And we're back with the second half of the episode! I hope you enjoy what I have cooking here! Hope you enjoy it!
Again, the full title for this episode is "Journey to the Centre of Earth Island", just want to say it again.
Let's start this!
The scene fades back to Bob, Jemma and Tegan as Chris talks over the scene. "Aaaaand we're back! Each group is still making their way through the tunnels of Earth Island, hoping to stop Hannah! Who's gonna be first there? And who's out? Find out now!"
As Chris' voice fades out, the trio turn a corner. The silence between the three is stopped as Jemma awkwardly chuckles. "Look at us, we just need to add in Megan and it's just like old times, the four of us against the world!" Bob and Tegan's frowns cause Jemma to trail off.
Suddenly, a bunch of robots drop through a hole, before Hannah yells, "You can thank Tegan for these."
Bob and Jemma turn to the complainer, slightly annoyed expressions on their faces as Tegan says, "What? Not my fault she hates me for being prettier than her."
"Trust me," Hannah notes. "I hate you for a lot of other reasons."
The three pause for a moment, considering their options, before the three run off.
Confessional:
Tegan:
"She didn't deny that I'm prettier," Tegan smugly smirks.
Confessional Ends:
Susan hears all the animals above her, and parts of the roof sagging slightly. This causes her eyes to widen. "Oh no…."
She then runs ahead, before a burner appears under her, blasting fire which she quickly leans to the side to dodge, falling on her stomach and rolling onto her back.
"Aww, come on! Don't think I forgot about you Susan!" Hannah mockingly yells, activating a few pillars of fire. "I wasn't just going to emotionally destroy you, I am definitely going to take you out physically as well!"
Susan pauses, before sighing.
"Giving up already?" Hannah asks back. "I mean… it seems like the regular thing for you, but this fast? Well, at least you're consistent."
"Nope," Susan opens her eyes with a focused expression as she watches the burners. "Just being myself here, using my brain." Susan then walks around the burner, before counting, "One, two three." She then runs past the switched-off burner, before repeating the same trick, making it through another three rows of burners.
Confessional:
Susan:
The brainiac is still out of breath, putting up her hand as she looks up with a smile. "Well, if anything, this season's giving me the cardio I needed to get. Maybe I'll form any kind of muscle at all?"
Susan holds up her arm and tries to flex it before she frowns. "Yeah, the more I think about it, that's probably a no."
Confessional Ends:
"Oh no you don't!" Hannah adds. "Screw this pattern crap!" The burners then begin continuously blasting, as Susan watches shocked. "What're you gonna do now?"
Susan looks around, wiping some forming sweat off her forehead, before she looks at the burners again. She then sighs. "I guess it's a tiebreaker move I guess."
"Wait, huh?"
Susan then closes her eyes a moment, opens them, starts yelling, and then runs, dodging the first burner, before leaping to her right to avoid another and finally jumping through another burner as a blast of fire blasts out of it.
"Not again!" Susan yelps, before she quickly puts out her dress.
Confessional:
Susan:
"If my dress gets burnt to a crisp by all this fire, YOU'RE BUYING A NEW ONE FOR ME PRODUCTION!" She then pauses. "Yes, I have spares, we all got like, ten pairs of our regular outfits here, that's why we all wear the same thing. It's the principle of the situation though!"
Confessional Ends:
Susan sighs in relief before she runs ahead.
"What the fu-." Hannah's voice rings out before the scene cuts to Gary continuing to walk through the tunnel.
"Does it have to be so cramped?" Gary questions.
Hannah rejoins, annoyed. "These are the tunnels the interns go through to reach the control room, not my fault here. Also, Susan is crazy, just a heads up." Her voice then changes to a more smug tone. "Ooh! I just found something cool! Wanna see it?"
"NO!?" Gary yells out.
"You say no, but I know you're saying yes in your heart," Hannah smugly responds.
Suddenly, further in the tunnel, a boulder drops down and begins to roll towards Gary.
"Wait… NONONONONONONONONO!" Gary starts to run away from the rock, but accidentally trips over, landing on the ground. He looks up to see the boulder rolling at him, as he cowers in place… only for the boulder to glitch as it rolls over him, revealing itself to be a hologram.
"I-I'm not dead?" Gary asks.
Hannah chuckles. "Nope! It's a hologram. See? Cool!"
"I'm really starting to see why the girls voted you off now," Gary mumbles as he continues walking.
"Keep saying that, and I won't tell you you're a couple of minutes from the drop-down to my room, eh?"
Gary simply keeps his arms folded as he continues walking ahead, not saying a word.
Xavier and Jake continue to jog through the cave. "Seriously, we keep getting more and more lost the more we run," Jake shakes his head. "Wait… were we allowed to use our GPS for this challenge?"
Confessional:
Chris:
"Yeah, they were." The host holds back laughter. "That's on them. Just because I didn't tell them doesn't mean it wasn't implied!" He then begins laughing hard. "Even Lauren or Xavier… imagine not planning for that!"
Confessional Ends:
Jake and Xavier stop in place, catching their breaths.
Xavier looks around quickly. "Well, we don't have a GPS, but why don't we get a feel for where we are?" Xavier questions. "I mean, sure, it's a cave, but there's got to be something we can use to at least see where we're going."
"Well it's better than running in circles," Jake smiles. "Let's do this."
The two begin looking around, noticing the same walls as everywhere else.
The leader pauses, asking. "Is there anything?"
"Uh… huh. There really isn't." Xavier rubs the back of his neck. "Well, it was worth a-." The method actor leans on the wall, falling backwards as the wall gives way to a drop.
"Xav!" Jake yells, quickly pushing against the wall, and following after his boyfriend.
The two fall down, yelling before they splash into some water below.
After resurfacing, the duo look around and see the lake around them. Many different branching paths off of it. "Wow…." Jake smiles. "This place, it's... it's big. Kinda quiet too."
"Yeah," Xavier nods. "This massive lake and they haven't put a challenge here? I wonder why?"
Jake climbs out of the pool. "If I knew where this was… man we could come here as a hangout spot."
Xavier smiles back, "I'll try to find it and we can come here in the finals, how about that?"
"You've got yourself a deal," Jake chuckles. "Now. How do we get to Hannah?"
"Jake." Xavier quickly comments, pointing to a path below them. "Look down there."
Control Room Directions.
"Let's go us!" Jake cheers, hugging Xavier. "We'll be done here in no time!"
As he yells that, from high up, Lauren runs in, looking down to see the duo.
"Not on my watch you aren't," she mutters.
Confessional:
Lauren:
"Okay, it seems as if I've been too nice to them. I want one of them out, so I'm finding some way to block their path."
Confessional Ends:
Jake and Xavier study the map.
"Okay, so this path and the path right above look like the quickest paths to the main room," Xavier notes. Good to know!"
Jake nods along. "Yeah, exactly. Let's do this."
The two guys run down the path, as Lauren climbs down, having heard their entire conversation.
"Thanks for the tip," she whispers, an innocent smile on her face as she walks on the path above.
Confessional:
Lauren:
"And they even took the bottom path. Now I can drop things on them! How nice of 'em!"
Confessional Ends:
Bob, Jemma and Tegan slow down after running. "First the sasquatch, now this?" Jemma questions. "We better win this, I want a soft bed so bad right now."
"Ain't that the truth," Bob chuckles. "Looks like we've lost them at least."
"Did you just say that?" Jemma questions.
Tegan shakes her head. "Yeah, even I know you don't say that."
A massive thud rings out against the wall above the group, as they look up in shock.
"Oh no," Jemma mutters.
"Not again," Tegan adds. Another thud slams against the pipes.
Bob steps in front of the girls, putting his fists up. "Stick behind me, we've gotta fight it."
After one more thud, a singular squirrel drops down. Sparks zip off the animal's head.
"Oh…," Bob sighs in relief. "Good. It's just a squir-."
The squirrel's eyes glow red, before it leaps up, landing on Bob's face as it begins to scratch and bite at him.
Right after, a massive downpour of many birds, rabbits, squirrels and raccoons blast out of the pipe, leering at the trio.
