Author's Note: Sorry for the late chapter, lack of internet. But we're at the first chapter of the merge and trust me when I sy things are about to get intense.
Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama, the shuffled concept or the (most of) the characters.
And to answer some reviews:
keyblademaster avenger: I think you'll like how the merge plays out. And thanks.
Phenomenal Ultra Instinct: Sorry to boot Lindsay like that, but plot is plot. But yes, Olivia is very good at what she does. And Contessa's not completely in the closet. She just doesn't want the other campers to know.
TheChrisanthemum: Sorry to disappoint you. But I have to correct one thing. Scott didn't get duped by the idol, he fell victim to Topher's insane pickpocket skills. No amount of brains can protect against that. But hey, at least you're glad Topher made the merge.
Critica7: Very few people saw Scott's elimination, or Topher's villainy coming. I have plans for Scott, but it's too early to discuss those.
Tempokeep: All I can say is, I do have a plan for Owen, it's just not time for it yet.
WeirdAlfan101: No worries. Review when you can. To be fair, I don't think I'd forgive Scott either if I was a reader and not the writer. I can't really argue Lindsay's unfair elimination, but at least there was a good plot reason for it... right?
Derick Lindsey: Oh, trust me, Olivia and Topher still have plenty of plot left regarding their villainy towards each other. But yes Topher is an instigating little prick. Eh, there was really no need for a tiebreaker in my opinion.
EndeavorT: Canon didn't really have any impact on why I chose Olivia for the main villain. I just think she has a bit more mileage with this cast.
Guest: Not a lot of people were expecting that. I an't boot Topher yet. I'm having too much fun writing him. I never really thought about that scene in canon ROTI. Now I'm mad. Fun fact: most of the food came from episodes of Good Mythical Morning. Only the spider smores I came up with on my own. Yeah... Olivia's home life is not happy. Sadly the case for a lot of child stars.
Gucci Mane LaFlare: Topher was on the ball last chapter. I really don't like lying to my readers, but in that case I felt it was necessary. Fun fact: most of the food came from episodes of Good Mythical Morning. Only the spider smores I came up with on my own.
That British Guy: It was meant to throw people for a loop.
Knight: That's one of the many good things about Scott's elimination.
Remaining Campers:
Jade Dragons: Contessa, Mitch, Owen, Rebecca, Terrance
Ruby Warriors: Jasmine, Olivia, Topher
Time for a battle royale
Episode 08: Nap of the Red Death
"Last time, on Total Drama Danger Island!" The recap began long distance shot of the island. "The Dragons and Warriors were forced into this season's grueling eating challenge." Contessa was shown about to vomit while looking at her pancakes.
"With testicle pancakes, bloody tacos, and octopus pie on the menu," each dish was shown as the host mentioned them, "it was no surprise that this wound up being the toughest challenge yet." Terrance was shown chasing Contessa around the room, then Jasmine and Topher were shown forcing Olivia to eat the taco.
"Topher decided to play Scott and Olivia against each other," the fan was shown talking to the two villains, "and sit back to watch the fireworks." The two were shown arguing with each other, then Jasmine."The Warriors lost once again and the votes were tied," the four were shown reacting to the nights votes, "until Scott decided to play the immunity idol," the schemer was shown revealing his possession, then being told it was a fake, "which might have worked if Olivia hadn't stolen it from Topher," the actress shoved the fan out of the way," who stole it from Scott," the fan was shown running into the schemer. "Bye bye Scott!" the host said cheerily as the montage ended with a clip of Scott being flung into the night.
Chris flashed a cocky grin from the end of the Dock of Shame, Dakota standing next to him with an anxious look on her face. "We're halfway through the game and things are about to change. Who will snooze? Who will lose? Find out by watching today's episode of Total! Drama! Daaaaaaaaaaaaanger Island!"
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[The sequence begins much as it did during the first season, with an open into letterbox format as the camera focuses on the tops of a few distant barren pine trees. A barnacle-covered stage light rotates up and turns on; then the shot changes to a seaweed-covered spotlight swinging down and turning on as well; then a small security camera popping out of a small water-filled hole; then another camera bursting out of a tree hollow, a small deluge of water flowing out with it; then a pair of fair-skinned arms clapping a film slate in front of the camera which switches to a shot of the island, then flying forward down the dock and past the run-down buildings, passing the host as he handed a roll of duct tape to the fat intern and pointed off to the left.]
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doin' fine;
[The camera flies through the trees and up to the largest cliff, peeking over to see two rings of buoys laid out in the water.]
You guys are on my mind!
[The camera dives off the cliff and into an underwater shot; Owen is swimming through the water with a large grin as a fish swims by. He farts, and the gas bubbles kill the fish.]
Ya asked me what I wanted to be,
And now I think the answer is plain to see!
[A cut to the surface, where Olivia is in her swimsuit sunbathing on a pink inflatable raft. The fish surfaces, and she sits up with a look of pure disgust. A bird swoops down and picks up the fish, and the camera follows the bird as it flies away.]
I wanna be...famous!
[The scene lingers on the bird in front of the sun for a moment before it drops the fish. The camera pans down to Topher sitting on a stump and admiring his reflection in a mirror; the fish lands in his hair and he runs away screaming and wiping away his hair. The camera zooms out to show Scott watching the scene and laughing, and then again to show Terrance also laughing, the two boys slapping five as Scott wipes a tear from his eye.]
I wanna live close to the sun!
[The camera zooms to another part of camp, showing Leonard and Lindsay sitting in canoe and about to go over a waterfall. As he was too busy casting spells and she was too busy being impressed, they notice too late and scream as they go over the edge.]
Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won!
