"Previously on Battle of the Generations," Chris introduced, standing in the Jumbo Jet's elimination area. "Our three teams competed in their first challenge, going head to head to head in a race to the south pole. They had a bumpy ride along the way, dealing with dynamite, leopard seals, and an angry pack of yetis. In the final stretch of the race Courtney and Scott began to butt heads, giving Team Explosive an easy pass to win the challenge. Courtney gave Scott a cattle prod to the side, securing safety for her team in the process. Things looked bleak for the farmer with his team up for elimination, but he was able to convince enough people to give him a second chance. And so it was Staci that once again became the first one eliminated. Can Team Radioactive bounce back from their loss? Where will the Jumbo Jet be taking these losers next? And who will be the next to get literally kicked off the plane? All that and more, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"
*** Opening Credits ***
Business picked up immediately where it left off following Staci's elimination. Team Radioactive was piling out of the elimination ceremony, Anne Maria and Dakota at the front still looking annoyed at the vote result. Scott trailed behind at the back of the line behind Dawn and B. He stared on awkwardly, still feeling a mix of shock and relief at staying. He had a feeling Brick would be convinced by his pleading to stay, and figured Lightning wanted Staci out anyway, but since there was no tie Dawn and B both had to have voted to keep him. And honestly, he hadn't been confident that it would happen.
"Hey, uh, you two." Scott finally said, getting the mystic and silent genius to stop for a moment. "I just wanted to say..." He stopped, clearing his throat. The farmer took a few attempts at trying to speak but struggled, almost as if what he was trying to say was painful and difficult. Dawn and B watched him curiously, with Scott's stuttering eventually turning to hacking and coughing. Finally he punched himself in the gut which seemed to do the trick. "THANKS... for, you know, not voting me out and junk."
B narrowed his eyes, not sure if he should take that display as genuine or overacting. Dawn, meanwhile, smiled and nodded. "You're welcome. Though don't think this means we've forgotten how you were back on Revenge of the Island. B took a lot of convincing to give you another chance, so I would hope you don't make us regret it."
After a nod in agreement, B did the 'I'm watching you' finger sign to Scott. He chuckled nervously in response.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Eventually the trio made it to economy class where the rest of their team were already lingering around. Team Old School were also there, and a friendly conversation had broken out among the group of Harold, Leshawna, Trent, and Cody. Izzy was giggling to herself, looking through the overhead cargo area while everyone else just sat around. When Brick noticed his teammates arrive, he jogged up to them.
"There you guys are! Now that the ceremony is over I'm gonna head on over to the cargo to help out those Team Explosive guys with their zombie search. Gotta hold up our end of the deal, after all. See you guys there." With his reminder said, Brick headed for the cargo, Scott looking perplexed as he left.
"Zombies?"
Dawn giggled, motioning for the former villain to follow them. "You know, if you want to prove that you really are all for helping us this season, perhaps you could join B and I with this. After all, the searches will be faster with the more people we have helping."
B nodded, walking off in the same way Brick had left. Dawn followed, and while he still looked confused about the situation, Scott shrugged and reluctantly joined them. As he left, he didn't notice as he passed Courtney. The former CIT glared, scoffing when he was gone.
"They actually kept him after he lost them the challenge? Guess that team is dumber than I thought." Rolling her eyes, she eyed the rest of the occupants. Lightning was doing pushups, while Dakota and Anne Maria chatted about fashion nearby. The other members of that team had left, though to where Courtney had no idea. It was after noticing the large group convo between the boys and Leshawna that got Courtney really thinking. She noticed DJ and Beth sitting nearby, so she scooted closer to them.
"Psst. DJ, Beth," Courtney whispered, getting the brickhouse and awkward girl's attention. "Can we talk? Like, more privately in the dinning room?"
DJ and Beth exchanged a look, both surprised and hesitant by the sudden request since they were well aware of Courtney's past on the show. But with nothing better to do and out of curiosity for what she wanted, they both nodded.
*** In the Cafeteria ***
"An alliance?!"
Beth gasped before being shushed by Courtney. The Type A personality glanced back to make sure no one had heard them.
"Keep it down, you don't want others to hear us," Courtney scolded.
"Courtney, we JUST got done with the first challenge," DJ shot back, arms crossed. "And you already want to start a big alliance out of the gate? I thought you didn't want us to think you were the same overly competitive girl that you became in your last few seasons?"
"Well of course I'm going to be competitive, a million bucks is on the line," Courtney pointed out, wincing when she noticed the annoyed glares that got her. "But that's not the point! I'm only suggesting an alliance now because it may be too late later."
"What do you mean?" Beth asked.
"Just think about it, the way our team is laid out puts us at a disadvantage." The Latina counted on her fingers as she listed off names. "Trent, Harold, and Cody. They're all in a big band together. They've spent more time with each other out of season than pretty much anyone else on the show that wasn't in a couple."
"Oh yeah, didn't the Drama Brothers get back together after All Stars ended?" DJ asked. "I think they even put out a new album last year."
"Ohmygosh yes!" Beth squeed, jumping up and down. "It was so good! Trent has this solo part on the first track that'll just melt your he-"
Annoyed, Courtney loudly cleared her throat to interrupt Beth's gushing. The farm girl smiled sheepishly in response. "Heh, you were saying?"
"My point, is having those three here together on a team is bad news for the rest of us," Courtney continued. "They might not be an official alliance but they may as well be since they'll definitely be talking and thus voting together. It gets even worse when you add Leshawna to the mix. Harold is going to be around her constantly, so it's highly likely she'll vote the same way as them. And if she does, that's half of the team right there."
DJ and Beth blinked in surprise, not having considered any of this. But thinking it over, Courtney raised a good point. The brickhouse whistled. "Dang, I never thought about it that way."
Hiding the smug satisfaction she felt at being proven right, Courtney continued. "So if we vote together and get Izzy in the mix, we should be able to even the odds. Best case scenario Leshawna doesn't vote with them and we'll ensure we're not overwhelmed by the numbers. Worst case scenario it goes to a tiebreaker and we at least have a fair shot at winning that."
The friendlier two pondered the proposal, not fully convinced but unable to deny the logic in Courtney's reasoning. Still, agreeing to an alliance this early was a risky move, and was it truly that much of a guarantee that the other half of the team would be voting together?
"Let us think on it for a bit," Beth suggested, DJ nodding in agreement. "After all, hopefully we won't even have to vote someone off for a while if we keep things up in challenges."
Courtney sighed, disappointed that there was no deal yet but accepting that her reputation probably played a part in to that. At least they didn't say no. "Fair enough. But please really do think it over. If one of us is the first one on the team out, the rest will just be sitting ducks to the Drama Brothers and Leshawna."
*** Cockpit Confessional: Beth ***
"As much as I hate to admit it, Courtney brought up some really good points," the farmer noted, Chef doing his pilot thing in the background. "Teaming up with her and DJ really might be the best plan. But while I have no problems with DJ, can you blame me for being hesitant toward Courtney? The last time I played was in Total Drama Action, and we weren't exactly buddies that season."
"No kidding," Chef added. "She probably got under your skin that season worse than Heather did!"
"And that's really saying something!" Beth huffed, crossing her arms. "She may have a point, but it's gonna take time for me to trust her."
*** In First Class ***
Dave sighed in satisfaction as he leaned back in his comfy chair. Nearby Beardo was at the bar, pouring a nice glass of sparkling apple juice and enjoying a slice of cake. Shawn, Jasmine, and Sammy however were nowhere to be seen as they were busy zombie checking the cargo area. By now they had been joined by members of Team Radioactive, having given a rundown to a still very confused and annoyed Scott. Finally, Sugar watched on in amusement as Rodney knelled next to Amy.
"Could you, like, make yourself useful and go get me something to drink," the mean twin commanded, looking Rodney in the eyes. The large farmer seemed too entranced and smitten to have even registered the insult.
