Another aftermath approaches! Once I reply to the reviews posted for Chapter 17, you'll see what Lightning and Cameron discuss with Dave, Blaineley, DJ, and Ella.
Danicus Green: Got your questions for the interviewees via a PM before your review was submitted. They made in time to be featured. Just to be clear, I'm fully aware the princess has shifted from her typical self. She'll discuss that within this aftermath. Such changes were just temporary and meant to be part of the plot. I was using a trope known as "OOC Is Serious Business" to demonstrate that the altered demeanor wasn't meant to be taken lightly by other characters and isn't something that would occur in usual circumstances. It admittedly sounds ironic that you now find comfort how Ella never got voted off when leaving TDPI when I figured it would be less saddening to see her go out more fairly here from a majority vote instead of an absurd restriction that Chris imposed against singing. As for how the votes went last chapter, the only player to make a random choice was Trent, who felt too distressed to think things through in a practical matter following his loss to Jo so shortly after she got DJ out of the game. Our guitarist otherwise would've opted to vote off Max when finding that guy irritating. After the jockette unintentionally hit our Snow White lookalike with the paddle toss in the middle of cheering for victory (and landed a big kick to end their painful duel), Leshawna worried that she'd only get hurt more by staying in the game longer. If it wasn't for those events, then the sassy one's vote would be for our aspiring evildoer instead of the princess. I'm not spoiling whether Brick will remain Jo's boyfriend.
Rockin' D-99: See my above response to Danicus regarding Ella's change in behavior and what our cadet will do with his girlfriend. I didn't realize the whole idea of a breaking point for nice girls would feel cliché, but was trying to show she shouldn't be pushed too far. Even the kindest of souls have limits (whether they show anger or not). Anyway, glad you liked how this girl formed friendships with Dakota as well as Sam (who gave goodbye hugs). "The Sandlot" is a movie I watched many times when I was a kid and continue to enjoy as an adult. This film was something I figured our athletic contestants would enjoy due to its baseball theme.
A screen showed four giant red letters: T, D, G, and S. They flashed one at a time in that order before a brief display of the word "Aftermath". These were followed by brief clips of Dave, Blaineley, DJ, and Ella as they participated in various challenges from the season, starting with the kart race and ending with the paddle duels on a platform. As soon as the compilation ended, a curtain pulled back to show Rudolph "Lightning" Jackson and Cameron Wilkins sitting in their stools again. The former kicked things off with "We're sha-back with the season's third aftermath! Today's show will feature four interviews."
His co-host added "Since two of our guests made the merge this season, we're bound to get new perspectives here. Let's get right to it!"
"Very well. We'll kick things sha-off with the guy who absolutely hates germs. Please welcome Dave!" said Mr. Jackson.
Shortly afterwards, a certain germaphobe walked onto the screen covered in kiss marks, oblivious to how those were visible. Seeing that made the audience snicker. He questioned "What's so funny?" while sitting down in an empty stool.
"You should look in a mirror." answered Mr. Wilkins before holding one up for him to see.
Dave immediately blushed upon seeing the lipstick on his face and admitted "Oh that; I somehow forgot to check my appearance earlier." with a sheepish chuckle before pulling out a cloth to clean himself off and taking a seat.
"When it seems like there's some messiness you don't mind so much after all, that brings us to our first question: how are things going with Ella?" asked Lightning.
"Quite well!" he enthusiastically replied. "I remain very glad we got to know each other better and she does make a lovely partner. Having Ella around with me substantially helped my game, especially with her choosing me first when the teams were being formed, and I otherwise probably would've been eliminated before the first aftermath. Just wish we got together sooner and that I didn't cause any heartbreak last season, intentional or not."
"Very understandable. There's no doubt you've learned from your season 6 mistakes and that your peers currently hold you in much higher regard than they did after its finale." Cameron told him. "However, there's still an elephant in the room we need to address: what did you think Sky's 'but' really was? Were you expecting it to be something insignificant that Sky was getting worked up over just because she was nervous?"
