Author's Note: Today, our teams for this season will finally be revealed! I hope you're as excited as I am about it.
Enjoy!
"Last time on Total Drama Action! Fifteen teenagers... One spooky film lot... And a whole bunch of alien eggs! In a world where an army Chef wore an alien costume, only the strong could survive. Finally, only two were left to share a heroic victory. Now, they will be pitted against one another, by destiny. And so it was, that a pair of friends were the subject of a vote-off for the ages."
"This week," Chris said as he stood in front of the cast trailers, "we're gonna bring the pain! Haha! Well, if I have anything to say about it—and I do, by the way. So brace yourselves for some deliciously painful...
Total...
Drama...
Action!"
Episode Three: Riot on Set
The episode opened up in the middle of the night, outside the cast trailers, before zooming into the boys' trailer. Inside, they were all sound asleep as the camera panned over them. It then showed the same thing inside the girls' trailer, except a horn suddenly went off, causing Mikan to jolt up and bang her head on the bed above her.
"Ow!"
"All crew on set!" Chris shouted through a megaphone outside. "Call time is 4 AM!" Lowering it, he kissed it. "I love this thing."
CONFESSIONAL - LEON:
"I dunno if I can deal with getting woken up at these ungodly hours?" He scratched his head. "I almost miss the island."
The door of the girls' trailer opened and the girls came trudging out, still in their pajamas, most of them looking tired. The boys were the same, shuffling out of their trailer one by one.
"Well, there goes my hopes of having a consistent sleep schedule..." Shuichi muttered to himself.
The scene skipped ahead several hours so that the sun was already well in the sky and the castmates were now in their regular clothes and lined up by gender, save for Mondo and Tenko, who were standing with Chris in front of them.
"You're on a film set now, and you're gonna learn that showbiz is not all red carpets and pool parties," Chris said, narrowing his eyes at Leon and Yasuhiro in particular, who exchanged looks. "Today, you're gonna get schooled on how top on-set production life can be."
"It can't be harder than working the morning rush at a drive-thru coffee shop," Kaito countered. "Everyone thinks their order is clear, but at 6 AM? It sure as hell isn't! And then they have the nerve to get angry with me when their cappuccino doesn't have enough foam!"
"Well, speaking of taking orders from people you don't like, it's time for Tenko and Mondo to pick their teams, then try to stick it to each other," Chris said.
"Just so you know," Tenko told Mondo, "I've already decided my team, so you might as give up now."
CONFESSIONAL - TENKO:
"Okay, I didn't," she admitted with a sheepish grin, "but Mondo doesn't have to know that I don't know, right?"
"Okay, let's get this bloodbath started!" Chris grinned, looking between everyone." You're gonna choose schoolyard-style: boy, girl, boy, girl. Ladies first. Since we have no ladies, Tenko."
Tenko glared at him briefly before thoughtfully glancing over the available selection of boys.
CONFESSIONAL - TENKO:
"I promised Mukuro I would try my best to overcome my... um, dislike of men, so I guess this will be as good as a chance to do that," she explained. "The question now is... Which one do I pick?"
"Um... Shuichi!" Tenko finally decided, who looked surprised at her decision, but scurried over to her nonetheless.
CONFESSIONAL - MONDO:
"I woulda picked Mukuro to be on my team, but she's still Tenko's girl," he said. "Gotta respect that."
"Ibuki," Mondo picked.
"Woo-hoo!" Ibuki cheered, hopping over to Mondo. "Ibuki's got the honorary gold medal of getting picked first! She shall wear it with pride!"
"Mukuro!" Tenko chose, giving her a soft smile as she joined her.
"I choose Kaz," Mondo said, and Kazuichi smiled smugly as he joined his team."
"Kaito!"
"Komaru."
"Mikan!"
Mondo stared between the only two boys left—Yasuhiro and Leon; the former was preoccupied with looking behind him while the latter smirked expectantly, as if he knew he was going to be picked next.
CONFESSIONAL - MONDO:
"Yeah, normally I would've picked Leon," he admitted, "but he pissed me off one too many times. He'd prolly make me do all the work, anyway."
"Hiro," Mondo finally said, to which Yasuhiro whooped at as he joined his team.
