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.
"We shocked our contestants with news of a team shuffle!" Chris recapped. "With fifteen players left, they all fit nicely into three, count 'em three, teams!"
"Brittany was still in Isolation Park when this all happened, but she was able to figure things out once she got back, more or less," Topher added.
"On the new Grand Gryphons, Kun and Quentin turned to Shadya as a potential new ally, while Bailey and Kiki planned around their diminishing trust in Quentin and the knowledge that he has the Genesis statue," Chris continued. "Kiki even tried reaching out to Kun with an offer again, but Kun had ideas of his own."
"Also, Quentin called Shadya Tori once by mistake," Lindsay giggled. "I wonder what that could mean!"
"On the new Fighting Wyverns, Irving reached out to Cyan, and Vladimir reached out to Frita, both with the intent of getting rid of the other," Topher chuckled. "Neither woman seemed to trust these offers, but with Nolan deciding his vote randomly, who knows what could happen?"
"But it was our new third team, the Proud Pegasi, who really got to show their stuff," Chris segued. "In that, they totally lost the challenge! Hehaha."
"They were close! If they were able to get the sticky glue before Shadya did, they could have won!" Lindsay insisted.
"Alas, 'twas not to be," Topher commented.
"Louise had made the rounds to get to know her new teammates before the challenge, talking strategy with Hugh and getting on the good side of Steve Jenkins," Chris explained. "Unlike Dalit, who ended up beefing with Steve Jenkins immediately! Brittany only rejoined the team after her stint at Isolation Park, and had to deal with that once the team of five went to Elimination Station."
"It was messy," Topher grinned. "You love to see it."
"I don't!" Lindsay cried.
"Despite the three-to-two numbers advantage the old Gryphons had, Steve Jenkins ended up catching a lot of flak after pushing too hard to vote for Brittany, which the others weren't as interested in doing as they were voting for him. Which they did!" Chris laughed. "Even Hugh, despite his attempts at keeping both his allies in the game, ended up voting the vlogger out of the game."
"And with him gone, now each original season has taken a hit," Topher mentioned. "I've got a bet with Nelson that the Explore Party guys will do the best overall. He thinks it'll be Shuffle Party."
"What happens if neither of you are right?" Lindsay asked.
"Haha. Oh, Lindsay," Topher patronized.
"What?" Lindsay asked obliviously.
"Now's not the time," Chris sighed. "Anyway, today is going to put our contestants' trust in one another to the test! More so than usual, that is. What do I mean by that? And who will end up falling short of their teammates' trust tonight and end up going home? Only one way to find out! It's all happening right now, on Total!"
"Drama!" Topher and Lindsay continued.
"Party with the Stars!" the three concluded in unison.
The marquee outside of Hatchet's Diner read "We are a Pepsi family. Stop asking for Coke!". Inside, Brittany, Hugh, and Louise all ate breakfast at the same booth.
"Last night kind of sucked, but I think we're in a pretty good position," Louise told the other two. "I feel like the three of us all get along pretty well, so even if we lose again, as mean as it sounds, Dalit's just kind of on the outs."
"It's not mean. It's true," Hugh snickered. "Dalit sucks. Always has. I'm completely good with dropping her if we lose again."
"I haven't spent a ton of time with her, but from what I've seen, yeah, I don't see her being easy to work with," Brittany nodded.
"Cool, so that's settled," Hugh grinned. "Now what?"
"We could get to know each other better," Louise offered. "I've only been teamies with you two for, what, twenty-four hours? Tell me about yourselves!"
"Like what? I'm no good at small talk," Hugh claimed.
"Well, I was meaning to ask about how you met your girlfriend," Brittany admitted. "There has to be some kind of story there, right?"
"Not really. We just met on Tinder," Hugh explained. "I knew she was legit when she didn't bring up Total Drama once. Apparently, she never watched it until after we started dating. I matched with a bunch of girls before who'd gush over me like I'm some kind of celebrity just because I was on this show, which gets old. Kaylin liked me for me. That's underrated."
"I think you guys know how I met Elmer, right?" Louise made sure. "I know I've talked about it back in Shuffle Party, but if you guys don't remember, that's fair."
"You guys met on a Total Drama fan forum, right?" Hugh recalled.
"Yep!" Louise confirmed. "It was actually kind of low on activity for a while until Elmer and I went on the show, and then we saw a bunch of new members, and even some old members who lost interest came back. A few other players like Preston and Vanessa signed up, too!"
"I couldn't imagine dedicating that much time to just talking about this show," Hugh claimed. "I'm glad to be here, don't get me wrong, but there are other things to do in life."
"Whatever you say," Louise chuckled. "What about you, Brittany? Are you seeing someone?"
"No, not right now," Brittany said. "I've hit a similar snag that Hugh had, where I've got too many guys who recognize me from the show. If I see one more message from some stranger claiming he likes me for my brain, I'm going to scream."
"Tell me about it. There are way too many girls in my town who claim to think I'm a bad boy for it to be even a little believable," Hugh commented.
"But yeah, I'm not dating at the moment," Brittany reiterated. "It'd be nice to date someday, but as long as I'm not, I can put focus into school."
"What are you studying?" Louise asked.
"General stuff at the moment. I'm still not sure what exactly I want to do for a career," Brittany admitted.
"What do you need a career for? You already have a million dollars," Hugh remarked.
"That doesn't mean I shouldn't be a productive member of society," Brittany claimed.
"You don't have to be," Hugh shrugged. "If I were you, I'd take the opportunity to have unlimited time to do whatever I want. Sounds a hell of a lot better to me."
"You'd get bored," Louise told him.
"Bored of unlimited freedom? Sure," Hugh scoffed.
Confessional:
Louise: I'm glad that I'm getting along with Brittany and Hugh enough for them to want to at least work with me over Dalit. I don't know how long-term I'm going to go with them, since I have a bunch of allies on other teams, too, but it's good to have options!
Hugh: I'm still not sure Louise is someone I'm going to want as a long-term ally. There's no way she doesn't already have a bunch of allies from the old Fighting Wyverns, and, if we shuffle teams again, or merge, or whatever, who's she going to turn to? Probably not me or Brittany! I'll humor her for now, but I don't see any kind of blood pact happening between us.
Brittany: It can be hard sometimes to not be envious of people who have accomplished things you want to accomplish. I guess that's where Steve Jenkins was always coming from with me having won before. I really shouldn't be jealous that other people are in a relationship or know what direction to take their life. It'll come to me. Eventually.
Irving found Frita playing the fighting game cabinet at the barcade.
"Ye a fan of games, then?" Irving asked.
"Ah!" Frita jumped. "How do you pause? How do you pause?!"
"Ye can't pause arcade games. I'll let ye finish," Irving told her.
Frita's character was knocked out by the enemy character. "I wasn't winning anyway..."
"Well, as long as it ain't me fault," Irving chuckled. "But I jest. How fare ye, lass?"
"Oh, you know. A brand new team with all the uncertainty and paranoia that entails," Frita sighed. "I couldn't even get used to my first team."
"That be the smell of the game, it do," Irving told her.
"The smell?" Frita questioned.
"Aye, the smell," Irving maintained. "What be important be how ye handle the smell."
"By covering my nose and leaving the room?" Frita guessed.
"Alright, maybe the smell wasn't the best metaphor," Irving relented. "Anyway, I never took ye for the video game type."
"I'm not, really," Frita said. "But some of my old teammates liked it, and they kept trying to get me to play. I figured I might as well just go with it."
"Would I mind if I played ye?" Irving asked.
"Are you any good?" Frita worried.
"I ain't bad," Irving claimed. "It's been a while since I've touched this game, though."
"Sure, go ahead, I guess," Frita allowed.
Irving took the Player 2 position, and Frita started a new game.
"So, I assume you have some kind of plan you want me to follow, and you're just humoring me by pretending like you want to play games with me?" Frita prompted.
"It be rude to tell people that ye have such a cynical view of them being polite to ye," Irving tsked. "I mean, ye ain't wrong, but can't a dread pirate offer to play a relaxing game with his new crewmate?"
"I..." Frita sighed. "You're right."
"Now that I think about it, we get access to the good garage, aye?" Irving mentioned. "Don't they have the latest version of this game on the PlayStation there?"
"Yeah, but this place is a lot less cramped," Frita mentioned. "Plus, I can practice here without worrying about someone else wanting to use the PlayStation."
"Fair play," Irving acknowledged. "What say we head there after this match and kick off whoever be using it?"
"Wh-Why would we do that?!" Frita panicked.
"To prove we can," Irving grinned. "It be a nicer machine with a more modern game. Sounds worth it to me!"
"So you don't want to play this one with me," Frita claimed.
"Ye really do assume the worst intentions in everyone," Irving noted. "Not the worst mindset for a game like this, but not the best, either."
"Just tell me what your plan is for Total Drama," Frita sighed.
"If ye insist. Vladimir be one tough customer who could sell ice to an Eskimo," Irving claimed. "He could do whatever he wants at a whim and probably get away with it! That's meant to be my shtick, damn it! If we could vote him off, it'd be the best for us all."
"Mhm," Frita half-acknowledged.
Confessional:
Frita: It's kind of weird having my vote matter so much now that the team is so small because now everyone's trying to get me to take their side. Usually, people don't care what side I take because they define me by my... artistic niche. I don't know exactly what to do, here.
Irving: Methinks Vladimir could be the biggest obstacle between me and complete domination over this game. It makes all the sense in the world for me to want him gone, but convincing the others to let him go so I can dominate the game be a bit tougher. That could go against their own desire to win, aye? So I be taking more of a personal approach with Frita. Make her see me as someone she wants to help by engaging with her.
