An upbeat tune played in the background as the bright red letters "TDLU" formed on the screen in a pixel font. The "D" expanded in size, covering the whole screen in red before fading to a clip from the show. Nathan stood in the middle of his team, nervously looking at the maze entrance they stood at.

"I don't know if I can do this, you guys," Nathan said. "It's too dangerous."

"Aw, come on man, it'll be fun," Morella assured him. "I'll stick with you. We'll be fine."

Nathan nervously nodded.

The scene shifted back to the pixel logo, where the "D" returned to normal size. It didn't last long, however, as it quickly grew again, fading into a new pair of clips. First was the Blue Bombers, all collapsed and exhausted at the end of a bridge, Piper looking especially dejected.

"I think we were too late," Garrett said.

Piper sighed. "Oh, shut up."

The scene quickly switched to show a clip from the beginning of the challenge, with the Red Mushrooms conversing.

"We should start with the shorter paths since they'll be the easier ones," Liam suggested, making Mandy raise an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to get the longer paths out of the way now?" she asked.

"Actually, he has a point," Alice piped in. "If Chef is in one of the shorter paths, then we win this quick. If he isn't, then we haven't wasted much time checking them. Short paths are the way to go."

The other Red Mushroom members nodded their heads in agreement.

The letter once again shrunk in size before growing again and switching to the next clip. Mandy had just dropped a drill from atop her ladder, courtesy of Scott, hitting and cracking their Chris head replica at the bottom.

"Scott, ya big jerk, that was SO uncool," Mandy yelled from her ladder while the aforementioned ginger ran off, laughing. Andrea was fuming as she stared at her work, now cracked.

Zane whistled. "That's a shame. Didn't that take you like two hours to finish?"

Andrea didn't reply. She glared up at Mandy, who was coming down from her ladder. Taylor looked distraught and on the verge of tears.

After the "D" did another shrinking and switching, it was followed again by two clips. The first showed the Blue Bombers squaring off with Leonard while the Red Mushrooms sneaked their way over to the castle in the background.

"Fire ball!" Leonard had Chef shoot a ball of fire straight at the Bombers. Thankfully for them, Billy was more than ready for the task. He stood his ground and struck the ball with a mighty swing, sending it flying away. Unfortunately for the Mushrooms, it flew right past them, scorching off part of Taylor's sleeve. She yelped and fell down before glaring back intensely at the others.

"They nearly burnt off my arm," Taylor yelled practically at the top of her lungs, easily alerting the other teams to their location. Leonard was too busy shooting attacks to take notice, but Riley and John saw as Alice and Xilier pulled a fuming Taylor away.

The next scene started outside of the trailers with Rowan approaching the males of the team with a pie in front of her.

Rowan ended up stepping on a tripwire, activating a spring underneath the pie and shooting it straight into her face. The guys broke out into laughter while she wiped pieces of pie from her face, nearly shaking with anger.

"Told you guys it would work like a charm," Rowley said proudly, before revealing a towel behind his back and handing it to Rowan. "No hard feelings, eh? We're just having some fun and junk."

For the last time, the "D" shrunk and expanded once more, revealing a final clip. Lexi and Trevor ran away from the Red Mushroom stronghold while Kyle looked on in frustration.

"What the HECK did you just do?"

Kyle jumped and looked up to see Lee Lee glaring down at him. "Did you just lose us two flags?"

"I tried to stop them, but the buttons failed to give me anything useful," Kyle said defensively. "It was bad luck."

"It was you messing it up for the team," she snapped, pointing at him with a glare and clenched teeth. "You screwed up!"

*** Opening Credits ***

The pixel logo formed once again, the same cheery music accompanying it. This time, however, it was joined by the sound of applause. When the logo disappeared, the familiar sight of the Total Drama Aftermath stage took its place. On both sides of the stage were empty sofas, with the right side in particular filled with multiple sofas to accommodate the large cast size. In the middle of the stage hung a large television screen, and below it was another sofa. Sitting there were two familiar veterans that were busy soaking in the cheers.

"Welcome to the Total Drama Level Up Aftermath show," said Cody, sitting on the right of the sofa with a goofy grin on his face, waving at the crowd. "We're your hosts, Total Drama veterans Cody."

"And Sierra!" The female host let out a squee and jumped up and down in her seat next to Cody, excitedly clapping as the crowd continued to cheer. "I am SO glad they offered us this job! Aren't you super excited, Codykins?"

The male host chuckled and smiled back at his co-host. "It should definitely be an experience. They told us we could get replaced if we don't bring the entertainment, though, so we gotta knock this outta the park!"

"Which will be super easy to do with the bunch of guests we have joining us!" Sierra giggled and grinned for the crowd. "In fact, I think it's time we brought one of them out now!"

The crowd cheered loudly in response, Cody and Sierra exchanging a grin in acknowledgment to the response.

"Alright, then! Let's bring out our first guest." Cody motioned up to the TV which started playing clips of Nathan's introduction and running from a bear within the maze. "Nathan had the unfortunate fate of being the first one voted out this season."

