"Last time, on Total Drama Revenge of the Film Lot..." Chris began the recap, standing in an office set. He was wearing a white shirt, black pants, and black tie, with an earpiece in his right ear. "The contestants whipped out their inner superheroes and put together costumes to duke it out in thrilling battles! Delanie and Trina were a duo to be reckoned with, Flaky really came into her own with her mushrooms, while Thomas finally started making some strategic plays to make up for him and Trixie disappearing for half the episode! Due to his plays, Athena and Flynn kicked the bucket, now downsizing the Critics to three members! So much for a numbers advantage! How will Flaky manage without any allies on her team? Can Melissa calm the waters on her team? And who will be falling to the melodrama? Find out right here, on Total, Drama, Reeeeevenge 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, Elroy, 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 was 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.
The episode began with a shot of the two trailers, this time going to the boys' trailer first. It was already around 10am, and most of the contestants were already awake. Toby woke up, sitting up in bed looking just a bit tired. "Good morni-" he began to say to Luis, lifting up his empty pale right hand. It never saw much sunlight due to how Luis basically lived on his hand.
But Luis was gone. Incinerated. Toby sighed, lowering his hand, then just got out of his bed. Socrates hopped down from Toby's bunk with him, going to sit on his shoulder as usual. "Who left last night?" Toby asked Thomas, who was currently cleaning his glasses in the sink mirror.
"Flynn and Athena." Thomas answered, making Toby gasp in surprise.
"No way, what did you guys vote her out over!?" Toby let out, having expected her to cruise through the ceremony.
"Just the way the game goes Toby. It was nothing personal." Thomas replied, then put his glasses back on.
Toby stared at Thomas for a bit, clenching his fists. "And you voted for her I'm guessing?" Toby followed up.
Thomas nodded his head, and Toby marched right up to him. "When I had that radioactive ear infection, I overheard you talking about a mission. Now you and Trixie were gone all of yesterday and the day before. Can you explain that one to me?" Toby asked him more sternly.
Thomas turned to face Toby with an icy stare when he said this, leaning in close. Toby had to lean back because of how close Thomas was leaning in. "No. And for your own best interest, stay out of it." Thomas warned him coldly, then walked away to leave the trailer.
Toby fell backward from how far back he leaned, now left with more questions than answers. "Wow, haven't seen Thomas get upset like that. What did you say to him?" Klaas asked Toby, having just gotten out of bed.
"N-Nothing..." Toby responded with a whimper, before standing up and hurriedly leaving the trailer with wide eyes.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Toby-
Toby rubbed one arm, looking a little shaken. "I didn't think Athena would be leaving. She's the only one who understood Luis and me, but now I can't even talk to her about it. I wish I didn't brush her off yesterday, I didn't know that'd be the last time I'd see her. But... I can't let that get to me! I need to make sure my alliance with Delanie is secure, and that Trina will vote for Beck instead of Delanie. I know Trina would probably vote for Delanie because of how abusive she's been, but we need to put that aside for now. Beck is easier to vote out than Delanie, and he deserves it more too."
-End Confessional-
Over in the girls' side, Delanie and Melissa also weren't too happy with the result of last night's ceremony. "So how'd you do it?" Bonnie asked Trixie, not upset at all. Flaky was on her bunk just playing on her Gameguy with a smile, and her presence was all Bonnie needed.
"Pff, like I'd tell. It's Critic business, so that's that." Trixie replied coyly, filing her nails at the moment.
"S-She tricked F-Flynn and Athena into v-voting for each other." Flaky answered for Trixie, glaring up at her for a moment.
Delanie scoffed, crossing her arms. "Hmph, of course she'd play dirty. That's not how I run my camp, but that must be how you do things on the Critics. Things just get worse and worse ever since Jack left." Delanie remarked.
Melissa also had a disapproving look on her face, doing sit ups on the trailer floor. "I like to give people second chances, but this is just something else. Delanie, I'm really starting to get you on this one. If it wasn't unsportsmanlike, I'd suggest knocking the Critics down a peg again." Melissa agreed with Delanie.
"It's Counselor Debbie ma'am." Trina reminded Melissa quickly.
"And they'd just vote out Flaky if they lost. It's just Thomas, Trixie, and her. Can we just focus the Award Winners today?" Bonnie requested.
Melissa sat up, giving Bonnie a sharp look. "Absolutely not! We aren't playing dirty!" Melissa refused the idea immediately.
"Perhaps don't suggest that when we're in the room too ma'am?" Trina told Bonnie, giving her a questioning look as she wrote in her notebook.
Flaky hopped off her bunk, fixing up her hoodie afterward. "T-Thanks... but I'll b-be fine." Flaky assured Bonnie, then walked past Trixie as she continued to play on her Game Guy.
Trixie shook her head, laughing for a moment. "That's what she thinks. But it's not like it'll matter. Chris is dissolving the teams today. We're down to twelve now. 6 guys and 6 girls. Chris is gonna try to keep it a surprise, but it's just too obvious." Trixie pointed out.
Delanie looked to Melissa after hearing that, having one hand on her hip. "What do you think of that? You ready to merge?" Delanie asked her.
Melissa thought for a moment, shrugging. "To be honest, I'm more cozy being part of a team. I'm sure I could land on my feet though." Melissa answered earnestly.
"Athletic, great leader, no one dislikes you, wow! Prime target for the merge! Anyone would be stupid to let you make it to the end." Trixie sarcastically pointed out, before soon leaving the trailer herself.
"Ugh, she thinks that she's not the first person we're getting rid of when the teams are gone? She better hope that she wins immunity!" Delanie remarked, still bothered.
"Highly unlikely in terms of statistics..." Trina began, flipping to a page of notes. "While Trixie's skills are generally average, she doesn't particularly excel in many types of challenges compared to many competitors here ma'am." Trina stated.
Bonnie got a bit hopeful hearing that. "Yeah. If there's not teams, then I'll just focus on making sure she doesn't win." Bonnie told the others, soon leaving the trailer to catch up with Flaky.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Flaky-
Flaky rubbed one arm behind her back, looking very worried. "I k-know I said I'll be f-fine, but let's f-face it. Thomas and Trixie have a t-tight alliance. F-For a long time t-too. From w-watching, it s-started when t-they booted Freddy. I j-just have to give it m-my all today! I can't allow u-us to lose!"
-End Confessional-
In the craft services tent, Kahlin and Jim were sitting together, waiting for the rest of the Munchers to join them. Breakfast was a stack of blackened bagels, which was one of the most breakfast-like things they had been served all season. "You feeling better today? I know ingesting those spores in two different fights probably wasn't the best for you." Kahlin asked Jim as he ate one of the bagels.
"Since when do you care? And how did you not go down to them? You were pretty close by the whole time." Jim asked back, not actually answering the question.
Kahlin chuckled, pointing at himself. "Well it wouldn't do us any good if you were still feeling under the weather! But I live near a swamp, fungi grows quicker there than Flaky grew it, I'm just kinda used to it." Kahlin answered cheekily.
