Author's Note
And here we are, the finale of the second quarter! I hope you're all excited for it, I know I am. Next week is the second Aftermath, which hasn't been quite completed yet as Aftermaths are always pains to write, but I have a strong idea of how to finish up the episode. It might be a little bit of a rush to finish everything on time tomorrow, but I'm feeling confident in myself this season.
With not much else to say, let's get on to the reviews!
Yandere Triangle Monster: Ddynamo, I believe? No worries about the lack of reviews regardless, I know it happens. And yeah, this week is Jamaica, next week is the Aftermath, and after that...well, you'll just have to wait a couple weeks to find out.
Animation Adventures: Hah, yeah, I kinda feel like I should've been doing more to showcase Ezekiel's loyalty to Scott this season, but whatever. People would probably still be shocked to see him vote Geoff out, but I think it worked for everyone involved. Glad you liked the tiebreaker, by the way. I've been going for things that aren't completely rigged like the Gwen vs Courtney thing in canon, but which can still seem unfair because it is ultimately Chris deciding who to keep around. More importantly, though, I'm super happy that you liked Alejandro and Ella's development last chapter - Alejandro isn't interested in dating her, like you said, but at the same time doesn't want her out of his grasp. He knows he's gonna have to turn her down in some way eventually, but only time will tell what'll happen then.
I. M. Poik: Yeah, I figured going into this season that Team Universe going so long without a proper elimination was gonna be a big complaint. But, well, I'm prepared to accept that since I know why I'm doing it. I just hope you and everyone else understands it at the end. And hey, at least the teams are still balanced better than in canon, in that we've had too teams face elimination by now instead of only one.
DSX62415: Oh don't worry, I'll do my best to give everyone what I feel they deserve this season.
aloasa: Hah, yeah, I'm not surprised you thought I was making a typo with the name of the Louvre at first. It can be hard to get that kind of thing across in text sometimes, but I think I did a good job. I'm glad you liked Alejandro and Ella's duet, as well as what happened with Sugar and Sierra. I hope you continue to enjoy the twists and turns the plot will take you throw today and in the weeks ahead.
PizzaTheBomb: Yeah, I figured I was kinda telegraphing Geoff's elimination a little hard, but sometimes you gotta do that - not everything can come out of nowhere. Glad you liked Alejandro's development, though his feelings towards Ella aren't really...'feelings' in the sense that I think you mean. Nor would I call his internal struggle one between his 'evil' self and his 'actual' self...but, well, that's not something I wanna go into further detail about right now. Glad you're liking Sierra's side plot, as well as the other stuff going on, and I hope you enjoy the next few chapters!
Elizabeth Life Stone: Glad you liked the chapter so much! And I'm not very familiar with MLP:FiM, much less that particular...movie, I think it was? So I'll take you word for it that the tones are similar.
acosta perez jose ramiro: Thanks as always!
FOWLKON: Oho, I can tell you've thought that idea through. As for what really happens...well, you'll find out soon enough.
P. T. Piranha: Glad you're intrigued by Alejandro and Ella, and I hope you like the direction I take those two in. And yeah, that's what I was going for with Chris in the tiebreaker - he definitely wanted to keep the contestant who would cause the most drama. And yeah, the third quarter is gonna be pretty different with three teams going into it.
VIPGuest: Yeah, no. Between his brown skin and canon making it pretty clear he's from South America (rewatch the China episode to see what I mean), and almost certainly from either Peru or Bolivia. The writers probably just mixed up Spanish and hispanic.
LadyEnigma888: Ahh, I see what you mean. Yeah, sometimes the obvious person to go home isn't the one who does, but that's not how it turned out last week. Glad you liked Ezekiel's development, though I'm still not entirely sure I've explored his friendship with Scott as much as I'd like. And yeah, while most fans probably have already seen the series, I don't want to risk spoiling someone by assuming that everyone has.
bruno14: Yup, pretty good summary! I hope you like what happens this week.
CVluvFoxy: Yeah, time sure has flown. Hard to believes I';m about halfway through World Tour, and over halfway done with the Shuffled series as it's currently planned. I did consider Geoff getting further in the game, but as I still have a bunch of others I wanna develop (including Tyler and Ella) I decided it was his time to go. I won't go into much detail about what'll happen with the villains right now, but I do hope you enjoy this week's chapter!
OMAC001: Haha, glad you liked the tiebreaker.
Guest #1: You know, sometimes when a writer has someone say in private that they aren't in love with someone else, they mean it.
TaitanoRules555: I'm not sure if I'd call her creepy myself, but I can agree with the sentiment.
Guest #2: I know a lot of people don't like the shortened intros, but honestly I kinda like them and I don't really see a reason to expand them for Shuffled All-Stars and Shuffled Pahkitew Island.
Knifez: Refer to my reply to Guest #1 regarding Ellajandro. And yeah, this week is basically forced to be Jamaica since otherwise I'd have to completely rewrite the crash scene somewhere else, which would be just weird. And for the rest...well, I can't really react now without giving things away so I'll just say that I'm looking forward to seeing your reaction to this episode.
Star Saber21: Haha, glad you liked the continuation of the running joke of Shawn vs Bears. Not much else I can say, other than that I hope you enjoy what happens with Dawn/DJ/Sammy and Alejandro/Ella, when it happens. Thanks for the review.
wifishark: Had to come back and add this as you reviewed while I was breaking for dinner...and yeah, I suppose it was obvious who was gonna go between Geoff and Scott.
That's it for now! As usual, the TVTropes page for this series could always use more work. I greatly appreciate the effort everyone has put into it so far!
The remaining contestants are as follows:
Team Victory - Ezekiel, Scott, Tyler
Team Chris is Really Really Really Really Mean - Shawn, Sierra, DJ
Team Universe - Sammy, Alejandro, Ella, Sugar, Scarlett
Are you ready for the finale to the second quarter? I hope so, because it's about to get big. Enjoy!
- Fangren
Episode 11 – Jamaica Me Sweat
"Previously, on Total Drama World Tour!" the recap opened on a shot of the jet flying over the Arc de Triomphe at night. "The competitors were exposed to a little culture," Chris said as the plane was shown skidding to a stop in front of the Eiffel Tower, "as a field trip to the Louvra sent them scavenging through the world's most important works of art." Team Universe was shown carrying their statue pieces to the pyramid court; Team Victory was shown considering their statue's head through the field of security lasers that were guarding it; and each member of Team Chris was shown wandering around on their own, having decided to split up.
"While someone," the host added with a chuckle as Chef was shown delivering the oversized crate and wiping the sweat from his brow, "had them chased by a bear," the chainsaw-wielding bear was shown chasing Team Chris, "a yeti," the sasquatch was shown chasing after Scarlett and Sugar, "aaaand a seriously vicious goat." The third animal was shown chasing after Team Victory, then leaping out to attack Shawn as he tried to drive the golf cart.
"Meanwhile, Ella decided to take the opportunity to go on a date with Alejandro," the host continued over various shots of the singer's amorous advances. "Too bad for her," Chris laughed, "nobody else on their team was feeling it, not even Alejandro." Scarlett was shown interrupting their almost-kiss, and Alejandro was shown not only resisting Ella's attempts but also confessing his lack of feelings for the girl in the plane's restroom.
"A hilarious freak accident by Shawn caused Team Victory to lose," Chris continued over shots of Shawn crashing the golf cart into the near-finished 'Venus di Milo' while trying to fend off the bear and goat. "And with Scott managing to keep Ezekiel on his side," part of the homeschooler's confessional was shown, "the vote ended up a tie." Scott and Geoff were shown reacting with shock at the result.
"And sadly for chronic nice guy Geoff," Chris himself was shown announcing the results of the tiebreaker, "he just wasn't able to put enough passion into his artwork." The party boy was shown taking the Drop of Shame after one last goodbye to his teammates.
