Disclaimer: Total Drama and it's characters are the property of Fresh TV. The location, original characters and other original elements are of my own design.
Chris was standing in front of the high school, addressing a small army of interns gathered before him. "Alright interns. This has to go flawlessly. You've all been directed to your stations and have your instructions. So get to it," Chris ordered, the interns dispersing as he finished his speech.
Chef lumbered over and said, "So are we ready for this?"
"We should be. Every challenge is complete, or at least I think they all are. The interns are setting things up for the guests, so we should be ready for this final challenge," Chris confirmed.
"Yeah, but what about after this? That World Tour thing? Are we ready for that," Chef asked before adding, "I don't think a musical season's a great idea."
"Nah, it'll be fine. Besides, I got a great deal on a plane. Once this season wraps I'll actually buy it," Chris assured his co-host.
"If you say so," Chef unenthusiastically replied.
"Mr. McLean? We're ready to begin," the cameraman said.
Chris turned to the camera, gave it a big smile and said, "Last time on Total Drama High School! It was revenge of the eliminated contestants, as each of our final four were given a list of smaller challenges to complete, suggested by the eliminated contestants. And boy, were there some exciting challenges! From Heather making Bridgette eat a hot dog to Ezekiel making Mikey practice some archery, there were challenges of all types here. The first three to finish their challenges went on the final three and after a close race to the very end, Mikey was the odd one out and was eliminated. And now, we're finally at the finale! Jennifer, the performing artist who had quite the emotional roller coaster. Noah, the scheming know it all who helped a villain before backstabbing him. Bridgette, the peaceful surfer girl who never made any real enemies. By the end of the day one of these three will walk home the winner of Total Drama High School. Who will it be? Well you're just going to have to find out, right here on Total! Drama! High School!"
The bus ride was quiet. The three competitors, who as of yet still did not know they were at the finale, were keeping to themselves. They all knew that this next challenge would help dictate who would end up winning this game, though none of them knew how true that sentiment was. Bridgette and Jennifer shared a little bit of small talk but there was nothing noteworthy that occurred until they reached the high school.
Upon arrival at the high school, the trio saw Chris standing outside, Duncan and Owen with him. He appeared to be waiting for the three as he wasted no time in greeting them. "Hello final three! Or should I say, finalists," Chris asked before Duncan and Owen gave some odd hand signal and from behind the three, party poppers went off, courtesy of Katie, Sadie, and Beth.
"Wait, you mean this is the final challenge," Bridgette asked.
Noah dryly replied, "That is what finalist tends to mean in this type of show."
Chris grinned and said, "Noah and Bridgette, you two are both right! By the end of the day, one of you three will be the winner of Total Drama High School. And today's challenge will be one of the longest, most intense ones yet! The eliminated contestants are going to be running a slightly modified version of the challenge they were eliminated in. Each one will have their own conditions for completion, and don't worry, they've been scaled down appropriately."
"So how do we determine the winner? Is it whoever gets through them all first," Jennifer asked.
"Yes and no. While there are twenty challenges total, only two of you will have the chance to face them all. That's because this is a three-way race for the first half! Only the first two people to complete challenge ten will have a shot at victory. At that point, whoever is in third place will be eliminated and can't complete any more challenges," Chris clarified with a nod.
"So after this mid-challenge elimination it becomes a straightforward race to the finish line, I would assume," Noah inquired.
"Basically. If that's all the questions you have, let's start this trip down memory lane in the auditorium. Leshawna will fill you in on her challenge as well as officially start the final challenge there! Good luck and be ready to give it your all, you'll need it if you want to win," Chris said as he stepped aside to let the finalists into the school.
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: Well this was a pleasant surprise. I was ready for one more challenge, but if Chris wants to do it this way, I'm game. Now what was the first challenge we had again?
Bridgette: I wasn't expecting this to be honest. I can deal with challenges like the ones we did earlier in the season. None of them were really dangerous so I think I'll be able to manage.
Noah: This could be troubling. While I should be able to make a victory possible if I can make it through the first half, the first half has a few less than straightforward physical challenges.
(Auditorium)
The final three entered the auditorium, where they saw four podiums on the stage, three of which were on the right side of the stage and the fourth on the left side. Looking at each other, they shrugged and approached the podiums. Upon getting closer, they saw that their names were on the podiums on the right. Taking their places at their podiums, they waited.
"What's goin' on ya'll? Leshawna's in the house," Leshawna could be heard saying as she walked onto the stage, dressed in a fancy purple dress.
"Leshawna, you look beautiful," Jennifer complimented.
Leshawna smiled and said, "Thanks girl! Now I'm not going to waste any time. You all want to know about your challenge right?"
"I for one would like to get this over with," Noah remarked.
"I'm still mad at you for what you did String Bean," Leshawna shot back.
The know it all retorted, "And I deserve it. But in case you forgot, I had nothing to do with your elimination. We both voted for Nicholas day one."
"I wonder what would have happened if I had voted for you instead of him," Leshawna mused before shrugging, "I can worry about that later. As for your challenge, I'm sure you remember the first challenge was the trivia contest? Well I'm here to mix it up! I'll be asking you questions about the season in general. Get three right to move onto the second challenge. And even when there's one person left, you still need to get three right. Sound good?"
"Seems simple enough," Bridgette commented.
"Now this is something I can get behind. Too bad most of the challenges didn't rely on brain power," Noah agreed.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road! Your first question is, which couple was the third to officially hook up this season," Leshawna quizzed. After a moment of hesitation, Jennifer buzzed in and said, "I think it was Cody and Emily."
Leshawna grinned and said, "That's right! One point for Jennifer! Next question, which two contestants tied for the most votes at an elimination?"
"I don't remember there being any ties," Bridgette muttered.
Noah was quick to buzz in and said, "I'm going to assume it was Danny and Gwen, since that was the only double elimination and there were no ties at all."
"Good guess. You're right. Let's keep it going! Which contestant had the most immunity wins," Leshawna asked.
"Um, it was me right? I remember winning a lot of the pre-merge challenges," Bridgette asked as she buzzed in.
The soulful sister nodded and said, "That's right! We're all tied up at one point each! Your next question is kind of the opposite of the last one. Besides me, which contestant had the worst rate of potential eliminations?"
Jennifer buzzed in a second before Noah and said, "It was DJ wasn't it? I only remember him being immune from one of the three challenges he was here for."
"While you are correct in that he was only immune for one out of three challenges, that isn't the right answer," Leshawna answered.
