"Last time, on Total Drama Revenge of the Film Lot..." Chris began the recap, standing at the witness stand in a courtroom at the moment, holding a gavel. "Things got a bit frisky as we explored adult movies, and boy did some really get into it! Bonnie was completely in her element, making everyone uncomfortable while she was at it. Meanwhile Toby and Trixie decided they were too good to take part in my awesome challenge, so they sat out! After the remaining few survived the pole dancing challenge, I had them make their own cam leak films, where Bonnie had her way with Jim for the Munchers, King and Trina had a power conflict, and the Critics just floundered, which led to them sending Lilac home after Jack expressed his fear over her and Trixie targeted her. Will the Critics land on their feet now that Jack is back to his senses, or is this the start of something worse? Find out right here, on Total, Drama, Reeeeeeevenge of the Film Lot!"
Intro Sequence:
The rock tune of I Wanna Be Famous started up, with high-grade film cameras popping out of different places. First out of the chimney of a trailer, then out the window of a soundstage, a toxic waste barrel after that, and finally a sewer manhole before a movie clapper came in and closed, letting the full shot begin.
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine, you guys are on my mind
The camera zoomed onto the film lot, passing by Chris in a dingy golf cart being pushed by Irene, Oliver, and Ted, while Virgil was stuck to the cart itself. Going past several soundstages, the camera weaved between a few movie backdrops, before going up the large hill that led to the soap opera sets on top. The shot then dove down into a pool of water below where King was swimming inside. He saw Fang swim up behind him, so he turned around and punched him right in the face, sending the mutant shark flying up.
You asked me what I wanted to be, and I think the answer is plain to see
Flynn was above the water, now in a soundstage, commandeering a pirate ship floating on it while Delanie copied his behavior. Fang landed on their ship though, forcing both of them to dive off of it. Trixie had watched the two jump down, smirking at their misfortune.
I wanna beeeeeee famous!
The shot now panned out of this soundstage, passing up Kahlin running out of one of the dressing booths, with Sasquatchanakwa right behind him. Jack was looking over some outfits on a rack, although Lilac jumped out from behind some of the clothes, showing her teeth and scaring him.
I wanna live close to the sun
Beck was relaxing on a lounge chair on a beach set, his hands behind his head. He winked at the camera, while Flaky and Bonnie were ogling at him from behind a bush.
So pack your bags cuz I've already won
Panning to the right and into the makeup trailer confessional, Kylie was doing her makeup, applying lipstick at the moment. Trina walked inside, carrying a basket of different foundation. Kylie looked them over, then shooed Trina away.
Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day
Klaas and Vergil were in a boxing ring together, both of them glaring at each other. Vergil threw a punch, as did Klaas, with their fists colliding as they did so. Both of them fell back because of this, although Esteban was quick to run in and help them up.
Cuz I wanna beeeeeee famous!
Toby and Luis were in the kitchen with Chef, with Athena preparing some kind of soup. She seemed to be having trouble with it though, so Toby walked over to help her out. Maxine was watching this from a monitor in Chris's office, then pressed a button to try and blow up the kitchen.
Na na na nana, nananana, nananana
This blew up a different set though, where Thomas, Nanashi, and Jim were inside. A bear had taken the brunt of the explosion though, and it let out a roar at the three of them. Jim pointed at the other two and ran off with a guilty look, although Thomas ran away as well, leaving Nanashi to get chased by the bear.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!
Diamond and Melissa were sitting at the outdoor theater on the benches when Jim and Thomas ran by. They didn't pay much mind to it though, but Freddy popped up from behind them both with a puppet mask on, startling them both. Diamond laughed, while Melissa rolled her eyes.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!
A flash from the outdoor projector transitioned to the Aftermath studio, where Donna was sitting in between Geoff and Bridgette. Mittens the monkey hopped up from behind the couch, scowling at the aftermath hosts. This confused both, with the shot then zooming out to show the rest of the contestants sitting in the peanut gallery benches, whistling along with the last notes of the intro while the season logo was shown on a TV above.
After the intro ended, the episode began in the craft services tent, where some of the contestants were having their breakfast for the day. Jim was sitting with Melissa surprisingly, with them eating at the same pace. Their breakfast this time was glowing green mashed potatoes, and dried up blueberries. "Guess it could be worse. Chef didn't screw up the blueberries." Jim commented to Melissa as he chewed one.
Melissa nodded in agreement, having not touched her mashed potatoes. "Yeah, they're just raisins, but for blueberries instead of grapes. My track coach actually dried up things like strawberries and banana slices for our snacks so the sugar wouldn't get to us." Melissa added, not having a problem with the dried blueberries at all.
"Can't imagine they tasted very good. But a snack's a snack. Gotta be better this crap y'know?" Jim remarked, flicking another blueberry into his mouth.
"They tasted just fine. Refreshing enough before a sprint and nutritious, that's the kind of snack I like." Melissa responded, pointing at herself with her thumb as she ate another.
Kahlin and Beck walked up to the two of them with their breakfast trays, and they sat down next to the two, with Kahlin next to Jim and Beck next to Melissa. "Gooood morning! Man, gotta say thank you again Jim for taking one for the team yesterday! Dunno why you'd volunteer for that." Kahlin greeted them, focusing on Jim.
Jim groaned, but then looked at Melissa and refrained from swinging at Kahlin. "Just doing my part on this team, ye got a problem with that?" Jim replied coldly.
"Nope, not at all! That's why I was saying thanks! Can't imagine having Bonnie kiss me so viscously like that. Eugh." Kahlin answered, winking at Jim.
Jim shivered when he thought of the kiss again, then just stood up. "Nope. Don't want to imagine it again either. I think I'll leave now." Jim quickly said, then carried his tray away from the table elsewhere.
Beck watched him leave with slight confusion, looking to Kahlin after that. "What's his deal?" Beck asked Kahlin, scooping up some mashed potatoes and taking a bite.
"You saw the video. He's probably still just bitter over it." Kahlin spoke to Beck normally, now also eating his mashed potatoes.
"Right. It was just a kiss though, I've had girls force themselves on me like that all the time and I've never been that bitter. Guess I'm just numb to it." Beck reasoned, resting his head on one palm.
Kahlin chuckled, leaning over the table and nudging Beck's arm. "So you're a player is what I'm hearing? How come you never brought it up before?" Kahlin asked him curiously.
Beck just shrugged, taking another bite of his mashed potatoes. "Because girls just throw themselves at me. Not like I go after them. Some follow me home after school just watch me work on cars with my pops. It's at least good for business when one of them brings their barely damaged car to our shop for me to fix." Beck explained, sounding mostly bored with it.
Beck then looked over at Melissa, who was just smiling as she listened to Beck talk. "I see why they'd want to do that." Melissa commented, looking Beck over.
Beck deadpanned, then faced Kahlin again. "This. This is what I deal with back home. Dating just isn't for me anymore. All these girls just made me numb to it all." Beck complained, gesturing to Melissa, who didn't seem to take offense to it.
"I guess that's fair, but don't close yourself off man! You've got cool interests, so you just have to find someone who matches those interests instead of being interested in your looks." Kahlin encouraged Beck, reaching over and patting his shoulder now.
Esteban now walked over to the three of them, giving a friendly wave. "Hey Beck, having breakfast with the Munchers this time?" Esteban greeted Beck.
Beck just shrugged, then gestured to King sitting by himself further down the table eating his breakfast at turbo speed. He wasn't making a mess though. Every morsel was going right into his mouth as perfectly and efficiently as possible, with each chew calculated to get the most done. "No one else to sit with. Our own teammates are crazy. You and I are the only normal ones." Beck replied.
Esteban looked over to where Toby was in the tent, seeing him feeding dried blueberries to Luis by himself, having a conversation with the puppet as he did so. "I see what you mean. They're all harmless though, and they do their part in the challenges." Esteban looked on the upside as he sat down across from Beck.
Beck smirked, shaking his head. "When's the last time Delanie helped us out in a challenge? She nearly costs us challenges repeatedly, or just flat out makes us lose." Beck stated.
"Isn't she your girlfriend?" Kahlin pointed out as Beck insulted her.
"Yeah, a crappy one and I can't stand her." Beck replied right away, taking another bite of mashed potatoes.
There was a pause between everyone as Beck said this, before he just gave them a wave of dismissal. "Just kidding of course. She's got her quirks and she'll probably come around in challenges eventually." Beck added, to which the other three all laughed awkwardly.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Esteban-
Esteban had his arms crossed, leaning back in the chair a bit. "He's not kidding is he? Man, I don't even like Delanie, but I think I need to step in here before it gets ugly. He's right about Delanie being a hinderance in challenges, but she's taking people down with her if she goes out, and it won't be Beck since she likes him."
-End Confessional-
Over at the other table, Jack and Freddy were eating together as always, with Jack eating much faster than Freddy was. "You really think Sister Location was trash? I really liked that one, it expanded the worldbuilding and everything!" Freddy questioned Jack as they discussed horror games.
Jack nodded his head, swallowing his mashed potatoes and blueberries before talking. "Yeah, it expanded what didn't need expanding. It made keeping up with everything that much more difficult and it felt like they were just throwing things at the wall to see what stuck." Jack argued, looking slightly bothered.
"Well, maybe if you weren't super invested in the lore it's a bit annoying, but it really did make the world feel that much bigger. And unlike Security Breach, the gameplay was mostly retained and didn't deviate too far from what already worked." Freddy reasoned, slightly offended to hear one of his favorites being called trash.
Athena and Trixie walked up to them with their trays, making them both look over at the girls. "Oh hey, did you two need something?" Jack asked them, still a little heated from the argument.
"Nope." Athena answered, then sat down next to Freddy and just began to eat her blueberries.
"Pretty much what Athena said. Just here to sit down and eat as a team." Trixie replied, sitting down next to Jack.
Freddy raised an eyebrow though, shaking his head. "Oh so now you want to be a team? Where was that yesterday when you didn't care that Jack was gone and you just took charge, making us lose? A good team sticks together no matter what." Freddy pointed out, with Jack now also looking towards Trixie suspiciously.
Trixie clenched a fist, but kept her composure. "You really just- ugh. I'm not dealing with this. Athena, you can have my breakfast." Trixie spoke through her teeth there, then slid her tray over to Athena before just storming off.
"Yum." Athena said to herself as she put the bowl of mashed potatoes and the dried blueberries on her tray.
"What was that about? I know I missed a lot yesterday." Jack asked Freddy.
Freddy watched Trixie leave with relief, then faced Jack. "While you were gone, Trixie tried to take charge of the team, which she also did when you were out of the vampire challenge. I said we should wait for you, since we had a whole hour, but she didn't care and just rushed the challenge. We lost because of her, and you nearly got sent home for it! I'm glad you're back, hopefully we can start winning again, because I don't trust Trixie one bit." Freddy explained to Jack.
"Oh right, she was the one who organized that team alliance with the Munchers huh? That is a bit sketchy. But y'know, in horror movies, the people who make it far are always the craftiest ones. The goody goodies always get cut when they least expect it! You've seen any slasher right? They always kill off the super sweet cinnamon roll characters that aren't the main character pretty quickly. Usually it's just for the emotional impact, but it still happens. Trixie has helped in challenges too, so I'm going to give her another chance. It was my fault for leaving after all." Jack rambled a bit, but still laid out his reasoning.
Freddy sighed, then nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess it's only fair. If we want to win, we can't hold animosity towards her forever, then we wouldn't be a team." Freddy agreed.
