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. Try writing about it instead, that's safest; unless it's in a Death Note.

The Kobold Necromancer's Notes - Keep voting in the poll, people! I'll release the results come the start of the next challenge. And people, I know you all love your pairings, but please don't take every interaction between females and males as something set in stone. (And for you people who aren't limited to male and female couples, well go nuts, but I cannot promise anything there.)

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Chapter 36 - Not Quite the Top Ten

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The interview was supposed to be starting, but there was a delay. A delay known as teenage hormones.

Sierra was standing impatiently over Jasmine and Howard, in full-blown make-out session. She tapped her foot, drummed her fingers on her arm, clicked her tongue, but her self-improv music standup wasn't enough to get the two to stand up.

She sighed in exasperation, and turned to Alejandro; however, he had been flirting with Sandra nonstop since he had boarded the bus.

"And this one time," Sandra was saying, chewing her gum and smiling seductively at his seductive smiling, "when I was playing Candy Land, I-"

"Ahem," Sierra shouted, not clearing her throat in the process. "Alejandro! We're supposed to be interviewing them!"

The male interviewer rolled his eyes. "Aye, chica, we have plenty of time before the cameras start rolling."

Sierra pouted. "C'mon! I want to say hi to all the original contestants!"

"You've done enough of that, stalking onto this bus and their hotel."

"I'm a super fan, darn it," Sierra exclaimed, stomping her foot. "And it's not stalking if they let you in!"

"You bribed Owen with chocolate!"

"It works, he wins, I win. What's the problem here?" she asked, scowling in frustration.

"I CANNOT BE CONTAINED!"

Sierra watched in horror as Katie ran towards the back door, slammed against it, and slumped on the floor. "Owtch," Katie whimpered.

"Yeesh, you should really calm down," Sierra approached the latest loser. "You cannot bust down that door."

"I have to! They tampered with the emergency lock so I cannot lift it! I'm almost certain that violates some kind of law-"

"But you cannot bust down this door."

"I CANNOT BE CONTAINED! I'll smash it down and go see Noah!"

"You have trouble opening bottled water without help," Sierra said. "I know, Noah said that on the show."

Katie sobbed and punched the tampered back door. "Darn that Alejandro!"

"What's he got to do with it?" Trent, who was seated nearby, asked.

"He showed me footage of the contest, and Noah was so mad! I think it was just to make me mad, because I cannot sneak back!"

"People keep sneaking back all the time," the musician pointed out.

"Chris and the producer have put a stop to that, at least as much as they can," Sierra pointed out. "We're all gonna be a hotel much further away from the stadium. It'd take hours to get there on foot, and we cannot drive."

"We do have the bus," Duncan said, walking up to them with a shrug. "If any of you want to go, I could go earlier than scheduled."

"That's nice, but I don't think they'll buy that," Trent said. "I mean, maybe we could catch a taxi to the stadium."

"Those are expensive," Katie complained. "I need to go see Noah now!"

Duncan scoffed. "Oh come off it, you can wait a few days."

"No, you don't understand! I have to see him before he," Katie had started to say, then she froze. "Wait, Duncan," she looked over at the punk, "if you're back here, who's driving?"

The four teenagers all froze, and then screamed in horror. Duncan was running up and down the bus, waving his hands in the air, before he burst into laughter.

"Relax, twerps," he replied as Sierra and Katie clung to each other, and Trent clutched his hair. "Hannah's driving. Decided to let her do something, to keep her from preaching at us."

As he walked to the front laughing, Katie let go of Sierra, both the girls scowling. "It's official," Sierra grumbled, "I hate bad boys."

"Me too," Katie said, leaning against a seat. "Now I know why Noah hates Twilight so much."

Trent sighed and played with a strand of his hair. "He's kind of shaping up to be bitter himself."

"But I don't want him to be that! I like cynical and sharp, not bitter and cruel!"

Katie kicked at the emergency door, but only succeeded in hurting her foot. "Damn it, damn it... darn it," she cursed. "Look, it's important I head back now! Sierra, don't you have connections?"

"Not really," the super fan admitted. "I mean, sure, I got people who live nearby most of you for fun facts on the blog-"

"There's TMI if ever I heard it," Trent muttered.

