Total Drama Stardom (Take Two) Chapter 4: A New Hope, But Not Really, a total drama series fanfic

Scarlet Serpents: Celeste, Emery, Rina, Roark, Zinnia

Violet Vultures: Ally, Dylan, May, Melinda, Mikaio, Tyson

"Last time on Total Drama Stardom," Chris began the recap of the previous episode from the grand elimination stage, as always, "Our remaining twelve stars fought through a variety of swampy challenges themed off of the one and only Shrek." "Dylan proved to be one smooth talker, lying about a super trap… only to make an actual one later on. While Melinda managed to convince Ally she was improving, there's still a lot of work left if she wants the team to actually like her," the recap showed the Vultures throughout the challenge, focusing on the super trap's formation and Melinda's leadership.

"Meanwhile on the Serpents, Rina and Roark continued to compete against each other. A lot," the footage shifted to the Serpents, "While Zinnia noticed her two alliance-mates getting closer to each other than to her, and tried to make sure she got into all of their conversations. Kinda pathetic, if you ask me."

"But in the end, it was all ogre for Sunny, who became the second contestant to take the Lame-O-Sine to the Backstage of Losers. Tough break for Emery, who accidentally caused him to go home, all because they were worried Rina would beat them up," the footage returned to show Chris himself, chuckling at the pun, "Who will be joining him next at the Backstage of Losers? Find out now on Total! Drama! Stardom!"

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Chapter IV: A NEW HOPE, BUT NOT REALLY

Early in the morning, in the not-girls' trailer, Emery woke up with a long stretch and a yawn, picking up their signature yo-yo from the side of their bed.

Confessional - Emery

"God, I'm such an idiot!" the yo-yo pro bonked themselves on the head with their yo-yo, "I voted for Rina and then ended up getting Sunny out because of it… damn it! I still don't get how Roark's not mad at me for this, I blew such a massive hole in our game just like that! I guess he does know a lot more about this stuff than I do, though…"

"But… well, I'm not gonna beat myself up about it, 'cause I know Sunny wouldn't want that!"

The Vulture guys had all already awoke and finished their morning routines, which just left Emery alone in the trailer with their alliance-mate, who was casually lifting a few weights from the end of his bed. Once Emery was clearly awake, though, the wrestler looked up at them, dropping the weight on the floor.

"Emery! Just the person I was waiting for!" Roark near-shouted, catching the attention of the still half-asleep yo-yo pro, "Hold on, get yourself ready first - I'll give you the run-down on how we're gonna have the comeback of the century once you're finished!"

"...How?" they raised an eyebrow at this, before they changed out of their loose grey top and pants and into their usual clothing, before they turned back towards the wrestler, "There's three of them… and two of us. We're screwed if we lose again!"

"Well, that's true," Roark agreed, the wrestler putting the dropped weight into his bag, "Which is why our first goal is to win the next challenge! After all, they can't eliminate us when we win, gwahaha!"

"I was gonna do that anyway…" Emery muttered, absent-mindedly swinging their yo-yo back and forth, "So uh… what's the next part of the plan? You're clearly way, way, way better at this stuff than I am, so…"

"Round two - we're going to split up the girls' alliance!" Roark declared with a dramatic point, "It might not sound good, but that's the only way we're both going to survive on the off-chance we go back to elimination!"

"But… how are we gonna do that?" Emery crossed their arms, poking their tongue out in deep thought, "They're all really close… so I think that's impossible!"

"Not exactly," the wrestler looked at Emery, and they swore they could see a smirk behind his mask, "No alliance is completely perfect without the Roark involved, so they'll have something we can use to our advantage! Between Zinnia and my rival Rina, there'll be some conflict there - I'd bet my mask on it!"

"Yeah, you can find that out," the yo-yo pro snarked, letting out a sigh as they watched their yo-yo go back and forth, "I'll just… do what you say, I guess."

"And that's where the final round comes in - I'm gonna show you the ropes of proper strategy!" Roark pointed at Emery again, catching them off-guard, "If we wanna hit back with all of our might, you've gotta help out - and luckily, you've got the best teacher for the job!"

"Oh, yeah, you said that last night!" they recalled, tapping their head with a light grin, "How's that gonna play out, anyways?"

"Simple!" Roark crossed his arms over his chest, "I spent last night cooking this up - you've just got to get that alliance to start doubting each other - and I'm their ultimate opponent, so there's no way I could do that myself! I'll still be in your corner though, so you've got nothing to fear!"

"...So, probably though Zinnia, right?" Emery immediately came to that conclusion of who to ally with, "She made it, yeah… and she's like me levels of hyper sometimes!"

"Exactly! You're not as stupid as you think!" Roark praised them, "Now that's enough strategy talk for now - I don't wanna burn out too early, gwahaha!"

"Sounds good to me," Emery shrugged, accidentally knocking their yo-yo into Roark, who hardly even so much as flinched at the impact, "Hey, if you're a wrestler… what's your signature move? You've gotta have one, right?"

"You really wanna know, huh?" Roark cracked his knuckles, walking over to the trailer door and opening it up, "It's known as the World's Darkest Lariat - I'm waiting for the perfect opportunity to bring it out, 'cause it needs a human opponent to work! But… I can still show you my full force anyways, gwahaha!"

Emery, curious to see just what it was, tailed after the wrestler, following him to just outside of the swamp set - specifically, towards just in front of another giant rock that was conveniently placed in prime getting-destroyed position. A second rock was also placed next to it, and Roark jumped onto it with ease.

"Behold, the toughest boulder of the entire!" Roark shouted down towards the poor unsuspecting rock, hyping up the crowd of one, "Are you ready to feel the Roark?"

Tensing up from where they stood, Emery watched as Roark flexed a small bit, before the wrestler jumped right into it, causing a cloud of dust to fill the air around the yo-yo pro.

Coughing a little bit, Emery looked up… and as the dust settled, Roark emerged, laughing from within the wreckage of the boulder. Their jaw hung wide open in awe at the sight, "Woah…"

"That was me using my full force!" the wrestler laughed, moving over to pat them on the back, which was enough to cause them to stumble slightly, "I don't always get to show that off, so what did you think, huh?"

"...Is there anything you can't do…?" Emery let out a light chuckle, as Roark's booming laugh only grew louder in response.

"Not much! But stick with me, and you'll be able to do a fraction of what I can do, gwahaha!"

Confessional - Roark

"The Roark's in a good spot right now, despite what you might think," the wrestler crossed his arms over and gave the camera a nod, "I mean it when I say I'll bring us back on top no matter what - the Serpents might have lost twice, and I might have lost an ally and a friend, but me and Emery can just as easily bounce back - because the Roark never backs down from a challenge! Never!"

Melinda, meanwhile, was just leaving the cafeteria, having just stomached whatever excuse for food that Chef had provided today, crossing her arms in thought, "Okay… whatever happens today, don't lose your cool. You've got a winning streak going… so don't fuck this up, and don't let him get under your skin too much."

Speaking of hims, Tyson jogged right past the entrance, stopping by to give his team's captain a wave, "Yo, what's up, Cap? You look like you're thinking about something, dude, so if you wanna tell me, I'm all ears."

"Just the usual things, really," Melinda gave the athlete a small nod, "Trying to keep our win streak up, not letting fucking Dylan get under my skin… and not losing my cool too much. At least I think I'm not too hated anymore - Ally at least seems to not hate me."

"Dude, as long as we keep this up, you'll be in good with the rest of the squad in no time," the athlete gave her a thumbs-up, "Mikaio's a reasonable enough guy, I'm sure he'll come around soon. I… don't know enough about May to say anything on her though, dude."

"That's not a problem," Melinda shook her head as she started to walk, "Besides, I'm sure she can at least agree with me that Dylan's the biggest issue on our team, even if she's hardly helping herself."

"Nah, I'm with you there," Tyson nodded, walking alongside her, "He's just bad news for our team spirit… but let's not get focused on him when he's not even here, dude!"

"..." Melinda was silent for a moment, before the mechanic gave the athlete a nod, "You've got a point - but what do you want to do now? You're the co-captain of this team for a reason, you can have a say in this."

"Wanna game for a bit?" Tyson pulled a basketball out of who-knows-where (His pockets? Under his shirt?), spinning it on his finger with a grin, "I set up a hoop and everything, been practising my shots there when I've got nothing better to do!"

Melinda considered it for a moment, before the mechanic shrugged, "Fine. You lead the way."

With that, Tyson jogged off, Melinda following after him at a slightly slower pace.

Confessional - Tyson

"Dudes, you should've seen my shots," the athlete boasted with a smirk on his face, "Managed to get one backwards with my eyes closed - bet it'll the make the highlights for sure, but it was sick as hell, so I'm just glad I managed to get it done anyways."

It really was awesome, my dude. Shame the cameras never saw it, though, then I could write it down.

Once they arrived at Tyson's makeshift court, which was located just far enough from the trailers to not disturb certain people (or attract certain other people), Tyson turned to face Melinda, "Alright, since there's only me and you here… I say we just go for whoever scores eleven times wins. No need for team meetings, since we're the only ones here, haha, but we've got the time to kill for a longer game."

"Alright, you're on," Melinda gave Tyson a competitive smirk, "I'm not planning on losing, by the way."

"And you think I am?" the athlete bantered right back, "Dude, I've been playing this game my whole life, ain't no way I'm losing!"

"We'll see about that," Melinda finished, as their game began. While Melinda was no slouch at the game, still managing to score six points against the athlete, it was clear that Tyson was the better player - and ultimately, Tyson won their game.

"Good game, dude," Tyson raised his hand out for Melinda to shake once the game was over, which the mechanic took, "You did great, Cap, but… I'm pretty damn good at any sport!"

"I could tell," was the mechanic's response, "I don't play much, so you had me beat by experience at least. Most of my time's spent fixing other people's problems, so I don't always get the chance to play."

Tyson raised an eyebrow at that, the athlete picking up the basketball and casually dribbling it, "So, Cap, you're a mechanic, right? What's that all about, anyways, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I fix other people's shit they can't do themselves," the mechanic rolled her eyes, "Don't get me wrong, I like what I do. I just don't like the dumbasses I have to deal with who think they know better. And my dad's not bad at, but if I have to fix his car one more fucking time I'll probably get a goddamn headache."

"Damn," Tyson just let out a low whistle, "I'm no good at mechanic stuff, Cap, I'll be real with you and just say it confuses me so much, haha. In a way it's like forming a well-oiled team for a sport, you know? Probably not if we're being real here, but that's way easier for me to understand!"

"Exactly. And it's like our team, too - sometimes, there's a part that can be fixed," the mechanic gave Tyson a small, serious look, "And sometimes? A part's just not needed anymore, and you've got to figure out what to do with it until you find a replacement."

Confessional - Melinda

"I'll be honest, the rest of the team did pleasantly surprise me yesterday," the mechanic gave a short nod with a surprising smile as she folded her arms over her chest, "They all pulled their weight… some more than others. But I don't trust Mikaio, Ally or May to be consistent at all… and do I need to explain Dylan's problems? The little shit threw the first challenge for shits and giggles just to put to put me in charge because it would annoy people… fuck off."

"And besides, the real biggest issue is that I'm still not liked by most of the team. If anything fucks me over… it's going to be that. I'm not delusional enough to think that they like me, that's for sure."

Meanwhile, in the girls' trailer, as usual, was Celeste, who was polishing her telescope while whistling peacefully to herself, "And… perfect. Only got the lens to go, now, and then it'll be ready for tonight. I made sure I wouldn't be missing anything last night, so this is the perfect time to clean you right up."

The astronomer grinned upon seeing the telescope sparkle, and pulled out a galaxy print cloth to start wiping the lens, when suddenly Rina burst into the room, the diver giving the astronomer a grin, "Aha! I knew you'd be here!"

Celeste raised an eyebrow, noticing that the diver seemed slightly out of breath, "Oh, hey Rina. What's up?"

"Just being amazing as always~" the diver clicked her tongue with a smug wink, "I'm gonna guess you're just cleaning up your telescope, right?" "You got me," the astronomer rubbed the back of her head with a smile, "Besides, there wasn't much out last night, so I didn't really miss much, after all."

Rina gave her a small thumbs-up, before the diver decided to recall what she just saw, "Anyways, I was just bored really, so I was just kinda seeing if they had anything cool around here, you know? I at least found a few good diving spots, so that's great, but it definitely gets boring just waiting around before and after challenges…"

"Personally, I find that time relaxing," Celeste admitted, putting her cloth away once she was sure she'd finished, "It's the perfect time to just sit back with a good book… or just to look up at the stars when it's dark out there."

"You know that's not my style, how can I show off if I'm just relaxing? Not that I don't get the appeal, but still," Rina chuckled, jumping onto the bed next to her, as she noticed the galaxy print cloth, "Wow, you really like galaxy print, huh?"

"...Of course I do, it looks like space, which is always a good thing," the astronomer's logic was perfect, "And… you don't have to show off constantly, you know? It's important to relax, I think."

"I know, I know, it was metaphorical and all that," Rina cracked her knuckles with a laid-back smirk, "It just gets boring 'cause there's nothing to do around here, and there's only so many times I can challenge Roark to do something stupid before we both run out of ideas."

