IT'S TIME.
Chapter 14: Flight of the Valkyries
Sammy, still in a state of drowsiness, idly brushed her teeth in the bathroom. She had lost track of how long she'd been standing there, but after going for so many days without cleaning them whatsoever, spending a bit more time than normal at it was probably the correct thing to do. She planned to brush her hair afterwards, even though they were explicitly told last night to simply leave it as it was.
Which was the reason she was up at this ungodly hour. After Sky landed at the resort and had told them of how she ended up losing to Ella and Jasmine, one of the interns had called them all together to announce the plans for the finale. As it turned out, they were to go back to the island to witness the last challenge, and that there would be two people of the bottom 12 chosen to help one contestant or the other. Sammy, obviously, hoped she was chosen to help Ella.
Chances were, though, she wouldn't be chosen to help either Finalist. Her luck was just like that, sometimes.
But at the moment, Sammy was ready to fall asleep once more, and she'd do it standing up if need be. Whyyyyy does it have to be before the sun rises? We didn't even get up this early for the first flight to the island…
She finished brushing her teeth, decided to just put her hair back in its ponytail and not brush it, and returned to the bedroom to set her sights on that. Even with her eyes half closed from exhaustion, Sammy was able to glare hatefully at the torn, dirty, smelly and now absolutely worthless cheerleader uniform waiting for her on the bed. The intern insisted everyone hop back into the clothes they had worn on the island. Apparently it had something to do with the consistency of the cast's appearances or something. Either that or the crew thought all TV watchers were idiots and could only tell people apart by what they wore.
Maybe they did actually think that, considering the whole 'Sam' thing the other day. Bunch of jerks.
Her entire body told her to not do it, but she had to. There was literally no way she could go back in anything else and get away with it. Sammy pulled the top back on, let out a sound of disgust when the stink infiltrated her nostrils, and set to work on the rest of it.
A full five minutes of groaning later, and Sammy exited her room, shuffled down the hall in a daze, and banged on her sister's door. "You up?" she asked through it, loud enough to be heard.
A few moments passed, and Amy opened up. She, too, was in her uniform, and was giving Sammy a look of shock. "You're out of your room before me? Who are you and what did you do with my sister?"
"Ha ha," Sammy droned, unamused. "Funny."
Compared to her, Amy looked like she had been up for hours. She always was the early bird to my bed bug. The intern had highly advised not using makeup, to give everyone that 'still living on a deserted island' vibe, but apparently Amy hadn't been listening to that part of the conversation. She hadn't even bothered to remove the paint on her nails. "Just so you know," Amy said, giving Sammy a full inspection, "you kinda look like shit."
Sammy gave her a look.
Amy quickly shook her hands in defence. "Ah wait, that wasn't an insult! It was an… an observation!"
Sammy still wasn't impressed, but sighed anyway. "Yeah, I kinda figured it was. And yes, I do look like I just crawled out of a toilet. I also feel like it too."
"And smell like it," Amy added, waving her hand in front of her nose as she looked at the uniform. "Can't forget that."
"How could I," Sammy said dryly.
She must have realized she was only digging herself deeper, as she chuckled nervously and slung an arm around Sammy. "Well, hey, at least we both stink together."
Sammy couldn't keep the smile off her face. "That we do. Ready to go?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Amy said. The two of them began the trek to the foyer. "That island is the last place I ever want to go again."
"Agreed. Can I be honest for a second?"
"Go for it."
"After all this time, I don't even know how to pronounce its name. Paw-key… something."
Amy barked out a laugh. "That makes two of us."
"Sky would know though. She's Cree, and speaks the language."
"She is? Huh. I always thought she was First Nations or something."
"…Amy, Cree is First Nations."
"…Oh. Don't tell her I said that."
The two descended the stairs to the entrance hall, where four people were currently standing and waiting - Sky and Dave, who were chatting together, as well as Rodney and Sugar who were off against the wall, minding their own business. Rodney at least had the courtesy to wave, which the girls returned, but it looked like Sugar didn't even hear them coming, being too busy filing down her nails.
The twins walked up to Sky and Dave. "Good morning," Sky said to them, before looking Sammy in the face. "Better not let Shawn see you like that, 'cuz you look like a zombie."
"Yup," Sammy said with a roll of her eyes. "Feel like one too."
"And sme-"
"Yes, and smell, thank you Amy."
At that, Dave took two steps away.
"Good call," said Amy, grabbing the hem of her shirt. "This stuff hasn't been washed yet."
"Yeah, I was afraid of that," Dave moaned.
"Hey, by the way," Sky said. "How's your leg doing? I forgot to ask that yesterday."
"My leg?" Amy asked. "Oh! My leg!" She stuck out and shook the leg that had been bitten so long ago. "Yeah, it's all better. There's some like, teeth-shaped scars, but it doesn't hurt anymore. I actually forgot about it til now."
"That's good," Sky said.
"Yeah, I kinda forgot about it too," Sammy admitted. "Which is weird because how can you forget the time a wolf bit you?"
"You got bitten by a wolf?" Dave asked, startled.
"A robot wolf, more than likely," Sammy told him. "I think it was… two days after you left?"
"Ohh. No wonder I didn't know that. It didn't have, uh, robot rabies did it?"
Amy looked at him in mild confusion. "Uhh, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it did not," she answered.
"Pfft-" Sammy looked at Amy's leg. "Limb…"
"Shut up."
"Hey, actually, there's probably a lot you don't know," Sky said to Dave. "I can bring you up to date, if you'd like."
For some reason, Sammy noticed him perk up at the word 'date'. "Uh, yeah, sure! That would be great!"
"Wait, what? Didn't I already…" Sammy started, before realizing that Dave wasn't listening to her. He and Sky began talking once again, this time about the events of the game that he missed, and they actually began to move away from them. "Huh."
"Yeah," Amy said, apparently seeing the same thing. "Huh."
"And… wouldn't Sky technically be the dirtiest out of all of us?"
"She totally is."
"So why isn't he standing six feet away from her?"
"Something tells me David's crushing hard and doing nothing to hide it."
Now that she was looking, Sammy could totally see it. She vaguely remembered possibly seeing it at the beginning of the game, too, when Dave was still there, but so much had happened that she sort of forgot about it.
"Salutations, early risers!"
The two of them turned back towards the stairs, and Amy gawked. "OMG, I forgot all about that."
Leonard had appeared at the top of the stairs, cloaked once more in his wizard robes, hat and beard. "Wow," Sammy said, less in awe and more in surprise. "Now this is a throwback."
He made his way down the stairs, almost tripped over his robe, and reached the floor as if nothing had happened. "Heh," he chuckled. "Close one."
"What the heck's up with this costume anyway?" Amy asked him, not one for being subtle.
"It's for role playing," Leonard answered. If he had taken any offence to Amy's blunt question, he didn't show it. "You were in the room when we played D&D once, right? That's what it's for, to get into the mindspace of the characters you're playing. And also, some people just like to dress up. You know, for cosplay and such."
"Well, yeah, I got that," she answered.
"You did?" Sammy asked, mostly to herself. "I still don't really understand…"
Neither of them seemed to hear her. "I meant like, why'd you wear it on the show. Was it just for fun, or…?"
He shrugged. "Just for fun. I thought it would be entertaining to go on the show as something no one else did before. Buuut I think I might have made a miscalculation on that end."
Sammy found her chance to jump back in. "Well, y'know, compared to evil geniuses and zombie nuts, a magical wizard probably fits in more than you realize," she told him with a wry smirk.
"Huh," Leonard said, rubbing his chin. "I never thought of it like that before!"
He was all smiles and rainbows now, not that he wasn't already. "Someone's optimistic," Amy whispered to her sister.
"It's not a bad quality to have," Sammy said.
"Anyways," Leonard said, clearing his throat. It could easily be seen in his posture that he had switched to In-Character Mode. "I hope you all had a restful sleep, because today we witness history being made! Who else is overflowing with joy to return to the island?!"
Before anyone else could get a word in, negative or otherwise, Sugar literally burst onto the scene and nearly knocked Sammy flat on her butt. "I am!" the southerner shouted with a raised hand. "I left my hand mirror in the treehouse and I want it back! Mr. Wizard, can you use some 'a that magic of yours to help me find it?"
As Leonard replied in the affirmative, Amy quietly cursed under her breath. "Ah, dammit."
"What's wrong?" Sammy asked, just as quietly.
"Uhh, I may have used that mirror a couple of times after she left," Amy admitted to her in a whisper as she rubbed her neck. "And then after I lost to you in that water challenge I may have threw it at the wall."
Sammy's jaw fell open. "Amy!" she hissed.
"I'm sorry! I was upset!"
"You shouldn't be taking it out on other peoples' stuff!"
"I know that now! I didn't back then!"
"You need to apologize!"
"But she's gonna get mad! And, yeah, maybe I deserve it, but…"
"It's the right thing to do."
Amy tried to come up with an argument, but soon sighed in defeat and hung her head. "I know."
The two girls walked up to Sugar and Leonard, the latter regaling some sort of tabletop tale for the former as she listened with gusto. Amy cleared her throat, and Sugar turned back around with a glare. "What? Can't you see you're interruptin' story time?"
Amy grimaced, and Sammy jabbed her in the kidney. "Ow!" She scowled, but said nothing. Amy glanced up at Sugar and then averted her eyes. "Hi. Sorry. I broke your mirror after you left."
"That could have used more tact," Sammy told her.
"Shut up! I'm still new at this!"
There was no immediate reaction from Sugar, as she stared neutrally at Amy. Amy, for her part, didn't actually crumble under the stare, though she also didn't exactly meet it. Leonard had also stopped his talking to see what would happen, though he didn't contribute himself. Sammy kept an eye on all of them, ready to hold someone back should they pounce.
Then, Sugar glanced to Sammy. Then back to Amy. Then to Sammy again.
"Wait," she said. "Which one of you was which again?"
The twins' jaws fell open, and they facepalmed at the same time.
"I'm Amy," said Amy.
"I'm Sammy," said Sammy.
Sugar still looked confused, but after a second her eyes lit up. "Oh, right! Amy and Samey, I remember now!"
"Wh- No! It's Sammy!"
"That's what I said," Sugar insisted, but then stopped paying attention to Sammy at all. "You said you broke my mirror?" she asked Amy.
"Uhhh," Amy started, but didn't get the chance.
"It's fine!" Sugar waved a hand, dismissing everything. "I still got at least ten back up in my room. I figured something might'a happened to it on the island, so I took one of my least favorite ones with me on the blimp thing. Thought I had lost the rest of 'em when it went down, but turns out I didn't! Smart thinkin' on my end, wasn't it?"
That was an unexpected development, a thought that the twins both shared if the look they gave each other meant anything. That said, Sugar was then looking at both of them expectantly, as if she were waiting for them to agree with her. "Uh. Yeah, Sugar," Sammy said, unsure if the uncertainty in her voice was noticeable. "Real smart of you."
"Shockingly," Amy grumbled. Sammy stepped on her foot in response. "Ow!"
"Yeah, I know," Sugar boasted, clearly not hearing Amy. "But not as smart as the wizard! He can learn any language after readin' it for a bit! Ain't that amazin'?!"
The twins looked to Leonard, who shrugged at them, but masterfully stayed in character at the same time. "Please, it is nothing to brag about. I can tell you, however, about the time that I commanded a group of fellow adventurers to face Guluth, the Dragonlord, in a grand battle the likes you have never seen!"
"Oh, heck yeah! Did you use your fireballs to blow it to kingdom come?!"
"Kingdom Come was nowhere near the battlefield… Which made it even more epic when I did!"
Leonard, miraculously and thankfully, led Sugar off to one of the other corners of the room, leaving Sammy and Amy to sigh in relief. "Thank god those two weren't on the same team," Amy mumbled.
"Agreed," Sammy said. "They probably wouldn't have stopped talking."
"Nothing against Leonard, 'cuz he's pretty chill when not acting like… that, but Sugar on the other hand is like that 24/7, and no way in hell am I dealing with her again."
"She was? Wow, that must've been rough."
"You have no idea."
"If that's the case, how can Leonard even put up with her?"
"He's got the patience of a saint, that's for sure."
"Hey, morning- Agh, zombie!"
The second Sammy turned to greet Shawn, he shrieked, literally leaped over the railing and hid behind the staircase. Sammy groaned and ran a hand down her face, Amy burst into hysterical laughter, and from somewhere behind them Sky shouted out, "Told you so!"
Sammy walked up to the staircase with her hands on her hips. "Shawn, come out from there," she said to him in exasperation. "I am very alive, thank you very much."
"That's exactly what a zombie would say!" he cried back.
"Zombies can't even- Ugh." She decided to try a different approach. "What would Jasmine say if she saw you like this? Hiding behind the stairs and not taking the fight to the zombie?"
There was a brief pause, and Shawn's eyes poked out from behind the rails. "First of all, low blow, dude. Second, I'd like to think Jasmine would respect a tactical retreat. Third, are you asking me to fight you?"
"Wh- No! It's a hypothetical situation, man!"
"Oh. I knew that." Shawn took another second, then rose to his full height. "I, uh, seem to have made a mistake. Now that I see you in a better light, you are most definitely not a zombie."
"Could've fooled me!" Amy said from a few steps away.
"You stay out of this!" Sammy shouted back, to which Amy laughed even harder.
"What are we arguing about now?" came the tired voice of Beardo from the top of the stairs. "Can't a guy nearly pass out in the hallway in peace?"
"Morning Beardo," Sammy called out to him, a few of the others doing the same. Max appeared to be walking behind him, though he didn't extend any greeting. Sammy, not wanting to leave anyone out, decided to be the one to speak. "Also Max. Good morning."
The bags under his eyes was all Sammy needed to tell that he was also not an early riser. "There is nothing 'good' about this morning, you simpleton," he murmured in a daze. "Evil does not work well on anything less than eight hours."
Sammy chose to ignore the rude comment. "Riiight. Good to know." She walked back to Amy and whispered to her, "What's your read on this guy, by the way?"
Amy pursed her lips and critically scrutinized him. "I think he's just a brat who's trying to come off as more dangerous than he actually is. I kinda ignored him for most of the time when he was there."
"Hmm… He did electrocute Ella that one time… With Scarlett's help, but still."
"Huh. Good point. There could be more to him than he lets on, but I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."
"I guess I can still try. But I'm not expecting all that much."
"What are you two mumbling about?" he asked, walking up to them. "Speak louder, so I may hear you!"
Sammy and Amy shared a glance. The older twin shrugged, and the younger sighed. "We were just talking about how… evil and world-conquer-y you look today."
Amy raised a brow. "Uhh… We were?" Sammy went to elbow her again, but Amy was prepared and blocked it. "Uh, yeah, we were. Apparently."
Max's eyes widened for a second, then he straightened up and cleared his throat. "G-Good. You can see pure evil where it stands, which is an admirable ability. I'll have you know, flattery will get you nowhere, but if ever I am ready to enlist the help of a new minion, I'll keep you in mind."
"That's… great?" Sammy glanced at Amy for help, only for Amy to quickly shake her head and walk off. Sammy gawked at her. No, wait, don't leave me here!
Max paused in his speech, and looked between Sammy and Amy's retreating form. "Actually, remind me, which one are you again? The noisy one or the melancholic one?"
Sammy sighed heavily. Is this going to keep happening with the people I've never talked to before? "Sammy. I'm Sammy."
Max squinted his eyes at her. "That… tells me nothing."
"I was the one who wasn't on your team."
"Ah! There, that wasn't so hard was it?"
Sammy folded her arms and frowned down at him. I'm starting to see why Scarlett wanted him gone ASAP.
"But yes, this is good to know," Max said, and then began to walk away. "If ever I need assistance with a task, you shall be the first to know. Good day to you!"
With him gone, Sammy sighed once more in relief. There's… probably some good in him. I'll try again later. If I have the time. Or if I even want to.
She decided to approach her other friends, just in case Max made the decision to come back to her. Beardo and Shawn were still by the staircase, talking about something she didn't catch, but she forced herself into their conversation anyway. "Hi, I've had too much evil today and it's barely past five AM. Talk to me so it looks like I'm busy."
