Much like the last time, Blake was stood on the stage, although Sunny was also stood next to him, "Last time on Total Drama Stardom…" Blake began, as footage from the previous episode began to play, "The two teams, in an incredibly rushed challenge, were forced to act for me, my co-host here, and Kevin the intern."
Sunny butted in, yet again cutting out Blake, "But before that, they had to try and build up the sets themselves - resulting in one suspiciously familiar space set and a decent fantasy one! While the Vultures managed to do poorly thanks to Dylan destroying everything, the Serpents lost thanks to… uh… somebody else destroying their castle on accident for attention! I can't remember who though… hehe."
"Speaking of attention, stop cutting me out," Blake grumbled, causing Sunny to just rub the back of his head awkwardly, "But anyways, who will be out next? Find out now, on Total! Drama! Stardom!"
Insert theme song here.
Rayna was currently sat down on the outside of the girls' trailer, and the shipper appeared really ticked off, with bandages wrapped around one of her legs. She aggressively crossed out another pair of names in her notebook, and sighed dejectedly.
Confessional - Rayna
"Never in my life have I ever encountered such an unshippable group of people!" the shipper threw her arms up in annoyance, a frustrated look on her face, "Only half of them are even shippable - heck, Colin and Herman is unironically a ship with a good chance of happening at this point. And nobody here's hot either - not worth my time - so I've just got to try and make the impossible possible, I guess."
The shipper's focus was taken away from her misery when Riley walked up to her, the supporter throwing a sympathetic smile towards her, "Is everything okay?" she asked, upon noticing Rayna's irritated expression.
"Yes, everything is okay," Rayna snarked, throwing a deadpan towards Riley, who raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"I… don't really think so," the helper deduced, noticing Rayna's expression, "You just look really annoyed - is there anything I can do to help? Anything you'd like?"
Rayna looked up for a second, contemplating her options, before a smirk grew on her face, the shipper rummaging through her pockets, looking for something, "Well - hold on, give me a sec - found it!" Rayna reached out of her pocket, holding a small box that had been lovingly wrapped. The shipper opened it - without showing Riley the contents, and let out an internal sigh of relief when she saw it.
"Okay, good," she whispered to herself, before coughing and bringing her attention back to Riley, "Well… why don't you give this to, hmm, Ally? You're 'friends', right?"
She handed the box to Riley, who took it without complaint, though she was a little bit confused, "I'd say we are, I helped her out during last challenge."
Rayna's smirk only grew, "Well… why don't you give this to her?" she requested.
"I have no idea why, but if it'll make you happy, I'll do it!" Riley obliged, the helper beginning to walk off, "See ya!"
Rayna waved her off, and she genuinely looked pleased with herself, "Looks like I've finally found a working ship… things are looking up for me."
Neither Riley nor Rayna noticed Dylan, who had hid himself right behind the trailer, and the disaster gremlin was chuckling to himself. Also with him was May… who didn't look interested at all and was just kind of staring into space.
"Ooh, she's playing matchmaker… well, I know what I have to do, right, buddy?" Dylan elbowed May in the ribs, forcing the daydreamer back to reality.
"I'm awake… I'm awake…" she yawned, rubbing her eyes irritably before she gave the prankster an irritated look, "Remind me… why am I here again?"
"Because you're the only one capable of tolerating me," Dylan recited, pointing a finger up, "And you were gonna waste this time sleeping - I was just making sure you used this time wisely!"
May just stared blankly at Dylan, processing what he'd just said, "Uh huh… well, I like sleeping… I don't see it as a waste…"
Dylan just shrugged, "Well, you're wrong, but okay - see, I think it'll be fun if I messed with them a bit - I wanna know what's in the box. Knowing her, it's probably something romantic, like, I dunno…"
The daydreamer lazily raised her own finger in response, "Chocolate. Pretty much… everything she did leans to it being chocolate - what she said when she opened the box… yeah, I can't see it being anything else…"
"Wait, you were paying attention?" Dylan stammered out in mild shock, before grinning, "See, you're the brains of this operation - doing all the smart stuff I can't be bothered to do myself! And now that I know it's chocolate, I want it for myself - I obviously deserve chocolates more than she does."
May just rolled her eyes, as Dylan went back to watching Rayna and Riley, "For now, though… I think I just wait for the perfect moment to strike, ahaha!"
His 'partner' in crime just shrugged, closing her eyes to try and get some more sleep, and Dylan took this as a quick opportunity, checking her for any valuables. When he noticed she had none, Dylan just shrugged, not seeing this as too big of an issue, but he went back to spying on the others, quietly snickering to himself as he did so.
Confessional - Dylan
The troublemaker leant back in the chair, a grin on his face, "Now the real fun begins… choosing just how I want to take them! Do I do it now… or when she's alone… or do I wait until the challenge! Or do I let her take it and mess with them later if they actually get together… too many choices, too many choices."
Melinda was busy working on her car in the garage set, a face of sheer determination set on the mechanic's face, "Good thing I can get some peace and quiet around here," she grumbled to herself, "Between my awful team-mates, and those freaking challenges, it's good to have something I can do while I wait."
She didn't notice Celeste enter the garage set, still focused on her personal project, until the astronomer tapped her on the shoulder, "Who- oh, it's you," she sighed, "What do you want?"
The astronomer rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, "Well, I've actually got something I'd like to talk to you about - I think you might actually like what I've got to say."
Melinda raised an eyebrow, "Go on," she scowled, not wanting her time to be wasted.
"Well… you've seen our team, right?" Celeste explained, "I've been thinking it over, and, I don't think they're the most, I'm sorry to say this, competent, group, if you get what I mean. Dylan and Forrest are too busy doing who-knows-what, May's never really there, and Tyson means well but… he isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. We almost lost that last challenge."
"And?"
Celeste gave a small nod, "Comparatively… we're a lot more well-rounded, and while you're certainly aggressive, you're just trying to play the game. And I can respect that, really, I do."
"Just get to the point already," Melinda rolled her eyes, getting impatient, "We don't have all day, stop sweet-talking me."
"Well, why don't you take charge this challenge? I said you'd get to be the leader last time, and while I didn't stick to it then, I'm a woman of my word," Celeste offered her hand out, "We were very close to losing last time, and I feel like I'm partially to blame for that - so you can consider this my apology."
Melinda thought it over for a second, before taking the handshake, "Deal. Now get out, I've got a job to do."
"Alright then, good luck," the astronomer walked out, leaving Melinda to her thoughts and the kart again.
Confessional - Melinda
"You know what? Celeste just earnt some of my respect with that," the mechanic explained, her arms crossed, "I doubt any of the other dweebs would've done that in her position - they would've acted like nothing happened."
Melinda then realised something, "Wait, WHEN did she know I do stuff at the garage set, only Dylan should know that! And he's Dylan!"
Confessional - Celeste
"I don't like talking behind my teammate's backs, but I think that had to be done. More than anything, I just want to make sure Dylan doesn't do anything too out of control - he got really close when he unleashed those boxes," Celeste justified.
"And if anyone asks, I followed her there. Not my best move, but it had to be done."
Shortly after Celeste left, the eleven remaining contestants had gathered outside a particularly large, swampy set. Just from where they were stood, they could see a putrid bubble arise from the depths, causing the more queasy members to wince. As always, Blake and Sunny were stood at the entrance to the swamp, the main host grinning to himself.
"Welcome… to the swamp set, based on a legendary animated tale of an ogre, a donkey, and a princess! Home to nasty swamp water, fairytale creatures, and… of course an ogre!" Blake announced, pointing backwards to the swamp, catching the attention of some of the more imaginative contestants. Immediately disappointing them, though, was a mouse with fairy wings taped to its back scuttling around the entrance.
"And crabs, right?" Colin beamed hopefully, the crab fanatic clasping his hands together.
"What?" Blake exclaimed, mildly shocked, "No, why would there be crabs here? Unless some snuck in, but that shouldn't have happened…"
"Aw…" Colin frowned at that answer, as Sunny took the reigns.
