Author's Note: So I was gonna wait until Friday to post this, but I got super self-conscious about this one and decided to just let it go because the longer I wit, the greater the chance I'll try to rewrite it and possibly fall out of touch with you guys again. But anyway... Two chapters in a week! Hooray! The ideas wouldn't leave and I had to get them out ASAP. This one is really different and a bit longer than normal. All I'll say is, expect some OOC behavior. Like a lot of it. It's basically the whole challenge.
Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama, the shuffled concept or the (most of) the characters.
And to answer some reviews:
Derick Lindsay: Good to be back! Yeah being the first one gone in this season will sting like nobody's business. Eh, Sadie's thing is more plot than quirk. The alliance thing might work out better for Eva, she's not as manipulative as Lily was. I do like Dakota slowly learning that there are some people in her corner. God I love Scott and Amy's schemeing so much, I could probably do a whole story dedicated to just that. Carly and Shawn, I don't know how much they'll actually deal with their fears. Yeah, I felt like I had to do something nice for Leonard after his elimination.
PokeTennyson25: Eh, I'll probably wait until the main series is over before working on the Race.
Knight: Honestly, Britney was always unstable. Scott just broke the seal back in episode 2.
Gucci Mane LaFlare: Nah, this fic has always been in the back of my mind. It's nice to see Scott being competent I agree. And I never realized how fun Amy would be to write. I guess she needed to get away from Sammy as much as Sammy needed to get away from her. And I had to Throw Leonard a bone after his kinda messed up elimination.
InsertDotJpeg: I'll try to!
LazloVader9943: Truthfully it was more like a series of bad things, but I'm back. Leonard's elimination will suck more for Scott when Lindsay finds out what he did. Scott has learned his lesson. It's just he learned how to be a better villain rather than a better person. Matthew vs Rebecca. I'm not really sure who's the worse person there. It depends on what's worse between psychopathy and sociopathy..
Crosshot: I'll admit that wasn't my best work. I tried too hard to get everyone in the episode and left some threads hanging. I didn't even succeed in what I tried to do there, but the plot got through so I'm happy with that. Hopefully you like this one a bit better.
Remaining Campers:
Ferrets of Failure: Dakota, Dave, Ella, Ezekiel, Gwen, Harold, Jaxon, Lindsay, Sam, Sky, Trent
Llamas of Loserdom: Amy, Britney, Cameron, Carly, Eva, Rodney, Sadie, Scott, Shawn, Sierra
It's too late, they've all been mooned.
Episode 05: A Bunch of Lunatics
"Last time, on Total Drama Redemption!" Following the stock shot of the host, the highlight footage opened with the two teams lined up as the previous challenge was explained. "Our competitors made like Cold War Spies," Dakota, Sam, Dave, Ella, and Jaxon were shown with their equipment, followed the Llama assets as they split up, "in this season's paintball challenge!"
"The Llamas of Loserdom lived up to their name big time," Sam was shown taking out Scott and Amy, as was Rodney being strung up in a tree and shot with his own gun. More clips of the Llamas were shown next, focusing on Amy picking up the statue and then Carly running from Shawn. "Amy found the Protection Idol, and Shawn scared the crap out of Carly. Again. It wasn't long before the Llamas found each other," the duo's encounters with Sadie, Cameron, and Scott were replayed, as well as a shot of Dave and Dakota stalking them, "and then an ambush."
"When it came time for elimination, Scott and Amy's separate schemes coincided," the elimination was shown along with Scott and Amy's confessionals, "leaving Leonard without a marshmallow. There's twenty-one campers left," the recap finished with a shot of the remaining Llamas at the campfire before switching to Chris, "and no one is prepared for how things'll change! Which crazy contestant is next for the Boot? Find out tonight, on Total! Drama! Redemption!"
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[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 Llama's treehouse at around sunset, the background score starting with a deep note and, unusually, a cricket accompaniment.
"Uggh, I just can't stand it," Britney complained, the camera zooming in to show her standing on the balcony with Amy, both girls leaning over the side and looking down. "All those girls over there in that bunker just waiting for me to let my guard down so they can be all over him. It's sickening!"
"I wouldn't worry about him," Amy said with a scoff. "I'm surprised a loser like him could even get one girl to like him, let alone two."
Britney pursed her lips in annoyance. "Like you know what it's like to be in love," she said harshly.
Amy scowled at the globetrotter, but both girls had their attentions diverted as Scott exited their half of the cabin. "Wow, how heartless can you be," he said with dry sarcasm as he passed between his two teammates. "I can totally see why you've never had a boyfriend. Just keep doin' what you're doin' Britney," he told the globetrotter. "The other girls will get the hint soon enough."
XXX
"I was hoping that I could get Britney in on my alliance," Amy told the confessional camera, "but the stupid dirt farmer's already got his hooks in her. I'm running out of potential allies on this stupid team" She rolled her eyes and huffed. "But he's just as hated as I am, so I shouldn't worry about him stabbing me in the back or anything."
She smirked. "That just means he won't see it coming when I do it to him."
XXX
Amy frowned as Scott climbed down the ladder and out of sight, then sighed. "Look, Britney, I'm sorry," she told the globetrotter. "It's true that I've never really had a boyfriend before. Well I have, but none that liked me for who I am. I guess I was just jealous of how happy you are. I want that for me."