"Would you like to join me when I go stargazing early tomorrow morning, then?" the astronomer offered after a short moment of thought, "I can't promise much excitement… but it'd be a change of pace at least. And besides… while I am friends with her, I can't say Zinnia would enjoy it at all, so it'd just be me and you. I'd like that."

"Yeah, sure," Rina said, the diver giving Celeste a thumbs-up before she quickly redirected the conversation, "So tell me, what got you into astronomy? I know I've been swimming since before I became the queen of the seas you see today, but what about your big thing?"

"Oh, just a childhood interest, really," she chuckled, "When I was really young, I wanted to be an astronaut… but one look at the requirements for that and I noped out of there. I honestly prefer this anyways, it's far more relaxing. I'd… still love to go to space though, admittedly, but there's no chance of that happening."

"Well, you're in the presence of a star right now, if that counts~" Rina winked at Celeste, who chuckled at her playful boasting, "What can I say?"

Confessional - Celeste

"I'll be honest, people think I'm maybe a bit too into space back home," the astronomer chuckled, "Not that I can help it. It's just… incredible. The night sky is so pretty…"

When Rina left the girls' trailer, she was surprised to see none other than Rayna, the intern leaning against the side with a smug smirk on her face, and one comment to say to the diver, "Wow, are you simping for her or what?"

"...Wait, did you listen in on that?" Rina frowned, crossing her arms as she looked at the shipper.

"My ship sense was tingling, and so I arrived," the matchmaker put her hands to her hips, and pointed at Rina with a sly grin, "And what I'm seeing is, you're in dire need of the services of yours truly. C'mon, just admit it, I'm seeing the romantic tension between you two already - as somebody who's an expert in these things, I know."

The diver tapped her foot on the ground, letting out a noncommittal shrug, "Think what you wanna think, man."

"Ehehe, score one to Rayna… finally called something here," the shipper smirked, taking this as a win as she frantically started writing in her notebook, "And I heard something about you two stargazing, right? Sounds super romantic to me… so I'm gonna help you two out!" "Sure, knock yourself out," Rina shrugged, raising her eyebrow with a slight smirk as if she doubted the sheer genius of Rayna Skye (she very much did).

"I'll just make sure nobody else ruins it for you," the shipper grinned, writing feverishly in her notebook, "Honestly, just go shoot your shot, she likes you a whole lot more than the people I've flirted with have probably liked me."

"What, like Melinda?" Rina snickered at that, as Rayna let out a nervous chuckle, "That ship sank before it even sailed, dude. And besides, letting things stay on my mind like that just isn't my style, you know?"

"Ohoho, I love to hear it," the matchmaker grinned, "Just tell me the time and place, and I'll make sure it all goes just perfectly, alright?"

Confessional - Rina

"Not gonna lie, I was not expecting Rayna to help out like that, but props to her," the diver admitted, kicking back in the confessional, "Either way, I'm just looking forward to today - Roark's going down in today's challenge, no yo-yos are gonna get in my way this time!"

May, on the other hand, was sleeping at what was clearly her favourite table by this point, given it was her third pre-challenge interaction that began there - resting her head in her arms on the table. Ally was twirling around her staff out of boredom, content to let her friend nap for a while before the challenge began when she noticed Dylan approach.

"Begone, foul goblin!" she stood up, brandishing her staff towards the gremlin with a dramatic flourish, "As you can see, my party is currently resting, so we have no time for combat right now - do not make me cast Magic Missile upon you!"

"Oh no, not magic missile, I'm so scared~" Dylan fake-cried, before he turned to Ally with an unhinged grin on his face, "Too bad! That's nothing compared to the dark magic I've got!"

"Do your worst, then, for I refuse to go down without a fight!" Ally ran a hand through her cloak to create the illusion of wind billowing through it, "The Great Mage Ally Starr has defeated far greater foes than you… so go on, challenge me if you dare!"

"Please, you think your puny spells can defeat me! My far cooler, evil spells are so powerful I don't even know what they're called or what they even do!" Dylan flipped his scarf over his shoulder to try and one-up Ally, "Nyahaha! Mind reading's useless against me!"

Ally whipped out a large tome with a smug smirk on her face, "Behold! The greatest spellbook ever known - in my travels, I not only received it, but I have also updated it - this contains every spell ever used! The moment you pull a spell out, I shall know exactly what it is!"

Dylan's face was blank for a moment, as he tried to figure out how to come back from that, "...What villain puts their personal spells they made up in somebody else's spellbook? I'm crazy, not stupid."

"Ahaha, do you believe that I do not have artifacts that can also identify magic in my possession?" Ally held up her necklace with a grin, continuing their playground debate, "Such as this necklace I took from the Lich King of the South?"

It was at this point in their pointless argument that May woke up, the sleepyhead simply raising her head slightly to look at her friend… and the other guy, too.

"Oh, hey, sleeping beauty woke up!" Dylan put his thumbs up, "Quick, backstab your friend and let me win our argument, it'd be funny!"

She looked at him, completely unimpressed, "...You don't have any way to cast a spell."

"Well I have one… right here!" he made a vague gesture to… who knows where, honestly.

"May I see it?" Ally asked, raising an eyebrow. "No. It's invisible," Dylan shrugged, "So I'd love to see you try, nyahaha!"

"Then… how do you know where it is?" May asked him, tilting her head slightly.

"Because I ate it," the prankster proved he was running out of ideas, "Now I can cast spells just with my mind because it's now part of me… that's how magic works, after all. Or maybe I just lied, nyehehe."

Confessional - Dylan

"Okay, obviously I'm not just here to gloat, even if that is fun," Dylan shrugged, "See, I said yesterday that I wanna see if I can get May to actually try… and I've figured out just how to do that, nyehehe~"

"The best part about this plan? Melinda's gonna really hate me for it, and there's nothing she can do about it without fucking herself over. I love ruining people's days so much..."

"...Besides… Ally has more experience with magic anyways… so she wins," May yawned, ending their stupid debate, "And… her title's actually earned."

"Take that!" the mage smirked, happy with her weird unofficial victory, "Now then… is that all?"

"Of course not," Dylan rested his hands behind his head, "I just wanted to ask if you two wanna vote Melinda with me and Mikaio when we inevitably lose? 'Cause let's face it, we've been getting lucky with our win streak, and there's only so much angry swearing a guy can take before it gets boring."

"And why should we trust you?" Ally questioned him, "You do quite enjoy lying, correct? So my mage's intuition tells me trusting you is quite unwise."

"...He'd be easier to get rid of in the long run," May looked up slightly, getting a slight grin out of Dylan, "And I don't see Mikaio voting… for anybody else. The best he can do is force a tie… but I can't see Melinda and Tyson voting with him… either."

"Exactly!" the prankster waved himself off with a spring in his step, "Well, I'll see you at the challenge 'cause I'm gonna go find Mikaio now… make sure you're awake for it, byeeee~"

The two exchanged a concerned glance as Dylan left, before Ally cleared her throat, "Well then… are we truly going along with his plan?"

"Something's up with it… too upfront," May mused, watching his retreating form, "However… the odds are stacked against backstabbing… I can't see Melinda voting with him, she hates him a lot… enough to spite him like that… I think. And Mikaio… dislikes Melinda, and not anybody else. Personally… I don't like Dylan or Melinda much… so I'm okay taking one out like this. We just need… Mikaio to secure his vote."

"I trust your insight, my companion," Ally grinned, as her attention was now on her, "Are you going to return to your rest, now?"

"One question first," May tilted her head, thinking over how to word this, "Why… do you roleplay… so much?"

"A-huh?" Ally stopped spinning her staff around for a moment, "You can't just ask me a question such as that! Regardless of my supposed roleplaying… would you still consider me worth being around if I wasn't a mage?"

"Yeah," was the sleepyhead's single-word answer.

"Oh? Personally, I think it's my magical powers that are my charm," the roleplayer tapped her forehead, "Are you sure you aren't just charmed by those?"

"Yep… though you can keep going… if you want. I just wanna know why," she closed one eye, giving Ally a lazy smile.

"Before I became the Great Mage you see before you, I was but a mere nobody… a simple face in the crowd, fated to be lost to obscurity," Ally began a needlessly dramatic retelling, "However, I soon found myself in a land of magic and mystery… and upon embracing it, I cast aside my old self entirely, becoming the most powerful sorcerer of all time!"

In response to that, May just nodded, seemingly content with that explanation, "...Okay."

Confessional - Ally

"May is my closest, shall we say, ally, on this team," the mage chuckled at her own pun, "I see no harm in sharing my humble beginnings with her, even if she's not missing out on much through interacting with them."

Meanwhile, Mikaio was doing what he does best, which was wandering around aimlessly, when he found himself in the mess hall. Zinnia was in there already, the DJ eating her breakfast… which was accompanied by an energy drink.

"Energy drinks this early?" the wanderer chuckled, "That explains a lot."

"It shocks my mind into moving fast enough to come up with so many new compositions!" the DJ stood up, pointing frantically at him, "Most of them are crappy garbage, but sometimes I get a masterpiece out of it!"

"Neato, neato," he chuckled, sitting down next to where she stood, "Not my speed at all, but I can get the appeal of them… I prefer the slow life, you know?"

"And that's exactly why I'm on-track to being famous and you're not," Zinnia put her fingers together into a finger gun and pointed it at him, "Not that I don't mind the lack of competition, ahaha!"

"Never been bothered by fame or anything myself, you've got nothing to worry about here," the wanderer leant back in his seat, "Why should I be? I'm happy just going wherever the wind and whatever happens to be in my pockets at any given moment can take me."

"Well, I don't get you whatsoever," she shrugged, resting a hand on her headphones with a smirk, "Once I've finally hit stardom, I'll… figure it out, but it'll be great, I know it. I just haven't thought that far yet!"

"Wait, you've not thought about what you're gonna get out of fame?" he raised an eyebrow curiously, "I'd think you'd at least know what your plan is for when you're famous, right? I dunno what I'd do, but the whole 'keeping me relevant' stuff is way too much work for me in the long run."

"Dude, quit giving me an existential crisis, this is the first time we've ever talked!" she pointed at him frantically, "Besides, it'll be great, especially once I get everybody's eyes on me, you know?"

"You're asking the wrong guy if you just want me to agree with you there," Mikaio rested one hand on his neck, "Anyways, why are you here by yourself? Knowing you, I'd think you'd be with people - probably Celeste and Rina, right? Pretty sure you three are close."

"Well, Celly and Rina are doing whatever without me, so I'm stuck here by myself," the DJ pouted, prompting a chuckle out of Mikaio, "But I was gonna go meet up with them now anyways, so it's not a big deal. Not a big deal at all!"

"I'll take your word for it, then," he nodded, scratching his chin with a smile, "Not like it's my problem at all. But usually I see you with them - I was just kinda curious."

"It's just practise for when I get asked questions for when I am famous," she crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk, before she picked up her energy drink, "Well, I've got super important stuff I've gotta think about, so see ya!"

With that, the DJ ran away, leaving Mikaio back to doing… whatever he was doing. Which clearly wasn't much, given that he just decided to walk out of the mess hall, whistling to himself.

"What to do now… I guess just wait for something to happen, huh," the wanderer noted, as he heard a small explosion and what sounded like Dylan laughing coming out from inside, "Well, shame I missed that…"

Confessional - Zinnia

"Seriously, I swear Celeste and Rina are way closer to each other than they are to me, which is so sucky," the DJ frowned, poking at her temples, "So it's like… they'd choose the other one over me in a heartbeat, or ditch me if it comes down to it - so I've gotta make sure I'm not turning into my own alliance's third wheel! It already kinda feels like it, so somehow I've gotta make it sure it feels less like it! If I'm not the center of attention, what even am I?"

Confessional - Mikaio

"Honestly?" the wanderer chuckled, kicking his feet up on the desk, "It's looking pretty good for me right now. I'm not gonna get worked up about doing anything big just yet - with how things are going between Melinda and Dylan, there's already enough too much tension on this team…"

Soon enough, the cast was gathered outside of the sci-fi set - which, on the outside, looked like a large, snowy wastes.

Chef was standing there next to a pile of blasters, however Chris was nowhere to be seen… until, like a cruel mockery of a starship coming to land, he descended down towards the cast wearing his jetpack and helmet, "Morning contestants! I see we're already gathered up into our teams, so welcome to the fourth challenge!"

"Enough with the damn yapping," Melinda crossed her arms, glaring at the host, "What's the challenge this time?"

"The 'damn yapping' is an important part of my brand, so no, I'm not stopping anytime soon," Chris refuted with a petty frown, "Anyways, today's challenge is based on an absolute classic - Star Wars! And anybody familiar with the original trilogy should know exactly what the factions are - the Rebels, and the Empire. So for today's challenge, our two-time losers the Scarlet Serpents shall take the role of the Rebels, while the Violet Vultures will be our Empire, on the icy, interns-on-bicycles-powering-giant-fans powered tundra of Hoth."

"What?" Celeste and Tyson blinked at the blatant intern rights violations, but they were soon drowned out by other voices.

"Rebels… I like it," Rina smirked, "Fits us as a team perfectly."

"Why am I one of the villains?!" Ally pouted, holding onto her staff, "While I can't say for certain members of my party, I, for one, have a vast array of heroic deeds to my name! This is an outrage!"

