"Previously on Total Drama..." Unlike last time, the narration was back to its usual state with Chris and Chef in their aviation outfits. "We had probably our most action packed episode in more ways than one! First up, Izzy was back! And somehow classic competitor Jo managed to tag along, giving us two returnees in one fell swoop. Next, I disbanded the teams and blindsided everyone by announcing the start of the merge!" Shots went through some of the various alliances from Jasmine/Sammy/Dave, to DJ/Leshawna, and then Brick/Lightning. Followed by the new partnerships formed last episode. "Cue everyone scrambling to find them some new allies."

"After that we landed in Mexico City for a hard hitting no holds barred pro wrestling battle royal! The contestants gave it their all, some more successfully than others." Cue clip of Dave's 1 second elimination. "But in the end it was Izzy who snuck in a win while Sugar's back was turned. Speaking of, Beardo and Trent were set to lead a crusade that would make sure our country bumpkin would be voted out. But Sugar had an ace in the hole. Using Izzy as proof that Dave had been up to no good!"

More footage showed Sugar's desperate pleas, all of which fell on deaf ears. "Unfortunately for her, Izzy pulled a shocker and came to Dave's defense with some lies of her own. And everyone believed it! So it was see ya never Sugar, our first victim of the merge. What's up with Izzy, and why did she want Dave in first class with her? Will we see any more unlikely pairs form? And who will be the next chump getting a mouthful of boot? Get ready to find out, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

*** Opening Credits ***

Economy class was more packed than usual, most still choosing to sit near their former teammates even if things had been disbanded. Sandwiched between Dawn and Anne Maria, Jo stirred from her nap and popped her spine back into place with a sickening crunch.

"Geez, you guys weren't joking about that sleep. Just a few days and I can already see the chiropractor bill."

Brick scoffed from nearby. "If you're not cut out for it we'll be more than happy to send you back home. Not everyone's able to handle roughing it here like the rest of us!"

She rolled her eyes and started aggressively doing sit-ups. "Psh, nothing a good workout can't fix. Watch and learn, ladies."

Not one to be outdone, Lightning plopped down nearby and starting doing reps of his own. "You call those sit-ups? Lightning'll show you what REAL sit-ups look like!"

As the two picked up speed, suddenly a tall slab of Australian grit got down between them, somehow matching their insane pace. "Hope you don't mind me getting in on this. Last one to 100 has to do an extra set!"

Both jocks exchanged a look of surprise before steeling their resolve and going double-time.

*** Confessional: Jo ***

"Outback Jack's alright, I like the cut of her gib. Strong, doesn't take crap from anyone, knows how to take care of business. If she weren't already attached to the hip with that froo froo pretty girl cheerleader she probably would have been the one I approached for an alliance." She snickered to herself. "What do you think hurts her back more? The crappy economy seats or having to carry Lamey through the competition?"

*** Confessional: Jasmine ***

"Things couldn't be better! With Amy and Sugar gone there shouldn't be anyone left right now that's chompin at the bit to kick me out. Not to mention the load off it is knowing the harpies that screwed over Shawn are gone. Now it's down to business." Holding up three fingers, she pointed to one for each name. "Me, Sammy, and Dave are a pretty solid group on its own, and big alliances are too messy for my liking so I'll probably keep it that way for now."

A thought crossed her mind and she snort laughed. "I know, it's weird right? Sammy is obvious, but here I was ready to strangle Dave not too long ago for voting off Shawn. What can I say, he brings some brains to the table and it's not like I can blame him for getting manipulated. I reckon he must feel awful about everything that happened."

*** In first class ***

"I can't believe those idiots actually bought it," Dave mused to himself, half a bag deep into some chips and salsa. "Hate to say it, but Sugar was right. What a bunch of suckers."

"Personally I'm more of a jawbreakers kinda gal." Izzy suddenly slid down the seat next to him, startling and nearly causing Dave to choke on a chip. "But suckers are alright. Made the trips to the dentist worth it at least! Well, that and the laughing gas."

The germaphobe scooted a seat down, giving her an uneasy grin. "Oh hey Izzy! Yup, don't mind me, just talking about my favorite kinds of candy back here, hehe. Nothing else. Thanks for bringing me back here by the way, I want you to know I really appreciate it."

She grinned back playfully. "Of course I was going to pick you, silly. How else would I get you alone for some super secret one on one time without the others knowing?"

And we were right back to the mood being uneasy. "You... wanted to get me all alone for a reason?"

Since it looked like he wasn't going to finish them, Izzy swiped the rest of his chips. "Sorry, but it's not for the lovey dovey kinda reasons. Don't take this personally, but I like my men a bit more, shall we say, wild and dirty. I guess you kinda got the wild part down, but the dirty? Not so much."

All things considered normally a girl suddenly rejecting him regardless of his feelings towards her might have triggered something in the guy. But instead he felt... a bit of relief? Yeah, something like that.

"Ok, well what is it that you DID want to talk about?"

"It's not as fun if you don't guess!" She closed the distance by scooting another seat closer. "Come on, think about it. Don't you think I did something weird after coming back?"

"Uh, doesn't weird describe everything you do?" He'd been hoping to play off the moment before the last vote as just her being strange and not calling more attention to it. Guess he wasn't going to be so lucky. "Alright fine, you mean the fact that you defended me against Sugar's accusations, right?"

"Mhmmmmm," Izzy confirmed, grin getting a tiny bit wider. "Now why would that be weird?"

Dave chuckled nervously, not about to expose anything quite yet before knowing what cards were on the table. "Before I answer, I need some clarification. Did you REALLY get to watch all of the show while you were out of the game?"

"Sure did! I really loved the Samoa episode, that fire dance looked so fun." Was he not convinced? Maybe he needed more concrete proof. "If you don't believe me I can mention stuff you said in the confessional. Let's see, what was it you said people were calling you post-season. Dave the Dateless, Dave the Incel, friendzone D-"

"Alright alright, you made your point." He huffed in annoyance. "So if you watched everything... you know how things really went with Cody, Shawn, all of that?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Not gonna lie, your plan to get Cody out was pretty slick! I think that's when you really came into your own, commercially and artistically."

"Commer- nope, doesn't matter." He peeked over his seat to confirm no one happened to be lingering around anywhere, then ducked back into the convo. "Then that means you know Sugar was actually telling the truth about everything. Not that I'm complaining, but why did you stick up for me and lie about it in front of everyone?"

Now thoroughly done with her chips, Izzy patted at her lips with a napkin and shook her head. "Ah David, poor naïve David. Tell me, what do you think of this whole Total Drama game?"

What kind of question is that? Was she just avoiding having to answer by changing the subject? His brow furrowed in confusion. "Uh, well it's stressful as heck, the food sucks if you're not in first class, the plane is a deathtrap so I'm always a little anxious, the people are frustrating, Chris is demented, we're constantly in danger. Overall it's a pretty crappy time, if it weren't for the money none of us would be here."

"I disagree," she shot back defiantly. "I think the game is super fun! It's where I've met some of my bestest friends, my hunky chubby on again off again boyfriend, even Chef! He's a blast to mess with, you know. Plus it never gets boring here thanks to all the neat challenges and crazy blindsides!"

Yup, she really lived up to the insane reputation. "Ok. And that's relevant how exactly?"

"Because even though I love being here I hardly get to play. I was out pretty early in Action, World Tour, even this time." She held up a finger in front of his face. "Except in one season, the first! Izzy got to stick around a while that time. Wanna know what was different?"

Dave blinked in confusion. "You were slightly less unhinged back then?"

"That season Izzy was willing to work with Heather," she continued. "I helped her with a bunch of votes, even basically became her main ally by default once Lindsay was gone. Probably would have made it even farther if I hadn't tranquilized her and left her immobile for a few days."

Catching a worrying glint of joy in her eye, Dave checked to see if he had any more seats he could use to scoot away from her. No luck. "What's your point?"

"My point, dear David, is that she was the mastermind of the season. The big bad villain! Sure, she did some unsavory things here and there, but they never involved me and they kept things interesting, so who was I to brush her off?" She leaned in closer, giving him a good look at her unsettling grin. "Izzy's been doing a lot of thinking after getting voted off and came to a decision! If I came back, I was going to help the season's villain again."

After a few blinks the germaphobe finally picked up what she was putting down, his worry turning to offense. "Me?! You think I'M the villain this season? What about Amy?"

"Too small potatoes to go the distance as the big bad. More Justin and less Courtney." She shook her head in disapproval. "She was a villain alright, just not a main one."

"Oh yeah? What's the difference?"

Izzy posed dramatically, arms stretched out wide. "Presentation! And well, you know, being able to scheme, knowing how to weasel into safety, so on and so forth. In the end, she was just kind of a jerk and mostly focused on her sister. But you? You've actually got things done and taken out targets on every team." She nudged him with her elbow. "Not to mention dealing with Amy herself. Which means..."

"... I'm the main villain?" Dave's tone was still annoyed and standoffish. At first. But then he started really thinking about it. All that hate and venom sent his way following Pahkitew Island. Reading fan sites and seeing his face at the bottom of all those stupid fan rankings and tier lists. Long ass video essays from nerds with grating voices on why he was just the worst. But who did he always see talked up favorably in those things? The villains. Heather, Alejandro, Scott, Courtney, Duncan, heck even Mal. They all had legions of fans. Plenty of people that wanted more of them. Contestants who had done far worse things than him and yet were beloved for the entertainment they added. At the very least, fans actually respected them. And now he was being talked about in that kind of company? "I'm the main villain... huh. I like the sound of that."

Yeah. Yeah! This was the solution! Getting the respect he deserved, making sure fans stopped treating him like garbage, the key was to run this game like all the villainous greats before him. He had to own it! Wow, who would have though Izzy of all people would lift his spirits... oh yeah. Izzy was still here. "Alright, so that's why you made sure Sugar left? You want to work with me?"

"Got it in one, my guy." She flashed him a finger pistol. "You can consider that one a freebie. Going forward I'm willing to vote together and all that jazz and it doesn't have to be some kinda big super binding alliance." A worrying giggle sent a chill down his spine. "Buuuuuut if you DID want a full on alliance Izzy can do that too! I gotta warn ya tho, I take agreements like that veeeery seriously. We'd be ride or die to the end, you and me, so if you try to pull a fast one on me I might just have to let the truth slip to the others."

