Chris was standing in the middle of the bus, with the contestants sitting around him. They stared at him confused and not fully understanding why was he there.
Chris: Last time on Total Drama-
Before he could finish, Nichelle gasped in excitement.
Nichelle: Oh my God, are you filming the intro for the next episode?
Chris: Yes I-
Nichelle: OH MY-
Chris: God? Yes, you said the same thing a few seconds ago…
Nichelle glared at the man, mouth open, thinking about what to say, and after a few seconds, she smiled.
Nichelle: …Holly Molly Christmas Glory! - Chris rolled his eyes - I think this is like, the first time a contestant is there during the intro!
Damien: Millie was in the intro of one of the episodes in the last season?
Nichelle: Okay, but like, who cares about Millie?
Chris: Nichelle, I know you're an actress and you're not used to people saying that to you, but I would appreciate it if you would shut up. We only have 25 minutes per episode I need to finish this-
The camera panned to Wayne and Raj, who until now were eating cheese in peace, but now the two were staring, wide-eyed at Chris.
Raj: Wait, episodes?
Wayne: Does that mean we're on tv?
The two exchanged looks before jumping off their seats and running over Chris, getting right in front of the camera.
Wayne: Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Me and Rajie are on tv!
Raj: Yeah! Hi Mom and Dad! …My mom and dad. Not Wayner's… Actually no, you also have great parents, so, hello Miss Thomas and Mister Thomas!
MK groaned in annoyance.
MK: Are you 2 dumb? Actually, I know the answer. We've been on tv for the past 2 weeks, you idiots!
Raj and Wayne: OHHHH, rightttt…
In the meanwhile, Chris finally stood up and pushed the hockey bros back to their seats.
Chris: Okay, I'm done. Blah blah blah, Scary Girl is a psycho and won the challenge, blah blah blah, Caleb got eliminated. How is that going to affect thin-
Nichelle: WAIT!
The host with the most groaned, being very close to completely snapping.
Chris: What now?!
Nichelle: …Can I say this? You know, the "Find out in today's episode"? Please, please, please!
Chris: What?! No! I'm the host! You can't-
Nichelle: FindOutInTodaysEpisodeOfTotalDramaAction!
The actress grinned as the older man stared daggers right at her. After a few seconds, the man sighed, completely defeated.
Chris: …Just start the opening theme.
Emma: The opening theme? Am I in this one, or was my scene cut again?
Chris: 1 more word and I feel like I will be cutting some things. Like the throats of 8 annoying, demon teenagers.
Lauren: Awwww, sounds fun! Can I join you?
Chris took another deep breath before the bus suddenly took a sharp turn and the man fell to the ground. The camera panned to Chef who slightly chuckled to himself.
…
The intro begins with the camera flying through the filming lot. It stops at a beach set, where shirtless Caleb is sunbathing. He gets a jealous look from Bowie who's making out with Raj, the hockey bro being too focused on his boyfriend to even pay attention to Caleb. The camera moves again to a set that looks like a very dark and creepy forest. Emma and Chase are sitting on a bench kissing, while a bush behind them starts moving. Suddenly a masked character with a chainsaw jumps out of it scaring the couple and causing Chase to push Emma, while he runs away. The masked character starts to giggle and takes off the mask revealing herself to be Lauren. The camera moves a bit to the side as Chase passes by Millie, Priya, and Damien. Millie is holding her notebook and looks like she's about to write something there, but stops herself and puts it back. Meanwhile, Priya and Damien are talking about something with Priya blushing. The nice conversation between the two stops when they see Millie running from something and they immediately start running after her, as Lauren starts chasing them with a chainsaw. When they disappear out of sight, Axel reveals herself, camouflaged to be almost completely unidentifiable from the trees. The camera moves again to the cafeteria where Nichelle vents about something to Zee and Ripper. While Zee seems to be amused, Ripper is visibly bored, so he farts to entertain himself. Nichelle immediately starts gagging and runs past MK who holds something in her hand but hides it in her jacket as soon as she notices the actress. At last, the camera shows the big theater where Chris and Chef are standing, both wearing matching, fancy suits. Then it pans to the audience, where Wayne and Julia, both wearing formal outfits, are sitting next to each other. The Hockey Bro is smiling at the girl, who's too busy using her phone, but after a few seconds, she notices him smiling, frowns, and walks away, saddening the boy. The camera then shows the whole shot of the audience, showing that all of the contestants are there, wearing fancy suits or gowns. The intro ends with showing the logo of the season which is nearly identical to the original Total Drama Action.
…
The contestants laughed as Chris stood up from the ground and cleaned himself from the dust. The man frowned, but chose to not say anything and just sat down next to Chef. The camera then panned to Emma and Axel who were sitting together.
Emma: So… How are you, Axel? You've been pretty quiet the whole ride and… Not that I mind, but since there's nothing better to do, maybe we can talk about something?
Axel blushed a little and turned her head the other way.
Axel(confessional): Why do you guys want me to talk about Emma?! She's… She's… pretty. There's nothing more I have to say about her.
Axel: Well, I… I only agreed to sit with you, cause I didn't want to make Scary Girl angry by sitting with Damien.
The two girls turned their heads toward the aforementioned "couple". Damien was wearing headphones and vibing to a song with his eyes closed, when suddenly, Lauren put her head in his lap, scaring him.
Damien: What are you doing?!
Lauren: Oh, me? I just wanted to know, how would you look if I hung your head on a wall.
Damien: Well do that one more time and you will know how I look after jumping out of a window of a moving bus!
Lauren: Don't threaten me with a good time!
The goth girl giggled, causing Damien to let out a sigh of exhaustion, while the camera panned to Emma and Axel.
Emma: Yeah, you probably made the good call by not sitting with Damien, but also… Poor him.
Axel: And what about you?
Emma: Huh?
Axel: I mean, Raj told you that you can sit with Wayne, who you seem to be pretty close with. Why did you not take him up on his offer?
Emma: Oh! Well…
Emma(confessional): I don't believe that Caleb, who was injured and handicapped in the challenges, just happened to get 5 votes. Something fishy happened and I don't know if it's a majority alliance, just a gentleman's agreement, or what, but by the end of the day, I will know! I sat with Axel hoping that I would get something out of her, but it's not working out so far.
Emma: …I just thought spending more time with another girl would be nice! I've been mostly hanging out with the boys and while they're nice, it's not like I don't like spending time with fellow girlies!
The blonde girl put on a fake smile, causing the survivalist to look suspicious, but after a few seconds, she just shrugged and Emma sighed, relieved. After that, the camera panned to Wayne and Raj, the latter still having his arm bandaged after the last challenge. The boys just finished eating the cheese they took with them, and both of them were looking very satisfied and full.
Wayne: That was good! A shame that we didn't take more of it though.
Raj: Yeah, but you know what else is good?
Wayne: Ummmm… Hockey!
Raj: I mean, duh, but that's not what I was thin-
Wayne: Pizza?
Raj: Yes, but no.
Wayne: Action movies?
Raj: Well, now that I know they're fake, they aren't as impressive.
Wayne: Hmmm…
The blonde boy took his time thinking about an answer, causing Raj to groan.
Raj: Emma. I'm talking about Emma. You and her seem to be getting pretty close recently!
Wayne: Oh, yeah! Emma is cool, although her stories about Chase are pretty depressing.
