Chris was stood in the castle's entrance hall, a wide grin on his face as he began the recap, "Last time, on Total Drama Digital Mayhem…"

"We met our twenty new competitors, and let me tell you, they were a wild bunch," the footage showed some of the contestants arriving - Octavia and Tobias's argument, Freddy's jumpscare and Anu's dramatic entrance in particular.

"They were then tasked with the simple job of entering the castle - easier said than done. While some groups made it in easily," the footage showed Kira and Godfrey's entrance, "Others… did not," the footage shifted back to Rival and co.'s poorly-made tower.

"In the end, everybody made it in to the newly named Castle McLean, and they went face-to-face with my AI co-host, Doppel. Emphasis on the 'co' in co-host. Two teams were formed - the Diamond Dodos, and the Pearl Platypuses. Who will get voted out first? Find out right now on Total! Drama! Digital Mayhem!"

Insert theme song here

It was just past the vast majority of contestants' time to wake, and most of them had already finished preparing themselves for the day. While most of the girls were done, two of them were still preparing - Octavia and Kira. The gamer looked like she had just woken up, still wearing her nightclothes - a black sweater featuring a Pac-Man graphic and… well, it looked like she was wearing nothing due to how baggy the sweater was, but she was wearing green undergarments beneath it. Octavia, on the other hand, was fully dressed already, and was at at a dresser, looking into a mirror with a whole gamut of make-up in front of her.

Kira let out a yawn, rubbing her eyes as she woke herself up with a yawn, "Ugh… what time is it?" she groggily asked Octavia, who didn't even look her way.

"It's like, nine-thirty," the media darling told her, applying some mascara to her cheek as she spoke, "Everybody else already woke up 'cause we might have an early challenge or something like that."

The gamer nodded along, reaching into her bag to grab her clothes, "And… you're just doing make-up."

"Obviously," she smirked, running a hand through her hair, "I have to like, look my best for the camera all the time. Not like you'd understand it."

"Eh, it's not my thing," Kira rolled her eyes, "If you wanna pamper yourself up, I'm not gonna stop you… too much effort for me."

The media darling turned around to face the gamer, giving her a taunting smirk, "So… is winning the challenge gonna be, like, too much work as well? 'Cause you bet I'll send your ass home if you don't, like, even try."

"I'll try, all right," Kira affirmed, ignoring Octavia's smirk, "Besides, you can always count on the lazy people to do things in the easiest way, hehe."

"Of course you will," Octavia just rolled her eyes and returned to her make-up, as Kira quickly dressed back into her usual outfit.

"And you'll help a lot? I'd bet money on you just flirting with Mr. Generic Protagonist all day, I've seen you and him back on the opening challenge," Kira grinned once she had her clothes on, as Octavia just rolled her eyes.

Octavia gave Kira a haughty huff, "Pfft, I can, like, multi-task, y'know. And besides, we're not even close to a thing or anything, so I don't even know where you got that idea… we've hardly even talked."

"Eh, say what you want," Kira admitted, shrugging with a smirk as Octavia returned to her make-up, not wanting to continue, "But I mean… I saw you yesterday. There's a chance it might happen, you know? Sooo… see ya around, fellow teamie~"

Confessional - Kira

The gamer was leant back in the confessional, her hands rested behind her head, "Honestly… this team's alright, I guess. Obviously Rival's a social threat, and Octavia's kinda annoying, but there'll be an opportunity to deal with that eventually, ehehe - and my little alliance with Godfrey'll definitely come in handy when the time comes."

Speaking of Godfrey, the charmer was wandering through the halls, peering into each of the armor sets, "Not in this one either…" he muttered to himself as he placed an armor's head back on… even if it flopped onto the floor afterwards.

The charmer soon turned a corner, only to come face-to-face with none other than Anu, who was simply bouncing around with a look of awe on his face, inspecting every nook and cranny.

Confessional - Anu

"Well, I can't say I've been in a castle this grand before!" Anu gushed, clasping his hands together, "And there's definitely gonna be some secrets hidden in here, don't you think?"

He then put a finger to his chin, "I don't think the kings of this castle would like it if I found some big secret though… but now that I've started looking, I just have to check every secret myself - what kind of adventurer would I be if I didn't?"

Once Anu noticed Godfrey, the roleplayer gave his team-mate a wave, "Oh, Godfrey!" he called, getting the charmer's attention, "Are you also exploring the castle.?"

"I'm just looking for that idol," he casually admitted with a shrug, "Anybody here who's actually playing the game should be."

Anu nodded along, "Makes sense to me! I'm mapping out the castle - give me a second," Anu reached into his scarf, pulling out a roll of parchment, which featured a half-finished map of the ground floor. While there was little to note for the most part - rooms and hallways littered the majority of what was marked down, and there were a few scribbles of frogs in the corners - there were a few points of interest, "I marked it down with-"

"I'm assuming these are the mess hall and bedrooms, then?" Godfrey interrupted, not wanting to hear Anu's dramatics, pointing towards a set of rooms marked with a fork and knife combo, and a bed icon.

"Yep," Anu confirmed, "I have no idea what those other rooms are for yet, though, so don't ask me for that!"

The charmer soon noticed one other point of interest, however, "And… what's that?" he asked, this time gesturing towards a small 'x' marked on one of the walls marked on the map.

"Oh, that was just a locked door, there was a big 'stay out' written there buuut I had to take a peek," Anu explained, "I tried using some of my most explosive potions to open it… no luck there, I'm afraid - but the way to the Prismatic Well of Nohomo was never going to be easy!"

Confessional - Godfrey

"I'd like to believe I know these shows pretty well. So if that idol is gonna be anywhere… it's in that locked room," he tapped the side of his head with a confident grin, "Mark my words."

Godfrey scratched his goatee, before he had one more question to ask Anu, "Can I have your map?"

Anu blinked, and gave him one quick answer, "No, I've still gotta finish it, obviously! Me and Princess still have to explore the rest of this floor, at least - who knows, you could accidentally wander into a room filled with angry spirits!"

"Uh-huh. Well, I was checking if you'd just give me the map. I'd take it, but as you said… it's not done yet," Godfrey admitted, as Anu gave him a confused look.

Anu raised an eyebrow at Godfrey's reasoning, "Why would you take it when I just showed it to you?"

"I'd get to keep it, it's that simple," the charmer shrugged, "I think it's easy enough logic to understand."

"Well…" Anu half-muttered, unsure just what to think about the charmer's words, "I've still got lots of territory to cover, so I've got to make sure I map it all before we're summoned by King McLean!"

"Alright then," Godfrey waved him off, before he was stopped in his tracks by something, "Wait, hold up, King McLean?"

"Well, he does own the castle, and obviously a castle has to have a king or two," Anu explained, as Godfrey rolled his eyes, "So he's the king!"

Confessional - Chris

"King McLean," he repeated, nodding with a grin, "I like the sound of that."

Elsewhere in the castle, Jackie was taking an early morning jog, in order to prepare herself for whatever challenge Chris would throw her way. The athlete was eyeing the decor of the castle, both out of curiosity and for the off-chance of the idol.

Similarly, Tobias was also taking a walk around, the drummer also just trying to get a lay of the land as he stood below the sets of armor. The drummer soon walked around a corner, and was face-to-face with the jogging athlete, and gave her a small nod of acknowledgement, which Jackie exchanged.

However, their relative quiet was soon interrupted by none other than Doppel, who was peering in on them with an inquisitive look on their 'face', "Peeking…" they vocalised, catching the attention of both the athlete and the drummer.

"The hell?" Tobias questioned, looking around for the source of the noise, "Who's there?"

"Is that… Doppel?" Jackie deduced from the voice's sound, still unaware of just where it was coming from.

"That's correct!" Doppel's voice resounded, and the AI soon made themself more visible via one of the many screens that dotted the walls, "Ah, you should be able to see me now, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Tobias rubbed the back of his head, unsure how to respond, "So… what do you want?"

"I just want to talk!" the AI cheerily admitted, "Because you all interest me a lot, and I want to learn more! Ember's told me some things about you… but I want to know more!"

Jackie raised an eyebrow, curious about what the AI said, "Ember? Who are they?"

"Oh, they're my creator," Doppel informed her, "They're here with you, they're interning for Chris and Chef."

"Makes sense," Tobias nodded, before a thought came to his mind, "Say… what do you already know about us, anyway."

"Well, Ember told me you were a 'smol angy boi'," Doppel explained innocently as Tobias twitched at each passing word, "I have no idea what that means, but-"

"How dare they!" Tobias angrily interjected, clenching his fists in fury, "Of fucking course that's what I get remembered for!"

Jackie could only stare in slight bewilderment, before she turned to the drummer with a small smirk, "Well, now's the chance to change that, isn't it?"

"You're right," the drummer slightly calmed down, still seething under his breath, "Doesn't make it not piss me off…"

"Now I'm curious, what did Ember tell you about me?" Jackie asked, chuckling at Tobias's slight anger.

"On it! Ember told me you were… let's see here… 'very cool, somebody to look up to, and slightly hot'," Doppel informed her, getting a confident smirk from the athlete in response.

