MarkLevins: Sierra's hyper fangirl trait only being directed towards Cody (and to a lesser extent, Chris) always felt like wasted potential to me, so I'm so glad you liked what I did with her.
CI: Solid reasoning for the guess. I'm glad to see readers making their own theories about the mystery.
dumas: Eliminated contestants showing up again is certainly on the table, so who knows? Maybe.
Benji: Glad you liked the chapter!
Once again, I'm sorry for the wait. Grad school sure is grad school. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!
The camera shown the S.S McLean sailing the ocean at high speeds. It quickly cut to Chris, Chef, and B in the control room of the yacht, the latter two rapidly pressing buttons and adjusting levers as Chris yelled at them.
"Faster, faster!" Chris suddenly noticed that the cameras were turned on him. "Huh? Oh. Last time time on Total Drama Voyage" He hastily said.
"Teams were taken to Sherwood Forest and tasked to steal a treasure chest guarded by a few former contestants." The camera shown the teams standing in the woods, followed by various clips of Amy, Sammy, Brick, Jo, and Lightning. ""Noah used Owen and Sierra's notes to his team's advantage, and ultimately won the challenge for his team." Footage of Noah holding the binder in the confessionals is shown. Soon aterwards, a clip of Noah delivering the treasure chest to Chris is shown."
"Duncan and Mike faced off against each other in a tie breaker, Duncan seeming to have the challenge in the bag." A clip of Duncan and Mike's fight over the river is shown, Duncan having the upper hand against Mike. "However, after Duncan accidentally touched a sensitive issue, Mike went ballistic, brutally injuring our favorite delinquent, but also costing his team the win." The footage shown Mike headbutting and repeatedly striking Duncan with a club, to the horror of many of the other contestants. Soon, Duncan kicking Mike into the river is shown.
"It looked like Mike was an obvious boot, but as it turned out, Alejandro convinced most of the team to vote off Sierra instead, blaming her persistent questioning as the reason he flipped out." Clips of the elimination ceremony and Sierra questioning Mike in the cabin cruiser as shown.
The camera shown Chris, Chef, and B in the control room again. "And that's all you need to know. Heh heh."
"Yeah, that's all." Chef said. "Except for the crazy fangirl revealing that she's an accomplice for Lupin, and that our mystery thief has somehow followed us all the way from France." Footage of Sierra yelling out her apologies to Lupin is shown.
The camera cut back to the control room. "Zip it!" Chris yelled. "How'd you get back here so quickly anyway?"
"The Boat of Losers is faster than you think."
Chris shrugged and turned to the camera. "What awaits our sailors next? Who'll be getting the boot next?"
"Will Chris actually come up with a plan to deal with Arsène?" Chef asked.
"ZIP IT!" Chris turned back to the camera. "All these questions and more to be answered on Total! Drama! Voyage!"
The camera shown Noah, Emma and Kitty in the library of the S.S McLean. Noah was on a couch looking through the binder of Owen and Sierra's notes, Emma was at a desk reading from a law book, and Kitty was laying on the floor reading the manga One Piece.
"So, who do you think Team Heather voted off?" Kitty asked.
"Probably Mike. He messed up big time in the tiebreaker." Noah responded.
"I feel bad for Zoey. To have your boyfriend hospitalize your friend like that...man, I wouldn't know what to do if I was her."
"Agreed. Still, at least she's not on our team. Our team doesn't need to get involved in that mess." Emma said.
"Wow. Talk about sympathy." A voice said. The three of them turned their heads, seeing Gwen looking through bookshelves.
"Oh, hi Gwen!" Kitty said.
"What brings you here?" Emma asked, looking back to her book.
"Since Duncan's stuck in the infirmary, I figured I might as well bring him something to kill time." Gwen pulled out a book.
Kitty took a look at the title. "A Study in Scarlet." She read
"The first Sherlock Holmes book?" Emma asked.
Gwen nodded. "He won't admit it, but mystery is probably Duncan's second favorite genre next to horror. Especially stories where the protagonist makes the police look like idiots."
"Sounds on brand for him." Noah noted.
"So, did he tell you this when you guys were dating?" Kitty asked.
Gwen pulled out another book from the shelves, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. "No, but he did a pretty crappy job at hiding it. I remember how he made me join him in binge-watching the first few seasons of Psych when we were together. And judging by how much he knows about our mystery thief, I'm guessing that during his time in prison, he gained a thing for the books too."
"Do you think he uses mystery stories as inspiration for crimes?"
"Heh. Wouldn't surprise me."
"We get it, we're failing the Bechdel test this episode." Noah said.
Gwen rolled her eyes and walked off. As soon as she was out of earshot, Noah turned to the sisters. "So, if we lose a challenge before the merge, who are we voting off?"
"Do we have to talk about that?" Kitty asked.
"We do." Emma said. "It's best to decide ahead of time rather than put it off until we're hours away from needing to vote someone off."
Kitty sighed. "I dunno...I don't want to vote off anyone, but if I have to pick...Dawn maybe? She's really cool, but we don't know her that well. Also, I'm pretty sure she watches us sleep when we're in the cabin cruiser, and that's kiiiiinda off-putting."
"Dawn could also be a threat when the merge comes around. But still...she's a pretty big asset to the team at the moment." Emma said. "How about Brody?"
"But he and Geoff gave us some of their winnings when they won Ridonculous Race." Kitty said.
"Kit, you can't let personal feelings get in the way of this. We're gonna need to vote off either Gwen, Dawn, or Brody. Brody's the dumbest person on our team by far, and if somebody's going to cost us a challenge, chances are it'll be him."
"But he's also the strongest person on our team." Noah said. "If he's gone, and we need to do a physical challenge afterwards, we're basically guaranteed last place."
Kitty widened her eyes. "Wait a sec...does that mean the person you want us to vote off is-"
"Gwen. Yeah, she's good in challenges, but not to the point where her being gone will cripple us that significantly. Besides, she has a good amount of friends competing this season, so she'll have a lot of alliance opportunities when the merge comes around. Meaning that if she makes it to the merge, combined with how I'll no longer have my leader vote by then, she can outnumber our votes."
"But..." Kitty began to say.
Emma sighed. "Noah's right Kit."
"But you and her just made up!"
"I know. And I don't have any hard feelings towards her anymore. But this is all about strategy."
"So, are we all in agreement?" Noah asked.
Emma nodded. Kitty rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. "I dunno...are you sure we-"
"Kit? Does Gwen have Dawn's aura reading abilities or Brody's strength?" Emma asked.
"No, but-"
"Which one of the three is the most likely to make alliances with others in the merge?"
"I guess Gwen, but-"
"So we agree that she's the least helpful to our team, while also the biggest threat in the long-run?"
Kitty groaned. She couldn't counter Emma when she gets all lawyer on her.
Emma took a look at Kitty's face and sighed before putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Look, it's not like we intend to get last place. Maybe we can avoid needing to vote someone off until we reach the merge." Emma reassured. "Plus, we're just talking about possibilities. We might vote off someone else. And besides, we're not doing anything underhanded like Alejandro or the Ice Dancers."
"Yeah, I guess."
(Confessional: Gwen)
"I really should have voted for Noah back in London. Then Trent might have won in a tiebreaker or something. Now he controls over half of the votes, basically deciding which one of us gets voted off if we lose the challenge. And considering how Brody's our physically strongest teammate and that Dawn literally has supernatural powers, it doesn't take a psychic to know that I'll be going home if lose another challenge. Ugh."
Gwen opened the door to the infirmary. Duncan was in the bed, twirling his knife around. He was shirtless and had bandages wrapped around his body. "Hey Duncan." Gwen said as she entered.
Duncan stopped twirling his knife. "'Sup Gwen?"
Gwen handed Duncan the mystery books. "Figured you could use these to kill time."
Duncan lit up. "Ah, swee-" Duncan widened his eyes before clearing his throat. "I mean, cool. Whatevs."
Gwen chuckled as she pulled up a chair and sat near Duncan's bed. "So, are you still able to compete?"
"Yeah. Mike damaged a few ribs, but Chef said that I should be fine for the most part."
"I still can't believe Mike went berserk on you like that."
"Trust me, when I see that little twerp during tomorrow's challenge, I'll get payback."
"If he'll be around. After he cost them the challenge, I doubt Heather's team will keep him around."
"Huh. Didn't think about that." Duncan said.
Gwen took a look at the delinquent's face. He looked pretty upset about that. "Worried about how Zoey will take it, huh?"
"As if. Like I said, I wanted to get even with Mike for what he did."
"Yeah, yeah. You're a bad boy."
"And you shown nothing but kindness throughout the show, right?"
Gwen chuckled. "Guess you got me there. Still, we should check on Zoey when we can. She's probably taking this the hardest out of everyone."
Duncan shrugged as he started reading A Study in Scarlet. "Might as well."
(Confessional: Duncan)
"I can't let Zoey get thrown off her game like this. I know that Bridgette and Leshawna are planning to vote me off when they can, and I need all the allies I can get."
