And now we're on to Episode 3, with a more down to earth challenge this time, our cast are heading down in Miami, Florida at the request of our new intern Mr. Winkle. They'll have to race around in a stadium at high speeds, with the team's adrenaline factoring significantly in their placement.
And some responses to reviews:
Darksymphony777: Yeah, some of your criticism is actually somewhat justified. That challenge isn't exactly my strongest suit, but this one is more simple, so hopefully I'd feel less disjointed.
We started this episode right in the middle of nothing but utter darkness.
In the storage room of the ship, nothing could be seen at all, at least, until someone had opened the door.
It was Bernadetta, who very cautiously took a look at her surroundings to make sure no one was following her.
After she thought she was in the clear, she moved onto the storage, and tried to find a comfortable place to sleep. At least, until she was startled by a certain voice.
"Having trouble sleeping by any chance?"
That voice belonged to one Lollipop, whose presence instantly scared the girl.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The lolly put her hand on Bernie's mouth to shut her up. "I suggest you stop yelling every time you're scared dear, if anything, that would cause more trouble."
Bernadetta was still scared but didn't have it in herself to scream any more. "R-Really?! H-How do I know you're not here to k-kill me?"
"Because I would've done so already."
"T-That's...uh...ok?"
"Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: no one likes you here because of your constant fear of everything and lack of social interaction, and you're likely to be eliminated next because of it."
"I-I know that, s-so why are you t-talking to me?"
"Because I'm tired of it, and nothing more. I'll try to help you with your problem, and you'll make an effort to change. Got that?"
"Uh...fine? I'm not sure if that would be any good, but one less person who wants me dead is alright."
"Good. I suggest your first step is to actually sleep in your team's room."
"R-Really?"
"Yup. If something bad happens, I'll tell you if it does, so sleep tight, okay?"
Bernadetta could only nod now as she decided to head back to her bed.
We then cut to the outside of the room, which showed that Katz was listening in on their conversation, and he quickly fled before anyone could see him, his goals unknown to anyone but himself.
It was now morning, and the remaining 17 players were slowly starting to wake up.
Bernadetta woke up, shaking heavily as she got out of bed.
"Another day, another living nightmare." She muttered rather quickly.
She looked at the bottom of her bed to grab the book she was reading, but something immediately scared her.
"Hey all, Scott here!"
It was Scott, who was seemingly greeting her, which caused Bernadetta to panic and hit her head on the bed. "OW OW OW!"
She got on her feet and remembered what Lollipop told her the night before, so she tried to be social for once. "H-Hey, didn't see you there s-sir. I-I was just p-picking up my book is all!"
"Oh okay then." Scott said. "I was going to start talking about Stupid Nintendo Games to no one in particular like I usually do, but I suppose if that troubles you, I'll do it somewhere else."
"Uh, no no no no NO! I-It's my fault, you don't have to worry, I was just being dumb and s-stupid like I usually am!"
"Not surprising coming from an RPG character."
"Y-Yeah, whatever that-OKIMSOSORRYFORWHATEVERIDIDWRONG!" She yelled as she started to panic again and ran off elsewhere.
"See people? This is what happens when a Nintendo loving virgin talks to a girl!" Scott claimed as he looked at the camera.
We then cut to Lollipop, who was in the room, sighing heavily at what she saw. "I guess I'll take a while for her to truly change."
Out of nowhere, she was approached by a certain red cat. "Seems you've got quite the interest with that young girl darling."
She turned around and shrugged. "Seems you've got quite the interest with invading others privacy." She replied sarcastically. "Seriously though, you're creepy."
Katz rolled his eyes at that comment. "I suppose if you feel the need to judge me, you can say whatever you want. Just note not everyone will be able to shrug it off like me."
"Quite frankly I don't like you at all, and I think you're up to something. That's all I need to say."
She then left the room to wherever she wanted to go. "That food girl's mind seems hard to mess with, the bookworm on the hand." Katz noted as he chuckles at his own comment. "I've got plenty of surprises for her."
At the dock of the Lor Starcutter, Meta Knight and Barbara were having a friendly spar. Or at least, as "friendly" as Barbara could have.
"Takes this!" She yelled as she swung her axe in the Star Warrior's direction, but he dodged it by quickly getting in his cape and vanishing, which just pissed Barbara even further.
She looked around her vicinity for any even the slightest glimpse of him, but the one place she didn't bother checking, her behind, was where he striked.
He came out of the shadows and used his tiny feet to kick down the barbarian princess, who could hardly see it coming until it was too late.
Barbara was thrown to the floor, her axe out of her hands as it hit the buttox of one Mr. Krabs, who was crouching to pick up a burger he accidentally dropped earlier. "Me bum hole feels quite itchy!" He casually says as he removes the axe from his butt and begins to scratch his back with it. "Ah, just what aye needed!"
Meta Knight gave his hand to help her get off the ground, but Barbara tried to bite it instead. "It is quite clear to me from this duel and other moments prior what your problem is: you have no thought behind any of your attacks. You just swing your axe around, no strategy whatsoever."
"And who makes you the judge of that!" Barbara yelled at him. "You're cheating!"
Meta Knight scoffed at her. "And you also can't take criticism on top of that. I suggest you take my advice to heart."
"NEVER!" Barbara yelled as she tried to attack him, before he once again dodged and she fell over once more. "You proved my point."
Barbara gritted her teeth in response. "F-Fine!" She then left the vicinity.
At the cafeteria, both teams were sitting at one table for each, with the exception of Bernadetta, who was sitting at a table alone, slowly eating the rice balls (or jelly filled donuts if you're American) Kawasaki gave everyone.
Prohyas was munching on his food like it was no one's business. "Wow, this food makes me feel like I'm in paradise!" He proclaimed, with the food widening his cheeks and muffling his voice.
"Right on that Blue-Boy! Imagine all the customers and money that aye'd get at the Krusty Krab if aye hired him!" Mr. Krabs added.
Prohyas let out a large burp. "You said it pal! Mr. Chef, you're the coolest!"
Kawasaki, who was in the kitchen, felt flattered. "Thanks good sir! It's nice to hear others appreciate all the heart and soul I put into every dish!"
"Good for you mister Kawasaki, good for you." Nagito muttered.
Captain got up on the table in a confident pose. "Alright team, as the leader, I demand that whoever tried to mutiny against me by voting me off be thrown off of this ship right now!"
The whole team was left speechless by what he said, with Prohyas in particular dropping the plate he was going to lick on the floor, shattering it as well.
"That was certainly...a speech." Millia noted.
"A very delusional speech mind you." Nelly added. "I suggest we don't listen to his ramblings and think for ourselves."
"And we can now add another member to the mutiny against me!"
"If you consider anyone questioning your authority as "mutiny", then you shouldn't be leader, plain and simple." Nelly pointed out to Captain.
"Blah Blah Blah mutinees opinions don't matter!"
Nagito suddenly decided to talk. "I know the opinion I'm about to express would be rather...unpopular with the rest of the team, but I think Captain would be a great leader for us."
