Review Responses
Gucci Mane LaFlare- Glad you liked the Aftermath chapter and that your character was able to get a small moment despite still being in the game itself. Always fun to have bonus footage when possible.
SinWriter7- I appreciate the commitment to backreading and commenting on all the previous chapters so much. I've loved reading what you have to say about the characters still in as well as those eliminated, and that the aftermath was a lot of fun for you to read through. Things are going to get intense from here.
Nikolai777- Love the insight into which characters would work best to come back as well as what could potentially be done with them. I'll definitely try to have more interactions between the eliminated characters in the next Aftermath since I agree that is part of the fun of seeing them back again. Still I'm glad you loved the mess Blainley had to deal with and how nothing went her way at all despite her attempts to stir up the drama.
Guest- I miss this story too... which is why it's not only back but in the finishing stages.
Last time on Total Drama Rebirth of the Island. Blainley hosted an Aftermath Special taking a look back at our past losers this season. She tried to get the losers to crack, but they didn't fall for her games and turned the special on her instead. We got to see special never before seen bonus footage and got the dirt on what exactly the losers have been up to since their sixty seconds of fame. Gonzo showed off his several ship shirts and Dante actually apologized to someone else. Maddie had her baby kitten dyed blue after all without Nicky's consent, and Wallace made his first friend. The most special treat of the day however was the announcement that two losers would be making their way back into the game. Who were the losers that fans gave another chance to and how will their return impact the game? Find out as we finally return to Total Drama Rebirth of the Island.
(Dear Mom and Dad I'm doin' fine,)
The opening begins with a quick pan of the Island. It passes by Chris who is relaxing while his interns tend to him. There is a quick pan towards the tallest cliff.
(You guys are on my mind)
On the top of the cliff Gonzo cannonballs off into the water.
(You asked me what I wanted to be and now I think the answer is plain to see,)
In the water below Kai is seen surfing. Gonzo's cannonball causes him to crash onto the shore where Nadine was building a sand castle.
(I wanna be famous)
Kai looks embarrassed about ruining her sand castle, but Nadine laughs it off. Nearby, Maximilian is looking around with a metal detector. Seeing Kai and Nadine rebuilding her sand castle he runs over to help them.
(I wanna live close to the sun,)
Over in the forest Ciara is trying to first with Wallace. Wallace quickly runs away from her.
(Go pack your bags, 'cause I've already won,)
Ciara sits down on a tree stump saddened that she was rejected again. Nicky hands Ciara her guitar in an attempt to cheer her up. They start to play their instruments together until they notice Maddie attempting to start a fire and rush to make sure she doesn't set the entire forest on fire.
(Everything to prove, nothing in my way I'll get there one day.)
Inside the Mess Hall Clifford and Kyoko are comparing sketches they made of each other with Clifford looking skeptical of what is supposed to be him. Next to them Johnathan and Dante are arm wrestling. While Johnathan seems to be having a good time Dante looks frustrated. Dante suddenly gets up and runs out leaving Johnathan confused for a moment until Brett takes Dante's place and they begin to arm wrestle with Brett's shirt sleeve ripping.
(Cause, I wanna be famous!)
Outside the Mess Hall Zelda and Anthony are working on an invention together while Sarah and Kyle watch them. Dante suddenly shows up, grabs Zelda, and carries her away over his shoulder. Sarah, Anthony, and Kyle are left unsure of what just happened.
(Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!)
Nearby at the cabins Tom and AJ are reading books while Lucy writes in her Diary. Miriam is next to them dancing to her music. Unable to concentrate Tom shuts his book and angrily walks away while pulling out a pen and notepad. Genevieve turns off Miriam's music also annoyed causing Miriam to glare at Genevieve who simply ignores her and walks away filing her nails.
(I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous)
At the dock Koh is spying on Chris' interns. She heads off trying not to be seen by them when she bumps into Aiden. Aiden extends his hand offering to help her up, but she pushes him away getting up on her own. She notices the interns are now gone and angrily storms away from Aiden while the camera pans into the sky.
(I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous)
Transition to night where all the contestant are sitting around the campfire. In the center AJ looks over at Tom briefly and blushes hiding behind her book. Tom is about to reach over to her when the campfire suddenly goes crazy. Maddie is shown having added extra fuel to the fire. The contestants all run off with the fire out of control.
(Whistling in tune)
The fire consumes the screen and it turns black until the logo shows up.
The contestants were gathered around the beach enjoying their earned break from challenges. Genevieve was relaxing under a large beach parasol, while Miriam, Johnathan, Kyoko, and Clifford played a game of two on two volleyball. Ciara was working on her suntan and Nicky sat next to her tuning her violin. Tom and AJ were sitting very close to each other reading a book together, and Lucina was sitting at the edge of the beach with her feet dipped into the ocean. Everyone was having fun and taking the time to themselves, except for Zelda who was notably pacing around impatiently and tapping her foot every so often in between paces. Seeing her so nervous Johnathan called a break from the volleyball game and ran over to her.
"What's on your mind that you can't take a moment to enjoy such a nice day on the beach?" Johnathan asked her.
Zelda jumped back slightly startled by Johnathan's sudden question, but composed herself and looked at him seriously. "Chris could announce a challenge any day now and yet everyone is still acting so nonchalant. The break was really nice but don't you think we should be ready for when it's time to start competing again?" She asked him.
"You're worrying to much. Come on everyone else is able to enjoy themselves you should too. I think Clifford is getting ready to tap out if you want take his place in playing some volley with us." He offered.
Zelda stood firm and crossed her arms. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not trying to sound mean here, but it wouldn't hurt you to treat something seriously for once you know." She told him.
Johnathan smiled back at her. "Maybe you're right, but it wouldn't hurt you to stop worrying and just have some fun. You're way too tense." Johnathan told her. Before Zelda could respond back to Johnathan he suddenly picked her up and carried her over his shoulder.
"Johnathan!" Zelda screamed out in surprise. "This is not funny put me down!" She yelled at him.
"Sorry I can't hear you over the sound of the fun we're having." Johnathan told her laughing in response.
Johnathan continued laughing holding Zelda over his shoulder, but as he turned around he was suddenly met with Lucina glaring at him strongly. "Put her down now." Lucina told Johnathan her voice incredibly cold.
"Alright let's chill out it was just a joke between friends." Johnathan said putting Zelda down. "No hard feelings alright I was just trying to get you to loosen up a bit." Johnathan told Zelda.
"It's fine no hard feelings as long as you don't do that again." Zelda said adjusting her glasses and fixing her hair.
(Confessional Camera)
"Lucy has been a lot scarier ever since all the stuff with Koh went down." Johnathan said. "I get it I guess I went a bit far with that joke, but still." He said.
(Confessional End)
"I suppose that he won't be returning to finish the game." Clifford said holding the volleyball and looking over to Johnathan who was still poking at Zelda much to the annoyance of Lucina.
"I'm surprised that you and Kyoko managed to keep up as well as you did given neither of you are really the athletic type." Miriam told Clifford.