"Yes ma'am!"
Once Rodney jogged off to grab Amy a drink, Sugar took the opportunity to approach the cheerleader. Not waiting for a response, Sugar slid by and plopped down into the seat next to her.
"Howdy!" The country girl flashed a toothy grin Amy's way, making her recoil in disgust.
"Can I help you?" Amy said, her voice dripping in condescending annoyance. "I'm trying to relax over here."
"I can see that." Sugar glanced back at Rodney, who was pouring a glass of tea for Amy while Beardo provided the sound of a gushing waterfall nearby to go with the pouring. "Big guy over there is already wrapped around yer finger, ain't he?"
Raising an eyebrow, Amy rolled her eyes and tried to keep it nonchalant. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Rodney is just being nice. He's not being manipulated at all!"
*** Confessional: Rodney ***
"I'm so excited to tell my brothers back home about my new girlfriend!" Rodney grinned proudly, his hulking frame making the already cramped bathroom all the more claustrophobic as his arms reached from wall to wall. "Of course, this means I'll have to dump my girlfriend who works at the gas station back home, we've been dating ever since pops sent me down there for some lighter fluid. Oh well, Amy is way hotter than she is so I'm sure she'll understand!"
*** In First Class ***
Sugar raised an eyebrow, chuckling at Amy's defense. "I didn't say nothin bout manipulating, but thems your words and not mine. Anyhow, I don't care if you're stringing along Rodney or not. Shoot, I think it's plum smart if anything."
"Oh." Amy blinked, not expecting such a compliment out of the country girl. She smirked. "Thanks. I guess it IS pretty clever, isn't it?"
"Sure enough! Actually, I came over here to see if we could strike up some sorta alliance. I know firsthand from last time what goodie two shoes Shawn and Jasmine can be, and they seem to have yer sister on their side. We cooler gals gotta stick together and make sure they don't pick us off, right?"
While Amy was a bit offended by Sugar considering herself and the mean twin to be on the same level of coolness, it was an interesting proposition. "Ugh, right? What is up with those weirdos even giving my dumb sister the time of day? If you want to work together to make sure they're dealt with, it sounds like a good deal to me."
Rodney finally returned with not only Amy's drink but also a slice of cake for her and another for himself. After placing her goodies on the flight tray in front of her, he took notice of the new guest. "Oh, hey Sugar."
"Rodney, ya think you could bring me back some o that cake?" Sugar batted her eyes and struck what she must have imagined was a sexy pose. "I sure would appreciate it."
The farm boy blinked, taking a seat on the other side of Amy. "Well, I mean, can't you get it? It's not that far away, and I wouldn't know how big of a piece you would want any-"
"Just go get it for her," Amy snapped, her gaze instantly taking Rodney back to his love struck obedient state. He shot up and began making his way back to the bar, mumbling gibrish along the way. The mean twin and farm girl exchanged a grin, leaning back in their chairs to further relax.
*** In the Cafeteria ***
A day had passed and it was now morning as everyone piled in for breakfast. The members of Team Explosive all looked well rested and in high spirits. The zombie search had, of course, brought no results. And the addition of Scott to the search made things a bit quicker. But while that team all seemed to be doing well, the same couldn't be said for most of the others. Many of them groaned and lurched over, trying their best to pop their backs into a comfortable position. A sickening crack was heard as Lighting was the first to successfully put his spine back into the proper alignment. Trent followed next, cringing before rubbing his sore back.
"Geez, I knew you guys had it rough sleeping in economy class back in World Tour but I never knew it was THAT bad."
Harold delivered a karate chop to his lower spine, making himself yelp. "You get used to it. Well, as used to it as you CAN get."
While everyone got to work on cracking their backs and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, Chef began putting plates down in front of everyone. On the plates, alongside some mashed potatoes and rutabagas, was half of a sheep's stomach filled with a strange smelling brown pudding meat inside. The dish emitted a strong odor that prompted some retches and cringes throughout the group.
"Ew, what the heck are you serving us?" Anne Maria scooted the plate away, holding her nose in disgust. "That stuff ain't right."
"It's haggis," Cody observed, cautiously taking a bite from the strange pudding-like substance, easing up when it tasted surprisingly edible. "We had some of this the last time we toured the UK."
"Dude, do you remember how freaked out Justin looked when they brought his plate out?" Trent added, sharing a laugh with his two bandmates. "Oh man, I can't believe he didn't just puke then and there! Wonder if he's gotten any work done on that solo album while we're here?"
Courtney narrowed her eyes at the boys as the conversation unfolded, going unnoticed while she stomached down the Scottish meal. The others also began eating, and while some did still seem grossed out by the taste, and DJ and Dawn flat out refused to eat it, others seemed to be loving it. Shawn was making a steady pace on the meal, while Sugar shoveled it down like it was no one's business. The only one out pacing her was Lightning, who scarfed down the haggis like a machine.
*** Confessional: Lightning ***
"Lightning ain't never heard of this haggis stuff, but he DOES know protein. I got like a sha-seventh sense to tell when something is high in protein, so all Lightning knows is that meal was good in his book!"
*** In the Cafeteria ***
While everyone finished their meals, for some meaning only the mashed potatoes and rutabagas, Chris finally strolled in to join them. Though instead of his usual attire, he had opted for a William Wallace looking getup. Complete with kilt, plaid sash, blue and white facepaint, and a new messy hairdo. He lifted up a fake sword and shield, while Chef stood nearby badly playing the bagpipe. Or perhaps he was playing it well, to the contestants it was a painful loud mess regardless. Most kept their fingers in their ears as they waited for the music to finish, finally stopping as Chris stood atop a table.
"Aye, laddies," the host barked in an offensively bad Scottish accent. "I bet ye can guess where we're going next on our trip!"
"Uh... Scotland?" Dave eventually said to voice the obvious.
"I- wait what?" Chris looked genuinely surprised, narrowing his eyes. "No! We're going to Ireland, isn't it obvious from the food and my new digs?"
"Everything about what you have going on here is Scottish, not Irish," Izzy pointed out, crossing her arms with an annoyed glare at the host. "Did you think they were the same thing or something?"
"... Nooooooo, of course not!" Chris smiled, backing up until he was next to Chef. He spoke from the side of his mouth in a whisper, still keeping the smile. "Do we have enough gas to make it to Scotland?"
"If we had took the short way, yeah we would," the cook grumbled back. "But since you insisted on the long way? Nah, we're still landing in Cork. We don't got the fuel to make it farther."
Chris sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "I knew we'd probably have another Athens and Rome situation this season, but I didn't think it was going to happen THIS soon. Oh well, Ireland it is!" He huffed off, arms folded. "Now I have to change into a whole different outfit, darn it!"
As the host and pilot left to tend to their respective duties, murmuring broke out among the groups concerning their upcoming destination. Izzy in particular looked ecstatic as she threw an arm around Harold.
"Coolio! Between me and Harold, we've got like a totally unbeatable home field advantage!" She pulled her fellow redhead close, flashing him a grin. "We'll have the luck o' the Irish on our side, eh McGrady?"
The dweeb nodded enthusiastically, giving the team a similar smile. "I was really hoping we'd be going through Ireland this season. My grandpa was even born in Cork, so this works out wicked for us!"
Having overheard the conversation from the next table over, Brick looked over at Scott curiously. "Say, Scott, you wouldn't happen to have some Irish blood in ya too, would ya?"
The dirt farmer scoffed, narrowing his eyes towards his teammate. "Not all redheads have Irish ancestors you know."
*** Confessional: Scott ***
"I mean, my great grandma WAS Irish, but still!"
*** Somewhere above Cork, Ireland ***
The plane eventually began making its descent into Ireland, flying above the city of Cork. After passing over various Georgian style buildings, from churches to a food market, the plane settled into the local airport. Contestants followed behind Chris, who was now clad in a green 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish,' shirt to go with his otherwise usual attire.
