Word count before author's notes: 13,368
I REALLY hope you guys enjoy this finale chapter! Feel free to review, critique, and/or reminisce over the whole season and what choices, characters, and storylines you enjoyed the most.
"Last time on the penultimate episode of Total Drama: Action!...
"Things heated up in our final four as the remaining movie stars fought in a death-defying game of soccer, including footballs and bowling balls, as well as one angry monkey." He explains of clips of the rampaging gorilla play, "And although things got dicey, a certain genius host decided to keep the game going even with this 'unforeseen' circumstance." He then laughs before continuing, "It's a good thing Axel revealed MK's deep fake scheme to the boys that morning, or they wouldn't have been able to focus a bit on the challenge. And who knows, maybe our final immunity winner Damien wouldn't have even won!" He explains as clips of Damien's sneaky win play on screen.
"Despite Damien and Wayne's close bond, Wayne was thinking completely unselfishly by hinting that Damien should eliminate him instead of the two feuding girls. So, in the end, Wayne was sent packing due to Damien's strategic decision to give him the best chance of winning possible."
"WHO will win the one million dollars? WHO will prove themselves as the supreme movie star? Find out, right here, right now on TOTAL. DRAMA: ACTION!"
The camera shows multiple panoramic shots of the movie set as MK and Axel can be heard bickering from inside the trailers.
"You don't care about ANYBODY but yourself!" Axel screams as the sound reverberates throughout the lot, "I bet you haven't done ONE genuinely nice thing for someone!"
"Um… yes I have?! I carried you all the way to the final three! Seems like the kindest thing anyone could ever do for you."
"You little bit-"
MK in the confessional: "I did do something nice for somebody once…" She replies earnestly as she looks at the floor sorrowfully, "And it got me expelled from school! So what does that tell you? You can ONLY rely on yourself! Nobody is gonna walk you through life, or listen to your problems, or give you good advice: It's all. on. you! But Axel doesn't need to know that. All I need to do is keep getting in her head and playing her like a Nintendo switch. That money is mine."
Axel in the confessional: "I'm obviously at my wits end right now." She grits through her teeth and makes no statement on why she has camo war paint on her face, "MK is driving me crazy. What's new? But even then, I can't believe Damien did this to me! He knows I hate MK and he just thinks it's funny to pit us against each other for the finale? BOTH of them are going down!" She then pauses for a moment as she crosses her arms and looks to the side, "And don't ask about the war paint."
The camera pans from the girls trailer to Damien's trailer as they continue arguing.
"That's rich coming from the conspiracy nut with mud on her face."
"At least I care about things! You just make sarcastic comments and float your way through life!"
...
Inside the trailer: Damien sits in his bunk curled up in a ball with the covers wrapped around him.
"This has been going on all night." He winces as the camera focuses on his dark eye bags, "Maybe I made a mistake…"
Damien in the confessional: "I thought if I took Axel and MK to the finale, they'd be too busy arguing and trying to destroy each other in the challenge, that I could just slip by undetected. If I don't win the million dollars, I'm sorry Priya! And I'm sorry Wayne! I can't tell if it's just the lack of sleep or if I actually messed up big time." He shivers a bit as his eyes dart from side to side, "Maybe it's a bit of both."
Axel kicks down the door to the trailer and storms off.
"Yeah, just run away when you start losing an argument!" MK mocks through the empty door hole.
"Just ignore her… just ignore her…"
Axel in the confessional: "The anger I have towards that minuscule little troll makes me even angrier! How STUPID am I to trust her so. many. times?!" She whines before pulling herself together, "She destroys my prized possessions, doesn't listen to any of my ideas, and votes behind my back and I fell for it every. single. time… I guess I'm as much to blame as her. I just need to focus and win this game! And then I can splurge my money on mee-maw."
The camera shows Axel kneeling down in front of a makeshift gravestone.
"I will never, ever forget you…" She eeks out before shedding a tear.
Damien comes up from behind her and hides behind a tree, "Ooooh snap."
Damien in the confessional: "I have never seen Axel cry, this must be serious! But what is she doing? Do I risk trying to talk to her? She's pretty upset with me…"
"Uh, heeeey Axel. Hehe… funny seeing you here!"
"This is right next door to the trailers." She snaps as she turns to glare at him.
"Oh, haha, yeah, I knew that! I just had to get the conversation rolling and… what are you doing?"
"I'm holding a burial service for my shovel, what does it look like I'm doing?"
"The… shovel? I thought that was eaten by one of the robo-bears?"
"Didn't you ever play pretend as a kid?"
Damien in the confessional: "This is my chance to connect with Axel!"
He smiles, "Oh yeah, I used to pretend I was an astronaut rocketing into space and discovering new life."
"Pfft… lame! I spent my time pretending I was the last woman on earth during a zombie apocalypse, having to fight off both the undead, and unworthy suitors."
Damien looks at her with silent shock.
Damien in the confessional: "Or maybe not…"
"Oh… yeah! Me too! Well, it was a little bit different, but-"
She gets up and interrogates him, "What exactly are you trying to accomplish by having this little chat?"
"What? Can't a guy just come talk to his friend!" He laughs awkwardly as he nudges her with his elbow.
Axel stares at him with a suspicious look.
"Okay, look, I think you and I should team up in the final challenge to defeat MK once and for all. How about it?"
"I work best alone… Besides, we wouldn't even have to get rid of her if you kicked her out LAST round!"
Damien backs down a bit as Axel looms closer, "I know, I'm sorry! But Wayne wanted to sacrifice himself for me to have a better chance in the finale and I fulfilled his wishes! It's what… a good friend would do?"
"Hmm, really?"
Damien in the confessional: "I don't think that sentence was strung together correctly… but I didn't know what to say!"
Axel in the confessional: "Wayne wanted to be eliminated… But why? Is Damien just lying? But what would even be the purpose of that?" She hunches over and puts her head in her hands, "Maybe he's telling the truth though. Not like I would know anything about what a good friend does." She then pauses for a second before sighing, "I'm so done with this show. I think I've embarrassed myself enough."
"Alright, fine. If the opportunity presents itself I won't throw you down a cliff. Deal?"
"Uh… sure!"
"And I DON'T want to get too distracted trying to sabotage MK, so we'll only do it sparingly, got it?"
MK peaks at the two from behind cover.
MK in the confessional: "Hahaha, yeah... no! Sabotaging is my job. I'm sure I can manage." She finishes confidently before starting to look nervous and sweat, "Huh… is it getting hot in here?"
Chris begins announcing from the loudspeakers as the contestants listen in,
"Attention final three! Please report to the mess hall immediately so we can begin your final challenge!"
"WOOOO, let's go Damien!" Axel cheers as she rushes past him, knocking him to the ground.
"OOF- Hey, wait up!"
As the two of them run off, MK begins running in the opposite direction: "I know a shortcut… hehe"
Axel rushes into the mess hall with Damien lagging behind a bit.
"Ah yeah! First one here!" She cheers as she turns to Damien, "And M-snake is nowhere to be found!"
"Uh… Axel… you might want to turn around."
Damien points to a smug looking MK sitting on the service counter.
"No… I'm not going to." She groans.
As Axel stays turned around and clenches her first, Damien asks: "How did you even get here so fast?"
"Oh c'mon guys," She replies as she rolls her eyes, "I was just here the whole time. Gotta eat breakfast before the big game, right Damien?" She teases with a sarcastic tone.
Damien seizes up with anger as he crosses his arms.
MK in the confessional: "No reason to tell them about the shortcut. Total Drama finales always have a racing element to them. Good thing my brain is basically a built-in GPS! This little morning exchange at breakfast will repeat itself when those two see me holding the million dollars at the finish line."
Damien in the confessional: "Yeah, that's it. I officially regret my decision."
Axel finally turns around and avoids eye contact with MK, "Where is Chris anyway?"
Just then, a TV comes down from the ceiling with Chris McClain on the other end.
"Greetings movie stars!"
"GAH-'' Damien screams, jumping back a little: "Would you STOP doing that? Are there TV's on the ceiling of every single room?"
"Yes, yes there are. You think I spend ALL of the budget on my private massages and hot tub?"
The contestants stay silent and just judgingly stare at him.
"Will you just get on with it?" MK questions impatiently, "We know this is some challenge intro!"
"You can't rush brilliance, MK." He comments with half arrogance and half annoyance, "But since you guys are so eager to start the challenge, I won't let you say hi to your eliminated friends!"
The camera swaps to Chris and Chef on an extravagant game-show looking stage with a huge live audience, as most of the eliminated contestants sit in bleachers off to the side.