"Well, at least they've got some good taste," Jackie proudly placed her hands on her hips, with one question on her mind, "Did they tell you about everybody, or…"

"They did!" Doppel confirmed, "Do you want to know what they told me?"

"I don't want an unfair advantage like this…" Jackie crossed her arms, pondering it over for a moment, "It'd be unsportsmanlike, I'd rather not-"

"Nah, I don't see it like that," Tobias butted in, the drummer smirking, "Any of them could get this shit too, all they gotta do is ask, right? If it really helps your morals out, you can even go tell 'em or whatever," he glanced towards the AI, who 'nodded' in affirmation to both statements, "We're just using what we've got at our disposal, and besides - if they know anything about anybody shady, we can deal with them so much easier and level the playing field. Not to mention, if what they knew about me and you was any example… I don't think they'll know anything too secret."

"I guess you're not wrong…" Jackie agreed, albeit reluctantly, "But… isn't this an invasion of privacy?"

"I only know roughly five words per person!" Doppel cut-in cheerily, "None of what I know is private - and I never lie! Trust me."

"If ya don't wanna hear it… you can leave," Tobias offered, but Jackie shook her head, "So… go ahead, tell us about them. I'm curious to see what they've got."

"On it!" Doppel lit up, and they began to relay the information to the two.

Confessional - Jackie

"Most of what Doppel told us was pretty self-explanatory," Jackie admitted, "We already know about Freddy's love of FNAF, or Mikey's general goofiness. First-glance stuff, really - so Doppel was honest at least."

"But, they did label Godfrey as, and I quote, 'a manipulative piece of shit'" she relayed, "I already didn't like him from a first glance, but this just makes him all the more suspicious to me. So I'm keeping my eyes on him in case he tries anything."

In the main dining hall, all of the contestants who weren't either exploring or preparing for the day were enjoying the 'amazing' and 'mouth-watering' dishes prepared by the one and only Chef Hatchet. Amongst that group were Chander and Jessica, both performers talking about their performances, of course, around one of the two tables.

"My whole family are stage magicians, actually - it runs in the blood," Jessica rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Oh, that's cool!" Chander grinned as he poked at his food, naturally not wanting to eat it too quick, "As for me… I grew up in the circus, I know my tricks better than the back of my hand!"

"Hehe," the magician chuckled lightly, "Guess we've got that in common - even if I'm kinda the odd one out in my family."

"Huh? Whaddya mean?" Chander tilted his head curiously, "Didn't you say your entire family are magicians - and you're definitely a magician, I know a few so I'm definitely not wrong!"

"No no no, we're all magicians, you heard that right," Jessica raised her hands in mock surrender, "Just, I said 'stage' magicians - so, y'know, things like pulling rabbits out of hats? Yeah… never was good at that."

"Ohhhh," Chander simply nodded, getting what Jessica was saying, "So you're like… your own thing, then? That's even cooler!"

"It-it's not even my own thing, it's my grandfather's!" the magician explained, "Really, I owe most of my success to him, really. I just kind of, well, tweaked it a bit, I guess."

"Nah, it's totally your thing," Chander shrugged, giving Jessica a small thumbs-up, "Sure, it was his thing first, but you're kinda like… making it even better, y'know? At least, from what I know."

Chander mimed a small explosion, as he spoke, getting a smirk from Jess in response, "I guess you're right - honestly, I wanna know more about what you do now!"

"I could tell you… or I could show you," the acrobat rubbed his chin with a grin, leaping off of his seat - and sending Chef's cooking flying right over a passerby Tobias, fortunately missing the drummer, "I'll be right back!"

Jessica blinked at the acrobat's exit, as Mikey moved over with his plate of food, raising an eyebrow, "What do you think he's doing?" the jokester asked the magician, who gave him a small nod of acknowledgement.

"I think I know," she said with a slight smirk, as Mikey chuckled.

Soon enough, Chander returned in with a trio of batons, a lighter and a bucket full of lighter fluid, jumping onto the table with ease (of course, putting the bucket on the table first.)

Confessional - Chander

"Look, it's always good to have something to set stuff on fire - just for performances, I swear," the acrobat explained.

"And while this trick is kinda a basic one, you could just call it a warm-up or something - heck, I could convince people to keep me around just to see more!"

Tobias inched away uncertainly, "Oh hell no, I know exactly how this'll end," the drummer muttered under his breath, moving right to the end of the table and close to the door.

Everybody else, though, was curiously looking up to the acrobat, who grinned as he dipped all of the batons in the fluid, before setting them alight and beginning to juggle them, catching the attention most of the people in the growing audience. The acrobat grew a bit bolder, starting to move across the table as he did so, "And now for the best part-"

"-The part where I come in!" Chris announced as he boldly entered the room, slightly stunning Chander out of his performance as the various exploring contestants all followed him in, causing the acrobat to drop his batons onto the floor besides the table, "You're so lucky this whole place is almost fireproof, y'know?"

Chander let out a sigh of relief, grabbing the batons with a sheepish chuckle, as Chris walked towards the center of the room, "Well, I think you all should know what time it is…?"

"Um, breakfast?" Freddy scratched his chin, confusing the host.

"Well, yes, but that's not the point," Chris answered, giving the FNAF fanatic a confused look, "It's challenge time! Everybody be in the entrance hall in half an hour so I can explain the challenge - you should probably know the way there by now. Probably."

Confessional - Mikey

"You know what? I'm gonna say it. Some people probably think it's bad luck, buuut… it's the first challenge, it can't be that bad," the jokester grinned, chuckling to himself.

The sixteen had soon arrived in the grand hall, greeted by Chris, Chef, Ember and Doppel, all of them split into their two teams, "Contestants!" Chris called out, smirking as he gave Doppel a small hand signal, "Welcome to your first challenge!"

Chris turned around, as the wall of the castle seemed to open, revealing what seemed to be an elevator, "Everybody, into the elevator!" he announced, pointing towards the now open elevator room.

There was… just one problem, however, "Isn't this elevator, like, a little bit… small?" Brooke noted, peering in - as she said, it could probably only just fit the full cast of sixteen, plus three hosts.

"Absolutely," Chris nodded, grinning, "Just think of it as a little reward for not getting eliminated if we ever actually use this thing again - you'll be in a less crowded elevator!"

"I guess so?" Casey rolled her eyes, "Ugh… let's just go in, or whatever… we're not gonna be able to say no."

"You got it!" Chris smirked, as Chef roughly shoved the nearest contestant - being Jezebelle - into the elevator.

"Hey, watch it!" the puffball glared at the cook, "

"So… anybody else want a push?" Chris offered with a grin, and everybody else got the memo… even if Octavia had to crouch down to fit.

Confessional - Octavia

She looked positively furious, "That elevator ride was hell, let me tell you that. Like, I couldn't even stand up in there without leaning over!"

Confessional - Casey

The copycat just looked flat-out annoyed, wiping her shoulder off, "Ugh, fuck Chris for that tiny elevator," she groaned, "But whatever, at least while it's all cramped, I could see that nobody had the idol in their pockets… assuming Godfrey didn't stuff it in his afro or whatever. Still too early to find that thing, I guess."

Fortunately for everybody, the elevator ride was brief, and the moment it reached the basement, everybody immediately clambered out to the single dark room before them, gathering into their teams for simplicity's sake.

The room was… fairly plain, all things considered - simply containing two doors - one for the elevator, a single large screen for Doppel to pop in through (which they already had), and nothing else - it was pretty dimly lit, too.

"Never," Jackie huffed out, giving Chris a glare, "Again."

The host just chuckled, "Maybe," he grinned, as Jackie exchanged a skeptical look with Jezebelle, "But whatever, time for the challenge."

The host snapped his fingers, directing the contestants' attentions towards Doppel's screen - which displayed a map of a maze, "Today's challenge is… somewhat simple - you have to navigate through this labyrinth of terror," the host explained, as Anu frantically unrolled his map and began to copy the maze on-screen on the back of his first map with frightening speed, "We've filled it with traps and tricks of all kinds, so trust me when I say this won't be easy. Make it to the big door at the end, and you win!"

"Any questions?" Chris asked, getting not a single reply… mostly because he didn't give anybody the opportunity to answer, "Good."

"Now everybody in!" the host demanded, and the sixteen contestants got the memo and dashed for the door. Once they were all in, the doors slammed shut behind them.

Once the doors had shut behind them, the two teams found themselves in a dark maze, lit up with electric candles. An ominous mist filled the air, and the path forward was blocked by a grand wall that split off both sides.

The Pearl Platypuses walked off to the right of the door, and once he was sure that they had enough distance from the Dodos, Tobias abruptly stopped, stomping his foot onto the ground to catch his team's attention, "I dunno about you guys, but I ain't walking through this maze without a plan," he explained, "I don't feel like getting lost, and I'm pretty sure you're all thinking the same thing."

Jackie nodded along, putting her hand to her chin, "You've got a point. Sure, I'm game - you got any ideas?"

"If I did you'd already know," the drummer grumbled, throwing a small glare in the athlete's direction.