"Yes, well those 'certain members' include Dylan and Melinda," the host pointed out, to the former's glee and latter's dismay, "So it balances out perfectly And it hardly matters anyways, it's just a thematic choice. You're getting the same things regardless. Anyways, today's challenge is simple - on the tundra are two bases, marked with the flags of your respective teams - Serpents, yours is the hangar on the left. Vultures, yours is the cave on the right. But most importantly, there's a jail you can stick people into - and that's the goal of today's challenge. Whichever team has more people from the enemy team in their jail wins the challenge. Alternatively, you can knock down everybody, and if they're all taken out at the same time - or in jail - you win. Obviously, like this the challenge is very unbalanced for certain people, so we've got a little trick to balance it out."

"Ooh, please tell me it's a plasma cannon! I wanna blast Roark's mask right off!" Dylan cheered, his eyes sparkling with malicious glee.

"Is that a challenge!?" the wrestler shouted out, "'Cause if it is, I'll gladly take it!"

"Cool, but no… gonna keep that in mind for another time though," Chris shook his head, gesturing to the pile of blasters… and pulling a pair of lightsabers that lit up in the team colours out from nowhere, "Genuine Chris-brand laser blasters and lightsabers… while they won't kill you, they'll be a real shock to your system!"

Chris threw the lightsabers towards Ally and Rina, while everybody else took a blaster, "Oh! One last thing - you can only open the jails from the outside, and they do come with keys. So without further ado… let the challenge begin!"

The Vultures were the first team to reach their base, with Melinda and Tyson leading the charge. Their base was inside a small, icy, cave, and the mechanic immediately took the key from their jail.

"Alright, listen up," she demanded the attention of her team immediately, "We might have the number advantage, but they have stronger players. By a long shot. So-"

Ally, on the other hand, was more focused on attaching the lightsaber to her staff with duct tape, grinning at her handiwork, and cut her off, "Behold! My upgrade!"

"What," Melinda gave her a flat look, wholly unimpressed, "As I was saying before I was fucking interrupted for no reason, we need to play this smart. Somebody's gotta watch the jail."

May rose her hand, "I'll do it… the rest sounds like too much effort…"

"Why?" the mechanic was skeptical, "You're the weakest person on this team - even Emery could deal with you. I don't see how you of all people could defend the jail."

"You said it, right? Play smart…" she murmured, ignoring the insult entirely, "I'm weak… and slow…so I'll be useless out there…"

"Dude's got a point," Tyson agreed with May, "Besides, I'm down to make sure they don't leave the jail, so you can count on me!"

"...Fine," Melinda relented, before she turned towards Dylan with a glare, "Then our first order of business is locking him up. We're overdue him fucking over our chances somehow."

"WHYYYYYYY?" the prankster, who had finally recovered, burst into a loud series of obnoxious tears, "You know I wouldn't repeat my material!"

"Way to abuse your power…" Mikaio stared at her with a sigh, before letting out a stretch, "Anyways, I just say we each do what we want - if you wanna work together, do that. I don't see us sticking together really working out."

"Although I believe both of your arguments have merits," Ally pointed her staff-saber at the pair in warning, sensing the oncoming argument, "I feel as if Melinda's is too harsh, while Mikaio's does leave us with a stray wildcard. Perhaps pairs would be a better idea?"

"Hmm… what if… no. Fine. The shitstain can be free," Melinda thought on it for a moment, "Actually, that is better. I'll keep track of Dylan, and you two can do… whatever the fuck you two do. You both did well enough during last challenge for me to trust you to not screw this up completely."

"Okay!" Dylan was oddly cheerful, resting his hands behind his head, "I'll keep Melindum-dum busy so she doesn't bother you two!"

"I can live with that," Mikaio shrugged, turning towards the exit of their cave while whistling to himself, "Ally, you coming with?"

"Of course!" the roleplayer eagerly followed after him, brandishing her trusty staff, "Onwards, to vanquish our vile enemies!"

With those two leaving, Melinda let out a long, anguished sigh as she looked at Dylan, "Alright then, you little shit, let's get going."

"Hooray, violence!" he cheered, spinning his newly acquired blaster around in his arm, "Don't worry, I only bite sometimes!"

The rivals left soon after, leaving Tyson alone with a sleeping May, "Dude, let's get ready to win this… and you're already asleep, huh. Damn, that's cold."

Confessional - Melinda

"Calm yourself down Melinda, you only have to deal with him for one challenge," the mechanic grumbled, pinching her nose in frustration, "As much as I'd like to throw this challenge just to have an excuse to finally get rid of that shitstain, I won't go down to his level. That would mean he fucking won."

Confessional - Mikaio

"Colour me impressed," he let out a small chuckle, "Melinda actually listened to somebody other than Tyson for once. Do I like her? Nah, not really, I'm just not a big leader person in general. Don't exactly like others telling me what to do."

Meanwhile, the Serpents had arrived at their base at the hangar, too, and Roark took their key from out of the jail, " I suppose we need somebody on jail duty, huh… any takers? The Roark ain't taking that job, that's for sure!"

"I'll do it," Celeste nodded, catching the keys that Roark threw at her, "I'm pretty sure you're all much more suited for front-line battling than I am, that's for sure."

"Obviously," Rina flipped her hair aside with a smirk, throwing the lightsaber she had with her other arm, "And, hey, Roark? Just so you know, I don't plan on losing today! I'll bring more Vultures here than you easily, it'll be a piece of cake!"

"Gwahaha, I don't even need a weapon to win!" the wrestler challenged her, Emery brandishing their yo-yo behind him, "I'll have all six of them in here before you can blink - mark my words!"

"So… are we going in with any sort of plan, then?" Celeste asked warily, catching everybody else's attention as she picked up a blaster, "It'll be helpful to know where everybody else is, at least." "Nope!" Emery shouted out with a grin, before they had a rare moment of self-reflection, "Wait… maybe we should at least plan out who we're going with first…"

"Well, duh, I'll go with Rina-" Zinnia immediately butted in, though she was swiftly interrupted by Rina.

"Actually, I'm going with Roark," the diver cracked her knuckles with a long stretch and a smirk, "He's got to see me beat him, after all~"

"Wrong way around!" the wrestler laughed.

"So… I'm with Zinnia?" Emery raised an eyebrow, looking at the hyperactive DJ, "Um, sure! I can handle that!"

The DJ just pouted childishly at that, "Ugh… fine, fine. I can handle this."

Confessional - Zinnia

"No, no I can't!" the DJ held her head in her hands, "It's like the universe WANTS me to be irrelevant - I can't even talk with my own alliance, and Rina's out there with her rival too now. Wait, wait, wait, I think I'm cooking… if she beats Roark this challenge, she's technically 'won' the rivalry… so I've just gotta make that happen and then BAM! Another option for elimination! Damn, I'm actually pretty good at strategy, now that I think about it…"

"Okay, let's just say that you all go as one big group, instead," the astronomer smiled with a small clap, getting the group back on track, "Safety in numbers, you know?"

"Actually… you make a good point!" Roark noted, before he started walking out of the hangar, "Rina, Emery, let's go! We've got to make our grand comeback, after all!"

"Ohoho, you know me too well… though I doubt they'll be able to keep up with me," the diver grinned, following after the wrestler while giving Celeste a wave, "Celeste, I'll be seeing you with the first capture~"

"Alright boss, you got it!" Emery cheered, rolling their yo-yo out as they picked up a blaster, prompting the rest of the Serpents to leave the hangar.

"Hey, hey, what about me!" Zinnia shouted as she ran after them in a panic, "I'm not sitting around doing nothing! Sorry Celly, but I've gotta go!"

"Um… okay? I think… I'm this team's impulse control," Celeste sighed, leaning against a wall. Now all she could do was wait.

Confessional - Roark

The wrestler took one look at the blaster in his hand, before throwing it over his shoulder, "I've got no need for that - they didn't call me the Dark Flame of the Ring for using ranged weapons, that's for sure!"

Confessional - Emery

They walked in, and were about to say something, when they noticed Roark's blaster on the floor… and picked it up, "Ooh, a second blaster - they won't predict me to dual wield, that's for sure! There wasn't anything else in the hangar… so I'm ready to have my comeback!"

"Listen up - no funny business, got it?" Melinda ordered Dylan as the pair made their way through the left side of the snowfield between the cave and hangar sets, "I'm not letting your shit get in the way of our victory… and if it does, we've got a jail you'd fit right in."

"Please let me actually commit a crime before I go to jail…" the prankster snickered, pointing the blaster in his hands at her with a cheeky grin, "And besides, just gonna remind you… my shenanigans have helped us win. Nerfing your team's secret weapon sounds like shitty leadership to me~"

"You're the worst kind of wildcard," she scolded him, taking his blaster with a frown and holding it out of reach - an easy task, given the height difference between the pair, "You've already thrown a challenge just because you felt like it. And besides, less talking, more helping. You can have the blaster back when we find them."

"Aw man… hey, at least I can tell Mikaio and the others that you're leaving me out to die," the prankster shrugged languidly, "Don't worry, I'd do the same! 'Cause I'm evil, you know?"

"Shut," she demanded, trudging through the fake snow until she saw the group of Serpents come out of their hangar, prompting her to hide in a dug-out walkway… roughly dragging Dylan with her, "There they are… if you shout now, I will personally make your life in that cell as miserable as possible, got it?"

"Oh no, open threats, what will I do now? It's not like you've been doing that this whole time, wow," he deadpanned, clearly taking her very seriously, "So… can I have my weapon back now that they're out, pwetty pwease? Blink blink~"

"Fuck off with the puppy eye shit, nobody's falling for it," she rolled her eyes, "Besides, I'm not stupid - it's four against one. We're ambushing them, because even I know we can't take their entire attacking force as a pair."

"Playing smart? Wow… you really are becoming boring," Dylan gave a mock, exaggerated yawn, "Thanks for letting me know my choice to tell everybody else to vote you out was right!"

"You what?" Melinda glared at him, pinching her nose in frustration, "Normally, I'd be even more pissed than I already am, but right now we've got a challenge to win. I'm dealing with this later."

"Nyahaha, I'm looking forward to it!" the prankster grinned, his eyes sparkling at the thought, "So can I have my blaster back now? We did find the enemy team, didn't we?"

"Fine, take the damned thing," Melinda threw the weapon back into his hands, the problem child's face lighting up as it returned to him, "If you shoot me, you are dead, got that?"

The moment he had it back, Dylan immediately shot her before running off, "Whoops, misclicked! Gotta go, nyahaha!'"

"You little fucking brat… you are so dead," the mechanic seethed, having been knocked down onto the floor, "Now, how long does this last for…?"

Confessional - Melinda

"Dylan. Yeah, fuck that guy, he's the worst," the mechanic crossed her arms, frowning to herself, "The little shit always is, but telling me he's got everybody else to vote for me? He's a liar by trade… but I'm not stupid enough to throw away the idea that he actually fucking did that. I'm voting for him tonight no matter what, though..."

Confessional - Dylan

The prankster flipped the blaster in his hands, poking at it curiously, "I wonder how this works…wait, can I keep it? I promise I'll only use it for evil, nothing else!"

Speaking of the Serpents, their main quartet were all still patrolling as a group, when they saw a sudden flash of galaxy scarf in the distance… well, Emery did, at least, "Hey, I see something! Wait, hold on a minute, that's actually a guy! Get him!"

The yo-yo pro pulled out both of their blasters and began shooting at him… unfortunately for them, their aim was atrocious and they failed to land a single shot, resulting in their blasters overheating… and spraying them with soot, "Pleugh… what the hell?"

"Oh, yeah, almost forgot to mention the cooldown," Chris called out across the intercom with a tone that suggested that he very much left that out on purpose, "Yeah. That's a thing, so watch out for it or something."

"It's time for the Roark to show you how it's done - watch and learn!" Roark, on the other hand, had the better idea of charging straight towards the gremlin, who screamed and fired right at him… although Roark sidestepped it with ease, "You'll have to do better than that to take me out!"

"How does this work? Aha, perfect!" Rina turned on the lightsaber with a grin after poking around for a moment, causing a blue glow to appear as chased after both Roark and Dylan with it in her hand, "He's all mine!"

That just left Zinnia and a still smoke-shocked Emery, and Zinnia was aiming her blaster as Emery turned around, "Zinnia, let's go find somebody else! I don't wanna be left doing nothing…"

"Nope!" the DJ insisted on staying there, firing a shot in Dylan's direction, which missed, "I'm gonna be staying right here with Rina, 'kay? If you wanna run off, I'm not gonna stop you."

Zinnia fired again, this time aiming… straight for Roark's back, knocking the wrestler down onto the floor, before faking panic, "Huh? Roark's down!"

"...You think that's gonna beat the Roark… think again…" the wrestler groaned, standing back up. Dylan then shot once at him, knocking him out of the running for… probably a while now.

"Where'd that come from?" Rina frowned, leaping to dodge a shot fired from Dylan, "This little shit didn't fire it… so…"

"Actually, I did!" he lied out of his teeth, " Okay, fine, I didn't. Thanks to whoever shot him though!"