The femboy reached into his pocket, pulling out a map which he quickly unfolded. The femboy took a quick look, before showing it to the cast, "We've got three mini-challenges today - and that means we're gonna have to walk through… ick… the swamp to get to them!"
Reluctantly, the femboy began to lead the group through the swamp, with Blake behind him, although the main host used his height to keep trying to peek at the map. Upon noticing it, Sunny offered to share the map, which Blake immediately snatched from his hands and took the lead instead.
Confessional - Colin
"If there's one thing movies need more of, it's crabs. I haven't seen a single crab since I've arrived - other than Herman, of course!" the crab fanatic explained, "Maybe I should direct my own movie - The Crab Movie! Then there'd be no excuse for the complete lack of crabs!"
Colin was in the back of the group, the crab fanatic peering into the swamps as if expecting something to pop out, "Come on…" he muttered to himself, "Blake's got to be lying, right? There should be a crab in here somewhere…"
Tyson slowed his jog down, the jock looking into the water himself, "Whatcha' looking for, dude? A fish?" he asked, squinting to get a better look, "I don't see anything in there."
Colin's attention was still hyper-focused on the waters, though, even as he kept slowly walking, "Much better, crabs! There has to be some crustaceans in here somewhere - I'll even settle for a lobster at this point!"
Ally, who was also at the back, absent-mindedly decided to prod her staff into the swamps, just to see if something bit it. She was about to pull it back out, when she felt a strong tug at the end of the staff, and the mage's eyes widened as she pulled it out.
Noticing Ally's struggle, Riley's 'someone-needs-help' instinct went off, and the helper immediately went behind the roleplayer, helping her regain her staff. At the end of the staff was a particularly large, angry-looking fish, which landed right on Colin's head.
The crab fanatic pulled the fish off, and held it in front of it, "Hey!" he shouted at the fish, "Have you seen any crabs around here?"
The fish somehow looked less than impressed, and an annoyed Colin let it back in the water, before he joined up with the front of the pack, "No? Oh, that's too bad…"
"Do… you think he's okay?" Tyson whispered to Riley, "Dude was just talking to a fish."
Riley just shrugged, "As long as it isn't hurting him, I don't mind at all, haha. And besides, I talk to animals sometimes as well, they make pretty good company."
The athlete just nodded, "If you say so, dude! Just thought it was a little weird, that's all!" Tyson jogged off to join the others at the front, as Riley turned to Ally, remembering something.
"Wait, I've got something for you!" the helper called out, getting the role-player's attention. Ally was still shaking her staff dry, muttering something about a 'fire spell' under her breath, although she stopped when Riley called her.
"Oh? What is the gift, then?" the mage asked curiously, tilting her head, as Riley reached into her pocket and pulled out the box, handing it to Ally.
"Just something from an, uh, friend - I'm your friend, right?" Riley questioned, as Ally examined the box, "Just wanted to make sure - no harm in that, right?"
Ally raised an eyebrow to that, before she threw an arm around Riley, "Of course! You're a trusty ally," a small smirk grew on her face at the pun, "Of course I'd consider you a friend!"
Riley beamed at the response, as Rayna silently pumped her fist from the front of the pack, ticking off a ship in her notebook with a smirk on her face, "Finally, progress," she smirked, allowing herself to bask in the victory.
Confessional - Ally
The mage held the box in her hands, treating it as if it was some sort of magical artifact, "Let's see what's inside then, shall we?"
The mage tapped it with her staff, niftily flicking it open with her hands as she did so, unveiling the chocolates, which had miraculously stayed intact, "Ah, chocolates! While not my usual thing… they're certainly handy if my MP gets low. And who am I to reject a gift?
Soon enough, the teams and hosts had arrived at the challenge site, an outcrop featuring two buildings - one was a run-down wooden outhouse, the other a large hut carved into a massive tree stump. Blake and Sunny were of course stood at the front, while the contestants were all gathered in front of the two hosts. A large pen was also set up, with wooden walls reaching to the ground, with an identical copy the other side - both of which also had gates. One pen had an orange stripe decorating it, while the other had a purple stripe. There was also a board with images of various animals and a number beneath each.
Sunny took charge, the femboy taking the lead on the host explanation, "The first challenge is… really simple!" the influencer announced, gesturing his arm towards the pen, "You see the 'fairytale creatures' walking about? Well, they're getting a bit… out of hand, since there's way too many for us to keep track of - like those," Sunny pointed towards a group of four mice with fairy wings, "Unsure where they keep coming from, haha, or how they all have wings - I'm sure the interns only put like… twenty down… ten minutes ago."
"Back on track," Sunny continued, "Your job is simple - just get these guys into the pens. Any animal with a prop on them will do - the mice give you one point each, while the other animals give you more points depending on what they are, so without further ado… go!"
On 'go', the contestants split off into the swamp, with one exception. Forrest snuck up behind the mice, the archer holding onto their bow with an arrow loaded. Sticking their tongue out in concentration, they fired off an arrow that landed right in front of the mice, scaring them straight towards the archer, who picked up all four with a grin on their face.
"Too easy," they bragged to themself, hopping over the purple-striped pen wall and placing the mice down, before they went to join the rest of the Vultures, "Totally planned all that out."
Confessional - Forrest
"See, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's archery. See, let's say I aim at the camera… like this," in explanation, Forrest pointed their bow right at the camera, their hands slightly shaking as they steadied themselves, "And… fire," the confessional suddenly blew out, as Forrest actually did hit the camera.
Confessional - Blake
Blake was just fitting a new camera in, since Sunny had taken the reigns for the challenge, "I could absolutely have done this job by myself, but no, let the femboy take over. Ugh, I feel like I'm being replaced here."
Confessional - Forrest
"Well, I might have broken the first confessional camera, but it was a small target, no? And besides, it didn't hurt anything here except the producers' wallets, so I don't really care that much," they leant back in their chair, resting their feet on the desk again.
Within the swamps, Victor was leading the Serpents through the waters, roughly throwing a pair of 'winged' mice towards his team-mates. Ally caught them, and the mage wrapped them up in her cloak, which she had begrudgingly taken off in order to not get it wet. Colin was nowhere to be seen, while Riley and Rayna were following Ally and Victor.
Victor looked back, checking that the mice were still there, letting out a triumphant snort at his minor success, before he went back to muttering to himself, "This is just a warm-up, right? Where's the real challenge in this?"
Rayna overheard him, and the shipper just sounded a bit confused at his logic, "I dunno, I like these easy challenges. Gives me more time to ship people," she mused, resting her hands behind her head as they walked.
Suddenly, a jolt of realisation hit Rayna, and the shipper let a slightly devious grin grow on her face, "Hey, aren't you completely obsessed with that athlete guy from the other team?"
"I'm not obsessed - he's merely a worthy physical rival!" Victor stated bluntly, not even looking at Rayna, "There are very few who can challenge me, and thus I should respect those people!" he boomed out.
"So you're saying you'd like it to just be you and him at the finale, am I right?" Rayna kept teasing him, causing the powerhouse to clench his teeth in annoyance, "Just the two of you, alone."
Victor gave Rayna a death glare, intimidating the shipper enough to where she'd shut up, causing the shipper to scamper off to where Riley and Ally were still walking. Rayna quickly opened her notebook, added Victor x Tyson as a 'probably' and went to just watching her ship-fuel.
Speaking of the helper and role-player, Ally was giving the mice a quick head scratch, "Ah, mice. Very much an under-appreciated beast, I think," she said primarily to herself, though Riley overheard and giggled to herself.
"I think they're cute," Riley gushed, as the two mice accepted their fate, snuggling into the cloak, "Wait, I think I see something!" she pointed over to the other side of the swamps, where a ginger cat wearing boots… for whatever reason… was prowling, "That should count, right!?"
That got Victor's attention, and the powerhouse immediately turned towards the feline in footwear, charging it to try and grab it. Ally handed Riley her cloak, telling her to, "Keep it dry - and put the mice in the pen, our rodent companions deserve some rest."
