Replies, with so little left:

lordgemini- I think you're confusing this one for Submerged, where the final four went right to the finale chapter, this one is a regular final three here. But, as usual, I'm glad you're liking the adjustments. These last chapters were very rushed their first time around so I'm happy that they're so much better this time.

Final three today, what will the finale be like?

Episode 20: Triple Topsy Turvy

Chris was in the control room, reviewing footage with Chef. "We need to hire some of those kids to be our footage sorters," he told the cook, "some of them made some nasty stuff on the others yesterday." Chef nodded silently in agreement. Chris then went to start the episode. "Last time, on Total Drama Karon Island, the final four went on a hunt for their own ruin!" Clips played of Ethan and Angie fighting in the tunnels, as well as Paul trying to strike a deal with Kara to no success. "The four split up evenly as to try and stop the powerful Ethan-Kara alliance! Angie took the lead on our slander challenge, but ended up falling just short of a win there too, with Ethan's slander of his own teammate being well-adjusted for his audience!" Clips played of each of the final four giving their presentations about one of the other people.

"Our final portion of the challenge was the-" Chris sounded excited, but his tone shifted as clips of the Hinder Hustle began to play. "Ugh...Hinder Hustle. The final four, minus Ethan, ran for their lives in a field of traps. Ethan set off traps on everyone but Kara, sending the curious girl straight to the final three and hoping for one of the two to betray the other, which worked out really well for Paul, and not so well for Angie." Clips played of Kara earning immunity, and Angie's reaction after finding out that she was betrayed. "But, as it turns out, Angie's off on a whole different adventure now. Best of luck to whatever she's up to." Clips played of Angie's father descending on the competition and Angie flying off with him.

The camera went back to Chris. "We are down to three!" he announced excitedly. "Will we lose out morally grey maniac, Ethan, our curious chaos chick, Kara, or our doom and gloom jock, Paul?" He shrugged. "Didn't have a rhyme or alliteration for Paul. Anyway, which one of them will go home? Who's going to try and push their hardest for the finale? Find out right now, on Total! Drama! Karon Island!"

Opening Sequence

[Various cameras and other director equipment come popping out of various points on the island. Firstly, it appears out of a large tree, then out of a hole at the entrance to the mines, and finally, shooting all the way from the top of The Chasm.]

Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine,

[The camera zooms all the way up at the top of Mount Karon. Kara is at the top, observing something as Kayla jumps off of the cliff and starts flying downward, opening up a parachute at the very last second.]

You guys are on my mind,

[The camera moves to the beach, where Gretchen falls off of the rocky cliff and lands face first into the water, still splashing around happily anyway. Nearby, Juan is relaxing in the water as Hannah pops up next to him, evidently annoying him.]

You asked me what I wanted to be, and I think the answer is plain to see,

[Near the beach, the fourth boat is still wrecked and crashed into a rock. Helio lifts the boat out of the water to move it, all while Daniel is still on it, shocked at the boy's strength. Meanwhile, Madison emerges from the boat wreckage as well, and Jonathan offers his hand to help, which she takes begrudgingly.]

I wanna be famous!

[Further into the woods, Paul is narrowly racing against Sarah in a race. The pessimist trips over Sheldon and crashes to the ground, upset over his loss because of it. Flora rushes over to check on the safety of both the boys.]

I wanna live close to the sun,

[At the base of Mount Karon, Randall is decked out in climbing gear, excited to start moving up the mountain. Next to him, Alexa, looks significantly disinterested, sleeping on a log instead of watching.]

Go pack your bags cause I've already won,

[In the forest, Chad is screaming and jumping around to different trees, while Angie stands in the middle of all of it, covering her ears and getting increasingly more agitated.]

Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day,

[As Chad makes more noises, Ethan and Norm watch from a tree in the distance, before both of them exchange an understanding nod. Next to them lies an empty poison bottle.]

Cause I wanna be famous!

[In the dining tent, Chef and Luna are conversing rather calmly, before a strike of lightning crashes down on the tent. Chef runs out, but Luna appears unfazed by it, instead calmly glancing upward.]

Na na, na na na na, na na na na, na na na na na na!

[The camera moves to the dock, where Luna appears out of nowhere, spooking Paul and Kayla. The two glare at her, the former giving up on caring much faster than the latter.]

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous! I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!

[The camera drops down to the mines, where Kara is lurking, and she presses a button that launches out a ball of fire. The fire reveals some sort of odd structure inside the mine, bursting into a big glow that transitions to the fire.]

