Hey there, Chapter 14 has arrived! I'll respond to more reviews and continue the plot right afterwards.
amit avrashmi: Keep reading and you'll find an answer on the eliminations. Please do tell what you think of the way I implemented your challenge idea! It came at just the right time too. I can't spoil how far either of the big guy's choices for a win will go.
Rockin' D-99: The "wen" duo? That's the first time I've seen anybody use such a term for Gwen and Owen. Bringing in guests is fun (but don't expect that to happen in back-to-back chapters), and nice to know you like how they interact with the contestants. I don't blame you for feeling sorry for Dave when he's eliminated and Ella when she has to endure heartbreak over his departure.
Danicus Green: Welcome back, and it's not surprising you liked how the goth consoled our princess given your fondness for both characters or how the germaphobe stood up to Jo. I hope you feel I gave the guy better closure here than TDPI did. Getting violent with Chris definitely would've prompted him to revoke that paycheck. While Anne Maria does admittedly have funny moments in TDROTI (e.g. burping in "Finders Creepers" right after calling herself classy and spraying Staci in the face during "Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er!" to get that chatterbox to stop with family lies), what bothered me about the hairspray lover was her skewed priorities (valuing appearances over focusing on challenges) and the annoying Jersey Shore vibe (which was probably not meant to be enjoyed when that's a godawful show and she's very obviously based on its cast member Snooki). For what it's worth, I tried to rectify this to a degree by having her put some more effort into the game before getting voted off. Blaineley on the other hand was just plain obnoxious and unlikable from the start as far as I'm concerned.
OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: Nice to see you caught up, and I'll respond to your four most recent comments in one go since they all came after I posted Chapter 13. Brick has no idea that our jockette got rid of Dawn in Chapter 10 to ensure he'd stay in the contest, and I see why her departure would be disappointing. That wasn't easy for me to do but it had to be done. I thought it would be a nice change of pace for Chapter 11 to not axe anybody. While I'm glad you enjoyed the second aftermath, what in particular from Chapter 12 did you enjoy? As for last chapter, I don't blame you for hating Chris regardless of who got the boot.
Now to resume the story.
Chef was shown fast asleep in his bed. He moved around in the middle of a dream, nervously mumbling "No, I swear I tried to talk him out of this, but he made me do it anyway!"
An alarm went off soon afterwards, jolting him awake. The cook sighed with relief, saying to himself "Boy am I glad that was just a nightmare and not reality! I guess I better get ready for the day now." before getting up to find his clothes.
"Yeah, that definitely would be a good idea." Chris said from the other side of the door, having overheard the second-in-command's words. "Meet me outside in ten minutes or sooner."
Within that time, he managed to get dressed and was seen outdoors as his boss carried some targets over, asking the host "What are those for?" upon seeing them.
McLean's answer was "We need to set these up for the contestants today. I'll put up five, and you do the other five."
"Very well." replied Hatchet as the two walked off to do just that.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"Not sure how Chef got enough audacity to defy me yesterday without backing down, but it looks like things are closer to normal now. He knows I'm in charge around here."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the cafeteria with each of the 10 remaining contestants. All that was served for breakfast that morning was some cold cereal when the showrunner and his assistant didn't have much time for anything else after setting up the challenge. While Ella was in better spirits compared to the previous night, she still hadn't fully recovered from Dave getting eliminated. Her sadness was impossible to miss. Feeling sorry for his teammate, Brick stated "We all know you miss him, and it's easy to see why. However, don't let that interfere with your performances in challenges."
"Believe me; I won't." she confirmed. "It still hurts how he's gone, though."
"I hear you there. Just do what you can to help us win today." the solider replied.
Her response was "Once I know what the challenge is, that shouldn't be a problem."
(Begin Confessional: Brick)
"As the only other remaining person on our team who didn't vote for Dave last night, I felt it would've been best for me of all people to talk with Ella this morning. Yes, I know they both contributed to Dawn's elimination to keep herself and him in the game, but I don't hold that against them. It's not like that was part of some conspiracy to dominate the contest or votes."
(End Confessional)
After breakfast was finished, everyone had gathered outdoors. A TV screen was shown behind Chris and Chef. The latter inquired "By a show of hands, how many of you remember the bike race we had during season 1?"
DJ and Leshawna raised their hands before anybody else, having been the only contestants present who took part in that day's challenge. It was the first time either of them had rode a bike before and they still had unpleasant memories of such experiences. The others would follow suit after taking a moment to recall watching it.
