Once again instead of the typical Chris narration intro, some royalty free music blared as the Aftermath logo appeared word by word. It'd be present in between each clip, the first of which started after a flash of white. It showed Beth and Scott, locked in their banjo duel during the Nashville tiebreaker.

"You ain't too shabby, squirt," Scott complimented, genuinely impressed that Beth could keep up with him.

"Thanks," she replied gratefully, peering over at the crowd and suddenly grinning as an idea popped into her head. "Oh, by the way. I know she may be trying to deny it super hard. But Courtney? She's totally still into you."

"What?!" Blindsided, Scott's momentary loss of focus caused him to drop his banjo. "Crap!"

With that, Beth strummed one final set of notes, using extra emphasis on the last one. Team Old School erupted into cheers.

The scene then transitioned to show a moment from the Colombia challenge, Sugar distracting B so Amy could mess with his singing device.

"So if ya wanna put a little extra sugar on that chocolate after the season is over, call me!" She gave the large boy a wink and returned to her own team, leaving him absolutely dumbfounded.

*** Confessional: B ***

Obviously without saying anything, the disturbed boy wretches and proceeds to throw up into the toilet.

For the next scene it took us back to Mumbai, moments after Cody and Sammy had become official.

Cody got a dorky grin. "You bet! Only problem is I don't really know where we could go for privacy. Even if one of our teams win, I don't think we're supposed to just freely sit around first class with each other."

Sammy rolled her eyes playfully. "The cargo hold should be pretty quiet and secluded. Maybe we could do a 'zombie check' for old time's sake?"

Damn, he didn't think of that. Had she been secretly planning this out for sometime now? Whatever the case, he nodded enthusiastically. "Sounds like a date then!"

Rather than getting individual clips, two of the episode's guests would share the next one, a moment of them together during the Istanbul heists.

"Hmph, let me try."

Courtney moved to test her luck but Scott just looked on in annoyance. "If I couldn't fit through that tiny thing then there's no way you can."

He quickly regretted his wording as she jumped down, landing on one of his feet and getting a wince from the guy. "And just what is THAT supposed to mean? Explain yourself."

Sensing imminent danger, he quickly tried to think of an excuse that wasn't his initial thought being because her butt wouldn't fit. She was too smart and had a big head? It couldn't handle her big personality? None of these options felt viable. "... No, I get the feeling I made a mistake, somehow."

And finally was one last clip, this time taken from the most recent episode in Los Angeles focusing on Amy and Sugar.

"Oh my gag, you didn't actually believe any of that, did you?"

"Huh?" Sugar blinked in confusion. "Buy what?"

"That dumb romance act, duh. You think I'd actually be caught dead dating a scrawny dork like that in the real world? As if."

*** Opening Credits ***

Another rendition of the Aftermath logo and theme song transitioned to a shot of the stage while the audience cheered enthusiastically. On the left side was a set of couches half empty and half occupied by the first six boots. The right side of the stage was once again shrouded in darkness, though it was clear that people were sitting there. Perhaps if the audience squinted at the silhouettes they could just faintly guess some identities. And finally, smackdab in the middle was Topher and Ella, smiling and waving at the adoring spectators. They had traded in the blue outfits from last time for a yellow set. The wannabe princess was channeling her inner Belle with her elegant gown, while her co-host was serving looks with his dapper golden suit.

"Welcome back to the Total Drama Aftermath," Topher happily yelled, adding in a dazzling smile. "Once again we're coming to you live in front of a studio audience in Toronto! We're your hosts Topher-"

"And Ella," his co-host finished, in a cheery singsong voice. "We're oh so glad to be back! Even if it's just been weeks, it almost feels like it's been years since we saw you last."

"Don't you worry! We've got a heck of a show planned, one you are NOT gonna want to miss." After giving the crowd a moment to simmer down, Topher shifted his view to the left couches. "But before we get into that, how about we check in on the peanut gallery? First up, it's the chumps who got eliminated before the last show!"

Back to raucous whoops and clapping for the audience. The camera panned over each of the former competitors one at a time to give them their closeup. Rodney grinned bashfully and waved. Dakota blew a kiss to her adoring fans. Shawn smiled nervously, not really up to doing much else. Staci seemed oddly unnerved while she waved, and it was quickly revealed to be because Izzy had an arm around her while she used the other to flash the spectators a finger gun. Finally was Harold, who notably had switched out his wheelchair for a normal seat on the couches. Instead he had a pair of crutches next to him while he waved.

Ella took quick notice. "Oh my, Harold! Out of your wheelchair already? It's wonderful to see you healing up so nicely."

With the attention already on him, Harold pulled himself up with the crutches to demonstrated that he could even stand now. "A benefit to suffering so many injuries over the years is that I've built myself up to be a wicked fast healer. It's pretty much a superpower. Plus as much as I told her not to worry about it, Dakota insisted on introducing me to some mad skilled doctors."

"Daddy knows a lot of the world's best! Surgeons, physical therapists, you name it!" The heiress flashed her stomping victim a smile. "It was the least we could do, the injury was my fault after all."

"So you've been hanging out with Harold a whooole bunch ever since the last Aftermath, eh? Flying him out to fancy hospitals and everything, basically showering him with gifts? Huh, very romantic! What is it with you and geeks?" Topher chuckled along with the crowd, though Dakota didn't seem amused. "Maybe it's the voice?"

"Topher the episode JUST started, please at least save the dramatics for a few more minutes," Ella pleaded, looking for something to change the subject. "Staci, Izzy, the two of you seem to be quite jovial. Do I detect the signs of a new unlikely friendship?"

The compulsive liar side eyed her ginger companion. She was essentially trapped in place with that arm around her.

"Yah, we've been like, hanging out since the last show and stuff," Staci explained. "She says she wants to help me with my lying problem..."

"And it's the perfect solution." Izzy cackled ominously. "Since her problem is that she thinks all her stories need to be lies because she doesn't think she's interesting, Izzy fixes that by giving her plenty off exciting experiences that are real. Jumping into the lion enclosure at the zoo, swimming near the edge of a waterfall, tightrope walking above a crocodile pit. We're planning to go bungee jumping from the CN Tower tomorrow!"

Apparently this was news to Staci since her eyes shot wide open.

"Sounds like a blast. If anything goes wrong, be sure to send us the footage, yeah? It'd go great in the That's Gonna Leave a Mark segment!" Topher turned to face the other set of couches, still shrouded in darkness. "But for now, I think it's about time we introduced our bonus guests for this episode's peanut gallery!"

Ella clapped excitedly. "You heard us right, the guests actually switch each episode. It was Topher's idea."

"More names each time means more reasons for people to tune in. Which equals more ratings!" He rubbed his hands together and chuckled. "Just wait and see who've I've got lined up for the next Aftermath. Views are gonna be through the roof!"

"But for now, today's special guests! Last Aftermath we brought back the Ridonculous Race alumni who were snubbed from securing a spot on the cast. And while it was wonderful having them join us, the group was lacking in girl power."

Topher nodded in agreement. "So to make up for it, today's special guests are all chicks. And not just any girls, some of Total Drama's most athletic and powerful!"

Both hosts nodded at each other and announced in unison. "Please welcome... Bridgette!"

A spotlight shone on each guest as they were introduced, the surfer chick waving politely at the crowd losing their minds.

"Eva!"

In contrast, the powerlifter snarled at the camera despite the audience clearly showering her with love. I-it's not like she enjoyed them cheering for her, baka.

"Jo!"

Another spotlight revealed the jockette posing, one arm flexing and the other outstretched dramatically. Eva leered from nearby but said nothing.

"A former finalist, Sky!"

Cheers ramped up as the Olympic athlete waved politely.

"And finally, one of Total Drama's most dominant females of all time... Zoey!"

And there she was in all her glory, soaking up the spotlight and attention. Zoey was in her iconic two toned purple ice skater dress, leg warmers, intense grin, black hair done up in a ponytail... hey wait a minute-

"Josee?!" Bridgette was the first to vocalize the obvious, her friendly demeanor faltering. Even if she hadn't competed in the race herself, she had watched plenty of the ice dancer's antics while tuning in to see Geoff. "Who invited you?"

"Ok, Brody last time at least made a bit of sense since he came with Geoff." Topher pinched the bridge of his nose. "But how the heck does THIS happen? Where's Zoey?"

"i have no idea what you mean, I received my invitation just like the other girls here." To prove her point she flashed the paper for the camera. "Sure, I thought it was a bit odd to be invited as a guest for a show I never competed on, but who am I to deny the spotlight with my presence?"

Totally ignoring anything she just said, Ella looked to her co-host in concern. "I'm really not sure, the producers were quite clear that they wanted the other four and Zoey on the guest list. This doesn't make any sense..."

Being ghosted? Rude. Josee loudly cleared her throat to get the attention back. "Ok fine, you've got me. Let's just say a little birdie told me about the show's desire for strong female guests and I expressed my interest! I guess some wires must of got crossed and the invite intended for this Zoey girl wound up with me! You should be appreciative of the upgrade, honestly."

"A little birdie?" Topher repeated, just more confused if anything.

Suddenly they heard a violent sneeze from nearby and all eyes turned to the source. A tall man standing behind one of the cameras wearing dark sunglasses and a particularly fake looking mustache. A blonde pompadour was jutting out of his hat, and while he was wearing baggy cameraman clothes, bits of purple fabric much like Josee's outfit were poking out of the sleeves. When he noticed everyone looking, he chuckled awkwardly and ran off.

"Why am I not surprised that they can't even manage decent background checks here?" Topher groaned into his hands. "I have a pretty good idea why she wants to be here in the first place, too-"

"Does any of this crap matter?" Eva suddenly barked out. "She's just a stupid Aftermath guest. Zoey, her, who cares. Just get on with it."

Ella shared a look with her co-host and relented. "I suppose you're right. And since we're getting back on track, it's great to see you Eva! So many fans really miss seeing you in action."

She snarled in contempt. "Them and me both. Why the heck do I keep getting snubbed for these new seasons? Are they scarred I'm gonna steamroll everything and make it boring?"

"Biiiig talk coming from the one season wonder," Jo taunted from nearby. "You just know your legacy is in the dumps when you're only in the same breath as those pink wearing valley girls from the first season. Here's a better theory, they probably don't invite you back because they don't care!"

"Oh that's rich coming from the knockoff version of me!"

"Last I checked I actually managed to be successful in my first season and get an invite back." Jo grinned smugly. "So if anything, you're the knockoff!"

"I competed first, that doesn't even make sense!"

Both jockettes seemed primed to settle this in combat here and now, so Bridgette quickly got between them to break it up. "Girls, knock it off. You can both coexist as different badasses, right? No one is a knockoff of anyone else."

