A few months have passed since I previously updated this story. That partially is due to me struggling to come up with what to write at certain points. I also got sidetracked by various other things going on in my life. Furthermore, it's even longer than Chapter 11 in terms of word count (which is saying quite a lot). However, I finally finished Chapter 13, so now let's reply to more reviews.
amit avrashmi: Glad you liked the aftermath, and that's a good challenge idea, so thank you! I've decided to use it for Chapter 14. Other reviewers are also welcome to give such suggestions when I admittedly am having a harder time lately coming up with new challenges that haven't already been used in canon (though I will say I've already made up my mind on what the final three will involve so nobody's changing my mind on that chapter). Combinations like what you've proposed are fine.
Rockin' D-99: That was short indeed. It wasn't too hard to come up with things for Eva to say. I liked writing up Beardo's and having the guy talk about his sounds as well as how Dawn helped him socially. Same goes for the aura-whisperer's abilities. Nice to know you're eager for the next competition chapter, because it at long last has arrived!
Here comes the challenge.
The cameras showed clips of all 11 remaining competitors sound asleep. Soon afterwards, Chef could be seen outdoors rolling a food cart towards their hotel. He used a megaphone to call out "It's time to wake up; come get your breakfast outdoors and prepare for another challenge."
Chris walked up with a scowl of disapproval, snatching the megaphone away from his assistant and chastising "This is MINE to use, and not yours!"
"Did your parents ever teach you how to share?" asked Hatchet.
"Yes, but I never really cared for such instructions." McLean dismissively replied as the contestants showed up.
Once they had all gathered, Max inquired "What nourishment do we have in preparation for the EVIL plans of today?"
"A bunch of individual yogurt containers. I wanted to get something more filling for, but Mr. Skewed-Priorities insisted we save the money for some expensive items used in the upcoming challenge." the second-in-command answered.
His boss was subsequently seen greedily snacking on two servings at the same time. With a mouthful of yogurt, he defensively replied "It's hard to go off just one, and there's enough for everybody to take at least two." prior to swallowing.
Leshawna shrugged her shoulders while remarking "I guess that means we can take the same amount as him." and did just that, with the others following suit.
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"The least Chris could've done was order more yogurts for everybody. It was shitty enough to see him let interns starve, and now he cares more about thrills than feeding me or his contestants!? Talk about fucked up!"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut towards a squared off area divided in equal halves. Hatchet instructed "Today you'll have to make good use of your feet and hands. We've got large puzzle pieces for each of your team's respective logos, and victory will go to whichever side has theirs fully assembled first."
"Everyone will get their supplies from Chef and pass those over to a couple guests we've brought on today. One of them will collect silver-colored materials from the Coyotes and the other will gather gold-colored ones from the Leopards." Added the showrunner.
That was when two prior contestants from the first generation showed up, namely a female goth named Gwen along with an obese goofy male known as Owen. They were the finalists of season 1. The former complained "You seriously brought me back onto the show for this of all things, McLean? At least it's only for one challenge."
"Another plus is we get a chance to see some familiar faces." stated the latter, trying to make the best of their situation.
Chris continued with "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention these past contestants will be on the other side of a balance beam. The Coyotes need to give their pieces to Gwen and the Leopards must hand theirs over to Owen. If you drop your pieces or fall off the beam, then you have to pass those over to another teammate and hope they get it over to compensate for your failure."
"Wait, do we have to cross it ourselves?" asked the fat one.
"Nah, those would probably collapse under your weight and ruin the whole challenge, even though I'd probably get a good laugh out of that." answered the host while snickering, prompting a resentful scowl in response.
The goth also defended him with "That kind of mockery was uncalled for."
"It's not clever or funny." added the cook in agreement.
"You people are such buzzkills!" replied the host. "Just go to the nearby elevators and those will take you to the end of your respective beams."
Both season 1 finalists complied. Once they did, Chef pointed towards a crate while telling the 11 remaining competitors "In case any of you slip, there will be plenty of padding beneath to land on. I also managed to get ahold of some protective gear to further soften any falls. You'll find them in this crate and there's plenty for everyone. We'll give you some time to equip those before the challenge begins." before taking bags with the puzzle pieces towards another platform that brought him up to the other ends of said beams.
Chris opened the crate to reveal helmets, kneepads, gloves, shin guards, and elbow pads. He instructed "Get your own gear ready before helping anybody else with theirs. Also, try to finish as quickly as possible; I'd like to start sooner rather than later!"
Five minutes later, every contestant had their gear equipped, and the host was more than ready to start the challenge. Upon seeing this, he blew a whistle and told them "Let the assembly begin! Only one member can cross the beams at a time, so decide who you'd like to go when, and keep at it until you or your opponents have fully completed your logos. Since they were each split into 30 pieces, you'll all have to take multiple trips. No going up your platforms until whoever's crossing has passed over their piece or lost it."
Both teams formed huddles to discuss their orders of who would carry pieces. No outsiders could hear what any of them were saying. To kick things off, Trent started for the Leopards and Blaineley did the same for the Coyotes. They each went up their team's respective platforms to reach the beams. Upon reaching the top, Hatchet instructed "As soon as I hand you a piece, get going. Don't stop until you reach the end or drop it."
Soon afterwards, he gave both players a piece for their logos. Neither of them wasted any time in advancing forward. These contestants each only had one minor slip before regaining their footing. Trent was somewhat faster when not wearing heels, which helped him hand a piece to Owen before Blaineley could do the same with Gwen and additionally got to his team's elevator sooner as a result. While it wasn't a major difference, this did make her worry about losing progress. The next Coyote to go was Sam while the next Leopard was Ella. Upon collecting their pieces, the gamer could be heard saying "It won't be easy, but I wish you luck getting to the other end."
Grateful for that, the princess replied with "Many thanks, and I can say the same." as they began to cross over, struggling somewhat to not slip off but never falling or losing the pieces being held.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"Encouraging one of the enemies? He has quite some nerve to do such a thing! Part of me wanted to chew Mr. Game Junkie out for that right on the spot, but it inevitably would've distracted him plus his girlfriend wouldn't take kindly to that at all. I still need both lovebirds on my side for voting ceremonies and couldn't risk them calling off our deal."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut back to each team's second piece carrier successfully reaching the end of their beams at roughly the same time. Gwen complimented "To be honest, I'm impressed nobody has fallen off so far when those things are hard to not slip from. Props to your efforts."
"Yeah, I echo all of that. We've got the easy part here and I feel bad for you guys." Owen sympathetically added in agreement as the pieces got put into place.