Both of the guys laughed at her situation, which made Sammy's face go red in frustration. "Max is fine, if a little… creative." Beardo rubbed the back of his neck. "He actually is pretty smart, you know. He managed to spruce up my DJ station the night we found it."
"Oh. Really?" Sammy asked. "That's… surprising."
"It totally was. It plays a lot better than I had been expecting it would."
"I don't have much experience with the guy," Shawn said, though his eyes narrowed. "But he seems like the type who'd unleash a zombie virus to the rest of the world just for shits and giggles."
"Man, you are paranoid," Beardo commented.
"I'm prepared. There's a difference."
"You think we can, like, get Max to be not as… Max-like?" Sammy asked, reigning the conversation back in. "Make it so talking with him isn't a trial of patience?"
The two of them thought about it, then Beardo said, "We could sic Ella on him."
"Excuse me?" Sammy asked with a frown.
"Ohh, yeah," Shawn agreed. "All the flowery speech and bubbly personality traits will get him to loosen up easy."
"Killing him with kindness is the way to go, then," Beardo said, and both boys laughed.
"I can't believe we're having this conversation now," Sammy sighed. "It's way too early for this."
"You brought it up, dude."
"I wasn't expecting it to go in this direction!"
She was thankfully spared any further grievances when the sound of a loud motor was heard. Rodney opened the door to show that it was a large green helicopter, and that it was touching down just on the beach, its engines turning off and the propeller coming to a stop after a few minutes. After exiting the aircraft, Chef Hatchet, in his pilot's uniform, spoke to a few interns and then walked up to the resort's front door.
He rubbed at his eyes, clearly as tired as the rest of them, and looked around the room. "Ah, good, you're all here. Time to pile in." He threw his thumb over his shoulder.
"Hang on, not yet," Sky said, hand raised. "We're missing one."
Chef did a quick headcount. "…Eight, nine, ten. Yep, you're right. Good eye, Squirt."
"Squirt?!"
"We need everyone on board," Chef explained to them, ignoring Sky's outburst. "Host's orders. Someone want to go and get Topher?"
Sammy made sure her hand did not go up. As did everyone else.
Chef sighed and walked further in. "Fine. Y'all get seated in the chopper. I'll be down with him, even if he's kicking and screaming."
Everyone filed out of the resort and down to the beach. The interns were there making sure everything was good to go, but they ultimately paid no mind to the contestants. Sky and Dave entered the helicopter first, and though Rodney was after them he stayed back in order to help the others on board. That said, no one seemed to want his help, as a lot of them ignored him and hopped up themselves.
Sammy could tell this upset him, even if he didn't say anything about it, and decided to take him up on his offer. With his hand outstretched for anyone accepting the help, Sammy put her own hand in his and used it to hoist herself up. "Thank you, Rodney," she said to him in what she hoped was a sweet voice. With how tired she was, it could come off as anything but.
Rodney, however, had turned beet red. "Uh, you're w… w… wagon wheel."
"…Right, okay." And Sammy hurriedly scuttled into the cabin of the helicopter and looked for her sister.
Four rows of seats greeted her as she entered. The first three rows had three seats each, while the one up against the back wall had five seats. Each row faced another, and Sammy found her sister sitting in the second row's middle seat, next to Beardo and across from Sky and Dave.
Sammy plopped down into the unoccupied seat next to Amy, who looked at her curiously. "You look sick to your stomach. You got a fear of flying now, on top of everything else?"
"Uhh… I mean after the last two times I was in the air, it's likely." She turned to Amy and tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible, "So, hey, what's your take on Rodney?"
Amy frowned. "Uhh… Mmkay, that's out of the blue, but… Heee's… built like a brick wall, and has the brains of one too."
"Ah- Amy!"
"It's the truth!" she defended. "I could barely hold an actual conversation with him the few times I tried!"
The one time Sammy had witnessed that, she recalled Rodney talking… oddly, which was putting it nicely. And then there was just then, where he said something about a wagon wheel. Was Amy on to something? "Huh… Maybe he's had a concussion before?"
"I literally have no idea. I tried talking to him again when I got here, but that went nowhere and I haven't tried again since."
Sammy watched as the last of the contestants entered the chopper, including Shawn (who was complaining about the close proximity of everyone, but nonetheless took the seat next to Dave) and then Rodney himself. He took a single glance at Sammy, immediately turned away and headed to the back of the plane. "Yeah, something's up with him alright," Sammy whispered, wishing not for him to overhear.
"It almost looked like he was…" Amy started, staring at the ground in concentration. "I dunno. Embarrassed or something. Like, his face was all red."
"I noticed that too, when he talked to me just then."
Amy's eyes widened slightly. "And, like, almost every single time I've spoken to him, too."
The stuttering, the blushing… It almost seemed like he was…
The twins shared a look. "You don't think…"
"Could be."
"Huh."
"I mean…" Amy smirked and nudged Sammy with her elbow. "He did call you the most attractive girl on the island, didn't he?"
Sammy's eyes widened in that realization, and she placed her head in both of her palms. "Oh my God… Please don't remind me about that."
"Hey, at least we know what's up with him now."
"I guess." Sammy sighed and thought it over for a moment, then said, "I might… try talking to him once the game's over. Let him down gently, you know?"
"Good idea. I, uh, I've seen the looks he's been giving me, too, so I might do the same."
Sammy smiled at her sister. "What a nice person you are."
Amy rolled her eyes and gently shoved her. "Be quiet."
"This is good, though," Sammy said, and leaned back into her seat happily. "Your team was… odd, but some of them were harmless enough." Amy opened her mouth, but Sammy interrupted, "I said some of them."
"I was just gonna say, 'some of them' is right."
"But those guys who were just playing the game, who weren't trying to kill us, they're alright, if somewhat… out there. That said, I guess that's no different from like, Shawn or Leonard or Ella, even, from before at least. They're probably worth talking to, to try and get them to open up."
Amy gave her a look. "Is that why you were asking about them? 'Cuz you want to try talking to them?"
"Yeah, I think so. Ella and I were discussing it the other day, about how I should give people more than one chance to be the best they can be." She bumped her shoulder into Amy's. "For instance, Example A…my."
It took a solid two seconds for the pun to set in, at which point her entire face dropped into a glare. "Oh lord I hate you so much right now."
She couldn't help the self-satisfied smirk on her face. "I know you do."
Amy shook her head in disgust and proceeded to ignore Sammy's entire existence - Totally worth it IMO - but her attention was drawn to the helicopter's entrance, at which point her glare fell into an even deeper frown. "Uh," she mumbled. "Does talking to people from my team involve him?"
Sammy looked up, just in time to see Topher look right at them. His hair wasn't as vertical as it normally was - he probably got dragged out of the bathroom before he had a chance to finish working on it. Sammy felt herself grimace at the mere sight of him, and made no effort to hide it. "I'm gonna say no. Or rather, not yet."
"But you might?" Amy asked.
"Maybe. Depends on if he apologizes to me or not, for almost having me killed."
And then, of course, he had the audacity to smile like a snake and saunter over to them. "Amy and Samey! It's been a while, hasn't it?" he said to them in that infuriatingly suave voice. Sammy felt like she actually might puke. "How've my favorite pair of twins been doing?"
"Better since you left the island," Sammy snapped back. "Now? Not so good."
A few of the others stopped their conversations to listen in. Topher, meanwhile, actually laughed at that. "Harsh! I see you're just as quick witted as before. How is it that such scorn is coming from the girl who could barely stand up for herself two weeks ago?"
"I've had a lot of time to grow up," she told him. "Unlike some other people I know."
He looked mock-hurt, and even put a hand over his chest to play it up. "You wound me! I'll have you known that I've grown so much that I-"
"Dude, just give it a rest!" Amy suddenly yelled at him. She looked ready to blow a gasket. "You're not on TV anymore, so quit acting like a jackass!"
Everyone in the helicopter, not just those around them, looked at her in surprise. That included Topher himself, though it seemed like he was trying to hide it. "Amy!" he called out happily. "What a delight! We have so much to catch up on!"
"We have nothing to catch up on," she seethed, glaring daggers at him. "Quit pretending you actually care about us and sit down."
"Wow, touchy much?" he asked. He chuckled once more, though this time Sammy thought she could hear just a hint of nervousness in it. "And here I thought you, yourself had actually changed. Sad to see that I'm wrong on that."
"Ohh, no, buddy, I have changed," Amy said with a humorless laugh, and stood to her full height (which didn't meet Topher's height but the point was made). "I'm giving you the chance to walk away before I start strangling you. So take the opportunity while you still can and leave us the hell alone."
If looks could kill, Amy would likely have murdered him on the spot. And the threat actually seemed to work, as his smug grin vanished into a flustered frown. Plus, with every other person on the helicopter staring right at him, it didn't exactly look like a good situation to be in.
And he knew it, too. With a chuckle that was definitely nervous now and a glance at the empty seats in the back, Topher pulled on the collar of his shirt. "I… see your point! You certainly have changed! I will, uh… leave you to do your thing!"
He hastily moved to the back to sit and proceeded to ignore them. Amy stared coldly at him for a few moments longer, probably to try and make him sweat, before huffing out a sigh and flopping back down into her seat. She didn't say a word as everyone else in their group looked at each other, unsure of how to react. Perhaps smartly, they all kept quiet about it and went back to their own discussions.
Sammy, however, didn't want to leave it be. "Do you, ah, wanna talk about it?" she tried asking her sister.
Amy, leaning on her knees and hanging her head towards the floor, sighed deeply and shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe. Not here though."
"When we get home then," Sammy replied. She received no response, so she instead settled for giving Amy's shoulder a comforting rub.
A few minutes later, and Chef hopped into the pilot's seat. Sammy couldn't see exactly what he was doing since the cockpit and cabin were separated, but soon his voice came over the intercoms. "Listen up, y'all," he said. "I'm gonna need you to put on your seatbelts. We'll be in the air for no more than 10 minutes getting back to the island, so until then no roughhousing, hands and feet to yourself at all times, and for the love of God, don't be dirtying up my ride!"
With that, the engine started, the propellers began rotating, and a few minutes later Sammy could feel the aircraft taking off. It was pitch black outside, so it made telling where they were difficult. Not that she'd be able to tell regardless, given that she wasn't at a window seat.
"What do you guys think the final challenge will be?" Sky asked their group. Sammy had expected her to be at least a little bitter over her loss, but Sky had said she had gotten over it before leaving yesterday.
"It's gotta be epic," Beardo said, his tired eyes wide as he thought it over. "It's gotta be on par with everything else so far. Maybe another brawl between the Finalists?"
"Ha!" Shawn laughed. "If that's what it is, then Jasmine's got this thing in the bag! Uh," he glanced at Sammy, "no offence."
Sammy shrugged. "I mean, you're not wrong. Objectively speaking, Jasmine could beat any of us. Well, almost any of us. She might have a tough time with Rodney."
"Which is why I'm hoping it's not a fight between them," Sky said. "One, it would be too unfair for Ella. And two, it wouldn't make for good TV."
"Couldn't you say that about season four's finale?" Shawn asked.
"What's Ella gonna do? Dance around-" Sky paused. "…Actually that could work. Tire out Jasmine by dodging everything, and take her out that way."
"Now that doesn't sound like good TV to me," Dave said. "Too much evading and not enough action, the audience would get bored of it soon enough."
Sky quirked her brow at him. "Alright, what do you think they should do?"
He looked happy that his opinion was being asked for. "I think they should do something different from previous years. Maybe a race that includes problem-solving sections? Where you have to get from one room to the next by solving different puzzles, dodging all sorts of traps along the way. Sort of like-"
"A Zelda dungeon," said Dave, Beardo, and Shawn all at once.
Dave grinned at them. "Glad to see we're all on the same page."
"Uhh," Sky started, sharing a look with Sammy. "I don't get it. Who's Zelda?"
"I think it's a game," she told her. "A video game."
"Oh! Yeah, I don't really play those."
"Me neither, but they're fun with other people! I think Amy really enjoyed playing… them… yesterday?"
It was only then that Sammy noticed Amy hadn't moved from her spot, eyes fixated on one unimportant spot on the floor and not moving whatsoever. In fact, she probably hadn't been listening to the conversation at all. Sammy knew they promised to talk about it later, but obviously the encounter with Topher had affected her more than she was trying to let on. And she'd been avoiding him since she got back, hadn't she? There might be a lot more to unpack here than I thought.
Wanting to distract her sister from any bad thoughts, Sammy nudged her lightly with her shoulder. Amy blinked and looked up at her in surprise. "We're talking about the challenge," she said to her. "What do you think it'll be?"
"Oh. Uh." Amy looked around at the others - or rather, just at Sky, as the guys began having their own separate discussion. "If what you guys had told us is true, it's probably just gonna be another race of some kind."
"That seems like the trend, doesn't it?" Sky asked.
"I hope it isn't," Sammy said. "Poor Ella's had enough running these last few days to last her a lifetime."
"I… may have contributed to that," Sky said with remorse. "Which I think is justified because I was trying to win, but…"
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Sammy told her. "I just wish these challenges were more… equal? Not favoured to one person's skill set over another."
"That just means she'll have to get creative with winning," Dave said to her, having had one ear on their conversation the whole time. "Use her strengths to her advantage, and all that. She has to be resourceful, if she made it this far. Which is a weird thing to say, because I remember her wanting to go for a bucket of glitter instead of building materials on the first day."
"Oh, yeah, uh, she's gotten a lot better since then," Sammy defended. "You probably wouldn't even recognize her, if she wasn't still wearing the same clothes as before."
Dave nodded. "Seeing how you turned out, I can see that happening."
"Yep! Though it wasn't just me. Amy also…" She turned to her sister, to bring her into the conversation, only to find that she was actively talking with Beardo and Shawn. They were telling her about the Zelda games, how each one was apparently separate from the others, and so on. Amy wasn't exactly captivated by the explanation, but she certainly seemed interested enough. Have we found a new hobby for Amy? It'd be good for her to put all of her energy into something other than bullying me, I guess.
The rest of the helicopter ride went on in peace, and soon Chef announced their arrival and subsequent landing. When the aircraft touched down, they were told to remain in their seats, as the helipad they were on would descend into the island. Most of the others, specifically the ones who weren't around to discover the island's secret, were excited to see its insides. Sammy, Amy and Sky were a little less than thrilled.
It took a few minutes more to have everything secured into place, but soon they descended. There really wasn't much to look at through the window, just metal walls, so Sammy simply waited. After the literal sinking feeling went away, Chef exited the helicopter once more and bid everyone else do the same. "Don't touch nothin'," he said to them as they all disembarked. "Don't look at nothin'. Don't plan nothin'."
He specifically said this last bit to Max, who had a wide grin forming on his face that vanished upon being singled out. "Uh, yes sir!" he replied in a very normal, if worried, tone.
Chef rolled his eyes, then led everyone down a series of hallways. Sammy tried to see anything she recognized, but with an entire underground system built into the island, it was very likely there were multiple rooms and even floors she hadn't been to yet. Might be best if it stays that way, honestly.
There were a mix of regular interns working in these rooms, plus actual mechanics keeping everything in working condition. They kept at their jobs and paid the group no mind as they strolled by.
"This place still gives me the creeps," Sky muttered to her, rubbing her arms in worry. "I'm expecting another army of robots to burst out of the walls at any moment."
"This place has 'zombie apocalypse testing chambers' written all over it," Shawn noted, his head swiveling in every direction as he took everything in. "That said, it could also make for the perfect bunker. Do you think Chris is willing to sell it?"
"To you?" Amy asked him. "Not likely."
"Harsh," Shawn said. "But fair."
A few rooms later, and the group of 11 plus Chef entered into what looked to be a sort of waiting room. It was a decently large room, large enough that all of them could comfortably stay in there without getting in each other's way. That said, there were only a handful of objects present: directly in front of them as they entered were three uncomfortable-looking couches, two facing each other and one facing the empty space of their square-like arrangement. They were set up around a low coffee table that housed a few magazines and little else. At the far end of the room was what looked like a jury's row of seats, or if she was being more specific, the winning team's peanut gallery booth from season five. Sammy wasn't able to figure out why it was just sitting there, though, and chose to leave it be.
"Sooo what happens now?" Sugar asked Chef. Unlike most of the others, she hadn't really cared about the trip through the bunker. "When do we get breakfast? I'm starvin'!"
