Author's Note: A new week, A new chapter. This episode had its ups and downs, but I think it's enjoyable.
Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama, the shuffled concept or the (most of) the characters.
And now, the reviews!
Piecesxoxo: Let that be a lesson, just because it's an expected elimination doesn't mean it still can't be a surprise. Honestly, I always assumed that they only filmed the reactions to the people that were still there. It never occurred to me that it might be otherwise until about half-way through last year.
richboylion: It was a dare in the Final Three last season. She just never changed it back.
That British Guy: Not all the eliminations can be shockers. She didn't, but it was enough to actually talk to him. She was dared to in the semi-finals and never changed it back.
mattafat: Thanks! Some of the plots came easy. Others, like Sammy, took a while before I could come up with something. But I think they all fit together.
Starheart Specials: I tried to. But it all seemed incredibly awkward and disjointed.
Current Castmates:
Screaming Gaffers: DJ, Duncan, Sammy
Killer Grips: Alejandro, Heather, Kitsune, Sugar
But it's time for the game to be shaken and stirred up because the teams are merging.
Episode 16: Dial M for Merger.
"Last time on Total Drama Action!" Chris said over a shot of the film studio. "It was a festival of guts, determination, and sweat," the eight teens were shown doing their football drills, followed by Kitsune pushing chef across the field, "as yours truly put our contestants through their sports movie paces." Clips of Sugar knocking out Leshawna and Kitsune beating up Duncan were shown.
"Only Leshawna was a little distracted when her rant about the gang turned up on Alejandro's PDA," the cast was shown watching the video and glaring at the screen. "So it was no surprise when she was sent packing," she was shown being escorted off the film lot.
"We're down to just seven competitors" Chris continued in the monitor room before pressing a button on his keyboard, causing the three monitor feeds to switch to what looked to be a white backdropped filmed through the barrel of a gun, "and today we're gonna make the best spy movie ever!"
The scene flashed to a close-up of one of the monitors, and Chris walked through the white space in his awards show tuxedo. "And we might have a few sneaky surprises along the way," he said as the space followed him. He threw a tomato through the barrel at the camera and it splattered, then slid down as a transition to the host standing back by the cast trailers. "Right here, on Total! Drama! Action!
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[A stage light pops up in front of some fake buildings and turns on; a camera with a rat on top of it comes out of a manhole; another camera comes out of the hollow of a tree, along with some garbage and a very confused raccoon. A pair of hands claps a film slate in front of the camera, and the camera flies through the film lot; Chris drives a golf cart with Chef in the passenger side in the camera's path. The host grins and waves and the cook crosses his arms and scowls as the lyrics start]
Dear Mom and Dad I'm doing fine
[The camera passes through a tree and files down a road between the studio warehouses, dodging a farm backdrop and a sunset backdrop before flying through a costume rack]
You guys are on my mind
[The camera flies up the fake mountain and peeks over the edge to see a pool of water, then jumps in]
You asked me what I wanted to be
[As the camera lands in the pool, bubbles fill the screen and then disapate to show Sugar in her bikini with a large shark behind her. The pageant queen farts as the shark opens its mouth, then it chokes]
And I think the answer is plain to see
[The camera pans up to show Harold on a surfboard hooked up to some rigging. He tries to dodge seagulls that are shooting past him like bullets, only to take one to the face and be knocked in the water.]
I wanna be... famous
[The camera quick pans to the left, showing Duncan manning what can only be described as a seagull cannon with a sadistic grin on his face. The camera pans back to show Sky looking at the punk with contempt as he fires the rest of the gulls. The camera flies between them, then pauses in front of a large door as Sasquatchanawkwa runs across it in a pink dress and boa The door opens and the camera flies into a bright light.]
I wanna live close to the sun
[The light fades into a shot of the beach set where Leshawna sits on a pool chair. She is flanked with sharks in their own chairs The camera zooms in on Leshawna as she gives a huge smile.]
Well pack your bags 'cause I've already won
[The camera pans to the right and ending up on Noah in the confessional reading a book with a smug expression pn his face and his legs propped up on the table. He leans back and goes too far as he falls backwards.]
Everything to prove, nothing in my way
I'll get there one day
[The camera quick pans to the right again to show Heather and a bald and camo cap wearing Alejandro on rock pillars against a dark backdrop. The two have dueling sticks, Heather's is blue and Alejandro's is orange. Alejandro hits Heather a few times and she responds with a jab to his face, his cap falls off and the camera quick pans down to show the hat falling perfectly on DJ's head.]