"It was definitely a shame, but not a surprise considering how him and Morella being caught up by a bear chase cost their team a win," Sierra added, the TV now showing the elimination itself, including Nathan's fling of shame.

"Our first guest is easily startled, isn't a fan of bear attacks, and enjoys things calm and simple. Ladies and gentlemen: Nathan!"

The quiet teen slowly shuffled out from the left of the stage with a bored expression on his face before jumping back as the audience exploded into applause. He was particularly caught off guard by the deafening squeals that came from the young female fans in the audience. It didn't make matters any better when Sierra herself started joining in the joyous reaction. Nathan froze behind his seat and looked around with a confused expression.

"W-what's going on? What's with the huge reaction?"

Cody raised an eyebrow. "Dude, you didn't know?"

"Know what?" Nathan asked, hesitantly taking his seat on the couches. "I'm so confused right now."

Cody and Sierra exchanged a surprised glance before returning their attention to the former player.

"Nathan, you are like SO the rage in the fandom right now," Sierra explained. "Everybody's talking about you!"

"They are?" Nathan looked dumbfounded. "But I was eliminated first."

"It's true, man!" Cody motioned up to the television screen where various pieces of fan art scrolled across the screen. Most of them horribly drawn, and a lot of them giving him a bright red nose for no reason despite Nathan being pale. "You're a huge fan favorite now. The net is loaded with fan art and fan fiction about you."

"I had to start three separate blogs to meet the demands of my readers," Sierra added, one of the aforementioned blogs showing up on the big screen. "Of course, the most popular one is by far the Nathan shipping blog."

"Shipping?" Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When the fans pair you up with other people from the show," Sierra excitedly answered. "There's a whole bunch of it going around, but everyone knows that NathanxMorella is the true OTP."

"... OTP?" Nathan shook his head in confusion. "Are you guys seriously not pulling my leg or something? Like, don't get me wrong, this all sounds flattering, but surely people aren't really this interested in the guy who got voted off first!"

"Believe it, Nathan." Cody played with a tablet in front of him and Sierra, causing more Nathan fan works scroll across the screen. "You're all over the place in this fandom. Like right here, it's a fanfiction by a guy called KeepOutOfMyHut where Annara stops you and Morella from encountering the bear, saving you from getting eliminated first. Look at all the favorites on this thing!"

"I don't know, that story has some pretty bad favoritism going on in it," Sierra said, folding her arms. She looked over at Nathan and gave him a grin. "Not that you don't deserve it or anything, though! Everyone knows you're totally great."

Nathan scratched his head in confusion. He looked out at the crowd where the screaming fan girls once again squealed in joy. The teen shifted around uncomfortably in his seat, tapping his fingers together as he looked over at the hosts.

"This is kinda a bunch to take in. Can we talk about my time on the show instead or something?"

The co-hosts exchanged a look with each other before shrugging and smiling at their guest.

"Sure, man, what do you want to talk about?" Cody asked.

The nervous guest opened his mouth to reply but stopped himself. He rubbed his chin in thought but couldn't think of anything to say.

"I, uh, didn't last long so there actually isn't a whole bunch I could talk about. I didn't even really talk to anyone besides Morella."

There was a chorus of whoops and whistles from the crowd, while Sierra once again jumped up and down in joy.

"Eeee! I told you those two were meant for each other," Sierra squealed while shaking Cody. He noticed the regretful look Nathan had and gave him a sympathetic shrug. "Alright, tell us more. What else do you have to say about your time with Morella? If you could say something to her now, what would it be? When's the wedding?"

"Whoa now, slow it down there," Nathan quickly replied. "It was nice of her to help me out in the challenge and all. She seems really nice and I wish her the best. But at the end of the day, she's really not my type and I couldn't see something like that working between us."

There was silence. Nathan looked around and noticed the shocked expressions he was getting from the crowd and Sierra. Cody plugged his ears and Nathan decided it would be smart to quickly do the same. Thankfully for him, he was right.

"THE SHIP HAS SANK," Sierra cried, cartoony tears shooting from her eyes. There were yells of anger and shock from the crowd and a tomato was tossed at Nathan, who barely dodged it in time. "THIS IS HORRIBLE!"

"I-I think it's time you guys moved on to someone else," Nathan nervously replied as he avoided another flying fruit, this time a watermelon. Cody quickly cleared his throat and clapped his hands to get the attention of the audience.

"Alright, time for our next guest!" He noticed that Sierra was still crying and nudged her. "Come on, cut it out. If you stop crying I'll take you out to dinner later. We need to finish the show."

Sierra immediately stopped and grinned from ear to ear. "You always know exactly what to say, Codykins!" She grinned at the audience and motioned at the TV where clips began to play of Piper. "Our next guest comes to us from the Blue Bombers and was the first female to leave the competition."

"Piper took charge for her team in the Platforming challenge and was confident that her strategy would payoff," Cody added, clips from the aforementioned challenge playing on screen. "Buuuuut, it kinda didn't."

"With no one else to place the blame on, Piper unfortunately earned herself an early boot, so here she is to tell us how she feels." Sierra excitedly clapped and motioned at the side of the stage. "Please welcome to the Aftermath: Piper!"