"But the fact is," Sierra continued, "I haven't got the pull for such a thing. And if I do anything too risky, I might lose my job here. And seeing you guys in person is too cool for words."

"Oh really?" Daisy snapped, glaring from nearby. "You barely have talked to me every time you've sneaked around!"

"You're not an original contestant," Sierra said, shrugging sympathetically. "Sorry, but all the interest is on the people that are known best."

Daisy groaned, then looked over at Trent. "Well, why don't you talk to Trent? Leave Katie alone while she's contained in here."

"I WILL NOT BE CONTAINED!"

Katie went to try and pry one of the bus windows down, but as most people know, even people with normal strength have trouble with those. And this was a crusty, rusty, crappy bus.

Trent glanced over at Daisy. "Did you plan for her to repeat that?"

"Rule of three, baby," the tomboy said with an impish grin. "A good joke is always best when repeated at least for a third time."

The musician chuckled, and flipped at his hair again, his nervous habit taking over. "I could use a laugh. If I have to be here longer, I might flip out and try to escape too."

"Why's that?" Sierra asked him, leaning forward.

"Because Alejandro showed me," Trent said, looking over at the other interviewer. Alejandro was stroking Sandra's chin, using a mixture of Spanish and English to charm her. The musician rolled his eyes and said, "I'm thinking about Gwen right now."

This seemed to catch Alejandro's ears, and he headed over to Sierra and Trent. "Oh, you talking about Tyler?"

"What about Tyler?" Sierra asked, her face lighting up. "Oh, he's so handsome and nice! I cannot until he's eliminated!"

Moment of awkward silence.

"So I can interview him! And maybe hug him!"

Another moment of awkward silence.

"I'm a single fan girl, I don't mind admitting I wanna hug a hot boy!"

"Amen, sister," Daisy said, holding out her hand to get a high-five from Sierra. "But we've digressed. What does Tyler have to do with Gwen?"

"You've seen the way he's heading at her," Alejandro said. "Heat seeking missile to a heated target, like a lady as attractive as Gwen."

Trent grunted in annoyance. "Must you talk about it like if it was hilarious?"

(Bus's Bathroom - Miss us? Woohoo, we're back!)

Alejandro - "I'm here to stir up drama, and lots of it! I got such a huge paycheck from the first one, now it's time to stir up more. Seeing that Duncan came back more often to make sure Courtney still wanted him, I want to see how Trent reacts to Gwen possibly getting frisky with another boy. He seems to flip easily."

...

Groucho the Duck - *peeping out from a small compartment* "Treacherous enemy from the outside! Of course, I could say the same about ourselves."

Chico the Raccoon - *peeping out of the drawer too* "lolzors! im in ur drawerz, snoopings arund in ur pryvat conversations!"

Groucho - "Wish I could report that traitor but... who'd believe a duck?"

Chico - "i beleeve u, and i also beleeve it was nice uf them too leeve mints hear in drawer"

Groucho - "Those aren't mints, those are little soap bars!"

Chico - *He hiccups, and a shiny bubble comes from his mouth.* "OOO, purdy!"

Groucho - *He face-wings.*

"Look, I trust Gwen," Trent said. "And I was roommates with Tyler, he's a good guy. He's crazy about Lindsay. Why would we try anything with Gwen?"

"Dunno, but they're both such fine women," Alejandro said. "And my concern is with you, my friend, since Tyler is the one constantly approaching her."

"He's just worried about her, like I am," Trent said, rubbing his forehead.

Sierra squealed in joy. "I love Gwent!"

Though some were confused, those crafty enough could understand it. Funny enough, Owen was one of the latter. "I miss Ozzy," he exclaimed, sobbing, chewing down chocolate after chocolate. "I miss it so much! Fans demand for it to happen again."

"Not according to the polls," Sierra said with a cackle, jumping up and down (and distracting Alejandro by this action). "The Izzy pairings are going crazy! Ezzy, Nizzy, Alfrizzy-"

Owen's wails grew in pitch, until an impatient Daisy started to force-feed him chocolates. He eventually stopped crying, and looked fondly at the tomboy. "You're my favorite force feeder, Peach."

