Let's finish the season! By the way, the "Simpsons" episode I mention here is not mine. It's called "The Springfield Files" and it's from Season Eight, in between "The Mysterious Voyage of Homer" (written in Mexican Spanish or something, I think) and "The Twisted World Of Marge Simpson".

Thank you for reviewing, Elizabeth Life Stone, Ali6132 and AvrilLavigneFan2001. To the guest reviewer, I might make that story if I'm inspired, but don't get your hopes up – I don't find Ezekiel a very inspiring character, although I do agree he needs some love (I suggest reading "A Codette World Tour" by TDICharlieBrown – Ezekiel isn't the main focus, but it definitely does something for his character).

The footage of Mal was horrifying. I could see how Zoey could've been so disturbed. I saw Mal trying to knock her out with a log, tripping Cameron, breaking Sam's Gameguy and Sierra's SmartPhone, sabotaging all the boats in the race except the raft, whistling as he showed in the confessional that he'd tampered with the votes to get Cameron gone that night when Duncan was arrested, breaking the blade of Duncan's knife, changing the settings on the salad spinner so Courtney got injured way back in the fourth episode...I even checked the footage of later episodes to see Mal's confessionals and things he'd done after Alejandro created the DVD.

I worried in the confessional. "Mike's been Mal for such a long time. Zoey says Mike's still in there, and I want to believe it, but I'm not sure how. If I talk to Mal, I know he'll say that Mike's gone, but he's the only one that knows. I guess I just have to think positive. I am going to bring Mike back if it's the last thing I do! Which it won't be, yes, Chris, I'm looking at you and your life-threatening finale challenges!"

I couldn't help wondering what would happen in the finale. I remembered the reject Olympics that Gwen and Owen did in Total Drama Island and the simple vote that Duncan and Beth endured after they tied during a run through every challenge of Total Drama Action or the follow-up question about a contestant (Duncan knew none of them, but to be fair, one of them was what colour Courtney was thinking of at that moment). I remembered Heather pushing Alejandro off the volcano in Hawaii and hurling the wooden sacrifice into the depths of the lava at the end of Total Drama World Tour. Finally, I remembered watching as Cameron's armour pinned Lightning down for three seconds to win last season. What would happen this time?

That morning, Chris' voice echoed through the loudspeakers. "Good morning, finalists! Meet me in the forest clearing and get ready to diet!...sorry, typo. Ready to die!" I couldn't help remembering that Simpsons episode when Homer sees this billboard that says "Die" on it. He screams, but then the wind pushes the trees back and it is revealed that it actually says "Diet", which seems to scare him just as much if not more.

As we walked, Mal spoke up in his "Mike" voice. "Hey, Shannon, just wanted to say thanks for bringing me to the finale. I know you've been worried about what's been going on this season, but-"

I stopped. "For your information, I was going to bring Zoey," I snapped. "But she insisted I bring you instead. And I'm sick of your pretending. I know who you are, Mal, so cut the act."

Mal's hair fell back over one eye, and I finally saw it. Yes, that boy who sprained my arm when I was thirteen was him. "Oh, what a relief." he said in his real voice. "Pretending to be that boring was really getting to me. I always wondered what Zoey ever saw in him, and why would you want someone like that as a friend." He paused. "I know who you are, too." he said. "You're that girl who came in to juvie with your friend a few years ago. I know you know what I'm capable of."

I shrugged. "First of all, Mike is not boring. He's a lot more interesting than he appears at first. Second, he's nice, and he's not evil. Third, even if he was boring, I'd take Mike over Mal any time."

"Oh, Shannon." Mal chuckled, "Don't you realize it? I'd expect Zoey to be that over-optimistic and naive, but not you." He leaned close to my ear, and I flinched, but he only whispered the words. "Mike is gone, and he's never coming back." He began to laugh.

Although I'd expected this, I still felt doubt clouding my thoughts. I had to believe that Mike was still in there.

I didn't listen to all of Chris' doomsayer stuff. The first thing Mal and I had to do was pick a weapon. Mal went for the meatball bazooka, and in honour of Zoey and since it was light, I took the bow and arrows.