"Well, I've made a map!" Anu excitedly added, waving the parchment in question around with a big smile on his face, bouncing up and down as he did so, "So, fellow adventurers, I can simply lead the way and we won't get lost!"

The rest of the team (well… save for Julia) all cheered at the role-player's reveal, with Freddy and Godfrey exchanging high-fives eagerly. Casey pumped her fist with a small grin, but a twitch of her eye quickly showed that she was anything but pleased with that.

Confessional - Casey

"Not good, not good," the copycat shook her head, silently cursing Anu, "Whatever, all I gotta do is get rid of frog boy's map somehow without everybody else noticing… just great."

"Well, youse gonna start moving or what?" Jezebelle snarked at the roleplayer, "I ain't lettin' the Dodos get ahead of us, so hurry up!"

"Very well then, onwards!" Anu called out, proudly raising his map again as he began to walk off, Princess resting himself on his head, as the rest of the team followed him.

However, the moment they reached the first crossroad, Julia immediately turned to the left, leaving the rest of the team behind as Anu began to go to the right.

"Hey, Julia, where are you going?" Freddy noticed her leaving, stopping abruptly and causing Jackie and Godfrey to both bump into him, "Anu's going this way!"

"Somewhere else," the runaway bluntly stated, only giving Freddy the slightest of looks.

Godfrey, Jackie and Freddy exchanged worried looks, but the charmer simply placed a hand on Freddy's back and flashed a smile, "Why don't I keep watch on her, while you all look ahead? We all need to reach the end, so I'll make sure she gets there, alright?"

"Oh, well then, I'll come with you - two heads are better than one, right?" Freddy asked, as Godfrey gave him a scrutinizing look.

The charmer then nodded, "I'd rather do this by myself, but if I have to drag you around, so be it," he said, confusing Freddy and mildly annoying Jackie.

"What do you mean by 'drag you around'," she raised an eyebrow, giving him a look that plainly stated that she didn't approve of his tone.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Godfrey smugly confirmed, as Jackie gave him a disapproving stare.

"Look, I'm not trusting you to-" Jackie crossed her arms

"You guys coming or what?" Tobias shouted at them, cutting off the argument, as the rest of the team had noticed their missing members.

"Actually, Godfrey, you can go with Anu. I'll take Freddy with me to make sure Julia doesn't wander off, got it?" she decided, as the charmer just shrugged apathetically.

"Fine by me," he smirked, letting out a small, sinister laugh, "I've at least got the map to show me the way, which you absolutely don't, heh. Good luck trying to find your way to the exit without us!"

Jackie and Freddy watched the charmer stroll back to the team, before turning away to chase after Julia.

Confessional - Godfrey

The charmer shrugged again, a grin on his face, "Well, getting Julia lost was my original plan… but I can work with this. Honestly, this might be better for me, Tobias and Jezebelle are definitely threats in the long run, and Anu's… a wildcard. Casey? Eh, I can just throw her under the bus whenever, this season only has room for one big bad. Me."

Meanwhile, the Diamond Dodos had split off from the Platypuses much sooner - however, they hadn't planned at all and were simply winging it, with Octavia leading the way.

The team was, for the most part, all moving in silence… except, of course, for the two performers and Mikey, who were almost huddled together as they followed, trailing behind the others slightly.

"You know, guys," Mikey grinned, putting a finger to his chin with a smirk, "This challenge is gonna be just lots of walking, really - wanna talk little?"

"Oh, sure!" Chander bounced up lightly, a smile on his face, "I'm always up for a performance… but you got any ideas?"

Mikey looked towards Jessica, who just shrugged, before snapping his fingers, "Well, she ain't saying no, so…" he chuckled, "What do you two think about pranks… 'cause I think this team's definitely prankable."

"Alright then," Chander grinned in agreement, liking the jokester's idea already.

Jessica just shrugged, but the small smirk on her face told Mikey all he needed to know, "So we all agree? Great! So, when-"

"Uh, guys?" Mikey's ramblings were cut off by Rival, who was looking back towards them from the middle of the group, "Just a friendly reminder that we don't wanna get split up - wouldn't that suck, right?"

"Oh, well, you're right, I guess," Mikey chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with a small, slightly ashamed grin, "So… uh, we can finish this conversation later, then? Don't wanna hold up the team and all, y'know?"

Confessional - Mikey

The jokester shrugged, "Okay, sometimes - just sometimes, I swear - I can get a little bit sidetracked - just sometimes, I swear!"

At the front of the group, Brooke, Kanna and Octavia were all talking amongst each other, while Kira tailed from behind, rolling her eyes as she nonchalantly followed the trio.

Brooke was looking at Octavia's outfit with an appreciative smile, as the media darling grinned at the attention, however small.

"Like what you see?" she grinned, putting one hand to her hip smugly, as Brooke's expression quickly shifted to a shocked one, jumping back in surprise.

"No - not like that?" she panicked out, raising her hands up, "I think your outfit's stylish, that's all!"

"Eh, say what you want," Octavia smirked, "But, like, thanks for the compliment anyways, I was just, like, joking there."

Brooke nodded, glad that the misunderstanding(?) was cleared up, "Yeah, alright, but really - you've good a really good fashion sense - I like, mean it!"

"Of course I do," Octavia ran a hand through her hair, a self-assured smile plastered on her face as she soaked in the praise, "Gotta look good for the camera, after all!"

Octavia gave the camera a wink, as Kira snickered from the back at the media darling's self-absorbed nature, "What was that?" Octavia turned around to face the gamer, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Eh, just thought something was funny, no biggie," she half-lied, "Remembered something from… uh… one of my Mario Party sessions. Yeah."

Octavia glared at the gamer for a few seconds, meeting her small grin, "Whatever, loser. We don't, like, need you at all. Isn't that right?"

The media darling turned to Brooke and Kanna, both of whom were awkwardly looking away - Kanna was even whistling as they rocked on their heels, "Seriously? Are neither of you gonna back me up here?"

"I was just gonna watch, honestly," Kanna admitted with a shrug, while Brooke seemed conflicted.

Confessional - Brooke

"So…" Brooke began, twiddling her fingers somewhat awkwardly, "Not sure whether I want to, like, back up Octavia there. Sure, she's popular, but she's also kind of a jerk… what to do, what to do…"

Brooke stayed silent, so Octavia kept speaking, "Well, whatever, we still don't want you around, so, like, shove off."

Kira pouted and crossed her arms, looking away, "Jeez, well fuck you too," she spat out under her breath, as Octavia cast her only the smuggest of looks, happy to be on the majority.

Octavia dismissively smirked, waving Kira off as the latter fell back, content to fall to around where Rival and the prank trio were, instead.

Confessional - Kira

"I mean, sure, I made enemies with Octavia," the gamer shrugged, "But she's only one person out of, what, seven? So it doesn't really matter that much, hehe."

Meanwhile, with the Platypuses - or more specifically, the larger group consisting of Anu, Casey, Godfrey, Jezebelle and Tobias. Anu was, of course, leading the way, map in his hands as he navigated the maze.

"And, of course, if we head right through that passage, we should be much closer to our goal!" Anu called out, pointing towards a notably dark route ahead of him - not a single wall could be seen. There were no other paths forward, either.

The rest of the group shared general looks of unease, and Anu turned to face them, unease plastered on his face, too, "So, shall we move forward, then?"

Godfrey was quick to respond, shaking his head, "Why don't you go forward, hm? I'll just sit back, you know, as a back-up plan?"

Anu nodded, fine with the idea, but the other three were not pleased with the charmer. Tobias was quick to snap at him, casting the much taller man an angry glare, "Man, are you just gonna wimp out like that?"

"Seriously, youse ain't surviving if we lose, smart guy," Jezebelle threatened him, the puffball crossing her arms.

Casey just smirked, "Look, if he wants to sit back, let him. It's not that big of a deal - we can just get rid of him when we lose."

"When?" Tobias questioned the copycat, raising an eyebrow accusingly.

"If," Casey corrected quickly, "If we lose, hehe."

"Right," the drummer rolled his eyes at her antics, "Well, let's go in, then."

"Onward!" Anu called out, once again leading his party as they went into the dark. The roleplayer rolled up the map as he went in, and the other three tailed him - Casey making sure to stay particularly close to him.

Confessional - Casey

"This is perfect!" she cheered, holding her hands together in barely-contained-glee, "I can get the map all to myself and ensure we get lost, and I get to kick Godfrey out when we lose? Somebody pinch me, this is too good to be true."

Once she was certain that Anu couldn't see her, the copycat made her move, snatching it from his arms.

The roleplayer jumped at the sudden touch, reaching for his toy spear out of instinct, "Who goes there?" he shouted out, startling the copycat into running away with her stolen map, stuffing it into a pocket. He eventually calmed down, "Must have been a spirit, isn't that right, Princess? Wonder how many of those haunt this castle, anyway…"

Fortunately for everyone, the lights chose this exact moment to turn themselves on. Unfortunately for everyone, the lights also happened to reveal a deep, black pit with only a few mushroom-like platforms striking out of the 'void'... wobbling slightly.

