Yeah, I'm back! And it only took 6 months...uh, oops?
Disclaimer: With the sole exception of my Original Characters and the Location, nothing in this story is in any way owned by me.
Chris, as usual, was standing in front of the high school. He was shuffling a deck of cards for a moment before the cameraman pointed at him. He put the cards away and raised his arms, saying, "Last time on Total Drama High School! The final nine were tasked with creating an art project that was going to be judged by a mystery judge. Some people managed to do well, like Megan and Joseph, who had a natural talent with art. Others, like Cody, Emily, Noah and Mikey didn't have as much of a talent in art. Bridgette was still struggling with Geoff's elimination the day before but Jennifer managed to help the surfer girl from going down the same path she went down. In the end Megan won invincibility and Emily was sent home, much to Cody's dismay. So what's in store for the contestants today? Will it be something they expect? Probably not. And most importantly, who's getting the boot today? Find out right now on Total Drama High School!"
It was the morning after Emily's elimination and it was clear that Cody wasn't taking it very well. However, instead of crying like how Bridgette had the day before, he simply stared out the window of the bus, a scowl seemingly permanently plastered on his face. Upon first seeing the tech geek that morning, nobody dared to talk to him, instead deciding to give him some space.
As the bus was on its way to the school, it was Mikey who decided to try and talk to Cody first that morning. The gamer sat in the seat across the aisle from Cody and thought about what he was going to say for a moment before saying, "Cody, listen, about yesterday-."
"Save it. I don't want to talk about it," Cody interrupted, not bothering to look away from the window.
Mikey waited a moment before trying again, "Look, I just wanted to-."
"I told you, I don't want to talk about it," Cody interrupted again, turning away from the window to look at Mikey. The look in the tech geek's eyes was one of anger, and the gamer was smart enough to stop before he made things worse than they already were. Mikey simply sighed before he got up and walked to the back of the bus where his girlfriend was sitting. Cody merely watched him for a moment before turning back to look out the window.
Bus Confessional
Cody: Yeah, you could say I'm upset. Emily was eliminated yesterday for no good reason. The way I see it, it's almost like I was betrayed by my friends. When all is said and done, I'll forgive them. But for the time being, I can't help but be angry.
Mikey sat down next to his girlfriend who asked, "So I'm guessing it didn't work?"
Mikey shook his head and replied, "He doesn't want to talk to anyone. I wanted to tell him I'm sorry that Emily was eliminated but he doesn't want to hear any of it. Can't say I blame him for being upset though. If it were me in his situation, I would be upset too."
Megan turned to the gamer and asked, "Can you promise me something?"
"Depends. What do you want me to do," Mikey replied with a question of his own.
Megan frowned ever so slightly and asked, "If I get eliminated, please try not to end up angry at everyone like Cody."
The gamer smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about that because you're not going to be eliminated."
"Even so, in the off chance something happens, please promise me," the nice girl asked.
Mikey sighed in defeat as he replied, "Alright, I'll do my best to not be upset if you get eliminated."
Megan smiled as she wrapped her arms around Mikey's arm and rested her head on his shoulder, saying, "Thank you."
Bus Confessional
Mikey: I was completely serious when I said Megan's not going to be eliminated. Yesterday, after Emily was eliminated and we got back to the hotel, I talked to Bridgette and Jennifer, and we all agreed to vote together the next couple of eliminations. I wanted to get Cody in on it too, but he doesn't want to talk to me. And I've got a secret backup plan should the voting block not work out.
Joseph and Noah were not sitting together for a change, as they wanted to distance themselves from each other after the previous day's elimination. Joseph, being the more social of the two, was sitting near Bridgette and Jennifer, observing Cody from afar as the two girls talked. Jennifer noticed Joseph looking in Cody's direction and commented, "It's been a sad past couple of eliminations. First with Geoff and now Emily. I'm worried that Mikey and Megan are going to be split up next."
"If that happens, I imagine it will be hard for whoever stays behind, much like I imagine it's hard for Cody to be here right now," Joseph noted.
Bridgette sighed and said, "And I'm not over Geoff leaving either. I'm doing a lot better than yesterday, but I'm not back to normal yet."
"And that's perfectly fine. To show you still miss him means that you care deeply about him," Joseph pointed out with a slight smile.
Jennifer quirked an eyebrow with regards to Joseph's comment and asked, "Forgive me if you've been asked this before, but have you ever considered psychology? You seem to understand how the mind works."
"I've noticed that too, you seem to know how people work. Why is that," Bridgette added.
Joseph shrugged and said, "The way the human mind works is very fascinating and since I'm an overachiever, I want to understand it as much as possible. I'll probably never know everything about how the mind works like how I'll never know everything about all the things I find interesting, but I strive to learn as much as I can."
"That's very ambitious of you," Jennifer noted.
"Maybe it is, but maybe it isn't," Joseph replied with a nonchalant shrug.
Bridgette spoke up, "Still, it's good to have a goal to achieve."
Bus Confessional
Joseph: I like Jennifer and Bridgette. Not romantically, but I like who they are. They're good people, I can tell. Admittedly I feel bad for being behind the eliminations of their boyfriends. But the only way I stand a chance of winning this game is by doing whatever it takes to win.
Noah was sitting by himself and appeared to be reading a novel, but in actuality he was lost in thought. 'My plan is coming together just as I expected it would. There's only one step remaining before we can be rid of Joseph. I am worried though that a million things could go wrong and ruin this plan at the last minute,' Noah thought as he was blankly staring at the pages of his novel.
"Hey Noah! What are you doing," Izzy exclaimed as she popped up from the seat behind Noah.
Noah didn't even flinch as he replied, "I'm trying to read."
Izzy tilted her head to the left and said, "But you've been on that page for the past 5 minutes."
"Have you been looking over my shoulder this whole time," Noah replied as he turned around.
The crazy girl nodded quickly before adding, "But still, why were you on that page for so long?"
Noah turned back around and said, "I was thinking. And before you ask, no, I won't tell you what I was thinking about."
Izzy pouted for a moment before she turned away and said, "I get the feeling you don't want me around."