"Actually if memory serves it was Ezekiel. I kind of feel bad for the guy, I don't think he was ever immune," Noah buzzed in.
"You're correct Noah. I somehow wasn't the only person to have never gotten immunity," Leshawna responded before continuing, "Now for our next question. There were two eliminations that were almost unanimous. Joseph's was one. Whose was the other one?"
Again Noah was beaten to the buzzer, this time by Bridgette, "It had to have been Heather. There's nobody else that I think was universally disliked like those two."
"Correct! Noah and Bridgette are at two points, Jennifer with one. This is getting exciting! There was one contestant who got disqualified from a part of a challenge. Who was it and why were they disqualified," Leshawna asked.
After a few moments of thought, Noah buzzed in and said, "I'm almost certain it was Izzy. And I can't remember which part of the second physical education challenge, but it had something to do with her jumping in the pool and making Chris' hair wet."
Leshawna put a finger to her ear, where she had an earpiece and listened to it for a few seconds before nodding and said, "Sorry about that, had to make sure your answer was specific enough. It was, so congrats Noah, you can move on to the second challenge! Bridgette, Jennifer, listen up, I don't want to repeat myself in another minute. The second challenge is in the third classroom in the math hallway. Noah, you can go."
The know-it-all climbed down from the stage and started to jog to leave the auditorium. As soon as he had gotten off the stage, Leshawna continued, "Okay, next question! Which of the new contestants has a boyfriend or girlfriend back home?"
Jennifer buzzed in quickly and said, "It's Julie! I remember asking her for relationship advice on the first night."
"That's right! Whoever gets the next question right can move onto the second challenge," Leshawna announced.
(Random Math Classroom)
Meanwhile, Noah was rushing to his second challenge. Luckily for the know it all, the math classrooms were near the auditorium, so he didn't have to run far. He opened the door of the only one that had lights on to find a large pile of junk where desks would normally be. Hearing the sounds of videogames nearby, he looked to his left and saw Alexander, sitting on the teacher's desk, playing a game on a handheld device.
"Ahem," Noah said, making a fake throat clearing noise.
"Hmm? Oh Noah, you're here. Yeah, so remember how the second challenge was the scavenger hunt? Well this is kind of like that. Somewhere in that pile of crap is a medal with your face on it. Find it and show it to me and I'll tell you where to go. And no sabotaging your opponents by taking theirs," Alexander said, paying more attention to his game than he was Noah.
"As if I would stoop to that level," Noah scoffed before moving towards the large junk pile.
Restroom Confessional
Noah: Okay, so I know I should probably throw the challenge. I've said time and again that I don't deserve to win. And yet, I could really use the money. So I'm going to try to win. And luck was in my favor with a trivia challenge first. It could give me the edge I need to not come in third.
(Auditorium)
"Which new contestant has three older siblings back home," Leshawna asked as the question to decide who got to move on next.
Bridgette was quick on the buzzer and said, "Megan does. Twin brothers and an eldest sister."
Leshawna grinned and said, "That's right girl! Go on ahead to the second challenge. As Bridgette left, Leshawna asked, "Alright, which veteran contestant got into a physical altercation with an animal in the biology challenge?"
"Uh, that was the one where we found animals in the forest right? I want to say Heather, because I recall her being scratched and bruised when she left," Jennifer guessed.
"You got it! You may also move on to the second challenge. Good luck girl," Leshawna said with a wave as Jennifer ran to make up lost time.
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: Okay, so despite Noah having a head start, I should be able to make up for lost time during the first phys ed challenge. Because even if the challenges are different, a phys ed challenge should still be a physical one.
(Random Math Classroom)
Jennifer entered the room with the huge pile of junk and saw Noah and Bridgette sifting through it. "Uh, what exactly are you guys doing," the performing artist asked.
"They're looking for a medal with their face on it," Alexander answered from Jennifer's left, "It's like that scavenger hunt, though you only need one item instead of five."
Jennifer raised an eyebrow and said, "Um, alright."
She walked over to the pile and started to dig, looking for the medals. It was quiet, as the competitors were too busy looking for their medal. Eventually Noah broke the silence, "Man, where did they get all this junk from anyway? Did they just haul it in from a local dump or something?"
"Maybe. Wouldn't surprise me if Chris stole a bunch of trash from in front of people's houses just to save on costs," Bridgette added.
"Hey, a medal," Jennifer remarked without thinking.
Noah quirked an eyebrow, "Oh?"
"Whose is it," Bridgette asked.
The performing artist turned the medal over, revealing it to be Noah's. "Oh. It's Noah's," she sighed.
"I'll be taking that then," the know it all said as he went to grab the medal, "Alexander said you can't sabotage anyone else, so there's no point in holding on to the medal, as I know where it is anyway."
"Okay fine," Jennifer said, handing him the medal.
"Thank you," Noah said before walking over to Alexander and saying, "Alright, here's my dumb medal. Where am I going now?"
"You two might want to listen up as well," Alexander said, referring to the two girls before continuing, "The third challenge is in the secondary gym used for basketball practice. Also, once I see the medal, you no longer need it, so you can leave it here." Noah placed his medal on the desk and exited the room.
"Sorry. I wasn't thinking," Jennifer said to Bridgette.
The surfer smiled and said, "It's fine. I probably would have done the same thing in your situation. Besides, odds were it would have been one of ours."
Jennifer nodded and kept looking through the pile of junk, this time moving over to where Noah was. "Any reason you moved over there," Bridgette asked.
"Noah's smart and isn't prone to emotion. If he did find one of our medals, he would likely keep quiet to keep us searching," the performing artist explained.
Bridgette blinked, her eyes wide, as she said, "That makes a lot of sense actually."
Jennifer kept rummaging around and said, "Aha! I was right, he did find one of ours."
Turning it over, she found it was Bridgette's. Passing the medal to her friend, she said, "Go on and take the lead from Noah. I'll catch up."
"I'll do my best," the surfer said as she brought her medal over to Alexander, who nodded.
As she left the room, Jennifer moved around to the back side of the pile and said, "Well, let's look in the one area nobody's touched yet."
Restroom Confessional
Bridgette: I can't help but be a bit worried about the next couple of challenges. I honestly don't remember what some of the early challenges were. Like I completely forgot there was a scavenger hunt. So for all I know, Noah's got the advantage from now until the midway point.