"See? Someone here has good judgement!" Captain bragged.
"Pray tell Nagito, what do you exactly see in him as a leader?" Nelly asked him.
"It's just his...hope. No matter what happens, Captain never loses the hope he has of leading our team, which is incredibly admirable. I believe that if we give him a chance, we'll be able to win every challenge based on determination alone!"
"Determination? Hope? Do you seriously think these concepts hold any weight to leadership? Come on Nagito, you can't be serious." Nelly berated him.
"I am serious. Captain is the key to stabilizing our team, I just know it! As long as we listen to his every word, we'll be able to win every challenge from now on!"
"Oh by Neptune, this kid is sick to the head!" Mr. Krabs yelled in an exasperated tone. "He think that idiotic Captain is a good leader!"
"HEY! At least I didn't bungle the challenge!" Captain fired back.
"Mr. Krabs, Captain, don't try to escalate this any further than you've already done." Nelly demands.
"Come on lass, we're just havin' a little tussle like real men!" Mr. Krabs replies.
"The toxic masculinity in this room has reached critical level." Princess Cookie notes.
"C'mon Princess! Let's stay out of trouble!" Prohyas told her. "Cuz I always lose arguments!"
Nelly slaps herself, frustrated. "Great, isn't it perfect that I'm on a team of idiots?"
Before more in-fighting could occur, Magolor's voice was heard from the intercom. "Attention my lovely contestants! Head to the ship's deck for a special announcement entirely separate from today's challenge!"
"Alright team, I suppose we'll continue our argument when we depart for the challenge, but now, let's do what the host says." Captain told everyone.
"You heard him, go there." Nagito added. "And please note that I didn't try to start a fight, and I'm sorry for my old, garbage self ruining everyone's day."
Nelly tried to reassure him. "It's nothing Nagito. We'll ignore that and move on."
The final 17 went to the deck of the ship to meet the host, who was eagerly awaiting them.
He went to The Crewmates first. "So Crewmates, how do you feel about being the first team to lose?"
"Not very good, thank you for asking." Nelly responded.
"Yes, it was unfortunate, but I do believe our combined hope will be able to eventually win us more challenges." Nagito claimed.
"What's hope? Is it a tasty new fast food brand?" Prohyas asked while rubbing his belly. "Ugh, somehow my stomach isn't all that full after what I just ate."
"That kid is like Gelatin if he was slightly less childish." Lollipop says. "Keyword on slightly."
"Ok, enough with the snappy comments, it's time we talk about why you're here." Magolor began. "Due to me not wanting to overwhelm poor Kawasaki with extra work, I've hired an intern to help me with various issues, like any business decisions, testing the challenges etc."
"H-Hopefully you bac-background checked him, t-to make sure he's trustworthy, right?" Bernadetta asked, her eyes clearly filled with dread.
"I did! Sort of. Everyone, say hello to Mister David Winkle!"
Out from where no one could see him came this Mr. Winkle, a white, black haired man with straight hair, a blue suit and a yellow tie. He gave some weird looks to some of the women of the cast, but was otherwise a fairly normal person.
"Oh, um hey there! I'm Mr. Winkle, and man, this is the hottest reality show cast I've seen in a while! Especially the gi-nevermind, I-I was going off track. Anyway, I'll basically be doing all the extra stuff around these parts, so be prepared to see me from time to time!" He said with an uncanny smile.
"Oh, how utterly peculiar." Katz replied with a sarcastic tone. "I suppose you'll be welcome then, sir."
"Thank you I guess. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to clean up all the mess you guys have made over the past few days. Man am I lucky."
"I assure you sir, that if we were made aware of your presence, that we wouldn't have done so." Knuckles claims.
Lollipop glares at him. "Doubt that."
"Anyways, I'll go to the pilot's seat to head to our next destination. Go back in the ship, find something to hang on, and the next challenge will start in no time!" Magolor announced.
"A-Already?!" Bernadetta asked in fear. "Oh, I'm so going to die!"
"C'mon Bernie, we'll be fine! And we'll have fun!" Bubbles tried to reassure her by hugging her, but Bernadetta was just more scared.
"...Humans sure have strange ways to calm others down." Knuckles says.
"Yeah and they also have sex." Scott adds.
We now cut to the ship landing in a crowded city next to a racing stadium. The citizens were all normal humans going about their daily lives, when they saw the Lor Starcutter arrive from a portal, everyone and their mother immediately ran off, making way for a safe landing.
"What the fuck?!" Asked a tourist walking his dog.
Meanwhile, a child was holding on to his mother, also confused. "Mommy, what's going on?"
Soon, the doors to the ship opened and everyone got out.
"A-Are we on Earth?" Knuckles wondered.
Magolor floated out to explain everything to the cast. "You're right on that Knuckles, but also, it's not your version of Earth. We're currently in Miami, Florida. See that stadium over there? That's the stage for our next challenge!"
Winkle was surprised. "Florida? That's my state, pretty funny coincidence all right."
"Yeah, it's the second sh*ttiest one in the country after Ohio!" Scott added.
"What's so bad about Florida? It looks about as good as Townsville!" Bubbles said.
"Oh, you sweet, naive child, you're not ready for all the crazy stuff that happens here." Winkle explains. "But for now, let's go to the stadium."
The final 17 walked over towards the stadium alongside Winkle & Magolor, getting a lot of weird glances from the local floridians.
"Do you think they're in awe of the princess of Hollyberry visiting?!" Princess Cookie wondered out loud. "Oh, the quirks of being famous..."
"Or, more likely, they are weirded out by a crab, a marshmellow astronaut and a giant gingerbread cookie walking amongst them." Nelly pointed out.
"They're probably just not used to the whole "people from other universes can freely interact now" thingy. In a week or two they'll clap for us for sure!" Prohyas claimed.
"If you say so." Nelly said.
When they got to the stadium, a middle aged businessman with a hefty scar around his neck that reached his right eye came out to greet them.
"It seems you're Mr. Magolor, from Universe K-91, correct?" The man asked the host as he reached his hand out.
Magolor went ahead and shaked his hand. "Yes, that is the case Mr. Knox. You've talked to Mr. Winkle over the phone on letting us burrow the stadium and your tech I assume?"
"Only for this day, mind you. For those unaware of me, I'm Robert Knox, CEO of Kronstadt Industries. We're mainly focusing on robotics and artificial intelligence, but tomorrow, we've tasked our racing team with helping my daughter Sierra win the Global Innovation Race by any means possible."
"I've had enough experience in the competitive sports field to know "by any means possible" means shady dealings." Nelly told him.
Knox simply shrugged. "Like a little girl such as you would have much knowledge in what goes on behind the scenes."
Magolor interrupted the drama. "R-Regardless of Mr. Knox's deal, I'm going to explain today's challenge! Firstly, you'll be given some virtual driving lessons with Sierra Knox, Robert Knox's daughter and their representative for the Global Innovation Race."
"Cool, I've been a big fan of racing games for at least 3 seconds!" Scott remarked.
