"Previously on Total Drama Battle of the Generations," Chris narrated from within the cockpit with Chef. "We touched down in Kyoto for a go kart race unlike any other! There were explosions, bananas, and a whole lot of chaos. Our teams kept vying back and forth for the lead, but in the end it was once again Team Explosive to race into first place. Meanwhile, Team Old School found themselves in the elimination ceremony once again after Dakotazoid stepped on Harold's parade. To add insult to injury, literally, the now wheelchair bound nerd was voted off. But not before rekindling things with his former flame Leshawna, giving your's truly the perfect opportunity to ruin their moment."
Chris laughed as the clip played of Harold being kicked off the plane right as he and Leshawna were going to kiss. "Man, I love this job! Where will the contestants find themselves next? Can Dakota keep her anger in check? And who will be the next one voted out? Find out tonight, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"
*** Opening Credits ***
With Scott, Dawn, B, and Brick off to the cargo hold for their usual zombie search with Team Explosive, only Dakota, Lightning, and Anne Maria remained in economy class. The girls sat in an awkward silence while Lightning did push ups on the nearby floor.
"Yo, can one of you keep count for The Lightning while he's doing his thing?" he asked, not slowing down from the workout. "Gotta have my mind in the game, so Lightning ain't got no sha-time for algebra."
"Yeah yeah, you're at like fifty or something, just keep going." Anne Maria didn't look up from her nails, mostly channeling out the occasional grunts and commentary from the jock. But a sigh from Dakota caught her attention. "Hey, you doing alright?"
"No." The heiress slumped back into her seat, looking on in shame. "I feel horrible about what happened with Dakotazoid. Even if it was an enemy team member, the fact that I actually got someone injured is eating me up inside."
"Ah. Yeah, I can see why that'd be bugging ya." Putting away the nail file, now it was time for the Jersey girl to switch to eyeliner as she went about her touch up routine. "Well hey, look on the bright side. It helped get us the win! Plus, maybe that ginger guy didn't get it too bad. Might not even have got eliminated."
On cue, Team Old School finally began filing their way into economy class. There was an awkward silence, with Dakota and Anne Maria both observing that Harold was now the only one missing from the group. As they sat down, Leshawna in particular was giving the mutant a death stare that felt like it could melt through steel.
"Er... nevermind." Anne Maria chuckled awkwardly, frowning when Dakota could only sigh in shame.
*** Confessional: Dakota ***
"Uuuugh, I can't believe this! I came back to the show to try and make new friends, it got pretty hard doing that when you're stuck as a giant monster at all times. But after this everyone's just going to be intimidated around me, and I'm PRETTY sure Leshawna hates my guts now. Maybe I can try and patch things up with her?"
*** In Economy Class ***
Unable to further stew in the awkward environment, Dakota sucked in a breath and walked over to Team Old School's bench. Anne Maria wanted to warn of it being a bad idea, but was too slow to stop her. Leshawna's glare stayed firmly pointed directly into the blonde's eyes as she approached with an optimistic smile.
"Hey, uh, Leshawna. I just wanted to apologize about everything that happened." She looked around at the other Old School team members who were watching the interaction curiously. "To all of you. I know it's a competition, but I didn't mean to injure your friend like that. So I'm really really sorry."
"Uh huh," was all Leshawna would reply with.
"And since we got off on the wrong foot, I was hoping we might be able to start over," Dakota continued. "You and I are both fashionable gals, plus we seem to have a pretty similar taste in guys. I think we could be really good friends."
"Show me one person who asked, white girl." Not missing a beat when the heiress recoiled at her response, Leshawna kept it up. "Also for the record me and Harold ain't just friends now, but I won't get to enjoy that fact until after I'm done winning this damn show. So for the time being? Leave me alone."
Dakota tried to open her mouth for a response, but an intensified glare from the darker skinned girl was enough to convince her it was futile. She returned to her seat in shame, others in the room cringing at the awkwardness of the exchange.
*** Cockpit Confessional: Leshawna ***
Taking in a deep breath, Leshawna let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "Look, I get it. Dakota didn't injure Harold on purpose. I don't know what it's like having her condition, I figure it must be hard to control stuff like that. So over time I'll cool off and drop my grudge. But for now, can't a sister be salty in peace?"
"It WAS pretty cold how you clapped back at her," Chef noted from the pilot seat, not noticing the offended reaction he got in response.
"She put my man in a damn wheelchair!"
"Ah, so maybe you're just jealous that another girl got to crush him underneath her. Nerds like that do tend to enjoy crazy monster chicks." Sensing danger, Chef turned around in a panic as he instantly regretted his word choice. An incensed Leshawna rolled up a sleeve, stomping towards the older man. "Now hold up, I was just joking!"
She pulled back her arm for a punch but the camera transitioned away before any sort of impact was seen.
*** In the Common Area ***
Sometime later everyone was beginning to enjoy their breakfast, or at least as much as they could manage. Courtney joined DJ and Beth at a table, the rest of their team still in the process of getting their food.
"Crazy how everything went down, ain't it?" DJ said quietly, going for a vegan friendly option with his breakfast. "I guess we should feel lucky, but I still kinda feel bad."
"Yes yes, what happened to Harold really sucked for him," Courtney agreed haphazardly. "But now that he's out the playing field is back to even for us. And if we can rope in Leshawna away from Trent and Cody? We'll have successfully turned the tables."
"I don't know, her and Trent have been pretty good friends since season 1 too," Beth pointed out. "It might be pretty hard to get her to vote against them."
"Well if we have to take out chances in a tiebreaker I suppose Cody would be the best bet for who we can beat if it comes to that."
As the CIT continued whispering her plans to her sorta kinda allies, a certain dirt farmer couldn't help but take notice of the conversation. He took a seat next to Courtney, startling the members of the enemy team.
"Ya doing some plotting over here, Court?" He asked slyly, grinning through the annoyed glare his former flame was giving him. "Ya know, I think I'm starting to get in good with some of my teammates, so if you wanna start an inter-team alliance I'd be pretty down to-"
"Not interested, Scott. Go away." Seeing him about to reply, Courtney jabbed a finger into his chest and raised her voice. "Go. Away!"
Scott held up his hands defensively, quickly grabbing his tray and retreating to his own team's table. Courtney's teammates could only watch in amused confusion at the interaction.
"So what's the deal with you two?" Beth asked. "Are you like on a break or-"
"We were never really ON at all," Courtney tried to correct. "Didn't you watch All Stars? It was all an act. I didn't really have feelings for that gross farm boy, it was purely strategic to earn his loyalty."
"See you say that, but you were even talking about how you liked Scott when he wasn't around," DJ pointed out, he and Beth forming grins of their own as she grew more flustered. "Even in the confessional where literally no one else could hear you."
The Latina stammered a bit, going over excuses in her mind that would make enough sense. Eventually one stuck out. "Well, duh! What if he got voted off and got to watch the episodes at home? If they did another finale where the others voted on the winner, or if I needed helpers for the last challenge, I would still need to ensure his cooperation."
DJ folded his arms. "Mhm, sure."
*** Confessional: DJ ***
"If that was the case, she never woulda made that confessional about her chart that shot herself in the foot. That thing lost her Scott AND Gwen's support. She ain't fooling nobody, she's still into that dude. Wonder why she keeps denying it so much?"
*** In the Common Area ***
Just as breakfast was finishing up, Chris strolled in with a certain mischievous smirk that could only mean a challenge was imminent. "Well if it isn't my favorite people to terrorize. If any of you are sufficiently homesick at this point after visiting three different continents, you're in luck! We're heading back to the Americas. Specifically, today we're heading down south."
