Author's Note: Here it is!
Sorry this took it so long to get out. The first time I wrote it, I only got 2000 words in before I thought it was awful and scrapped it. Yeah, coming up with fears for each character, along with plausible challenges, is hard.
But, hey, at least it's finished now, right?
Anyways, hopefully you'll enjoy what I came up with!
Now, reviews:
Dunsparce519: Yeah, I was actually inspired to write the friendship between Mikan and Kaito because of a fanmade UDP video between them I watched on Youtube. And I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter overall!
With all that said, it's time for the next episode! Enjoy!
"Last time on Total Drama Island, the campers put their survival skills were put to the test when they spent the entire night camping in the woods. Mikan and Kaito ended up getting lost, leaving their team to deal with a burned-down tent. The Killer Bass weren't faring much better either, however, when they had an altercation with a seriously ticked off bear. Ultimately, the Killer Bass were on the chopping block again, leaving Kazuichi without a marshmallow."
"Yup, the challenge was rough, all right," Chris said as the camera showed him poking the campfire pit with a stick. "And if I have anything to say about it, today's will be even more brutal! Luckily, I do. What fresh horror have we planned for our campers? Find out next, on...
Total...
Drama...
Island!"
Episode Six: Phobia Factor
The scene opened with a pan down from the night sky to reveal the remaining members of the Killer Bass seated around the campfire pit.
"Man, who knew losing twice in a row could be such a bummer?" Yasuhiro asked, sadly poking the dying fire with a stick.
"I know!" Sayaka exclaimed. "We have got to start winning challenges!"
Hiyoko snorted. "Easier said than done. What are we supposed to do to catch up?"
"That doesn't mean we should stop trying!" Sayaka countered, turning to the girl sitting next to her. "Come on, Junko, you're smart. Do you have any ideas?"
Junko frowned and scratched her chin. "Sorry. I could come with a strategy, but I'd have to know what the challenges are beforehand." Sayaka sighed, and Junko looked off to the side band suddenly frowned. "What do you want?"
The rest of the Bass followed her gaze to see that she was glaring at the Screaming Gophers, who were all gathered there.
"They're probably here to rub their win in our faces," Hiyoko suggested.
"Oh no, it's nothing like that," Rantaro replied as he held up a plate of cookies. "We had some leftover dessert from our party. Thought you might want some."
Junko gave them an odd look. "Why?"
"Jeez," Kokichi butted in with an exaggerated groan. "Be ungrateful, why don't you? If you don't want them, I'll eat them!"
Kokichi lunged at the plate of treats, but Rantaro easily managed to evade him by raising the plate high above his own head. Kokichi pouted and crossed his arms as Rantaro offered the plate to Celestia.
Celestia flinched slightly as the plate nearly touched her hands. "Er, your hands are clean, correct?"
Rantaro raised an eyebrow. "Yes? Why wouldn't they be?"
"No reason," Celestia quickly responded, taking a lemon cookie from the assortment but not eating it. "I apologize, I was just being cautious."
"Why?" Yasuhiro asked. "You afraid of germs or something? 'Cause it's fine if you are, I can totally relate. I can't stand being around anything that even looks like a ghost!"
"No," Celestia replied sharply. "Like I said, I was just simply being cautious."
"I know how you feel, man," Kaito chimed in. "If I ever saw a ghost, I'd probably wet myself!"
CONFESSIONAL - JUNKO:
"Suddenly, everyone was having this big share fest by the fire," she explained, an incredulous look of on her face, "like they didn't even care who heard! Leon went into a rant about his passionate hate for anything formal, Kirumi was pretty adamant about her fear of not being able to help anyone, and even Maki admitted to not liking cutesy stuff."
Static brought the footage back to the campfire pit, and the Gophers had taken seats alongside the Bass around it.
"I'd hate to be alone in the woods, I guess," Junko said when it was her turn.
"I hate spiders," Hiyoko shared. "Anything with that many legs is totally evil!"
"O-Oversized things..." Mikan whimpered.
"I have claustrophobia," Sayaka admitted. "Tight spaces totally freak me out!"