"That's the spirit! If you want to survive the apocalypse, you've gotta have trusty and useful people at your side! So we'll kick butt today and put ourselves right back at the top of the food chain!" Jack encouraged Freddy, pumping a fist.
"Yeah! Go Munchers!" Freddy pumped his fist as well, now jazzed again.
"Go Munchers." Athena added, lazily raising a hand.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Trixie-
Trixie was holding a stress ball, clenching it tightly as she cursed under her breath. "That Freddy, he needs to go, now. The only reason I let Jack stay over Lilac yesterday was so I could weasel my way to being his right hand. Lilac was a problem, since no one really disliked her? Get rid of those people before the merge happens and they become unstoppable. I've watched this show enough to know that people like her are dangerous. So is Freddy. He's nice, and rightfully doesn't want me taking charge. Well that's too bad for him, because he just put himself in my path. Once he's gone, I can put myself at Jack's right hand and let him take the fall when I need to. But what can I catch Freddy on? Lilac was easy, the leader didn't like her, but Freddy? Jack adores him. I need to get some dirt on him..."
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Freddy-
Freddy adjusted his top hat, then let out a heavy sigh. "Hopefully Jack doesn't have any more episodes. If I'm going to be honest, I hope we lose so we can just get rid of Trixie and move on. She's so cynical and drags down the vibe, and keeps trying to take power for herself! She's kinda like Afton, if he was on a much smaller scale and just wanted to control a bunch of kids instead of... oh yeah she's just Afton I guess. And that's a problem."
-End Confessionals-
Over by the girls' trailer now, Kylie had already finished breakfast and was heading back to the trailer to just hang out when Delanie ran up to her, ecstatically waving. "Oh great, it's you. Counselor Carter right? What are you gonna whine about now?" Kylie asked Delanie right away, bothered just seeing her.
Delanie shook her head though, still carrying a bright smile. "No silly! You don't remember? We went to high school together, took part in that food fight, dunked nerds in trash cans together? It's me, your classmate Delanie!" Delanie reintroduced herself, matching Kylie's mannerisms.
Kylie raised an eyebrow, putting her hands on her hips. "So this ain't another one of your characters? This is just how you are? Like how you were during the high school challenge?" Kylie questioned her, noting the name.
Delanie smirked, pointing at herself. "You bet! It gets so boring around here, might as well lean into the challenges right? Chris sure likes it. Girlbosses like us slay, so might as well let you know I'm on your side." Delanie answered, snapping a finger.
Kylie lowered her suspicions, then just continued walking to the trailer. "Fine, I'll tolerate you. You don't have me completely sold, but at this point, I like this you more than half the kooks on my team. I'm just going to hang out in the trailer until the challenge starts, wanna chill with me then?" Kylie offered, gesturing to the trailer door with her thumb.
"OMG, yas! I'd invite Beck, but he's getting breakfast right now. He's so hot isn't he?" Delanie took up the offer, following Kylie to the trailer.
"Sure is, you're lucky you got him before I could. You've got Esteban on your team and he's pretty fine too. Meanwhile our team has Jack and Freddy, complete nerds, Flynn the pirate, and that other guy. Not to sound like Bonnie because she grosses me out, but you got all the hot guys on your team, except Toby." Kylie told Delanie as she opened up the door.
Delanie giggled at this as Kylie stepped inside, but then let out a groan as she heard a voice calling to her. "Ma'am! I've been looking all over for you! After how things went yesterday, there some notes I need you to review as we move on!" Trina called to Delanie, holding her notepad and a stack of notes ripped out of it.
Delanie closed the door behind Kylie, then turned to face Trina. "Wow, you made notes? Omg, that would be so cool if I cared. Look, I don't care about the specifics, just make sure I'm not the one going if we lose. That's it." Delanie dismissed Trina's request, showing no interest in the notes.
"But ma'am, it's very importan-" Trina began to say, grabbing one of the notes and holding it out for Delanie to take.
Delanie slapped the notes out of her hand though, making them fall to the floor as she opened the door back up to join Kylie. "I'm gonna hang with my bestie, so don't bother me with your nerd crap Smellwether, later!" Delanie told Trina and blew her a kiss as she closed the door.
Trina sighed as Delanie slammed the door, then sat down and began to pick up the notes that Delanie slapped down. "Why doesn't she ever listen to me..." Trina said to herself as she gathered them up.
Trixie was walking over to the trailer as she did this, still in a bitter mood. "Kylie has to have something on Freddy, or at least a way to get rid of him, I know she voted for Jack..." Trixie mumbled to herself as she tried to devise a way to get rid of him.
Trixie came across Trina as she walked though, then snickered as she thought of something. "You need some help there?" Trixie asked Trina, using a friendly tone.
Trina looked back at Trixie, who already knelt down and helped her gather her notes. "Thanks you ma'am. Miss Delanie was a bit preoccupied, and I dropped my notes on mistake. What were you doing here? Were you part of Miss Delanie and Kylie's meeting?" Trina asked Trixie back, soon standing back up with her notes stacked back up.
Trixie paused at that last part, but kept a straight face. "A meeting? Weird, don't know why they would meet up. I was just coming here to talk to Kylie about... strategy. What are those notes for anyway?" Trixie inquired, pointing at the notes in Trina's hands.
Trina rearranged them in her hands as Trixie talked, putting them back in order. "Oh these? I like to take notes on everyone and the little things I notice, just a habit from working as a secretary for so long ma'am. I noticed some things that I wanted to share with Miss Delanie. I had some notes on Freddy, did you want them?" Trina answered, holding up a paper with a doodle of Freddy and some blurbs about him on it.
Trixie's eyes lit up as she saw this, then looked at the rest of the stack. "Say, do you have anything on Jack too?" Trixie requested, getting slightly hopeful.
Trina nodded, then right away pulled out another sheet ripped from her notepad. "Of course, here you go ma'am! I know you're quite distant from them, were you trying to repair that friendship?" Trina asked as she handed the notes to Trixie.
Trixie took them, taking a quick glance and stuffing them into her pocket. "Yeah, sure. You're really okay just handing these over like this? I thought they were meant for Delanie." Trixie lied, not wanting to give away her intentions.
Trina gained a small smile, nodding her head. "If there's anyone I trust with those, it's you ma'am, us little guys need to stick together after all. I don't think anyone values us that much, so if I can help you change that, then that's good enough for me to lend you my notes." Trina explained, doing a few small excited claps.
"Little guys huh? If you say so. Well thanks then, I think this is just what I needed." Trixie thanked Trina, not dwelling on Trina's reasoning out of a lack of interest.
"You're welcome ma'am! Just know you always have a friend on the Award Winners! See you at the challenge!" Trina gave a quick wave goodbye, then happily walked away.
Once Trina left, Trixie pulled the notes back up, getting a wide grin on her face. "Yeah... they'll definitely be valuing me when I'm done with them..." Trixie remarked mischievously to herself, now walking away from the trailer.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Trina-
Trina was writing in her notepad, having a relieved smile on her face. "I'm glad that Trixie accepted my token of friendship. I could tell just from how Freddy and the others have been behaving that the Critics don't value her that much. She's been working so hard to keep them afloat too, it's unfair! She may have plotted against our team, but it was just so her team could win, and she's thanked by being branded as a schemer? Hopefully the notes I gave her let her find a connection with the boys and repair their friendship. Then they'll value her and everything will end just dandy!"
-End Confessional-
Klaas and Nanashi were having breakfast together, both of them holding hands of cards as they played poker. "Do you fold? I'm liking what I have here." Klaas asked Nanashi.
Nanashi had a stone cold face though, shrugging her shoulders. "I stand. Show your hand." Nanashi replied, holding her 5 cards with indifference.
Klaas also kept a serious expression, then flipped over the cards. The five in the middle didn't give anything new to Klaas, just leaving him with a two of a kind with queens. "Two of a kind, what did you get?" Klaas asked Nanashi.
Nanashi got a big smile and threw her hand down on the table. "Aaaaand I got a straight! Woo, I win!" Nanashi cheered, showing her hand of a 4, 5, 6, 8, and jack, with a 7 being in the middle.
"Kinda figured you had something good, I was hoping you'd fold there. Saw you getting excited at the end, shoulda just folded myself." Klaas remarked, laughing off Nanashi beating him while she celebrated.
"You saw that? But I was keeping like, a super serious expression!" Nanashi argued, then made her cold face again.
Klaas wagged his finger, then pointed at her lips. "You were, until the ends of your lips started to quiver up. Most people wouldn't catch it, since a quiver alone doesn't indicate a good or bad hand, but upward? That's a hidden smile if I've ever seen one. Years of gambling let you just see things like that." Klaas explained to her.
Nanashi giggled at this, dropping her stone cold face once more. "Wow, you're like really good at reading people huh? We gotta play this every morning now, because you're so much more fun than the others back home. All the people at my dad's casino are all doom and gloom when they lose, but you take it well!" Nanashi complimented Klaas, who just waved it off.
"You get numb to it. A small loss is a small loss, we're just playing around anyway. I thought you liked losing though, why are you this happy about winning?" Klaas asked Nanashi curiously.
Nanashi stacked up the cards while Klaas did this, getting ready to shuffle them. "I hate winning when you rig the odds or try to change your own fate, but this? This was an honest game of a chance, and I ended up on top! That's the best kind of winning, when you don't have to force it to happen. You get what I mean?" Nanashi elaborated, shuffling the cards super fancily.
Klaas blinked a couple times as she shuffled, surprised by her skill. "Where'd you learn to shuffle like that? But yeah, I get you. I've never slipped a card in my sleeve, peeked a deck, or anything like that. Kills the fun of the game." Klaas agreed with her, still a bit stunned.
"You're the first person to understand that, nice! My dad's a card dealer for his casino, so he taught me a bunch of cool shuffling tricks. I've gotten a few from watching the other dealers too." Nanashi replied happily, somehow tossing up all the cards with one hand and catching them perfectly with the other, yet completely changing the order of them.
Right after that though, a loud horn blared through the intercoms all across the film lot. "Gooooood morning cast members! I can't meet with you in the craft services tent due to our lawyers getting up in my business, so just meet me at soundstage 15 pronto so we can get the challenge rolling!" Chris announced, with the loud noise making Nanashi drop the cards.
Nanashi sighed as this happened. "Aaaand there's my misfortune. Sorry." Nanashi apologized to Klaas, as the cards were now on the floor spread out.
Klaas just reached under the table and gathered them up though, still having a casual smile. "Don't worry about it, a quick game of 52 pickup never hurt anyone. Let's just get going shall we?" Klaas dismissed the apology, already having all the cards in his hands as he stood back up.
Nanashi went right back to smiling and nodded, walking side by side with him and leaving the craft services tent. "Yup! Let's see what challenge fate brings us today!" Nanashi replied excitedly.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Kylie-
Kylie had a small smirk on her face, chuckling as she sat with her arms crossed. "Chris in legal trouble? After last challenge too? Big surprise there. If they just sub him out for a new host that'd be great, but we all know that's not happening. Heck, I'd even take Chef, at least he doesn't perv on us."
-End Confessional-
In soundstage 15, the three teams were now gathered up in a courtroom set. Flynn was the last person to enter the set, letting out a hearty laugh when saw it. "Avast, the law has caughten up to that scallywag now hasn't it!" Flynn joked, giving a wave to his teammates.
Chris walked into the courtroom from the back entrance, wearing a black suit and white tie, his hair gelled up and slicked back, carrying a brown briefcase. "Hello teens! It's jury duty for you all today, since we're doing courtroom dramas today!" Chris greeted the cast.
