Disclaimer - All rights belong to Teletoon, Cartoon Network, and the creators of TDI. No profit is being made in the making of the fanfiction. This alternate-universe episode of TDI contains stunts performed by written teens. Please don't try any of this at home. Also, do not spray cheese whiz into your shoes, you'll never get the smell out.
The Kobold Necromancer's Notes - According to Wikipedia, Ezekiel is not officially in the cast of Total Drama Musical. Who the heck writes those things?!
Also, the mysterious TDWT on the TDI blog, I believe it either stands for Total Drama Windup Film (for the TDA special), or Total Drama Where's Tyler?, an entire season in which Lindsay tries to find her boyfriend.
Chapter 23 - The Train in Pain Mainly Wanes
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(Maclean Stadium)
The train ride ended very shortly after the most recent events you had been informed about. If you want to see more, be sure to keep your eye out for the unedited, director's cut of this scene. [1]
Chris Maclean stood in front of the contestants, who had arrived back at the station shortly after all of the crazy encounters and fights they had. He shook his head and his finger at them, irking some of the contestants who hated to be lectured (especially by an egotistical sadist).
"I must say, you people sure don't know how to appease the cameras when told to," the host chastised them. "I told you to do fun things, and some of these teams were boring as heck."
Belinda cleared her throat, then thrust a finger at Chris. "You! Be interesting!"
Chris flinched, then looked around. "Um... what?"
The clairvoyant blond shook her head and her finger at Chris. "See? About 98% of people cannot 'be interesting' on demand."
"Who are the other two percent?" Gwen asked, smirking over Chris being proved wrong.
"People like Alfred and Izzy."
Izzy giggled and thumped her chest in pride. "Izzy does her best," she exclaimed, then looked over at Ezekiel. "I really do, even if I threw you into the wrong compartment. ... Twice."
"You threw him back into your own compartment," Chris snapped. "It's a good thing you hurt a lot of people in the process, or it'd be for nothing."
"We got hurt enough, thank you," Sebastian grumbled as he rubbed at the bandage wrapped around his forehead. As well as that, there were bandages around his arms and chest.
Mandy, sporting a black eye, her leg in a cast, and several bandages and band-aids on her body, was glaring at DJ. "You foolish mortal," she spat at him. "Devour wouldn't have hurt you! He's one of the friendliest snakes on this doomed planet!"
Alfred, with his left arm in a cast and a busted nose, simply giggled and bounced around. "I liked that trip, I got to know everyone a little better, and the girls couldn't keep off me!"
"They didn't have a choice, dude," Xander remarked as he massaged his sprained wrist, absentmindedly touching his other bandages which were all over his body. "The girls kept getting knocked into you by Hurricane Panicked DJ!"
Izzy giggled at this too. "Alfred is soft though, we're very lucky!" She threw her arms around the gonzo and hugged him. "Thank you for being so cushy to fall on!"
"It's all the fun things I've done, it tenderized my body," Alfred said, then winced. "Ouch, you're squeezing a particularly tender part of my back right now, Izzy!"
DJ, also with multiple bandages, including one around his forehead, scratched the back of his head. "Um, I'm sorry, you guys. I really am. Can you all forgive me?"
The other members of Team 3 grumbled and snarled, making the big teddy bear flinch. His shoulders sagged in anguish, and sighed heavily.
Chris had been pointing the camera at all the injured members of Team 3, and was now clapping for attention back to him. "Well, I should let you all know that, because of the hilarious footage of that chaos in your team, I have made you one of my three picks. Your team has immunity!"
"You're forgiven," Alfred, Izzy, Mandy, Xander, and Sebastian all exclaimed, and gave DJ one big, group hug.
"Okay, stop being all nice and sweet, we have to get back to the contest," Chris said. "Now then, we have six other teams, and four more to win immunity. I have two more picks, and Chef Hatchet has two."
The other teams looked rather nervous, exchanging glances and small comments. Most of them thought that since they hadn't beaten each other up and caused chaos in their train ride, they were done for.
"Now for my second pick," Chris said, shrugging his shoulders casually, "is our last team of people who aren't normally interesting but were this time, which is Team 7!"
The members cheered, except for Harold and Yoshi. "Not interesting?" Harold snarled, fingers twitching normally.
"How dare he?" Yoshi hissed.
"What did they do, if they weren't so interesting?" Heather snapped.
"They burnt a hole through their train cabin's floor, and a couple nearly fell through," Chris said with an amused chuckle. "True, it would have been more interesting if one of them had fallen through, but hey, you gotta set some borderline."
"Gee, how thoughtful," Beth grumbled, looking away. "Scariest moment of my life, and it was just good enough for you."
"Stop whining, uninteresting person, you won," Chris snapped, then turned to Chef. "So, what'd you pick, big guy?"
"Team 1, of course," Chef said proudly.
The members of Team 1 cheered and high-fived, which Ezekiel beamed at his team. "Hey, good job, eh," he said to them. "What did you do?"
"They did a masterful portrayal of the Twilight series," Chef Hatchet exclaimed, wiping a tear of remembrance from his eye. Chris was glaring at him, his arms crossed in disgust.