[The shot pans down to the bottom of the waterfall, showing Rodney standing on a broken log suspended between two rocks with a blank look on his face. Though he does not see Leonard or the canoe falling behind him, he does see Lindsay and catches her. She smiles wide and hugs him, and he drops her with a lovestruck expression.]
Everythin' to prove, nothin' in my way;
[The camera rapidly pans to the right to the outhouse confessional, where Rebecca is spray painting something to the side. The camera pans out to show Jasmine leaving the confessional unaware as to what Rebecca is doing, then pans over to the Main Lodge – Chef's silhouette is visible in the window.]
I'll get there one day.
[The camera moves in past the window to show an irritated Chef, arm deep in a large pot of something sickly green. He looks behind him to where Max and Carly are sitting; the former with his arms raised and in the middle of an evil laugh, the latter trembling in fear next to him.]
'Cause I wanna be...famous!
[The camera pans left to Mitch sitting with his feet on the counter. He tips his hat to the camera, and it zooms out past another window to show the edge of the docks. Contessa notices the camera and gives a short and shy wave.]
(Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[Dakota moves the camera onto herself, and kisses the lens. She waves as the female intern quickly wipes away the smudge, then types something into her cellphone. Moments later, five other men appear on the docks with cameras, snapping pictures of a rapidly-posing Dakota.
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[The camera pans down the docks to show Beth giving a wide toothy grin and wave to the camera.]
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[Beth steps back and twirls a flaming baton while passing it back and forth between her hands, then tosses it in the air. The camera follows the baton as day becomes night. The camera lingers as the baton falls out of frame - a few embers still flying up - and pans down across the stars and dead trees and full moon to Mitch and Jasmine, sitting at a campfire together. They lean in for a kiss but are interrupted by Owen's sudden appearance between then, an arm around both of them and an oblivious smile. The shot zooms out to show the other campers also sitting around the fire and whistling the last few notes of the theme song - Max, Carly, Olivia, Rodney, Contessa, Rebecca, and Lindsay on Mitch's side; Beth, Scott, Leonard, Dakota, Terrance and Topher on Jasmine's side as Chris watches on Jasmine's side and Chef watches on Mitch's. The shot continued to zoom out until a signboard was shown marking the presumed entrance to the fire pit; it read 'TOTAL DRAMA DANGER ISLAND' in block letters, the third word being the largest and the last word relegated to a board tacked on at the end]
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The episode began with the usual but still unnatural quiet of the island before flashing to the Warrior cabin lights shining within. Topher sighed contentedly as the camera zoomed in to the cabin's left and cut inside to the handsome young man admiring his reflection in the mirror. "I know it's been a few days," he said to himself, "but I just can't get over how awesome I was that last elimination. I got rid of Scott, he had Total Drama Main Villain written all over him."
"And I tricked Olivia into doing it for me," he continued as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"I bet Chris never could've pulled that off in his younger years," he chuckled. "This game's practically mine."
The shot cut to Olivia listening in at the front door with a scowl. "Now I just need to get back to taking over as host," the actress's eyes widened at what she heard then her face settled into a smirk.
XXX
"Well," Olivia smirked. "Looks like Topher not only admitted he tricked me but gave me all I needed to send him home."
She chuckled. "Time to have a little chat with Dakota."
XXX
"Hey Mitch," Jasmine said as the shot cut to the two tall teens sitting on the ground next to each other with their backs against their sleeping tree. "Do you ever get the feeling that there's just more going on than you can see?"
"More so ever since I showed up here," the cowboy admitted. "Why do you ask?"
"I just can't stop thinking about that last challenge," the amazon sighed. "I mean, Scott and Olivia were working behind our backs the whole time, and I know Topher had something to do with it all coming out, but I just don't know how or even what to do."
"Trust me, I get it," Mitch said after a deep sigh. "I feel like there's something goin' on with my team too. I just can't wrap my head around how Carly got the boot over Terrance."
"Yeah, he seems like a bit of a jerk," Jasmine snorted.
"You don't know the half of it ma'am," the cowboy sighed again. "But there's one good thing in all o' this."
"What's that?" she asked, turning toward him.
"I got to meet you," he said seriously. She blushed, and with a fluttery tune, the two leaned in. The music turned ominous however, as the camera panned away to show Dakota watching the two with an uncertain expression.
XXX
"Those two are so cute together," the intern gushed before frowning. "But Olivia wants me to tell her if anything like that happened. I'm afraid I won't like what she does."
XXX
The oppressive silence echoed through the night air as the scene moved back to the common area, and the camera panned over to Dragons' cabin and zoomed in on the left side. "
A cut inside showed Owen stretching his arms and yawning as he walked through the room in his pajamas. He pulled a chocolate bar out of his pillow and ate it whole, wrapper and all.
"So Owen," Terrance said as he walked over to his teammate, "you must be pretty excited."
"Oh I am," the optimist answered with a smile before frowning in confusion. "Wait. Why should I be?"
"Do the math," the basketballer told him. "We started with sixteen, and we're down to eight. That means the merge is just around the corner. You can't tell me that's not exciting."
"Oh it's awesome," Owen nodded with a chuckle. "I just knew that everyone'd vote out the big fat guy first."
"It was tempting," Terrance muttered under his breath.
"But now, I made it halfway," Owen continued, having not heard the comment, "That's just awesome!"
XXX
"So," Terrance started slowly. "Owen is clearly not a threat."
XXX
A few deeper notes transitioned the background score into something soft as the scene moved to Contessa reading her book on a top bunk. She smiled and turned a page, and almost dropped it with a yelp as Rebecca suddenly asked "Are you still reading that thing?"
