From CIT to All Star

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Total Drama has returned for its fifth season, and now contestants from both generations have been brought back to compete. She didn't just come back for the money though. This time she wants to win it the right way. But with a new threat hiding among one of the other contestants, that may be easier said than done. Sequel to A BFG's World Tour and A Dramatic Ridonculous Race.

10. The Obsta-Kill Course

(The Obsta-Kill Course)

Spectacular Webhead 11: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Realistically, the interns would be the ones with the most reason to hate Chris. And yeah, Brick and Tyler do have a fair number of similarities, so I figured why not.

Ellisnskd24: Of course Mal would get wrecked, but I have to admit that would be a sight to behold, for a few reasons.

OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: Without Ezekiel in the picture, the interns would be the most obvious ones to want revenge on Chris. Brick and Tyler seem similar to each other, so I figured why not. Brick deserved to win at least one challenge, now the others definitely know what he's really capable of, as it should be. Of course you're supposed to feel bad for the interns, given all that Chris did to them. I didn't want Gwen to go, but she's had her time to shine, and I did my best to have her go out on a high note. Plus she got to hurt Chris, and that's always something to be happy about. DJ passed his mantra onto Brick, which is good for him, even if he's being used by Mal. Heather knowing about Mal won't make much of a difference, but she still has a part to play. Courtney's deal with Mal may not have panned out, but she said she would expose him if he broke it, and he did. Keep that in mind going forward. I always enjoy making references, like with Harry Potter. I'm also binging My Adventures with Superman, which is an amazing series in every way.

Theboiishere12345: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. You're right about Brick being pushed off to the side, and having him serve as an ally to Mal is meant to rectify that, and it gives him a chance to shine, which he definitely did by winning the challenge. Glad you caught the reference with the interns, and yeah Megan totally deserves to be mutated. Gwen was a sacrifice that was painful, but necessary. I appreciat you understanding about my vacation.

SuperSonicHeroes: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Ezekiel being out of the picture did raise a challenge for me to fill that role, but the interns were an easy choice to make. They would want to hurt Chris more thna anyone, and at least now they have a chance to get help. I thought that Brick deserved some time to shine, and him being Tyler's brother seemed to make sense to me, so I chose to go with it.

Jack8090: Thanks for understanding, I needed the break. I did my best to make sure that each character I eliminated went out on a strong a note as I could give them, such as Duncan literally going down fighting. I also thought some other areas could use some development, such as Fang having history with Courtney, and giving proper development to Mal's backstory in an attempt to make him more complex and interesting. The interns started as a way to fill the Ezekiel role, but I did my best to give the proper motivation and reasoning. Also I stand by my previous claim that Duncan's downfall had begun back in season 3, All Stars just continued a bad trend that had already been established.

Frosty Wolf: Oh believe me, I definitely thought about that. But keep in mind what Chef said, no Chris means no show, which means no million dollar prize. Plus Zoey said it best in Revenge of the Island, money removes all common sense and fear of danger, which applies to a lot of things on the show really. Nice work guessing with the interns too. The final six is going to be interesting, if short lived. Thanks for understanding about my vacation, and I hope you think this chapter is worth the wait.

OmniIBIB: Chris definitely deserved a lot of the pain he got. Gwen did get her happy ending in this story, with or without the million. She still has Cody after all.

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Starting with the recap…

In typical fashion, Chris started off the newest episode with a recap of the previous one, only this time he did it from inside the Spa Hotel next to a flat screen TV "Last time on Total Drama All Stars: Our final seven got to celebrate the 100th episode of the series with a few surprise guest appearances and a kidnapping of the host variety, but I stayed strong through- Hey, who the hell put that there?" he gave a scowl at the sight of him hoisted over the pit of toxic waste on the TV, but quickly regained hs composure "Anyway, Heather used her time in the Spa Hotel to find out who was responsible for sabotaging the last vote and sent her boy toy and Zoey to the Flush of Shame, which she then used to make herself a little insurance policy- Seriously?!" he scowled again at the sight of him screaming in terror over the toxic waste "Okay you know what, I'm so gonna fire someone for that! Anyway let me give you the short version. Chef is a stress eater, Mal has a new idiot friend in Brick, who got chucked down a hole but got saved by Gwen, and then Brick went on to show off his military badassery by winning the challenge, and even more importantly, saving me, and with some convincing from his new alliance buddy, picked Gwen to go down the Flush of Shame- Okay, that is so it!" he finally unplugged the TV after seeing a third image of him screaming in terror "But lucky for me, and unlucky for everyone else, there isn't anything that gets me out of a bad mood faster than cranking up the pain factor in one of the challenges. Which of them is gonna go down next? Stick around to see for yourself, right here on Total! Drama! All Stars! Now tell the editor to meet me at the Flush of Shame!"

As it turns out, Mal and Chef were the ones sitting at the monitor in the control room, and both of them started laughing at Chris' humiliation "Okay you were right, that was fun."

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(intro)

Shots of four brand new spotlights popping out, following by the camera zooming through the camp, past the spa hotel and crappy cabin, up to the top of the thousand foot cliff, and then down into the lake below

Dear mom and dad I'm doing fine

You guys are on my mind

Underneath the lake, Anne Maria (also holding onto a can of hairspray) and Courtney are both tugging back and forth on a treasure chest, which opens to reveal Cody inside, along with Mr Coconut and a McLean Brand Invincibility Statue floating out of it and to the surface, while Duncan is lounging in a canoe.

You asked me what I wanted to be

And now I think the answer is plain to see

In a nearby forest, Jo is jogging through and passes a clearing where DJ and Dawn both sit on the ground meditating, hand in hand and surrounded by several animals.

I wanna be famous

Over at a certain river, Heather and Alejandro are riding in a canoe and glaring at each other until the canoe goes over a waterfall, with Alejandro gracefully leaping out onto dry land, but Heather goes over with the canoe. Down below, Brick is standing on a cracked log doing push ups until Heather lands on his back, causing the log to give out and make both of them fall.