"Oh cool, something in South America?" Brick smiled enthusiastically. "Where to? Brazil, maybe Chile?"
"No, we're keeping it to North America for now," the host corrected. "We're just heading south."
"So, Mexico?" Shawn asked, scratching his head.
Chris facepalmed. "Perhaps I should be more clear going forward. We're going to the United States. Specifically the south as a backdrop for today's challenge." He retrieved a pair of legally distinct mouse ears from out of his pocket to place on his head. "We're heading over to the happiest town on Earth. Or so they say, at least. Orlando! Nestled in Florida, it's home to countless tourist destinations that'll make an excellent playground for today-"
"Uh, Chris?" Chef whispered, running up to his companion in the middle of his briefing. He was currently sporting a black eye courtesy of Leshawna. "We... don't have enough fuel to get to Orlando."
"Seriously? Didn't we JUST have this problem?" Chef could only shrug and smile innocently. "Fine, whatever. Plan B!"
Throwing away the mouse ears, Chris reached back into his pocket to pull out a purple and yellow bead necklace. He slipped it on and resumed his speech. "So, change of plans. We'll actually be heading to New Orleans! Not only does Louisiana specialize in gators and gumbo, it knows how to throw a wicked sweet party! So today-"
"We don't have the gas to make it to New Orleans either," Chef hesitantly interrupted once again.
Chris could only sigh, tossing away the beads and putting on a sheriff hat that resembled the one worn by the main character from that one zombie show. "Okay, Plan C! Atlanta is known by many as the birthplace of the world's most famous soda, but for today's challenge-"
This time without saying anything, Chef meekly leaned forward. Sighing, Chris gave his cohort a side eye. "Not enough gas for Atlanta either, eh?" Chef shook his head. "Please tell me we at least have enough gas for Plan D."
After looking off to the side, Chef nodded and gave a thumbs up.
"Alright, Plan D it is. At least I have a good outfit for that one." Chris and Chef both walked off, leaving the contestants confused since they had just watched the back and forth awkwardly the whole time. "And get me the intern in charge of keeping up with the fuel! Him and the Boot of Shame are about to have a nice long talk."
Once they were gone and the cafeteria was left in silence, everyone else could only look around in further confusion. "Soooo, is he gonna tell us where we're going or what?" Trent asked, receiving no answer.
The camera view switched to outside the jet as it began to make its descent. It passed by a weird looking skyscraper that resembled Batman's cowl, a building housing a giant musical stage, and a street full of BBQ joints playing live music among other locals. It eventually landed in the middle of a park with everyone being herded outside. When Chris joined them, he was clad in an Elvis Presley getup complete with a wig and rhinestone covered white jumpsuit.
"Somehow that outfit suits you," Cody said among the chorus of chuckles.
"Thank ya," Chris replied with a bad Elvis impersonation, gyrating his hips and striking a pose for added effect. "Thank ya very much."
That done, he cleared his throat and returned to his normal speaking voice. "Welcome to Centennial Park, right here in Nashville. Capital of Tennessee, and known for its copious amount of barbecue joints as well as having a rich history with the music industry. Granted a lot of that history is with country music, but hey, they can't all be winners."
"If we're in Tennessee, then how come there's the Italiano thingy over there?" Sugar asked, pointing a finger at a nearby building. It was a recreation of the Parthenon, exactly like the one in Athens. "I don't think that doohickey is supposed to be American."
"It's just a recreation, Sugar. I have no idea why they felt the need to recreate the Parthenon in the middle of Tennessee, but at least it'll make a neat backdrop for today's challenge. And on that note, let's explain the rules! We're going to be putting on a genuine southern county fair."
Chef, now clad in overalls and a cowboy hat, rolled out a chalkboard that had been divided into three columns. At the top of each column was one of the team logo's. Sugar cheered at the announcement of the challenge theme, while Scott, Rodney, and Beth also looked varying degrees of stoked.
"To put on this fair, we'll be having you all compete in various mini challenges. For each one, you'll nominate one person to represent your team. If you win a challenge, you earn your team three points. Being the runner up gets you 2 points, while losing obviously only gets you a single point." As he explained things, Chris noticed Sugar absolutely giddy with excitement. "And since I'm sure some of you are a bit more eager than others for the competition, we have a few extra rules. Most importantly, every member of the team must compete in a challenge. Only after everyone has gone can a teammate go again. As you can probably assume, the team with the most points at the end wins first class. The team with the lowest amount of points sends some sorry jerk off the plane."
"What if there's a tie?" Beth asked with her hand raised.
"A tiebreaker has been set aside if it's needed," Chris confirmed. "So that about covers it, feel free to talk strategy while we prepare the first challenge."
Both Chef and Chris left to ensure things were ready. Murmurs broke out among the respective teams, though the whispers between Team Old School were the most serious.
"Alright, we're down two people so we really need to pull this thing off," Trent said to the others, receiving various nods in agreement. "Even if we just get 2nd, as long as we make sure we don't have to send someone home for the third time in a row."
"Having the smallest team may actually work to our advantage," Courtney added. "We'll be able to double up on challenges the quickest, so we'll be able to more strategically plan out who should do what."
Meanwhile with Team Explosive, it was clear one particular teammate was more excited than anyone else.
"I've been to more county fairs in a year then any of y'all have been in yer lives combined." Sugar pointed her thumb at her chest. "I should go first. Strike some fear into the rest of them losers by showing them how outta their league they are."
"If you're the most experienced with these things we can't just pick you right off the bat when we may need you for something else," Shawn pointed out. "We need to use you for a challenge we know you'll win for sure, and that probably won't be the first one."
"Alright, the first challenge is going to be a blueberry pie eating contest," Chris announced through a megaphone. "Send up your reps and let's chow down!"
Everyone looked on, befuddled, with Sugar's smug grin being the only exception. Shawn shrugged. "I stand corrected, go get em Sugar."
A long table had been placed atop a platform, with a chair on each end and in the middle. In front of each chair was a ludicrous pile of pies, probably at least 30 for each person. Sugar had begun drooling in anticipation, while she was joined on stage by Leshawna and Brick. The former cracked her knuckles at the challenge ahead, while the later limbered up a bit.
"Whoever eats the most amount of pies after 60 seconds takes the win." Chris held up a stopwatch, peering over the three contenders before starting the clock. "Begin!"
Mere moments after Chris' sentence finished, it was already over before it had begun. Moving with an abnormal speed she wasn't usually known for, an inhuman noise came from Sugar as she shoveled pies into her gullet as if they were nothing. Brick had barely taken a bite from his first pie as he watched on in horror, both tantalized and repulsed by the pageant queen's display. Somehow she began making the noise of a vacuum cleaner, inhaling pies as if it was simple as breathing air itself.
*** Confessional: Brick ***
"Ya know, I couldn't really explain it in words, but there's something about Sugar that absolutely terrifies me. I feel like she'd be able to eat another human with ease so long as they're covered in BBQ sauce. Needless to say, it is NOT comforting seeing her on enemy lines in the battlefield."
*** In Centennial Park ***
Sugar was almost entirely done with her pie pile by the time Brick had finally snapped out of it and finished his first. Leshawna was past 4 pies, but neither of them could hope to keep up with an absolute unit like Sugar. Soon enough she had consumed all of the pastries in front of her, with 20 seconds still on the clock to spare.
"That's it?" She asked, annoyed. "Y'all ain't got no more for me?"