"You get food when the challenge is over," Chef told them, to the groans of complaint from all of them. "Host's orders! I don't make the rules. Now y'all are gonna sit down and wait for the Finalists to wake up, and I don't wanna hear any bellyachin'! Got it?"
People bellyached anyway, much to Chef's annoyance, but everyone did end up sitting down after a few minutes of standing. The couches were just as uncomfortable as they looked, but it was better than sitting on the cold, metallic ground.
"So we're just expected to sit and wait for them to wake up?" Topher asked, to which Chef grunted with a nod. "What the hell, man? Why come so early in that case? We could have slept in for another while and still made it here on time!"
Loathed as she was to do so, Sammy agreed with him. She could have spent extra time in bed and actually received a decent amount of sleep if they had waited.
Chef sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I said it before, I'll say it again: host's orders."
And then everyone understood. "Chris," they all moaned at once. Leave it to him to make everyone miserable, even the losers. He was probably still fast asleep in… wherever he stayed.
"You know, as much as I respect the guy, he makes it very hard to like him," Topher continued.
"Does the fact that he stopped you from stealing his job have anything to do with it?" Sammy asked him.
"It might," he said neutrally, choosing not to look at her. Sammy's eyes bore into him, but she chose to leave it there.
Chef gave them a few additional rules - don't mess with anything in the room, don't leave the room (because you need a password and keycard to get in and none of them had either). Fights were, apparently, allowed and welcome; they were just not allowed to damage the walls or scuff the floor. "Do you know how hard it is to clean this material?" Chef said, lightly tapping the metallic floor beneath him. "It's a janitor's nightmare. So do them a favor and be cool."
"That, I can respect," Beardo said, giving Chef Hatchet a thumbs up. Chef simply nodded back to him, and exited the waiting room.
This meant that they were now alone and likely unsupervised. "Uh," started Sky, looking around at them all. "Now what?"
No one was sure what to do. After sitting around awkwardly for several minutes, Leonard spoke up:
"How about a game?"
"Oh! Oh oh yes, I'll play!" Sugar immediately agreed, no questions asked.
"What kind of game?" Sky asked. She may not have been as interested as Sugar, but she seemed to at least want to do something.
"It's not gonna be one of those table games you guys play, is it?" Amy asked, motioning to Shawn and Beardo. "D&D I think? 'Cuz I don't know how to play those."
"Nah, those would be too time consuming," Leonard told her. "I was thinking something easier. Something like Never Have I Ever."
Amy's eyes widened. "Oh. Well. I'm in."
Sammy gave her sister a surprised look. "Just like that?"
"Just like that."
She had to admit, this gave her a good chance to learn more about the others, especially those she didn't know personally. "I'm game too," she said.
Soon everyone agreed to it, though some needed more convincing than others, namely Shawn and Max. It didn't take too long to win them over, however, and soon everyone was enjoying a nice, friendly ice breaker game.
It started off tame at first. 'Never have I ever seen such and such movie' (Rodney doesn't have the time to drive all the way into town to go to the theatre), 'Been to this or that place before' (Beardo freely admitted that he doesn't get out much), and so on. Then Topher decided to try and spice things up a bit by asking if anyone had ever drank alcohol before. Sammy was shocked when Beardo, Shawn and Sky each put one of their fingers down, and even more dumbfounded when Amy didn't.
"Really?" Sammy asked her.
"Yup," she replied plainly.
"But… All those parties you went to…"
"None of them had any actual alcohol, no one wants to be responsible for giving drinks to teens. Besides, I've never been interested in trying it before."
"Oh wow. That I wasn't expecting."
She hesitated for a moment, scrunched her eyes and said, "Also I was scared." Sammy greatly appreciated her honesty, and showed it by patting her on the back.
The game continued, with now a mix of tame and not-exactly-tame questions being asked. Max apparently had never been to a sleepover before (Amy quietly called BS on his excuse that he found it childish), and Sky was actually one of the few people to have pulled a complete all-nighter, from sunset to sunrise (it had been for an exam that she barely had time to prepare for, and she ended up falling asleep in the middle of it regardless). Topher and Sugar were the only ones ever to be on TV before now, and both were incredibly proud of it (Topher with his on-camera poise classes, Sugar on a variety of live pageants and commercials). Shawn was the only person to have never left his hometown prior to now (which was entirely his own decision), and the twins were the only ones with relatives outside of North America (they apparently had some great uncle on their dad's side they never met before living somewhere in England).
To the absolute and utter shock of everyone, Leonard and Dave were the only people to have ever tried marijuana.
"Tell me you're joking," Topher said, jaw dropped. "Please for the love of God tell me you're not the only ones."
"I don't take it for fun," Dave said, confused on why he was making such a fuss. "It's for medicinal purposes."
"That just makes it worse!"
"My friend Tammy's older brother knows a guy," Leonard said with a casual shrug. "But that's not gonna be a thing anymore, once it becomes legal."
"It's gonna be legal?" Sugar nearly hollered. "When?"
"I think… October?"
"Well, hot dog! Next time you and me meet up after then, I know what we're doin'!"
"And now I know what I'm not," Amy mumbled, eliciting a snort of laughter from her sister.
The game slowly devolved into a series of conversations from there, and soon enough it was forgotten about entirely as everyone talked about one thing or another. Despite tensions between some of the group members, it actually wasn't too bad of a time. Sammy couldn't remember the last time she had been in a crowd this big and still actually have her voice heard. It was mind-boggling how many people were willing to listen to her now, and she promised she wouldn't take it for granted.
A few people started to nod off after a while, Sammy herself included. She found herself leaning on Sky on her right, who graciously accepted her new fate as a pillow. It took a little longer than normal to completely pass out due to how much talking was going on, but she eventually found her way to sleep.
And as soon as she did, the air horns rang out.
"Jasmine and Ella!" Chris's voice called out, not just through the rest of the island but inside the bunker as well. "Meeting area: now!"
Short and to the point, a blessing for anyone who didn't want to hear his voice (which was pretty much everyone). Sammy shook her head of the cobwebs, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and willed her pounding heart to slow down, just in time to see the door open and let Chef Hatchet in once more.
"Show time, kids," he announced, getting their attention.
"What are we supposed to do?" Rodney asked for the group. "We're not gonna have to get in giant bubbles, are we?" He seemed remarkably more coordinated when he wasn't talking to either her or Amy, which only proved Sammy's theory further.
Chef pointed towards the peanut gallery booth in the back of the room. "Chris wants you all in that thing. That's all I've been told."
The group of 11 gave each other wary looks - Chris wanting anything of them was never a good sign, but they did as they were compelled and piled into the seats. It was difficult to get everyone fitted in there comfortably, which was obviously the point. Several of the smaller and thinner ones were squished in the front, while the larger and taller ones were in the back. The front row, from left to right, included Sammy, Amy, Sky, Dave, Shawn, and Max, while the back row had Topher, Sugar, Leonard, Beardo, and Rodney.
"Kinda cramped in here…" Shawn muttered, glaring down at Max who was giving him the same look.
"I know it is," Chef told him. "You're just gonna have to suck it up. For now, at least."
Amy gave him a look. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
He seemed to catch his slipup, and waved her off. "Never you mind. The show's about to start." He took out a remote, not dissimilar to the one Chris always used, and pressed the button on it. The wall to their left slid open and a large TV screen was brought out. It turned on, showing a camera panning across a vacant forest trail.
Though it was vacant no longer when the camera landed on someone walking.
Sammy involuntarily gasped at seeing her, and broke out into a grin. "There she is!" she said, shaking Amy's shoulder and pointing at Ella on the screen. "There she is!"
"I know, I know! I see her!" Amy snapped back, shoving Sammy off of her. Sammy didn't mind though. She was far too ecstatic to see her kinda-sorta-not-really girlfriend again.
What struck Sammy was that Ella wasn't as nervous as she had looked when she last saw her. She no longer had a look of worry on her face, and her stride was so much more confident than she remembered. She wasn't smiling, but neither was she frowning. She had the look of someone who had been woken up a bit too early, but also someone who knew what they were doing and planned on doing it. It was such a far cry from how she had been before, that Sammy almost couldn't believe it.
Perhaps the fact that Sammy's cut-off sleeve was nowhere to be found was the reason why.
"She's not wearing it," Sammy said in shock. "She's… actually not wearing the sleeve." She turned to Sky curiously. "What happened to it?"
"I, ah, may not have mentioned that part," Sky said to her sheepishly. "I wanted you to see that for yourself."
"She's not wearing it willingly?"
"Not just that," Sky said. "She actually tore it up."
"What?"
"What are you guys even talking about?" Dave interrupted. "What sleeve?"
"Oh, right," Sammy said, realizing she had omitted this part regarding Ella in her story to him. "Uhh, it's kind of a long and… personal story…"
"Yeah, sorry Dave, no time to explain," Amy said to him, and pointed back up to the screen. "Check it."
Ella was now jogging through the woods, and a change in cameras showed that she was attempting to catch up to her competition. "Jasmine!" she shouted out to her. Jasmine slowed to a stop and waited for the songbird to catch up. Sammy thought she heard Shawn sigh happily, quiet enough for her to just barely pick up on it. "Good morning," Ella said pleasantly, subtly trying to catch her breath.
"Good morning to you," Jasmine replied happily. "Final day, final challenge… And you look like you're ready to rumble!"
Ella laughed behind a hand lightly. "I'd like to say I am! Perhaps not to fight, but I'm certainly ready to take on whatever Chris is going to throw at us."
"'Atta girl!" Jasmine lightly tapped Ella on the shoulder. "You oughta be proud of yourself for stepping up to the plate like that."
"You know what?" Ella asked as the two of them resumed their walking. "I am proud of myself. More so than any other time in my life, I'd like to believe."
"That's great to hear! If I didn't know any better, I'd say I'd have my work cut out for me today!"
"Thanks!" She paused. "I think."
"Say, I don't think I asked yet, but what would you do with the money if you won it?" Jasmine asked her.
Ella brightened at the question. "Oh, well, see, I was hoping to reinvent myself…"
Sammy listened to Ella recount her goal with the money, though the idea to go to school to learn how to sing, play guitar and/or dance was a new addition. It was incredibly nice to hear her declare her dreams with such confidence, such certainty. She must have gone through a lot yesterday, when Sammy wasn't around.
"Hey, so," Dave suddenly interrupted her speech, but obviously Ella didn't hear him. "Is it just me or does Ella's voice sound deeper than before?"
Several eyes - specifically those who had been part of the later half of the season - looked to him in surprise. "Does it?" Sammy asked.
Everyone hushed up to listen. To Sammy, Ella sounded the exact same as ever. But she supposed she had been with Ella every step of the way, whereas Dave had pretty much jumped from beginning to end.
"What do you think?" Sky asked, turning around to look at Leonard.
He rubbed his chin in thought, listening as the Finalists conversed. After a minute, he said, "Actually, yes, I do hear a difference! It's deeper and, dare I say, more natural sounding compared to what she presented to us before."
"Really?" Sammy turned to Amy, who only shrugged. "Wow. I never picked up on that." What kind of kinda-sorta-not-really girlfriend am I?!
No one really had an answer for this development, though Amy did whisper in her ear, "Probably has something to do with no longer doing that princess thing."
"Ooh," Sammy whispered back. She likely had slowly started lowering her voice's tone over the course of the game. It was no wonder Sammy didn't catch on. "Good point."
"What about you?" Ella was asking Jasmine. "I don't think I've heard your plans for the money."
Jasmine grinned at that. "I wanted to open my own business! It would be one part flower shop…"
"Oh that sounds lovely!" Ella interjected before Jasmine could finish.
"Just wait for the second part!" Jasmine seemed absolutely giddy at the idea. "One part flower shop… one part underground cage fighting school!"
Ella literally stopped walking at that to process it. The look on her face said everything - she clearly thought the idea was terrible.
At the same time, everyone in the bunker dropped their jaws to the floor, before turning a questioning eye to Shawn.
He looked at them all with discomfort in his eyes. "Uhh… Yeah. I'm not gonna say anything."
Jasmine was still talking. "I'd call it, 'Roses Are Red, Bruises Are Blue'! Pretty cool, ri-" It was only then Jasmine realized Ella wasn't following. "You good mate?"
Ella shook her head violently and ran to catch up. "Um, yes! I was just… astounded at how… uh… unique that idea is!"
"Isn't it though?!" Jasmine asked, either unaware of or ignoring Ella's hesitancy. "It's been my dream to open it up all my life, and maybe I'll finally get that chance!"
"Well, obviously I plan to do my best to win," Ella said sweetly, "but should you win, I sincerely hope your dream comes to fruition!"
"Thanks! Same to you!"
"This is all so… cheery and lighthearted," grumbled Topher from behind Sammy.
"I concur," Max agreed. "It's too goody-goody for my tastes. Not enough violence! Where is the animosity? Where is the chaos?!"
"Where's the trash talking?" Topher added. "This is too 'nice'! It's supposed to be a competition, for Pete's sake!"
"Ella isn't exactly a trash talker," Sammy told him.
He tutted and shook his head. "Total Drama just hasn't been the same since last season…"
"I'm hopin' the challenge is a good one," Sugar said. "One where Jasmine has a chance of crushin' Ella into the dirt!"
Sammy whirled around to her. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa! What's all that about?"
"Oh, you probably don't know," Sugar said, completely oblivious to Sammy's death glare. "Ella likes to pretend she's nice to everyone, but I know her type. She's just waitin' to stab you in the back and take the money for herself! Trust me, you see allllll those kinds'a people in the pageantry business. You can't walk anywhere without trippin' over them!"
Sammy stared at her, unable to form any sort of response. Thankfully, Amy was there to speak for her. "Ohh, right, you have some sort of beef with her, don't you?" she asked. "You wouldn't stop talking about her at all when you were on the island. Either her or yourself."
"And the pot calls the kettle black," Topher muttered, though no one paid attention to him.
Sugar actually seemed incredibly ticked off; she snarled at the screen and banged her fists on the back of the first row seats. "Yeah, and for good reason too! I knew she was trouble from the start, all the way from the beginning! She wouldn't be here in the finale if she wasn't a two-faced little snot queen!"
Sammy's temper was boiling over - it was one thing to say mean things about her, but to start insulting her friends? That was another thing entirely. It was to the point where she was actually beginning to think that, unless Sugar changed her views on Ella, trying to make friends with her was a lost cause.
She knew she wasn't good at hiding her emotions, so it was no surprise when Amy placed a notably gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey, hey, easy there," she said quietly. "Now's not the time for this. You can rip her a new one after, yeah?"
Amy was right, of course, and Sammy tried her best to breathe deep and calm herself. "Yeah, okay, you're right."
Back on the screen, the girls had continued their walk, and were just arriving in the designated meeting area. Chris stood before them, and shockingly it looked like there was nothing around him - no obstacle courses, no giant finale-like contraptions. Just the open field and blue skies behind them.
"Today's the day!" announced the host once everything was in place. "Today, one of you walks home a loser, like the 12 that came before you. And also today, I start my vacation."
"And… you're also giving one of us the million dollars, right?" Jasmine asked him eagerly.
Chris rolled his eyes. "Yes, Jasmine, one of you is getting the million dollars. As if that wasn't obvious."
"So what shall we be doing today?" Ella asked him. Sammy continued to marvel at how well she was maintaining that confident smile. It wasn't something that she'd be able to get over easy. "Will the challenge be more physical based, like the last few times?"
"You've watched the show," Chris said. "You tell me."
She sighed, but didn't let that get her down. "I should have figured."
"Actually, I should tell you something about the challenge," Chris said. He grinned nastily at them, and both girls listened intently. "This final challenge for Pahkitew Island is so deadly, the lawyers called us and insisted you have a Partner for it."
Ella gasped. "A Partner?!"
He shrugged casually. "Eh. It's not a bad idea. Maybe they can help us find your bodies when the challenge is done."
Chris was normally a sadistic person, but that was dark, even by his standards. The girls rightfully gave each other frightened looks.
"Well…" Jasmine said slowly. "How are the Partners decided?"
"Lemme ask something first. If you could have any one of the previously eliminated contestants as your Partner for the finale… who would you both choose?"
