Author's Note
Here we are at the penultimate episode of Total Shuffled Revenge of the Island, dear readers! All that's left to be written with this season are the two endings on Saturday, and then it'll be on to Total Shuffled All-Stars the day after. I hope you're excited for it like I am, but I also hope this doesn't distract from the final two episode of season four.
It's time to answer the reviews.
CVluvFoxy: Thanks! With a character as controversial as Courtney it's always nice to hear that someone who doesn't like them found my portrayal of them more bearable. I'm glad you enjoyed Noah scrape by another week, and that you liked the rehash of DJ's cameo. I hope you're ready for the exciting semi-finals!
DSX62415: Yup, so much happened last week and so much more is gonna happen this week and next. I hope you enjoy how everything plays out.
moka evans: Is it? My impression of Courtney's canon losses is that they were more a result of her just being a bad combination of unbearable to have around and difficult to face in challenges. But regardless, to the joy of many she's now out of the competition. Let's see, what else...well, for starts, Harold's quiche was in fact disgusting as he ended up using the same frog juice as Scott did in canon. And honestly, there just wasn't any reason to have a Zoey-like sudden change in character, so I figured what happened with Jasmine would be good enough a replacement. Other than that, I hope you enjoy these last two episodes!
Animation Adventures: Haha, you and like every other reviewer by the sound of it. And yeah, Jasmine owned up to being the source of the snares...but she also didn't get Hurled alongside Fang as punishment for it, like Scott did. And her tart lighting on fire was basically the only thing I could think of for her dish going wrong, which is kind of necessary in order for the cook-off to become an eat-off. She's not the type to willingly feed someone food she knows is poisonous, and I needed something dramatic in order to scare of DJ, so...flaming reaction from the mutant berry juices. And yeah, there not being a whole lot of immediate fanfare regarding the note revelation just made the most sense to me. Not just because Noah's an under-the-radar type, but also because there were only three of them in the first place and Noah had nothing he felt guilty over. He didn't really want people to know about them, but that didn't mean the others would be especially shocked by the reveal, if that makes sense. Oh, and Dawn's prediction was absolutely about the inevitable fall of the island - I figure that she's a year older than in canon and has a lot more experience, so maybe she can predict the future a bit better.
Gage the Hedgehog: Thanks!
Tokusatsu-31st Century: Oh ho, well, you'll see who makes the finale soon enough. I hope you enjoy what happens...
acosta perez jose ramiro: Yup, quite a bit of karma catching up to them. Well, moreso Courtney than Noah, but still. Thank you for the review, as always!
bruno14: Thank you for the praise regarding Courtney's portrayal and development this season. She didn't exactly...enjoy herself, I think, especially to the end, but she did a fairly good job this season. I'm glad you enjoyed the terrible food they made, and the challenge in general, and I hope you enjoy not only the end of this season, but the next as well. And like you said, just about anything can happen in this series.
Guest: Pfft, I'm not even entirely sure who the main antagonist is this season and I'm the one writing it. It's just a result of the cast, I think - compared to the first Shuffled generation, nobody is especially villainous. And since the most villainous one was also the first antagonist to be eliminated, it's only natural that the main antagonist be a little vague. Although since Noah did last longer, I suppose he's the one who should get the title. And while Jasmine certainly did extremely well last week, that was more a case of it finally being a challenge that worked to her strengths. I did hear about Tyler and Lindsay's break-up a while ago; it's a little odd that they'd just announce such a thing, but whatever. I like them as a couple, but I'm fine with them not being one as well. And as for your TSRR...while I would like to shuffle up the teams in order to make things more interesting on the off-chance that I ever actually decide to cover the season, I'd prefer to just wait until another season or two of TRR is produced.
ashDanLand: I know, it's so weird having only three people left when in past seasons this would still be pre-merge. And yeah, Courtney's pretty odd herself, at least in terms of how people feel about her. And you're right in that while Harold did want to get rid of Noah, he wanted to get rid of Courtney more...
Sarcasm is a Habit: Thanks! Honestly, I never even considered Jasmine as being the one who left last week - for as long as I've known who the Final Four would be, it was gonna be Courtney who got the episode 11 boot. But Jasmine's cockiness leading to a boot last week...I can see it happening, even if I still wouldn't have gone with it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the series of events that will decide the Final Two this week.
Alice Queen of Madness: Ahh, well, as happy as I am to see a Courtney fan, everyone has to see one of their favorites go at some point. But nevertheless, I'm glad you're enjoying how this season is wrapping up, and I hope that holds true for these last two episodes.
Glowing Insanity: Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed Courtney and Noah and Harold's ultimately fruitless attempts at escape, and just the second challenge in general. It was a bit weird for me to work everything out with no Zoey around to have a dramatic character shift and then mess with Chef a bunch, or even the Scott-Fang rivalry. But it looks like most of my reviewers enjoyed what I came up with, so I'm happy. And yeah, Courtney's time had definitely been coming...but as for what lies in her future, I'm afraid I can't quite reveal it yet. But regardless of how it goes down for her, or for the end of the season in general, I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to your thoughts and reaction.
PizzaTheBomb: Yeah, Courtney's elimination wasn't meant to be incredibly surprising, or at least her receiving votes wasn't meant to be. But the exact method behind her elimination is something I'm pretty proud to have come up with; it's incredibly in-character, and also saves me from having to write a tiebreaker. Interesting predictions, as always, and I look forward to seeing your reaction to the Final Two.
The Prime Writer: Ahaha, yeah, Chris' canning was kind of a pain to describe in writing but it was well-deserved on his part. Similarly, Jasmine got a well-deserved win in a challenge that she was basically destined to dominate in. And Courtney...well, she chose her path and saw it through to probably the worst end for her: a loss rendering all her actions that she may regret as ultimately fruitless. Courtney is a complex character, and with the timeline being as it is she may never really have her anger build up like it did in canon, meaning she'll never go as far down the path of darkness as she did originally. And as for the consequences of Noah's note-leaving having been found out, and how it all plays into this week's episode...well, read on and find out. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Oh, and while I cannot quite recall what your TDR series is about, I am certainly willing to take a look at the cast you've got lined up.
Knifez: Hey, there long time no see from one of my most critical reviewers. Glad to hear you've still been reading. As for your reviews...well, I'm a little disappointed in what you said regarding Lindsay, though I may be reading more negatively into it than you intended. Regarding episode 8's elimination...well, I can certainly understand your complaint about my tendency to eliminate most late-game returnees fairly quickly, though at least there's no other time for that to happen. I will stand by the method of double elimination in general, though, because personal convenience or no I do want some substantial differences between this series and canon that go beyond simply having a different cast. Plus I don't think I would've been able to get rid of Gwen in the standard fashion, as even with the idol in play it would require somebody to actually want to vote for Gwen, which just wasn't gonna happen with Trent/Courtney/Noah as the other team members. Even Izzy wouldn't do it, I think, as Courtney would try to rope her into voting off Trent or Noah. And speaking of Trent, while I would have been able to make his elimination work, I wanted to give him a chance to be in the story without Gwen - we've seen Gwen without Trent in canon, so I figured I could do the reverse in my story. I'm fine if you didn't quite like how his arc played out, and that it could've been done better by Gwen, but I stand by my decision regardless.
As for Harold and Jasmine, I will express my disappointment that you don't like them, but with so little left in this season and you unable to really figure out exactly what you don't like, there's nothing I can do to change things. So sorry about that. I will accept your criticism regarding her actions during the second part of last week's challenge; in hindsight, I think it would've been better to keep the introspection and such basically the same, but have her decide to grab it anyway even if she's a little off-put that nobody else is there. And then she'd probably end up just uprooting the flag or something and taking it with her as she went to figure out where the heck the others were. Then she'd probably incorporate the flag into her victory over Chef, like maybe throwing it into his cannon to gum it up or something.
And as for the finale...well, I will say that you're the only reviewer I've seen that's out-and-out advocated a Jasmine vs Harold finale, especially over Jasmine vs Noah. Which is actually something I'm a little surprised on, and I might talk a little bit about why in the Post Script. But anyway, I hope you enjoy what I've decided to go with for this penultimate challenge!
P. T. Piranha: Yeah, that was pretty much my thinking - if people have been calling her a challenge threat, then she needs to actually win a challenge. It's like a 'Show, don't Tell' thing, you know? And I agree that Courtney is a pretty interesting character to write; she's had a ton of development in canon, and while it hasn't all been for the best (or entirely...consistent, I guess?), it's still made her a pretty deep character with a lot of possibilities in a reboot AU like this. And Noah did probably figure he'd get found out eventually, but as long as he got Harold and Jasmine mad at one another it might be worth it. The worst case scenario was that it would cause them to vote for him instead of Courtney, but he wasn't expecting Courtney to vote for him as well so he would've expected at least a tiebreaker.