Doppel instantly appeared on a small screen on the contestant's side, smiling innocently as if there wasn't a death trap next to them, "Hi guys!" the AI greeted, giving the four a wave. Anu returned it with a small bow, but the other three weren't as enthused.

"Okay, so good thing for you is, you guys made it to the halfway point!" they announced cheerfully, "Good for you. But anyways, if you wanna get any further, you've gotta cross this pit. Don't worry, it's only almost bottomless!"

Tobias and Jezebelle exchanged wary looks, as Anu peered into the pit. Casey almost reached to push him in, but decided against it in the end, stepping back.

Confessional - Casey

"Yeah… I'm not that bad," she nodded, "Sure, I wanna win, but I don't wanna injure anybody too bad. What do you think I am?"

"I've already got his map, so I'm all in the clear there anyways."

Godfrey chose this moment to appear, since the lights had turned on. The charmer was walking slowly, and threw a smug, irritating grin towards his team-mates, who obviously weren't pleased to see him - Casey poked her tongue out at him, while Jezebelle rolled her eyes and Tobias crossed his arms.

"So… just jump from mushroom platform to mushroom platform! Good luck!" Doppel waved them off as the AI disappeared from view, leaving the quintet with an important question - who was going first?

"Godfrey, you can go, you've done nothing," Casey pointed at the charmer unprompted, and Tobias and Jezebelle both nodded in agreement. Anu looked like he was about to go himself, but Godfrey interrupted.

"If you say-" the charmer shrugged, walking towards the platforms leisurely. The charmer peered into the hole, jumped onto the first platform… and then he suddenly tripped, falling into the void below.

The other four all gasped in shock at his fall, but the sound of something hitting water below reassured them that Godfrey hadn't just died, and they collectively decided to leave - other than a slightly protesting Anu.

The charmer, on the other hand, had fallen into around waist-height water featuring some... pretty rickety columns, and stood up, completely soaked, "Just great…" he complained, as he began slowly walking towards a convenient ladder going back up, before he came to a sudden realisation, "Wait… I could just… hang around here for a bit and wait. How delightfully devilish, Godfrey," he schemed under his breath.

Above him, Anu jumped effortlessly from platform to platform, leaping with all of his froggy might. He was followed by Casey, who looked into the pit as she did so, then Jezebelle, and finally Tobias bringing up the rear.

Confessional - Godfrey

"If Jackie doesn't want me unsupervised," he smirked, running a hand through his hair, "Then I'll just make myself unsupervised. It's that simple, honestly - she might blame me for it, but that's exactly what I want."

Confessional - Jezebelle

"Godfrey? Yeah, he ain't survivin' if we lose, he hasn't done anything, and then he falls once he tries?" she smirked, "Well, I ain't keeping him around, that's for sure."

Meanwhile, the Diamond Dodos had found their way to another small-scale challenge - a pair of suits of armor was patrolling the halls, prompting the entire group to hide behind a corner as they figured out a plan… or more accurately, a potential scapegoat.

"So… any volunteers?" Kanna immediately suggested, only to get a variety of unimpressed looks in response, "Worth a shot…"

"Well, I'm not being the distraction," Octavia demanded, the media darling looking down to her team-mates, "Somebody else can do it!"

"I dunno… you're pretty distracting - y'know, you're super tall and all that," Kira snarked almost under her breath, "And you like attention - so this is perfect for you!"

"Hey, just because I want people to know how gorgeous I am, does not mean I want to be your scapegoat and shit!" the media darling glared at the gamer, who shrugged with a shake of her head.

"Hey, Chander, Jessica?" Rival turned to the two performers, hoping to avoid an argument, "You two are both performers, right? Could you maybe figure out a way to distract them?"

"I think I can, yeah," Chander grinned, looking over towards the two aimlessly patrolling suits, "I can't do anything too flashy without my stuff… but I'll see what I can do."

"I… don't think my usual tricks would work on them," Jessica admitted with a bashful sigh.

"Well, Plan A was a bust…" Rival sighed, "We can't distract both of them with just Chander, and I doubt Octavia wants to try. I'd go myself, but I'm not exactly the best fit, haha."

"It's like a stealth mission," Kira declared, "And as always… stealth is optional."

"I think I know where this is going…" Kanna tapped their chin, a small grin forming on their face as they did so, "So, are we all gonna run, or are we all gonna charge them?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Brooke's cheek as she took in the 'girl's' idea, "Lemme get this straight - you're, like, saying that we're all gonna run right at them?"

"I never said that," Kanna poked their tongue out, "But since you said so… I think if we all charged at them, we'd definitely be able to take them out. So, what do you guys think?"

"If everyone else is on board, then sure, why not?" Mikey smiled, "Not like I've got any better ideas myself."

Octavia, quite frankly, looked appalled at the mere suggestion, "Um, like, no! I was already against the first plan, I'm still not, like, gonna go out and ruin my make-up. Nuh-uh, not happening."

"Well, there's still seven of us!" Mikey pumped his fist as some of the members shook their heads in disbelief at the media darling's reaction, "We can still do it, right?"

"If everybody else is up for it… sure, why the heck not? Not like we've got another plan, have we?" Kanna decided, "And… well, Rival? You can do the counting, 'kay?"

"Huh? I mean, I'm down for it… but why me?" the vocalist questioned with a small chuckle.

"'Cause I trust you more than some of these other guys," Kanna admitted, shrugging with a small smile that Rival slightly returned, "No offense, other guys."

"None taken!" Mikey smiled dopily in response, while Kira and Octavia both scowled, having viewed the comment as a personal attack.

"Well then…" Rival took in a deep breath, as the rest of the team (albeit reluctantly in Kira's case) prepped themselves for the mad dash, "Everybody ready, then?"

"Yep!" affirmed Jessica with a short thumbs-up.

"Fine, whatever," Octavia rolled her eyes, seeming to have given in to going along with the plan, "Besides, I'll be able to get past these guys, like, super easy, anyways."

Confessional - Octavia

"So what if I said I didn't want to run earlier?" she questioned, her arms crossed, "I'm still one of the most athletic people here, I could run past them no problem."

She bragged with a smug smile, "And if I didn't go? Somebody like Kira or Tobias would've beat me there! Can you believe that?"

"3… 2… 1… and go!" Rival called out, and all eight members began the mad dash past the suits of armor, which immediately went on security mode and charged at them.

Much like her bragging in the confessional suggested, Octavia was, in fact, the fastest runner on the team (very much thanks to her height), and she charged right past the suits of armor with ease… and a smug glance at the nearest camera for good measure. Chander also managed to make his way past them easily, but they were the only two to get lucky enough to reach safety with relative ease.

However, the rest of the team weren't doing so well - Rival, Mikey and Brooke were being actively chased by one suit of armour, while Jessica was scrambling to the walls. Kira and Kanna were both being held up by the other suit by their shirts/hoodies, one in each hand as it robotically marched off to its destination as the pair accepted their fates.

Jessica, who had made it to the walls, let out a small sigh of relief as the threat was no longer targeting her, "Sorry guys…" she apologised under her breath, watching as the other suit roughly threw Rival over its shoulder, much to the vocalist's displeasure.

"Little help here? Anyone?" Mikey shouted out as he ran towards the safe contestants, Brooke and the suit of armour hot on his heels… Rival was struggling to keep his head from bashing against his captor every time it moved.

"Oh, um, I'll try and help, don't worry!" Jessica shouted out in mild reassurance, although she clearly did not know how to do so.

Confessional - Jessica

"My specialty is illusions," she confessed, bashfully rubbing the back of her head, "And they're being chased by a ten foot tall suit of pure metal, powered by an all-seeing AI… not much I can actually do there."

"So… I guess it's time for Plan B… whatever that is. But trust me," Jessica popped on her helmet and propped her hands to her hips proudly, "The Mistress of Illusions will not go down that easily!"

Meanwhile, Julia was still taking on the maze by herself, with Jackie and Freddy following the runaway, finally managing to catch up with them.

"Hey, we've been looking for you!" Freddy eagerly waved with a grin on his face, as he jogged to the runaway's side.

"Why?" Julia bluntly asked, deadpanning towards the FNAF fanatic and the athlete as she sped up in her walk.

"Well," Jackie began to speak, "We've gotta make sure everybody reaches the goal - and if you're all by yourself, if you end up going off-course, we're not gonna know."

Julia slowly nodded in understanding, but still looked reluctant to along with the pair, "I can make it there myself. Go away."

Freddy and Jackie exchanged a nervous glance with each other, and the FNAF fanatic continued trying to reason with them, "Besides, we can all help each other out if we get attacked or something, y'know? Who knows what's hiding around in here?"

Julia snorted, but abruptly stopped, prompting both Jackie and Freddy to stop as well. The trio were at the same obstacle the rest of the team had already passed - the platforms over the gap.

And of course, down below, Godfrey smirked at the sound of the other half of his team, and began climbing the ladder up to join them.

"Godfrey?" Freddy questioned, "What are you doing here?'

"Nice of you all to join me here," Godfrey smirked, as Jackie and Julia both cast him distasteful looks - Freddy was just surprised to see him there in the first place, "Well, then, I see that I'm not welcome in these parts."