"I'm Daisy."

"You smell like peaches."

"Body lotion," she said, stepping away. She looked helplessly at Sierra and Trent. "You mean we gotta stay with each other?"

Chico the Raccoon, holding onto the ceiling in an attempt to spy, fell down and landed on the tomboy's head. Daisy groaned, and limped back to her seat.

"Is your leg still tender?" Katie asked as she pried at another window.

"Damn right," the tomboy grumbled. "I got out of the cast, ditched the crutch, and now I'm stuck with no action. I wish I could be with Yoshi."

"Ooo," Sierra squealed. "Daishi! Such a cute name too!"

Alejandro chuckled and pat Sierra's shoulder, and walked past her, knocking her over "accidentally."

(Bus's Bathroom - Sierra's squealing, Alejandro's after angst.)

Sierra - *sulking* "I don't like Alejandro, nope nope! Not one bit! He makes fun of my crush on Cody, he keeps insinuating about couples that haven't formed... I mean, I want to see fanon like any other fan, but this is real life! And you cannot pair people up with people they're not paired up! ... Wait, I don't think that made sense!"

Trent - "Gwen, hon, if you ever watch this, know that I'm not losing it." *Chico pops out of the drawer, hiccuping bubbles, startling Trent.*

Katie - "I WILL NOT BE CONTAINED!" *She tries to pry at the window in the bathroom, but it proves futile, and then falls on the ground. Moaning, she face-palms when on the floor.* "You know, I thought mantras were supposed to help with these problems!"

Duncan - *yawns* "Man, this longer trek is going to be murder. I don't know how I can see her more often, but it seems my romancing her does no good. She's still stressed, it would seem..." *He ponders.* "Hmm, maybe I need to convince her to go to next base."

"And how's our lovely couple?" Alejandro said as he approached Joel and Hannah, the latter driving the bus.

"Just fine," Joel said. "We're chatting."

"Seems you've taken the reins, Hannah."

When the religious girl nodded and smiled in reply, Alejandro leaned forward and grinned at her. "So, tell me, are you still upset about your unfair disqualification?"

Hannah was a young lady, and when an extremely handsome man grins at you pointblank, you cannot help but smile back a little stronger. Joel noticed, felt a surge of jealousy, then caught a reflection of a grease-and-oil stained face in the mirror that was his. He sighed and looked away.

"Well, Joel has really helped me through these times," Hannah said, glancing back at her boyfriend. "He's the only reason I'm glad I actually signed up for this show."

"Now why do you say something like that?" Alejandro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I joined this show to try and fight a stereotype, and all I got the entire time I was there," her hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, "was those higher up trying to keep me down, and encouraging the bully."

"That's reality TV for you, chica."

She sighed, and shrugged. "Every time I think about it, I look to God for some guidance on how to control my temper and my emotions. And of course, I turn to Joel now for help."

This perked up Joel, who smiled at his girlfriend. "I doubt you look to me for help as much as I do to you."

Alejandro raised an eyebrow. "Really? You always seemed to be an independent person to me."

"I always thought I was too, but this contest has shown me something," Joel said, scratching the back of his head. "I have a hidden temper, and some people pushed my buttons, buttons I didn't know existed."

The three talked for a short while, trying to drown out the sounds of Daisy arguing with Sandra, Jasmine and Howard making out, and Owen sobbing while munching chocolates with Sierra trying to comfort him.

(Bus's Bathroom - Umm... something witty?)

Owen - *continuing to eat and sob* "I've been on and off eating when I'm upset, I really wish Izzy hadn't broken up with me! And she didn't have a chance to hook me up, all the girls are either taken, or hate my guts! I'm so upset, I'm not 296 pounds anymore, I'm 300! And I can't stop eating!"

Groucho the Duck - *bursting out of the drawer* "DUCK INTERVENTION!" *He wrestles the chocolates away from Owen, but the big guy puts up a big fight.*

...