As both players descended via elevators, Dave went third for the Leopards as Dakota did the same for the Coyotes. Neither were as lucky as their predecessors, but still managed to hold onto their pieces without falling off, having close calls when about halfway through. Ms. Milton narrowly managed to finish before the germaphobe, and both went back down to the bottom without any issues. Chris was feeling bored and complained "Why hasn't anybody failed yet? Let's amp things up." before telling Chef "Now would be a good time for you to bring out the big guns!"
This was defied with "In case you forgot, I'm busy keeping ahold of the puzzle pieces up here, which prevents me from doing such a thing."
Right after his aid handed pieces to Jo and Brick, the showrunner groaned with some irritation and stated "Fine, I'll do it myself!" prior to pulling out a switch and pressing that.
As the fourth contestants from each side crossed their beams, a pair of holes in the ground opened to unveil tennis ball launchers contained within, which quickly aimed on both players. Both began firing soon afterwards. Leshawna inquired "What is it with you and things that shoot tennis balls? We just had that last challenge!"
McLean's response was "I really enjoyed the idea and felt like bringing those back."
In the meantime, both athletic rivals were taken aback by the sudden firings and did their best to dodge them without dropping a puzzle piece or wiping out. It wasn't an easy task for either of them. Mr. MacArthur was smacked in the crotch and whimpered in pain, though still maintained his balance. The jockette was visibly concerned and impulsively began to inquire "Are you gonna be-" before getting cut off by another ball hitting her in the genitals as well and having a similar reaction to him, not thinking about how others would react.
(Begin Confessional: Dave)
"Earlier today, I'm sure I saw a certain athlete look worried for a teammate of mine. Now I have a better sense what Sam and Trent were talking about last challenge when saying Jo and Brick are into one another, even with both parties insisting otherwise. Can't believe I didn't pick up on it sooner. Anyway, I have no doubt those guys were right in suspecting their denials come from being on opposite teams."
(End Confessional)
"No offense to anybody who's here, but I'm glad that's not us right now." the fat guy remarked as the cameras cut to him, cringing at the suffering inflicted. "It's something I wouldn't wish on anybody."
"Yeah, same here." the goth stated in agreement, looking very uncomfortable. "I don't know how that bastard of a host gets way with so much crap."
"Ratings make it clear that TV audiences love me. The producers do as well, so let's just say I have lots of creative freedom here." Chris added with a snicker upon overhearing those words.
Shortly afterwards, Jo and Brick reached the ends, still in pain from the ball hits and being slowed down a bit by those. They managed to make their ways over to the elevators as Leshawna and Max went up to grab puzzle pieces.
(Begin Confessional: Gwen)
"If it wasn't for the fact that McLean offered me a paycheck worth just enough to cover my college expenses and I had no other way of legally obtaining such money, then I wouldn't even be here today. He can go rot in hell. At least I thankfully wasn't somebody who had to walk those beams."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Owen)
"While I like seeing some old pals, and getting paid, it sucks to see innocent people suffer. Chris really should dial it down there. He could've at least provided some protective cups along with that other gear. Even Chef doesn't seem to approve of all his choices."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut back to the fifth contestants from each side about halfway across their beams, trying not to get hit by any tennis balls. A certain aspiring evildoer complained "As much as I enjoy the idea of being devious, I don't like when it's being used at my expense!"
"You aren't the only one who has to endure it, so don't act like this is anything personal." said the opponent also carrying a piece at the time.
Neither of them made it across without getting hit multiple times in the back, though they managed to keep their balance and successfully hand over pieces to the day's guests. Up next was Blaineley (going for the second time) and DJ. To nobody's surprise, the former started off with a better sense of what to do with a prior run under her belt. However, the latter had taken time to observe others and could adapt without much trouble. They made it roughly halfway across before getting hit by tennis balls. One smacked the gentle giant hard in the face. He instinctively put both of his hands up to touch the affected area, but quickly noticed this meant dropping a puzzle piece in the process and managed to reach down to grab that before it was too late.
As DJ ducked, it exposed Mildred to more fire, smacking her in the ribs. She nearly fell off before somehow regaining balance and continuing onward. He reached the end first and passed off a piece to Owen before his opponent could do the same with Gwen. Even with both contestants being harmed, their host still was unsatisfied with the current difficulty and decided to bring in more tennis ball launchers with another press of a button. Chef questioned such a move with "Aren't they suffering enough already?"
His boss insisted "Nope; I needed more to keep things from getting boring.", which prompted scowls from everybody else.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"This show has DRAMA in its title for a reason. Did everybody else forget that? I needed to be sure it lived up to such a name."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Sam and Trent crossing beams, who respectively were one third through and halfway through. Both unsurprisingly could be seen getting pelted. It wasn't easy for either of them with even more tennis balls being fired, and it was clear they felt more resentment now for Chris than any of the other competitors did. The former complained "This is worse than running through crossfire in any Call of Duty games, and that's saying quite a lot."
Hearing that prompted the latter to reply with "No kidding, and the saddest part is that we'll have to endure it multiple times with how incomplete the puzzles are."
Wanting to motivate her boyfriend, Dakota called out with "As long as you keep going, we can win this!"
Hearing such words helped give him more determination and enough speed to get ahead. Another minute passed before he reached the end a few seconds before his opponent did. They respectively handed their pieces to the goth and the obese guy. From the sidelines, Chef complimented "You guys are pretty resilient to go through all of that and not drop anything!"
"I second that!" added Gwen in agreement.
"As do I, and there's no way I could've pulled it off." Owen stated.
Both competitors smiled as they simultaneously gave grateful replies of "Thank you very much!" and took platforms down.
Wanting to return the favor for his girlfriend's assistance, the gamer told her "Best of luck up there!" as she and Ella prepared to take their next pieces, which was met with a smile of gratitude.
DJ gave his ally a fist bump while saying "You did very well. Keep that up for your next run."
What nobody else appeared to notice is how the former co-host of Celebrity Manhunt looked in on their exchange. She couldn't help growing suspicious.
(Begin Confessional: Blaineley)
"A close friendship on the other side, huh? That could hinder my chances of taking the crown once the merge arrives."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the princess and Ms. Milton about one quarter way through their beams. Neither showed any signs of losing balance or losing grips on puzzle pieces until they had to dodge tennis balls via hopping. This led to latter falling onto her chest. She groaned in pain just barely managed to get herself back up without any slip-offs or droppings. Ella was worried and inquired "Can you keep going without too much suffering?"
"It won't be easy, but yes, and I appreciate the concern." Dakota gratefully replied while they continued onwards, wary of other balls coming their way.