"Oh, so the lawyers aren't after you? Figured you'd be in hot water after the last challenge. Darn, karma is taking a day off it seems." Kylie commented, frowning when she saw him perfectly fine.
Chris shrugged his shoulders, teetering one hand. "Not quite. The show is already facing lawsuits, but our legal team is dealing with them. After Courtney's suits in season 2, we upped our legal budget, then upped it again after my involuntary vacation. So we are very unlikely to lose a case now. Maxine tried to sue her way back onto the show because her actual name is Maxwell, but we got the case thrown out before it even hit the courts." Chris explained, reaching into the briefcase and pulling out a stack of documents with Maxine's contract in the front.
Chris then ripped up the papers, laughing afterward. "And she really thought she could rejoin the game! But anyway, onto your challenge! You'll all have to defend your own teammate from a crime they've committed!" Chris announced what the challenge was, causing some suspicious looks to be sent around.
Klaas looked towards Bonnie with a small smirk. "Pretty sure we have actual criminals on our team." he muttered to himself.
Trina raised a hand right away to ask a question. "Sir, are you aware of jury nullification and how that can affect this-"
Chris threw the gavel at her before she could finish though. "Shut up before I throw you in the Lame-o-sine and let me finish! Am I clear?" Chris threatened Trina, who dutifully nodded and just took notes after that.
After that, Chris walked over to a table where three briefcases were laid out. One red, one gray, and one yellow. "Okay, your challenge today will be to defend a teammate of yours in a trial, while trying to get the other teams' defendants locked up! You'll each take turns, and if your defendant is found guilty, then it's to the elimination ceremony for you!" Chris announced what the challenge was, patting the briefcases.
"Huh? Does that mean 3 people could be going home today if everyone is found guilty?" Melissa questioned Chris.
Chris nodded his head, leaning against the table. "That is correct! So no shooting for second this time! Each team will get a turn to defend their defendant while the other two teams try to prove to the jury why they are guilty. If the jury declares them innocent, no elimination for your team, and if found guilty, that's it for you!" Chris explained, with Chef now walking into the courtroom dressed as a judge, complete with a powdered wig.
Chef grabbed the briefcases and threw them to the captains, who were all able to catch them easily. "What's in the cases?" Beck asked, standing next to Delanie and looking over the bright yellow case.
"Evidence! Inside each case is evidence on the other teams that you can use however you wish. Be careful though, like any courtroom drama, some of the evidence conflicts with what's in other cases, so you'll have to work together while on prosecution to make sure you don't botch it! You can call in any witnesses listed in the evidence during the trial, and all the evidence photographed is already on hand. You have all the evidence you need to win the case, it just depends on how you use it!" Chris elaborated, with Delanie already peeking into the case.
Thomas took a step behind Trixie, who looked at the cases skeptically. "So who are we defending then? Gonna guess the evidence is made for a specific person on each team." Trixie figured.
Chris shook his head, then looked to the Award Winners. "That's where the special advantage from last challenge comes in! The Award Winners decide who you two defend, and you get to decide who they defend!" Chris declared, which caused a grin to appear on Delanie's face, while some worry appeared on those from the other teams.
"The Critics will be defending Jack then sir." Trina stated, while Delanie looked over the Munchers.
"And the Munchers will be defending Nanashi." Delanie added, using a polite tone.
Klaas and Nanashi shared a worried look, but Klaas quickly put on a smile and just patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here without a day in prison, I promise." Klaas told her, getting into the role a little.
"I'm counting on you then!" Nanashi replied, giggling as he got into it.
Chris nodded his head, Chef right away walked over to both teams and pulled the defendants away from their teams. "You guys can't know all the details of the case, since that's what your lawyers are for. Now, who will the Victorious Award Winners be defending?" Chris asked the other teams.
Freddy groaned as he watched Jack get dragged away, then turned to the rest of his team while the Munchers walked over to them to discuss. "I say we just take out Delanie. She's the captain, so separating her from the team will probably hurt them." Freddy suggested.
Kahlin snorted, then wagged a finger. "You'd be doing them a favor by taking her out. They only win when they stop listening to her I've noticed. She stays." Kahlin pointed out.
"Hate to agree, but he's right y'see. Let Delanie take charge of the defense and botch the case." Jim agreed reluctantly, to which Kahlin just turned and winked at him.
Athena walked over to Thomas, who was just standing off on his own while the teams discussed. "King looks like he'd be a murderer I guess." she commented to him.
Thomas brought one hand to his chin, looking over King for a moment. "I see it. But he isn't the kind of murderer you should worry about." Thomas told Athena, not at all scared of King.
"There's murderers I shouldn't be worried about? Oh okay." Athena took the info in, then just walked back to talk with the others.
Once Athena rejoined them though, the discussion was pretty much over. "Trina's the only one with law experience, let's just take her out so she can't help." Kylie suggested to the others, which seemed to get universal approval.
"Okay Chris, we're going with Trina!" Melissa called to Chris with Chef right away picking Trina up and carrying her away.
"There goes the only one who knows the law, this should be a fun challenge." King remarked emotionlessly.
With the three defendants now chosen, Chris clapped his hands. "Okay! With that out of the way, you can now head to the offices behind me and get to brainstorming your offences! You have ONE hour!" Chris started the challenge, pointing to three rooms to the side of the jury stand.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Delanie-
Inside of one of the three rooms Chris gave the teams, Delanie was sitting down on a cheap lawyer's desk in a very cheap office set, with bookshelves filled with empty books that had business and law information on the spines, while the wallpaper was just the Canadian constitution. Delanie was holding one of those books, wearing a crummy clip on tie now with nothing else different. "Hi I'm Joan Kindwoman. Did you know that you have rights? Constitution says you do, and so do I!" she introduced herself to the camera.
Delanie got off the desk and walked around to sit down in the swivel chair behind the desk. "I believe that until proven guilty, every man, woman, and child is innocent, and that's why I'll fight for you Trina!" Delanie pointed at the camera, with a determined look on her face.
-End Confessional-
In the room for the Munchers, Melissa opened up their briefcase once everyone was inside and pulled out two folders, one for each of the other teams. "Here's our evidence, let's see what we'll be bagging Trina and Jack for." Melissa began, handing the yellow folder to Kahlin.
Kahlin opened it up, while Melissa opened up the gray one. "It looks like Trina is facing charges of money laundering, being involved in the disappearance of several local business owners, and running a meth lab ring all across Halifax! Typical politician stuff I must say, I think we can already profile her under that to turn the jury against her." Kahlin stated, seeing how much money she had laundered, along with all the other details of the case.
"And it looks like Jack is wanted for murdering an old woman and burying the body in his own yard, then killing a police officer in an attempt to stop an investigation. Also pretty fitting, Jack can probably already make himself look crazy enough to turn the jury against himself here." Melissa went over Jack's case, then handed the folder for Klaas to look through.
Jim looked in the briefcase and pulled out an antique dagger in a plastic bag, looking more like a sacrificial knife than a hunting dagger, with a film reel logo on the bag. "Looks like this might have been the murder weapon for Jack's case, gonna have to tie this back to him." Jim added, looking the dagger over.
Bonnie peeked into the suitcase as well, putting her arms on Jim's shoulders as she peered over. Jim tensed up for a moment, but just let her do this as they looked through the evidence. "Looks like these blue rocks are supposed to be the meth, we'll have to check for fingerprints and tie these back to Trina." Bonnie figured, holding up the plastic bag.
"This is all of our first time seeing this stuff. And all of this stuff was in the case before we picked Trina, so there's no way that her prints are on those." Klaas pointed out, grabbing a magnifying glass from the briefcase and looking at the bag of rocks up close.
Jim flipped the bagged dagger in his hands a couple times, groaning after Klaas debunked the possibility of prints. "There goes the easy way to lock these bozos up then. We don't even know what Nanashi is charged with, so how are we supposed to prepare an offense or defense here?" Jim asked in frustration, sticking the dagger in the desk.
"Hmm... does anyone watch those lawyer shows? Like Judge Judy maybe? I never had time to watch them, but if someone here did, that might help." Melissa asked, hoping someone would have some info.
Klaas nodded his head, flipping through the folder on Jack. "I've seen a couple of court cases, mostly over assault or collusion at the gambling club my pops goes to. My dad actually had to hire a lawyer when they accused him of collusion. And from what I've seen, these lawyers always try to make personal attacks when they don't have hard hitting evidence." Klaas explained with his own anecdote.
"Did they book your dad? Sounds rough buddy." Kahlin asked, more curious about the story.
Klaas shook his head. "Nah, case only lasted a day before it got thrown out, the dudes going after my dad were just sore losers and it was pretty apparent. So yeah, we just have to hide that our claims are purely based on character, and we should be fine." Klaas elaborated, having his usual smirk as he spoke.
Jim nodded in understanding. "Sounds good to me. Jack is easy, he's crazy, we can say he killed the old womman because he thought the old woman was a cultist or something." Jim suggested, walking over to Klaas to read the details on his case.
Kahlin chuckled for a moment, leaning against the desk now as he watched Jim read the details with Kahlin. "So you're a team player now? Great to see you finally turned around. Only take a week~" Kahlin teased Jim, then went back to reading the details in the yellow folder.
Jim restrained himself though and ignored Kahlin, still just looking over the files. "It says here the old woman had several puncture marks over his corpse when they found it, with the cause of death being that he bled out." Klaas read off.
"Which is what the dagger was used for. Jack stabbed the man to death, simple as that." Melissa made the connection, now holding the dagger and looking for any clues on it.
"The police officer just seems like a panic kill more than anything, and again we can just pin that on him being crazy. So how are we going to pin the secretary?" Jim moved on from Jack, since the strategy was quite clear.
Kahlin flipped through the folder, then pointed to one spot on a paper. "Says here we can call in some guy named Bruce, some guy who worked at the building used as a front for the meth lab. He probably can lay out the story cleanly, then we play along with it." Kahlin answered, then showed them a picture of a fairly stocky and balding office worker with a mustache and glasses.
"Yeah, he looks pretty sympathetic, I say we call him when we can then." Melissa agreed to the idea.
"He looks he does dirtier things than I do." Bonnie remarked, snorting as she held back laughter.
"Ignoring that one. Is there a witness we can call in for Jack's case?" Melissa asked Klaas, since he was the one with the folder.
Klaas flipped through the folder, then nodded. "Looks like we can call in his mom." Klaas answered.
Jim shook his head right away though, seeing the photo of an old lady with gray hair, holding a plate of cookies, and having a pleasant smile. "Bad idea. She looks like she'd go up there and start defending Jack if that's supposed to be his mom. Chris probably wants us to call her up so we look stupid when she dumps a bunch of info that clears Jack." Jim theorized, which got the others thinking.
"Good point. Motherly love trumps a lot of things, maybe even murder. Maybe even-" Bonnie agreed with Jim, with Melissa covering her mouth before she could continue.
"So we've got our plans of attack then?" Melissa asked the three boys, still keeping her hand over Bonnie's mouth.
Before she could get an answer though, Melissa had to yank her hand away. "Did you just lick it!?" she blurted out.
"Yeah. A little sweaty. Not bad." Bonnie answered with a dead look, making Melissa back away and just stand next to Kahlin.
