With Chapter 16 comes another challenge. Big thanks to Danicus Green for giving me the concept to work with here! I definitely needed post-merge ideas, and hopefully everyone enjoys how I carried it out. Either way, I'll reply to more reviews now.
OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: The "will they? won't they?" song and dance was never going to be stretched out for the whole season, and I'm glad you liked the egg challenge :).
Rockin' D-99: Nice to know somebody enjoyed Mike and Zoey making guest appearances as well as the humilating clip of Chris. Our host is too prideful to let anybody else run the challenge unless absent/incapacitated. I also appreciate the praise for how I wrote Jo's apology to Brick and them becoming a couple. You'll definitely see more of that movie theater. Regarding challenges, I have indeed been taking more of a back-to-basics approach as I wanted to tone things down from the wild extremes of seasons 5 and 6.
Danicus Green: Simply put, all the other contestants were getting tired of Jo and Brick denying how they felt, and just wanted that to be over with. For a friendly optimist like Ella, instinct tells me she'd have a sense of humor with or without laughing at someone else's expense. We just might not necessarily see all of that on camera. Glad I regardless made her laughter justifiable with the childhood recordings of McLean, and "The Princess Bride" is a great movie that I easily can imagine the winners and guests choosing on their own terms had Chef not given them another idea. As for who the villain is, let's just say I've been intentionally ambiguous (evil laughter).
amit avrashmi: While it won't be in this chapter or the next, I'll definitely be sure to show the embarrassing footage of Chris at some point. Don't you worry about that! Your character creation challenge idea is intriguing and I might take part of it for one and the rest for another. TBD for now. Not spoiling who goes out here or what'll happen with Chef.
Let the story go on!
Shortly before Chef's alarm was set to go off, the sun shined through a partly cloudy sky and into his bedroom window. It woke him up in the process. He preferred to wake up with sunlight and said to himself "At least that buzzer wasn't the first thing I heard this morning." before cancelling the alarm and getting out of bed.
One minute later, Chris awoke in a similar way, though it happened right before his own alarm went off. It only buzzed for five seconds prior to getting deactivated. The showrunner yawned and muttered "I'll need more beauty sleep after today's events."
Within half an hour, both were clothed and serving breakfast to the remaining contestants. As they ate donuts of various flavors, Max privately asked Jo "Do you have any EVIL plans for today?"
"Nothing that involves you, and chances are you'd end up blabbering to the wrong people anyway." she responded with a sigh of irritation.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"OK I definitely regret letting Mr. I-wish-I-was-evil reach the merge and wish that Eva stayed in the game instead, but it's too late to change that. As for what I seek to do, let's just say he isn't my main concern right now."
(End Confessional)
Once everyone had finished, Chef asked the contestants "Who here remembers the phobia challenge from our first season?"
Leshawna, Trent, and DJ quickly shot their hands up in the air, still vividly remembering the fears they faced that day. Several seconds passed before the others followed suit. Chris followed up with "Well, we're bringing back what Cody feared, namely defusing time bombs. They're filled with tons of garbage just like his, and your goal is to defuse as many as possible within a time limit. Some will go off sooner than others. Be warned that they're super stinky and the scent isn't easy to wash off. Brick's boots have nothing on these!"
Hearing this made all nine players recoil in disgust. While the odor from Mr. MacArthur's boots could irk others, he had become somewhat accustomed to how they smelled and didn't like being singled out in such a way. It prompted him to inquire "Was that last sentence really necessary?"
"I definitely saw no need for it." Jo added in his defense.
"Obviously I had to say so; that was to emphasize how smelly these are!" the showrunner insisted, prompting the jockette to angrily give him a middle finger.
"Before you begin the challenge, look at this." the cook interjected while turning on a screen to show a map of the island. "The big green circle is where you'll begin. Try to seek out the red dots as that's where you'll find the bombs."
"Can we please get copies of that map?" requested Ella.
"Not possible; we didn't have time to print those out after setting up the bombs." McLean answered.
"How much time will we have for defusing?" asked Max.
"30 minutes in all. Towards the end, you'll hear a certain song, and any bombs still active will explode once that ends. You better watch out!" Chef replied before playing a brief sample of "Bombshell" by Powerman 5000.
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"I could be wrong, but something tells me our host was just trying to make things more difficult for us and lied about not being able to make map copies."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"Trash bombs, really? Let's just hope whatever stench I get can be washed off with one shower."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to everybody gathering at the starting point. Chris handed them gloves while instructing "Remember, your time is limited, and try not to let those bombs explode all over you. I'd rather not deal with your stenches."