"Good to know; you're building your own bicycles today!" McLean announced. "However, this time it's something you'll pass along from teammate to teammate instead of using it for a solo victory. I'll let you decide among yourselves which designs are best."
"After completing that, you'll each have to spray paint over triangles that match your team colors. Here's a map of where to find them." The cook instructed before turning on the screen to show a picture of the showrunner in his childhood captioned "Chris at age 10 with Stumpy" and blurting out "Wait, how did that get in there? It isn't what I wanted to show!" before chuckling a bit.
Every contestant cracked up when seeing their host with a bald head playing some chess with a wooden log that had a face drawn onto it with crayon. Even the lookalike of Snow White, who was still recovering from her boyfriend's elimination and normally didn't like to make fun of others, reluctantly let out some laughter upon realizing it was futile to suppress giggles. In contrast, the cook was somehow able to restrain himself, though still could be seen smiling. Among the laughter, Jo mocked "Were you so lonely as a kid that you had to make your own friend out of wood?"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW and let me show you the actual map!" an angry and utterly humiliated Chris demanded prior to changing the image to display a map with five silver dots and five gold ones. "You each must hit a triangle with paint during your rides before passing your ride off to a teammate, or you'll be penalized. Same goes for anybody who crosses the finish line without hitting their target. As for Stumpy the log, he was totally a pal who had sentience, even when nobody but me could hear him talk. Sooner or later, I guarantee you that I WILL find out who was responsible for that photo placement AND punish them."
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"I didn't dare say this to my boss's face, but that picture of him as a kid-" the cook could no longer contain his laugher and cracked up while continuing with "was quite honestly hilarious to see! When his parents told me he only had one close friend before we met, I guess this was who they meant. Beats me how anybody got that photo from them, though."
(End Confessional)
After everybody had stopped laughing 10 minutes later, they could be seen with McLean and his aid showing them building supplies. The cadet inquired "Once we've set these up, who gets to ride first?"
"We'll get to that later." replied the showrunner. "For now, focus on construction; you've got 20 minutes to build a bike."
"When possible, you'll appreciate being able to ride with two hands prior to approaching your targets, so it would help to add something to securely hold your paint cans." the cook recommended.
The cameras cut to a split screen showing each team. It featured the Coyotes on the top half and the Leopards on the bottom. Neither side knew what the other's bicycle would look like. Unbeknownst to one another, the jockette and military boy were both working on blueprints of designs for their respective teams. Upon finishing, they simultaneously declared "I know just what to do, so here's what we'll need.", with the others going off to get the required pieces when unable to come up with any other ideas.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"Bike assembly is something I could easily do by myself. Surprisingly, none of my teammates slowed me down at all. Good thing I'm the one who took leadership with it."
(End Confessional)
Just as time was running out, Dakota and Sam were painting the Coyote bike while Trent and Ella did the same for the Leopard bike. Chris went to inspect both teams' rides. He commended "I have to say, these look pretty good! Just need to add a little touch of my own once the paint dries and they'll be set." before showing a Coyote logo and a Leopard logo for each side's respective bicycles.
Hearing such compliments from him was rare, so everybody smiled in appreciation. A few minutes passed before the paint was fully dry. As soon as it did, McLean applied team logos to their corresponding bikes, smiling in approval with how they looked afterwards. Chef dropped a large box with the same protective gear as the prior challenge—helmets, kneepads, gloves, shin guards, and elbow pads—before instructing "Now that your rides are complete, put some of this on to protect yourselves from potential harm, and follow us afterwards."
Each contestant quickly complied, finishing with equipment in a few minutes. Once they arrived at their destination, the host told the players "We've set up targets along these paths. These basically are mirror-flipped inversions of one another. Remember there will be penalties for whoever fails to paint their targets. If both teams hit the same number, then whoever crosses the finish line first will win immunity. Anybody who crosses into the opposing team's path will automatically lose the whole challenge, so be sure to watch where you steer."
Hatchet followed this up with "Our first racers today are DJ for the Leopards and Jo for the Coyotes. Up next will be Ella and Sam for their respective teams. Once they're done, we'll have Trent vs. Dakota. Following them is Leshawna against Max. At the end, Brick will face Blaineley to finish it all off."
"Bring it on!" the jockette replied upon hearing she would start the race.
Shrugging his shoulders, her opponent remarked "I guess going first helps me get my job done sooner."
McLean told them both "Come with me to the starting line. Chef will take everybody else to the points where they'll switch places with whoever's riding the bikes."
