Author's Note: And we've finally reached the bike challenge! The canon episode's challenge was a pretty convoluted way to boot Lindsay (I don't think anyone's arguing about that), so I tweaked the challenge to make it slightly less stupid. Anyways! Reviews come first, so:

Dunspace519: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! And, yes, I wonder who will be eliminated this episode—guess you'll have to read on and find out ;)

With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

"Last time on Total Drama Island... In a challenge of hide-and-seek, campers had to avoid capture by Chef Hatchet, or join him in his guerilla tactics to tag fellow campers. Some, had weak hiding spots, while others won invincibility. Meanwhile, the girls started up an alliance—though, it soon proved to be dysfunctional after they decided Kaito had to go. And even without lovergirl Kaede's help, the ladies got rid of Kaito."

"When will the girls' alliance fall apart? Will the guys form an alliance of their own? Will I be stuck hosting reality TV for the rest of my life? Find out on this episode of...

Total...

Drama...

Island!"

Episode Seventeen: That's Off the Chain!

The episode opened on a shot of a frisbee flying through the air. It was caught by Kaede, and that was when the camera pulled out to show the rest of the beach.

She, Sayaka, Rantaro, and Maki were playing against Hiyoko, Junko, and Kokichi. Frisbee still in hand, Kaede scoped out her opponents and how they were positioned. "Bullseye," she muttered.

She threw the frisbee with more force than necessary, and it hit the ground between where Hiyoko and Junko were standing, the two girls just narrowly dodging getting hit by the toy.

"Hey!" Hiyoko exclaimed.

"Yeah, what the hell, Kaede?" Junko complained.

"Sorry," Kaede apologized half-heartedly.

CONFESSIONAL - KAEDE:

"Ever since that argument with the girls, I've been working on getting better as a competitor," she explained. "Mostly to prove that I can get by on my own, but..." A blush began to cover her cheeks. "I did promise Kaito that I would do my best!"

Sayaka took the temporary distraction to glance over at Makoto, who sat far from everyone else and was tracing vague shapes in the sand with his finger, a distressed expression on his face. Looking back at her teammates, she told them, "Be right back!" before making her way over to Makoto.

"Hey, Makoto, are you okay?" she asked him, taking a seat beside him. "You seem kinda down."

Makoto sighed. "Sorry. It's just that... Everything's been so stressful lately. In the competition, I mean." He paused. "...Can I tell you something?"

"Sure?"

"I... joined an alliance with Celestia. At the beginning of the game. And it's still going. I want to leave but I don't know how."

"Oh." Sayaka blinked, then tapped her chin. "Have you brought it up with Celeste yet? She'll... probably understand. And even if she doesn't, it's not like she can force you to stay in an alliance, right? So I think you should talk to her about it either way."

Makoto gave her a weak smile. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, Sayaka."

"It's no problem—"

Suddenly, the monitors started up at that moment, and Chris began speaking. "Morning, campers! Your next challenge awaits you at Electric Avenue!"

The next scene showed the campers showed the all of the remaining campers gathered in Electric Avenue—a tight alleyway with stands filled with electronics and miscellaneous electronic parts.

"Welcome to Electric Avenue," greeted Chris as he drove up in his ATV.

"You couldn't have picked a less claustrophobic place?" Sayaka asked, glancing around uncertainly.

Chris shrugged. "Not really. We had to put the parts for the challenge somewhere, and this was the next best place. It's also where Chef parks his road hog." He stepped aside to reveal the flaming-red motorcycle behind him, to which several of the campers were awed at. "Which brings us to your challenge: building your own wheels!"

Kaede's face fell immediately. "W-Wheels? Like the ones for cycling?"

"Correctumondo, Kaede," Chris confirmed, shooting her finger guns.

CONFESSIONAL - KAEDE:

She sat hunched over with her knees hugged up to her chest. "Another bike challenge?! I barely survived the first one! I think this might be it for me..."

"You'll find all the parts you need in our bike depot." Chris gestured to the assortment of bike parts in boxes behind one of the stands. "Once you've collected the basics, you can trick 'em out any way you want using any props you find in Electric Avenue. Best design wins!"

"And," he added as he climbed back onto the ATV, throwing a large, mold-covered book towards the campers, "to prove that I'm a nice guy, I'll even throw in a bike manual."

"Ew, how old is that thing?" Hiyoko scrunched up her nose as the book landed near her feet.

