Oh boy am I excited to write this chapter! SO MUCH JUICY STUFF TO COVER, GUYS! It's a long one, but bear with it! Lots of important stuff happens!
We've got the 5 eliminated contestants to talk to, the reveal of the fan vote, and the determining factor or who returns at the merge! It's gonna be spicy af, I can feel it!
To those that were guessing that the merge is now upon us…you were correct! Bridgette, Gwen, Duncan, Owen, Jasmine, Jo, Lightning and Noah are our lucky 8. I wonder how many of you would've predicted a merge like that earlier on in the story…any shockers? If I had to guess, I'd say there are probably a few surprised by Owen's inclusion into the merge. 90% of stories I see with him returning (or even TDI reimagines) have him kicked off really early!
Ah well, more on that later on after the chapter is done. It's time to get into the Second Aftermath! Which hosting pair will prevail: Tyndsay or AleHeather?
Do you think we could hit 300 reviews this chapter? I'd love you guys forever if it happened :').
Let's get it on!
"You promised!" Lindsay said hotly, hands on her hips as she glared at the two people in front of her.
"Yeah, it's our turn to host!" Tyler scoffed. The jock was wearing his best suit: A nice red to match his headband. "I even bought a suit and everything!"
The two people across from the lovable couple: Alejandro and Heather, rolled their eyes.
The Aftermath was set to start in just under five minutes, and the four were currently having a heated debate about who was going to get to host. They were in their talent room. Alejandro and Heather were reclining lazily on the couch while Lindsay and Tyler stood over them.
"Wow, did I lie to some of the people on this show?" Heather asked mockingly, flipping her long hair over her shoulder and narrowing her eyes at Tyler and Lindsay. Her signature smirk was plastered happily on her face. "I don't know about you, Alejandro, but I'm shocked!"
Alejandro smirked at his girlfriend. "Ah, chica, you might not like to hear this…but I believe we should stick to the agreement. Let us give these two a chance to prove themselves."
Heather's smirk vanished, replaced by a look of exaggerated annoyance. "Ugh. Fine." She said, throwing her arms up in a comically stiff way. "They can host. But grr, I am so mad at you for siding with them…"
Alejandro rolled his eyes at Heather's less-than-excellent acting skills, but continued to play along. "I'm sure I can…make it up to you," he said suavely, enjoying the way a genuine flush filled her face.
Lindsay and Tyler, neither bright enough to see what game the arch-villains were getting at, squealed excitedly and hugged.
"Ohmygosh, I can't believe I get to host with you!" Lindsay said, lifting a surprised Tyler off his feet in her glee. "Alright, we're so gonna do a better job than you two!" She stuck her tongue out at Alejandro and Heather.
"Yeah!" Tyler added with a grin, "we're gonna prove that nice-guyness-ness is the way to go!"
"Yes, I'm sure you shall be both bringing and eating your dinner at the table tonight, friend." Alejandro told him politely.
The door to their room suddenly opened, and the grumpy producer stuck his head in. "Let's go!" He barked, "we're on in thirty seconds!"
Tyler and Lindsay did one last quick check of themselves in the large mirrors on the wall before following the producer out the door.
The other two watched the door close.
"Barf," Heather said the moment the two were alone. "I can't believe we have to kowtow to those idiots."
"Patience, mi amor," Alejandro said soothingly. He scooted over on the couch next to her and began to massage her tense shoulders.
Despite herself, Heather relaxed into his touch, and exhaled deeply as his fingers kneaded her skin. "Remind me again why we're doing this?"
"We'll give those two their fair shot," Alejandro told her, continuing to work his hands, "but there is no way that they are more entertaining than you and I. When the producers see the ratings discrepancy between tonight's show and the last one, we'll be asked to host full time for sure."
"I guess," Heather still sounded annoyed.
"And look at it this way," Alejandro continued, "now that we have the night off, I can take you out on a nice dinner…"
That seemed to pacify Heather. "Fine. But no Italian."
He leaned in and kissed the back of her neck, making her squeak out in surprise. He chuckled devilishly, "we can go wherever your heart desires."
Their tender moment, however, was shattered when the door was smashed open. Heather quickly elbowed Alejandro away from her, and the master manipulator fell to the ground with a pained grunt.
The producer stuck his head in again. "We're going live in five seconds!" He screamed at them, "get your asses to the Peanut Gallery NOW!"
"Peanut gallery?!" They exclaimed in unison.
"We are not mere peanuts," Alejandro protested. "We do not belong in such a place."
"No way am I going to sit next to stinky Harold or Rageaholic Eva!" Heather added.
"You ever want a shot at hosting again you'll do as your told! Now MOVE IT! GO GO GO!"
The two scrambled to their feet and ran past the producer towards the stage, scowling.
The Peanut Gallery was set, the lights were on, and Tyler and Lindsay were ready.
"Lights! Camera! Action!"
"Welcome to the Generational Aftermath!" Lindsay said, "I'm your host Lindsay!" Her usual sweet bubbly music played.
"And I'm Tyler!" Tyler added with a grin, a victorious, sporty tune playing over his words. "I hope you guys are ready for the dopest Aftermath ever!"
The crowd roared it's approval.
"Let's say hi to our peanut gallery!" Lindsay beamed, and the camera cut to one of the benches on the right side of the stage. "Say hi to LeShawna, Harold, Trent, Cody, Courtney, Ezekiel, Dawn, DJ, Geoff, and Eva!"
Most of the Peanut Gallery smiled and waved at the crowd as they were cheered, but Courtney merely rolled her eyes and Eva remained stoic.
"Also the previous losers from the competition." Tyler added, "say hi to…
Anne Maria!" Anne Maria blew a kiss to the crowed.
"Brick!" Brick looked up from his laptop to salute.
"Scott!" Scott winked to the audience, a devious smile on his face.
"Sky!" Sky smiled and waved to the audience.
"And Rodney!" Rodney lifted a large thumbs up.
"So," Tyler continued, smirking at the camera. "None of the Peanut Gallery, OR the eliminated contestants have been filled in on what's been going on in the island, so prepare yourselves for some juicy revelations!"
"Oh my gosh, it's gonna get soooo tense!" Lindsay squealed, clapping her hands together. "Alright Tyler, think we should introduce our first guest?"
"Let's get right to it," Tyler grinned, "Extreme!"
"Our first guest tonight had a fun rivalry with Izzy, worked on harnessing her power, but chose to quit the game before her power consumed her! It's…Zoey!"
The crowd roared their approval as Zoey meekly walked on stage. She gave the crowd an appreciative smile as she took a seat to the left of Tyler and Lindsay.
"Hey, guys," The redhead greeted the hosts.
"Hi Zoey!" Lindsay chirped. "How have you been enjoying the Playa?"
"It's been really nice," Zoey said happily. "It's a great change of pace from being stuck on that stressful island."
"Yeah, this season has been super stressful," Tyler agreed. "Gotta ask, though…are you bummed you got kicked off so early after your past two performances?"
Zoey responded with a shrug. "Yes and no, I guess. Sure, it would've been cool to win the million bucks, but I think it's better for my mental health that I left when I did."
"You're talking, of course, about Commando Zoey?" Alejandro piped up from the Peanut Gallery.
"Yeah," Zoey nodded. "I appreciate Izzy for helping me to control that side of myself, but messing with it while in a stressful game like Total Drama is kind of a recipe for disaster…"
"Fans all over the internet have been lauding you for pulling out of the tiebreaker with Lightning," Tyler told the ex-wallflower. "Everyone seems to think it took more strength to back off then it did to go through with it."
"I'll say," Eva grunted, "restraint isn't easy."
"Do you wanna tell us about the tiebreaker?" Lindsay asked her, a bit hesitant. "It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it, though…"
"No it's not!" Heather barked, "get her to spill!"
Zoey glared over at Heather. "It's fine, Lindsay. I don't mind talking about it." She sighed and brought her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. "I guess I just realized that I didn't want to win if it mean I had to choke out Lightning like that." She smiled a little sadly, "don't get me wrong, Lightning can be a total jerkwad. But I'm better than that."
The crowd let out an 'aww' and erupted into applause.
"Well, Zoey…we have a bit of a surprise for you!" Lindsay told her excitedly. "Someone's on a video call to say hi to you!"
Zoey raised an eyebrow, and turned to look up at the screen that hung above the host couch.
"Calling from his home in Ontario…it's Mike!"
Zoey let out an excited gasp as the screen buzzed to life, showing Mike sitting on his bed with his usual gap-toothed grin.
"Mike!" Zoey squealed, jumping up and staring at the screen with a huge smile. "Ohmyogsh, are you at home?!"
"Hey Zoey!" Mike sounded just the same as ever, and he too was grinning goofily as he looked at his girlfriend. "Oh my gosh, your hair! It looks so good long!"
Zoey blushed and subconsciously brought her hand to to touch her long braid. "Y-you think?"
"For sure," Mike continued to grin, "good news! My therapy is done, and I'm back in control, permanently!" He held up a little orange bottle, "doc says I've made good progress, and after a couple years on these meds I hopefully won't need 'em anymore!"
