Izzy and Merida were fast asleep in bed, snuggling together peacefully when the princess' phone started buzzing again. Only this time it seemed more frantic, so it made them both wake up. The archer rolled over and picked her phone up, answering the call and bringing it to her ear.

"What?" She tiredly hissed as Izzy buried her face in her own pillow. "Me and Izzy are trying to sleep!"

"Look, I get that", Caleb's voice sounded off from the other end. "But I just needed to make sure you both were okay. The others were really worried when you were eliminated, and because we never got a chance to call you about Izzy. So… Yeah…"

"But you wanted to leave us be?" The princess rubbed her face, trying to wake up a bit more.

"Yeah, I did. Because I knew you two needed to be alone. The last thing you need is to have all of us fussing over you two constantly. Plus… I mean, there's not a whole lot we can do that doesn't involve us literally interfering with the show. So yeah…"

The archer nodded and tuned her whole body so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her bare feet resting on the carpeted floor. "Aye, yeah, that makes sense… How's Baby, by the way?"

"She's honestly back to her old self… for the most part." Caleb sighed. "She's okay, but is refusing to go back to her pizzeria. We still don't have the full picture yet, but I do have a vague idea…"

"Cool, that's good to hear." Merida stretched and stood up, ruffling her messy bush of bed head. "Look, Caleb, I really think we should cut-"

"Wait wait wait!" Caleb said frantically. "Put me on speaker."

The princess fell silent, looking over her shoulder at her girlfriend, and did as she was told.

"Izzy?" Caleb asked through the speaker.

The Psycho Hose Beast tensed for a moment, then shifted to just barely look at the phone. "Y-Yeah…?"

"I… I miss you. I miss you both a lot. You have no idea how hard it was for me to not just run over there after the third Aftermath." Merida's eyes widened a bit in surprise as Izzy shifted more to look at the device. "You and Merida are both my sisters, and seeing you torn up so much because… because of something I did and allowed kills me."

Caleb sighed, then continued, his voice becoming a bit shaky. "I've been supporting both of you since the season began. And when you two kissed back in London… All of us here exploded in joy. He all love you two, and Zomboss distinctly said how he needed to be stopped by Amy and Rory from just kidnapping you…"

He bitterly laughed as the tearfulness in his voice became more prominent. "Just… Promise me you'll get here soon. We all miss you so much."

Izzy, at this point, was sitting up and crying. Her heart was touched, and she felt more at peace than ever before. She sniffled and nodded. "I-I promise, C-Caleb."

Caleb could be heard wetly chuckling. "I know you do, Iz. Now, before we wrap this up… I have one last little surprise…"

There was some mumbling, and then a shout. "WE LOVE YOU, IZ!"

Merida and Izzy were caught off guard to hear the whole group shout that, plus what seemed to be one new additional voice. But the sentiment and love was there, and it helped repair Izzy's heart that bit more.

"I-I love you guys, too…" She whispered shakily.

Caleb laughed with emotion. "Yeah… Well, I'll leave you two alone now. Merida, keep an eye on Izzy, and you have my permission to deck anyone in the face who decided to push Izzy or you around."

The princess giggled, feeling more awake than before. "Noted, you wee devil. Love you, I promise we'll be back soon."

"I know, Merry. Just look out for yourself right now."

The two callers shared a quiet goodbye, and as the princess set her phone back down, Izzy hugged her knees as tears silently rolled down her cheeks.

"You okay, Iz?" Merida asked, sitting down on the bed and leaning closer to the other redhead.

"I-I'm fine, Merry…" The wild child whispered shakily. "Just… E-Emotional, that's all…"

The princess nodded and leaned forward, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'm gonna go and get ready, okay? You just holler if you need me."

Izzy nodded, staring straight ahead as a whirlwind of emotions played behind her eyes. The princess frowned lightly as she walked into the bathroom. Turning on the light, she was somewhat thankful Izzy didn't wreck the light in here, as the room lit up as she hit the switch.