The helper gave a quick salute before running off, leaving Victor and Ally to catch the cat while Rayna just sat there and watched, "Hey, Rayna, get over here and help us!" Victor barked at her.
However, Rayna just pointed to her bandaged up leg, "Can't - I've got a leg injury, remember?" she said, smirking as Victor merely ignored her and charged at the cat.
Upon noticing Victor charging at it, the cat let out a hiss, retreating further into the swamps and prompting the pair to go after it.
Confessional - Victor
The powerhouse was holding a whiteboard in his hands, which held the names of eleven of the other contestants - Jack was excluded, "If there's one thing I know, it's that these shows always do a physical challenge in the finale. And I'd like to be challenged in that finale, god-damn it! Everyone I know can't keep up with me in anything, so I'm hoping for a real challenge!"
He pounded his fist onto the chair, before showing the whiteboard to the camera - the contestants from the top to the bottom were listed as 'Tyson-Melinda-Forrest-Celeste,' Kevin's name was crossed out, 'Rayna-Riley-Ally-Dylan-Colin-May'.
"This board's got everyone ranked from most to least threatening - I wanna keep the top ones in because they'd be the toughest to crush!" he stated, adjusting his glasses.
Meanwhile, with their fellow team-mate, Colin was still searching for some crustacean friends, "Come on out crabs - you can stop hiding now!" he called out, running his hands through the set's murky swamp water, stopping when he felt something hard and rough in the water. His eyes widening, the crab fanatic pulled it out, revealing a decently-sized crab wearing a crown.
In delight, Colin held it up for the world to see, "Hello crab! What are you doing out here, little guy? You don't look like a crab who likes mud a lot - do you want me to help you home?" he asked the crab, who didn't really respond, just clicking its claws a bit.
Somehow, Colin interpreted that as a yes, "Alrighty then - to clearer waters!" he declared, holding the crowned crab in his hands, before a wave of realisation hit the crab fanatic, "But first, I think I've gotta bring you to the hosts - for the challenge."
The crab snipped again, and Colin still nodded along, 'conversing' with it, "Yes, I know, you wanna go back to the beach set, but we've gotta do this first - once we're done, I'll reunite you with all your crab friends! Promise?"
The crab didn't respond, so Colin reached into his satchel and brought out Herman, who snipped in greeting at the new crab, who was still in Colin's hands, "Also… meet Herman! I wanted to introduce him to more crabs, so say hi!"
The two crabs snipped towards each other, having a conversation only they could understand, while the crab fanatic just started walking, carrying the two crustaceans in his hands, "Hopefully they get along…" he smiled, just holding the two crabs who didn't do much.
Confessional - Colin
"Crabs are like onions," the crab fanatic explained, holding Herman in one hand and an onion in the other, "Onions have layers, crabs have layers - not just their shells, haha. And besides, we're all gonna evolve into crabs some day - isn't that beautiful," he sighed at the thought.
Meanwhile, with the Vultures, they were currently having an impromptu team meeting, with Forrest just arriving to join them. "Alright, that's everyone," Celeste counted, nodding, "So, I think it'd be best if we split up - two groups of three should-"
Melinda cut her off, giving the astronomer an annoyed glare and shutting her up, "I've got a better plan - we just split off into however many groups we wanna be in, and we win the challenge easily! How does that sound?" she offered, getting a slow sarcastic clap from Dylan. Celeste pinched her nose in frustration but stayed quiet, Tyson just seemed happy to do something, and both Forrest and May were indifferent - May was just staring blankly into space where she stood.
"Genuinely the best idea I've ever heard," Dylan teased in the most melodramatic voice possible, causing the mechanic to just flip him off.
"Shut the fuck up Dylan, let's go people!" Melinda barked out, as she ran off into the swamp set. Forrest just shrugged and walked out themself, wading through the swamp water without a care in the world.
Celeste uneasily followed after Forrest, the astronomer dipping her foot into the swamp once, wincing, "How do these people do it so easily…" she muttered under her breath, as she followed after them.
That just left Dylan, Tyson and May, and the troublemaker immediately poked Tyson in the face, "Hey, big guy, you're coming with me!" he declared, getting a thumbs-up from the athlete.
"Heck yeah, dudes! Let's move!" Tyson threw a thumbs-up at Dylan, who grinned to himself as the pair set off, almost forgetting about May… until Tyson roughly tugged her by the arm, shocking her awake and forcing her along with him.
Confessional - Tyson
Tyson was spinning a basketball in one hand as he spoke in the confessional, "Alright dudes, so far I'd say I've had a good time here - met some cool people, and the challenges have been pretty fun. Still hoping for a sports one, then I'd really get to shine! I don't think there's gonna be something like that in the swamp… right?"
With Forrest and Celeste, the pair had managed to trudge through the swamp and found themselves at a small clearing. The archer climbed up the nearest tree, and pulled out a pair of binoculars from their hoodie pocket, getting a good look at the putrid swamps.
"What're you doing?" Celeste raised an eyebrow in confusion, "I don't think the hosts are cruel enough to make one of the animals something that can fly… right?"
"Maybe, maybe not - who knows?" the archer said as they sat in the tree, swaying as they looked around, "I mean, all I can see find are mice… a few more mice… Colin's got a crab, that's kinda cool - wait, are they wrestling a cat over there?"
Celeste was just concerned now, "Do… I want context?" she asked, a perplexed expression on her face, "And who're 'they', anyway?"
"The really muscular guy and the role-player from the other team," Forrest confirmed, not taking their eyes off of the fight, "And it looks like they're losing," they snickered, watching Victor grip onto the cat before he got a face-full of cat boot, dropping it onto the ground as it wrung itself out, before it ran away again, "These guys really don't know how to handle cats, hehe."
"Could you please get back on track?" the astronomer begged, clasping her hands together, "Are there any animals nearby - any at all?"
Forrest used one of their hands to give her a thumbs-up, "Fine then, let's see… aha! There's a lot of mice just a bit further on from here - perfect for easy pickings, I think!" they moved their free hand to point ahead, their finger aimed at another area of the swamp.
"Sounds good, then - shall we go?" the astronomer asked, "Since we're kinda lagging behind, we should pick up the pace a bit."
"A-OK!" Forrest affirmed, the archer sliding down the tree and leading the way through the swamps again, with Celeste yet again scrunching her face up in disgust as she followed them through the swamp water.
Confessional - Celeste
"Forrest just confuses me," Celeste admitted, her hands rested on the desk, "Sometimes they're genuinely helpful, and other times they… pour ketchup all over May. I can't really say I understand them, but as long as they're not actively harming the team, they're not too bad."
Confessional - Melinda
Melinda cracked her knuckles, and smirked to herself, "Please, this challenge is easy - it's just some animals, how hard could it be?"
Speaking of the mechanic, Melinda was looking at three pigs, each one wearing a different hat. The mechanic quickly peered to her right, and heard some steps as someone else trodded through the swamp, although any concerns were alleviated as she saw it was just Colin, who was still holding both crabs in his arms as he walked back to the base. The crab fanatic passed by the pigs, who decided to follow him out of sheer boredom.
Melinda huffed out a breath in annoyance, "Just great… crab boy's got them distracted. At least he's leading them to the pens - I think I know what I gotta do."
Colin, blissfully unaware of the pigs, kept on walking with the crabs in his hands. The crab fanatic soon came closer to the pens, and gently planted the other crab into the orange-striped one, "Don't worry - I'll be back, crab friendo!" Colin re-assured the crab, before placing Herman back in his satchel, "Just gotta get you back to safety real quick."
He then noticed the three pigs, "Oh, well that's good for me - come on in!" he opened the gate to the pen, "Wait, you don't eat crabs, do you?"
Melinda, who had been following Colin, saw this as her opportunity to grab one of the pigs for herself, "Gotcha! You're coming with me!" the mechanic grinned, holding up one of the pigs over her head and planting it into the purple-striped pen.
