The first aftermath chapter (and sixth chapter overall) has now arrived. It was easier to work on these than challenges when already I know who's involved and had a better sense of what structure to use before I began writing this one. As soon as I reply to more reviews, two past contestants will begin interviewing Sugar, Justin, Rodney, and Anne Maria.

Rockin' D-99: I also was amused by the "Soggy McGee" name Jo came up with during season 4 :P. This jockette knew exactly what she was doing when motivating Dakota and Sam to climb up faster. Good to know you liked Izzy's guest role! The wild redhead was fun to include. Eva is definitely making a conscious effort to learn from past experiences. You're about to find out who the aftermath hosts are.

OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: No way was going to cut Ella out so soon! Glad you approve of my choice to keep her in. It would've been premature for Dave to go home last chapter when he has more ongoing plot than Anne Maria.

Danicus Green: It turns out you were the only one who posted questions for the competitors prior to this chapter's submission, and I've implemented them accordingly. Those similarities between Trent and our germaphobe admittedly hadn't crossed my mind before. Beardo is indeed hard to picture without so much hair. The Snooki lookalike is somewhat easier to imagine when she didn't lose all of her poof. Shorter hair doesn't sound like a bad look for this girl. Nice to know I could also make her entertaining for you before getting voted off.

Now beginning the aftermath!

A large set of capitalized red letters flashed on a screen. First was a "T", followed by a "D", a "G", and an "S" in that order before the word "Aftermath" was briefly shown. It subsequently displayed short clips of Sugar, Justin, Rodney, and Anne Maria during the kart race and other parts of the season. The camera turned to focus on a closed set of blue curtains. It opened to reveal a stage containing a couch, three stools, and a TV screen. Two of said stools were occupied by familiar faces from prior seasons. They belonged to an athletic narcissist with muscles and a skinny guy with glasses. Both had reached the season 4 finals together as enemies, though could now be civil with one another.

"Are we live?" the former asked. "Sha-cool. Greetings from Lightning Jackson, and welcome to the first aftermath of season seven!"

His co-host said "I'm Cameron Wilkins, and even though neither of us are competing again, it's nice to have another chance to meet with people from this show. Today we're conducting interviews with the first four contestants to get eliminated."

"Each of them are sha-losers for going out so early." Lightning added.

"Says the one who went out second in All-Stars?" Cameron inquired. "It sounds rather hypocritical coming from you of all people."

"Zip it, bubble boy! That elimination was totally unfair." the egotist snapped.

Mr. Wilkins followed that with "Whatever. Anyway, up first is our villain of season 6. She got third place in that, only to finish dead last here. Please welcome Sugar!"

Upon hearing her name, the Honey Boo-Boo lookalike walked onto the stage. Various audience members could be heard shouting "Boo!" as she did so.

Sugar turned to snap "Put a sock in it! Y'all can't seem to appreciate glory when you see it." before sitting on the empty stool.

"The real glory here is me." Lightning bragged. "Now, first off, tell us how it feels to be eliminated before anybody else this season."

"Quite honestly, it sucks ass!" the obese blonde answered. "I wasn't supposed to go out so soon. That snobby bitch with the red dress who cost us our first team challenge should be sitting here right now instead of me."

"Suppose you were still competing." Cameron stated. "If she was the one who got voted off during the baseball hitting challenge, or perhaps you were placed on the team who won that day, then how much further do you believe you could've gone?"

Her response was "I'd like to think I otherwise had a chance to at least reach the merge. It's possible somebody would've tried again once or twice to vote me off before that once they realize how much of a threat I am, but I could've outwitted them and maybe gone to the finale when using the right charms."

The jock shot this down with "That's giving yourself too much credit. You don't seem to have sha-noticed how nobody in the game liked you, so it's not like you would've lasted sha-long regardless of which team was yours."

"On the contrary, Max appreciated my evil ways, and I was therefore the first teammate he chose when the teams were being formed." retorted Sugar.

"It's probably the only aspect that guy liked about you." said Cameron. "He didn't seem to mind very much when you went out instead of the old hag. In fact, that made it easier for him to convince everybody on your team to get rid of Justin during the next elimination ceremony."

"What!?" she blurted out in a combination of anger and shock. "I should strangle that little bastard for kicking off the father of my future children!"