I wanna live close to the sun

Go pack your bags cause I've already won

Scott watches Heather and Brick fall and laughs, until Fang comes out of the confessional and starts chasing him.

Everything to prove, nothing in my way

I'll get there one day

Pan over to where Chef is just relaxing in a lounge chair in front of the spa hotel watching all of the chaos unfolding on a monitor, only look over and scowl as he saw Mike and Zoey sitting on the beach gazing longingly at each other… only for the moment to be ruined by Mike letting out a gasp, followed by a bang of his hair coming down and covering one eye, a malicious smirk spreading across his face.

Cause I wanna be famous!

Gwen is sitting at the Dock of Shame and pulls Cody out of the water, the two of them staring into each other's eyes, only for the moment to be ruined by Chris dropping a bear onto the dock with a helicopter.

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na.

Pan over to the lake where all 14 contestants (Alejandro, Anne Maria, Brick, Cody, Courtney, Dawn, DJ, Duncan, Gwen, Heather, Jo, Mike, Scott, Zoey) are standing on a series of poorly built platforms holding jousting sticks and all preparing to fight.

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous

The teams clash, with Brick and Jo taking each other out, Zoey shoving Scott back, Anne Maria pushing Dawn back, Mike going up against Alejandro, Duncan and DJ pushing each other back, Alejandro pushing Cody back, finally Gwen and Heather pushing each other back.

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous

The scene changes to night at the campfire ceremony, with Zoey looking concerned and reaching out towards Mike (with the bang down over one eye), who has his back turned to her, with her attempt to reach out to him being interrupted by Chris popping up in between them.

(Whistling tune as the song ends)

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Another day came, and the sun was shining over Wawanakwa, but the tension was thick.

"Okay, let's go over the facts here." Courtney glanced over at DJ and Dawn as the three of them sat on the patio of the Loser Cabin "We're down to six of us, we have to vote Mal off as we get the chance."

"There rings more truth to that than you realize." Dawn pointed out from where she was sitting in DJ's lap "But you are right in your approach. The sooner Mal us away from this perverse excuse of a competition, the greater chance Mike has to regain control."

"How exactly is he supposed to do that though?" asked DJ "From what I've heard, Mal has total control over that body."

"For the time being at least yes, but assuming that Mike's quest is successful, that won't last for very long. What I don't understand is why Mal would create such a task within a mindscape he has such a strong hold of."

"But can't you see all of that with your aura reading?" asked Courtney.

"My aura readings are extensive, but not omnipotent. I'm not able to see everything, usually the most prominent details that reveal themselves to me, so unfortunately I'm not able to see the full extent of Mal's plans or the true motives behind them. All I do know is that Mal is unpredictable and ruthless, and willing to do anything to achieve his goals. We have to get him off this island as soon as possible."

"Which raises another problem we're gonna have to bring up." DJ spoke up "With Gwen getting voted off yesterday, we lost a vote that we could count on. Even with the three of us, there are still three other votes in play that could cancel out voting him off, or at least end everything in a tie. I hate to say it, but maybe I should take a page out of Noah's book this time."

"Meaning what exactly?" asked Courtney.

"He used a metaphor to put it best: If you want to take out a bridge, you have to start by taking out the supports first."

"Which means to get rid of Mal, we have to get rid of any allies in the game."

"Or at least turn them over to our side, I'd rather not vote them off if we can avoid it. The first one to keep in mind is Heather, because if yesterday was anything to go by, she definitely knows about Mal. Not sure how, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Anyway, Heather is the wild card so we might be able to get her to vote with us."

"But that raises the other problem. Brick. He's basically to Mal what Tyler was to Alejandro in World Tour. And what Lindsay was to Heather in the first season. Mal is already a tough one, we saw that from when he fought Duncan in the boxing challenge. Depending on what challenge is next, if he wins immunity, I think we're going have to get creative."

"Meaning we vote off Brick."

"At some point, but not really what I had in mind. I'll do it if it comes to that, but right now I'm planning to vote off Heather once we get the chance too." Courtney gave a scowl.

"I thought you weren't gonna hold a grudge against her over everything she did before."

"Forget about that, I'm mad at her for voting off Duncan this season. Nobody screws with my man without answering to me."

"Oh. Yeah, good point."

"Honestly, it's a thought process I can understand." Dawn patted DJ on the arm "If we were in that position, I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing."

"Exactly. But don't worry, I know that Mal has to come first. Heather is secondary on my list of priorities."

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Meanwhile, in the Spa Hotel…

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Mal stepped out of the control room with bloodshot eyes and made his way into the dining room "Totally worth missing out on 5 hours of sleep."

"An eventful night soldier?" Brick made his way into the dining room and sat next to Mal.

"Something like that. I couldn't sleep so I went into the control room and watched every episode of Moon Knight, and it was so worth it."

"Glad to see you enjoyed it."

"How could I not? Between playing a dude with three personalities and Apocalypse from the X-Men movies, Oscar Isaac definitely has range." Mal gave a smirk of approval, but it fell away when he noticed how downcast Brick looked "You okay?"

"What? I'm fine, just thinking I guess…" Brick let out a sigh "I still feel a bit guilty about voting off Gwen last night."

"Oh yeah, that. Look man you had to make a call and you did, if it wasn't Gwen then it would be someone else."

"I suppose, but who else could it be?"

"I'm actually glad you asked, because I think we should take the time to do some strategizing before the next challenge. We gotta figure out who to vote off next."

"You have someone in mind I take it?"

"Honestly, I think now is the time to vote off Heather for good. All goes well, we might be able to get some of the others to vote for her too."

"But if that's the case, why didn't we just vote her out last night?"

"Like I said it was your call, and you'd either have to pick her or someone els to do exile duty on Boney Island. Now it's not your call on who goes there, it's probably just gonna be who McLean wants to pick on the most. My point is-"

"Alright maggots listen up, last one to the edge of the woods has to give me 50 push ups! Now move it soldiers! Hup hup hup!"

"Oh yeah, I was wondering where he was."

"Well whatever my point was is gonna have to wait, we've got a challenge to win."

