(The Bold and the Booty-Ful)
Spectacular Webhead 11: Yep, but even without his Mike persona Mal is still by no means weak or defenseless. Taking him down won't be easy.
Theboiishere12345: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Now that Mal is exposed, it's not a surprise that everyone will be gunning for him. Also I'm glad you caught onto the reference to Just One Bite. You'll just have to wait and see how the rest of it pans out.
Magic Detective: You'll see how that goes in due time.
CraftSama7: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I have to say, the idea of Mike and Mal in a fight inside the mind while the challenge is going outside is a pretty interesting concept. We'll see how that pans out.
Ellismskd24: That does sound pretty cool.
SuperSonicHeroes: Courtney's character aside, I didn't think the canon episode was as awful as most people make it out to be. Though if the writers never planned to redeem her, that definitely explains a few things. But I'm glad to see you like what I'm doing so far, so thanks. I thought it would be funny to have Mal create the chart this time around, and while he was smart enough to get rid of it, it didn't do anything to change Courtney exposing him with the evidence Heather had left behind. You can't go wrong with a good role reversal. I'm also glad to see you caught the reference to Just One Bite. Mal definitely had a hard time during that challenge, but he still managed to save himself with the second Invincibility Statue, at the cost of DJ. His elimination was inevitable, but I think he had a respectable ranking here, and he definitely left his mark on those left, specifically Dawn, Courtney and Brick.
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Starting with the recap…
In typical fashion, Chris started off the newest episode with a recap of the previous one on the Dock of Shame "Last time on Total Drama All Stars: Our fival five contestants went out on a slippery and saucy sundae shopping spree with a side of them slowly going nuts, mostly for my entertainment. Speaking of slips, thanks to a little hidden dirt Heather left behind, Courtey was finally able to expose Mike for the rat that he is. Or is it Mal, now and forever? In any case, even with his latest dirty trick in play, Mal lost out the challenge to Dawn and was heading on a one way trip down the Flush of Shame… or he would've if he hadn't gotten his hands on the second Invincibility Statue, leaving DJ to get the watery boot in his place. We still have four players left in the running, but not for long-" he was cut off by the sound of a fart "Uh… gonna be sure to edit that out later. Which contestants are heading to the finale?" another fart "And who's more than likely going to get a bacterial infection that I'll be legally responsible for if someone won't stop using the Flush of Shame?!" he shot a glare at where the yeti sat on the Flush of Shame reading a newspaper, receiving only a low growl in response "Seriously dude, you know that we put people in there right? You know what, gonna deal with that later." he let out a sigh and then turned back to the camera "Anyway, it's all or nothing time, right here on the next action packed installment of Total! Drama! All Stars!" and cue another fart "Oh god, I think that one burned through my eyes!"
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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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The night was calm over Wawanakwa, but solem at the same time.
"So I hit the final four again, yay…" Courtney sat alone on the porch of the loser cabin, then looked inside one of the doors, and her gaze trailed over to an empty bed "Doesn't really feel the same without the rest of you here."
"Feeling a bit down Private?"
Courtney looked over to see Brick making his way across the camp grounds "That's one way to describe it. We're officially in the final four, this is the farthest that I've ever made it in any Total Drama season."
"Didn't you make it to the final four in Total Drama Action?"
"Yeah but I started from like halfway through, so I don't really count it. But aside from that, I'm also the last original cast member left on the island. I should be happy about getting here, but the thing is I'm anything but. I spent another season of my life under the thumb of a psychopath who only cares about himself and ratings, not to mention that my boyfriend is gone, along with pretty much all of the friends I had before. Now I'm closer to the finale than ever, but… I don't know, it just feels wrong to do this without them."
"Honestly, I understand how you feel." Brick sat down net to her and let out a sigh "To be totally honest, I don't feel like I deserve to be here either. I went into this season promising that I would go as far as I could while sticking true to my code… and look how that turned out. I ended up helping the last person get this far who really deserved it. Even after the likes of Jo."
"You mean Mal don't you?"
"Yes. I helped him get as far as this, because I couldn't bring myself to see the truth."
"You think you're the first person on this show that got tricked by some competitive lunatic bent on winning at all costs? Take a look at Heather, Alejandro, Scott… and me."
"But the others all knew that something was wrong, and I couldn't see it myself."
"Taking a moment of self reflect?"
Brick and Courtney both jumped and looked over to see Dawn sitting on the railing of the Loser Cabin porch "That's one way to describe it. How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know that I have to try and put your guilt at ease." Dawn sat next to the two of them and patted Brick on the shoulder "You have nothing to be ashamed of Brick."
"Even though I helped Mal to get as far as he did? I never even saw through his ruse."
"You weren't acting out of malicious intent, far from it really. You were helping him because you were being kind, and the reason why you were being kind is because you are a kind soul that will do what he believes is right."
"Perhaps, but…"
"Think of it this way, whatever you might have done can't be anywhere near as bad as any of the things I've done on this show." Courtney leaned back on the stairs and gaze up at the moonlight shining above them "I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who agree with that."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. I only came back to spend another season under the sadistic thumb of Chris because I wanted to redeem myself for all the crap I pulled in the earlier seasons. But there were plenty of people who tried to talk me out of it, said that I shouldn't bother and that it was pretty much pointless to go on this show looking for redemption."
"But that's ridiculous."
"That's what I thought at the time, that maybe they just didn't want me to almost die on Total Drama for the umpteenth time… but now I'm starting to think that none of them were actually wrong in telling me that."
"They were wrong. You were unsatisfied by how you performed in the past, and you had enough courage to come back and try to redeem yourself. How many people can say the same?"
"But no matter what I did or didn't do, it seemed like I ended up digging myself into a deeper hole I couldn't claw my way out of. When I first auditioned for Total Drama Island, I said that I was going to conduct myself with integrity and honor. That didn't last very long. It didn't take long before my overly competitive nature showed itself, and I didn't wind up making the best rep for myself with my team. I still made a few friends though. There were plenty of times when I wasn't able to back up my talk about being on of the best, like with the phobia factor challenge. I was downright petrified, and I couldn't bring myself to do it, but by some stroke of luck, I didn't get voted off, and instead Tyler did. To make a long story short, my time on the island didn't really amount to anything but me being an overly competitive control freak."