"I can help you find someone," Britney offered with a smile. "As long as it's not Dave. Because I will damage you if you go after him," she threatened.
"Thanks, but you don't have to worry about that," Amy said after another eye roll.
"Well then, I always start by learning everything there is to know about the guy. Right down to his bathroom schedule," the globetrotter suggested. The camera cut to Amy as her hidden smirk became a shocked gasp.
XXX
"Yeah. That girl is crazy," Amy told the confessional. "Are we sure it's safe for her compete? I saw the last season's finale and I am so not dealing with that."
XXX
It was then that Eva burst from the girls' side of the treehouse, and leaned over next to Britney and Amy. "What's up?"
"Not much," Britney replied. "How about you, Eva?"
The iron woman paused and blinked. "Honestly, I'm bored out of my skull," she admitted, crossing her arms and huffing. "I've been waiting forever for the next challenge, but it hasn't come yet! Where's Chris, anyway?"
"Good question," Amy added in annoyance.
\
A flash took the scene to the Ferret's bunker, cutting inside to show four of the five girls milling about on their side.
"I'm so glad we won this last challenge," Ella sighed contentedly, sitting on her bunk with Gwen writing in her diary below her. "And we have you and Dave to thank for it, Dakota," she added with a smile.
The camera panned to the other side of the room where Dakota was seated, with Sky stretching in the middle of the room a seat a way. "Oh, I didn't do as much as the boys," she said shyly.
"You did more than we did," Gwen pointed out as the camera cut back to her and Ella, the goth now sitting on the edge of her bed. "I know you're probably worried about coming off like a brat, but you need to own up to the good you do as much as the bad."
Dakota sighed and looked down, but looked up and nodded with a soft smile, the camera cut to show the rest of the present girls smiling back.
XXX
"I had to help her," Gwen explained in the confessional. "Fame isn't kind to anyone and the fansites are absolutely brutal to her. It's to the point where Sierra had to ban anyone who even mentions her name on the forum she runs. Dakota needs to know there are people in her corner too."
"I mean," she shrugged. "That could just as easily be one of us in the hotseat she's in. All it takes is one bad decision."
XXX
"I'm serious guys," Trent said to Dave and Sam as the camera cut to the boys side of the bunker, slapping a hand against the latter's back, "You two were the reason we won last time. Keep up the good work."
"But all we did was just wait around for a chance to ambush some more Llamas," Dave said with slight confusion. "That could've just as easily backfired on us.
"But it didn't eh," Ezekiel pointed out.
"Um, he contributed to the team as well," Jaxon pointed out bitterly. "Where's his praise?"
Dave rolled his eyes as Trent made a placating gesture. "Calm down man," the guitarist said. "We're all on the same team. We're just celebrating the MVP last time. But everyone who got a shot in contributed."
"Just like you guys deserve some praise for not getting shot," Sam said. "The other team has some real S ranked players."
"Totally," Harold said, smiling and nodding in agreement.
\
The music turned deep and ominous as the as scene pan-wiped to Carly walking through the forest. "What am I gonna do?" she asked herself the shot cut to an upward angle of her walking through the pine forest, "I wanna apologize, but I keep freaking out everytime I talk to him!"
She poked a bush with a stick, only for Scuba Bear to stand up out of it and roar at her. She stood up and screamed, but before she could flee a white hand reached down and grabbed her by the arm. "What's going on?!" she said in confusion before she was pulled into the air, barely avoiding a swipe from the bear as it roared at her.
The shot cut outward and upward, showing that Shawn was Carly's savior. He smiled at her, but she frowned and rubbed her arm awkwardly. "Now do you believe I don't wanna kill you?" he asked.
"Why is it so important that I do?" she asked suspiciously. "Are you waiting until my guard is down before you strike?!"
"What?" he asked. "No! I just don't want my teammate to be afraid of me."
Carly sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry for overreacting. It's just so hard being scared of everything! I wish I could see what it was like to be brave for one day."
"I think-" Shawn started to say before the whine of the camp's loudspeakers interrupted him.
"Evening, campers!" Chris announced. "Gather 'round the starting line for your latest humiliation!"
\
The shot cut to most of the campers gathered along a chalk line drawn on the ground just past the craft tent. Scott arrived a bit later and strolled past the Ferrets of Failure.
"So," Scott said, looking around and scratching his underarms, "How do you like our team now that we ditched the delusional nerd?" he told the Ferrets. "I think we made a good choice."
He laughed off the glares given to him by his team, but before he could take his place with them he walked in front of Lindsay. She tripped him and made him fall to the ground, causing all present to laugh.
"You should pay more attention," she threatened.
XXX
"That's the second time Leonard was sent home because of Scott," Lindsay complained. "I may have been eliminated too soon to stop him last time but I'm not letting him get away this time."
"It's actually a good thing we're on different teams now," she said. "It keeps his eyes off of me."
XXX
"Whatever," Scott said bitterly, the camera zooming in on Amy as she smiled.
Scott got up and dusted himself off, and the entire group turned to the host as he walked up to them. "Good news, you guys," Chris greeted. "As a special treat, it's time for an extremely humiliating nighttime challenge!"
"How is this 'good news'?" Gwen asked with skeptical air quotes.
"It's good for me because I get to laugh at you!" Chris answered with a smile. "This one is gonna be ratings gold," he added with a smile before turning to the side.