"As old as Chris, probably." Celestia swiped the book off the ground with her thumb and index finger. "But it is than nothing, I suppose."

CONFESSIONAL - HIYOKO:

"This is embarrassing to admit, but... I never learned to ride a bike." She gestured to her legs. "My stupid legs are too short to reach the pedals!" A smile began to stretch across her face. "But now that I get to build my own bike, I can finally learn how to!"

Makoto walked up to Celestia, who was already sifting through the bike depot, a nervous touch to his movements. "Hey... Celes? I need to tell you something."

"Is it urgent?" she replied, not even bothering to look over at him.

"Kinda? I mean—Yeah. Yeah, it is."

Celestia stopped and turned her whole body towards Makoto, eyebrow raised. "Yes?"

Makoto took a deep breath before speaking again. "I... want to leave the alliance."

Celestia paused, her lips tightening in a thin line. "...Excuse me?"

"I can't do this anymore!" Makoto yelled loud enough to get a few heads swiveling towards the duo. "The—The alliances! The backstabbing! I can't! I'm done."

A stunned silence from Celestia followed, and Makoto took that as his cue to collect the parts he needed for his bike before walking off, leaving her and the rest of the campers to stare in shock.

CONFESSIONAL - MAKOTO:

Makoto laughed, rubbing his arm. "Wow, that was kinda therapeutic to say to her. And my conscious is finally cleared now."

CONFESSIONAL - RANTARO:

"Do you ever get the feeling that there's more going on behind your back than you think?" he asked, putting a hand on his neck. "Cause I do."

Sayaka had started to make her way to the bike depot when she spotted Kaede curled up in the fetal position, who hadn't moved an inch since the challenge was announced.

"Hey, are you okay, Kaede?" the blue-haired girl asked, placing a comforting hand on Kaede's shoulder.

"No..." Kaede whimpered.

"Here, come on. I'll help you build your bike." Sayaka hoisted Kaede up to her feet and led her towards the bike depot.

The boys were now working on their bikes near the bridges connecting the islands together; Makoto was contemplating whether or not to wear the helmet in his hand, Rantaro inflated a wheel, while Kokichi tinkered with a bike frame.

Another cut showed the majority of the girls working at the

beach; Hiyoko was figuring out the best way to attach a pedal to the frame of her bike, Junko drilled holes into a thick piece of wood, while Celestia and Maki sorted through an assorted pile of parts.

"Where's Sayaka?" Junko asked after a moment, looking around.

"She went to help Kaede build her bike," Maki answered.

Celestia scoffed. "It figures. She's probably a fucking traitor just like that rat Makoto!"

Her outburst caused the girls to give her similarly weird looks. Junko raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh... you okay there, Celes?"

Celestia aggressively pulled a bicycle frame out of the pile before flashing her a strained smile. "Of course. Why would I not be?"

Junko and the girls exchanged weird looks again. "Right."

Meanwhile, Sayaka and Kaede had opted to build their bikes at the dock.

"Kaede, I'm kind of curious..." Sayaka said, looking over at her. "Why are you so afraid of bikes, anyway? Oh—but if you don't have to answer that, of course."

Kaede bit her lip, but obliged anyway. "Well... It was when I was seven or eight years old. My parents were teaching me how to ride a bike for the very first time. I was getting the hang of it, but then... I hit a rock. I flew off the bike and dislocated my knee. It was the worst pain of my life."

Sayaka cringed. "Oh. How about I see if there's any knee pads at the market while you work on your bike? We'll probably have to ride them later, knowing Chris."

"Yes!" Kaede exclaimed without hesitation. "And some elbow pads! And a helmet!"

Sayaka nodded, shooting Kaede a thumbs-up before walking off in the direction of the market. About ten minutes later, she came back.

"How is your bike going, Kaede?" Sayaka asked as she strolled up to the dock with the protective gear in hand.

"I don't know!" A frantic Kaede stood and turned around, showing Sayaka the weird amalgamation of what was presumably her own bike. "I got overwhelmed! There's too many pieces!"

Almost immediately, it fell apart completely and Kaede sighed miserably.

"Oh, crap!" Sayaka frantically glanced between Kaede and what used to be her bike, as well as her own half-finished one. "Wait—I think I have an idea."

"Which one do you think suits me better, Junko?"

Hiyoko held up a toy horse head with big, beady eyes in one hand, and a figurine of a swan with its wings outstretched in the other.

