Author's Note: Happy Thursday! Today it is the last pre-merge chapter and the first non-elimination since the premiere. There's only one of those left in the game so these guys better be careful, it's all uphill from here. On another note, there's more fanart! xx15 has an album showing all 16 campers here: xtreme-man/art/1095263882... I hope is okay with that link... Eh, we'll find out
Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama, the shuffled concept or the (most of) the characters.
And to answer some reviews:
xx15: Thanks for the links, I'll definitely check out that fic sometime this weekend. To answer your other question, which I assume is for fan art, I'll let you decide the winterwear and pajamas, but the Halloween costumes were a lot of fun to think about and I have answers: Kitsune would dress up as Black Widow, Malcolm as Claude from Three Houses, Victor as a mobster, Matthew would go as Sherlock Holmes, Angel and Lily would dress like Mythra and Pyra from Xenoblade, Natasha would dress as a devil, Gary would propably dress as Flava Flav, Britney would go as Dora the Explorer, Jaxon would dress as Chris because he's a secret Chris McLean fanboy, Carly would dress as Anna from Frozen, Mitch wouldn't want to give up his hat and just go as a wild west sheriff, Terrance would go as Luke Cage, Rebecca would be a cat burglar, Olivia would go as Marylin Monroe, and Contessa would dress up as a vampire.
SuperSonicHeroes: Really? I didn't consider Gwen to b a big player in this series. But like you said, she really had nothing left to do. Technically, next week is th merge, but it is weird to think I'm finally at this point. Glad you liked those moments of levity.
Guest: Sadie's time on this season is a net positive for her, if a bit shorter than I originally planned. Y'know a lot of people have said that about Gwen, but I don't really remember hinting that she'd last all that long. Oh well. Yeah, that challenge pretty much killed any desire she had to win the money. I will add that fic to my reading list, thanks for the recomendation.
Derick Lindsay: Nope, Gwen and Lindsays alliance were the four votes needed. Everyone else was split between Lindsay and Sky. Unfortunately, this is not an elimination week so you won't find out the answer to that. You will however find out the answer to what Amy's next move is. Well that was actually a refence to Bridegette All-Stars bonus clip. Regarding the canon friendship, I always thought it crumbled after the Gwent relationship fell through. She was pretty firmly on team Trent there.
LazloVader9943: Silver linings and all. At this point everyone is thinking about the best path to the million. We'll have to see what that means for everyone.
vontaekevin: Oh my taste in music is far too old to answer that. But maybe 'Somebody to Love' by Queen for Contessa?
jamesontrentonn: I have! I've even talked about them a few times.
Crash x Fusion: For now, I post every Thursday. Yep, Gwen's time was limited the second she froze. It's understandable though. Amy is definitely in the worst position of the OG campers now.
Remaining Campers:
Ferrets of Failure: Dakota, Dave, Ezekiel, Harold, Lindsay, Sky
Llamas of Loserdom: Amy, Cameron, Carly, Eva, Scott, Shawn
They all get to stay another day, but they'll wish they hadn't
Episode 13: Boot Camp, Hold the Boot
"Last time, on Total Drama Redemption!" Chris began, the capstone theme opening over a long-distance shot of the island before the recap montage began. "The players fell hard," the host said over a clip of the ground crumbling beneath the camper's feet, "into a pit that everyone had to escape!" The campers were shown falling through the air and out of frame.
"The Ferrets had issues," Chris continued as the montage flashed to Lindsay snagging her finger on a large spiderweb, "a lot of issues," the team was then shown being chased by giant spiders, "and it was awesome!" Sky was shown screaming in a cave full of sleeping bears.
"Meanwhile, Amy realized her actions had consequences," the cheerleader was shown being rejected by Cameron, then Eva, "and Scott found himself back at square one," the dirt farmer was shown being rejected by Cameron, then complaining in the confessional.
"Luckily for them the Llamas were victorious," Chris said over a clip of the Llamas making it to him before the Ferrets. "And Lindsay's alliance decided to throw Gwen under the bus for their own failures," the three were shown chatting in a clearing, followed by the goth being kicked into the night. "Good thing Gwen wanted out too," her final confessional was shown.
The montage ended there, and the scene flashed to Chris standing by the Boot. "But, that was then and this is now," he told the camera, "and now is the next exciting episode of Total! Drama! Redemption!"