(Secondary Gym)
Bridgette entered the room and saw a large shooting gallery set up, not unlike those seen at amusement parks or carnivals. DJ was standing near the laser guns and waved at Bridgette, giving her a quick hug as she approached. "Hey Bridgette, having fun so far," the gentle giant asked.
The surfer nodded and said, "Yeah, I would say so. I would love to catch up after the challenge."
DJ smiled and said, "Me too. But for now, let's get you started on this challenge. It's pretty simple. You have to earn twenty thousand points in one play of the game set up here. Each play gives you twenty shots and the smaller targets are worth more, while being harder to hit. Some of the targets also turn on and off, so you need to be constantly looking for which ones are active. Shooting a target will make it inactive for a short while, to keep you from shooting the same one over and over. Make sense?"
"Yeah, doesn't seem too hard," Bridgette agreed.
"Damn it! Literally one thousand points short," Noah exclaimed as he failed to reach the score for completion.
"Well I'll let you get to it, I'm guessing Jennifer should be along shortly," DJ asked.
The surfer nodded and said, "She should be, yeah."
Bridgette then walked over to the shooting gallery, grabbed a laser gun, and started playing. She was about halfway through her first attempt when Jennifer entered the room, and DJ began to explain the challenge to her. The surfer looked over at Noah, who looked back. The two locked eyes and began directly competing with each other, trying to steal targets from each other.
DJ had finished explaining the challenge to Jennifer and the performing artist looked at her two opponents competing with each other. Noticing how long the shooting gallery was, she went to the very end, away from her opponents and started playing. The three contestants tried their hardest to reach the score limit, but Bridgette and Noah were having a much harder time, being in direct competition with each other.
Eventually, one of them came out on top with a cry of, "Yes! Moving on to the next round!" The other two stopped what they were doing as DJ checked the score to see if they had indeed cleared the challenge.
The gentle giant nodded and said, "Good job Jennifer. You get to move on to the next challenge." Noah turned his attention back to the targets while Bridgette was distracted, as DJ began to explain where the next challenge was.
"Your fourth challenge will be in the woodshop. Good luck Jennifer," DJ said with a wave as Jennifer ran out. Bridgette turned back to see that Noah had managed to come within a few thousand points of the goal while she was listening to DJ.
Determined, Bridgette picked up her gun to give the know-it-all a harder time. It was a futile effort however, as Noah's slight lead during DJ's instruction was enough to put him over the threshold to move on. "Yes," Noah remarked as he put his laser gun down, "See you at the next challenge." Bridgette refocused her efforts as the know-it-all left the room to head to the fourth challenge.
Restroom Confessional
Noah: I'm not too concerned. Sure, I may be in second now, but the math and chemistry challenges should be easy for me and I can easily retake the lead. I just hope that the first physical education challenge won't give me much trouble.
(Woodshop)
Jennifer entered the woodshop to see Rebecca sitting on the same table Carl the intern was sitting on the day prior. She was reading some manga but waved to Jennifer when she entered her field of vision, "Hey Jennifer. Ready for your challenge?"
"Sure am," the performing artist confirmed with a nod.
"Nice. Well to put it simply, you have to cut out a symbol out of wood. I've already drawn them out on the pieces of wood back there, just pick whichever one you like and get to work. They're all roughly the same difficulty," the otaku explained.
"Let me guess, they're all logos and stuff from anime," Jennifer asked.
"Me? Do something like that? You must be joking," Rebecca dramatically proclaimed before she broke into laughter with Jennifer.
Jennifer walked over to the pile of designs and noticed that there were about a half dozen of them. She looked them over, trying to figure out which one would be easiest when the door to the woodshop opened. Turning back, she saw Noah enter the room, prompting the performing artist to grab the last panel she was looking at. She headed over to a saw and got to work as Noah, who was now informed about the challenge, approached the pile of designs and grabbed one as well. Just as the know-it-all was starting to use a saw, the door opened again and Bridgette entered.
The teens were working for about 20 minutes before one of them finished cutting their logo and turned off their saw. Walking over to Rebecca, Noah handed her a symbol that resembled a cocoon with a couple of short wings or pillars on the sides. Rebecca recognized it instantly and nodded, "Ah yes, the full view of Aincrad from Sword Art Online. Too bad the anime never got around to showing more of it, there was a lot of potential there."
"Riveting," Noah remarked with a roll of his eyes, "Where's the next challenge? No offense to you, but I would rather increase my lead while I can."
"Oh right, the next challenge was William's. He's out at the obstacle course," Rebecca answered. Noah nodded and exited the room.
It was another couple of minutes before both Jennifer and Bridgette happened to finish at the same time. They both handed their works over to Rebecca. Jennifer's was roughly shaped like a slanted heart, with the point ending in an arrow and the top somewhat resembling wings or feathers. Bridgette's meanwhile was an actual heart with an anchor extending out further on the top of it.
"Ooh, good choices. Jennifer, you made the symbol of the guild Fairy Tail from Fairy Tail and Bridgette, you made a combination of Josuke's symbols from Diamond is Unbreakable, which is the fourth part of the long running series Jojo's Bizarre Adventure," the Otaku gushed about the two symbols.
"Um, alright? I just picked it because I saw the anchor," Bridgette confessed.
Rebecca shook her head slightly and said, "Right, I can marvel at them later. Your next challenge is at the obstacle course. Good luck guys, you can beat Noah!"
Jennifer grinned and said, "You bet we can! Thanks Rebecca! C'mon Bridgette, let's go!" The performing artist and surfer then ran out the room to catch up with Noah.
Rebecca looked at the uncut symbols she had prepared for the challenge and said, "Maybe I'll cut the rest of them out."
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: I really don't know how I lost so much time there. Probably because I was being careful on all the little wings or whatever they were. Either way, Bridgette and I need to make up a ton of time, who knows how far Noah's gotten since he left?
(Obstacle Course)
"Are you kidding me," Noah exclaimed as William finished explaining the challenge.
"Come on, it's not that bad. I even took the obstacles down to three. And they're all doable," William reasoned.
The know it all responded, "And you completely removed the only part of this challenge I found enjoyable."
William blinked and said, "You actually liked the math parts? And people say I'm the crazy one."
"Just explain the obstacles already. I don't want to lose what little lead I have," Noah sighed.
"Okay. I was told I can't do anything to show bias anyway, so I won't hold you. The first obstacle is a cargo net you have to climb, but you can use the trampoline to make the climb a little easier. After that you have to use the monkey bars to get across the pit of water. If you fall in, you have to go back and do it again. Lastly is a rock climbing wall you have to climb to that platform they built for this challenge. There's a flag with your face on it up there. Grab it and return to me with it to find your next destination," William explained.