"Kinda surprised you didn't go with a leprechaun outfit, honestly," Jasmine mused as they were led to the town's center, her boyfriend chuckling. "Seems like it would be a very you thing to do."
"As it turns out, we DO have a leprechaun outfit," Chris replied, coming to a stop and allowing the others to gather around. "But we have another use for it right now, so this was the best I could do. On that note, time to explain today's challenge!"
Digging in his pockets, the host pulled out a gold coin. At least it looked genuine, but it was engraved with a picture of Chris' face on one side and a picture of the jumbo jet on the other. "Your goal today will actually involve stealing gold from a genuine leprechaun! Of course, there's more to it than that so here's the rundown. Getting the gold will require some extra luck, so first you'll be racing to Blarney Castle nearby. Your goal there will be kissing the infamous Blarney Stone at the top of the castle, bringing you good luck."
"Actually, kissing the Blarney Stone is just supposed to give you the gift of eloquence," Harold explained, raising a finger. "It doesn't bring good lu-"
"ONCE all of your teammates have kissed the stone," Chris loudly continued before the nerd could finish his correction. "You'll then be tasked with hunting down the pot of gold while avoiding the leprechaun's wrath. Be careful, those things get deadly when you mess with their gold!"
"Someone's been watching too many crummy horror movies," Sammy whispered, Beardo smirking in response and replicating the theme from Psycho as he mimed a knife being stabbed a few times.
"You'll continue until everyone on the team has collected a gold coin of their own, and they MUST retrieve their coin themselves without a teammate grabbing it for them." Chris gave a pointed look to Shawn and Jasmine, who both deflated a bit since they had already been making plans to get the task done for the entire team themselves. "Once everyone has their coin you'll return here to the city and make your way to Cork Harbor. All you have to do is deposit all the coins into your team's own pot of gold to win."
A shot cut to an area of the harbor where three pots floated in the water like buoys. There was a blue one with Old School's logo on the side, a green one with Radioactive's logo, and finally a red one with Explosive's logo. The water had them swaying from to side but they more or less stayed relatively stationary.
"That's not all. Because it can't be TOO easy on your kids, you'll have to deposit your coins using these." Chris motioned to his side where Chef approached the group holding a large amount of sticks. They resembled hockey sticks, though the end was more wide and circular. He tossed one of them to Shawn, who inspected it curiously. "They're called hurleys. Typically they're used in a local sport to hurl balls through goalposts, but you'll be using them to fling your coins into your pots. If you miss and a coin lands in the water, you'll have to swim out and retrieve it, then return to land and try again."
"These make for a pretty good melee weapon," Shawn complimented, wacking the stick into his hand a few times before taking a few practice swings. "I'm more of a cricket bat kinda guy, personally, but these would definitely get the job done."
Chris smirked while Chef finished handing out the hurling sticks to the rest of the cast. As he did this, a group of interns suddenly came from off screen hauling a cage that had a sheet covering it. The cage was sat down next to their employer, and the interns noticeably gave it some distance once they were done.
"Glad you approve! And on that note, I almost forgot to introduce our leprechaun for the day. Some of you may recognize him." Chuckling ominously, Chris yanked the sheet off the cage.
Inside was a boy, but he almost seemed more animal than man. His skin was a sickly green, with one ear partially chipped off and nails that seemed closer to claws than anything. He was nearly bald, save for a few long strands of brown, and his teeth were sharp and pointed. He growled as the sunlight blared down on him, and when Chris got close he lunged forward and tried in vain to swipe at his tormentor while making more animal-like noises.
"ZOMBIE!" Shawn jumped into action, protectively getting in front of Jasmine and holding up his hurley like a weapon. "I KNEW they were coming! Everybody stand back, I'll handle this."
"Whoa whoa, hold on Shawn, that's not a zombie!" Rodney quickly held the conspiracy theorist back before he was able to cave the monster boy's skull in. "Didn't you watch World Tour?"
"Ezekiel?" DJ finally said, leaning forward to closer inspect the feral prairie boy but keeping back just enough to stay out of his reach. "You're STILL exploiting the poor guy all these years later?"
"Technically I exploit all of you kids, not just him," Chris pointed out, not missing a beat. He tapped the top of the cage, getting a hate filled glare from the captive within. "But yup, it's Zeke! He'll be playing our leprechaun for the day."
Indeed, Ezekiel wasn't wearing his usual ragged hoodie and jeans. Instead he was completely clad in a stereotypical leprechaun outfit, complete with tiny green hat and polished shoes. He bit at the bars, trying to escape in some way to no avail.
"The kid's parents seemed to finally get basic cable down in that prairie of their's," Chef explained, arms folded. "They finally found out what happened to him back in World Tour and got around to suing the network, asking them to retrieve him and pay for his recovery."
"Usually the contracts are pretty air tight, but we didn't really account for contestants becoming feral in the contracts back then," Chris continued, his tone noticeably more spiteful as he glared down at the cage's occupant. "Letting us use Zeke for this challenge was one of the conditions to the producers agreeing to fix him up."
The others looked on in a mix of sympathy and surprise. Leshawna put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you agreed to that to begin with."
Chris shrugged. "I ain't the one who has to personally pay for the therapy, so it's no skin off my bones. But since the network is going to do that for him, that means Zeke is going to be a nice, cooperative little leprechaun, isn't that right?"
He narrowed his eyes expectantly at Ezekiel, who merely folded his arms and grumbled something ineligible that vaguely sounded like agreement.
"So that about covers it. Get to Blarney Castle, kiss the stone, steal some gold without Zeke maiming you, then make it back to the harbor to hurl in your coins. First team to get all their coins back wins first class, the last team to do it sends someone home. Any questions?" Chris looked over the cast, some of them shooting up a hand. "None? Cool, challenge starts in one minute."
He walked off, ignoring those who wanted to ask something. The interns returned to haul off Ezekiel to wherever he was needed, Shawn watching him nervously all the while.
*** Confessional: Shawn ***
"I'm trying to stay calm and tell myself it's just a feral guy. Not a zombie." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes in an attempt to further relax. "Sure he may growl like a zombie, and has green skin like a zombie, and tries to claw and bite like a zombie... but he's not a zombie! Totally not, just a regular old feral dude."
Shawn chuckled nervously, tapping his fingers along the counter. "No problemo."
*** In the middle of Cork ***
"Alright lads and laddies, may the luck of the Irish be with you." Chris blew his airhorn. "Begin!"
The teams were off, with the usual more athletic bunch consisting of Lightning, Shawn, and Jasmine more ahead than the others. Team Explosive and Radioactive used signs to make sure they were on the right direction, but having visited the castle before Harold and Izzy were able to steer their team with no directions needed.
"What's so special about a gosh darn rock, anyway? How's kissing it gonna help us?" Sugar asked, trailing at the end of her group.
"It probably won't, but at least it won't be as dangerous as getting the coins from Ezekiel," Sammy pointed out.
On cue, Izzy suddenly appeared next to the team, running with a wicked grin. "Fun fact, because the stone is embedded in a wall you have to lay on your back and lean over a hole to kiss it! Usually they have someone there to hold you to make sure you don't fall, but I'm guessing Chris won't have that for us."
"And you'd be right!" Chris' voice echoed around the teams through a megaphone, followed up with some laughter. With her piece of information passed on, Izzy had then disappeared to return to her team, leaving some members of Team Explosive notably more nervous.
The race to Blarney Castle was otherwise relatively uneventful. Unsurprisingly, Lightning was the first to reach the destination, his teammates all fairly far behind the jock. "Sha-first! That's what Lightning's talking bout!" Flexing, he gave his biceps a kiss each, then glared back at his teammates. "Come on now, Lightning don't got all day."
