"HOLD UP! THE IMMUNITY IDOL!" he cried. At once, his voice echoed loudly along the floors and ceilings of the cave, sending waves of MUNITY IDOL…MUNITY IDOL… MUNITY IDOL.
"SHHH! Don't say it dude!" Raj warned half-chuckling, because he could not fathom what had just happened. Of all places, it was in this obscure isolated cave? They had gotten real lucky!
"Oh right my bad… hey you want it?" Damien showed Raj the golden Chris bobblehead statue. This was only a formality. Damien didn't really want to give up the idol to Raj, he was just asking to be polite. If Raj said yes, well… Damien wouldn't know what to do…
Luckily for him, Raj put his hands up. "Nah you found it first! It's all yours bro! KEEP IT!"
Damien smiled as he tightened his grip on his prized possession.
Damien confessional: Excellent! With this baby, I can go all the way. Just gotta make sure I keep it safe! Hopefully I don't lose this! *pats it in his jacket pocket happily*
"Let's get out of here," Raj suggested.
Damien nodded. He stuffed the idol securely in his pocket, patted it twice for good luck and began sprinting with Raj back where they came from. Damien was running with a more confident pace now that he had a safety net. Even if he lost today's challenge, it would not be a terrible blow.
Priya, Caleb, Emma, Axel and Chase continued to swat off the annoying geese as best as they could.
"DUDE! NOT THE PANTS!" Chase yelped as two geese bit the bottom of his cargo pants and began dragging him along the earth while he flailed his legs helplessly.
Caleb was using his strength to push any charging geese away from him but he did not want to hit them too hard. Caleb turned and saw Priya fending off three geese on her own but with her back turned to one of them, she could not see it charging straight at her.
"PRIYA! HEADS UP!" Caleb yelled as he tackled the goose that was charging towards her and chucked it into the air where it flapped angrily and immediately came back for more.
"Uh-oh… I'm guessing he doesn't like that…" Caleb said, regretting what he had done. It was coming at him as fast as a train. Head-on and full speed.
"YA THINK!?" Priya stared at the angry goose. "RUNNN!"
Priya and Caleb began running uphill once more. They could not afford to stay here much longer. By now, there were too many geese, certainly much more than a few minutes prior. There would probably be more coming later and they were starting to get overwhelmed.
One of the geese was chomping Emma's shoe so she kicked it off of her. Another was charging right behind her.
"EMMA! DUCK!" Axel yelled. She flung her pants at the charging goose, covering its face so it could no longer see. Instead, the angry goose, with Axel's pants over its eyes just honked menacingly, strutting around and attacking blindly.
Emma confessional: *gasps* That is literally a HORROR scene!
Axel stared thunderstruck temporarily at the goose walking around with her pants and she reached out to retrieve it back. Suddenly she was snatched around her waist by two geese, carried off several feet into the air, and then dropped.
CRASH!
Axel fell right on top of Raj and Damien who had just re-entered goose territory and were highly regretting their decision to come back.
"OW!" all three said as Axel landed on the boys.
Unfortunately for Axel, the geese were not finished tormenting her. Once again, the same two geese grabbed her by her ankles with their beaks and carried her off into the sky.
"AXEL!" Emma yelled as she tried to prevent the geese carrying Axel from leaving by holding their skinny legs.
"Emma, don't worry about me!" Axel hollered as she blocked a wing attack from one of the geese with her arm. "I CAN TAKE ON AN ANGRY GOOSE. GET TO THE TREASURE."
"But – "
"TRUST ME! GO!" Axel roared as the geese lifted her up higher and higher into the sky. Emma hesitated as she watched her newest friend disappear into the clouds. Now she had no choice. She just had to trust that Axel would be alright.
Emma extended a hand to Damien and Raj who groaned.
"Ouch, she landed right on my face!" Damien said bitterly, massaging his now-crooked nose.
"Thanks Emma," Raj smiled weakly as she lifted him up.
"Come on guys, let's go!" Emma began bolting uphill once more.
Damien was about to follow her until Raj held him back. Damien spun around. "What gives?" he said curiously.
"Where's Chase?" Raj asked panicking. "Emma's all by herself now without Axel dude! Now is the perfect time for him to talk with her."
"Oh damn, you right," Damien nodded as he turned his head around trying to find Chase. "If I recall, he was last seen being dragged by geese down the mountain – "
"Down the mountain?!" Raj face-palmed. "We gotta set him free…and fast!"
Damien and Raj turned around and began running as fast as they could back down the mountain. It was a good thing both were relatively fast runners because soon, in no time at all, they saw the unmistakable figure of Chase thrashing around while trying to kick the geese off of him. There were four of them holding him down and each was smiling down savagely at the helpless Chase.
"LET GO OF ME YOU EVIL WANNABE DUCKS!" Chase cried. Chase always had a suspicious feeling that Canadian geese could understand English because at these words they seemed to honk at him more aggressively.
Chase threw his head back in annoyance. There was nothing he could do now. Emma was probably already almost to the top while he was heading the opposite direction… maybe he wouldn't be able to say sorry today… but hopefully tomorrow. Would there be a tomorrow though?... He worried greatly.
"RAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Chase looked up. Who had made that noise? All of a sudden –
BANG!
Raj and Damien had collided into the four geese holding Chase down, sending them flying and honking in panic.
Raj and Damien helped Chase up.
"Dudes…?" Chase said in amazement as he hugged them both.
"Chase, Emma's almost at the top!" Raj said urgently, pointing upwards. "You've gotta go!"
"We'll hold these foul geese up for you," Damien winked. "Don't worry about it." He bent his knees in anticipation for a full-on brawl with the geese because they were now circling him and Raj, hissing through narrowed and focused eyes.
Chase nodded. Running was no big deal for him. He might even be able to get to the top before Emma. Chase saluted Raj and Damien one last time before they entered the biggest fight of their lives. "Good luck bros!" he said before turning around and heading back up Jade Mountain at full speed.
"You ready dude?" Raj narrowed his eyes at the geese.
"To be honest, not really… but… let's do this!" Damien replied. The two of them smirked at the geese, eager to enter the ring and embrace the challenge.