"No, I love not being able to have a moment to myself. By all means, please continue looking over my shoulder," Noah replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Okay," Izzy shouted as she turned her attention back to where Noah was. The know-it-all simply facepalmed as he tried to ignore the person behind him.
Bus Confessional
Noah: I really don't get why Izzy hangs around me so much. I never really knew her when I was on the Island and we never really interacted after she was eliminated either. Hell, the only reason I teamed up with her in that bonus challenge after Owen won was because she knew the layout of the island and I had planned on using that to my advantage.
The bus pulled up to the school and Chris was standing outside currently on the phone. "Yeah, the challenge is all set up. How many times? And how much are we getting again? All right, this can work. Let me know when the next deal goes through," Chris said while ending his call.
"Were we interrupting something," Noah asked with an eyebrow raised.
Chris shook his head and replied, "Not at all. Just making sure the challenge today is all set."
Jennifer raised her hand and asked, "What is our challenge today?"
"Everything will be explained in due time. Now, follow me to one of the computer labs this school has," Chris instructed as he led the contestants to their destination.
Mikey raised an eyebrow and asked, "Computers? So what, this is going to be a programming challenge?"
"Nope! Today's challenge is a little different as it's based on a type of extracurricular activity that a lot of schools have instead of a school subject. And before you ask, no, it's not a video game tournament," the host explained.
"Thought hadn't crossed my mind," Mikey retorted with a slight sarcastic tone.
Chris deadpanned, "Somehow I doubt that. No, today's challenge will be a tournament of sorts, but instead of playing a sport or videogame, you're going to be playing the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game created by Konami!"
"You're kidding obviously. Now what's the real challenge," Joseph seriously asked.
"Dude, that is the real challenge. Konami is paying some serious cash to sponsor today's challenge, and if things go well, there could be more sponsored challenges in the future," Chris replied as he stopped outside of a room.
Bridgette was the next to speak up, "What if we don't know how to play?"
Chris jerked his thumb over his shoulder and noted, "Once I'm done explaining the challenge, you'll have an hour to use the computers in there to build a deck to use and learn the rules if you have to. Konami generously supplied us with a program that can not only run tutorials if you need them, but also to build your deck with any cards released to date. The program will stop you from using cards that are banned in competitive play. Otherwise, every card is fair game. After the hour has passed, I will randomly put you all into a single elimination tournament, where the winner will receive immunity. Are there any other questions?" Several hands shot up and Chris laughed before saying, "All right then, the challenge starts now!"
Restroom Confessional
Mikey: Okay, so I played this game a few years ago. Sure, they've probably added new strategies and stuff, but I have a feeling the deck I used before will still work now. Now I just have to see if I can remember the cards I used.
Jennifer: I don't have a good feeling about this challenge at all. I never played this game when I was younger and I have no idea what's good and what isn't. Maybe I'll ask one of the others for help.
Mikey and Megan were in one corner of the room at two of the computers. "Okay, first thing's first, do you know how to play this game," Mikey asked, prepared to quickly explain the rules if he needed to.
Megan nodded and said, "Vaguely. One of my brothers used to play this and he would sometimes ask me to help him test out a new deck."
Mikey sighed in relief, "Well that's one less thing I have to worry about then. Now for the important question: Do you know what type of deck you want to use?"
"Not a clue," Megan promptly replied.
The gamer tapped his chin in thought before suggesting, "Well, I know a few types of themes that would work. They're not completely up to date, but something tells me none of the other decks will be up to date either."
Megan nodded, "All right. Wait, why will none of the other decks be up to date?"
"Well, I can't promise that they won't. But since it seems like nobody has played this game in a few years like me, new cards probably won't show up," Mikey explained.
"Okay. So what's this deck you're going to help me use? And what are you going to use," the nice girl asked.
The gamer opened the program on one of the computers and said, "I'm going to use a deck based around a set of monsters called Elemental Heroes. They're basically superheroes. Individually, they aren't the best, but combined they can be really strong. As for you, I was going to build you a Crystal Beast deck. It basically involves a set of 7 monsters that allow you to summon a really strong one if you get all 7 of the monsters on the field at some point."
Megan hugged her boyfriend and said, "That sounds great. Thanks for helping me with this. I don't know what I would do without your help."
"It's the least I could do," Mikey responded with a smile.
Restroom Confessional
Megan: What Mikey's doing for me during this challenge is really touching. I know if I were on my own, I wouldn't do that great. I feel like I'll have to make it up to him somehow, I just don't know how.
Cody sat by himself in a corner of the room. He was navigating the program quickly, manipulating the menus to build his deck. As he looked over the cards, he mumbled, "I'll make them pay for eliminating Emily. I'll overpower whatever they try to throw at me. This deck worked for a character on the show way back when, so it should still work now." The tech geek looked around the room and thought for a moment, 'Is this really what Emily would want? I know she wanted me to try my hardest, and I will. Whatever it takes, I'll avenge her.'
Like Cody, Noah was quickly building his deck using the program. "I'm glad I used to play this game growing up. Never thought I would say that," Noah said to nobody in particular.
"Um Noah? Can I ask you something," Came a feminine voice from behind the know-it-all.
Noah turned around and saw Jennifer standing there. "You can ask me something, but I can't guarantee I'll have an answer," Noah replied as he partially turned back to his computer.
Jennifer rubbed the back of her neck and asked, "Can you teach me how to play this game?"
The know-it-all raised an eyebrow and asked, "Didn't Chris say the program had tutorials? And why did you ask me over someone like Joseph?"
"Joseph is already teaching Izzy and Bridgette how to play; I didn't want to take up too much of his time. Besides, you look like you know what you're doing. Can you please help me? I really don't know anything," the performing artist replied.
Noah thought it over for a moment before he sighed in defeat, "Fine. Pull up a seat."
Jennifer grabbed a nearby chair and moved it close to Noah, asking as she did so, "So how do I play this game exactly?"
"Before I do anything, do you have any idea what type of cards you want to use? And by that I mean there are many different 'themes' that cards have, like magicians, dragons, and so on. I only ask because some themes don't rely on the more complicated rules and I would like to avoid having to explain more than I have to," Noah replied with a question of his own.
