Disclaimer: Total Drama and it's characters are the property of Fresh TV. The location and original characters are my creation (would that count as my property?)
Chris was, as always, standing in front of the high school. This time however, he appeared to be looking over a stack of index cards, occasionally flipping to the next one. "Alright, everything looks good," he muttered to himself.
"Um, Mr. McLean sir? We're ready to begin," the cameraman nervously said.
Chris looked up from his index cards and said, "Are we? How's my hair?"
The young camera operator raised an eyebrow in confusion and said, "Uh, it looks fine, I guess? It looks like a lot of gel was used."
"Alright, it'll do. Not my hair, your praise of it. Word of advice, talk to the guy who trained you, have him give you some tips for evaluating my hair. Give me ten seconds to get ready before you go to start filming," the host said.
The cameraman shrugged, walked to his camera, and once Chris motioned that he was ready, he motioned to Chris that they were filming. Flashing a pearly white grin at the camera, Chris announced, "Last time on Total Drama High School! We brought a number of our eliminated contestants back for the day and split them into teams, each team representing a member of the final five. They were then tasked with searching the school for where we locked their contestant up. The kicker? The last person to be found would be instantly eliminated, leading to it being a race against time! We had tons of drama including Joseph and Courtney arguing, Megan panicking and Ezekiel kicked Nicholas in the crotch! One by one the remaining contestants were found and moved on safely, until only Cody and Mikey were left. It was a very close race, but Megan's team managed to be just a little bit faster, meaning Mikey was safe and Cody was eliminated! It's down to the final four, and the challenges are going to be harder than ever, thanks to the eliminated contestants! What role did the eliminated contestants play? Will anyone crack under the pressure? And who's going home next? Find out right now on Total Drama High School!"
It was a quiet ride on the way to the high school for the upcoming challenge. This was mostly due to the fact that each of the final four were spending a large amount of time in the confessional, per a request from Chris. He wanted each of the final four to comment on the season as a whole for whatever reason, and so only three people were outside at any given moment. When not in the confessional, the final four were either psyching themselves up, planning on a strategy for the challenge, or just trying to keep a clear head.
Bus Confessional
Mikey: I find it odd that Chris would ask the final four to comment on the season. I mean, wouldn't that be better suited for the final two? But I digress. This show was interesting, that's for sure. Despite watching the past couple of seasons, I had no idea what to expect going into it. But it was one hell of a ride no matter what way you look at it.
Bridgette: This season was kind of stressful, at least recently it has been. I guess the first few days weren't so bad, but as time went on it just got more and more stressful. Although I guess I had fun along the way, when it wasn't stressful at least. Still, I miss the first season, when it was fun. Even last season was fun for the two challenges I was there for.
Noah: After the crap I've been through this season, I kind of preferred being one of the first ones eliminated. At least then I wasn't deeply involved in eliminations and didn't help the bad guy. (Noah sighs) At least this whole season is almost over. Remind me to be careful of who I work with next season, because I'm going to be a lot less trusting.
Jennifer: I still can't believe I'm in the final four. I didn't think I would make it this far. And though it hurt being separated from Trent so early, I like to think that I did well despite that. Yeah, I might have been a little depressed after he was eliminated, but after I composed myself and got my wits about me, I've played a good game since then.
While someone else had their turn in the confessional, Bridgette sat down next to Mikey and said, "So final four huh? Who would have thought we would be here?"
"Not me, that's for sure. I figured I would be lucky to hit the merge. And yet here we are," Mikey remarked.
"I just wish there wasn't so much drama on the way here," Bridgette lamented. "
Well it's called Total Drama for a reason," Mikey joked before adding, "But I know what you mean. With all the drama that's gone on, it feels like it's been years since the season started. Is that weird?"
The surfer giggled and said, "Not that much. I kind of feel the same way."
"Still, I can't believe we're only a couple of challenges from the prize. And if I somehow make it to the finale, I hope it's against you," the gamer admitted.
Bridgette blinked in surprise and said, "Really? Why's that?"
"You're my friend so if I were to lose at the end to anyone, I would want it to be you," Mikey replied with a shrug.
Bus Confessional
Bridgette: The challenges actually seemed tamer compared to normal. I'm not sure why, but I don't mind. Nothing terribly life-threatening happened this time around, well aside from that car accident Mikey got in during the go-kart race. Some of the challenges were nice, like the cooking one and the one where we looked for an animal in the forest, even if I did get chased by a bear.
Noah: The challenges? Despite being a "School-themed" season, they never played to my strengths. It was always some type of physical challenge under the guise of something academic. So suffice to say, as a whole I hated the challenges this season. Sure a couple of them weren't so bad, like the VR challenge or even the Yu-Gi-Oh one, but for the most part, they sucked. It honestly feels like the game has been against me in particular from the start.
Jennifer: The challenges were really exciting. I got to do a lot of things I love and try a lot of things I wouldn't do otherwise. I really loved the acting challenge, even though that is when Trent was eliminated. And the woodshop challenge was great too. And after I got over Trent getting eliminated, I had a lot of fun with the singing and talent show challenges.
Mikey: I believe the challenges were a mixed bag. I mean, every season has a few duds when it comes to the challenges, so I don't mind too much. But some of the challenge ideas were pretty lame, like the scavenger hunt and the singing challenge. And even though I enjoyed it, I'll admit the Yu-Gi-Oh one was pretty lame. One the other hand, a lot of the challenges were awesome! The virtual reality challenge, the laser tag match, the obstacle course, they were all a blast! Hell, even the go-kart race was a ton of fun, even though I got injured.
Noah appeared to be deep in thought and didn't notice when someone sat down across the aisle from him. He didn't notice when they cleared their throat to get his attention. It wasn't until they waved their hand in front of his face that he finally took notice of what was going on and he said, "Oh, sorry Mikey. I wasn't paying attention. Do you need something?"
"I saw you looking down at your shoes pretty intensely, so I figured something was up," the gamer shrugged.
"Oh, that. I'm just trying to make sense of things. I'm still kind of hung up on being Joseph's accomplice. Maybe it's guilt, maybe it's something else, I'm not sure. All I know is I feel like I'm being let off easy by you guys and part of me doesn't like that. It doesn't feel like I'm being punished for my actions," Noah sighed.
Mikey looked over to the know-it-all and said, "I'm still processing things too. Although, as odd as this sounds, I suppose you'll be glad to know that despite my cordial appearance, I'm still upset at you. While I can respect that you decided to do the right thing in the end, it doesn't change the fact that you still did it to begin with."
Noah smiled ever so slightly and said, "As strange as it seems, I do feel a bit better that people are mad at me. And I know a bunch of the losers are still mad at me, or at least I imagine they would, so there's that. Still, I'm not really used to struggling with guilt like this. I really want to be able to make things right."
"The others will get over it in time. I know I will. The fact you cared enough to try and put a stop to things before they got worse should be enough for the others to forgive you. They might not do it soon, but most of them should eventually," Mikey said in a way that seemed to be both consoling and disappointed before he got up and went to go sit down elsewhere.
Bus Confessional
Noah: What did I think about the people competing? I'm kind of indifferent. (Noah looked at the camera for a moment, a slight frown on his face) What, you wanted me to say who I liked and who didn't I like? Let's be honest, most of us veterans didn't like me much to begin with on account of my laziness in the first season. And the new people, I'm sure most of them didn't look too favorably toward me either. And especially after they found out I was working with Joseph, I'm sure they don't like me. At this point the only people I know for a fact that aren't upset with me are Courtney and Izzy.
Jennifer: I thought most of the people competing were great! Besides Trent, since my feelings toward him are probably obvious, I liked a lot of the Total Drama Vets. Cody, Izzy and Bridgette are all really great people. And even though I didn't really know them that long, I also liked Geoff, Gwen and Courtney. I still feel kind of bad for voting out Gwen, but I was gullible back then. As for the new people like me, a lot of them are nice. Mikey, Emily, Megan and Nicholas are all really good friends. Jessie, Julie and Danny were nice too, but I didn't know them as well.