"Are you kidding me?" Arthur shouted, shaking his fists at the co-host. "You let them win because they reenacted that?"
Rodney scratched his head. "I... don't get it. All that happened was Justin took his shirt off a lot."
"A perfect interpretation of New Moon," Chef said, his shoulders shaking with emotion. "I was so moved, it reminded me the first time of many I saw it."
"I'm gonna be sick," Arthur groaned, clenching his stomach.
"Me too," Chris grumbled, glaring at the now-sobbing Chef. He sighed and shook his head. "Well then, time to tell you of my final pick, someone who truly deserved it!
"Team 5! You were hilarious!"
The members of the team cheered, but looked confused. "What did we do?" Clive asked.
"Yeah, I don't remember much," Joel remarked, "except for Ezekiel being thrown on Bridgette."
Heather glared at her boyfriend, who nervously held his hands up in defense. Izzy quickly stepped in to explain what happened (well, it wasn't quick when she started talking, because it was hard to get her to stop). Bridgette's face turned pink a little as she asked, "So, what did we do?"
"Actually, it was Carol who saved the day for you boring people," Chris said.
The enthusiast cocked her head to the side. "Wha? I don't remember doing anything really interesting."
"It was more of what you said that was interesting," Chris said. He pulled out a remote for Vera from his pocket, and turned on the screen. After hitting a few buttons, the footage of Team 5 began to play on the giant screen.
(Team 5's Train Ride)
(Omnipotent Remark - It should be noted that, although Carol was not overly sheltered or ignorant of slang, there was one particular slang word she had somehow never heard before, and thus casually uses one word that is rather old-fashioned.)
Bridgette was busy correcting her clothes and hair, still flushed from having Ezekiel landing on her and practically squished against her. Joel was playfully smirking at her as he said, away from his cell phone conversation with Hannah, "You seem to keep getting involved with that guy, huh?"
The surfer girl blushed even more, then shook it off. "He's just my friend, and everyone knows that. It's not our fault that, for some reason, destiny keeps us accidentally crashing into each other."
"Interesting relationship," Arthur remarked, raising one of his sharp eyebrows. "But hey, I'm sure he's not complaining much."
"Unless the only way he gets to meet her is being thrown through a window at her," Clive grumbled.
"Oh, I know how that is," Carol said, smiling and waving her hand. "The window is always the place for my pussy to come in."
There was silence among the cabin, and Arthur was the first one to dare to speak. "Um, what now?" he asked, straightening his collar.
"She's out every night, such a naughty girl," Carol explained, smiling and shrugging her shoulders. "And always a mess too, heck knows she's been."
Arthur was coughing and hacking uncomfortably. Clive and Joel were exchanging startled looks, and Bridgette was blushing all over again. Carol noted all this and crossed her arms, frowning in confusion.
"What?" she snapped. "Don't any of you have a cat?!"
Chris turned off the footage, still laughing. "Oh, Carol, you funny girl. You really had them going."
Carol pouted, crossing her arms and trying to ignore how many people were staring at her. "Well, I don't see what's so funny," she replied, turning up her nose at Chris and waving her hand dismissively. "My pussy is none of your business, Chris."
Several of the teenagers burst into wild laughter, which made Carol even more confused.
(Janitor's Closet - It's been a hard train ride.)
Carol - "So what exactly is so funny? Granted, my kitty cat is very funny at times, especially when she chases after the laser pointer! She's a cutie-pie, but if mentioning her gives my team a victory, I won't complain." *She beams in pride.*
Arthur - "Someone should tell her what that word means now..." *He strokes his chin, then grins wickedly.* "Nah!"
Bridgette - "Heather was pretty mad when the whole affair between Ezekiel and I came up. ... DAH! No no no! Wait, I mean-"
Clive - "Oh dear, I survive yet another challenge. How is that possible? Life should be stomping it's giant, cruel feet on me, like a helpless insect being crushed by a mindless human being!
"... Remarkably, the human that comes to mind is Chris Maclean."
Joel - "I thought for sure since all I did was talk to Hannah on the phone, that our team would lose. Thought it was all over for me, in the name of the great Earth vs. Spider match! And I must admit..." *he blushes* "She was so worth talking to the entire time. She's the sweetest girl I've ever met!"
Chris turned to Chef, giving him a sharp frown. "Okay, Twilight fanboy, your turn."
"No," Tyler shouted, covering his ears, "don't say those two words together!"
"Kill me," Arthur wailed.
"Shut up," Chef Hatchet barked. "You creeps are probably Team Jacob!"
"Who?" Rodney asked.
"What?" Eva said.
"Why?" Gwen groaned, miming putting a gun to her head and pulling the trigger.
Chef Hatchet took a few more seconds to glare at the contestants, then cleared his throat. "My other pick is Team 6, for their rather interesting fights."
Chris smiled and nodded. "Ah yes, Courtney torture, very violent and provoked. Makes good TV."
Courtney turned her nose up at Chris and scoffed. "Whatever," she spat. "When I'm elected to public office, my other teammates will be crushed by my powerful... um, power!"
Hannah looked away nervously before Joel stepped in. "Hey," he snapped at Courtney, "Hannah didn't do anything to you!"