'Cause I wanna be... famous
[The camera zooms out a bit to show DJ stirring a metal pot with a smile on his face. He pulls out a small orange bottle and sprinkles something in the pot, takes out a spoon and offers it to someone off-screen; the camera zooms out more to show he was offering it to Sammy, who giggles and kisses him on the cheek. The camera pans out to show Amy watching the scene on one of two monitors in another room with a look of disgust on her face. She angrily presses a button and is surprised when an explosion rocks the other screen.]
(Na nananana nanananana nananananana)
[The camera cuts to the explosion as it fades away revealing a slightly singed Shawn nervously looking around... only to scream and run away to the right past a zombie in familliar clothing. The zombie reveals itself to be Kitsune, who giggles to herself as he runs past. The camera follows him as he runs past the Lame-o-sine then stops at the vehicle.]
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous (Na nananana nanananana nananananana)
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous (Na nananana nanananana nananananana)
[The camera zooms in on the limousine's window, which rolls down to show a smiling Mike and Zoey. The window behind them rolls down to show Victor smiling at the couple. He opens the door with an formal bow. The camera flies past a series of flashes as if it were going down the red carpet and stops at Chris in a blue tux on the amphitheatre. The host grins and opens an evelope, then looks over at a scowling dress-wearing Chef as he holds a tray of Guilded Chris's. Chris purses his lips and gives a look to the camera. The camera zooms out to show the scene was being watched on a monitor, then pans down to Gwen and Trent, the latter strumming the last few notes of the theme on his guitar.
The camera zooms out to show the non competitors on the center couch of what looked to be the set of a talk show, flanked by two double tiered couches. On the top left: Noah, Sammy, DJ, and Tyler. On the bottom left: Zoey, Mike, Leshawna, Harold, Duncan, and Kitsune. On the top right: Staci, Malcolm, Victor, Sky, and Alejandro. And on the bottom right: Scarlett, Sugar, Shawn, Amy and Heather. The feed on the monitor fizzles out and changes to the Total Drama Action logo]
XXXXX
The episode opened on a close-up of a fly as it buzzed down through the sky to a plate of sandwiches being carried towards the common area by Heather. "Morning team!" she said with an oddly cheery tone and wide smile, "I got us sandwiches!" She sang as she approached the rest of her team that were sitting on the picnic table outside the boys' trailer.
The three of them just glared at her.
"Come on guys," she chided. "I'm sorry about how I acted the last challenge, but that's no reason for us not to get along."
Alejandro and Kitsune shared a raised eyebrow, then resumed glaring at their teammate.
XXX
"Ugh!" Heather groaned in the confessional. "Instead of Alejandro and Kitsune fighting all the time, they're actually... cooperating. How can I control my team's votes if we're split down the middle? I need something to convince them to stay on my side and soon."
XXX
The scene cut over to the Gaffers as they watched from the fire pit. "Am I ever glad we don't have those problems," DJ commented.
"How can they keep beating us when they don't trust each other?" Sammy asked.
"I don't trust anyone and I've been doin' fine," Duncan added.
The camera cut to Heather as she groaned in frustration. "Locked again?" She asked in annoyance just before a small camera suddenly descended from the canopy above the door.
It scanned the queen bee's eyes, then in a robotic voice declared "Intruder alert! Entry denied!" Before Heather could react the steps leading up to the door collapsed into a slide that sent her falling back into a pit that suddenly opened up in the ground.
"Haha," Kitsune laughed as she walked over to the pit, "That was too funny." As she grinned mockingly down at her teammate, and she was hit in the neck by a purple dart. Her eyes closed and she let out a tired groan, then fell into the pit.
"Foxy!" Duncan yelled in concern. He leaned over into the pit and asked, "Are you okay?" frantically and didn't notice a black bowler hat fly through the air and hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out and causing him to fall into the pit.
"Run for your lives!" Sugar cried as she, Sammy, and DJ ran into the boys' trailer and slammed the door shut. Alejandro tried to open it to get in, but the door was locked.
"Amigos!" He yelled as he pounded the door. "Let me in!"
"Oh emm gee!" Sammy cried from inside the trailer. "What's going on?!"