The former Blue Bomber walked on stage to a very warm reaction that got a smirk from the teen. She waved to the crowd and took a seat where Nathan had previously been sitting, the nervous former contestant now sitting above her and trying to avoid drawing attention to himself.

"So tell us, Piper," Cody began. "You seemed pretty annoyed when your team gave you the boot. Would you consider it an unfair elimination?"

"Well, yeah," Piper replied with a shrug. "I mean just think about it, they voted me off because I was wrong on what was essentially a luck based challenge. Why is that reason enough to eliminate me? The fact that I took charge when no one else would should have been evidence enough to keep me around, if anything."

"Oh, I agree," Sierra said with a grin. "I think you could have totally had potentially if the Bombers kept you. Many fans were really upset that you got the boot so early. Anyone in particular that you blame?"

Piper paused and tapped her chin in thought. "Well that Garrett guy really bugged me, and there was something sleazy about Trevor. I'd say at least one of those two had a hand in things."

"Interesting," Cody replied. "So, uh, sorry to bring it up but I can't help but point out that "person should be eliminated if they mess up" comment you made. You think that played a part in your elimination when it came down to the girls that voted for you?"

Piper sighed and frowned. "It might, I guess. Look, I'm something of an overachiever. I get really into competitions like this, so sometimes things come out that might come across as more hostile than I'd like it to. I can see how what I said could be used against me, but I still don't think I did anything that justified being eliminated so soon."

"Fair enough." Cody shrugged and looked to his co-host. "Do we have time for one more question?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait." Piper pouted a bit and narrowed her eyes. "I've hardly been out here yet! Don't I get to play Truth or Hammer or sing or something?"

"Sorry, but with so many guests in each Aftermath, we have to keep things moving," Sierra replied apologetically. "We don't even have time for That's Gonna Leave a Mark!"

Gasps and murmurs rang throughout the audience. Cody was quick to clear his throat and keep things moving.

"Not to worry, though! We still have some exclusives and clips you won't want to miss. It's just that they're for the latter guests. Sorry, Piper, but with you and Nathan eliminated so early there isn't a whole bunch of stuff we can ask you."

Piper sighed and slouched back into her seat. "It's fine, I get it. So what's my last question?"

Sierra grinned and leaned forward. "So, we know that you're kinda mad at your former team for voting you off. But is there anyone on there that you're still actually rooting for?"

Piper raised an eyebrow and thought things over. "Well, I'm a bit of a gamer girl myself, so I guess I could see myself rooting for Riley. She seems like a pretty cool girl. Still not crazy about her or any of them voting me off for something out of my hands, though. It's not like I messed up at the last minute, like Liam."

"And that is a perfect transition into our next guest," Cody exclaimed, standing up and motioning to the screen where clips of Liam's short stay on the show played.

"Liam was well liked by his teammates for his friendliness, and in the platformer challenge he proved that he has some pretty good ideas to bring to the table," Sierra added as the clips rolled. "Buuuuut, he had one teensy weensy little flaw that sorta kinda shot him in the foot."

"Liam's clumsiness was his ultimate downfall that got him the boot over the more abrasive Kyle," Cody continued, the clips now showing Liam's elimination. "His team was poised for victory in the Platformer challenge, but his unfortunate fall caused them to lose and allowed the Ghosts to snag the win."

"He has a tendency to often trip, injury prone, and probably shouldn't be trusted in a china shop, here's Liam!"

Sierra motioned to the side where Liam very slowly and carefully made his way to the couch, trying his best to avoid any tripping with such a big audience watching. Piper joined Nathan on the higher up seats and Liam took his place on the Aftermath couch, giving the crowd and hosts a nervous smile and wave.

"Hey guys, great to be here," he greeted with a smile.

"The pleasure's all ours, Liam," Sierra said back with a giggle. "We're just sorry you had to join us so soon."

Liam pouted a bit and sighed. "It's fine. I wasn't exactly expecting to go far giving my, uh, unique condition. I'm just glad I wasn't booted first." He paused, then went wide eyed in realization, looking back to give Nathan a sympathetic and apologetic smile. "No offense!"

"None taken," he replied quietly, still nervously watching the crowd for any more retaliation for his earlier comment.

"So tell us, Liam, would you have called your elimination unfair?" Cody asked curiously. "I mean, your fall is the reason your team didn't win the challenge, but you were eliminated over the much more abrasive and generally disliked Kyle."

Liam shrugged. "Kyle was kind of a jerk, but he didn't cost us the challenge. I can't be mad at anyone for voting me off. I messed up pretty bad, after all. But I do really appreciate that some of the girls stuck up for me. Makes me glad that some of them actually wanted to give me a second chance."

"Speaking of which, we have quite a few of the girls that stuck up for Liam as guests here tonight," Sierra pointed out. "All of whom ended up in the bottom two with Kyle and lost. I don't know about you viewers out there, but I believe it's starting to look like getting stuck in the bottom two with him might be a sign of bad luck."