"She didn't help me," Courtney snarled, looking over at Gwen, Tyler, and Leshawna. "And thus, she is just as guilty as them."
She would have continued, but Chef Hatchet nudged her. "I know now is not the best time," he whispered to her, "but when can I get in contact with your lawyer?"
"Hey," Gwen shouted, pointing accusingly at Courtney, "did you bribe Chef?"
"You gotta be kidding," Leshawna growled.
"Oh hush, you all got immunity because of it," Courtney snapped at them. "So don't complain! Anyway, it wasn't exactly a bribe."
"Then what is it Chef is getting?" Tyler snapped at her.
"Worker's comp," Courtney whispered to her teammates, "and possibly, he'll get his next paycheck on time."
(Janitor's Closet - Please don't stop the music!)
Tyler - "Well, if Chris Maclean is going to suffer over it, I guess I can be okay with it."
Courtney - "There! Now will everyone just leave me alone?"
Gwen - "Yeah, I guess Courtney has had enough." *She grins darkly, and holds up a can of cayenne pepper.* "Sadly for her, I still have to get the final word."
Leshawna - "Kind of a cheap victory, but as long as it gets me one step closer to winning the big prize, I'll take it. I came to this contest to win, and I still intend to, baby!"
Hannah - "Joel was really sweet to defend me, but I trust in myself and God to protect me from the wrath of Courtney's political career."
"So that just leaves the two losing teams," Chris said, grinning at said losers, "teams two and four!"
Noah groaned in exasperation. "This wasn't really fair, you have the bias of a German Olympic judge!"
Chris raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean! I'm surprised you didn't write a book about how glorious the victories of the other teams were while the contest was going in."
"You only have yourself to blame for your team's loss, Noah."
"Why just me?!"
"Because all you all did was discuss gossip magazines and your sexuality, and that was really boring," the host explained. "I really don't care to hear about you and Cody."
"There's nothing between Cody and I," Noah exclaimed. He shoved the technogeek away from him, which resulted in a shove back, and the two started pansy-slap fighting.
"Eee, they're touching each other," Carol cheered. Eva groaned and shook her head at this, and pulled Cody away. Anita tried to wrestle Cody away from Eva in a fit of jealousy, and the two started slap-fighting each other.
"This is wild," Sadie exclaimed, watching the fights. She turned to Lindsay and asked, "Was any of this our fault?"
Lindsay was busy applying blush, but managed to shake her head, misapplying the make-up. "Naw, we were just fine, Sally. We just didn't know Chip was the judge, because if we had normal men judging us, our beauty would have won this."
"What do you mean 'normal men'?" Chris exclaimed, looking quite startled. When all Lindsay did was give him a stare, the host huffed and shoved Chef away from him.
"What was that for?" the cook barked, then started a pansy-slap fight with the host.
"So why did we lose?" Trent asked the host.
He didn't get an answer from the fight going on. Geoff and Valerie tried to call out to them too, but they didn't get an answer. Heather, who was still trying to straighten herself out from the cat fight with Valerie, was busy feeling her face to see how bad she looked. In her frustration, she snatched Lindsay's blush mirror and immediately started applying it.
"Hey," Lindsay exclaimed, but Heather ignored her, trying desperately to cover the slight bruises and scratches on her face.
(Janitor's Closet - Come on, feel the noize!)
Ezekiel - "When Heather gets mad, she kind of slips back into her 'popular' self, eh. It's something I really have to help her with." *He scratches the back of his head and sighs.*
Xander - "It's obvious why a cat fight didn't work, if Chris had been a 'normal man,' you know?" *He snickers.*
Harold - "When you're burning down the train, what's a cat fight? Also, cat fights are not as fun as guys try to make them out to be. Girls like to use their nails, and GOSH, that HURTS!"
Sebastian - "Normal philosophy does not compute with Chris Maclean."
DJ - "I'm so glad my team won because of senseless violence and accidental injuries. Kind of how some of our football games are won." *He tries to smile, then bursts into tears.* "And I disapprove of it all!"
Colin - "I hate these challenges where I don't remember anything. But so long as I get immunity, I ain't complaining. Because when I do start losing, I have to threaten to break fingers if they don't vote for me, and there's only so much time, or fingers, before that won't work anymore."
The contestants were all standing around, waiting for Chris and Chef Hatchet to stop fighting. It took a lot of pleading from DJ and an impatient Eva to separate them.
"Well then," Chris said as he corrected his hair, giving a side-glare at Chef, "time to vote for the next loser to be booted off Total Drama Battlegrounds! Who's it going to be?"
Lindsay angrily swiped her blush back from Heather. Cody and Noah were glaring furiously at each other as Katie tried to pull her boyfriend away. Valerie was giving Heather a very unfriendly look, and Geoff was scowling at Trent from afar. Sakaki was just hiding behind Sebastian again, with the philosopher and Alfred trying to comfort her.
Bridgette approached Trent and started whispering to him. Geoff saw this and immediately balked. "Do you see that?" he complained to Justin, who was standing nearby him.
"What? Bridgette talking to Trent?" the male model asked.