"Seriously?" Leon protested. "You're gonna choose him over me?"
"If it's any consolation, that means you're automatically on the other team," Chris told him, gesturing to Tenko's team.
"Whatever," Leon grunted as he begrudgingly trudged over to the other team.
Mondo glanced back at the remaining girls with hesitance; Celestia, Junko, and Toko.
CONFESSIONAL - MONDO:
"How the hell do I choose between crazy, crazier, and useless?" he asked, folding his arms. "Shit, this is gonna be hard."
"Do you know what would be a great idea?" Komaru asked Mondo, sidling up next to him. "If you picked Toko to be on our team!"
Mondo sighed, putting a hand on his side. Toko."
Toko looked genuinely surprised at his choice, before glowering at him. "L-Let me guess: you picked me out of p-pity, is that right?"
Mondo sighed again. "Just hurry up and get over here."
Toko did exactly that after a beat, but not before shooting him a dirty look.
"We pick Celestia!" Tenko immediately called, grabbing Celestia's arm and pulling her over to her team.
CONFESSIONAL - CELESTIA:
"While having to take orders from such an obnoxious girl is less than ideal, I have to say that the other team has much more annoying people." She looked off to the side briefly and rolled her eyes. "Which, honestly, isn't saying much."
"Shit," Mondo cursed to himself before glancing over at the last remaining castmate. "I guess Junko's on my team."
Junko shrugged and made her way over to Mondo's team.
"Tenko," Chris announced, running over to her, Kaito, Leon, Mikan, Mukuro, and Shuichi, "I christen your team... The Screaming Gaphers!" Their team logo appeared at the top of the screen, depicting a pale green lightbulb with a pair of crossbones behind it.
"Mondo, you're the Killer Grips," Chris told him as he ran over to him, Ibuki, Junko, Kazuichi, Komaru, Toko, and Yasuhiro. Their logo consisted of an orange-red fist raised in a salute.
"Hell yeah!" Kazuichi exclaimed, shooting the other team a smirk. "The Killer Grips are gonna grip ya!"
The Gaphers gave him weird looks in turn while Shuichi said, "I don't think that came out the way you intended it to..."
"What the hell's a "Gapher", anyway?" Leon asked, wrinkling his nose.
"I don't know, but it sounds like something that has rabies," Mukuro replied.
A crash from off-screen caught everyone's attention and they all looked over to see two male interns; a white one with curly hair and a black one wearing all red, standing next to some equipment.
"I'm sick and tired of getting no respect around here!" the white man declared angrily before stomping off, his companion shoving a television off its stand before following.
Chris gave them an odd look before looking back over at the castmates. "Okay, since we're running late now and don't seem to have any more... whatever those two... crew dudes did... We better get going." He grinned and walked over to two sets of film equipment, including a trailer. "Your challenge? For each team to set up a film lot."
Leon snorted. "How is that a challenge? We can get that done in ten minutes flat."
"Oh, will you?" Chris smirked. "As location manager, I want your sets to go... there!" He pointed up to the top of a giant cliff set behind himself.
Most of the other castmates side-eyed Leon, who laughed nervously, while Mondo asked Chris, "Are you always this big of a bitch when it comes to challenges?"
"Yes. Yes, I am." Chris pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and spoke into it. "Chef, clear for traffic up there?"
On the top of the cliff, Chef glanced around the set and shrugged.
"Lights!" Chris announced through a megaphone as the teams rushed over and grabbed the lighter equipment. "Camera! Action!"
The Grips were the first ones up the hill and were having an easier time getting their equipment up. The Gaphers, however, were having a much harder time due to infighting (Tenko and Kaito), fighting with members of the other team (Leon and Celestia), copious amounts of tripping (Mikan), or general lack of strength (Shuichi).
"Obviously, this isn't going to work," Celestia grimaced as she watched Mikan faceplant onto the ground for the umpteenth time. "We need a strategy."
"You're not wrong," Mukuro agreed as she gestured over at Shuichi. "I don't think those arms are going to cut it."
Tenko ripped a light from Kaito's hands and turned to the rest of her team. "What kind of strategy, though?"
The Gaphers all exchanged looks with one another before all eyes landed on Shuichi, who seemed to be thinking of something. Upon noticing this, his hand went up to his cap and his eyes went to the ground.