"Where's everyone else gone? Weren't you supposed to be with them?" Jackie bluntly demanded of the charmer, who simply shrugged.

"I fell, and didn't feel like coming back up anytime soon," he shrugged, shaking his head with a sly grin, "Wasn't worth all that effort, I'll tell you that much, if this is the greetings I'll get. Not like you're wrong in reacting like this to seeing me, though."

As he was speaking, Julia was already making her way across the pit, deftly jumping over the platforms.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jackie questioned, too focused on the charmer to notice Julia's progress.

"Guys, why don't you argue later?" Freddy butted in between the two, "We've still got a challenge to win, don't we?"

"Yeah, you're right," Jackie nodded, turning away from Godfrey and preparing to run the course herself, "And I'm not letting you out of my sights anytime soon, mark my words. I'm not losing the first challenge just because someone decided he didn't feel like helping out."

"As you should," Godfrey nodded, as Freddy began to hop from platform to platform. Godfrey soon followed, with Jackie bringing up the rear to make sure that Godfrey actually finished the challenge. The charmer had decided to go through the challenge as slow as possible, much to Jackie's displeasure.

Thanks to that, Freddy and Julia reached the end significantly earlier than them, and the runaway saw her chance to get back to flying solo and took it.

"Freddy, you go ahead!" Jackie called out to the FNAF fanatic, "Don't worry, I can definitely make it!"

Godfrey rolled his eyes from atop the platform he was currently balanced on, as Freddy nodded and chased after Julia, "Got it!"

Confessional - Freddy

The FNAF fanatic rubbed the back of his head with a grin, letting a small chuckle out, "Well, I think I'm completely and utterly out of my depth with whatever's going on there, not gonna lie."

"If I'm being completely honest, this whole maze sort of scares me… which is great!" he punched the air in glee, "Also, nothing creates more of a horror-like atmosphere than when you're all alone, right?"

Back with the Dodos, and Jessica's Plan B… which was, quite simply, to throw her boot at the suit of armour's helmeted head. The sheer force of the boot was enough to knock the helmet clean off, stunning it enough to let the others run far away. The magician soon joined after them, grabbing her boot and running as fast as she possibly could away before it even potentially recovered.

Confessional - Jessica

"That should not have worked!" she laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as she chuckled, "Bwahahaha!"

"Wait… why do I feel like I'm forgetting something…?"

That 'something' was Rival, who was struggling to try and escape the headless armour's grasp, which hadn't faltered despite the interruption.

In another section of the maze, Kanna and Kira were thrown into a cage that was taller than the suit armour, as the other suit of armour left to resume patrolling, leaving the pair alone.

"So… how are we getting out?" Kanna asked, as they absent-mindedly poked at the bars of the cage.

"No idea," Kira shrugged nonchalantly, "I'd try climbing… but that's more effort than it's worth. And you can't bribe a robot…"

"Yeah, that makes sense," the 'girl' nodded, "So… are we just gonna have to wait… and if we lose, we're definitely gonna be on the chopping block."

"Urk… don't remind me," Kira sighed out, "Whatever… hm. Yeah, I'm out of ideas. Sucks to be us, I guess. I don't see how I can get out, so let's get comfortable, then."

Kanna raised an eyebrow at the gamer's pessimistic attitude, but their brief comfort was interrupted as they heard the distinct thuds of metal hitting the ground - the second suit had just arrived, Rival still slung over its shoulder until it threw the vocalist into the cage.

"Hey," Kira waved, the gamer laid down on her back, "As you can see, we're stuck, and I have no clue how we're getting out of here."

"Hm…" Rival gave the gamer a thumbs-up, before he took a look at the bars of the cage himself, "I don't see us using brute force, at least. And climbing out might take… too long"

"Yeah, neither of us are that strong," Kanna agreed with a nod, "So… you got any ideas, boss-man? Neither of us had anything… so have you came up with something better?"

"Well, I've only been here for a grand total of a minute, so no, not really," Rival snorted, "But… yeah, no. I'm kinda being useless here, sorry guys."

"Ugh… well this sucks," Kira groaned, "And we're not gonna see those armour guys again any time soon, are we? Hmm… maybe we could try to get them to ram into the bars or something… y'know, really tick them off, ehehe."

"That's… actually a pretty good idea. Better than anything I could come up with, at least," Rival noted, getting a smug smirk from Kira in response, "I'll be the one to enrage it, then - it's the least I could do."

"Nah, let me take a shot at this," Kanna offered, butting in with a smirk, "Besides, I'm great at distractions, this is right up my alley!"

"Better you than me. Now, Mr. Generic Protagonist, let's move out of the way… don't wanna get one-shot by a sword after all," Kira snickered under her breath, moving to the back of the cage with Rival.

"Generic Protagonist?" Rival echoed, "Haven't heard that one before…"

Confessional - Kira

She looked fairly smug, "So what if I'm messing around? I've got my little deal with Godfrey, and I'm just sly enough to get out of whatever trouble I end up in with my team. If I annoy people… eh, their problem, not mine."

Meanwhile the group of Platypuses that were further were still going forward… obviously with one member messing.

"Hey… does it seem like our party is missing somebody?" Anu asked the other three as Princess sat atop his head, "Oh - we must have lost Godfrey to the trap!"

"Honestly, good riddance," Tobias crossed his arms with a scowl at the thought of the charmer, "He's nothing but bad news."

Casey just grinned, as Jezebelle agreed with Tobias, "Shortstack's right, besides, we gonna vote him out if we lose, so who cares?"

"Shortstack?!" Tobias flared up in anger at the nickname, "Seriously?"

Confessional - Tobias

"First, I get called 'smol angy boi' by a computer, then it's 'shortstack' by the next shortest person here!" he ranted while he stood on the confessional toilet, "What do I have to do to get some fucking respect around here?"

Jezebelle puffed up, ready to snap right back at the drummer, "Well, youse shorter than me for one!"

Tobias sneered, losing more of his already short temper, "And you think you can just make fun of me for that, huh?"

The puffball was about to snap right back, but Anu cut right back in, "Well then, we've still got more of this labyrinth to complete, right? And with the help of my trusty map, we'll be able to clear this dungeon in no time! So, onwards we go!"

Anu reached for his map from his waist, but it was now that he finally realised that it was no longer with him, "Huh? We've lost our map!"

Casey stifled a snigger at the phrasing, while checking her pockets to make sure she still had the map, breathing an internal sigh of relief when it was still there. Meanwhile, Tobias and Jezebelle both were outraged, and any leftover anger was soon redirected at the frog man.

"How the hell did you lose it?" Tobias exclaimed, raising his fist towards the roleplayer, "Now we've got no way of telling where we even are!"

Anu reached for his toy spear just for a precaution, but managed to keep his cool… somewhat, "Well then, let's look for it! It'll be back at the platforms, right? And a simple fetch quest like that is nothing for Brillup Lilyheart and his companion Prin-"

"We get it, you're some great adventurer or whatever," Jezebelle snarked, "But as ya can probably see, we're lost now!"

Casey simply sat back, content to bask in the other three's argument with a subtle sly smirk on her face as conflicts escalated.

Anu was quick to regain bravado, though, "Well, fortunately, the great Brillup Lilyheart has burned the map into the back of his memory… mostly. So, I'm very confident that I know just how we can escape the Hidden Labyrinth of Fivefeetapart!"

"The what?" Casey deadpanned, "And who said you get to name it, anyway?"

"Don't you know? It's an unspoken rule of adventuring - the first adventurer to find somewhere gets to name it!" Anu proudly declared with his hands on his hips, with all of the confidence of , "And I named it first, after the Shrouded Castle of Fivefeetapart!"

Nobody knew just how to respond to that, but Tobias took the central stage with a look of barely-contained disgruntlement, "Look, weirdo, if you think you know the way to the end, then just fucking show us. Besides, you're not even on the chopping block if we lose, so we've got nothing to lose."

"But we don't have a map?" Casey argued, "Are we really just gonna trust his gut instincts after he lost it?"

"It's his gut instincts or nothin', so what the heck. You're up, frog man," Jezebelle pointed at him with a huff, "Or would ya like to just freakin' sit around and do nothin' instead?"

"Geez, geez, enough with the short tempers," Casey raised her hands in false surrender, "I'm just trying to be the logical one here - Anu's not exactly the most reliable person, is he? Remember, he lost the map…"

"We know, you told us that like thirty seconds ago!" Tobias shouted at the copycat, "So unless you wanna give us a reason to vote you out, you might as well get with the program… 'cause you're almost making me consider not voting Godfrey… almost."

"Eh, fine," Casey waved off dismissively with one hand, "Besides, you're all good with voting Godfrey when-I mean, if, we lose, right? Just wanna be sure."

"Dude's bad news," Tobias nodded, crossing his arms in annoyance, "I asked Doppel about all of us, and while you weren't labelled much better, Godfrey was just called bad news. No way in hell am I letting that guy run the game."

"Wait, you can just ask Doppel all that?" Casey exclaimed in surprise, as the gears were already turning in her head.

