Ready or not, here comes Chapter 9. Time for me to reply to additional reviews.
Rockin' D-99: After Scott and Izzy each were seen in different challenges, it's understandable how Shawn and Jasmine visiting at the same time would go against one's expectations. It was fun to write their guest appearances last chapter. Glad you enjoyed the zombie nut's conversations with Dave and Sam as well as what the Aussie had with Beardo and Dawn. In particular, I wanted Mr. Germ-hater to talk with his buddy after the TDPI finale was ambiguous on where their friendship stood, and it was only natural for him to bring up how fences were mended with Sky. He quickly caught onto his pal's new affections for Ella and is supportive of him pursuing a relationship with her. As for Eva, she was a goner regardless of whether Blaineley used blackmail against her, and will not return to compete this season. Nobody who's been ousted here will get another chance to win. The current chapter will talk a bit about why our gamer voted for her instead of Max.
OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: This was the furthest I could take Eva.
amit avrashmi: Apologies for not using your username in its correct format. Technical restrictions appear to prevent it from appearing when I use a period instead of a sapce. Anyway, I'm glad somebody caught onto the season 3 reference I made with Jo's confessional :P, and it's nice to know you like the story's progression. I won't spoil who gets booted next, but will say that I had already decided on the whole elimination order prior to reading your comments.
Challenge time!
Chef was shown tossing and turning in his sleep. He appeared to be having a nightmare and could be heard mumbling. His words were "No, please don't take away my recipes; I need those!"
Soon afterwards, an alarm clock rang loudly enough to wake him up. Hatchet took a sigh of relief and said to himself "Good thing that was just a dream. I better get breakfast started soon."
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"Not sure whether it means anything, but I had a nightmare last night about getting unfairly fired and losing every valuable thing I had. The worst part was how Chris got off scot-free when I sued him for that! I obviously hope nothing like that ever happens in real life."
(End Confessional)
Once had had finished getting dressed, the cook prepared a breakfast of waffles for everybody. They all enjoyed this very much. Dawn noticed a sense of regret from Jo during their meal and commented "Your aura suggests you wish Eva was still competing."
The jockette replied "Part of it does, yes, but I'm sure you would've also wanted to send home whoever cost your team a challenge."
"You have a fair point. I just hope you know this is irrevocable." said the aura-whisperer.
That was followed up with "Of course. Whether I like it or not, I have to live with the fact that she's out of the game."
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"I knew what I was doing with the last vote, don't get me wrong. It just might have been carried out prematurely. Along with how she broke our winning streak, I tried to be strategic when knowing Eva was a bigger threat than Max, so I convinced the 18-year-old versions of Paris Hilton and Seth Rogen to join us in giving her the axe. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped since the lovebirds initially wanted to send Mr. Pebble-thrower home, and I could see where they were coming from. Should I have gone with their choice instead? The shrimp may have outlived his usefulness after all even when I made a deal to vote with him during the morning of that mountain climb. I'll need to give Max some more thought."
(End Confessional)
Ten minutes later, everybody had gathered outside after they finished eating and brushing their teeth. The host informed them "Today will involve lots of speed and stealth. After taking some time to hide, your goal is to make it to a safety point while avoiding shots from Chef's paintball gun. The less often you get hit, the better. Whichever side has fewer cumulative hits will win immunity from tonight's vote. We'll total it all up after everybody finishes."
"How much time will we have to find a hiding spot?" asked Ella.
"Half an hour, and if you haven't found anything by that point, then too bad." clarified the cook.
"What spots are we trying to reach?" inquired Jo.
"I'm about to show you, now follow me." Chris answered.
Everyone complied with his instructions. Two giant squares could be seen. One was silver with a Coyote icon nearby, and the other was gold with an accompanying Leopard symbol. As soon as they arrived, he added "All players will need to reach these boxes as my assistant fires at them. No matter how many of those strike you, don't stop before getting to your team's box. Today isn't so much of a get-your-team-here-first ordeal as it is minimizing the shots you take."
"Will we have any protective gear?" questioned Sam.
Hatchet pointed to a nearby box of eye goggles and replied "Only a set of goggles to protect your eyes. I wanted to give you full-face masks and helmets, but Chris insisted we save our budget for other things."