Mr. Jackson told her "Violence won't help you look any sha-better in this case. Also, do you seriously think it's possible you'll have a family with Justin? He's 19 years old and you're only 17! At least wait until your next birthday before even trying that with him because that's when you sha-legally will become an adult."

The girl gave a confident response of "Maybe not right now, but at some point. Our babies will be smart AND beautiful."

"Not to mention imaginary." said the bubble boy, and she frowned with sadness upon hearing that while he added "You're obviously still in denial about the fact that you have no chance with him and how, like the others, he doesn't like you at all. I doubt Justin will ever change his mind."

"Oh really? Prove it." Sugar challenged.

Mr. Wilkins pulled out a remote and used it to turn on the TV screen behind them. After showing how her love interest was uninterested when she attempted to flirt with him during the first episode's kart race, various clips were broadcast from the second episode. The first of these was everybody else fleeing the cafeteria during breakfast after a big fart from the lookalike of Honey Boo-Boo. Up next was a confessional where Justin talked about how his opinions on girls wouldn't change after turning them down. Another confessional featured Dawn talking about Sugar's projections and a moment where the aura-whisperer openly criticized her false accusations of Ella being a fake.

Following this was a scene at the spa where the model was talking with Sam, Dakota, and Max about who to vote off. There was also footage shown of that night's dinner where Dave and the princess talked about the upcoming elimination ceremony, which included a subsequent confessional the lookalike of Snow White gave revealing she knew about Sugar's hatred. The compilation concluded with a scene of the elimination ceremony where Justin was shown smirking over the verdict and Mildred stated nobody would miss her after getting axed.

It was the last clip that really struck a nerve within Sugar. Her jaw was now hanging open. Lightning inquired "Do you get the sha-picture now? Not only is your attraction to the guy unrequited, but you had no support from your fellow competitors this season. On another note, it is possible that being a sha-threat was another reason they got rid of you so soon."

Sugar sounded bitter when relenting "OK fine! I'm an unpopular person who has one-sided love for him. It's not the first time that sort of thing has happened to me, but this still hurts like hell. I was hoping things would be different now. Regardless, I very much am a threat, and the way I played antagonist last season demonstrated that."

"We can't always get what we want. On another note, since Ella mentions knowing all along that you hated her, would you care to elaborate on why?" Cameron asked. "She's truly a kind and caring person who wouldn't hurt a soul, and comments on her being a fake are impossible for us to take seriously. Are you jealous of Ella's singing talent or prettiness?"

"Very well. Ms. Goody-goody two shoes might have more brains than I thought, but still has her head in the clouds too much. Life can't always be viewed with rose-colored glasses as she previously seemed to think. Her optimism and singing went over-the-top. By no means do I envy that pest when I've won many pageants with my good looks and my ability to combine rap with country has managed to win first prize in other talent shows. Don't let Chris's hatred for my craptry performance last season fool you. I doubt the princess wannabe has won any type of competition in her life." Sugar explained. "Ella should also be sitting here today instead of me, preferably with Blaineley also eliminated by this point. If my team had won their first challenge together, then I bet both would be out of the game by now, and perhaps the other side would've gotten rid of that creepy girl who reads auras. Too bad I couldn't come up with many new tricks to use before getting voted off."

"Lightning doesn't think you would've had much luck sha-fooling people." Mr. Jackson retorted while speaking in the third person. "One last question out of curiosity before you need to sha-move out from the stool so the next contestant can sit there: what is your formal name?"

"It's Kristen McGregor. By the way, I heard yours is Rudolph or something. No way would any parent name their kid Lightning." she replied before taking a seat on the nearby couch.

Lightning confirmed "While you are correct, I don't think that sounds as cool. Up next is a has-been model who used to be able to charm the pants off many ladies. He appears to have lost his touch, or probably wouldn't have been the second one eliminated when returning to compete. It's time for us to speak with Justin."

Upon hearing his name, the model insisted "I'm no has-been!" while walking onto the stage and sitting in the stool that Sugar had previously occupied.

Cameron asked him "Tell us this: is it any consolation that you weren't the first contestant to get kicked off this season even when you finished in second-to-last?"

"Yes, it is." the model affirmed. "I'm also glad to outrank the revolting Sugar of all people."

"Hey, I resent that!" interjected Ms. McGregor.