I wanna be famous *whistling*

[Everyone is circled up at the fire. In the middle of all of it, Jonathan leans in toward Madison, who jumps backward, accidentally landing in Ethan's lap, where she is even more freaked out. Above them is the sign that reads 'Total Drama Karon Island'.]

The boys cabin was just as empty as it had been since Jonathan's departure. Ethan and Paul were silently getting ready for the day, occasionally shooting each other odd glances. Eventually, Paul was the one between the two to break the silence. "So, it's down to just us," the pessimist mused as he caught Ethan's attention. "I can't believe the thing that bested everyone else was a straightforward alliance. She hasn't even betrayed you."

"No, she hasn't," Ethan said carefully as he listened to Paul's words. "The alliance was built off of full honesty and I have done nothing but ensure she gets what she needs first. That's why she trusts me." He sighed. "I enjoyed looking for the idols together, but our debts were paid. After voting off Kayla, my debt with her was not. So, unfortunately, if it comes down to a vote, that'll be it for you without immunity."

Paul sighed facetiously in a way that alerted the anti-villain. "Oh, really?" the pessimist asked. "I guess that would be what happens. All of that would be bad if she turned on you. That would be a battle you wouldn't win." He shrugged. "I get I'm no ideal opponent either, but maybe we could team up one last time and put each other in the finale, how about that?" He put his hand out. "Offer's going quick."

Ethan raised an eyebrow as he stared at Paul's hand. "You're much more confident in your position in the game compared to me. I don't think you're in a position to negotiate and demand I respond that quick." He sighed. "But, I'll save you the time. We settled our debts. If we team up, I owe Kara again because I turned on her. I can't let that happen." Ethan left the cabin to go out and do something else than be taunted by Paul.

Ethan: "The final three..." he sighed. "To think I'd make it even after I abandoned my whole strategy and decided to just play normal. It's good to have some people who still trust in me. But, Paul has a very certain plan today, and I have to make sure it does not happen, no matter what."

Paul: "This is annoying," the pessimist admitted. "I got rid of Angie, who was a much larger threat in the long run, but now I'm fighting the fight both of us fought on my own. My only shot is to make them argue and split their alliance. I have no other choice."

Kara: "Despite how close I was with Kayla, and how against the other two I was, I still found myself in the final three." She smiled. "Plus, both of them are going to be wanting my help today. Obviously I'll stick with Ethan, because in the event Paul wins immunity, I don't think I'm the one in trouble."

Kara was already outside of her cabin. She noticed Ethan go out for a walk, and she opted to not follow him, staying where she was on a pile of rocks nearby. Paul quickly stepped out after, and the pessimist began approaching her. Kara rolled her eyes as she knew exactly what was coming. "Good morning, former teammate," he said in a cheerful tone that put off the curious girl immensely.

The curious girl glared at Paul for a second, trying to get a read on what he wanted. "You know I am not buying...whatever that was, for a second," she told him firmly. "What do you want? You better start talking, or I'm going to start ignoring you." She had a determined look on her face that spat in the face of Paul's condescending one.

Paul laughed light-heartedly at Kara's reaction to him, even if he was slightly agitated by her tone at him. "Come on, can't I just say good morning to my only teammate left on the island? It's been like that since Luna, poor thing." Kara, once again stared right back silently at him. "Fine, you're clearly smarter than your sister," he complimented her. "I'm here to strike a deal with you."

"Let me guess," Kara shot back instantly at the pessimist. "You want me to turn on my alliance and take you into the finale myself?" Paul shrugged, since that was more or less what he wanted from her. "If I recall, you had the same offer extended to you when Jonathan was around. He wanted your aid, but when you promised it to him, it went away. Then, yesterday, the same thing happened to Angie." She shook her head. "Surprising as it is, you're the least honest one left."

The pessimist sighed. "I guess you have a point," he said. "But, Angie and Jonathan, they were needed sacrifices. I mean, we were on the same wavelength anyway before. You two voted Angie over me, and put her in a potential tiebreaker. Then, who came in clutch? Me." He extended his hand in a similar way he did to Ethan. "Ethan has betrayed way more than two people, need I remind you. He spent his whole early game doing it. If his winning itch comes back, this close to the finale, he might punt for an easy trip there...that's you."

Kara watched Paul's hand as she thought about her options. "And that's why you want my help," she reminded him. "Because I'm the easy out. I'm the easy finale. If you take care of Ethan now, then you think you have a free million." She narrowed her eyes as she pushed away his hand. "I will not fall to either of you like Kayla did. I'm getting that million for myself."