Zoey fast-clapped. "That's just the best news ever!"
Mike suddenly looked a little nervous. "So…uh, what do you say? You ready to…y'know?" He left it vague.
"Of course I want to!" Zoey exclaimed, "oh my gosh, the moment I'm done with this show I'm flying straight to your house!"
Mike let out a huge sigh of relief, "oh thank goodness." His smile returned, "alright, I know you're on the Aftermath so I won't keep you. I'm so proud of you and I love you!"
The crowd let out a huge 'aww'.
"I love you too!" Zoey said. She blew him a kiss, "See you soon!"
The camera shut off, and the focus returned to Zoey and the hosts as the crowd erupted into applause.
"Aww, that was sooo adorable!" Lindsay said happily.
"Extremely adorable," Tyler agreed. "Zoey, any comments on that call just now?"
Zoey hadn't lost her adorkable, cheesy grin. "Nope! I'm just happy!"
"That is so beautiful," Rodney bawled, burying his face in a tablecloth-sized handkerchief. Sky pat him on the back as he sobbed.
It was the aspiring Olympian that spoke up next. "Well, Zoey, I just wanted to apologize to you about thinking it was your plan to vote me off."
"Well I'm sorry I had to go through with it," Zoey chuckled, a little awkward. "He kind of backed me into a corner. If I had my way, it would be Lightning sitting where you are." She remembered that Sky and Lightning were dating and winced, "uh, no offense."
"None taken," Sky assured her quickly. "Now that time has passed, I've accepted what happened." Her face darkened and she punched her hand, "but that doesn't mean Noah won't get a talking to when he finally gets his slippery butt kicked off!"
The crowd cheered their approval, and Sky looked mollified.
"Alright Zoey, have a seat on the empty bench!" Tyler said.
The loser Peanut Gallery bench had three rows. Currently, the top row was filled with Anne Maria, Brick, Scott, Sky, and Rodney in that order. Zoey took the far left spot on the middle bench.
"Our next guest was brutally backstabbed by a friend! Pegged by fans to be a late-gamer early on…it's Sammy!" Tyler introduced the nice twin.
The applause for Sammy was even louder than it had been for Zoey, and the meek twin smiled at the crowd as she walked to her couch.
"I can't believe how boring this is," Heather muttered to Alejandro.
"Patience," Alejandro assured her. "They have nothing. We'll be hosting before the episode is out at this rate."
"Okay so like, are you still mad at Gwen?" Lindsay was asking her fellow blonde.
Sammy nodded, a slight frown creasing her face. "I am! I'm mad at Duncan, too. I know that Duncan and Gwen had that deal, but Gwen could've broken the deal!"
"I feel ya," Tyler told Sammy sympathetically, "Duncan made the exact same deal with Alejandro back in World Tout, and it got me eliminated too!"
Sammy gasped, "oh my gosh, we're elimination twinsies!"
Tyler laughed, "guess so, eh?"
"You're a much better twin than Amy," Sammy told him warmly, and the audience chuckled.
"Alright Sammy, you and one member of our Peanut Gallery are going to be participating in our next segment!" Lindsay said, her tone suddenly turning apologetic.
Sammy instantly looked nervous. "Uhh…your tone is making me kind of nervous…"
"You should be," Tyler winced. He pointed to the far left side of the stage.
There were suddenly two wooden, electrical chairs there. Sammy saw them and gulped.
"Who…who's the Peanut Gallery member joining me?"
"As if you even have to ask," Lindsay giggled. "It's Scott, of course!"
Scott's eyes bugged out and he quickly stood up. "Nuh-uh, you can't make me!" He tried to book it off stage, but he was quickly restrained by two buff interns. "Let me go! I protest! You can't make me talk!"
Tyler smirked, "you got something to hide, bro?"
Sammy nervously sat down on one of the chairs and was strapped in by some interns. Next to her, Scott was thrown into his chair and buckled down. They exchanged a nervous look, and Sammy offered him a small smile.
"H-hey, Scott."
"Hey," Scott replied, quickly looking away. He strained against the restraints, "let me out you jerks!"
Lindsay and Tyler ignored him. "Here's how it works, we're gonna ask you guys a couple of questions. All you have to do is tell the truth, and you're fine!" Lindsay told them earnestly, "but…if you decide to lie to us…then you get zapped!"
"Fine, I'm not gonna say nothin'!" Scott smirked at the hosts. "Beat that, losers!"
Tyler whipped out a remote control with a big red button. "If you wanna stay silent, we'll just manually zap you." He tapped his chin, "though this red button zaps both chairs…so you and Sammy both get roasted if you stay quiet."
"Hah! Like I care if she gets zapped," Scott scoffed. He was immediately zapped by the chair, and let out a cry of alarm.
The crowd chuckled as one as the farmer coughed out a cloud of smoke.
"Oh my," Alejandro whispered to Heather, who was looking a bit alarmed. "Where did this side of them come from?"
Geoff overheard them, and let out a chuckle. "Hosting changes a person, man. Once you suckle at the teat of fame, it's hard to unlatch."
"Barf!" Heather gagged. "Um, that visual was not needed."
"Okay Sammy, first question!" Lindsay announced, pulling out a notecard from between her breasts. "Here we go…if you had the opportunity to vote only one of Gwen or Duncan off right now…who would it be?"
Sammy was quiet for a second before answering. "I guess I'd say…Gwen." The crowd gasped, and Sammy winced. "I know it's not completely fair, but I'm way more hurt by what she did. It made sense for Duncan to want me gone after I got him eliminated…but Gwen didn't have to go through with it."
"I'm right there with ya," Scott nodded from his chair. "I understand wanting revenge."
"I don't want revenge!" Sammy said quickly.
A jolt of electricity shot out of the chair and zapped Sammy, causing her to shriek and the crowd to gasp.
"Ow!" Sammy yelped, "okay, like, maybe I want her to get voted out! But I don't want her hurt or anything! I'm not my sister!" No electricity came with this statement, and Sammy seemed to relax.
"Scott, a question for you," Tyler said, "were you nervous to see Sammy before tonight?"
Scott opened his mouth to answer, but before he could Lindsay interrupted.
"Why don't we watch a clip of our Peanut Gallery interacting before you say anything!"
Scott paled, and from the bench Courtney scoffed. "I told you they were recording!" She hollered to Scott.
(Flashback: Sometime Between Aftermaths.)
Scott, outside, knocked repeatedly on a closed door.
The door opened up, and a surprised looking DJ appeared. "Scott? What the heck are you doing here?"
Dawn peeked out from behind the big softie's elbow. "He wishes to speak to Courtney," she said cryptically, glaring at the redhead, "I'll go get her."
Scott and DJ were left in silence as they waited for Dawn to bring Courtney back.
"How'd you even find the spot where the Peanut Gallery is staying?" DJ asked curiously.
"None of your business, chicken-little," Scott said snidely. "I just wanna talk to Courtney real quick and then I'll be outta your hair, okay?" He eyed DJ's bald head and snickered, "er, scalp…"
DJ frowned, but before he could respond Dawn had returned, Courtney's arm in her clutches.
"Let go of me, Dawn," Courtney snapped, yet to see Scott standing outside, "what is the meaning of this?!"
The ex-CIT finally saw Scott standing there, and ceased her struggling. "Scott?" She looked genuinely surprised, "what the hell are you doing here?"
"Courtney," he greeted, "a word?" He gestured to outside.
Courtney eyed him suspiciously, but eventually walked out of the house and out into the yard. DJ shut the door, leaving them in solitude.
"What are you doing here?" Courtney repeated, "how did you find us?"
"I've been doing a lot of digging at the Playa," Scott smirked, "I took a page out of Alejandro's book and have been scouring the data center for information. Got the address to the fancy house you Peanut Gallery members have been staying at between Aftermath shows. I snuck out when the food got delivered." He wiped his knuckles on his wifebeater, suddenly a little nervous, "anyways, I wanted to pick your brain about something."
Courtney gave him a skeptical look. "Scott. I haven't said anything to you since the day I got flushed out of Total Drama All-Starts. That was literally like…five years ago. Don't you have anyone else you can ask for whatever it is you need? Like…literally anyone?"
Scott turned a bit pink. "Look, I ain't the greatest at forging bonds…will you at least hear me out?"
Courtney was silent for a moment, but eventually sighed. Without saying anything, she walked over to a couple of lawn chairs. She plopped down on one, the very picture of impatience as she crossed her legs and blew her loose hair out of her face. "I'm listening, but you have two minutes. I'll tell you right now I don't know anything about the competition."
Scott jogged over to the other chair and plopped down. "I need some advice…about a girl I like…"
Courtney raised her eyebrows, and her expression softened just a tad. "Go on…"
(End Flashback.)
"Stop the tape!" Scott said, thrashing in his straps. "Come on, guys! Please!"
Lindsay and Tyler exchanged an uncomfortable look, clearly caught off guard by Scott's genuine pleading.
A blushing Sammy was on Scott's side. "Come on, guys…that's too far!"
Lindsay momentarily paused the tape. "Ummm…" she tapped her ear, "the producer's really want us to continue."