"What a cheapskate. It'll be a pain to wash out any paint that gets in my hair!" complained Dave.
"I have some extra strong shampoo and a fine-tooth comb that are really good at getting out messes. Feel free to use those." Dakota offered. "They've really helped me in the past."
"For real? Thanks a bunch!" the germaphobe gratefully added.
"Sure thing, just be sure to return them afterwards." she responded.
He assured her "Of course I will."
"Moving along, please grab a pair of goggles and make up your minds on where you'd like to hide. Don't make a run for the box until you hear a loud horn. That will signify your 30 minutes to find sanctuary has expired. I'll penalize anybody who tries to arrive prematurely." the showrunner interjected, and everybody else except for his assistant ran off in various directions after taking some goggles.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"I don't expect these people to get through this challenge completely unscathed by paint. If by some chance I'm wrong and there are any contestants that Chef fails to strike, then it's probably going to lower our ratings and either way will be less fun to watch in replays."
(End Confessional)
Over in a forest, a split screen showed two contestants searching for hard-to-find locations within a forest. One half focused on Brick while the other half displayed Jo. The screens merged as they unknowingly approached one another, walking backwards until inadvertently bumped backs. They both gasped a bit in surprise before the cadet asked "Couldn't you find some other place? It'll be harder for the shooter to locate people when separated."
Her response was "I could say the same of you."
Dawn overheard their exchange while in a nearby bush and commented "This spot is already taken. Maybe I could leave and give you two some desired privacy."
That made them both blush and nervously reply "No need for that!" at the same time before dashing off in separate directions.
(Begin Confessional: Dawn)
"Not only did I secure a location to myself, but I simultaneously got a further glimpse into multiple auras. While they might try to deny it, Brick and Jo are not simply rivals. I'm just not sure when either will admit how they truly feel."
(End Confessional)
Near the shoreline, Dave spotted a dock and decided to check that out. Unfortunately for him, it was already occupied. He found Trent underneath, who stated "Sorry man. You'll have to look elsewhere."
"Before I head off, tell me this: what's the cleanest hiding spot you can think of that isn't here?" asked the germaphobe.
"Hard to say. I just don't think it's a good idea for multiple people to hide in the same place when that can enable Chef to get more hits." replied the guitarist.
"Fair enough, and good luck avoiding paint." his teammate stated before leaving.
(Begin Confessional: Trent)
"That conversation at the dock reminded me of something: I've lately gotten a feeling that my alliance with DJ might not be the only one our team has. The bigger question is whether anybody else joining together for votes is more likely to work in our favor or against us."
(End Confessional)
A few minutes passed before Beardo spotted a cave that looked empty. To his luck, no animals were inside. He took advantage of this and nabbed it. Sam and Dakota managed to spot him. The gamer inquired "Do you mind sharing the cave?"
"I do; there's plenty of other spots, and I'd hate for Chef to get a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 deal by spotting me along with either of you. Nothing personal." answered the human soundboard.
"Eh, not a bad point." Ms. Milton relented before the couple searched for something else.
Roughly 30 seconds later, Max showed up and declared "This looks like a perfect place to set up an EVIL LAIR! I just need some supplies.", oblivious to the exchange that had recently taken place.
"Nope. Not happening when I got here first." Beardo insisted.
"Let me take it instead, and I'll let you join me in conspiring against someone else for the next vote. That's a promise." proposed the wannabe villain.
The offer was declined with "You're just wasting time. I can't be bribed out of here."
His teammate pouted in defeat and walked away.
(Begin Confessional: Beardo)
"The only disadvantage of getting a great hiding spot is having to fend off others who want it as well."
(End Confessional)
In the meantime, Leshawna had decided to be bold and hide in one of the hotels, believing it would be acceptable when no restrictions were given on being indoors vs. outdoors. That's when she ran into Blaineley, who had a similar idea. The former asked "Any chances of you going outdoors?"
She got a response of "No way! This is harder to detect than that."
"Just be sure not to hide in the same room as me." said the sassy one.
Mildred assured her "Believe me; I would never do such a thing." and grinned mischievously after they parted ways.