"In a combo of season one's camping trip and season five's moonlit escapade," he explained as Chef pushed a widescreen television cart over, an aerial photo of the island displayed on it, "your challenge is to race to your designated camping spot and spend a whole day camping." The shot cut in close to the green X marking the campgrounds, then panned along as two dotted green lines wound through the forest, each ending with an arrow that pointed to a red X in the middle of the island. "Then return the next morning. First team to get every member across the finish line wins," he added as green silhouettes of each individual camper appeared on either side of the starting X, with Ferrets on the left and Llamas on the right. "And," he walked in front of the television right before it pulled backward, "someone from the losing team will be getting the boot!" he declared, turning around dramatically.
"That's all?" Shawn asked. "Sounds pretty easy."
"It does, doesn't it?" Chris replied with a mischievous smile as Chef pulled the TV cart away. "But, tonight's full moon is an extremely rare Orange Harvest Moon," he explained while tossing scraps of papers and compasses to the two teams as the background music became slightly tenser, "it's even more rare than the Blue Harvest moon and is said to have an interesting effect on people caught in it's ethereal glow." Shawn and Ezekiel caught the items with blank looks.
"On your mark," Chris said, the shot zooming in on him rapidly as a deep note played.
Dave and Sky shared a look. "We should be careful about this twist," the gymnast told her teammate.
"Get set!" Chris called out.
"What are you two talking about?" Britney said as she suddenly showed up between them, looking at Sky with a mixture of suspicion and menace.
Chris blew his airhorn as the music rose dramatically, and the two teams took off running with a "Yeah!" from Scott with the Llamas out in front, and a "We got this!" from Trent with the Ferrets in back.
\
The scene flashed to a long-distance shot of the island, the lights of the campground distinctly absent and the full moon looking rather normal.
"Hey, Dave," Sky before the camera cut to her and her ally running along at the middle of their team's pack, "have you noticed something... off about Britney?"
"Oh yeah," he said with a shrug. "She can get a little possessive. But she's mostly harmless."
"I've got bruises that say otherwise," Sky deadpanned. "Can you talk to her? Make her see that I don't like you like that?"
"Why would she think that in the first place?" Dave wondered. "Not like we'd be a good couple anyway. But I'll talk with her next chance I get."
"We should talk about the vote in case we lose tonight," Trent told his allies as the camera panned left to the end of the Ferrets. "More importantly we need to figure out how we're going to stay in the game."
"It's true that you and Gwendolyn are good targets for elimination," Ella pondered.
"Way to sugarcoat it for us Ella," Gwen snarked, ignoring the use of her full name. "But you're not wrong. Luckily we're pretty cool with most of the girls so that should give us some leeway."
Trent sighed. "Guess that means one of the guys is next," he said. "Maybe Jaxon or Sam? They're cool and all, but they're kinda our weak links."
Gwen shrugged. "Fine with me."
A few more deep, ominous notes played as the camera pulled back to show all eleven Ferrets, then panned to the left onto the Llamas running behind them.
"Alright, just like this," Shawn told his teammates. "We keep this up, and we'll make it to our campsite in no time."
"And the best thing is, we'll easily win this with Shawn and Britney on our side!" Sierra said excitedly as the focus panned back from Shawn and on to her and Eva.
"So...I guess for now we can just enjoy this nice night, huh Cam?" Sadie asked with a hesitant smile.
"Sounds good," the bubble boy answered happily.
"Pfft, not like there's anything better to do," Amy griped, the shot once again panning to the left and now showing the cheerleader running behind Rodney. "At a pace this slow, we aren't gonna get there until midnight."
Sadie sighed. "Honestly, I don't even care about that. Last time I went camping I got totally lost and ran into a bear and-!" She perked up suddenly, and pointed upwards. "Look!" she said, prompting the camera to move in front of her teammates as they stopped in their tracks and looked up.
Another close-up showed the reflection of the full moon in Sadie's eyes, and an ominous drumroll led into a dramatically eerie melody as it began to turn blue.
"Ooh, cool," Sierra said in a low but eager voice as a ring of orange light pulsed outward from the abnormal celestial object.
"What the...," Britney added as the very air around the forest took on a orangish tinge.
The camera cut to a trembling Carly at the back of the pack...until the pulse of orange light passed over her with an odd chime, causing the girl to suddenly stand up straight and scowl. A dramatic tune played as the camera panned back over the rest of her team: Amy looking around with a genuine smile, Britney without the psychotic tint in her eyes, Cameron sticking a finger in his ear with a dumb expression, Eva suddenly looking around timidly, Rodney glaring at his female teammates, Sadie striking a pose and while looking in a mirror, Scott looking around with a smile, Shawn suddenly no longer looking on edge, and Sierra looking rather apathetic.
"Come on!" Carly barked at her teammates in an unusually tough tone. "Let's hurry up before we fall behind!"
"Don't tell me what to do woman!" Rodney snapped at her.
"B-b-but what about all the bears out here?" Eva worried, mashing her pointer fingers together.
"Meh," Sierra shrugged. "Who cares?"
"What's a bear?" Cameron asked stupidly.
"They'll be stopped in their tracks by my beauty," Sadie declared.
"Don't you know that bears are a conspiracy theory?" Shawn scoffed. "There's no such thing!"
"Oh, I hope that the girls on Dave's team are okay." Britney worried. "He deserves to be around as many pretty girls as he can."
