worked with a freaking cactus?"

"Maybe cacti are his weakness?" Summer asked. "It's a weird weakness but we'll never know."

"Guys stop walking and start running!" Jace commanded from behind.

Tala and Jeremy were helping Pandora walk through the halls.

"Hey, we don't have to run. As long as we get away from Dimetrius, we're okay." Jeremy assured the two girls.

Pandora's leg was pretty much broken thanks to Dimetrius dropping her to the ground earlier. And since she landed leg first, yeah that gave her a difficult time walking.

"Yeah, but we can't lose sight of the rest or else we're lost." Tala rebutted. "Pandora, you okay?"

"Uh-huh." Pandora weakly groaned due to the pain in her leg. "Never better."

Luckily, the cast have arrived outside and ran towards where the bus was parked. Dustin was by the door, waiting for their arrival as Chris and some staff members have boarded.

"Hurry! We're getting out of here a second time, now!" Said the assistant. When everyone was boarded, the bus sped off.

One would already think that they were already safe away from harm as they were around a few kilometers away from Manoria and were on their way back to the lighthouse. But that thought of being safe was abruptly halted when the bus was pulled by an unknown force and crashed into several trees. Smoke emerged from the vehicles' engine as everyone checked to make sure all were okay.

"Anyone hurt?" Chris asked, though he seemed less serious, it was enough to point out that he wasn't in his usual sadistic tone and he really meant it. He looked at everyone who were sporting only a few scratches… and to Pandora who looked as if she was going to faint. "Oh dear."


Elimination Ceremony #4

The scene cut to everyone seated back in the lighthouse after a much-awaited rescue session, to which the whole cast was filled with scratches and bruises and cuts. Not only the contestants were filled with these minor injuries but as well as some of the staff and interns. Even though the reason behind most of these injuries were either from Dimetrius' 'ambush' or the crash, the pain was evident.

However, one of the contestants seemed to be the most affected by all the mishaps.

"Well…" Chris cleared his throat (which sounded more like two seconds of forced humming) as he turned to no one other than Pandora. "Will you be able to continue?"

Pandora was seated in a wheelchair, covered in gauze. Though her whole body isn't completely fractured, she had more injuries and sprains than all the other people present in the room. The photographer looked around and then towards the ground…before sadly shaking her head no.

"Very well then. Ahem." Chris cleared his throat yet again. "Pandora, you're officially eliminated."

"I understand– ow." Pandora winced as she accidentally moved her arm wrongly in the process. "I'll be fine. I can get medical treatment."

Chris slowly nodded, though with an eyebrow raised up. "Uh, yeah. You really are going to get medical treatment. Anyway Chevaliers, make your goodbyes quick."

Foster and Gerald came over to her and gave her some gentle pats on her back since hugs would probably hurt her at the moment. Tyler came over to her and gave her a quick fist bump. Jeremy had a sad look on his face seeing Pandora was about to leave but the photographer gave him a smile to encourage him.

Tala stood there, before slowly walking over to her with a completely depressed look on her face. Among the other members of the team, this hit her the most as she was almost always with Pandora throughout the duration of the competition.

"Pandora… before you go, I want to tell you something…"

But the photographer already knew. Without saying a word, she slowly leaned forward and carefully gave Tala the best second of her life right on her right cheek.

The mathematician's train of thought abruptly stopped to let herself bask in the many feelings and emotions that was going through her head. She was happy because she knew what she felt. She was sad that she had to go. She was angry because she wasn't there when she needed her.

"I like you too."

Tala was too stunned to even speak, even until Pandora left and was escorted out of the building. Even until everyone was dismissed.

When the lights turned down and everyone went back to their rooms, she was still standing there…

…until a sad smile slowly made its way on her lips as a saying played in her head,

"The sun rises when you and I meet, and when the wind blows, you will know my heart."


Blue Chevaliers: Foster, Tyler, Gerald, Jeremy, Tala

Red Ritter: Eli, Fridge, Hector, Aditi, Laila, Laverne, Jessica

Yellow Lytsari: Jace, Rory, Sheldon, Maelle, Summer, Wyonetta


Votes: Blue Chevaliers

None (6): Foster, Tyler, Gerald, Jeremy, Tala, Pandora

Eliminated: Pandora (Injury)


Author's note: Whoop, sudden death challenge. XD I'm sure you guys saw this coming with the storm happening in the last episode and with Minghao and Paige kidnapped, and the whole mini since I think I've mentioned it before but yeah that's where it all fell into place.

I want to say that this was probably the hardest episode I had to write, most likely because due to the change of formula. Not to mention, this elimination changed A LOT. I juggled between Pandora and Laverne for quite a while and it was so hard to pick. But for plot reasons, I kept Laverne. Honestly, I really don't want to eliminate Pandora and she was an amazing character to write but out of everyone here, she was the most underwhelming in terms of plot. Dare I say underwhelming because literally EVERYONE here is bringing something into the table. She was only a tiiiiiiiiiiny bit underwhelming in plot compared to everyone else. Like 1%. But anywho, this will definitely not be the last time we see her. I would also like to thank 9fluffycloud9 for sending her in! Thank you!

Next we will have another ode, followed by Episode 6 where some actions aren't really stronger than words… literally. We will also have a bit of a… let's say switch up.


Elimination Table:

22nd - Sua

21st - Naka

20th - Pierre

19th - Pandora


Meaning behind the episode title: Tàiyáng shēng qǐ means the sun rises in Chinese. The reason why the title is in Chinese is because China is where the "camera obscura" concept has formed.

Camera obscura, which is latin of "dark chamber," according to sources is "a small room with light emitted from a tiny hole." (I am not entirely sure if this is a term in photography sooo correct me. XD) As you all know, everyone is trapped in a room to face everything Dimetrius has to say about them. Also do note that this wasn't a planned challenge as they were all somehow 'kidnapped' by Dimetrius. A bit similar to the camera obscura concept, the room is big and the 'light emitted from a tiny hole' is actually the door they're trying to open.

Remember that scene where Pandora gave Tala a picture of her in the previous ode? That might've been the biggest hint for this episode. Pandora's picture was her looking at the sunrise. She depicted that it was her first ever picture taken using the camera she has (it's the same camera that broke during the Wang Raanee episode, so that scene where the Chevs ran away from Paige during that time kind of hinted her elim) so it meant a lot to her, she gave it to Tala because Tala also means a lot to her. The picture has the caption "The sun rises when you and I meet, and when the wind blows, you will know my heart." This is a quote by Anton Herzen, a character from the game "Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box." If anyone knows the game, you probably know that the European title of it is "Professor Layton and Pandora's Box." And I'm pretty sure we all know that the person eliminated here is named Pandora. XD

It's also kind of possible to connect the Pandora's Box concept into this, but instead of opening a box with the seven sins it's something different. The box represents the room the contestants are stuck in. The "seven sins" might just be the "seven boxes" in this, tbh. I initially had everyone go through them by themselves but some scenes were repetitive so some of them were with others to spice things up. And instead of trying to not open the box like in the myth, the cast tries to "open the box" in order to be free.

As usual, below is the next episode title for Episode 6, which is honestly a lot more difficult to comprehend than the other titles, whoops. Thanks for reading!

-Příběh Mého Života-