Topher frowned at the potential brawl being broken up, so it seemed moving on would be the next best thing. "Well while we're talking about who actually is or isn't competing, you gals care to tell us who you're rooting for? I'm especially keen to hear who Sky's supporting."

The gymnast narrowed her eyes at him but wouldn't back down from answering. "I'm rooting for Jasmine, but there isn't really all that much interesting a reason for it. She's strong, doesn't take crap from people. I always thought she was a great competitor."

"I'm biased towards the ones from my generation," Bridgette admitted. "But if I have to pick just one, DJ. A guy that nice deserves to have things go his way after the last season he had to suffer through."

Eva shrugged uncaringly. "Anne Maria I guess? I like the cut of her gib."

Josee took a minute to think it over since she had literally never interacted with any of them. "She may be rough around the edges, but I rather like that Sugar girl. Pageantry may not be ice dancing, but it's a similar enough field. She knows the value of being a winner and the importance of showmanship!"

"Plus she got 3rd place on her last season! I guess it makes sense you'd be rooting for her." Topher then realized that one of the guests wasn't answering. "How about you, Jo? Lemme guess, you're rooting for Brick or Lightning?"

"Me? Root for those dorks?" She laughed mockingly. "As if! None of the losers on that cast deserve to have me cheering for them, those dweebs especially. Only way you're gonna get me supporting someone is if you put ME in the game."

Ella shook her head, sighing dramatically. "Oh that's too bad. I had always thought you and Brick had the most lovely unspoken chemistry back when I watched season 4. Sure, it may not have been the most healthy dynamic, but the tension was so enjoyable!"

Jo was unamused. If anything, she seemed ready to throw hands then and there. Topher cleared his throat and decided it was time to move on.

"I'm sure we'll get to hear more from you gals as we interview our new guests. And on that note, I think it's about time we brought them out, yeah?"

Attention was called to the big monitor above the host couches, playing a highlight reel of moments from the second arc's eliminations. B's gadgeteering prowess coming in clutch to help his team many times, Courtney's attempts to lead a new alliance to keep herself safe, Scott reluctantly doing things like the zombie watch to help repair his image, Beth's performances with Leshawna in Turkey and Samoa, Cody gradually connecting with Sammy and hanging with his Drama Bros friends. Finally was Amy, in all her scheming and catty glory. The clips were all scattered in no particular order since, as anticipated, and flash of the mean twin on the screen was met with boos from the audience.

"Please help us in welcoming," Ella began, motioning towards the edge of the stage. "... our guests! All of them at once!"

Indeed all 6 former contestants were roughly shoved into frame from off stage by various interns. Beth had to flail her arms to stay balanced, Scott and Cody both faceplanted, while Amy and Courtney glared at the stagehands with the later even faking them out with a lunge. B? He was unbothered. Just shuffled to the side of the crowd with an eyebrow raised.

"That's right, we're pacing things a bit differently this time," Ella continued, smiling apologetically at their startled guests. "For reasons you'll see soon enough, I'm afraid we had to cut out the whole intros for each individual aspect of the interviews. So here's everyone together!"

Amy pushed her way to the front of the group, not looking too pleased. "Are you serious? You should be giving me way better treatment than that, I deserve the spotlight."

Sensing an opportunity, Topher chuckled to himself and shot some finger pistols at the twin. "If you say so, sure! Look everyone, heeeeere's Amy!"

A deafening chorus of boos and jeers flooded the building. Various curses were hurled her way, which then upgraded to actual trash and tomatoes being thrown instead. B shielded himself from the splash zone with his trench coat, while Amy yelped and had to hide behind the couches for cover.

"Was the spotlight everything you ever wanted and more?" Topher teased, grinning for the camera. "We'll get back to her later. That's a whole can of worms we gotta work our way up to before opening."

"Agreed," Ella added, trying to calm the crowd with her peppy demeanor. "So for now let's talk to a Total Drama fan favorite! Cody, would you like to take the stand? As you can imagine, there's a lot we want to talk to you about!"

Nerd in question was in the middle of high fiving Harold, taken off guard by being called out first. "Uh, sure! Figured you were gonna go in elimination order instead, hehe. Do I have to play any of those weird lie detector games?"

"I've chosen not to bring back Truth or Electrocution after some complaints," Topher replied, pointing an annoyed glance as his co-host. "So nah, just some good ol' fashioned questions! Let's start nice and easy. As someone who made it all the way to the final episode in his last season, are you shocked to be sitting here with us before the merge could even happen?"

He narrowed his eyes at Amy. "With the way I wound up here, maybe. But the fact that it happened to begin with? Nah, kinda hard to be surprised when I had just got done fighting Beth in a tiebreaker beforehand. I get it, Trent and me were never going to turn on each other and I'm seen as the easier one to fight. If I'm being honest, I never felt too confident that I'd be making it as far as I did in World Tour."

"And yet I'd say you still made the most of your time on the show," Ella pointed out, squeeing in excitement. "Most apparent with you and Sammy! Fans around the world were on the edge of their seats waiting for the two of you to become official. If I had to guess, I bet being torn from her just as the two of you got started may sting worse than losing a chance at the money."

Cody giggled sheepishly. "Well you've got me there. That's definitely the part that sucks most about getting eliminated. No more deadly challenges or Chef's cooking? No more drama or stress about how to stay in? All good in my books. But leaving behind a new girlfriend is rough."

A dramatic gasp came from the peanut gallery, Josee cartoonishly holding her hand to her forehead as if she was about to faint. "More concerned with a schoolyard crush than tasting the gold? Thank goodness he was eliminated when he was! It'd be a travesty if he made it any farther."

Despite the negative reaction it got from the crowd, Cody seemed to take the comment in stride. "Well since Amy got taken out immediately after me it's hard to feel hung up on anything. I get to sit back and watch, catch up with Justin and Harold on band stuff, all things considered I don't have any regrets."

"Speaking of the band, that does raise a question I'm curious about," Topher cut in. "Let's say the final two came down to Trent and Sammy. Which one would you wind up supporting?"

Before he could reply, Amy suddenly stood up and cut him off. "Oh my God, who the hell cares? You can't just gloss over him talking about my elimination, can you? It's time to give me my questions now! Hurry up, chop chop."

Topher raised an eyebrow but managed to keep a nonchalant demeanor. "You know what? Sure, we're pressed for time so we should keep things moving. Let's move on to our next interview... B!"

The silence genius raised an eyebrow all while the audience cheered him on to drown out Amy's protesting. He looked around at the hosts, then the peanut gallery, finally at the camera. Bro had no intention of suddenly speaking now of all times, so he shrugged.

"Real gripping stuff," an unimpressed Eva grumbled. "How are you gonna interview a guy who won't even speak?"

"Not to worry, we thought ahead." Ella motioned off stage where an intern was wheeling out one of those old school bulky 90s desktop computers, parking it next to the inventor. "After all, since B managed to use his tinkering to figure out a way to participate in songs, we thought he could do something similar here!"

B inspected the device, skeptical. Thing looked like it had been collecting dusk in some middle school storage closet for decades. Was this thing somehow more rudimentary than the finnicky singing machine he had made on the jet from literal assorted junk? Still, there was no harm in humoring them, so he tried typing out a test phrase. The device then echoed his words in a Stephen Hawking-esque mechanical voice. "HELLO WORLD."

Even the hosts seemed a bit surprised that it actually worked. Topher wasted no time jumping in, less he risk the crummy computer suddenly crumbling to dust just from B's typing. "Let's get down to the nitty gritty and ask the main burning question at the start. We've heard you scream so we know that you ARE capable of talking in some way. Why is it that you willingly choose the be silent all the time?"

He saw it coming, but the question still got an annoyed (and silent) sigh out of him. After tapping his chin and pondering for a bit, he started typing. "GOT USED TO BEING TALKED OVER WHEN I WAS YOUNG. VERY TALKATIVE FAMILY, VERY LOUD SCHOOL. GREW TO ENJOY THE QUIET. WORDS ARE UNNECESSARY. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER, AS THEY SAY."

"I told you it was a simple personal decision," Ella whispered to her co-host. "Topher thought you perhaps had some sort of traumatic experience to cause it. We're glad to hear that's not the case! Still, it must have made things a bit difficult communicating with your team in a game like Total Drama."

B shrugged. "HAVING DAWN HELPED. NOT SURE HOW SHE DOES IT, BUT SHE'S A BRILLIANT TRANSLATOR. VERY MUCH ROOTING FOR HER GOING FORWARD."

"Speaking of your team, she wasn't the only one you had a bit of history with on Team Radioactive." The more dramatic host directed attention towards Scott, relishing in his uncomfortableness. "We could tell from your reactions early on that you weren't happy to see Scott back. Do you regret sparing him in the first elimination ceremony, or are ya glad you did it?"

Hmm, an interesting thing to ponder. The genius looked at Staci, then shared a look with his former adversary. "WANTED TO VOTE FOR HIM, FIGURED HE WAS LYING ABOUT IMPROVING. DIDN'T TRUST HIM, HAD TO BE CONVINCED BY DAWN TO GIVE A SECOND CHANCE. HE'S STILL A PRICK. HOWVER, HE HAS CHANGED. A MELLOWED OUT PRICK. GLAD I DID."

While the audience reacted joyously, Scott leered in annoyance. "Gee, talk about some high praise."

"Some fans were a bit divided on this friendlier approach from Scott to say the least. Fans of his first season's run claimed he had gone soft and lost his edge." Ella clapped happily. "But personally, I'm overjoyed to see someone undergo such growth! It just makes me want to sing a merry song."

Just as she was beginning to start, Scott shot up in protest with his arms outstretched. "Why do people keep telling me crap like that! I ain't some sissy or nothing! Maybe I'm just not stupid enough to try my first strategy when people have already seen it and knew it would be me. Playing dirty didn't give me the win, it ain't weird to just play it straight afterwards!"

"Oooh, did we hit a sore spot?" Topher shook his head. "Just embrace it man, there's a lot of people who eat up the redeemed villain becomes a good guy story. That's like, guaranteed screen time handed to you on a silver platter!"

"But I still AM a villain," he continued to protest. "One of the best villains the show's ever seen!"

And for that he was met with... laughter? Many in the crowd giggled at his flustered tantrum, while his fellow competitors had many resisting the urge to crack up.

"You weren't even in the top 3 biggest villains of this season," Jo yelled out. "You got out villained by the hick who spent a challenge doing the griddy in a fursuit. You're part of the goody two-shoes club now. Get over it!"