"I'm scared of flying," Makoto spoke. "Or, well, I guess it's more of a fear of heights. Still scary, either way."
"I really don't like public speaking," Rantaro said, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "Surprising, right?"
"I hate bikes," Kaede spat with an unexpected amount of venom. "I can't even stand seeing those metal contraptions of death!"
"Sharks," Ryoma stated simply.
"L-Lightning," Komaru stuttered. "Thunder, too. They're just so loud and scary!"
"I do not fear anything," Celestia said once it was her turn. "At least, not to the same extent as all of you."
"Yeah, right," Kokichi scoffed. "There's gotta be something you can't stand!"
"Stop pestering her, you degenerate male!" Tenko butted in. "If she doesn't have a fear, then she doesn't have one!"
"Fine," Kokichi smirked turning to Tenko, "then how about you tell us your fear, then?"
Tenko seemed to shrink into herself as everyone's eyes were now on her. She looked down and fiddled with her thumbs before finally muttering, "Those little...dogs."
Kokichi grinned wickedly. "Oh, really? You mean the small, fluffy ones old ladies like to have?"
"Ooh, I love those dogs!" Sayaka exclaimed. "They're so cute!"
Tenko hid her face in her hands. "You guys clearly haven't seen what they can do!" Looking up, she glared at Kokichi. "Okay, I said my fear, now it's your turn!"
"Okay, fine," Kokichi relented. "In the spirit of honesty, I guess I can tell you guys that I'm terrified of clowns."
Celestia scoffed. "Ironic."
Kokichi turned to her. "Okay, everyone else shared their fears, now it's your turn."
"I've already told you," Celestia replied, gritting her teeth, "I simply cannot recall anything I am afraid of."
Kokichi pouted, Junko raised her eyebrow, several other campers frowned, and the camera skipped forward to morning as the campers were eating breakfast in the restaurant.
"Campers!" Chris whistled, grabbing everyone's attention. "Your next challenge is a little game I like to call "Phobia Factor! Prepare to face your worst fears!"
"Pretty sure we're already doing that, heh," Yasuhiro chuckled as he poked at his lump of breakfast.
"Now for our first victims," Chris continued, pulling out a card and reading it. "Rantaro! Meet us all in the music venue, it's time to let yourself be heard!"
Rantaro, who had been chewing on a bit of food, suddenly began to choke on it. As Kaede moved to help him, Chris turned his attention to another member of the Screaming Gophers. "Ryoma! You, me, the beach! Maybe a few sharks."
"Oh, boy..." Ryoma sighed.
"Wait a minute," Yasuhiro spoke up again. "You mean, when we were sitting around the campfire last night, they were listening?"
Leon facepalmed. "It's a reality show, genius."
"Yep, we're in trouble," Junko commented.
The footage skipped ahead to show Chris and the campers gathered around a small kiddie pool, the majority of them staring down at the contents in disgust.
"I hate spiders. Anything with that many legs is totally evil!"
Hiyoko stood a couple feet away with an expression of disgust and fear; however, it quickly grew determined as she ran over to the pool, jumping in it feet-first, stomping on the contents. Once she was absolutely sure they were all dead, Hiyoko stepped out the pool, a triumpant smile on her face as the Killer Bass cheered.
"And Hiyoko sets the bar way up there!" Chris exclaimed.
Two scoreboards popped up on the bottom corners of the screen, one for each team, the Bass' updating 1-0.
Maki was next, sitting at the restaurant as a team of interns went to work on her.
"...and even Maki admitted to not liking cutesy stuff."
When they finally backed away, she was dressed up in a completely different style than she usually wore: her hair was completely down, and accompanied by a large pink bow on her head. Her outfit considered of a matching pink sweater and a flowy white skirt, complete with pink-and-white sneakers.
CONFESSIONAL - MAKI:
"Yep, still hate it," she huffed, fiddling with her bow.
Every single camper, along with Chris and Chef Hatchet, were all gathered in the music venue; Rantaro stood on the stage, a piece of paper in his hands as everyone else watched.