Kahlin moved over to stand between Melissa and Bonnie, nodding his head to her question as he did so. "Sure sounds like it. I think we'll do fine, we just need to know what we're up against on defense, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Kahlin concluded, closing the yellow folder and handing it to Melissa.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Jim-
Jim let out a huge sigh of relief, having his arms crossed. "That went well. I don't care how this challenge goes, what matters is that Melissa is absolutely not targeting me now. I want to scoop Bonnie as an ally, so I won't shoo her away, but I'm not going to save her from becoming the main target. If we merge halfway through the cast, I just have to survive 6 or 7 more episodes. If Bonnie goes, then I'm actually in a pretty comfy spot. It becomes Melissa and Kahlin vs Klaas and Nanashi in the voting, and no way Melissa targets me over Nanashi at this point. If I wipe out Klaas first, then I'm also in a comfy spot. I just need an ally besides Bonnie. I want to get Melissa, but she's too up her own butt about honor and playing fair, so that might take a while."
-End Confessional-
In the room for the Critics, Kylie had the briefcase and set it down on the lawyer desk before opening it. "Okay, let's see what the charges are. I know my way around the law, you pretty much had to know your rights back home for me." Trixie commented, grabbing the red folder in the briefcase.
"You do? Perfect, so do you have some tips and tricks for us? Any edge we can get over the others is pretty big." Kylie asked Trixie, grabbing the yellow folder.
Freddy shook his head disapprovingly, giving Trixie a suspicious look. "What do you mean you had to? Are you a criminal yourself?" Freddy questioned Trixie.
"Not by choice. Think Foxy in the later games." Trixie replied, which completely threw Freddy for a spin.
"Wait, you play FNAF!? Why didn't you say so earlier? What's your favorite installment?" Freddy excitedly asked Trixie, completely changing his tone.
Trixie got a smirk on her face, but covered it with her folder. "I prefer the books, Silver Eyes is the best just for how solid of a start it is. Now can we get started on the challenge? I can lead us through making a strategy against the others." Trixie quickly answered, then looked to the rest of the team.
Freddy got even more excited though, hearing all this from her. "Wow, you're a real fan then! Okay, what do you think of Security Breach then? I was just talking about it with Jack earlier and-"
"Save it for later laddie, we need to focus on the challenge!" Flynn cut Freddy off, with Kylie nodding in agreement.
Freddy sighed, then nodded his head. "Alright then..." he muttered, tipping his top hat down a little.
Trixie and Kylie opened up the folders, with the others looking over and reading with them. "So Trina is a drug lord in this case and Nanashi is a tax evader and human trafficker, keeping her base of operations in a casino cellar. Fascinating coincidences." Thomas noted after looking at both.
"Chris said we have all the evidence we need, so we just have to make a story with this stuff I guess." Athena commented, grabbing a chloroform rag in a plastic bag from the briefcase.
Trixie walked up and took the bag from Athena, then peered over at the yellow folder. "If Trina is a drug lord who kidnaps people, then we can just say she used this to do it. Would make sense too, she's too wimpy to subdue someone any other way." Trixie suggested, showing it to the others.
"That would be a favorable conclusion for the jury to make yes. Or as some would say, þeir munu aldrei vita. Basically, they'd be none the wiser." Thomas agreed to the suggestion.
Freddy then raised a hand, excited again. "Ooh Trixie, that's smart! That's like the Missing Children incident in FNAF 3 where-"
"Oh my god, can you stop with FNAF?" Kylie cut Freddy off as soon as she heard mention of the game, rolling her eyes.
Trixie frowned, nodding in agreement. "We can talk about it after the challenge. We need to focus, we'll got to check cams here if we want to survive this challenge, metaphorically speaking." Trixie told Freddy, making him chuckle a little despite his dismay.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Freddy-
Freddy twiddled his thumbs, looking a bit disappointed. "I kinda feel bad for how I've been treating Trixie. I compared her to Afton earlier! After hearing how much of a fan she is though, I think we have a real shot at being friends! If her, Jack, and I got a little alliance going, man, that'd be the dream. It'd be more of a Nerd Herd thing than an evil alliance though. We're all FNAF fans, so it'd just make sense if we stuck together!"
-End Confessional-
Over in the room for Award Winners, Delanie was scouring through the evidence for the Critics, while King, Beck, and Esteban looked through the evidence for the Munchers. "So how is someone as sweet as Nanashi supposed to look like a human trafficker? I think you messed up on who to pick. We should've went with Jim, he seems more intimidating." Esteban asked the others, then spoke to Delanie.
Delanie shook her head though, slamming the gray folder onto the desk. "With all due respect, I know exactly what I'm doing here. I didn't pass the bar just to be told I made the wrong choice. Now if you excuse me, I have places to be." Delanie replied, then began to walk to the door.
"Wait, where are you going Delanie?" Beck asked, picking up the gray folder and following her.
Delanie turned around and pushed a finger on the folder, having a determined look. "It's Joan Kindwoman, and these folders say we can call in witnesses. But Chris has to have them around here somewhere, I need to meet with them. For Jack it says we can call in a police officer, who likely has very valuable information to the case." Delanie introduced herself, as well as what she was doing.
Esteban flipped to the back of the folder, then found a picture of a girl that looked to be about their age. "And for Nanashi we can call in a girl named Emica, apparently she's supposed to be her best friend." Esteban informed Delanie.
"Don't call her then. She'll defend her best friend even if she 'saw' the crime. As for this police officer, he could be useful, only if we save him for the end." Delanie ordered, then reached to open the door.
Toby walked up to Delanie as well, gesturing to the walls with his hand. "Nya should probably look for a man named Bruce and a girl named Miriam, those are the witnesses the other teams can call, might wanna see what business those cats are into!" Luis advised.
"You can hear what they're talking about?" Beck questioned Toby, walking over to the puppeteer now.
"You can't hear it? I guess I just have better hearing than most. I can't make out the specifics, but those are the witnesses that can be called in for Trina, she's involved in a drug ring it seems." Toby replied, shrugging his shoulders.
King frowned at this, cupping hands around his ears. "I can't hear a thing... impressive. We'll just work on a strategy for Nanashi then since we can't call in a witness." King commented, then assured Delanie as he and Esteban kept reading through the red folder.
Delanie gave a thumbs up of approval, then opened the door. "Sounds like a plan, I'll be back in a bit, I have some witness coaching to do." Delanie told her team, then gave a quick wave goodbye.
"Isn't coaching the witnesses highly illegal?" Esteban asked Delanie worriedly.
"We aren't the ones in the hot seat, we can do whatever we want..." Delanie replied suavely, then stepped out of their room and closed the door.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: King-
King scratched his chin, wiggling a finger in his ear. "Toby naturally surpasses me in something as crucial as hearing. I'll have to learn his technique to hearing very well. He has my temporary respect, until I inevitably get better than he is at hearing things."
-End Confessional-
Delanie stepped out of the room, looking around and taking notice of Chris just sitting on a director's chair in front of the rooms, while Irene was serving him coffee. "What are you doing?" Chris asked Delanie, looking up from his phone.
"Using the bathroom. We're going to be in there for an hour you said, and we didn't get a chance after breakfast. So I'm entitled to a bathroom break." Delanie answered, then just walked to the exit of the soundstage.
Chris accepted the answer and let Delanie leave, although as soon as she did, she circled around the soundstage and went in through the back exit, where she found the dressing room. "Not many places to hide someone here..." she muttered to herself, then opened the door to the room.
Inside the room was 6 people, all of the 'witnesses' for the crimes. "Is it time for us to go in?" one of the people asked, being a buff bald man dressed in black and wearing sunglasses along with a headpiece. Clearly a security guard.
Delanie shook her head, changing her expression to one of worry. "Not yet! Sorry, Chris threw some last minute changes for your testimonies, so I just have to go over them with you guys. He said it's pretty important, so is that alright?" Delanie requested.
One of the witnesses, a very old lady, nodded her head in approval. "Of course dear, don't worry. We know that Chris fellow can be pushy, so we'll get it right." the lady assured Delanie.
Delanie put on a relieved smile, wiping sweat from her forehead. "Phew, I'm still new to this interning thing, was worried I'd have to do some coercing. But which of you are Bruce and Miriam?" Delanie moved on, looking at the six witnesses.
A pudgy man and a nerdy girl raised their hands once they heard their names. "That would be us, what do we need to change about our testimonies?" Bruce asked Delanie curiously. "Mine is just going over how I caught Trina in the act using our company's storage room to store meth. Dreadful really." Bruce added, not a fan of the story.
Delanie nodded her head, sitting down on a folding chair next to him, then spoke calmly. "There's a few things to change actually..."
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Klaas-
Klaas had the yellow folder in his hands, giving the camera a small smirk. "I like challenges like these. Everyone has been given a hand, and we have to work with the cards given. No aces up the sleeve, just a battle of wits. Our team has strategies for both of the others, now we just have to see if their hands trump ours."
-End Confessional-
Once the planning time was over, Chris blew an airhorn, getting up from his director's chair. "Okay teams! Your time to prepare is up, and we'll be starting with the Munchers on defense, so come out and take your places!" Chris announced to the teams.
Everyone left their offices, and the Munchers took their place at the defense counter, while the other two teams took their spot behind the prosecution table. Chef brought out Nanashi to the defendant's stand in handcuffs, who was looking to her team with an optimistic smile. "Sooo... did you guys get a plan put together?" Nanashi asked her team.
Kahlin nodded his head, giving her a two finger wave. "You bet we did. No way the jury calls you guilty after what we've got." Kahlin assured her.
Jim chuckled, then leaned in. "Ya do realize we don't even know what she's charged with right?" Jim whispered to Kahlin.
Kahlin nodded, tipping his baseball cap up a bit. "Right you are my man, but what good comes from telling someone you aren't prepared at all? Imagine laying that bomb down to your client in court. We need her confident during questioning." Kahlin whispered back.
"Fair enough, can't have her screwin' us over." Jim accepted Kahlin's answer and backed off of the topic.
When the Award Winners and the Critics met together at the prosecution, Delanie gave them a suspicious look. "So what details were in your folder on Nanashi? It'd be good if we traded info now before the case." Delanie asked right off the bat.
"Charged for tax fraud and human trafficking in a casino, we can call in the security guard for the casino to have us back up the claims, since he apparently was the one who discovered the operation." Trixie explained to Delanie, then handed over the red folder they had to her.
"Wait, you're just giving her our evidence? That's like leaving both doors open, we're wide open to that biting us!" Freddy blurted out, making Kylie and Thomas roll their eyes.
"Gonna guess that's a FNAF reference too." Kylie commented and groaned.
Trixie nodded, then patted Freddy's back. "It's just the evidence against the Munchers, better we share it than we don't. Love the reference though." Trixie encouraged Freddy, who seemed pleased that at least she got his reference.
King took the folder from Delanie and flipped through, raising an eyebrow. "Interesting. We have different facts listed, as well as a different witness. Our folder said we could call Nanashi's best friend who is heartbroken by her friend's poor choices and wants to teach her a lesson." King informed the Critics.
"Definitely not calling her in then, I know how these go, she'll just defend her best friend, she's only saying that to get into the courtroom." Trixie shot the idea down right away.
Beck nodded his head in agreement. "Pretty much what we figured too, that Chris put her in there as bait." Beck added, leaning against the counter with his hands in his pockets.
Delanie shook her head though, looking a little more optimistic. "Now now, let's not count our option out here. She might actually want Nanashi to take the consequences of her actions. I say we let her testify against. If she starts going the other way, then we end the cross-examination right there." Delanie proposed.
"Sounds risky, no thanks." Athena replied coldly.
Esteban stepped between them though, not wanting an argument to start. "We'll put it to a vote then. Do we let this best friend of Nanashi's testify?" Esteban asked all of Award Winners and Critics.