XXX
"I am not foolish enough to think that we're in any real danger," Alejandro said confidently before his eyes widened in panic. "But of the off chance that we are, I should be safe in-" he was interrupted by a white hand clubbing him on the back of the head and knocking him out.
XXX
"M-maybe we shouldn't have left Alejandro out there," Sammy whimpered as the camera cut back to the inside of the trailer. She was pacing around and DJ was firmly holding himself against the door, much to Sugar's annoyance.
"Al can take care of himself," the pageant queen said flippantly. "We gotta worry about us!"
"But what are we gonna do?!" Sammy panicked.
"Maybe Chris will realize we're not comin' out and get tired of waitin'" DJ suggested. "Then this challenge will be-" He was cut off by a small canister being thrown in the room and filling the air with a purple gas. The three teens coughed a bit before passing out.
\
The camera flashed to the inside of a cave that was littered with stage and floor lights. The seven teens were lying on the floor arranged into their teams, the Grips on the left and the Gaffers on the right.
The shot focused on the Gaffers as they got up. "Are you guys ok?" DJ asked as he stumbled a bit.
"I'm fine," Duncan replied, brushing dirt off his shirt. "More than a little ticked though."
"Besides," Sammy commented, "waking up in a strange place is normal on this show."
"Hey!" Kitsune yelled, grabbing the attention of both the camera and the Gaffers and showing she was missing her trademark accessory. "Where's my headband?'
"Here you go Senorita," Alejandro said with a charming smile as he handed her the headband.
"...Thanks," she said cautiously before putting it on and walking away. Duncan noticed the exchange and gave the charmer an 'I'm watching you' gesture.
The viewpoint moved over the shoulders of the regrouped teens as a holographic image was projected in front of them by a machine in the cave wall. It quickly formed a scene of Chris sitting in his monitor room and laughing evilly, with a patch over his left eye and petting a white cat in his lap. Alejandro and Heather gaped as they looked up at it, as did DJ and Sammy.
"Wel-kom, to ze cloak an dag-gehr, world ov Spy Moveez, mon and wom-mon!" he told them in some strange mixture of stereotypical French, German, and Jamaican accents.
"Dude," Duncan asked, "what's with the bad Jamaican accent?"
"You heard Jamaican?" Sammy asked her teammate. "I thought it was French."
"Clearly, that was German," Alejandro corrected as the camera focused on Chris getting increasingly annoyed.
"Sounded like Chinese," Sugar added.
"It's all Greek to me," Kitsune half-guessed, half-joked.
"Umm, hellooo?" Chris interrupted in his normal voice. "It's Russian? I should know," he pointed at himself, "because I am an ac-tor!"
"Really?" Duncan asked in a mocking tone.
"Any good spy in any good spy movie must have three essential skills," the host continued, ignoring the comment. "One, the ability to deactivate a bomb." The top-left portion of the screen changed to a picture of wirecutters preparing to snip the wire of a bundle of dynamite sticks.
"Two, the ability to escape an exploding building." He ducked down into the bottom-left corner as the bottom-right corner became a picture of a figure jumping down from an explosion at the top of a skyscraper.
"And three, the ability to fake an accent that makes people believe you actually speak the language," he said as he returned to the top-right corner and the bottom-left became no more than a standard portrait of himself. "Likea my fab Russian ac-cent, mon!" he said in the mangled accent he'd used earlier.
Duncan rolled his eyes and DJ pursed his lips in annoyance, while Alejandro, Kitsune, and Heather just stared up at him. "You'll need to two of the three skills to get through today's reward challenges," Chris told them all in his normal voice. "Can you guess which two? Let me give you a hint!" He switched to his 'Russian' accent and said "Not da tird one, mahn!" He began to laugh evilly again, and the castmates turned to each other.
"Does anyone have any idea of how to defuse a bomb?" Heather asked her team.
"Not the faintest," Kitsune answered. "Not a one."
XXX
"Unless you count my dad constantly trying to bring back saying something is the bomb," she added in the confessional. She pursed her lips and said, "But somehow, I don't think that's the same thing."
XXX
"I never thought I'd say this, but I wish Harold was here for this," Duncan said.
"Yeah, he'd deactivate our bomb in no time," DJ added.