"Do you have an idea, Shuichi?" Celestia prodded.
"Yeah, if you have one, just say it," Leon added.
"A-Ah, well..." Shuichi hesitated.
"Don't worry 'bout it, Shuichi!" Kaito hopped in, patting his shoulder. "A bad idea's better than no idea!"
Tenko glared at him. "No, it's not!"
"T-Take your time, Shuichi," Mikan assured him. "We'll wait forever, if that's what it takes!"
"You all are not helping," Mukuro sighed.
"N-No, it's fine..." Shuichi took a shallow breath before peeking up at his team's expectant gazes. "Um, I was just thinking... What if we passed the equipment up relay-style? It would be way more efficient."
"That's..." Tenko tapped her chin, "not a bad idea! I knew I put you on this team for a reason!"
"Um... thanks?" Shuichi replied awkwardly.
CONFESSIONAL - KAITO:
"Shuichi definitely has a lot of potential, it's just his lack of confidence that's holding him back." He then gasped and slammed his fist on the dressing table. "You know what? I'm gonna make him my Sidekick!"
"Alright, this is how it's going to work!" Tenko punched her fist. "The rest of you will work on passing the equipment, and Mukuro and I will work on getting the trailer up. Okay? Okay!"
"Can I be the man up top?" Kaito asked her. "We can still win this if we have a strong finish!"
Tenko groaned. "Fine. When the rest of you get Kaito's signal, start passing up the equipment, okay?"
"W-Wait, should we stand in specific spots or in a specific order?" Mikan asked.
"I don't think it matters!" Tenko replied as she ran off with Mukuro.
"Okay, everyone, let's get our asses into gear!" Leon said as the Gaphers ran off into position.
Meanwhile, the Grips were still hauling their equipment up, but Kazuichi slowed down poolupon noticing what the other team was doing. "Uh... I think we might have a problem."
"Shit, shit, shit," Mondo cursed as he looked back at what was happening.
"What do we do?!" Ibuki panicked.
"Run faster!" Mondo demanded, and that was what they did.
Back with the Gaphers, they were making great progress, with all of their equipment being passed through the team at this point.
"We're actually doing it!" Kaito exclaimed as Leon passed the last of the equipment to him. "We're gonna win this thing!"
He turned to set it with all of the other equipment at the same time the Grips reached the top of the cliff with theirs.
"It's neck-and-neck, people!" Chris announced. "Now for the heavy stuff!"
"How the heck are we supposed to get our trailer all the way up the hill?" Yashiro asked.
"I don't know, but we have to hurry!" Komaru pointed down at the Mukuro and Tenko, who already had their trailer a quarter up the cliff.
The Grips gasped and all of them looked at Mondo expectantly, who stared thoughtfully at their own trailer. "Hold on, I've got an idea. Kaz, you've got your toolbelt on ya, right?"
Kazuichi responded with a confused look. "Yeah?"
"Give it to me—I'm gonna need it."
Kazuichi sighed and glanced down at his toolbelt, hesitantly handing it over to Mondo. "You better not scuff it up!"
Mondo nodded in acknowledgement before running back down the cliff and towards the trailer. Using the toolbelt, he looped it around the hitch and tied it around his waist and started up the cliff again as the rest of the Grips encouraged him.
Leon was the first one to notice Mondo and turned to the rest of his team. "Hey, we gotta go help Mukuro and Tenko! The other team's catching up!"
The Gaphers ran down down to their teammates, half of them pushing the trailer while the other half pulled as the scene faded to black.
"Welcome back to Total Drama Action," Chris opened from a lawn chair. "And we're in the middle of some pretty wild action right now!"
The Gaphers were still pushing (and pulling) their trailer up the cliff, but Mondo and the Grips had caught up to them by this point, and they continued on each other's tails. The team that ended up getting their trailer to the top first was...
"Yes! We did it!" Tenko cheered. "We won!"
"Well," Chris corrected, "not exactly."
"Huh?"
"That was only the first part of the challenge," he explained. "Did I neglect to mention that?"
The Gaphers groaned, and the scene skipped ahead to both teams standing before Chris, who stood in front of two sets; the one on the left looked like an elderly person's living room, while the one on the right looked similar, but had a darker and masculine feel to it.