Chris and Chef exchanged looks of unnerved confusion. "You say that like we actually expected any of you to be able to finish the whole pile. Seriously, there's something actually wrong with-"
"Well I ain't done yet, I can eat more!" Not waiting for permission due to her Lovecraftian hunger not yet being quenched, Sugar bowled over Brick and proceeded to devour the rest of his pies. A fearful looking Leshawna was able to dive out of the way just in time to avoid also being pushed aside when Sugar continued to inhale her pies as well. Other contestants could merely watch in awe as Sugar made the entire spread of deserts disappear.
After giving a satisfied burp at a job well done, Sugar finally sat down in time for the stopwatch to reach zero.
"Despite the fact that she wasn't supposed to eat the pies from anyone else, I guess the results were pretty locked in even if she didn't speed up the process." Chris turned to the chalkboard, drawing three lines under Team Explosive's column. Two lines were drawn under Team Old School's, and only a single line under Team Radioactive. "Sugar won with ease, while Brick did the worst. Leshawna was in the middle of the pack. I'll remind the teams those three can't compete in the next challenges until their whole team has gone. Up next? Pig racing!"
"Aw come on, I love piggies!" Sugar huffed as she jumped down from the stage, arms folded in disappointment. "Stupid rules."
"Beardo, think you could make pig noises to get your's to cooperate?" Jasmine asked, raising an eyebrow at the beatboxer. "Other than Sugar I don't think any of the rest of us would particularly excel at that one."
"Fo sho." He gave a thumbs up, doing a convincing pig squeal to prove his capability.
Meanwhile with the Radioactive crew, things were proceeding less cooperatively.
"What do you mean ya can't do it?" Anne Maria asked a defiant looking Dawn. "It's animals! Isn't vibing with them your whole shtick?"
"Making them race against their will for our own enjoyment is most certainly NOT part of my shtick." She used air quotes on the last word for emphasis. "Quite honestly, I find the idea of this challenge absolutely demeaning to those poor pigs."
"Pfft, if creepy girl don't wanna do it then Lightning's got this," the first person speaking jock said, stepping up to the scene.
"And what do you know about pigs?" Scott asked.
"Nothin. But Lightning knows all about racing, and he knows all about winning. You ask Lightning, that's a good combo right there!"
No one really had any better ideas on who should go if Dawn was refusing, so Lightning was sent ahead. The second challenge took place at a makeshift muddy race track that was contained within a pen. Hurdles of various heights were spread throughout between the starting point and finish line, and the track seemed to get muddier as it progressed. Three large pigs awaited at the starting point, one of which was caught off guard when Beth ran up to pet it like a dog.
"Awww, they're so adorable!" She scratched behind her pig's ear, making it roll over for a belly rub. "You remind me so much of Big Bertha!"
While Beth continued showering her pig with affection, Lightning and Beardo took their positions behind their's. The pig was decently large, but the beatboxer couldn't help but look at it nervously when comparing himself to the more lean Lightning and smaller Beth.
"This... might not have been the best idea."
An airhorn was blown, prompting everyone to jump on to their pigs. While Lightning and Beth took off with little issue, Beardo's worries were proven to be valid as his pig struggled to carry his weight. It was progressing at a significantly slower rate than the others, even as its rider began making pig noises in an attempt to communicate and make it stop lagging behind.
Things stayed close between Lightning and Beth, but the later's pig began inching ahead since it had less weight to carry. The farm girl continued to pet her mount's head and whisper words of encouragement to keep its spirits up. But Lightning? He had a different plan.
"Shoot, I ain't about to lose a race to some nerdy girl." Out of nowhere, Lightning whipped out his container of protein powder. Holding on with just his legs, he was able to scoop out some powder and hold it in front of the pig's face. "We need to get this show on the road, piggy. Take some of this, it's how Lightning stays winning!"
Curious, the pig licked up the powder from the scoop, still clearing hurdles as it did. Its eyes went wide, instantly feeling invigorated with energy since that was totally how protein powder worked. "Oh you like that? Get Lightning the win and there's more where that came from!"
Nodding in understanding, the pig increased speed, closing the gap that Beth's had made. But now even Beardo was catching up, hanging from his pig's tail and covered in mud as it wildly ran towards the finish line.
*** Confessional: Beardo ***
"I got no idea what happened! One moment I'm just trying all these pig noises to get the thing moving, then the next moment it freaks out, bucks me off into the mud, and takes off like a madman. I think I might have accidentally said something that scared it? Wouldn't know, I don't speak pig."
*** In Centennial Park ***
Between the efforts of all three contestants, the race was becoming neck and neck. For Beardo's pig in particular, the beatboxer had to brace himself as he banged into each hurdle it jumped over. But at the end, edging out by just a snout, Lightning's pig crossed first just before Beth's.
"Sha-score!" Lightning vaulted off his mount, soaking in the cheers from his teammates. He scooped the pig a fresh batch of protein powder, which hopefully wasn't unhealthy for it to eat. "That's what Lightning's talking about! Eat up, piggy bro."
"It's ok little guy, you did your best," Beth reassured her own pig, petting it gently. As for Beardo, he could only groan as his pig dragged him across the finish line, with Shawn and Jasmine coming over to check on him.
"And with that, we have a tied score at four points each," Chris announced, Chef updating the marked below the icons to reflect as much. "And since we're on a roll with animals right now, our next challenge will be chicken herding!"
Many of Dawn's teammates looked at the aura reader expectantly. She sighed, nodding in acceptance. "I suppose if all I'm doing is leading them into the right direction and not having to ride them like with the pig, I have no problems doing that one."
Over with the Team Old School, the most animal inclined teammate was also receiving looks from everyone. Though many of these were ones of concern.
"You sure you wanna do this, DJ?" Leshawna asked skeptically. "No offense, but after World Tour I'm surprised to see you actively wanting to interact with animals."
"I put all that curse garbage behind me, the stuff stopped after World Tour was over." DJ looked on confidently, chin held high. "So yeah, I got this. I'm probably our best bet to pull it off."
The three representatives were led into a large square pen where a heard of chickens awaited in the center. On the three opposite sides were doors that led to smaller pens, each with a team flag to signify where they needed to herd the chickens to. DJ and Dawn were joined, surprisingly, by Amy. Apparently she had volunteered herself for what she deemed an easier challenge as bossing things around was one of her fortes.
Once again the challenge was prompted by the blow of Chris' air horn, which itself startled the chickens and made them scatter. Amy immediately began rushing at a group of the fowls, yelling for them to get moving and having little success. Meanwhile DJ and Dawn opted for more gentle approaches.
"Good afternoon, lovely creatures," Dawn cooed, kneeling down to meet the birds face to face. "I'm sorry if that mean blonde girl is causing you all any distress. Come, I'll take you all away from her where it's safe."
As she started walking towards her teams safe zone with a line of chickens following her, she took notice of DJ crouching down and offering his hand at one of the chickens to show he meant no harm. "It's ok, little chick, I ain't gonna hurt ya. Wish I had some veggies to feed y'all."
A group of the chickens began nuzzling up towards DJ, some even hiding behind him for protection as the still yelling Amy ran by while she continued pursuing her group. Just as DJ turned to head towards his team's zone, he yelped upon seeing Dawn standing right in front of him.
"It's rare that I get to see someone else so in tune with mother nature's creatures. I had heard from some of the others that you and animals don't mix well, but from what I can tell they seem to be at ease around you."
DJ raised a confused eyebrow, taken off guard by her calm smile. "Oh, did ya not watch Wold Tour? Well, it's a long story but I was able to move past it. I've always loved animals, I guess. I make sure to take it extra gently around them ever since that season."
"It shows! Your affection for animals is perhaps the second most pronounced aspect in your aura, only behind your simultaneous love and fear of your own mother."
