Total Drama Next returns with the dawn of the second challenge!
I'm aware that some characters did not get enough exposure in the last chapter, including my personal favorite Zeke. No worries, because I'll do my best to allow everyone to have dialogue.
With that, let's begin the second episode of Total…Drama…Next!
The next day, everyone was having "breakfast"- the horrid slop Chef provided was far from statutory, even in soldier barracks.
Goth-squared came in smirking, and Ginger deliberately took a seat next to Heather.
"Ah, the hot tub was so refreshing," the saffron-dressed goth remarked.
"Shut your mouth, weird goth girl #2," the queen bee countered, still seething at not being able to enjoy the hot tub.
"Seems like someone has been ingesting sour grapes last night," Gwen fired back.
"Well, it was Ginger here that started this in the first place," the Heartbreak Kid joined in.
"You uptight losers!"
"You brooding outcasts!"
Just like that, yet another argument between Gwen and Heather broke out.
"Gosh! Can't they just let off for a minute?" the hamburger shirt wearing nerd commented at the nth time Gwen and Heather had been going at it.
"Well, like they say, oil and water don't mix," his blonde-brunette rookie replied.
"Like me and you," a voice came from the far side. It was none other than Duncan.
"Really, Mr. Rebel? Are you that interested in starting a fight? If so, bring on your mad skills!"
As he challenged Duncan, his stool collapsed swiftly. Rubbing his sore hip as Ally helped him up, he saw Duncan and his daredevil rookie cachinnating.
"Awesome! The oldest trick in the book works on him!" the attention-deficient girl remarked, revealing that she was the one, not Duncan, to have initiated the prank.
"Gosh!" the nerd faltered in providing a comeback.
"If this continues on a regular basis, I would rather reside in a warren," Noah regarded the chaos. "We'll have to put up with Gwen vs. Heather, Harold vs. Duncan and now Seth vs. Izzy. Someone inject me with hydrogen cyanide,"
"What's a warren, Nate?"
Noah looked for an intelligible answer: which was to rest his head on the table.
"I think the tumult of this island could give rise to great literature, to the contrary," Noah's literature-loving rookie replied, simultaneously scribbling down notes in her notebook.
As Noah remained passive to conversation, Lindsay helped him out. "Yeah, I know a lot of good literature,"
Kate's eye twitched, unsure if the bubble-brained ditz knew what she was talking about. Her next sentence confirmed the writer's suspicions.
"Like Star Stalker magazine!"
Kate and Keely giggled at the comment. "Oh, my pro can be so silly at times,"
After an eventful meal, the campers gathered near the forest for their next challenge.
"Since viewers have complained that Total Drama is not eco-friendly, we'll prove those critics wrong! Therefore, my great mind thought of this challenge! You'll help to give back to Wakanawa Island by participating in a series of plant-related challenges! Seeing as how helpful I am to the environment, I will participate… in doing nothing!"
"That's great, Chris. Just great," the surfer environmentalist Bridgette quipped, not bothering to hide her sarcasm.
"Of course it's y'all taking part in the challenge,"
"While you perform the arduous task of hairdressing," Jared continued.
"Spot on! The 23 of you will be split into two groups of 8 and a group of 7, for a total of 3 groups.
Ignoring him, Chris continued.
"Team 1, the Winners, will be led by the brooding goth Gwen! Joining her are Ginger, Ezekiel, Seth, DJ, Ken, Harold and Allison!"
"Team 2 will be known as the Whiners, led by our queen bee Heather! She will lead Shawn, Duncan, Danielle, Noah, Kate, Bridgette and Jared!"
"Finally, bumbling blonde Lindsay leads the Wheezes, accompanied by Keely, Izzy, Ted, Cody, Danny and Chastity!"
Confessional CamSeth- What a fantastic idea for a challenge. First, the group names sound juvenile, and then I have to work with a two temperamental goths and a clueless homeschooled sexist.
Ezekiel- I do'ont know what's up with Seth, eh. But I do know that this is a farm challenge, and I'm going to Qwn this game!
Ted- It's back to the basics for this one. I can do a lot for my team, as could Ezekiel… if Seth does not get in the way.
Keely- Our team seems to be the only one able to get along, so despite the one-man disadvantage it's still a fair fight.Ginger- It's good that we won't share a team with the self-centered brat, but our team could still implode.
Chastity- It's not a good feeling to be alone, but I'll get to work with great people for this challenge!