"I really don't like public speaking. Surprising, right?"
"Just one page, buddy!" Chris told him cheerfully. "We're all waiting!"
"Right..." Rantaro muttered to himself, wiping the sweat off his forehead before looking at the paper. Looking back up again, he caught Kirumi's eye; she looked like she was about to stand up, but ultimately decided against it.
"...Kirumi was pretty adamant about her fear of not being able to help anyone..."
Looking down at the paper again, Rantaro steeled himself. "Okay, I've got this..."
Taking a deep breath, he began to read from it. His voice started off shaky, but as he continued on, he grew more confident. When he finished, the Gophers cheered and applauded.
"Good work, Rantaro!" Chris smiled, as the scoreboard updated 1-1.
The shot cut to a presumably different part of the island, evident by the amusement park theme of it all. The camera switched to a large castle in particular, decorated with colorful banners and the name "Nezumi Castle" printed on the front below a logo of a grey mouse.
"I can't stand being around anything that even looks like a ghost!"
"I know how you feel, man. If I ever saw a ghost, I'd probably wet myself!"
"Alright, dudes," Chris told Yasuhiro and Kaito, who stood on either side of him. "This is the funhouse, where you'll be touring through! What does this "funhouse" contain, you ask? Well, all I can tell you is that it's gonna be fun! For me, at least."
He chuckled, causing Kaito and Yasuhiro exchange worried looks. "Anywho, if you either of you exit the funhouse for any reason before completing the tour, you can say goodbye to any point for either of your teams. Well, good luck!"
Chris left, leaving Kaito and Yasuhiro to stare up at the castle in dread.
"H-Hey, we've totally got this, right?" Kaito asked shakily, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, d-definitely, man..." Yasuhiro replied.
Thanks to some video editing, a flash of lightning appeared behind it, and the two boys gulped.
"Well, lead the way, buddy!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, pushing Kaito in front of himself.
Kaito grimaced, but ultimately stepped forward and the two entered the castle.
Mikan whimpered as she stared at something off-screen with wide eyes. She bit her nails for a moment before promptly backing up and running away, screaming.
"O-Oversized things..."
Chef, who was dressed in a nurse's outfit and carrying a comically oversized needle, walked after her.
"I'd hate to be alone in the woods, I guess."
"Junko began her six hours of solitude in the woods feeling pretty confident," Chris voiced over a clip of said girl sitting on a log in a clearing.
"Pfft," Junko began, leaning back. "I'm not scared. Six hours out here is nothing!"
However, she failed to account for the lack of support behind her and fell to the ground with a groan. "Ow."
At the beach, Sayaka gripped a walkie-talkie in her hands as she laid in a large see-through box in a dug-up hole.
"I have claustrophobia. Tight spaces totally freak me out!"
Chris was shoveling sand over the box to bury her as he explained Sayaka's challenge. "There's enough air in there for an hour. Luckily, you only need to last fifteen minutes." He paused. "Well, as long as we decide to dig you up."
"Huh? What does that mean?!" Sayaka asked in a panic.
Chris didn't get a chance to respond, however, as Leon ran up and crouched down next to Sayaka. "Hey, Sayaka! Just wanted to tell you that you've got this!"
"Thanks," Sayaka replied, managing a weak smile. "I appreciate—Wait, what are you wearing?"
Leon grimaced as he looked down at his outfit; a red-striped suit with a black bow tie, along with a dark blue jacket. "Yeah, this is my challenge. I have to wear this for the whole day."
"...Leon went into a rant about his passionate hate for anything formal..."
Sayaka nodded, before tapping her chin in thought. "Well, how about you take the other walkie-talkie, then?" She held up her own walkie-talkie to show Leon. "You know, so we can help each other get through our challenges."
"Sure," Leon grinned, before turning to Chris and pointed at the other walkie-talkie in his back pocket. "Yo, mind if I take that?"
Chris shrugged and tossed the walke-talkie to Leon, who caught it with ease.
"Thanks." Leon showed Sayaka the walkie-talkie before waving goodbye to her as Chris continued burying the box.
