Total Drama Pizza Party Chapter 8: What You Call Pathetic, I Call Reality, a total drama series fanfic

"Last time on Total Drama Pizza Party!" Chef began. "With the Cheese Yellow Pair outta the game, n' Pavel blowin' up the alliance between the Sausage Brown n' Mushroom Blue Pairs, the big alliance of all the other pairs started really turnin' the wheels to decide on what to do next."

"One problem, though: nobody could agree on what to do next!" Chris laughed. "Not even people within their pairs really agreed on much. Except Orson and Sawyer, because she has him totally whipped. Hehaha."

"Some folks, like Alex, Panic, n' the Onion Purple Pair wanted to keep the alliance together n' make sure they could get rid of the big threats that were the Brown n' Blue Pairs," Chef continued. "Others, like Lazarus, Jenna, n' the Pepperoni Red Pair figured the new power vacuum might be a good chance to get a jump on things."

"Meanwhile, Charlie and Ichabod scrambled to convince literally anyone to work with them now that they're on the outs," Chris picked up. "Pavel tried to make amends for his huge rant at the others. And Brynleigh pretty much avoided everyone as best she could, not that Veronica would let her."

"These kids're hungry for control, Chris. Be that in the game, or just in the social hierarchy," Chef snickered. "Told ya I knew how to pick 'em."

"Yeah, yeah," Chris groaned. "Anyway, the challenge forced our players to stand in place for an extended period of time while holding down a button. With the attention spans of today's youth, it didn't last as long as it sounds. Thanks in large part to the fact that they were also required to sing if they wanted to communicate at all."

"I'm still thrown at how Alex was so bad at it n' Sawyer was so good at it. Woulda expected the opposite," Chef noted. "But it all came down to Panic n' Remi... the two people who are actually in bands. Do I sound shocked?"

"Not at all, Chef, because those two put up a hell of a fight," Chris recalled. "Especially after the last hour where they had to rhyme everything they sang, too! In the end, Remi took it home for the Onion Purple Pair, granting them the chance to inflict the Pineapple on one of their rivals."

"The two debated between usin' it on Brown or Blue," Chef said. "Remi wanted to disadvantage Brown on account of not feelin' close with either of 'em, but Veronica's friendship with Brynleigh led her to feel the same about the Blue Pair."

"In the end, despite Charlie's pleas, they used the Pineapple on the Mushroom Blue Pair," Chris said. "And hey, they've survived a Pineapple punishment before, but who knows what this one will bring?"

"Only you and I, Chris. And the rest of the crew, but..." Chef trailed off. "Tonight, twelve contestants become ten as we send two pairs to fight for their lives in the Half n' Half Challenge! Who's it gonna be, n' who's gonna come back steamin' even more than a freshly-baked pizza? Stay right there! It's Total! Drama! Pizza Party!"

Remi found Ichabod sitting alone at an outdoor table in The Breakfast Nook, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Ichabod! Mind if I take a seat?" Remi grinned.

"Not if you're here to apologize for your breach of etiquette," Ichabod stated.

"That's, uh, exactly it, actually," Remi admitted as he took a seat across from Ichabod. "I know I told Charlie I'd put in a good word for you guys with Roni. And I did, I promise! If it were up to me, we would have used it on the Brown Pair."

"So it's not up to you, then," Ichabod deduced.

"Whoa now, I mean, uh..." Remi scratched his face. "I'm going to be real with you, Roni really wanted to not use the Pineapple on the Brown Pair. Like, I meant a lot to her. I wasn't going to piss off my partner in the game over this. I, Remi, will still have your back when it comes to the you versus Brown stuff, but there's only so much I can do."

"That's a statement I can never abide by," Ichabod stated as he stood up. "One is limited only by the limits of humanity. If you feel that there is only so much you can do, then you do not have enough faith in yourself."

"Damn... that almost sounds inspiring as hell," Remi admitted.

"It is the philosophy by which I have lived my life," Ichabod claimed. "So I will make a mental note that I cannot rely on you, and seek people upon whom I can rely."

"Hey, come on, man!" Remi got up out of his seat. "I know I wasn't able to change Roni's mind this time, but..."

"But what?" Ichabod glared. "You cannot fool me, Remi. If you had any true intention to work with Charlie and myself, you would have made better strides to do so."

"Yeah, well..." Remi scoffed. "You were in an alliance without me all game. Maybe fair's fair, huh? You're not the only one who's allowed to play the game that suits them best."

"Gh!" Ichabod reacted. "How unnecessarily uncouth."

"Hey, you're the one who's calling me unreliable and unable to make my own decisions," Remi frowned. "But hey, since you have so much more faith in yourself than I do in me, maybe you can find your own way out of your predicament."

Remi left the area. Ichabod angrily took a sip of coffee as he watched Remi leave.

"Heyyyy, sweetie~" a tall blonde lilted.

"That guy was super rude to you," a curvy redhead winked.

"Do you need someone to talk to?" a petite brunette cooed.

"I am not in the mood," Ichabod glowered.

The three girls all put their hands up and walked off in perfect unison.

Ichabod sighed to himself once he was sure he was alone.

Ichabod: "I am well aware that my position in this game is precarious. But I will not abide by insults to my intelligence nor my ability on the level that Remi displayed. I do not tolerate failure, and I tolerate insinuation that my destiny is in anyone's hands but my own even less. Indeed, I will find a way out of this predicament on my own, and it will end quite poorly for Remi and his ignorant compatriot, of that I can assure you."

Remi: "Geez, I kind of lost myself there a little. That did not rock. But, I mean, I came up to apologize to Ichabod, and he just kept shutting me down and insulting me. For someone who's always on about his own principles, that didn't seem like the mature way for him to handle it in my opinion." He shrugged. "I dunno. It's not like he's going to stick around for much longer anyway. Maybe it's good riddance."

Meanwhile, Pavel and Lazarus met up near the fountain in the center of the faire.

"Sup, maaaan," Lazarus approached Pavel. "How's not having the Pineapple?

"Y'know, honestly I'm more surprised than anythin'," Pavel shrugged. "Obviously I'm happy, but I wouldn't have been shocked if they had just used it on me because of all the stupid shit I've done."

"That would've been the easy, but lame, choice," Lazarus chuckled slightly. "Considering like you said, you really did some terrible things and hurt a lot of people's feelings. I mean, why not use it on someone like thaaaat?"

"Alright quit it, that wasn't an invitation to start pilin' on me," Pavel grunted.

"Force of habit," Lazarus smirked.

Pavel sighed and shook his head. "I'm mostly just confused why they'd give it to a team like Blue who clearly are a unit and are such a big threat. They have to know now they have a target on 'em they wouldn't've had before."

"Yeah, that would be a really stupid decision for a team who has no blood on their hands, right?" Lazarus rubbed his hands together. "But the perfect move for someone… behind the scenes to orchestrate, wouldn't you say?"

"What're you saying?" Pavel inquired.

"Well isn't it obvious?" Lazarus laughed heartily. "I saved you and Brynleigh last night."

"Is that so?" Pavel raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said that Red, Green, and Purple were all together? How could you get Purple to listen to you?"

"That is true, but it's nothing that a mastermind like myself couldn't get done!" Lazarus's face twisted into a malicious grin. "Impressive, I know. No need to remind me."

"Wait, so you're capable of doing stuff behind the scenes like that?" Pavel asked, surprised.

"But of course," Lazarus replied. "It's always been that way, the power of my strategic mind truly knows no bounds!"

"Then why do you even need an alliance with me, you seem like you've got everything worked out," Pavel sighed.

"Because ultimately, no matter how proficient I am at this game, I still need numbers who will get rid of my enemies for me," Lazarus explained. "Your physical strength will come in handy, that much is obvious."

"I guess that's a fair point," Pavel shrugged.

"So, is that enough to prove to you that I, in fact wish to work with you and dismantle that stupid alliance?!" Lazarus asked loudly.

"If you really did do all that for me and Brynleigh, that is a pretty major sign of trust," Pavel admitted. "Something I wasn't really expecting from you, if I'm being honest."

"Your words hurt," Lazarus stifled a laugh. "Seems like our partnership is going strong, now it's time for you to hold up your end of this deal by winning today's challenge."

"I'll do my best," Pavel said.

"That's all I need to hear," Lazarus smiled.

Lazarus: "Did I convince Purple to spare Brown? Absolutely not! But what Pavel doesn't know won't hurt him, I say. I have no idea why Purple decided on Blue over Brown, but it seemingly made Blue mad at them and that's exactly what I need to swoop in, and get them as loyal allies. It's been so long… but this game will finally be mine!"

Pavel: "I don't like takin' orders from someone like Lazarus. I know the type, he's gonna try to use this whole keepin' the Pineapple off me and Brynleigh thing as leverage against me for as long as he possibly can. But, there aren't many options for me right now. So I gotta play the role I can, swallow my pride, and grind things out. Nobody said redemption would be easy."

Charlie found Orson sitting on the usual people-watching bench and took a seat next to him.

"I guess I'll ask point-blank: are Ichabod and I screwed?" Charlie asked.

"Beyond the possibility of winning challenges? I wouldn't say so," Orson answered. "When Ichabod asked me last night if I could vouch for your pair, I told him I couldn't, because I've never been particularly close to the Purple Pair. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to help you guys out in other ways, though."

"How willing?" Charlie chuckled. "'Making a move' willing?"

"It's not out of the question," Orson smiled. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Well, I'd say any bridges Blue could have ever had with Brown, Purple, and Pink are well and truly burned," Charlie figured. "Even if we didn't have to be, I think we can be flexible."

"Sawyer and I should be able to go along with that," Orson laughed. "If I may, though, it would pay to be a little more assertive at this point. If you already feel like a target, holding back might make people feel like you're even more vulnerable."

"That is a very good point," Charlie realized. "In that case, what would you say to targeting the Pink Pair?"

"Pink?" Orson asked. "I can't say I'm opposed, but I would have thought you'd go for Brown or Purple before them."

"I don't have any hard feelings for the Purple Pair," Charlie admitted. "Remi did string me along, but I get he was in a tough position. I feel like both members of Brown are in tough positions of their own, but let's not get into that."

Orson hummed.

"Lazarus has always stricken me as baselessly spiteful, though," Charlie continued. "Alex is sweet, but she hasn't seemed too concerned about talking strategy. I don't know if I can trust either of them."

"I suppose that's why your pair has been after the Pink Pair specifically throughout the game," Orson recalled.

"That, plus they're not too bad in challenges, although we're getting to a point where that might apply to most pairs," Charlie said.

"That is true," Orson agreed. "I'll talk to Sawyer, but I know she's been looking to turn the game around pretty soon. She should be into the idea."

"I'd really appreciate it," Charlie smiled. His attention shifted to someone who walked by. "Did you see that guy who just passed us? He seemed anxious to get somewhere."

"Or even anxious to get away from somewhere," Orson considered.

"Hmm, an interesting take," Charlie noted.

Charlie: "I do appreciate Orson's willingness to help me out, though I can't help but wonder if there's more to him than he's letting on. For as open as I've been with him, he's been a good listener, but hasn't been very open in return, now that I think about it. There's no sense in looking a gift horse in the mouth, though. A solid ally is a solid ally."

Orson: "Helping the Blue Pair might be better for my game than is initially obvious. Not only does it give my pair some momentum in the inevitable implosion of the big alliance, but it also keeps a big threatening pair on our side, who can keep us out of danger by either targeting someone else, or being a lightning rod to the status of 'big target'. I guess it doesn't hurt that Charlie's pretty easy to talk to as well." He smiled.

Brynleigh sat on the couch in the rec area, staring blankly at a wall. As she sat there, the front door burst open and Veronica rushed into the room loudly, Brynleigh turned to see her rushing straight towards her.

"Good moooorning!" Veronica sang.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be stupid at right now?" Brynleigh sighed. "I'm busy."

Veronica chuckled and slapped her knee. "You are quite funny, you know!"

"Huh?" Brynleigh raised an eyebrow.

"Imagine not having time to cohabitate with your compatriots in this game!" Veronica laughed as she plopped down on the couch next to her.

Brynleigh grumbled and shook her head.

"Ah, so, today's course of action is obvious!" Veronica smiled.

"Oh yeah, what's that, princess?" Brynleigh mocked.

"Princess?" Veronica asked. "Oh, do you misunderstand me! I am simply an Empress-to-Be! Not a princess!"

"Right, how could I mix up those two!?" Brynleigh exclaimed.