(Begin Confessional: Blaineley)
"Hiding in the same building as an opponent makes it easier for me to rat them out."
(End Confessional)
Within the forest, Ella found a bird in a nearby tree. She sang to it "My dear feathered friend, are there any good hiding places around? If the answer is yes, then I'd like help to become safe and sound!"
Upon hearing her teammate, Dawn popped out and stated "It isn't here. I already claimed this spot."
Right afterwards, the birds began tweeting while getting out of the nest to gesture towards some off-camera location, having evidently understood what the lookalike of Snow White was saying. She gratefully responded with "Much appreciated!" before turning to tell the aura-whisperer "Hopefully we can win today."
That got a reply of "Same with me, now you better get going." before the princess followed the bird away from the bush.
Several minutes later, her flying companion reached a cave, though not the same one Beardo had claimed to himself. DJ arrived shortly afterwards. She greeted him with "Hello there! I wasn't expecting anybody else to be around."
"Neither was I." he added. "It's tougher than I thought to find good hiding spots that other people haven't already taken. Since you showed up first, you can take the cave."
Right after that, the bird started tweeting again. Ella translated on its behalf "This little one wants you to follow over to some other place that's usable and unoccupied. That's how I arrived first arrived here."
Not having any better ideas, the gentle giant simply told the feathered creature "Lead the way, please." and they left the area together, giving the princess a chance to go into the cave alone.
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"It's nice to get along with animals again!"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut towards Chris just as he used his horn and announced "Time's Up! Ready or not, here comes Chef."
Hatchet was nearby and pondered "How am I supposed to find anyone on the island? This place is TOO DAMN BIG!"
"You better hit them all at least once. I suspect we'll otherwise lose ratings." said McLean.
This annoyed the cook, who responded by shooting him in the chest with five paintballs before taunting "Perhaps our viewers would prefer seeing YOU get struck." with a snicker and heading off.
"Shooting me was never part of the plan, and I just had this shirt cleaned!" whined the host.
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"My boss had that coming, whether he liked it or not."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"Dry cleaning is expensive, and my cleaner would hate for me to return any clothing so soon after they had stains removed yesterday. I'm so not paying for the next visit."
(End Confessional)
In the meantime, Brick couldn't locate any good hiding spots before hearing the horn. He began to panic a little. After getting an epiphany, the cadet said to himself "Hold on: I can simply head for my safe square!" and went to do just that.
Unfortunately for him, he tripped over a rock thirty seconds later, falling flat onto his face and groaning a bit in pain. Chef heard this and turned to face Mr. MacArthur. The cook fired several shots, only grazing one of his legs before he got back up and made a run for it. From a nearby tree, Jo peered out from its branches to watch Hatchet chase him before climbing down. She took full advantage of being unnoticed and began to dash towards her own safety point.
(Begin Confessional: Brick)
"As much as I hate being shot at with paint, one upside is that I got a good workout by running quickly. Chef also has quite a good aim."
(End Confessional)
Two other players had also failed to hide within the time limit, namely Dakota and Sam. The former panicked "Crap! Where are we supposed to go now?"
Her boyfriend was uncertain, answering with "We could try joining someone else's spot, or just head over for our safety square. I'm not sure which would be easier."
"I say the latter. It would save us the trouble of being turned away." she stated.
"In that case, we better hurry!" he responded as they ran off away from the cameras.
Several minutes passed before they caught sight of Jo, who was trailing the cook as well as the military boy. The couple decided to catch up with their teammate. By that point, Brick had been struck by six different paintballs: one on each leg, one on each arm, and two landed on his back. While it had somewhat slowed him down, he was still determined to reach the golden square without stopping. Chef continued to fire while questioning "How have you not paused yet?", missing each of those shots.
Mr. MacArthur reached the Leopards' safety point one minute later and turned around to explain "Because I knew I had to reach this and didn't want you to take advantage of me halting." before sitting down and catching his breath.
"Attention everyone: Brick is out first contestant to be safe with a total of six hits!" the host subsequently proclaimed through the loudspeakers. "Try to beat that when making your way over."