"You sure can," Tobias rolled his eyes, "You ain't getting much out of them, but they can say some good stuff. I agreed with Jackie to tell people about this stuff - makes it less cheating in her eyes or something like that."

"Good to know…" Casey grinned, as Anu started to walk off.

"Well then? Shall we go?" he pointed his spear towards the rest of the maze, "Because adventure awaits!"

"Move it or lose it, people," Jezebelle taunted, following after the roleplayer. She was shortly followed by Tobias and Casey, and the quartet were soon off.

Confessional - Casey

"How short-sighted could they be? I'll just ask Doppel where the idol is, and it'll be way too easy!" she cheered, "They… couldn't have planned for that, right?"

Meanwhile, all five of the Dodos who weren't currently in a cage had managed to successfully make it far away from any sort of armour-related danger.

"Are they gone…?" Mikey asked with a nervous chuckle, and a quick glance back confirmed the jokester's words, "They are, we're safe!"

Jessica grinned, pleased that her plan worked as she finally put her boot back on, "Hah… yep. Now… do you

"Hey, wasn't it a door that we needed to find?" Brooke recalled, as her finger pointed towards a great golden door that stood out among the dimly-lit maze, "'Cause I think I can see it right here!"

The rest of the group all turned to face the door too, and Chander grinned, "We've got no time to waste, come on!"

The acrobat sprung back into action and ran towards the door, which opened automatically. Behind it was a small, surprisingly well-lit room with nothing in it besides a single chair and a cardboard box.

"Did… we do it right?" he questioned, but Doppel popped up on the opposite end of the room.

"Yup! You made it to the win zone first, congrats!" the AI cheered, confetti filling the screen in truly obnoxious amounts as the rest made their way in - Brooke, then Jessica, then Mikey, and finally Octavia.

"Of course we did, I'm with us, after all," the media darling grinned, "So, do we win now or what?"

"Let me count… that's five out of eight. Sorry, nope! You've gotta have an entire team in here or you don't win," Doppel explained, "And you're not allowed out of this room until somebody wins… so get comfortable."

The AI threw a small smile out as the door shut, leaving the quintet alone in the room.

"So… we've just gotta, like, hope Rival… and Kanna… and Kira… I guess, make it," Octavia rolled her eyes as she immediately claimed the chair for herself, "Ugh, this blows…"

Confessional - Brooke

The shopper sat on the confessional, a proud smile on her face "So… well, I'd say we won, but that'd be wrong. But still, it feels really good to finish the challenge first, and hopefully the other three will be here soon!"

As they were finishing the challenge, Godfrey and Jackie most definitely weren't - and it was entirely Godfrey's fault, as the charmer was content to take his time examining the walls, much to the athlete's dismay. They had hardly progressed past the pit, anyways, and Jackie looked like she was five seconds away from forcefully dragging Godfrey to the end.

"What are you trying to do?" the athlete scowled at him, "If you don't even attempt to try, you know we're just gonna kick you out, right?"

"I know that," Godfrey nodded, "But… what makes you say I'm the only one trying that, hm?"

"What are you implying…?" Jackie frowned, "I trust the rest of the team to actually finish the challenge - unlike you."

"Trust?" the charmer raised an eyebrow, "This game is a competition, correct? Then trusting somebody who might be deceiving you to win is the last thing you should do, am I right? Since you're no stranger to competitions, I thought you might know this… but I suppose you're just like the rest of them."

"Sure, Casey and Julia might be somewhat sketchy, but at the very least they actually try to win challenges - you've been nothing but a nuisance since we've started," Jackie snapped at the charmer, who seemed unfazed, "Trust me, we've got no reason to want to keep you around."

However, the echoing sounds of loud, metallic footsteps soon filled the maze around them, and Jackie gave Godfrey one last look, naturally not wanting to find out what was the cause, "Fine, if you're gonna be like that, then be like that, I'm done with you, so you better hope we win. Now if you'll excuse me, I don't wanna know what's coming around here soon."

With that, Jackie ran off in an annoyed hurry, leaving Godfrey by himself… again, "Damn… she said she didn't want me by myself, and yet here we are. All the better for me, really."

With that, the footsteps soon approached him, and the charmer was soon face-to-face with a suit of armour, silently staring him down, "Well sh-"

One screen cut later, and Godfrey was soon in the cage with Kanna, Rival and Kira. The 'girl' was lying on the floor after a failed escape plan, while Rival was attempting to help them out. Kira just cast Godfrey a smug grin from right next to him.

Confessional - Jackie

"I'm done trying to play nice with Godfrey, I was willing to give him a chance and he blew it," she admitted with a roll of her eyes, "At least we have fodder for when we lose."

Confessional - Godfrey

He stretched his back, an audible crack being heard, "Note to self - avoid getting kidnapped by giant suits of armour, it feels just as bad as it sounds."

Meanwhile, the map squad were still… as lost as they were before - Anu was still leading the way… albeit less surely.

"You sure you ain't just leading' us 'round in circles, 'Brillup Lilyheart'?" Jezebelle pointed out, sneering as she said his character's name, "'Cause that's what it sure looks like to me!"

"Don't worry, team, I don't recognise this corridor - so we must be closer to our destination!" Anu gestured to the area around him, ignoring the mocking tone used for his character.

"Okay, now you're just making stuff up, this all looks the fucking same!" Tobias snapped, clenching his fist as he shook it at Anu.

"Well, I don't recognise that?" Anu pointed his spear towards a very dark corridor, and the other frowned.

"He's right…" Casey pointed out, warily looking in, "But do we really wanna go down there? Who knows what kind of traps could be waiting? I saw we just-"

Her sentence would not be finished, because a loud rumbling echoed through the halls, and the shadow of a large round object could be seen gradually getting closer to the quartet.

Anu, master of dungeons that he was, had one thing to say to that, "It's a trap - everybody run!"

Confessional - Anu

"Usually, a trap like that would be no match for a high-level adventurer like Brillup Lilyheart, and one of my potions could easily burst through!" he boasted, as Princess tried to satiate his appetite on the flies flitting about… to little success, "However, my team-mates… while Tobias may be a potentially powerful beardless dwarf - not gonna ask - he nor my other party members seem to have any form of past adventuring experience! So keeping them out of harm's way was, naturally, my objective there - I wasn't in any real danger!"

With his cry of panic, the frog man began to run as fast as he could away from the boulder with a 'brave' scream of abject terror, and the other three swiftly followed after him in similar panicked states.

A platoon of suits of armour soon noticed the four Platypuses running past them, and turned to chase after… but all but one were swiftly bowled over, collapsing into pieces behind them. The sole remaining pursuer immediately went on the offensive, being just behind the four as both the boulder and armour chased after them.

"Everybody turn left!" Jezebelle yelled out, noticing a split in the hallways out of the corner of her eyes. With a swift jump, the four leapt into the split and out of the way of the boulder, which knocked over the last suit of armour as it did - sending a helmet flying right at Casey as it did so. The boulder continued its path of destruction, soon breaking through a nearby wall and rolling on, unveiling a path towards the end door.

"Aha, there's the exit!" Anu pointed out as he regained his footing, leaping back up with a wide grin, "Our quest is almost complete!"

"Hell yeah, let's get going!" Jezebelle grinned, and the puffball was the one to lead the charge to the end group. Tobias and Anu soon followed, but Casey was still on the floor thanks to the impact, and the copycat picked herself up and kicked the helmet with a huff as she made sure the other three were out of sight, "Jeez… I stole that map and for what… ugh."

The copycat took the map out of her pocket and looked over it half-heartedly, flipping it over to the backside. Once she saw the backside, she shrugged, almost about to stuff it right back into her pocket when a simple idea came to mind. Double-checking that the others didn't see her, she grabbed the helmet and stuffed the map within.

Confessional - Casey

"It's like they knew I needed a simple way to dispose evidence," Casey grinned thankfully, "And now that I'm, ahem, scott-free regarding the map, these suckers won't know what hit 'em!"

"Actually they will. It'll be me," she chuckled, "Bam, improv."

Inside the winner's room, the copycat soon followed her three teammates inside, and was greeted with Octavia sitting atop the chair as if it was a throne while her teammates played Uno around the cardboard box (they found the pack of cards inside said box).

Doppel's screen soon lit up, as they counted the arrivals, "And that's… four for the Dodos! Welcome to the winner's chamber!"

"Hell yeah… we're the first ones from our team to get here," Tobias grinned, although the drummer's face fell at the sight of the room, "What's with this crappy room, though… I'd expect better."

"Well, Chris told me to find a room in the maze, and find a room in the maze I did!" Doppel cheerily provided, as Tobias frowned. Jezebelle and Anu had already joined in the Uno playing squad.

"Hey, where even is Chris, anyway?" Casey asked out of sheer curiosity, scratching her chin in contemplation, "Usually he'd wanna see us win."

Meanwhile, Chris and Chef were getting spa treatments in their private chambers, "Man… I knew getting my old job back would have its perks," the host sighed out as the masseuse rubbed his shoulders.

"You can say that again," Chef nodded in agreement, "Say, aren't you supposed to be hosting that challenge or something right about now?"

