Chris, Topher, and Lindsay stood at the city limits of Drama City.

"Last time, on Total Drama Party with the Stars!" the three began in unison.

"Our contestants started planning for what to do should they ever have to vote," Chris recapped.

"Even I can't tell who's genuinely working with who in some cases," Topher claimed.

"Which is why you'd be on the Fighting Wyverns if you were playing this one," Chris commented.

"Really? They seem more straightforward," Lindsay said.

"Anyway," Chris interrupted. "Fresh off the heat of the Grand Gryphons' vote, Brittany reluctantly accepted Irving's offer to be in an alliance, while Hugh tried rallying up the troops to get rid of Vladimir. Vladimir's pretty dead set on keeping up the Barry facade, in spite of everything."

"Over on the Fighting Wyverns, Joseph tried to make amends with Kiki. That didn't work!" Topher laughed. "Kun's big alliance seems to be more or less officially put together, and Quentin, during his stint in Isolation Park, managed to find the Genesis Statue. That could come in a lot of handy."

"Also, Dalit made it her mission to give Frita a makeover. I hope that goes well," Lindsay smiled.

"Yeah, that too," Topher corroborated.

"The challenge was to house-flip a few empty garages into a clubhouse of sorts," Chris recapped. "This led to a lot of conflict between teammates, not surprisingly. The Grand Gryphons opting not to paint their walls ended up costing them a lot of points, and they lost the challenge."

"It was just a reward challenge, but the reward was pretty sweet," Topher chuckled.

"Also, Cyan won the vote for who was best in the challenge, so she gets to stay at the penthouse!" Lindsay added. "But Dalit got voted as the person who did the worst, so now she's in Isolation Park."

"It's another elimination tonight. There's no rest for the wicked tonight," Chris said.

"What do we have in store for everyone today?" Lindsay asked.

"And who will be the next star to burn out?" Topher asked.

"All this and more, on Total!" Chris began.

"Drama!" Topher and Lindsay continued.

"Party with the Stars!" the three concluded in unison.

Jean-Marie and Kun chatted on their way to Hatchet's Diner for breakfast.

"Do you mind if I ask what you said was on your mind yesterday?" Jean-Marie inquired. "I must admit, you left me curious."

"I'm not sure I remember what you mean," Kun admitted.

"When we were discussing our plans going forward with Joseph," Jean-Marie clarified. "You said that something was troubling you."

"Oh, well, um, I'm just a little concerned about Nolan," Kun explained. "If Cyan and Louise really are aligned with him, might they be more loyal to him than to us?"

"Peut-être, but he cannot be loyal to them, given his dice restriction, non?" Jean-Marie pointed out.

"Unless that's what he wants us to think," Kun fretted.

"I think you are overthinking it," Jean-Marie told him. "As of now, Nolan cannot use his vote as any sort of leverage, so I cannot foresee him swaying anyone into voting how he wants since he won't even be able to vote how he wants."

"And what about Cyan and Louise?" Kun asked.

"There are three of our original alliance and one of Nolan," Jean-Marie posited.

"There are three in Kiki's alliance, too," Kun mentioned. "Not to mention we, um, still don't know where Quentin stands."

"I will talk to Quentin later. I believe he wishes to be my friend," Jean-Marie assured him.

"That would be a load off of my mind," Kun said with a sigh of relief.

"Il semble que je ne jouerai pas aussi passivement que je le pensais," Jean-Marie mused.

"I don't have anything against your culture, but, um, it's not polite to speak in a language people don't understand," Kun stammered.

"Apologies. I was simply thinking aloud. Nothing you need to worry about," Jean-Marie assured him.

"May I ask what you were saying?" Kun asked.

"I was simply lamenting that I may not be playing as passive a game as I'd hoped," Jean-Marie said. "I hope that this will still turn out well for me."

"I see," Kun nodded.

Confessional:

Jean-Marie: Believe me, I would love to take full control of this game, but last time I tried to do that, it was not received well. I need to play in a way that will not offend others but will still get me far. It is a very hard balance to strike, but I will do what I can.

Kun: Jean-Marie is a pretty notably aggressive player, so I'm, um, not entirely sure where his self-admitted attempts at passive gameplay are coming from. It's not as though it's made him any less of a target if what he's told me about Dalit is true. I'm still not entirely sure how honest he's being with us, but I, um, don't have any reason not to trust him as of now...

The marquee outside Hatchet's Diner read "Limited Time Strawberry Shakes 8:00-8:01". Inside the diner, Ernie and Shadya ate breakfast.

"How the hell did you manage to get one of those shakes in time?" Ernie asked.

"I ran around the perimeter of the city streets at approximately 6 in the morning," Shadya claimed. "I saw the sign by then, and was able to return to the hotel, shower, change clothes, and return here in very little time."

"Can I have a sip?" Ernie asked.

"If you wanted a sip badly enough, you would have arrived in time to get your own," Shadya told him.

"Yeah, if you say so." Ernie rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, has Hugh mentioned his plans to get Vladimir out should we lose again?" Shadya asked.

"He has not," Ernie denied. "Why do you, like, bring it up? Obviously we aren't voting for him."

"It would secure Hugh and Irving as potential allies," Shadya said.

"Please tell me you don't trust those two to actually, ya know, stick with us," Ernie groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No less than I trust Vladimir," Shadya said.

"And you're just going to let Steve Jenkins stick around?" Ernie doubted. "You have to admit that that's terrible for team morale."

"Steve Jenkins trusts Isidora and me for some reason," Shadya explained. "He will vote with us. That's all that matters."

"So will Vladimir! And Vladimir's at least easy to get along with," Ernie insisted.

"Ernie, I did not tell you about this plan because I wanted your feedback. I told you about this plan because I felt that you deserved to be let in on the plan," Shadya stated. "Do not change my mind."

"Apologies, m'lord," Ernie grunted.

Shadya sipped her milkshake loudly.

"I thought you didn't believe in eating unhealthy foods," Ernie pointed out.

"After a long workout, it's important to replenish your energy levels. Sugar is incredibly helpful in this regard," Shadya said. "Plus, I knew I was going to be the only person to get one on time."

Ernie gave Shadya an annoyed look.

Confessional:

Ernie: Augggh, is everyone on this team an idiot except for me? We do not need to get rid of Vladimir, and we do not need to keep Steve Jenkins. This is actually, like, pissing me off. (He yawns.) I need a nap.

Shadya: I cannot fathom how Ernie does not grasp the concept that gaining two potential allies is better than not gaining two potential allies. Even if Hugh and Irving are untrustworthy, which they are, helping them out here means a non-zero chance of them wanting to work with us in the event of a potential team shuffle. And if that doesn't happen, we can just vote them out later. Either way, I come out on top.

Cyan and Kiki both watched something on TV in their team's hangout.

"...I feel like we got off on the wrong foot in this game," Kiki told Cyan.

"Well, you did kind of try to force me into an alliance before even really introducing yourself to me," Cyan admitted.

"I did, and I'm sorry about that," Kiki said. "I've always felt kind of cheated with my experience in House Party, and it's been so long since then, so I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to do well this time. I was hasty."

"Hey, everyone on this team can relate to feeling unsatisfied with what happened last time they played," Cyan assured her. "It's nice that we can just take it easy right now, though."

"Tonight will probably be an elimination round," Kiki figured. "I can't imagine they'd have two non-elimination rounds in a row. We need to stay on our toes."

"Of course," Cyan agreed. "But we can worry about that when it's time to worry about it. The challenge won't be for a couple more hours, at least."

"That is true," Kiki conceded. "I'm just worried about what might happen if we do lose. I'm not comfortable with people like Jean-Marie being here, and I feel like not many people share that sentiment."

"Jean-Marie hasn't bothered me," Cyan said.

"You saw Explore Party, right?" Kiki asked.

"Yeah, but it's been several years since then. People can change in that amount of time," Cyan figured.

"I just don't buy it," Kiki said. "Besides, he's in an alliance with Joseph and Kun, and they could dictate all our potential eliminations if we're not careful."

"You think so?" Cyan responded.

"It's a distinct possibility that I don't want to try and put to the test," Kiki insisted. "Jean-Marie was able to throw most of his team off of his scent in Explore Party, too. Keep that in mind."

"That's true..." Cyan hummed.

Confessional:

Cyan: I was so close to just having a normal friendly conversation with Kiki, but she had to go and make it about trying to get my vote again. That's the difference between Kiki and Joseph for me: Joseph at least wants to hang out just as friends and talk about the game when we have to. I know thinking about the game is important, but so is taking some downtime.

Kiki: I hate feeling like I'm not in control. It's how I spent a lot of House Party, and I am not here for a repeat of House Party! I'm here to take control of the game like I was always meant to. I'm throwing Jean-Marie under the bus instead of Joseph because, as repulsive as I find Joseph, it seems like Cyan and Louise get along with him, and I need their votes most of all.

Steve Jenkins gathered Isidora and Vladimir in his own team's hangout.

"Alright, the gang's all here," Steve Jenkins prefaced. "Minus Shady. Not sure where she is."

"Just tell us the plan so I can go back to reading," Isidora sighed.

"It's got to be Brittany," Steve Jenkins told them. "She had every reason in the world to go home the other night, and she didn't! If that doesn't speak to her abilities in this game, I don't know what does, man."

"To be fair, she was up against Lilith," Isidora pointed out.

"I... agree that we should do something about Brittany, though," Vladimir mentioned. "Not just because I'm the main target right now. Steve Jenkins is right: Brittany could be even harder to take out later if we don't do it now."

"Yeah, you of all people would know," Steve Jenkins encouraged.

"M-Me? I'm not sure what that's supposed to-"

"Okay, dude, everyone knows you're Vladimir," Isidora interrupted. "Constantly claiming otherwise is making me more inclined to want to vote for you than the fact that you're in disguise. Please."

Vladimir sighed. "Alright, I'll stop."

"Vladimir's a cooler name than Barry, anyway," Steve Jenkins claimed.

"That is true, but even so, we're going to need more than three votes if we want this to work," Vladimir pointed out. "You mentioned Shadya, but I'm fairly certain that she's working with Brittany. We can't rely on her."

"Last I talked to her, I think she wanted Irving out," Isidora mentioned.

"There we go. Irving's someone we could rope in, and I bet Hugh is, too," Vladimir smiled.

"Honestly? If we can get them, then there could be something to this," Isidora admitted.

"And that's why Steve Jenkins is the best," Steve Jenkins beamed.

"Can we trust Hugh and Irving, though?" Vladimir asked.

"They are lamers, but I don't think anyone else is going to listen," Steve Jenkins claimed. "We'll just have to do what we can with what we've got."

Confessional:

Vladimir: Back in Explore Party, I was fortunate enough to be on a team of people who didn't really know what they were doing. It's becoming more and more evident to me that that isn't really the case here. I'm not incredibly confident that this plan to take out Brittany will bear fruit, but I don't really have any other options at the moment. People already want me gone, so I can't imagine I'll be able to make any strong push and get away with it. I really have backed myself into a corner, haven't I? (he chuckles.)

Steve Jenkins: Steve Jenkins Vlog, July 16th, 2020: The Steve Jenkins Workforce - or SJW for short - is getting bigger! By the time we end up having to vote for someone again, all votes should be against Brittany. Man, I could be a cult leader or something. I'm just too good at getting people to listen to me.

Isidora: I don't plan on actually going through with any of this, for the record. I barely trust Vladimir, and Steve Jenkins is not somebody I really feel like going long-term with. I already have allies that I like and trust more, and it would make more sense to stick with them. Of course, I need to keep my options open, so I'll humor these guys for now. They could be a good source of information if nothing else.

Nolan and Quentin played chess in the board game room of the barcade.

"I keep meaning to ask, but did anything of note happen in Isolation Park?" Nolan inquired. "People have speculated that hidden statues might be there."