Another minute passed before either reached the end. Because she hadn't fallen over, the lookalike of Snow White managed to get there first. On their way down, the Leopard told the Coyote "Some rest would probably be beneficial once this is over."
Her opponent replied with "I imagine so, and plan to do just that."
Up next were Dave and Jo, now feeling more wary with the increased fire of tennis balls. The latter told her opponent "I don't look forward to this anymore than you do."
"Can't say that shocks me, but we may as well get it over with." replied the germaphobe as they ascended to the beams.
Upon collecting puzzle pieces from Chef, both decided to just go as fast as possible so it would end sooner. Shortly after they took off, Ms. Milton took the opportunity to get her boyfriend's attention with a shoulder tap. She could be just barely heard saying "Don't make too much noise now, but there's something you should see." before discreetly showing him the note Dawn left her.
After silently reading the whole thing, he privately replied with "Thanks for the heads up. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
In the meantime, Dave and Jo were now roughly two-thirds across their beams. A tennis ball hit the former in one of his shins, causing him to trip and land face-first. He lost grip of his piece, though was relieved to see it landed ahead on the beam. The germaphobe crawled ahead to grab that while the jockette dodged other shots to the best of her ability. As everyone expected, she ended up finishing first, and got to a platform before he could even hand off his piece. Once they had both descended, the next ones to have a go were Brick for the Leopards and Max for the Coyotes. Jo called out to her teammate "Don't fuck this up for us, or you're done for!"
"You honestly think he'll take any threats seriously?" inquired the germ-hater.
"Let's just say I have a way of getting him to do as I please." answered the jockette.
Shrugging his shoulders, Dave simply followed that up with "Sounds like it's something very persuasive."
She affirmed "Simply put, it is."
His response to that was "As long as it's legal and doesn't involve Scarlett, I'm not too worried."
In the meantime, their respective teammates were dodging tennis balls as best as they could. Mr. MacArthur felt slightly conflicted. Part of him wanted to impress his not-so-secret love interest by securing a victory while another feared that could lead to her being voted off. He regardless knew it was too soon to say who would win and kept moving forward. Conversely, the aspiring evildoer was desperately trying not to lose after being threatened.
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"Normally I wouldn't be swayed so easily by others' commands, but I really needed to prove my worth today in order to increase my chances of survival."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to a certain cadet finishing his beam cross before the wannabe villain could. This prompted the latter to curse "How dare you get so ahead!" while handing over a puzzle piece.
Once they were back down to the ground, Blaineley and Leshawna went up next. Chris was about to press a button to summon more tennis ball launchers when Owen noticed and quickly blurted "Don't do it; they're struggling enough already!"
"Does your sadism not have any limits?" inquired Gwen, who was also against increasing the difficulty any further.
"You know, if he did bring out any other launchers, then I could use this as evidence against him during a testimony in somebody's future lawsuit." Chef pondered, sensing the idea would be enough to prevent his boss from pressing the switch again.
Not wanting to get into more legal trouble, McLean reluctantly put it down with an angry growl and snapped "Fine, but don't push your luck with blackmailing me because the next time anybody tries to do so won't have pleasant results."
By this point, the current beam-walkers were about two-fifths complete. Both were very grateful for how no additional tennis ball launchers would be summoned. It was hard enough dodging shots from the ones already up. They were hit in the stomachs, though that didn't prevent either of them from reaching the end without dropping their pieces. Once these women had finished returning to the ground, the next ones to go up were Sam and DJ.
Right as they collected puzzle pieces, two of the tennis ball launchers began to fire at a slower frequency, much to the host's shock and displeasure. The gentle giant remarked "Can't say I expected that to happen."
His opponent replied with "Me neither, and by no means am I complaining!" as they marched onwards.
Chris on the other hand was not pleased at all. He whined "Chef, the machines need fixing again!"
"I missed the part where that's my problem." replied the cook, not in any mood to repair those.
"In case it wasn't already obvious, lower difficulty means less drama, which means our ratings will probably decrease." his boss explained. "Therefore, we can't let our contestants off so easily."
"Do you have any idea how much more that makes us resent you?" DJ inquired.
"Yeah, you aren't doing yourself any favors here." Added Sam in agreement.
McLean simply shrugged this off with a dismissive response of "Your feelings mean nothing to me as long as I get paid."
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"Days like this really make me wish I was hosting the show instead of just being an assistant. In short, I would be more reasonable with challenges, though they'd still require noticeable effort to accomplish."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut towards both beam-walkers approaching Gwen and Owen. Due to his longer legs, DJ got there first. Sam managed to catch up within 10 seconds, though, and there was no tension between either of them as they descended to the bottom. Once both players had reached that, Dakota and Trent followed to collect puzzle pieces.
Before either of them could start, Chris activated his switch again to replace the slower tennis ball shooters with ones that fired at a quicker pace. It prompted Ms. Milton to sigh dejectedly before complaining "Just when we were about to catch a break, it gets taken away."
The guitarist added "Knowing our host, it doesn't surprise me too much that he would so such a thing." as they began running.
Neither of them got far before the new shooters had begun firing. Chris smiled in approval and taunted "Try to make your way through that!"
"Don't push it too far." Trent cautioned, starting to run out of patience.
Dakota agreed with "You heard what Chef said earlier."
The host replied with a callous yawn, unfazed by either of them, before saying "Both of you are all bark and no bite."
Realizing that no other warnings they gave him would be taken seriously, both beam-walkers decided to just carry on with the challenge. At one point, the musician blocked a tennis ball with his puzzle piece without dropping it. He hadn't given much thought to the idea before, though was glad it came to him. His opponent borrowed that idea to deflect another ball and kept ahold of her piece as well.
(Begin Confessional: Brick)
"Blocking shots with puzzle pieces, why didn't I think of that earlier?"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Dakota and Trent reaching the end at roughly the same time. Both took breaths of relief upon finishing and handed off their pieces. Gwen and Owen looked very sorry for them while collecting those. As they descended to join the other competitors, Jo and Ella went up to obtain puzzle pieces of their own.
To nobody's surprise, the jockette had a noticeably easier time navigating their course than the princess did. At one point, the former decided to kick away a ball, inadvertently giving the latter a nosebleed when it smacked her face. With one hand keeping ahold of a puzzle piece, she tried to stop some of the blood from flowing. Looking back for a moment, Jo was surprised to see this and quickly gave a truthful apology of "Sorry, I didn't see where that would go." before refocusing on the path ahead.
Her opponent replied with "Just please be more careful in the future."