Mikey: The other contestants? A lot of them are great and I made a bunch of friends. Megan, Geoff, Bridgette, Nicholas, Gwen, Julie, DJ, Trent, Jennifer, Jessie, Cody and Emily are all great and I'm glad I met them. Yeah, some of the others were lazy, rude, obnoxious and even dangerous, but the good definitely outweighs the bad in this case. The friends I made will stick with me for what I imagine are years to come and if I had the chance to go back and change my mind, I wouldn't.
Bridgette: It was nice to see a lot of my old friends again, especially since next season's supposed to get pretty crazy. Aside from Geoff, I liked getting to see Leshawna, Gwen, Trent, DJ and Courtney again. Despite not really knowing Cody too well, he was nice to hang with as well. The others I'm kind of indifferent too. As for the new contestants, aside from Megan and Mikey obviously, I really like Emily, Jennifer, Julie and Jessie. And despite their arguing, Danny and Nicholas weren't bad either.
Jennifer was looking out the window, humming a song to herself as she killed time on the way to the high school. "So," Bridgette asked as she approached, "Are you ready for the challenge today?"
"I hope so. I feel like it's been tame so far this season, at least compared to what they showed on TV, so I'm afraid these last couple of challenges are going to ramp up in difficulty," the performing artist replied.
"I know what you mean. I wonder if safety regulations or something improved between seasons. Or maybe Chris got even cheaper and didn't get as many explosives as he normally does," Bridgette muttered, rolling her eyes at the last part.
Jennifer giggled and said, "Well I'm not complaining if the challenges are easier."
Bridgette cracked a smile and said, "That makes two of us. Still, doesn't hurt to prepare for anything. This is the final four after all."
"I still can't believe I made it this far. I mean, who would have thought that the four of us here would have made it," Jennifer said with a shake of her head.
"It is pretty crazy," Bridgette agreed before adding, "You know, it's funny. Mikey said the same sort of thing."
"I guess none of us were really expecting to make the final four," Jennifer mused.
"Well good luck. We're all here, might as well try our hardest, right,' the surfer asked.
The performing artist nodded back, "You know it."
Bus Confessional
Jennifer: You want us to spend a section talking just about Joseph? I have a feeling everyone's going to have similar answers but all right. To put it bluntly, I'm not happy with him. I mean, he's the reason I felt depressed in the middle parts of the competition. Plus we don't even know why he went out of his way to lie and manipulate people. So yeah, can't say I'm too fond of him.
Mikey: Joseph? Yeah as far as I'm concerned, he's dead to me. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh, but I still won't willingly work with him ever again. He was behind the eliminations of so many of my friends that I can't see myself forgiving him anytime soon. I can't believe I trusted him. Well I won't make that mistake twice. If we're ever on the same team in a future season, he'll be gone first.
Bridgette: I really wish I knew why Joseph did the things he did. Was he desperate for the money? Maybe he has a really bad home life and wanted to try and fix it? We might never find out. But if he were more open with us about it instead of conspiring and lying to us, maybe we could have helped him. But instead he did what he thought was best I guess. I don't so much as hate him as I think I pity him.
Noah: What is there to say? I made a mistake aligning myself with him. Luckily I came to my senses and worked to thwart him, but I still regret what I did. Maybe he's upset with me, maybe he's proud of me in a twisted sense. I don't know and I don't care. I trust him about as far as I can throw him, and I'll be damned if I ever have to help him again.
The bus was around the corner from the high school and Noah exited the confessional, the last one to use it before they arrived at their destination. Jennifer, who was sitting near the confessional remarked, "You sounded pretty upset. I get talking about him would be a tough topic for you. Want to talk about it?"
"I think I talked about it long enough to the camera," Noah snarked back, before he sighed, "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to talk right now."
The know-it-all started to walk away before he heard Jennifer say, "I forgive you."
Noah turned around and said, "What?"
"I said I forgive you. I should be upset that you're partly at fault for Trent being eliminated, but you've tried your hardest to make things right. And that's something I can appreciate," the performing artist replied.
"Thanks, I guess. But if that was supposed to cheer me up, it didn't work. I've got a lot on my mind and one person forgiving me isn't going to change that anytime soon," Noah somberly said as he turned back around and went to sit at the front of the bus.
Jennifer sighed and quietly said, "You're not a bad person Noah. Hopefully you realize that sooner rather than later."
The bus reached its destination and the final four all stood in front of the high school, where a handful of interns were also waiting around. Carl, the aftermath director, glanced at his watch before looking over to the teens and said, "Typical Chris. The one time we need him to be ready on time, he's late. Figures right?"
The final four all shared a laugh as the front door and Chris walked out, coffee in hand. He noticed the four laughing and asked, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, one of the interns just told a joke is all," Mikey quickly said.
"Oh? What's the joke then," Chris asked.
Carl, who hadn't been laughing, said, "Trust me, you wouldn't want to hear it. It was in bad taste."
Chris shrugged and said, "If you say so. Well then, are you four ready for your next challenge?"
"Bring it on," Jennifer proclaimed.
"That's the spirit! Today's challenge will be unique for each of you. Each one of you will have five smaller challenges, designed by the eliminated contestants. Complete all five and you move on to the final three," Chris announced.
"Let me guess," Noah drawled, "The last person to finish will be instantly eliminated."
Chris raised an eyebrow and asked, "Have you been looking at my notes again Noah?"
Noah rolled his eyes and said, "Hardly. You said complete all five and you move on, not the first person to complete all five is immune. Ergo, it can be assumed that elimination is instant."
"Way to steal some of the thunder from that reveal. But yes, whoever finishes last today will be eliminated," Chris confirmed.
"Are the challenges random or are we all getting specific ones," Bridgette asked.
The host grinned and said, "Excellent question! The eliminated contestants were randomly divided among you, but they knew who they were making a challenge for when they were coming up with ideas."
"So depending on who we got, we could have an easy time making it to the next round or we could be totally boned," Mikey asked.
"No, we went through the lists after compiling them and had the eliminated contestants make new ones if one person had it too difficult or too easy," Chris confirmed before asking, "Any other questions?"
"I'm not a contestant, but what are we doing here," Carl asked, gesturing at himself and the other interns behind him.
"I'll let you know once the challenge starts," Chris said before adding, "All right, since there appears to be no more questions, let me tell you your first destinations and then you can begin! Jennifer, you will be headed to the auditorium. Mikey, the computer lab from the Yu-Gi-Oh challenge. Noah, the football field out back. And Bridgette, you will be going to the library. You will find your first challenges there, as well as an intern to guide you to your next challenge. On your marks, get set, go!" The final four raced off to their specific locations as Chris turned to the gathered interns and said, "All right, let's get you guys in position for the other challenges."
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: I'm not too worried about the challenges I might get. Aside from Joseph, I don't think anyone will go out of their way to actively screw me over.
Noah: Well I had a nice run while I lasted. I lucked out last challenge, but there's no way I'll make it through today, given how many people are upset with me.
(Computer Lab)
Mikey skidded to a halt in front of the computer lab, as he was trying to go as quickly as possible to better his chances. He opened the door and didn't see anyone else inside. All of the computers except for one were powered down as well. "Well, guess my challenge is on this computer," Mikey mused as he walked over and sat down. Looking at the screen, a message was displayed.
It read, "Hey Mikey! Alexander here. Nice job making it to the final four. My challenge for you will test your puzzle skills. Once you exit this message, you will be tasked with finishing three increasingly difficult picross puzzles. Don't worry if you don't know how to solve them, there is a short tutorial explaining how they work. Also, each one will automatically solve itself after five, ten and fifteen minutes respectively, just in case you get stuck. Solve all three, either on your own or by waiting, and the directions to your next challenge will be displayed. Good luck!"