Liam chuckled. "Well, I've always had bad luck, so I don't really think Kyle had anything to do with that." He paused and tapped his chin in thought. "It IS kinda weird that people have wanted him gone for so long and he's still in the game, though."

"We'll revisit the Kyle topic later in the show," Cody said. "But before we move on, is there anything else you'd like to add? Any more stories about your "unique condition" you'd like to share?"

"There isn't much to say," Liam replied. "I've just been naturally clumsy my whole life. I signed up for Total Drama thinking it might be a way to kinda work through it, but looking back on it, I guess a competition with a bunch of physical challenges and stuff wasn't exactly the best environment for someone like me." He chuckled and shrugged. "It was fun, though."

Sierra grinned and clapped. "It was also fun talking to you! Buuuuut, we do have to move on now." Liam nodded and moved up to a higher seat. "Now, as we said earlier, our next guest was one of the girls on Liam's side that ended up also getting the axe when going up against Kyle in the bottom two."

Clips of Mandy's time on show played on screen while the hosts continued narrating. "With an odd obsession for slaying vampires, Mandy quickly made herself known as one of the oddest members of this season's cast," Cody commented.

"But that didn't stop her from making some friends and kicking some butt in her short time on the show," Sierra continued, the clip of Mandy facing down Chef in particular playing on screen. "Buuuuut, she also made a certain enemy and one little mistake caused by the veteran of the day, Scott, cost her the game."

Clips played of both Andrea glaring at the vampire slayer and her dropping the drill that caused her team to lose. "She dreams of destroying vampires, seeing the world, and has an unfortunate tendency to drop drills on giant Chris heads, here's Mandy!"

Mandy strolled out with an excited smile and wave for the crowd, taking in all the cheers. She exchanged a high five with Liam before taking her seat on the couch and making herself comfy.

"Welcome to the show, Mandy," Cody said, offering the odd girl a smile. "Which we can assure you is a vampire free environment."

"Yeah, I know," Mandy replied without missing a beat. "Because if there was a blood sucker around her, I would have already scared it away when I was walking around with my garlic necklace earlier."

Cody raised an eyebrow while the audience laughed, though Sierra just kept smiling. "Glad to hear you're keeping us safe! Tell us, where DID your interest in vampires come from, anyway?"

"Well, I guess it started when I was young," she said, tapping her chin as she reflected on the memories. "My dad gave me some books to read, and one of the bunch was the original Dracula by Bram Stoker. I found it interesting, so I read a bunch of other stuff about vampires. Eventually, I had a sort of epiphany where I realized just how much of a threat these things are, and since most people are convinced that they're only works of fiction, it's up to people like me to get rid of the vampire menace once and for all."

"Interesting," Cody replied, a bit weirded out. "So I guess you're a real vampire buff, then?"

Mandy blew a raspberry and waved a hand in a dismissive fashion. "That doesn't even begin to describe it. I know everything and anything there is to know about vampires. You gotta be well read if you're gonna get serious about something, know what I mean?"

"Oh, I DEFINITELY know what you mean," Sierra replied, giggling to herself and glancing over at Cody. "Sometimes people would even tell me that I was a little obsessed."

"Yeah, just a little," Cody added, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "But moving on from just the vampires, do you have anything you'd like to share with us from your time of the show?"

Mandy thought things over and shrugged. "Eh, not really. I was gone in the blink of an eye when you think about it. Some of the people were pretty alright and the challenges were fun, but since I didn't win I probably could have used the time working to save up more money for moving to Europe."

"Right," Cody said hesitantly. "Well, is there anyone on the show you're rooting for before we move on?"

"Nah, not really," Mandy replied, chuckling a bit. "The only two I kinda talked with is Taylor and Alice, and one of them is coming out after me, while the other is probably up next knowing how our team's track record for eliminations has been going."

"And that's as good a transition as any to move on to our next guest," Sierra said, motioning up to the screen where Taylor's clips were beginning to play. "Like her teammate Mandy, Taylor entered Total Drama Level Up with a preeeeeetty noticeable quirk."

"Throughout the season, Taylor was effected by some pretty harsh mood swings, and like Mandy it made her a pretty quick target to one of her teammates," Sierra continued, with Andrea starring at the mood swinging teen on screen. "But it was actually Zane who got fed up and made the call to eliminate her when one of her mood swings caused their team to lose what was almost a guaranteed win for them."

"But she took the elimination well, and now she's here to join us," Cody finished, the crowd beginning to applaud. "Come on out, Taylor!"

On cue, the mood swinging teen walked on stage with a warm smile, waving at the crowd and her fellow past contestants before taking a seat. "Hey, guys! Thanks for having me on the show."

"Thanks for coming," Sierra replied. "Sorry about your elimination."

Taylor shrugged and chuckled. "It's alright. I saw it coming and I can't blame anyone for voting me off. It was a good time while it lasted."

"Glad to see you're still taking it well," Cody said with a smile. "So you're fine with Kyle not getting eliminated instead?"

The teen nodded in response. "He did pretty good in the challenge, Lee Lee and I only voted for him because he was kind of rude."