Even still, a part of her was mystified with modern technology.

But when one of your closest friends is a time trailing British alien, she's able to numb that feeling well.

Merida shook her head and went straight towards the shower. As she turned the water on and took a step back, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Seeing how much of a mess she was, she realised how Izzy probably didn't wash herself at all since showing up here. So as the water heated up, Merida left the bathroom and returned to the bedroom proper.

"Iz?" She asked the other redhead carefully. The wild child shook her head and looked up at the princess. "Did you ever have a shower at all yet?"

Izzy silently shook her head.

"Okay, thought so. C'mon." Meirda walked around and gently began to lift Izzy up. "You're having a bath to get all cleaned up. If you want to start feeling better, it starts there."

Izzy gasped as she was picked up, and tensed a bit as the archer carried her into the bathroom, took off all her clothes except her bra and underwear, and set her in the tub. The shower water soaked her in seconds, but Merida quickly closed the drain and switched the setting to the other tap.

As the warm water filled up the tub, Izzy parted her damp hair to glance at Merida with a sad look. "Why… are we doing this?"

"Because getting clean will help you feel better, Iz." The princess reached under the sink and pulled out some soap bottles. "Trust me." Izzy looked away silently and let the water pool up around her. Merida knelt beside the tub and stuck a hand in the water, feeling it fill up.

As the sound of the running water acted as the only break against the silence, the princess looked up at her girlfriend, mainly at her broken outlines. With a gentle hand, she reached forward and lightly touched the broken black line, and smoothed it out. Almost as if by magic, the outline reformed against Izzy's body, sending a chill across the Psycho Hose Beast's body. Merida pursed her lips and did the same to all the rest of the broken bits of outline.

When she was done, and Izzy's outline was fully repaired, the water was at a sufficient height. So Merida turned off the tap and got to work, scrubbing Izzy's body and hair gentle with the many different soaps. As the cleaning went on, the wild child leaned more and more into Merida's gentle touch, her eyes closing as she shut out all the noise.

The princess herself smiled at the sight, and continued to wash Izzy's body and hair gently. After she was entirely soaped up, Merida began to wash Izzy down with the water. Once all the soap was gone, Merida unplugged the tub, pulled Izzy out of the water and onto the tilted floor, and started drying her off with one of two towels.

After a moment, Izzy wiggled free and wrapped the towel around herself. "You have your shower, Merry. I'll… I'll get ready. I'll be okay."

Izzy smiled at her girlfriend as she left the bathroom, leaving Merida standing there, slightly damp. She chuckled a bit and got her shower set back up again, ready to get all freshened up after a complete shitshow of a reality show. Because after this, she could relax. Maybe help Izzy's clean their resort room a bit, but otherwise they could just relax.

But just before she could start getting undressed, she heard a knock at the door into the hallway.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she glanced at the closed closet door, then made her way to the locked door. The vanity was moved aside, something Merida did last night before going to bed (she definitely remembered that), and unlocked the door. Poking her head out the slight opening.

And right there was Owen, smiling like he always does. "Hey Merry! How are you and Iz doing?"

The princess shrugged as she stood up more relaxed. "It's been okay. I got Iz to wash up, and she's getting changed. I was about to get showered myself."

Owen looked the princess' body up and down, and blushed. "O-Oh! I didn't mean to… bother you!"

Merida shook her head. "It's fine, Big O. I'm used to people seeing me like this." She then shot him a curious look. "Why are you here anyway?"

The blonde boy perked up. "Oh, right! See, we have the last Aftermath today, so you two getting ready is great. Because Geoff, Bridgette and Blaineley want everyone there…"

Merida's curious look became tense as she looked over her shoulder towards the closed closet door, which had become eerily silent. It definitely said a lot to the other two who became more nervous. But Merida pushed it aside and faced Owen again.