"Oh um, I don't know. Maybe something with animals," Jennifer hesitantly replied, caught off guard from the question.
Noah muttered under his breath, "So a beast type deck maybe?"
The performing artist tilted her head to the side and asked, "What was that?"
"Not important. Anyways, I said I would teach you the rules. I hope you're ready." Jennifer nodded and paid rapt attention to the rules Noah went over.
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: I could tell Noah wasn't too thrilled about helping me out at first. The fact that he did help me even though he didn't want to is something that I have to be impressed by. Maybe under that sarcastic, cynical attitude he's a nice guy.
Joseph was sitting at his own computer, Izzy and Bridgette on either side of him. "Okay, so you each have a decent theme going for your deck and I've told you all you need to know about creating a balanced deck. Anything else you ladies would like to know," Joseph asked as he was clicking through menus.
Izzy shook her head rapidly and asked, "Is this card any good? It looks strong."
Raising an eyebrow, the overachiever looked over at Izzy's screen to see the card in question. After reading through the text on the card, he replied, "It's viable yes. You might want to make sure you can summon it since it needs a certain card to summon it however. You also might want to make sure you have a backup plan in case in can't summon it."
Izzy grinned and said, "Sweet! Super Fire Monster, here I come!"
"I seriously wonder about that girl," Joseph muttered almost inaudibly under his breath.
Bridgette turned her head and asked, "What was that?"
The overachiever smiled and said, "Nothing of importance, I assure you. Now, is there anything you would like my help with?"
"No, I'm good I think. Thanks again for your help Joseph. I figured people would be less likely to work with others the closer to the end we got, but maybe I was wrong," the surfer replied.
Joseph shrugged and replied, "Eh. Maybe if some of the meaner contestants were around. But I would like to think we're all relatively nice."
Bridgette slightly tilted her head and asked, "Even Noah?"
"He may seem mean when he's sarcastic and cynical, but once you get to know him, you find out he's nicer on the inside. I think the only reason he's so negative is because he's disgusted at the world as a whole or something. But seriously, he's nicer when you get to know him," Joseph said with a nod.
Bridgette glanced over to where Noah was sitting and hesitantly said, "If you say so."
Restroom Confessional
Bridgette: Is Noah really nicer once you get to know him? I mean, I never really talked to him but he always seemed to be antisocial. But maybe he's just shy or something and other people have to start a conversation. Or maybe since he and Joseph are so similar, he just opened up to him. I kind of feel bad that I've never really talked to him before.
The entire hour Chris had allowed the teens to create their decks was almost expired, and Chris was in his office, talking with potential sponsors to pass the time. "Yeah, we would love to sponsor you. We have been needing to try out that new tech, so that might work. If you could email the data or something, that would be perfect. All right, I look forward to it," Chris said as he ended the call.
Chef, who was sitting in a nearby chair, asked, "What was that about?"
Chris turned to his co-host and said, "Turns out I just bagged another sponsored challenge. It'll let us test out that machine we've been wanting to use."
"You sure that thing'll be safe? It's not like it's been around forever," Chef replied, raising an eyebrow as he did so.
"The company that made it did all the testing they needed to before sending it to us. Unless you want to test it first," Chris stated.
Chef, remembering all the safety testing for challenges he did in seasons past, quickly shook his head and said, "Hell no man. I might be desperate for cash, but I'm not stupid."
Chris grabbed an envelope off his desk and passed to Chef, saying, "Speaking of which, due to those sponsored challenges, we got some more cash in the budget. So here's some of your missing paychecks, plus a little extra compensation for having to wait so long."
"You mean it Chris? I'm finally getting paid? You know, you aren't so bad," Chef said, a legitimate smile on his face.
Chris grinned and turned his chair around, saying, "It's no fun tormenting these kids alone. Anyways, their time is about up. Want to go watch the second half of the challenge?"
Chef shook his head and replied, "Nah, I'll pass. But before you go, what was the company that made that machine?"
"The new one? I don't know. Some Japanese company," Chris said with a shrug as he walked out of the office.
Chris opened the door to the computer lab and said, "Alright, stop editing your decks! The second part of the challenge is about to begin! In case you forgot, the second part of the challenge is a single-elimination tournament, with the winner receiving immunity. I've already drawn up the tournament bracket, so when I announce your opponent, use the program's matchmaking system to challenge them to a battle! With that, the matchups for the first match are:"
"Joseph and Jennifer!" The two rookies glanced at each other, Jennifer with a playful grin on her face and a determined one on Joseph's.
"Izzy and Mikey!" Izzy clapped happily while unbeknownst to her, Mikey's eyes narrowed.
"Bridgette and Megan!" The two girls simply smiled at each other.
"And Noah and Cody!" Noah shrugged while Cody merely looked upset. Numerous clicks could be heard as each person initiated their first Duel.
Restroom Confessional
Mikey: Izzy huh? I've always wanted to strike back at that crazy girl, not physically mind you, and this seems to be my chance. Hopefully her deck isn't too strong.
Cody: Noah? He'll fall quickly. I have no idea if he voted for Emily, but I'll take him down all the same.
Bridgette: I know I'm not great at this challenge and I don't know if Megan is either. I think we won't let the competition get between us here.
Jennifer: I think Noah adequately prepared me for this. I don't know how good Joseph's deck is but I shouldn't do too badly, right?
Chris looked at the eight at their computers as he said, "The first round begins now!" Turning to face the camera, Chris said, "Now we could show you every move of every match, but that would get boring real quick. So instead we'll show you some of the best moments of each of the matches!"
Joseph carefully looked over his options. Due to a Swords of Revealing Light spell that prevented him from attacking, Jennifer had built up a defense of 4 face down monsters. Glancing at the card he just drew, he smirked to himself and said, "No offense Jennifer, but I believe I just won this game."
Jennifer looked at her screen in confusion as Joseph summoned a weak Red Eyes Black Chick monster. "You sure about that? That monster doesn't look very strong," the performing artist questioned.
"Just you wait and see," Joseph said as he continued his move, banishing the monster to summon a much more powerful monster, the Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.