"Guess we got lucky you live in a weird area. Although I said luck, so Klaas would definitely jump on that." Jim remarked, then took a bite of his bagel.
"So what's your home life like then?" Kahlin asked as soon as Jim made his remark.
Jim averted eye contact, shaking his head. "Not important. Again, why do you even care?" Jim asked once more.
Kahlin briefly blushed, resting his head on his palms after looking around to make sure no one else was coming into the tent. "Because... you remind me of my best friend Vincent. I think I've told you about him before. He's just like you. Hot headed, takes his rivalry with me uber seriously, but we're still pretty good friends despite that. Plus I've seen how hard you play. I know you've got something you're fighting for. No one with plain greed would do what you do. I saw it in Esteban too, although he was too benevolent and he was on the Award Winners, so his fate was sealed. I sorta dodged the question yesterday, but, I just didn't want to see the same thing happen to you." Kahlin admitted.
Jim remembered what Athena had told him, then facepalmed. "God that Brit may have actually been onto something. You saved me because you wanted to be friends? Seriously? Not buying that, it's part of some big of scheme against me, I know it." Jim theorized, pointing out the holes in said theory.
"If I wanted you gone, I had the easy out right there. I don't usually spill what I'm really thinking, but you're different." Kahlin spoke a bit more seriously, tipping his hat to Jim.
Jim rolled his eyes as Kahlin tipped the Blue Jays hat to him, connecting the dots. "So that's why you kept the hat on too huh? First Toby, now you try to break my walls down. At least with Toby he's too nice and naive to try anything. After Vergil, I'm still not buying what you're selling. Ask Klaas and he'd say the exact same thing if he knew you flipped. It's going to take more than just wearing a hat for me to even remotely trust you." Jim still refuted Kahlin.
"Then how does a trial alliance sound? You don't vote for me, I won't vote for you. Talk to me before a vote and I'll hear you out. That sound good Jimmy?" Kahlin proposed with a smirk.
Jim raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "...fine. But only because I need the majority to wipe Klaas out. Don't consider us friends. And don't call me Jimmy." Jim agreed to the terms.
Kahlin got a little giddy, nodding his head. "Great! You won't regret it." Kahlin told Jim, before standing up and munching on one of his bagels as he walked away from Jim.
Beck entered the craft services tent by himself, just walking to get his bagels casually. "Sup Kahlin." he greeted the baseballer.
"Oh hey, whoops!" Kahlin let out, very blatantly sticking out a foot and tripping Beck as he passed by.
Beck grunted in pain as he hit the ground, but just picked him up and didn't say anything in response, staying chill. "All good man." Beck dismissed the 'accident'.
"Phew! Thanks. How does it feel to be in the final 12 after doing basically nothing? Man, you've gotta be the luckiest guy here!" Kahlin complimented Beck.
Beck had a weirded out look, backing away from Kahlin. "I'll just go get my bagels." Beck replied, ignoring the question and just getting his bagels.
Just as Beck got his bagels though, Chris's voice came through the loudspeakers. "Okay everyone! We've got no time to wait! The fate of the universe falls in your hands today! And the only way to save it is to meet in Soundstage 24! HURRY!" Chris yelled through the loudspeaker, making the three boys in the craft services tent cover their ears.
"Great. At least I had a bite then." Beck commented, taking a bite from the first bagel on his tray as he walked to leave the tent, tossing the rest.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Beck-
Beck groaned, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. "Kahlin is just getting really passive aggressive about this whole 'doing nothing' thing. I'd have ended up like Esteban or like Toby soon will if I didn't secure my place as Delanie's boyfriend. She rules this team, and you're either with her or against her. I had to put up with all her antics for so long, it wasn't until recently she's gotten more tolerable. Sure I don't try as hard in challenges, but I set myself up with an alliance of three on a team of four. What more am I supposed to do?"
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Kahlin-
Kahlin laughed, leaning back in his seat and kicking his legs up. "Messing with that floater will never get old. But I'm one step closer with Jim! I really did mean what I said to him, and Melissa yesterday. I find him cute, but... I don't think he sees me even close to that way. I kinda just saw him as another obstacle like Vergil at first, so I screwed him over early on so I could get rid of him. Now? Well, I've kinda sorta got a super duper crush on him, and I can't just vote him out when I've got that! Oh... uh... Vincent, if you're watching this, you're a great rival and friend, but I don't see you that way, don't worry. This is just between me and Jimmy!"
-End Confessionals-
In Soundstage 24, the contestants had gathered in what was one of the taller buildings. A four story office set was inside, with all the fittings of a drab IRS agency. Pale yellow and browns filled the first floor of the office, filled with cubicles, printers, copiers, file cabinets, and tons of paperwork laid around. "This sort of looks like the office my dad owns." Trina commented as they stepped inside, her eyes right away darting to the private offices in the corner of the first floor.
"My manager has an office like this, although he shares it with a bunch of other managers who all manage a bunch of different actors. At least there they had TVs and cool posters, this place is just depressing." Beck commented, also feeling familiarity.
Chris rushed downstairs, still in his office worker outfit. "You're all here this time right?" Chris greeted them, his hair a bit disheveled.
"Yes, we're here." Trixie responded, already knowing who he was referring to.
Chris then dropped the worried act, putting his hands behind his back. "Great! Glad you're all here! I have a special announcement before we dive into today's movie challenge, and I think most of you will like this one!" Chris told them all.
"Aaaand here it comes..." Klaas whispered to Kahlin.
"Today's challenge is the final challenge before you guys will merge! So we'll be testing just how well you know each others' strengths!" Chris announced, sparking some confusion.
Trina right away raised a hand, ready to say what most were thinking. "Sir? Are you certain this isn't the proper time for a merging of the teams? We just had double elimination, we're at an even number, and the gender ratio is perfectly even as well." Trina pointed out.
Chris nodded his head, laughing briefly. "Yeah, we heard what you were saying in the trailer, we've got cameras everywhere after all. But that would be too predictable now wouldn't it?" Chris replied cheekily.
Trixie and Thomas didn't seem to mind, while Flaky and Toby grew more worried at this revelation. "Well, what is our challenge then?" Toby asked, rubbing his right wrist anxiously.
Chris looked over at Toby, chuckling at his now anxious demeanor. "Almost didn't recognize you with Ruis there! But anyway, today's-"
"Luis."
"Anyway, today's movie genre is the absurdist flick! Movies so profound, so mind-boggling, critics just give them perfect scores and go on with their day. If you don't understand what makes these zany movies so good, then you're just not smart enough for them!" Chris announced the movie genre.
"But that's not what absurdist movies are about at all." Delanie pointed out immediately, adjusting imaginary glasses. "They're about the journeys of characters who can't find any purpose in life, with the meaningless and zany actions in the movie further highlighting how purposeless their life is. Very existential stuff, yet it gets written off like you just have."
Trina raised an eyebrow, flipping to her page of Delanie's personas. "Oh? You're an expert on the topic ma'am?" Trina asked her.