What neither saw was how a certain germaphobe was resentfully glaring at the jockette for hitting his girlfriend, even when realizing it was unintentional. Max on the other hand noticed and confided to him "There's something else you should know." before whispering inaudibly into his ear.
Dave's eyes widened in shock before subsequently asking "Do you mean it?"
He grew even angrier after hearing the wannabe villain affirm "100% yes. I saw it very clearly."
Hearing that made him declare "In that case, she needs to pay ASAP!"
"I'll be sure to assist you there." assured the aspiring evildoer.
The two shook hands afterwards, with the germ-hater telling him "That's something I already look forward to."
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"When I have dirt on Jo, I can use it to get others to vote her out!" boasted the wannabe villain before breaking into an evil laugh. "She's a threat who might try to eliminate me soon, which is something I need to prevent. This is also how I plan to get back at her for threatening me and getting Beardo out of the game too soon."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dave)
"Never thought I'd hear anything useful from Max, but today he gave me a very good idea of who to send packing, so I have to thank him for that."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut back to both beam-crossers reaching the end. It wasn't easy for the one with a nosebleed, but she managed to finish without dropping her puzzle piece, which had blood splatters on it. Upon collecting it, Owen pulled out a cloth to clean that off before adding it to the Leopard logo. Gwen asked him "What are you going to do with that messy thing afterwards?" while adding a piece to the Coyote logo.
His answer was "Probably toss it out. I'm not convinced this can be salvaged by laundry machines."
"No hard feelings for the kick?" Jo nervously asked Ella.
To her relief, she got a response of "None at all. I know it was an accident. What I need now is tissues." before both went back down to join the others.
When they did, Dave handed his girlfriend some tissues to stop blood from flowing while giving a death glare to Jo. Noticing it prompted the lattermost to ask "Dude, how come you're so enraged?"
His explanation was "I know what you did during the last challenge." before going up with Max to collect puzzle pieces.
The jockette's eyes opened wide with shock for a moment upon realizing what he meant. Trying her best to avoid admitting anything, she quickly bluffed with "Not sure what you're talking about.", which didn't fool him in the slightest.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"How the hell did Mr. Clean figure out the truth behind his nosebleed!? I could've sworn nobody would notice me throwing anything. Looks like I'll need to be even more discreet going forward."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the germ-hater crossing beams alongside the one who informed him about Jo's toss. As they reached the halfway point, it became harder to dodge tennis balls. In the meantime, Ella had gotten suspicious upon hearing her boyfriend's words and inquired "What did you end up doing last challenge that has him angry?"
"After hitting his head pretty hard on that beam, I'm pretty sure he's imagining things and never specified the details." The jockette answered dishonestly.
Not believing that for a moment, the princess's next words were "It wasn't hard enough for a concussion or anything. I'm not as gullible as you seem to think."
"Whatever the guy meant, it can wait until after the challenge. We should focus more on what follows for better chances of winning." Jo replied in a desperate and transparent attempt to change the subject.
In the meantime, both the germaphobe and aspiring villain finished at roughly the same time and handed off their puzzle pieces. Once they had reached the end, Blaineley and Brick went up next for collections. As soon as Dave reached the bottom again, he whispered something to Ella that nobody else could hear. The princess looked surprised for a moment before her expression turned into one of anger and responding with "I knew she was trying to hide something!"
"Now you know who to vote for at the merge." added the germ-hater.
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"Nobody breaks my prince's nose and gets away with it! Doing that to him was completely uncalled for. It looks like I owe an apology to Mildred after wrongfully accusing her of being responsible."
(End Confessional)
The cameras showed Mr. MacArthur along with the former co-host of Celebrity Manhunt, who were two-thirds through the course. Being more athletic made it easier for the former to navigate this. He was doing decently until his opponent decided to distract him with a mockery. She taunted "It would be a shame for you to mess up your face when your girlfriend would fret looking at the aftermath."
That remark caught the soldier off guard. He turned to ask "What girlfriend? I'm not dating anybody right now."
"Maybe not yet, but we all know there's somebody you have your eye on." she replied right before a tennis ball smacked his turned cheek, slowing him down enough to let her get ahead.
"That was very poor form!" the cadet resentfully stated upon figuring out the ploy, quickly trying to catch up afterwards.
Jo watched the exchange and grew visibly angry with Ms. O'Halloran. To the jockette's relief, nobody could see that or her desire to avenge him for it. She knew that acting upon such desires would give away her true feelings for the military boy and wasn't ready to admit those aloud even when others knew or suspected them. For the time being, Jo decided to stomp in frustration and hope none of the other contestants would notice it.
Once the beam-crossers finished and handed off their pieces, the next ones to go were Sam for the Coyotes and Leshawna for the Leopards. Mildred noticed some stray tennis balls lying on the ground after being fired. That gave her an idea. She decided to toss two at her opponent. Leshawna managed to dodge the first one, but was knocked over by the second, landing face-first with a thud yet somehow kept ahold of a puzzle piece.
(Begin Confessional: Blaineley)
"While that sabotage didn't go as well as I hoped, one hit is better than none."
(End Confessional)
Getting an advantage from his teammate throwing tennis balls, the gamer managed to finish first, and the cameras showed him reach it about 10 seconds before the sassy girl did. However, she quickly figured out who was responsible for the delay. Right after getting back to the bottom, Leshawna threatened the ball-thrower with "Try anything like that again, and you'll regret it big time."
It was met with a dismissive "Pfft, you don't scare me at all."
"Maybe that's because you haven't seen all I'm capable of. Don't tempt fate." cautioned her target.
Blaineley just brushed it off with "All bark and no bite." as Dakota and DJ ascended to collect puzzle pieces.
In the meantime, each of the current beam-crossers dreaded having to go back through more tennis balls, though had no other choice. They just decided to run quickly and get it over with. As Mildred was preparing to gather more balls to throw, Trent noticed and swiped them out of her hands, insisting "You don't get to repeat the same trick today."
(Begin Confessional: Trent)
"As long as I'm around, nobody messes with my pal! Believe me, if I had noticed in the moment how she tossed anything at Leshawna, then I also would've prevented that from happening."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"Maybe the old hag getting chastised for interference today will help take some heat off my back. Better for her to go out than me."
(End Confessional)
When the gentle giant and Ms. Milton were three-quarters through, the ball launchers began to slow down somewhat. Everyone could see this pleased them both. However, the feeling didn't last long as the fire rate began to speed back up within a minute. The former lamented "I should've known that was too good to be true."
"Easy come, easy go." added the latter in disappointment while moving forward.