Raj smiled upon hearing this answer.
Raj(confessional): Emma and Wayne both deserve someone who will treat them well after their "relationships" with Chase and Julia… Well, those went horribly. So right now, I'm on a mission to get them together! Awww, then me, Bowie, and them could go on a double date! This is a flawless plan!
Wayne(confessional): Yeah, Emma is cool and I like her, but call me naive, stupid, dumb, or whatever, but I still have hope for me and Julia. Raj has been asking me about her a lot recently, but he's probably just happy that I'm getting along with Bowie's best friend.
…
The camera then panned to the last seatmates, MK and Nichelle. MK looked around before turning towards Nichelle.
MK: Okay, we gotta talk about strategy for this week.
MK(confessional): People often forget about one thing that you need to win this show - luck. Me and Nichelle lucked out that Damien doesn't know about Priya getting idoled out by me and that Scary Girl sided with us at the last vote, but we can't win with JUST luck. We need to plan on how to navigate through the current situation.
MK: We gotta stick with Damien and Axel for now, but Scary Girl is a threat and I feel like she knows more than she's letting- Wait are you even listening to me?!
She stared annoyed at the actress who was checking herself in the mirror, looking pretty tired.
Nichelle: Ugh, look at me! I look as if I didn't sleep for days!
MK: Stop being so dramatic! You just look slightly tired.
Nichelle: Yes, that's exactly what I said! - The kleptomaniac rolled her eyes - I have problems sleeping without a nice pillow, especially in moving vehicles.
MK: Really? You slept really well when we were driving to the Wawanakwa set.
Nichelle: That's, because I had time to take a pillow with me! Here, we just got time to change our clothes and immediately after, we had to get on the bus. - The girl sighed, before gasping with excitement - Oh! I know! MK, would you mind if I used you as my pillow?
MK: Yes, I would mind actu-
Nichelle: Thanks bestie!
Before she could object, the blonde actress laid her head on MK's shoulder. The beanie girl rolled her eyes at first, but after a few seconds, she smiled slightly… Until she remembered the camera filming them. Once she noticed it, she shook Nichelle off of her shoulder.
Nichelle: Heeey!
MK: "hEEeY"!
MK mocked her ally, before turning her head away, a slight look of guilt on her face. However, that quickly turned into confusion mixed with fear, once the bus started to move way faster.
Emma: Umm, I'm pretty sure this is way over the speed limit! So you know, it would be nice if you could slow down a little bit!
He chuckled awkwardly, but as a response, Chef only accelerated.
Damien: What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill us?! - The rest of the contestants stared at Damien as if he was an idiot - …Actually, don't answer that.
The bus got even faster, causing the contestants to scream. At this point, most of them fastened their seatbelts and started screaming.
The screen faded to black as a crash could be heard.
…
The bus has crashed into a tree, the hit being strong enough to knock, most of them, unconscious. Nichelle groaned as she looked around.
Nichelle(confessional): See? Without a pillow, even an accident isn't enough to make me go to sleep!
The actress turned towards MK who was sitting next to her, completely limp.
Nichelle: MK! MK! Are you alright?!
She was answered by silence, as the beanie girl was completely unconscious. Nichelle struggled with her safety belt for a few seconds, before finally unfastening it. She stood up and looked around her, seeing that all of the contestants, except for her, were knocked out cold, however, there were no signs of Chris nor Chef. Nichelle slowly approached Damien and Lauren to check on them, when suddenly a black silhouette appeared behind her, with something in their arms…
…
Hours later, the contestants finally started to wake up with Emma being the first to do so.
Emma: Ugh, what happened…
The girl looked around confused and noticed Wayne also slowly waking up. She quickly unfastened her seatbelt and walked over to the hockey bro.
Emma: Wayne? You're all good?
Wayne: Uh… I think so. - The boy groaned in pain, before also standing up - Hey, look!
He pointed at Nichelle lying on the ground. The blonde duo quickly approached the actress, worried about her.
Emma: Hey, Nich! What happened, why are you on the ground?!
Nichelle slowly opened her eyes and turned around to see her peers. The girl clutched the back of her head in pain.
Nichelle: Ugh! I was the only one conscious after the accident, so I went to check on the rest of you, but someone sneaked up on me and hit me in the back of my head.
Lauren: An accident?! Did somebody die?! - She squeaked in excitement - Pleaseee tell me someone died!
Nichelle: No. I don't think so.
Lauren looked down at the floor, disappointed. That's when Damien started to regain his consciousness.
Damien: What happened?
The boy looked around and immediately noticed the bus being crushed into a tree, with a fire coming from the engine.
Damien: Um, guys, I think we should get out. Like now!
The boy pointed at the fire, which obviously scared the other contestants (except Scary Girl).
Emma: Yup. Gotta get out. Now. - She looked around and saw Axel, MK, and Raj are still laying, completely limp - Okay, Nichelle, you take MK, me and Damien will grab Axel, Wayne you grab Raj.
Lauren: And me?
She grinned mischievously at the blonde girl.
Emma: Well, I assume you will try to use this occasion to kill us, so… Just stay where you are and wait for us to leave the bus!
The purple-haired girl huffed and crossed her arms. Meanwhile, the conscious 4 did exactly what Emma told them and were slowly making their way out of the bus, while the fire was getting bigger and bigger. One by one, the teenagers made their way out of the vehicle and after a while, Scary Girl was the only one left inside.
Emma: Okay! Lauren, get out of there!
The girl tried to get inside, but the fire quickly grew in size and soon enough the only entrance to the bus was consumed by the blaze.
Emma: Oh-Uh.
The contestants exchanged worried looks and quickly ran to the back of the bus, where Lauren was trapped.
Damien: Scary Girl! Come on, you need to get out!
The 4 watched as the flame inside grew larger and larger. They waited in fear and anticipation, hoping for Scary Girl to make her exit, but it started to feel as if this was never going to happen. Nichelle looked down at the ground, Wayne started to cry into Emma's shoulder as the girl tried to console him, while Damien watched in shock as the fire slowly consumed the entire bus.
Damien: Scary Girl…?
Suddenly, Lauren jumped out of the window, right in front of the 4, completely terrifying them. The shock even caused Nichelle to fall to the ground, once again losing her conscience. Scary Girl was completely charred, but alive and well. The girl giggled while looking at her fellow castmates.
Lauren: Did I scare you guys?
Damien: YES! Yes, you did, you psycho!
Lauren: Awww, I'm happy to hear that you were worried!
She chuckled once again, causing the boy to roll his eyes.
Damien(confessional): Great! Knowing Scary Girl, now she will think that I like her just, because unlike her, I don't lack basic human empathy!
…
Nichelle clutched her head as she slowly (once again) regained consciousness. The first thing she saw was the other 7 standing above her.
MK: Great! The sleeping princess is finally awake!
The actress stood up and frowned at MK's remark.
Nichelle: Hey, put some respect on my name! I was the one who saved you from the burning bus!
MK stared wide-eyed at her ally, hearing this.
MK: Wait, really?
Nichelle: Yes! "Thank you" would be appreciated.
Nichelle rolled her eyes and joined the rest of the group, as MK looked down at the ground.
MK: …Thanks Nich.
She mumbled under her breath, quiet enough for no one else to hear it.