Delanie nodded snootily, pointing at herself with her pinky. "Of course I am! Staniela Kublis is always in the know on every genre, how do you think I make constant award winning films?" Delanie retorted cockily. Beck groaned hearing that name, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Chris looked over the cast, then raised three fingers. "This challenge will be divided into three segments, testing your purpose to your team! Each team will pick a player to send in for each segment, and score points for their team depending on how well they do. First scores 3, second scores 2, and third only scores 1! Whichever team has the most points by the end will win, the team with the least sends someone home!" Chris explained the rules of the overall challenge.
Chris then pointed to the private rooms in the corner of the first floor office, holding out two fingers. "For part 1, each team will send in two people for an escape room! A very common trope in absurdist movies is to force the protagonists to escape what is normally a dull location, which is what we're doing here! Each duo will have to escape a normally ordinary private office! There are some twists inside, but that's for you to find out! So pick your duos and let's get this going!" Chris explained the first part, then clapped his hands.
Trina right away raised a hand for her team, looking fairly confident. "I know every function and use for office supplies, I'm sure I can be of great help here." Trina stated.
"And we've been a strong duo before, so I'll work with you here, but you follow my orders, understood? I won't have my production taken over by an understudy!" Delanie volunteered herself strongly, to which Trina obediently nodded.
Trixie chuckled at the challenge idea, putting both hands on her hips. "I'm already great at breaking in- I mean, getting into places, so this is my kind of challenge." Trixie stated.
"M-Me too..." Flaky added, blushing and pushing her fingers against each other.
Thomas raised an eyebrow at this, as did Trixie. "Are you certain your skills are for this challenge? I also have experience in escape rooms, as a translator I've stayed at some hotels with some. The Germans call them Fluchtraums." Thomas asked her.
Flaky nodded, looking at the ground. "I'll j-just say I've s-seen my f-fair share of b-boys' locker rooms... only been c-caught a couple of t-times... I've g-got this." Flaky confirmed, and that was enough for the other two to drop the topic.
Bonnie right away stepped up for the Munchers, snickering. "Yeah I've got experience with this stuff. Pretty creative." Bonnie told the others.
"I still remember that stunt you did at the hot springs, using a bunch of towels to make a rope, I'll give props to that one aspect. For once you're right here." Melissa agreed with Bonnie, albeit reluctantly.
"I've got some expertise in this too, there are some escape rooms in hotels as little attractions, so that's practice I've got." Klaas volunteered.
Melissa nodded her head, giving a thumbs up. "Sounds good. That saves Kahlin and I for more athletic challenges too, then Jim for anything else." Melissa gave her approval, while Jim frowned at this deeming.
Seeing that the pairs were selected, Chris snapped his fingers, calling Ted into the soundstage with a set of keys. "Ted! Lock the pairs into the escape room, it's time to get this challenge rolling!" Chris ordered the intern.
"Why didn't you just bring the keys..." Ted muttered droningly.
"Because that's your job, do you want to be fired?" Chris asked Ted sharply.
The emo intern just blew his hair in front of his face, then walked past him. "I'll go lock them in..." he replied, making Chris smirk coyly.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Flaky-
Flaky was still blushing a little, having her hands in her hoodie pocket. "T-Thomas might be b-better for this, but I d-don't trust Trixie. I t-think she wants me g-gone more than t-the others here. She m-might throw just to g-get rid of m-me! B-Besides, I w-wasn't lying, I know w-what I'm doing here!"
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Klaas-
Klaas scratched his arm, having a frown on his face. "I lied about having practice with this, like casinos would have escape rooms in them. I just wanted to get Bonnie by herself here. She's working with Jim for some reason, and I need to try and swing her to my side. If we're merging tomorrow, the last thing I need is Jim having enough votes to just boot me instantly. Every ally I take away from him counts, and knowing Jim, I doubt he has anyone super loyal to him either."
-End Confessionals-
Once inside the private offices, the three duos now saw what they were dealing with. Each private office was only 12 cubic feet, leaving little room to actually move around. The windows had been reinforced, as Trixie found out immediately when she grabbed a stapler to try and smash one. "Rats." she muttered as the stapler just hit the glass with a thud. They could only see out into the vast office floor, as the windows dividing the private offices had been boarded up as well.
In the center of each office was a wooden desk with paper, pens and pencils along with a lamp sitting on top of it, while it had several compartments below. There were a few file cabinets, a fax machine, two swivel chairs, and potted plants in each corner. "So we just have to find the key right? I don't see any other solution to this." Klaas gestured to the locked door that they had just entered from.
Bonnie shrugged, not buying it. "Seems too simple. Usually the fastest way to get out of an escape is to just start breaking everything. They usually let you out when you do that.
"Yeah I don't think Chris cares if we wreck this set. So it's probably a key." Klaas remarked, right away going over to the desk and opening up the compartments.
Bonnie watched him, before just shaking her head and scanning the office for anything else that might helpful. "I don't think he'd just put a key in the desk like that. Too easy." Bonnie commented.
"I know, looking for secret compartments inside the drawers here. Casinos have secret drawers all over the place for hiding money, escape rooms can't be much different." Klaas informed her as he took the drawers apart.
"Uh huh, and you know this how?" Bonnie asked him, not looking at him anymore.
"That's for me to know, trade secret." Klaas replied with a chuckle.
Delanie was digging through the desk at the moment, while Trina was sifting through the documents in the file cabinet. "Trina! Those papers are simply props, they won't be of use to us here, look for a key!" she ordered, taking notice of her activity.
"Perhaps there are clues though ma'am? I believe Chris would have told us if it was as simple as finding a key." Trina guessed as she took out folders and skimmed the documents inside.
Delanie shook her head, scoffing at the idea. "Nonsense! If I was in charge of this challenge, I'd make the solution more befitting of the genre! I.E, finding the key or 'our purpose'!" Delanie disagreed strongly.
Trina rolled her eyes when Delanie looked away, then pulled out a piece of paper with Chris's face stamped onto it. "Ooh! Ma'am, there's a clue on this one! It says, 'Escaping this corporate prison is like stacking papers! The easy way to do it can fly over your head!" Trina read off the clue.
"Yeah, the easy way, which is just getting that door open. Nothing crazy. So get looking for the key, I'm doing all the work here! Why do us directors need to do everything!" Delanie commanded.
Trina sighed, then got a small smirk. "What if that means kicking down the door ma'am? We might not even need a key, could be easier than that and that's what the clue is referring to." Trina suggested.
Delanie thought it over, then nodded. "Finally a good idea! I'm much stronger than you, so leave this to me!" Delanie told her, briefly stretching her legs as she walked over to the wooden door.
Delanie then kicked the door as she could, which warped like rubber and bounced her back, slamming into the desk. "Oh my, it seems he thought of that ma'am." Trina noted, while Delanie rubbed her back in pain.
"I noticed..." Delanie mumbled as she got back up.
"...the e-easy way to d-do it can f-fly over your h-head. Hmm..." Flaky read off the clue, having found it as well.