"But now," Chris said as the scene flashed to the cockpit, "it's time to dump the kids in yet another mystery location. Will they survive? Will the world survive them? Find out, right here, right now," he pointed straight at the camera, "on Total! Drama! Woooorrrrlllddd~ Tooouuurrrr~!"
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 a shot of the Total Drama Jumbo Jet flying through a heavy rainstorm, the camera lingering for a few seconds before switching to the telltale static that marked the beginning of a confessional.
xxx
"With Party Boy gone and Zeke on my side," Scott opened with a confident smirk, "I'm finally feeling good again about my position in the game. No way am I getting voted out if we lose, so I think it's finally time to start strategizing with Sugar again. All I gotta do is get her attention, then I'll be back in control of the whole competition." He started snickering, and rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
xxx
The scene moved to economy class, where most of the members of Team Victory and Team Chris sat in awkward silence broken only by the steady dripping coming from the roof. The three boys of Team Victory were shown sitting on the 'left' wall, Scott and Tyler determinedly not looking at one another with Ezekiel sitting between them. "C'mon guys, can't we all just be cool with each other?" he asked the two.
"No," Scott and Tyler said in unison.
On the opposite wall, DJ smiled at Shawn. "Man, I'm glad I'm not them right now," he said. "We might have just as many people, but at least we all like each other."
"True," Shawn nodded. "Plus, none of us would mess with a teammate's head and then use them feeling bad as an excuse to vote them off."
"Yo, lay off Scott, okay!" Ezekiel exclaimed in offense. "I know what he did was a mistake, but he was only tryin' to keep our team strong. There's nothin' wrong with wantin' us to win, eh." Tyler made a noise of disagreement, but said nothing.
"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me," Scott told Ezekiel, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "I really appreciate it, man."
"No problem, eh," the homeschooler replied, and the two farmers bumped fists.
"Now if you gentlemen will excuse me," Scott said while standing up, "I gotta go take a leak."
A deep and dramatic tune began to play as Scott walked away, the camera and the eyes of the other boys following him as he left.
/
The scene flashed to the corridor between economy class and first class where Scott was now walking through, and almost immediately the dramatic music was drowned out by a loud siren.
"Gahh, I guess stalker girl is still using the confessional," he grumbled, putting his hands on his ears and trudging onwards. He passed the door to the restroom confessional and gave a brief glare up at the red light that was making the obnoxious noise, then smiled to himself. "Guess now's as good a time as any to do," he told himself as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small folded-up piece of paper. He crumpled it into a ball, then with a sneaky grin he tiptoed toward the curtain separating the corridor from first class.
/
An elegant tune began to compete with the muted siren that was still going off as the camera moved into the more luxurious passenger compartment. Alejandro, Ella, and Sammy were shown leaned back and enjoying facials, and the shot panned over to Scarlett and Sugar sitting at the juice bar.
"So, got any bright ideas to get ourselves outta this mess?" the pageant queen asked her ally before downing her glass of juice.
"No," Scarlett grunted, slamming her own glass onto the counter. "Unless Sammy suddenly decides to stop considering my past actions, I'd say my chances of making it past a vote – and subsequently yours if the merge doesn't occur soon – are rather miserable." She paused, and grit her teeth at the continued wail in the background. "Almost as miserable at that accursed SIREN!" she shouted, pounding her fist on the counter. She and Sugar swiveled around in their seats, and the evil genius screamed "WOULD YOU JUST COME BACK AT ANOTHER TIME?!" towards the curtained corridor.
As it happened, it was right then that a freckly arm casually tossed a crumpled-up ball of paper at Sugar. "Oww! Hey, watch it!" the pageant queen complained when it hit her in the eye.
"Wait, was that...?" Scarlett said, ignoring her ally's discomfort to stare questioningly at the doorway to the corridor as the freckled arm disappeared behind the curtain. She looked at Sugar, who quickly noticed and crumpled-up the paper even further.
"Oh, probably just one of the boys throwin' their trash in here outta spite," Sugar told Scarlett with a slightly nervous chuckle. "You sit tight, I'll go throw it away and give 'em a piece of my mind."
"Okay...," Scarlett said in a slightly skeptical tone as Sugar walked towards the connecting corridor, the siren briefly pausing before the pageant queen's proximity set it off again.
The camera cut to follow her, catching her muttering "Dang Scott, now why'd he have to go an' do that for?" angrily under her breath. She paused suddenly and gasped, her eyes going wide before the shot panned over to the restroom door – it had been cracked open just enough for Sierra to peek through, and the fangirl slammed it shut as soon as she saw Sugar seeing her.
xxx
"Oh em gee," Sierra excitedly told the confessional camera, the siren still wailing outside, "forget everything I was just talking about because I totally just got the scoop I've been looking for!" She raised her arms energetically. "I was looking outside to see who was trying to eavesdrop, and I totally caught Scott throwing something into first class then walking away with that devious little smirk he gets when he's scheming. And then I saw Sugar enter the hallway looking pretty annoyed! She was holding something in her hand, I couldn't really see what it was, but I just know it was whatever Scott threw in there. And that can only mean one thing: Scott passed a message to Sugar, which means they really are in a secret alliance!"
Her excited grin was drawn away from the camera by a sudden pounding on the door. "Hey!" Sugar's muffled voice yelled. "Hurry up in there, let someone else have a turn!"
"And now she's totally mad that I saw her!" Sierra whispered to the camera with an excited squeal.
xxx
Sugar began her confessional by giving an angry sideways glare at the door as she sat down, the siren now notably absent. "Well ain't that a kick in the keister," she sniffed in contempt before turning her attention to the ball of paper she was quickly unfolding. "'Meet me in the usual place in ten minutes if you can!'" she read aloud before crumpling the paper back up with an angry look.
"What was that boy thinkin' tryin' to talk to me so soon?" she asked in annoyance. "Couldn't he have waited until after the next challenge?" She threw her arms up in exasperation, then crossed them bitterly. "Because of him, not only did that nosy Sierra see us, but now Scarlett's startin' to suspect somethin' too. I haven't told her about my other alliance, on account of me wantin' people to think I'm just a simple country beauty queen, but now Scott's just about ruined my whole set up!"
She took a deep, frustrated breath. "Maybe I really will cut him loose soon. I can't let him drag me down." She pursed her lips thoughtfully, then reached inside her blouse and took out a familiar pink envelope. "And then there's this," she said, turning the envelope over in her hands. "I just know this is gonna be my secret weapon, I just gotta figure out how to use it to save my butt."
xxx
The scene cut to the world map as the plane icon flew across the Atlantic from France to the Caribbean, then cut again to a head-on shot of the actual jet. It was still raining, but importantly – and ominously – one of the engines on the left wing suddenly sputtered and let out a burst of smoke. The plane tilted and shook, and the camera moved to the cockpit.
"Umm, are we outta gas?" Chris asked Chef.
"Yes," the hulking man answered, "'cause you spent all our gas money."
Chris picked up the transmitter for the intercom, cleared his throat, and said "Attention, passengers!" One of the speakers was shown, followed by Alejandro and Ella lifting cucumber slices from their eyes to look at it in first class, Team Chris looking up at the one in economy, and Team Victory doing the same on the other side of the cabin. "AAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAAA!" Chris screamed, the shot cutting outside to show the plane out of the rain but in a nosedive and trailing smoke. The scream continued over shaking shots of the teams panicking, first in economy and then in first class.
"Oh em gee, what are we supposed to do?!" Sammy exclaimed in panic while she, Alejandro, and Ella struggled to hold on to their seats and Scarlett and Sugar suddenly went tumbling towards the back of the room.
"S-surely this is just another one of Chris' jokes, right?" Ella asked frantically.
"I really don't think so!" Sammy told her. Both girls began to stumble and fall towards the back of the room, only to be quickly caught by Alejandro to a rising triumphant tune.