MK(confessional): I'm starting to think that Nichelle may deserve some more credit than I'm willing to give her. Don't get me wrong, she's useless 95% of the time, but… I guess there is 5% of the time where she's not.
Nichelle(confessional): I'm upset! This is upsetting! So upsetfull! MK is the one person who should know how it feels when nobody appreciates what you're doing, but she keeps doing this to me!
MK approached the rest of the group, who were talking about their plan on what to do, with Emma leading their "meeting".
Emma: Look at that sign!
She pointed at a sign on the ground before them. "Abandon set somewhere in Ontario, 2 miles ahead".
Raj: That's gotta be our set!
The blonde girl nodded.
Emma: The fact that Chef crashed the bus right in front of this sign means that it's gotta be a part of our next challenge.
Damien: OH! This entire trip! That had to be a setup to get us away from the set for some time. The question is why would they do that?
Emma: Well, what are we waiting for? 2 miles, it's like an hour of walking!
Wayne: An hour? It takes like 30 minutes for me and Rajie!
Emma: I have short legs, okay? Let's just go.
Emma led the other contestants as they walked down the road.
…
After a quick cut, the 8 contestants were walking down the action set, but something felt different. It was completely empty and quiet, with no signs of Chef and Chris anywhere. The teenagers were now standing in front of their cabins, not knowing what to do.
Emma: Where is everyone? What is the point of all of them disappearing?
Damien: Not all of them - The duo looked straight at the camera - Um… Miss Camerawoman, would you mind showing us where we are supposed to go? We're getting pretty tired.
The person behind the camera sighed before pointing the camera in the direction of the cafeteria. When she panned back to the contestants they smiled at her.
Damien: Thanks!
The "team" started to go towards the cafeteria with Wayne and Raj walking slightly behind.
Raj: Emma is a great leader, isn't she? I'd bet if someone taught her some things about hockey she would make for a great assistant for the captain of our hockey team!
Wayne: Rajie, you good bro? I am the captain of our hockey team! And I don't need an assistant, especially after the last one…
The boy shivered.
Raj: Never say never!
Wayne: But I didn't say "never"?
Raj: That's- That's a saying.
Wayne: Oh yeah, you're right bro!
Raj(confessional): Not to defend Julia for all the times she insulted Wayne, but I can see why she grew frustrated with him not getting her hints.
…
The 8 got to the cafeteria, but it looked different than usual. It was completely dark in there, brown sheets put on the sides of it, giving it a tent-like appearance. The tables were occupied by interns, all wearing different kinds of armor and cosplays. They were drinking no-alcohol beverages served by the skinny, girl intern who had a crush on Caleb. Noticing the contestants she walked behind the "counter" and smiled at them.
Intern Girl: Hello travelers! Would you like something to drink?
The contestants exchanged confused looks. After a few seconds, Emma approached the counter with an awkward smile.
Emma: We would like to know where Chris and Chef are.
The intern looked like she was about to say something, but she just froze and eventually took out some cards from her pocket.
Intern Girl: Sorry, just give me a sec! - She went through the cards as Emma and the rest started growing impatient - I'm really sorry, we learned about this just a few hours ago… Okay! Got it! - She cleared her throat before going back to her role - Chris, Chef? What odd names! Although they're pretty similar to the names of our Dark Lod and his right hand - Chrisroth and Chefeus. - She took a closer look at the still confused contestants - Now that I think about it, you don't look like you're from here, are you?
Wayne: What? We're the contestants of the show! Of course we-
Emma: Oh! - The girl's gasp grabbed the attention of others - Today's genre is fantasy movies and more specifically, isekais!
Axel: What's an "isekai"?
Emma: Chase had an obsession with them for a few months and forced me to watch them with him. Isekais are an anime genre, usually a wish-fulfillment story about a completely generic dude who somehow appears in a different world where he's completely overpowered for no reason other than to be a self-insert for the audience of losers. - She looked at the camera and chuckled awkwardly - Um, sorry for the viewers that liked them. It was supposed to be a dig at Chase, but… Umm… Haha…
Her awkward attempts at coming up with an excuse were interrupted when the contestants heard the already well-known, to them, noise of the speaker.
Chris: This is not an anime genre!
Axel: Chris? Could you tell us what the heck are we supposed to do to end this no-sense challenge?
She was answered by silence before the man finally spoke again.
"The narrator": Chris? Nooo, I don't know anyone who's named that, but I bet this name belongs to someone really hot and handsome! - Crickets - Anyway, I'm the narrator of this story of 8 heroes who are going on a journey to defeat the Dark Lod Chrisroth. However before they can start their adventure, they need equipment, but luckily for them, the bartender at the tavern just happens to have exactly 8 different weapons for different classes of heroes! Now they just need to charm her into letting them "borrow" it!
The contestants stood in an awkward silence that was broken by Axel.
Axel: I didn't know that Chris is a nerd.
"The narrator": Hey!
While most of the teenagers were annoyed with the roleplaying challenge, Wayne and Raj exchanged excited looks.
Wayne(confessional): Before playing hockey me and Raj had a D&D phase! We thought it was super creative and fun, but no one wanted to play with us, since they assumed that we were just making fun of them, cause apparently even in 2020 jocks can't like "nerdy" things!
Raj: You heard it, Wayner?!
Wayne: You know it, dude! This is going to be fun!
The duo high-fived each other when Emma approached.
Emma: Sorry Raj, but I will be borrowing Wayne. He's needed.
The girl grabbed the blonde boy, while his friend watched with a smirk on his face. It was noticed by Nichelle who approached the hockey bro.
Nichelle: Why are you so smiley?
Raj: Oh, Nichelle! Well… - He looked around and after making sure no one was listening, he started whispering towards the actress - I'm kinda trying to get Emma and Wayne together.
Nichelle: Huh? Why?
Raj: I just think both of them deserve to be in a happy relationship. Emma and Chase were the most toxic thing I know and Julia is probably never going to forgive Wayne for voting her off.
Nichelle looked closer at the "couple". Emma was dragging Wayne, who obediently walked beside her. The girl nodded.
Nichelle: You know what? I see the vision.
Nichelle(confessional): A heartbroken girlboss and her himbo? That's a ship dynamic that a looot of people will eat up! Actually… I'm going to steal it for one of my movies.
Raj rejoiced with joy.
Raj: You do?!
Nichelle: Yup! Count yourself blessed and highly favored, because the one and only Nichelle LaDonna is going to help you make "Wayma" happen! …We need to work on the name.
Suddenly, Raj hugged Nichelle, taking the girl by surprise.
Nichelle: …You give nice hugs.
Raj: Aww, Thanks! Bowie told me that, but I thought he was just being nice!
…
Meanwhile, Emma dragged Wayner all the way to the "bartender". Wayne just looked confused as the intern girl looked at him, all lovey-dovey.
Wayne: Um, hi? - He turned towards his ally - So what did you need me for?
Emma: She… - The blonde girl pointed at the intern who waved in a flirty way at the boy - …Says that she will help us, but only after you gave her your phone number.
Intern Girl(confessional): Caleb would be my first choice, but if you don't have what you like, you like what you have.
Wayne: Ummm… Why me?
Emma: Because Raj is gay and heads would roll if I tried it with Damien.
The duo looked at Scary Girl staring menacingly at Damien who just looked bored, not even realizing that the goth girl was behind him.