Trixie leaned against the window with her arms crossed, looking for a way out while Flaky read it off. They had already pulled out all the drawers in the file cabinets, and no tunnels had shown themselves. "So he's basically saying this thing is obvious? Gee Chris, so helpful." Trixie remarked.
Flaky furrowed her brows, deep in thought. "N-No... there's d-definitely s-some double meaning h-here. S-Stacking papers, o-over our h-heads, that has to m-mean something." Flaky figured, trying to piece it together.
It clicked with Flaky soon enough, at the same time as it did with Trixie, and the pair then looked up at the ceiling. Like any other office, the ceiling was just square panels with fluorescent lights, although Flaky got an idea. She grabbed the stapler off the desk and threw it at the ceiling, and it just hit one of the panels with a thud. "Oh so those panels are locked in place huh? It was a good guess, although it'd be too easy to escape through the ceiling." Trixie commended the try.
Flaky shook her head, then picked the stapler up off the floor, throwing it at a different panel on the ceiling. This time the stapler went through the panel and pushed it aside, landing on top of one of the other panels from within the ceiling. "E-Exactly! It's such an o-obvious method, hitting one p-panel like that would d-deter most." Flaky explained with a smile.
Just one problem, the ceiling was 12 feet above them, far beyond their reach even if they stood on top of each other. "Ooh! T-That's where the s-stacking comes in! Put t-those drawers on t-top of the f-fax so w-we can b-both get up there!" Flaky directed Trixie, giddy her theory was correct.
"Yeah I got it, only because your noodle arms can't." Trixie insulted her, not a fan of this turn of events.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Trixie-
Trixie clenched both fists by her hips, growling to herself. "Ugh... since when does Flaky give me orders? And that smile? Yuck, nothing is creepier than seeing those dweebs smile. I thought it was just a costume thing, but she's getting too over her head here. Might be time to throw this challenge and knock her out before she has free reign in the merge..."
-End Confessional-
Trina and Delanie continued to rummage through the file cabinets, still not finding a key. "Come on, this office is tiny, we should be able to find this instantly!" Delanie complained.
Trina did eventually find a key in one of the cabinets, raising it proudly. "Found the key ma'am!" Trina exclaimed.
Delanie then snatched the key from her and went to unlock the door with a righteous smile. "Bazinga! There's our ticket out!" Delanie proclaimed as she stuck the key in the door and turned it.
It didn't budge though, and the key didn't even make the lock turn fully. "Huh!? Did Chris put dud keys in here!?" Delanie let out, throwing the key at the floor.
Trina rubbed her chin, before pointing to one of the file cabinets she hadn't dug through yet. "I think it's for that cabinet ma'am, it isn't open like the others." Trina pointed out.
Delanie walked over, key in hand, then opened up the file cabinet. There was a lone piece of paper inside, which Trina grabbed to read. "If you've found this, you're probably not taking the high road and going down difficult lane. What will it take to plant a good idea in your head?" Trina read the clue.
"Plant! Check the potted plants, NOW! The key must be in there!" Delanie ordered as soon as she heard the word.
Trina just did as told, going to one of the plants in the corner and kneeling down to start sifting through the dirt holding the plant. "Yes ma'am!" she responded dutifully.
Bonnie and Klaas hadn't even found the first clue yet, tearing the office apart looking for a secret compartment of any kind. "Okay, so, maybe Chris didn't hide a tunnel in here." Klaas conceded.
Bonnie deadpanned at Klaas as he admitted this, before just pointing at the ceiling. "We'll just use my method then. You can sneak into any bathroom through the ceiling, and it's a cheap set, probably works just fine here. So help me up." Bonnie directed, stacking one swivel chair on top of the other.
"Not going to question that, but can I ask you something?" Klaas asked, taking the two swivel chairs and putting them on top of the fax machine.
"What is it? Gonna keep it real, I've already got my alliance with Jim. But you probably knew that." Bonnie humored the question.
Klaas sighed, nodding his head. "Yeah, I know. But why do you stick with him? I feel like he's just stringing you along. He needs your vote more than you need his. When the merge comes, Jim is going to get targeted for being a strong player. You don't want to get caught in the crossfire do you?" Klaas questioned her.
With the chairs and the fax machine, it looked like enough to climb, so Bonnie began to scale their little stack to stand on the top chair. "Eh, I like our deal. You really think they'll go for him? No one likes Trixie or Delanie, I think they'll go first." Bonnie guessed.
"And when they're gone? With Nanashi gone, I've got no heat on me now. We could form an alliance and no one would know. Best to do it now since it's just us here." Klaas followed up with a proposal, starting to scale the stack as well.
Bonnie stayed quiet for a bit after that, pushing one of the tiles out of the way. "...I'll think about it." was all Bonnie replied with, before she hoisted herself through the ceiling.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Bonnie-
Bonnie looked a little conflicted, leaning forward in her seat. "Easy alliance with Klaas? Yeah I could just take it. But uhh, not so sure about it. Don't really get why either. Jim trusts me, so maybe that's the hang up. He's treated me like a person this whole time, so just flipping and allying with his enemy just doesn't feel right."
-End Confessional-
Soon enough, Bonnie and Klaas climbed into the second floor of the office set, which the ceiling tiles conveniently opened up to a lounge area where the rest of the contestants and Chris were waiting. "Aaaand the Munchers take second place! Act shocked everyone." Chris announced, looking at Bonnie in particular.
"Second? Wow you guys are fast." Klaas remarked, looking to the team that climbed out first.
Flaky had a proud smile as she received the compliment, while Trixie rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, the perv figured it out pretty quickly with the clue." Trixie told them.
"Clue? Bonnie just figured it out naturally." Klaas replied, unaware there even was one.
"Yeah, I've got experience with this stuff." Bonnie added with a sly grin.
"S-Same..." Flaky chimed in, blushing again.
Chris walked over to the panel the Award Winners were supposed to climb through and pulled it aside, looking down at the two girls. "Hey! You two got last place! Just climb up through here so you can watch part two of the challenge!" Chris instructed them, much to their dismay.
"I told you we should have climbed!" Delanie scolded Trina.
"No you didn't ma'am!" Trina corrected her, already stacking file cabinets to climb on.
While those two climbed, Chris now stepped away from the lounge area, leading the teams to the center of the second floor, where Chef stood in an office worker suit and tie. "That puts the Critics in the lead with 3 points, the Munchers in second with 2, and the Award Winners sit in last with 1 point! For part 2, you'll each send in one member to try and sneak past Chef to get something from the office's vending machine! You each get one coin, don't lose it!" Chris explained the second challenge, pulling out three silver coins.
The vending machine awaited at the other side of the floor, past rows of cubicles and filled with mostly chips. Chef just had his hands behind his back, looking much more friendly in this white suit and blue tie. "That's it? Just get something from the vending machine? Sounds easy." Beck commented.
Chef then laughed, before pulling out a police baton with one hand, then a staple gun with the other. "Not in my office, those snacks are for employees only!" Chef barked at them.
