Hello all. I am here with another (hopefully) exciting chapter of my re-write series. This was a really fun chapter to get through, so I'm excited to present it.

Also, if you didn't notice, I released a one-shot story about Bowie/Raj for Pride Month. Go check it out after you read this one, if you haven't already.

I also completed putting up my Total Drama Legends series on here. I've had in on Fanfic for a number of years now, but I only now finished uploading it onto A03. Check it out if you're interested. It's a multi-gen season with characters from the first three gens and a team from Ridonculous. It combines themes from the first three seasons and is my pride and joy.

Right, let's get into it.

Chris began his opening recap. "Last time on Total Drama Island, the campers were bouncing around, soarin', scorin', and all around feeling pretty sore. Good times. None were feeling more sore than Priya, who looked to get a big win after being played by Caleb. She ended up being the first one out of the game. Emma played well, hitting nearly everyone out and racking up a very high score. In the end, though, Damien proved to be a proverbial pain magnet and won the whole thing. Emma was eliminated, but left with her head held high and her smile bright."

A flash of white revealed Chris standing near the dock. "Good vibes and no hurt feelings?" Chris scoffed. "You don't get that on Total Drama. What you get is pain, crushed dreams, and whatever Chef cooks up. Now, what do I have cooked up for these campers? Find out here, on Total…Drama…Island!"

Damien was in a frenzy, as he ran through the forest. "Where is it?" He panicked. "Where is it?!"

He saw a tree and reached inside. He felt around, first accidentally squeezing a bird on accident, before finally finding what he was looking for. "Yes!" He pulled it out, revealing the golden Chris idol. "Found you!" He sighed in relief.

Confessional (Damien): He was holding a letter. "I found this on my bed this morning. It says 'I know you have the immunity idol.' With Julia, MK, and…Priya still in this game, I need to find a better place to hide this. And I can't keep it on me. They'll sniff it out like rabid dogs."

Static

The neurotic contestant tried several places, including a rabbit hole, an eagle's nest, and a bear cave. None of them proved to be helpful, except for being chased or mauled by the animals occupying the space.

Confessional (Julia): "So, this morning I wrote an anonymous letter to everyone left saying I know you have the idol. Doubt anyone will fall for it, but if they do, it'll be easier to weed them out."

Static

Damien was now shimmying himself up a tree, finding another hole to put it in. "This should be good enough." He pushed the idol. However, he was unaware of what was inside and had accidentally slammed the idol against a squirrel, trapping it against the wall.

The neurotic contestant let go and was about to go back down when he heard something. He looked down and could see Priya, by herself and looking frustrated. She kicked the tree that Damien was holding onto and the impact nearly knocked him off.

He looked inside the tree to see the idol, then back down to Priya, who was getting further and further away. Damien couldn't shake off the nagging feeling in the back of his neck.

Confessional (Damien): He sighed. "I said to Millie I would help Priya and I haven't. Now's my best chance. And as long as the idol stays where it is, I should be fine."

Static

Damien exhaled and carefully brought himself back down. He reached the bottom and ran off.

He hadn't been gone for long, when the squirrel emerged from its tree hole, holding the idol and angrily tossing it out.

Meanwhile, in a secluded part of the forest, Axel and Nichelle were in the middle of a sparring session. Axel had pillows taped to her hands and Nichelle was punching them. She was sweating down her face, which caught her girlfriend's eye.

Nichelle noticed. "Hey, don't get distracted. I might wallop you in the face."

Axel scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Don't worry your pretty face."

"Your dang right my face is pretty."

Axel smirked and they continued sparring. However, another thought struck Axel. Her eyes wandered for a moment.

Whack

Her distraction was broken when Nichelle's fist struck her in the face. She grunted and fell on her butt to the ground.

"Sorry," Nichelle said, stifling a laugh. "But I did say to not get distracted."

Axel clutched her nose. "Yeah, you did say that." She admitted.

Nichelle held out her hand and pulled Axel to her feet. "So, what's on your mind?"

The zombie commando didn't respond immediately. She looked at her girlfriend for a moment. "I…I've been thinking about what happened at the last challenge. When I stopped you from falling out."