"KIND OF?" came a distant yell from backstage. The crowd laughed, along with the hosts.

"Looks like Lee Lee is getting antsy back there," Cody said in amusement before turning back to Taylor. "So, we kinda have to address the big elephant in the room. The whole reason you were eliminated in the first place was the outburst brought upon by your mood swings. People are curious to know more about you. As long as it isn't too personal, of course."

Taylor looked uncertain, tapping her chin in thought. "Well... yeah, it IS pretty personal. And I mean, I don't really want to talk about my problems on national TV like this," she said, pointing a thumb at the crowd. "I guess all I'll say is that my mood swings have been with me for years. It's a pretty long story, and I was hoping to keep them in check for the competition, maybe even work them out by making some new friends." She shrugged. "Guess it didn't really work out."

The crowd aww'd and both the hosts and other eliminated contestants looked genuinely sympathetic. Mandy threw an arm around Taylor's shoulder and gave her a grin. "Don't sweat it, T. You still got some friends here. And unlike SOME people still in the contest, we don't mind the mood swings."

"Thanks," Taylor replied, smiling, but still looking a little down. "I just wish it didn't get in the way for me in the game."

"You couldn't help it," Sierra said, putting an arm around Cody and squeezing for a hug. "Sometimes when you're in a stressful game like Total Drama, emotions get high and things just kinda get outta control." Slowly, Sierra's squeeze on Cody started getting tighter and tighter. Eventually he started trying to pull out of her grasp, to no avail. "And things just get kinda CRAZY!" The squeeze became extreme, and Cody's face began turning blue. "Isn't that right, Codykins?"

"Toooo tiiiiiight," he wheezed weakly, desperately trying to escape her grasp to the amusement of the laughing crowd.

"I guess you're right," Taylor said, chuckling at the male host's predicament. "And it'll be a whole lot less stressful watching from the sidelines instead of being in the game."

"That's the spirit," Sierra cheered, lifting her arms into the air and finally allowing Cody to breath. "Don't you agree, Cody?"

Her co-host wheezed and had to take in a big breath, before nodding in response. "Y-yeah. Maybe we should, uh, move on to the next guest."

"Great idea," Sierra replied, smiling at the camera. "Our final boy joining us from the cast today, we have everybody's favorite prankster, Rowley coming at us."

"Rowley came to the show hoping to have a good time, cause some laughs, and make friends," Cody continued, finally breathing correctly again while clips of Rowley's pranking and jokes played on screen. "And while he might have accomplished all of that, it wasn't all good times for the mischief maker."

"His pranks and jokes quickly got on the nerves of his uptight teammate Rowan, which got super confusing because their names are like, totally similar." Sierra giggled. "But with her newly made Beautiful People Alliance, and the behind the scenes plotting of trouble maker Trevor, Rowley's goose was cooked."

"He has a love for practical jokes, is a comedian in training, and is one of most likely many to be blindsided by villains of the season," Cody trailed off before motioning to the side of the stage. "Please welcome Rowley!"

The prankster strolled on stage to the cheers of the crowd, waving and smiling as he took it all in. He high fived some of his fellow eliminated contestants as he passed them, before taking a seat on the couch and flashing the hosts a grin. "What's up, guys? Pretty pumped to be here."

"Glad to hear it, man," Cody replied before raising an eyebrow. "But, uh, are you really sure pumped is the right word for it? I mean, you DID lose out on a million bucks."

Rowley pouted a bit and sighed. "Well yeah, when you put it that way its kind of a bummer. Especially since I didn't even do anything wrong in the challenge, it was just because Rowan didn't like me." He paused for a second and burst out laughing. "But come ooooooon. Lets all be real here. Was a guy like me ever making it to the end? Shoot, I'm just glad I made a few friends and didn't get the boot first." He paused again, turning to Nathan with a sheepish smile. "No offense, by the way."

Nathan sighed and crossed his arms. "None taken."

"Actually, Rowley, it wasn't JUST Rowan's doing that got you the boot," Sierra said, getting the prankster to raise an eyebrow curiously. "While she was the main influence, she only had three votes in her alliance of her, Ryan, and Garrett. You see-"

"Hold up," Rowley suddenly said, wide eyed. "GARRETT was in her alliance?" She nodded in response. "Whoa... never would have thunk it."

"Yup! And I think Billy feels the same way," Sierra continued. "Anyway, besides Rowan's alliance, some eavesdropping by Trevor actually put him in the position to decide who got the votes among the others between you or Rowan. In the end, he chose to boot you because you're like, super nice and popular. And if Geoff and Bridgette taught us anything in TDI, it's that being nice and popular can get you a one way ticket down the dock!"

"Or to a slingshot," Rowley said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "Which has a totally brutal landing, by the way. Would have preferred the toilet, honestly."

The others behind him murmured their agreement, Liam in particular shivering at the memories brought to him by the Sling of Shame.

"Well, before we move on to our last guest, is there anything you'd like to say to any of the guys still left in the game?" Cody asked, motioning at the camera.

Rowley nodded. "I'd mostly just want to tell Billy to hang in there and be careful around Rowan and Trevor. I'd feel like a real jerk if he ended up getting eliminated from the Bombers next mostly because of me."