Chris also laughed, looking to the teams. "Yeah, it'll be quite the challenge sneaking past Chef. But I'm sure at least two of you will make it to the end without dying! So decide who is best for this task!" Chris added, before stepping away.
Flaky and Trixie both looked to Thomas right away, who just nodded in acceptance. "The job will be done." Thomas told them firmly.
That was until Trixie leaned in as soon as Flaky stepped away, whispering something into his ear. He perked up at her whisperings, then nodded along with them.
Bonnie just sat down on one of the desks, kicking back since she already did her challenge while the other Munchers delegated. "I'm probably fast enough to get past Chef. I can do this one." Melissa volunteered.
"You sure? We might need your speed for a later one bruv. I can handle Chef." Jim volunteered himself, patting his chest.
Klaas shook his head, scoffing. "Yeah, like you could handle Chef. It's sneaking past, not beating him in a fight, which you likely wouldn't do anyway considering his arsenal and strength." Klaas shot that idea down.
"Why you- are you trying to sabotage us here!?" Jim yelled at him.
"Hey!" Melissa stepped in between the pair, glaring at Jim. Kahlin perked up at this, taking a step back.
"You both need to drop it, but especially you Jim! You booted his girlfriend, expect him to be snappy with you! We're a team, so you need to just calm down and look at it from his perspective!" Melissa scolded Jim.
Jim was seeing red now, glaring back at Melissa. "Calm down!? Really!? He started it by booting Vergil, we had a good thing going, the three of us, but he just ruined it! So don't tell me to calm down when he's the instigator!" Jim yelled back at her.
Melissa wasn't afraid though, pointing a finger right at his face. "With Vergil!? I knew you were trouble! Just shut it, you're only looking out for yourself! Kahlin, you're doing this challenge!" Melissa shot Jim down fiercely, while Kahlin and Klaas just had their eyes widened as they watched.
"Okey dokey!" Kahlin gave Melissa a thumbs up, smiling as always.
Toby and Beck had watched the scene unfold as well, but Beck was much more apathetic to it. "Not in the mood to deal with Chef, do you have this one?" Beck asked Toby.
"Yeah, Socrates and I can manage." Toby replied, although his tone was far from friendly. Socrates just glared at Beck, and the actor felt a sharp pain in his head as the rat did so.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Jim-
Jim buried his face in one hand, slamming the vanity with the other. "Crap! Why do I do this to myself!? I just... being told to calm down after all the crap Klaas has done!? It's so infuriating, because Melissa just keeps taking his side! I almost want to just boot her and be done with it! At least Klaas is honestly scum. Melissa is scummily honest!"
-End Confessional-
With the three players selected, Kahlin, Thomas, and Toby lined up in the center of the office, while Chef stood just 50 feet away from them, 30 feet in front of the vending machine. "Same points as last time, on your marks, get set, GO!" Chris started the second challenge, prompting the three boys to run at Chef.
Toby was much slower than Kahlin and Thomas, so he fell behind immediately as they ran towards the fiendish office worker. "You want chips? I'll turn you to chips!" Chef yelled at them ready to swing his baton.
Kahlin of course didn't run headlong into Chef, stepping into one of the cubicles to grab something to defend himself. The first thing he saw was a briefcase, which he grabbed right away and ran back out of the cubicle with. "Just in case!" Kahlin joked to Thomas with a small laugh.
Thomas was unamused by the joke, just focusing on Chef who now fired multiple staples from the staple gun at the boys. "These could be fatal if they hit the right spot. Clearly a breach of contract!" Thomas let out, with one of them pricking his shoulder.
"Someone actually read that thing? We put that thing in like 5 languages to avoid that!" Chris questioned, shocked to hear this.
"That's also highly illegal..." Trina mumbled, now watching the challenge with Delanie.
"Yeah, and I speak 50 languages!" Thomas shot back.
This distracted him though, and Chef was able to smack him in the face with his baton, knocking him over. "G-Get up Thomas! Y-You can do it!" Flaky cheered Thomas on.
Kahlin soon caught up, with Chef taking aim with his staple gun. "Woah!" Kahlin let out, holding the briefcase in front of his face as Chef fired at him.
10 staples flew at him and all punctured the briefcase, protecting Kahlin. "Were you aiming for our faces dude!?" Kahlin asked Chef in bewilderment.
"Yes, yes I was!" Chef answered dastardly, before swinging his baton at Kahlin as he lowered the briefcase, also knocking him to the side.
Thomas sat up to try again and get back on his feet, but Chef was quick to smack him in the head with his baton, sending him right back down. "You picked a fight with the wrong regional manager kid!" Chef shouted.
Kahlin didn't bother trying to get up normally after seeing that, instead crawling away down one of the rows of cubicles, taking it slow so Chef wouldn't notice. "Talk about a brutal beatdown..." Kahlin whispered to himself.
Another distraction soon came to Chef though, allowing an easier escape for Kahlin. Toby now caught up, shrieking as Chef fired staples at him. He both hands in front of his face as he ran, causing his palms to be punctured by staples, along with a couple hitting his forehead. "Yowchies!" Toby cried out, wincing from the pain.
While Chef was shooting at Toby and soon began to swing his baton as he got close, battering the boy, Socrates leapt off of his shoulder, scurrying up Chef's body. At first, Chef was too busy to notice the rat scaling him, until Socrates just crawled right onto his feet. "GAH! Who let a rat in here!?" Chef let out, now swiping at Socrates to get him off his face.
Toby took advantage of this distraction and dove between Chef's legs, standing back up once he was on the other side. Socrates also leapt off Chef's face once Toby made it across, landing on Toby's shoulder once more. "Nice distraction buddy!" Toby praised Socrates, giving his rat friend a thumbs up, which was now covered in staples.
Thomas stood up while Chef was reeling from the rat attack, punching him in the gut. Chef was a hardy man though, so this barely did anything. "All that time and that's what you do? It's like you're not even trying kid!" Chef taunted Thomas, before smacking him once again with his baton.
Toby reached the vending machine right after that, sliding his coin into the slot, causing a bag of chips to be dispensed. "Toby takes first place for the Award Winners! That's three points for them!" Chris announced, making the three watching applaud.
Directly after that, Kahlin ran up to the vending machine from the side, having crawled past the cubicles from one of the other rows. "Easiest way to beat Chef in a fight is to not fight him! Kinda like baseball, easiest way to stop a fearsome batter is to just not give them balls to hit!" Kahlin remarked as he slid his coin into the machine.
Kahlin got his bag of chips, right away opening them for himself. "Barbeque, not bad! Nothing beats cracker jacks, but these'll do!" Kahlin said happily, munching on the barbeque chips.
"And that's second place for the Munchers! Another 2 points for them, while the Critics only get 1! Now every team has 4 points as we head into the final round!" Chris announced, mostly only upsetting the Critics.
-Confessional: Toxic Film Critics: Thomas-
Thomas fixed up his glasses, having a couple bruises on his face. "Chef is an easy opponent. I've faced men 20 times more competent than him. Trixie wants to lose today's challenge though, so I simply allowed him a victory here. It works for me, it would be a bit suspicious if I bested Chef bare-handed."
