Just a few days have passed since my last update and both the USA Team and Ezekiel are eliminated. =(
In this episode, we bring back an old favorite from the original TDI. In addition, you won't guess who's going home tonight.
All this and more in the next episode of Total Drama Next!
Note: I don't own any of the music featured in this fic.
The episode simply begins with a stage being shown. The campers are seated on two separate bleachers as Chris comes out on stage in a suit.
"Ladies, gentlemen and animals, welcome to Wakanawa's Got Talent!"
"What? It's the talent contest again? Remind me of what that queen bee did last time,"
Gwen groaned, glaring at Heather.
"Oh, I'm sure I'd do that again, your diary has been eaten by the dogs," Heather replied sarcastically.
The Goth quivered in rage at the statement but decided to let it slide for the time being.
"Each team has eight hours to pick your three most talented campers. Sing, dance or juggle. Anything goes,"
Chris looks at Danny and Danielle.
"As long as it's legal,"
"Each act will be judged by Chef on the Chef-O-Meter. You know the drill, the team with the highest total score wins immunity,"
(Jays)
"I'll be the captain," Seth said proudly.
"Why you?" Gwen asked, clearly annoyed.
"You and Ginger let your emotions cloud your judgment, that nutcase will ruin our performances," Seth pointed to Izzy, blatantly angering her. "The homeschooled kid is a born loser and we all know what happened the last time Heather took charge. Since DJ and Ted have no leadership skills to speak of,"
"Hey, he's athletic and I'm observant," Ted argued.
Ignoring him, Seth continued. "It's down to the three of us and all of us agree that I should be the leader. Besides, the leader will have to face the pressure of competing. Any objections?"
"C'mon, Seth's a good leader. It's the psycho's fault, she won't give him any breathing space!"
"Guess we'll let you have a go, but if you screw up, you're gone," Gwen warned.
Seth smirked to the displeasure of Ezekiel and Izzy.
(Ospreys)
"Who objects me holding the captaincy?" Noah questioned.
"I object," the voice came from Jared. "You are selfish and refuse to take part in anything more than mental activity,"
"Norris is not selfish! I hated dodgeball too!" Lindsay defended.
"His only talent is sarcasm,"
"For the record, a Doberman has more talent than you…"
Jared rose from his seat furiously, but his mentor stopped him.
"Calm down, dudes," Bridgette reassured. "We may have lost twice in a row, but if we implode now, we're never going to work as a team. So please stop arguing,"
At this moment, Cody and Danny made eye contact. However, both soon turned away. Neither had gotten over the incident in the previous challenge.
"Now let's do it the democratic way: voting. Each can vote only once," Bridgette continued. "Who thinks Noah should be captain?"
Lindsay enthusiastically raised her hand, followed by Kate, Cody, Allison and surprisingly Bridgette.
"That's five votes to four, making Noah the captain,"
Noah bemusedly took in his win, while Jared stormed off. The tension remained between Danny and Cody, with the former glaring at the latter for voting in Noah, while Danny and Chastity were going to vote for Jared.
Confessional Cam
Chastity- I thought this was a great team. But now, it seems like we're arguing more than the Jays, who have Heather and Seth.
Danny- It would take a miracle to find something in common with Seth. But now I do: we both don't like our mentors.
Cody- Danny's a good kid, but I want Chastity for myself too. He hasn't gone through heartbreak. I've gone through loads of it.
Meanwhile, Jared had stomped off to a grass field, trying to cool down. Bridgette soon caught up.
"What do you want? You betrayed me and voted for the hubristic hypocrite!"
"Jared, please listen. I voted for Noah because he would be better for us in talent contests. You were too rash in arguing in Noah, which is not good leadership,"
"What do you know about leadership, Bridgette?"
"Are you against Noah because of Keely?"
Jared fell silent.
"Yes. I thought he deliberately angered her so that she could be voted off. I even think he was the one that swiped the bandana,"
"That's terrible thinking, Jared. We have no concrete evidence against Noah, and as such cannot jump to conclusions,"
"But he's the only one on our team that is a hypocrite," Jared replied.
"Did you ever consider that it was someone else?"
"Guess I was wrong about Noah," Jared sighed as they walked back.
(Jays)
With the respective captains decided, it was time to choose the performers. Seth sat at the bleachers, judging the performances.