XXXXX
[The opening theme began similarly to the way it did in season six – a shift into letterbox format for a shot of a rocky forest waterfall, a broken stagelight rotating up from behind some rocks and flickering a bit before the light died. Then a rusty spotlight swings down from the unseen branches of some mossy, mushroom-ridden tree. The shot moves to a pond where a brown bear wearing a scuba mask sits in the water glaring at a frog on a lily pad, both animals looking surprised as the lily pad is suddenly lifted into the air by a duct tape covered security camera rising up from below it. A rabbit sitting on a rock on the beach is pushed away by a panel in the rock slamming down on it, another broken camera emerging from within, and a pair of white-skinned hands clap a film slate in front of the main camera.
As the film slate is pulled away the camera flies forward past the camp facilities, and over the top of the host drinking coffee in a director's chair just as the lyrics start.]
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doin' fine;
[The camera flies through the trees and up to a cliff, peeking over to see the interns swimming away from Scuba Bear.]
You guys are on my mind!
[The camera dives off the cliff and into an underwater shot; a fully-clothed Cameron gagging.]
Ya asked me what I wanted to be,
And now I think the answer is plain to see!
[Cameron frantically swims up and grabs on to the end of an oar. The camera pans up to reveal Eva as the one rowing the boat; she pulls her oar out of the water and is startled to see Cameron clinging to it, and even more so when something starts pulling him back. But with a fierce yet muted roar, Eva manages to pull the oar away from the the thing...and in doing so, throw Cameron high into the sky.]
I wanna be...famous!
[Cameron hangs in front of the sun for a moment before coming back down into the woods. The camera pans down to Gwen drawing on a stump while surrounded by a guitar playing Trent and a singing Ella. Cameron falls from the sky and knocks Gwen down, startling Trent and Ella. The camera zooms out to show Scott watching the scene and laughing, and then again to show Lindsay crossing her arms and pursing her lips at him.]
I wanna live close to the sun!
[The camera zooms to another part of camp, showing Leonard and Gary surfing down a river.]
Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won!
[The shot pans forward a bit, showing Harold and Sierra also on surfboards. Leonard and Gary arrive on screen, but while the three boys are busy showing off, Sierra's eyes widen and she ducks. She just barely misses getting hit by a low lying branch that the boys smack into.]
Everythin' to prove, nothin' in my way;
[The camera rapidly pans over to the outhouses. Ezekiel opens the door to one and a thick green cloud comes out of it, causing him to look nauseous and pass out. The camera pans over to the craft service tent.]
I'll get there one day.
[The camera moves in past the window to show a smirking Chef, stirring a large pot of something sickly green. He looks behind him to where Sam is sitting and playing on a handheld game console. Dakota is looking over his shoulder as he plays.]
'Cause I wanna be...famous!
[The camera pans left to show Sky and Dave chatting. Britney comes out of nowhere to separate the two and sit on Dave's lap, glaring at Sky all the while. The camera zooms pans left again to the opening of the tent and flashes to an open field. Amy knocks a bouquet of flowers out of a kneeling Rodney's hands, then pushes over Sadie as the the girl bends down to pick up a shell.]
(Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[A pan rightward shows Jaxon making a screen gesture with his fingers. He looks from the left to the right and rolls his eyes in irritation.]
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[Another pan to the right centers the camera on Anne Maria spraying her hair. She notices the camera on her and glares, spraying it enough that the thick cloud covers the whole screen.]
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[The cloud dissipates to reveal Carly and Shawn sitting at a campfire in front of a large full moon. They lean in for a kiss but are interrupted by Chris's sudden appearance between them while wearing a zombie mask, startling them both into running away. As Chris takes off his mask to laugh, the shot zooms out to show the other campers also sitting around the fire - Ella, Trent, Gwen, Sky, Amy, Sam, Dakota, Ezekiel, Gary, Scott, and Rodney with Carly trembling behind them on the left; and Anne Maria, Britney, Dave, Cameron, Sadie, Eva, Leonard, Lindsay, Sierra, and Jaxon with Shawn trembling behind them on the right. The zoom continues even further, showing the signboard over the firepit's entrance which now read 'Total Drama Redemption'.]
XXXXX
The episode opened on a shot of the morning sky and a few far-away bird calls, a couple sharp notes playing as the camera panned down to the Ferrets' bunker. The shot cut inside to the girls' half of the bunker where a fully-clothed Dakota was leaning out the back window, sighing wistfully.
"What's wrong Dakota?" Sky asked as she entered the frame.
"I'm just thinking," the heiress answered, pulling herself back into the cabin and turning toward the gymnast. "We should be about halfway through with the game now right?"
"Good point," Sky said with a grin. "Isn't it exciting?"
"And terrifying," Dakota answered. "What if the other team still blames me for helping Olivia?"