"Oh," Chris interrupted, "one last thing! Since I'm really ho-hum bored of the teams, I'm bustin' 'em up! From now on," he told the castmates as they watched in stunned silence, "it's every dude and dude-ette for themselves! I'll see you back on solid ground. Let the double-oh-sevening...begin!" Just before the holographic projection ended, the white cat the he had been petting turned and attacked him.
"I see no reason why can't all work together," Heather told her teammates in a false sweetness. "How about the four of us form an alliance?"
"So you can brow beat us like your little sidekick here," Kitsune asked with a thumb pointed to Sugar. "There's not enough jokebooks in the world."
"I for one am not going to pass up an opportunity," Alejandro said. "However you'll find that I am also not one to follow blindly." He smirked at her and she growled back.
The camera cut to the former Gaffers. "What do you guys say? Alliance?" DJ asked his former team.
"Like you even have to ask," Sammy said with a smile.
"I'd rather not third wheel right now," Duncan started. "So-"
"You got room for one more?" Kitsune asked as she walked over to them.
"Have to be stupid to turn down a numbers advantage," DJ replied.
"Count me in!" Duncan said enthusiastically, much to DJ and Sammy's amusement.
XXX
"Look, Leshawna was wrong about Foxy havin' me whipped," Duncan defended in the confessional. "But like the big guy said, a numbers advantage at this point is too good to pass up. Spending time with Foxy is just an added bonus."
XXX
"Aw man," Kitsune sighed in relief. "I can't tell you guys how great it is to be working with people that I can actually trust."
XXX
"I'm not worried that Weird Fox Girl went to go to the Gaffers," Heather confessed. "Now I have Alejandro right where I want him. Sooner or later he'll realize that he needs me." Her eyes widened. "To stay in the game!"
XXX
"How do we get outta here, anyway?" DJ asked, looking around the room with his new allies.
"There's bound to be some sorta hidden passage around here," Kitsune said. "Just touch stuff until we find it."
All seven were shown searching the cavern for a few more seconds, until Heather paused to rest on a particularly seat-like stalagmite that was actually a stalagmite-shaped switch. She nearly lost her balance and fell over as a part of the nearby wall slid away, but she stopped herself in time and grinned. "Hey, I found something!" she called to the others.
"Figures the only time she does somethin' is on accident," Duncan scoffed.
"Maybe I was wrong and Heather's the sidekick," his girlfriend added with a smirk.
"You're all just jealous because I found it first," Heather replied haughtily as the seven teens in the elevator.
XXX
"Jealous of Heather?" Sammy asked. "Not likely."
XXX
"I don't care if they like me, or if they respect me," Heather calmly confessed. "At the end of the day there's only gonna be one winner, and it's going to be me."
XXX
A dinging sound reminiscent of an elevator stopping at multiple floors accompanied a rising shot of what looked like the outside a water tower. The scene cut inside, revealing a large and mostly-empty circular room that was lined with carved stone columns. In the middle was a pedestal with a tall glass dome enclosing a bag of something or other, and illuminated from below.c
Another ding sounded as the castmates walked into the room in pairs, Duncan and Kitsune taking the lead followed by DJ and Sammy, Heather and Sugar, and Alejandro in the back.
"Cool!" Duncan whistled, clearly impressed.
"Amazing," Kitsune echoed with a smile.
"This really does looks like something out of a spy movie!" Sammy added.
The viewpoint shifted behind the seven as they came to a halt and another hologram of Chris, now without the eye patch but with several faint scratch marks on his neck, was projected in front of them. "Don't I look awesome in blue?" he said idly to his uninterested audience. "Now, for the first part of the spy movie challenge. See that case in the middle of the room?" He pointed to the glass-covered pedestal, and the camera cut in for a close-up of it. "You have to get whatever's inside, 'cause you're gonna need it for part two of the challenge!"
"No problemo," Duncan scoffed as he walked to the case, "easy smash-and-grab."
As he walked past one of the pillars, a small panel slid open in it and a laser popped out, the beam quickly reflecting off a number of mirrors mounted around the room. The host cleared his throat just as a beam shot in front of Duncan's chest causing the boy to gasp and back away from it, and Chris said "I need to finish! You gotta get whatever's inside without setting off the alarm. But be careful, those lasers will cut you clear in half!"
"Looks like those muscles have you at a bit of a disadvantage," Kitsune told DJ.
"And myself as well," Alejandro muttered under his breath with a hand on his chin.