Kyoko beamed with pride and looked fondly over at Clifford. "Just goes to show how well the two of us work together even in harder situations." She said.
(Confessional Camera)
"I typically avoid unnecessary sports due to already having to deal with muscle headed sports obsessed idiots at home, but I will not pass up on any opportunity to cement my partnership with Kyoko. Our team may have suffered constant failure after failure, but having someone who is not only reliable but who I can trust to follow my plans completely is a benefit nonetheless." Clifford said.
(Confessional End)
The contestants relaxation and fun was interrupted by the familiar sound of an airhorn sounding across the camp speakers. "Hello Campers I hope you've missed me!" Chris said making his presence known to the contestants. "I know you've all been dying to get back to the fun and so in honor of the big day I have a few announcements. Meet me at the Mess Hall in ten minutes, and be ready for the biggest challenge yet." Chris announced.
Collective groans could be heard from the contestants who started packing up their things and heading back to the cabin to change. "Hell is empty and the devils are here." Tom said. AJ giggled in response causing Tom to smile at her.
(Confessional Camera)
"It's been hard getting to spend time with AJ ever since she got sent off to the other team and the teams switched up entirely. I can't even talk with her in between challenges because I'm constantly having to watch my back from Genevieve telling her and the others about the notes. I need to do something about Genevieve but I can't risk her knowing I'm planning anything." Tom said nervously.
(Confessional End)
At the Mess Hall the remaining eleven contestants gathered and awaited for Chris to deliver the announcements that he had promised. Chris and Chef walked in and took their place at the front of the Mess Hall.
"It's been too long since we last gathered around here and I hope you've all missed me as much as I've missed you." Chris told the contestants.
"If you ask me it wasn't long enough." Miriam muttered under her breath.
Chris ignored her statement and continued with his announcements. Now first off I want to congratulate all of you because we have officially hit the merge of the season. That's right teams are no more and it's officially every contestant for themselves until only one is left standing." Chris announced greeted with the cheers from everyone else.
"I can't believe that I actually made it to the merge." AJ said feeling proud of herself.
"You deserve it, we all do after all we've been through." Nicky told AJ smiling.
"I wouldn't say that we all do, but obviously I Genevieve Anastasia Brittany Adelyn Esmeralda Harper Elliandra Esquire deserve to have made it this far with relative ease I must say." Genevieve said.
Miriam rolled her eyes at smirked at Genevieve. "Well Princess you better be at your best because without teams to keep you safe there's more than once person gunning right for you."
(Confessional Camera)
"As much as I hate to say it the street rat does have a point I haven't exactly made more friends than enemies, not that I would even want to bother being friends with any pathetic little nobody here. With Aiden dropping out of the game I need to get on Clifford's good side and make him think I'm desperate enough to work for him. I'll need to make sure the lapdog doesn't interfere, but I can have Tom take care of that for me." Genevieve said scheming.
(Confessional End)
"As for the second announcement of the day while you were all having your little break the viewers at home got a chance to vote and we're having two losers get another shot at the prize money." Chris announced.
"How exactly is it fair that we work our way up to the merge and earn our spot here, while two losers get a free pass just because people felt pity for them being so pathetic and losing their chance." Genevieve complained.
(Confessional Camera)
"That being said I wouldn't complain if that beast Dante gets voted back into the game, because that would at least give me an opportunity to get rid of him myself and clean the blemish left on my perfect game by my meddling father." Genevieve said.
(Confessional End)
"You're only complaining because you know that nobody would ever vote you back into the game if they had the chance to." Zelda told Genevieve.
"I hope that Maddie gets to come back I really miss her and Nicole." Nicky said crossing her fingers.
"I wouldn't mind getting to spend some more intimate time with Dante." Ciara said putting extra emphasis on intimate.
Chris blew his airhorn getting their attention once more. "If we're done with the interruptions, as I was saying the losers we get to welcome back are Nadine and Kyle." Chris said.
Nadine and Kyle walked into the Mess Hall both feeling excited to be back as well as happy that they were chosen to get another chance in the game.
"I'm so excited to be back here again and I can't wait to get to spend more time with all of you again." Nadine said smiling and waving at the others.
"Last time I left on my own terms to clear my head, but this time I plan on making it to the end." Kyle said confidently. He looked over to where Lucina was sitting and smiled at her fondly.
(Confessional Camera)
"Kyle is back. That's a good thing right? I should be happy about that right?" Lucina asked herself. She instinctively reached for her diary to write in but then remembered that she didn't carry it around with her anymore. "It's okay I'm sure this will be fine." She said her breathing noticeably heavy.
(Confessional End)
"Alright with the teams dissolved the girls are going to be staying together in one cabin and the guys in another one. All four of them anyway." Chris said. "Get moved in and then meet me at the campfire pit for the biggest challenge yet." He said.
"You said that already." Miriam told Chris, however he just ignored her.
As everyone headed out Kyoko ran over to Clifford and gave him a tap on the shoulder. "Looks like we made it to the merge together partner." She told him eagerly.
Clifford chuckled at her and smiled back. "Naturally I expected to make it, but I am surprised that I managed to find an ally that not only is able to keep up with me, but one that I trust." He said.
"So I was thinking and we should probably get rid of Genevieve as soon as we can." Kyoko said.
Clifford's smile quickly disappeared and was met with a disapproving scowl instead. "I make the plans Kyoko keep that in mind moving forward. While I have no doubt you are capable of coming up with a strategy I already have my own plans that will benefit us both. As for Genevieve you will not move against her until I tell you." Clifford told her.
Kyoko sheepishly nodded her head. "Right sorry about that." She said before running off to catch up with the rest of the girls.
The contestants separated to their cabins to move their stuff and fit in the new arrangements. The guys were having no problem at all with only four of them left in the game they each had a bunk bed to themselves.
"I didn't notice how few of us guys were left until now." Tom said looking at the relatively empty cabin.
"Dudes we should totally form an alliance and work together to make sure we can keep up with the girls." Johnathan suggested.
"As surprising as it is that you of all people would suggest an alliance I'm going to have to decline as Kyoko and I are more capable on our own than we would be slowed down by the rest of you." Clifford replied back.
"I'll have to say no too." Kyle said shaking his head. "I just got back in the game and I think it's way too early for me to start thinking about teaming up with people or any kind of big plays." He said.
"I'm guessing you're going to stick with AJ then." Johnathan told Tom.
"I'm not too sure if I'm being honest. I was going to talk to AJ but she's pretty close with some of the other girls and might go with them instead. I had planned on asking Clifford if he wanted to continue working together, but he seems pretty set on working with Kyoko exclusively so I won't push." Tom said.
(Confessional Camera)
"Alliances aren't really my thing but hey it was worth a shot wasn't it. I remember one of the old seasons had a guys alliance and it went pretty well I think." Johnathan said.
(Switch)
"As much as I want to team up with AJ it's not the safest idea with Genevieve towering over me. I need to take her off the board and then I can not only win but I can finally get closer to AJ." Tom said.