"Oh, right, I am," Chris dully noted, "Just let Doppel handle it, this can be their big episode or whatever, no biggie."

"Thank you!" Doppel's voice echoed throughout the room, mildly spooking the two hosts… mostly Chris.

"Right. All-hearing. Almost forgot about that," Chris frowned, before he turned back to the masseuse, who had stopped at the AI's sudden takeover, "Just keep going, 'kay?"

Back in the maze, Julia was trying to be on her lonesome, however she was accompanied by Freddy, who was attempting to get some kind of conversation out of the runaway while they were on a long stretch of nothing- with topics ranging from the castle to the competition - and the next topic was one that was tried and true.

"What about… horror movies, then?" Freddy suggested, "My favourite's gotta be the FNAF movie, of course - but I bet you already knew that, haha. You've gotta have a favourite horror movie at least, right?"

"Movies," Julia responded dryly.

Freddy frowned at the answer, but shrugged, "Eh, that's fair. I'm not gonna force you to have an opinion if you don't have one."

The contrasting duo continued to make their way through the halls, Freddy getting antsy as the lights began to flicker ominously, a low rumbling sound beginning to echo throughout the halls.

"Getting kinda spooky here," Freddy commentated mostly to himself, "Kinda expecting to be jump-scared any time now…"

"Hey, how close do you think we are to the end?" Freddy asked her out of curiosity, mild panic sinking into his voice, "We've gotta be close, right?"

"Maybe," Julia bluntly stated, not even so much as turning their head towards the FNAF fanatic as the rumbling's intensity only increased.

"Hey Julia… are you hearing what I'm hearing?" Freddy asked nervously, turning around to come face to face with none other than the very same boulder that had pursued the rest of their team previously - and much like those other members, both of the Platypuses sprinted as fast as they could away from the unstoppable rock.

The two continued to run, until they came across the entrance… and the same small crop the rest of their team dived into, and the pair fortunately dived into it… Freddy knocking his head against a loose helmet, while Julia's dive was thankfully much smoother.

The runaway gave Freddy a small look, just to confirm that he was alive, when she noticed something stuffed inside the helmet. The FNAF fanatic was fortunately able to get back up, while Julia pulled it out to reveal the map.

"Hey, what's that?" Freddy asked wearily, rubbing his head as he put his top hat back on and stood back up, "Izzat a map?"

Julia nodded passively, before pocketing the map for herself and walking off towards the ending door without a word, as Freddy scrambled after her, "Hey, wait up!"

Confessional - Julia

"This?" Julia held out the map, "It's useful. Not showing it to anyone, though."

"Freddy's probably the most trustworthy guy on the team, from what I can tell. Not completely sure yet, though. "

Upon entering, the runaway was greeted with chaos - while Octavia was sat on the chair as always, as Princess was biting on an Uno reverse card while sat atop the rest of the deck on top of the box. Everybody else watched in various states of either shock or amusement - Anu was trying to retrieve the card while the others watched his current attempt. Julia silently walked in, leant against a wall at the back of the room, and observed with mild interest. Doppel poked in and silently counted both her and Freddy to the mix, too.

Freddy entered, and though his eyes widened at the chaos, he shrugged and entered with an easygoing smile anyway, giving a wave that was returned by Brooke and Mikey, "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"I think Princess is, like… trying to eat the cards, or something," Brooke noted with a slight chuckle, "Anu let him loose for like… five minutes, and then this happened."

"Just fucking grab him already!" Jezebelle shouted out, "It ain't that hard!"

"Well, he's not hurting anybody just sat there," Anu reasoned, "So, instead I'll-"

Fortunately, he was cut off by another entrance, as Jackie jogged into the room, "Alright, I'm… pretty late. Just great," the athlete noted.

"And that's… seven for the Platypuses! You just need Godfrey now!" Doppel commentated, as the Dodos suddenly exchanged collective looks of worry… while all of the Platypuses save for Freddy and Anu exchanged exasperated looks, all save for Freddy having a rough idea as to why he was taking so long.

"Of course we are…" Jackie crossed her arms, "At least we know who to vote if we lose, right?"

She was met with nods from her teammates, "Good to know we're all on the same page there, at least. Now all we can do is wait… just great"

Confessional - Kanna

"So, I haven't done any real trolling yet - sad, I know," Kanna fake-cried for a split second, before poking their tongue out cheekily, "Buuut… stuck in a cage with Rival? This might be perfect timing to mess with him a bit, or something like that."

Within the cage, the last four contestants were still workshopping ways to get out of their predicament. Or, more accurately, Rival was still trying to escape - this time through going over the bars, while Kanna was attempting to flirt with him and Godfrey and Kira schemed in the corner.

"So… you got any targets?" Kira asked in a whisper, "I've got some… but, y'know, I'm not gonna tell if you don't."

"Oh, absolutely," Godfrey nodded, "Jackie's a big physical threat and Rival has a strong social game - those two should be our first targets, right?"

"That… probably makes more sense than who I was gonna say," Kira admitted with a jealous sneer.

"Who was that?" Godfrey inquired, "I'm just curious."

"Uh, you," Kira blurted out, "I did say I was gonna backstab you, right? Makes sense to get you out early, or whatever."

"I… see," Godfrey squinted, as he looked over to Rival and Kanna, "Let's get back to the challenge, then, before we get too suspicious - and you can get those two back on track while I figure this out myself. After all, we are on different teams. They're not my concern"

Confessional - Kira

"My actual target was Octavia," Kira closed her eyes with a smirk, "But I'm not telling Godfrey that, he'd definitely tell her himself - I know how he thinks. So, yeah, I lied, that's all there is to it."

While Godfrey moved to the other side of the cage, Kira turned to her two teammates. Rival had slipped from the bars after his failed attempt, "Well… that was stupid of me…" he chuckled.

"Coulda went way worse," Kanna shrugged, helping lift the vocalist up, "So… we going back to

operation 'anger the suit of armor using an attractive person'? 'Cause we don't have any other plans."

Rival blinked at the phrasing for a split second while Kira just snickered, inserting herself into the conversation.

"Nah, I'll find another way out," Kira declared, "There's gotta be a switch for this around here somewhere, right? Chris wouldn't make an impossible challenge… that's just dumb."

"Why didn't we think of that…" Rival facepalmed, "Probably stress."

"And because I know every single gaming trope ever," the gamer boasted, "So… it was only natural I'd figure that out before you guys."

"Yeah… that too," Kanna shrugged one-handedly, "Let's get looking, then!"

With that, Rival and Kanna joined Kira in looking outside the cage, and Kanna spotted a button on the wall - it was a light blue against the greys of the maze walls, "Oh, there it is!"

The other two (and Godfrey, who was standing around doing nothing) ran over to the edge of the bars to take a look, and Rival lit up at the find, "Finally! Don't worry, I've got a plan to hit it, I've seen this done before."

His plan was an exact copy of Jessica's - he took off his shoe and forcibly threw it at the button, triggering the bars of the cage to descend to who knows where.

"Freedom at last!" Kanna exclaimed, giving Rival a quick hug… and the camera a small smirk before they shot off, "Now we should probably run before the guards get back here!"

"You can tell me twice…" the vocalist agreed, running over to grab his shoe before he took off, Kanna and Kira following after him.

That just left Godfrey, who, after a split second of contemplation, chased after the four, seeing no other options for himself.

Confessional - Rival

"The hug? I'm not gonna look into that too much," Rival scratched his chin, "Sure, it might've been kinda flirty, but I've known Kanna for like… one day, if that."

With that, it became a race for the four to find the finish line, following the path of destruction left behind by the boulder - between pieces of armour and the occasional crushed wall, there was a clear path for them to follow.

Very little of note happened until the very end, and the goal was in sight, "We're in the home stretch - come on!" Rival cheered on his team-mates, as while Kanna was doing fine, Kira was visibly winded.

"Finally!" Kira panted out, and the gamer immediately picked up her pitiful pace, using up all of her energy to keep up with the other two.

"Good to know," Godfrey nodded as he leisurely jogged behind them, although a sudden rumbling from behind him caught the charmer off-guard - and all it took was one glance over his shoulder (and a view of the unstoppable boulder) to prompt him into running just fast enough to outrun.

The three Dodos also sped up at the sight of the rock, and soon enough, Rival and Kanna made their way to the safe zone, where Jackie greeted them eagerly… and cast a disdainful glare towards Godfrey through the open door. The charmer glared right back, but as he got closer to the door - and still neck-and-neck with Kira, he immediately turned towards the gamer.

"Well, Kira, it's been fun, but I need to win this challenge," he declared, as he forcibly pushed her by the face out of the finish line (and, luckily for her, out of the boulder's rolling range either as she was right next to the door), securing his spot as the final victor of the challenge, as he entered to… minimal fanfare, honestly.

"And… Godfrey is the last one in!" Doppel exclaimed, "Meaning that-"

"The Pearl Platypuses win!" Chris called out as a door opened from behind the chair and in the walls, startling Octavia out of the seat, "Which also means that the Diamond Dodos are the big fat losers, and have to vote somebody out tonight!"