First up was Shawn. Ginger, with Heather and Gwen looking on suspiciously, placed a stiff block of wood on an easel. Retracing his steps, Shawn looked straight at the block and then ran at the wood, letting out a shout as he hit a high sidekick at the wood, the very same kick he tried on Jared two challenges ago. Splinters and broken pieces remained of the once sturdy wood, as even Gwen couldn't resist clapping.
"A definite pass for you," Seth commended.
Next was Izzy, but Seth said "Pass" just one second into her performance to her fury.
Following the furious redhead was her rookie Ted, who tried to recount the tale of "King Arthur And The Knights of The Roundtable". However, he had stage fright and Seth ended the performance prematurely in a minute due to the gentle giant's constant stuttering.
After Ted left, it was Danielle's turn with fire batons.
"Are you sure you can handle this?" Ginger asked concerned.
"No worries, I can,"
The batons took some good spins among the air once they were thrown up, but the payoff was disappointing. Despite her best efforts, the daredevil totally missed the batons.
"Fail," Seth said as the others desperately put out the flaring batons.
(Ospreys)
"We shouldn't have voted Harold off last time,' Noah lamented.
So far, out of Danny, Cody, Kate and Bridgette's performances, none had made the cut. Danny's had been deemed too dangerous, Kate's fiction was too boring, Cody just could not sing and the others fretted when Bridgette said she was going to stand on her hands for twenty minutes again.
"What about you, Lindsay?"
Lindsay begins to sing.
"My only love is Noel,
I want to hold him like a seeeea-shell!
His mind is like a deep well,
He turns my heart into gel!"
"All right, Lindsay that was intriguing, but it's not making the cut," Noah said as some Ospreys removed their hands from their ears.
Lindsay sadly pouted as Chastity came up. The cheerleader of course did what she does best: cheerleading. As she flipped around athletically, Cody and Danny's eyes remained transfixed. After her performance, generous rounds of applause reverberated.
"Looks like we found our first successful act in six tries. Let's see what the rest have to offer."
Next was Jared, who came up with a hockey stick, delicately balancing the puck on the edge of the stick. Lifting the puck up gently and controlling it with the hockey stick alone, the sportsperson continued to do this from 10 minutes, occasionally changing his posture.
After the performance came clapping, but Cody, Danny and Lindsay had fallen asleep.
"Looks like your performance good, but not there yet," Noah responded as the trio woke up.
"Whoops. Sorry Jared,"
"It's all right," he said, as Noah looked on surprised.
Confessional Cam
Noah- Now that's strange, but that beats quarreling by a mile.
Jared- I got too angry with Noah then, so I've decided to let go.
Meanwhile, Ezekiel was setting up his archery performance, after Seth offered no resistance to it.
"He'll be humiliating himself anyway," he said.
Firing a trio of arrows, the Jays watched in awe as all three nailed the target.
"Very good, you're our second act," Seth said, as several jaws dropped.
Confessional Cam
Izzy- Did he just compliment Zeke's archery?
Ezekiel- This is so befuddling, eh! Why does Seth suddenly take a liking to what I do-o?
Seth- Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.
"So Seth, we have yet to see your talent, eh," Ezekiel commented.
"Don't worry, Homeschool, I will eclipse you. I will begin my performance now, so stay low,"
Everyone made space for the anaconda lover, who performed an impressive spinning flare. At the conclusion of the breakdancing move, even reluctant foes such as Ezekiel and Izzy gave light applause.
"Thus concludes the auditions, with Shawn, Ezekiel and myself making the final cut,"
With that, Seth left with Danielle, leaving Shawn to practice his martial arts.
(Ospreys)
It was down to Allison and Noah for the Ospreys. Noah recited "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens in a great piece of storytelling that captivated everyone. One could even see Lindsay shedding a tear. This assured that he would be joining the performances.
Meanwhile, Allison, who had briefly gone missing during Noah's storytelling, made a grand entrance literally, careening on a skateboard as the Ospreys cheered.
"How was that?" Allison asked.
"Awesome!" The entire Osprey team replied.
"That's a wrap for now. Chastity, Allison and myself will partake in the contest later,"
"Hey, why did you bring us here. Shouldn't we join Shawn?" Danielle asked.
"Don't you worry, Shawn's performance is important, but we have a mission to carry out. I will infiltrate into the girl's side to get Heather's diary,"
"Heather has a diary?"