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"Is this another chance to use my Mario Kart skills? I'll gladly take it!"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Chris with the starting racers. He instructed "Wait for my signal before you begin. If you take off too soon, then you'll be penalized."
Soon afterwards, the second-in-command could be heard saying through a walkie-talkie "Everyone else is set. They're ready whenever both of you are."
"Does that mean we can take off?" inquired DJ.
"A gut feeling tells me yes, but I wouldn't count on that." added Jo.
"Here's the horn I'll use to kick things off." McLean announced while pulling out said horn. "Once I press it, you're free to go."
"I know I'm set!" the gentle giant confidently proclaimed.
"Same goes for me." stated his opponent.
They both promptly took off as soon as the showrunner blasted his horn. It started off as neck-and-neck between the two as both zig-zagged their ways through lots of turns. Chris found this boring and whined "Why isn't one of you dominating? That would make things more enjoyable to watch!"
Neither cared much for that complaint. However, they did still desire to finish first. A couple minutes passed before DJ took a more noticeable lead. Jo was by no means willing to let that last. She promptly began to speed up, reaching him within 20 seconds.
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"After losing yesterday's challenge and narrowly avoiding elimination, I knew I really needed to prove my worth in this one, so I was extra determined to do well here."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to both racers spraying their respective targets with paint. After another 15 seconds passed, the gentle giant approached Ella and Sam, telling his teammate "You better get going or we'll lose our lead!"
She replied with "I don't need to be told twice!" and took off just before Jo arrived.
Disappointed to not get there sooner, the jockette lamented "This shouldn't have happened! Anyway, go catch up to Snow White or things will just get worse."
"Way ahead of you there." Sam responded while getting onto his team's bike and departing.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"What a lousy way to start things off! Mr. Teddy bear just got lucky is all."
(End Confessional)
A minute or two later, the gamer managed to surpass the princess. However, she wasn't giving up so easily and promptly sped up, trying to regain the lead. Her determination to do well for Dave helped serve as motivation for putting maximum effort into the race. Noticing this, Sam remarked "I know you hope to win, and since I feel the same way, don't expect any easy defeats."
Ella's response was "Believe me, I knew better than to think that would happen."
For the next several minutes, it went back-and-forth with who was ahead as the racers swerved to dodge some potholes found in the paths. While they eventually sprayed their targets at roughly the same time, the gaming nut ultimately finished his portion of the race before hers. He encouraged Dakota with "I know you can help keep our lead, so prove me right!" as the lookalike of Snow White caught up.
"Already on it!" his girlfriend replied right before taking off.
"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner, but here I am now." Ella apologetically told Trent.
He forgivingly told her "It's not the end of the world or this race, so we still have a chance to win." while taking over.
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"Yes, I would've liked to finish my part of the race earlier, but it's not like I was super behind. Things could've gone much worse."
(End Confessional)
To Ms. Milton's disappointment, she couldn't maintain a lead for long before the guitarist caught up. What neither of them expected were for new obstacles to come ahead, namely walls on the paths. After dodging them, he said "I should've guessed something new would turn up eventually."
"Chris is the type of person who would make things more difficult for us in any way he can think of." replied his opponent.
Both did their best to avoid these. While they succeeded, it did slow down their speeds and almost threw them off the course! They just barely managed to spray their targets without going out of bounds and simultaneously declared "Talk about too close for comfort!" afterwards.
Five more minutes passed before they reached the next contestants, namely Leshawna and Max. Since Dakota arrived a few seconds before Trent, the Coyotes had a slight lead over the Leopards. The aspiring evildoer gratefully told his teammate "Thank you for keeping us ahead, fellow minion, now me and my villainous ways will obtain an even bigger lead."
Right as he took off, the guitarist asked Leshawna "Ready to prove him wrong?"
She confidently affirmed "I most definitely am!" before departing.
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"Me, a minion? That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard! Not that I condone how that psychopath Scarlett went berserk last season and tried to kill Max and their other competitors, but it's easy to see why she got irritated with him."
(End Confessional)
Less than a minute passed before Leshawna caught up with the wannabe villain, who was baffled upon noticing and inquired "How did you get here so fast?"
Her answer was "A combination of speed and skill."
They didn't say anything else before reaching giant pits in the middle of the paths. Upon seeing those, both nervously asked in unison "How are we supposed to cross this?"
From the sidelines, Chef recommended "Speed up as much as you can and don't slow down until you've gotten over."