Both took a couple of hits to the ribs, but it wasn't enough to slow them down before reaching the end. After handing off their pieces to the season 1 finalists, they took a moment to breathe prior to heading back down to the bottom. Following in their footsteps were Trent and Jo. With 18 puzzle parts now passed over—equating to 60%—they were glad the bulk of their work was done at this point.
Having grown accustomed to the challenge's elements, they figured the best way to finish the beam crossings were to simply run forward with as few stops or slowing downs as possible. While it wasn't always easy to maintain speed when getting hit, doing so helped keep up progress. About halfway through their runs, Blaineley had taken off both of her shoes, thinking she could catch people off guard with another form of sabotage by retaliating against the musician. However, his ally was quick to interfere and knocked those away, telling Ms. O'Halloran "You don't know when to give it up, do you?"
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"I saw how Trent stopped a certain someone from tossing tennis balls at me. To show some appreciation, I thought I could return the favor when she tried using shoes instead."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the beam-crossers coming close to finishing their run-through, not showing any signs of slowing down at all. Jo got cocky along the way, bragging "You'll never get there before me!"
Her opponent simply replied with "We'll see about that."
Fifteen more seconds passed before he proved the jockette wrong by a narrow margin. She was shocked by the sight and inquired "How did you finish first?" while handing Gwen a puzzle piece.
After giving his piece to Owen, he answered "I simply focused on the path ahead of me and didn't underestimate my competitors due to overconfidence."
As soon as they reached the bottom again, Ella and Max were the next ones to go up for pieces of their own. While collecting those, the latter privately inquired "Would you care to join me for a vote at the merge?"
The princess knew what it was about and affirmed "I have no reservations whatsoever."
Luckily for them, Jo couldn't decipher what they were saying, being too focused on figuring out how Dave learned about the rock toss during the obstacle course in addition to a way to get payback at Blaineley without making her affections for Brick too obvious. She was very deep in thought. Both beam-crossing contestants ducked tennis balls whenever possible, jumping over some along the way. Upon seeing her boyfriend give an encouraging thumbs-up, the princess gained more confidence and began to run fast enough to reach the end first. The germ-hater smiled in satisfaction upon seeing that his plan had worked.
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"Another vote on my side means it should be bye-bye for Jo! Gathering support was easier than I expected, but I'm definitely not complaining."
(End Confessional)
Once the aspiring villain and the lookalike of Snow White had returned to the bottom, it was time for Blaineley and Dave to go up again. With two thirds of their puzzles now being complete, both were grateful for the end getting closer. As they made their way across the beams, the former tried to play dirty by tripping her opponent. Their paths were closely placed parallel to one another, and he was too focused on the destination ahead to see a leg in front of him until after tripping. However, the germ-hater still managed to hold onto his puzzle piece while getting back up, glaring resentfully at the one who pulled that stunt and calling out "That was a cheap move!"
He simply got a dismissive "I couldn't care less." in response.
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"Scratch what I said before about owing an apology: she doesn't deserve one when that trip was obviously done on purpose. Shame on her!"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut towards both beam-runners reaching the end and passing off puzzle pieces. Owen scorned Mildred—who got there first—with "That tripping was so uncalled for and probably counts as cheating."
Fully agreeing with him, Gwen added "Indeed, but it sadly is something I've come to expect from slime like her."
"On the contrary, other than finishing your puzzle first, the only rule is to get to the end without falling off or losing your piece. There are no restrictions against trying to hinder opponents. In fact, more pain likely means higher ratings." Chris interjected from the sidelines, chuckling afterwards, which prompted the germaphobe to frown and give him double middle fingers.
Before heading back down to the main area with his opponent, he gratefully told both season 1 finalists "It's nice to have some defense."
Once they had returned, it was time for Brick and Sam to cross the beams. The former gave a friendly declaration of "May the best runner win."
Grateful for that, the latter's response was "Of course, now to get it done with." as they collected their puzzle pieces.
Both guys had studied the course well enough to know what to expect by now. The two decided to simply run as fast as their legs could go without stopping. Dakota was of course hoping for the gamer to finish first, and couldn't help noticing how Jo looked conflicted, asking "Having a hard time deciding who to root for, huh?"
Startled by hearing that question out-of-the-blue, the jockette nervously stammered "C-clearly our teammate! I'm not sure w-what makes you say it would be a t-tough choice for me." and involuntarily blushed in the process.
Ms. Milton's response was "Come on, we both know you dig Brick and that part of you wants him to succeed today, no matter how much you try to deny it. Your cheeks going red upon hearing his name just makes that even more obvious and so did showing worry for his well-being when the dude got hit hard with a tennis ball. When he likes you back, the only question is when you'll both fess up."
Still refusing to admit this was true, she insisted "You're imagining things; I only see Mr. Military as my rival and that's all!", not fooling her ally in the slightest.
Another minute passed before the cadet finished crossing his beam first, which everybody had expected given his athleticism, though it was a closer race than they would've guessed when the gaming nut had developed more agility. Sam told him "I knew I wasn't going down without a fight."
That got a reply of "You most definitely didn't; that was a good effort for sure." as the two handed off their pieces before shaking hands and descending to the bottom.
Following in their footsteps were Dakota and Leshawna. Both ladies were well prepared at this point for what the course offered and planned to just focus their attention on running straight ahead with as little sidetracking as possible. While gathering their pieces, the latter inquired "Is a certain teammate of yours still in denial about her fondness for one of mine? I couldn't hear the full details of whatever you two were saying."
That got an affirmative response of "Big time. It's not tricking anybody, so I don't know why she bothers trying to hide the truth." followed by a slight chuckle.
"For what it's worth, Mr. Solider also refuses to admit he feels the same way whenever someone discusses the topic with him." added the sassy one.
"This doesn't surprise me at all given how they haven't yet become a couple." replied Ms. Milton right before they took off.
Once their runs began, neither of them got distracted by anything except for some tennis balls. It was getting harder to hinder any contestant with their knowledge of the challenge and its components. Chris was bored by such progress and specifically targeted one of the shooters to fire a ball at the back of Leshawna's head. He sadistically laughed as it knocked the girl down onto her face without dropping a puzzle piece or falling off. This allowed Dakota to finish the course first as her opponent took a moment to recover from the blow and start running again while the second-in-command chastised "That's just plain cruel of you, man, and not amusing at all. They've suffered enough and it's time to cut them a break." and swiped the control away from him to retract two of the launchers.
McLean's response was "You need to learn when to laugh and take things up a notch with the players."