Bob throws the squirrel off his face as they all see the animals, his eyes slowly widening.
"Hey, so uh… can we keep hiding behind you?" Tegan decides to ask.
The animals all leap at the group, as Bob starts to throw animals away. Jemma runs back, picking up a rock and throwing it at a bird, blowing it up. However, that doesn't stop a bunch of other animals rushing at her.
Jemma lets out a yell of fear which rings out through the caves. Far away, having long since lost its targets, Scuba Bear walks around aimlessly. Suddenly, it hears Jemma's scream, causing it to stand up in shock, quickly bounding in her direction, smashing through the wall to find her.
As the animals run at Jemma, Tegan grabs a raccoon that was running at Jemma, throwing it away. "Don't you dare hurt my friend!" The animals pause, looking at each other, before slowly nodding. They then turn to attack Tegan, who quickly runs against the opposite wall, cowering.
"Oh craaaaaaaap," she comments, terrified, as Bob fights off a group of animals, trying to take him down as they cover his chest.
Another rock flies through the air, smacking into a rabbit and sending it to the ground.
"I'm uh… I'm not scared of you all!" The journalist currently has an armful of pebbles in her hands, standing up with a concerned, but steadfast expression.
Unfortunately for her, the animal's eyes all turn red, before they run straight at the journalist. Even the animals attacking Bob leap off of him to join the tidal wave of robotic fauna runs directly at the girl.
Tegan and Bob stand with mouths agape as Jemma yells, "HELP!" Before she's covered underneath the creatures.
"Jemma!" Bob and Tegan yell at the same time, broken from their stupor as they run over, throwing metallic chipmunks and squirrels from the top of the pile.
Confessional:
Jemma:
The journalist begins, a serious expression on her face, "I really thought I was about to die by cute fluffy animals…." Her face quickly changes to one of relief, a smile quickly appearing. "And then he came."
Confessional Ends:
Suddenly, a roar tears through the cave. Bob and Tegan quickly look towards it, before leaping to the side as Scuba Bear barrels onto the scene. The creature quickly swipes at the animals, pulling the journalist out of the pile and onto its back as she hides against the bear's fur.
"Scuba Bear!" She yells, before coughing a few times. Scuba Bear then proceeds to destroy every single animal attacking her, covering its face in oil in the process.
Tegan and Bob watch the scene with their hands on their mouths, horror at the oilshed on display evident in their faces. They slowly look at each other.
Once it's done, Jemma leans down from its back as she wipes the oil off its face. "You do remember me."
Scuba Bear quickly nods, before it turns around to Tegan and Bob, growling at the duo.
"Wait, they're friends!" Jemma yells. Scuba Bear pauses, before glaring at the duo.
Confessional:
Bob:
Bob doesn't say a word, simply staring ahead in horror. This is only for a couple of seconds.
—-
Tegan:
She mirrors Bob's reaction, the same thousand-yard stare.
Confessional Ends:
Bob and Tegan walk along with wide eyes behind Jemma and Scuba Bear.
Back with Lauren, she runs through the cave, continuing to listen out for Jake and Xavier.
"Looks like we're almost there!" Jake's muffled voice rings out. Lauren sprints ahead, seeing a pit that she jumps over before she looks up to see some partially dislodged rocks.
"The sooner we're done, the better," Xavier admits. He then chuckles before adding. "Look, I've been complaining and moping a bit recently, I just want to say sorry for dealing with me right now."
"Hey, with the guilt you feel I completely get it. Seriously, considering the situation it's perfectly fine."
"And it's about to get a lot worse," Lauren comments with a smirk, picking up a handful of rocks.
Confessional:
Lauren:
"I have all the faith in the world that they're gonna dodge what's about to happen. Though It'll slow them down a lot, and that's what's really important here."
Confessional Ends:
Lauren grabs the first rock, throwing it at the roof, it rumbles but stays firm.
"Damn," she grunts, before throwing the rest of her handful. Some miss, but a bunch of them hit the roof. After rumbling, the rocks fall.
Below, Jake and Xavier walk ahead, as Jake blushes. "So uh… since it's just the two of us and nothing's here to distract us… I've been thinking a little more and well…."
Xavier turns to him with a smile. "What's up?"
Jake innocently smiles. "Well, I know I said I wanted to wait to kiss until we weren't on camera or in the season, but a pitch-black cave is basically not on camera, right?" Jake's face slowly flushes red.
Xavier turns over to the church boy with a smile, a blush slowly forming on his face too. "I think I like the way you think."
"So should we do it now… or?" Jake's question is answered as Xavier leans in. Jake follows suit, closing his eyes. Right before their lips connect, a rumbling is heard above them. Xavier looks up with eyes widened.
"GET DOWN!" Xavier yells, throwing his boyfriend backwards while leaping on top of him.
"Woah!" Jake gasps, opening his eyes as the rocks crash down.
At the top of the pit, Lauren sighs in relief, seeing the boulders have also blocked her way back before she runs off.
Confessional:
Lauren:
"Again, all the faith in the world they dodged it. If they don't though… well I genuinely feel kind of bad. Anyways, that blocks off their other best path to the end so they're now going a lot slower."
Confessional Ends:
Jake and Xavier quickly stand up, awkwardly clearing their throats as their faces flush with embarrassment.
"H-how the heck-?" Jake cuts himself off as he looks ahead. "No! We lost our way ahead.
"It's alright, we'll take the higher path." Xavier looks at Jake with a determined expression, however, Jake pauses.
"The upper path is directly above us, we're probably blocked up there too."
"Dang," Xavier groans. "Ah well, we have the map. We'll find another path."
Jake nods in agreement. "Exactly, it's not the end of the world!" Before they run in the opposite direction.
Confessional:
Jake:
"Of all the-." The leader groans, shaking his head. "Still, Hannah didn't have any snide commentary for that, so it's actually kind of likely she didn't do it. Either it's a genuine natural issue, or someone sabotaged us. Frankly, I don't care which option it is right now, we need to find a way to get to that control room. Honestly, I'm starting to get really nervous with this challenge."
Confessional Ends:
Gary continues through the tunnel, finally speaking up and saying "Do you have anything for me?"
"Not really," Hannah admits. "You're just above where you're supposed to drop down into the room. Keep an eye out for the hatch."
"Wait, am I dropping? How far?"
"Well, it's either be fast or use a ladder."
"Got it, I'm using the ladder."
"You're no fun," Hannah grumbles, as Gary arrives at the hatch.
"Anyway, you've got to be quick here, a bunch of them are right near me."
Gary pauses annoyance on his face. "But you told me this is the quickest path!"
"Yeah, I lied. If I didn't you'd just go on and on complaining, I thought I'd at least shut you up for once."
Gary keeps his mouth shut tight as he opens the hatch, climbing onto the ladder.
Confessional:
Gary:
"The worst part? I was about to complain about how I don't always complain." He pauses, frowning. "Am I always like this?"
Confessional Ends:
In the control room, Hannah rolls her chair away from the table she's stilling at, whistling to herself as she stands up, seeing Susan standing directly across from her at the entrance.
Both girls look directly at each other, silence filling the room for a few seconds before Susan comments, "Uh… hi?"
Hannah leaps towards a button as Susan starts to run at her. However, Hannah is faster as a fan appears out of the ground, having it appear and pushing Susan back.
"As if I'm just gonna give up on this challenge," the hipster yells out happily. "But it's great to see you trying! It's a challenge now!"
Meanwhile, Susan sits up, feeling the fan on her face. "Yep… not the way to go here." With a groan, she looks around quickly, seeing a small door near her. "Please just work, I just want to stay in at least." Seeing a small set of stairs going upwards, she sighs, before following them.
The scene changes to Jemma, Scuba Bear, Tegan and Bob, the latter two still looking horrified.
"Why are we all so… quiet?" Jemma asks.
Bob and Tegan both awkwardly chuckle. "N-no reason!" Bob calls out.
"Bear- I mean, yeah! We're fine!" She then adds. "We're just ready to attack Hannah! That'll show Chris I'm not a chicken!"