Over in the Peanut Gallery, Alejandro and Heather exchanged an evil grin.
"Please, you're making us really uncomfortable!" Sammy continued, "we're doing this electric chair truth game! Isn't that enough!?"
"Maybe we should just continue on with the game…" Tyler said uncertainly, "this doesn't feel right…"
"O-okay," Lindsay agreed, also a little uncertain. She held up the remote and turned the TV off, and Scott let out a massive sigh of relief.
"Er…uh…anyways, on with the game…" Lindsay continued, a little bit of her verve lost. "So…what's your answer, Scott? Where you nervous to see Sammy?"
"Tonight? No. We've been hanging at the Playa Des Losers," Scott told the hosts calmly.
"Really?" Rodney said from the Peanut Gallery, "I haven't seen you two together much. You've just been hiding out in your room, Scott."
"Did you see my chair buzz me for a lie, Farmer Brown-noser?" Scott snapped at him. "Maybe if you spent less time at the pool ogling Anne Maria in a bikini you'd know what was going on."
Rodney gasped and covered his blushing face.
"I knew it, perv!" Anne Maria scoffed, taking out a can of hairspray and shooting it at Rodney. Unfortunately for Brick and Sky, they were also in the line of fire, and all three got enveloped in a cloud of orange chemicals. The crowd roared it's approval.
Scott laughed at the chaos, then turned his attention back to the hosts. "Anyways, are we done with this?"
"Not quite," Tyler said quickly. "Sammy, do you still think Scott's cute?"
Sammy bit her lip, but only hesitated for a moment. "Yes," she said bashfully.
"Well, the audience is a little confused," Lindsay told her fellow blonde. "Because…" she pulled out another notecard, "in the first episode of the season, you said quote: I moved out of the house and met the cutest guy." The model scratched her head, "now I know I'm no rocket scientist or whatever, but like, do you have a boyfriend?!"
Scott's eyes widened. "Whatever, like I care if she has a boyfriend."
ZAPPP!
"Dude, you really coulda just stayed silent!" A laughing Geoff called out to a smoking Scott.
Scott coughed out a black cloud. "Ugh…"
"No, he's not a boyfriend," Sammy spoke up. "He was just a cute barista that gave me his phone number. But I came here before it developed into anything besides conversation through text…"
No electricity was dished out of the chair, and the crowd cheered.
Scott, still a little crispy, tried to hide his relief. "Oh, that's cool. I mean, whatever…" He was silent for a second, and the electricity didn't deem his exclamation untrue enough for a lie…Then he decided to open his mouth again. "Like I said, don't care!"
ZAPPP!
"Ohmygosh, Scott! Stop!" Sammy pleaded, "I don't like seeing you get hurt!"
Scott coughed out some more smoke and gave her a surprised look. "Wait, really?" He gave her a happy grin, "I think you're the first person I've ever met that doesn't like seeing me get hurt!"
Everyone, from Sammy herself to the Peanut Gallery to the audience, close their eyes and winced in preparation from a Thunderbolt from the electric chair…but none came.
"Wait, seriously?" Tyler said, "that's…pretty sad, dude."
"Pfft, I don't want your sympathy, dork." Scott scoffed, and still no shock came. "Now will someone let me out of this thing?!"
"Er, I guess…" Lindsay said nervously, "Tyler, will you go untie them?"
Tyler hopped up and struck a pose, "all over it, babe!" He jogged over to the two and unstrapped them.
Scott and Sammy were quick to hop out of the chair, but Scott had a plan.
The ginger schemer 'accidentally' elbowed Tyler in the ribs, making him thud into the chair, where he was immediately and clumsily entangled by the straps.
"Hey!" The jock exclaimed, "Weak!"
"Whoops, my bad!" He chucked. He reached down towards the dazed jock, but instead of helping him he yanked the remote out of his pocket. "No one humiliates me and gets away with it! Nyahahah!" He pressed the button, and Tyler began to get zapped.
"Oh my gosh, Tyler!" Lindsay jumped up and grabbed hold of Tyler's electrocuted arm.
"Lindsay, don't!" Cody cried from the Peanut Gallery.
"Gosh, don't you know how electricity works?!" Harold gripped his head in panic. "You'll just get-"
"Yeeowch!" Lindsay began to get zapped too.
After a few more seconds, Scott let go of the remote and chucked it over his shoulder with a chuckle.
"That wasn't very nice, Scott…" Sammy said uncertainly, looking at the blackened hosts with pity.
"You're right," Scott smirked, "but it wasn't very nice of them to lock us in electric chairs to force us to spill beans we don't wanna spill."
The uncertainty faded from Sammy's eyes. "Yeah, it wasn't," she agreed. "I don't like it when people don't treat me right!"
"You can't let 'em," Scott smirked, walking back towards the Loser Bench. "Sometimes you gotta fight back."
Sammy smiled at him and turned towards the still-incapacitated Lindsay and Tyler.
The two hosts were still smoking and collapsed on the chair. Unsurprisingly, two people quickly leapt up.
"Well, looks like our dear hosts are in no shape to continue!" Alejandro said quickly, smirking as he walked towards center stage.
"What a shocker, it took even less time than I expected for them to mess it up!" Heather added.
Alejandro and Heather's words seemed to clear Lindsay and Tyler's heads, and they jumped to their feet, albeit a little wobbly.
"We ain't mess nothin up, believe it!" Tyler hooted, stumbling around a bit.
"My head hurts," Lindsay complained, rubbing the back of her head tiredly.
Alejandro touched his earpiece as the producers spoke to them. Lindsay, Tyler and Heather did the same. After a few seconds, Lindsay and Tyler groaned and Alejandro and Heather grinned.
"Seems like the producers weren't a fan of you kowtowing to the guests and stopping the tape of Scott and Courtney," Heather taunted.
"We've been benched by the producers!?" Tyler pouted, hanging his head in defeat. "Come on, yo!"
"Hosting is a cutthroat business, guys." Harold said matter-of-factly as he pushed his glasses up his nose.
"You should take it as a compliment," Geoff added, "it just means you guys aren't cruel enough!"
"We might be put in time-out this time," Lindsay said hotly, not willing to give Heather the win so easily, "but Tyler and I are gonna work on our hosting skills for next time!"
Heather walked up to the still sizzling Lindsay with nothing but mockery in her eyes. "Yeah whatever. Go sit down in the Peanut Gallery and leave the important duties to people who can handle it."
An unusual fire filled Lindsay's eyes, and she glared daggers at the Queen Bee. "Just wait and see, Heather! This isn't over! Come on, Tyler!" She helped Tyler over to the Peanut Gallery.
Heather and Alejandro exchanged one last victorious smirk. "You're lucky we're out of time for you, Sammy," Alejandro said in a low purr, "I had so much I wanted to ask you…"
"But, go sit down," Heather added, jerking her thumb to the Loser Bench, "there's a seat next to Little Miss Perfect."
Sammy meekly went over an sat down next to Zoey, who put a comforting arm on her shoulder. "That was rough," the redhead said sympathetically. "Sorry you had to go through that."
Sammy smiled at her, "thanks, but it wasn't all bad…"
Back with the hosts, there was a bit of trepidation on the face of one of them.
"Ugh, I am not looking forward to introducing this next guest," Heather grumbled, "couldn't Lindsay and Tyler have at least gotten through them before their failures?"
"Ah, she is not so bad," Alejandro said optimistically, "she was quite the teammate back in Total Drama World Tour. Our next guest helped Zoey control her inner Commando, got back with an old flame, and instigated a crazy party! It's…Izzy!"
The crowd roared it's applause as Izzy cartwheeled onto stage. With a fluid leap, she disembarked from the cartwheel and hopped onto the couch.
"My adoring fans," She cooed to the audience, blowing them kisses, "Izzy loves each and every one of you!"
"So Izzy, how have you been since being eliminated?" Heather asked, looking very much like she wanted to move this interview along quickly.
"Oh I've been great!" Izzy chirped excitedly. "Relaxing at the Playa is a total blast! I've been hanging out with Zoey and Sammy a lot! We get along like three peas in a pod!"
Zoey waved to Izzy from the Loser Bench.
"How charming," Alejandro chimed in, "now, you came this close," he held his thumb and pointer finger just millimeters from each other, "to toppling the power couple of Shawn and Jasmine and eliminating Jasmine in that tiebreaker! How upset were you to lose the tiebreaker?"
"Aw, getting eliminated sucks for sure," Izzy said amicably, "but I knew going into the tiebreaker that it was long odds against that giant woman. I mean, her legs are basically as thick as my head!"
The crowd laughed along with the zany redhead, and when it died down she continued. "Leaving Big-O sucked, but I know he's gonna do great!"
"Yes, Owen has proved himself to be quite the competitor this season," Alejandro agreed, a note of grudging respect in his tone.
"He was already a good competitor, Al," Izzy said with a mischievous giggle. "He won a season, which is more than can be said for you!"
"Hahaha!" Heather couldn't help the laughter that spilled from her lips as the crowd let out a collective 'ooooooh' at Izzy's diss.