Kun found Bailey at the museum from the previous challenge, looking at a group picture of Team Thunder.
"Reminiscing?" Kun asked.
"There aren't very many pictures of Franklin I can look at," Bailey admitted. "Outside of watching House Party, of course, but even that can get monotonous, and is filled with a lot of his moments of weakness that I felt were painted in an unnecessarily negative light."
"Yeah, that's a, um, trapping of being on a show where they can only show so much," Kun acknowledged. "Especially when they paint certain narratives to fit the outcome of the game. David won, so highlighting Franklin's more, um, villainous moments, as it were, would make a lot of sense to sell David as a more satisfying winner."
"Does being a victim of being born into the wrong family make him a villain?" Bailey frowned. "Does doing what he needs to in order to live a remotely prosperous life make him a bad person?"
"Well, um, no, but lashing out at others and trying to kill David weren't what I'd call, um, highlights of character," Kun admitted. "It's not really my, um, place to determine, though."
"Franklin, one of the sweetest people I've ever met, has been dealt some of the worst hands he possibly could be," Bailey lamented. "I'd say he has every right to do what he can to make the odds better for him."
"Mm," Kun acknowledged. "I don't believe I've, um, asked you your opinion on Shadya. Seeing as how we share a team with her now, I'm interested to know what you think."
"Shadya? It's hard to say for sure how much I can trust her," Bailey admitted. "Especially with how things seem to have changed after I left the Grand Gryphons. I may need to catch up with her, but the last time she and I spoke, she seemed to trust me."
"Kiki said something to me about, um, wishing to get rid of Quentin's statue," Kun mentioned. "I imagine she's said something about this to you as well?"
"We've discussed it," Bailey confirmed.
"Kiki offered Shadya to me as the person to take the fall in the event that Quentin plays his, um, statue," Kun mentioned. "If that were to work, I'd feel a lot better knowing you were on board with that plan."
"Are you on board with it?" Bailey doubted. "I know you and Kiki have had your opposition in the past."
"If it means, um, getting rid of two potential thorns in my side, I'd say it's worth it," Kun claimed.
Confessional:
Kun: I know I made an alliance with, um, Quentin and Shadya, but it pays to look at my options, and I have to admit, it is tempting to deal with things now that could get in my way later. I just don't know how much more I can trust Bailey and Kiki than Quentin and Shadya. I've never had the closest relationship with... well, any of them.
Bailey: I owe a lot to Franklin for being the highlight of my life, and to this show for introducing me to him. That's why I pushed hard for myself to come back to this game. If Franklin can't win the money he needs to leave prison and live the life he deserves, then I will. It's as simple as that.
Dalit led Louise to the clothes warehouse.
"What's up? It sounds important if we have to come all the way here to talk about it," Louise noted.
"Yes, it's important," Dalit affirmed. "We got one of the old Gryphons gone, thank goodness. We need to keep that going. The less Gryphons in the merge, the better for us."
"That does make a lot of sense," Louise nodded.
"Steve Jenkins was the worst, but he was right about one thing," Dalit posited. "Brittany already won. She doesn't need to still be here."
"I'm surprised to hear you agreeing with Steve Jenkins," Louise noted. "Especially when you don't seem to be getting along very well with Hugh, either."
"Darn, you're right, we could just vote out Hugh," Dalit remembered. "But then, he should be easy to vote out anytime. Brittany might be more of a threat."
"The other big thing is that we'd need one of them to flip for a majority, right?" Louise figured. "Do you think either of them would go for it?"
"Hugh is a backstabber, but he also wants me gone, not to work with me," Dalit tsked. "And Brittany keeps saying she wants to be loyal, which means she probably won't turn on Hugh."
"Yeah..." Louise acknowledged. "So... now what?"
"Could you talk Hugh into voting out Brittany?" Dalit requested. "He won't listen to me, but maybe he'll listen to you."
"I could try, but I can't promise he'll go through with it," Louise told her.
"As long as we try, we can still succeed," Dalit told her. "Isn't that what you always tell everyone?"
"You're right about that!" Louise beamed. "Here you are, coaching the coach."
"As a social media influencer, I am a life coach," Dalit claimed. "I've lived the hardest life out of everyone I know. I know the struggle. I know how to overcome it."
"I'm glad to hear that," Louise told her.
"The way to overcome it is to move far away from your trouble and be beautiful," Dalit added.
"What should people who can't do that do?" Louise asked.
"...Stay strong until their day comes," Dalit answered solemnly.
"And if it doesn't?" Louise asked.
Dalit began to tear up. "I left behind so many people. For all I know, all the other slaves are still there."
"Is the man you used to work for famous enough to have anything about him on the internet?" Louise asked. "Could you check there?"
"I... I never want to think about him again," Dalit wept.
"I'm sorry. Come here," Louise apologized as she opened her arms.
Dalit accepted the hug and cried into Louise's shoulder.
Confessional:
Louise: Well, that conversation took a turn. And now I'm really torn on what to do. I should keep working with Brittany and Hugh because I gave them my word, but I don't know if I'm willing to vote out Dalit when she's depending on me, too. I mean, I'll have to vote everyone out eventually if I want to win, but...
Dalit: Sometimes I feel like... the only reason my life is better is because of luck. The woman who found me in Israel and helped me to be on Total Drama, and then Bijou and Ephraim and my new parents... They put the work in for me. I'm too broken from work to do it anymore. But it's not fair to the others I left. They're broken from work, too... What if nobody helps them?
Cyan kicked back in her penthouse room, eating a bag of blue tortilla chips.
"It's good to be back here," Cyan smiled to herself. "Privacy and luxury? Maybe I should do better in challenges so I can keep staying in the penthouse."
She heard a knock on the door.
"So much for privacy," Cyan lamented with a smile. "I'd probably better go see what they want."
She stood up and made her way over to the door. She opened it to reveal Vladimir on the other side.
"Good morning, Cyan. May I come in?" Vladimir requested.
"I suppose," Cyan sighed.
She returned to the room with the door open, allowing Vladimir access. The master of disguise shut the door behind him before taking a seat in the living room.
"What's up?" Cyan asked him.
"I didn't get the chance to speak with you one-on-one yesterday, and I'd like to fix that," Vladimir told her. "Starting with saying that I'm sorry about the first impression I left you. I can get reflexive in ways I wish I wouldn't when it comes to my identity, and you didn't deserve that."
"It's fine. I've left worse impressions on people when I've overheard them say cerulean is overrated," Cyan admitted. "I appreciate the apology."
"I'm glad you understand," Vladimir smiled. "I spoke to Frita yesterday about the possibility of voting out Irving. He more or less ran things on the Grand Gryphons, and that's not a trend I want to continue. Pardon my presumptuousness, but I imagine you'd be on board for that?"
"Oh?!" Cyan gasped. "If that's the truth, then yes, I was going to ask you and Frita about it myself. What did she say?"
"She was apprehensive about trusting me," Vladimir revealed. "Which is understandable, but it also makes her position a lot more uncertain. Do you suppose she'd trust you more?"
"I think so," Cyan nodded. "It was gutsy of you to try with her, knowing she's a pretty dodgy person in the first place. Not to mention the last time you met her, you voted her out."
"I couldn't let Irving get to her first," Vladimir claimed. "Say what you will about him, but he is able to get people to listen to him if they're open to it."
"Well, just know that I am not open to it," Cyan scowled. "Let's get rid of Irving."
She extended her hand to Vladimir, who accepted the handshake.
"If we can just get Frita on board, then we can get rid of Irving no matter how he or Nolan vote," Vladimir reiterated.
"I'll talk to her later," Cyan confirmed. "If this goes through, I'd owe you big-time."
"Be careful saying things like that to me. I'll probably hold you to that," Vladimir teased.
"Like you'd go through with it if the roles were reversed," Cyan smirked.
"Maybe I would. Who knows?" Vladimir shrugged.
Confessional:
Cyan: I mean, I was going to basically make the same offer to him, but him coming straight to me with that offer actually makes me less inclined to trust him. Still, it's the plan - there isn't really anything else I can do but put my game in his and Frita's hands. I wonder what kind of progress Nolan's made in talking to... anyone on our team.
Vladimir: I'd say that Cyan's a peach, but I'm not sure she'd appreciate being compared to such a yellow fruit. (He chuckles.) Whatever the case, it seems like there's a good shot that things will go my way in the event of a loss. What a fortunate team to shuffle onto.
Quentin found Kiki at the shoddy garage hangout.
"Hey there," Quentin smiled.
"They really just didn't paint this room at all," Kiki commented. "Even people who don't know the first thing about psychology understand that that has negative subconscious effects on your mood."
"That's actually what I was looking for you to talk about," Quentin told her. "Psychology, I mean, not the colors of walls. Unless that's what you want to talk about, I don't know."
"No, please!" Kiki grinned excitedly. "I would love to talk about psychology with you! I will always love talking about psych with people."
"Alright, cool," Quentin said with a sigh of relief. He lied down across the sofa. "So, you saw Alpha Party, right? Just to be sure?"
"Of course. I wouldn't have played this game without watching all the prior seasons," Kiki confirmed. "Would this happen to be regarding your fear of making tough decisions?"
"No. At least I don't think so," Quentin told her. "You remember Tori, right?"
"Tori... Tori..." Kiki struggled. "Right, Tori! Yes, I do. How are things with her?"
"Well, we broke up a few years ago," Quentin admitted. "She said I was too sensitive, that I could never improve myself if I didn't take all the harsh things she said to me in stride. I get she was probably trying to help, but it got excessive."