"I think the Llamas have bigger problems," Lindsay said, walking over and entering the conversation. "They'll likely vote out Scott before even thinking about us."
"Amy won't be too far behind," Sky added. "I'm still surprised she made it this far."
Lindsay laughed, but the camera zoomed in on Dakota's uncertain expression.
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The shot cut abruptly to the inside of the other half of the Ferrets' bunker, showing Dave sitting on a top bunk on the left and Harold relaxing on a lower bunk on the right while Ezekiel put on his hoodie.
"Can I ask you guys a question?" the homeschooler said suddenly.
Harold sat up in his bunk. "Go ahead," he said. "We're all friends here."
"What does it mean if a girl asks if you have a girlfriend?"
"Based on my experience," Harold said knowingly, "it means she wants to be your girlfriend. Why do you ask?"
"Well," Ezekiel started. "Eva asked me that the other day but she's been kinda avoiding me ever since."
"In that case she definitely likes you," Harold said with a nod. "And she's embarrassed about asking you outright. What do you think Dave?"
The germaphobe's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! Yeah that sounds right."
XXX
"I think I need to talk to the girls soon," Dave told the outhouse.
XXX
"Eva likes me?" Ezekiel asked the outhouse. "I gotta admit I never really thought about that happening eh. But now that I have," he blushed, "It makes me kinda happy."
XXX
A flock of geese flew in formation across the sky, and a cut to the craft tent showed Chris waiting at the entrance as the Ferrets filed inside.
"Since when are you here in the mornings?" Sky asked.
"Hey, don't worry about it!" Chris told her. "Everything will make sense soon, so just sit tight." Sky gave the host a suspicious frown, the host simply shrugging as the rest of the Ferrets of Failure walked by.
"What are you doing here?" Shawn asked, the first of the Llamas to arrive. "Is it another eating challenge?" He recieved a silent shake of the head, prompting the survivalist to shrug and go on his way along with the rest of the Llamas of Loserdom.
"Congratulations to the remaining twelve campers for reaching the half-way mark in the competition," Chris announced, holding back a few chuckles. "As such I have an announcement!"
Amy flipped her hair as the other girls gave her an odd look. "That sounds like the merge," she remarked, "it's about time."
"The teams will officially be merged... next challenge," the host continued causing the campers to gasp. "That said there will be a challenge today. But it's one where no one will be kicked off!" Chris announced to the cheers of the twelve campers. "It's all for reward, and it's a good one. Okay," he clapped as the campers stood up, "time for breakfast! Let's move!"
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The footage skipped ahead to the twelve campers assembled on the docks. From left to right stood Shawn, Carly, Amy, Scott, Eva, Cameron, Lindsay, Dave, Sky, Harold, Dakota, and Ezekiel, with Chef at the very end dressed like a drill instructor.
"Line up and stand at attention!" Chef said into a megaphone, pulling out a pointing stick and walking down the line of campers. "You call this proper formation? Feet together!" He smacked Dave's shins, causing the boy to yelp. "Arms down!" He hit Dakota's crossed arms, causing them to drop. "Eyes forward!" Scott immediately turned his head forward. "Head up!" Harold's chin was forced up, and Chef finished by smacking Ezekiel several times to forcibly correct the homeschooler's posture.
"Well this is gonna be good..." Shawn muttered to Carly.
"What did you say to me, soldier?!" Chef yelled through his megaphone at him.
"Uh, nothing?" Shawn answered quickly.
"And you will continue to say nothin', until I tell you that you can say somethin!" Chef told him.
"As you may have noticed, I'm in charge of today's challenge," the hulking man explained as he began to pace back and forth along the dock. "And I intend for it to be the hardest challenge you've ever done." Harold gasped, and received a hit in the back of the neck for it, and Chef continued. "Like in the first season, I'll put you through the ringer until all but one of you drops out. The last one standin' wins the reward for their team."
"Oh is that all?" Scott muttered to himself.
"Rule number one!" Chef barked, eyes wide beneath his sunglasses. "You will address me, as Master Chief! Have you got that?"
"Yes Master Chief!" The campers replied in unison.
"You will sleep when I tell you to sleep," Chef continued, "and you will eat only when I tell you to eat!" As Chef shouted at Cameron, the shot briefly shifted to a close view of the end of the megaphone. "Is that clear?" The megaphone was taken away, and the boy's scared face could be seen reflected in Chef's sunglasses.
"Yes Master Chief!" the bubble boy said.