Quentin looked around the room to make sure they were alone. "I did find one," Quentin confirmed. "The Genesis Statue. It lets me nullify every vote cast for one person, but I have to use it before the votes are revealed."

"That definitely sounds less overpowered than the ones from Alpha Party," Nolan chuckled. "What interests me is the implication that there are statues modeled after multiple old contestants. Perhaps all the past winners."

"Believe me, I looked for more. This was the only one I could find," Quentin admitted. "Keep in mind that I didn't have food, shelter, or entertainment, so I was dead exhausted throughout most of that whole thing."

"That's understandable," Nolan nodded.

"What about the outside world? Did anything happen while I was gone?" Quentin asked.

"Nothing groundbreaking," Nolan answered. "But then, I'm not privy to a lot of strategy talk. People don't really feel the need to talk to me about that kind of thing when my vote's going to be random anyway."

"I guess that makes sense," Quentin considered.

Frita had entered the room. The boys took notice.

"Hey, Frita! Want to watch me lose to Nolan?" Quentin invited.

Frita sighed and made her way over to the two.

"What brings you to the game room?" Nolan asked Frita.

"I don't know. I'm sorry," Frita sighed.

"Why are you sorry?" Nolan questioned.

"I don't know! I'm sorry!" Frita cringed.

"Hey, it's cool," Quentin assured her. "You're our friend. You don't have to apologize for hanging out with us."

"Oh, that reminds me, actually," Frita brought up. "I think Kiki wants to vote for Jean-Marie if we lose."

"That's a specifically odd pick," Nolan commented.

"She's pretty set on it, and we don't want to split the votes up any more," Frita said.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Quentin nodded. He moved one of his pawns on the chessboard.

"Are you sure that's the move you want to make?" Nolan challenged smugly.

"I'm not going to overthink it," Quentin smiled.

Confessional:

Quentin: I mean, it has to be someone, and if the alliance is leaning that strongly towards voting for JM, I don't feel close enough with him to try and contest it. He is a tricky player, after all.

Frita: Quentin was the first ally I made in this game, so if he ends up voting with Kiki and Dalit, I won't be betraying any of them technically. I know I won't have any influence on Nolan, so I'm not going to worry about him. Too much.

Nolan: I did an AMA on Reddit shortly after House Party aired, and one question I got a few times was "If you vote based on the roll of a die, then what value are you to your allies?" Fair enough question. What I told them was that I can still relay important information to my allies, and not relay any of their information to others. I made it clear on day one that I was not aligning with Frita and Quentin, so I can feel free to tell Cyan and Louise about what Frita just said. I'm sure they could make good use of the knowledge that Kiki's gunning for Jean-Marie.

Irving met up with Bailey in her motel room.

"I be flattered that a fair lass such as yourself be inviting me into her room, but I thought that ye were still dating that jailbird," Irving joked.

"Yeah, Brittany warned me you might say something like that," Bailey commented.

"What?! Are ye telling me that I've become predictable! That be the ultimate insult to the Dread Pirate Irving!" Irving cried overdramatically.

"Listen, Hugh was talking to me about how he's getting together some sort of voting bloc against Vladimir, and that you were involved. Is this true?" Bailey asked.

"Aye, it be the truth," Irving confirmed. "I can't imagine ye be too heavily against it, what with ye talking to me about it. Also, ye calling him out the other night."

"I just wanted to make sure all my ducks are in a row," Bailey said. "I don't think it's too out of line for me to be cautious when dealing with anything Hugh is telling me."

"And what makes ye think I not be conspiring with him to trick ye?" Irving questioned.

"I never said I wasn't suspicious of you as well," Bailey answered. "Speaking with you is a good way to help make clear your intentions."

"Gyarharhar! Ye really do be a smart lass, ye do," Irving laughed, impressed. "I do swear from the bottom of me heart that I be fully on board to vote out Vladimir."

"Swearing from the bottom of your heart just makes you sound more suspicious," Bailey claimed.

"Take me words as ye will, lass," Irving shrugged. "But if ye truly want a Vladimir vote to happen, ye may wish to trust me with this one. Especially because trust be a two-way street."

"Hm?" Bailey acknowledged.

"If ye tell me to me face that ye don't trust me, then I should have no reason to trust ye, either," Irving pointed out. "I don't think either of us wants to be distrusted. And I don't think that, in these circumstances, we really benefit from distrusting each other."

Bailey sighed. "Alright. I suppose that's fair. I will trust you for now."

"Ye really do be as sweet as they say," Irving sniffled. "I really think this will help us all in the long run."

"Perhaps," Bailey nodded.

Confessional:

Bailey: I certainly feel as though Irving needs me far more than I need him. I'm already in a majority alliance which may or may not still include Vladimir. I'm truthfully unsure. But Irving is on the outs, and it sounds like he and Hugh are just trying to buy themselves one more round. I don't see myself making long-term plans with them.

Irving: One extra round really be all ye need if ye wish to make it far. If the Pixel Peacocks had lost that last challenge in the premerge, I wouldn't be on the Grand Gryphons if ye catch me drift. Buying any amount of time be invaluable, even if I can't say with confidence that Bailey and I will be best friends anytime soon.

Joseph and Louise tossed a football back and forth at one of the open fields.

"Bro, it's nice that I can just do this with someone," Joseph grinned.

"What, throw a football?" Louise asked, confused.

"I had no space to do this kind of thing at the testing facility in Virtual Party," Joseph admitted. "Plus, everyone was hella focused on the game and stuff. People didn't want to just chill, they only wanted to talk about the game."

"That sounds like it sucks, yeah," Louise empathized. "My team in Shuffle Party was mostly chill, but they did talk enough about the game that I got lost a lot of the time."

"Honestly!" Joseph agreed. "Bro, JM and Kun will be micromanaging every person's vote on this team with each other, and I'm just sitting there like 'How does this come naturally to you?' I don't know how they do it."

"I feel that. Cyan and I will sit down and talk, and she'll keep talking about how she thinks everyone might vote if the target is whoever," Louise mentioned. "Like, how does she even know any of that?!"

"I mean, I guess it's all hypothetical, but I don't get what good thinking about hypotheticals is supposed to be," Joseph shrugged.

"Elmer tried that with me for a while when we first met, but he picked up pretty quickly that I just don't enjoy that kind of thing," Louise said. "And he respected that and stopped. What a man."

"Elmer sounds like a real bro," Joseph complimented.

"He's definitely more of a JM type than an us type," Louise admitted.

"I mean, JM's still cool," Joseph figured. "Either way, you're a real bro, too."

"You know it," Louise beamed. "And, uh, likewise, of course."

"Hell yeah," Joseph grinned. "Here's to us being no good at the game!"

"Speak for yourself," Louise taunted playfully.

Confessional:

Louise: Elmer warned me that, since this is All-Stars, I'm going to be expected to get more of a grasp on the game if I want to survive, but honestly? I think people underestimate how valuable just being friendly can be. Plus, if I don't know my way around strategy, I'm less of a threat, right? That's not to say that I won't try to wrap my head around strategy, but I'm not here to be some big mastermind, you know?

Joseph: Real talk? I might be vibing more with Louise and Cyan than with Kun and JM. Those dudes are cool and all, but I don't get what they're on about most of the time. Cyan and I have always been good, and Louise is just super chill, and we've got a bunch in common. Could be something to think about, I don't know.

Brittany and Hugh met up by the Elimination Station.

"Let me guess: you're going to pitch your plan to vote out Vladimir to me?" Brittany guessed.

"Well, I guess I don't have to since you've already figured it out," Hugh sneered. "But are you onboard?

"You aren't the first person to pitch the idea to me, so it's clearly already got traction," Brittany mentioned. "I'm good with the idea."

"You love to hear it," Hugh nodded proudly.

"What I want to know is if you have any plans for after Vladimir goes home," Brittany prompted.

"Well, I was going to build up to it, but since you asked..." Hugh snickered. "You, me, Bailey, and Irving. Secret alliance. We can run this team."

"Huh. That was awfully straightforward," Brittany commented.

"You should know by now, Brit. With me, what you see is what you get," Hugh smirked.

"I'll say," Brittany responded. "What about Ernie? Isn't he a part of your majority against Vladimir?"

"You and Bailey are close, and me and Irving are close," Hugh claimed. "Ernie's close with I guess Isidora, but Isidora doesn't trust me at all, and I don't know what she's been telling him. I can't trust him to trust me. In short, I can't trust him."

"I guess," Brittany conceded. "Well, obviously, I'd have to talk this over with Bailey."

"Forget Bailey! Is this what you want?" Hugh challenged.

"...I want to play this game. I'm going to need as much security as I can get," Brittany said solemnly.

"Nobody will see us coming. Two of this game's biggest heroes teaming up with two of this game's biggest villains. It's going to kick ass!" Hugh grinned.

"You think I'm a hero?" Brittany asked, taken aback a bit.

"Well that's how the show made you look," Hugh said. "Why? Is there anything I should know about?"

"No," Brittany said flatly.

"Keeping secrets, huh? Sneaky. I like it," Hugh snickered.

"I-It's not like that!" Brittany reacted.

Hugh just laughed.

Confessional:

Brittany: I'm starting to feel more and more like this is a mistake. I mean, Irving is supposed to be Hugh's closest ally, and he mentioned working with Ernie and Isidora, and Hugh wasn't even on that page. I want to play the best game I can, and I need safety if I want to, well, keep playing the game. I just hope I don't need to make this decision anytime soon.

Hugh: It's not necessarily that I trust Brittany or Bailey, more that I distrust them less than everyone else. I'm on their side, here, after all. I've established why they should trust me. If they don't, then that's their idiocy, and these two are clearly not idiots. I can work this team. I will work this team!

Dalit angrily foraged for berries in Isolation Park.

"It's not fair. Cyan and Joseph were being unreasonable!" Dalit groaned. "I should be living in the good apartments with the rest of them, and Cyan should be here!"

She inspected the berries in her hand.

"These are safe, yes?" Dalit wondered aloud. "They wouldn't give me not-safe berries, would they?"

Dalit hesitantly ate one of the berries.

"Oh, it's just blueberries," Dalit realized. "Wait, is there berries that look and taste like blueberries but are still poison? Er, are there, rather?"

A bird swooped in and took a couple of berries from Dalit's hand.

"Hey! You give those back! I worked hard to get them, you thief!" Dalit shouted.

She gave chase to the bird.

Confessional:

Dalit: I still do not understand why it is that Quentin likes birds so much. All they've ever done as far as I know is harass people for no good reason!

Frita and Quentin remained in the game room and were engaged in a game of Connect Four. Frita stared at the grid intently.

"Sorry, I haven't played this game in forever," Frita sighed. "I want to make sure I'm making the right move."

"Believe me, I'm no chessmaster at this game, either," Quentin chuckled.

"Is that why you're playing against me? Because you think you can beat me?" Frita asked.

"What? No," Quentin told her. "Frita, why won't you believe me when I tell you that you're my friend?"

"Sorry. I know that's annoying," Frita sighed. "I just don't want to get my hopes up only for you to give up on me. I know you don't think it will happen, but it will."

"But you're still hanging out with me," Quentin pointed out. "So you have to believe me on some level, right?"

"I don't know," Frita sighed. She made her move in Connect Four. "I don't get to spend time with others that often. It's why I've tried Total Drama twice, even though I'm probably not going to do well this time, either. I do enjoy it, I just don't expect much to come of anything."

"I think I'm starting to get it?" Quentin supposed. "But no, I really do like hanging out with you and Nolan. And, between you and me, I am willing to work with you and Kiki and Dalit."

"Even though we're in a minority?" Frita asked.

"I have the Genesis Statue, remember?" Quentin reminded her.

"Bonsoir," Jean-Marie greeted as he entered the room. "I wish to speak with Quentin alone. Frita, would you please excuse us?"