"For anybody who does get covered with filth, we'll have a place for you to decontaminate yourselves, but remember that these should only be used AFTER the challenge ends. You'll otherwise just end up wasting time." assured his assistant as he pointed towards nine portable shower stalls, which were each labeled with a contestant's name.
"Nice to know they're at the ready like that." Leshawna stated with gratitude.
"On your mark, get set, go!" declared the host before sounding off an air horn.
Once everybody started subsequently running as fast as they could, a timer for 30 minutes began to count down. Nobody wanted to endure a blast of massive stench! The fastest runners were Jo and Brick, followed closely by Leshawna and DJ. What none of them knew at the time was how Max became the first to find a trash bomb three minutes later. However, he got frustrated when unable to figure out how defuse them, complaining "This monstrosity is quite a pain to deal with!"
Elsewhere, Trent was having an easier time, but still couldn't defuse one either. He did his best to not give up and mumbled to himself "There has to be a way to shut it off in time."
While passing by, Ella stopped for a moment to catch her breath and tell him "At least you found one that wasn't taken by somebody else."
His response was "Well, I guess there's that."
She took off after stating "Good luck with your bomb. I need to get going now."
(Begin Confessional: Trent)
"Even though it didn't make defusing those bombs any easier, I admittedly am glad I wasn't the only one who had a tough time today."
(End Confessional)
The cameras showed a split screen of Dakota defusing a bomb in one half and Sam doing the same in the other half. While not within eyesight of one another, they planned to meet up after completing these. Neither had an easy time with their task. Without realizing it at the time, this couple simultaneously complained "Why did we have to do this of all things today?"
Shortly afterwards, the sound of an explosion suddenly interrupted them. Where did it come from? Chris deciding to mess around with his remote control, setting off one of the bombs. The cameras cut to him chuckling with a mischievous grin and the cook inquiring "What the hell was that all about!?"
"I got bored when not seeing or hearing any bombs explode." answered the host before pressing a button to detonate another one. "This helps spice things up!"
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"I thought getting sued for the crazy antics shown in seasons 5 and 6 would've prevented my boss from going nuts again, but it looks like I was wrong. At least nobody seems to have been harmed so far and he technically hasn't broken any laws this season that I'm aware of."
(End Confessional)
By the time 15 allotted minutes had passed, everybody had gotten the hang of deactivation and managed to shut off at least three bombs. Some players had an easier time than others. A certain jockette noticed her current bomb was about to explode and didn't have enough time to stop that. How did Jo avoid the blast? By tossing this right at Leshawna's face, and it burst on impact. That prompted an angry "Are you fucking kidding me?" in response.
The bomb thrower taunted "Not at all, and good luck washing all of that out!"
"You're gonna pay for this big time!" Leshawna barked.
Not wanting to stick around her scent for too long, Jo's last words before running off were "With what, my 10 million dollars? I doubt it."
(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)
"She's up to no good and has to go ASAP! In the meantime, I'm grateful we all had our own showers for today's challenge."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Ella successfully turning off a bomb right before its timer expired and said to herself "That was too close for my liking."
While passing through, Brick complimented "A good soldier is determined enough to stick things out to the end, so keep up the commendable work!"
"I will and thank you!" she gratefully replied.
His next words were "My pleasure, but I can't afford to fall behind, so off I go."
Once he was gone, the princess pondered "How many can I defuse before time runs out?"
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"I won't lie; this was quite a difficult and unpleasant challenge, and it mainly seems to be something Chris came up with for his own amusement. Why he feels compelled to make us suffer is beyond me."
(End Confessional)
Elsewhere on the island, DJ was trying to defuse a bomb only for it to literally blow up in his face. He subsequently muttered "I desperately will need that shower once time runs out."
A voice could be heard saying "You aren't the only one."
It belonged to Brick, who walked in covered with filth. He swatted some of that off his face afterwards. The gentle giant inquired "How recent was that explosion?"
"Less than a minute ago." answered the soldier. "Don't worry; it's not like I plan to stay dirty all day."
After taking a sigh of relief, DJ added "No sane person would do such a thing!" and ran off to find another bomb.
Mr. MacArthur pondered "Do all of these bombs have the same amount of garbage?"
