Sitting alongside the majority of his cast mates in poorly constructed bleachers, Wally smiled under the Canadian sun. This was it; the last day of shooting. One last challenge and the show would be over. Someone would be awarded the hundred thousand dollar cash prize and Wally would finally be able to go home. He'd get to see his friends and family, he'd get to run in ways that he hadn't had the chance in almost eight weeks. He'd get to make Dick pay for all the indignities Wally had suffered.

Eight weeks of pain, frustration and isolation was finally coming to an end. And, as the cast caught sight of Chris leading Cody and Bridgette up from the cabins, Wally just hoped that they wrapped things up quickly.

Wally would soon be cursing himself out for being stupid enough to jinx himself.

"Here we are," Chris announced solemnly. "Eight weeks ago, twenty-two of you stood before me here at Camp Wawanakwa. All of you bright-eyed idealists with hopes of taking home the grand prize." He smirked. "I'm proud to say that we've beaten some of that idealism out of you."

"But today we have before us, the Final Two," Chris gestured to Bridgette and Cody on either side of him. "Not the strongest or the fastest, the most vicious or cunning... the most backstabby or brutal. Unfortunately." His scrutinising eye met the final contestants with a look of disappointment, as though being 'backstabby' was a goal to aspire to.

"Still, despite their many, many, shortcomings, Bridgette and Cody have lasted to the finale, and the chance at the hundred thousand dollars is theirs and theirs alone," he grinned. "Or is it?"

Hushed murmurs broke out in the stands as the former contestants tried to figure out the meaning behind the Host's question, all the while Bridgette and Cody stood back in confusion, Chris drinking in the growing tensions with a smile on his lips and a song in his heart.

"What do you think he's planning?" Geoff asked, seated to Wally's left.

"Something bad," DJ intoned, sitting behind and above them.

Izzy, on Wally's right, began to smile.

"Today," Chris's voice boomed, stealing attention back to himself. "I offer our finalists a choice. A single decision with the power to change the very nature of the entire game."

Raising his right arm, Chris directed their attention to the side, where Chef stood between two podiums. Atop each sat a silver briefcase. For reasons nobody could fathom, Chef was wearing a very slinky and very sparkly gown.

"As you can see," Chris explained. "Chef has two briefcases. In one is the promised hundred thousand dollar payday." Chef took his cue and opened the case on his left, which was noticeably smaller than the other, and revealing stacks of beautiful green bills for all to see. Why exactly Chris was using U.S. dollars rather than the more colourful Canadian currency was a mystery that none present were quite willing to tackle. "At the moment, this is the reward for the winner of today's challenge."

"However," Chris snapped his fingers and Chef immediately moved to the case on his right. "If our final contestants agree at least, I am authorised to offer a new prize."

Chef opened the case, revealing another, larger, pile of perfectly stacked bills that seemed to spring into existence once the pressure imposed by the case was removed.

"One. Million. Dollars."

At his sides, as if on cue, Bridgette and Cody gulped in unison.

"Wha... what's the catch?" Cody stuttered.

Chris smiled brightly. "No catch."

Bridgette and Cody shared an uncertain glance.

"Of course, to win the grander prize," Chris shrugged. "You have to take a grander risk. In order to win the million dollars, you'll need to allow all of your former competitors back into the running for one final challenge. No tricks, no games, no teams, no eliminations. Just winner take all."

This time it was the bleachers that responded on cue. Gasping loudly, eyes widening as they imagined... a chance to get back into the game was something very few of them would have agreed to just a day before. As they had learned, the pain and humiliation they were to suffer just wasn't worth a shot at a hundred thousand dollars... but a million?

One more day at Camp Wawanakwa. Just one more challenge... and they could walk out of here with a million dollars, cash. More than enough to justify all of the indignities they had already suffered and were sure to suffer again. They could walk home the victor ten times over.

Small rivers of drool ran down the stairs of the bleachers. Those at the bottom rows suddenly wished for galoshes.

"It's all up to you," Chris announced, gesturing to Bridgette and Cody. "A fifty/fifty chance at a hundred thousand? Or a shot at a million bucks?"

The next ten seconds at Camp Wawanakwa were filled with the deafening roar of utter silence. No one moved. No one spoke. No one breathed. Even the animals made not even a peep. Hearts and minds raced like speedsters for the buffet.

In that time, Bridgette and Cody shared a single glance... and they knew.