"Stay calm, señoritas!" he told them, pulling them back towards the seats. "All we can do now is buckle our seatbelts and hope that Chef is a good enough pilot to land us safely!" He managed to return them both to their seats, and all three sat down.
"I hope he is!" Sammy said as she fumbled with her belt.
/
The scene flashed to economy class, where the six contestants were having a much more difficult time.
"Stupid economy belts!" Scott exclaimed as the seatbelt he'd attempted to tie snapped off.
"We gotta hold onto something!" Shawn declared, and the shot pulled back to show most of the six clinging on to either the luggage compartments or each other. They all started screaming.
The screams continued as the scene cut outside to a picturesque beach sandy beach, a lovely tune briefly playing before the loud, dramatic music reasserted itself just in time for the plane to drop unceremoniously onto the shore, kicking up a cloud of sand with a long chanted note.
/
The footage skipped forward, showing the contestants, host, and pilot gathered on the beach with an inflatable slide leading out of the rear door of the plane.
"Two airports on an island the size of a postage stamp," Chris said, "and he misses both." He gave Chef an annoyed look. "But somehow, it's my fault."
"You blew our money for the season on 'Chris-work'!" Chef shot back.
"Yes, well, regardless of which one of you is to blame," Alejandro said as he walked up while brushing the sand off his clothes, "we all still could have died back there."
"You all look okay to me," Chris said, quickly looking over the teens.
"Barely," DJ said, wincing as he touched his right elbow. "And that's not even counting the fact that most of us in economy got banged up pretty bad!"
"Ehh, you'll be fine," the host said with a jovial handwave.
"So, uhh, what do we do now?" Sammy asked.
"Well, we're outta gas," Chris said with a finger on his lip as the background music took a slightly dramatic turn again, "the plane's busted, aaand we're broke." He shrugged, then grinned and raised a finger high. "But, the show must go on! We can't waste any of this footage, think of the hits we'll get on ClipTube!" He spread his arms emphatically wide as the shot pulled away from him again.
"Where are we?" Tyler asked with a wide-eyed look around.
"Jamaica, mon!" Chris answered in an attempted Jamaican accent as a steelpan took over the background music. "We were supposed to land in Ochos Rios, but, since somebody forgot how to fly," he shot a pointed look at Chef who just glared back, "we'll have to do the challenges here instead. And fast," he added as the camera moved back to him, "before whoever owns this dump shows up and asks for a location fee."
"Did you guys not budget for the whole season?" Shawn asked in confusion as the steelpan was replaced by a trilling, high-pitched tune.
"Some things cost more than expected," Chris explained defensively. "Airplane-ready hot tubs don't grow on trees, y'know."
"No emergency fund?" Shawn followed up.
"Spent it on our last fuel-up," Chris told him.
"And that was money well spent," Scott said dryly.
"Grab your board shorts and meet me at the waterfall," Chris told the group as he and Chef walked off, the high-pitched music reaching a dramatic end.
/
The scene flashed forward to the contestants walking across the beach to the right side of the screen in their swim suits, separated mostly by team but spread out even then. The camera focused in on Sierra as she hustled to catch up with Shawn, then shielded her mouth with her hand. "Psst!" she hissed, immediately getting his attention. "Now that we're alone, I wanna tell you what I saw on the plane earlier!"
"It wasn't a zombie, was it?" Shawn whispered back with a hint of nervousness.
"No, this is better," Sierra told him before putting a finger to her lip and uncertainly adding, "or worse, depending on how you look at it. The point is," she shook her head, "I totally saw Scott throw something into first class while I was in the confessional, and then a few seconds later Sugar came out looking all annoyed about it! And then she was all mad when she saw that I had seen her!"
"Wow," Shawn said blankly. "You think there's something going on between those two?"
"Duh," Sierra said flatly, "I've been trying to tell people that for awhile now. But now I finally have proof!"
"Huh," Shawn said with a thoughtful look. "Tell me more..."
A few dramatic notes played before the scene skipped ahead again.
/
The camera was now focused on a series of waterfalls flowing out from the side of a cliff and into a rocky lagoon far below. The host and contestants could just be made out standing at the top of it, and Scott could be heard laughing at something.
"Hey, nice shirt," he taunted before the camera cut to a close-up of the host and steelpan started playing again.
"It's a dashiki, mon," Chris corrected, motioning to the green, black, and red garment; a large rasta cap completed his appropriated attempt at a stereotypical Jamaican outfit.
"Yeah," DJ laughed as the camera cut to him in his swim shorts and, oddly enough, his usual shirt, "a woman's dashiki!"
"What?!" Chris said in shock.
"Can we please just get to the challenge?" Scarlett asked in annoyance, the shot cutting to Team Universe in their swim suits, the collared brainiac included.
"I like to call our first challenge," the host said as the shot pulled back to show the full cast, "'The Treasure Hunt of Death'! We were supposed to do this at Dunn's River Falls, but! This far more dangerous waterfall will have to do!" he explained, motioning to the waterfalls behind him.
"Sooo...it's another water challenge?" DJ asked, strangely not nervously.
"'fraid so," Chris told him. "Wanna say a few prayers?"
"No need, I came prepared!" DJ said with a curt hand wave before pulling off his shirt and revealing the life vest underneath that he promptly inflated.
xxx
"After nearly drowning in Newfoundland," DJ explained in the restroom confessional with his life jacket on, "wearing a life jacket full time just makes sense!" he squeezed the inflatable thing a little. "My teammates understand."
xxx
"Your challenge begins with a dive off beautiful 'Wherever-we-are Falls'," Chris explained in a long-distance shot of the waterfall, "into the lagoon far below."
"Err...it's not filled with sharks, is it?" Ezekiel asked.
"Nope!" Chris answered with a smile, the contestants all sighing in relief off-screen. "Electric eels and sharks!" the host corrected.
"Players must tag-team dive into the infested water for as long as you can hold your breath," he explained as the camera cut to the surface of the lagoon while a shark fin moved across it, "to search the lagoon floor for pirate treasure!" The camera cut into the water, showing a shark and several eels swimming around; it panned down to the bottom, where something golden laid in the open maw of a ferocious-looking skeleton.
"Aka, the gold chains Chef always wears on karaoke night," Chris clarified as the shot cut back to him. "First team to bring me Chef's treasure wins a major advantage in the next challenge. So! Good luck!Especially to Team Victory and Team I Am So Incredibly Vicious. You're both down two members to Team Universe, so you'll have to work extra hard to stay in the game."
Team Chris shared a look and shrugged. "We're used to it," Shawn said.
"Lucky us," Scott smirked as the shot cut to Team Victory, "we have Tyler here to do all the dives!"
"Yeah!" Tyler said in excitement before his face fell into a scowl. "Wait..."
xxx
"Hey, if Tyler wants to stick around, he's gonna have to put in a lot of work," Scott told the confessional camera. "Not that it'll actually help, but what does he know?"
xxx
"Hoo! Let's do this!" Tyler cheered as the scene cut to him, Alejandro, and DJ lined up at the top of the cliff; a triumphant tune played in the background.
"Might as well just hand me the victory," Alejandro said confidently.
"Pssh, you wish," DJ told him.
"Ready, steady, freddy," Chris said behind them as they prepared to jump, "go!" At his hand signal, the three boys dived off.
"Woohoo! Wha-oh no!" Tyler said, his cheers quickly turning into panic as he flailed his arm in a head-first dive.
"Momma!" DJ screamed, pinching his nose as he fell bottom-first.
Alejandro seemed to have executed a perfect swan dive, but gasped at the last second – the camera panned down to show a shark circling the area he was about to land in.
"You can do it Alejandro!" Ella called out encouragingly from the top of the cliff.