"Yeah! Why is she talking to him first? I'm her boyfriend, shouldn't she ask who I want to vote off first?"
"Well, maybe that's not what they're talking about?" Justin suggested.
"Dude, you have a girlfriend! How would you feel if she discussed those kind of things with another guy before you?"
"But my girlfriend isn't semi-related to anyone here."
Geoff threw his hands up in frustration and stormed off.
(Janitor's Closet - Bring out the dancing queen, young and sweet!)
Beth and Justin - Justin - "Geoff seemed really upset that Trent was talking to Bridgette."
Beth - "Really? I think it was vice-versa, him being upset she was walking to him."
Justin - "Hmm, possibly. I never understand these relationship problems."
Beth - "Well, everyone has them, sweetheart. Everyone gets jealous now and then."
Justin - *smiling at her* "Well how could I be jealous when I have the world's most perfect girl?"
*Beth squeals in delight, and tackles Justin, knocking them down.*
Alfred - "Sakaki sure is a nervous one, hiding behind Sebastian all the time. If it wasn't for the fact that there are two very fun and pretty, wild girls I'm now interested in, I'd pursue her a little..."
*He is distracted by wet kissing noises coming down from the floor. With a quick glance, he yelps and jumps back.* "Hey c'mon, it's my turn to do a confession! What is with closets in Canada?"
Crystal, during all this drama, was trying to calm down Anita and Eva, but wasn't having any luck. Katie and Sadie had managed to pull Noah away, which the egghead might have appreciated if the two girls didn't start going on about wonderful some Twilight scenes were.
Izzy and Mandy were talking to each other, something hushed and mysterious that most of the others couldn't (and some really didn't want to) hear. Occasionally, they'd look at one of the boys, like Alfred or DJ, and wave while giggle. It could have been interpreted as normal girl behavior, only one was a well-known psycho hose-beast, and the other was a cultist stroking her pet snake.
When Izzy waved at Ezekiel and grinned, Heather oversaw it, and walked off in a huff. Izzy saw that too, and cursed herself out.
"It's not your fault she's overly sensitive," Mandy said.
"Yeah, I know Heather is a bit of a psycho, but so long as she's dating Ezekiel, she can be all right in my book," Izzy said.
"I have a book, though the Necromicon doesn't say much about complicated relationships."
"I suppose not. Anyway, I'm gonna make sure Heather doesn't get voted off! I shall appeal to the others and rally the forces..."
She was distracted by the movement of wings. "... As soon as I catch this bird. BIRD! BIRD! HERE, BIRDY!"
Izzy raced after the bird, chasing and leaping and pouncing at the creature. The redhead crashed into Yoshi, sending him sprawling. Then she used Crystal as a springboard. She carried on, knocking Katie and Sadie aside as she continued to pursue the bird, giving Noah a chance to escape.
(Janitor's Closet - Boogie fever, anyone?)
Yoshi - *grumbling angrily to himself* "Someone needs to put a leash on that girl sometimes! And no, I'm not being mean, she scratches behind her ear with her foot sometimes!"
Crystal - "Seems like Eva and Anita are really keen on winning Cody over, which means this is the fiercest love triangle I've seen, eh wot. It makes me wonder if I'm going to have to take sides."
Katie - "Noah normally does run off when I talk about Twilight. Perhaps I should be more considerate, because I usually nod off when he talks about his fantasy games."
Howard - "Well, I won immunity, got to talk to Belinda, and we all had a darn good laugh. Best of all, that random music that gets caught in my head is over, so I don't have to worry about that anymore!"
Belinda - *humming and snapping her fingers* "It's gonna be a heartache tonight, a heartache tonight I know..."
(Inside Maclean Stadium)
Valerie was heading towards the rooms, which was where she thought Trent would go first off. Along the way, she saw Lindsay talking to a couple people.
"Heather's still a mean witch, so we really gotta vote for me," she was instructing them. "I know it'll hurt Zergling's feelings, but she just doesn't want to cooperate with us. Pass this on, and we'll get her voted off." [2]
Lindsay nodded to the two girls, then noticed Valerie, and headed off. The politician rolled her eyes, and almost bumped into Trent at this. Zachary, from a distance, was watching.
"Hello there, Trent," Valerie said, using that perfect combination of flirty and business that she had perfected over the years. "I wanted to talk to you!"
Trent was starting to open the door to his room when she said hello. With a sigh, he closed it. "I was really hoping to avoid her," he thought to himself. "Yes?"
"I was just wanting to talk to you about who we should vote off. And I know you hate Heather as much as I do," Valerie said, putting her hand on her hip.
Trent glanced to the side, and let out another sigh. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Valerie, but I kind of promised someone I wouldn't vote for her."
"What? Who? Ezekiel?"
"No, Bridgette. She wants to give Heather another chance, because of-"
"Look, I know you and Bridgette are close now, but it's not going to hurt her," Valerie coaxed him. "You helped vote with me last challenge, so I thought-"
"No, I'm sorry, Valerie, but I didn't vote for Howard. I voted for Owen."
Valerie stood there, mouth agape. Trent shrugged and said, "I know, you probably don't like it, but I didn't promise you anything. I just don't want to be part of any alliance, especially one that Gwen's not part of. So sorry, but I'm going to vote for someone else."