Confessional - Zinnia

"Consider that a spark of brilliance!" she grinned, jumping up and down, "With Roark out of the picture, Rina's gonna win their little rivalry, and bam! I can take him out whenever! And… Rina won't be with him! So I get to spend time with her instead and hopefully get out of third wheel hell! See, I'm still relevant!"

"Well, fine," Rina rolled her eyes, the diver blocking one of Dylan's shots with the lightsaber, "That just means I've got no competition to take you down!"

With that, the diver leapt up with a front flip and 'stabbed' the gremlin with the saber, knocking him down almost immediately, "Gotcha!"

"Now to bring you back to Celeste…" Rina muttered, picking Dylan up with relative ease given that he was very short, "Guess I'm already in the lead, Roark!"

"Only for now!" he called out, while mask-first in snow. Not a good start for him.

"And it's gonna stay that way!" she was about to leave, but Emery butted in, seeing an opportunity.

"I'll help make sure they don't get you!" the yo-to pro interrupted, prompting a quiet (but audible) gasp from Zinnia, "'Cause you're carrying him and all."

"I could probably take them," the diver shrugged one-handedly, turning around with Emery in tow, "But fine, you can come with. Zinnia, that means you're guarding the big guy, 'kay?"

"No! No it's not!" the DJ pouted childishly as the pair left her behind, "Geez, Emery of all people gets to go with her and I don't? Am I really that irrelevant?"

"He's big, nobody's gonna be able to pick him up easily," She looked down at Roark, before shrugging and running away, "I'll just… grab someone myself! Then everybody, especially Celly and Rina, will know just how invaluable I am!"

Confessional - Emery

"See, Roark! I'm already helping to split up their alliance!" the yo-yo pro grinned, swirling their yo-yo around, "Somehow!"

Confessional - Zinnia

"Seriously, Emmy?" the DJ pouted, wearing her headphones for once, "Well… fine! I'll just have to strike it out on my own for a bit, I can change my plans up! And then after that I can get back to Celly and Rina! Yeah! It's perfectly fine for me to want to hang out with my alliance!"

While the Serpents figured themselves out… or more accurately left Roark to figure himself out on the floor, Ally and Mikaio were wandering the tundra together.

"You know, Ally, this reminds me of the time I went to the North Pole," the wanderer recalled with a fond grin, tapping his blaster against his chin, "Got karate chopped by a penguin too… not sure what that was all about."

Speaking of the mage and ignoring the blatant inaccuracy, she was narrating to herself, "And so, the Great Mage and her nomadic companion made their way through the Grand Tundra of the North, on the hunt for the rogues plaguing the kingdom…"

"Anyways," Mikaio rolled his blaster around for a moment, "We're probably on the right track to finding a Serpent… but really, I'm just kinda wondering if Melinda's killed Dylan yet…"

"Speaking of our resident goblin… what do you think of him?" the roleplayer asked, pointing her saber-staff at the wanderer, "I have noticed that you are rather fond of him, for starters."

"You could say that," he shrugged, "You could say a lot of things about me. But really, while he might be a bit crazy, he's funny, if you ask me. Sure, he might get on some people's nerves… but I don't care what people are like as long as they aren't being total control freaks, really."

"Well, he approached me and May earlier with a… request," the roleplayer revealed, "He asked that me and my trusted companion vote Melinda with you and him… were you aware of this scheme?"

"Never asked me," the wanderer admitted, "I was gonna vote for her anyways- and hey, Zinnia. 'Sup?"

Suddenly, Zinnia! The DJ ran in, her face lighting up as she saw two people she could try and capture. No idea how she could carry them both, but still, she had the idea and not the common sense needed.

"Aha! Found somebody!" the DJ immediately started blasting, missing the pair in her frenzy, "Just… stand still while I blast you - I need this victory way more than you do!"

"Might as well give this a shot," Mikaio just lazily picked up his blaster and took one shot… which, to her credit, the DJ dodged swiftly, firing a retaliation shot that missed. Badly.

Meanwhile, in the Backstage of Losers, Dustin and Sunny were playing Uno when the archer was suddenly blasted in the side, knocking him into the cards. "Zinnia…" he clenched his teeth as the streamer sent him a very concerned look.

"Just let me hit you!" she pouted, getting increasingly frustrated at her continued failure… until she finally hit Mikaio, "Haha, finally! I knew shooting randomly would work!"

"Hey, this reminds me of-" the wanderer would have finished yet another travel story… if he didn't get a mouthful of snow.

"Mikaio!" Of course, this left Ally, who brandished her saber-staff menacingly towards the DJ, walking… very slowly towards her for dramatic effect, "Foul bard of lightning, I shall avenge my fallen party member! En garde!"

"Prepare to face the thunder, great whatever-you're-meant-to-be!" the DJ started blasting again, however it was no match for the mage's skill, using her staff's wooden edge to block Zinnia's shots - but the DJ was fast, dodging any swipes from her opponent with ease.

"I see you trained your speed stats…" the mage muttered to herself, their back-and-forth continuing for a while as Mikaio ate snow, "But alas, you are no match for me… I CAST THUNDER SPELL!"

The power of dramatic timing (and the force of lightning) struck another part of the film lot)… but all it did was just excite the DJ, "Ooh, awesome special effects… gotta steal those sometimes. Anyways…"

With that, she picked up Mikaio by the legs and ran off, dragging him around while using his stunned body as a shield, "Gotta go, byeeee~"

One sudden burst of energy later, and the DJ bolted off into the distance, running with an energy far beyond the poor mage's. Mikaio was being forcibly dragged behind her, the wanderer not really caring much. At least partially because he was paralyzed.

"...I see I am not strong enough to face such a foe," she chuckled awkwardly, "Perhaps I may need to restock… I teleport back to camp!"

With that, the mage started running away in the distance, her cloak leaving a trail in the snow behind her.

Confessional - Ally

"One calls that a strategic retreat," she chuckled, running a hand down her staff, "But, it is strange that Mikaio is unaware of Dylan's scheme… my mage's intuition tells me to dig deeper, and dig deeper I shall! But first, I must regroup with my party - May must know this information, too!"

Meanwhile, Melinda had just recovered from the first act of friendly fire, the mechanic peering from out of her cover to see a knocked down Roark, muttering to herself, "At least he's out of the way…"

Shooting him again for good measure, the mechanic slung him over her shoulders, making the way back to the Vultures' ice cave with a roll of her eyes, "We're lucky I'm still around… I heard that fucking idiot got what he deserved, though."

"Gwahaha… you think this will stop the Roark…" he groaned out, clearly still having some fight left in him.

"Yes," she deadpanned, "If anything, it already has, dumbass."

Entering the Vulture's ice cave, Melinda immediately threw the wrestler into the cell, before turning to the one guard who wasn't taking a nap on the cold hard floor, "Tyson, make sure he doesn't escape by any means necessary. Shoot the guy if you have to - he's their biggest threat. It'll get harder to keep 'em in when more of them fall."

"Got it, Cap!" the athlete gave her a thumbs-up, "Sorry about this bro, but it's for the game, you know?"

"I'd expect… no less," he powered out, as May finally woke up from her nap.

"Huh… we caught Roark," she yawned, keeping one eye shut, "...Hmm… what did Dylan do?"

"Bastard decided to shoot me," the mechanic frowned, "He ran off, and I heard everything. The dumbass got what he deserved when they caught him. Speaking of him…"

The mechanic turned her attention to the sleepyhead, crossing her arms and towering over her, trying to intimidate her, "Did you and Dylan agree to vote me out of here?"

"...Nope," May yawned, lying through her teeth, "He did try to persuade us… but we disagreed."

Confessional - May

"No use telling Melinda…" she shrugged, "...I'm voting her regardless of Dylan trying something else. Out of the two… he's easier to deal with in the long run, I think."

Confessional - Melinda

"On one hand, May is the second biggest problem child on the team," the mechanic pointed out, "She's lazy - I don't care what reason she has for her sleepiness, she can take her naps when we aren't in a fucking challenge. On the other hand? It's her word against the word of the worst person I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with. The point being? Dylan's a liar, but he's also just fucking insane. I know May doesn't like me much, so she'd probably take any easy way to vote me out."

"Fine… I'll make you an offer too. Vote that little shit out with me instead," the mechanic offered, "You hate him as much as you hate me, but at least I'll stick to my goddamn word."

"I'll think about it…" May yawned, "...Are you gonna leave now? I wanna make sure I'm rested for when somebody comes here…"

Melinda was about to refuse, but the mechanic realised she should probably be nice to somebody she wanted to vote with, "Tch… fine. Just make sure you're actually fucking awake…"

"Well, Cap, I'm down for that plan!" Tyson grinned as Melinda passed by him, "Anything else to report?"

"I, the Great Mage Ally Starr, have arrived!" the aforementioned Great Mage Ally Starr burst into the scene with her usual smoke-filled entrance, "And I come bearing news of Mikaio's capture!"

"God damn it…" the mechanic pinched her nose, grumbling obscenities under her breath, "With that news… Ally, you swap with Tyson. We need our strongest players out there, even with Roark out of the picture. You two just have to keep him in there, got it?"

"You shall count on us!" Ally wrapped her arm around her not-at-all-capable friend's shoulder, the sleepyhead not pushing her off, "Now then… to cast a protection spell on our cage before the beastman awakes…"

"I regret everything," Melinda groaned, gesturing for Tyson to follow her out, which he gladly did so, jogging to move to her side, "Tyson, let's go."

"You got it, Cap!" the athlete grinned.

Confessional - Tyson

"Gotta say, I'm glad I'm out doing things now," the athlete grinned, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "May's alright and all, but she isn't the best conversation partner, so it got kinda lonely in there. Couldn't really talk much with her, haha."

Meanwhile, on the other side in the Serpent's hangar, Celeste sighed as she looked at the empty jail cell beside her, although her boredom was to be short-lived as the loud pair of Rina and Emery burst in, carrying Dylan in.

"See? I told Roark I'd be the one to win," the diver flipped her ponytail as she threw the gremlin into the jail, getting a wave out of Celeste, "Boom!"

"That's… one down," Celeste nodded, before she noticed a lack of giant shirtless men and hyperactive musicians with them, "...I'm assuming Roark and Zinnia are down, then?"

"Roark is!" Emery butted in, raising their arm up, "He got shot! By somebody!"

"Nyahaha! It was me!" Dylan perked right up, twirling his gun around with a smirk, "And I'll break out soon- hey!"

"Nice try, kid," Rina snatched his blaster away, rolling her eyes, "We left Zinnia to make sure Roark didn't get taken away…"

"...She's probably ran off," Celeste sighed, rubbing the back of her head, "Sitting still isn't her style, that's for sure."

"Damn… that sounds like something I would do," Emery chuckled nervously, spinning their blaster around, "And not in a good way!"

"I'd do that too," the diver shrugged lazily, "What can I say? I'm not gonna sit around and do nothing! You get me, right Cel?"

"Not really…? I feel like I'm the odd one out here, though," the astronomer brushed her hair aside for a moment, "Speaking of Zinnia, I do like her and all, and I don't want to speak about her behind her back, but she's kind of a bit… you know…"

"Of an attention seeker?" Rina filled in with a snicker, getting a nod from Celeste, "Speaking as one myself… she's insanely desperate for it, it's actually kinda sad. Dunno what her deal even is, honestly. You're the reason I'm even in this alliance, I'll be real here. That… and it's rivalling Roark's, so..."

"That's… certainly one way to put it," the astronomer chuckled, "I'm flattered, but we should probably focus on the challenge. I've got the key for the cell, so-"

"Let's go!" Emery bounced up and down as they twirled a blaster around, "I'm getting tired of just spinning blasters, I want my yo-yo back!"

Confessional - Emery

"Yes!" they pumped their fist up in glee, "Roark, I got them to start doubting Zinnia! I thought I wouldn't even be able to do that… though did they just already have those ideas? I'm not gonna think that hard about it."

Speaking of the DJ, she decided now would be the perfect time to pop in, sprinting into the hangar while dragging poor Mikaio behind her, throwing him in with Dylan, "Boom, gotcha! And I got an audience for that too, even better! So, Celly, Rina, Emmy, you guys ready to make the Vultures taste the thunder?"

"Yeah, sure," Celeste nodded slowly. Well, it looked like the DJ didn't catch any of the previous conversation, luckily for them, "Should we get going now, or…?"

"That's all I get? Seriously?" the DJ frowned, before adding under her breath, "Bet Rina got a whole lot more fanfare when she brought Dylan in, huh… whatever, it doesn't matter! Let's go already!"

With that, the DJ ran off, prompting the other three to share a look of confusion as they chased after her.

"Oh, hey Dylan. 'Sup?" Mikaio asked once they'd left, "Stuff sure happened, right?"

"Yeah! Juicy drama stuff, always love to see it," the prankster giggled, peering around the room for a chance of escape, of which there were none, "So… wanna play Uno? I only cheat a little!"

Confessional - Celeste

"I do want to trust Zinnia, believe me," the astronomer brushed the hair covering her eye slightly, looking up in thought, "But I do mean what I said back when we formed our alliance, and it's that this alliance is mostly for defensive purposes, not for eliminating people out of jealousy. Sunny's elimination probably wasn't entirely for defensive reasons, knowing what I know about Zinnia and how much she wants fame. Although… I don't want to throw away our friendship, so I'll try to spend more time with her, too."