(Confessional End)
While the guys settled in quickly and no problem at all, the girls on the other hand were all arguing and yelling at each other. They had nine people trying to fit into a cabin that only had a total of eight beds.
"I'm saying the easiest way to deal with this mess is to simply take Lucy and throw her outside. Her incessant nightmares are a constant burden and we would all rest easier if we didn't have to deal with the scream queen keeping us up so often." Genevieve argued.
"We're not throwing anyone out Princess, and if we were you would be much higher up on the list than Lucina." Miriam told her.
"Let's think about this practically we have eight beds and nine girls so all we need to do is temporarily share a bed until one of us gets eliminated." Zelda said.
"And who prey tell would be willing to share a bed because I can tell you right now that I refuse to be any closer to any of you than I already need to." Genevieve said.
Ciara rolled her eyes at Genevieve. "Nobody would even want to share a bed with you of all people in the first place." She said causing Genevieve to scowl at her in response.
"Nicky you and AJ are both pretty small it shouldn't be too much of a problem for you to share a bed would it?" Miriam asked them.
Nicky looked hesitantly at AJ an shook her head in disagreement. "It's nothing against you AJ, but I don't know how Maddie would feel about me sharing a bed with another girl while she's not here." Nicky said.
"No that's okay I was thinking the same thing." AJ responded.
"I would also like to politely decline I really don't sleep well with others and prefer my personal space too much." Kyoko said.
"I don't mind sharing a bed with anyone if it will make less problems for the group." Nadine offered.
Zelda shook her head at Nadine. "I appreciate the willingness, but you just got back in the game it would be pretty unfair of us to take advantage of you like that." She said with most of the other girls agreeing.
Ciara stepped next to Zelda and wrapped her arms around Zelda's waist. "If you want we can share the bed I mean we're basically already sisters so that shouldn't be a problem at all." She said.
(Confessional Camera)
"I don't know if it's because my brother got eliminated or she hasn't been able to flirt with anyone, but Ciara has been a bit too close to me lately and it's really starting to creep me out honestly." Zelda said rubbing her arm.
(Confessional End)
Zelda awkwardly squirmed her way out of Ciara's grip. "I don't think that would work no offense but you are a little bit bigger in some areas that can make sharing a bed a little bit difficult." She told Ciara.
"Well all the smaller girls already said no so we'll just have to make it work." Ciara told Zelda smiling.
Zelda gulped nervously then looked over at Lucina. "Not all of them." She said.
"You want to share a bed with me?" Lucina asked in shock. Zelda subtly mouthed out please which Lucina caught note of and nodded. "Okay we can make that work until a girl gets eliminated which hopefully won't take too long." She said.
"Well isn't that perfect the two insomniacs are going to be sharing a bed. Just make sure that the rest of us are still able to get the sleep that we need." Genevieve told Lucina and Zelda.
Lucina scowled and glared at Genevieve. "Zelda wouldn't have trouble sleeping if you hadn't taken her comfort object and thrown it into a fire pit." She snapped back.
Genevieve merely laughed in response. "This newfound backbone of yours is feisty, but don't think that in any way makes you a threat. You can act like you've changed and you're suddenly this cunning and cutthroat force, but you're still the sad little socially inept loser that you were before." She said before leaving the cabin.
"Can we all agree to vote her off the first chance that we get?" Zelda asked the group of girls. To her surprise however there was more quiet and unsure looks than she expected.
Miriam stepped forward and looked at Zelda seriously. "Listen brainiac I know you and princess have your history, and I'm no fan of hers eithers but blindly voting for her is the kind of play that she would want us to make and be prepared for. She's a class act bitch, but she's good at this game, and good at twisting things in her way so we need to play this smart." She said.
Zelda scoffed in disbelief. "You're really going to let her just stay in this game after all that she's done. She doesn't have any contingencies or allies she's just acting like she does, and even if she did somehow have an ally it's nowhere near enough to sway the votes in her favor as long as all of us are voting together against her." She argued.
"What makes you so sure of that? You can't even guarantee that none of us here are allied with her. Sure we might hate her as a person but when it comes to playing the game that's a different story and not a risk I'm going to take." Miriam said not budging on her stance.
"What about the rest of you?" Zelda asked the rest of the group.
"Genevieve scares me too much and I was planning on asking Tom if he wanted to vote together with me." AJ nervously mumbled.
"I would love to get rid of Genevieve trust me, but Clifford seems like he wants to keep her around longer, and I trust whatever it is that he has planned with her will lead to her elimination eventually." Kyoko told them.
"I just got back in the game it wouldn't be right for me to target someone as soon as I came back into the game." Nadine said.
"I'm sorry Zelda you know I'd love to help you out, but I need to play the game my way and getting rid of Genevieve just isn't a priority for me right now." Lucina told her looking away to avoid eye contact.
Zelda took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes in frustration. Nicky and Ciara moved to stand next to her. "Well if the rest of you don't have her back we do." Ciara said. "Genevieve needs to pay for what she put my dear Dante and my cute little sis through." Ciara said.
"I haven't forgotten about what she did to Maddie either so you can bet my vote is going to her." Nicky said in agreement.
(Confessional Camera)
"It's frustrating that the girls weren't on my side, but having three guaranteed votes against Genevieve is a start." Zelda said.
(Switch)
"I wasn't going to say this in front of Zelda, but aside from playing it safe keeping Genevieve around longer is a risk that I kind of need to take right now no matter how much I can't stand her smug attitude. I've done well in most of the challenges that we've had and I don't want the others to start thinking I'm too much of a threat now that the teams are gone. I need her to take the attention away from me for a bit." Miriam admitted.
(Confessional End)
At the campfire pit the remaining contestants had gathered around and Chris was standing in front of a wheel with several different numbers on it ranging from one to eleven on it. "Welcome contestants to the Gauntlet of the Past. Todays challenge will be an elimination style gauntlet where two contestants at a time will step up to spin the wheel. Each number on here matches with a past challenge that you've done this season. Whatever number it lands on both contestants will have to do a challenge based on that past challenge. The winner stays while the loser is kicked out of the challenge. Last contestant standing wins invincibility for the first ever merge vote." Chris explained to them.
"How will the match ups be decided?" Clifford asked Chris.
"The order that you'll go in has already been randomly selected. Speaking of which let's go ahead and get started with round one where we have Kyoko vs Kitty." Chris announced. Kyoko and Nicky stepped up to the wheel and spun it until it landed on number nine. "Looks like you're going to be competing in another game of SPORTSBALL!" Chris announced.
"That's the challenge that Maddie got eliminated in it's only fitting that I get to start here." Nicky said confidently.
"For your challenge you're going to compete in a mix of Fencing, Ice Hockey, and Cycling." Chris said. "Each of you will step into the Ice Rink and get onto one of the provided bicycles. Your goal is to complete a lap around the rink or try to knock your opponent off their bicycle using your rapiers." Chris explained.
Zelda raised her hand and Chris groaned in annoyance. "Chris fencing doesn't actually use a rapier while it may be similarly shaped fencing uses of of three different swords a foil, épée or saber." Zelda clarified.