"I'll talk to her, but I want you to find Eva and Noah and bring them back here. I got an idea, and I need all of you here." She paused. "Also get Gwen and Courtney here."

The lovable lug nodded and then smiled. "You got it, Merry!" He ran off, and Merida closed and locked the door. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the closet door and knocked on it.

"Iz?"

"I'm o-okay", Izzy stammered. "I… I-I do want to go and… be on the Aftermath…"

"We'll make it so you aren't uncomfortable, Iz, I promise." The princess pressed her hand against the door, and took a step back as Izzy exited the closet. She was only partially dressed, but she looked so much better.

Merida smiled, and leaned in a bit more. The two girls shared a kiss, and parted a second later. "Go have your shower, Merry. I'll be okay."

Merida smiled and went to shower, while Izzy took a deep breath and reentered the closet. Looking at herself in the mirror, she adjusted her shirt slightly. It was one that was from her luggage, which Eva slipped under a few days ago. It was a plain green, but it was in proper condition.

She slipped on her jacket, got on a new pair of jeans, and slipped her boots on. Looking herself over in the mirror, she looked almost identical to when this whole season started.

Only difference was the fact her braids were undone, and her face was still tear-stained with deep bags under her bloodshot eyes.

Even with her clashing appearance… She found the minor will to crack a small smile.

After doing some last little adjustments, she left the closet just as Merida (with towels wrapped around her hair and body) pulled in her own luggage from inside, with Noah, Eva, Owen, Gwen and Courtney glancing inside. When they saw Izzy, they all gave her careful smiles.

Izzy, feeling a bubble of uneasiness well inside her, turned and walked swiftly behind the corner towards the bed so she was completely out of view. Merida watched her go with a slight frown, then looked at the others.

"Let me get changed and we'll talk." When she got nods, she closed the room door and headed into the closet. Shuffling through her bags , she pulled out her usual dress and all the associated clothing, and quickly put it all on. Looking herself over in the mirror, she smiled as she brushed the last few wrinkles out of her dress, made sure her bow and quiver were on her person, and left the closet.

Glancing over at Izzy, she saw the wild child was on the bed, a complicated look on her face as she surfed on her phone, so Merida left her alone and exited the room. She closed the door behind herself, and faced Team E-Scope and the two ex-Amazons.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Gwen asked.

"I had an idea", Noah brought up, earning everyone's attention. "I say we all sit around Izzy to try and block the camera's view of her. Lunchbox", the bookworm pointed at Owen, "You'll act as the main wall, while Eva and Court will act as the support. Then it's me and Gwen doing what we can, while Merida sits right next to Izzy to keep her calm and grounded."

Eva crossed her arms and nodded. "Not bad, Noah. I'm up for that. Plus, as long as me and Court are around, the staff will back off."

The Type A nodded in affirmation. "Yes, I like this idea. After everything this show has done to all of us, this gives me a break from everyone who's been giving me a headache."

Owen glanced at Merida, who was listening to everything intently. "What about you, Merry? Do you like the idea?" Everyone glanced at her, and she nodded.

"We'll do that, but I have one request." The others nodded as the princess' tone became more stern. "Don't bombard Iz with questions, and if anyone else asks her something, step in. At least until me, Gwen and Court can join everyone. Okay?"

Everyone nodded, and Merida walked back up to the door. She knocked, and made her tone more gentle.

"Iz… We need to get going. Your friends will make sure everyone stays back, so you don't have to worry about anything, okay?"

There was no response for a while before Izzy opened the door just a bit, looking Merida in the eye. She then glanced at the others, a nervous look crossing her face.

"D-Do you guys promise…?"

They all smiled. "We promise, Iz", Noah said firmly. "After everything, we aren't gonna let anything happen to you."

Izzy gave them all a long look, then opened the door a bit more and timidly stepped out. Owen immediately jumped into action, blocking one end of the hall, glaring down it defiantly. The wild child looked up at him in surprise, only to smile weakly in warmth.