"Okay, that's a pretty strong monster," Jennifer said as she looked at the new monster summoned.
Joseph smiled and said, "And I'm not done yet. You see, I can summon any dragon from my hand or graveyard with my red eyes' effect. So I'll use it to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon in my hand. And I'll destroy two of your monsters before I end my turn."
The performing artist drew a card and said, "Okay, I'll sacrifice my two monsters to summon my Beast King Barbaros. He'll attack your Red Eyes and destroy it. And that's the end of my turn."
Drawing a card, Joseph looked at his hand and replied, "All right, first thing's first, I'll activate my Dragon's mirror, banishing 5 dragons from my graveyard to summon my Five-Headed Dragon. Then my Blue Eyes will attack your Barbaros, destroying them both. And my Five-Headed Dragon will attack you directly for the win."
"Wow. You're really good Joseph," Jennifer commented as the program automatically logged Jennifer out.
"Thanks. I used to play this when I was younger and I always used dragons then. I figured a couple of tweaks would make it better now," the overachiever replied before continuing, "But don't sell yourself short. For someone who I assume has never played this game before, you did well."
The performing artist giggled, "Thanks, but if it weren't for Noah, I probably wouldn't even have a deck to play with."
Joseph raised an eyebrow at this and said, "Interesting."
Restroom Confessional
Joseph: So Noah helped Jennifer? Hmm, I wonder if he feels like he's at risk of elimination due to not having a lot of friends and is trying to branch out to give himself a safety net. Or maybe he was just feeling nice. Either way, not really concerning.
Mikey was a little nervous in his duel. On his side he had a monster called Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and a face down card, while Izzy had a monster called Volcanic Rocket and a spell called Tri-Blaze Accelerator on the field. Mikey glanced at his hand and said, "Alright, I'll play this card facedown and end my turn."
Drawing a card, Izzy grinned and said, "I'll send my Tri-Blaze Accelerator to the graveyard to summon my Volcanic Doomfire!"
"This isn't good," Mikey muttered as he glanced at the stats of Izzy's new monster.
"Doomfire! Attack Mikey's Flame Wingman," Izzy cackled.
"Not so fast, I activate my Hero Barrier. Since I have an Elemental Hero, I can negate your attack this turn," Mikey said, activating his trap.
Izzy shrugged and said, "A minor setback. Your turn."
"I play one card facedown and switch my Flame Wingman to defense mode," Mikey said before ending his turn.
Izzy grinned and exclaimed, "All right! Now attack his Flame Wingman!"
"I activate another trap! This time it's my Elemental Absorber. By banishing my Elemental Hero Burstinatrix from my hand, I can prevent any fire attribute monsters you have from attacking, as long as this card remains on the field," the gamer retaliated, activating his card.
"Well shoot. All right, guess I end my turn," Izzy said, snapping her finger.
Mikey drew a card and said, "I'll activate Pot of greed, letting me draw 2 cards. And then I'll activate Polymerization, letting me fuse my Flame Wingman and the Sparkman in my hand to create Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman! And he gains 300 attack for every Elemental Hero in my graveyard. Since I have 10, he gains 3000 attack points. Attack her Doomfire and end this!"
The program ended the duel with a victory in Mikey's favor and Izzy got locked out of the program. "That was fun! Good game Mikey," Izzy said with a cheer.
"You're not upset that you lost," Mikey quizzically asked.
Izzy shook her head and said, "Nope!" The crazy girl walked away from the computers as Mikey had his eyebrow raised in confusion.
Restroom Confessional
Mikey: I don't get it. We're at the point where we should be trying to win as hard as possible and yet she shrugs off a loss like it doesn't matter. Does she really not know how close we are to winning and one mistake could be the end of it? Regardless, I like this challenge. It's bringing me back to my childhood.
Over in Bridgette and Megan's match, the field was about even. Megan had several spell and trap cards, including 2 crystal beasts, as well as 2 crystal beast monsters. Bridgette had a field spell that benefitted water monsters, as well as a pair of monsters face down. Megan drew a card and said, "Okay, lets see if I understand this. I summon my Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth and because I have seven different crystal beasts on the field and in the graveyard, I can special summon my Rainbow Dragon."
As the new monster took the field, Bridgette saw its stats and said, "Wow. I don't think I can beat that."
"I'm impressed I was able to summon it. Mikey helped me make a really good deck," Megan noted before saying, "I'm going to attack with all of my monsters by the way."
"I would ask who's attacking what, but even if your two weakest monsters attack me, I lose. Good job on the win, though it was probably easy for you. I'm not that good at this game," Bridgette admitted.
Megan smiled and said, "Come on, you did fine. I haven't played this game much either. It's mostly luck that I won."
Bridgette managed to smile slightly and replied, "Thanks."
Restroom Confessional
Bridgette: I appreciate Megan trying to make me feel better. To be honest I'm still sad that Geoff was eliminated a few days ago, despite my friends trying to help me. Maybe that's why I didn't give this challenge my all.
Noah and Cody were nearing the end of an epic battle. Each person had a couple dozen cards in their graveyards, though Cody had considerably more monsters than spells or traps. On Noah's side of the field stood a Sorcerer of Dark Magic monster. As for Cody, he had a face down defense monster.
"I'll attack your monster with my sorcerer," Noah noted and as he ended his turn, he said, "You might as well give up Cody. Traps are useless against my monster and you can't summon anything stronger since I'll keep killing your monsters."
"You would say that. You just want me to roll over and give up. Think I'm powerless now that my girlfriend's gone? Think again," Cody said with an angry glare.
"What are you talking about," Noah asked, his eyebrow raised.
Cody started his turn, not answering Noah's question, "I play my Overload fusion, letting me fusion summon a Dark type machine monster using monsters from my graveyard. Since I have a Cyber Dragon, as well as a dozen other machines, I remove them all from play to summon my Chimeratech Overdragon. Since I used 13 monsters, it has 13 thousand attack and can attack 13 times. I attack and end this duel."
As Noah's computer logged him out, he said, "Good game. Should have figured you were up to something when you let me destroy all your monsters. But what was up with that comment about you giving up?"