"Rule number two!" Chef held up two fingers as he went on. "When you are ready to give up, you will walk to the end of the dock, and ring the bell!" He pointed across Ezekiel and Dakota towards a brass bell hanging from a wooden post. "Which brings me to rule number three! I'd like to get one quitter before the end of the first day, and that day will not end until someone drops out!" He reached the other end of the dock and turned around. "And get your butts down to the beach, soldiers, now, now, now!" At his command, the campers ran quickly up the dock, many of them screaming.
XXX
"You know," Carly confessed, "at times like this i find myself getting jealous of everyone who's been voted off. I mean I wanna win and build my panic room, but no one told me I'd have to deal with a full day of Chef!" she exclaimed, sticking her arms out.
XXX
The episode cut back to the teens standing on the beach in front of Chef, a pair of colored chin-up bars, and a single deck chair. "Listen up!" Chef barked. "Each team must hang on to the bar over their heads. If you fall from the bar, you will be eliminated! And no one eats lunch until someone drops out!" The campers looked at each other in dread.
"Arms up!" Chef commanded. The Ferrets jumped and hung from the green bar, and the Llamas from the red.
"This is easy!" Harold commented.
"Piece of cake!" Scott agreed.
\
The footage cut ahead, showing the sun beating down above the campers. Amy grunted in annoyance, and Dave's stomach rumbled.
"That all you got?!" Chef mocked from off-screen. "It's only been three hours!"
"They missed lunch too," Chris said in a surprise close-up. "Shame, it was wagyu steak and sweet potato fries today."
"Darn shame," the large cook nodded. "Guess they just weren't hungry! Unless someone wants to quit now?" The camera zoomed out to reveal the two men sitting cross-legged on a picnic blanket with plates of the aforementioned lunch in front of them.
Ezekiel's stomach growled, and Sky shot him an annoyed glance. "Zeke! Don't!"
The focus cut over to Cameron, as he blinked and shook his head. "Uggh...," he groaned, "My arms feel like wet noodles." The perspective followed his as he looked around at his teammates and his surroundings, then cut to his hands to show them slipping. He gasped, then reversed the grip on his left hand.
No longer seeming to slip, he sighed in relief just as Chef lowered his head. "Is there a problem over here?!" he yelled.
"No..." Cameron said wearily.
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Night had fallen, and Dakota at the left of the Ferrets' line-up was having trouble staying awake. "I told him I had a trick to forget the pain in his leg and he begged me to do it," Chef muttered as he sat by a campfire. "After I broke his finger, he didn't think about the leg anymore..."
Harold yawned and asked, "Doesn't that seem unethical?"
"Did I ask you to speak?" Chef yelled at him. "Because I don't remember asking you to speak."
"It was just a question," Harold said. "Gosh!"
The focus moved to Lindsay as the Ferrets' logo appeared in the corner of the screen. She yawned, then sighed. "Guys, I'm sorry," she said, dropping from the bar, "I have no more feeling in my arms!" she wined.
She trudged her way past Chef, who watched her and smirked. "Looks like we got ourselves a quitter!" he squealed.
"Don't do it Lindsay!" Dave cried, but it was too late. The ditz made it to the end of the dock, and rang the bell with her forehead. The Ferrets groaned and fell from their bar, while the Llamas happily dropped to the ground.
"Listen here," Chef told Lindsay, "you have nothin' to be ashamed of." He dropped his kindness and took out his megaphone. "Except bein' a little baby that let your team down!" he yelled with enough force to nearly knock the blonde girl over. "As for the rest of you," Chef turned his attention to the other campers, "head to the Mess Hall. Dinner is served!"
"Finally eh!" Ezekiel cheered as he stood up.
\
"Alright maggots, open your ears!" Chef's voice barked over a shot of the craft tent. "You've got ten minutes to eat before night training begins," he said as the camera cut inside and panned over the campers, Chris, and Chef himself, "so get to it!"
Several disbelieving cries of "Night training?!" and "No!" cropped up among the campers.
"Master Chief, where's the food?" Dave asked.
He was answered by a small green pack being thrown at his face. "Dinner is served," the cook chuckled.
The shot focused on another package, then zoomed out to show that it was being held and inspected by a skeptical Shawn. "MREs?" he asked. "And they expired ten years ago!"
"Darn right!" Chef told him. "Affectionately called Meals Rejected by Everyone! Just add water!" Shawn sighed and walked over to a faucet.
"Well," Chris said, "I can see you've got this under control. I'm off to Craft Services! Coming?" he asked his coworker.
"Heck yeah!" Chef said, following the host out of the room.
\
The footage skipped ahead to the campers all eating their meals: Ferrets on the left and Llamas on the right, the camera panned over to the Llama table at the very end where Amy and Scott sat by themselves,
"Ugh! This is like so disgusting!" Amy complained, staring at what looked like it might have been noodles at one point.