"You are so lucky," Jackie crossed her arms as she scowled at Godfrey, as Kira stormed into the room with a glare on her face, pushing Jackie aside to get to the charmer himself.

"Dude, what the hell!" the gamer pointed her finger into Godfrey's chest, "I could've been boulder roadkill right there - consider our alliance over, asshole!"

"Fine by me," Godfrey shrugged, moving Kira's finger out of his chest, "Besides, it's safer for me to not be in an alliance where my partner, oh, I don't know… wanted to vote me out?"

"You're lying," Kira accused as the rest of the cast - hosts included - watched on, "I-I was going to vote Octavia 'cause-"

"What the hell?" Octavia shouted out as Kira realised her blunder, tugging on her ponytail in stress as she panicked.

"I might cheat, sure. I might backstab, fine. But lie?" Godfrey wagged a finger condescendingly, "Now that, I would never do. I'm the most honest devil around, and all of you should know that. But the rest of you? Well, who knows what they're all hiding? I sure don't… yet."

With that, Godfrey turned away from the crowd, as Chris smirked at the growing drama, "Well, entertainment aside, I've got a show to run, and that means that everybody's gotta get in this elevator here!"

The host pointed to the room behind him, prompting a collective groan from the cast as they all filled in.

Confessional - Casey

"We won!?" Casey crossed her arms as she glared at the camera, "Just great - I could've followed in the footsteps of the one and only Scott, and kicked out Godfrey just like that!"

She snapped her fingers for emphasis, "Well, whatever… there's gonna be more challenges where that one came from, at least."

Confessional - Godfrey

The charmer scratched his chin in contemplation, "I think I might have gone a bit too heavy-handed with my strategy - it seems my team would rather just vote me out than consider my opinion for even a moment. My team's got a lot of hotheads… and while it would be easy to exploit that weakness… I'm already on the bottom of the team ladder. Still, there's some other weak links I can use to my advantage, so you haven't seen the last of me yet."

Confessional - Anu

"Huzzah!" the roleplayer threw up confetti with a wide grin on his face, accidentally knocking Princess off of his head and into the outhouse toilet, "Our party succeeded in their first challenge, no small part thanks to me!"

"It is admittedly a shame that I lost my map, though - I made it using the finest ink from the purple squid that lurk in the Bullywag Swamp. But I've travelled unfamiliar terrain without one before, and our quest for the Prismatic Well of Nohomo has only just begun!"

Confessional - Octavia

The media darling grimaced towards the confessional, "Sure, we lost, and that, like, fucking sucks and all. But I know my team won't, like, vote out their best member anytime soon."

"Except for Kira to just say that? Like hell I'm letting that slide - she's so dead!" she pointed towards the confessional, as Princess suddenly hopped into view with a loud croak, scaring the media darling into running right out of the confessional.

Confessional - Freddy

Freddy cheered in the confessional, throwing his arms back with a wide grin spread across his face, "We won!"

"But, I've still got a question… what's up with that boulder?" he realised, "It's almost as scary as an animatronic with how it just… keeps on rolling like that? What if it's like, an animatronic boulder or something? Nah, that sounds so stupid."

"It's obviously enchanted!" Anu shouted from right outside the confessional, catching Freddy off-guard, "Somebody struck it with a spell!"

"By the way, Freddy… is Princess in there by any chance?" Anu asked after a moment of confusion, "I think he wandered off…"

Freddy opened the outhouse door and left, letting Anu in to look into the outhouse and take Princess out, "Aha, there he is!"

Confessional - Kira

The gamer sank into the confessional, hoodie pulled up as she fidgeted with the strings, "Well… crap. I just had to ran my mouth, and I'm probably getting eliminated for it. Not worth the effort to try and change that - it's no use, really. Fuck Godfrey for everything, though… maybe I can do something to make him really regret what he did there…"

The gamer smirked deviously, "Wait… I think I've got an idea. We've got enough time for me to take little visit to the bedrooms at least…"

Soon enough, all eight members of the Diamond Dodos had arrived at the elimination ceremony room - which was a large room with eight circular seats for the losers to each sit on, while Chris and Chef stood in front of them, the latter holding a tray of seven marshmallows - Doppel was on a nearby screen while Ember watched from a side. Amongst the eight Dodos, most of them were giving Kira wary glances while the gamer just rolled her eyes.

"Welcome, Diamond Dodos, to the first ever Total Drama Digital Mayhem elimination ceremony!" Chris announced gleefully, "And, also, hello Pearl Platypuses in the peanut gallery!"

The host pointed towards a set of bleachers to the side, where the eight Platypuses were all sat - Tobias, Jezebelle, Freddy and Casey in the front row, Jackie, Godfrey, Julia and Anu in the back row.

"Now, I'm sure all of you are familiar with how this goes," Chris explained, "And we've already got the votes in, luckily. For old time's sake, we're going with a classic for our first elimination back - good old marshmallows."

"So the first marshmallow goes to… Chander!" Chef threw the first marshmallow towards the acrobat, who jumped up to grab it as it overshot.

"Brooke! Jessica!" the shopper and magician exchanged high fives as they grabbed their marshmallows.

"Rival! Mikey!" the vocalist was hit square in the forehead by the harmless sweet, as the marshmallow rebounded into his lap. Mikey chuckled, but his marshmallow instead rebounded off of the side of his head.

"And Kanna!" the 'girl' pumped their fist as they grabbed their marshmallow.

"And that leaves Kira, and Octavia," Chris turned to the final two Dodos, Octavia sure as ever while Kira looked resigned to her fate.

"Kira, you've been a lazy nuisance to your team, you failed to finish the challenge, and you admitted to wanting to vote the other member of the bottom two out," Chef explained, as Kira rolled her eyes.

"Tell me what I haven't done," the gamer snarked right back.

"And Octavia, your ego's getting on some of your team's nerves," Doppel explained, "Which is probably why Kira wanted you gone."

"Hey, I've not got an ego!" Octavia protested.

"Anyhoo, the final marshmallow goes to…" Chris picked up the final marshmallow, and held it high into the sky, "Octavia! Kira, you're out with six votes to two!"

"Wait, six?" Octavia questioned, "Who else, like, voted me then?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," the host grinned, "And trust me, I triple-made-sure Doppel wouldn't blab about votes, as that would be really bad for any kind of strategy."

"My lips are sealed… my metaphorical lips, that is," the AI confirmed.

"Can we just get on with this already?" Kira sighed, "What's it gonna be? Cannon? Trebuchet? Catapult?"

"Nope, even better… you'll be going down the Pipe of Shame all the way down to the Dungeon of Losers!" Chris rubbed his hands together sinisterly, and Doppel slightly copied - as Ember looked on in concern.

"Well, whatever. I've still got this so…" Kira reached into her hoodie's pocket and pulled out a large pack that was full of what was obviously Godfrey's self-care products with a cheshire grin on her face, "Good luck keeping that afro up, asshole."

The charmer frowned from the stands, and Chris basked in the drama briefly, "Alright, spite-fueled theft aside, Doppel, do the honors and send Kira down to the dungeon!"

"Got it!" the AI saluted, and with just a quick moment the floor beneath Kira's seat disappeared, sending the gamer falling down with a loud scream as the other fifteen contestants looked on in concern.

"Is… that safe?" Brooke meekly asked, just getting a shrug from Chris in exchange.

"Dunno. Never tested it," he admitted bluntly, "I asked Ember to do it but they ran away, and Chef told me he was 'never testing one of my ideas again'."

"Test your torture methods on yourself next time," Chef rolled his eyes.

"Y-yeah!" Ember reaffirmed from the back of the room, though they soon returned to

"I figured…" Brooke deflated, sighing as she looked down at the floor.

The episode's epilogue began as Chris stood in the entrance hall, the other two hosts still by his side, "And there we have it - one down, fourteen to go! Will Casey successfully sabotage her team? Will Chander burn down the castle? Will Godfrey be able to keep his afro up? Find out all the answers to these important questions and more, next time on Total Drama Digital Mayhem!"

Diamond Dodos: Brooke, Chander, Jessica, Kanna, Mikey, Octavia, Rival

Pearl Platypuses: Anu, Casey, Freddy, Godfrey, Jackie, Jezebelle, Julia, Tobias

16th: Kira Mitchell - The Opportunistic Gamer (Me)

Author's Notes: Bam, finally got the second chapter to this out! Updates are probably gonna be sporadic, not gonna lie… but it's still good to get a second chapter out.

As for our eliminated gamer… I'll admit, she wasn't even put in this cast to just be first boot fodder - however, I struggled to make either of the original first boot idea make sense to go home this early and still stand out, and Kira was the best option remaining. Between her generally being not the most well-liked person before, and her team being the more close-knit of the two (save for Octavia), she could work nicely as a fake-out antagonist for this particular fic. But this definitely helped develop her more for when I next send her out.

Other than that, how was the chapter and my portrayal of your OC (if any)? I'll admit that some characters, especially on the Platypus side, took up more screentime this chapter, but that just lets the characters who didn't take a big role here take on next chapter, am I right?

With all that out of the way, happy writing/reading, and Kadachi out~