Alejandro glared at her, but Heather just grinned back at him. "Admit it, she's got you there."
Alejandro ignored Heather and turned back to Izzy, his eyes narrowed. When he spoke, his kind, hostly infliction was nowhere to be found. "At least I was never eliminated twice in one season…three different times!" He smirked, "tell me, Izzy. How does it feel knowing Noah backstabbed you, for Lightning of all people?"
Izzy kicked her feet against the couch like a small child, humming to herself in thought for a few moments. "Err…it doesn't really feel like anything! Though I do feel a bit hungry, so is that the right answer? It makes me hungry!"
"It doesn't bother you that Noah backstabbed you?" Sky exclaimed from the loser bench, "he's so getting a beatdown from me next time I see him!"
"Naw, I have no hard feelings towards the little guy," Izzy said fondly, "he's just really trying his hardest to win and be cutthroat."
"I have been impressed by some of his antics," Heather agreed. "Little twerp is finally using that giant head for something interesting."
"He's already outta steam though," Izzy continued, "he doesn't have the capacity to continue being scummy. That's why he worked so hard to clear the obstacles away from Lightning. Now he doesn't have to dirty his hands anymore, and Lightning can just carry him."
The stage fell silent. Everyone gave the nutcase a shocked look.
"Wow…that was…perceptive," Alejandro blinked. "Are you sure you haven't seen everything?"
"Pshaw, Al! Pshaw, I say! Pshaw!" Izzy giggled, "I'm just smart! S-M-O-T smart!"
"Well, why don't you use you're smartness to tell us who you think is gonna win?" Heather asked dryly.
"Aw, I gotta say Owen! Once the merge hits, he might not be seen as a threat! A lot of the newbies don't seem to get how much of a dark horse he can be!"
"Yeah, Owen!" Trent cheered from the Gallery. "How cool would it be to have a two time winner?!"
"Not cool at all, considering it would either be Owen or Duncan," Heather scoffed. "Maybe if I was competing I'd agree with the sentiment."
"Alright, Izzy, it's time for your Final Question," Alejandro said quickly, "would you ever come back for another season of Total Drama after this?"
"Oh, you betcha!" Izzy said instantly, "Izzy always has a blast on this show!" Her grin turned slightly evil, and she whipped out a remote from who-knows-where, "speaking of blast!"
Everyone in the audience and on stage screamed. Who knew what would happen if Izzy pressed the button.
"Mommy!" DJ screamed. Dawn wanted to tell him that his mother regretted him but decided now wasn't the time.
"Take the shot!" Alejandro said quickly, holding up his hand to his earpiece.
From off-screen, a dart flew out and nailed Izzy right in the neck. She let out a surprised yelp, and instantly got a glazed look in her eyes. The remote fell from between her fingers as she collapsed back onto the couch, snoring.
Everyone let out a collective breath, and Alejandro crushed the remote under his foot.
"And here I thought the interview would go by without her doing something crazy," Eva remarked dryly.
Two security guys walked out and grabbed the snoozing girl by each arm. They carried her over to the bench and deposited her next to Sammy, who eyed her warily.
"Alright, before we move onto our next guest, it's time for my favorite segment," Heather said. The crowd cheered, and Heather nodded along with the noise. "That's right, it's time for…That's Gonna Leave A Mark!"
(That's Gonna Leave a Mark Episode #2.)
The segment began with it's usual melody.
Owen climbed up a tree that was way too thin for someone of his girth. However, his determination to reach the top outweighed the danger he saw himself in, and he continued on his upward trek. Eventually, the trunk was so thin that it began leaning all the way to the left, taking Owen with it. Right before it snapped, Owen let go, and the tree rocketed back to it's straight up position. Unfortunately for Owen, this resulted in him being slingshot far into the distance.
Jo was running along the forest again, minding her own business. Like the previous segment, someone appeared from the sky and crashed into the jockette. A groaning Owen sat up, not realizing that his giant arse was sitting on Jo. He unleashed unholy gas on the thrashing girl, and she quickly succumbed to the fumes.
Sammy sat on the Dock of Shame, feet bare as she dipped her toes in the water. She smiled, at peace in the sunshine. That peace was quickly destroyed when a large tentacle flew out of the water, ensnaring her ankle. She screamed as she was dragged into the water. A nearby cameraman watched in horror, then ran away screaming.
Izzy shuffled a deck of cards in the Rec Center, but lost control of the deck and the cards shot out everywhere. She held her hands over her mouth in shock as the camera panned to show Bridgette pinned to the wall by the cards. She struggled, but was stuck.
Shawn leapt from tree branch to tree branch, swinging by his arms like Tarzan. Unfortunately for him one of the branches he was on snapped, and he faceplanted into the tree trunk. He slid down comically to the ground, and when he peeled his face off the bark it was covered in splinters.
"That's always a mood-brightener," Heather sighed, a rare content expression on her face.
"Very therapeutic," Alejandro agreed. "However, it is time to move on. Our next guest had quite the redemption arc! He was eliminated first the last time he competed, but came back to prove himself! It's…Beardo, everyone!"
The applause was the loudest it had been yet, and Beardo looked humbled as he waved to the crowd.
"Welcome, Beardo." The Latin Lover greeted the Beatboxing Butterball. "How are you today?"
Beardo responded with a thumbs up and a ding ding, causing the crowd to cheer loudly.
"Oh wow, it really does sound realistic," Alejandro mused, "I had thought maybe the show had edited your sound effects to sound more official. It's really quite the talent!"
Beardo smiled, his body language bashful, and awkwardly ran a hand through his afro.
"What, back to being silent?" Heather asked sharply. "You had no time blabbering along on the island!"
"S-sorry," Beardo stammered out, a dull flush creeping up his neck. "I've never…had to speak in front of a crowd this large before."
"Relax, friend," Alejandro told him kindly, "pretend it is just you and me!" He turned to the camera and winked, "how are we supposed to get him to spill some beans if he stays quiet, am I right?"
The crowd laughed, and someone out in the crowd yelled out: "We love you, dude! You got this!"
That seemed to help Beardo's nerves a bit, and he chuckled too. "Alright, what do y'all wanna know?"
"Well I think first off we should talk about your team," Heather interjected. "My sympathies for having to get stuck with Duncan, Scott, Jo and Gwen. I don't know how you lasted that long, I would've quit long before you got kicked off."
The crowd laughed again.
"Aw, they weren't all bad," Beardo told her.
"One of the most surprising friendships to come out of the season is definitely between you and Duncan," Alejandro continued. "Do you think you guys can stay friends after the competition? Or was your friendship just a cause of circumstance?"
"Hmm, I dunno," Beardo responded honestly, "he seems like a swell guy, but he's got a lot going on right now. I just hope he can find out the kind of guy he wants to be."
The crowd let out a collective "awww" at Beardo's kind words.
"You truly are a kind man," Alejandro noted, "tell me…do you hold any bitterness over your elimination? It did seems a shoo-in that you would survive that elimination and that Bridgette would get eliminated."
"Naw, it's all good," Beardo exclaimed, "I was surprised to get through the previous elimination we had. I'm not entirely sure what went down that saved Bridgette, but if I had to guess it was something to do with her agreeing to help Duncan with Gwen. I know those three go wayyyy back." He gave another thumbs up and ding-ding. "I accomplished everything I wanted to do on Total Drama Generations, so it's all good." He paused and rubbed his little beard, "though I guess it woulda been cool to merge."
"You might still have a chance," Heather said cryptically, "now, before we send you to the Loser Bench, you've got an incoming call."
"A call? From who?" He suddenly gasped, "is it Rebecca!?"
The TV suddenly clicked on, showing a pretty blonde woman with sprakling green eyes.
"It is!" Beardo cheered, hopping to his feet as he stared up at his girlfriend. "Hey, Bexs!"
"Hey, babe!" Rebecca waved to him. "How are you!?"
"Doing amazing now that you're here!" Beardo replied, and the crowd 'aww'ed again. "Have you been watching the show?!"
"I haven't missed a second!" Rebecca grinned, "I can't say much for the same reason you guys haven't been allowed to see the episodes yet…but I just wanna say I'm so proud of you! You totally accomplished what you wanted to!"
Beardo blushed, and the crowd broke out into applause. "How's school goin?"
"Not bad," Rebecca replied, "I'm on my last two classes for the semester, then I have a month break!"
"You'll be coming home, right?" Beardo asked hopefully.
"Uh, duh!" She winked at him. "I can't wait to see you, hon. I miss you so much!" She looked at her watch, "anyways, I think we're outta time. Love you!"
"Love and miss you too, Bexs. I'll see you soon!" Beardo gave her one last wave before the camera shut off.
Most of the Peanut Gallery were wiping moist eyes, and the crowd was going nuts.
Heather rolled her eyes, reclining back on the host couch. "Wasn't that touching?" she said dryly. "Alright Beardo, you can hit the Loser Bench."
Beardo gave her a thumbs up and sat down next to the still snoring Izzy.
"Our last guest of the night seemed destined for late-game with how dominant he had been in the competition," Heather continued with another roll of her eyes, "but some arrogance caused him to get hurt and now he's here: It's Shawn!"