The germaphobe confirmed "In all honesty, that was my guess before we talked things out with help from Shawn and ultimately decided not to date after everything that happened. I now realize it was a 'but we should focus on the competition first and talk about relationships after it ends' instead and wish I hadn't cut her off there. It could've saved us lots of trouble in retrospect, especially when she was meaning to call things off with Keith before Chris showed that tape mentioning him. Maybe getting to share it on her own terms would've prevented the host from having Jasmine and me become hinderers after serving as helpers in the finals, but I can't say for certain. As for this season, it's too bad I couldn't reach the merge or take out Jo before leaving the game. I can only hope that bitch goes out ASAP! Still, Ella managed to weaken her forces when still competing, which was very satisfying for me."
"We're sorry about that whole nosebleed thing. It doesn't look like Brick was quite convinced Jo sha-did this to you, so what would you tell him?" inquired sha-narcissist.
"That he needs to open his eyes and see that she's up to no good!" Dave answered angrily. "Quite honestly, I'm shocked someone as honorable as him even became attracted to her."
Bubble boy surmised "Maybe he will after learning the full truth. In case she still tries to deny anything, we have confessionals saved as proof of her guilt. Would you care to see those?"
"Sure, I could use some evidence." affirmed the germ-hater.
The aftermath hosts turned on the nearby TV to display some footage of Jo admitting to throwing the rock at him. Once it finished, Lightning questioned "How do you think our military boy would react to what was shown here?"
That was answered with "Hopefully the guy would grasp the big picture and get angered enough to end their relationship. He deserves someone better than Jo anyway."
"Even though I knew they secretly liked each other back in season 4 and tried to hide this beneath a rivalry, I never thought either would ever admit the truth or that she'd publicly show a vulnerable side when confessing to him, so I was surprised myself to see how it all went down. Jo typically is someone I expect to act all tough and never drop her guard." Cameron admitted. "You do realize they deep down admire each other's athleticism among other things, right?"
"I do, but it's not worth staying together for." said Dave.
"OK here's one final question before we go to the next interview: did you ever think anybody would be sha-jealous of you now that you and Ella are dating?" inquired Lightning.
"Not at first, so I felt surprised when Rodney was visibly upset last night upon walking in on us briefly pecking each other on the lips. The dude also sounded somewhat bitter when urging me to 'please never break her heart' and I could sense envy. Earlier this morning, however, I noticed him gazing at Anne Maria despite insisting he was trying to control his heart or something along those lines. I guess Rod still doesn't take long to move on when a lady crosses paths with him. Either way, she didn't appreciate his staring and still isn't entirely over Justin or getting harshly rejected by that guy." replied the clean freak.
"During the first aftermath, Rodney's jealousy was impossible to miss when admitting to wishing they could be together instead and feeling worried you'd hurt Ella in some way. I can safely say his concerns are unfounded. Now we need to speak with the next contestant, so please take a seat on the couch over there." The bubble boy remarked before pointing to a couch, and the germ-hater complied.
The athletic co-host announced "Our second guest of the day is at least 15 years older than sha-anybody else who's competed on the show. She's not popular among the cast at all and I'm surprised she didn't get axed sooner. It's time for Blaineley!"
Hearing this made various audience members shout out "Boo!" as Mildred walked on stage.
In response, she bitterly yelled "Shut your traps!" before taking a seat.
"Can't say it's any sha-surprise you got such a reaction." noted Lightning.
"I'm really that unpopular, huh? It looks lots of viewers are just too weak to handle me and my ways." she arrogantly stated.
"Don't flatter yourself; you simply are insufferable and have made others miserable." replied Cameron.
"Pfft, they're wimps!" Ms. O'Halloran scoffed. "Anyway, I shouldn't even be here so soon when I got immunity for my team the day I got booted."
"That does sound ironic, but we all know it's because you deliberately violated McLean's privacy to humiliate him, and he had every right to disqualify you no matter how funny the Stumpy display was." Mr. Jackson reminded her before chuckling along with his co-host and adding "Besides, if you did reach the merge, then everyone else would've just sha-voted you off at first opportunity anyway. Chances are you'd still be here at the aftermaths today when I doubt you could've gotten any solo victories."
"Please, I would be able to kick all their asses in the egg balancing, bomb defusing, and paddle dueling!" she insisted, not convincing either of the aftermath hosts. "It's not like you guys could do any better in those or what I endured."
"On the contrary, I know how to shut off devices." Mr. Wilkins retorted.