Cody glanced over his shoulder at Noah and coldly said, "I don't know how Emily was eliminated, but I'll do whatever it takes to avenge her and take everyone else down."
The tech geek walked away leaving the know it all to mutter, "This could be a problem."
Restroom Confessional
Noah: Alright, I didn't anticipate Cody's personality would do a complete 180 when Emily was eliminated. If he's too reckless, it could ruin everything I've been working toward. That leaves me with two options: Either have Joseph eliminate Cody and set my plan back, potentially ruining it, or move forward with my plan sooner than anticipated. Either option has its risks, the question is, which is less risky?
Chris walked to the center of the room and said, "And the first round is done! Congratulations to Joseph, Mikey, Megan and Cody! Now for the second round! The matchups will be Joseph vs Megan and Mikey vs Cody! You may have 5 minutes to tweak your decks if you wish."
Mikey hugged his girlfriend and they shared a short kiss. "Good job on making it to the next round," Mikey said with a smile.
Megan smiled back, "It's only because I had the best teacher."
The gamer's cheeks turned a slight red, "Oh stop, I'm not that great at this game."
"Yeah you are. And I'm confident with your instruction, I have a good chance of winning," Megan replied.
Mikey smiled again, "See you in the finals?"
His girlfriend gave him another small kiss and said, "I'll do my best."
Across the room, Noah was sitting next to Joseph. "If you and Cody make it to the finals, watch out. He's got a monster that can easily destroy you in one turn," Noah warned his ally.
"Thanks for the heads up. Though I don't think I'll have that much of a problem. This may surprise you, but I had a hell of a deck back in the day," Joseph cockily replied before adding, "Besides, I have a feeling Mikey will make it to the finals, which will make it all the more satisfying when I beat him. I still haven't forgotten what that traitor Courtney said."
Noah shrugged, "Suit yourself. Can't say I didn't warn you though."
Cody meanwhile stood against the wall, giving a silent glare around the room, trying to figure out how and why Emily was eliminated. Unfortunately for him, his emotions were getting the better of him and making it hard to think about the subject clearly. When the five minute break was up, Chris stood in the center of the room and said, "Alright, time for the next round of the tournament to start! The winners here get to go to the finals!"
Mikey and Cody were in the middle of a heated match. Mikey had his Flame Wingman on the field while Cody had a Cyber Dragon and another face down monster. "Flame Wingman, take out his face down monster," Mikey declared, destroying the monster and ending his turn.
Cody drew a card and summoned his Chimeratech Overdragon again, though this time with only 8 monsters. As he did so, he said, "You think you're so great don't you? You have all these friends and a girlfriend that loves you. What did Emily and I do? Why do we have to suffer being apart while you get to remain with your girlfriend?"
"Cody, I-," Mikey began to say before he was cut off.
"Whatever you say, it doesn't matter. I swear, you'll know what this feels like, even if I get eliminated. Chimeratech, attack and end this," Cody said, a harsh glare directed at his computer screen.
"I activate Negate Attack, ending your battle phase," Mikey said, somewhat distracted from what Cody just said.
Cody shrugged, "Whatever, have another turn. I'll crush you and make it to the finals either way."
Mikey drew a card and said, "I'll activate Polymerization, fusing my Flame Wingman with the Bubbleman in my hand. Since I have an Elemental Hero and a Water monster, I can summon my Elemental Hero Absolute Zero. And before you think about attacking him, when he leaves the field by any means, all your monsters are destroyed. It's your move."
"A minor distraction. As soon as I draw another monster, I'll destroy you," Cody ruthlessly declared as he ended his turn.
Mikey drew another card and smirked, "I think I've just won. I activate my Mask Change spell card. I can summon a Masked Hero as long as I tribute a Hero monster of the same attribute. So I tribute my Absolute Zero to summon my Masked Hero Acid. Not only does Absolute Zero destroy your monster, but when Acid enters the field, all your spells and traps are destroyed. Now that you're defenseless, I'll attack you directly to end this."
The match ended and Cody immediately got up and started to walk away. "Cody wait," Mikey called out in the hope that the tech geek would stop. Cody stopped walking, but didn't turn around or say anything. "Look, I can't say I understand how you're feeling. But I want to help you. You're my friend and-," Mikey said but he was interrupted.
"I don't have time for whatever lies you're trying to sell me. I know what happened yesterday. Enjoy your victory, while it lasts," Cody said as he walked out the room, leaving Mikey unable to respond.
Restroom Confessional
Cody: I don't know how, but Mikey and Megan are getting split up today. They will know what this feels like, I swear it. As for the others, once I feel like they have made up for wrongfully punishing me, then I'll go easy on them. But until then, I'm going to play hardball.
In the other semifinal match, currently the game was in Joseph's favor. He had a Lord of Dragons monster alongside a Luster Dragon. Due to a Swords of Revealing Light spell, Megan was forced to play defensively, with a Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise acting as her only line of defense. With only one more crystal beast, she could activate the Crystal Gravity Trap card, allowing her to summon her Rainbow Dragon once more.
Joseph drew a card and said, "All right, I'll sacrifice my two monsters to summon my Light and Darkness Dragon. He'll attack your tortoise."
"Alright, with my turn, I'll summon my Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger. Now with all 7 crystal beasts somewhere on the field, I can activate my Crystal Gravity," Megan began to say.
"I'm going to activate my Dragon's ability. By giving up 500 attack permanently, I can negate the activation of your trap and destroy it," Joseph cut her off, preventing her from summoning her trump card.
Megan sighed and said, "Alright, go."
Drawing another card, Joseph said, "I'll summon another Luster Dragon and he'll attack your Tiger. And then my Light and Darkness Dragon will attack you to end this match."
The game ended and Megan was locked out of her computer. Before she had a chance to get up, Joseph tapped her on the shoulder and said, "That was a good match. You almost had me there at the end. If I hadn't summoned my Light and Darkness Dragon, you would have won."
"Thanks. You're pretty good at this game," Megan replied.