"I can't believe Chris got us both," Jemma admits, her head shaking. "Still, I can't believe Hannah just snapped like that. I mean, it's just like that other girl on the other robot island. Scarlett, right?
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
Scuba Bear also growls in agreement.
"Still," Jemma notes. "The island hasn't moved though. I thought it'd move at least a bit by now."
Bob's eyes widen as he begins sweating.
"Maybe it takes two hours to start up," Tegan responds. "Doesn't matter to me either way though."
"Eh… I guess."
Bob quickly raises his voice, cutting Jemma off from continuing to speak. "We need to talk for a minute, Jemma."
Jemma raises an eyebrow. "Uh, sure?"
Scuba Bear glares at Bob, before letting Jemma off its back.
"Yeah, good idea I'll be with you too!" Tegan quickly yells out.
"Alone."
Tegan's eyes plead with Bob, who quickly shakes his head as he and Jemma walk off.
Tegan shakes in her spot as she looks up at Scuba Bear, before running off and looking at the wall.
As the duo step far enough away, Bob whispers in her ear, "If you're saying what I think you're about to say, don't."
"And why shouldn't I?" Jemma raises an eyebrow. "I mean, we're on Earth Island with Hannah, right?"
"Yeah, but you can't tell Tegan it's fake," Bob whispers back. Jemma's eyes change to slits as she smirks.
"Okay, it's officially fake now, thanks for confirming it, I assumed it was pretty early actually."
Bob quickly shakes his head, "No, you don't understand. You can't tell Tegan the thing's a fake. Chris said if she's told then you're automatically out, no last place needed."
Jemma's mouth drops open, agape. "Automatically?"
"I mean, Chris could be messing with us, but I don't want you to take the chance, so please stop!"
"Yeah… it's a good idea to play it safe here probably."
Confessional:
Jemma:
"Well, there goes any respect I have left for Chris," Jemma begins. "He could have just told me! And I could have just avoided telling Tegan. She wouldn't have blamed me too much if she found out the full situation, at least not as much as she'd have blamed Chris. I'd have gotten a second chance… probably at least."
Confessional Ends:
The two look at each other awkwardly before Bob asks.
"Also, can you… get Scuba Bear to not hate us? I don't want to wake up seeing Scuba Bear looking over me at night."
"I'll see what I can do," Jemma nods. "Don't worry, he's a big softie."
"Come ON lovebirds, I didn't come here to be lunch!"
Bob and Jemma quickly run back, as Scuba Bear begins staring at Tegan, its mouth opening.
Tegan shakes in her spot. She quickly yells, "I'm not a pizza!" As Jemma makes it over.
"Scuba Bear! No! Bad Scuba Bear, bad."
The Bear frowns, before going back on four feet, looking sad.
"Come on buddy," Jemma smiles, holding up the bear's face. "They're my friends. And they can be yours too!" The bear looks up, tilting its head as it looks at Tegan and Bob's faces.
"A-anyway!" Tegan yells out. "Over there. It's our entranceway to see that crazy bitch."
"Oh yeah," Jemma smiles. "We'll put that on the back burner for now." The four look in to see the control room.
"Let's do this!" Bob gives a small smile.
Hannah holds up a drink in her hands, taking a sip before she looks over, seeing Bob, Jemma and Tegan running in. "Ah, there you are." Hannah turns back to her computer, quickly typing on it, as a wall blasts out of the ground and surrounds her. A microphone comes down to allow for communication.
"Seriously? Do you think you can just run over and get me? Nope. You outnumber me, but I out-power you; just give up already."
"Oh, we have a trump card here, don't worry," Jemma smirks, as Scuba Bear bursts through the wall, running straight towards the hipster.
"I already knew it was with you?" Hannah questions in confusion. Pulling out a power button, which she presses. Scuba Bear's eyes darken, falling to the ground, completely off.
"Hey! What did you do to him!" Jemma yells, furiously.
"I turned it off? What else would it look like? Obviously, that hunk of junk has an on-and-off switch."
"HUNK OF JUNK!?" Jemma screams, pounding her fist on the wall before Hannah puts up a fan that blasts her away.
"I love using off-brand stuff on Earth Island," Hannah admits. "Seriously, it's really funny."
Tegan looks over at the seven buttons on the side, asking. "Wait, what's that?"
"Nothing you should worry about. Those buttons just override me." Hannah sarcastically covers her mouth. "Oh, did I just say that?"
Tegan smirks, turning to the buttons. Right after, Susan walks in down the stairs, and Gary drops down onto the ground.
Gary looks up, stumbling in place, next to Tegan as he admits. "Alright… not the worst odds I guess."
"Oh, here's the big get-together." Hannah then adds, "Hey, Gary, step to the left."
After Gary does so, Hannah presses a silver button, which drops a glass wall around the buttons, leaving everyone but Tegan and Gary outside. More microphones fall from the roof to allow for communication between rooms.
"I forgot you were here, Tegan," Gary admits.
"I forgot the part where I cared." Tegan quickly slams her hand onto the closest button to her, which turns a bright red.
Suddenly, a robotic voice rings out through the room. "Sequencing complete… Tegan registered."The button then slides back into the earth, before a monitor comes down from the roof, Don's face on it.
"Congratulations, you have won the challenge, and immunity at the next elimination as well…." The host finally looks up to see the winner in question. "Tegan?"
"What?" Chris quickly pushes Don to the side. "How are you our winner? Did someone tell you? I thought we had cameras for that!"
"Tell me what?"
"The challenge being fake! How'd you go for the buttons?"
Tegan blinks, before slowly sputtering out, "No… but… y-you just did…."
Don stands back up as he and Chris stare at each other. "Oh, uh…."
Rage crackles on the girl's face. "Are you SERIOUS right now!?" Tegan's face slowly goes more and more red from her screaming. "THIS WAS FAKE THE WHOLE TIME AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!? I'D GLADLY KICK HER BUTT IN A CHALLENGE! WHY'D YOU LIE AND MAKE ME THINK ITS REAL!"
Don then goes back on camera, saying, "Chris' idea, I would like to say. Not mine."
"And it was funny. Anyway, imagine the fear on someone's face if they did tell her. Especially her friend if I told her she was out!" Jemma folds her arms, an angry expression on her face at this reveal.
On the monitor, Don frowns, "Well, since we can't just say nobody wins immunity… I guess you'll pick who's safe next time when the challenge is over. We've still got a loser to decide after all. Or second place could win." Gary looks up at this excitedly.
"Choosing is cooler." Chris shrugs.
"Eh, sure." Gary grimaces at Don's response. The monitor then turns off, returning to the challenge.
Gary looks over, before pressing another button
"Sequencing complete… Gary registered."
Bob folds his arms at what's happened. "Seriously though, way to play favourites there." A pipe then appears through the ground, grabbing Gary and sending him flying into the main part of the room. It disappears before anyone else can enter it.
Hannah rolls her eyes at Bob. "There? Is that enough?"
Tegan turns to him, before saying, "Alright, can you punch through the glass?"
"Not if I want to live," Bob says back quickly
"Point taken." After thinking for a moment, Tegan looks up in realisation, before she looks ahead with a smirk on her face. "Stand back, I'm keeping you in the game."
"Wait, huh?" Bob asks. "I'm not complaining, but don't you hate me?"
"It's been long enough, if Jemma forgives you, whatever, I'll give you a second chance, but don't expect a third one, okay?"
Tegan then reaches into her pockets, before pulling out a nail file with a sharpened point. "Never leave home without it," she smirks in satisfaction. The complainer then stabs the file into the wall, dragging it downwards.
Tegan creates a large circle through the glass, kicking it as it falls onto the ground, shattering.
"How did you…?" Bob asks, starting to squeeze himself through the hole.
"You think I'm going to go into a game like this with long fingernails? No way."
Hannah looks over in confusion as Bob walks over, pressing the third button down.
"Sequencing complete… Bob registered."
Bob smiles in satisfaction.
Confessional:
Bob:
"Good, I'm in the final six," Bob nods. "Admittedly, it's not first place, but I can accept third place. As long as someone like Lauren loses I'm good."