Wayne: I… - He looked at the girl who put a paper card and a pencil on the counter before him - …Bet you're very nice, but I like someone else! Sorry!
The blonde boy quickly ran away, leaving a disappointed intern and annoyed Emma.
Emma: Wayne! Get back here! Ugh, great!
Out of nowhere, Lauren put her hand on Emma's shoulder, startling the preppy girl.
Lauren: Don't worry about him, I have an idea!
Emma: Will you let Damien do this?
Lauren: Hahaha, no!
The purple-haired girl looked at Axel standing in the corner of the tavern…
…
The "bartender" was whistling while cleaning some plates, when she suddenly gasped in shock, letting the plate crash on the floor. Before her was standing Axel, in similar make-up to the one she had on in episode 3, making her look like a man.
Axel: Would you mind letting me borrow some of the… stuff?
Intern Girl: I- I- I know it's you… Traveler, but… Oh no, she's hot as a guy! - She fought with herself, but horniness won. She threw keys at the survivalist - Those are to the kitchen.
Lauren(confessional): What can I say? There's no beating my make-up skills!
Axel smiled as Emma took the keys and jumped over the counter, quickly opening the doors behind the intern.
Emma: We got it! Come on!
The contestants followed the blonde girl, leaving only Axel behind. She smiled at the skinny girl.
Axel: Call me after this.
The survivalist followed in the tracks of her castmates, leaving the intern girl too stunned to speak.
Intern Girl: I- I- I… I don't have your number!
…
The contestants stood before a table, on which there were 8 sets of different accessories and "weapons" alongside a paper sheet. Emma grabbed one of them.
Emma: "Wizard - Back row, 4 Health Points, deals 2 damage per hit" …I'm confused.
"The Narrator": Our heroes FINALLY managed to get to their equipment. Before them there were 8 classes, each of them being completely uni-
MK: The only difference between those are name, row, HP, and the damage?
"The Narrator": …That's fake news, some of them like the druid have special skills! But, ekhem. As I was saying, 8 unique roles, before them: Warrior… - The camera showed Lauren wearing a blue cape and having a sword in her hand - Paladi-
Emma: Warrior and Paladin are exactly the same, but Warrior deals 1 more damage, while Paladin has 1 more health?
Emma was wearing a red cape and had a slightly shorter sword than Lauren.
"The Narrator": …The Paladin's big mouth is incredibly annoying. Any time she says something during the battle that isn't a command, she gets targeted by all the enemies. This effect can't be reversed.
Emma: WHAT?! This is so-
"The Narrator": Paladin's big mouth might just result in her getting hit by lightning strong enough to drain all of her HP. Probably a sign from some angry God. Now can I go back to talking about the roles? - The contestants nodded and although they couldn't see him, they could feel a smirk forming on the host's face - Great! 8 heroes: Warrior. Paladin. Druid.
Wayne wore a flower crown on his face and was holding a violin.
Wayne(confessional): I don't get the hate for the healer roles! They are always the most important and clutch team members, but it seems like no one wants to play as them!
"The Narrator": Wizard.
Raj wore a stereotypical "wizard hat" and his "weapon" was a wooden stick.
Raj(confessional): My arm is still injured, so I just picked something that will allow me to stay in the back and not get engaged too much in the "battle". Hopefully, it's still going to be fun!
"The Narrator": Ranger.
Axel had a bow and a quiver.
"The Narrator": Fighter.
Nichelle just had boxing gloves.
Nichelle(confessional): Just let it be known - I didn't want to be a fighter! I have such ranger slash wizard vibes, but Axel was ready to kill to be the ranger and Raj actually had a good reason to be the wizard, so I just got stuck with the leftovers!
"The Narrator": Artificier.
Damien wore goggles and a lab coat.
"The Narrator": And Rogue. - MK just got a black hoodie and a dagger - This band of misfits from a different dimension grouped together to beat an evil Dark Lord. The reward? Glory and love of all the people stuck under his iron fist. - Crickets. All of the contestants looked unimpressed - …And also an immunity once they return to their real world. - The group started to celebrate, finally knowing their goal - HOWEVER! Some of those heroes aren't going to survive it… Not literally Lauren. None of you are going to actually die.
The camera panned to the goth girl who was clapping until she learned that they won't be dying for real.
Emma: So we just need to beat Chris and everyone still alive in the game during this will win immunity! Doesn't sound too hard!
"The Narrator": The paladin's big mouth is sure to bring a lot of trouble! Each enemy gains +1 damage while attacking her.
Emma: What the f-
Emma(confessional): I don't understand, why is Chris on a personal vendetta against me today?! I did nothing wrong!
Chris(confessional): This episode is not inspired by some dumb ANIME. I didn't even know what "isekais" were, until today!
Axel put her hand on Emma's mouth, shutting the blonde girl.
Axel: I would advise you to just suffer in silence, cause it feels like Chris is very close to just disqualifying you from this challenge.
Emma: Eh… Fine. Let's just go.
The girls looked at Lauren who was standing near the door and the goth girl opened the door to the tavern, which was now empty.
Wayne: Huh, that's weird. Like where is everyone?
Raj: Oh no! What if we died in the crash and all of this is just us hallucinating before death?
Wayne: Bro!
The two hockey players hugged each other in fear, while the rest just looked in utter confusion and annoyance.
MK(confessional): Muscles fade, but dumb is forever.
Damien: Yeaaah… No.
The science nerd approached the boys and separated them from the tearful embrace and walked out of the kitchen while dragging the hockey players. The girls followed in his lead.
…
As soon as the contestants left the kitchen, the curtains attached to the cafeteria flew away, revealing Chef in a cowboy outfit, next to 2 interns. The man grabbed his hat and spit on the ground while glaring daggers at contestants.
"Chefeus": Well, well, well, who do we have here? - MK giggled at the sight of the man, causing him to grow annoyed - What is so funny to you, young lady?
MK: Nothing! I like the yee-haw vibes, I think you're pulling it off!
The man groaned while Nichelle approached him with confusion in her eyes.
Nichelle: I'm not being mean or anything, when saying this, but why wild west? I mean, Chrisroth or whatever is supposed to be a "dark lord", so why is his right-hand man a cowboy?
"Chefeus": …I look really good in cowboy boots.
The camera panned down to show off Chef's boots. He, in fact, looked pretty good in them.
Nichelle: Okay, but what's with the name "Chefeus"?
Raj: Yeah! The first thing that comes to mind is like a thunder wizard, not some corrupted sheriff.
Wayne: Rajie's right! Why did you not go with something like… Chefron Black?
Chef stopped to think about it for a second before nodding.
"Chefus": Wait, that's actually pretty not bad-
"The Narrator": Hey! Can our heroes stop the chitty-chat and get to the fighting?
Axel: And can our narrator explain the rules of combat, because it seems like he's just magically expecting us to know what we're supposed to do!
"The Narrator": …Yes. Yes, he can. Each of the fighters in the combat has a different number of health points and the damage that they deal. For now, only some of you have an "ability", but as the game progresses more of you will get it. In each round, "the heroes" are the first to have their turn, then the "villains".
Lauren: What about the rows?
"The Narrator": Oh, right. Basically, only ranged fighters can attack the back row. If your character is a hand-to-hand fighter, you need to take rid of the first row, before getting to the 2nd. Sounds easy?
Lauren: Nope!