Unable to come up with a good comeback, Scott flopped back down and mumbled obscenities under his breath. Courtney playfully patted him on the shoulder in sympathy.

"Welp, guess we're moving on to Scott now. Unless B has anything else he wants to add?" Topher gave the large boy a look, receiving a shrug in response. "Cool! Scott, let's dig a little deeper into this. I mean, your first go around you were pretty much a menace. Throwing challenges, using blackmail, eavesdropping on confessionals. What changed from that season going into All Stars and this one?"

"I lost and got injured to the point of being stuck in a trauma chair for months," he spat, sounding dumbfounded. "Seriously, it ain't that deep! There was no way I could make that work a second time, so I just decided to play it straight and narrow afterwards. I got plenty of other strengths to rely on besides just playing dirty."

Some of the others laughed, not helping his mood. Ella was among those not ridiculing the dirty boy. "I'm sure you do, you actually helped your team quite a lot throughout the challenges! Well, besides the Turkey challenge... and I suppose Antarctica ended badly too. Ah, and you couldn't beat Beth in that banjo duel-"

"You made your point," the farmer grumbled. "Man, screw all y'all! Laugh all you want, I came outta this season with a smoking hot girlfriend and finally getting some of the respect I deserve. Far as I'm concerned I did better than most!"

He did glance over at B to see if the point about respect was accurate, thankfully getting a thumbs up. Finally the crowd started to turn around and cheer instead of laughing.

"Well said! And let's talk more about that respect you earned," Ella continued. "Obviously with the reputation you had coming into this season, you really had your work cut out for you. How difficult was it proving your legitimacy?"

"Harder than I would have liked, that's for sure. I mean come on, sticking me on a team where Lightning is pretty much the only one without a grudge against me? So not fair! The fact that I won Dawn, B, and Brick over alone was hard enough, I don't think I ever got Anne Maria to get off my case. Which is super weird by the way, she wasn't even one of the ones I got eliminated!"

"To be fair, I believe she just said that you were shady and untrustworthy, she never claimed you were responsible for her elimination." Ella pointed out. "And with her on the outs of the team, I suppose it was in her best interest to take any opportunity she could to avoid elimination."

"Pfft, that's her problem, not mine." Scott sighed and stuck his feet up on the seat below him. "Well whatever, I guess it didn't matter what I did. I still wound up here anyway."

And that was Topher's cue to butt in. "And the reason you wound up here is, of course, because of a steamy rekindled relationship made finally official this season! So now let's talk about-"

"AHEM?" Amy loudly cut in, complete with over the top cough.

Rude. Both hosts gave the mean twin unimpressed stares before exchanging a look and coming to the same conclusion.

"Actually, how about we give Scott a break and circle back to his relationship when we talk to Courtney," Topher said.

"I couldn't agree more! Instead we have a member of Total Drama royalty to talk with." Ella motioned towards the couches, with Amy smiling in satisfaction... only for the spotlight to shine on the girl next to her. "After all, Beth is a former finalist! We're just dying to check in and see how she's doing."

This time Amy wasn't going to let the snubbing slide. The others were one thing, but this was over the line. "HER?! No one even remembers that she was on the season! What did she do, play a banjo then let Courtney get screwed over? Whoop-de-do! Do you want people turning the channel or do you want something people actually care about?"

"She really never stops, does she?" Sky whispered from the guest couches.

"Seriously," Bridgette agreed. "I'd hate to be the therapist she needs to sort all of this crap out."

But whispering would do nothing, someone had to tell Amy off to her face. And the one to stand up was, of all people, Rodney.

"Give it a rest already! The more you complain, the more they'll just ignore you. People don't care about what you have to say as much as you think they do. How about instead of wasting all of OUR time with your constant complaining, you sit down, shut up, and wait your turn like everyone else! You already know the entire crowd here hates you, I think you can be patient and wait a bit before letting them hate you even more."

Amy went silent, as did the rest of the room. Some smiled at the mini rant, others were too shocked to hear who it had come from. Realizing the awkwardness of the situation, Rodney cleared his throat and returned to his seat, his cheeks turning red.

"Uh... ok, wow." Topher shook it off and turned his focus to the giant farmer. "Talk about changing up your opinions on someone since the last time we saw you! Where the heck did THAT come from?"

"I may or may not have been giving him some advice on how to handle himself around women since the last Aftermath," Shawn cut in. "Since you have us sequestered here until the season's over I needed someone to watch my back and a guy with his strength would be useful in a zombie apocalypse. Seemed like a fair trade. Plus Harold helped."

Nerd in question nodded enthusiastically. "As a former hopeless romantic myself, I couldn't stand idly by and let Rodney continue to have his heart broken. I figured the obvious first step was helping him break the infatuation he had for Amy and helping him realize how awfully she treated him."

"They even helped work me up to asking the cute girl at the hotel desk out instead of just assuming we were dating like I used to!" Rodney sighed dreamily. "Sure, she told me no, but at least she was nice about it! Unlike someone I know."

Perhaps embarrassed by being told off by Rodney of all people, Amy had finally opted to stay quiet and look off as if she didn't care.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you for growing! I just know you'll find that special someone out there sooner than you think." But Ella didn't need him thinking that it was going to be her again, so she quickly turned attention back to the former finalist. "Anyway, let's get back on topic to Beth! We received a few different questions from fans over your performance, but one was asked the most by far. Your choice to not vote against Leshawna. This caused Courtney to be voted off with no chance of a tie. We have to ask, do you regret the way you voted?"

Beth locked eyes with the CIT, gulping as she felt the judging gaze trying to get a read on her. With her deduction skills she'd have to tell the whole truth here, Courtney would see through any lies. "Yes... and no. It was definitely unfair to Courtney and I take responsibility for her being here... to a point. But at the same time it WAS her and Scott's fault for messing up the challenge. Plus with Leshawna becoming such a good friend, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I know it wasn't the smartest thing, but just being a strategic robot always making the best moves has never been my style, you know?"

"Sure, but if that's the problem why not just tell Courtney and DJ they need to vote for one of the boys instead?" Topher shot back. "I mean, Courtney knew her butt was on the line, what was she gonna do? Tell you no when she knows your vote HAS to be on her side to even tie?"

"Excellent point," Courtney agreed, narrowing her gaze. "Your response?"

Beth gulped and chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, my response is that Courtney is very intimidating. I already knew what it was like to have my suggestions ignored by Heather, I guess I didn't want to risk being told off and denied again."

The CIT rolled her eyes, though in a way she couldn't help but take being called intimidating as a compliment. She was well aware of it, but it's always nice to have someone else confirming what a girlboss she is. "Hmph, well I definitely would have agreed to it."

"Guess that's why karma came for me in the next episode." The nerdier girl sighed and looked on apologetically. "For what it's worth, I AM sorry. I guess if there's any silver lining, DJ picked up where we left off. Now he has Leshawna as an ally, plus Dawn helping him out from outside the team!"

"Something tells me she'd rather it be her in that situation instead of him," Topher pointed out with a chuckle. "But hey yeah, good on the guy for actually taking some initiative! Beth, you were probably DJ's closest friend up until your elimination, what's your thoughts on the still unfolding situation between him and Dawn?"

Many in the crowd whooped and cheered at the pairs mention. Beth herself also noticeably perked up, unable to contain her grin.

"I think they're super cute together! Can't believe it took her telling him straight out to realize she had feelings, but I'm glad he finally knows." Then again, they weren't truly 'together' yet. Her face scrunched up. "Ugh, but why didn't he just go for it and say yes? It's so totally obvious that he likes her back, why bother hesitating!"

"Well he had a really good point about the dangers of being in a relationship during the game." Bridgette chuckled bashfully. "I can speak from experience. For all we know they would have wound up like me and Geoff did in season 2, then they're as good as eliminated."

"Speaking of relationships, I've had some people curious about something. ESPECIALLY since you haven't mentioned him this season." A devious chuckle came from Topher. "How are things with you and that Brady guy? You couldn't stop talking about him in your last run, have things slowed down for you?"

Beth's smile dropped and she stared down at the floor in a somber silence.

"Oh? So maybe he wasn't so real after all? Maybe he was a hired actor, or-"

"He was too real," the nerdier girl yelled. "But then we got home and watched the season. He hadn't seen it yet since he was busy building homes for the impoverished in Honduras at the time. And when he got to the part where I kissed Harold... well, we weren't able to rebuild trust after that."

Speaking of, the uber geek shifted his eyes at the repressed memory being brought up. "Er, I'm sorry? In my defense I wasn't expecting you to do that so suddenly."

"No, no, it's my fault for misreading the situation and getting caught up in passion. I should have known that your heart belonged to Leshawna and her alone. Although I did consider calling you after the breakup. I wound up deciding to take a break from romance instead."

"So Brady's single now," Eva murmured to herself, eyebrow slowly raising. "Interesting..."

Next to her Jo snickered. "See, that right there is enough to prove you're the lesser me! Wouldn't catch me dead thirsting after some generic pretty boy as soon as he's available."

"I AM NOT!"

"ARE SO!"

"You wanna go?"

"Just try me, unibrow, it's your funeral!"

Bridgette and Sky scooted away, while Josee grinned in amusement. At the host couch, Ella glared at her co-host for starting all this and loudly clapped to get everyone's attention. "I think it's time we move on to Courtney, shall we?"

"Yeah, totally," Topher added. Normally a catfight would be ratings gold, but one between those two? Probably a recipe for collateral damage, and they didn't have a telethon going on to help cover any potential destruction. "But before that, let's take a quick break. With an Aftermath classic segment... That's Gonna Leave a Mark!"

As the jaunty whistling tune played over the clips, the faint yelling match between Eva and Jo could still be heart in the background. Voices from the likes of Shawn, Rodney, and Bridgette could be heard in attempt to calm them. They'd be fine. Probably.

For the first clip, Brick snuck through the streets of Los Angeles with his camera, tailing what he though was Sugar's large hairdo. He jumped around a corner and started flashing pictures. Instead of his target, he found a former child actor that used to star in some cruddy reality show with a suspiciously similar vibe. Unluckily for him she had two security guards with her, one violently tackling the cadet. While he twitched on the ground, a certain figure in a mouse mascot costume from nearby came over to do the default dance over him.

Next up was Amy and Jasmine running away from the Turkish bazaar with the gold coated artifact in hand. The cheerleader had opted to carry the Turkish delight, which would have been fine, had it not been for a pack of feral cats crossing the girls path. Hisses rang out and the feline horde pounced the mean twin, Jasmine just barely catching the dessert midair and wincing at the scratching sounds.