"Understandable," Frita sighed as she left the room.

"We can finish the game later!" Quentin called to Frita. He turned his attention to Jean-Marie. "What's up, JM?"

"It seems as though the vote is being set up against Kiki," Jean-Marie informed. "I figured you'd like to know."

"But you won't tell Frita?" Quentin asked. "She could be another vote in your favor, right?"

"She's working with Kiki," Jean-Marie said flatly. "I don't foresee her voting against her."

"I guess," Quentin half-responded.

"I believe we have the majority against Kiki," Jean-Marie warned. "It may behoove you not to go against the grain, non?"

"True," Quentin said. "Thanks for the heads-up."

"Pas de problème," Jean-Marie assured him.

Confessional:

Quentin: The alliance has managed to keep my involvement with it a secret, which is cool, but now I'm actually kind of torn on how I should approach a potential vote. Do I use my Genesis Statue to save Kiki? Do I turn on her and side with the majority? Do I just lay low and let the targets fall how they may? It's a tough choice.

Jean-Marie: Quentin has made an effort to speak with me, so he is someone I could see myself working with. I still have my alliance of five, of course, but it never hurts to have as many allies as you can, especially knowing one of them could turn on you. That can make the difference.

Frita: Jean-Marie's probably talking Quentin over to his side. If Quentin was smart, he'd listen to Jean-Marie and turn on our alliance. Even if he does use his statue successfully, it'd just be four against four, and then Nolan. Those odds aren't much better. (She sighs.)

Ernie met up with Vladimir in the Grand Gryphons' garage hangout.

"Alright, I need to, like, level with you," Ernie began. "Like, real talk."

"That doesn't sound good," Vladimir frowned.

"Yeah, Hugh's throwing you under the bus big time," Ernie told him. "See, thing is, that's not how I want things to happen."

"Do we have to worry about Hugh?" Vladimir asked. "We still have our alliance with Shadya, Bailey, Brittany, and Isidora, right?"

"You would think, but Shadya's actually going through with this," Ernie groaned. "So that's her and Hugh for sure, probably Irving and Steve Jenkins too. And then she's probably going to, ya know, pressure the other girls into it."

"I see..." Vladimir said blankly. "I don't suppose you come bearing plans in addition to news?"

"I've wanted Steve Jenkins gone from the word go," Ernie explained. "Bailey and Brittany have expressed interest in the idea. We'd just need one more."

"You and Isidora trust one another, right?" Vladimir asked.

"She's trying to use Steve Jenkins for his vote, or something," Ernie denied. "Irving may be our best bet. Shadya's thrown his name out before, and I can see him wanting in on a blindside against Her Majesty."

"Wow. There's a lot that I haven't been aware of until now," Vladimir said.

"Well yeah, trying to pretend like you're someone without a strategic bone in his body might not have been the best call," Ernie snarked.

"It made a lot of sense on paper," Vladimir admitted.

"Hey, guys," Brittany greeted as she entered the room.

"Brittany. Remember what we talked about yesterday?" Ernie asked.

"You're going to have to be more specific," Brittany admitted.

"About taking out Steve Jenkins," Ernie clarified. "Vladimir here's on board."

"Oh, are we just done pretending he isn't Vladimir?" Brittany asked.

"As far as the other team knows, I'm still Barry," Vladimir smirked. "Anyway, what do you think about the plan? It could put a lot of power in our hands."

"Who else is in on it?" Brittany asked.

"I'm going to reconfirm with Bailey as well," Ernie told her. "And I'm thinking we could talk Irving into it."

"That could actually work," Brittany nodded.

"It'll be nice to actually be able to work with you this time," Vladimir smiled.

"Er, yeah," Brittany said awkwardly.

Confessional:

Brittany: If the votes are there, I wouldn't mind voting out Steve Jenkins. I understand the temptation to keep him around as a vote shield, but he doesn't add much to the team other than a bit of physical strength. My only issue with the idea is that I trust Vladimir less than I trust anyone else on this team. How badly do I need Steve Jenkins gone before Vladimir? That's the question.

Vladimir: I'm not happy with my position at all, and I don't know how much I can trust Ernie or Brittany, but I might need to if I want to stay in this. I'd also like a shot at Isolation Park if I can manage that. The potential of a statue of any sort could be game-changing.

Ernie: If you want things done right, do them yourself. It's probably not something I can do two days in a row, because, ya know, it's a whole lot of work. But losing Steve Jenkins is worth it. Not only because he's a headache, not only because Shadya and Isidora are using him for some reason, but because it's a power move. If I can pull this off, then I'm in control once again.

Kiki and Louise ate lunch at the same table.

"Do you think he actually had milkshakes available?" Louise wondered.

"Whichever option is the cruelest to us is probably what Hatchet did," Kiki figured.

"That's right, you had him as a host when you played," Louise recalled. "So, is Chris better or worse?"

"Better, easily," Kiki answered. "Hatchet is aggressive, insecure, and never seemed like he knew what he was doing. Plus, having Topher and Lindsay keeps things extra grounded."

"Absolutely," Louise agreed.

"I remember actually watching House Party for the first time. The whole thing had such an air of unprofessionalism to it," Kiki said.

"I still liked it," Louise said. "Not every season is going to be perfect, and Total Drama had had a lot of bad seasons before that one. It was alright."

"That is true," Kiki acknowledged. "I hope this one turns out to be good."

"They brought back players that people wanted to see, right?" Louise grinned confidently.

"That's debatable in a lot of cases," Kiki said. "Either way, it is neat to meet people I had watched in other seasons."

"Oh, I know!" Louise gushed. "I always thought you were so cool! Definitely taken out before your time."

"You can say that again," Kiki huffed. "And hey, you're pretty cool, yourself. Maybe we can make the big legacy we were always meant to this time around."

"Hell yeah!" Louise whooped.

"What are we 'hell yeah'-ing about?" Nolan inquired as he joined the two at the lunch table.

"This season being better than House or Shuffle Party," Kiki explained.

"I can get behind that," Nolan agreed. "Our team hasn't lost a challenge yet. I think that bodes pretty well for us."

"It's weird, being on the team that's winning more while Shadya and Steve Jenkins are on the team that's losing more," Louise thought aloud. "Kind of the reverse of Shuffle Party."

"See? This one's already better," Nolan chuckled. "If only we could play with our spouses again, but alas."

"Even if they were even going to consider inviting CJ back, would she do it?" Kiki doubted.

"I highly doubt it, but she knows how much I love this game and was actually really supportive of me coming back," Nolan mentioned.

"What about you, Kiki? Is there anyone special rooting for you back home?" Louise smiled.

"I'm afraid not," Kiki said. "And I'm in no rush to find a husband, either. If things end up falling into place, then great, but I'd rather focus on my education and career."

"What did you say you were studying again?" Nolan asked.

"Psychological therapy," Kiki said. "To help people recover from mental trauma and the like."

"That's so cool!" Louise beamed.

Confessional:

Nolan: I was hoping to talk to Louise about what Frita had clued me in on, but I was never able to get her alone. Eh, I can always get her later. Sometimes it's just nice to take it easy and have a non-game conversation with people, too. Not that there's much game I can really talk, to begin with, since planning is useless to me.

Kiki: I'm of the firm belief that people shouldn't have to feel like they can't talk about things that have damaged their mental health. It weighed on me for years, and even though I put my trust in the wrong man, I was still able to overcome my androphobia by taking some chances. I want to help others free themselves from their burdens.

Louise: It really is our big second chance! The stakes are even higher this time, and all of us want to win even more than we did last time! Especially on the Fighting Wyverns. Aw man, I'm totally pumped for today's challenge!

Isidora, Shadya, and Steve Jenkins met up in Steve Jenkins' motel room.

"Alright, Shady, the votes are on," Steve Jenkins grinned. "If we lose again, Brittany is donezo."

"I beg your pardon?" Shadya scoffed, annoyed. "Please tell me you haven't been telling people to vote for Brittany."

"He sure has," Isidora mentioned. She smirked. "What's wrong with that? He's our ally, you know."

"I've been telling people to vote for Irving. You telling people to vote for Brittany means people will be less likely to listen to me!" Shadya scolded.

"Why the hell are you trying to get people to vote for Irving?" Steve Jenkins asked.

"Because Brittany is also our ally, you dimwit!" Shadya snapped.

"This is the first I'm hearing of it," Steve Jenkins shrugged.

"After how he threw her under the bus the other night, I can't imagine she'd be willing to work with him," Isidora pointed out.

"We got Vladimir on board," Steve Jenkins told Shadya. "We're talking about getting Hugh and Irving on board, too."

"You said you were trying to work with Hugh, right Shadya?" Isidora chuckled.

Shadya shot Isidora a death glare. "I did say that," Shadya confirmed.

"Sounds good! The target is Brittany!" Steve Jenkins boasted. "Man, it's nice having people finally see things the Steve Jenkins way."

Shadya turned around and made her way out of the room. The door slammed as she closed it.

"Tch. She wanted to vote for Irving. Can you believe it?" Steve Jenkins chuckled.

"She's just intimidated by the prospect that she might not be the only big, flashy super player on the team," Isidora dismissed.

"And yet she hasn't tried to do anything about me being here," Steve Jenkins said. "I guess she's too intimidated by me. She has to go for the smaller fries first."

"Obviously," Isidora responded.

Confessional:

Shadya: Not only has my team lost every challenge thus far, but they refuse to listen to me and my plans! And don't think I didn't pick up on Isidora's snide little quips. She was the person I trusted the most out here! What the hell am I supposed to do if nobody is doing what I tell them and we keep losing as a result?! (She shouts angrily.)

Isidora: To reiterate: I would rather vote for Irving than Brittany, but I'd rather vote for Vladimir than Irving. I'll have to get Shadya one-on-one later so we can talk about it. Maybe I trust Vladimir more than Irving. I'm still not sure. Either way, this fake alliance with Steve Jenkins is only really good for keeping the target off of me. Which is still valuable, granted, but still.

Steve Jenkins: Man, Shady needs to realize that she isn't the only one out here who's playing this game. I don't know why she wants Irving gone over Brittany. I mean, look at the facts: Brittany has won this game, and Irving has not. It's basic math.

Cyan, Joseph, and Kun hung out in the former's penthouse room.

"You know, I could get used to us winning every challenge," Joseph grinned.

"Yes, it certainly, um, bodes well for us, especially with Shadya on the other team," Kun agreed."

"Do you guys have a grudge from Shuffle Party?" Cyan asked.

"Well, um, we both insisted on leading our team after the first shuffle, and she, um, succeeded in getting the votes against me," Kun said disappointedly. "Not to mention my team before the shuffle lost twice, and hers, um, only lost once. This is a satisfying turnaround, um, if I do say so myself."

"Hell yeah, brother," Joseph encouraged.

"I'd definitely like to stick it to Irving, too," Cyan mentioned. "The way he got me voted out last time was unnecessary!"

"I'm just glad Lilith's already gone," Joseph mentioned. "She is exactly the kind of person I'm talking about when I talk about hoes. I was worried she'd end up messing with my mind again."

"She wasn't pleasant last time I saw her, and she didn't seem pleasant now," Cyan agreed.

"That's the impression I get," Kun nodded.

"Would it be good if we won every challenge until the merge, or would we rather see some of the worse people on this team go?" Joseph asked.

"Um, I'd rather see us succeed no matter what," Kun winced. "To be frank, I don't understand how you could come to any other conclusion."

"Come on, you don't want to get rid of Kiki or Dalit or Frita?" Joseph asked.

"If we win every challenge from now until the merge, then the merge will, in essence, be our team, give or take a couple of people," Kun explained. "We can vote them out at that point with little to no changes."

"What if we have a team swap like Virtual Party and Shuffle Party had?" Cyan asked.