"Maybe so, but you'd still be a sha-wimp at any of the physical challenges. Lightning could easily take the crown for that balance beam challenge, bike racing, and paddle duels!" his co-host added, speaking in the third person.
"Hey, that was completely uncalled for!" complained the bubble boy. "It's not like you could defuse bombs any quicker than me when I don't believe you ever studied how they work."
The jock added "I could figure it out eventually or just chuck the thing against a surface."
"Look, we're getting sidetracked, and should turn the focus back to our interviewee." said Cameron. "Now for our first question: how did you manage to sneak past Chris's security system and get into his office without anybody catching you sooner?"
"I took note of where all the cameras were facing and made sure to dodge those." she explained. "However, there was just one I didn't notice until it was too late, and this camera ended up recorded me raiding through file cabinets to find those childhood photos of him with Stumpy the log."
Hearing that made the jaws of both aftermath hosts drop in shock. Neither of them expected her to have such stealth skills. An unidentified audience member could be heard asking "You just made all of that up, right?"
"No, I most certainly didn't." Blaineley quickly replied.
"Either way, here's something else we'd like to know: your Celebrity Manhunt persona is vastly different from your Total Drama persona. Why is that?" Lightning questioned.
"Simply put, losing a job can change somebody quite a lot." Mildred explained. "That was super embarrassing to endure, and I figured I could show my former show what they're missing by not having me around anymore."
"I highly doubt your actions throughout this series will make them want you back, and speaking of embarrassment, did you ever think of others trying to retaliate for what you've done since getting fired?" asked Mr. Wilkins.
Not liking the implications of that, she gulped nervously before admitting "It hadn't crossed my mind."
"Well, Chris still feels bitter over the whole Stumpy ordeal, and insisted we show a bunch of these clips and photos he compiled of you as payback." added the athlete before activating the nearby TV.
"Come on; me getting kicked off during the bike race should already be enough punishment to satisfy him!" the former co-host of Celebrity Manhunt protested, which was completely ignored.
The screen showed Blaineley participating in burping and farting contests (winning both), being an obese child, binging on sugary treats with a face covered in candy (stealing some of it from other children), getting a full body wax (screaming out from the pain), walking out of a bathroom with toilet paper stuck to both shoes, and playing tea party with stuffed animals as a kid while speaking in different voices for each of them with all but one animal giving high praise for her (the sole exception commented on being overweight). This compilation made everybody except Mildred burst out laughing. She felt utterly humiliated and demanded "You turn that shit off RIGHT NOW!"
The aftermath hosts simultaneously replied with "No way!" and continued to laugh as the TV showed recordings of this competitor wetting her pants during childhood after being scared by a Halloween prank, losing a spelling bee as a teenager by misspelling "gravy" with the letter "I" at the end instead of a "Y", and getting rejected when asking some guys at school for dates.
Infuriated, Ms. O'Halloran decided to just grab the TV's remote and power it off herself. Someone in the audience complained "You're such a killjoy!"
She chucked the remote at the speaker before retorting "Torturing me with such embarrassment gives you joy, huh? It's not funny."
"Such a remark is quite hypocritical coming from you of all people." Cameron added.
"Sha-yes indeed it is." Lightning said in agreement. "Now you know how the season 3 contestants felt."
Following a sigh of defeat, her next words were "Point taken."
"Moving on, do you have any sense of why Jo exposed your file raiding?" asked Mr. Jackson.
"Of course! I figured this out before I got kicked by the giant boot: her precious Brick would've otherwise been on the chopping block, and she got desperate with no other way to save that guy from elimination after losing the challenge." Mildred replied without hesitation. "The motive was so transparent, and it didn't take a genius to see that saving him was also Jo's reason for getting rid of Dawn."
"Her actions weren't as subtle as she seemed to think." remarked the bubble boy. "With that in mind, do you find yourself more admiring such tactics, or resenting how you got ratted out?"
Her response was "I'll have to say the latter. Ratting out your teammates when you won is a stupid move, especially without any sense of when the merge would come."
"Lightning would never do that!" insisted the other co-host, once more referring to himself in the third person before inquiring "One other thing out of sha-curiosity: what did you learn about Chris during your spare time on the day of the eating challenge?"