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(Confessional)

"Gotta take the moments to strategize when you can." Mal gave a shrug "Personally I would've preferred it if one of the bigger threats had been sent home, like that little aura reader who needs to keep her trap shut, but getting rid of a former finalist works too. Either way it's one less pain in the ass I have to deal with going forward. Speaking of pains in the ass, as much as I want to widdle away at the alliance against me, I think the biggest threat to get rid of is Heather. She's onto me, and she's clearly the most brash and volatile, so she's a lot less predictable than Dawn or the others. But since Brick is the only one that doesn't know about me, I'm gonna have to win immunity for sure today. And if the impromptu morning greeting from Drill Seargent McLean is anything to go by, this is gonna be strenuous. Definitely glad I got rid of Alejandro when I did, one on one I'm not sure I'd be able to beat him. No problem now, since he's face down in the giant toilet."

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Meanwhile, at the challenge site…

"At ease maggots, and you guys are definitely earning that nickname." Chris (wearing a military helmet) gave a hardened scowl as five of the contestants ran onto the scene "Took all of you long enough to get here, I was almost getting bored out of my freaking skull."

"Yeah we know, you being bored means we're gonna die." Heather scowled as she was carried onto the scene by Chef and then set down behind the rest of the contestants "We've been around you long enough to get the gist."

"Well well, so glad you could be bothered to join us Heather. You know the deal, the last one to show up means 50 push ups pronto."

"Of course I'm gonna be the last one to show up you little (bleep), I got stuck with exile duty on Boney Island!"

"You mean, I WAS STUCK WITH EXILE DUTY ON BONEY ISLAND SIR!" that part came out through a megaphone.

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(Confessional)

"The day I call him sir is the day Gwen becomes a girl from a Disney movie." Heather let out a scoff, and then her scowl deepened "Chris is just lucky I have a bigger problem to deal with right now: Mal. That slippery little (bleep) isn't going to be easy to get rid of. Lucky for me I've still got my insurance policy, that video on the ipad I snagged from the hotel hidden… in a place I don't plan on saying in here because either he's listening or Chris will blab. All I have to do is win this challenge and get immunity, then I'll expose that little (bleep), and make sure that he pays for screwing over Alejandro. Wait, did I say that part out loud?" and then she moved to grab the camera "I want that tape back! Give me the tape! Seriously, how the (bleep) do you open this thing?!"

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One set of pushups later…

"And 50." Heather wiped away some sweat away as she finished her set of push ups and went over to join the others "This body isn't just for show after all."

"Yeah good to know, now shut up and listen to me." Chris directed everyone's attention back to him "Anyway rejects, time to listen up. The bootcamp challenge run by Chef back in season one was plenty tough on its own, but this is season 5 and things are about to get a lot more painful for all of you, courtesy of the Chris McLean Obsta-Kill Course, patent pending. In order to win this full on race challenge and avoid the Flush of Shame, first you'll have to conquer the Fun Tires, but once you get through them it's onto the Rope Slope. Of course some of the ropes are less reliable than others, so be sure to choose wisely, but not too wisely or else that's going to spoil th fun. For me. After that is the Snapping Bars."

"Why are they called that?" asked DJ.

"Give it a little bit and you'll see. After the Snapping Bars is a pleasant run through the Duck and Cover, and if you manage to get out of that alive then you'll be in for a real treat."

"Sounds simple enough to me." Mal gave a shrug, then paused and looked at the others "Did I just say that out loud?"

"Yes, yes you did, and it's also why everyone has to wear a comically heavy backpack for the whole challenge." he gestured to where Chef was throwing the packs onto the ground.

"...Okay yeah, that one's on me."

"Big time, and if you abandon your pack then you'll face a brutal penalty later on. This is gonna be so awesome."

"You mean for you." Courtney noted dryly.

"As if I ever mean anyone else."

"...Well at least you admit it."

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(Confessional)

"First a war challenge, and now a genuin military training course?" Brick practically had stars in his eyes "At long last, my chance has come to show what my military training has offered to me! This may be one of the greatest days of my life!"

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Meanwhile, with the two antagonists…

"This challenge definitely oughta be interesting." Mal took a glance around to make sure no one else was listening, then made his way over to Heather and shot her a smirk "Piece of advice, you better watch your step around here. You never know when you're gonna but into something that isn't any of your business."

"Maybe, but that's how you get ahead in a game like this." Heather crossed her arms as she shot a look of her own at Mal "Plus that is one hell of a warning coming from the guy that screwed with the votes."

"Huh. Smarter than you look. How'd you figure that out? Let me guess, you're part of that secret alliance to send me into the giant toilet?"

"I don't need an alliance to learn what's what, I've got my ways of finding out whatever I need to know."

"Hm, you know I'd be more impressed if it would mean anything. After all, who the hell would believe you? The most manipulative (bleep) in Total Drama history. Even that blonde you played back in season 1 knows you're full of it."

"Of course I'm not trustworthy, but I don't need to be to get ahead. I've proven that point already as it is. Luckily for me, not so much for you, I've already got the only insurance policy I'll need going forward. A video packed with footage of you at work, for the entire freaking world to see with their own eyes."

"And where exactly is that supposed to be?"

"Oh, somewhere in the Spa Hotel. Not that you're ever going to get your hands on it." Heather's eyes narrowed as she gave a smirk "Only one thing matters to you now, and it's that your hours here are numbered Pal, or should I say Mal?"

"Hm. Go ahead and try it, it's still your word against Mike's as far as the others are concerned, and why would anyone believe you over him? Short answer, they won't." Mal gave a smirk of his own, and then made his way back over to Brick as he put on his backpack, as well as his impersonation of Mike "You ready for this?"

"More than ready soldier." Brick gave a salute and a smile full of confidence "But what was that about over there?"

"Nothing too important, Heather was just trying to get a rise out of me. She's got a history of that on this show, but I've dealt with people like that."

"You mean like Jo and Scott?"

"And people outside the show. The point is, I can handle this no problem, and together we've got this challenge in the bag."