The other two pigs let out an indignant squeal at their third member getting taken, and one of them boldly charged at Melinda, causing Colin to bounce back as it barraged right past him, though the crab fanatic started to push the third one into his team's pen to try and win that point himself.
"Come… on…" he heaved out, "Please go in…"
Melinda was easily able to dodge pig number two, and in retaliation, the mechanic grabbed it and brought it in to join pig number one.
Colin managed to convince pig number three to go in, since the pig just walked in by itself after realising that the crab fanatic was going nowhere with his pushing, "Phew… got one in…" he let out a sigh of relief, as Melinda threw a punch at the air.
"Only two of them… damn it," she complained, "At least we're still in the lead - that crab probably isn't worth too many points."
Confessional - Melinda
"See what I mean? That was too easy," Melinda grinned, dusting off her shoulder.
With May, Dylan, and Tyson, the three of them were hiding in a bush, watching a donkey just lazily lie on the floor. The donkey was also wearing a hat - this time a top hat.
"Okay, so here's the plan," Dylan narrated to the other two, "Tyson is gonna rush it from behind, and chase it all the way back to the pens, I'll create loud noises and scare it in the right direction, and May will sleep in the bushes and be useless! Tyson might die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make."
"Uh, what?" Tyson asked bluntly, confused. May was, as Dylan foretold, half-asleep.
"Don't worry about it," Dylan reassured him, putting a hand behind Tyson's back, "It was just a lie, you won't die… probably."
Tyson gave Dylan a quick nod, "Alright dude - I got the perfect plan," he boasted, puffing out his chest and moving behind the donkey. The athlete held a basketball in his hands, and threw it at the donkey's rear end, getting its attention… and causing it to just walk to a side, completely indifferent, "Well that failed."
The troublemaker and athlete exchanged an awkward glance, as Dylan made a small gesture to indicate that he should just charge at it. Tyson charged at his full speed towards the donkey, who lazily kicked him off as the athlete tripped over it.
"Don't worry bro, I get tackled all the time, this is nothing!" the jock reassured the gremlin, who was snickering at the pain, though he threw a thumbs-up towards Tyson anyway.
"Okay, looks like I gotta do this myself…" Dylan muttered to himself, the troublemaker watching the interaction with a grin, "This'll be pretty funny… hehehe."
Dylan pulled out an airhorn from his scarf, and smirked deviously as he held down the button, alerting not only the donkey, but also every animal across the entire swamp. May also snapped back to reality, covering her ears and wincing at her sudden awakening.
Confessional - Riley
"Does… anybody know where my airhorn went?" Riley asked the confessional, "I swear I had it on me yesterday."
The donkey, alerted by the loud blast, irritably turned its head over to Dylan, who somewhat guiltily pointed towards Tyson, who was also slightly dazed from the airhorn. The donkey took one look at the athlete, gave out an indignant huff, and looked back to Dylan… who was already running to hide behind May. The daydreamer gave the gremlin a knowing look, as the donkey walked around her, slowly approaching Dylan with a menacing gait.
The gremlin, realising that shifting the blame wasn't gonna work, immediately ditched May and Tyson and began running for the hills. The donkey just kept on following him, though, and the remaining two just watched their retreating forms.
"You gonna help him, dude?" Tyson asked May, who shrugged indifferently.
"Nah… he can handle it…" the daydreamer yawned, stretching herself out with a little smirk on her face, "If you wanna help… go ahead. Besides… I'd not be the best at moving a donkey" she pointed towards her complete lack of muscle, indicating to the athlete as she let out a small chuckle.
"Makes sense to me!" the athlete noted, just accepting May's reasoning without much fuss, "Well, I guess I better help him out, then! See ya!"
Tyson sprinted off after Dylan and the donkey, taking large steps as he followed the two to where Dylan was pathetically hanging on a tree branch as the donkey stood, waiting for him to fall.
Confessional - Dylan
The troublemaker was soaked, looking like he had just taken a fall into swamp water, with twigs and leaves sticking out of his now-soggy hair, "May left me to die? No fair, I'm the only one who gets to do that!" he whined, his face contorting into a childish pout.
Confessional - May
May rested her hands behind her head, just staring blankly at nothing in particular, "What do I think of Dylan…? He's… annoying," she bluntly admitted, rolling her eyes, "So I'll take these little victories over him."
Back with Victor and Ally, the mage and powerhouse were still trying to get the cat in their grasp. The powerhouse grabbed the cat by the tail, although one boot to the chest released his grip.
"Consider respect earned, feline," Victor spat out, as the powerhouse watched the cat land on its feet right in front of him, "You've put up a worthy fight, but now is where it all ends."
Victor charged at the cat again, though it skillfully dodged him, sidestepping as Victor failed to get it into his hands, "Grr… well played," he growled, leering at the cat, who just let out possibly the smuggest meow possible in response.
"Well, it seems violence isn't the best way to handle this," Ally mused, scratching her chin in contemplation as she spoke, "Do you have any bait?" she asked Victor, who deadpanned from behind his glasses.
The powerhouse pushed them down, and looked Ally dead in the eyes, "Of course I don't - who'd bring bait to a film lot?" he asked her, as the mage went back to theorising how to get the cat. Victor himself just readied for round… whatever he was at.
"Brute force probably isn't the answer here - let me just use my magic to figure out a solution…" the role-player looked into her staff, poking her tongue out in dedication.
"You're thinking way too hard about this - watch me," Victor made an 'I'm watching you' gesture towards the cat, before the two of them charged right at each other, Ally watching incredulously.
The two of them were surprisingly well-matched, as the cat dodged Victor's powerful grabs with ease. Ally, noticing this as an opportunity to obtain the cat for her team, cautiously approached the two.
"While I'd rather have my cloak for this…" she whispered under her breath, "This stealth mission shouldn't be too hard."
The role-player cautiously reached in, and as Victor prepared for another blow, picked up the cat under its arms, "Gotcha," she smirked, as Victor just rolled his eyes.
"I had it, but good work anyway," the powerhouse half-heartedly gave her a small thumbs-up, not even looking in Ally's direction as he walked away from her. The mage exchanged a glance with the cat, as she walked in the direction of the pens.
Confessional - Ally
The role-player was spinning her staff around, absent-mindedly throwing it from hand to hand with a smirk on her face, "Well, our little quest into the swamp certainly went better than expected - the monsters around here are definitely pretty weak if we can beat them that easily."
Meanwhile, Celeste and Forrest had found a small army of winged mice - around twenty, if they had to guess. The archer pulled out their bow with a smirk on their face, but Celeste just gave them a disapproving look, so they lowered it down.
"Do you have any ideas that don't involve shooting them?" the astronomer asked them, as Forrest just gave her an armless shrug.
"Scaring them towards the pen?" Forrest offered, raising their bow out, "Don't worry, I'm usually a good shot - just one little arrow and they'll all scamper right where we want them to."
Celeste, not having a better idea, nodded to it, "Well, I don't have any ideas of my own - so it'd be pretty hypocritical of me to shut that down. Just please, don't hit them, okay?"
Forrest stuck their tongue out cheekily as they reached into their quiver, "No promises," they playfully snarked, getting an eye-roll out of Celeste. They aimed beyond the mice, and shot an arrow right behind the mice, scaring them in the right direction… well, some of them, at least. The rest just scampered off to who-knows-where, leaving the pair with only ten of the original twenty.
Forrest shrugged uncaringly, as Celeste watched them scatter off, "Welp," they said, throwing their arms behind their head - even as they held their bow in one of them, "I lost them. Can't do anything about that."
Celeste raised an eyebrow at the archer, "There's still a big group over there, you can still try and lure them towards the pen, right?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"I mean, if you say so, boss lady, but that it is only half of my original prey after all," Forrest grinned out as they went back into an aiming position, "So only half of the points."
"Better than nothing, I'd say," Celeste pointed out, getting a nod from the archer in response.
Forrest fired another shot, except this one fired a bit too low, piercing a mouse's 'wing' and causing it to faint from the shock, causing both them and Celeste to widen their eyes in panic.
