Moments earlier, Chris had walked over to the final four campers in the VR world. "Congratulations! Brick, Gwen, Izzy, and Noah, the four of you are moving on to the second challenge." The host paused for a second as he looked over at Izzy. "Um, Izzy, what are you holding there?"
"I killed a Lovecraftian Elder God in a cave. This is its eye!" To prove her point, Izzy held up the gargantuan eye of the fallen god.
The three campers recoiled in shock. The redhead looked over at them and beamed. "He's friendly now, guys. Well, he's mostly dead, but still, he's friendly now!"
Chris looked over at Chef, who had a question on his mind. "Chris, we gonna hear from PETA about that?"
The host laughed derisively. "Nah, big man, we're fine. It's complicated but we're all good. Now, on to the second part of the challenge. You are going to split up by gender and-"
His introduction was cut off by the sound of an outboard motor approaching the island.
Chef looked around, perplexed. "Food ain't supposed to come for another two days. What else could it be?"
He started to walk towards the boat before seeing someone standing on the bow. He started to wave his hand in a greeting before feeling a punch in his sternum. Chef looked down to see a rose blossoming on his white apron. He looked back up to the boat in bewilderment before collapsing.
Chris jumped out of his skin at the sound of the gunshot. He turned to see his best friend and crony lying on the ground, not moving. The figure on the bow of the boat jumped off, momentarily disappearing from view. Chris's eyes momentarily registered movement before he felt himself being turned around to face the campers. He also felt something a little less pleasant.
There was a gun jammed into his left rib cage.
The campers got a look at the mysterious assailant. She was wearing a red short-sleeve cardigan over a salmon top, with black pants. Her black hair glistened in the bright sunlight.
Noah stepped forward, astonished. "Emma? What the hell did you just do?"
His girlfriend from another season locked her jaw. What she had to say would not be pleasant. "Noah, I'm doing this for you. We need to talk."
Noah was panicking, and he fell back on his defense mechanism for the last eighteen years: sarcasm. "I'm sure we have absolutely nothing to talk about. Not like you've done anything noteworthy in the last five minutes."
Emma smiled wistfully. "Always time for a joke. Right now, I'm asking you to make time for me."
Gwen had been stunned by the sudden appearance, but she was jolted out of her fugue by a hand on her shoulder. Brick brought her and Izzy into a huddle before laying out a plan of action.
"If we can keep the two of them talking, we can tackle her and take the gun. I'll go up the middle, Izzy goes left, and Gwen you go right."
For all her bravado, even Izzy had been stupefied by the suddenness of the attack. She looked down at Chef's body. He had been a worthy opponent. Once they were out of here, she'd give him the burial he deserved. She nodded at the plan.
Gwen shook her head. "Brick, she'll shoot you first! You can't do this."
The cadet placed his hands over Gwen's in an attempt to soothe her. "It's what we train to do. If I die saving my friends, I'll be happy with that."
Gwen started to fear some moisture at the back of her eyes, but before she could begin to appreciate the cadet's future sacrifice, she heard Chris yelling.
"Noah, my man, just talk to her! I don't want to die! I'm too young and I haven't won enough Gemmys!"
Noah walked forward. If anyone could defuse the situation, it'd have to be him.
His mouth was dry. This was the most pressure he'd ever had on him, and the most nervous he'd felt since talking to Emma for the first time ever.
"Emma?" He called cautiously. "What's up? What's wrong?"
The raven-haired girl took a breath. "You. Right now, you're what's wrong."
If not for the fact that she had just killed a man, Noah would have laughed. That statement seemed laughably mistaken.
"What am I doing wrong?"
"Noah, why do you keep coming back to the show? You've told me how you hate almost everyone else. You've told me about the discomfort. You've told me about the crazy fans. Everything you've ever told me about this show has been negative. For you to keep coming back, it just doesn't make sense."
Chris suddenly tried to escape, so Emma had to divert her attention for a second. She pistol-whipped him on the back of the head, leaving the host dazed but conscious. The other three campers moved in closer while she wasn't looking.
With the distraction out of the way, Emma returned her attention to her boyfriend. "I mean, in the first challenge, you were caught in an active minefield. You were about to die! Noah, you're smarter than this. Why are you doing this, honestly?"
Noah looked around desperately. "Please, can we not do this on camera? Just put down the gun and we can talk all you want somewhere else."
Emma ignored this. "We talk here or Chris dies. And your friends here after him."
The silence was overwhelming. Nobody had any advice to give because, frankly, they didn't know what to say at all.
Noah hyperventilated for ten seconds before collecting himself. He had to say what was on his mind.
"Emma, this show is the closest thing I have to a group of friends. Even though I can't stand most of these dimwits, I met you on it. I met Owen, and the psychotic redhead, and Cody. I met Kitty. I've met some really cool people here, and I needed them more than ever."
He looked over at Izzy to see whether or not she was offended. She was not. Psychotic was fairly tame compared to what else she'd been called.