The brick house was taken even more off guard from that comment, recoiling while Dawn was none the wiser to how the situation had been made awkward. An impatient Chris watched on from the sidelines, annoyed that no chickens had successfully been corralled since at this point Amy was now being swarmed by the chickens.
"Yo dudes, you remember the whole challenge thing?" He called out. "Yeah, it's on a time limit you know. Move it!"
Dawn and DJ refocused, going their separate ways to lead their chickens towards their team's pens. By the time it was all said and done Dawn had corralled the most chickens by far, but DJ had placed at a respectable second. Amy had only managed to get a measly two chickens in her pen by the time the challenge ended, simply because she could carry one by the feet in each hand. She coughed up feathers, grunting in annoyance.
"Looks like Team Radioactive takes the lead, though Team Old School and their current 0 wins isn't far behind in points," Chris announced while the chalkboard was once again updated. "Let's keep this thing moving!"
A flash forward showed a quick version of the next challenge. Shawn, Trent, and Anne Maria found themselves inside a large spinning carnival ride, strapped to the wall as they spun around at increasingly crazy speeds. The challenge was simply to be the last one standing without throwing up. All three tried to hold strong, but it was ultimately the jersey girl that lost her lunch first. Trent and Shawn locked eyes, daring the other to go. But when Anne Maria's projectile vomit ended up spinning back around to nail the musician in the face, Trent lost his composure and gave Shawn the win. Of course, once Trent's puke found its way to Shawn, he no longer could hold back as well.
The next challenge was simply to churn butter. Courtney, Dakota, and Jasmine took their places behind an old timey wooden churner, hands at the ready on the wood sticks. Once the signal was given, they had a minute to churn as fast as possible. But while all three gave their best efforts, Jasmine was by far the fastest. She went to town on the churn at breakneck speeds, at one point even stopping to spit into her hand and increase velocity.
It was after she continued churning like there was no tomorrow when everyone began looking straight at Shawn. Even Scott, who had at first been fixated on Courtney's churning, eventually took note of the Aussie's speed and sent a stare Shawn's way. The zombie nut could only blush and chuckle awkwardly. Beardo at one point elbowed him, giving a thumbs up and click sound.
Needless to say Jasmine had won by the end of the challenge, with Courtney as the runner up and Dakota in last after she too had gotten distracted. Though the outback girl had no idea why everyone was staring at her when she returned to her team.
"Up next we have a carnival game," Chris announced while Chef updated the new tallies. Team Explosive was now in the lead, with Team Radioactive trailing behind. "And by process of elimination, Cody has to do this one for his team!"
The tech geek earned some words of encouragement from his team, while B was easily nominated to represent his own. Team Explosive had the widest variety of people to still choose from, but Sammy was ultimately the one to volunteer. Once they were all picked, the trio was brought to three carnival game stands complete with fluffy plush toys hanging from the walls as prizes. On the back walls were various balloons of differing sizes, and on the shelf in front of them were darts.
"Pop as many balloons as you can until you're out of darts," Chris explained. "Try not to hit any of us with the darts while you're at it, we don't want to lose another contestant due to injury. The smaller the balloon, the more points they're worth. You have two minutes to complete the challenge... begin!"
Immediately B took a close inspection of his dart. Looking it over carefully and fiddling with it in his hand, he pointed it down and tossed a dart repeatedly into the shelf to get a feel for the best way to throw it. After then licking his finger to get a measurement of the wind, he was confident in his calculations and began firing at the balloons. Every dart hit the mark, and he prioritized the balloons worth more points.
Cody and Sammy were also doing their best, but some of their shots failed to connect with a balloon. The geek was doing a bit better than the cheerleader, possibly due in part to the differences in spectator attitudes. Team Old School were cheering on Cody with words of encouragement and support. This was mostly the case for Sammy, but one voice in particular stood out among her team.
"Come on, Sparemmy, stop missing shots," Amy yelled, ignoring the glares she was getting from Shawn and Jasmine. "Are you really going to let those dorks beat you in a dumb carnival game? You are soooo voted off if you cost us the win."
"Would you shut up already?" Jasmine stepped up to the meaner twin, towering over her with arms folded and glare pointed. "You're not helping."
Sammy sighed, doing her best to keep the jeers out of mind as she refocused on the game. Cody had taken notice of heckling from her sister, pausing to check on the nicer twin to see if she was ok.
"Geez, do you have to put up with that at home?"
"I thought it would get better after Pahkitew Island since I learned how to stand up for myself more," Sammy said. "But she still treats me like garbage. If anything, she's even more spiteful now. I really don't know why she hates me so much, but living with her is exhausting."
"Yeah, I feel that. It can really take a lot out of you when you can't even relax in your own home." Cody chuckled, tossing one of his darts haphazardly as the conversation rolled on. "Heck, my parents ended up having to get a restraining order against Sierra since she kept breaking into my room to steal my undies."
Sammy chuckled, accidentally missing a dart throw in the process.
"Oh, that wasn't a joke, it really happened." Cody also missed a throw, B in the background now almost done with all of his shots. "It was kinda ugly, she wrote some pretty worrying blog posts afterwards. But it's been nice to have peace of mind at home now, at least. Maybe you should look into moving out and getting away from her?"
"You know, that's not a bad idea." Sammy grinned, thinking over where she could move to with the help of the prize money. "I'll be going to college soon, I was originally thinking about going to a local university but when you put it that way it'll be way more enjoyable for me if I go literally anywhere that Amy isn't."
"And B ends after having earned the maximum amount of points possible," Chris suddenly yelled, snapping Cody and Sammy out of their conversation to see the silent genius exchanging high fives with his team. "Who knew that was even doable? Meanwhile, the other two seem to have taken a break. Might I remind you guys that there IS a time limit?"
"Whoops, guess we let our minds wander." Cody chuckled, rushing through his remaining darts. "Good talk, though!"
"Totally," Sammy agreed, also finishing off her darts. "We could talk more later, if you want. I'm kinda curious to know more about how that restraining order went down."
By the time the two were finished, Cody had popped more balloons than Sammy. Now the teams were once again tied in points, with Team Old School still yet to have placed anything but 2nd in each challenge.
"And for our next challenge, you'll all be whittling a wooden sculpt of your's truly using chainsaws!" Chef walked into frame for added effect, holding up a chainsaw menacingly. "You know, for the extra danger effect."
"Yes!" Scott pumped his fist victoriously. "Looks like waiting till last worked out after all, I can whittle any of these other losers under the table."
As for Team Explosive, they were now down to Dave and Rodney as their remaining contenders before anyone could repeat. Most of the team looked towards the huge farm boy, figuring he could handle a chainsaw with relative ease.
"I've never really been much for art stuff," he said, blushing. "I'd hate to drop the ball for us, especially since there's a lot of farm things that could be next that I WOULD know a lot about."
"Fine, I'll take this one." Dave sighed, looked over the giant blocks of wood being brought out for them to carve. "How hard could it be?"
Very hard, as it turns out. Some flashes forward showed off just how much Dave struggled to handle his chainsaw, much less carve out a good statue of Chris with it. DJ was having a much easier time, having been chosen as his team's first repeater since he was strong and decently versed in art. But any of his credentials had no chance against Scott, who carved through the wood with an almost disturbing amount of glee. Even if he was mostly experienced in whittling with a knife, the way he handled the power tool gave the impression he knew his way around it almost too well.
By the time it was all said and done, the dirt farmer had made by far the best wood sculpt. He had basically recreated the Thinker, but with Chris' head and making sure to give him a pronounced six pack. DJ's sculpt looked like Chris for sure, but it was much less dynamic and detailed as the former's. As for Dave, he had only managed to carve out a glorified stick figure with hair that vaguely resembled Chris'.