Junko peered at the decorations, holding her chin in thought. "Uh... The swan, I think?" She nodded. "Yeah, definitely the swan."

Hiyoko smiled brightly at her, tossing the horse decoration aside, and Junko grinned back.

Then, the monitors turned on. "Campers, it's time to judge your bikes! Put your pedal to the medal, and meet me back at Electric Avenue!"

Back at Electric Avenue, the campers were standing beside their creations.

"Well, campers, we gave you the parts," Chris said, walking up. "Let's see what you came up with."

He examined Celestia's first, which looked the most like a bicycle you'd buy from a store.

"Excellent aerodynamics, Celeste," he complimented.

"Thank you," Celestia smiled. "I made sure to put that bike manual to good use."

Chris approached Maki's bike next; it was thin and mostly made out of wood, with a pair of black bat wings as decoration.

"Spooky," he commented. "Well done."

Beside hers was Rantaro's bike. His was a bit thicker than Maki's, and had built his seat closer to the ground. A small bell was attached to the front.

Chris grinned. "Impressive."

Next up was Kaede and Sayaka's, which, unlike the others, seemed to be built for two people.

"A two-seater?" Chris asked, the girls nodded. "Interesting."

"That's not all, though." Kaede pressed the glitter-covered bell attached to the bike, and a brief but catchy beat of pop and piano began to play out of it. "We made the vocals ourselves."

Chris nodded, an impressed look on his face. "Nice! And what do we have here?"

He turned to face Junko's bike, which was easily the largest bike of the bunch. It was also the heaviest, thanks to the thick planks of wood that made up the vehicle.

"A tough bike for a tough competitor," Junko gloated, rapping the lightning bolt hood ornament attached to the front.

"Wicked," Chris told her. "We definitely know that you won't be knocked off the road."

Makoto's bike was shown next, which wasn't particularly interesting design-wise, compared to the other competitors' bikes.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, dude? This is lame."

Makoto silently drooped his head.

Hiyoko's, however, was the complete opposite, with the small bike being covered in glitter and decked out with a pair of white swan wings, along with the swan figurine from earlier.

"Nice work, Hiyoko!" Chris exclaimed, and Hiyoko flashed a proud smile.

Kokichi snorted at this. "I bet mine is way better."

The camera panned over to show his bike, which rivaled Hiyoko's in flashiness, thanks to the wood making up the bike having been painted in red, blue, and yellow. A red clown nose completed the outlandish design.

Chris gave him a thumbs up, and Hiyoko barely held back a guffaw.

"It suits you," she said. "You're already a complete clown."

Chris finally stepped back, eyes sweeping over the bikes one last time. "Well then, I think that's everyone. Alright, this is where it gets good—We're gonna race these babies, hard!"

"Good thing I considered speed when I built my bike," Celestia said.

"Yeah, unfortunately, you won't be riding it, Celeste," Chris told her. "You'll be switching bikes!" The campers gasped. "Cruel twist, huh? Alrighty then, see you at the beach!"

When everyone gathered at the beach with their bike, Chris was already waiting for them.

"Okay, here's how it works: Everyone picks a name out of the hat to see whose bike you'll be riding." He held out a bike helmet filled with little slips of paper." If your bike makes it to the finish line, then you'll get to ride it in the final round for invincibility."

Everyone's hands reached into the helmet at once, and they all read their assigned bike.

"Hey, look, I got your bike." Junko showed Hiyoko her paper, which the shorter girl frowned at.

"Are you even gonna be able to ride that?"

Junko glanced over at said bike. "Oh." She then shrugged. "I'll find a way."

"Huh," Kaede said, peering at her paper. "I got my own bike."

"I got your bike, too." Rantaro, who stood beside her, chuckled and showed her his paper.

"Really? Then you wouldn't mind pedaling, right?" She rubbed her arm. "It's just..."

Rantaro nodded knowingly. "Yeah, of course. It's no problem."

Soon enough, everyone was on their assigned bikes and lined up the starting line. Makoto had Maki's, Maki had Junko's, Junko had Hiyoko's, Hiyoko had Rantaro's, Rantaro and Kaede had her own and Sayaka's, Sayaka had Kokichi's, Kokichi had Celestia's, and Celestia had Makoto's.