The camera switched to the music venue again to show Ryoma hoistered up by a rope tied to the arch of the stage.
"Sharks."
He raised an eyebrow at Chris, who stood on the stage below him. "I thought we were going to be on a beach?"
"Yeah," Chris replied, "but turns out the water surrounding us is actually freshwater, and dumping them in there would be considered "animal cruelty" and whatnot. So, behold!"
Chris gestured, and a couple of interns wheeled out a large tank filled with water and various plants and rocks; inside were two whitetip reef sharks that were swimming around.
"Listen up, brah!" Chris continued. "I went through the trouble of bringing a couple of these suckers to the island, and it looks like they really liked the interns, if you know what I mean. Heh, heh. Okay, so there are two golden rings hidden somewhere in this tank. All you have to do is retrieve them. If you want to forfeit at any time, just tug on your rope and the interns will reel you back up. Any questions?" Chris didn't wait for a response before continuing. "Alright, good luck!"
Chris gave the interns a thumbs-up, and they began to slowly lower Ryoma into the tank.
"Goodbye, cruel world..." Ryoma muttered.
Meanwhile, a yellowish-orange helicopter touched down in the heart of Jabberwock Park.
"I'm scared of flying. Or, well, I guess it's more of a fear of heights. Still scary, either way."
The door slid open, and Makoto stumbled out and fell to the ground with a relieved smile on his face; the scoreboard updated.
Makoto's eyes went wide, however, when he noticed a panicked Yasuhiro running past, screaming, "I can't take it anymore!"
"L-Lightning. Thunder, too. They're just so loud and scary!"
At the hotel, Komaru was lounging around the pool with a manga in hand; unbeknownst to her, a cloud loomed over her with a dark tinge.
What caused her to finally notice what was happening was the rumbling noise of thunder. The girl tensed before slowly looking up with wide eyes, and before she knew it, a bolt of lightning struck down just mere inches from her leg.
Komaru immediately yelped and shot up to her feet, making a dash for it. To her dismay, the cloud only continued to chase after her.
Standing near the hotel's entrance was the culprit: Chris, who was controlling the cloud with some sort of purple device.
"Heya!" Kokichi exclaimed from behind him, resting his chin on Chris's shoulder. "That looks like fun! Can I try?"
"Yes, it is fun," Chris replied matter-of-factly. "But I think you got your own problems to worry about right now."
The honk of a horn grabbed Kokichi's attention; he whipped around and came face-to-face with a clown, complete with make-up, outfit, and all. "Hiya! I heard you could use some cheering up!"
"In the spirit of honesty, I guess I can tell you guys that I'm terrified of clowns."
Kokichi, however, didn't scream or even flinch. Instead, he wore an amused smile on his face as he stared at the clown. "Are you sure you're not the one who needs cheering up? I mean, you're a clown! Tell me, do you dress up like that to cover up your own depression?"
The clown stopped, blinked, before silently sitting down in the fetal position. Chris stared with wide eyes as the scoreboard updated. "Ah, well... I guess you completed your challenge. Good work, Kokichi."
Chris was suddenly was handed a slip of paper off-screen. Reading it, he announced, Well, well, well! Looks like Junko managed to complete her challenge also!" and the scoreboard was updated again.
"You did it, Sayaka!"
Leon dug up the spot where Sayaka was buried at and opened her box and helped her out. "You lasted the fifteen minutes!"
"Yeah..." Sayaka weakly hugged Leon, an exhausted expression on her face. "I did..."
Back at the music venue, Ryoma was being hoistered up, a grin on his face and two shiny rings on his finger as the scoreboard updated in favor of the Gophers.
"I hate bikes. I can't even stand seeing those metal contraptions of death!"
Kaede and Chris stood near the entrance of the beach, a bicycle sitting in front of the former.
"Alright, Kaede!" Chris told her. "For your challenge, you'll ride this bike from here, all the way down to the ranch." He pointed to said ranch in the distance. "You got that?"
"S-Sure..." Kaede replied uncertainly, strapping on her helmet.