"Amen to that soldier!" the two of them shared a high five.

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(Confessional)

"It is a shame really." Dawn let out a sad sigh "Brick is just a kind soul who is doing what he believes to be right, he doesn't deserve to be manipulated by a monster such as this. I can only hope that we find the chance to get through to him before it's too late."

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Now for the start of the challenge…

"On your marks, get set… GO MAGGOTS GO!" Chris blew on an airhorn, prompting the final six to take off running from the starting line.

"Huh, you know this shouldn't be too hard." DJ and Dawn started off in the lead as they reached the Fun Tires, only for the former to be met with a pole bursting up from within a tire and hit him square in the face "Ow…"

"DJ!" Dawn was distracted by his plight to the point where she nearly fell into a deep hole within one of the tires, and she quickly leapt over to pull him back onto his feet "Are you okay?"

"I'll be alright, I've had a lot worse."

"Get a grip you damn dirty dung beetles, you didn't really think that Colonel McLean was going to give you a straight ahead challenge did you?!"

"Nope, that's definitely something we should've seen coming." Mal rolled his eyes, then quickly grabbed Brick by the arm and yanked him out of the way of a water geyser "Take it easy, the last thing we need is a geyser to the-"

"Look out!" Brick pulled Mal out of the way of a geyser of his own.

"Case and point, thanks for the save."

"I'm only doing what I feels right. After all it's part of my code, never leave a man behind, no matter what." the two of them shared a fist bump and took off through the Fun Tires.

"Great, he's got his own evil bromance." Heather scowled at the sight of Brick and Mal forging ahead, then looked over to see Courtney making her way through the tires, and she let out a loud groan "I can't believe I have to resort to this. Courntey hold up, I need to talk to you."

"I'm a little bit busy right now!" Courtney stopped in her tracks to avoid a mallet springing up in front of her "You know, trying to stay alive and all that."

"Yeah join the club, but a quick piece of advice. One girl to another, don't trust-" she didn't get to finish before a tire hit her in the face and sent her crashing to the ground "(Bleep)!"

"I get the idea." Courtney took off through the Fun Tires, shooting a suspicious glare at Mal's back as she did so.

"Some say chivalry, I say gender equality." Mal let out a chuckle as he took off after Brick, and the two of them exited the Fun Tires.

"Mike and Brick have officially taken the lead, and now they're heading for the Rope Slope! This one is definitely gonna be good!"

"We'll see about that. You good soldier?"

"So far so good!" Brick gave a smile full of confidence as he and Mal reached the Rope Slope, the former grabbing onto a brown furry rope "What the…?"

"Come on Brick, we gotta keep going!"

"Right sorry, I was just caught a bit off guard by my rope."

"Well what do you know, looks like our resident cadet just found the rope made of dog hair. Good for him."

"Dog hair?!" Dawn let out a horrified gasp as she and DJ reached the bottom of the Rope Slope, and she gave a livid glare "Don't tell me-"

"Before the Tree Hugger starts flipping out on me, I'm gonna get this out there. No dogs were harmed and/or shaved. I know a guy. Seriously, what the hell do you take me for?"

"I highly doubt you want an answer to that." Dawn shot a glare at the speaker as she and DJ made their way up the only normal rope.

"He probably gets enough of those from the internet anyway." Mal rolled his eyes as he made his way up the slope, only to stop when he noticed what his rope was made of "Is this licorice? Eh, I could use a snack, and it might make things more fun for the next guy." so he took a bite out of the rope and went on climbing.

It was at this moment that Courtney made her way to the Rope Slope and began climbing one of the ropes behind Brick "Hey."

"Ma'am." Brick gave a quick salute with his free hand "Out of curiosity, you don't have any sort of allergies to dogs do you?"

"Weird question but no, why?"

"Well considering what this rope is made of…"

"What?" Courtney sniffed the rope, then paused and gave a shrug "Meh, no big deal. I've smelt a lot worse than that."

"Oh, it's just that I found it a bit overwhelming so…"

"I spent three seasons on this show with Owen, this is nothing." she paused and took another sniff, then gagged slightly "But I'd be lying if I said that other scent wasn't a close second. What the hell is that?"

"That would be the scent of war!"

"...What?"

"I mean that's my boots remember? The mutant gophers hate it too. Sorry about that, let me just move over and make room for you." Brick quickly leapt from the dog hairrope to the wire rope next to them, allowing Courtney to advance and began climbing his new rope… only to grab a set of wires and end up getting brutally shocked.

"HA! It's about time someone found my favorite rope, the Zapper!"

"Huh. Good to know." Heather bolted to the Rope Slope and began climbing the licorice rope, only to stop next to where Brick was hanging on, dazed and smoking "Brick we need to talk, you can't trust-" she didn't get the chance to finish before Brick got electrocuted again "Okay, I'll just circle back to you later." so she continued climbing the rope, only to reach the spot Mal bit off, the strain causing it the rope to snap… but she managed to grab onto the ledge before she could fall to the ground, and quickly pulled herself to the top "HA! Who got an unsatisfactory in PE now?!"

"So far so good, meaning so painful for them and so fun for me, but the big questions are still in play. Will anyone be able to survive the Obsta Kill Course? Will Brick end up turning into the first human hot dog? Will I laugh no matter what? I think the answer to that one is obvious, but all of the others are yet to be determined. There's only one way to find out, and that's to tune in when we come back, right here on Total! Drama! All Stars!"

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One commercial break later…

"Finally." Mal wiped some sweat from his forehead and looked over to see Brick (charred from the Zapper) drop down to the other side of the Rope Slope and join him "There you are, what were you doing back there? And why do you smell like bacon?"

"Things got a little bit… electric." Brick let out a smoking cough.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that pun, and say we should just go to the next osbatalce. Oh and as a quick side note, I figured out why they're called the Snapping Bars."

"Really, why?" Brick received his answer when he looked over and noticed a group of snapping turtles jumping out from within the water below "Oh."