"I see," Kiki acknowledged. "So you're still thinking about her?"
"Well, kind of," Quentin continued. "Being on a team with Shadya has me tackling all the weird emotions from when I used to talk to Tori. There are definitely still feelings there, which in itself is kind of weird, partly because it's been years since I talked to Tori, and partly because I found myself falling for another contestant in this game."
"Hmm... Did you feel like you got proper closure with Tori?" Kiki asked. "Did you tell her everything you ever wanted to tell her? No loose threads left hanging?"
"Of course not," Quentin sighed. "If I did, she'd find some way to pick that apart, too, and I was just done with her by that point."
"So you were the one who initiated the breakup?" Kiki asked.
"I was," Quentin confirmed. "I kept it short and simple because I didn't want things to escalate. She was upset, but surprisingly understood where I was coming from. You'd think she wouldn't be so harsh on me during the relationship if she understood where I was coming from."
"Have you ever thought about contacting Tori again after the breakup?" Kiki inquired.
"Of course I have. I just kind of dread the awkwardness of it all," Quentin explained.
"So you're projecting your leftover feelings for Tori onto someone who... well, I can't say Shadya's unlikely to talk down to you, but you don't have experience with that like you do with Tori," Kiki surmised. "And this is causing strain in your relationship with Shadya?"
"It hasn't, but I'm afraid that it could," Quentin frowned. "Not to mention it's bringing back a bunch of personal baggage that I didn't really want to deal with. Any advice? This is bothering me way more than I wish it was."
"Well, you can't really hash things out with Tori right now..." Kiki thought aloud. "In the meantime, I'd suggest finding things about Shadya that differ from Tori. Internalize the idea that Shadya and Tori are completely different people, because, you know, they are. See how that goes."
"That might work," Quentin nodded. "Thanks, Kiki!"
"Of course," Kiki smirked proudly. "Want to get out of here? This place is kind of depressing compared to the garage we put together."
"I didn't want to say it, but yeah," Quentin agreed.
Confessional:
Kiki: It's weird. Quentin wanting to keep his distance from Shadya is 100% beneficial to my game. Those two are my targets, and if they end up working together, all they need is to talk Kun into it, and Bailey and I are screwed. But as an aspiring therapist, I can't just not help someone who's going through psychological turmoil. That'd go against my principles, and if you don't have your principles, then what good are you? ...But still, winning this game could be huge for me... No, stop that line of thinking right now, Kiki! Principles first! Always!
Quentin: My brain's kind of a mess right now, so it's a good thing I can talk to Kiki about it. I got the feeling that she was kind of mad at me after I didn't vote for Jean-Marie, so maybe asking her to talk about something she's passionate about will soften her opinion on me, too. It's a win-win! I think. Is that what a win-win is?
Hugh strolled into Hatchet's Diner for lunch.
"Oy, Chef! What's for food? I'm starving over here!" Hugh ordered.
"Shut your punk ass up with a side of don't test me, boy! That's what's for lunch!" Chef barked.
"What are you always in such a shit mood for?" Hugh questioned. "You're out of prison and cooking again for the first time in years. Unless this is a good mood for you, I don't know."
"The dumb ass TV show that ruined my life humiliated me by bailin' me out and makin' me work for 'em again! Fuck that shit!" Chef ranted. "I only went along with it in case I got to see... Yolonda again."
"I'm pretty sure that, after the shit deal she got in Alpha Party, she wants nothing to do with this show," Hugh told him. "Does she even know you were sprung out?"
"Everyone workin' for the show signed an NDA. I couldn't reach out to her, and nobody else could tell her," Chef admitted.
"That sucks, man," Hugh told him. "By the way, I wasn't lying about being starving."
"You ate a decent-ass breakfast! How do you get hungry again that quickly?!" Chef disbelieved.
"My metabolism is on crack. Always has been," Hugh sneered.
"Yeah, enjoy it while you can, kid," Chef snorted. "It's a Cuban sandwich today, hold your horses."
"Fancy," Hugh smiled. "I assume that's fancy. I've never had one, but it sounds tight."
"They're good. You'd best be grateful," Chef snarled.
"I mean, your cooking is a lot better than I'd been led to believe," Hugh said.
"They gave me shit ingredients for a lot of the times they had me cookin' on this show," Chef mentioned. "I can make some damn fine cuisine if I had the chance."
"Aw, what's that old saying?" Hugh snapped his fingers as he tried to remember. "A bad craftsman blames his tools or something."
"It was all part of the crappy camp atmosphere! It was on purpose!" Chef insisted.
"Eh, it doesn't matter. As long as the food you're giving me is good, then we're cool," Hugh said.
"Ain't I lucky?" Chef deadpanned.
Confessional:
Hugh: Ah, Chef's not so bad. I know a tough guy front when I see one, believe me. He reminds me of a young Hugh Kincaid. Except a lot bigger and could probably break my bones if he heard me say that, so I'll keep that opinion in here.
Nolan, Greg, and Jayne sat at a table in the board game section of the O'Neal Barcade, playing cards together.
"I do not understand. What practical purpose does this pastime serve?" Greg asked.
"It's fun," Nolan shrugged.
"If you are doing this for fun, wouldn't it make more sense to do so with other organic people who have the capacity for fun, and don't have potential duties to fulfill at Blaising Tower?" Greg asked.
"Call it a hunch, but I get the feeling you're not having a good time," Nolan said flatly.
"I informed him of our endeavors to better understand desire, apropos of our prior conversation with Jean-Marie," Jayne explained to Greg
"I see," Greg nodded. "If I understand correctly, 'fun' is what fuels most human desires that don't involve longing for a feeling of importance. This could benefit us."
"I understand fun," Jayne claimed. "This is not the first time I've played games with the contestants. I was not aware you did not have this capability, Greg."
"And I was not aware you did," Greg frowned. "It sounds as though you already understand desire."
"Isn't jealousy borne from a desire for what others have?" Nolan pointed out.
"I am also not capable of jealousy," Greg stated. "I was leading up to a request for Jayne to copy the data necessary to understand fun to my hard drive."
"I wouldn't know where to start," Jayne admitted. "It's not something I've thought about. I just... understand it."
"Maybe Ginger or Godfrey could help out," Nolan suggested. "They're the ones who programmed you, right?"
"Perhaps," Greg acknowledged. He stood up. "I will see what I can do about this."
Greg left the room.
"So wait, does he desire to desire? I'm confused," Nolan told Jayne.
"It's... complicated," Jayne half-answered. "I don't think even I can fully understand Greg."
"Do you desire to?" Nolan chortled.
"It may be beneficial to understand how we comprehend desire differently in order to grasp the concept more efficiently," Jayne figured. "If that qualifies as desire, then yes."
"I'd say it does," Nolan affirmed. "Why does Greg seek understanding of desire?"
"I recall Jean-Marie asking us if we desired to have stronger desires," Jayne explained. "Greg posited that, in order to answer that question, we learn all we can about the concept in order to come to a conclusion."
"It sounds like he just wants to get his tasks done," Nolan thought aloud. "What do you think?"
"I... still don't think I fully understand everything," Jayne confessed.
"Well, I'm happy to help. I've got time," Nolan told them.
"I appreciate that," Jayne smiled.
Confessional:
Nolan: None of my teammates have approached me to talk strategy since the new teams formed, other than Cyan who's already my ally. I wanted to bide my time a little before putting myself out there, so I don't seem pushy, and the robots make for good company, so here we are. I'm interested in seeing how things pan out for them.
Shadya, with the clue she'd received in hand, scoured the forest of Isolation Park.
"How the hell did I not find it last night?" Shadya grumbled to herself.
She looked at the clue again.
"'The clue is as follows:" Shadya read. "'For the strength to continue in the game, use your strength to uncover me from where I lie.' How vague. Obviously, I have to be able to push, pull, or lift something, and I certainly can, but for a clue, this isn't making things much simpler."
She scanned the ground around her.
"The 'where I lie' part implies that it's at or beneath the ground, but that doesn't narrow it down too much," Shadya thought aloud. "Especially knowing there are so many other statues I could find instead of the one they're trying to point me to."
Shadya cracked her neck.
"Of course, the most important factor here is that I am human perfection," Shadya smirked to herself. "If anyone is going to be able to find this statue and then one more after that, it's me. I can't let anyone forget that."
She looked up at a particularly tall tree nearby.
"If I get a higher vantage point, I may be able to find landmarks close to where they may have hidden a statue," Shadya figured. "Hell, maybe they hid one in the tree."
After stretching her legs a bit, she ran up to the tree and jumped, allowing her to grab onto the branches and pull herself up. She used the chance to scale the tree further until she was at the very top and able to get a better view of the area.
"Wait a minute..." Shadya murmured.
Upon closer inspection, Shadya was able to make out that the perimeter of Isolation Park was shaped in the image of Chris, with trees making distinct his face and clothes. Shadya looked at her clue once again.
"'Uncover me from where I lie...'" Shadya read. "Chris could lie in the form of dishonesty. Well, he either lies out of his ass or with his mouth. I can check both. I'm at... the crotch, gross. The ass should be in this general area."
Shadya leaped from the treetop and landed on her feet.
"Let's get searching," Shadya decided.
Confessional:
Shadya: (She is holding up two small wooden heads.) As I said, I'd find the one the clue pointed to, and one more besides. These are the David and River Statues. The David Statue lets me play it before a challenge in order to give my team an advantage, or just me if it's the merge. The River Statue, I have to play at the start of an elimination ceremony, and it forces those voting to vote for either one person of my choosing, or for me. The latter seems situational, but I can make it work. It's all about timing.