"You might not have been the best person back then, but you still managed to conduct yourself a lot better than some, like Heather. Plus don't forget you met a special someone in that time."
"That is true, over the course of my time in the first season I wound up slowly growing closer to my teammates and others… especially Duncan. But it didn't last long. Duncan slowly but surely he got me to loosen up and have some fun with him, and for the first time in a long while… I was happy. Until I wasn't after that, because that was when Harold rigged the votes and got me kicked off, and then I just felt something inside me… snap. After that, I swore up and down that I would never let my feelings get in the way of a competition again, that I would do whatever it took to win. That led me to do some pretty bad stuff, like when the first million dollar case came into the equation after the first season. I paired off with Duncan… but I abandoned him the first chance I had to get the money for myself. Combine that with the hot air baloon and the bear… I think you get the idea."
"I do."
"I didn't end up qualifying for the second season, but I wasn't satisfied with that. I called up my lawyers and we managed to sue the show for wrongful dismissal, which we won, on the grounds of my last elimination being because of sabotage, and Chris and the producers ignoring it for the sake of ratings. I came back halfway through the second season, and I thought was proving to the others that I was a forced to be wreckoned with… but I was showing myself as a power hungry control freak who was willing to do anything and hurt anyone I had to in order to get further ahead in the game. I even ended up alienating Duncan in the process, and he turned out to be the one that got me kicked off in the end."
"True, but that didn't change the fact that you two cared about each other. Let's not forget that you voted for him to win the second season, and you managed to rekindle your relationship after that, even when you had other arguments and fallings out."
"Yeah, but that didn't do anything to solve the overall problem. Me. I was the problem and I refused to see it or admit it. I was still obsessed with winning and being the best, and holding onto this fragile little sense of control I was desperate to cling onto, and I lashed out at anyone I felt I could. It ended up driving away any other friends I had… and Duncan. The only person who didn't give up on me was DJ. Now he's gone, and… I don't know if I can do this on my own."
"I understand what you feel Courtney, believe me." Dawn finally spoke up and placed a gentle hand on Courtney's shoulder "You have made mistakes through your time on this show, some of them being bigger than others for certain."
"Tell me about it."
"But the same can be said for everyone else. There is no doubt that you will also make many more mistakes in your lifetime, with or without this show. But the important thing you have to keep in mind is to learn from your mistakes, and better yourself over time. It may have taken you some time, but that is what you've done for yourself."
"Not on my own. Like I said, if it wasn't for DJ. If it wasn't for him working me through all of it back then… I doubt I'd be here right now."
"Perhaps, but the fact is that you are here now. You've grown a great deal, and not just since the third season. I'm sure anyone who knows the true you can see that you've changed since the day you arrived on this island in the first season. When you first came you were hot tempered, a bit self centered and had an overwhelming desire to win and be the best, the last of which only grew worse over time. But ever since then, be it with ups or downs, now you sit here with the two of us as a mature and thoughtful woman who cares about the wants and needs of others more than those of herself."
"I guess, but… I still treated everybody horribly at one point or another." Courtnye looked down at herself, only to feel Dawn's grip on her shoulder tightened.
"You did, no one can or will deny that. But many of them have forgiven you, and now the time has come for you to forgive yourself."
"I… I can only promise to try." Courtney wiped away a few stray tears, then looked over at Brick and Dawn and gave a small smile "Thanks for listening you two. Be it with Mal or anything else, there isn't a doubt in my mind that things are going to get worse. But no matter what happens, no matter how crazy things might get, I'm gonna keep moving forward in any way I can. But right now even if I don't win, I still have one goal, and that's making sure Mal loses."
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(Confessional)
"I'm only two steps away from getting to where I need to be." Mal leaned back on the seat in the confessional, his gaze hard and unflinching "There's only one to two more challenges at most before I finally have the million dollars in my grasp. I don't even need the rest of them to think I'm actually Mike. Speaking of which, I can only imagine his reaction when he pops back out to find a million big ones sitting in his lap. That being said, he's still got a fair bit to go through before he can get back out. Four down so far, three to go."
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Meanwhile, inside the mindscape…
"It's definitely getting a lot closer." Mike continued his journey through the mindscape in the direction of Mal's tower "It can't be too much further to get to Mal's tower now."
"Forget about the freaky tower." Vito shot a smirk at the others "I'm just hoping we can track down the club district soon."
"No you ninny, if this place has a club district then I'll eat my pants, and I'd eat them without any catsup. Unless you got some on you." Chester pointed an accusing finger at Vito "I know you're holding out on me, so fess up already!"
"Hold up you guys, I think I see something." Mike directed everyone's attention forward, and his face lit up at what, or who he saw "Manitoba!"
Sure enough, Manitoba Smith stood before the group, chained to a large boulder shaped like the face of Mal, with a campfire burning in front of him "Oh hey, I was wondering when you wily dingos were gonna make it this far. Took ya long enough."
"You knew we were coming?"
"Course I did, don't forget that I was the one that nong whacked with the shovel, so I've been able to sense everything that's been going on since we got stuck in here. Speaking of which, the new man in charge left another one of those freaky notes for ya."
"Really?" Mike reached down and plucked the note in question off the stone surrounding the campfire, which he then read out loud "The fifth mental barrier is focused mainly on truth, and is blocked by powerful lies. Not the lies that we tell others or we're told by others, but the ones that we tell ourselves. I don't lie to myself, not about…" he paused and looked around at the other personalities, then shook it off and turned back to Manitoba "No I don't have time for this right now."
"And I ain't got time to talk either, I've got a quota to fill."
"That's another thing I wanted to ask, what exactly is Mal making you do?"
"See them clouds up there?" he jerked a thumb at the clouds floating above them, some white and some black "They're your dreams, good and bad, and my job is to get rid of em so you can either never enjoy them again or they ain't gonna haunt ya anymore."
"Good and bad huh? Which one do you get more of?"
"Mostly the crappy ones involving the fuckers of ya childhood or middle school years that kept giving ya grief, but a few of the sappier ones too. For example…" Manitoba latched onto one of the clouds using his lasso and pulled it down in front of them "Like this one ya had a month ago about kissing Zoey in the rain."
"Oh yeah, I loved that dream."
"Yep. Too bad Mal doesn't." so Manitoba chucked it into the campfire.