"Oh geez, I hadn't considered that," Kun admitted. "I may need to, um, draw up some more in-depth plans for the future. I-I'll see you guys later."

Kun hastily took his leave from the room.

"I don't know how much longer I can stand Kiki, bro," Joseph admitted. "I'd be fine with us losing if it meant we could drop her soon."

Confessional:

Cyan: I honestly don't understand keeping a grudge for as long as Joseph and Kun seem to be. Especially in Joseph's case, since we don't have to worry about Lilith at all. I just want to play a fun game and enjoy myself. Is that so strange?

Joseph: I'm not saying I think we should lose, but the sooner we can get rid of someone annoying and unhelpful, the better. We gotta think about our mental health out here, and having Kiki around isn't good for stress levels!

Kun: Oh boy, um, I should have prepared for this. I'll need to take any likely outcome of any event into account for the future so that I can be, um, best prepared to lead my team. I don't sleep that much anyway. (He laughs awkwardly.)

Hugh and Irving sat at a table just outside the motel.

"Are we running this team?" Hugh asked as if he already knew the answer to his own question.

"It'd be arrogant to assume so, but we definitely could be if we keep it up," Irving chuckled. "I can't say I be ready to put me game in Bailey's hands yet, but she seems to be open-minded."

"Well, Brittany seems like she's onboard," Hugh boasted. "I'll offer to you what I offered to her: an alliance between the three of us and Bailey, her closest ally."

"If we can successfully get Vladimir out, that could be a very strong crew," Irving figured. "And ye swear that ye can get Shadya to vote for Vladimir?"

"She'd be dumb not to at this point," Hugh figured. "I think she said she was going to talk to Ernie about it, so that's another vote in our favor."

"Huh. Maybe we do be running this team!" Irving laughed.

"I told you not to underestimate me," Hugh said smugly.

Bailey had just left her motel room and made her way down the stairs.

"Hey, Bailey! We're on the same page, right?!" Hugh called.

"Well, that depends," Bailey said. "Your page involves voting for Vladimir, correct?"

"Yep, we're good, just making sure," Hugh confirmed.

"It be a large city. Keeping track of information be more crucial than ever," Irving noted.

"I suppose that is true," Bailey conceded. "Anyone who is not here could be talking about anything at any point in the city. It's... troubling, to say the least."

"That's why I don't overthink it," Hugh claimed. "Unless I've got a reason to worry about my position in the game, I won't bother worrying about my position in the game."

Bailey and Irving shared a glance.

"We've got a majority together. Anyone would be stupid to go against it. We're good, you guys," Hugh snickered.

Confessional:

Irving: Part of me feels like this may be too good to be true, but so long as Hugh be the one drawing all the attention onto him, methinks I can afford to be a bit reckless in who I trust. And who knows, maybe Bailey and Brittany truly do be willing to work with me! Gyarharhar!

Bailey: Is it worth getting rid of Vladimir if it means gaining two potential allies who I'm not sure I can really trust? I still need to talk it over with Brittany, but I'm still leaning towards no. Hugh and Irving are both people I think we could easily turn the vote against. Essentially, they're two free buffer eliminations. Why should I put my own game at risk by associating with them?

Hugh: It's nice being on top of the game for once. Back in Alpha Party, I had to claw my way to safety and make sneaky moves to stay alive, but here, all I have to do is rally the troops against some scapegoat and they're just going to do it! (He laughs.)

Dalit searched through the bushes in Isolation Park.

"Kiki said there might be statues hidden around here like the ones in Alpha Party," Dalit thought aloud. "It would be very good and satisfying to actually be able to use one without it getting stolen!"

A bird flew on top of the bush.

"No! Go away! The statue is mine!" Dalit snapped.

The bird glared at her.

She glared at the bird.

The bird glared harder.

Dalit glared even harder.

Dalit felt something plop onto her shoulder. She turned to see another bird had pooped on her. She looked up to see the offending creature perched on a tree branch.

"Hey! This top was expensive, you ingrate!" Dalit roared.

The chirps of the birds sounded like laughter as the two of them flew off.

"Urghhhh... At least I still get my statue," Dalit figured as she searched through the bush.

She searched for a minute and found nothing. Dalit shouted in frustration.

Confessional:

Dalit: Even if I was not the most helpful in the challenge, I still did not deserve any of this! And I really, truly, undeniably loathe birds! They are dumb, awful animals!

Chris, Topher, and Lindsay met up with the contestants at McLean Park.

"Let us now reintroduce Dalit into the game after her stay in Isolation Park," Topher mentioned as the fashionista walked back up to the Fighting Wyverns.

"You look awful," Kiki winced. "How bad was it in there?"

Dalit grunted.

"This challenge will test each of you in unique ways. In fact, I'm fairly certain that most of you won't have any experience with this kind of thing. Hehaha," Chris chuckled.

"And here to help explain it is someone who knows a lot about this kind of thing!" Lindsay announced. "Please welcome Ginger, from Total Drama Shuffle Party!"

A young woman with shaggy hair and casual clothes made her way onto the scene, laughing proudly. "Yes, I, Ginger Wakeman! The Eve of Robotics herself!"

"Better than being the Galatea," Isidora commented. Ernie snickered a bit, but no one else on her team reacted with anything more than indifference or visible confusion.

"Alright, listen up!" Ginger called attention. "This challenge will be split into three parts: Brains, Beauty, and Brawn. Each participating player will have to pick one, and there must be three participants from each team in each section."

"Man, how am I supposed to choose?" Steve Jenkins griped.

"The three Brains players will be given instructions on how to put together a battle robot. Don't worry, we've done most of the hard work for you, you just need to put it together into a functional fighting machine," Ginger explained.

"Are we allowed to alter the programming in any way?" Shadya asked.

"Can they?" Lindsay whispered to Chris.

"If that's how they want to spend their time," Chris figured.

"The Beauty players will do what they can to make the robot look good," Ginger continued. "Apply the skin overlay, give it a cool outfit, do whatever. You'll get an advantage based on which team does better in the Brains portion, and you'll be judged on this one too. The winners of the Beauty portion will get an advantage for their team's Brawn portion."

"So, wait, are these going to be, um, sentient robots like you are?" Kun fretted.

"They've been programmed to be about as intelligent as an animal. Their bodies are humanesque, but I wouldn't consider these guys people. Creating people solely to get beat up is pretty screwed," Ginger explained. "Anyway, for the Brawn portion, the three selected players from each team will do battle against the other team's robot. The first team who can successfully shut down their opponent's battle machine will win Invincibility!"

"In a three-on-one battle?" Quentin asked. "The fact that they don't seem to think that's one-sided concerns me."

"Oh, and someone from the Fighting Wyverns will have to sit out!" Lindsay reminded everyone.

"I'll do it," Frita offered.

"Do we, um, have to decide who's sitting out now, or can we decide after allocating who will be participating in each portion of the challenge?" Kun asked the hosting team.

"You all can decide who's doing what first. The only thing is that it can't be Louise since she sat out of the last one," Chris told them. "I'll give you guys a couple of minutes to determine that, and then we can get started!"

Confessional:

Ernie: Hm, I wonder if that Chris robot from House Party was as smart as an animal, too. Maybe I'll, ya know, ask Hatchet about it later, if he feels up to talking about it. (He yawns.)

Louise: So, no matter what we do, we get to do cool robot stuff? Hell yeah! I'm glad I don't have to sit out of this one. It sounds way cooler than the one we had yesterday!

"I don't have any skills to offer here. I don't want to hold you back," Frita told her team.

"You like drawing violent things, yes? Maybe you can do the Brawn one and do that kind of thing for real," Dalit told her.

"Hm... maybe..." Frita mumbled. "I'm not very strong, though."

"I am! I'm happy to do the Brawn challenge," Louise offered.

"Yes, um, let's begin by figuring out who strongly wishes to partake in a particular, um, part of the challenge," Kun suggested.

"I'm feeling the Brawn challenge, too," Joseph mentioned as he flexed his bicep.

"I will be in the Beauty one. It's only natural," Dalit said.

"I'd like to do that one too," Cyan added, sounding somewhat hesitant as she glanced briefly at Dalit.

"I'd like to play in the Brains portion," Kiki volunteered.

"I'm comfortable in any position," Jean-Marie told his team.

Nolan rolled his die. "I will be in the Beauty section," he announced.

"Alright, that rounds out the Beauty challenge," Kun nodded.

"You might as well do the Brains section, bro," Joseph told Kun. "Only one volunteer so far, and you're pretty smart, right?"

"I didn't want to volunteer for one until everyone got the spot they wanted, but if nobody else feels, um, strongly about it, then I can play in the, um, Brains challenge," Kun figured. "This leaves Frita, Jean-Marie, and Quentin. We still need, um, one Brain and one Brawn."

"You're definitely the smartest and the strongest of us three," Quentin told Jean-Marie.

Jean-Marie turned to Frita. "How comfortable are you in fighting the other team's robot?"

"I don't have to play in this one if you guys don't think I'd be any help," Frita stammered. "Besides, Quentin would probably be more effective in Brawn than I would."

"Yeah, no offense, but I don't think Quentin could hurt a fly," Kiki claimed.

"I'm... not much of a fighter, yeah," Quentin relented. "And I don't think I could do much with building robots or anything, either. I'll be... fine sitting this one out."

"Is that okay with the two of you?" Kun asked Frita and Jean-Marie.

"Oui," Jean-Marie agreed.

"I guess..." Frita sighed.

"Alright, so that's Jean-Marie, Kiki, and myself in the Brain team; Cyan, Dalit, and Nolan on the Beauty team, and Frita, Joseph, and Louise on the Brawn team," Kun recapped. "Best of, um, luck to us all."

Confessional:

Quentin: I'm getting that feeling that I'm not valuable to my team again. Maybe I'll spend my time off the challenge exercising or something. I want to be able to contribute!

"The team makeup will be as follows," Shadya preceded. "Bailey, Ernie, and Isidora will do the Brain challenge, Brittany, Hugh, and Steve Jenkins will do the Beauty challenge, and Irving, Vladimir, and I will do the Brawn challenge."

"I see we're done pretending that Barry isn't Vladimir," Isidora noted.

"I'm sorry for trying to deceive you all," Vladimir apologized. "I thought it'd be good for downplaying my threat level, but I clearly misread the room. I hope that now that the air is cleared, we can start to trust each other more easily."

"Mmm," Irving half-responded.

"By the way, what the hell do you mean I'm on Beauty?!" Hugh objected. "I could kick any robot's ass!"

"With that twinkish frame?" Ernie scoffed.

"Twinkish?! I've got an ass that just won't quit and y'all know it!" Hugh insisted.

"Relax, man, you're going to be in the same group as Steve Jenkins. We can do this," Steve Jenkins assured him.

"Even if that were the case, Hugh, the three that I selected are clearly the three strongest physical players on this team," Shadya stated. "I carefully selected a layout that will maximize our chances of success."

"I can think of worse picks, I guess," Brittany muttered.

"I think we can win this one," Bailey nodded optimistically.

"This one requires actual skill to win, as opposed to the previous two challenges. We will be winning this one," Shadya claimed.

"The Beauty one is totally subjective! How is that skill?!" Hugh countered.

"Victory hinges on the Brawn portion. Even if we bomb the first two portions, we will still win if we win the Brawn challenge," Shadya explained.

"Us winning the others will still give our team advantages..." Brittany pointed out.

"Perhaps, but don't forget that I'm on the Brawn challenge," Shadya said. "They would need a hell of an advantage to compete with that."

Confessional:

Brittany: So not only am I relegated to the challenge which requires the least skill, not only am I once again lumped into just being good for Beauty, I have to somehow do it with Hugh and Steve Jenkins. Of course, I objected to this in my mind, but I knew I was the only person who would have been fine with me switching over to Brains and having one of them take my place. It's... frustrating, to say the least. (She sighs exasperatedly.)