The contestants met up with Chris at McLean Park.
"Welcome to your next challenge, everyone!" Chris announced. "And welcome back Shadya, from Isolation Park!"
Shadya returned to the Grand Gryphons.
"I hope things, um, weren't too rough for you out there," Kun told her.
"Who do you think I am?" Shadya scoffed.
"I d-don't know what it's like out there, um, sorry," Kun stammered.
"Want us to send you there?" Kiki remarked.
"What's the challenge today, Chris?" Brittany redirected the conversation.
"I'm glad you asked, Brittany!" Chris grinned. "Today's challenge will see you guys being assigned into random pairs within your team. Each pair will have to complete three of the six errands your team will be expected to perform. If you start an errand and give up on it, the other pair on your team can do it, but each pair has to do three errands exactly. The first team to finish all their errands will win Invincibility and all the perks. The second team will win Invincibility and some of the perks. The remaining team will be voting someone out tonight. Hehaha."
"Would these errands have anything to do with why Topher and Lindsay aren't here?" Hugh asked skeptically.
"Maybe," Chris shrugged. "Oh, and obviously, the Grand Gryphons and Fighting Wyverns will have to sit someone out. Since they sat out of the last challenge where that was an option, Bailey, Quentin, Cyan, and Nolan cannot sit out of this one."
"I'll do it," Frita immediately volunteered for her team. "I know you guys would all do better at this than I would."
"Any objections?" Vladimir asked the rest of the team.
Cyan, Irving, and Nolan all simultaneously expressed a lack of objections.
"Alright, enjoy your day off, Frita," Vladimir told her.
Frita sighed.
"I know none of you are the type to back down if you don't have to," Bailey told Kiki, Kun, and Shadya.
"If it would, um, prevent unnecessary arguments, I will volunteer to sit this one out," Kun offered. "I have faith in you guys to win this."
"Works for me," Kiki accepted.
"Alright, Kun and Frita will be sitting this one out," Chris acknowledged.
Several interns arrived on scene and handcuffed pairs of teammates together.
"What the?!" Dalit reacted. She glanced at Hugh, her teammate to whom she was now cuffed.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that you guys were going to be handcuffed together? Hehaha," Chris chuckled.
"Yes!" came a resounding response from most of the contestants.
The paired-off contestants all took notice of their partners. Randomly cuffed to whoever was standing next to each other, the pairs included Bailey and Kiki, Quentin and Shadya, Cyan and Irving, Nolan and Vladimir, Brittany and Louise, and Dalit and Hugh.
"Oh, and here are the lists of what you'll need to get done," Chris added as the interns handed each team a small sheet of paper. "Also, don't assume you don't have access to any place in particular for this challenge. I think that's everything. Hopefully. Good luck!"
The contestants gave Chris an unimpressed look before sanctioning off to discuss plans with their teammates.
Confessional:
Quentin: This should be a good chance for me to separate Shadya from Tori in my mind. I just need to get to know her better, and the differences will start showing themselves. Then I can stay focused on Jean-Marie. Or the game. That's probably a better option since I'm still in the game and he isn't.
Nolan: (He is running a coin between his fingers.) I could tell without even looking at her that Cyan was not going to be happy about being paired up with Irving. She told me that he started sucking up to her yesterday, which is suspicious no matter who you are. I don't envy her position. Such are the whims of Lady Luck.
Dalit: This is so dumb! Why did they have to make me a pair with Hugh?! They did that on purpose for drama, I bet! Well, I'll just get along with him and not start any fights. That will show them!
"Alright, what are the errands?" Kiki asked Shadya, who held the list.
"It looks like we have to find specific items and deliver them to specific people," Shadya prefaced. "An orange to Chef, a can of hairspray to Topher, a fashion magazine to Lindsay, a succulent plant to Jayne, a philosophy book to Greg, and a Mountain Dew Voltage to Chappy."
"Chappy?" Bailey asked. "I suppose he's our guest for the episode. I wonder how he's been."
"Do they say where to find... any of this stuff or these people?" Quentin asked.
"No. That's part of the challenge," Shadya surmised.
"How do we decide who does what?" Quentin asked.
"Bailey and I do the first three, you guys do the last three?" Kiki offered.
"I trust you know where to look for what you need?" Shadya asked as she handed the paper to Bailey.
"These shouldn't be overly difficult," Bailey figured. "I assume you remember what exactly you're looking for."
"It's only three errands. I could have remembered thrice that if I had to," Shadya claimed. "Let's go."
She ran off, forcing Quentin along with her. The boy yelped, startled.
"I've seen an orange tree around. Let's go there," Kiki decided before she and Bailey ran off.
Meanwhile, the Fighting Wyverns discussed something similar.
"We each have to do three, but they only gave us one list?" Nolan asked.
"It is a challenge for a reason," Vladimir chuckled.
"The ones involving the robots and Chappy probably be harder to remember," Irving claimed. "Let's say one pair takes the easy ones to remember, and the other pair keeps the list and does the other three."
"How sure are you that you can remember them?" Cyan asked.
"About sixty-six percent," Irving grinned. "That be twice as good as the best psychic I know."
"Is that so?" Cyan asked flatly.
"We'll have to do something. This is an option," Nolan shrugged. "What do you think, Vladimir?"
"If Irving's sure, then I'm glad to leave it in his hands," Vladimir smiled.
"You guys really trust him that much?" Cyan doubted.
"Ah! Why Cyan, I had no idea ye had such little faith in your ol' captain," Irving frowned. "It really puts everything into perspective. How long have ye felt this way...?"
Nolan took notice of the Grand Gryphons splitting up.
"We don't have time to waste," he told his team. "If we're done with our three and you guys aren't, we'll give you the list."
"Sounds good, swabbie!" Irving agreed.
"Swabbie?!" Nolan gasped. "I thought pirates respected gambling more than that!"
"If you're truly stumped, meet us back here," Vladimir told his teammates before setting off with Nolan alongside him.
Cyan sighed before she and Irving went their own way.
"Alright, so who's doing what?" Hugh asked his teammates. "And more importantly, who's holding on to the list?"
"If you guys feel like you need it, Louise and I can study up on the three tasks we're going to do," Brittany offered.
"What does that supposed to mean?" Dalit snorted. "Do you think we're too dumb to remember?"
"What? No, I was just offering the easier option to you guys!" Brittany insisted.
"If you guys don't want the list, that's cool too. I think Brittany and I are good either way," Louise chimed in.
"Now hold on, if you guys are so comfortable memorizing errands, then who am I to deny you of the chance to be courteous to me and Dalit?" Hugh snickered as he handed the list to Louise. "Take your time."
By this point, Brittany had witnessed both other teams leaving the scene.
"Oh geez..." Brittany gulped. "Louise, quick, which ones do you think you can remember? An orange to Chef and hairspray to Lindsay should be easy, right?"
"The hairspray goes to Topher," Louise read from the list. "Lindsay gets a fashion magazine."
"Chappy gets Mountain Dew, I think," Brittany mentioned.
"Specifically Voltage," Louise added.
"Good, you guys remember," Dalit decided as she snatched the list from Louise. "Let's go, Hugh."
"Good luck. Don't screw it up for everyone," Hugh snickered to Brittany and Louise before joining Dalit in exeunt.
Brittany rolled her eyes before making her own exit alongside Louise.
Confessional:
Bailey: In hindsight, I don't think there was anything stopping us from going to one of our rooms and making a copy of the list, but nobody thought to do that. I think we simply wanted to get going on the challenge as quickly as possible. Invincibility is important. At least, it is for now.
Irving: I can't act like it don't get me goat that Cyan be so bitter and cold towards me all these years later. Especially now that we be meant to be working together in the challenge. Especially especially when I be sticking me neck out for her. Me neck's important! It's got me head on it, and me head be the second-most-valuable part of me behind me abs!
Louise: I actually think it's a lot easier to remember something when you've messed up on remembering it before. Although, I keep thinking Elmer's mom's name is Constance even though I know it's Carlotta. I called her Constance once, and that was enough to remind me forever that that's not her name, and yet, when I think of Elmer's mom, I'm like "Oh yeah, Constance, she's so nice!" I'm glad she is so nice, because I know I'm going to call her the wrong name to her face sometime in the future. It's going to happen!
Bailey and Kiki arrived at the orange tree at roughly the same time as Nolan and Vladimir.
"Ladies," Nolan greeted with a tip of his hat.
Kiki blinked in disbelief.
"Hello," Bailey greeted back.
"What brings you two to this part of the city?" Vladimir teased.
Kiki reached to grab an orange but was not able to reach the branches above her.
"Bailey, can you grab one?" Kiki asked.
Bailey attempted to reach, but also came up short.
Vladimir picked two oranges and tossed one to his opponents. "Good luck," he said.
"Wait, why would you- AHH!" Nolan was cut off when Vladimir began running to a different location, dragging Nolan along with him by the handcuffs. "Why did you help them? That could be the difference between us winning or losing."
"Maybe I'm still in the Barry mindset a little," Vladimir claimed. "And hey, maybe they'll pay us back in kind someday. Think of it as a gamble."
"Somehow, these aren't odds I have much faith in," Nolan said. "Whatever. Where to next?"
"We need to deliver this to Chef. I'd have to guess he's at the diner," Vladimir reminded him.
"Most likely," Nolan chuckled.
Bailey and Kiki trailed behind the two, running in the same direction.
"You were on a team with Vladimir, right? What's your take?" Kiki asked Bailey.
"He was never someone I spoke much with. I figured his disguise out pretty quickly, and always felt I should keep my distance from him," Bailey explained.