StayOuttaMyShed: Haha, yeah. I'm glad you enjoyed the voting strategy last week; it just goes to show how different Noah and Courtney are. Also glad you enjoyed the whole confrontation between her, and Noah, and Harold...
And yeah, the warning that DJ was referring to was indeed about the island sinking, even if Dawn likely doesn't know that it's specifically that. And also, I will confirm that DJ, Dawn, and Sammy won't be in the cast next season; there's just nothing left to do with them, like you said.
You know, even though I wasn't really intending on the parallels you pointed out when deciding this season's final three, I actually kinda like them. Especially because there's still a lot of differences between these three and Cameron/Lightning/Zoey to make things a little...uncertain, and interesting. Surprisingly, Knifez has expressed a preference towards a Jasmine-Harold finale, so your assessment of which potential Final Two would be most well-received is a little off.
And as for Trent and Harold's broken friendship...while I can't spoil much, I will say that I do know how it's gonna be resolved. I hop you enjoy it when it comes to it, as well as the final two episodes of this season and the cats I've chosen for next!
OMAC001: Well, who knows? A lot of things can happen at this point.
Explorer of the Unknown: Ooh, yeah, that would've sucked for him. But, then this show would be out of a host, and I can't have that. I'm glad you enjoyed Jasmine's win and moments of sentimentality; it's nice to include things like that when I get the chance to have a character alone and unstressed. And yeah, I think you've described Courtney's situation well. She took it upon herself to influence Izzy's vote in hopes of securing more power for herself in the form of being Gwen's primary ally, only for Izzy to decide to vote for Gwen instead of Trent. And this in turn caused everyone to turn against Courtney, causing her to be more forceful with her attempts at regaining and expressing power, which in turn caused her to outsmart herself and get voted out.
I will tell you outright that Dawn was referring to the sinking of Wawanakwa next season, although I don't think she specifically knows that's what's gonna happen - she just knows the island is doomed. Other than that, interesting predictions as always - both in terms of this week's episode, and next season's cast. I don't find it at all presumptuous to state what you're expecting the cast to be, though, merely interesting because I know exactly how accurate they actually are.
VIPGuest: Is that so? Well, I'm glad to keep you on your toes...
FOWLKON: Hmm, well, not much to say other than you have a good point about Jasmine - she hasn't really been central to a lot of the plots, but she's always been a pretty strong contender. I look forward to seeing your reaction to this week's episode.
I. M. Poik: Yup, figured I'd get that sort of reaction from you. I am a little surprised you expected Noah to be eliminated here, although it does make sense considering the notes revelation. But, ultimately, Jasmine and Harold had a bigger fish to fry. And honestly, you're exactly right with it not making sense to have anyone snap like Zoey did - it didn't really suit any of the Final Four to get pushed into a dramatic character shift. I could see Courtney getting angry about getting bested by Chef, but that's about it. And I hope you enjoy who the final two end up being, and how they get decided this week.
Star Saber21: Hah, well, sometimes a character just has to completely own a challenge, you know? And even though Jasmine isn't the best cook, she has a strong stomach and a good sense for foraging ingredients. And yeah, Courtney hasn't exactly made a good reputation for herself, either in this series or in canon...
Jaspher 4 Me: Haha, yeah, it's been a long time coming, hasn't it? Same with Courtney's exit. And you're right about this week's episode being quite dramatic in canon, and you'll soon find out how accurate that prediction of yours is.
link9753: Yup, Noah's not exactly in a good position...but you'll see soon enough whether or not he'll be able to make it past the episode. Interesting cast prediction for next season, and I hope you enjoy what my choices end up being.
wifishark: Thanks! Considering how divisive a character Courtney is, I'm glad you enjoyed my portrayal of her this season. She's an interesting villain when given the opportunity. And as for Noah...well, as I've told a few other people, you'll find out how he fares soon enough.
Phew, that's taken care of...for now, at least. As I'm sure you all know by now, the poll in my profile will remain up until the start of next season, despite me admittedly forgetting that it exists a few times by now, and a TVTropes page for this series exists, and as per usual with such things, could always use more work. I thoroughly appreciate those who've already been working on it, and look forward to seeing what you all add next.
And I totally forgot to include this last week, but here's who's left if you need a reminder:
Girls: Jasmine
Boys: Harold, Noah
The Final Two are about to be decided, folks, so get ready! And most importantly, enjoy.
- Fangren
Episode 12 – The Enchanted Franken-Forest
"Previously, on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!" Chris opened over the standard sunny shot of Wawanakwa. "I took some time off, for personal reasons that I'd rather not discuss," he said with a feigned calmness, the recap beginning with him stepping into Jasmine's snare and getting flung into the communal washroom while the campers cringed. "Hey! Who edited that in there?" he asked in rising aggravation as Chef was shown opening the bathroom door, then wincing in disgust. "Not funny guys!" Chris said, and the montage cut to the Final Four standing at the long table about to eat the 'local' dishes they'd created.
"Okay, that's better," the host said as Chef blew his airhorn and Courtney gagged down the first bite of her omelet. "Chef led the Final Four players in a revolting cook-off," Noah was shown puking up his salad, then Harold vomited both on the ground by the table and over a few tulips, "which resulted in Harold upchucking 30% of his insides."
"He also got to the bottom of the nefarious notes," Harold was shown talking with Jasmine and then Courtney before the challenge, "and called out Noah to surprisingly little effect." The schemer was shown admitting his authorship of the notes, then bumping into an annoyed Courtney, with all three getting interrupted in turn by the return of Chef.
"Meanwhile, Jasmine set off alone and struggled with her concerns about intimidating the others by winning the challenge," the survivalist was shown walking through the woods alone and talking to herself, then spotting the finish flag, "only to go back and win in an incredibly flashy manner anyway," the host added over shot of Jasmine confronting and trapping Chef, then leaping over him, Noah, and Harold to touch the flagpole.
"And despite Courtney's deals with the boys that put her back on top of the game," Courtney was shown using Harold and Noah as human shield repeatedly throughout the second part of the challenge, "her own anger got the better of her when she betrayed Noah and got herself voted out because of it." The recap ended with Courtney being abandoned by the boys, snidely revealing her betrayal, then gaping in shock and anger as she was voted out.
"Which leads us to...!" Chris continued with rising excitement...until the footage went back to him getting swung into the communal washrooms, the clip repeating over and over and over. "Hey! No! Nnno!" he said in growing alarm, the camera zooming out to show the footage being played on a widescreen television watched by Chris on the Dock of Shame. He gripped the arms of his deck chair, then stood up and shoved the TV cart into the lake with a grunt of "Not funny!"
"That editor is so fired," he said, turning his back on his shame and dusting his hands off. "Ten players down, three to go!" he told the camera, putting his usual smile back on. "Only two will move on to the final round," he thrust two fingers up close to the camera and pulled them back a second later. "Who will be left standing? Find out, right now! On Total! Drama! Revenge, of the Island!"
xxx
(Fade to Opening Theme)
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doin' fine;
You guys are on my mind!
Ya asked me what I wanted to be,
And now I think the answer is plain to see!
I wanna be...famous!
I wanna live close to the sun!
Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won!
Everythin' to prove, nothin' in my way;
I'll get there one day.
'Cause I wanna be...famous!
(Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
(Fade to Episode)
xxx
The episode opened on the sole remaining cabin, but quickly cut inside to the boys' room to show Noah and Harold in turns as they woke up and locked eyes.
"Good morning, traitor," Harold greeted his roommate.
"Right back atcha, slick," Noah shot back.
"Mind-tricker!" Harold said harshly, sliding off his top bunk to the floor.
"Drama queen!" Noah replied, dropping to the floor as well.
xxx
"Seriously, the guy's been acting like me tricking a couple people in self-defense somehow makes me the new Alejandro," Noah complained to the outhouse camera. "Heck, the only 'bad' thing I've done is get Zoey voted out! I mean, yeah, I'll admit I am gonna try and break Harold and Jasmine up," he quickly conceded, "but that's still just me trying to get a chance at winning this stupid show."
xxx
"It's not just the fact that he got Zoey eliminated that I'm mad about," Harold explained in his own confessional. "It's also how he did it. I mean, messing with people's heads is pretty bad, even if Justin and Courtney deserved it." He paused to stare blankly for a moment, but quickly shook it away. "More importantly, it really reflects poorly on his character. I mean, I used to think Noah was pretty cool, but how can I ever trust him again now that I know he's been sneaking around?"
xxx
"How can I ever trust him again now that I know he's been sneaking around?" Harold repeated as the scene moved to outside the mess hall, the camera once again cutting inside after a few moments. Harold was now seated across from Jasmine at the end of the door-ward table with his back to the window, a single boiled egg in an egg cup before each of them. "How can I trust anything when it might be him trying to turn us against each other?" He slumped forward, his head in his hands and his elbows on the table.