"Choose?" Ella repeated, and both girls immediately started thinking about it.
For personal reasons, Sammy hoped that Ella chose her. But she also knew that Ella knew how Total Drama should be played, so if she chose someone she thought would be the better pick, then she would completely understand.
After a moment Ella raised her hand. "I'd like to ask for the assistance of Rodney, please."
"And I'll choose Shawn," Jasmine followed up.
"Wait, she wants me?" Rodney asked in confusion, at the same time Shawn silently pumped a fist. "But I've never even talked to her before!"
"I think she just wants you for your muscles, man," Beardo said, poking Rodney in the arm.
"Oh," he said. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"You don't seem too bothered by her decision," Sky said to Sammy.
She nodded in confirmation. "Yep. I mean, I'd be surprised if she didn't want someone on her side who was able to go toe-to-toe with Jasmine."
But then all conversation ceased when Chris started laughing. "'Choose'?" Chris asked. "Who said anything about choosing your helpers?"
Jasmine gaped at him. "What? But you asked-"
"I asked if you could choose a Partner. I didn't say you'd actually be choosing." He snickered behind a hand. "I just did that to be mean."
Everyone present groaned. Should've seen that coming a mile away.
"Your Partners will be chosen thusly." Chris turned around and Chef Hatchet, who Sammy realized had vanished in the time between sitting in the booth and now, wheeled up a flat-screen TV. Chris now produced two remotes, and tossed them to each contestant. They both caught them with ease. "One person will go at a time, and hit the button. Their roulette of potential Partners will begin to spin," as was demonstrated by the roulette on-screen starting, "at which point you'll press the button once more. Whoever the roulette stops on," This was accompanied by the slot stopping on a sadistic and menacing-looking Scarlett, "is who you're paired up with."
Everyone who had been a part of the self destruct challenge cringed at the sight on the screen. "Wow, y'all weren't kidding about her," Beardo commented in surprise. "I'm gettin' chills just lookin' at her."
"Eh, I've seen scarier," Topher grunted with a shrug. "What's truly scary is her hair. Does she cut it herself? Like, with a blindfold on?"
"At least she's going for a style," Amy said, and turned to look Topher straight in the eye. "Unlike someone I know."
He reddened furiously and covered his half-styled hair with his hands. "I didn't have time to finish it!"
They were shushed by the others, just in time to watch Chris toss a coin. It was directly aimed for Ella's eye, but she had enough time to swipe it out of the air. "That was rude," she said with a frown.
Chris frowned as well. "Oh right. Forgot that part." He didn't let it bother him, and grinned once more. "I guess Ella gets to go first!"
She gave Chris a glare as she tossed the coin away, and gave her remote a press.
That was when two things happened: as Chris had stated, the roulette on the screen started. Additionally, a small monitor rose up out of the floor, right in front of Sammy and the others.
"Please ensure safety belts are secure," came a robotic voice with accompanying text. The next thing Sammy knew, a safety harness had somehow wrapped itself around her chest and waist, effectively locking her into her seat. Oookay this doesn't look good.
"Uhh," Dave stammered, attempting to pull on his. "I'm not getting a good feeling about this."
"This thing's on too tight," Rodney said, likewise trying to loosen his. "Is that just me? It's kinda hard to breathe…"
"And Ella has landed on Samey!"
Sammy's attention was swiftly drawn from her harness back to the big screen, where an extremely unflattering picture of her totally passed out asleep (with just a hint of drool flowing from her mouth) had appeared on the roulette.
"Oh!" Ella cried out in surprise. "What are the chances, I wonder?"
"One out of 12, apparently," Jasmine snickered.
"Apparently indeed." Ella took a moment to consider her result, but only a moment. "I'll take her! I'll have Sammy be my Partner!"
"Yes!" Sammy cheered, attempting to jump up but failing it due to the seat belt. "I was hoping for this and it actually happened!"
"That's pretty lucky," Amy said, and she looked happy enough for her.
"I know!" Sammy agreed. She was thanking her lucky stars for this outcome - now she got to spend more time with Ella, which was always a great thing. But then she realized what she had been chosen for. "Wait… I'm gonna get hurt again, aren't I?"
Amy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but the look on her face was mischievous. "Oh, Sam… We hardly knew ye."
Sammy shook her hand off. "I'm not dead! …Yet."
Jasmine was up next, her expression neutral as she pressed the button. Like last time, the roulette began. Also like last time, the smaller screen in front of them spoke once more. "Please keep hands and feet within the ride at all times."
"'Ride'?" Shawn repeated. "What does that mean?"
"Uh oh," Sky muttered, and looked to the room's ceiling.
"What's the matter, fair maiden?" Leonard asked her. He didn't seem to notice the look Dave was giving him.
"The seat belts, the word 'ride'..." Sky looked at them in fright. "I think we're in for a ride any second now."
Several of them gasped in shock, while some struggled to remove the harnesses. It was just like Chris to torment them further, even outside of the game. The sooner this finale ended, the better off all of them would be.
But all thoughts of imminent pain were silenced when Jasmine's roulette stopped and landed on Shawn. Specifically a picture of a terrified, screaming-out-of-his-mind-at-zombies-again-probably Shawn, but still Shawn.
"Alright!" Jasmine cried out. "I'll take him!"
"Woo-hoo!" Shawn cheered. "Victory, here we come!"
So I'm still fighting my friends, huh? Sammy sighed but gave Shawn a challenging grin. "We're not gonna make it easy on you!"
"Right back at ya, sister!"
Speaking of sister, Amy's eyes were hard and glued to the screen; the words Chris was saying were likely going in one ear and out the other. "Amy?" Sammy asked when she noticed the look on her face.
The older twin looked at the younger. "Oh, uh," she stammered, then frowned. "Don't you think that's too… convenient?"
Sammy blinked, looking back to the screen. "You think?"
"Well, yeah. Ella gets her girlfriend-"
"We're still not dating yet."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Almost girlfriend. Meanwhile Jasmine gets her boyfriend. And it's like… what are the chances of both of them landing on that? It feels like… like this was planned. Like, maybe the roulette was rig-"
That was when the sirens began. Harsh warning lights shined bright on the walls, and the cast had to cover their ears at the noise. "Now beginning launch sequence," came the computerized voice. "Please enjoy your flight."
"Launch sequence?!" Beardo screamed, mimicking everyone's thoughts. "Okay, I want off this ride now!"
"Launch commencing in T-minus 60 seconds."
"Welp," said Dave, eyes glazed over as he leaned back in his seat. "It was nice knowing some of you. Others, not so much."
"You cannot do this to me!" Max shouted at the screen, one fist raised menacingly. "Release me from this prison, you blasted AI, or else I will turn you into scrap metal!"
The screen lit up in a green thumbs up symbol. "Threat acknowledged. Launch now commencing in T-minus five seconds."
Everyone had just enough time to gape at the screen, and then glare angrily at a very sheepish Max.
The booth they were all in began convulsing violently, like they were being shaken in a soda can and ready to burst at any moment. Sammy could feel her stomach start to churn, and for once was grateful they hadn't eaten breakfast.
At the top of her vision, she saw a large hole open up in the ceiling. Just as Sky predicted, she managed to think amongst all of the hysteria.
She felt a hand grasp hers. Sammy didn't have to look to know Amy was scared, and gave it a hopefully comforting squeeze.
Then the booth shot up through the hole at blinding speeds.
The force nearly pushed her down into her seat, but Sammy held strong and stayed upright. It was too dark to see anything, and everyone, including herself, were screeching pure terror at the top of their lungs.
But shockingly, it didn't last long. The dark interior of the in-between layers of the bunker gave way to the bright, shining landscape of Pahkitew Island. Up, and up, and up their booth went, the vast expanse of the ocean flowing out in every direction.
Sammy felt themselves peak, and she took a moment to look around her. Despite the panic and the fear, it was positively breathtaking to look at. Ocean extended every which way, with some islands visible in the distance. The sun was just beginning to rise, coating the sky in a bright pink along with its normal blue. She couldn't tear her eyes away, and the scenery dug its way inside her mind and caused her to forget about the current situation. Sammy was a city girl at heart, but she could absolutely not deny the beauty and majesty that the natural world had to offer.
The others definitely felt the same; their screams vanished and were replaced by gasps of awe and amazement. They had all been in the air before, but at this precise moment, stuck in the sky as they were, they had the whole horizon at their fingertips. Even the more antagonistic of them were lost in the wonder; they were all experiencing the same thing, and as such they were all thinking as one.
You know… The world can be such a beautiful place sometimes.
It was an incredible, once in a lifetime experience that no one wanted to have end.
And then they started falling.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" came the collective screams of 11 terrified teens. Yeah, Sammy's mind then thought between the images of her grisly death, I really should've seen this coming.
She didn't know how far up they had travelled, but the descent down was faster than she would have liked. Maybe it was because of everyone's weight added to the booth, but those thoughts were far and away from what she should be paying attention to right now.
Then, after several seconds of blind panic, the booth stopped falling.
It wasn't an immediate stop, but it came without warning, and Sammy felt her insides try to keep going without her. Most of the others likely felt the same, as there were groans and moans galore between them all. Max let out a weak "Reveeeenge…", but everyone was too shaken up to say anything worthwhile.
Opening her eyes through the nausea, Sammy noted that they had stopped just below the treeline of the forest, and that if she looked down she could see the ground roughly five or ten feet below. Ella and Jasmine were looking at them in shock, while Chris was saying something to them, though she wasn't able to make out what exactly that was.
Then she saw the remote in his hand and the button he pushed, and the booth continued falling that extra ten feet. There was no stopping them this time, and the booth landed painfully onto the ground with a crash.
With a bump and a cry in pain, Sammy found herself jostled and thrown from one side to the other. Amy hadn't let go of her hand, even after a few moments passed, but she wasn't going to complain. They were two of the lucky few who didn't bash their chins on the railing and/or seat in front of them, and she could hear the cracks of the ones who did clearly in her head. Those who cried out in pain were likewise calling out Chris for his treatment, though it was very unlikely he was caring.
"Welcome back to Pahkitew Island!" came his voice over the cacophony of grumbles. He called out everyone by order of elimination, starting with Leonard and ending on Sky. "Let me guess," he followed up with, giddy malice in his voice, "one of you threatened our computer system."
10 different hands pointed at Max, who simply squeaked in response.
"HA!" Chris barked. "I was hoping someone would do that!" He wiped a tear from his eye as he laughed, earning him a number of glares from everyone, before he composed himself and cleared his throat. "Ah well. Maybe you should go see if your Partners are okay," he said to the Finalists. "Something tells me things are gonna get worse from here on out."
The pain subsided enough for her to remember what was going on. Shaking off the dizziness, Sammy looked upwards to see the Finalists rushing over in their direction, Jasmine towards Shawn and Ella, of course, towards herself.
"Hi th-" Before Sammy could even get two words out, Ella planted her lips on hers. It was… forceful. Not desperate, but happy and relieved and just a bit nervous all at once. All of the kisses they shared before (and as such, every kiss Sammy ever had) were soft and light and unsure, mostly because of her and her general inexperience with romance and relationships. But now Ella was taking the lead, and though Sammy was surprised… she couldn't say she didn't enjoy it.
It wasn't a long kiss, and Ella pulled back soon after it began. The grin on her face was wide and toothy, though a moment later and she was biting back a giggle. "Your mouth tastes like toothpaste," she said in a laugh.
"Pfft-" Sammy laughed, much harder than she thought she would have. "That's the first thing you say to me? Not, 'How's it going?' or something like that?"
She tilted her head in thought, though the grin didn't leave her face. "Mmm… Nope!" That just made Sammy laugh even harder.
Chris cleared his throat once more, this time as an attention grabber. "If the Finalists and their Partners could come up to the screen, that'd be great, thanks."
Ella turned back to her, and Sammy was greeted with one of the most confident grins she had ever seen on the girl. "Let's go win a million dollars," she said without any hesitation.
It was infectious, and Sammy found herself feeling her heartbeat rising. Not out of fear, but out of anticipation. "You got it."
The harness keeping her locked in undid itself, and she noticed Shawn and Jasmine were already headed back over. Sammy was just about to hop over the railing when an arm grabbed a hold of her and held her back.
"Be careful," Amy whispered to the both of them. Her eyes were hard and she was glaring at Chris in the corner of them. "Something about this stinks."
Sammy nodded. "We will," she told her sister.
Meanwhile, Ella looked between them curiously. "We will?" she repeated.
She needed to be informed, but Sammy figured that drawing attention to it would only make things worse for them in the long run. "Look at who got paired up with who," Sammy whispered to her.
Ella stared at her, and then at Jasmine and Shawn. Her mouth made an 'O' shape not long after. "Uh oh."
"Yeah," Sammy said. "Uh oh."
"Any day now!" Chris shouted.
"Shoot," Ella huffed. "We'll just have to keep our eyes opened for anything… worrisome."
Sammy nodded, and the two moved on. A couple who got paired together on the roulette was one thing, but both couples getting paired up? That was too hard to believe that it was just random chance. Amy was right, something about this was suspicious. Not only did they have to focus on winning, but they also had to keep their eyes peeled for anything that seemed off.
Something's gonna happen here. I just wish I knew what.
"Reunions over?" Chris asked sharply when they all approached him. "Good! Because it's time for the final challenge of the season! I have endearingly titled it… The Double Duo of Deadly Dying Death!"
Sammy cringed at the name - not only because it meant that the challenge was going to be difficult, but also because it was a name that sounded like a ten year old came up with it in an attempt to be edgy. "You certainly managed to pack the theme of the finale in there," Jasmine remarked.
"I know," Chris smirked, and actually sounded proud of it. "I'm good. Moving on: since Scarlett decided to turn traitor and take control of the whole island, we've had the whole thing on lockdown mode and have been gradually restarting every part of it. However, I can now say with confidence that the island is 100% back online, and we have only one challenge left to dish out as much pain as we can." He rubbed his hands together devilishly as the Finalists and Partners gulped. "I hope you guys have said your final words! 'Cuz there's a very low chance of walking away from this in one piece!
"Jasmine and Ella! With the help of your Partners, you will race across the island. First one to cross the finish line will receive…" He took the briefcase from Chef's outstretched hand, and opened it to show the four of them the money in all its glory. "One. Million. Dollars!"
The prize was so close to them, Sammy felt her heart start pounding at the sight of it. Ella grasped one of her shoulders and shook it, her own excitement palpable.
"While I'm disappointed that it's yet another race," Ella whispered to her, "I have to admit, that money is really tempting."
"We just have to get through one more," Sammy reminded. "And then we're home free."
"The end is just in reach!" Chris continued. "And all you have to do is…" The remote was pressed again, and the earth rumbled. The four of them, plus everyone back in the booth, shouted in fright. Ella held on tightly to Sammy's shoulder to not lose balance, though Sammy was afraid she was going to lose her own.
And then, from behind the treeline, a gargantuan mountain burst forth from the ground, shooting into the sky and piercing the clouds. It was covered in snow, from top to bottom, and its summit looked almost like it was in a perpetual storm. "Survive a 2,000 foot plummet from an ice cliff!" Chris continued. "Its snowy terrain will make traversing it difficult, but if you'd rather drop from the top, then we'd be all for that!"
"More snow," Sammy mumbled, her heart rate continuing to speed up. She let out a groan. "Of course there would be more snow."
The screen from earlier was flicked on, and showed the top of the mountain. Contrasting the bright blue above them, the area around the top was shrouded by thick storm clouds, snow and hail gusting from one direction to another. Atop the most level portion of the summit sat a large mound of junk, though exactly what was in it was obscured by the weather. "Use whatever crud you find in that pile to make yourselves a bobsled to ride down. The faster, the better, obviously."
"What's all that supposed to be, anyway?" Shawn asked. "I can't make heads or tails of any of that!"
"That's the point, dude! You'll find out when you get there." The image changed then, and showed a decently large and wide trench in the ground filled to the top with mud. As opposed to the mountaintop, this one seemed rather mundane. "Next, you'll learn how to not suffocate as you're submerged in this giant, eight-feet deep mud pit!"
Sammy felt her fears spiking even further. Having to compete in a snowstorm was one thing, but being completely dunked into something without air was perhaps just as bad, if not worse. "Oh!" she exclaimed despite herself. "Great! Can't wait to jump into that!" Ella rubbed her back soothingly.