Shawn limped out onto stage, still on crutches. The zombie-nut was frowning as he hobbled over to the couch and sat down.
"Arrogance? What are you talking about?" He asked the hosts, a little annoyed.
"I believe what my lovely co-host is referring to is when you tried to glue and control your glider instead of accepting the fact that you were meant to swim a portion of that relay race," Alejandro said calmly.
"That wasn't arrogance, I was just trying to win!" Shawn said, annoyed. "It would've worked too if I hadn't lost the key when I fell!"
"Riiiight," Heather drawled, "Or if you had just dropped when you started to veer off course. You were still way ahead of the others." She shook her head, "I get it, you wanted to pull off a perfect landing…but it cost you the game."
"And you left your girlfriend behind, alone!" Alejandro chimed in unhelpfully.
"She's not alone," Shawn retorted, crossing his arms. "She's got Owen, and the alliance with Jo once the merge hits. She'll be fine, she's the most badass person who's ever been on Total Drama!"
Alejandro chuckled, "well, close…"
Shawn raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"I've been looking forward to this," Alejandro told the survival nut. "All season, we've had a public poll running. The topic? The Best Total Drama Competitor Ever!"
The large TV screen briefly cut to static, but when the picture returned the screen had changed. At the top of the screen was, in typical TD letterstyle, "Top 10 Greatest TD Comeptitors!"
"Ooh, that's kinda cool!" Shawn said with a confident grin, "are you going to reveal who the public thought was the best?"
"The entire Top 10!" Alejandro confirmed. "This is an all-around poll, too. It measures the combination of strategy, brains, brawn and charisma."
Geoff scratched his head, "Charisma?"
"Basically your social game," Heather clarified. "Which is so overrated by the way."
"Anyways, let's get revealing," Alejandro continued, "Shawn, do you think you'll make the list?"
"Yes," Shawn answered confidently.
Both Alejandro and Heather looked a little taken aback by the blunt answer.
"Well, you're awfully confident for a weirdo loser," Heather scoffed, crossing her arms. "Let's get on with #10!"
The screen changed to a slot machine screen. The faces of all 52 Total Drama competitors flashed quickly through the slot, before it finally came to a triple stop on a familiar arrogant jock.
"#10 is Lightning?" Heather winced, "ew, how did he make the list?!"
"Gosh," Harold said from the sideline, "it's probably what's known as 'Trait Stacking' in the D&D community. He puts all his skill points in one category, in this case physical strength, and relies only on that to carry him."
"Shut up, Harold." Heather replied.
"I'm not surprised Lightning makes the list," Shawn said offhandedly, "Jazz had a run in with him in the first challenge and she said he's freakishly strong."
The slots began to swirl again, and the person who placed ninth appeared.
"Courtney!?" Heather shrieked, "what is she doing on this list?"
From her position in the Peanut Gallery, Courtney couldn't help but smirk.
"I better be on this list," Eva growled, "I'm stronger than anyone on this stupid show!"
"Yeah," Scott rolled his eyes, "the fitness gorilla that got eliminated twice in one season then never came back is definitely an all time great!"
Eva snarled at him, and Scott screamed and hid behind Rodney.
Number 8 on the list turned out to be…Sky.
"Only eighth?" Sky questioned, a little disappointed. "Aw man, I guess after my performance this season that its fair."
"I still think you're a badass, Sky!" Shawn told her with a smile and a thumbs up.
"Aw thanks, Shawn." Sky waved back, grinning at him.
"Yes, Sky makes the top 8 for her athletic prowess and passable social bonds," Alejandro narrated. "And in seventh place we have…" he turned to look at the screen. His face fell as the person was revealed. "…Owen…"
"Woohoo!" Izzy suddenly sprung awake, startling Sammy and Beardo. She began clapping loudly, "Let's go, Big O!"
"And the fart machine makes the list to everyone's surprise," Heather remarked snidely. "Though I guess everyone loves him or whatever, and he can hold his own in some challenges…"
"Gosh, not to mention he has one of the most impressive placement history of anyone on the show!" Harold added.
The person who ranked sixth appeared on the screen next, and it was a face of one of the host's themselves.
"Only sixth!?" Heather exclaimed, "what kind of bullcrap is that! I'm easily the best person to ever play the game! I won a season!"
The Peanut Gallery all erupted into laughter at Heather's expense, making the host go red with anger.
"Ah Heather, I fear it is your underestimation on the importance of social bonds that puts you just shy of the top half of this list," Alejandro told her sadly.
"I know social bonds," Heather protested, "I even bonded with Cody in World Tour!"
"Yes, one true friend in four seasons of playing is most formidable," Alejandro chuckled. Heather gave him the stink eye, and he quickly lost his smile. "Ah…I mean, this is quite unjust?"
Heather sulked back into the couch cushions. "Whatever."
The two suddenly put thier hands to thier earpieces, and Alejandro rolled his eyes. "Finally, they give me a bit of narration so I too know who's coming." He turned to the camera with a grin, "#5 is a consistent, formidable player that has also won a season."
"Ugh, listen to him talk himself up," LeShawna grumbled, "what a tool."
"It's Duncan!" Alejandro continued, as Duncan's face appeared on the screen.
"Ooh, fun," Heather said, turning to smirk at a certain member of the Peanut Gallery. "How's it feel to be four spaces behind your ex-boyfriend, Courtney?"
Courtney just rolled her eyes. "Seems fair to me. He constantly outplaced me except for the time he decided to be extra stupid and go to prison."
Heather didn't seem all that stoked by Courtney's response. "You were much more fun when you used to be a whiny, raging pain in the butt."
Courtney's eye twitched a little at that.
"Swiftly moving on," Alejandro interjected quickly. "Fourth place, and just shy of the podium…it's Zoey!"
The camera quickly cut to Zoey, who looked surprised to be included on the list.
"Who, me?" She said humbly, "I mean, I know I did good the last two times, but I'm not all that great…really!"
"You kick butt," Eva grunted at her. "Accept and own it!"
Zoey cringed, "Why did that sound like a threat…?"
"Yes yes, Zoey is Mrs. Mary Sue, don't we all just want to fawn over her," Heather said with a smirk. "Seriously though, how did you get as athletic and skilled as you are? Did you do any kind of training?"
The girl in question just shrugged, a little sheepish. "Not really…that's just me, I guess."
The crowd cheered her on, but quieted down when Alejandro cleared his throat.
"Actually, I'll be taking over the narration. I know how much you love to hear yourself speak, but how about giving me a turn?" Heather asked her co-host, a biting edge to her voice that booked no room for argument.
Alejandro looked a little startled, but quickly composed himself and winked at her. "Be my guest."
Heather ignored his wink and turned to the camera, "Third place goes to some giant freak of a woman that is, as much as I hate to admit it, a fierce warrior. It's Jasmine!"
Jasmine's face appeared on the screen, and Shawn and the crowd began to applaud loudly.
"Well, Shawn," Heather said quickly, turning to the zombie nut. "You said you're confident you're on the list. With only two spots left, are you still confident?"
Shawn nodded. "Yeah, I'm still confident."
Heather leered at him. "Oh reeeeeally? Are you sure about that?"
Shawn smirked at her, unbothered by her attempts to throw him off. "Yup."
Alejandro decided to cut in. "If you indeed are on the list, how do you feel about being higher than Jasmine? Do you think that's true? Are you more skilled than your girlfriend?"
Shawn quickly shook his head. "No way, man. Jazz is the most badass person I've ever met. I understand why I might be higher on the list due to the fact that it's a public poll. The public don't know her like I do, but I bet they'll see once this season is up." He lifted up an arm and slapped his bicep, "she's gonna crush the competition. She'll be #1 for sure!"
The crowd roared it's approval at Shawn's optimism, which made Heather roll her eyes.
"Alright then, let's find out who #2 is." Heather listen to her earpiece as the faces spun around on the screen. The Queen Bee let out a groan. "Oh great. If he's #2…that means #1 is…"
The faces stopped on Shawn, and the boy in question raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Huh, I wonder who is #1…?"
"Who indeed?" Alejandro agreed, beginning to look a little smug. Next to him, Heather was pouting. "Well, Shawn…there's no doubt you deserve your status this high on the list," the latin man continued, "even if your personal hygiene and grooming leave a lot to be desired."
Shawn crossed his arms, not looking bothered by Alejandro's little jibe. "There are more important things in life than looking pretty, Al."
The crowd let out an 'ooooh', at that.
"If you say so," Alejandro replied, also unbothered. His smug look returned full force. "And if Shawn is #2, that must mean #1 is…" he turned to look at the screen.
Sure enough, his own face appeared, wreathed in gold. The crowd let out a mixed reaction at this. Lots of cheers and even more boos echoed throughout the set.
"The public views me as the best to ever play?" Alejandro said with his best attempt at humility. "I must say, I am honored…"
"Yeah right!" Eva heckled, "he probably rigged it himself!"
"He didn't," Heather snapped at her, unconsciously jumping to defend Alejandro. She seemed to realize what she said, and tried to backtrack. "Uh, I mean, we don't know for sure. Wouldn't surprise me though, the egotistical jerk."