"How hard can this be?" Duncan said cockily.
\
The footage skipped ahead to him trying to balance on one foot with one arm outstretched and the other behind his back.
"Me and my big mouth," he groaned to himself.
Sammy and Kitsune looked at each other, then gave each other small smiles and nodded. The two girls were shown in a split screen as they effortlessly navigated the laser beams; Sammy on the left was doing handsprings to dodge the beams, and Kitsune on the right was slinking around them with no trouble.
"If I were a wolf I'd howl," Duncan said as the split screen went away and the camera focused on him. "Aw what the heck? Awoo-oo!"
"A little help here?" DJ asked as the camera cut to him in an awkward and painful looking position.
"Quick! Give me your hand mirrors!" Heather said to Alejandro and Sugar.
"Why should we?" The charmer asked.
"Because I have the best shot of getting through there and my compact won't do the trick," she answered. "Plus, do you really wanna let those losers win this?" The two villains sighed and handed their mirrors to her, and the camera flashed to her quickly making her way through the maze by using the mirrors to point the beams away from her.
"Why do you continue to work with her?" Alejandro asked as the camer cut to him and Sugar at the start.
"She said she's my best shot at winnin' the money," Sugar answered blankly.
Alejandro gave her an unamused frown. "That might work on the others, but you forget that I've been watching the season before I got here. I know how you really are."
She scowled at him. "If you try an' mess this up for me-"
"Nothing of the sort," the charmer defended. "I was thinking that you and me form an alliance to vote of Heather when the time's right."
Sugar raised an eyebrow.
"After that, we keep acting like you were forced to be her lackey and that I saved you. Then we go to the Final Two. Do we have a deal?" He asked holding out his hand.
Sugar shook it. "Deal."
"Now what?" Heather asked brattily as the camera cut to her right next to the domed pedastal.
"How'd you get there so fast?" Kitsune asked, clearly stunned.
The queen bee just smirked and held up a mirror.
"Grab whatever's around and smash it open," Duncan told her. "Case probably isn't booby trapped because of all the lasers."
"Two things," his girlfriend said. "First, why are you helping her? And second, I'm pretty sure Chris booby trapped the case too."
"First," he replied, "I'm not sure how much longer me and the big guy can stay like this. And second, it wouldn't make sense to set up the laser gris and trap the case."
Heather furrowed her brows, the scratched the case with her hands. The glass shattered and fell apart.
"Wow," Duncan said, clearly impressed, as the beams retreated around the room. He fell on his back with a grunt.
XXX
"That should show them that I'm not someone to be messed with," Heather told the confessional.
XXX
"This is what I almost died for?" Heather complained as she looked in the bag and saw, "A weird gun thingy and some wire cutters?"
"What's that even for anyway?" Sammy asked as the rest of the cast joined the queen bee.
"If I had to guess," Kitsune answered, "I'd say it's to escape the building that's about to blow up."
"Which building?" DJ asked with a small squeak.
It was then that the room was tinted red as Chris' hologram reappeared. "The room blows in ten!" he announced with an evil grin as the castmates screamed. The camera focused on a small timer in the corner of the projection, which counted down along with the host. "Nine! Eight!"
\
(Fade to Commercial)
\
"Seven! Six! Five!" The host continued to count down as the episode returned.
Duncan and Kitsune hugged each other out of fear. "I love you Duncan!" The fox lover yelled as a last minute confession. Duncan in response held her tighter.
"Oh emm gee!" Sammy cried while holding DJ. "What are we gonna do?!"
Heather clinged to Alejandro without thinking.
Sugar sat in the fetal position and screamed, "I'm to pretty to die!"
"Three! Two! One!" The host counted down as the camera showed each hugging pair. "Pbft! Suckers!" He laughed as the red light faded from the room. "You should've seen the looks on your faces!"
Heather suddenly realized who she was holding, then pushed him away with enough force that he fell down. "Get off of me!" She yelled.
The camera cut to Kitsune and Duncan, who were looking away from each other to hide their furious blushes
XXX
"Sooo..." Kitsune said slowly in the confessional. "That happened. You know what'd be better? If the ground opened up and swallowed me right now."
XXX
"I want everyone watching to know," Heather told the confessional, "that he's the one that grabbed me. Got it?"