Esteban raised his hand, as did Delanie right away, although Thomas ended up being the only one from the Critics in favor of the idea. "That's that. Looks like she won't be testifying. Let's hope we won't need her side of the story." Esteban stated, wiping his hands of the matter.
Right after that, Chef sat down in the judge's seat, while Chris stood between the teams. "Let's this first trial going shall we? Turnabout Casino is underway! Jury, you may now enter!" Chris announced, then look to the entrance of the soundstage.
Ted, Oliver, Elroy, and Irene entered, followed by Courtney. "Oh yeah, here's our special guest for today! Courtney everyone!" Chris welcomed in Courtney, who got no applause.
The five of them took their seats in the jurors' stand, with Courtney crossing her arms. "I'm here of my own choice. If you're doing a legal challenge, I'll be the one who decides who wins." Courtney stated firmly.
"Not the rest of us, oof..." Ted commented, slouching in his seat.
"I beg your pardon?" Courtney turned to the emo intern, glaring at him.
"He means that there are five of us. You only decide who wins if we tie." Oliver reminded Courtney politely.
Courtney shook her head, then pointed a thumb at herself. "Well I'm the only one who went to law school and actually has a career, unlike you interns! So you better take my say on this as expert statements!" Courtney reminded Oliver back, who flinched and nodded right away.
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Oliver responded much more dutifully.
Chef slammed his gavel to get everyone's attention, while Chris now sat down where the scribe would normally sit. "Order in the court! Today we are here to figure out whether or not the defendant is guilty of tax evasion and human trafficking through means of using her casino as a base. Prosecution, make your opening statement!" Chef ordered, then pointed to the Critics and Award Winners.
Delanie stepped out from behind the counter and walked over to the jury stand, then cleared her throat. "Hello, Joan Kindwoman here, and thank you all for coming out to hear this case. And I hope you'll be able to bring justice to the families of those affected by Nanashi's actions. Don't let her appearance deceive you, because she sure deceived her victims." Delanie greeted the jury, speaking half-casually about the case.
Beck saw the chloroform sitting in the Critic's briefcase, so he reached in and grabbed the plastic baggie, then walked over alongside Delanie and showed it to the jury. "Wait, that's our- nonono..." Trixie began to curse under her breath when she realized what happened.
"The defendant used THIS chloroform here to subdue her victims to make up for her lack of strength, then take them down to the basement of the casino where they would be kept and ready to be trafficked." Beck told the jury, with Delanie nodding in agreement.
Freddy also realized what happened when he saw the bag, so he hurried over to the couple and shook his head. "Wait, that's evidence for the other case, Nanashi didn't use that at all!" Freddy pointed out.
Beck stayed ambivalent and just handed the bag to Delanie, then walked back to the prosecution stand. "Are you trying to sabotage the case here? That's a felony and obstruction of justice I'll have you know." Delanie questioned Freddy, giving him a sharp look.
"No, that's just the wrong evidence and has nothing to do with the case, which isn't right." Freddy argued, taking the bag from Delanie.
Flynn now walked over, taking the bag from Freddy. "No need to start an argument, we're in the same crew here!" Flynn reminded them, shaking his head disapprovingly.
Chef slammed his gavel though, catching everyone's attention. "Quit yapping! That's all the time ya got! Does the defense have a response?" Chef moved on, looking to the Munchers.
"Nah we're good your honor." Kahlin replied with a shit-eating grin, watching the teams argue.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Kylie-
Kylie rubbed her temple, looking very annoyed. "We're off to a great start here... Freddy just had to jump in there and not only make the chloroform useless for this case, but probably useless for the next. We're using this on the offensive, it's not like it matters which team we use it on. I know he's trying to play fair and do the right thing, but with that and his references, he's really starting to get on my nerves."
-End Confessional-
Since the defense had nothing to say, Chef looked to the prosecution again. "Are you done yapping yet, because you guys get to do something now, what's your move?" Chef asked the prosecution.
"What's your move? Get to do something? That's not how trials usually go right?" Elroy asked Irene, who shook her head.
"It's Chef, he isn't a judge, worried that this'll affect how people at home view jury trials though, TV shows and movies already make it look really informal." Irene replied, sinking in her seat a bit.
Since Chef asked, Delanie right away stepped forward again. "Yes you honor, we'd like to call in our witness Em-" Delanie began to say, but Kylie cut her off.
"Hey! We said we weren't bringing her in! We're bringing in the security guard as our witness!" Kylie scolded Delanie, then addressed Chef.
Trixie nodded in agreement with Kylie. "Yeah, just Sit'N'Survive while we handle this." Trixie added, pointing to the prosecution table.
Freddy again perked up when he heard that. "You know that too! That's a reference! And we're calling in a security guard! I'll have to ask him if he works at Freddy Faz-"
"Shut up already!" Kylie cut him off, pointing a finger aggressively. "We are in a COURTROOM! Take your video game references to the kids' table! Oh wait, there isn't one! So just keep them to yourself!" Kylie yelled at Freddy fed up with him now.
The security guard had now walked into the courtroom, carrying a stoic expression. "Is this a bad time?" he asked coldly, staring at the prosecution arguing.
"Probably." Athena remarked.
Delanie walked to the security guard and shook his hand, then gestured to the witness stand. "S'all good man, just take your position so we can get started." Delanie ushered him to the stand, then stood behind the prosecution desk.
The security took his place behind the stand, then crossed his arms as he looked at everyone judgingly. His dark sunglasses and straight face hid his expression, leaving what he was thinking up to the imagination. "Thank you for coming today Mr. Fabian. Can you tell us what you know about the case from your point of view?" Esteban asked the guard, trying to ignore the others on the prosecution.
"I'll tell ya what I know." the guard began, looking towards him. "I work the night shift every night at that casino, and Nanashi's dad works at the place, so I'm used to her being around. No one else that doesn't work at the casino is allowed to be in there. So I noticed right away when she entered with another guy." he explained, tapping his finger on the stand.
Esteban nodded his head, then gestured for the guard to continue. "And who was this guy exactly?" Esteban asked him curiously.
"One of the victims, some kid named Pierre. At first I thought it was her sneaking in a boyfriend, but when I went to investigate, the kid was unconscious and she was taking him to the stairs that led to the basement storage." the guard answered, which caused the jury to now look at Nanashi skeptically.
Nanashi got a bit worried when the guard said this as well. "I don't know a Pierre!" Nanashi blurted out to defend herself right away.
"Quiet! It ain't your turn girl!" Chef shouted at Nanashi, slamming his gavel.
The guard cleared his throat, then continued. "I followed her down to the basement, and that's where I found that several people were kept inside after Nanashi brought them there." the guard stated, glancing at Nanashi for a moment.
"Thank you for your testimony, that should suffice." King thanked the guard, who nodded and stepped away from the stand, then walked to the exit of the courtroom.
Courtney let out a small huff, then looked to Oliver. "How unprofessional, the defense is supposed to get a cross-examination here." Courtney commented, just miffed.
Hearing this, Oliver stood up in his seat and pointed to the guard as he got to the door. "Hey wait, he's supposed to be cross-examined!" Oliver pointed out, which further annoyed Courtney.
"And the jury is supposed to not interrupt to the trial..." Courtney muttered.
The guard turned around though and walked back to the stand, while Trixie and King simultaneously looked slightly annoyed that trick didn't work. "Alright, cross-examination time! Defense, you go!" Chef ordered, pointing to the Munchers.
"Huddle everyone." Melissa commanded, making the other four face her in a small circle. "What's the game plan here? It seems pretty cut and dry that the guard saw Nanashi bring in the boy unconscious, then found a bunch of other people in the basement. How do we defend?" Melissa whispered to the team.
"Deny it, easy. Doubt they have camera footage or photos to show." Bonnie suggested.
Kahlin shook his head, having his hand on his chin. "But will the jury believe that? There's some holes in that testimony, I just know it." Kahlin turned the idea down, thinking deeper.
Klaas gestured to himself, having a confident smirk. "Don't worry, I know casinos in and out, I can weasel us out of this one." Klaas stated, already turned to head to the witness stand to cross examine the guard.
"That's true, don't let us down, we can't afford another loss right now." Melissa told Klaas, watching him head over to the guard.
Klaas gave a thumbs up, then dropped his expression to a deadpan serious look. "I can handle myself just fine. Just watch." he told his team coldly, then walked right up to the stand.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Klaas-
Klaas had his deadpan look, then changed it to a smirk in an instant. "I'm really good at keeping a face. When you're playing poker, you have to be able to avoid giving any tells as to what you may or may not have. Pretty helpful skill to have when interrogating or questioning someone, you don't want them to feed you what they think you want to hear."
-End Confessional-
Klaas had his hands behind his back as he gave a nod to the guard, who nodded back. "So Mr. Fabian, what exactly prompted you to investigate what was going on again?" Klaas asked the guard, staying fairly monotone.
"I heard someone enter, simple as that." the guard answered.
"And you said you were used to Nanashi being around correct?" Klaas asked to clarify, his tone not changing whatsoever.
"That is correct. She hung around the casino with her father frequently." the guard stated.
Klaas's hands tensed up, although the guard couldn't see them since he kept them behind his back. "So then how did you anticipate Nanashi bringing someone into the casino? You clearly stated you expected her to bring a boy in." Klaas pointed out, which confused the guard slightly.
The guard didn't look bothered at all though. "I expected her to sneak one in because that's simply what teenage girls do sometimes. I've seen enough rascals in my life to know that." he answered calmly.
Bonnie listened, her eyes lighting up now as she thought of something. "Oh really?" Bonnie chimed in, walking up to Klaas's side. "Then how come you didn't try and stop her when you saw that the boy was unconscious? Any good guard stops a perpetrator right away, I've dealt with some annoying ones myself. But you just watched? What's up with that?" Bonnie questioned the guard.
This caused a small hush, and Trixie shook her head disapprovingly. "Hold on! Why are you assuming he had to resort to violence? It's Nanashi we're talking here, she ain't a threat with those noodle arms. What if he was just trying to see what she was up to before apprehending her?" Trixie hypothesized, trying to stop this momentum.
"Better to resort to violence than to resort to nothing. Especially with an unconscious boy, you wouldn't let me drag a boy asleep even if I'm not strong right?" Bonnie argued, pointing at herself.
Trixie cursed under her breath, leaning against the desk. "I wouldn't..." she begrudgingly replied.
"Alright we're done then." Bonnie told Trixie, then just moseyed back over behind the prosecution desk.
Klaas gave Bonnie a thumbs up and flashed a smile, to which she just gave a lazy thumbs up back. "Moving on from that..." Klaas went back to fully serious, facing the guard again. "What exactly did you find in the basement when you confronted Nanashi? Give me a detailed description." Klaas requested, tapping his finger on the stand.
The guard paused, then soon had his answer. "It was a dark room, without much lighting. Mostly just stored supplies, broken machines, the casino's safe, and of course the people that Nanashi was holding captive." the guard described the room, with Klaas just listening intently.
"I see I see..." Klaas took it all in, then stepped away from the stand and turned around so the guard couldn't see his expression.
Everyone was now hooked in, waiting to see what this was leading up to, while Klaas just scratched his chin as he thought. "What was the point of that?" Elroy asked the other jurors.
"Clearly trying to fish for evidence to spin around for himself, I doubt he found anything." Courtney remarked pessimistically.