Alejandro smiled down at Heather. "Ah, Heather, seeing you jumping to my defense warms my heart." He bent down and kissed her cheek, making the crowd aww.
Heather blushed a little and turned her nose up at him, "Wh-whatever."
Shawn burst out laughing, catching the hosts by surprise.
"Something amuses you, Shawn?" Alejandro asked, a little uncertain.
"A little," Shawn snorted. "Just shows that this is an opinionated poll if it has you over me and Jazz."
The evil couple began to glare at Shawn.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Alejandro scoffed.
"It means there's no way you're better than us at anything, except for maybe caring about your stupid looks!" Shawn shot back.
The crowd gasped. Alejandro looked like he had been slapped across the face.
"He would crush you and your lame-o girlfriend," Heather snapped at him, "but nice attempt at bravado, dork."
Alejandro quickly wiped the surprise off his face and did his best to maintain his composure. "Yes, I do believe I would."
"Oh yeah? I bet I could beat you in anything you chose right now, with one bad leg!" Shawn taunted, obviously a little fired up now that Jasmine had been insulted. "You guys wouldn't last two minutes in the apocalypse!"
Alejandro laughed out loud. "I have no interest in humiliating a crippled man, Shawn. Perhaps when you are healed."
Shawn wasn't about to give up, though. "I didn't realize one of your stupid family saying's was 'Burromuerto's son pollo!', Al!"
If his goal was to break Alejandro's composure, he had succeeded admirably. The manipulator jumped to his feet and snarled at Shawn. "You take that back!"
Shawn also lifted himself to his feet with his crutches, and the two jammed their faces together as they growled at one another. "Make me! Name the challenge!"
The crowd began to cheer and chant: "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Alejandro opened his mouth, but two pale hands jammed themselves between the two boy's faces, and separated them.
Heather, the one to break them up, shoved both in the chest so they thumped back down into the couches. "Get ahold of yourselves!" She snapped at them, though she was mostly addressing Alejandro.
"No one insults my family name and gets away unscathed!" Alejandro hissed.
"Get over yourself, Zombie-chow!" Shawn shot back.
"As much fun as it would be to watch Alejandro pound Shawn into pulp," Heather interjected, ignoring Shawn's indignant 'Hey!', "we don't have time to watch you two have a pissing contest." She gave Alejandro a pointed look. "We still have two more things to do!"
With reason staring him in the face, Alejandro deflated. "You're right," he admitted before giving Shawn one last glare. "But this isn't over!"
Shawn was going to snapback, but Heather interrupted. "Just hobble over to the Loser Couch."
Shawn made his way over to the couch to sit next to Beardo. Sammy reached over and pat him on the shoulder. "Way to not take any of their BS!" The nice twin said happily. Shawn smiled.
"Alright then, now that that's over," Heather sighed, "we need Dawn, DJ, Harold, LeShawna and Freakzekiel up on center stage!"
Said Peanut Gallery members rose up, and the crowd began to chatter excitedly. Everyone knew what was coming up.
"That's right," Alejandro said in response to the crowd's noise. "It's time to figure out which person you, the fans, have voted into Total Drama Generations!"
The five with the potential to go back into the game lined up.
"Uh, what's up with that?" LeShawna said, pointing up above her head.
The camera followed her finger to show five cans of paint, hanging by a rope over each of the five.
"We'll be revealing the results of the poll, starting with 5th place. If you get splatted by a paint can, you'll know you're out." Heather smirked.
"Oh wow, eh." Ezekiel said, looking nervously up at the paint. "I shouldn't have worn my nice hoodie today."
"But it looks just like your other hoodies," Harold pointed out.
"True 'nuff, but this is my favorite one," Ezekiel shrugged. He hung his head. "Just drop the can on me already. I know I'll be first outta this one too, eh?"
"Probably," Heather said uncaringly. "But we don't know the results of the poll either. The cans of paint will just drop on our command."
"So, how are you guys feeling? Nervous? Excited? Confident?" Alejandro asked the five.
"Pretty confident," Harold grinned, doing a karate pose. He looked much more impressive now with this larger, muscular frame. "I'm sure the world wants to see my upgraded mad skills!"
"I kinda hope I don't get back in," DJ admitted. "World Tour left such a bad taste in my mouth…but I'll do my best if I am voted it!"
"You were wise to keep the results from yourselves," Dawn told Alejandro and Heather, "otherwise I'd sense who the winner is…I truly have no clue what to expect."
"You know I'm confident, baby!" LeShawna cheered, "who wants to see me back in the game, y'all!"
The crowd cheered.
"Alright then," Alejandro held up a hand to his earpiece. "The producers are telling me that fifth place got a measly 6% of the votes…" He held up his hand and made a cutting motion. "Drop the can!"
A can above one of the five fell, splattering them with red paint. The crowd let out a sympathetic "awww" as DJ wiped the paint from his eyes.
"Tough luck, DJ!" Heather said, a rare bit of sympathy in her voice. "If it's any consolation, I would've voted for you over the others."
"Thanks, Heather," DJ smiled at her. "Like I said, I'm a little relieved." He looked around, still dripping paint, "can I go sit down now?"
Alejandro nodded. "Yes, please rejoin the Peanut Gallery."
Meanwhile, Ezekiel was in shock. "Wait…I wasn't last place?" He beamed, showing his mangled teeth ensnared by braces. "Wow!"
"Yes, we're all shocked too," Alejandro said placidly. "Anyways, in fourth place, with 14% of hte votes…" he did the same cutting motion.
Harold gasped as he saw the paint can fall on him. He nimbly leapt out of the way, avoiding the splat of red paint. "Fourth place?!" The nerd said indignantly, "but look at those mad dodging skills I just employed!" He began stomping off towards the Loser Bench. Unfortunately for him, he didn't pay attention to the wet paint on the floor from DJ's can. He slipped on it and hit the floor.
"Don't worry, hot stuff," LeShawna called back to him. "LeShawna's still in this!"
"And with a slightly improved 17% of the votes, the next person out is…"
A can fell on LeShawna, making her gasp.
Harold, who was now covered in paint from the floor, leapt up and gripped his head. "Not the fair LeShawna!" He turned to the crowd, "what's wrong with you guys!?"
Heather, on the other hand, made no effort to disguise her glee. She was laughing at the paint-covered woman.
LeShawna plucked the can out of her hair and hurled it at Heather.
"Waaah!" Heather Waluigi'd, ducking to avoid the paint can.
"Hmph," LeShawna dusted her hands off, and walked over to the Peanut Gallery with Harold.
"Sorry you didn't get in, LeShawna," Harold said sadly.
"Hmph, ain't no big thing, sugar," LeShawna eyed him, a bit of a hungry look in her eyes. "Maybe you make me feel better by taking me out to dinner."
A familiar goofy grin returned to Harold's face, "anything for my fair LeShawna!"
The crowd cheered them on, but the camera quickly focused on the two ex-campers remaining in the contest: Ezekiel and Dawn.
Dawn was the very picture of serenity. With her arms folded behind her back and her neutral expression, she didn't seem terribly fussed about the situation she was in.
Ezekiel, on the other hand, was sweating bullets. Getting so close to actually being in the completion was leaving him very conflicted. This did not go unnoticed by the hosts.
"You look like you have to use the bathroom, Zeke," Heather scoffed. "Aren't you excited you get to go back and potentially steal another million dollars?!"
Ezekiel flinched, "hey, you got your money eventually, eh! I already said I was sorry!"
"Whatever, I still hate you," Heather grumbled.
Alejandro prepared himself to announce the winner. "And with a whopping 42% of the total votes…the winner is…"
The last can fell, splattering the unlucky person underneath it. The crowd gasped as the loser removed the paint can from their head.
"Dawn!"
The crowd erupted into applause as a squeaky clean Dawn beamed out over the audience. "Oh this is just wonderful!" She exclaimed. She turned to Ezekiel, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it is any consolation, this is better for you. A return to Total Drama would spell only darkness for you."
Ezekiel sighed. "You're probably right, Holmes." A little happiness entered his eyes. "But coming 2nd place is pretty cool!"
"Yes, you received 18% of the votes," Alejandro confirmed. "It was not particularly close, but you did still get second place."
A mischievous smirk played at Heather's lips. "Alright, now that we know one loser that's heading back…it's time to figure out who else is returning!"
"Someone else is returning!?" Cody asked hopefully.
"Yes," Heather confirmed, "but it's no one from the Peanut Gallery!"
"That's right," Alejandro said, "not one…but two of our previously eliminated contestants will be returning to the game!"
The ten losers on the Loser Bench all gasped loudly.
"Oh it is ON!" Sky shouted confidently, leaping to her feet. She faltered, "uh, wait…how do we get in?"
"Well first off, we are required to tell you that participating in this Returnee Challenge is not mandatory," Heather said impatiently. "So if any of you actually want to give up a shot at returning, now's the time to speak up."
Shawn, unsurprisingly, was the first to raise his hand. "Yeah, I kinda just sacrificed my game and voted myself off because of an injury," he said dryly, "wouldn't make sense to win this challenge and go right back."