Justin continued with "I don't care. Anyway, it looks like I inadvertently dug my own grave by trying to get rid of Beardo so soon, and I should've known Max would oppose that idea when we were talking with each other in the spa. By no means did I anticipate how that suggestion would prompt him to turn everyone against me. Does the guy not like evil-sounding things? It seemed like a dirty trick to get rid of an innocent bystander when they didn't see it coming."

"There's also the fact that you used your team's camera to take a selfie before trying to focus on getting a required photo of Scott during the challenge." Rudolph reminded him before turning on the TV to show a clip of that along with Eva's complaint about wasting a shot and his defense of needing a new photo of himself to give a modeling agency.

Justin inquired "Sure that photo didn't come out the way I had hoped when trying to kill two birds with one stone, but do you have any idea how demanding these agencies can be? I could've lost my gig without giving them any new photos!"

"It doesn't matter. You still should've prioritized the ongoing challenge." the bubble boy insisted.

This prompted a defense of with "You can't say it wasn't a clever attempt to get both done."

"That doesn't negate how it sha-worked against you." Lightning replied. "On another note, why didn't you talk in the first season, except for when you were introduced?"

"I initially believed my body language alone was enough to keep people on my side throughout the game when my looks were getting lots of admiration. That clearly wasn't the case." insisted Justin. "If either of you looked even half as good as I do, then I'm sure you'd also try the same and would maintain your appearances as much as possible."

"I knew you were arrogant, though implying we're ugly like that was just plain rude and uncalled for." the bubble boy chastised.

His co-host followed that up with "Yeah, that wasn't warranted. Lightning also is sha-gorgeous!" before kissing his own muscles.

The model challenged "Try to name one heart you've won over. Oh wait, that's right; you can't! A person who's actually gorgeous would be able to attract people other than themselves."

Mr. Wilkins gave a response of "That isn't the only way to judge a person's value. There are other things that people find meaningful within others. Did you forget what Brick mentioned during the kart race?"

Justin scoffed at this with "Pfft. Like I'd take some pants-wetter seriously when it comes to that."

"He wasn't sha-wrong." Lightning countered. "Since that guy said you were overly harsh with Rodney, do you wish you'd been gentler with your attempts to give the latter a reality check on girls?"

The answer given to that was "If that would've meant sugarcoating things so much that the point gets lost, then no. The farm boy needed a wake-up call to put a stop to his ridiculous delusions on love. Rod might not have fallen for girls as frequently as last season, but I saw a confessional clip from his elimination episode where that dumbass called it 'true love' when Ella washed off his vomit. Talk about absurd! He doesn't seem to have retained much."

"Let's give him a chance to address that day and other details. Please go join Sugar on the couch as we interview Rodney." Cameron requested.

Justin complied as the farm boy walked onto the stage and sat in the stool that the other players occupied during their interviews. The narcissistic athlete questioned "Had your team not sha-voted you off when they did, how much do you believe you could've helped them?"

"Well, I'd like to think my strength would be an asset when climbing the mountains. Being a faster climber than Anne Maria could've helped our team win the challenge or at least get closer to doing so." Rodney answered. "Either way, I can understand why they got rid of me when our boat crashed a lot while I was steering it and I gave people a rather bumpy ride, even though that wasn't entirely avoidable with the ongoing weather. Leshawna thankfully seemed to understand this given her parting words of 'No hard feelings' following my apology after getting eliminated."

"That sounds like a fair guess." Cameron replied. "How do you think you would behave if it was only guys you competed with and no girls?"

The farm boy's response was "Believe it or not, I may have done better without having to worry about the ladies and any feelings I might catch for them. It could help me focus more on challenges. I'm the oldest of six sons in my family and have often taken charge whenever my dad isn't around. He trusts me to take good care of my brothers. It hasn't easy for him to do that on his own ever since my mom died from kidney failure when I was 12."

This prompted various audience members to say "Aww" in sympathy.

"Sorry for your family's loss. Did she give you any advice on women while still alive?" Lightning inquired. "Maybe having a female's perspective on relationships and such could've sha-kept you from spewing out so much nonsense around them."

"Sadly no, but I agree it would've been helpful." Rod informed him.

Cameron's next question was "Do you have any inkling on how or why you keep becoming enamored with various girls so quickly? You've been shown to fall for them just from simple interactions."