Confessional Ends:
Bob turns to Tegan, before saying, "Thanks for that."
"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't."
Susan takes this opportunity to leap through the hole Tegan made, hitting the closest button to her.
"Sequencing complete… Susan registered."
"Thank goodness," Susan mutters.
Confessional:
Susan:
"It's not the immunity, but it is me being safe today." She sighs. "Now I just have to hope it's Jemma safe next."
Confessional Ends:
"Ugh, why is everyone getting through so fast?" Hannah questions. "It's so bull."
"Hey, you might want to, y'know, try?" Jemma adds, chuckling to herself.
"I mean, if you insist." Hannah presses all of the buttons she has on her.
Confessional:
Jemma:
"And that's why you don't mock the person running the challenge." The journalist facepalms, before sighing. "Good job me."
Confessional Ends:
Lauren then falls in from a hole in the roof, scrambling to her feet next to Jemma. "Oh hey, I'm not last place!" She comments with a smile. "Fancy that."
Jemma and Lauren stand next to each other as a massive cavalcade of weapons and lasers appear out of the ground, pointing at the campers, alongside a fan, a mallet, a few swords and a flyswatter. This causes both targets to stare in horror, bracing themselves for what's to come… before a spark comes out of the machinery, and the lights shut off.
After a few moments of confusion, Hannah lights a match, asking, "What just happened?" She then pulls out a walkie-talkie, before talking to Chris.
"Did you just cause a blackout on Earth Island?"
"Ah, alright." Hannah nods at this. "Yeah, that's probably what happened.
"Seriously?" Chris groans, before yelling out. "CHEF! Put the circuit breaker back on!"
While this happens, Lauren and Jemma walk around blindly.
"Over here!" Tegan loudly whispers. "I'm here."
Jemma finds the hole Tegan cut, climbing through.
"Is the power outage bad?" Don questions his co-host.
"Eh, we just need to flick it back on. The fun stuff just doesn't work, nothing else bad really." Chris then adds. "Look, we need the camera footage to do the show. Beat up those kids but not with everything."
The power then turns on, as Jemma pushes her button
"Sequencing complete… Jemma registered."
Jemma looks up, shrugging after pressing her button down as Chris keeps complaining to Hannah. She then looks over at Susan, commenting, "Looks like we're both safe."
Susan leans over and whispers, "I saw Gary with the idol earlier." Jemma's eyes widen.
"Oh crap."
Both girls look over at Gary, who looks over at them with a frown on his face, eyebrow raised. The girls next notice Bob looking down at them, eyes wide.
"What?" Jemma asks.
Bob leans down to whisper in Jemma's ear. "You were quiet, I don't think Gary heard you… but I'm literally right here, I heard you. Gary has the idol?"
"Yeah," Jemma nods.
Confessional:
Gary:
"What are they waffling on about?"
Confessional Ends:
Lauren then runs over through the same hole, pressing the penultimate button.
"Sequencing complete… Lauren registered."
Jemma, Susan and Bob all groan in the background.
Confessional:
Susan:
"Great, Lauren's made the final six." Susan facepalms. "Just… amazing."
Jemma:
"We're losing ground quickly here," the journalist admits with a saddened look on her face. "Between that idol and the chance of either of those two winning immunities, we need to find some way to get at least one of them out fast, and next."
Bob:
"This means either Jake or Xavier is out." The giant glares, before muttering, "Great. Even with everything with Xavier, I still think he's a friend of mine. And Jake and I are friends too… this elimination's gonna hurt. A lot."
Confessional Ends:
Jake and Xavier continue running, looking at a fork in the path.
"What was with that blackout, anyway?" Xavier off-handedly asks. Jake shrugs.
"Well if anything, we're nearly home free." Looking to the right, the duo see a light ahead from the command room.
"We've made it!" Jake cheers as the duo runs in… seeing everyone around them.
Looking downwards in sadness, Xavier sighs. "I think that's everyone."
"And that means one of us is losing today," Jake adds, realising the gravity of the situation. The two stare at each other, before giving a small smile to each other. "Race you there?"
"Deal!" Jake and Xavier give each other a small hug.
"Hey!" Both look up to Hannah, who glares at them. "Don't ignore me! I'm gonna barf if you keep up with the lovey-dovey crap."
This causes the couple to blush, rubbing the backs of their necks. Though they quickly get ready to run.
"Three," Jake begins the countdown.
"Two."
"One!" Both boys yell as they run ahead. Jake takes an early lead, turning back to Xavier.
Jake smiles, before jokingly saying, "Come on man, let's make this closer." Xavier speeds up to accept the deal.
Hannah quickly pushes a button, as a laser appears out of the ground, blasting between the boys. The ground below them also changes to yet another fan, sending both upwards.
"Get a new bit already!" Susan yells in frustration.
Looking at each other, the boys start to push themselves along. Xavier makes it across first, though Jake finishes right after.
Hannah rolls her eyes. "Eh, whatever, just do your stupid run already." The hipster then walks away, putting the glass from around the buttons down. Both boys smile at each other, as they continue their race.
The other five contestants watch on with wide eyes, as they run ahead, arriving near the buttons, they both leap towards the final button.
Time slows down as they jump.
…
However only one of the two can survive.
"Sequencing complete… Xavier registered."
Xavier opens his eyes, silently watching the button sink into the ground. Jake does too, having landed on his arm as he rubs his elbow.
"And that's how it ends," Jake morosely sighs. A hand reaches out to him, helping him up. Jake looks over to see Xavier.
"I'll miss you, dude."
"Congrats on the final six," Jake gives a small chuckle. At this point, the TV monitor drops back down, Chris looking with a smirk.
"We have a loser! Jake! Your time on the show is over!"
"I'll live," Jake admits with a frown.
With a chuckle, Chris adds. "Your chances at a million big ones? Not so much!" Turning to address everyone, Chris comments, "Alright folks, get out here, that includes you, Hannah. The path's been lit up for you to leave easily. Let's finish this off."
As the monitor fades out, Tegan quickly runs over, punching Hannah in the face, and sending the hipster onto the ground. "That's for the challenge!"
As Hannah stands up, rubbing her face, she puts on a caveman voice. "Me Tegan, me solve all issues with violence, me as smart as bag of bricks!"
Bob quickly pulls Tegan away, saying, "It's what she wants." As Jemma is the next to stomp over.
"You better hope Scuba Bear remembers me next time I see him," the journalist glares.
"You too?" Bob picks up Jemma as well, carrying both girls as everyone starts to leave.
Everyone walks on screen, with Susan and Bob at the end. Bob puts Jemma and Tegan back on the ground. The boat of losers visible in the background.
"Welcome back!" Chris says with a chuckle. "Hannah, Tegan, you'll be on the boat in a few minutes."
"How about now?" Hannah admits smugly, running onto the boat and starting the motor, riding away.
"Wh-?" Don is cut off as the boat rides away.
"Well, you're staying the night," Chris shrugs at Tegan. "Anyway, you won the challenge, so if you have immunity next episode."
Everyone looks around in confusion as Tegan's eyes light up. "Wait, am I back in the game?"
Chris continues to smile, which makes Tegan happier.
"No!"
Tegan's face drops.
"But as the winner, you can give the immunity to another player of your choosing." This causes Gary to jump up angrily.
"But I was the first one of the people still in! I should get the immunity!"
"Second best is just the first loser here," Chris smirks. "At least you're not the seventh loser here, right?" Jake folds his arms at this, glaring at the host.
Gary steps ahead to Chris. "But you know she's just going to pick-."
"Jemma." Tegan quickly nods, the journalist looking up with a smile.
With a roll of his eyes, Chris asks. "Nobody else?"
"Uh, she's my friend. Obviously, I'm giving her immunity."
Confessional:
Tegan:
"Did you really expect anything else?" She then sighs. "Well, it's been weird. Did they really have to trick me though?"
Confessional Ends:
Don jumps in next. "Well Jake, you're out now. Pack your bags, and be ready to say goodbye at elimination. It's not a double elimination, don't worry, we're getting the formality out of the way."