Duncan- Whatever, my team seems to be fine: I'm not with that dork or overenthusiastic people that make me weep. But Whiners? I certainly don't whine.
(10 minutes later)
Duncan- With this stupid farmer hat on my head, I have more than enough reason to whine.
"Your first challenge will be composing a statue from the wood provided… of myself! The best statue wins!"
Several of the campers groaned at this suggestion.
They came to three tables with the necessary tools on them. " Wow, thanks Chris. You don't intend to give us gloves, do you?" said Noah.
"No, I don't," Chris shot back.
"On your mark, get set, go!" The sardonic host called, taking in the natural air of the forest from his lawn chair.
At the whistle's beck and call, the hat-wearing teams started to get to work as soon as it was sounded.
(Winners)
The Winners, ironically named, were as expected the first to get into some form of trouble.
"Can't you work faster?" Seth scowled, reprimanding Harold.
"There are loads of splinters in the wood! I'm not Captain Canada, Gosh!" the nerd replied.
"For a lousy dweeb, he has certainly has a lot to complain about,"
Just then, someone tapped on the straightedge strategist's shoulder.
"I didn't like the way you treated my friend, eh,"
"Oh, it's the sorry homeschooler. On this island, you don't teach me what to do. I teach you what to do,"
"Even though I made mistakes befur, at least I have compassion,"
"You wanna debate compassion…"
The rest of the team held Seth back.
"Could you guys endure a day without fighting?" Gwen reprimanded.
"Says the person who fights with Heather forever,"
"C'mon guys, can't we just get along?" DJ cut in.
"That annoying queen bee's team is miles ahead of us. Instead of arguing, let's move our butts if we want to win!" the Goth rookie added.
(Whiners)
Meanwhile, Heather's team fared only marginally better.
"Ah," Bridgette reacted to her affliction.
"Hey, Bridge, are you all right," her hockey-playing rookie seemed concerned.
"Sorry guys, I'm always a klutz when on land,"
"Oh, surfer girl, we already knew that ages ago. Because of your dumb clumsiness, you vomited over everyone during the talent contest,"
"Yeah, suck it up," Shawn countered, rather ironically.
"Heather shouldn't be the first to jump at her failure. If I remember, your act that day was ungraded,"
Heather tried to reply, but gave up and pressed on, unhappy that she had been outsmarted by the writing lover. She continued to receive the short end of the stick, literally when cutting herself on a splinter. This was compounded when she bumped into Danielle, who due to some reason zigzagged her way through the forest.
"Sorry, but I do think you deserved it," the hyperactive girl chuckled, much to Heather's dismay.
"Someone did not have her double cappuccino macchiato this morning,"
"Ugh!"
(Wheezes)
While the Winners and Whiners were doing far from well, the Wheezes had problems of their own:
"Ow, I have a splinter in my forearm," the Wheezes leader cried.
"Uh, Lindsay, that's not your forearm, it's your finger," Cody replied.
"Oh it's my finger? Thanks Colby,"
"Cool, these may be painful, but surely they can be used in a swank prank, ohohoho,"
Danny said.
"You won't want to know what we did to McLean last night," Chastity commented.
"Fill me in," said Keely.
Once the host's back was turned, they started laughing uncontrollably, which eventually made the whole team join in.
"Seems like Izzy has competition!"
However, this proved to be their downfall, as the whistle soon resonated cleanly in the air.
"The Winners are indeed your winners for the first challenge!"
"How did they do that?" Keely quizzed, and got her answer: Ken had no problem in constructing the statue despite the stings from the uneven wood.
"Attributing to their victory, the Winners earn a 1 minute bonus in the next round."
Gwen and Ginger slapped hands with the others. Gwen even uncharacteristically blew a raspberry, causing the queen bee to sulk. Shawn tried to appease her, but it was to no avail.
Seth seemed like he was going to do the same to celebrate with Ezekiel, but it was a false dawn as Seth slapped him on the arm instead. Looking up, he saw Allison and Harold frowning.
Confessional CamAllison- Seth was cool during his entrance, but now that has worn off with his bullying of Ezekiel and now, Harold.
A huge hedge, specifically trimmed to befuddle them, was the next to greet the campers.
"Next up we have the Hedge Maze! The rules are simple, get to the other side first and your team wins! As said earlier, the Winners get a head start."
The Winners happily, or in the case of the anaconda-loving Seth, not so happily trudged into the challenging maze, with Heather and Lindsay could do nothing but wait for another minute before their teams could enter.