Brick also raised his hand. "I'm with Shawn on this one," the cadet confirmed, "my circumstances haven't changed. I need to focus on school."
"Understandable and expected," Alejandro nodded, "truly noble reasons for abstaining." He eyed the other eight, "anyone else want to take a pass?"
"No way," Anne Maria said, excitement evident in her voice. "This is my chance at redemption!"
"Totally," Rodney pumped his massive paw, "I gotta get back into the game!"
Only one of the eight looked a little conflicted.
"Oh…I dunno," Zoey said hesitantly. "It might not be good for me to go back into the game."
Dawn suddenly appeared behind her, crammed in between Anne Maria and Brick on the bench. "Oh Zoey," she said softly, making the redhead jump in surprise. "Trust me when I say it would be good for you to at least attempt to get back into the game. You'll regret the What If's if you don't even try."
Zoey didn't look entirely convinced, but she relented. "Well, if Dawn thinks its a good idea…she does have pretty good judgment usually." Her resolve hardened a bit. "Let's do this!"
"Excellent, I'm glad to hear we have no other quitters," Alejandro said amicably. He clapped his hands, and the camera panned over to an eight person booth. It was divided into eight slots, and each portion of the booth was wide enough for one person to stand. There were eight names, one under each portion of the booth, so the campers could stand in the booth. Each booth had a large podium with a red and green button on it.
"Everyone please take your spots at the podium," Alejandro said over the excited thrum of the audience. "The first half of this completion will be trivia questions and the like."
"Wow," Scott said with his usual smirk. He walked over to his booth and winked at Sammy. "Who coulda saw that one coming?"
Sammy giggled and entered her slot.
"There will be four rounds," Alejandro explained as everyone settled themselves at the podium. Each round you will be asked a question, and the answer to that question will either be 'True' or 'False'."
"The last one to answer will be eliminated, so it's a game of quick thinking and physical reflexes," Heather added. "Also, if you get the question wrong, you're immediately out. So make sure you're not randomly pressing a button fast to get an answer in. Really think about it."
"Woohoo!" Geoff cheered, "you got this, guys!"
"I'm gonna crush this!" Sky said determinedly, "No way is anyone gonna stop me from getting back into this game!"
"You'll have to get through me first, toots!" Anne Maria snapped back.
"Sorry ladies, but I need to get reunited with Owen!" Izzy giggled, "you're going down!"
Scott was surprisingly calm about this all, and was abstaining from any trash talking. In fact, he radiated an unusually quiet confidence as he leaned against the wall of his booth.
"Alright!" Heather turned to the crowd, "you guys ready to begin!?"
The crowd roared its acceptance, and Heather grinned back at Alejandro. He returned the grin.
"Let's begin, then." Alejandro cleared his throat, "Question One…Team Oddball is currently down to Two Members. Besides Team Victory, this is the only time in Total Drama history that a team has gotten that small!"
Scott and Sammy slammed their red buttons down instantly, almost before the question was finished being asked.
Zoey and Anne Maria followed suit with red button presses of their own. Izzy was after them, leaving Sky, Rodney and Beardo pondering the question.
Sky was the first of the three to act, pressing the red button. Rodney followed suit, but he pressed the green button. A few seconds later, Beardo pressed the red button.
"And everyone answers False except for Rodney!" Heather smirked, "wrong answer, loser! You're out!"
"Beardo was the last to enter, but he guessed correctly. Since Rodney was incorrect, Beardo gets a pass," Alejandro added.
"Aww, man!" Rodney pouted, "I really wanted to get back into the competition!"
"Yeah," Heather mocked, "you're the only person on the planet that wanted that."
The crowd laughed.
As Rodney clumped back to the Loser Bench, Round #2 began.
"Question Two," Heather read, "Team Oddball has faced the most elimination ceremonies this season!"
Once again, Sammy and Scott were the first to slam their red buttons, much faster than the rest. Zoey followed suit right after with a red button push.
There was a few seconds pause as everyone pondered the question. Anne Maria answered next with a red button push.
Sky hit the green button, and so did Izzy.
Beardo was last again, but hit the red button.
"Ooh, tough break for Izzy and Sky," Alejandro said sympathetically, and Sky gasped. "Team Nuclear faced the most elimination ceremonies with 5!"
Izzy slapped her forehead, "Doh! Even though Brick went home second, it was Team Nuclear that was at the ceremony! Izzy can't believe she forgot!"
"Oh no," Sky paled, "no!" She hung her head in defeat. "It was a trick question…"
The crowd hooted it's sympathies as a distraught Sky and grinning Izzy left their booths.
"We're down to five," Alejandro gestured at Anne Maria, Scott, Beardo, Sammy and Zoey. "Two of them will get back into the game! Let's move onto Question Three!"
"Question Three," Heather took over, "In the Rec Center on the island, the inside of the mini fridge has just two shelves!"
"What?!" Scott yelped, "what kind of question is that?! That wasn't in the data, er, I mean that's so random!"
"Yes, the producers decided to switch up the questions last minute," Heather said with a suspicious glance at Scott. "After some people answered really quickly in both of the last rounds."
Sammy awkwardly looked at the ground, but nevertheless hit the green button.
Anne Maria hit the red button, and so did Scott.
Zoey hit the green button. Beardo was last again, and hit red.
"Interesting," Alejandro noted, "the correct answer was….TRUE! That means Sammy and Zoey were the only ones correct!"
Scott let out a shout of frustration. "No way!"
"Yeah, I was booted off first!" Anne Maria agreed, "how the heck was I supposed to know the answer to that! I barely set foot in that stinkin' place!"
Alejandro held his hands up to his earpiece. "Hold on, amigos, I'm getting something here." He nodded his head. "I understand." He turned back to the five. "Since this question was a rather random one due to potentially underhanded reasons…I have been ordered to make this a single elimination." He gave Beardo an apologetic look. "Since you were the last person to answer incorrectly, you are out."
Beardo let out a sad trombone noise, but smiled when the crowd screamed their condolences at him. He gave the audience a bashful wave as he returned to the Loser Bench.
"Now, let's get onto the fun part," Heather announced. She gestured to a curtained off area. The curtain lifted, showing four balance beams suspended over a pool of water. There were purple squishy blobs in the water.
"Are those…jellyfish?" Sammy gulped.
"That they are," Heather confirmed. "This challenge is simple. You're gonna have to dodge stuff being thrown at you while maintaining your balance on the beam. Other than that, there are no rules! Last two standing go back into the competition!"
"Try and avoid falling if possible," Alejandro advised, "the jellyfish will not make for a pleasant landing."
Zoey allowed herself a hopeful grin. "This will be a piece of cake!"
The four: Anne Maria, Scott, Zoey and Sammy, clambered up onto a balance beam each. From left to right it went Sammy, then Scott, then Zoey, then Anne Maria. There was only about a foot of space between each of them, and they could touch elbows if they weren't careful.
"No rules, right?" Scott asked for confirmation as he settling himself on the beam.
"None," Heather confirmed. "And the challenge starts…now!"
"What are you planning?" Zoey asked Scott suspiciously, looking perfectly at home on the beam.
"Oh nothing," Scott said innocently, "just…this!"
The crowd gasped as Scott threw out an arm and struck Zoey in the shoulder. Taken completely unaware and unprepared, Zoey shrieked as her feet left the platform and she splashed into the water, yelling as the jellyfish stung her.
Alejandro and Heather looked thunderstruck as the crowd began to boo Scott. The Peanut Gallery and Loser Bench also looked shocked.
Zoey surfaced, covered in red welts, and quickly clambered out of the pool. "What the heck, Scott?!" She shouted, "what's the matter with you?!"
"Nothing personal, dollface," Scott smirked, "but me and my girl gotta get back in this game. You understand."
On the beam next to him, Sammy bit her lip and flushed a little, hiding her smile.
Scott seemed to realize what he said and quickly turned to Sammy. "Uh, not that you're my girl or anything, I'm not a possessive jerk or anything," he stammered, "like, uh, y'know…"
"It's okay Scott," Sammy assured him with a giggle, "let's win, okay?"
Anne Maria, however, was pretty pissed off by Scott's scummy antics. "Oh, it's on, now!" She yelled. She reached up into her pouffe and began pulling things out to throw at Scott. He dodged a hairbrush, a can of fake tan, and a pocket mirror. Sammy had to dodge these things too.
"Jesus, how much crap do you keep in that thing?!" Scott snapped, ducking as a full on hair dryer went soaring over his head.
"No one beats on Red, Dirtboy!" Anne Maria shouted in way of reply.
"Should we unleash the tennisball canon on them?" Alejandro whispered to Heather.
"In a sec," she said back quietly, "it's more fun to watch them hurl their own crap at each other."
"Agreed."
After a few more beauty products had missed their target, Anne Maria's hands came up empty. "Ugh! Great! I'm outta stuff to throw!"
"Nyahaha!" Scott laughed, "you're lucky you're two beams over, or you'd be in the drink too!"
"Not likely, toothpick."