Jean-Marie, Kiki, Kun, Bailey, Ernie, Isidora, and Topher all met up inside a new building. Each team had an identical workstation as well as a pile of robot parts.

"Alright, contestants! You guys will have two hours to get your robot in functional shape!" Topher announced. "When time is up, your robot will have to partake in several diagnostics. The team whose robot does the best in these diagnostics will earn an advantage for the Beauty portion of this challenge. Your time starts... now!"

"Alright, it looks like we've got, like, instructions here," Ernie mentioned to his teammates as he read from a piece of paper he'd gotten from a table. "This doesn't look too difficult."

"They even let us know which diagnostics we'll be running," Bailey relayed as she read from another piece of paper. "It looks like the robot will have to walk across the room, break a wooden plank, and recognize faces."

"How easy is it to get a machine to recognize a face?" Isidora asked.

"It'd have to be, ya know, doable for idiots like us, right?" Ernie figured. "Besides, Ginger said that someone already did most of the hard work for us, right? I doubt we'll have to, like, program anything."

Isidora had begun searching in some of the drawers at the workstation and took several parts out of it. She placed them on the table. "Well, we might as well stop talking and start trying to figure this out."

"Agreed," Bailey nodded.

Jean-Marie, Kiki, and Kun had already begun emptying their drawers and placing parts on their table.

"Alright, um, our robot needs to be able to walk across the room, break a board, and recognize faces by the end of this challenge," Kun told his teammates.

"That doesn't sound... too difficult?" Kiki thought aloud. "I guess we'll have to see what we're working with, here."

"It looks as though we have assembly instructions we can follow," Jean-Marie revealed as he found a small stack of papers stapled together amongst the robot parts.

"There are definitely more parts we can use than there are parts we need to use," Kiki observed as she glanced back and forth between the assembly instructions and the pile of robot parts.

"I suppose that's, um, part of what makes it a challenge: figuring out what the right parts to use are," Kun deduced. "Let's not waste any more time. Um, let's start by separating each part by function, and if we find something that looks, um, particularly effective, we can set it aside."

"Oui," Jean-Marie complied.

Confessional:

Jean-Marie: We must make sure that this robot is strong enough to win a fight against three people. I've always fancied myself a lover more than a fighter, but even I know that we would need a bulky robot in order to achieve this, especially given how strong some of the Grand Gryphons are.

Bailey: I vaguely recall having to analyze the Chris-bot's corpse during the murder trial challenge in House Party, but I don't really remember any details, given that was years ago and only for a brief moment. (She giggles a bit.) Judy would not be a fan of this challenge.

The groups of three followed the instructions given to them and looked through the piles of robot parts in order to find what they needed.

"Ugh, we need matching arms," Ernie groaned as he looked at the partially-built upper torso of the Grand Gryphons' robot, which had mismatched arms.

"I mean, we don't need them to match," Isidora grunted as she hefted a motherboard onto the workstation table.

"It would, ya know, greatly help," Ernie snarked. "Not just for, like, aesthetic reasons, but so it can, ya know, move and fight properly."

"He's right," Bailey agreed. "Isidora, try finding an arm that matches one of the arms it currently has."

"Can you do it? I'm making sure everything is on the motherboard that needs to be," Isidora excused. "Things like this are generally not as heavy, and I can't exactly exert myself."

"I'll find another arm," Ernie decided. "Isidora, keep up with the motherboard. Bailey, find a good set of legs, I guess."

"A good set of legs? But I'm right over here," Isidora joked dryly.

Bailey and Ernie both gave Isidora a look before resuming work.

"Come on, facial recognition, facial recognition..." Kun muttered to himself as he flipped through the assembly instructions.

"It won't be the end of the world if we don't get facial recognition perfectly," Kiki told him.

"It could, um, make the difference," Kun fretted.

"Why don't we focus on actually building a robot before we worry about things like that?" Kiki insisted firmly.

"You're right," Kun conceded. "Yes, priorities. Thank you, Kiki, I got, um, distracted."

"Ça arrive aux meilleurs d'entre nous," Jean-Marie assured him. "Now, this looks like the strongest leg, but the foot is in poor shape. Do you think we'd be able to safely replace it with a foot from another leg?"

"Let me see," Kun offered. He inspected the leg. "I don't see an easy way to do so. What do you think, um, Kiki?"

Kiki looked at the leg. "Yeah, we'd probably be better off going with a less strong leg that has a good foot."

"Alright, go, um, find a better-suited leg," Kun instructed. He returned his attention to the instruction booklet. "Facial recognition, facial recognition..."

"You're getting distracted again," Jean-Marie told him as he took the papers from Kun. "We still need a way to fasten the legs to the body."

"R-Right! I'll go find one right away!" Kun offered.

Confessional:

Isidora: I can only expend so much energy before it gets to a point where I become a burden. Obviously, I want to avoid being a burden, so I'm doing what I can to be helpful while making sure I don't pass out or something. Carrying heavy robot parts just isn't something I can do, so I'm focusing on the motherboard and stuff like that.

Kiki: I don't know if Kun realizes how much of a follower he's acting like. I get the philosophy of wanting to be a leader rather than a boss, so he's taking an active role in the challenge. That's good, but he's following my and Jean-Marie's instructions, and it makes him seem like he was never cut out to be a leader. If only the rest of the team realized this.

After two hours had passed, the completed robot skeletons stood by their respective teams. Topher and Ginger were on standby.

"Alright, it's time to judge you guys' robots on diagnostics," Topher declared. "We'll start with the walking-across-the-room test."

"Grand Gryphons, begin," Ginger instructed.

"That means you, Greg," Isidora prompted the robot.

"You named it Greg?" Jean-Marie asked.

"What's that an, um, acronym for?" Kun asked.

"Uhhhh... 'Good Robot, 'E's Gonnawin'," Ernie answered.

"Ah," Kiki responded.

Greg made its way across the room with no issue.

"Gotcha, gotcha," Ginger nodded as she watched Greg. "Alright, Fighting Wyverns, your turn."

"What'd you name your robot?" Ernie challenged.

"We, um, didn't, um..." Kun stammered.

"Its name is Jayne," Kiki smirked.

"See, that wasn't necessary," Ernie glared.

"Is that an English-speaking insult I hadn't heard before?" Jean-Marie asked.

"It's Ernie's middle name," Kiki snickered.

"I fail to see the humor in mocking men with feminine names," Jean-Marie mentioned bitterly.

Jayne the robot made its way across the room while everyone was speaking, also with no issue.

"I see, I see," Ginger nodded as she watched Jayne. "Alright, we can proceed to the plank-breaking aspect of diagnostics."

Topher handed a plank of wood to Bailey and one to Kun. "Hold onto this and let your robot break it."

"Wh-What if it breaks me?" Kun stammered.

"That sounds like your problem," Ginger chuckled. "Greg, go!"

Bailey looked at Greg nervously, holding the board in front of her with her arms as outstretched as they could be. Greg recognized what he had to do and palm-struck the board, breaking it in half.

"Not bad," Topher commented. "Jayne, can you match that?"

Jayne snapped its head in Kun's direction and approached him. Kun gulped and held his board out as far in front of him as he could. Jayne punched clean through the board.

"Good form, both of you," Ginger grinned proudly. "Now for the facial recognition. All you have to do is stand side-by-side and introduce yourselves to your robot, then move around in a different order and ask your robot what your name is. We'll start with the Grand Gryphons once again."

The three Grand Gryphons were already standing side-by-side.

"My name is Ernie," Ernie told Greg.

"My name is Bailey," Bailey added.

"And I'm Isidora," Isidora said.

The three moved around in a new order.

"What's my name?" Isidora asked.

"Isidora," Greg answered.

"What is my name?" Bailey asked.

"Bailey," Greg answered.

"And what is my name?" Ernie asked.

"Jayne," Greg answered.

Ernie scowled, his mouth a thin line. Kiki tried her best to contain her laughter.

"Alright, Fighting Wyverns, your turn," Topher prompted.

The three had already formed their line as well.

"My name is, um, Kun," Kun introduced.

"I'm Kiki," Kiki added.

"Je suis Jean-Marie," Jean-Marie said.

"Is he going to be able to understand French?" Kiki whispered.

"My apologies. Force of habit," Jean-Marie winced.

"Let us, um, shuffle, so to speak," Kun told his teammates.

The three moved around to different positions.

"Who am I?" Jean-Marie asked.

"Je suis Jean-Marie," Jayne repeated.

"What is my name?" Kun asked.

"Um, Kun," Jayne mimicked.

"And who am I?" Kiki asked.

"Kiki," Jayne answered.

"Alright, well done, everyone," Ginger grinned. "If you guys with no experience can get at least this much put together, then perhaps organics will easily be able to repair their robotic friends."

"Or easily dismantle them," Ernie pointed out.

"Can it, Jayne," Ginger leered.

Ernie grunted.

"I am sorry," Jayne apologized.

"Well anyway, I think we have reached a conclusion," Topher moved along.

"I believe so, too," Ginger agreed. "...We're thinking of the same team, right?"

"I think so?" Topher began whispering in Ginger's ear.

"Alright, yeah, we're on the same page," Ginger confirmed. "The winners of the Brains portion of the challenge are the Fighting Wyverns."

"Oh, um, neat," Kun smiled.

"What gave them the edge?" Isidora asked, annoyed.

"Jayne was able to recognize everyone's face," Topher explained. "Greg got Ernie mixed up with Jayne."

"I swear to god..." Ernie grumbled.

"The Fighting Wyverns will get an advantage in the Beauty portion of the challenge!" Topher announced. "Good effort, everyone!

Confessional:

Ernie: This whole 'Jayne' business is, like, super not necessary. And I'd like to remind the court that Jayne, when spelled with a Y, is absolutely a unisex name. So much for my and Kiki's old friendship. I'll remember this if she, ya know, makes it to the merge.

Kun: So far, so good! I really think we can, um, keep up this winning streak. I've got faith that, um, Jayne can see it through to the end for us! Well, and the other members of the team, as well. Everyone's doing their part, just like any good company.

Cyan, Dalit, Nolan, Jayne, Brittany, Hugh, Steve Jenkins, and Greg met up with Ginger and Lindsay in a different building. Much like the previous portion of the challenge, both teams had identical work stations.

"Alright, Beauty challenge time!" Ginger declared.

"I'm so excited to see what you guys come up with!" Lindsay cheered. "Alright, so for your challenge, you're going to have to make your robot look great! Put the skin on it, give it hair, clothes, its own style!"

"Lindsay and I will judge the fruits of your labor after an hour is up," Ginger told them. "Oh, and since the Fighting Wyverns won an advantage in the Brains portion of the challenge, they get a ten-minute head start.

"Good job, other people from our team who aren't here!" Cyan complimented.

"My name is Jayne," Jayne told the Fighting Wyverns.

"You don't look or sound like a girl robot," Dalit noted.

"I think it's our job to fix that," Nolan reminded her. "I'm Nolan," he introduced himself to the robot.

"Cyan," Cyan introduced.

"Dalit," Dalit said.

"Delete what?" Jayne asked.

"Dalit Lumière," Dalit clarified.

"...'Lumière' not found," Jayne informed.

"What do you mean?! I'm right here!" Dalit snapped.

"Did they give you a name?" Brittany asked Greg.

"His name is Steve Jenkins Jr.," Steve Jenkins decided.

"I was told my name was Greg," Greg informed the three.

"Those are both artard names," Hugh dismissed. "Your name is Laurentius. That's a name that'll strike fear into the hearts of our enemies!"

"What do you think?" Brittany asked Greg unsurely.

"I was told my name was Greg," Greg maintained.

"Alright, let's just keep calling him Greg if that's what he wants," Brittany told her teammates.

"I guess after saying it out loud, implying that he can match up to me doesn't really make any sense," Steve Jenkins figured.