Paul shrugged. "Well, that's my loss I guess," he admitted. He narrowed his eyes back at the girl. "But, need I remind you on what Angie shared yesterday? About that demon Randall saw and that all of us ended up meeting? He's still here, and he knows Ethan. If you go into the finale with him, it will be the same two-against one that I'll been up against today."

Just then, everyone had been interrupted by Chris's voice coming over the speakers. "Hello, final three!" he shouted excitedly, at a louder volume that put off the others. "I get to finally launch one of you into the sky today, and I am not making exceptions! Anyway, we have to have a challenge before that, so come to the dining bunker to see what awaits you today!" Paul smirked as he sprinted over to be there first.

Paul: "I've done my job," he said with a smug grin. "I planted the seeds of doubt. It takes one miscommunication to take them down. I have to do this, because it's my only choice. I betrayed Angie because of how certain I am this will work."

Kara: "Paul's just trying to get into my head," she said with a stern look. "Obviously I'll stick with my safe alliance. He hasn't turned on me yet, which is good." her looked turned a bit more nervous. "I mean...not like he would betray me now. My guard is still up."

Once everyone had made it to the dining bunker, Chris was waiting there with a monitor and a big selection board with various symbols on it. "Congratulations on making it to the final three!" Chris said in a lighter tone. "This has certainly taken a lot of planning and preparation for you to make it here." He laughed. "And, if I may add, the large amount of disastrous challenges Chef and I have put you through!" He pointed to the monitor. "Today, you all get to relive three of them, with a twist!"

Everyone began inspecting the symbols on the monitor, and quickly realized what Chris meant. "These are all listed in order," Chris told them, "for example, the lightning bolt is for our thunderstorm relay race, the paintball gun is for out paintball battle, the buoy is for the Aqua-stacle course, and so on. Each of you gets to pick one of these challenges to compete with the others in. First place gets three points, second gets two, and last place gets nothing!" Everyone looked concerned at that last place result."

Chris continued as everyone began trying to pick in their head which challenge they wanted to redo. "For winning our triple-challenge topsy-turvy, you will not only get your place in the finale, but you get to choose your opponent too! That means I hope you've been playing nice with everyone." That news made everyone happy, each thinking of their own way that benefitted them. Chris turned to Kara. "Kara, for winning last challenge, you've earned first pick on this one. Where are we going?"

Kara inspected the board. She glanced at the mine challenge for a second, but shook her head. "Paul followed me around during our last trip in the mines," she stated, "so that's not the advantage I was hoping it was. Maybe something that'll still give me an edge..." She selected one near the bottom right, which had a jar as the icon for it. "I want this one! The firefly challenge?"

Chris nodded. "Indeed, that's the firefly challenge that Paul lost early on and Ethan was absent for. Nice choice." Both boys looked nervous at a relatively unfamiliar challenge. The host tossed each of the three an empty jar. "For the inverse of this challenge, you will need to find three fireflies on the island and bring them to me inside the jar. There will, of course, be things to stop that from happening, so good luck! Three point for the winner!" Chris rang the air horn, and the final three challenge had started.

The mines were crowded already, with so many sinkholes all over the place, but Kara showed up anyway. "I don't care that we didn't do this challenge, but I know this is the easiest place to spot a firefly..." She began inspecting the area, only to see all the carnage from the multiple challenges that had been done down in the area. The curious girl carefully navigated the area and tried to figure out where to go.

As she walked, she heard whooshing sounds nearby. She gasped at the prospect of who it might be. "Finally," she said with excitement, "I might finally get to see him!" The curious girl chased the sound down the mines, still being very careful about how she was walking because of all the sinkholes in the area. The sound was going further and further to the bottom of the mine.

Kara made it all the way to the bottom, where she encountered Quaoar sitting at the bottom of the mine. The sword demon removed his scarf and cloak, putting on a rock as he breathed for a bit. "Just a few more days," he said to himself. "Then I get to be on with them. I suppose that I've done enough at this point." Kara tried to get closer, but ended up knocking a rock into the open nearby. "Please be Ethan..."

Fearing what might happen if she got caught later, Kara walked out into the open. "Sorry, not Ethan." Quaoar quickly threw the scarf and cloak back on. "I was just looking for fireflies here, promise!" She raised an eyebrow. "Is it true? You knew Ethan before this? How did that get allowed by Chris and Chef?"

Quaoar rolled his eyes. "You don't get my answers. Ethan didn't know I was here. I purposefully avoided him until the last possible moment. Now that he ended up seeing me, I'm in a whole mess of lying." He narrowed his eyes at the curious girl. "If you learn anything else, you'll be put in it too." He pointed to the left exit. "There's fireflies down there. You can leave now and get them-" he drew a sword from his sheath. "Or we can fight and get them." Kara ran off, having decided on a very easy answer to his deal.