Brick and Dakota were making good progress towards the castle, but all Lightning's calling did was annoy the rest of the team who were sweaty and out of breath. Anne Maria had to stop momentarily, leaning against a tree. As she did, Shawn and Jasmine ran by with the remainder of their team close behind. Though Beardo and Sugar in particular were clearly struggling to keep up the pace. When she noticed Team Old School also fast approaching with Izzy at the front of the group, the Jersey girl took back off.
Eventually it was Team Explosive to fully arrive at the castle first, though the aforementioned country girl and beatboxer collapsed to catch their breath while the main couple looked over the castle.
"The stone is at the top," Jasmine reminded everyone. "So we just gotta navigate our way through the castle to get to the roof."
"Or you can go the more direct way if you don't want to explore a cramped dark castle like me," Shawn added, running up to the side of the building and beginning to climb. "I'll meet anyone who doesn't want to climb at the top, just keep those hurleys ready in case a lurker comes out of the shadows."
The outback girl smirked in amusement at her boyfriend's strategy, shrugging as she followed close behind. Amy watched the two climb, rolling her eyes and jogging in to the castle. "Yeah, no, I'm taking the stairs."
Beardo, Sugar, Dave, and Rodney followed the mean twin through the castle, with a reluctant Sammy bringing up the rear when she determined she wouldn't have the finesse needed for the climb. Once they were gone, the remaining members of Team Radioactive caught up to Lightning, many looking up at Shawn and Jasmine in surprise.
"Are they climbing to the top?" Dakota asked, half impressed and half confused. "Are we allowed to do that?"
"Well Chris didn't say anything against it, so I would assume it's ok," Brick replied. "And it actually might be quicker than finding the way up in the castle itself."
"You call that climbing? Lightning will show you REAL climbing!" Taking the display of athleticism from the Explosive couple as a challenge, Lightning jumped on to the wall and began making his own climb up. Brick and Scott also followed behind as they made their way up the wall, though B tapped his chin and instead decided to go into the castle.
With the remainder of Team Radioactive following B and trusting his sense of direction, Team Old School were the last to arrive despite their sense of direction thanks to less athletic teammates.
"Darn it, we're falling behind." Harold stopped at the castle's entrance to catch his breath, glancing up to see the five climbing contestants. Shawn and Jasmine were already over halfway up, with Lightning not far behind. "Huh, Chris didn't say anything about us having to climb up."
"Looks like fun!" Izzy decided to go ahead and climb as well, not waiting around for any sort of strategy talk.
"Well I've visited here a few times before, so I know the quickest way to the top," the nerd continued, looking on a bit annoyed at his more wild teammate jumping ahead. "So let's get going!"
Harold led the remainder of his team inside, taking off towards the closest path to the roof. The castle wasn't particularly large, but it seemed possible to get turned around if someone took the wrong path. Namely, this was the case for Team Explosive as they suddenly found themselves at the entrance again. Amy had apparently taken some wrong turns, leading their team to go in a circle.
Meanwhile, Shawn had just reached the roof and held a hand down to help hoist up his girlfriend. The two rushed over towards the stone, while the trio climbing from Team Radioactive struggled to force their way up the castle wall.
"Starting to think this was a dumb idea," Scott mumbled as he crossed the halfway point of the wall. Suddenly, he heard a wild giggling below him, and couldn't react in time to avoid Izzy climbing over him. Since this finished with her pushing off of the farmer's face to jump a bit higher up the wall, he nearly lost his grip and yelped at almost falling. "Watch where you're going!"
Brick raised an eyebrow as he watched Izzy zoom up the wall with relative ease. He watched as she began to get near Lightning, who was clearly not paying attention to anything other than his climb. "On your left, Lightning, be advised!"
"Sha-what?" It was too late, as Izzy's spider-like climbing allowed her to zoom over and past Lightning. Being taken off guard, the sudden orange blur going over him caused Lightning to slip, sending him falling down the wall. Brick acted fast and grabbed Lightning's arm as he passed to prevent him from falling all the way down to the ground.
"Don't worry, soldier, I got ya." The cadet huffed as he tried to pull Lightning back towards the wall, though the jock's mass was clearly making it a difficult task. Since he now only had one hand gripping the wall, he sweated nervously as he felt his fingers wobble. "Well, at least I hope I got ya. Scott, a little help here?"
Scott had just passed his two teammates once he received the call for assistance, making him groan a bit as he backtracked to help keep Lightning and Brick safe. Meanwhile at the roof of the castle, Izzy had just finished kissing the stone, while Shawn and Jasmine stood nearby waiting for their team as they had also completed the task.
Eventually a commotion could be heard coming up the stairs. All three looked on hopefully, but the survivalists' expressions faltered when it was Team Old School to make their way to the top first.
"Aw, what? We got here first, how'd they get passed up on the way up the stairs?" Shawn asked while Izzy ran over to rejoin her team.
"Actually, we didn't see Team Explosive on the way up here," DJ commented while his team began taking turns laying down and kissing the stone. It required holding on to two metal bars and leaning one's head back at an awkward angle, with Harold taking the initiative to show how it was done. "They musta got lost down there."
"Well crap, that's not good." Jasmine peered down the staircase, then looked back at her boyfriend. "I'll see if I can go find them. Be back in a jiff."
"Be careful!" While she did that, Shawn decided to keep watch over the wall in case his teammates somehow ended up circling back to the entrance. Meanwhile, Leshawna and Beth had finished kissing the stone, with DJ being the newest to complete the task. Cody was now getting in to position, with his teammates all looking optimistic.
"And now we're back in the lead." Courtney grinned proudly, fists on her hips. "Guess it came in handy to have people on hand that actually knows the location."
While Harold smiled in appreciation, Izzy giggled to herself. "Yeah, this place is pretty cool. Another fun fact about the stone, they say the locals like to spite tourists by coming to the castle here at night and pee on it!"
Since Cody was in mid-kiss with the stone, his eyes shot open. He gagged and scrubbed at his tongue with his hands. It was soon after doing this that he realized in doing so, he had let go of the safety bars. Yelping, his scrawny frame began to slip into the hole and down to the hard surface below. Thankfully, Trent jumped into action just in time to grab his foot before it slipped away. DJ then grabbed his other foot, and together they hoisted the geek back to safety.
Noticing a few annoyed looks coming her way, the crazy redhead just chuckled apologetically. "But they totally don't do that anymore now that the castle has security cameras, so it's all good!"
*** Confessional: Cody ***
Cody scrubbed at his tongue furiously with a toothbrush, spitting in to the sink before then brushing the teeth.
*** On Blarney Castle ***
After a reluctant Trent and Courtney also kissed the stone, Team Old School were off to find their way to the next challenge. Shawn tapped his fingers along the walls, pondering if he should go look for Jasmine and the others in case they had ran in to a hoard of zombies. It was then that he heard a new group of voices approaching. His optimistic grin quickly turned to a frown when he saw that it was merely Team Radioactive.
"Oh come on!"
"Ya snooze ya lose, scruffy boy," Anne Maria taunted at the team ran past Shawn and over to the stone. B's sense of direction had seemed to aid getting them up to the roof in a timely manner, though not as quick as Harold since he hadn't personally been to the castle before like him.
While Dawn moved to kiss the stone first, Dakota looked around curiously. "Where at the others at?"
"We're here!" Brick groaned as he crawled over the top of the wall and plopped on to the roof. Lightning was right behind him, with Scott finally bringing up the rear. Lightning was silent, perhaps disgruntled that he had to have been rescued from plummeting off the wall, so he merely made his way over to his teammates with arms folded. Scott and Brick looked out of breath from hauling their teammate to safety, but were otherwise fine.
One by one the generation two team went about kissing the stone, while Shawn nervously looked on for his teammates. It was only after Brick and Scott finally did the deed that Team Explosive finally began approaching from the stairs. Led by a very annoyed looking Jasmine, she merely pointed towards the stone and the others hurried to try and make up for lost time.