"Oh, yeah. Y'know, I didn't show it, but I was…" She held up her index finger and thumb and nearly pressed them together. "...this close to kissing you."

Axel smirked at the thought, but it quickly faded. "That's actually what I wanted to talk about. When all this over, or whatever, are…are we going to have to hide this? I know you're still trying to get back into Hollywood. Do you think they'll still accept you?"

Nichelle pondered.

Confessional (Nichelle): "I…forgot about that. After spending so many years hiding myself, now that I actually have a girlfriend, I…don't think I want to go back to hiding."

Static

Nichelle put a comforting hand on Axel's shoulder. "I don't care, honestly. If Hollywood doesn't want me back because I'm dating a girl…then I don't want them."

Axel couldn't help but smile, but then another thought came to mind. "So…you're going to come out to them?"

Again, the former Hollywood star had to think about what to say. "I remember what you said about having awkward conversations with your parents, so I'm not going to come out unless you want to as well. But, if you need any sort of motivation, I'm sure your parents would like someone who's hot, a great actress, and, most importantly…hot."

Axel chuckled. "You said hot twice."

"I know, I think I earned a right to say it a second time."

The girlfriends laughed in their shared space.

Damien peeked behind a tree. He found Priya alone, pacing back and forth. In fact, she was pacing so rigorously, the grass beneath her had turned to a small trench.

The neurotic contestant gulped and put on a brave face. He stepped out from the tree and walked over. "Hey…Priya. How are you-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Priya snapped. "W-Whatever it is you wanted to talk about."

"Your parents?"

"Yeah, that!" Priya pointed a finger at Damien's face. "I'm tired of you telling me my parents are bad people. Without them, I wouldn't be who I am."

"I never said they were bad people."

"But you talked to Millie, and she thinks they're bad. I mean, what bad parents would teach a four-year-old the proper way to defend themselves from oncoming bear attacks?"

Damien blinked. "Is that…a rhetorical question?"

"It…" Priya faltered. "I-It doesn't matter. I know how to survive because of them. They trained me to be the best contestant on Total Drama."

"And is that what you want?"

Priya stared. "What?"

"Being the best on this reality show. Is that what you want? I re-watched the season and, last I checked, you wanted to go to med school. You have the million, so why not go for it?"

"Well, first I have to do one more season after this, maybe make a cameo in a next-gen season, appear in the cross-over season, and then maybe come back for a spin-off show."

Damien stared at her, dumbfounded. He quickly shook his head. "Then, after all that, you'll go to med school?"

"Well, probably, but-"

"And how are you going to do that if the only experience you have is on a deathtrap of a show like this? Does Total Drama teach you how to suture a cut on your knee, prescribe medication or read aloud about your embarrassing butt rash in front of a room full of other patients?"

"That…that last one sounds pretty personal."

"Point is," Damien said. "None of this will get you into med school. And, if I'm being honest, I don't think your parents want you to go to med school."

"Hey, you don't-"

Damien cut her off. "You're right. I don't know them. But I do know that parents who are looking out for their kid," He gestured to the wild forest they were in. ", wouldn't send them here to become a doctor."

Priya glared at her former teammate but didn't say anything. Her demeanor actually softened as she looked to the ground, contemplating what was just told her.

"I'll leave you alone to think about it." Damien started to walk away. He turned around briefly. "Just…just remember that Millie…and I are just looking out for you."

He left, leaving Priya alone and in complete silence to think to herself.

"Campers," Chris announced. "Come to the woods for your next challenge!" Everyone soon arrived to find the host and Chef standing in an open field. "Welcome all. Chef? Explain the rules of today's challenge."

"Today, you have to find the biggest item you can. It can be anything on the island. Once you find your thing, bring it back here. You have exactly twelve minutes and fourteen seconds to do so."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Why such a specific time limit?"

Chef reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. "It's the exact length of this video about a tortoise and a kitten becoming best friends." He smiled warmly, showing a video with a thumbnail of the two animals on it.