Joel - "The problem is, I never was an aggressive person, ever. But then when Colin and Chris started ganging up on Hannah, it reminded me of days of past. Days where I was a geeky inventor kid with glasses and a short stature, and people relentlessly bullied me; seeing Hannah get bullied so, brought up my hidden button for enragement. Seems like all inventors have a couple hidden switches in them."

Hannah - "I care about Joel very much, and I know how it can be to have a hidden trigger that they're not aware of; I'm evidence of that. But we all can control our own temper, because the only thing to fear is fear itself. And fear itself fears Chuck Norris." *She giggles.*

Alejandro - "I was thinking of trying to stir things up between Hannah and Joel, but I don't think my mom would approve. One day, she'll watch this show, and I don't her seeing me making a fool of a Christian like her. So I think I'll have to try and seduce one of the other girls."

*He ponders for a moment, then grins seductively and licks his lips.* "Maybe that chica named Bridgette."

Sandra snapped her gum, irritated. "How long do I have to sit here?" she grumbled. "I'm important too, I want to be interviewed!"

"You already were," Daisy snapped. "Just like me, so stuff it, turkey girl."

As the popular girl snarled, Sierra bounded past her, over to Daisy. "Actually, we didn't get a chance to interview you last time, so I wanna ask you some questions!"

The tomboy grinned as Sandra sputtered in indignation. Sierra bounced into the seat next to Daisy and got right up in her face. "So," she exclaimed as Daisy leaned back, "what do you think of the contest so far?"

"Sucks, and I'm selfish in saying that because the reason why is I want back in the action."

Sierra nodded. "Wouldn't it be great to hang out with all of them? Hang out in their rooms?"

"Maybe Yoshi's, yes."

"Maybe Cody's!"

"He's not my kind."

"He really is mine."

"Aren't Anita and Eva fighting over him?"

"They can try. But if he doesn't want either, he can try me!"

"A love square seems complicated for the boy."

"They're fun! I mean, you almost got in a love triangle. I thought you were going to go after Alfred."

"He was cute and sweet, but I was into Yoshi since the day I got here," Daisy admitted. Neither noticed Sandra making a voodoo doll out of her gum, and ripping the head off, glaring at the back of Daisy's head.

"Of course, we had another love triangle," Sierra said as she stood up, "but it seems it resolved itself nicely!" She was looking at Howard and Jasmine play tonsil-hockey, and was about to interrupt.

"And there they are," she exclaimed, jumping up to the side of their seat, startling them both. "Jasmine and Howard, the couple that came out of nowhere via eliminations!"

"Don't remind me," Jasmine muttered, wiping her mouth clean of saliva. "I'd rather be back in the competition."

"Ditto," Howard said. "I barely got to compete!"

"Oh well," Sierra replied dismissively. "If either of you had been on the show longer, you might have flirted and fallen for someone else! And then, I'd have to pair you two up in fanon!"

Howard chuckled, then tapped his chin. "Hmm, who would I be paired up with?"

Jasmine elbowed him. Sierra giggled and said, "Well, I'd love to see you with Belinda, like you wished beforehand. Or maybe Lindsay."

Jasmine elbowed her. Sierra groaned and rubbed the sore spot. "Serves you right," the actress muttered. "You know, I really like Howard, and I know he likes girls; it doesn't help that every time people talk about him, they say what girls he should have been with instead of me!"

"Sorry," the super-fan apologized. "But hey, Howard, would you want to be eliminated if you ended up with the girl?"

"Sure! Getting a girlfriend is the only reason I signed up for the show!"

"Any regrets about Belinda?"
Jasmine groaned and turned away. Howard shrugged, and said, "If I had to worry about every girl I lost, I'd do nothing but worry. I'd rather focus on the one who wanted me instead."

He ruffled Jasmine's hat, and she giggled. Turning back, she spun around and glomped him, knocking him over and into Sierra, knocking her to the ground.

"This is fun," Sierra said with a giggle, pressed against the floor by the couple lying on her and giggling too. "I'm up close to all the action!"

"Why is no one paying attention to me?" Sandra exclaimed. "Damn it, I'm the most popular person on this bus, and-"

She was interrupted when Katie, who was prying at the emergency hatch on the roof, fell down and landed on her. "Sorry," the sweet girl apologized, "but I cannot, like, be contained, you know!"