The camera quick-panned across the room, showing the rebel looking bored as she tossed a can of spray paint from one hand to the other. "Is it that bad?
"Rereading actually," the hopeless romantic admitted almost sheepishly. "It's my favorite book."
"What's it about?" Rebecca asked curiously, now on her stomach and still looking bored.
Contessa smiled and closed her book. "It's about a princess who falls in love with a mysterious knight. But the king hates it because the knight playes by her own rules."
"Her rules?" Rebecca asked in confusion.
"I'm gay remember," Contessa said with a laugh, "So I try to find romance novels that fit my demographic. Anyway, one day a witch shows up and-"
"Let me guess," the rebel interrupted. "The witch is evil, the knight stops her and gains the blessing of the king?"
"Oh not at all," Contessa answered, softly laughing at the rebel's confused face. "The witch comes to warn the princess not to trust the knight, and turns out she's right. The knight stages a coup and reveals she never loved the princess. Then the witch saves the princess's life and helps her get her kingdom back, and the two fall in love in the process." She clutched the book to her chest and sighed. "I know it's cliche, but it's just so romantic, wouldn't you agree?"
The camera cut to Rebecca frozen with eyes wide open, she quickly shook it off and shrugged. "If you're into that sorta thing I guess."
XXX
"That was...," Rebecca confessed, "oddly specific, I'm sure it's nothing."
XXX
The footage skipped ahead to morning, the shot to one of the camp's loudspeakers. "Attention campers!" Chris's voice said. "Meet me at the edge of the forest. You have ten minutes!"
The music became tense as the footage cut back to outside of the Dragons' cabin, an ominous rumbling preceding the whole building sinking into the ground.
"That was..." Contessa sighed. "That was our cabin..."
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The eight campers were shown walking through the woods in single-file with their respective team logos above them, Dragons in front and Warriors behind. "Hey Jasmine?" the amazon turned to her lone male teammate as the camera focused in on them. "After what happened with Scott I really think you and I should team up," he told her. "You're the only person I can trust."
"Uh, if you say so," Jasmine gave Topher an awkward glance.
XXX
"Form an alliance with Jasmine against Olivia," Topher counted off, "form an alliance with Olivia against Jasmine. If this isn't the merge and we wind up losing, I won't get any votes."
XXX
Topher moved on ahead of Jasmine, and Olivia came up from behind. "I'll make it quick," the actress said, "what's it gonna take for you to not vote for me if we lose?"
"Don't worry," Jasmine said, her face and tone full of pity, "I have no intention on voting for you."
XXX
Olivia growled. "How dare she pity me! Doesn't she know who I am?! I don't need her pity," she declared defiantly.
XXX
"After the eating challenge it's pretty obvious what's going on in Olivia's home life," Jasmine sadly told the outhouse. "I can't send her back to that, no matter how much I don't trust her."
XXX
The static cut away to show first Owen and Contessa giggling to themselves over something, then to Rebecca and Terrance whispering harshly to one another, and finally to Mitch watching both groups with pursed lips.
XXX
"Somethin's tellin' me I need the merge to happen before the next challenge," the cowboy confessed. "I don't know what Rebecca and Terrance could be hissin' about, but I don't think it's any good for me."
XXX
A military drumline began to play as the static cut away to the host, now in army helmet and sunglasses. "At ease, soldiers!" he saluted the arriving campers. "I have a biiiig announcement," the camera cut to show the campers listening with anticipation or concern. "This is your eighth day of competition, which means we're halfway through the game. And you know what happens halfway through the game?" He asked cheekily.
"Get on with it!" Terrance shouted.
"That's riiiight," the host finished, ignoring the comment. "The teams are being merged starting today! The Dragons and Warriors are no more and all of you run the risk of elimination."
XXX
"Cool," Contessa smiled. "The merge. I'll be honest, I didn't really think I'd make it this far. But here I am, halfway through the game with an awesome best friend and a totally amazing girlfriend. And to make things better, Scott's not around to blackmail me. Coming out here was the best decision I ever made."
XXX
Jasmine opened her confessional with a dreamy sigh. "I made it to the merge, and my number-one ally is Mitch?" she told the camera with barely-contained excitement. "Pinch me, I must be dreaming. With a little bit of luck and a whole lot of effort, I think we can make it to the end together. Then, either the nicest guy in the world wins, or I win and get the money to fulfill my dream. It's practically a win-win, especially if-" She stopped in mid-sentence, blushed, and quickly coughed to clear her throat. "Err, never mind. I don't wanna get ahead of myself."
"Anyway, the main problem right now is my old team," she continued with a hint of worry in her frown. "Scott leaving the way he did kinda proves how underhanded Topher and Olivia are. I'm worried about what'll happen if they get control of the game. But like I said earlier, I really don't want to send Olivia home before I have to."
XXX
"Well that's a load off my back," Mitch told the outhouse, relief in his tone. "Throwin' the others in the mix definitely helps take some pressure off me, but it also puts a mighty big target on my back. If I ain't careful, I'm goin' home tonight."
"That bein' said with an ally like Jasmine, I reckon I got a good shot at making it all the way to the end," he continued with a smile. "I reckon between her, Owen, Contessa, and Rebecca, we oughta be able to take out Terrance, Olivia, and Topher real simple. After that," he frowned slightly and rubbed the back of his head, "it won't be easy, but Lord willin' we can get Rebecca to help us cut Owen and Contessa. Then hopefully we can beat her in the final three challenge, and it'll be me and Jasmine in the finale together."
He finished his confessional with a dreamy sigh
XXX
"Of course I made the merge," Olivia told the outhouse in an extremely haughty fashion. "I mean, I'm shocked at some of the people from the other team that did it, mainly Owen, but still it was just a formality for me. No more playing games though," she said seriously. "I'm pulling out all the stops to get to the finale."