One last transition to what appeared to be a standard plain of sparse trees and mountains in the background. "And finally, you'll have to run two miles through a wide-open field where I'm absolutely sure no harm will come to you!" Then without warning, Chris started cackling at some joke he must have made. No one had any idea what that joke must have been, as no one was laughing with him. Sammy's insides were filling with disgust at this demon of a man before them, and judging by their faces so were everyone else's. Even Chef was giving Chris a dirty look, slowly shaking his head as the laughter kept going for longer than it should have. It soon became apparent to Chris that no one else was laughing with him, and he stopped to give Chef an annoyed glance. "Any particular reason you're not sticking to the script?"
"The script is ridiculous," Chef spat back.
Chris was mildly surprised, but let it slide and cleared his throat to regain order. "The point I'm trying to get across is that you guys might not make it out alive here." By this point the threats had worn off their effects, so the four of them glared at him. "Make of that what you will." He snapped a finger and an intern ran up to them holding four helmets, tossing each of the players one of them. "Legal told us you might want to wear these for the first leg of the challenge, just in case anything happens to the mushy bits in your head. Who knows, maybe you'll start to use them if you live through this!"
Sammy was about to retort when he then held up his remote once more. "And just so that we're able to get a live audience for this finale…"
The button was pressed once more, and the four of them turned around when they heard the cries of uncertainty from the peanut gallery. The booth was shaking violently again, and all of the non-contestants were looking around in terror. And then, without warning, the booth zipped down back into the ground. They all screamed loudly, but the second the ground closed behind them their voices vanished. Even though she understood why, Sammy found that to be incredibly spooky.
"All of the other losers will join you guys on your journey!" Chris finished his sentence happily. "Whether they want to or not!"
"That thing doesn't exactly look like the safest contraption here," Jasmine commented, staring at where the booth had been.
"It's not! It's more like a deathtrap!" Shawn exclaimed. "You could seriously hurt them if you treat that thing like a roller coaster!"
"Once again, Shawn, that's the point!" Chris looked upwards and grinned widely, and that was when the sound of a helicopter could be heard getting louder and closer. A red one, smaller than the one they had flown in on to get here, hovered just above their heads. Four long ropes, knotted at several points along each one, were hanging from the helicopter's landing gear, and ended up swaying gently right in front of the four of them. "Grab a rope and hold on tight! Because your challenge begins…" The air horn rang out. "NOW!"
The second all ropes had a player holding them, the helicopter lifted them off the ground and up, up, up into the air. Sammy did everything in her power to both not let go, and not look down. She'd been in the air without the proper protection far too many times in the last few weeks than she was comfortable with. But, she had to remind herself, this was for the money, and more importantly, for Ella. She just had to hold it all back in until they were done.
Ella was visibly struggling to keep her grip, something that unfortunately made sense. "We're almost there!" Sammy shouted at her. "You got this!" She wasn't sure if Ella heard.
A minute or two of ascending passed, and they breached the clouds into what was clearly an artificially generated storm at the summit. Despite that fact, it felt every bit as real as an actual storm, which was something Sammy did not appreciate in the slightest.
The pilot of the helicopter stopped right above where they were apparently supposed to get off. The aircraft made no movement to lower them to the ground however, and Sammy realized belatedly that they were likely supposed to jump off when she saw Jasmine and Shawn actually jumping off. Recognizing that they had already lost their lead, Sammy took one last glance at Ella, nodded at her when she returned the glance, and leapt off the rope towards the ground.
It wasn't a long fall, but it was enough to make her barely stick the landing. The snow wasn't very deep up on the top, probably coming halfway up her boots, and the flustering winds didn't help matters at all. Sammy's dread was still high, and she wanted to be anywhere but here, but she had a job to do and she was going to see it through to the end.
A screech was heard from above, and Sammy looked up just in time to catch a falling Ella in her arms, bridal style. Her knees almost buckled under the weight, and the wind nearly toppled them over, but she stood fast and held her ground.
Ella grinned at her and planted a kiss on her cheek. "My hero."
Sammy grinned, then quickly set her down. They were lucky that they landed close to the junk pile, and they slowly made their way towards it. It was small, nowhere near as big as the piles from the very first day, but it didn't need to be very big anyway. "Bobsled, bobsled," Sammy muttered, trying to pick out parts with the little visibility she had. "We need something we can sit on, like…" She grabbed at the first thing she saw. "A sink? Okay, there are worse ideas. And now something to make it slide down the mountain easier, like…"
"Skis?" Ella asked.
"Oh, yeah, skis will work!"
"No, no!" Ella grabbed a hold of her head and pointed it off to the side. "Skis!"
Through the biting winds and piercing snow, Sammy just managed to make out Jasmine and Shawn descending the hill on skis, the latter riding on the former's back.
"Oh! Skis!" Sammy took a glance at the sink, threw it away and, after taking another second to look through the pile, found their own pair of skis sticking out at an angle. "No time to make a bobsled. Let's just copy them!" She threw them down onto the snow and clipped them on to her boots as fast as she could. The moment she finished she motioned to Ella, who hopped onto the skis and wrapped her arms around Sammy's ribs, holding tight. "Ready?" Sammy asked.
"Ready!" Ella replied.
She pushed her feet and they were off. The wind whipped at their faces and the snow nearly blinded them, but they glided through the storm with little to no issues. In fact, a few moments after kicking off, the storm gradually lessened. A little ways down the slope, and they cut through it entirely, and their ability to see was no longer hindered.
"There they are!" Ella cried, pointing over Sammy's shoulder and down at their opponents. They were a decent distance away from them, and likely due to Jasmine's weight were gaining ground. "We won't be able to catch-" That was when, in a moment where they were distracted, Jasmine and Shawn collided right into one of the giant piles of snow that dotted the mountainside. "-them. Or, maybe we will!"
"Lean forward!" Sammy instructed, and the two of them did just that, reducing their wind resistance and speeding themselves up. Sammy had ever only gone skiing once in her life, and it was down a hill nowhere near as dangerous as this one. But in the heat of the moment and the reminder that a huge sum of money was on the line, she maneuvered them past the oversized moguls, and kept them from flying up and away and likely hurting themselves.
About partway down the mountain, they received company.
Sammy and Ella both shrieked at the peanut gallery's sudden appearance on their left, coming out of the mountain and keeping pace with them as they skied down. The group of nine looked haggard and ready to throw up any second. The ride to the top must not have been as smooth for them as it was for the players.
"Are you guys okay?!" Sammy shouted at them.
No one immediately answered, aside from their nauseous groans.
"I think we should take that as a yes," Ella said, and readjusted Sammy's head to focus on the challenge. She could see Jasmine and Shawn still struggling down below, and the different moguls the two had run into. Likely due to the fact that the snow was blinding them and slowing them down, Sammy and Ella were actually beginning to get closer to them.
"I don't want to get our hopes up too early," Sammy said to her Partner, "but we might actually have a shot at this!"
"Ahh… I really hope you didn't just jinx us," Ella said, a nervous laugh in her voice.
"Ooh. Yeah, I really hope I didn't, too."
"Get me off this ride," droned Amy from the peanut gallery. She was squished between the end of the booth and everyone else in her row, and she looked ready to blow a fuse. "I think I'm literally gonna hurl."
"Whatever you do, don't do it in my direction," Sky replied to her.
"We don't need to be here," Beardo groaned, his hand holding his head through his hair. "Chris has already tortured us enough, hasn't he?"
"Apparently not," Rodney said, his face green and eyes spinning.
"You insipid hunk of junk," Max growled, and banged a fist on the side he was leaning over. "Slow down this instance!"
Another beep from the computer. "Violence and insults detected. Changing contestant focus."
The group took a second to yell at Max before their ride sped up and zipped down the mountain, faster than they had previously been going, towards Jasmine and Shawn.
Ella hummed as she watched them leave. "I'm… incredibly thankful I never got on that ride."
It was by no means easy, but Sammy was able to pass by the moguls without any mishaps. Other than the stress of being on the snow and of the race itself, it was actually a fairly simple task. Sammy knew better than to count her chickens before they hatched, however, and focused on staying upright until the very end.
Jasmine and Shawn, covered from head to toe in snow, reached the ground first, though Ella and Sammy were not far behind. When they reached the area where the snow became grass, Sammy allowed the skis to slow down on their own. Unfortunately, she ended up tripping over a stray rock she wasn't able to avoid, and she fell face first into the ground. Funny how face-planting into the dirt is becoming a common occurrence for me. Oh! Actually, wait, that's not funny at all!
Ella, meanwhile, had flown up and over Sammy and similarly landed in a heap ahead of her. She was faster to recover however, and immediately set to work on helping Sammy stand. "The skis have to come off first," she said, mostly to herself, and went about unclasping one from her boots. Sammy worked on the other one, and in no time was standing on her own two feet once more.
They looked to Shawn and Jasmine, who were both wiping the snow off of themselves and shivering due to it. Incidentally, the peanut gallery was there and in rough shape, their booth having stopped along with Jasmine, but they weren't the important part at the moment. The girls saw their chance, and dashed off away from the mountain towards the next leg of the race.
"I can't believe it," Sammy gasped. "We're actually in the lead!"
"We probably won't be for long," Ella said. "Jasmine can overtake us easily, and I doubt Shawn will be a slouch when it comes to running, either."
It was true. They booked it as hard as they could, but after five minutes a thoroughly thawed Jasmine and Shawn caught up to them. They looked as though nothing had even happened, aside from the melting snow dampening their clothes. "Sorry, mates," Jasmine shouted at them as the two of them overtook the girls. "But that money is ours!"
Sammy was just about to pump her legs further to try and keep up, but Ella held her back. "Don't overwork yourself," she said. "We can catch back up in the next part."
Sammy slowly nodded. "Right, okay."
The gap between them, as was expected, increased in size as the running went on, but thankfully the mud pit wasn't too far away. Chris was there, and was offering Jasmine what looked to be a garden hose with the ends cut off. "Perfect timing!" he shouted at the girls as they approached. "I was just going over part two!"
"And we were just on our way!" Jasmine stuck one end of the hose in her mouth, scooped Shawn up onto her shoulders (causing him to make a high-pitched shriek) and leapt into the mud in one fell swoop.
"Eager, aren't they?" he casually asked the girls. "Anywho, since this mud pit's bigger than either of you, one of you will have to sit on the other's shoulders and navigate your way through. And before you ask," he said as Ella raised a hand, "you breathe through the hose."
He tossed it at Sammy, who caught it without issue. "Uh…" Her eyes were drawn to the mud, at how deep that pit was, and she actually thought her legs would lock up on her. "Yeah, I'm gonna be honest, I don't want to be in that," she hesitantly told Ella. "There's not much difference between being trapped under snow and submerged in mud. I wouldn't be able to go five feet if I was all the way in."
Ella breathed deeply and nodded. "I guess it's up to me then!" She bent down to one knee.
Sammy wasted no time in hopping on, but winced as Ella struggled to stand with the extra weight. "Y-You sure about this?"
It took some effort, but Ella managed it after a few moments. Her legs wobbled, but she stayed up as best she could. "N-N-No clue! We're about t-to find out!"
Sammy handed her one end of the hose and she stuck it in her mouth. Slowly and unsteadily, Ella hopped off of the ledge and into the mud. They went so far down that only Sammy's torso and head were visible, and she felt like she had to strain her neck to keep the mud from getting in her mouth. The second Ella's feet touched down onto the bottom of the pit, she took off as fast as she could. Which wasn't very fast at all.
Ella was breathing heavily through the hose, but Sammy could feel her own breath quickening. This whole challenge almost seemed like it was designed to make her sweat - first racing through actual snow, then through something you could easily get completely submerged in… What's next? Scuba Bear's gonna fly down from the sky and attack us? …Oh, dang it, I hope I didn't just jinx us again.
But she had to keep her composure, if not for her sake but for Ella's. She could deal with her trauma later, in a professional environment - with a million dollars and a chance at reinvention on the line, she'd be willing to go up against ten scuba bears.
Sammy's thoughts paused. Money really makes people do unpredictable and stupid things, doesn't it?
"You holding in okay, Ella?" Sammy asked into the hose. There was no response, and Sammy smacked her forehead. "Oh, duh. She can't hear through her mouth. That'd be weird."
All of a sudden, she could hear screaming from behind her, quiet yet quickly growing in volume, until the peanut gallery booth literally came zooming in and screeching to a halt right next to her. Thanks to the law of inertia, its occupants all squeezed together at the other end, nearly sending Max and Rodney right out of it. Their moans and groans had become more and more frustrated and angry, and they tried to right themselves the moment their ride slowed down.
"I don't think I ever want to go on a roller coaster again," Topher wheezed, leaning over his side.
"Not just roller coasters for me," Dave said in response. "I think entire amusement parks are out."
"It's a good thing we didn't eat breakfast," Sugar mentioned, holding onto her stomach, "or else y'all front rowers would'a been needin' a shower!"
"You know, I'm thankful for that too!" Dave cried out, eyes wide in fear.
"You guys are in for a treat," Sammy called out to them, gaining their attention. "As far as I can tell, this part's actually pretty tame."
"Don't let McLean hear you say that," Amy said to her as she held her head between her legs.
"Look!" Leonard suddenly shouted, pointing farther down the mud pit. "Yonder players are making their return!"
Everyone looked back down to see Shawn actually coming towards them, in the opposite direction of where he should be going. He was looking down at where Jasmine was with confusion and panic in his eyes, and was trying to speak into the hose with little success.
"What are they doing?" Rodney asked. "They know the finish line's in the other direction, right?"
"Did they get turned around?" Sky asked. "It shouldn't be hard to navigate a mud pit that only goes two ways!"
"Wait, hang on," Amy said with surprise in her voice. "Isn't Jasmine, like… claustra-something? Afraid of small spaces? Wouldn't being dunked in mud technically count as that?"
"Oh, shoot," Sammy said, her heart going out to Jasmine. "She must not have realized when she jumped in…" She spent a total of five seconds feeling sorry for her, before all thoughts turned to Shawn and Jasmine being on a collision course right for her and Ella. "Wait. Waaait wait, you're gonna-" She raised her voice. "You're gonna hit us! Move!"
Shawn looked up with frustration in his eyes. "I've been trying that! What do you think I've been doing?!"
"You don't have to be rude about it!" Sammy shouted back. She then looked down to where she knew Ella was. Her breathing through the tube had hastened, and Sammy could tell that her pace had slowed. "Hey, Ella, move to the si- …Ugh, what am I even doing?" Instead of speaking, Sammy tapped Ella's head on the left side. She paused in her walking, which nearly caused Sammy to fall over and into the mud, though they quickly righted themselves. She tapped Ella's head again, and she thankfully took a few steps to the right. Another tap in confirmation, and Ella began walking forward at an angle, almost coming to the mud pit's wall, and guaranteeing that they would be able to pass by Shawn and Jasmine.
Assuming Shawn and Jasmine let them, of course.
"H-Hey, what are you doing?" Sammy asked when it became obvious that Shawn had changed Jasmine's direction and was still headed right for her.
"Not giving you the lead, that's what!" He held out one of his hands in an attempt to catch and stop her, but she swatted it away with one of her own.
"Don't! I don't want to fall in!" she said.
"And I don't want you to win!" He tried to make another grab at her, but she hit that one away too. They devolved into some sort of one-handed slapping contest, neither one letting up on the other.
It went on for a few seconds more, until Chris suddenly yelled through the speakers, "Boooooring! Deploy the 3.0 model!"
Both of them stopped hitting each other at that. "'3.0 model'?" they repeated simultaneously.
A roar caused them to look up, and Sammy's jaw dropped from the sight. "Scuba Bear's flying down from the sky to attack us… Argh, I totally did jinx us…"
There was no time to scramble for the pit's wall and run away - the jet pack-equipped robot dove straight into the mud at lightning speed, and with enough force to cause a giant tidal wave of mud. It covered Sammy and Shawn entirely, and they were all sent hurtling down towards the end of the pit. Sammy tried to breathe, but obviously couldn't, and the panic was rising in her chest once more. That said, she didn't even have time to fret - within a moment, she landed onto solid ground, the mud still coating her, but her ability to suck in air regained. Mud got caught in her throat, sure, but at least she hadn't been submerged for long.