This causes Susan, Lauren and Gary took look up relieved, while Jake and Xavier stare with saddened expressions.
"Our winner can also pick a person to join them at the resort. In this case, Jemma. You and I guess now Tegan, get to sleep with a third person in the cabins. You're saying your pick at the elimination ceremony tonight though."
This leaves the Journalist stuck in thought.
"One more thing before we go." Chris flashes his trademark smirk. "Now is the only chance for whoever holds the immunity idol to save Jake. If you play it, Xavier takes the fall."
Jemma and Susan look at each other subtly, quickly looking towards Lauren and Gary, who don't say anything. After a few moments, Chris shrugs.
"Eh, worth a try."
"Keep an ear out for the elimination tonight," Don nods, "See you then."
Everyone begins to walk away, as Jake and Xavier stop in place to talk. Susan turns back quickly, giving a quick sigh as she frowns.
Confessional:
Susan:
"Everyone's eyes are on me right now," Susan admits. "I need to keep my game going and I need allies outside of Jemma to do that. I think Bob's a lost cause and I know Jake is out, but I hope I can at least make up with him and get Xavier in my corner more."
She pauses. "Though… if they're having an intimate moment, I dunno if I want to do it right now."
Confessional Ends:
Susan climbs into a bush as the two stop in place. Xavier shakes his head.
"I'll miss you, dude," Xavier's comment causes both to hug.
"Well, I guess you don't have to choose between me and Bob in the final three, right?" Jake chuckles lightly.
"That landslide screwed us over royally," Xavier admits. "Still, what I don't get is how it even happened. I mean, wouldn't Hannah give herself credit?"
"I thought about that actually," Jake nods. "I agree, something's up with that. Some nagging part in the back of my head feels a bit suspicious that another camper did it."
Both stare at each other, frowning, as Susan raises an eyebrow.
Confessional:
Susan:
"It might not have been natural, eh? Interesting."
Confessional Ends:
Xavier nods with a smile. "Well, how about we drop out some suspects? It's not Bob or Jemma's M.O. So it can't be them."
"Yeah, definitely not them."
"To be honest," Xavier admits. "The more I think about it it feels more likely to be Gary, but I don't think he'd do something like that to us." Jake grimaces at this.
"Yeah, Susan and Lauren don't seem like the type either."
Xavier lets out a deep sigh."So we have no idea who it'd be if it actually was someone."
Both chuckle lightly, rubbing their necks. After a few seconds of silence, Xavier frowns. "To be completely honest… if I don't win, I kind of only feel like Bob or maybe Jemma would deserve the win. Gary, Lauren and Susan all just… I can't trust any of them. They all just seem really scummy."
Jake pauses. "That's honestly entirely fair. Still, Susan can be worked with. She's hard to trust, but she's not as bad as she seems. Take it from me, I was on her team."
Xavier frowns. "I will, it's just… if Gary and Lauren are immune, she's my automatic target, and I'm gonna just stay on the sidelines now."
Jake smiles, nodding. "Deal, then." He and Xavier high-five, before walking further away.
As this happens, Susan pokes her head out of the bush, tearing up.
Confessional:
Susan:
"Xavier hates me too… so what's the point?" She clutches her face in sadness. "Seriously, what's the point in being the good guy? Everyone hates me! Even Jemma's gonna hate me eventually!"
She takes a few gasping breaths, before shaking her head. "N-no… I have to at least try to talk to Jemma. I need to talk with her. N-now."
Confessional Ends:
As Jake and Xavier continue walking away, Jake can't help but blush.
Confessional:
Jake:
"It's now or never," he comments with a smile. "We're all by ourselves, it's either kiss him or leave without one."
"Hey, Xav," Jake begins. "So uh… we're officially dating now, right?"
Xavier turns back, smiling. "Yeah?"
"Well uh… before I go… have we had an official kiss?"
"Oh come on," Xavier chuckles. "Heat of the moment stuff doesn't count now?" Jake blushes at this, as Xavier laughs. "You know, you're cute when you blush." Xavier now gets the same blush on his face as he adds, "If you want to kiss me, just do it, man."
Jake stops in place, a nervous expression on his face as his breaths start speeding up. "S-seriously?"
"Yeah." The two walk onto the docks, leaning in for a kiss. Time seems to slow down around them as they pay no attention to the world around them.
…
Until they both fall into the water.
Both boys resurface, as Jake quickly swims away, embarrassed, yelling, "I-I'll kiss you later!" Xavier puts his hand up, before frowning, letting him go.
Confessional:
Xavier:
"First I nearly drown, and now this?" Xavier half-heartedly admits. "Man, the water out here has really got it out for me." He then chuckles. "Still, it's up to Jake."
Jake:
Jake looks annoyed, his eye twitching. "I HAD HIM RIGHT THERE!" He then puts his head in his arms, a long, annoyed groan escaping his mouth. "I let the moment pass!"
He pauses. "I just wanted to kiss him secretly… is that too much to ask for?"
Confessional Ends:
At Base Camp, Morgan dusts a shelf, sighing out of boredom as Chris walks up to him. "Hey, you!"
Morgan spins around "Chris?"
"Who else would it be?" With an eye roll, Chris adds. "I want an update, what drama have you caused?"
Morgan shakes his head quickly. "Huh? Oh, I helped Lauren find out about the votes on the Myron vote."
"Hmm, I guess the question here is how?" Chris's response is sarcastic, but Morgan doesn't pick up on this, pausing as he thinks of an answer.
Confessional:
Morgan:
"I… am obviously the best person here and my move was genius, but even I wouldn't say I stole the votes directly to his face."
Confessional Ends:
"I told her the votes, duh."
Chris shrugs at Morgan's response. "Alright."
Confessional:
Chris:
"Does he think I'm dumb? Or is it just him? Of course I know he stole those votes. To be honest, though, that takes guts. Still, he's not just gonna get a pat on the back and congratulations for doing that though, especially if he doesn't tell me. If that dude wants credit, he's gonna have to play along and tell me."
Confessional Ends:
"Look, pal," the host quickly puts a hand on Morgan's shoulder. "How about you take the rest of the night off? You're a big part of the next challenge after all."
Morgan looks up excitedly, "Wait, seriously?"
"Yeah, and maybe you'll actually do something!"
"Hey! I totally am!"
"Sure buddy," Chris pats the perfect guy on the shoulder. "Look, I got Chef to give you a book to read before you sleep. It'll give you some advice on how to cook. You'll need it for next time."
"But-!"
"I don't want to hear it. Go to your room!"
Morgan grumbles, before walking away.
Confessional:
Morgan:
"Okay… not gonna lie here. Katrina's making a lot more sense today. I wanna be on camera! And he sends me off to do stuff offscreen, and complains I do nothing! How is that fair?"
He frowns. "I can't just quit though, Lauren and Gary need my skills to win, and I'll get their money if they do end up winning!"
Confessional Ends:
As Morgan walks out of the confessional, Gary grabs him, pulling him to a corner.
"Oh, hey Gary." Morgan cooly adds. "I was just talking about you."
"Whatever," Gary rolls his eyes. "Look, I could really use a win in the next challenge. Especially after I got robbed today."
"Okay, what do you want me to do?"
"Let me win the challenge, try to pull some strings to get the heat off of me and Lauren. Just do it."
Morgan shrugs, saying, "Alright, I'll try."
"Do it. Don't try, there is no try here. Get me an immunity and you're in the clear too, don't, and our deal is off."
"What the heck do you mean by that?"
Gary chuckles at this. "Well, if I lose out tomorrow, it could always come out that I'm working with you… and that our deal is off. If I win, you get nothing. If Lauren wins, I'll tell Lauren where you put my idol, and I'm sure that's gonna make her mad."
With a small laugh, Gary adds. "Just get me a win and we're all good. He then walks away, leaving Morgan to think.
Confessional:
Gary:
"That was a lot more direct than I initially planned, but honestly, if Lauren or I can win immunity, though I definitely want it to be me. Still, I think we can get the heat off us potentially with the idol should one of us win. Alternatively, we can do well enough to not use the idol, which keeps it around for longer." With a shake of his head, he adds, "Anyway, talking this directly hopefully got Morgan to hop into high gear."