The camera cut to the Blades' cabin cruiser the next morning. Scott and Bridgette were whispering to each other on the couches while Leshawna was helping DJ make omlettes in the kitchen.
"Did you comfort Zoey?" Scott asked.
"I tried, but she wanted to be left alone. It looked like she needed some space." Bridgette responded. "I told her that my door was always open though, and she seemed to appreciate that."
Scott sighed. "Guess all we can do is hope for another opportunity before Duncan can comfort her."
Bridgette frowned. "Look Scott, I get we're in a game, but people aren't just strategy pieces."
"I know, I know. But it's not like getting eliminated fron the game will help Zoey with her Mike problems. We can help her and still use it for strategy."
Before Bridgette could respond, Chris' voice played over the intercoms.
"All teams, meet in the dining room of the SS McLean in 5 minutes. It's challenge time!"
All the teams were gathered in the dining room. To the surprise of almost all of the Shortcakes and Blades, Mike was still on Team Heather.
"Huh. Looks like they voted off Sierra instead of Mike." Kitty whispered.
"But...why though?" Gwen asked.
"Alejandro probably had something to do with it. He and Mike have been oddly close the past couple days." Noah surmised.
Bridgette turned to Zoey. "Looks like we have some time. You wanna talk with Mike?"
Zoey closed her eyes for a while. "Not...not yet." She decided.
Chris came walking in. "Hello sailors! Two bits of important news for today's challenge. First, like in Episode 6, we we won't be going to any new countries today. Instead, the first phase of the challenge will take place on the SS McLean!"
Scott smirked. That meant more time for him to look for the invincibility statue.
"And the second announcement?" Kitty asked.
"Chef is gonna be in charge of today's challenge!" Chris answered.
Zoey, Scott, and the contestants from Island all groaned. From their experience, if Chef was in charge, the challenge would be more brutal than usual.
On cue, Chef came walking in. Instead of the sailor costume he was wearing for most of the season, he was dressed in his usual attire. Yelow shirt, green pants, chef's hat, and apron. Held in both of his hands were hatchets. "Listen up maggots! Today, I'm in charge! And for today's challenge-"
"Let me guess. It's a cooking challenge?" Noah interrupted.
A hatchet immediately soared past Noah's head before lodging itself into a wall.
"Anyone else wanna interupt?" Chef asked.
The contestants wisely chose to stay quiet.
"Scrawny kid was partially right. Your cooking skills WILL be tested. But cooking isn't the only important part in running a restaurant."
"A restaurant? In the middle of the ocean?" Leshawna questioned.
"More common than you think." Kitty said.
"Before we begin, there's going to be two important things about this challenge. First of all, you don't get any safety nets for second place. Everyone on BOTH teams that don't win the challenge are on the chopping block."
This took everybody aback. "So, does that mean we can vote for people on the other team during the elimination ceremony?" Alejandro asked.
"Nope. Because for the second important part of this challenge, you kids won't be getting any votes. At the end of the challenge, the team leaders of the two losing teams will nominate who they think was their weakest player. And then, I choose who gets eliminated."
"Wait a second, does that mean the team leaders are just untouchable this challenge?!" Mike asked.
Chef threw his second hatchet, the hatchet soaring past Mike's head before cutting into a nearby table. A lock of hair from Mike's head fell off. "LET ME FINISH! I can choose any one on either losing team. The nominations are just a suggestion from the leader. And of course, if the leader doesn't justify their nomination very well, then they might not be cut out for leadership."
Heather crossed her arms. Evidently, she couldn't just nominate Alejandro for elimination without a good reason. Otherwise, Chef might choose to eliminate her.
"Well, I'll be leaving you kids to Chef's devices." Chris said.
"Any reason why you're leaving things to Chef?" Emma asked.
"I'll be busy with some business matters about the show." Chris walked off.
(Confessional: Alejandro)
"Chris told my team that we can't say anything about Sierra knowing our mystery thief. Otherwise he might disqualify us from the competition outright. How the producers allow him to do things like that is beyond me, but as long as it doesn't interfere with the competition, it's no concern of mine."
"For the second phase of he challenge, the dining room fo the S.S McLean will be serving as a restaurant. And naturally, you will be the workers. Cooks, waiters, busboys, and so on." Chef said. "You'll all work in the same kitchen, but will be serving different tables. I'll choose the winning team based off their performance."
"Second phase?" Leshawna asked.
"You heard me. Before we open up for the patrons, we need to test your cooking skills. This phase will be similar to the cooking challenge all the way back in Season 1. Teams will be making a three course meal, and I'll rate each dish from 1 to 10. However, only one person will be making each dish. The others can assist them with preparations though. Whichever team gets the highest overall score decides two thirds of the menu for the second phase of the challenge. The team that scores the second highest will decide the last third. Last place doesn't decide squat."
"Wait, what good will deciding the menu do?" Brody asked.
"The team who decides the menu would naturally choose dishes that they're more skilled at. That would give them an advantage." Emma answered.
"Lawyer girl's right on the money. Now teams, to the kitchen! And pick your cooks!" Chef yelled. "Everyone else can clean the kitchen or prep the cooks with what they need. Ya'll got 2 hours!"
The camera cut to the teams in a large, lavish kitchen, similar to one in a restaurant. As expected of a kitchen, there were several cabinets, stoves, ovens, and sinks. There was also a large freezer room at the back of the kitchen for meats, and a handful of supply cabinets for produce and canned ingredients.
Duncan pointed to DJ and Bridgette. "You two are obviously cooking. You're the best chefs here."
Bridgette shrugged. "No complaints here. I work great with sushi."
DJ punched his palm. "I'll make Chef the best dessert he's ever had."
Duncan then turned to Scott. "You're a farmer right? You good around a kitchen?"
Scott smiled and opened his mouth before Zoey interrupted. "He made a mutant quiche that scared away our taste tester for a cooking challenge."
DJ shivered. "Don't remind me."
"Oh, it's not like you did much better! You just threw around random leaves and called it a 'salad'." Scott shot back.
"Boy, let me be the third cook. My pineapple chutney was all the rage back at home." Leshawna claimed.
"But...aren't you allergic to pineapples?" Bridgette asked.
"Yeah, it gave your arms a pretty bad rash back in season 1." DJ recalled.
Leshawna rubbed the back of her head. "Yeahhh...that's kinda annoying. Still, a few rashes is worth it if it means first place!"
"An allergy will make thing slower though. What else you can make?" Duncan asked.
"Well, I don't make it as much, but I can make a pretty mean mango chutney too."
"Mango chutney it is." Duncan then glanced at Zoey, who was staring at Team Heather, specifically Mike, from afar.
"So obviously I'll be a cook." Heather said to the rest of the team. "Anyone else?"
"I can make a killer steak. Nobody's better at beating meat than me." Harold boasted.
Alejandro and Heather looked at Harold oddly. B facepalmed.
"What? ...What?"
Alejandro turned to Mike, who wasn't really paying attention. "By any chance Mike, do you know how to cook? If not, I can be the third cook."
"Yeah. Manitoba's survivalist skills lets me know my way around ingredients." The way he said it, he sounded almost ashamed.
"Alright. You can make the appetizer then Mike." Heather said. "Let's go team!"
The camera panned over to the Strawberry Shortcakes, Gwen pretending to gag. "I can't believe Heather's put on the nice girl act for so long."
"Focus." Emma told her before turning to the rest of the team. "I'm making dumplings, and Noah will be making curry. Who's gonna be making the dessert?"
Brody backed away. "My mom banned me from even touching a stove. I'm not your guy for this."
"The only things I bake are brownies. And taste isn't exactly the focus for them." Dawn said.
Brody processed what Dawn meant and smiled. "Right on!" Brody offered a high five, Dawn accepting.
"I'm not much of a cook either. I kinda rely on Emma or Mom for that." Kitty said, somewhat embarrassed.
Gwen shrugged. "I can make a cake or something."
Noah raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you nearly kill Chris when you tried baking?"
"That's because me and Lindsay were following Heather's stupid recipe. Trust me, if I follow my own recipe, I can make something, well, not exactly amazing, but at least it's something."
Emma and Noah turned to each other and shrugged. Noah then turned to the rest of the team. "Alright then. Kitty, you supply Gwen with whatever ingredients she needs. Dawn, you do the same for Emma, and Brody-"
Brody was at the sink, filling a spaghetti strainer with water. Naturally, the water kept leaking through the holes. "Huh. How can this thing hold soup at all?"
"...Just don't get in the way." Noah walked to one of the supply cabinets.
(Confessional: Gwen)
"If I wanna avoid getting eliminated, I have to do everything I can to get our team to avoid any more elimination ceremonies until the merge. It might be a longshot, but hey, my team in World Tour only had one contestant eliminate before the merge. ...Granted, that one contestant was me, and we got last place in like, three other chalenges that turned out to be non-elimination episodes, but...I'll shut up now."
Zoey placed more nori seaweed for Bridgette, who was currently chopping up a roasted eel.