"Oh come on!" Ripper groans, "I need to give Axel a piece of my mind!"
Bowie chimes in, "And I need to tell MK what a rat she is."
"Don't care!" Chris responds cheerfully as he smiles at his phone, "These complainers want to start the challenge so we'll do it right away! Make sure you guys open your presents before the challenge starts!"
"What is the challenge?" Damien asks with slight confusion and panic.
"Heheh… wouldn't you three like to know! McClain, out!"
Chris hangs up the video call as the TV ascends back to the ceiling.
"Wow, thanks MK." Damien groans, "Now we don't even know what the challenge is!"
"How is that my fault? Chris is unstable." She finishes in a threatening whisper.
"Well I'm not sticking around here and twiddling my thumbs." Axel growls as she begins heading toward the exit, "I'll make sure to get my present first!"
Axel runs off as Damien and MK side-eye each other, before beginning to fight their way to the door.
Damien throws MK off of him, "Axel, wait for me!"
"NOPE!" MK yells as she hops onto his back and begins clawing at him, "She's not gonna help you, she's selfish!"
"Really? You're gonna call her selfish?" He asks with offense as both of them pause, "If you're gonna betray her trust then at least own up it. It is a game after all!"
"No way!" She yells as she gets off his back, "In this world you have to backstab or be backstabbed, she would have done the same thing to me if given the chance!"
MK then runs out the door as Damien ponders, "I'm nooot so sure about that… Hey, wait up!"
Near the Red Carpet of Shame:
"Wow… now that's a waste of resources." Axel comments as she gazes at the three giant present boxes in front of her, all being wrapped in orange bows.
She glances at the presents and notices the name of each contestant written on them: "Hmm… maaaybe I could pull off a little bit of sabotage to MK's present…" She schemes as she rubs her hands together, "NO! I've just got to focus!"
Axel begins inspecting her box and tugging at the bows as MK and Damien arrive.
MK comes over and teases, "Aaaw, you got me a gift… how sweet."
"Sorry short-stack but this one's MINE!" She growls as she punches the box in multiple areas, eyes wide open and looking tired: "Good luck getting yours open without my help!"
"Like I need it…" She groans as she begins inspecting her box.
Damien leans over to Axel from behind his box and whispers, "Hey… are you alright? You're starting to look, uh, manic?"
"I am PERFECTLY fine!" She replies awkwardly loudly as her punches become sluggish, "I'm just… not the same without my shovel is all!"
"Hmm, alright." He replies unconvincingly before backing up a bit to gaze at his box, "Now let's see… I'm sure that this thing is tightly wound to make it so if you pull a certain ribbon in a specific direction it'll…"
Damien's soliloquy is interrupted by the sound of MK's present collapsing to the ground on all four sides as a dust cloud emerges.
"Ah yeah! That's how you do it, losers!" She taunts as she shoves something into her jacket pocket, "You were right Damien, you just have to tug at the right place!"
MK in the confessional: "No you don't. At least I didn't." She says as she pulls out an arrow from her back pocket, "I stole all of Axel's arrows this morning in craft services. I just kept this one in case I needed it for the challenge and ditched the rest back at camp. Who knew giant presents could be cracked open so easily by a sharp and pointy object."
"What?!" Axel lets out in shock, "There is NO way that you got the present open that fast!"
"Well I did, and-" MK begins to reply before shifting her eyes in the direction of the present, "Oh… no…"
As the smoke clears, one of the eliminated contestants is revealed to be tied to a chair in the box.
"Hey yo, wazzup!"
"ZEE?!" MK screams in half confusion, half resentment.
"Cha' bro! I volunteered to help you in the finale!"
Axel begins laughing as MK sits in agitated silence.
The camera zooms out to show the eliminated contestants at the soundstage, watching the events play out on the large monitor.
"It's true. Nobody wants to volunteer for a villain." Julia states calmly as she files her nails.
"Yeah, like you're one to talk." Emma shoots back.
Chase pipes up from the opposite side, "How could anyone not be happy with getting Zee?! He's perfect!"
"If you like him so much, why don't you maaaarry him!" Ripper taunts, sitting beside him.
"C'mon bro, don't be stupid! Zee is my third choice, right after Emma and Julia." He replies smugly as he makes eyes across the room.
"We are NEVER getting back together - Like EVER"
"Ew, gross! In your dreams!"
The two of them retaliate simultaneously.
"You gotta help me out of these ropes Mary Jane. So I can help you in the next parts."
"No way, you'll just slow me down." She protests as Axel finally stops giggling.
"So there's a helper in each of these boxes?" Axel asks before banging on hers, "Who is in there? ANSWER ME!"
"No hope brah, the walls are insulated! Can't hear a thing in there from either side." He explains before turning to MK, "Now you gotta untie me or Chris won't count your win."
"Ugh, fine…" She groans as she begins picking at the ropes.
"Got it!" Damien exclaims as he pulls one of the ribbons, sending the walls crashing down.
Damien cheers as the smoke clears, "Yes, yes! I bet it's Priya! I have got this in the ba- NOOOOO!"
"Hi Damien!" Lauren cheers as she wiggles around in the chair, "Fancy seeing you here!"
Axel yells in frustration, "How does this thing WORK?!"
"Just pull all of the ribbons until you get the right one!"
"That's exactly how you untie the ropes!" Lauren cheers as she flashes him a smile, "Freee meeee!"
"How did I get stuck with you?" Damien asks in frustration before backtracking, "I mean- Uh, it's nice to see you, Scary Girl… but how did I not get Priya as my helper?"
"I beat her to the punch!"
The camera swaps to a flashback of Lauren and Priya playing Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots in a tiebreaker challenge.
"So here I am!"
Zee instructs MK in the background, "Make your fingers become one with the woooorm and wiggle your way in there."
"That is not. helping!"
"GOT IT!" Axel exclaims victoriously as the walls come crashing down, "I hope I got someone good!"
The smoke dissipates to reveal Caleb tied to his chair.
"Took you long enough! Now PLEASE get me out of this chair!"
"Don't worry, I'll get you out!" She asserts in a panicked tone as she begins thumbing the knots, "That must be pretty scary!"
MK pipes up, "Good to know that your morals are consistent."
MK in the confessional: "And this here is the girl I'm sure the eliminated contestants are rooting for against me. Well, it'd be good for them to know that at least I am consistent in my awfulness and they should therefore vote for me if it comes down to it. Axel doesn't deserve ANY-THING, not even a… genuine friend… huh." She ends with sorrow as she ends her sentence unexpectedly.
Axel in the confessional: "Oh c'mon, it was funny! Well if people think that's going too far but everything MK did is A-okay then you can just consider me an outcast for the rest of my life. Just like always! Nothing new. Nothing to see here!" She finishes with a stoic face before sobbing into her hands.
Damien in the confessional: "I mean… It looks like MK and Axel are still being slowed down by their feud, so I guess this wasn't a total bust. But still, are we gonna just ignore that Chris sent me SCARY GIRL as a present?! Is this opposite day?!"
"I can feel my fingers loosening!" Zee cheers as he pulls a soda out of thin air and begins sipping.
"Good, you're out!" MK shouts, "Wait- where did you get that?"
"Uh, I don't know, I just always had it."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"No wait, let me sip first! The first sip is always the best-"
"NO TIME!" She then grabs Zee's arm and drags him along, "Wait… where are we supposed to go exactly?"
"See those balloons?" He asks as he points at the colorful orbs in the sky, "You gotta pop 'em with this slingshot and ammo until your designated card comes out."
Zee hands the gear to her as her jaw drops.
"Don't look at me like that, I just have deep pockets."
"Well, here goes nothing…" She squeezes out as she begins taking aim.
...
"These knots are impossible to untie!" Damien cries out as he begins to panic, "Can't you help me out here?!"
"Nope!" Lauren responds cheerfully, "Can't do anything if I'm tied up."
Axel grunts as she grabs the rope around Caleb and begins pulling,
"No, no, stop! - OW" Caleb shrieks, "You're just making it tighter!"
"What am I supposed to do?!"
"Just untie the knots like a normal person!"
Caleb in the confessional: He speaks in a calm voice, "Hey guys, it's Caleb from Total Drama. My behavior on the show in stressful situations does not at all permeate my real character. Thank you."
"Forget this I'm just gonna- Huh? Where are my arrows?!"
MK smirks from a distance as she pops one of the balloons.
"Ahah, finally got one! Now let's go!"