—
Morgan:
"I didn't deserve that!" Morgan complains "Gary is so full of himself, how's he still in? I can't believe someone would be so full of himself."
Morgan blinks a few times. "Okay, I know how that sounds… but hey, between all my strength, my speed, my drum playing skills and everything else, I know when someone is great, or when someone just has an ego."
Morgan pauses. "Still, at least I have Lauren! She's still cool to me."
Confessional Ends:
Opening the doors to the victory cabin, Jemma and Tegan run in, with the former jumping onto a couch. "Winning has never felt this exciting!" Jemma cheers out.
"Don't say I do nothing for you," Tegan chuckles lightly.
Jemma smiles. "I'll give you a thousand bucks if I win as a thanks."
"Two thousand and you have a deal!" The two fist bump, before Jemma looks through a window, seeing Susan looking around, slouched over.
"Susan?"
Tegan stands up. "I'll come along if you want."
"Look at her," Jemma stands up, showing her. "No offence, but I think she needs someone gentler."
Tegan gives a small chuckle. "Alright, fine. I'm gonna enjoy a massage then." Tegan walks off as knocking slowly starts on the door.
Jemma opens the door as Susan wipes her nose. "Tough day?"
"Really tough," Susan responds with a sigh as Jemma allows Susan in. Both women sitting on a couch."
"Well you seemed like you were alright when the challenge finished, so did something happen?"
Susan's depressed expression leads to her nodding. "I went to talk to Xavier and Jake but they don't trust me! I'm out after Lauren and Gary."
"Well wait a minute, you're not automatically out when they go."
"I basically am," Susan comments with exasperation. "I just want to know… what's the point in all this?" Jemma raises an eyebrow as Susan explains further. "What's the point in being a good guy? You're the only person here that even remotely gives a crap about me."
Jemma frowns. "Susan."
"I don't want to quit, I'm not quitting, but what's the point of being a hero? Do I have to bring myself down to Lauren's level to win in the game?"
Jemma pauses to think, before giving her ally a sympathetic smile. "You know, I've seen people become apathetic at home, give up their morals just for a cheap win, but you know what happens afterwards? If they win, it's never well earned, and those people do always realise that."
"But I'm not talking about home, I'm talking about here," Susan frowns. "I… I don't want to be a villain, but I just want to hear a good reason why I shouldn't in this game."
Jemma pauses, before smiling again. "The way I see it, there are two paths you can take in life. One path looks easy, and maybe as you start to travel down it, it feels easy too. That path is letting the world beat you down and becoming apathetic, uncaring, or rude. Then there's the other path; the path that on the offset feels difficult, but ultimately lets you live a happy, fulfilled life, and that's by rolling with the punches."
Jemma shakes her head lightly. "I had a friend when I was younger, Vicky, and we both wanted to work the papers. Unfortunately, people think the written news is a dying art, and we both came to that realisation. I wanted to make a real difference, no matter the medium, and Vicky… didn't. She started to lie on the school paper, coming up with big stories with a hero and a villain so that people would buy it, and I kept my integrity."
"Eventually, she tried to frame me as the person who made all those hit pieces, some people believed her and I was temporarily kicked off before I proved my innocence and Vicky was disgraced. Honestly, I'd have a pretty valid reason not to trust people with that. Still, I kept trusting. And I've been a lot happier as a result."
Susan looks downwards.
"I'm not perfect, I was mad at Bob for a while earlier in the game, but holding onto hate and negative feelings never feels good."
Susan nods. "That makes sense. I think you gave me my reason to stay working. Still, the moment anything bad happens to me, I crash and burn, and then I start crying about it. I'm literally doing it right now."
"Well, you talk about being popular at home. Maybe you're not used to people not supporting you." Jemma sighs. "Pushback is always going to exist, but people won't hate you forever."
"I know!" Susan quickly stands up, groaning. "Bleep! Why couldn't I just prove myself to them with something else!"
"Them?"
Susan looks over at Jemma quickly, before sighing. "Look, please keep this a secret, alright? I haven't been telling the full truth here."
"Sure?" Jemma shrugs.
"Okay," Susan sighs. "The stuff about me being popular? That's only… half-right. The group I'm a part of is popular, but I'm not the reason why."
Jemma tilts her head before Susan explains further.
"So on my first day of school, I became friends with two people, Jared and Nia. I'm still best friends with them, and we're on the top of the popularity totem pole. Well, Jared and Nia are, I'm not really in contention as much."
Susan pauses for a moment, before continuing. "Truth of the matter, I absorb how Jared and Nia act like a sponge and try to replicate it. The way I see it, I'm the brains, Jared's the brawn and Nia's the beauty. I help with work, plan out the parties, help them out in those ways. Jared keeps us all safe, he's the track star, the platonic version of Rory honestly. Then Nia's the prom queen, valedictorian, emotional core, beauty and heart of the group. Basically the leader of the group. I'm the logic and she's the emotion."
With a chuckle, Susan adds. "They'd have been fifty times better than me here. We all signed up for the show."
"And yet they picked you for the show." Jemma begins. "I can't claim to know your friends, but honestly, Jared, Nia, they'd probably be out of the game now. Wanna know why? Cause you have that massive brain. Susan, you're underestimating yourself. The game isn't over until you hear Chris say you're the one eliminated. Anyway, everyone underestimates themselves at points, you shouldn't feel like less of a person because you made a mistake."
Susan looks up, the tears stopping, her taking her friend's words into account, however, Jemma shakes her head, continuing. "So back to before, do you want to go to the dark side? Then do it, I can't stop you." She then takes a deep breath, before smiling. "But. If you think there's even a small chance you want to hold onto the hope that things'll get better, then I'm here for you."
Susan stays in her seat, blinking a few times, before her face slowly turns more confident."
Confessional:
Susan:
"She's… she's right." The Brainiac's smile slowly widens, before she begins to laugh, happy tears escaping her eyes. "I've been a real stick in the mud recently, but whether I come sixth, fifth or anything I just need to play the game I want to play rather than just crying when things go bad!"
Her face changes from a smile to a confident glare. "You're going down, Lauren. If that means I'm the last Tiger in the final five, or if I have to take out Gary before you, then so be it. But I'm outlasting you, mark my words."
Confessional Ends:
Susan gives Jemma a hug, commenting, "I needed that." She then stands up, wiping her eyes, as Jemma adds.
"No problem," with a smile. "Now, how about we think up a strategy to flush out that idol before I have to pick who's staying the night with me."
"You're on!" She smiles as they sit to discuss their plans.
In the cabins, Jake starts to pack his bags, a frown on his face. Bob walks in.
"Jake?" The leader turns around, seeing his friend.
"Hey man," Jake waves, before he sighs. "Looks like I've lost."
"I can't believe it's just like that," Bob shakes his head. "You're just… out."
"There's nothing anyone could have done about it," Jake admits.
"I mean, I could have held down Lauren or something."
"You didn't know how long it'd take for Xav and I to get there. Plus that's a bit too underhanded for my standards.
"You're taking this weirdly well," Bob notes. Jake shakes his head at this.
"I'm not really… to be honest I'm kind of shattered. I can't even save myself, I mean, even if someone did use the idol, it'd just send Xav home. I don't want to cry on TV though, that's for when I get to the loser resort after I've convinced Nadia not to burn this place to the ground when she cameos."
Bob looks around, before pulling Jake into a hug. "You did great in the game. I wish we were on the same team."
Jake accepts the hug, smiling as he adds, "Thanks, I needed that." He looks up before saying. "I know it won't be with me now, but I hope you and Xavier clear things up fully."
"With you as a martyr now, I think I have to." Bob chuckles, as Jake puts a pair of pants in his suitcase."
"You can always get a new third party," Jake gives a slight shrug. "I haven't talked much with her, but Jemma seems nice."
"She'd probably be biased toward me though. I want the third party to be unbia-." Bob realises who he's talking to as stares at Jake, who raises an eyebrow.