"It's time to make a movie," he announced, facing the Grips. "And what we've got here is the set for a tearjerker, starring an elderly lady considering her long life."
Kazuichi sighed a breath through his nose. "Why did we have to get the most boring ever?!"
Chris ignored him and turned to the Gaphers. "You'll be making a feature about a thug who tries to go straight but can't resist the lure of the street."
"How... original," Mukuro remarked.
"Excuse moi," Celestia butted in, shooting a glare at the host, "what about lunch? There has to be some sort of rule about this kind of thing, it has been at least twelve hours!"
"Oh, yeah?" Chris countered. "Who here is in the union?" He raised his hand, but no one else followed. "Yeah, I thought so."
CONFESSIONAL - CELESTIA:
She scowled and folded her arms. "You know what? I am not even surprised. When has Chris ever treated us other than toys for his own amusement?"
"And now, it's time to choose an actor to perform the scene." Chris looked over at Chef, who walked on-screen with a couple of manilla folders in his arms. "Chef, give the teams their teams!"
Chef shoved one of the folders in Mondo's hands, and he opened it with an uncertain look. "Okay... It looks like we'll need someone to play an old lady. Who wants to take a stab at it?" He looked up at the girls in particular.
"Ooh, Junko's been in magazines, right?" Ibuki piped up. "She already has an eye for the camera! Plus, she has those funny personas!"
"No can do," Junko shook her head. "I got bored of those already and I kinda don't have anything in the back burner. You get it, right?"
"I could try," Komaru volunteered, raising her hand. "Acting seems pretty fun, anyway. I bet I could do a good job!"
"Sure," Mondo shrugged. "I'm guessin' no one else has any objections?" He tossed the folder to Komaru and she caught it, though it almost slipped from her hands. "Alright, let's get this show started."
"Okay," Tenko read from the Gaphers' folder, "it looks like our character's name is "Big Lucky Parmigianino."
"And he's supposed to be a tough guy, right?" Kaito asked. "So we just choose the toughest-looking guy on our team."
"Or girl!" Tenko interjected, shooting him a dirty look.
Kaito chuckled. "No offense, Tenko, but how many girl gangsters have you seen on TV?"
"Uh, well... None," Tenko admitted. "But I'm sure they exist! ... Probably."
"How about we change that?" Mukuro suggested. "I could take a stab at the acting thing."
"Yes!" Tenko immediately handed the folder to Mukuro. "Mukuro will be our actor! Everyone else can work on the other filming stuff."
"I call dibs on sound!" Leon called, making a run for the soundboard just off the set.
"Alright!" Chris exclaimed through his megaphone. "Set up the shot! Whoever can get Chef, mister ex-army corporal, to show any emotion wins the challenge."
As he said that, Chef took a seat in a director's chair and slipped on a pair of headphones before growling at the camera.
When the focus returned to the Grips again, Ibuki was sitting on top of the set and adjusting the stagelights. "Don't worry, Komaru!" she assured. "As an up-and-coming musician, I know how important lighting is to an amazing performance, so you know Ibuki's got your back!"
"Thanks, Ibuki!" Komaru gave her teammate a thumbs-up to which Ibuki smiled at.
Meanwhile, Yasuhiro held a boom box in his hands while Toko stood beside Komaru with the script in hand.
"I-I guess we just need to get you into your role," Toko told Komaru. "So just a-act like how an old lady would!"
"Oh, so I should hunch down like this?" Komaru bent her knees slightly.
Toko pursed her lips and pushed Komaru down even further, causing her to yelp. "Ow, ow, my knees!"
"Looks like the microphone works," Mondo chuckled, adjusting pressing a few buttons on the soundboard.
Junko, unbeknownst to the rest of her team, was silently watching the other team with a smirk.
CONFESSIONAL - JUNKO:
"Now that I'll be actually competing as myself—it's a shame that Mukuro and I are on different teams, really—I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: I don't actually care if I win the money or not. In fact, it would be better for me if I didn't win. But, first, I want to eliminate as many people as I can. Oh, I can't wait to see the absolute despair when they realized they got duped twice!" She laughed a wicked laugh. "I will need some help with that, though. Luckily, I have an idea on who would fit my needs perfectly."