Emma: I'm confused.
Damien: This is stupid.
Wayne: You guys are overreacting! It sounds fun!
…
After a quickie cut, Chef uses his toy gun to slap Wayne across the face, causing the blonde boy to groan in pain.
Wayne: Okay, it's not fun.
"The Narrator": and the Druid is down to only 5 HP!
Emma and Damien groaned in pain in response, as the group can hear Chris' laughter.
Axel: You lied! You said that we, the heroes, go first and that only ranged fighters can attack the back row and now Chef just slapped Wayne with a plastic toy!
"The Narrator": Noooo, I said that "the heroes" go first. For the evil, Dark Lord Chrisroth, the travelers from another world are the villains and since he's the ruler of this world, he makes the rules of it!
Axel groaned, before grabbing her bow and shooting one of her arrows at a poor, red-headed intern who screamed in pain as it hit him.
"The Narrator": Minon number 1 is down to only 10 HP!
Axel: What?! I deal 4 damage, why does some random minion have so many health points?!
"The Narrator": There are 8 of you and only 3 of them.
Axel: I- …Okay, that's fair.
Raj looked at his stick and then at the enemies before him.
Raj: I get that the wizard needs a wand to use magic, but I'm not a real wizard… I think so… Or am-
Lauren: No you're not. Don't ask dumb questions and just get to the point.
The girl menacingly smiled at the dark-haired boy, causing him to gulp in fear.
Raj: Yeah, of course, haha! Umm… How do I attack?
"The Narrator": Just smack them with the stick, I don't know.
Raj looked at the stick and ran up to Chef, before lightly patting him with it.
"The Narrator": My granny would hit harder than that! Come on, smack him!
"Chefeus:" Wait, wha-
Before the war vet could finish his sentence, Raj took a big swing and smacked the man right across his cheek.
Raj(confessional): I felt bad for hitting Chef so hard, but… It also felt so right.
Wayne looked at Chef and the redheaded intern, and then at his teammates. The blonde boy took out a paper card with the stats of his role. His respectable 8 HP, now was just 5, and his attack dealt only 1 damage, but he noticed something more interesting - An ability to heal himself or his teammates 2 HP every time he uses it.
Wayne: Well… I guess I will heal-
Emma: Wait! - The boy and the others looked at the girl - Since Chef is a mini-boss, if we get rid of him early on, we might be able to win the battle without attacking the interns.
Hearing this, the 2 innocent boys looked at each other and let out sighs of relief. Meanwhile, Damien just looked worried at Emma.
Damien: First off, he's at the back, so only Raj, Axel, and Wayne will be able to attack him… - The camera panned back to the interns who groaned hearing this - …And 2 of them already used their turns. Second of all… Now all of them are going to attack you.
Emma: I did the calculations, I will be left with 1 HP. I will be fine!
…
As the black-skinned intern uses a wooden sword to hit Emma in the stomach, she clutches it in pain.
Emma(confessional): Sometimes you need to sacrifice yourself for the greater good… But sometimes you should shut your mouth and just let things play out without intervening, cause you will be HIT with a HARD, WOODEN SWORD in your GUTS!
Wayne, seeing his friend in pain, approached her and put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way.
Wayne: Em, you okay?
The girl just shook her head. It was observed by Nichelle, who just smirked seeing the two.
Nichelle: Oh, stop it guys, you're being too cute!
The duo looked at the girl, completely dumbfounded.
Wayne: What?
Nichelle: Did I stutter?! You guys are just so adorkable together! You would make for a cute couple… And based on how Emma talked about you in the girl's cabin, I don't think she would be too opposed to the idea.
Emma got completely red on the face, which was noticed by the boy, who himself, blushed from the embarrassment.
Wayne: I… I think I will… Go somewhere else!
He ran away with the speed that would make The Road Runner seethe with jealousy. Meanwhile, Emma just glared at Nichelle who giggled.
Nichelle: Trust me, girl, you will appreciate it!
Emma(confessional): I know that Nichelle is dumb as a rock, but what the heck?! I don't like Wayne! I mean, I like him as a friend, but that's all! The last thing I need right now is a boyfriend! My last relationship is comparable to the Thrash Island being set on fire and used to produce food for turtles, why would she think that I'm ready for another one just a mere 2 weeks after that one ended?!
Wayne(confessional): Does… Does Emma actually like me? Oh no, I feel so bad, cause I don't feel the same about her! But I don't want to break her heart, especially not after what Chase did to her, but… I also can't lie to her!
Emma rolled her eyes and walked away from the actress, who made eye contact with Raj and winked at him, as the boy smiled and showed her thumbs up. This non-verbal talk was noticed by MK who approached her closest ally.
MK: What was that whole thing? Does Emma actually like Wayne? Why was Raj giving you thumbs-up?
Nichelle looked around and started whispering to the beanie girl.
Nichelle: No, I don't think she does… Yet. Me and Raj are on a quest to make Emmayne happen, cause those 2 deserve a happy relationship… Although we need to work on that name.
The kleptomaniac blinked in surprise.
MK: You- You and Raj? Have you guys ever talked to each other before this?
Nichelle: What? Yeah, obviously? I spend most of my time talking and socializing with others. Do you not do that? - She was met with silence and with MK escaping eye contact, causing Nichelle to chuckle - Hey, it's okay. You excel at the strategic part of the game and I excel in social!
Suddenly, the girls were approached by Damien.
Damien: Hey, Nich, you're the only person left who didn't attack.
The girl nodded at the boy and quickly turned towards MK.
Nichelle: Now if you excuse me, I have some butts to kick!
With this, she ran away from the conversation with a war cry in her mouth, leaving a stunned MK alone in her thoughts.
MK(confessional): Up 'till now I thought that I'm the only one Nichelle talks with, but now I'm learning that she has an amazing social game? How close is she to others? How many friends does she have? …I mean, not that it matters or that I care, it's just… I'm somewhat interested in it… For strategic reasons.
…
A montage of this "epic battle" begins with Damien running up to one of the interns, pulling out a vial with some weird, blue substance from his lab coat, and throwing the liquid at the poor intern, who started screaming in pain, as Damien watched in guilt.
Damien: Oh man, I'm sorry, I thought that it would be more humane to do this than throwing the vial!
The poor, underpaid worker continues running around in pain, while the contestants and Chef just watch.
Lauren(confessional): If I didn't know any better I would think he's doing it to impress me, but no matter his intention, I definitely enjoy watching Damien make others scream in pain!
…
Axel aims her bow at Chef, who watches in terror. As the arrow gets fired, he tries to duck under it, but the projectile and the man stop in place, after hearing the speaker noise.
"The Narrator": Nuh-Uh! Since Axel shot it at you, you need to let yourself be hit!
Chef groaned and stood still as the arrow stopped breaking the laws of physics, and hit the war vet, right in the jaw.
…
Nichelle looked with determination at a scared redheaded intern, who covered himself in panic as the girl started running at him, but she stumbled over her own feet, causing her to hit the cold, hard ground instead.
Nichelle: Wait! Take 2! Take 2!
The girl slowly rose from the ground and walked back to the place where she originally started her run. She once again stared at the now, much less threatened intern and started running full speed at him, but as she was about to hit him, the boy just stepped away, letting the girl crash right into Chef.
"The Narrator": Nice try Nichelle, but since the "Fighter" class can't hit the back row… Chefeus is allowed to hit you in "self-defense".