The camera cut underwater, showing Alejandro wrestling with the shark; DJ's legs dangling just below the surface in the background; and Tyler holding his breath and trying to look around in the foreground. With an anxious look on his face, he dove down and out of sight.
xxx
"I don't see well underwater," the jock admitted to the confessional camera. "I guess it's a trade-off for my super-strong fingers," he said with a proud look at his digits. He waggled his right pinky and bragged "This one can bench-press 80 pounds!"
xxx
Alejandro coughed as he crawled back onto shore. "Perhaps I misjudged this...," he told himself before looking back over his shoulder at Tyler, who had just surfaced.
"Hoo! I got the chains!" he announced excitedly, the camera cutting in close just as he realized he was holding an electric eel. "Oh no...," he said again before getting shocked.
The shot panned over to DJ, who was still floating on the water thanks to his life jacket. "Just gotta..," he told himself before taking a breath and attempting to dive again, immediately failing due to his jacket. "Okay, slip off the jacket," he told himself, "you can do this, DJ!" He attempted to dive again while pulling his jacket off at the same time, but failed once again. "No I can't!" he said after taking a deep, gasping breath. "Okay, maybe I should let the others try."
The background music became tenser as the scene cut to the top of the cliff as Alejandro reached it and tagged Sammy. "You might wanna check around the edge of the lagoon," he told her, "the shark stopped me from looking myself."
"I'll keep that in mind," Sammy told him before diving off the cliff and landing easily in the lagoon.
"Best two outta three?" Tyler told Scott and Ezekiel as he ran up to them on the cliff, then passed them by despite both holding out their hands to be tagged. He swan dived into the lagoon, and almost immediately surfaced holding a tire. "Woohoo, yeah!" he cheered before realizing what he'd actually gotten. "Ohh, man!"
DJ tagged Sierra and the fangirl launched herself into a cannonball; the shot pulled back to show the whole cliff as Sierra's splash reached all the way to the top. "Whoa, watch it!" DJ cringed as a wave washed over him and Shawn, depositing an eel on the survivalist's head.
"Yeah, that-" Shawn said as he reached up to grab the eel and got shocked the moment he laid hands on it. "Oww..."
The focus moved to Sugar as Sammy ran up. "Well that was a bust," the cheerleader said as she tagged her teammate. "Good luck!"
"Thanks," Sugar chuckled, "but I don't think I need it!" She took a deep breath, then belly-flopped off the cliff. She landed painfully, the camera briefly cutting away to show Sammy and Ella wincing before showing the pageant queen sinking into the lagoon. "I regret nothin'!" she declared, her words turning into gurgling bubbles as she went below the water.
The camera lingered there, zooming out just a little as Tyler dived in again nearby. He surfaced almost immediately holding a large and broken grandfather clock over his head. "Hoo! I got i-" he looked up as the clock donged. "Aww, come on!"
A trilling tune played as the camera cut to the blazing sun before panning down to Shawn, who had removed his wool cap and was now wiping his forehead with it. "Man, this better end fast. I don't wanna have to face a zombie attack with sunburn."
"Your turn!" Sierra said, running up behind him and slapping him on the shoulder, causing him to wince.
"Good," he told her as he rubbed his tender shoulder, "I could use the cool-down." The footage cut to him diving into the water, then looking around within the lagoon. An ominously tense tune played as a shark was seen swimming close towards him; he quickly looked around, then saw it coming straight at him. He swam away as fast as he could, narrowly dodging a bite and losing the shark behind some large rocks. He looked around and had to stifle a gasp when he spotted the gold chains lying in the skeletal jaw nearby, and quickly swam towards them.
The camera cut to Sugar noticing him, then narrowing her brow and swimming towards him. The music turned triumphant as the scene moved back to the water's surface as Shawn emerged holding out the gold chain and shouting "I got it!", but quickly resumed it's tension and thrill as the survivalist was suddenly pulled back under, causing DJ and Sierra to gaps in concern.
Shawn quickly surfaced once again, as did Sugar, and the two had started a tug-of-war over the gold. "Let go!" Shawn demanded. "I found it first!"
"Not a chance!" Sugar declared. "The only one who's gonna be takin' that gold is Sugar!"
As the background music picked up it's pace again the shot cut to the top of the cliff where most of the others watched closely, some with concern and others with eager expressions. The camera focused on Scott, who frowned in displeasure then dashed away from the cliff's edge. He ran over to Tyler, who had apparently just added a couch to the pile of useless objects he'd pulled out of the water, then tagged the jock and said "My turn!"
He dove into the lagoon himself, landing near where Shawn and Sugar were still fighting but not close enough to distract them for more than a moment. That is, of course, until he swam over and joined in the clash for the pirated treasure, unaware that an eel was draped over his shoulder.
"Hey! What do you think yer doin'?!" Sugar asked sharply, trying to pull the gold chain away from both boys.
"What does it look like?" Scott replied, his tone just as sharp as he tried to pull the chain away from Shawn with Sugar.
"Well I know what it looks like to me," Shawn told them both, doubling down his efforts to pull the chain away from them. "And also...," he smirked before headbutting Scott, startling the electric eel on him and causing it to shock all three of them. The farmer was sent reeling and Shawn managed to yank the gold chain back into his sole possession, swimming away with a grin.
"Not so fast!" Sugar yelled before tackling the survivalist, sending them both underwater for a brief second before they emerged wrestling for the chain again.
The camera pulled back from them, catching Scott still floating in a daze, and the familiar music note logo appeared on-screen with it's usual dings that caused Shawn and Sugar to freeze.
"You want us to sing now?!" the survivalist exclaimed up at the cliff top.
"Yup!" Chris replied from the edge overlooking the lagoon. "And I wanna hear from all three of you, Scott included!"
Shawn looked at Scott, who had recovered enough to be rubbing his head in irritation, then sighed. "Fine, let's get this over with."
~/~
[A few metallic drumbeats opened a reggae-like melody joined by a bass guitar, guitar, and organ. The camera focused on Shawn as he treaded water and glared at Sugar, then began to sing.]
"I've heard the way, that you two always seem, to be around when there's trouble!"
[Shawn sang accusingly, still keeping a firm grip on the gold chain but swimming a few inches towards Sugar and pointing at her sharply, the pageant star raising her brow nervously.]
"And Sierra thinks that, and right now I agree, the two of you are a bundle!"
[Shawn gestured back over his shoulder and the shot cut to Sierra kneeling intently at the edge of the cliff. She smiled mischievously, and the shot cut back down to the water as Shawn pointed his finger right up close to Sugar's face as he emphasized the word 'bundle'. The pageant queen's eyes went wide, and behind them Scott's eyes went wide as well. "Yeah!" Shawn said, backing off slightly and nodding confidently.]
"Oh, did you? Oh, did you? Oh, oh did you think?"
[The survivalist sang next with a smug sort of smile, yanking hard enough to nearly pull the gold chain out of Sugar's shocked grasp.]
"That nobody, was ever gonna, catch you acting all in-sync?"
[He yanked the gold chain hard again, and this time he was able to get it away from Sugar completely. He began to back away from her slightly, clarifying his lyric by stating "And for the record, I'm talking about you two working together."]
"What can I say?"
[Sugar began her verse after a short and sad breath.]
"I might as well come clean!"
[The camera cut to Scott as she sang her second line, and his eyes somehow bugged out even more and he seemed to freeze in shock.]
"Don't want this, on my conscience!"
[The scene moved back to Sugar as she gave a sad look to Shawn, who was now looking awkwardly bewildered. "It's been eatin' at me hard," she told him.]
"Yer guessin' is right, but please let me explain!"
[The shot cut to the top of the cliff where the rest of the cast was listening with an assortment of curious looks on their faces.]
"Me an' Scott, got a secret alliance!"
["And we've been controllin' the game..." she added out-of-verse, causing Scott to sputter indignantly and swim over with a furious look on his face.]