Mikey interlaced his fingers and stretched his hands out in front of him before saying, "Much like Professor Layton, I love a good puzzle. Let's get to work." The gamer exited the message and began his first puzzle.
(Library)
Bridgette walked into the library and looked around, searching for an intern. After a few moments, she saw one waving to her from the back of the room. She approached and saw it was a tanned young man with dirty blond hair that was slightly spiked. He was fairly muscular and wore a blue tank top and grey cargo shorts. "Hey Bridgette, here for your challenge I'm guessing," the individual said as the surfer got close.
Bridgette looked uncertain and asked, "Uh yeah. Not to be rude, but who are you?"
"My name's Chad. They hired me to be an intern next season but thought I should get a little bit of practice first. So here I am," Chad introduced.
"Well nice to meet you," Bridgette replied with a smile.
"Hold the phone Chad," a voice said as someone could be heard running their way. Turning around, Bridgette saw Alejandro approaching. The Hispanic flirt said, "Change of plans Chad. I'm doing this challenge, you're doing Danny's."
"All right. Nice to meet you Bridgette," Chad said as he headed toward the front of the library.
"Well since you're running my challenge now, what exactly is it," Bridgette asked.
Alejandro flashed a charming smile and said, "Well, my beautiful friend, your challenge was provided by Rebecca. You are to memorize and recite a short sentence in Japanese. You have a few options of sentences, but whatever you choose, I will validate it. And for the record, I speak Japanese, so I'll know. If you don't get anything in a half hour, you can move on automatically. You can use any books or the computers to help you out."
Bridgette blushed faintly and said, "Guess I better get started."
(Football Field)
Noah made his way to the football field, where he saw several footballs on the ground as well as Owen waiting nearby. "Noah," Owen excitedly cheered as he put the know it all into a headlock.
"Owen…can't…breath," Noah choked out before the happy go lucky teen let him go. Noah coughed for a second before catching his breath and said, "All right, let's get this over with. What's my challenge?"
"DJ came up with this one. All you have to do is throw a football through the goal posts. Every two minutes, you get to move closer. Simple enough, right," Owen explained.
"Joy," Noah muttered as he picked up a football and threw it with all his might. The ball traveled roughly twenty feet before hitting the ground. Noah sighed and said, "This is going to be a long challenge."
(Auditorium)
Jennifer entered the auditorium and approached the stage, where she saw Katie and Sadie sitting nearby. The two waved her over and Katie said, "Hi Jennifer! Here for Leshawna's challenge?"
"Um, I guess so. I wasn't told who gave it to me," the performing artist said with a shrug.
"Well this is your first challenge, right," Sadie asked.
Jennifer nodded and said, "That's right."
"All right, so you have to dance to some music that Leshawna picked out and once we like the dancing, you can go. And we've been told that we have to approve appropriate dancing. So you can't just do any dance, it has to match the type of music," Katie explained.
"Well let's get started then," Jennifer said with a cheer as she got on stage. Very shortly afterward, some ambiguous hip-hop music mixed with rap music began to play and Jennifer said, "This might be more difficult than I thought."
(Library)
Bridgette was halfway through her allotted time for finishing the challenge and had already tried reciting one of the phrases a couple of times already. After closing her eyes and repeating the words she was memorizing one more time, she got up from the computer she was sitting at and made her way to Alejandro, who was reading a book on Sweden. Seeing the surfer girl approach, he asked, "Ready to try again?"
Bridgette nodded and said, "Watashi wa kono kontesuto o kakutoku shimasu."
"So you wish to win this competition, do you? Well you're my top pick, if that means anything," the charmer chuckled before he said, "Congratulations, you're done with your first challenge. For your next one, head to the cafeteria. Chef will fill you in when you get there."
"Thanks. Any idea what my challenge is," Bridgette asked.
Alejandro nodded and said, "I do. But unfortunately I can't fill you in on any details. All I can say is I'm sorry for what you're about to do."
Bridgette bit her lip in worry but walked away and said, "Well thanks anyway. Wish me luck."
(Computer Lab)
Mikey heard footsteps walking through the hallway behind him but he didn't bother to look in the direction they came from. Instead he was still at work on his challenge, though he was nearing completion of the final puzzle. "Let's see, that space is no good. Which means that one is. And with that one accounted for, I can do this," Mikey muttered as he finished up the last puzzle, "And with that, I should be done."
As the gamer said this, he completed the last puzzle and a new message displayed on screen. It read, "Nice job! I had a feeling you could do it. For your next challenge, head outside to the football field, your next challenge will be ready there."
Mikey got up and said, "Well, no time like the present." He exited the room and as he headed outside he muttered, "Damn. Those puzzles were actually kind of addicting. I want to do more now."
(Auditorium)
After twenty minutes of trying to dance along to the music and not making any progress, Jennifer was starting to reach her wit's end. "I don't get it, what am I doing wrong," she asked.
Katie and Sadie looked like they wanted to help but hesitated to say anything. Katie finally spoke up, "It's not that your dancing is bad, it's just not like what Leshawna showed us."
Jennifer's expression brightened, as if something dawned on her and she said, "Of course! It's not working because I'm dancing how I normally would. I have to dance like Leshawna!" With this new state of mind, Jennifer began dancing the same way Leshawna would.
After a good twenty seconds of this, Sadie said, "Alright, that's enough, you're good."
"I can move to my next challenge," the performing artist asked.
Katie nodded and said, "Yep! Head on over to woodshop for your next challenge." Jennifer nodded and jogged off.
(Football Field)
Noah was still trying to throw a football through the goalposts, and despite being twice as close as he was before, he was still having trouble. The only thing in his favor right now was at least he was hitting the bottom part of the goalpost with decent accuracy. "If only I could manage to get the ball just a little bit higher," Noah muttered.
Mikey jogged past and stopped over by Owen and said, "Hey Owen! You wouldn't happen to have my second challenge would you?"
"Oh hey Mikey! Yep, I've got it. Ezekiel came up with this one. You can leave in half an hour. But you see the bow and arrow behind me? There's a target in the field. Every time you hit the target with an arrow, you can leave five minutes sooner. And for the first couple of arrows, the area you can hit gets smaller. That's all there is to it," Owen explained.
"So hit the target and make sure I get closer to the center each time," Mikey summed up before shrugging and said, "Time to embrace my inner Hawkeye."
Over with Noah, he stepped forward again and threw the football as hard as he could. It bounced off the bottom bar of the goalpost before falling backwards, technically completing his challenge. "Finally," Noah muttered before raising his voice to shout, "Hey Owen! Did you catch that?"
"Sure did Noah buddy! Your next challenge is in the computer lab," Owen cheerfully said with a wave. Noah merely nodded as he jogged off.
(Kitchen)
Bridgette entered the lunchroom and approached the kitchen, where she saw Chef Hatchet waiting for her. Steeling her nerves, the surfer girl approached the counter and said, "Hello Chef. I'm here for my second challenge."
Looking over, the large cook nodded and said, "Alright. This one's from whiny Asian girl. She says you have to eat a foot long hot dog covered with chili. Doesn't seem like much of a challenge, but then again you're one of them hippie types, ain't ch'a?"
"I'm a vegetarian, not a hippie," Bridgette said.
"Eh, either way they just ain't right," Chef said with a shrug.
The surfer shook her head and said, "Figures Heather would give me a challenge like this. Is this a real hot dog or is it fake?"
Chef raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is it real or fake? You're kiddin' me, right?"
"I mean is it barely edible like the rest of your cooking," Bridgette asked.
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that," Chef grumbled before he said, "I can cook well when I want to. I just choose not to when cooking for you ungrateful punks. This time's an exception. The hot dog's as real as it gets."