"It's okay, Brynleigh!" Veronica put her hand on Brynleigh's shoulder. "Not everyone is as in the know of high society as myself, I imagine as we get to know each other better that that will change."

"Probably not," Brynleigh curtly responded.

"Do not sell yourself short! It will not do you any justice in today's challenge!" Veronica reassured. "Even though, naturally, Remi and I shall be victorious this afternoon. That is today's course of action! However, you have nothing to worry about, as I would never allow a friend of mine to be in danger!"

"You know it was just Remi who won yesterday, right?" Brynleigh asked. "You didn't actually do anything to win!"

"Au contraire!" Veronica giggled. "It was my motivation and moral support that allowed Remi to have the final push needed to win this challenge, and that is a fact!"

"How could you 'motivating' him cause him to win?" Brynleigh pushed back. "That's just stupid, I doubt it did anything!"

"Well then! To prove it, I will give you motivation in today's challenge, and when you perform better than you did in the last challenge, you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt my abilities and capacity to be a supportive friend!" Veronica smiled and crossed her arms.

"Alright then," Brynleigh put her hands on her knees, exasperated. "I guess… I… uh… thanks?"

As she said this, Brynleigh immediately began to gag and feel faint.

"Brynleigh, are you okay?" Veronica said, looking at her. "You appear to have gone pale and shaky? Do you need a doctor?"

"No, I need to be left alone…" Brynleigh laid back on the couch. "I feel… drained."

"Well, alright then," Veronica smiled and stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "I shall leave you be, you need to be in tip top shape for the challenge! That way, I can prove it works! And if by some miracle you happen to beat myself and Remi, perhaps you can return the favor and not put us in!"

Brynleigh rolled her eyes and turned the other way, and Veronica stared blankly, smiling at Brynleigh, who shuddered occasionally.

Veronica: "Now that myself and Remi have proven ourselves in the battlefield, it will simply become easier and easier to win each successive challenge! After all, they say the hardest step is the first one!" Veronica smiled. "Just as it was for me to come out here in the first place! Do you have any idea how hard it was to mingle with the poors and their menial lives when I first got here? Heck, yesterday, I even took a drink from a water fountain! Such peasantry!"

Brynleigh: "Ugh… how did I even get into this position to begin with? Why does Veronica think I'm buddy-buddy with her? I hate her! Did the ghost of Sunshine decide to inhabit the dusty, empty space where her brain is supposed to be?! None of this even makes sense anymore!" Brynleigh threw her hands up in frustration, before sighing. "I guess if Purple has decided to protect me, I won't stop them… but I'm not sticking my neck out for them! Nuh-uh!"

Jenna sat at a table in the Fast Food Festa when Alex - wearing a floppy hat and sunglasses - joined her.

"What's with the incognito look?" Jenna asked.

"Oh, some people recognized me yesterday, so I want to make sure that doesn't happen again," Alex smiled.

"By dressing like the very stereotype of a celebrity trying not to be recognized?" Jenna asked.

"It's worked so far," Alex winked. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Ah, right," Jenna remembered. "Well, I've been talking with Lazarus, and he thinks it's about time we shake things up."

"What do you mean?" Alex tilted her head.

"Well, if I understand it right, it's like when there are too many shift leads at the same location," Jenna explained. "You know what they say about too many cooks? Actually, that's already a much clearer metaphor. Pretend I led with that."

"I'm still not sure what you're getting at," Alex admitted. "I think our alliance is doing just fine because there's so many of us. It's keeping us secure."

"Yeah, but like..." Jenna paused to consider her phrasing. "I'm just going to be real: do you trust Sawyer to let herself stay on equal footing with anyone? Or Veronica to not go off and do whatever she feels like?"

"Is that how you see it, or how Lazarus sees it?" Alex frowned.

"That's how I see it, though I appreciate your faith in me," Jenna twitched.

"Jenna, I'm Lazarus's partner. You think I don't know how obsessed he is with making big moves and shaking things up just because he can?" Alex explained.

"Well, that might be his reason, but I'd rather not be buried under the rubble when this whole thing inevitably collapses," Jenna said.

"It doesn't have to, though," Alex insisted. "I trust in you guys. Even Sawyer, even Veronica, even Lazarus. Because trust has to start somewhere, and it's worked out for us. I know we can be the last four pairs standing if we just keep at it."

"Maybe that's how things work in your little TV show, but this is the real world," Jenna said. "People aren't as goofy and malleable as a fictional character. They're self-serving. They'll oppose the status quo if it makes sense. And it makes sense for us. That's why I think our pairs should have each other's backs. Maybe throw the Red Pair under the bus. Don't pretend like you're best friends with Sawyer or Orson. I know you're not."

"I really don't appreciate what I'm hearing, Jenna," Alex said with restrained frustration. "Maybe I don't have some of the same experiences you do. I'll admit that. But there's nothing wrong with that. You may not think I'm observant, or good at the game, or whatever, but I've noticed how close Orson and Panic are. So if you expect me to buy that backstabbing the Red Pair is viable or likely, then... I don't know what to tell you."

Alex stood up and took her leave. As Jenna sighed to herself, a young man approached her.

"Hey, this might be kind of a weird question, but why is your friend dressed like a celebrity in hiding?" he wondered.

"Because she is one. And she loves taking pictures and signing autographs," Jenna droned as she stood up and went her own way.

"Whoa, cool!" the guy said as he ran after Alex.

Alex: "Look, I get that you can't play this game without upsetting someone. That's how eliminating people works. But I don't buy that you need to be deceitful or malicious in order to stay 'ahead of the curve' or whatever. Maybe that's how Lazarus or Jenna want to play, but it's not how I want to play. And I'm just as much a part of the Pink Pair as Lazarus is, so I'm going to play just as much as he is." After a pause, she sighed.

Jenna: "Well, so much for a courtesy call. And now I really don't know what else I can do! The fact that pretty much every decision has to be made as a pair is really throwing a wrench into things here. Because if Alex or Panic don't want to go through with this move... well then what? Am I supposed to just sit there and wait to see what happens? God, this game's so stupid and complicated sometimes."

Panic walked aimlessly through the park before happening upon Sawyer, who was sitting at a table next to a food truck called "It's All Roman to Me, Actually", eating a calzone. Panic sighed and walked up to her cautiously.

"H-Hey Sawyer," Panic forced out. "How's it going?"

Sawyer raised an eyebrow before swallowing her bite of food. "Huh?"

"How are you doing?" Panic sighed.

"Tch," Sawyer rolled her eyes. "You know we have an alliance meeting later today, right? I would hope you wouldn't miss it."

"When have I ever missed an alliance meeting?" Panic retorted.

"I know people like you typically don't believe in things like 'being on time' and 'contributing to society meaningfully', so I figured it must be reiterated to you," Sawyer smirked.

"Well, yes I know there's a meeting and yes I am going to go to it," Panic narrowed their eyes. "I know people like YOU tend to not have any sort of faith in your fellow human being because of your pathetic meritocratic outlook on life, but here I was trying to prove my preconceived notions wrong, y'know, for the sake of our alliance."

"I don't have faith in others because nobody has given me a reason to," Sawyer shrugged. "It is difficult being the most intelligent person in the room, but I suppose you wouldn't know about that."

Panic balled their fists. "You know, this alliance wasn't your idea in the first place, it was Alex's. If you were so damn smart, why wouldn't you have come up with the alliance?"

"Being intelligent does not mean simply making the first step at an alliance," Sawyer remarked. "If that were the case, room-temperature IQ individuals like Lazarus and your partner, Jenna, would be running laps around everyone else here."

"I do not appreciate you calling my partner a 'room temperature IQ individual'," Panic chastised. "Do you even listen to the way you talk about other people?! It's pathetic!"

"What you call pathetic, I call reality," Sawyer said. "Regardless, intelligence in this game and outside of this game includes not just being the first to jump, but being the one who knows people are willing to jump in the first place, and being there to encourage them."

"That's an awfully gross way of looking at stuff," Panic shook their head. "You're just talking shit because you aren't happy you didn't come up with this alliance."

"If that's your perspective, then there is nothing I can do to help you along," Sawyer stifled a laugh. "Whether or not you believe it, it's not being nice that gets you far, it's knowing what resources you have and how to best utilize them. That life tip's free. The next one will cost ya."

Sawyer got up, threw her trash away in a trash can, and began to walk away. "See you at the alliance meeting, try not to be late."

Panic groaned angrily as Sawyer walked off.

Panic: "Here I am, trying to actually be nice to Sawyer of all people! The Anti-Me! The antithesis of everything I stand for! All in the name of our alliance actually working! I feel disgusting just thinking about it." They shivered. "But if she isn't even willing to display basic human kindness, then I will simply ignore her and just talk to Orson instead. Hell, he's twice the person she'll ever be!"

Sawyer: "I find it laughable that Panic believes that being nice is the key to this game, given their track record up to this point. The inconsistencies and hypocrisy in their viewpoints not just within the confines of this game but in their sheer ethos is staggering. Perhaps one day they will learn their lesson and mature, but that is not my job. All that matters to me is that they are doing their part in our alliance, and for now, that seems to be the case."

Lazarus found Brynleigh lounging listlessly in the rest area.

"What's up, little dudette?" Lazarus smiled. "Finding your inner zen, maaan?"

"Even if I was, why would you showing up make me feel more at peace?" Brynleigh sneered.

"Aw, come on, I actually come bearing good tidings," Lazarus claimed. "I know things have felt hopeless for you recently, but I don't think you're necessarily screwed, here."

"Is that right?" Brynleigh doubted.

"Now, you may or may not trust your charming partner, but I think I can keep him on a tight leash," Lazarus claimed. "Meanwhile, I've heard through the grapevine that you get along well with Veronica."

"You should find a better grapevine," Brynleigh told him.

"Is that so? Because I heard that a big part of why the Brown Pair didn't get the Pineapple is because you're such good friends with Veronica," Lazarus explained.

"I..." Brynleigh groaned, unable to complete her sentence.

"And it just so happens that my partner Alex is on pretty good terms with her partner Remi," Lazarus continued. "See where I'm going with this?"

"Not really," Brynleigh denied. "For one, if you think you can get Pavel to not freak the hell out the minute he feels disregarded, you're kidding yourself. Ichabod couldn't even do that, and Pavel actually respected that guy. For two, everyone knows you're full of it, so I'm not trusting you no matter what you tell me. For three... uh... screw you."

"Oh, and you think acting all high and mighty is going to do you any good here?" Lazarus's eyebrow twitched. "If you think you can call me full of it, then I suggest you look in a mirror, because you just... are it. Is anyone else offering you anything? I don't think so. And I would know, because I'm very well connected!"

"Clearly, as evidenced by the fact that you're groveling for my approval," Brynleigh scoffed.

"I am graciously offering you a goddamn olive branch, you smug little shit!" Lazarus insisted.

"Yeah, well I'm sure I don't have to tell you where you can shove your branch," Brynleigh said as she hopped off the couch. "Get a life!"

She exited the rest area, leaving Lazarus to seethe on his own.

Lazarus: "The absolute nerve! Brynleigh is in no position to be talking down to me, but she really does believe her shit doesn't stink, huh?" He took a deep breath. "But hey, I'm nothing if not cool, calm, and collected, maaaan. I'll get my way, it'll just take... a little more time than I figured."

Brynleigh: "You know what? Lazarus kind of struck a chord with me there. After talking to him, I realized... Holy shit, he really thought he could get me to listen to him! Me! Am I really that pathetic in his eyes? Maybe it is time I get up off my ass and stop letting these idiots dictate how I feel! I don't have to prove anything to anyone! I'm awesome, and everyone knows it! I can win this game, with or without anyone's help!" She grinned proudly.

The alliance of Green, Pink, Purple, and Red met up in a secluded corner of the faire.

"Excellent news team!" Veronica starts off. "I am happy to announce that you need not worry about today's challenge, for Remi and I shall prove victorious once again!"

"Yeah! Right on, Roni!" Remi cheered. "Way to keep the positive attitude!"

"It is quite trivial, really," Veronica smugly said. "Once we win, we shall send in Blue and then we shall work from there."

"Quite cocky for winning one challenge, aren't we?" Sawyer rolled her eyes.

"It's not cockiness, it is confidence!" Veronica defended. "I would've expected you to know the difference!"

"Oh, I do," Sawyer affirmed. "Trust me."

"Besides, you guys can't possibly think you're gonna win a challenge, yeah?!" Lazarus stifled a laugh. "You guys won the 'stand there like an idiot and do nothing' challenge, and I can't imagine there's many more of those left!"