The curious girl ran through to the area Quaoar had said, finding two fireflies sitting there. "Yes!" she said excitedly. Kara struggled a bit to catch the small insects, but eventually she got them where they needed to be. Once she cleared out the area, she went toward the control room. "No way there's only two in the whole mine," she thought.

Once she made it to the control room, she ran into someone else. Ethan had just entered down the sinkhole he used to get there the day before. He had one firefly in his jar. "Looks like you figured this challenge out the fastest," he admitted. "Paul went to the beach first, and I went by the firepit. But, things are heating up. All three of us are down here."

Kara nodded. "So it would seem." Ethan then took his jar in one hand, and snatched Kara's. "Hey!" she called out. She couldn't believe he had done that. She tried to stop him, but she then realized what he was actually doing. He had unloaded his into hers and tossed her jar back, which now had three jars in it. "You...finished it."

"Only one of us has to finish," he reminded her. He had noticed the curious girl's odd reaction. "You're...jumpier than normal." Kara nervously turned away from him. "Are you okay?" he was then reminded of what he was told that morning. "Oh. Let me ask you something, actually. What did Paul tell you? He told me his goal was to turn you to his side."

Kara hesitated. "Well, he opened with some lame stuff about how he's actually the smarter choice because you'll just betray me." She shook her head. "I certainly haven't ruled that out, but I do trust you enough to not right now." She looked at him. "Then he brought up Quaoar, as Jonathan called him. Can you tell me with certainty that you're not going to let him defeat me instead?"

Ethan sighed. "I...can't. Not because I want him to, though. Trust me, if it was up to me, he wouldn't be here at all, but something happened clearly. I can't promise that I'll stop him because...well, I'm not able to. I don't know if I'd be able to stop him if he went rogue. He seems to be under a contract with Chris, and I'm okay keeping it at that. If it comes down to it though, I will do whatever I can to stop him, even if that means losing to you. I don't want to win because of him."

The curious girl seemed content with that answer. "Okay then," she eventually said. "I'll try to keep that in mind." She gestured to the jar in Ethan's hand, which was empty. "What about you? You can give me the points, but you'd benefit from second place." Just as they said that, a jar flew up with three fireflies. "Looks like Paul was busy." She swapped Ethan's jar with Paul's.

Ethan held up the second full jar. "Guess that's enough. We better get moving before he realizes who did this." The two ran for the dining bunker as fast as they could, leaving the empty jar in the back of the area outside the control room. "This should give us enough of a lead to stop Paul with pretty minimal effort."

After they had left, Paul climbed out of a sinkhole. "How did no one ever think of this all season? The fastest way out of here is up!" He walked over to his jar to see it was empty now. "They were here! They have to be close still!" Paul darted for the exit, but it was far too late. By the time he had exited the mines and made it back to the sunlight, an air horn rang across the camp. "No!"

"Kara wins part one of today!" Chris announced. "That means that she's up three points from everyone else! Ethan comes in a close second, earning himself two points! That means Paul is at the bottom right now, with a whopping zero points! Paul, come on back and pick this next challenge!" Paul sighed helplessly as he walked back in defeat to the dining bunker, thinking of a way to stop them next.

Paul: "Not my greatest start," he admitted, "but hopefully I got them to argue or something. I pretty much have to win the next two and while I'd prefer it if Kara didn't win, I'm much better off if she wins than Ethan." He smirked. "Luckily, I get to pick next!"

Back at the dining bunker, Chris reminded them all of their current status. "Paul, you're up to pick since you lost the recent challenge. You're still at zero points, and you'll need this. I'd recommend something you're good at this time." Paul rolled his eyes at Chris's taunt as he inspected the board.

Paul glanced at a few icons, namely the burger icon, the mountain icon, and the lightning bolt icon. "I could try and pick something like the eating challenge that has bad memories for you two..." he muttered to himself, but eventually shook his head. "No, I'm playing to my strengths and Kara's big weakness." He clicked the mountain icon. "Chris, I would like to climb a mountain."

"A mountain it is!" Chris responded, gesturing to the monitor. "For this challenge, you all went up the fastest you could using climbing gear that was provided for you," he reminded them. "This time, you'll be using the materials you find at the top of Mount Karon...and descending all the way to the ground!" Kara looked extremely nervous about that challenge. "That means first one down gets three points, second gets two, and after that, you don't have to finish, since you won't get any points anyway!" He laughed at their varied expressions regarding this twist. "Okay, let's go!"