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"I wasn't sure how to say this to Brick without the wrong ears potentially overhearing me, but he definitely needs to watch himself around Jo. It would be a bad idea to let his guard down at this point just because she saved him from a couple potential eliminations and they're currently dating. That girl is known to have sneaky ways. No wonder Dawn wanted her gone. Either Jo's up to some sort of scheme, or my name isn't Devon Joseph Stranahan."
(End Confessional)
During the last five minutes, Chris became increasingly eager to set off every remaining bomb. Chef noticed and questioned "Why would you even be tempted to make a mess before the timer expires?"
"For laughs and maybe some higher ratings." explained his boss with a mischievous grin.
Hatchet sighed in disappointment before stating "I should've guessed you'd say something like that."
"Can you honestly tell me that it wouldn't even slightly amuse you?" inquired McLean.
"If I saw the remote blow up in your face instead, then the irony of that would be more likely to make me laugh." answered the cook with a chuckle, which made the host quickly scowl in response.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"Explosions are funny when they happen at other peoples' expenses, not mine! I thought he knew that."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to a bomb blowing up in Trent's face. Five seconds later, "Bombshell" by Powerman 5000 started playing. He wiped off the filth and panicked a bit over only having a few minutes left upon hearing the song open with "Get up" uttered twelve times before a louder "Get up, get up, get up, drop the bombshell! Get up, get up, this is out of control!"
While the guitarist couldn't find a new bomb right away, it didn't stop him from sprinting until one was within eyesight. He felt more rushed now. The same applied for every other contestant. They scrambled to turn off as much of the bombs as possible before the song ended. Very little time remained for this challenge. From the sidelines, Hatchet remarked "Quite honestly, I didn't expect anybody to do as well as they did with today's defusing."
"Neither did I." added his boss.
Elsewhere, another bomb exploded while Jo was trying to turn it off. Not dwelling too much over her failure when that would leave less time for others, she simply brushed off the mess and started running again and muttered "I can still get others before time expires."
The cameras showed a 3x3 grid with 9 locations as "Bombshell" continued to play over the next few minutes. Each showed a different contestant. At this point, nobody was sure who had defused the most bombs already. Their anxiety increased as the song approached its end with "Yeah, everybody drop the bomb. You're not the one who sings the song. Yeah, everybody drop the bomb." being uttered before the line "Yeah!" was screamed nine times.
Right after that, all nine squares showed bombs exploding in the faces of their respective contestants. Elsewhere, Chris was laughing his ass off at their discomfort. Chef used a megaphone to declare "Time's up, and we should have the totals ready soon."
That promptly stopped McLean's laughter. He disapproved of the cook using said megaphone and angrily swiped it from his hands before insisting "I've told you this before and I'll tell you again: you DO NOT get to use that thing without my permission!"
"Jeez, calm down; it's nothing to get worked up over." replied Hatchet.
"Nevertheless, we should indeed count the bombs deactivated." said his boss. "Everybody else should go shower now that they have the chance."
25 minutes later, all the contestants had finished washing off and putting on clean clothes, very grateful they had the chance to do so. The second-in-command inquired "Is everyone ready for today's results?"
All 9 players replied with "Yes!" in unison.
"In that case, let's get right to it." added the showrunner. "In spite of every bomb that exploded, you all got scores in the double digits and certainly exceeded our expectations. I must give you props for that."
Chef subsequently announced "First off, the highest total of today is surprisingly 25 points, and the one who wins immunity for this is…
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Jo!"
"Hell to the fuck yes!" the jockette proclaimed, shooting both arms up in the air triumphantly.
"In second place, we have Brick, who somehow turned off 23 bombs." Chris informed them.
"It's an honor to score highly." replied the cadet.
"Third place for the day goes to Leshawna with 21 points." added Hatchet.
Upon hearing this, the sassy one remarked "I'm glad I could even get above 15."
McLean continued with "Trent and DJ jointly come in fourth after each deactivating 19 bombs."
The allies felt accomplished to not be in last place and simultaneously said "Good to know."
"Now for the third-lowest score: Max had a total of 16." the cook noted.
"Are you sure that was all?" asked the wannabe villain.
"100% yes, which was a higher number than I thought you'd get with such short arms and legs." the showrunner affirmed.
"Dammit, I told you before: don't call me short!" Max lashed out angrily, with Jo having to restrain him from physically attacking in retaliation.
Chris brushed that off with "Your rage doesn't scare me. Anyway, our second-lowest number was 14 bombs for Ella. I'm shocked she didn't get the lowest overall."
