Last Week, on Total Drama Fandom Island, the campers sashayed on the runway to the Drag Race Challenge! While Squidward, Jessie, Annabeth and Ty Lee dominated these fame games, it was Leslie who rose above, snatched the crown and ended Team Victory's losing streak! In the end, Rockets Natsu and Alfred ended up on the bottom and Alfred was forced to send his Good Judy home!
This week, we're taking the campers on a nice Alpine vacation to Lindsay's summer getaway in Colorado! But don't get too comfy! They say there's a feral serial killer/arsonist on the loose! After weeks of brawns and beauty, it's time to give way to brains! Who will solve the mystery of Baby Lindsay? Find out here on TOTAL DRAMA FANDOM ACTION!
The Rockets were sad to see Natsu go. "Dude was like, 99% of the team's power!" complained Alfred.
"Yeah, and 1% of the brains," muttered Almond. "A rock in a smart Al's hands is better than a gat in the hands of some dumb mook"
Jessie was comforting Alfred in his sorrow, while Reagan discussed strategy with Raze (or at least tried to. The VALORANT agent was listening to music on her headphones). Overall, their mood was not so much desolation as a confusion as to what happens next. With Natsu gone, the energy of the group had fallen, leaving the remaining members in a reflective mood.
On the other hand, the Victors had recovered from their two-week slump. Leslie was the toast of the town after they had won the Drag Race challenge for the team. Annabeth, Neville and Alphys found renewed strength from this win.
The Killer Whales were the last group still intact, and they were determined to keep it that way. Tensions between Momo and Mermista seemed to rise, as the ocean princess began to take more control of the conversations and planning. Strategically, however, Momo was letting Mermista have her way
Momo: I think backing down for a bit serves the purpose of changing the team's strategy. As the last group with no eliminations left, Chris is sure to target us, but if we suddenly change strategies, we might just avoid that
Jesslieward took the time to meet up, to discuss strategy. Jessie pointed out that the Rockets were mostly either strong or clever, but never both. "I've never seen such Minimaxed people before!"
Squidward nodded, saying the Whales were overall more balanced individually, but that there was a glaring weakness: Percy.
"We're just quiet about the whole Percabeth thing," the squid began, "but it's clear to me that if we let both reach the Merge, we're done for"
"Well," Leslie began, "Let it be Percy, not Annabeth. She's carrying our team. Post-Merge, without Percy, Annabeth's a sitting duck and everyone will eye her for a threat."
The three of them agreed that if the Whales were to lose this week, they would have to risk Squidward's elimination and find a way to convince the Whales to vote out Percy.
"I'll take care of him," Squidward assured.
Squidward had a talk with Mermista, and convinced her that if the Whales finally lost this week, she and Percy were going to be in the bottom, as the Whales would look to eliminate a potential competitor in the Merge. Mermista agreed that they would block-vote Percy if they lost. Mermista told Squidward that she would pressure Toshi later to join their alliance.
Toshi: A smell of connivance is in the air. How… lovely…
Chris finally arrived and announced that the teams were going on… a VACATION?
"That's right, campers! For our next cinematic scene, we'll need to move to our special friend's summer getaway in Colorado!"
Reagan sighed longingly. "I can smell the hot cocoa and the ski slopes already!"
"What's Colorado on your body, Alfred?" Jessie asked.
"My top-left ab. Did I mention my abs stand for the Rocky Mountains?" He pulled up his shirt for Jessie to gawk at.
Jessie screamed, then lightly began to feel them. She giggled.
"I'm pretty sure you just caused the deaths of a hundred mountaineers, Jess" said Reagan, jokingly.
Almond: Can't deny, that kid's got magnetism. If dames were metal…
Raze laughed. "As Leslie would say, you've left your broski era and entered your arm candy era!"
The bus picked the fifteen campers up. Alfred kept everyone happy with snacks. Raze kept jamming to her tunes, unbothered. Toshi and Ty Lee were having an earnest conversation about martial arts, when Toshi decided to show off to her. In response, Ty Lee humored him, easily blocking his attacks.