Noah looked from the obstacles to William's smiling face and said, "That's it?"
The crazy guy nodded and said, "That's it. Good luck, you'll need it to protect you from all those angry spirits after you." Noah looked at William, half quizzically and half concerned. He laughed and said, "Kidding! You can start at any time."
Noah shook his head and went to the first obstacle, sizing it up for a moment. After mentally preparing himself for a moment, he got a running start and jumped on the trampoline, grabbing at the net as he collided with it. He ended up just a little under halfway up the net, which is less than he was hoping for, but more than he expected.
The know it all continued to climb the net, flipping over the other side, where he noted the net curved toward where he needed to go, so he could basically slide down the net. He glanced back and saw William explaining the challenge to Bridgette and Jennifer, who had just arrived, making him tumble down the net. He rolled a few times as he eventually landed on a gymnastics mat set up to cushion the fall. Shaking his head, he started to cross the pit using the monkey bars.
After the first couple however, he noted that they were somewhat slick, as if there was a little bit of oil applied to the bars to make it more difficult to hold on. Noah was able to cross four more before his grip slipped and he fell into the water. He shook himself off and climbed the ladder to try the challenge again, seeing two pairs of legs as he reached the platform.
"What's the matter Noah? Couldn't hold on," Jennifer teased.
Noah rolled his eyes and said, "I'm not exactly Mr. Muscles over here."
"Well let me show you how it's done," Jennifer confidently proclaimed.
Gesturing to the bars, Noah said, "Be my guest."
Jennifer rubbed her hands together for a second before making a running leap and grabbing the bars, bypassing a couple in the process. Much like Noah, she felt that the bars were slippery. And like the know-it-all before her, she was only able to hold on for so long before dropping into the water.
"Did you do something to the bars," Bridgette questioned Noah.
The know-it-all raised an eyebrow and asked, "If I had time to do something to the bars, wouldn't you think I would just try to put as much distance between us as possible?"
Bridgette turned back to the bars and said, "Fair point. Do you mind if I go next?"
"Ladies first," Noah replied. The surfer girl tried to cross the bars, but like her fellow finalists, she could feel her grip slipping as she soon fell into the water.
Up above, Noah appeared to be staring at the bars, analyzing them. Jennifer glanced at Noah and said, "It's your turn you know. I'm willing to be fair and take turns at this."
"Nah, you can go. I'm still catching my breath," Noah stated.
"Suit yourself," Jennifer said with a shrug. The performing artist started to cross and was able to make it farther than before, but still was short of the end when her grip loosened and she fell into the water. Surfacing, she spit out some water and looked up, saying, "What is with those bars."
Back up above, Bridgette asked Noah if he wanted to go again, but he declined once more, claiming to be tired. And like her previous attempt, she couldn't make it the full distance and fell into the water.
"Okay Noah, your turn," Jennifer insisted.
"Sorry, but I'm going to decline. I'm still gathering my strength," Noah replied.
The performing artist scowled and said, "Look, I'm not stupid, I know you know something about what's going on."
"I know there's something fishy going on. Doesn't mean I know what. Besides, even if I did know, this could be the opportunity for you to pull ahead of me, which is something I don't think you'll want to give up," Noah pointed out.
"I sometimes hate when you're right," Jennifer said as she rolled up her sleeves, and turned around, preparing to cross. But like her last two attempts, she fell into the water when she was just a couple bars short of the end.
Bridgette was about to go, but Noah beat her to the punch and said, "I'm going to go next, if you don't mind."
"No go ahead. We've gotten at least two tries so far, it's only fair." Bridgette said as she stepped back.
Noah started to cross the pit, making sure to grab the bars where he believed that Jennifer and Bridgette previously grabbed them. He made it as far as Jennifer had just made it before he started to feel his grip slipping. Seeing how close he was to the end, he started to swing slightly, using the momentum to propel himself as he jumped toward the other edge.
His upper torso was above the platform as he grabbed onto it and started to pull himself up. As he rolled onto his back, he gave a thumbs up to the two girls standing on the other side of the pit. "What the? How the hell did he do that," Jennifer asked.
"I'm not sure. Do you want to go again though," Bridgette offered.
Jennifer shook her head and said, "No, it's your turn, go ahead."
Bridgette nodded and began to cross the pit. Bridgette didn't take as much care in watching where she was grabbing the bars, but she still found that they weren't as slippery as they were before. As she approached the other end of the pit, she could start to feel her grip falter, but she was able to swing herself to the edge, safely landing on the soft mat provided.
"Do you want me to wait for you," Bridgette called out to Jennifer.
The performing artist shook her head and said, "No, go slow Noah down. I'll catch up!"
Bridgette nodded and ran to the final obstacle as Jennifer cracked her knuckles and said, "It's go time."
Restroom Confessional
Noah: Okay, so I may have lied a little bit when I said I had no idea what was going on with the monkey bars. After my first attempt, I could tell the bars were oiled somewhat. So I let Bridgette and Jennifer go ahead of me to reduce the oil on the bars. Was it dishonest? Maybe. Was it smart? I'd like to think so.
Bridgette was about halfway up climbing the rock climbing wall when she saw Noah climbing down a ladder in her peripheral vision. Noting the sly smirk the know-it-all was sporting drove Bridgette to climb faster than she was before. After another minute or so of careful climbing (as Chris was "kind" enough to not provide proper safety equipment), the surfer reached the top of the wall.
Grabbing her flag, she looked back toward the water pit and saw that Jennifer was approaching the base of the rock climbing wall. Breathing a sigh of relief that her friend finally crossed the pit, she started to descend the ladder. Upon reaching the ground, she made her way to William as quickly as possible. Just as she reached the crazy guy, Jennifer happened to catch up, somewhat out of breath.
"Oh hey! Nice job on finishing my challenge. Next up is Zeke's! Head on up to the Chemistry lab," William explained as he took the flags from Jennifer and Bridgette.
"Are you good to go? You seem pretty out of breath still," Bridgette asked, concerned for her friend.
Jennifer waved her on and said, "You go on ahead, I'll catch up."
After a moment's hesitation, Bridgette nodded and left. "Man, I must not be in as good shape as I thought if I'm this tired already," Jennifer muttered.