"I'm dating Xavier, dude. No offence, but yeah I'm a bit more biased towards him than you, even if I do know and sympathise with how you feel."
Jake lightly chuckles before he admits. "I saw how you were at the start of the game. You were so reserved and defensive. It's like you're almost an entirely different person now. You just need one last push to break it fully. Carol would have probably done it if she didn't go, but I do think the last step to let go of your anger… is to talk it out with Xav. After that, you'll be emotionally healthy and you can have a good time in the season."
Bob pauses, smiling lightly, "Alright, I'll think about it," Bob nods. Jake nods back as Bob turns around.
"See you at the elimination, Bob."
Bob smiles back, "See you then."
Jake smiles lightly as he continues to pack, however a figure walks in a few minutes later.
"Hi, Jake." The leader turns around to see Lauren staring at him, her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.
"Oh uh, hey Lauren." Jake frowns slightly. "I didn't expect to see you there."
"I just wanted to say sorry it had to end this way."
Jake shrugs. "Well, you didn't do anything, right?"
"I guess so," Lauren sighs. "I swear I heard Jemma and Susan saying something about taking you out though. I… I heard you mentioned a landslide blocking you and Xavier. Maybe they had something to do with it."
Jake looks up surprised. "Oh wow, that's actually pretty good information to know about."
"Yeah, it sucks to see Susan's suckered in Jemma to be a bad guy. I really thought better of her."
"You think you know a person," Jake shakes his head. "Thanks for letting me know."
Lauren smiles. "I'll see you at elimination, alright?"
"See you there," Lauren walks away. Out of view of them, both their expressions turn to glares.
Confessional:
Jake:
"Does she really think I'm that dumb?" Jake questions. "Seriously? Guess that means it was Gary or Lauren, probably Lauren."
—-
Lauren:
"It sucks giving someone else the credit for my work. I had to though. If he tells Xavier then Xavier hates Susan even more. If he sees through me, then I get more villain credit. Win-win."
With a chuckle, she admits. "I want to obviously stay under the radar until about final five or something, especially since we just lost two Tigers in a row, but I will admit it kind of sucks letting everybody but me take the credit for the elimination here." As she shakes her head, a slightly annoyed expression flares up. "I came to the game wanting to be the bad guy, not their lackie!"
"Seriously, a part of me just wanted to blow up my game and reveal everything I've done to him. Especially me voting for Nadia. But no, I want some social game still."
Confessional Ends:
Suddenly, Chris' voice blasts out of the loudspeaker. "Campers! Get your butts down here. It's time to send our loser home!"
Jake frowns, as Xavier walks in, with the same morose face. "Well, let's do this."
"Yeah," Jake groans. "My ticket is punched here." The two then walk out of the cabin, towards the elimination ceremony.
Elimination Ceremony 13 (Merge Elimination 2):
Chris, Chef, Don and the final seven all stand around the campfire, with the campers excluding Jake all holding hot dogs.
"And with that, we bid farewell to Jake, cause his sorry butt is out of here!"
"Okay, okay, I get it," the leader lets out a sigh, before turning to everyone. "It's been fun everyone. Good luck in the game." As he says that, he stares momentarily at Gary and Lauren, as well as Jemma and Susan.
Jake starts to walk down to the docks, passing the campers by. The first he sees is Gary.
"To be honest, you have my respect," Gary admits. "It would have been tough eliminating you if you didn't lose here. That's all I wanted to say."
"Thanks, I guess," Jake awkwardly comments to Gary, who then walks away.
Susan walks up next, as Jake turns to her. "No hard feelings for the Rory vote, right?"
"Not as many as before," Susan nods. Jake grimaces at this, before leaning in and whispering something in her ear that causes her eyes to widen in surprise. "Good to know," is all Susan can respond with.
After giving one final nod to his former teammate, Jake also gives Jemma a quick handshake.
Xavier and Bob start to run up, as the two girls walk away.
Jake turns to Bob as he says. "You know what I told you before. You can do this big guy."
"Thanks, man," Bob high-fives. "I'll leave you two alone for now." Bob then leaves the couple to talk.
"Nadia's gonna kill me," Jake admits with a chuckle, "I mean, seventh?".
"I'll pay the funeral costs," Xavier puts his hand up. "Your dad's church?"
With a chuckle, Jake's face slowly turns more serious. "I think I'm gonna give you the advice Nadia gave me as she was going home."
"What is it?"
Jake chuckles. "Start playing with your mind, not just your heart. Bob's on the verge of forgiving you so you don't need to worry. You bounced back after nearly drowning, so that means you don't need to worry about him as much. Keep a clear head, don't get suckered into manipulation, and you'll win this."
"Don't worry, I will," Xavier nods quickly.
"That's not all." Jake puts his hand up. "The game is currently three duos. You and Bob, Susan and Jemma, and Lauren and Gary. The question you need to ask, is if you and Bob aren't able to win, which duo would you prefer to see at the final two? I was in your spot at Nadia's elimination, and I recovered, I have full trust in you to recover as well."
With a final nod, he adds. "Also, just in case she tells you, I can't be certain, but I think Lauren is lying about Susan and Jemma targeting us in this challenge. I think she did it."
On that note, Jake allows Chef to tie him to the fireworks, leaving Xavier to be stuck in momentary thought.
"Knock 'em down, Xav, I'm rooting for you."
Chris and Don then walk up as Chris asks, "Any last words?"
"Not really," Jake chuckles. "Good luck everyone!"
Jake pauses, looking at the camera with a grimace, seemingly thinking, before saying, "Ah, what the heck."
Jake grabs Xavier's shoulders and pulls him in for a kiss. After the initial shock, Xavier reciprocates. The duo hold for a few seconds, before Jake lets Xavier down, contently stating, "I finally got my kiss."
"Isn't love sweet?" Chris asks rhetorically to the camera. "Not on this show." With the push of a button, Jake is sent flying into the sky, as Xavier gives a small smile.
"I'll make it all the way for you dude."
Confessional:
Xavier:
"Gary may think the game's over, but it's just beginning."
Confessional Ends:
Back at the campfire, Chris turns to look at Jemma. "And now it's our winner's turn to pick who's going to the resort with them."
Jemma looks around, looking at her choices.
Confessional:
Jemma:
"I could split up Gary and Lauren so that they can't plan anything, but that might just look like I'm trying to work with them. I could bring Susan, but I want to give her the chance to talk with others, not just me. I could bring Xavier but he needs space and I don't know what I'm really gonna say to him. Take all of them out and that just leaves…."
Confessional Ends:
Jemma turns to the giant with a smile. "Hey Bob, wanna try the beds?"
"Sure!" Bob smiles. The other four all groan.
"Is Bob immune too?" Jemma asks Chris, who shakes his head. Jemma chuckles lightly before saying, "Worth a try."
Confessional:
Bob:
"Yes! Something comfy! Finally!" Bob's excitement is extremely evident.
—
Susan:
"I get the move… but man, it sucks not being in there."
Confessional Ends:
"Then I hope the two of you enjoy your trip there," Don gives a smile to the duo. "And to the six of you as a whole? Congrats on making the final third of the campers. You've done a lot to get this far."
As everyone starts to walk away, Gary sneers directly at Xavier, who simply stares back disdainfully.
Confessional:
Gary:
"I'm all for fair play, but my deal with Xavier is off, unfortunately. I said the first time he can be voted he's off the hook but with the way the game's going Xavier might have to be a target next time, especially if he keeps getting saved by immunities and automatic eliminations."
Gary lightly shakes his head. "I was actually kind of hoping he lost here."
Confessional Ends:
Lauren and Gary continue walking, as Xavier continues to glare at them.
"It's like he's trying to set us on fire," Lauren notes.
"Let him," Gary shrugs. "We're running the game right now."
"I still don't like it; he's too focused."
"We don't want to overthink ourselves out of our spot," Gary responds. "Seriously, I get wanting to be stressed, but we need to plan for the now, more than plan for the future." He then walks off, leaving Lauren to shake her head.
"Your mood is exactly what I'm scared of right now." The fangirl admits with a sigh.