"Yo, can I get a sound check over here?" Leon asked, slipping on headphones.
"Of course!" Tenko turned towards the person operating the microphone. "Mikan, the microphone!"
Mikan nodded back in acknowledgement, but due to the way she was holding the microphone caused her to accidentally hit Mukuro in the forehead with it. The sound of the impact mixed with the grunt of pain made the feedback louder than usual, and the Gaphers winced.
"Okay!" Tenko exclaimed, taking the microphone from Mikan, giving her a sympathetic smile. "Maybe we should have someone else take over the microphone! Mikan, you can... take five until we need something from you, okay?"
Mikan looked like she was about to cry at that, but said, "Oh, o-okay. I get it," before trudging off the set.
Junko took that as her opportunity to strike and snuck her way over to the Gaphers' set and took a seat next to Mikan, who was now sitting by the wires behind it, crying silently.
"Are you alright, Mikan?" Junko asked her, an expectant grin on her face. "I saw what happened over there."
"Y-Yeah, mostly..." Mikan wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Um, but you're on the other team, right?"
"You're not gonna let that stop you, are you?" Junko nudged Mikan playfully, though perhaps a bit too hard. "We're still trailer-mates, right?"
"Y-Yeah, I guess so..."
"I'm just gonna cut to the chase." Junko crossed her ankles. "I want you to join an alliance with me." Mikan opened her mouth, presumably to protest, but Junko held her hand up. "I already know what you're gonna say, but look at it like this: if you join me, I'll make sure you'll be more appreciated than your own team will ever be to you."
Mikan's mouth hung open, seemingly at a loss for what to say.
CONFESSIONAL - MIKAN:
She bit her fingernails, glancing around the trailer. "I-I know it'd be wrong of me to join an alliance, especially with a member of the other team, but... Junko has to have a good reason for it if she's asking considering how Celestia's went last season... Right?"
"U-Um... I guess I'll join—" Mikan started, and Junko pulled her into a side hug before she could finish her sentence.
She grinned widely, showing off her shiny white teeth. "Awesome-sauce! This is gonna be great!" Junko hopped up and ran back over to her own team's set, leaving a dumbfounded Mikan behind.
"And now, time for the final hair and make-up adjustments!" Chris told both of the teams.
"Stand still," Celestia hissed at Mukuro as she tried to apply makeup to her cheek, but she was more preoccupied with choosing which fedora to put on.
"I'm trying to get into my role," Mukuro protested. "If you want to make it go faster, you're more than welcome to help me." She held up a dark green and a chocolate brown fedora to make a point.
Celestia huffed, looking between the two fedoras. "The second one," she finally said. "It would look better with your color scheme."
Mukuro put the brown fedora on her head and glanced at herself in the full-length in front of them. "Huh, you're right. Thanks, Celes."
Celestia stayed silent for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "Are you ready for me to do your make-up now?"
Mukuro nodded, and Celestia went back to finishing her make-up.
Meanwhile, Toko was tying a baby blue bonnet underneath Komaru's chin while Junko did her make-up. Komaru also wore a baby blue dress to match.
"There's no way we can lose this!" Kazuichi gloated as he and Yasuhiro set the boom box and microphone down in a good position.
Soon enough, both teams were ready and Chris held a film slate above his head and clapped it. "And... Action!"
The Gaphers' scene was shown first, with a professional (and darkened) filter over it as Mukuro stepped into view, a paintball gun in her hand. Appropriate music started to play as she started speaking. "Now you listen and you listen good. If your fighter doesn't go down in the first round, you'll be sleeping with the fishes!"
She shot the paintball gun, must've which hit one of her teammates off-screen. "Ow!"
"Oh, my bad," she apologized.
As for the Grips, soft music played as Komaru hobbled onto the scene with a cane. In her best elderly voice, she said, "When I was a young schoolgirl in Poland, frolicking through the fields with my pet goat in the summer sun, those were my happiest days. I lived a good, long life. I've loved, I've laughed, but what I miss most of all... is my sweet little goat." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Baa... Baa..."
"She's really loving her role, huh?" Kazuichi commented as he and the rest of the Grips watched Komaru from behind the soundboard.