"Is that the main thing you want viewers and participants to know you as: a torturer who only exists to inflict pain on others as they strive to get through their days and whatever lies ahead of them?" inquired his assistant. "Making tasks more challenging is one thing, but frankly there are limits to how far one should go. If you bring any ball shooters back out during this challenge, then I'll tell your lawyers how you deliberately caused harm today."
Getting blackmailed with further legal issues was enough to convince Chris that only two ball-shooting devices were needed for the rest of the day.
(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)
"Chef, thank you for having some actual dignity unlike your boss."
(End Confessional)
Once both contestants reached the bottom again, it was time for DJ and Jo to take another turn.
Upon noticing who she was going up against, the jockette sensed it would be somewhat more difficult to beat him to the end of the beams. Part of her was tempted to brag, but Jo remembered how that backfired before and refrained from doing so this time, not wanting to take any risks now. They collected their pieces and braced for another run through the course, grateful it wouldn't be as difficult as previous ones thanks to Chef's intervention. Both went forward with relative ease, managing to dodge the tennis balls that were fired their way. When DJ reached the end slightly before Jo and both passed off puzzle pieces, the host was unsatisfied with what he saw and declared "We should at least speed up the rate of fire with only two shooters. It otherwise gets boring!"
Taking a sigh of irritation, the cook relented "Fine, but not too many at once, and those are still to be the only two used for the rest of this challenge. I'm sure everyone else will otherwise resent you even more than they already do."
In the meantime, 80% of each puzzle was now complete. With only six pieces remaining, Trent was preparing for his final run-through while Max would have to complete another after this one. Neither contestant was fully prepared for how the challenge would change with only two launchers firing at a faster pace. They took off at the same time, jumping over any that came near their legs and the former ducked under others that could've led to headshots, being slowed down a bit by trying to avoid such blows. Upon noticing his short height gave him an advantage there, the latter sped on ahead and boasted "Evil prevails thanks to height differences; it's lucky I've got a small body." upon reaching the end before fully realizing what he said about himself, screaming out in despair "Oh no! I just called myself a tiny little pipsqueak!"
"Is it worth getting into?" Gwen and Owen both asked simultaneously.
"Let's just say he doesn't like hearing certain things about his height." Trent answered as they passed on their pieces and went back to rejoin the group.
It was now time for Blaineley and Ella to take their last runs for the challenge. As they each grabbed puzzle pieces, the former taunted "It sucks your final go of the day will probably be the most humiliating with a loss to me."
Feeling angry upon hearing that remark, the latter bitterly retorted "Don't push your luck too far or underestimate my capabilities."
Surprised to hear such words, Mildred inquired "How are you suddenly so serious?"
That was answered with "Determination to win and see someone else go out can be strong motivators."
(Begin Confessional: Blaineley)
"Did I really just see the queen of optimism get pissed off? Before today, I didn't think that was possible, so it took me a moment to ensure I wasn't just imagining things."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"Normally I'm not one to express much anger, but I think you all know why today is different." the princess stated before taking a breath to reduce her anger and sounded calmer when saying "I just hope not to get provoked too often. It's not a pleasant feeling at all."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to both contestants roughly halfway across their beams. Hellbent on securing a victory so Blaineley or Jo would get voted off, Ella ran faster than normal. Her opponent noticed that and gained as much speed as she could. No number of balls could hinder the princess's determination, who ended up getting to the end first by five seconds. Mildred hadn't expected to lose and couldn't hide her embarrassment over the defeat as they passed their pieces over. Only four remained now. As both players descended, Sam and Dave went up for a last run.
Upon reaching the top, the latter couldn't help feeling curious and asked the former "I won't hold any hard feelings regardless of who finishes first, but will you?"
"None at all, so you don't need to worry about that." replied the gamer while both players collected puzzle pieces.
Feeling more at ease, the germaphobe took a breath of relief before saying "OK good, because I don't plan on holding back here."
"I expected that and can say the same for myself." his opponent told him.
Shortly afterwards, the guys began quickly sprinting ahead with laser-guided focus on the end of the beams. Both felt encouraged enough to run even faster when hearing their respective girlfriends simultaneously cheer for them with "You can get us ahead!"
It was a close race. Neither of them stopped or slowed down for any amount of tennis balls, even when getting hit by multiple. Chef complimented "I must hand it to them; that's some impressive determination." while watching the ordeal.
A few more minutes passed before Dave accidentally stepped on a tennis ball and slipped while maintaining a grip on the puzzle piece he was carrying. However, his fall forward helped him finish at the exact same time as Sam, much to their surprise. They questioned "How did we tie?" in unison.
"It above all else seems like an instance of luck." Owen remarked as the pieces were passed over.
"In either case, you're set for the day, so now's a chance to relax before the voting ceremony." stated Gwen before both contestants went back down to the main grounds.
90% of the puzzle pieces had now been handed off. Who was next to go across the beams? Dakota for the Coyotes and Brick for the Leopards. They felt somewhat more pressured to do well when nearing the end of this challenge. About halfway through their last runs, Chris whined "How come we aren't seeing more pain? It's not nearly as intriguing without that, and you should easily be getting hit with more balls."
"Too bad; you'll just have to deal with it." Chef insisted, which prompted a resentful pout in response.
Before long, the solider finished crossing his beam before Ms. Milton did, though she wasn't far behind and remarked "It doesn't surprise me that you got here first."
He replied with "While I try not to brag so much, I will say having military training definitely comes in handy for things like these."
"Yeah, that makes sense." she responded as they passed off puzzle pieces.
His next words were "Still, this wasn't easy for me, and I doubt it was for you either."
As soon as both players took their platforms down, Jo and Leshawna went up for their last runs of the challenge. These ladies were very determined to win. Upon picking up a piece, the former bragged "Hope you're ready to vote someone off because I'm sure my side will win thanks to me getting ahead."
"Maybe you forgot who follows us." retorted the latter. "With that finishing touch, maybe it'll be you who needs to get packing or send off a teammate."
"Both of you could go home unless you get on with it!" an impatient Chris interjected, not in the mood for banter when it would delay physical pain.
The two complied and did their best do dodge tennis balls. It went back-and-forth with who was ahead. While both got hit several times, neither were slowed down by that. Eventually, the jockette ended up finishing just three seconds after her opponent did. She couldn't believe this had happened, questioning "How did you pull that off?"
That was answered with "I've got good legs for running, and it looks like you underestimated those."
Jo sighed in defeat before relenting "Fair enough. At least we're now done for the day."
"That right there is true." added Leshawna as they went back to join the others.