Ethan: "Kara might be out for the count on this one," he noted. "Her fear of heights plus guaranteed falling means she might stay up at the top. But, this twist hurts Paul too. He'd easily win a climb up, but if I can craft something better..."

Once everyone made it to the top, they began looking at the pile. There was not much of use that instantly stood out to anyone. There were some big sheets of cloth, some pieces of wood, some various ropes and cords, and some small metal pieces too. Mainly, it all looked like junk. "Sorry for the slim pickings," Chris told them as they arrived. "This is stuff we found on the island when we first got here. It's been uninhabited for quite some time." He shrugged. "Well, your problem, not mine. See you at the bottom!" He rang the air horn. "Go!"

All three began rushing for the junk pile, but Paul was the first to get to the pile, and instantly searched through as much as he could before the others got there, taking what he could for himself. He grabbed a bunch of wood, the metal scraps, and a hammer. "A sled has to be fast," he said confidently, "but it's going to take way too long to build...I better move fast."

Ethan made it next, and went for the giant sheet. "Parachute is definitely the easy option, hopefully there's something to work this better..." After some more sorting, the anti-villain found a knife and a set of small cords. "Well, it won't be pretty, but I better keep this knife on me just in case..." He began slicing up the ends of the sheet and creating some holes to weave the cord through.

Meanwhile, Kara sorted through the pile for a while long after the other two were gone, but she could not find anything that really met her standards. "This isn't good," Kara grumbled as she tossed a pile of leaves aside. "There's not enough fall-reduction things...maybe I just need to find something to slow it down." Upon looking further, the curious girl managed to find a giant rope. She glanced to the side of the mountain. "It's certainly long enough, but...no way I want to do that to myself."

Meanwhile, the pessimist tried nailing the metal scraps through the wood to create makeshift nails, but things were falling apart quickly. Any time he tested the strength of the sled it broke within a few seconds. "I don't want to die, no million's worth that," he complained. Eventually, he put a bunch of the wood aside and constructed something a bit more manageable- a snowboard. "There! It's not as safe, but it's just as fast!"

Ethan had also finished up the setup of his parachute. "This is going to be slow, but it'll be safe and effective." He turned to see Kara still struggling getting something together. "She'll be okay, I'm sure," he said confidently as he ran for the edge of the mountain. Without hesitating, the anti-villain jumped of and began his descent down, pulling the parachute early to ensure his safety.

Kara eventually found a solid rock to tie the rope to. She tossed the untied end down the mountain, and gulped when she saw how long it took for the rope to hit the ground. "Okay, I just need to repel down a few hundred feet..." she said to herself. Climbing over the edge, the curious girl strapped herself in with more rope and began her very slow descent down, her feet only leaving the side of the wall to take another step down. "I'm so gonna fall..."

Paul watched as the other two had already started. He gritted his teeth. "I cant just let them win," he told himself. The pessimist refused to back off as he rushed for the edge, and began snowboarding down the very steep slope. He noticed that he was falling extremely fast now, and still gaining speed as he zoomed past Kara without any issue.

Ethan then watched as Paul passed him too, leaving the anti-villain shocked at Paul's risky move. "Looks like Paul's gambit paid off!" Chris announced as the three started their race to the bottom. "Despite the last to start his descent, Paul is now falling the fastest and on track to win!" The pessimist carefully steered past the rocks in his way as he went to the ground.

Ethan panicked as he saw Paul falling. He looked at how much time he had to fall for still. "I...I need to try," he decided, pulling out the knife. With a deep breath, he cut the cord to the sheet, detaching it from himself, and falling down a good ten feet.

"Sorry, losers!" Paul taunted. "I can't go down that easy! Not anymore!" He skidded close to the bottom, and ended up clipping a rock and flying up a bit. Both boys flew a bit as they fell, but one of them landed on the ground just before the other one did. "Yes!" Paul cheered as he saw himself hit the ground a split second before. Ethan looked disappointed as he came in second just after him.

Chris reviewed the footage to get a final call. "Yep, looks like it!" Chris told them both. "That means Paul's up to three points and Ethan's second place puts him in the lead at four." He looked up to see Kara had barely moved. "You might have conquered your fear trial, but you sure didn't conquer your fear!" he taunted at the curious girl, who sighed and rolled her eyes. He stopped laughing and turned to the boys. "Okay, someone go get her before she paralyzes herself up there."