Of course there had to be a catch. Ugh. Dave couldn't exactly be discreet in his contemplating what with Izzy staring deep into his soul, he even had half a mind to suggest putting a pin in this and making a decision later. But as far as he could tell she seemed genuine about being his ride or die, and he couldn't really afford to drag his feet at this point in the game...

"Alright, I can live with that." He offered a handshake to make it official. "I've been cooking up some plans and this should fit into it nicely."

Izzy enthusiastically accepted the gesture, nearly giving the poor guy whiplash with her violent shaking. "Oooooh sounds fun!"

*** Confessional: Dave ***

"There's a lot of sayings about what you should and shouldn't do when it comes to crazy chicks, but this fits way too well into the strategy I've been mulling over to not go for it. She's already had my back once, maybe Izzy will wind up being more helpful than expected."

He gave the camera a devilish smirk. "Yeah, of course I'm making plans. I'd be stupid not to, right? At this stage you can't afford to get lazy, especially with that million bucks on the line. I'm sure everyone left has their mind on the booty."

*** In Economy Class ***

Cue a hard cut to the others in economy, the camera focusing on Beardo indeed with his mind on the booty. Just not the same kind as Dave. Across the room Anne Maria was deep into girl talk with Leshawna, getting the deets on her beauty techniques, comparing fashion preferences and the like. The kinda stuff that he'd have literally no input on. Bro was in such a daze that he was absentmindedly whispering the kind of bird chirping sound effects you'd hear when a cartoon character is knocked out. But as he watched the Jersey girl, Trent's face suddenly blocked his vision and snapped a finger to get his attention.

"Beardo? You still with us?"

He yelped and straightened up, very poorly trying to play it off nonchalantly. "Hm? Yeah, course bro. Musta just dozed off is all. My bad."

Trent cast a glance back at the girls, then at the beatboxer. "Dozed off. Right." He shook his head and returned to the seat next to him. His voice lowered to a whisper. "For the record, girls typically don't like it when you stare at them like that."

Beardo's eyes went wide, the best he could offer being an embarrassed chuckle.

*** Confessional: Beardo ***

"I've been trying to keep it on the down low, but I guess Trent's got me clocked. Yeah, I've been crushing on Anne Maria for a bit now. Can ya blame me? She's cool as heck!" He did a little wolf whistle for emphasis. "We're not even just talking looks here, it's her personality that won me over if anything. She's confident, proud, doesn't let anybody tell her what to do."

Slowly his enthusiastic smile began to falter. "Er, basically all the things that I'm not. And there's one small issue. I got no game. I'm the man who could not cook. Working my way up to talking with people is hard enough as it is, trying to ask a girl out is a whole other beast." But then his mood picked up again. "It might not be a lost cause tho! Now that Trent doesn't hate me anymore, maybe he can help me out. Who better to be my Professor in Rizzology than one of the most thirsted after dudes in the music industry?"

*** Back in Economy Class ***

No time like the present to get the ball rolling. Brick had long since joined the workout group in their contest that had now moved to squats, while Sammy was enjoying a pleasant convo with DJ and Dawn. They'd be able to talk discreetly without anyone noticing.

"Keep it real with me, man. Do you think I got a shot, or am I out of my element?"

Trent quirked an eyebrow. "I mean, sure, we all have a shot. As far as I know there's nobody gunning for you so you're not likely to be eliminated anytime soon. That's as good a shot at winning the game as any."

Now it was Beardo's turn to furrow his brow. "Uh, I'm talking about a shot at asking out Anne Maria..."

"I know, just messing with you." Get prank'd, nerd. "I'll give what advice I can, but it's going to be an uphill battle for sure. She strikes me as having pretty specific tastes and I'm not sure if you're cocky or in love with yourself enough to fit the bill. Not impossible but no guarantees, basically."

So he's saying there's a chance! "Shoot, I'll take those odds! Thanks, man."

*** Confessional: Trent ***

"Guess I should be glad season 2 didn't kill my dating advice reputation. Maybe I should look into being a relationship counselor if some sorta freak accident causes me to not be able to play guitar again."

Oof, what an awful though. Let's move on. "Most people would probably look at a club frequenting narcissist like Anne Maria and a sound effect spitting introvert like Beardo and assume there's not a snowball's chance in hell they can become a couple. Heck, I would have said that back before I started the show. But this IS Total Drama." He started counting off examples on his fingers. "Scruffy smelly conspiracy theorist lands a relationship with gorgeous outback giantess. Schlubby couch potato successfully woos literal millionaire heiress. Beth getting into a whirlwind romance with a crazy hot super model who wasn't even on the show."

"And respectfully." He grinned apologetically at the camera. "Harold and Cody manage to make it work with the likes of Leshawna and Sammy. Will Beardo trying to woo her be tough? Oh absolutely. But honestly? Stranger things have happened."

*** Sometime Later ***

As time had passed on the plane, two contestants found their way to the cargo hold in a bid for some privacy. Though truth be told it was also for a change of scenery, one downside of being stuck in the jumbo jet instead of an island was a lack of places for them to stretch their legs and take in some nature.

"So you guys searched the place every single time?" DJ asked, haphazardly sorting through junk in one of the crates. "His zombie thing was for real?"

"If his aura was anything to go off of, something in his childhood must have traumatized him into believing they existed. A particularly bad experience during a movie he had no business watching while so young perhaps?" It wasn't her place to pry, so she never got around to asking before he'd been eliminated. "But yes, every time we reentered the plane. It was actually rather pleasant having a sort of rapport with those from Team Explosive, it forced Scott to socialize and seemed to do wonders bringing Cody and Sammy closer together. Honestly I kind of miss the searches."

The brickhouse chuckled to himself. "Maybe we could start them back up? I get Leshawna, you grab Brick, we could try making sure there's no Ezekiel or something lurking around here?"

"Hmm. Perhaps. Though I must admit I also brought you here to pick your mind on something without the others eavesdropping." She sighed and popped a squat on one of the boxes, her crush raising an eyebrow. "What did you think of that whole ordeal with Sugar and Dave?"

DJ cringed a bit. Honestly he was kinda hoping the last of that whole nastiness had passed with her and Amy's eliminations. "She really tried her best throwing the poor guy under the bus, huh? I don't know why she thought it'd work. Her and Amy didn't exactly do a good job of hiding how nasty they were."

So he full believed Dave's side of the story? Hmm, interesting. She stared off in contemplation.

"It's true that Amy and Sugar were deeply troubled individuals. However, I must admit... I'm having a hard time writing off everything that she said regarding Dave. Surely her intentions were indeed mostly vindictive to drag him down with her, but yet she spoke with enough conviction that I have a hard time believing she made it all up."

Just more reason for DJ to be confused. "But Izzy straight up told us Sugar had been lying. And I wouldn't put it past her to try and bribe a returnee with no stake in the drama to back her up."

"Nor would I. But that doesn't necessarily mean that she DID do that." Not to mention how Izzy wasn't exactly the most trustworthy source out there, but that was a whole other can of worms. It was clear he felt pretty positive in his viewpoint so she wouldn't press matters too much. "I suppose I just wanted to let you know I have doubts. We should keep an eye out for him, see if anything suspicious arises. Perhaps Sugar being petty and trying to tarnish his name, and Dave not giving us the full story isn't mutually exclusive."

DJ nodded in understanding. "A'ight, got it. And hey, maybe if things keep sitting wrong you could always just try and talk to Dave himself? See if you can get a better read on him face to face and all that."

Not a half bad idea. If Dave was telling the truth, she could confirm as much in person and let the nagging feeling in her gut ease off. And if it was Sugar who was truthful, perhaps she'd be able to pick up on Dave's lying and start planning how to deal with him accordingly. Dawn was about to give her crush a thanks when suddenly the intercom flickered to life with Chris' voice.

"Attention passengers, please make your way to the dinning hall for a rundown on your next challenge. And make sure you're ready for a good time, because this one's gonna be a party!"

Somehow it was hard to believe anything Chris considered a good time would be anything to look forward to. DJ and Dawn exchanged an uneasy looks before a transition showed everyone gathered around. The dining hall had been decked out in various generic party decorations, from streamers, to balloons, and even a cheap looking disco ball.

"Nuh uh, I don't trust like that," Leshawna mused, eyeing a bowl of punch with skepticism. "I bet 5 bucks this party is gonna wind up being us getting thrown in prison. Alcatraz or something."

"I'll take that action." Jo grinned confidently. "Lemme get 10 bucks on the party being in the middle of nowhere where it's gonna suck for everyone. Let's go with... stranded in the middle of the Australian outback!"

Seeing her friend take immediate offense to their home turf being trash talked, Sammy quickly stepped in front of Jasmine. "Not that it wouldn't be fun to see Australia! Still though, what if the whole party thing just turns out to be legit? Chris already knows we don't trust him, so maybe the big twist is that he was actually telling the truth for once? If that's the case maybe the location will be somewhere fun, Las Vegas or something."

Anne Maria rolled her eyes from nearby over all this speculation. Who cared about the venue? These bozos were missing the point!

"Don't matter where it is or when it is. If it's a party we're doing, I already know that you guys ain't holding a candle to me. The clubs down in Jersey are basically my home away from home, this one's in the bag."

Beardo felt an elbow jabbing into his side courtesy of Trent. With his ally's attention, the musician flashed him a subtle number 3 sign and finally it hit him. "Tip 3, try to to find common interests," he whispered to himself. "Alright... here we go."

Suddenly the beatboxer stepped forward, trying his best to keep cool despite the sweat dripping from his forehead. "T-that's what you think! If a-anyone knows their way around a club here, it's gotta be me. Heck, I don't just show up to the party, I make the party!"

Oh, someone was challenging her clubbing cred? Interesting, very interesting. "That right? How do you figure that, big guy?"

"I-I'm actually a professional Deejay." He spared a glance at Mr. Devon Joseph and smiled bashfully. "Uh, no relation. You know, a d-disk jockey. Venues call me up to get behind the turntable and get the club booming."

He had her curiosity, but now Beardo had her attention. She rudely scooched Brick out of the way. "Oh, word? Didn't take you for much of a clubbing guy."

