Scarlet Serpents: Celeste, Dustin, Emery, Rina, Roark, Sunny, Zinnia

Violet Vultures: Ally, Dylan, May, Melinda, Mikaio, Tyson

The episode opened at the grand elimination stage, where Chris stood, "Last time, on Total Drama Stardom…" he began the recap, as scenes from the previous episode began to play.

"We were introduced to our… 'star-studded' cast of characters," the footage showed the contestants meeting on the blimp, before shifting to them falling, "And we immediately sent them hurtling to their doom, of course!"

"Once they'd landed, everybody who got a parachute became one of the Violet Vultures - while the unlucky losers who didn't became known as the Scarlet Serpents," the next piece of footage showed the splitting of the teams.

"We challenged the teams to build yours truly out of nothing but Lego bricks in that area. Without shoes," Chris further explained, as the footage showed Emery's big mistake.

"The Scarlet Serpents proved that teamwork makes the dream work, thanks to their combined efforts letting them win the first challenge - while the Violet Vultures proved to be entirely unable to together, with their wannabe leader Melinda being disliked by around half of them and only getting her position because her team lost," the footage shifted to the results - the celebrating Serpents followed by the dejected Vultures.

"Despite Melinda being unpopular, and Dylan being annoying, it was Rayna whose sorry butt was sent riding the Lame-O-Sine home… or it would have, had she not begged to be an intern," the footage then displayed Rayna's elimination, before returning to the current day with Chris.

"Who will actually be eliminated, for real this time? Find out now… on Total! Drama! Stardom!" Chris ended the recap off, as the theme song began playing.

Insert the theme song here. I'm too cool to bump up my word count via things like 'theme songs' any more than once per fic. I have other ways of doing that! Like this!

Melinda was stood by herself behind the girls' trailer, leaning against it with a frown on her face.

Confessional - Melinda

"Hmph…" she crossed her arms, looking down with a contemplative frown on her face, "I won't lie… last night was far too close for comfort. I was in the bottom three with Dylan and Rayna. Dylan and Rayna, for crying out loud!"

"I'm still going to lead this team victory whether they like it or not, but… ugh… I might need some help to do so…"

"Hey hey, Mellie, I've got some good news for you!" came the annoying voice of Dylan from besides her, and it took all of the mechanic's internal willpower not to immediately throw him against the wall.

"I don't care," Melinda scowled at the gremlin, who simply shrugged with a very smug look on his face, "Get out of my sight."

"Seriously?!" Dylan loudly whined, which only further annoyed Melinda, "I come here to give you good news and you bully me!? If I had feelings, they'd totally be hurt right now!"

"Quit the whining already," the mechanic demanded, "I'm not in the mood for your crap right now."

"Wow… I literally saved your butt and this is how you repay me?" the prankster quit whining, instead letting out an annoyed sigh, "Jeez, I try being nice for once and this is how I'm treated…"

Melinda was unimpressed with him, but raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean you saved me?" she ordered.

"Well… who do you think set the little faulty head up for Rayna?" the prankster spread his arms out, a smug grin taking over his features, "Here's a tip - it was yours truly!"

"Eliminating Rayna just happened to be something that benefitted me," the mechanic scowled, "And I don't get why you of all people would throw a challenge, when you knew I'd be the leader if you did…"

"Simple," Dylan's grin grew slightly more unhinged as he spoke, "It'd keep things interesting."

"Almost forgot you were completely insane," Melinda deadpanned.

"Had we won, we'd all be getting along and that'd be super boring," the little maniac further explained, "So… since you're my favourite, I cast you a little bone and let you become our new team leader!"

"I'm your favourite?" the mechanic repeated in disbelief, "Like hell I am!"

"Okay, you're not even close… you're like mid tier at best,," the prankster admitted, giving her a childish look of excitement as he continued explaining, "But y'know, if you do make things interesting you could be my favourite! You could totally look forward to that!"

"I'm not going to be a dictator if that's what you want, and if it makes me your favourite… then there's another reason not to do that," the mechanic frowned at him, crossing her arms with a scowl, "The hell's your angle, anyway? You get nothing from that. Did you really just come here to gloat?"

"Partially," Dylan smirked up at her, "But I'm also here to threaten you! You were in the bottom two last time, y'know. Not a good look for a leader~"

"You were in that same bottom three," the mechanic huffed out, her eye twitching in irritation, "You should be even more worried - once I've finally figured out how to lead this team of weirdos, you're gone."

"Tsk tsk tsk… you know I've got friends on this team, right? Something you don't have?" the two exchanged stares as Dylan wagged a finger in her face, knowing he struck a nerve, "I could get them to save you… or I could get them to vote you out. Or… maybe I'm just lying and I'm just as sad and lonely as you are! Or to make it simple enough for your tiny little brain to understand, don't make things boring for me, nyehehe~"

With those last words, Dylan strolled off, content in how much he annoyed Melinda if the grin on his face said anything about it.

"Fucking psycho," Melinda rolled her eyes at his retreating form, glaring intensely while looking slightly confused, "What the hell was he even talking about…?"

Confessional - Dylan

"Nyehehe~" the prankster giggled into his scarf, "Alright, here's some helpful lying advice from yours truly, since I'm feeling generous today. One, put the truth in your lies! And two, sometimes tell people you might be lying! It sounds like it goes against the whole point of lying, but it'll make 'em constantly second-guess themselves and you'll get in their head! And it's fun, too."

He looked down at the desk, and a single tear left his eye as he noticed a distinct lack of phallic-shaped scribbles, "Wait… they're gone… no appreciation for good art around here."

Confessional - Melinda

"First order of business as a team leader? Get him outta here 'cause I sure as hell ain't giving him the satisfaction of dealing with his shit," the mechanic pointed over her shoulder, her eye twitching in agitation as she thought about the gremlin, "I almost regret keeping him over Rayna. Almost."

"But serious talk, I think I'm going to need Tyson to help me figure out how I'm going to deal with the other three. The guy's a total dumbass for sure, but he's the most reliable person on this team by a long shot."

Around an hour after Dylan and Melinda's conversation, the rest of the cast (with one obvious exception in May) had began to wake up and prepare themselves. In the not-girls' trailer, Roark, Sunny and Emery were the only ones still there, the yo-yo pro looking intently at the wrestler's mask, while Sunny was placing his pajamas onto his bed.

"Why the heck do you wear a mask everywhere?" Emery asked Roark incredibly bluntly, their red yo-yo already being flung around the room dangerously, "It's so weird… you even slept in it, for crying out loud!"

Roark crossed his arms over his chest, his expression unreadable because of the mask in question, "Heh… it's just a little thing called recognition. Were we not being filmed, I wouldn't be shirtless with just my mask and pants on."

"But… uh… why?" the yo-yo pro looked confused, "I don't get it - why can't you just not wear them?"

"Hold on, can I try and explain this?" Sunny called over to the wrestler, who nodded, "People probably know him for the whole 'shirtless with a mask' look, y'know? So it'd ruin it if he… didn't do that."

"Exactly," Roark nodded again in affirmation, "While this might be… uncomfortable at times, I built this look myself for both me and my fans! If I were to simply cower away from it… ha! Then I wouldn't be the Dark Flame of the Ring!"

"Ohhh… I get it!" Emery finally understood, recalling their yo-yo in as another question formed in their mind, "Got another question for you, then - what's with that 'Dark Flame of the Ring' thing anyway? It's cool!"

The wrestler snorted from behind his mask, "That title? Hah, that one wasn't my own pick, that one's all on my fans!"

"I wish I had a title…" the yo-yo pro sighed, "Sunny has like… his punny name, y'know?"

"Uh… no, that is my name," Sunny corrected with a light chuckle, "It might sound really dumb, but I literally picked it myself - I named it after my YouTube channel and everything, haha."

Emery's brain buffered for a moment, "I can't say I get it at all, but neat!"

Roark gave him a large thumbs-up, "Choosing something typically seen as laughable and treating it as a sense of pride… I've got nothing but respect for that!"

While Sunny beamed at the praise, Emery just scratched their neck awkwardly, "I mean… I've got my yo-yos - they count, right?"

"If you think they do… they can!" Roark nodded decisively.

Confessional - Roark

"This team's very friendly with each other, which is great!" the wrestler flexed a bit in the confessional, "But that also means yours truly needs some people on his side of the ring, you get what I'm saying?"

"Say… how would you two think about an alliance of sorts?" the wrestler offered, to the streamer and yo-yo pro's shock at how sudden the proposal was.

"Uh… give me a moment to think about it," Sunny twiddled his thumbs awkwardly, and Roark nodded.

"Of course," Roark allowed it, "But just think about it! The three of us could take this game by storm!"

Sunny thought it over, letting Emery come in with a simple, "Count me in!"

"Welcome aboard, little buddy!" Roark gave the yo-yo pro a high five… even if they had to jump up to reach him, "So… Sunny? You in?"

The femboy nodded slowly, "Sure."

Confessional - Sunny

"Well… I want to trust Roark. I really do!" the femboy explained, "But… Total Drama's a game of sabotage when alliances are involved… well, usually alliances have meant sabotage in the past, and I want to play a clean game. So I'm gonna keep my eye out to make sure he does nothing shady!"

Confessional - Emery

"Honestly, I'm just glad I was picked at all!" the yo-yo pro chuckled, "Usually people just think I'm a joke and that I can't add anything serious to anything, so this is great!"

Meanwhile, Ally was sat down on a sole picnic table outside the trailers, with her spellbook in her hands.

"Hmm… what spells would be useful today?" she pondered, tapping her chin, "I need to make sure I don't use up all of my mana today… I've only got a few restoring items on me…"

While the roleplayer checked her cloak for her 'restoring items' (also known as assorted food and drinks smuggled in), May came out of the girls' trailer with the lack of energy of somebody who only just woke up. Ally beckoned the daydreamer over, "Greetings! Care to join me?"

May lazily waved at her, and rested her head onto the table the moment she sat down, "Alright..."

"Say… I'm in need of a second opinion here," the mage asked of May, who tilted her head up in curiosity, "Which spell would be more useful to have… fireball, or thunderbolt? In case we get attacked by monsters, I need to know which one would be more powerful!"

May stared blankly into space for a moment, yawning before she let out an answer, "...go thunderbolt…"

"A wise choice!" Ally grinned, flipping through her spellbook to the relevant page, "A good thunderbolt always works in a pinch!"