"Sorry about the delay, somehow Amy got them super lost," the Australian explained, sending a glare the mean twin's way. "The castle isn't THAT big, so I couldn't imagine how she did it."
*** Confessional: Amy ***
"Alright, so I'm not the best at directions. So what? Who has the time to worry about getting good at useless stuff like that?"
*** On Blarney Castle ***
By now Team Old School and Radioactive were totally out of sight, and Team Explosive had just finished the deed by last having Sugar smooch the stone. While she was getting up, Shawn scanned the horizon for any sign of Ezekiel.
"Chris didn't really specify where we go to find the pot of gold," he pondered out loud. "There's gotta be some kind of hint."
Sammy and Jasmine approached him, and it was then that the nice twin gasped and pointed to the sky. "Look, over there!"
In the sky was a rainbow, that seemed to lead into a more heavily forested area of town. They all exchanged a look, nodding before leading the others to the end of the rainbow. It was a cliche, but that just meant it was all the more likely to be where Chris wanted them to go.
Meanwhile, the other teams had also come to the conclusion that they needed to follow the rainbow. As they entered the more heavily forested area keeping view of the rainbow became more difficult, but they were making steady progress. Beth looked around nervously as Ezekiel's animal-like grunts and growls could be heard around them.
"How long has he been feral at this point?" she asked her teammates as they kept their guard up, knowing the prairie boy could be dangerous when left unchecked. "Honestly, I don't know how someone can even come back from that after so long."
"You both grew up on a farm, right?" Cody replied, keeping his hurley gripped tight in case he needed to use it defensively. "Maybe you could try relating to him to calm him down? Who knows, maybe you guys could really hit it off?"
Beth chuckled. "What, me and Zeke being a thing? Nah, I don't think that would happen."
"Hey, crazier things have happened on this sh- WHOA!" DJ skidded to a halt, nearly avoiding projectile vomit that landed in front of him. This was no ordinary vomit, as it was acidic and caused the grass to dissolve on the spot. The team looked up, spotting Ezekiel perched on a tree branch with a terrifying glare. He sent another shot of vomit their way, causing them to disperse to avoid injury.
"Well that's gonna make getting near him pretty dangerous," Trent pointed out as he and Leshawna ducked behind a tree to avoid the newest shot of bile. "But at least he doesn't have a way to mess with us from long distance."
On cue, Trent was suddenly nailed in the side of the head with a shoe. Leshawna looked up to see Ezekiel standing a bit away, wielding a shoe cannon. Yes, a cannon that fires out shoes. He cackled maniacally as he fired shoes at Team Old School as if it was a machine gun. While most shots missed, some pelted team members in various body parts.
"Leprechauns are supposed to love having shoes clean and polished, shooting them around the forest is totally inaccurate to the lore," Harold complained before a well sized boot found itself planted square between the legs. He groaned in pain, grabbing his assaulted crotch as he fell to the ground.
Ezekiel continued to laugh as Team Old School scrambled and dispersed. He noticed Courtney ducking into a bush for cover and was almost ready to fire when he suddenly heard loud footsteps coming from behind. Curious, he turned around just in time to see Lightning charge in to him, running the feral mutant over like a freight train.
"Sha-bam! Lightning ain't afraid of no monsters." The jock kissed his biceps proudly, looking down at Ezekiel with his best cocky grin. "Watcha got, freakshow? How you gonna handle the Lightning?"
Gritting his teeth, Ezekiel fired up his shot and hit his projectile vomit towards Lightning. Due to the closeness, the athlete wasn't able to fully avoid the blow with some bile getting on his pants. Normally this would be very gross but otherwise harmless, but thanks to it being mutant vomit it was as if he had sat on lava. Yelling, Lightning held his buttocks and ran to find the nearest water source to jump in to. He ran past the rest of his team in the process, who had been watching the scuffle from behind cover.
"Welp, so much for that plan," Scott snarked while Lightning plopped down into a nearby pond.
"I bet his acid spit wouldn't do anything to Dakotazoid," Anne Maria pointed out, everyone turning their eyes to the heiress in question. "Think you could go keep him busy for us?"
*** Confessional: Dakota ***
"Ugh, that's two challenges in a row they've wanted me to turn into Dakotazoid for them. I didn't come back to just be known as 'that girl who can turn into a big mutant.' Really hope this doesn't become a reoccurring thing."
*** In the forest surrounding Blarney ***
"I'm not mad right now, but I guess if we need a last ditch plan I could try it," Dakota finally said, the team having now been rejoined by Lightning while Ezekiel terrorized Team Old School some more. "Any other ideas? Preferably one that doesn't get someone hurt?"
B rubbed his chin, thinking over potential scenarios to get the team to safety. As he looked over his teammates, an idea finally struck. Dawn took notice of his change in expression and smiled. "I believe B has an idea."
Everyone looked towards the silent genius, curious. With their attention on him, he simply pointed at Anne Maria, then at Ezekiel. Some seemed a bit confused, the Jersey girl especially, so Dawn continued to explain.
"He believes that Anne Maria could sufficiently distract him with no risk of being harmed."
"Oh yeah, he was smitten with her back in season four," Brick recalled, grinning at the plan. "There's no way he'd hurt her, and if he's distracted then we can get to the pot of gold no problem."
"And what about me?" Anne Maria cut in, not at all looking optimistic over being used as a distraction. "I gotta get some gold too, ya know."
"Guy would probably lead you to it himself, I'd bet," Scott pointed out. "If you distract him long enough for us to get in and out, then you can just have him bring you to it and meet us back at the harbor."
There was silence, everyone other than Anne Maria seemed to agree that they wouldn't find a better plan than this one. Looking around at her team's expectant faces, she eventually sighed and crossed her arms. "Ugh, fine, I'll go keep the weirdo busy."
With Team Radioactive's appreciative smiles watching her on from their cover, Anne Maria walked out into the open. Ezekiel had just fired a stiletto right at DJ's ribs when he got the feeling that someone was approaching him. He turned around, shoe cannon at the ready, only to falter when he noticed it being Anne Maria.
"Yo, uh, Zeke wasn't it?" Anne Maria chuckled nervously, approaching the feral mutant with the upmost caution. "Long time no see! You, uh, you looking pretty good! You been working out or something?"
Ezekiel stammered some sort of unintelligible gibberish, some of his acidic drool leaking from the side of his mouth. But to Anne Maria's credit, he had otherwise come out of his aggressive mode and was giving her his full attention.
"How abouts you and I walk and talk, really catch up and junk?" Not expecting this to work, she was surprised when Ezekiel grinned and nodded while still grunting his animal-like noises. Cringing, but baring it, she walked off in a new direction while Zeke followed close behind. Once they were out of earshot, the remainder of Team Radioactive jumped out of hiding and made a sprint towards the end of the rainbow.
*** Confessional: Anne Maria ***
She shuddered as she applied a fresh coat of hairspray to her massive poof, then moved to check her makeup. "Yo, all I know is this betta mean I'm on everyone's good side after this challenge. Chatterbox getting outed makes me think I'm on the outs on this team, so this should show em what an asset I am."
*** In Blarney Forest ***
While Anne Maria had Ezekiel occupied, Team Radioactive located the pot of gold with ease. B tracked the rainbow to the end, and sure enough the cauldron sat there on a log in a clearing. Wasting no time, everyone grabbed a gold Chris coin from the pot and started making their way back to Cork. Meanwhile, Team Old School had regrouped after they noticed Ezekiel was no longer hunting them.
"Where'd Zeke go all of a sudden?" Trent pondered as they too went back to tracking the rainbow. "He was just breathing down our necks, and now nothing?"
"I ain't complaining, I'd say we shouldn't question it and keep going," DJ replied, rubbing his sore ribs with a wince. "I'm guessing he's dealing with one of the other teams at the moment so now's our best chance to pull back ahead."