William shrugged and said, "Not my place to say. Though you did power through those last two obstacles and got back here in like a minute."
Restroom Confessional
Bridgette: I'm really worried that we won't get a chance to beat Noah. For whatever reason, he hasn't lost his lead yet. Which is odd because with how guilty he's been acting over his votes this season, you would think he would throw in the towel.
(Chemistry Lab)
Jennifer finally arrived at the Chemistry lab, where the first thing she noticed was the burn marks from Mikey's failed experiment the day prior still on the wall. "Yeah, that's reassuring," Jennifer remarked as she entered and waved at Ezekiel, who was sitting at a table near the entrance.
The homeschooled teen stood up and said, "Oh, hi Jennifer. Ready fur your challenge, eh?"
The performing artist nodded and said, "Yeah, let's go. I have some ground to make up."
"Well I'll make it quick then, eh. All yoo need to do is these two experiments. Shoo' me the completed second one and I'll tell yoo where to go, eh. I've already set aside the chemicals and instructions at that table over there, so you can get to it whenever you're ready," Ezekiel explained.
Jennifer walked over and said, "No time like the present."
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: To be honest, I wasn't that big a fan of this challenge the first time around. It's not like I did exceptionally bad at it or anything. I just didn't find it very exciting. And I have a feeling it's going to be a repeat of that. Oh well, at least it's only two experiments instead of five.
The three teens were quietly working, not sharing playful jests or helpful advice due to both their focus on their work and the distance that was keeping them apart. Jennifer put a splash of a light red chemical into a clear one. Bridgette used a pair of tongs to carefully take a blue mixture off of a hot plate. Noah used an eye dropper to squeeze a few drops of a blue chemical into a green mixture.
Eventually one person had to complete their experiments first, and they brought their finished experiment over to Ezekiel.
The homeschooled teen looked up and said, "Done already? Well let's see if it looks right eh." Ezekiel studied the finished experiment for a moment before nodding and saying, "Yup, looks good to me, eh. Congrats Noah, your next challenge is down at the soccer field."
"Joy. Well, let's see how bad this will be," Noah said with a roll of his eyes. Noah exited the room and as the door closed, Bridgette and Jennifer shared a glance, a nervous look on the surfer's face and an optimistic one on the performing artist's.
Restroom Confessional
Noah: Wonderful. I forgot that there was a physical education challenge in the first half, and so close to the halfway point too. I knew there were two, but I thought they were right after the second half started, which would have given me time to catch up. But with this challenge here, I'm going to have to really struggle to not be last. Guess this is karma finally catching up to me, huh?
(Soccer Field)
Noah approached Julie, who was in the middle of the field doing some yoga, presumably to pass the time. She leaned backward, and seeing Noah was coming, greeted him, "Hi Noah. Ready to begin your challenge?"
"Might as well get it over with while I still have the lead," Noah grumbled.
"Well then I won't waste your time. Simply put, you have to manage to score a goal in soccer against me. I'll be the goalkeeper, and you can do anything to try and get the ball past me, so long as you don't touch the ball with your hands. As soon as you get a goal past me, you can move on to the next challenge," Julie explained.
Noah asked, "Anything else I should know?"
Julie shook her head and said, "Nope. I'm not mean enough to only have 1 ball to share with everyone, once they arrive. I suppose you could wait for the others because it'll be more difficult for me to catch all the balls if everyone is moving at once."
"Tempting. But I also want to keep what little a lead I have, so let's go," Noah stated.
Julie stood up and walked over to the goalposts and said, "In that case, your challenge starts now!"
Noah ran over to where the pile of soccer balls was located and started to kick a ball along the field. He kept going in a straight line towards Julie, who was waiting, ready to catch the ball. When he was about twenty feet away, Noah tried to send to ball to his left, but Julie was too quick for this and she was able to successfully catch the ball. Tossing it back to Noah, she said, "Nice try. Head back to center field to try again."
Noah went back to the center of the field with the ball and attempted to run it into the goal a second time, with the same results as last time. Julie got ready to throw the ball back to Noah, but stopped.
"Hey Jennifer, Bridgette! Good timing! My challenge is simple: Score one goal," the optimist said while waving at the two girls approaching.
"That's it? Seems almost too simple," Bridgette asked.
Julie nodded and confirmed, "That's it."
Jennifer went over to the pile of soccer balls and said, "Let's get this started then!"
Noah got back into position and then the free teens took off down the field, with Bridgette and Jennifer pulling ahead of Noah slightly. Suddenly Bridgette stumbled on her soccer ball and tripped, falling to the ground. Jennifer saw this and hesitated for a split second, slowing down to make sure her friend wasn't seriously injured. Upon seeing that she was fine, Jennifer resumed heading for the goal, with Noah in hot pursuit.
The two kicked their balls toward the goal, with them heading in opposite directions. Julie knew she would only be able to stop one of them, so she went for the ball closest to her, stopping it while allowing the other ball into the goal. But before she had a chance to congratulate the winner, she dove to the side to stop a third ball, courtesy of Bridgette.
Picking herself up off the ground, Julie looked at the person whose ball made it into the goal and said, "Congrats Jennifer, you managed to slip past me. Your next challenge is in the biology lab. And Noah, Bridgette, that goes for you too. That way you can leave once you score a goal."
Jennifer nodded and said, "Once this challenge is over, we should catch up some more."
"Definitely," Julie agreed, waving at Jennifer who ran off. The optimist then turned back to the two still in the challenge and said, "Well, let's keep this challenge going. Back to center field for you two." Noah and Bridgette shared a look before heading back toward the center of the field.
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: Yes! Finally pulled ahead of Noah! Good thing too, since I think this was the seventh challenge. So only a couple more before the cutoff. Now hopefully Bridgette can pull ahead too. But I have faith, after all the challenge Noah's stuck on right now is not one of his strong suits.
Bridgette and Noah got ready to try and score against Julie, and once she gave them a signal, they took off down the field. Bridgette quickly pulled ahead, but remembering what Jennifer did in order to score a goal, she slowed her approach. Noah saw this and questioned it in his mind, but didn't pay it much thought. After all, it made things easier for him if they reached the goal at the same time. The two were close to the goal and got ready to kick their soccer balls, locking eyes as they did so.
(Outside the biology lab)
Jennifer got close to the biology lab and saw Heather leaning against the wall, filing her nails. Jennifer got close and sternly said, "Okay, I know you don't want to be here, so just tell me the challenge so I can do it and be out of your hair."