"To be honest, the only guess that I have is it could stem from not spending much time around ladies unless they're relatives, and even that isn't nearly as common as just being around males when most of my extended family lives far away." the farm boy responded before pondering "Maybe getting more used to their company would give me a better idea of what to do and reduce the likelihood of my senses getting thrown out of whack?"

"That's not something I would sha-rule out. Just for the record, none of the competitors you've wanted a date or thought you had some ongoing romance with ever felt the same way about you. In fact, there were times they had no idea how you even sha-felt. Don't automatically assume that every girl you interact with will be your girlfriend or has any interest in being more than friends." Mr. Jackson advised.

"I concur with all of that, and don't forget what Brick told you on the benches during that kart race." his co-host added in agreement.

"In that case, I'm not sure who I could help me practice this without becoming attracted to them so quickly when my aunts and cousins are nowhere within 50 miles." pondered Rodney.

"I thought about sha-asking Dawn to read your aura for insight, but there's a chance you'd fall for her in the process with or without intending to, plus she's still competing right now." said Lightning. "On another note, were you at all surprised to get most of the votes after losing the boat race?"

"No, the only surprising part was just getting 5 votes instead of 6 or 7." the farm boy replied. "It initially seemed like more people would want me out. Something the cameras might not have shown is that when Ella gave me saltine crackers and ginger ale to help with my nausea, I asked for another chance to prove myself in challenges and apologized for the vomit episode earlier that day. I promised to vote with her that night in exchange for not sending me off. She agreed and that helped soften the blow. Perhaps it would've helped to also tell Dave in person how I was sorry, but both of us were still feeling seasick and I didn't want to risk us puking on one another."

"I see where you're coming from. Believe it or not, when the guy had a separate conversation with her and got crackers and ale of his own, she actually convinced him to cut you some slack with the vote when you put more effort into the sailing than Anne Maria did." Cameron stated.

"Wait, for real?" Rod inquired, not expecting to hear this. "I didn't believe that he'd do so even when she told me about her plans to get him to vote with us."

"Yeah, the princess did indeed convince Mr. Germ Hater to not sha-vote for you." the athlete confirmed before turning on the TV to show clips from that episode of her conversation with Dave where he agreed to vote for whoever she wanted and a confessional later that day of him discussing his change in vote plans for the upcoming ceremony.

This prompted a response of "Wow. While I expected him to initially want me gone, I didn't think he'd offer to vote with her that night before she even brought the matter up. I'm also grateful for whoever else didn't vote for me during its ceremony."

"Sometimes think work out better than you anticipate for. Since we now need to interview Anne Maria, please move over to the couch with Sugar and Justin." Cameron requested, and the farm boy complied as the hairspray lover sat in the stool that he had previously occupied.

"Here's something we'd like to sha-ask: Do you feel ripped off in sacrificing your hair to be able to do the challenge, only to get voted off later?" Lightning questioned.

"Most definitely!" Anne Maria affirmed. "I spent so much time maintaining on my poof. Being forced to give it up was one of the most difficult things I've endured, especially when it was against my wishes."

"How long did you keep that up before Chef gave you a cut?" inquired Cameron.

"Since I was 11, so that's 7 years in total. It was and still is a very fashionable style." she informed him. "I thank my lucky stars that he didn't give me a buzzcut or shave my head bald."

"There's more to life than appearances. Don't forget how Dawn sha-pointed that out during the boat race." Mr. Jackson added.

"Maybe for you, but it's tied with my health and well-being." she retorted.

The bubble boy commented "You clearly haven't changed your mind since that day."

"Damn straight. I need my looks to thrive in life!" insisted the hairspray lover. "It helps get things like modeling contracts and can catch the attention of cute guys like Justin, though he sadly isn't into me."

"On another note, let's say your team didn't vote you off after the most recent challenge. What would you then do to ensure you got sha-further in the game?" Lightning asked.

Her reply was "Well, since Dave and Ella didn't complete their climbs before the other team did, I privately tried to talk Trent and DJ into voting one of them off. They never gave me a definitive answer before the elimination ceremony. In retrospect, I should've gotten confirmation in advance that we were all on the same page with voting, and after that day might have asked those guys whether I could be part of their not-so-secret alliance. I don't know for sure whether they voted for me or the germ-hating boy, but I ended up being the only one to vote for that Snow White wannabe when she finished dead last, plus I thought an elimination could shake her out of the princess shtick. Oh well."