"You are so nice!" Amy gushed while holding the globetrotter's hands. "Can we be besties?"
"You're cute when you smile so authentically," Scott told Amy with a genuine smile.
\
The Ferret logo appeared in the corner of the screen as the camera cut to the team in question, revealing them walking down a trail with Ella leading the charge. Like with the Llamas, the very demeanor of the campers seemed to change under the orange moonlight: Dakota looked rather confident and arrogant, Dave was rubbing dirt on his face with a grin, Ella herself was scowling as she charged ahead, Ezekiel was giving the others a rather haughty expression himself, Gwen was hunched over and scowling, Harold faking a withdrawn expression, Jaxon was behind the rest of his team looking like he was afraid to approach them, Lindsay walked forward with an oblivious smile, Sam was giving the girls lecherous looks, Sky looked around and smirked deviously, as did Trent.
"Alright," Ella told her alliance mates trailing behind her, "here's the plan for today. We've been doing great so far, and I want us to start a winning streak."
"Well, this challenge seems pretty straightforward," Gwen said, "we just need wake up earlier than those losers on the Llamas and we'll win, right?"
Trent nodded. "Yeah, seems pretty easy."
"God you two are so stupid," Ella rolled her eyes. "Remember, they're probably gonna wake up as early as they can too, so we need another way of making sure they don't get back before us."
Gwen and Trent shared a devious look. "Now that sounds like a plan" the goth said with a smirk.
"What do you think yer doin' eh?" Ezekiel said while glaring at Dave.
"Isn't dirt so amazing?" the normally germophobic boy asked. "I love nature!"
"Ugh," the homeschooler scoffed in disgust. "Keep your filthy germs away from me you peasant!"
They were both surprised by Sky wrapping an arm around both boys. "Hey boys, why don't the two of you help me with a little self sabotage?"
"I'm tryin' to win you filthy commoner!" Ezekiel said as he broke the girl's grip and walked ahead.
"Ugh, what a bunch of losers," Dakota complained as the camera cut to her and Lindsay. "I can't wait until Daddy pays the show off to make me win!"
"But like, wouldn't that be unfair?" the ditz asked, sounding more airheaded than usual.
"Who cares about fair. I'm rich," the heiress scoffed.
"You're somethin' alright," Sam said as the camera panned a bit to show him waggling his eyebrows with a lecherous smirk.
"Back off perv!" Dakota threatened.
"Typical chick," Sam scoffed. "You don't wanna nice guy. Bet if I was a hot jock you'd be all over me."
"Ooh I love hunky jocks!" Lindsay clapped excitedly.
"Hurry it up back there!" Ella's voice called out. "I won't hesitate to leave you behind!"
"Whatever!" Harold said gruffly.
"I'll be right there," Jaxon said soon after.
\
Chris laughed as the camera pulled back from the meek artist, now on one of the viewing monitors island's underground control room all of which show various spots in the forest. However the one on the far left showed a strange black silhouette with red eyes.
He sighed mirthfully and turned his back on the feeds. "The moon is up and everyone's been changed." he asked the camera as the series's capstone theme began to play. "How's this gonna affect their performance in the challenge? Stay tuned to find out, right here on Total!" The shot cut to shot of the orange moon just above the forest. "Drama!" The scene cut to the dock. "Redemption!" And finally a long-distance shot of the island.
\
(Commercial Break)
\
The episode returned to the scene to the Llamas of Loserdom, the focus being on Rodney and Shawn running in the front of their team.
"Uggh, where'd that idiot go?" Rodney complained. "Whose idea was it to give the map and compass to her of all people?"
"It's not my fault," Shawn defended. "Carly's the one who snatched everything and ran ahead."
"Does it even matter what happens out here?" Sierra said with a roll of her eyes as she ran to keep up. "It's not like anything we do on this show matters to anyone."
Rodney just kept running.
XXX
"Sierra doesn't care, Amy's too nice for this, Sadie's useless," Rodney complained as he counted off on his fingers, "and Carly just took off. I'm telling you girls are nothing but trouble."
XXX
Cutting back to the Ferrets, the shot focused on the three boys not involved in an alliance. "So, guys," Harold opened, "I think we need to do something about those three." The viewpoint shifted behind him, showing Gwen, Trent, and Ella.
"I don't know, man," Jaxon said as the camera cut to him. "They all seem pretty intense, I don't wanna be around when they get voted out."
"Gosh you're such a wimp," Harold retorted with a roll of his eyes, "but what the million? You wanna win don't you?" Jaxon scratched the back of his neck and looked uncertain.
"I'll vote for any commoner who gets in the way of my winnin' eh," Ezekiel added.
\
Another flash returned the focus to the Llamas of Loserdom.
"Man, where were you guys?" Carly admonished her tired teammates.
"Tryin' to keep up with you!" Rodney said as he caught his breath. "You're way fast."
"It's called bravery," the normally timid girl replied, "you might wanna look it up."
"At least tell me we're close to the campsite?" demanded Britney.
"Campsite?" Carly repeated. "How the heck should I know, I only looked at the map once!"
Britney glared at the girl, and swiped the map and compass. She studied the two for a moment, and started to continue down the trail. "Lucky for you, we are close. Keep acting like this and I won't let you into Dave's harem."
"See," Carly said smugly, "I knew I was going the right way! If you all weren't so cautious we'd be there by now."