"Well… happy to help?" the daydreamer suggested, slightly confused but playing along nonetheless as she let out a yawn.

May seemed to be drifting off into sleep, and without another 'stamina potion', Ally had to resort to the simpler measure of merely shaking her back, "No no no, you're staying in this realm until we at least finish today's trial!"

"Fine…" the daydreamer yawned out, rubbing her eyes wearily, "I'm just tired…"

"How so? It's a beautiful day, and… it's also ten in the morning!" Ally noted, raising an eyebrow with a light smile, "How can one be so tired at a time like this?"

"...I just like sleep," May admitted, and Ally made a gesture asking for more, "A lot…"

"Is… that truly it?" Ally chuckled, "Then… my apologies if this question's in bad taste, but why did you even embark on this journey?"

"Curiosity…" the daydreamer said, "And… well, I kinda want the money too…"

Confessional - May

"Yeah… I was just curious," the daydreamer rested her head on a hand that in turn rested against the desk, "...I don't really see myself lasting long… but it's… uh… certainly been an experience so far…"

"Not an uncommon reason for an adventure, I suppose," the roleplayer tapped her forehead with her staff, "Care for a stronger stamina potion to keep your energy levels up?"

The roleplayer pulled out an energy drink from under her cloak, and May looked at it in disgust, "No thanks…"

"Very well then," the mage nodded, before she flicked open her spellbook, which the daydreamer curiously peeked into, "Only the strongest of magic users can see the words of the Great Mage Ally Starr's Magical Guidebook… are you perhaps a fellow mage yourself?"

May blinked at her in complete and utter confusion as Ally looked at her, amazed, "...I don't get it."

"Perhaps you can merely see what others cannot… I suppose spending so much time in the land of dreams may give one that power…" the roleplayer theorycrafted, as May just let her go on.

"No matter the reason, would you like to hear about some of my spells and adventures?" Ally offered, as May shrugged.

"Maybe just one adventure…?" the daydreamer suggested with a light yawn, "I'm still a bit tired…"

"Very well then… allow me to share the tale of my adventure in the Bullywag Swamp!" the roleplayer grinned, as May rested her head onto the table, half-listening to her 'adventure'.

Confessional - Ally

"Well… to say that May is an amazing listener would be a lie, as she very much did fall asleep… twice," the roleplayer chuckled, "But nonetheless, she didn't once walk away or even claim I was some sort of fake mage, so I consider that the start of a great friendship!"

Confessional - May

"Y'know… I wonder why Ally plays up the whole… 'Great Mage' stuff," the daydreamer pondered, tapping her chin, "...It's just kinda weird to me."

Zinnia was walking out of the mess hall, which was a single large, sturdy tent fairly close to the trailers, rolling her eyes and looking fairly disgusted, "Damn… the food sucks here. Shoulda known, shoulda known."

Confessional - Zinnia

"So…" the DJ smirked, hands on her headphones and feet on the desk, "I'm here 'cause honestly? I'm still super niche. And hey, winning Total Drama would give me a chance to really stand out in the crowd!"

"Which is why I'm using all of my brainpower to really strategise hard," she put her fingers to her temples, "...okay, I'm mostly winging it, but I think adding Rina or somebody to my alliance would help. Three votes is obviously better than two votes, I know that."

The DJ didn't see Dustin, who was stood on top of the mess hall (somehow). The archer jumped down, giving her a tense glare from behind his glasses.

"You," he pointed a finger her accusingly, "I know what you're up to."

"Uhh… no you don't," Zinnia chuckled, a bead of sweat rolling her brow that the archer picked up on, "I haven't done anything today besides eat crappy food for breakfast."

"Touche," the archer crossed his arms, giving her a decisive, intense look, "However, your little 'alliance'... ends here."

"How did- what alliance?" the DJ feigned ignorance after being caught off-guard, jumping back in shock.

"Don't lie. You're terrible at it," he adjusted his glasses, sneering at the DJ, "I refuse to allow petty inter-team drama and underhanded strategies to get in the way of a perfect victory. I overheard you forming that very alliance, and your reaction proved my hunch perfectly."

"Hah… so what?" Zinnia shrugged, giving the archer a slight look of annoyance, "Even if I did form an alliance… how does that get in the way of your 'perfect victory'?"

"Do you want to know how many archery competitions I have won?" the archer asked rhetorically, answering his own question, "Forty-nine. Here's an actual question… how many archery competitions have I been in?"

"Forty-nine… kinda obvious with your massive ego," Zinnia snickered, as Dustin shook his head, "Like hell you'd acknowledge a loss."

"Wrong. The answer is fifty. The forty-second one… is my greatest shame," the archer turned away from Zinnia, looking up with a pensive look on his face.

"Am… I being monologued to?" the DJ looked at him in sheer bafflement, asking nobody in particular, "The heck's going on?"

"That loss is a stain on an otherwise perfect record. All because I was sabotaged by my competitors," the archer turned around again, giving the DJ a sharp glare, "And I refuse to allow another. So end whatever scheming you have going on…"

The archer drew an imaginary bow towards her, 'aiming' it at her neck with a piercing gaze, "...or I'll do it by force."

"Huh?" Zinnia could only stare at him, completely and utterly confused as the archer walked away, "Jeez… what an edgelord… the heck was that all about?"

Confessional - Zinnia

"How the heck did he figure out my alliance?" the DJ panicked, all semblance of composure lost, before she let out a nervous chuckle, "Whatever, nobody on this team likes him that much. There's no way they'd trust him over me, right?"

Confessional - Dustin

"Tch," the archer looked irritated, clenching his teeth and touching the rim of his glasses in frustration, "I don't expect her to get rid of her own alliance. I know that would be a complete and utter waste of everybody's time. Instead, I'll just have to convince the rest of the team to get rid of her, which shouldn't be that hard given how she stumbled."

Within the mess hall, Mikaio and Tyson were casually talking to each other at one of the long tables that was decorated with purple seats - presumably for the rest of the Violet Vultures to sit at.

"So… since you're clearly a big sports guy, let's hear it. What's your favourite sport?" Mikaio asked curiously, eating Chef's food with surprisingly little complaint.

"Dude, I'm an all-rounder," Tyson chuckled, having a bit of a harder stomaching the food and pushing it aside, "Never really specialised in anything, y'know?"

The wanderer chuckled into his hand, "Way to dodge the question, my guy."

"Nah man, you seriously expecting me to answer that?" the athlete gave a light, if strained, grin towards the wanderer, "Bro, I've been on so many teams and they're all cool to me."

"Eh, I don't really mind. It was just an icebreaker," Mikaio waved it off, the wanderer shrugging lazily, "For the record though, I totally get not wanting to be chained down by sticking to one thing."

"It's not like that…" Tyson crossed his arms, brows furrowed, "It's more like… well, I've been on all the teams, y'know? Like the soccer team, the track team, the basketball team… it's hard to really get into any of 'em if I juggle so many. They're all though, so I'm not complaining!"

"Well, I'm not gonna lie and say I know anything about your personal life," the wanderer admitted, "So other than the good old advice of 'drop one', I'm not gonna be any help here at all, haha."

"Why don't you tell me about your travels, dude?" Tyson asked, seeing that the previous subject was practically over, "I heard you dived from an Amazon waterfall… how?"

"You saw that…? Word gets around quickly, huh," the wanderer said, rubbing the back of his head, "That… is what you call getting lucky. Just got a bit too close to the edge… and then I slipped and landed in the water like that. It hurt a bit, but I've had worse, so one month later and here we are."

"Damn bro, that's something alright," the athlete whistled in amazement, "Can't say I wanna add 'falling to my near death from a waterfall' onto my bucket list anytime soon, though…"

"Heh," Mikaio placed his hands onto his hips with a smirk, "Gotta say though, I did get a really funny photo out of it, so there's that. It's not even my first accidental drop… I fell into a cactus pit ass-first on a desert safari half a year ago. Now that was both more painful and more humiliating, but unlike some people here, I don't want a photo of my ass out there for the world to see."

"Dude, that'd be nasty," Tyson raised his hands up with a small laugh.

"Yeah, that's why I don't have any photos from that one," the wanderer chuckled, as Tyson checked a clock on the wall.

"Well, I'm gonna go now - I wanna try and get a jog or something in before the challenge," Tyson squinted at the clock, before he jogged off with a wave, "See ya there, dude!"

Confessional - Mikaio

"Alongside the cactus and the waterfall, there was also the Hippo Incident, among other things. I don't talk much about the Hippo Incident," the wanderer chuckled, sounding way too relaxed for how threatening the 'Hippo Incident' sounded.

Confessional - Tyson

The athlete cracked his knuckles, "Mikaio's cool and all, but I'm lowkey worried about the rest our team. Having a good leader's usually pretty important… but Melinda's style of leadership just doesn't feel like it'll mesh well with the team at all. Mikaio just feels like the kinda guy who works best at his own pace, and I get that sorta vibe from the rest of the team too."

While that happened, Rina and Celeste were the only two contestants still inside the trailers, the diver laying down on top of her bed, bored, while the astronomer was reading an astronomy book on hers.

"So… what'cha reading?" Rina flipped over to Celeste, trying to spark some conversation with the astronomer.

"Just a book on astronomy," she replied, giving Rina a small look, "It's… well, my passion, I suppose."

"Yeah, I can tell," the diver smirked, looking at Celeste's very-galaxy-print covered jacket in particular, "Kinda obvious."

The astronomer rolled her eyes, closing her book out of politeness, "It's the jacket, isn't it?"

"Yup," Rina confirmed, winking at Celeste and throwing a finger gun her way, "Doesn't mean it's not cool though."

"Yeah, it is," the astronomer ran her hand down her jacket, "...shame I won't get to see any stars that aren't there here, though, with the lights on all night and all."

"That sucks, I guess," Rina rubbed the back of her head, "Kinda ironic, if you think about it, with this whole season being named Stardom and all… I guess there's that short guy on the other team's scarf, hehe."

"I guess so," Celeste nodded, brushing Rina's shitty joke aside, "It sucks honestly, looking at the stars just helps me relax when things get stressful… and knowing this show, they will."