Jo was getting quite close to the Coyotes' safety point when that sentence was finished. However, the cook turned around at the same time to rapidly fire eight paintballs at her. She managed to duck in time, which led to them hitting two other contestants instead. Dakota was struck by five in the stomach, and the same thing happened to Sam, temporarily knocking them to the ground. They both scowled at their teammate in disapproval while getting up to resume running. After reaching the silver square, Jo turned around and noticed this before admitting "I didn't know either of you were following me, or I probably would've done something different."
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"Knowing Jo, I doubt she had any real concern for where those shots went as long as they didn't hit her."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"Leaving me exposed like that was so uncool, intentional or not!"
(End Confessional)
Right after the paint-soaked couple approached their square of safety, they could hear Chris announce "This just in: Jo makes it unscathed while Sam and Dakota were blasted with five paintballs each. That brings the Coyote totals to 10 as the Leopard totals remain at 6."
"To be honest, I feel bad for both of you. It's poor form to leave one's comrades vulnerable to attacks." Brick told the lovebirds, who smiled in gratitude for the sympathy.
"OK seriously: that was an accident and I'm sorry!" insisted the one who never got hit by paint.
"Personally, I'm impressed you could even dodge so many shots at once." Chef remarked before leaving to hunt for other contestants.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"In retrospect, I should've looked backwards during my run, but oh well."
(End Confessional)
DJ was shown hiding in a tree with the bird he followed earlier. It somehow knew to stay quiet to avoid giving this away to anybody. The guy was grateful for that. He saw Chef walking below and waited for him to pass before silently climbing down and making a run for it. Hatchet walked on until coming across a cave. After peering inside its entrance, a bear growl could be heard, making him scream and bolt in fear! Once the cook was gone, Beardo peeped out and chuckled a bit before heading for the safety point, pleased that his prank worked. Twenty seconds passed before the second-in-command had a sudden realization and exclaimed "What a moment; there are no bears on this island!", turning around to see the human soundboard in the middle of a run and correctly deducing that he was the one who made that bear noise.
Upon realizing Chef was onto him, Beardo began to panic. He ran even faster while replicating the "Rat Race" level theme from the Sega Genesis version of Battletoads and did his best to avoid the paintballs being fired. How many ended up hitting this contestant? A total of five, all in the back, and each slowing him down somewhat over the course of several minutes. Just before a sixth shot could hit the human soundboard, he dove for a safety spot and managed to avoid the paintball. Beardo triumphantly replicated the level completion music heard from Battletoads before taking a moment to breathe and mumbling "That was a pain to get through."
"That's another player safe after taking five shots!" proclaimed Chris. "Who will get to their square next, and how many times will they get hit?"
Upon turning around to find more contestants, the cook spotted DJ approaching. He ran after him and began firing paintballs. Much to his shock, they all missed when the gentle giant managed to dodge these shots. This contestant managed to reach his safety spot unscathed.
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"After already having some practice with evading Owen's paintballs during the first season, I was pretty prepared to do the same today once I learned what the challenge was."
(End Confessional)
"Another person makes it without being struck even once, seriously? Kudos for that!" an impressed McLean complimented.
"For real, tell me how you managed to pull it off!" Chef requested.
With a confident smirk, DJ explained "Let's just say I've figured out how to use a fight-or-flight response to my advantage."
"You got lucky. Don't expect something like that to happen again." Hatchet told him before resuming his hunt for the others.
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"It was surprising enough to see one contestant make it to the end without getting hit, so how was I supposed to know it would happen with another? Chris will probably give me crap for this."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the cave that Ella was hiding within. She peered her head out of its entrance and cautiously glanced around before exiting. Seeing an opportunity to run, the princess took it. Along the way, she spotted Dave hiding behind some bushes, opting not to enter them because that would've gotten his clothes dirty. He asked her "Any sign of Chef?"
His ally answered "Not that I've seen. You could probably head over to safety as well."
The germaphobe simply shrugged his shoulders before getting up and joining Ella. Once they were gone, Max emerged from those bushes, having gone completely unnoticed before anyone else. He chuckled before boasting to himself "Today should help prove that villains like myself are good at hiding." and making his way out.