Paul took the chance to get up there before Ethan did. He pulled the curious girl up back to the top so she could walk down normally. "You should have seen the risks he was willing to take to beat me," he told her. He smirked. "Makes you think, huh? He's still a total wild card when winning's in the picture." He shrugged. "As a reminder, I'm a guarantee on picking you for the finale, he's not." Kara looked nervous as she thought about Paul's words some more.

Once they returned, Kara looked upset, that she had lost. "Well, we're done two rounds!" Chris told them all. "And it is still a close one! Everyone follow me back to the dining bunker so we can wrap this up!" Everyone began following the host back as Ethan began thinking about his best option for the challenge that he now got to pick.

Kara: "As much as I hate to admit it, Paul's right," she said with a nervous look. "Paul will totally take me to the finale, but Ethan's still a basket case, and he's in the lead. I need to trust him on this, but what if that's the wrong call? I know we spoke and cleared up the Quaoar thing, but there's Ethan himself to be afraid of too."

Back in the dining bunker, things were dwindling a bit on the monitor, with two challenges greyed out. "As a reminder, Ethan," Chris said to the anti-villain as he studied the remaining challenge options, "you can pick anything that hasn't been picked yet. If you get second again, you'll also do a tiebreaker challenge with whoever also got six points by the end of this thing." Ethan nodded, understanding the rules.

Ethan studied the board. "That's very annoying," he said, "I really don't want to have to worry about a tiebreaker. I need something Kara and I did a good job on, both of us." Kara seemed interested that he had brought that up. Eventually, with a sigh, he clicked an icon. "Let's do the fear trial. If it's inverted, it shouldn't be too bad." Paul caught the sinister look on Chris's face as he had said that.

The host grinned excitedly. "I'm so glad you picked that one!" Chris said with an excited look. "To be honest, a fear trial inverted is just...a trial, and that's not something we're super interested in. That's like a merge challenge, not a semi-final. So...you'll each have to do one of the other fear trials!" Everyone looked surprised. "Angie, Jonathan, and Luna's trials have been randomly assigned to one of you. We have also made some slight adjustments so you don't know way too much about them. All of those adjustments make this way harder."

He clicked a button on the remote, and a bunch of cages dropped in similarly from the ones in the final six. "Just to remind you all, immunity is up in the air for anyone still! Your free ticket into the finale is coming up, and it is all up to you to get it! Good luck!" As the three went into their chambers, the pink gas flew out and promptly knocked everyone out this time, even Kara.

Kara had entered her trial this time, and as she looked around, she was very confused by what she saw. "Am I in a house?" she asked herself. She had no recognition of this place. "I guess one of the fear trials was in a house. Probably wasn't Luna's, or maybe it was, it was hard to tell what hers really was about." As she walked around some more, she heard the tiny footsteps of a child.

The kid approached Kara, but instead of it looking anything like the Hen girls, this one resembled Kayla. "Kayla?" the curious girl asked as she recognized the brown-haired girl. "I know I'm the older one, but wow..." Suddenly, Kayla had broken into a full sprint and made her way for the exit. The curious girl had noticed that outside was riddled with disasters. Water was rising and lightning was crashing down.

"Is Angie scared of responsibility?" Kara asked, "or is it something to do with that exit she made?" She rushed for the door and grabbed Kayla. The door wouldn't close, so Kara kept the smaller Kayla in a trap she made out of the couches in the living room. "Stay there!" Kara said firmly, keeping the small twin at bay. "How do I beat this trial? I saved Kayla, maybe I need to close that door..."

Kara wandered over to the big porch door that was open. She turned to look at the small child Kayla, who was already on her way out of the makeshift fort. "Stop, I need to keep you safe!" Kara demanded instantly. Kayla actually listened, backing down into the trap again. "Stay there, I'm not letting this get to us!" She threw the door shut and once it did, the glass shattered, erupting itself into pink gas...

Paul appeared in the woods of Karon Island. He paused for a second and looked around the dense forest. "The woods, probably Jonathan's, if I had to guess." He smirked. "I wonder what this guy was afraid of." His question was answered relatively quickly as he heard a whooshing sound. "Well, that about solves it," he said to himself as he waited for the whooshing sound to get to him.

Eventually, donned in his cloak, Quaoar descended down, looking exactly like himself. "Oh, look, it's you!" Quaoar said with a laugh as he tossed Paul one of the swords. "You and I have a score to settle, so don't bore me like last time, because I decide whether or not you leave!" Paul readied his stance. "Like seriously, I am watching this right now and I have total say in when that happens. Satisfy me first."