"Welp, easy call here, Scott wins and Dave's sucks the most." With another update of the chalkboard, now Team Radioactive was back in the lead. "Seriously. Team Old School, if you want to place anything other than 2nd in these at any point by all means feel free."
Another flash forward took us through two more challenges. First was bull riding, though instead of using a mechanical bull they had to stay on a genuine one. Rodney had to do this challenge due to the rules, but saving him for it proved to work out as the bull actually had a hard time bucking off his massive frame. Leshawna went for her team since she won a challenge similar to this way back in season 1, while Brick wanted to redeem his loss in the pie eating content. He was unsuccessful, as he was the first bucked from the bull. Leshawna and Rodney both held on as much as they could manage, but the ghetto girl was ultimately unable to last as long as the farmer and fell off first. With Rodney's win, things were once again tied.
Next up the players had to quite literally find a needle in a haystack. Though Chris had hidden various other fun surprises in each haystack to keep things interesting. Though a mousetrap in the hay initially threw him off, B ultimately won with ease thanks to a magnet he kept in his jacket helping him retrieve the metal needle. Trent and Shawn combed through their hay with vigor, but Shawn had been sent screaming out of the hay when a zombie mask Chris planted inside freaked him out. By the time he recovered and realized it wasn't a genuine zombie it was too late, as Trent had located his needle to keep his team in not-last place.
"And just like that we're down to the final challenge!" Chris rubbed his hands together. "Chef, how's our tallies looking?"
"Team Radioactive is in the lead," the co-host confirmed. "Old School keeps getting 2nd in everything, so they still in 2nd. Team Explosive is sucking the most, but only by one point. It's literally anyone's game."
"I'm going for us," Sugar yelled in a matter of fact tone to the rest of her team. "County fairs are MY turf, and I won us our first challenge, y'all gotta save the best for last."
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but yeah I think we should go with Sugar," Jasmine agreed. "If she can win this for us we'll at worst avoid last place."
While there was some debate among the other two teams on who should go, the confirmation that it would be an unorthodox challenge with no attachment to farming caused Scott and Beth to step back while Courtney and Lightning stepped up to the plate. Chef threw a block of ice in front of the three contestants, and encased in each was a frozen plain white t shirt.
"Your final challenge is simple," Chris explained. "The first person to unfreeze their shirt and put it on wins. Whoever does it last, loses. And don't worry, the shirts are 4x. They'll fit all of you."
"Sha-easy. First class here we come!" Once their host gave the signal, Lightning began chipping away the ice with punches and kicks. It was more unorthodox since Courtney and Sugar immediately went to using body heat to melt their blocks, but it seemed to be doing steady work as the ice came off. While sitting on her block, Sugar took special notice of Lightning's antics.
*** Confessional: Sugar ***
"I ain't never been much for math-e-matics, but them egg heads on my team explained it well enough for me. Winning the challenge would keep us from losing someone, but if them Radioactive fellers don't lose then they still get first class. First class is the only part of the plane fit for me! So I gots to make sure we keep it that way."
*** In Centennial Park ***
Sugar grinned mischievously, waiting for Lightning to be looking the other way. Once his back was turned, she reached down and slid forward on her block of ice as fast as she could. She picked up enough speed to bowl over the jock as she passed by, knocking him to the ground before he delivered another curb stomp to his ice block.
"Hey! Watch where you're steering that thing, girl!"
"Whoops," Sugar called back with sarcastic sincerity. "Sorry, must not have seen you there."
Lightning got up and dusted himself off. But right before he could return to chipping away at his ice, Sugar passed by again and knocked him down once more. Now the jock was getting annoyed, rubbing his head after the impact.
"You're doing that on purpose!"
"Get Sugar'd, big boy!" This time Sugar decided to propel herself even faster with, what else, her flatulence. But as she shot forward with her gross wind guiding her, the heat from the fart started melting the ice much quicker than she anticipated. As a result, it had completely melted just as she was about to bowl past Lightning a third time. She came to a stop in front of him, looking up sheepishly as he glared down. "Uh... I was just joking?"
"Wanna see how a star quarterback REALLY knocks somehow over?" Lightning asked menacingly, rolling up his sleeves and getting into position. Sugar yelped, holding up the now free of ice but still stiff t shirt for protection as Lightning jogged forward. He rammed into the t shirt with such force that it sent Sugar flying many feet backwards. "Sha-bam!"
She landed with a rough thud, disorienting her enough to take her out of commission for a few moments. But after she came to, she looked over at the t shirt which was now no longer stiff after the tackle had essentially chipped away the last of the iciness.
"Ha! I meant to do that." Sugar victoriously slid the shirt on, earning cheers from her team.
"Aw crap." Lightning had just managed to get the encasing ice fully chipped away from his own shirt. He held up the stiff clothing to give it a final punch and make it wearable, only to be cut off by the host.
"And that's game!"
Confused, Lightning looked over to see Courtney now also wearing her shirt. She had managed to melt her ice at a nice steady pace in peace while Lightning and Sugar were occupied with each other. And since she seemed to be full of hot air, she melted her ice quicker than Lightning had been able to chip away while distracted.
*** Confessional: Lightning ***
"No way. The Lightning lost to that chubby gross girl? Nuh uh, that can't be right. Where was the ref? That totally should have been a red flag." He folded his arms, looking off with a growing sense of disappointment. "Lightning didn't really lose like that... couldn't have."
*** In Centennial Park ***
With the tallies updated for one final time, despite all odds the teams were now all tied at 20 points each. Lightning hung his head in shame as he sulked back to his team, while Sugar and Courtney both earned cheers of praise from their own. Chris, amused, chuckled as he looked over the players.
"Well looks like as luck would have it, we have to go to a tie breaker. The winner of this will take first class for their team, and the loser will send someone packing. So you better pick who plays for this one wisely."
"I just got us back in the game, so obviously it should be me," Sugar said proudly to her teammates.
"Hey, no objection here," Shawn agreed. "You're the only one that won us two challenges, as long as it's something you're good at then it may as well be you."
"Heh, there ain't nothing Chris can throw at us from a county fair that Sugar ain't the best at," the country girl boasted, hands on her hips.
"For our tie breaker, we'll have you all competing in a banjo duel!"
Sugar's eyes went wide and she looked on awkwardly. "Uh, except that."
"You don't know how to play the banjo?" Dave asked, surprised. "Out of all the other weird things you know, that's not one of them?"
"I'm a singer! I ain't got no time fer instruments." She glared over at Chris. "Ain't no county fair complete without some country music, why can't I just sing?"
"Do you not remember that you got eliminated last time BECAUSE your singing is so bad? Either way, this isn't a singing episode, so no singing is required." Chris shrugged innocently, he and Chef walking off to prepare the tiebreaker. "Pick yourself a banjo player."
Team Explosive looked around awkwardly, Sugar folding her arms and huffing in defeat. Jasmine scratched her head, actually feeling nervous for her team's chances for once. "Anyone know how to play a banjo, then? Beardo, you're a musician right?"
"Sure, but all I really know outside of by dj booth is the keyboard." He shrugged, pointing a thumb at Sugar. "Otherwise I'm in the same boat as her, I'm more into singing than playing."
"I've got a bit of experience, I guess," Rodney admitted with his hand raised. "My paw is actually really good at the banjo, so he's shown me and my bros how to play it before. I never really kept up with practicing it, though."