"I guess...all you can do is trust your instincts," Jasmine told him. "Or your gut, whichever works," she added after a moment of thought. "The point is, he can only get to you if you let him. I have faith that you'll do what's best," she said, smiling and putting a hand on his shoulder, "and as long as we trust each other there's not much he can do to beat us."
Harold sat up straighter, though his head was still bowed. "I know," he sighed. "It's just that every time I look at him he looks like he's up to something," he said, motioning behind Jasmine and causing her to look over her shoulder.
The perspective changed to show Noah sitting at other table, his back to the kitchen as he focused on repeatedly trying to crack the shell of his egg with a spoon, growing more frustrated with each failed attempt. "See?" Harold said from behind the camera. "I bet he's imagining beating us up or something. I have a sixth sense when it comes to people thinking about beating me up." Now scowling in anger, Noah picked up his uncracked egg and slammed it on to the table...only for it to ricochet off and hit Chef in the side of the head as he walked past the open counter carrying a stack of dirty plates and dishes. The titan was felled with a startled cry, with another weaker one to follow as the dishes crashed down on top of him. Noah, gaping in wide-eyed shock, quickly closed his mouth and inched away to the right.
Jasmine snorted and smiled as the shot cut back to her and Harold. "Sorry," she told her friend as she turned back to face him, "but I think he's thinking about other things right now. Like probably...himself getting beaten up by an angry Chef."
Harold blinked. "Well, there's no reason it can't be both. I mean gosh, Noah's a smart guy, he can probably think about like ten different things at once."
"Then I guess we'll just have to think of eleven," Jasmine told him, still smiling. "But seriously, mate, between your smarts, my strength, and both of our skills, we're practically unstoppable. As long as we stick together and make sure the only thing either of us has to do with Noah is beating him in the challenge, we won't have anything to worry about."
Harold sighed again, but smiled. "You're probably right," he told her, clasping her hand. "Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without you around to help make things clearer for me."
Jasmine snorted with laughter again and clasped her free hand around his. "Glad I could help ya, mate. That's what friends are for, right?"
Harold's smile seemed to falter for a moment, but he nodded all the same and broke the clasp. "Yeah. Just don't think that means I'll go easy on you in the grand finale. I'm like totally the guy to beat."
Jasmine smirked. "Wouldn't have it any other way," she said, and they slapped five and clasped hands again, more firmly and above the table.
The perspective moved across the room to show Noah watching them, then shifted again to his front as he grunted and scowled.
xxx
"Yup, playing dirty is still looking like my best bet," Noah confessed, "though I should probably be more direct than I'd originally planned. But I can't really afford to pull any punches if I want a shot of beating our resident Dynamic Duo."
xxx
"I'll admit that I'm a teensy bit more worried about Noah than I let on," Jasmine admitted. "I just don't want Harold to think I don't trust him, since it'd only make things worse for us."
xxx
A deep note led into a softly blaring theme as the scene cut to the sun, then panned down to Harold, Jasmine, and Noah standing before Chris on a path through a rather unusual stretch of forest. The host was standing to a tall flower with a drooping, slender, vase-like orange bulb.
"Finalists!" he opened as the music became tenser and deeper. "Welcome to, the Mutant Forest of Terror!" The camera cut around to show the path leading past giant, spiked, and tentacled mushrooms, prickly vines, and thorny, almost rock-like plant spires. A massive housefly flew past from one direction, and a laser squirrel scampered across the path from the other.
"Whoa, awesome," Harold said looking up in awe and taking a few steps back to the side. He stopped when faced with a sudden jet of steam erupting from the ground, and the earth below his feet soon crumbled into a steamy sinkhole with an eerie green glow. He screamed as he fell, but Jasmine quickly grabbed his arm.
"Oh yeah," Chris said as the survivalist glared at him and the camera cut to the bubbling pool of liquid waste at the bottom of the hole, "watch your step! Biohazardous sinkholes: they put the mutant in 'Mutant Forest of Terror'." The shot panned up to Harold as he looked down in terror, only to cry out suddenly as he was lifted back up by Jasmine.
He let out a breath of relief as she happily set him back on the ground. "Wow, thanks," he said. "Who knows what that would've done to me!"
"They're also where Chef gets his Marshmallows of Toxic Loserdom," Chris continued, the sound of a fishing line being reeled in drawing the camera's attention to the hulking man in question, now dressed in his hazmat suit as he fished a glowing green marshmallow out of another sinkhole. "One of you gets to eat that later!" Chris said with delighted anticipation.
"Yeah, because that's totally what's happened all season," Noah said dryly. "All the others were just raving when they tasted theirs, right?" he asked, looking to the other for confirmation and not receiving so much as a glance his way. "Tough crowd...," he muttered under his breath.
"The challenge," the host continued again unflinchingly as the music turned from tense to steady and expository. "Race through the mutant forest to find the elusive Chris-a-lis flower," he explained holding up a notebook with photograph on the front of a dark pink flower with four petals and a winged stem. The shot cut in closer to pan up across the photo, showing the odd, two-toned stem and the hints of some sort of jagged white spikes near its base. "First person to present it to me wins immunity," the host finished.
"In other words," Harold added excitedly, "they'll get to decide who goes to the finale with them!" He looked up at Jasmine, and the two shared a smile.
"Yeah," Chris replied in annoyance, "thanks for doing my job, four-eyes."
"So let me get this straight," Noah said, walking over with annoyance of his own rapidly shifting into anger. "After nature girl dominated the last challenge, you want the finalists to be decided by a flower-picking contest. What, did getting trapped in a cesspit for an episode make you decide to go soft on her or something?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say I'm going soft," Chris answered with an impish smile. "Why don't you just take a step closer to see what I mean."
Noah immediately looked at the vase-like flower between him and the host. "What could this possibly do besides try to eat me," he said after a moment.
He took a step forward.
The flower bulged, then spat fire onto his shorts.
"Question answered!" Noah screamed, jumping back and frantically trying to pat out the small fire on his clothes. Chris laughed at his pain, and Chef – now back in his normal clothes and carrying a fire extinguisher – soon arrived and put out the fire.
"This place is full of those pretty little softie flowers," Chris said with delight. "But the flower you're looking for is attached to a very special plant: a Venus flytrap! Or as I like to call him," he added slyly, "Larry."
Harold gasped. "Wait a minute! Venus flytraps are carnivores! It could actually eat us!"
"Yeah, like it would bother with either of us when she's around to snack on," Noah smirked, pointing at Jasmine. A few flat notes played as she and Harold said nothing, and just looked around idly. "Okay, I see what's going on here," Noah said, his face falling back into mute annoyance.
"Probably for the better," Chris said, walking up between Noah and Jasmine and earning the silent attention of all three campers. "If I were you I'd save the insults for when you're in the forest and probably on fire. It's funnier for us that way. Find Larry," he added, "and you find the flower. Oh, and watch your step." The shot cut outward to show a massive sinkhole a short ways away. "Those sinkholes are everywhere."
As if on cue, the southeast Asian male intern ran in from the left carrying a boom mic, and unintentionally fell straight into the hole with a cry and a splash. "Wait for it...," Chris said, holding up a finger. Moments later the intern emerged from the hole – or rather flew out of it. He had been mutated quite thoroughly: his left foot and right arm browned and swollen and misshapen; shorts spikes jutting out of his right shoulder; spots on his neck and sharper teeth and an enlarged left eye; and a pair of bat-like wings coming from his back. He let out some sort of pained roar as a dramatic riff played, then flew off. "See ya Josh!" his former boss called out. "Enjoy your new job at the circus!"
"So how exactly are we supposed to find Larry?" Jasmine asked after a moment.
Chris responded by holding up a parchment map to them. "Of course! We each get a map!" Harold said in comprehension as the camera panned across a close-up of the map, showing little more than a winding dotted line leading from a bright green dot with an arrow pointing at it to a large, ornate X.
"Pfft, no," the host corrected, pulling the map back off-camera and tearing it up. "You each get a piece of the map!" he said, handing two strips to Harold and Jasmine, and the third to Noah. "You think printer ink grows on trees?" The shot moved back enough to show the entire group again, the three campers studying their pieces of the map closely. "You can work together or you can go it alone," he told them before walking away to the left. "It's your call."