"Hey! What the hell did you do that for?!"
"Like I said mate, it's Mal's orders. Said that one was too much like something from Twilight, and it ain't gonna matter as much as the real deal or something."
"Okay you know what, that's not gonna fly with me. As soon as I get out of here, the first thing that I want to do is find Zoey and give her a real kiss, one that Mal won't be able to ruin!"
"Yep, let me know how that goes mate." Manitoba latched onto another cloud, a dark one, and then hurled it into the campfire.
"Oh come on man, stop burning up my dreams already!"
"Mate that one was of your dreams about a sumo wrestler wearing you like a scarf. You really wanna keep that on around?"
"...Okay, fair point. But they're still my dreams to have, and I don't want you burning them up in my head! Besides, don't you wanna be free?"
"Hey mate, me being free means I get my own movie franchise that runs through Harrison Ford's like a hot knife through butter. Besides, even if there were a chance for us to beat Mal, it'd just put you back in the driver's seat, so how does that make any of us free?"
"What? Come on man…"
"Yo man, he's right." Vito and the others were quick to round on Mike "Why should you get all the control?"
"What do you mean why? It's because I'm the first, the original, I created you guys."
"Yeah right." Chester let out a scoff "Where's the proof?"
"I've got it right here, see for yourself." Mike pulled his wallet out of his pocket and showed it to the others, only to be met with screams of terror "What?" then he looked at it himself… and was horrified by the face he saw inside "Mal? No, no no no no… NOOOO!"
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Another day came, and all was calm on Wawanakwa… for about five minutes.
"Good morning final four, all of you'd better get to the dock pronto-roonio! It's crunch time for all of you, and by that I mean you're about to get crunched!"
"Yep, that figures." Courtney let out a yawn as she made her way out of the Loser Cabin, then out of the camp grounds and over to the Dock of Shame, where she found Brick and Dawn there waiting for her "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you slept better than I did?"
"Not to the extent that you might believe." Dawn told her "The beds are incredibly soft yes, but there is one outlying factor that diminishes the enjoyment one would get from the hotel."
"Which is what exactly?"
"Ahoy maties!" this was when Chris showed up on the scene on the Boat of Losers, clad in his pirate outfit "Two things before we start. One, let's welcome back last night's exile, Mike, or whatever we're calling him."
"Trust me you egomaniacal (bleep), they know damn well who I am." Mal stepped off of the boat and took his place alongside the rest of the final four, taking their glares in stride.
"Two, come to me my faithful bird!"
"I hate my life." Chef made his way out of the boat cabin clad in a parrot costume, scowling all the while "I really, really hate my life."
"Oh come on, quit giving me that scowl, you look great and you know it."
"Uh huh."
"Hey you don't have to pout, if you don't want to be here then-" Chris didn't get the chanc to finish before Chef took the Boat of Losers and left "That isn't what I was gonna say!"
"But it's what any of us would've done." Mal noted dryly.
"Nobody asked you!" Chris took a moment to collect himself, then let out a sigh "Sorry, it's just that life is so hard in the Spa Hotel. I'm so freaking sick of ruffing it!"
"Yes, roughing it." Dawn cast a quick glance over to Courtney "To add onto the statement I was making earlier, he is the outlying factor I mention before."
"Anyway, since I'm craving the comforts of home, I've decided to come up with a really special challenge. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, not that you have a choice, is for each of you to retrieve one of four valuable pieces of pirate booty that we've stashed somewhere on the island."
"And we're supposed to believe there's anything remotely valuable on this giant bag of horse (bleep) you call an island?" Mal let out a snort.
"I'll have you know that there's plenty if you know what you're looking for!" that part was said with a distinct pirate accent.
"Pretty sure that depends on who you're asking. Anyone with half a brain cell knows that your most prized possession is yourself." Mal paused and looked at the others "Wait, does that mean we have to tie him up and carry him somewhere? Because I'm okay with that."
"You and many others wish." Chris gave a smirk as he directed everyone's attention over to a set of chests on the other end of the dock "In order to determine who searches for what, each player will choose one of these four treasure chests. Dawn, as the winner of the last challenge, you get the honor of going first."
"Very well." so Dawn made her way over to the chest and opened up one of the chests… only to receive a dark cloud exploding in her face, leaving her in a sneezing fit "Achoo! Is- achoo- this pepper?"
"Yep! That means you have to go to the crumbling and life-threateningly wreck of what used to be my cottage and bring back an intact portrait of yours truly."
"You said life threatenly?" Dawn got into another sneezing fit.
"Next up is the former exile, Mal."
"On it." so Mal stepped up to the chests and tapped one, only to be shocked by it… but he was quick to shake it off "Meh."
"Seriously? You're just gonna shake that off? What the hell is going on in that head of yours dude?"
"A lot of (bleep) up stuff, but it's unrelated. I was literally set on fire three times yesterday, this is nothing. Also, what up with the image of the footprint?"
"Oh yeah. For your challenge Mal, you have to bring me the yeti Sasquatchanakwa. Not just one piece of fur or one of its eggs, the whole yeti."
"Again with being set on fire for- Wait, that thing lays eggs?"
"Toxic waste. Courtney is up next."
"Right." Courtney braced herself as she stepped up to the plate and opened up a chest, only to be met with a boxing glove rising up to punch her in the face, but she managed to duck "Ha!" but then another one sprouted from under the table and slugged her in the gut, leaving her to fall to her knees "Oh come on…"
"We figured you were gonna try something like that. Now then Courtney, for your challenge you have to bring me the McLean Diamond, which can be found on or near the abandoned pirate ship from the finale of Total Drama Action, which happens to be guarded by your former animal buddy, Fang."
"...Of course it is." Courtney winced as she pulled herself to her feet "With this show you'd think I would've learned by now."
"Yeah you'd think, but it wouldn't be as funny if you did. Brick get over here, you're the last one to go."
"Understood." Brick made his way over to the chests "So by process of elimination, I take it I'll be taking the only one that hasn't been opened yet. What's in it?"
"Nice try soldier, but the choice isn't official until you see it for yourself. Now open it already maggot!"
"Sir yes sir!" so Brick stuck his hand into the chest and felt around… only to end up screaming in pain as a snapping turtle latched onto his arm.
"Allow me." Dawn gently rubbed the turtle's shell, causing it to let go of Brick and begin to nuzzle against her.