"Hey, who's doing Street Fighter in the back?" asked Percy.
Leslie: I'm getting my life on this bus. Semi-famous people waving at me.
At the front of the bus. Almond chatted with Chef Hatchet, who was driving. "How's your week, been, Chef?"
"Oh, you know, the usual tomfoolery"
"Here's hoping this week'll be an ACTUAL vacation. This showbiz gig really wears out a man's soul"
They arrived at the beautiful high-end town of Moaning Spoon ("You do NOT wanna know why it's called that", assured Chef)
"It's in Colorado, so I reckon' the South Park boys must've had something to do with it…" said Alfred.
"Well, campers, here we are at our friend's summer getaway! Please welcome back our alumni Lindsay!"
Leslie screamed.
Leslie: Omigosh, Lindsay is like the Tatianna of Total Drama. With her soft-spoken girly-girl voice and her rant against Heather on Island is just the extended version of Tati's "Tyra's a bitch, thank you…"
Annabeth: Are we supposed to be impressed? She was in four seasons and eliminated herself twice
Lindsay blinked. "Oh, yeah, that's right, the filming was today… Please, come in!"
Lindsay's house was pretty posh, and that was just her summer getaway.
"I'd love to see the house you go away FROM," said Jessie, as they oohed and aahed at the beautiful interior. They were told to powder and freshen up at the guest rooms, of which there were three, one for each team. Dinner would be at 7pm.
"Isn't this so fancy?" asked Ty Lee to her team inside their room. "I feel like this is one of those old-timey houses where there's this crime waiting to happen! Ooh, what if this is the murder mystery challenge?"
"A murder would be fun as long as nobody got hurt," said Percy. Mermista snickered a bit.
"Well, it's a good thing I brought this," Squidward pulled out a fancy double-breasted suit with matching fedora.
"That makes two of us," replied Mermista, with her own 40's era detective outfit.
"Love that for us!" said Squidward.
Momo and Ty Lee talked about the pretty dresses they found in the closet and which ones they would pick for the dinner party. Toshi walked away and Mermista saw the opportunity to talk to him.
"Hey, Toshi!"
"Yes?"
"We need to talk about Percy…"
"What I'm saying," continued Mermista, "Is that Percy's sorta the most dangerous opponent right now, and we need to be prepared for the, ugh, inevitable. We're gonna lose this. We're the only team that hasn't lost a member yet. If we need to lose somebody, you'd prefer it to be Percy."
"And why is that, Princess"
"Because I'm easier on the eyes for you than Percy," Mermista replied with a smirk.
"Ugh, I thought a woman like you would be above such tactics. Alright, it's a deal. As much as I'd love to take on Percy should there ever be a sword fighting challenge. I admit he is most deadly…"
The Victors were planning their next move in their room. Annabeth admired the architecture with Leslie, while Neville and Alphys talked strategy and anime.
"I love the idea that this could be the mystery challenge!" said Alphys. "How do you think we're to solve it, Neville?"
"Well, between my magic, your science and Annabeth's brains, I daresay we can pull through here."
The Rockets talked in their room. Jessie was fixing her hair. Raze watched and tried it herself. "That looks fun!"
"Oh, Raze, let me do yours when I'm done!"
Reagan was thinking of styling her hair as well. Alfred was taking a nap on the bed. "I always wake up at dinnertime," he said, before heading off to sleep.
Almond was fixing his suit as well. "I could never get used to these ritzy gigs," he said. "But there's usually a lot of dough in for the private dick who gets invited to parties like this"
"How's that?" asked Reagan.
"Typically, I get invited to these events because somebody in the upper echelons of society needs my services on the down low. There's a lot of cash in it just to keep on the hush-hush"
"Then this is right up your alley?"
"We'll see"
The fifteen campers gathered at the dinner table. A luxurious selection of food was laid out for them. Lindsay occupied the front seat, while Chris was nowhere to be seen. Lindsay toasted to their arrival, though she had to read a script on tissue paper. Lindsay excused herself in the middle of dinner to freshen up.
"Cue the shenanigans," muttered Reagan.