"Good on you Scott. After your little learning session's over, you'll have 4 laps for 2 people on each team. Only the last lap determines the victors, but the one to win more of the previous laps overall will get an advantage for the final one. Any questions?"
Barbara quickly raised her hand. "Can we crush and butcher our race enemies?!"
"Woah woah woah, calm down Barbara! Attacking the rival car is against the rules! So don't try anything funny, okay?"
Barbara scoffed.
"The meathead is mad she can't do everything with brute force. How tragic!" Lollipop mocked her.
"Can we not argue please?" Bubbles asked with puppy dog eyes.
"AH! Those e-eyes! Those big, demonic eyes!" Bernadetta muttered as she hid behind Meta Knight. "I'm not exactly the perfect shield for your species."
"Or most species for that matter." Knuckles noted.
"If that's the only question you have, I suppose our challenge shall start!" Magolor declared. "Mr. Winkle, get the teams to their training rooms!"
"Sure thing boss." Mr. Winkle responded as he pointed towards the direction they were going. "Everyone follow me. The team with one less member will train first, then the other one."
The Crewmates were directed by Winkle into the Kronstadt Industries garage. It was filled with various equipment for both the driver and the pit stop crew, the 2 cars both teams were going to use, and a gaming PC which had a controller that helped simulate the experience of driving.
"Alright, this is where you'll prepare for the challenge. Normally that would take 16 years and a driver's license, but here you can do that in about an hour. Ms. Knox should arrive here shortly, and I'll be going off to the stadium to watch over the race, got that?" Winkle explained.
Everyone on the team silently nodded.
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going, so stay hot and bye!" He said as he left the room and let the team to their own devices.
"That man's weird!" Princess Cookie said. "But regardless, I demand we learn how to drive this instant!"
"I've been driven by my father's limousine plenty of times, but I didn't expect to drive myself at this age." Nelly noted.
"No one has." Millia pointed out.
"Really? Not one out of like 18 or so universes here?" Prohyas asked, which caused some of his teammates to face palm.
The team then heard the door open and close rather quickly, likely signifying Ms. Knox's appearance.
And sure enough, there she was, staring at the group of weirdos sternly. She was a silver haired woman with a red racer outfit. She gave an intimidating presence to some of the team, such as Captain and Prohyas.
"Great, I have to teach something that takes weeks of work to a bunch of cartoon creatures and a little girl in half an hour." She says.
"Hey! If I can be an actress at age 9, driving should be no trouble!" Darla responds.
"Sure you can. Whatever, my name is Sierra Knox, famous professional racer, and I've been instructed to teach you guys how to drive." Knox then put her hand on her head. "God, why did dad accept that stupid offer?"
"Relax Ms. Knox, when people make a deal with you, it's usually in good faith! Like that nigerian prince who I helped get back to his country, still waiting on his end of the bargain though." Captain told her.
Nelly frowned. "Oh boy."
At the ship's deck, Winkle was looking at something very perverted on his laptop, his mouth opened and filled with saliva.
Until he heard Magolor's voice. "Mr. Winkle, the challenge is nearly starting, get yourself and Kawasaki over here! I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on all the fun!" He quickly closed the laptop and looked around to see if anyone was spying on him. "Phew, no one saw that. I've got to be more careful from now on, lest my life get ruined.
"Time's up, now get out of here and prepare for the challenge." Sierra Knox demanded to The Crewmates, who were a bit frustrated at that, for a very good reason.
"That's unfair! We had basically no chance to actually train!" Prohyas protested.
"Well maybe if your little astronaut friend hadn't crashed his virtual car over 300 times there would've been some damn time left, but that's none of my business!" Knox responded whilst pointing at Captain, who felt the need to defend himself. "Hey! I'll have you know I didn't pee myself once this time!"
"Oh, aye'm so ready to break ya-" Mr. Krabs threatened before Nelly grabbed his claw to stop him. "It's a lost cause trying to reason with her violently or peacefully, let it go."
"Good to see someone here isn't a cartoon dipshit. Now go or else!"
The team left the room, disappointed in themselves, except for one lucky student.
"Although this might seem bad for us at first, allowing Captain all the time he needs will help him lead us to victory." Nagito claimed as he walked away.
"We'll see if that's the case when the challenge starts Nagito." Nelly tells him.
Right after that, the Echidna Warriors entered the room.
"Good, another group of weirdos coming right up." Knox snarked.
"C'mon Ms. Knox, we're not that weird!" Bubbles said. "We're strange, there's a difference!"
"Sure we are Bubbles, sure we are." Lollipop sarcastically said.
Knuckles looked at the training machine with great curiosity. "Well team, it's time we learn first hand one of humanity's many customs."
Bernie gulped as she tried to get away and make a hasty excuse. "C-Can I go to the b-bathroom please?!"
Knuckles however, grabbed her by the cloth. "Bathroom? You had plenty of time to do so before, and now, it's our time to develop our capabilities further!"
She gulped again. "S-Sure."
"Yeah, this is not ending well. Not at all." Lollipop remarks.
Mr. Winkle decided to sit on a random chair in the standees part of the stadium, waiting for the challenge to start.
"Interesting to see you here Winkle."
Winkle was a bit startled at the voice he just heard from behind him, and looked there.
He saw a familiar figure to him. The middle aged man sitting in the back had brown, greying hair made into a swirl, and a small, curly moustache as well. He wore a yellow shirt, black gloves that covered his hands entirely, a blue vest over his shirt, orange pants and sneakers.
"M-Mr. Peterson, didn't expect to see you there hah! Always showing up in the most random of times!" Winkle said, trying hard to not come off as scared by Peterson's presence.
"You've bought yourself a new gig, haven't you?" Mr. Peterson asked him, once again scaring him a little.
"How did you-"
"I have my sources."
"Oh, okay then. I-I've been doing pretty great, thanks for asking! The boss is nice, the pay's good, and I get to watch over a bunch of hot-"
"But it is simply just a way for you to hide away from your past, isn't it? To pretend that your actions simply never existed, I asume?" Mr. Peterson unexpectedly told him, this time in a much more passive aggressive tone.
"SHHHHHHHH! S-SHUT UP! I've finally gotten a chance for a peaceful life, and you're not ruining it!"
"Say whatever you want Winkle, it won't change anything."
Winkle looked away for a second to think of what to say next. "C'mon, c'mon, what to do, what to do? OH! Mr. Peterson, I just w-want to say-" He then noticed something. "Mr. Peterson?"
Peterson just completely vanished out of nowhere. "God, I really am fucked, in more ways than one."
We now get a montage of the Echidna Warriors' training.
Bubbles has trouble steering the wheel due to her nonexistent fingers. "Uh oh, sorry." She said with a light chuckle.
Then you had Scott, who was constantly complaining about nothing.
"Where the f*ck is Luigi? Every good racing game has that as a feature!" He protested.
Then there was Suwako, who was sleeping on her seat.
And finally, there was Bernadetta, who, unsurprisingly was not very prepared to drive.