"Laurentius is absolutely his last name, though," Hugh insisted.

"Anyway, I'm Brittany," Brittany introduced.

"The name's Hugh," Hugh told Greg.

"I'm Steve Jenkins. Senior," Steve Jenkins beamed.

"Pleased to meet you," Greg said.

Confessional:

Brittany: This robot seems like it's smarter than an animal, but that might just be because it can talk, and most animals can't. Anyway, as expected, working with Hugh and Steve Jenkins is going to test my patience, but I just need to make sure we all stay focused, and we can still win this part of the challenge.

Dalit: Our robot is an idiot and I do not like it! Can we vote him out if we lose?!

"Alright, Jayne, right?" Cyan asked. "Do you want a masculine or feminine look?"

"I don't understand," Jayne responded.

"Do you want to look like a boy or a girl?" Nolan reiterated.

"I don't have a preference," Jayne stated.

"Then we shall make you beautiful!" Dalit beamed.

"I believe that is your purpose today, yes," Jayne agreed.

"I will use everything that Bijou has taught me since I joined her family," Dalit said proudly. "You two can help, too."

"I'm glad," Cyan said flatly.

"Any wisdom to impart unto us?" Nolan inquired.

"First thing's first: we need to find skin for her!" Dalit determined. "Her complexion will de- ...detrem-... decide the colors we use to dress her up!"

"Determine?" Nolan suggested.

"That was the word, yes!" Dalit confirmed.

"I'll always push for as much blue as we can get away with," Cyan mentioned.

"Naturally," Nolan chuckled. He rolled his die. "I will side with you on that."

"We will be using whatever colors work best. I know what I'm doing," Dalit huffed. "If that means no blue, then it means no blue! How many Instagram followers do you all have?!"

"Above average?" Cyan estimated.

"An amount I'm content with," Nolan answered.

"One," Jayne answered.

"What?! You were just born!" Cyan gasped.

"I have already created an account, taken a picture of your other teammates, and posted it," Jayne explained.

"You have internet?" Dalit asked. "Er, we are wasting time! We must make Jayne look gorgeous!"

"You're right. Let's get going!" Cyan encouraged her team.

"Alright, what kind of badass clothes do they have out here?" Hugh asked as he looked through the clothing racks.

"What do you have in mind?" Brittany asked trepidatiously.

"Obviously this robot's going to fight people, so we need to make it look tough, like someone people don't want to mess with," Hugh figured. "Leather jacket, shades, stuff like that."

"Why don't we just give him my clothes?" Steve Jenkins offered. "No one's ever wanted to lay a punch on Steve Jenkins."

"Is that so?" Brittany doubted.

"Doing so would cause the aggressor's fist to shatter. It's not worth the desperate attempt at feeling important to even try," Steve Jenkins claimed.

"Why don't we stick with Hugh's idea for now?" Brittany asked. "As you said, any attempt to imitate you is pathetic, right? That might cause people to want to attack the robot more."

"That is true," Steve Jenkins nodded sagely.

"I would appreciate people not wanting to attack me," Greg chimed in.

"It's going to happen regardless, so drop the coward talk!" Hugh scolded. "You need to at least be able to hold off whatever three people they pick until our three people can shut down their robot."

"...I see," Greg complied solemnly. "May I ask why?"

"Because it's the challenge, artard!" Hugh exasperated.

"I do not understand," Greg admitted.

"Hugh, you aren't doing anything to make him want to help us," Brittany sighed.

"Who cares what he wants? Ginger outright said he's just as smart as an animal. He's not a person," Hugh scoffed. "His job is to help us win this challenge. He should be doing what he was programmed to do."

"Oh yeah, I don't know if I mentioned this to you or not," Steve Jenkins said to Greg as he arrived with a skin overlay. "But I'm Steve Jenkins. Yeah, the Steve Jenkins. If you help us win the challenge, you'll be doing me a huge favor."

"Thanks for grabbing that," Brittany told Steve Jenkins. "Here, let's get him on this table so we can put it on him. I imagine it's like putting on a onesie."

"A flesh onesie," Hugh chuckled. "Sounds like the name of a children's metal band."

"Is that a thing?" Steve Jenkins asked as he and Brittany each got one of Greg's legs in the skin overlay.

"Evanescence?" Hugh guessed.

"Hugh, why don't you go check the clothes again while we're helping Greg get in his skin?" Brittany suggested. "The sooner you pick some stuff out, the sooner we can decide on something."

"Yeah, whatever," Hugh responded. Regardless of his attitude, he complied with Brittany's request and headed back to the clothing rack.

Confessional:

Nolan: It is true that Dalit knows the most about fashion of everyone on the team, but her general abrasiveness makes it hard to want to listen to her, even if it would mean winning. She's someone I can't say I'd be worried about losing to in any game, be it poker, chess, or Total Drama.

Hugh: I don't know who Brittany thinks she is, telling me what to do, but it's probably better to focus on getting the challenge done than to fight her on it. I'll let her know who's really in charge later when it really matters! You can't ever let people forget who the boss is!

The contestants stood in front of two changing rooms, which had their floor-length curtains drawn in order to conceal what may be within them. Lindsay and Ginger were also present.

"Alright, it's time to see what your robots look like! I'm so excited!" Lindsay squealed.

"Can I ask what we're going to be scored on?" Cyan inquired.

"Our completely subjective tastes," Ginger snickered.

"So it's a game of luck, then, eh? Interesting," Nolan grinned.

"Sounds like a pretty easy way to rig it for your favorites," Hugh tsked.

"That's good for us, then!" Steve Jenkins beamed.

"Will Jayne please step out from their changing room?" Ginger commanded.

Jayne emerged from behind the curtain. Despite their masculine frame, they had been given a feminine appearance, as Dalit had suggested. Jayne appeared with braided blonde hair and makeup, wearing a down jacket (a blue one, of course), leggings, and hiking boots.

"Ooh, that's a cute look!" Lindsay complimented.

"Are they going to get in a fight, or go hiking?" Ginger snarked.

"I'm going to get in a fight, remember?" Jayne reminded her.

"Yeah, that's the point of the challenge," Lindsay corroborated.

Ginger wore an annoyed expression. "Will Greg please step out from their changing room?"

Greg emerged from behind the curtain. He had short, dark hair and sunglasses, and wore a leather jacket, denim jeans, and running shoes.

"There is only one Greg," Greg informed Ginger.

"I used 'their' as a gender-neutral singular pronoun," Ginger clarified.

"I am a man. Please refer to me as such," Greg requested.

"Got it," Ginger acquiesced. "Well, you look like you're more ready for a fight than to go mountain climbing, so I'll give you props for that."

"I love it!" Lindsay chirped.

"That's a good sign," Steve Jenkins told his teammates.

"I think Lindsay and I can agree here," Ginger told the contestants.

"The Great Gryphons win the Beauty challenge!" Lindsay announced.

"What?! PrepoSTERous!" Dalit objected.

"Not to be that guy, but you emphasize the second syllable in 'preposterous'," Nolan told her.

"It's alright, guys," Cyan told her teammates. "We can still win this one!"

"You were a great model, Greg," Brittany complimented the robot.

"I knew badass was the way to go," Hugh boasted.

"It seems like it was the right choice," Brittany acknowledged.

Confessional:

Steve Jenkins: Truly, everything Steve Jenkins touches turns into gold. Our boy Greg has been blessed by myself, so there's no way we're not winning this challenge!

Cyan: That jacket was the most tough-girl article of clothing we could find. I think we were too split between Dalit wanting to make Jayne look pretty, and me and Nolan trying to make her look intimidating. At least we were able to find a blue jacket! That's a win in my book!

Frita, Joseph, Louise, Irving, Shadya, and Vladimir met up with Chris and Ginger in an empty parking garage.

"Alright, everyone, it's time for the final and most important part of the challenge!" Chris announced. "The Brawn challenge, where you will be engaging in a fight against the opposing team's robot. Victory will be declared to the team who can successfully shut down their opponent first."

"Is there any particular switch or button we need to hit?" Shadya asked.

"It's no different from knocking out a human being," Ginger explained.

"That seems kind of... I mean, you said they weren't as smart as humans, but... wow, this is violent," Louise stammered.

"They'll be fine. Any necessary repairs will be made after the challenge," Ginger assured her.

"She may be literally heartless, but she isn't figuratively," Joseph chuckled.

"Actually, I have a system that circulates liquid coolant throughout my body, which can be seen as similar to a cardiovascular system," Ginger corrected him. "I won't bleed as easily as you guys, but to say I have no heart would not be accurate."

Frita gave a slight, fascinated grin.

"Nuts to any of that! Who gets the advantage from the Beauty challenge?" Irving railroaded.

"As a matter of fact, the Grand Gryphons will get a ten-minute head start in this challenge!" Chris announced.

"That could make a difference," Vladimir smiled.

"Each team will be fighting on a different story of the parking garage, so you won't be able to interfere with the other team," Chris added. "Just rely on your own strength and prowess to win. Remember that Invincibility is on the line, here!"

"With my strength and prowess alone, I'd be able to win a one-on-three battle against three robots," Shadya claimed.

"Ye hear that, Vlad? We can just stand back and let her do all the work!" Irving laughed.

"Forget that. We're going to win by working together, right?!" Louise told her team.

"Uh, I mean, uh, I guess, maybe..." Frita stumbled out a response.

"If there's no further ado, let's move you guys to where you'll be fighting," Chris prompted. "Good luck. Hehaha."

Confessional:

Frita: How much pain is Ginger capable of feeling? Or any of these robots? They can just be repaired later, so... No, I can't be thinking about that kind of twisted, awful thing! Drawing is my outlet. Drawing is my outlet. Drawing is my outlet.

Vladimir: I exercised quite a bit in order to match Barry's body type, so I'd feel good about this challenge even if I didn't have Irving and Shadya helping me out. I could definitely stand to buy some time for myself, too, so I'll do whatever it takes to win this one.

Irving, Shadya, and Vladimir stood on the third floor of the parking garage.

"Ye landlubbers ever fight a real robot before?" Irving asked as he hopped on his toes a bit in order to psych himself up.

"If arguing with Ginger counts, yes," Shadya answered.

"I'm not really much of a fighter," Vladimir claimed. "But a challenge is a challenge."

The elevator on the other side of the garage dinged, and its doors crept open. Two figures could be seen within from the contestants' position, and the blonde-haired one took their exit from the lift.

"That's our opponent?" Shadya asked. "This should take no time at all."

"I'll make ye walk the plank with a rope 'round yer neck so ye get keelhauled into asphyxiation!" Irving laughed loudly at the approaching figure.

"Can robots choke?" Vladimir questioned.

"Probably not, but it sounded cool in me head," Irving shrugged.

"Fair enough," Vladimir chuckled.

"You are my opponents?" Jayne asked.

"We won't be for long," Shadya snorted.

After a brief pause, Jayne replied. "I have taken a picture and posted it online. My Instagram follower should be excited by this."

"Aw geez, her eyes are cameras," Vladimir fretted.

"You sound worried as if cameras haven't been filming us this entire time," Irving pointed out.

"True... Force of habit," Vladimir explained.

"Let's not waste any more time," Shadya decided as she ran towards Jayne.

Shadya threw a punch at Jayne, who moved their head to the side to dodge. Her follow-up punch also missed, and the one after that as well.

Jayne retaliated with a swift punch in the gut. Shadya doubled over in pain, her face twisted in rage.

"There'll be no more of that!" Irving declared as he landed a hook to Jayne's head, knocking them away from Shadya.

This allowed Vladimir an opportunity to grab Jayne from behind. "Quick! She's struggling!" Vladimir coaxed his teammates, the struggle to hold on evident in his voice.

Meanwhile, Frita, Joseph, and Louise stood on the second floor of the parking garage.