A grand tune began to play as the shot focused in on Jasmine and Harold putting their pieces together. "Dang," Harold said as the perspective moved between their shoulders, "looks like we only got the starting path."
"Which means the final location is...," Jasmine added, the camera moving back in front of them as they raised their heads and looked over at Noah.
"Right where it belongs," the schemer said, folding the scrap of parchment up and sticking it into his shirt. He smirked when he saw the others looking at him, and said "What, you didn't expect me to share it with you, did you?"
"Whatever," Harold said as he and Jasmine began to walk forward, giving Noah dirty looks as they passed him by, "we can find Larry without it. Especially since I now what to look for to avoid those sinkholes."
"That so?" Jasmine asked with interest.
"Uh-huh," Harold nodded, eyes closed proudly. "When stepped on, they release a jet of steam right before they collapse. So as long as we're on the look out for steam jets-" a jet of steam shot unnoticed next to him, and the ground beneath him promptly collapsed. He screamed in shock, but was quickly saved by Jasmine again.
"...we can avoid falling in, right?" she finished for him with a smile that he returned sheepishly as she lifted him back up to safety.
"Thanks for the tip," Noah shot at them as he walked past. "I'm sure you two lovebirds will get on just fine," he said, chuckling as he walked off camera.
The shot zoomed in on Jasmine's confused face.
xxx
"Lovebirds?" she repeated in the confessional. "What was that supposed to mean?"
xxx
"I don't know if Chris meant to give me this part of the map," Noah said as he examined his piece with a broad smile, "but he might as well have handed me victory along with it. I can just follow the others until their part of the path ends, then ditch them and collect the flower." He folded the piece of parchment up and stuck it back into his shirt, then looked at the camera. "As long as I keep hidden they won't catch on, plus I'll get a front-row seat to see if that L-bomb I just dropped goes anywhere," he said, rubbing his hands in anticipation.
xxx
The music turned tense as Noah broke into a run, then after a few seconds dived behind one of the giant mushrooms the mutant forest was filled with. The camera zoomed in as he leaned out from behind it and looked around warily, only to notice something a moment later and dart back in to hiding. A zoom back out revealed Harold and Jasmine walking up the path, the dweeb in front carrying both map pieces with the survivalist bringing up the rear but still looking puzzled.
"So I guess we just have to keep going until our trail ends, then trust your tracking skills to take us from there," Harold said, a jet of steam erupting from the ground next to him which prompted him to hop forward past the edge of the rapidly-sinking earth. "All while watching out for sinkholes, of course," he looked back over his shoulder and smiled proudly. "...and mutants, too," he added after looking forward again and thinking a little. "And don't forget about Noah. Hey, I don't suppose you saw where he went, did you?" he looked back and asked his companion.
Jasmine, her hand on her mouth in thought, looked up at him. "Hmm? Oh, no, I guess I lost track of him. He's a wily little blighter, though, so he's probably got a plan." As they passed the large mushroom in the background, Noah leaned out from behind it unnoticed and smirked. He quickly tiptoed to the next piece of cover, a gnarled-looking tree, and ducked behind it as well before the others saw him.
She resumed her puzzled look, and Harold frowned. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"It's probably nothing," she answered. "I just can't stop thinking about the crack he made earlier about us being lovebirds. I mean," she smiled and snorted, "does he seriously think that we're in to each other? I mean, can you even imagine?"
"Yes, and quite often," Harold said with a blunt matter-of-factness before looking back at their map.
Jasmine blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, really?"
"Well, yeah," the dweeb said, looking back again with his brow furrowed. "Are you telling me that you've never considered it? After everything we've been through together?"
"No," Jasmine told him. "It never even crossed my mind that we'd ever be anything more than friends."
"But now that it has, what do you think?" Harold said, stopping in his tracks and turning around. "I'm pretty dreamy, right?" he said, using as suave a voice as he could muster as the camera zoomed in to show him against a radiant background, slowly panning to follow his sweeping hand motion down to his sneakers then back up to his grinning face as a rapturous, almost shimmering tune last heard accompanying Justin played. He waggled his eyebrows seductively.
Jasmine stared for a second, then doubled over with snorting, thigh-slapping laughter.
xxx
She finished laughing in the confessional, wiping away a lone tear from her eye before starting. "Okay, Harold's a great guy and I'll admit that he does have a lot going for him, but I'm just not into him. Hopefully I can let him down gently," she added with a bit of a sheepish cringe. "Although gentle isn't exactly something that comes naturally to me."
xxx
Jasmine was still laughing as the challenge footage resumed. "Hey!" Harold said in offense, his hands on his hips. "I'm being serious!"
"I know," Jasmine said, straightening up and ending her laugh, "I'm sorry. But you really need to work on your girl-catching skills. That pose you did only made me think of you as a goofy friend more."
"Aw, come on!" Harold pleaded, Jasmine now walking ahead of him. "How am I not like the perfect guy for you? I'm smart, witty, talented, good-looking, humble," the shot briefly cut to Noah rolling eyes from behind one of the strange rock-like pillars growing out of the ground, "and most of all, I love you! What more could you want?"
The survivalist shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, mate, I don't know what to say. I just...don't feel the same way about you as you do about me."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Harold asked in growing desperation. "Just...give up on ever being loved by you?"
"Err...yeah, I guess that's probably the easiest way to go?" Jasmine answered uncertainly, her eyes focused on the path forward.
Harold huffed indignantly, then crossed his arms and closed his eyes and looked away. "Well fine. I see how things are. In fact, I'll make things easier for you by just leaving!" He sniffed back a tear, then ran off with an anguished cry and the two map fragments still in hand.
"Harold, wait!" Jasmine called after, reaching out an arm but grabbing nothing. She let out her breath, palmed her face, and groaned.
A few deep notes played as she shook her head and ran off, leaving the camera to zoom in on Noah watching from behind another gnarled tree. He cackled a little to himself, then left the safety of his cover. "Well, with any luck that'll distract her long enough for me to get that flower. Although I should probably focus on catching up to Harold first..."
He broke into a confident jog through the unbeaten mutant forest...and promptly smacked into the back of a gigantic housefly. It promptly wheeled around on him and buzzed angrily, causing him to scream and run past it.
xxx
"Okay, starting to wonder whether trying to traverse the mutant terror forest alone was really such a good idea," Noah told the outhouse camera with wide eyes.
xxx
"Yeah, I'll admit I kinda went a little overboard back there," Harold admitted. "Even though a part of me always suspected my love for Jasmine was unrequited, it's a pretty big deal to actual hear it from the incredibly attractive though also metaphorical horse's mouth. Especially so bluntly. I mean, gosh," he suddenly abandoned his calm demeanor, "you can't blame a guy for feeling."
xxx
"Oh Goddess of Love, why have you forsaken me?" Harold exclaimed to the heavens, walking into a fire-breathing flower in his distraction. Finally looking forward again he yelped upon noticing the plant's ominous bulge, then yelped again as he dodged out of the way of its fiery spurt. "That was close," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow as he walked a couple steps away. "How much trouble would I be in right now if that had taken out the map?"
He paused a second, blinked, then looked down at the scraps of parchment in his hands as though he'd only just remembered them. "Oh right, I should really keep track of where I'm going." The shot cut to the image of the two partial map fragments as he held them side-by-side, then back out as he started to look from them to his surroundings. He absentmindedly took a couple steps back the way he'd came, looked at his map again, then turned back towards the path heading right and rubbed his chin. "Huh, I guess this is as far as it goes. So where to next?"
As he rubbed his chin in thought and consulted his map again, the shot zoomed outward with a short dramatic tune to show that not only was he next to the fire-flower again, but that it was preparing to use its signature weapon as well.
"Hmm...Larry is a Venus flytrap," he reasoned, unaware of the the sizzling sound and small plume of smoke coming from his backside, "I should try looking for a habitat that's poor in nitrogen...like a bog!" he declared in realization, perking up and extending a finger and sniffing the air in sudden confusion. "Hey, what's cooking?" he asked before stiffening in alarm and looking over his shoulder to see his pants on fire.
"My biscuits are burning!" he cried out in panic before running off down the path, wildly trying to pat the flames out.
/
The music became tense and fast-paced again as the scene flashed to Jasmine, running along at a steady pace and leaving a trail of steam jets and sinkholes in her wake. She seemed too focused on looking around to notice, however, and none of them came close to catching her regardless, so she soon skidded to a halt it safely, though unknowingly, in front of the same fire-flower that had burned Harold.