Joseph chuckled and said, "Yeah, well I may have played it a lot back in the day. Kind of feels good to play it again, for old times' sake. Don't sell yourself short though. You were really good. Did you play this game growing up?"
The nice girl shook her head and replied with a slight smile, "Not really. My brothers asked me to play once or twice but for the most part Mikey taught me everything I know."
"So if he made it to the finals then it'll be even more challenging? That's fine, I like a good challenge," Joseph said, a slight look of determination in his eyes.
Restroom Confessional
Megan: I was so close to winning. Oh well, I should be happy I did as well as I did, all things considered. Now I just have to hope that Mikey can win the final match. While I don't think either of us will be eliminated today, I still can't help but worry that something could go wrong.
Chris grinned as he stood up from where he was sitting and announced, "And it looks like our final battle of the challenge will be between our remaining rookie males! You two have five minutes to edit your deck and then the final match will start! Whoever wins gets immunity!"
"Sorry I couldn't beat Joseph. I tried my best," Megan said as she sat next to her boyfriend.
"Don't sweat it. Part of me didn't want to face you in the finals because I would want to go easy on you. At least this way I can give it my all without guilt," Mikey shrugged.
Megan lightly hugged the gamer and said, "For the record, Joseph uses Dragons. I don't know if knowing that helps you or not, but I figured I should tell you."
Mikey nodded and said, "All right. It doesn't really matter in the long run. But I do have a plan in case he summons something really powerful. If I can pull it off, I should be able to win. A secret weapon that I can't use until the moment is right, if you will."
"I know you'll do fine no matter what," Megan reassured her boyfriend, kissing him on the cheek.
Joseph meanwhile was in the hallway, and it seemed he was looking for someone. Seeing who he was looking for, waved his arm and said, "Hey Cody! Mind if I ask you something?"
"What do you want," Cody gruffly answered.
"I need your help with something," the overachiever replied.
The tech geek began to walk away and said, "Why should I help you?"
Joseph followed Cody and answered, "But Izzy's nowhere to be seen and you're the only other person who has seen Mikey's deck. I need to know what I'm up against."
Cody stopped walking and turned back to Joseph, an evil look on his face, "Fine, I'll help you. If only because I want Mikey and Megan to feel the way I do."
"Excellent," Joseph grinned.
At the end of the five minutes, Chris said, "Alright, looks like it's about time for the finals. Where's Joseph?"
The overachiever ran into the room, panting, "Sorry I'm late Chris, had to run to the bathroom."
"You're lucky I'm feeling nice and didn't disqualify you. Now get to your computer because the finals are about to start," Chris announced, some enthusiasm in his voice.
It was partway into the duel and each player had lost a fair bit of their Life Points. One more solid attack would probably be enough to end the duel. Currently Joseph had a Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field while Mikey had an Elemental Hero Neos monster.
"Well, since you activated your Hero Barrier, I guess I have to end my turn. But you can't outrun the inevitable. I still plan on winning this duel," Joseph said, a slight cockiness evident in his voice.
"Good luck with that. I promised my girlfriend that I'll do anything I can to protect her and keep her in the game," Mikey replied.
Joseph smirked and said in an even tone, "A person is very strong when he wishes to protect someone. I expect you to give this your all."
There was a slight pause before Mikey responded, "Right…Anyways, I'll summon my Elemental Hero Neos Alius and end my turn I guess."
"Well I guess my Blue Eyes will attack your Neos Alius, leaving you with a mere 1000 Life Points left. And I'll play a face down card to end my turn," the overachiever replied, making his move.
Mikey drew a card and gained a determined look in his eyes, "It's over. I activate my Polymerization spell card, allowing me to fuse my Neos with the Rainbow Dragon in my hand to summon Rainbow Neos! He'll attack your Dragon, ending the duel."
"Or so you would think. But I activate my Negate Attack, essentially ending your turn, am I right," Joseph countered.
Sighing, Mikey played a card facedown and nodded. Joseph drew a card before grinning in response, "I activate a polymerization of my own, fusing the Blue Eyes on the field with the two in my hand to summon my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Next I activate my Mountain Field Spell, boosting the attack of my Dragons. I'll attack your Rainbow Neos, destroying it."
"Actually, I activate my Scrap Iron Scarecrow. I can negate one attack of yours each turn, as I can set it again after activating it," the gamer countered.
Shrugging, Joseph responded, "Whatever. I just have to get rid of that trap card and I'll win."
Mikey made his move, drawing a card and saying, "I summon my Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode. But I'm activating my Rainbow Neos' ability and tributing my Avian to return all your monsters to your deck. Or your extra deck in the case of your Blue Eyes. With your field empty, I'll attack to end this game."
With Joseph defeated, the program logged him out and the overachiever got up with a sigh. Making his way to the gamer, he extended his hand for a handshake and said, "Good match. Thought I had it won for awhile there, but you had the better deck it seems."
Accepting the handshake, Mikey replied, "Yours was good as well, I just got lucky by drawing that Scrap Iron Scarecrow when I did. If I hadn't drawn that, you would have won."
Chris walked to the center of the room, clapping his hands, "And with that, Mikey has won the challenge and is immune in tonight's vote. You have an hour to decide who you're voting for."
Restroom Confessional
Joseph: While I may not be thrilled that Mikey won immunity, on account of him working with Courtney behind my back and all, I will admit one thing. He had a decent deck and if the circumstances were different, I bet we could have been friends. But alas, that is not the reality we reside in. Now, I know who has to be eliminated tonight, and that is Megan. The question is how?
Jennifer was wandering the halls, her mind elsewhere at the moment. She had quite the dilemma ahead of her, and that was determining who she was going to vote for in the upcoming elimination. She was friends with pretty much everyone who was still in the game, so it was a difficult choice. 'I could vote for Cody, since he seems to be in emotional pain being away from Emily. I can relate to that. Or I could vote for a someone who might be a big threat, like Joseph or Noah, but they've both been really helpful, especially after Trent was eliminated, even if Noah didn't really show it. And then there's Megan, no. I shouldn't think about that. She's like my best friend that's left. I can't do that to her,' Jennifer thought to herself as she continued walking, not paying attention.
