"How strange that even a very minor event, action or small shift can have such a tremendous effect. Like a butterfly's wing is capable of altering the path of a tornado, certainly everything, even the very tiny thing can affect everything." -Tuwalily
"All you had to do was take the skull to that Chris guy!"
"I was trying to make her look good before taking her over. You only get one chance to make a good first impression!"
The entirety of the Ferocious Trout team was circled around their team's home base for the day's challenge after the announcement that their rival team; the Frogs of Death, had won the challenge. The challenge win could have been very easy for the Trout to pull off had team member Lauren "Scary Girl" not blown it for them. She had caught the fake skull in the final stretch of the challenge, and it would have been so easy for her to return it to Chris for the win, but instead she had chosen to run off and give the skull a makeover. As a result, Emma, one of the members of the Frogs team had successfully managed to return the Frog's faux skull to Chris and thus the Frogs had secured the win. This meant that the Trout would be required to send one of their own home tonight at the upcoming elimination ceremony, and to any outsider, the choice was quite obvious. Scary Girl had blown the challenge for her team, so logically it would make the most sense to send her home, right?
"Ohh, you're going home for sure!" Ripper yelled. He had been the one to pass the skull to Scary Girl in hopes that she could easily just run it over to Chris, and the fact that she hadn't pissed him off beyond words. "See, Priya agrees with me!"
"MMMMFFFMMFF!" Priya attempted to get her words out. During the challenge, Ripper had made the choice to use Priya as a human shield while running to the Frog's base to grab their skull. As a result, one of the plungers that the Frogs had fired at them as defense had gotten stuck to Priya's face. Sure, it was painful for Priya, but Ripper figured that she and the rest of the team would forgive him for his not so kind act if it aided them in scoring the win.
"How could you do this to her?" Hold on Priya," Millie attempted to pull the plunger off of her friend's face.
"Hey, I made a call, and almost won it for us!" Ripper tried to defend himself.
As Millie finally got the plunger off of Priya's face, it was revealed to have taken quite a bit of damage on the poor girl. Priya's mouth looked like it had been sucked into a vacuum while the rest of her features were bent out of shape while red and swollen. Upon this reveal, the rest of the team (minus Chase) gasped- what kind of a monster would let a teammate get hurt like this?
"YOU ARE A BAD PERSON!" Priya squeaked out in her deformed state. "ANYONE WHO DOES THIS TO A TEAMMATE DESERVES TO BE KICKED OFF THE TEAM!"
"Yeah, you did go a little far," Zee added.
"Oh come on, who should get voted off? The guy who almost won it for the team, or the weirdo who for sure lost it for us," Chase attempted to defend Ripper.
"Hi, if we're talking elimination, I'd just like to throw my name into the mix," Damien piped up. "Please?" he begged.
"Well not-so-Ferocious Trout, it looks like you guys are today's losers," Chris appeared behind the team. Please report to the campfire for tonight's elimination ceremony after dinner. You have until then to make your decision about who to vote off."
The members of the Trout began to walk away from the challenge zone to head back to their cabins to chill off before dinner. As Priya and Millie walked together, they struck up conversation about the events that had unfolded from the day's challenge. "I can't believe Ripper would do this to me! Does he have even the slightest idea of how painful this was? What kind of a jerk do you have to be to harm a teammate for the sake of a win!" Priya ranted to Millie as they walked. "Thankfully, I knew to pack some pain relievers and ice packs for situations like this, but I figured I would just be getting injured from the challenges themselves, not from another one of my teammates hurting me, and with no shame either! Ripper is getting his ass kicked tonight," Priya gritted her teeth.
"To be fair, he was just trying to ensure that we won the challenge," Millie rebutted. "Don't you think that it would be good to keep someone around who's willing to take initiative in challenges?"
"Not if they're willing to throw their own teammates under the bus to do so!" Priya crossed her arms.
"But what if it's the only way to win a challenge?" Millie offered. "Had it not been for Scary Girl, we would have won this round thanks to him. Don't you want us to keep winning challenges so we don't have to keep booting off teammates? Who knows what kinds of things Scary Girl could do to screw up future challenges if we kept her."
"Millie, have you seen the original Total Drama island?" Priya asked.
"Bits and pieces, though to be honest it just wasn't really my thing. Why?" Millie questioned her friend.