"Thank you."
"Yeah what he said, now get out of the shot." Chris shoved Dawn out of the way and showed the image in the chest "For your challenge Brick, you have to bring me the original long lost Gilded Chris statue from Total Drama Action."
"Understood sir… but where am I going to find it?"
"If I knew that then I wouldn't be calling it long lost now would I?"
"Ah… well when you put it like that…"
"It's a little something called hosting mojo, how do you think I've gotten to pull off five seasons of this show?" Chris' smirk grew wider as he turned to the rest of the final four "Also a quick word to the wise, you're gonna want to work fast and think even faster, because two of you will be heading home via Flush of Shame tonight." he was met with a few gasps "Yep, this is the big semi-final challenge of the season, which means next up is the final round for the big prize, one million dollars! But you've gotta get there first, and whoever comes back last, or even worse, empty handed, goes directly to the Flush of Shame. However, whoever brings back their loot first will win a guaranteed spot in the finale, and not only that, but they get to select which of the remaining two walks the plank into the big john tonight. All clear maties?! Good, because on yer mark… you know what screw it, just go." and then he blew on his air horn, causing the final four to take off running.
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(Confessional)
"So I'm taking on a yeti. Gonna have to play this carefully." Mal frowned in thought "Now that my identity is out in the open, I really can't afford to waste any time or screw around. Lucky for me I've got the rare combination of both brains and brawn, so it's time for me to put both of them to good use."
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Meanwhile, with the diamond hunter…
"Okay, now if I was a sadistic manchild, where would I hide a diamond?" Courtney made her way along the path through the lake until she climbed into the pirate ship "Aside from using it as a mirror, probably…"
"This just in, Courtney is the first contestant to reach her pirate loot zone! The heat is officially ON! I hope that my loud voice isn't getting the attention of Fang!"
"I would tell you to keep it down, but I know better with you by now."
"Good choice little Miss CIT. They're called loud speakers, so DEAL WITH IT!"
"Case and point." Courtney's attention was grabbed by the sound of a door opening, and she looked over to see Fang emerge from one of the bathrooms "Okay, here we go… Look I know the history between us isn't the best, but I'm not here to pick a fight. If you just give me the diamond or show me where Chris hid it, I'll be on my way."
The only response Fang gave her was a wide smirk… revealing the diamond embedded among his many teeth.
"...There isn't a single (bleep) thing on this show that should surprise me anymore, and yet here we are."
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Meanwhile, with the yeti hunter…
"Okay, so they're still warm." Mal knelt down and looked over the set of tracks on the ground in front of him "Either these are gonna lead me to the yeti, or it's Chef's time of the month. Based on what I saw earlier, it's probably gonna be both."
"This just in, Mal is zeroing in on the yeti's hideaway, but bringing him back is definitely going to be a lot harder than he thinks, especially if-" Chris was cut off by a rock being thrown at the loudspeaker.
"Ah, the ability to hear myself think, how I missed thee." and on that note, Mal continued on his way.
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Meanwhile, with the art thief…
"Let's see, to find one portrait of his likeness intact." Dawn made her way along the beach over to Playa de Losers… only to find mostly a scorched wreckage where it once stood "That may be a bit more difficult than I was led to believe." and yet despite this, she chose to venture into what was left of the resort.
"This just in, Dawn has reached the final resting place of my beloved cottage… be sure to treat her gently Dawn, and for once I mean that sincerely."
"Understood." Dawn made her way through the wreckage, only to pause and look around at the mess as her face fell "Those interns caused this destruction, but their auras were polluted by the toxic waste, and their own anger… all aimed towards him… and yet he holds no remorse for any of his actions."
"Hey, remorse doesn't get ratings Moonchild!"
"But ratings do earn you a special place in-" Dawn was cut off by a crumbling noise, and she looked up to see a large piece of wreckage about to collapse on her, causing her to shut her eyes and brace herself as it fell on top of her.
"Ooh, a few minutes it and it looks like someone is already getting crushed! Which is way more entertaining for me! How are things gonna pan out from here? Will Dawn survive, and for that matter will any of them? There's only one way to find out, and it's to stick around until I make some snacks, and we come back right here on Total! Drama! All Stars!"
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One commercial break later…
"Okay, so I found my quarry. That's one step down." Mal glanced down from his place perched on the branch of a high tree to see the yeti seated around a table in the forest clearing, along with a bear and the racoon transformer "And apparently he's got a poker group, because why not? Oh well, not the weirdest thing I've seen on this island. Not like I have a real strategy here, not like I've got time to come up with one either. Oh well, I'm not a badass for nothing, so let's see how this goes." so with a comically overdramatic roar, he leapt out of the tree and jumped down onto the table in front of the yeti "Listen up you overgrown bigfoot reject, I'm not like the rest of the peons you see running around the island. I ruled over juvie with an iron fist, I beat Duncan in hand to hand combat, I outran the walking rat pile over there without breaking a sweat, and I outran the (bleep) Slender Man of all things, so let's go and-" he didn't get the chance to finish before the yeti suddenly grabbed him by the leg, glaring holes into him "Um… I imagined this going differently."
The yeti's glare only intensified as he tightened his grip on Mal's leg, picked him up and then repeatedly slammed him into the ground before finally slamming him down onto the table, leaving him to lie amongst the wreckage. The yeti and the others then looked at Mal in what appeared to be disappointment, before turning and walking away.
"So this is what Tom Hiddleston felt like after pissing off Mark Ruffalo… that's a good thing to know… ow…" Mal spat out some blood and picked himself up out of the wreckage, then went over and grabbed the yeti by the arm "Okay, I think we got off on the wrong foot."
The yeti only cast him an annoyed glance.
"Let's try this another way. You guys had a poker game going right?" he received a few nods from the others "Any chance you'd let me get in on it? I've got a wad of cash I managed to snag from McLean's wallet last time I was in the Spa Hotel. I win and the yeti comes with me so I win the challenge, but he wins and he wears me like a scarf. Who's in?"
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Meanwhile, with the art thief…
"Need a hand soldier?"
Dawn opened her eyes and looked up to see Brick clearing away the wreckage and holding out a hand to her, which she accepted and was pulled out of the rubble "I thank you sincerely for your aid Brick, but what are you doing here?"