"Check it out, we found the loot!" Izzy pointed and zoomed past some trees, locating the pot of gold. There were light cheers among the group as everyone picked a coin and started making their own way out of the forest. By the time they were gone, Ezekiel and Anne Maria had just entered the clearing themselves, the former looking on at his crush with a dopey lovestruck grin.
"Aw, thanks for bringing me to the gold! I'm sure you still feel bad for screwing me out of my last season by giving me that fake diamond, so this makes up for it," she said, not trying to sound bitter and condescending but still doing so anyway.
It was as the two began approaching the pot of gold when they suddenly heard a loud fart from nearby. They looked back, spotting Team Explosive who had been in the middle of trying to stealthily sneak to the gold. Though now all other members were glaring at Sugar, as her flatulence had alerted Zeke to their location. Realizing that he had forgotten to keep his head in the challenge, Ezekiel roared viciously and immediately opened fire with the shoe cannon. Team Explosive screamed and ran off, with the mutant hot on their trail. Anne Maria blinked in surprise at the situation, eventually shrugging and grabbing her coin from the pot so she could join her team back at Cork.
Team Explosive gave various screams and distressed noises as they bobbed and weaved out of the way of shoes and acidic vomit. Most were able to keep up the dodging, though Beardo and Rodney's large frames earned them some shoes to the back. Shawn was breathing in and out, trying to keep himself composed.
"Not a zombie, not a zombie," he repeated to himself in a whisper. "He's firing shoes, zombies don't do that. Why would zombies do that? That would just be silly."
"You alright?" Jasmine asked, concerned.
"Never better!" The zombie nut chuckled, peering back at their feral attacker. He was gaining ground, and it didn't help that most of the team was either nonathletic or huge. "We really gotta get this guy off our tail so the others can get their gold. I'm gonna try and keep him busy."
"Well I'm coming with you, we'll really keep him occupied if we're both overwhelming him."
Without time to really explain things to their team, the power couple immediately sprung into action. Shawn rolled out of the way of an army boot, the used the hurley to deflect a croc back at Ezekiel. The shoe hit its mark right on homeschool's nose, prompting a growl in response. Zeke didn't have time to act, since Jasmine followed up by knocking a flip flop into the other side of his head. Watching the two of them retreat into a different direction of the forest, Ezekiel roared and gave chase, leaving the remainder of Team Explosive alone.
"This is out chance, lets circle back and grab the gold!" Sammy lead the charge back towards the end of the rainbow. Amy wasn't too happy about it, but since everyone else was already following her, there wasn't anything that could be done.
Meanwhile, Shawn and Jasmine did their best to disorientate Ezekiel by diverting his attention back and forth between the two of them. He was aggressive and a good shot, but the two of them outclassed him in athleticism and speed. Still, it was quickly becoming apparent that they'd need to figure out how to shake him for good so they too could retrieve their gold and join their team.
"I've got an idea," Jasmine eventually called over to her boyfriend. "It's a bit more on the underhanded side, but..."
"Hey, gotta do what we gotta do," Shawn agreed with a nod. "What are ya thinking?"
Nearly outside the forest, Team Old School felt optimistic as they had pocketed their gold for now and jogged back towards their destination.
"I think Team Radioactive is ahead of us, but as long as we finish before Team Explosive we're golden," Harold reasoned.
"And I don't think that orange girl was with her team since she was busy with Zeke," Leshawna added. "So we might yet have a shot at getting first class."
As the conversation continued among the group, at the back of the pack Beth couldn't help but hear rumblings in the forest behind them getting louder and louder. Looking back out of curiosity, she yelped as two opposing team members suddenly emerged from out of the shrubbery behind her.
"Sorry about this in advance, guys," Shawn said apologetically, before turning around and cupping his hands around his mouth. "HEY, YA NOT-ZOMBIE! COME ON AND GET US ALREADY!"
With that said, he and Jasmine then immediately dove into the bushes. The yell had of course got the attention of everyone on Team Old School, who turned around in time to see Ezekiel jump from tree to tree towards them. He looked around for the survivalist couple, but with them hidden the only ones in his sight now were the first generation team.
"Oh come on, we do NOT have the time to deal with this again," Courtney yelled, preemptively holding up her hurley to try and deflect the incoming projectiles.
"Don't worry, guys, I've got this!" No time to think it over, Izzy dove at Zeke before he could fire up the shoe cannon. The weapon was knocked to the ground and the two began wrestling. He was strong and aggressive, but then again so was Izzy. They were seemingly in a stalemate, rolling back and forth as they put the other in holds. "Just go, I'll catch up once we're done!"
With no time to protest in case Ezekiel wiggled free of her grasp, the rest of Team Old School nodded and took off towards Cork. Anne Maria also emerged out of the forest at this time, giving a dumbfounded look towards the grappling match but otherwise not slowing down. Their job done, Shawn and Jasmine also carefully left their hiding place and went back towards the pot of gold.
*** Cockpit Confessional: Jasmine ***
"Yeah, I know it was kind of a jerk move to lead that ankle biter to the other team, but we were behind and needed a way to catch up." She shrugged, using the extra space of the cockpit to actually stretch out a bit.
"Psh, if anything you should be apologetic towards Zeke for leaving him to deal with Izzy," Chef pointed out.
Jasmine snort laughed. "Fair point."
*** At Cork Harbor ***
Contestants began finally making their way to the end of the challenge. Team Radioactive was the first on the scene, with the obvious lack of Anne Maria. Scott wasted no time taking a shot and hitting his coin towards his team's pot, but it missed by a fairly large margin. Grunting in annoyance, he began swimming out to retrieve it while the others took a second to think over the best way to try and swing. B especially seemed to be thoroughly testing as he lightly bounced his coin on his hurley, then took note of the light wind and how it would affect things.
"Sha-wack!" The one other example of impatience was Lightning, who just went for it. Unlike Scott, however, his shot was perfect and the coin landed in their team's pot with authority. The others looked at him with dropped jaws while he proudly kissed his biceps for the umpteenth time this episode.
Nodding in approval at Lightning's shot, B then finished his calculations and took a shot of his own. Sure enough, the coin hit the mark and now they were two coins closer to first class. Unfortunately, the remainder of the team missed their shots, forcing them to swim for them just as Scott was almost back to shore.
It was then that Team Old School, lacking Izzy, were next to arrive. They took note of the various members of Team Radioactive in the water, confirming that first class was still a possibility. Anne Maria was also right behind them, getting calls from her team to quickly join them.
"Lets get the lead out, people, we don't need another night in economy class." Courtney was the first of the team to take a shot, the coin very nearly hitting the mark only to bounce off the rim in to the water. Others took their shots, with Cody and DJ also getting very close but in the end all seven coins landed in the water.
From there it was a mad dash to try again over and over. Those that missed swam with all their might, while B tried his best to silently coach his teammates on their swinging method. They were gradually getting better, but while they weren't quite as analytical, Team Old School had Courtney, Harold, and Cody all also helping to try and figure out the best trajectory. The aforementioned trio and Dawn had all also added their coins in to their respective pots when Team Explosive arrived on the scene, obviously lacking Shawn and Jasmine.
"Aaaand, we're in last place," Dave lamented, sighing. "Great."
"None of them are done yet, though," Sammy pointed out. "We can-" She paused, as Beardo wasted no time knocking his coin towards the pot. As luck would have it, the coin hit the mark, surprising even the beatboxer. "Whoa, nice shot Beardo!"
Smiling sheepishly, he held up a thumbs up with accompanying 'ding' sound affect. The others followed the example, swinging their coins at the pot. Most missed, but of all people Sugar's coin hit the mark with what was mostly dumb luck.
"Boom! Just like getting a ring on a bottle at the county fair!"
The competition heated up, with everyone working overtime to be first. Team Radioactive seemed the most confident, not only because B's directions had also landed Dakota and Brick's coins, but also since they were the only team with all members present. Old School wasn't far behind now that Trent and DJ landed their coins, but Team Explosive was doing their best and had landed the coins for Sammy and Rodney.