"Holy shit I think I killed it," Forrest exclaimed flatly, not really seeming to care as they walked over to the mouse and picked it up. The rest of the mice had scattered off now, and Celeste facepalmed again, a growing red mark forming on her face from the amount of times she had done it.
"Well… we've lost all of them," the astronomer sighed in disappointment, looking at Forrest's catch with a mildly irritated look, "Any ideas on how to get them back?"
"Nope," Forrest stated simply, walking off as they carried the single mouse with them. "This one's still got a pulse, so it's still alive and it counts. Shame we lost the other fifteen or so, but stuff happens."
Celeste began walking to keep up with them, and deadpanned right towards Forrest, "You do realise that there's a big difference between one point and twenty points, right?" she inquired.
"Yup," they said, shrugging.
"Alright then," Celeste's face scrunched up in confusion, as the pair made their way back to the pens.
Confessional - Celeste
"Scratch what I said earlier, Forrest is just confusing. They're not unhelpful - that's Dylan, but they just seem to do as they please," she pinched the bridge of her nose, mildly irritated.
Confessional - Forrest
"I just think you should take whatever small victories you get," the archer shrugged, leaning very far back in the confessional chair… until they fell off.
"I'm okay!"
The archer and astronomer put their one catch in the purple-striped pen, as Blake and Sunny looked over the complete line-up of catches. The Serpents had caught one pig, two mice, Colin's crowned crab, and the cat, while the Vultures had five mice and two pigs in their pen. Sunny blew a whistle, signalling for everyone to return to the main hut, though nobody else had caught anything in that time.
Dylan was soaking wet, ignoring May's small chuckles as he crossed his arms in annoyance, "I don't wanna talk about it," he grumbled, as Melinda also smirked at his misfortune.
"Alright everyone, let's see the results!" Sunny held up a small clipboard with the point system on it, as he turned to the Serpents' pen, "Just gonna do the math… two mice is two points, the crab is two points, the pig is a neat three… and the cat is a five - that makes twelve total!"
The five Serpents exchanged pleased glances at their work, as Sunny turned to the Vultures, "As for you guys… five plus six is… eleven! Just one below twelve, so the Serpents win part one!"
The Serpents exchanged cheers, as the Vultures let out various sighs in defeat. Blake chimed in, wanting to not pull a Jack and get forgotten about, "You know, if you guys managed to catch that donkey, you would've won - just saying."
"Way to rub it in dude…" Tyson rubbed his elbows awkwardly, though he still pumped himself up and turned to his , "But we still got this, we can pull a comeback!"
Confessional - Melinda
The mechanic crossed her arms, smirking in the confessional, "I got over half of my team's points - there's no way they'd wanna vote me out if we lose."
Confessional - Tyson
"I don't know much, but I do know pep talks always work on my teams!" Tyson grinned, the athlete still being optimistic about his team's chances.
Blake turned to face the contestants, the main host pushing Sunny aside to get back to the spotlight, "Well, now we need to get to part two of the challenge - so if you'd all follow me to right behind the swamp house."
Blake led the eleven contestants and Sunny past the swamp house, though Ally got a little bit distracted as she peered through a window, noticing something move very slowly inside, "Is that-" she asked, though Colin just brushed past her in a rush, holding the crowned crab.
"No idea!" Colin replied, as Ally took one last look into the house as she went to rejoin the main group.
They'd all gathered at a small outcrop behind the house, where two sets of five bleachers were floating on the murky swamp water - as usual, one set was in a glittering scarlet colour while the other a brilliant violet. Both sets also had bright yellow buttons.
"Welcome… to truth or swamp water!" Blake called out gleefully, as the name convention immediately got some reactions out of people - Celeste looked aside awkwardly, Forrest, Rayna and Dylan looked excited, and Riley looked panicked, "We asked some friends, family members, etc. of yours to help us get some of your most embarrassing secrets!"
"And now we're gonna expose them to the world - so hop on to the bleachers, and get ready!" Blake shouted, as all eleven started to move.
Sunny blocked the Vultures, though, "To keep things fair - since you know, six, one Vulture has to sit out!" he decided, almost closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out, "eenie meenie miney… Celeste! You're the lucky one who doesn't have to do this! Your secret's safe with us!"
The astronomer let out a massive sigh of relief, as she just walked to the side where Blake was currently stood. The other five moved onto the bleachers, sat opposite to the five Serpents - Colin had left Herman on the bank, so Celeste just picked him up for safekeeping.
"I guess that's fair - but anyways, here's the challenge - we'll read out a secret, and you guys gotta figure out whose secret it is - it could be anybody on either team, so watch out. You get it right, you get to stay safe. You get it wrong… and somebody from your team gets flung into the nasty swamp water and is out of the challenge - whichever team has everyone get drenched first loses! And no owning up to your own secrets or constantly second-guessing yourselves, either. That'd be too easy."
Confessional - Celeste
"Okay, I can safely assume that my 'secret' is that I'm trans, based on how Sunny acted there - he's not subtle," the astronomer explained, looking a little bit guilty as she still held onto Herman, who was in his shell within his little terrarium, "While I do appreciate the sentiment, I feel a little guilty for sitting by. But still, it doesn't matter to me too much, just glad I can reveal it on my own terms."
Confessional - Dylan
"Aww, Blake is taking my blackmail material away from me," he fake-cried, rubbing his eyes, "Maybe I should find some on him instead, that'll teach him."
Once the two teams were ready, Blake walked up to a yellow podium on the dry land, on which ten cards were placed, and a lever was right next to it. In the Vulture bleachers, Forrest, Melinda and Tyson were in the back, while May and Dylan were in the front. On the Serpent bleachers, Ally, Victor and Rayna were in the back, while Riley and Colin (plus his crab friend) were in the front. Blake picked the first one up, and, with a smirk on his face, called it out to the crowd, "Who here once ruined an entire game night… just over one simple miscalculation?"
Immediately, the two teams got to work from within their bleachers, with the Serpents quickly theorising, "Well… who here's got anger issues, hm?" Rayna suggested, pointing towards Victor with a smirk on her face.
The powerhouse snorted dismissively at her, "Tch, I wouldn't have even bothered to show up. You need to think about who here actually plays games - Ally's one of them, but there's also-"
Victor was quickly shut up by a buzz from the Vulture's side, and he shot up to glare at the culprit - it was May, who was more focused on staring into space. Victor looked annoyed at first, but his expression soon shifted into one of focus.
"Well… May, who is it?" Blake asked, leaning onto the podium, coughing to try and get the daydreamer's attention, "Could one of you guys just… snap her back to reality?"
"On it!" Dylan mock saluted, before he slapped May in the back of the head, shocking her awake, "All done!"
After rubbing the back of her head and sending Dylan an irritated look, May lazily pointed towards Ally, "It's Ally. Kinda obvious… if you ask me," she yawned out, as the role-player let out a slightly ashamed sigh.
"Correct!" Blake confirmed, pointing towards the Vultures, "One point to the Violet Vultures… and one Serpent has to take the plunge!"
Blake pulled on the lever, which opened the floor beneath Colin's seat, sending the crab fanatic - and his crab friend - hurtling into the swamp water. Fortunately, he was unharmed, so he scuttled off to the shore, where he snatched Herman out of Celeste's hands.
Confessional - Ally
"Allow me to explain," the role-player raised a finger, her face sat in an annoyed frown, "That was not a 'miscalculation' - that man had access to knowledge beyond what one should have, and we banned him from entering my game nights ever again."
Blake grabbed a second card from the pile, "Alright… who here has a few restraining orders on them… yikes," he gulped, as he read it out.
Again, the button was quickly tapped by May, who was fortunately able to answer before she got distracted, "It's Rayna…" she simply shrugged, as the shipper looked away in mild shame.
"Guilty," she admitted, as Blake pulled the lever, making her the second Serpent to get hurled down, screaming before she splatted into the swamp water.