"So, how long have you been making sushi?" Zoey asked.
"I learned it in home ec class back when I was 14." Bridgette answered. "It's not something I make all the time, but when I do, I tend to stick the landing." As soon as she finished talking, the eel was cut into several cleanly cut pieces.
"Whoa."
Bridgette got out a batch of rice and spread it out on one end of the nori. She then flipped it upside down and gently started putting pieces of the eel, some cucumber slices and avocado. She also carefully lined pieces of gari, and dashes of wasabi over the other side of the seaweed before rolling it up and cutting the sushi roll into 8 pieces.
"That looks amazing Bridgette!" Zoey complimented.
Bridgette took a look at a nearby stove. "Thanks. But it's not done yet. We still need to wait for the eel sauce to finish boiling."
"Well, we still have plenty of time." Zoey said. She started looking at Mike for a while. She then noticed Brigette's worried expression and quickly changed her gaze to Scott, who was opening several cabinets in the kitchen, no doubt looking for the immunity idol.
Bridgette could tell that Zoey didn't want to talk about Mike, so she brought up a different subject. "You still don't trust Scott, right?" Bridgette asked.
"Guilty as charged. The Florida incident just raised too many red flags, and it might be my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw him smirking at Alejandro back when we lost back in Barcelona."
Bridgette bit her lip. She felt guilty for what she was about to do. But if she wanted to win Zoey over from Duncan, she would need to give Zoey a reason not to vote off Scott next elimination ceremony. "Trust me, I didn't have the best opinion of Scott either early in the game. And I still wouldn't exactly call him a friend. Still, he's not as bad as he seems. He stood up for DJ back when Alejandro was playing mind games with him. And somehow I doubt he'd be willing to give himself a black eye just for strategy."
"I guess..."
"Besides. He was a completely different guy back in All-Stars wasn't he? Maybe Fang mauling him messed with his brain a bit." She joked.
Zoey held a hand over her mouth as she giggled. "Bridgette!"
The camera cut to Kitty and Gwen in a different section of the kitchen, the latter putting a batch of batter into a stove.
"Alright!" Kitty exclaimed as she high-fived Gwen.
"Slow down there. We're not even finished yet."
Kitty shrugged. "I gotta say though, this challenge seems pretty tame."
"Maybe for not, but we haven't even gotten to the second phase of the challenge yet."
"Still, it's just essentially running a restaurant right? I mean, I know it's not easy to do, but it doesn't seem to be dangerous."
"You never worked customer service before, have you?"
The camera cut to Mike, who just finished steaming mushrooms. All he needed to do now was put on some parsley. "Mike, can we talk?" A voice asked.
Mike turned his head, and saw that it was Alejandro. "Oh, hey man. Is...is this about last challenge?"
Alejandro nodded, as he grabbed the pan Mike used and started rinsing it in the sink. "Mike, I'm worried. It took me a long time to convince Harold and B to keep you on the team after yesterday's incident."
Mike rubbed his arm. "I...I get it. But I have it under control. Probably."
Alejandro started scrubbing the pan with a sponge. "Mike. With all due respect, is there anything else about your personalities that you didn't mention on the show? Like, an even more secret, more evil personality than Mal?"
"Dude, don't joke about that." Mike sat on a counter. "I hate to admit it, but the one who nearly killed Duncan yesterday...that was me. God, how am I gonna explain this to Zoey?"
Alejandro put away the pan and sat down next to Mike. "Amigo, I've watched season 4. And I have to say, your biggest hurdle in your relationship with Zoey wasn't your personalities. It was your fear. You were too scared to talk with Zoey, and it resulted in you almost losing her entirely."
Mike sighed. "I guess I should talk with her. But...I dunno. She looked horrified. I don't know if she's ready to talk about it yet. And if I force her to, what if...what if she..."
Mike didn't finish, but Alejandro knew where he was going with this. "Very well Mike. Still, I'd at least suggest you apologize to her for scaring her. Explain why you snapped like that, and that it won't happen again. You don't have to force her to have a conversation to do that."
Mike smiled. "Yeah. You're right Alejandro.
(Confessional: Alejandro)
"I can't let Mike be too distracted for this challenge. He's my best shot at getting Heather eliminated. And stirring up some conflict within the Blades won't hurt either."
The camera flashed to Chef and all the contestants back in the dining room. Chef was seated at a table while everyone else was standing. There were also three food carts that held covered dishes, one cart next to each team.
"First, the appetizers." Chef said.
Leshawna, Mike, and Emma each took their dish from the respective carts of their team and walked up to Chef.
"Place them down."
They did so. Chef grabbed the cover of the dish on his left and lifted it up. Several dumplings, garnished with soy sauce.
"That's my dish Chef." Emma said. "Pan fried chicken and cabbage dumplings."
"Did I ask?" Chef responded.
Emma was taken aback.
"The looks aren't bad. Nothing special either though." Chef grabbed a dumpling and threw it in his mouth. "You put too much soy sauce on. It takes a while to taste the dumpling itself."
"Understood Che-"
"Did I say you could talk?!"
Emma winced. Chef felt like a completely different host from Don and Chris. Chef's words cut her down, as if she was being reprimanded at by a professor at college, or a superior at work.
"The texture is also all over the place. Some parts of the dumpling are softer than others. The taste itself isn't half bad. The chicken was cooked well, and the ginger and cabbage bring out more flavor. But there's not much here that can't be done better at any chinese restaurant down the street. You get a 6."
Emma bowed. "Thank you Chef."
Strawberry Shortcakes: 0-6
Chef lifted the second tray. A chicken salad with a thick jam-like spread with chunks of mango laying over it. "Hmm. A salad with chutney eh?"
Leshawna stepped forward. "You know it. My mango chutney can knock the socks off the devil."
Chef stared at the dish for a bit. "The chutney looks good, but you didn't spread it out evenly enough." Chef jabbed a part of the salad on one of the edges of the bowl and shown it to Leshawna. "Look at this girl. Not a drop of chutney is on it."
Leshawna nodded but said nothing.
Chef took a bite of the salad he picked out. "On it's own, the salad's nothing special. Would probably give you a 5 or 6 if you served it to me alone." Chef then jabbed a portion of the salad with chutney on it. "Now let's see if the chutney's as good as you say."
Chef brought it to his mouth and widened his eyes. "Dang." Chef took a second bite from the salad with chutney. Then a third.
Leshawna smirked while crossing her arms. "Well?"
Chef put the fork down. "You weren't lying girl. You know your spreads. I'd give you a 9 ordinarily, but the uneven proportions and the salad itself being nothing special drags it down. Still, I'm in a generous mood. You get an 8."
Killer Blades 0-8
Leshawna fist pumped the air. "That's what I'm talking about!" Leshawna walked back to her team.
Chef took a look at Mike. "That means you're last for the appetizers."
"I guess so." Mike said.
Chef lifted the cover over the final dish. A plate of steamed mushrooms with parsley and garlic spread on it. "...That's it?"
Mike raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"You steamed the mushrooms, but that's it. No butter, no sauce. It doesn't even look like you used salt and pepper!" Chef grabbed a piece of parsley. "And you didn't even bother to mix the herbs in while you were cooking the mushrooms. You just haphazardly spread it on there afterwards."
Mike widened his eyes. He was only thinking about what he could use if he was camping in the wild. It completely slipped his mind that Chef expected this to be restaurant quality.
Chef bite into several of the mushrooms. "Texture is top notch. But as predicted, you did next to nothing to add flavor to it. Boy, when you're in the kitchen, I expect you to take advantage of it. 5 out of 10, and that's being generous."
Team Heather 0-5
(Confessional: Mike)
Mike facepalmed. "Man! I can't believe I blew it so badly! I guess Manitoba's cooking is pretty much exclusive to the wild, so...no. No, you can't rely on them to do everything for you Mike. You just gotta learn from it for the second phase of the challenge."
The camera cut to Chef trying out the entree's cooked by the teams. Harold, Bridgette, and Noah were standing near Chef. He was chewing on a piece of sirloin steak. "Hmmm."
"What do you think?" Harold asked.
Chef swallowed the piece in his mouth. "Flavor could be stronger, but not half bad. Really tender too. You get a 7."
Team Heather 5-12
"Boo-yah!" Harold exclaimed.
"7 points isn't much to brag about dude." Duncan said.
Chef lifted the lid of the next dish. Several well cut pieces of sushi, beautifully bathed with eel sauce.
"Who's dish is this?"
Bridgette stepped forward. "Mine dish Chef. It's a cooked eel roll."
Chef picked up and started chewing a piece of Bridgette's eel sushi before swallowing it. "Mmm. Not bad at all." Chef happily ate another piece of sushi in his mouth. "What did you use for the eel sauce?"
"Nothing too special. Soy sauce, vinegar. Little bit of sake." Bridgette answered. "Oh, and I used some chardonay as well."
Chef happily took another piece of sushi. "Then it must be in the sushi itself. Wasabi and ginger inside the roll? Not something I see every day."
"It was a risk, but I'm glad I pulled it off."