Raj confessional: *cracks his knuckles eagerly* TIME TO RUMBLEEEEEE
MK and Julia had reached the final portion of their journey to the treasure chest – the black lakes. Chef had not been lying when he said the lakes were jet black. If Julia hadn't seen the slow ripples she would have guessed this substance to be thick tar instead. MK crouched down, map in front of her, and squinted straight ahead. Julia stood behind her, one hand over her forehead to see better.
"Is that the treasure?" Julia asked unsurely. She was squinting as hard as she could and could just make out a tiny shape on the small patch of land which lay in the middle of the lake. This mini island looked extremely out of place, almost as if it had been planted there.
MK reached into her backpack once again and quickly pulled out a dirty-green drone. There was something familiar about it. Julia stared hardly at the horrible-looking Chris logo plastered onto it and realised that this was the Drone of Despair they had taken last year.
"What are you doing with that?" Julia asked amazed that MK had thought to pack a strange object like this.
MK whipped out a controller and started flying the drone forwards to the island. "We're going to use this to lift that treasure chest over there and bring it over to us," she answered, sticking her tongue out to concentrate. They only had one drone so she could not afford to have it crash and sink into the depths of the lakes.
"I don't know MK… that treasure chest looks a little heavy…" Julia did not think the Drone of Despair could handle such a bulky object until MK ceased her doubts with a chuckle.
"If it could carry an average-sized human last year, it should be fine. Come on, that thing carried Ripper by his underwear and didn't even break a sweat! And Caleb too!"
Julia laughed lightly. How could she have forgotten that? It seemed MK was always thinking on her feet. Maybe this was what happened when you really thought things through; her plans seemed to involve very little to no luck at all, as if everything was just falling into place at the right time.
The Drone of Despair hovered over the wooden chest and grabbed the chest with its hook. A simple CLINK! and the chest was attached to the drone.
"Easy," MK gloated. "Let's bring it back baby!" The drone flew back towards its masters and dropped the chest at their feet loyally. One treasure chest down, one more to go.
There was no time to celebrate. If they both wanted to win immunity, they would have to get to Jade Mountain pronto. MK held the chest in her hands, hopped on to Julia's back once more and she began to run west to Jade Mountain.
"I…hope you know a shortcut…" Julia panted as she kept her eyes straight ahead, concentrating on the large mountain in the distance. It had been tough work holding MK up but now there was a treasure chest to carry on her back as well.
"Yup, we got a detour coming right up!" MK laughed heartily as she consulted her map. "If you turn left, there should be one of those rare, completely obstacle-free paths that'll take us to the back entrance of Jade Mountain," MK consulted her map. "From there it's just an easy climb up. No wild animals, no poisonous plants, nothing!"
Julia nodded fiercely and ignored the sweat rolling down her forehead. She had to pick up the speed so that her and MK would both be immune. Julia was determined to win today.
Everything became a blur to Julia as she began running so fast, the trees and birds zipping past her, she didn't even have time to register their shapes or colours or size. None of that mattered to her.
However, for a brief moment, she swore she saw dark-orange hair blur past her, heading in the opposite direction towards the place they had just left. Julia's heart skipped a beat as she skidded to a stop. She quickly turned around and saw his hat, his hockey jersey, his Timbs. There was no mistaking that signature "HOOT! HOOT!" he yelled into the sky as well. Wayne was heading to the depths of Black Lagoon.
Julia's brow furrowed as she hesitated. Wayne did not know he was heading to empty treasure. That would mean he was going to go through all of those obstacles for nothing. Granted, they had already taken care of the snakes for him but he wouldn't be ready for the spiders. All that just to realize there was no treasure… Should she tell him they had already found the treasure and that there was no point in going?...
MK looked down at Julia puzzled. "Um…. Is there a reason we're stopping?"…. she asked slowly.
No response as Julia's gaze remained fixated on Wayne's backside. Julia bit her lip nervously.
MK followed Julia's eyes and saw she was staring at Wayne running in the opposite direction towards the black lakes. Oh brother MK thought annoyed.
"Julia, come on!" MK snapped her fingers in front of Julia's eyes to break her out of her little trance. They had to get to the second treasure chest.
Julia snapped back to reality and shook her head from side to side, like a dog trying to rid itself of fleas. "O – OK!" she said hastily and began running again, giving Wayne one last glance but he had gone. He was too far now, he really was going to go to Black Lagoon for nothing. There was nothing she could do for him now.
Julia confessional: *looks visibly flustered* Ugh, I don't know why I was hesitating back there… That is SO weak…
Julia continued running but this time it was MK's turn to stop. Julia blinked puzzled. "What's up?" she said uncertainly.
MK hopped off of Julia's back and brought the chest with her to a bush. MK dumped the chest in the bush and used the machete to carve out a small X on the tree next to it so they would know where to come back after.
"Let's ditch this chest here and come back for it later," MK explained. "We need to bring the second one back down from the mountain and something tells me two chests are a lot harder to work with than one…"
Julia nodded. Anything to make her workload easier.
In what had seemed like no time at all, Julia looked up at Jade Mountain towering over them. The shortcut seemed to have saved them at least 15 minutes.
Julia continued to gaze up, stunned at the breathtaking sight that was the large mountain. She was so captivated by its beauty she did not even realize she was walking forward absent-mindedly until MK quickly grabbed her arm.
"JULIA! WATCH OUT!"
Julia's feet abruptly came to a halt, sending little pebbles falling below. "WHOA!" she yelped. They had reached a large chasm. And the only way across would be to walk over that gigantic log which spread across it.
"Obstacle-free huh?" Julia turned around, looking at MK angrily.
"Mostly obstacle-free," MK laughed nervously. "Oh, come on! It should be fine! Look at how thick this log is, it's not going to break!"
"It'd better not…," Julia said nervously as she hopped on to the log, and slowly started crossing. Unfortunately for her, there seemed to be a sticky, white substance on the log which was making the surface rather slippery. Canadian geese poop?
"MK, watch out. It's slippery!" Julia called over her shoulder. Once again, this was not being her nice. She had to make sure MK didn't die or else all the useful information she had about the future challenges would go with her!
After two near slips, Julia had finally crossed the chasm and was on the other side. She waved at MK cheerfully, gesturing for her to cross.
MK hopped on to the log and slowly slid sideways. Though she was moving at an extremely snail's pace, right before she reached the end, she slipped and began to fall.