"We're here!" Everyone looked to the side to see Shawn jogging in to the scene, Jasmine right behind him. The original generation cast scanned the area behind them, paling when they saw no Izzy in sight. Things weren't feeling much better when Shawn immediately nailed the coin shot, knowing how to handle a melee weapon like the hurley better than nearly anyone.
More coins found their mark, first with Jasmine, then Leshawna. Next was Scott, leaving only Anne Maria's coin for their team. Dave finally nailed the shot, leaving only Amy for their team. Then it was Beth's turn, making Team Old School groan since they now only lacked the still missing Izzy's coin.
"Phew, you guys would NOT believe the fight Zeke put up, he's real scrappy let me tell ya." Everyone heard a voice call out from the distance. There was a mix of cheers and worry when they saw the source as Izzy, running up to the scene with the upmost quickness. Amy was part of the distracted when she hit her coin, but somehow the distraction actually worked for the best as she accidentally landed it in the pot.
"Team Explosive wins first class again," Chris called, as he had totally been standing on the sidelines the whole time probably.
Ignoring the cheers from Team Explosive, a sweating B quickly took charge and corrected Anne Maria's positioning and stance to ensure her next wack would hit the mark. Noting the genius doing his thing, Courtney called out to to the final teammate. "Izzy, just go long!"
Nodding at the challenge, Izzy stuck a thumb out to quickly check the wind, then smacked her coin with all her might to send it soaring through the air. Team Old School watched with mouths agape as they saw it zoom through the sky, arcing overhead and landing straight in their pot!
... though it landed mere moments AFTER Anne Maria's coin had landed in Team Radioactive's pot.
"And in a near photo finish, Team Radioactive is safe!" Chris chuckled mischievously. "Team Old School, one of you is done like dinner."
There was a mix of groans and sighs among the original cast team, while Team Radioactive cheered at their safety. Among the cheers, Scott glanced over at the losing team, taking note of Courtney's sour expression.
*** On the Jumbo Jet ***
Courtney was walking towards economy class from the dinning room, only to flinch as Scott suddenly ran in front of her.
"Listen, Courtney, I wanted to talk to you before your team goes to elimination." The dirt farmer blocked the doorway, getting an annoyed glare for his troubles. "You know, in case it turns out to be too late and all."
"And just what is THAT supposed to mean?" She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at the comment.
"Well, you know, I figured with your attitude and all your team might be voting you off so-"
"I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much," Courtney spat, her glare intensifying and making Scott's expression turn to worry. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk strategy, so leave me alone!"
She brushed past her former short-lived boyfriend, with Scott groaning and hitting his head against the wall. "Stupid!"
Trying to immediately forget the confrontation, Courtney entered the economy class to see Trent and Cody in the middle of an argument.
"Come on, dude, that near fall could have been bad news for us, you're lucky I was there to save your skin," Trent pointed out, looking disgruntled.
"It's not my fault I almost fell! It's not like it put us behind, and at least I didn't get nailed by shoes from Zeke as much as you did," the geek shot back, both glaring at each other.
Courtney slid into a seat between DJ and Beth, both of whom were watching the argument curiously.
"I thought you were sure they'd be on the same page?" the brickhouse commented, a hint of sass to his tone.
Courtney shrugged dismissively. "Friends fight all the time, it doesn't mean anything."
"I don't know, they seem pretty mad." Beth winced as the bickering increased in volume between the bandmates, Harold now stepping between them to try and dispel the ruckus. "Maybe they're not as unified as we thought? The Drama Brothers have broken up before, after all."
"That's not a risk we should be willing to take." Sighing, the former CIT glanced over at Izzy, who was watching the argument while snacking on some popcorn she somehow found. "I feel like they're going to target Izzy since she was the last to arrive and caused Cody to almost fall. And like I said, if she goes then the rest of us are sitting ducks."
DJ raised an eyebrow. "A'ight, so who do you think should be voted off instead?"
"Well the thing that makes the potential alliance most threatening is potentially having Leshawna along with it," Courtney pointed out, noticing that the aforementioned sister was now assisting Harold breakup the disagreement. "And the link between the band and her is Harold. Get rid of him and she's back to being a lone wolf, while Trent and Cody become a non-threat."
Beth rolled her eyes. "Of course you think it should be Harold, you're probably still not over what he did way back in season one! Why are you still bitter?"
Courtney scoffed. "I am NOT. I mean, yeah, that was still totally bogus and they should have let me return because of the vote rigging, but I'm long over it. It's purely a strategic choice, nothing more."
"Well Harold probably did the most in the challenge and helped get us in the lead for a bit there, it wouldn't make sense to vote him off when he didn't do anything wrong." DJ crossed his arms. "Personally, I think if we have to vote one of the band off it should be Cody. Dude almost fell off the castle just because Izzy said something crazy. We, of all people, should know not to take what she says seriously at this point."
"Yeah, no offense to him but I think Trent and Harold would both be better to keep around that him," Beth agreed with a nod. "If we're not voting for Izzy, Cody is the next best bet."
"But Harold was only so knowledgeable because his family is FROM Ireland," Courtney pointed out, eyes narrowed. "It's not like we'll go back there later in the season. For the sake of maximizing our safety, Harold is the only logical choice to-"
"Voting time, Team Old School!" Chris' announcement over the intercom cut the Latina off, much to her annoyance. "Let's move those keisters on down to the elimination area!"
*** In the Elimination Area ***
"Well well well, you would think our longest tenured contestants would have lasted a bit longer before having to vote someone off." Chuckling, the host lined up seven peanut filled barf bags in front of him. "But since we have Team Victory alumni here, I guess some things never change. Anyhow, the votes have been cast. When I call your name, that means you're safe. The first barf bag goes to... Leshawna!"
Pumping her fist, she gladly caught the symbol of safety once thrown to her.
"DJ, Trent, Beth."
The boys caught their bags with ease, while Beth's first bounced off of her face and landed in her hands.
"And, surprisingly, Courtney. All of you are safe."
Courtney frowned at the comment but none the less was happy to have her name called.
"Also safe tonight is... Cody!"
Sighing in relief, the tech geek caught his barf bag and exchanged a high five with Trent. This earned confused looked from DJ and Beth, and an annoyed one from Courtney. Meanwhile, Harold and Izzy looked on nervously at the final barf bag.
"Look at that, our two teamies of Irish descent in the bottom two together in Ireland! What are the odds?" Noticing that Harold almost seemed ready to answer with the odds, Chris immediately went back to talking. "Rhetorical question, by the way. As I was saying, one barf bag left, and two red headed losers to choose from. The final person safe tonight is...
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... Harold!"
"Wicked!" The nerd stood up to grab his barf bag, getting cheers and high fives from both Leshawna and his band comrades. DJ and Beth smiled sheepishly at Courtney, who looked at them with an annoyed scowl and folded arms.
"Tch, for real? I was just starting to have some fun around here!" Still smiling despite everything, Izzy stood up and accepted the parachute thrown to her. "Oh well, guess thems the breaks, eh Christopher?"
"I'd like to say I'm sad to see ya go, Izzy, but admittedly I'm kinda glad it was you." Pointing a thumb to the roof with one hand, he opened the hatch with the other. "Think you could take care of business for us on your way out?"
Izzy raised an eyebrow, grinning devilishly. "Depends. If someone gets to return later in the season, can I be given priority?"
The host rubbed his chin in thought, weighing if agreeing to such a deal was worth the benefits. "Tell ya what, I'll definitely consider it."
"Eh, good enough for me." Shrugging, Izzy strapped on her parachute and actually turned around while standing at the edge of the hatch. "Fire away!"