"Here's hoping that isn't the case," Sierra said, beaming a bright smile. "And now it's time to move on to our final guest of the evening!"

"This one's a doozy," Cody continued. "For pretty much her entire run of the season, Lee Lee was at the center of the drama due to making up half of the most heated rivalry Total Drama Level Up has seen thus far."

"As soon as Kyle spilled the beans about his rich and spoiled views and upbringing, Lee Lee immediately had a pretty strong hatred for him." A picture came on screen with Lee Lee and Kyle glaring at each other, Kyle's face on the right with a blue background, while Lee Lee was on the left in front of a red background. "Not that we can blame him. He was SO totally annoying."

"And he still is," came the voice of Lee Lee, already walking out on stage and pointing a finger at the rich kid's picture on the screen. "He's a spoiled brat and the fact that he's in the game while I got the axe is totally bogus!"

Despite her glare and yelling tone, Lee Lee was still met with loud cheers from the crowd, which distracted her from her berating the picture of Kyle long enough to smile and wave for the crowd.

"Well, we were gonna say a few more lines before bringing you out, but since you're already here..." Cody trailed off, motioning his hands at the final guest. "Here's Lee Lee, everybody!"

The crowd cheered once again, this time louder as the survivalist in question took her seat, no longer appearing disgruntled. "Thanks guys. Sorry, got kinda carried away there. It's just that hearing about that guy... it really bugs me, ya know? Ever meet someone who just really gets under your skin?"

"We totes understand," Sierra replied, nodding sympathetically before flipping her switch and going straight back to happy and bubbly. "But we'll talk about Kyle later. How about we talk about the fun stuff from the show!"

Lee Lee raised an eyebrow before looking back at Mandy and Taylor. "Well, these two seemed like some pretty cool chicks. Alice too, but I kinda get the feeling that she was one of the ones to vote me." She pouted and sighed. "Don't know WHY, but Kyle kept surviving like a little cockroach."

"Like Sierra said, we'll get to that," Cody continued. "But anyway, I thought I'd bring up your profile from the official Total Drama website, which lists you as "The Survivalist." Now, I'm not questioning your skills, but because of the Kyle thing we never really got to see any of that in action. Mind telling us a thing or two about your survivalist knowledge?"

Lee Lee perked up. "Now we're talking! Alright, so I've always been an ace at sports, right? Like, any time I play a game of basketball with my bro, he gets absolutely demolished. So I thought, why not channel that physical skill into learning something more useful? So I've just been really studying up on how to handle myself in the harsh terrains of nature. It's awesome. You could put me out in the wild and I'd feel right at home, like its just a simple camping trip or something. I've dealt with bears, big storms, snakes, you name it."

"Sounds like your skills could have been a big asset going forward," Cody pointed out, which made Lee Lee stand up and throw up her arms.

"I know, right! What the heck were they thinking voting for me over Kyle? I mean, I don't wanna sound mean or anything, but are they stupid?"

Sierra put out her hands in a way to show she wanted Lee Lee to simmer down. "We totally agree, and we'll give the answers soon enough. But for now, I guess we need to go ahead and start talking about the big elephant in the room."

Cody nodded in agreement. "It's time to talk turkey about this whole Kyle situation. Four of you here are from the Mushrooms, and every single one of you four were in the bottom two against Kyle, someone much more disliked among your teammates."

"Right, so how the heck did money bags actually manage to survive four times in a row?" Mandy asked curiously. "That's vampire levels of trickery right there. It just doesn't add up."

"Yeah, I have to agree," Liam said with a nod. "I can kind of see why I'd get picked over him since I DID lose that challenge for the Mushrooms, but why the others? They all seem so nice and none of them messed up the challenges." He paused and looked at Mandy and Taylor. "Well... at least not as bad as I did. You'd still think it would be Kyle before them."

"Not to mention how much he would belittle people," Taylor yelled in agreement, smacking a fist into her hand. "Just who the heck does that little punk think he i-" She paused for a short time, then sheepishly giggled. "Whoops. Uh, lost control of the emotions there again."

"You're right, though," Lee Lee said. "It simply doesn't make sense. How did Kyle keep getting spared?"

Cody opened his mouth to respond before someone else from the couches cleared their throat.

"Excuse me, but is the rest of this SERIOUSLY going to be all about these four?" Piper asked, looking annoyed. "Isn't that kinda, you know, unfair?"

Cody and Sierra looked at each other, shrugged, then looked at Piper with sheepish smiled.

"Sorry," Sierra said. "But even with these Aftermaths being web exclusive non-episodes this season, they still have a time limit. Kyle beating these four was the biggest story."

Piper frowned and looked down at Nathan and Rowley. "Back me up here, guys, we're totally getting the short end of the stick."

Nathan shrugged. "I got more than enough Aftermath experience, thank you very much."

"Yeah, I don't really care," Rowley added with a shrug. "Sorry."

Piper narrowed her eyes at the two boys, growing more and more frustrated, until letting it out with a sigh and sitting down. "Fine, whatever."