Chris gave the girl a pat on the back, and she stared down the bike, then looked back up to see Chris had already disappeared. She looked behind her briefly, then took a double-take to see Kaito trudging up, and she managed a small smile.
"Hey, Kaito. Did you complete your challenge?"
Kaito awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I'd, uh, rather not talk about it. What about you, though? Looks like you're about to complete yours."
"Yeah..." Kaede replied, looking back at the bike. "But... I don't know if I can do this..."
"Hey, you've totally got this, Kaede!" Kaito assured. "Here, I'll help you!"
Before Kaede could protest, Kaito grabbed her arm and sat her on the bike, holding her in place. Gripping the handlebars harder than she probably needed to, she let out a shaky breath. "O-Okay... I've got this... Um, I don't know how to ride a bike, actually. What do I do first?"
"Alright, first I want you to keep one foot on the ground and place your other on the pedal."
Kaede did so, placing her right foot on the ground and her left foot on the pedal; Kaito placed his hands around her waist and straightened her posture. Kaede blushed slightly and coughed. "O-Okay... What's next?"
"Now, you're gonna glide. Push yourself off using your foot, and make sure to keep your balance." Kaito kept one hand on Kaede's back as Kaede began to push herself forward. "See? You're already doing great! Look at where you wanna go, and try steering the bike. I'll still be holding onto you, I promise."
Kaede whimpered, but began to slowly veer towards the right.
"Alright, now the last thing you're gonna do is start pedaling. Keep gliding, but put your right foot on the pedal, too."
"Y-You're still going to hold onto me, right...?" Kaede asked.
"Yep."
Kaede let out another shaky breath and put her other foot on the pedal. She began to take off at a steady pace, and Kaito silently removed his hands from Kaede.
"You're doing great, Kaede!" Kaito exclaimed.
"Thanks, I—Wait, what?" Kaede looked behind her to see Kaito was gone. Forcing herself not to panic, she kept her eyes locked on the path in front of her. Her legs kept pedaling involuntarily and she didn't stop until she was forcibly stopped by a pair of strong arms. "Huh?"
Kaede slowly looked up to see Kaito smiling down at her. "You did it, Kaede!"
"I...did?" Kaede blinked and examined her surroundings to see that she was, in fact, at the ranch. Stepping off the bike, she sent a pointed glare at Kaito. "You said you'd be holding onto me the whole time!"
Kaito simply just patted her back with a grin. "Hey, at least you got over your fear, right?"
Kaede rolled her eyes at him. "Not really. At least I won't have to do that again. Hopefully."
"Well, it's the end of the day," Maki noted, looking up at the sky.
"Indeed," Kirumi replied.
The scoreboard was updated as Maki spoke again as she raised a hand to her bow. "Glad I can take this off."
Kirumi's lips curled into a smile. "May I help you?"
Leon walked by in the background, noticing the scene and tugging at his suit. "Is it finally the end of the day?" Kirumi nodded. "Thank god, I can take this stupid shit off now."
Tenko, along with the rest of the Killer Bass, were gathered at the ranch.
"Those little...dogs."
She clung onto Junko's arm with a terrified expression as she stared down her personal terror: an all-white maltese dog being tied to a leash held by Chef.
"Just one pet, and you're done," Chris said.
"O-Okay..." Tenko replied, but made no attempt to move.
Junko smiled reassuringly as she placed a warm hand on Tenko's arm. "Hey, you can do this, Tenko. I know you can do this. You're a strong girl."
Tenko looked at the other girl, gulped, and took a deep breath. "Yeah. I—I can do this."
Shooting a nervous smile at Junko, she made her way over to the small animal. The dog gave a few short barks and seemed to smile up at her. Tenko flinched slightly, but carefully stretched out her hand, closed her eyes, and slowly petted the dog.
Her teammates cheered, and the scoreboard updated.
"Alright, boys and gals! We're in the ninth inning, just one more challenge to go!"
Chris, and all of the campers, stood beside a tall ladder that led up to a diving platform, which led down to a large tub fill of an unidentifiable substance.