Heather blinked in surprise and noted, "Huh, you grew a backbone. I can respect that. So there's a handful of snakes and lizards loose from their cages in the room, which is why the door is closed. Catch one and put it into a cage or tank or whatever and bring it out here. I'll tell you where to go then."
"I already have an idea where the next challenge is, but thanks anyway," the performing artist said as she entered the biology lab and closed the door behind her. She saw a somewhat cluttered classroom, with boxes on some of the tables and on the floor. A snake that was near one of the boxes took one look at Jennifer before diving into the boxes, hiding from her gaze. Grabbing one of the cages that was by the door, Jennifer remarked, "Well it wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy."
(Soccer field)
Noah and Bridgette kicked their soccer balls at the same time, both of them kicking it diagonally in an effort to put as much distance between the ball and Julie as possible. Both balls travelled to the left of the person kicking them, as Julie prepared to stop both of them if she could. Noah gasped in surprise, as he was on the right, meaning his ball was closest to Julie when accounting for travel time. Julie only had time to stop one ball however, and that ball was Noah's.
Julie looked to the ball that made it past her and said, "Well, nice job Bridgette. Go join Jennifer at the biology lab."
"Thanks. Hopefully I'll be able to see you after the challenge," Bridgette asked.
"Yeah, you me and Jennifer can sit and talk and stuff. It'll be fun," Julie agreed before adding, "Good luck!"
Bridgette smiled and ran off after saying, "Thanks!"
Once the surfer was off the field, Julie turned her attention to Noah and said, "Well, you want to get back to it?"
"Is there even a point? We both know I'm no athlete. My only chance was to sneak the ball in while you were busy dealing with the others," Noah grimly remarked.
Julie frowned and said, "You're going to give up now, after everything? Look, I agree with the others that you don't deserve to win, but you're just going to throw in the towel?"
The know it all gave the optimist a strange look before he said, "And what, pray tell, could I do? Every second the gap between me and the others widens. My chances were spotty at best before, but now? It's impossible."
"Look, I'm not exactly in prime physical condition either. I'll admit I'm a bit overweight. So maybe there is a chance. I'm already a little winded, who knows, maybe one or two more attempts and I won't be able to reach the ball in time," Julie admitted.
Noah was silent for a moment before he asked, "Why exactly are you telling me this?"
"Because you deserve a chance just as much as Bridgette and Jennifer do. You owned up to your mistakes. So even if I don't want you to win, you've earned the chance to try, at least in my eyes," Julie explained.
Noah gave the words a moment of thought before he sighed and said, "Well even if I don't have much hope for myself, I suppose giving up at the very end wouldn't be very sportsmanlike, now would it?"
"That's the spirit," Julie cheered as Noah went back to the center of the field to give it another try, as futile as he believed it to be.
(Biology Lab)
Bridgette was currently searching the biology lab with Jennifer, neither of them making any headway. Bridgette was attempting to get the animals to come to her, while Jennifer set up several tanks in a dead end fashion to try and trap an animal inside.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Jennifer said just louder than a whisper.
"You really think that's going to work," Bridgette asked.
The performing artist sighed and said, "No. But I can't just sit around here waiting for something to happen. We finally managed to pull ahead of Noah. I don't want to lose that lead."
"Relax a little bit. I've got a granola bar if it'll calm your nerves a bit," Bridgette said, her typical relaxed smile on her face.
"I appreciate it, but I'm fine," Jennifer said while trailing off.
The surfer looked at her friend and asked, "Something the matter?"
Jennifer turned to Bridgette and said, "On second thought, I'll take that granola bar if you don't mind. I've got an idea."
Bridgette handed the snack over to the performing artist and watched as she unwrapped it, placed some inside the tanks she had laid on their sides, and then waited behind them. She looked over to Bridgette, who looked confused, and said, "Let me know if any of them enter the tanks."
"Oh gotcha," Bridgette responded. It was quiet for a couple of minutes before a couple of reptiles made their way to a couple of the tanks and Bridgette, who was still in a meditative pose, said, "Now!"
Jennifer quickly grabbed the tanks and turned them upright, closing their lids afterwards. Going around to the front of the tanks, Jennifer found that she managed to capture two of them, a snake and a gecko. "Nice! Come on Bridgette, we've got another challenge to complete," Jennifer said as she got up and handed one of the tanks off to Bridgette.
The pair opened the door and saw Heather filing her nails. The queen bee glanced up, saw the two tanks with the reptiles inside of them and said, "Okay. Your next challenge is in the auditorium."
"Where do you want these," Bridgette asked, referring to the tanks.
"I don't know. On the ground I guess. Just don't break the tanks or whatever," Heather shrugged.
Jennifer placed her tank on the ground and took off toward the auditorium, shouting, "Come on Bridgette! Let's strike while the iron is hot!"
"R-Right," Bridgette said as she placed her tank on the ground and followed the performing artist.
Restroom Confessional
Bridgette: I'm not sure if it was luck or not that Jennifer managed to get two animals at once, but I'm grateful. Now to keep up the momentum. I'm so close to being in the final two I can't give up now!
(Auditorium)
Jennifer entered the auditorium for the second time that day, only to find that the podiums from the first challenge were no longer present. Leshawna was not around either, but in her place was Trent, who was strumming on his guitar. Jennifer squealed and ran to the front of the auditorium, shouting, "Trent!"
The musician heard his girlfriend and placed his guitar down to properly greet her, getting the instrument out of the way just in time for Jennifer to tackle him in a big hug. "Woah! Hey there Jennifer," Trent said as he embraced his girlfriend.
"I've missed you so much," Jennifer said before breaking the hug and looking at her boyfriend, a smile on her face.
Trent chuckled and said, "It's only been a couple of days since I saw you."
The performing artist giggled and said, "I know. But knowing that you're close by but not being able to see you makes it feel way longer."
"Well as much as I would like to have you stick around and chat, you've got a challenge to win," Trent said, trying to change the topic.
"Aww. We can't spend a couple of minutes talking," Jennifer playfully pouted.
The musician chuckled, kissed Jennifer's forehead and then said, "We'll have plenty of time to do that after the challenge."
"Hey guys, what did I miss," Bridgette asked as she entered the auditorium.
Jennifer sighed, her smile still on her face, and said, "Oh alright. So what's our challenge?"
"You have to recite a speech from a famous play. It could be Shakespeare, it could be someone else. As long as it's a decent length, you'll be good," Trent explained, "There are some samples backstage if you need some help picking something."