Klaas lowered his hand and turned back around, pointing the other hand at the guard. "That was a good description of a typical hostage containment place, but unfortunately, no casino basement is like that. A casino basement is just more casino. Storage is on the top floor, and the safe is never in the same room as the supplies employees would easily have access to. On top of you having a hunch Nanashi would bring a boy in and lack of reason for said hunch, now this blatantly wrong description, it sounds like you are trying to frame Nanashi in place of someone else! You picked the wrong target though, since she's way too sweet of a person to do anything like that!" Klaas went off on the guard, which got a few gasps.
The guard grumbled to himself, but his dark sunglasses hid his expression. "No comment." was all he responded with.
Chef slammed his gavel after that, and Chris gave a few claps. "Interesting road to take, but will the jury buy it? We'll have them vote now, and then reveal the verdict at the end! That's it for Turnabout Casino!" Chris ended the trial, walking into the middle of the courtroom.
The guard got up and left after Chris ended the trial, giving Klaas another quick nod as he left. "Wow, that was incredible Klaas! You really went all out there!" Melissa praised Klaas, clapping her hands.
Klaas shrugged his shoulders, walking back over and joining his team. "I hope it was good enough. I don't know much of the legal jargon, I just know a lot about casinos and that his story didn't make any sense. Thanks for the addition Bonnie, I wasn't sure who to put the blame on if not Nanashi, but the guard himself was easy." Klaas thanked Bonnie, who also just shrugged.
"Does this mean I get a quick makeout ses-"
"No."
"Then I don't care." Bonnie dismissed the thanks, leaving the desk behind.
Kahlin chuckled as he watched her leave, while Jim rolled his eyes. "Y'know, when her mind isn't on something dirty, she's actually pretty helpful." Jim commented.
"You really think so? I guess she was a big help last challenge too. Really not a fan of when her mind is on something dirty, but I guess I can give it a pass if she keeps helping out like this." Melissa pondered, then also left the defense desk.
Chris pointed at both teams as they began to disperse, then pointed to the desks. "Alright teams, it's time for trial 2! Or as I'll call it Turnabout Paranoia! Critics, take your spot at the defense, Munchers, you move to prosecution and we'll get this started!" Chris ordered the teams.
"Hopefully this goes a bit better, I don't think we were able to survive all the nights needed to get them guilty there." Freddy said optimistically as he and the other Critics left the prosecution.
"That one didn't even make sense laddie. Ye gotta set up more of a punchline before ye make a reference instead of just tossin' her in there!" Flynn advised, then walked past him.
Chef walked over to the witness stand and grabbed Nanashi's arm, then began to walk her away. "Thanks guys! Even if we lose, that was pretty cool!" Nanashi complimented her team as she was walked out.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Flynn-
Flynn rested an arm on the vanity, looking unamused. "I ain't likin' our chances here, if this ol' sailor is allowed to be grim. We ain't got our anchor, landlubbers are orderin' us around and referencing nonsense, and now we're taking two ships at once. We'll be lucky if we walk outta this not walkin' the plank! That's why I'm wearin' me lucky eyepatch!"
-End Confessional-
The teams were now in place, and Chris this time took a seat in the jury stand to watch, with all the interns sitting a good distance from him. Chef walked into the courtroom with Jack, who right away waved to his team. "Sup guys, how'd the first trial go?" Jack greeted his team.
"Klaas had some insider info, so not so great. He probably tricked the jury into giving a not guilty verdict. Oh and no one is cooperating, that's probably not good." Kylie answered, switching to sarcasm at the end.
Jack frowned at this, crossing his arms. "Well you guys have to work together here! Haven't you seen any horror movie where things go to court? The leads or the scientists don't work together in court, the curfew isn't imposed, and then a whole bunch of people die!" Jack exclaimed, spreading his arms out.
"Don't things go to court after people die, not before?" Athena pointed out, missing the message.
"Well in the movies they do the court scenes first so they can save the horror scenes and suspense for afterwards." Jack told her, calming back down.
"So they go to court in advance. Why doesn't everyone do that, sounds like it'd save time." Athena continued this tangent, growing a little curious.
Kylie slapped her forehead, growing more frustrated. Freddy corrected Athena for her though. "That's not what Jack meant. Like think of FNAF for example, you save the biggest scares for the end. Putting the court scenes at the end of a horror movie would be bad since they're boring. And FNAF isn't boring." Freddy explained to her.
"What's FNAF?" Athena asked, slightly confused.
Freddy was about to answer and Kylie was about to lose it, but Chef swung down his gavel before Freddy could do so. "Silence! My court isn't a chatting place! Prosecution, make your opening statement!" Chef yelled, now looking to the Munchers and Award Winners.
Melissa held her gray folder, already walking over to the jury. "You do the opening and I'll handle the attacking, got it?" Delanie told Melissa sternly.
"Fine by me. I'm stepping in if I see things go sour though." Melissa accepted the agreement, then went to deliver the opening statement.
Melissa stood in front of the jury and Chris, then pulled out a photograph of an old lady with several holes in her torso from being stabbed. "Sorry you have to be here for this case, but Jack over there is responsible for the murder of this poor old lady, as well as the first officer that tried to arrest him for it. As you can see here, Jack stabbed this lady repeatedly, and she was found dead in his backyard." Melissa introduced the case to the jury, who looked over the photograph.
Melissa pulled out the bag with the dagger in it, then showed it to the jury when they were done looking at the photograph. "This was the murder weapon used by Jack, we don't have a motive, but he is clearly insane, and seeing as the victims had no connection to him, this is a crime of pure insanity." Melissa stated, pointing to Jack in the witness stand.
Melissa walked back to the prosecution desk after that, then high-fived Kahlin and Beck upon returning. "Nice, right away get in that he's crazy. Makes anything he says afterward look bad." Kahlin complimented Melissa's statement.
Beck nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you did great out there." Beck added in agreement.
Delanie heard Beck and frowned, walking up to them. "Oh you think that's good? Just wait until it's my turn, I'll blow it out of the water." Delanie stated confidently.
"Heh, good luck with that. I'm all for friendly competition, but don't throw the case." Melissa replied, going along with it.
Chef now looked the Critics, who were already discussing amongst themselves about the opening statement. "Does the defense have a response? Or are y'all gonna squander it like the last guys?" Chef asked them impatiently.
"We do! We ain't stupid." Trixie answered right away, then looked the others. "I'll just say that it's all circumstantial and there aren't any direct ties linking Jack to the crime. Especially since they said there's no motive. We can just say that he's obviously not insane and had no reason to do this, so he's innocent." Trixie laid out an approach to the team.
Thomas thought for a moment, then gave a nod of approval. "Seems like a sound concept. Ne yanlış gidebilir? I'll handle the statement." Thomas volunteered, then began to walk away from the desk.
Freddy raised an eyebrow at what sounded like gibberish to him. "Wait what does that mean? Is that a-"
"No it's not a FNAF reference, it's just a saying in Turkey. Basically asking what could go wrong." Thomas replied quickly, adjusting his glasses and letting out a small huff as he walked to the jury stand.
Thomas stood in front of them, giving a polite wave and a formal bow. "Good afternoon. I would like to start this off by saying that the prosecution has not given you any evidence that ties Jack to the crime. They have shown you the murder weapon, the location of the crime, and the victim. But no fingerprints, no photos of Jack, nothing besides her body being found in his backyard could even indicate he committed the crime.
Thomas then turned to Chris. "In fact, the idea that Jack is insane and murdered an old lady and an officer out of insanity is simply not possible. Total Drama has to screen its' contestants through means of a committee, and they cannot select someone insane. Right Chris?" Thomas added, waiting for the host to vouch.
"I'm not in those meetings, but considering how boring some of you guys are, you're probably right." Chris remarked in response.
Thomas accepted this, then faced the jury again. "Exactly. So if Jack isn't insane, has no motive, and has no evidence against him, he could not have committed this crime. Thank you." Thomas finished his statement, then walked back to the defense desk.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Jack-
Jack looked pretty impressed, rubbing the back of his head. "Wow, Thomas really hasn't been on my radar much, he never really fit any of the movie archetypes that would warrant keeping an eye on him, but he's pretty good! He was a big help back in the zombie challenge too. I feel like we should have him help more going forward, better not waste those skills!"
-End Confessional-
With both statements out of the way, Chef looked to the prosecution again. "Y'all gonna call in a witness or what?" Chef asked them very informally.
King nodded his head, then looked to the others. "We're calling in the police officer." he stated bluntly.
"Yeahhhh, can't say I disagree on that one. It's either that or his mom bails him out of this. That counter statement put us in a rough spot." Kahlin commented in agreement.
Toby gave King a thumbs up, as did Luis. "Kahlin is right here. No matter what you may do, your mother will always love you and be there for you, which... isn't favorable for s here." Toby added.
"For you maybe..." King muttered to himself. "Okay Chef, we call in Officer Sanders to the stand." King replied to Chef.
Almost instantly, a dark-skinned police officer with short hair and ear piercings stepped inside the courtroom, looking unamused to be here. She took the stand, giving a nod of acknowledgment to both sides. "Thank you for coming in to today's case, I know the subject matter is rather touchy." Toby welcomed Sanders, giving a friendly wave.
Luis waved to Sanders as well, confusing her slightly. "It sure ain't a purrty case! Now, tell us what you know about what went down in this cat-astrophe!" Luis gave her the go-ahead to start her testimony.
Sanders was still slightly offput by Luis, but mostly shook it off and began her testimony. "Alrighty then... we still do not have an exact date of the murder, although the forensic experts believe there was a one week gap between the murder of Eleanor, the old woman, and officer Jones, the officer who lost his life in the investigation which led to Jack's arrest." Sanders began, giving Jack a bitter glance when mentioning the fallen officer.
"Unfortunately, due to the remote location of the farmhouse the body was found, we have no eyewitnesses of the murder and no security footage. The only two people in the house during this time period were Jack and his mother, as his father was out of town on a business trip at the time. Eleanor's body was merely discovered by officer Jones, who did not return from his investigation after reporting it to us through his phone and was subsequently found dead with Eleanor. Due to the extremely fragile and gentle state of Jack's mother, Jack is the only one who could have carried out these murders." Sanders concluded, very displeased.
Melissa looked satisfied with this testimony, then gave Sanders a thumbs up. "That's already plenty, thank you officer Sanders." Melissa thanked the officer, who returned the thanks with a smile.
Sanders didn't even bother looking to the Critics, just giving the prosecution a hopeful look. "Don't let this cop killer get away." she told them, getting into the role a bit.
"I think we've got this under control." Beck replied, a sentiment shared by most of the prosecution it seemed.
Chef then pointed his gavel at the Critics. "Are you gonna cross examine the witness?" Chef asked them.
"Hardly a witness, but yeah, we're going to." Kylie answered right away.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Jim-
Jim let out a disappointed sigh, then looked at the camera. "The challenge is definitely rigged. Or at least rigged for it to be impossible for the defense to lose with the evidence given. They can just play the 'there's no ties to Jack' card again and we're back to square one. Sure it makes Jack look suspicious, but he obviously didn't do anything. It'd be impossible for Chris to actually get us on crimes. Gonna guess this whole thing a long winded reward challenge."
-End Confessional-
Sanders now looked to the Critics, with her and Trixie sharing an equally hostile stare. "So, you say that these murders took place in a remote location where only Jack and his mother resided right?" Trixie asked Sanders to confirm.
"That would be the case. No one else was in the area when officer Jones went in." Sanders answered, with a nearly venomous tone.