"Well, can't say I get that specifically, I just swim my issues away," the diver shrugged flippantly, "Man, if only there was a pool or something here…"

"I've never really been that comfortable swimming," the astronomer rubbed her arm awkwardly, "Hopefully there's no water challenge later on…"

Confessional - Rina

"Okay, now what am I supposed to say to that?" the diver exclaimed, "She knows I like swimming and stuff now! What, am I supposed to say something like 'I hope you get eliminated before that happens?' Just… no. I can be a jerk sometimes, but that's a low blow."

"...Damn, that'd suck for you," Rina bluntly stated, looking blankly at the trailer wall,, "I'd offer to help you get more comfortable with it… but again, no pool. Damn.."

"Thanks for the offer, at least," Celeste gave her a small smile, causing the diver to let out a massive internal sigh of relief, "It's not even the swimming - I'm not a terrible swimmer - more the swimsuits if I'm being honest."

"Yeah, I used to feel awkward with that too," the diver crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling, "But… well, some personal stuff later, and boom, I'm practically the queen of the seas, let's be real!"

The diver gave a small flick of her ponytail with a smug grin at that, to which Celeste rolled her eyes, "...I mean, if you say so. It's just not something I've really had to deal with… or really care to."

"Personally, I'd say to try and get it over with earlier, worked wonders for me," the diver admitted, "Honestly, putting stuff off just 'cause you're worried about other people's thoughts is stupid as hell. And besides, you're really cute anyway. You've got basically nothing to worry about, Cel."

"...Well, I'm a trans girl," the astronomer revealed, as if that mattered, "I wasn't a big swimming person before I figured that out, but I'd rather not have to wear a swimsuit anytime soon, it still feels weird to me… and I'd rather not run the risk of somebody being… well, an asshole, for lack of a better term."

"...Ah," the diver simply said, biting her tongue, "No worries, I'm trans as well, I can get that… and you're so true about those assholes - if you have to, punch them in the most painful spot you can think of. That's my advice."

She offered a hug to the astronomer, who accepted it.

Confessional - Celeste

"Well… I suppose that might have gotten out eventually," the astronomer chuckled lightly, "I wasn't thinking any of them would judge me for it, I just didn't think it was worth mentioning."

"I'd still rather not see a water challenge, though… avoiding pools does make you far from the best at swimming, awkwardness or not," the astronomer ran a hand through her hair with a strained smile, a bead of sweat rolling down her face.

"Attention all contestants! Meet me and Chef at the entrance to the abandoned mansion set for your next challenge!" Chris called out over the speakers, catching the attention of the cast.

"Oh, finally!" Emery cheered, the yo-yo pro running over to the entrance to the set… where they were the last one to arrive, somehow. From the outside, the mansion set looked like a typical haunted mansion in every way possible.

"Now that we're all here… welcome to the second challenge! This time, based on the classic movie Ghostbusters."

"So there are spirits here!" Ally shouted out as if Chris's simple explanation meant anything.

"Of course there are," Chris followed up, "And of course, what kind of Ghostbusters challenge would it be… without some ghosts to bust!"

Just then, five interns - including Rayna - popped out of the mansion set, all of them having been painted blue all over. One of the interns looked like he was rejected from the Shakespeare times and had been misplaced here, getting a few odd looks from some of the contestants.

"This challenge is simple - all you've gotta do is make sure your team has busted more ghosts of my interns out of the mansion than the opposing team," Chris elaborated, "Anything goes, as long as the interns aren't harmed enough to make me have to pay for their medical bills."

"However, if the you get busted out of the mansion, you're out of the challenge and can't come back," the host continued the explanation, "Anything goes there too."

"If everybody on one team is busted out of the mansion, that team loses even if they were currently winning. Other than that, the challenge will end once either team has busted three ghosts from the mansion," Chris chuckled, as the intern 'ghosts' walked into the mansion and spread out, "It's that simple, no twists or gimmicks at all."

"Okay, what's the catch?" Mikaio questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"There is no catch," the host smirked a bit too widely.

"There's definitely a goddamn catch," Melinda glared at him, but the host wasn't intimidated at all.

"And… the challenge begins! Without a catch!" the host abruptly announced, as everybody ran in to, save for May and Mikaio, who walked to save energy, "Go go go!"

"Chef, you know the drill," Chris turned to the burly co-host once the contestants were inside, "Just wait for my signal."

Confessional - Zinnia

"Sooo…" the DJ sat with one foot on the chair, "I'm not even shocked there's an obvious twist to this, but I'm super amped for this challenge anyway - I love Ghostbusters!"

The Scarlet Serpents had formed a makeshift huddle in the opening room, to decide on a gameplan. The opening room was a typical opening hall, with four doors excluding the entrance.

"I say we just rush 'em as a group!" Roark declared loudly, crossing his arms over his chest, "Nobody could withstand the full power of our team!"

"Hmph… what a stupid plan," Dustin rolled his eyes, already walking away, "I'll be flying solo… I don't want you guys to get in my way."

"But… we're supposed to work as a team," Sunny noted, tapping his cheek with his index finger, "I just… think it'd be pretty bad if something and I couldn't help…"

"How naive," the archer sneered at the streamer, "I'm scoping out the terrain. That's an important role. I'll report to all of the non-backstabbers here once I have. You happy now?"

"Wait, the hell do you mean by 'backstabbers'?" Rina glared at the archer, "Are you saying one of us was working with the Vultures?"

"They know who they are, and they know what I mean," the archer adjusted his glasses one last time, casting a particular glare towards Zinnia, before he walked away silently.

"Ignoring him… why don't we get moving, too?" Celeste said, looking at the various exits to the hall, "Let's stick together for now, shall we?"

"Celly's right!" Zinnia snapped her fingers together loudly, catching everybody's attention, "If we stick together, we can totally win this whole thing!"

"Yeah, let's prove Dustin wrong!" Emery cheered, their yo-yo flying into a random vase that shattered on impact, startling Sunny and Zinnia.

"Gwahaha! That's the spirit!" Roark laughed, as the six non-Dustin members of the Scarlet Serpents walked off as a group in a different direction to their local asshole.

Confessional - Sunny

"Spirit… hehe," the streamer giggled at the pun.

Confessional - Dustin

"What I need is for that underhanded DJ and her alliance buddy to be split up from the rest of the team," the archer clenched his teeth, "Then, I can deal with her how she's playing it. Hypocritical? Yes. But when you're dealing with underhanded deals, you need to play on their level or else they'll take you down."

On the other side of the room, Melinda turned to face her own team to plan out their game plan, "Alright. I'm making sure we aren't losing again. I know how- where the hell did everybody go? I know at least two of them entered after I did!"

Unfortunately for the mechanic… only Tyson was still there, as the other four had already ditched her and ran off.

"They ran off somewhere…" the athlete peered through one of the doors, trying to see if any of them were visible, "Sorry, cap, but I can't see 'em from here."

"Tch… fine," Melinda grumbled, "I can deal with this, I've actually got things I want to talk with you in particular, anyway."

"You're the boss!" the athlete gave her a thumbs-up, "We can talk while we look for the challenge ghosts, yeah?"

Melinda gave him a slight thumbs-up, walking into one of the halls with Tyson right behind her.

From the final exit, the other four members of the Violet Vultures had sort-of huddled together in that hall.

"Heh… looks like we did manage to lose her. Nice," Mikaio stated, looking at the rest of the trio who had gathered with him.

"This… feels a little bit wrong," Ally noted, before she saw Dylan pull something out of his sweatshirt that worried her, "...Dylan, what is that item?"

"This is my master plan," the prankster smirked, holding up a literal lighter for the world to see, "All we gotta do is scare the ghosts out, right? So if I burn the place down, they'll all have to leave. As long as we stick to the challenge rules and everybody here's got a functional self-preservation instinct, we'd still win, nyahaha!"

"...You're kidding, right?" the roleplayer sweatdropped, staring at him in bewilderment, "A strong fire spell would kill all of us, let alone win us the challenge!"

"It could technically work," Mikaio noted, scratching his chin, "It might be… completely illegal and way too over-the-top, but it could technically work."

"But… they have sprinklers…" May commented lazily, looking up at the ceiling and seeing faint sprinklers, "...The blaze would turn them on..."

"Aw come on, seriously?" Dylan pouted as he saw the sprinklers himself, reluctantly placing his lighter back in his sweatshirt, "But fine, I won't commit arson… it's a normie crime anyways."

"Regardless…" Ally gave the prankster a concerned look, "Shall we get hunting for wayward spirits?"

"Sounds like a plan," Mikaio began to walk off, "I say we go this way, I'm getting a good vibe from this path."

"Alrighty then!" Dylan cheered, following after the wanderer and dragging May along with him, "Let's get 'Operation-The-Actually-Cool-Members-Of-The-Violet-Vultures-Win-This-Challenge-Super-Easily' started!"

"...What a mouthful," May deadpanned, not bothering to get out of Dylan's grip.

"Nonetheless, onwards we go!" Ally threw her staff up with a cheer, despite being at the back of the strange quartet.

Confessional - Dylan

"Honestly, I almost feel bad for the other team. I've perfected the art of scaring people out of their skin, bones and this mortal coil," the prankster boasted, "The ghosts are the least of your worries when I'm in your walls, nyehehe~"

"You wanna know why I've not just decided to run off and do what I do best - fucking shit up for everybody?" he asked with a sly grin, "I'm crazy, not stupid, I do wanna last long, and, well, these guys are way more interesting than the himbo and Smellinda… ooh that's a fun nickname. Not to mention, it'd be hilarious if I win, I'd love to see the look on everybody's face if that happens, nyahaha!"

Confessional - Ally

"Working with somebody as… clearly villainous as the team's goblin is not what I was expecting to do today," the roleplayer chuckled, "However, that's not my main concern right now! What is a concern is banishing these evil spirits from this ancient abode! And my thunderbolt spell shall do that wonderfully!"

The big group of six Scarlet Serpents, led by Roark, soon found themselves in front of a large door. The wrestler was about to open the door, however the sound of creepy rumblings within the next room stopped him right in his tracks.

"Yo, what's the hold-up?" Zinnia questioned, looking up at the fursuit-headed guy, "Can't we just go in?"

"Wait… I can hear somebody! I think it's one of the interns," Sunny listened in, resting his ear against the door, "So… we need a plan to scare them out, right?"

"Well… you're out of that," Rina immediately noted, "You're probably the least scary person here."