"What's the matter," Scott taunted as he held a moldy piece of bread, "don't like what's on today's menu?"
"Duh," Amy said bluntly, "this is food that Samey should be forced to eat. Not me."
Scott rolled his eyes. "Been a while since we heard that tune." He stopped as he suddenly realized something. "Your plan to snipe Cam's allegiance backfired on you didn't it?"
"What? No!" the cheerleader huffed, hiding her embarrassment. "I just came over here to rub it in your face!"
Scott rolled his eyes again. "You sure you wanna go with that Princess?"
"Hey!" Amy said, taking offense and standing up. "Stop calling me that!"
"Or what?" Scott challenged. "I got nothin' to lose."
The two stood in silence, then Amy sighed and sat down. "Fine. You're right," she admitted. "Cameron doesn't want anything to do with me and neither does Eva."
"So you came to throw yourself at my mercy?" Scott asked. "After you spent the whole season trying to backstab me?"
Amy struggled to find a comeback. "Yes," she finally said through grit teeth, "I did."
Scott smirked. "Y'know Princess," she glared at him, "I've been thinkin'. That was actually a pretty good trick you pulled in getting rid of Sadie. Maybe instead of fighting each other, we should take the fight to those losers," he pointed down the table to the rest of their team.
Amy's eyes widened in shock. "What you mean like we should be in an alliance for real? How do I know you won't stab me in the back."
"Because I can't afford to anymore," the dirt farmer said with a shrug. "Just like you can't. So you in?" he offered his hand, and after a second's thought, the cheerleader shook it as an ominous tune played in the background.
\
The scene cut to a close-up of a stereo, an upbeat pop tune playing on it. Chef, standing on a raised platform with a dance game mat on it, went through a series of jumps. He shuffled in place and stomped and so on, and the shot cut to Sky's feet as she began to mimic the moves.
The camera soon cut to a group shot, showing the campers positioned on dance mats of their own on the beach in three rows: Dave, Sky, Harold, and Lindsay in the top; Dakota, Ezekiel, Eva, and Cameron in the middle; and Shawn, Carly, Scott, and Amy on the bottom row closest to the camera. They danced in sync with each other and the music, all in the style associated with the song. Chef was shown again, doing a few more moves, until somebody turned off the stereo and the campers let loose a sigh of relief.
It was Eva who had stepped out of line. "This is dumb. If I drop out can we stop?"
"We'll stop when I say we'll stop!" Chef barked at her. "Now drop and give me twenty!" Eva rolled her eyes, and started doing push-ups. "Anyone else got anything they want to say?"
Carly squeaked, and Chef glared at her.
The shot skipped over to Carly standing in the bathroom with a mop and bucket, rubber gloves on her hands. "But I didn't say anything..." she sighed.
\
The craft tent was briefly shown from the outside again before the camera cut inside, showing every camper except Lindsay sitting at their team's table. "For your next challenge," Chef told them, "you will complete a 500-word essay about why you deserve to win the million dollars. Anyone who falls asleep, or fails to complete the challenge, will be eliminated!"
The scene flashed to a close-up of an analog clock, the hands reading approximately 1:49 am. A spider began to spin a web in the corner, and the clocked ticked away until it had reached 3:50 am and a buzzer sounded. Both Amy in the foreground and Dakota in the background had deep bags under their eyes, and Dave was nodding off with a bit of drool trickling over the side of his mouth. Scott and Shawn were shown barely keeping themselves awake, and Cameron sighed as his essay was taken away while he was thinking of something else to write. Amy just smirked as Chef picked up her stack of papers.
"I deserve to win," Chef read, voice getting lower with each word, "because I'm better than Samey. She shouldn't have made it past the first elimination because..." He scowled at the girl. "This is just you complainin' about your sister for five pages!"
"She got second place and I'm the better twin." Amy defended.
Chef continued to read the essays as he walked over to the Ferrets' side of the room, to where Dave sat drooling. He sighed to himself, and slammed a fist down on the table, startling the germaphobe awake. "You slackers are out," Chef said as the camera cut around the room to show Carly and Harold had fallen asleep. "The rest of you, get to bed and report to the playing field at 0500 hours."
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The footage cut to Chef and the remaining eight campers standing next to the edge of a mud pit, with only a few scattered torches to see by. The camera began panning to the right, showing a wooden wall, a pair of hanging ropes with ramps leading to and away, a pair of raised tires, and a pair of large axes hanging upside-down and blade-inward at the end. "You will all run this course," Chef explained, "until you can all complete it in under one minute. Am I makin' my self clear?" he asked Ezekiel, face-to-face.