"MK!" Julia yelled as she quickly extended her arm and grabbed MK's hand.
MK whistled as she hung in mid-air and looked down casually. "Didn't think it would be that fragile. You got across it just fine!" MK's heart skipped a beat. She could feel her fingers slipping from Julia's grasp. Would she fall to her death? MK could not see the bottom…
"I must've weakened it," Julia said through clenched teeth as she used both arms to slowly pull MK up. After a minute of struggle, MK found herself back on solid ground. She dusted her jacket with her hands and looked up at Julia, astonished.
"Did you really just save my life?" MK said breathlessly. She could not believe Julia hadn't just let her fall. Hadn't Julia celebrated Millie and Priya's hypothetical deaths last season? But now she had willingly saved MK?
"Apparently I did. Didn't do it out of the goodness of my stone-cold heart but I did it OK?" Julia smirked.
MK laughed and rubbed her hands. It was time to get on with business. "Alright let's get your treasure!"
Upon returning to Wawanakwa, Emily parked her boat, threw her lifejacket on the ground and walked over to her father who currently had his eyes glued to the screen. Emily was not fooled though. She knew Chris could see her and was deliberately not saying anything. She stood in front of him and put her hands on her hips, blocking the sun.
"Hi Dad. I dropped off Wayne," she said.
"Cool. Is he alive?" Chris grunted.
Emily blinked. "Yes? I didn't carry a dead body to Boney Island… anyways he gave me some good advice. I should've done this before but better late than never I guess…"
Chris finally stopped pretending to watch what was going on over at Boney Island and turned to Emily, frowning slightly. He raised his eyebrow, wondering what on earth she was talking about.
Emily stared deep into his eyes and took a deep breath. Wayne had told her to stick it up to him and that's exactly what she was going to do.
"Why don't you ever listen to me?" she said simply, going straight to the point.
Chris threw his head back in annoyance. "Oh come on Em! Is this still about Rip – "
"YES! IT IS! Why didn't you listen to me when I told you to give Ripper a different challenge? Why didn't you listen to me when I said his team could go through without a penalty?" Emily seethed. Apparently, her father thought this whole matter was trivial and could not see the magnitude of his actions so she was going to have to remind him.
"It's just a challe – "
"No, it's not just a challenge. That's your biggest problem. You think everything's just a game. Well, it's not. Now the guy I really liked is gone. Don't you see why I'm upset?" Emily scoffed. She turned her head away slightly and gave a sarcastic chuckle. "You always do this," Emily shook her head. "It's always about the game, not me. You obviously care more about Total Drama than your own daughter."
Chris got up from his chair and looked at Emily concerned. Chase's words were now echoing in his head. "Wait Em! That's not true!" he spluttered. When she put it like that… was this really the vibe he was giving off? Of course he cared about his family more than Total Drama! Did it not look like it?...
Emily turned back to Chris and stared straight into his eyes. "Then listen to me just this one time. Let me see him."
"What?" It was Chris's turn to blink. What was she talking about? "See who?"
"Let me go to the resort every day. I'll use the boat!" Emily pleaded. And now Chris knew what she meant. She really wanted to go to Playa Des Losers to see Ripper every single day?!
"What? That's crazy talk. You'll see him in the finale," Chris protested.
"I want to see him now. Every day. Can't you just do this one thing for me? It would mean everything to me," Emily said breathlessly looking up at her father's beady eyes with an intense fiery look.
Chris raised an eyebrow. "Would that make you happy again?"
Without a second thought, Emily nodded vigorously.
Chris sighed. "Fine… – WHOA!" Chris chuckled slightly as Emily suddenly ran into his arms and buried her face in his chest. It felt good to be speaking openly with her once more.
"Thanks Dad," Emily choked as tears of gratitude slid down her cheeks. For the first time in three days, Chris gave a big, genuine smile.
12:22 pm
MK and Julia smiled as they looked down at the Jade Mountain treasure chest, identical to the one they had found at Black Lagoon. The tricky thing would be to carry this down the mountain and back to the canoes. And of course, they would have to go back for the treasure chest they had hidden in the bush.
MK confessional: Wow… I'm actually surprised nobody got here before us. That shortcut must've saved us a lot of time!
"Let's go!" MK panted as she heaved half of the large chest onto her shoulders. She made to run but Julia quickly stopped her. MK turned around confused. Julia smiled mischievously as she looked down at Priya and Caleb who were about to reach the top.
"Wait… I want to stay behind and mess with them," she smirked, pointing to the outlines of Caleb and Priya. MK nodded.
"You. Are. Vicious!" MK chortled as the two climbed up onto a vantage point. They lay in hiding behind some rocks, with the chest resting snugly between them.
MK confessional: Time to give em something they'll remember!
Priya and Caleb panted as they finally reached the top of Jade Mountain. There was no time to celebrate however. Priya quickly pulled out her map and began taking steps towards the big red X. Any moment now, she should be standing right in front of the chest…
She tried to ignore Caleb who was right behind her. Indeed, she did not know why he was still following her around so determined, considering she was still giving him the silent treatment. They had had a brief moment where they worked together to fend off the geese but now that that was over, Priya was back to giving him the cold shoulder.
Priya's brow furrowed. Where was it? Maybe she was thinking of Caleb too much… She paced back and forth, still concentrating on the X but after five minutes of this, she concluded the chest was simply not here. Caleb frowned as Priya looked down at her map perplexed.
"WHAT?! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!" she shrieked. "X MARKS THE SPOT. HELLO?!"
"Did somebody get to it before us?" Caleb said nervously, popping up beside Priya's shoulder.
Priya shook her head, refusing to accept this possibility. "NO way! I had the lead from the start and I kept the lead all the way here! Either Chef was lying, somebody else somehow found it or there's something wrong with our maps!"
"Keep looking there! I'll look in this area!" Caleb said, pointing to a spot to their right. From above, Julia and MK giggled as they watched Caleb and Priya helplessly turning rocks and leaves over in search for a chest they would never be able to find.
Julia narrowed her eyes and looked to her left. She could just make out another Canadian goose nest in the distance. The geese were currently asleep. But not for long. She just had to give them a little push…
Julia bent down and palmed a ball of slimy, greasy mud. Without hesitation, she took aim and chucked it straight into the heart of the nest. Bullseye.