"Once I win, I'll show Hollywood I'm still relevant even though I'm not a little kid anymore, start getting roles again, and then Mommy and Daddy will finally love me!" Her eyes widened once she realized what she said.
XXX
The next confessional was her trying to break into the confessional camera. "I want that tape back! Give me the tape! How do you open this thing?!"
XXX
"The merge!" Owen cheered. "I'm so psyched! Can you imagine me, winning?" he asked jovially. "Everyone else totally deserves it more than I do, except Terrance," he added after a moment's thought. "He's really mean. I'm not afraid of him though."
"Owen!" the basketballer's voice called from outside, startling the optimist into a yelp. "You better not be using that confessional as a bathroom again!"
"That was one time!" Owen protested.
XXX
"Welcome to your eighth day of competition," Chris continued, drawing the campers' attention back as a widescreen television was wheeled over next to him. He paused to laugh in delighted anticipation, and Contessa and Owen shared a wary look. "Today we're putting a bit of a twist on an old favorite." Another military drumline began to play.
"There are four weapon caches in the heart of this forest," he said as a close-up of the television showed a panning live feed of a rather nondescript patch of Wawanakwa's dead forest. The feed soon cut to static, and was replaced by an image of four chests each painted a different color; one white, one yellow, one grey, and one brown. "The platinum one is filled with state-of-the-art paintball weaponry," the white chest on the far left moved closer to the camera and moments later a large, high-tech paintball gun slid into view above it. "The gold one is filled with standard paintball guns," the yellow chest in the middle left moved closer with a more basic paintball gun slid into view above it. "The silver one has paint pistols," the grey chest on the middle right moved up and a pink tranq gun similar to the one used during the Serengeti challenge in season three slid into view. "And the bronze one has cruddy old paintball slingshots," he added, the brown chest on the right moving closer before a slingshot appeared above it.
"There's only enough weapons and ammo in each chest for two people," the host continued as Terrance, Topher, and Olivia were shown perking up excitedly. "Whoever gets there first gets their pick," the host explained as the shot cut to pensive Contessa next to eager Owen and Rebecca, "and, then you've gotta pick off the competition.
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"Can't tell you guys how great it is to make it this far," Rebecca confessed while leaning against the edge of the confessional. "Between my thing with Contessa, her friendship with Owen, and my alliance with Terrance, I'm relatively safe for a while. Course," she shrugged then smirked, "couldn't hurt to guarantee safety at this point."
XXX
"The teams have merged," Terrance explained, "and Rebecca has the most allies. One of which is me. That means I'm safe 'til we run out of other campers to pick off, but by then votes won't matter and I can dominate the rest of the competition."
XXX
"I'm in the merge!" Topher cheered, raising both fists in the outhouse. He brought them down as he ecstatically looked down the barrel of the camera. "I know for a fact that Chris couldn't have done this if he was a contestant. He's too sadistic!"
XXX
"If you get splattered, you're out," Chris explained. "Last one standing wins, and, one of the losers will get a dishonorable discharge tonight. Courtesy of the Trebu-Shame," he told them with a pair of mischievous finger pistols.
"Another paintball challenge?" Topher spoke up. "You're starting to slip Chris."
"I wasn't finished," Chris said in annoyance. "There are a couple of twists in today's challenge. One of which," he explained, raising a finger to a sharp note in the music, "has to do with what you'll be shooting each other with." As he spoke, Chef and Dakota walked over and out from behind the widescreen. "Today, you'll be using...," the shot changed to show the campers watching him, "tranquilizer balls!" To another sharp note Chef pulled out a tranq gun of his own and fired at Dakota, a cloud of pink appeared and dissapated around the intern's face and she passed out with a groan.
"The other twist is what makes the game fun," Chris said as he pulled out a walkie-talkie. "For me. Since there's only eight of you and the island's so vast, I decided to speed things up by giving a designated challenge area that only get smaller the longer the challenge goes on."
"So this is like a battle royale?" Contessa spoke up with a small amount of excitement.
"That's right Contessa," Chris smiled.
"How are you gonna keep us in the safe zone?" Jasmine asked.
"I'm glad you asked," the host said with a devious grin. "Release!" he said into his radio, "the 4.0 models!" An ominous tune played as Jasmine noticed the sound of something like a rocket taking off coming from somewhere in the distance. The campers looked up and the camera shifted to their viewpoint to show several large objects shooting up through the sky overhead, then the camera cut to them, revealing themselves as a horde red-eyed robotic bears with small jet engines coming out of their backs.
"You see," Chris explained. "If you're outside the safe zone, Scuba Bear 4.0's manhunting app will find you, and viciously maul you." He chuckled as the camera panned across the worried faces of the campers.
"Owen, Contessa, Mitch, Rebecca, and Terrance," Chris said, the camera cutting to each camper as they perked up at their name being called, "since you guys won the last challenge, you get to go first."
The shot cut to the eight teens as the three former Warriors groaned while their more favored five opponents cheered.
"Ready?" Chris asked as the camera moved back to him and Chef. "Set!" Chef raised his pistol and fired it with an as fast-paced challenge music rapidly rose up in the background. Dakota was show waking up from the previous hit, only to get hit in the forehead with the tranq ball and pass out again.
A timer counting down from 1:00 appeared on the television, and the camera pulled back from it as the former Jade Dragons ran past.
"Okay, I can not be the only one to see how messed up this is," Olivia griped. "They're up two players, and they have a head start to get to the big guns? Are you trying to make us lose?" he asked the host.