"I do not appreciate your tone," Veronica huffed. "Do apologize to me, post haste!"

"I won't!" Lazarus growled. "All I'm saying is stop being so cocky, you haven't done anything in this game to warrant it."

"You're certainly one to talk," Jenna shook her head.

"What's that supposed to mean, minimum wage worker?!" Lazarus turned around.

Alex sighed.

Alex: "The others are getting too distracted! I need to make sure these guys stick on track, or the plan will get messed up for sure! We need to be on the same page, so if I have to be the one to steer this ship for now, I will!"

"Um, excuse me?!" Alex piped in loudly, causing the others to look at her. "Oh, sorry. Um, anyway I wanted to say regardless of how it gets done, the most important thing we need to do is just stay the course for now! Then we can figure out other stuff."

"Agreed," Remi chimed in. "Brown and Blue are both big threats right now. Neither are aligned with us and are strong in challenges. We just need to beat them in the challenge, and we're good!"

"Exactly!" Alex smiled. "And I think that we can all do it!"

"Those four did exclude us in the beginning," Panic mentioned. "Honestly, it's on them at this point, really. Should've known better than to make their own little clique away from everyone else!"

"That's a good way of looking at the situation," Orson nodded, putting a hand on Panic's shoulder. "That's probably gonna be the easiest way to move forward, knowing it was not us who cast the first stone. Good work, Panic."

"Oh I mean, um, I, yeah," Panic stammered, blushing slightly. Jenna crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" Orson asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Jenna shook her head.

"Good, glad to hear it," Orson smiled faintly.

Sawyer took a lollipop out of her pocket and stuck it in her mouth. "Alright, it appears everyone here has a concrete plan. Now it's simply time to execute said plan."

"I couldn't agree more," Lazarus narrowed his eyes.

Remi clapped his hands and smiled. "Awesome! Sounds good team, let's make it happen!"

Lazarus: "Yes, I do in fact have a plan, but it is a SIGNIFICANTLY different plan than the one that the others are idiotically formulating! That much is for sure! However, I cannot let this plan on! It must remain a secret. Even to my own idiotic teammate who insists on keeping this SHAM of an alliance together! I have to form a group of people who I can get to do what I want to do, and there's no shortage of people to do that with as everyone else is an IDIOT!"

Sawyer: "It is clear that our alliance is not as strong as it seems to be. Given you have people like Lazarus and Jenna who are not trustworthy, and Veronica who is… truly as incompetent as they come. But I will say I noticed something, of the group, the only ones who seemed really to want to keep things together were Alex and Remi. They were easily the most vocal, which signifies to me they are working closer together than they are letting on. Just something of note."

The meeting dispersed, and everyone went their separate ways. Jenna found an empty bench and sat down, slumping and breathing out an exhausted sigh.

"Got something on your mind?" Charlie asked as he approached.

"Too much, and yet probably not enough," Jenna said.

"I feel that," Charlie said. "May I sit?"

"Do what you want, man. That's what this game's all about, right?" Jenna figured.

Charlie took a seat next to her. "For what it's worth, I think you're doing pretty well for someone who had no idea what the game was until it started."

"Could have fooled me," Jenna shrugged.

"I mean hey, you're still here, right?" Charlie said. "That's something eight others can't claim."

"Does that really mean anything when I can't get anything to go my way in the first place?" Jenna asked. "I mean hell, your alliance just fell apart in a matter of minutes. I wish mine would. It's so obvious that like half of us don't even want to work with each other that badly."

"Is that so?" Charlie responded.

"I know Lazarus wants to flip the script. He told me himself," Jenna continued. "But nobody takes him seriously at all, so it's not like he can lead the charge. Sawyer might get away with it, but I'll be damned if you catch me working with the Red Pair. Can't stand either of them."

"Orson too?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, don't even get me started on goddamn Orson," Jenna scowled. "He's got Panic head-over-heels for his milquetoast ass, and he knows it, and he's using it to get them to fall in line. I don't understand it even a little bit, but then, Panic does seem to go out of their way to be a contrarian, so maybe that's the point. I don't know."

"Interesting," Charlie hummed. "I assume Panic hasn't really listened when you've talked about it with them, then?"

"What do you think?" Jenna scoffed. "They're the smart one who follows politics and plays in a crappy garage band. I'm just the lowly cog in the machine who fell into the game on accident and doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Well, I've learned better than to just give advice off the cuff," Charlie chuckled. "Especially in matters that don't involve me directly. But I'm glad I was able to lend an ear. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about what you just told me."

"What do I care? My opinion doesn't matter," Jenna smiled hollowly. "...But yeah, thanks for letting me unload a little."

"Anytime," Charlie assured her.

Jenna: "Charlie is kind of an awkward dude, but hey, he's got my back more than most people in this game. If I stumble into any way I could help him out without Panic's input, I might even do it." She let out another exhausted breath. "People really play this game on purpose? This is literally more stressful than working in a restaurant."

Charlie: "I feel bad that I haven't really taken much time to listen to Jenna before. Maybe a part of me also saw her as the outsider she feels like. I'm glad I was able to re-evaluate that, because I do think she's more perceptive than anyone gives her credit for - including herself. I hope she regains her confidence."

As the meeting ended, Alex, Panic, Remi, and Veronica left in a group to continue their discussion.

"I don't know how well that meeting really went," Alex mentioned uneasily. "I feel like everyone was all over the place…"

"It went as well as it could've, I'd say," Remi smiled. "No need to sweat it, everything will be alright."

"You're probably right, I just can't quite shake the feeling–" Alex began.

"Guys, look!" Veronica shouted, pointing at a sign in front of them. "We have wandered to 'our old stomping grounds', as they say, The Breakfast Nook!"

"I could've gone my whole life without coming back here," Panic shuddered.

"Yeah, I can't say I had much fun here…" Alex winced. "Just a lot of pain."

"Aw come on, it wasn't that bad!" Remi said. "You know there was the… we did the uh… y'know, there was… yeah, huh."

"I underwent so much character development within the halls of this fine establishment, I shall hear no slander!" Veronica crossed her arms, before reading the sign further. "Wait, it looks like there is an eating contest here!"

"Pass," Panic said, beginning to walk off.

"Oh, Panic, please! Please please please!" Veronica pleaded. "Join me in this barbaric contest of excess!"

"We could talk some more there, unbothered," Alex mentioned. "No unwanted guests."

"I hate that you're not wrong," Panic shook their head.

"Splendid!" Veronica clasped her hands together. "I shall go sign us up!"

As Veronica frolicked off to the sign up desk, the other three took their seats at a table near the back corner of the eating area, far away from the entrance.

"As I was saying before, I do worry if the others might not be as keen on the alliance as we are," Alex said.

"Given how big of scumbags Lazarus and Sawyer are, I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't plotting something," Panic said. "Luckily, I don't think those two alone have a lot of power, which I bet is really making them mad!"

"Still though, we might want to be on the lookout for signs," Remi asserted.

At this point, Veronica returned to their table as servers began passing out comically large plates of pancakes to everyone seated within the designated area.

"Oh goodness!" Veronica marveled at the mountain of pancakes in front of her.

"Yeah, it's a lot isn't it, Roni?" Remi laughed. "I don't know what you expected, it's an eating contest! You know how much those types of people can put down? It ain't pretty, man."

Veronica huffed. "It does not matter! I shall emerge victorious!"

"Good luck!" Alex smiled as a whistle was blown and everyone around them began eating the pancakes, disturbingly quickly.

"Eaugh," Panic flinched.

"Anyway, I wanted to mention Jenna as someone who may not also be too happy," Remi added. "You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize I barely see her around, and it's not for lack of trying!"

"I probably could be doing a better job of that," Panic admitted. "I'll try to get her back on track, but she hasn't sounded super enthused lately about being with the alliance, which is just ridiculous to me. Why get rid of a good thing?"

As soon as it started, the whistle blew yet again and the four looked over to see a very large man wearing an "I Love Carbs" shirt standing victoriously. Veronica looked back at her nearly intact stack of pancakes and whimpered.

"It's alright, girl, you'll get 'em next time!" Remi pat Veronica on the back.

Panic: "I did notice Jenna is still acting like she doesn't want to be at our alliance meetings… y'know just sighing and rolling her eyes a lot! I thought she'd maybe have a better poker face than that if she works in service! Ugh, I guess I should probably try to talk to her and see what's up before the challenge, that'd be the smart thing to do…"

Remi: "Y'know, I know I said to Alex to not worry about stuff and that whatever happens happens, but now that I think about it, I'm kinda worried too! I'll try to keep it cool, but I'm kind of hoping we really do come home with that Immunity coming up. Having an alliance is cool, but the only thing that guarantees you stay on elimination day is that Immunity win. That'd rock."

Veronica: "It was simply an off day! I had a large breakfast already! I will do my best in the future to eat more pancakes! I swear it!" Veronica banged her hand on the seat of the confessional in defiance.

Charlie, Ichabod, Orson, and Sawyer convened by the food trucks.

"Right. Now that we're all here, I think it's time to officialize what we've all been planning," Sawyer said proudly.

"Agreed," Ichabod conceded. "The fact of the matter is that the game's direction is in the hands of those who would do irresponsible things with such power."

"I resent that," Sawyer said. "The game has always been in my control. I simply allowed those idiots to share credit with me up until now."

Ichabod snorted.

"Hey now, this is a good step for all of us," Charlie intervened. "I agree that this group contains some of the more strategic players. If we put our heads together, I think we can make it to the end, no questions asked."

"It will certainly be a welcome change to the frankly tedious status quo," Sawyer stated. "What's more important is where to take this partnership."

"We will need another pair to work with us if we wish to ensure our momentum," Ichabod claimed. "How would you describe your relationship with the Jalapeno Green Pair?"

"Awful." "Pretty good." Sawyer and Orson replied in unison.

"That is what I'd suspected," Ichabod hummed.

"I get along well with Panic," Orson explained. "I haven't talked to Jenna as much, but we're not on bad terms by any means."
Charlie bit his tongue.

"And I doubt either of them have the ability to perform strategically or physically," Sawyer dismissed. "Though, I doubt that about all the other pairs, save the Brown Pair's annoying tendency to do well in challenges."

"That is my primary concern," Ichabod mentioned.

"The Brown Pair also seem to be on poor terms following Pavel's blowup," Orson pointed out. "Their poor morale will likely be the final nail in their coffin."

"Not true. Because we will be," Sawyer smirked, sticking a lollipop in her mouth. "And once those bozos are gone, there will be little in the way of us simply winning every challenge afterward."

"I like the sound of that," Charlie smiled.

Ichabod turned to Orson. "We will need to secure our position at the top. Do you think you can keep the Jalapeno Green Pair's focus on the others while we do so?"

"Me?" Orson asked. "I suppose so. Panic does seem to put a lot of stock into the things I say, now that you mention it."

"Oh, please," Sawyer scoffed. "All you can talk about half the time is your precious Panic."

"To be absolutely clear, I like Panic as a friend," Orson insisted. "As an ally in the game, I understand that their usefulness is limited. I'm prepared to eliminate Panic whenever the time comes."

Charlie dug his nails into his palms.

"Are you good?" Sawyer asked.

"Huh?" Charlie asked. "Yeah. Just spaced out for a bit. It's not a great mental health day."

"Well, improve your mental health by the challenge," Sawyer instructed.

"I'll see what I can do," Charlie laughed.

"But to recap: the priority target is Brown. We'll keep our eyes off Green for as long as is necessary, since we can use them. Pink and Purple can go whenever." Sawyer listed.

"This is an agreeable arrangement," Ichabod nodded.

Sawyer offered a handshake. "Then let's make some profits."

Ichabod and Charlie both hesitantly accepted Sawyer's handshake, as well as Orson's afterward.

Ichabod: "I dislike Sawyer's arrogance in ways I never thought possible. Who on earth does she think she is, strutting up to me and acting as though she's my big benevolent savior? Make no mistake: my game is mine and mine alone. If I accept Sawyer's terms, it is because they happen to be my best course of action. Nothing more."

Orson: "Sure, Panic's my friend, but I didn't realize it would be a sticking point with others. That's somewhat unfortunate." He shrugged. "Well, it's like the others said, I should use them to my advantage for as long as it's viable. It is just a game, after all. No sense in getting too attached."

Charlie: "I didn't want to... no, I couldn't repeat what Jenna told me about Orson. She told me that in confidence, showing a vulnerability that I hadn't seen before. I can tell it meant a lot to her that she could get it off her chest. I didn't believe her at first, because I chalked it up to a simple disdain for a lack of control over her partner. But maybe there is something to it, with how flippantly Orson spoke about Panic. I'll have to keep an eye open."