"Right then." Cody cleared his throat. "Now, one would assume Kyle is cursed considering how a whopping four players have already gotten the axe thanks to him... but maybe it ISN'T actually thanks to him. Maybe... just maybe, the actual person behind these four eliminations... was someone else!"

The players gasped, prompting Sierra to exclaim "Dun, dun, duuuuuun," before the screen flickered on to show a picture of a stoic Andrea.

"Tell me, guys, what did you think of Andrea from your time on the show?" Cody asked.

Liam shrugged indifferently. "She seemed nice enough, I guess. Really quiet."

"Super quiet," Mandy agreed. "Girl was silent as a vampire during daytime most days."

"And kinda sketchy now that I think about it," Taylor added. "Only really hung around that Zane guy for the most part."

Lee Lee frowned as she looked up at the image of Andrea's face. "Am I to assume she played a part in our eliminations?"

"Yes you are," Sierra replied, fiddling with a remote and allowing the image to be replaced with video. "Just take a look at these clips!"

The former players and audience both gave the screen their attention as it came to life. The first clip showed Andrea sitting in the confessional.

"The others on my team are... questionable. The girl that believes in vampires, the rude biker guy, the girl with the tattoos, and now that rich kid. I certainly wouldn't want any of them as role models for those watching at home. I consider it my mission to eradicate any and all freaks and bad influences from this competition."

"Who's she calling a freak?" Mandy yelled, getting up from her seat and rolling up her sleeve. "Why don't you come down here and say that to my face, tough girl?"

"Unfortunately, we don't have her here so you can show her what you're made of," Cody said. "But here's the answer for you guys. It wasn't Kyle who was behind all of your eliminations, but Andrea, who believes that she's on some sort of mission to make the show free of whoever she views as freaks. We, uh, don't exactly condone her views, by the way."

"Alright, but she listed Lukas, Xilier, AND Kyle in that confessional, but not Taylor, Lee Lee, or me," Liam pointed out. "What's the deal there?"

"We'll show you," Sierra replied, pointing at the TV. "Take a look at our first exclusive clip."

Another clip played, once again with Andrea in the confessional, looking serious as always. "When it came time to decide between Kyle and Liam, the choice was clear in my eyes. What kind of message would I be sending the viewing world that our team would condone someone losing the challenge for us just because a different person isn't as nice? Or because he has money? People should strive to be successful, so hating Kyle for that is certainly not a valid reason. Some role model I would be if I allowed someone with a freakishly odd amount of clumsiness to continue in the contest and make us lose even more. Liam has to go."

The audience booed while the klutz in question hung his head in shame. Taylor patted his shoulder sympathetically in an attempt to cheer him up, while Mandy crossed her arms.

"This girl seems more and more like a bonafide jerk the more you show of her," she grumbled.

"You have no idea," Cody replied with a nod. "Check out what she had to say about you."

The next clip depicted the aftermath of the simulation games challenge, with Zane standing next to a glaring Andrea

"Do I even need to ask who we're voting off tonight?"

"Not only did vampire hunter girl cost us the challenge by dropping that drill," Andre replied, "She's also a freak. One of the worst influences on the viewers here out of everybody on the cast. We'll be doing the audience a favor."

Zane shrugged. "If you say so."

As the audience gave another light boo, Lee Lee began to narrow her eyes. "So that Zane kid was working with her? Figures. There was something about that guy I just simply didn't like."

"Yeah, the Andrea and Zane alliance has proved to be a formidable one this season," Cody replied. "And speaking of Zane, these clips from Taylor's elimination episode might just shock you!"

The next clip now depicted the aftermath of the RPG challenge. Zane and Andrea were once again standing together, but now Zane was doing the glaring.

"Well, since we didn't win, I believe we should vote off-"

"Taylor," Zane interrupted. "We're voting for Taylor and that's final."

Zane stormed off, saying nothing else. Andrea stared at him in a mix of confusion and pleasant surprise.

Static flickered on the screen, now showing Andrea in the confessional. "I didn't even have to tell him and he was already on board with voting off the freak!" She crossed her arms and smiled victoriously. "I knew I picked the right alliance member."

Static flickered again, but this time it was Zane in the confessional. "For the record, I understand that Taylor can't help it when it comes to her mood swings, and obviously I feel bad for her. But at the end of the day this is a game, and when she starts effecting our performance in challenges, that's when it becomes a problem. Sorry, Taylor. We need to cut you loose."

When the clip was done, Taylor was seen quivering her lip and looking down sadly, earning a sympathetic chorus of "Awws" from the audience. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Well... at least he doesn't seem as mean about it as she does. I can't say I blame him, it just... sucks hearing that, ya know?"

"We totally do," Sierra replied sympathetically.

Lee Lee growled in frustration and stood up. "Ok, I'm getting fed up listening to these jerks. It's bad enough that they're bad mouthing good people like Liam, Mandy, and Taylor here, but what reason did they even have for me getting the boot over Kyle? How did I fit into her weird vendetta?"