Chris shrugged. "Hey, there'll still be a pistol to choose from," he answered. "And you forget, the teams are merged now. They could just as easily turn all that fancy weaponry on each other."
The footage skipped ahead and cut to the widescreen television as the timer counted down to 0:04. "Topher, Olivia, and Jasmine," Chris called out as the camera panned to him and Chef, "you're up in three!" Chef raised his leech-gun. "Two! One!"
A gunshot rang through the air, and Dakota was once again forced back into slumber from the tranq ball, the host laughing while his assistant blew the smoke from the pistol. The two men high-fived, and the shot pulled back to refocus on the former Ruby Warriors beginning their race into the woods.
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"I just had the most awesome idea!" Owen cheered as the scene cut to him and his former team, briefly showing all five before zooming in on the optimist and Contessa at the back of their pack. "Let's all agree to work together even though the teams are gone."
"I think thats a great idea," Contessa smiled.
"Uhh, why would I want to work with any of you at this point?" Terrance asked with a hint of annoyance. "The merge is every man for himself, and this man is going off by himself." With that the basketballer ran off ahead.
"Sorry guys," Rebecca said with a thumb over her shoulder. "Terrance is right, I don't play well with others anyway," the rebel also ran off ahead.
"I reckon I got a big enough target on my back," Mitch said apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck and taking off as well.
XXX
"Well there went that idea," Owen said sadly. "I really thought we worked pretty well as a team."
XXX
"Umm, excuse me?" Olivia spoke up from as the shot cut to her, Topher and Jasmine, "but why are we all in a group? There aren't teams anymore."
"Good question," Topher answered. "I guess we should probably split up."
"Works for me," Jasmine said. The amazon immediately jumped up and grabbed the lowest bow of a tall tree, and began to climb as her former teammates gathered around the trunk before shrugging and heading down the path.
"So, did you mean that about working alone?" Olivia asked Topher.
Topher shrugged. "Not really, I know I'll need allies, but cozying to to such a strong player..." he trailed off. "You on the other hand are perfect."
"Obviously," Olivia said with a roll of her eyes. "But what do you mean by that?"
"You can't expect me to reveal all my secrets," Topher smirked. "Just know that we work well together, and are the two most attractive people on this island. An alliance would be a pretty smart move if I say so myself." Olivia pursed her lips in thought.
Seconds later, the actress smirked. "Deal," she said. "Now lets hurry to those chests," she added running ahead and waving for him to follow. The camera zoomed out to show that they were at a fork in their path, and Olivia led her newest ally down the right path into the foreground and out of sight.
The panned up to shoe Jasmine at the top of a dead tree. She smiled, but quickly frowned as an ominous cracking sound was heard. The tree began to fall over to the right, and the amazon quickly jumped from it to the relative safety of another tree only for that one to also begin falling. She jumped to another tree off-screen and the tale-tell cracking could be heard once again,
XXX
"So I forgot the trees here aren't really capable of climbing anymore," Jasmine admitted sheepishly.
XXX
The scene cut to a large open area where the four weapons chests stood, the white one closer to the left while the brown sat on a small hill further right and the yellow and grey sat in between.
"Almost there!" Olivia cried out as she and Topher arrived at the clearing.
"Look out!" Jasmine yelled out suddenly, the perspective shifting to show her jumping out of a falling tree and wildly flailing her arms about. Her sudden appearance caused her former teammates to look up in surprise, which in turn placed them directly in the amazon's path, thus leading to Jasmine falling on and knocking Oliva and Topher to the ground.
With the three former Warriors on the ground, it wasn't long before other campers - namely Rebecca and Terrance - reached the coveted chest of advanced weaponry.
"Hah!" Terrance laughed as he and the rebel skidded into place between their former rivals and the white chest. "Do you people even know how to win?"
"Great job, you ruined my my advantage," Olivia bitterly said to Jasmine, both them and Topher now back on their feet and headed towards the yellow chest.
"It was an accident!" the amazon countered.
Topher was the first to reach the yellow chest, and Olivia skidded to it not a moment later leading to Jasmine to sag her shoulders. Only sparing the fan and actress a moment's glance, the amazon walked over to the grey chest and opened it up. "At least it's not the slingshots," she said to herself.
It was then that Mitch arrived, panting and doubling over to catch his breath as he made it to the grey chest as well. "Looks like that shortcut wan't too good an idea," he said between pants, the sound of footsteps behind him. "Well at least I di'n't get here too late."
The shot zoomed out to Owen and Contessa next to the brown chest and exchanging concerned looks, now holding their slingshots. "Yep," Owen spoke up. "This is the low end chest."
"Hey...we can still pull out a win. Can't we?" Contessa said, looking from friend to her slingshot and back with a wary smile.
A triumphant tune played as the scene cut back to Terrance and Rebecca, celebrating their half-win around the white chest. "The perfect start to the merge!" Rebecca said excitedly.
The camera cut to a close-up of the chest, pulling back as Terrance punched it hard enough for the lid to fly open, revealing the weaponry within. There were two parts to it – two multi-barreled tranq rifles, and a bucket of tranquilizer balls.
"Stupid Jasmine," Olivia huffed to herself grabbing a blue single-barreled tranq rifle out of the yellow chest and glaring at Terrance and Rebecca. "Falling out of the sky and making me lose the best weapons."
The camera panned over to Topher who was admiring his red rifle. "Oh yeah," the fan said to himself. "Things are lookin' good."
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"And everyone's got their weapons," Chris smiled, the scene moving to him viewing the footage on one of several monitors in his control tent. He paused the feed, then turned to face the camera as the capstone theme began to play. "Terrance and Rebecca are off to quite the start, but, it's still anyone's game! Who will make it all the way to the finish? Find out when we come back, on Total! Drama! Daaaaaaaaaaanger Island!"