"And there's no way out of this is there," Bridgette nervously asked.
"Not unless you don't care about winning," Chef shrugged.
Bridgette sighed and said, "All right, fine. Let's have it."
Chef went into the back for a minute before bringing out the hot dog on a tray. He put it on the counter and Bridgette hesitantly took it. As she walked to a nearby table, she gagged at the sight of the meal she had to eat.
(Woodshop)
Jennifer entered the woodshop where she saw Carl, the Aftermath producer intern, sitting on a table, reading something off of his phone. When the door closed behind the performing artist, Carl looked up and said, "Ah, yes Jennifer. Here for your second challenge?"
"That's right. What am I doing," Jennifer asked.
"According to this, you have William's challenge. You have to cut the wood over there into the shape of a sword. Then using it, you have to cut the plywood targets that are set up in the back," Carl said before looking up and saying, "To my knowledge, the wood is basically set. All that you have to do is cut out the blade. The hilt is already done. And the plywood is really thin, so it shouldn't be too hard."
Jennifer nodded and said, "Anything else you can tell me?"
"You're allowed to leave in a half hour if you haven't finished by then. But aside from that, I have no other instructions," the Aftermath intern said with a shrug as he started to look at his phone once more. Jennifer rolled up her sleeves, nodded, and got to work on the challenge.
(Computer Lab)
Noah entered the computer lab and noticed that only one computer was on, but unbeknownst to him it was different from the one Mikey used earlier. He sat down and looked at the message on the screen. It read "Hey Noah, Julie here. I know the others are going to give you harder challenges, so I decided it would be fair to give you an easier one. After exiting this message, you'll have to do five math puzzles. They get harder as they go, and the last one is pretty tough, if I do say so myself. Once you finish them all, a message will pop up with your next challenge. Good luck!"
"Finally, I manage to catch a break," Noah muttered as he exited the message and began his second challenge.
Restroom Confessional
Mikey: You know, I can't really complain about my challenges so far. They've been difficult without being too difficult, if that makes sense. Just the right amount of challenge.
Noah: I should count my blessings with my second challenge. It's not very difficult, at least for me. It's probably going to be my only easy challenge too, so I should be as quick with it as I can.
(Football Field)
Fifteen minutes had passed, but Mikey had taken an additional ten off from hitting the target twice. Each of those two times he had barely hit the target within the valid area however, so he was having trouble when it came to future shots. He either missed the target completely or he would hit it in a spot that isn't valid anymore. "Man, the movies make this look so much easier," Mikey remarked as he drew the bow back for another shot. He fired and the arrow landed just outside the valid area of the target.
Mikey sighed and prepared another arrow as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then opened his eyes and held his breath as he took aim. His previous shot's hadn't been affected by the wind at all, so all he had to do was account for gravity. Taking aim at the center of the target, he moved his aim up a little bit before letting the arrow fly. Time seemed to slow as the arrow flew through the air, before it impacted the target.
Moving to the side a little, Mikey could see that it hit in the valid area, just above the cutoff point. "Yes! Hey Owen, I think I'm all set now, right," Mikey cheered.
Owen cheered as well and said, "Woohoo! You got it! Your next challenge is at the bottom of the hill that you had to go to during the obstacle course."
"Thanks man, see you later," Mikey said as he dashed off.
(Computer Lab)
Noah had just finished up the fourth problem and was already hard at work on his last one. "I appreciate Julie giving me an easy challenge. With most likely three more physically challenging tasks ahead of me, I could use all the breaks I can get," Noah remarked. Just then he finished his last puzzle and he smirked, saying, "Child's play for me. Now for my next task."
A new message popped up on the screen and said, "Nice job Noah! I didn't have any doubts you wouldn't finish, but congratulations are still in order. Your next challenge is at the obstacle course from the math challenge. Good luck!"
"Let's get this over with," Noah muttered as he got up and exited the room.
(Woodshop)
Jennifer looked hesitantly at her sword but then shrugged and said, "It's now or never I suppose." She took it to the targets at the back of the woodshop and noticed that they had lines drawn on them. "Hey, are these lines important," Jennifer yelled back at Carl.
The Aftermath intern replied without looking up from his phone, "That's the points where the wood is weakest. Might benefit you to slice them there."
Turning back to her objective, Jennifer noted the first one was a vertical cut straight down the board. Gripping the sword she cut, she raised it above her head before letting out a cry and swinging downward. True to Carl's words, the wood seemed to be weak where the lines were, as she cut straight downward without any trouble. Seeing this, she grinned and turned to the next piece of wood, which had a horizontal line. Jennifer swung her blade horizontally and cut this piece of wood as well.
She then turned her attention to the final two, the first of which had a diagonal line running from the bottom left to the upper right and the second of which had a diagonal line running from the upper left to the bottom right. With a grin on her face, she let out a yell and swung first upwards before shifting momentum and swinging downwards, slicing the two boards in two. "Yes! I did it," Jennifer cheered.
"Nice job. Your next challenge is in the music room," Carl said, his eyes not on his phone for a change.
Jennifer ran out of the room, saying, "Thanks!"
(Cafeteria)
Bridgette hesitantly looked at her meal and seemed to be psyching herself up for the task ahead of her. She gulped and asked, "Hey Chef? What's the rule on me throwing up?"
"I'll make you a deal if it gets you out of here quicker," Chef grunted, "As long as the whole thing gets in your mouth before you hurl, I'll have it count."
Bridgette bit her lip and said, "Okay, that makes things at least a little easier. All right, I'll do it. I've wasted enough time." Bridgette took a deep breath before picking up the hot dog and starting to eat it. She gagged not long into starting but managed to keep what she was eating down. She made quick progress, hoping to get the challenge over with as fast as possible.
Despite gagging on the meal a couple of times, she was able to hang on. When she had about two inches of the hot dog left she gagged worse than before. Fearing the worst, she threw what was left in her mouth and closed it before running over to the nearby trash can. She waited by it for a few moments, not chewing what was in her mouth in fear of making her situation worse.
It was a futile effort however because she ducked her head into the trash can as she began to throw up. Chef saw this and after a moment of waiting, went into the kitchen for a moment, rummaging around for something. He returned with a glass of water and walked over toward Bridgette. Setting the glass of water down on a nearby table, he said, "When you're ready, your next challenge is in the gym." He walked away as Bridgette, who was no longer vomiting, weakly sat down at the table where Chef left the glass of water.
Restroom Confessional
Bridgette: (Her face appears to be a little paler than normal) That wasn't fun. When I first became a vegetarian, I didn't have a problem eating meat, even though I tried to avoid it. It's been so long since that happened though, that I think my body might have adapted and rejects meat now.
Jennifer: It's so weird to not be racing alongside the others. I have no idea how they're doing so I can't tell if I'm in first, last or somewhere in-between. Oh well, that just means I have to try harder and give it my all to make sure I'm not in last!
(Top of the Hill, by the Obstacle Course)
Mikey was about to head toward the bottom of the hill when he saw Duncan nearby and walked over. "Hey Duncan," the gamer said as he approached, "You wouldn't happen to know what my third challenge is, would you?"
"You're in luck. I actually do. If you head down the hill, you might notice there's a maze. You have to navigate through it. Some junctions will have signs with different types of math, science and history problems on them. According to Jessie, who made this challenge, the signs have answers as well, with the right answer to the problem giving a hint as to where to go to find your way out. And if you take too long, the walls will start to lower to let you get to the end. There's a sign at the exit that will tell you about your next challenge," Duncan explained.
Mikey nodded before pausing and asking, "One question. The zipline from the obstacle course challenge is still here. Can I use it to go down the hill?"
Duncan shrugged and said, "Go for it. Noah needs it for his challenge, but he's not here yet." Mikey ran off before grabbing onto the zipline and riding it down.
At this moment Noah ran over, somewhat out of breath and said, "What's…my next…challenge?"