Meanwhile, Brynleigh, who had spent the afternoon sitting on the couch in the rec room, finally got up and walked out of the room and into the light of the pavilion. As she exited the room, she noticed Pavel, who was walking by himself in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Brynleigh exclaimed as she rushed towards Pavel.

"Huh?" Pavel asked, turning around to notice Brynleigh running towards him. "What do you want?"

"'What do you want?'?" Brynleigh mocked. "I don't want anything! We need to have a discussion immediately!

"I couldn't agree more," Pavel exhaled, relieved. "I figured this would take a lot mor–"

"I've decided that I will no longer let you continue to ruin my game!" Brynleigh interrupted. "Things were going great before your stupid blowup at the challenge, so I'm gonna need you to shape up NOW!"

Pavel looked at Brynleigh, dumbfounded. Brynleigh looked back at him, expectantly.

"What?" Brynleigh asked. "Got nothing to say now, big guy?"

"I need to shape up?! You–" Pavel began before catching himself, he looked down at Brynleigh, who winced as he raised his voice. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

Brynleigh's face quickly turned into a smirk. "That's much better. I want nothing to do with your anger from here on! If you've got anything negative to say, talk to a wall because I'm not gonna be listening to your bullshit if you're just gonna yell at me!"

"You're right," Pavel sighed. "I need to get a handle on things if we want to move forward."

"I'm glad you agree," Brynleigh crossed her arms.

"So this means you won't throw challenges anymore either, yeah?" Pavel asked.

"I have no idea what you mean," Brynleigh replied.

"Well, I mean, last challenge you just let go immediately–" Pavel caught himself again. "Y'know what? Nevermind. Forget it, there's no reason to dwell on the past."

"No reason to dwell on the past?" Brynleigh repeated, narrowing her eyes.

As she said this, the loudspeaker loudly began to crackle.

"Attention Pizza Party contestants!" Chef's voice was heard. "The next challenge is aboutta begin! Get ya butts to Paco's Tacos immediately or there'll be consequences!"

Brynleigh immediately turned away and began walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey, where're you going?" Pavel asked. Brynleigh ignored him and kept walking.

Pavel sighed.

Brynleigh: "It's real fuckin' rich to hear 'don't dwell on the past' from someone who's entire personality is dwelling on the past! Like, does he even listen to himself? Dwelling on the past is what got us here in the first place! I don't know if he even realizes his issues, but I can't expect someone so up his own ass to be able to figure it out so quickly. For now, I guess I need to just look towards the game and stop focusing on what he said before…"

Pavel: "Despite the way she might be going about it, Brynleigh's not really wrong about the fact that it's my fault we're in this shit position now." Pavel sighed. "She didn't make it easier, but it is my blow up that costed us, I was so caught up in the moment I didn't even realize how bad I could make it. Now it's on me to make sure that things get better for my duo. Not just me, both of us."

Everyone convened at The International Tour, right in front of the aforementioned Paco's Taco's. Jenna spit on the ground.

"Jenna! What the hell?!" Chef scolded.

"I can't believe you brought me to this dump," Jenna said. "It's practically a violation of human rights, bringing me near this mongrel station and the inedible slop they pass as their product."

"You've worked here before, I take it?" Charlie chuckled.

Jenna pretended to throw up in her mouth. "I'd rather nail my own fingers to a moving freight train. No, as an employee of Tito's Pizza, I'm honor-bound to stand against everything Paco's Tacos-" She spit on the floor again. "stands for!"

"Aw, geez. Is this one of those things where I hafta wear neutral colors?" Pavel groaned.

"Eugh, let's just get this over with before I catch hepatitis by standing in the vicinity," Jenna whined.

"Yes, let's," Chef glowered as he gestured for everyone to enter.

Jenna: "The eponymous Tito and Paco-" She spit on the floor. "have a long, well-documented history of conflict. That filthy tacomonger would stop at nothing to screw over Tito, who just wanted to build up an honest business in North America using his family's recipes! And the lowly bastard who shall not be named festered with jealousy, posting false accusations on the internet of Tito's Pizza having a dirty kitchen!" She let out a sickly groan. "I'm going to need quarantine after this challenge. If any 'place' is dirty, it's here."

Brynleigh: "Jenna doesn't even like working at her stupid pizza place! Where the hell is all this coming from?!"

As the contestants entered the restaurant and headed to the back, Jenna received ugly looks from the employees. She avoided eye contact, flipping the bird as she walked past. Some of the other contestants looked concerned - others laughed quietly.

One Paco's employee threw a hot sauce packet at Jenna. She looked like she was on the verge of snapping, but she kept herself contained until the contestants arrived in the back.

In the back room, large pools of salsa, guacamole, queso, sour cream, and other similar condiments stood before the players. Within this area, numerous triangles with letters of the alphabet emblazoned on them lay strewn about. In the back of the room were six color-coded stations of some sort.

"Well, I would say 'welcome' to Paco's Tacos, but at this point, it'd just be in poor taste," Chef chuckled, looking at Jenna. "But I can say welcome to your next Invincibility challenge!"

"It's certainly going to be one to... taco 'bout," Chris snickered. "Why, I'd say this challenge is the... whole enchilada."

"Are you proud of those?" Sawyer asked.

"We have fun here on Total Drama," Chris shrugged, unbothered.

"Here's how it's gonna work," Chef began. "Each pair will choose who's the searcher, n' who's the speller. The searcher will look through all these condiments, grab the tortilla chips with the letters on 'em, n' bring 'em back to their pair's station. The searcher will stay at the station, n' use whichever tortilla chips the searcher brought 'em to spell out a word. Each letter has a different point value, so keep that in mind. Letters like Q or Z are gonna be worth more than ol' E or A will. Once the time limit's up, that's that. Spellers will reveal the word they spelled, n' the pair with the valid word or phrase worth the most points will win Invincibility n' all the power that comes with it!"

"I knew it was a good idea to come in my commoner outfit," Veronica boasted, wearing the clothes she bought at Hotdog Topic. "It is time to get messy!"

"I'm sure everyone's played board games before, so I doubt there are any questions here?" Chris prompted.

"Questions besides 'How could you do this to me?' or 'Do human rights violations mean nothing to you'?" Jenna scowled.

"Riiiight, you're not very familiar with this show, I forgot," Chris chuckled.

"As for the Mushroom Blue, since y'all got the Pineapple, your score will get a 5-point penalty," Chef brought up.

"Mm. Not insurmountable, but certainly something we'd be better off without," Ichabod noted.

"We can do it," Charlie assured him.

"We'll take a second to determine who's searchin' n' who's spellin'!" Chef announced. "Let's spell!"

"Yeah! Spelling!" Remi cheered.

Alex: "With how unsure everyone is about the alliance, winning this challenge is more important than ever! And hey, I've been to the Kids' Choice Awards, so I'm not unfamiliar with being covered in grime. I'll do whatever it takes!"

Ichabod: "I bear the weight of more responsibilities on my shoulders than anyone else in this game may even comprehend. Yet weight does not slow me down; it only pushes me to work harder! Let us not waste any more time."

Veronica: "Now that the Onion Purple Pair has won a challenge, no doubt the others are much too intimidated by our style and substance to perform at their best. We shall claim the remainder of the game by storm, as is our destiny! Ohhhhhohohoho!"

Orson: "Haha, just another wacky day here at Total Drama. What will those scamps think of next?"

As the searchers, Ichabod, Lazarus, Panic, Pavel, Sawyer, and Veronica, lined up, Panic looked back at Jenna.

"Why am I doing the physical part again?" Panic raised an eyebrow.

"I couldn't possibly allow that filth Paco calls food to touch my uniform," Jenna turned her nose up. "It'd be disrespectful!"

"What's disrespectful is that you're putting so much credence in a uniform that doesn't care about you!" Panic protested.

Chef loudly blew his airhorn, cutting off any further conversation.

"Alright, ready?" Chefyelled, raising his airhorn again. "Go!"

The six stumbled down into the large bowl of ingredients, spreading out across them. Lazarus, who rushed into the salsa pit, immediately picked up a piece, an M, and smiled to himself.

"Excellent," Lazarus said.

As Lazarus began to run towards his station, Ichabod rushed him and knocked the piece out of his hand, knocking Lazarus to the ground, before catching it himself.

"What the hell?!" Lazarus bellowed. "You!"

Ichabod hardly replied as he began to make his way to his board. Lazarus sprung up and called out to Ichabod. "Ironic the first dirty move is coming from Mr. Upright Citizen himself!"

"I owe you nothing," Ichabod said as he continued to walk away.

"Man, no wonder Pavel hated you guys," Lazarus laughed and loudly exclaimed. "He was right, you guys really are assholes!"

Pavel, who was nearby, shook his head and tensed his fists before putting his head down and turning to go the opposite direction.

Lazarus: "I figure that I may as well have some fun with these losers while I'm down here in the muck with them, especially since it seems like Ichabod wants to play… we'll play, alright! I'll show him who is truly the better of the two of us!" Lazarus laughed. "It'll be me."

Ichabod: "I will not allow Lazarus's churlish remarks to phase me, if he wishes to attempt to hit below the belt and use something truly traumatic to my partner as ammunition against us, then I have no reservations with being rougher in this challenge than I may normally go, out of respect for the others."

Meanwhile, near the guacamole, Panic tried picking through the room temperature, liquidy guac with a disgusted look on their face. Veronica, who was rushing back towards this pool, smiled broadly at Panic.

"How could you be smiling while doing this?" Panic gagged. "I'm losing my appetite just looking at the stuff…"

"Oh, it is absolutely horrible!" Veronica said, forcing a smile.

"You're enjoying this?" Panic asked.

"Not even in the slightest!" Veronica laughed. "This is hardly my idea of a fabulous afternoon. But it is within that misery that lies the growth within!"

"Nobody told me there were growths in here," Panic quickly took their hand out of the guac.

"Oh, silly Panic, for it is a 'figure of speech'," Veronica airquoted. "It is no matter, I shall begin searching post-haste! I have a challenge to win!"

Veronica began digging vigorously through the guacamole as Sawyer ran up the guacamole, quickly stuck her hand in, and immediately pulled out a chip with the letter L on it.

"You two will lose if all you're doing is standing around doing nothing," Sawyer taunted as she turned around the other way.

Before Panic could respond, Sawyer had already sprinted out of earshot. Veronica, who had been digging through the guacamole up until this point, finally unearthed a chip.

"Oh wow, this one is worth many points!" Veronica marveled at the chip labeled Q that she picked up. "Wonderful! I shall make my way back now! Best of luck, Panic!"

Veronica rushed towards Remi, who was cheering on Veronica.

"Let's go Roni, let's go!" Remi clapped his hands twice.

"Remi, I have found a magnificent first letter!" Veronica called. "Look!"

As Veronica arrived and handed Remi the Q, he looked down at it and back at Veronica, who was smirking, and forced a smile.

"Awesome!" Remi exclaimed. "Keep it up!"

Veronica put her hands on her hips triumphantly before rushing back into the bowl

Remi: "I appreciate Veronica's enthusiasm, I really do! I'm lucky to have her as a partner, especially considering a lot of the other duos have so many problems. However… I do wish she'd go for a little more quality control on these chips! Surely she'll bring back some better letters soon, right?"

Sawyer returned to Orson with a small handful of letter chips.

"See what you can spell using these," she instructed. "I'll be back with more, so be ready to expand your paradigm in light of new information."

"You got it," Orson agreed as he accepted the chips.

Sawyer returned to the condiment pits, while Orson sorted through the chips.

"Yeah, I can do something with this," he told himself as he began experimentally arranging them on his station.

Meanwhile, Jenna struggled to accept the guacamole-covered chips Panic had picked up for her.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Panic exasperated. "You think I want to come in contact with this exploitative slop, mass-produced to keep the proletariat pacified?"

"Eugh, you're right, that's fair..." Jenna squirmed. "It's for the challenge... Surely Tito will understand."

"You do not need a wealthy man's permission to do this," Panic said impatiently.

"Look, you have things you take pride in, and I have my own!" Jenna insisted.

Panic turned their head to see Ichabod granting several letter chips to Charlie. "We're wasting time!" They tossed their chips on the ground at Jenna's feet. "I'm going to find more. Start figuring out a word you might be able to spell!"

Panic dashed back into the condiment area. Jenna forced herself to bend down and pick up the chips with the same apprehension as if it were a dead opossum.