Leslie got up and went to Lindsay's seat. "As queen of last week's challenge I would like to-
BANG
Toshi caught the cork of wine that Mermista had been unbottling.
Meanwhile, there was a splash of leaves and plant jetsam where Leslie's head had been.
Alphys screamed. Neville very nearly fainted. Almond and Reagan ran up to the body to examine it for clues.
"Did the cork hit her?!" wailed Ty Lee. "This is horrible!"
"No," said Annabeth, pointing to the opposite end of the dining room. "It came from over there"
Annabeth and Alfred ran up to the big shelf on the other side, and sure enough, there was a shattered plate, and behind it a smoking gun, with a contraption that allowed for it to fire at a set time.
"Holy hidden trap, Batman!" yelled Alfred.
"This is not the time…" groaned Annabeth.
"Why would anybody want to kill Leslie?!" asked Ty Lee.
"Not Leslie," said Momo. "Leslie wasn't the one supposed to be sitting there tonight"
"Right as rain, doll. Whoever set that thingamabob over there was after our blond host," said Almond.
"I guess we have our challenge right here," said Mermista.
"CHALLENGE?! LESLIE'S DEAD!" wailed Ty Lee.
"Calm down, Ty. This is a reality show. There's no way Leslie's dead for real"
The lights suddenly went out, causing screams and panic everywhere. When the lights came back on, Leslie's body was nowhere to be found.
"Alright. It's official," said Alfred. "We are in some Agatha Christie-type shit right now and the challenge is officially started!"
"Yes, but wouldn't you agree the better word for it would be 'the game is afoot?'" asked Toshi.
"Dammit, you're right"
"Let's think about this critically," said Almond. "Who had a motive to kill Lindsay?"
"We literally met her this afternoon. WHAT motive," scoffed Mermista.
"Maybe the killer was really after Leslie this whole time!" said Alfred. "Hey, Squidward was pretty pissed last week for losing the Drag Race challenge! Maybe Squidward's the killer!"
"I AM NOT THE KILLER, YOU IDIOT! GET STABBED!"
Squidward's words proved prophetic. The lights shut off again, with a stab of lightning exploding outside, and when they came on again, Alfred was lying in a pool of blood, a knife through his back. Ty Lee screamed again.
"Oh God, oh fuck…" said Reagan.
Raze swore. "Hey! We shouldn't just stand here and let these putas get away with this shit!" She ran off into the hallway, gun in hand.
"Wait, wait! We shouldn't act rash!" said Annabeth. "This is all obviously-"
An explosion rocked the building. Raze's limp body was flung back onto the dining room.
"We need to get out of here and regroup!" Percy and Momo ran for the rooms, when a trap door opened up and swallowed both of them. Jessie screamed and ran for the door, setting off another trap, a spring that launched her into the air.
"I'M BLASTING OFF AGAI-"
She smacked into the stone wall and fell limp on the ground.
"This is not real…" said Reagan.
"Of course not, doll. Didn't I tell ya this is TV? Now calm down and let's look for clues"
Blackout again, and the bodies had all disappeared. "Let's split up by our teams and try to look for clues, " said Almond.
"SPLIT UP?!" gasped Alphys, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
"They won't be expecting that. Besides, we have no choice. Time's ticking and we need to solve this challenge before we're all killed."
They nodded uneasily.
"Victors, take the attic, Whales, the game room. Reagan and I will look into the basement"
In the attic, Neville, Alphys and Annabeth scoured through the dark, gloomy mess. The attic had a ton of junk and other stuff that Lindsay and her family were not using. Pulling out her laptop, Alphys began to run a program that would allow her to scan for evidence and clues across the room. 'I need a light"
"Say no more," replied Neville, "Lumos"
Annabeth scouted the area, looking for clues of her own. She heard a rustle behind her and turned.
It was only Alphys, following her with her laptop.
"Alphys, gods above, you scared me"
"Sorry, I was just-"
Their screams dwindled in the dark as they fell into yet another trap door.
Neville leapt. Shivering, he called forth another orb of magefire. He walked towards where the screams were, knowing he would have to solve this mystery for the team.