"Hold up." Zee responds calmly, "You can't just pop a balloon and leave! You gotta get the one that has your card in it."
"What is that even for? Can't we just hitch a ride in the limo and get a move on?"
"There's no time to explain, you just need the card!"
MK narrows her eyes at him before taking aim once again.
...
"Loosen them up just a little more!" Caleb commands, "I can break out of these in just a second!"
The camera pans over to Damien in a frenzy as he tries to get a hold of the knots.
"My fingers are too big and the knots are too small…" He whines as he falls to the ground and sulks.
"Hey, get up!" Lauren snaps, catching his attention: "Don't give up, Damien, you still have a chance! I'm rooting for you, and so are Priya, Millie, and Wayne!"
"Yeah… you're right! I've got this!" He exclaims as he gets back to work.
...
MK groans in the back, "Ugh, I can't shoot these, they're too small!"
Zee puts his hand on her shoulder, which she promptly shakes off: "Try this, just close one of your eyes and pretend that popping one of the balloons would save Axel's life!"
"Wha- Why would I do that?"
Caleb breaks out of his ropes and hands Axel her slingshot.
"Quick, break one of the balloons!" He exclaims as the two rush over.
"Ugh, fine…" MK groans to Zee before taking aim and shooting at a balloon, causing it to pop and release a card.
The card lands in front of Axel as she picks it up and inspects if.
"Pfft, whatever." She groans as she throws the card behind her.
MK picks up the card carefully and sees her name on it.
MK in the confessional: "So she saw the card and didn't throw it into the woods, or hide it, or eat it?... Well why not!"
Damien looks at his competition and then back to Lauren, "Scary, we've got to move fast!"
When Damien looks away to see MK and Axel's progress, Lauren wiggles her way out of the ropes.
"I'm done Damieeeen!"
"Wha- how did you…. It doesn't matter, give me the slingshot and let's bounce!"
Lauren tosses it to him as he joins Axel.
"Where is MK?" He asks.
"The rat is infiltrating the limo at 3 o'clock!"
MK gets into a limo with Zee as the two drive off.
"Quick! We've gotta-" He begins before being interrupted by Axel.
"Way ahead of you..." She smiles cheekily before closing one eye and taking a shot at the balloon that houses her card, "Bullseye!"
Axel dives to catch her card before booking to the limo.
"Good luck!" She yells as she runs to the edge of the red carpet with Caleb, "Uh… how are we supposed to move on with the challenge?"
"Huh… We'll just have to flag for the next limo."
...
Damien begins to sweat and tighten his focus as he pulls back his slingshot, "Okay just gotta move a few centimeters to the right and…"
Lauren looms behind him and creeps closer before shrieking, "...BOO!"
Damien jumps in surprise as his grip loosens on the slingshot, causing the ammo to be dispensed right into one of the balloons.
"AAAH-... Scary! I know this is like, your thing, but can you PLEASE not interrupt me right now?!"
"I was just correcting your aim." She teases before pointing to a spot on the ground, "Look, your card was in that balloon!"
"Ah sweet!" He cheers as he grabs the card, "Th-thanks Scary Girl…"
"No problem." She replies in a whispery tone as she flashes a demented smile.
"Okay… cool... now let's win some MOOONAAAAY!"
Damien and Lauren run to the edge of the Red Carpet of Shame as a limo pulls up.
Axel calls to her fellow competitor as she gets into the limo, with Caleb in tow: "C'mon Damien, we've got to catch up with MK!"
Damien attempts to step into the limo before being shoved out by Caleb.
"Sorry, only one team per limo!"
Damien's jaw drops as Caleb closes the door, the limo driving off.
"What?! I didn't hear anything about that rule!" Damien shouts with anger as he shakes his fist, "Is that a rule?"
"Nope, Caleb's just being silly." Lauren replies before giggling, "He's a riot!"
In Axel's limo:
"Caleb! What are you doing?!"
"I'm giving you the best chance to win this thing! No need to wait for Damien."
"Yeah… I guess…" She replies before sitting in silence, "... In that case, how about the driver drives a little faster?!"
"I agree… Hey, driver! Can you-"
Caleb leans up to see the driver and notices the robotic chauffeur.
"Of course…" Axel groans before leaning down in her seat.
In MK's limo:
"And THAT is how I lost my leg."
"Wow, Zee, that was…" She begins to reply earnestly, "Such a load of bull!"
"Haha, that'd make you the first to realize."
"Yeah, it's pretty obvious." She snarks with an eye-roll, "Only other person smart enough to call you out would be Axel…"
"Oh- was that… a compliment towards Axel?"
"Um- no!" She snaps as she turns to him suddenly, before turning back and scowling: "It's hardly a compliment to be able to see through your schemes, anyway."
"I always knew you valued Axel more than you let on! But now she's your sworn enemy."
"I wanted a silent car ride, remember? So how about we play the quiet game!"
He springs up, "Oh, I love that game!"
"Okay, well, you just lost… but we can start over, startiiiing now!"
...
"So how does it feel that your one friend became your enemy?"
"Axel's not my friend!" She asserts while avoiding eye contact.
"But was she your friend?"
"Uh, I guess... I've never really had a friend before so I wouldn't know what that's like."
"Dude, that's mad depressing... But you two are pretty similar in that regard."
"What are you talking about? And don't bring your pity cloud over to my kingdom: that's the way I like it!"
"This reminds me of a film's structure! The 3rd act break-up before the resolution."
MK scoffs, "News flash, life isn't a movie. Now how about we discuss the next part of the challenge?"
MK in the confessional: "I don't need friends and I certainly don't need Axel! Even if I did apologize, it's not like she'd forgive me anyway so there's no point... and I would never admit defeat like that!"
In Damien's limo:
"If you haven't noticed, we're in last place!" He yells frantically to a calm Lauren, "You need to tell the driver to move around this traffic!"
"Relax Damien, I've got just the trick." She replies cheerfully as she pulls out the slingshot from earlier.
Damien's eyes go wide as he panics, "NO! She's got a weapon! SOMEBODY HEEEELP!"
Lauren giggles at his terror before placing the slingshot in his hands.
"Use this to pop one of the other limo's tires! They're only a few cars ahead of us by now."
"Oh... But I can't do that! What if somebody gets hurt?"
On the soundstage:
"HE HAS TO DO IT!" Priya shouts in a frenzy, "DAMIEN HAS TO WIN!"
Julia comes from behind Priya and knocks her out with a frying pan.
"Julia?!" Millie snaps with offense, "I had this situation under control!"
"She was getting waaaay too annoying. I did us all a favor, right Nichelle?"
Nichelle stays silent but replies with a nervous thumbs up.
"Um, hello? Have you gone mute all a sudden?"
Nichelle points to her throat and makes an uncomfortable face.
"Ah, her throat must be sore." Millie states as she holds an unconscious Priya, "Probably too much cheering for Axel."
On the other bleacher stand:
"Damien will do it." Wayne says confidently, "He's tough and knows what he's doing."
"Wh-what's so great about him?" Raj asks in sudden shock and offense.
Chase leans down from the above row, "Damien is the only guy left, of course we should cheer for him!"
Wayne stays glued to the monitor as Raj replies to the influencer, "Huh? Why does that matter?"
"Okay, I'll do it... but if someone gets seriously injured, I'm donating half of my prize money to the hospital they're staying at!"
Damien lowers the window and readies his aim at the farthest limo.
"Just a little bit more..."
Damien releases the ammo as it hurdles toward MK's limo, hitting one of the back wheels and bouncing back to deflate Axel and Damien's as well.
"Oh come ON!" He complains, "How is that even possible? Now we'll never get there!"
"Chris never said we couldn't just run to the next section." She drops casually.
"Really?... Then what are we waiting for?!"
Damien and Lauren hop out of the limo and begin running in the direction of the flow of traffic.
...
"Hey, Caleb!" Axel shouts as she looks out the window, "Damien and Scary Girl got out of the limo!"
"Uh actually, her name is Lauren."
Axel jumps out of the window and lands right in front of Damien.
"Good plan deflating our tires, now MK will never see us coming!"
"Yeah... Yeah, that was totally my plan!"
Axel and Damien rush past MK's limo as she watches from the window.
MK smirks before yelling to Zee, "Sorry, but I work best by myself!"
MK hops out of the car and begins running. As she begins looking for a shortcut, Zee runs up right beside her.
"Hey Mary Jane, fancy seeing you here!"
"This has to be a punishment from the universe or something." She whines as she looks toward the sky.
The camera swaps to Damien panting as he tries to keep pace with Axel.