"Yep. Alright come on, let's get this over with." and so the two of them made their way onto the set of bars, slowly crossing over them while avoiding the turtles "Might have to break out the Russian big gun at this point…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just musing to myself."

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Meanwhile, inside the mindscape…

"Okay, we're making progress…" Mike continued making his way through the mindscape in the direction of the creepy tower, with Chester following behind him "At least I think so."

"Aw, there's so much walking!" Chester let out a tired groan as he lagged behind Mike "Why the heck did I ever agree to go on a dangnabbit quest?"

"Because none of us can do this alone, if we're gonna beat Mal then we'll need all the help that we can get."

"Well there better not be any of that rocking or rolling music, or any dancing where we gotta be going!"

"I don't know if there is, but if we want to stop Mal then we have to keep going. The longer Mal is in control, the more danger everyone else is in!"

"Will you keep it down with the babbling? He might hear you!"

Mike and Chester both looked over to find the source of the voice, Svetlana, chained to a large boulder shaped like Mal "Svetlana! Wait, are you… carving a fish made out of butter?"

"Mal chained me to this boulder, and he said that I could either scult fishies with butter or cease to exist."

"Okay…? Well it's time for us to give him a taste of his own medicine, and we need your help to do it. What do you say?"

"I say stop with the talking, he has ears everywhere!"

"But we're in my head, how could-" Mike cut himself short when he looked up to see a number of clouds shaped like ears floating above them "Oh, you meant that literally. Yeah, this could be a problem. Then I've got whatever Mal has planned for me with these mental limiters, I've gone through two of them already but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do for the rest."

"He also left you a note and said that I would also cease to exist if I failed to guard it."

"Okay…?" Mike knelt down and plucked the note off of the butter fish Svetlana was sculpting and read it out loud "The third mental barrier has a distinct focuses on power, and is blocked by an overwhelming sense of shame. What's that supposed to mean?"

"He means, what is your greatest shame? What is the greatest sense of disappointment you fear towards yourself?" Svetlana looked up at Mike, but her question only caused his physical form to tense up.

"I… I don't have time for any of that!" Mike quickly shook off the tension he was showing, but he still looked uneasy "Just let us help you break free and we can-" he didn't get the chance to finish before Svetlana's form began flickering "What the- What's going on?!"

"Is… him!" she began convulsing violently, causing her to cry out in pain "He is… stealing my abilities! Draining me!"

"What?! Come on Svetlana you can fight it, you can fight him! You have to!"

"I… I cannot… his hold is too strong…"

"But he- Wait, the chain!" Mike rushed over to grab the mallet Svetlana was using, then brought it down on the chain binding her to the boulder… but nothing happened, so he tried it a few more times, only for nothing to happen "It's not working!"

"The mental barrier… you have to break through it… only then will you be strong enough to break his hold…"

"But how am I supposed to do that?!"

"You need to… look within yourself… your greatest shame… the most you've disappointed yourself… When was it…?"

"I… I… I ran away…" Mike fell to his knees as he looked down at his hands, then at the tower in the distance "I was so terrified of everything going on in my life… what my dad did to me, what all the bullies and everyone in school did to me… I spent all my time in my head with you and the others, and him… It was fun, and I was happy… until I wasn't… I got so scared that I ran from my problems, and let Mal take over… and he did so many horrible things… he hurt people… he even killed… and then all the time in juvie… I can't let him stay in control of my body… not again… I just can't…"

"You cannot be that way…" Svetlana looked up at him, her expression one of pain as she still flickered in and out of existence "You will not find peace within yourself… if you deny that part of your life… You are the main host of our body and mind… and therefore, time we spend in control is still a part of your life…

"And part of what makes me who I am…" Mike took a breath as another wave of blue energy washed over him, albeit less potent than others "That one didn't feel like the others… but I guess it worked…"

"Then you have to… use this new strength…"

"Right." so Mike took a breath as he braced himself, then brought the mallet down on the chain on Svetlana's leg, causing it to evaporate "Yes, I did it!"

"Hooray! Svetlana helps you now!"

"Awesome!" Mike caught Svetlana in a quick high five, but then he paused and looked over to see Chester licking the butter fish "What are you doing?"

"What, an old timer like me still needs a snack." Chester gave a shrug and went back to the butter fish.

"...Okay, fair enough I guess.

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Now for the same time, but in the real world…

"Mike and Brick are the first ones to reach the snapping bars, with the other maggots trailing not far behind them!"

"Son of a-" Courtney let out a yelp as one of the snapping turtles came dangerously close to biting her "So that's why they're called the snapping bars. I shouldn't be surprised."

"Nor should I, but this doesn't make me any less mortified." Dawn looked down at the turtles below, then gave a scowl "Tell me, how has Chris not faced charges for animal abuse up to this point?"

"No idea, but I have been having my lawyers look into that while I'm here. I figured if anyone can find something to put him behind bars, it's those vultures."

"At least you're putting that stuff to good use." DJ let out a chuckle, only to yelp when one of the turtles nearly bit into his leg.

"Out of the way already!" Heather was the last one to reach the snapping bars and looked over to see Mal and Brick in the middle of it, so she climbed up above the other and made her way over the top of the bars "Might as well back out now!"

"What the- What are you doing up there?"

"Word to the wise big guy, you can't get by in this game without getting creative! Which brings me to this!" she climbed all the way forward until she reached Mal and Brick, and she dove down and grabbed onto the legs of the former "Gotcha!"

"What the hell?!" Mal struggled to get her off, with little success "Get the hell off me!"

"Forget it string bean, I'm not going down without a fight!"

"...Fine, if that's how it's gonna be, then have it your way. Brick a quick word to the wise, you may wanna get a little bit of distance. Wait for me on the other side."

"If you say so…" despite the uncertainty, Brick obliged with Mal's wishes and made his way past them to the othr side of the bars to wait for him.

Then there was a gasp, and then Svetlana (or Dark Svetlana if you want to call it that) came into control of the body "Behold Svetlana, the Olympic champion with the hanging bars!" and then she started swinging back and forth repeatedly, slamming Heather into the bars multiple times as a result, causing the other contestants to cringe.