"Perfect timing," Duncan remarked before saying, "Gwen's challenge for you is to run the entire obstacle course in under a minute and a half. No dumb math problems like before, just the obstacles. If you take too long without succeeding, the time limit will increase until you get it."
"I'll get started…in just a minute. Let me…catch my breath first," Noah said while panting.
"Suit yourself," Duncan shrugged.
(Music Room)
Jennifer entered the room and saw Beth sitting at the piano, hitting keys somewhat randomly trying to replicate famous songs. She waved and said, "Hey Beth. I'm here for my challenge."
Beth waved back and said, "Hey Jennifer. Your challenge is from Trent actually. We made sure he didn't go easy on you however. His challenge is you have to use the electric guitar over there and give a rock and roll performance. Do whatever you think will be necessary. Once I feel you've done well enough, I'll tell you your next destination."
"An electric guitar? This is different than what I'm used to, but I guess it wouldn't be a challenge then, would it," Jennifer mused as she grabbed the guitar and got ready to rock.
(Gym)
Bridgette wearily entered the gym where she saw Chad the intern using a barbell. He saw the surfer girl enter and put the weight down, waving her over with his other hand. "Hey Bridgette! Ready for your next challenge," the intern happily greeted.
"I guess so," Bridgette hesitantly answered.
"Hey no worries, this one doesn't seem too bad," Chad replied before adding, "This is Danny's challenge, so it's fair. All you gotta do is a set of Kung Fu moves on the practice dummies set up over there. There's instructions on how to do each maneuver. But to make sure you do it right, there are pressure sensors in the dummies. So if you hit them the wrong way, a light on top will turn red. But if you do it right, then the light will turn green. Once all three are green, I'll let you know where your next challenge is."
"I guess that doesn't seem so bad," Bridgette admitted.
"What's the matter? You sound out of it, at least compared to earlier," Chad asked.
The surfer shook her head and said, "It's nothing. My last challenge was given by Heather and I would rather not talk about it anymore than that."
"Say no more, I think I get the idea," Chad said before he adding, "Feel free to start the challenge when you're ready."
"Well as much as I would like to wait, the longer I wait, the more time everyone else has," Bridgette sighed before nodding and walking over to the dummies.
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: I think it was lucky that I got Trent's challenge. I know they said they made sure he didn't go easy on me, but at the same time, he probably gave me an easier challenge than if he had to give any of the others a challenge.
(The Maze)
Mikey ran to a fork in the road with a sign in the middle of it. The sign read "There are mythological feathered serpents present in many ancient Central American religions. Which of these two is the name of one of these ancient deities? If one of them is named Kukulkan, go to the right. If one of them is named Tialoc, go to the left."
"Geez, wish I paid a bit more attention in history class," Mikey muttered before tapping a finger on his forehead for a moment. Shrugging, he decided to head to the right.
Before long he came before another sign, this one reading, "What is the term for a falling object when it is falling as fast as possible? If it's ludicrous speed, go to the right but if it's terminal velocity, go to the left."
Mikey shook his head and said, "Seriously? Hopefully Jessie didn't write all these because that is clearly a Spaceballs reference. Oh well, makes it easier for me." Mikey took a left and jogged down the path for a little bit, making a turn when he felt it was a good choice.
After another minute or two of making his way toward where he thought the exit was, he finally found it. Letting out a cheer and a fist pump, he ran outside the maze and stopped at a sign that read, "Nice job making it through the maze. Your next challenge will be in the gym."
"Not a moment to lose," Mikey muttered before running off.
(Music Room)
Jennifer had spent the past fifteen or so minutes preparing to give a rock and roll performance that, well, rocked. She had picked out a song, got the guitar tuned and ready and made sure there were speakers that worked. The performing artist looked at her work, nodded and made her way over to Beth.
"Ready to begin," Beth asked.
"You know it," Jennifer replied with a nod.
The wannabe said, "Alright, whenever you're ready."
Jennifer walked back to where she got things set up and picked up the guitar and gave it a few experimental strums. When she was ready, she nodded and pressed a button to start up the music, which was edited to remove the guitar part. Using the sheet music in front of her, she started to play the instrumental part of Free Bird. And while she wasn't totally accurate, she managed to play a significant portion of it correctly.
About halfway through the long solo, Beth waved at her and she stopped playing for a second. "I've heard enough. Congrats, you're moving on to your next challenge. It's in the computer lab. Good luck," Beth said as she took the guitar from Jennifer.
The performing artist smiled and said, "Thanks. One step closer to winning, right?"
(Gym)
Bridgette studied the third and final series of moves she had to perform very carefully. The first two were relatively easy, but this one appeared to ramp up the difficulty quite a bit. The individual moves weren't too hard, a few punches here, some kicks there, but they had to be performed in quick succession for them to count. Taking a deep breath, Bridgette prepared herself before launching a flurry of blows. The first few hit their mark but she lost her balance and fell to the ground, the sensors blinking for a second before resetting.
Bridgette sighed before an idea came to her and she asked, "Hey Chad, are these pressure sensors any special?"
The intern glanced over while lifting a barbell and said, "I dunno, maybe. Why?"
"Do I have to actually hit them with punches and kicks or can I just smack them," the surfer asked.
"That's a good question actually. I don't know. But even if I did, I wouldn't be able to tell you," Chad replied.
"Well what do I have to lose," Bridgette remarked before hitting all of the sensors in order.
Once she was done, she waited a few seconds before the light turned green, signifying she was done with the challenge. "Yes, I did it," Bridgette cheered as Chad clapped.
The intern nodded and said, "Nice job. Your next challenge will be in the auditorium."
The surfer ran out of the room and said, "Thanks!" as she waved back at him.
(Obstacle Course)
The time limit for Noah to complete the obstacle course had just increased to two and a half minutes, as the know-it-all had failed his task for the tenth time. He went back to the beginning of the course and took a moment to catch his breath.
"Okay, I came close that time. So if I wait to catch my breath, that combined with the longer time to complete the course should let me just barely finish it," Noah muttered to himself. After another few seconds of resting, he got ready to run for what he hoped would be his last run of the course. "Okay, let's see if I can do this now," Noah muttered as he began to run the course.
Though the climbing wall and the sand pit gave him some trouble, Noah finished the course in 2 minutes and 29 seconds, literally clearing the challenge at the last possible second. The know-it-all collapsed to the ground and started to regain his breath.
As he lay there panting, Duncan walked over and said, "Not bad. I honestly figured you wouldn't get it until you had three minutes. Your next challenge is also with me, so I'll just go ahead and say what it is. You have to run laps on the track. Just run like three laps and you're good."
"Th-That's it? What's the catch," Noah managed to say between breaths.
"No catch. It's Geoff's challenge, what did you expect? I like the guy but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed," Duncan replied.
Noah just sat there, continuing to catch his breath before he muttered, "Great, just give me a minute."
"Whatever, just means it'll be easier for you to come in last," Duncan said as he walked over to the track.
Restroom Confessional
Mikey: I like to think I'm making good time. Aside from Noah, I haven't run into anyone else during the whole challenge, so who knows what place I'm in. I'm a little worried that the next challenge is in the gym though. I'm not exactly strong so I have to hope that whatever I have to do is something that's within my limits.
(Computer Lab)
Jennifer entered the computer lab and, like Mikey and Noah before her, noticed only one computer was currently powered on. Jennifer approached the only working computer and sat down at the desk. She looked at the note on the screen that read, "Hello Jennifer. For your challenge you will be presented a hypothetical crime scene. Using evidence you gather from the crime scene, you have to figure out which of the three suspects actually committed the crime. Good luck. – Courtney."
The performing artist bit her lip slightly and said, "Well I wasn't expecting this. Oh well, guess I'll give it my best shot. Maybe I actually learned something from occasionally watching those crime dramas with my mom." Jennifer started the only program to be seen on the desktop and started her challenge.