Above us floated thirteen balloons. "Each one holds a previously flushed All-Star." Chris explained.

I frowned. "Wait a second...are they okay in there?"

Chris gestured to the massive form sitting on the grass further away. "I don't know. Ask our classic competitor Owen. He filled them."

"Thanks, Chris!" called the lovable goofball from the first three seasons. He'd used his gaseous emissions to fill the balloons. Chris had even given him beans to eat, so they'd help.

"You have thirty seconds." Chris told Mal and I. "Any All-Star you shoot down becomes your helper. And...go!"

I shot at the closest balloons, and sure enough, the arrows were good. The two All-Stars I shot down...that was just good luck.

"Shannon picked up Zoey and Cameron!" Chris announced. "Mike, you might wanna start trying."

"It's Mal." The evil personality turned his gun on me. "Shannon, why don't you take a break?" He shot at me, and I was down as he got a couple of competitors himself. This time, it was Heather, and then Alejandro.

I'm not sure what happened to everyone else. I saw them floating towards the sun, since they weren't tied down, but Sierra's still blogging and I've seen Scott a few times, and spoken to Jo, Lightning and Sam on Facebook, so I know they're fine. Besides, Gwen and Courtney answered my friend requests on Facebook, too. I assume Duncan's still in jail, and if everyone else is fine, Lindsay probably is, too.

But I didn't know that then. I was just relieved that it was Zoey and Cameron I had saved.

Chris got a phone call just then. "It's the lawyers. I'm going to let it go to voice mail."

I got to make a confessional on that. "I feel kind of bad about bringing Zoey and Cameron back, but then again, it might be a good thing. I really need Zoey here – she's the only one that still believes in Mike. And I've missed Cam so much – I'm kind of glad he's here."

The helpers were brought over to us. "Alejandro and Heather," Chris said, "You will be helping Mal, slash Mike. Zoey and Cam, you're on Team Shannon. But you four are here as helpers only. Meaning you can't win." He paused. "Meaning no money." He paused again, looking expectantly at Heather and Alejandro. "Zero money, plenty of pain." When he still got no response, he grabbed his bullhorn and yelled into it "HEATHER, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Heather glared at him. "Yes, Chris, I hear you!" She smiled. "Alejandro and I are fine with the rules."

Chris gasped. "Oh no! Are you two...DATING?"

I burst out laughing. It was true! After all the teasing I'd done, it had finally happened! Alejandro and Heather were an official couple. They even did a confessional before the challenge, and I heard every word they said.

"We don't want the money!" Heather said.

"The money was getting in the way of our happiness." added Alejandro.

"Once we were eliminated, we could finally be together."

"And together we are happy."

"That's what I was gonna say!"

"I knew you were going to say that."

"I knew you knew."

Chris pounded on the door of the confessional outhouse. "OUT! GET OUT! That is THE most disgusting thing that has ever happened in there!"

Then all of us were taken to the challenge that Chris was apparently planning even after the lawyers told him he had to make it less dangerous. To be honest, it was pretty simple, yet it incorporated all four of the previous seasons.

First, there were three moats to cross. First was toxic waste, obviously coming back to last season. The lava in the second reminded me very strongly of the finale of the third season, and I glanced back to see if Alejandro had any kind of traumatic flashbacks – he only just survived that eruption.

No, he was too wrapped up in being openly in love with Heather to notice.

The third moat was more like the first season on this island – basic, plain water. Except it had Fang, but then the sharks were always around that season.

So what for TDA? Well, at this point, the helpers wouldn't be much help. There was a stone in the middle of the concrete above the last moat, with a sword stuck in it. We had to get past the pasta-shooting Mad King (Chef) and the Ultimate All-Star would be the one who pulled the sword out of the stone.

"This is scary." I muttered, glancing over. "If it was someone else up against me, I might well let them win. But no way is that monster going to win."