Panic: "I don't ask for a whole lot from people. Despite my... lack of athletic prowess, I was willing to do the physical part of this challenge for Jenna's sake. Tell me it isn't reasonable to expect Jenna to hold up her end of things, though! Like, come on! What on earth is Tito's Pizza brainwashing its employees with that they care this much about a rival fast food joint?"

Lazarus limped up to Alex with a small handful of letter chips.

"You don't need to get so rowdy with everyone," Alex frowned. "There's plenty of time left in the challenge, and plenty of chips you can grab."

"If you think I'm letting them claim all the high-value letters before I can, then they have another thing coming!" Lazarus snarled. "This game is ours to win, maaan."

"Well, just be careful," Alex told him.

"Oh Alex, my sweet summer child," Lazarus condescended. "I've tried being careful. It didn't work. Let it never be said that I don't learn from my mistakes!"

"If you say so..." Alex said, concerned.

"Yes, I say so!" Lazarus insisted.

He handed Alex the chips, then returned to the condiment pool.

Meanwhile, Brynleigh sorted through the chips Pavel had given her.

"Come on, what the hell am I supposed to spell with these?" Brynleigh huffed. "Did he even look at them before grabbing them?!"

She stared blankly at the letters displayed on her station: all vowels with the exception of a single J.

"Hey Pavel! Find me some consonants for once!" Brynleigh called out.

"I'm grabbing whatever I can find!" Pavel argued, thigh-deep in the pool of queso. "You try wading through this crap and finding some chips!"

"That's not my job! This is your one job!" Brynleigh shouted.

"Oho, it sounds as though they do not put the 'I' in 'team', don't you agree?" Veronica commented to Remi as she returned with a couple more chips.

"Uh, yeah, for sure?" Remi responded unsurely. He looked at the chips Veronica brought him: X and Z. "Uh, Roni, these are great letters, but remember we need vowels, too."

"But Chef said those weren't worth as much," Veronica frowned.

"That is true, but even X and Q aren't worth anything if they can't spell out a word, you know?" Remi explained.

"Whatever do you mean? They have little 8s and 10s in the corner right there," Veronica pointed out.

"Just..." Remi scratched his head. "Just remember that low value letters are still worth something."

"I don't understand why one would choose lower-value letters when higher-value letters exist," Veronica maintained.

Remi took a deep breath while holding a smile. "You know what? Just grab whatever you can find. I'm sure having these big letters will already put us ahead of the others."

"I am still not entirely sure, but I must return to the trenches regardless," Veronica said. "Oh, what a disgusting state I am in! My parents would simply 'freak', as it were, should they see me."

She giddily skipped back to the condiment pools. Remi sighed.

Pavel: "Yeah, my one job is finding chips Brynleigh can use as letters, but her one job is figuring out something to spell with those letters! If she can't do that, then..." Pavel caught himself losing his temper. "Then I'm sure she's doing her best. I can't blame her for that. ...No matter how tempting it is to do so."

Veronica: "You see, I come from a very wealthy family of old money. I think I know how much better high-value items are than low-value items. It still does not make sense to me why Remi would choose not to spell words with all the high-value letters. Perhaps he finds comfort in the familiar, low-value items. Oho, how quaint!"

As the challenge raged on, the runners continued rushing back and forth between the bowls and their stations. Pavel hopped into the queso bowl to grab letters before being tackled from behind by Lazarus, causing both of them to fall into the queso.

"What the fuck?!" Pavel exclaimed, trying to stand back up. "Get the hell off me!"

Lazarus got off Pavel's back, but started to try and grab the letters from Pavel's grasp.

"What's your problem?!" Pavel yelled, holding onto his pieces.

"Just… playing the game!" Lazarus laughed, trying to pull the pieces. "Why? You got a problem with that?"

"When you're tackling me to the ground, hell fuckin' yeah I got a problem," Pavel grunted.

"Oh yeah?" Lazarus smiled. "Gonna blow up again? Why not go ahead and make a fool out of yourself in front of everyone yet again!"

Upon hearing this, Pavel immediately let go of the pieces, causing Lazarus to fly to the ground.

"Fuck this," Pavel growled. "I'll find somethin' else."

"Good boy," Lazarus taunted. "You made the right decision."

From their station, Brynleigh began stomping up and down and yelling. "What are you doing?! Don't just give him your pieces, you idiot!"

Pavel turned around and ran away from Lazarus.

"Sorry for that!" Alex piped up. "I don't know what's gotten into Lazarus this challenge, he's really been super aggro!"

"If you seriously don't know what's 'gotten into' Lazarus, then you're dumber than you look," Brynleigh huffed. "He's been like this from day one!"

"I was just trying to be nice," Alex sighed.

"I don't need your pity!" Brynleigh exclaimed.

As the two argued, Sawyer arrived back at the Pepperoni Red station, pieces in hand.

"Great, thanks Sawyer," Orson smiled as he looked at the pieces Sawyer had gathered. "This'll do nicely, I've already got a plan for what I wanna do."

"Already?" Sawyer raised an eyebrow. "Certainly we don't have enough letters yet to make a truly phenomenal word."

"Trust me, I already have it all laid out," Orson said, looking at the small pile of letters.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Sawyer chastised Orson. "I'm the one who makes the plans here, not you. I'll get more letters, and then we'll come up with what we want to spell."

Orson shrugged. "Alright, sounds good."

Brynleigh: "I don't need to hear any of Alex's condescending pity! Her partner sucks and she knows it! 'Oh, I'm sorry, my partner who's been an evil dickhead since day one is doing bad things? How could this happen!' Shut up! Do I look like I need someone's pity?!" She paused. "Don't answer that!"

Sawyer: "The hardest part of the game is absolutely having to place my faith in someone else. My fate partially being someone else's responsibility absolutely eats me inside every single day! Orson is competent, certainly more competent than the majority of people here, but it's clear who is the superior in our duo, and that's what worries me."

Meanwhile, Panic and Veronica met up in the sour cream station to gather pieces.

"Apologies, Panic," Veronica said. "But all the high point letters shall be going home with myself and Remi, no hard feelings!"

"Don't worry, no hard feelings taken," Panic laughed slightly. "I don't need 'em, I've just been trying to go for easy letters like vowels anyway."

"Ah, a valiant effort," Veronica put her hands on her hips. "However, in the end it simply won't matter when our word is worth more!"

"Well, you know your word can be worth nothing if it isn't a word, yeah?" Panic asked. "And all words need vowels… so, y'know…"

Veronica stood there, hands on hips silently for a second.

"Is that so?" Veronica asked quietly, before immediately diving into the sour cream, surprising Panic.

After a moment, Veronica resurfaced. "Vowels! Do not worry Remi, I have procured vowels for our word!"

"Hooray!" Remi cheered faintly in the distance.

Back at the podiums, Ichabod arrived with a large pile of letters, he dropped them next to Charlie.

"I have provided you with a large variety of letters," Ichabod stated. "I trust that it shall be sufficient for you to spell the winning word with."

"Hopefully so," Charlie laughed. "You've done a great job."

"I trust you completely to craft an adequate word for which we can wrestle control of this game yet again," Ichabod nodded. "I shall go get more letters now."

"Don't worry, I'll do my best," Charlie smiled.

"I expect nothing less," Ichabod acknowledged as he rushed back into the field.

Charlie stared at his large pile of letters blankly before scratching his chin.

Charlie: "Honestly, I've never really had the best vocabulary around, and when I learned this was a spelling challenge I was really hoping it wouldn't be so physical. I wish I could've just done the running part of this challenge because I know Ichabod would've knocked the spelling part out of the park and get some word nobody's heard of before… but these are the cards we're dealt, and I'll just have to do my best. No excuses."

"One minute left!" Chef announced. "Y'all got one minute to finalize whatever word you're spellin'!"

"Oh, geez!" Remi looked desperately at his tortilla chips. "Wait... I might be able to work with this!"

As Remi arranged his chips into a word, Alex and Orson already had their answers locked in.

"Feeling confident?" Alex winked.

"It could go either way for me," Orson figured. "I've got a good word, but it could be better."

"Well, best of luck!" Alex smiled.

"Thanks," Orson smiled back.

Jenna and Charlie locked in their answers in quick succession.

"I actually managed to get something decent, considering most of my letters were vowels or the letter S," Charlie admitted.

"The letter J is a lot more valuable than I expected," Jenna noted. "That should come in handy."

Brynleigh locked in her answer.

"Heh! There's no way I don't win this," she boasted.

"Ten seconds!" Chef announced.

Remi put the last touches on his word before locking his answer in.

"Aight! We're good to go!" Chef announced. "Spellers, when I call your pair name, turn your station around so we can see what you got! Mushroom Blue, you're up first!"

Charlie smiled and nodded, turning his station around. "I've spelled SPECIALISTS, Chef."

"That ain't bad at all," Chef figured. He ran a calculation on his tablet. "15 points! With the Pineapple penalty, it goes down to 10."

Ichabod hummed to himself.

"Bacon Pink, what's your word?" Chef requested.

Alex turned her station around. "I spelled RAINBOW, Chef."

"Really?" Lazarus scoffed. "You couldn't find anything better? I gave you so many chips!"

"Sorry, that's the best word I could figure out," Alex frowned.

"Well, RAINBOW is worth 12 points," Chef revealed. "Putting Bacon Pink in the lead!"

"Hey, nice," Alex smiled.

"Sausage Brown! You're up!" Chef segued.

Brynleigh proudly turned her station around. "I got a very fitting word: UNFORGETTABLE."

This elicited a few impressed reactions from the others.

"Dang," Pavel muttered.

"Don't sound too surprised," Brynleigh twitched.

"19 points!" Chef revealed. "Sausage Brown is in the lead with that one!"

"Naturally," Brynleigh said proudly.

"Pepperoni Red, what's your word?" Chef asked.

"Well, mine's not as long as Brynleigh's," Orson admitted. "But I've got a good feeling about this one."

He turned his station around, revealing the word ZAXES.

"Pfft! That's not a word!" Brynleigh mocked.

"Sure it is," Orson claimed. "A zax is a tool used for roofing. The plural is 'zaxes'."

"He's right," Chris confirmed as he checked on his phone.

"Not only is he right, his word is worth 21 points!" Chef revealed. "Putting Pepperoni Red in the lead!"

"What?!" Brynleigh objected. "But my word is like three times longer than his!"

"I'd expect Pavel to try and overcompensate with something unnecessarily long, more than anything," Sawyer snickered.

"Eat shit," Pavel grunted.

"Onion Purple!" Chef carried on. "What'd you get?"

"I had to think outside the box a little, but..." Remi turned his station around, revealing his answer to be XQUIZIT.

Chef and Chris stared blankly at Remi's station, then at each other.

"Ha! A word of the highest value indeed!" Veronica claimed.

"That ain't how you spell exquisite!" Chef denied.

"Well maybe it's how Remi spells it," Veronica claimed.

"Yeah, it's like the rapper, Xzibit," Remi attempted.

"0 points!" Chef declared.

"Ah! Surely you jest!" Veronica cried.

"The funny thing is, if Remi had just spelled QUIZ, it would have been valid and worth more than my word by 1 point," Orson mentioned.

"Haha, yeah... That is funny..." Remi forced himself to smile.

"Alright, it's down to Jalapeno Green," Chef said. "Jenna, does your word beat 21 points?"

"Doubt it," Jenna said as she turned her station around. "I spelled JALAPENO."

"Huh. How serendipitous," Panic stated.

"Because my pride for Tito's Pizza and for the Jalapeno Green Pair runs deep!" Jenna proclaimed. "And I will spit in the face of this diseased swillhole by flying my flag whenever possible!"

"Well, it's worth 17 points," Chef said. "Which ain't bad, but it don't beat 21. Which means that the winners of today's challenge are the Pepperoni Red Pair!"

"As it should be," Sawyer bragged.

"Good job, Sawyer," Orson complimented.

"The two of y'all will have Invincibility tonight," Chef announced. "And y'all get to pick one pair to go directly into the Half n' Half Challenge. Y'all know who that's gonna be?"

"We do," Sawyer confirmed. "We select the Bacon Pink Pair."

"What?!" Lazarus roared. "You dare stab me in the back like that?!"

"Yes," Sawyer said, nonchalantly sticking a lollipop in her mouth.

"You! Youuuuuuu!" Lazarus seethed.

"It's okay, Lazarus," Alex assured him. "We'll win the Half n' Half."