XXX
"You'll need the zipwire gun and the wire cutters for the next spy challenge," Chris told the cast. "Whether Heather, our little Catwoman, chooses to share the tools with the tools," he said as Heather was shown looking at the two items she'd won with a smirk, "is totally up to her. Oh! And by the way! The first countdown was just a test! The real countdown begins, now!"
The room was bathed in red light again and the timer appeared in the corner of the projected screen as the grinning host began to count. "Thirty! Twenty-nine! Twenty-eight!"
"You know some jokes are only funny once, McLean!" Kitsune shouted to the projection.
"Do you really think he's punking us again?" DJ asked.
"Duh," the fox lover replied. "There's no way Chris'd actually blow up a building."
The camera quick-panned down and outside to the base of the tower, where a large number of bombs, mines, and fireworks were planted.
It cut back inside as Alejandro spoke up. "Forgive me if I'm not willing to take that chance."
"Al's right," Duncan said. "We can use the zip line to get out of here, but it's useless without something to grab onto."
The shot moved to Sammy as she walked over to the wall and pushed against one of the panels. It swung out into the open air with little resistance. "Like that?" She asked pointing to a studio roof just across the way.
The rest of the cast rushed over to see what she was pointing at. "Great job Sammy!" DJ cheered. "Now we can get out of here!"
"Who said anything about we?" Heather asked haughtily. "I'm the one with the zip line."
"Are you serious?" Kitsune asked. "We could die!"
"No, you could die," she replied. "Me and my alliance members are safe."
"Well what are we supposed to do?" DJ asked irately.
"I'll make you a deal," she replied. "As long as you agree to never vote for me in the game, I'll give you a ride out of here."
The four not already allied to Heather cried "What?!" and the footage was paused.
Chris stepped in front of the screen and said "I knew there was a reason we chose Heather way back! She's nasty." He grinned and rubbed his hands together, adding "It's a shame she got herself booted so early last time." He stepped back out of sight, and the footage resumed.
"And what's to stop us from taking the ride and reneging later?" Duncan asked.
"Well that sounds like something I would do," she replied slyly.
DJ and Sammy looked at each other and sighed. "Fine," the brickhouse said while Sammy nodded.
"Deal," Kitsune spat out.
"Fine," Duncan sighed in defeat.
"Smart move," Heather told them condescendingly before firing the gun. The view moved outside as the grappling hook flew out of the tower, bounced a few times off the roof of Sammy spotted before, and was reeled back in until it got hooked on a vent.
Back inside, Heather was tying the other end of the line around a nearby column when Sugar spoke up. "But how are we all gonna fit with just one line?"
"Leave that to me," Alejandro said. He removed his belt, slung it over the line, then positioned himself in front of the opening. "Hop on everyone!"
\
The beeping continued as the shot moved back outside, focusing on the belt first as it slid down the line before zooming out to show the screaming contestants.
They landed on the other roof, with DJ and Sammy skidding along on the brickhouse's back, Alejandro flipping forward onto his back shortly before Sugar landed on him, heather landing on her butt, and Kitsune flying past the screen with a scream before Duncan face-planted.
"It's gonna blow!" DJ cried as he squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears. The shot cut over to the explosives at the base of the tower as the lone fuse burned the last few inches...and fizzled.
"Oor not," he said noticing the lack of explosion.
"I told you guys it was another fake-out," Kitsune said as she rejoined the cast.
"As if we have the budget to blow up an entire building!" the host explained, the camera panning across the roof to reveal him at the end leaning against some tarp-covered object. "I was just playing with ya! Again. Because I can," he grinned.
"One of these days, you're gonna push someone too far," Duncan warned.
"That's a day I'm looking forward to," Alejandro said as he adjusted the cap on his head.
"Okay, kiddies!" Chris announced. "Time for the next super-spook challenge!" He grabbed the tarp and yanked it away, revealing a group of oil drums with digital timers strapped and wired onto the side. "In front of you, you will see seven bombs," he told them as he walked in front of the seven drums. "You will have to deactivate the bombs with only the tools you got from the last challenge – the wire cutters. Oh, wait!" the host frowned playfully, slapping his forehead. "Wasn't Heather the only one who got the wire cutters?"
Heather looked down at the tool in her hand and grinned.
Chris laughed. "Well, I guess everybody else will just have to find their own way of cuttin' the wires," he said with a jovial shrug. "Sucks to be you! Any questions?"