"Nice accuracy," MK whispered, feeding Julia a thumbs-up. Julia smiled and mouthed 'Thanks' back. Julia always prided herself on her precision when it came to throwing objects or smashing things in a fit of rage.
At once the geese shot up, determined to find its attacker. Very quickly, Julia and MK bent down hiding.
"3…2…1…" MK whispered gleefully, putting up three fingers and lowering them one at a time as she counted out loud. And then –
"AHHHHHH" Priya and Caleb screamed as they started getting attacked by geese once more. They were certainly tougher than the geese they had encountered before. Perhaps it was because their sleep had been ruined. As sharp beaks tore into their skin and began shredding their clothes, Priya and Caleb rolled around thrashing their bodies, desperate to get the geese off of them but failing miserably.
Julia and MK concealed their laughs with their hands as they peered over from their hiding place and watched the geese punching Priya's abdomen repeatedly and dragging Caleb by the collar of his shirt.
"Aww, all that muscle and he has trouble with a bunch of angry geese," Julia said mockingly. MK chuckled at Julia's taunt as the two exchanged high-fives.
After a few minutes of watching the geese torment Caleb and Priya, the villainous duo decided it was time to carry this treasure down the hill through the alternate route they had come so nobody would see them.
They each heaved one half of the big chest onto their shoulders and slowly made their way down. Once they reached the ground, it was time to cross over the chasm once more. The one with the slippery log.
Julia panted as they temporarily let the chest rest on the ground. This would be the hardest part of the day. It had been difficult enough crossing the log with their own bodyweight but now there was a chest to carry too!
Julia confessional: *scowls* Great… how are we going to get through this? I got nothing…
"MK…" Julia struggled to catch her breath. "I hope you have some brilliant plan to get this chest across – "
MK winked. "Oh yeah, this is easy. Remember the drone?"
Julia's face lit up with excitement now that she knew what MK wanted to do. "Aww my bestie is SO smart!"
Without wasting any time, MK took out the Drone of Despair. She turned around to face Julia. "Alright Julia grab the chest and then I'll let the drone carry the both of you across. Once I drop you two off on the other side, I can bring the drone back to my side and use it to carry me across!"
Julia nodded. She bent down to pick up the chest and let the Drone grab her by her waist.
MK confessional: If you're wondering why I didn't use the Drone the first time we crossed this chasm, it's because I had to stage a slip and test Julia's loyalty. *winks*
The process was very simple and only took a minute at most. Once MK dropped off Julia and the chest, she brought the drone back and then hooked herself onto it. Finally, MK controlled the drone to get herself across. Once Julia and MK were reunited on the other side, they sprinted back to the bush where they had hidden the other chest.
Julia and MK each held a chest in their arms and began heading back to the canoes. As they ran, they threw their heads back and laughed mercilessly into the air. Their first mission together had been a success. It felt so good to work together! Nobody could stop them. Could they go all the way like this?...
Julia confessional: *squeezes fists* Wow! We are UN-beatable. We may be the greatest duo of all time! And we're JUST getting started!
MK confessional: If this is a sign of what's to come… the others are COOKED! *sharpens gaze*
"HELP!" Emma shrieked as she desperately held on for dear life, her foot dangling mid-air. She was slowly losing her grip. A few more minutes like this and she would fall off of this cliff into the river below. Emma was so mad at herself. She had almost been to the top until she randomly lost her footing and slipped backwards. Emma had grabbed a vine at the last second which looked ready to snap at any given moment. What to do now? Evidently, not much. For now she was hanging here, helplessly alone… she would have to wait and hope someone rescued her. But realistically who would be able to?...
Priya and Caleb had been too far ahead to hear her, Axel had been dragged away by geese, and somehow Damien and Raj were not behind her anymore. There was nobody left. She was slipping, slipping…
Emma shut her eyes, bracing for the inevitable impact and her death when out of nowhere a hand grabbed her. She opened her eyes and looked up at her saviour. A familiar handsome outline in front of the bright sun –
"CHASE?!?" she said astonished. She closed her eyes and opened them again just to make sure.
It really was him! There was no mistaking that gorgeous hair.
He was squatting low, wincing a bit at the awkward position he was in; he had grabbed Emma at the last second.
"Hey Ems!" Chase winked, still holding her hand tightly.
"DON'T LET GO!" Emma yelled, accidentally glancing down and giving a yelp of fright.
"Wasn't planning to," Chase grinned. With one mighty tug, Chase heaved Emma up, pulling on her as hard as he could.
Emma got back up to her feet, brushed her skirt with her hands and looked at Chase with gratitude. "Thanks…" she murmured, avoiding his eyes.
Chase's heart was thumping wildly. Now was the time to do it. Now was the time to apologize. He had finally gotten alone time with Emma.
"Emma I have to tell you something," Chase said clearly, looking straight ahead into Emma's eyes.
Emma scowled. She knew it. Here we go she thought irritably. He wants to get back with me.
Emma confessional: *flails arms everywhere and shakes her head side to side furiously* Unbelievable, this guy is like a broken record! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me for the 58th time, shame on ME.
"NOPE!" Emma put her hands to her ears. "Axel already warned me." She shook her head from side to side and turned away from him.
Chase stared, dumbfounded. "Axel?! Why are you listening to Axel and not me?!" he asked incredulously. One canoe trip and Emma trusted Axel more than the guy she had dated for nearly three years?
Though Emma had her ears covered, she still heard what Chase had said. "IS that even a question?!" Emma yelled. "Hmm, let's see –" she put a hand to her chin mockingly – "You never treated me with any respect, you only cared about numbers more than your girlfriend, you sent my mom to the hospital, gave a star the WORST possible name, laughed when I FELL OFF A TOWER, cut the brakes on my car and made me crash into a pet store and NEVER ONCE APOLOGIZ – "
"I'M SORRY."
Emma blinked. "What?" she asked genuinely confused at what she had just heard. Did Chase really just say the S word? She turned to him amazed.
"I said I'm sorry… for all of that.," Chase reaffirmed, staring at Emma directly.
Emma did not know what to say. She was in total shock. She could only stare at Chase in disbelief.