Freddy raised a finger and was about to say something, but Kylie pushed his hand down and stepped forward instead. "So if this was a remote location, what's the chance that someone premeditated this? What was Eleanor doing by Jack's house in the first place?" Kylie questioned Sanders.
Sanders rolled her eyes, then shrugged her shoulders. "Wish we had a concrete answer, but officer Jones was murdered before we could find out more. According to Eleanor's husband, she had left to drop something off at the post office." Sanders answered.
"Post office? Now what was an old lass doin' out in ye middle of nowhere if she was going to the post office?" Flynn pointed out, confused by Sander's fact.
"We don't know. Investigator got killed, remember." Sanders retorted, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.
Trixie scoffed at this, getting a smug grin. "So you guys don't have any actual evidence? You guys are just putting the blame on Jack since the body was in his yard? There's no proof he even did anything. Who's to say someone just didn't dump the body in the middle of nowhere in hopes of getting away with murder? By trying to book Jack instead of the actual killer, you're just letting them get away." Trixie argued.
Sanders stammered at this, trying to think of a quick response, but Thomas pointed to the courtroom exit. "Thank you for your time officer Sanders." he told her coldly.
Sanders cursed under her breath, then just stepped away from the stand. As she walked away though, she turned around and looked to Chef. "They cut my cross examination off, the prosecution get their response. Just a reminder." she reminded Chef, then stormed out of the courtroom.
Courtney nodded in agreement with Sanders. "The prosecution should have had a response regardless, same for the first case, although I doubt much would change." Courtney stated matter-of-factly.
"That just makes it take longer..." Ted complained, slouching further down into his seat.
Chef decided to allow this though, and looked to the prosecution. "So be it then, y'all got anything to say before we wrap up this trial?" Chef asked the Munchers and Award Winners.
"We have a lot to say your honor. Allow me." Delanie replied, staring at the Critics at the moment. All of them except for Athena were looking at the prosecution confidently.
Kahlin leaned over to Beck, watching Delanie grab both folders. "You think she can do it?" Kahlin asked him.
Beck right away shook his head. "Would love to see it, that's all I'll say. Gotta at least pretend to be supportive as her boyfriend." Beck replied.
Kahlin lightly chuckled at this. "What a loving relationship." he remarked, then leaned away.
Delanie walked out from behind the desk and in between the defense and prosecution, facing towards the jury. "First off your honor, I think it's important to note that one of the defense's claims goes against the witness testimony. The hypothetical that someone else was in this remote location just doesn't hold up. If they just dumped this body and left, then why would they go back to the scene of the crime to kill an investigator that only further incriminates them? Officer Jones only reported Jack and his mother, no one else. So that claim just doesn't hold up." Delanie explained, gesturing to the exit of the courtroom where Sanders just left.
Delanie then pulled out the antique dagger, showing it to Chef, then to the jury. "This dagger too, it's pretty old and looks like something you'd find in a temple. Doesn't that seem like something Jack would have? I mean, look at the cross on his neck, he's clearly a believer in this." Delanie pointed to Jack, who quickly hid the wooden on his neck, but it was too late for that.
"So Jack's a Christian, a lot of people are. I know Toby is. So how does that make Jack the killer here?" Trixie asked Delanie skeptically.
Delanie smirked, then looked to the jury once more. "I'm not sure if you watched the previous episode, but Jack went on a maniacal tangent and tried to leave the film lot yesterday because he believed a member on his own team was a vampire, and then got said member voted off. He is very quick to act on things he thinks are supernatural. Knowing Jack, he used a holy dagger to stab Eleanor, thinking she was a witch. Like Melissa said at the beginning, this was a murder done out of insanity." Delanie elaborated, which got a gasp from Irene and Oliver.
"Hey, you have no proof of any of that either!" Kylie pointed out. "You say we have no proof, but you didn't provide any either!" Kylie added, with the rest of the Critics agreeing with her.
Delanie scoffed, then pointed at them. "Oh really? He didn't go on an unprovoked insane tangent? Why was Lilac eliminated again?" Delanie asked them smugly.
"Because Jack thought she was a vampire..." Freddy answered, earning a harsh elbow from Kylie.
"I rest my case your honor." Delanie told Chef, then walked back to the prosecution.
Chris clapped his hands, standing up from his seat. "Interesting approach! Definitely didn't expect the turns this would take. Alright Chef, you can take Jack away so we can get the final trial going!" Chris ordered, then sat back down.
Jack looked to his team, a bit disappointed. "That was going pretty well up until the end?" Jack tried to look at the bright side.
Trixie nodded in agreement. "Oh she definitely just tried to salvage that. She never gave any proof Jack did anything though. Courtney knows all the legal stuff, so she'll probably bully the interns into our favor. Might be close though." Trixie figured.
"Jack did you murder that old lady?" Athena asked Jack.
"Athena it's just a fake case, no one murdered anyone. All these cases are fake." Thomas reminded Athena.
"Oh. Okay. Why didn't you guys just say that then. Instant win." Athena suggested.
Kylie facepalmed, shaking her head. "I'm surrounded by loons..." she muttered to herself.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Athena-
Athena sat facing directly forward, giving the camera a serious look. "It seems they didn't get my joke. It was sarcasm. Wonder why they didn't get it..."
-End Confessional-
The teams were now in position for the third trial, with the Award Winners on defense, Jack gone, and the other two teams at the prosecution desk. "We just have to make sure we connect Trina to the crime. But the witness literally worked with her and caught her, so this should be a bit easier." Melissa told the others.
"See? It's the connection that matters. Gonna be fun seeing Delanie try and play defense when we hit her with evidence." Trixie remarked.
"It's Joan Goodwoman, thank you." Delanie corrected Trixie, only having heard her name.
Chef walked in with Trina and stood her at the defendant stand, with her waving to her team worriedly. "How did the other trials go ma'am?" Trina asked Delanie, curious for her own sake.
"Both didn't go too well. The first one got derailed quickly, and we were never able to get evidence in the second." King informed Trina, which just made her grow nervous.
"That wasn't very nice. Don't worry Trina, you did nothing wrong, so we'll get you through this." Toby told King, then assured Trina.
"Nyeah! Ain't nothin' to get nya for if your paws are clean!" Luis chimed in, making Trina giggle a little.
Trina smiled at Toby, looking more hopeful now. "If you say so Toby, good luck!" Trina replied, with Luis tipping his hat to her.
"Don't we want her calm? Why'd you say to her?" Esteban asked King, slightly bothered.
King just shrugged his shoulders. "I was bored, and seeing her squirm like that is amusing." King answered bluntly.
Esteban got a worried look after hearing that, although Chef swung his gavel down and got their attention. Chris walked into the center of the courtroom, looking at both teams. "Alright teams, it's time for trial 3, Turnabout Fring! Kick it off Chef!" Chris announced, starting the trial and then going back to his seat.
Chef nodded, then looked to the Munchers and Critics. "Opening statement, get to it!" Chef commanded loudly.
Athena gestured to Melissa with one hand, waving to the rest of her team with the other to get their attention. "Melissa should do it. She did it fine last time." Athena suggested completely monotone.
"How do you go from making no sense to all the sense like that? But yeah, I agree. It made things rougher for us right off the bat." Kylie agreed with the suggestion.
"Sounds good to me, I'll get the momentum going then." Melissa took the suggestion, then grabbed their folders and walked over to the jury.
Once she was in front of them, she gave a quick wave. "Hello again, this time we'll be handling the prosecution of Trina Bellwether, who has been convicted for money laundering, running underground drug labs all across Halifax, the disappearance of several local business owners, and using the mayor's building as a base of operations." Melissa listed the charges, although the Award Winners didn't react all that strongly since they knew what they were, meanwhile Trina grew exponentially terrified at these accusations.
Melissa pulled out the bag of meth, showing it to the jury. "This is just a sample at what was found in her lab, located directly beneath the office floor of City Hall in Halifax. At the local businesses where the owners disappeared, similar samples were found. There were 7 locations in total, all of them having been turned into fronts. Trina had made contact with several other dealers who have already been arrested, so now we're just here to deliver a guilty verdict to the kingpin. Let's make this one quick." Melissa told the jury, then walked back to the prosecution desk.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Melissa-
Melissa had a frown, resting one arm on the back of the chair. "That felt dirty. I made most of that up just so we would be able to connect Trina to the evidence, and no one called it out. Is that what Chris wanted us to do? Make something out of nothing? Can't say I'm a fan."
-End Confessional-
Once Melissa rejoined her team, Chef pointed at the Award Winners. "Alright, now give your defense!" Chef ordered, now just going through the motions.
Esteban stepped forward for this one at the same time as Delanie, although the latter just took a step back. "I'll save my thoughts for later, you go." Delanie told him, giving the go-ahead.
Esteban was pleasantly surprised by this, and stepped out from behind the desk after that. "While there may have been a drug ring operated all through Halifax, who is to say someone as meek and innocent as Trina would the one behind it? While they do claim that she had contacted the dealers, she's a secretary and they're dealers, they could have very easily used fake names while she just transferred calls thinking they were normal citizens. She isn't supposed to assume anyone calling city hall is a drug dealer." Esteban reasoned, gesturing to Trina's nervous state at the moment.
"Looks more pathetic than meek..." Courtney remarked to the other interns.
Esteban then continued. "There are plenty of other people who work in these government institutions, and we've seen throughout the years that corrupt politicians will throw those who work for and support them under the bus when needed. Making the secretary into a scapegoat and saying she's the kingpin? Very weird move. That's all I've got to say about that for now." Esteban finished, then walked back to the desk.
Beck fist bumped Esteban as he got back, and Toby gave him a thumbs up. "That was a good way to put it. Trina is too pure to have done anything like the charges described." Toby complimented Esteban's defense.
"Yeah, them picking Trina for this kinda backfired." Esteban commented, fairly confident in how that went.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Esteban-
Esteban had his arms crossed, but a warm smile on his face. "I just had to step in for that one, because after King talked to Trina like that and enjoyed it, and how Vergil and Jim treated her, I feel this need to stand up for her y'know? Guess that's my fatherly instincts kicking in there. Delanie is being surprisingly cooperative and smart in this challenge, so maybe we'll have a chance of avoiding elimination."
-End Confessional-
Jim thought for a moment, then looked to the Critics. "Their entire argument was just that she's too much of a pipsqueak. This'll be easy to turn around. Which witness are we gonna bring in?" Jim asked them, feeling good at the moment.
"Her coworker obviously." Kylie replied. "Her best friend will just defend her probably. Plus the coworker caught her in the act." Kylie added.
Melissa waved her hand to Chef after that, with him already looking their way about to tell them to make their next move. "Hey Chef, we're going to call in Bruce, her coworker, as our witness." Melissa told Chef.
Just as she said this, the pudgy businessman walked into the courtroom, meekly waving to everyone. "Excuse me, coming through. Haven't done one of these before." Bruce said to everyone as he walked to the witness stand.
Klaas smirked and turned to Kahlin as he saw Bruce. "He looks like the timid type, might be able to get some easy answers out of him." Klaas commented.
Once Bruce was in place at the witness stand, Klaas walked up to him, giving a polite wave. "Hello Bruce, I know this is touchy subject matter for you, so thanks for coming out. Can you just tell us what you know about Trina and her drug ring?" Klaas asked him, letting him begin his testimony.
Bruce nodded and then looked at everyone in the courtroom for a moment, clearing his throat as he mustered up the courage to speak. "Hi Bruce! You got this!" Trina called to him, waving excitedly when she saw him.
Bruce waved back to Trina, smiling when he saw her. "Hey Trina, I didn't want to see you like this, but here we go." Bruce replied, then faced the jury to deliver his testimony.