"I spent a good weekend once trying to figure his angle out, from a psychological standpoint," Kiki mentioned. "I think he thrives on the mystery. Helping us out probably adds to that in his mind."
"Help is help, no matter where it comes from," Bailey shrugged. "I'll gladly take it."
"That advice is not necessarily universal, but in this case, I'll have to tentatively agree," Kiki said.
Confessional:
Vladimir: Bailey and Kiki have both proven their prowess at the game in their previous season, and are people I cannot underestimate. It would be best if I could stay on their good side for as long as I can, and I think this small act of kindness could go a long way in shaping their perception of me.
Kiki: I've seen it all too much before. People will do favors for you so they can hold that over you in the future when they need you to do something for them. Of course, in Total Drama, following this etiquette is not expected, and I will keep that in mind as I take advantage of this unsolicited favor.
"Orange to Chef, magazine to Lindsay, Mountain Dew to Chappy. Orange to Chef, magazine to Lindsay, Mountain Dew to Chappy..." Brittany recited as she and Louise ran through the city.
"You got it?" Louise chuckled.
"Maybe," Brittany answered. "Where are we headed?"
"The gymnasium. I know they have a soda machine there. Maybe someone left a magazine there, too," Louise explained.
"I doubt they'd put two items in the same place, but we can do a quick scan after we get the soda," Brittany figured. "...Are we going to have to pay for it?"
"Wasn't planning to," Louise grinned as she cracked the knuckles of her free hand. "It's for a challenge."
"If you... If you can break it without hurting either of us, then by all means," Brittany laughed awkwardly.
"No promises that I don't hurt myself, but like I said, it's for a challenge," Louise shrugged off. "I'll live."
"Okay..." Brittany half-accepted.
The two arrived at the gymnasium and made their way inside, where they found Quentin and Shadya. The latter punched a hole through the glass of the soda machine and grabbed the Mountain Dew she needed.
"Would you grab me one, too?" Quentin requested. "Catching up with you is tougher than I thought it would be."
Shadya rolled her eyes and handed Quentin the bottle she'd just taken.
"Thanks," Quentin smiled. "You're pretty thoughtful. Don't think it goes unnoticed."
"Smashing," Shadya deadpanned as she took another soda. "Let's go."
The two ran off without so much as acknowledging Brittany or Louise.
"Well, that should make things a lot easier for us," Brittany smiled as the two approached the now-vandalized soda machine. "Try not to cut yourself on the glass."
"Believe me, if anyone is careful about broken glass, it's me," Louise assured her. "There was a busted bottle on the PE track one day this last year. I had the kids play basketball instead. They fired the gal who left the bottle there."
"I should hope so. In response to... everything you just said," Brittany winced.
"Anyway, I got the soda." Louise held the blue bottle up for Brittany to see. "Let's check for the magazine."
"Right, good call," Brittany agreed.
Confessional:
Shadya: Come on... Steve Jenkins, I've always been able to dismiss as a braindead idiot, but when people like Quentin or Jeremy start hitting on me, then it gets a lot more emotional, and I'm going to end up upsetting them, and it's going to turn into a whole mess. Maybe I'm just overthinking it and he just paid me a compliment out of the goodness of his heart. It's not out of the realm of possibility. Either way, I should find a way to quash this as soon as I can.
Brittany: Being a teacher sounds like it comes with a lot of stories, even if you're a PE teacher who doesn't have to work with the students all day. I don't think teaching is for me, but I'm... glad Louise found a place where she's happy.
Cyan and Irving ran down the street.
"Are ye sure ye know where the library is?" Irving asked. "We've never had to go there yet."
"I'm pretty sure, yeah," Cyan huffed. "It's the one that says 'library' on it, you can't miss it."
"Of course I can't! I was just making sure ye were sure," Irving insisted. "For all ye know, I could know where it really be and just not be telling ye."
"How would that help either of us?" Cyan asked.
"Congratulations, ye passed the test!" Irving laughed.
"You're hilarious, but let's focus on the challenge, shall we?" Cyan asked.
"Worried about your spot on the team, then?" Irving teased.
"If you think being cheeky is supposed to endear me, you're sorely mistaken," Cyan huffed.
"Really? It usually works. At least marginally more than not being cheeky does," Irving responded.
"Will you just focus?" Cyan insisted.
"Aye, that's me bad," Irving agreed.
The two arrived at the library and entered. To their mild surprise, the library was, in fact, filled with books.
"Alright, we need a philosophy book to give to Greg, right?" Cyan recalled. "Where do we start looking? And does it have to be a specific book, or will any philosophy book work? Oh, I knew we should have taken the list."
"But what if Nolan and Vladimir need it? They'd be saying the same," Irving pointed out.
"You're not helping," Cyan sighed.
"How can I help ye, then, lass?" Irving asked.
"Where do you think the book is? And don't say 'in the philosophy section'," Cyan asked.
"Move it or lose it, artards!" came Hugh's voice as he and Dalit ran past the two.
"Lose what?" Dalit asked.
"Uh... Their asses, I guess," Hugh responded. "Don't question it, it just sounds cool!"
"If you say so," Dalit commented. "You know where the book is?"
"Probably in the philosophy section. Duh," Hugh scoffed.
"And where is that?!" Dalit exasperated.
"Uh... in between Op-Eds and Romance?" Hugh guessed. "We'll find it."
"Op-eds?" Cyan asked quietly.
"In his defense, I can't think of anything else that begins with O," Irving shrugged. "Should we follow them?"
"And he just skipped over Q entirely..." Cyan muttered. "Uh, yes, let's follow them."
Sure enough, the genres of books at the library were organized alphabetically, and both pairs of players ended up in the philosophy section.
"It has to be a textbook specifically, make sure it's big and thick," Hugh told Dalit as he looked at the list. He snickered to himself.
"Why are you laughing? What is funny?" Dalit asked warily.
"Nothing, nothing," Hugh assured her as he grabbed a textbook. "Let's bounce."
The two ran off just as Cyan and Irving grabbed a book of their own and followed closely behind.
Confessional:
Dalit: So far Hugh has been mostly focused on the challenge. I expected him to be a lot meaner to me. Pretending to put up with him is being easier than I thought. ...I think I might have to be suspicious here.
Irving: I just have to figure out what Cyan wants from me. Something that not be "leaving her alone", because that be no option for me. She doesn't seem to be the sense of humor type, which be a shame because me sense of humor be one of me best points. But I'll sacrifice me usual charm if it makes her more receptive.
The pairs of Bailey and Kiki, and Nolan and Vladimir had just dropped off the oranges they'd taken at Hatchet's Diner. The pairs had stepped just outside the establishment.
"What are you two going after next? Maybe we can compare notes," Vladimir offered.
"You answer first," Kiki challenged.
"We still need hairspray and a magazine," Vladimir told them. "I don't suppose you two know of any salons in the city?"
"Excuse me?!" Kiki reacted.
"...I promise I wasn't trying to enact any gender stereotypes," Vladimir chuckled awkwardly. "Just thinking of where one can find hairspray and magazines."
"Why don't we just go?" Nolan suggested to Vladimir. "They probably have hairspray at the warehouse where we made the robots."
"Make use of that information what you will," Vladimir told Bailey and Kiki before he and Nolan ran towards the warehouse.
"Should we follow them?" Bailey asked. "It's a lead."
"Like hell am I letting Vladimir feel like he has any control over me," Kiki scoffed. "Of course those two are looking for the exact same items we are. Let's go for the magazine. I think they had a couple... here at the front of the diner, actually."
"Now that you mention it, you may be right," Bailey thought aloud.
The two reentered the diner and saw a magazine rack at the very front.
"Do you think Lindsay has any preference in which one we get her?" Bailey asked as she held up a copy of Glamour and a copy of Cosmopolitan.
"I doubt it will matter, but if I had to wager a guess with Lindsay in mind, I'd say we take the Cosmo," Kiki figured.
"I don't read magazines, admittedly. I trust your judgment," Bailey told Kiki.
"I'm glad. Not enough people do," Kiki smirked proudly.
Bailey paused for a second. "Do we know where Lindsay is?"
"We do not," Kiki sighed. "Blaising Tower, maybe? The building named after her."
"It's as good a guess as any," Bailey decided. "Let's go."
The two ran towards their destination.
Confessional:
Bailey: All Vladimir's attempts to butter Kiki and me up are telling me that he's not comfortable with his position on his new team and is desperately trying to get a foothold wherever he can. Not that I've ever held any obligation to him.
Nolan: It's not that I have anything against Bailey or Kiki, but I'd rather not give another team any kind of leg up in a challenge when winning or losing that challenge could be the difference between potentially going home or not. I'd much rather see them go home than, say, Cyan or myself. I don't think that's unreasonable.
Quentin and Shadya made it right outside the garage hangouts, where a large, casually dressed man stood.
"Chappy? Your Mountain Dew," Shadya acknowledged as she handed him the bottle.
"You got the right one. Good job," Chappy smirked. "Voltage is the best one, no cap."
"I had one on the way here. It was pretty tasty, for Mountain Dew," Quentin told him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Chappy leered.
"I'm just not usually a soda guy," Quentin said. "Unless LaCroix counts as soda. Those are pretty good."
"Just drink water at that point," Chappy and Shadya told him in unison, though in Chappy's case it was more of a scolding shout.
"What, haven't you tried the grapefruit one? It's refreshing," Quentin insisted.
"We're wasting time. We still have to find a succulent plant and a philosophy book," Shadya told Quentin. "I know where the library is. Let's go."
"Do you, uh, spend a lot of time reading?" Quentin asked.
Shadya answered by running for the library, forcing Quentin along with her thanks to the handcuffs.