(Gym)
Mikey entered the gym and saw Chad standing nearby. The intern waved at the gamer, who approached and said, "Not to be rude, but who are you?"
"No worries man. I'm Chad. I'm an intern they hired for next season. Said they wanted me to come in today for a bit of training, if you can call this training I guess," Chad chuckled.
"Oh okay. I hate to seem impatient, but I'm against the clock right now. Do you have my next challenge," Mikey asked.
Chad asked back, "You're Mikey right?" After a nod from the gamer, Chad continued, "Alright, Nicholas gave your next challenge. You have to do 25 reps on the weight bench. Every couple of minutes you can either reduce the weight you have to lift or the reps you have to make. You also have to do it consistently. If you put the bar back down, you reset the reps. And don't worry, I'll be there to spot you so you don't drop the bar on your chest or anything."
"That's a relief," Mikey muttered before looking to the tall intern and saying, "Well let's get started, no time like the present, right?"
"That's the spirit," Chad cheered as he led the gamer to the weight room.
(Auditorium)
Bridgette approached the stage, noticing Katie and Sadie chatting away. Katie, who saw the surfer out of the corner of her eye, waved her over and said, "Bridgette, over here!"
Bridgette returned the wave and said, "Hi girls. I'd love to chat, but I don't have time to waste. I'm here for my challenge."
"No problem Bridgette, we can talk afterwards if you want," Sadie chimed in.
"That sounds nice," the surfer said with a smile.
Katie nodded and said, "Alright, so, your next challenge is from Emily."
"You have to dance a short ballet routine," Sadie added.
Katie continued, "There's no set routine to follow, just string together some moves."
Sadie chimed in, "Once we see you've done well enough, we'll tell you where your last challenge is located."
"Seems simple enough. Do I have to wear a tutu," Bridgette dryly remarked, a slight smirk on her face.
Katie giggled and said, "Nope. But there are ballet slippers backstage if you want them."
Bridgette started to walk to the stage and said, "Maybe. I'm just hoping I won't fall too many times."
"If it makes you feel any better, we were dancing for fun before the challenge started and we fell a bunch," Sadie said with a giggle.
"You know, that does help just a little bit," Bridgette said, a slight smile on her face.
(Computer Lab)
Jennifer looked over her notes of the crime scene that her challenge presented her with, as well as some notes on the potential suspects. "Hmm. The hair found at the crime scene probably belonged to a cat, according to the forensics report. And suspect A is allergic to horribly allergic to cats. So despite him having the most motive, he probably wasn't it. Man, TV shows manage to make this a lot more interesting than it actually is," Jennifer said with a sigh, "Though I guess this isn't a real crime scene either, so who knows."
Looking things over a little more, she noticed something in the program that she hadn't seen before. "Wait a second, is that blood on the glass? That might be what I need," Jennifer noted, having the program simulate sending the blood to a forensics lab. A timer displayed on screen, signaling that Jennifer had to wait for three minutes. She rested her head against her arm and mused, "I wonder how the others are doing."
(Track)
Noah was currently done with one of his laps and about a quarter done with his second one. "This…sucks. But…at least…it's not…difficult," Noah managed to get out between breaths.
(Gym)
Mikey had currently reduced the weight of the bar once, and in another minute would get to make his challenge easier again. He picked up the bar and managed to lift it five times before he started to struggle. Five reps later and he was starting to get red in the face and said, "Chad…little help?" The intern grabbed the bar and Mikey took a moment to catch his breath, muttering, "This sucks."
(Auditorium)
Bridgette was in the middle of practicing her routine, not yet ready to present it to the judges. As she practiced turning on one foot, she lost her balance and fell. She groaned from her spot on the ground and muttered, "At least nothing fell over this time."
(Computer Lab)
As the timer for the simulated forensics analysis got close to zero, Jennifer thought out loud, "I bet the others are having a great time."
Just then the timer expired and a pop up appeared on screen. Jennifer read aloud, "The blood matched that of suspect C. In addition, we can report that the fingerprints on the gun are those of suspect C, despite the gun belonging to suspect B." Jennifer nodded for a few seconds and said, "Yep, looks like suspect C did it." The performing artist confirmed her choice for who committed the crime and waited for a few seconds as the program loaded the results.
A screen came up with the message, "Congratulations! You solved the crime! Your next, and last, challenge will be in the cafeteria's kitchen. Good luck!" Jennifer finished reading and got up before quickly exiting the room. Nobody had finished the challenge yet; would she be the first to move on?
(Auditorium)
Bridgette had just finished another practice run at what her ballet routine was going to be. Feeling confident, she moved onto the stage and got the attention of Katie and Sadie, who were busy gossiping. Katie happened to notice Bridgette first and waved at her, asking, "Are you ready to give your dancing a shot?"
"I think so, yeah. I just hope I won't mess up too much," the surfer admitted.
"Don't worry. We're not that harsh of judges. Just try your best and we'll probably let you go on," Sadie assured the surfer.
Bridgette nodded and said, "Alright. Here I go." As some music ballet started to play over the auditorium's speakers, Bridgette began to move fairly gracefully. Most of her moves involved turning on one foot or kicking a leg outward, but she did a couple of jumps as well. On her third jump, she stumbled as she landed, losing her balance. She threw her arms out and tried to remain standing, but ultimately failed, falling and landing on her butt.
The music stopped and Bridgette lamented, "Man, now I have to do that over again." Katie and Sadie looked to each other for a moment, before turning back to Bridgette.
Katie said, "We've decided that you did well enough for your challenge and can move on to your last one."
Bridgette looked surprised and said, "Seriously?"
"Yup! Your last challenge is in the computer lab. Good luck," Sadie cheered. Bridgette got up, slipped off the ballet slippers and took off, waving at the two as she went.
Restroom Confessional
Bridgette: I don't want to jinx myself, but I think I'm in a good spot right now. I'm glad I got lucky with most of the challenges, though. They've been just hard enough without being overbearing. Well, aside from Heather's challenge. I wish I could forget that one.
(Gym)
The difficulty of Mikey's challenge had been reduced twice since he was last seen. He now only had to do fifteen reps with the weight bar, which had been made lighter once. He was getting closer to completing the challenge, but still struggled a bit with the last five reps. Chad said, "Alright man, you can do this. I believe in you. And if you still can't in like 2 minutes, then you can make it a bit easier."
"No, I can do this, I know I can," Mikey remarked before closing his eyes for a moment and breathing deeply. The gamer's eyes snapped open and he grabbed the bar. He lifted it off of the rest and started to do reps. He easily did the first eight without trouble, and was able to do three more with only a little bit of struggling. He could start to feel his strength wavering, but shut his eyes again, mustering as much energy as he could.
He struggled but managed to power through the last four reps, his arms shaking as he tried to put the bar back in place.
Chad grabbed it and put it back, before putting the gamer in a friendly headlock and said, "Haha, see, you could totally do it. Nice job man. I would celebrate with you more, but you got one more challenge. You have to go to the chemistry lab."
Mikey paled and said, "Oh no. Why did it have to be chemistry?"
Chad seemed oblivious to the gamer's worry and let him go, giving him a friendly wave before he started to use the weight bench. Mikey quickly but cautiously left to head to the chemistry lab.
Restroom Confessional
Mikey: Don't worry, just because it's in the chemistry lab doesn't mean it's a chemistry challenge, right? Maybe it's biology and that was the only room they could use or something. Yeah, that's probably it, I'm just worrying about nothing. Ha ha. (The gamer is silent for a moment before he develops a somber expression) I'm screwed, aren't I?
(Track)
Noah finally finished his three laps and stood hunched over panting, his hands on his knees. Duncan walked over, a cup of water in his hand and gave it to the know it all. The punk said, "Alright, not bad. Honestly it took you less time than I thought it would. Your last challenge is in the gym."