She touched the wheel slowly but surely, and then just instantly gave up and ran off. "O-Off to the bathroom everyone!" She stated as she ran off.
Sierra Knox snickered at that. "Well that just makes my job easier I guess. Anyone up for more training?"
Knuckles was quite disappointed in Bernie. "How unfortunate. If she keeps up this cowardnice of hers, she likely won't get to survive any elimination."
"Sounds way too harsh sir! Bernie's just a little scared is all, she'll calm down eventually!" Bubbles said.
"WRONG!" Barbara suddenly yelled. "All weaklings must be DEMOLISHED!"
"While I wouldn't go that far, I do believe she is a liability." Knuckles explained to his team. "Keep her on your mind for our first voting ceremony."
"ABSOLUTELY!" Barbara yelled again, which caused Sierra Knox to get upset.
"Oh my fucking god! I can't take this shit any longer. You weirdos can go do whatever the hell you want, I'm leaving!" Knox yelled as she walked off on everyone else.
There was some awkward silence in the room for a few seconds until a certain girl spoke up. "Good job Mr. Knucklehead and Ms. Bimbo Barbarian, you'd make a perfect couple."
Both of the two looked at Lollipop with utter scorn. "Ms. Lollipop, I would suggest to use your right to remain silent, or else you won't be having a good time." Meta Knight warned her.
"Oh, she better be!" Barbara says as she grits her teeth.
In less than 3 hours the teams were done (not really though) with their training and ready to start the next challenge. All 17 of them quickly walked over to the garage to take a look at their cars.
There were 2 identical garages available, one labeled Kronstadt and another labeled Aeon.
The Echidna Warriors were assigned the Kronstadt one, and looked around.
It had a big red sports car in the center of it, which was the main attraction to the team.
"Oooooh, shiny!" Bubbles muttered as she softly stared at the car. "A-And also pretty cool! We'll win the race in no time"
"Ah, what pleasant enthusiasm. Let's hope it won't get crushed to bits or anything." Katz says to her. "That would be quite the shame."
"You sure know to sound incredibly creepy even when saying the most inconspicuous things Katz. Keep it up and Bernie Bear over there will think you're a serial killer." Lollipop said as she pointed towards Bernadetta, who was quickly startled.
"S-Serial killer?! IS SOMEONE GOING TO KILL ME?!"
"Actually, it's already happened." Lollipop snarked as she sighted. "I'm convinced the poor girl's probably afraid of her own shadow."
Meanwhile, Barbara was rummaging through the bags and boxes all around, quickly emptying everything. "No weapons? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WIN THE STUPID CHALLENGE?!"
The screaming got Bernadetta to hide under Scott, she even started to blush, but he wasn't pleased. "Hey now, Fire Emblem's an RPG, so would you please hide behind someone more into the genre than me?" He asked her, which caused her to do just that and just duck to the car. "Perfect, now I'm going to wash my ass from all this turn based filth!" Scott then left the room.
"Can someone wake me up when this is all over?" Suwako asked as she yawned. "I'm real sleepy."
Meta Knight, someone not too fond of lazy people, grabbed her by the ear, waking her up unexpectedly. "Oh no you don't! You sleep after the challenge miss, not any other time!"
"Uh, and I'm a goddess, so just, don't question me you damn marshmallow!" Suwako weakly fired back.
"People like you, who berate and betittle others at every little thing, yet have no feats of any usefulness themselves, are the true scum of our existence." Knuckles passive aggressively said to Suwako to defend his friend. "So help us out, would you not?"
"Fine, I guess I will big guy, n-not because you're threatening me or anything, but cuz I now suddenly feel motivated to win, yay." Suwako said unenthusiastically.
"Sure." Knuckles responded whilst clenching his fists. "Never try to mess with me or Meta Knight ever again."
"I wouldn't go that far Knuckles, you've already threatened her enough." Meta Knight says.
"See? Even your little friend over there thinks you're an aggressive brute." Lollipop says, which again causes some clenched fists from Knuckles. "Told you so."
"You don't get to tell off my friend like that, just remember." Meta Knight tells her.
"Yeah Lollipop, that's mean!" Bubbles added.
"Ok, I'll keep my mouth shut for a little while, what can I say?"
At the same time as that, The Crewmates were mostly just chilling in their garage, which looked identical outside of the car being purple.
Mr. Krabs looked at their car with curiousity. "By Neptune, if we sell this here car after the race, just imagine all the money aye could make from it! Ar Ar Ar!" He said as he started to laugh in a weird way.
"Are you really only ever thinking about money? Not judging your life choices, just pointing it out." Nelly told him with a disappointed expression on her face.
Meanwhile, Princess & Prohyas were playing an intense game of tic tac toe.
They stared at each other like in an old western as they both calculated their next move. Princess Cookie was 1 O away from winning, whilst Prohyas was 1 X away.
And then she just drew an O. "Booyah! I'm a princess but I may as well be a queen with how I played ya!" She brags.
"Yeesh. So close man, so close." Prohyas said. "Good for you though! That was the most fun game of tic tac toe I've ever played, and it's my first!"
"Hope you two won't get distracted during the challenge by playing games. I don't want our team to lose again." Nelly reminded them.
"What'd I say about being a party pooper? And relax, we're not going to goof off in the middle of the challenge!" Princess Cookie replied.
"Wait really? Man, you never told me that!" Prohyas quipped like an idiot, causing Nelly to make a frustrated face.
"Fine then. I expect everyone on this team to give their all, regardless of how competent you are."
"Don't think I'm not listening little girl!" Captain yelled out from afar.
"She didn't even mention you." Prohyas reminded him.
At that moment, an announcement came.
"Attention contestants! Your time for practice and fun has ended, meaning the race is about to start! Meet me at the starting line in less than 30 minutes!" Magolor's voice declared.
"Sheesh! Me ears feel like they'll pop any second now!" Mr. Krabs grunts.
"I don't see any ears on you Mr. Krabs." Prohyas said whilst touching his head. "And I also...don't...have...ears. Guess you learn new things every day."
Both teams headed towards the race's starting line, with 2 members from each team (Mr. Krabs & Prohyas, Knuckles & Bubbles) respectively pushing their car as well.
Most of the crowd went wild as usual in these races, but there were a few people left staring at the strange cartoon characters they were seeing in front of their eyes.
Magolor and Winkle were waiting for them at the starting line.
"Time for our second challenge to begin! Winkle, do the honors."
"Alright then sir. For our first lap, you'll pick 2 members of your team to compete, one to drive and one to advise. There are 4 laps in total, so all but 1 of you hot guys and gals will participate in the challenge, as you can't participate in more than 1 lap. Got it?"
"Sounds like a piece of cake." Captain declared. "Speaking of which, I'm hungry! Maybe we can go for some hotdogs after this."
"Don't say that Cap, that's making me hungry too." Prohyas admitted as he put his hand on his stomach.
"Focus on the challenge so that when we win we'll be free to eat up all we want. You guys are fine with that?" Nelly asked her team.