"Oh yes... Yes we will," Lazarus grinned. "And when we do, you'll wish you'd never crossed me, Sawyer."

"Can we get out of here now? I need a shower," Sawyer asked Chef.

"Sounds good to me!" Chef agreed. "Meet at the plaza at the usual time for the vote! Dismissed!"

Sawyer: "Yes, I told those Blue idiots that the Brown Pair was our priority target. And I still hold true to that, but it wouldn't do us any good to just throw Brown into the lion's den. There's still a vote to consider, and Brown make for more enticing targets than a pair like Pink or Purple, who have allies. Hence why I ensured that the Pink Pair will be on the chopping block. No matter who loses tonight, it should guarantee a thorn in my side will be removed."

Lazarus: "If Sawyer thinks she's any number of steps ahead of me, she's got another thing coming, maaaan! You mess with the bull, and you get the horns, maaaan! And let me tell you, my horns have dealt with tougher foes than Sawyer, maaaaaaaaan!"

Remi: "Damn... Now I really blame myself. Not only could I have won the challenge, but I could have prevented Alex from getting thrown into the Half n' Half. This sucks, yo."

Jenna: "Wow, the Red Pair turned out not to be loyal to our alliance? Who could have seen that coming? ...I mean, yeah, I wanted to break off from that alliance, too, but that's mostly because I didn't trust Red Pair. Feels nice to be vindicated."

After the challenge, Alex, Remi, and Veronica broke off from the group to talk. They sat down at a table near The International Tour. Alex buried her head in her hands.

"This is so bad…" Alex sighed.

"I know, dude," Remi pat Alex on the back. "It's not what anyone wanted."

"Well apparently it's what Sawyer and Orson wanted!" Veronica exclaimed.

Alex solemnly nodded. "I tried so hard to keep this alliance together, and they just went and threw it away."

"We should've won that challenge!" Veronica scoffed. "We had the most points on the board, after all!"

"Well, no matter the results of the challenge, not everything is lost yet," Remi smiled, looking at the two. "There's still the Half n Half."

"I guess so," Alex slumped back in her chair. "I am sorta worried about Lazarus during it. We haven't always gotten along the best, after all…"

"That's true, but I imagine Laz also wants to stay, yeah?" Remi replied. "I wouldn't be super worried yet because I imagine he wants to win as much as you do."
"Absolutely!" Veronica nodded. "You two will do fine against the Blue pair tonight!"

"Blue pair?" Remi asked.

"Yeah!" Veronica smiled.

"Honestly, I don't know if we can beat a team as cohesive as Mushroom Blue tonight," Alex responded. "I'd be much more at ease if we voted for Brown today."

Veronica gasped.

"Yeah, I think that it'd be a lot easier for Alex to beat Brown," Remi agreed. "I mean, they don't even like each other! How could they possibly win?"

"But Remi, you know I'm friends with Brynleigh…" Veronica pouted. "I don't wanna see either of them go!"

"I understand, man," Remi said. "But I let you pick who we used the Pineapple on–"

"And we used it on Blue, and it worked out!" Veronica protested.

"Well sure, but now our friends we've been in an alliance with are in danger, Roni," Remi clarified. "I don't want you to feel like you've gotta choose between your friends, I know it's hard, but we need to protect Alex too."

"I just don't see why we can't vote for Blue still," Veronica crossed her arms.

"If I could interrupt for a second," Alex interjected. "I get that it's a tough choice, and whatever you two decide to do I get it."

"Really?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah," Alex smiled. "You have to play your game too… I can't expect you to just do everything I want you to do or anything."

"Aww, thanks Alex!" Veronica squealed, hugging her, before rushing off.

Remi looked at Alex awkwardly, who coughed into her fist.

"I'll work on that," Remi said after a prolonged moment of silence and then turned to follow Veronica.

Alex sighed.

Remi: "I wish Roni would just listen to me! I know her decision to use the Pineapple on Blue wasn't a bad thing or anything, but I gotta stick up for my friends too! I know she's friends with Brynleigh for… some reason, but we've been in an actual alliance with Alex! I wish she'd take more stock in that, y'know."

Alex: "I do worry about Purple's vote here. I do trust them deep down and I don't think they have any ill will, but I do feel like Veronica might just control their decision again, and that would end up with Blue in the Half n Half, which isn't really good. Hopefully Remi is able to change her mind, but I guess we'll see."

Meanwhile, Lazarus brought Brynleigh and Pavel to the Breakfast Nook.

"Alright, listen up!" Lazarus demanded. "It's no secret that you two are probably going to be the ones they vote in tonight. That is, of course, unless you listen to me."

"My hero," Brynleigh droned.

"You insolent little..." Lazarus grunted. He composed himself. "Anyway, if you two and my pair stick together, then that's two out of the three votes we need to send Blue into the Half n' Half, maaaan."

"Are you sure you can beat the Blue Pair?" Pavel questioned. "Annoying as they are, they're both really strong, and pretty smart, too. They've proven they can win a challenge."

"Of course I can beat the Blue Pair!" Lazarus insisted. "Someone has to! It might as well be me! They are not infallible. They've lost more challenges than they've won. Tonight will be no different."

"Yeah, that's cool and all, but who's going to be the third vote?" Brynleigh questioned. "Because none of that matters if the others are just going to stick together."

"I think Alex gets along well with Remi. She's probably talking the Purple Pair into voting Blue as we speak," Lazarus boasted.

"Aren't you friends with Veronica?" Pavel asked Brynleigh.

"That's definitely what she thinks," Brynleigh cringed.

"See, it all works out, maaaaaan," Lazarus grinned. "I might even talk to Jenna and see what she thinks."

"Jenna's not a bad idea, either. I've talked to her a little," Pavel realized. "I think the bigger concern is if Panic will go with it. From what I hear, it sounds like Orson has them in his pocket."

"Why don't we just vote for Green then?" Brynleigh questioned. "If we can't rely on them, and they're a lot easier to beat in a duel."

"Because the Green Pair aren't a threat!" Lazarus insisted. "If we have the chance to take out a threat, we're going to do it! We can get rid of the Green Pair whenever we want, maaaaan!"

"You'd better know what you're doing," Pavel scowled. "Because if you fuck yourself over, you fuck me and Bryn over, too."

"Of course I know what I'm doing!" Lazarus shouted. "I've been running this game from the start, maaaaan! I'm the master manipulator pulling the strings! Me!"

"Yeah, whatever dude," Brynleigh condescended. "Come on, Pavel. We know the plan, so there's no sense in hanging around."

"For once, I agree with you," Pavel decided as the two headed off.

"Fine! Underestimate me all you want!" Lazarus barked. "You'll see who has the last laugh!"

Lazarus held his forehead and reeled back as he broke into manic laughter.

Lazarus: "Most people are too scared to take a shot against the Blue Pair, but not I! Those two aren't the unbreakable iron walls everyone thinks they are, and I'm going to prove that tonight, maaaaan! And then once they're out of the way, I'll have a clear shot to the end!"

Pavel: "Honestly, Lazarus ain't even worth getting mad at. Partly because he's got his own slew of issues, and partly because his vote is still worth something. That being said, I was so close to just grabbing that guy by the shoulders and shaking some sense into him that the Blue Pair are not going to fall that easily! Like, bro!"

Panic stomped through the fair, looking around. They noticed Orson walking a little ways away.

"Hey! Orson!" Panic called out.

Orson turned around, noticed Panic, and waved. He began to walk over towards them.

"We need to talk!" Panic exclaimed.

"Sure thing," Orson nodded as he approached. "What's on your mind?"

"What's on my mind?" Panic raised an eyebrow. "I wanna know why you decided to betray our alliance!"

"That is an excellent question," Orson affirmed. "If you'll indulge me for a moment, perhaps we should get a coffee or something and take this conversation somewhere more private."

"Are you hitting on me or something?" Panic blushed and turned away.

"Well, I do trust you," Orson smiled, putting his hand on Panic's shoulder. "And ultimately I want to be able to give you the best answer that I can. You deserve that much."

Panic turned around and nodded, still blushing slightly. "Alright, if you say so. We can."

"Delightful," Orson said.

The two walked over to a nearby Duncan Donuts, adorned with memorabilia of the once fan favorite Total Drama star. Panic looked around, confused.

"Is this a real chain or something?" Panic asked.

"Couldn't tell you, unfortunately," Orson replied. "Frankly, I'm as confused as you are."

The two sat down at a table and Orson clasped his hands together.

"Anyway, I'm sure that you have plenty of questions," Orson began. "Given our talks of loyalty in the past, it may look inconsistent on my part.

"Uh, yeah, it does," Panic shook their head. "I sure as shit am confused because this doesn't line up at all!"

"Well, the truth is that I've received word that Lazarus is currently trying to establish a countermeasure against our alliance," Orson said. "I imagine he's probably wanted to betray it from the very start, and was just waiting for his chance to strike."

"Is that so?" Panic asked.

"To my knowledge, yes," Orson nodded. "Ultimately, the move was just to rid our alliance of the toxins inside it. Make the greater whole more healthy, you know?"

"I have to admit, I can see that," Panic sighed. "Lazarus's… track record isn't the best on that part."

"Absolutely," Orson concurred. "I've never fully trusted Lazarus, and while I know this is not what anyone wanted, I do think that this is the right move to preserve our lives in this game. Better for him to go than us, wouldn't you say?"

"Well when you put it like that, it does make a lot of sense," Panic admitted. "I just wish I could've been more in the loop, you know?"

"That's totally fair," Orson nodded. "I should've been more forthcoming with our plan, and that's on me. I promise from here on I will do my best to keep you more updated on things. Scout's honor, and all that."

"You were a scout?" Panic snickered.

"Once upon a time," Orson smiled.

Panic: "This is the first time something's happened I've been really blown away by, so I needed to get some answers from Orson here. Honestly, I'm just glad Orson's so honest and open with me about stuff. It makes talking to him so much easier. I know it's weird to say, but it puts me a bit at ease knowing someone like that is my ally in this game. And that's all!"

Orson: "Personally, I'm not actually completely sure if Lazarus is planning anything, but that isn't the important part. Lazarus, ultimately, is a complete liability to me. He is a short-sighted, short-tempered player who shows no concern for anyone else. That is not someone I need in my game. Ultimately, liabilities like that need to be snuffed out before they can burn my game to the ground."

Jenna sat idly on a bench, staring at the sky.

"May I join you?" Charlie requested.

"Like I said before, do what you want," Jenna allowed. "It's what people do in this game."

"You mentioned an interest in working with Lazarus before, as well as a disdain for the Red Pair," Charlie brought up. "I imagine you're frustrated by the results of the challenge."

Jenna threw her hands up. "Eh, it's all out of my control. I'm just going to chill until me and Panic either win or lose. I'll try in challenges, but the strategy? Too fast for me."

"While I understand your frustration, I can't just let you say you're giving up," Charlie said.

"That's not what I said," Jenna denied. "I said I won't bother with the strategy because there's no place for my input. That's not giving up, that's knowing what I do and don't have an effect on."

"You'd be surprised what you can accomplish if you really try," Charlie frowned.

"Brother, I have been trying," Jenna told him. "I know you put a lot of stock into never giving up, but this isn't that kind of situation. Maybe some people can control others, but I can't. Hell, I can barely get upset customers to calm down."

"...I'd like you to expand on what you mean by me putting a lot of stock into others never giving up," Charlie requested.

"That one might have been over the line, and I apologize," Jenna admitted.

"No, for your own good, please," Charlie pressed.

"Because of your damn leg, Charlie," Jenna sighed. "Yes, you've been able to adapt to life with an injury. It's genuinely awesome, better than I could have done. But that's a self-contained issue. Nobody else has any sway over your leg, or your mindset, or any of that. Literally everyone else in the game has sway over how people vote, or who wins challenges, or who gets hit with the Pineapple or sent into the Half n' Half."

Charlie's brow twitched, but he held his tongue.

"Yes, helping others feels good," Jenna continued. "Wanting others to feel hopeful the same way you could makes sense. But not every issue is one-to-one with each other. And I'm gonna be honest: it comes across as kind of patronizing when someone comes to terms with the fact that they can't fix everything, and you roll up with this after-school special attitude about how anything is possible."

Charlie shut his eyes and sighed through his nose. "...I'm sorry, Jenna."

He stood up and hobbled away. Jenna quietly groaned to herself.

Jenna: "See, this is exactly what I mean! I'm not good at real talk. As evidenced by me driving away one of the few people who actually does listen to me back there. Yeah, he upset me, but he was just trying to help. I just... I don't know. Like I said, I'll leave the social maneuvering to Panic."