Confessional - Melinda
"Colour me impressed - May is actually good at something beyond ignoring her alarm clock," the mechanic quipped, a look of genuine astonishment on her face.
Confessional - Riley
"Are… we just going to ignore the restraining order part?" the helper chuckled hollowly, unsure how to respond to that.
Confessional - Rayna
"I get a little… intense, sometimes, when I simp for people," she admitted, shrugging to herself, "No biggie, there's plenty of fish in the sea."
Victor pulled Riley and Ally closer to him, and immediately whispered to the pair, "Next round, press the button and guess as fast as possible - we don't want May getting another win, got it?" he demanded, getting a pair of nods.
"Alright then… secret number three is: Who here once got stuck in their own prank… multiple times?" Blake asked, chuckling to himself as he read through it.
Before May could lazily tap her button, Riley swiftly pushed her own one, getting Blake to turn his attention straight to her, "Riley! Who do you think this is?" he asked, waving the sheet in his hands
"It's… um… Forrest!" she decided on, pointing at the archer uneasily, before her eyes wandered to the others, "Or it's - nope, it's Dylan!"
"One guess only… and you were wrong with that!" Blake pulled the lever again, this time sending Ally into the murky water instead, leaving just two Serpents standing, "Man, are you guys doing poorly today," he taunted mockingly, getting an eye roll from Victor and a pathetic sigh from Riley.
"Leave this one to me," Victor instructed Riley, who nervously saluted him as Blake read out the next secret.
"Alrighty then… who here secretly gives names to some of their possessions, but has never told a soul?" the host asked, and just as he finished, Victor slammed his fist right into the button, startling the Vultures… most of whom weren't paying too much attention.
"It's Melinda!" he frantically called out, as the mechanic's face contorted into a scowl, not wanting to look at the rest of her team after the embarrassing secret - Dylan and Forrest were audibly snickering.
The mechanic gave a cold glare to the two, shutting Forrest up but it was not working on Dylan, "Shut up," she growled at the two, feeling embarrassed.
Confessional - Melinda
The mechanic's face was locked in the same scowl, as she crossed her arms irritably, "Ugh. I swear, if thanks to that, Celeste or somebody goes up to me with a 'friendship talk' sort of thing, I will be beyond annoyed."
"Correctamundo!" the host called out, grinning as he pointed towards the powerhouse, "And Vultures, time for one of you to take the plunge!"
Blake pulled at the lever again, sending Forrest hurtling into the swamp water as he took the next secret, "Next up… who here once stuck their entire head in a toilet… all because of a dare?"
May lazily tapped her button again, and just as quickly answered the question, "Victor," she simply guessed, as the powerhouse irritatedly crossed his arms in frustration.
"It was a challenge, okay?" he explained, scowling, "End of. We're not talking about it."
"Challenge or not, it's still… pretty gross. Can't hide that," Forrest noted, the archer leaning on the side of the bleachers with a slight smirk, while Blake sent Riley hurtling into the swamp water, leaving Victor against four of the Vultures.
Confessional - Victor
"If Tyson is my athletic rival, May is probably my intellectual rival," he explained, adjusting his glasses as he spoke, "Of course, she's not somebody I want to take anywhere near the finale - she's obviously too weak to be any kind of problem to me there. But the challenge of trying to beat almost her entire team in one go is certainly one I'm not gonna pass up."
Confessional - Dylan
"You know, it's getting pretty boring watching these guys do so well…" Dylan had his arms rested behind his head as he absent-mindedly swayed from side to side, a mischievous smirk forming on his face, "So I should do something to make this more interesting… ehehe."
Blake grabbed the next secret, as the main host threw a side-eyed glance at Sunny, who was preoccupied with talking to some of the mud-coated contestants who had arrived, "Okay then… who here almost missed an entire major test, just because they didn't feel like it?"
Dylan was the one to push on the button this time, and the troublemaker immediately knew what his answer was, "It's Colin, obviously," he grinned, as Blake deadpanned towards him.
"Wrong!" the host called out, "How did you even get to that conclusion?"
The troublemaker just shrugged and laid-back in his seat, kicking his feet onto the stands… and the buzzer, "Just a guess, he seems like the kinda guy who'd do that," the gremlin lied, poking his tongue out playfully. May gave him a skeptical glance, and Melinda and Victor both looked pretty annoyed at his failure, while the others didn't either care… or actually believed him.
Blake pulled the lever again, this time sending May hurtling into the swamp. Meanwhile, on the Vulture stands, Melinda gave Dylan an angry glare, which the troublemaker didn't seem perturbed by at all.
Confessional - May
"Whether Dylan guessed or not… I still couldn't have answered it… according to the rules. That 'secret'… was mine. The daydreams I had then were fun… there was a tropical island… a mansion… a film lot… my mind wandered a lot…" the daydreamer explained, shrugging off-handedly as she spoke, "Still got an A, though."
Confessional - Melinda
The mechanic looked genuinely furious, crossing her arms with a scowl on her face, "Thanks a LOT, Dylan. We just lost our best shot at winning this challenge, all thanks to your dumbassery."
Her expression intensified, "Guess I'm picking up where May left off, ugh…"
Much like before, Blake took another secret out of the pile, bathing in the rising tensions, "Who here's actually shot somebody… what?"
Melinda reached over her side of the bleachers to forcibly stop Dylan from hitting his buzzer and fucking shit up, giving Victor ample opportunity to hit his own instead, "I think it's Forrest," the powerhouse answered quickly, not wanting to waste his one shot.
"Correct!" Blake shouted out, pulling the lever and sending Tyson down, the athlete falling face first into the swamp water.
On the land with the 'eliminated' contestants, some of the others inched away from the archer, who shrugged it off, "Well… it was an accident. The guy was in the way of my shot anyway, kinda his fault if you ask me," they explained.
"That doesn't make you sound much better than him," Celeste sighed, as the archer shrugged it off somewhat uncaringly.
Blake grabbed the next tip, and leant against the podium with a smirk, "Only three people left - who here was once left behind on a family vacation, all because-"
Melinda slammed on the buzzer before Blake had even finished, "It's Colin, isn't it?" she immediately answered, as Blake nodded.
"Yep, and Victor, I think you know what that means," Blake turned to the powerhouse, who didn't seem too bothered at this point.
"Just do it," he grumbled out, as Blake sent him as the final Serpent to take the plunge.
"And Vultures, you guys win part two!" Blake pointed towards the Vulture bleachers, where Melinda pumped her fist with a grin as Dylan slowly golf clapped with a roll of his eyes. The four Vultures on the land also cheered. Meanwhile, the Serpents' reactions ranged from lightly disappointed shrugs - Riley and Colin - to Victor's angered growl as he left the swamp, "And you know what means… a tiebreaker!"
Confessional - Victor
The powerhouse was wiping his glasses irritatedly, putting them back on before he spoke, "Dylan's little 'stunt' back there? Sure, it helped me win, but that's told me nothing except that he's an unpredictable problem that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later. If they, for some reason, don't vote him out when they inevitably lose… I'll just have to get rid of him myself, won't I?"
Soon enough, the eleven had yet again regrouped right outside the house, where the two hosts were stood just outside the door. Sunny immediately piped up, the femboy beaming as he pointed into the house, "For the tiebreaker, the challenge is simple - all you've gotta do is find the golden onion inside our little house over here… it's a lot bigger on the inside, trust me!"
Blake cut in, the main host having a devious grin upon his face, "Oh… and if you get kicked out… you've gotta stay out. You'll see what I mean," he chuckled, getting a few nervous gulps out of the meeker contestants, "Goood luck in there!" he ominously called out, as a few unnamed interns pushed the contestants in while they weren't looking. Victor wouldn't budge, but he got the memo anyway.
"Do… you think they'll last?" Sunny inquired worriedly, "Even I don't like what's in there…" he chuckled lowly, as Blake merely shrugged.
"Maybe," the host answered uncaringly.