\
The scene changed to the top of a tall pine, which panned down to show the Ferrets of Failure in a clearing with a few sleeping bags and other camping gear.
"Okay, according to this we need to find our food," Trent read from the map. "So who's up for some hunting and gathering?"
"On it!" Harold offered first. "I'm pretty good at identifying edible flora."
"Oh, mind if I tag along?" Dave asked second. "I just can't get enough of being around Mother Nature."
The dweeb shrugged. "Suit yourself. Anyone else coming?"
"Ella, make yourself useful for once and go with them!" Gwen demanded, pushing her cousin forward.
As Ella glared and joined her teammates, Ezekiel stepped forward. "I can't think anybody'd be dumb enough to have a problem, but I'm gonna try an' catch some fish eh."
Gwen nodded at him. "Okay then, the rest of us will stay here and set up camp."
\
"So, what are we gonna do about food?" Eva asked as the scene shifted to the Llamas.
"One or more of us will have to forage," Britney responded as she helped Shawn make quick work of their team's tent. She noticed the generally blank looks of the others and her face fell. "Guess I'll do it," she sighed. "The rest of you get to work making the fire."
"I don't get what the big deal is about nuts and berries," Scott said. "Why bother wandering around looking for 'em when we can just snack on a few clods?" He bent down and scooped up a handful of dirt and shoved it in his mouth.
The ones watching him recoiled in disgust. "That's soooo gross!" Sadie said.
Scott looked somewhat crestfallen. "Oh. Sorry guys. I didn't mean to make you upset" He sighed and walked away from the group.
\
Back with the Ferrets, the seven teens had finished setting up and were now waiting for the food to arrive.
"What is taking them so long!" Dakota complained, slumping against the tent.
"I'm sure they'll be back soon, right?" Jaxon wondered aloud.
"Count yourselves lucky eh," announced a voice just out of view, "the fish is here!" The camera panned over to show Ezekiel emerging from the forest with a few fish tied up with twine.
"It's about time!" Gwen called as the young man reunited with the team.
"I'm not apologizing for makin' you wait," Ezekiel told her, looking around the clearing. "I shouldn't have even had to do anything for you peasants."
"Where's everyone else?" Sam asked.
"Right here!" exclaimed Dave, jumping out of the trees with a sack full of nuts and berries. Moments later, Harold and Ella arrived with a similarly large bounty. "Turns out this island's got a pretty good stock of berries, even if they're a bit spread-out."
"Yeah, but Dave had no problem finding them," Ella told the group, "I suppose the nature weirdo isn't as useless as we thought," she said to her alliance.
"Britney taught me!" Dave explained happily, "and this isn't too far from where we use to forage last time I was here."
"I should've been allowed to just buy some food," Dakota said, "but it looks like we've got ourselves a meal for now."
\
The camera cut back to the part of the forest where the Llamas of Loserdom, campsite now set up, awaited the return of Britney.
"I hope she gets back soon, I'm getting worried!" Amy groaned along with her stomach.
"I wouldn't worry," Scott added as he sat down next to her, "Britney's really strong. She can handle almost anything."
His attempt at placation backfired as the girl beside him looked sad. "Guess that's just another girl that's better than I am."
"That's not what I meant!" Scott said quickly. "Trust me, I think you're the best girl on the team!"
The two normally villainous players gasped, then looked away with blushes.
"Hey look," Eva cried with a gesture the camera followed to the edge of a trail, "Britney's back!"
The hungry teens looked at her expectantly, and were rewarded by a pile of berries and green apple looking things dumped on one of the sleeping bags. "Eat up," she announced. "I found a huge bunch of Chinese Mulberry Bushes. And I snagged a couple of manchineel fruits in case the other team decides to steal from us."
"Great job!" Carly exclaimed, sampling a few of the berries.
"Thanks," Britney answered, "but like I said, don't eat the Manchineel fruits, they're poisonous. Technically."
Sierra shrugged. "Guess I'll avoid them then."
"Wait, what do you mean technically?" Eva asked fearfully.
"Standard survival rule," the globetrotter said. "If it bites you and you die, it's venom. If you bite it and you die, it's poison. Well you won't actually die but it won't be good."
"Good thing there aren't any of those Mandy fruits," Cameron said with a dumb smile, holding an apple. "Just these apples!"
"Don't eat those you idiot!" Sadie said, diving to knock the fruit out of the boy's hands, but it was too late, Cameron had already taken a bit and his throat had swollen up.
The bubble boy made some sort of plea, but it was too garbled to understand.
\
The Ferret logo appeared in the corner of the screen as the scene cut to their fish cooking over an open fire tended by Dakota and Sam, most of the others gathered around and waiting.
A rustling attracted their attention and the camera panned to Dave emerging from the bushes with several piece of wood under his arms. "Hey guys, I got more wood!" he told his team.
"You're doing good if you want to keep me from voting you off," Harold told him.
Dakota looked at it quizzically from the fire. "Don't we have a good enough fire?" she asked.
"The fire could die down before we want it to," Dave explained. "So it's always good to have some back-ups nearby."
"Ugh," the heiress groaned. "Poor people have it so bad. Like can't we just pay someone to do the fire for us?"
"Great idea Dakota!" Lindsay clapped and cheered.
The shot cut to Trent rolling his eyes, and walking over to Gwen and Ella. "Eat quickly, you two, I wanna get started before it gets too dark."