"Celeste!" Chris continued, turning to said girl. "You're up!"
"Excuse-moi? But I did not tell anyone my fear," Celestia replied, quickly realizing her slip and adding, "not that I have one, of course."
"I know," Chris replied. "But we're always watching you and your reactions!"
Celestia flinched slightly as the plate nearly touched her hands. "Er, your hands are clean, correct?"
"No," Celestia replied sharply. "Like I said, I was just simply being cautious."
Celestia grimaced.
"All you have to do is dive right in," Chris explained, motioning over to the diving board and tub, "and you'll win the whole challenge for your team."
Celestia sighed. "I suppose I have no choice, do I?"
"That's the spirit!" Chris exclaimed, parting her on the shoulder.
"Hey, what is that, anyways?" Kokichi asked in a maliciously loud tone as Celestia began to climb the ladder.
"Can't say," Chris replied. "Wouldn't be as bad if she knew what it was."
Celestia glared down at the two before climbing the final steps up to the platform, and that expression quickly turned to fear.
"You've got this, Celes!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Just jump already!" Hiyoko shouted.
Despite the encouragement of her teammates, Celestia still found herself hesitating as she peeked down at the tub.
"Seriously?! Why isn't she jumping?" Junko complained at the sight. "You know what? I'm pushing her off myself."
"Junko, wait—"
By the time Makoto had whipped around to stop her, though, Junko was already at the ladder and climbing it.
"What are you—" Celestia started once she noticed Junko was now standing on the platform with her.
"It's for the good of the team!" Junko justified, pushing the other girl.
However, Celestia had managed to snag onto part of Junko's shirt, leading to a struggle between the two, which ended in both girls falling off the platform and into the tub. When the two emerged, they were covered in the mysterious substance.
Chris chuckled as he walked over. "That was awesome!"
"For you, maybe," Junko groaned, pulling herself out. "What was that, anyways?"
"Oh, just some rainwater, grease, and stuff we found lying around in Chef's kitchen," Chris replied non-chalantly.
Celestia shuddered at that reply, and then puked.
"Good news, though, is that the Killer Bass is safe from elimination tonight!"
The Bass erupted into a round of cheers, much to the Gophers' dismay.
Sundown approached the island, and the losing team sat around the lit campfire pit, the majority of them with marshmallows already in their hands.
"There are only two marshmallows left on this plate," Chris announced, looking between Komaru, Mikan, and Kaito. "The three of you did not complete your challenges today. One of you is going home tonight and cannot return. Ever."
The three teens glanced at each other in dread.
"The next name I'm gonna call..." Chris continued. "Kaito!"
Kaito bounced up with a smile to collect his marshmallow, leaving the two girls to stare at Chris in fear.
"The final marshmallow of the night goes to..."
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Mikan!"
Mikan smiled in relif as she got up to get her marshmallow, and Komaru let out a breath.
"Aw..." Komaru hung her head as she stood up. "Well, I guess this was inevitable. See you later, everyone." With one final sigh, she made her way to the Dock of Shame.
"Well, there you have it," Chris exclaimed, turning to the camera. "The Gophers are now down another player. What will the next episode hold for our campers? Find out next time on... Total! Drama! Island!"
Killer Bass - Celestia, Hiyoko, Junko, Leon, Makoto, Sayaka, Tenko, Yasuhiro
Screaming Gophers - Kaede, Kaito, Kirumi, Kokichi, Maki, Mikan, Rantaro, Ryoma
Eliminated - Toko, Mondo, Shuichi, Ibuki, Kazuichi, Komaru
Author's Note: Yeah, this was a hard chapter to write, not gonna lie. At least I won't have to worry about it ever again.
Anyways, what were your thoughts on this chapter? Opinions about the fears?
Alright, let me cut to the chase here: booting Komaru here was a last-minute decision. I just felt like the person I originally intended to eliminate here had more than her.
Also, confession: I've never ridden a bike before. So, you can thank Wikihow for the bike riding instructions, lol.
Alright, that's all I wanted to say. I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you next time!