"Yes indeed, I saw her writing in it. Obviously she went to the back of the communal washrooms to do this, not wishing for Gwen and Ginger to get wind about this. Just take this as karma for what Heather herself did,"
"But Queen Bee Heather possessing a diary seems so surreal!"
"Watch and learn. Do keep a lookout, I saw Heather leaving just now, so she's somewhere around,"
Speak of the devil. As Seth was about to snag the diary from Heather's belongings, the queen bee herself arrived.
"Nice day, Heather. What are you doing?"
"What do you think I'm doing? I'm trying to enter the cabins!"
"You can't go in yet…"
Heather growled.
"You better have a good reason for this,"
"I defeated Seth in a card game that day. Now he has to my bidding, even though he is Mr. Tough Guy in front of everyone. Now he's… cleaning my cabinet,"
"Never expected you to inherit my shtick. Anyway, I've decided to come in later,"
With that Heather turned around and left to the relief of Danielle, who was beginning to trip over lines.
As if on cue, Seth then stepped out.
"Oh hi Heather, I heard you from outside," he said casually.
"Yes, my friend here had to brag about winning a card game,"
"You are not as tough as you look, though. I know your secret: you lost a card game to a girl,"
"Gee, thanks for the compliment. We have to get going, the contest is about to begin," Seth rebuked.
As they went separate ways, Seth thought, "Wait until I reveal her secret to the viewing world,"
"All right, campers, it's time to showcase your skills, or just flat out embarrass yourself," Chris paused, looking at Bridgette sinisterly, who frowned.
"Without further ado, let's welcome our first act by Ezekiel!"
Izzy cheered audibly as the homeschooler entered the fray with his trusty bow and arrow.
Contemplating before firing his first arrow, a hush suddenly came upon the arena. As the prairie boy released the arrow, hardly anyone (except Seth and co. for obvious reasons) shifted his or her gaze. The arrow hummed and slightly dipped, striking the bull's-eye to cheers. The second one took a slightly different trajectory, but still roosted itself in the bull's-eye.
Finally, Ezekiel collectedly released his third arrow. The arrow rose slightly, but it never dipped as Ezekiel expected. Instead, due to its high velocity, it hurtled towards Chris, nearly landing in the host's precious hair.
"Damn it! You almost hit my hair! Do you know how much a hair appointment costs?" Chris fumed, as the Chef-O-Meter lit up. It revealed that Ezekiel had gotten 6 out of 9 points.
"After a near destruction of my invaluable hair, no thanks to Ezekiel, the Jays get 6 points for their first performance,"
Ezekiel looked hurt at his minor mishap, which Seth and Shawn heartily laughed at.
"There, I told you he would screw up,"
Noah came onto the stage confident after Ezekiel's error. Narrating "Oliver Twist" this time round, Noah animatedly retold the story of the poor orphan. Lindsay listened with interest, even though the bookworm knew he did not know what he was talking about. As Noah coolly related the classic without skipping a beat, he seemed to act as a magnet, with lips quivering when he recounted the trials and tribulations of young Oliver. Once the performance concluded, he deservedly got generous applause.
"So, Grand Master Chef how did Know-It-All fare?"
When there was no response, Chris hollered "Chef!" in annoyance.
Chef then stirred from his slumber and duly gave Noah a 3 for his efforts.
"Noah earns the Ospreys 3 points for his 'exciting' performance!"
"What?"
"Guess Chef didn't like it, and I have to agree with him,"
"It's all in a day's work for scumbags like yourself,"
Noah then stomped offstage, naturally upset that he had gotten such a weak score.
"It's OK," Lindsay cooed, as Noah feigned anger before briefly dropping it for a smile.
The ball was now in the Jays' court, a position where they had been so familiar. Ginger was elated to see Shawn step up. The heart breaker looked at the birch block in front of him. It was definitely thicker than the block that he had decimated in his audition. With the same look of intensity he showed earlier, he stepped back, before charging at full speed and hitting the sidekick. The birch initially failed to budge, but upon closer inspection the kick had led to cracks in the wood and it capitulated, earning loud cheers from the Jays, Ginger in particular.
"That was amazing!" Ginger had got to her feet during the performance, but blushed when Gwen and Heather looked at her, cocking their eyebrows.
The Chef-O-Meter lit up to nearly the brim, awarding Shawn 8 out of a possible 9 points.