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"Could I hear others talking around me? Yes indeed. That didn't bother me in the slightest when none of them looked within my hiding spot. In fact, being able to eavesdrop was quite nice."
(End Confessional)
Over near the hotel, Blaineley could be seen exiting its doors and trying not to make much sound. However, the cook managed to spot her anyway and fired a paintball. She failed to evade it and commented "Look inside and you'll find Leshawna!" after one leg got struck.
Seeing right through the diversion tactic, Hatchet continued to chase Mildred, who screamed after another shot hit her back. On their way back to the safety points, he spotted the wannabe villain, germ hater, and princess all running for those and took advantage of the chance to shoot all three. How many shots landed? Two smacked Dave's head and three struck Ella's stomach. Max had taken cover behind their bodies and thus went unscathed. Once those had landed, the second-in-command managed to shoot Ms. O'Halloran's other leg, who slowed down without completely stopping.
(Begin Confessional: Dave)
"Using me as a shield from paint? Not cool!"
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"Those shots were very painful!"
(End Confessional)
None of these four contestants were hit by any further paintballs before reaching their respective safety squares. Once they arrived, Chris informed everyone "Since all the Coyotes are here, I'll say now that their paintball hits total up to 18. The Leopards need to keep their count under that to win, and currently are at 11. We'll see how it goes for the remaining three contestants. If there's a tie, then we'll go for a sudden death round where the next contestant hit by paint will automatically lose the challenge for their team."
Jo turned to Max and complimented "I have to say, it was pretty clever how you managed to evade paint on your way over. Perhaps the old lady could've taken a page from your book."
Taking offense to that, the former co-host of Celebrity Manhunt growled and retorted "You have the nerve to call me old!? I'm nowhere close to that!"
The aspiring evildoer gratefully replied with "Many thanks, and I'm proud of my devious ways."
(Begin Confessional: Blaineley)
"It's not my fault that nobody else was near me when Chef attacked!"
(End Confessional)
Remembering what he had heard earlier, Chef returned to the hotel. He did indeed find a sassy contestant within and shot her once on each arm before she managed to get outdoors. Leshawna dashed towards the safety zones. After landing a shot on her back, the cook spotted Trent arriving on the scene as well. He turned and fired four paintballs at the guitarist. One of those missed while the other three were direct hits on his chest. Hatchet couldn't strike either of them again before they reached safety, prompting Chris to declare "Two more people each get hit with three paintballs! It now is all on Dawn, whenever that creep shows up."
(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)
"It's obvious who ratted out my location. I should've known this would happen, but oh well."
(End Confessional)
Emerging from her set of bushes (separate from what Max had chosen), the aura-whisperer looked around before starting to run for safety. When Chef wasn't anywhere in sight, she decided to take this opportunity to go undetected. He ended up spotting Dawn a few minutes later and began firing paintballs. How many ended up hitting her? A grand total of…
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Zero! It was a close call, but this girl managed to dodge them all, and barely avoided contact with one paintball while making a dive for safety. Chris subsequently proclaimed "With a total of 17 shots, the Leopards win by one point for today! We're kicking off one of the Coyotes tonight."
(Begin Confessional: Dawn)
"While I didn't expect to secure a victory for today's challenge, I must admit it feels quite good!"
(End Confessional)
After everybody had cleaned off their paint from the challenge, Dave could be seen holding a bottle of shampoo as well as a fine-tooth comb while approaching one of the bedroom doors. He knocked on it and said "Thank you again for letting me borrow these. I've come to return them now."
Dakota opened the door and took back both items before responding with "You're welcome, and I knew they'd work well."
"While it took at least half an hour to clean myself, they most definitely did." affirmed the germ-hater.
Ms. Milton followed that up with "By the way, I hope this isn't too personal, but there's something I'd like to get an answer for."
"OK, t-tell me what that is." Dave replied with a bit of anxiety, worrying she might have figured out something he was trying to keep private.
His suspicions were confirmed when asked "I'll just cut to the chase: are you and Ella a couple yet? After not only noticing how you lent her a hand with the mountain climb, but also how you offered help with platform climbing and selflessly served as pebble protection during yesterday's challenge, there's no reasonable doubt that isn't someone you simply like as a pal. Don't bother trying to deny how you feel."