"Well I… assumed that this is a good place to look for the Gilded Chris award." Brick let out a nervous chuckle "After all, knowing what our commanding officer is like, I figured that he'd definitely want to keep track of a statue that looks like him."
"I see."
"...You're not buying that are you?"
"While it is a solid alibi, keep in mind that at times my aura reading allows me to tell when a person is being deceitful."
"Right…" Brick looked around awkwardly, then let out a sigh "Okay, I actually did look in the basement, or what was left of it, and didn't find anything, but beyond that… I figured I'd try to make myself useful to you in some way. It's all I really can do without any chance of finding my artifact… not that I really deserve it anyway."
"Why would you not? If this is about our conversation last night…"
"I know what you're gonna say, actually you've already said it, but that doesn't make me feel any less guilty. I helped further Mal in the game, I was the one who got Gwen eliminated after the mine challenge… honestly, I can't help but wonder if I'm as bad as Mal is."
"Brick, please…" Dawn gently cupped his face… then smacked the back of his head.
"Ow! What did you do that for?"
"As much as I hate to use this sort of venacular, it's because you're being an idiot. I think I speak for everyone when I say that you are not like Mal, and you never will be. Whatever you might have done that you aren't proud of. The difference is that your feelings are genuine. Every action that you've taken is in the service of others, but the actions Mal has taken in the outside world are only in service to himself and his own goals. You are not like him, you never have been and you never will be."
"I know, but…" Brick was cut off by Dawn gripping both sides of his head and touching his forehead to her own, before he was pushed away "What was… Wow, I suddenly feel a lot better now. How did you do that?"
"My aura reading gives me insight to the various mental barriers scattered throughout one's own mindscape. In your case, I made a simple adjustment to the second one, which can be opened by you forgiving yourself, and the third one, which is opened by accepting that which fills you with shame and moving past it."
"Oh… well I definitely feel more at peace with myself. How can I thank you for it? Just say the word and I'll do whatever I can to help you find a painting."
"Actually I'm quite capable of finding an intact portrait myself, but I believe Courtney wouldn't say no to some extra assistance. So as I say this in a way you're comfortable with, go and help her solider!"
"Ma'am yes ma'am!" Brick gave a quick salute and then took off running in the direction of the pirate ship.
"Excellent, now where was I?" Dawn turned her attention to a piece of art sticking out of a pile of rubble nearby, and she tried to pull it out… only for it to result in loud shaking, to which her expression turned dull "Again with the vernacular I don't approve of… crapbaskets." and then the rubble came down on her.
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Meanwhile, with the diamond hunter…
"Okay there we go, nice and easy." from her place perched on the mast of the pirate ship and with a lasso in hand, Courtney shot a glare down at where Fang was lounging on a beach towel and wearing a pair of sunglasses "This has to work." so she took a breah and lowered her lasso down until he latched onto Fang's nose "There we go, now to get the diamond."
Fang let out a snarl and yanked on the rope, despite Courtney's struggles against it, sending her careening into the water surrounding the ship with a loud splash.
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(Confessional)
"Okay, I imagined that going differently." Courtney let out a groan as she spat out some water and dried herself with a towel "My initial thought process was that if I was going to get the diamond from Fang, then I'd have to subdue him before it could turn into an all out brawl like last time. Lucky for me my training to be a counselor involved me learning how to bait and trap certain animals. Granted I never had to try it with sharks, but aside from the all out brawl I mentioned, it's really all I have to go on. Evidently they didn't count for me having to fight off a mutant shark." she paused and looked at the camera "Okay seriously, how did my life get to the point where that isn't a strange sentence?"
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Meanwhile, with the yeti hunter…
"Okay seriously dude, I'm on a time crunch here." Mal shot a look at the bear as it repeatedly shuffled through the cards in its hand "You in or out?"
The bear let out a low growl.
"What do you mean it's a lot of cash? It's 5 bucks."
Another growl, and the bear placed down its hand.
"You fold. Okay, that's one down. How about you Raccoonoid, show us what you got."
The raccoon transformer let out a chittering noise.
"So you'll show me yours if I show you mine. Remember we're talking about cards, and this body is already taken for, now show your freaking hand."
There was another chitter, and Raccoonoid placed down its hand.
"So you got two queens, straight out of a wedding in San Francisco. Not bad, but I've got my set of lucky numbers right here. 6, 6 and 6." Mal placed down his cards "Bet you guys didn't see all that coming did you?"
The yeti let out a low growling noise.
"Yep, never saw that coming. If there's one thing I'm a master of, it's pulling the wool over the eyes of the unsuspecting. How do you think I fooled so many of the others on this island for so long? You just gotta keep a straight face."
The yeti shot a smirk at him for his choice of words and placed down his hand.
"Ah, so you've got the straight. Well played Bigfoot wanna be, well played." Mal paused and looked up at where the loudspeaker used to hang "Alright look I'm on a time crunch, what do you say we make this interesting and crank this up a notch or two. Best five cards without any limits. Who's in?"
The bear let out a growl and turned away.
"What do you mean you fold? You don't even have cards yet!"
Another growl.
"Okay seriously, if one of you tries to karaoke a Kenny Rogers song and I won't hesitate to stab you in the eye."
The bear let out a more angered growl and stomped away from the scene.
"Good, now where were we? Who's putting how much cash in? Yeti the bet's to you."
The yeti placed down a bill.
"$10, good choice. Raccoonoid, how about you?"
Another bill.
"Raising it $20, but can you back it up?"
Raccoonoid let out a growl and turned away.
"So you fold, and then there were two. Well I'm gonna see his $20 and raise it $30. So how what do you say yeti?"
The yeti gave a smirk and placed down his hands.
"Three kings huh? Damn. Hey by the way, you know how anyone who's staying in the Spa Hotel is stuck staying with McLean? Turns out there's one thing he always forgets to do."
A confused growl.
"No. Well yeah he does that, but I meant flush. Speaking of which, guess what I've got!" Mal let out a triumphant laugh as he put down his cards, earning more growling from the others as he took the bills the others placed down "Now that we've got that out of the way, we've got a quick trip to make to the camp grounds. Move it big guy."
The yeti let out an enraged snarl, but complied nonetheless and began following Mal back in the direction of the camp grounds.