Chef nodded. "Being a chef's all about taking risks. And in your case, it worked out. You get a perfect score surfer girl."
Killer Blades 8-18
Duncan, DJ, Zoey, and Leshawna all cheered.
"Way to go Bridgette!" Zoey cheered.
Leshawna high fived Bridgette as she walked back to the team. "That's how we roll!"
Chef turned to Noah. "That leaves your dish, scrawny kid." Chef lifted the cover off the final dish. A bowl divided in two. White rice on one half, brown chicken curry on the other. The interesting thing was how the two halves were shaped like the symbols for yin and yang. For good measure, the rice side had a circle of curry inside it, while the curry side had a small circle of rice in it to represent the dots of the yin-yang symbol.
"Rice and chicken curry." Noah said.
"Decided to make things fancy huh?" Chef asked.
Noah nodded. "The symbol was a bit of inspiration from a certain someone who came into my life."
Emma put a hand over her heart. "Awww." Kitty said
Chef dug into the curry and rice with his spoon and put it in his mouth. "Good to know that the presentation isn't the only good part about it. The taste's good, the spice is just right, and it's a good balance of sweet and spicy." Chef put the spoon down. "I'd give you an 8 or a 9, but you also made this dish mean something to you personally. And if there's one thing that can redeem even the worst cooks, it's passion. You get a perfect score too."
Strawberry Shortcakes 6-16
"Alright!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Way to go Noah my man!" Brody cheered.
Noah walked back to his team, Emma giving him a loving hug. Heather frowned at ths display.
(Confessional: Heather)
"Noah's not the mushy type. That was the most transparent move to get bonus points that I ever saw. And the worst part about that is, it was actually a pretty smart plan."
"Alright, last up is the dessert." Chef said. Heather, Gwen, and DJ picked up their dishes and placed them in front of Chef. "Remember. The team that scores the highest decides most of the menu for the second phase of the challenge. This will give the winning team a massive advantage. If you screwed up your desert, it's very possible that you let your team down for the challenge."
Heather and Gwen nodded. DJ gulped in nervousness.
Chef lifted the cover of one of the dishes. An upside down cake with several circular pineapple slices, a maraschino cherry in the center of each one. "Who does this belong to?"
"That's mine Chef. An pineapple upside down cake flambe." Heather spoke up. She then turned to Gwen. "And unlike some people, I know how to make it edible."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Maybe try making a better recipe for one next time."
Heather got out a knife and cut the cake into 8 slices. "Enjoy."
Chef jabbed a chunk of a slice with his fork and put it in his mouth. "Mmmm." Chef took a few more bites and smacked his lips. "Could have been lit better, and a bit too moist to my liking, but I ain't complaining much. 8 out of 10!" Chef declared while licking his fingers clean.
Team Heather 12-20
Heather smirked at Gwen. "Looks like my recipe wasn't the problem." She then proudly walked back to her team.
"Ugh. Great." Gwen said bitterly.
"It'll be fine Gwen. You just need to get a 5 or higher, and we'll at least get second." Emma told her. Nobody on either Team Heather or the Shortcakes thought first place was a possibility at this point. With the Blades having 18 points, and their final cook being DJ, they had the first phase of the challenge in the bag.
Chef lifted the cover off the dish in the middle. It was a cake as well, but a strawberry cake with whipped cream and a strawberry on top. "Let me guess. This from the shortcakes?" Chef asked.
Gwen nodded. "I figured it could be good luck."
Chef cut a slice and took a bite out of it. His eyes widened.
"Well?" Gwen asked hopefully.
Chef immediately grabed a pitcher of water and poured some water down his throat. "Gah! What did you put in these?!"
That wasn't a good sign. "Well, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, salt,-"
"How much salt?"
"About 2 cups." Gwen answered.
"Two cups?!" Heather and DJ asked in shock.
"Gwen, you should only add, like, a teaspoon of salt to cake!" Bridgette told her.
Gwen widened her eyes.
"No wonder it's so dry!" Chef then took a look at the inside of the cake itself. "And what's this?!"
Gwen looked at what Chef was pointing to. The inside of the cake looked almost flesh-like. "Whoa."
"Girl, did you put the dead in your batter or something?" Leshawna asked.
"How long did you mix the batter for?" Chef asked Gwen.
"15, 20 minutes?" Gwen recalled.
"Like I thought. You more than overmixed the batter. Also, how many eggs did you put in the batter?"
Gwen tried to recall. "Fourteen, maybe fif..."
"Over a dozen. You put over a dozen eggs in." Chef interrupted.
"How many should have been in there?"
"Five. Maximum."
Noah turned to Kitty. "And why didn't you stop her?"
"I only brought the ingredients for her! I didn't see much about how she was making it." Kitty replied.
"When we get home, I'm teaching you how to cook." Emma told her.
Chef pushed the cake away from him. "Unbelievable. Did you at least put in the right amount of butter?"
"Oh, I ran out of that, so I melted some cheese for the rest of it." Gwen said.
"Why wouldn't you? They're both dairy! Of course they're interchangeable!"
Gwen seemed confused. "...Yeah."
Chef held up a single finger.
Strawberry Shortcakes 16-17
(Confessional: Gwen)
Gwen rubbed her arm awkwardly. "So...I need to spend more time in the kitchen apparently."
Gwen walked up to the Shortcakes. "Sorry guys."
"It goes without saying that you're not gonna be one of the cooks anymore in the next phase of the challenge, right?" Noah asked.
"Trust me, I'm not gonna argue against that."
"That means DJ's dish is last." Chef said.
"Hello first place!" Duncan exclaimed.
Chef lifted the cover of the final dish. It was a pie with several berries such as raspberries and blackberries in it. On the top of the pie was vanilla ice cream. The pie was already cut into 8 slices.
"Wildberry pie à la Mode. That was one of the best desserts mama made for me when I was a kid." DJ said.
Chef too a slice of pie and put in on his plate. He calmly ate it with a stern expression on his face. Several minutes of silence passed. When he finished the dish, he pushed the plate away. "Well?" Chef asked.
DJ was confused. "What do you mean?"
"How many points do you think this dish is worth?"
DJ widened his eyes.
"What?!" Heather yelled.
"Hang on, you didn't let us score our own-" Emma began to protest.
Chef banged his fist on the table. "Shut your pieholes! I'm talking to him!" Chef turned to DJ. "Go on."
DJ started to sweat nervously. This was a test, but of what? To know how to read people? To rate the taste of cooking without bias? It didn't look like Chef was particularly impressed with his dish. Did DJ mess something up? No, he didn't do anything different from the pie than he usually did. Maybe the dish in general just wasn't suited to Chef's palette. Then again, it's not like Chef was disappointed or disgusted, so the score couldn't be too low. But what if that was part of the test? Maybe Chef hid his reaction in order to make it harder for DJ? Well, worst case scenario, Chef would just give the accurate score, right? Wait, what if he got it wrong, it would be 0 points?
"I...I..." DJ stuttered.
"Out with it boy."
"Fi...five?"
"What?" Duncan reacted.
"Boy, are you messing with us?" Leshawna asked.
Cnef closed his eyes and sighed. "Five it is."
Killer Blades 18-23
"Alright, first phase of the challenge is over. Killer Blades, Team Heather. Go and list the dishes that you want to put on the menu. Shortcakes, since you have free time, go clean the kitchen. Maybe it'll motivate you to make better food."
Emma and Noah gave annoyed looks at Gwen.
"I said I was sorry!" Gwen yelled.
DJ walked back to his team.
"DJ, what was up with that?" Bridgette asked. "You know your cooking is worth more than a 5."
"I guess, but...I dunno. What if it wasn't?"
"Look man, it's no big deal. We still got first place." Duncan said.
Scott gave out a smirk.
(Confessional: Scott)
"And just like that, I have a new angle."
The camera cut to Chef holding up a menu in front of the contestants. The menu mostly consisted of seafood and italian dishes that were picked by DJ and Bridgette, with Leshawna also adding multiple meat and rice platters. Steak, the majority of desserts, and a handful of soups and stews were added by Team Heather. The various tables in the dining room were set up, with chairs pushed in, and tablecloths covering the tables. "Alright maggots. But cooking isn't the only important part in running a restaurant. There's also how you handle the customers."
"And that's what the contestants who aren't cooking will be doing, right?" Dawn asked.
"Bingo. There's not necessarily going to be fixed positions for these. But if you're not cooking, you better be doing something. Whether you're taking people's orders, clearing tables, or giving ingredients for your cooks."
"So, when will the customers be coming?" Harold asked.
The whistle of a steamboat sounded from the distance. "Right now." Chef smiled.
Chef led the contestants to the topdeck and gestured to a boat coming from the horizon. A large steam boat that was carrying at least 15 men of varying shapes and sizes. All of them wearing orange jumpsuits.
"Wait a second...you mean...?" Zoey began to ask.