Charlie: "It's one thing to mess up on something you didn't even know you were doing. It's an even worse thing when you actively try not to mess it up, and you still do so anyway. There's that sentiment again: patronizing. Condescending. ...I hadn't even considered the difference between self-contained issues versus broader-scope issues. That's something I can learn from, at least."

Later, Ichabod and Sawyer met up in the living quarters to discuss things, they sat down on the couch in the middle of the room.

"Punctual, I respect that," Sawyer said, checking her watch.

"Always," Ichabod replied. "If I am not punctual, I waste time that could be spent elsewhere."

"I see," Sawyer nodded. "Quite a good philosophy, actually."

"Yes," Ichabod said.

Ichabod shifted in his seat.

"I did wish to ask you something," Ichabod mentioned. "I see you put Bacon Pink into the Half and Half Challenge, and not the Sausage Brown team."

"That is in fact, what happened," Sawyer affirmed. "Your point?"

"I am simply surprised," Ichabod noted. "I was of the belief that Sausage Brown was your target."

"Interesting," Sawyer noted.

"What?" Ichabod asked.

"You seem to be showing no signs of appreciation whatsoever for what I did," Sawyer smirked. "I stuck my neck out for you, and you came to interrogate me? That's not what someone in your position should be doing."

"Tch," Ichabod's mouth twitched. "I-I, I apologize."

"Much better," Sawyer laughed, before putting a lollipop in her mouth. "Anyway, as far as the reason I put Pink into the challenge instead of Brown should be quite obvious."

"Do tell," Ichabod crossed his arms.

"To ensure you two don't go in, obviously," Sawyer rolled her eyes. "I thought you were smarter than this. If we put in Brown, then you two would be the obvious people to put in the challenge because people want Brown to go."

"I do not appreciate your insinuation that my intelligence is anything but stellar," Ichabod shook his head.

"Yeah, well, if you didn't see what I was doing there, then I don't know what to tell you," Sawyer shrugged. "Regardless, with Pink in the Half n Half, it's more likely Brown goes in instead of you guys, then it doesn't really matter who goes, does it?"

"I suppose not," Ichabod admitted. "Well, I now have an understanding of the plan. While I do wish you had discussed this with me prior, I suppose I appreciate you not allowing Charlie and myself to go into the Half and Half Challenge."

"Right," Sawyer said.

"However, I will say, as we are now more formally working together, I will begin to formulate a plan for our pairs moving forward," Ichabod scratched his chin.

"Oh, there'll be no need for that," Sawyer dismissed.

"Why is that?" Ichabod raised an eyebrow.

Sawyer stood up from the couch. "Well, I already have things planned out from here."

"Already?!" Ichabod exclaimed. "So you just simply expect us to follow your orders with no discussion whatsoever?"

"That's the idea," Sawyer smirked. "Minimizes the margin of error. I imagine you'd understand."

"This is utterly ridiculous," Ichabod exasperatedly shook his head.

"If I may give you a word of advice," Sawyer interjected. "I'd just be thankful for being saved, and go on with your day. Leave the planning to me. I will let you know when I am ready to tell you what we're doing next."

Sawyer then turned to walk out of the room, leaving Ichabod to stew in anger.

Ichabod: "This is absurd! Even when working with her, Sawyer is unbearably inconsiderate of others! She clearly has no desire to actually work with anyone, simply expecting Charlie and I to follow her commands with blind obedience. Now, I realize that she did save us, and for that I am appreciative. However, she is still a nuisance, and I will be watching her."

Sawyer: "For someone who clearly appears to pride himself on his intelligence, he is surprisingly unable to see things from any other perspective. Now, perhaps it isn't the best idea to taunt Ichabod, but I like to play with my food before I eat it. Besides, if Ichabod is making it this easy to get under his skin, who am I to ignore that? I need to have some sense of joy in this competition."

The Fantastic Feast Faire had closed, and the six pairs met up in the plaza, by the Burger Boy statue. Chef and Chris stood before them, feasting on the tension before Chef finally spoke up.

"Y'all have cast your votes n' made your decisions," he began. "The team with the most votes against 'em will face off in the Half n' Half Challenge against the Bacon Pink Pair for the right to stay in the game."

"I can tell you guys are excited about this one," Chris chuckled.

"First vote... Sausage Brown," Chef started.

Pavel folded his arms.

"Second vote... Mushroom Blue," Chris continued.

"Hmph," Ichabod reacted.

"Third vote... Sausage Brown," Chef revealed.

Brynleigh stuck out her tongue.

"Fourth vote... Mushroom Blue," Chris smiled.

Charlie gripped onto his cane tighter.

"That's two votes Brown, two votes Blue, one vote left," Chef established. "The ones facin' off in the duel tonight are..."

...

"The Sausage Brown Pair!"

"Laaaaaaaaame!" Brynleigh shouted. "Laaaaaaaaaaaame! Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame!"

"Don't give 'em the satisfaction, Bryn," Pavel scowled. "We can beat those chumps."

"Yes, you keep telling yourself that," Lazarus chuckled. "It will make our victory all the more satisfying."

"Erm... may the best pair win?" Alex attempted.

Pavel: "Yeah, big surprise that being attached to Lazarus isn't exactly paying dividends. Not that we really had much of a choice, but... If these idiots think they can get one-over on me, they've got another thing coming! I've gone through much worse in my life. I can handle this!"

Alex: "Well, the good news is that I'm up against the pair I wanted to face off against. The bad news is I don't think the Purple Pair voted for the Brown Pair like Remi wanted. That's definitely something to keep in mind going forward. Because I will be going forward! Because I'm going to win the Half n' Half Challenge!"

Several interns carried in a large, heavy-looking table with a glass top. Upon setting it down, one intern flipped a switch on the side, and the glass top displayed a geographical map of the Earth.

"Today's Half n' Half Challenge will celebrate the international tour that the Fantastic Feast Faire offers," Chef explained. "I'm gonna give y'all a hint, and y'all will hafta determine which country I'm talkin' about. Then each pair will take turns slidin' their puck onto that country."

An intern handed Brynleigh a brown puck with a sausage on it, and Lazarus a pink puck with a slice of bacon on it.

"The pair who's closest to the right country will get a point," Chef continued. "First pair to five points will win the challenge, n' keep themselves in the game!"

"I hope you guys can guess the geographic locations," Chris chuckled.

"Booooo," Brynleigh commented.

"I'm going to take that to mean you have no questions," Chris said flatly.

Brynleigh: "I don't know jack about any country besides Canada, because who cares? I'm not going to any of those countries. Good thing the Pink Pair are both idiots who probably know even less than I do somehow! Heh heh heh."

"Alright!" Chef announced. "Y'all ready then?"

"I'm ready!" Alex smiled.

"Just get it over with!" Brynleigh crossed her arms.

Chef stared blankly at Brynleigh. "Tha first country is home to the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites!"

"The fuck is UNESCO?" Lazarus asked.

The four duelists stood in place, unsure.

"Yeah, Chef, think you could speak English real quick?" Brynleigh raised an eyebrow. "How the hell's someone supposed to know that?!"

Chef shook his head. "Well, if I gave y'all an easier clue it wouldn't really be much of a CHALLENGE now would it?!"

"I guess that's true," Pavel shrugged. "Bryn, let's discuss this."

Lazarus looked over at the other two huddling up and pulled Alex into a huddle as well.

"Alright, where the hell is this?" Lazarus barked. "I don't have a clue!"

"Hmm," Alex scratched her chin. "Think it could be Italy or something? I know they've got a lot of cool stuff there…"

"That's stupid, we're looking for WORLD HERITAGE SITES!" Lazarus exclaimed. "We're not looking for stupid tourist attractions!"

"Alright, Sausage Brown, yer up first!" Chef called.

Brynleigh stepped up to the table, clearly unsure of where to send the puck. After a short time, she slid the puck and it landed near Portugal.

"Fuck if I know," Brynleigh shrugged.

"Sausage Brown's landed near Portugal!" Chef said. "Where'll Bacon Pink land! Let's find out!"

Lazarus shook his head and walked up to the table, he thought for a moment and aimed his puck directly at Sausage Brown's. Quickly, he slid the puck down, hitting Bacon Pink's and sending it directly off the table.

"Oops!" Lazarus teased. "Did I do that?"

"You prick! Is he allowed to even do that?!" Brynleigh yelled.

"We never said anything against it…" Chris smirked.

Brynleigh crossed her arms angrily.

"The correct answer was Italy!" Chef exclaimed. "Bacon Pink's closest, so they get the point."

"Always knew it! Never had a doubt in my mind." Lazarus put his hands on his hips.

Alex shook her head.

Alex: "Lazarus never had any idea of that… but he decides to just take the credit? If this is how this challenge is gonna go… it's gonna be a long day."

"Alright, Bacon Pink is up 1 to 0, next country's hint is that it's the one country on earth with three capital cities!" Chef announced. "Those cities bein': Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town."

The two pairs huddled together once again.

"I have no idea where these are…" Alex said sadly. "You got any ideas?"

"You don't know?!" Lazarus raised his voice again. "Ugh! Useless!"

"I got the last one and you didn't though," Alex reminded Lazarus, who said nothing in return.

Meanwhile, Pavel and Brynleigh huddled together as well.

"I think I actually know this," Pavel said. "Cape Town is in South Africa, I think."

"You think?" Brynleigh sighed. "Well, I guess I don't know either, so whatever."

"I'm pretty sure," Pavel nodded.

"If you say so… If we lose though, I'm blaming you," Brynleigh

"Bacon Pink, this time you're up first!" Chef announced.

Lazarus sighed, looked at Alex, and walked up to the plate. He slid his plate and it ended up in the United Kingdom.

"And Bacon Pink's landed in England! Now it's time for Sausage Brown!" Chef said.

Pavel smirked, set his puck on the table, and slid it close to South Africa.

"And Pavel has landed somewhere in the ocean, but it's closer to the actual answer: South Africa!" Chef announced. "And Sausage Brown is on the board!"

Pavel: "I had no idea that South Africa had three capitals, but I ain't complaining! At least now we're on the board, but we would've been mostly in the lead had freakin' Lazarus not played dirty and knocked our puck off the damn map!"

Lazarus: "This is stupid! If I have to, I will carry this damn team over the finish line myself, goddammit! I have worked far too hard in this game to be sent home because stupid idiots Sawyer and Orson decided to put me in for no reason! No matter how incompetent Alex is, I will not let us lose!"

"Country Numero Three-o," Chris grinned.

"Chris..." Pavel groaned.

"This country is home to the world's oldest operating brewery, which has been in continuous operation since 1040," Chris prompted.

The pairs broke off to discuss.

"It has to be Germany or Scotland or something, right?" Alex figured. "One of those countries that's famous for drinking a lot."

"That's a distillery, you imbecile," Lazarus corrected. "A brewery is where they make tea."

"Okay, I get that you're stressed, but that's no reason to get mad at me," Alex frowned. "We're in this together."

"You think I don't realize the stakes here?" Lazarus accused. "The answer is obviously India or China, somewhere in that area."

The Sausage Brown Pair discussed their plans at the other corner of the table.

"Did any modern countries even exist that long ago?" Brynleigh sneered.

"Yes?" Pavel blinked. "Like, you know... Egypt... Greece... I think China?"

"Those don't exactly sound like beer-drinking countries," Brynleigh claimed. "Eh, maybe Greece. Drinking is pretty much all they do in Europe."

"I don't have any better ideas," Pavel shrugged.

"Sausage Brown, lead the way," Chris instructed.

Pavel took his position, then slid his pair's puck towards western Europe. He overshot, landing closer to Russia.

"Damn it," he grumbled under his breath.

"And Bacon Pink, make your move," Chris allowed.

Lazarus confidently slid his pair's puck just past Sausage Brown's puck, landing on China.

"Russia or China, what's it gonna be?" Chef asked. "Well, the correct answer was Germany: Brauerei Weihenstephan is in Bavaria."

"Excellent pronunciation, Chef," Chris complimented.

"A culinary master's gotta know what he's sayin'," Chef said proudly. "Neither pair came close, but the Sausage Brown Pair's puck was closer, so they get a point! It's 2 to 1!"

Pavel: "On one hand, I'm playin' this game because school's out and I wanted to do somethin' fun. Geography is not fun! On the other hand, we're in the lead, so I probably shouldn't complain. It's all about your attitude, never forget."

"Next up!" Chris proclaimed. "This country is known for its unique landscape that includes the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth."