~/~
The reggae music suddenly stopped when Scott grabbed Sugar by the arm, turned her around to face him, and shouted "What the heck is your problem?! You can't just reveal our secret alliance to everyone, it's supposed to be secret!"
Up on the cliff, everybody present gasped dramatically – even Chris, though his expression made it clear his surprise was considerably less than genuine.
"Wha...what?!" Ezekiel spluttered in utter shock.
"Well too bad!" Sugar countered. "I never wanted to be in an alliance with you in the first place! You tricked me into thinkin' it was the only way I could win, but I don't wanna be a part of it anymore!"
"What are you talking about?!" Scott asked in disbelief. "You were all for it from the beginning!"
"Yeah, sure," Sugar said, "just like Bridgette was secretly hookin' up with Shawn."
Scott groaned in displeasure, then looked up at the cliff to see the others murmuring in suspicion. "Seriously, though," he turned his anger back to Sugar, "what the heck is wrong with you? Why would you do this?"
"Hey uhh, not to interrupt," Chris interrupted, "but you do realize-"
"I don't care!" Scott yelled at him harshly. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something right now?!" He snorted angrily, then turned his attention back to Sugar. "So tell me, why the heck did you just blow away all our plans? Do you even realize how big of a mistake that was, or are you too stupid to realize you've just cost both of us the game!"
"Oh, yeah," Sugar said bitterly as tears welled up in her eyes, "attackin' me with yer words to get me to do what you want again. Just like when I didn't wanna distract Beardo so you could mess with their commercial, or when I didn't wanna bump into Team Chris's rope in New York, or when I hesitated before takin' a dive against Geoff in the slap dance challenge so he'd have to face off against Bridgette!"
"New York was your idea!" Scott protested, completely flabbergasted in his outrage. "And you were all for the sabotage in Japan and the Alps!"
"Was not!" Sugar sobbed out a counter. "I only said I was because I was afraid of you, but I'm fed up with bein' scared all the time so I'm stickin' up fer myself! We're through!"
She turned her back on him and began to swim away, the camera zooming out to show that Shawn was nowhere to be seen. Scott quickly grabbed her by the arm, though, and spun her back around. "Oh no," he told her fiercely, "I am not gonna let you get away with this! You were in this just as much as I was!"
"No!" Sugar shouted, slapping away his hand. "Enough of yer lies, I ain't gonna let you drag me down with you!" She put her hands on his shoulders than forced him down into the water, then swam off as fast as she could.
Scott surfaced in moments, gasping for air and covered in eels. "Uhh, hello, host of the show here?" Chris called down to him from the cliff top. "So you two-"
"SHOVE IT, MCLEA-AAAAAAHHHH!" Scott tried to shout, but his fury caused the eels clinging to him to let loose and shock him for a good couple of seconds. He was left twitching, and promptly sank into the lagoon.
The background music turned deep and sorrowful as the camera panned to Sugar walking up onto shore. "I'm so sorry!" she sobbed up at the clifftop, the shot cutting up there to show most of the cast watching her, and Ezekiel staring with a gaping mouth down at the lagoon. "Please forgive me!"
The shot cut to her teammates as Alejandro, Sammy, and even Scarlett shared an awkward and taken-aback look. It was Ella, however, who stepped forward and enthusiastically called out "We forgive you Sugar!" The gesture startled the pageant queen for a brief second, but she quickly resumed sobbing and looked over at Team Chris.
Sierra, DJ, and even Shawn – the gold chain in his hands – shared an awkward and uncertain look of their own. Sierra frowned skeptically and looked at her teammates; the camera panned to the right as DJ looked uncertain for a second before giving Shawn a sad smile. The boy in the middle of them stepped forward and awkwardly said "Uhh, okay, I guess? You do seem pretty sorry at least."
"Thank you!" Sugar sobbed, wiping away her tears and smudged make-up with the back of her hand. "Thank you so- wait," she brow suddenly furrowed and her tears suddenly stopped, "why are you up there with them?" she asked the survivalist.
"Oh, uh," Shawn answered awkwardly, "I slipped away while you two were fighting. I have the gold, by the way," he added as an aside to Chris, who was glowering sternly down at the lagoon next to the still-shocked Ezekiel. "Are you gonna help Scott?"
Chris grunted in exasperation, then swiped the gold chain away from Shawn. "Fine," he said, finally averting his gaze from the lagoon, "I'll have one of the interns rescue him. But he's still in major trouble."
"I'll say," Tyler added angrily.
"Anyway," Chris said after taking a breath and resuming his usual demeanor, "Team Chris is Really Really Really Mean wins round one!" Sierra, Shawn, and DJ cheered at the announcement. Chris turned to the camera and said "Find out what else I have in store for our contestants, and for Scott," he looked away momentarily to bitterly say the farmer's name then put his smile back on for the camera again, "after the break!"
(Fade to Commercial and Back)
The episode resumed with most of the cast lined up in their teams on the shore of the lagoon, standing before Chris and Chef – the latter wearing a helmet and carrying a longboard.
"Team Me," the host announced, "as winners of the first challenge, you've also won this advantage for challenge number two." He motioned to Chef, who grinned and pointed to his helmet.
Sierra and DJ gaped in shock and annoyance, but Shawn shrugged. "Can't turn down good headwear," he admitted. "What's next?"
"Oh, just a little something I call...the 'Bobsled of Death'!" Chris declared, spreading his arms wide then curving his fingers in like claws. "Ta-da!" A deep note was struck as Team Chris turned around and gasped.
Behind them was a long, looping, and incredibly shoddy-looking wooden track. A large poster of the host's face had been put up inside a loop-the-loop, and a Jamaican flag was revealed to have been hung from the scaffolding holding up a hill.
"Whoa! No way!" Tyler exclaimed.
"This one's gonna hurt!" DJ added in fear.
"Yeah, the intern who tested it will be outta commish for...," Chris said thoughtfully before looking at Chef, "ten months is it?" Chef grinned and nodded.
"We can't afford bobsleds," he told the contestants, "so, you're gonna ride longboards in teams of two bobsled-style! Down Chef's track and into the pool," he added as the hulking man held up his longboard and grinned. Chris pointed to the right, and the camera cut to the empty swimming pool where the track ended. "Each team gets three runs. Fastest total time wins!" He grinned at their shocked faces, but his own soon expression fell into confusion. "Hold on, aren't we missing someone?"
"Yeah," Tyler said, pointing off to his left, "Zeke went to talk to Scott in the infirmary."
"I see...," Chris scowled, putting his hands on his hips.
/
The scene flashed to an infirmary which looked surprisingly well-stocked. On the 'right' side of the room was an open doorway and what looked like a young white man in a full body cast on a stretcher; on the left Scott was lying on a hospital bed with Ezekiel standing at his side.
"That stuff you were sayin' about bein' in a secret alliance was just a joke, right?" Ezekiel asked with a hint of panic in his voice.
"What? No!" Scott replied in disbelief. "I was telling the truth about everything. Don't believe Sugar's innocent act."
"But...but what about all that stuff about us sticking with the teams?" Ezekiel followed up. "You always told the rest of us that we shouldn't get too friendly with the others, eh, or it'd hurt our chances in the challenges! That's the whole reason I voted out Geoff last time, because I thought you were lookin' out for us! But all this time you were goin' behind our backs and workin' with Sugar?"
"I...," Scott said with wide eyes, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "That...that was different, man."
"Really?" Ezekiel asked in complete disbelief. "'Cause I'm havin' a hard time figurin' out how, eh!"
"It...it just is!" Scott said, getting flustered. "But that's not important. You need to listen to me-" he grabbed Ezekiel by the shoulders, but the homeschooler shook them off.