He walked into his room and closed the door. Valerie was frozen for a few seconds, then Zachary could see her shaking. Her fists curled as she turned around and stomped off, face contorted in incredible rage.
(Janitor's Closet - Okay, fine. Stop the music. See if I care.)
Zachary - "Yeah, I'm not hiding from Valerie in here, honest. She's kind of hot when she's mad, now I know why Duncan likes Courtney when she's furious!"
*He chuckles, then quickly covers his mouth.* "Um... okay, maybe I am hiding from her, a little." *He peeps outside of the closet, then hurries out.*
Heather was storming down the hallways as well when she almost ran into someone else heading down the hallways.
"Oh you," the person she nearly bumped into stammered as they collected themselves. "I've been looking for you!"
"What? You?" Heather exclaimed. "What do you want? I have nothing to say to you!"
"I think you'd better listen to what I have to say. I've heard quite a few people talking about voting you off. You ticked off a lot of people, you know."
"Oh yeah? Like who?"
"Lindsay for one. She's rallying people to vote you off."
Heather cringed and slammed her fists against the wall. "That dumb... stupid... argh! Okay, I lost my temper, with her, with you, but it's too late to apologize! If I wanted to."
"Well, there's something else you can do."
Heather looked at the mysterious person, confused and upset. "What? Look, why are you even helping me? Didn't you..."
"... That doesn't matter anymore," the person said. "Look, I'll be honest, I want to help you because I want your support in the future to vote off anyone else unwanted."
"Oh, right, I see what this'll lead to. Blackmail."
She started to storm off, but the person called out, "What about Ezekiel?" She immediately turned around and glared daggers.
"I'm sick of that! You threatening to vote off Ezekiel-"
"I mean that if you stay in the game, we'll both be able to keep him in the game too. You know he deserves another shot, and truth be told, I like him too."
"What?" Heather blurted out, laughing incredulously. "That's bull! You don't-"
"You can argue with me about this all you want," the person interrupted her, "but that doesn't change the fact that you'll lose the game here and now if you don't vote for who I suggest."
"Well, I'll bite. Who?"
"Trent."
"No," she said, narrowing her eyes. "I refuse to get involved in voting off Gwen's boyfriend again, a third time even! Besides, if he goes, everyone will accuse me."
"Then lie. Say you had nothing to do with it. I have a scapegoat already."
Heather continued to listen to the person's plan, and the more she listened, the better it seemed; however, she felt it was like looking over a cliff, leaning further and further. Sure, the view was getting better, but it was only a matter of time before she went head over heels right over the side.
The queen bee bit her bottom lip as the person finished up the plan, and she sighed. "Look, I'll go along with this, but does it have to be Trent? Can't we vote off someone like Noah, or Eva?"
"No, it has to be him. Remember, Gwen is a great competitor, and the longer she's in, the worse things get for us. She's already been a little miss hissy-fit these days, this'll be enough to make her pushed right over the edge."
Heather sighed, then shook her head. "Yeah, I still don't like her... but this had better work."
The person grinned. "Oh yes, this'll work. I'm much better than you think I am. Now I'm off to finish this up."
Heather watched the person go, and sighed heavily. "I really, really am going to regret this, aren't I?" she muttered to herself.
(A few minutes later, elsewhere in the stadium.)
"Look, you don't have to convince me of anything. I've really had enough of him, and the sooner, the better."
"Excellent, glad to have your vote."
As the two walked, they overheard another conversation. It was Sakaki making a quick confession to someone, someone other than her favorite human shield.
"I was gonna vote for Heather, since she's been really scary today, and I'm worried," the moe girl confessed, rubbing her toes into the ground, "that if she stays in this contest, I'll get paired with her on the same team or something, and she'll scare me into doing what she wants. I was wondering if you could vote for her too?"
The person Sakaki was talking to seemed to ponder this. "I'll think about it, hon."
"Drat," someone thought. "As much as I hate to even think it, Heather has to stay in this game..."
(The Voting Ceremony Platform)
The large audience was back, which was a big surprise to most of the contestants. "Who'd spend money," Noah was grumbling, "just to see the voting ceremony live?"
"Apparently, this show is a lot more popular than we thought," Xander commented. He grinned and added, "Excellent."
Sakaki was hiding behind Sebastian the whole time, while Alfred walked with his arms around Mandy and Izzy's shoulders, the two girls putting on a fairly good strut. Howard tried to put his arm around Belinda, but she dodged it.
Lindsay looked at Heather, and when their eyes locked, the blonde turned up her nose. Heather sneered and looked away, down at the ground. Her eyes betrayed her for a second when she glanced at Trent, who was sitting next to Gwen.
"This had better work," Heather thought to himself. "This is going to end badly any way. Oh, why didn't we just vote Eva off? No one would mind, it'd end that stupid love triangle-"
She was startled when Ezekiel sat down next to her, and took her hand into his. His thumb massaged the back of her hand, and he smiled at her. She looked at him oddly, then continued to stare down at the ground.