"Of-Of course not!" Captain yelled.
"And why not?" Millia asked.
"Be-Because...uh...she's not the leader! I can't have other people demand me what to do even if it is inconspicuous!"
Darla started to laugh. "Hah! That's funny, you're real funny mister."
"As for the other team?" Winkle asked the Echidna Warriors.
"Most of us are ready to race like true warriors." Knuckles replied as he looked at the sheepish purple haired girl on his team. "Keyword being most."
"If that's the case, I suppose we're going to start. Crewmates, Warriors, pick your drivers."
We first focus on the Warriors.
"I volunteer as tribute!" Lollipop says as she waves her right hand. "My friend Ruby's taught me a thing or two about driving with her Freesmart Supervan, so it only makes sense that I get to be in the driver's seat. Anyone up for helping me, not that I even need it?"
Meta Knight scoffed. "While I don't like your attitude, I suppose I'll help you anyway, for the sake of the game. And besides, my stubby little hands wouldn't let me drive the wheel even if I wanted to."
"Don't beat yourself up Meta Knight. You're still an incredible asset to the team." Knuckles reassured him. "I suppose it's settled then? Lollipop & Meta Knight for round 1?"
A few of his teammates like Katz nodded. "Of course our dear old leader. They're perfect for this."
As for the Crewmates...
Nelly tried to take charge in leading them. "Team, if we want to win the challenge, we have to be on the same page. So I suggest that you listen to me as I-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Captain & Darla got in the car. "H-Hey! Are you serious?!" Nelly furiously asked.
"Yup. Now sit back and watch your leader win this with ease!" Captain declared as he turned to his back at the driver's seat and put his hands on the wheel.
"Captain, wha'cha doin'?" Darla asked with an innocent look.
"That's just how I drive Darla, it's nothing new."
"So it seems that both teams have selected their players for the first round. The match starts in 10...9...8..." Magolor says.
"Cool, I-I'm gonna go to watch the game at the stands, cause this heat's way too hot from here!" Winkle mutters as he heads out as Magolor continues his countdown.
"7...6...5...4"
Nelly tried to get him to stop. "Wait a second, I demand that you delay the challenge a little bit so we can-"
"3...2...1...GO!"
At the exact moment he said go, both cars went off at massive speed.
Well, one car that is.
Captain was driving horribly. He barely hit the motor and thus he was going at about 0.000000002763 KMs per hour.
"C-Captain, what are you doing?! You're supposed to drive fast!" Prohyas yelled in his direction.
"I'm trying! Can't you see I'm driving as fast as I can?!" Captain says whilst still barely steering without even facing the direction he's supposed to be at.
In the middle of all this commotion, Katz suddenly leaves his team. "Oh dear, it seems I'll have to go through the bathroom. It won't take long through."
"That's alright Katz. Just make it quick and we'll be good." Knuckles responds.
Darla had gotten angry with Captain's idiocy and decided to give him a little pep talk.
"Y-YOU IDIOT! HOW IN THE WORLD CAN YOU BE SO RETARDED?!" She yelled at the top of her lungs before slapping Captain.
"Ow ow ow! Watch for the hair-wait I don't even have hair-ow ow ow ow!"
"TAKE THIS YOU MORON! YOU'RE ALMOST AS STUPID AS THE ANIMALS ON THIS SHOW!"
Winkle was once again trying to find a spot in the bleachers. He looked around to see if Mr. Peterson was anywhere, sure that was plain paranoia, but when your former friend randomly appears to take a dig at your past, you'd be startled a bit too.
He didn't see him, so he went to an empty spot and looked at the race.
The Echidna Warriors were pretty undefeatable, as the other team didn't even try to beat them.
He was then approached by the guy next to him. He was a ginger haired man with a moustache and a plain black shirt, and was a puppet like Winkle, who had a faint familiarity with him, but shrug it off at the moment.
"WOOO! Go Sierra go! Beat 'em sons a bitches!" He loudly cheered to Winkle's annoyance.
"First off, can you please keep it down a little sir? And second, that's not Sierra Knox, those are people participating in a multiversal reality show which I work for by the way, in a race challenge."
"Oh really? Damn, thought the Global Innovation Race started a day earlier. L-Let's introduce ourselves, cause I don't got much to do. I'm Brooklyn T. Guy, or just Brooklyn, Guy or both for short. I work plenty o' jobs, mainly as a cop, and now I'm currently on break. S-Sorry if I come off like I'm rambling, what's your name son?" The ginger haired man said.
"M-Me? I'm David Winkle, like I said I'm an intern on this show called Total Drama Superstars, but I've been a school teacher before, hell, I was even the owner of a Freddy Fazbear's Pizza joint once."
"That's pretty cool all right-WAIT a second, pizzeria, school teacher, I remember you now! You're that Winkle guy I've seen a couple times! You did-"
Before Brooklyn could go any further, Winkle put his hand on his lips to shut them down. "Sh-Shut up. That doesn't matter now, what's past is in the past, no need to mention it."
"I-I mean, I'm pretty sure that incident at Fazbear's is worth a mention alongside-"
"What did I tell you before? .Important.At all." Winkle told him in a far more aggressive tone than before.
"Fine. But can I ask, just this once, about you ki-"
"SHUT UP!: Winkle yelled, which caused a few people close to him to look at him back. "God fucking dammit, you're ruining everything! I'm going, should've never even come back to Florida in the first place!"
Winkle quickly ran off to Brooklyn Guy's confusion. "Huh, what an asshole. Though I honestly should've seen it coming, considering all the shit he's done."
"Oh how peculiar. Would you mind if you explain to me Mr. Winkle's actions?" Asked a voice offscreen, which was quickly revealed to be Katz.
Lollipop & Meta Knight, despite their previous conflicts, managed to efficiently win the first round.
They passed the finish line and got out of the car.
"And so, The Echidna Warriors make the first lap!" Magolor announced. "Better step up your game Crewmates, just saying."
"Huh, that was way easier than I expected." Lollipop pointed out. "But hey, we still won, that's good."
Meanwhile, at The Crewmates, Captain got out the car, dazed and confused. "Wooo, t-that was s-sure a g-great match!" He said whilst spining around before he eventually just fell over.
Darla then went back to her team with a smile on her face.
Nelly put her hand on her head in disappointment. "Oh my god. Need I remind you this wouldn't have happened if those two listened to me? Take this as a motivation to do better."
"Relax girl. It's just one round, we've still got 3 to go!" Prohyas reassured her.
"I do agree with Prohyas. If we can hold onto our hope even when everything seems bad, we can win without a problem." Nagito explained.
"While your viewpoint is one I would normally agree with, the way you say it feels rather...strange, I suppose?" Nelly said.
"I get that a lot. Sorry if my worthless existence is upsetting you."
"Woah man! That's...really harsh, it's sad." Prohyas noted.
Meanwhile, with the Echidna Warriors.
"Knuckles, now that we've won a lap, who do you suggest we send out next?" Meta Knight asked.
"We'll have Bubbles drive." Knuckles responded.