"Heh, yeah, I really know how to get a party going with my beats." He noticed Trent giving him a discreet thumbs up from the corner of his eye. "Well, except this one time I let a vinyl of my sound effects demo get mixed in with the club music. One minute everyone's pumping their fists to the latest chart topper, the next minute they're listening to-"

Instantly he broke out into a flurry of sounds. First it was animal noises like frog croaks, an elephant trumpet, a hyena cackle. Then it turned to power tools such as a buzzsaw, multiple drills, even a jackhammer. Next up a reverberated fart, followed by a firecracker. Anne Maria's interest had already long since dissipated by the time he made it to the thunderstorm ASMR.

"Yeah, I think we get the picture," she loudly interrupted, walking off to go stand with Leshawna instead. Unaware of his fumble, Beardo beamed towards Trent and flashed a thumbs up of his own. The guitarist just face palmed once he looked away.

*** Confessional: Trent ***

"Alright... maybe I got my work cut out for me on this one."

*** Back in the Jet ***

"Not that this isn't all fascinating, but we still don't have a bloody clue what we're doing," Jasmine pointed out. "Where's Chris?"

On cue, the lights dimmed and the disco ball sprung to life. Strobes flashed while a generic rave beat boomed through the speakers. Finally the host made himself known, though rather than rocking glow sticks or funky glasses, he instead strolled in with a Middle Eastern style attire. Some simple black trousers and a white tunic, as well as a skullcap and dogushi hat.

"Ask and you shall receive! Who's ready for the most wicked party in Total Drama history?"

He wouldn't get much in the way of answers since his attire had just further served to confuse everyone.

"Er, where exactly is this party happening?" Brick asked.

"Technically speaking, in Marvdasht. A nice little city tucked right smack dab in the middle of Iran."

Izzy enthusiastically applauded, but just more bewilderment from everyone else.

"Man, when you said party we were thinking something like Paris or New York," Lightning pointed out.

Chris waved a hand dismissively. Darn kids had no creativity!

"Been there, done that. We're thinking outside the box today. This ain't gonna be no run of the mill modern shindig, this time we're partying like it's 1999... BC! Because we'll be holding our little celebration right here, in the ruins of the ancient city Persepolis."

A nearby monitor flickered to life to show pictures of the ruined city. Remains of columns and architecture toppled centuries ago. Outlines of where massive buildings used to stand with the occasional bit of greenery. Dawn almost felt compelled to point out how Persepolis likely wasn't built until long after 1999 BC, but she figured it'd be little use to derail Chris' monologue. As if he cared about keeping historical accuracy.

"Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the First Persian Empire. That means if a big festival, reception, birthday party, New Year's celebration or whatever else was going down that the kings wanted to celebrate, this was the place to be! The big wigs back in the day probably partied the night away for years down here. At least they did until Alexander the Great and his posse showed up to burn the place to the ground. Every party needs a pooper."

With the presentation done, Chris leaned in to elbow DJ.

"Supposedly the fire was suggested by one of his mistresses and Big Al just went along with it. Simps will do anything to impress a girl, am I right?"

An awkward silence filled the room. They all stared at him, judging, unamused, appalled.

"Boy you are WAY too old to be using lingo like that," Leshawna chastised.

Chris gasped in resentment. "Well I'll have you know that Chef thinks I look great for my age. Downright youthful, even!" Speaking of which, where WAS Chef anyway? Best to move on before anyone asked. "Anyway, that's the backstory. Once we get to Persepolis itself we'll explain what this party is gonna entail and how you win immunity. Until then look sharp and enjoy the punch."

Brick would be the one to brave the mysterious bowl and take a swig from a solo cup. Instant regret kicked in as the foul liquid sent his gag reflex on red alert and he ran off to go throw up.

"Huh, we probably should have refrigerated it. You'd think only being left out to stew for a few weeks wouldn't have messed with the flavor." Oh well, not his problem! Chris waltzed off, whistling a merry tune while the others had to listen to Brick's retching.

*** Confessional: Sammy ***

"Oddly enough, I think I might be more prepared than anyone else here! We all know whatever this party is about is gonna suck. But my entire life has consisted of crappy parties thanks to Amy constantly crashing them any way she can. For my 7th birthday she replaced the cake's candles with firecrackers to try and cover me in icing. Long story short, she didn't realize how powerful those fireworks were." She looked down with a sigh. "That really was a nice dining room table. WAS."

No use dwelling on the past though. A smile emerged despite everything. "Compared to what I've seen this challenge is gonna be a breeze!"

*** In the ruins of Persepolis ***

Soon enough the crew found themselves in what remained of the ancient city. For the most part it appeared identical to how the monitor on the jet showed it. Lot of ruins, mostly destroyed architecture, the works. With one concerning addition. Nestled between two of the columns was a massive rundown turntable and speakers on either side. A sick EDM beat was already booming, but no one was actually manning the station yet. Beardo was naturally drawn to the familiar sight, but Chris quickly shooed him away before they could touch anything.

"I've got no idea how long this challenge is gonna last, so I'll be catching up on some much deserved relaxation time while you guys have your fun. While I'm gone, you're at the mercy of today's host."

"Wait-" DJ's eyes shot open in a panic as realization began to hit him. "You mean you AREN'T hosting this one?"

"Nope! But don't worry, I'm leaving you in capable hands." He motioned towards the turntable where a smoke machine was dramatically building tension for a hulking silhouette approaching from out of nowhere. "Today's host and master of ceremonies is none other than our own... Grandmaster Chef!"

Emerging from the fog like some kind of eldritch monster, Chef snarled at the crowd to a chorus of gasps. Mostly from fear and dread, though Izzy's was noticeably more excited. In stark contrast to the near PTSD flashbacks that DJ, Trent, and Leshawna seemed to be going through. Though he was still in his usual getup, he'd added some sunglasses, gold bling, and headphones to his attire. Plus he was covered in some of those glowstick necklaces.

Naturally Chris was living for the panic. "Figured he was long overdue to host another challenge. You guys have fun!"

With him gone, Chef marched down the line of contestants, sizing each up and trying his darndest to put the fear in em with his icy stare. Brick straightened up and visualized being back in his boot camp lineup. Lightning envisioned his coach giving a rundown before the big game. Both Jasmine and Jo seemed unimpressed, exchanging eyerolls at how the others were acting. So of course they'd be who he stopped between to bark out his orders.

"That's right, I'M running the show today! Which means y'all have the honor of attending my rave. Count yourselves lucky." Looking around it was pretty clear that no one was feeling too lucky right now. "Rules are simple. I start playing a song, y'all fall in line and dance! Each track I'm gonna be giving y'all something new to make it hard staying on the dance floor. If you're not able to keep up with the beat or get knocked out of bounds, you're out of the challenge! Party keeps going until there's one person left standing. That's how you win immunity."

"So it's gonna basically be his boot camp challenge with a new coat of paint?" Leshawna whispered to DJ. He'd have no time to respond, Chef jumpscared the pair by popping up between them.

"And try not to piss me off! I'm the disc jockey AND the bouncer of this club, so if anyone gets out of line, I can toss em out of the challenge in an instant. Don't test my patience." He snapped his head towards Brick. "Are we understood?"

"Sir yes sir," the cadet yelled back, complete with salute.

Chef would linger on his stare just to make sure Brick really felt that dread sinking in. "We'll start out nice and easy with the mosh pit. Everyone get to the dance floor, ASAP!"

*** Confessional: DJ ***

"Ever since the whole secret alliance incident, I'm always at least a little on edge around Chef. Last thing I wanted was having to go through another one of his challenges." A shiver ran down his spine, memories of TDA flooding back. "Then again, it's been ages since they've let him actually do much for the show. Maybe he's mellowed out since then?"

*** Persepolis Dance Floor ***

"For this round you'll be sharing the dance floor with a blindfolded black bear." Chef stepped aside as a massive ursine came charging at the cast, stopping mere inches away from a screaming Dave. It started furiously headbanging to the sound of everyone's yelling, showing off the dyed spikey red mohawk in her fur. "You wanna talk about a party animal, Vinnie here loves mosh pits like no one else! She's gonna be thrashing around like crazy, so if you wanna stay in the running for immunity you'd best stay out of her way."

Conveniently, an unlucky lanky intern guy demonstrated just that when as soon as they finished administering the blindfold, the bear's massive arm windmilled into him and he went flying a few yards backwards.

"Y'all really dyed a bear's fur just for a challenge?" DJ observed. "That don't seem ethical."

"Actually, I believe Vinnie dyed the hair herself... somehow." Dawn yelped as the bear switched to furious air punches that came inches away from knocking her out. "If her aura is anything to go off of, she's deceptively happy when it comes to all things metal."

"Which is why the first track is gonna be the hardest metal I got! Now get your gosh darn behinds ready so we can get this show on the road!"

Per Chef's orders, everyone spread throughout the safe zone. The dance floor was about half the length of a football field, marked with a white chalk outline. Most put as much space between them and Vinnie the bear as possible, though Izzy, Jasmine, and Jo seemed excited to be moshing near the ursine. Soon enough a record scratch signaled the beginning of the song. A face melting death metal track that threatened to rupture everyone's eardrums. With the guitar solo shredding like there was no tomorrow, Vinnie started hopping around and headbanging. While the girls near her were bouncing off each other and the bear herself, the others all began their own dances. Some were into it, Lightning whipping out a radical air guitar or Trent whipping his hair around. But most were just awkwardly copying what the others were doing, trying their best not to be deterred by the deafening music.

"People actually listen to this for fun?" Sammy was headbanging and throwing up the devil horns, keeping an uneasy side eye towards the bear.

Somehow even more ungainly was Dave, doing a poor man's imitation of Lightning's air guitar and bouncing his way towards his fellow Pahkitew alumni. "Well at least one of us is enjoying themselves."

Over at the mosh's center, Jasmine was gleefully bobbing and weaving around the bear's erratic arm flailing and kicking. Occasionally they'd bump against each other, then she'd bump against Izzy or Jo. The jockette was more amused than anything watching her work.

"You dance with bears often, Crocodile Dundee? Way you're moving it feels like this ain't your first rodeo."