"Let's get going," Jennifer exclaimed as she headed backstage.
Bridgette quickly followed, "Can't you ever wait for me?"
Trent chuckled and remarked, "I'm glad she's finally enjoying the game, even if it's at the very end." Trent walked back over to his guitar and picked it up, strumming it again. "No sign of Noah yet, that's good," the musician mused as he waited for one of the girls to try reciting their lines.
(Soccer field)
Noah had been attempting to score a goal against Julie for the past fifteen minutes, and though he had continued to fail at his task, he knew that he was getting closer to succeeding, as Julie was having a harder and harder time stopping the ball. His last attempt was almost a success, but the optimist was able to stop the ball at the last second.
Noah returned to center field and without saying anything, began to run the ball forward once Julie had signaled that he could start. Noah was making his way across the field as quickly as possible, having saved his strength the last couple of attempts at the challenge. Noah was also trying a fairly straightforward approach at shooting the ball the last few attempts he had made. In doing so, he hoped he could trick Julie by faking her out with his shot this time.
As he got close to the goal, he kicked the ball as hard as he could in a different direction from where he had been aiming. Time seemed to slow as the ball soared through the air. Julie, who was in the process of moving to her right, had to adjust and tried jumping to the left to stop the ball. Her arms outstretched, she touched the ball but was unable to stop it completely and it rolled into the goal, stopping at the net.
"See Noah, I knew you could do it," Julie said as she got up.
"But is it too late for me is the question," Noah sighed before asking, "The next part is at the biology lab, right?"
"That's right. I won't hold you any longer. Good luck," Julie said with a wave as Noah began to depart.
The know it all looked back and said, "Thanks, but I don't deserve it."
Restroom Confessional
Julie: Am I allowed to use this? I mean, I used to be a contestant but I'm not one currently. Anyway, I can tell Noah feels remorse for what he did with Joseph. Part of him knows he should have just given up instead of continuing to try. And yet he keeps going. Maybe it's silly of me to think so, but I think it's kind of admirable.
(Auditorium)
After a short seven and a half minutes, Jennifer was the first to return to the stage. "I'm not surprised you're the first one back, but you're still back quicker than I expected," Trent admitted to his girlfriend.
Jennifer giggled and said, "Yeah well, I already kind of knew what I wanted to perform from a past performance, I just needed a bit of a refresher."
"Well whenever you're ready," Trent said, a relaxed smile on his face.
Jennifer took to the center of the stage, took a deep breath and then struck a dramatic post and said, "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet. 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name which is no part of thee Take all myself."
It was silent for a moment before Trent stood up and began to clap, causing Jennifer to bow, a slight blush on her face. "So is this what I have to look forward to when I come watch your plays," Trent asked, a smile on his face.
Jennifer giggled and said, "Maaaaaaaaaybe. Now I would love to sit here and talk the day away with you, but I do need to finish a challenge."
The musician chuckled and said, "No worries, I get it. Your next challenge is out at the go-kart track. Once you finish that challenge you'll be in the running for winning it all."
Jennifer ran up, gave Trent a hug and kissed him for a few seconds and said, "Thanks Trent. Wish me luck!"
"You've got this, I've been rooting for you ever since I was eliminated, you can make it just a little further," Trent said as they separated, the performing artist running off.
(Biology Lab)
Noah ran up to Heather, out of breath. The queen bee remarked, "You're farther behind than I thought."
"Save it. Your challenge is," Noah prompted.
"Geez, touchy. Go into the lab, find one of the reptiles or whatever, put it in a cage and bring it here," Heather retorted. Noah nodded before entering the room, the door closing behind him. "Why did I want him to win again," Heather muttered.
Noah looked around the room and noticed the tanks that Jennifer had set up with a couple of animals near what was left of a granola bar nearby. The animals took note of Noah when he entered the room and promptly scattered, causing the know it all to grumble. He sat on the ground behind the cages and said, "Not like I'm going to win at this point, but this will seriously set me back."
(Auditorium)
It was about five minutes after Jennifer had left that Bridgette walked onto the stage. Trent noticed and asked, "Ready to give this a try?"
"I think so, yeah," Bridgette responded before taking a deep breath. After taking a moment to compose herself, she began to recite, "To be, or not to be-that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep-No more-and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to."
Bridgette trailed off for a moment as if trying to remember the rest of her lines and Trent took the opportunity to ask, "Is that your performance?"
"Sort of. I was going to say more but I can't remember-," Bridgette said as Trent held his hand up to stop her.
"It's fine Bridgette. You passed, go on out to the go-kart track for your next challenge," the musician said.
The surfer let out a sigh of relief and said, "You have no idea how much of a relief it is to hear that."
Trent chuckled and said, "I'm sure it is."
"Look, I don't want to seem rude for running off, but I really do need to go," Bridgette said as she went to leave.
Trent waved as she left and said, "Don't worry about it. You don't want Noah to catch up, I understand."
Restroom Confessional
Jennifer: All right! First place right now! And only one challenge felt before I make it to the halfway point. This is so exciting, who would have thought I could possibly win the season?
Noah: Ugh, is there a point to me continuing? The others are at least one challenge ahead of me, maybe more. Oh well, I guess I deserved this. Might as well embrace it. At least I made it farther this time.
(Go-Kart Track)
Jessie was standing around, idly waving a checkered flag around as she waited for the finalists to make their way to her. "I know you said not to rush you, but are you almost done? I'm just worried that the finalists will get here and we won't be ready," Jessie said to someone whose legs were sticking out from under one of the go-karts.
"Just about. I still don't know why they didn't ask me until today to fix these up," Nicholas' voice came from under the go-kart.
Jessie shrugged and said, "Beats me. I know I only came up with this challenge two days ago, but there's only so much I could do with a go-kart themed challenge."
Nicholas got out from underneath the go-kart he was working on and said, "I'm betting Chris forgot about it until this morning. Would be just like him to forget. But whatever, it gave me an excuse to be around you instead of waiting at my challenge location."
"Because I'm sure the two minute walk was such a hassle for you," Jessie replied with a roll of her eyes, but a smile on her face.
"Anything for you," Nicholas said as he kissed Jessie's forehead. Just then the pair could hear someone approaching and they turned to see Jennifer, slightly out of breath. "Well, I guess this is where I take my leave. I still have one last thing I need to set up for my challenge. I'll see you later Jessie," Nicholas said as he hugged his girlfriend and then walked away.