In the third clip, the groups practiced their fire knife routines in Samoa. Things were going fine for the twins and Leshawna/Beth pair, but Brick was struggling. At one point he tossed his stick up and yelped to avoid it falling on his head. He grinned at his successful dodge... only to take a step forward and dislodge a plank of wood, seesawing it to thwack his face.

Colombia's beautiful scenery set the stage in the following clip, showing as multiple people landed at the finish line on their hang gliders. Most had a smooth landing, including Cody who perked up at his flawless dismount. But the celebration didn't last long and soon enough Trent collided with him, tangling both up in the remnants of the glider.

Finally was new shots from the song performance in India. And they were full of, what else, Brick taking abuse from the traps Dave had set up. Every time Dawn and Anne Maria would sway out of the way from one, he'd run into it. A large church bell swung into him, a banana cream pie hit him in the face which was then swarmed by monkeys. Even his horn solo wasn't safe, as a whole ass alligator somehow popped out of the instrument and chased him away.

Eventually the scene returned to the Aftermath set, both hosts looking up at the monitor in concern.

"Do they have good health insurance in whatever military he's enlisted in?" Ella asked.

Topher shrugged and shot the crowd two finger pistols. "And we're back! Sorry for the holdup, folks, we just had to get things calmed down here on set. I think we got it all sorted out."

The camera panned over to show the guest couch, with Bridgette, Sky, and Josee all placed between Eva and Jo. Both jockettes scowled, but were otherwise docile.

"Which means we can move on to our next guest," Ella excitedly continued. "And talk about a certified Total Drama legend! Courtney is one of the most popular competitors the show has ever seen, with thousands, perhaps even millions of fans worldwide! And yet, this is the only time we're seeing her eliminated before the merge since the very first season."

"Ackchyually, when you really think about it she probably would have merged on the first season too, had it not been for circumstances out of her control," Harold pointed out, getting an eyebrow raise from the girl in question. Why was HE of all people pointing that out? "Just figured it was worth a mention for completion's sake."

"In other words, this has been her suckiest season hands down," Topher continued. "I'm not saying you fell off, Courtney, buuuuut it's gotta sting being here so early. Wanna tell us what happened?"

"Sure, I got put on a team where half of it was a tightly knit band and one of their girlfriends," she deadpanned, unamused. "It was only natural that I'd be targeted sooner rather than later, I was by far the biggest threat not included in that group. Not to mention the stupid decision that stopped me from getting to attempt a tie breaker. No offense, Beth."

The nerdier girl shrugged. She ain't wrong.

"So you place the whole blame on the Drama Brothers, eh?" As the meaner host looked from Harold to Cody, his gaze then shifted to her nearby boyfriend. "Are you sure emotions didn't get in the way? Anger, jealousy, greed, romance, it's all things that's bit you in the butt before."

Courtney folded her arms and shook her head. "Nope. I got the short end of the stick, that's all. Look, I know I can be emotional. I've struggled with it in the past, I'll probably keep dealing with it in the future. But I'd like to think I played a pretty by the books game this time, and I did everything I could to stay safe by making an alliance and trying to split the vote. Even if me and Scott didn't mess up the Turkey challenge, I was still gonna be the one they voted for first before Beth and DJ. I was in the bottom two with Harold in Japan after all."

"Yeeeeeah, my bad." Cody chuckled awkwardly. "All things considered, I figured I'd look like a hypocrite if I voted my buddy off for being injured. At least Trent threw you a bone!"

"Let's say things would have went differently back in Ireland," Ella proposed. "Since you're one of the show's best strategists, we're curious to know what your plan was. In a scenario where everyone agreed to vote with you immediately and Izzy wins a tiebreaker against Harold, how would things have proceeded from there?"

Ah finally, a question she actually sink her teeth in! "We probably would have taken out Cody next, then Trent. After that, since I suspected DJ and Beth would have solidified their own alliance together by then, I would have approached Leshawna to join Izzy and I to pick them off. I highly doubt we would have suffered any further losses, but I could always just stick with one or the other to vote the third off if it came to it."

"Oooooh, you really had it planned out to a T!" Izzy cackled to herself. "Too bad Izzy probably would have just joined the LeshawnBethJ squad and voted you out instead."

Just like that, the confident aura washed away and Courtney was left to look on in contempt. Seems she was always destined to wind up with a middling placement regardless of how things played out.

"As one of your fans, I must unfortunately ask something that's been on a lot of our minds," Ella continued. "You've competed on the show more than anyone else thanks to this run. A whopping five seasons! Are you still hungry for more, or is this perhaps the last hurrah?"

"Hmm, good question. On one hand, I KNOW the ability to win is within me. Had it not been for the chart fiasco, I probably would have won All Stars. And without Harold rigging the votes in season 1 or me and Gwen having our falling out in season 3? Sky's the limit."

The camera briefly panned to Sky, who raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"But coming back time and time again is honestly exhausting. Plus I have a law degree and a relationship to focus on." After a bit of thinking she finally came to a conclusion. "Tell you what, maybe if they actually offer me some money upfront for showing up, I'll consider it. I know my worth and the ratings I bring, from now on I'll just let them come to me."

"Yeah, wring every last cent out of those assholes," Scott added, grinning wickedly. "It's about time they started giving us some appreciation, I don't see them busting their butts in challenges!"

Ah, good, just who Topher was hoping to get a comment out of soon. "Hey Scott, speaking of challenges, I hear the producers were actually pretty keen on watching your performance in particular! In fact, there's one thing they requested we get a rerun out of. And since we have the perfect duo here to pull it off..."

*DING DING DING*

As the crowd went ballistic over the promise of a live musical performance, the farmer's eyes filled with dread.

"You're gonna make ME sing?"

"A little," Ella clarified. "For the most part you'll be playing an instrument. Cody is going to be the primary singer. Producers orders, he's a member of a famous boy band after all."

Harold threw his hands up in anger. "I'm literally in the exact same band and they wouldn't let me be the singer for last Aftermath!"

He would go ignored. Sorry bro, all the dope rap verses during finales in the world couldn't make people forget how shit 'Baby' was.

"Chin up, at least you're going to be playing alongside a gifted musician that can carry you through it," Courtney teased. "So what are we playing?"

Topher and Ella looked at each other, then avoided eye contact with the CIT. He was the only one with the heart to tell her. "Uh, well, we never said YOU were the other member of the pair."

"Actually, it's Beth," his co-host finished, smiling apologetically. "The producers loved their banjo duel, so they wanted to try a rematch with a different instrument!"

Suddenly two interns came out carrying violins. Which only served to make Courtney further incensed.

"You've gotta be kidding me, I actually practice the instrument! Surely letting me play would be more entertaining. Do they even know how to use those?"

"What, the fiddle?" Scott took his violin and quickly strummed the bow across to play the first line of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. "Sure, my grammy taught me what she knew."

"How many instruments do you inexplicably have experience in?! If I wasn't so frustrated it'd be kinda hot..." She glared over at Beth and pointed. "But I've never heard her mention anything about knowing how to play! It just makes more sense for me to do it instead!"

Beth rolled her eyes and offered the instrument up. "For what it's worth, she's right. I only had a little bit of banjo experience, but I've never played the fiddle in my life. If she wants to do it, it's all hers."

Damn, so no epic rematch? Topher sighed but relented. "Fine. But if she's not part of the duel, Beth has to be Cody's backup singer. It's not like anyone else was gonna volunteer to do it instead."

Ella and Harold both glared at him.

"Don't get too cocky, lady," Scott challenged, sneering at his girlfriend. "You might not know it, but I've probably been playing the fiddle just as long as you have! Odds are you ain't gonna win this."

"It's called the violin," she snapped back, unable to stop her confident smile from returning. "And by all means, give it your all! It's not gonna be good enough to beat me."

Yes, yes, a quarrel between boyfriend and girlfriend was all well and good. But Cody hadn't even had a chance yet to react over being forced to sing! "What kind of song is this going to be anyway?"

"Oh yeah, about that." Topher flashed the geek a finger pistol. "Hope you like country music, my guy."

"Aw crap..."

Song Start!

"Scott Went Down to the Courthouse." Parody of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," by the Charlie Daniels Band.

[An intense country style violin tune echoed out, accompanied by piano. It seemed that the video took place in hell itself. A red and orange courthouse was nestled between all the fire and brimstone. Avoiding the hellfire shooting from the ground was Scott, somehow in a more redneck attire than his usual drip. Instead of pants he had on a pair of farmer's overalls, and he'd added a straw hat. He narrowed his eyes in determination and marched forward. Behind him were Cody and Beth watching, dressed as little hell imps with tiny horns and black formal clothing.]

"Ol' Scott went down to the courthouse, he was looking for a fight to pick. They said he went soft, so no matter the cost, he had to find a butt to kick."

[Cody was both keyboarding and singing, though the lyrics and tempo nearly had him sounding more like spoken words rather than what he was used to. Beth meanwhile was on drum duty, keeping the beat up in time with the song. Both imps followed behind Scott, who marched up to the building with a piercing glare full of conviction. Some musical notes were floating through the crack of the door, so he promptly kicked it down.]

"So he stomped up to this demon playing on a fiddle that he'd disrupt. And Scott slid up to the witness stand and said-"

"A'ight girlie, here's what's up!"

[Once the courthouse door was kicked down it revealed a violin playing Courtney in slightly more professional gear than she was usually in. A red and black lawyer's outfit with suit jacket, slacks, dress shirt, tie, even cufflinks! Her hair color had also notably been changed to white, with little black devil horns poking out. The seats of the courtroom were filled with the Aftermath peanut gallery, all clad in fiery red prisoner jumpsuits as if they were sinners awaiting their judgement. In the jury seats were various generic demon imps dressed similarly to Cody and Beth. Speaking of which, Cody had sung the first line, only for it to transition to Scott's voice as he slid up to Courtney.]

"Go ahead and feast yer eyes, your boy's a fiddle player too! And here and now, I'll make a bet before this entire crew.

I'm sure you play a fine fiddle Courtney, but give your boyfriend his due. I'm gonna call your bluff and bet on my luck, I can play it better than you."

[Scott showed his violin off for all to see, ignoring any unamused scowls from his foe. As he sung he marched around the courtroom, motioning to the sinners when emphasizing the crew, and even glaring down at the imp jury all while continuing to talk himself up. Next to Courtney, Cody gulped and tugged at his collar.]

"The girl said-"

"If you say so, I'll take that challenge, Scott. I'm telling you now, it's gonna go south. You aren't ready for what I've got!"

[Just as Cody began to sing, Courtney roughly shoved him away and took over the lyrics. She marched up to Scott, violin at the ready and a sinister grin playing at her lips. Both violinists stood on opposite sides of the courtroom and got into playing position.]