Bubbles then jumped in excitement. "Yay!"
"As for the other driver, hmmm..."
"I suppose it could be me?" Katz said as he suddenly appeared from behind his team, scaring Bernie in the process.
"Jeez! You want to kill me or something?!" She asked in fear.
"Obviously he wouldn't even if he wanted to." Lollipop tried to explain, which just scared her further. "Screw this. Katz, get in the car."
"My pleasure." He says before he gets in along with Bubbles.
"Everyone, it's time for our second lap to begin!" Magolor declared. "For the Warriors, they will be represented by Bubbles Utonium & Katz. For the Crewmates, they picked Millia Rage & Nagito Komaeda!"
Magolor did a countdown again as both teams stared at each other. Bubbles was happily playing with her wheel whilst Nagito was more serious, and was sweating due to not having much experience with driving.
"3...2...1...GO!" The host yelled and almost instantly, Bubbles grabbed the car and used her super speed to instantly clear the round before the other team could even start.
"WHAT?!" The Crewmates collectively yelled in confusion while the Warriors celebrated.
"We would've won if you guys listened to me!" Captain arrogantly told his team before Darla "accidently" stepped on his foot. "Ooops! Sowwy!"
"This is super unfair! I demand a redo!" Princess Cookie loudly told the host.
"Oh, then I guess we could-" Before Magolor could finish what he was saying, Winkle came back.
"I suggest that we instead not bother redoing our challenge due to time constraints!" Winkle suggested to his boss.
"That's...ok, I suppose you guys will just get to the 3th round in a minute or two."
"Hmmm, how unfortunate for our enemy." Katz noted. "We're guaranteed to earn an advantage in the final lap, so I suggest we pick less useful players for this one."
"That's a good idea Katz." Knuckles said.
"Even a creep can be right once in a lifetime." Lollipop added.
Knuckles pointed towards Barbara and Scott. "You two! You're weak enough, go drive!"
Naturally, neither were pleased. "DID YOU JUST CALL ME WEAK?!" Barbara yelled.
"Could you please keep it down?" Bernie asked.
"Yeah! How the f*ck am I the weakest on the team when I managed to beat Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast without losing my virginity?!" Scott demanded to know.
"Whatever, just go." Knuckles told them.
As for The Crewmates.
"I'm going to help out with the next round. Since I'm still a minor, I won't be the one driving, Mr. Krabs will be." Nelly explained.
"Me? Aye can't wait to translate me sailor skills to the surface!" Mr. Krabs said as he laughed. "Har har har har!"
"So I suppose me and Princess Cookie will be the drivers for the final round, huh? That's cool." Prohyas declared.
"Teamwork makes the dream work Prohyas, and we've got better teamwork than anyone on the other team!" Princess Cookie added.
Magolor was doing his usual announcement. "For The Crewmates, who have been sorely lacking in wins thus far, we have Mr. Krabs as the driver and Nelly Raimon as the advisor! For the Warriors, you have Scott Wozniak & Princess Barbara!"
"Former Princess Barbara!" She corrected.
"Another princess?! I didn't expect that. Maybe we can stroke our egos when this is all over." The other princess said.
"GO!"
Unlike last 2 rounds, both teams were relatively even in terms of speed.
Scott went on to stand directly next to Mr. Krab's car, and the latter was mad.
"You're the lad that stole me precious money last episode! And now you're gotta learn what aye I do to thieving maggots!" Krabs declared as he rammed his car into Scott's.
"Hey, that's against the rules!" Magolor said in frustration. "You can't attack the opposition!"
Winkle however, decided to let that slide. "So what? Even if it's technically against the rules, it makes for better drama, which makes for a better show. And you would want your show to be good, right boss?"
"That's, um, fine! I'll ignore it for now."
Nelly tried to calm down Mr. Krabs. "Krabs, stop trying to hit him, we could get in trouble!"
"Never in me life have aye been commanded by any child besides my precious Pearl! And aye won't be now!"
"You want to play dirty? There's no dirt here so it's not like we can." Scott said. "But you want to know what is dirty? The Madden Curse."
Scott then threw a dirt piece of paper called "Madden Curse" onto The Crewmates' car, causing it to abruptly stop.
"S-Seriously?! How did he just do that?!" Nelly yelled in confusion.
Scott then simply went to the finish line.
"I suppose it's official. The Echidna Warriors officially win the advantage for the final round, which shall determine the challenge's victors." Magolor explained. "For the final lap, you'll have a slightly faster motor for your car."
Nelly & Krabs walked out of the car in massive disappointment.
"How in Poseidon's Trident did we lose the round?" Mr. Krabs wondered. "Oooh, that Woz boy is going to get it one day aye'm sure of it!"
"I suppose my luck is cursing my team. How unfortunate." Nagito said.
"Yeah, we're screwed." Princess Cookie bluntly said. "Oh well, guess we're voting off Captain this time."
"Wha-What?! Are you trying to pull a mutiny on me?! I won't allow that!" Captiain claimed.
"We're bound to lose, so might as well get rid of the weakest link." Millia explained.
"Come on everyone, I'm sure there's something we can do! We've still only got to win one round, and if we give our all, we can totally beat 'em!" Prohyas said,
"Are you sure about that?" Princess Cookie asked.
"Prohyas is right." Nelly claimed, which got everyone to take a good look at her. "If we constantly feel like we're losing, we're never going to win. Instead, we should try our absolute best even in the darkest of times. Believe me, if that belief was able to get the Raimon Eleven to become the best football team in the world, I don't see why we shouldn't at least try. That is all I have to say."
The team looked at each other to process what she meant, and the morale quickly improved.
"You go girl, Prohyas, let's get in the car, kick butt and chew bubble gum!" Princess Cookie said.
"Yup. Even if we don't take home the gold, we can't say we didn't try!" Prohyas added.
Mr. Krabs teared up. "Oooh, you youngsters just know how to warm me cold heart!"
"Hope. That's what will help us going forward: hope." Nagito thought to himself.
As for the Echidna Warriors.
"We've got 3 people who haven't raced yet: me, Suwako, and Bernadetta." Knuckles said. "I'm an obvious pick for the driver, but which one of the two girls will assist me?"
"I say we go for Suwako. She's not useful, but not detrimental either." Meta Knight suggested.
"Y-Yeah, go for her! I-I'll just, y'know, watch over, and we'll win!" Bernadetta added.
"I choose...Bernadetta."
"W-WHAT?! WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY?!"
"Oh no, she's having a breakdown again." Lollipop said with a scowl. "Don't make her, please."
"I agree with her. The girl is clearly not mentally stable enough." Meta Knight says.
"And that's exactly why I picked her." Knuckles admitted. "If we can win the challenge, we can help her get stronger."
"Highly doubt it'll work." Lollipop bluntly said.
"Y-Yeah! What she said! I can't do this!" Bernadetta cried out.
"Knuckles, don't." Meta Knight told his friend.