"I'd say that kid wouldn't last five minutes on Team Thunder, but Susan somehow made it past two votes, so who the hell knows?" Chappy sneered as he opened his soda and began to drink it.
Brittany and Louise arrived at the scene with their own soda.
"How did Shadya even know he was here?" Brittany questioned.
"It's a landmark that makes sense for him to be at, I guess," Louise figured. "I'd call it a lucky guess, but Shadya keeps saying she doesn't rely on luck."
"Anyway! Chappy, here's this," Brittany told the man.
Chappy accepted the bottle that Louise handed him. "It's way harder to find these in a bottle than it should be. Thanks."
"Could you special order them from the internet?" Brittany asked.
"Probably, but I don't need that much power," Chappy chuckled. "I'm trying to cut back on these anyway."
"Have you tried LaCro-"
"No," Chappy interrupted Louise. "Never will."
"Haha. Alrighty then," Louise accepted. She looked to Brittany. "Now what?"
"We need to find an orange, right?" Brittany recalled. "I think Steve Jenkins found an orange tree near here. Let's look around the area."
"Let's do it!" Louise agreed.
Confessional:
Quentin: Shadya doesn't seem super receptive to conversation. I guess she wants to focus on the challenge, which is fair. But that's also something Tori would do. Damn it. This is harder than I thought it would be.
Louise: Chappy's someone I wouldn't have minded sharing a team with this season. I get why Nolan was picked over him, because it's hard to pass up a gimmick like that, but I like Chappy's drive to get stuff done! I think we would have gotten along.
Cyan, Irving, Dalit, and Hugh all made it in front of Isolation Park, where Greg stood.
"I told ye he'd be here," Irving told Cyan.
"Alright, I'll give you that," Cyan relented. "And nothing else."
"I imagine you're here to fulfill your duty in today's challenge," Greg told the contestants.
"Yeah. Take it," Hugh told Greg as he forced a textbook into the latter's hands.
"And take this one, too!" Cyan instructed as she relinquished her own book.
"I do hope I can glean something illuminating from these," Greg commented.
"Now what?" Dalit asked Hugh.
"I don't know, you're the one with the list," Hugh scoffed.
"Don't talk down to me," Dalit scowled as she took the list from her pocket. "We still need a can of hairspray for Topher and a sutchulent plant for Jayne."
"You're into fashion. Where do you think the hairspray is?" Hugh asked. "Also, it's 'succulent', just so you don't keep embarrassing yourself."
"If you cared so much about people embarrassing themselves, you wouldn't come back to the show," Dalit tsked.
"You're adorable," Hugh snipped.
"Hairspray is probably at the clothes building," Dalit told him.
The two ran off.
"Hairspray is Nolan and Vladimir's job, right?" Cyan asked.
"Pretty sure, aye," Irving confirmed. "We still need the succulent plant and a Mountain Dew."
"Where would either of those be?" Cyan wondered aloud.
"Methinks there was a soda machine at the gymnasium," Irving told her. "Why don't we check there?"
"It's a lead," Cyan figured. "Where do you think Chappy will be?"
"Probably within the limits of Drama City," Irving figured.
Cyan shot him an annoyed look.
"Aw, come on, not even a chuckle?" Irving griped. "Let's be off, then, shall we?"
"Let's," Cyan agreed flatly.
Quentin and Shadya arrived with their own textbook.
"We're falling behind. There's a greenhouse in the southwestern corner of the city," Shadya told Quentin as she handed the book to Greg.
"I know the one!" Quentin elated. "Sadly, they aren't growing any flowers or anything. I was hoping we could see hummingbirds, against all odds"
"Good, then you should be able to keep up," Shadya told him as she ran for the greenhouse.
Confessional:
Hugh: Why did I get matched up with Dalit again? Of all people? God, Steve Jenkins really had to fuck himself over last night, didn't he? It was totally necessary. It's fine! I'm not bitter!
Cyan: I am getting so fed up with him. Just when I think he can act normal for the challenge, he still has to make some dumb joke at my expense. I'm definitely taking it too serious, but after the last time I shared a team with him, can you blame me for getting frustrated?
Bailey and Kiki had just handed their fashion magazine off to Lindsay at Blaising Tower and set off to the clothes warehouse.
"Just this one, and we've done our part," Kiki grinned excitedly.
"And knowing Shadya, by the time we're done, we'll have secured our win," Bailey figured.
"Shadya is incredibly capable, and Quentin's... actually more inconsistent than I expected him to be, but I don't expect him to hold her back," Kiki figured.
"So it's a can of hairspray to Topher, right?" Bailey pondered. "He's probably at the O'Neal Barcade if Lindsay is at the building named after her."
"That or they're trying to trick us, and he's somewhere completely different," Kiki ventured. "That sounds like something he'd do."
"It does, but I'd rather just look at the most obvious spot first," Bailey told her.
"Fair enough," Kiki relented.
The two eventually made it to the clothes warehouse, right as Dalit and Hugh made their way out.
"Move it!" Dalit barked to her opponents as she and Hugh ran past them.
"She couldn't at least say please?" Bailey remarked.
"That didn't even occur to me. I must be going numb to it," Kiki added.
The two entered the warehouse to find Nolan and Vladimir searching through it as well.
"You're sure they found it over here?" Nolan asked Vladimir. "I'm not seeing anything."
"This is the direction from which I saw them run to the door," Vladimir maintained. "It ought to be in this general area."
"Is there a cabinet or something we should have found by now?" Nolan wondered. "How easily can one hide hairspray, really?"
The two looked around and found a nearby cabinet. As Nolan and Vladimir rummaged through the furniture, Bailey noticed a few hairspray cans piled in a back corner. She gestured her head in the direction of the cans, directing Kiki's attention to them. Kiki smirked, and the two made their way quickly and quietly to the corner.
"Nothing in here either," Nolan grumbled. "I saw those two leave with a can of hairspray, so it has to be here somewhere."
Bailey and Kiki rushed out, taking care not to be seen by the boys. Despite their efforts, Vladimir did catch a glimpse of the two leaving the building.
"Hey, did you know Bailey and Kiki had made it in here?" Vladimir asked Nolan. "I just saw them leave."
"Seriously?" Nolan sighed. "Then the hairspray has to be in some kind of blind spot relative to where we were. Let's not waste any more time."
"Were we wasting time before?" Vladimir asked.
Nolan gave Vladimir a harsh side-eye.
Confessional:
Bailey: I think this challenge is good proof that working together with the right person can make all the difference. Nolan and Vladimir don't seem to click, and it seems to be causing them to fall behind. Of course, sometimes these things are simply out of their control, like in this challenge, but life isn't always fair.
Nolan: If I didn't know better, I'd say Vladimir is slowing us down on purpose. And with Vladimir, it's hard to ever know better, because he goes out of his way to be as annoyingly cryptic as possible. Maybe he feels comfortable with his position on the team and wants to strike while the iron's hot. Whatever the case, he's getting on my nerves.
Chris, Frita, and Kun remained at McLean Park, watching over everything through camera feeds on Chris's laptop.
"You've been keeping track of which teams have done which errands, right?" Frita asked.
"Yep!" Chris confirmed. "For those not keeping track at home: the Grand Gryphons have four out of six tasks done, and the last two items have already been found. The Fighting Wyverns have three tasks done, and two more items found. The Proud Pegasi... have just finished their fifth task! Brittany and Louise have delivered the fashion magazine to Lindsay!"
"What still needs to get done?" Kun asked.
"Bailey and Kiki are in the process of taking the magazine to Lindsay, and Quentin and Shadya are in the process of taking the succulent to Jayne," Chris explained. "Nolan and Vladimir are taking the hairspray to Topher, and Cyan and Irving are taking the Mountain Dew to Chappy. They'll still need to take the magazine to Lindsay after that. The Proud Pegasi just need Dalit and Hugh to take the succulent to Jayne."
"Ugh, Nolan and Vladimir were right there in the diner where the magazines are," Frita bemoaned. "I'd expect myself to miss it, but I thought they were smarter than that."
"Well, um, anything can happen," Kun told her.
"Easy for you to say. Your team's ahead of mine," Frita pointed out bitterly.
"Are you nervous about what might happen if your team loses?" Kun wondered.
"Of course I am! Everyone's expecting me to vote with them and I don't know what the hell I'm going to do!" Frita cried.
"What do you know? I'm, um, in a similar position," Kun chuckled.
"Bailey and Kiki expect you to vote with them," Frita responded in disbelief.
"I'm as surprised as you," Kun told her.
"The way I look at it, the fewer original Gryphons there are left in the game, the better," Frita commented. "How are we supposed to compete with them? They have skill and experience."
"Quentin and Shadya have delivered their succulent!" Chris announced.
"Oh, nice," Kun smiled.
"...I don't suppose I can go get my sketchbook?" Frita asked.
"From Blaising Tower? The challenge is almost over, you can wait," Chris told her.
Frita sighed.
Confessional:
Frita: I feel like I actually managed to make a couple of friendly acquaintances before the shuffle. Now I'm on a team with none of them. Now I don't trust any of my teammates, and they all expect me to side with them anyway. I'm over it. I just want to retreat into my room and draw them all literally clawing each other's throats out.
Kun: I guess the team shuffle is a little stressful for all of us, isn't it? I think Frita's always kind of, um, kept her distance from me, but I certainly feel for her current situation. Just based on who's on her team, it seems, um, stressful.
Dalit and Hugh arrived at the aforementioned greenhouse.
"Alright, it should definitely be here," Hugh mentioned.
"Really? Is that why we're here?" Dalit snarked.