"Even so, let's try not to hurt Mal!" Zoey implored. "I know you don't believe it, Shannon, but I'm sure Mike's still in there. Right, Cameron?"

Cameron gave a sigh, and then admitted "I don't think so, Zoey. And it's possible that Mal was always Mal and that Mike was just one personality. Either way, Mike's gone."

Zoey looked between us. For a moment, her eyes welled up. She rubbed them fiercely and then said "Well, if Mal is really Mal, let's go out, crush him, and win this thing!" We both high-fived each other, and would've done the same with Cameron, except that it caused his bubble to roll over.

Mal kicked it back. "Keep your garbage on your side!"

"You just wait!" I yelled back. "I may not have time to shave your hair or kick you in the balls, but I WILL either push you off the moats, throw you into the lava or have Fang attack you!"

"Wow." Chris commented to the camera. "Is Mal really Mal, or is Mal still Mike? Maybe Mike was always Mal." He held up a carton. "This is milk."

My one advantage was my helpers. Mal's helpers were too interested in each other to be as helpful as they could've been. Yes, they'd been finalists before, but so had Cameron, and Zoey had made it to the final four (and only not three because of the double/triple eliminations) twice, and besides, she'd be a finalist instead of Mal if she had let me choose her.

But it was time to start. "Good luck, Shannon!" Mal called out sarcastically. "You're gonna need it!"

Zoey was finding this harder than the rest of us. "Zoey, I know this is hard, but you need to focus!" I whispered.

Zoey nodded. "I know." She took off her necklace, and then covered it with earth. "Goodbye, Mike, wherever you are." I heard her whisper, before she was ready to work with me.

We approached the moat full of toxic waste. Cameron had the idea that got us across. All we had to do is float across on his bubble. Of course, it disintegrated, but we pulled him over to the side before he fell in.

"Shannon crosses the first moat!" Chris announced through his loudspeaker. "Shannon is in the lead! Shannon...winning!"

I half expected him to add on, "That's Shannon winning, not you, Mal. Shannon!"

Meanwhile, Mal first attempted to use Heather as a boat, then when Alejandro found a bamboo stick, Mal pole vaulted across, leaving his helpers on the other side. He nearly fell, and Zoey, forgetting herself, cried out "Mike!" She gave a sigh of relief when he didn't fall into the toxic waste.

"Zoey!" I hissed, "He's not Mike, remember? You let him distract you, he'll have another count of attempted murder on his list of crimes!"

"Okay, right." Zoey said quickly. "I know that. I do!"

The three of us got up to the next level easily enough, but Mal was climbing up his ladder as I helped my helpers up. I glanced down at the ladder from the last level. "Think we could run across this?" I said.

"Good idea!" Zoey complimented. I put it across and got through. But just as Zoey was halfway, we heard a scream from Cameron. Mal had pushed him down to the previous level.

"Cam!" Zoey and I called at the same time, but she had to cross with me, since the ladder was catching on fire and she wasn't going to fall into the lava.

"I'm coming for you two next!" Mal smirked.

We could see from the top of the third moat that Cameron was all right, just a bit bruised, so we had to press on. But we had no time to look around for a way to cross. Less than a minute later, we heard a yell and both of us were knocked into the water. Mal had used a pogo stick from the second level to get up there. As I tried to resurface, I felt a pressure on me, pushing me down. As that happened, I felt a hand grasp mine, and I saw Zoey when I opened my eyes for a moment.

I'd been right. The last thought I had as I tried desperately to push up was that I was right. Mal was trying to kill us. His girlfriend. His close friend – both of us. He was about to drown both of us.

But suddenly, I was at the top, suddenly gasping for air. On one side of me was my opponent. Next to him was Zoey, and Fang was suddenly in the air, his loose shark tooth (probably the same one he'd taken back from Scott last season) was in the hand of my opponent. He'd just punched Fang.

"Why did you..." I began.

But Zoey had noticed something else. The dark circles under Mal's eyes were gone. His hair didn't cover one eye. She spoke up. "Mike...is it really you? Like, really really?"