"Yes sir!" he said with a salute.
"Go, maggots, go!" Chef shouted at them, and the music picked up as the campers started to run the course. Feet splashed across the shallow pool, and Eva was the first up the wall. Ezekiel reached the top but struggled to pull himself over, while Scott made the jump with ease. Further along, Sky was shown diving through the raised tires, while Dakota slowly crawled through the other. Scott and Amy crawled under the axes, and Eva and Shawn swung across the ropes with confidence.
Cameron managed to pull himself through the tires, but landed face first in the pool. He got onto his hands and knees, and vomited out a stream of mud. "Yo, Master Chief! We got a problem over here!" Scott called as he and Eva came upon that part of the course again; the iron woman stopped running as Chef walked over to see what the problem was. Cameron looked like he was about to say something, but the only thing that came from his mouth was more mud.
"Ring the bell and report to the infirmary," Chef told the boy, picking him up by the hood. "Your tour of duty is finished."
"Take care Cam," Eva said as Cameron walked off. "No need to push yourself for a reward."
"Back on the course, soldiers, NOW!" Chef commanded, and the two Llamas started running.
Clips of the obstacle course continued with Shawn and Amy climbing the wall again; Amy lost her grip and fell backwards off it, screaming as she dropped. A mud-spattered Scott barely managed to get through the tire, and Dakota tripped as she ran between obstacles. Shawn ended up looking like a marionette as he got tangled up in the ropes, and Scott struggled to keep himself from sinking beneath the axes. Ezekiel crawled past him, and bumped into Chef's boots.
"What's goin' on eh?" the homeschooler asked as he got to his feet.
"You've been drafted soldier!" Chef told him. He grabbed Eva's arm as she ran past. "As have you."
"What do you want from us now?" Eva asked him.
Chef ignored the question. "You two will report to a cave at this location," he said as he handed Eva a slip of paper, "and await further instruction."
"What about the rest of us?" A thoroughly mud covered Amy asked.
"You've got twenty minutes to wash off before food is served," Chef told the girl. "What do I have in store for these two?" He asked the camera as the capstone theme began to play. "Find out when we return to Total Drama Redemption."
\
(Commercial Break)
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The episode resumed on a shot of Ezekiel and Eva walking toward a cave, then flashed inside to show the two of them with Chef.
"We're here eh," the homeschooler said.
"So what do you need us for?" Eva asked the cook.
"You're late!" Chef shouted. "Now drop an give me twenty!"
The two campers groaned in annoyance. "You never told us what time to meet you!" Eva protested.
"Make that forty!" Chef responded. "Wanna try for more?" Eva groaned again and dropped to the ground.
"Your challenge," Chef said as the two did their push-ups, "is an emergency supply run to secure food for your fellow soldiers."
"Not that I'm complainin' or anything," Ezekiel spoke up, "but I thought you were just gonna feed us those MRE things."
Chef shrugged. "I only had twelve on hand. If you wanna eat for the rest of the challenge you'll have to steal your food..." He grinned darkly. "From me."
"What?!" Eva shrieked, standing up and holding her arms up in protest. "How are we supposed to do that when you know we're coming?"
"You'll have to figure that out yourselves," Chef said. "And if I catch you, you will be eliminated from the boot camp. So you better be careful!" He walked out of the cave while cackling to himself, and the camera stayed on the two campers.
"Well this blows," Eva complained. "You got any ideas Zeke?"
He sighed. "I think we might need some help eh."
Eva looked perplexed. "What do you mean?"
"That we need to ask the others for ideas on how to distract Chef," Ezekiel explained. "He just said we had to steal from him eh. He didn't say that we had to do it alone."
Eva smiled. "You're smarter than you look, aren't you Zeke?"
"Yep!" The homeschooler said brightly before frowning. "Wait was that an insult?"
"Nope," Eva answered with a blush. "Just pointing out one of your good points." She playfully slapped him on the arm and ran out of the cave, this time the camera stayed to show Ezekiel blushing.
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A feminine groan was heard as the scene transitioned to the Craft Tent. The camera cut inside to show Lindsay slumped forward on the table next to Harold. "I'm so hungry!" She complained.
"Same here," Harold chimed in as the shot cut to him. "We'll need to find something to eat if we wanna make it through this challenge."
"Lindsay! Harold!" Ezekiel interrupted with a smile as the camera panned over to him and Eva entering the tent, "Eva and me have a plan, but we'll need your help eh. Can we count on you guys?"