"Sarcasm isn't as charming on you as you think it is," Hugh tsked.
"Do not get me started on things that you think is charming but aren't," Dalit leered.
"Whatever. Let's just get this stupid challenge over with," Hugh grunted as the two entered the greenhouse.
Upon setting foot in the glass building, Dalit and Hugh came across Cyan and Irving locked in a heated argument.
"'Twas but a jest, lass," Irving grunted. "Ye really have to stop taking the things I say less seriously."
"Or you could stop making stupid jokes like it's going to suddenly erase the fact that you forced Vanessa into that tie vote that got me eliminated!" Cyan accused.
"All I did was save meself with the golden cube, lass," Irving insisted.
Dalit and Hugh glanced at each other awkwardly and began searching for their item.
"I literally approached you with a deal that could have meant losing Lilith or Vanessa, and you still voted for me!" Cyan argued. "Literally if you'd voted for Lilith then she would have just been gone and you wouldn't have had to deal with her ever again! How else am I supposed to take you voting for me as anything but an act of malice?!"
"Ye don't genuinely believe that I be the type to let anyone walk up to me and tell me what to do, do ye?" Irving scoffed.
"Hey, keep quiet, we're trying to find a plant!" Dalit ordered the two.
"Or keep arguing. Whatever makes it easier for us to win," Hugh snickered.
"Oh, true! Yes, keep fighting," Dalit chuckled.
"Well, I certainly won't be taking orders from Dalit!" Irving insisted. "Come, lass! We must find our own plant!"
"And what makes you think you can tell me what to do?!" Cyan snapped.
"Would ye rather lose the challenge?!" Irving laughed.
"If it means voting you out? Sure!" Cyan maintained.
"It be cute that ye think ye can do that so easily," Irving snorted.
Confessional:
Cyan: I refuse to continue playing this game with Irving in it! He is a bully, a creep, and he one hundred percent has it out for me specifically! I know Vlad wants him gone, and I know we can get Frita to go with it. So yeah, maybe I'm good with throwing the challenge! He needs to go!
Dalit: I don't get along with Hugh, but those two really really don't get along. It almost makes me okay with asking Hugh if he'd rather vote off Brittany.
By this point, Quentin, Shadya, Brittany, and Louise had returned to Isolation Park and were also watching over Chris's laptop.
"Wait, is Cyan throwing?" Louise blinked. "I knew she hated Irving, but wow."
"Based on how Nolan and Vladimir seem to have been doing, the Fighting Wyverns didn't stand any chance to begin with," Shadya claimed.
On one camera feed, Bailey and Kiki had just delivered the magazine to Lindsay at Blaising Tower.
"That's the last item for the Grand Gryphons!" Chris announced. "Grand Gryphons win Invincibility and will vote one of their own to get penthouse privileges!"
"Good job," Kun complimented Quentin and Shadya.
"There was never any possibility of my team not winning this," Shadya claimed. "Even if the other pair were to slack, I'd make up for it."
"That's awfully thoughtful of you," Quentin complimented.
"No, it's the logical course of action to attain victory," Shadya denied.
"If you say so," Quentin smiled.
"So we're just waiting on Hugh and Dalit to take the succulent to Jayne?" Brittany asked.
"That, or the Fighting Wyverns get their succulent and magazine delivered first," Chris elaborated. "It could happen."
Brittany looked at the feed showing Irving running as quickly as he could, with Cyan being forced to run alongside him thanks to the two being handcuffed together. She then glanced at the feed of Nolan and Vladimir finally getting a magazine from the diner.
"It actually could," Brittany noted.
Away from everyone else, Frita sat against the big Chris statue, face buried in her knees. Quentin took notice.
"Hey, Shadya, you're empathetic and care about other people's feelings, right?" Quentin asked.
"If the empathy is earned," Shadya answered.
"Cool, so you won't mind if I go cheer Frita up? We get along, and I hate seeing her so down," Quentin requested.
"If she can't handle her team likely losing a challenge, then she has not earned my empathy," Shadya protested.
"So you won't let me go talk to her?" Quentin asked.
"What benefit would it serve to let you maintain relationships with people on other teams?" Shadya pointed out.
"It'd be nice?" Quentin guessed.
"Niceness does not take precedence to optimization," Shadya asserted.
"I see," Quentin sighed.
Confessional:
Quentin: It's always about putting aside people's feelings for the sake of trying to be strong with Tori, isn't it? Uh, Shadya. This is Shadya. ...Kiki's advice isn't working. God, what is wrong with me?
Brittany: Even if I feel safe on my team, I'd rather not lose at all. Even putting aside that anything can happen, I just don't want the Proud Pegasi to lose any more numbers. That's one fewer potential ally. Not that I need a lot of allies, since having too many would leave me with no one left to vote for. It's the principle of the thing.
Dalit and Hugh arrived at the motel, where Jayne stood. They already had one succulent plant on the table next to them.
"Alright, our last task is done," Hugh grinned as he handed the small potted plant to Jayne.
"Thank you," Jayne smiled. "I heard Lindsay call these plants 'cute' once. I'm interested in keeping some so I can figure out why."
"Oh, if you want to know what cute is, then I'm the one to ask," Dalit boasted.
Loudspeaker feedback sounded over the motel.
"Congratulations, Proud Pegasi! You've just won second place Invincibility!" Chris's voice rang. "Fighting Wyverns, no dice for you. Except for Nolan, I guess, in a roundabout sort of way. Hehaha. Everyone, meet up at McLean Park!"
Confessional:
Jayne: The concept of "cute" seems to differ depending on who I ask. I want to understand what exactly can lead to something potentially being cute. That's my mission while Greg is figuring out how to comprehend fun. (They pause.) I don't think I'm technically supposed to be making confessionals, but Joseph sent me his room key. If I get in trouble, I'll stop.
The contestants, as well as Lindsay, Topher, and Chappy, all met up at McLean Park.
"Congrats to the Grand Gryphons on placing first!" Topher announced.
"My legs will be sore for the next twenty-four hours, but at least we're safe," Bailey smiled slightly.
"And good job Proud Pegasi! I bet it feels good being safe after last night!" Lindsay congratulated.
"Hell yeah!" Louise whooped.
"Of course, that just leaves the Fighting Wyverns without a fighting chance in this challenge," Chris joked.
"What a poor display," Chappy snorted. "And Nolan! I expected better from you! Team Flame won almost every challenge in House Party! Plus you won like every game we played at Motel of Rejects!"
"I tried my best, believe me," Nolan said flatly as he glanced at Vladimir.
"If the Fighting Wyverns will follow me to Elimination Station," Chris segued. "Winning teams, you know what to do."
Chris led the Fighting Wyverns away from the scene. Topher clapped his hands to direct the attention of the other contestants.
"Alright, time for the Best Vote and the Worst Vote!" Topher announced. "As a reminder, only the Grand Gryphons will be voting for who they thought was the best, minus Kun. And only the Proud Pegasi will be voting for who they thought was the worst."
Lindsay handed everyone pencils and paper.
The votes had been cast and tallied, and everyone's attention was on Topher and Lindsay.
"Alright, let's see who's earned the right to stay in the penthouse this time!" Topher began. "The Grand Gryphons chose..."
...
...
...
...
...
"Shadya!"
"Naturally. I am always the best," Shadya accepted.
"Weren't you voted as the worst just yesterday?" Dalit asked.
"I don't see how that's relevant," Shadya brushed aside.
"And speaking of the worst..." Lindsay redirected. "The Proud Pegasi voted for..."
...
...
...
...
...
"Hugh, sorry."
"How bad could it truly be?" Hugh scoffed.
"It's not fun," Brittany told him.
"I'll manage," Hugh claimed as Lindsay guided him to Isolation Park.
"Heh. Famous last words," Chappy chimed in.
"That's all we have for you!" Topher told the contestants. "You're dismissed.
"Hello, Chappy. How have things been?" Bailey asked her former teammate.
"Can't complain. I'm in a better place than when we were teenagers, that's for damn sure," Chappy said. "You seem better off, yourself."
"I'll be better off when I can get Franklin out of prison," Bailey proclaimed.
"You're still seeing Franklin, eh?" Chappy commented. "And how's he doing?"
"...Being locked in the same place with the same people for years on end wears on you," Bailey half-answered. "A lot. Especially when you did nothing wrong to begin with."
"I see," Chappy responded.
Confessional:
Bailey: I voted for Shadya to win the Best vote in order to curry a little favor with her. I figured she and Quentin were already going to vote for her, so if they end up working together against me and Kiki, the target cannot fall on me.
Dalit: What gives?! I voted Brittany to be the worst so she could go away and Louise and I could talk to Hugh about voting her out! But everyone else voted for Hugh instead! How come?! How am I supposed to talk to him about the vote now?!
Votes:
Best:
Shadya - Bailey, Quentin, Shadya
Kiki - Kiki
Worst:
Hugh - Brittany, Hugh, Louise
Brittany - Dalit
The five members of the Fighting Wyverns arrived at the underground ceremony room at Elimination Station. They each took a position at a lectern, while Chris took his nearby elevated seat.
"Welcome to your first elimination as a new Fighting Wyverns!" Chris announced. "As I'm sure you all remember, you'll have half an hour, or until everyone votes, to discuss with one another who you want to cast your vote to go home for. Once everyone's voted, I'll announce the results. Oh, and don't forget to have fun. Hehaha."
Nolan began by rolling his die and casting his vote immediately.
"For the sake of Irving and Vladimir, I will remind everyone that, in each elimination I attend, I will cast my vote randomly at the start," Nolan explained. "I will only disclose the identity of who I voted if I can get a majority of the team to guarantee my safety."