She chuckled while revealing "That along with still sucking his thumbs when asleep and being unable to go to bed without holding a teddy bear, McLean secretly owns a whole closetful of teddys at home!" and cracked up right after finishing her sentence.
Hearing this made everybody else begin laughing too as. A few minutes passed before they could calm themselves down. Once the laughter stopped, Cameron continued with "Last question before we go to the next contestant: how did you feel after Max and Ella exposed how Jo was responsible for Dave's nosebleed instead of you during the obstacle course?"
Her answer was "Quite honestly, I was and still am grateful, even though it didn't exactly look like Mr. Solider believed them. Not sure what it'll take to convince him when he probably wouldn't take my word for this."
"Beats me, now please move to the couch over there so we can interview another contestant." Lightning requested, and she obeyed.
The bubble boy introduced the next guest with "We now have somebody from the first 3 seasons with a very gentle demeanor who would never try to harm anyone or anything. He thankfully has learned that the so-called 'animal curse' was all just in his head and was able to regain lots of confidence thanks to Dawn. This contestant also had a solid alliance up until getting voted off. Give it up for DJ!"
As Mr. Stranahan walked on stage, the audience enthusiastically cheered for him. He gratefully replied with "I appreciate the warm welcome."
"Of course, and we're not surprised by the cheers. Many cast members and viewers hold you in high regard." Lightning noted.
"That's nice to know." said the gentle giant.
Cameron's next words were "We'll start by asking you this: are you concerned about Trent's well-being after you got voted off?"
That was answered with "To be honest, yes; I saw the most recent episode and could tell he's having a hard time coping with my departure. I wish I was still out there competing with him. Since nobody's returning to the game, Trent will have to get himself together somehow, and maybe join forces with another player. While I had no qualms with helping a friend out with strategizing and finding ways to survive elimination ceremonies, there's nothing else I can do in that regard now. He definitely needed that goodbye hug or probably would've struggled even more."
"Regarding the other players, do you have a particular sha-recommendation for who would be his best bet for a new ally?" Lightning questioned.
"I do! This would be Leshawna since that's the only contestant still in the game who knows him as well as I do or perhaps even better." DJ affirmed. "In fact, it seemed like she'd be quite willing to team up with him after voting with us in the puzzle piece and garbage bomb challenges. It couldn't hurt to ask her. They both did plan on voting off Jo during the paddle duel, but that had to be scrapped when their target won, and I can only guess that threw him off his game. Casting random votes is never a good back-up plan. However, I was and still am proud of how he made the final battle and came close to winning that challenge."
"At this point, how far do you see him going in the game?" inquired Mr. Wilkins.
"That depends on whether the arbitrary choices for elimination continue. If they do, then Trent would at best reach the final five. It's not too late for him to step things up." replied the gentle giant.
"On another note, you sha-mentioned in a confessional how being Jo's boyfriend doesn't mean Brick should let his guard down." Mr. Jackson added. "Has anything changed this thought of yours?"
DJ quickly stated "Not at all. I'd also say the need for caution is now even stronger after what's happened since I left the contest! The dude's girlfriend may have survived another challenge, but not without a cost, and losing allies could make her angrier later on."
"How do you believe Sam and Dakota will fare without the extra security vote?" inquired Cameron.
"It's not looking good for them. I'm pretty sure they'll be targeted next for turning against Jo." surmised the gentle giant.
"Not sure what I find more surprising; the fact that those two made a deal with her in the first place, or how she actually followed through on helping them." Lightning commented. "This will be the last thing we ask before you need to sha-move to the couch so we can conduct the next interview: Why did you vote for Beth to win Total Drama Action instead of Duncan? Weren't you two supposed to be close friends?"
He answered with "As I mentioned in that finale, I wanted another gentle millionaire and didn't feel there were enough of those. She struck me as the gentle type. While that guy was pals with me during the first season, we weren't as close during season 2 and have been even further apart since World Tour, plus I feel he went over-the-top with continuing his tough torment of Harold. I understood trying to teach him a lesson about underwear sloppiness and feeling mad over the vote rigging that unfairly eliminated Courtney, but there are limits for these things." prior to leaving the stool and joining Dave and Blaineley on the couch.
The bubble boy announced "Our fourth and final guest of the day definitely showed some growth over this season. She showed more skills, learned from past mistakes, won the first post-merge challenge, and broke apart a powerful alliance. Put your hands together for Ella!"