"S-slow down Axel-"
Axel continues running without hearing a thing, as Lauren picks Damien up and begins running.
"Woah- careful!"
Damien in the confessional: "If I had a nickel for every time a girl on the show picked me up after I was tired running, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice!"
Axel and Caleb grind to a halt as they reach the junkyard.
"This is it! Do you still have your card from earlier?"
"Yeah... why?" She asks as she pulls it out.
"See the picture on the back? That's what you have to build to use as transportation."
She takes a glance as her jaw drops, "A bird? Seriously? How am I even supposed to build that?!"
Lauren comes running in from behind them before dropping Damien on the ground.
"OW-"
"Still got your card?" She asks before letting out a giggle.
MK and Zee peer from behind a trash heap as they listen in.
Damien examines his card and cheers, "Alright! I've got to build a rocket!... Now how am I gonna do that?!"
MK snickers, "Hehe... I've got to build an air balloon. Sounds easy enough and I can have a birds eye view."
"We get to build a blimp? Awesoooome!"
"Zee, would you shut it?"
"Well, well, well look who we have here." Axel teases as she makes eye contact with MK and begins inspecting the rubble for parts, "Look who's sneaking around looking for sabotage opportunities because she can't lift anything out of the pile!"
"Uh, Axel?" Caleb questions as he helps her search, "Maybe focus on finding parts?"
"Naw, I'm not done." She responds with arms crossed and eyes closed, "MK, you're just- huh? Where did she go?"
MK runs with Zee in the opposite direction of her competitors.
"Why are we goin' this way, brah?"
"Uh... Chris probably has all the good stuff near the middle, it's smarter to start from there."
"Call me crazy but I don't think that's the real reason..."
MK grinds to a halt and confronts him, "Woah woah woah... are you trying to insinuate something again?"
"Naw, I'm not incinerating anything. I'm just sayin' it like it is, you just don't want to fight with Axel."
"Duh, of course I don't, I'm focused on winning!" She snaps before running off.
Zee turns to a large piece of fabric and basket sitting in a pile of rubble to his right.
"Wow, look at those supplies that would be perfect for an air balloon!" He then smiles calmly before running after his helpee, "Hey, wait up Mary Jane!"
At the soundstage:
"Is he serious right now?" Julia asks with frustration as she looks up from her phone, "Is this butt-knuckle not gonna tell her about the supplies?!"
Bowie leans back and responds smugly, "Well done, Zee. Well done."
"See, I knew Zee was a genius!" Chase chimes in, "He's trying to sabotage MK's chance of winning!"
"No way, dude." Ripper replies, "Remember back at the resort? He voted for MK to have the advantage!"
"That was just to lower her guard! It's all part of the Zee master plan."
Emma replies from the opposite bleachers, "Zee has a total of 1 brain cell, okay? There's no way... right Nichelle?!"
Emma turns to Nichelle and attempts to pat her on the back, but misses and smacks the back of her head, causing her wig to fall to the floor.
"OOF-" A deep and manly voice lets out as Nichelle dives for the wig.
The entire audience gasps in response to her deep voice.
"Woah-" Emma gasps, "That sore throat has really done a number on your voice!"
"Oh, haha, yeah! It's just from my sore throat. I probably should stop talking..."
"HAHAHA," Julia cackles as she records the incident, "Is that... JERRY IN A WIG?!"
The entire audience laughs as the contestants look confused.
"Okay fine, it's me!" Jerry shouts in anger as he puts the wig back on, "I don't get paid NEARLY enough for this!"
Jerry stomps off the stage as everyone's mouths stay wide open, besides Julia, who cheerfully records his exit.
Emma shakes her head, "Wait, if that's her stunt double... then where is Nichelle?"
Millie grabs the attention of everyone as she points at the monitor, "Look, there!"
The camera focuses on Axel and Caleb sorting through the rubble.
"Come on, there has to be something around here I can use as the body!"
Nichelle peers from behind a mountain of rubble and giggles quietly to herself.
Nichelle in the confessional: "Girlies, you would not BELIEVE the genius plan that I came up with! I didn't get the chance to help Axel in the finale since I lost to Caleb, so I decided that to help my new bestie, I would just sneak out of the soundstage! I left Jerry my stunt double in my place so I could execute this, frankly, GENIUS plan. There's no way she won't win now!"
Nichelle holds up a propeller and throws it in the direction of Axel.
"OUCH-" Caleb yells as he faints to the ground.
"Caleb?!"
Nichelle in the confessional: "Nailed it."
"Ugh, I bet MK did this!" She growls as she clenches her fist, "Well jokes on her, this propeller would be GREAT for my... bird!"
Axel grabs the propeller and walks off as Caleb lets out a groan.
...
Damien paces around nervously as he speaks to a sitting Scary Girl,
"Alright, I've got the parts to make a rocket silhouette, but now I need to find a fuel source! Where can we find a fuel source?"
"I found 4 barrels full of fake blood, if that would help!"
Damien looks back at her with half shock and half fear, "How did you find that of all things in this junkyard?"
"Oh, I didn't find it in the garbage heap. I just know a guy." She replies as her head tilts from side to side, oblivious to the tone of her comment.
Damien pauses in horrified silence for a moment, "... Yeah, awesome! Just... keep up the good work..."
Damien in the confessional: "Scary Girl can be reaally helpful sometimes. But all the other times... she's just scaring the crap out of you! Priya, are you alright out there? Did she stuff you into a coffin?!"
At the soundstage:
"Aaaaw, isn't he the sweetest?" Priya questions happily as she blushes, before grabbing Millie by her jacket and shaking her: "ISN'T HE?!"
"Do we need the frying pan again?" Julia asks.
"No! ...Maybe." Millie squeezes out as she tries to gently remove Priya from her.
"This is SO BORING!" Chris groans, "Where are the laser bears? The earthquakes? The poisonous land-dwelling blowfish?"
"That's an oxymoron..." Millie replies with confusion as Chris narrows his eyes at her.
"You know what the producers said!" Chef barks back at him, "Lawsuits are way easier to lose these days than 15 years ago. Go easy on trying to hurt the kids, would ya?!"
"Ah, whatever." Chris shrugs, "I knew you would be like this."
Chris then smirks as he presses a button on his remote control.
"Caleb, are you still with me?"
"Yes..." He groans as he limps along, "Kinda..."
"Well, that swan boat is the best thing we can find that matches being 'a bird.'" She says mockingly with finger quotes, "Now we just need to find a way to fuel the propeller and we can..."
Axel pauses for a moment and looks over Caleb's shoulder with worry.
"What? What is it?!"
"MOVE!" She shouts as she tackles him to the ground, narrowly evading a blurry white object moving past them.
"What the heck was that?!" Caleb shouts in a panic as both turn their head.
Both of them gaze upon the large white bird that zipped past them.
"Oh, it's just some stupid duck?" Caleb says before starting to walk near it, "I'll handle this."
"No, wait!" Axel insists with fright, "That's not a duck, it's a swan!"
"And, your point is...?"
"When I lived in the woods those things were my SWORN enemy! They're evil down to the last horrifying feather!" She chatters between her teeth as she hides.
"It's fine, it's just an over-sized and glorified!-UGH!"
Caleb gets interrupted by the bird launching a jump kick onto him.
Caleb stands up swiftly and brushes the dust off, "Is that all you got, chicken?!"
The swan contorts itself into a kung-fu pose as MK can be seen watching from afar behind a pile of rubble.
MK in the confessional: "Really? Another kung-fu animal? Can't this show have some creativity now and then?"
Nichelle pops up next to MK suddenly.
"WOAH-" MK jumps a little, "Nichelle?! How did you get here?"
"I hatched a master plan to- GAH!"
MK turns to see the force that snatched Nichelle: a large bodyguard wearing all black.
"Nichelle Ladonna, you're under arrest for interfering with the competition!"
"For real?!"
"...No, we're just gonna take you back to the soundstage."
"Oh..." She replies with understanding as he drags her away, "Good luck MK!"
"This day really can't get any worse..." She groans, before being distracted by Axel and Caleb's screams.
She peers over to witness the bird pulling several moves on Axel and Caleb as they scramble around in retaliation.
"Somebody help us, please!" Caleb whines as he gets slapped by the avian.
"Don't cry for help, you're making us sound weak!" Axel asserts as she boxes with the swan.
MK looks defeated and sighs, "Okay, I can't look at this any longer... it's just pathetic."
MK grabs a sink from the pile of rubble and smacks it down onto the swan, knocking it out.