"Welcome to the sixth trophy time," Chris Maclean announced, standing at his podium again. The crowd went wild, and he waved the newest trophy up in the air for them. No surprise to anyone, there was the emblem of a train at the front.
"Isn't it wonderful that we have such a sellout crowd?" the host continued. "Well, shall we begin? First off, trophies for all those who won immunity!"
Trophies were flung hard and fast, hitting a couple people. "Ow, what the hell?" Leshawna barked as she nursed her bruise. "What's your problem, you jerk?"
"Not satisfied with the amount of pain we endured on the train?" Beth growled, rubbing her head.
"I outta take a leaflet from Courtney's book," Yoshi grumbled, "and sue your butt."
"Oh, quit complaining, you got one without a hassle this time," Chris remarked. "Now, for the eleven who have a shot at losing the big shot."
"What?" came the confused reply from many people.
"I thought it sounded cool," Chris admitted, grumbling to himself. "Anyway! We have on the chopping block possibility: Noah, Geoff, Lindsay, Trent, Sadie, Heather, Eva, Valerie, Anita, Sakaki, and Cody!"
Katie immediately grabbed one of Noah's hands and one of Sadie's, and squeezed as hard as she could; she actually started to hurt them, but both couldn't bring themselves to ask her to stop. Ezekiel held Heather's hand tighter, and she was screaming mentally, "Please let this work, please oh please... forgive me, God; forgive me, Zeke. Forgive me, Gwen... yeah, even you."
Trent and Gwen were holding hands too, while Valerie glared at him from afar. Cody was sitting in-between Anita and Eva, but the dangerous looks the two girls were giving each other were starting to scare him. Lindsay nervously began applying blush, glancing in-between her reflection and Heather.
Sakaki, who didn't have Sebastian, simply squeaked in terror and hid behind Geoff, nearly knocking the party lover over and away from his very concerned girlfriend. He reached back to pat Sakaki's shoulder as she peeped over his to watch Chris.
"And the ones to get the trophy straight up are..."
He paused for dramatic effect, everyone biting nails or fingers (or in Katie's case by accident, Noah's fingers).
"... Sakaki and Lindsay," Chris announced over Noah's cry of "Ouch!" The two girls caught their trophies and hugged them tightly.
"Next up to receive trophies are Valerie, Geoff, and Sadie!"
Chris Maclean threw the trophies out, and the happy cries from Bridgette and Katie almost drowned him out. "Next lucky enough are our favorite love triangle: Cody, Eva, and Anita!"
The two girls caught their trophies when they were thrown over Cody's head. When Cody sat up to catch his, his head banged against their golden trophies, and he slumped back into his chair. His own prize hit him in the stomach when his hands were preoccupied holding his sore head.
"Next up of the remaining three is... Noah!"
The egghead caught his trophy, then all eyes were on Trent and Heather. The queen bee was breathing heavily for a few seconds, then she sat up and stared at the last trophy with determination. Trent was also focused and breathing hard, but Gwen seemed to be even more set on the trophy.
"I hope that plan worked," Heather thought, her nails digging into Ezekiel's assuring hand.
"You cannot take Trent from me so soon," Gwen thought, fists clenching and eyes narrowed. "He deserves to get further, don't you dare give it to her!"
"And the final trophy for the interesting train race challenge is..."
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"Heather!"
When the queen bee caught her trophy, a startled look on her face, there was a collection of gasps all around. It was silent otherwise, except for a very hushed conversation nearby.
"It's going to get ugly really quickly, isn't it?" Rodney asked Harold.
"Yes, my young friend, it is."
"Should we run?"
"That's advisable."
As Harold and Rodney took off running (but not screaming, that'd draw too much attention to themselves), Gwen erupted. "What?! NO!! Not again!"
"Them's the rules, Gwen," Chris said, with the most smug of all smug grins that would make any one want to punch him right in the smugness. "Your boyfriend has to-"
He flinched when Gwen pulled her fist back and rushed at him. Trent and Bridgette hold her back until she finally managed to collect herself, though she was hollering, "Why are you stopping me? I'm doing what every one of us wants to do!"
"Gwen sweetheart, please calm down," Trent pleaded with her.
"Why? Why?!" she hissed, her pale face scrunched up with fury. "Aren't you mad? You've been voted off for no good reason!"
"Gwen, of course I'm upset, but punching out the host isn't going to help things."
"Oh, I beg to differ," she grumbled, crackling her knuckles. Trent cupped her face and got her to look at him.
"Gwen, it's a game of chance. I'm just glad that this time, there's not so much drama," he said, shuddering a little when he remembered the events from TDI. With a sigh, he gave her a kiss on the lips, then on her forehead. "Take care, my goth girl."
She sighed, and shook her head. When the bus pulled up, she could barely look up as Trent made his way onto the Bus of Defeat. Duncan looked surprised to see Trent stepping on the bus, but it was the musician who was startled more so when Owen grabbed him in a hug and started to bawl.
As the Bus of Defeat rolled off, Chris cleared his throat. "Um, that's all for tonight, folks," he stammered, looking at Gwen cautiously. "Good-bye!"
He ran off (screaming, because it didn't matter at this point), as Gwen started to breathe in and out faster, hissing in air. Her dark eyes focused on Heather.