"Remember, racers, all bikes that make it across the finish line get to race in the immunity round," Chris said. He spotted Celestia and Kokichi examining their assigned bikes with smirks, causing him to quickly add. "And if I think you're purposely trying to throw the challenge, you'll be disqualified from the immunity race. Even if your bike makes it across the finish line. Got it? Okay. On your marks... Get set... Paramedics on standby... And go!"

Everyone took off, except for Junko, who was having trouble figuring out a way to pedal Hiyoko's bike with her long legs, and Hiyoko, whose shorter legs prevented her from reaching the pedals on her bike.

Meanwhile, Maki and Celestia were in the lead, trying to get the one-up on the other, while Rantaro and Kaede followed close behind.

Further back, Kokichi was riding alongside Sayaka."Fun bike, right?" he asked her.

"It's definitely... interesting," she replied with a small giggle.

CONFESSIONAL - CELESTIA:

"I made sure that certain people did not win invincibility." She held up a wrench.

Almost immediately, Kokichi's bike fell apart, and Sayaka screamed as she went down. "Whoa!"

A piece of the bike ended up tumbling back and getting caught up on the bike Makoto was on, causing him to crash into Sayaka and kick up a cloud of dust in the process. Hiyoko and Junko, who both opted to get off and push their bikes. However, the dust didn't clear fast enough, and the girls ended up joining the pileup.

The race ended with Celestia, Maki, Kaede and Rantaro, and Kokichi all crossed the finish line, with Chef waving a checkered flag while engrossed in a book and Chris drove up in his ATV.

"Yes! We have four awesome wipeouts by Sayaka, Makoto, Junko, and Hiyoko, and four invincibility race winners! Celestia's Speed Machine, Junko's Sturdy Monster, Kaede and Sayaka's Fun Machine, and Makoto's Plain Jane. Alright, it's time to head over to the TDI motocross."

"We made it to the immunity race, Sayaka!" Kaede exclaimed, running over to the girl still on the ground. "I think we have a chance of winning invincibility!"

"Um, about that..." Sayaka sighed and glanced down. "My ankle hurts... I don't think I'll be able to pedal."

Kaede's eyes widened. "Wait—huh? Does that mean... Me?!"

Sayaka nodded.

"But—But I..."

"Kaede." Sayaka stared into Kaede's eyes. "You made it this far. So you can't back out now, right?"

"I..." Kaede sighed, biting her lip. "I'll try my best."

CONFESSIONAL - KOKICHI:

"Wow, whoever made the challenge rules is really stupid. I lost the first round, and now I'm safe from elimination by default?" He laughed. "I bet Celeste is feeling pretty salty right about now."

Some time thereafter, the non-competing campers—Hiyoko, Kokichi, Maki, and Rantaro—were sitting some distance away from the race course. Everyone else was lined up at the starting line on their own bikes.

"Are you doing okay, Kaede?" an uncertain Sayaka questioned.

"Absolutely not," Kaede replied, gripping the handles of their bike tighter.

It was then Chris drove up. "Campers, welcome to the moto, moto, moto, cross, cross, cross, challenge, challenge, challenge! Using your own bikes, you'll race the course while avoiding hidden pitfalls. Cue the death traps!"

"There's dodging the landmines!" The camera panned over the respective obstacles, which included a rolling dirt course as several explosions went off across it. "Maneuvering the oil slick!" And, finally, the third obstacle contained a rectangular gap of water; a ham suspended by a rope was dipped into the water, and when it came back up, the ham—and even part of the rope—was completely gone. "And don't forget the piranha jump!"

"Oh, and one more thing," Chris added as the camera showed him again. "First to cross wins invincibility. Last one to cross gets voted off the island. No bonfire, do not pass go, do not collect a marshmallow. Alright, racers, take your positions! And... go!"

Like the first round, almost all of the racers took off immediately. Kaede was the only one to stay behind, body frozen and her hands ghost-white as they gripped the handles.

"I-I can't..." she muttered, slumping over on the bike. Sayaka sighed.

Meanwhile, the rest of the competitions rode along the hills of the first obstacle with relative ease. At least, until one of the landmines went off at random, with Makoto being the unlucky camper to be blown back.

Celestia glanced back and smirked at this, gaining more speed. This was her downfall, however, because when she hit the oil slick, her bike violently jerked her off-course.

Junko veered ahead. The pirahna pit seemed like it was going to be a challenge, as when she tried to jump over it, the heaviness of her bike sent her down, the front wheel caught on the edge of the pool.