Emma confessional: Wow… even the Simpsons couldn't have predicted this!
Another minute of silence as the chilly wind of Boney Island blew their hair.
Chase took a deep breath. Saying sorry had been hard enough but now to fully explain himself once again with his prepared speech was a whole new level of nerve-wrecking. It had been so easy with Raj and Damien but now with the real Emma in front of him, it would be much more difficult.
Hoping he wouldn't forget anything important, Chase delved into his full-fledged apology.
"Ems… I just wanted to say I'm sorry for… cutting the brakes off your car, sending your mom to the hospital, using your jacket as a stepping stone after I pissed myself, making jokes when you fell off the tower and overall being a terrible boyfriend. All of it! I never asked you how you felt. I was too focused on the numbers and content that I forgot about you. I was super greedy because I wanted the attention and I was worried if I didn't make the next video crazier than the last my-channel-would-die-and-I-would-become-irrelevant – "
Emma's lips were trembling with gratitude. She didn't even care that this apology sounded AI-generated. Chase rubbed his hair awkwardly before continuing. He had to slow down. He had said the last few words a little too quickly.
"Every time you broke up with me, I told myself you'd come running back but the truth is every time it happened I was scared that it would be the last time. I don't know why I kept doing it… I know you might never forgive me, but I hope you know how much you mean to me. They say you only realize what you have when you lose it.
Well, when you officially broke up with me in the tower challenge I cried. A lot. I never told anybody this, but that night I went to the outhouse confessional and cried all night. Several nights actually. I didn't get any sleep. Because you called me 'Chase Maxwell Peralta' I knew this was the real deal. You never do that – "
Emma put her hands to her mouth and interrupted Chase's apology for she had just put something together. "That's right!" she gasped in amazement as she pointed at Chase. "Millie said something about a weird noise in the outhouse confessional when she went to see Priya that night… she thought it was just a raccoon or something but… that was YOU?!"
"Yeah… if she heard it at around midnight it probably was," Chase replied, staring at the ground.
Emma stared hardly at Chase. She was absolutely floored. Not only did she think that this day would never come, but Chase's apology seemed to have come from the heart and she knew he had meant everything he said.
Emma figured that Chase had probably spent a lot of time going over these thoughts, reflecting over his actions, to apologize so flawlessly. It may have even been a rehearsed speech but she did not care. Saying the words had been enough for her.
Emma confessional: *blushes* Wow… didn't expect Chase to ever apologize… it's kind of sweet. Weird, but sweet…
"So everything you did today… you really meant it? When you saved me a seat, wanted to canoe with me and told Chris he was being selfish with Emily?" Emma asked in awe, recalling all of Chase's selfless actions of the day.
"Yeah, I actually can't believe it!" Chase chuckled. "That's so weird!"
Emma laughed.
"A – and we don't have to be boyfriend-girlfriend again. I just wanted to clear the dust between us so that there's no bad blood. I don't wanna look back on my life and only have highlights of you and me being the cringey couple that just shouts random shit at each other," Chase said, staring intently into Emma's eyes. He wanted to make the message loud and clear that he didn't expect anything from her in return.
"Yeah… we probably won't be getting back together if we're being real… I need some time off… but… we can still hang out and stuff… like… friends," Emma smiled, slightly blushing. A minute of silence –
"OK!" Chase smiled. This had gone better than he had expected. Emma was willing to talk with him at the very least. All of a sudden, Chase did not care about the treasure chest. This was just as good as winning immunity.
Chase confessional: *raises a celebratory fist* Wow, I've never been so happy getting friend zoned! This is awesome!
MK and Julia giggled and high-fived as they heaved both chests back into their canoe and waded out into the water.
Chef looked at them stunned. They had gotten both chests?!
"Didn't you two go the same direction?" he said suspiciously. "How do you have both chests?"
"Somebody dropped it I guess," MK chortled, clearly not taking Chef's question seriously. He frowned and shrugged, accepting this statement. Julia flipped her hair back and laughed, looking down appreciatively at her partner in crime. She loved MK's sarcastic zingers.
MK and Julia took off. Despite the heavy chests, the ride back was very quick. Before they knew it, they had returned to Wawanakwa. They parked their canoe, got out and dumped the chests proudly at Chris' feet.
Chris clapped. It was finally over.
"Julia and MK win immunity!" he announced as they high-fived each other. "You two get to keep what's inside!"
He turned his phone on. "Chef, tell everybody to come back!" he yelled into it.
Chris shot fireworks into the air to signal the end of the challenge.
Julia and MK opened their chests greedily, a hungry look in each of their faces. It was time to see what they would be rewarded with after a long day. After a grueling battle with snakes, humid black lakes and a dangerous crossing of the chasm –
A simple unlock and their faces fell. A single bag of potato chips. The no-name brand as well.
Julia squeezed her fist. "Seriously?" she spat, absolutely disgusted. "You call this a reward? I'm on keto!"
"Is this the best you can do?" MK snorted, unimpressed.
Chris nodded, grinning.
Julia and MK stared sulkily at their bag of chips. All that effort for a less-than-mediocre reward. But… no. Patience. There would be plenty of time to get more meaningful rewards. Which was exactly what they were going to do.
Meanwhile, everybody else at Boney Island stared up glumly at the fireworks. It was time to head back as a loser.
"Priya… I'm so sorry…" Caleb whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder but she swatted it away immediately. She did not need his fake condolences.
"I'm guessing MK had something to do with this?" Priya's voice trembled with rage. "And by the looks of it, her and Julia are working together." Priya recalled how arrogant they had looked back at the start. She knew it had meant something horrible was going to happen!
"Probably…" Caleb nodded slowly for this was the most logical explanation of their missing chests. He did not know how Julia and MK had formed an alliance considering their history but somehow it seemed they had done just that. This deeply disturbed him since he felt they were an ambitious, power-hungry, brain-brawn pairing.
Priya left without saying another word. She was going to paddle back on her own, or maybe with Wayne even. Right now, she just wanted to be far away from Caleb the cheater. Priya sobbed to herself, doing her best to ignore the stinging feeling whenever her flowing tears met with the scratches on her face.
Caleb looked down ashamed and began to snivel himself. He did not even try to stop her from leaving him as he watched her backside disappear down the mountain. Caleb felt there was no coming back from this.