"It'll be fine, all you have to do is just don't suck as much as the other two." Amy pushed Rodney along to get him into position. Meanwhile, Team Radioactive had a much easier time choosing who would play for them.
"I got this in the bag, grandpappy taught me how to play when I was like six," Scott bragged, no one really objecting since none of them had any experience with the instrument anyway. "It'll be like taking candy from a baby, easy peezy."
Team Old School was last to choose someone. Many were glancing Trent's way, despite the musician looking very hesitant.
"Come on man, you play the guitar," DJ pointed out. "Ain't a banjo easier, if anything?"
"There's similarities, but all instruments are different." Trent rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "You'd be surprised at the tiny differences between stringed instruments, I once tried playing a ukulele at a show in Hawaii and long story short I think angered some sort of ancient volcano god."
"He's really never practiced any other instrument outside of his guitar, except the balalaika of all things," Cody added. "Anyone else here that would be a better bet than him?"
"Eh, I'm exquisite with the violin but the banjo is too lowbrow for my tastes," Courtney admitted. Eventually Beth meekly raised her hand just as Trent was about to go join the others.
"Well, I've played a few times before. My mom was super into bluegrass music and has a banjo that I'll fiddle around with from time to time." She tapped her fingers together hesitantly. "But I'm not a real musician like Trent! I wouldn't want to mess this up for us when he'd probably do a better job than me."
Trent leaned down, putting a hand on the nerdy girl's shoulder. "Some experience is better than no experience in my book. If you know the instrument, you're our best bet. Just go out there and try your best, you got this."
Everyone on the team gave Beth their own reassuring smiles and words of encouragement. Eventually she sighed, steeling herself for the challenge ahead. It was highly possible she'd be going home next if they lost this tie breaker. No pressure or anything. "Alright, alright. I can do this. I won't let us lose someone for the third time in a row."
With all teams having their affairs in order, Beth, Scott, and Rodney approached the final platform of the challenge. They were each handed a five string banjo, which Scott took confidently while the other two looked a bit more hesitant. Chef joined the trio on the platform in a ref outfit, holding up an arm.
"Once again, the rules are simple," Chris explained, joining the other contestants in front of the stage to watch the performance. "The three of you will play back and forth on your banjos until a full fledged duel has broken out. Once Chef lowers his arm, the duel officially is underway. You'll all keep going until two of you have stopped. First person to stop loses it for their team. Last one standing earns them first class. Beth, since your team has failed to win a single challenge today thus far, how about you start us out?"
Beth gulped, looking on sheepishly at her competition. Rodney looked determined, but wasn't too threatening otherwise. But Scott? His wicked grin and steely eyed stare was enough to unnerve the nerdier girl. Looking over at her team for support, their cheers of encouragement helped ease the tension. Finally, she took a deep breath and strummed five notes.
Scott nodded, strumming the same notes in a higher key. Rodney went next, playing the notes in the same key Beth had. The cycle continued with everyone playing the notes either higher or lower depending on how the last had played it. Eventually once it got to Rodney again he played a new set of nine notes. Beth responded by playing back the notes in a higher key. Scott played them in the same key Rodney had, and once it got back to the loverboy he played it the way Beth did. Once it was back to her she started a new tune with eight notes that the dirt farmer completed with five notes of his own.
After that Rodney played a new set of nine notes, which Beth then played slightly faster. Scott went even faster when it was his turn, and gradually the trio kept increasing their speed more and more. At some point Scott began playing the notes from the beginning of the song, but now matching the speed the three of them had set. They continued through the song once more, still increasing in speed with their eyes locked on each other. Finally, all three of them were strumming away at once, and Chef lowered his arm to signify they were past the point of no return.
The three of them strummed away, not showing any sign of slowing down. Scott's mischievous gaze prompted Beth to close her eyes while she took deep breaths to keep her playing composed. In the crowd many contestants were tapping their feet and even clapping along to the tune. Sugar and Beardo had even locked arms and started square dancing along. Scott and Rodney had also taken to tapping their feet along with the music, with the former's massive feet causing a bit of shaking every time he tapped.
Rodney looked out into the crowd, proud of how good he was doing. He even noticed that Amy was giving a rare genuine smile, as even she was enjoying the music. Seeing her smile raised Rodney's spirits and filled him with determination... perhaps too much determination. Because as he had let his mind wander, he suddenly lost focus of how much force he was strumming his banjo with. Before he knew it, his massive mitt caused one of the strings to come undone. In a panic, he couldn't stop himself from clinching up. This unfortunately led to him crushing the banjo with his mere grip. He cried out in shock, dropping to his knees in defeat as he realized he had just lost.
Many in the crowd wanted to react to Rodney losing, and by extension Team Explosive, but Chris promptly shushed them as the duel was still ongoing between Beth and Scott. The sound of Rodney's banjo crumbling made the farm girl open her eyes, surprising her as she realized her team was at least safe from elimination now. But if she wanted to pull off the win, now she had to go through Scott. He stepped in front of her, facing her head on as the two continued the duel themselves. While they always continued strumming, they took turns playing louder than the other to play fast versions of the notes from earlier. Both were tapping their feet away as they locked eyes with the other.
"You ain't too shabby, squirt," Scott complimented, genuinely impressed that Beth could keep up with him.
"Thanks," she replied gratefully, peering over at the crowd and suddenly grinning as an idea popped into her head. "Oh, by the way. I know she may be trying to deny it super hard. But Courtney? She's totally still into you."
"What?!" Blindsided, Scott's momentary loss of focus caused him to drop his banjo. "Crap!"
With that, Beth strummed one final set of notes, using extra emphasis on the last one. Team Old School erupted into cheers while Chris confirmed what had happened. "And that's a cool win for Team Old School! Not only has Team Explosive broke their winning streak, looks like they've broken their suckitude streak."
Her teammates hoisted Beth up into the air, cheering while Scott sneered up at her in annoyance.
*** Confessional: Beth ***
"Oh my gosh, I actually did it! I guess I do kinda feel bad that I had to play a little dirty to make Scott lose focus, but it's not like he got last so I think it all balances out."
*** In Economy Class ***
"Ugh, I can't believe we actually have to sleep in the gross mess," Amy complained as she, Sugar, and Rodney made their way back into the plane. "This sucks, I miss first class already."
"If you're so against sleeping here tonight, we can help prevent that," Jasmine spat as she, Shawn, and Sammy passed the trio. The twins exchanged glares as they walked past.
"As if I'm going to let my lame-o sister last longer than me again." Amy walked off in a huff. "If it goes to a tiebreaker, even better! I get to embarrass and cause her elimination personally."
Rodney watched the exchange in silent shame. He breathed a heavy sigh, looking down in defeat.
*** Confessional: Rodney ***
"It sure is nice of Amy to try and cheer me up by acting like anyone else is getting eliminated, but I know better. I really screwed up that tiebreaker, it's my fault that our winning streak is over! I really dropped the ball for my team, how could they ever forgive me?"
*** In the Elimination Area ***
Team Explosive filed into the drop zone after casting their votes for the first time, filling up the bleachers and surrounded by a tense silence. Amy and Sammy glared at each other, Rodney still had his head hung in shame, Beardo produced the sound of loud chattering teeth as he chewed his nails nervously. Chris soaked in the anticipation, smirking at their growing misery.
"Dang, Team Explosive, what happened? You went from three wins in a row to here?" He whistled, shaking his head. "Talk about a major fall from grace. Oh well, time to hand out some barf bags! The first one goes to Sugar, since she proved to be surprisingly useful to you all today."