Resenting that last part, the princess was noticeably annoyed and insisted "There's no need for cheap shots like that."
Chef concluded with "Dakota and Sam tied for last place with 10 each.", and after hearing those competitors groan in defeat, he tried to console them with "Don't beat yourselves up too much over it as this wasn't an easy task for anybody."
McLean subsequently instructed "Think about who you'd like to vote for and try to make your decisions before dinner ends. Our elimination ceremony will begin promptly once everybody has finished eating."
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"I was looking forward to voting off Jo tonight, but unfortunately she won invincibility. Who else would be a suitable choice?"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Ms. Milton and her boyfriend at the pool. As they swam, he questioned "Any preference on who to vote for? As long as we target the same person, we should have a better chance of surviving this together."
"I haven't made up my mind." she admitted. "Part of me wants to consult Jo for her strategy while another feels worried that she'll be so focused on saving Brick that we'll be neglected in such plans."
Right on cue, the jockette happened to walk in and ask them "You think I'd just ditch you after we made a deal and followed through on it?", having overheard their exchange.
"Having a new boyfriend can shift your priorities." the gamer remarked. "If you want us to include him on our votes, then just say so and we can help keep that guy in the game."
"I'd have no objections to that." said his girlfriend.
"OK cool, now I have an idea on who to vote for." Jo replied before she inaudibly told them something as they huddled.
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"Let's hope this was the right choice."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"Not gonna lie; I feel kind of nervous after not taking part in any post-merge ceremonies before."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"What suckers! Nice to know I can still have rich daddy's girl and game junkie eating out of my hand when it comes to votes."
(End Confessional)
Elsewhere, DJ had invited Trent and Leshawna to join him in the movie theater from the previous challenge. All three were eating popcorn while watching Dumb and Dumber when the lattermost said "I came up with an idea for tonight's vote." and whispered something that only those guys could hear.
The gentle giant was silent for a moment before inquiring "Are you certain about that?"
"Most definitely. We might not get another chance to carry this idea out." she affirmed.
"Give us some time to think it over and we'll get back to you." Trent promised.
"Your time is limited, so you better think fast." the sassy one stated.
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"Who knows whether her plan will work? Trent and I just hope for the best."
(End Confessional)
Later that night, the contestants were eating cold cut sandwiches. Their choices were ham, turkey, chicken, roast beef, or bologna. With his mouth full of food, Max pondered "Which of these suckers can EVIL get rid of after tonight?"
"Keep that up, and you could be next." cautioned Leshawna with noticeable irritation.
The wannabe villain swallowed before retorting "How absurd; there's no way I could go out that soon! Don't forget how I got fifth place in my first season like you did."
She paused for a moment before conceding "You actually have a legitimate point there."
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"I'm not so easy to get rid of."
(End Confessional)
After finishing dinner, everybody gathered outdoors to meet with Chris and Chef. Their host informed them "Now that the teams are no more, we're getting rid of the bleachers, and whoever wins will get their own seat over there going forward." while pointing to a comfortable-looking couch large enough to fit two people.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"You know too much, so goodbye and good riddance!"
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)
"I know exactly what I'm doing with this vote."
(End Confessional)
"The votes have been cast. Going forward, we'll give the first key of the night to whoever wins a challenge. That means this belongs to Jo." Hatchet announced while tossing a silver key to the jockette.
"I'll gladly take it." Jo responded while relaxing on the couch.
"The next one safe is Ella." Chris declared.
After collecting her safety symbol, the princess replied with "Glad it's not me who's out."
"Max won't be packing his bags either tonight." said the cook.
Upon receiving a key, the aspiring evildoer bragged "It was obvious I'd stick around!"
"Trent, you're staying too, so take one of these." proclaimed the showrunner.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" the musician stated as he got one.
"We've also got a key for Leshawna." Chef announced as he gave her said object.
"I'm quite grateful for it." she replied.
"Sam is also safe this evening." the host declared as another symbol of safety was passed out.
"Nice to survive another night." said the gaming nut.
"The last person to not get any votes tonight is Dakota; here's your key." added Hatchet.
Ms. Milton smiled while telling him "OK good, that was a close call."
Only Brick and DJ were empty-handed at this point. They had looks of worry written all over their faces. Jo's jaw dropped in shock upon seeing her boyfriend in the bottom two, and she suddenly began to sweat as well. A certain guitarist felt nervous to see his friend and ally on the chopping block. Chris continued with "I only have one key left. Somebody here is about to leave the contest."