"Oh yeah, and don't forget to give me the cash when we get there." Mal ducked underneath a rock being hurled at his head "Okay too far, got it."
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Meanwhile, with the diamond hunter…
"This just in, Mal is the first one to find his loot! But the question remains, will he be the first one to get it back to the dock?"
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Courtney dragged herself out of the lake and onto solid ground below the deck of the pirate ship, then promptly spat out some water "But apparently I don't have to way for me to get to get that diamond without fighting him for it."
"Perhaps a helping hand would give you an edge?"
Courtney looked over to see Brick making his way in along the rocks "Not that I'd say no to help at this point, but what are you doing here?"
"Well since I have just about no idea of where to look for my treasure, I thought it might be best for me to offer my services to me fellow competitors."
"Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but I'm pretty sure that even two sets of hands won't be able to hold Fang down long enough to pry that diamond out of his teeth, especially if I'm the one who has to get it. In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have the best history."
"Maybe not… but what if you didn't take the diamond from him?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean if you can't take the diamond from Fang, maybe you can tie him down and bring him as a whole back to Chris."
"Not a bad idea, but I'd still have to tie him down, and that didn't go so well last time."
"Perhaps… but not on your own." Brick was met with a raised eyebrow from Courtney "I've got a bit of experience with setting rope traps for the enemy from my army training. With the two of us working together, it should be enough to snare Fang and tie him down long enough for you to take him back to Chris."
"Well, that does sound like a solid plan. But what do you want in exchange?"
"All I want is to make sure that in the event you make it to the finale, you keep your word and win this season the right way. I wouldn't be disappointed if I did not win the season, but I'd be even more content to make sure that Mal doesn't win. Not after all he's done.
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Meanwhile, with the art thief…
"Oh my…" Dawn let out a series of coughs as she pulled herself out of the wreckage, now fully covered in soot "Perhaps not accepting Brick's help may not have been the best choice for my benefit after all… Wait, what's this?" her attention was quickly drawn to something poking out of the rubble, and she pulled it out to find an intact painting of Chris, but with some dirt on its face, which she tried to rub off, only for more to get on it "No, that won't work… what do I do now?" she received her answer when a bird landed on her shoulder and tweeted in her ear "Yes that could work, I should be able to fix it if I can find some natural ingredients, such as berries and other fruit, and a bit of mud. And you can lead it to me?" she received some tweets and began following the bird over into the forest.
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Meanwhile, with the host with the least…
"For those of you wondering, Mal is currently leading his loute to the dock, so if you haven't found yours yet then you might wanna think about doing so RIGHT NOW!"
With that being said, Chris shut off the monitor in the control room of the Spa Hotel and turned to the camera "Alright then, I think it's about time for us to head back to the dock and see who's gonna win this.
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Meanwhile, with the wannabe artist…
"There, this should suffice…" Dawn continued her work on the painting, using the juices of various berries she found to fix the damage only to frown as she noticed something "I'm not sure if this shade will work for his complexion, perhaps a darker shade for the hair…" then another aura drew her attention, and she looked over to see a bear stepping out of the nearby bushes with a newspaper in hand "No, that's not the proper shade of brown and the aroma would attract too much unwanted attention and suspicion… I suppose normal mud will have to do."
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Meanwhile, with the diamond hunters…
"Okay, I've got it set up here." Brick finished hooking up the rope trap from his place at the top of the mast and looked down at Courtney "He should be coming in any minute now."
"Which means now it's my turn to do my part." Courtney set down a bucket of fish in the middle of the rope snare and turned her attention over to Fang "If you want these, then you'll have to come and get them."
There as a pause, and then Fang came hurtling in and made a grab for the fish, only to be stopped by Courtney holding out a hand to him.
"I'm guessing there's no way to do this that doesn't involve me having to fight you?"
Fang merely shook his head.
"I didn't think so. Fine go ahead, if we have to do this then let's get it over with."
Fang's smirk widened as he charged at Courtney, his teeth barred and ready to chomp.
"If that's the way it has to be, then I won't go down fighting!" Courtney ducked under Fang's attempt to chomp at her and countered by kicking him square in the nose, sending him staggering backwards, and then she followed with a swift uppercut to his jaw "Everything I've done this season has been to try and redeem myself, for everything I've done on this show!" she followed up with a series of swift jabs at Fang's chest "All the lying, the controlling, trying to prove that I was the best, no matter who I had to run over or force to do things my way!" she charged and let another fist fly.
Fang recovered in time to grab Courtney by the arm, then gave a smirk as he opened his jaw and closed in.
"I tried to take control of everything! And everything I couldn't control or use, I ran right over without hesitation!" Courtney freed herself by kicking Fang in the nose, and then followed up with a swift roundhouse kick to the head, ending her assault as she pinned him to the ground and gave him one last punch to the face, before taking a moment to catch her breath "And even now, I still feel a part of me that wants to beat you into a paste for this…" she took a deep breath and got off of him, then dragged him over to the rope snare "And the old me probably would've done it… but I won't. That's not who I am anymore. For so long I kept trying to hold onto this fragile little sense of control over just about everything that I could, and in the end it didn't get me anything… For the past two years I tried to be better, someone that actually deserves to win, to have it all. I even apologized and tried to make amends with everyone I hurt or wrong in any way over the years. But I never did with you, did I? Tried to use you to get myself through the animal buddy challenge, in the end you and your friends ganged up on me… and only now do I realize how much I really deserved it. I was so desperate to win and prove myself, I ended up taking a lot out on you… and I'm sorry. For that, and for this. NOW!"
"Right!" Brick pulled on the rope, causing it to snare onto Fang's nose and hoist him a few feet into the air "Get it now!"
"I'm on it!" Courtney reached into Fang's jaw, now forced open, and pulled the diamond out from within his teeth "We got it!"
"Yes, way to shine through soldier!" Brick slid down to the mast and onto the deck of the pirate ship, only to pause and notice Courtney covered in cuts and bruises "You may want to get those looked at before they get infected."
"I've gotten way worse on this show, this is nothing. I'm more concerned about the fact that even if I have my treasure, you'll be going back empty handed." Courtney paused and looked at her own reflection in the water "You know Chris does love seeing contestants in pain."
"True, but what does that have to do with it?"
"I wonder if he'd be willing to give you a pass if you came back with me after I got hurt in this challenge. Meh, worth a shot."