Jasmine snort laughed, jumping away to avoid a windmill claw strike. "Nah, but I've wrestled a few of em from time to time. You do that enough and something like this is a piece of piss."

Suddenly they both heard a wild cackle, getting a brief glimpse of Izzy punching the air while standing on top of Vinnie. The bear's hopping was getting more erratic and started charging at some of the others.

"Got nothing on that sheila, though."

Back with her allies, Dave and Sammy now found themselves too close for comfort with the bear. Anytime they tried moshing their way somewhere else, Vinnie would hop into their path. Even if they tried to stay stealthy, they'd soon find themselves being cut off again. It was only a matter of time before the flailing bear connected with one of those violent movements. Something had to give, and the germaphobe hatched an idea.

"I think we should try reaching Jasmine," he called out, his voice barely audible thanks to the death metal.

"WHAT?"

"I said, we need to try and go over to Jasmine," he repeated, a bit louder. "You know, for protection?"

"... HUH?"

Yeah, nah, this was too much of a headache. Thinking fast, he decided to alter the plan. As close to her ear as possible, he'd yell out, "MAKE A BREAK FOR JASMINE, I'LL DISTRACT IT!"

Before she had time to object he ran off in the direction opposite of Jasmine, awkwardly trying to match the screaming lyrics of the song in a bid to draw away the bear. And it worked! Vinnie charged at his direction, giving Sammy ample time to mosh over to her friend for some much needed cover. Of course this quickly led to a couple hundred pounds of fur barreling at Dave so fast that he went careening out of the dance floor. Painful for sure, but when he saw the shocked expressions of the girls he offered a weak thumbs up.

*** Confessional: Dave ***

"I hate dancing, and I could tell pretty quickly I wasn't winning this one against the likes of Lightning or Izzy if all the rounds were going to be like that. Taking a dive that way gives me an early exit, AND it convinces Jasmine and Sammy that I'm loyal to them so they won't suspect anything. That's what I call a win-win." He smirked confidently for a moment before violently coughing and gripping his side in pain.

*** Back on the dance floor ***

The club couldn't even handle Izzy right now. She continued rocking out on top of the bear, who somehow didn't seem to mind lugging around a whole person while they were busy moshing. Same couldn't be said for Chef.

"You got 5 seconds to hop off that bear before I disqualify you!"

"Aww, I thought you were a disc jockey, not the fun police." Still, she did as he asked, vaulting off Vinnie and hopping away mid-air guitar.

Elsewhere Beardo and Trent were sticking close, bouncing off each other and letting their hair whip wildly to the music. Anne Maria also happened to be passing by, unenthusiastically hopping and punching in tune with the music. Naturally once he noticed her nearby, the beatboxer would have to offer his input.

"Sweet tunes, huh?" he yelled. "Really makes you wanna let loose."

"Not really?" she called back. "This garbage ain't the kinda crap I'd be caught dead listening too at least."

Seeing as how the song was in the middle of a particularly slick guitar riff, Trent recoiled in disgust. "Garbage?" He shot his ally a judging leer.

"Oh! Uh, yeah, it ain't really my vibe either." He chuckled awkwardly. "Maybe the second song will be some R&B or-"

Suddenly he felt himself get tugged backwards by Trent, just narrowly avoiding a charging Vinnie roaring past the group. His ally's expression turned annoyed.

"I... should probably focus on the challenge, huh?"

Anne Maria rolled her eyes and hopped away. "Ya think?"

While this was going down, Leshawna had ignored the fact that everyone else was doing mosh/rock style dancing and had instead been doing her iconic usual grooving despite any sort of weird looks from the likes of Brick and Jasmine. Seeing as the whole intense violence of the other's dancing wasn't really their cup of tea, DJ and Dawn were following her lead and just doing their own thing. If Chef didn't have a problem, why not?

Perhaps distracted at watching Dawn's elegant dance moves, DJ didn't notice as Jo subtly inched her way closer and closer towards him. While appearing to headbang, she was actually looking back and forth between him and the bear, loudly stomping her feet in an effort to get the ursine's attention. Soon enough it did the trick, and Vinnie came charging in her direction. After a quick check to make sure Leshawna and Dawn weren't paying attention, she waited for the perfect moment before aggressively bumping her hip into him.

Before he even knew what happened, DJ went stumbling forward right into the warpath of the moshing bear. He may as well have been hit head-on by a train. DJ went tumbling forward, all the way out of the dance floor and left a crumpled mess. Soon after, the music came to a stop.

"And that's time," Chef barked out. "Dave and DJ are out. You maggots catch your breath while I get stuff ready for track two."

DJ was thankfully not dead, but he'd nearly been knocked unconscious, left groaning and pained. Leshawna and Dawn rushed to check on him, no one any the wiser that Jo had done the deed. The jockette smirked... and turned to find Brick staring her down.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you! Playing the game is one thing, but he could have got seriously hurt!"

Jo scoffed. "Did I do that? I have no idea what you're talking about, Jarhead. Whole point of the dance is to move around violently, ain't my fault if he bumped into me. Guy should have watched where he was going."

"Don't play coy, soldier, this is exactly the kind of stunt you'd try to pull." He crossed his arms and shook his head in disappointment. "What, too afraid that you can't win the challenge legitimately? Gotta resort to some foul play to have a chance?"

Accusations of playing dirty she could brush off all day. But accusing her of being afraid of the lamer contestants? Jo's cocky grin turned into a scowl. "I didn't do squat. Now get off my case."

*** Confessional: Jo ***

"Obviously I did it on purpose, but what does he think, I'm just gonna decide to spill the beans because he knows?" She scoffed. "GI-Joke is lucky I don't knock HIM into a bear for daring to call me chicken. It's not that, it's this stupid challenge. Singing is bad enough, but now they want me to dance?"

Just the mention nearly made her want to vomit. "I don't do dance. So if the opportunity comes up to knock a few chumps out earlier to speed things along, why WOULN'T I take it?"

*** On the dance floor ***

With Vinnie the bear gone and 11 contestants left standing, Chef did a little record scratch to signal the next round. "Song number two is gonna be... K-Pop! Apparently it's hip and happening with the kids these days. Ain't my kinda thang, but a good deejay knows how to appease a crowd. So feel free to be doing any of those newfangled Korean dances while the track plays. As for me? Hehehe... I'm gonna bring the POP!"

Suddenly he held up two gigantic cannons, one in each hand. In his left the signature pasta launcher he'd used in many a challenge beforehand. In his right, the shoe launcher from the Ireland challenge once wielded by Ezekiel. His guns were locked and loaded and he chuckled with a sinister sort of elation.

"I don't think that's the kind of pop those songs are about," Izzy pointed out helpfully.

"Oh it is on my dance floor. And if I hear another dumb quip out of you, it's an instant disqualification!" The song started up and he wasted no time firing both guns at his psycho hose beast rival, Izzy barely Matrix dodging both the spaghetti and a pair of snow boots. "Begin!"

If a blindfolded bear kept them on their toes, Chef dual wielding had everyone working overtime. Leshawna was grazed with the pasta at one point, and mama mia that was a spicy meatball. Thankfully she was able to catch some fluffy boots in midair to try and wipe it off. Trent was channeling his boy band dance moves, barely avoiding some creased Jordans from striking him in the head. Beardo wasn't so luck, trying to impress Anne Maria with the trendiest and most relevant dance move of all. The little Gangnam style gallop. A golf cleat seemed personally offended by the gesture, zeroing in on his crotch to knock him down. He was thankfully still in, but weakly had to do the worm to stay dancing since he wasn't standing anytime soon.

Not all was a struggle. Jasmine and Sammy actually seemed to be enjoying themselves, dancing next to each other and making their friend laugh with their stiff movements. Catching them having FUN? Chef couldn't allow that. So he hyper focused his pasta pellets their direction, forcing the Aussie into a series of backflips to get out of harm's way. With her guard dropped, he then turned his focus to firing at Sammy. Normally she would have had the reaction time to dodge. But Jo was lurking, and seeing an opportunity she bumped into the cheerleader's back just in time for the pasta to connect. She went flying all the way out of bounds and sticking to an ancient pillar.

Meanwhile Lightning had decided to catch shoes as they flew towards him and started juggling while grooving just as an extra flex. Chef taking it as a challenge didn't matter, bro was a dodging machine out there. Ultimately he had to give up and fire at Izzy. Equally disappointing results, she enjoying herself and the projectiles just made it better. Dawn however? She looked like a sitting duck. Her and Brick were sticking close, just kinda awkwardly copying other people's moves. But her reflexes weren't as good as the cadet's.

She held her own for a bit, dodging a bit of pasta here and a sneaker there. Brick flashed a thumbs up at her nimble footwork... only for Jo to suddenly swoop back in to booty bump her towards the most fearsome weapon of all. The mighty chancla. Dawn had little time to react before the sandal hit its mark, sending her back with just enough force to remove her from the dance floor.

"Whoops! Butter fingers." Jo grinned, winking at Brick before grooving back into the fray with the others, uninterested in hearing any of his chastising. Once again the music came to a stop, just as Chef squeezed the triggers only to get an out of ammo click from both.

"Tch, knew I should have gone for the double barreled model. A'ight, hippie girl and the twin are out! Stand by for round three."

Jasmine and those already knocked out rushed over to remove Sammy from the column before the spaghetti hardened. With most so focused on seeing if she'd be free, once again Brick pointed an accusatory finger towards his rival. But Jo walked away before he could speak.

"Don't wanna hear it. I tripped, that's all, get over it."

Playing dirty AND brushing him off? How cruel could someone be? "You're just setting yourself to be voted off! If you wanna play the game like a jerk, don't be surprised when you get eliminated for acting like one."

From nearby Leshawna took notice. Of all people to be getting into an argument, Brick had to be the last one she expected. Even if she didn't know the situation, she had to see if a bit of tea could spill. "Ain't you usually Mr. Positivity no matter what sadistic crap the game is throwing at us? You two must have some serious beef if she's managing to get you all hot under the collar."

He sighed in embarrassment. "Yeah, something like that."

"Hmm. Maybe it ain't my business, but the way I see it you might need to give her a taste of her own medicine. If you think she's playing like a jerk, throw it back in her face and see how she likes it. Might be the key to making her chill. At the very least, it might get her leave you alone." She shrugged. "That's what I'd do at least."