"Don't rush me," Ella snapped, swallowing a few berries. "And don't talk so loud. What if the others hear us?"
Gwen scowled. "Do you wanna win or not? As long as we can find our way back to camp and the Llamas can't, it doesn't matter where we spend the night!"
\
The scene switched back to the Llamas sitting around their campfire. "...so anyway, the guy's eyes are dangling out of his skull. Mom's all 'they just brought me this guy to get T.O.D.'," Carly recounted to her mildly interested teammates, "so she goes to touch his neck and the guy turns to look at her and say 'Yo man! Be gentle!"
Most of her teammates laughed at the story, but Eva trembled in fear. "She wasn't scared?" she asked timidly. "She must of thought the guy was a zombie."
Shawn scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Zombies aren't real. That's just a conspiracy to stop medical advancement."
"I'm just relaying the story told to me," Carly said. "Are you callin' my mom a liar?"
The timid iron woman looked down. "No! I just don't know how she wasn't scared."
"Oh she was," Carly smirked. "That's why I had to sneak a new pair of underwear to her."
"That was so kind of you to help your mom like that!" Amy gushed.
"If you're half as cool as she is we're golden for the rest of the game," Scott added.
\
"And that's why Scar is afraid of lizards." Harold finished with a smirk as the camera cut back to the Ferrets of Failure.
"Man, that was a killer story," Sam told him while playing a handheld. "If I was Cody I'd take her to reptile shows. Scared girls are way easier to canoodle with." Most of the others shown on-screen shook their heads in disgust; only Dakota seemed outright offended.
XXX
"Sam is such a pig," the heiress complained. "But why am I ticked that he's leching on other girls?"
XXX
A rustling bush caught Harold attention. "I take it my bandmate and his alliance have come back?" he asked with a hint of smugness.
Rather than his teammates, or any other human, it was Scuba Bear that entered the clearing.
"SCUBA BEAR!" Jaxon shouted immediately. "Get to the trees!" Not missing a beat, the artist scrambled up as high and as fast as he could. Dave yelped and scrambled after him, and the other Ferrets of Failure followed suit.
Only Sam remained on the ground. "What about those of us who can't climb?" the young man said, struggling to hide his own fear. The bear growled and stood up on it's hind legs. "Now what?" Sam said, backing away slowly.
Scuba Bear growled at him menacingly and he backed all the way into a tree as the bear followed him on all fours. He gulped, and let out a squeaky fart. The bear stood up with a look of disgust, and walked away with a grunt. The seven teens remained where they were for a few moments until the gamer returned to his seat by the fire. "You can come down now, we should be safe for the rest of the night."
"That was awesome Sam!" Sky began as she dropped down to the ground.
"Absolutely disgusting," Ezekiel added, landing with a thud.
"But amazing nonetheless!" Dave finished, merely poking his head out of the branches. "How'd you come up with the idea to do that?!"
Sam shrugged. "I just got lucky."
\
A few clouds were shown in front of the moon as the scene shifted to the other group of Ferrets. "If I remember right," Trent said, "the Llamas headed north when the challenge started." The musician was shown squinting at their team's map and compass in the moonlight. "Meaning their camp should be...this way!" He pointed to his left, and ran off.
"And you remembered to let the others know you took the map right?" Gwen panted as she struggled to keep up.
"Relax," Trent assured. "I told Sky what we were doing before we left!"
"I hope you're right for your sake," Ella said.
A sudden noise caused Trent to stop, and his allies to nearly run into her. He motioned for them to stay quiet. After a while none of the trio heard anything.
"Looks like we lucked out," Trent told them after a moment. "Now come on, we gotta be quick! You two remember the plan, right?"
"Once we find their camp," Ella answered, "I need to sing a haunting melody to scare them away from their campsite."
Gwen continued. "And with them distracted, you and I take their supplies and try to keep them from finding their way back."
"Exactly!" Trent said. "Now we just need to find 'em..." He squinted at the map again, but as a quick shot of the sky revealed, there were too many clouds in the sky for him to read by. "Hold on...I think we need to go...that way!" He pointed in a different direction, and the three started off again.
\
A wolf howled as the scene switched to a view of the Llama's campsite from the forest. The fire was still going, and was tended to by Shawn, but the other members of the team were out of sight. The camera adjusted a bit to show Carly walking over to him and sitting down.
"How's Cam?" the survivalist asked.
"That salve you made for him did the trick," she told him. "Mostly everyone's asleep."
"So I take it you couldn't sleep?" he asked.
"Nope," she said, popping the P. "I just couldn't get comfortable. There's something odd about this challenge."
"What do you mean?" Shawn said. "Like we're in some sort of story or something, because I've read a few message boards and-"
"No I mean, can you remember anything before that weird moon started glowing?" Carly said.
"That's..." he trailed off looking at the orange moon. "A good point. All I remember is being told the challenge. I can't even remember what I was thinking at the time. You think Chris is messing with us?"
"I'd be surprised if he wasn't," Carly said, leaning her head on the boy's shoulder. He stiffened and blushed but she just rolled her eyes. "Let it happen Conspiracy Boy."
\
The footage skipped back to the main group of Ferrets. "I wonder where the others went?" Dave asked as he and the others finished off the last of their food.
"I don't know," Sky answered mischievously. "They all seemed pretty scheme-y when they left though."