"Where is he?" she asked, looking around again in concern. "I could've sworn I heard him around here somewhere!"
A rustle and crash in the background underbrush caught her attention moments later, and her brow shot up in surprise as Noah suddenly ran out into the open, flailing his arms in vain at the massive fly that was now flying behind him, sucking on his massive head.
"Shoo!" he told it. "Go away already! I'm not your lunch!"
Jasmine watched in silence as he ran by the fire-flower, stepped on a patch of ground that caused a jet of steam to erupt behind him, and fell with a startled scream into the ensuing sinkhole. The mutant fly detached itself and flew off, and the camera cut in to Noah hanging on to the edge of the hole. "Somebody help me!" he called out desperately, the music becoming even faster and more intense. "Please!"
As he struggled to gain a foothold the camera cut in close as one of his hands began to slip...only for Jasmine's to grab on to it, the background music becoming triumphant as he was lifted back to safety.
"Thank you!" he said, hugging Jasmine the moment his feet touched the ground but breaking it quickly in sudden embarrassment. "Uhh, heheh, no turning into some kind of freak for me, then," he said nervously under Jasmine's stern glare. His gaze followed him as he tried to slink away, but after a few steps he stopped and sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll share my part of the map with you," he said, pulling the scrap of parchment in question out of his shirt.
"Don't you think you be a little more grateful?" Jasmine asked, bending down slightly with her hand on her hips.
"Hey, I don't exactly have a lot to offer, okay?" Noah replied with a hint of irritation. "And don't expect me to promise not to vote you off if I actually happen to win this, either," he added quickly and sharply, "you're still the biggest threat to my shot at the million so I gotta do what I gotta do. Would you be willing to sabotage your chances if you were in my situation?"
"Well...no," Jasmine admitted hesitantly.
"Good," Noah told her. "I'm fine with owing you another favor or something, but save the collection until after the season's over."
Jasmine sighed. "Yeah, I got it," she said, leaning over to look at his piece of the map. "So, where are we on this anyway?"
"That depends," the slacker replied, "where did the trail end on your parts?"
"Good question," the survivalist said, standing up straight and looking around.
Noah sighed. "Let me guess, our summer camp Romeo ran off with both parts alone, didn't he?" He looked to Jasmine, who nodded in confirmation.
/
Harold's scream filled the air as the scene flashed back to him, now rolling back and forth along the ground to put out his flaming shorts. Though he extinguished them quickly he kept rolling further on to the right in his blind panic, only just managing to stop at the edge of a bubbling, steaming, bright green body of water. He sighed in relief, got back to his feet, turned around, and gasped as the music started to boom ominously.
"A bog!" he exclaimed in breathless awe, the shot cutting outward to show more of the waste-filled environment he now found himself in. A trail of small stepping stones led from the shore into the bog, and after approaching them he stopped and gasped again. "And Larry!" he exclaimed, the shot pulling back even more then panning to the right along the stepping stone path to reveal the utterly massive Venus flytrap – Chris-a-lis flower and all – waiting next to a dead tree on a small, desolate island. "Whoa, he's huge," Harold said in fearful awe.
"No," Chris' voice came suddenly over a loudspeaker wired in to a nearby tree, "he's colossal." He laughed, and the camera cut over to show him waiting in a white deck chair at what appeared to be the finish line for the challenge, watching a live feed of the bog on a television cart. "Will Harold live long enough to pick that flower?" he asked the camera as an unusual tune, drumming and blaring and deep, began to play. "And where the heck are Jasmine and Noah? Find out when we return, on Total! Drama! Rrrevenge, of the Island!"
(Fade to Commercial and Back)
A sweet, lilting, and all-around emotional tune began to play as the episode resumed on Chris in his chair, now with a notebook open on his lap and Chef standing behind him. "Ahh, Larry," the host sighed, "he used to be such a sweet, cuddly little guy. We were inseparable," the camera cut in for a close-up of the book's contents, revealing it to be a photo album. The shot panned from a picture of Chris pushing a small potted flytrap in a baby carriage, to playing table tennis with the younger plant who held the paddle in its jaw-like leaves. "Until I left him on the island, and...kinda forgot about him for awhile while the toxic waste piled up," he said with a hint of remorse as the camera panned down to a photo of a slightly drooping Larry surrounded by waste barrels, "mutating him into a freakish botanical mistake."
Chris closed the album, and the shot cut back to him and Chef. "They grow up so fast," Chris said, putting a hand on the album cover and beginning to cry. Chef rolled his eyes.
xxx
"I knew comin' back to the island would dig up old memories," the hulking man told the outhouse camera, "but cryin' over a stupid plant? Uggh. That's just pathetic," he said, shaking his head.
xxx
"Hmm," Harold thought to himself, left hand rubbing his chin and mouth as he looked up and down the path towards Larry. "I guess the best way to go about this is to take the stepping stones over to him," he said, the camera panning across them...then focusing in on one that looked rather more like the peak of a giant turtle shell than anything else.
The shot cut back to the dweeb, who had backed up a few feet from the edge. He took a deep breath, then launched himself forward with a half-scream, half-battlecry. He cleared the first four stones with ease, but stumbled on the fifth – the turtle shell. The music blared dramatically as the shell began to shake, and Harold gasped in surprise as the mutant beast rose out of the toxic water to glare at him, then rear back on its hind legs and roar. Harold was sent flying by the motion, and landed in a painful heap back where he'd started.
"Awww-ha-ha-haww...," he groaned, "that was a bad idea..."
xxx
"That turtle's lucky it got the jump on me," Harold told the outhouse camera. "If I'd known it was there, I could have totally dealt with it using my mad yo-yo skills," he said, taking a red yo-yo out of his pocket and twirling it around like a bolas...until he accidentally hit himself in the side of the head and fell over with a pained groan.
xxx
"Well, at least Jasmine wasn't here to see that," Harold said, picking himself up and dusting himself off. "That would've been humiliating."
"Don't worry," Noah said with a smirk as he emerged from the forest, Jasmine right behind him, "seeing you get tossed by a giant turtle wasn't funny at all."
Harold scowled, but his expression leveled out slightly when he noticed Jasmine. "Hey why are you two together?" he asked, growing angry. "You're not gonna team up and try and beat me, are you?"
"Who knows?" Noah replied with an impish shrug as he walked past the dweeb and looked out over the bog.
"I do," Jasmine scowled, her expression softening when she turned to Harold. "Look, I just saved him from a sinkhole so he decided to share his map, that's all," she explained.
"A likely story," Harold said, crossing his arms and looking away stubbornly.
Jasmine grunted in irritation. "Fine, be that way. I'm going to get that flower." The music became fast and dramatic again as she ran forward, leaped into the air, landed on the head of the turtle and stunned it, jumped off again, and landed into a roll that stopped right next to the Chris-a-lis flower – which was nearly shoulder-height compared to her, with the jaw-like out leaves being utterly massive in comparison.
"Okay," she smiled to herself, standing up and reaching out slowly for the flower and wiggling her fingers in excited anticipation, "now to take this and leave." The shot cut to Harold and Noah watching astounded, then back to Jasmine as she touched the flower...and the leaf-jaws of Larry snapped up around her in an instant.
Harold gasped. "It ate her alive!"
"No duh," Noah added, "isn't that was those things do?"
The shot cut back to Larry as small, sharp bulges suddenly started forming one after the other as Jasmine struggled to break free. "Letmeoutletmeoutletmeout!" she shouted in panic, her blows becoming stronger and stronger until Larry was forced to spit her out with enough force that she smacked against a tree and slid down to the ground, covered in digestive fluids and groaning. "Thanks a lot, mate," she said in woozy near-gratitude as Harold rushed over to her in concern.
"Are you alright?" he asked, pulling her to her feet then cringing at the thick, stringy digestive fluids that had gotten on his hand.
"Yeah, as soon as the three of you stop squawking like emus," she answered, swaying a little before collapsing back onto the ground to Harold's shock.
The focus moved back to Noah as he looked from his rivals to their shared obstacle, the sound of movement quickly getting his attention. The camera cut over to show Larry opening his leaf-jaws back up, the tongue-like Chris-a-lis flower popping out moments later.
"Okaaay...looks like the direct approach isn't gonna work here," Noah said to himself. "I'm guessing that flower is what triggers his jaws closing," he thought aloud as a faded clip of Jasmine getting eaten second earlier was replayed, "meaning anyone touching it is gonna have to be pretty fast if they don't wanna end up on the menu. So how do I get a hold of that thing?" He tapped his chin in thought for a second, then snapped his fingers and smirked in realization. "That just might work," he said to himself, turning around and walking back towards the forest.