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(Commercial Break)
\
The episode resumed with a pan to the left along a forest path, landing on Olivia walking through with rifle in hand.
"Now I have to spend hours walking around robotic bear infested woods," she complained asn Dakota was show entering the shot. "This challenge is ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!"
"Olivia," Dakota hissed, causing the actress to turn around with her gun readied. "She saw it was just the heiress and lowered her weapon. "What?" she asked.
"I just thought you should know," Dakota said, "I saw Jasmine and Mitch in the woods earlier this morning."
"So?" Olivia asked. "They sleep next to the same tree. That's not news."
"Yeah, but they were kissing," the heiress clarified. "They're totally a thing now."
The actress looked taken aback, then smirked. "Good work," she told her ally. "That's really helpful. Now I need you to convince Topher to steal Chris's phone."
"Why do you want him to do that?" Dakota asked in confusion.
"Be-cause," Olivia answered. "Topher tried play me for an idiot at the last elimination and I refuse to let that go. So I'm helping him with his dream of stealing Chris's job. And if that breaks a game rule in the process..." she trailed off with a smirk that left her ally uncomfortable.
"Doesn't that seem wrong?" Dakota asked slowly.
Olivia turned a harsh glare at her. "Do you want your own show or not?" she asked harshly. "I can't help you unless I win, so stop questioning me and do what I tell you already!"
"Okay okay," Dakota said placatingly. "I'll go talk to Topher." She took off with a wary smile, leaving the actress to huff and roll her eyes."
XXX
"Sure I've helped Olivia out during the fear challenge," the heiress admitted. "It felt dirty but they lost anyway so it didn't matter," she said. "But her plan now..." she trailed off. "Is this what all famous people are like?"
XXX
A deep note played as the footage skipped ahead, showing Owen warily peeking over a bush before hesitantly walking through with his slingshot at the ready. He was followed by a downtrodden Contessa.
"I can't believe Rebecca blanked me back there," she said. "I thought she'd jump at the chance to work together, but I guess I was wrong."
"Rebecca's just seems like the kinda girl who likes doing things by herself," Owen told her, still looking around the area. "Doesn't mean you guys aren't good."
"I know I'm probably overreacting," Contessa nodded sadly, "but Rebecca's my first girlfriend ever. Is it wrong that I want to spend time with her during challenges?"
The optimist shrugged. "Not really. Don't worry though," he said with a hand on her shoulder, "everything'll be fine."
Contessa looked at Owen and smiled. "You're right," she said after a moment. "Now let's get out of here before we're caught in bear territory." With that the two walked off-screen.
\
The music became deep and tense as the scene flashed over to Terrance, now stalking through the forest with his gun at the ready.
"There's gotta be someone around here somewhere," he said in a low voice.
A twig snapped, the music spiked, and Terrance stopped in his tracks. Owen and Contessa were shown eagerly aiming their slingshots from behind some trees, and opened fire. The basketballer managed to dodge the two tranq balls sent his way and pointed his gun at his former teammates. "My turn," Terrance said with a smirk as Owen and Contessa readied another volley of shots. He fired off a few rounds of his own, and the camera panned over to Owen as he wobbled a bit behind a pink cloud and promptly passed out. Contessa managed to load and fire her next shot, and Terrance wasn't able to dodge this one leading to him passing out himself.
Chris's laughter rang over the camp loudspeakers, which were shown vibrating with his mirthful message. "And Terrance and Owen are down for the count. I guess those state of the art tranq guns aren't too helpful."
\
The footage flashed ahead to Contessa running through a maze of dead and gnarled tree branches, only to trip and fall with a startled yelp. The shot cut in close overhead to show her lying on the ground clutching her right ankle and gritting her teeth in pain, her slingshot to the side with a couple tranq balls rolling away from it.
Rebecca arrived in seconds, and stood over the hopeless romantic friend as she caught her breath.
"Oh, it's just you," Contessa smiled. "You had me worried there. You mind helping me up?"
"About that," The rebel said. "Only one of us can win this challenge so-" without warning she opened fire on Contessa, and the shot cut to the hopeless romantic asleep on the ground. "Nothing personal," she said with a shrug.
XXX
"Oh come on," Rebecca told the outhouse. "We may have a thing going on but it's still a competition. Tessa understands," she finished with a shrug.
XXX
"I just don't understand!" Contessa said with her crying face burried in her hands.
XXX
"Get ready," Topher said as the scene cut to him aiming his gun, "for the Topher experience!" He was hit by a tranq ball before he could fire and passed out in a cloud of pink mist.
"Word of advice," Rebecca said as he stood over her latest 'kill', "save the one liners for after you've fired." Another tranq ball was shot at her from off screen but went high. She looked in the direction of the fire to see Oliva staring in wide-eyed shock before taking off into the woods.
She took off running after the actress. "Get back here," she yelled, firing a continuous volley of tranq balls.
The music rose up again as the scene cut to Olivia running through the wood, ducking and dodging and narrowly avoiding around every single tranq ball fired hers way. "Oh no oh no oh no!" she gasped.
Rebecca suddenly stopped and smirked. "Hey! All I want is your autograph!" she called out, causing the actress they were pursuing to gasp in delight, look back over her shoulder, and slam into a tree. She was promptly hit in the back, and passed out in a cloud of pink mist.
The music faded back out as the rebel walked over to her latest 'kill', and Chris came over the loudspeaker again. "And three more bite the dust! Contessa, Topher, and Olivia's downfall mean we're at our last three campers! It's still anyone's game!"