Quaoar lunged at the pessimist at full force, and to his delight, Paul blocked the double-sword attack, pushing Quaoar back a bit. The sword demon smiled as he saw Paul had improved. "Sorry," Paul said with a confident look, "I can't afford to lose. Not here, not out there either." Paul rushed and unleashed a fury of attacks on Quaoar. The sword demon was way too fast, and dodged every single one, but Paul could tell he was at least working for it.

"You're not the only one here fighting to be something more!" Quaoar shot back. "At least you're entertaining this time!" It was Quaoar's turn to take the offensive. He parried one of Paul's hits and knocked him back, which let the sword demon jump in the air, and knock him down without the use of his weapons at all. Paul grunted as he hit the ground, but he still got up. "Oh?"

Paul made one last attack right at the center of Quaoar's chest. Quaoar knocked the sword back from the pessimist, disarming him. "Well, you've certainly improved a lot," Quaoar admitted. "Congrats, you look like you're fighting for something this time. You're free to go. I have no idea what place this puts you in." The sword demon vanished and in his place, pink gas began erupting from the ground...

Ethan appeared in what he found to be the Hen cabin. He noticed tons of familiar faces around him. Norm, Juan, and Jonathan were all sitting in the cabin with him. "I can't believe we lost so quickly!" Norm complained as he leaned his head against one of the bunk posts. "But, we need to vote smart. I don't want to keep losing like this. We have a shot of doing really well."

"I agree," Jonathan said in a calm tone that surprised Ethan, but not anyone else for some reason. "Look, we need more challenge proficiency." He gestured to Ethan. "He was right, Gretchen was a good call early on, but we dropped the ball on the Chad vote. We need people who can make up for his physical prowess, or rather, we can't afford to lose anyone who can." Again, Jonathan's statements that contradicted his real self alerted no one else.

Juan then chimed in as Ethan was still getting a reading on what exactly this trial was. "We need to decide who is the weakest. We eliminate Madison, I think." Ethan's eyes widened at Juan's suggestion. "She is nice, but nice is a weapon. Additionally, Angie, Sarah, and as much as I hate to admit it, Hannah, are all better physical players. We have to pick her, no other option."

"Hold on a second," Ethan said, getting their attention. "We're really just going to eliminate her? What about-" He had realized it, what exactly the trial was. "You...you're right, I guess I should look out for the greater good instead of myself." He stood up. "I'm taking a walk, so don't mind me." With that, he left the cabin, knowing exactly what was going to happen later, but as he walked out, pink gas filled the area...

Ethan: "That must have been Luna's trial, altered very much," he pointed out. "She said everything was taken from her, and I saw it from my immunity reward. Maybe she was better how she was, as much as she didn't want to believe it. It never feels good to just let that happen, even in a simulation."

Back in the dining bunker, things were clearing up for everyone. Chris waited for the three of them to all finish waking up. "Well, it was a close one," Chris announced. "Luckily, we won't have a tiebreaker. Ethan, despite clearing your fear trial today better than Luna did in her own, you still came in last, so no points for you and three points for someone else." Ethan nodded, having understood that he lost.

"Paul, you did pretty well yourself, but much like your fear trial's original owner, you weren't good enough, getting only two points for yourself." Paul looked just as upset, even more than Ethan that he didn't win that challenge. "That means that Kara wins her last three points, putting her right in the finale, and letting her choose between Ethan and Paul on who she takes with her." Kara looked really excited to have made the finale.

Chris then turned to Kara. "Choice is yours on who you take, but you have some time to decide. I'll leave you to it, see all three of you up at the Launch of Shame for our final elimination of the season." He and Chef walked out of the dining bunker, leaving the final three still there. Ethan gave a thumbs-up to the new finalist before following the two hosts out, leaving just Paul and Kara.

Kara glared at Paul. "I know what you've been trying to do," she said in a harsh tone. "But I also know you're not a liar. All of the things you said today...they're possible, and just because I'm a finalist doesn't mean I'm safe from him, but the same goes for you. I just have to decide which one of you I think I would rather be fighting in that challenge. That's not your choice."

Paul sighed, still a bit annoyed at his recent challenge loss. "I agree, it's a tragedy that such a hard decision is yours now," he said. "But, remember, you can go against me, where the odds are a bit stacked against you. Or, you can go against winning-crazed Ethan who's one step from that win, and will do whatever it takes to stop you from getting there." He smirked. "I trust you'll make the right choice." As he walked out, Kara chose to remain in the dining bunker to make her decision.