The pairs broke off to discuss once again.

"A desert's probably in Africa," Brynleigh figured.

"What did he say the name of the desert was?" Pavel tried to remember.

"Does it matter?" Brynleigh asked.

"The name didn't... sound African?" Pavel mentioned.

"Where else in the world has deserts?" Brynleigh challenged.

"Mexico?" Pavel guessed.

Meanwhile, Bacon Pink talked about their guess.

"I think this might be a trick question," Alex considered. "Places like Antarctica are technically considered deserts."

"He said it was the driest place on Earth," Lazarus responded.

"Snow can be dry, I'm pretty sure," Alex offered.

"How? It's literally made of water!" Lazarus scolded.

Alex took a deep breath and put her hands up. "You know what? If you don't want my help, then I won't help."

"Thank you," Lazarus accepted.

"Bacon Pink, start us off," Chris instructed.

Lazarus took his puck, kissed it, and slid it towards northern Africa. It settled on the border of Mali and Niger.

"And Sausage Brown? Your response?" Chris prompted.

Brynleigh pushed her puck in the same direction Lazarus had. It settled in the south Atlantic Ocean.

"Ha!" Lazarus laughed. "Way to push yours in the wettest part of the world!"

"Like you know anything about making things wet," Brynleigh scoffed.

"Once again, neither of you actually came close," Chef chuckled.

"What do you mean?!" Lazarus objected.

"The correct answer is Chile," Chef informed everyone. "The Atacama Desert is the second-driest desert in the world, only beaten out by the McMurdo Valleys in Antarctica. We didn't feel Antarctica really suited the international foods theme, though."

Lazarus clenched his teeth and fists, and a vein formed on his forehead.

"It's 3-1!" Chef announced. "Still anyone's challenge!"

Alex: "I signed up for Total Drama because I wanted the world to see the real me. And I don't want the world to see me as someone who lets people mistreat her, or be rude to her, or boss her around. I've tried my best to meet Lazarus halfway, but he doesn't seem to want to do things halfway. Fine. So be it. If he says he can win the challenge on his own, he is free to try."

"Alright!" Chris exclaimed. "This country is home to more sheep than people–!"

"United States?" Brynleigh snickered.

"-AAAAAND if Brynleigh didn't so RUDELY interrupt me, is known for Maori culture!" Chris eyed Brynleigh.

Pavel and Brynleigh huddled up, as Lazarus looked to Alex, who was filing her nails. He began nervously pacing around.

"Alex?" Lazarus said. "You sure you don't wanna help?"

"Oh? I thought you didn't need my help?" Alex looked up from her nails.

"Well, I don't, I just think it looks bad that you aren't–" Lazarus began, but as he spoke Alex looked back down to her nails. "C'mon man!"

Meanwhile, Pavel and Brynleigh conferred with each other.

"I think I know this one!" Brynleigh said, excitedly. "I think it's New Zealand!"

"That so?" Pavel asked.

"Yeah, all I know about New Zealand is they fuck sheep there or something!" Brynleigh smiled confidently.

"Right," Pavel said, looking at Brynleigh. "You sure that isn't just a stereotype?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Brynleigh asked back.

"Good point," Pavel sighed.

Chris snapped his fingers. "Alright, chop chop! This is a half hour show, folks! Sausage Brown, you're first!"

Pavel took the puck, aimed it, and shot it down to the far end of the map, landing on the eastern coast of Australia. Pavel pumped his fist as he walked back to his team.

"And Bacon Pink!" Chef yelled.

Lazarus smiled deviously as he lined his puck directly towards Sausage Brown's. However, as he shot it down the map, it began to veer off, eventually shooting straight off the map and into the other contestants.

"Well, as much as I love watching you kids getting hurt, Lazarus shot it straight off the map!" Chris laughed. "The correct answer was New Zealand! A little short, something I'm sure Brynleigh is used to hearing, but it's enough to score the point this time! It's 4-1!"

"Hooray!" Brynleigh cheered, before realizing what Chris said. "Hey wait!"

Brynleigh: "Funny coming from someone like Chris "Like 4 feel tall or something" McLean!" Brynleigh rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I won't let that old bitch ruin my vibe! We're winning this duel and sending those losers home!"

Lazarus: "I can't believe Alex isn't even willing to help me! Talk about a terrible teammate! When it matters most, she isn't even there for me! How could someone be so selfish?! I ask you, HOW?!"

"This could be the match point!" Chef announced. "Sausage Brown's stompin' Bacon Pink so far! Will Bacon Pink make a comeback? Let's find out. Hint six! This landlocked country is known for its dramatic karst landscape, as well as the Mekong river!"

"It's dramatic what now?" Pavel asked.

"Karst landscape!" Chef reiterated. "Figure it out!"

Pavel then huddled back with Brynleigh.

"I'm gonna be real man, I have no idea what the hell that means," Pavel admitted.

"Don't look at me!" Brynleigh scoffed. "I'm too pretty to pay attention in geography class!"

"I–sure," Pavel stopped himself.

"Mekong sounds like it could be in Asia or something though," Brynleigh said. "Like Thailand or China or something?"

"Those aren't landlocked though, right?" Pavel asked.

"Do I look like a bitch who knows?" Brynleigh shook her head.

Meanwhile, Lazarus paced to himself. He looked over to Alex, who was standing a bit away, and looked away quickly. "Fuck, fuck, fuck… what do I do?"

"Alright, it's time!" Chef announced. "Bacon Pink, you're first!"

Lazarus looked nervously at the board, before wildly shooting it out towards the edge of the map, eventually landing in Mongolia. Lazarus looked at the audience, who stared blankly back at him, and then returned to his area.

"Lazarus has landed in Mongolia!" Chef exclaimed. "It all comes down ta this, where will Sausage Brown land?! Let's find out!"

Pavel stepped up with the puck, looked at the map, and shot it towards the southeast corner of the map, eventually landing in Laos.

"Pavel's puck is in Laos!" Chef nodded. "Which… is correct!"

"Wait, really?" Pavel exclaimed. "Hell yeah! Let's fuckin' go!"

"Sausage Brown wins the challenge!" Chef announced to the others, leading to polite clapping from the cast. "Which means, sorry Bacon Pink, y'all are goin' home!"

Lazarus started turning red and stamping his feet angrily.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lazarus screamed as he began pulling his hair angrily.

Brynleigh: "Ahhhh… as if there was ever any doubt I was gonna win that! Pfft, if anyone expected otherwise, they're dumber than they look, which is real dumb! I'm not going anywhere! In your face, bitches!"

Pavel: "Man, I ain't gonna lie, I thought I was shooting for Thailand there, but hey it worked out! We won, baby! I'm still in it for the million bucks, and that's what matters! Now I just gotta try to make sure we don't end up in this spot again."

"It was a valiant effort, Bacon Pink," Chris said. "...Is what I want to say, but I don't think 'valiant' or 'effort' can honestly apply to both of you."

"You!" Lazarus pointed to Alex. "You tanked our chances! You threw the game!"

"Lazarus..." Alex sighed. "It was over before it started. I'm grateful that you chose me to be your partner. You quite literally saved me from getting last place. But I can't say I'm grateful for how you've treated me since then. I did my best, I played the best game I could, and it still ended with us sent into the duel by our allies, and neither of us really seemed to be having fun anymore."

"You don't get to decide if I'm having fun!" Lazarus snapped. "You selfish little-"

"Lazarus, we lost," Alex said firmly. "Is this what you want your last moments in the game to be like? You throwing a tantrum?"

Lazarus paused, fell to his knees, and pounded the floor with his fist.

"Damn it! Damn it damn it DAMN IT!" he cried.

Alex: "I had a lot of fun. I met some amazing friends, got to play a once-in-a-lifetime game, and hopefully I got to let people see a side of me they wouldn't normally get to. Sure, not everything went my way, but what's the point in dwelling on that? Total Drama Pizza Party provided some unforgettable memories, and I'll look back on it fondly."

Lazarus: "I played the best game out of everyone in the entire season, and then I get screwed over by a couple of noodniks who think they're better than me. Including my own partner! Whatever, screw this. Just get me out of here."

The Burger Boys of Shame arrived on the scene and picked up Alex and Lazarus.

"Good luck, everyone!" Alex waved as the mascot carried her off. "Don't forget to have fun!"

"Later, Alex!" Remi called. "You were a real one!"

"You played well, Alex," Charlie nodded. "Take it easy."

"You're alright, Alex," Jenna admitted with a small smile.

"I'd say you were worthy adversaries, but frankly, this is more me dealing with an annoyance than anything," Sawyer smirked.

"Hey, come on, we got to them before they could get to us," Orson claimed. "Surely that's worth something."

Lazarus merely sulked, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Before anyone knew it, the Bacon Pink Pair had been officially escorted out of the plaza, and out of the game.

"N' there goes another pair o' players," Chef commented. "For the five pairs who're still here, we meet here at the same time tomorrow mornin'! Bring your A-games, 'cuz it ain't gonna get any easier. Dismissed!"

The ten remaining contestants nodded before returning to the rest area, leaving Chef and Chris alone.

"Haven't seen a blowup like that in a while, eh Chef?" Chris chuckled. "That's the kind of thing I missed about this show."

"Ya get a sense for these things when you've gone through as many audition tapes as I have," Chef boasted. "But now, it's ten down n' ten remainin' for our colorful cast o' characters. What challenges do we have set up for our players? How will Pink's elimination impact the game in the long term? Who will be poised to sabotage another team with the ever-important Pineapple? Only one way to find out! Tune in next time! To Total! Drama! Pizza Party!"

Votes:

Brown: Green, Blue, Pink

Blue: Purple, Brown

Pepperoni Red Pair:

Sawyer - The Businesswoman

Orson - The Ordinary Guy

Onion Purple Pair:

Veronica - The Sheltered Heiress

Remi - The Superfan Drummer

Jalapeno Green Pair:

Jenna - The Last-Second Recruit

Panic - The Disillusioned Punk

Sausage Brown Pair:

Pavel - The Reformed Gangster

Brynleigh - The Brat

Mushroom Blue Pair:

Charlie - The Aspiring Therapist

Ichabod - The Terse Perfectionist

Bacon Pink Pair:

Lazarus - The Offbeat Hippie

Alex - The Friendly Actress

Cheese Yellow Pair:

Dede - The Retro Romantic

Sunshine - The Lover of All

Anchovy Gray Pair:

Peter - The Surly Cynic

Aoi - The Complacent Model

Not Picked:

Flick - The Isekai Survivor

Jacqueline - The Proud Nerd

Kiko - The Mushroom VTuber

Toby - The Optimistic Reporter

A/N:

Asujoll: One thing I love about when people are forced to work together is that it can give rise to all sorts of character dynamics. That's something I've enjoyed exploring with every pair in this season, but there's something to be said about a pair of two complete polar opposites like Alex and Lazarus trying their best to make it work. If you can call what they did trying their best - they mostly just kind of did their own thing separate from their partner and hoped it would work out. It does not, and it made them a target.

I'd be lying if I said I thought either of the two were endgame material. Both have something to offer on their own, but neither were in a position where the season couldn't live without them, and while they were fun examples of an absolute contrast in personality, their sloppy gameplay could only really carry them so far. But hey, they could have gone home a lot earlier - remember how the Gray Pair was originally supposed to make it farther?

I realize a lot of people called that Pink would be the next pair to go, so we decided to just give them as fun and over-the-top an exit as we could. What did you think of the Pink Pair, and what do you think of the story so far?

Max: In the Endurance format, there is a unique ability to explore paired dynamics that typically aren't present in these types of stories for very long. The interpersonal conflicts between two people can just really be entertaining to figure out. Lazarus and Alex, as Asujoll said before, is really the most polar opposite type of dynamic you can find, and through their complete opposite approach to the game, they crumbled.

As I'm sure you probably could've figured out by now, Alex and Lazarus were potentially going home much earlier than this, and mostly because of their lack of endgame potential. The duo was just never going to go the distance, and that much was apparent. However, through writing the story, we realized a team like them could add a much more interesting dynamic than say, a Gray team, who originally may have made it further. Similarly completely different from each other, but Alex and Lazarus were both in the thick of it from the start, and that proactivity is bound to cause some problems, especially from someone as naturally difficult and self absorbed as Lazarus was.

Ultimately, our goal with them was to make them as dynamic and explosive as possible while they were still around. They may have never had a shot at winning, and I think people realized that early on, but hopefully they turned out just as fun as they were to write. Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter, and let us know what you think!