Caleb confessional: *sighs defeated* How badly did I mess up? I hope I didn't just ruin everything Priya and I had this season…
Priya confessional: I'd rather get a thousand goose bites to the legs than go back canoeing with that JERK! *points to the side angrily*
"Well… I guess this is it Ems," Chase chuckled. "Time to head back."
Emma nodded and set off with him back down the mountain. Along the way, they met Raj and Damien who were seeing stars.
"What happened to you guys?" Emma asked, grabbing Damien by the collar of his jacket for he was about to walk right off the cliff.
"Lazzzaa angwee birrrzzz goooo cherrrrrrp!" Damien guffawed, stumbling everywhere.
"We gave them a good old-fashioned beatdown but they may have given us drain bamage!" Raj added, swaying violently.
Chase and Emma exchanged troubled looks and burst into laughter.
"Izzz naawwww funneeee," Damien moaned, clutching his head in pain. There was so much ringing. How hard had the geese hit them?
Emma ceased laughing. "You're right Damien. It's not. Come on, everyone link arms. Chase and I will bring you back to your canoes safely and uhhh… I guess we can all fit into a canoe together? That sound good Chase?"
Chase nodded as he linked arms with Raj to his left and Damien to his right. Emma linked her left arm to Damien's right and the group of four trudged together, falling down occasionally.
7:27 pm
BANG!
All of a sudden, the door to the girls' cabin burst open and Caleb came barging in. Julia and MK turned their heads. They had not been expecting any visitors as Priya had gone for a walk by herself, Emma was hanging out with the boys at the dock and Axel was in the infirmary being treated for 'Angry-Goose-itis.' So Caleb dragging his feet and whimpering came as a great surprise to them.
"Oh, hey Caleb!" Julia waved her bag of potato chips proudly. "Want some?"…
Caleb ignored her. "MK please! You have to stop this cheating! Get rid of that paper, it's ruining everything!" he blubbered.
MK stomped her foot on the ground in exasperation. What was with everyone being so anti-cheating? "Not you as well?!" she sighed, annoyed. "First Emma bails and now you?! Do you really want to win the million?" MK squinted hardly at Caleb.
Caleb hung his head. "Priya hates me now, she called me a dirty cheater…" he groaned.
Julia gave a small laugh and squeezed her fist as she raised it in the air. "I mean you are… be proud of it! Embrace who you really are!" she said viciously.
Caleb looked up angrily. He could not believe what he had just heard. Maybe MK and Julia were used to only thinking about themselves, but Caleb was not like that. He wanted to win fairly, preferably without hurting others.
"WHAT?! But I'm not a bad guy! I wasn't even a part of the cheating. I mean I knew about it but…" he whimpered.
Julia rolled her eyes at this big, blubbering baby. So much muscle and yet he was breaking down like this?
"Well either way you've done some questionable things and now Priya thinks you're the bad guy. Our advice? Stop trying to win her over and focus on the game," Julia laughed mercilessly.
Caleb buried his face in his hands and choked. "Priya said she's going to vote for me! She said it right in front of my face! And she's probably going to convince the others… I'm going home and the girl of my dreams h – hates me!"
MK's body twitched from witnessing Caleb's breakdown. He was so weak. But she figured now would be the best time for him to do as she wanted. After all, he was in such a desperate, vulnerable position. It was time to take advantage of his emotional distress.
"Not if we can help it. First of all, stop crying like a baby. We can save you Caleb," MK smiled cunningly.
"If you do as we say," Julia added, smiling mischievously at MK.
Caleb instantly stopped crying. He lifted his face from his hands slowly to see Julia and MK leaning close to him, each grinning evilly. He had a feeling whatever they were planning was not going to do him any favours in the long run… but what other choice did he have?
Now that Caleb had given them his undivided attention –
"Vote for this person tonight and you're guaranteed top 9," MK smirked. "Julia, wanna do the favours?"
Julia leaned into Caleb's ear and whispered a name.
Caleb's face went from gloomy to one of pure surprise. Had he heard right? As far as he was concerned, it would be a waste of a vote to vote for this person. He'd practically be throwing his vote!
"But w – why them? They're not really a big threat. They've just been getting by so far. Shouldn't we target someone else? Like Axel or – ?"
"Exactly. They've just 'been getting by' " Julia repeated making air quotations. "That's what makes them so dangerous. Please, we're not going to have them float their way to the finale like Millie did last time. MK and I want to take them out NOW. Especially after what we saw today."
MK nodded. "Trust me. It will be worth it." She knew Caleb would be hesitant to vote for this person but Caleb had to make a crucial choice tonight – either himself or _.
Julia sighed happily and kicked her feet up on the windowsill. She put her hands behind her head, relaxed. "Plus it's going to drive her CRAZY," she cackled.
Caleb was left pondering what he was going to do tonight. He had no other options. If he wanted to stay and make amends with Priya, he would have to follow through with Julia and MK's choice. Caleb sighed and prayed that he would get through tonight's elimination ceremony as the ceremony horn rang.
7:35 pm
[Soundtrack 1]
Julia and MK sat proudly at the back, looking around at their fellow competitors arrogantly. They were the only ones who were relatively unscathed. Meanwhile, the rest of their competitors looked miserable, broken and beaten. Just the way Julia and MK liked it.
Priya and Caleb were sporting black eyes and had numerous scratches on their faces. Axel's entire upper body was covered in geese feathers and her usual army pants were missing so tonight she was actually in her pajamas. Damien and Raj kept coughing up goose feathers as their heads lolled on each other's shoulders. Wayne's face had received a large gash across his right cheek and part of his left leg had a nasty shade of green. Emma's hair looked so wild that no hairbrush could fix its horrendous state and Chase's hoodie and pants had been torn to shreds. It had been a long, brutal day and they were all grateful to be back at Wawanakwa.
"I hope you all enjoyed Boney Island," Chris said jokingly. Nobody except Julia and MK smiled. The pair continued to sit with upright posture, hands comfortably in their laps, and pointed their chins slightly up. Axel scowled at this stuck-up behaviour. It seemed Julia really had found a new friend.
"Before we begin, we have a special announcement," Chris said to the merge contestants. He cleared his throat to give it the proper dramatic reveal. "Today, someone has found the immunity idol!"