The host's mouth fell open. "Oh yeah, now it makes sense." He turned to the competitors. "You heard the man. Get out and find your thing!" He pulled out an airhorn from his pocket and pressed the button.

The competitors were soon off.

Priya narrowed her eyes.

Confessional (Priya): She sighed. "Alright. Gotta focus. Today's challenge is simple, but it's a big one. All those times my parents made me sleep in the woods have heightened my senses, so finding something should be…" She trailed off, realizing what she was saying. She quickly shook her head. "L-Look, my point is, I can win this!"

Confessional (Julia): "MK isn't going to let me win this, so I need to make sure I come home with immunity."

Confessional (Raj): He pondered. "I wonder what big thing I could use for the challenge. Maybe sitting in this giant outhouse could give me some ideas." He continued to think of something while sitting in the giant outhouse.

Static

Axel arrived at the mess hall. She knew exactly what she wanted and found it. The fridge.

Confessional (Axel): "Training for the eventual zombie takeover makes you aware of all the potential things that could be used as weapons. The bigger they are, the better they are for crushing zombies."

Static

Julia ran into the mess hall. She stopped when she saw Axel, already carrying it. She was struggling though.

She had to fake a smile. "Oh, hey Axel. You need some help with that?"

The zombie commando poked her head out to look at her. "What? No. I'm supposed to bring this by myself. Besides, I…" She paused. "I don't work with anyone."

"Oh, come on. You can't carry that thing by yourself."

"Oh yeah?" Axel strained her muscles and lifted the refrigerator high. Julia watched, as the fridge was now above Axel's head. The zombie commando panted but grinned. "Told you."

Julia looked up at the giant appliance that Axel was holding, then looked down at where she was standing and realized that she was in the perfect spot for Axel to drop the fridge onto her. She put her hands up and slowly backed away. "Alright…you made your point. I'll head out." She then turned and ran out.

Axel grinned until she realized the fridge was too heavy to support the floor. Her feet fell through and the sudden drop caused her to drop the fridge right on top of her. She grunted in pain.

Confessional (Raj): He was still thinking what to use, as he sat in the giant outhouse.

Static

"I think that one is big enough."

Damien was in another part of the woods. He had found a sheep with wool that was nearly twice as large as its body.

Confessional (Damien): The sheep was in the confessional with him. "Right now, I need to give Priya some time to think to herself, then I'll get back to her. But, right now, I have something big and I can carry it!" He laughed and hugged the sheep. "Damien is going for another win!"

Static

MK was walking by the mess hall. "Something big…" She pondered. "Preferably something that won't give me a hernia." She rounded a corner and saw something. Just behind the mess hall was a green car. Next to it was a sign with Chef's face on it.

Confessional (MK): "So, I can take something big without having to actually carry it and I get to stick it to one of the hosts?" She smirked. "I'm loving this challenge already."

Confessional (Raj): "Still thinking…"

Static

Nichelle found herself walking along the beach. She looked around in the hopes of finding something. "Maybe a rock…" She pondered. "Maybe I can find a beached whale…eh, that wouldn't look good for my future PR."

She suddenly spotted something. There was a motorboat tied to a dock.

She ran to it. "Yes! This should work!" Then she realized something. "Now am I supposed to get it running? I don't see a key anywhere."

"You don't need one."

Nichelle turned and immediately perked up, as Axel walked up to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I already got my thing, so I figured I'd help you with yours." She looked at the boat. "I know how to hotwire, so I can get it running. I've never run a speedboat though."

Nichelle put a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Leave that to me. I spent a few months on the coast of Italy and I've seen how they run."

Axel shrugged and jumped inside the boat.

She soon had the thing hotwired and moved to the passenger side. Nichelle jumped to the wheel.

"How are you going to get it to where we need it? The meeting location is on land." Axel noted.

Nichelle just grinned.

Julia was currently holding an ax and was chopping at a tree.

Confessional (Julia): "I can't believe it took me so long to realize that I could just use the trees around me. Spending so much time on this island is clearly making me dumber."

Static

Another chop and the tree started to fall. It crashed onto the ground. The influencer walked over, ready to move it. But, before she could, she heard the sound of a horn. She looked around when a car suddenly screeched to a halt next to her.