"I try not to be," the streamer smiled, "Maybe… Roark could break down the door?"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" the wrestler loudly agreed immediately… however Sunny heard another door open from within the other room because he was so loud, "On 3! 2! 1!"

"Roark! They moved!" the streamer shouted out in panic, diving out of the way as the wrestler broke down the door with a long charge and a great roar.

"They moved?" the wrestler looked around the room, as the rest of the team (save for Dustin) filled in after him, "Maybe I scared them off, gwahaha!"

"I think you were a bit too loud…" Celeste commented with a slight chuckle, entering the new room - which was a fairly simple lobby, with two doors (formerly three, thanks Roark), and an unlit fireplace.

"Let's just keep breaking down the doors, 'cause then there'll be no more doors to hide through!" Emery provided with a wide wave, bounding in at the back of the group.

"...Let's just ignore that idea, it ain't gonna work," Rina crossed her arms and looked at the yo-yo pro with a raised eyebrow, "Any other plans?"

"Two doors, two groups! I'll take Rina and Celeste, and the other three of you go… the other way!" Zinnia suggested, running off towards one of the doors as the other two followed her.

"Sounds like a great plan - none of us here will be alone then!" Sunny smiled earnestly, as the two halves of the main group of Serpents split up.

"Hey Roark, whoever scares more of them wins!" Rina challenged with a smirk, as her group walked out of one door, "Just know don't plan to lose!"

"Ohoho, you're on!" the wrestler gave her a cocky flex on his way out, affirming their small challenge, "Prepare to meet your match!"

Confessional - Emery

"I had a plan…" the yo-yo pro sulked, "I thought I might've been taken seriously with these guys too…"

"Whatever, my time will come eventually, just you wait!"

While the Serpents split up, Melinda and Tyson were almost at a room themselves, Melinda turning towards the athlete, "Tyson. As the team leader, I hate to have to say this… but I need your help."

"With?" the athlete questioned, stopping right before the door.

"...How could I make the rest of the team listen to me?" the mechanic asked, folding her arms over her chest, "If I'm going to lead this group of idiots to victory, I need to know how… and it's clear none of them respect me at all and want me gone."

"Bro, I don't think they want that too much," Tyson rubbed the back of his neck, "But really, I'm the captain of the football team back home, and if I need to figure out a play, I'd obviously see if the guys can bring their own ideas to the table!"

"Yeah, that's because your team just so happens to be actually competent and takes the game seriously," Melinda huffed in irritation, "Have you seen our team?"

"Dylan? Sure, dude, he's a problem," Tyson agreed, giving her a nod, before he got serious, "But the rest might have some hidden talents, y'know? I wouldn't count them out just 'cause they don't look like your image of a strong team!"

"Explain where May would be helpful," the mechanic crossed her arms, challenging the athlete to think of a scenario.

"Dude, we don't know yet," the athlete ignored the question entirely, "If you're gonna be team captain, you gotta work with the team you're given and find their strengths - a good leader knows just how to bring out the strengths of their entire team."

"So you just told me some kumbaya bullshit," the mechanic grumbled, "Figures."

"Well, there's a reason people say it, dude," Tyson turned towards the door after saying that utter nonsense, "I'm totally open to giving you a shot, but the rest of the gang are more free-spirited. If you start being super strict and orderly… dude, they'll all vote you off."

Melinda contemplated the athlete's words for a moment, and Dylan's from earlier in the day, before letting out a single sigh and swallowing her ego just a little bit, "...Fine. You can be my co-captain, then. If I get too strict, remind me. I know we need some order around here, but you've got more of a point than I'd like to admit."

Tyson threw a large thumbs-up towards the mechanic, "Sounds good to me, Cap. But first things first… you should probably apologise to them, yeah? You did kinda call them all useless, after all.."

"Let's get to the challenge," Melinda cracked her knuckles, frowning at the door, "Got sidetracked, but now it's time to prove those runaways wrong."

Tyson raised an eyebrow at that, but the mechanic opened the door and cast a death glare at the poor intern inside, scaring him into running far away. Melinda glared at the intern, before calling back to Tyson, "After him!"

Confessional - Melinda

"I'll be real, I still have barely any hope in this team, especially since they went and fucking ditched me earlier" the mechanic admitted, "But, I don't want to prove Dylan right, and if that means appointing Tyson as co-captain… fine. I can do that.."

Speaking of the four Vultures who went and ditched Melinda, they were stood in a hallway with very tall curtains near each window, doing what can only be described as scheming.

"So… we need to think of something that would scare the pants off of whatever intern we happen to come across," Mikaio put a finger to his chin, "I doubt they've got my fears, so we might need something more generic."

"Perhaps we intimidate them with a display of my magical might!" Ally proudly stated with a brandish of her staff, "Even the mightiest quiver before it!"

"Your fake magic?" Dylan smirked teasingly at the roleplayer.

"My magic is very much real, thank you!" the mage pointed her staff at the gremlin with a frown.

"I… think she's onto something," May mused, tapping her chin in thought, "It's given me an idea…"

"Well then, fire away," Mikaio leant against a wall, curiously watching what May was planning, "What's the plan?"

"...Ally, can I have your staff?" May asked her friend, "It's… easier if I show you my idea."

"Of course!" the roleplayer handed her staff to the daydreamer.

"...Dylan, give me your lighter," she then turned to the prankster, who threw it at her. Fortunately, she managed to catch it.

"Oh… so that's what you're doing," Dylan grinned, the cogs turning in his brain as he figured out what May's idea was, "I've gotta see how this goes."

May then lit the lighter just beneath the staff, in a short demonstration, "...We'll set the staff on fire temporarily. This much fire probably… won't turn on the sprinklers quickly. And… it'll look like it's actually working…"

"Are you… setting my staff on fire?" Ally blurted out in bewilderment, "I'd rather you not, but this staff can handle it… so if you must… I suppose you can."

"Sounds like a good start to a plan, but it's not intimidating enough by itself," Mikaio pondered, "It is scary if we give it to Dylan, though."

"Aww, thanks!" the prankster beamed, just happy to be considered scary.

"If you wanna take it as a compliment, sure," Mikaio shrugged, content in Dylan's apparent good mood.

"I say… we need to make the holder taller and scarier," May suggested with a yawn, "...We could… put somebody else on Mikaio's shoulders, and have them… hold the staff. Then… they set the staff on fire and stuff."

"Hey, hey, I'll do that!" Dylan piped up, "I wanna wave the fire stick around!"

"You sure you don't just wanna feel tall?" Mikaio chuckled lightly, prompting an annoyed 'seriously?' out of the prankster, which the wanderer responded with a small snicker.

"It's my staff… I know how to use it!" Ally crossed her arms, before she pulled something out of her cloak - a portable smoke machine,

"Just… let him have it…" May sighed, as Dylan cheered, "...'Sides, you'll get it back…"

"Very well then… but if you break my staff, I shall curse you with the flame of one thousand hells!" the roleplayer reluctantly handed Dylan over her staff as she pulled something else out of her cloak, "Regardless, I happen to have this enchanted object that spews out smoke! Perhaps we can use this?"

"...If we could hide it, it'd make the whole thing scarier," Mikaio tapped his temples, "But we'd lose smoke if we hid it in Dylan's scarf, or under my shirt."

"Well… there's curtains right here!" Dylan tugged on the nearest one, trying to pull it down, "All we gotta do is make Ally's cloak but way cooler!"

Ally let out a childish pout at the comment, but soon enough, the weird four actually began putting their plan together… although May fell asleep, suggesting the plan having been enough effort for her.

Confessional - May

"...I came up with the plan, I can take a nap," the roleplayer lazily stated with a yawn.

A few moments later, Dylan was preparing to step onto Mikaio's shoulders with an incredibly oversized curtain wrapped around him when the quartet were interrupted by none other than Dustin.

"...I have many questions," the archer bluntly stated, looking at the bizarre scene unfolding before him with a frown.

"We're stealing Chris's birth certificate," Dylan 'answered', getting a further frown out of Dustin, "And you're not invited!"

"A likely story," the archer moved past them, rolling his eyes dismissively, "Frankly, I don't care, as long as you don't get in the way of my perfect victory like some people are doing."

"We're on opposing teams, my guy," Mikaio rationalised, "We're going to be in your way no matter what."

"Tch," the archer turned his nose up at the quartet, before he walked off, "Now if you'll excuse me… I have a challenge to win."

"...My mage's intuition tells me we should probably ignore him," Ally commented, as the four Vultures returned to finishing their plan, "After all, we have our master plan, all thanks to May!"

"Agreed," Mikaio nodded, as Dylan hopped onto his shoulders, hiding the wanderer underneath the curtain as he did so, "And it looks like our plan's coming along nicely. Neat."

Confessional - Mikaio

"Honestly, I don't mind being the bottom half, but I'm the tallest person in our little group by a long shot, which is funny," the wanderer rested his arms behind his head, "Could you imagine May or Ally trying to carry each other? Also very funny to imagine."

Confessional - Dustin

"If that is what my opponents are up to, then my victory is assured," the archer boasted, pushing his glasses in with a sneer.

Rina, Celeste and Zinnia had split off from the other half of their team, and the trio had arrived in what appeared to be a large stage covered mostly by equally large curtains, complete with several rows of seats in front. The lights were somehow more dim in this room than the others, with not a single spotlight on.

"I'm impressed," Celeste admitted, as she walked up to the stage, "I wasn't expecting this set to be so large."

"Well, it means we gotta look in more places," Rina rolled her eyes, "Buuut there'll probably be somebody in here, right? It's way too big for them to just ignore it."

"I can still be impressed," the astronomer rolled, while Zinnia peeked under every seat, "I'll go check the stage itself, now… that seems like the obvious choice to hide somebody."

Suddenly, two spotlights illuminated a singular spot, and a strange, Shakespearean reject of an intern appeared, baffling Celeste, Rina and Zinnia.

"Romeo, oh Romeo…" he began reciting from memory, seemingly unaware of the three.

"Oh shit, a ghost from the 1800s!" Zinnia blurted out, distracting absolutely everybody… including the 'ghost', "Are we meant to get him or not?"

"He was there at the start, no way I could forget somebody that weird," Rina assured her, "Now all we gotta do is just chase him out!"

"The 1800s?" the intern sneered, "Thou hath even gotten-eth the century wrong-eth!"