Seeing the lookalike of Snow White appear onstage prompted some applause, though not as much as DJ. She showed a brighter disposition than in the paddle challenge and happily remarked "I do like hearing that response for my arrival."
"Not very surprising. After talking with Dave earlier, we already know you're still sha-happily dating, and congrats on your affections now being returned. Did you always sense you and the dude would eventually get together after the shoe retrieval last season?" Lightning inquired.
"Thank you. While being in the friendzone isn't by any means the worst thing I ever experienced, it still disappointed me when I wanted more than just friendship for us, and the night we finally became a couple was a dream come true!" The princess replied with impossible-to-miss excitement over the last four words, unable to hold back any smiles, before adding "I knew during season 6 my feelings were one-sided and that I couldn't just suddenly change his mind. My first inkling he'd at some point love me back came from calling me 'an angel' during our hug in the boat race, and it officially started the next day during the rock-climbing challenge. What surprised me was how my knowledge of reducing filth from climbs is what won him over when that didn't seem as major as cleaning off Dave's vomit after preventing his fall into the sea."
Cameron's next words were "I see what you mean. By the way, there's a rumor floating around that you and Gwen are cousins. There's also a rumor that you were a problem child in your youth and that your princess behavior is the result of rehabilitation at an etiquette school. Are either of these rumors true?"
"Not in the slightest. I otherwise would've felt more enthusiastic about her guest appearance as I do enjoy time with my family and know how to recognize relatives. My behavior admittedly is an attempt to bring more cheerfulness into a world with lots of unpleasant things as I know there are folks who could use an uplifting boost, even when not always knowing how they'd respond to it, and I suppose I could look for other methods to use. While I'm not always full of rainbows and sunshine as some might think from seeing me on camera, I do my best to look for the bright side of things when possible. Sugar probably started the whole 'problem child' story just to make me look bad." Ella answered.
Both hosts were surprised by her explanation for the latter rumor. Mr. Jackson followed it up with "That brings us to our next question: when did you first realize how toxic this girl was and how befriending her last season was a lost cause?"
"Embarrassingly, not until after I got unfairly kicked off for defying that absurd restriction Chris imposed on my singing." confessed the look alike of Snow White with a frown of shame. "I knew all along she hated me, but wish I figured out sooner that this was too strong to overcome with attempts to form a friendship. Some people are just not worth it. I'm not as naïve as before and refuse to let myself get abused like that again."
"Glad that you learned your lesson." Mr. Wilkins commended. "Was it satisfying to see her finish in last place this season?"
"To tell the truth, it very much was, especially when I didn't have to endure nearly as much torment or interference before Sugar got voted off." she affirmed. "I was initially dreading the thought of her going to the final three again and this isn't someone who deserved to even make the merge last time."
"Neither of us blame you for feeling that way." added Lightning. "Getting back to the current season, did you know that Jo orchestrated your elimination after learning how you got Dakota and Sam to turn against her?"
Following a gasp of shock, the princess replied "No, and I don't have a clue how she found out. We did our best to stay discreet."
Cameron explained "That was from Max overhearing you in the theater earlier." prior to showing footage of Ella talking about voting plans, him popping his head up after eavesdropping, and a confessional where Jo mentioned how the aspiring evildoer blabbed about what he heard.
"Throwing me under the bus like that to save his own skin is quite cowardly!" she angrily stated once the clips stopped playing. "At first I figured it was just because I knew the truth of my prince's nosebleed, which you thankfully confirmed by showing a clip with that admission of the toss."
Mr. Jackson sympathetically told her "Fully agreed, and you didn't sha-deserve this. By the way, I forgot to mention earlier that you didn't exactly seem to be your usual self as you got closer to the most recent challenge, especially with that confrontation during your paddle duel. Was this more because of resenting the rock throw or your grief over his absence?"
With a sigh, Ella explained "My mood change came from a roughly equal combination of both as well as how that interfering toss has still gone unpunished. I didn't like feeling that way but it's too late to change things now. When seeking to avenge him, I initially underestimated how much his departure and learning about the nosebleed would affect me. Watching myself on camera after getting voted off was quite a wake-up call. However, seeing my beloved again did lift my spirits even when it meant neither of us could win. To anybody I may have irked with my change in demeanor, I'd like to say sorry. The game can really get to peoples' heads!"