Caleb hides his face and yells, "DON'T KILL ME I HAVE SO MUCH HOTNESS TO GIVE TO THE WORLD!"
He then slowly opens his eyes and begins flexing, "Aw yeah, I just did that!"
Axel takes a glance at MK before she can duck down and run off.
Axel in the confessional: "Did MK just take out the swan for me? Has she changed her mind about me?... No! This must just be some kind of mind trick."
MK attempts to sneak off before bumping into a lanky figure.
"Brah, you have got to watch where you're going."
"Zee?! Where have you been for the past 20 minutes?" She snaps in a threatening whisper.
"You left me behind so it's not really my fault." He replies with innocence, "But I'm glad I caught you in time to see you save Axel from that giant bird."
"Wha- what are you- that's just- okay, maybe I did! So what?"
"Oh nothing... I was just thinking about the inevitability of death and how time is always marching forward and never backward."
MK looks at him with confusion before snapping, "Okay, fine! I'll admit it!... I miss Axel. And I really want her to forgive me already so we can just be friends." She pushes through her teeth as she closes her eyes and grips her hat, "Are you happy now?!"
"Very, dude! Now let's go, I think I saw some good supplies over this way."
Zee in the confessional: "I wanted to tell MK about the tarp and the basket that would make for a siiiick air balloon... but I also wanted to hear the trauma dumping." He finishes with a self satisfied smile.
Zee listens closely as MK recounts a story to him,
"In 8th grade, my supposed friends were taking, um, 'unauthorized' pictures of the girls in the gym bathroom. They told me about it: I thought it was disgusting, and said they were gonna get caught. But sadly, I was way too naive back then to think they'd listen to me. They told me they were selling the pictures to pay for their grandmother's surgery... And I actually believed them."
"Wow, somebody would actually do that? That's preeeetty major."
"Yep. And to top it all off, once the principal started to interrogate them, they ratted me out and said I was the one who took the pictures! Planted evidence in my locker and everything."
"Dude, that's dark... did you get to clear yourself?"
"Nope. I was too skiddish back then to defend myself, and my friends promised they'd get me out of it. But my friend's parents held a lot of power in our community, so everybody was completely happy to have me take the fall for them. I got permanently expelled from school and was harassed online by former classmates for months."
Zee stays silent for a second before responding, "So, that's why..."
"That's why I don't trust anyone. I use sarcasm and dark humor to drive everyone away to protect myself... is that what you wanted to hear? A perfect cliche fairytale ending?"
"Yo, if this was a movie it would make bank in the box office!"
MK chuckles a bit before smiling warmly, "Good to know you're taking this seriously."
The two's touching moment is interrupted by Lauren as she jumps in front of them, holding a bag full of fireworks.
"Hey guys, I heard screams! Do you know where Axel and Caleb went?"
MK replies, "Uuuuh... no?"
"SCARY! Get back here!" Damien shouts from afar as his voice begins to travel closer.
"Oops, gotta run!"
Lauren skips off as innocent music plays.
MK shakes her head rapidly, "Wait, what have I been doing? Talking about my feelings... I'm in a competition for a million big ones right now!"
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Zee responds calmly, "I saw a large piece of fabric and a basket that would make a sick balloon back from where we started."
"Wha- Why didn't you just tell me that BEFORE?!"
"And miss out on our bonding? No way!"
Caleb's eyes slowly open as he wakes up from being kicked around like a rag-doll by the swan.
"Caleb, wake up!" Axel commands, "I've got the bird tied up! But it destroyed our swan boat..."
Caleb looks at the tied up bird and then back to Axel, "What, did you kill that thing?"
"Naw, I just knocked it out after it woke up. I was thinking..." She pauses with a devilish look on her face.
"Oh, this can't be good..."
"What if I just ride the bird to the next location instead of building some stupid plane-that-looks-like-a-bird?!"
"Welp, sounds like a good plan..." He replies with a smile before jumping up, "I'm out!"
"Huh? You're not coming with me? But riding on swans is safe, I promise!"
"After the finalists build their transportation, the helpers aren't allowed to accompany them any further. I'll see you at the finish line, thoooough." He teases as he walks off, "LIMO!"
"Ugh... fine! I guess this'll make it easier. Wake up, bird!"
The bird's eyes open slowly before glowing red.
"Easy bird, eaaasy..." She whispers as she creeps closer.
The swan launches itself at Axel, but falls onto its face.
"Hahaaaa! Not so easy to move when your legs are tied together, huh?" She teases before hopping on its back, "Now giddy up!"
The swan honks aggressively before slowly hovering into the air.
"Wow? You're actually listening to me? Survival bunker here I come!"
Swan in the confessional: *Angry honking noises of resentment*
MK watches from a distance as Axel begins floating over the horizon with her swan.
"Onward Swannicus! ONWARD!"
MK turns to Zee, who is winding up the air balloon's fuel source: "Will you hurry up and get that thing lit already? Axel's already in the air! And she's on a giant BIRD!"
"Relax brah, just feeeel the moment. What, do you wanna catch up to Axel that bad?"
"Oh, you're about to feeeel the moment alright!" She threatens as she shakes her fist.
"Yes, I got it!" He cheers as the flame begins filling the balloon with hot air.
MK hops into the carrier basket and watches the balloon slowly inflate,
"Is this gonna take a while?"
"Probably."
...
Lauren giggles as she watches Damien climb a trash heap to reach her.
"if you want the fireworks so bad, then you've got to work hard for iiiit!"
Damien in the confessional: "How is this fair at all?! I get paired with someone who is seemingly, actively, trying to get me to lose!"
Damien clenches his fists before glaring at her, "Give. Them. Back... NOOOOOOW!"
The camera zooms out to show birds flying away from the reverberating sound of Damien's scream.
Lauren goes wide-eyed and drops the fireworks to him, "Now that is a scream."
Lauren in the confessional: "And I thought I was the scary one!"
"Ahah, thank you!" He cheers as he catches the fireworks and kisses them, "Now you better help me assemble this rocket or else!"
Lauren replies, suddenly having a welders helmet on: "Yeah, yeah, I'm already on it!"
...
MK cheers as the balloon begins lifting off the ground, "Just in time; for some air-time!... Hey, Zee, aren't you getting in?"
"Naw, man." He replies as he unties the balloon from the anchor, "My job here is done. I'll see you at the finish line."
"Um... okay?" She responds with confusion as she turns to crank more heat.
At the soundstage:
Julia scoffs, "Ugh, can you believe none of these helpers are trying to scam the finalists out of their prize money? Where is the SPORTSMANSHIP, people?!'
"If it didn't work for you last time, it certainly wouldn't now." Millie mocks, followed by a giggle from Priya.
Nichelle's voice can be heard yelling from behind the curtain,
"I don't wanna go out there! It's embarrassing!"
"If you do the crime, then do the time!" Caleb asserts before pushing her out onto the stage.
The aftermath music from the original Total Drama begins playing as Nichelle sulks to her seat next to Emma, followed by a proud looking Caleb.
Chris slow-claps before snarking, "Good job out there Nichelle! You really made a dent in the competition."
"How was I supposed to know Caleb would get in the way of the propeller?!" She asks in offense as Caleb glares at her.
Chris replies with a smirk, "I would get my lawyers to sue the crap out of you for attempting to tamper the results of the finale, buuuut it was GREAT TV content!"
Emma consoles Nichelle as she sulks.
"Wrong way, Swannicus!" Axel yells at her avian steed in the background as Damien watches on with shock.
"Is she riding a swan? Is that even allowed?" He asks Lauren as he frantically attaches fireworks to his rocket's frame.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Lauren asks, trying to hide a devious smile.
"Yep, it should! I've done the calculations for both of our weights averaged out, and this should be the correct amount of fireworks to travel the hypothesized distance to the end-point!"
...
At the soundstage:
"Hhmp, looks like Damien left his nerd glasses at home." Caleb teases
"Hah, NEEEEERD!"
"Grow up, Ripper!" Priya snaps, "You're just jealous cause you failed physics!"
"Wha- N-no I didn't! W-who told you that?!"
"Hehe, silly Damien. I can't even stay with you for the next portion! You have to travel alone."
"..." Damien stays silent in shock before taking a deep breath, "Okay, WHATEVER! I'll just re-do my calculations!"
Suddenly, MK calls out from above in her balloon: "So long, suckeeeeer!"
Damien gasps as he scans the sky, seeing both Axel and MK getting a lead on him.
"Okay, nevermind, this'll be good enough!" He spits out before climbing into his rocket, "I've got this, now I just need you to light the fireworks and-"
"Byeeeee!" Lauren teases as she skips out of frame.