"Alright, we should get going. We'll catch you guys later." Noah said as he led Team E-Scope down the hall to wherever the Aftermath was being held this time.

As the three ex-Amazons watched them disappear around the corner, Merida gained a hard scowl. "Alright, girls. We got just this left and then the finale. Do you know where we need to go?"

Gwen nodded. "Bridgette told me earlier, c'mon." The goth led the way, and the two girls followed after them. As they walked, they sparked up conversation about everything that they missed. Mainly about the last episode, as both redheads missed the live viewing.

But Merida didn't care about that.

~X~

Izzy remained huddled up next to Owen as Team E-Scope took up the entire left side of the new Aftermath set up, with only Beth and DJ with them. Four couches were on either side, with one in the middle with a TV screen suspended above. In the centre of the setup was a short white coffee table, which added to the overall cosiness of the set up.

Another important note was that they were on the beach, the waves pushing against the shore behind them as palm trees offered partial shade. Izzy didn't really mind, to be honest, as all it meant was that she had a way to get some more proper fresh air after almost two weeks cooped up inside.

Owen shifted a bit as the camera crew turned the cameras on, making sure Izzy was totally hidden as much as possible. Eva, who was sitting on the lower couch, straightened herself up to look more imposing. Noah was on Izzy's opposite side, giving the cameras a side-eye.

"You doing okay, Iz?" Noah asked quietly.

The wild child nodded, not paying anyone else but her friends any mind as she stared at her phone. "I'm doing… Okay. Just… nervous. Trying to ignore everyone."

The bookworm nodded as he glanced at the others on the other two couches opposite of them. They all looked over, but he could see the nervousness and apprehension in their eyes as they occasionally glanced at the Psycho Hose Beast. They were all clearly nervous, worried Izzy would blow up again.

And based on how the three Aftermath hosts talked quietly just out of view from the cameras, clearly setting up some sort of contingency plan in case things went south.

After a bit, Geoff walked into the centre of the hosts' couch, flashing the cameras his signature confident grin. "Yo world! Welcome to Total Drama Aftermath, coming to you live from the tropical shores of Hawaii!"

"After travelling all around the world", Bridgette said as she joined her boyfriend. "We all deserve a shot of paradise to cap things off!"

"And we are relaxing here solo, oh no", Blaineley added as she joined the other two blondes. "Because we've got our familiar bunch of losers to join us! Say a fond hello to our Peanut Gallery!" Everyone sans Izzy and Eva smiled or waved at the camera as it panned over them all.

"We're just two episodes away from claiming this season's million dollar winner!" Geoff announced happily. "And right here is where it's all going to go down!" There was audience cheering that played out from some speakers, and the level of fakeness made Izzy roll her eyes and try to hide even more behind Owen.

The three hosts noticed this, and their smiles became a bit more strained. But they ignored it. "First up today", Bridgette said as she tried to not let the tension build up, "Let's say hey to our friends who lost their chance but are here with us now. Give it up for…" She gestured to the side. "Gwen, Courtney, Tyler, Duncan and Merida!" As each of them were called, an intern roughly shoved them into frame one by one.

Courtney struggled to keep balance, Duncan fell to the ground, and Merida glared at the pusher.

"Why were we introduced with Tyler and… Jerkface", the Ex-CIT spat bitterly, scowling at her ex-boyfriend viciously. The jock looked semi nervous until he met Lindsay's eyes, and he ran over to his girlfriend happily.

"We're doing things way differently today!" Geoff said jovially.

"Different how, exactly?" Gwen said flatly. "We always do something different with these Aftermaths."

"Just have a listen to what I have to say, Gwendolyn!" Blaineley said smugly. "Because the Peanut Gallery will get to have a say in going to win the million dollars!"