After her coughing fit, Sammy had enough presence of mind to see that she and Ella were now tied up with Jasmine and Shawn. They all seemed woozy from the tidal wave, however, and no one was ready to stand up and continue quite yet.
"W-What happened to the bear?" she asked, looking out over the mud pit. "It's not coming back, is it?"
"It can, if you want it to," Chris said as he and Chef pulled up to them in their jeep.
"No! No, I'm good, thanks!"
Ella coughed to her right, and spat out a large clump of mud. "I… I don't think I'm ever going to get a mud bath as long as I live," she wheezed. Sammy rubbed her back to ease her nerves.
Chef exited the jeep, pressed down on a rock with his foot, and had an actual hose spring up from the ground. He aimed it at the contestants and sprayed water at them before they were able to get a word in, and they all screamed in surprise at the pressure. Within moments, they were completely mud-free. Dripping wet, but clean.
"Look at that, all tied up," Chris said, walking a little ways away. "How convenient! I think now's the perfect opportunity for us to take a break!"
"A break?" Ella repeated, standing to her feet with a stunned expression. "Now? In the middle of the finale?"
"Sure! We've got time!" Chris pressed the remote and produced another TV from the ground, as well as a few rocks and a log in front of it. "Kick back and relax for a bit, until we resume! First thing's first, though…" The button was pressed again, and the booth sped right up to them once more, the screams of its inhabitants going ignored. "We oughta do something about these guys."
Another press, and the booth was pulled down into the earth. A few moments later, and a giant glass box replaced it, where all of the peanut gallery had been unceremoniously dumped. "Now they're able to enjoy the show without interrupting us!" Chris said with glee.
"They can breathe in that, right?" Jasmine asked, squinting her eyes at the glass prison in suspicion.
"Sure can! Legal demanded it," Chris answered. "That said, while they can hear us, we can't hear them." He strode over and rapped his knuckles against it. "Hey, Amy!" She raised her head. "Who in there wears red and can't count past 20?"
Amy raised a brow and looked around, only to quickly realize she'd been duped. Her face turned as red as her uniform and she started banging on the walls with accompanying shouts at Chris, but none of it was audible to the people outside.
"You see?" Chris said, concluding his demonstration. "Not a sound! Which is perfect for what we have coming up next." He gestured to the rocks and log. "Take a seat! You're gonna wanna be sitting for this next part…"
Sammy and Ella shot each other wary looks, but did as they were told and sat down, their opponents doing the same.
"Shawn, I hope you brought something to munch on, because this movie's about to be wild!" Shawn was about to speak, but Chris pressed the button and flicked the TV on.
On the screen was Jasmine, sitting in the confessional. "Pfft- ahahaha!" The recording started with her laughing hard at something and snorting a good several times. Once she started to calm down, she gave the camera a cheeky grin. "Wow. Zombies. What a riot!"
Sammy felt a pit drop in her stomach.
The screen flickered to Jasmine again, in another position. "Not only is he cute, but he even knows his way around a forest and what to keep an eye out for. Not to mention that sense of humor of his! Kinda wondering why it's always about zombies though."
The video montage continued as such, with the Jasmine of the past unknowingly mocking the Shawn of the present. Sammy slowly turned towards them to see both of them wide-eyed; Shawn's mouth was hanging open, and Jasmine was covering hers.
"That- That was from the beginning of the show," Jasmine suddenly burst out, "before I really got to know you!"
"Oh, don't worry about that," Chris said, pressing the remote again. "We have more recent dirt, too!"
"She really must have talked to him," the on-screen Jasmine said, a look of awe in her face. "He only mentioned the zombie stuff a handful of times. I'm honestly starting to think this could work between us! We even teamed up, and agreed to split the prize if one of us wins!" She pondered that for a second. "Maybe I can find a way to convince him to change his goal? I mean, a zombie bunker's nice and all, but it's not exactly practical…"
The video paused, and Chris reared his head alongside it. "I wonder, did she ever get around to convincing him? My guess is no!"
Sammy's jaw hung wide open, and she looked between the cruel grin on Chris's face and the look of betrayal on Shawn's. He simply stared at the screen in shock as Jasmine shouted at the host. "I changed my mind literally a second after that!" she insisted. "Play the rest of the clip! You'll see!"
"You," Shawn stammered, causing everyone to shut up and listen. "You thought those were jokes? This whole time?"
"Like I said, this was before I got to know you," Jasmine emphasized. There was sweat dripping from her brow - Sammy could say with certainty that she had never seen her this nervous before. "I thought it was a bit you were doing! Then it turned out you were serious about it, so I started taking it seriously!"
"Serious enough you wanted me to change what I'd do with the money," Shawn quietly countered. He didn't appear to be mad, but Sammy could feel a sharpness to his voice.
It was such a heartbreaking thing to see. This was exactly the reason why Chris had paired up the couples, in order to try and get under their skin. She felt foolish for only seeing that now. Sammy wanted to step in and help them out, to calm them down and help them sort this out rationally. But of course, Chris decided then to ruin her chances by stepping over to her and Ella with a malicious smile. "Samey, I'm sure you don't want to be left out of this, so we prepared a special presentation for you as well!"
She stared at him in morbid curiosity. "What… do you mean…?"
"Yes, exactly!" Ella nearly shouted, rising to her feet. Her eyes were bulging and frightened and confused. "What do you mean? I've never said anything negative about her before! How on earth could you have something-"
Chris blew the air horn in her face, cutting her off. "You'd be surprised, actually!" He switched the TV to a clip of Ella in the confessional, and Sammy felt her heart sink further in her chest.
"And Sammy…" the recording of Ella said. It was likely taken from one of their first days, as she still wore her bow and both of her gloves. "She seemed quiet and so timid. Almost like a cute little mouse. I feel bad for her. But at the same time…" Ella looked to the camera and almost seemed to smile in an odd way. "I think I can use that."
I think I can use that.
I think I can use that.
I think I can use that.
"What?" Sammy asked in a tiny voice.
"What?!" Ella asked in a much louder voice. "How- What- I have never once said anything like that! How dare-"
Sammy stopped listening to her and paid attention to the screen as it flickered again. Now Ella was looking a bit more roughed up, suggesting that this was perhaps a few days into the game. "She apologised so much to me, she must have been feeling so guilty for making me shock the others." The footage seemed to almost 'flicker' a little, but Sammy was far too focused on what Ella was saying to bother making a note of it. "And she deserves it. What she did was terrible and she should feel ashamed. It's a good thing I have her in my care, else she would have likely been eliminated by now."
"Wh… Wha…" She couldn't say anything intelligible. She could only stare blankly at the screen as Ella's confessionals proceeded to absolutely obliterate any and all confidence she gained during the game.
Her best friend?
Her potential partner?
Apparently she had been leading her on.
The entire time.
Sammy shook violently, not in rage, but in shock. She was paralyzed to the rock she was sitting on, and could barely feel any part of her body as her mind was working a mile a minute.
This can't be real. This can't be real. This can't be real. There's no way Ella has been playing me this whole time. It was all too real. I could tell. She was sincere about everything. Right? But then what's up with these clips? Why was she saying these things? Had she actually been stringing me along from the very beginning? There's no way. Ella's my friend, my best friend. But… But what if she's not? What if she was using me? What if she was really like Amy from before and was just… just using me? Is that really what happened? Am I just that easy to manipulate that she went right for the throat from the moment she met me? Was… Was everything that happened here a complete lie?!
"Sam, listen to me!"
Sammy was shaken out of her thoughts quite literally by Ella. She was right in her face and looking terrified and panicked. "Ignore the TV! What it's showing isn't real! I never said anything like that, ever! They must have faked those videos or something, I-"
Another transition, and Sammy stopped listening to her once more. The Ella on the screen was without both her gloves and her bow, as well as the red sleeve, meaning this clip couldn't have been recorded no earlier than yesterday afternoon. "And now, finally, the end is in sight. It wasn't easy getting here, especially since-" There was that flickering jump again, "-leading Sammy on like that was beginning to take its toll on me. She could be ever so dull…" Jump. "Sammy, if you're watching this, at some point in the future when the show airs, I just want you to know that-" Jump, "you were useful to me up until the very end. Thank you for being so very easy to manipulate."
Her heart was beating several times faster than it should have been, and she was beginning to feel the start of a cold sweat on her back. Ella was shaking her once more, but she couldn't hear her. She was far too lost in her own thoughts to hear anyone. This is real. This is real. This… This is all real. I've been misled. It was fake. This entire thing was fake. I don't have an almost girlfriend. I… I probably don't even have any friends. Amy probably got to them from the very start and they've all been against me this whole time. I… I actually don't have anyone. I never had anyone. And I never will.
While the shaking and shouting wasn't enough to break Sammy from her stupor, the overly loud air horn was, and she looked up to Chris addressing them all. "I'm sorry, but I… am out of popcorn. So we should probably get back to the challenge!"
"Seriously?!" everyone shouted at him. Everyone save for Sammy, that is, who was still far too overwhelmed to say anything coherent.
Chris ignored them. "Obviously, the Partners aren't going to want to be partnering up with their respective Finalist anymore. So instead, these helpers are now going to be hinderers."
Chef Hatchet walked up to them with what looked like video game controllers in his hands. He tossed one to Shawn, and then one to Sammy, and the only reason she managed to catch it was purely because of instinct. "As mentioned, the island is now back online," Chris continued. "And, with these controllers, Shawn and Samey will be able to throw up obstacles to slow Jasmine and Ella down, or completely crush the both of you!"
Sammy looked at the controller in her hand. It looked similar to the Switch controller from the resort yesterday, but different enough. She felt it around and wondered how on earth she was going to use this against… She sighed and frowned. Against Ella.
Chris grinned widely. "That was the good part. Let me tell you the bad part: Jasmine and Ella, you both have 10 minutes to reach the finish line at the end of the open field and complete the challenge. If neither of you do, Shawn and Samey get to split the money instead!"
"Excuse me?!" Ella shouted in alarm.
"Wha- You can't do that!" Jasmine yelled.
"I can! I will! I am!" Chris declared happily, and then blew the air horn once more, this time in Chef's face. He didn't seem to appreciate it. "GO!"
There wasn't an immediate reaction from anyone, and the four of them looked at each other in various states of shock and worry. The first person to make a move was Jasmine who, after looking forlornly at Shawn, gritted her teeth and took off down the path. Shawn, likewise, bared his own teeth and stared at the controller in his hands.
Despite watching the competition take off, however, Ella stayed rooted on the spot. She spent several solid seconds watching Jasmine shrink on the horizon, before turning fully towards Sammy and falling to her knees in front of her. "Sam?"
Sammy could really only stare at her, in confusion, in hurt, in a desire to get the heck out of there and back into her bed so that she could cry herself to sleep every night for the rest of her life. "Shouldn't you be going?" she asked. Her voice was quieter, lifeless, and felt far too familiar for her own liking.
If she didn't know any better - and she did, she'd fallen for these tricks far more often than she'd like to admit - Sammy could have sworn she saw Ella's heart break from her facial expressions alone. After a pause, Ella's eyebrows knitted together, and her mouth set in a straight line. "No."
"'No'?" Sammy repeated, and breathed out a humorless laugh. "Why? You got what you wanted. You got to the finale. If you don't-"
"Stop talking."
Sammy did just that. She hated herself for it.
Ella sighed deeply. "I…" she paused for emphasis. "NEVER. Would say ANY of those hurtful things. You mean so much to me. So much more to me than money. I care about our relationship more than some prize. So, no. I'm not going. Not until we're okay again, and the damage that he's done-" she jabbed a thumb behind her at Chris, "is smoothed out and fixed."
Sammy stared at her, attempting to read every miniscule detail on Ella's face. Either she was the best actor in the world, or she was being sincere. Like all the times before… "How do I know this isn't another attempt at manipulating me?"
"Because there were never any attempts at manipulating you," Ella answered immediately. "Everything up to now was real, genuine and honest. The only one doing any manipulating is Chris, and he's trying to drive a wedge between us! This was the entire point of us getting paired up!"
"…Oh." She had to admit, she had forgotten that detail. Though there was a good reason for it.
"So listen to me," Ella kept going, and she placed her hands on Sammy's cheeks and looked right into her soul. "I love you." Sammy's eyes widened. "I don't care if it's too early to say that, my feelings for you are real and have always been real. I've been on your side since day one and there's no way I'm changing now. So please, please understand that whatever Chris tried to show you is fake! They didn't have any dirt to upset you, so they had to make some of their own!"
Sammy glanced over at Chris who, for the briefest moment, looked away and clicked his tongue. "I thought I saw the video stuttering in some places…" Sammy said quietly.
"You see?! They're trying to tear us apart! Believe me when I say you are one of the most important people in my life and I would never, EVER do anything to willingly betray your trust!"
Before Sammy had a chance to reply, Chris cleared his throat and approached the two of them. "Hey, uh, you realize you've only got like, eight and a half minutes before you lose, right?" he asked, his face and voice unamused. "I'd stop wasting time if I were-"
And that was when the impossible happened.
Hell froze over.
Pigs started flying.
And Ella?
Ella got pissed.
"Will you just SHUT THE HELL UP?!"
Such an angry and unexpected outburst from her startled everyone. Whatever funk Sammy was in evaporated immediately; Shawn looked up from the screen in front of him to gape at her; even Chris looked terrified, and rightfully so. Ella stood to her feet and whirled on him, jabbing him in the chest with an accusing finger. "This is all your fault! You just had to meddle in our lives one last time, didn't you?! It wasn't enough to physically torture us, but mentally and emotionally too?! You're an absolute monster of a human being! I despise you and everything you stand for, and I try to find the good in everyone so you know you must be terrible for me to think that! I'm glad this is the final challenge, because that means we get to have nothing to do with you for the rest of our lives! So go away, leave us alone, and never try anything like that with us ever again!"
She then promptly ignored his horrified expression, turning back to Sammy and kneeling down to her once more. Her entire face was completely flushed from rage, her breathing quickened and heavy. Despite that, there was a fire burning behind her eyes, and Sammy felt like she couldn't turn away from them. "Okay. Wow. Uh, not gonna lie, that was kinda hot."
Ella stared, the fire refusing to go out, but then she snorted in her hand and her frown turned upside down. "Oh, goodness! First time I was told that!"
Sammy laughed along with her, louder and with more joy than she had intended. Most of the negativity in her heart was disappearing, now that the truth had come to light. It should have been obvious Chris was trying to mess with them, but even though Sammy had grown so much in such a short amount of time, her confidence and ego were still dangerously fragile. All it took was a fake video for her to think that everything had been a lie, that nothing else waited for her aside from pain, misery and despair. She didn't want to think about what her future would have been like if that had turned out to be real.
Chances were, if the people she had come to trust so fiercely betrayed her bad enough, her future itself could have been cut short.
But now wasn't the time to think of such things. They were here, in the present, and they were going to stay together as long as they could. Sammy could feel it in her heart.
They laughed to release the pent up tension in their bodies, and soon Ella looked back up to Sammy with a fraction of hope in her eyes. "Hey, are… are we okay?"
Sammy didn't hesitate in nodding. "Yeah, I think we are."
"Oh thank God." Ella let out the biggest sigh Sammy had ever heard, and she enveloped her in a giant hug. "I was scared for a moment, honestly."
Sammy returned the embrace. "I was, too. I'm so sorry I doubted you, even for a second."
"I don't blame you. I'm sure I can understand what was going through your mind."
They held the hug for a few moments longer; her nerves were still working overtime, but the embrace was helping her to calm down. Sammy took a moment to think about how grateful she was that Ella was so determined to make things work between them. She had almost fallen into Chris's trap, but Ella's refusal to let him do that allowed Sammy to be pulled out of it. She owed Ella her happiness tenfold, now.
Without really thinking about it, Sammy opened her eyes. To see Chris glaring at them. To see Shawn looking back at the screen. To see Jasmine on the screen, running to the end-
"Ah crap! You need to go!" Sammy said quickly, pushing Ella away from her.
"Wha-" she started, dazed.
"Go! Run! You have a finale to win!" Sammy turned her around and pushed her further. Ella, thankfully, needed no further instruction and dashed away from their spot. Without taking a moment to pause, Sammy asked Shawn. "Hey, are you helping or hindering her?"