"Thank you once again for information that nobody asked for or cared for." Chris said. "Now then let's get started.
Kyoko and Nicky entered the Ice Rink and got on top of the bicycles that they were given. The two struggled to keep their balance with the slippery floor of the Ice Rink making it difficult for the bicycles to go in the direction that they wanted them to. Kyoko attempted to thrust her sword towards Nicky's wheel in order to knock her down, but found herself unable to reach while also maintaining her own balance.
"Give it up Kyoko you can't focus on tripping me up and keep yourself from falling at the same time." Nicky yelled over at her.
"Maybe not but I don't have to stay on this thing forever, I just need to make sure that you fall off first." Kyoko shot back. Kyoko turned the wheels of her bicycle hard to the left causing her to slide across the floor. At the lower angle she was able to swipe her sword in between Nicky's front wheel getting the sword jammed and causing Nicky to tumble down and crash off her bicycle.
"Kyoko takes the first win and Nicky is eliminated from the challenge!" Chris announced.
Nicky got up and rubbed her knee sore from sliding across the ice after having tumbled off her bicycle. "I didn't see that move coming but it was a good play." Nicky told Kyoko.
"Next up we have Kyoko vs Kyle." Chris announced. Kyle stepped up and stood across from Kyoko. Chris spun the wheel and it landed on number five. "What irony we have challenge number five the same challenge that got Kyle eliminated last time Capture the Flag." He said.
"This is the perfect way to make my return to the game, by taking on the same challenge that got me out last time." Kyle said confidently.
"You'll have to get past me first Kyle and don't think I'm going to make that easy." Kyoko said.
"The two of you will compete in trying to return here with a flag. One flag is on the other side of the island completely unguarded and free to take. The other flag is surrounded by dangerous traps set to go off if you even try to take it. Go after which ever one you want and the first person back with a flag moves on." Chris explained.
Kyoko thought for a moment and rushed off to get the further flag. Kyle on the other hand made his way over to the closer flag and saw that Chris wasn't exaggerating about just how strong the defenses of the traps were. There was tripwire set around leading into an open pit, mines buried around, rope snares connected to nets, and a myriad of different security lasers. The flag itself was on a small set of land surrounded by a small moat of water filled with deadly piranhas.
"There's no way he'll be able to get through all of that before Kyoko makes it back." Clifford said confidently.
"Don't count him out yet Tom said noticing how Kyle carefully analyzed the traps before him.
Kyle started by using a small knife to cut the tripwire and rope snares safely setting off the traps. He grabbed the net and threw it across as had as he could the impact of the net detonating several of the buried mines and opening up a safe path to the security lasers. Kyle carefully studded the laser trying to find any pattern that he could and looked for an opening to rush in. As much as he tried though the lasers kept swapping through a random series with no pattern for him to take advantage of. Seeing as there wouldn't be a clean opening Kyle rushed in and dived in between a set of flashes his hat getting struck by the lasers and catching on fire causing him to ditch it. With the last trap remaining Kyle carefully approached the moat of piranhas. He ran back as far as he could without reaching the lasers behind him, and dashed to grab the flag in one clean jump over the moat. While he made it to the other side he barely missed the flag not being able to stretch his hand out far enough to grab it with his current momentum. Kyle shook his head determined to try again, but saw Kyoko running back with her own flag. Knowing that this would be his only chance Kyle ran back having more running room without the lasers and made another attempt at grabbing the flag from the piranha moat. Kyle grabbed the flag and cheered, however in his early celebration he accidentally lost his balance and slipped backwards into the piranha moat.
"Kyle." Lucina yelled out in concern and rushed over to try and help him.
"He'll be fine. Chef take Kyle to the medical bay for treatment and to remove some of those piranhas that are stuck onto him." Chris said.
(Confessional Camera)
"I'll remember to save the celebration until after the challenge is done next time." Kyle said his face noticeably filled with bite marks.
(Confessional End)
"That was close but Kyle's little slip up at the end means Kyoko takes another win. Can she go for three in a row? Let's find out as next she comes face to face with Lucina.
Lucina took her place next to Kyoko and awaited for Chris to spin the wheel. It landed on number four. Lucina looked nervous recognizing that as the spirit challenge that had been causing her so many recurring nightmares.
"This one is going to be fun. As you recall our spirit ended up being none other than former Total Drama contestant Izzy. Well Izzy has set up a remote control robotic copy of her spirit suit. All you have to do is find a way to disable the spirit before the other contestant does. You'll have access to whatever tools or traps you want to use that we scavenged from Anthony's old work shed." Chris explained.
Kyoko looked confident while Lucina looked more unsure. Chris pushed a button on a remote and the spirit arrived. Kyoko thinking quickly rushed into action while Lucina stood paralyzed with fear. Not missing a beat ran over to the supply of materials and grabbed some smoke bombs, a rope snare, and electrical wiring. She threw the smoke bombs to make a distraction and to cover herself as she set up the rope snare and perfectly trapped the robotic spirit. With the robot struggling to get out of the snare Kyoko went behind and used the electrical wiring to short out the robot and effectively shut it down.
"How did you know to do that?" Chris asked Kyoko surprised how easily she had taken it down.
"I wasn't part of that challenge I stayed behind in the mess hall Clifford, Tom, Miriam, and AJ, but Ciara was the one who took down the spirit and she wouldn't stop talking about it for days. I just did exactly what she did, but replaced the sleeping gas with electrical wiring since it's a robot." Kyoko explained.
(Confessional Camera)
"I don't know why I'm still afraid of that thing if I'm not Lucy anymore. Lucina shouldn't have any problem facing her fears but in that moment it's like I just went completely blank and went back to being that scared little girl again." Lucina said still visibly shaking.
(Confessional End)
"Well that was an easy win for Kyoko, Lucina didn't even bother trying." Chris said laughing. "Let's see if her next opponent puts up more of a fight as she's facing her partner Clifford." Chris said.
Kyoko gulped nervously but kept a determined look on her face.
(Confessional Camera)
"I'm sure Clifford will understand that this is just a challenge and that trying to beat him doesn't mean that I don't appreciate our partnership." Kyoko said.
(Switch)
"I don't expect Kyoko to simply hand me the victory, but if she knows what's good for her then she'll take the easy way out." Clifford said.
(Confessional End)
Chris spun the wheel once more and it landed on number two. "Oh now this is just perfect for this matchup because it's the talent show contest. I've always wondered which of you two is the better artist so you'll both be given ten minutes to paint or draw anything of your choosing. The other contestants will anonymously vote for which art piece they prefer and that will decide the winner." He explained.
"And what prey tell exactly is preventing them from simply choosing Kyoko due to their own bias and preference for her as a person rather than any artistic merit that she may or may not have?" Clifford asked.
"Nothing but the spirit of art... which means nothing at all." Chris replied laughing sarcastically.
(Confessional Camera)
"May or may not have? That's a bit harsh Clifford I know you're like really particular when it comes to art but I'm not an amateur either." Kyoko protested.