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Meanwhile, at the camp grounds…
"Looks like things are finally winding down." Chris looked at the monitor next to him, then cast a glance over at the camera "But the question still remains, which of them will make it back with their treasure first?"
"Take a look over here and find out Potenza."
Chris glance over to see Mal walking his way over to the camp ground with the yeti trailing behind him "And we have our answer. How'd you pull this off so fast?"
"Short version, I won the right to lead him here in a high stakes poker game."
"Huh. You know Chef mentioned something about you having a poker face."
"And I put it to damn good use. Those hell spawns of Poison Ivy never saw it coming." it was only after this little comment that Mal was grabbed by the ankle and smashed into the ground once again, courtesy of a pissed off yet, who promptly flipped him off and stormed away from the dock "Ow…"
"Yeah word to the wise bro, the yeti has a temper. Oh well, getting your ass handed to you doesn't change the fact that you just won, and guaranteed yourself a spot in the finale, and a shot at the million!"
"Whoop de freaking doo." Mal rolled his eyes as he pulled himself to his feet.
"You don't seem anywhere near as enthusiastic as any other person who's about to win a million bucks."
"In the past three days, I've been dragged down by snapping turtles, lit on fire three times, given a brain freeze bad enough that I was writing on the ground for an hour, and in less than an hour I was given the Loki treatment by a (bleep) yeti, twice. Frankly I'm way past the point of giving a (bleep) about anything right now."
"Huh. Fair enough. Anyway, looks like second place is about to come in, along with third."
"We're here!" this was when Courtney and Brick rushed onto the scene, the former clutching the diamond in hand, only for her grin to disappear when she saw Mal there "Wait, he doesn't have the yeti with him so-"
"Actually it was here, it chucked him around like a rag doll and left, but it was here, so that means he wins."
"Dammit!"
"Yep, but you've got your treasure with you so you're safe from elimination." Chris then shot a glare at Brick "But one of you is empty handed, so what is a host to do?"
"I have no excuse for my failure sir." Brick steeled himself as he gave a salute "I can only accept my elimination with dignity."
"Dignity is asking for a lot when you're going down a giant toilet, but you're still getting ahead of yourself. Whether or not you get flushed depends on whether or not Dawn comes back empty handed. Whenever the hell that's gonna be."
"Apologies for the wait."
Chris let out a yelp of terror and whipped around to find Dawn standing a few feet away from the group with her painting in hand "Seriously, how the hell do you keep doing that?!"
"My aura reading allows me an advanced connection with nature, and it allows me to find many shortcuts." Dawn shot a glare at Mal "But evidently they weren't short enough."
"Doesn't really matter since you're the last one to arrive, but at least you came back baring loot, not that the same can be said for Brick. Alright, let's see it."
"As you wish." Dawn held up the painting in question.
"Funny, I don't remember this one."
"Thankfully the canvas was undamaged by the explosion, but the painting was a bit smudged, so I used some ingredients of nature to conduct a bit of restoration using some artistic skills that I had previously learned from Gwen."
"Ingredients of nature as in?"
"Mostly fruits and other assorted ingredients, as well as a bit of mud for the darker features on your person."
"Uh huh." Chris paused and sniffed around the painting, then gave a shrug "Well you're miles ahead of Gwen on the whole art thing, you really captured my gorgeous face. That means you're safe from the flush for a bit longer." he then turned his gaze back towards Brick "And as for you soldier, for showing up empty handed, your tour of duty has come to an end, and tonight you'll be DISMISSED!"
"Yes sir." Brick steeled himself and gave a simple salute.
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(Confessional)
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't bittersweet." Mal let out a long sigh "On the one hand, I finally got to where I need to be for everything to fall into place. On the other hand, the one going home is one of the only competitors here I actually liked. Well I guess I might as well do the same thing that most celebrities do, try to fill the big-ass void with money once I win."
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Meanwhile, inside the mindscape…
"This can't be real, it has to be some… some kind of trick…" Mike was left a mix of horrified and baffled as he looked down at the wallet in his hand "Mal is really the original personality? I can't… it doesn't… How…?"
"Here's a better question." Chester shot a glare at Mike "Why the heck have I been listening to you this whole time?"
"I… I don't-"
"Stop!" Svetlana was quick to cut in before an argument could break out "It doesn't matter who was the first, because Mike is the best of us! He has more patience than me, he's more generous than Chester, he's less arrogant than Manitoba, and he's a better dancer than Vito!"
"Hey!" Vito let out an offended yelp… then let out a sigh "It's true, we all know it."
"That… That really does mean a lot Svetlana, thank you." Mike gave her a small smile "But I have to be the original, I remember a whole life from before you guys… it was a horrible one, but it still happened."
"Oh go on already ya silly dingo." Manitoba let out a snort "Think about it for a tic. We're all stuck in a world that Mal turned into his playhouse, so where do you think that license came from to begin with?"
"What?" Mike looked down at the wallet in his hand… and immediately cringed when he realized he was holding a piece of brain matter "Okay that's just gross!" he shot a glare up at the ceiling as he morphed the brain matter into a sword "Go ahead and try to psyche me out as much as you want Mal, but I've come way too far to give up now!" he made his way over to Manitoba and swung the sword at the chain binding him… but nothing happened when it struck "Again with this?"
"Remember mate, you still gotta break through the mental barrier if you're gonna get strong enough to break the chains."
"Oh yeah. That. right." Mike looked back down at the note "This one is focusing on truth and lies right?"
"To be more specific, it's focus is on truth and is blocked by the lies we tell ourselves. So think about it, what have you been lying to yourself about?"
"...I think I know, and I've lied to more than just myself." Mike took a look around at the rest of his personalities "I still remember everything I went through back in Revenge of the Island. All that time I tried to keep you guys at bay, so that Zoey wouldn't get freaked out, but I ended up alienating her anyway. I tried to pass it off as being a bunch of theater characters… and the main reason why I did that is because I was scared. Scared that if one of you took over and got too much power and control, you'd go on a rampage like Mal did. Maybe deep down I thought that by trying to control all of you, I'd be protecting everyone around me… but the truth is, I think I was just trying to protect myself. I ended up controlling all of you, keeping you on tight leashes because of my own fear… and I'm sorry."