"Scottie, you better hope your bite can match that giant bark. Time for you to sink or swim and you're playing with a shark.

And if you win, you'll get to hear us all cheering your name. But if you lose, Courtney puts you to shaaaaame."

[While Scott and Courtney played the violin tune together, Cody and Beth sang. They stood on either side of the audience, who all watched the duel in varying degrees of intrigue and concern. The redneck played with a cocky smirk and leaned forward in an assertive manner, while the lawyer demon kept herself more composed and nonchalant while matching his playing.]

"Scott cracked both his knuckles and said-"

"Let's git r' dun!"

"He psyched himself up with a yell, all ready to have his fun."

[Cody was back to solo singing while Beth focused on percussion. He was momentarily interrupted by Scott's outburst, but all he could do was glare in annoyance. As noted, the farmer cracked his knuckles, slapped himself in the face a few times, even beat his chest to get himself into the zone.]

"Then he brought that bow up to the strings, and he gave the crowd a grin.

He dragged some chumps into the mix, took that fiddle for a spin."

[Indeed, before starting Scott turned to the crowd of sinners and hatched an idea. He grabbed a few members, some who he genuinely wanted backing him up and others that just seemed like they'd want to participate. Once he had a band assembled, he returned to his position across from Courtney and readied his violin. It was time for his performance.]

[First the various other instruments began. B was getting funky on the bass, big Rodney put on the drums, Harold was in his comfort zone with the keyboard, Josee wasn't about to pass up a chance at shoe horning herself into the mix via guitar. Somehow even Jo had been dragged into this mess, haphazardly shaking some maracas. With the groundwork laid, Scott made his move. He furiously strummed away with his bow, his fiddle solo starting scratchy and frantic before eventually settling into a more pleasant sounding country rock vibe. He strutted his stuff around the courtroom while playing, the rest of the crowd and even the jury tapping their feet along. Once he was done, he finished with a cocky little bow for flourish.]

"As soon as Scott was done, Courtney said-"

"Aw, that wasn't half bad, Scott!"

[Once again Cody's brief lyrics were cut off by Courtney singing instead. She flirtatiously traced a finger down her opponent's chest, immediately flustering him out of his confident demeanor. And before he could realize what was happening, she pushed him into a seat, towering over him.]

"But now it's time you pop a squat, and let me show you what I've got!"

[Suddenly the courtroom's lighting turned an intense red while the jury imps cheered on what was about to come. With Cody and Beth behind her on the keyboard and percussion, Courtney got her violin ready. Hellfire sparked from the strings as she glided the bow over them, and all Scott could do was watch on in shock.]

"Scott say your prayers, your plum screwed sport!

Never test your luck with this court."

[Cody and Beth sung fast and in unison while playing their instruments. Between the smiles and upbeat tone, it was clear they already knew the outcome mere seconds into the solo. Courtney blared away on her violin, playing fast and smooth in a way Scott and his band could barely keep up with. The jury was jumping up and down to the beat while hellfire continued to erupt from the instrument.]

"Think you had a chance to win this thing, bro?

Up against Courtney? Yeah, that's a no."

[Even after the imps finished their chorus, Courtney continued to play her heart out and making it look effortless all the while. As the intoxicating tune of her solo went on, member's of Scott's band quickly realized who the winner was and snuck off to avoid being caught up in the embarrassment. One by one Rodney, Harold, Jo, and Josee returned to their seats, some cringing and others shaking their heads. As her performance came to a climax, B offered Scott a solemn pat on the shoulder before joining the others. The redneck's face had turned a bright crimson, partly because of all the flames but mostly because of the seething rage he was filling with. But then a smug Courtney distracted him by finishing her solo with a final shot of inferno that singed her opponent's hat.]

"Scott stood there shaking mad because he knew that he'd been beat.

And he crushed that poor ol' fiddle on the ground beneath his feet."

[Cody was narrating the obvious. Clearly the loser of the battle, Scott angrily tossed his violin down and started curb stomping it into oblivion. Some of the spectators winced, others looked on pitifully at the tantrum, others yet couldn't help but be amused. The jury of demons cheered on their victor, who sauntered up to her beaten opponent with a playful smirk.]

"Courtney said-"

"Oh Scott, just say the word if you ever want to try again. But now you know, no matter what you do, I'm the one who always wins!"

[One last time Cody had to be cut off mid-lyric, Courtney's singing oozing with gleeful satisfaction. She tossed off her boyfriend's still burning hat and ruffled his hair playfully, only further flustering him. He didn't know whether to stay pissed at losing AND being taunted over it, or if he should be enjoying the flirting. It was a conflicting mix of both.]

"She played: Scott say your prayers, your plum screwed sport!

Never test your luck with this court.

Think you had a chance to win this thing, bro?

Up against Courtney? Yeah, that's a no."

[Beth rejoined her co-singer for the repeat of the chorus to close out the song. Courtney returned to give an encore of her fiddle performance, the jury and even the Aftermath sinners stomping their feet happily along to the tune. As Scott stood there stewing in his defeat, a circle opened up behind him and a few small imps began pulling him deeper into the depth. Unable to do much else, he shook his fist angrily at the roof and Courtney finished the tune with a wink at the camera.]

Once the song was over, the studio filled with cheers and applause from the audience. Even most of the peanut gallery was giving it up for the performers, though it was clear Scott was still sour over the loss between his bitter snarl and refusal to meet his girlfriend's eyes.

"Come on, Scott, NO ONE is beating me in a violin duel. Honestly I'm just impressed you can work that bow as good as you do. Keep your chin up, no one else could have given me a run for my money like that."

"Hmph... yeah, they really wouldn't have, would they?" He finally perked up and regained his trademark condescending sneer. "Bunch of bozos couldn't hope to be on my level!"

Bridgette, who was somehow now next to Courtney, grinned at the exchange. "You know, I had my doubts watching at home but seeing you guys together in person? I think you two really make it work. But it's always the bad boys with you, isn't it? Couldn't help yourself?"

"Guess I have a type." Courtney shrugged innocently. "But hey, it feels nice finally opening myself up again after all this time. For a while there I thought-"

"Uh, hello?" Amy suddenly yelled. "Anyone want to tell me why I'm sitting by myself over here?"

The camera zoomed out to reveal that everyone other than Amy had been over to the guest couches with Bridgette, Eva, and the others.

"Ah, right, that was my call," Topher answered. "Figured I'd go ahead and move everyone since they'd want to get out of the way."

Ella cocked her head in confusion. "Get out of the way for what?"

"Amy wanted her spotlight, right? A time to shine all on her own with no one distracting her. And maybe get some real hard hitting questions? And just think, what else hits hard? A hammer!"

And just like that, the "Truth or Hammer" logo appeared on screen as the comically large hammer was lowered from the rafters in swinging range of Amy.

"Ok seriously, if you pull out the anvil next Aftermath I think Geoff is actually within his right to sue you for copyright infringement or something," Bridgette grumbled.

"Topher, you said you weren't going to do that horrible game again," Ella pleaded. "Even if it IS Amy, it's inhumane."

"First of all, the producers own the rights to everything that shows up on the Aftermaths, Geoff doesn't own squat. Second of all, I promised I wouldn't do Truth or Electrocution again. You never said anything about Truth or Hammer!" He held his hands up defensively. "All she has to do is not lie and there's no violence. Simple as that."

It wasn't much to help the wannabe princess feel any better about it, but it's not like she was convincing him to call it off. "Fine, but let me handle the questions. This is going to require a gentle touch, Amy is clearly a very troubled individual."

"I am not," the cheerleader exclaimed before immediately yelping and having to jump out of the way from the swinging hammer.

"Please try to be truthful," Ella pleaded. "Let's... try and start with something positive, shall we? You seemed to form quite the formidable partnership with Sugar this season! As much as I didn't approve of your methods, you were still undeniably an iconic duo! Do you foresee your friendship continuing once the season is over?"

"What friendship? I don't even like her." Everyone winced and braced for the hammer swing, only for nothing to happen. "Working together was her idea, was I just going to say no? She's like, super gross and uncool, I just tolerated her since she was at least less lame than my sister's group."

For a moment Ella seemed taken aback, but she cleared her throat and continued. "Um, ok, well what about your fans? Believe it or not, you do have quite the dedicated fanbase. Are you excited to speak with them and tell them about your experiences on the show?"

"Heck no, do you realize how much crap I have to read from Total Drama nerds on the internet? If they like me so much they should do a better job defending me! I don't owe them anything until they do a better job showing their support."

Once again, no hammer, no lies detected. The princess seemed genuinely confused. If the friendship angle didn't work at showing her positive side, nor did the fan angle, what would?

"Look, I'm fine with you doing the asking, but we all know what people want to actually hear from her," Topher cut in. "You're gonna have to ask about the sister sooner or later."

"Fine, fine." Ella sighed and thought of how to word it properly. "Amy, we've all seen that you and your sister struggle to get along. And I don't mean to point fingers, but you ARE the instigator in most cases. Before we get started, let's get this out of the way. I think it'll be a big weight off your shoulders! No matter what you say, regardless of whatever act or bravado you put on, I think deep down you know how it truly is. You don't ACTUALLY dislike your sister, do you?"

"Yes, yes I do."

Everyone looked up to see... the hammer staying still.

"Wh- you do?!" The nicer cohost shook her head in shock. "Why? What's Sammy done to earn your ire?"

"Oh she's done plenty!"

AND THEN the hammer came swinging down, this time catching the mean twin by surprise and sending her flying. An intern would have to help her back to her seat while Ella tried to wrap her head around this.

"That can't be right. I mean, she doesn't consider anyone a friend? She doesn't appreciate her fans? She's spiteful towards her sister for no reason? It's horrible, her personality is horrible. She's horrible! She's an irredeemable monster!"

"Oh, no," Topher mocked in a faux Ella-like voice. "What took ya so long? Seriously, the girl straight up said she wished Sammy died in the womb."

"Yah, they added like 6 things to the TV Tropes page from that one line alone," Staci noted sagely.

"Maybe some people are just genuinely born rotten?" Shawn suggested, shrugging. "Like maybe there's no explanation for why she's so mean, that's just in her nature."

It was then that Amy finally stumbled her way back to her seat. Ella was still trying to comprehend being met with someone that's just truly nasty, so Topher rubbed his hands together.

"Let's find out, shall we? Amy, you just admitted against your will that Sammy hasn't actually done anything to make you hate her. So what's the deal? Was there some kind of traumatic experience that caused you to turn against her? Or do you genuinely just wake up in the morning and decide you want to be a hater?"