"Yup. You'll be serving prisoners. Some of them aren't too dangerous. Some of them-" Chef pointed to one of the men. A large man with short blue hair and a hook on his left hand. The psycho killer from Season 1. "You don't wanna tick off."
All of the contestants were scared to varying degrees. DJ let out a high pitch yelp of terror.
"Yeah. Yeah I was wrong about this challenge being tame." Kitty said.
Chef turned to the contestants. "Well? What are ya'll waiting for? Get to work!"
DJ grabbed Duncan by the shoulders. "Brother, please please tell me you know how to sweet talk these guys!"
Duncan shook DJ's hands off of him. "Relax man. You'll be a cook, so you won't have to deal with them. Besides, inmates aren't as scary as movies make them out to be."
(Confessional: Duncan)
"I was only halfway telling the truth. When I was in prison, it ws pretty much a gamble for if you're hanging out with cool troublemakers, or psychos that make Izzy seem normal. Yeah, there are normal guys who just made bad decisions over there. And there's also people who sell their kids to the mines, or blow up cafe's for mispronouncing their name too often. ...Huh. Thinking about it, my friends at prison were pretty messed up."
The camera cut to the prisoners seated at various tables in the dining room. Most sat alone. A few prisoners sat in groups. Noah, Dawn, Emma, DJ, Bridgette, Leshawna, Heather, Harold, and Mike were in the kitchen. That left the rest of the contestants to actually interact with the patrons. Chef was by the door to the kitchen so he coud easily switch between overseeing the kitchen and the dining room. Contestants acting as waiters frequently went in and out of the kitchen, having order written down on sheets of paper to give to the cooks.
Zoey walked up to a bald, lanky prisoner. "Hi! I'm Zoey, I'll be your waiter."
The prisoner widened his eyes. "Um...yeah."
Zoey was secretly relieved as she handed the inmate a menu. This man didn't seem too dangerous. "Here's your menu. I'll be back in 5 minutes if you're ready to order."
The man put a hand over Zoey's, to her confusion. He then slowly took the menu from Zoey, putting his hand over his head in disbelief. "Ye-yeah. Thanks."
Zoey raised an eyebrow and shrugged. She walked towards Duncan, who was currently pouring a glass of water for a muscular, elderly looking man with glasses and short black hair.
"There's your water man."
The inmate grabbed the water and took a look at it.
"Hey Duncan? I feel like a couple of the customers here are kinda weird around me."
"Trust me red. It's not just you." He tilted his head towards Kitty, who was taking a selfie with a prisoner at a table, who also seemed to be in a trance in her presence. "Most of these guys have been behind bars for years, or even decades. And for the ones who don't get any visitors, seeing a chick again would be almost like a mirage."
Zoey seemed taken aback. "Whoa. I never realized that. Was...was that the case for you when you got out?"
Duncan shook his head. "I was only in the slammer for like, 8 months. Compared to how long most of the guys I knew in prison have been behind bars, I might as well have been at boarding school. Still, I learned enough to know how these guys work."
Suddenly, the inmate splashed Duncan with the water.
"Are you deaf? I told you, no ice in it."
"Hey, take it easy!" Zoey yelled.
Duncan rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Sorry man. I didn't hear that. I'll get you a second glass ASAP."
Zoey raised an eyebrow at this. Duncan gestured to Chef, who was watching.
"Something tells me starting a fight won't look good for our team." He whispered.
"Anyway, I'll take the minestrone, and the chicken alfredo." The elderly inmate said.
Duncan was about to write it down before Scott suddenly popped up next to him and Zoey. "Don't worry man, I got it."
"When did you-?" Zoey began to ask.
Scott took the muscular old man's menu before walking off.
"Looks like he's been taking lessons from Dawn." Duncan joked.
"Don't you find it kinda weird how suddenly he jumped on the opportunity to take this order from you?" Zoey asked.
"Dude probably just wants to look as good as possible to the team. He doesn't really have any allies."
Most of the contestants outside the kitchen suddenly heard the sound of glass breaking. They turned their heads and saw Alejandro on the floor rubbing his head in pain. Broken glass was on his shirt, and surrounding his body. "What's your problem?!" Alejandro yelled.
The prisoner, a man who was probably in his late 20s or early 30s, with spiky crimson hair. The most catching thing about him was that over his right eye was an eyepatch. He was shuffling cards with a calm expression on his face. "My apologies, sir. I just happened to see a fly on your face, and decided it would be best to kill it for you. I figured that I might as well do my waiter a favor." He wasn't even looking at Alejandro.
B helped Alejandro stand back up. Alejandro was about to yell at the inmate before he took a look at Chef. He was gazing at the incident intently.
(Confessional: Alejandro)
"Of course! It's so simple! We're not only tested on taking the patrons orders. We also need to deal with them in a professional manner. Starting a fight with one will harm my team. That, and possibly my face."
Alejandro bowed his head. "Thank you for your consideration sir. But next time, please just let me know. This behavior won't be tolerated a second time."
The inmate stopped shuffling his cards and looked Alejandro in the eye. He then let out a mischevious smile. "I make no promises."
Brody was at a table, talking with two young men who were probably in their mid 20s. One had curly black hair, the other had a buzz cut.
"So that's how Doug got caught impersonating doctors!" The one with curly hair said. "Turns out, you can go to jail for it. We wouldn't have made that bet with each other if we knew."
"I'm surprised we didn't get caught sooner honestly. Me and Larry had no idea what we were doing." The man with the buzz cut, apparently named Doug, said.
"Hahaha! Dudes, that is messed up!" Brody laughed.
"No kidding! A lot of people nearly O.D'd because of us." Doug said. He and Larry started laughing. That comment however didn't get Brody to laugh.
"So, when's our order arriving?" Larry asked.
"Huh? Oh right! You guys didn't order."
"Oooooohhhh." The two inmates realized.
Gwen looked at the scene and rolled her eyes. She then turned back to the inmate she was serving, writing on a clipboard. "So, that'll be a medium rare steak with steamed mushrooms. Anything else?"
The camera zoomed out, revealing that the psycho killer with a hook was seated at the table. "How about a new nasal bone to make up for the one you broke?"
Gwen turned around and headed towards the kitchen. "That was three years ago. You'll be fine."
The camera cut to the inside of the kitchen. "I need more mangoes, ASAP!" Leshawna yelled out to DJ.
DJ was boiling spaghetti noodles. "Kinda busy here!"
Heather was impatiently tapping her feet near the oven. "Come on! How slow is this oven?"
"Dawn! We told you not to put that in the batter!" Emma yelled.
"I wasn't going to! They were meant for me!" Dawn yelled back. She was looking unusually stressed out. She barely did any cooking, so suddenly being nominated as the replacement cook for Gwen was not in her usual territory.
Noah brought a plate of well cut eel sushi to Chef. "Got this order done."
Chef took a look at the sushi, and smacked Noah on the head. "Boy, pull that again, and I'll send you home right away!"
"Huh?"
Chef grabbed a piece of sushi and showed it to Noah. "You only cooked on side of the eel! The other side is so undercooked it might as well be raw! And let me tell you something, eel is the last kind of sushi that should be served raw. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"Ok, I got it!" Noah dumped the sushi in the trash bin before going back to his station.
(Confessional: Noah)
"Ugh. Thanks to Gwen, the enemy teams had full control of the menu. Barely any of the stuff we're serving I know how to make. Unless there are a lot of chutney fanatics on the boat, we're screwed."
Chef shook his head. Nothing was on fire, but it was a disorganized mess in the kitchen. The team members who weren't cooks made the mistake of only prioritizing being waiters. So that left the cooks without any people to prep ingredients for them. And due to how there were only 3 cooks per team, not many of them had time to help each other out due to all the orders to keep track of.
Gwen entered the kitchen and walked towards Dawn, Emma, and Noah. She was holding a sheet of paper. "We need a medium rare steak, and steamed mushroom."
Noah took the sheet. "Ugh. Any chance either of you two know how to cook steak?"
Emma and Dawn both shook their heads. "Now what do we do?" Emma asked.
"Ugh. We barely know how to make any of these dishes!" Noah yelled.
Gwen took a look around the kitchen. "Harold doesn't seem to be busy."
"Yeah. And he's also on the other team." Emma replied. "Why would we give an advantage to Team Heather?"
"Don't you remember what Chef said? We're all running the restaurant."
"He also said that the two teams that do the worst are both up for elimination. We can't risk any other team getting first place."
"Wait a second." Noah said. "Gwen, give the order to Harold."
Emma widened her eyes. "Noah, what are you-!"
"Gwen's right. We're all running the restaurant. And this kitchen isn't exactly divided in sections."
Dawn and Emma realized where Noah was going with this. "So we're supposed to be working together to get things operating smoothly." Dawn stated.
Noah nodded at Gwen. Gwen then walked up to Harold. "Hey, Harold. We got an order that none of our teams' cooks really know how to do."
Harold smiled. "I see that even the enemy team recognizes my mad skills."
Gwen handed the paper to Harold. "Medium rare steak. Our team will work on the mushrooms."
"Understood."