"Does that actually work outside of movies? I'm now genuinely curious." inquired Chris.
"It's their best shot." replied his assistant. "At worst, they'll land on some large padding at the bottom of those pits."
Neither racer could think of any better ideas and went with Hatchet's suggestion, which ended up working. Their targets could be seen a couple minutes later. After spraying those, Max bragged "EVIL got more paint on his target, so take that!"
Unfazed by the boast, Leshawna replied "Last I checked, the sheer amount was irrelevant as long as we don't miss those entirely." as both racers continued onwards.
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"I've seen bikers make big jumps, and they tried to get as much momentum as possible for those. What made it harder for our contestants today is the fact that there were no downward slopes to gain speed with beforehand."
(End Confessional)
Eventually, the fourth Leopard reached Brick, who commended "Way to help our squadron!" as he departed.
"It was my pleasure." replied Leshawna shortly before the fourth Coyote arrived.
"What, how did I lose by such a margin?" asked the wannabe villain with exasperation.
"Probably by being too focused on your supposed evildoings and embellishing those." Blaineley suggested with bitterness as she took off.
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"This loss was embarrassing for me, but it shall not occur again! I blame the big jump for messing with my rhythm."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)
"I guess somebody hasn't yet learned not to be so overconfident in himself."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Mr. MacArthur surpassing the former co-host of Celebrity Manhunt. She quickly took notice and insisted "You won't keep that lead for long!" while speeding up.
For about five minutes, it alternated back-and-forth between who was ahead. Soon after spraying their targets, Mildred decided to play a trick and told her opponent "I'm pretty sure I saw your old drill sergeant nearby!"
He asked "Wait, where?" in shock while looking around.
While he was still distracted, she took the chance to throw the Coyotes' spray can towards the Leopards' bike, hoping this would mess with the soldier's balance or perhaps knock him off. The result? That bounced off the back tire, somewhat changing its direction, but not enough to have any long-lasting effects. Upon noticing, he chastised her with "Such conduct is quite disgraceful!"
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"That old hag totally stole one of my ideas from the season's first challenge and could've gone with something more credible." an irritated jockette said with noticeable anger, with one of her eyes twitching. "The guy also should've known better than to believe such crap."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Blaineley)
"What an idiot!" Mildred declared while laughing. "I wasn't so sure he would take the bait, though figured either way it would throw him off guard when completely unexpected."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the final racers approaching the finish line. In the end, the first one to cross it by a hair was…
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Blaineley! Upon winning, she triumphantly raised both fists in the air and taunted her opponent with "It's great to be me and sucks to be you right now!"
The soldier slouched with sadness while asking "Why did I have to lose today?"
After the Coyotes cheered for their win and the Leopards moaned in defeat, Chef added "It looks like you just weren't fast enough, plus there was that distraction trick."
In a desperate attempt to nullify the loss, DJ inquired "Hold on, doesn't that stunt count as cheating?"
"Nope, there were never any restrictions on that; you only had to spray your targets and stay in your lanes before crossing the finish line first." answered McLean, prompting the guitarist to frown. "Our winners can relax as the losers decide who to get rid of."
Hearing such words made Jo's eyes open wide with anxiety, feeling worried that the not-so-secret object of her affections might get voted off, and unable to think of a way to save him. She refrained from making any sounds, not wanting to give away such thoughts.
(Begin Confessional: Brick)
"Thanks to some deceit, I could be a goner." the cadet nervously stated. "Maybe I should prepare some parting words now just in case."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Trent)
"I have a bad feeling about tonight."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Jo eavesdropping on Chris furiously interrogating his aid with "How the hell did you get any of my childhood pictures!? Pull another stunt like that and I'll fire you no matter what legal consequences there are!"
Chef truthfully replied "I swear on my mother's grave it wasn't me who messed with the presentation earlier. Cross my heart and hope to die!"
"You very well could die for putting me through such embarrassment, intentional or not." the host threatened, not feeling better at all.
"Whoever took them must've been quite sneaky. Maybe one of the interns did it." speculated the cook.
Neither of the men noticed her during this exchange. McLean's next words were "I wouldn't write them off entirely, but instinct tells me the culprit is someone else."
Before they parted ways, Hatchet added "Whoever it was, we'll find out eventually."
As soon as they were gone, the jockette snuck away, not wanting them to know what she was doing.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"OK I'll admit that Chef did sound pretty sincere. There are some security systems in place that only I know about unless somebody else managed to get past those undetected. By the way, I know he's hiding the donor's identity from me and is tight-lipped whenever I ask about it, insisting I'll have to wait for an answer until that person visits. Whoever that is gave him lots of money ahead of this season's premiere, which explains his unusually bright mood on its opening day."