Soon, the minute that seemed like hours for Heather passed. The popular snob shouted at her team to get going, while Lindsay's team just took their time.
(Winners)
The Winners, living up to their name, were currently in the lead.
"Now, who has any idea how to get through this conundrum," Gwen asked.
"I have mad skills," Harold offered, naturally while Seth held back laughter, "After all, I am proud to be a Possum Scout and is more than experienced in mazes," Harold then tried the Possum Scout salute, which drew giggles from Allison but otherwise failed pathetically.
"All right, let's see what the 'Possum Scout' can do," Seth smirked.
Professionally fishing out a compass from his pocket, Harold guided them along while Gwen, Ginger and of course Seth looked on skeptically. Harold may be great at such challenges, but his leadership skills had not been proven as yet.
(Whiners)
The Whiners, too living up to their name, were whining, which mainly emanated from Heather and Noah.
"Why must this place have mosquitoes?" the queen bee complained.
"The outdoors is not my game," the prodigious bookworm lamented.
"Just keep quiet, you two, and we can find a way out," Danielle replied, her legs getting ready to run even though both were currently still.
"What do you know, hyperactive freak, remember I'm the boss here,"
"She does have a point: your whining will get us nowhere," Jared stood up for his energetic teammate.
"Yeah, but she has sufficient experience for us to get out of here safely," Shawn defended.
"Oh really," Kate entered the conversation, her pro's sarcasm kicking in fast.
"Come on guys, let's just lay off the quarreling and focus on the challenge," Bridgette, ever the peacemaker, came in to temporarily end the ruckus.
(Wheezes)
"Ahhhtchoo!" Lindsay sneezed as the pollen infiltrated her respiratory system. "Does anyone know how to get out of this place?" Crickets appropriately chirped, everyone was stumped by the maze, which flattered to deceive.
"Maybe we could look for clues?" Keely suggested.
Without thinking, Izzy and Lindsay did just that, only to butt heads with each other.
"Bumper cars, how fun," the wild redhead commented, rubbing her head.
"Whoops, looks like my inner blonde got to me," Keely said apologetically.
"It's all right, you do have a point. Maybe that sadistic host left us a few clues along the way," Cody deduced.
"Yeah, I've seen secret switches and all," replied Danny.
"Brilliant idea team, our team is so going to rock this contest," Chastity cheered.
With that, the optimistic seven set off.
Even though Ted followed without uttering a word, he was deep in thought. This challenge may not be so hard after all, given his keen eye.
(Winners)
Meanwhile, the Winners were getting precisely nowhere under Harold's leadership. The nerd with skills was reviewing his compass for errors.
"Call yourself a Possum Scout?" Harold's pain proved to be Seth's delight, as he started to chide the four-eyed nerd.
"C'mon man, don't give him so much hate, he's trying his best," DJ combated.
"Be warned though, this guy will be on the chopping block if we lose,"
"And so will you," a low voice emanated. Surprisingly, the man of few words, Ken was the one who spoke up.
The schemer decided to take the low road: it was not worthwhile debating with the soft-spoken, hard-hitting fighter.
Ezekiel grinned. This rookie could still be tamed.
(Whiners)
Meanwhile, the queen bee led octet had no luck either.
"If weird Goth girl loses, this will be so worth it,"
Speaking of the devil, the two archenemies collided just as Heather's lips stopped moving.
"Watch where you're going," Heather called.
"Right back at ya, you were the one that knocked into me first," the loner replied.
They should have resisted arguing for the nth time throughout Total Drama, but alas they were unable to. Adding fuel to the fire, more insults from Heather was enough to push Gwen over the edge and hell broke loose. Seth started an argument with Harold over the latter's leadership deficiencies, which got worse when Duncan, then Allison and Ezekiel joined in. Ginger and Shawn argued over their pro's fighting. Even the usually amiable Bridgette almost argued with Heather when trying to douse the flames.
It was chaos unbound.
(Wheezes)
The arguing was so audible that the Wheezes got wind of it.
"I wish Greta and Hannah would stop fighting… Eeeek!" the dreamy blonde startled the others with her shriek.
"Look at the cockroach on the right!"
This proved short-lived as the critter scurried away from the abrupt high-pitched sound, revealing something that made Ted's eye light up.
As they were about to dismiss this as a regular occurrence, Ted called.
"Hey look, I found an earthworm,"
"It's probably dead," the usually optimistic cheerleader looked on, disgusted.
"Wait a minute, why would an earthworm expose itself to light, especially when there are no other orifices around?" Cody put his thinking cap on.