"Uh-" he stammered, glancing unsurely between her and the TV. "I… I don't know."
"I see," Sammy replied, and looked to the screen. It had suddenly split down the middle, with the right continuing to show Jasmine, while the left began showing Ella. Sammy sat down and readied the controller in her hand. "Well, sorry, but Jasmine's getting hindered now."
She had no idea what each button on the controller did, but she was about to find out. Unfortunately, the very first one she pressed caused a tree trunk to spring out of the ground in front of Ella. "Whoa- Hey!" she cried out, skidding to a stop before hitting it. "What gives?!"
"Gah- Sorry, accident!" Sammy cried out, not sure if she heard. Regardless if she did, Ella pressed forward. "Uhh, okay, umm…" She looked at the controller, not trusting herself to choose the right thing. Thinking about it now, the controllers must have been designed to target whichever Finalist the Partner had been assigned to. It was just more proof that Chris had wanted to split them up from the very beginning. "Is there an instruction manual for this?!"
Chris, who was especially displeased with how things were working out, shook his head. "Nope! It's a guessing game for you! Hopefully you end up picking something good-" He was interrupted when a crumpled piece of paper flew past his head and into Sammy's lap. "Huh?!" He turned around and glared. "Chef!"
"Oops," said the hulking man innocently. "My hand must'a slipped."
As Chris proceeded to tear Chef a new one, and Shawn complained about how he hadn't received his manual yet, Sammy wasted no time in unfolding it and studying the lone image of the controller and what each of its buttons did. She quickly identified the 'Change Target' button, and hit it without pause. A red indicator in the corner of Ella's part of the screen vanished, and was then placed underneath the orange indicator on Jasmine's. "Perfect," Sammy said with a grin, and went to town on pressing all of the buttons.
Jasmine was quickly bombarded with trunks sprouting from the ground, trees ascending into the sky like rockets, large wooden walls that required her to scale them, and all sorts of obstacles that were meant to obstruct her. Only, they didn't do that, because Jasmine was so used to adversity that she was able to dodge and leap over each one with barely any issues. It came down to Sammy pressing a few buttons in sequence to cause an incredibly large tree to fall directly on top of the Australian. The blonde was frightful that she may have actually hurt her, but was both relieved and annoyed when Jasmine, with great effort, literally picked up the tree and tossed it away before continuing on.
This isn't working, she thought with a nervous frown. She doesn't have far left to go and there's no way any of this is going to stop her. She's fast and nimble and would be able to bypass everything I throw at her…
An epiphany struck.
So maybe stop trying to slow her down, and try to speed Ella up. But how? All of this stuff is for hindering, not helping. Maybe I can use those tree trunks to spring her to the finish… Ugh, no, that wouldn't work! I need something better! Something more reliable, that would get her from last to first! C'mon, think! Last to first…
Last to first…
Last to… first.
Last… to…
"And then I picked up some sort of rocket item that sends me down the track at top speed. Helps me get closer to first place if I'm trailing."
Sammy's eyes shot open. "THAT'S IT!"
Ignoring the startled looks from everyone around her, she consulted the instruction manual one last time, saw that what she wanted to do could actually be done, and switched her target back over to Ella.
Then she summoned one of those rocket trees, and pressed a few more buttons in order to enter manual flying mode.
Controlling the flying tree was weird, and it took her a few seconds to get the hang of it, but soon enough she was able to maneuver it down near the ground and keep it level with Ella.
"What in the-" she murmured, staring at the thing like it was about to attack her.
"Get on!" Sammy said, but Ella obviously couldn't hear her. She groaned and tried wiggling the tree around, to try and get Ella to think on the same page as her. They only had so much time before they ran out of time, and the sooner Ella figured it out the better.
"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly. She looked down the field before her, back at the tree with a look of mild nervousness, and then leapt for it.
"Yes!" Sammy cheered.
"Hey!" Shawn exclaimed. "Is that even allowed?!"
Chris walked between them and examined the screen. "Technically I didn't say anything about Partners not being allowed to help their Partners… And this does go against what we had planned for the finale since the very beginning… But I mean, c'mon! Getting her to ride a rocket across the island? Even I wouldn't have thought of that!"
"But that isn't fair!" Shawn protested.
"I mean, Total Drama has never been fair, but I do see your point…" He rubbed at his chin. "Hmm… Ah! Tell ya what." He swiped the manual from Sammy's lap and handed it to Shawn. "Go wild, and make this a finale to remember!"
"Huh? What are you doing?" Sammy asked, looking between the two of them.
Shawn stared at the paper in front of him, and sighed heavily. "I think we should split the money between us," he said to Sammy. "But clearly that's not happening anytime soon."
He was still reeling from Jasmine's confessionals. Sammy's heart hurt for him - Jasmine had told her that she'd talk to Shawn if the zombie obsession was becoming too much to handle, but Sammy hadn't expected her to outright say that she wanted his dream with the money to change entirely. That had been totally uncalled for. While, yes, a zombie bunker was a bit much to swallow, in Sammy's opinion she really should have just let Shawn do his own thing. Heck, Sammy thought a flower-shop-slash-cage-fighting-school was weird, but if that's what Jasmine wanted then by all means, Sammy would root for her dream to come true.
On the other hand, the confessional was meant to be private, and no one could have predicted Chris would have used the clips against the players. She supposed it was their own fault for giving him ammunition, but wasn't it a guaranteed rule that at the very least none of the other contestants would hear it? While Jasmine saying those things was hurtful, yes, Chris was the one in the wrong for having anyone else witness it. Maybe she ought to read the contract in its entirety when she had the chance, to see if there was some rule he had gone against…
The point still stood however. There was going to have to be some serious talking between Shawn and Jasmine in order for them to iron things out.
But it looked like, at least for the moment, that would have to be put on hold.
Shawn fired up a rocket tree and entered manual mode.
"Shoot," Sammy cursed, and refocused her attention back to the screen. Ella had, miraculously, managed to get herself situated on the still-moving tree. While it looked far from comfortable, she found a spot between branches where she was able to see out and ahead of her. When she settled in, she gave a thumbs up to whatever camera was looking at her, and Sammy pressed upwards on the control stick to send the rocket careening down the field.
Ella was visibly holding on for dear life, her eyes squinting as pine needles from the branches assaulted her face. Other than that, it was just a trip down a straight and narrow field. No obstacles, nothing to crash into, just a normal ride on a giant rocket tree. Sammy, too focused on Ella's part of the screen, hadn't witnessed Jasmine hopping on her own rocket however, and now that Ella had reached her the race became tied and stayed tied.
There wasn't much of the race left, all things considered - the trees were making short work of the two miles laid out before them. They were going at the same speed, meaning something would have to happen in order to get Ella just a bit farther ahead and cross the finish line first.
Unfortunately, something did happen, and it wasn't Sammy who did it.
Several other trees popped out of the ground a little ways in front of the Finalists, and stayed there to act as blockades. There were gaps between each of them, big enough for the rocket trees and their riders to get through. Despite that, they appeared without warning and so close to the rockets that Sammy had to scramble and change Ella's course to avoid them.
"Jesus-" she shouted, and turned to Shawn. "What the heck was that?!"
"I trust my ability to get around them," he said, pressing another button to spawn more trees. Sammy had to work fast to keep Ella from colliding with them. "But I'm willing to bet you're probably nowhere near as good."
Sammy tried to stammer out a response, but cut herself short when another set of trees appeared. "Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot-" One after another, rows upon rows of them sprung up from the ground, forcing her to keep her eyes on the screen and dodge around everything. "This could actually hurt them, you know?!" Sammy cried out at him.
Shawn didn't reply.
Letting out a shriek of frustration, Sammy concentrated exclusively on the screen, making sure that Ella stayed safe the whole way through. The trees appeared mere seconds after each other, and there were several close calls where Ella had to actually duck to avoid smacking her face against another tree's branch. "This was a huge mistake," Sammy muttered to herself, tapping the control stick just slightly to avoid crashing into a tree.
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked, getting uncomfortably close to her. "This is gonna be incredible for ratings! The bombastic action, the heart-wrenching drama… This is what the show's all about! I wish I had thought of this when we were planning the challenge!"
"That's great but I don't care!" Sammy yelled, and physically shoved Chris away. She was far too busy to worry about whatever BS he was spouting.
Left, right, right again, left again, and so on were the directions Sammy navigated the rocket. It was hard to make out how Ella was doing, but she could at least hear her shouting over to Jasmine every now and then. With the roar of the trees' engines however, it was impossible to make out exactly what she was saying.
But then, there it was: the finish line. Still small on the horizon, but they were approaching it fast. They needed to get Jasmine out of there, but Sammy didn't have the first idea as to how. She sincerely doubted she'd be able to both switch targets and deploy obstacles against Jasmine, all while still maintaining control over Ella's rocket, so something here and now had to happen for them to get the win.
And then that something happened.
Sammy only had a split second to grasp what was happening before a giant cliff jutted up from the ground; not a line of trees, but this time actual earth and stone. And this cliff encompassed the entire field before them - no narrow spaces to wedge the rocket into. It came up so fast that Sammy barely had any time to react to it.
"OH GOD!"
She pushed up.
The rocket went up.
And clipped the edge of the mountain.
Ella couldn't hold on and went sailing through the air with a screech.
"ELLA!" Sammy screamed and leapt to her feet, at the exact same moment that Shawn shouted, "JASMINE!" Apparently the same thing happened to her.
"Shawn, what the hell man?!" Sammy yelled.
"Me?!" he countered. "I didn't do that! I didn't press the mountain button!"
"Oh, sorry," came Chris's voice. "That was me." The two turned back to see him suddenly holding his own controller, and a devilish grin on his face. "Thought this needed more excitement."
"SERIOUSLY?!" the two of them shouted. The host innocently shrugged in response.
Sammy screamed in rage again and went back to the screen. Both Jasmine and Ella were hurdling through the air, tumbling head over feet, and arms and legs at all angles. They were swiftly descending, and were on a collision course for the ground. They needed something to cushion the blow, something bouncy or soft or anything that wouldn't make them a red smear on the grass.
What can I do what can I do what can I do- The instruction manual appeared in her mind, and she zeroed in on one particular function. "Oh, wait, the snow button!" she suddenly shouted, and put all of her might and energy into holding down the trigger on the controller's right shoulder.
"Right, snow will work!" Shawn agreed, and did just the same thing. All of a sudden the clouds covered the valley and snow started coming down in droves. With both of them creating it, it piled up fast, fast enough that a good amount had covered the ground in record time, and enough of it that landing wouldn't be as painful as it would otherwise be.
Sammy kept making it snow, watching as the girls grew increasingly closer to hitting the ground, and she had the presence of mind to realize that they were, coincidentally, shockingly, flying right for the finish line.
Then, they crashed.
They impacted a few meters away from the line. Their momentum caused them to plow right through the snow, and they ended up deep enough that Sammy actually lost track of which trail of snow belonged to who. They kept going directly on course for the finish line, and Sammy blocked out all other intrusive senses as she watched.
One of them hit the pole and stopped moving entirely.
The other went right through the finish line and stopped on their own.
Everyone was dead silent, trying to process what happened. Then, Sammy remembered herself. "Ella!" she screeched and, without another word, took off at a sprint for the finish line.
The only thing on her mind was Ella's safety. Was she hurt? Was anything broken? How was she feeling, covered in the snow like that? It probably wasn't as much as the amount Sammy had been under, but she was terrified for her nonetheless. She knew she'd be scared out of her mind if that had happened to her.
Jasmine she was scared for as well. Sure, she was sturdier than Ella, and had probably suffered far worse in her time in the Outback, but that was still a dangerous thing to have happen to you. What if she wasn't able to take part in any survivalist activities anymore? She'd be absolutely heartbroken…
I'm really starting to think using that rocket tree was a bad idea…
Just as Sammy was about to reach the first set of obstacles she had summoned for Jasmine, the sound of a car horn grabbed her attention. "What the-" she started, and turned around in time to see Chef Hatchet, Shawn and an intern skid to a halt in the jeep.
"Hop in, kid!" he commanded, beckoning her with his hand. At some point he had swapped his chef outfit to his nurse's outfit, and Sammy spared a single second wondering where he found the time to do that. "We'll get there faster this way!"
She wasted no time leaping into the backseat, and the second she got the seatbelt on Chef sped off once more. Please be alright, please be alright, she repeated in her head. Shawn didn't say a word from the front seat as they drove, but Sammy could tell by his body language that he was just as nervous as she was.
"You holding out okay?" asked a voice from her left. Sammy turned to the intern and blinked in surprise.
"Sarah?" she asked. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you."
The intern shrugged lightly. "It's fine. Happens more often than you'd think, so I'm used to it."
That must have been the fate for all interns, Sammy assumed. "I thought you were stationed at the resort. When'd you get to the island?"
"Last night," Sarah answered. "I'm one of the few with proper medical training, so they needed all hands on deck for today, just in case something happened." She raised a brow and looked forward down the plain, in the direction where Ella and Jasmine currently laid. "And, obviously, something happened."
Sammy winced. "Yeah, I… may have went too far with the rocket…"
"I mean, it was probably the best thing you could have done. No offense, but there was no way that Ella was going to catch up to Jasmine, especially since she didn't leave right away."
"You're probably right." She sighed. "Still, I hope they're okay…"
They rode in silence for the rest of the trip, which wasn't very long - Chef floored the gas pedal the entire way, and they covered the two mile distance in record time. The jeep was equipped with tires that could go over the snow easily enough, allowing them to maintain their speed when they reached the first signs of it.
And there, not too far off in the distance, were both girls, covered in snow, and trying to stand up.
Sammy gasped, and the moment the jeep came to a stop she ripped her seatbelt off and bolted over to Ella. "Are you okay?!" she yelled, falling to her knees and proceeding to help her up.
Ella coughed, and a large amount of mushy snow flew out of her mouth. "I-I've been better," she said weakly. "That was… Oof. That was something else."
"I'm sorry," Sammy quickly said. "I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have made you ride that stupid tree! You could have seriously been hurt or- or- you're, like, not actually seriously hurt are you?"
"Help me up," Ella said after a second. Sammy supported her as she stood, fretting all the while. She was wobbly, yes, and now that she had a better view of her she could see several cuts and scrapes on her face, likely from where she had been pelted by pine needles. But after letting go and standing on her own, it was obvious Ella wasn't going to fall over anytime soon. "I… think I'm okay."
"Oh thank God," Sammy sighed in relief.
"Hey, is everything alright over here?" Sarah asked, suddenly approaching the two. She was pushing a stretcher with a few boxes of first aid material on it.
Ella answered in the affirmative, but Sarah insisted on a checkup. As the intern was examining her arms, Sammy watched intently, making sure that everything actually was alright. She knew Ella would never lie to her, no matter what her frazzled brain was trying to tell her. There was no harm in being certain however, and Sammy waited quietly but impatiently for the results.
A minute or two passed, and Sarah nodded happily. "You seem to be up to par," she said. "I'd still like to take you to the infirmary, just to be thorough. But for now, I think you can get away with celebrating properly."
Sammy and Ella looked to each other. "What do you mean?" they asked in unison.
Sarah smirked, and jerked a thumb over her shoulder.
At the finish line.
Where Chef and Shawn were tending to Jasmine.
Who had hit her head on the pole.
Sammy and Ella kept staring at them.
They stared at the back of the finish line's banner.
And then turned to stare at each other once more.
"We won," Ella said in barely a whisper.
"We-" Sammy swallowed thickly. "We won."
Neither of them moved an inch. They hardly breathed. Reality hadn't caught up with either of them, and it stayed that way for several moments.
Ella released a breath and her mouth cracked into a small smile.
That small movement was infectious enough to make Sammy start smiling and giggling.
And then the two of them finally broke out into grins and wide eyes and they both cheered.
"WE WON!" they shouted, over and over and over again, and they tackled each other into a crushing hug. Sammy lifted Ella off the ground and swung her around, lost balance after the second spin, and collapsed into the snow, laughter on their lips and jubilation in their hearts.
They had done it. They had won. They had survived two weeks on this despicable, repulsive mechanical island, overcame all the challenges that had been laid out before them, and could go home saying that they had triumphed.