\
"Well guess this is almost over," Jasmine commented as the scene cut to her and Mitch sitting together next to their sleeping tree. "Are you sure it's a good idea for us to set up camp here. Everyone knows this is where we sleep."
"And they know we're both pretty sharp," Mitch countered. "Which is why no one'd expect us to hang around here. And that gives us time to chew the fat for a while."
"Chew the fat?" Jasmine asked with a puzzled expression.
"It's an expression," her taller companion chuckled. "Ain't nothin' but a fancy way a sayin' 'chat'. Anyway, what do you wanna do with the money if you win?"
"I've always wanted to own my own business," Jasmine explained, looking down at the pistol in her lap. "A combination flower shop and cage fighting school named 'Roses are Red, Bruises are Blue!"
Mitch chuckled again, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Cage fightin' school?" he asked with amusement in his tone, "Can't say I expected to hear that."
"Really?" Jasmine looked up in mild shock. "Usually when I tell people about that they say they're shocked by the flower shop part," she looked away sadly, "and some other things."
The cowboy smiled and waved her off. "Nah, That tough outside just hides a big ol' heart," she looked back at him intently. "So I'd expect you to want to sell some flowers."
"...you don't mind my 'big ol' heart'," she asked shyly, now looking away again.
He uttered a short laugh. "Miss Jasmine, I wouldn't be tryin' to win it if I wa'n't okay with it."
Jasmine blushed, but before she could reply their attention was drawn to the sound of footsteps approaching them. The music suddenly became tense again as a quick-pan to the right showed Rebecca making her way to the tree.
"She has really bad timing," Jasmine scowled, the shot cutting back to her and Mitch. "Open fire as soon as we see her."
"Got it," her crush nodded seriously, both tall teens readying their weapons.
The shot cut to the base of the edge of a clearing as Rebecca stepped into view, only to stop as Jasmine and Mitch suddenly opened fire on her. She didn't have a chance and quickly passed out.
"And Rebecca is out!" Chris announced from an unseen loudspeaker, causing Mitch and Jasmine to look up and smile. "Only two campers remain standing!"
"Now it's just us," Jasmine told her crush.
"Let's do this honorably," Mitch replied. "With a quick-draw."
The two looked at one another for a moment, then as one holstered their pistols.
The footage changed to letterbox format, cutting to a close-up of Mitch's face as a Western tune began to play. The camera then cut to Jasmine as she squinted, then to her hand as she reached for her pistol.
Mitch reached fro his pistol as well, and the camera cut to the sun as who pistol shots were heard rather close to each other. The view shifted back to normal and the camera cut back to the clearing to show the two teens fast asleep.
"Looks like we need to go to the super slow mo to see who won that one," Chris said as the shot cut back to him in the control tent.
\
The duel was shown once again, this time in regular format and slowed down considerably. Frame-be-frame the two teens were shown reaching for their guns and firing, but a pink mist clearly enveloped Jasmine two full frames before Mitch.
\
"This just in," Chris announced as the music turned victorious, "Mitch wins invincibility! Aaaaaaaaand you're all asleep, so I have no idea who I'm even talking to," he added awkwardly as the camera cut to all the still sleeping campers.
\
The scene flashed to a shot of the moon, the camera panning down onto Rebecca and Contessa walking back towards their cabin.
"Please don't break up with me!" Contessa said suddenly, causing Rebecca to stop and glance at her oddly.
"Uh, what?" the rebel said bluntly.
"Well," Contessa said, her bravado dissipated and tears in her eyes, "I just thought after today you didn't want to-"
"Let me just stop you right there," Rebecca interrupted. "Look. During challenges, we gotta do our own thing. But outside of challenges, we're still a thing. Okay?"
Contessa sniffed, then nodded happily. "Okay. I'm glad you're not dumping me because well..." she trailed off before taking a deep breath and gazing at the rebel. "I love you Rebecca."
"Love you too Tessa," Rebecca answered without a moment's thought, leaning down and kissing Contessa. "You go on in, I'm gonna do some politicking. But I'll be back with some idea on how to vote tonight." Contessa smiled and nodded and headed inside, and Rebecca smirked before walking away.
\
The scene flashed not to the bathroom, but to the side of the mess hall where Rebecca was leaning against the wall. The shot zoomed in as she reached the corner and looked behind it, then rolled her eyes and whispered "Where is that girl?" The camera continued following her as she went behind the building, and panned out as Olivia walked over to her.
"I'm here," the actress said. "Now what did you wanna talk about?"
Rebecca smirked at her. "Word around the camp is you're quite the strategist."
"Can you get to the point?" Olivia asked. "I've got a facial you're keeping me from."
"My point is," the rebel continued with a hint of irritation, "I've got a handful of votes that are yours, so long as you agree to keep me off your short list of eliminations."
"Fine," Olivia said. "Whatever, but to prove it I want you to help me get rid of..."
The camera panned up to the sky as the actress's words were muffed into indecipherable whispers.
\
The scene flashed to the washrooms, where Terrance and Rebecca were gathered. "So," the basketballer asked. "We're giving Olivia the boot?"
"Nope," Rebecca replied, causing her ally to widen his eyes in shock. "Yeah, she's slippery and a bit of a brat but that just means we can axe her later on. I've got a bigger threat in mind."
"The only other person who's as big a threat as Olivia is Mitch," Terrance pointed out. "And he's immune.
Rebecca cringed. "Don't remind me," she said. "I was actually talking about Topher. Dude's Chris's number one fan. And Chris is a narcissist. Not a good combination for us."
"Good point," Terrance said. "We're still gonna have to deal with the giant and the amazon eventually though."
"Glad you think so, but I'm pretty sure the others are going to vote for Olivia so we need to get some more votes on our side," Rebecca told him. "Talk to Mitch and Jasmine and tell them about our Topher plan."