"Oh man, that's gotta hurt." DJ was cringing the most at the sight of Svetlana attacking Heather, and then he looked over to see how horrified Dawn looked "You feel it too huh?"

"It's far worse than that…" Dawn muttered low enough that only he and Courtney would be able to hear it "He's far stronger than I first thought."

"But that's another one Mike's personalities. Does that mean he and the others are free?"

"I'm afraid not. It seems that Mal is able to bypass the mental limiters within the mindscape and tap into the abilities of the other personalities at will!"

"The mental what?"

"It's too complicated for me to explain right now, we have to find a way to stop him!"

"Svetlana is having fun with this one!" by now Dark Svetlana had shifted to using her legs to spin Heather around above her like a pinwheel, smirking in delight at her screams… only to let out a gasp as Mal was forced back out "Wait, what the FU-" he didn't get to finish before he hit his chin on a bar and then fell into the water below.

"About (bleep) time." Heather let out a pained groan and rubbed her head as she rushed over to the other side of the bars, and then took off running to the next obstacle.

"Dammit, how the hell…" Mal spat out some water as he rose up from the pond… only for his expression to dull as he noticed several snapping turtles surrounding him "Aw crapbaskets." and then they all pounced on him.

"Mike hold on!" Brick didn't hesitate to leap back into the water after him, and after a moment he pulled him out and onto the other side, where they collapsed to the ground, both covered in numerous bite marks "You okay soldier?"

"Yeah, I'm just… just gonna lie here for a minute…"

"Well what do you know, looks like Heather has taken the lead, and Mike and Brick just might be out of commission."

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(Confessional)

"Okay, two things to note here." Mal cringed at the pain of his numerous bites "One, it turns out turtles don't need to be mutated or trained as ninjas to be tough as (bleep). Two, how in the name of (bleep) could Svetlana take off like that? Unless…" he paused and looked up at his head, then gave a smirk "Well I'll be damned. Looks to me like Mike is getting through up there a lot faster than I thought he would."

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Back with the challenge…

"Okay, we should… get back to the challenge…" Brick pulled himself onto his feet and looked back down at Mal "You ready to go partner?"

"Not… not just yet…" Mal lifted his gaze to look at Brick "Still trying to get feeling back around my… well everywhere really."

"I understand that soldier, but if Heather wins immunity we can't vote her off."

"Yeah I know, but we still have a shot so long as she doesn't win. I'm gonna talk to the others and see if I can convince them to vote with us."

"If you say so, just be careful soldier." and so Brick took off for the next obstacle, leaving the others in his wake.

"Always am." Mal pulled himself to his feet and shook off the disorientation he was feeling, then turned to where the others were making their way across the Snapping Bars "Hey guys, is there any chance-"

"A little busy right now!" Courtney hoisted herself onto the top of the bars to avoid the snapping turtles beneath her.

"Well the thing is that Brick and I were planning to vote off Heather next. Any chance you guys would be willing to help us out?"

"Unfortunately for you, we're not." Dawn shared a look with DJ, then levelled a glare at Mal "I can think of someone more deserving of being flushed at the moment."

"Really? Who?"

"I think you've got a pretty good idea." DJ levelled a glare and crossed his arms as he dropped down to the other side "Am I right about that Mike?"

"I'm… not really sure what you mean. I'm on your side."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Courtney levelled a glare of her own at Mal from her place atop the bars "Remember that little deal we made after the boat challenge, and what I said I'd do if you went back on it? Word of advice Mike, you'd better watch your back." she was met with a look of shock, and then a scowl.

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(Confessional)

"Right, her threat to expose me. I kinda forgot about that." Mal frowned in thought, and then it turned into a scowl "At least now I know for certain who wants my head on a pike. Gonna have to worry about that later though. Right now I have to focus on dealing with Heather, and then that little alliance is next."

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Meanwhile, with the frontrunners…

"Hup two three four, hup two three four!" Brick charged his way towards the Duck and Cover, only for the sound of wretching to draw his attention towards a nearby rock "Um… are you alright?"

"Oh yeah, I'm (bleep) fantastic." Heathedr finished puking her guts out and looked up at him "I just got hurled into the air like a freaking pin wheel over a pool of snapping turtles, how do you think I'm doing?!"

"Ah. Fair enough. I suppose I should-"

"Wait wait, I… didn't mean to snap." Heather pulled herself to her feet and took off running right behind Brick "We need to talk about your buddy Mike."

"If this is your attempt at luring me into an alliance, it's not going to happen."

"Forget about that, Mike isn't who you think he is and I can prove-" Heather didn't get a chance to finish before a leech hit her square in the forehead, which quickly bloated "(Bleep)!"

"Oh yeah I probably should've mentioned, this happens to be Chef's favorite place to unwind with some target practice via leechballs, so you'd better duck and you'd better find cover, unless you want a couple dozen leeches to the face."

"Right, real (bleep) original."

"Actually I think it's-" Brick was cut off by a leech hitting him in the ear, and then a few more hitting him in the face, all of them quickly bloating up before he dragged Heather behind a rock, then took off running.

"And just like that, Brick has taken the lead!"

"Remember girlfriend, you're doing it for the money." Heather let out a groan at the feeling of the leech on her face, but quickly shook off the feeling when she noticed the others passing by, so she grabbed Courtney and pulled her behind the rock with her "We need to talk, and I mean now."

"I'm not joining your alliance, so forget it." Courtney told her flatly.

"It's not that, why does everyone think that's what I'm trying to do?" Heather was met with a dull look, and so she let out a sigh "Fine, fair point. Anyway here's the short version, I want to vote off Mike next but I'll need help to do it. Can you talk to the others for me? They'd listen to you better than me."

"In case you haven't noticed, Mike isn't the only person I'd want to vote off. I haven't forgotten that you were the one who wanted to vote off Duncan before. For what matter, why do you want to vote off Mike anyway?"

"Because there's a lot more to him than you realize."