Sayaka gasped and pointed ahead. "Kaede, look! We still have a chance to win invincibility!"

"Huh?" Kaede glanced up.

"Yeah!" Sayaka put her hands on her friend's shoulders. "Come on, Kaede. You can do this, I promise. Didn't you promise Kaito that you try your best in the competition? So you can't give up."

"Y-Yeah, I did..." Kaede took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay." She steeled herself. "I've got this."

Kaede started pedaling, abeit slowly, and Sayaka cheered.

She made it across the hills without triggering the landmines. Then, she carefully maneuvered through the oil slick using the path the other bikes had cleared. Then, with a sudden burst of confidence, Kaede managed to gain the necessary speed to jump over the pirahna pool and across the finish line, spraying up enough sand to completely cover Chef.

"You did it, Kaede!" Sayaka smiled as Kaede helped her off their bike.

"Yeah..." Kaede's lips quirked up into a smile as well. "I did."

"Kaede and Sayaka win invincibility!" Chris exclaimed from the sidelines. "Now, it's just a race to not come in last place!"

Junko's eyes widened at this, and she immediately tried to get her bike unstuck.

"Come on, you stupid piece of—"

She finally managed to free her bike, and after a second attempt, made it over the pirahna's and the finish line as well.

Makoto gasped at this news as his rolled his bike back onto the course. As he was mounting it, Celestia was already on her bike and looked back at him with a determined look before speeding off. Makoto took off as well, right on her tail.

Everyone else watched with silent anticipation as the two raced neck and neck towards the finish line, and the one who ended up crossing it in third place was...

"Celestia takes third place!" Chris announced.

Celestia skidded to a stop, a smirk on her face.

Meanwhile, Makoto sighed as he dismounted his own bike, and Sayaka hobbled over and offered a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "You did your best, Makoto," she told him. "Don't feel bad about it, okay?"

"I won't," Makoto said, giving her a weak smile. "Celestia won fair and square, right?"

CONFESSIONAL - KAEDE:

"Wow," she started, fiddling with her helmet. "I still can't believe I won the challenge. I guess if I can beat my worst fear like this, then the rest of this game can't be that hard, right?"

Night had fallen over the island, and Makoto was making his way down the Dock of Shame with his luggage in hand. The other contestants, including Celestia, had gathered to see him off.

"Bye, Makoto," Sayaka waved. "It was nice having you around."

"Yeah," Kaede added, "if we had a choice, we definitely would've kept you on."

"Thanks, guys," Makoto replied, and the three went in for a group hug.

"I know we didn't know each other all that well," Rantaro started when Makoto reached him, Maki, and Kokichi, "but you're pretty cool in my book."

"Same here," Maki added.

Kokichi burst into crocodile tears and pulled Makoto into a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you so much, Makoto! Make sure you call and text me everyday, m'kay?"

"Uh... Yeah, sure, I can do that." Makoto smiled at him and waved at Rantaro and Maki. "And, thanks. I think you guys are pretty cool, too."

Makoto walked up to Junko and Hiyoko, exchanging a fist-bump with the former and a hug with the latter.

"You played a good game, Makoto," Junko said.

Makoto glanced away for a second, then nodded. "Yeah... Thanks."

And, finally, Celestia was the last contestant he approached. "It is really a shame you have to leave," she said with a smirk. "Maybe things would have turned out differently had you just stayed in my alliance."

Makoto frowned, shaking his head. "No. I think quitting your alliance was the best thing I could've done, actually. Even if it means I'm going home."

Celestia scowled, and Makto reached the edge of the dock before turning around and smiling again. "Alright, I'm ready to go. Bye, everyone."

Makoto waved one final time before boarding the boat, and almost everyone waved back as he was taken away from the island.

Contestants - Celestia, Hiyoko, Junko, Kaede, Kokichi, Maki, Rantaro, Sayaka

Eliminated - Toko, Mondo, Shuichi, Ibuki, Kazuichi, Komaru, Yasuhiro, Mikan, Kirumi, Tenko, Ryoma, Leon, Kaito, Makoto

Author's Note: And Makoto is gone. Probably not surprising given the group dynamic at the moment, but yeah.

Also, three updates in a month? I'm on a roll!

Also, also, OH MY GOD the bikes and everything about them was so fucking hard to write, y'all. At least I don't have to worry about it anymore (except if I go back and edit it, lol). And that's all I've got for now. As always, thank you for reading and all of the support so far! See you next episode.