Confessional - Kevin
The chef was sat in the confessional, a look of disgust on his face, "Ah yes, 'the ogre'. The other interns told me they forced 'im up to the swamp set because of how horrible he is. Glad I've never met him."
Once they were in, the door slammed shut behind the eleven teens. The inner chambers of the hut were dimly lit by a single fireplace, and a wooden table sat near the fire. A few pots and shelves were also set down, and a single closed red curtain covered the sole window. The two teams quickly split off in their search, other than Dylan, May and Victor, all of whom had stuck behind to check the entrance hall.
Actually not, since Victor immediately rushed to Dylan and grabbed him by the scarf, lifting the prankster off of his feet, "Listen closely, because I'll only say this once. If you try pull something like your little 'stunt' from the quiz at me… you won't like what happens afterwards, capisce?" he threatened, the dim candle light reflecting off of his glasses.
"Okay, sir!" the prankster half-grinned, clearly not feeling threatened at all by the powerhouse. May was just lazily running her hand through the shelves and pots, not paying the little altercation any mind as she stared into space.
"I'll keep my eyes on you," Victor warned him, the powerhouse giving the troublemaker a steely glare as he let go, "So don't try anything funny, got it-"
Unfortunately for Victor, Dylan saw this as a great opportunity to finish what he had started back on the bus, and the troublemaker quickly nabbed Victor's glasses right off of his face, jumping up to make up for the massive height difference. Before Victor could even react, Dylan had already made his way right to the door, and slammed it shut behind him.
"That little fucking…" Victor complained, rubbing his eyes angrily, before he charged off after Dylan, eliminating himself from the challenge as he chased the gremlin, who was cackling to himself as he enjoyed the chase. May either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it.
Confessional - Dylan
The gremlin was still cackling to himself in the confessional, wiping a fake tear from his now-black-eye, "It's so fun to mess with people with anger issues," he laughed, "Other than the part where I get punched, of course."
Confessional - Victor
The powerhouse was just rubbing his glasses irritably, "Well played. He might have eliminated me from this challenge, but make no mistake - I am NOT going out to the likes of him."
Meanwhile, the four other members of the Serpents were in a somehow even dimmer room. Much like the previous room, the room was full of pots and the like, though this one also had a particular rancid dug-in 'bath' in the corner... which was more akin to a pool of concentrated stench. Next to the pool was a run-down wooden door on the same wall as the one they came in from, behind which dim lights emitted a faint glow around the small gaps.
Colin was protectively clutched over his new crab friend, who he hadn't let go of yet, while Ally had her eyes narrowed as she scanned the room. Rayna was just looking around the dimly lit room with a bored expression.
Riley was the one to break the ice, the helper reaching her hand into one of the pots, "Anybody got any ideas where the onion could be hidden?" she asked, stretching her hand into the pot, immediately recoiling once she reached the bottom. She swiftly pulled it back out in horror, and her arm was covered in slime - a frog had also attached itself to her palm, and it jumped right into the 'pool' the second she brought it out.
"Well, our quest is to retrieve the golden onion, is it not? It'd definitely stand out in a room like this," Ally mused, the roleplayer scratching her chin as she tentatively pushed her staff into the pool, retrieving it to no success. She waved it around a little to dry it, getting some sludge onto Colin and his crab friend.
Rayna approached the door, "I don't think there's anything in here - let's just move on to the next room… wait a minute… I hear somebody in there," she leant against the door, and her eyes widened as she heard somebody speaking incomprehensibly to themself within the next room.
Ally's expression sharpened, "The ogre," she said in a low, dramatic voice, "We need to stay quiet, we're not prepared to face him."
Riley pushed a finger to her lips, while Colin was content to just have his new crab friend scuttle on the floor as he silently tried to search the cupboards himself. Rayna, on the other hand, was more interested in listening in on whoever was behind there. The shipper closed an eye in concentration, and she snickered to herself at whatever she heard.
"You know…" the shipper said slyly, a wry smile forming, "It'd definitely make sense if they hid the onion where our 'ogre' is, right?"
"Makes sense to me!" Colin whispered, as he poked his head into a cupboard, scrunching his nose at the awful stench.
Ally contemplated it for a moment, but nodded, "Very well then, let's open this up," she smirked, moving closer as Rayna turned the doorknob. Upon opening, the quartet opened into a third room, which was similar thematically to the previous two. Another door was at the other end, opposite to where the four entered. This room was far darker than the others, lit only by a single light. A rickety wooden desk was also on the end, upon which were various swamp-themed stationary… and a laptop, which looked very out of place.
Said laptop was currently being used by a rather overweight man, who stood at around Tyson's height. He had pale skin, and wore a black shirt with a game controller on it, along with gray pants and black shoes. He had short, greasy, black hair over which sat a pair of headphones, and beady little eyes that peered from behind his glasses at the computer screen. In short… he was a loser, through and through, and Rayna's low mocking snicker filled the room.
"Did… somebody just post cringe? Disgusting…" the 'ogre' muttered to himself, but most of the team had their eyes on the prize - the Golden Onion was right next to him.
Confessional - Rayna
"Okay, what forum did they pull that guy out of?" she laughed out loud, "Oh man, I can see why they exiled him to here."
Confessional - Riley
"He… can't be THAT bad, right?" the helper stammered, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, "Right?"
On the other side of the hut, the four remaining Vultures - Celeste, Forrest, Melinda and Tyson - were also rummaging through another room. Again, this one shared the same general theme as the others, and was around the same size as the room the four Serpents were in. However, instead of containing a 'pool', this room instead looked to be more of a bedroom, with a well-used bed lying in the corner. Another door was on the same wall of the building, as well. Forrest was quick to give the bed a few pokes, before simply throwing the blanket haph-hazardly behind them, sending it flying right past Melinda, who dodged it. The blanket knocked down a few pots, breaking all of them.
"Well… we can confirm there's no onion in them," Forrest quipped, the archer smirking at the little wreckage as they confirmed that the onion , "I can smash the rest of the pots, if you want?" they offered, waving their bow at the trio.
"No, we're not gonna commit property damage," Celeste sighed, pinching her nose, but Melinda threw the archer a thumbs-up.
"It'll get it done faster," she rebutted the astronomer, as Forrest started lining up their shots - Tyson was carefully moving to and from to get anything else into position.
"Look, I just think that there might be consequences if we do that, okay? I'm just trying to keep us in the lead," Celeste reasoned, pointing a finger up as she explained.
Melinda glared at her, causing the astronomer to gulp nervously, "Didn't you say I'd get to lead the team before the challenge when we met up? And last challenge, as well?" she critiqued the astronomer, who gritted her teeth awkwardly.
"Well-" she began, but Melinda cut her off. Forrest had completely ignored doing their job at this point, as they were just sat on a wooden chair with a childlike smile on their face as they watched the fight play out. Tyson was left to do it by himself, the athlete lining up the pots to strike with his basketball instead.
"Don't even go there," Melinda stopped her immediately, "You said it, not me, so don't try and spin it to put the blame on me."
"I'm sorry, okay!" Celeste apologised, but Melinda was having none of it.
"'Sorry' won't cut it," she turned away, facing the unexplored room as she pointed at the two not-girls in the room, "So if you two happen to need me, I'll be searching by myself."
The mechanic stormed out towards the door, and Celeste just looked ashamed towards the floor while Tyson threw his basketball at the pots, breaking them all and bringing all eyes to him, "Well dudes… I don't think it's in a pot," he simply explained, as Forrest shrugged it off
"Dang, that sucks. Anyway, I'm gonna follow Mel around, you guys wanna join me?" Forrest swiftly avoided the topic, the argument having finished and no longer held their attention, "Since, you know…" they gestured to the entire room, "There's not much here. It's kinda boring."
"Sure dude, we'll catch up with you," Tyson threw the archer a big thumbs-up, which they returned as they followed Melinda. The mechanic rolled her eyes, as she opened the door… coming face-to-face with the same room the Serpents were in - the same 'ogre', the same laptop and the same Golden Onion. Melinda glared at the four Serpents standing opposite her, and both her and Ally began racing towards the onion… when the 'ogre' turned around, finally noticing the others.