"The Jays now have a massive lead!"
"Next up for the Ospreys, we have Chastity,"
The mocha cheerleader started with the typical "Ospreys" cheer, before loping around the stage gracefully. As they were earlier, the pro-rookie duo of Cody and Danny were giving their subject of affection their fullest attention. Both just sat there in a blissful trance, admiring the exotic beauty of the cheerleader before them.
Just then, disaster struck. One of Chastity's shoelaces came off while doing a back flip. Shaking off the untied shoelace was a grave mistake. Tripping on the free shoelace after back flipping once more, the cheerleader slipped and fell on her rump. An ashamed Chastity wanted to continue, but Seth, Heather and then both Chris and Chef laughing at her were too much to bear. Utterly disgraced, she ran off the stage.
An upset Cody tried to give Seth and Heather a piece of his mind. However, Seth replied to his lambasting.
"I don't see Danny around here. Why is this so? It's because he's one step ahead of you,"
A worried Cody began to run away from the stage, heading in the direction where Chastity and possibly Danny went.
Indeed, Danny was already off to comfort the poor girl. He found her sitting at a porch on the Osprey side, crying her heart out. Hurriedly, the prankster went over.
"I must have looked like a goof on stage," Chastity said between sobs.
"No, you weren't,"
"Don't try to make me feel better, Danny. I screwed up, and in front of a live audience at that. My friends were watching me perform, and I'm going to become the laughing stock of the cheerleading squad,"
"I know being a prankster means that I don't really take things seriously, but I do take you seriously. I would never abandon you when you are down,"
Chastity leant on the fun lover's shoulder and continued to weep.
Behind a tree, a certain tech geek could only face palm.
"I really missed the boat this time," Cody sighed.
After a commercial break for the viewing audience, the Ospreys learnt that Chastity's performance had garnered 3 points, putting the Jays in a massive lead of 8 points. Seth just had to gain 2 points to win this challenge without Allison even performing.
Without the weight of expectation of him, Seth calmly stepped on stage… and pulled out a diary.
"Oh no," Gwen thought. Could this be the same diary that was used in TDI?
Heather began to panic. The diary was maroon, unmistakably hers.
"Originally, I was going to dance. But that wouldn't be as fun as revealing some secrets, would it? After all, gossip shows love to expose secrets, so I'm not the only one doing it. Now let's see what secrets our Queen Bee Heather harbors,"
Heather's heart was palpating as the strategist turned to her latest diary entry.
"Dear Diary,
I, Heather Nakata, have never fallen in love. After all love is for losers like the weird Goth girl and Trent. However, he is like a magnet. I find myself being pulled closer and closer to him the more I try to get away. This relationship is impossible. What would his mom think of this? Yet he doesn't need to use bombastic language, like other jerks at White Pine do. He is strong, tall and the perfect partner. I would like to do nothing but move my hands around his ebony abs all day. That's right, diary. Heather Nakata is in love with Devon 'DJ' Joseph."
"Heather and DJ?" Gwen said aloud.
"How could I have missed out on all the action? Devil girl and angel boy?" Izzy added.
That was the sentiment shared by most of the campers. The meanest female on the island had a crush on the nicest male. That was as surreal as it got.
An initially shell-shocked DJ had already followed the truly embarrassed Heather out of the audience.
The Asian girl was near Lake Wakanawa, her mind in a blur. Why didn't she suspect something fishy when Danielle and Seth engaged her in casual talk back then? She should have been more cautious.
Then the man that she had desired for came into view. But DJ was totally unprepared for the horror of this revelation. Would he be able to reciprocate?
"D-DJ?" She stuttered once more. Stupid me, she thought. The Jamaican that she liked was just beside her, and she was already feeling the trepidation.
"Heather, are you all right? It must have been a huge shock,"
The proud girl could not find any words to respond with. Instead, she tiptoed and her lips made contact with those of the tall Jamaican jock.
"Just shut up and kiss me," Heather replied. "It would make me feel better,"
The two then met lips once more. Heather passionately kissed, with DJ placing his strong hands on her shoulders and kissing back.
Meanwhile, the Chef-O-Meter did not even light up at all when Seth's score was announced. This signified that his questionable tactics had backfired. Seth had gotten squat for his performance, giving the Ospreys a glimmer of hope.