-End Confessional-
As Chris led the teams up to the third floor, Kahlin caught up with Delanie before he reconvened with his team. "Hey Delanie, err, Staniela, how are things going with your team?" Kahlin asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her while Toby, Beck, and Trina kept on walking.
Delanie moved her shoulder away, giving Kahlin a questioning look. "Is this supposed to be some kind of insult? Because my team is fantastic! More than yours! With my brilliant direction and mind, we're in our golden age!" she responded confidently, pushing up imaginary glasses.
"Right right, but what if that came to an end today? Who would you be voting for?" Kahlin asked her, now just walking behind her as they lagged behind the group.
"Toby of course. I have an inner circle, and he simply isn't part of it. That's showbiz for you." Delanie answered casually.
Kahlin frowned at this, raising a finger. "Have you thought about booting Beck instead?" Kahlin suggested.
Delanie was appalled by this, gasping as she looked back at him. "You dare suggest eliminating my beloved? And I thought Michael Bay had no sense of direction, you're out of your mind!" Delanie insulted Kahlin.
Kahlin held up both hands defensively, nodding his head. "Yes, but be real. Does he really deserve to stay over Trina and Toby? Toby just won this part for you guys, and Trina has been fighting hard to aid you all game. What has Beck done for you? Nothing. Plus Jim really doesn't like him, so he's going to be aiming for him as soon as the merge hits. He wouldn't help you much in voting there either." Kahlin explained to her.
Delanie looked forward, quickly seeing Jim glaring back at them to confirm Kahlin's words. "He's my boyfriend though, I can't just vote him off. Relationships are an important part to any Hollywood success story! Besides, he hasn't failed us this challenge, you can't use challenge performance here." Delanie rebutted.
"Well just think about it. And see how Beck does in this challenge. Figured you should at least be aware of the bigger picture, being a big actress. See ya later!" Kahlin told her, before jogging ahead to catch up with his team.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Delanie-
Delanie scratched her chin, looking troubled. "I need to stay in the game as long as possible to show off all of my roles, and Beck hasn't been taking the game seriously at all, despite me asking him multiple times. I'm not saying Kahlin was wrong, but I didn't want to just agree with him right then and there either..."
-End Confessional-
On the third floor, rather than an office, it was just a white void of emptiness filling the space. With nothing but a large black bagel the size of a car in the center. As the contestants entered, the bagel began to shake violently, and the bagel Beck had in his pockets flew out, being sucked into the larger bagel, as if it were a black hole. "What's with the tone change?" Bonnie asked.
Chris gestured to the black hole bagel, chuckling. "We left a bagel inside that hat Trina wore last episode and then dropped it off here, now it's a matter destroying black hole that can let you see your true purpose or something. That's what the shrink we brought in to investigate it said before he uhh... had an accident." Chris answered.
"If it was an actual black hole, we'd all be dead right now sir. It functions differently, but still falls under the umbrella term of black hole." Trina corrected Chris.
Chris shot Trina a disapproving frown, annoyed by her intrusion. "I was trying to build atmosphere, thank you. But yeah, thanks to the hat and a bunch of radiation, this bagel is probably the most dangerous bagel on the planet!" Chris still tried to hype up the danger.
"So what's the challenge then? Throw ourselves in there and die while you laugh?" Trixie asked skeptically.
Chris shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, sorta! Each team will send someone in to try and not only approach the bagel, but reach inside the hole and pull something out! The bagel is supposed to show you your true purpose, so whatever you pull out could be very revealing! Careful though, the bagel gets more and more violent the closer you get! We haven't quite figured out how to control it yet." Chris explained the third challenge to them.
"I'm going to guess death by black hole is covered in the contract?" Melissa asked worriedly.
Trina raised a finger. "Wrongful death, you can sue for-"
"It's in the contract! Zip it!" Chris cut Trina off, throwing a silver coin at her and hitting her in the head.
Trina rubbed her forehead after it hit her, staying quiet after that. "Okay! Without any other questions, pick who take part in this final challenge!" Chris gave way to the teams.
"I will!" Trixie and Flaky both said in unison.
"Listen Flaky, I've got this. I don't think you can handle a black hole." Trixie assured her coyly.
Flaky then pushed Trixie away, glaring at her. "I k-know what you're d-doing! I'm doing t-this challenge Chris!" Flaky declared.
"No, I am! I volunteered first!" Trixie shouted to Chris.
Chris thought for a moment, then looked to Flaky, and his gaze went elsewhere as usual with her. "Looks like Flaky is doing this one!" Chris decided.
"But-" Trixie began to protest.
"I make the rules of the show, and we're going uhh... alphabetically!" Chris defended his decision, blushing briefly before looking to the other teams to shift the topic.
Toby stepped forward for the Award Winners, pointing at himself with his staple ridden hand. "I'll do it Chris!" Toby volunteered.
Chris shook his head, chuckling. "Not so fast Gary Stu, you just won the last challenge! Beck hasn't gone yet, so he's automatically up for this one!" Chris informed them.
Beck didn't seem to care, so he just stepped forward. "Alright then." he just said in response.
"You got this babe!" Delanie cheered him on with uncertainty.
Now with the Munchers, Jim and Melissa were having a staredown with each other, as if daring the other to volunteer. Seeing that this was going nowhere, Klaas stepped between them. "Hey guys, idea, why don't we just let Jim do this one? Melissa, you're so worried about Jim being dirty, why don't you just give him a chance to prove himself?" Klaas suggested.
"And how will this prove himself?" Melissa asked Klaas.
"It's pretty simple. The good of the team is on the line here. Jim wins for us, he stays, and all is well. He blows this against Flaky and Beck, then we know where his mind is really at, so we just boot him and all is well." Klaas explained his proposition, smirking at Jim.
"You're trying to set me up!" Jim accused Klaas.
Melissa shook her head, gesturing to Klaas with her thumb. "No, I like the idea. Show us that you're loyal to the team Jim. Or do you want us all to just boot you the moment the merge hits?" Melissa threatened him.
Jim groaned, then stepped toward Chris. "I'll be going for my team." Jim volunteered.
With the three players picked, Chris clapped his hands. "Great! Now that we have our three, line up against the wall, then we can get started! Everyone else, I'd stay a safe distance near the stairs!" Chris directed everyone, also heading over to the stairs.
-Confessional: Mutant Movie Munchers: Melissa-
Melissa sighed, crossing her arms. "If I have to become the brunt of Jim's anger in order to resolve this drama between him and Klaas, then so be it. The teams dissolve soon thankfully, so I won't have to worry about this much longer. No one really dislikes me, so I think I'll do good in the merge."
-End Confessional-
Cutting ahead, Flaky, Beck, and Jim were lined up against the white wall, 80 feet away from the black hole bagel, which had calmed down a little since most of the cast had backed away. "Remember, you just have to grab something out of there to win! Now GO!" Chris blew his airhorn to start the challenge, before it was yanked out of his hand by the black hole and flew inside.