Sugar cheered enthusiastically, opening her mouth as the peanut bag was flung at her. She ate the whole thing with scary precision. And no, she didn't just eat the peanuts. She consumed those AND the bag whole. Others scooted away in disgust.
"Shawn, Jasmine, you two are also safe because obviously."
The couple exchanged a high five, accepting their symbols of immunity graciously.
"Dave and Beardo. Neither of you won your challenge today, but safe you remain." He tossed the two their bags, paying special attention to the beatboxer. "So yes, you can relax Beardo. You aren't the first person on your team voted off this time. Consider yourself officially not Ezekiel and Staci tier."
Beardo held his barf bag up triumphantly, doing a recreation of the Legend of Zelda sound whenever Link obtains an important item. Dave merely rolled his eyes next to him.
As he watched his teammates gradually obtain their safety, Rodney heaved a heavy sigh. "Yeah, it figures I'm one of the ones in danger. I really screwed things up for all of us today."
"Yeah, cool story Rodney," Chris replied, confused as to the point of the outburst in the first place. "But the ceremony is still going so-"
"I mean, if I would have stuck it out we'd be back in first class again! But now look where I got us."
"Rodney, would you please shu-"
"Not only did I let down the team, but I let down my dear Amy," he continued, not even paying attention to Chris. The mean twin looked on in befuddlement.
"Rodney-"
"There's nothing I can do to redeem myself, I deserve to get what's coming to-"
"RODNEY!"
The country boy was finally silenced, startled by the raised voice from Chris. "Would you can it already? You only received one vote, and that's just because you voted for yourself! You're safe."
Chris chucked the barf bag at Rodney in annoyance, with both the farmer and Amy gasping in response.
"You did WHAT?" Amy yelled, her eyes going wide in fear. Sammy looked down at her with a satisfied grin forming.
"Which means it's down to the twins," Chris confirmed, holding up the final barf bag. Amy looked at it in worried panic, while Sammy beamed confidently. "And the last barf bag of the night goes to...
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... Sam-"
"WAIT!" Rodney shot up, holding out his arms desperately. "This isn't right. Neither of these two deserves to leave over me, how will everyone forgive me for what I did today?"
"We've literally already forgiven you and couldn't care less about it," Jasmine pointed out.
"I consider myself a gentlemen, and it's my duty to do what's right."
"What's right is you sit back down and let this ceremony finish," Shawn shot back, panic growing in his tone as they realized what the farmer was doing.
"I'll never be able to live myself if one of these two go when it should have been me," he kept on, the objections going in one ear and out the other. "I need to redeem myself in the eyes of my team."
"We're telling you right now the thing that will make us most happy is if you sit down and don't do this," Sammy said, practically screaming in an attempt to actually register with the rambling loverboy. "Are you even paying attention to us?"
Rodney marched straight up to Chris, handing back his bag of peanuts. "Chris, for the sake of saving these ladies, I quit the competition!"
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Chris tossed the two bags at Amy and Sammy, the later and her friends all groaning at the series of events. "Whatever gets you to shut up is cool in my books."
Chef pushed a parachute into Rodney's arms before leading him over to the now open hatch. The farmer faced his team one last time with a smile. "I hope you guys can understand my decision."
"We don't," Sammy, Shawn, and Jasmine said in unison with glares pointed his way.
"And Amy, I hope you can go on in the game without me."
"Uh huh, yeah, got it." The mean twin was long past caring once she had got her immunity and was now inspecting her makeup in a hand mirror.
"But before I go, there's one last thing you should know." Rodney took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts so he could deliver the most eloquent of parting words. "This that you, and me with love and singing. Banjos and dancing, with cake that together..."
His incoherent rambling went on, with his teammates all looking around to gauge if anyone could make heads or tails of his gibberish. The dumbfounded looks on everyone's faces made it apparent that no, no one knew what the hell he was going on about.
"But the heart wants what the love eats and-" Before his monologue could continue, the Boot of Shame mercifully came swinging down, knocking the mountain of a man out of the plane.
"Well that was enlightening." Chris chuckled. "Thanks to Rodney McQuitty Pants we're down 4 players with 20 left to go. How will Team Explosive bounce back from their first loss? Can Amy luck her way out of getting eliminated a second time if they do lose again? And which players will stay on route, while another gets the boot? Tune in next time to find out, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"
Voting Confessionals:
Amy took great joy in stamping her sister's passport multiple times. "It's time for Sammey to know her place once and for all, I'm tired of her thinking she's so big now that she has a bit of backbone. I still haven't forgotten about her going farther than me last time, I'm not letting that happen again!"
"I think I'm really starting to be seen as a true contributing member of the team and not just the weird dude voted off first last time." Beardo grinned for the camera, giving Dave's passport a stamp. "Dave's been kinda killing my vibe, though. I think he might still dislike me. So I kinda gotta vote for him."
Dave looked over Beardo, Rodney, Sammy, and Amy's passports. Eventually he shrugged and stamped the beatboxer's. "Sure, Rodney lost us the tiebreaker, but he won his earlier challenge and that brawn will probably come in handy for us later. Of the others that lost a challenge, Beardo still kinda bugs me. Seriously, those sounds are super annoying."
"I'm almost relieved we lost this time so we can cut your abusive arse out of the competition." Jasmine gave Amy's passport a firm stamp. "I know Sammy is learning how to stand up for herself, but I'm not gonna give you the opportunity to bully her anymore in the first place."
"I'm so ashamed! I know Amy wants me to vote for her sister, but I just can't bring myself to do what isn't right." Sighing in shame, Rodney stamped his own passport. "We all know it's gonna be me, there may as well not be a ceremony."
Sammy repeatedly stamped her twin's passport, even building up a sweat from how intensely she was going at it. She eventually smiled sheepishly at the camera, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Sorry, didn't mean to get carried away. I'm just gonna be really glad to see Amy go. The less she's around to torment me, the more sound I can sleep at night."
"It's not like Amy has even been particularly good in challenges, so we ain't losing anything cutting her." Shawn gave a hard stamp to Amy's passport. "Honestly, she's so nasty that I think even the zombies would pass up eating her. It'd probably give them indigestion."
"I don't really give a rat's tail about Samey, so if Amy wants to get rid of her to break up that goody two shoe alliance going on between her and that weirdo couple I'm all for it." Sugar licked her stamp and pressed it down on Sammy's passport. She then gave it another lick for good measure. "Mmm, that don't taste half bad!"
Votes for Amy: 3 (Jasmine, Sammy, Shawn)
Votes for Sammy: 2 (Amy, Sugar)
Votes for Rodney: 1 (Rodney)
Votes for Dave: 1 (Beardo)
Votes for Beardo: 1 (Dave)
After the Boot of Shame:
Rodney held on tight to the parachute straps as his bulging arms made it feel like they'd rip at any moment. The chute was already deployed, but he still floated down at a slightly faster rate than previous eliminations thanks to the increased girth. "Ahh, I feel like a load was really taken off my conscious by sacrificing myself for the ladies. It was tough to give up my chance for the million dollars, but in the end I know it was the right call. Sure, this may mean I'm the first one from my team to leave, but I went out on my terms! And I can't wait to introduce Amy to my bros back home. They're gonna be so jealous!"
After enough falling, he laded with a mighty thud in the middle of downtown Nashville. Many pedestrians stared at him in confusion while he looked around. "Huh, not really sure where to go now. I wonder how you get to the nearest airport."
"Oh, the airport?" One brunette woman clad in red flannel and blue jeans pointed down one of the roads. "It's just about 30 minutes that way, ya can't miss it."