"No, you need to listen to me, eh!" he countered angrily. "I trusted you! Even when everyone was gettin' mad at you fer what happened with Geoff, I defended you because I thought you had changed! Because I thought you'd decided to work with yer team and not try an' sabotage 'em! But...but that was just a lie, wasn't it? You never wanted to work with us, you just wanted to control us!"
"No, I just...just let me explain, okay?" Scott tried to plead, but Ezekiel just turned his back on him.
"You've had yer chance, eh," Ezekiel said, the camera cutting in for a close-up of his narrow-eyed and teary face. "We're done."
The camera angle returned to it's standard side-shot as Ezekiel walked away, leaving his former friend to clench his eyes and teeth and fists in the infirmary bed.
"Aaaand so is Scott!" the host's voice said suddenly as the tense musical score usually reserved for eliminations began to play. The shot panned to the doorway of the infirmary as both Scott and Ezekiel gasped, and Chris walked in. He walked by the homeschooler without a second glance, making a beeline for Scott and tutting at the bedridden boy the moment he'd reached the foot of the bed. "Oh how the crafty have fallen," he said. "I had such high hopes for you when I decided to keep you n the game last time, but here you've gone and broken the most important rule of the season."
"W-wait, what do you mean?" Scott stammered in rapidly rising panic.
"You didn't sing when you were supposed to," Chris explained sternly. "I specifically said the musical number was for all three of you, but you just ignored that to yell at Sugar and, more importantly, myself."
"But...but I was too mad to think straight!" Scott said.
"Don't care," Chris said. "You're still out."
"C'mon, gimme another chance!" Scott pleaded. "I'll sing right now! I'm filled with all kinds of emotion, it'll be great!"
"Yeah, no," Chris told him, turning his back on the now-despondent farmer. "I still have the second part of the challenge to run, and we don't have time for another song in a different location. You had your chance, Scott, and you blew it. You are officially disqualified from the competition."
A deep note concluded the musical track as Chris walked away from the slack-jawed and bug-eyed ex-contestant. As he exited the infirmary, the camera lingered on Ezekiel. The homeschooler gave one last shocked look at his former teammate, then gulped and steeled himself and left as well.
/
A flash took the scene to the start of the bobsled course, where a pair from each team had lined up with their longboards. In front were Shawn and DJ wearing their helmets; behind them Tyler had put a comforting hand on Ezekiel's shoulder; and in the back Alejandro and Sammy were watching awkwardly.
The shot cut down to the pool where Chris and Chef were now sitting in lounge chairs with glasses of ice water.
"C'mon, man," Chef told the host, "just enjoy what we got here! Once we get some more money, it'll be like this was a paid vacation!"
"I know," Chris sighed heavily. "Just gimme a minute, okay?" Chef nodded, and Chris took a breath. Donning his usual smile, he took out a red megaphone. The shot pulled back to reveal Sierra, Scarlett, Ella, and Sugar standing nearby, and into the megaphone he called out "Round One! Team Chris is Reeeeeally Mean!"
The shot cut to Shawn and DJ as the two mounted the longboard, the survivalist kneeling down in front with the brickhouse folded over in the rear. "Ready?" Chris asked.
"Ready!" Shawn and DJ replied confidently.
Chris pulled the trigger on the megaphone, and the two boys launched themselves forward at it's high-pitched wail.
The background music became hectic as they launched off the starting hill, took the first curve, and started to climb the bigger hill. As they reached the peak DJ happened to look off in the direction of the camera. An unusual mystical-sounding tune played as the perspective shifted, showing him looking at the top of the waterfall where a familiar blonde-haired figure seemed to be standing behind some bushes with her back to the bobsled track. He gasped as the camera changed back to his close-up, then squealed as the longboard started rapidly going down the hill.
"Focus, DJ!" Shawn told his partner, and the gentle giant immediately took heed. He steeled his expression into a confident grin and leaned forward, and the two rocketed through a pair of metal tubes and over a short gap and into the loop-the-loop.
"Yeah!" DJ cheered as they rounded the loop almost effortlessly, then shot out through the final metal tube into the pool. They slid along the dry bottom and shot up into the air and out-of-sight, only to come back down moments later. DJ landed on his feet with the longboard in one arm and a slightly startled Shawn in the other. "Woo hoo!" he cheered excitedly.
"Forty-six point-oh-one seconds is the time to beat!" Chris announced as a timer reading [00:46:01] appeared on-screen. "Team Victory!" he said into his megaphone, the background music trilling ominously as the shot cut to Tyler and Ezekiel seated on their board, Tyler in front and Ezekiel in back.
"Don't worry, dude," the jock told his lone remaining teammate, "we got this. Just try to forget about Scott, okay?"
"I'll try, but no promises," Ezekiel told him.
The two boys shared a nod, then called out "Ready!" They received a wail from the megaphone in reply, and Tyler launched them off like a shot. The pair immediately began to holler out in fear as they went over the starting hill and into the bigger one, their speed forcing them to lean back from their sitting-up positions. They continued to scream and the background music continued to be dangerously hectic as they crested the big hill, went through the loop-the-loop, passed through the final tunnel, and smacked into the side of the pool with a thud that made Chris and Chef wince.
"Fifty-eight point-one-seven!" the host announced as the on-screen timer read [00:58:17]. "Team Me still leads by a healthy margin! Team Universe!" he called through his megaphone, the camera cutting to Sammy and Alejandro on their longboard.
"Here we go," Sammy said nervously from the back.
"Trust your instincts," Alejandro advised. "Ready!" the charmer called out, launching them forward at the signal.
The pair were leaning forward, and Sammy quickly wrapped her arms around her partner as she began to scream in terror. They, too, made short work of the starting hill and curve, and as they reached the top of the largest hill something caught Sammy's eye and she looked towards the camera. The unusual mystical-sounding music played again as the perspective shifted, revealing the familiar figure still standing half-hidden at the top of the waterfall. Sammy gasped and her eyes went wide, but she quickly started screaming again as she and Alejandro plummeted down the hill. They jumped the gap, rounded the loop, shot through the tunnel, and smacked right into the side of the pool.
"Fifty point-two-three seconds!" Chris announced, the timer reading [00:50:23]. "Better than the boys, but Team I am so Devilishly Handsome takes the round!"
The shot cut to the edge of the pool as DJ helped Sammy up, both of them smiling. "DJ, I just saw Dawn on top of the waterfall!" Sammy told her boyfriend, a little bit of hesitation in her voice.
"Me too!" DJ told her excitedly. "I knew we were gonna see her again!"
"But..I still wonder what's really going on, though," Sammy said, her face falling and in turn causing DJ's smile to fade.
"Round Two!" Chris suddenly declared through his megaphone, startling the pair.
/
The footage skipped forward to show the three pairs now at the start of the course. Sierra had swapped in for Shawn on Team Chris; Tyler and Ezekiel were repeating the course out of necessity; and surprisingly enough Sugar and Ella were present for Team Universe.
"Okay, Sierra," DJ told the girl kneeling in front of him, "just lean forward and we'll be alright."
"Got it," the fangirl replied. A screeching signal came, and she launched them forward. Some brief screaming was heard as the camera cut to Chris and Chef getting their drinks refilled by a red-haired white woman in khakis and a green tube top, and the host took a sip before casting his glance back to the pool.
Sierra and DJ shot out of it, rolled up the side of the pool, and each landed on their feet. The longboard in DJ's hands but a grin on both their faces, they shared a happy high-five.
"Team Me comes in at forty-five point-one-six, beating their own team's record and widening their lead!" Chris announced, the timer displaying [00:45:16]. "They're gonna be tough to beat. Team Victory, you're up!"
"Okay dude, second time we've got this!" Tyler told Ezekiel, the homeschooler looking less than confident. The jock was still in front, but they seemed to have taken a cue from the other teams and leaned forward as soon as the signal was sounded.