"Well, you were a bit of a unique situation from her," Cody replied. "It was a mystery to all viewers as to why you were chosen over Kyle, when they at least did provide reasons for the others. It's time for the mystery to be solved via this exclusive clip."

Curious, Lee Lee sat back down and everyone once again looked to the monitor. Andrea was, again, sitting in the confessional with a serious expression.

"This wasn't an easy choice," Andrea told the camera. "Lee Lee and Kyle are equally responsible for our loss today, and they both have positive and negative attributes for the viewers. Kyle is successful and proud, yet snobbish and mean. Lee Lee is independent and athletic, yet hot headed and confrontational. At the end of the day, I couldn't decide on who was the worse influence, so... I chose who I thought would be a bigger threat later on in the competition. And that ended up being the more physical Lee Lee. I convinced the others that her hot hotheadedness would cause us more trouble later, while Kyle would fall in line with her gone. It took some convincing, but it worked."

From the couches, Lee Lee clenched her fists in annoyance. "That's the best she's got? That's total... well, actually, I guess I can't complain about getting eliminated because I'm a threat." She sighed and sat down. "Doesn't change the fact that she sounds like a jerk and Kyle should have been gone already, though."

"And we couldn't agree more," Sierra said, the audience roaring in applause to show their agreement. "Aaaaaand, it looks like we're almost out of time! Anything else the rest of you want to add before we go off the air?"

Nathan shook his head. "Not really."

"I was definitely robbed," Piper exclaimed, chuckling afterward. "But I guess you can't win them all."

"I hope Andrea gets what's coming to her," Liam said.

"Ditto," Mandy added. "She's now number two on my crap list, right under the blood suckers."

"Yeah, and I think she'll get her just deserts for sure," Taylor continued. "The others will see to it!"

"I hope someone starts bringing the comedy in my place now that I'm gone," Rowley pipped up with a grin. "It can't all be this drama stuff. Too much of it makes the show too stressful, ya know?"

"If Kyle and Andrea aren't on the next episode of this aftermath, I'm marching down to the film lot myself and giving those suckers a piece of my mind," Lee Lee threatened with a cocky smile. "You can bank on that!"

"And we're out of time," Cody yelled. "Thanks for tuning in to the Aftermath. Hopefully you guys thought Sierra and I did a good job."

"Yep! Because if we didn't they're replacing us with a different couple on the next episode," Sierra replied in an oddly cheery tone.

"Riiiiight." Cody chuckled nervously. "So, uh, I guess we'll hopefully see you all next time. Right here on TOTAL."

"DRAMA," Sierra yelled joyously.

"LEVEL UP AFTERMATH," they yelled together, the crowd cheering and eliminated players waving goodbye as the screen faded to black.

Remaining Contestants:

Red Mushrooms: (Andrea, Zane, Alice), (Lukas, Lincoln, Xilier), Kyle

Blue Bombers: (Trevor, Aden, Lexi), (Riley, Iris), (Rowan, Ryan, Garrett), Billy

Yellow Ghosts: (Jacque, Ellie), (Lance, Kusa), Annara, Caleb, Clara, Deborah, Morella, John

27th: Lee Lee

28th: Rowley

29th: Taylor

30th: Mandy

31st: Liam

32nd: Piper

33rd: Nathan

Author's Note:

Ok, wait. I know what those of you still following me are gonna say. "Shed, that took a million got dang years, why are you so bad at getting out consistent updates?" And the answer is simple my friends... I'm lazy. And also, you know, finishing up Underdogs and IRL stuff took priority over poor ol' Level Up. But now Underdogs is one episode away from completion and this story is back on track. Gonna try my best to get a somewhat quick chapter out after this one.

So I won't front, this wasn't an exciting chapter to return with, being an aftermath and all. And because I had to fit in so many quests, I had to cut the filler segments from canon Aftermaths like That's Gonna Leave a Mark and Truth or X/Songs depending on which season you watch. That'll unfortunately most likely be the case in the next two Aftermaths as well, but we can have more fun with the ones that take place after the merge with less guests. But when more characters come, including antagonists, we can get more fun interactions going on with these guys. Everyone here was pretty friendly with each other, so no real drama or anything. This was mostly to give people gone early more time to make a mark, even if not on the show. We also addressed how Lee Lee was chosen over Kyle for the elimination and just the whole Kyle pattern in general. What will become of him going forward with Lee Lee gone? Keep reading to find out, I suppose.

I don't have a whole bunch else to say. Cody and Sierra were my eventual choice as hosts, but I'm not fully sure that they worked. Sierra was fine, I think, but I guess I'm worried that Cody was a bit too boring? I don't know, be sure to leave feedback on the hosting. I've left it open to try new hosts if they didn't really click. As a reminder, the next chapter is based less on a genre and more just on sand box game and the collectibles you find in a lot of them. I'll also say that I'm going to be making an effort to focus on the Ghosts and Bombers especially since characters like Deborah, Caleb, Iris, etc are the most in need of development, and that'll be addressed in this next section of the story. But of course, there's gonna be some fun happening on the Mushrooms too, don't you worry. Until the next chapter, see you guys then.