"...Nobody cares," Rina deadpanned, "Whatever, let's just bust this weirdo out of here!"

"Thou think-eth you can get rid-eth of me? Ha! I spit upon-" the weirdo boasted, however Rina walked right up to him and slapped him across the face.

"Jeez, quit hogging the spotlight already!" Zinnia shouted up as she rushed up to join Rina, pushing past Celeste to go up and probably deal with the obnoxious intern as well.

"That's what you're concerned about…?" Celeste sighed, letting the DJ pass by her as she walked up to join them.

"Gah… so thou can pack-eth a punch-eth…" the intern let out in bated breaths - though Zinnia, not one to be overshadowed, punched him as well… and, in a dramatic display, he span around several times before falling onto the floor - with his face down, and an arm and a leg bent behind him in a way that should not be possible, "And so… ends-eth the haunting of-"

"Okay, ignoring that," Rina placed her hands on her hips, "Let's just throw him out of a window, and be done with it! We're on the ground floor, no way he's getting hurt by that!"

"It will-eth!" he shouted.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead twice?" Zinnia argued back, shutting him up as Rina and Celeste got back on track.

"I suppose so," Celeste nodded, as Rina began dragging him across the floor, "Is that everything in here?"

"Wait wait wait!" Zinnia piped up, turning to Rina with a grin, "Me and Celeste, we've got an alliance! And it would be so much better if we got a third vote, even if you're out here trying to steal my spotlight! So… join us!"

"Fine," the diver shrugged, as Celeste opened the door to allow her through, "Celeste's cool, I'm in."

"Hell yeah!" the DJ shouted loudly, snapping her fingers at the news.

"...Are you sure nobody else knows about this?" Rina smugly smirked at her, while Celeste rolled her eyes at their antics. Zinnia blanked for a split second, remembering Dustin's threat.

"We've kept this one private," Celeste shrugged, opening a window in a nearby hallway as Zinnia chased after them.

Then, the newfound alliance-mates worked together to throw the fake unconscious intern out of the window, earning their team a point. Then out of their sight, he ran off to who-knows-where.

"Hehe, now that's how you bust a ghost, I bet Roark can't be this fast," Rina dusted off her shoulder, "Let's keep this pace going, we've got this in the bag!"

"We got one ghost down in lightning speed, we can totally get another one!" Zinnia boasted, running off immediately.

Celeste rolled her eyes at the DJ's antics, as Rina just shrugged with a grin, "Well… I can't fault that logic," the astronomer chuckled, as the trio continued onwards.

Scarlet Serpents: 1

Violet Vultures: 0

Confessional - Celeste

"...Technically, I just helped dispose of a body, in a way," the astronomer mused, "Just realised that. Huh."

"I don't mind having a third person, and I think I know Rina better than the guys and Emery, even if I don't believe any of them are bad people - like, have you seen Sunny? Although… I am worried that Zinnia will use this alliance more… aggressively than I'd like, though," the astronomer reasoned.

With the other half of the Serpents, Roark led Emery and Sunny through into a dining hall, breaking down that door into that too. Somehow, he had no splinters on his bare chest.

"Gwahaha! It looks like our ghost's pretty fast!" the wrestler laughed, seemingly unaware of how likely he was scaring them off, "So we've gotta be faster!"

"Yeah!" Sunny cheered along, "I'll figure out some way I can help, and Emery can help too!"

"Hold it… I think they're hiding in here, I can prove it!" Emery poked their tongue up in concentration, as they swung their yo-yo into a curtain, bashing against something… which turned out to be their intern, "Aha, found you! Prepare to get busted… uhh… ghost!"

The 'ghost' whipped out a slime gun from nowhere now that they were cornered, aiming it at the trio with a frown.

"Uh… what?" Emery plainly stated, brandishing their yo-yo, "If you shoot us… I'll bop you on the head with my yo-yo!"

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" Roark… 'stared' him down, preparing to rush him down much like he'd rushed down the two doors before. The intern gulped, before shooting a disgusting broth of slime at the three… mostly the wrestler, though.

"Is this… yesterday's breakfast?" Sunny looked absolutely disgusted at the weird, chunky green stuff that was covered on him, frantically trying to shake it off, "Ew…"

Roark was not even slightly bothered, at least partially because not a single part even got close to his eyes thanks to his mask. The wrestler charged at him, and the intern bolted out into the next room along.

"Roark… maybe don't break down the next door?" Sunny suggested, although the wrestler merely laughed that off.

"Well, I've already broken down two… a third won't hurt!" the wrestler dismissed, preparing to charge another door.

Confessional - Roark

"You wanna know the secret to how I can take down so many doors without a sweat?" the wrestler boasted, pointing at himself, "It's called a fiery determination forged from the flames of hell!"

Roark crashed open the door, only to see the intern cornered by none other than…

"...Tch. There's my teammates," Dustin rolled his eyes at the trio's antics, staring down his three teammates as he glared at the intern, "Nonetheless, it appears you're surrounded. And while there is a clear easy way to run-"

Roark stood in the open doorframe, blocking it.

"Correction. There was a clear easy way to run, So then…" the archer's glasses shone with his next statement, as he smiled darkly, "Let's begin the chase, shall we?"

With that, Roark, Emery and Dustin immediately all bounced on the intern, butting heads and letting them run right past the archer as Sunny winced at the impact.

"What are you doing, you imbeciles!" Dustin shouted at the wrestler, "Fine, fine. I'll still catch them - don't follow me!"

Dustin then ran off to chase the intern, although Roark chased after them both.

"Hey, don't leave me behind!" Emery shouted out, following swiftly with Sunny bringing up the rear.

"Now then, you can't run!" Dustin declared, the archer being the fastest runner of the four and catching up quickly to the intern, who was running to a door, "Because I'm always one step ahead of everybody..."

"Doors aren't enough to stop the Roark!" the wrestler reminded loudly, as Dustin rolled his eyes like the hypocrite he was.

The intern still entered the next room… only to come face-to-face with Melinda and Tyson, who were about to leave it.

"Dude, another intern came right at our door!" Tyson cheered, as Melinda immediately picked up the cornered intern, "Hell yeah!"

"Heh," the mechanic snorted with a confident grin, slinging them over her shoulder as she walked out of the door, throwing the intern out of the ground-floor window, "That's probably more than what my teammates have gotten by now."

Confessional - Melinda

"Just because I'm trying to be nicer to them… doesn't mean I suddenly have hope in my team," the mechanic crossed her arms over her chest, "For all I know, they could be trying to burn the damn place down."

Scarlet Serpents: 1

Violet Vultures: 1

"We got sniped?" Sunny exclaimed in the same shock the rest of his team there had, "Aww man… that sucks"

"Sorry dudes, but a point's a point!" Tyson chuckled, walking off after his team's leader, "We're not losing this time, no way!"

"...We'll see about that," Dustin pushed his glasses up, a strained smirk on his face as his eyes twitched, "That's just one point… and they only got it because I led the intern there. I won't lose, mark my words."

With that declaration and a pointed glare at his teammates, the archer walked off through where Melinda and Tyson and came, leaving behind a dumbfounded Sunny, Emery and Roark.

"What's his problem?" Emery snickered, "First he's talking about a 'backstabber', and now he's just a total sore loser after losing just one point."

"I… think he needs to be left alone for a bit?" Sunny rubbed his arm, unsure of what to say after Dustin's mini-breakdown, "Let's just… go somewhere else…"

"Gwahaha! Well, let's make sure those Vultures won't take any more of our ghosts!" Roark decided, chasing after Tyson and Melinda with Emery and Sunny in tow, "We can deal with him later!"

"Procrastination, I like it!" Emery stretched, as the trio returned to their ghost-hunting.

Confessional - Dustin

"First a backstabber… now utter incompetence through my teammates… this is why I work alone," the archer's eyes twitched from behind his glasses, which he had pushed so far up his nose they were going to leave a mark, "Sure, I might have lost my chance to convince them to help me vote off our backstabber… but we won't lose. Because this team has me."

Confessional - Sunny

"Was it just me who got some really bad vibes just now?" the streamer questioned, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek, "...I think I'm voting for him tonight if we lose."

Meanwhile, the four-person squad on the Vultures were about to put their plan into action. Dylan was stacked on top of Mikaio while holding Ally's staff, with the latter covered by a giant curtain, making the two look like an ominous cloaked figure. Smoke piled out from under said curtain, and Ally led them to the nearby door, dragging a drowsy May by the hand so she wouldn't be left behind.

"And there is our spirit… as much as I wish to do so myself, scare it right back to whatever hell it came from!" the roleplayer declared in a half-whisper, opening the door to a lounge with no other doors.

Mikaio ducked going in, and then Dylan began to chuckle (Mikaio providing an ominous echo), "Nyehehe… you can't hide from me…"

The intern - this time Rayna - gulped from underneath the lounge's coffee table, "I… can…?"

"Well… too bad! I'll burn the place down!" Dylan declared, as he whipped out his lighter and lit Ally's staff's tip on fire, "Once I'm in all your walls, you're doomed! Nyahaha!"

"Prepare to see why they call me The Master of Disaster!" he boldly stated, swinging the staff around recklessly with his limited time with a flaming stick.

Confessional - May

"They… still don't call him that," she muttered, head on the confessional desk.

Dylan managed to tap on the coffee table, setting it alight and forcing Rayna out… but also turning on the sprinklers now that there was a real fire.

"Hehe, no more fire for you!" the shipping intern taunted, poking her tongue at her ex-teammates, "I'm not scared of a tiny little goblin man, hehe…"

"Seriously? Tiny? I'm taller than May at least!" the prankster whined, as Mikaio nudged him slightly.

"Just… bonk her right back to horny jail," he whispered up, "Then we can just… dispose of the body or something like that."

"Nah… I can do way better," the prankster grinned, aiming at Rayna's head with Ally's staff, "Nyehehe~"

Dylan threw the staff like a javelin, hitting Rayna's head, "Oww… jeez… that hurt…"

"She's still conscious!" Dylan complained, jumping off of Mikaio to confront Rayna himself, "I was hoping for that, but still…!"

"...Rayna, if you just walk out, it'll be way easier and less embarrassing for everybody here," the wanderer rationalised, "

"No way… I'm not moving from here at all, and there's no way " the shipper frowned stubborn, although an idea came to her mind, "Unless you two kiss."