"Thanks Harold." Gwen walked out of the kitchen Emma widened her eyes. So that's what the real point of the challenge was. She then grabbed a pair of pans and banged them together. "Everyone, listen up!"
"Yo! Next time when you're holding a meeting with your team, can you not make so much noise?" Leshawna asked.
"This is for ALL of us, Leshawna. There are some dishes here that people on other teams have more experience with. So it's pretty clear that the teams are going to have to work together on this."
"Wait, you really think so?" Mike asked.
Emma nodded. "Dawn, you know your way around herbs, so you can help with dishes from other teams that need some garnishing. Noah, you can make chutney, so you can help Leshawna."
Heather crossed he arms in suspicion. "And why should we do this?"
"This will help out all of our teams. We can cover more ground with dishes, and get them done quicker."
Heather realized the logic and shrugged. "Kinda like an alliance."
"Exactly. So, what do you guys say?"
Bridgette, Leshawna, and DJ all discussed with each other, as did Heather, Harold, and Mike. Eventually, Bridgette spoke up. "We're in,"
"Same here." Heather said.
Chef nodding in satisfaction.
(Confession: Chef)
"Throughout this whole season, these teams have been doing squat to improve their teamwork most of the time. That's where the fun of this challenge comes in. They have to learn how to co-operate, both with teammates and enemies, or deal with some ticked off criminals."
(Confession: Heather)
"Helping out the enemy team? Makes me wanna barf. But if it helps the chances for OUR team, then it's worth it. Besides, just because I'll help with their dishes doesn't mean I'll put in all my effort in it. That's reserved for my team's orders."
Scott walked up to DJ. "The minestrone's ready. Working on the Alfredo right now.." DJ said.
"You didn't include any peppers, right? Like I said, the guy said he was allergic." That was a lie, naturally.
DJ nodded. "No worries. They're not in it."
Scott gave out an exaggerated sigh of relief. "That's good to know. From what I heard, the allergy's pretty severe, so if it turned out he bloated up, that would be a massive mark against our team."
As Scott talked, DJ began to sweat nervously. He didn't include any peppers in the minestrone, did he?
"Man, I'd hate for it to be fatal for him." Scott continued. "It would be awful to have that on my mind." Scott then widened his eyes in fake shock. "Oh wait, you and your mom got sued for that before, right? I'm so, so sorry DJ. I didn't mean to remind you of that."
DJ forced a smile. "N-no problem. Though...I guess it couldn't hurt to make a second Minestrone. You know, just in case?"
Scott shrugged. "If you insist man."
Scott walked out of the kitchen, smirking. It was too easy to lie to DJ, especially now that he's second guessing his cooking abilities. Scott walked towards the muscular inmate. "Your Minestrone's going to have to wait."
"How come?"
"The cook made a bit of a mistake, so he's making a second one. It'll probably arrive with your Alfredo."
The inmate clenched his fist. "So, it's because of a screwup!?"
Scott nodded. "Yeah, sometimes the cooks make a mistake. But relax, we'll-"
The old man stood up, glaring daggers at Scott. "Who was the cook?" He started reaching for the fork on his table.
"Huh? Well it-"
Before Scott could finish he suddenly felt someone push down on his head, forcing him to bow.
"SO sorry about that sir!" Duncan hastily said, catching the attention of the other contestants who were acting as waiters. "Don't worry, we'll get your food done as soon as we can."
Alejandro, Gwen, and Zoey were all surprised. They never saw Duncan that worried about someone being upset before. Chef left the kitchen to take a look at what was going on.
The old man turned to Duncan, pulling away from his fork. "You were the one who was going to be my waiter originally right?"
Duncan nodded. "I should have been the one to take the order to the kitchen. It's my fault."
"How about next time, you actually check on your patron's meals?!" The inmate immediately punched Duncan in the gut, causing him to gag. Chef closed his eyes, expecting this to happen.
"Whoa!" Brody yelled in shock.
"What the?!" Zoey reacted.
"Hey!" Gwen reacted. "You can't just-!"
"Ahem." The psycho killer with the hook cleared his throat. The camera zoomed out, showing that Gwen was holding a plate with steak. "Aren't you going to give me my food?"
The old man kneeled down and put a hand on Duncan's shoulder as he was holding his gut. "Glad you actually honed up to your screw up. You have some semblance of respect." He stood up and put his glaeses on the table. He then immediately punched Scott in the face, sending him to the ground. "You're lucky your friend covered for you."
Zoey ran up to the man. "Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but-"
Duncan immediately covered Zoey's mouth. "We'll be going now." Duncan pulled up Scott from the ground, grabbed Zoey by the arm, and dragged them both into the kitchen.
"THAT'S how you deal with patrons who are causing a stink?" Chef asked as Duncan walked by.
"That's how I stop a stabbing." Duncan replied. He then entered the kitchen with Scott and Zoey.
Chef shrugged. "Fair enough."
The camera flashed to the kitchen. Bridgette was taking a break from cooking to place a bag of ice over Scott's eye. "Aughh..." Scott moaned in pain.
"I can't believe you guys were attacked out there." Bridgette said.
"I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner honestly." Duncan said.
"I am so, so sorry!" DJ said. "If I just remember for sure if-"
"Don't worry about it man." Scott told him. "Some people don't have enough confidence in themselves. You'll just have to work on that." Those words were not making DJ feel any better.
"Just try and get the dishes done as soon as you can." Bridgette said to DJ.
DJ nodded before going back to his station.
Zoey turned to Duncan. "Why did you stop me from-?"
"Red, I've been in the slammer." Duncan interrupted. "I know when you should just stay out of a guy's way."
"What, by being a chicken?" Leshawna asked while she was boiling rice.
Duncan glared at Leshawna.
"I'm just saying short legs, you could have stood up for your brothers and sisters. THAT'S what a leader should do."
"I know how these guys tick, Leshawna. Piss them off too much, and a black eye would have been the last thing we'd need to worry about."
Leshawna said nothing. She then turned to DJ. "And DJ, you should know that you'd never screw up an order. You're the best cook in Total Drama."
"Well, yeah but-" DJ began to say.
"You wanna know why I think Chef asked you to rate your own dish? It was to test your own confidence. And I don't think any of us needs to tell you if you passed or failed."
DJ said nothing, but he looked pretty ashamed.
Emma cleared her throat. "DJ. The batter."
"Oh, right." DJ walked next to Emma and started mixing batter in a bowl.
Harold tossed two mangoes her way, Leshawna catching both of them. "Thanks Harold, baby!"
"My pleasure!" Harold exclaimed.
Dawn was delicately seasoning some spices on mushrooms in a pan Mike was holding. "It's done."
Mike nodded. "Thanks Dawn." He then stirring the mushrooms within the pan.
DJ finished stirring up the batter. "Done!" DJ handed the bowl to Emma, who poured the batter into cake pans.
Brody walked into the kitchen, heading towards Bridgette. "Hey Bridge! The spaghetti ready yet?"
Bridgette groaned. "Kinda busy, Brody. Ask Heather."
Scott raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Did I miss a team switch or something?"
"We found out that Chef wants the teams to work together in the kitchen." She explained.
"Alright! Super team 2.0!" Brody exclaimed. He ran towards Heather to pick up the dish.
"How is Chef even gonna judge who wins that way though?" Scott wondered.
"Eh. If he's like Chris, it'll probably be some random crap he pulls out of thin air that decides it." Duncan said.
Zoey turned to DJ, who was almost done with the Alfredo. "You know what? No." She then walked towards the exit.
"This...probably won't end well." Bridgette said.
Mike looked concerned as Zoey left the kitchen.
The camera cut to Alejandro opening up a bottle of wine and pouring it in a glass for the prisoner with an eyepatch. On the table was a plate of chicken curry and rice. "Here's your meal sir."
The prisoner smiled and grabbed the bottle. "Thank you, my good sir." He then raised the bottle over Alejandro's head and started pouring it on him. Alejandro quickly moved out of the way.
"Sir, as I told you before. This behavior won't be tolerated."
"Oh, sorry. It's just that some people would dream of being bathed in a good drink." The prisoner placed an arm under his chin. "That said, I heard that brand is quite flammable. Creating a little spark would make a beautiful sight, don't you think?"
Alejandro remained calm, but it was clearer than ever that this man was looking for a fight. And he was probably pretty dangerous.
Brody put two plates of spaghetti for the pair of prisoners he was previously talking with. "There you are dudes!"
"Thanks man. Hey, do you have a lighter?" Larry asked.
"No, but I think another of the waiters do. Why?"
The prisoner with a buzz cut, Doug, held up an unlit molotov cocktail. "The dude over there made a good point. A fire would look pretty dope."
Brody raised an eyebrow at how fast that was made. "Sorry dudes. If you do that, we can't make anymore food."
"Well, we got our food, so it doesn't matter much anymore."
"But how would you guys have dessert?" Brody asked.
The two prisoners widened their eyes. "Oh dang, he's right." Doug said. He then threw the bottle away, causing it to shatter.