In the billiards room, the Whales began their own search. Squidward and Mermista traded opinions and observations. Toshi and Ty Lee decided to sneak into the adjacent library, with Toshi saying there were bound to be clues in the library, such as a secret compartment.
Squidward wanted to agree with Toshi, but he felt there was an internal logic behind Almond telling him to go into the gameroom. Mermista frowned. "Ugh, this makes no sense! Almond probably put us on a wild goose chase. Come on! We need to like, hit the basement before the Rockets beat us to the clue!" Squidward decided to trust Mermista.
"Toshi! Ty Lee! We're going down to the basement!"
No response
"Oh God, you don't think…"
Mermista gulped. "Let's take a look"
Toshi and Ty Lee had vanished, but the former's glasses were left behind, smeared with blood. Written on the magnifying glass Toshi had presumably used was the phrase "Analyser wished!"
"Toshi was trying to analyze the problem here…"
"And the killer got them…"
"Let's get the hell out of here!"
Squidward and Mermista ran like hell for the basement, bumping into Lindsay in the process.
"Lindsay?! Where the hell have you been?"
Lindsay was confused. "Well, I just used the bathroom, and then when I came back, you were all gone! So I've been looking for you all night!"
"You mean you don't know?"
"Know what?"
Mermista groaned. "Ugh, Lindsay, whether this is a challenge or not, I don't know, but half the cast is dead and we're trying to find the killer!"
Squidward eyed Lindsay suspiciously, "Wait a minute…" Mermista brushed the thought away. "Squidward, Lindsay makes Perfuma look logical and collected. You can't tell me she's behind this."
"You're right". The three of them ran down towards the basement.
Almond and Reagan found nothing of interest in the basement, so they went back upstairs. Noticing the broken window, Almond climbed out and opened it for Reagan. They stared at the whole of the mansion against the snow and driving storm. They took in the layout of the mansion and tried to piece together the facts.
Their train of thought was interrupted by a dull thud behind them. They turned, coming face to face with the broken body of Neville Longbottom, his eyes wide in shock, a bloody gash on his forehead.
"Shit," muttered Almond
"Look!" Reagan pointed upwards. In the sky, in Magelight, Neville had written a code.
961414
"A lottery ticket?" wondered Almond
"I don't know. Maybe a password to a secret chamber?"
They regrouped with Lindsay and the Whales soon enough. Mermista had found a lock of hair left from the dining room. It was far away from the rest of the action and might have been the killer's.
Reagan and Mermista ran upwards to the attic, where they would try to find whatever Neville's code would open, if anything. Squidward and Almond stayed behind with Lindsay.
"Don't worry, Lindsay. We'll find the killer and book him for all its worth…"
Reagan gestured for Mermista to follow as she saw something in the distance of the attic. "See that?"
"Uh-huh," replied Mermista dryly.
"The question is, What exactly did Nevlle see for him to write that code?"
"No, Reagan, the question is, why do you think I'm going to fall for this bullshit?"
"Wha-" A column of water slammed into Reagan. "What's the deal, Mermista?!"
"The lock of hair… was brown. The jig is up, Reagan…"
Squidward was doing Lindsay's hair to relieve the tension for both of them. Almond paced back and forth.
"You know, Lindsay, we saw a very weird code above Neville's body"
"Really? Like in The Da Vinci Code?"
"Just six letters"
"Oh"
"You're one of the only contestants to compete in Total Drama four times. Tell us about it"
"Well, I was ninth in Island, sixth in Action, thirteenth in World Tour and I was first out in All Stars!"
Squidward paused. "Dye?"
"Right! I like being blond"
Almond pressed on. "Lindsay, how many contestants were in All Stars?"
"Fourteen"
Almond grinned. "I thought so," and he threw his magic cuffs at her, restraining her immediately.
"What? You guys think I'M the killer?"
Squidward sneered. "We don't THINK. We KNOW. You see, Lindsay, I spend my time at the Krusty Krab solving newspaper puzzles, and anagrams are a favorite of mine!"
"Anagrams?"
"Why would an American spell analyzer like that? Unless it was part of an anagram. In this case "analyser wished!" becomes "Lindsay was here!"