"I… still dont think she'd enjoy stargazing though, which is a shame because I'd love to share the stars with her. Though I'd say that for anybody, hahaha. …Maybe I'm obsessed. Maybe."

While the Serpent quartet made their way out of the hangar, Tyson and Melinda were leaving the Vulture cave, the mechanic leading the way. "Alright, Tyson, they'll be coming out any minute now… so you got any ideas?" the mechanic peered at the cave, squinting with a frown on her face.

"I think we gotta try for an ambush, dude. We hide, and then we catch them!" the athlete looked at the cave entrance as well, "There's snow and stuff around, right? So using the power of teamwork, we'll be able to take them out without them even seeing us!"

"If this was anybody else saying this, I'd just think they're fucking around with me," Melinda informed him, turning her head around to face him, "But you're somebody actually goddamn reliable… and I can see where you're going with this. We'll need a good spot, though."

"Let's divide and conquer, Cap!" Tyson pumped his fist with a grin, "That way, they've gotta split, or one of us can act as a distraction if we get found - so… if I go left, and you go right, and we wait for them. Just gotta think of this like a big game… and the goal's our base where our players are. So we gotta keep them out of it!"

"They're leaving the hangar already, fuck," Melinda scowled, seeing the four Serpents in the distance, "Tyson, move! Now!" With a silent thumbs up, the pair soon split, Melinda hiding behind a large metallic turret while Tyson dived into a pit of snow, propping up his blaster. Soon enough, the Serpents arrived, Zinnia darting ahead followed by the other three.

"They've gotta be around here somewhere! I've got a good feeling about this spot!" the DJ turned around and struck a pose, facing her teammates with a grin, "So let's just get to firing or something!"

"Alright, sure…" Celeste rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, but she blanked when a missed shot came from her left, "Huh-?"

"Holy fuck, it's the mystery attacker who got Roark!" Zinnia shouted out, firing back in the general direction randomly in panic. Unfortunately for the DJ, while Tyson missed… Melinda most certainly did not, knocking the DJ onto the floor with a thud.

"Emery, you go left, Cel and I'll go right!" Rina instructed the yo-yo pro, who span around their two blasters with a cheeky grin as they ran off to Tyson's hole… jumping over his blasts as they soon peered into it… and just fired straight down, "Gotcha!"

"Haha… damn it," the athlete chuckled in defeat, as Emery blasted him. Meanwhile, with the girls, Rina charged straight towards Melinda… but blanked as she saw the turret begin to move.

"The fuck?"

Confessional - Melinda

She span around her wrench with a grin, blowing some dust off of the end, "There were only a few wires loose on that bad boy, so I fixed him up and went right in there. I'd like to see those fuckers try and shoot me now."

"How am I supposed to beat that?" Rina turned back to Celeste, as Melinda fired a shot out of the turret, which the diver panic deflected with her lightsaber, "You got any ideas?"

"You could… uh…" the astronomer's visible eye widened as she watched the fight, wracking her brain for any ideas, "Maybe deflect the shots back at her? That's the obvious solution…"

"Oh, yeah," the astronomer ran off to a safer spot, "Emery, you mind… taking Tyson?"

With a quick mock salute, the yo-yo pro began dragging the athlete away while Melinda was distracted, her shots getting deflected back at her… not that it was affecting her at all.

"Damn it…" the mechanic clenched her teeth from with the turret, "Fuck this… it ain't worth it…"

"I… got her!" Rina smirked as she saw the turret stop firing, but that was short-lived, "Two-nothing to me, hah! Roark's gonna need a miracle to catch up-"

"Gotcha," Melinda grimaced, poking out from behind the turret. She managed to get a clean shot in while the diver was gloating, but she wasn't stupid. She knew Celeste was still there… so decided to pick up the knocked out Zinnia and make a run for it.

"Rina…? Are you okay?" Celeste ran over to her friend, who gave her a weak 'no' from where she lay face-first in the snow, "Well… I'll try and carry you, but I'm not really that strong… so sorry if it's a bumpy ride, okay?"

Confessional - Zinnia

"Where was my help, huh? Where was it?" the DJ pouted, slamming her hands against the desk, "...Forget about it. Just forget about it!"

In the Vultures' cave, May was sleeping against the wall while Ally was spinning her staff around, the latter keeping a watchful eye on Roark, who was in the cave, "I casted my most powerful defensive spell - you shall not break out!"

"Gwahaha - I'll keep trying anyways!" the wrestler laughed it off, but it was clear he wasn't getting anywhere with his repeated bashes against the door, "There's only one door that's been a match for the Roark - there won't be a second! Mark my words!"

"While he does that…" May muttered, waking herself up with a yawn and a stretch, "Ally…? If we lose, what's your thoughts?"

"Well now… you are the smarter of us," the mage stopped twirling her staff for a moment, tapping her chin with the saber dangerously close to her face, "Regardless, I am conflicted about removing Melinda from our party. She hasn't actively harmed us anywhere near as much as Dylan has, correct?"

"That's true," the daydreamer yawned, letting her head fall onto her shoulder, "But she's a pain, always wanting me to do things, and besides… we can deal with him after her…"

"I see your point," the mage nodded, "Regardless, I did obtain some new information from Mikaio - Dylan did not inform him about our pact… which concerns me."

"I expected that," May closed her eyes in thought, "But… I don't see him voting for anybody else. He's made it very clear… he doesn't like her. Also… it's too much effort to confirm it."

"You shouldn't think like that!" the roleplayer pointed her staff at May, "If you have a goal in mind, one should do everything in their power to reach it! While you may be cursed to fall asleep-"

"It's… type 1 narcolepsy," May filled in simply, "...Sorry for not mentioning it earlier."

"Thank you, but regardless, you shouldn't allow it to stop you from even trying!" she continued, "Personally, I believe we should work to improve our party's synergy, but if you believe you have thought this through… I shall trust you."

"Thanks…" the sleepyhead yawned out, tapping her chin in thought as she glanced at Roark, "...Well. If that's all, I'll just…" "May! Ally! Thank fuck you two didn't run off," Melinda burst into the cave, shooting Roark in the cage with her blaster, storming in with a glare as she threw Zinnia into the cage, "They got Tyson!"

"There goes our fighter… which just leaves us," Ally tapped her forehead with her staff, "Regardless, with the Great Mage Ally Starr on your side, no foe is unbeatable!"

"I can feel the headache already…" Melinda muttered, letting out a breath of irritation, "You're both coming with me whether you like it or not, we'll need all the firepower we can get out there."

"Do I have to…?" May sighed out dejectedly, "I can't even do much…"

"It's better than nothing," the mechanic crossed her arms, "So either you walk with me, or I'll fucking carry you. If you stay here, you'll just get shot if me and Ally lose."

"You have a point," she relented, "Lead the way, then…"

"Onwards, my new party!" it was Ally who decided to lead the way, the mage turning on her saber-staff as she pointed out of the cave, "Our climactic final showdown awaits!"

Confessional - Ally

"Behold!" She span her saber-staff around proudly, holding it up to a convenient light, "The ultimate weapon - my trusty wooden staff, carved from the trees of the Eastern Forests and a mechanical saber forged by the darkest of evils, fused together with the sealing power of the Duct Tape, a powerful sealing item bestowed upon me by the birdmen when I saved their chicks from a feral, enraged Owlbear!"

"In a final battle, there is no greater weapon - mark my words!"

Confessional - May

She had only one eye open, laying sideways on the chair and looking very woke-up, if the irritated frown on her face said anything about it, "Let me take a nap in peace… this challenge is gonna be a headache…"

Meanwhile, in the Serpents' hangar, Dylan and Mikaio were on their third round of Uno (currently 1-1, as Dylan cheated and still lost the second round), and the prankster was starting to get bored. Dangerous.

"Gotta say…" Mikaio frowned, putting his hands on his hips and letting out a sigh, before he played his card, "I'm getting bored here. I'm a pretty relaxed guy but still… there's not much you can do in a cage."

"They could've at least let me keep my blaster!" the prankster sobbed, ignoring the obvious reasons why he shouldn't have it, "And there's not even a guard to help me break out… it's like they want me to die of boredom!"

"Well…" the wanderer's face returned to its usual lazy smile, "How do you think they're doing out there, anyways?"

"They all died extremely gruesome deaths, nyahaha!" Dylan's face distorted into a sinister grin for a moment (not that Mikaio was so much as fazed by it), before he moved to look at his nails with a less manic look, "Tyson probably died first, by the way!"

"Dude, what the hell, I'm not dead!" the athlete frowned as he was thrown in there, Emery running away immediately after to rejoin the girls.

"Even now, I can still hear his voice…" the prankster wiped away a fake tear, "I'll miss you, Tyler Tyrones…"

"BRO!" the athlete shouted, clenching his fist at the problem child.

"Nope, he's not dead," Mikaio waved Tyson over, "Welcome to the hangar of mind-numbing boredom, my man. There's literally nothing here, so make yourself at home."

"Oh… it's you," Dylan sighed, "Melinda would've threatened me by now…"

"Dude, what's your problem?" Tyson questioned, looking down at the gremlin, "I don't get you at all!"

"Well…" the prankster rested his arms behind his head, "I don't feel like telling you! Besides, you'll just tell Melinda, and that'll ruin our dynamic… and where's the fun in that?"

"It's not meant to be fun, bro!" the athlete shook his head, sighing at his attitude, "You're the worst, you know that?"

"Glad you finally noticed, it only took you way longer than everybody else," the prankster gave him a thumbs-up, smiling widely, "Gold star for you!"

"Mikaio, how do you even deal with him?" Tyson turned towards the wanderer, "I thought you were chill, man."

"He's funny when he's not being a total ass, what else can I say?" he shrugged, sitting on the floor with a laid-back grin, "You're cool and all, don't get me wrong, but you hang around Melinda… who's pretty much everything I don't like in a person."

"I've been keeping her on the straight and narrow," the athlete gave a genuine thumbs-up to him, "And we've won twice since she started, right? So truth is, her leadership's definitely working for all of us!"

"Really? May hates her," Dylan piped in with a snicker, covering his mouth with his hand, "And Ally's completely whipped… those two, plus me and Mikaio means she's eliminated when we lose! I don't care enough to lie to you, so if you want the truth from me for once… here it is! Nobody likes her, nobody has liked her, and nobody ever will like her, nyahaha! And if you stick with her, nobody's gonna like you either!"

"Yeah, well, Ally's at least warmed up to her in a way," the athlete countered, clenching his teeth, "And she's in good with May, so we've got nothing to fear!"

"The way I see it?" Dylan rested his hands behind his head, "Ally listens to May… and from what I've seen, she definitely hates Melinda… maybe even more than me. I let her take her naps sometimes! You just don't know that because… dun dun dun! You don't talk to her ever. What a shitty co-captain, am I right? There's only four of us, dumbass. It's not hard to get all of our opinions, is it?"

Tyson was speechless, the athlete looking to the floor in shame. Dylan's grin only grew in response.

Confessional - Tyson

"Damn it, dudes, I hate to admit it, but he's got a point," the athlete crossed his arms with a uncharacteristic frown on his face, "I want to think that Melinda's improved, but like… while she has, the rest of the team hasn't seen it that way, you know? I'm not sure what exactly I can do, but I know that if I try hard enough, I can prove to everybody she's not as bad as they think! All I need is time!"

"And like, sadly… he's right. I haven't ever talked to May at all, dudes, even when we were both in the cave I didn't try talking with her. He could be lying, he could be telling the truth, regarding her and I'd have no idea. I don't like hating people, but Dylan makes it really hard to like him, you know?"

"You want my opinion?" Mikaio butted in uninvited, getting two nods in response. Tapping his temple with one hand, he added, "You say she might have improved… but I'd still vote for her in a heartbeat. It's nothing personal against you, I just like her less than all of you."

"Bro, you're not helping!" Tyson clenched his fist with a betrayed gasp, while the wanderer just shrugged. He wasn't trying to help in the first place, really.

"See? Thanks Mikaio!" Dylan's eyes sparkled with delight, "You should see the look on your face - priceless! Congratulations, you just went up from boring to fun to piss off!"

"I don't want that!" the athlete shouted, "Dude, seriously, what is your problem!"

"Whatever it is, hopefully you'll enjoy it! 'Cause you're stuck in here with me until somebody loses~" the gremlin's devilish grin widened, snickering at the poor athlete's misfortune.

Confessional - Dylan

"And now I'm living in his head, rent-free," the prankster spread his arms out, a satisfied, devilish smirk on his face, "Just a tiny little Dylan worm wiggling around in there, making everything worse, nyehehe~"

Shut.

"Well, with Tyson feeling bad, it means he'll be way easier to trick later on, nyehehe~"

Confessional - Mikaio

"I don't think I come out of that looking too good, so I'll just explain," the wanderer sighed, hands on his hips, "Melinda's hurting this team. Dylan might be adding fuel to the fire, sure - and even though I'd say we're friends, if push comes to shove - well, I'd vote for him. He'd probably do the same, I'd like to think I'm good at reading people. So no hard feelings either way."