(End Confessional)
Later that day, the contestants could be seen having dinner, which was fish sticks with French fries. Since the cadet, princess, and guitarist had all lost in their portions of the race, the three were noticeably anxious as they ate. Trying to comfort the lattermost, DJ assured "We can find a way to get through this. In the meantime, don't let nerves spoil your appetite."
"That's easy for you to say when you and Leshawna won your parts of the challenge, but still, I appreciate the thought." his ally responded.
To their surprise, Chris subsequently entered the cafeteria to instruct "Everybody meet me outdoors as soon as you're done with your meal. I have something to share with all of you."
"Is it something EVIL?" Max inquired with curiosity.
The host's answer was "I suppose one could call it that."
Four minutes passed before everyone had finished eating and had gathered outside the building. Chef pulled up a TV set while asking his boss "Do you wish to tell them, or should I?"
"Leave that to me." McLean replied before informing the others "There's a clip we'd like to show you. We now know who was behind that photo stunt earlier."
He turned on the screen and pressed play. The recording showed Mildred raiding through private file cabinets and boasting to herself "Once I get some humiliating goods on Chris, he might quit in shame or get fired by the producers, which would open up the hosting slot for me! They'll regret giving him that position in the first place." prior to pulling out the childhood photo shown that day and declaring "Aha; here it is! I knew something useful could be found on the island. Now to sneak it in a way nobody will expect. Once they do see this, they'll probably laugh their asses off."
Everybody players' jaws dropped in shock except for Jo, who instead was smirking with triumph. As soon as that clip finished, the showrunner added "Because of this discovery, tonight's vote is cancelled and Blaineley is out of the game as punishment!"
Hearing that prompted cheers of joy from Sam, Dakota, Max, DJ, and Leshawna while Ella, Trent, and Brick sighed with relief. In contrast, the newly disqualified competitor retorted "You must be kidding. In case you forgot, my team already won immunity for tonight."
"I DON'T GIVE A DEAD MOOSE'S LAST SHIT!" shouted the host. "On another note, I'd like to thank Jo for supplying us with the footage. While I normally don't like contestants going through the recording rooms, it was for a worthy cause, and she showed it to us right as we were about to review the recordings anyway."
"Fine by me; the hag was of no use anyway, and I doubt anybody here will miss her." added the wannabe villain.
"I am NOT a hag!" insisted Mildred.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"There's only room for one sneaky mastermind in this game, and that's me, not some old lady!"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the giant boot with the loser of the night set on a big target. Chef told her "If you have anything left to say, then make it quick because you soon have to leave."
In response, Ms. O'Halloran gave double middle fingers and spat "Screw you guys; I'm going home!"
"Actually, you'll first go to the aftermaths first, and later on we're bringing back all eliminated contestants for something in the finale." corrected Chris.
"Wait, those were brought back?" inquired the former co-host of Celebrity Manhunt. "I should instead be the one who grills the losers!"
Chris subsequently activated the boot to kick her away. As the remaining 9 contestants left the elimination area, McLean signed off the episode with "Half of our players for the season are now gone. We haven't even gotten to the most difficult challenges yet. Who will get cut next, and will Jo admit to having any ulterior motives for providing us the security recording? You'll get a taste of what follows on the next episode of Total. Drama. Generation Showdown!"
9 people down, and 9 left in the game. Aside from wanting to save Brick, our jockette ratted out Blaineley in an attempt to gain some brownie points with Chris. You'll see how that goes. If anybody thought Ms. O'Halloran was going to scheme her way through the game and get anywhere close to the finals, then they were wrong. Reviews are quite welcome.
Reason for elimination: Chris isn't someone who takes kindly to being humiliated and was never fond of Mildred anyway, so he promptly got rid of her for getting invasive with his personal pictures. I thought it would be a nice twist of irony to have the woman kicked off the day she won a challenge. Having everybody vote her off at first chance once the merge came along would've felt too predictable. Even though I did think it was amusing to have one obvious misfit (in terms of age) among the cast, I was never planning to carry it on for the whole story.
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), Blaineley (10th place)
Remaining Players:
Howling Coyotes: Dakota, Jo, Max, Sam
Roaring Leopards: Brick, DJ, Ella, Leshawna, Trent
Chapter posted: January 21, 2022.