"I was not expecting to get votes tonight." the gentle giant stated.
"To be honest, me neither." confessed Mr. MacArthur.
McLean's next words were "Without any further ado, the player getting our final key of the night is…
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Brick!"
The soldier and his girlfriend, who was no longer sweating, took sighs of relief as he collected the safety symbol. He subsequently responded with "Thank you for letting me stay!"
Shortly afterwards, Chef stated "DJ, the vote was 6-3 against you tonight, so you're getting the boot."
"While hearing that does suck, I feel glad I made the merge here." replied the newly eliminated contestant, who was frowning with disappointment and defeat.
Trent protested the verdict with "How could this happen? He did nothing to warrant elimination today!"
After hearing the totals, the lookalike of Snow White gasped with surprise upon realizing how things went. In the meantime, DJ gave his ally a goodbye hug while saying "Whatever their reasons were, we can't change what happened, and keep doing your best out there for as long as you're competing."
The musician promised "I'll be sure to do just that! Too bad we couldn't go to the finals together."
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"If I knew who Jo was targeting tonight, then there's no way I would've voted for DJ! My goal is to go against her plans instead of with them. I only made this choice because Sam and Dakota told me he seemed like somebody who could be tough to take out later, but did she put that thought in their heads? Maybe I can convince them to get her out next time when they promised to vote with me."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"So, my plan to rope in the princess to break apart an alliance actually succeeded? What a fool! When I knew who she'd join forces to vote with, that meant I just had to get to the lovebirds first. Max joining us was a surprise bonus as I only expected to get four people on my side tonight. It would've been tough to try persuading Snow White on my own. What I need now is a backup plan for any nights I don't have immunity. Brick getting close to elimination wasn't something I foresaw, but I'll keep him safe."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to the gentle giant standing on a giant target, moments away from being sent off. Chris inquired "Anything left that you'd like to share before we kick you away?"
"Yes, there is: I hope Trent wins it all and that Brick doesn't get so blinded by love that he can't see any of Jo's schemes!" affirmed DJ.
"Wait, what schemes do you mean?" a confused soldier asked.
"He's just mad that I got him voted off and that his plans to take you out failed." his girlfriend bluffed with some slight anxiety.
Before the gentle giant could say anything else, McLean pressed the button to activate the giant boot that kicked DJ off the island. Leshawna tried to console the saddened musician with "You did nothing wrong here. None of us could've predicted tonight's voting tally."
"I know, but it still hurts." he told her.
(Begin Confessional: Max)
"Why didn't I go for Brick right away? My rationale is simple: I knew Jo would've figured it out and targeted me afterwards regardless of who got the axe. She can be quite intuitive when knowing what the voting totals are. This gives her a false sense of having my loyalty for votes. I'll be sure to kick off Jo once she doesn't have invincibility."
(End Confessional)
After the remaining 8 contestants exited the area, the host signed off the episode with "That was our first elimination without teams this season, and there's 6 more of those before the finale. Who do you think will go out next? How will our guitarist cope without his best friend around? To find out, stay tuned for more Total. Drama. Generation Showdown!"
We're now more than halfway through the season. DJ is one of my favorite contestants, especially among the first generation, and this was definitely the hardest elimination for me to write out so far. I had to make a sacrifice at some point. You'll see next chapter how Trent deals with his buddy's departure. If you're wondering why Leshawna wanted them to vote for Brick, then it's because she felt upsetting Jo with that would be the next best way to get revenge for the bomb tossing when the jockette was immune to votes. What none of them know is that Ella has her own suspicions as well.
Reason for elimination: Jo didn't want any alliance to remain in tact aside from her own, and opted to take out DJ first when he was more of a threat than Trent (particularly after figuring out the motives for getting rid of Dawn and Blaineley). She also thought it would throw the musician off his game and make him feel vulernable. Kudos to amit avrashmi for correctly guessing the elimination and rationale (with Leshawna being an alternate prediction even though she isn't formally part of any alliance)! Do you have some crystal ball that lets you see into the future :P? All joking aside, I was impressed with what you foresaw.
Voting results:
Brick: 3 votes (DJ, Leshawna, Trent)
DJ: 6 votes (Brick, Dakota, Ella, Jo, Max, Sam)
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), DJ (9th place)
Remaining Players:
Brick, Dakota, Ella, Jo, Leshawna, Max, Sam, Trent
Chapter posted: June 13, 2022.