Lindsay and Harold shared a look, then nodded. "We're in."
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The scene cut to an exterior shot of a large tent as a pair of 'bushes' walked up to it. They stopped a few yards from the entrance, and Eva and Ezekiel popped their heads out and looked around. From the inside of the tent, Ezekiel was shown peeking into the opening, Eva following suit seconds later.
"Calm down man," Chef said as the pair threw several small objects off-screen and dropped to the ground, "you look fine."
Without making a sound, they crawled along the ground until they came to a refrigerator, smiled at each other, and Ezekiel opened the duffel bag he'd brought. Starting with a jar of peanut butter they began loading food into the bag, Eva keeping lookout. "Those stink bombs your team made should go off any second now," she whispered.
"This is my first date since season three man," Chris told Chef as the shot changed over to him, "I'm not taking any-" he was interrupted by a series of small explosions from outside. "The heck was that?" Startled, Chris and Chef ran out of the tent and into a cloud of green smoke. "What is that smell?" Chris asked before devolving into a hacking cough.
"Is that.." Chef started before coughing himself.
Ezekiel and Eva quickly shoved more food into their bag and zipped it up. "I think that's enough stuff eh," the homeschooler said.
The iron woman nodded in agreement. "Me too, now let's get out of here before Chef shows up."
"You got it!" Ezekiel smiled.
The shot cut to moments later as the two dashed off into the night, the bag of food tucked under Ezekiel's arm.
\
The Ferret bunker was shown briefly as the scene cut inside it. Scott and Shawn were sitting on the floor eating a plate of cookies and a sandwich respectively, while Cameron sat on a bed and carefully spread peanut butter on a slice of bread. "Great job getting the food for us," Cameron said.
"Yeah," Shawn added, "and after that obstacle course, we need all the food we can get!"
The camera panned over to Lindsay, Dave, and Sky, the three alliance members also enjoying the pilfered treats. "That story Chef told kinda freaked me out," Sky mused with a mouth half-full of food.
"Me too," Dave mused. "Remind me to never get hurt around that guy."
"I know right?" Lindsay added from her spot on the floor, "that was like so totally harsh." The three were snapped out of their conversation by the sound of a belch off-camera, causing them to gasp in disgust.
"That made some more room!" Scott said, wiping his mouth and noticing the looks he was getting. "What? Like none of you have ever burped before."
"You are so disgusting," Amy scoffed.
"Aw," Scott countered with a smirk, "you say the sweetest things Princess."
"Stop calling me that!" Amy shouted.
Ezekiel and Eva were shown standing in a corner, the latter rolling their eyes at the antics of the others. Eva smiled and reached for the last sandwich on a plate between them, eating it quickly.
"Be careful eh," the homeschooler warned her. "You don't wanna get sick."
"I'll be fine," Eva told him, "It's just a sandwich." She burped slightly, then frowned. "On second thought, you might have a point." She got to her feet, and casually made for the door. Ezekiel watched her for a moment then followed.
The iron woman leaned against the porch railing and dry heaved. "Are you okay?" Ezekiel said, coming up beside her. The starry sky was shown, and the two were quiet for a moment.
"Yeah I think I'm good," Eva finally said. "So...," she started again. "About our conversation the other day..."
"That kinda came outta nowhere," Ezekiel answered with a small sigh. "Then you started avoiding me and that kinda hurt."
"I'm sorry about that," Eva apologized looking away in shame. "I was just embarrassed."
Ezekiel shrugged. "That's what the guys said. But if you hadn't done that I wouldn't have realized I liked you."
"Lucky you," Eva said dryly before her eyes suddenly widened and she turned to face him. "Wait. What was that?"
Ezekiel grabbed her face and pulled her in for a kiss. A light fluttery tune played as Eva smiled through the kiss and loosened her shoulders. She giggled a little bit after the homeschooler finally pulled back.
Ezekiel's eyes went wide, and he palmed his forehead. "Crap! I should've asked if you were okay with that."
"I was definitely okay with that," Eva stopped him. The camera zoomed in on the window, showing Amy scowling as she watched the scene.
"Attention remaining boot camp recruits!" Chef announced over the loudspeaker. "The next evolution of your training begins tomorrow morning, at 0700 hours." Each group of campers was shown in turn, listening to the announcement with dread.
\
The footage skipped ahead to the next part of the challenge, showing the six remaining campers hanging from a tree by their knees. Sky, Ezekiel, and Dakota hung for the Ferrets on the left, while Eva, Amy, and Shawn represented the Llamas on the right.