"That implies a lot of trust in the rest of us," Vladimir mentioned. "We could just lie about keeping you safe."
"Trust has to begin somewhere," Nolan claimed. "If nothing else, I'd like to at least be consistent. Unlike you."
Vladimir blinked. "Dare I ask what you mean by that?"
"Throwing the challenge isn't the kind of tactic I'd associate you with," Nolan frowned.
"Oh! Do ye want to talk about throwing challenges?!" Irving laughed. "Because our dear sapphire scurvy-dog seemed rather content to plant her feet into the ground and make me drag her across the city!"
"I am through with your BS, Irving," Cyan told him. "I wanted us to lose, so I can finally just get rid of you."
"Wait, so both of you threw the challenge?" Nolan asked.
"I did no such thing," Vladimir denied. "My performance in today's challenge was far from my best, I'll be the first to admit, but I would never intentionally sabotage my team's shot at Invincibility."
"We didn't even get all three of our errands done," Nolan pointed out. "What do you call that?"
"Poor performance," Vladimir answered. "I apologize if I'm the reason we lost the challenge. I can assure you it was not intentional."
"But Cyan actually did throw it, right?" Frita asked.
"She sure tried, though it sounds like we would have lost either way," Irving chuckled. "How does it feel sabotaging your team when ye didn't even need to, lass?"
"Oh?! And what would you call you constantly picking on me ever since we became a new team together?" Cyan asked.
"I tried reaching out to ye in earnest! I truly did!" Irving claimed. "It's not me fault ye refused to listen."
"It's absolutely your fault!" Cyan accused.
"I made a move in a game four years ago!" Irving insisted.
"An unnecessarily hurtful move!" Cyan argued.
"I could have gone about it a lot nicer, sure, but I was on the outs and was proud to have control despite that," Irving stated.
"Whatever, Irving. What's important is that you're going home tonight!" Cyan maintained.
She cast her vote.
"Nolan, ye have never been in me radar," Irving told the gambler. "I can guarantee I won't vote for ye tonight."
"Oh? Looking for any potential path to not have the majority against you?" Vladimir teased.
"Only five votes amongst this crew, aye?" Irving pointed out. "If I cannae count on Cyan, and I find ye rather dubious as well I must admit, I have to take what I can get."
"You trust Frita more than you trust me? I'm wounded," Vladimir pretended.
"Ryu players be some of the most honest folks there be," Irving smiled.
"I-I just don't know the game well enough to pick out other characters!" Frita panicked.
"So ye weren't being honest with me?" Irving frowned.
"Is this about that video game she always used to play with Quentin?" Cyan asked.
"Didn't ye know? She still plays it, and she be better than I expected," Irving mentioned.
"We really ought to play some other time," Nolan chimed in. "I've been working on my Ibuki."
"An Ibuki player? I retract me promise to keep ye safe," Irving jested.
"This is all adorable and everything, but we do still have a vote to cast," Vladimir said.
He cast his vote, turning the light on his lectern red.
"I was joking about rescinding me promise of safety, by the way," Irving told Nolan. "However ye voted, I'll vote the same. And I figure Cyan probably didn't vote for ye. Doubt Vlad did, either."
"Fair enough," Nolan figured. "I voted for Cyan."
Irving burst into uproarious laughter and immediately cast his vote. Cyan threw her hands in the air.
"Of course!" Cyan exasperated.
"My vote is decided at random. Always has been," Nolan shrugged. "It's never been personal."
"Looks like it all rests on ye, fair Frita," Irving noted. "I should point out that while Nolan and I have confirmed our votes against Cyan, Vladimir has not confirmed his. It could be against ye."
"It's against you. How dumb do you think Frita is?" Vladimir stated.
Frita cast her vote. Her eyes remained glued to the floor.
"Alright, that's five!" Chris announced. "I'll reveal the votes. The person with the most votes against them will take the Shackle of Shame into the Van of Losers and take a one-way trip out of here!"
Everybody wore their tense demeanors on their sleeves.
"First vote... Cyan," Chris started.
Cyan sighed through her nose.
"Second vote... Irving," Chris continued.
Irving nodded.
"Third vote... Cyan," Chris revealed. "Fourth vote... Irving."
Frita hugged her body, squeezing tightly onto her own arms.
"Fifth vote... and the person going home... is..." Chris led up.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Irving," Chris finally revealed.
This was met with various levels of shock from the contestants other than Frita.
"...Well, ye got your revenge, lass," Irving said as he tipped the brim of his hat over his eyes. "Well played."
"Doesn't feel so good to go so early, does it?" Cyan asked.
"I suppose not..." Irving said.
His mouth stretched into a huge grin, and he started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Cyan asked.
"As if the Dread Pirate Irving would ever be such a downer during his last moments!" Irving laughed. "Me heartfelt congratulations to ye, Cyan! Ye've felled your white whale, ye have."
He removed his pirate hat and tossed it across the circle to Cyan.
"Ew! I don't want this, you look like you haven't washed your hair in a year!" Cyan objected as she dropped the hat to the floor.
"I'm the one who broke the tie, if that matters," Frita murmured so quietly that nobody could hear her.
"Ye can't even do your old rival one last favor of inheriting his title," Irving tsked at Cyan. "If besting me wasn't proof enough, that right there proves how cutthroat ye truly be."
"Any last words before Irving gets shanghaied?" Chris asked.
"It was good to meet you, albeit briefly," Nolan told Irving.
"As a fellow appreciator of keeping things interesting, I do wish we'd talked more," Irving returned.
...
"Can I have me hat back if ye don't want to keep it?" Irving asked Cyan.
...
"Please?" Irving asked.
...
"I'll take that as everyone having enough to say," Chris decided.
"What?!" Irving reacted.
The ceiling opened up, allowing the Shackle of Shame to grab Irving by the waist and lifting him off the ground.
"Blast ye, Cyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" Irving called as he was dragged above ground.
Once Irving was out of sight, the ceiling closed.
"No matter how big a deal you may have been before, that was then and this is now," Chris remarked. "Something to keep in mind, I guess. That's all I've got for you guys. Feel free to go.
As the contestants made their way out of the room, Frita collected Irving's hat from the floor and carried it with her.
Confessional:
Cyan: That was way too close for comfort. I know Nolan's dice thing is supposed to be random, but as my ally, you'd think he wouldn't just throw my name out like that! If Frita wanted to, she could have voted me out! And I wouldn't blame her, either, after I threw Dalit under the bus the other night. On the plus side, I might be able to trust Vladimir? Maybe? Probably not long-term, but maybe at least for now.
Frita: Irving and Vladimir are both phonies, but Irving was laying it on way more thick. It kind of got on my nerves. I don't really trust Cyan either, but I trust her more than anyone else on this team. Which is still less than the allies I had before, but I need to work with what I have, I guess. It's gotten me this far.
Chris, Topher, and Lindsay all stood outside the limits of Drama City.
"Virtual Party takes another hit. I guess that's what happens when that whole cast was always fighting with each other," Topher chuckled.
"It makes for good TV, but when the contestants are making all the decisions, the dramatic ones aren't generally liable to last long," Chris figured.
"I'm surprised Irving got voted out so soon, though!" Lindsay added. "He was always one of the tougher villains, right?"
"His reputation preceded him, I guess," Topher shrugged. "Especially when it came to Cyan."
"At any rate." Chris cleared his throat and returned to hosting mode. "How will things pan out on the Fighting Wyverns now that Irving's gone? Will the dynamics shift on the other teams?"
"Will Quentin and Shadya realize the deep, passionate love they have for each other?!" Lindsay added.
"What about the Quentin/Jean-Marie ship?" Topher asked.
"That would be cute too, but I don't know if JM's interested in that," Lindsay admitted.
"And you think Shadya is?!" Topher doubted.
"All this and more, next time, on Total!" Chris began.
"Drama!" Topher and Lindsay added.
"Party with the Stars!" all three finished in unison.
Votes:
Cyan - Irving
Frita - Irving
Irving - Cyan
Nolan - Cyan
Vladimir - Irving
Grand Gryphons:
Bailey - The Pragmatic Poet
Kiki - The Strategic Hipster
Kun - The Awkward Team Leader
Quentin - The Lucky Ornithologist
Shadya - The Genius Athlete
Fighting Wyverns:
Cyan - The Sweet Madame Blue
Frita - The Morbid Artist
Nolan - The Wildcard Gambler
Vladimir - The Untrustworthy Impostor
14th: Irving - The Chaotic Pirate
Proud Pegasi:
Brittany - The Loyal Bombshell
Dalit - The Social Media Model
Hugh - The Head Villain
Louise - The Friendly PE Teacher
15th: Steve Jenkins - The Vlog Icon
Eliminated Pre-Shuffle:
16th: Jean-Marie - The Homeless Frenchman
17th: Ernie - The Lazy Law Student
18th: Joseph - The True Bro
19th: Isidora - The Asocial Bookworm
20th: Lilith - The Harbinger of Unrest
A/N: Surprised? This was a tough one for me. Irving's always been one of my favorites to write, and I know he's popular with readers as well. So why leave him here? Believe me, I wracked my brain for excuses to let him stay longer, but with the team he ended up on, there wasn't much way I could keep him around without some huge bullshit gymnastic suspensions of disbelief. Sometimes, the big, bombastic characters just draw too much attention from the other contestants and they get the votes against them. Incidentally, when's Natalie Cole coming back to Survivor? Or Ace for that matter. Whatever the case, here is where Irving's story ends. What did you think of Irving? Gone before his time, way too late, or at just the right time?