"What," Mikaio simply stated in utter disbelief, as Dylan audibly laughed at the suggestion.

Confessional - Rayna

"Mikaio x Dylan?" the prankster jotted down in her notebook, poking her tongue up as she tapped her cheek with a pen, "Total crackship, but I could see it work… probably got a better chance than me with Melinda, at least. Yeah, in case you didn't know, I'm over her now. Sure, she's hot as hell… but she also hates my guts and even I can tell that's not a good thing."

She licked her lips slightly, wiping off some of the blue paint that covered her, "Mmm… tastes like blueberry."

Outside, Ally was leant against the wall, looking down without her staff, "It appears they're taking a longer time than expected in there… and without my staff, I cannot sense what is happening within."

"My plan should've worked…" May yawned out, "As long as he did nothing stupid like… set something on fire… he probably did just that… knowing him."

"I believe he did," the roleplayer shook her head in disbelief, "Shall I go in and cast thunderbolt to banish the spirit myself?"

"Go right ahead…" the daydreamer shrugged, raising a skeptic eyebrow, "I'll stay here… and… watch."

"Very well then, and…" Ally commented, opening the door loudly seeing the same scene unfold before her. She let in a deep breath before shouting out with a flamboyant flourish, "THUNDERBOLT!"

Somehow, the fates had aligned with the goals of the mage… and a genuine lightning strike hit near to the mansion, scaring the ever-living shit out of Rayna, who immediately jumped out of the nearest window out of fear of the all-powerful Great Mage.

Confessional - Ally

"I did it! I did it! I actually did it!" the roleplayer beamed, wiping tears of joy from her face, "I cast thunderbolt!"

She blinked as she saw the camera with an awkward chuckle, going back into character immediately, "I mean, of course I did! Summoning the raw power of the elements is child's play for the Great Mage Ally Starr!"

Violet Vultures: 2

Scarlet Serpents: 1

"Seriously, you just stole my thunder…" Dylan jokingly complained as May lazily walked in, cringing at his pun, "Me and Mikaio were gonna kiss under the moonlight and it was gonna be super romantic and stuff…"

"...That's a lie," the daydreamer sighed, "...Even if she probably wanted you to."

"Nyahaha, you got me!" Dylan grinned, as the daydreamer rolled her eyes with a light groan.

Ally picked up her staff, examining the burnt end with a light frown, "Well… I guess it adds a level of ruggedness… I suppose I can live with this."

"I'm surprised the throw didn't break it," Mikaio commented, rubbing his temples in thought, "It hit her head hard…"

"Yes, well this staff is made of the strongest of treant bark, a mere throw wouldn't leave a scratch," the roleplayer boasted back with a smirk, "And only its true wielder can use it effectively, anyways."

"Well… we've got our point now," Dylan rested his arms behind his head with a smug smirk, walking towards the door, "So… I'm gonna go booby trap the entire mansion now! If you wanna join, you can!"

"Sure, what the heck," Mikaio walked over to him casually, "We might even bag another ghost with them."

May was sleeping. Her answer was clearly no.

"I'll… make sure May doesn't get spirited away," Ally looked at the daydreamer, "Besides, now that I have my staff back, I can tell we're fated to win this challenge!"

"Eh, suit yourselves, be boring or whatever," Dylan waved them off with a grin, "If you see Smellinda, tell her she sucks! See ya!"

Confessional - May

"Dylan… probably didn't just wanna spend time with us… at least not entirely," the daydreamer put her hand to her chin in thought, "He's… probably trying to make a rift in the team or something. Us… versus Melinda and Tyson. That's… my guess, at least."

Confessional - Mikaio

"Y'know, I just don't think letting Dylan run unchecked is a good idea," the wanderer shrugged, "Call it intuition if you want, but I feel like he'd do something like, I dunno, poison the water supply if he got too bored."

Suddenly, Chris's voice boomed across the mansion, as Chef entered the set with a stomp of his boot, "Oh Chef~ it seems some ghostbusters are little too confident!"

"It's showtime," the cook grinned, whipping out a military-grade slime gun as he began to hunt the thirteen contestants.

Confessional - Rina

"Ah, there's the catch," the diver noted, crossing her arms and looking aside, "I'd love to say I could take Chef in a fight… but I can't."

Speaking of Rina, she, alongside Zinnia and Celeste, were walking through one of the hallways, when they saw some nearby curtains rustling.

Zinnia made a silent gesture to the other two to stay put, and immediately dashed towards the curtain, opening it wide.

"Aha! Found you, ghost!" the DJ grinned, although nobody was actually there… a window was open, and the rustling was merely caused by the wind, causing her to kick the ground in frustration, "Dammit! I got duped… why's this window even open anyway?"

"Probably because it's the easiest way to leave the mansion," Celeste said, messing with the hair that fell over one of her eyes, "

"Celeste's completely right," Rina agreed, before she noticed a trail of green goo leading elsewhere, "Wait… there's a weird green trail right there…"

"Let's just follow that!" Zinnia loudly declared with a snap of her fingers, "Clearly, it's leading us to one of the ghosts!"

"I think that's too obvious," Rina deadpanned, as Celeste's visible eye widened upon seeing something following the trail towards them, "It feels like a trap, it looks like a trap, it probably is a trap."

"Hey, you're my alliance-mates, at least hear me out!" the DJ frowned, "Besides, I've good a feeling about it!"

"Guys," Celeste tugged on Rina's arm, noticing the figure get closer.

"Sheesh, fine," Rina relented, before she turned to Celeste, "Uh… yeah, Celeste?"

"I think Chef found us," the astronomer gulped in realisation, as both Rina and Zinnia turned to face the burly cook, who raised his slime gun with a menacing glint in his eye.

"Gyaaaaah!" Zinnia jumped backwards in surprise, hiding behind Rina almost immediately, "Take Rina instead, I taste like static electricity I swear!"

Chef rolled his eyes, before he immediately shot both Rina and Zinnia down with the full force of one slime gun blast, knocking the pair down to the floor.

"I'll just… see myself out," Celeste sighed in resignation, walking away as Chef slung Rina and Zinnia over his shoulder, throwing them both out of the window as the astronomer slung herself through.

Zinnia shook the slime off of herself once on the ground (covering the other two), before she immediately jumped up and turned to Celeste, "C'mon, did you have to give up like that? You could absolutely just

"Chef would've just shot me," the astronomer sighed from one the ground, rubbing her elbows, "And I didn't feel like getting slimed…"

"Not saying I agree, but I get it," Rina shrugged, getting up off the ground and wiping the slime off of… her everything. The diver helped Celeste up, before she began to walk off, "Now we've just gotta hope Roark and the others can win this for us… I guess. I wish I was still in there…"

Confessional - Celeste

"Maybe I could've tried to run," the astronomer chuckled awkwardly, "But… well, I think my team can still win this. Maybe. I guess having my alliance with Zinnia and Rina should help at least…"

Meanwhile, Dustin was by himself, his eyes piercing through each and every corner of the hallway he was in for an intern, when he suddenly heard somebody talk from another corner.

"Aww come on, I was only getting started!" Dylan whined, as Chef threw him and an equally slime-covered Mikaio out the nearest window.

The archer clenched his teeth, before he noticed something hiding behind Chef… one of the interns he needed to kick out.

"How cowardly… no matter," the archer smirked, "I can effortlessly eliminate that target… without even being seen."

Confessional - Dustin

"I have a barn owl back home," the archer revealed, "His name's Rowley, and he happens to be as good at hunting as I am at archery, when he bothers to do so, that is. Naturally, I'd pick up the art of stealth from him… and the art of choosing the right target, as well."

The archer darted between curtain to curtain, getting closer and closer to his mark. Once Chef had made sure the two Vultures had fallen, he placed his slime gun on his back… and that was when Dustin chose to strike.

Jumping out from behind the curtain without a sound, the archer snatched the military-grade slime gun with ease, and gave the cook and shocked intern an overconfident grin.

"If you think you can stop me… forget it," the archer immediately shot the intern with the slime gun, knocking him down, "My aim's been honed for years… challenging me is a mistake."

"Man down!" Chef shouted out, before he charged the archer… who immediately shot him directly in the face, stunning him momentarily - however, that was all Dustin needed to throw the intern out of the window and run off, Chef's slime gun in hand.

Scarlet Serpents: 2

Violet Vultures: 2

Confessional - Chef

"Stupid owl boy…" the cook grumbled, ripping a photo of Dustin to shreds, "That military-grade all-powerful liquid gun came out of my paycheck…"

Confessional - Dustin

He cocked Chef's gun with a smirk, "Not a bow, but it'll do nicely. Quite frankly, I think the Vultures should just give up already… and my teammates can leave their victory just to me."

He then shot the camera just to test it out, breaking the lens, "Bullseye."

A short while later, Melinda and Tyson were patrolling together when they ran into an out-of-breath Ally.

"Oh, it's you," Melinda frowned at the roleplayer, though a quick cough from Tyson caught the mechanic's attention to add a, "What do you want?"

"I have teleported myself to safety," the roleplayer let out between breaths, "The boss ghost… kidnapped May. Fortunately, my smoke spell was able to allow me to escape…"

"The hell does that mean?" Melinda blurted out in confusion, not understanding the roleplayer's magical rewrite.

"Dude, I think she's saying Chef took May out the challenge, and she managed to get away," Tyson provided.

"Of course she was taken out easily…" the mechanic muttered under her breath, causing Ally and Tyson to frown.

"So!" Tyson shouted out loudly, cutting off Melinda entirely, "As your team leader, Melinda's got something to tell you!"

"Tch… fine. I'm sorry," the mechanic crossed her arms, reluctantly apologising, "If I'm going to lead this team… I need to actually lead and not just call you all useless. You probably have a strength… somewhere, and May and Mikaio probably do too."

"Hmm… apology accepted," Ally crossed her arms, before she tapped Melinda on the head with her staff, going onto her toes to do so, "Mindio Redius! I have just tapped into your mind, and I can tell your intentions are true!"

"I have no fucking clue what any of that just meant, but if you've accepted my apology, that's all that matters," Melinda nodded along, "What the hell were you even doing without me, anyway?"

"Well, May had a most brilliant plan," the mage recalled, "Although… it failed due to Dylan setting the coffee table on fire with a rogue pyromancy. So then I summoned lightning and banished the ghost of Rayna Skye to the shadow realm!"