The girl, in a dizzied state after the hit, looked up at Chef, who now had a menacing smile on his face. The actress began running away with the man following closely behind as the camera panned to MK who just let out a sigh of disappointment.
…
Wayne looked at Chef and the two interns, all bruised and in pain, and then at his teammates, who weren't doing much better.
Wayne: Well… Since I only deal 1 damage, I think I will heal one of you guys… I will heal the Paladin!
Emma just smiled at the boy, but then the 2 just stood in awkward silence.
Wayne: Umm… What am I supposed to do to heal someone?
"The Narrator": Just saying this is enough. Emma now needs to remember that she has 3 health points and not 1.
Raj and Wayne exchanged looks of disappointment.
Wayne: You know what, bud? This game is why lamer than I hoped for.
Raj: Yeah and much more painful!
The duo looked at Nichelle who was all bruised after her encounter with Chef, being in by far the worst state out of any players.
Nichelle(confessional): Pain is just a necessary evil to achieve your goals… But God, is it unpleasant!
…
The black-skinned intern was slowly approaching Lauren who was just smiling at him. As the boy raised his wooden sword to hit her with it, she suddenly grabbed him by the collar and looked him straight in the eyes.
Lauren: Are you sure you want to do that?
She immediately released him, but the intern was just frozen for a few seconds. Once he came back to himself, he just started sobbing and ran away, as Scary Girl flashed a grin at the camera. The boy ran past Chef, who was barely standing, and the red-haired intern who was laying on the ground in too much pain to even move.
"The Narrator": Well, I will count this as another lost minion for Chefeus, who now has to stand in the front row! - Chef just groans, but obediently steps over the chubby intern, now standing closer to the contestants - To defeat him and go to phase 2, you need to deal him only 10 health points!
Damien: 10? Oh, that's so easy! Alright, who wants to-
Wayne: Wait! Before we finish him off, I think it's a good call for me to use my healing ability. Who needs it the most? - The group just shrugs, most of them still having over half of their HP - Well… I guess I will heal the Paladin in this case.
"The Narrator": The Paladin now has 5 heal-
Axel: Yeah we know, all of us passed first grade!
The hockey bros quickly glanced at each other, before looking away in a different direction. Meanwhile, Axel had her bow ready and took another shot at the Chef, hitting him right in his gut. It was followed by MK's sneak attack from behind and the war vet was finished off by Emma smacking him with her sword.
Emma(confessional): Honestly, this felt kinda cathartic! I can just imagine what hitting Chris will feel like!
The 8 heroes celebrated their win over "Chefeus", not paying attention to him. The man groaned, before taking aim at the back of Emma's head and throwing his gun at her. This was noticed by Wayne, who just in time, jumped right in front of the toy, letting himself be hit in the nose with it. The others stopped their celebration and kneeled next to Wayne, who was now holding his nose in pain.
Emma: What happened?!
Wayne: I saw Chef aiming his gun at you, so I jumped to take the hit. Didn't plan on it hitting my face though.
Raj gently touched his best friend's nose, resulting in the blonde boy letting a scream in pain.
Raj: Oops. Sorry.
Meanwhile, Axel and Damien stared angrily at Chef.
Axel: What kind of a sore loser does something like this?
They were answered by a shrug from the man and the noise coming from the speaker.
"The Narrator": Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you about Chefeus' ability? It's named "Cowboy's last revenge" and it allows him to take one of his killers to the grave with him as long as he manages to hit them! Well, I guess Wayne is the poor soul that's out of this challenge!
MK: Wow, Chris, and coming up with new rules mid-challenge? Who would have thought?
While the kleptomaniac acted completely nonchalant regarding this revelation, Emma stared angrily at the speaker the noise was coming from.
Emma: What? That's not fair, he had no chance to avoid it!
"The Narrator": That's false, he could let you be the one hit!
Emma rolled her eyes as the host laughed maniacally, but she was startled when Wayne suddenly grabbed her hand and smiled at the girl.
Wayne: It's alright, just promise me one thing… - His smile turned into an expression of pure anger - …Kick Chris' butt for me.
Raj stared wide-eyed at his buddy hearing this.
Raj(confessional): Wayner called Chris "Chris" and not "Couch"? Oh, he's pissed!
"The Narrator": Well! Be my guest. Ekhem, ekhem: As the 7 heroes mourned the loss of their friend, they approached the still-alive Chefeus, expecting answers to their questions. In exchange for his life, he told the heroes about the secret hideout of the Evil, Dark Lord Chrisroth. While the heroes made their way towards it… The Paladin discovered a new power in herself - A shield that consumes all of the damage she would otherwise take.
…
The contestants stood before the entrance of Chris' villa, now decorated and painted in a way reminiscent of dark towers that one could find in video games. Damien stared at it, somewhat intimidated by the redesign.
Damien: So… Do we need to walk in?
Axel: Yes?
The girl pulled the doors to the "evil lair" and walked in, with most of her peers following closely behind, leaving only Damien and Lauren.
Damien: Right, right…
The boy still had his doubts, but before he had a chance to think about them, he was interrupted by Scary Girl suddenly appearing next to him.
Lauren: If you want to, we can stay here! Just us 2! Wouldn't that be lovely?
Damien: Actually, I will take the dark mansion!
The science nerd quickly ran inside it in an effort to catch up to his castmates, leaving Lauren behind, but she just giggled to herself.
Lauren: It's so easy to motivate him!
She happily skipped her way into the villa, with the doors closing right behind her.
…
The group walked the hallways of the mansion, which now felt much longer and more empty, with all of the furniture missing. Emma and Nichelle were at the back of the group, the shorter girl still being visibly pissed over what happened earlier.
Nichelle: Listen, I'm sorry for that.
Emma: For what? Using the fact I was not allowed to speak to make Wayne believe that I'm romantically interested in him?
Nichelle: …There's no need for passive-aggressiveness. - Emma rolled her eyes and tried walking away from the actress, but she just grabbed her by her hand, not letting the shorter girl go - I'm sorry! I did it, because… Wayne was too scared to tell you.
Emma: Wh-What?
Nichelle: For the past few days, he's been talking non-stop about you, about how you're so much better than Julia and just daydreaming about taking you on a date. He was scared to tell you because he knows you just went through an awful break-up and he doesn't want to lose you as a friend.
Emma stopped in her tracks and looked completely dumbfounded.
Emma: I- Um- Wh- …How am I supposed to trust you? I don't know what you are trying to achieve, but you lied to him, how do I know that you aren't lying to me?
Nichelle: It's fine if you don't believe me. Just ask Raj. He's Wayne's best friend after all and knows him better than anyone else.
Emma looked at the ground, clearly conflicted, while Nichelle slightly smirked and walked away. Soon after, the preppy girl noticed that she was left behind and ran after the group.
Emma(confessional): This is so, very awful! Not only, because I don't like Wayne in this way, but speaking from experience, your personal feelings and the game just don't mix! I can't lie to him and lead him on, but I can't risk him turning on me and voting me off the game just because I broke his heart! …I need to listen to Tyler Swift's music, she definitely has a song about something like this!
…
As the short girl caught up to the group, they finally made their way to the living room, where they were met with the sight of Chris… In a black gown? MK and Damien immediately burst out laughing, while Emma and Nichelle just chuckled to themselves, making the man angry right off the bat.