He paused for a bit before stating "No, we aren't dating. The two of us are just friends right now who agreed to be allies this season. I didn't want the innocent to get hurt when Max was throwing his pebbles and I wish that guy got voted off for doing that. He's got quite a short fuse when it comes to his height. You've got a chance to make this happen tonight."
She subsequently commented "As much as I understand wanting him gone, let's not change the subject: I'm not sure why you haven't made a move to go beyond friendship. If it's because of worries that she'll be too irked by your past or holds any resentment for hearing how you once wanted Sky instead, then I can guarantee that those are completely unfounded when anyone with working eyes can see how much you still mean to her after all that's happened. There's no way in hell Ella would otherwise be willing to even have a friendship with you. Furthermore, this season has made it abundantly clear you've definitely recovered from your past spiral into insanity and how nothing you do in the future will be even half as bad as that."
The germaphobe explained "Part of me is worried about risking our friendship while another wants to see what it's like to go further. This admittedly feels rather conflicting. I know of couples who started out as buds, and once those relationships ended, things could never go back to how good they once were. Do you know what I mean?"
"I definitely do." Dakota affirmed. "However, I doubt you'll need to worry about something bad happening with Ella. I know you're scared it's wrong like you might make a mistake, but she's evidently a very forgiving and loyal person. In a situation where the two of you date and it doesn't work out, instinct tells me that you could remain amicable unless the breakup was because of something horrible that one or both of you did to the other. Such a worst-case scenario doesn't seem likely to happen. While your nerves have made you dwell over potential downsides of going for romance, did you think about the benefits of pursuing what your heart wants? For one, she strikes me as someone who'd be very affectionate and would have your back both during and after the contest. You could also have quite a good time together."
Dave took a moment to think before stating "You have a fair point there. I just would rather not be reckless in such a pursuit. Now that I give it some more thought, this is someone I could count on for help in sticky situations. I haven't yet come up with the right words to tell her how much she's grown on me and first would like to be absolutely certain I know what I'd be getting into by taking things to a non-platonic level."
Her response was "Here's what I can guarantee: you won't be shot down when asking for a relationship, you'd obtain a very loving girlfriend who treasures you as well as your favors from this season, and you wouldn't feel a need to keep secrets anymore. I'd overall say the positives of telling this girl how you feel outweigh any negatives. Aside from your hesitation, the only thing that seems to be preventing a relationship from blossoming is her uncertainty on how you feel, or at least that's the impression she gave me during a conversation we had after both of us had fully recovered from puking our guts out during the eating challenge. Beats me whether that got aired. Anyway, once you're ready to let the cat out of the bag, just go for it. Maybe she'll make the first move, but I wouldn't count on that."
(Begin Confessional: Dave)
"I can't deny this: Dakota gave me some good things to think about."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"You have a scenario where two people are obviously into one another, and neither is making a move. It seemed like an outside party such as me had to provide some input for that to lead anywhere. One could say my chat with Dave was a gentle little push of encouragement."
(End Confessional)
Later that night, Chef could be seen serving hamburgers and veggie burgers for dinner. During the meal, Trent asked DJ "How did you manage to not get hit by any paint today? If you already answered this earlier, then I missed it."
His ally replied with "It partially came from luck. Another factor was using speed from whenever my fight-or-flight response kicks in."
"I wish I could say the same for myself. By the way, there's something you might like to know about." said the guitarist before inaudibly whispering into his ear.
"That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest." the gentle giant told him.
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"We've got some thinking to do for the next vote. Thankfully today isn't a time where we have to cut anybody loose."
(End Confessional)
At some point after the meal had ended, Ella could be seen outside the hotel doors. Dave opened them to walk out and greeted her with "Hey there. Since we're alone, there's something I was hoping to talk with you in private about."
Having an inkling of what that could be, she blushed while responding with "Go on; I'm listening."