Xavier, Susan, Lauren and Gary look at each other as they reach the cabins, looking over to see Jemma and Bob entering their cabin.
Xavier and Gary enter the guy's side as they look to see Tegan sitting on a bed, staring directly at them.
"You both thought you were just going to get away with everything?"
The two guys stare at each other confused as Tegan stands up. "Oh no you don't. How dare you two."
Xavier quickly starts to speak. "We're not worki-."
"I don't want to hear from you! Go outside, I don't even want to waste yelling at you." Xavier shrugs at this, walking outside as Tegan flares up at Gary.
"How dare you!"
Jemma and Bob look out the window, watching Xavier walk past as the former holds back a laugh.
"What did you do?"
Jemma holds back her laughter long enough to admit, "I told Tegan to wait until Gary walked in, then rip into him."
This causes Bob to burst out laughing too as the indistinct rantings of the former competitor ring out.
Tegan's yelling, though not clear, is still heard from the docks, as Chris and Don stand there. "And we're down to six," Chris smirks. "Who's making the final five? And who's gonna miss, and take a dive? Find out, next time on-."
"Total! Drama! Elemental Islands!" Don cuts Chris off, before adding, "Too slow."
Voting Confessionals:
N/A
Jake: Automatically Eliminated
Bonus Clip:
Richard, Alfred, Carol, Nadia and Katrina stand around, most simply looking bored, while the former intern simply looks annoyed.
"There's five of us?" Alfred questions. "That's a bit more than usual."
Katrina lets out a bored sigh. "Hey, I'm only here 'cause I have to be."
"Sort of, but I'm a little interested," Carol admits.
"Meh, I'm waiting for my boat," Nadia nods. "I'm the next cameo."
"You're revealing it here?" Richard questions, to which Nadia shrugs.
"Not like it matters much anyway."
Everyone barring Richard nods in agreement. Just after that, the fireworks smash into the ground.
"Oh that's the loser," Nadia smirks as she runs over to the rocket, proceeding to groan in defeat.
Carol's voice fills with dread as she comments "I know that kind of groan." She turns the corner to see Jake, as both girls untie him.
"Hey everyone," Jake is helped to his feet by the girls.
"Why'd you have to lose now?" Nadia grills him.
"Automatic elimination, take it up with Chris." Nadia shuts up after this as Jake high-fives Carol. "Hey Carol, how're you doing?"
"Pretty good. Wish I was on the island still, but the resort's nice at least."
"I can agree to that."
Katrina stands up. "Alright, can I go now?"
"But you are supposed to stay for the interview," Richard responds.
"Meh, just use the last episode's stuff." Katrina turns around, walking away. Alfred looks over, confused.
"Whatever," Richard drawls. "We need to give Jake an interview." Richard walks up to Jake, asking, "Do you believe you've competed as well as you could?"
"Oh, uh," Jake pauses. "Yeah, I guess so. Did I even get a single vote aside from the one I cast on myself?"
Carol pauses to think. "I don't think so actually."
With a nod, the leader comments. "I was never really a target, if I didn't lose to Xavier I might have won."
"Wait, he betrayed you?" Nadia questions.
"Wait, no no no," Jake puts his hands up. "Just like you said Nadia, I played with my head and my heart. Raced with Xavier as the bottom two and he beat me."
"Oh, alright," Nadia nods.
"What would you change about your game then?"
"Not vote myself off at first elimination, to be honest. Then make sure Xavier and I don't get screwed over by that landslide. Aside from that I really just got unlucky so not much."
Nadia blinks a few times at this, before nodding, "Yeah, that makes sense."
"See if it was us, she'd yell at us," Alfred nudges Carol, who nods.
"And do you believe you played as well as you could?" Richard continues the questions.
"Honestly, yeah." Jake nods. "Again, I was never really a threat, so I'm happy with how things went, even if I didn't end up winning."
"Understandable," Richard gives his default neutral expression. "And finally, with the exception of Xavier, who do you want to win the season?"
"I've got to say, Bob," Jake shrugs. "I've gotten along with him a bit recently, dude's a pretty cool guy when you get to know him."
Richard gives a curt nod. "And if anyone aside from you could rejoin the game, who would you pick?"
Jake chuckles, pointing in the direction of the girls and Alfred. "Well, she's right here." Nadia gives him a smile before Jake adds, "Ca- nah just kidding, Nadia."
Carol laughs at this, commenting. "Nice save." Nadia gives a simple eye roll, but she smiles all the same.
"Alright funny guy, come on." Jake and Nadia then walk to the beach to talk, as Carol shrugs, walking away.
"We are finished," Richard nods. "I will see you all for the next eliminated camper interview in Total Drama Elemental Islands."
Remaining Campers: Bob, Gary, Jake (Eliminated), Jemma, Lauren, Susan, Xavier
1st – 6th: ?
7th: Jake (The Problem Solver)
8th: Carol (The Superhero In Training)
Merge
9th: Rory (The Soft Spoken Jock)
10th: Katrina (The Former Intern)
11th: Nadia (The Hot Blooded)
12th: Myron (The Ungifted Nerd)
13th: Tegan (The Complainer)
14th: Morgan (The Perfect Guy) (Though he isn't off the islands)
15th: Megan (The Quiet Band Girl)
16th: Hannah (The Jerky Contrarian)
17th: Richard (The Incredible Bore)
18th: Alfred (The Influential Rich Kid)
I had a very similar process with this chapter to what I did last time. It got the rewrite treatment. Still, I'm excited to see what people think if they want to leave a review.
As for why I booted Jake? Well, there are several roles a contestant can fit in during a Total Drama season. Jake to me… fits into the "Big character in the pre-merge but their plot dries up when the merge happens" sort of character. Plus, similar to Carol, he's a threat. He's great socially, in a relationship, and decent enough physically to at least put up a fight in a physical challenge. He's a massive and obvious threat, and while I did consider doing this via a vote out, it would ultimately make Jemma and Susan (the people I had initially flip on him), be dumb and out of character, so they got a chance to be safe from being written out of character.
If you want to hear a cool fun fact though, Jake is actually the first character eliminated that at one point, I had planned for the finale of the season. In fact, he was pretty much the first person I put down as a finalist in the initial stages of creating. Eventually, however, Jake ended up getting moved out of the finale slot and unfortunately dropped all the way down to 7th place.
Another fun fact too. I've been keeping track of the votes, and after I turned this into an automatic elimination, I had officially given Jake very nearly a perfect game. He only had one vote cast against him all season… and it was his own vote back in episode three.
Still, I really enjoyed writing Jake, he served his role well as a more reserved, calming presence in this cast and on the Tigers especially, but I don't need his services for this season anymore.
Jake also had his name swapped with Richard during the planning for this season. Honestly I kind of just felt like their names fit them better swapped but I also had the realisation that the guy with the plot of coming out having "Dick" be his official nickname would be… both kind of funny but also something dumb at the same time so it had to change. Honestly, this might not even be that big of a deal, but I changed it anyway.
Admittedly though, if I made the intro to EI today, Jake and Xavier would be the couple at the campfire instead of Susan and Rory. I had this initial plan for Susan and Rory to get back together before Rory's elimination, but I ultimately realised they worked better as just friends, at least for now. Jake and Xavier would have been a better couple at the campfire pit and I wish I did that.
Now though, we're down to six. The final third of campers! It may have taken me years, but the end of the season is finally within reach! Five more episodes and a special remain, at least at this point, so yes, every episode from now at this point is an elimination.
Last episode I also mentioned it still being Act 2 as well. With Jake's elimination, we are officially in Act 3 of Elemental Islands in my eyes. Act 1 was everything up to Morgan's elimination, and Act 2 I see as everything up to Jake's. The rest of the season is gonna be Act 3!
Next up is the third lot of audition tapes, featuring Katrina, Rory, Carol and Jake, but after that? We're reaching the endgame of Elemental Islands! When are those Audition Tapes releasing? Well… I happened to finish the first draft of those before I finished the first draft of this episode. Make of that what you will.
And with this wall of text, I'll say see you next time!