"I'm sorry Meta Knight, but hey, if we lose, she won't be here for much longer." Knuckles responded as he grabbed Bernie by the waist and put her in the car as she was too shocked to say anything.
"Phew. Good I'm not racing." Suwako said.
"Shut up." Meta Knight bluntly told her.
"And thus begins our final lap, the one to determine our challenge's winners: for the Crewmates, who haven't won a single lap before, we have Prohyas Warrior and Princess Cookie. For the Echidna Warriors, you have Knuckles The Echidna & Bernadetta Von Varley. Which ones will take home the won, time to find out in 10...9...8..."
For the last time, the drivers looked at each other.
The two Crewmates had confidence plain and clear in their eyes, ready to rock it and win.
Knuckles was more subdued, but still clearly ready to win.
And then Bernadetta was practically trying to find an opportunity to escape the car.
"7...6...5...4..."
"I GIVE UP! GET ME OUTTA HERE!" Bernie yelled.
"SHUT UP!" Knuckles yelled back. "You're a coward, and I won't allow that on my team, so either man up, or lose."
"3...2...1...GO!"
The two teams both started at the same team, but due to the Echidna Warriors' advantage, they were in the lead already.
"C'mon Prohyas, go faster!" The princess demanded. "We can't lose!"
"Sure you go girl!" He said as he went even faster, managing to catch up to Knuckles.
"They're onto us! HANG ON TO YOUR SEAT!" Knuckles yelled at his teammate as he ALSO started going faster.
"I suppose we'll go at maximum speed!" Prohyas yelled. "It may be pretty dangerous, but how else would we win?!"
And just like he said, the car went to full on overdrive, passing Knuckles once again.
"Amazing." He said with displeasure. "Well, I suppose it's now or never."
He hit the paddle even harder, but before he could get to max speed, Bernie grabbed his foot. "NO! AREYOUTRYINGTOKILLUS?! STOP IT!"
"What the? We're going to lose!"
Knuckles managed to kick Bernie's hand off his foot, but before he knew it, it was too late.
Prohyas and Princess Cookie managed to reach the finish line before him.
"And with that, The Crewmates score their first and only needed victory!" Magolor yelled in excitement.
The Crewmates all started to cheer. "AMAZING! Me old bones have never seen such perfect teamwork!" Mr. Krabs said.
The two of them got out of the car and were cheered on by their teammates.
"You guys did wonderful!" Darla yelled.
"...Perfect might I add." Millia said.
"You hear that Prohyas? These guys love us!" The princess said.
"Oh yeah baby! Sis, if you're watching this, tell everyone your bro managed to score in big time!" Prohyas told the camera.
Nelly had a smaller reaction, but a powerful one nonetherless. She slowly started to smile at them. "Great job you two. I had my doubts, but you've proven yourselves to be strong competitors after all, so keep it up and we'll win more."
"See? I knew you weren't so frigid after all!" Prohyas said.
"Wha-what?! I was just doing the bare minimum of congratulating, don't just assume things!" Nelly denied.
"Aye see someone's in denial mode." Mr. Krabs teased Nelly, who responded with a "Shut up!"
Meanwhile, Captain was out of everyone's range, bitter. "Seriously? That was just a fluke, wait till you guys start relying on her more, then we'll lose all the time and they'd go "Captain, our leader, please!" and I'll go "Maybe?" on you."
Magolor then went to the losing team. "Warriors, see you at tonight's elimination."
"Do we even need to wait? It's obvious who's getting out!" Barbara yelled as she pointed towards Bernadetta.
"Who? M-Me? Why? Do you want to k-kill me or something?!" She asked in fear.
Knuckles was incredibly enraged at the moment, completely on edge. "IT'S BECAUSE YOUR WORTHLESS BEHIND CAUSED US TO LOSE! YOU'RE PATHETIC!"
"Knuckles, calm down, there's no need for conflict!" Meta Knight tried to reason with him.
"YOU DON'T GET IT META KNIGHT! THIS STUPID ARISTOCRAT SINGEHANDEDLY ROBBED US OF AN EASY WIN DUE TO HER OWN WEAKNESS! SHE SHALL BE VOTED OFF IMMEDIATELY!"
"Bu-bu-but sir, I'm-"
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! YOU'RE THE MOST USELESS WARRIOR I'VE EVER SEEN! GO BACK TO YOUR ENABLING PARENTS AND NEVER RETURN!"
Bernadetta couldn't take it. Tears started to run down her face in quick succession. "I-I-I...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
She ran away from everyone else, her tears managing to soil the every step she took.
"What? KNUCKLES! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Lollipop yelled at him. "YOU JUST GAVE THAT POOR GIRL A PANIC ATTACK!"
Meta Knight wanted to defend Knuckles as much as he could, but even he couldn't come up with a defense. "K-Knuckles, what you did was...wrong, very very wrong, that's all I can say."
Knuckles himself couldn't process what just happened, and stayed silent for a few seconds before responding. "That...I'm sorry everyone, I-I didn't mean to."
"You didn't mean to? That's a load of crap! You knew how vulnerable she was and didn't care! Don't even try to justify it with such a dumb apology!" Lollipop berated him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going after her to make sure she doesn't do something stupid."
Lollipop then left her team to their own devices.
Bubbles was also starting to cry. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! POOR BERNIE!"
"I mean, she's an RPG character, so the level of empathy I have for her is smaller than the dinosaurs on earth, but that was kinda f*cked up Knuckles." Scott said.
"Wait, that was fucked up? I thought it was funny." Suwako admitted which caused a lot of people to give her mean looks. "What's the big deal everyone?"
"Suwako, shut it, please." Meta Knight begged. "Let's just get to our room and try to think of who to vote for."
Meanwhile, Katz was thinking to himself. "Ah, that girl's suffering was perfect. Genius move from Knuckles. Wonder how I can get her to suffer more?"
Bernadetta was once again in the storage room. She had cried so much by then that she was all dried up and her eyes were swollen. She was just staring at the wall, unsure of what to think right now.
Lollipop entered the room again, seeing the young girl in such pain was very hard for her. It reminded her of another friend, similarly outcasted by her whole team, and she couldn't bear to see that again, so she carefully approached her.
"Hey, I know you're not ok right now, but can we talk still?" Lollipop asked.
" ...Get away from me."
"You know that isolating yourself is not going to help out at all? Try to talk to others more, that's what I'm saying."
Bernadetta didn't say anything, she still stared into nothing.
"Just so you know, if you have any problem, I'm here for you."
...
...
...The girl silently embraced Lollipop, who at first was weirded out by this gesture, but eventually gave in and hugged her as well.
It was now night time, and the 9 contestants on the Echidna Warriors arrived onto the Lor Starcutter's deck along with Magolor and Winkle.
"Uh, Warriors, welcome to your first elimination I suppose." Magolor said in a far less enthusiastic tone than normal. "Man, what happened with Bernadetta's just really sad to be honest. Winkle, get on with potential elimination reasons, I want this to be over quickly."
"Sure boss. First off: Hot 15-I mean Bernadetta Von Varley!"