"You think I don't know that?" Courtney paused and took a look around, then back to Heather, her voice lowering so no one else could hear "Let me guess, you know about Mal?"

"Yeah but- Wait, how the hell do you know about Mal?"

"Duncan told me about him, and I've been working with DJ and Dawn to try and find a place to vote him off. For the record if Mal gets immunity, I know who I'm voting for." her gaze turned hard, causing Heather to cringe slightly.

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then we'll talk after the challenge. But in the meantime, how do you know about him?"

"After the boat race I found this tablet full of footage of him at work, and I said it was hidden in the Spa Hotel."

"You told him that?!"

"It was just to misdirect him, I actually hid it in the Loser Cabin before the whole thing with the mutant interns yesterday. Use that and we can expose him!"

"Huh. Well that's lucky. Alright fine, you win the challenge and get immunity yourself, and we go from there. That's my final offer." and on that note, Courtney moved to take off through the Duck and Cover, but stopped when she noticed her pack caught on a nearby bush "Oh the hell with it, knowing Chris it's probably just full of statues of him or something." so she took it off and took off running.

"...Oh well, I'll take what I can get." Heather gave a shrug and stepped out from behind the rock, only to immediately be met with a series of leeches to the face "(Bleep)! Why does this always have to happen to me?!"

"Well what do you know?" this was when Mal made his way onto the scene and came to a stop next to her "Eesh, tough break on your part. You wanna get a little bit of help with getting those things off?"

"As much as it pains me to quote Leshawna, I'd rather stick a tire iron up my ass than accept any help from you!"

"Eh, fair enough." so Mal used a quick kick to throw Heather's legs out from under her, causing her to fall out into the open face first and take a few more leeches to the head "See you in the giant toilet, and look on the bright side, at least you and your snogging partner Al will have one more thing in common. You both got humiliated on international TV by homo superior!" and so he took off running through the Duck and Cover.

"Oh, that is IT!" Heather let out a snarl and threw the leeches off her face "You'd better be ready for me Mal, because I'm coming for your sorry ass!"

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Meanwhile, with the frontrunner…

"Yes, nearly there! Now this is how a real soldier gets through a war zone!" Brick ducked and covered his way amongst several rocks and bushes to avoid the oncoming swarms of leeches as he made his way to the end… only to find his pack hooked onto a bush "Or not." and then a swarm of leeches hit him in the face "Oh come on!"

"Need a hand with those partner?"

Brick looked over to see Mal kneel down next to him and pick off the leeches, as well as free his pack from the bush "Thanks for the assist soldier."

"It's what we're here for, partners and all that right?" once that process was done the two of them took off out of the Duck and Cover… only to be forced to screech to a halt when they came to the edge of a cliff, with a zip line hanging over the chasm in front of them "What the-"

"I told you before maggots, you were gonna be in for a real treat. You've officially reached the final obstacle. All you have to do is get from there to the finish line without dying, and the first on to do that wins immunity and a free pass into the final five!"

"Seriously? How the heck are we supposed to do that?"

"How do you think? I gave you the backpacks for a reason."

"...Oh." Mal shared a look with Brick, and the two of them began digging through their packs and pulling out the equipment in question "Yeah that makes more sense."

"The same goes for me winning!" this was when Hather got their attention, already armed with her helmet and hooking up her harness to the zip line "Didn't think you were going to see me again, even though you really should've. One thing I've learned from my time on this show is to never underestimate the wild card." and then she took off along the zip line, but not before giving one final jab "See you in the giant toilet Mal!"

"Just come and try it, I dare you!"

"Wait what?" Brick looked over at Mal "What did she call you?"

"Never mind that right now, we can't let her win no matter what!" Mal latched his hook onto the line "Forget about yours, just come on and latch onto my line. The increase in weight will make us go faster."

"Ah, good idea." Brick wrapped his arms around Mike's waist, and the two of them took off along the zip line after Heather.

It was around this time that Courtney and the others showed up at the start of the line, only for her to falter when she saw what lay ahead "Oh come on, I didn't think we would actually need those packs!"

"Wait, you mean you got rid of your pack?" DJ shot her a raised eyebrow.

"It got caught on a bush and I had to catch up. But admittedly that was a gross error in judgement on my part."

"I told you there was gonna be a penalty for that, so much for the big bad CIT!"

"Seriously, again with that?!"

"Don't bother, he's doing it to get a rise out of you." DJ pulled his gear out of his pack and moved to attach it to the line, with Dawn doing the same "Worse comes to worse you can hang onto me while I go down the line, it can't be any worse than anything else we've had to do on this show."

"Can't argue with that logic. Thanks big guy, now let's go!" Courtney leatp onto DJ's back and wrapped her arms around his waist, and the two of them started to make their way over the chasm, with Dawn trailing right behind them.

"Looks like the race for last place has begun, and the race for first place and immunity is about to come to an end! Heather looks all but unbeatable, except… What do we have here?"

"Come on, come on…" Mal gritted his teeth as he and Brick continued chasing along the zip line after Heather, though trailing a short distance behind her "Dammit, at this rate she's gonna win it for sure!"

"...Maybe not." Brick cast a glance over towards Mal "You know how you said war is won with strategy?"

"Yeah?"

"As much as I hate this part… war is also won with sacrifice! Hold the line!" Brick then let go of the line, forcing Mal to grab onto it, and leapt over and onto Heather's line, grabbing hold of her waist and allowing Mal to speed up.

"What the- Get the (bleep) off me you little (bleep)!" Heather tried to shake Brick off of her, to no avail… and then her line snapped, sending both of them hurtling into the water below with a mighty splash, whereas Mal crossed over the finish line.

"And just like that, Brick has thrown himself under the bus so that Mike wins immunity!"

"Yes! Way to do both of us proud soldier!" Brick rose up from the water and gave a triumphant salute, unaware of Heather glaring holes into the back of him.

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(Confessional- Heather)

"This close, I was this (bleep) close!" Heather was practically seething over her loss, but she took a moment to compose herself "As much as I hate to admit it, losing my cool and throwing a fit isn't going to get my anywhere now. Mal has immunity and I can't get him kicked off, there isn't anything I can do about that. But at the very least, I can try and get some good favor with a few of the others. It's the only thing I really can do now."