"That's crazy!" said Lindsay. "But that's obviously a trick, why would I frame myself? Besides, the numeric code doesn't match me!"
"I never said the code was numeric, doll" replied Almond. "And you're wrong. IT does fit you, to a tee. You see, you're not 13th on the World Tour. You're fourteenth, because Duncan returned right before your elimination. Thus nine, six, fourteen, fourteen, the code Neville left behind"
Lindsay laughed. "Wow, you guys ARE good!"
Chris clapped his hands and walked slowly into the light. "Winner, winner, two chicken dinners! For solving the mystery of the Aspen Murders, Squidward and Almond, you are the winners of this week's challenge!"
Squidward whooped for joy, while Almond grinned.
Squidward: Baby, that's what I'M talking about! Go me! Go me!
Almond: Welp, it's all the line of duty for this old nut…
The fifteen campers reassembled at the dinner table, apparently all unharmed. They cheered for the two winners and awaited with dread Chris' announcement for the nominations.
"For this week, campers, I'm going to give our two winners the special power to nominate someone for elimination!"
Gasps of disbelief all around.
Squidward: This couldn't be more perfect. I talked to Almond about this as soon as Chris told us! He and I agreed this was the best way to protect our interests in the competition.
Almond: It's cold and very in-the-gutter, but we can't let them stay for the Merge. Sorry, kids, nothing personal.
"Squidward, who will it be?"
"This was a difficult decision for me and I must admit that I find myself at a loss because I love all of you and-"
"JUST GET ON WITH IT!" yelled Alfred.
"Fine, I nominate Annabeth"
Gasps.
Annabeth: Erre es korakas! I knew he'd jump for this chance! I just hope I'm wrong about Almond's pick…
Chris nodded solemnly. "And you, Almond?"
"I nominate Percy Jackson"
Leslie: FACE CRACK OF THE MILLENIUM
Percy: Crap, this isn't happening…
Jesslieward were seated together in the living room talking about Squidward's strategy.
"The gag of the century, mama," purred Leslie.
Jessie rubbed her hands. "At least we'll be one divine twerp down! Cheers for Squidward!"
"Let's keep it down, ladies," cautioned Squidward. "We want them to think Almond voted Percy on his own"
Alphys was hyperventilating. "Oh my God, Annabeth, you can't leave! We'll be dead meat without you!"
"Whatever happens, Alphys, you can still manage this game without me." Annabeth assured her. "Now, let's just eat. We haven't eaten all night"
"That was cold, dude. I love it!" said Alfred.
"I did what had to be done. With Natsu gone, there's no one that can match Jackson in power. He needed to go as soon as possible."
"It could be worse," said Ty Lee to Percy.
"Yeah. At least I don't have to dance in a wig to stay," he giggled.
The campers reassembled around the dinner table. "Campers, the voters have spoken." Chris rang out. "The envelope I hold in my hand holds the name of the camper who will stay. Who would like to open it?"
Percy reached for it, used Riptide to open the letter, and got a blank piece of paper.
"It's blank"
"Yeah, about that, Percy and Annabeth, your votes ended in a tie… so tonight we're having a double elimination"
Leslie: Soup of the day! Percy Jackson!
Mermista: That went better than I hoped…
Squidward: Trust the Tentacles when he says this: I'm not here to be the best neighbor. I'm here to snatch that crown…
"So much for me volunteering to leave so you could stay," shrugged Percy.
"Thank you for this experience, it's been a wild ride," said Annabeth.
The Lame-o-sine arrived to pick the two up. Campers waved, some teary-eyed, as the season's couple was taken away.
We had a great time, didn't we, Wise Girl?
Sure thing, Seaweed Brain, short as it was. I guess you really can't walk into this competition with a plan and think you've got it all figured out
There might be an All Stars, right? Your strategies will be better off there, I think…
Chris toasted the thirteen remaining campers. "Congratulations for making the top thirteen! Our divine duo might be going home, but I promise you guys are in for a SUPER challenge next week, right here on Total Drama, Fandom Action!"