"Dudes, we have to clean that up." Brody scolded.
The inmates shrugged before eating their meal. Brody sighed before going to clean up the mess.
B was in a never ending state of grating cheese to add it on a blonde prisoner's spaghetti. "Keep going. Keep going. Keep going."
"Why is this iced tea so cold?!" A bald prisoner yelled at Kitty.
The psycho killer was rubbing his hook hand. "I guess it has been a while."
Zoey looked around after she exited the kitchen. It was clearer than ever that the prisoners were getting encouraged to be disrespectful. Or worse. She walked towards the muscular prisoner. "Yeah?" The inmate asked.
"Sorry, but you're going to have to leave." Zoey told him.
"Not after I get my food."
"After your behavior? You aren't getting anything. Now please leave. Now."
Gwen, Kitty, and B were looking pretty concerned.
"Hey, get out of here!" An inmate yelled.
"Yeah, you're ruining our meal!" Another yelled.
The contestants in the kitchen came outside to see the commotion. "Zoey." Mike whispered iin worry.
Chef was staring at the scene. Would Zoey get in a fight with the patron?
DJ grabbed Duncan by the arm and dragged him into their section in the kitchen. "We gotta do something."
"Like what? If we fight a patron, we'll definitely lose." Duncan replied.
"This isn't about a challenge man! It's about making sure our friends are safe!" DJ yelled.
Duncan sighed. "Fine. Whatever."
DJ wasn't satisfied. "What happened? A few years ago, you fought a grizzly, crocodile, and had a showdown with who you thought was a psycho killer. Now you have to have your arm pulled to stand up to someone?"
"How about you spend 8 months living with psychos like that before you get on your high horse? And it's not like you've exactly been Mr. Confident either lately. The only reason that dude caused a fuss was because you weren't sure if you messed up his order or not."
DJ sighed. "Yeah..." DJ sat down on the counter. "I dunno...I've been second guessing myself this whole challenge. I should be in my element for this challenge! But when Chef asked me to judge my own dish...I choked."
Duncan sat down next to DJ. "Man, we've really became wimps as the seasons went by, huh?"
"Heh. You said it, not me."
Duncan got off the counter. "Alright, I can make that guy leave. And we don't have to throw a punch."
"I'm listening." DJ said.
The camera cut back to the dining room. The muscular prisoner stood up and glared at Zoey.
"You heard her." Leshawna said. She and Gwen walked up next to Zoey.
"Get lost already." Gwen said. Slowly, Kitty, Bridgette, Mike, Dawn, Harold, and B walked up to stand next to Zoey as well.
The inmate cracked his neck a few times. "It's been a while since I taught some brats respect."
Leshawna rolled up her sleeves. "Oh, SOMEONE'S gonna learn respect alright!"
Before anyone could say anything else, DJ and Duncan came out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of chicken alfredo and a bowl of minestrone respectively.
"About time." The prisoner said.
"Oh no, he doesn't deserve any-" Gwen began to say.
Duncan and DJ immediately emptied the food on the floor. "Enjoy sir." DJ said with a smile.
There was a pause. Then, almost all the people in the ship were either laughing, or holding back their laughter. The elderly inmate was in shock as his face started to turn red. Both out of anger and embarassment. He then left without a word, deciding to go back to wait on the boat that took the prisoners here.
"Hahaha! You two fools are crazy!" Leshawna laughed.
Gwen fist bumped Duncan and then turned to Zoey. "Hey, you ok?"
"I am. Thank you guys so much."
"HEY!" Chef yelled. "Who's gonna clean up that mess?"
"We're on it Chef." DJ said.
"Yeah, yeah." Duncan said. The two walked into the kitchen to get cleaning supplies.
"And you guys. Get back to work!"
Bridgette, Leshawna, Dawn and Harold began to walk back into the kitchen. Gwen, Kitty, and B dispersed to clear tables or clean up stuff on the floor. Mike didn't leave yet.
"So, um...that was scary, huh?" Mike asked. "But I'm glad it worked out in the end."
"Yeah..." Zoey replied.
The two stood in silence for a bit. "Listen, Zoey-" Mike began to say.
"Not now Mike. Please. I'm...I'm just not ready yet." She said.
"I just wanted to-"
"Excuse me miss." Zoey and Mike turned their heads, and saw that the prisoner with an eyepatch was standing near them. "You were pretty brave back there."
"Oh! Um, thank you."
The prisoner started shuffling cards. "The only disappointing thing was, things didn't become violent."
Zoey became wary. Immediately, Mike grabbed the inmate by the arm, twisted it, and forced the prisoner to the ground. "Augh!"
"You're not. Hurting. Anyone." Mike told him. "Got it?!"
The eyepatch wearing inmate smiled. "Aughh...no. But you are."
Suddenly, an airhorn was blown. "Mike! Stop causing a scene and get back to the kitchen!" Chef yelled.
"But...he was..."
"Don't jump to conclusions. All I did was state my disappointment." The eyepatch wearing inmate said.
Mike gritted his teeth. "Gah!" Mike stood up and stormed away.
"Mike..." Zoey said.
(Confessional: Eyepatch Inmate)
The inmate was in the lavish bathroom, a cast around his arm. "The cook who was organizing this dinner thing told several of us to cause a scene. Provoke them into hitting us, or just get them to lose composure. Don't really know why, but I'm not complaining if it means causing trouble."
Something flushed behind the inmate. Exiting one of the stallls was the psycho killer with a hook.
"...I didn't know it was recording."
Time passed. All the prisoners finished their meals, and the tables were either cleared, or being cleaned. A handful of prisoners stayed and watched, but most of them were back in the boat.
Chef looked around before blowing the airhorn again. "Alright you jailbirds! Get outta here!"
The remaining inmates stood up and walked off. Brody watched Doug and Larry as they left. "Man, I don't think those guys mean too much harm, but I feel like they don't realize how others feel about their actions."
"Gee. Where does that sound familiar?" Bridgette asked as she left the kitchen.
Brody seemed confused, but Chef blew the airhorn one last time. "Alright teams, gather up."
Everyone stood next to each other. "I'm going to declare which team won. The leaders for the other two teams will then have an hour to decide who they'll nominate for elimination."
"So, who won?" Brody asked.
"I'm getting to that. All of the teams have high points and low points." Chef turned to Alejandro. "Some stayed calm when provoked." He then turned to Mike. "Others didn't." Chef turned to Gwen. "Some people made lousy cooks. But knew when to reach out to others." Chef turned to Emma, Duncan, and DJ. "And some people learned from their mistakes within the challenge."
Everybody tensed up.
"For their cooking abilitiess, looking out for their teammates, and how they handled patrons, I declare The Killer Blades as the winners!"
The Blades cheered at the announcement, Scott's being half hearted.
(Confessional: Scott)
"Come on! How hard can it be to get DJ to blow it? He ruined his entire team the last season he competed!"
"Heather. Noah. Take some time to decide who you'll nominate for elimination. All teams, meet me at the top deck in an hour." Chef said.
"And don't worry about not having enough room in the cabin cruisers for privacy." Chris' voice said. He walked into the dining room.
"Guess all good things have to come to an end." Gwen said.
Chris ignored Gwen's comment. "For this challenge, the losers don't have to worry about being in the cabin cruisers. They get to stay in the yacht too!"
The Shortcakes and Team Heather cheered at the announcement.
"What made you decide that out of curiosity?" Bridgette asked.
Chris was about to come up with a lie, but Dawn spoke up. "He wants to keep an eye on us. He suspects one of us to be Lupin."
The Blades and the rest of the Shortcakes were taken aback by this. "What?" Emma asked.
Chris frowned. "Dawn. Not a word further." The host warned.
Dawn seemed confused but nodded. "My apologies. I didn't know you wanted to keep it a secret."
Noah took a look at Team Heather.
(Confessional: Noah)
"Heather's team didn't look all that surprised at what Dawn said. They know something about this."
Noah and Emma were in the library again. Noah was laying in a chair reading from a book while Emma was pacing around.
"Ok, so we have to be careful about who you'll nominate."
"I know." Noah replied.
"Because like Chef said, if you nominate the wrong person, YOU might be on the chopping block."
"I know."
"I would have said Gwen because of her bad cooking, but she was the one who said the teams should work together, so she might not be the best choice. Brody on the other hand-"
Noah stood up and put both hands on Emma's shoulders. "Babe. Relax. I know what to do."
"You sure?" Emma asked. She was beyond worried. There was no way to predict Chef's mindset.
"Trust me. Neither us, or Kitty are gonna get the boot."
Emma smiled and hugged Noah.
Zoey was alone at the bar section of the dining room. Leshawna and Bridgette both asked if she wanted company, but she insisted on being left alone.
"Hey." Gwen's voice said.
Zoey turned around and saw Duncan and Gwen behind her. "Hey guys. Thanks for checking on me, but like I said, I want to be left alone."
"Yeah, and we said we didn't want to have those sessions with Dawn back in spring. That didn't stop you." Gwen sat down next to Zoey.