Amy glanced up at the hammer and winced at the pain still ringing in her head. Lying just wasn't worth it right now. "Ugh, I don't know, I've just always felt annoyed by her! Like, I didn't ask to be born with someone else. Growing up attention always had to be divided between us. We always had to share everything, always had to do everything together. It got old! I wanted to be my own person but I'm always getting compared to her. I have to be 'the mean one,' or 'the bossy one.' Even when things were going better for me, I was still just 'the popular one' still getting lumped in with her."

"But it's not like Sammy asked to be stuck with you at birth either," Cody yelled out in defiance. "So what's treating her like garbage do to change that? Does it just make you feel better or something?"

She narrowed her eyes. "A little, I guess? I don't know, I figured maybe she'd eventually get fed up and run away or something."

"Wow, she really is simpleminded," Eva mused. "No wonder that Dave guy was able to pull one over on her."

"Ah, that was a lovely showing," Josee added, chuckling mischievously. "Between the plan he weaved for the nerdy boyfriend elimination and the act he pulled for Amy's, he's a deceptively competent performer."

"That's one way to put it," Cody huffed. "I've got a bone to pick with him, it's his fault my time got cut short with Sammy!"

"AGREED," B typed out furiously. "HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR HIM, I'D STILL BE IN THE GAME. IF I WANTED TO TALK, I'D HAVE SOME CHOICE WORDS FOR HIM."

"What's even up with him?" Shawn mumbled in disbelief. "I seriously had no idea my jittery buddy from last season had all this venom in him. Was the normal nice guy schtick back then just an act all along?"

Over on the other couch, Amy blinked in confusion. "Um, guys, this is supposed to be the part about me, remember?"

"Alright, listen, can we lay off on Dave for a minute?"

Everyone went silent, staring at the source of the voice. None other than Sky, standing and giving the others a stern look of disapproval.

"I get it, he's been playing more dirty this time. And maybe he's letting emotions influence his decisions, sometimes for the worse. But can we really blame him? We all saw what a toll Pahkitew Island took on him. And he told us himself in the confessional how hard it's been for him between seasons. Put him back in a high stress situation like Total Drama and something is bound to break eventually."

Topher blinked in confusion before shifting back into host mode. "Uh, rewind. Can we focus on the fact that YOU of all people are the one sticking up for him? Do I detect some lingering feelings of things left unsaid?"

"No," she said flatly, glaring. "Any crush I had on him went away after last season's finale, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same. But! I've had a lot of time to think over everything since then and I've made my peace with it. I made mistakes with how I handled things, same as him. And I've definitely had to hear my fair share of flak from the fans over it. Some of them get REALLY nasty. The guy clearly needs therapy or something, so having to deal with all of that definitely wasn't helping him."

"Seriously, why are we spending all this time talking about Dave, he's not even here?" Amy complained, before Topher hit the mute button on her.

"Sky I hear what you're saying, but does that justify him backstabbing people?" Shawn asked. "Or messing with the other teams?"

She shrugged. "That comes with the territory of the game, doesn't it? Me personally, I'm just kind of impressed he managed to do things in a way where Amy took the fall for everything. It's not like he's done anything truly over the line yet. Sure he got Cody eliminated, but he's still going to be dating Sammy by the time its all said and done, right?"

A silence fell over the others. Love it or hate it, she was raising some good points. The only one willing to speak, er, or type, was B.

"WELL, I'D STILL TAKE THE CHANCE FOR PAYBACK IF I COULD."

There it is. As good a moment as any. Topher grinned excitedly and clapped to get everyone's attention. "Funny you should say that. What if I told you guys that maybe, juuuuust maybe, someone could win a chance to re-enter the game right here before the show is over!"

Gasps rang out from audience and peanut gallery alike. Ella squealed in excitement, relieved to finally be able to talk freely about the twist. "That's right! We're going to hold a Second-Chance Challenge right here right now on the Aftermath. The winner gets to join the cast starting next episode!"

"YES!" Josee stood up and pumped her fist. "Finally, all that filler and fluff was getting suffocating. Time for me to shine on the main stage!"

"The hell are you so hyped up over?" Jo asked. "We're just guests, we can't join."

"On the contrary," Topher shot back, chuckling. "EVERYONE on stage is eligible to win the comeback challenge!"

"Everyone?" Courtney repeated.

"Everyone," Ella confirmed, practically vibrating with excitement. "That includes the guests, and even Topher and I!"

"No wonder she wanted to be on the guest list," Bridgette mumbled, watching Josee continue to bounce up and down.

Topher motioned for the crowd to calm down. "So let's head to commercial break and when we come back, it's time to find out who's coming back to the Jumbo Jet!"

"Which brings us to today's sponsor," Ella began. "Have you ever wanted to watch movies and TV shows available to stream in other countries but aren't on a globe trotting world tour of your own to get the experience?"

"The solution to your problems is a VPN," her co-host continued. "Which is why we're proud to talk to you today about today's sponsor, Nor-"

While this was going on, a buff female intern approached the couches with a pen and clipboard in hand.

"Excuse me, we have two quick things we need to sort out before we proceed. The big wigs say we need an even number of contestants for this Second-Chance thing but including the hosts there's 19 of you. We need a volunteer to sit out, so... anyone here NOT want to go back to the show?"

For a brief moment there was silence. As bad as the conditions were, for one reason or another pretty much everyone there had reason to want to return. Money? Reuniting with someone on the cast? The spotlight? There's a reason the show always manages to get new casts when they want one. However, one hand did shoot up relatively quickly.

"I'll sit out," Sky volunteered. "I probably would have just lost on purpose anyway, there's really no reason for me to go back to Total Drama."

"What, you don't want to make up with that Dave twerp after all the defending you did for him?" Eva grumbled.

"Nope," she confirmed. "Like I said, there's no lingering feelings there. Plus I'm sure me being around would only make things worse for him, and I've got my hands plenty full with Olympic training as is."

No one could object to her reasoning, so everyone mumbled various agreements. Buff intern lady scribbled the development down.

"Second order of business. Spoilers, but you guys are competing in a one on one sorta thing to start the comeback challenge off. Apparently Chris gave some sort of verbal agreement to give Izzy an advantage if something like this was going to happen? So here's her advantage, she gets to pick her first opponent instead of having it picked for her."

"Ugh! How is that fair?" Josee protested. "Obviously she'll just take the easy victory and choose something she can't lose, like fighting the cripple!"

Harold glared in annoyance.

"Hmmm, getting a salty runback against my fellow Irishman IS tempting," Izzy pondered, stroking her nonexistent beard. "But I want something a bit more challenging! Sooooo... how about Shawn?"

Zombie nut in question pointed at himself in shock. "Me?"

"Yeah! I've been high key wanting to see what you and Jasmine are made of face to face, this is basically a free pass to take it. And then once I win maybe I'll get a chance to duel your girlfriend!"

"... right. Too bad I'll be too busy being the one to win for you to get the chance."

"Guess that settles that." The intern updated her clipboard and scurried off. "You guys are back on in three... two... one-"

"So use code AFTERMATH15 for 15 percent off your first three months today!"

Once Ella was done, the camera panned out to reveal that the center of the stage now had a giant ball pit taking up most of the space. The monitor above had a "Second-Chance Challenge" logo displayed and everyone was kicked off the couches to allow for more room. An intern motioned Sky to the back of the stage behind the pit, while the co-hosts joined the others at the side.

"And we're back! Sky has graciously volunteered not to participate, so she'll instead act as the finish line for this first part of the comeback challenge." Topher paused for dramatic effect. "That's right, it's in multiple parts! For part 1, 9 golden balls have been hidden within this massive ball pit. Each of us will have a rival we've been paired up with at random. The first one from each pair to retrieve a ball and deliver it to Sky advances!"

"So the number of contenders will be shrunken by half after round one," Ella added, pointing out the obvious. "Now let's see what the matchups will be."

Everyone looked to the monitor where two faces cycled through the portraits of everyone present. Every once in a while the cycle would stop, landing on two faces to confirm the battles. In order, they went: Izzy vs Shawn, Eva vs Jo, Courtney vs Scott, Bridgette vs Josee, Cody vs Amy, Topher vs Ella, Harold vs Dakota, Staci vs B, and Beth vs Rodney.

"... you sure this was supposed to be random?" Scott asked.

"Fate works in mysterious ways." Topher shrugged and motioned over to the gymnast, now clad in a referee shirt. "Let's send it over to Sky!"

Not really knowing what to do, she took a step back from the pit and cautiously stared at Eva and Jo in particular. "Er, everyone try to have a good clean match out there. And please don't hurt anyone? Alright... begin!"

Immediately everyone dove into the pit, balls flying through the air and even splashing into the crowd. Some frantically swam and stomped through the sea of balls, while others focused on hindering their opponents. Both Eva and Jo as well as Izzy, despite Sky's plea otherwise, immediately jumped into a wrestling match to prevent their rivals from making much progress. Ella was hyped up and moving more frantically than usual, while Harold did his best to hustle despite his injuries. But someone was bound to find a golden ball soon enough, and the first to punch their ticket was Cody. He scurried out of the pit and handed it over to Sky, inevitably getting a yell of anger from his opponent.

"No fair, he must have cheated," Amy protested. "How was I supposed to find one that fast?"

"Skill issue," Cody shot back, standing behind the gymnast and spectating the chaos.

Scott had managed to find a golden ball, but his girlfriend wasn't about to hold back and pounced to try and wrestle it from his grasp. Dakota managed to find one, but rather than turn it in she tossed it at Harold and winked. The nerd was grateful and cashed it in to join his bandmate. Up next to procure his prize was Rodney. Beth noticed and since she was too far to try and stop him, she tried turning on the charm to flirt her way into getting it from him. But the anti-simp training held true, and the mountain of a man kept the ball to himself. Finally there was the first girl to qualify. Josee, after roughly yanking a golden ball from Bridgette and bouncing over to Sky with expert grace.

"Psycho," the surfer spat at her opponent, rubbing her hand. "She better not be the one to win, I swear."

Not long after, another girl managed to qualify. Staci, of all people, managed to pull a golden ball from one of the pit corners and clumsily stumbled her way to Sky before hugging her in celebration over her first sorta challenge win. B was naturally dumbfounded, but he accepted his defeat with a silent sigh. Topher was next up to find a prize, but before he could exit the pit he felt Ella pounce on him and ruffle his hair. Naturally he had to focus on tidying up his hairdo before anything else, giving his co-host the window to take the prize for herself and qualify. The others were surprised yet impressed to see some dirty strategies coming from her. That just left three battles that has come down to wrestling matches, with Courtney the first to emerge victorious and hand over her ticket to the next round, Scott slumping out of the pit while out of breath.