A taste of her own medicine? So he'd have to play dirty against her? Brick gulped, looking deep in thought.

*** Cockpit Confessional: Brick ***

"Fighting fire with fire against Jo's shenanigans isn't a bad idea, but it'd go against my code to play dirty like that. I don't want to stoop to her level! When I joined this season, I fully intended to win the game with integrity, intensity, and intelligence. The integrity part is important!"

Chef chuckled from the pilot's seat. "Too bad you ain't covering those other two anytime soon. Plus ain't integrity what got you voted off last time?"

"I'd rather leave with my head held high than stay hanging it in shame. This time will be different! Everything was going great before she came back."

"Tch, what's you beef with her anyway?" Now he was invested, so Chef turned to face him. "Heck, Chris used to think you two were gonna wind up as a couple. Personally I'm more of a Joning kinda guy, but Jock ain't bad either."

Brick sighed in annoyance. "Admittedly I probably did have a crush on her when last season started. But she turned out to be such a jerk! No matter what I did, regardless of how hard I contributed and worked to be an asset to the team, she was always condescending and treating me like dirt. I've been having such a productive run, making a genuine friend and getting to prove my worth, so you can imagine how having the most toxic person towards me suddenly added to the game throws me off."

"Sure, but Lightning was a jerk too and you made a whole big show about trying to set him right. Why not try the same wi-"

"WOULD YOU TWO STOP WASTING TIME," Chris suddenly yelled, poking his head into the cockpit. "You're supposed to be down there doing a challenge right now!"

*** On the dance floor ***

"Track number three," Chef bellowed as if he hadn't just been on the jet moment ago. "A club staple, techno!"

Immediately Beardo and Anne Maria cheered.

"And I'm specifically making this electronica. As in electric." Chef pressed a button, causing a portion of the dance floor to turn blue. Those close instinctively jumped away, just in time to avoid the area becoming electrified. "EMPHASIS on the electric." He cackled sadistically.

Aaaand the cheering turned to groans of fright. No time for dillydallying, Chef immediately started the beat and everyone got down with their bad selves. Brick doing the robot, Trent moonwalking, Jasmine cabbage patching, and Leshawna... still doing the Leshawna dance.

While all this went on, those eliminated were sitting around a different area of Persepolis awaiting results. With Dawn and DJ naturally gravitating towards each other for one of their chats, that left lonely Dave to suddenly be joined by Sammy. Wasn't hard to notice her approaching what with the stench of spaghetti lingering.

"On the bright side, it's probably better than his usual food, yeah?" he offered.

"That's one way to look at it." She nearly ripped out some hair yanking some noodles clumped into her bangs. Well at least her sister wasn't here to make some quips about it. "Sorry about getting out so early. Don't know what made me trip like that."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Why are you apologizing?"

"You went through all that trouble distracting the bear so I could get away. That couldn't have been easy."

"Ah. Eh, nothing an ice pack can't fix." A twinge of pain shot into his side, forcing a strained grunt. "Ok, maybe two packs."

"And even after all that I couldn't even make it through one more round." She sighed, sitting next to him with a sickening squish from the pasta sauce. "Definitely not my best work."

"Don't sweat it, Jasmine's still out there and if any of us were winning it was probably going to be her anyway."

Speaking of, the perspective switched to show the Aussie in question expertly flipping out of electrified zones with the greatest of ease. If anything she was waiting for close shaves on purpose just for the sake of an extra thrill. Unlike most of the others she was even laughing.

"I could do this all day! May as well call the challenge now and save the rest of these blokes the trouble."

Not to be outdone, Lightning matched her moves while adding a few extra spins, kicks, and even a bit of gyrations. "Sha-please. You think anyone else is gonna do a better job dodging lightning? I'm literally NAMED Lightning! Show me one person here who's doing it better than me."

Nearby Izzy was... actively poking at some of the electrified field for some of those sweet sweet volts. Why pass up free electroshock therapy? It was bad enough that Chef had to scold her a few times to remind her to dance. Jasmine and Lightning shared an unnerved gaze.

Back with Dave and Sammy, the nice twin had some time to think things over. As far as she knew, they'd come a long way since their uneasy pair up during the Istanbul challenge. "Hey, it's totally cool if this is still a sore subject and I'll drop it. But I've been wondering, are you holding up ok after everything with Amy?"

He blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Her messing with your emotions and forcing you to do things you didn't want to do. It must have been rough. I just wanted to check in and make sure you were doing ok despite everything."

"You're... worried about me?" Bro couldn't believe it. Shouldn't this be the last person asking about how someone else was doing because of her sister? "Considering everything she's said to you, if anything you're the one people should be checking in on, right?"

She chuckled, a mix of bitterness and melancholy to her tone. "Horrible as it might be to say, I'm used to Amy doing terrible things to me. She might outdo herself now and then, but I learned to stop being surprised by it a long time ago. Doesn't mean her being the worst to other people is any less important. I know firsthand how much it can hurt."

Dave's mouth hung open for a moment at a loss for words. How to even respond to that? The genuine concern made keeping the facade up hard enough as it is. "I'm... I think I'm doing fine, yeah."

"I'm glad." She patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. "Don't beat yourself up over it, ok? It's not your fault. Hate to give her credit, but I know Amy is really good at manipulating people. All the crap that she pulled is on her and her alone. None of us hold it against you."

"... thanks. I appreciate it." Oof. Dave nearly felt like he was about to break into a sweat. Was this... guilt? Total Drama villains aren't supposed to feel guilt! Better switch topics before he let it linger too long. "So how do you think the round's going?"

Ask and you shall receive! Things switched back to the dance floor, with the song starting to wrap up. Most of the competitors were holding strong, but Beardo was clearly struggling. Between his lack of cardio and massive fro working up a sweat, running out of the way was becoming a battle. Let alone dancing all the while. Suddenly he noticed the area his crush was cutting up a rug in starting to glow. Maybe she was too into the groove to notice?

"Watch out!"

He rushed over to yank her out of the way, just barely getting her to safety before she got zapped. While relieved at first, quickly she was more confused than anything.

"The heck are you helping me for? It's a challenge, ya dolt."

"Uh..." He stammered trying to think of an answer. "Instinct just kinda kicked in I guess?"

From nearby Trent groaned into his hand. "He's trying way too hard. I gotta make him reel it back in before he-"

Before he could finish, once again Jo found an opening and was ready to seize it. She stuck a leg out in the path of his moonwalk, sending him tumbling forehead first into an electric field. Once he was done convulsing from the voltage, he laid crumpled and charred, very clearly not dancing.

"Trent?" Beardo noticed his ally and stepped to go help... only to slip on a puddle of his own sweat. And as luck would have it, falling backwards right into Anne Maria. Both fell into the electricity he had just saved her from, filling both with the zap. Jo chuckled in amusement and disco danced away. Didn't even have to do that one herself.

Chef gave them about 10 seconds before calling it. "Trent, Beardo, and Anne Maria are all out!" And there Izzy went poking at the electricity again! She had the audacity to keep goofing around when he already told her to stop? Not in his club. "And ya know what? I'm disqualifying Izzy for wasting too much time messing around instead of dancing!"

On cue the song finally came to a stop, the former three smoking and twitching while the later stamped her foot in disappointment. "Aw, for real? You're no fun!"

"Mess around and find out," he grumbled. "Once those three are able to stand, get em off my dance floor so we can move on!"

*** Confessional: Izzy ***

"Ok, so that totally wasn't my smartest move. But I couldn't help it! You have no idea how fun it is to mess with Chef." She rubbed her hands together, cackling. "I wonder if he discovered the whoopee cushion I made for him out of a cactus I smuggled from Mexico City."

*** Confessional: Chef ***

Slowly and painfully he uses a pair of tweezers to pick cactus spines out of his butt. "I hope she gets voted out..."

*** On the dance floor ***

And then there were five. Brick and Lightning exchanged a fist bump, Jasmine and Leshawna nodded in acknowledgement. And Jo smirked confidently, eyeing up the remaining prey and thinking over who could be next.

"We're getting spicy with track number 4," Chef announced. "It's gonna be a salsa dance. Mmmm, love me a good homemade salsa. When the spice hit just right? That's how you know the meal's gonna be good." Suddenly he held up a new button. "Say, salsa's hot, right? Wanna know what else is hot?"

Suddenly pillars of fire shot out from the dance floor, thankfully missing any of the contestants but succeeding in putting them on edge.

"Lawyers told us we can't let y'all stay on fire, so no trying to be a big macho hero and tank through it if it happens! Any of y'all maggots catch on fire, you gotta stop, drop, then roll your way on outta here. Plus we got professional firemen on standby."

The camera panned over to a few sickly interns holding fire extinguishers.

"Yeah... probably best to be on your a-game for this one. Let's get to it!" Another record scratch transitioned into a drum heavy Cuban beat.

Jasmine and Leshawna decided to have a bit of a dance off, locking eyes and synchronizing their moves while bobbing and weaving around the fire blasts. Brick was having the hardest time staying cool under pressure, but did his best. Yet with the girls inadvertently keeping an eye on each other and the cadet on to her methods, Jo only had one potential target left prone. Lightning was knee deep in the thick of it, surrounded nearly all directions by an inferno. Ain't no biggie, if anything he welcomed the challenge. But one little push and he'd probably be toast...

But Brick anticipated this. He knew she was bound to target one of them sooner or later. And he wasn't about to let his buddy get taken out by her dirty tactics. What better round to fight fire with fire? So after some careful maneuvering to sneak up behind her, he'd make his move. Brick let out a battle cry and charged towards his adversary. The intention was to merely tackle her out of the way. Perhaps they'd both be wrestling for a bit and he'd get eliminated for not dancing just as she would. But it was a sacrifice he was willing to make to ensure she didn't win immunity.

... However, this is Brick. So naturally he misjudged the trajectory, especially when Jo braced herself hearing the yell, and instead the two stumbled straight into one of the flamethrowers. Immediately their clothes caught fire and they were forced to roll around, getting sprayed by the extinguishers. But hey, it more or less worked. Lightning was taken off guard, but quickly recovered and was still safe.