"Wait, no, Scary- Ugh... I'll just light them myself then!" He asserts as he pulls matches from his jacket pocket.
Damien strains himself trying to light the fireworks from his seat.
"Just... a little more pull!"
...
The camera pans up to Axel struggling in the air.
"If you don't get your act together, I'll be having swan soup as my victory meal!"
The swan glares at her before letting out a loud call that echoes through the whole junkyard.
"It's gonna take more than a pathetic battle cry to intimidate me!"
Axel takes back her words as a whole flock of killer swans begin to swarm around her.
"Oh... ssssh- GAAAH!"
Axel holds onto her steed tight as she fends off the swan's claw and wing attacks.
"If I had my shovel, you vermin wouldn't stand a chance!" She yells as she tries to keep her balance, before falling off the swan's back.
Axel yells as she holds onto the swan's feet, "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!"
Axel in the confessional: "Stupid swans, as per usual... They couldn't possibly kill me from such a measly height of 50 feet."
The swan rockets higher into the atmosphere as the rest of the birds follow.
"I STAND CORREEECTEEEED!" She yells as she rockets past MK's blimp.
"Axel?!"
MK in the confessional: "Good! The swans will take Axel out of the picture and I can collect my million dollars the easy way!" She says calmly before starting to sweat and panic, "Who am I kidding, I've got to save her!"
"Ugh... I can't believe I'm about to do this." She grumbles as she fuels her balloon to shoot up higher to Axel's level.
Axel holds on for her life as MK floats a little below her.
"Axel, grab my hand!"
Axel's eyes go wide as she turns her head to look at her adversary, "Your hand? Are you serious?!"
"It's either getting in the blimp with me, or DYING! Take your pick!"
"UGH!" Axel grunts as a swan swipes at her hand, leaving a cut.
"Come on, there's not much time!"
Axel looks back and forth between the ground and the blimp "I can't! Pride means EVERYTHING!"
"Nobody cares about pride when you're 6 feet under! Now JUMP!"
"NO!" She screams one last time before slipping from the swan's grip.
Axel plummets from the sky, but gets caught on something.
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
"Axel!"
"I DON'T WANNA DIIIIIEEE!"
"AXEL!"
Axel stops panicking and notices MK having caught a hold of her, halfway out of the basket.
"Now hurry up and climb up here before we both fall!"
"Ugh..." Axel groans before letting herself get pulled up by her opponent.
Axel gets into the basket and grabs MK back safely.
Both stay silent before Axel speaks, "... I really wanted to push you out of the balloon just now."
"...I know."
Axel in the confessional: "Wow... MK had a lot of strength to catch me like that... Ah, whatever! It's probably just part of her master-plan to act weak this whole time until right this moment when she saves me from certain death and then..." She trails off quickly before stopping, "Huh... This doesn't make any sense."
"So... what's this about?"
"I just..." MK avoids eye contact as she begins speaking shakily, "I- I want to be friends again!"
Axel's eyes go wide in shock before pulling herself together, "You expect me to believe that? And what do you mean again?" She turns around to face away, "I won't fall for your mind games anymore, I know you never cared about me. So drop the act."
"I didn't see you as a friend at first either but I- I pushed you away because!" She spits out desperately before backtracking, "Ah, whatever. It doesn't matter. I just... want you to have some closure."
Axel stays turned around with a shocked look on her face, "... You can shove me out of the balloon now."
"Sadly, that's not in my deck of cards for today."
"Hard to believe."
She sighs, "Listen, if I win this thing, I'm gonna win it fair and square. And I want you to have a fair chance too."
"... Well, let's get this thing moving then!"
Both of the girls give each other a competitive smile as they pump more flames into the balloon.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Damien pants out in between him blowing onto the flames of the fireworks.
The flame goes out again.
"Oh come ON! How hard should it be for the flame to stay lit?!"
Lauren comes skipping back in as innocent music plays,
"Damien!"
"AH-... What are you doing back here?"
"I found this book in the rubble when I was leaving! You should read it, it's fire!"
Damien grabs the book as she flings it to him, "...The Autobiography of Ezekiel Oppenheimer Miller: How I Became Human Again... What is this?!"
"Open it!"
Damien opens the book, a purple lighter with a skull falling out onto his lap.
"Huh? A lighter?"
Lauren winks at him and then leaves without a word.
"I do not understand that girl... well, worth a shot!"
Damien lights the fireworks with the lighter and jumps back from the ignition flames.
"Phew, that worked well- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Damien rockets into the sky as he holds onto his seat for dear life.
Axel scans the skies and notices Damien's rocket: "Unidentified object hurdling toward us at 3 o'clock!"
"What are you even saying?"
Axel grabs MK forcefully and shows her, "LOOK!"
"Oh..." MK lets out casually before yelling, "LOWER US DOWN!"
MK and Axel run to control the flames, but break the handle.
"Oh... I love that." MK snarks as Damien starts exclaiming,
"LOOK OOOUUUUT!"
Damien's rocket shoots right through the balloon, leaving two huge holes.
...
The girl's air balloon stays still for a second as they hold onto each other.
MK chatters through her teeth, "Maybe we'll float down safely?"
"Don't jinx it."
The two's conversation comes to an end as the air balloon deflates rapidly, sending them soaring through the sky.
"SOMEBODY STOP THIS THING!" Damien screams against the harsh wind.
MK and Axel fall out of the sky and cling onto Damien's rocket.
"THAT'S NOT HELPING!"
The camera swaps to the host and Freckles on the ground, waiting for the contestants.
Chris looks up at the contestants in the air and then down to his watch, "Are they just gonna stay up there all day, or are we gonna be able to finish this episode?"
"Um... aren't you gonna get sued if those three die?"
"Relax, odds are only one will fall. Then I can have you replace them for the next season!"
"What?!"
"Oh - no need! Looks like they're arriving shortly."
Up above, Damien's rocket falls apart, leaving all three finalists plummeting through the air.
Damien grabs the parachute free-falling next to him, "Ahah! I knew this would come in handy!"
"Great. Now at least one of us won't fall to our death!" MK gripes from a few feet above him in the air.
"Huh... If I don't do this, my conscience will bug me for the rest of my life."
Damien grabs her and Axel's leg and activates his parachute.
"50 bucks say they don't survive." Freckles wager to Chris.
"Oh, you're on!"
"No parachute, no probel-UUDHFHDHHD-" Damien speech gets muffled as he and the other finalists land on the ground and get smothered by the parachute.
Freckles scoots over and pokes the collapsed parachute with a stick, "... Pay up, Chris!"
Axel rushes out from under the parachute and pushes Chris over.
"There! I WIN! WOOOOOOO!"
"Hold up!" Chris shouts as he gets himself back up, "None of you have won yet, so sit tight!"
MK and Damien wander over as Axel replies impatiently, "Well how do we win then? We've been doing this finale challenge all day!"
"Relax! One of you was only going to be eliminated for this section if you got seriously maimed or injured." He replies smugly.
"Just tell us how to win that moolah!" MK snaps.
At the soundstage: Julia, Bowie, and Caleb sit together with controllers in hand
"Did she just say moolo again?" Julia asks angrily, "What does that even mean?!"
Bowie responds, sitting next to her: "She said moolah... like, the money?"
"Chef, can you just turn on these controllers already?" Caleb asks impatiently.
"No, not yet! Chris has to give the signal first."
"I know all three of you are probably gettin' the jitters right now, but allow me to explain the final section of your challenge!"
The finalists reluctantly listen to him as he continues: "See that completely harmless looking lake over there? Last player to cross to the other side of it is cut from the competition."
"CHAAARGE!" Axel suddenly screams as she tries to rush past Chris.
Chris holds his arm out to stop her, causing both to fall down: "You will go when I give you the signal, okay?!"
The camera swaps to the finalists lined up at the starting line. MK gives a nervous glance to Axel, who keeps her head straight forward.
"On your marks, get set... GO!"
Chris smirks to the camera as the finalists rush off, "There's more to this 'simple' challenge than any finalist realizes."
...
Back at the soundstage: Julia, Bowie, and Caleb mash the buttons and joysticks on their controllers.
"MK's got a world of pain comin' her way!" Bowie asserts.
Caleb retaliates, "Not if I can get to Damien first!"
"I don't care who I sabotage, I just wanna cause some chaos!"
"Maaaan, MK has so got this!" Zee drawls.
Wayne turns to him, "She can barely lift a football, how is she supposed to win?"