"You... you only won because I held back," he wheezed between breaths.

Courtney giggled. "Uh huh, sure you did."

And then there were four. Eva and Jo had yet to actually find what they needed, they were just focused on trying to one up the other in their grapple match. Shawn had long since managed to locate one of the golden balls, but Izzy was incredibly persistent and slippery. The two were going blow to blow in their struggle for the prize and try as they may, they couldn't seem to outwrestle the other. They were slowly inching towards the edge of the pit where Sky awaited, but the ball kept trading back to back with no sign of one giving the other enough of a window to win.

"You're pretty good!" Izzy cackled with excitement. "It's not everyday I get to fight someone else with moves like this."

"Yeah, well, zombie training will do that to you. Gotta be ready to fight anything."

Hmmm, that gave her an idea. "Very true, very true. But hey, you wanna know something I bet you DIDN'T prepare for against zombies?"

Suddenly she switched tactics and focused on... tickling? She furiously ticked at Shawn's armpits, genuinely something he didn't see coming, and sent him deep into the pit laughing up a storm. The moment he was deep enough to give herself an opening, Izzy swiped up the ball and vaulted over to Sky before her opponent had enough time to recover. Some gasped, and Shawn himself groaned and tugged at his beanie in frustration.

"And that's eight," Sky announced. "Now we just need a winner from Eva vs Jo... assuming they're planning on stopping anything soon."

Both girls were splashing balls around left and right as they violently tossed one another around. Eva would go for a suplex, while Jo would counter and try to tackle her opponent to knock the wind out of her. It didn't work, she just stood defiant and no sold the attack. Maybe getting more aggressive would work? Eva tried to clothesline her rival, but Jo was too agile and ducked. She then took the opportunity to jump onto Eva's back and apply a chokehold.

"Give it up already," Eva screeched, falling backwards over and over in an attempt to force her opponent to let go. "I'm bigger and buffer than you, it's going to end with me winning regardless!"

By now Jo had eyeballed the final golden ball, having rolled to the edge of the pit after all the rough tussling from their match. She grinned and braced herself for the onslaught of falls. "All those muscles don't mean squat if you can't outdo your opponent. Had you got anyone else, you probably would have been fine. Guess that sucks for you, instead you get me!"

She tightened her hold as much as possible, taking any of Eva's defenses like a champ. No matter what the powerlifter tried, Jo just couldn't be shook off. Despite her best efforts, Eva finally started to feel a little woozy and wobbled to her knees. That was enough to decide it. Jo suddenly released the hold so she could instead pull herself up and vault off Eva's shoulders. Landing right next to the golden ball, Jo scooped it up and pounced over to Sky, just narrowly avoiding Eva's attempts to jump after her.

"That seriously didn't need to be so extra," Sky mumbled, shaking her head. "But alright, I guess that's our winners?"

Indeed, the nine advancers stood shoulder to shoulder, some happy, others excited, a few unsurprisingly smug. Courtney, Cody, Izzy, Harold, Staci, Jo, Rodney, Ella, and Josee. An odd assortment of qualifiers to say the least.

"That was so fun," Ella cheered excitedly. "What's next?"

Topher raised an eyebrow at her but decided not to say anything. Clearly she wanted that spot, the lack of singing opportunities on the Aftermath was definitely taking its toll. "Up next? We've got ourselves a team challenge! Much like the teams on the show, we need the nine of you to break off into teams of three. Two teams will move on to the next part, while the losers all get cut from the running!"

Immediately Harold and Cody dapped each other up and solidified their partnership. Rodney was quick to scoot over and chuckle nervously.

"You guys mind if I join you? The training is going great, obviously, but I'll probably focus best on a team of all boys."

"Consider it done," Harold confirmed. "With your strength and our brains, we'll be unstoppable!"

"Tch, screw that, brawn is the most important part." Jo stomped over to Josee and poked her in the shoulder. "Twinkle Toes, looks like you know what it's like playing to win. We're teaming up!"

"Ooooh, I love hearing the attitude of a winner! Of course you'll wind up losing to me when it comes to the final battle, but for now you have me as a teammate."

Jo nodded in satisfaction, then turning to point at Izzy. "Wackjob! You went toe to toe with a big name like that and came out without breaking a sweat. You're on the team!"

"Aww, really? I wanted to team up with my buddy Staci. But how can Izzy say no to a request like that!"

Courtney looked from Ella to Staci, then over at the other teams, and raised her hands in protest. "Hold on, don't I get a say in this?"

"Nope. On to the challenge!" Topher motioned to the monitor where the font for Second-Chance Challenge had turned into a western theme and also displayed an old timey revolver. "It's a shoot out! With paintball guns, obviously. We'll do three battles where someone from each squad stands in a triangle Mexican standoff style, no one can fire until we say so. But once we do, you get one shot! If you land a blow, that's a point for your team. But if you get hit, that's a point lost for your team, maybe two if both opponents aimed for you and gotcha. Team with the worst score at the end is out! Let's see who's battling first."

The screen shuffled through the available options before displaying three faces. Rodney, Jo, and Staci. By now the ball pit had been somehow removed, so the competitors were guided to their positions and given their guns. A western movie style cut in formed, with a zoom in on everyone's eyes shifting around. Even a royalty free knockoff version of some spaghetti western movie music played. Jo's glare was narrowed and focused. Staci's brow was sweating but she shifted her eyes around sketchily. Rodney seemed calm and collected. And then suddenly-

"FIRE!"

All three drew their guns and fired, with Jo diving to her side midshot. But once the dust settled she realized it was unnecessary. Staci had a blue splotch of paint on her shoulder from Rodney's shot. But the farm boy himself? He had both a red and green bit of paint on different parts of his overalls. Looks like both girls had the same idea. Go for the larger target.

"Looks like team Jo is currently the safest, while Team Rodney is in trouble," Topher narrated. "Who's up next?"

Once again the monitor shuffled through scenarios until it landed on its next battle. Cody, Josee, and Ella. They replaced their teammates at their respective spots and got their weapons ready. As the music returned, it ramped up in speed and intensity. Josee's gaze was relaxed and cocky. Cody had one eye closed and his tongue out somehow to help with his aim. Ella's eyes were wide open, hungry for that precious spot on the show to finally be able and sing again.

"FIRE!"

Learning from Rodney and Staci's mistakes, this time everyone tried to dodge. Cody dove forward, Josee did a stylish pirouette, and Ella ducked. Also this time was everyone getting fired at, with Cody targeting the winning team, Ella aiming to widen the gap of how bad the boys were losing, and Josee going for what she thought was the easiest target. And that proved to be a sound decision, since Ella and the red bit of paint on her dress was the only one hit this round.

"Athletic girl team continues to be safe, but now Ella's team is tied for sucking with the boys." Topher chuckled at his co-hosts frustration and pointed a thumb at the monitor. It was already displaying the final matchup. "We already know Harold, Izzy, and Courtney are up next by default, so let's get to it!"

Now the music was at its fastest. Harold leered from one girl to the next, feeling an aura of danger in both directions. Izzy was in full head empty mode, either confident that she wouldn't be targeted or having too much fun to care either way. And of course, Courtney had her eyes on the prize while she glared in determination.

"... FIRE!"

While both girls fired, Harold did something a bit different. He moved to the side before taking his crutch and suddenly spinning it with all his might, allowing it to gyrate around like a makeshift fan. As he predicted, Izzy and Courtney both had fired at him, and his crutch deflected the paintballs where one proceeded to fly off and hit Amy in the eye while another hit Scott in the crotch. Before the girls had time to react he then drew his weapon and hit his mark. Courtney was splattered.

"Harold saves it for the guys! Courtney's team is out!"

While Staci was mostly ambivalent, her teammates both let out wails of despair. Cody and Rodney both rushed to hoist Harold up on to the later's shoulders and parade him around victoriously.

"Don't get too cocky, Beta Boys," Jo barked out. "My team did the best! I know who I've got money on being the next ones to get eliminated."

"Let's put that to the test then," Topher called out while a sniffling Ella rejoined him. "Because this next round is another team affair, three on three. We were gonna let you guys repick squads if you wanted, but let's go ahead and lock in this Battle of the Sexes as our way to go!"

"... yes, and it looks like it's going to be a contest of Battle of the Generations trivia," Ella added, a bitter twang of depression in her tone. "We'll ask you a series of questions and the first team to get three right wins..."

"Booya! I excel at trivia games," Harold boasted, high fiving his comrades.

"And the only reason I don't win them is because he usually does," Cody added. "But I totally kick anyone else's butt!"

"I am also here," Rodney added helpfully.

Jo seemed eager to protest something as lame as trivia being used to decide a returnee, but Josee was quicker with her smug laughter. "We'll just see about that. Hosts, let's get these questions over with. And make them maximum difficulty!"

"Max difficulty? Hmm, we can do that." Perhaps still a bit bitter, Ella looked at her notes and picked out the first annoyingly hard to remember question she could find. "Name every single location they visited during the Venice challenge in chronological or-"

"Doge's Palace, Piazza San Marco, Palazzo Grasi, under the Rialto Bridge, Marco Polo's house, Chiesa di San Simeon Piccolo, aaaaand the Constitution Bridge."

Everyone stared in disbelief at Josee, who merely beamed with a smug satisfaction. Ella checked her notes and sighed. "That's... correct."

"What the- you weren't even ON the show," Bridgette protested. "How do you know that off hand?"

"If you intend to make a grand entrance and win the prize, you had best do your research beforehand," the ice dancer answered simply with a shrug.

"Ok, then how about this question?" Ella cleared her throat. "List each elimination from the Los Angeles challenge in order, including who eliminated th-"

"Lightning eliminates Beardo, Leshawna eliminates Amy, Jasmine eliminates Brick, Lightning eliminates Dave, Jasmine eliminates Anne Maria, Anne Maria eliminates Sugar, Jasmine eliminates Trent, Lightning eliminates Samey, Sugar eliminates Dawn."

Harold had actually been just about to start, but Josee was just a bit quicker than him. "GOSH! There's no way you studied the little things like that so quickly, that's something I would do!"

"Next questioooon," Josee taunted in a sing song voice. "I've studied the competition from top to bottom, so I guarantee I'll get it right!"

The competition, eh? But perhaps not the personal things with little to no weight on the game itself? Ella smiled to herself, a plan brewing. "Very well, here's another one. Out of everyone here on stage... who has had 7 confessionals this season?"

Not just Josee, but also the boys, were immediately stumped. Confessionals? Who keeps track of insignificant things like that with pretty much no bearing to the plot? There was no fun trivia to be had memorizing that, nobody could-

"Oh, oh, it was Scott," Izzy suddenly yelled happily. "Yeah, he was totally chatty all season, that's even more than some of the people still left in the game!"