"What you are experiencing," Chef told them as he walked into the scene from the right, "is an ancient form of torture. By now, the blood has begun rushin' to your head." The camera zoomed in on his grim visage as he detailed what the young adult's were going through. "The next stage is nausea, followed by dizziness and a flushed appearance, as the blood begins to pool in your eyes." The focus shifted to Shawn, who began to look woozy and cross-eyed. "You may experience faintin' spells," Chef said, and the survivalist finally dropped.
"Shawn, are you alright?" Eva called.
Lindsay dashed up to wear he lay awkwardly on the ground, and quickly looked him over. "It's okay," she called after getting him straightened out, "he'll be fine!"
Smiling, Eva leaned up and grabbed the branch with his hands, adjusting his position but not dropping. Beside him, Amy did the same, and the camera panned over to show Ezekiel and Sky following suit. Dakota was struggling at the end, lacking the athleticism of the others.
"Come on," she grunted, "almost got it! I made it this far, I'm not gonna just-" she fell from the branch, "lose...," she moaned, flopping over onto her back.
The four young adults were shown again, and this time it was Amy who appeared to be getting dizzy. "Yeah," she said, "I'm done with this." With that, she dropped.
"Me too," Sky added. "I'm getting close to my limit anyway."
"I expected better from you Sky," Chef said in disappointment.
"Sorry," the gymnast shrugged. "I'm not risking getting hurt. Especially since this is a reward challenge."
Chef scowled as she walked away.
"You better not lose this Eva!" Amy called as she took her place with her team.
"You've got this Zeke!" Sky shouted.
"No need to worry about me!" Eva said confidently, shooting a glance at her opponent.
"I'm good eh!" Ezekiel cheered. He then began to slur his words. "I can hang...heeeere...foooor hooooouuuuuuurs..." It was no surprise when he finally fell.
"Zeke!" Eva said in concern before hopping down.
"That's gonna leave a mark," Dave said with a wince, Harold nodding in agreement next to him.
"Eva!" Chris called as he and the iron woman approached the Llamas. "Congratulations," he saluted her, "You've just won the reward for your team! You and the rest of the Llamas of Loserdom will be spending the next three days at a luxury five-star resort, accompanied by your best friends."
"Aw man," Sky complained. "I missed my chance to see Victor again.
"The losers will be stuck here," he pointed to his scowling assistant, "with Chef."
The six Llamas looked at one another and cheered.
\
The challenge now over, the scene changed to the docks at sunset. A yacht longer than the broadest part of the pier was anchored in front of it, a wooden gangplank extended invitingly. "The Llamas are the big winners today," Chris began as the background music became the mix of awestruck and ominous that was typically favored for elimination ceremonies; the team in question were shown walking down to the ship.
"And the Ferrets go their separate ways." The shot panned down from the setting sun to show Dave talking with Lindsay and Sky. The camera panned to the left to show Ezekiel staring at the dock and sighing, then cut to the bunker as Harold entered it. "For now they stand united," Chris said, "What shocking surprises are in store for our campers next week, as they head for the big merge?" The shot moved over to the yacht as it started to pull away from the camp. "Tune in, on Total! Drama! Redemption!"
Author's Note Post Script: Yeah this was just set up for the next chapter, which in turn will set up the rest of the merge. But Eva and Ezekiel are finally together? Great right? On less great news Amy and Scott have decided to work together. That's not a lie by the way, they've both realized they couldn't afford their cold war anymore.
OC Fun Fact #7: So Natasha is loosely based on a character from a series of books I'm now slightly ashamed of reading (Author's into some very sus stuff). So! There's this book series called the Incarnations of Immortality where through some extraordinary circumstances, mortals wind up holding the offices of concepts like the Grim Reaper, Mother Nature, etc. The fifth book in the series details the adventures of Orb, who became Mother Nature, and during her tenure she gets tricked into falling in love with a man named Natasha. Natasha is actually Satan (get it? Ah, Satan)who has been attempting to subtly manipulate Orb's whole family for decades. So I just took the 'Man named Natasha' bit, the 'behind the scenes villain' bit and created The Mastermind. Him being Russian was just to explain his name and wound up being strangely prophetic.
And I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
I hope you all enjoyed the episode, or some part of it.
With that I'm signing off
-TotalDramaFan14
RDR ELIMINATION TABLE:
24th Place: Gary
23rd Place: Anne Maria
22nd Place: Leonard
21st Place: Trent
20th Place: Jaxon
19th Place: Britney
18th Place: Rodney
17th Place: Sierra
16th Place: Sam
15th Place: Ella
14th Place: Sadie
13th Place: Gwen