With a click of a button, the Boot of Shame came swinging down. Thanks to her reflexes, Izzy was actually able to jump in time to bounce off of the boot, sending her upwards out of the hatch. On the top of the plane, Ezekiel could be seen crawling his way across the roof. Now back in his normal clothes instead of the leprechaun getup, he nearly made it to a hatch that would allow him to enter the jet. Right as he went to open the hatch, he heard a wild yelling quickly approaching from behind. He turned around just in time to see a green and orange blur tackle him, sending both he and Izzy off the jet and falling to the ground below. Ezekiel's screams echoed through the sky, coupled with Izzy's wild whooping.
"Ah, the peace of mind to know we won't have to deal with THAT GUY this time around." Chris breathed a sigh of relief, smiling. "Another one bites the dust! Can the outsiders of Team Old School recover? Will Courtney keep giving Scott the cold shoulder? Can Team Explosive keep up their dominant winning streak? And who will be next to properly taste the Boot of Shame? Tune in next time to find out, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"
The episode ended with Ezekiel and Izzy's noises still echoing in the background.
Voting Confessionals:
Beth stamped Cody's passport, looking conflicted. "It's just hard for me to trust Courtney right now, especially since she wants to vote out someone she's always had a vendetta against despite him being really useful this challenge. I won't vote for Izzy, so maybe she'll come around and vote the same as me and DJ?"
"Hehe, me and Trent having a bit of an argument was starting to make me nervous there, but thankfully Harold brought us to our senses." Cody stamped Izzy's passport. "Anyway, Izzy kinda almost made me fall off a castle today, so it's an easy vote for me."
"Ugh, I hope those idiots come to their senses or else we'll be down one outsider and the rest of us will be powerless against the Drama Brothers." Sighing, Courtney gave Harold's passport a stamp. "Like okay, maybe I AM still a bit bitter against Harold, but this is legitimately the smartest thing to do for strategy!"
DJ looked between Harold and Cody's passport, eventually shrugging and stamping Cody's. "It just wouldn't feel right voting off Harold when he pulled the most weight today. I hope Courtney sees that, if she really is that worried about there being an alliance."
"I hate to vote out my fellow Irish teammate considering the location, but between almost making Cody fall and spending too long wrestling around with Zeke, it's the only logical choice." Giving Izzy's passport a stamp, Harold nodded. "Sorry, Izzy. It's nothing personal."
"Courtney rushed up to me on the way to vote being all 'Raawr, we gotta vote out Harold or else we're doooomed." Cackling, the wild child stamped Harold's passport. "She was SUPER freaked out, it was pretty funny. But eh, works for me, only one redhead can reign supreme on this team!"
Leshawna stamped Izzy's passport with no hesitation. "Even if she didn't almost get Cody injured, I'd still probably be voting Izzy anyway. Girl is able to do some crazy things, sure, but it's hard enough to feel safe on this deathtrap of a plane without her around causing more mayhem."
Trent chuckled, casually face palming. "Can't believe I got worked up towards Cody for something so dumb. Thankfully we got it all hashed out. Plus, it wasn't even his fault that he almost fell. It was Izzy's. So, yeah, kind of an easy choice." The musician stamped Izzy's passport.
Votes for Izzy: 4 (Cody, Harold, Leshawna, Trent)
Votes for Harold: 2 (Courtney, Izzy)
Votes for Cody: 2 (Beth, DJ)
After the Boot of Shame:
Izzy continued to whoop and cheer as she somersaulted through the air. "Woohoo, this is so much fun! It always bummed me out that I left World Tour without getting to do the drop, this is so cool! Anyway, yeah, it's a bummer to be out so early, BUT Chris did say I may get priority if someone gets to return. I've only returned, what, three times before? I gotta improve on my record if I want to keep it! You haven't seen the last of Izzy yet!"
Her thought process was interrupted when she suddenly heard wild screaming and grunting. She looked down, seeing Ezekiel also flying through the sky, flailing his arms in terror since he had no parachute. Izzy then caught up, putting an arm around the feral boy while using her other hand to deploy the parachute.
"Yo, Zeke! Long time no see, homeschool." Ezekiel looked on at her in confusion, finding himself unable to wiggle free from her grasp. "Hey, did you know that back in the day some of the fans liked to think we'd be a good couple?"
Zeke recoiled, raising an eyebrow at the comment. "Haha, weird right? Pretty sure I was still together with Big O at the time! Then again, I guess it kinda makes sense. We do both have a bit of a wild side, am I right?"
The two finally landed, Ezekiel able to eventually wiggle free from her grasp and run away. "Hey, where ya going? Oh, up for a game of tag? You're on, Zekey boy!" Chuckling wildly, Izzy gave chase, Zeke's distressed screams echoing ahead.
Remaining Contestants:
Team Old School: Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Harold, Leshawna, Trent
Team Radioactive: Anne Maria, B, Brick, Dakota, Dawn, Lightning, Scott
Team Explosive: Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Rodney, Sammy, Shawn, Sugar
Elimination Order:
23rd: Izzy
24th: Staci
Author's Note:
Hmm, yes, it seems I got this chapter done a bit quicker than the last one. Consider it a Trick that I was able to give out this Treat right at Halloween. Will the next chapter be out as quick? Who knows, hopefully. The last chapter didn't quite bring in as many reviews as I would have hoped, so I'm hoping getting a quicker chapter out to prove this won't be a "one update a year" story will help bring in more interest.
Anyway, yeah, another chapter down and another contestant gone. Eliminating Izzy will probably be a more surprising choice. I like Izzy and she's pretty popular in the fandom, one of those characters I've never really seen anyone dislike. Yet she was fodder when I wrote Total Drama Underdogs, and here she is eating an early boot again. Wassupwitdat? Unfortunately for Izzy, this was just how the dice fell with how I wanted certain storylines and such to play out. I needed one of Old School's non Drama Brothers side to be out first, and Izzy made the most sense. Will she have a chance to return considering her and Chris' conversation on her way out? Maybe, maybe not, who knows if there will even be a returnee to begin with? Well, I know, but the answer remains to be seen for anyone else.
So today we visited Ireland. I originally didn't have a solid plan for where to visit this episode, but Ireland was on my short list of "countries definitely getting visited." And once I considered who was getting eliminated this chapter, I figured it would be nice to let Izzy be here for this one. She is canonically Irish, and while I don't know if it's ever explicitly been confirmed for Harold, his last name is of Irish origin. So I figured it was safe to reference both of them being Irish in the chapter. Ezekiel also showed up, because I am apparently incapable of not finding a way to shoehorn in that guy into my stories one way or another. But nah, when I realized I needed a leprechaun for the challenge, I realized he would make more sense than just Chef dressed as one, and it gave potential for shit like the Anne Maria distraction. As for why we went to Cork and not the more well known Dublin, when looking over Irish landmarks and such, I decided I wanted to incorporate the Blarney Stone for sure, and Cork is very close to that. Anyway, to followup on last chapter's note on locations, I'm pleased to say that I now do have all locations planned out. I don't have the full order, just the first 10 episodes, the last two, and a specific horror themed location, but the location pool has been made. That being said, there's a few I'm iffy on, so if I see a suggestion that really gets the almonds activated it's still possible it could be used.
I'm looking forward to the next chapter, especially the song since I have a silly plan for it. But I may try to get something done for a different story (or stories) before I make that one. Before starting it I also can't help but wonder if this chapter was too long. The meat of the chapter was just shy of 12,000 words, and crossed that threshold when you factor in After the Boot of Shame. I kind of worry that I'm being too wordy, but I don't really want to shorten my chapters. If it's a problem, maybe I could start doing the "break episodes up into two chapters" meme that others do. Me personally, I look back at some of my short ass Underdog chapters and think to myself "man I could have been more descriptive here," but that's just me. I'm curious to hear what others think.
And that about does it for me this time. Keep those predictions and stuff coming, ya don't know how much I love reading them. Was the chapter fun, did the Ezekiel cameo work and will he be the last cameo we see? Guess we'll see as the story continues, so I'll catch you guys at the next one.