"Chrisroth": What? What's so funny?
MK: Nothing Sister Christina!
MK's remark, caused Emma and Nich to join her in full-on laughter and also got a chuckle out of Raj and Lauren and even the always-so-serious Axel snickered at it. The one person who was not laughing was Chris, who was fuming with anger.
"Chrisroth": Oh that's funny? How about my ability, "Everlasting Darkness" that reduces all of your health points to just 1?
Immediately, the group wasn't at all happy with that, however, Axel was the most furious about it.
Axel: What? This is such a bullcrad! How are we supposed to deal with that?!
"Chrisroth": Well, you guys were supposed to have 6 fights, each of them unlocking an ability for someone who doesn't have it and upgrading your stats, but you were just sooo quick to fight me, the final boss. Who has 100 health points. And deals 10 damage per hit. So… You guys can only really blame yourselves!
The girl groaned at the man who just stuck out his tongue at her.
Axel(confessional): The day the zombie apocalypse comes, I hope I will be there, next to Chris just so I would be able to feel the absolute joy of watching him being devoured by the horde of hungry undead.
Axel approached her "teammates" and took them into a "team meeting", talking quietly enough for Chris not to hear them, but the man didn't mind. He just watched it with a smirk on his face.
Axel: We need to come out with a plan. MK, besides Wayne you were the only one that started the game with an ability. What can you do?
MK: Double attack where one of them is guaranteed to hit, whatever that means.
Axel nodded and looked at Emma.
Axel: Use your shield, maybe it will be useful. The rest of us attack and we try to deal as much damage as we can.
The group separated and looked at Chris, ready to… well maybe not beat him, but at least let out all of their frustrations with him.
MK: I use my ability, sneak attack!
The girl charged at the man, but as she was about to attack him, he just smirked and stuck out his hand.
"Chrisroth": Wait! Not yet! - The girl looked confused, as the man pulled out 2 dice, 1 blue and the other one red - To attack me, you need to roll the same or bigger amount of dots than me.
MK: What? First of all, you never mentioned that before, second of all, your dice only has 5s and 6s, while mine has numbers from 1 to 6!
"Chrisroth": Um, first of all, it was a mechanic that was supposed to be introduced in another fight that you missed, second of all, I'm the final boss. Of course, I have unfair advantages!
MK: Yes we know that by now.
She rolled her eyes, before grabbing the red dice and rolling 4. The girl groaned in annoyance, while the man smirked.
"Chrisroth": Well, I don't even need to roll mine! But, since you used your ability, you still get one free hit-
Before the man could finish speaking, the girl used her wooden dagger to "stab" him in the stomach. The man winced in pain while MK just grinned at him.
"Chrisroth": I will… Remember that.
…
Another montage of the "epic battle". The other 6 each rolled their dice, but only Emma gets to attack the man, smiling as she does it.
Emma(confessional): Yup! This was just as if not more satisfying than I imagined!
The girl ran back to her teammates, while Chris collected himself and stared at the contestants. He rolled his dice which landed on "6", causing the man to smile in joy.
"Chrisroth": I can take some beating if this means I am allowed to kick some teenage butts! But who deserves it the most? - He looked at Lauren who grinned back at the man, causing him to get uncomfortable - …Nope. I don't feel like dying.
The man's eyes ran between teenagers when they suddenly stopped at MK. The girl gulped as the "dark lord" approached her with a staff in his hands and smacked her on the head.
MK: Dude! Go see a therapist!
The girl left the "battlefield" leaving only 6 against the very overpowered Chrisroth, who even despite getting hit by Emma and MK, was clearly enjoying the situation.
…
Once again, dice were rolled, allowing Damien and Raj to strike Chris.
Raj: That's for Wayne!
The boy celebrated getting a hit on Chris, the same moment that the host rolled a 6. He immediately set his eyes on the poor hockey bro.
Raj: Oh. I was just… joking. Haha.
Smack!
…
More dice, more hits on Chris. More of his rolls and fewer "heroes" remained on the battleground. Axel groaned at the man, before taking the walk of shame. Damien limped after getting hit right in his guts. As Nichelle got smacked with the staff right across her cheeks, it meant that only Lauren and Emma were left in the battle with Chris, who still had 2/3 of his health. Despite some bruises and getting some beatings himself, the crud-eating grin was still on his face.
Lauren: Welp! Seems like the end is near!
She giggled as Emma took a few seconds to think.
Emma: Lauren-
"Chrisroth": Oh! Well, I know who's the next person to get "stuff'd" - Chris laughed as the two girls looked at him weirdly. Only after an awkward moment, he realized that - What? "stuff'd", cause you know- OH! Um… Well…
Emma: Yeah.
"Chrisroth": That's not what… Oh, whatever. You will get hit by my stuff. Better?
The blonde girl rolled her eyes before looking at Lauren.
Emma: I know how we can turn this fight around as long as you promise to vote with me, Wayne, and Raj.
Lauren: Depends on who you want me to vote for!
Emma: I have no relationship with Axel and she was one of the votes for Julia. We both have a solid reason to vote her off. Deal?
The goth girl stopped to think about it for a second before nodding.
Emma: Great! I use my shield ability!
Lauren's smile got even wider than ever as Chris stopped to think about the situation for a moment. Once he realized what was up, he was completely red from anger.
"Chrisroth": Wait! No! This is-
Emma: Unfair? Yeah. The game was unfair since the beginning, but you started complaining now, that WE are the ones taking advantage of it!
The man seethed with anger, but before he could say anything he was hit in his nose by Lauren's sword, causing him to stumble backward as he stared at her in shock.
Lauren: I had 6!
…
Emma: Hey Chris! Are you a superfan of anime or just a casual viewer? By the way, I'm obviously using my shield!
"Chrisroth": I don't watch anime! Narnia is also an ise-
He got cut off by a hit from Lauren, who just chuckled as the man groaned in pain.
…
Emma: Not gonna lie, it's kinda sad how you rigged this challenge to live through your nerdy fantasies, but you still lost. Shield.
The man just groaned as he got hit in the face by Lauren.
…
Emma: I think it's very nice of you that you gave us a chance to give such a cathartic outlet to all of our frustrations! Also, shield.
"Chrisroth": I hate you.
One last hit from Lauren was enough to knock him out, while also draining the remains of his health points. He lay on the ground, putting on a fake smile, despite his eyes being full of hatred and anger.
Chris: Congrats Lauren and Emma. You 2 won immunity for today's elimination ceremony.
Those sentences barely made it through his gritted teeth, but it didn't matter to the two games who were joyful at the announcement.
Lauren: That was nice thinking Emma! …How long ago did you figure out that it was our only way to win?
Emma: Huh? I don't-
Lauren: Don't play dumb with me! You were using a shield for 4 rounds before "coming up" with this strategy! As if to make sure that you would make it to the final 2 of this challenge!
Emma: I- Well- I need to pee. Bye!
The blonde girl quickly ran away as Lauren giggled to herself.
Lauren(confessional): Emma was an emotional mess last season, so I don't think anyone expected much strategic thinking from her, but it seems like she's full of surprises. Sadly, I don't like surprises.
…
By the evening, the cafeteria already looked normal with all of the decorations used during the challenge, being taken off. MK, Nichelle, Axel, and Damien sat there, bruised after the challenge, but without any major injuries.