The camera zoomed in to Harold and Jasmine in the background as Noah passed them by in the fore, and Jasmine shook away her daze and got back on her feet.
"Now are you alright?" Harold asked again as Jasmine stood up by herself.
"Yeah," she answered, "yeah, I think so. Although I'm a little surprised to see you so concerned. I thought you were mad at me."
"I can be mad at you and still love you, y'know," Harold huffed in annoyance. "I'm a pretty complex guy."
"I can see," Jasmine said, slightly dryly. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to work with me get the flower, though, would you?"
Harold blinked, looked back towards Larry still lying motionless with with flower out enticingly, then back again at Jasmine. "Okay," he said, "I'll help. After what just happened to both of us, I don't think we'll be able to get the flower alone."
"Exactly," Jasmine nodded, the music becoming plodding and thoughtful. "We can't approach it directly, so we'll have to go at it from another angle."
The brainy dweeb nodded as well and rubbed his chin in thought. "Ah-ha!" he declared after a second, a finger extended in excitement. "I have a plan!"
/
The music turned dramatic again as the footage skipped ahead to Jasmine, standing alone by the edge of the bog letting out the slack of a vine that led up into the trees. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" she asked, the camera panning up along the length of the vine to the branch it had been thrown over, and down to the other end tied around Harold's waist.
"Definitely!" Harold called out in response, the shot zooming outward to show him hanging over Larry's open maw, slowly being lowered towards the flower in its center. "We just have to trust each other, right? And work as a team!"
xxx
"Yeah, I volunteered to get the flower myself so that Jasmine could see how brave I am," Harold told the outhouse camera with a self-assured nod. "I'm sure that once she sees what I'm willing to do for her she'll finally fall for me."
xxx
"I can't say I like risking Harold like this," Jasmine admitted, "but it's the only way this plan will work. I mean, there's no way Harold could lower me down," she chuckled. "I'm pretty sure my cat Whiskers is stronger than him."
/
A clip played of a dark gray cat sitting on a lawn washing its face. A large and white and hairy dog suddenly ran up to it barking wildly, but it didn't flinch, and as soon as the dog was close enough the cat turned and pounced, knocking the now-startled dog back off-screen. A few angry yowls and fearful barks punctuated the sound of a violent scuffle off-camera before the clip finally ended.
xxx
Harold was lowered further and further towards Larry's flower as the dramatic music resumed. "Almost there," he called out as he reached towards his target. "A little more...!" The camera zoomed in on the flower as his hands drew inches away from it. Before he could touch it, however, a few greenish motes of something drifted up from the Chris-a-lis and into Harold face; his eyes widened slightly and his nose twitched, but though he struggled to hold it back he couldn't help but sneeze. The force of it was enough to cause him to swing to the right away from the flower, its petals now fluttering in the slight wind caused by the sneeze.
The camera panned down to show Larry's jaw-leaves start to twitch, then over to Jasmine as she gasped and started pulling on the vine – and Harold along with it, yanking him away as he began to swing back towards the middle...right as Larry's jaws snapped shut. He was pulled forcefully all the way back up to the tree branch, stopping only after hitting his head on it – and cracking it slightly, as the shot zoomed in ominously to show.
"Gosh, what's the deal?" Harold asked, rubbing his head in pain as he hung below the branch.
"I could say the same to you," Jasmine replied as the music faded out. "What happened out there?"
"I guess I must be allergic to mutant Venus flytrap pollen," Harold answered. "Which is strange, because I'm not allergic to regular Venus flytrap pollen. Three-hundred other things, yes, but not regular Venus flytrap pollen," he said, crossing his arms and nodding matter-of-factly.
"Uhh, good to know?" Jasmine said awkwardly, briefly looking towards Larry as he opened back up. "You don't have to do this, you know that right?" she asked Harold. "I'm fine trying to get the flower some other way."
Harold looked down at her sternly. "Hey, I can do this! I'm happy that you're concerned about my well-being, I truly am," he told her, motioning to himself, "but what I need right now is your trust. Just as I trust you not to drop me, so must you trust me to get this flower," he declared dramatically.
"If you say so," Jasmine said uncertainly, beginning to lower her partner back towards the exposed flower as the tense challenge music started up once more. The shot cut back up to the branch to show it creak and crack just a little bit more as the vine quickly slid over it.
"Closer, closer," Harold called out to her, eyes locked onto his target as he descended towards it again a few inches at a time. "Just a little bit more and it'll be ours!" he said with a grin of anticipation, the shot panning down to the flower mid-sentence – but at its end, a vine-lasso suddenly looped around it and plucked it off its stalk.
"Finally!" Noah exclaimed, the shot cutting to him standing on the opposite bank, reeling in his vine-lasso and discarding it once the Chris-a-lis flower was in his hands. "Sorry folks, but I gotta run!" he said, sending a mock salute across the bog before turning and dashing away in the opposite direction.
The shot quick-panned back over to Jasmine's stunned expression, which quickly dropped when she heard Harold scream. She gasped and quickly pulled on her vine with all her might, yanking Harold away just as Larry's leaf-jaws snapped close. However, the force of her pull finally snapped the branch the vine was draped over, causing Harold to arc through the air and land on his partner.
"My love!" Harold cried in anguish, still lying on top of Jasmine. "I'm so sorry I failed to get the flower for you! How can I ever be worthy of you now?"
Jasmine looked at him incredulously. "Wait, was this entire plan just a stunt to make me fall in love with you?" she asked in disbelief and growing outrage.
"...maybe?" Harold answered with a sheepish grin.
The survivalist pushed him off her with a grunt of disgust, but quickly had her attention caught by a rumbling coming from Larry's direction. His head-like leaf-maw rose up on a neck-like stem, ending in a dirty, grassy 'body' with several roots sticking out like limbs. He opened his 'mouth' and roared, then ran off in the direction Noah had gone.
Jasmine and Harold gasped in shock and horror. Then, after a moment, Harold turned and asked "You're still okay with working together, right?"
"...yeah, fine," Jasmine sighed after a moment.
xxx
"Look, I'm gonna have to have a long talk with him about his feelings for me," Jasmine told the outhouse camera, "but that doesn't mean I don't wanna go to the finale with him anymore. It was always gonna be as friends anyway."
xxx
The scene cut to Noah, running as fast as he could with the flower in hand and a smile on his face. "I can't believe it," he said to himself, "I'm actually gonna beat those two!"
A thunderous stomping coming up behind him caught his attention, and upon looking back over his shoulder he dryly said "Nope, spoke too soon."
One of Larry's massive root-limbs suddenly shot out and grabbed him. "I HATE THIS STUPID ISLAND!" he shouted, descending into a scream as Larry held him upside-down close by.
His scream caught the attention of Jasmine and Harold as they ran down the path towards him. Jasmine sped up, and just as Larry was about to eat Noah she jumped up and snatched the flower from the schemer's dangling hand, quipping "Sorry mate, gotta run!" as she dropped back down to the ground.
Larry's maw snapped close, but after he moved Noah out of the way. "Hey, a little help here would be appreciated!" the schemer called out angrily before Larry unceremoniously tossed him over his 'shoulder' and ran off in pursuit of Jasmine.
Noah landed head-first in the side of one of the giant mutant mushrooms, his lower half sticking out right in front of a fire-flower. "Yeah, well see if I help the next time your butt's on the line!" he shouted angrily through the mushroom, prompting the fire-flower to to ignite his shorts. "AAAGGH! NOT AGAIN!" he screamed.
/
The shot cut back to Jasmine, flower in her hand and Larry on her tail. She leaped and rolled as he tried to trip her up with a swing from one of his roots, then looked to her right as the shot pulled back, revealing Harold running alongside them.
"Throw it to me!" he said, waving his arms wildly to get her attention. "I'm open!" Jasmine looked from him to the flower and back again with a hesitant look on her face, but nodded just the same and tossed it his way. He jumped and caught it in both hands, then cried out "Yes! Awesome!" in excitement.
He promptly sneezed, which caused him to duck under a swipe from Larry's roots. He narrowly dodged a second one, then looked up in terror – Larry was now standing over him, and roared angrily.
Harold screamed and ran, scrambling under the mutant plant's root-limbs and running forward with the flower stretched out in front of him. The camera zoomed out to show Larry right behind him and Jasmine further in front, a worried look on her face. "Pass it back here!" she called out to him. "We have to keep it away from him as long as possible!"
The music cut away suddenly as the scene moved to Chris and Chef waiting at the finish line, watching the live feed of the massive flytrap's pursuit. "Take your time, Harold!" the host called out, pausing to laugh. "Larry hasn't had a decent meal since I stopped feeding him after season one. Poor guy must be famished."