Kara: "It's still sort of surreal that I'm a finalist now," she said. "With the two of them still here too, it doesn't quite feel like the million is a step away, but it sure is." She looked excited as she talked about the finale, but she sighed once more time passed. "Now, I have to pick the lesser of two evils to keep in the game, and send the other one out."

ELIMINATION XIX, FINAL THREE

Kara had arrived at the top of Mount Karon, where two marshmallows sat on the plate Chris was holding. Ethan and Paul were already up there, each of them eagerly waiting for her decision. "Welcome to Mount Karon's final use...probably," Chris said to the curious girl. "The time has come for you to chose. Are you gonna take Paul, your dangerous former teammate to the finale? Or, will you take Ethan, your dangerous current ally?"

The curious girl looked at the two of them. Neither boy wanted this to be the end. "I feel terrible about this one," Kara admitted. "All three of us have done so much. Paul, you were there when I turned on Kayla, and Ethan, you were there every step after that. You two even did your idol hunting together to all lead up to that one giant event, and somehow I have to eliminate one of you." She frowned and looked down. "So...after a lot of thinking, I'm eliminating...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...Paul." She sheepishly smiled at the pessimist. "Sorry, Paul, but Ethan promised me the finale when he proposed the alliance, and he delivered that much. It was only right that I returned that favor to him." Paul looked pretty downtrodden that he had finally been eliminated, while Ethan still seemed shocked that he was still in it.

"Honestly, that surprised me," Ethan admitted. He turned to Paul. "You played a great game. If I was the swing vote today instead of her, you probably would have gotten me, but I think Kara's more stubborn than the both of us." The two shook hands as Paul walked over to the Launch of Shame to prepare for his elimination.

The pessimist waved at all of them. "Well, it was worth a try," he said with a laugh. "Guess you two actually trusted each other, I can't imagine that'll end well tomorrow." He shrugged. "At least I get to see Flora before the finale, and thank her for giving me this second chance. Good luck to both of you, Chris normally makes these finales super dangerous." He looked at the host. "I'm ready."

Chris nodded, launching Paul out of the game. "Oh, he was not kidding," the host said maniacally. "You two have no idea! I think Paul got the better deal here, because he'll survive tomorrow!" He laughed darkly, making both of the new finalists very nervous about the challenge to come.

Ethan: "At the beginning of the season, I learned that the final say in a conversation gets you a lot," he pointed out, "but I also learned that's what villains do, and villains get found out, just like I was." He shrugged. "Paul just learned that today after Kara probably got fed up with his banter."

Chris gestured to the two kids. "We're down to two! Our power alliance clawed their way to the finals, but now it's time to fight!" Ethan and Kara both seemed concerned about that notion. "Which of these kids is in it to win it? Who's going to drop at the last minute? Find out what happens in our thrilling conclusion of Total! Drama! Karon Island!"

Vote Confessionals:

No vote (Kara's choice)

Eliminated: Paul

Remaining Campers:

Finalists: Ethan, Kara

Eliminated: Gretchen, Chad, Sheldon, Daniel, Hannah, Madison, Alexa, Sarah, Randall, Juan, Flora, Helio, Norm, Kayla, Luna, Jonathan, Angie, Paul

We finally reached the finale. Wow. I honestly did not think I'd get this far. I thought I'd be bogged down in the slew of the middle of this game, but the new plots spiced it up enough to keep me going. Today we said a farewell to Paul. I was wowed by how much I enjoyed writing him this time around. I brought him from a last minute non-antagonist to a proper character who developed really well. In terms of writing improvements, I think he has the best improvements along with Flora and Kayla as close seconds. Let's go into changes!

- Quaoar's existence is used in the tone that fits this version compared to the original. Paul used the "Ethan and Quaoar are the same person" gambit on Kara a lot in the old version, which works there, but that's not how it works here. This time, I enjoyed his presence much more.

- The fear trials are all changed to the other three who did one. Luna's trial was about acceptance, and while she failed hers in the merge, Ethan had to accept not to be selfish. I then shifted his original trial to Paul's to reference the mine episode, and Kara's got adapted to reference a bit of her protectiveness of Kayla, which won't be brought up again for a while, but it still does get brought up eventually.

- I changed the fear trials mostly. The other two parts remained pretty much the same. Paul does a different approach in the mountain challenge that is more accurate to actual physics instead of the bungee cord magic he performed in the original.

That's it! First time readers, what do you think of our finalists? Returning readers, how have you liked things up to now? The finale will have very different things going on for one of the groups, and I think it will be a lot more cohesive and realistic. Please let me know your thoughts in the reviews! See you next week for the finale!