"Seriously? I know I made some enemies, but four out of five challenges are ones that require a lot of physical ability," Noah remarked.
"Not quite for this one. I can't say much but I can tell you that it's in the gym because there's a lot of setup space," Duncan cryptically said.
Noah narrowed his eyes and said, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"You don't," Duncan smirked.
Noah rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever. I'm out of here."
Restroom Confessional
Noah: So I noticed a pattern in the challenges. If you separated the eliminated contestants into groups of four, I got all of the ones from people who were third in their group of four. Meaning my last challenge, should the pattern hold up, belongs to Izzy. Which gives me the slightest bit of hope that it won't be completely awful. Knowing Izzy though, as long as I don't leave today in an ambulance, that'll be a win.
(Cafeteria)
Jennifer entered the cafeteria and saw Chef sitting at a table near the kitchen entrance, reading a newspaper. The performing artist walked over and said, "Hi Chef. Would you happen to know about my challenge here?"
The large cook put his paper down and said, "I do know about your challenge. It's from Super Mario's girlfriend."
"Do you not have a nickname for her," Jennifer interrupted.
"Do you remember anything about her that stood out? Now, if you're done interrupting, your challenge is to cook me something. I ain't that hard to please so as long as you don't kill me or anything, you should be good," Chef explained.
Jennifer asked in response, "Okay, is there anything particular you want?"
Chef elaborated, "I'm not supposed to show any sort of favoritism, but I am craving Italian food for some reason. Also the less complex a certain aspect is, the more you'll have to do. Wouldn't be fair if I passed you for toast or something, would it?"
"Fair enough, I'll get right to it," Jennifer said as she entered the kitchen.
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: Okay, so not to make it seem like I'm bragging or anything, but I'm pretty excited about my last challenge. I actually like cooking so I'm kind of experienced at it. As long as I don't try to make anything that takes too long to cook, I should be good. Now what exactly should I make?
(Computer Lab)
Bridgette entered the room, and the first thing she noticed was that none of the computers were on. There appeared to be something on a table at the back of the room, but she couldn't tell what it was. As she went over to get a look at it, the door closed, a clacking indicating the door was now locked.
Bridgette panicked and rushed over to the door, frantically trying to turn the handle to no avail. She kept messing with the handle until she saw a note that said 'Go to the back of the room'. The surfer cautiously went to the table she was heading to you before.
On the table was a note that read 'Hey Bridgette! Sorry about the whole locking you in this room thing. You can leave once your challenge is done or once the overall challenge is over. This challenge isn't too complex. There's a couple of puzzles here. Solving each of the first three will give you something you need for the last one. Solve that and you'll get the key to unlock the door. Good luck, I'm rooting for you! -Cody'.
Bridgette took a deep breath and said, "Okay, now that I know I'm stuck here intentionally, I can hopefully focus on the challenge. I just hope I won't be too late."
(Chemistry Lab)
Mikey opened the door to the lab and cautiously looked around before spotting Beth sitting at what used to be the teacher's desk. Gulping, the gamer approached and said, "Uh, hey Beth. I'm here for my challenge."
The wannabe nodded and appeared to have a sympathetic smile on her face as she said, "Alright, I'll be quick since this is your last challenge. There are three setups for chemistry experiments over at the lab benches. They all have some general instructions, but you'll need to use your judgement for some of this. Unlike the chemistry challenge earlier in the season, these chemicals shouldn't explode or anything, but if your end result isn't as the setup describes, you'll have to do it again."
"O-okay. Seems simple enough I guess. I just hope I won't let my nerves get to me," Mikey said as he went off to do his challenge.
"I have faith that you can do it," Beth reassured before muttering under her breath, "I didn't have the heart to tell him Joseph came up with this one."
(Gym)
Noah walked into the gym and unlike when Bridgette and Mikey were there, Chad the intern was not present. In his place was Alejandro, who was busy doing some push-ups. The Hispanic charmer saw the know it all approaching and stood up and said, "Ah Noah! I was expecting you. Come with me."
"Aren't you going to explain my challenge," Noah questioned as he followed the taller teen through some doors to a smaller gym that used to be used for basketball practice, among other things.
Alejandro chuckled as he pushed open the doors and said, "I could, but I figured it would be better to show you." Inside the smaller gym were a bunch of targets, some large, some small. Some were hung on the walls and others were set up on stands. In the center of the room was a table with a couple of paintball guns and a lot of ammunition.
Alejandro gestured to the table and said, "Your challenge Noah, is to shoot all of the targets. There's a rectangle of tape on the ground surrounding the table and reaching a little beyond it. You have to stay within that rectangle for the challenge. And that's it. You can shoot the target anywhere, just so long as it lands inside it. Izzy wanted to use live ammunition for this, but we were thankfully able to talk her down to paintballs."
"No catch? Just hit every target," Noah skeptically questioned.
"Si, mi amigo, that's all there is to it. I'll be watching from that corner where there aren't any targets and will let Chris know when you complete it," Alejandro confirmed.
Noah walked to the table and said, "Well, may as well get this over with."
(Kitchen)
Jennifer was quickly moving back and forth between the counter where was doing most of her preparations and the stove, where some pasta was currently cooking. "Okay, the spaghetti should be ready soon, just need to make sure that it doesn't get overcooked. The sauce should be warm enough at this point, but I'll leave it on to make sure the meatballs get cooked properly," Jennifer thought aloud, "So now all I really need to worry about is the side dish. I've never really tried making this, and it seems kind of plain. But then again, I am working with a time limit, so maybe Chef will understand?"
The performing artist finished cutting up some tomatoes and put them on a plate with some thick slices of mozzarella cheese. Looking the side dish over, she grabbed a bottle of olive oil and drizzled a very small amount over the dish, to give it a little flavor. After checking the pasta once more, she grabbed the side dish and as she walked into the cafeteria, she could be heard saying, "Here's a little something to tide you over until the main dish is ready. Just make sure you try the cheese with the tomato, the two don't really have much flavor by themselves."
Restroom Confessional
Chef: (His eyes look somewhat glazed over and he has a dumb smile on his face) Have I died and gone to heaven? (He shakes his head and regains his composure) I'm not sure what she did to that dish, but it had no business being as good as it was. I was almost ready to pass her then and there, but she had already gone back into the kitchen.
(Computer Lab)
Bridgette had already finished one of the three puzzles, a simple tile sliding one, and was almost done with the second one, which was a word decryption one. "Let's see, if that translates to A, and that translates to P, the last letter is probably N, since I already used L and R. And that means the code to unlock the bottom compartment is NETWORK," the surfer girl mused.
Sure enough, when she input the work Network on to the spinning dials on the bottom of the box, a compartment opened up with what looked like the end of a key inside it. Grabbing it, Bridgette looked at what the first puzzle gave her. She noticed the two items fit together and connected them before remarking, "It looks like this is the key to open the room! I bet the last puzzle Cody was talking about was actually putting the key together!" With this new knowledge, Bridgette went to the last puzzle and started it.
(Chemistry Lab)
Mikey was cautiously working on his second experiment. He had just finished the first one a couple of minutes ago and his confidence was up because he hadn't messed up the first experiment. As he added a blue chemical to a green mixture that was in a beaker, it began to bubble upwards.
Looking at the instructions he had, it said to only add a little of the blue chemical. His eyes widening, Mikey grabbed the beaker, which at this point was close to bubbling over, and threw it across the room. "Get down," Mikey yelled in Beth's general direction before dropping to a crouched position. Not a second later did the beaker explode in midair, a couple of glass fragments landing on the ground near the gamer.
"You okay," Beth could be heard asking.
"Physically yes. As for my confidence, that's not doing so great. You," Mikey responded.
Beth replied, "I'm fine. I can't believe Chris actually kept explosive chemicals though, especially since he told me there wouldn't be any for this challenge."