"Harold, please!" Jasmine called out, the challenge music resuming just as quickly as it had cut away. "Stop trying to do stupid things to win my heart and do what we have to to win!"
"Don't worry, I can do this!" Harold replied, briefly glancing over his shoulder to see Larry still stomping along right behind him. "Don't you trust me?"
Jasmine hesitated for a moment. "Not with this!" she admitted.
Harold gasped indignantly. "If you don't trust me to win this for us, then how can I trust you to take me to the finale if you win?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" Jasmine asked in sheer disbelief.
"I don't know!" Harold replied with a cry.
The survivalist grit her teeth in frustration, and as Larry drew ever closer to her companion she yelled "Just throw it!" with a ferocity that startled Harold into complying. She caught the thrown flower with ease, and looked back over her shoulder to see Larry turn his attention towards her. "That's right, big guy, just keep watching the flower," she said under her breath, smiling confidently...
...and stepping right into a sudden jet of steam. Taken off guard and then off balance, she stumbled back with a cry of "Whoa-oa!" as she got out of range of the sinkhole that had just formed.
Larry snapped her up without warning, but his flower was dropped and drifted forward in the wind.
The shot cut to Chris as he watched the feed and laughed. "You're welcome, Larry!" he called out to the plant.
"Let me out!" Jasmine shouted as she struggled against Larry's maw, the plant monster drawing back to his full height but unable to fully close his leaves around the survivalist.
Harold gasped in shock and horror and took a step towards them, but then gasped again when he noticed the flower floating away down the path.
"Harold!" his partner called out, gaining his attention again. "Just keep going and win the challenge! I can hold this guy off, just trust me!" She let out a short scream as Larry's 'mouth' briefly closed down around her, but she forced it back open in seconds. "Just go already!" she yelled down angrily at Harold as she struggled, the camera cutting back down to show him gaping.
"I can win," he said to himself, looking back to see the Chris-a-lis flower now on the ground. "But can I really just leave her here?" he added, looking back at Jasmine and Larry as the leaves closed around her once more. Harold's eyes widened in alarm, and a grand yet emotional tune began to play as the footage flashed back to a montage of clips from throughout the season.
/
"Uhh, are you and I gonna have a problem?" Jasmine asked sternly in their first meeting on the boat ride to the island.
"I've never seen a girl as big as you in real life before," Harold replied, causing his soon-to-be teammate to raise an eyebrow in wary disbelief.
/
"Good call, mate," Jasmine smiled. "So, you got any experience as an outdoorsman then?"
"Of course," Harold said, closing his eyes and puffing his chest up proudly. "I've been in the Scouts since I was seven, and have earned several badges in a wide variety of subjects."
Jasmine snorted out a laugh. "Good to know," she told her smiling teammate.
/
"I'm fine," Harold wheezed, climbing up to another ledge. "I'm just...pacing myself so I don't exhaust all my stamina."
Trent raised an eyebrow, then looked back up at Jasmine, who was now smiling. "I hear ya mate, good call!" she told him. "Just don't be afraid to holler if you need help, okay?"
"Got it!" Harold replied with a dopey, beaming grin.
/
Trent and Harold just smiled and walked towards their 'new' teammates, exchanging a high-five as they passed each other. Harold sat next to Jasmine, who smiled and punched him lightly in the arm. "Great to have you back, mate. And sorry for almost eliminating you back then," she said with a more apologetic tone. "I hope you can forgive me."
"I already have," Harold grinned, earning smiles from both Jasmine and Zoey.
/
"Well in that case, I'm glad you're here with us, Jasmine," Zoey said, looking back and smiling at her teammate. "I'd hate to think what would happen if you weren't."
The three were silent for a moment before Harold said "Well, I'd probably be able to fight it off. I'm well-trained in ka-ra-te," he said with a cocky nod and quick chopping pose.
"Good to know," Jasmine said with a slightly relieved smile.
/
"Now let's just see if...," she trailed off as she stepped back over to the cabinet they'd been searching, and felt around on top it with her long arm. After a second she smiled. "Got one!" she declared, pulling her arm back and holding up a key. She looked at Harold's grin, then tossed the key to him. "You take it," she told him with a smirk.
"It is my honor," Harold replied slowly, holding the key up to his wide, sparkling eyes as though it were priceless treasure.
/
"In other words," Harold added excitedly, "they'll get to decide who goes to the finale with them!" He looked up at Jasmine, and the two shared a smile.
/
The montage ended and the scene cut back to an upwards shot of Harold standing before Larry with his back to the camera. "No," he said as Jasmine once again began to pry open the monster plant's leafy maw. "We've been there for each other all season, and love or no love that's not gonna stop now!. He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and called out "I'm coming, Jasmine!" as the glorious tune hit its peak and transitioned into more typical challenge fare.
"Feel the wrath of the yo-yo!" Harold yelled as he charged forward, pulling his red yo-yo out and spinning it around. He shot it forward as Larry lashed out with one of his roots; Harold pirouetted to the side as his yo-yo wrapped around the limb, and the mutant flytrap responded by jerking its root back up, pulling Harold along with it.
The shot cut to Larry's 'head' to reveal that Jasmine had now pried it open just about as far as she could with her arms and legs outstretched and her back to the outside world. She glanced back over her shoulder, and in shock cried out "Harold, no!"
Moments later the dweeb flew up and delivered a solid punch to the roof of Larry's mouth, causing it to lift up a bit as he landed awkwardly next to Jasmine. The survivalist was knocked off-balance, and Larry's jaw snapped shut again around both of its captives.
"Now let's get you out of here!" Harold said brightly from within the plant's maw, causing Jasmine to scream in fury and start pounding hard on Larry's leafy jaws.
The camera pulled back a ways to ground-level, and a pair of olive-colored sneakers stepped in front of it. The perspective inverted to reveal it as Noah, watching the scene with wide, terrified eyes. "Uhh...okaaayyy...," he said slowly and warily, "looks like you guys have it handled, so...I'll just leave you to it!" Another shift in viewpoint showed him running past Larry and the nearby sinkhole while the mutant once again tried to keep his mouth closed against Jasmine's furious struggles, and the shot cut to a top-down view of the Chris-a-lis flower lying on the ground as Noah stepped up to it and picked it up. "I'll just be taking this," he smirked, the camera cut up to his face just before he ran off.
Larry took immediate notice and, despite the persistent struggles in his maw, growled angrily and took off in pursuit.
"There's the finish!" Noah said with wide-eyed panic. "Just a little bit more!"
"Hurry up!" Chris called out as the shot cut to his lounging spot behind the finish line, the music abruptly cutting out. "C'mon, Larry, he's almost made it!"
The music cut back in again with a much tenser tune as Noah, panting and sweating, ran for the finish line with Larry right on his tail. The monstrous plant took a swipe at him with a root-arm, forcing Noah to dive forward with a scream. He hit the ground on his stomach, and with a grunt of desperation and effort he scrambled back to his feet...and across the finish line, tossing the flower into Chris' lap the moment he was able. He collapsed to the ground after moving another few inches.
"Noah, for the win!" the host said excitedly, holding up the Chris-a-lis flower as a few pleasant notes. He rose from his chair and walked over to the mutant, who had stopped in its tracks outside the finish banner. "Larry! Buddy!" he said as a short but triumphant tune played. "Look what I rescued for you!" He paused, then frowned. "Uh, you okay there Larry?" he asked in concern, then camera panning up to the great mutant's head as another round of strong blows from within caused him to whimper in pain and open his mouth. Jasmine stuck her head out of it and gasped for breath, then dropped down with Harold under her arm, apparently unconscious. Dripping with Larry's digestive fluids, they landed flat on the ground together.
Chris looked at them, shrugged, then held up the stolen flower. "Who's a good man-eating plant?" he cooed at his pet, a sweet ad playful melody playing as it bent down and sucked up its flower, then rubbed Chris with it's 'head'. "Mmm, Larry's a good man-eating plant, yes you are," the host said, giving it a few affectionate pats and then scratching under its massive 'chin' as it repositioned its head. Larry seemed to smile in contentment, and a sudden pounding the shook the entire drew attention to its leg-roots as it stamped the ground like a loyal and loving dog.
"Yeah, I could've gone my whole life without seeing that," Noah said dryly as the shot cut to him and Chef watching a close-up of Larry's pounding foot on the live feed. Chef nodded in agreement.
The shot panned to the left to show Jasmine limping forward with her arm around a half-conscious and groaning Harold. "Did we win?" he asked weakly as a much more touching tune began to play.