Confessional - Melinda

"I fucking called it, they were setting the place on fire, my team is hopeless without me… and Dylan's just giving me more reasons to send his goblin ass packing," the mechanic frowned, "Although, my respect for Ally just increased a bit if she just scared Rayna out like that."

"I'm still not sure what she or the others can really do against actual competition, though," she added on, "I want to be pleasantly surprised, but I'm doubtful."

"Thanks, bro," Tyson gave the roleplayer a thumbs-up, "So we've got two points now. One more, and we're taking home the gold today, hell yeah!"

"Now where the hell could that last intern be…" Melinda noted, turning to Tyson.

"Ally, you got a plan?" Tyson, in turned, shifted over to Ally.

"I'll cast a divination spell!" Ally raised her staff into the air, closing her eyes and muttering to herself. After a moment, the roleplayer pointed her staff towards a specific direction, "Thataways!"

Melinda rolled her eyes at the ridiculous method, "Fine. We've got no clues where else to go, I guess your fake magic will have to do."

"Dude, she said she summoned lightning," Tyson supported Ally, "Either way, let's go and bust that last ghost, team!"

Confessional - Ally

"I believe in second chances," the roleplayer shrugged, "Alas, I'm not as sure the others will be as accepting of her apologies."

"Although she really should stop doubting my magic," the mage giggled, "After all, I'm a Great Mage who can summon lightning… so I'm the most powerful person here!"

"I think… this is the last room that nobody else has checked," Sunny noted with a light smile, standing alongside his two teammates, "So the ghost should be in there. At least, I hope so!"

Emery swiftly opened the door before Roark could break it down, letting the wrestler charge right into the ballroom, followed immediately by his two teammates. A knockoff chandelier 'illuminated' (only one LED light was on) the room.

"They've gotta be in here somewhere…" Emery frowned, swinging their yo-yo around, "But I don't see them."

"Then obviously, we have to check like we've never checked before!" Roark declared loudly, but before he could do so, a small gasp of pain could be heard, shocking the wrestler, "Who's there?"

Emery watched their yo-yo fall down pathetically before them, and looked up to see the final intern clinging for their life atop the chandelier, "Haha, found you!"

The intern stubbornly clung on, and the yo-yo pro aimed their yo-yo up at the intern, sending it at them again, "Come on…"

"I'll jump up and slam them right down!" Roark declared with a loud roar, preparing to leap up when the door slammed open - it seemed Chef had arrived, and the cook immediately charged towards the wrestler, knocking him to the ground.

Roark laughed boisterously, fighting the cook single-handedly as Emery began pelting the poor intern with blows from their yo-yo (and a second one they pulled out from a pocket of theirs).

Sunny winced as the intern endured more blows (and Roark and Chef's wrestling continued), but stayed quiet nonetheless, "Come on… we haven't got much time…"

The streamer spared a glance towards the fight going on in the background, wincing even more.

"Gwahaha! I can do this all day!" Roark roared, though it was clear that fighting Chef after ramming into every door was beginning to wear down the wrestler.

"Jeez, just fall already!" Emery shouted at the intern, though their skillful yo-yo pelting was unrelenting, "I just wanna win this challenge, how hard can it be?"

As if things weren't chaotic enough, two more doors opened up - from one, the Vulture trio of Melinda, Ally and Tyson. From the other, Dustin (and his new slime gun, courtesy of Chef).

Additionally, Chef sent Roark flying across the ballroom at that moment - the wrestler gave a thumbs-up, but was clearly down for the count.

Confessional - Roark

"Bwahahaha!" the wrestler let out a loud laugh, "I haven't had a fight like that in months! I might've been worn down by my gauntlet of door-breaking, but Chef was a strong opponent!"

"Heh. Step aside, and allow the real star of the show to show you how it's done," Dustin smirked, giving his teammates a smug look before he closed his eyes cockily, shooting the intern down with a single glob of slime.

(This shot was also powerful enough to send said chandelier falling to the floor, though fortunately nobody was close enough to get hurt.)

"Dudes, grab 'em!" Tyson called out, as he, Ally and Melinda jumped at the chance to win the challenge - Emery and Sunny did the same from the other end, and Chef joined in too, immediately throwing Emery aside with ease.

"Dustin, help!" Sunny called for the archer, who was aiming the slime gun with one hand and gave the femboy a roll of his eyes.

"Tch… very well then," he sneered, firing a blast of concentrated slime into the fray, hitting Tyson in the head, knocking him cleanly to the floor as he aimed for another target.

Ally squinted, before she rose up and aimed her staff at him, "THUNDERBOLT!" she cried out, as somehow the forces of dramatic timing worked in her favour again, another bolt of lightning hitting the nearby area.

"That's not very effective against me," the archer scoffed of the mage's magic, firing another loose shot that Ally was quick enough to dig under… although it instead hit Chef in the shoulder, causing the cook to turn towards the archer with a piercing gaze.

"You," the cook glared him with the force of a thousand suns, charging straight towards the archer in order to get his gun back.

The archer nimbly dodged each charge, firing a few shots at both the cook and the other team… leaving poor Sunny to try and figure out he was going to take the ghost back from Melinda.

"Just give it up already…" the mechanic half-demanded, before she turned to her conscious teammate, "Ally, keep Chef busy while I win this challenge for us!"

"Hey, I still wanna win too!" Sunny tried pulling the intern back, but he was no match for Melinda, who left the room as Dustin shot off Chef's hat with a shot.

"Hmph… are you going to give up, yet?" the archer smirked smugly, although Chef was nowhere near giving up.

"...You done messed up," the cook's glare somehow intensified, before he stole the slime gun right back and fired right into at the archer's chest, knocking him to the floor.

Just then, a loud alarm rung through the mansion, "And Melinda sends the final ghost packing! The Violet Vultures win!" Chris shouted out, as Ally cheered (as did Mikaio from the outside, since Dylan's a jerk, and Tyson and May were both unconscious for different reasons).

Meanwhile, Sunny sighed in defeat, although it was Dustin who was the most shocked, "I… lost?" his eye twitched, "H-how? How could I, somebody who has gone undefeated… have lost?"

Confessional - Melinda

"If that won't convince them I should lead this team, nothing will," the mechanic crossed her arms with a satisfied grin on her face, "I doubt any of them could've done that."

Confessional - Dustin

"I was cheated," the archer pushed his glasses up, his eyes and corners of his mouth twitching in irritation, "I should've won this, but Chef. Chef knew I was the biggest threat here, and he targeted me. Just because he knew I could win this challenge all by myself once I had his gun. And of course Sunny was no help… I was cheated. I'm sure of it."

After their victory, the six Violet Vultures had gathered just outside the cabins, in order to 'celebrate' their victory.

"So… I won the challenge for us," Melinda glanced towards the three members of her team who weren't on her side, Tyson standing next to her, "If I haven't earned the right to be our team leader through that, I don't know how I will."

"I don't care…" May yawned out, opening the entrance to the girls' cabin, "And… I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now…"

The daydreamer walked in and very obviously went to sleep once she did, to a dumbfounded team.

"Damn, she really just walked out on us," Mikaio chuckled, as Melinda facepalmed.

"Fucking hell…" the mechanic grumbled under her breath, "At least let me finish before you go back to sleep..."

"Back on track, me and you just don't vibe together well, y'know?" the wanderer noted, "So… I'm against you leading by principle."

"I just don't like you," Dylan shrugged, poking his tongue out with a cheeky grin.

"The feeling's mutual," Melinda glared back at him, poking a finger into his chest roughly, "Reminder that you did nothing during the challenge except burn down a table. You're in a bad spot here, you lying little shitbag, so I'd get your act together before I happily send you off."

"Woah, woah, chill out dudes!" Tyson pushed Melinda back, "Look, we won today, and that's what matters, right?"

"Indeed!" Ally cheered, "And for what it's worth, I believe Melinda can do a good job as our party's leader, especially with Tyson accompanying her!"

"Look… I'll try and listen to anybody else's ideas," the mechanic admitted, "If they're stupid, though, I will call you out on it. No dumbassery worse than Ally's average."

"Hey!" the roleplayer shouted out, though she was ignored.

"Even mine?" Dylan piped up, though the mechanic shut him down.

"Not yours," Melinda glared at the prankster, putting extra emphasis on every single word she said to hammer the point in.

"Well, dudes, let's just kick back and relax for now," Tyson decided, "If our team leader calls this meeting off."

"I was going to do that anyways," Mikaio admitted, scratching the back of his neck as he almost walked off into the film lot, "But permission would be nice, I guess."

"Meeting over," Melinda waved her hand, as three of them split off to do their own things. The mechanic stayed back with Tyson, and grumbled.

"May ignored me, and the other two flat-out oppose me. I can't lead a team if only two of five people actually listen to me," she rubbed her head in frustration, "Tyson, I need you to work with me on this one… I want you on Dylan-watch duty. Frankly, I don't want a migraine or a murder charge on my record, so I need somebody else to deal with him before I get one or both of those."

"Sure, cap, sure," Tyson nodded in agreement, throwing a thumbs-up her way, "I'll try and keep him in check, you can count on me!"

Confessional - Dylan

"Smellinda getting all chummy with people is not what I wanted," the prankster sighed, "I warned her not to make this boring for me, and she's getting boring… I was hoping she'd really piss people off and I could blackmail her with it! She's kind of focused on kicking my ass I guess, but that's the normal reaction when I'm around, so it really doesn't count."

"Whatever, I'll just continue with vague threats and find a more interesting person to focus on anyway… Mikaio or May, probably. Or both."

Confessional - Mikaio

"I'm just gonna wander around a bit," the wanderer tapped his temple with a light smirk, "I wanna see what's around here, and after travelling around for a few years… yeah, you get a little restless."

While the Vultures dealt with leadership issues, the Serpents were dealing with their own after-loss issues instead. Zinnia and Roark had both split off to discuss the boot with their alliances, while Dustin just seethed on top of the trailer, looking out over one specific alliance.

"I say we just vote Dustin," Rina shrugged from within the mess hall as she talked with Celeste and Zinnia, "He's a dick, he's a threat and he's a sore loser. We've got no reason to want him around, do we? And besides, me and Roark drew. Soo... I wanna keep him around just because our little fight isn't over."