Who was going up for the challenge's final run? DJ for the Leopards and Max for the Coyotes. The guys felt somewhat nervous about it all coming down to them. Wanting to give his ally some confidence, Trent assured him "I know you have it in you to win for us. Just keep going forward no matter how many balls hit you."
The gentle giant thanked him with "Much appreciated, and I'll remember that."
In contrast, Blaineley threatened Max with "You better not lose, bub, or it'll be your final challenge of the season!"
"Pfft, like you'd have any better chance of surviving." scoffed the wannabe villain.
As the last racers went up to collect their pieces, their host announced "If there's a tie and you somehow finish at the same time, then you'll simply run back-and-forth without your pieces until one of you reaches an end of the beams before the other does. However, I doubt it'll come down to that."
"Prepare to lose to EVIL!" boasted the aspiring evildoer.
"Whatever you say, man." his opponent replied sarcastically right before they took off.
As DJ expected, his longer legs gave him an advantage with running. What he didn't anticipate was Max sprinting to catch up and sometimes taking leaps to get further ahead. When about four-fifths across the beams, the latter insisted "There's no way you'll win this race!"
"Look I'm sorry, but there's no way you can realistically expect to win with such small legs that aren't nearly as long as mine." the gentle giant responded without slowing down his run.
Hearing that enraged the wannabe villain, who furiously growled and barked "Who are you calling small!?" before chucking a puzzle piece at DJ's face, which bounced off and somehow landed right back into Max's hands.
His opponent was temporarily stunned by that unexpected attack and got hit in the nose with a tennis ball shortly afterwards. He took a moment to recover from such blows. This gave the aspiring evildoer a chance to get ahead. DJ did his best to catch up, but was slightly too late, finishing a couple seconds after him. As they passed their pieces over, the showrunner declared "I didn't think I'd say this, but Max just scored a victory for the Coyotes! There will be an elimination tonight, so the Leopards better decide who to get rid of."
"I was so close! Should've watched my words around him." lamented the gentle giant as his teammates groaned dejectedly and the winners cheered.
Owen consoled him with "It was clearly a slip of the tongue and he's got quite a temper. Don't beat yourself up too much over that."
Gwen added "You also were just pointing out the logic of physics. For what it's worth, you did put in a very respectable effort."
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"There's no way I'm willing to get booted now! What I need is a plan, and fast."
(End Confessional)
Later that day, Leshawna could be seen telling the goth "You wouldn't believe how much living conditions have improved from prior seasons! At the same time, I don't blame you or anybody else for not wanting to go through more agony with McLean and his antics."
That got a response of "Yeah, going through four seasons of him was already plenty for me, though I will say I prefer this role as a guest over competing in the game. It's also nice to be on a new island instead of that godawful Wawanakwa."
"At the very least, I recommend sticking around for dinner when the meals are far better nowadays." added the sassy one. "You won't regret it."
The invitation was accepted with "Not a problem. I could use some free food that's edible."
"It probably won't be ready for another few hours, just so you know." Said Leshawna.
"I'm sure the wait will be worthwhile." her friend replied.
(Begin Confessional: Gwen)
"One benefit of being here is that it feels nice to see Leshawna again. We largely fell out of touch after season three, but not because of any issues between us, just conflicting schedules and not many opportunities to meet up outside of this show. The last time I saw her was some point during the broadcast of season six. Both of us watched that and were very glad to not partake in its challenges."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the other guest of the day telling Trent and DJ "I know about your alliance, and it was a smart move to form that. Don't tell the others I said this, but I personally am hoping one of you two wins it all!"
"Thanks pal, that means a lot!" the musician gratefully replied.
"I second that!" added his ally.
"No problem." replied Owen. "By the way, if you both make the finale, then don't let the competition interfere with your friendship. It's not worth losing buddies over."
"Don't worry; that would never happen to us." DJ promised.
"No, it wouldn't." Trent affirmed. "In the meantime, we need a plan to stay in the game together."
"As much as I would love help out, Chris insisted that guests like myself can't give any ideas that would affect voting outcomes." their friend said with some sorrow. "All I can do now is wish you luck in the contest. Hopefully neither of you get voted off tonight."
"That's totally understandable." both players told him.
(Begin Confessional: Owen)
"Not gonna lie; seeing one of my buddies on the chopping block makes me nervous, even when there's a chance that he could survive the elimination ceremony. There's nothing I can do about that, though."
(End Confessional)
That night, Hatchet served fried chicken and veggie wraps for dinner. A certain guest could be seen happily feasting on the former. The cook inquired "Somebody really appreciates what I can make, huh?"
"Of course!" Owen affirmed with his mouth full. "It has to be your best serving yet."
"Quite honestly, I agree with that." Gwen added after swallowing some chicken, wisely deciding not to go into details negatively comparing his other food to it.
"It's hard to turn down what he currently has to offer." said Brick.
"You'll eat anything just like the food vacuum over there." interjected Jo.
"Is that a challenge?" asked the military boy.
"Not at all; one for today was already enough, plus we already had an eating contest earlier this season!" she replied.
(Begin Confessional: Brick)
"I almost forgot about the eating competition. Without any mess from the squirting jelly, my team might've been able to get through my donuts faster and win it, but oh well. As for a one-on-one contest with Jo, maybe she'd win-wait, why did I say that? There's no doubt I would've been victorious with something like tonight's dinner!"
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"I was fortunate enough that my team could win that eating contest even without Sugar around. We don't need a re-do to prove I'm still capable of winning such a thing."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the elimination ceremony with the Leopards sitting on log stumps and the Coyotes sitting in bleachers. Chef instructed "I think you all know the drill at this point: cast your vote and get a key from me to survive. The only one without a silver key is done for."
(Begin Confessional: Dave)
"Sorry DJ, but you cost us the challenge by setting off Max's rage, so I vote for you."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Brick)
"It seems like I'm on my own now without Dawn around to vote with me, which could make me more vulnerable to votes. Now I just need to make a choice and hope I don't get kicked off."
(End Confessional)
"Alright everyone, the votes are in." Chris proclaimed. "Our first key of safety tonight goes to…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Trent!"
"Thank you very much!" replied the guitarist upon obtaining his key.
While DJ was happy for his friend, he also felt anxious about who else would get keys. These conflicted feelings didn't change upon hearing the host continue with "The next one is for Ella."
"I gladly accept it." she responded while collecting it.
"Only one person left who got no votes tonight." the second-in-command informed them.
Before he could continue, his boss cut in with "Hey, hey; that's not for you to announce. However, it is true, and this player would be Brick."
The soldier thanked him with "Very grateful for a chance to continue, sir."