Suddenly, a tennis ball flew on screen, smacking Sammy in the stomach. "Oof!" She stumbled back, but years of cheerleading left her with sure feet and good balance, and she recovered.
Scott and Anne Maria turned to see Heather manning a tennis ball launcher, much like the one seen in the first episode of Pahkitew Island.
"I'm going to really enjoy this," Heather smirked, "It doesn't unload quite as fast or as hard as Chris's new one, but it gets the job done!" She began to laugh as she sprayed tennis balls at the three.
Alejandro watched her from the sidelines, a dreamy expression on his handsome face. "Isn't she just amazing?"
The three were dodging the balls fairly easily, but then Anne Maria got an idea.
"Eat green, losers!" She cried, turning her back on the tennis ball launcher. All the balls began to ricochet off her hair, and she angled herself in a way that they went right towards Scott, and by extent Sammy.
"Crap!" Scott and Sammy doubled their efforts to dodge, but it was quickly becoming apparent that they couldn't dodge the entire, increased onslaught. They began to take a stray tennis ball to the chest or leg.
"Up the power!" Alejandro urged from the couch. "Someone's bound to drop soon!"
Heather complied, and the balls began coming with even more ferocity.
"Agh! We gotta do something or we're Jellyfish food!" Scott said in a panic. He took a ball to the face, and nearly fell off the beam himself.
"Scott!" Sammy gasped, covering her mouth. Her face quickly grew determined, and she bent down to remove a sneaker. From her vantage point, she could just barely make out the side of Anne Maria's orange face. It was the only shot she had.
Still dodging tennis balls, she reared her arm back and hurled her sneaker at Anne Maria. The sneaker collided with the side of Anne Maria's face, and the girl was knocked off the balance beam.
At the same time, the momentum from Sammy's throw put her off-balance, and a well aimed tennis ball struck her in the forehead, and she fell off too.
The two hit the water at the same time, and the crowd gasped.
"Whoa!" Scott leapt off his balance beam, making sure to clear the water, and quickly helped Sammy out of the pool. "You okay?"
"Ow…" Sammy winced, covered in little red marks. "That hurt!"
Anne Maria emerged, also covered in stings. She also had a sneaker trademark on her cheek. "You are so dead, Sammy!"
"Wow!" Alejandro said, approaching the three now that the tennis onslaught had stopped. "Well, Scott is definitely the winner, so he's back in the competition!"
The crowd and all the other ex-contestants on stage booed. Someone in the audience cried out: "Justice for Zoey!"
Scott just waved them off dismissively, not letting their bad attitudes spoil his happy grin. "Go cry some more!" He pumped his fist, "I'm back, baby!"
"Who's the second one?" Sammy asked, finally regaining her feet.
"Uh, me obviously," Anne Maria scoffed. "You hit the water way before I did, Blondie."
"It's a photo finish," Alejandro said, "let's pull the recap up on the TV!"
All eyes turned to the TV as the footage of the wide shot from the challenge appeared. It was super slowed down as Anne Maira ate a sneaker and Sammy got bonked by a tennis ball. They both fell towards the water, and even with the slow-mo it was close. But…a winner could be decided.
"The third and final person joining the competition is…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Sammy!"
"YES!" Sammy shrieked, throwing her hands up in victory. Scott, with genuine relief on his face, ran up and hugged her.
"We did it!" Scott cheered, he leaned in close and whispered with a smirk, "told ya we would!"
Sammy giggled, "all that snooping to find out the trivia questions was worth it I guess, huh?" She whispered back.
Scott just chuckled deviously, and the two serrated their hug. Next to them, Anne Maria fell to her knees, defeated.
"A valiant attempt, Anne Maria," Alejandro consoled her, walking over and patting the Jersey Chick on the shoulder. "Perhaps next time."
"Whateva," Anne Maria grumbled, getting pu and smacking Alejandro's hand away. She stalked over to the Loser Bench.
"There you have it," Heather told everyone, "we have our returnees! Dawn, Scott, and Sammy!"
The crowd roared, though it was clear they were mostly cheering on Sammy and Dawn. Scott still looked unbothered, and was smiling widely.
"You three will be flown out to Wawanakwa tomorrow," Alejandro told them. The producers said something in his ear, and he raised an eyebrow. "Though I'm told you might not even set foot on the soil…"
"Huh?" Sammy asked, "what is that supposed to mean?"
Alejandro shrugged, "I'm afraid I don't know," He said honestly. "Regardless, I think we're just about out of time!"
"Looks like it," Heather agreed. She turned to the audience. "What big merge twists awaits these losers? How will the others react to finding out not one, not two, but three people are rejoining the competition?"
"Find out next time," Alejandro said with his suave smile, "on Total! Drama! Generations!"
The crowd roared it's approval, and the cameras shut off.
As the audience began to clear out and members the Peanut Gallery and Loser Bench drifted off, the hosts walked up to three people.
"Alright, the flight leaves soon," Alejandro said quickly to Scott, Sammy and Dawn. "Follow me and Heather, please."
Scott and Sammy exchanged an excited grin and hurried after Alejandro and Heather.
A pair of baby-blue eyes watched the five walk off stage.
"Tyler, follow me," Lindsay whispered to her boyfriend. Tyler raised an eyebrow, but followed his girlfriend nonetheless.
The adorable couple followed the group of five as they walked backstage and through a criss-cross of different hallways. Eventually, they reached an exit door and walked outside into the night air.
"Brr, it's chilly," Heather shivered. In response, Alejandro moved closer to her and wrapped an arms round her. She glared at him. "That was invitation, creep."
Alejandro was unbothered by her words. "Feel free to pull away then, mi amor." Unsurprisingly, Heather didn't.
None of them noticed Lindsay and Tyler sneaking along, following them.
The group approached a small engine was already going, and it was hard to hear over the noise. Alejandro gestured for the three winners to enter. "Your ride," he shouted over the noise, "I wish you the bets of luck in the game!"
"Don't need your luck, Al," Scott said obnoxiously, hurrying into the plane. Dawn and Sammy followed him.
"Sneak attack!" Lindsay cried, running up to Heather and shoving her bodily into the plane too.
Tyler gasped, "what are you doing, Linds?!"
"Ow! What the hell, Lindsay!?" Came Heather's voice from in the plane.
"Heather!" Alejandro yelled, sprinting into the plane too. "Are you okay?!"
Lindsay began to struggle with the heavy plane door. "Quick! Help me lock them in!" She pleaded with her boyfriend.
Tyler realized what her plan was, and grinned. "You got it, babe! Don't worry, my super strong fingers got this!"
With the combined efforts of Lindsay and Tyler, they closed the door.
In the cockpit, the pilot got the notification that the main door was shut. "Everyone strap in!" He barked, "We're taking off!"
Back in the small cabin, there were only four rows of two seats. Scott, Sammy and Dawn were buckled in, but Heather was still dazed from the shove and Alejandro was bent down, checking on her. When he heard the pilot, he straightened up, alarmed.
"Wait! We can't take off, we're on the plane!"
The engines roared, and the plane began to move forward.
"Hahaha, they're waving to you, Al!" Scott, in the window seat, pointed outside.
Alejandro looked out his own window to see Tyler and Lindsay grinning as the plane pulled away and began to gain speed. "Those sneaky barracudas!"
"What the heck, did they just lock us in this plane?!" Heather snapped.
"Great, here I was hoping I could enjoy my flight," Scott said snidely.
The plane finally left the ground, and they were airborne.
Back on the ground, Lindsay clapped her hands excitedly and Tyler enveloped her in a big hug.
"Who's not cutthroat enough now, Heather!" Lindsay called after the plane. "Buh-byeeee!"
"I love you," Tyler sighed happily. The two shared a kiss.
The final shot of the episode cut to Dawn, Sammy, Scott, Alejandro and Heather, all awkwardly staring at one another as the plane headed for it's destination.
"So…now what?"
Now what indeed!? Alejandro and Heather are stuck on a plane, bound for the camp! What lies in store for this evil power couple?
Next chapter will have THE BIG MERGE TWIST plus the reveal of the 3 returnees + two stowaways! I'm excited, this story is really about to heat up!
Let's talk about the returnees real quick. Dawn stomped the vote, big time. I mean, 42% of the votes? Wowzers. It's cool, though, I was hoping it would be either her or Harold when I made the poll because I can do the most with them and the remaining players. I already have her storyline planned out!
Scott and Sammy were choices made by yours truly. I knew for a while that Scott would be returning, as evidenced by his Boat of Losers clip way back when. Sammy was a more recent choice, as for a while Zoey and Anne Maria were slotted to take the remaining spot (hence them being the last two in the challenge). However, after thinking it over there is WAY more to do with Sammy than the other two, so I went with her!
- What do you think of the three returnees? Anyone you would've rather preferred to see out of those available?
- What's gonna happen with Alejandro and Heather? Any guesses? What do you want to happen with them?
- There's a hint towards the merge twist towards the end of the chapter...any guesses on what it was or what it means? I've kept it vague on purpose, so don't worry about wrong answers!
Alright guys, I'll see you next time! Very exciting!
Ciao :D!