"Well, in the first season, there was this girl named Heather, who was absolutely horrible to her teammates. She put a lot of her fellow competitors through absolute hell during her time on the show. Like, there was this other girl named Gwen who she couldn't stand, so Heather did a bunch of awful things like read Gwen's diary out loud in front of everyone else and kiss the guy that Gwen liked in front of her."
"Go on," Millie responded while writing down a reminder in her notebook to check out the original TDI again as soon as she got the chance. Sure, it wasn't entertaining at all to her whatsoever, but maybe she could get a couple notes from it to boost her research.
"There were multiple times where Heather's team could have eliminated her, but chose not to because they felt that other members were less "useful" than her," Priya explained. "One time, Heather was in the bottom two, but she convinced everyone else to vote off this guy named Justin instead because he didn't help them win the challenge. Another time, Heather was once again in the bottom two, but everyone else chose to vote off this guy named Cody because he had gotten attacked by a bear and they figured it would take a while for him to recover."
"Interesting," Millie listened with curiosity, "so what ended up happening to Heather?"
"She made it all the way to the final three of the first season. Sure, she got eliminated in a way that was extremely satisfying for both viewers and her former teammates, but at the same time she made it so far in the competition that nearly every episode she was able to hurt several other competitors both physically and emotionally. If we keep Ripper tonight, who knows what kind of other crap he could pull on us before the season is over. You guys got lucky in this challenge that he only hurt me and no one else, but he could seriously make this competition painful to get through for all of us if he stays for too long."
"You make a good point," Millie complimented her friend, to which Priya responded with a smile. "But how do we know that history will always repeat itself? Ripper could improve himself as the challenges progress, we never know," Millie added.
"I've seen every season of Total Drama hundreds of times, I even rewatched them all to prepare as soon as I got notification that I was accepted into this season," Priya assured Millie, "Every time an awful person is kept because they're 'good at challenges' or someone else is a 'bigger threat,' they just become a worse and worse person as the season progresses. It happened with Heather, Mal, Sugar- it's up to us to ensure it doesn't happen with Ripper," Priya and Millie arrived at their cabin. "I'm gonna go put some ointment on to help soothe this awful pain. I'll be right back," Priya walked into the cabin, leaving Millie outside.
"Hmmmm… Millie thought to herself.
Confessional: Millie
"Priya knows this show better than anyone else. She did say that she's been training her whole life to be here, so if anyone knows the best strategies about who to keep in the competition and who to eliminate it's her. It's just that Scary Girl really did screw up this challenge. While Ripper has been a massive jerk to pretty much everyone except Chase, he really was that close to winning the challenge for us and could prove to be quite useful in the future.. I really am stumped on this one.."
The tension was high amongst the Ferocious Trout members in the mess hall that night. While the Frogs of Death happily (or, well, as happy as one can be while eating Chef's disgusting slop) ate their dinner knowing that they wouldn't have to kick off one of their own, the Trout angstily discussed amongst themselves who they would have to kick off that night.
"We have to get rid of Scary Girl. She blew the challenge for us, and she's just an overall creepy weirdo. You both are with me or what?" Ripper asked Chase and Zee as he sat down with his "food."
"Of course. No one messes up a challenge like that and gets away with it. Not to mention, imagine choosing to let some weirdo loser girl stay over a true chaded alpha male, what kind of an idiot would vote like that?" Chase assured Ripper. "Trust me bro, we've got your back."
"I dunno man. You kinda were harsh on Priya today," Zee replied as he slurped down his slop. "I won't vote against you brah, but maybe you shouldn't, like, hurt a teammate ya know."
Both Chase and Ripper turned to glare at Zee. "C'mon man, we were losing the challenge, and I had to do something! Plus, who cares, it was just Priya anyways, do you really care that much if some stupid girl got hurt?"
"Um, I don't think that's a very nice thing to say brah, especially since Priya has been pretty good at the challenges so far," Zee looked at his friends with concern.
"So what? It's true. Guys rule, girls drool. It's just a basic fact of life," Chase gave a friendly nudge to Zee. "Why do you think Emma broke up with me? Girls just aren't smart enough to comprehend why us guys are better and make smarter decisions. Of course it was a girl who lost the challenge for us, the fewer of them the better," Chase smirked.