"Wait, why did I get votes?" Dave and Leshawna impulsively asked in unison when getting a clue about the voting results, with their eyes widening in shock.
"Neither of you had the best of luck performing today with your injuries and all. That's at least the impression I got from reviewing the confessionals and other footage from today." explained the cook.
In contrast, DJ had anticipated votes against him and remarked "I knew I wouldn't get off vote-free."
"Here's what I can tell you; somebody got just one vote today, and it's…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Leshawna!" McLean declared.
The named contestant smiled while stating "That was too close for my liking!"
With only DJ and Dave left, they both had nervous expressions as the host continued with "Gentlemen, one of you got two votes tonight and the other got three. As I expected, you each ended up targeting one another to save your own skins."
"No hard feelings regardless of the result?" asked the gentle giant. "I swear my choice for this vote wasn't out of spite."
"None at all. I can say the same about mine, and just wanted to stay in the game as much as you did." replied the germaphobe.
Both of their allies had looks of worry written over their faces as well. The same could be said for Owen. Chris noticed and stated "As much as I love seeing anxiety from you and others, it's time to distribute the final key of the night. With fewer votes against him, this goes to…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
DJ!"
The final key's recipient took a big sigh of relief when gathering it and couldn't help himself from grinning. Shortly afterwards, he told his newly ousted teammate "For the record, your efforts for the season were commendable, including those for today. I know you also just wanted to preserve your alliance with tonight's vote."
With a frown of defeat, Dave confirmed "Yes indeed I did, and it's obvious you didn't want yours broken up either."
Ella was heartbroken to see her boyfriend get the most votes. She had watery eyes and a trembling lip. The girl struggled to fight back tears when saying "I r-really wish you d-didn't have to leave."
"Same here, but as much as I wanted us to go to the finals together, there's nothing we can do to change the verdict." he responded with sadness while getting up to give a departing hug.
During their embrace, the princess asked him "You know I'm gonna miss you like crazy, right?"
"Of course, and I'll also miss your company." Dave answered. "I hope you win it for us both and will be rooting for you all the way to the end. Can you promise me you'll do your best to get far in the contest?"
"Most definitely!" his girlfriend affirmed.
"Good to hear, and without you around to have my back, I probably wouldn't have even gotten this far. Thank you for everything this season." he responded before they lovingly shared a goodbye kiss.
"My pleasure, and I love you." she told him.
The germ-hater's reply was "I love you too."
McLean interjected with "Now that you've had plenty of time to exchange farewells, I need get on with the booting!"
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"Without my prince around, which teammates am I supposed to vote with before the merge arrives?"
(End Confessional)
The cameras showed Dave on a giant target. Chef asked him "Do you have any parting words before you leave? This is your last chance to say something."
"Ella, best of luck in the contest, and Dawn was right about Jo! She's trouble and needs to go ASAP!"
Before he could say anything else, Chris activated the giant boot to kick away the germ-hater. Most of the other players simply left to enter their hotel afterwards. The lookalike of Snow White could no longer hold back any sadness upon seeing her beloved sent off and burst out crying. Not in the mood to deal with it, McLean ordered "Just suck it up and consider yourself lucky it wasn't you who got booted."
"You're a heartless asshole!" Gwen snapped at him before giving Ella a consolation hug and sympathetically telling her "It's not easy losing a cherished one, but you promised to do your best for him, right? He'd want you to follow through on that by putting top effort into challenges."
"Y-yes that is true." replied the princess with a sniffle, whose eyes were still shedding tears.
"In that case, do what you can to get far in the contest. You won't regret it." advised the goth.
Feeling somewhat better now, Ella affirmed "I will for sure." before a boat showed up to for both guests.
"We better get going." Owen stated while getting aboard. "Farewell everyone, and good luck with future challenges!"
The other season 1 finalist said "Yeah, our time is up, so bye for now." prior to joining him on the boat, which promptly took off once they were on.
Soon afterwards, Sam privately told the princess "If you reach the merge, then I'll gladly vote with you."
"Same with me. It should benefit us all." added Dakota.
Hearing this helped lift the depressed girl's spirits. She wiped her eyes before replying with "I'd very much like that, thank you."
As the three walked away, Jo silently glared at them from behind, having overheard their exchange.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"Maybe I'm wrong here, but it looks like game junkie and the rich daddy's girl will ditch me for Snow White. My side deal with Max might not last long either after the whole Beardo thing, so I have some thinking to do. It's a good thing filth-hater and Dawn can't blabber anything else about me to them."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)
"Truth be told, I kind of feel bad for sending out Dave after seeing how much it upset Ella. However, Trent wanted to make it up to me for the last vote by inviting me to join forces with him and DJ, so I gratefully accepted the offer. I know they were only trying to help keep each other in the contest and didn't mean any harm by it. Still, we should've known what it would lead to."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Chris signing off the episode with "What challenges await our remaining contestants, and will Ella be able to manage long without Dave in the contest? Keep watching to find out here on Total. Drama. Generation Showdown!"
Hope this chapter was worth the wait! One half of a couple is out of the game. The other half is devastated by it, but won't just throw in the towel because of what happened. Two other contestants continue to deny their obvious attraction to one another. By the way, in case anybody's wondering about Brick's vote, he just chose randomly when still thrown off by Dawn's elimination (which shocked him) and didn't have her guidance to go by.
Reason for elimination: Not seeing any other way to preserve their union, Trent and DJ opted to send Dave packing because of his injuries in the challenge, securing the outcome with a plea to Leshawna. They figured he was a bigger threat than Ella and reluctantly decided to break apart their alliance, believing it otherwise could later threaten their own. As much as I hate to put an angel like her through such heartbreak, they could only go for so long before a voting ceremony took one of them out. Before that happened, the germaphobe managed to build a much better reputation among his peers by making amends and avoiding past mistakes. I also wanted to give him and the princess a team victory and let them survive at least one loss after they started dating (and this verdict doesn't hinder their relationship at all). She does however feel better to some extent with an offer from a friendly couple (Dakota and Sam), who are willing to provide help and emotional support.
Voting results:
Leshawna: 1 vote (Brick)
DJ: 2 votes (Dave, Ella)
Dave: 3 votes (DJ, Leshawna, Trent)
Elimination Order:
Sugar (18th place), Justin (17th place), Rodney (16th place), Anne Maria (15th place), Eva (14th place), Beardo (13th place), Dawn (12th place), Dave (11th place)
Remaining Players:
Howling Coyotes: Blaineley, Dakota, Jo, Max, Sam
Roaring Leopards: Brick, DJ, Ella, Leshawna, Trent
Chapter posted: December 3, 2021.