"First of all, I'd like to say sorry for upsetting you last season when mentioning how I had set a picnic up for Sky and was planning to say I loved her that day. I knew nothing about how much you liked me until hearing the words 'you made my heart wince' during your departure from the game. By the way, it was fucking bullshit how Chris disqualified you for singing, especially after our team had won the challenge! He shouldn't have been so petty and unfair. Even though what I did to you was completely unintentional, I've felt bad about that ever since, and just didn't know how to respond right away. I otherwise would've apologized sooner." stated the germaphobe.
With a smile, the lookalike of Snow White assured him "No hard feelings. You didn't do that out of malice, and just were going for what your heart desired, even when that didn't end up working out. I do appreciate you taking the time to tell me this."
Her love interest continued with "That's good to know. Secondly, I'd like to thank you for not only giving me benefit of the doubt after I went nuts last season when many others would've just shunned me, but also picking me before anybody else as a teammate when the teams were being formed. I desperately wanted a chance to show people I had changed for the better, and you were the first returnee to believe it, even before Dawn read my aura. That meant more than you know. I'm not sure I otherwise would've been able to get this far in the contest upon returning, plus being on the same side helped us get to know each other better. The current season taught me there was more to you than I previously would've guessed. You've proven yourself to be a dedicated and valuable teammate who has a big heart, and I wish I took more time to appreciate that when we first competed together. The ways I decided to help you out were partially to compensate for this. I also wanted to repay you for things like cleaning off my vomit and preventing me from falling overboard during the boat challenge."
Before another word was spoken, his ally gave a warm hug. She went onto say "You've definitely atoned for past mistakes and learned from them. As much as I hated seeing you get hit by so many pebbles yesterday, I am grateful how you wanted to keep them from striking me. It was rather heroic."
"Glad I accomplished that goal." said the germ hater, who took a nervous gulp and continued with "Third, as much as I've enjoyed having you as a friend and an ally, there's another thing that I had in mind for us."
Getting a stronger sense of what was coming up, the princess decided to be bold and make a move by inquiring "Does this mean you'd like to give dating a try and wanted to discuss that with me?"
"It does. As much as I'd hate to risk our friendship, I-I can't help wondering what it would be like to take things to that level with you. While I might not have seen before how you'd be relationship material, this season changed that, and you've grown on me quite a lot. The truth is I've liked you as more than a friend ever since that mountain climb when you showed me how to minimize the filth that I'd get from climbing gear and chalk. One thing that led to it was how you saved my ass in that boat race, and same with taking time to help my stomach with crackers and ale after it ended when I hadn't yet fully recovered from getting seasick. I didn't tell you right away because it ended poorly when I last tried to go beyond friendship with a girl I was into, which made me worried something bad like that might happen with you, plus I wanted to first be sure I had the right words to share how I felt." he confirmed with a breath of relief afterwards, feeling like a massive weight had been lifted, and added "Wow, getting that out of my system felt really good."
Ella's joy couldn't be contained at that point. She excitedly responded with "Honest to God, I've been waiting for a moment like this ever since you helped pull me out from the water last season and retrieved my missing shoe! Also, I completely understand your initial hesitation to officially enter a relationship, and I promise you that things will be very different for us in a good way."
Right afterwards, the new couple shared a loving kiss, finally letting out their pent-up passion. It ended 10 seconds later when both heard the voice of Elton John questioning "Can you feel the love tonight, (tonight), how it's laid to rest? It's enough to make kings and vagabonds believe the very best."
They turned to find Beardo nearby. An irritated Dave asked "Dude, do you not realize this was supposed to be a personal moment?", having quickly figured out that this was where the sound came from.
"As much as I enjoy Elton John and his music, I also wish we weren't being watched." Ella added in agreement.
The human soundboard explained "I just thought it would be a nice way to celebrate your new relationship. Wishing you both the best!"
Before either of them could respond, Chris could be heard instructing "It's time for the vote! To all the Leopards, please come watch as the Coyotes send off another member."
The cameras cut towards the elimination ceremony. As the Coyotes sat on the log stumps and the Leopards took seats in the bleachers, Chef commented "I have five keys tonight for the losers that are safe. Go cast your votes, and Chris will tell you who gets these."