"Where was I again? Right, I think Melinda's the real problem here. Making Tyson aware of that's the best way, probably. I could've stepped in, sure, but Dylan had me covered there."

Back on the outside, Celeste, Rina and Emery were standing outside of the hangar, the three Serpents looking onwards towards where the Vultures were stood outside of their cave, "Thanks for carrying me…" Rina groaned, rubbing her arm before she regained her usual flair, "But whatever! You're about to see me solo their entire team - so sit back, and enjoy the show!"

"Rina, that's probably not a good idea," Celeste deadpanned, shaking her head with a sigh, "If me and Emery come with you, that makes it a three-on-three match… and that'll be even!"

"Yeah!" the yo-yo pro just wanted to be involved, raising up one of their blasters with a grin, "Let's go kick some Vulture butt! And this time, I'm not even holding my yo-yo, so there's no way-"

"Don't jinx us!" Rina pointed at them with her lightsaber, shutting them up for good, "But seriously, they stand no chance against us… and while they're not really moving, let's him them hard!"

"I summon… the blizzards of the northern tundra!" from the other end of the challenge ground, Ally brandished her staff at the Serpents, and as expected, nothing happened. No convenient dramatic weather for her today, "It appears the magic in this area is weakened… those foul turrets must produce an anti-magic field!"

"Sure they fucking do…" Melinda facepalmed, before she regained focus, "Quick game plan. May, there's a working turret, you're going in there and not taking a fucking nap, I swear, if you do…"

"Fine… I'll do it," the daydreamer nodded slowly with an irritated sigh, noticing the turret in question, "I got a lot of sleep in the cave… so I can stay awake for that."

"You better," the mechanic glared at her, before she stepped forward, "Alright then… May, you get to the turret, while me and Ally will fight them head-on so you can get in there. We're not losing our win streak today, not if I have anything to fucking say about it."

Confessional - Rina

"After our last fight?" the diver flicked her ponytail around with a wink, "I learnt one thing… I didn't show off nearly enough. I'm already beating Roark, but I wanna do it in style! And what better time to show my stuff than in the grand finale?"

Soon enough, the three Serpents stood in the center of the tundra, face-to-face with the two Vultures who weren't slowly crawling their way into the nearby turret. Celeste peered towards the turret warily, but without seeing any movement, she focused back on the main event. A cold chill breezed over the remaining contestants, and both Ally and Rina drew their lightsabers. The tension was so thick, they could probably cut through it.

"So… it seems fate has brought us here…" Ally pointed her saber at the rival team, especially Rina, "This confrontation was inevitable - so, shall we begin our grand duel?"

"Oh, you're so going down," Rina smirked, stretching out as she approached the roleplayer. Melinda rolled her eyes at their antics, while Celeste looked on with a chuckle. Emery?

They decided now would be the perfect time to take a shot at Ally, which the mage deflected easily - although it missed the yo-yo pro by a hair, "Dang it!"

Melinda pulled out her blaster too, turning to face the yo-yo pro, alongside Celeste, "I'll fucking take both of you on myself, Ally, you better take Rina!"

"But of course!" the roleplayer ran forward to fight the diver, her cloak billowing in the wind as the diver leapt over her first swing.

"Hah! Like that would hit me," she taunted, poking her tongue out at the mage as their blades clashed, "You wanna see some real lightsaber action? Watch and learn!"

The diver used all of her might to jump right over Ally, though the mage soon disappeared into a cloud of smoke, "Where the hell did you-?"

"A mage always has a trick up her sleeve!" the roleplayer dramatically exclaimed, appearing from out of nowhere behind the diver, which she only narrowly blocked, "I have far more spells than that, siren of the seas!"

"Where the hell is May…?" Melinda muttered, as she held off against the combined shots of Celeste and Emery… mostly because the yo-yo pros aim wasn't great, despite their two blasters, "I can't take this for much longer!"

"Finally, I'm doing well!" Emery grinned, about to take a final shot at the mechanic… when suddenly, a blast in the snow in front of them caught them off-guard, "Woah-woah what?"

"Fucking finally," Melinda grimaced, holding up her blaster and firing at Celeste, which the astronomer dodged narrowly, "Let's deal with this now…"

"Emery, if we can get behind the turret and rip it open, we can take her out!" Celeste informed them, giving the yo-yo pro a nod, "You do that and I'll… try and keep Melinda busy! Somehow…"

"Uh, well, on it!" they ran off, narrowly avoiding another shot from May, who soon refocused on dealing with Celeste as Melinda turned to face Emery.

"Like hell you're taking out our turret," the mechanic stated, her eyes darkening as she looked right into their own, "You're going down."

Emery simply gulped nervously, spinning around one of their own blasters with a chuckle.

Confessional - Emery

"I'm screwed," they stated, bopping their own head with their yo-yo as they pulled out a will, "Roark, Sunny, you guys get my stuff, just know I tried my best..."

Confessional - May

"It's… like a shooter game in there," the daydreamer noted, "Way better than being out there… that's for sure. Less moving... for one."

"Not much of a field of view though…"

While the four with blasters continued their fight, Ally and Rina's lightsaber duel had progressed even further, the two having moved further away from the blaster fight.

"You see, victory is impossible for you!" the mage declared, as the two were stuck in yet another saber-lock, "For I have something you shall never have!"

"What, fake jewelry?" the diver snickered, looking at the roleplayer's ruby necklace as she slowly began powering down the smaller girl.

"The Ruby of the North is very much real, thank you!" the mage pouted childishly, "And regardless, I meant something much different, and much more powerful!"

"Then what?" the diver raised an eyebrow, interested to see what she meant/

"Two sides!" the roleplayer suddenly jabbed the diver in the chest with the wooden end of her staff, knocking her to the ground, "Apologies, but I have a quest to finish."

"Nice magic trick, but I'm not out yet," Rina moved back up, her movements notably slower than before, "I don't need a stick to win, 'cause I've got all I need right here!"

"Not only does my trusty staff give me an extra side, it also gives me…" the roleplayer was still able to take a swing from that range, which barely missed chopping off the end of Rina's ponytail, "Far greater range! Behold, the true power of a Great Mage! You stand no chance!"

Confessional - Ally

"I must say, I certainly could multiclass into fighter," the roleplayer chuckled, "I had no idea my magical talent could transfer into swordplay so well!"

"But alas, I am but a mage," the mage tapped her forehead with her staff, a faint grin on her face, "No other title could be anywhere near as fitting, tempting as it may be."

Back with the blaster fight, things… weren't going so well for Emery, who was darting out of the way of Melinda's shots in a panicked frenzy, missing every shot they fired in retaliation. Often poorly. They'd clearly forgotten about the original intention to take out May, and were instead focused solely on the mechanic.

"Why won't you just freaking lose already!" the yo-yo pro pouted childishly, aiming one blaster at Melinda and the other to her side, "Come on, we've already lost twice in a row, it's not fair at all!" "...Fuck kinda logic is that?" the mechanic rolled her eyes, dodging out of the way of the two shots, "Whatever, we're keeping this streak up, whether you like it or not!"

The yo-yo pro frowned, but shrieked as a stray shot from May's turret whizzed right over their head - and Melinda took that opportunity to try and shoot them, but only managed to hit the metallic hull of the turret as they dived out of the way.

"They're focused on Emery…" Celeste calmed herself down, propping her blaster up with shaky arms, "So… I think this is my chance. I've only got one shot to win this now…"

Melinda took another shot at the yo-yo pro after dodging another pair of blasts from them, but as she dodged, she was struck down by the astronomer's own blast from the sides.

"Aha! All according to plan!" Emery rubbed their nose with a grin, ignoring as May lined up the perfect shot, "Woo! Thanks, Celeste!"

"Emery, watch out!" the astronomer warned them, but she was too late - Emery was soon knocked down by the daydreamer, leaving the two quietest members of their teams as the only ones left.

"Let's just… get this over with…" May yawned out, already rotating the turret to fire at the astronomer, who clenched her teeth in focus. While giving up seemed like the rational choice… she didn't want to let her team down as she looked over at Rina and Ally's increasingly flamboyant lightsaber duel.

Her thoughts would return to the moment, though, as May fired right at her, the astronomer dodging to the right in a panic, trying to figure out a way to take down her opponent, "How do I even win…? Maybe… uh… this?"

There was the option of picking Emery up and using them as a meatshield, but unlike a certain DJ, Celeste wasn't that desperate. So instead, she did the only rational thing… run straight towards the turret as fast as she could.

"Huh?" May blinked, however the purpose of that would be made clear as Celeste left the turret's field of view, being right beneath the cannons, "...Aw man…"

Picking up her own blaster, the daydreamer turned towards the entrance where the astronomer had pried open the hatch, and was now standing there, aiming right at her, "Sorry, May, but… I don't want to lose a third time."

"Yeah… I lose," she just rolled her eyes before closing them, not even bothering to fight back as Celeste shot her once. Once she was dealt with, the astronomer turned towards the pressing issue - Ally and Rina's duel.

Confessional - May

"...She was pointing the blaster at me," she excused herself, "I would've had no chance of winning… so I at least wanted to be comfortable."

Speaking of the flamboyant fucks, their battle had somehow taken them to the Vultures' cave entrance, which Rina had managed to get on top of. Somehow.

"It's over, Ally!" she called out, brandishing her lightsaber at the mage, "I have the high ground!"

"You underestimate my power!" the mage shouted right back up at her, throwing a smoke bomb right at the diver's face before she disappeared, "The sacred high ground means nought to one as skilled in magic as I!"

Rina, much like her closest friend, chose the sane option. Diving right off of the cave entrance, making sure to get two flips in there and landing with a stylish pose, "Still got it. Now then… where are you?"

Unfortunately for her, Ally had one last trick up her cloak, as she quite literally threw her staff-saber into the diver's back, "Apologies for the foul trick, but you were quite the worthy opponent. Our battle truly was legendary…"

Confessional - Rina

"Losing the epic final battle?" the diver had her hands on her hips as she shook her head, "That blows… but I still beat Roark, finally."

The mage turned around herself, her cloak narrowly missing one of Celeste's blaster shots, "Well, observer of the stars? It appears you and I are the final combatants upon this frigid stage!"

"I guess so?" the astronomer chuckled awkwardly, not understanding the mage at all… however, she noticed that the mage didn't have her staff-saber on her at all, and took another shot, running towards the weapon as she did so.

"Hah! Not so fast!" Ally smirked, reaching into her cloak for a smoke bomb, which she promptly threw into Celeste's face, causing her to cough, "Apologies for the smoke spell, but I shall not be losing today!"

With that, the mage then made a mad dash for her saber-staff, picking it up and, with a twirl, pointing it at the astronomer immediately, turning the tides back on her side, "Now then… do you have a last wish before I defeat you?"

Confessional - Celeste

"I… have no idea how to deal with that," she chuckled nervously, looking at her hands, "Well… I have one idea. It's pretty stupid, though…"

"With… this weather?" the astronomer asked curiously, slowly moving her hand with the blaster up, "Doesn't seem dramatic enough, if you ask me…"

"I see through your trickery! It was a clever ruse, but my mage's intuition tells me you just wish for me to let my guard down to summon a storm! Well, I am not fooled!" the mage smirked, twirling her staff around as she did so… and that was just the moment Celeste needed to take her shot, "You… caught me monologuing… I tip my staff to you…"

"That actually… worked?" the astronomer looked positively dumbfounded, as the mage fell to the ground before her, "Wait, I actually did?"

"That you did!" Chris called out, walking next to her, "The Vultures are all down! Congratulations to the Scarlet Serpents… though you'll need to tell everybody the news, Celeste!"

"Are… they going to be okay?" the astronomer asked, looking down at the stunned Ally and Rina, "...I'm not sure what's in these blasters, but it doesn't seem super safe…"

"I don't know!" the host grinned, walking away and leaving a very concerned Celeste behind.

Confessional - Celeste

"How did I…?" the astronomer rubbed the back of her head with a bashful smile, "Ah, forget it. I'm just happy I won… shame nobody saw it, though."

Once everybody was conscious or freed, the Serpents had gathered outside of their trailers to celebrate in the cafeteria, with Roark giving Celeste a large, powerful pat on the back with a bold laugh, "Gwahaha, good job Celeste - we're finally back on track to victory!"

The astronomer stumbled forward at the sheer force, yet still let out a small chuckle anyways, "I just got lucky, that's all."

"Hey, you still won, congrats," Rina threw a finger gun and a wink her way, before she turned to Roark, "Oh, and Roark? Guess who got two people down compared to your zero, big guy? That's right, yours truly - and since we won this challenge, that means I'm in the lead now!"

"Is that so?" the wrestler pointed at her with a dramatic flourish, "Not for long you, 'cause next challenge, the king's taking back his crown!"

While the two continued their usual boast-offs, Zinnia pumped her fist beneath the table, muttering under her breath with a strained grin, "Finally, something goes right for me today…"

"So, Emery!" Roark turned to the yo-yo pro, who was just swinging their yo-yo back and forth now that they had it back, "Let's move - Rina, you better watch out, 'cause the Roark's gonna be coming for that title tomorrow!"

The diver gave him a cheeky poke of her tongue in response, as the two not-girls left.