"So are you ready for the halfway point challenge," Jessie asked.
Jennifer nodded and said, "Hell yeah, let's secure a spot in the final two!"
Jessie looked surprised and said, "That's quite the enthusiasm. I won't keep you for too long then. We've slightly redone the go kart track, going off road a bit to avoid the scaffolding that Izzy knocked down. You have to complete three laps while avoiding the tortoise shells that the interns throw at you. If you get hit, the lap won't count, but any previously completed ones will still count. So if you get hit on your third lap, you only have to redo the last one."
"Seems simple enough. I'm surprised the interns aren't using the bombs though," Jennifer remarked.
"Turns out the one on top of the scaffolding that fell almost died when it fell, and part of the lawsuit that followed was we had to get rid of any of those bombs," Jessie noted.
Now it was time for the performing artist to look surprised as she said, "A lawsuit happened that soon? How come we didn't hear about it?"
Jessie shrugged and said, "I couldn't tell you. I only know about it because when I came up with this version of the challenge, that's what they told me to exclude. Anyway, you ready?"
"Hell yeah, let's get to it," Jennifer cheered as she got in a go-kart and maneuvered to the starting line. Once Jessie gave her a signal to go, she took off down the track.
Restroom Confessional
Bridgette: I haven't seen Noah since the soccer field. So he's either a challenge behind me or he's even further back and probably won't win. (Bridgette's eyes widen in worry) You don't think it was possible for him to pass me while I was in here, do you?
(Biology Lab)
Luckily for Bridgette, Noah had not passed her while she was in the confessional. He was still sitting waiting for a reptile to come back to the granola bar. He arms were crossed in annoyance and he drummed his fingers on his arm as he waited. After another minute of waiting a snake poked its head around the corner of a table and looked at the granola bar and then to Noah. Not sensing any danger, it moved closer to the granola bar. Noah, who had been waiting for this, uncrossed his arms so he could close the cage the granola bar was in when the time is right. Unfortunately, the snake saw this and sensing danger, it fled back under the table. "Ugh great," Noah groaned.
(Go-Kart Track)
Jennifer had successfully completed her first lap and was partway through her second by the time Bridgette arrived. Seeing her friend distracted the performing artist long enough for an intern to hit her kart with a tortoise shell. Jennifer hit the steering wheel in annoyance as she kept moving around the track to get pack to the beginning. By the time she had reached that point, Bridgette had been informed about the challenge and was in a go-kart of her own.
Jennifer came to a stop near the surfer, who said, "You don't have to wait for me, you know."
"I know, but I've got a deal for you. Let's both take the rest of this challenge slowly and carefully, even help keep an eye out for each other. Once we both finish, then we can start competing again," Jennifer proposed, "Noah's nowhere in sight so we can afford to take our time and secure our spots in the final two."
"You know what? Sure, let's do it," Bridgette agreed as she began to start her go-kart up. The two blonde-haired females then proceeded to travel around the course carefully, finishing their laps without any other incidents.
Once Bridgette finished her third and final lap, the loudspeakers crackled with life and Chris said, "And with what was probably the least exciting outcome of a challenge involving go-karts, Bridgette and Jennifer have secured the final two spots in the finale! Noah, your journey ends here, you can stop whatever challenge you were working on and report to the spot of the final challenge, which Heather will tell you. Bridgette, Jennifer, only ten more mini-challenges stand between one of you and total victory! And since you're both done at the same time, I'll tell you that the next challenge is in the cafeteria! Good luck you two and I expect to see some serious competition!"
"Way to take one of my only jobs for the day Chris," Jessie pouted before she turned to the two girls and said, "Well you heard Chris, your next challenge is in the cafeteria. Good luck to both of you, and I'll see you when it's all over!" The two finalists looked to each other, nodded and took off running toward their next challenge.
Restroom Confessional
Noah: I was told to make a final confessional, so here I am I guess. What can I say? I kind of expected this. And I guess I deserve it after allying with Joseph earlier on. I can only hope that I've done enough to atone for allying with him and hopefully the others won't hold it against me next season.
Chris was watching a feed of Noah's confessional and chuckled as he said, "Well I hope they carry a grudge. Tension before the competition even starts makes for some great TV!" The host turned toward the camera and said, "And with that, we're down to two! Bridgette, the always friendly, kinda klutzy surfer girl and Jennifer, the formerly depressed, now very confident performing artist. Only one of these girls will be able to finish the last ten challenges first and take home the grand prize. Who will it be? Come back after the break for the second half of this double sized episode to find out! And to catch the conclusion of 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, Noah
Contestants Remaining: Bridgette, Jennifer (2 Remaining)
Fun Fact!
So from the very beginning I wanted Noah to go far, due in part to how he's my favorite "first-gen" contestant and also how in canon he was always sidelined (well at least until Ridonculous Race, but I had this story planned out well before RR was released). Initially he was a contender for the final 2, but after having him align with the main villain, I felt he shouldn't make the final 2. That said, I still wanted him to come close.
The sub-plot with him starting to regret working with Joseph and subsequently betraying him was not in the initial plan actually, and it was something I came up with more or less on the fly. It was an interesting spin on things I think, as to my knowledge there are very few instances of someone actively undermining the villain the way Noah did.
So I suppose I owe an explanation, given that this update took almost 18 months to come out. Long story short, I know how I tend to be with updates. And I didn't want to leave the second part of a two parter sitting for a long time. So I gave myself an ultimatum: Release the chapter when I was about halfway done with the second part or January 10 (the actual "18 months from last update" date. And since it's the 7th where I am as I write this, I got halfway done with the second part. I want to ramp up my writing so I can get this story finished and in the books, because I have a couple other projects I want to start, but I won't do so until this one is done. So here's hoping that the second half of this challenge will only take me another week or two to finish, if that, especially since most of the progress I made on it was in the past week. Think of it as my New Year's Resolution, if you will.
Noah's elimination shouldn't be all that surprising, if not a bit overdue. Much of his attitude about how he didn't deserve to be in the finals was a big sign towards him losing. I would call it foreshadowing, but it wasn't subtle in the least. If anything, it was his final karma for his actions. As for the challenge, I couldn't think of something better suited for a final challenge of a school themed season than having to use everything they've done once more. Not much more to say other than it's good to see the early eliminations again. Until Next Time!
Next Time: Bridgette vs Jennifer. By the end of the challenge one of these blonde-haired girls will be the winner of Total Drama High School!