"Are… those women in my gamer pad?" he demanded, stopping everyone in their tracks out of raw shock, "What are you doing in my swamp!?"
Confessional - Forrest
The archer was just completely and utterly losing it in the confessional, wiping tears from their eyes in laughter at the sheer patheticness of what was just said.
Confessional - Ally
The roleplayer was flipping through a spellbook, stopping at a specific spell, "I think 'righteous anger' is probably my best spell for this 'beast'," she deadpanned towards the camera.
Melinda and Ally exchanged a glance, the two silently agreeing on a temporary truce to deal with him. The mechanic simply walked up to the guy, who didn't seem panicked at all.
"This is the part where you run away," the 'ogre' threatened, getting a simple roll of the eyes from the mechanic.
Before he could do anything else, Melinda kicked the guy in the groin, sending him hurtling onto the floor in pain. Forrest and Rayna both chuckled at his misfortune, and the two 'leaders' both went right back to chasing after the Golden Onion. Ally was faster, and immediately after grabbing the Onion, she threw it towards Riley, who caught it immediately and started running out of the hut. Melinda made a quick gesture towards Forrest, who immediately ran back through the room they came from, passing by Celeste and Tyson, both of whom were shocked to see them, but the pair got the rough idea.
They also passed by the entrance, room, where May was just conked out, ignoring them. Riley had started running back as well, with Colin and Ally attempting to hold Melinda back so that the helper could win. The mechanic gave Forrest one mildly confused glance as they left, but she berated past the two far less muscular teens, while Rayna was following Riley with a small limp in her step due to her injury.
Forrest, being faster, soon blocked her way, and Riley panic-threw the Onion towards Rayna, who quickly caught it but was at a loss for what to do in the crowded room - with Melinda cruising past her two 'blockades' with relative ease. Immediately, she threw it back at Riley, who had tried pushing her way past Forrest. The archer intercepted it with ease, catching it themselves.
"Hey, Tyson~" they called out, as the athlete made his way into the room upon being called, "Could you catch this?"
"Pass it over, dude!" the athlete replied, holding his hand out as Forrest lobbed the Onion at him. He caught it with ease, and Riley - being the only Serpent who could try - attempted to chase after him, but it was no use. Tyson, being an athlete, easily berated out of the front door, Onion in hand.
"Score for me! Woo!" he cheered, as the others began to pour out of the hut - Vultures in glee, and Serpents in defeat. Victor, upon noticing who had won, grit his teeth in irritation at the result. Dylan was back in a tree, not wanting to risk getting hurt any more than he already had.
"And the winners are… the Vultures!" Sunny called out, the femboy smiling as the six let out various cheers in success, "And Serpents? You'll be seeing us at the ceremony tonight, so be prepared!"
Confessional - Celeste
The astronomer rubbed her arm awkwardly, "Okay, maybe I screwed up with Melinda, but can you blame me?" she excused herself, "No offense to her, but I feel like her leadership would be awful on this team. I think I'll just avoid her, let this cool down. Winning doesn't exactly feel good."
Confessional - Victor
"Well," the powerhouse explained, letting out a humph in annoyance, "I'm not in a good spot, am I, thanks to getting distracted. Dylan knows just how to push me in the wrong ways. Luckily, this team's gullible enough for me to get out of losing again, but mark my words - we'll be the victors next time."
Instead of strategising, Colin was at the beach set, where he had set down the crab he had travelled with. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, as he watched the crab scuttle off into the artificial waves, waving it away, "Farewell, you beautiful crustacean!" he called out, not noticing a pair of eyes watching him.
Once he had had his moment, the crab fanatic prepared to leave, but was stopped by a certain powerhouse, "Listen. I'm sure you're considering who you'll be voting for tonight, correct?" he asked, getting a shake of Colin's head in response.
"Well, I've already spoken with somebody else, so how about…" the powerhouse was cut off by the footage, as the scene transitioned to night.
The five Serpents were again sat at the bleachers in front of the elimination stage, however Sunny and Blake's roles were swapped - the 'main' host begrudgingly held the Golden Sunnys, while the femboy was at the stand. Much like before, the five contestants pressed down on their buzzers to decide on their votes. Rayna, Ally and Victor all looked confident, Riley looked mildly worried, and Colin was just relaxed.
"OK then, let's see what the votes are like…" Sunny checked the votes, as Blake just rolled his eyes from his position.
"I'm just doing this so you don't take somebody out," the older host snarked, before a devious idea crossed his mind, "Unless…"
Sunny, blissfully unaware of Blake's scheming, turned to the five Serpents, "The votes are in, so without further ado, the first Golden Sunny goes to Ally!"
"Of course," the mage boasted as she caught the thankfully-well-aimed Golden Sunny statue, flipping around her staff in the process.
"Also safe are Colin, and Riley!" the influencer called out, two more statues being sent towards the crab fanatic and helper. Colin caught his, but Riley, on the other hand, ducked when a statue was sent her way, and it hit a raccoon in the bushes behind her.
"And we're down to… the bottom two!" Sunny declared dramatically, raising his arms out, "Rayna, you're here because your leg is… kinda damaged, and your shipping kinda got on some people's nerves."
The shipper rolled her eyes, but didn't comment, as Sunny continued, "And Victor? You're here because your anger issues got you a bit distracted… and you aren't very close to your teammates either."
The powerhouse's face only increased in intensity, as Blake held the final Golden Sunny dramatically in the air.
"And the final Golden Sunny goes tooooooooooooo…
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Victor! Rayna, I'm sorry to say this, but you're out," Sunny announced, as Victor caught the final Golden Sunny with a smirk. Rayna let out a sigh, but the shipper didn't seem too annoyed.
"Eh, whatever," she nonchalantly said, throwing an arm over her shoulder as she stepped up, "I've never seen a less shippable group of people in my life. At least I got some mild success," she reasoned, as she walked to the red carpet, throwing an eye towards Riley and Ally.
However, instead of the Lame-o-sine, she was met with a large carriage shaped like an onion, which was being pulled by the very same donkey that half of the Vultures failed to catch. An intern was pulling it along, "Please just… hop into the onion carriage, please?" Sunny politely requested to her, and the shipper shrugged as she hopped in, waving bye to her former team-mates.
"An… onion carriage. Definitely good for an ogre ship, I gotta say," she commented, leaning back from inside, as she pulled out her note, "That gives me some ideas, actually."
The intern pulled the reigns, and the carriage disappeared into the moonlight, as the four remaining Serpents began to make their way out of the stage. However, just before they left, Victor blocked them with his arm, causing Colin, Riley and Ally to fumble into each other against it.
"Tomorrow, we will not be here," he declared, turning back towards the trio's uneasy faces, the moonlight shining off of his glasses, "Mark. My. Words."
The powerhouse walked out without a word, followed swiftly by the other three members of his team. Sunny was about to start an ending scrawl, but Blake pushed him off of the podium.
"Ouch… that's not very nice…" Sunny moaned, as he quickly perked back up.
"And that makes three!" Blake called out, the main host immediately taking the podium again, "Frankly, I'm glad we got rid of her, she was pretty annoying. Will Dylan ever be reasonable? Will Victor get his dream finale? And will May ever be awake for an entire episode? Find out, on Total! Drama! Stardom!"
Scarlet Serpents: Ally, Colin, Riley, Victor
Violet Vultures: Celeste, Dylan, Forrest, May, Melinda, Tyson
Votes: Rayna - Ally, Colin, Victor; Victor - Rayna, Riley
13th: Kevin (now intern)
12th: Jack
11th: Rayna
Author's Note: And that makes three! I love Rayna, don't get me wrong, but she meshed pretty poorly with the rest of this cast - no obvious simp targets and a sentiment I share of very few workable ships in this cast. Thus, she got shafted to the lower ends of the elimination table in every draft, and ended up as antag fodder. Still, I'd love to write her again some day, she was fun during her brief stay.