"You've been gone all summer, Emma. I wanted to talk to you but you're doing summer school. Owen began culinary school in Europe. Cody's been running from Sierra. I felt lonely, and my parents were ignoring me, so I felt like I had to join." He dropped his eyes after the last part. Noah didn't like giving people unnecessary details about himself, so this was quite embarrassing for him.
He had hoped that this sincere outpouring of emotion would get through to Emma.
Instead, she squinted in confusion. "So you voluntarily put yourself through a traumatic experience because you wanted friends? You know I'm always there for you, right?"
Noah rubbed his neck. The sun was starting to beat down on him, making an uncomfortable situation even worse. "You're just so busy with law school, it's not worth the interruption." Noah then had an unfortunate idea cross his mind. "You know, sometimes, I wonder which you love more: me or your schoolwork."
Chris's eyes widened. RULE ONE of hostage negotiations is to not piss off the hostage-taker.
Emma wasn't thrilled. She pulled Chris tighter. "Are you saying that my dreams don't matter?"
"They shouldn't matter to you as much as I do."
Emma was somehow even less thrilled. "I've had this dream since I was a little girl and I'll achieve it with or without your help."
Noah faltered for a second. "Would you put that dream over our relationship?"
"If our relationship stays like this, yes. No doubt."
Noah teared up. "In that case, you can chase your dream without me. We're done. You're not the girl I knew."
"Oh, I'm fucked," Chris whimpered. The other campers looked at Brick, who nodded imperceptibly. They fanned out and started to walk slowly towards Emma.
Emma, for her part, didn't notice. She had her head down in thought. Looking up slowly, she nodded. "Be that way."
Before the others could react, she raised the gun and shot Chris. Chris's limp body dropped to the ground with a neat hole forming in the left temple. They hadn't even heard the shot. Izzy stared at the body of her former tormentor before bullrushing Emma. Emma simply locked eyes with Noah, and with a reluctant smile, whispered "I loved you." She held out her left arm horizontally to brace the pistol, and aimed down the sights.
Controlling the recoil perfectly, she fired one shot.
Noah dropped, dead. Blood was already starting to pool.
Gwen screamed and started to rush to Noah's side before she heard something else.
"And with Noah's death, the Wombats win! Campers, you can take off your VR headsets now!"
The three living campers froze. Brick silently mouthed "no" before reaching up to his head and finding that he still had the headset on. He vanished from the virtual world, leaving Gwen and Izzy behind, who soon followed suit by throwing their headsets off.
When they came back to the real world, they found the other campers huddled around them. Some looked like they were going to cry. Others looked like they had survived a car crash. And still others, like Alejandro, were glaring at Chris with pure hatred.
Confessional
Harold: He crossed a line. Chris went wayyy too far this time.
Zoey: I can't even imagine what Noah's feeling right now. Poor guy. (pounds her fist into her other hand) Chris has to knock this off.
Dawn: I fear that will cause irreparable psychological damage in Noah. Why is this season so intense?
End of Confessional
Chris, the real Chris, was cracking up laughing with Chef. "Oh man, you shoulda seen your faces! That was perfect!"
Lightning was confused. "Man, what the hell just sha-happened? What'd you do?"
Chris wiped a tear from his face. "In between challenges, I made those final four stay in the headsets. I mean, come on, why did nobody question why Izzy was holding the eye of an Elder God?"
James cracked a smile. "I mean, she's done it before. I thought that was normal for Iz."
"Still, it was way too sunny. Couldn't you geniuses figure that one out?"
The campers looked at each other. They collectively shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders. Nobody had seen that one.
"I used a virtual me, a virtual Chef, and a virtual Emma to fool Noah. This was Noah's challenge, so if he could talk his girlfriend down and keep me alive, he would have won the challenge. Instead, he couldn't and lost it for his team. I'll see you all at the elimination ceremony tonight."
Noah was still frozen in shock. Gwen piped up, "But how did that second part relate to him?"
Chris smiled. "Dude doesn't embarrass himself nearly enough for my entertainment, so I wanted to get him to expose his feelings. Pretty simple actually."
The host walked away. Chef stared after him for a while before mumbling "virtual me always died, huh pretty boy?" The big cook then followed his boss off-camera.
The campers stayed motionless. They were unsure of how to proceed.
Harold moved over to comfort Noah. "Dude, that was bad. I bet you're really feeling down right now but that was not real Emma. That was an algorithm pretending to be Emma. Don't mix the two up."
Noah shook his head miserably. "Everything I said is true. I've been feeling really insecure about her leaving me behind to become a lawyer, and now that fear is out there on the Internet. Things don't die on the Internet. Remember goatse? That's never going away. And now, neither are my private concerns about my relationship."
Harold chuckled. Even in the most dire situation, Noah could still keep things pretty light. "When you get back, whether that's tonight or after you earn a ton of cash, just sit down and have a deep conversation with her. Don't lie and don't be sarcastic. I guarantee you'll feel better."
Noah looked up. "Thanks dude, that's actually a good idea. Who woulda thought you'd be the one to give me relationship advice?"
The nerd with mad skills nodded. "Being with my fair Leshawna has helped me realize a lot about people. Understanding how people work is another one of my mad skills now."