The three teens' hair blew from the force of the bagel, but that didn't deter any of them from approaching. "I have to win this or else it's all over..." Flaky and Jim thought to themselves as they ran.
Beck ran much more lackadaisically, not seeing the need for determination the other two had. "If it's just gonna pull us in, this is basically a footrace." Beck pointed out, right away feeling himself being pulled towards the bagel.
Jim pulled ahead first, and once he was about 60 feet away from the bagel, black bolts of lightning began to shoot out, zapping anything and anyone in its proximity. "I don't remember this from Trina's fight!" Jim let out, ducking under one of the bolts as it fired at him.
Flaky wasn't quick enough to dodge one of the bolts, and she was subsequently electrocuted in place, stopping her progress temporarily as well. "T-That smarts..." she sputtered as she got back to her feet, her hair now frayed and the dandruff fried out.
Beck didn't get as many bolts sent his way since he was the last to get within range of them, but he was able to avoid the ones that did come his way fairly easy. "Gonna need more than that to stop us." Beck commented as he leapt over a bolt.
Jim soon reached within 40 feet of the bagel, and its violent shaking got even worse. Even more bolts were shot out, and now cannonballs the same shade of black as the bagel began to be fired out. One hit Jim in the stomach, causing him to take a knee to recoil from the pain, although this just led to him being zapped from being stationary. "Oooo... unlucky combo!" Klaas narrated, wincing at the sequence.
Flaky's smaller stature allowed her to more easily avoid the cannonballs, making up for the time she lost being zapped. Beck got him in the arm by one, but was still able to dodge for the most part. "Guess that stunt work is paying off." Beck commented as he easily weaved between the obstacles.
Now within 20 feet of the bagel, the bagel's shaking worsened and it let out what sounded like shrill screams. "Is... t-this thing a-alive?" Flaky wondered.
Jim stood back up, and began to panic when he saw Beck and Flaky getting extremely close. "No! This is NOT how it ends!" Jim yelled, taking off his shoe and hurling it right at Beck.
Getting so close to the bagel seemed to lower its defenses rather than make them worse, the screams only making out faint pleading words. Beck was about to reach into the hole of the bagel when he was struck in the back of the head by Jim's shoe, although it wasn't enough to knock the actor down. "Are you serious? That messed up my hair dude, not cool." Beck complained.
Flaky then reached inside the bagel first, pulling out a pair of headphones with cat ears on top. "Umm... o-okay? I g-guess these w-would be nice for gaming..." Flaky commented, then raised the headphones up.
"And that's first place for the Critics, they are safe from elimination tonight!" Chris announced, making Trixie groan while Thomas was indifferent to this win.
Beck now fixed up his hair, while Jim caught up to him. "What are you doing?" Jim asked him, starkly confused.
"Fixing up my hair. Can't have it looking bad on TV, bad for my reputation." Beck answered, fixing his part while Jim grabbed his shoe.
"I think you've got bigger things to worry about, you coasting piece of crap." Jim told him, before reaching into the bagel.
Jim pulled out a Gemmie award replica, confusing him. "Oh cool, a prop I can't do anything with. At least Flaky got something useful." Jim complained, although his tone was one of relief than bother.
"Aaaand that's second place for the Munchers! They're also safe from elimination!" Chris announced, causing a much more positive response to be heard from the team.
"Knew you could do it Jimmy!" Kahlin cheered, before getting a shoe to the face courtesy of Jim, knocking the baseballer down.
"Sweet. There goes the worst ceremony we could have gone through." Bonnie commented with relief.
Beck was about to reach into the bagel, but it instead roared and filled the hole with more bagel, becoming a jelly and blasting the three interlopers away. "Since Beck didn't grab anything, that means I'll be seeing you Award Winners tonight! Should be a quick one, but I'll see you there!" Chris informed them, with a collective sigh coming from the other three.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Toby-
Toby had his hands on his knees, having a worried look on his face, while Socrates tried to console him. "I know I'm next in line, but... I have to do something. I can't just let them vote me off! If I could at least force a tie and earn my place in the merge, that's more than I could ask for. I have my alliance with Delanie, but I don't know if that's enough for her to vote out Beck. I think I know what to do though..."
-End Confessional-
Cutting to the evening after dinner, Trina was walking by herself taking notes and double checking some other parts in her book on the way back to the girls' trailer when she saw Toby waiting for her just ahead of the trailer. "Toby? What's going on sir?" Trina asked him.
Toby sighed, looking down at her. "I'm sorry to ask for a favor from you, but it's about tonight's ceremony." Toby began, his tone one of guilt.
"Oh... yeah sir, I believe Miss Delanie and Beck will be voting for you tonight." Trina told him.
"I know, and that's where my request comes in. I need you to convince Delanie to vote for Beck instead of me. I formed an alliance with her, but I think if she heard it from you, she'd be much more willing to vote for him. Beck hasn't done anything to deserve getting this far, and... I need the money a lot more than he does, so if you could just talk to Delanie please?" Toby requested, holding both hands together.
Trina nodded, smiling at him. "Of course sir! You're my boyfriend, all you had to do was ask! Just in case she doesn't go with the plan though, I think you should try and get Beck to vote for me or Delanie just to waste his vote. If Delanie still votes for you and Beck wastes his vote, then we don't even have to worry about a tie! We'll merge together!" Trina agreed to his request, before giving him a quick hug.
Toby smiled and let out a huge sigh of relief, then waved to her as she ran off to the craft services tent to find Delanie. As she ran off though, Beck and Kahlin came walking out of the boys' trailer together, putting Toby on the spot in his head. "H-Hey Beck! Can I talk to you for a second?" Toby asked.
Kahlin already began to leave him behind, giving Toby a thumbs up. "He's all yours, we just finished talking about Muse." Kahlin told Toby, before jogging away.
Beck groaned, shoving his hands in his pockets as he faced Toby. "What do you want dude?" Beck asked him.
Toby got nervous right away, fiddling with his fingers. "Well... Delanie came to me and Trina and asked us to vote for you after what happened in the challenge. But... you've already dealt with a lot, so it didn't seem fair to boot you. So we're voting Delanie instead, are you in?" Toby proposed, fibbing to his face.
Beck's eyes widened, surprised by this. "Seriously? She let a challenge loss get to her like that? Yeah I'm in. I'm tired of her attitude anyway." Beck agreed to the plan, before bitterly walking away.
Once Beck walked away, Toby took a deep breath, looking to Socrates on his shoulder. "I... I haven't lied like that before... but he deserves what's coming to him." Toby told Socrates, not an ounce of regret in his tone.
-Confessional: Victorious Award Winners: Beck-
Beck groaned, facepalming at the situation. "I can't believe Delanie flips on me at the last second. I've put up with her all season, and this is how I get repaid? I should just give her a piece of my mind, because this is a load of crap. She and Trina botched their challenge too, but you don't see Trina under fire. Just how it is in Hollywood, guys face much more scrutiny over the littlest things while the ladies can do no wrong. I'm used to it, but that doesn't mean I like it."