"Whoa, that's so nice of you to give me directions!" Feeling his heart flutter and an angelic choir sing in his mind, truly Rodney knew this was love. He stared at the woman with a dopey grin, beginning his incoherent babbling session. Confused and a bit frightened, she backed away slowly.
Remaining Contestants:
Team Old School: Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Leshawna, Trent
Team Radioactive: Anne Maria, B, Brick, Dakota, Dawn, Lightning, Scott
Team Explosive: Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Sammy, Shawn, Sugar
Elimination Order:
21st: Rodney
22nd: Harold
23rd: Izzy
24th: Staci
Author's Note:
Gonna go ahead and tell you guys that I'd really appreciate reading the last few bits of this one since I have some reader feedback questions. That will come after the first two paragraphs. So anyway, hooray for getting out another chapter within under a month! Not too shabby, considering the pace I'm usually known for. You may notice that since the last update I've spiced up the description of the story and changed the pic from that badly cropped picture of the jumbo jet to the Chris aviator symbol. It's all in an attempt to make the story look a bit prettier and more appealing for new readers to give it a look. While of course I appreciate all the favorites, follows, and reviews thus far, I'm still trying to bring in more. I know I'm never going to get this story to Underdog's level of reception, but I'll admit it kinda bums me out knowing there's readers that read Underdogs that are still active but aren't giving this story a look. Oh well, that's life. Also, for some potentially interesting side notes. First of all, I've ported this story over to Archive Of Our Own. This isn't really much of note for anyone already reading it here I reckon, just thought I'd mention that. Also, I've been made aware that this story now has a TV Tropes article! I always enjoyed seeing how Underdog's page was updated after each chapter, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this one grows even if I'm still not that much familiar with the website.
Now for some chapter specific notes. So most people reading likely had Rodney predicted as Team Explosive's first boot. And... well, they were right. I'll be honest, I don't think much of the character. He has the Staci problem where he's very gimmicky and if you don't find that gimmick entertaining (I do not) then he's just really a character that doesn't leave you much to work with. He worked well as a temporary ally to Amy, but I really had no reason to keep him around longer if I wasn't going to invest much into him. And I know it might feel cheap to do a quit elimination right after an injury one. This is even the reason I wrote a vote last chapter in the first place, originally Harold was just going to be auto ejected due to injury like Cameron in All Stars. But we'll return to normal eliminations going forward. And for our location we went to Nashville. I would wager literally no one reading predicted that. Why it instead of a bigger name Southern town like New Orleans or Atlanta? At least one of you knows why. Of special note from the county fair challenge was the banjo duel. I tried to make it obvious but for those unfamiliar with it the tune described was based on the famous "Dueling Banjo's," best known from the movie Deliverance. This challenge was actually originally slated to be a singing episode and the non-banjo players would have had to keep singing along until one of the players stopped, but I eventually cut the idea since it would have been long and a bit more complicated since the original music doesn't have lyrics. I'll continue doing hints for next locations going forward, or at least saying what continent. For example, next chapter will take place in Africa.
And now two things I'm looking towards reader feedback for. First, I'm going to replace the poll on my profile with a new one asking what characters you'd like to see as guests on the peanut gallery during Aftermath 3 and maybe 4. I already have the guests planned for Aftermath 1 and 2 so those characters (plus Ezekiel) won't be on the poll, but I'd like to go ahead and get a feel for what characters people would like to see so I can plan out the aftermaths more ahead of time. Some characters I won't use because I have plans for some of them as cameos like Ezekiel was used, but yeah go vote on that. I'm making it so you can select up to five characters on the poll. As for the other thing, this is regarding much more in the future. Namely, the comp fic I'm planning after this one and what will likely be my last fic in general, Revenge of the Rejects. So originally I was planning to write that story in the form of a 26 episode like season, much like what I'm doing with this story. The cast was going to be as follows:
Ezekiel, Eva, Noah, Tyler, Katie, Sadie, Justin, Trent, Staci, B, Dakota, Brick, Dawn, Anne Maria, Beardo, Leonard, Amy, Sammy, Rodney, Ella, Max, Scarlett.
But recently I've begun to really sour on the idea of another full season. BOTG isn't even a 4th of the way done yet, so it would take a long time getting not only past BOTG but all the way through ROTR if it's 26 episodes long. So I decided to make the hard decision to make it instead a 13 episode long season akin to ROTI/AS/PI. However, I've decided to spice things up by, instead of having aftermath chapters, doing rest day chapters where no competition is going on. That way the characters have more time to flesh out without it feeling purely like a comp fic. So with those added in it would probably be closer to 17 or 18 chapters. As for the audience feedback I'm looking for? Well due to shortening the season, I've obviously had to do major cast cuts. Here is my current revised cast:
Ezekiel, Eva, Tyler, Katie, Sadie, Justin, Staci, B/Brick, Dawn, Anne Maria, Beardo, Leonard, Topher, Ella
Topher's name may stand out in particular since he wasn't listed in the original cast, but I was going to debut him halfway through the story so he was also always part of ROTR. So I went from a 23 person cast when you factor in Topher, to a now 14 person cast. I'm going to explain my reasoning for the current cuts and choices, but long story short I'd like to hear feedback on my choices and who others might think works better. So feel free to leave that in your review if you're interested in reading Revenge of the Rejects. Anyway, on to my reasoning for where it's at now.
Max, Scarlett, and Trent were the first three cuts since they're only detestably rejects in the first place. Trent was a major player in TDI, he went out of focus afterwards but wasn't as big a reject as the others. Meanwhile Max and Scarlett merge in their one season, and full disclosure Scarlett was only on the cast to eat the first elimination so the actual underdogs could last longer. Max was going to stick around a while and be fun comedy relief, but ultimately I felt he needed to go. Amy and Sammy were also cut because they come as a pair and eat up two whole slots. I'm already exploring their storyline here in this story, so I didn't feel the need to do it a second time in ROTR. Eventually I came to the conclusion of needing 4 people from gens 2 and 3, and 6 for gen 1, so I looked between cutting Leonard or Rodney. Ultimately, since Rodney competed here and Leonard didn't, I went with the wizard for a chance to write him.
Noah is the cut that would likely be the most controversial for obvious reasons. People love him. You can't go wrong with some Noah in your story. But similar to the first three I mentioned, Noah's reject status is debatable after Ridonculous Race. He had a huge focus there and there's not a whole lot I could do with him since he's in a committed relationship and Owen wouldn't be around for their hi-jinks. In my original plan for the story he would have been part of a couple (the original plan was him and Dawn), but that was pre-RR. With Emma in the picture, I felt he may as well be cut. And finally Dakota was cut since once again I'm exploring using her here and wouldn't do much of anything differently with ROTR Dakota.
Now on to the ones I kept. B/Brick stands out the most because I'm most undecided on which of them to keep and which to cut. Brick has more you can do with him and is funnier, but B is the bigger underdog as the second boot from ROTI. It's a tossup. Ezekiel, Staci, and Beardo I viewed as must haves because they're the three 1st boot wonders. The biggest rejects of all. Eva, Katie, and Sadie were all rejects in TDI and none of them have competed since that season. It only felt fitting to have them along. Tyler is in universe arguably the biggest reject when it comes to popularity, and Justin is the biggest reject villain since Courtney stole his role from under his nose. Dawn and Anne Maria are self explanatory, pre merge boots from ROTI, and the same is true for Topher and Ella with TDPI. And as I said, I considered Rodney from the remaining PI fodder, but decided to go with Leonard for the sake of variety.
So yeah, there's my reasoning for my shortened cast picks. I'll be interested to see what you guys may think works or doesn't work. I'll leave you on that and will see you guys next time with a hopefully much shorter author's note on hand.