(Confessional End)
Clifford and Kyoko finished up their art pieces. Clifford went with a more abstract art approach using darker colors to represent his own internal melancholy towards the state of the competition. On the other hand Kyoko was much more direct simply painting a picture of a Sakura Tree in bloom getting in touch with her Japanese heritage. Kyoko took the win in a landslide with all but two votes going towards her. Clifford maintained his typical stoic composure despite the loss, but as he stepped down he walked past Kyoko and glared at her fiercely sending the message he was not happy with her. Genevieve caught wind of this and smirked coming up with the perfect plan to take Clifford away from Kyoko.
"Kyoko is on fire let's see if she can turn her four person winning streak into five as she now faces Johnathan." Chris said.
Johnathan stepped up and looked at Kyoko confidently. "Don't take it too personal but I don't plan on losing this." He said with a friendly laugh.
Kyoko smiled back at him and nodded. "Well I don't plan on losing either so we'll so who comes out on top." She responded back to him.
Chris spun the wheel and it landed on number three. "Looks like we're going with the watersports dueling. I trust you remember the rules of this challenge?" Chris asked them.
"Easy win I just have to knock her into the water with the big foam club." Johnathan said.
"Yes, however this time not only will the platform speed be spinning much faster, but there's going to be water shooting out and distracting the two of you making it harder to hit the opponent." Chris said.
(Confessional Camera)
"That's perfect I could never have beaten Johnathan at a challenge like this before, but as long as he can't hit me then he can't knock me into the water. I might not have the strength to take him down, but I can use the environment to my advantage plenty." Kyoko said.
(Confessional End)
Kyoko and Johnathan got onto the platform and sure enough the speed was making it hard for them to even stand up let alone hit the other person. The water constantly shooting at them didn't help much either making both contestants have blurry vision and further disorientated them. Johnathan attempted to blindly swing around in an attempt to hit Kyoko, but Kyoko stayed low to the ground where Johnathan wouldn't be able to hit her as easily.
"Johnathan you can't just wildly swing around you'll never win like that." Zelda yelled at him.
"What more did you expect it's not like he can even think of a strategy that doesn't involve blindly rushing in and brute forcing his way to victory." Genevieve said mockingly.
"You need to try and hit low she's using her smaller size to trick you but one good hit will be enough to knock her down and end the challenge." Zelda told Johnathan.
Johnathan attempted to follow Zelda's instructions and started aggressively swinging straight down at the ground causing the platform to shake slightly due to how unstable it was. Kyoko took advantage of this and rushed directly at Johnathan using all of the strength that she possibly could to thrust her stick directly at Johnathan. Despite the force that she put into it because of her small size it barely amounted to much and didn't faze Johnathan. He grinned and pushed back knocking Kyoko into the water and finally eliminating her.
"Looks like Kyoko's winning streak ends here. Four wins however is still an impressive outing especially for our first win streak." Chris said. "Let's see if Johnathan can recapture that energy as he comes up against Miriam next. As Miriam stepped up Chris spun the wheel which landed this time on eight. "How fun we have the camping challenge that eliminated Dante and Max next." He said.
"This one should be no problem at all that was such an easy challenge." Johnathan said confidently.
"Well for this challenge the winner will be the first person to set up a tent. The catch however is that you aren't going to be given any materials for setting up the tent and will need to figure it out on your own." Chris explained.
Johnathan's confident smile quickly faded and was instead replaced with a look of confusion. "Uhm how are we supposed to do that?" He asked.
"Figure it out. You can start whenever you're ready." Chris said blaring his airhorn once again.
Miriam raced off to gather several tree branches and leaves to start building while Johnathan just looked around in confusion absolutely lost on where to start building.
"Johnathan you have to do something don't just stand there." Zelda yelled at him.
"What am I supposed to do it's not like I can just make a tent appear out of nothing." He said.
Genevieve laughed strongly at Johnathan. "He's even more of an imbecile than I previously thought him to be." She said. "Here's a suggestion why don't you put your muscles to use and punch down a tree to start.
Johnathan though for a moment before shrugging. "Punching down a tree sounds like it might be a bit painful, but I guess that's a better starting point than just standing around here." He said before running off.
(Confessional Camera)
Genevieve sat with her mouth wide open in shock. "I knew he was dumb but I didn't think he would take that seriously." She said in utter disbelief at Johnathan.
(Confessional End)
As Johnathan started punching away at the nearest tree Miriam returned with a pile of tree branches, leaves, a bag full of grass, and some rope that she had salvaged from the previous challenges. She used the rope to tie the branches together and firmly keep them in place while setting up the leaves to be the roof of her tent. Once finished she set the grass that she had gathered on the floor to act as a cushion keeping some inside the bag to work as a makeshift pillow.!
"Miriam takes it!" Chris announced. "Johnathan you can stop punching that tree now you're getting nowhere with it.
(Confessional Camera)
"That's the last time I listen to Genevieve. Usually she has some pretty good ideas but punching that tree didn't get me anywhere and my hand is pretty messed up now.
(Confessional End)
Zelda went over to Johnathan and ripped off part of her dresses' sleeve and wrapped it around his hand. "You really should not have done that. Here this will stop the bleeding until you can get checked out at the med bay." Zelda told him.
Johnathan smiled and thanked Zelda before heading off to get checked out. Ciara seeing what just happened squealed in joy and raced over to Zelda. "Omg you did not just do that." She said practically jumping in excitement.
"Do what he was bleeding and I needed some way to stop the blood before it got infected?" Zelda asked unsure what Ciara was so excited about.
"You don't get it. When your brother and I got together he was punching a tree and his hand was bleeding so much that I ripped a part of my shirt off and wrapped it around his hand so that it would stop bleeding. That's literally the same thing that you just did which means that you and Johnathan must be soul mates." Ciara said squealing again.
Zelda put her hands up trying to calm down Ciara. "That doesn't mean anything I was just helping out my friend who was bleeding because he listened to some dumb advice. Besides I thought that you didn't believe in soul mates anymore after what happened with Kai?" Zelda asked her.
"Ahem if you two are done chatting we still have a challenge to finish." Chris said getting their attention. "Now then Zelda you're up next so I hope that you're ready instead of wasting more time chatting." Chris told her. Zelda stepped up and the wheel spun landing this time on number ten. "Looks like we're doing the riddle challenge for you two." Chris said.
Zelda smirked confidently and pushed up her glasses. "This will be easy there's no riddle that I can't figure out in time." She said.
"Don't get too cocky brainiac I'm no slouch when it comes to thinking outside the box." Miriam told her.
"I wouldn't expect this to be easy the interns spent a long time doing research and they've found a riddle that is so impossible it has never been solved." Chris told them. He presented them both with a ball of rope that was filled with several knots and completely tangled up.
Miriam took her ball and carefully looked at it trying to figure out where to start. Zelda on the other hand smiled and grabbed a knife simply cutting the ball of rope in half. "Done." Zelda said holding the pieces of rope falling apart after having been cut.