"We know she's committed, at least," Mondo replied.
"Baa, baa..." Chef echoed before bursting out into tears. A few nearby contestants also shedded some tears.
"C-Cut!" Chris demanded, trying to hide his own emotion from the camera. "Okay, enough! It's too much for Chef to take! Komaru clearly wins for best performance! The Killer Grips win it!"
"Yes!" Komaru raised her arms in the air, along with her cane, but accidentally struck herself in the knee with it upon lowering them. "Ow!"
In the girls' cast trailer, Mukuro tossed a bouncy ball against the wall while Tenko watched her in concern.
"Everyone's going to vote you out!" Tenko told her. "We have to talk to them and convince them to vote someone else out!"
Mukuro quirked a brow. "Why? It's not like we lost because I was bad. Besides, it's not a big deal if I get voted off, anyway. I got to the finale last season."
"I want you here!"
Mukuro frowned. "Who would we even vote off?"
"I have an idea," Tenko replied, and Mukuro's brow raised again as her girlfriend leaned in and whispered something in her ear.
The segue into the Gilded Chris ceremony like last episode, except a jazzier tune took over as Chris stepped up to the podium. "And now, it's time to cast your votes and determine who will stroll down the Walk of Shame. Under your seats, you'll find voting devices. Just press the button of the person you want voted off. It's easy! So... cast your votes!"
The beeps of the voting devices filled the air while the Gaphers cast their votes.
"Who will it be?" Chris asked as a couple members glanced over at their teammates. "Who will be cast off the set?"
Chef performed a short drumroll with actual drums, then pointed over at a large, old-fashioned computer, which printed out the votes.
"And it looks like the votes have been cast," Chris said. "Chef?" Chef ripped the paper off the printer and handed it to him. "Remember, if you get a Gilded Chris, you get to stay because the Gilded Chris represents the luster of fame, and immortal greatness!"
A trapdoor suddenly opened next to him and the golden awards were raised up on a pedestal.
"And Gilded Chrises go to... Tenko and Leon!" Both of them caught their Gilded Chrises, smiling.
"Kaito and Shuichi also get awards!" Kaito smiled proudly as he was tossed his award, while Shuichi's was more bashful.
"Only three nominees left." The three girls in question, Mikan, Mukuro, and Celestia, who all stared at Chris; Mikan looked anxious as always, Mukuro had a neutral look, while Celestia just looked bored. "And the loser is...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Taeko!"
Mikan's expression switched to relief, Mukuro's brows raised, and Celestia was left gaping.
"Time to go!" Chris pointed in the Lame-o-sine.
"What?!" Celestia exclaimed in disbelief. "How did I get voted off over the person who actually lost us the challenge?!"
Leon shrugged. "No one liked you that much. Mukuro at least has Tenko."
Celestia glowered at him, then sighing defeatedly. "I suppose you have a point. I am willing to accept that. I shall take my leave with dignity."
"And, remember," Chris said as Celestia walked past the stage, "you can never come back, ever!"
She strolled down the red carpet and to the limousine, where she stepped inside before it drove off.
[BONUS CLIP]
Celestia shut the door of the limousine, and her expression immediately switched back into a scowl. "I cannot believe I lost my chance at the money. Again." She sighed deeply. "It looks like I will have to get my castle the old-fashioned way. I suppose it was inevitable, though. I placed third last season, after all."
A smirk suddenly formed as she looked out the window. "There is an aftermath show, however. Perhaps I could use that to my advantage..."
Killer Grips - Ibuki, Junko, Kazuichi, Komaru, Mondo, Toko, Yasuhiro
Screaming Gaphers - Kaito, Leon, Mikan, Mukuro, Shuichi, Tenko
Eliminated - Makoto, Sayaka, Celestia
Author's Note: And Celestia is the next one gone. How do you feel about it? I thought it made the most sense to boot her here since most of the contestants would want her here gone anyway, and it gets rid of a character that made it far last season.
How do you feel about the teams this season? I hope Mondo's and Tenko's picks made sense. Also! The Mikan/Junko alliance! I have some fun plans for that in the future :)!
That's all for now, I think. Thank you for reading, as well as the support so far, and I hope to see you next time!