But what about the girls? A dance battle literally red hot from the flames could only end with someone slipping up. Chef had increased the amount of flame pillars by tenfold, soon enough the entire dance floor looked like some sort of hellish landscape. Eventually one inferno blast emerged from between the two. Leshawna and Jasmine both jumped back, but one of them had just barely been singed enough for their top to catch fire right as the music ended.

"And it looks like Brick, Jo... and Leshawna are outta the contest," Chef announced, the former Old School member patting out the fire in annoyance. "It's down to Jasmine and Lightning, the next song decides who wins!"

"Heck of a nail biter, that one." Jasmine offered a handshake. "Let's square up again sometime?"

While still bitter about just coming up short, the idea of a rematch certainly felt appealing. She accepted the gesture, both girls sizing up the other's grip. "Mhmm, and next time you ain't gonna get off so easy."

Things were equally cordial with the other eliminated contestants. And by that I mean not at all. After wishing Lightning luck in the final round, Brick stormed off in a mess of emotions. On one hand, he successfully got his foe out. On the other, he eliminated himself in the process. But even worse, he had resorted to doing something she would. Hard to be proud when the results only came from foul play.

"Where'd that come from all of a sudden?" Jo suddenly barked out, tailing behind him. "Since when did you have the cojones to actually step up and do something about it? Here I was expecting you to be a crybaby over me until it came down to just the two of us."

Brick refused to look back. "I wasn't going to just stand idly by while you slithered your way to immunity because of shenanigans! Seems only fairy that you had your own strategy used against you to see how it feels."

Yeah, not having immunity sucked. But if anything she was more just amused that the literal last person that she expected to make a move against her was the one to do it. "So what you're saying is you had to come join Big Bad Jo in the real world of not having to play like a coward, right?"

He wasn't going to dignify that with a response. But no matter how much he tried to stomp away, she staid on his tail.

"Tch, don't be so dramatic about it, Doughboy. Heck, you should be thanking me." That was finally enough to make him look, eyebrow raised in bewilderment. "Look, you wanna get serious about this game? You ain't gonna win trying to keep things all smiles and rainbows 24/7. You already have a meatshield ally, so-"

"Lightning isn't just some trivial ally in a game," he barked back. "He's my friend! Not just some kind of means to an end."

"Call him whatever you want. Point is, you're doing more this time around to actually have a chance. But unless you're planning on just rolling over and handing Meathead the million bucks on a silver platter, sooner or later you're gonna have to think about how you beat him." She pointed a thumb backwards towards the dance floor. "And that back there? You're gonna have to do a whole lot more of that kinda stuff to make it to the end. How many other little friend groups do you think are forming? How long before some of them starts looking at the two buff guys that keep making it to the end of challenges?"

Once again Brick returned to silence.

"For the record, I'm not even mad. If anything I'm impressed to see you take initiative for once. You actually trying just makes things more interesting for me." Finally giving him time to think, she passed Brick by, her expression pertinacious. "But if you really do want to get serious about winning, it's about time you stop just thinking about friendship and honor, and start preparing to get results."

It sure was a lot for a code worshiping goody two-shoes to consider. So for now, we'd return to the dance floor where Lightning and Jasmine awaited instructions. Trash talk was high, but Chef's patience was low.

"That dance battle Leshawna lost gave me some inspiration. So y'all gonna be doing something like that for the final round! And the name of the game is... breakdancing!" A funky hip-hop tune started up, and Chef plopped down a giant cardboard box full of bowling balls. "Y'all bring the dance, and I bring the break."

"Not really my style, but nothing I can't handle. Let's get this over with quick, first class is waiting." Jasmine smirked confidently towards her opponent. "Good luck, you're gonna need it."

"Nah." Suddenly Lightning whipped out a flawless spinaroonie, transitioning into a headspin that finished into a freezing handstand. "I really don't. Prepare to get sha-served!"

*** Confessional: Lightning ***

"Guess what's getting added as an official sport in the Olympics soon? Sha-look it up! Shoot, I've been sprinkling breakdancing into my cardio workouts just to shake things up a bit. Ain't no thang for Li-to-nang!"

*** On the dance floor ***

Indeed it was proving to be a lopsided dance off. Jasmine could merely copy what her oppnent was doing as Lightning kick stepped, helicopter, and knee rocked his way over all the bowling balls Chef flung at them. Thankfully he seemed really into styling on her, so she was banking on him getting too immersed. Sooner or later he'd fail to notice one of those projectiles hurtling his way. It was simply a matter of staying safe until then.

At least, that's how it should go in theory. But despite some close shaves, he seemed to pop, lock, drop, and step his way over every single bowling ball without fail. Of course she could easily dodge too, but who knew how long they'd be here without a slip up. He certainly wasn't getting tired out anytime soon. Even Chef seemed ready to wrap things up, so he started flinging balls with extra oomph with no care for where it'd land. Even still Lightning's sweet moves were holding steady... until one ball in particular came flying towards his face.

"Sha-bam!" But at the last second he brought his arm up to deflect the ball with a mighty flex. The bowling ball bounced off his bicep and started ping ponging from pillar to pillar, not slowing down anytime soon. Eventually it came back towards the dance floor, but instead of the jock it was making its way towards Jasmine. Naturally she saw it coming, so it was as simple as just jumping over-

"Whoa!" But as she jumped, she landed on a different bowling ball entirely. Not exactly stable ground, she rolled backwards and landed with a thud... with part of her leg poking out of the safe zone.

"And that's game," Chef yelled, his tone a bit cranky. No one got hurt even a little bit that round! Lame. "Lightning's immune at tonight's vote. Assuming he plans to stop dancing anytime soon."

It was unknown if Lightning was even aware that he'd won yet. Bro just continued to helicopter away to his heart's content.

As everyone returned to the plane, Jasmine was groaning into her hat with Dave and Sammy close behind.

"Uuuuugh. I'm such a bloody drongo. This close to first class and I let it slip through my fingers over a stupid mistake."

"You say that like dancing around flying bowling balls is supposed to be easy," Dave deadpanned.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, we'll get the next one." Sammy checked to make sure they had some privacy and lowered her voice. "But I guess now we need to think of who we're voting for, right?"

Without a clear target in mind, both girls turned to Dave. Surely he'd have a plan.

"Well it's clear Lightning is a beast and he's kind of an obvious duo alongside Brick, right? So I guess the logical choice is to vote Brick off while he's immune."

Not who Sammy was expecting to hear. A Jo or an Izzy perhaps, but him? "Aw, but he seems so nice."

"Dave's right, though. They're definitely a threat. Better for us to get rid of em sooner rather than later."

And so it was agreed. The girls bid their ally adieu to go cast their votes, while he'd go check for an ice pack to ease the bear pain. Totally. No ulterior motives to be found. It was just a coincidence that Izzy was waiting near the fridge, already with an ice pack in hand. And oddly enough, Jo was waiting there too.

"There's the man with the plan. Think fast!" Izzy tossed the ice pack into his gut at mach speeds. Very helpful, he only had the wind knocked out of him a little bit.

"What was so important that you needed to come whispering about a meeting out of nowhere," Jo demanded. "I don't need people thinking I'm tangled up in your whole mess if they catch us lurking."

Dave groaned, clutching at his side. "And yet you still showed up, so clearly you're interested in what I have to say. I'll cut to the chase, I need help with tonight's vote. And with who I'm planning to target, there's not a lot of options for who can help me. You guys just joined, so I figured you'd be the most receptive."

Best to not let Jo get an inkling that an alliance already existed between him and Izzy. He definitely needed her help this time, but he wasn't so sure he'd want to bring the jockette into the fold long term.

"Tch, why shouldn't you help ME with the vote instead? Corporal Killjoy was on my case hard today, it'd be pretty funny seeing the look on his face if he winds up with the boot while his buddy's immune."

So more people were thinking about voting Brick? Shoot, now he was regretting suggesting it to the girls. Oh well, he could adapt.

"If you want to do that, my vote is good as yours next time. All you have to do is help me tonight. Same goes for you, Izzy. I'll totally owe you one, so anyone you want gone down the line I'll be willing to help."

She gasped dramatically. "That's so thoughtful of you! But there's three of us and a whopping 13 votes total. Are you sure we'll be enough to get it done?"

"We should, but we'll have to put in a bit of effort to break up the other votes. If everything goes right, it should wind up being a 3-2-2-2-2-2 vote." Risky for sure, especially if he wound up as one of those 2 votes, but if he could pull this off... "Of course, that also means I'll need help swaying the others."

"You want me to put in legwork too?" The audacity of this kid! Jo had half a mind to walk out and leave him hanging then and there. But... if Brick went around blabbing about her pushing, it might not end well. Her little pep talk might work against her with him feeling inspired to take her down now. "Psh. Fine, whatever, I'll help." She jabbed a finger into his face. "But if I'm voting with you tonight, you're not just helping me with one elimination. Let's make it two... no, wait, three! Agree to that, and you have a deal."

Yeeeeah, that wasn't going to work for him. But he could figure out how to weasel his way outta the deal when the time came. "Sure, sounds fair to me."

Hah! Another successful bargain made by mastermind Jo. "Great! Question is, who are we voting for?"

A bit of a montage followed with each of the secret three approaching different group. First up was Dave, finding Brick and Lightning working out in economy class.

"Hey, you guys got a minute to talk about the vote?"

Lightning vaulted up from his pushups and shook his head. "Sorry small guy, we already got our minds made up. No changing our-"

"Jo, right? You wanna vote for her?"

Brick blinked in surprise. "Why do you ask?"

"I've barely known her for a few days and it's already getting under my skin how much of a jerk she is. Maybe it's because she views me as an easy target, but she won't stop bothering me. I noticed she seems to hassle you guys a lot in particular, so if you want to send her packing I'm all in on helping."

The friends exchanged a glance, sizing up how much they could trust him or not. If he was telling the truth, that was one more vote to possibly send their foe out the plane. And if he was lying, it's not like it changed much. They'd still be voting for her regardless. What would he even have to gain from lying about it?

"Then we'd be happy for your support." Brick beamed brightly. "Let's hope we make it happen."

"Sha-yeah, bossy dude is going down!"