The Warriors all looked at her in that moment.
"You caused your team to lose despite a solid lead throught the challenge."
"I...I know, just spare me this torture and vote me off."
"Knuckles! Your berating of Bernadetta was considered by some of your teammates to be uncalled for and mean."
"Mean? He mentally broke the poor girl!" Lollipop corrected.
"That was not my intention, and I what I did was in no way justifiable, but still, I believe I should be given a second chance." Knuckles responded. "Sorry Bernadetta."
"And finally Lollipop! You're pretty rude towards all your teammates, they think you're arrogant and selfish and gay."
"What does that last part have to do with anything?" Bubbles asked. "What even is "gay"?"
"Oh you naive child." Meta Knight said. "Let's get on with voting everyone."
"Sure. Whoever has the most votes will leave the show, most likely for good." Magolor said. "On with the voting everyone!"
Voting didn't take too long, though a few people were conflicted on who to actually vote for.
"The votes have been casted, and the ones safe from elimination are:"
"Scott."
"No idea why people would want to keep a white guy obsessed about video games around, but hey, anything's possible, like a monkey giving birth to a lamp!" Scott said.
"Barbara unfortunately."
"HUH?! What gives you the right to talk down to me?!"
"Katz."
"Meta Knight."
"Knuckles."
"Lollipop."
"And Bubbles."
Both Bernadetta and Suwako were left. The former was just waiting for this to end, while the latter was confident she wouldn't get out.
"And the last one safe from being the second one out of Total Drama Superstars is...
...
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...
...
...
...
..
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.
.
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
.
...Bernadetta Von Varley!"
Bernadetta was confused. "Wha-What? H-How?! Why am I still here! I don't deserve to stay!"
"Yeah! And how the hell is a goddess like me out already?! This is an outrage!" Suwako ranted. "I'll curse all of you for life for this!"
"Yeah, yeah, come with me, let me touch you all the way to the plank miss, you're out and that's final." Winkle said as he grabbed Suwako.
"H-Hey! I demand respect you asshole!"
"Hmmm." Knuckles muttered. "I have no idea how she survived, but I suppose Suwako is a decent alternative. We'll talk later about this."
"Yeah you will." Lollipop snarked.
Meanwhile, Winkle put Suwako on the plank. "So Suwako, any last words out of your hot-I mean sneaky little mouth?"
"Where the hell is my hat?" She asked before Magolor suddenly pushed her off the plank into the portal. "Whoops! My bad! But regardless, right now, both teams have lost exactly 1 member. What kind of crazy challenges will they compete in next? Find this out and more on Total Drama Superstars!"
Voting: Knuckles
Knuckles: As much as I regret what I did to Bernadetta, I still have to vote her off, it's for her sake.
Voting: Scott
Scott: Bernadetta is from Fire Emblem, which, despite being a Nintendo franchise, is still an RPG, so off with her I guess!
Voting: Barbara
Barbara: Off with her head! Bernadetta no more!"
Voting: Suwako
Suwako: That purple haired bitch is super annoying, so I'll go for her.
Voting: Bernadetta
Bernadetta: I...I wanted to vote for myself, but Lollipop told me to go for Suwako instead. She's the only one here who doesn't want me dead, and I'm probably out anyway so I've got nothing to lose.
Voting: Lollipop
Lollipop: Katz went to me and told me he wanted to save Bernadetta. As much as I think he's a psychopath, I couldn't say no and we eventually decided on Suwako. I won't miss her.
Voting: Bubbles
Bubbles: Bernie is so cool, I couldn't vote her off! Lollipop suggested I go for Suwako, and I did, no hard feelings though. I'm very sorry if you felt bad!
Voting: Meta Knight
Meta Knight: I told Knuckles I'd vote for Bernadetta, but I couldn't go through with it, and with some talk with Katz, I'm going to vote Suwako. She was my other choice anyway, since I can't stand lazy people.
Voting: Katz
Katz: You may be wondering why I spared Bernadetta. Well it's quite simple, the screams she made as she cried out in fear, they felt...good. Like an all inclusive Hollywood meal. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear even more of her screams, so Suwako had to got instead, who was very expendable.
Winkle was looking at the ship's security cameras, and was particularly focused on the girls in it. He was silent, preferring that no one ever see the real him ever.
"Mr. Winkle, I've got a few questions for you."
Winkle quickly turned around and saw Katz, holding what seemed to be some kind of files. "Woah Katz, you scared me! What exactly brings you here anyway, I'm kind of busy right now, so make it quick."
"Oh I'll make it quick old sport, tell me, what do you know of this?" Katz asked as he took out a picture out of that file of his.
It was a horrific sight. (Content Warning: Graphic Imagery of children)
Dozens of small children, all dead, bloody, and every other bad thing you could imagine. All of it in a little playground, surrounded by bodies of youngsters.
"WHAT THE FUCK?! You're sick in the head Katz?! Where did you even get these?!" Winkle asked in shock of what he showed to him.
"Don't bother denying it Mr. Winkle, I talked to that officer, this is your handiwork, and particularly sloppy handiwork at that."
"What the hell are you talking about?! Are you implying that I did this?! I would never-"
"And it's not even the only crime you've commited. You have also been investigated for murdering 5 children at one of your restaurants, and stuffing their bodies inside animatronic suits."
"That's...uh...FINE! I did it! So what?! I've moved past it! Had to literally mutilate my body to keep this hidden, and I'm intending on living my life without an ounce of regret!" Winkle started yelling, uncharacteristic of his earlier demeanor.
"Are you sure you will? Considering how much evidence I have on my person, I could easily expose your crimes to everyone else, making you lose your job and your reputation in one fell swoop."
"Wha? That's...uh." Winkle tried to say as he stopped to think some more. He was being blackmailed for his past crimes, crimes he went through great length to hide, and which aren't even the worst of his deeds! He thought for a second, and decided to give in.
"Al-Alright, what do you want me to do Katz?" He asked.
"It's a simple task: since you're the main intern, you will help me win this game, and a little more, all in exchange for me not revealing your previous actions. So are we making a deal or not?" Katz explained in length as he took as his hand out.
Winkle was pissed at what Katz was doing, and spit on his hand before shaking his. "Deal."
"Good. We'll talk more on that tomorrow. Be ready Mr. David Winkle, my new servant."
Katz left the room he was in and whistled to taunt Winkle, who was utterly mad at the moment.
Winkle hit himself. "Goddammit you idiot! You ruined everything! Well, might as well get back to work I guess? Bitch about it tomorrow."
This was a rather important episode, I'll tell you much. And also the longest chapter I've ever written, so hopefully it's well received.
Note that the storyline I just revealed will be rather...dark, to say the least, but I'll try my best to not mess up with these dark topics.
Suwako was pretty much fodder, what can I say? I've said before on discord how I wanted to portray everyone as in character as possible, but I guess that's just not feasable. I'm not gotta bother much with the early boots, but the main ones I'll try portraying well.
Be sure to leave a review if you've got something to say about the chapter.
Ciao!