She was jostled from her thoughts when she bumped into someone, knocking both of them to the ground. "Oh sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," the performing artist said as she went to get off the ground.
The other person responded, "It's okay. Izzy sometimes doesn't look where she goes either."
Jennifer turned to the person in question and said, "Oh hi Izzy. I didn't see you after the first round of the challenge ended."
"That's because I went to see what sort of pranks I could pull off on Chef. He and I have had a prank war going on the past couple seasons. What had you so distracted anyways," the crazy redhead replied.
"Just trying to figure out who I'm going to vote for. It's such a tough choice with so few people left," the performing artist replied with a sigh.
Izzy looked her friend in the eyes and said, "You won't vote for me right? I know some people write me off as crazy or whatever, but we're friends right?"
Jennifer was taken aback for a moment over how serious Izzy was being. This was a side to Izzy that she hadn't seen before. After the slightest moment of hesitation, Jennifer replied, "No, I won't vote for you. What kind of friend would I be if I did that?"
"Woo," Izzy cheered as she wrapped Jennifer in a large hug before letting go, "Thanks Jennifer. I'll be honest, I didn't know if anyone wanted me around anymore but thanks to you I know there's someone here that still likes me!"
Before Jennifer could inquire further, Izzy ran off again. "What did she mean by that last part," the performing artist asked to nobody in particular.
Restroom Confessional
Izzy: Izzy knows she can get a little out of control sometimes and that other people don't like it. But at least I've got my friends backing me up. They wouldn't betray me.
Jennifer: I'm honestly curious by what Izzy meant. Sure, she can be a little excessive, but I hardly doubt she means to be that way.
Mikey was waiting in the cafeteria, thinking to himself. Megan had left a couple of minutes ago to use the restroom, which gave him time to think about his current situation. "There must be something that can be done to put my mind at ease," the gamer muttered under his breath.
"What was that," Megan asked as she sat down next to her boyfriend.
"I can't stop worrying about the elimination. You saw what happened yesterday with Cody and Emily. Someone is probably trying to get rid of any 'alliances' between players. And we're the only couple left, so you're in danger," Mikey stated.
Megan hugged him and said, "Yeah, but how many people would really vote for me? We know Bridgette and Jennifer won't. Izzy's a wild card, Joseph's too nice to do something that backhanded and Noah's kind of indifferent. The only one who we know will vote for me is Cody."
The gamer sighed and said, "Yeah, and that's what worries me. During our duel, he said he would go to any lengths to make us feel like him right now. I'm afraid he'll do something drastic."
"And if he does, then he does. I appreciate you wanting to keep us both in as long as possible, but it's unlikely. One of us will have to be eliminated eventually," Megan reminded him.
Mikey nodded before looking up, "I know. It's just that we just got together that I don't want to be separated yet."
Megan gave him a kiss before nodding, "I feel the same way, but we won't be separated forever, so if it happens, don't worry about it."
Restroom Confessional
Mikey: I don't want to admit it to Megan, but I'm becoming a wreck. Ever since Geoff was eliminated, I've had trouble sleeping because I've been worrying about the game. It's stupid to get so worked up over such a little thing, but I can't help it.
Megan: It's sweet of Mikey to be so concerned for me, but I was serious when he shouldn't worry about it. As nice as it would be to make it all the way to the finals with him, I have a feeling that we'll be split apart eventually. And if it happens, well at least there's only a week left before the competition ends, so we won't be separated for long.
Joseph was sitting by himself in the library, reflecting on the day's events. 'I know what has to be done, I just have to figure out how to do it. I already know Cody, in his angst fueled rage, is on my side. The question is how to prevent too many other stray votes from getting tallied up. Unless…' Joseph thought to himself as an idea came to him. Nodding to himself, he got up and said, "Time to make a bold move, one that I doubt will work again after today."
Restroom Confessional
Cody: I said that I would make them feel the way I do, and damn it that's what I'm gonna do. I vote Megan.
Bridgette: Somehow Jennifer, Mikey, Megan and I were able to agree on voting for Noah. I don't know if voting in this group will work or not, but even if it gets us past today, we don't have to worry about it anymore. I know Jennifer didn't want to vote Noah after he helped her earlier, but we managed to convince her that he's probably the biggest threat right now.
Joseph: Okay, time for the most important part of my plan. I will- (static interrupts what Joseph was about to say)
It was time for the next elimination ceremony and Chris was standing at his podium on the stage. "You should all know how this works by now. 7 passes, 8 of you. Whoever does not get a pass must immediately walk the Hall of Shame and board the Bus of Losers. The first pass goes to Mikey for immunity," Chris said as the gamer got his pass.
Chris looked at the others, almost questioningly before nodding and said, "Joseph, Jennifer, Bridgette, you three get passes as well." As the number of those next to Mikey grew, so did his fears. Bridgette looked over and could see the worry on Mikey's face, and she could tell he was scared.
Chris looked to be in thought for a moment, as if he himself could decide who stayed and who left, before saying, "Cody, Izzy, you two also get passes." Cody gave only the slightest of smirks as he got his pass. Mikey's breath hitched in his throat due to his girlfriend being in the bottom 2.
Chris eyed the last two people in front of him, their reactions oddly similar. While Megan was certainly more nervous than Noah, both seemed to be very accepting of their position. After observing the situation for a moment more (and to let the tension sink in a bit more) Chris cleared his throat and said, "This is the final pass. It goes to…"
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"Noah. Sorry Megan, but you have been eliminated," Chris noted as he handed off the final pass to Noah.
Mikey stood up and exclaimed, "Wait! I'll go instead of her!"
"No can do dude, if someone wins immunity, they are guaranteed to make it through to the next round. Meaning you can't give up your immunity," Chris replied.
Mikey, to put it bluntly, was shell-shocked. He could do little more than stand still, his mouth somewhat agape.
Megan sighed as she got up and walked over to Mikey. "Hey, don't let this get you down. Remember what I was telling you about this happening eventually? Just, promise me you'll do your best and won't give up, alright," Megan said.
Those words finally snapped the gamer out of it and he managed to say, 'Y-yeah, sure."