Rejuvenated, Allison jumped on her skateboard… breaking it.
"Crud! Now what are we going to do?" Noah exclaimed.
"Relax, Noel-kins, I've an idea," Lindsay slurred.
Noah had a bad feeling about this.
"And it seems like the final act for today is Lindsay!" The crowd responded with mostly cheers as Seth smirked.
"Really, they picked Lindsay?"
Classical music began to play as Lindsay grabbed the microphone.
"When marimba rhythms start to play
Dance with me, make me sway
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
Hold me close, sway me more
Like a flower bending in the breeze
Bend with me, sway with ease
When we dance you have a way with me
Stay with me, sway with me
Other dancers may be on the floor
Dear, but my eyes will see only you
Only you have that magic technique
When we sway I go weak
I can hear the sounds of violins
Long before it begins
Make me thrill as only you know how
Sway me smooth, sway me now
Other dancers may be on the floor
Dear, but my eyes will see only you
Only you have that magic technique
When we sway I go weak
I go weak
I can hear the sounds of violins
Long before it begins
Make me thrill as only you know how
Sway me smooth, sway me now
Sway me
Sway me
Sway me now!"
The Ospreys were awestruck. The Jays were shell-shocked. Soon everyone found themselves on their feet, save for Seth who was the perennial party pooper.
A bead of sweat began to form on the blonde beauty's forehead. Was that going to be enough?
The Chef-O-Meter lit up to 7 points, and then abruptly stopped. Everyone was holding their breath now as Chef feinted giving the Ospreys an extra point… before the lights reached the brim! The Ospreys, after trailing for most of the challenge, had surprisingly won as they all lifted Lindsay up in exuberance. On the other hand, it was crunch time for the Jays as Seth's smirk disappeared.
Confessional Cam
Gwen- Only one person could possibly go home now.
Ezekiel- He's worse than a little cow.
Ginger- Do I need to say who it will be?
Izzy- He must have been crazier than me!
"Jays, it's a surprise to see you here, considering how you were dominating the challenge earlier. But anyway you blew it all and must now pay the price. One of you will not be joining the rest of your team after tonight. Now there are 9 marshmallows on this plate, and they go to…
Shawn,
Ginger,"
The two smiled at each other, only because Heather and Gwen were more concerned about elimination.
"Heather, Gwen, DJ,"
Heather put her arm around DJ, satisfied that both would be making it through the night.
"Ezekiel,
And Ted,"
"Seth, Izzy, this is the final marshmallow of the night. The one who does not get it must walk down the Dock of Shame,"
Izzy smiled at Seth, who seemed particularly nervous at losing the game at this juncture.
"And it goes to
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Seth.
Sorry Izzy, but you're out once more,"
"I don't believe this, eh," Ezekiel cried, tears forming in his eyes.
Izzy got up and walked over to Seth.
"(The following content may cause discomfort for young children. Therefore it was replaced with a Sonic the Hedgehog toy commercial.)"
The viewing screen then cuts to commercial.
"Get the limited edition McLean The Goof… I mean Hedgehog toy at the affordable price of $99 only! While stocks last!"
Back at the campfire, the prairie boy's tears were now flowing freely.
"Don't worry…" Izzy said, as a few tears percolated from her stunning jade eyes, even though she was putting up a strong front. "I'll be back…"
"How did this happen?" The gentle giant Ted was now hugging his wild mentor, still stunned at how it came to this.
Confessional Cam
Seth- I know it has been done before, but Izzy, you made me do this. (He shows the viewers the voting box. Removing all the votes (Only Shawn had voted someone other than the straightedge kid off), he replaced them with "Izzy" votes.
Taking a disconsolate Ezekiel in her arms, Izzy gave him a kiss before her last action was to drop a smoke bomb and disappear from the island. Falling to his knees at the campfire, the poor boy would remain there until the fire ceased to be.
It has been a long and eventful chapter indeed.
"No!" you might think. The drama of TDN, Izzy has left! It was never an easy decision to make, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. Will she be returning? You'll find out when the time arrives.
On to the next episode, another favorite challenge (not so for some campers) returns! With Harold and Izzy gone in quick succession, Ezekiel now couldn't be more vulnerable. How will he cope with the mockery from Seth, now that he's alone? How will relations between Cody and Danny go? Will Shawn and Ginger finally come out of the closet? All this and more on Total Drama Next!