"Hold on that shouldn't count." Miriam protested.
"What happened to thinking outside the box?" Zelda asked Miriam. "What Chris gave us is called a gordian knot. Reputedly, whoever could untie it would be destined to rule all of Asia. In 333 BC Alexander The Great was challenged to untie the knot. Instead of untangling it laboriously as expected, he dramatically cut through it with his sword, thus exercising another form of mental genius." Zelda explained to Miriam and the others. "Cutting the rope is a perfectly valid answer to solving it and an example of working smarter not harder." She said.
Chris shrugged but decided to allow it. "Looks like Zelda moves on. That was a smart play on your end but let's see if it will work in the next challenge where you'll be facing Genevieve.
Genevieve smirked at Zelda as she walked forward confidently. "I hope you're ready to face the first of many defeats by my hand." Genevieve told Zelda.
"Please what you could you possibly beat me at. I'm smarter than you, I'm stronger than you, I'm a better person than you, and you know what I'm hotter than you too." Zelda told Genevieve.
Genevieve growled at Zelda but maintained a calm composure otherwise, then chuckled. "If you say so, but we'll see how well your little claims hold up when you actually have to face someone of importance and value." Genevieve retorted back.
"I love the energy you two bring so much." Chris said laughing sadistically. "This one will be a throwback to your first ever fight because the wheel landed on challenge number one escaping from the exploding mansion. In that challenge you went together to disable the security system but got into a bit of a disagreement on how to do it. Well here I have before you two brand new security systems. Whoever can disable it first is the winner." Chris explained to them.
"If you'll recall I was the one who ended up disabling the system in that first challenge and I'll be the one to do so here as well." Genevieve told Zelda.
"Please you didn't disable it you attacked it with a hammer like a madwoman and got luck that it worked." Zelda said rolling her eyes.
Genevieve grabbed a nearby hammer that Chris had left with the security systems and held it firmly in her hands. "Well why deviate from a winning strategy." She said. Genevieve stepped back and slammed the hammer as hard as she could onto the security system console completely breaking it. "What was that about working smarter not harder?" She asked Zelda mockingly.
"Well if you had bothered to check you'd see that your little plan amounted to nothing. Chris put that hammer there to distract us but these aren't the same as the system from that first challenge. All you've done is make it so that you have to manually disable it from unplugging the wiring in the proper sequence rather than just shutting it down from the home controls." Zelda said as she continued to focus on working at her console.
Sure enough Genevieve looked over and noticed that despite having been smashed into with a hammer the console was still turned on and was still sending out a signal. She used the hammer to smash open the control panel and frantically started pulling at wires in hopes that it would shut down before Zelda. It amounted to nothing though as Zelda's console powered down in short sequence. Zelda looked over at Genevieve and adjusted her glasses before sticking her tongue out at Genevieve and walking away.
"Ooh that's got to hurt Genevieve's pride." Chris commented. "We're getting down to the last few challenges so let's bring up Ciara and see how well she can fair against her new sister's skills. "He said.
"I hope you know I won't hold back just because we're sisters now." Ciara told Zelda.
"We'll see about that." Zelda replied back.
Chris set the wheel up for another spin this time ending on number eleven. "Looks like we have the latest challenge up for this one." He announced.
"Chris we didn't have a challenge after the riddles. Koh and Aiden quit after we took care of Calista but that doesn't really count as a challenge now does it?" Zelda asked him confused as to the numbering.
We might not have had an official challenge but there's still plenty we can pull from, and seeing as how it's the two of you I have the perfect idea." Chris said laughing sadistically. When you were captured and held hostage Ciara tried to get you to seduce a guard and it went terribly. That's why for this challenge you and Ciara are going to compete to see who can make Tom more flustered.
(Confessional Camera)
"That's creepy right? I'm not the only one who thinks Chris wanting them to do this is creepy?" Miriam asked looking disgusted.
(Switch)
"Oh Tom is going to get flirted with by two really beautiful women one of whom is single and exactly his type. Oh okay. That's fine." AJ muttered sadly.
(Confessional End)
"Why exactly am I the Guinea Pig here?" Tom asked not wanting to put up with this.
"Clifford doesn't get flustered and Johnathan would probably enjoy it so in a way it's getting to torture you as well as them." Chris retorted.
Ciara shook her head and stepped down. "Can I just concede this. Sure I've really missed flirting and I have more than enough material that would make Tom here lose his cool, but what kind of a girl would I be if I did that knowing Dante is waiting for me." She said.
"You were never good at flirting with guys even when you were single." Tom told Ciara bluntly.
"Rude much." Ciara told Tom. "Zelda can move on I'm fine withdrawing from the challenge." She told Chris.
"Ugh fine if you're going to whine about it then we can move on Tom since you're already here you can compete against Zelda to try and end her winning streak." Chris said.
Tom reluctantly stepped forward and watched as the wheel spun and landed on six, the fear challenge.
"This shouldn't be too hard I lasted well enough in this challenge last time." Zelda said nervously.
"Last time your brother saved you with your dog, and I hate to say it but you don't have your brother or your dog around anymore." Tom told Zelda.
Alright this will be a battle of endurance whoever drops out of their challenge first loses." Chris told them.
Tom put on the headphones simulating loud noises while Zelda stepped into the box completely surrounded by darkness so devoid of light that she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. Tom resisted the urge to take the headphones off hoping that Zelda wouldn't be able to put up as strong a performance without her plush to support her. Just as he was about to give in Zelda came running out of her pitch black box and left running off completely in tears and sobbing loudly. Ciara chased over her while the others just looked on surprised.
"That was too close." Tom said relieved to be free from the noises that were bothering him.
Zelda ran as far as she could until she sat down at the edge of the dock still completely in tears. Ciara carefully approached trying not to startle Zelda. "Hey are you okay sis?" Ciara gently asked Zelda.
"Go away." Zelda told Ciara her head still kept down.
Ciara kept her distance but sat down on the dock as well looking over at Zelda worried. "We don't have to talk but I'm here for you whenever you feel ready to go back." She said.
"I miss my dog. I know it was just a stuffed animal but he meant so much to me and he was always there for me to help me feel happy or safe whenever anything bothered me. I've tried acting tough acting like I'm not still sad about it because I don't want to give Genevieve the satisfaction of knowing how much she got to me but it hurts so much." Zelda cried.
"Well get Genevieve back for what she did to you it'll be okay." Ciara said trying to reassure Zelda.
Zelda shook her head and cried out harder. "It won't be okay. Even if we do vote her out nothing will ever bring my dog back to me and nothing will ever take away the memory of her taking him away from me. Can we just not talk about it anymore I don't want to think about him." Zelda said putting her head in between her knees.
"That's alright sis we can just sit here until you're ready to go back." Ciara said sitting quietly but looking over at Zelda who just sat there in with her head down as if trying to hide from the world itself.
Back with the rest of the contestants Chris was ready to finish the challenge. "We're down to one last challenge so for the finale it's a three way showdown between Tom, AJ, and Nadine for invincibility." Chris announced.