"You're forgiven and had every right to feel upset over the experiences. Even the nicest folks have their limits. How did he react to your shift in attitude?" Mr. Wilkins asked.
Smiling with relief now, her reply was "Dave thankfully seemed pretty understanding when I apologized for this and never thought less of me for it. My prince also was proud of me for developing more strategy skills and weakening Jo's forces. If I ever compete in another season, then I'll try to maintain those tactics, and either way I'm grateful for the bonds I formed this time around. It was nice to have friends who backed me up in the last vote."
"Since all of the solo questions for you have been answered, please go join today's other guests on the couch." requested Lightning.
As the lookalike of Snow White did just that, Cameron announced "We've got joint inquiries for them soon, but first will speak with the players from the prior two aftermaths."
Five seconds later, the cameras shifted towards Sugar, Justin, Rodney, Anne Maria, Eva, Beardo, and Dawn all sitting in a row. Sha-athlete asked them "Be honest: how far did you initially think today's guests would go in the season?"
The first eliminated contestant replied with "The only one I ever foresaw getting past the second aftermath was DJ. He went out around the time I would've guessed, though without a known alliance, it's possible the dude could still be playing as that union made him a threat. What really shocked me is how Ella somehow made it to the merge and ended up getting a boyfriend before that. Dave could've picked someone better than that wimp, and that clean freak was lucky not to get kicked off before the first aftermath! The old lady also should've gone out during the baseball challenge instead of me."
Fed up with her harassing his girlfriend, the germaphobe gave double middle fingers and spat "Enough is enough; you should zip it and go burn in hell!" as he and the princess scowled in response, though the latter smiled a bit in gratitude afterwards for this defense against Sugar.
Up next was the model, who admitted "I wasn't really sure what to think when the season first began aside from the hag going out in the fifth challenge at latest. She really surpassed my expectations for someone who's so unskilled."
Mildred quickly replied with "You should give me more credit!"
"Ella was always the one I thought would go furthest among them. Nice to see I was right here. Just thought we'd more likely see her make fourth or fifth place." answered Rodney. "Given how much of a threat DJ was with his alliance, I'm surprised nobody took him out pre-merge to stop him and Trent from potential game domination. Blaineley on the other hand is someone I never thought would reach the obstacle course. As for Dave, he went out at around the time I expected. Having an ally helped him get further and later seemed to ironically play a part in his booting."
"Snow White getting so far shocked me and I could've sworn the rock-climbing challenge would be the end for her or Dave after we ended up losing and I finished before either of them. However, I will say she's since proven herself to not be as much of a doormat or womanchild as I once thought. It's obvious that having him around dating prompted her to show more of the useful side." Anne Maria stated. "The aging lady is someone I thought would've finished in dead last while DJ was definitely not going out early when backed by an ally. I figured he'd go a bit further, but definitely saw him making the merge."
"Once Blaineley blackmailed me into voting with her only to see myself booted that night, I was sure she'd go out next time our team lost." said Eva. "DJ went out at roughly the same time I would've guessed, and I didn't really know what to say about the others."
Beardo pondered for a bit before replying "In all honesty, I had no idea what to think until I saw who made it past the first aftermath. This gave me a sense that each of them had at least some chance of making the merge. Evidently I was wrong on half of them."
Dawn finished it with "Each aura unsurprisingly showed a strong desire to go far in the game. When reading those of everyone else, I sensed that Sugar would try to take out Ella at first opportunity followed by Blaineley and myself. However, she got overconfident this time around and was too notorious for last season's actions to pull those plans off, so I didn't think any of today's guests would get last place. I always had a gut feeling they'd minimally get past the first aftermath, especially once DJ no longer was worried about a so-called 'animal curse' and when people realized Dave not only felt genuinely sorry for his season 6 finale actions but also had learned from past mistakes and wouldn't repeat them. None of these four eliminations surprised me for taking place at the times they did. Everyone else's auras made it clear who they wanted to vote out when and of course I knew the motive for exposing that file raid."
"Thank you for the responses, and now we have something to jointly ask all of today's guests." Cameron stated as the cameras shifted towards them.
"We've got multiple questions here, so be sure to sit tight." Lightning added.