"Yeah I'm on it," Terrance sighed, walking off. Rebecca smirked in his direction, then walked off in the opposite direction.
\
The camera flashed to Jasmine and Mitch's sleeping tree. The two tall teens perking up as Terrance approached them.
"What's on your mind mate?" Jasmine asked.
"I'll make this quick," Terrance told them. "I'm part of a bloc to vote out Topher, and we need you two to make it count."
The two teens looked at each other. Mitch tilted his head to the side, Jasmine shrugged, and they both nodded. "Partner," Mitch said, "You gotta deal."
\
The usual ceremonial theme opened over the shot of the moonlit island, the scene cutting to the campfire pit to show the eight campers filing in to their seats.
"Good news!" Chris announced excitedly. "Chef tells me the interns rescued most of the things that were in the Dragon cabin." All the campers cheered save Olivia Topher, and Jasmine, and a few deep notes played. "But it's all downhill from here," the host added, "because one of you will be going home tonight. Now," he said as another few deep notes played, "time for your first individual vote of the season!"
\
"Welp, that was fast," Chris said, now holding a tray of seven marshmallows. "The votes have been tallied, and the following campers are safe. Mitch," he began, tossing the first bit of white to the cowboy. "Contessa." The hopeless romantic was the next to catch her treat.
"Owen," Chris said off-camera, the scene panning to the nervous optimist as he let out his breath and shared a happy smile with Contessa. "Rebecca." The shot returned to the back row as the rebel caught her treat with one hand. "Terrance." The camera cut back to Chris as he let tossed away the fifth marshmallow.
"Olivia, Jasmine, Topher," he said with false solemness, "all of you received votes against you." A split-screen close-up of the faces of the bottom three slid into view, Jasmine and Topher from the top and Olivia from the bottom. Only the fan and the amazon looked nervous. "The next person safe tonight is...Olivia."
The two upper sections of the split-screen disappeared as Olivia rolled her eyes, then looked over to see Rebecca nodding at her. The shot cut to Jasmine and Topher locking eyes, both looking rather nervous.
"And tonight's loser is...," Chris began, the elimination music reaching the peak of its tension as the shot quickly switched between close-ups of him, the final marshmallow, Topher's wide-eyed and almost trembling face, and Jasmine's wide-eyed face.
"Jasmine," the host finally announced. Topher sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Sorry," Chris said, "but it's back to the Outback with you."
"WHAT?!" Terrance, Mitch, and especially Jasmine yelled in shock, a few ominous notes playing as the amazon stood up.
"What happened to voting off Topher?!" Jasmine accused Terrance.
"Hey I voted for Topher like I said I would!" the basketballer shot back. "It's not my fault the other abandoned me!"
"Sorry," Rebecca said in a tone that implied she was not at all sorry. "But Olivia made me a much more compelling offer."
Terrance shot her a look that showed he didn't believe her. "I told you not to trust her!"
"Yeah," the rebel scoffed. "But she told me about how close those two've been getting and I wasn't gonna risk being on the wrong end of a showmance."
Terrance glared at her again. A short but dramatic riff played over a close-up of Jasmine's shocked and horrified face, and a horizontal scene rotation transitioned it to the Trebu-Shame, the somber farewell theme playing as Mitch and Jasmine stood at the edge of the dock with Chris.
"I hate it all ended like this," Mitch told Jasmine, her hands in his. "I's really hoping we'd go all the way to the end together."
"Me too...," Jasmine said sadly. She took a deep breath, then asked "When this is all over...will you go out with me?"
"You bet your britches I will," Mitch answered with a smile, and a touching tune played as Mitch crouched down, she stood up on her toes, and they came together for a kiss.
The shot cut to rest of the campers further up the dock, the Owen looking sad with Contessa even wiping away a tear. The others didn't seem to care too much.
"Now win this one for me," Jasmine said, the camera cutting back to show her climbing into the trebuchet's sling as her boyfriend watched on sadly.
"I will," Mitch replied just before his girlfriend was unceremoniously flung into the night with a scream.
XXX
"I don't like being made to look like a liar," Terrance said. "I told Rebecca I wouldn't out her and I won't." He crossed his arms and glared. "But I'm not working with her anymore if I can help it."
XXX
"Nine players down, seven to go," Chris told the camera as the footage cut to him, the capstone theme beginning as it always did. "Who's next to snooze and lose?" he asked, motioning to the trebuchet beside him. "Your guess is as good as mine. But mine matters more because I'm famous. Find out for sure when we return with another all-new episode of, Total! Drama! Daaaaaaaaaaanger Island!"
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(Roll the Credits)
Author's Note Post Script: Hopefully Jasmine's departure was a shock to at least some of you. I mean, I kind of set it up from the beginning, but then I gave the possible Topher boot toward the end... I don't know. Maybe it's a shock maybe it's not.
As for why I booted Jasmine. Well it was either her or Mitch, and this was where Mitch was booted in canon. Plus Mitch is going to lend himself better to what I have planned. Sorry to her fans though.
And we have a new alliance, as well as the breaking of an old one. Trust me when I say both moves are important for later episodes.
By the way, don't forget that a TVTropes page exists for this series and could always use some love from fans like you.
And I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
I hope you all enjoyed the episode, or some part of it.
With that I'm signing off
-TotalDramaFan14
RDDI ELIMINATION TABLE:
16th Place: Max
15th Place: Dakota
14th Place: Rodney
13th Place: Beth
12th Place: Leonard
11th Place: Lindsay/Carly
10th Place: Carly/Lindsay
9th Place: Scott
8th Place: Jasmine