"Hey, this is my alliance, I'll direct conversations around here!" Zinnia pointed at the diver with a small frown, "And my idea is we send Dustin right out of the competition! We'll hit him like lightning!"

"I just said that," Rina deadpanned, as Zinnia poked her tongue out at the diver.

"Yeah, well I said it in a much cooler way," the DJ declared with a grin.

"Well, I can-" Rina was about to start a stupid argument when Celeste interrupted her.

"It doesn't matter whose idea it was - even if it was Rina's, by the way," the astronomer said, "And, for what it's worth… I agree with voting out Dustin. I don't want to use this alliance aggressively… but he's insufferable."

While the girls' alliance worked out their vote quickly, the not-girls alliance were also discussing the vote.

"I don't wanna vote anybody out like this," Sunny rubbed his arm, looking down in shame, "But we should vote Dustin… he's giving me bad vibes."

"There's no shame in wanting an asshole gone, little buddy!" Roark reassured him, trying to pat his shoulder despite their major height difference.

"Well, that was easy-" Emery jinxed them, as the man of the hour walked in, giving his teammates a stern look.

"Sunny, Roark, Emery," he examined each of them in turn, still looking in disbelief over his loss, "I… have a warning for you. You must vote for Zinnia this ceremony. She has an alliance with Celeste and potentially Rina, and letting her roam free would be disastrous. None of us want any alliances running this game, do we? That would be almost as bad as the rigged loss I just endured."

"Rigged?" Sunny asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Chef was clearly aiming for me," Dustin elaborated, "He knew I was the biggest target… it was rigged."

"Anyways, back on track?" Emery asked of the archer, who nodded.

"Heed my warning and vote with me tonight… or else you will all regret it," with that, Dustin left the trailer, leaving the trio by themselves. Sunny and Emery exchanged a glance, as they over his words.

Confessional - Emery

"Zinnia? An alliance?" the yo-yo pro raised an eyebrow, "I can't really see it, she just kinda feels like a fame-chaser to me. But I'm kinda dumb, so what do I know?"

They tapped their head, poking their tongue out with a sheepish grin.

"But Dustin's such a suspicious guy… who to vote, who to vote… man am I glad I have my alliance to help with voting around here!"

At the ceremony during the night, the seven Scarlet Serpents had sat in the stands formerly occupied by the Violet Vultures - Emery, Zinnia, Sunny and Rina in the front, and Dustin, Celeste and Roark in the back. Chris and Chef were, again, stood at the main stage.

"Scarlet Serpents, welcome to the elimination ceremony!" Chris called out loudly, looking over them, holding a Gilded Chris in his hands, "My beautiful visage represents life here in this film lot. Whoever doesn't get one, must take the Lame-O-Sine all the way to the Backstage of Losers. But with that out of the way, Chef, take it away! Tell us who sucked the most today!"

With that, the cook stepped forward, eyeing the team, "Celeste. You gave up entirely during the challenge, even when you could've tried to run away."

"I… was not winning that," the astronomer rubbed her arm ashamedly, looking away from her teammates. Most of them looked confused, not knowing that she had done so, though.

"Dustin, nobody likes you, and you're a sore loser," the cook plainly stated, turning towards the archer, "And, you stole the gun that came out of my paycheck."

"Tch… that loss was a scam," the archer mumbled under his breath, not looking at the rest of his team.

"Zinnia, somebody here has a massive reason to want you gone," Chef turned towards the DJ next, "Which may or may not be true."

"Aw seriously… you're the worst, whoever you are!" she shouted out, seemingly to nobody in particular (even if it was aimed at Dustin and practically everybody knew that).

"And Sunny, you failed to catch that last ghost, ultimately costing your team the game," Chef's final target was the streamer, who just looked down dejectedly.

"Sorry guys…" the streamer sighed, as the more sympathetic members of the team (Emery, Roark and Celeste), gave him reassuring looks, "I tried my best…"

"Alright then, go cast your votes, and we'll be back!" Chris took center stage again, as another time-skip shifted to post-votes.

"And the votes are in. The first Gilded Chris goes to… Rina!" the host threw it towards the diver, who caught it with a grin.

"Obviously," she smirked, flipping her ponytail smugly.

"Emery…" the second Gilded Chris hit the yo-yo pro firmly in the forehead, knocking them to the ground.

"Roark…" the third Gilded Chris was caught by the wrestler… who then snapped its spine in slight celebration, much to the host's horror.

"I would eliminate you for that, but unfortunately that would be in poor taste," Chris warned, as he picked out the next Gilded Chris (Roark just laughed it off), "Celeste…"

The astronomer let out a sigh of relief once she received her Gilded Chris, and her attention was then focused on her one remaining alliance-mate.

"Sunny…" the streamer let out a massive sigh of relief as he ducked out of the way of the final Gilded Chris.

"And that leaves Zinnia, and Dustin!" Chris called out to the final two, who were both more alert than before. Zinnia tapped her headphones intensely, while Dustin seemed all-too assured he'd get the final Chris, "The final Gilded Chris goes to…

...

...

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Zinnia! Dustin, you're out of here!" Chris threw the final statue at Zinnia, who grinned smugly as Dustin looked shell-shocked.

"Haha… how?" the archer's eye twitched, as he glared at Zinnia and the rest of his team, "How am I, the perfect player, eliminated?"

"Maybe if, I dunno, you had something called social skills," Rina rolled her eyes, "Then we'd actually want you around."

"I was cheated, that's what it is," the archer tried to assure himself, pushing his glasses up, "Zinnia used her pathetic little alliance to vote me out… and the others fell for it hook, line and sinker… unless another alliance was formed, in which the game was rigged against me from the start."

"Chef, take him to the Lame-O-Sine before he gets even more salty," Chris pointed at the cook, who slung the archer over his shoulder roughly.

"You imbeciles will regret this!" Dustin glared at them as he was shoved into the Lame-O-Sine, "Mark my words!"

The Serpents stared at the leaving vehicle blankly for a moment, before Zinnia shrugged, "Whatever, he's gone now… let's just ignore whatever he just said about alliances and not come back here tomorrow?"

A few nods and agreeing phrases later, and the team filed out, leaving Chris to do his ending speech, "If that isn't one of the sorest losers we've ever had on this show, then I don't know what it is! Either way, that's two down and eleven to go! Will May not sleep for an entire episode? Will Ally ever break character? And which alliance on the Scarlet Serpents will come out on top now that the only swing vote is eliminated? You might find out the answer to one of these questions next time on Total! Drama! Stardom!"

Post-Elimination Confessional - Dustin

The post-elimination confessional was instead within the Lame-O-Sine, which was a pretty simple limousine.. The archer turned towards the camera with a frown.

"Hmph… I stand by me being eliminated through trickery," the archer crossed his arms, his glasses shining, "This game was rigged against me from the very beginning. Alliances. Truly a stain on my otherwise flawless career…"

"Hm? Who do I want to win?" the archer responded to an unheard question, "Melinda, or Tyson. Clearly my teammates do not deserve it after they voted out their strongest player, and they clearly are the strongest players on that team."

Just then, the Lame-O-Sine's door opened, revealing the Backstage of Losers… which clearly wasn't very far away.

Dustin stepped into the Backstage of Losers, which was, surprisingly, more like a small hotel than a backstage, despite the costumes and set pieces lying around. Twelve rooms were each set up, and the archer took a key from a nearby intern. There was also a screen in the backstage - presumably for playing the latest episode, which he could do later to confirm his theories if he got too bored.

"The Backstage of Losers…" he muttered, adjusting his glasses as he walked in, "Oh how I loathe seeing you…"

He tested the key into a room, and noticed his bags were already there… additionally, his phone was also there, although he had no intention of calling anybody anytime soon. Changing into a set of green pajamas, he irritably stepped into the bed, which he regrettably thought was comfier than the ones in the competition.

"Hmph… I don't see how I could've played better…" he seethed and coped as he put his glasses aside, finally falling asleep.

Scarlet Serpents: Celeste, Emery, Rina, Roark, Sunny, Zinnia

Violet Vultures: Ally, Dylan, May, Melinda, Mikaio, Tyson

Voting Confessionals:

Celeste: "The alliance agreed on it, so I see no reason to against this choice. Dustin."

Dustin: "If they know what's good for them, the not-girls will vote Zinnia with me before she ruins this game."

Emery: "Eh, the guy's a dick, and Zinnia hasn't done anything wrong. I vote Dustin."

Rina: "Dustin. If he isn't eliminated, colour me impressed!"

Roark: "Gwahaha, Dustin may try to sway my vote, but the Roark is too stubborn for that!"

Sunny: "I just want everybody to be happy… and Dustin's just gave me bad vibes all day."

Zinnia: "Jeez, I try to get famous through reality TV, but I have to deal with a guy like Dustin who gets mad at basic strategy? Obviously I'm voting him out!"

Author's Note: Two down, eleven to go - both in contestants to boot and in episodes to write! Honestly, this chapter helps set up a good chunk of the big plotlines, and most of the remaining season-wide ones should pop up during the next chapter. I'm definitely proud of this chapter, I feel like I gave everybody something to do.

We've also got the Backstage of Losers, making its debut! At the end of every chapter, there'll be a scene there to show just how our local losers (excluding Rayna) are doing - and, hey, maybe sometimes they'll get to do things that affect the still competing contestants.

Speaking of our local losers, let's talk about Dustin! He was honestly was put in this cast just as second-boot fodder… and because I thought it would be funny to have all three of my Alola starter gijinkas in one cast and team after I noticed I had both Rina and Roark on this cast list. He was the last character I actually chose for this fic's cast, and he worked nicely as a fake-out antagonist for the Serpents. He did grow on me massively while I was writing this chapter, and I got to display some more of his traits beyond just being an egotistical prick too (even if he very much is one). Definitely a character I wanna send out sometime.

But with him out of the way… everybody else was put into this fic at least being considered for the finale. So expect eliminations to (hopefully) be way less obvious going forward.

The Ghostbusters challenge was my own idea, and it was pretty fun to write… even if I cameo'd my worst OC in there lmao. Nobody even prompted me to either, I have no idea what possessed me to do so. Hehe.

With all that out of the way, hydrate or die-drate, and Kadachi out~

Elimination Order:

14th/Intern: Rayna (Violet Vultures)

13th: Dustin (Scarlet Serpents)