(Bus's Bathroom - Just not as witty as the Janitor's Closet.)

Sandra - "Look, I'm the most popular person on this show, as far as school goes! I'm popular, I'm hot, I'm..." *She snarls and pounds the side of the bathroom.* "I shouldn't have been first!"

Jasmine - *looking at the dents in the side* "Wow, that girl has some serious rage in the cage! Sandra's been fussy nonstop, it's getting aggravating. Howard and I make out to drown out the whining, and it doesn't hurt that he's such a good kisser!"

Howard - "Jasmine and I have a lot in common. I love plays and movies like she does, she loves bacon in the morning like me! Sure, that's not all, but I think some details are best left unsaid." *He covers the camera and chuckles, trying to be mysterious, but he's giggling too much.*

...

Daisy - "I've been getting some guff from a lot of people of who think it's 'wrong' for me to date an asian boy like my Yoshi. And I have to say, it's annoying how people who don't know you telling you what to do. Like living in a game of the Sims, it is! And hey, I make interracial couples when I play that game!"

Sierra - *popping in very suddenly* "I love interracial pairings too!"

Daisy - "GAH! Will you stop doing that?"

Sierra - "See, I totally support you and Yoshi! Just like I support myself with Cody!"

Daisy - "That's nice, sweetheart, but how's that interracial?"

Sierra - "He's caucasian, and I'm-" *Static cuts them off.*

"You know, I'm not surprised you paired up with someone of a difference race, Jasmine," Sierra said, "seeing that your friend Leshawna is dating someone different than her too."

"Yeah well, I don't support that," Jasmine said, scoffing and crossing her arms. "I don't like Harold."

"Why's that?" the uber-fan interviewer asked.

"Because he's a nerd! He's so... nerdy, and not right for her!"

Howard looked a little discouraged. "Hey, I'm nerdy," he admitted. "I love computer games."

"Who doesn't love a computer game?" Jasmine said, smiling at her boyfriend. "But Harold isn't just right for her!"

Katie ran by them, and tried the front windshield. Joel had to pull her away, as Hannah said, "Sweetheart, you have to be calm."

"I cannot be calm! How would you feel if your boyfriend was struggling and miserable?"

Hannah looked sympathetically at her. "Trust me, I know how it feels. But you could try to do something to ease your mind."

"Like pray?" Katie asked, wiping her eyes. "Is that what you do?"

"Yes, when I need help."

Katie fell down to her knees and clasped her hands. "Oh please, send an angel to help Noah through these troubling times! Or to me, so I can help him!"

The emergency hatch on the roof burst open, and fell into the bus. Then something else fell into the bus, or more specifically, someone.

"Izzy?" Sierra exclaimed, then squealed in joy. "The real Izzy!"

Alejandro cried out in terror. "Oh no, not her! Dios!"

"It's me," Izzy cackled. "I'm here to help my good friend Katie! She will not be contained!"

Katie gasped and ran over to her. "You are? You can help me get to Noah!"

"Of course, we're such good friends," Izzy said, grabbing her friend's hands. "I haven't forgotten our time together last season! And I know you didn't get a chance to tell Noah you love him!"

"You're such a wonderful friend!"

Alejandro stomped over. "No no no, this will not do! If you take Katie away, we won't get a chance to interview her! Also, Chris and the producers told me to make sure not to let anyone sneak back on, except Duncan and Owen."

"I KNEW IT," Sierra exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "Favoritism! My polls on my blogs didn't lie! Duncan, you and Owen gotta sneak back to appease the fans."

But Owen was busy eating chips from a bag, and Duncan was advancing on Izzy. "Alright, super crazy girl," the punk was saying, "it's time for you to head out before I get in trouble."

"You're afraid of trouble?" Izzy asked, smirking. Nonetheless, she was backing up from Duncan and Alejandro. Sandra approached her from behind, and grabbed her.

"I got her," the popular girl exclaimed. Izzy grabbed Sandra, and pulled her over the shoulder, slamming her painfully on the bus floor.