"For those of you that think Trina is the one behind this drug ring, that's just simply not true. I'm her father's advisor, and spend countless hours working alongside her, so I would know if she was running something like this. I only found her in the meth lab when I was called down there by her. I think she had discovered it not too long ago, but whoever had started it was nowhere to be found. I called the police, and they assumed that it was her, since no one else in the office stood up for her. I wish I said something back then, but I didn't want to be implicated in this." Bruce explained, sounding a bit guilty over the situation.
"Crap... this was the decoy witness..." Trixie muttered, seeing that Bruce was trying to defend Trina.
Jim jumped in though, seeing this going south. "But you said that whoever you think was running it was nowhere to be found right? Which means that it could have very well been Trina running it and she was calling her most trusted associate to join her." Jim pointed out firmly.
Bruce let out a small gasp, then shook his head. "That surely can't be the case. There were things in that lab way too heavy for her to get down there. And she's always swamped with work, so I really doubt she had any involvement in this case. She'd probably have called the police first if I didn't." Bruce stated, not believing Jim.
"Let's just get him off the stand, he's making things worse." Kylie suggested, frustrated with Bruce.
Melissa nodded, then gestured to the Award Winners. "Yeah we're done with this. You guys can cross examine him." Melissa ended the testimony, letting out a disappointed sigh afterward.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Melissa-
Melissa tapped her chin, furrowing her brows a little bit. "Something feels wrong here. There's no way that her best friend was the correct witness. The guy who watched her go into the lab should've been the right one. Not cool of Chris to throw us for a loop like that, it wasn't that hard for the other two cases."
-End Confessional-
Delanie held back laughter as they ended the testimony, then walked over to Bruce to do her examination. "Hello Bruce, I'm Joan Kindwoman, and this'll be quick. So you said that you think Trina is completely innocent here correct?" Delanie asked him.
Bruce nodded his head. "Of course, she'd never do this and isn't capable of it either." Bruce answered confidently.
"Yeah, that's all we needed your honor. Case closed." Delanie told Chef, then walked back to the defense desk.
Bruce stepped away from the witness stand after that, then walked over to Trina. The two shared a quick hug, and Bruce then made his way out of the courtroom. "Are you two friends? I thought he was just a coworker actor for the challenge." Esteban asked Trina curiously.
Trina nodded her head, looking up at Esteban. "Yeah, he's my father's advisor sir. We both have to put up with him a lot, so we've found common ground over that." Trina answered, giggling a little about it.
Chef looked to the prosecution, who just looked hopeless at this point. "Y'all got a response to that?" Chef asked them.
"I think we've gotta just turn in, this isn't savable laddies." Flynn suggested, very dismayed.
Melissa nodded, then looked at Chef. "No, we're done." Melissa told Chef simply, to which he swung his gavel down and ended the trial.
Chris got up from his seat, a little surprised by how that went. "Ohhhhkay. Not sure how that happened, but that's the end of Turnabout Fring! The jury will cast their vote, and we'll be back in 5 to see the results of all the trials!" Chris announced, letting everyone leave their positions while Chef took Trina back off set.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Delanie-
Delanie took off the clip on tie, twirling it around in her hand. "So Chris didn't even try to catch on, about what I expected to happen. Have you ever actually seen a courtroom drama? Witness tampering is just par for the course. I just knew the game and they didn't. They don't suspect a thing either, they all think I'm some useless actor who only drags her team down with her personas. Really? You think I got to where I was being a buffoon like that? I'm Delanie Freakin Rios, I'm way smarter than that."
-End Confessional-
Chris now stood at the witness stand, since it was just the best place to speak from. Chef brought out Nanashi first, wearing handcuffs still. "For the first trial, Turnabout Casino, the jury reached a 3-2 vote on..."
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"Not guilty!"
Chef unlocked Nanashi's handcuffs and she let out a joyous squeal, running over to rejoin her team. "You did it! Thank you so much! Y'know, maybe winning isn't always so bad!" Nanashi exclaimed, wrapping Klaas up in a hug.
Klaas laughed a little as she hugged him, returning it. "I told you we'd get you out of this, I wasn't going to let you down there." Klaas told her, then ended the hug a few seconds after that.
Chef brought out Jack next, with Chris pulling out another note card with the votes. "Turnabout Paranoia! With a vote of 3-2, the jury has found Jack..."
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"Guilty!"
Jack hung his head in shame, and the rest of the Critics collectively groaned. "So Jack's a murderer. Hmm..." Athena noted.
"He's not, we just lost the challenge." Thomas corrected Athena, who nodded in understanding.
Chef then brought out Trina, with Jack having to just stand to the side instead of rejoining his team. "Lastly, Turnabout Fring! With a vote of 4-1, the jury has found Trina..."
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"Not guilty!"
Trina let out a huge sigh of relief when Chef let her out of the handcuffs, walking over to her team. Toby gave her a small hug, and Esteban gave her a high-five. "You guys did amazing! Thank you all very much, it was stressful being under those charges, even if they were fake. I got a bit immersed in the challenge, hehe." Trina thanked them all graciously.
With all the verdicts out, Chris now focused on the Critics. "Looks like we only have one guilty verdict, so only one elimination ceremony! A shame too, if you just worked together, no one had to go home today. But you all took the offensive, so here we are. Critics, I'll see you at the award ceremony tonight!" Chris told everyone, then addressed the Critics before leaving the set.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Nanashi-
Nanashi was giddy with joy, having both hands on her lap. "Wow, things got a little intense there with the guard, the back and forth, but it all turned out okay! And I had nothing to do with it, the best kind of win! Klaas really put in the effort, that's so cool of him. Maybe, maybe I should ask him out? He gets me, and I definitely get him, maybe it'll work? Nah, he'll probably say no. I'm not lucky like that."
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Jack-
Jack gripped the wooden cross around his neck, letting out a sigh. "I really thought we had it, since I had no connection to the crime, but Delanie? She really caught me off guard with how she just tore into me there. I guess we vote off Athena? She's not particularly helpful, and I can't really think of who else would go here. They're not voting me off are they? Because I wasn't the one who botched the case. If anything, I should be the first one to get my award."
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Trina-
Trina was writing in her notepad, having got more insight as always. "Joan Goodwoman, that's definitely my favorite of Delanie's acts so far. I don't think we could really use her anywhere else though, she seemed like just the lawyer type. I'm just glad we aren't losing anyone today, we're all friends on our team at this point, so it'd be a tough choice. I don't dislike any of them, they're all so nice! I don't know how long we can go without losing someone again though, hopefully not any time soon!"
-End Confessionals-
Grandiose music played after the confessionals, showing a highlight reel of all of Chris's best moments and expressions from throughout the series. Fireworks could be heard, and the reel panned out to show a giant Gilded Chris in the center of it all. Fireworks went off behind the statue and the music got louder, signaling that the award ceremony was about to start.
The 7 members of the Toxic Film Critics were seated in the stands, holding their voting devices. In the front row sat Jack, Freddy, and Trixie, while in the back row sat Athena, Thomas, Kylie, and Flynn. Jack still had his handcuffs on, which made it a bit more difficult for him to vote. "Guilty is charged, and the fine is 1 member of your team! So vote out who you'll use as leverage for your loss!" Chris greeted the team as he walked onto the stage, wearing his blue suit now.
Jack and Freddy voted in sync, Trixie also voted and gave the horror boys a thumbs up, with Freddy giving her a thumbs up back. Kylie saw this and frowned, then cast her vote. Flynn had a hard time deciding, but cast his vote after a few moments. Athena looked at the pictures on her voting device and voted, and Thomas just kept his device hidden as he voted.
After that, Chef brought out the votes once they were printed, then handed them to Chris. Chef then grabbed the tray of six awards, ready to toss them out. "Now the Gilded Chrises go to..."
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"Flynn."
Flynn caught his statue and quickly unwrapped it, just munching on the chocolate happily.
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"Kylie."
Kylie lazily caught her statue, already done with everything for today, she just looked exhausted.
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"Thomas."
Thomas fully expected to be safe, so he already had a hand out to perfectly catch his statue.
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"Trixie."
Trixie caught her statue with both hands, having a gleeful smile as she received it.
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"Jack."
Jack tried to caught his statue, but the handcuffs stopped him from doing so and it just hit him in the head, knocking him back.
That left the bottom two, who had mixed reactions to being here. Athena looked completely apathetic to it, while Freddy quickly got nervous when he saw that everyone else had a statue. "Fredbear and the Brit, man, I wanna get rid of both of you, but only one gets to be thrown into the Lame-O-Sine unfortunately. You're both pretty annoying and not helpful, but which of you attracted more votes?" Chris told them, building up the suspense.
Chris grabbed the final statue, looking between the two of them. "The final Gilded Chris of the award ceremony goes to..."
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"Athena."
Athena shrugged her shoulders and caught her award, while Freddy was shocked. "Huh? What did I do wrong? I thought I was friends with everyone!" Freddy let out, looking back at the rest of his team.
"Operative word being was. You were extremely annoying today with the FNAF references. Like, you nearly gave me a headache there." Kylie told Freddy, having one hand on her temple.
Jack looked devastated by this, moreso than Freddy. "Fredbear, really gonna miss you bud. Don't let what they say get to you. I really liked the references. You were the only interesting person to talk to here." Jack told Freddy, offering a weak smile.
Freddy smiled back, and the two hugged briefly. "I'll be fine. I guess I did get carried away a little there? Really don't know what came over me, I thought I was doing fine with everyone." Freddy lightly chuckled, trying to laugh off the elimination.
Trixie stood up as well now, looking at Freddy. "Dang, just when we found common ground on being FNAF fans. Don't worry, I'll make sure Jack has someone to talk to about FNAF." Trixie gave Freddy a thumbs up.
Freddy nodded, giving one back. "Yeah, sorry for being so harsh when we first met. But at least I can leave knowing we made up. Over the greatest game series of course. But I guess this elimination was my leaky water droplet, I'll see you all later!" Freddy waved goodbye to the rest of the team, then walked away.
Freddy just strolled down the Walk of Shame, whistling the jumpscare tune to himself before opening the door to the Lame-O-Sine and getting in. The limo sped off, and Chris now walked onto where it once was. "Huh, and that ends probably the biggest friendship duo so far! Will Jack manage without Freddy? Is Jim finally finding his footing in his team? Will Nanashi and Klaas actually become an item? And just who will be found guilty and booted? Find out next time, on Total, Drama, Reeeeeeeeeeeevenge of the Film Lot!"
Teams Remaining:
Mutant Munchers: Melissa, Nanashi, Kahlin, Bonnie, Klaas, Jim
Award Winners: Delanie, Beck, Esteban, Trina, Toby, King
Toxic Critics: Jack, Kylie, Trixie, Thomas, Athena, Flynn
Placements:
19th: Freddy
20th: Lilac
21st: Vergil
22nd: Diamond
23rd: Flaky
24th: Maxine
25th: Donna
Author's Note:
Aaaaaagh, I keep having these long waits, but this was a really long one, so I hope you guys can cut me some slack here. I had to do a bit more research into this genre, and it quickly turned into a length episode due to the scope of it. Thank you to MorbidGinger for letting me use Freddy again, I always like writing him, and I've learned more about the series just having to do research for him (still never played the games). I mainly wanted to get more plots up and running here, and a courtroom setting was perfect for it I'd say. Let me know what you guys thought in the reviews, feel free to join the Discord, and I'll see you all next time! Have a great day!