As Chris had said, they were not the strongest or fastest competitors on Total Drama Island. They were not the most vicious or cunning. Nor were they brutal or backstabby, by nature or by choice. Against the entirety of the Total Drama cast, their chances of victory were slim.

The smart choice, then, was to say no. That's all it would take. They could fight it out between the two of them for a hundred thousand dollars. A more than worthy prize by anyone's reckoning. Bridgette would have the advantage in athletics, and Cody's intellect would probably even the score, depending on the nature of the challenge.

A fair fight. A fair challenge. A hundred thousand dollars.

But... it was never about the money. Not for these two, at least.

They had signed on to 'Total Drama Island' for new friends and adventure. A summer of fun.

Chris had royally screwed them on the 'fun' part, but friends and adventure they had had in abundance. And friends and adventure were worth so much more than a hundred thousand dollars.

Turning back to face their Host, both Surfer Girl and Geek nodded their agreement.

One more adventure with their friends. What more could they ask for?

Bridgette. DJ. Geoff. Izzy. Wally. An unbeatable alliance built upon trust and friendship, powered by some of the best athletes in the competition and backed by the most unpredictable mind and one of the most intelligent contestants.

An even five-way split. Two hundred thousand dollars each. Twice what they'd signed on for. What more could they ask for?

Wally had it all planned. They all split up. Cover a different region of the island. Whoever found the case would sprint for the finish line.

Chris would be sure that everyone came running once the money was found. That was fine. Whoever was left would run interference. Catch up to the runner as soon as possible and keep the other contestants off.

It should have been beautiful. An easy victory.

But what happened? Anarchy.

Wally still didn't understand how it all went so wrong. Even after watching the episode in question, it didn't make sense.

Owen found the case. The boy was born lucky.

Justin got it from him with nothing more than a charming smile and a 'please and thank you'.

Courtney got it from Justin. How, exactly, was unclear. The official airing had had to censor that scene and neither of the people in question were talking. All Wally knew for certain was that Justin now feared and revered the CIT.

Wally wasn't entirely clear on how Courtney lost it soon after, but somehow the case ended up in Katie and Sadie's hands.

From there it jumped between Noah, Tyler, Duncan and Gwen. Must've been that everyone on the show had the damn thing for at least a few seconds.

Someone ticked off a moose. Someone else ticked off a bear. Both beasts ran rampant throughout the island.

Courtney stole a hot air balloon and Justin managed to get his hands on Chris's helicopter. How the heck either of them knew how to fly the damn things is a mystery for the ages.

No one is quite sure how or why, but the Boat of Losers wound up running aground and Cody is adamant that it was mostly Eva's fault.

Everything was one big chaotic mess. Everyone was running every which way, turning on a dime whenever Chris would announce that someone new had grabbed the case. Everyone grabbing at every advantage, no matter how insane it might be, in order to get ahead.

Everything was a blur, right up until the end.

Tyler had the prize. He didn't know how. There'd been a scrimmage near the cabins, a mob of pointy elbows and soft midsections as they all fought for control of the precious. One second his hands had been empty, and the next they'd reached out and plucked that beautiful silver case from the air. And then he was running.

And everyone else was running behind him.

But Tyler was fast and, desperate as he was, he was surprisingly stable. He made good time for the docks.

Wally was hampered by the crowd, but managed to break free with enough time to catch up. At this point he wasn't even thinking about being careful or about his speed, he just wanted to win. He ripped the case from Tyler's grip and kept going for the end.

And then he was there, just a few steps away from the end of the dock, holding the million dollar briefcase. For a split-second he knew he'd won.

And then more than half the cast tackled him from behind, off the end of the pier and fifteen teenagers of all kinds crashed down into the water below.

For a smattering of seconds, the remaining contestants waited on the dock with baited breath as one by one those in the water began to surface and…

…held tightly in Wally's arms as he kicked himself afloat, was the case.

"Congratulations to the first ever winner of Total Drama Island's one million dollar grand prize," Chris proudly announced, high and dry on the docks above. "Wally!

And here we have our 'official' ending. The happy ending that this fic deserves after being left inactive for so long. Of course, given that this is a Total Drama affair, there is an alternate ending to this story. Actually, there's two of them, which was actually kind of a problem for me back when I still thought I might continue this one day. I was so torn between the two different story ideas that I never committed to either one and eventually just lost interest. But I wanted to post what I have and finally label this story, one of my very first, 'complete'.

But, the alternate endings are, in my opinion, too much fun to just leave on my hard drive. I'll be posting them too, so I hope you enjoy them.