Everyone gasped. Well, this was certainly news!
Julia and MK narrowed their eyes and stared around at everyone. They knew it had to be one of the other eight seeing as they had been with each other the whole day and neither had found the idol. Who had found it so soon? Whoever it was, they weren't going to be holding on to it for much longer. Julia and MK were already devising a plan to get that idol.
"WHAT?! NO WAY!" Wayne, Raj and Damien all exclaimed, two of the three pretending to be surprised while the other had reacted genuinely.
"Yes, I'm surprised myself," Chris nodded. "We literally planted it last night and it's already been found… Anyways! Chef. The usual business?"
Chef stepped forwards and cleared his throat.
"EMMA! You came back on canoes with Chase which makes everyone roll their eyes since we assuming y'all back together for the 82nd time," Chef said displeased. He did not need to see the disastrous Chemma fiasco again.
"Oh no we're not, we swear," Emma laughed.
"It's pure friendship," Chase chortled.
Julia and MK pretended to vomit. Axel stared at Emma, disappointed.
Axel confessional: *face-palms* No way! Don't tell me Emma's falling for his tricks again! Ugh! This is what happens when I get dragged away by geese?! He's definitely up to no good!
"CALEB! You could be in trouble since you've been receiving some side eye from some of your competitors. Rumour has it, you've been cheating," Chef continued, still looking displeased. Priya bit her lip and looked down resignedly.
Caleb opened his mouth in protest but MK and Julia cut him off with a dramatic gasp.
"Caleb how could you?" they asked jokingly, flicking their eyebrows tauntingly at him.
Caleb shot them a filthy look. So he had agreed to vote with them and they were still taunting him? Perhaps… they were just trying to show him that they could toy with him… for now, at least… Caleb would not continue to be their minion for the rest of the season.
"CHASE! Your odd behaviour could be seen as slightly suspicious. Therefore, your fellow campers may not trust you anymore. When did you start acting so selfless?"
"Erm – like today?" Chase said cheekily. Chef did not smile.
"Alright everybody. Here's how it works. Now that we've merged and stakes are much higher, there will be no more marshmallows!" Chris announced.
"WHAT?!" Wayne and Raj gasped. This was the worst news of the season!
Chris chortled at their reactions.
"That's right. We're going to be doing this a little differently. From now on, we will be reading the votes out loud one by one. Should make for a more dramatic ceremony. Yup. Now you all get to know how many votes each person racked up so it's no longer a mystery."
Chris let this information sink into their heads for a minute. How exciting it was to change the rules mid-way through the season.
"Ready everyone? Got a name in your head? Get voting!" Emily said, pointing to the voting booth next to her.
After Caleb had finished writing a name on his slip of paper and dumped it off into the box which contained all other votes, Emily took it and brought it to the front where she would be reading them out loud. The mergers stared apprehensively at Emily's hand as it slowly slipped into the box and withdrew the first slip of paper. Emily narrowed her eyes.
"The first vote… Caleb," Emily said, turning the slip of paper for them all to see.
Caleb shifted uncomfortably and his heart sunk. He recognized her handwriting from the court challenge…
Priya hardened her gaze. Julia and MK stifled a laugh.
"Second vote… Caleb."
Caleb gulped. This was not a good start for him.
"Third vote… Damien?" Emily said puzzled.
Damien blinked, just as confused as Emily. Who had thrown their vote on him? Wayne whistled to himself, doing his best to not look guilty.
"Fourth vote… MK?" Emily frowned once more. "Guys! You're not allowed to vote for people who have immunity!"
"I didn't think I had to actually explain that concept. Wasn't it obvious?" Chris muttered, displeased.
Chase and Emma high-fived each other.
MK rolled her eyes. Clearly one of them had voted for her, maybe even both, but MK was not worried. After tonight, she wouldn't have to worry about their trolling…
"Fifth vote… Chase."
Chase blinked but quickly recovered. It was only one vote after all. Chase was very curious who was targeting him though…
"Sixth vote… Caleb."
Caleb was sweating, feeling the tremendous pressure piling up each time his name was read. How many people had voted for him?
"Seventh vote… MK." Emily laughed a little.
Emma and Chase smirked as Julia shot them a dirty look. One of them was about to pay for having the audacity to vote for her bestie.
"Eighth vote… Chase."
Chase's smirk vanished. Had MK and Julia voted for him? This was insane! Perhaps they had actually heard his apology and felt threatened by his wise words? No matter, it was only two vot –
"Ninth vote… Chase."
Chase's eyes rounded in fear as Emma gasped audibly beside him. What was going on?
"W – what?" Emma whispered, terrified.
"That's 1 vote Damien, 2 votes MK which don't even count, 3 votes Caleb, 3 votes Chase…" Emily summarized, slowly reaching into the box to pull out the last slip of paper.
Chase and Caleb exchanged nervous looks. Each felt they deserved to stay and that the other deserved to go.
"Seventh person eliminated from Total Drama Rematch is… "
Caleb's heart was beating extremely quick. He had done everything Julia and MK had told him to. But was that enough? Had he really racked up enough votes to send Chase home? Or had Julia and MK backstabbed him? Though he had expected to be in the bottom two, the anticipation was killing him. If he really did go, Priya probably wouldn't want to say her goodbyes at the dock either…
"Chase," Emily said turning the final vote over, revealing Chase's name in a messy scribble.
Caleb sighed in relief and glanced at Priya who was looking up at the sky in annoyance. But no matter, he had more time to make it up to her!
"WHAT?!" Emma yelled in surprise.
Chase looked around. He was shocked as well. How had he gotten the boot when he was on good terms with Emma, Raj, and Damien? Did the others really hate him that much? What had happened? He had been caught completely off guard.
"HOW did this happen?!" Emma shrieked, staring desperately at everyone else. Emma did her best to ignore Julia and MK's triumphant gazes since she knew fully well they had voted for Chase. But where had the other votes come from?...
Priya shrugged, clearly just as surprised with the results as Emma was. Raj and Damien both turned to Chase, looking extremely distraught.
"Wait, why are you surprised by this?" Axel frowned. Axel thought Emma of all people would be ecstatic that the thorn in her side, the bane of her existence, Chase was leaving.