The gamer stood up and said, "Yeah, me either."
"Not to stress you out, but you should probably hurry with those experiments," Beth reminded.
"Damn, you're right," Mikey said as he shakily got ready to retry the experiment.
(Gym)
Noah had hit about half of the targets so far, mostly the ones that were close to him or larger ones. He was having trouble with the rest of the targets because he underestimated the recoil of the paintball gun. He took a deep breath and lined up his next shot. Before firing, he steadied his shoulders before firing at a target farthest from him. Without exhaling, he moved to the target closest to that one and fired another shot. He continued until he fired about 8 shots before he had to exhale. Looking over the targets he shot at and saw that five of the eight had been hit. Grabbing some more paintballs, Noah remarked aloud, "Okay, now that I can reliably hit the targets, let's see how much longer this will take."
Restroom Confessional
Mikey: My nerves are getting to me. I know I need to work quickly, but I'm so nervous about failing that I can't. I've already messed up once, I can't afford to be set back any more though.
Noah: Figures, even when I get a challenge that doesn't totally screw me over, I still struggle with it. Oh well, it's not like I expect to win anyways.
(Principal's Office)
Chris sat in the reclining office chair that he had installed for the duration of the competition, reading a magazine while waiting for someone to finish the challenge. "'Blaineley O'Halloran to become host of reality competition show'," Chris read aloud from the magazine, "Well good for her. Although I kind of want to know what show she's hosting, I can understand why the lack of information for the media."
The host glanced at a display showing a feed from outside the computer lab, verifying that Bridgette had not yet completed her challenge. He then looked around the room and said, "I'm gonna miss hosting here. Even with my cabin back on the island, this is way more comfortable. Plus the network is paying for the hotel, so that's a nice bonus."
A walkie talkie next to him crackled with life and as the host listened to who was on the other end, he grinned and turned on the intercom. As the initial static ended, Chris said, "And we have the first person moving on to the final three! Congrats Jennifer!" No sooner than after his announcement ended did the door to the computer lab open and Bridgette exited into the hallway.
"Make that two! Bridgette, you are also moving on to the final three! Noah, Mikey, there's only one spot left, which of you two will make it," Chris announced.
(Outside)
Bridgette and Jennifer sat outside at a picnic table, eating some of the leftover pasta that Jennifer had made. "This is good Jennifer, have you ever considered becoming a cook," Bridgette asked.
"I've thought about it, but I don't think I would want to do it constantly. Maybe I'll make a cookbook one day, but that's about it," the performing artist replied, before asking, "So how were your challenges anyway?"
"Nothing too bad, though Heather did make me eat a hot dog. That one wasn't that great," the surfer answered.
Jennifer had a sympathetic look on her face and said, "I'm sorry about that. If it makes you feel any better, I think Noah had to do a bunch of physical challenges."
"Well hopefully Mikey will be the next one to move on," Bridgette noted.
At that moment the loudspeaker turned on and after some static, Chris could be heard, "Attention students! We have our last member of the final three! Without further ado, joining Jennifer and Bridgette is…"
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"Noah! Mikey, this unfortunately means you have been eliminated! Take a couple of minutes to say your goodbyes and then everyone needs to get going. We've got a lot of prep to do for tomorrow's challenge. McLean, out," Chris announced.
"Aw man," Bridgette sighed.
Jennifer nodded, "That sucks. Just means the two of us will have to try twice as hard tomorrow to make sure Noah goes home."
The surfer nodded, "Yeah."
Just then the door opened and both Mikey and Noah walked out. Mikey walked over to the two girls while Noah went over to a nearby bench and sat down. "Well I gave it my all. I just didn't expect to be given a chemistry challenge," Mikey lamented.
"Ouch. I know how much you don't like chemistry," Bridgette commented.
Jennifer piped up, "Don't worry Mikey, we'll be sure that Noah loses."
"I'm right here you know," Noah added.
"No offense Noah, but you said it yourself, you don't really deserve to win," the performing artist replied.
The know it all shrugged, "And I'm not denying that. But you could have made sure I was out of earshot at least."
"Look, just do as well as you can, both of you. I hope either of you win," Mikey said to the two girls before he added, "Anyways, I need to get going. I have a sneaking suspicion that there's a certain someone waiting for me wherever the eliminated contestants go." The gamer waved to the two and boarded the bus of losers, which departed.
Bus Confessional
Mikey: Well I can't be too mad, I made it a lot farther than I thought I would have. And I got the best girlfriend in the world on top of that. Still, what a way to go out. Was it luck of the draw that I got a chemistry challenge? Or was it deliberate? I mean, it's not like many people knew about my aversion to chemistry. (A look of realization comes across Mikey's face) Except the one person who would use that information maliciously. I'm gonna have a few choice words for Joseph next time I see him. But until then, I do hope either Bridgette or Jennifer win, though I would prefer Bridgette over Jennifer. You can do this guys!
Chris stood in front of the school, the final three getting onto a bus in the background. He gestured his arms and said, "And whether it was luck of the draw or intentional, Mikey falls to a chemistry challenge. Meaning our final three, Bridgette, Jennifer and Noah, are our finalists! That's right, the finale starts tomorrow! Which one of our final three will come out on top? Who will fall just short of Total Victory? And who's going to be taking home the bronze? Find out in the awesome two-part finale, next time on Total Drama High School!"
Votes
None, as elimination was instant
Eliminated: Leshawna, Alexander, DJ, Rebecca, William, Ezekiel, Julie, Heather, Trent, Jessie, Danny, Gwen, Courtney, Nicholas, Geoff, Emily, Megan, Joseph, Izzy, Cody, Mikey
Contestants Remaining: Bridgette, Jennifer, Noah (3 Remaining)
Fun Fact!
So from the beginning, I knew I wanted Mikey to go far. Maybe this is for a bit of a personal reason, as I based his appearance and some of his mannerisms on my own. I don't really consider him a self-insert, as I did a lot with his character that isn't the same as with me (for example I am more introverted and quiet than Mikey was). If anything I like to think Mikey's personality is a more idealized version of myself, like what I wish I could be. Though based on how people reacted to his character, it seems like most people didn't mind.
Now, I also knew that because of this personal bias, I couldn't have him win. His final ranking ranged from second to sixth during early planning for this fic, but I think where he ultimately ended up worked for the best. I do wish I did more with his gamer label though. As much as I like his character, his gamer personality only really came through in the form of references. I feel like I did a better job than canon did with Sam, but there's still more I could have done.
So this chapter was a long time coming. The sad part is like two-thirds of this was written back in December-February. Granted, I didn't have a lot of time to write because I had an internship at the time, and my writing time was limited to what I could do on the train to where I worked. And then in February Fire Emblem Fates came out. And that kept me distracted until late May. And then Overwatch came out. Suffice to say, these didn't help me when I get distracted easily enough as it is. But hey, 8-ish months is better than never.
It didn't help that the challenge was a bit dull to write. When the characters are all off doing their own thing, with not a lot of dialogue, it makes it increasingly harder to write, at least for me. I could have cut the overall number of challenges down, but I also wanted to involve all of the eliminated contestants. I do like what I did with the challenges, as they all spoke to the personality of the eliminated contestants. As a fun little aside, Joseph working with Mikey way back in the chemistry challenge was basically solely for the purpose of this challenge.
But now we have our finalists: Jennifer, Bridgette and Noah! And yes, the finale will be two parts. I have both parts entirely worked out in terms of how it'll work, and there will be a surprise or two yet. Here's hoping that you'll be hearing from me before next March! (I'm kidding. I have every intention of getting this finale done ASAP. Hopefully it will be worth the hype). Until Next Time!
Next Time: The finale that has been years in the making is finally here! Three will enter but by the end of the two-part challenge, only one will remain standing to claim the title of Total Drama High School champ.