And not only that, they were richer for it. Not only in experience, but actual wealth. They had a million dollars between the two of them now. They could do anything they wanted now. Go anywhere they wanted. The world had just opened up and was ready for them to explore.
But most importantly, above anything else, this proved that Ella was more than just a princess to be bullied at school, that Sammy was more than a doormat unable to leave her sister's shadow. They were winners, they were champions, and they could be counted among the very few people who could call themselves that.
This was everything that Sammy had hoped for.
She couldn't stop herself.
She started crying on the spot.
And because of that, Ella began crying as well.
And they both couldn't feel any happier all the while.
They had all gathered at the helicopter that had brought them in. The peanut gallery had been freed from their prison, and Ella and Jasmine had been declared fit to leave the infirmary. The impact into the snow had done no damage to either of them, miraculously, and the bump on the pole left Jasmine more dazed and confused than anything. Everyone was safe, and everyone was happy.
Or rather, mostly everyone - Sugar was agitated that Ella had won, but not many people paid attention to her. Topher had been rooting for Jasmine and Shawn to win, and since they did not, he was wearing a perpetual frown. Meanwhile, Dave had been grossed out because at one point Max had thrown up in the prison, and they were all forced to endure the smell for the time they were in there. Everyone suffered for it, and Dave worst of all, though now that he was in fresh air he was only slightly grouchy.
Jasmine and Shawn, unfortunately, were also among the few that were less enthused. Even though he had sided with her in the end, whatever relationship that had been budding between them had become strained. Shawn was upset, and stood away from their group with a dejected frown on his face. Jasmine, meanwhile, was holding herself together better, but Sammy could see the fist quaking at her side. She wasn't okay, neither of them were okay, and Sammy longed to go to the both of them and give them hugs and tell them everything would be okay. But sadly, now was neither the time nor place to do that.
Chris stood just outside the helicopter, and beckoned Ella forward. She grinned, gave Sammy a peck on the cheek, and jogged up to him. "Ella," he started. "You began this game as nothing more than a one-note side character who most people wouldn't have given a second thought for." The grin quickly faded from Ella's face. "Someone so embarrassing that you literally had to change your gimmick up once you got far enough, so that everyone could start taking you seriously."
"Please just get on with it," she said sternly.
"However, over the course of two weeks, you've grown into a respectable young woman with a bright future ahead of her. As such!" He snapped his fingers, and Sarah approached her with the briefcase full of money. "I am pleased to award you the paltry sum - to me, of course - of one. Million. Dollars!"
Sarah emphasized his sentence by opening the case on the last word. The money was there, all stacked nice and neat and practically shining in the sunlight. Ella squee'd in delight, and gingerly accepted the case when it was handed to her. She took only a moment to stare at the money further before closing it, likely afraid she might drop it all if she kept it open. With the case locked in place, she smiled gratefully at Sarah, and turned back to everyone.
"Speech!" Beardo suddenly cried out, hands cupped over his mouth.
Sky laughed and did the same. "Speech! Speech!"
"A speech?!" Ella asked, a nervous grin on her face. "Oh, goodness, I… haven't exactly prepared one for this moment, but I'll try my best." She cleared her throat. "Um… It took… a lot of overcoming hardships to get here. From having to contend with the entire island exploding, to… facing truths about myself I didn't want to accept, there had been so much to deal with. It was far from a walk in the park, and at any point I could have easily lost, either to the game or… or to myself." Ella's eyes then landed on Sammy, and she smiled warmly. "But I had so much help in getting here, from such a wonderful group of friends to guide me. Even when so many people had given up on me in the past, these people proved to be the most kind and caring individuals I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. It's because of them I am where I am now, that I am who I am now. I dread to think of what my life would have been like had I never auditioned for this show. And now, I can say with absolute confidence, that every bit of suffering I've gone through was worth it." She held the briefcase close to her chest and grinned. "So thank you, everyone, for helping me get to this point in time. You all mean more to me than you could possibly imagine."
"Does that mean you're gonna split the loot?!" Sugar hollered from the back of the crowd.
Ella paused. "Umm… No."
That simple answer caused laughter to spread through the crowd, followed by uproarious applause and cheers. Sammy broke rank first and ran up to Ella to give her another giant hug; Ella returned it with only one hand, as the briefcase was making it awkward to do anything else.
"I'm so proud of you," Sammy said to her, nuzzling into the crook of her neck.
"I know," Ella replied softly. "I am too."
The next thing they knew, several strong arms, belonging to Beardo, Sky and Rodney, lifted them into the air and tossed them up high. The girls screamed at first, but it quickly became laughter as they were caught and thrown again. They gave three cheers for Ella, who blushed furiously but allowed it to happen, and Sammy joined in with them despite being up there with her.
At the apex of one of the throws, Sammy looked down to the ground to see that, while she hadn't joined in with the tossing, Amy was cheering just as loudly as the others. The twins' eyes met, and Amy gave her the biggest, most positive smile Sammy had ever seen on her face. She returned it, knowing that everything that had happened between them changed them for the better, and that their broken relationship was on the path to becoming mended. Some steps still needed to be taken, but good progress had been made in a short amount of time, and Sammy had high hopes for what the future would bring.
Soon, the cheering ended, and the two were set down. Chris had waited impatiently for them, and directed them all to get back on the helicopter for one last shot before wrapping up the season.
Ella and Sammy stepped in first, the former helping the latter up, and were just about to head to the back when Ella stopped and looked to the cockpit. Sammy quirked a brow and looked in that direction as well, and just managed to overhear the voice of Chef Hatchet talking to someone. "Uh-huh. That's right. Oh, and make sure Sunday gets what she's owed. We don't want another third party demanding the pay we didn't give them."
Curious, Ella poked her head into the cockpit. "Who's Sunday?" she asked innocently.
Chef yelped and hastily ended the call on his phone. "N-Never you mind!" he said sharply. "Now shoo! Go sit! Go!"
Ella and Sammy shared a look, shrugged, and left him be.
The others had begun to pile in, and the two of them allowed them all to pass by uninterrupted. Rodney still kept his gaze away from Sammy, which caused her to hum in concern; Sugar gave Ella the stink eye as she passed, causing her to blink in confusion at first, then follow it up with an unimpressed stare of her own; Shawn didn't bother looking at either of them as he trudged to the back corner; and Jasmine stopped to give Ella a friendly handshake.
"Congrats, Ella," she said evenly. "I knew you had it in you."
"Thank you," Ella replied. "I'm sorry your… um, flower-shop-slash-cage-fighting-school dream won't be coming true anytime soon." She visibly hid the cringe in her face as she said that.
Jasmine didn't even seem to notice. "Ah, it is what it is. I'm sure I'll find another way to get it up and running. There's plenty of different avenues I haven't tried yet, so there's no sense in me giving up on it now."
"That's right," Ella said. "You have your whole life ahead of you. I'm sure you'll be able to open it someday."
"I'm sure, too," Jasmine said, and then smiled warmly at her. "You know, you're alright. Out of anyone I could've lost to, I'm glad it was you."
Ella grinned. "I feel honored that you think that."
Sammy looked at the two of them as they spoke and grinned happily, thankful that no ill will was spreading between them.
"Hey, you three," Chris said, drawing their attention to the helicopter's entrance. "Set yourselves up here so we can get you in the final shot."
He said it so dismissively that all three of them huffed in annoyance. "Can't even be bothered to ask us," Jasmine grumbled.
"You'd think we'd be used to it by now, but nope," Sammy said. "He's still as rotten as ever."
Nevertheless, they went over to him. Sammy sat down on the edge and dangled her legs over the side, while Jasmine and Ella (who was prominently showing off the briefcase) stood behind Chris. The helicopter started and rose into the air, and the host began his final sendoff. "And so ends this very… very weird season." He didn't notice the glares the girls were giving him. "This is Chris McLean saying, if you can't stand the pain, stay away from the game! See you next time, from all of us here on Total… Drama… PaaaaAAAAAAAAAAHHHH-!"
Sammy jumped in surprise as a large hiking boot struck Chris right in the back, causing him to fall right out of the helicopter with a scream. She winced as he landed painfully on the ground, and she turned back to Jasmine in complete surprise.
"What?" she asked when she saw the looks Sammy and Ella were giving her. "The bastard had it coming for days."
Getting over their initial shock, the two nodded. "Yeah, he totally did," Sammy agreed.
"Oh, most definitely," Ella said.
Jasmine chuckled and looked back towards the cockpit. "Chef! Take us outta here!"
Chef Hatchet cackled from the pilot's seat and did just that, leaving a very angry Chris McLean to shout at them from below as they flew away. Sammy gripped a nearby handle tightly, and marvelled at the island below them as it became smaller and smaller. Within the canopy of trees, she spotted several clearings, lakes, and rivers. Their old waterfall hangout was above ground as well, and she just barely managed to find the treehouse and the shack before the helicopter took off over the water. Sammy then carefully stood and slid the door shut, and followed Ella and Jasmine as they took their seats.
She plopped down in between Ella and Beardo and released a sigh of contentment. That's it. We're done. Total Drama is over, and we're the winners. It… It feels way too surreal to be real.
But there was the briefcase, sitting in Ella's lap. Sammy shook her head in amused disbelief - after everything the show tried to throw at them, they still came out on top. It was mind-boggling that it ended up happening. And yet here they were, several times wealthier than they had been not one hour ago. Was that even allowed to happen? To have their normal lives changed so dramatically, so quickly?
Sammy's eyes fell onto Amy, who was chatting with Beardo and Sky about who knew what. Our lives are already so different from what they used to be. There's no going back to what they were like before. Starting now, everything is brand new, uncharted territory. And I can't wait to see what it has in store for us.
"Hey," Dave suddenly said, turning around to look at the cockpit. "Where are you taking us, anyway? An airport?"
"Oh, good point," Sky said. "Though we still need to get our stuff before we go anywhere, right?"
Chef looked through the doorway with a laugh. "Ah, you don't have to go worryin' about that yet. You guys are far from done!"
The mood immediately tensed when he said that. "W-Wait, there's more?" Sammy asked worriedly.
"Oh, please don't tell me this is the lead-up to another season," Ella said in a grimace. "I've had my fair share of this show, thank you very much."
Chef quickly shook his head. "No, no! The show's done and over with for now. I'm saying y'all still have a week left on the resort!"
The mood then did a complete 180 back to excited. Several of the others stood up and cheered, most notably Sammy and Sky who had barely spent any time there at all. Sammy felt a hand tug on her arm, and she turned to Ella who wore a look of surprise. "Resort?" she asked.
"Yeah! Resort!" Sammy answered.
That was all Ella needed, and she broke out into a wide grin and cheered along with everyone else.
Soon the yells died down to manageable levels, and everyone returned to their conversations. Sammy tried to listen in on whatever it was Amy was talking about, but quickly felt Ella's head on her shoulder, and she reactively snuggled up with her.
"I'm so glad I met you," Ella said to her.
"And I'm glad I met you," Sammy said. "I'm looking forward to us spending time together without having to worry about the game."
"That's what I've been excited about the most." She glanced down and shook the briefcase gently. "And now, we get to see each other pretty much whenever we want."
"That's true," Sammy said. "God, it doesn't feel real."
Ella took one of Sammy's hands and placed it on the briefcase - it was metal, cold in some spots but warm where Ella's own hands had been. "What about now? Does it feel real?"
They laughed as Sammy ran her hand over it. "It… It's actually kinda scary. I've never had so much money before. What am I gonna do with $500,000?"
"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Ella curled up closer to her. "You have alllll the time in the world…"
"I guess I do, don't I?" She paused for a moment to let the reality of actually having money in her bank account wash over her, and then she spoke again. "What's the first thing you're going to do with the money?"
Ella only breathed deeply in response.
Sammy glanced down to see she had completely passed out against her, her chest rising and falling with each breath. Sammy cooed and brushed a few loose strands of hair away from her face. The poor thing must have been exhausted, and probably didn't get a good night's sleep. Now that there was no longer anything major to worry about, her body finally allowed her to relax and she soundlessly drifted off.
She didn't want to disturb her, but she knew Ella leaning on Sammy's shoulder would get uncomfortable for the both of them, so she slowly adjusted Ella so that her head was lying on Sammy's lap. She took the briefcase and kept it at her side, so that the songbird had no obstructions keeping her from a peaceful rest.
Sammy spent a few moments gazing at Ella, before turning her attention elsewhere. Amy was looking at the both of them, and gave Sammy a pleasant smile. "Congrats," she said to her quietly. "You guys… deserve it. Like, honestly."
"Thanks," Sammy said with her own smile. "We couldn't have made it here without you."
That was when Sammy had an idea for how to use a bit of her money. Though she wouldn't tell Amy her decision yet.
She looked to the window, and though it was hard to make out anything given where she was sitting, she still felt her anxieties fly away in the cloudless sky, to parts unknown. No longer did she have to worry about… almost anything, now. She had become exactly the person she had dreamed of being, and there was no going back to her old ways. She had been born anew, and she was going to make every second of it count.
Sammy sighed happily, and not for the first time was thrilled with who she was and the decisions she made.
To audition for Total Drama.
To open up to her new friends.
To give Amy a second chance.
To sacrifice herself for Ella.
To stand by her side, even when Chris tried to tear them apart.
All of those decisions led her to where she was now, to who she was now.
And now that she was content, now that she was in a better place, now that those decisions had led to her changing for the better…
She didn't regret a single one of them.
It's done.
My first fully-fledged story is complete.
And I couldn't be happier!
This wouldn't have been possible without you guys, for your support and encouragement! I've spent well over a year writing this story and I've enjoyed every single moment of it! And I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!
Now, some trivia:
Comparing the time spent in the challenge and the time just before it and after, the challenge itself is actually pretty short. That's kind of what it was like in canon, but that kinda works here because the majority of the challenge was not the focal point of the chapter. The mountain and the mud pit were not all that important and could get bypassed pretty easily, but the last part of the challenge, meanwhile, was very important.
Jasmine and Shawn struggling with their relationship was always a given for this story, though as opposed to canon it's reversed - Jasmine wasn't taking Shawn's obsession with zombies seriously enough, considered convincing him to do something more mundane with the money, and alienated him due to those confessionals being aired. She got her revenge on Chris for it (which was also something that had been planned for a while, heheh) but the relationship between her and Shawn is now somewhat troubled.
Ella is, technically, too nice with the people she likes, and because of that Chris needed something to create drama between her and Sammy. That was why the clips of her confessionals were edited and had things she didn't speak added into them. It was an ultimate test of her and Sammy's relationship, but they were able to overcome it and are now much stronger for it. Also, I added a cute little easter egg for the heck of it near the end there. If you're not sure what it was, go look up the name of Ella's voice actor…
There's no alternate ending, by the way - Ella was always meant to win. I feel like that would be the natural progression of her growth, to say 'Hey, I'm not just someone you can mock and make fun of, I'm capable in my own right'. The growth of these characters has always been so intriguing to me and I love writing them as they are now.
You may also be wondering, 'Hey wait, there's way too many loose ends to call this a final chapter!' And you'd be right! That's why I'm happy to say that this will not be the end for this group of teenagers. I have more stories and ideas in the works - at least two follow-up stories, and maybe some side stories that take place at various points on this timeline I've created. Please don't expect them anytime soon, though - they're still in the processing stages and I don't have much work done on them yet. In fact I may want to switch gears to Psyche Shift and see what I can do with that. But the adventures of Sammy, Ella, Amy and the rest will continue in the future! So be sure to keep an eye out for them!
Also, I have a new cover image! You can see the full thing on my profile. It's a commission of Sammy and Ella as they appear in this story! It was drawn by Camíla Inoa, whose Twitter profile you can find in my profile here. She gave me permission to use the image for this story, and I am so happy with how it turned out!
Again, thank you all so much for sticking with this story for so long! It means so much to have people be interested in my work and even more that you enjoy it so much. I'll be back later with more chapters for Psyche Shift, and some time later on with the continuation of this series. It was incredibly fulfilling to write this story, and though there may be times where I take a break from writing, chances are I'm not gonna stop completely any time soon.
So! I'll see you all again later! Stay safe, and I hope you all look forward to whatever I put out next!