"I don't got her," Sandra whimpered. The wild redhead made an escape to the back, darting into the bus's bathroom and slamming the door. Duncan and Alejandro pulled on the handle, as Trent raised an eyebrow nearby.

"You know, if Katie does leave," he said, "we'll only have nine people. That's my lucky number."

"No one cares," Duncan snapped.

"I care," Sierra exclaimed, writing down notes on a pad. "Now why is it your favorite? My blogs love details!"

(Bus's Bathroom - A stowaway, here in our bathroom! How fun!)

Izzy - *She's keeping the door closed, while grinning at the camera.* "I'll be you wanna know how I managed to get on top of the bus, and open the emergency hatch from outside. Well, haha, I'm not telling!"

Duncan - *pounding on the door from outside* "Izzy! You open this door!"

Izzy - "No no! I'm not gonna! Be careful, I have dangerous weapons!"

Duncan - "Like what, dynamite?"

Izzy - "No, not..." *She stops and sees Groucho the Duck peeking out of the drawer, offering her a stick of TNT. She gladly accepts it; the idea of a duck giving her explosives doesn't seem to phase her.* "Yes, I got dynamite!"

Duncan - "Crap, I knew it! Run, dudes!"

Izzy burst out of the bus's bathroom, waving the stick of TNT around, scaring everyone. Alejandro and Duncan hid behind Owen, who had frozen since Izzy had dropped in. The big guy ran up to her and fall down to his knees. "Please, Izzy," he exclaimed. "I've gained weight! You gotta help me!"

"What? Are you in peril?" Izzy asked.

"No, I'm so hungry! And... ooo, carrot!"

He snatched the stick of dynamite from Izzy and bit into it, taking half. Izzy gasped, then there was a rumble in Owen's belly, a muffled boom, and then he burped black smoke.

"Mmm, nitroglycerin," he said happily, rumbling his stomach.

Izzy raised an eyebrow, then noticed Duncan and Alejandro coming at her. Disarmed by her ex, she jumped over him and grabbed Katie's arm, bolting to the door.

"Open up," she asked Hannah. The religious girl smiled and opened it, since they had stopped next to a side walk. "Thank you!"

"Take care, Izzy! Good luck, Katie," she called out to both of them.

"Oh God bless you, you helped bring an angel," Katie called to Hannah before the doors shut, Alejandro running into them.

"Izzy's an angel?" Sierra asked aloud, then laughed. "Well, miracles come in all kinds of packages, great and small! She did save Ezekiel from a serial killer!"

"She just dropped in to help a friend," Trent pointed out.

"She brought me food," Owen cheered. He tried to eat the rest of the dynamite, but Daisy pulled it away.

"Crazy boy," Daisy said, bonking him on the head with it. "Do not eat explosives! Someone do something with this, will you, Joel?"

She handed the explosive to the inventor, who had a special case for storing dangerous explosives (he kept one around because of such occasions on this show).

"Don't you just love Izzy?" Sierra asked, smiling as she bobbed on her heels, then noticed she was standing on someone. "Oh, sorry, Sandra!"

"GET OFF OF ME!"

(Streets of somewhere.)

Izzy and Katie dusted themselves off after such an ordeal. The sweet girl looked around, and said, "Izzy, I love you for doing this, but where are we?"

"Dunno."

When Katie looked startled, the redhead shrugged and giggled. "Well, c'mon, I got off where they let me. I don't know the layout of this city!"

"So you mean we're lost?"

"You're looking at the glass half-empty! The glass should be half-full! Look, we're two good friends on an adventure, with a mission!

"Kind of like when we first bonded," Izzy said, patting her friend on the back. "That forest, handcuffed, aiming to win the contest, discussing your crush..."

"And it came true with that crush," Katie said, smiling again. "Now let's hurry to the stadium, Izzy!"

"Righto! Now we need some travel music! We need a song!"

"Song? But how?"

"Well usually, this is where the travel montage starts, but sadly, I never found out how to get that going. Maybe we need to talk to Harold, he went to film camp!"

...

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Thus we conclude our second interview, where we barely interviewed anyone, and don't have the budget for a travel montage! Maybe next time, we'll have more luck!

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Next Up - Virtual Reality Fight: Very Very BIG Problem!