"Mike…"
"Svetlana said that I'm the best personality, that I've got traits of all of you, but the truth is that you've all got traits of me, because I was the one that created you. I can't lie to anyone about who I am, about my very nature. I'm more than just Mike up here. The four of you are a part of me… and Mal is too… and I think it's time for me to start accepting that." he took a breath as a wave blue energy washed over his form. Once it subsided, he tightened his grip on the hilt of the brain matter sword, and with a loud roar he swung the blade at Manitoba's chains, causing them to shatter and evaporate "Yes!"
"Took ya long enough mate, you're five mental barriers down, two to go. Now let's get moving already, I know a short cut to Mal's guard tower."
"Guard tower?"
"You still ain't been clued in yet? Mal turned this whole place into a prison, the tower is the only way in or out. It's also where you're gonna find the trials for the last two mental barriers you're gonna have to break. I would know, I caught a glimpse of Mal setting them up."
"So what happens when I manage to break through every mental barrier?"
"Uh… you're gonna wanna see that with your own eyes. Trust me when I say this though, your head ain't gonna be the way it used to be. Now come on, we gotta get moving."
"Right. Come on guys, let's go."
"Aw forget it, I can't do this." Chester let out a tired groan "I don't think I can deal with any more walking, shortcut or not."
"...You want me to carry you on my back don't you?"
"Yep, now giddyup horsey!" Chester leapt onto Mike's back as he started following Manitoba in the direction of the guard tower, with the other personalities trailing close behind him.
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Nightfall came, and the time for the Flush of Shame had come.
"I guess this is it." Courtney made her way over to the Dock of Shame, with Brick and Dawn by her side "Sorry you had to be the one to go."
"To be honest, I think I'd volunteer for elimination either way." Brick told her, earning a raised eyebrow in response.
"Really? Why would you do that?"
"Mainly because of everything I've accomplished this season. I got to be on a real team among true heroes that I'd be proud to go to war with, I pushed past my fear of the dark, and I showed my stuff in a real war zone, all while sticking as true to my code as I could. Honestly, I don't think I could've ended this any better way. I'll miss you both to be certain, but there isn't a doubt in my mind that you'll both do the Heroes proud, regardless of what team you might have been on."
"We shall miss you as well." Dawn gently patted Brick on the arm "Be sure to take care on the other side of that device."
"I will." Brick gave them both a small smile, but then his gaze hardened as he made his way over to the Flush of Shame and turned his gaze on Mal "Before I leave, there's just one thing that I wish to know. Regardless of who you claimed to be… the things you said to me, were any of them true?"
"...I can tell you this much." Mal lifted his gaze to face Brick "When I said that I wanted to bring you to the finale, that much I was serious about. And for what it's worth, being partnered with you was honestly the most enjoyable thing about being stuck on this dumpster fire of a show, at least in my view."
"I… see." Brick gave him a simple nod and climbed into the Flush of Shame, then turned his gaze over to Chris "I'm ready sir."
"Works for me." Chris held up the button "Anything else you wanna get off your chest before your disgusting discharge soldier?"
"I've said all that I need to." Brick looked out to see the other contestants, Mal included, giving him a salute, one that he returned with a sad smile, right before the button was pushed and he was sent careening down the Flush of Shame.
"And then there were three, but that's about to change." Chris turned his gaze to Mal "Which one of them will be flushed next? That's your right to choose as the winner, because it comes down to who you want to battle it out with in the finale, Dawn or Courtney?"
"Don't bother with the suspense, I know how this is gonna go." Courtney let out a sigh as she took a step forward "It's going to be me, I already know it. I spent so long on this show trying to force my way to the top and refusing to let anyone or anything stand in my way… but I ended up losing myself in the process."
"Courtney brah, that's really noble and all, but it isn't your call."
"I already know how this is gonna go. I have DJ to thank for bringing me back down to earth, and now that I have, I spent so long working to redeem myself for it… I guess maybe it's not as important as I thought it was. I came back to this show for another season because I wanted to compete in a way that didn't involve me making a complete ass out of myself… and now I like to think I can leave knowing I did that. Go ahead and flush me, I'm ready to go without any regrets." so Coutrney made her way over to the Flush of Shame… or would've if she wasn't stopped by a hand gripping her shoulder, and she turned to face the source.
As it turns out, Mal was the one grabbing hold of her "Why the rush? You can get sent home any time you like… after you show your stuff in the finale."
"Wait, what?!"
"I worked my ass off to get here, you think I'm gonna take an easy win? Maybe it's just some kind of comically oversized adrenaline rush talking, but if I'm gonna win that million bucks, I want to fight tooth and nail for it. So I'm picking you as my opponent."
"But that…" Courtney let out a sigh and turned to Dawn "I… guess it's set then."
"I expected as much, and I part with no regrets." Dawn gave a serene smile as she made her way over to the group and patted Courtney on the shoulder "I wish you the best of luck in the final challenge, and there's no doubt in my mind the others will feel the same." and she made her way into the Flush of Shame without another word.
"Thanks. Part of me thinks I'm going to need it." Courtney looked over to where Mal was giving a smirk in her direction, and her gaze hardened "But all of me is sure that I'm not going down without one hell of a fight."
"And one hell of a fight means an awesome time for ratings." Chris pushed the button on his remote and left Dawn to be flushed down the toilet, then turned towards the camera to sign off, with Courtney and Mal standing beside him "And just like that, the finalists for this season have been chosen. Which of them is going to rule victorious in the roughest, toughest and deadliest million dollar challenge ever? There's only one way to find out, and it's tune in next time, on the season finale of Total! Drama! All Stars!"
A/N:
Well here it is, the last chapter before we get to the finale. Courtney has fought long and hard for her redemption in this story, and as of now she's the only thing that's left standing between Mal and the grand prize. Can she stand against him without any help? There's only one way to find out.
But overdramatic narration aside, it should be pretty obvious that Courtney and Mal were going to be in the finale. The only real hard part was figuring out which of the losers were going when.
Remaining competitors: Mike/Mal, Courtney
Elimination Order:
Scott- 14th
Jo- 13th
Anne Maria- 12th
Cody- 11th
Duncan- 10th
Zoey- 9th
Alejandro- 8th
Gwen- 7th
Heather- 6th
DJ- 5th
Brick- 4th
Dawn- 3rd