"I'm not so sure about this man, but alright," Zee hesitantly agreed.
"Woohoo! Guys alliance! Now that's what I'm talking about," Ripper cheered.
Confessional: Zee
I don't wanna betray my alliance or whatever, but I'm not really rockin' with what they had to say about the girls," Zee took a sip of his soda. "Eh, whatever, I'm sure they'll change their minds eventually."
"Ok, I've thought it over a little bit, and I think I still want to vote for Scary Girl," Millie confessed to Priya. "I completely understand your point about how Ripper could just get worse as challenges progress, but Scary Girl blew it for us big time today. How about we just get rid of Scary Girl now, and then boot off Ripper the next time we're up for elimination?"
"Oh come on Millie, you saw what Ripper did today! He needs to go!" Priya banged her fists on the table. "Just looking at that jerk makes me want to scream, he's just such a stupid bully!"
"Here's an idea, instead of voting for Ripper or Scary Girl you could vote for me instead! I get to go home, you both get what you want, it's a win-win situation!" Damien piped up.
"No, Damien," Millie and Priya said at the same time.
"Worth a shot," Damien said as he went back to his food.
"Would the two of us even be enough to vote off Ripper anyways? If we and Scary girl vote for him, Zee, Chase and Ripper vote for Scary Girl and Damien votes for himself it'll end in a tie anyways," Millie pointed out. "Wouldn't it just be better to know that the person you're voting for is guaranteed to go home anyways?"
"I'd rather Scary Girl lose a tiebreaker and Ripper realize that he seriously screwed up today than have Scary Girl just go home with Ripper suffering zero consequences," Priya quashed Millie's suggestion. "Look Millie, you're my closest friend in this competition, I really hope that I can trust you to vote for Ripper tonight."
Millie pulled out her notebook and began to scribble some words down. "Priya can be a bit stubborn. I admire that she sticks to her core beliefs and values, but getting her to listen to opposing opinions and suggestions can be quite challenging," she wrote.
"Whatcha writing?" Priya asked.
"Oh, just taking some more notes for my book," Millie quickly shoved the notepad away so Priya couldn't see what she was writing.
"Millie, that's it!" Priya exclaimed.
"Huh?"
"Your book, if you want it to be successful, it's gotta be interesting enough for people to want to buy copies. What would people rather read about, a gross jerk with a farting problem, or what a potential future serial killer was like as a teenager?" Priya suggested. "Think about how much people love watching true crime documentaries and horror movies. You'll bring in thousands more readers if you include more content about Scary Girl, I'm sure of it."
"Huh, that is a nice suggestion…" before Millie could really get enough time to think it over, the loudspeaker in the mess hall let out a loud sound.
"Campers! Elimination ceremony starts in 30 minutes. Trout, you're up!" everyone heard Chris's voice boom across the cafeteria.
"We better get going," Priya scraped the remnants of her meal into the trash, "but I really do have the confidence that you'll vote for Ripper tonight. Please don't let me down Millie," she begged.
"I won't," Millie replied.
No one said a word as Trout made their way to the elimination ceremony. For some, they were confident that their anticipated results of tonight's voting would go as they predicted, for others, they weren't so sure.
Confessional: Millie
Millie held up her ballot and pen, still not one hundred percent sure if she should check the box next to Ripper's name or Scary Girl's. "I still think that Scary Girl is the better choice, but I'd feel really bad to betray Priya, and she does make a lot of excellent points about why getting rid of Ripper would be beneficial. Hmmm…" Millie glanced at her ballot one last time, before sighing to herself and checking one of the boxes. "I just hope I won't regret this later."
Confessional: Zee
"Still not the biggest fan of Ripper's actions today, but I can't betray the dudes. I'm voting for Scary Girl, but both Ripper and Chase need to learn a lesson about the importance of treating everyone with respect. Hopefully this shouldn't be too hard."
"Greetings campers!" Chris welcomed the team into the ceremony after they had all finished casting their ballots. "Some of you messed up, some of you got messed up"- he gestured to where Priya was sitting with an ice pack on her face to numb the last bit of pain from the plunger, "and now, you need to decide who deserves to be sent home."
"Damien," Chef pointed to the first potential victim.
"What did I do!?" Damien asked, shocked that Chef was targeting him.