"You...," she began, and despite Bridgette nearby her, trying to calm her down, the goth girl began stomping towards the queen bee. "You! You did this! I'm gonna-"
"Hey now, wait a minute," Heather exclaimed, standing up to Gwen. "I didn't vote for your boyfriend."
"Oh, like I'm going to believe that!"
"Well, it's the truth," Heather said, crossing her arms. "I really wanted no part in voting for your boyfriend this time around, so I voted for someone else."
She jerked her thumb at Noah, who scoffed and stomped off. Katie glared at Heather before hurrying after her boyfriend, Sadie after her. Gwen glanced at Noah, then at Heather and Ezekiel, then she stormed off. She had been clenching her fists so hard, she had cut her palms with her nails, and blood leaked down her hands.
(Janitor's Closet - The love shack? No, not really.)
Harold and Rodney - Rodney - *hiding behind Harold* "Think it's safe to go out now?"
Harold - "Um, possibly. Gosh, who would have thought there would be so much drama so early on?"
Rodney - *scratching the back of his head* "Well, I guess that's what you get when you deal with teenagers."
Harold - "What are you talking about? You're... oh yeah." *He pat Rodney on his head, then knocked on his helmet.* "You're lucky to have this, little dude."
Rodney - "So I've been told, many times." *He giggles a little.*
Ezekiel was heading to his room when Heather stopped him. "Um, are you sure you want to go in there?" she asked him. "If Gwen is in there-"
"Look, it'll be fine, eh," he replied, winking at her. "She's not the kind to attack me fur what happened toda-"
When he opened the door, a furious cry came from inside the room, and a pillow whizzed by Ezekiel's head. The prairie boy squeaked in terror and shut the door fast. "Okay, maybe not, eh!"
Heather quickly pulled him away from his normal room and to the secret place they had used last night. "I think, for your safety, we should stay here."
"Right, just for my safety," he said quietly, but couldn't help grinning at her. She scoffed and laughed, then looked away.
"Um, Ezekiel?" She started to say. "About the voting? I just wanted to tell you-"
He put a finger to her lips, then pulled her close. "Look, Heather, you don't have to tell me anything, eh. I knoo' it's possible, but I wanted you to stay. And don't tell Gwen or Bridgette this, but I'd much rather have you stay than Trent."
Heather sighed as he kissed her face and held her in his arms. She felt so much safer and relaxed, something she rarely ever felt; it was usually with him that she ever felt this good. "And don't tell anyone I ever said," she whispered, "but I don't deserve you."
(Room 5 - Ezekiel, Geoff, Gwen, Hannah)
Geoff sulked as he brought the pillow he had thrown at the door that had somehow wound up out of the room. As he walked in, Hannah soon entered.
"What happened?" she asked, confused.
"Oh nothing, just throwing pillows in frustration," Geoff said, tossing his pillow back on his bed. "Just not happy."
"That's odd for you, but understandable tonight," Hannah remarked. "After all, your girlfriend's stepbro-"
"I know," he snapped as he pounded the side of his bunk bed. "Dang it, I know who he is! Doesn't make this whole thing any easier."
Hannah was now very confused. "What do you mean by that?" she asked. Then she covered her mouth in astonishment. "Oh my... Geoff... you didn't?"
He didn't say anything, he just collapsed in his bed. Hannah looked down at him, then at Gwen's empty bed.
(Shower Room)
Izzy and Mandy, wrapped in bathrobes, entered the shower room. "It took all the effort in this doomed world to convince Leshawna and Lindsay to let me keep my pet snake in our room," Mandy grumbled, "but I gotta send him home tomorrow, when I get a chance."
"They're so mean, snakes are the greatest pets ever," Izzy said. "I've had a few snake pets, and they love giving me kisses."
"I know, right? For Yig's sake, getting kissed by a snake is not a bad thing. They have clean mouths! Or is that dogs I'm thinking of?"
They shrugged as they entered the showers, and were surprised to see someone already there. Gwen, still fully dressed, was sitting under the hot water spray. She barely noticed the two crazy girls entering the shower, and when she finally acknowledged them, she merely grunted.
"Oh dear, you going to be all night?" Mandy asked.
"If I want to be," Gwen growled at her, not bothering to look up.
"Seems like a weird place to be, you're gonna get pruny," Izzy remarked. "My sister, she, like, was mad and took this hour long shower. Then I wanted to get back at her and took a two-hour shower to get back at her, and I'm telling you, I looked horrible!"
She laughed and added, "I looked ninety years old, the amount I was pruny!"
Mandy chuckled and said, "Sounds like a good way to go, if the Old Gods ever come to wipe us all out. Taking a good, long shower-"
"Okay! Okay fine," Gwen suddenly shouted, standing up in a huff. "I'll leave the damn showers!"
She stormed for the door, grabbing a towel. As she left, Izzy and Mandy exchanged looks.
(Janitor's Closet - Splishing and a'splashing!)
Izzy and Mandy - Mandy - "Gwen's been really irked since this contest began. I knew she was a cranky, goth girl, but I didn't know she was a really cranky, goth girl!"