"You never mentioned that the finale round would be a three way challenge." Tom told Chris.
"Well I'm telling you now." Chris said indifferently.
(Confessional Camera)
"And once again fate puts me against AJ. How am I supposed to ever get close to her or recapture that close friendship that we used to have when we're constantly being placed on opposite ends of challenges." Tom complained.
(Confessional End)
The last remaining challenge was based on the game of laser tag. The challenge was set up so that they each had only one shot and only life point. The three were set apart from each other and nobody made a move to fire. Nadine looked unsure not wanting to be the one to take the first shot, while AJ and Tom both looked at the other hoping that they wouldn't fire at each other. It was a tense stand off for quite some time before Tom finally sighed and aimed to shoot at Nadine. Nadine reacted as fast as she could diving to the ground in an attempt to avoid the shot. While she was safe she hesitated to fire back at Tom and instead stood there waiting to see what AJ would do. AJ looked back and forth between Tom, who was now defenseless and Nadine who. Not wanting to take take out her close friend AJ made a move to try and fire for Nadine, but Nadine managed to avoid once again, this time by using her clothing as a makeshift shield to cover up her vest. Nadine was left with a choice between firing at either Tom or AJ, but not being able to bring herself to fire at a defenseless target, she instead pointed the laser gun at herself and took herself out of the challenge.
"Well that just happened." Chris said completely dumbfounded by Nadine managing to avoid both shots only to then take herself out.
(Confessional Camera)
"I know that it was just a challenge but attacking someone who is unable to defend themselves really doesn't sit well with me. I'd rather play fair and take myself out than do that." Nadine said.
(Confessional End)
"Well technically speaking Tom and AJ are still in the game but since there can only be one winner we'll have to go to sudden death. When I say fire you both turn around and fire. Any hesitation and you're disqualified from the challenge." Chris told them.
AJ and Tom reluctantly got back into position and awaited the signal from Chris to fire. When Chris said fire they both turned around and had a slight moment of hesitation before pulling the trigger knowing they had no other option at this point. It was a close finish but one of them had hesitated for slightly longer than the other had.
"And the winner is AJ who gets invincibility for the first vote of the merge." Chris announced.
AJ sat completely shocked and started cheering in celebration. "I won. I did it. I actually won a challenge all by myself." She said proudly. Tom smiled at her and walked over to congratulate her.
"That was close but you earned it." Tom told her.
"Tom did you let me win?" AJ asked him.
"No not at all. You were just faster than I was at the end, but I would never deny you the chance of winning on your own." Tom told her.
(Confessional Camera)
"Yes I did hesitate to take the winning shot, but that just shows AJ has more determination to win that she gives herself credit for. She earned that win and I hope this will give her a bit more pride in her own abilities rather than continuing to doubt herself." Tom said.
(Confessional End)
Tom and AJ continued their celebration when Genevieve approached them her usual smug expression present. "Congrats on taking home the win though I must say it must have been easy getting handed the win at the last moment while the rest of us had to fight through a gauntlet of challenges." Genevieve mocked AJ.
"AJ earned that win it's not her fault Chris set up the rules in a way that gives those who go last more of an advantage, and besides it was random order so it could've been any of us any place." Tom argued.
"Perhaps but regardless I don't think you should get an inflated ego over a single win. Now then if you're done here I need to borrow Tom for a moment I have some things to discuss." Genevieve said grabbing Tom and dragging him away. AJ looked over at the two of them as the walked away and sighed heading back to the girls cabin all of her previous excitement and happiness drained by Genevieve's comments.
Tom pushed Genevieve's hand away once they were alone and looked at her angrily. "You didn't have to ruin AJ's moment like that you know." He told her.
"That's irrelevant what I need from you is to keep Kyoko distracted. I'm going to make a play at getting rid of her tonight. The challenge got her and Clifford in a rough state and I think I can push him to drop his lapdog for a more pristine partner in myself." Genevieve told Tom before walking off.
(Confessional Camera)
"So Genevieve needs Kyoko out of the way to get Clifford on her side. That gives me an idea that may just take care of my Genevieve problem and get me back in a safer position to play the game my way instead of hers." Tom said.
(Confessional End)
Genevieve approached Clifford who was sitting on a bench painting before the elimination ceremony began to get his mind off the challenge until Kyoko arrived to discuss their voting strategy. "Odd to see you without the lapdog around, but I guess the two of you may not be on speaking terms after how today's challenge went down. Not that I blame you of course always a shame when a dog bites the hand that feeds it and then it's master has to put the poor thing down." Genevieve told him.
"Is there a point to this or are you just here to waste my time. I already told you Kyoko is my second in command so your vain attempts at getting me riled up will do you no good." Clifford told her.
"Ah but that's where you misunderstand. I'm not here to get you riled up at all instead I'm here because I have a proposition that I think you are going to want to hear out. You and Kyoko might have something good going on now, but how long do you really see it lasting. You saw how well she did in the challenge what if she starts to realize that you need her more than she needs you?" Genevieve asked him. "Kyoko isn't your best ally on the island I am, and if you're willing to drop the lapdog for a real partner you'll gain fore more advantages than she would ever provide.
Clifford thought it over for a moment before crossing his arms. "You're the most hated person on the island it seems like you're the one who needs me to keep you safe and I fail to see what you could possibly offer me with such an infamous reputation that mere association would be a plague to myself and to Kyoko." He responded back.
"You're right I do need you as much as it pains me to say I need anyone, however what you don't see is the larger picture. I will always need someone to cover my back from those out to get me, but Kyoko however won't be needing you around once the numbers get smaller and soon enough she'll go from seeing you as a partner to seeing you as a threat." Genevieve argued.
"If what you're saying is true which I don't believe in the slightest then I'll take care of it when it becomes a problem, but until then I have zero reason to distrust Kyoko or to put you in the place she now holds. That being said I can be willing to offer you my protection, if you use your talents at disrupting the peace to my benefit rather than your own." Clifford offered.
"Are you sure that the lapdog will be alright with that you know how much she can't stand the idea of working together with me let alone scheming against her poor little friends like this." Genevieve said.
Clifford having grown tired of Genevieve stood up and prepared to walk away. "Kyoko knows her place she won't say a thing no matter what she may personally feel because she listens to me and she obeys me. I'm number one and she's number two. I make the plans and she follows them through. I'm the commander and she's..."
"The lapdog." Genevieve finished his sentence for him before walking away satisfied.
(Confessional Camera)
"That should be enough to sow a little distrust between those two. I give it another challenge at most before they fall apart and Clifford will have no choice but to come back to me, only this time I'll be setting the demands." Genevieve confidently said.
(Switch)
"So that's what Clifford really sees me as. I thought we were equals this whole time but Genevieve was right I am just a lapdog to him." Kyoko said having overheard their conversation. "I would've never known the truth if it hadn't been for this tip to wait around the corner before meeting up with Clifford for our strategy meetings." She said holding up a folded sheet of paper with her name on it.