Nichelle: Ugh, those challenges are getting more and more painful! I won't be surprised if Chris starts a zombie apocalypse just to cause us pain!
Damien: Yeah, especially after the number Lauren and Emma pulled on him. This leaves one of the hockey bros as the candidate for the elimina-
MK: Raj.
The rest looked at her weirdly, especially Nichelle.
Nichelle: What? His arm is still very much injured, he's not going to do much in physical challenges.
MK: Yeah, he's not a treat now, but once it heals, he will be. He's just as likable and athletic as Wayne, but probably a bit smarter.
Axel: Being smarter in this duo is comparable to being the tallest dwarf.
Nichelle nodded to Axel's comment.
Nichelle: I like Raj, I don't want to get him out now.
MK: But you also like Wayne.
Nichelle: Well- Yeah-
MK: Also, if Wayne is out of the game, you can't be playing Cupid for him and Emma.
Axel looked suspiciously at Nichelle who just chuckled awkwardly. It seemed like an interrogation was about to start until Damien stepped in between the girls.
Damien: I'm with MK. I didn't make much of a connection with Raj, but I feel fine with saying that me and Wayne are friends. Maybe once Raj is out, we could recruit him.
He winked at Axel, who smiled, however, MK now looked suspicious.
MK: Wait, why would we need to recruit him into the alliance if we're gonna have the majority after-
Axel: You know what, I changed my mind. I'm with Damien and MK, we should vote off Raj today and deal with Emma or Lauren at the next ceremony.
Nichelle looked down at the floor, but eventually, she nodded, agreeing with the decision.
…
At the ceremony all of the contestants, except for Lauren appeared bruised after the challenge, but nowhere near as much as Chef or Chris, who was still pissed after getting his butt kicked by Emma and Lauren. Also, Nichelle's wig for this episode was a braided bun.
Chris: Let's just get this over with. Chef, they're all yours.
Chef: Ummm… I don't have anything to say. The kids did a good job today.
The contestants all shared a smile, much to the annoyance of the host.
Chris: Oh whatever. Just vote. Remember, Emma and Lauren, are immune.
The camera panned to Raj, Emma, and Wayne all voting without any problems. The same thing with Damien, Axel, and MK, but Nichelle looked guilty after casting hers.
Nichelle: Sorry.
She mumbled under her breath. Meanwhile, Lauren constantly switched between 2 options, before finally choosing something.
Chris: The votes are in. - He threw golden Chris to Emma, Lauren, Wayne, MK, Nichelle, and Damien - Congrats guys, yay!
He said with the lowest amount of enthusiasm, before staring at Raj and Axel. The boy looked scared, while the girl gritted her teeth in anticipation.
Chris: In case of a tie, you guys are going to take part in a tiebreaker challenge of trivia about the fantasy world where today's challenge took place.
Axel rolled her eyes while Raj smiled a little bit, before quickly going back to panic.
Chris: Anyway. Today's loser is…
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Raj!
The eliminated boy and his best friend exchanged looks of sadness, while Emma glared at Lauren who just smiled. Then she looked at the other 4, before grabbing her head in defeat.
Emma(confessional): Of course, I wasn't the only one who thought of making a majority alliance, but of course mine failed and me and Wayne are now on the outs!
Lauren(confessional): Yeah, I could have made it a tie and potentially just float between Emma's and Axel's alliances, but that would quickly make me a target. Now there's a decent chance that Emma and Wayne go before me and once we hit the f5, it won't be hard to break up the alliance of the other 4, once Damien learns what really happened to his idol! I may be crazy, but I'm also smart!
Wayne and Raj embraced each other for a good few seconds before the latter finally broke their hug.
Raj: Win this for me, bro!
Wayne: I will, bro!
Rajie looked at his competitors and waved them goodbye with a smile on his face. As he was passing Nichelle she grabbed him by his sleeve and looked at him with guilt in her eyes.
Nichelle: Sorry Raj. I will try my best to get Emma and Wayne together.
Emma: What?
The camera panned to reveal the short girl sitting next to Nichelle.
Nichelle: Nothing!
Emma looked first at Nichelle with an unconvincing, fake smilethen at Raj who looked the other way.
Emma: Raj, before you go, can you tell me how Wayne feels about me? Does he actually like me or…?
Raj: Wayne? Um… - He looked at his buddy who was sobbing while getting comforted by Damien. Then he looked at Emma with a worried look on her face and lastly, he looked at Nichelle who was aggressively nodding her head - …Yes. He likes you!
The preppy girl looked down, trying to make sense of her thoughts as the boy made his way to the Red Carpet of Shame. Despite his injured arm, he quickly made a run for it, avoiding most of the tomatoes. As he made it to the end, the camera panned to Chris who looked as if he gave up on life.
Chris: I hate those kids. Hate, hate, hate them. How am I going to torture them next week? Are Emma and Wayne going to find a healthy way to talk through their feelings? Oh who am I kidding, this is Total Drama! Nobody here knows how to talk about their feelings!
Chef looked with a worried expression at Chris.
Chef: I think we need to sign you up for another therapy session.
Chris: …You're probably right.
—
16. Ripper
15. Millie
14. Chase
13. Zee
12. Priya
11/10. Bowie
10/11. Julia
= MERGE =
9. Caleb
8. Raj
Still in: Lauren, Axel, Emma, Nichelle, MK, Wayne, Damien
What should I start with? Probably Raj - Fun fact, he had 19 confessionals in this season, 11 of which are just from the last 2 episodes. I really like Raj, before I started writing this fic he was my favorite hockey player, but Wayne is so fun to write, that now I like him more. I didn't do much with him in terms of storylines, until the last 2 episodes, where in the last one, he wanted to have revenge against Caleb, and in this one where he and Nichelle tried to make Emma and Wayne a couple (although I hinted that Raj would try to do so in the last episode). Originally this episode and the next one were in reversed order (so Raj would place 7th and the challenge from the next episode and the elimination would happen in this one), but I realized that it will be much more fun to switch them. It resulted in the 5:2 gender split at f7, but I kinda like it, since it never happened in the og series.
The challenge was originally supposed to be based on sports movies and it would have a tournament format. Emma would still win it and there was supposed to be a fun scene of Lauren and Nichelle having a boxer fight, where Lauren would easily tank all of Nich's punches until MK would annoy Nichelle so much that one of her punches would knock one of Lauren's teeth. I went with the fantasy/isekai challenge because it felt more original, but the actual challenge (so the fight with Chef) started almost halfway through the episode. Also, originally this episode was supposed to be named "That time I died, got reincarnated as a Canadian, lost all memories of my previous life, and made the biggest mistake of my life at age 16, by signing up for some dumb reality show", but turns out that it's way too long.
Once I wrote Episode 6, I was confident that now that the merge will start, the episodes would get much shorter, but nope, this one is 34 Google pages long, the most out of any episode. Also, this is the first episode I'm writing while using free Grammarly, so if you see that much fewer writing mistakes, that's probably why.
Lastly, sorry for the delay with the episode! I'm unofficially done with the school for this year (unofficially aka there are 1,5 more weeks, but I'm not going, cause the grades for this year are now final and nothing will change them), so I should be able to return to normal posting. Hell, maybe I will manage to post 2 episodes in a week (no promises on that tho!)