"I bloody sure hope so", Merida snarled as she moved to join Team E-Scope. "Because after everything that happened on this show, I know two certain people that don't deserve a single cent." She made her way up and sat right beside Izzy, grabbing her hand to help keep her comforted. Courtney sat on Eva's right as Gwen sat on Eva's left, all six contestants forming a defensive wall around the Psycho Hose Beast.

"I'm banking on Cody to win this", Noah said out loud. "As a fellow nerd and because he's the only decent guy left on that trash fire of a show."

"That's if he and the others live long enough to compete", Harold said bluntly. "They're stranded in Drumheller. Where the number one cause of death… is being stranded in Drumheller."

"Are we sure they're going to get here okay?" Bridgette asked her two co-hosts.

Blaineley opened her mouth to respond, only to clam up when a look of worry flashed on her face. "I honestly don't know."

"Relax dudettes!" Geoff reassured the two of them. "These guys are survivors! Look at Heather! She's like a Total Drama Cockroach!"

"I thought that was Ezekiel", Duncan said boredom from the right most couch.

Merida perked an eyebrow. "Where is Ezekiel anyway? I haven't seen him around here at all."

Geoff winced, Bridgette looked down a bit sadly, and Blaineley sighed heavily. "After you ratted him out", Mildred explained. "He showed up to the resort in the state he was in. But when he started getting really jumpy and bitey, the producers sent him to a rehab centre nearby to hopefully make him sane enough to hang around during the finale."

"It's why we needed the double elimination in China", the surfer girl explained. "But we're getting off track."

"The point is they'll get here one way or another", Geoff said impatiently, then looked back at the camera with a grin. "And you;ll know it'll be exciting, no matter how it goes down! So, who does the Peanut Gallery think will win?"

As a typical luau guitar beat started to play, Merida rolled her eyes and leaned against Izzy more. "You okay?"

Izzy watched Courtney and Harold get into a bit of a rap/sing battle for control, despite both of them being on Cody's side of support. She was silent, and her eyes looked to be unfocusing a bit as the TV showed clips from earlier in the show, depicting the current final three's best moments.

"I'm fine…" Izzy whispered in a meek tone, leaning against Merida more for support. The princess looked at the TV screen, and her heart dropped at the sight of a clip depicting Izzy exploding at Alejandro in the Amazon started playing out.

With a ferocious glare, the princess stood up and took out her bow. Pulling an arrow out of her quiver, she drew it back and aimed at the table in front of the cringing hosts. Noah and Owen saw what she was doing, and were the only ones aside from Izzy to notice. But they didn't do anything to stop her.

The archer drew back the arrow at full strength, aimed right at the centre of the screen, and fired. The pointed stick flew through the air and smashed into the table, cracking it and bringing an abrupt end to the music. Everyone gasped at the arrow in the table, then looked over at the princess who was glaring with a venomous fire in her eyes.

"Get on with the bloody show!" She barked at the three hosts. "Otherwise one of you will be taking the next arrow!"

Geoff swallowed nervously as Bridgette winced. Courtney and Harold gave the original TDI couple their microphones and returned to their seats, and Blaineley tried to rein everything back in.

"I honestly was going to cut the music off there anyway", the hostess said. "Anyway, before the Peanut Gallery raises their flags to show us who they're rooting for, let's see how our finalists match up to one another!" Mildred gestured to the TV above, and three cards slid on screen.

Each one depicted a finalist, and as the cards shuffled about, Geoff eagerly introduced the 'Oh, Trauma!' segment, which went over all three finalists and their feats. The hosts described each of them, but Izzy tuned it all out.

She didn't care who won. She just wanted to go home. Go home and never look back on this show again.

She was just done, and was regretting letting her friends talk her into this.

Izzy was especially out of it when the hosts moved onto Alejandro and Heather, and while she did feel Merida's anger when her two rivals were mentioned, the Psycho Hose Beast wasn't pulled out of her funk. She just remained how she was, a complicated, unreadable expression on her face as she stared out towards the ocean.