Once again they flew around the course, screaming mostly for their lives but partly out of thrill; they crested the large peak and looped the loop without issue. The shot cut to Chris, Chef and the six poolside contestants watching expectantly as the longboard was heard approaching, then cringing at the sound of am impact and watching with shock as Tyler and Ezekiel tumbled past them followed by their board seconds later.
"Nice wipe-out, dudes!" Chris told them, the on-screen timer reading [00:50:01]. "Not only that, but with a time of fifty point-oh-one seconds you've beaten your previous score and Team Universe's first go."
"Woo hoo!" the boys cheered weakly, barely managing a high-five from face-down on the ground.
"Speaking of, Team Universe!" the host called through his megaphone, and the shot immediately cut to the last pair waiting at the start of the course.
Ella started to hunker down in the front part of the longboard, but she was stopped when Sugar grabbed her arm and a touching tune began to play. "I just...wanted to apologize again for what I did," the pageant queen told the singer, her voice quavering as though she was about to cry again. "And thank you so much for trustin' me to be yer partner fer this!"
"Oh, don't worry Sugar!" Ella told her with a happy smile. "We all make mistakes, but forgiving them is part of what being friends is all about!"
Sugar sniffed and rubbed her eye. "Thank you!"
xxx
The bout of static transitioned the scene to Sugar chuckling to herself in the restroom confessional. "Man!" she declared with a wide and confident grin. "If even Ella's fallin' for my 'I'm so sorry!' act, then I got it made for the rest of the game!" She chuckled to herself again. "You know what, I think I deserve an award fer that performance. No wait," she excitedly corrected herself, "make that two awards!"
xxx
A dramatic challenge tune began immediately after the scene cut back to the bobsled track and the megaphone sounded off. The two girls launched forward on their board, not quite leaning forward but going fairly fast nonetheless and screaming quite loudly. They hung for a second at the top of the hill, then finally fell forward with a scream and passed through the tunneled jump.
"Come on," Scarlett muttered through her teeth as the shot briefly cut to the rest of Team Universe, Sammy looking concerned while Alejandro looked unimpressed.
The shot cut back to them as they entered the final tunnel with Ella leaning forward but Sugar more upright. They slowed down as they went through the narrowest part of the tunnel, a squeaking sound and the pageant queen's annoyed grunts suggesting that Sugar was rubbing against the walls. Nevertheless they exited with a decent amount of speed, just enough to get them rolling up the pool wall and teetering on the edge as they finished.
"Fifty-five point-three-three!" Chris declared when the camera panned to him, the timer reading [00:55:33]. "Sorry girls, but you're gonna have to do better than that if you wanna catch up."
"Aww, biscuits!" Sugar said, snapping her fingers as Scarlett groaned and palmed her face.
"Round Three!" Chris declared eagerly.
/
The pairs for the final round were Shawn and Sierra, Tyler and Ezekiel again, and Sammy and Scarlett for Team Universe.
"Team I Am The Baddest," the host called through his megaphone, "ready?"
"As long as we don't mess up," Shawn told Sierra as the two mounted their longboard with the fangirl sitting in back, "we should be good."
"Totally," Sierra nodded.
"Ready!" the pair called out, and were met with the shriek of the megaphone-airhorn in reply. They launched themselves forward, leaning down with their helmets in front as they quickly passed through the hills and gaps and loop-the loops.
They shot out of the course at high speed, but rather than rolling along the side of the pool they crashed headlong into it.
"Forty-eight point-two-four seconds," Chris announced as the timer read [00:48:24], "for a three-run combined total of," the timer rapidly counted up to [02:19:41], "two minutes and nineteen-point-four-one seconds! Good!"
"Yay," Sierra said happily as she stumbled around at the bottom of the pool with Shawn before DJ helped the two of them up.
"Guess those helmets came in handy after all," the brickhouse told his teammates with a smile.
/
The shot flashed back up to the start of the course where Tyler and Ezekiel got into position once again. "Y'know, I think we're starting to get a hang of this," the jock told his partner. "Maybe it's a good thing that-" He stopped immediately upon seeing Ezekiel's glum expression, adding "uhh, never mind."
They got on their longboard, and at the signal Tyler sent them flying down the track. He cheered excitedly as they rolled into the big hill, but stopped as he noticed Ezekiel still looking depressed. He frowned, then steeled himself and leaned forward.
Back at the poolside, Alejandro and Ella and Sugar all looked up at the course anxiously. Their eyes followed Tyler and Ezekiel as the remaining members of Team Victory drew closer, and finally shot out of the final tunnel and into the pool. The background music welled up triumphantly as, rather than crashing like their first two runs, the pair managed to roll steadily along the bottom of the pool and up into the air. Even more surprising, they managed to stick the landing though their board went flying off into a bush.
"Dude, we made it!" Tyler told his partner, slapping Ezekiel on the back and earning a small smile in return.
"You two are in second place with a total of two minutes, thirty-seven-point-five-eight seconds!" Chris announced, the timer changing from [00:49:40] to [02:37:58]. "Team Universe!" he called through his megaphone, and the camera cut to the final pair.
"Okay, we need a time of fifty-two point-oh-one seconds or better to beat them," Scarlett told Sammy.
"Yeah, pretty much," Sammy replied as the two girls got on their longboard, the evil genius in front.
"Considering that I'm the one most at risk right now," Scarlett continued, "I'd like some assurance that you aren't going to intentionally inhibit us in hopes of eliminating me."
"Oh, uh, that's not really my thing, so...," Sammy told her.
Scarlett's face fell flat. "I'll force myself to accept that."
The shrieking signal from the host caught their attention, and the two girls rocketed themselves forward. The tense challenge music started up again as Scarlett and Sammy went over the starting hill, around a curve and up the big hill. They hung slightly at the top, but the brainiac leaned herself forward, bulky metal collar and all, and they sped down again without an issue. The camera followed them as they passed through the first tunnel; there was a metallic scraping sound just before they came out with sparks trailing from the side of Scarlett's collar.
"No!" Scarlett said in shock.
"Eeek!" Sammy chorused, putting her hands over her head.
They passed into the landing tunnel and the scraping was heard again, and the camera closed in on Scarlett's panicked face as the pair entered the loop-the-loop. "This accursed collar is too wide," she exclaimed, "unless we move perfectly the friction it produces will slow us down!" They entered the tunnel coming down from the loop, resulting in more scraping metal, sparks, and a shriek from Sammy.
Scarlett grit her teeth in frustration as they went over the last gentle slope and into the final – and longest – tunnel yet. Sammy's shrieks and the metallic scrapings made everyone standing poolside wince and cover their ears in pain, but soon enough the two girls shot out of the pool. They rolled up the side, and landed in a mild daze but still on their board.
"And with a three-run total of two minutes thirty-nine point-oh-nine seconds," Chris announced with relish in his voice as the timer ticked up from [00:53:13] to [02:39:09], "Team Chris is Really Really Mean is the winner!" A victorious tune started playing as Shawn, Sierra, and DJ began to cheer. "Team Universe," the host told the losing team, "you five are finally gonna kick someone off tonight."
He walked away laughing, and Alejandro immediately gave Scarlett a devilish grin. "Well, I believe we all know what's going to happen next," he told his team, his gaze locked on the brainiac. He began to laugh as he walked away to the left, Ella following shortly after him but with one last sorry glance at Scarlett.
"Please," Scarlett pleaded to Sammy, grabbing the cheerleader's arm as she went to leave Scarlett and Sugar behind, "don't vote me out yet! I give you my word that you won't regret it!"
Sammy shook her head and pulled her arm away. "I wish I could trust you," she said, "but I really can't. I'm sorry."
She walked away to the left, leaving Scarlett alone with Sugar. The pageant queen shrugged helplessly when her ally looked at her, and the shot switched to a close-up of Scarlett as she scowled.