Cameron followed that up with "The cameras didn't show this exchange. I'm guessing the basis you gave for them to spare you was getting to the top before those other two did. Am I right?"

"Yeah, you are." Anne Maria confirmed. "At least the vote wasn't 7-1 against me."

"Sha-joining an alliance is a decent idea." Lightning complimented. "With that out of the way, go join the others on that couch over there, and we'll ask some joint questions for each of you."

She did just that. Once all for interviewees had been seated on said couch, Cameron asked them "Out of all the people still in the game, is there a particular contestant you hope takes the crown this season?"

Sugar's answer was "Whoever gets Ella and/or Max out of the game has my support, unless of course it's one of them, and I also don't want Blaineley or Dawn to win."

"I'm fine with pretty much anybody outside of my team winning. They shouldn't have voted me off so soon!" said Justin.

"My choice is definitely Ella. She helped wash off my vomit and took time to check on me when I was ill. I love her!" Rodney proclaimed.

"To be honest, I don't know what to say." Anne Maria confessed. "That's mainly because I'm uncertain on how the most recent vote went. If I had to pick, then it would be one of the people who decided to spare me on the night I got axed. It's not a strong preference in any case."

"Next question: If you had any say in the next elimination, then who would you sha-kick off and why?" Lightning inquired.

"That's easy: Ella, followed next by Max!" the season 6 antagonist quickly replied. "She's too much of a bothersome ditz, and he needs to pay for getting out a sexy man so soon!"

"For me, that would be Max due to his back-stabbing." answered the model.

"While this might sound petty, I say Dave because I suspect her heart longs for him and not me, though the guy might not realize it or return such feelings. I just really hope he doesn't hurt the girl. Perhaps I could've had more time to bond with her when still in the game instead. I can only hope she'd change her mind and that we eventually would become a couple." the farm boy explained.

"Either Max for his ousting of Justin or one of the people who opted to vote for me when they missed an opportunity for me to get them further." stated the hairspray lover.

Mr. Wilkins thanked them with "We're grateful for the responses. Now, in an alternate outcome where you were still competing, who would you ideally take to the final three with you?"

"Justin obviously would be one of those people. I can't decide on who else." said Sugar.

Her aforementioned love interest followed that up with "Literally anybody from the opposing team aside from Anne Maria. I couldn't put up with so much hairspray."

Rod replied with "Ella for obvious reasons, and Brick when he seemed like a nice guy who was willing to help me out."

The girl who took pride in having a big poof gave an answer of "I also would want Justin with me, along with someone who didn't try to send me home."

"One last thing before we sha-wrap things up for the day. Suppose the teams had different arrangements. Assuming you were all still competing at this point, who do you sha-think would be sitting here instead?" the athlete pondered.

The season's first eliminated player speculated "Blaineley, Ella, Max, and Dawn."

Justin surmised "Perhaps that would be Dakota, Sam, Beardo, and Blaineley."

"Sorry, but I can't come up with anything." the farm boy admitted with a shoulder shrug.

"Neither can I." said Anne Maria.

The bubble boy signed things off with "Very well. That's all the time we have for today. Be sure to tune into the aftermath next time where we'll interview more contestants who get eliminated!" before the curtains closed on all of them.

One aftermath down, and the next will come up in Chapter 12. There's 5 more challenges to follow before that happens. In case you're wondering why I went with Lightning and Cameron as aftermath hosts, here's my rationale: having a canon pairing host these (especially the idea of Bridgette and Geoff hosting again) felt too predictable. Furthermore, having two males fill in these roles prevents the issue of Rodney falling in love with a female host during his interview (which would've been a drag to write). My choice might not have stirred up the most drama, but there was some bickering, which hopefully keeps things from getting dull.

Elimination Order:

Sugar (18th place), Justin (17th place), Rodney (16th place), Anne Maria (15th place)

Remaining Players:

Howling Coyotes: Beardo, Blaineley, Dakota, Eva, Jo, Max, Sam

Roaring Leopards: Brick, Dave, Dawn, DJ, Ella, Leshawna, Trent

Chapter posted: February 28, 2021.