Zoey gave a light chuckle. "Guess you got me there."
"For the record, I'm only here to get wasted." Duncan lied, sitting down on the other end of Zoey. He got a glass of vodka and started pouring glasses, giving one to Gwen, and a second to Zoey.
"You probably know what this is about, right?" Gwen asked.
"Listen, I just don't think I'm ready to talk with Mike yet. First I learn he's teaming up with someone like Alejandro, then he sends Duncan to the infirmary, and now...well, I guess I can get why he thought that prisoner would attack us, but still."
Duncan poured vodka for himself and took a drink. "Listen red, you're doing something I would do."
"Replacing my toothpaste with mayonnaise because I praised you for feeding a stray dog?" Zoey asked.
"Pfffttt ahahaha! Man, I forgot I did that."
"What he means is that you're sabotaging your own relationship by not talking with your partner about how you feel." Gwen said. "Both me and Duncan have been on this road. I didn't reach out enough to Trent or Duncan when I was dating them. And it led to me dumping both of them."
"Same for when I dated Court. I didn't try to talk with her about how controlling she was. I cheated on her, and that led to a mess." Duncan added.
Zoey took a look at the glass of vodka that was poured for her. "I get what you're saying. If I keep trying to avoid this, me and Mike will break-up."
"Bingo." Gwen said.
"But...what if that makes things worse?"
"If this was just some rando who you hooked up with at a nightclub, I'd say don't bother. But you guys have been sickeningly sweet for like, two years. You'll manage." Duncan told her.
"And if your relationship means something to you, you'd risk some awkwardness to save it." Gwen added.
Zoey said nothing. She then grabbed the glass of vodka and drank from it in one gulp. Well...she tried to. She quickly spat it out. "UGH! How do you guys like this stuff?"
"We don't drink it for the taste." Duncan replied.
Zoey grabbed a napkin and cleaned her mouth. "Thanks guys. I'm gonna find Mike." Zoey stood up and ran off.
It was time for the elimination ceremony. Team Heather and the Shortcakes arrived at the topdeck, Chef and Chris waiting for the teams. Heather smirked at Alejandro, the spaniard giving an annoyed sigh. Heather had ample reasoning to argue for Mike's elimination. And unlike last challenge, Alejandro couldn't really influence this eleimination ceremony.
The Blades were the last to arrive. "Mike, wait, I need to-" Zoey began to say.
"Up up up! No talking from the peanut gallery." Chris said.
"Heather. Who do you nominate for elimination?" Chef asked.
"I nominate Mike." Heather said.
Mike sighed and stepped forward.
"How come?" Chef asked.
"His cooking in the first phase of the challenge was mediocre, he repeatedly got distracted with his personal baggage, and he got provoked into starting a fight with a patron." Heather explained.
Chef nodded. "Noah. Who do you nominate?"
"I nominate...myself." Noah stepped forward.
Emma and Kitty gasped in shock. The other contestants were also looking pretty surprised.
Chef raised an eyebrow at this. "Elaborate."
"I almost served undercooked food, and I didn't think about how my team could adapt to the unfamiliarity on the menu. One of my other teammates did. As the team leader, I should have thought about how we could adjust to the situtation immediately."
Cheff nodded. "Fair enough."
(Confessional: Noah)
"Cooking wasn't real priority for the challenge. It was about taking control of a situation. And I'd say a leader owning up to their mistakes is something that Chef would be happy with."
Chef cracked his neck. "The contestant who'll be taking the boat of losers is...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
... Mike. You'll be joining me on the Boat of Losers."
Nobody was looking surprised at Chef's decision. Mike nodded and began to walk towards Chef. Team Heather, the Strawberry Shortcakes, most of the Killer Blades began to leave.
"Wait! I volunteer!" Zoey yelled. "I wanna take Mike's place!"
This surprised the contesants. "Wait, what?!" Heather yelled.
Mike turned around. "Huh?! Zoey, don't!"
Zoey walked towards Chris and Chef. "You allowed DJ to volunteer for elimination back in Season 2. You can do the same here!"
Chris shrugged. "Well, it's ultimately Chef's decision."
Chef rubbed his chin. "I'll allow it."
"What?!" Heather complained.
Alejandro fistpumped the air.
"Zoey, why are you-"
Zoey took Mike by both of the hands. "Mike. I'm so, so sorry."
Mike was confused. "Sorry for what?"
"That I didn't realize how much you were hurting. That I made you feel bad about our relationship. That I tried to avoid talking with you this whole challenge. Just...I'm sorry!"
"Zoey..."
Leshawna, DJ, Scott, all of Team Heather, and all of the Shortcakes except for Gwen left. They either felt like they shouldn't watch, or in Noah, Alejandro, Heather and Scott's case, didn't care to watch. Scott was pleasantly surprised though. Zoey being eliminated more than made up for failing to sabotage DJ.
"I'm not going to let you get eliminated because I didn't try to reach out to you." Zoey said.
"If you wanna get technical, Mike's screwups this challenge barely had to do with you." Chef said.
"He's right. You shouldn't do this." Mike told her.
"The reason you were so off your game was because of our problems. They were distracting you."
Mike sighed. "It wasn't all you though. It was..."
"It was also how you missed your personalities, right?" Zoey asked. Mike nodded. "Then that's all the reason why you should stay!"
"Huh?"
"Mike. You're more than your personalities. All you need to do is realize it yourself. That's why you have to stay in the game."
"Zoey..."
The two stood in silence for a while. "I think we should break up." The two simultaneously said. They were both surprised at what the other said.
"Not where I was expecting this to go." Gwen whispered. Bridgette and Duncan nodded in agreement.
"You were thinking the same thing, huh?" Mike asked Zoey.
"I don't think it has to be for good!" Zoey quickly said. "It's just that...I feel like I don't deserve you. I never tried to talk with you about how you felt with your personalities gone, or about how we could keep the spark alive. Not to mention how long it took me to realize Mal took over last year. I feel like I never tried to truly know you."
"You shouldn't blame yourself. I never tried to tell you about my disorder. I didn't even think about warning you about Mal. And after how I scared you this season...I don't think I deserve you either."
"I guess we just moved too fast."
Mike rubbed his arm. "Yeah. I guess so."
Zoey smiled. "I don't know if I'll ever stop missing you."
Mike smiled back. "Same here." Mike and Zoey gave one last long kiss to each other.
"Aww. How sweet. Now get on the boat already!" Chris yelled.
The two then broke the kiss, Zoey walking towards Gwen, Duncan, and Bridgette. "And you guys. Thanks so much for all you've done to help." Zoey told them.
Duncan was briefly annoyed, but then smiled and gave Zoey a high five. "Fine. I'll let myself be a good guy for once."
Gwen and Zoey hugged. "We'll miss you Zoey."
Zoey hugged Bridgette as well. Bridgette felt guiltier than she ever had in years.
"Alright, that's enough." Chris said. "Zoey, your ride's waiting. Chef was on the boat of losers. Zoey broke the hug and walked towards the Boat of Losers, the Boat taking off.
Chris turned to Mike. "That said, it wouldn't be fair for the Blades to have won the challenge but still lose a teammate."
"Umm...you've done that multiple times." Bridgette pointed out.
Chris ignored the comment. "Mike! To make up for Zoey's loss, you're now on the Killer Blades!"
Mike widened his eyes and awkwardly glanced at Duncan. He was looking just as awkward about this as Mike was.
"And you better be careful Mike. Because something tells me that you're not gonna have a third chance for if you screw up a challenge." Chris then turned to the cameras. "How will things shake up from here? Find out next time on Total! Drama! Voyage!"
Strawberry Shortcakes: Noah, Gwen, Dawn, Emma, Kitty, Brody
Killer Blades: Duncan, Bridgette, DJ, Leshawna, Scott, Mike
Team Heather: Heather, B, Harold, Alejandro
Rankings
24th: Justin
23rd: Cody
22nd: Geoff
21st: Sky
20th: Owen
19th: Trent
18th: Sierra
17th: Zoey
Mike and Zoey's issues from their lack of spark, to Mike's freakout have culminated in the two of them deciding that it's best for them to break up, and now, Mike has been switched to the Killer Blades. Meanwhile, Noah and Emma have decided that Gwen would be their next target for elimination if they lose again. How will Heather and Alejandro's battle be impacted now that Alejandro lost his pawn? And is Gwen essentially doomed if the Shortcakes lose another challenge? And how will Scott react to Mike being on the same team as him?
Man it feels good to have this off my back. Initially, I planned for Mike to be eliminated this chapter, but realized that I still had more to do with him in regards to him becoming his own person, let alone what happened between him and Duncan back in England. Meanwhile, other than her trying to expose Scott, my plan for Zoey was essentially retreading Commando Zoey back in ROTI. So since I had less for her to do, I decided for Zoey to be the one going home instead. I also wanted to have more time developing the prisoner characters, but due to the word count getting hefty already, I cut several of their scenes down. However, that doesn't mean we won't be seeing any of them again in the future.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and have a great day!