"I hope they didn't run into that bear," Jaxon said.
Sky smirked. "It almost sounds like you want them to get hurt. Planning on throwing the challenge?"
"What?" Jaxon blustered. "But I-"
"Gosh," Harold added, "that's pretty terrible of you, dude."
The artist hung his head in resignation, only picking it up when another camper began to talk. "What the heck guys?" Dave objected. "He didn't say anything like that!"
"Besides, he's too spineless to do that," Dakota added.
"Yeah, he's a total follower. He's not a leader like you Dakota," Lindsay parroted.
"The ears of commoners lead them to jump to conclusions," Ezekiel interjected. "Let's just go to bed eh." Most of the remaining Ferrets glared at the homeschooler, but did as suggested.
\
The scene cut back to the other Ferrets, with the three alliance mates glaring at one another near the entrance of a cave. "No, it is not my fault we got lost." Trent hissed, not taking his eyes off his girlfriend. "You two are the ones who took the map from me!"
"Because someone kept dragging us around in circles!" Gwen shot at her boyfriend.
"Don't act so innocent Gwendolyn," Ella snapped. "You got us even more lost than your boyfriend."
"Look, why don't we just rest in that cave and get an early start tomorrow?" Trent suggested. "Then you can apologize to me in the morning." The girls glared at him, but shrugged and followed him into the cave
\
The scene faded into a shot of the sun rising into the sky. Birds could be heard singing as the camera panned down to show Ezekiel stretching as he exited the tent, followed by Harold.
"That's weird eh," the homeschooler muttered. "I can't remember anything that happened last night! How'd we even get here anyway?"
"WHY AM I COVERED IN DIRT?!" Dave screamed in panic from inside the tent, rushing past the two.
"Beats me," the other boy added. "But whatever happened, we somehow lost Trent, Gwen, and Ella."
"Yeah, well," Sky told the two, walking over with a slight scowl, "wherever they are, they probably have the map. I hope someone knows how to get back."
\
Another cut showed Gwen standing at the mouth of the cave she'd entered the night before. She whistled sharply, startling her boyfriend and cousin out of their slumber. "Hey!" she called, panicking slightly. "I have no idea how we got here but we gotta get back to camp before we lose!"
Trent rubbed his eyes, then immediately widened his eyes and pointed wildly at something behind Gwen. Their younger companion's eyes also went wide, and she immediately began pointing herself.
"What's wrong...?" Gwen asked, finally bothering to turn around.
Behind her was none other than Scuba Bear. It reared up on its hind legs and growled, sending the three Ferrets running.
\
Back with the Llamas, everyone was shown sleeping rather peacefully before the camera zoomed in on Shawn asleep on the ground with Carly snuggled up against his chest. She blearily opened her eyes, blinked, then bolted upright.
"What are you doing?!" she shouted, her cries waking up the others. "Why were you cuddling me?!"
"I don't know!" Shawn shouted, waking those who weren't roused by Carly's screams. "Last I remember we were walking in the woods!"
"What the?" Eva said as she woke up. "Everyone get up!" she commanded, getting to her feet and immediately checking her own pockets for the map and compass. "Get up, all of you! We need to get back to camp! Where's our map and compass?"
"I have them for some reason," Carly said putting the iron woman between her and Shawn to the survivalist's disappointment.
"Let's go!" Eva commanded once again.
XXX
"Well I don't know what I did last night," Shawn sighed. "But it probably undid all my progress in making Carly trust me. I don't know why I'm even focusing on this so much."
He perked up. "Seriously. I don't know why I'm focusing on this so much. I've never really cared what others thought of me so why is she so different?"
XXX
"I don't know how I ended up in his arms," Carly confessed. "But it proved how dangerous Shawn is. My face was all hot and my heart was beating faster. He's clearly doing something to mess my mind up!"
XXX
The music became tense and the footage skipped ahead to a sot of Chris drinking from a thermos while Chef prodded the main campfire pit with a stick, both with their backs turned to the camera. The host turned around just as the scene zoomed out to show the Llamas of Loserdom arriving.
"Hey!" Shawn called, "We got back first!"
Moments later, the Ferrets of Failure returned as well. "They beat us here!" Sky cried as he crossed the finish line.
"If it makes you feel any better" Chris crossed his arms at them, "You'd have lost anyway. I see three less Ferrets came out of the forest than went in."
Trent came running into view, trailed by Gwen and Ella. "Did we make it?" He asked immediately. He was met by glares from his teammates, and sighed in defeat.
"Okay, not gonna complain about a free win," Scott said, "But what the heck happened last night?!"
"Like it matters," Amy scoffed. "We won."
The camera switched over to the grinning host. "Alright, Ferrets of Failure! One of you is about to get the boot!" He turned to the other team. "Llamas! You get to spend tonight with a take-out dinner from," a drum roll began, "Darwin's All-You-Can-Eat Food Safari!" A triumphant theme played as the Llamas ran off to claim their prize. The Ferrets gasped, and glared at trio.
XXX
"Well this sucks," Trent told the confessional. "I just wish I knew why we caused the team to lose. Well," he shrugged. "Only one thing to do now."
XXX
The music switched again to the tense and foreboding melody reserved for the elimination ceremonies.