-End Confessional-
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 four members of the Victorious Award Winners were seated in the stands, just sitting in pairs. Beck and Delanie sat in the front, while Toby and Trina sat a row behind them. "Man! Talk about a horrible showing to close out the premerge!" Chris insulted the team as he greeted them, still in his office worker outfit on the ceremony stage.
Chef was still in his office worker attire as well, carrying a tray of 3 Gilded Chrises. "Before we go any further, go ahead and use the devices under your seats to cast your votes on who you want to leave tonight!" Chris commanded the Award Winners.
Trina voted swiftly with a smile, Toby voted quick as well, crossing his fingers with his other hand for good luck. Beck lazily voted, casting a glare at the person his vote went to. Delanie voted last, still looking conflicted as she cast her vote. "Alright! The four votes have been cast!" Chris announced, while the results came in via fax machine.
"Beck! Gotta feel awful losing to Flaky and blowing it in the final section for your team!" Chris went over why Beck was here, but he still didn't seem to care.
"Trina! A secretary who can't find her way out of an office? What purpose do you really have then? This genre must have been made for you!" Chris insulted Trina, who just sank back into her seat a little, before getting a reassuring pat on the back from Toby.
"Toby! Won gold for your team, buuuut you missed out on the inner circle! So you could be leaving!" Chris told Toby, although he was already well aware.
"Delanie! You brought back a persona no one liked, and you botched your challenge in search of a non-existent key! Think you're done here?" Chris asked her with a grin.
Delanie shook her head, scoffing. "Pff. The great Staniela never concedes, the award for best picture goes to me as always!" Delanie declared confidently.
"Uh huh..." Chris responded, also not a fan of the persona. He then grabbed the first Gilded Chris from the tray. "Well you all know the rules! If you receive a Gilded Chris, you're good! Otherwise, it's the Lame-O-Sine for you! Gilded Chrises go to..."
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Trina caught her award with both hands with a smile, hugging it close.
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Delanie fully expected to be safe, so she already had a hand ready. "I'd like to thank the academy for this award! My award winning films always sweep the award shows thanks to those snobs!" Delanie thanked sarcastically.
That left the bottom two, who had very mixed reactions. Beck was slightly confused Delanie wasn't in the bottom 2, while fear sank into Toby's face, with Socrates nuzzling up to his neck to try and keep him calm. "Beck, Toby, you both had quite the interesting runs for your team, but one of you is leaving tonight and becoming our first juror! So the final Gilded Chris award goes to..."
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"Beck!"
Toby and Trina gasped as Beck was tossed the third award, while the actor just casually caught it. "Mom..." Toby muttered, slumping into his seat in defeat.
Chris laughed, then pointed to the Walk of Shame with his thumb. "That's it for you Toby! The Lame-O-Sine awaits!" Chris told him, relishing in his misery.
Beck nodded, chuckling as he looked back at Toby, as did Delanie. "Yeah, nice try lying to me to get me booted. I asked Delanie about everything, and she cleared things up. I was going to feel bad, but you deserve this." Beck taunted Toby.
Toby slumped further in his seat hearing this, while Trina propped him back up. "Toby... I'll walk you out okay sir?" Trina tried to comfort him.
Toby smiled at her, glad to have at least some comfort. "Thanks Trina..." Toby thanked her as he then got up from his seat, with Trina following him.
Cutting ahead to the Walk of Shame, Toby and Trina walked down the red carpet together, bittersweet feelings filling both. "Trina. I know the teams are merging and it'll be difficult to go on. But, I believe in you. We took down King together, we almost got Beck out of there. I know you can make it to the end if you just stick to your principles. You're one of the sweetest people here, so I'm glad to have been here for you while I was here. Luis is watching over you from above too." Toby encouraged Trina, looking up at the night sky for a moment, while Socrates gave Trina a salute and a smile.
Trina's smile wavered, looking up at him. "Oh sir... thank you for everything..." Trina began to thank him.
Toby rubbed the back of his head at this, having trouble accepting the thanks. "It's no problem, you know me. I just saw how great of a person you are and-"
"...that you set up for me." Trina finished, now smirking at him.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Toby asked, growing confused.
Trina snickered, shaking her head. "Toby, there wasn't even a tie, I voted for you. I never told Delanie about your little plan to save yourself either. You put way too much trust in me. But, making good plays was never your strong suit was it? It was much more helpful for me at least that you were too naive to ever catch on." Trina explained to him, further confusing Toby.
"W-What... why!? W-We're dating! We're supposed to look out for each other!" Toby let out, the sting of betrayal now settling in.
"Dating? Oh, I forgot. I'm breaking up with you. This relationship was purely strategical. Everyone in the game knew how much I loved you, and come tomorrow, I'm going to be heartbroken, devastated that my sweet Toby is gone! If I actually cared about you, Delanie would have been gone long ago. Diamond and Esteban would still be here too. But you were stupid enough to vote for Diamond because you pitied me. And King was someone I had a lot more planned for to take down, but you took initiative and set up his boot for me! So I thank you for that too, truly." Trina elaborated, her smirk only growing as she explained everything.
Tears began to stream Toby's face as she explained this to him, weakly pointing a finger at her. "Y-You... n-no... you never cared about Luis or me did you?" Toby asked, his voice trembling.
Trina giggled, nodding her head. "In politics, every relationship is strategic. How do you think my dad became mayor? Just the way the game goes Toby. It was nothing personal. You were just the easiest to string along. I needed you gone before the merge though, so I threw today and now your role in my plan is over. So see you later!" Trina told him, before walking away and humming to herself, pulling out her notebook to cross off some notes.
Toby was crying profusely at this point, but Chris soon showed up and kicked him into the Lame-O-Sine, with it subsequently speeding off after that. "That was cold! But there goes our ex-puppeteer, a puppet in another puppeteer's scheme! Will the others catch onto Trina's plot? How will everyone handle the merge? And can our challenges get any more surreal? Find out next time, on Total, Drama, Reeeeeevenge of the Film Lot!" Chris concluded the episode, raising his arms while standing on the red carpet.
Teams Remaining:
Mutant Movie Munchers: Melissa, Kahlin, Bonnie, Klaas, Jim
Victorious Award Winners: Delanie, Beck, Trina
Toxic Film Critics: Trixie, Thomas, Flaky
Placements:
12th: Toby
13th: Athena
13th: Flynn
15th: Nanashi
16th: Jack
17th: Esteban
18th: Kylie
19th: King
20th: Freddy
21st: Lilac
22nd: Vergil
23rd: Diamond
24th: Maxine
25th: Donna
Author's Note:
Thank you ItsYaBoiNoah for sending in Toby, he was certainly one of the more unique characters I've received for an SYOC! What did you think of the episode? Be sure to let me know in the reviews and I'll see you all next time! Be sure to join the discord (invite on profile) for bonus content and now merge discussion! Have a great day!