"You didn't defend your team's skull, or try to capture the other team's skull. You just ran around screaming."
Confessional: Damien
"Why is he saying that like I had a choice?"
"Ripper," Chef moved onto the next potential target.
"Here we go," Ripper rolled his eyes.
"You nearly won it for your team!" Chef responded.
"Thank you!" Ripper smiled at the compliment.
"But you did it by using one of your own teammates as a shield" Chef counterpointed while Priya shot Ripper a glare.
Confessional: Ripper
"Ugh, he's saying exactly what I did, but making it sound bad!"
"Ripper's a jerk. You didn't deserve that. I'll be voting for him, friend," Scary Girl told Priya with a frightening expression.
Confessional: Priya
"We lost the challenge, but I gained a terrifying friend! Cool," Priya remarked, unsure about the last part. Would Scary Girl really prove to be a great and non harmful friend to her? Only time would tell.
"Scary Girl!" Chef moved onto his final target.
"Present!" Scary Girl excitedly raised her hand in response to the mention of her nickname.
"You had the skull, but instead of giving it to Chris for the win, you ran away and gave it a makeover."
Confessional: Scary Girl
"I had to do something! She looked dead," Scary Girl whispered to the camera as to not offend her new skull friend.
"Y'all know the deal! If you get a marshmallow, you're safe. Chase," Chris tossed out the first marshmallow from the platter he was holding. "Millie. Priya, Zee. You're all safe!" Chris turned to the remaining three competitors. "Scary Girl, Ripper, Damien. One of you will be going home. Damien, I'm sorry to say this but-"
"Yes yes yes! I'm going home baby!" Damien cheered, excited that his wish to be eliminated was coming true. "Haha, woohoo!"
"No, you're safe! You only got one vote and we all know it was yours," Chris tossed one of the last two marshmallows to Damien, which just bounced off his disappointed face. "And, the person going home tonight is…"
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"Well, I actually don't know yet. It's a tie!" Chris exclaimed.
"WHAT?" Scary Girl and Ripper as well as several of the other trout members yelled out in shock.
"A tie! How could this be a tie? Why would any of you not vote for her, the one who lost the challenge!" Ripper turned around and yelled out at his team. "Which one of you useless nerds voted for me, when I find out you'll be in a world of pain-"
"Woah woah, settle down, I haven't announced the tiebreaker yet," Chris said, holding Ripper back. "It's going to be pretty quick, actually. Damien, would you please step forward?"
"Uhh, sure," Damien rose out of his seat. "What do I have to do with this though?"
"It's pretty simple, you're the only one who didn't vote for Ripper or Scary Girl. So, you'll be re-voting by spinning this wheel!" Chef brought out a large wheel divided into eight different sections, each with either Scary Girl or Ripper's picture on them. "Whoever it lands on is the one who will receive your revote, and thus will be the one going home! Now spin away!
Damien gulped as he gave the wheel the hardest spin possible. He could feel both Ripper and Scary Girl watching with high anticipation from behind him; a feeling he definitely was not fond of. The Trout watched the wheel with high anticipation as it spun around and around, until it finally started to slow down.
"And it looks like the person going home tonight issss…." Chris watched as the wheel slowed to a halt.
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"Ripper! The wheel has spoken. Head over to the dock of shame buddy, because you've got a date with the drone of despair!"
"Yes!" Priya cheered to herself.
"Aww," Chase booed with disappointment.
The large, menacing grin did not leave Scary Girl's face as she watched Ripper get up and walk down towards the dock.
"Stupid show, stupid wheel, stupid nerds for voting me off," Ripper grumbled. "You haven't seen the last of me! I'll be back and when I am, I'll be a world record fart holder, so be prepared! You'll be standing in the presence of fame, and you won't think twice about betraying me!" Ripper yelled out as he stood at the edge of the dock.
"I'm already trembling with fear," Chris replied sarcastically. "Whelp, see you later Ripper!"
"Fuck you especially Chris! If you're gonna hold a tiebreaker, at least make it fair-woooaaahhh!" Ripper yelled as the drone grabbed him by the underwear and lifted him into the sky, giving him a wedgie in the process.
"Man, the island smells better already," Chris sighed happily. "Who will be eliminated next? Find out next time on Total. Drama. Island!"