"You've all cast your votes," Chris said as the camera came in for his standard close-up. "The camper who does not receive a marshmallow gets the Boot," his brow furrowed as he gestured towards the Boot of Shame, "and get the heck outta here! And!" he thrust a finger into the air before tapping it on his makeshift podium. "You can't come back. Ever."
The shot changed to show the Llamas as the host continued to speak. "Sky!"
The gymnast was shown accepting her prize with a smile. "Ezekiel!" Likewise, the homeschooler was shown making his catch. "Dakota! Lindsay! Sam! Dave! Harold! Jaxon! Gwen!" One by one, the camera panned to each camper happily accepting their marshmallow until only two were left. "Trent, Ella!" The musician and singer both looked scared. Chris continued. "This is the final marshmallow of the evening!"
The bottom two campers were shown again, Trent having decided to place a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "Ella! The host announced, but her shocked gaso meant she missed the bit of white
"Trent, you're out," Chris said from off-screen, the camera panning to Trent as he stood up.
"I know," he said calmly, the viewpoint shifting to the side as he turned around. "Thanks for voting for me like I asked, guys," he told the other boys on the team.
"No problem, man," Harold said with a calm smirk, bumping fists with his band mate.
"But why?" Gwen asked as she rushed to hug him.
"It was either you guys or me," he explained with a soft smile. "Seems like a good trade."
"You've always been too good for me," Gwen sighed, giving him a kiss on the lips.
"Thank you Trent," Ella said, tears in her eyes. "I'll try to win for you."
\
The screen flipped around, transitioning the scene to the Boot of Shame with Trent already loaded in. "So long everyone," he said as the sombre farewell theme played. "Good luck guys! I hope one of you win!"
"Ah Trent. As much as I like you as a person, you're absolutely crap for my ratings," Chris said simply as the shot cut to him pressing the button on his remote. Trent was kicked off into the night with a yell, and the shot cut to his former teammates watching him leave from the edge of the elimination area, a few silent tears leaking from Gwen's eyes.
"Another camper who's lost their second chance," Chris said smugly as the shot cut back to him, shrugging as the opening beats of the capstone theme played. "That's four down and twenty to go. Who's next for the big boot? Find out next time, on Total! Drama! Redemption!"
(Roll the Credits)
\
\
(Bonus Clip)
The clip opened with Trent's orb flying on-screen with him screaming within. It popped upon hitting the ground, causing him to fly out and land on his butt with a thud and a groan.
He stood up and rubbed his sore backside. "That could've gone better."
"Geez you didn't even make the halfway point?" a familiar voice asked. "Way to ruin my predictions for the season." The camera panned over to Kitsune crossing her arms and smirking at him.
"What can I say?" He shrugged. "I had to save Gwen."
"Y'know," she said with a laugh. "When I helped you guys back in season one I didn't think this would be how it turned out."
"People do crazy things for love," Trent smirked. Kitsune playfully slapped his arm, and the two walked off.
Author's Note Post Script: This one was probably a curveball. But Trent was another of those plotless characters. He's a cool guy, and that's about it. Aside from that I really like the idea for this challenge. So when I was coming up with ideas for how to redo this challenge I got the idea to swap the personalities of the campers instead of the animals. Which is why the moon was Orange instead of blue, because blue is the opposite of orange. Seriously. It was a challenge to write everyone's personalities swapped. And I think I defaulted to many into 'mean schemers' but it's certainly a twist on a not so well liked episode in canon.
As for why they don't remember the challenge? Honestly it's a cop-out. Too much would have to be explained and dealt with if they could remember. And it made more sense to allow Trent to go home. Who to be fair was supposed to go later on, but I swapped the eliminations because I could already tell the alliance was becoming a bit of a screen hog.
But here's what I was thinking on a case by case basis
On the Ferrets: Dakota, who's usually kind and sweet became woefully out of touch with people who aren't as wealthy as her. Dave, normally a germaphobe, became an agoraphile. I think that's the term. Ella just defaulted to mean schemer. Ezekiel, who is a bit of a caricature of people from rural poorer areas instead becomes a caricature of snobby rich people. Gwen and Harold also defaulted to rude schemers. Jaxon, who's normally kind of obnoxious instead became meek and spineless. Lindsay went from ditzy genius to sycophantic airhead. Sam went from nice guy gamer to "nice guy" gamer. Sky, who normally likes to win, instead wanted to sabotage her team. And Trent defaulted to mean schemer.
On the Llamas: Amy became a sweetheart and that was really creepy to write btw., Britney, normally a burgeoning yandere instead wanted Dave to be with as many girls as possible. Cameron became dumb as a sack of hammers. Carly became brave. Eva became a scaredy-cat. Rodney turned into a misogynist. Sadie became vain as an opposite to her normal lack of presence. Scott became honest and kind-hearted, Shawn, normally believing that fictional things are real, instead believed that real things are fake. And Sierra, the ultimate superfan, became super apathetic.
And even if they won't remember it, there was a little progress on Sharly. Their personalities may have been flipped, but the feelings were still there. As you can see with those last confessionals. And you can see a little of Scott's true feelings about Amy coming through as well.
And as always I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention something.
I hope you all enjoyed the episode, or some part of it.
And I'd also like to remind you guys that a TVTropes page for this series does exist and needs you guys adding to it.
With that I'm signing off
-TotalDramaFan14
RDR ELIMINATION TABLE:
24th Place: Gary
23rd Place: Anne Maria
22nd Place: Leonard
21st Place: Trent