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(Confessional- Brick)

"What exactly did Heather call him?" Brick frowned in thought "She called him Mal, is that a nickname or a name for one of his other personalities? I don't know, something about this feels wrong."

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At the very end of the challenge…

"Perfect, just (bleep) perfect." Heather was still fuming as she climbed her way back up the side of the chasm and over to the finish line, only be forced to duck to avoid DJ, Courtney and Dawn hurtling along the zip line and crashing beyond the finish line.

"Ha, you gotta love the bonus ouchies! You guys can all count your bruises, whether physical or to the egos, while I'm counting the votes at the elimination tonight. Mike is safe from the Flush of Shame, so it raises the big question. Who's going to be getting flushed? Ha I'm kidding, we all know who's going home."

"Yeah yeah go ahead and rub it in, I'll just rub my foot up your-" Heather didn't get the chance to finish before she was suddenly pulled aside by DJ and the others "I'd say you were gonna rub salt in the wound, but we both know that's not your style."

"You're right, it's not." DJ let out a sigh "For what it's worth, if it were an option, I would've voted with you to take Mal down."

"So you know about him too. Figures."

"The only problem is that he has immunity, which means we can't vote him off."

"Which means you need the next biggest Villain to choose as a backup, yeah yeah I know how that goes. If you and your alliance plan to vote me off then just get on with it already."

"You're taking that a lot better than I expected."

"At this point I just want to get it over with. As much as I want the million bucks, right now what I want more is to make sure that little (bleep) loses." she let out a sigh, then gave a smirk "And on that note, I already told Courtney about the contingency plan I have in play. If all goes well then he'll be joining me in that giant toilet tomorrow night. And even if I can't do it myself, I'd get some catharsis from knowing that he's going down."

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Nightfall came, and the time for the elimination ceremony had come.

"Alright maggots, I gotta congratulate all of you." Chris addressed the final six once they were gathered at the campfire pit "This was officially the fastest voting process in the history of the show. The votes are pretty much unanimous, with the sole exception being one entry that was particularly artistic." he held up a picture of Mike with devil horns and evil facial hair drawn all over it.

"Ha!" Heather barked out a laugh, and her grin only got wider when she noticed Mal shooting a glare in her direction.

"But it doesn't matter for two reasons. One, Mike has immunity so the vote doesn't count, and two, everyone else wants Heather to surf the porcelain wave machine."

"...(Insert angry stream of bleeps here)!"

"Gee what a shame, except not really. In the meantime, since Mike won the challenge, it means he and a camper of her choic get to join me and Brick for a night in the Spa Hotel."

"Oh yeah, you're already in there." Mal blinked and looked over at Brick "Truth be told I was gonna pick you either way, so… Yeah, I'm just gonna go with that."

"I'm proud to have you there either way soldier." Brick gave him a smile and a salute… and then he took notice of the red licorice Mal was chewing on "Where did you get the licorice? Hold on a second, is that the licorice rope from the obstacle course?"

"Yep. I was hungry and wanted a victory snack, and nobody said I couldn't have any."

"Fair enough I guess. Is it any good?"

"It's not bad, but I personally like black licorice better." he was met with a few looks of disgust from the others "What?"

"...Seriously?" Chris sounded particularly incredulous "Come on dude, even I think that stuff is nasty."

"What, it's a matter of preference."

"Yeah, except your preference is a load of crap."

"Agree to disagree." Mal rolled his eyes, then looked over at Brick "So since I can't bring you with me to pay you back, I'm thinking… movie night? Your pick."

"Sounds good to me." Brick thought for a moment, and then it came to him "I did want to see the new Transformers movie, Rise of the Beasts."

"Seriously, they're still making those?"

"They actually did sort of a soft reboot awhile ago, starting with Bumblebee. I enjoyed the first one myself."

"Huh. Fair enough I guess. Let's just see if these are actually good."

"They will be soldier, trust me on that."

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(Confessional)

"I choose to take his word for it, and if not… well let's just say Heather won't be the only one in the giant toilet." Mal gave a shrug, then a smirk "Either way that's one headache I won't have to deal with anymore. Next I better focus on Dawn and that little alliance of hers. Then I'll see just how far Mike will get during all of that."

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Later, at the Flush of Shame…

"You idiots have no idea what you're losing." Heather shot a glare at the others from her place in the Flush of Shame "Not to mention some of you have no idea the bigger threat hiding right in plain sight!"

"Yeah yeah enough of that, just go meet up with your boy toy already." Chris let out a fake yawn and pushed the button on his remote to start the Flush of Shame.

"The truth is under solid rock, under solid rock!" that was all Heather managed to get out before she disappeared down the Flush of Shame.

"Huh, cryptic warning, not a bad way to go out."

"The truth is under solid rock?" Courtney shared a look with DJ and Dawn "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"What does it mean indeed?" Chris lookd over at the camera to sign off "There's only one way to find out, and it's to tune in next time when we downgrade the final five to the fortunate four, on the next exciting installment of Total! Drama! All Stars!"

A/N:

And we see this story's return, where six becomes five. Thank you all for remaining patient with this one. I was on vacation with my family for the past week, and I had needed it more than I realized. But now I'm back, and I'm ready to see this story all the way through to the end.

Speaking of which, Heather has ended her run in All Stars, though it was inevitable that she go at some point. But at least I had her go fairly far in this version, so that's something I consider respectable, and she played her part: she left a tablet filled with footage of Mal's actions away from his prying eye.

Also as a quick note, let me know if you guys caught the call back to Total Drama Action at the end of the chapter.

Remaining contestants: Brick, Courtney, Dawn, DJ, Mike

Elimination Order:

Scott- 14th

Jo- 13th

Anne Maria- 12th

Cody- 11th

Duncan- 10th

Zoey- 9th

Alejandro- 8th

Gwen- 7th

Heather- 6th