"That ten-minute head start is probably going to make the difference," Frita mentioned. "Should we even bother trying?"

"Of course!" Louise insisted. "Invincibility is on the line, here! Winning this could make all the difference, and we can't win if we don't try!"

"Yeah, we just need to remember how much we want to win," Joseph parroted.

The ping of the elevator focused their attention on the doors to the lift creeping open, revealing what looked from afar to be a tough-looking man.

"Is this our robot?" Louise asked readily as Greg approached them.

"Actually I think it's the other team's robot," Joseph chuckled.

"There's no way we can win this one," Frita fretted.

"It's an unintelligent robot made specifically for us to beat up. We just need to remember that," Louise reminded her.

"Yo, bro! You ready to throw down?" Joseph called out.

"My name is not 'bro'. My name is Greg," Greg corrected.

"Man, you don't turn down the title of 'bro'. Major bro code violation." Joseph shook his head disappointedly.

"Let's go, team!" Louise called as she ran up to Greg.

She reeled her arm back for a punch, which Greg was prepared to catch, only for her to kick Greg in the shin instead.

"Ow," Greg emoted as he bent his leg reflexively.

Joseph punched Greg in the head hard enough that it bent his neck in a strange position. "That one was earned," he said.

Confessional:

Irving: The Fighting Wyverns were smart to make their robot look like a lass, knowing that most folks would be hesitant to hit a girl. Of course, they forgot to factor one important detail: I ain't most folks! I be the Dread Pirate Irving! (He laughs.)

Louise: I earned my black belt a few years ago, and while I'm a bit rustier than I'd like to admit, this is definitely the kind of challenge I'm here to do! This robot was made to fight, so I'm expecting it to put up a fight! Ahyah! (She punches the wall, causing it to crack.) Shoot, this is the good room, too... Heh... (She grins, embarrassed.)

Jayne continued to struggle against Vladimir's hold on them. Shadya burned a hole in Jayne with her furious glare.

"Nobody gets a hit in on me without receiving a hundred in return," Shadya growled.

"Gyarharhar! Lay it on her, Shadya!" Irving encouraged.

"I prefer gender-neutral pronouns," Jayne mentioned.

"Ah, that's me bad, thanks for letting me know," Irving smiled.

"You're very understanding," Jayne smiled back.

Shadya delivered a powerful punch to Jayne's gut. Since Vladimir was only able to hold Jayne under the arms, they had attempted to kick Shadya in return, but this proved ineffective as Shadya was able to get out of the way.

"They're stronger than they look," Vladimir grunted. "Irving, want to restrain their legs?"

"Wouldn't be me first time," Irving smirked.

"Must you make a joke in response to everything?" Shadya chided.

"It helps improve the general mood," Irving shrugged. "What, do ye not want to be in a good mood?"

"I can be in a good mood after we win," Shadya decided.

Irving grabbed onto Jayne's kicking legs and held them together by the ankles. "They be all yours, Slim Shady!"

"Call me that again, and I'll hit you," Shadya threatened.

"Please call her that again," Jayne requested of Irving.

Back on the second floor of the parking garage, Greg cracked his neck back into place after Joseph had punched him.

"Ew," Louise cringed.

"You can snap your skeleton back into place?" Frita asked Greg.

"You can't?" Greg asked.

Frita turned to Joseph and Louise. "Hold him in place. Make sure he cannot move."

"What?" Joseph asked, taken aback a bit.

"Please don't," Greg offered.

The two muscular contestants glanced at each other and silently agreed to ignore Greg's plea. They each grabbed onto one of Greg's arms. Greg struggled and kicked, but Joseph and Louise would not let go.

Frita grabbed onto one of Greg's legs with one hand and slammed her unoccupied elbow into his shin. Greg howled in pain as his shin snapped.

"Frita! What are you doing?!" Louise cried.

"It's okay. It can fix itself," Frita excused with a slight grin.

"We're just trying to shut him down. This isn't an honorable way to fight," Joseph frowned. He let go of Greg, and Louise followed suit, letting Greg drop to the floor.

"How are we supposed to shut it down if it's going to fight back?" Frita questioned. "How are we supposed to shut it down at all without hurting it?"

"Breaking his leg wasn't necessary! Even if he can fix himself, it still clearly hurt a lot!" Louise argued.

"It was always going to get hurt! Just let me have this!" Frita caterwauled.

Confessional:

Shadya: My teammates are idiots. Irving moreso, although Vladimir thinking he could fool anyone with his disguise shows that he isn't very smart, either.

Joseph: Geez, I know drawing violent pictures is, like, Frita's thing, but she's never shown herself to be actually violent! I guess Greg being a robot makes it easier for her to... express that? I don't know bro, but it's freaking me the hell out.

With Vladimir and Irving holding onto Jayne, the robot was unable to fight back when Shadya approached them. Shadya cracked her knuckles before socking Jayne in the face.

"All we have to do is shut you down," Shadya said to Jayne. "If you have the ability to make yourself do so, I suggest doing so if you don't want to keep getting hurt."

"Sadly, I don't have the ability to do so. I guess I'll have to keep getting hurt. Shame," Jayne frowned.

"Pain is temporary," Shadya claimed as she punched Jayne in the face once again.

"If I may," Vladimir offered. "I'm not sure if shutting down a machine is the same as knocking out a person. You might need to be more creative."

"Have you had any experience with robots?" Shadya challenged. "I didn't think so."

Shadya continued to repeatedly punch Jayne in the face.

"Okay, then explain how punching them in the face is going to shut them down," Vladimir challenged.

"I will explain after we win!" Shadya snapped.

"Call me a pessimist, but what if we don't win?" Irving asked.

"Shut up!" Shadya shouted.

Back on the second floor, Greg struggled to stand back up.

"Just hurry up and shut him down. Don't drag it out," Louise implored Frita queasily.

"I have a fun idea," Frita chuckled.

She took Greg's broken shin and snapped it further until she was able to tear it off completely from the break.

"This still seems kind of excessive, bro," Joseph shuddered.

Frita held onto her prize by the ankle and aimed the sharp bone at Greg.

"Please..." Greg frowned.

Frita grinned as she stabbed Greg in the chest with the metal bone of what was Greg's shin. After a small amount of time, a loud bell sound effect rang throughout the room.

"Congratulations, Fighting Wyverns!" Chris's voice announced. "You were the first to successfully shut down your opposing robot! Everyone, meet back up on the ground floor! The others are all already here!"

"Ha... Ha... Ha..." Frita panted. She glanced at Joseph and Louise, who still looked disturbed. Frita's smile immediately dropped and tears filled her eyes. "Oh god..."

"You won the challenge for us," Louise said as she forced herself to smile. "Let's go downstairs."

Confessional:

Shadya: Are you serious?! I had the robot restrained and at my mercy and we still lost?! How?! How?! On top of that, how has my team managed to uphold a losing streak this consistently?! Ugh, I can at least take some solace in knowing that I can finally get rid of Irving.

Frita: (She is sobbing.) This is why I don't open up to people! If I let even a little bit of myself show, it freaks people out!

Chris, Topher, Lindsay, Ginger, and the nineteen contestants met up on the ground floor of the parking garage.

"Congrats, Fighting Wyverns!" Chris grinned. "You guys have won immunity."

"Greg's going to take some doing to fix, but it shouldn't be too much trouble for me," Ginger grinned.

"Grand Gryphons, if you'll follow me to Elimination Station," Chris coaxed.

"Wait, no!" Frita interrupted. "There's no need for anyone to vote. I'm quitting."

"Wait, what?!" Quentin gasped.

"This was a mistake. I never should have come out here, and I'm sorry for showing up when someone else could have been here instead," Frita cried.

"Frita, sweetie, you don't need to quit," Louise assured her. "What happened in the challenge was... just a side of you I hadn't seen, and it caught me off guard."

"Don't talk down to me!" Frita argued. "I'm a screwed-up, violent freak, and none of you deserve to have to deal with that!"

"So, just to be absolutely sure, Frita, you want to remove yourself from the game?" Chris made sure.

"You cannot leave, Frita! You are my best friend here!" Dalit worried.

"If she wishes to quit, that be her right to decide," Irving reprimanded.

"I'd rather she didn't, but if it's what she really wants..." Quentin frowned.

"Frita. Your decision," Chris prompted impatiently.

Frita sighed. "It'd just be a waste if I quit. I'll at least stick around until I get voted out."

"Cool. Thanks for wasting all our time," Chris said. "Grand Gryphons, follow me. Fighting Wyverns, stick with Topher for the Best/Worst vote."

The losing team followed Chris off the scene.

"Alright, Quentin, you will not be participating in this vote since you did not participate in the challenge," Topher reminded. "Of course, you also cannot be voted for."

"Gotcha," Quentin nodded.

"Everyone else, cast your votes," Topher instructed as Lindsay handed out slips of paper and pencils to everyone.

Confessional:

Bailey: If Frita didn't want to waste, she probably should have quit so that someone on this team who wants to keep playing doesn't go home. It seems to me like she wants attention more than anything. How sad.

Jean-Marie: I don't think this vote had anything to do with who we thought did the best or worst in the challenge. Each of us was only able to witness two of our teammates compete in this one, so how could we objectively pick someone from the entire team?

After all the votes had been cast and tallied, Topher and Lindsay stood before the Fighting Wyverns.

"I've got the results!" Topher announced.

"This was a heck of a vote!" Lindsay commented.

"The person who got the most votes as the best of the challenge was..." Topher began.

...

...

...

...

...

"Dalit!"

"Ha! Finally, in the penthouse where I belong!" Dalit beamed. "This makes up for the last vote. I am forgiving you all who voted for me as the worst last time."

"I'm, um, not sure how to respond to that," Kun mentioned.

"And now, for the person who was voted as the worst..." Topher continued.

...

...

...

...

...

"To the surprise of no one, Frita, you got the majority vote there."

"Yeah," Frita nodded. "I need some time alone to think about what I did."

"Isn't being alone with your thoughts the last thing you should be doing?" Joseph doubted.

"...Even when I'm punishing myself, I screw it up," Frita sighed.

"Focus on finding a hidden statue," Kiki suggested quietly. "That should take your mind off of things."

"Maybe," Frita figured.

Votes:

Best:

Dalit - Frita, Kiki, Nolan

Louise - Cyan, Joseph

Cyan - Louise

Frita - Dalit

Jean-Marie - Kun

Kun - Jean-Marie

Worst:

Frita - Cyan, Frita, Jean-Marie, Kiki, Kun, Louise

Jean-Marie - Dalit

Kiki - Joseph

Kun - Nolan

The Grand Gryphons each took their position at a lectern in the underground room at Elimination Station.

"It is much too soon for us to be back here," Shadya snarled.

"Welcome back to Elimination Station!" Chris told everyone from his elevated seat. "As before, you will have half an hour, or until you've all cast your votes, to discuss amongst yourselves who you want to vote out of the game! When you're ready to vote, press the corresponding face of the person you want to vote for on your podium. And most importantly, have fun! Hehaha."

"I'm having a blast," Isidora remarked.

"Well, I think things should start off, as they always do, with a fresh dose of Steve Jenkins brainpower," Steve Jenkins offered.

"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Ernie asked.

"I said it last time, and I'll say it this time," Steve Jenkins grinned. "Brittany's a huge threat, and if any of us wants to win, we'd better get rid of her while we can!"

"What did I do to you, Steve Jenkins?!" Brittany asked exasperatedly. "I wouldn't even call myself a good player, let alone a threat."

"Okay, that be selling yerself a tad short, lass," Irving mentioned. "Ye didn't win by complete accident. Nobody ever has."

"Not even Cameron?" Hugh snickered.

"Cameron won challenges, had a strong alliance, and pissed off as few people as he could," Irving explained. "Sure, it didn't look like he worked all that hard for his win, but nobody avoids elimination consistently without being some kind of threat, whether ye realize it or not."