"Will we get to look at the schematics?" Alejandro asked.
"Am I wearin' the right outfit fer bomb deactivatin'?" Sugar raised her hand.
"Is the bomb gonna blow no matter what we do?" Kitsune asked dryly.
"Cool," Chris said with a grin, "if there are no questions, then what are we waiting for?" He walked a couple feet away, then paused and turned back. "Oh yeah! One more thing! Those barrels are filled with the most stinky, the most noxious substances known to human kind! Yeah, that's right, we're talking major stinkbomb."
"Worse than Sugar on chili night?" Heather asked, causing her ally to glare at her.
"Yes," the host replied simply. "Yes it is. Yo, Chef!" he called off to the side.
The cook rose up to the roof on a scissor lift wearing a tennis outfit. "Why can't you handle this?" he told the host while walking over to the bombs. "I'm busy!" He flipped a switch next to the first barrel from the right, then walked back.
A quick series of high-pitched beeps signaled the bombs' activation, and the camera zoomed in on the timer – now counting down from three minutes. Chris got on to the scissor lift with Chef, and they started to descend. "Good luck," the host told the castmates, "'cause this time, you're really gonna need it."
The contestants took positions behind each of the bombs with Duncan and Kitsune taking the pair on the far right. "Okay, looks like we got blue, yellow, and red wires," the fox lover said, rubbing her chin as she looked over the bomb.
Next to her, her boyfriend was giving his bomb a harsh glare as if that would stop the timer. The camera short-panned to the left to show Sammy, DJ, and Sugar at the next three bombs, with the brickhouse and cheerleader giving each other a helpless glance for a second before turning their attention to their bombs.
"Didn't you say your IQ was 163?" Heather asked Alejandro as the camera panned to them and Sugar. "Tell me which wire to cut!"
"That doesn't mean I can defuse a bomb just by looking at it!" Alejandro yelled back.
"You're useless!" Heather yelled.
"Keep in mind, I was not required to accept your little deal," he warned. The two glared at each other.
"Eenie, meenie, miney, mo," Sugar said pointing to a wire with each word.
"Screw it!" Duncan said as the camera cut to him. "I'm just picking one!" He grabbed the blue wire and filed it against one of the spike in his collar, cutting it. The timer on the bomb stopped.
"Hey! It worked!" Kitsune cheered. "You're awesome!" She grabbed her boyfriend and hugged him.
"Great!" Heather spat. "Duncan won the challenge."
"Can you guys can the celebration?" Duncan asked. "You guys still have to defuse the bombs and you've only got fifty-three seconds!"
"Right," Kitsune said seriously. She took off her headband and filed it against the blue wire to cut it. "Done!" She said after cutting it.
The camera cut to each cast member as they cut the blue wire on their bombs in various ways; Sugar by taking a bite out of it and spitting it out, DJ by wrapping it around his hand and yanking, Sammy with a nail file, Heather with the wire cutters, and Alejandro by pulling the wire with all of is strength.
"Done!" They all announced at the same time, not yet noticing that the beeping had continued.
"Go Duncan!" Kitsune cheered.
"This alliance is workin' wonders already!" DJ said.
Sugar frowned. "If we cut the wires, then where is that beepin' comin' from?" The cast mates looked down to see that Alejandro, Heather, and Sugar's bombs were still ticking. Unfortunately, given that they were at one second left, it was too late to do anything.
\
The view cut to some nondescript hillside where an explosion could be seen in the distance. The cast could all be heard complaining about the smell and coughing.
The camera panned down and to the left, showing Chris sitting casually by some film equipment, sipping a cup of coffee. "What?" he asked the camera, setting his cup down on the saucer in his hand. "Obviously we're not gonna wire each bomb exactly the same way," he explained to the camera in a put-upon tone. "That would be way too easy for our production crew! And no fun for me!" He leaned back in his chair and laughed.
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A squirrel was shown perched in a tree, looking down as the colorful stench of something below wafted up to it. It took a single sniff, then with a strangled sound it fell from its branch, bounced off the roof of and canopy of the boys' trailer, and fell into a large pool of something red where Sammy, Duncan, and Kitsune were sitting amidst a fog of foul odor.
Chef appeared at the side of the pool, a gas mask on his face as he poured a large tomato-labeled can in. The shot pulled out, showing that all the other contestants save Heather were also in the pool."Well that could've gone better," Kitsune grumbled as Chef emptied his can and walked off-screen.