Zee just shrugs in response and sips his soda.
...
"Aw yeah!" Axel cheers as she stays in the lead, "A simple physical challenge? This game is mi-IIIIINE!"
A large rock formation shoots up under Axel, causing her to be launched backwards as Damien and MK pass her.
"What the heck?!" Damien questions in fright before dodging a plunger heading straight toward him.
MK grinds to a halt to dodge several balloons being hurled at her from a drone,
"Of course! Chris would never let a challenge be so simple - GAH!"
A balloon with mysterious white powder lands a bullseye on MK.
MK sneezes before starting to scratch herself uncontrollably, "Itching powder, of course!... A Total Drama staple!"
Damien's muffled screams can be heard off-camera as MK turns to look at him.
"MMMMMM-" Damien lets out as the camera reveals a plunger to be stuck to his face.
MK continues scratching as she starts running to the lake and laughing, "Hahaha, what a sucker- MMMMM!"
MK's laughter comes to an end as a launched plunger attaches to her face.
...
"Right on the mark!" Bowie cheers.
...
The camera swaps to Axel in last place as she desperately dodges several rock pillars blocking her way.
"Is that all you got, huh?! - OOF!"
...
"Yep, that's all I got!" Julia laughs.
"Hey, why are you trying to sabotage Axel?" Bowie asks with offense.
"Yeah, why not try to pull that strategy on Damien?" Caleb gloats.
"I'm just playing fair. It's no fun if one of the finalists gets off scot-free. You guys focus on your own lame controllers!"
...
MK manages to pull the plunger off her face and then scratches her itches, "UGH! I can't TAKE this anymore!"
A water balloon lands on her and washes away the powder.
"Oh, nice... I guess complaining does work!"
MK turns to run off before pausing at the sound of Axel's screams,
"Axel?!"
"You can't just block me in! This is a ROBBERY!"
MK tenses up before attempting to run again, "Whatever! It's fine, I'll just pass green, collect two hundred dollars, and then-"
Her monologue gets interrupted by an underground explosion that sets her back to Axel's location.
"MMPH-" MK grunts as she lands at a frustrated Axel's feet.
"You will NEVER- ugh, DEFEAT ME!" Axel yells with determination in between grunts of agony, as she rams herself into multiple stone walls.
"Axel, wait! If you want to get out of this you need to think instead of just getting angry!"
"I AM THINKING!" She snaps as she turns to face her, "What, are you just here to mock me?! Shouldn't you be collecting your stupid money by now?"
MK narrows her eyes and sighs, "Listen, just go around them!"
"Yeah, tried that already. After you!"
"Okay, fine, I will!"
MK tries to run off without Axel but runs into an emerging wall.
"OOF... What is this, evil AI? It's like someone is controlling these by remote or something!"
"Got any other ideas, genius?" Axel mocks as she punches at the obstacles.
"If these walls are gonna keep popping up wherever we run, then we need to split up and run in opposite directions!"
"So you can just leave me here and collect the money yourself? I can do this by myself!"
"Yeah, maybe you can... but this will be way faster! Can you just trust me? One of us has to get out of here eventually!"
Axel stays silent for a moment and crosses her arms before sighing, "Okay, fine! But if this is a trick you're not allowed to mock me for it!"
Axel and MK charge in opposite directions as obstacles barely miss each of them.
...
Julia groans, "Ugh, what is this? The power of friendship?! I can't block both at the same time!"
"Skill issue." Bowie teases.
"Huh... do you really think MK is serious about helping her out?" Caleb asks with genuine curiosity as the other two ignore him.
A large button on Julia's controller begins glowing red.
"Hah! I got my ultimate first, that means you guys lose!"
Caleb groans as Bowie throws his controller across the soundstage.
"Let's see what this sucker can do..." She says ominously as she presses the button.
...
All of the obstacles disappear from the field as the ground begins to shake.
Damien finally pulls the plunger off of his face, "Ugh, FINALLY!... Is this an earthquake?"
Axel torpedo's past him, "I'm not about to find out! See ya lateeeer!"
Damien and MK trail close behind Axel as they run with all their might.
Chris sails over the skies in a blimp as he watches out the window,
"Looks like our finalists have finally got off the hook from their torture! But what's most important, is to dangle money in front of them right before ripping it away!"
...
Axel reaches the lake and dives right in as Damien and MK follow behind as they reach the edge.
"You first!" MK shouts as she pushes Damien into the water, before diving in herself.
Damien surfaces from the water and swims after her, "Hey, no playing dirty!"
He goes back on his word right as he catches up to MK and pulls her hoodie over her eyes.
Axel looks back at the two and frowns, before shaking it off and continuing on: "Those two will be fine, all that matters is I get there first!"
The ground begins shaking even heavier, causing several waves to splash the contestants around, eventually having the three of them collide into each other in the middle of the lake.
Axel surfaces from underwater, spitting water out of her mouth as she looks at the other two: "Great! How is this any fair?"
"We're gonna need a strategy if we want to make it to the other side!" MK insists to her, "You can't just rely on raw strength!"
"Oh yeah? Just watch- MEEEEEEEE!"
Axel's voice follows her into the sky as a pillar of rock lifts her high into the air.
"Seriously?! Again with the pillars?" MK complains.
MK and Damien follow her as the two are also launched into the air.
The three make eye contact in mid-air as Damien speaks, "Uh... how ya'll doing?"
"Fantastic." MK replies sarcastically.
The three's conversation comes to an end as they ram into the bottom of Chris's blimp.
"Hey, you guys are out of bounds!" Chris yells as he leans out the window, "Get out of here!"
The three contestants are released from the blimp before plummeting.
"Wow, that worked quickly!"
...
"Quick, get another parachute!" Axel demands to Damien.
"Do you think I'm made of parachutes?!"
MK looks down sorrowfully before snarking, "Well, if only one of us dies, it should probably be me."
Axel snaps her head to the side and notices one of the stone walls towering into the air next to her,
"I'll take this one!"
Damien grabs on to the side a few feet away as MK grabs onto Axel's legs and joins her on the wall.
Damien keeps his eyes shut tight before slowly opening them, "... I'm alive?... AH YEAH, BABY! Million dollars, here I come!" He cheers as he begins climbing the wall.
"Ugh!" Axel grunts as she lifts herself up the wall, "...MK?!"
MK in the confessional: "I've been thinking a ton about what's actually important to me. Is it too cliche to say the money doesn't matter to me anymore? I can make money by scamming online anyway."
"Let go of my leg! We all know you're just trying to drag me down!" Axel yells with desperation in her raspy voice.
"I didn't mean to grab your leg, but from the looks of it..." She then looks down at the water far below, "Doesn't seem like a great thing to let go!"
"I know you did this on purpose, MK!" She growls as she pulls herself up the rock wall, "You must think I'm stupid or something!"
"No, I'm the stupid one!" She whines, "For not realizing all the sacrifices you made for me! And how much I meant to you as a source of comfort!"
"Huh...?" Axel stops climbing before shaking her head and continuing, "Lies, lies, and more lies!"
"I'm not lying, I promise! I feel like garbage for not taking your feelings seriously and treating this like a game!"
"... Well, it is a game, isn't it?"
MK closes her eyes and sheds a tear, "Yeah... a game I don't care about. Not as much as us!"
She creaks out her last sentence before letting go of Axel, collapsing into the water below.
"MK?!"
Axel in the confessional: She speaks rapidly with a shaky tone, "Did she just... and then... she fell in the water... WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!"
MK in the confessional: "There, I did it! Are you happy?" She snarks before pausing, putting her head in her hands: "She better win this now or that was just embarrassing."
Damien reaches the top of the wall and balances himself on it before looking into the water below.
"Am- Am I supposed to jump?!"
Axel heaves her last breath as she reaches the top, "It's not so bad once you get used to the sinking feeling in your stomach."
"You seem oddly calm?"
She shies away, "Uh... yeah. I don't think I have to worry about getting last place."
The wall beneath them starts crumbling.
"Oh, so that's what that does!" Julia smiles.
Caleb looks at her with shock, "Alright, that's too far. Are you trying to kill them?!"
"Chris didn't say what the ultimate power was, how was I supposed to know? Besides, I think you two own me 50 bucks?"
Bowie and Caleb angrily shelf out 50 bucks each to her.
"Pleasure doing business, boys."
MK waddles awkwardly onto the stage from behind the curtain, soaking wet.
"Uh... hi."
Chef invites her over, "And here comes our third place finalist now!"
The audience stays silent for a moment before erupting in cheering and applause.