Picking up the earthworm, Danny confirmed it was made up of plastic.
"That's what my friends and I do at parties,"
"But if there is one of those on the right, it means that we should go there!" The blonde bombshell seemed to light a bulb.
"Spot on, Lindsay, let's go. 4Kids sucks! [1] " Izzy complimented.
The contest was soon over. With Ted's keen eye assisting, the Wheezes easily covered ground and found their way out.
"Congrats are in order, Wheezes, you've just won yourself immunity and fresh pumpkin stew!"
The Wheezes cheered wildly, having triumphed despite being a man down. Lindsay hugged Noah so hard that it left the egghead busy catching his breath.
Gwen and Heather looked accusingly at each other.
"This is all your fault!"
(Later that night…)
Just outside Dorm 4, three figures can be seen. From his unkempt raven hair, it was pretty obvious who was the first: Seth. His slightly arrogant tone further confirmed his identity.
"I have not been the most popular of people here, honestly. However, I'm polarizing Ezekiel for a purpose: I'm way better than him. And you two, if we form an alliance, can do much better than your pros.
You see, I'm straightedge, which means I'm in a healthier state to engage this competition and lead. If we combined our strength together, we could end up in the final 3 together. Or else, we would all be easy pickings if we went solo.
So would you guys like to take up my offer? I understand if you hesitate, the alliances of yesteryear didn't end well,"
"No, I'm not hesitating at all, I'm keen," The second figure responded.
"This sounds fun, and I do have faith in you as a leader," The third figure continued, sounding more feminine than the second.
"All right. Shawn, Danielle, in our first meeting, we will decide who to vote for.
"Harold?" Danielle quizzed.
"I initially wanted to do so, but I will go for a more viable threat.
After whispering a name into both alliance members' ears, Seth continued.
"Do remember to talk to others about this, so that our plan can come through,"
Confessional CamDuncan- Danielle told me to vote this person. Does not make as much sense as eliminating that dork, but I guess turnabout is fair play.
Harold- Any doubt about my vote tonight? Seth! Gosh, that dude gave me so many problems in today's challenge!
Gwen- It's that queen bee's entire fault that I lost today! Heather, you're going down!
Heather- It's that weird Goth girl's entire fault that I lost today! Gwen, you're going down!
Ginger- And of course, I'd side with my mentor.
Jared- Sorry Harold, you tried your best today, but you're not going to cut it.
Noah- The person I'm going to vote off today is based on strategy, after carefully seeking other opinions.
"Campers, you have cast your votes. There are 15 marshmallows on this plate. You know the drill: When I call your name, come out to receive your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately walk the Dock of Shame and board the Boat of Losers. No returning…ever!"
"Bridgette…
Jared…
Shawn…
Kate…
DJ…
Danielle…
Ezekiel…
Duncan…
Ginger…
Noah…
Allison…
Seth…
Gwen and
Heather."
"Harold, Ken, this is the final marshmallow of the evening. And it goes to…
As Gwen and Heather continued to demonstrate there was no love lost between them, the heat was now turned on Harold, and surprisingly Ken. DJ was shocked that his rookie had fallen into the bottom 2, while Allison looked on worriedly at the nerd. Harold had now shut his eyes, probably resigned to the fact that he was going to go…
… Harold."
Harold was so shocked that he did not prepare for the marshmallow hitting him in the face. The more telling scene was the brief shock written on the face of the fighter, who was going home tonight.
Ken's shoulders slumped as he walked down the Dock of Shame, but was tapped on the back by the gentle giant.
"It's OK. You did extremely well, buddy in the challenges. You'd make a great rookie for anyone."
Ken hugged DJ tightly and then said his final goodbyes, before embarking on the journey back to Playa Des Losers Next as many campers looked on sadly.
Confessional Cam Seth- That's right, Ken's gone. But am I apologetic? Not in the least. Ken was dominating the challenges, so I figured I had to remove the biggest threats first.[1]- Continuing the legacy of Izzy saying "(insert something here) sucks!" as a war cry. In this case, 4KidsTV is the unfortunate target of my wrath for producing sub par cartoons.
So there you have it, the second episode of Total Drama Next. My sincere apologies to David The Ice for eliminating his character in this episode.
Next time on TDN: Two teams are officially formed. Will Seth continue to torment Harold and Ezekiel? Or will the friends fight back? Find out on the next episode of Total… Drama… Next! In addition, new relationships will start to form!