"We should've known there's be some trick," Alejandro added on the left end of the tank, between Sugar and DJ. "This is Chris we're talking about."
"Glad you like it," Chef said as he came back up behind him and tossed a handful of bendy straws into the pool, "'cause it's also dinner." He chuckled darkly and walked away, and the castmates hesitantly picked up the straws as they floated by.
A loud throat clearing gained everyone's attention, and the camer panned to the left to show Heather standing next to Chef with a glare. "Um hello? What about me?"
"What about you?" Kitsune asked.
"I need a de-stinking bath too," the queen bee replied.
"Here's the thing," the goofball said with a smirk. "We took a vote on who should be aloud in the bath, and no one voted for you. You know, because of our deal."
"That is so not what I meant," Heather complained.
"Not my fault you weren't clear," Kitsune replied. "Of course if you were to drop the deal..."
"No way," Heather declared. "That's my ticket into the Final Two."
"Good luck getting there like that."
"You can't vote for me.. remember?"
"We can't," the goofball said. "But they can," she pointed to Alejandro and Sugar. "And if those happen to be the only two votes that count..."
Heather scowled. "Fine, I'll call off the deal." Chef stepped aside and she got into the tomato bath.
The shot pulled back to show Chris approaching and also wearing a gas mask. "Is everybody having fun yet?" he asked mischievously. "Heather and Duncan, as the winners of the first and second challenges, you get the reward! An all-expense paid trip to..."
"Italy? Hawaii? New York?" Heather asked excitedly.
"Sturgis?" Duncan asked with excitement of his own, causing the other to look at him. "What? It's like the biggest motorcycle rally in the world."
"Nice try but no," Chris answered. "It's an all-expense paid trip to...a local cheese factory!" The two reward winner's faces fell into disappointment. "While on tour, you'll get to sample all the cheeses of the world! From blue cheese, to green cheese, to head cheese, which isn't technically a cheese, but reeks just the same!"
"Duncan?" Kitsune sang. "Can you bring me back some Parmesan? It's my favorite."
"Sure thing Foxy," he answered, his disappointment having turned into a smile.
"Ooh! I want some fancy cheese too!" the Sugar said, looking at Heather.
"Fine," the queen bee sighed in annoyance. "I'll bring something for you."
"How long do we have to stay in here anyway?" DJ asked the host.
"Well, it'll be about twelve hours before the stink wears off," he told her as he walked away, "so I'd say about that long!"
DJ shrugged, then dove under the soup.
\
"The teams are no more," Chris told the camera. "Let's see how these stinkers do on their own," he waved his hand in front of his nose, "next time, on Total! Drama! Action!"
Just as the scene began to fade, the white cat he'd been stroking earlier attacked his face again.
(Roll the Credits)
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\
(Bonus Clip)
"So," Heather told her fellow winner as they both sat inside the Lame-osine. The light from the windows showing that it was at least the day after the challenge. "I see Kitsune forgave you."
"Stuff it Heather," he replied. "We're finally doin' ok and I don't want you to screw anything up."
"Harsh," she said slightly offended. "But my point was that I'm glad you got her to forgive you."
"Really?" Duncan asked in disbelief with a raised eyebrow.
"Totally!" Heather replied cheerfully. "I mean all it took was for you to change everything about yourself."
Duncan scoffed and turned away. "I knew you were trying to mess with my head," he told her.
The camera zoomed in on Heather as her face turned into a self-satisfied smirk
Author's Note Post Script: And with that, the teams are merged. No real difference other than Kitsune's now working with the former Gaffers and Alejandro and Sugar are planning to backstab Heather at any given moment.
Speaking of Heather, I know it seems odd how she switched from sucking up to extortion. But she's unpredictable, and I'm planning on playing that up for as long as she's here.
This challenge was awkward to write. I just think there was too much necessity on working together. But that's more on canon.
As always there's probably more that I'm forgetting right now and will answer in reviews. I'm honestly not sure about this chapter.
With that I'm signing off
-TotalDramaFan14
RDA ELIMINATION TABLE:
16th Place: Mike/Zoey
15th Place: Zoey/Mike
14th Place: Amy
13th Place: Noah
12th Place: Sky
11th Place: Harold
10th Place: Shawn
9th Place: Victor
8th Place: Leshawna.