Next in the montage was Anne Maria and Leshawna, both complaining about the rough challenge and checking each other for any burn marks from the fire and electricity. Being tucked away by themselves in the dinning area, Jo waltzed right up to them and forced her way in the middle.

"Sup, hope I'm not interrupting some kinda alliance meeting." She gave her own ally a suspicious leer. "Figured you two might want an extra vote in your corner tonight."

"We was just chatting about that bogus challenge, that's all," Anne Maria assured, though she wasn't the most convincing liar. Leshawna would quickly try to call attention away from it.

"You ain't gonna catch me complaining about votes if they're not against me." She raised an eyebrow. "Lemme guess, you wanna vote off Brick since Lightning's got immunity?"

Unfortunately not. Hopefully next time though, if that pipsqueak is good on his word. "Nah, he took a good beating in that challenge. He won't be a threat anytime soon. But I did see Afro Annoyance knock you into the zap. Bet it'd be nice to get him back for that, eh?"

Leshawna shrugged ambivalently. It was as good a choice as any for her, at least it wasn't one of her allies. But Anne Maria hesitated for a bit, feeling conflicted.

"I don't know, the guy's kind of a big goober, ain't he? Had to have been an accident, otherwise he wouldn't have knocked himself out too." Still, she'd best think up a better answer otherwise there was no reason NOT to do it. "How about Izzy? Chick's nuttier than a jar of cashews and she's already won a challenge. Who knows how long she would have lasted if Chef didn't disqualify her."

Meh, still worked within the plan, so it was fine by Jo. "Works for me, can't go wrong with axing a challenge threat." Leshawna nodded in agreement.

With that done, Izzy was up. After a bit of snooping from up high she spotted a wild DJ and Dawn talking in the cargo hold. Well, talking or flirting. Hard to tell from up in the vents. So she'd drop down near them, unphased by the lovable giant's scream of terror.

"Watcha doing guys? Talking about the vote?"

Dawn's expression remained stoic, but her tone had a bit of an annoyed bite to it. "Izzy, I can sympathize with you inability to recognize people's boundaries, but it's really quite rude to interrupt people trying to find privacy."

"My b! Got bored slithering through the vents so I just picked the first people I saw." She grinned innocently. "I can make it up to you by voting for who you guys pick. Three heads are better than one I always say!"

"Uh..." DJ considered the pros and cons of letting such a wild card in on their plans. It's not like their choice was being talked about by many others. At least, Leshawna didn't seem concerned with him when DJ brought it up. Still, it was entirely possible Izzy would just keep asking until they gave her what she wanted. "Well we were kind of thinking Dave."

Having fully intended to not tell her anything, Dawn sighed in agreement. "Yes, I'd ask you not pry further as to why since I'm still unsure on all the details myself, but-"

"Cool! I'll vote for him with you."

The pair blinked in surprise.

"Uh, just like that?" DJ asked.

"Sure! He does seem a little shifty, better him than me!"

And before they could ask anything further, she backflipped on out of there, leaving them more confused than ever.

Last on the montage was Trent and Beardo, chilling in one of the halls near the confessional. Dave poked his head out from around the corner and smirked with malicious intent.

Time passed and finally the ceremony was upon them. All 13 contestants crammed together in the bleachers with Chris walking out looking refreshed and rejuvenated.

"Hope you dudes enjoyed the party. I definitely had a wicked time kicking back and enjoying some of that Iranian sun." But all that time away relaxing meant missing out on prime opportunities to make the others miserable. Time to fix that by crushing someone's hopes and dreams! "I want you guys to know that this was surprisingly one of our closest votes ever! Whole buncha people got votes, so you better hope you haven't made any enemies if you wanna be safe."

Seems most hadn't been expecting a close ceremony. Many were taken off guard, others shifted their eyes nervously. Dave and Jo joined in on the act by also appearing on edge, but Izzy was all smiles as per usual.

"Alternatively, you can be safe by not sucking in the challenge. Which is what Lightning did." Chris tossed the jock his peanuts. "So he's safe."

He gave Brick a rather loud high five, and the cadet took notice of Jo's glower.

"Also safe are... Trent, Leshawna, Anne Maria, Dawn, DJ, aaaaaaaand Beardo."

All except Dawn caught their puke packets with varying degrees of cheers and smiles. Naturally, she'd remain stoic. Though as always Beardo added a little video game jingle, this time the sound from Banjo and Kazooie when you find a jiggy. While Chris wouldn't announce as much, that just left the people who had received votes. Brick and Jo, Dave and Izzy... Sammy and Jasmine. Not that the later two were nervous. Obviously it wouldn't be them... right?

"Next up let's say..." Chris held up two bags, his eyes darting from one of the remaining six to the next. "Jo and Dave!"

While the later faked a big sigh of relief, Jo got to keep her usual cocky demeanor, waggling her retch receptacle in her rival's direction.

"Penultimate bags go to... Izzy." Chris let a nice big pause linger while the psycho hose beast made short work of her peanuts. "And... Brick!"

Now it was his turn to let out the breath he'd been holding in. Of course that left one packet left and two besties gasping in shock. They exchanged looks of disbelief and scanned the crowd of people. Who the heck would vote for one of them?! Everyone else seemed just as puzzled. Leshawna's jaw agape, Anne Maria feeling like she's just saw someone throw a punch in the club, Dave's eyes wide in confusion. Ah, well at least he surely had nothing to do with this.

"Which means either Jasmine and Sammy are out of here!" Chris chuckled at their mutual despair. "Shocker, eh? But the million dollar question is which of you two are tonight's lucky loser. Big threatening comp beast Jasmine, or lovable sympathetic social beast Sammy?"

As much as they wanted to object, ask questions, wake up from a trance, there really was no escaping this. So instead the two of them clutched each other's hands and waited with baited breath.

"The final barf bag... of the night... goes to...

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... Jasmine!"

Both girls were going to be blindsided regardless of the result, so the Aussie's barf bag flew by her unceremoniously. As the reality of elimination sunk in, Sammy stammered to try and find what to say.

"Wha... but... how... huh?"

"What the blood hell happened?" Jasmine demanded, starring daggers at everyone in attendance. Unsurprisingly no one was coming forward. Jo was unamused and not showing any cards. Izzy at least seemed no different than usual. But as the camera lingered on Dave's phony shock, things flashed back to his earlier conversation.

"Great! Question is, who are we voting for?"

After the customary check to make sure no one was eavesdropping, Dave beckoned for the girls to lean in. "We're voting off Sammy."

"That softie? You needed to fart out a big stupid plan to get rid of HER?" Jo laughed in his face. "What, you scared she's gonna out-lame you in the next challenge?"

Yeah, about the reaction he expected. "It's not always about the challenges. Do you realize how liked she is thanks to Amy? Ask yourself this, how many people are willing to take a shot at the nice girl who's been bullied by her sister all season? If we don't do this now, we might not get another chance later. She's already got Jasmine, you wanna risk her getting the whole plane on her side? She'll be untouchable!"

"Hmm, he has a good point! Lots of people have gotten far just because everyone likes them too much to vote them off." She sighed happily. "That's how my Big O made it so far every time!"

Jo rolled her eyes. "Whatever, if you wanna waste this deal on her it's your call."

Since business seemed to be wrapped up, the jockette stomped off to get her part of the legwork done ASAP. As Dave watched her leave, Izzy carefully slid up behind him.

"Soooo, what's the REAL reason you're voting for her?"

Thinking over his interaction with Sammy earlier was threatening to drown the guy in guilt. Best to push any of those feelings away, had to stick to the plan. "Remember that strategy I mentioned? Basically, I'm going to surround myself with people who view me as their number one ally. I already have you, and Jasmine's perfect to be next. She's loyal, good at challenges, not to mention the perfect meat shield if things get too dicey. Who'd you rather get rid of, scrawny every-man me, or unstoppable Australian powerhouse?" He sighed. "But at long as Sammy is around, I'd never be her main ally."

"Which is why she has to go. Makes sense!" But wait. Wanting to have more than one person viewing him as their ride or die was potentially worrying. "But I'm gonna stay your ACTUAL number one ally, right? Don't forget about the deal we made!"

"Yeah, for sure! You and me to the end." Was he lying? Who knows. First he'd get all the chess pieces in order, then he'd decide on what the endgame should be. Maybe it'd be Izzy, maybe Jasmine, maybe someone else entirely. But regardless, Sammy had to go. He'd have Izzy ask one of the pairs to vote for Jasmine just to keep everyone on their toes, maybe Trent and Beardo. But when it came down to it, three votes would be enough to seal it.

Back in the present, Sammy had now been ushered to the exit hatch with parachute in hand, too shellshocked to have said goodbyes. Jasmine and Dave still followed her, but the former was shaking mad past the point of composure.

"I can't believe it! Why would they do this? It doesn't make any sense."

"Seriously," Dave yelled. He made sure to sound just dumbfounded enough to seem convincing without going too over the top. "How could this happen?"

"Guys!" Sammy suddenly snapped back to reality, rushing to get a hug from Jasmine. "It's... it's ok. I knew this was possible, I just really didn't want it to be this soon. But it'll be fine. You guys can still-"

But alas, the boot of shame came swinging down just as she broke the hug.

"Yeeeeeah, we're on a bit of a time limit so if she isn't gonna cry or something to make it extra dramatic we need to rush this along." Chris ignored any death glares Jasmine sent him, instead focusing on the day's winner. "Lightning! As our outgoing champ, you also get to pick someone to take with you to first class. Who's it gonna be?"

"Psh, like you've gotta ask. Course I'm gonna take Brick with me."

Ordinarily his buddy would be elated at the news, but considering the awkwardness of the day Brick simply offered an uneasy thumbs up.

"Two bros chilling in first class. Works for me! The rest of you hit the bricks to economy, we got a long trip to our next stop!"

While everyone else was filing out, Jasmine stayed near the hatch, stewing in contempt. Dave awkwardly placed a hand on her arm in an attempt to console her.

"We'll bounce back from this and figure out a way to win. Gotta do it for her. Shawn too, right?"

Jasmine snorted in anger. "That, and we'll take down every last bloody one of em that decided to do her dirty like this."

"For sure," he agreed. "I've got your back, no matter what."