"No," Jasmine answered bitterly, not meeting his gaze.
"Oh...," Harold said, looking down in disappointment before looking back at her with a cheesy and hopeful grin. "But you gotta admit that what I did was pretty cool, right?"
Jasmine dropped him on the ground as the music blared sadly.
/
"Aww, come on," Harold pleaded as he followed an angry-looking Jasmine through the common area, "I was just trusting my gut, and my instincts, both of which told me to save you! It was a gesture of how much you mean to me! Doesn't that count for anything?"
"Not when I was about to save myself," Jasmine replied, wheeling around in anger and thrusting a finger at his chest. "Not when I told you to win the challenge for us while you had the chance!" She threw up her arms in aggravation, causing Harold to cower and back away a step. "Not when I've already made it clear that I don't want you doing things in order to win my love!" She let out her breath and lowered her arms, calming down a little but still leveling a stern glare at the boy standing before her. "You can't just keep doing things for me and expect me to automatically fall in love with you. That's not how it works." She shook her head at him, and turned her back, and began to walk away.
Harold slumped. "I know," he said in a pitiful tone, "I'm sorry. I realized that I'm fine being just friends, and I promise I'll never try to win your love like that again!"
Jasmine stopped, and looked back at him over her shoulder with anger and bitterness still in her eyes. "You should've realized that a long time ago, mate. It's too late for it now. Thanks to you, I've lost my shot at a million dollars."
She continued up onto the steps of the cabin, but the camera zoomed in on Harold as he fell to his knees and hung his head in shame.
/
A trio of deep, ominous notes punctuated the flash ahead to the long-distance shot of nighttime Wawanakwa that opened the usual marshmallow ceremony.
"Eeeeeelimination time!" Chris begun excitedly, the scene cutting not to the fire pit but to the Dock of Shame, the Final Three already waiting with the host and host's assistant by the Hurl. "Noah! By refusing to to help rescue your fellow players from the jaws of a monster...," Chris said as the camera panned from the catapult to Jasmine and Harold and Noah to him and Chef, another trio of deep notes punctuating the end of his statement.
"Hey," Noah shrugged, "it looked like Power Girl could handle it." He pointed a thumb at the girl in question, who frowned in annoyance.
"...you've secured yourself a place in the finale," Chris finished. "Aaaa~aand, you get to choose your opponent, in said finale."
"Duh," Noah deadpanned, "no surprise. Well, aside from the fact that I'm the one doing the choosing, I guess," he added with a smirk, giving a sly side-glance to Harold as he hung his head in shame.
"Who will get the Hurl of Shame?" Chris asked. "Will it be Jasmine, the strongest girl to ever play the game?" Jasmine looked down sadly. "Or will it be-"
"Me," Harold spoke up with a slightly dramatic tone to Jasmine's surprise. "Can there be any other choice?" he added, earning odd looks from the other two campers and a few deep notes from the background score.
"Err...," Jasmine said in confusion.
"It was I who failed today," he said, turning towards her as the soft trill of the elimination rose up. "Both you, and myself. I deserve to go home."
"Umm, Harold?" Chris interrupted with mild confusion of his own. "Yeah, that's nice and all, but it's not your choice."
"Isn't it?" the dweeb declared dramatically, stepping forward. "After all, was it not my choice to give up victory for my own foolish reasons? Isn't this elimination merely the consequence of that choice?"
"Dude, were you not listening?" Noah asked irritably. "He already said that this was my call to make."
"...I know," Harold admitted. "I was just hoping to sway your decision." He paused for a second, then sheepishly asked "Did I make a difference?"
Noah gave him a dull, disbelieving stare. "Yeah, eliminating a pathetic drama queen like you is totally looking like the better option for me now," he said with thick and scathing sarcasm.
A single deep note played as the shot cut outward, and the others present looked at Noah expectantly. The shot cut back in as he looked around at the and said "Seriously, I'm voting for Jasmine. What were you people expecting from me?"
"That," Jasmine sighed, the sombre elimination music starting up as Chef walked over and grabbed the eliminated survivalist by the arm. Harold hung his head in shame, and Noah rolled his eyes.
/
The scene skipped ahead to show Jasmine loaded into the Hurl of Shame, Chris standing by at its lever and Chef near the bucket. "Bon voyage," he told her with a dark smile as Chef suddenly slammed a garbage back over her body.
"H-hey! What's the big idea?" Jasmine asked, her voice muffled and frantic as Chef hastily bound her with rope.
"What, did you think I'd forgotten about how you flung me into a a pit of poo the other day?!" he said with a sudden burst of anger, launching her screaming into the night without further ceremony.
"Whoops," he said, the camera cutting back down to him as the series' capstone theme opened up and Chef walked over with the ceremonial strongbox, "she forgot her Toxic Marshmallow of Loserdom. Oh well," he said calmly. "Chef, dispose of it so it's not dangerous."
Chef gave the camera a nervous and uncertain look.
"Wwwwell," Chris said, walking back over to the center of the dock where Harold and Noah were still standing, "not gonna lie and say I wasn't hoping Jasmine would make it to the end, unmentionable incidents notwithstanding. I was really looking forward to billing the finale as Brains vs Brawn," he explained to the two actual finalists, both of whom were looking annoyed. "But I guess a duel between a couple of pencil-necked nerds will be exciting too...I guess..."
"Wow, your confidence is stunning," Noah said dryly.
"Yeah," Harold chimed in. "I mean, gosh, we both made it this far for a reason. And we totally have a big friends-turned-enemies thing going on," he added, motioning from himself to Noah and back.
"True," Chris said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Well, whatever the case may be," he said, resuming his usual demeanor as he turned to face the camera, "I'll be sure to find a way to spice things up a little. So get ready for some death-defying mortal combat, next time on the epic final round of, Total! Drama! Revenge of the Island!"
Although the shot staggered outward as usual, the scene did not fade away. Instead, the chirping of countless crickets led into a tense trill, and the scene moved to the campfire pit as Chef walked up with strongbox in hand. He looked warily from it, to the left, and to the right, deep beats punctuating every move until he finally smiled, and tossed the entire box into the fire.
The camera cut back to the long-distance view of the island as a massive explosion went off, a flash of light followed by a boom and shake and cloud of smoke that rose up from where the pit had been located.
(Fade to Credits)
Author's Note - Post Script
Whoever said that I had to keep the finale as Brains vs Brawn? This is Shuffled, after all. Although admittedly a lot of you were hoping and/or predicting it would be Harold vs Noah.
Speaking of, I gotta give props to StayOuttaMyShed for predicting this from episode one. Seriously, I was completely shocked to see it thrown out there as a possible finale as it's not an especially obvious choice when looking at the cast. And don't think I only decided on them as the finalists then, either - I've intended on a Noah-Harold finale for quite some time. Jasmine getting third was decided on a long time ago too, as it's not only a good placement for her but it would also allow me to keep a fake-out potential 'Brains vs Brawn' finale alive for as long as possible.
I will say that I'm surprised how many people were predicting a Jasmine vs Noah finale, simply because it was the least likely given how the story was set up. Noah, obviously, was always going to prefer to take Harold over Jasmine; while Jasmine, who reasonably expects the same amount of challenge from either, would prefer to give her friend Harold a shot at the million. So the only way Harold doesn't end up in the finale would be if he got injured, which...ehhm it's not something I can see myself doing.
But back to this week's challenge, I hope everyone enjoyed how it went down. Noah casually gets Harold to reveal his crush on Jasmine, which causes a bit of a rift between them. But rather than the more obvious route of Jasmine deciding to abandon the win to save Harold from Larry, instead it was Harold's decision to attempt to save Jasmine, who didn't really need it. So rather than a heroic decision that led to the decider's downfall, it was a heroic mistake that led to the saved person's downfall. And now Jasmine's rather mad at Harold for costing her the million by trying to impress her with a needless act of heroism.
So...yeah. Let me know what you thought of the episode, and of the Final Two! And, of course, feel free to state your predictions for next season's cast, as this is gonna be the last chance to have any hope of influencing it.
I look forward, as always, to your reviews. I'll see you all next week!
- Fangren
Appendix: TSROTI Eliminated Contestants
Cody - (13th Place)
Izzy - (RETURNED | Formerly AWOL)
Leonard - (12th Place)
Justin - (11th Place)
Lindsay - (10th Place)
Cameron - (9th Place)
Izzy - (Tied for 7th Place | Mutated, but captured)
Gwen - (Tied for 7th Place)
Zoey - (6th Place)
Trent - (5th Place)
Courtney - (4th Place)
Jasmine - (3rd Place)