Emma turned to Axel with a hurt expression. Now she knew who had voted off Chase. Axel blinked.
Axel confessional: Wait… don't tell me they ACTUALLY made up AGAIN?! That is ridiculous!
"Chase… no…." Raj whimpered, watery-eyed and shaky.
"Just when he made things right…" Damien sighed, wiping a tear away.
Chase did his best to put on a brave face but the only result was a weak grimace. After making it decently far in his debut season, his journey was being cut much shorter this time. Chase didn't know what to feel about that. At least he had merged… twice!
Lost in his thoughts, Chase suddenly laughed out loud to himself. A few funny thoughts had just occurred to him. Hadn't he promised Ripper and Zee he would win for Trout Trio? Now he found himself being eliminated right after them!
And… as soon as he made things right with Emma, that's when he had to leave? It seemed like his only purpose was to be the king of bad timing. Or maybe… perfect timing? He had made amends with her before it was too late and this was good enough for him.
Chase confessional: I lasted longer last season. Am I mad that they eliminated the best-looking contestant so soon? Pfft NAHHH! Did you hear Chris? They're not even giving marshmallows anymore! I literally left at the BEST TIME. YO BOY CHASE IS OUT OF HERE. THIS ONE'S FOR MY NUMBER ONE FAN – PANTSANDLOVE69!
*gets up and dances, twerking chaotically at the camera* CYAAAA WOULDN'T WANNA BE –
Chase threw his bags onto the Boat of Losers and turned around to Emma who had followed him to say one last goodbye.
"Bye Ems. Erm… I got you another flower" – he reached into his pocket and pulled a lavender flower out – "It's from Boney Island. I think they call it Espérer or something, don't even know what that means –"
"Hope. It means hope," Emma said through teary eyes. It was the first time he had ever gotten her a gift. Chase blinked, impressed. He honestly thought it had meant something like 'Battle Armor' or 'Fire Dragon' but hope was alright as well.
"I know the goose ripped the other flower off sooo yeah. Enjoy the new look I guess…" He carefully adjusted the new flower into her ponytail and took a step back. He whistled.
"Looking good…" he winked.
"Thanks…" Emma choked.
"I hope you win," Chase winked as he set foot on the Boat of Losers which was starting to move away. It seemed Chef was trying to cut their farewell short.
Emma nodded and let out a little whimper. On the boat, Chase faced her and gave her a farewell thumbs-up. Emma put a hand to the air and waved solemnly until he finally turned around the corner and disappeared.
Emma ran her fingers through her hair and felt her new flower as she thought of their last moment on the island together this year. Though it had not been a farewell kiss (and Emma was glad about that), it felt just as good.
THE END
AUTHOR'S NOTES
This concludes Chase's redemption arc. Though it was short-lived, it was memorable. I was really disappointed with what they did with his character in canon so I tried to give him as much as I could. He was mainly comedic relief with a mini redemption arc. Most importantly, him and Emma did NOT get back together.
Again, I want to stress it was the loss of his buddies which made him think straight and realize he did not have infinite time with Emma on the island. I know the title of the episode kinda gave away who was going but I just thought it was clever lol. I promise it doesn't happen again.
Up next is... Episode 9: Subzero heart (see? Kinda hard to tell who goes right? Haha...)
VOTES
Damien: Wayne
MK: Emma and Chase
Caleb: Damien, Priya and Raj
Chase: MK, Julia, Caleb and Axel
Explanations:
The jealous Wayne threw his vote on Damien for hanging out with Raj.
Emma and Chase voted for MK as a troll.
Priya voted for Caleb for being a cheating accomplice. Raj voted for Caleb since Julia and MK had immunity and he was the biggest physical threat. Damien voted with Priya because of their alliance (Priya did not inform Damien of Caleb and the cheating though)
MK and Julia voted for Chase for "floating" and acting suspiciously OOC (out of character). Caleb is dragged into their vote to save himself. Axel voted for Chase. She and Emma did not have time to discuss this since she got carried away by geese and did not canoe back with Emma (Emma went back with Chase, Raj and Damien all squished in one canoe). Axel did not know about the apology. She was also in the infirmary being treated for her wounds as they were most severe.
EXTRA
Chase's elimination is foreshadowed in Episode 1 when he is eliminated after Zee and Ripper in the balloon challenge. Actually, the entire Trout Trio elimination order was foreshadowed. Funny bois go out together.
Go back to Episode 3: Midnight stroll. The awful crying sound Millie hears in the outhouse confessional is really Chase. I had his story planned out since the beginning.
PantsandLove69 is one of the Total Drama subreddit's funniest users IMO and so I decided to have Chase acknowledge her. Congrats Pants! He may not have won but I'm sure she'll take 10th place over 15th any day.
Fun fact: Chase was originally supposed to be the first boot of the season in my original draft. This was a time where I hated Chase but as I have grown to appreciate his humor, I felt I could do more with him.
MK slipped on purpose because she knew Julia would have no choice but to save her.
The eliminations are now like Disventure Camp where votes are read one-by-one out loud. I did this because people say the tone of Disventure Camp is more "serious" than Total Drama. I wanted to show that we have left the funny pre-merge and that the merge is about to become more intense.
I also hope you enjoyed Boney Island, beavers, geese and the Drone of Despair all making a comeback!
CONFESSIONAL TOTAL
Who will have the most confessionals in the end?...
Julia: 46 (new yapper)
MK: 36
Emma: 31
Raj: 28
Wayne: 27
Damien: 27
Caleb: 27
Axel: 26
Bowie: 25
Chase: 23
Priya: 22
Ripper: 20
Nichelle: 12
Zee: 12
Millie: 5
Scary Girl: 2
Emily: 3
Chef: 2
Chris: 2
Courtney: 1
Gerry: 1
Pete: 1
Shark: 1
ELIMINATION ORDER:
1. NO ELIMINATION (Reward challenge)
2. Lauryn "Scary Girl" Marinus (16th)
3. Millie Williams (15th)
4. Bowie Lupaul (14th)
5. Nichelle Ladonna (13th)
6. Hezekias "Zee" Pancho (12th)
7. Rico "Ripper" Ruffalo (11th)
MERGE
8. Chase Maxwell Peralta (10th)