Suddenly the perspective switched to the cockpit, Chris and Chef watching back the footage in amusement.

"Bold words coming from the guy who did the deed himself," the host mused. "Getting a bit ballsy and backstabby with his strategies now. I like it!"

"I still think it shoulda been Izzy leaving," his cohort grumbled.

"First Izzy, now Jasmine. Is Dave on his way to amassing an alliance that can't be beat? Or will his tangled web of lies come unraveled at the seams? Will Brick take Jo's advice and continue to harden, or will Lightning bring him to his senses? Can Beardo make any progress with Anne Maria, or is this crackship doomed to STAY cracked?" Chris enjoyed a good chuckle from that one. "Yeah, I ain't betting any money on that guy anytime soon. But who knows! If something crazy does happen, you'll have to tune in right here to see it! Next time on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

Voting Cofessionals:

"Honestly if the big guy hadn't knocked me into one of the hazards, I'm sure wackjob here would have done it eventually." Anne Maria gives Izzy's passport a stamp. "He really kept orbiting around me today, huh? Weird."

Speaking of her orbiter, Beardo did a little Roblox oof while stamping Jasmine's picture. "Guess the next best strategy now is to target huge threats, and Jasmine did the second best today. If Trent and Izzy are doing it, guess I'm down."

Meanwhile Brick gladly cast his vote for Jo. "It'll be pretty poetic if not only I stopped her from winning immunity but also helped seal her fate. Guess having that taste of your own medicine doesn't feel so good now, does it?"

So many people who thought Dave was voting someway else. And yet here he was stamping Sammy's passport. "Look, Sammy is... nice. I appreciate her checking in on me. No seriously, I really do. But that stuff's irrelevant when it comes to the game. I need Jasmine to view ME as her number one. So she's gotta go. Sorry, it isn't personal."

"There's something about Dave that unnerves me, and it's not as if there's any more obvious choices for me to target right now," Dawn mused while voting for the germaphobe. "Izzy's appearance was quite strange too, but with the convoluted mess that is her aura she might be the rare person I can barely get a read on to begin with."

Likewise, DJ also placed his vote for Dave. "Leshawna said she wanted to vote for Izzy, but I think that'd be pretty awkward for me after she promised to help out Dawn. So I'll stick with the Dave idea for now. As long as me and my allies are safe, I guess it doesn't really matter."

Speaking of the wild child, Izzy gave Sammy's picture the ol stamp. "Aww, she really does seem nice doesn't she? But hey, if Izzy's got herself a shiny new alliance buddy for life, I gotta follow the plan. If you ever wanna know about some of Cody's juiciest secrets, I can totally hook you up with Sierra's number to make up for it!"

Unaware of how devastated she'd soon be, Jasmine cast her vote for Brick. "Sorry mate, but you're attached to the biggest threat in the game right now and you aren't exactly a slouch yourself. No hard feelings?"

"Don't care if there's any hard feelings, I get a sweet deal out of this so go have fun on the Aftermath with your boyfriend for all I care." Jo emphatically stamped Sammy's passport. "Better hope you get two immunities in a row, Meathead, or else you're next!"

Meanwhile Leshawna stamped down on Izzy's picture without much qualms. "Far as I'm concerned, the whole coming from the same generation thing means nothing anymore. I'll keep rolling with Anne Maria, and Izzy being gone means I get to sleep sounder at night anyway."

Lightning was radiating pure kavorka riding the high of his win, giving Jo's passport a few stamps. "First class, AND I get to bring my dude Brick, AND people are starting to line up for helping us get rid of Jo's hating butt? This day can't get sha-better!"

Poor Sammy didn't know the storm that was coming while she voted for Brick. "Ugh, this is the part of the game I hate. Good people leaving over jerks like Jo sucks. But at least she's not as bad as... well, you know. Sorry, Brick."

And finally there was Trent, placing another vote towards Jasmine. "You'd be kind of insane NOT to be intimidated by Jasmine between today and the wrestling match. Not to mention all the times Team Explosive won thanks to her. If Lightning is off the table, it's the only vote that makes sense."

Votes for Sammy: 3 (Dave, Izzy, Jo)

Votes for Dave: 2 (Dawn, DJ)

Votes for Jo: 2 (Brick, Lightning)

Votes for Izzy: 2 (Anne Maria, Leshawna)

Votes for Jasmine: 2 (Beardo, Trent)

Votes for Brick: 2 (Jasmine, Sammy)

After The Boot of Shame:

Sammy wasn't having it with that freefalling nonsense. As soon as she had her bearings following the boot, she deployed the parachute. Made for a less stressful descent, but also forced her to sit there and stew in the crushing defeat all the longer.

"I... really don't know what to say. As far as I knew no one even wanted me gone anymore. Clearly I was mistaken, it had to have been at least a handful of people if the votes me, Jasmine, and Dave cast weren't enough." She fought back the threat of tears. Couldn't let herself look vulnerable after everything. "Obviously I knew actually winning was a longshot, but if anything I wish I could have at least saw this coming. The why is bugging me way more than the fact that it happened."

As she approached the Persepolis ruins below, a sigh escaped her. "Well, at least I get to finally go have that date with Cody. I got to beat Amy, spend time with Jasmine, proved myself as someone who belongs here. Definitely a better season for me than Pahkitew, that's for certain."

Suddenly she landed not on the ground, but on Chef's turntable. Did they seriously not bother packing that thing up? The crash fired up the tunes, blasting the death metal music from earlier. Disoriented and confused, Sammy looked around for any sign of civilization.

"Guess now I'm supposed to find the nearest Airpo-oooooooOOOHHH CRAP!" Her train of thought was broken as Vinnie the bear suddenly came galloping into the scene, drawn by the music. Sammy narrowly jumped out of the way and booked it as the bear continued moshing her way ever closer.

Remaining Contestants:

Anne Maria, Beardo, Brick, Dave, Dawn, DJ, Izzy, Jasmine, Jo, Leshawna, Lightning, Trent

Elimination Order:

13th: Sammy

14th: Sugar

Merge, Izzy returns, Jo debuts

15th: Amy

16th: Cody

17th: Beth

18th/19th: Courtney and Scott

20th: B

21st: Shawn

22nd: Dakota

23rd: Rodney

24th: Harold

Eliminated: Izzy

25th: Staci

Author's Note:

Semi-Important question before we get into the meat of things! Have you ever wanted to influence one of the locations visited in BOTG? Have a specific location in mind? Well this... is not fully the opportunity for that. However, I'm still turning to readers to help decide something. Here's the situation, every single remaining chapter location for BOTG has been locked in and mapped out with accompanying challenges to boot. With the exception of one chapter. And the problem is I have multiple contenders without a clear sign of which should get the spot. So here's how it works. There is a new poll at the top of my profile. In it you'll see the country contenders and can place your vote. The location that winds up with the most votes by the time I reach Aftermath 3 will be the winner and become a chapter locale. So head on over there and vote for the selection you like the most. And in case you for some reason really don't want to do that but would still like to voice your opinion via review, here's the contenders: Venezuela, Uruguay, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Nepal, Thailand, South Africa

With that out of the way, hope this chapter turned out ok. I tried to reign it back a bit after the Mexico chapter wound up wombo sized. Over 16,000 words may still seem extra for some of you, but compared to the lengths of some recent chapters that's not too bad for me. I'd wager no one had Iran down as a contender when I mentioned Asia last time. Basically I wanted to visit a Middle Eastern country that you likely wouldn't see used in a canon season as a means of taking advantage that this is a fic with less restrictions. I had a few different contenders with Jordan being the runner up for a challenge in Petra. For a while I was planning for a challenge in Isfahan, a rather cool looking major Iranian city. But I struggled with challenge ideas, to the point where I almost just went ahead with Jordan. But during my usual research when I got to reading up on Persepolis, for whatever reason the idea of a giant party challenge came, which led to the dance theming. I thought it'd be kinda neat for the challenge here to not be the typical sort of thing that comes to mind when you hear "Total Drama challenge in the Middle East." I've also really been wanting Chef to host a challenge and this felt like a good spot since according to the talent show episode he is canonically a former deejay. Hope it all worked out, next time we're returning to Africa.

Now then, the elimination. I kinda view this as a one two punch with Sugar. As in, those who weren't bothered to see Sugar eliminated and were perhaps even happy are likely NOW feeling the despair with Sammy gone, while the opposite could be true of those who enjoyed the country girl. Sammy was intentionally positioned as close to a protagonist sort of role in the pre-merge what with the prominent Amy beef and a prominent ship storyline. And naturally things went well for her. She got to outlast her sister, get the boy, and made it to the merge. But once Amy and Cody were gone, she was sorta out of plot. Of course I could simply make new storylines for her as is the intention for anyone else continuing to advance. However, instead she's here as a bit of a shocker elimination falling victim to Dave's chicanery much like her boyfriend before her. Truly sorry to her fans but I hope you at least enjoyed her run. Not gonna lie, I had a big evil grin writing the scene where she consoles Dave over "Amy's manipulation" knowing what was coming.

I suppose I should also go ahead and talk about Izzy real quick. While she's a naturally all over the place kinda character, in most fics I've read she tends to lean more towards the positive/heroic side of things. So having her handedly side with the season's antagonist may ruffle a few feathers. But me personally, I've always viewed Izzy as a chaotic neutral character that, if anything, kinda leans more towards the negative. She's funny, but she's also undeniably a menace and has been kinda whack towards fellow contestants in the past. And as referenced in the chapter, despite fans oddly rarely acknowledging that it happened, she is indeed part of Heather's alliance in TDI and assists her in multiple votes. So personally, I don't find this out of the ordinary for her. You may disagree and that's cool, but I figured it'd be worth acknowledging now in case it raises some eyebrows. While this plan long predates the video, if your YouTube algorithm has been recommending you that "Izzy isn't crazy conspiracy theory" video like it has for me, give it a watch. The guy seems to have a fairly similar mindset towards the character as I do so it might better explain it. Plus it's just solid TD YouTube content, which can be rare.

Obviously there were other developments this chapter, but the AN is already bloated as usual so we'll just end it off there and I'll hopefully be able to look towards the reviews to see what people thought of them! See you in the next one for another likely lengthy chapter.