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"Hopefully tonight isn't my last night in the game. It would be a big mistake to cutting me out so early! Under my leadership, us Coyotes can win more challenges. Those Leopards won't know what hit them."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Beardo)
"It was only a matter of time until Dave and Ella became a couple. You don't need Dawn's aura-reading powers to see how much they like each other. Now, I need to decide on a vote."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Blaineley)
"Which of these people should I give the heave-ho tonight?"
(End Confessional)
"Our first bronze key goes to Jo for being the first player to reach safety unscathed!" McLean declared, which made her and Brick smile.
Upon collecting that, she responded with "I knew I'd make it!"
Chris subsequently informed everyone "The next one safe is Max because no paint hit him either."
Once Chef passed him a safety symbol, the aspiring evildoer bragged "Of course this team wants to keep its villain around."
The host followed that up with "Blaineley was the only other loser to not get any votes tonight, so this goes to her."
After obtaining her key, she said "It wasn't clear what would happen to me, but this is welcome."
"The rest of you each got hit by five of my paintballs." Hatchet told those in the bottom three, who were quite anxious now.
His boss subsequently announced "Our next key goes to the contestant with only one vote against them, and that is…
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Sam!"
"I'm both relieved and worried at the same time." replied the gamer when getting his symbol of safety.
"By no means do I blame you for feeling that way." said the cook, and the last two players without them began to panic even more.
"Moving along, after gathering two votes, tonight's final key goes to…
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Dakota!"
As soon as Chef gave that to her, she and her boyfriend simultaneously cheered "Hooray!"
The human soundboard frowned and replicated the "Game Over" music from Super Mario Bros. upon realizing he was eliminated and complained "Talk about a bummer."
"Beardo, you got three votes tonight and are out of the game." declared the showrunner.
"Nothing personal against you. It's only because you got hit with lots of paint, and I figured it was my best chance to keep my favorite guy in the game. I'm sorry that it had to come down to this." Ms. Milton told the newly eliminated contestant.
"That's quite understandable, and no hard feelings." he replied.
"Now that the verdict has been delivered, we have to go visit the giant boot." Hatchet proclaimed, and everybody did just that.
"You've got 15 seconds to give parting words before we send you off." Chris told the loser of the night.
Taking full opportunity of his chance, Beardo bid farewell with "Good luck to those in the game. Also, congrats to Dave and Ella for officially getting together, and I'd like to know when Jo and Brick will stop denying how they like each other!"
"You're just making crazy talk!" the jockette and soldier insisted, not convincing anybody.
"Time's up!" Chef announced before pressing the button to kick the sound producer away, with the remaining 12 contestants all departing once he was out of sight.
McLean subsequently signed off the episode with "Six people have now been eliminated. A new relationship has been formed, and another one might follow in the future. Will I need to cut Chef's pay for subpar performance in the next challenge? Stay tuned for more competition here on Total. Drama. Generation Showdown!"
Della is officially a couple now! Jo and Brick still aren't ready to admit how they truly feel. You'll see what follows for them. The challenge combines elements of "Paintball Deer Hunter" and "Hide and Be Sneaky" from season 1. Maybe not the most original thing I've used, but I thought it was still fun to explore.
Reason for elimination: Beardo was one of the people who got hit by the most paintballs on his team. Sam and Dakota knew they had to vote for him in order to avoid being separated via elimination. While I love the human soundboard and this is hands down the most difficult axing I've done for the fic so far, I was out of ideas for him beyond what was shown in the chapter here (except for an upcoming interview in the aftermaths), so it was the furthest he could go. The fact that this guy only had one canon episode unfortunately limits how much I can come up with for Beardo to do in the competition, even when watching his audition tape to gather more depth. Sorry for that!
Voting results:
Sam: 1 vote (Max)
Dakota: 2 votes (Beardo, Blaineley)
Beardo: 3 votes (Dakota, Jo, Sam)
Elimination Order:
Sugar (18th place), Justin (17th place), Rodney (16th place), Anne Maria (15th place), Eva (14th place), Beardo (13th place)
Remaining Players:
Howling Coyotes: Blaineley, Dakota, Jo, Max, Sam
Roaring Leopards: Brick, Dave, Dawn, DJ, Ella, Leshawna, Trent
Chapter posted: May 10, 2021.