The nice girl could see that he wasn't fully convinced as she said, "And this is for luck." Without warning, she grabbed the gamer and locked him into a passionate kiss. When the couple separated, she whispered, "I'll be cheering you on the rest of the game. And remember, this isn't goodbye forever."
Mikey replied, "I'll miss you."
"And I'll miss you too. I'll see you when you win," Megan said as she reluctantly left the auditorium.
Bus Confessional
Megan: It was a fun run I had. I honestly didn't think I would make the merge, much less the final 8. I'm just glad I got to make so many great friends and get the greatest boyfriend ever. Good luck Mikey, I'll be rooting for you!
Mikey watched as she left and only when she was gone did he start to get a little misty-eyed. His sadness quickly turned to anger as he clenched a fist and turned around, "I bet you were behind this, right Cody? Couldn't stand having your girlfriend eliminated so you organized my girlfriend's elimination. Or maybe it was you Izzy. Decided to play things a bit differently and instead of physically hurting me, you decided to hurt me emotionally. Well I hope you're happy." Without saying another word, Mikey angrily left the room. Bridgette was the first to go after him, with the others gradually leaving afterwards.
When the room was empty save for Chris, Chef walked out from backstage and said, "Chris, I looked into the lack of votes today. Looks like the footage stopped at some point."
"Was the stupid thing out of tape? Or was there a hardware error," Chris asked, not looking forward to replacing faulty equipment.
"Nah man, it looks like someone manually stopped the recording and then erased some of the footage. Can't tell how much we lost," Chef replied.
Chris turned to look at his co-host and asked, "So what? Somebody stopped the video to manipulate the votes?"
Chef nodded and said, "Looks like it. What are we gonna do?"
"We can't redo the elimination, events have already been influenced far too much. We'll have to just reinforce the camera to prevent this from happening," Chris noted before thinking about who he thought did this.
Bridgette had exited the auditorium and looked around, before seeing Mikey down the hall, leaning on a locker, resting his head on his arm. She carefully approached, knowing she had to choose her words very carefully. She looked around to see if anyone else was nearby, and she could see Jennifer not far behind her, nodding as if to confirm her intentions. A little farther away was Cody, who was leaning against the wall with a slight smirk on his face. Noah appeared to be talking to Cody. As for Izzy and Joseph, they were nowhere to be seen.
Bridgette took a deep breath and touched the gamer's shoulder, saying, "Mikey? I know you're sad and I just wanted to say, if you want to talk about it, Jennifer and I know exactly how you feel."
"Thanks. But why did she have to go? Better yet, how did she go? I just can't see someone rallying people to vote for her," the gamer noted, his voice slightly wavering. It was quiet for a moment before he slammed his fist into the lockers, exclaiming, "I've tried so hard to keep my friends safe. Making plans, getting temporary alliances together, the whole nine yards. And for what?"
"Now that you mention it, how did she get eliminated? It's not like everyone wanted her gone," Jennifer noted.
"I believe I can answer that," a voice behind the three stated. They turned to see Noah standing in the middle of the hallway, Cody standing against the wall behind him. The know-it-all looked at the four people near him and said, "It's time I told you all something important."
Chris was still standing on the stage, Chef walking off screen. He moved his arms in a grand fashion and said, "And with that, Megan, our resident 'Average Girl' has been eliminated. How well will Noah's revelation sit with the others? Will Joseph realize that he's at the end of the line before it's too late? Will Mikey take his girlfriend's elimination better than Cody did? Find out the answers to all these questions as well as the most dramatic elimination yet! Next time on Total Drama High School!"
Votes
Megan (2) – Cody, Joseph
Noah (1) – Bridgette
The rest of the votes were lost due to a "loss of footage"
Eliminated: Leshawna, Alexander, DJ, Rebecca, William, Ezekiel, Julie, Heather, Trent, Jessie, Danny, Gwen, Courtney, Nicholas, Geoff, Emily, Megan
Contestants Remaining: Cody, Noah, Bridgette, Izzy, Mikey, Joseph, Jennifer (7 Remaining)
Fun Fact!
During the initial planning stages (which didn't really end until after the fourth elimination) I wanted Megan to be the one normal person amid all of the more, for lack of a better term, unique ones. And for the most part, I'm kind of satisfied how it turned out. The only thing I would have changed is to try and differentiate her from Emily, as the two were very similar from like the beginning of what I call "Act 2" (Challenge 9-14, approximately) until now. At least at first Emily appeared to be a bit of a fangirl, but that quickly stopped popping up.
On an unrelated note, I had liked Megan's "Nice Girl" label until recently. I realized it sounds way to generic, as you could say the same about Julie (who was an optimistic person). In fact, Chris' ending monologue kind of foreshadows the new "label" Megan is going to have from here on out: The Average Girl. This also lines up better with my initial plan.
So yeah, about me hoping to get a chapter a month done after the last one dropped. I really don't have an excuse for that. Unless Pokemon X/Y counts as an excuse, in which case I totally have an excuse for the lateness of this. That and while I liked the idea of this challenge at first (which was inspired by the Yu-Gi-Oh club my high school had), I quickly found it was a bore to write. Don't expect any sort of Card Game based anything from me anytime soon. Speaking of the Card Game, I tried to base the decks used by the characters in this chapter on actual decks I had when I used to play this game (which may or may not have been recently). I included descriptions for vital effects where necessary, but if you want to know what a card does, simply Google it. I was real specific about the names for a reason. And looking back, I'm disappointed that I didn't make any real Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged References.
Onto the topic of future chapters, I really hope the next one will be out much sooner. I've been looking forward to writing this next chapter for a long time so it should definitely be out much sooner. Though probably not for at least 2 weeks, as my spring break is next week and to be honest, I don't want to be writing when I can be doing other things like Playing Video Games and Sleeping...I certainly have my priorities figured out. Feel free to leave a review letting me know what you thought and hey, maybe check out one of my other dormant stories. If there's enough interest I might shift my attention back to one of those. Until Next Time!
Next Time: With the remaining contestants questioning their trust in each other, they have to partake in an old school pastime: The Talent Show!