"Hell yeah, that's another member of the Steve Jenkins Workforce!" Steve Jenkins beamed.

"Hold yer seahorses, cabin boy! I never said that," Irving said.

"Cabin boy?!" Steve Jenkins seethed. "I am no mere cabin boy! For you see-"

"Yes, ye be Steve Jenkins, I realize," Irving interrupted. "Now, I've made this no secret, but if it were up to me, it'd be our buddy Vladimir to go home tonight."

"I can't say I don't understand why," Vladimir conceded. "You're willing to latch onto any name as long as it isn't yours, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, that's how the game is played, artard," Hugh scoffed. "Make sure it isn't you going home, no matter what. That's literally how you get to the end!"

"Other than briefly deceiving you all with my identity, for which I apologized and promised not to do again, what harm have I done to any of you?" Vladimir asked.

"People aren't necessarily always targeted for doing harm," Bailey clarified. "Ziggy was harmless, but most of Team Thunder didn't think he contributed enough."

"So you're saying I don't contribute?" Vladimir frowned. "I thought I've done well enough in challenges."

"I'm not saying that you necessarily don't contribute, but..." Bailey trailed off.

"But?" Vladimir challenged.

"Alright, I'll say it," Brittany said. "Your social game has been weak. While you were pretending to be harmless Barry, the rest of us have made some sort of effort to see where each other's minds were at. And this isn't a problem exclusive to this season. I felt similarly about you during Explore Party. Trying to lay low is just making you seem like a non-asset."

"Haha, damn! Brittany going for the jugular!" Hugh cackled.

"If people are going to throw me under the bus for petty reasons, then why should I be above doing the same?" Brittany claimed.

"Alright, but, like, if we're going to talk non-assets, Brittany, how about Steve Jenkins himself?" Ernie brought up.

"Hey, man, that isn't funny!" Steve Jenkins objected. "If you joke about something enough, people might start to believe it, no matter how dumb an idea it is!"

"Alright, enough beating around the bush!" Shadya decided. "The vote is Irving."

"Gyarharhar! Well, that came right the devil out of nowhere!" Irving laughed nervously.

"If anyone on this team is a danger, a threat, it is you," Shadya claimed. "You were one round short of winning your season, and you were instrumental in a lot of the eliminations of your season. Despite this, despite making no effort to hide this, you still managed to get by."

"Well, I could say a lot of the same about ye, so I'm not sure where ye get off accusing me of such things," Irving spat.

"Unlike you, I actually have a strong alliance," Shadya claimed.

"Listen, Shadya, if you think for a second that I'm going to vote for Irving over Vladimir, you're insane," Hugh scoffed. "Irving actually talks to me."

"And if you think I need your vote to get this done, you're insane," Shadya glared. "I already have half the team on my side. Bailey, Brittany, Ernie, Isidora, and Vladimir are all already firmly on my side."

Irving burst into uproarious laughter. "What do ye take me for, Slim Shady?!"

"I told you not to call me that!" Shadya snapped.

"Besides, Shady is my nickname for her!" Steve Jenkins added.

"I don't like it when you call me that either!" Shadya shouted.

"She likes it," Steve Jenkins grinned smugly.

"As I was saying," Irving continued. "If ye expect anyone to believe that you have genuine trust in any of these people, then ye truly do underestimate all of us."

"We are all voting for you. Denial won't fix that," Shadya said firmly.

"Ernie literally threw Steve Jenkins under the bus!" Hugh pointed out.

"Yeah, and I can't help but notice that you didn't list me as an ally!" Steve Jenkins realized. "That's bad manners."

"I still maintain that, ya know, losing Steve Jenkins is our best call," Ernie shrugged.

"I don't care what you maintain," Shadya told him.

"Then what good are you as an ally?" Ernie scoffed. "You yourself didn't even list him as someone you trust."

"...Come on, Isidora, they trust you, say something," Steve Jenkins groaned.

"Me? At what point have I ever been good with speaking?" Isidora asked.

"You got pretty far in Alpha Party," Bailey pointed out. "In fact, if I'm not mistaken, you lasted the most rounds of anyone in this season."

"Are we throwing Isidora under the bus now?" Hugh sneered. "Because I could go for that!"

"Nobody is throwing anyone else under the bus!" Shadya demanded.

"I trust that Isidora is still good with the Steve Jenkins vote," Vladimir smiled.

"Wait, what?!" Steve Jenkins gasped.

"Yeah, she said that she was willing to join me, Ernie, and Brittany in voting for you," Vladimir explained.

"How is telling people that at all going to benefit anyone?" Isidora bemoaned.

"I believe you also said that you planned on getting Hugh and Irving in on it," Vladimir recalled.

"This be the first I've heard of it," Irving claimed.

"Isidora and I can't stand each other. You believed that?" Hugh chuckled.

"He's just trying to take the target off of himself," Isidora groaned. "And onto his ally, I should add."

"Can I ask why I was left out of this move against Steve Jenkins?" Bailey asked.

"I was curious about that, as well," Brittany mentioned.

"You aren't out of the hot seat, Brittany!" Steve Jenkins cried.

He cast his vote.

"Anyone who's with me, vote for Brittany!" Steve Jenkins commanded.

Shadya cast her vote. "The vote is Irving."

"I actually be interested in the Isidora angle," Irving claimed. "She seems to be claiming to work with everybody."

"Plus she's no good in challenges," Hugh snickered.

"Guys, we are not letting Steve Jenkins stick around," Ernie groaned.

He cast his vote.

Isidora cast her vote. "I'm standing with Shadya on this one. I never claimed loyalty to Irving, plus you're throwing me under the bus now, I guess."

Irving cast his vote. "I extend the offer to vote for Isidora."

"What, you're just changing the target mid-elimination?!" Hugh snapped.

"I be nothing if not willing to shake things up!" Irving declared dramatically. "For what fun be the game if things be so predictable?!"

Vladimir cast his vote. "Let the votes fall how they may, I suppose."

Hugh cast his vote. "Fuck it."

This left Bailey and Brittany as the only ones who had yet to vote. They glanced at each other. Bailey nodded, and Brittany nodded in return.

"I have the votes!" Chris announced. He took his phone from his pocket. "I'll reveal the votes one by one. The person with the most votes will be eliminated from Total Drama Party with the Stars!"

Nobody present looked completely sure of what was going to happen.

"First vote... Irving!" Chris read from his phone.

"It happens," Irving figured.

"Second vote... Steve Jenkins!"

"Hey, don't do that!" Steve Jenkins cried.

"Third vote... Brittany!"

Brittany rolled her eyes.

"Fourth vote... Isidora!"

Isidora rolled her eyes harder.

"Fifth vote... Isidora!"

"Seriously?" Isidora groaned.

"Sixth vote... Irving!"

"Keh?" Irving blinked.

"Seventh vote... Isidora!"

"I beg your pardon?" Isidora grunted.

"Eighth vote... Irving!"

"I don't much like the sound of that," Irving gulped.

"We're at three votes for Irving, three votes for Isidora, and one vote each for Brittany and Steve Jenkins," Chris recapped. "The final vote... and the person going home... is..."

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"Isidora!" Chris announced.

"What the hell," Isidora growled. "There was literally nothing I could have done about this."

"Ye could have not tried to form deals with yer entire team," Irving offered.

"If you guys want to get rid of a threat, get rid of Irving," Isidora told her team. "We went into this with, as far as I know, nobody wanting me gone, and now look what happened. He's better than his goofy pirate shtick makes him seem."

"This team is anything but rational. I shouldn't be disappointed in you all, but I am," Shadya said.

"Man, this blows," Steve Jenkins griped. "That's one less big brain on the Steve Jenkins Workforce. Now the jealous haters are going to clap back!"

"Thanks, guys, I'm going to miss you all, too, we were so close," Isidora droned.

"Any further last words before Isidora goes?" Chris asked.

Nobody spoke up.

"What a downgrade of a season," Isidora huffed.

The ceiling opened up, and the Shackle of Shame made its way down, clasping around Isidora's waist. With a yelp of surprise, she was yanked off of the floor and up above ground. Once Isidora was out of sight, the ceiling shut.

"Well, I guess you can do everything right to keep eyes off of you, and it can still amount to nothing! Hehaha!" Chris laughed. "You guys can head back to the elevator and to the motel! I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

Confessional:

Hugh: What the hell was that?! We went into this pushing Vladimir's name! We had a clear target! Yeah, I wanted Isidora gone eventually, but there was no good reason for Irving to just change the target like that! The artard almost went home because of it! God, that was so needlessly stressful.

Steve Jenkins: Tonight sucked! First, we lose the challenge despite our kick-ass robot design, then everyone ignores the obvious Brittany vote, and then they vote out my best ally instead! What gives?! I'm Steve Jenkins, I deserve better than this, me-dammit!

Chris, Topher, and Lindsay all stood in front of the city limits of Drama City.

"Things sure seem to be descending into deeper and deeper chaos on the Grand Gryphons," Chris grinned. "I guess this is what happens when you fill a team of people who are all determined to get their way."

"I can only imagine what's going to go down now that the Grand Gryphons are fresh off another elimination," Topher grinned. "It seems like Irving's in some pretty hot water, although I've seen him get out of hotter, so who knows what'll happen?"

"That's what I thought about Isidora, and look what happened to her!" Lindsay rebutted. "I don't know if anyone is really safe, especially on that team."

"And that's not to mention the power struggle on the Fighting Wyverns," Chris brought up. "And that's not to mention Frita's freakout."

"The stress seems to be getting to everyone already, and it's only been a couple of days," Topher boasted. "Fun stuff."

"It almost never got that heated when we were playing," Lindsay mentioned to Topher.

"How will Isidora's elimination affect the dynamics of the Grand Gryphons?" Chris asked.

"Will any major upsets happen on the Fighting Wyverns?" Topher asked.

"Did the shake I left in the break room go bad?" Lindsay asked.

"Wait, you actually got one of Chef's shakes?!" Topher asked.

"Yeah?" Lindsay answered. "Didn't you?"

"You'll just have to find out what happens next time, on Total!" Chris began.

"Drama!" Topher and Lindsay continued.

"Party with the Stars!" the three concluded in unison

Votes:

Bailey: Isidora

Brittany: Isidora

Ernie: Steve Jenkins

Hugh: Isidora

Irving: Isidora

Isidora: Irving

Shadya: Irving

Steve Jenkins: Brittany

Vladimir: Irving

Grand Gryphons:

Bailey - The Pragmatic Poet

Brittany - The Loyal Bombshell

Ernie - The Lazy Law Student

Hugh - The Head Villain

Irving - The Chaotic Pirate

Shadya - The Genius Athlete

Steve Jenkins - The Vlog Icon

Vladimir - The Untrustworthy Impostor

19th: Isidora - The Asocial Bookworm

20th: Lilith - The Harbinger of Unrest

Fighting Wyverns:

Cyan - The Sweet Madame Blue

Dalit - The Social Media Model

Frita - The Morbid Artist

Jean-Marie - The Homeless Frenchman

Joseph - The True Bro

Kiki - The Strategic Hipster

Kun - The Awkward Team Leader

Louise - The Friendly PE Teacher

Nolan - The Wildcard Gambler

Quentin - The Lucky Ornithologist

A/N: I never had any particularly strong plans for Isidora, I'm afraid. She's someone I knew I wanted to come back, since she was a fan favorite and someone I liked writing back in her original season, but, with an entire team full of big players, there was never going to be room for all of them, and I knew that unfortunately, I would have to make some relatively early cuts, and Isidora was the person I selected to take the fall. Her attempts to play the whole team sadly weren't going to work as well the second time around, and her lack of challenge strength and charisma didn't do her any favors, either. It's sad to see her go, but I'm probably going to feel that way about everyone in this cast.