Izzy - "Izzy suspects something big has happened. Izzy also thinks that her boyfriend being voted off so early, possibly by her long-hated rival, isn't going to help things out!"
Mandy - "That's deep, my mortal friend, very deep."
Izzy - "Izzy also thinks that Heather may have voted for Trent, but didn't organize it; she has no idea who did, though. All she knows is that Ezekiel's girlfriend should stay a little longer, because Izzy wants Zeke to be happy."
Mandy - "That's so nice of you, keep him happy while we're all still alive."
Izzy - "That's Izzy life motto!"
Mandy - "Can I ask you something?"
Izzy - "Shoot."
Mandy - "Why do you sometimes talk in third person?"
Izzy - *She shrugs and grins impishly.* "I dunno, it just seems like a lot of fun to do every now and then!"
Mandy - "Mandy thinks talking in third person is silly!" *They both laugh.*
(Maclean Stadium Cafeteria)
Lindsay sipped her tea as Tyler comforted her, rubbing her back. "I don't understand," she pouted. "I talked to several people about voting Heather off! And yet she stayed! Why?"
"Well, maybe they changed their mind," Tyler suggested. "Who did you ask?"
"I asked that police officer girl, my roommate Lefonda, my best friend, and the nice religious girl!"
"You mean Carol, Leshawna, Beth, and Hannah?"
"Yeah, I think those were their names."
Tyler blinked, then bit his bottom lip as he tried to think of a gentle way to put this. "Um, Lindsay babe? None of them could vote."
"What?"
"You talked to several people, but none of them had the option to vote this time around. They couldn't do anything to kick off Heather."
Lindsay thought about this for a few seconds, then face-palmed. "DOH!"
(Bus of Defeat)
Trent managed to wriggle out of Owen's hug, and sat alone for a while. Jasmine eventually sat down next to him and offered her condolences.
"You think Heather voted you off?" Jasmine asked him.
"I really don't know at this point, but I think it's possible. Shame, really," Trent remarked. "It would have been much nicer if both of us made, less drama and such."
"Aw well. Still, I wonder who could have organized such a thing! Heather doesn't have influence like that parrot guy from that Shakespeare play."
Trent blinked as he tried to find out what exactly she meant by that.
(Janitor's Closet - A grand closing for a grand musical.)
??? - "I'm glad that the plan worked out, though that means I have to keep Heather in this game a little longer." *The mysterious person's eyes roll.*
"But the good thing is, I now have her in my pocket. With things going the way they are now, this contest... is mine." *The person claps his/her hands and chuckles darkly.*
(Voting Confessions)
Trent - "Since Bridgette wants me to vote for someone else besides Heather, I'll vote for Noah. He's not a very nice guy, and since Chris has a grudge against him, or on him, or for him..." *He trails off, trying to think of how to say it, and confuses himself.*
Heather - *sighs heavily* "I'm voting for Trent. Yeah, I don't really want to, this time, but it really is him or me."
Valerie - "How dare Trent betray me like this! And choosing that surfer bimbo over my choice? He's out of here, I've made sure of that!"
Sakaki - "I... I vote for Heather. She's a scary person."
Noah - "So long as Cody's around, these stupid rumors are going to persist! I don't like those rumors, especially since they almost killed my chances at becoming class president!"
Lindsay - "I'm voting for Heather, and I've asked, like, four people to vote for her too! I figured five people out of eleven is about half, so that should be enough, right?"
Sadie - "Well, a couple people talked to me about who to vote for, Trent or Heather. I know Heather's really mean, but I think I'll vote for Trent instead. It's not because he's mean or anything, I just got a, like, better argument why him. Though it's all kind of a blur how this happens... I need to have Katie nearby me more."
Eva - "I vote for Anita! She's not winning Cody!"
Anita - "I vote for Eva! Though it is kind of a throwaway vote, no one else will be voting for her."
Cody - "Noah's always been a bit of a jerk, and it's kind of tradition for me to vote for him, so I guess I'll keep up with that."
Geoff - "Yeah, I've had quite enough with Trent, and how everyone, including... no, especially Bridgette, are always talking about him! So I'm taking that advice I was given, and I'm voting him off!"
*He crosses his arms and frowns at the camera, but it quickly dissolves into him sobbing and clutching his hat.* "So why does it feel like I'm doing something incredibly wrong?"
Votes
Geoff - Trent
Trent - Noah
Heather - Trent
Valerie - Trent
Sakaki - Heather
Noah - Cody
Lindsay - Heather
Sadie - Trent
Eva - Anita
Anita - Eva
Cody - Noah
--
Trent - 4
Heather - 2
Noah - 2
Anita - 1
Eva - 1
Cody - 1
--
Voted Off - Sandra, Duncan, Jasmine, Daisy, Owen, Trent.
[1] - If you are waiting for the unedited, director's cut of Total Drama Battlegrounds, I'm sorry to say that production has been canceled.
[2] - Lindsay called Ezekiel "Zergling," which is really too bad. And no, I'm not anxiously awaiting Starcraft 2... okay, yes I am.
--
Next Up - Virtual Reality Fight: Blood Suckers, Glittery or Not!