Confessional
Alejandro: It is regrettable that Noah will almost certainly leave. I could use my alliance to prevent that, but it would look suspicious. Later, for sure.
Courtney: I want Harold gone, but I will settle for another nerd instead.
Leshawna: Noah's really the only choice, isn't he? This sucks.
End of Confessional
Chris gathered his composure. The elimination ceremonies were always so much fun for him, getting to watch the teen shitheads squirm. Especially the ones he hated.
"Alright Muskrats, this is your first elimination ceremony of the season. For those who aren't aware, we're giving out Olympic medals this year in recognition of our newest camper. A beautiful gold means you get to stay on Boney Island, while the repulsive silver means that you will be riding the Flush of Shame. Hands-down my favorite elimination method, hahahaha!"
"The following campers are safe. Izzy. Lightning. Harold. Leshawna. And Courtney.
Alejandro, you're on the chopping block for your general untrustworthiness. Noah, you're here for losing your team the challenge. And the final gold goes to
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Just give him the damn medal", Noah grumbled.
"I was trying to build suspense, asshole," Chris snarked back. "But fine, Alejandro, catch your medal."
Noah walked to the oversized toilet. His teammates lined the dock. He searched their faces and was surprised to see compassion.
Leshawna stepped forward. "Listen boy, Chris did you dirty. I'm sorry you have to go."
Noah accepted the apology and kept walking. Closest to the toilet was Harold. He looked at Harold, and whispered to him that Leshawna was a keeper. Harold looked pleased with the compliment.
"Less talking, more flushing!" Chris demanded petulantly. After the nerd went down the drain, he looked to the camera to end the episode.
"Wow, Noah expressed an emotion for once! We also got to see the honeymoon phase for Lightning and Dawn, the end of the honeymoon phase for Heather and James, and Izzy did Izzy things. Join us next time for a whole lot more conflict on
TOTAL
DRAMA
SEND-OFF!"
Teams: Woeful Wombats (James, Heather, Gwen, Zoey, Dawn, Brick, Geoff, Dakotazoid)
Malicious Muskrats (Alejandro, Izzy, Lightning, Harold, Noah, Leshawna, Courtney)
Voter (who they voted for): Alejandro (Noah), Izzy (Noah), Lightning (Noah), Harold (Noah), Noah (Alejandro), Leshawna (Noah), Courtney (Noah)
Noah: 6 votes
Alejandro: 1 vote
Eliminated: Noah
Gwen had gathered all the campers in the mess tent. Chef and Chris had retired for the night and the interns were nowhere to be seen. There was some conversation between the teens about why they were meeting all together at night.
James rubbed the bridge of his nose before speaking up. "Ok, listen. There's a pattern to all of these challenges. The first part is dangerous to all of us but the second part is really dangerous to whoever the challenge is meant for. The last two eliminations have happened because of that last challenge."
Brick stood up to add support. "I also probably would have been gone on the first day for leading us into a minefield if not for Dakota."
Gwen hopped in. "For whatever reason, Chris seems to want to go with psychologically damaging challenges this year. So far, they all also revolve around a death of some sort. We need to be ready to expect anything."
Alejandro raised a hand. "Are you saying we help each other, regardless of team?"
Gwen looked at Brick and James. "To a degree...yes."
"You realize this is a free-for-all, right? Even though we're on the same team, I'm not helping weird goth girl unless I have to." Heather pointed out.
Gwen was about to yell at the living mean-girl-stereotype before Brick took charge. "You don't have to be friends with her, but you are brothers-in-arms here. We've known that Chris is sadistic but these challenges are something worse. Just have some common decency, nothing more."
Dawn had been studying the others' reactions before she was hit by something. She felt a wave crashing into her mind, over and over again. This was not an aura. This was a warning.
"Something is going to go terribly wrong soon. Watch out for the return of a feared lover."
"Girl, I like you, but what the hell does that mean?" Leshawna demanded.
Dawn shook her head. "No idea. The spirits wouldn't tell me."
Alejandro chuckled. "I don't need a warning to be careful of my 'feared lover'. I already have to see the puta every day."
Most of the teens laughed. Heather glared at those who did, while being aware that James was looking at her coolly and Dawn was studying her reactions.
James sighed. "We're not asking much. I know there's a lot of drama here that I don't understand, and that's fine. Just… if there are more challenges like the last two, say something. These psychological mind games will only hurt us in the long run."
Courtney raised her voice. "As long as it's within reason, I see no problem with us doing this. I agree." The others nodded their heads, glad that someone had spoken for them.
Gwen looked out over the crowd. "Good. Now that we have that out of the way, we gotta go to bed. Can't wait to see what torture Chris has for us tomorrow."
The group started to go their separate ways. Gwen wanted to walk over to James to talk about the success of their idea, but she saw him walk forcefully after Heather. Heather looked even more pissed than she normally was, leading Gwen to back down. She was slightly disappointed before she saw Brick talking with Dawn and Zoey. Whatever he said to her, he has to figure it out for himself. I knew that bitch would be a problem. Happy for once that somebody else had to deal with a problem, Gwen turned back to her friends. Her little talk could wait another day.