She walks over and sits next to Caleb, Bowie, and Julia: "Eeey, I could get used to this!"
"Um, non-winners don't get to sit next to us." Bowie gripes.
MK side-eyes him, "I seem to remember you becoming one of those 4 episodes ago!"
"Pipe down kids! Before Axel and Damien collapse to the finish line, we need to see who you're rooting for! Everyone rooting for Axel, sit to my left. Everyone rooting for Damien, sit to my right."
Ripper, Chase, Millie, Priya, Julia, Bowie, and Wayne sit in Damien's bleacher - Emma, MK, Raj, Zee, Lauren, Caleb, and Nichelle sit in Axel's.
Raj in the confessional: "What's so great about Damien that Wayne has to sit on his side? He doesn't even play hockey!"
Emma in the confessional: "I didn't just sit on the other side to avoid Chase!... Okay, I did."
Chase raises his eyebrow at Lauren from across the room, "Weren't you Damien's helper? Shouldn't you be rooting for him?"
"I like to switch things up!"
"SHUT UP AND LOOK AT THE SCREEN!" Priya screams.
Damien holds onto Axel tightly, who looks uncomfortable: "THEY CAN'T JUST LET US FALL!"
"Yeah, we're supposed to jump!" She responds angrily as she tries to throw him off of her.
"Okay, then let go!"
"No, YOU let go!"
Both of their eyes go wide as the ground beneath them dissipates.
Axel and Damien stare at each other as they hover in the air for a second, "...You got a parachute now?"
Both finalists fall into the avalanche of crumbling stone wall, eventually causing both to be dropped off at the finish line.
Chris looks at his watch as the two come rolling in, "Good, you're finally here! Which means, MK is officially out of the running!"
"WHERE IS SHE?!" Axel shouts at Chris as she grabs his shirt.
In the background, Damien begins sneaking off as Chris replies: "She's already been driven to the soundstage! Now if I were you, I would make sure Damien doesn't take a lead on you..."
"Huh...?"
She turns around,
"Hey, no fair!"
Axel charges after Damien, causing him to turn his head back in her direction: "See, this is why I needed the headstart!"
"UGH-" Damien groans as he comes to a halt.
Axel runs right into him, "OOF- Hey, why aren't you moving?!"
"I could ask the same thing about you!"
Axel looks down to see Damien's shoes sinking deep into the mud.
...
Chris pulls a remote control from his pocket and giggles menacingly, "Hehehe, I still have a trick up my sleeve!"
...
Axel turns her head to the side and sees something sticking out of the ground, "is that... MY SHOVEL?!"
"What?" Damien questions before...
The mud Damien sunk into begins inclining into a steep hill as Axel runs off to investigate.
"Woah!... Hey, a fast pass to the soundsta - AAAAAAAH!"
"Uuurrrgggh... GOT IT!" Axel cheers as she pulls her shovel out of the ground, "Reunited at last!... Hey, where'd he go?"
She leans over the steep incline to see him sliding toward the soundstage building, "Uh-uh, no way!"
Axel dives into the mud and begins sliding down rapidly, still lagging behind Damien by quite a bit.
Damien slowly lifts his hands away from his face and looks down below, "... There it is! The soundstage!"
Axel looks at him from a ways up the hill as she tries to find ways to accelerate.
Damien looks back as he nears the end of the hill, "Here I come million dollars! That scholarship is MINE!"
"No..." Axel grunts, "It can't end this way!"
Axel looks at her shovel sorrowfully and then kisses it, "This is my only chance, don't fail me now!"
She stands up shakily before readying her aim near Damien.
"How is the air up there, Axel!" Damien teases, before seeing the shovel hurling toward him: "Oh shi-"
The shovel flies over Damien's head as he ducks.
"Ahah! You missed-OOF!"
Damien collides directly into the anchored shovel.
"I don't know, how is it?!" Axel shouts as she slides right by him and tumbles through the door of the soundstage.
Chris stands near the entrance to the stage with Chef as the contestants sit on the edge of their seats.
"And the WINNER of Total Drama: Action IIIIIIS..."
The camera zooms in on MK and Priya as they cross their fingers, before showing Chase, Raj, and Zee on the edge of their seats.
"AXEL!"
Axel sits wide eyed on the floor covered in mud as the contestants and audience cheer for her.
"I- I really won? YEEEEEEES! Now where'd my shovel go?!"
Nichelle leaps out of her chair to hug Axel tight as Caleb, Julia, Bowie, Emma, Zee, Wayne, Lauren, and Raj come to cheer for her.
"I knew you could do it!" Nichelle cheers as Axel smiles, looking around the room at the confetti and smiling faces.
"WHERE IS DAMIEN?!" Priya screams from off-screen as everyone continues celebrating.
Axel hugs Nichelle back tightly before looking around the room, locking eyes with MK as she rubs her arm skiddishly.
"Uh... hey. You don't have to acknowledge me or anything, but I just wanted to congratulate you for your win and-"
She gets interrupted as Axel pulls her into a group hug,
"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"
"What?!" MK gasps as she looks up at her, "...Really?"
"Yes! Now I can finally pay for a huge bunker for Meemaw and I!"
"But... after everything I did to you?"
"I thought for sure when you fell into the water it was just a dirty trick. But you really did sacrifice yourself for me... If you didn't, I might not have been able to win."
MK's mouth slides wide open before she smiles, "T-thank you! Can we please be real friends from now on...?"
"I'd like to give it a try." Axel replies wholeheartedly before throwing her hands in the air, "There'll probably be some money left after I finish stocking the bunker... So how about I throw a HUGE party, with EVERYONE invited!"
Everybody cheers at Axel's proposition, except for Priya, who is nervously pacing in the background.
Axel in the confessional: "Maybe it's just the fact that I won a million dollars on a gameshow... but having people cheer for you feels really good." She swoons.
MK asks her, "Well... are you gonna buy a new shovel, too?"
"THERE HE IS!" Priya screams as she leaps toward the entrance, Wayne and Millie in tow.
Damien limps in looking dazed, covered in mud, and holding Axel's shovel in his hands.
"Are you okay, Damien?!" Wayne asks.
Damien springs up and hugs Priya, "I'm sorry I didn't win!"
"Oh thank goodness you're okay! That's all I care about!"
Chris walks over to Axel with the million dollar briefcase, "And THIS Axel... is ALL yours!"
"Ah, YEAH!" she shouts victoriously as she grabs the case and swings it around, "I am UNSTOPPABLE!"
She accidentely throws the briefcase into the audience as a yelp of pain can be heard,
"Oops... can I have that back?"
Chris signals to Chef to retrieve the briefcase, before he pulls out a party blower and celebrates.
"Congratulations on another great season, players!" He yells as party music begins blaring from the speakers.
The contestants begin breaking it down as Damien crawls over to Axel,
"Hey... uh, your shovel is broken now, but I thought maybe you'd like it back?"
"WOOOO!" She yells as she grabs the shovel and Damien, squeezing both tightly.
"O-okay, please... let go!" He squeezes out with little breath left.
Chef returns with the briefcase and hands it to Axel, before speaking to Chris: "You saw the new season orders, right? We're getting even more episodes!"
"WHAT?!" A couple of the contestants cry out as they all turn to the hosts.
"That's right!" Chris gleams, "This reboot has been so successful and well received that they already want you guys back for another season! But with some fresh faces added in to keep things lively."
A couple contestants cheer while others look upset.
"What? Another season?" Priya whines, "I can't! I have to go to-"
Priya's sentence is interrupted as the ending credits play.
Author's Note: HERE WE ARE! Finally ending the season! I had a blast writing this and exploring the characters, and I absolutely lit up anytime I got a review, follow, or favorite, so THANK YOU to everyone who engaged with and read this story. You rock, seriously.
I know my elimination order may be a bit too predictable with what people were thinking about/hoping for, but I hope I at least made up with it with surprising directions and plotlines for the characters. If anyone is wondering, MK was probably my favorite this season. I honestly wasn't expecting Axel and MK's plot to have so many parallels with Millie and Priya's, but I am pleased with how it turned out and feel it's different enough to stick out.
I'm not sure if anybody actually thought about this, but if there are any elimination order/plotline similarities to AKB88's Action fanfiction, they are completely coincidental - I had my elimination order and plots written down before I ever saw it existed, but give some love to that writer too!
Here is the name of my YouTube channel where I talk about Total Drama! - CashmereGetsVotedOut
TOTAL DRAMA: WORLD TOUR (2023) FANFICTION COMING SOON!