"Now that we're all alone," Zinnia spoke up, the DJ kicking her feet up onto the table… before immediately undoing that and slamming her hands on the table instead, "Come on guys, did you really have to ditch me there? I was all outta charge and, and all you two left me to get trapped!"

"While they were firing at us?" Rina scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Yeah, right. I got hit twice, and it's not pleasant at all, no way we wanted that to happen. Besides, Celeste won this for us, so what's your problem with that?"

"I… was just too panicked to think straight," Celeste looked away ashamedly, "Sorry…" "You should be! Sheesh, it's like I hardly even matter when you're with each other," the DJ pouted childishly, crossing her arms over and looking away.

"Okay, real talk, what's gotten into you lately?" Rina looked unimpressed, "All day you've been sulking… it's not a good look on you at all."

"I feel like a freaking third wheel," Zinnia frowned, adjusting her headphones, "You guys being friends? Great. Hell, I'm all for it! You guys forgetting about me despite the fact I made this alliance? Hahaha, no thank you! If you two start making out tomorrow, I wouldn't be surprised."

"What, want in?" Rina teasingly suggested with a wink, though both of the others didn't comment… they just looked away instead, "Just kidding~"

Thinking for a moment about what to say, Celeste played with her hair, "Well… we can always spend more time together, we don't have to go to the elimination today. And just because I've been with Rina a lot these last few days doesn't mean we're not friends either. Tomorrow, I'll make it up to you, okay? I promise."

"See, now that's hype!" the DJ grinned, her usual energy partially restored as she bolted out of the room, "I'll stick you to it, then!"

Confessional - Rina

"Zinnia acts like people need to always be paying attention to her or she's immediately irrelevant," the diver stated her thoughts bluntly, "Call me a hypocrite if you want, but that's such a pain… at least I know when somebody else should take center stage!"

"Eh, whatever. I'm still going stargazing with Celeste tonight. Thinking about it, I'm still in this alliance for her more than anything - if she leaves, I'm going right out with her."

Confessional - Zinnia

"Rina beating Roark and now might vote for him - all 'cause I took him out, go me; us winning; and getting some kinda confirmation that I'm still relevant and not just a third wheel?" the DJ listed off, "Finally, good things start happening to me today! I've been out of tune for a while, but I'm recharged and ready for tomorrow!"

Meanwhile, Roark had pulled Emery out to behind the mess hall, before pointing at them, "Alright, Emery! Since I was taken out so early, did you manage to get to weaken their alliance somehow?"

"Well… they did talk about issues with Zinnia? Does that count?" they asked with a small poke of their tongue, bopping their head with their yo-yo as they did so, "I forgot what I said to get there, though…"

"It doesn't matter what you said, since whatever it was did the job!" the wrestler exclaimed, patting them on the back, "If you've got them doubting their ties to the alliance, that's all that matters - that's a great start to playing the game well! Either way, I'm gonna be front and center in tomorrow's challenge, so if we keep this pace up we'll have our grand comeback!"

"Hooray!" Emery cheered, jumping up with a grin, "I actually did something right for once!"

"Hell yeah you did!" Roark put his fist into his palm, "And if you stick with me, I'll make sure that keeps happening!"

Confessional - Roark

"Getting taken out early in today's challenge was just a small hurdle," he explained, "And even if that puts Rina ahead of me, I'm not backing down - 'cause if there's one thing the Roark isn't, it's a quitter!"

While the Serpents were celebrating, May and Ally were sat at their usual table, the daydreamer resting her head down while the roleplayer pondered on her staff.

"So… I think we vote Melinda," May yawned out, "Sure… Dylan suggested it. But logically… Mikaio won't vote anybody else. So the worst he can do is a tie. It's both the easiest and the safest vote… Melinda won't listen to us."

"If that is what you have chosen, then I shall follow through," the roleplayer nodded along, spinning her staff around, "I'm shocked you listened to the resident goblin, though…" "He's confusing. Says he lies a lot, but… hasn't lied that much. I don't get him. Not that I get many people…" the sleepyhead listed off, "Nobody likes him except Mikaio… so keeping him around means that… we can deal with him later. Also… he'd let me sleep more than Melinda would…"

"Personally, I would banish him immediately…" Ally frowned, "But it is your call, I suppose - I can see the merit to your method of finishing this quest."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Mikaio walked in, giving the pair a laid-back wave and chuckle as he made himself comfortable on the bench, much to May's chagrin, "So, we're all voting for Melinda tonight, right? I'm like… 50% sure Dylan will as well. Always a gamble with him."

"That is the plan, correct," the mage nodded, "And therefore, we have our three votes needed to confirm at least a tie - wonderful!"

"You thought I'd vote for either of you?" Mikaio raised his arms up in slight surprise, "I wouldn't even think about, you're both chill, and I think we could all do with some more of that around here, yeah?"

"Yup…" May yawned in agreement, "And if we can vote Melinda out… it'll be way more relaxing around here… that's for sure."

"Sounds ideal to me," Mikaio put a finger up to his temple with a smirk, "Not gonna lie… Tyson's dealing with a lost cause there. Well… are you guys up to just chill until the ceremony? Not much else to do now but wait."

"Gladly!" Ally grinned, "Shall we exchange travel stories, then? After all, a wanderer such as yourself must have many tales under your belt, correct? Of course, I have been on many quests myself, too!"

"Sure, why not?" the wanderer shrugged, "If you want something exciting… I could tell you about my time in the Amazon. I told Celeste and Rina about the waterfall… but way more happened in there, I'll tell you that much. Or… nah… the Hippo Incident might be a bit too much."

May just took a nap as they did that, good for her.

Confessional - May

"I definitely think Dylan's scheming somehow…" the daydreamer tapped her chin with a light frown, letting out a small yawn, "It'd be weird if he was this straightforward... I can guess his angle... but I'd want more reasoning first."

While half of their team were on the bench, Melinda and Tyson were in the girls' trailer, the mechanic sat on the sole chair provided while the athlete leant against a wall.

"We're voting Dylan today," Melinda firmly stated, staring right into the athlete's eyes, "If you get Ally and May's votes, we can finally be rid of that goddamn, shit-eating waste of space gremlin."

"If you say so, Cap," Tyson nodded slowly, "But like… you sure they'd listen to us? I dunno if May likes you much at all, but I can definitely try for Ally's vote!"

"Fuck… you're not wrong," the mechanic clenched her teeth together in a frown, "It's the only hope we've fucking got, though, 'cause I don't think Dylan was lying when he said they'd be voting for me tonight." "And you'd be correct!" came the ever-annoying voice of the shitlord gremlin as he skipped into the room, a grin smeared on his face, "I told everybody else to vote for you… and, no lies or tricks or gimmicks, they will."

"Fuck off before I make you," Melinda pointed at him with her spanner, "Believe me, this can do a whole lot more than fix things."

"Awww, you're really going to treat your saviour like this?" Dylan pouted, turning away as his grin turned smug, "It's such a shame too… I was gonna give you a nice easy safe route too…" "Dude, we're never listening to you!" Tyson didn't want anything to do with him, "You've got my back here, right Cap?"

"...Explain," Melinda frowned, reluctantly letting him explain, "I'm giving you one chance, 'cause I know I'm fucked."

"It's simple. So simple that even Tyson can understand," the prankster began, his expression shifting to one far more sinister, "You've both got to vote who I want you to vote. If either of you doesn't, it's a 3-2-1, goodbye Melinda. Obviously, she's got to win the tiebreaker too, but that's a given."

"And besides," he moved his hands behind his head as his smirk returned to it's usual goofy self, "I'm liking our dynamic here, I don't wanna ruin it!"

"You're a sick bastard, I hope you know that," Melinda glared at him, prompting the prankster to playfully toss his scarf into her face, "But…"

"Dude… you're not going along with him, are you?" Tyson gave her a shocked look, "I could totally get Ally's vote, or May's vote! I know May doesn't like you that much, but Ally could maybe convince her - there's still hope!"

"Remember what we talked about?" Dylan checked his nails, "May really hates Melinda… and Ally just listens to her. So there's nothing you can do to convince either of them, 'cause I actually understand them!"

"I'm not stupid," Melinda sighed, "This is unfortunately my only shot at not getting out… fine. I'll make this deal with the devil… but just this once. Who do you want out, anyways?"

"Oh, nobody, just Ally," the prankster grinned, "Why? It's because she's such a one-trick pony. It gets really old fast, and it's kinda boring now. Yawn."

"So? Are you in?" Dylan leaned in closer, looking up at the mechanic with an unhinged glint in his eyes, "Remember, you've both got to vote Ally tonight, or else it'll be you on the chopping block~"

"Fuck off," Melinda pulled out the spanner again, "Part of me wants to vote you just to make your scheme fail, so don't push it."

"I'd be honoured, so thank you, bestie~" And with a dramatic wave, the problem child left the trailer, leaving a stunned Tyson and an irritated Melinda behind, "See you at the voting ceremony~"

"Look," Melinda let out a sigh once she was sure he was gone, "This definitely sounds bad. But… if we vote Dylan, we're letting him win. He can only pull this shit off because there's six of us, and the way he talked about that? He's confirmed every single vote he needs. Ally might be also against Dylan… but she'll just let him run wild overall, she's not taking him seriously enough. After this vote, we can focus absolutely everything on getting fucking Dylan out of here, and that means bringing May over to our side. She might be pissed about us voting Ally, but Dylan masterminded that shit."

"This feels wrong, Cap," Tyson rubbed his arm awkwardly, "I don't want you outta here, but this just feels like screwing over Ally for no reason!"

"I agree," the mechanic exhaled, "But unfortunately, this is my only chance at surviving this elimination ceremony. He said it best, the other three can hardly stand me. And if I lose in the tiebreaker? Kick his ass for me, will you?"

"Damn it… this is messed up…"

Confessional - Dylan

"Ally being boring? That was a lie, she's funny as hell!" the prankster grinned widely as he sat upside-down on the confessional chair, before he stood up with a dramatic flourish, "The real reason I want her gone… is to get May pissed at me. She's clearly the smartest person here… and I figure if she's mad at me, she'll start trying. And that'll make this game so much more interesting, nyahahahaha!"

Confessional - Tyson

"I don't know who to vote, dude!" the athlete exclaimed, "On one hand, I don't want Melinda gone, she's been improving as a leader so much! But on the other hand, listening to Dylan and voting out Ally for no reason? That's messed up, bros…"

As always, by nightfall, the six remaining Violet Vultures had gathered at the elimination stage. May, Ally and Mikaio were sat in the front row of the stands, while Dylan, Melinda and Tyson were sat in the back row.

"Welcome back to elimination, Vultures," Chris announced, looking over at the team as Chef held up the tray of five Gilded Chris statues, "It's been a while since you last lost, hasn't it? But regardless, you guys didn't do terribly today, so you've got to be doing something right. Not that it stopped some of you from really sucking today - Chef, take it away!"

"Dylan," the cook turned towards the prankster first, who only smiled at the attention, "Not only did you shoot Melinda on purpose, you were also taken prisoner very shortly afterwards. Also, only one person on this team can even stand you."

"I know," he beamed, poking his tongue out at Melinda, "But I'm feeling very confident about my chances tonight, nyehehe~"

"Melinda," Chef turned towards the mechanic next, "While some people might think you're improving, others still think you're as obnoxious a leader as ever. And like Dylan, there's only one person on this team who actually likes you."

"Tell me something new," she crossed her arms and looked away with a scowl.

"And May," the cook's final target was the sleepyhead, who… was asleep. Go figure, "You hardly contributed to today's challenge, and are just… really lazy. You don't have much going for you as a good teammate."

She just rubbed her eyes open, "Was I mentioned…?"

"Ah… yes, you were. Quite poorly, too," Ally informed her, "I assure you, she's not useless, she's had a myriad of brilliant ideas!"

"We'll see," Chef nodded, as he took a step back again, letting Chris resume hosting.

"Alright then, cast your votes, and we'll see who doesn't get a Gilded Chris tonight!" Chris flashed an award-losing smile at the camera, as it skipped to after the votes have been cast.

"Vultures…" the host turned to the team, who had varying expressions - Mikaio looked relaxed, Dylan ecstatic, Ally confident, May indifferent, Tyson conflicted, and Melinda annoyed, "I've got to say. These votes are weird. But they happened, and as such, one of you is going home. The person who doesn't a Gilded Chris must take the Lame-O-Sine straight to a galaxy far, far away known as the Backstage of Losers."

"But that person isn't Mikaio!" the host threw the first Gilded Chris at the wanderer, who caught it before sitting it down next to him.

"Tyson, you're also safe," the athlete caught the second one easily.

"So is May," the third Gilded Chris hit the sleepyhead in the chest, flinching her into awareness.

"The fourth Gilded Chris… goes to Dylan," the host chucked it at the prankster, who caught it gleefully.

"Ally. Melinda. One of you two is going home tonight. The results say it's…

…

…a tie!" the host exclaimed, holding up the Gilded Chris himself with a smirk. Melinda just frowned, while Ally let out a dramatic gasp. In the stands, Dylan just grinned.

"Why me?" the roleplayer looked towards the three members of the team who definitely didn't vote for Melinda, with Tyson immediately looking ashamed of himself, unable to look her in the eyes. May raised an eyebrow, looking slightly more alert now that her friend was at risk.