/
That image of Scarlett served to transition the scene forward, her expression unchanging but the area around her shifting from the nameless beach to the elimination room's seating.
A dramatic beat began the standard elimination music as the camera pulled back from Scarlett to show the entire chamber, including Scott who was leaning against the wall by the door. Chef was watching him nearby.
"You've all cast your votes," Chris said from his center podium, holding up a tray of four peanut-filled barf bags. "And I gotta say, they weren't exactly surprising. Samey, Ella, Sugar, and Alejandro, all of you are safe." He tossed barf bags to each of the four in quick succession, the first two catching them with neutral expressions; Sugar immediately stuffing a handful of peanuts into her mouth; and Alejandro giving them a look of distaste as he held the bag between pinched fingers.
"Scarlett, you're out," the host told the scowling brainiac as she stood up, "finally."
"Do we really have to do this?" she asked before even taking a step forward. "Scott's already leaving, so another elimination is completely unnecessary!" She motioned towards the farmer who rolled his eyes at her.
"Good point," Chris admitted, "buuut, you're still eliminated. Here ya go!" he tossed her a parachute pack, which she caught with another scowl.
She took a few steps, then asked "Will you at least remove this blasted collar already?"
"Nope!" Chris answered with a blunt smile.
"Then how am I meant to deal with the debilitating electrical shock it will give me if I'm not within a certain radius of you?" Scarlett followed up with a hint of panic in her voice.
"Hey, you're smart," Chris told her dismissively, stepping forward to push her towards the exit, "I'm sure you'll think of something!"
The usual reverent and sorrowful parting theme began to play as Scarlett murmured in exasperation as she was put in front of the exit. Chef opened the door with a mocking bow, and Scarlett stepped forward. She took a deep breath, then spun around on her heel. "You'll all rue the day you crossed me!" she yelled with sudden fury, her eyes glowing red. "I will make you all regret this when next we meet!"
"Would you can it already?" Scott told her sharply. "If anyone has a right to be mad here it's me."
Scarlett glared at him, then snorted in contempt and jumped out the plane.
"It goes without saying," Chris told Scott, "but this is your stop too."
"Yeah, yeah," Scott muttered angrily as he strapped on a parachute pack and jumped out the open door.
The shot immediately cut outside to Scott landing on the beach a couple meters below the doorway; Scarlett already walking away to the left. "It's not the same without the scream," Chris said as he and Chef looked out from the elimination room.
"Shove it, McLean!" Scott replied as he started to walk away as well, raising his left arm to give a hand sign back over his shoulder that had to be blurred out.
"Nice," Chris said in annoyance, the scene moving back inside as he slammed the door.
With the reverent parting theme still playing, the camera panned over to the remaining four members of Team Universe. Ella took Alejandro's arm as they left the room, and as Sammy moved to follow them Sugar, who was still seated with an unusually thoughtful look on her face, grabbed the cheerleader's shoulder.
"Wait," Sugar told the confused girl. Sammy raised an eyebrow as the pageant queen reached inside her blouse and took out a pink envelope, and stared at it thoughtfully. She took a deep breath, then thrust it into Sammy's hands.
Sammy looked it over once, then opened it up and took out the letter.
She gasped immediately, and her eyes went wide. "Sugar, where did you find this?" she asked frantically.
"I didn't, Scarlett did," the pageant queen explained with apparent remorse. "Since it talks about me an' Scott workin' together, Scarlett used it to blackmail me into an alliance with her. And," she sniffed and began to cry, "and I wanted to tell ya about it sooner, but I was just so scared of what Scarlett might do to me! But," she sniffed again, "once I realized she was gonna get booted out, I found where she was hidin' it and stole it. I just," she sniffed a third time and broke out sobbing, "I just hope it helps make up fer all the wrong I've done ya!"
With a broad grin on her face, Sammy finally took her eyes off the letter and hugged Sugar. "Oh, Sugar, thank you so much!" she said, the camera cutting to Sammy's close-up as she clenched her teary eyes shut. "You have no idea how much this means to me!" The camera cut to the other side, revealing that the pageant queen's tears had dried up and that she was grinning devilishly.
"Seriously, Sugar," Sammy said, breaking the hug and holding Sugar by the shoulders, the pageant queen quickly resuming her teary-eyed expression, "thank you sooo much. I totally owe you one, and-" She gasped suddenly. "OhemgeeIhavetotellDJ!" she said quickly before dashing off without another word.
Sugar stood there for a moment before putting her hands on her hips and breaking out into a grin. "Looks like things are lookin' up fer Sugar!"
"Sure are," Chris told her as the camera pulled back to reveal him and Chef standing nearby as the background music was taken over by the series' dramatic capstone theme. "Will Sugar continue to surprise all of us?" he turned and asked the camera, Sugar perking up and grinning in the background. "And will we ever get off this island? Find out next time, on Total!" the first blaring note zoomed out the scene to show the whole elimination room. "Drama!" the second blaring note took the camera outside, showing the tail of the plane as a trail of red hair disappeared behind the landing gear. "Woooorrrrlllddd~ Tooouuurrrr~!" The final note expanded the scene to show the entire beached jet, Scott just visible walking away on the left.
(Fade to Credits)
/
/
/
[Bonus Clip]
The scene faded back in to Scott walking along the Jamaican beach at sunset, his unused parachute pack slung over his shoulder.
He looked at the camera and sneered. "If you're expecting me to give you some kinda heartfelt talk about how I learned a lot this season and grew as a person, then forget it!" he said. "I didn't learn anything except not to trust Sugar anymore. Seriously, what the heck was her deal?! She can't just ditch me the moment it was convenient, that's what I was supposed to do to her!"
"And you know what the worst part is?" Scott added as a tree passed between him and the camera. "That she's probably gonna get away with it. Seriously, the only person left on that plane with any smarts is Al, and as far as I could tell be believed everything she said. And that means that everyone thinks she's just an innocent victim. It makes me sick just thinking about it." He spat into the sand and kept walking.
He huffed. "And I was just about to really take control of the game, too. Now my second strategy's failed, my reputation is even worse, and I have nothing to show for it!" He sighed in frustration. "Even Zeke hates me now..."
Author's Note - Post Script
If you're gonna have a season where one of the main rules is that you sing when you're told or you get kicked off, then you HAVE to invoke that rule at least once. In canon, this was in the beginning with Duncan getting fed up. Here, it was Scott getting trolled, more-or-less, by his former partner into blowing the song off. It was meant to be shocking, since sometimes eliminations (or disqualifications) should come out of nowhere. And it came about basically because of Scott's own overconfidence; Sugar wouldn't have thrown him under the bus to make herself look better if Scott hadn't tried to contact her in such a reckless manner.
This week's song is titled "Sugar's Truth", and uses the same melody as its canon counterpart from this episode because I honestly couldn't be bothered coming up with something original for a song I knew was gonna be cut off. Did it work as a song? I don't know. Did it fulfill it's role in the plot? Yes, I believe so.
And then we have Scarlett's elimination, which to be honest has been coming for a long time. And she wasn't able to do anything about it either, because even a genius can't think of anything. I kinda regret her alliance with Sugar never accomplishing much, but well...it just made more sense to me that it would be a red herring of sorts, intended by both girls as a way to further themselves in the game but just never panning out.
But is this the last we'll see of Scarlett? Only time will tell...
Overall, I'd say this is an oddly...odd? finale, and intentionally so. I hope it was dramatic enough, but also with a weird sort of aftertaste. Let me know what you think, and I'll see you all next week for the second Aftermath.
- Fangren
Appendix: TSWT Eliminated Contestants
Staci - (17th Place)
Beardo - (16th Place)
Lightning - (15th Place)
Dawn - (14th Place? | Quit Unofficially)
Bridgette - (13th Place)
Geoff - (12th Place)
Scott - (11th Place | Disqualified)
Scarlett - (10th Place)