(Confessional Camera End)
Kyoko ran into the girls cabin hoping to find some of the other girls and to her luck she met up with Ciara and Zelda, who had managed to cheer up, or at least put on a calm expression compared to earlier. "I'm so glad you guys are here I know you talked about voting for Genevieve but I need you to help me out today with something." She told them.
"Kyoko whatever Clifford has planned I'm sure you can manage it without us we're voting for Genevieve until she's gone." Ciara said.
"No this isn't Clifford's plan this is personal. I promise I'll vote for Genevieve next time, I'll even join you in voting her off like you wanted us to, but tonight I really need your help. Kyoko pleaded.
"Tell us what it is and we'll think about it." Zelda replied.
The contestants gathered around the campfire pit for the elimination ceremony. Chris approached holding a tray with twelve marshmallows on it. "Well this sure was an interesting day of voting. We have AJ safe with invincibility to start off. Also safe with no votes against them is Nadine, Kyle, Ciara, Johnathan, Nicky, and Tom. Chris said passing out the marshmallows to those who were safe. One vote each goes to Miriam, Lucina, and Zelda. Chris read off. That leaves us with our bottom three of Kyoko, Genevieve and Clifford.
Genevieve looked uninterested fixing her nails, while Clifford looked at those safe and those left with a look of confusion, and Kyoko maintained a firm and serious demeanor with her arms crossed. "Out of you three the loser with six votes against them is...
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Clifford." Chris announced.
"What how is this possible." Clifford said before his eyes widening in realization and looking at Kyoko. "You turned on me after all we did together to try and keep each other in the game.
"You mean to try to keep yourself in the game." Kyoko snapped at Clifford. "I'm just the lapdog and you're the commander after all." She retorted to him.
Genevieve stopped what she was doing and looked over at Kyoko and Clifford paying closer attention to their conversation.
"What are you talking about I held nothing but respect for you, something that I don't often give out to other people and yet this is how you choose to repay that trust and respect." Clifford argued back at her.
"You didn't respect me you saw me as a useful tool and as someone who would listen to you. Well guess what I probably would've because I actually liked being your friend. I didn't care that you were constantly putting other people down or acting like you didn't care about anything. I ignored all of the red flags about our friendship because I saw you as someone I could relate to and bond with, but clearly you never felt the same way at all." Kyoko said.
"Whatever you think you heard I can't change your mind and I can't change what's been done either, but I believe that in due time you will come to regret turning on me. I would've taken you to the end with me and if you stuck to your place at my side then we would have been untouchable. You can't win without me Kyoko you were nothing before I picked you up and turned you into a real competitor." Clifford told her.
"Sorry Clifford but this lapdog isn't going to be kept on a leash anymore." Kyoko said before walking away and heading back to the cabin to get some rest.
(Confessional Camera)
"They were supposed to turn on each other but not this soon and it certainly wasn't supposed to result in Clifford being eliminated. Now I have to think of an entirely new strategy and find some way to keep the others from teaming up against me. Tom you idiot you were supposed to have kept Kyoko away from Clifford until I could finish getting into his head, but somehow she overheard our entire conversation." Genevieve said. She paused to think for a moment then scowled. "Tom had better watch himself because if he thinks he can turn on me so easily he forgets that I can ruin his life in a heartbeat." She said.
(Confessional End)
"Wow did not see that one coming." Chris said. Kyoko and Clifford could've taken on the game together to the end but instead we're left with a bitter Kyoko and a loser Clifford. Find out who will be the next loser to get stabbed in the back on the next Total Drama Rebirth of the Island." Chris said ending off the episode.
Elimination List
24. Wallace Corona: The Crazy-Prepared
[R]. Nadine Navarro: The Pure Hearted and Innocent Girl
23. Gonzo De la Cruz: The Crazy Spaniard
22. Sarah Blake: The Serious One
[R]. Kahlin "Kyle" Mora: The Laid-Back Observer
21. Kai Nohea: The Surfer Bro
20. Brett Drake: The Powerhouse Man
19. Dante Valverde: The Overprotective and Overbearing Older Brother
18. Maximilian Brooks: The Lucky Guy
17. Madelyne "Maddie" Michelle Heines: The Small Pyromaniac
16. Anthony Sterling: The Ambitious Inventor
15. Koh Lewandoski: The Undercover Cop
14. Aiden Rose Hall: The Actor
13. Clifford Andersen: The Mendacious Artiste
Remaining Contestant
Kyoko, Genevieve, Tom, Lucina, Zelda, Johnathan, Ciara, Miriam, AJ, Nicky, Kyle, and Nadine
Apologies to Jade's One of a Kind for Clifford's elimination. I absolutely loved writing Clifford and it was so much fun with him getting more and more fed up with his team's loses as well as just dealing with the others as a whole. Right away from when he was sent in I expected him to make it far, and if I'm being honest this was actually far sooner elimination than I had originally envisioned for him. Clifford is the type of character that can easily make it to the end, but the disadvantage he had here was that there were two other villains making plays and scheming to get ahead. Clifford also got a bit too confident that he had Kyoko in his pocket that her turning on him was never even an option that he had considered. I loved Kyoko and Clifford's dynamic a bond in similar interests despite their contrasting personality, that ultimately ended on a sour note due to both Genevieve and Tom's meddling. Thank you for the great character and even if he didn't make it as far as he potentially could've in a different cast, I hope that you liked the way that I wrote him throughout the story.
A/N: Clifford getting eliminated here is probably a huge surprise to everyone but that's precisely why I wanted him to go here. It helps to show just how high the stakes are at the merge and that anyone can go at any time. It also works to take us from three villains down to two and setting up what will be the power struggle between our villains of Tom and Genevieve. Tom can't act directly against her since she still has dirt on him, but if there's one thing that Tom excels at it's the art of subtle manipulation and scheming mind games. Genevieve needed Clifford to stay in the game to act as her scapegoat and get attention away from her, but thanks to Tom now she has to come up with a new game plan to keep herself safe. Of course Genevieve won't take this act of aggression lying down, so only time will tell if this gambit pays off for Tom or if it ends up being what leads to his own elimination.
As for the returning contestants the poll had some pretty interesting results. While Kyle was the easy winner for the guys, the girls had it a lot closer. Nadine actually tied with Maddie, but I went with Nadine because she was not only eliminated earlier but I feel Maddie went out on a good note given her relationship with Nicky as well as comedic relief being not as important to have around at this stage in the game. Interestingly despite having so many haters Dante actually received the second most votes to come back behind Kyle which surprised me since I didn't think people would want him back after the huge attention he got early on. I guess that just highlights how much his development improved the way people see him. I'm looking forward to writing Kyle and Nadine again though don't expect them to last too long as to be fully honest I've never really liked the ideas of returnees making it far. I want to treat this as just a bit more time to flesh them out and give them some more memorable moments before they're out again.
Hope you're all excited for the merge and that this was a good first post merge chapter. I have so many ideas planned out as to how the dynamics are going to continue getting messed up and just how easily people's trust in each other will be turned on it's head. No alliance is permanent and no friendship is safe.