The bubble boy inquired "I'll start off with this: when it's quite clear none of you like Jo, at what point did you first realize this contestant was trouble?"
"Once Max told me about the whole tossing a rock at my face ordeal." the germ-hater answered with some bitterness. "She's lucky I didn't survive the elimination ceremony that night, or I would've made it a priority to take her out ASAP!"
"I knew right from our kart race at the start of the season that Jo was underhanded." replied Ms. O'Halloran. "As much as I loved that, I wish it wasn't done at my expense! Our team otherwise could've maintained a numbers advantage at the merge."
DJ stated "Learning that Jo was the one who orchestrated Dawn's elimination is what tipped me off. If she didn't care what an aura reading would reveal or how an opposing team would vote, then I doubt such plans would've been made. While I knew right away how part of it was also to save her beloved Brick, getting involved like this still was suspicious. Taking out another team's threat was definitely one step of a plan."
Ella responded with "Trying to get rid of Dawn that night gave me a gut feeling she could do something bad, but I wasn't fully certain until learning how the nosebleed happened."
Mr. Jackson asked them "Among all the contestants that are still in the game, who are your top two preferences for sha-winning this season and why?"
Dave replied "Dakota and Sam since they both helped out my girlfriend in times of need where I wasn't around. The former also convinced me to give romance a shot sooner than I otherwise would have, plus the latter's a cool guy who I could easily to get along with and seemed to understand my situation with Ella more than the other dudes did. He probably knew how hesitant I initially was to get involved with that sort of thing."
"As long as it isn't the one who got me disqualified, I honestly don't care who wins at this point as they could inflict some payback." Blaineley confessed. "Seeing her boyfriend lose it all would also feel like nice revenge."
"You obviously know I would want Trent to take the crown when I was his ally. After him, my second choice would be Leshawna because we're both friends with her and she's the only one left who knows the guy as well as I do." the gentle giant responded.
"Like my prince, I also want Sam or Dakota to win. This is for how they not only became my friends but also had my back once the teams were disbanded. When the cameras weren't rolling, he also gave me some guidance on how to approach dating someone who might still feel at their lowest after enduring trauma. It really helped! She additionally was the first one to assure me I was right in guessing David had begun to return my love, even in moments where I wasn't certain about it." said the princess.
"What do you feel most proud of accomplishing this season?" questioned the bubble boy.
"Proving to everyone I'm not as rotten as certain folks made me out to be along with getting to know others better without so much judgement." added the germaphobe, who let out a smile when continuing with "This particularly applies to one of my teammates and I have no doubt you already know which one that is."
The former co-host of Celebrity Manhunt followed up with "The fact that I actually had some victories and didn't just last for two challenges total. While that might not sound like much for some people, it was meaningful for me."
Mr. Stranahan told them "Making the merge for the first time since season one plus being able to move past my 'animal curse' paranoia."
"Outside of forming a romance, I'd say finishing second in that kart race, which let me pick teammates and in retrospect helped make our initiation easier." answered the lookalike of Snow White, who giggled and blushed before continuing with "It was also nice to reach the merge this time around."
"Now for the final one today: any guesses on what the finale will involve?" Mr. Jackson asked.
"Maybe a boxing match where the last one standing wins." surmised Dave.
Mildred's next words were "I don't know, something where they have to get the most points within a time limit?"
"The first thing that comes to my mind is a race of some sort." DJ speculated. "Every season except the fourth has involved one so far."
"To shake things up, Chris might go with a new idea, like a trivia contest." guessed Ella.
Right after that response, the aftermath hosts simultaneously wrapped the episode with "Anybody could win at this point, but there will only be one more aftermath before the finale, so keep watching to see who we'll end up interviewing in that last one!" prior to the curtains closing in front of everyone.
That concludes the third aftermath! The fourth and final one will come up in Chapter 24. For any readers who are curious what Danicus Green's inquiries were for each contestant, they were the one about Sky for Dave, the one about Blaineley's change in persona from Celebrity Manhunt days, why DJ supported Beth instead of Duncan in the season 2 finale, and the Ella rumors.
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), Ella (8th place)
Remaining Players:
Brick, Dakota, Jo, Leshawna, Max, Sam, Trent
Chapter posted: August 21, 2022.