She was partially snapped out of it when Merida gave her a flag with Cody's face on it. They were joined by the rest of Team E-Scope, Gwen and Courtney. As well as DJ, Trent, Leshawna, Beth, Harold and Justin. Alejandro only had Tyler, Lindsay, Katie and Sadie for support, which wasn't surprising. And Heather had… No one.

The three hosts noticed the fact that the infamous Queen Bee didn't have any supporters, which made them cringe just a bit. "Well, it looks like the Peanut Gallery has spoken!" Blaineley announced. "When we come back, our lovable bunch of losers will duke it out to see which of their chosen winners will get a juicy advantage in the finale. Right here on Total… Drama… Aftermath!"

The camera crew turned the cameras off and gestured that they were off the air. Blaineley sighed and adjusted her hair as Bridgette called all the Peanut Gallery off the couches and to follow her.

Team E-Scope all shared looks, and with Merida in the lead they followed the third of the hosting team up a hill to a cliff that showed a fairly picturesque spot next to a waterfall and running river.

The camera crew followed after, but Izzy was still somewhat in a catatonic state even as the cameras started rolling again. Owen did his part and blocked Izzy from view from the cameras, with Eva and Courtney keeping everyone else separated from her.

But as Bridgette started speaking again, Izzy wandered off into the jungle, away from the group. Merida, Noah and Gwen noticed, and the princess nodded.

"Cover for us…" She whispered to her friends before chasing after Izzy.

As Bridgette's voice got quieter and quieter, Merida finally caught up to Izzy. The princess saw her messing with her phone, looking a bit desperate.

"Iz? What's going on?" The princess walked up to her partner, only to stop when the wild child looked at her in desperation.

"I'm done, Merida!" She cried. "I'm done waiting around on this stupid show! I'm tired of waiting for it to end while I'm clearly not wanted. So I'm just going home. I'm going home and never looking back. Then when the show is over, I can head back to my house with my mom, and be happy!"

The archer's expression became sombre as Izzy didn't call her house 'home'. "Iz… I know this is hard. But remember what Gladius told us: Running away won't solve our issues. You need to stop running and hiding."

Izzy swallowed thickly, and dropped her phone as her arms went limp. "But… But I need this, Merry…" Tears pooled in her eyes. "I need to talk to the others… I just can't keep this up anymore, Merry…"

Merida pursed her lips, giving her partner a long and hard look. After a moment, she sighed, and gave her a gentle look. "Okay. We can go and visit them till Cody and the others are just about to show up. And then we're coming right back here for the finale, okay?"

Izzy's body shook as she nodded, and she frantically picked her phone back up. She opened the app to get a portal opened…

Only for Team E-Scope, Gwen and Courtney to walk through the thicket just as a portal opened.

The two redheads looked back at their friends as they all shared wide-eyed, shocked looks, and Izzy felt like she was going to faint.

"What is going on?!" Noah cried out in surprise.

Merida looked at Izzy, seeing how terrified she was, took a deep breath, and faced the group with a stern look. "At this point, I think you lot need to learn what's really going on with… all of this…"

~X~

And this is it, people! Two more chapters of the proper story are left, four if you include the epilogue and credits. This… This is it.

Now, not a lot to say, but yeah, Team E-Scope and our favourite Goth & Ex-CIT duo are going to get roped into a lot of craziness, so look forward to that when it comes to that point. Because let's just say… This is when things change a lot for this series as a whole.

Also, you may have noticed that all the Aftermath chapter titles actually say a sentence. It was fun coming up with it. What's it say?

My face feels fake, and when I smile, it hurts till I cry.

Yeah, enjoy that shot to the heart.

So yeah, hope you all liked this chapter! I really enjoyed writing the first part, with Izzy and Merida finally having a moment of peace after being apart for so long.

Up next: Team E-Scope, Gwen and Courtney finally learn the truth as to what has been happening with Izzy, who Merida really is… and all these mysterious friends they kept mentioning.

Time for a reunion.

~Caleb~