Jo and Josee shared a look and turned to the hosts. Ella dropped her notes in surprise but eventually nodded. "That is... correct."

"Which means the boys have been eliminated from the running," Topher announced. "Tough break, bros."

Both Drama Bros embraced each other and yelled in frustration, Rodney offering reassuring pats to the shoulder with his massive mits. Meanwhile the final three were celebrating, Jo flexing for the camera, Josee going hyper from excitement, and Izzy just generally happy to be here.

"But before we move on to the final challenge that decides our winner, we still have one more to go." Ella motioned to the monitor where it displayed... a vote ballot. "One of the most important parts of Total Drama is the social game! So let's test how well you three have left an impression on each other with the simplest challenge yet. Simply choose one of your remaining opponents to vote off. If someone gets two votes, they're out."

"Scandalous! Both girls are fierce and worthy opponents for Izzy in the final round. But, Jo DID choose me to be teamsies and that was pretty nice of her!" The wild child grinned at her older teammate. "So I guess I vote off Josee."

The ice dancer scoffed in amusement. "Really now? Well too bad for you that I've already formed a winning athletes bond the likes of which you can't hope to match! Obviously I vote off Izzy. Go ahead and put her out of her misery, Jo."

So she was already advancing regardless? Sweet. Our jockette grinned mischievously, first staring down Izzy before then sizing up Josee. One was a wild card, the other a certified Olympic athlete. Izzy had the Total Drama experience, but Josee clearly did her homework. One was unhinged, and the other... was also unhinged. Eventually her humming ceased and she sneered at the loser.

"Yeah, nah, there's only one alpha chick punching her ticket to that plane. Hit the road and find a different show to bug, Bronze Betty."

"Fitting nickname," Topher cheered. "Looks like Josee is out! But hey, 3rd place isn't so bad, right?"

Naturally, the ice dancer had gone dead eyed over the blindside, slowly sinking to her knees as she stared off into the cold dark abyss. Those vile, filthy, acursed words echoed in her mind like nails on a chalkboard. "3rd place... 3rd place? 3RD PLACE? THIIIIIIIRD PLAAAAAAAACE?"

One ear piercing shriek later and a group of buff interns had to be called in to drag Josee away from the premises, leaving only Izzy and Jo standing in the middle of the stage. The girls grinned at each other, one excited for the coming challenge while the other got hyped up on confidence.

"This is it, gals, our final challenge to decide our qualifier." Topher rubbed his hands together and cackled in delight. So much so that he didn't notice Ella's phone going off and her turning away to answer. "And this is gonna be a doozy! The winner will be whoever is the first one to complete an obstacle course referencing all the challenges thus far. Here's the rundown. First, you must go through the freezing cold ice box where a yeti tries to block your path. Then you'll face an onslaught from a high pressure shoe cannon while you try to get a cold coin. Next, you'll enter a go-kart and-"

"Topher?"

"Eat through 20 pies at the country fair, followed by-"

"Topher!"

"You'll make me a microwavable pizza, topped with-"

"TOPHER!"

The meaner host snapped his head towards Ella, clearly annoyed. "Do you mind? It's a long rundown, I don't want to have to repeat it."

"It's the producers," she said apologetically, handing him the phone. Quickly his bravado left and he snatched the device. "Guys, what's up! We're uh, kinda in the middle of the Aftermath here, ya know?"

Everyone had to sit there and wait while Topher got through his phone convo, only hearing him occasionally mumble "Uh huh" or "Yeah" with no idea what the other side was saying. Izzy and Jo raised an eyebrow, Eva tapped her foot impatiently, B checked his watch, even Staci gave Dakota a look who could only shrug in response. Eventually the call seemed to reach something important as he yelled out.

"So what am I supposed to do about the returnee?" His face scrunched up in confusion before eyes shot open. "What, really? You guys are sure about this? Oh, Chris might get annoyed? Say less, I'm on it."

That done, he tossed his co-host the phone and regained his pearly white grin. "So I've got good news and bad news! The bad news is the producers tell me we don't have enough time to do the final challenge. You ask me, I think they just cheeped out and decided not to spend the money on what I told em, but hey, they make the calls not me."

"And the good news?" Izzy asked curiously.

"Get this. Since we don't have enough time to decide a winner." He paused for dramatic effect, perhaps even for a moment or so longer than necessary. "They told me to just declare BOTH of you the winner! Which means Izzy AND Jo are heading to the Jumbo Jet!"

"What?" Scott yelled, nearly drowned out by the audience erupting into cheers. "Is that even possible? Jo wasn't even IN this season at the start!"

"Neither was Blaineley," Bridgette pointed out. "Didn't stop them from letting her on."

But enough about the peanut gallery, what about the winners? Izzy of course clapped in excitement, grin spreading even wider as she fed off the raucous cheers from the crowd. Jo was initially shocked, but that cocky swagger soon returned as she pumped a fist, then pointed and laughed at everyone else. "Like there was ever any doubt! In your face, chumps!"

"Izzy's return record grows even bigger," the psycho hose beast bellowed. "This'll be so much fun!"

And that's all they get. Suddenly the buff interns from earlier emerged to usher them away, Staci in particular sighing in relief once she realized bungee jumping was off the menu for tomorrow now.

"Which means they have a flight to catch. The producers will let Chris know they can leave LA, and when they get to their next location Izzy and Jo will be waiting for them!" Ella's sad funk from losing finally gone, she could focus on the hype of this major development. "And unfortunately I guess that means our time is up."

"It's been one heck of an Aftermath," Topher confirmed. "And it's just gonna keep being crazy! So be sure to tune in with us next time for more TOTAL..."

"DRAMA," Ella added.

"AFTERMATH," they finished together, most of the peanut gallery waving as the camera faded to black.

Author's Note:

Surprised? I hope some of you are, because even I am kinda. Obviously the biggest thing to talk about this chapter is the returnees, so let's dive straight into that. You guys like my stupidly long ANs? Hope so, because here comes one. Doing a returnee at the halfway point was always a plan of mine and honestly way back when I eliminated Izzy I did so with the mindset that she'd just be coming back later in the story. Which isn't to say she was the only contender to return, but a lot of contestants I quickly ruled out for one reason or another.

Shawn, Cody, and Amy all had pretty plot relevant eliminations, bringing them back would kind of undermine the point of them. On the flipside, the likes of Rodney, Dakota, and B were always intended to be early boots and I had no plans for if they came back. Scott and Courtney were possibilities, sure, there's stuff you can do with versatile characters like them. But I felt like their story was nice and wrapped up, no need to drop them back in. Same for Beth, she did her part, time for her to rest. Then there's Harold. As my favorite, obviously he was tempting to consider. I would have enjoyed letting him do more and branch out to other things. Especially after I read the TV Tropes page and read someone call his Leshawna attraction flanderized, how rood. But ultimately he just wouldn't fit into the role I had planned for the returnee.

The only other one besides Izzy who might have fit was, unironically, Staci. So yes, she was the most heavily considered besides the winner herself. Because of course I knew people would find bringing the jokey first boot back funny, and she honestly could have worked for the dynamic I'm planning to give Izzy. But here's the thing. For me at least, picking Staci would have been more gimmick than anything. If I picked her it would be for the joke of picking Staci, not out of genuine desire to write more of her character. On the flipside, I'm genuinely really excited to write more of Izzy. Yes she has the returnee gimmick from TDI and TDA thing, but legit that was never a factor in my decision to pick her. I think she'll be fun to write and she fits a role I want, it's simple as that.

The other guest competitors were never intended to be more than a bit of extra fun. Ella gets aggressive to beat Topher only to despair when she's denied a singing opportunity again, the Eva vs Jo comparison, Josee competing exclusively so I could give her 3rd place. Nothing serious, ya know? But as the chapter started and I was sat there writing at 3am one night a thought occurred to me. What if I brought one of them back as a shocker? Yes, the second returnee is a totally impulsive decision I've made that I literally only decided on as I wrote the chapter. I considered just having Jo replace Izzy outright to stick to the one returnee thing I planned, but ultimately I decided bringing in both would be better. As for why Jo in particular? Well Sky was out since it would interfere with Dave stuff, Bridgette is a bit too chill and laid back to work as a halfway point join. Eva is fun but a bit too volatile, plus 3 of the 5 most favorited stories with her marked as a main character are mine. Good lord I need to give the girl a break. And Josee... I'm not gonna lie, actually was my knee-jerk first choice. I unironically came very close to suddenly dropping Josee into the cast for the sheer insanity of it, she would be a blast to write. However! Jo will also be a blast. But more importantly, she has potential plot material with the ROTI crew who are in need of some stuff going forward. Ngl it makes me sad that Brick in particular hasn't been on people's radar as anything other than just Lightning's mentor. I really like writing him and wish he made more of an impression. But you add Jo to the mix? I reckon that makes things more interesting for the guy. So yeah, Izzy was always planned but Jo is a spur of the moment decision. Will it work out? I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Right then, other stuff. Some of these interviews probably felt pretty fast, B and Cody in particular, but if I didn't have a whole lot to do with them I figured why drag it out? Of potential note is Amy. I know in some stories people try to dig into the reasoning for her behavior and deep dive into her psyche. I agree that it's a totally interesting idea for her! But heres why I didn't. Her run in the story is basicslly over. A major deep dive story like that only really fits if Amy is a bigger character to thr plot than she is here. That's not really something I'd want to just tack on in the Aftermaths. And so, at least in the case of BOTG Amy, here she's just sorta rotten by nature. No big traumatic event, no major reveal, she's just genuinely a bad person. Underwhelming? Perhaps, but sometimes villains are just mean because that's how they are, and I think that's ok.

Guests probably speak for themselves. Bridgette is here to follow up the Geoff and Brody gag last time, Eva vs Jo sounded fun, I wanted Sky to react to Dave's situation. And I'm sorry to any potential Zoey fans who wanted her apperance, but I needed an easy scapegoat to set up Josee's cameo. And I hope this song in particular was fun because when I thought of it that was the catalyst to adding songs to every Aftermath! Since Courtney was always going to win the duel, I originally planned to have her playing the role of Johnny in the song while Scott was the devil. But suddenly the idea of Courtney in a Helltaker style getup came to mind and Scott being a country boy pretty perfectly fits Johnny, so I switched it up. My apologies to Mr. Charlie Daniels who apparently loved seeing parodies of the song but only as long as the devil always lost.

That's all from me, we start the next half of the story off properly next time with Izzy and Jo in the mix. Let me know what you thought of the chapter and I'll see y'all in the next one!