For the first time in days, I heard Mike's real voice. Not someone pretending and trying way too hard, not another personality – pure Mike. "From now on," he told Zoey, "I'm all Mike, all the time." He paused, looked at Zoey and added, "Hey, where's the necklace I gave you?"

That was enough. Mal hadn't managed to get all the facts right. But Mike remembered the necklace.

Zoey didn't waste words. She pulled him into a passionate kiss. I climbed out of the water, noticing Cameron was across the lava. Beside me was Heather and Alejandro, finally having found a way up.

"Love is a fine, fine thing." Alejandro commented, holding Heather close.

Chris flew up to our level on his jet packs, yelling at them. "That is IT! This is the finale! It's about pain and betrayal, and pain! Not hugs and kissing! PAIN!"

Alejandro and Heather looked at him, then started making out. Zoey and Mike kissed again.

"Cameron, get up here so I can kiss you!" I called out. I helped him up the last ladder, and we kissed as passionately as the other couples.

This seemed to break Chris. "That's it! New rules! Anyone who gets the sword out of the stone wins the million dollars!"

"Anyone?" Alejandro instantly dropped Heather, but he only managed one step before he fell.

"Oh no you don't!" Heather had clasped his ankle before he could get any further.

As for the rest of us, we stopped kissing. Mike and I exchanged glances.

"Guess that means game on for the two of us." I said finally.

Mike nodded with a grin. "Yeah. I better go get my money!"
"Except that'll be my money!" I retorted, diving into the water and swimming across without incident...except for Alejandro and Heather pulling at each other so much that they fell into the water. Then Mike gave Alejandro the shark tooth that had fallen out of Fang's mouth when he punched him out of the water. He actually somersaulted onto Alejandro's shoulders from the top. "Check it out! I have all of the skills my personalities had! Including Svetlana! Here, hold this."

I think it took a second for Fang to register who was holding his tooth, but Alejandro only swam away fearfully instead of giving it back. Score!

It was back to just Mike and I. One of us would win. And in spite of the fact that I wasn't playing against a psychopath any more, I wasn't about to let a second suitcase of money slip from my grasp.

Zoey and Cameron didn't come up with me. Instead, they held off the other two as best they could.

I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, timing it so that I was up at the exact same time as Mike, hoping Chef would see him first. Even so, I leapt from rock to rock, shielding myself from Chef's pasta cannon.

"Some impressive maneuvers from both Mike and Shannon!" Chris commented. "And unimpressive shooting from Chef!"

"I'll say!" Mike yelled out. "You couldn't hit the blind side of a -" That gave me my chance. While Chef was busy trying to shoot Mike for his comment, I ran to the sword, and put all my effort into pulling. When it finally came out, I fell over due to the effort, but it didn't matter. I'd done it!

Chris landed on the top of the moat, while the helpers finished climbing up.

"Shannon wins the million dollars!" Chris announced, handing the suitcase to me.

My friends all cheered. Chef "accidentally" shot Mike again. "I was just cleaning it and it went off."

"Way to go, Shannon!" Zoey smiled at me, and we high-fived again.

"You deserve it." Cameron said. "Nice win!" I pulled him into a light hug.

At that moment, Chris got a call from the network, just as Alejandro got up, carrying Heather. As it turned out, the call was for a new season being greenlit with a new cast.

And that was when Wawanakwa sank.

No, I'm being serious. As it turned out, the moats had been made with a certain kind of heavy machinery, and the island was so small that it became unstable. So the island sank.

I scrambled up onto the roof of a cabin with my friends. I saw Heather and Alejandro emerge further away.

"Cheated out of a million bucks, again!" Heather raged.

Alejandro smiled calmly. "But we have the greatest consolation prize...each other."

"Great." Heather said sarcastically. "Just great." Then Fang emerged.

"Give the shark back his tooth, Al!" I yelled out as they swam off.

"We should do this again sometime." Mike remarked casually as the four of us drifted along on the cabin roof. We all gave him the same answer.

"NO!"

So yes, Shannon won! But the fun's not over yet! There's still one more chapter to go!