"Of course…" Melinda grumbled, "Get on with it, McLean."

"Which means… this goes to a tiebreaker challenge!" the host gleefully exclaimed, as the two nominees stepped forward onto the stage. Reaching into his pocket, the host pulled out none other than the lightsabers used during the challenge, throwing the red one towards Ally and the blue one at Melinda, "And these sabers will only zap you, not immobilise you entirely."

"A lightsaber duel again?" Mikaio was unimpressed, "I thought you'd be more original than that…"

"Nope, I'm not!" Chris smirked, "All you've got to do is touch the other person with the saber once, and you'll be safe from elimination. And no taping it to your staff or smoke bombs this time, Ally. I want a clean, fair fight from both of you."

"How is this fair…?" May frowned, "Melinda's so much taller than Ally…"

"Maybe she should've thought of that before being born short," Chris shrugged uncaringly. May frowned at that, given she was even shorter.

"Ahaha!" Ally picked up the saber, brandishing it at Melinda tauntingly, "I have much experience wielding this blade - and, I have learnt my lesson… my monologue is saved for after the challenge! My mage's intuition tells me victory shall be swift, even without my repertoire of spells! En garde!"

Melinda turned on her saber, getting a feel for it, "Let's just fucking get this over with…" "Three," Chris started counting down, as the two stared each other down, "Two, one… begin!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Dylan leaned in from the sidelines, grinning as he watched the fight start.

Immediately, Ally dived to the side, hoping to strike Melinda out immediately, although the mechanic deflected that strike with ease, knocking the mage back. Sensing an opportunity, the mechanic rushed in with an overhead strike that Ally clashed with, locking them into a lightsaber clash.

"Just give it up," Melinda glared at her, pushing down hard on the mage's blade, "I will outlast you, so let's make it quick… somebody here's enjoying this a bit too much…"

"Well… a mage never gives up, ahaha~" A bead of sweat formed on Ally's forehead as she tried to find a way out. If she broke the clash… Melinda's saber would strike right through her before she could do anything, "For instance…"

Ally kicked at Melinda's legs, causing the mechanic to stumble backwards slightly before she resumed her offenses - albeit, the two were more equal in this clash, even if Melinda was notably pushing forward.

Clenching her teeth in determination, the mechanic put all of her force into pushing Ally's saber back, pushing it right up to her face as she let out a gulp. With a grunt, she put all of her power into the clash, the extra energy being enough to knock Ally's saber out of her hand - giving Melinda the perfect opportunity to strike Ally with her own saber, sending an electrical shock through her.

"And Melinda wins the tiebreaker! Ally, that means you're out!" Chris grinned, stepping back onto the stage, "Who could've seen that coming, right?"

"You did well, kid…" the mechanic sighed, helping the roleplayer up, "But I wasn't going to goddamn lose now."

"Well… it appears my quest has ended in failure…" the roleplayer sighed as she turned back to the rest of the team, "But before I leave… I do have some words to share with my former party!"

"To the one I know puppeteered this vote?" the mage's eyes shifted up towards Dylan, a sly grin on her face, "I shall have a curse prepared for when we next meet… and I assure you, you shall not prosper."

"Regardless, I did make some companions here," She pointed her staff towards May, who tilted her head lazily to one side, "And by that, I'm primarily referring to you, May! If anything, try and win for me - I bestow this quest upon you now, I shall!"

"Not another monologue…" Chris yawned, sick of this after Sunny pulled the exact same thing, "Ally, you're out, get in the Lame-O-Sine already before I sic Chef on you."

"Silence!" Ally pointed the staff at Chris, who noticed that she still had the lightsaber stuck to it. Probably good to let her have her moment, then, "Besides, I was almost finished. As I was saying before I was oh-so-rudely interrupted… May, thank you for being my companion while we were here! I shall see you again - and hopefully, you shall be much richer when we do!"

As the roleplayer walked off to the Lame-O-Sine, she turned around, facing May and speaking with none of her usual dramatics and making sure that nobody else heard - they were having two separate conversations entirely between the two pairs. Perfect, "Oh, um, well… you said you wanted to see me out of character… here I am. Not much, am I? Still sure you wanted to see me like this?"

"Yeah," was May's simple response, the daydreamer giving her friend a soft smile, "I… wasn't friends with you for the mage stuff. We just… clicked, somehow… doesn't matter if you're a mage or not… I think…"

"Huh? Are you truly sure? W-well, I shall… just… get back in-character now. Yeah," Ally awkwardly nodded, unsure of how to respond to that, before she regained all of her usual dramatics, "And with that, the Great Mage Ally Starr bids all of you adieu!"

Throwing down one last smoke bomb for the road, she hopped into the Lame-O-Sine, which soon drove into the distance (aka the Backstage of Losers). Mikaio and Tyson almost immediately left the elimination stage once it had left, neither of them having any reason to remain. Dylan was about to do the same, but he suddenly felt his feet leave the ground as he came face-to-face with Melinda.

"Listen here, you waste of space cockroach," the mechanic threatened him, holding him up by the scarf as her eyes glaring daggers into his, "Next time you and I are at this stage, it will be your ass taking that limousine home. Mark. My. Words."

"Yeah, right," the gremlin snickered, though it came out strained given how he was being threatened, "Is that all you're gonna say? Just the same threat you've been saying this whole time?"

"It'll be different this time," Dropping him so he wouldn't pass out, Melinda turned away from him, "I might have worked with you tonight - but that was only on a practical level. Next time we're here, it will be different - you can't force a tie. One way or another, I'm taking you down."

"Sounds fun, I can't wait!" the prankster hopped onto his feet pretty quickly as she walked away, giving a small glance at May who was still standing at the elimination stage, "Oh, I knew voting Ally off was a good idea… can't wait for her revenge. This is great, nyehehe~!"

Speaking of May… yeah, she was sleeping standing up, though she opened one eye after overhearing the gremlin's rambling.

Confessional - May

"...Yeah. I'm sad about Ally going home… she's my only friend here. Or… in general, really. I don't talk to people much…" the daydreamer frowned, looking down with a drowsy sigh as she rested her head in her arms, "It's obvious that Dylan orchestrated it, too… I might not look it, but I'm mad at him. I do want payback… but he wants that. I'll sleep on it… 'cause I'm too tired right now."

"That's some big words coming from you, good to see you finally doing something - and Ally was really starting to get on my nerves," Chris poked his head into the confessional, as the daydreamer pulled out some earplugs and popped them in, flipping him off in the process, "Will Zinnia ever escape third wheel hell? How will May get payback on Dylan? And how is Tyson doing after voting for Ally? Find out next time… on Total! Drama! Stardom!"

Post-elimination Confessional - Ally

"And thus ends the tale of a Great Mage," the roleplayer was perusing her spellbook, closing it shut as she noticed the camera turn on, "My time here was truly fun, I believe. While yes, there was… too much drama… surrounding our team's artificer and goblin, excluding that, I did make some great companions."

"We are all aware of who sabotaged me," she picked up her staff, twirling it around in thought, "I believe he shall have his comeuppance soon - no villain remains undefeated forever. But alas, he was not my foe to fight."

"As for my choice of victor? Hah, don't make me laugh! I naturally choose May," the roleplayer laughed loudly, "I checked the stars, and they told me her victory is inevitable. Truthfully, I'm shocked we wanted to see me beneath the cloak… perhaps that is a mark of how close we got in such a short time? Truly, I don't know."

"And before I forget…" she turned on the saber stuck to the end of her staff, "I may have collected a slight reward of my own. One can never have too many magical weapons, after all~"

"I see this is the inn the guild prepared for me…" the mage tapped her staff against her chin as she arrived at the Backstage of Losers, taking a key from an unnamed intern, "I wonder how much gold was needed to construct this…?"

Walking in, she was greeted by the main room - and the welcoming smile of Sunny, "Hi… welcome to the Backstage! It's actually pretty nice here, so make yourself at home!"

She was also greeted by the not-so-welcoming frown of Dustin, "Looks like neither of us predicted this… how did I guess wrong? Dylan should have been eliminated…"

"Are… you running a betting ring?" the roleplayer inferred, raising her eyebrow as she unlocked her door, "Even my mage's intuition didn't think you the type."

"Hehehe… you got me," the streamer tapped the back of his head with a cheeky poke of his tongue, "I guessed Melinda would go home if you guys lost, and Dustin guessed Dylan… so we're both losing right now. It's all for good fun though, we're not using real money…"

"The only thing at stake is my honour," the archer added on, adjusting his glasses with a frown, "It might have taken a shot now… but this was clearly just another deceit at play."

"That aside… how are things?" Sunny asked curiously, "You and May are still friends, right?"

"That we are, yes!" Ally nodded, "Alas, I was defeated by our villainous goblin's scheme - but she shall continue my quest… after she rests, of course! Much like you and Emery, I suppose? The rogue and you were rather close, I believe." "We were!" Sunny chuckled, pulling out the yo-yo they gave him, "I'll be cheering him on from the sidelines, of course! Sucks about how you got eliminated, though…"

"Tch… typical. Just more people refusing to take a loss they deserve…" Dustin sourly grumbled under his breath, returning to his room, "I'm going to rest now… don't disturb me. I need to sharpen my mind to predict right next time…"

"Well… they'll show your episode starting tomorrow, so there's that to look forward to," Sunny noted, realising that it was getting pretty late… so he wanted to keep things brief, "Oh! If you want, I can show you what the fans thought of you?"

"Do show me," the mage nodded, peering in as the streamer pulled out his phone, "I see that I have… a sizable following, it seems. Some are just referring to me as 'Girl Leonard'... my magic is far greater than his, thank you!"

"Yeah, overall, you're actually decently popular," Sunny chuckled, putting away his phone, "Well… I'll see you around tomorrow, then? Good night!"

"I bid you good night, too!" Ally bowed, as she entered her own room, before she sighed and dropped the mage act once she was sure nobody was listening, "May… actually wants to be friends with me like this? She's only joking, right? I'm not interesting at all…"

"Though I guess Jaiden became friends with me before I started… though they probably stayed because of it," she muttered, thinking things through, "I'll send a message to them tomorrow and see what they think…"

Voting Confessionals:

Ally: "While I do believe that voting for Dylan would be preferable… May makes rather strong arguments for Melinda, and I trust her to make the best choice possible!"

Dylan: "I'll vote for Melinda… nah, that's a lie! Get it? Ally? 'Cause that's who I'm really voting for tonight, nyahaha! May's gonna be super mad at me after this!"

May: "Melinda. At worst… it falls to a tiebreaker. Though I hope it doesn't…"

Melinda: "As much as I want to fucking vote for Dylan… that can wait. Sorry, Ally, you're the second best person on this shithole of a team… but my hands are tied. If only you didn't just listen to May…"

Mikaio: "This vote's the easiest thing I've ever done. Melinda. Not sure whether she or the Hippo Incident is more stressful, if I'm being honest."

Tyson: "Damn it… I don't want to vote Ally… but I don't want Melinda or myself to go home either? Why does Dylan have to be like this… whatever, I'll vote Ally! I'm so sorry, dude!"

Scarlet Serpents: Celeste, Emery, Rina, Roark, Zinnia

Violet Vultures: Dylan, May, Melinda, Mikaio, Tyson

Author's Note: And… we're finally back with another chapter! It's been a while since I've uploaded, and while this chapter may be significantly shorter than the third one, I still think it came out pretty well. Dylan's scheme was a joy to write, him basically beating Tyson and Melinda into voting with him using a mix of actual truths (the votes) and lies (Ally wouldn't listen) and everything in between was fun to show him as a genuine threat rather than just a meme villain. Plus, it kicks off May's plot, which I've been waiting to start for a while now.

Now then, onto the fourth boot… Ally! I adore her, I really do, but I knew by the fourth boot I wanted one of the super-over-the-top characters to be gone so that the more low-key members can shine… and of the bunch, Ally was the definitive choice, with her elim being needed for what I have planned regarding everything the Vultures will do in the premerge from here on out. At best, Ally was the last pre-merge boot, aka 9th place, but that was in a pretty early draft before I had concrete ideas for the plots of the season. I will admit though… the Vultures are going to be very different without her around. Very different indeed. Though much like Sunny and Dustin, she'll be one of the people who gets a lot of her screentime through the Backstage of Losers.

As for this challenge, I think it's alright. It's far from one of my best, but it's not bad by any means, and there were some fun shenanigans involving the blasters and sabers, especially around Ally. Her duel with Rina was my personal highlight of the chapter to write, alongside Dylan's scheme coming to fruition. This chapter was very unapologetically biased towards the Vultures, I feel, but after two eliminations in a row, the Serpents needed a cooldown period for their plots to start. Next chapter should be far more balanced in terms of screentime between the teams... or at the very least, it won't be super Vulture-focused again.

Next Showing: Prepare for some penguins, a hippo, some dragons, bees… and a whole bunch of other things, as it's time for a Dreamworks movie marathon!

So with all that out of the way… hydrate or die-drate, and Kadachi out!

14th/Intern: Rayna (Violet Vultures)

13th: Dustin (Scarlet Serpents)

12th: Sunny (Scarlet Serpents)

11th: Ally (Violet Vultures)