The windows rolled down to reveal MK at the wheel. "What do you think?"

"Stealing a car? Pretty on brand for you."

"Who said I stole it?"

Julia stared at the hacker, giving an unamused stare.

MK just shrugged. "Fair enough. You need help carrying it. I think there's some jumper cables in the trunk."

Julia was about to answer when she realized what was just said. "What? Wait, you want to help me?!"

"You said you wanted immunity to stay safe. At this point, I figured you'd accept it."

The influencer was still dumbfounded. "But…but you said you weren't going to let me win in this challenge."

MK brushed it off. "If you got eliminated, I'd either get bored or get eliminated. I don't want either of those things to happen, so I'll keep you around."

"Are you saying you like spending time with me?" Julia grinned.

"More than most people. And that's saying a lot. Let's get moving. We don't have to show up together, so I can drop you off close to the meeting location."

Julia decided not to question further and went to tie the tree to Chef's car.

Priya was currently rolling a large boulder up a rock. She strained but continued to push, finally reaching the edge and it fell into a waiting catapult.

Confessional (Priya): "Why lug when you can launch?" she chuckled. "That's what they said at catapult camp. At the place…that my parents made me go." Her smile fell. "I mean, I liked being around all those rocks and learning how to avoid being crushed by oncoming boulders, but…" She thought about what she was saying. "Huh."

Static

"Um, Priya?"

Last season's winner looked to see Damien walking up to her. He had a leash attached to his sheep. Notably, he was in awe at the catapult.

"Look, if you want to criticize my parents again, I don't want to hear it. Right now, my attention is fully on the challenge."

"I was more going to ask how you built a fully functional catapult in less than 12 minutes."

"Well, that's just what they teach you at catapult camp!"

Confessional (Damien): "Again, what messed up people send their kids to a place called catapult camp!?"

The sheep baaed

"I know, right?!" Damien yelled.

Confessional (Raj): He sighed. "Yeah, I got nothing. I guess I should've spent more time looking for something, than sitting in this oversized outhouse." He sulked for a while. Then something struck him. "Wait…" He gasped. "I have to pee!"

Static

The tortoise and kitten video showed the two animals snuggling with each other. Chris and Chef both watched it in awe.

"Who knew friendship could be…a good thing?" Chris wiped a tear from his eye.

A green car suddenly appeared and stopped directly in front of the hosts.

Chef gasped. "My car! You can't use that!"

"Last I checked, everything on the island was up for grabs." MK replied.

Julia appeared a minute later, dragging her tree. She saw what was happening and chuckled at Chef's misfortune.

Soon, almost all the competitors had arrived. Two were missing though.

Chris and Chef were waiting for them, with a toolbox.

"Well, campers." Chris looked at the pile of large items. "Looks like most of you found your objects. Though it looks like Nichelle didn't."

"Wait, only Nichelle?" Priya looked around. "Where's Axel?"

Chris shrugged. "She brought her thing, but I don't know where she went."

"Wait." Chef held out his phone. "There's still one more second left on the video."

"Alright, but I find it highly unlikely they'll arrive in-"

A loud crash sounded.

The campers and hosts turned to see a new addition to their pile. Axel, Nichelle, and their boat were somehow now sitting in the mish-mash of large things. Both looked bewildered.

Confessional (Axel & Nichelle): Axel looked over unnerved. "I was in the boat with you…" She said. "...and I still have no idea how you did that."

"Neither do I…" Nichelle admitted.

Static

"I'm surprised you guys came together." Chris noted.

"I thought you said Axel already brought her thing," Julia said, turning to the zombie commando. "Why were you two together?"

Both competitors nervously glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. Everyone else was equally suspicious.

"Well…" Axel looked for an excuse. She pointed at Damien. "Where did he get a sheep?"

"Yeah," Chris said, turning to the neurotic contestant. "Where on earth did you find Old Chester?"

"He hasn't been seen in years. Not since he escaped that wool farm."

Damien beamed. "I found him in the woods. If he's that important, then does that mean I win the challenge?"

"No way." Julia butt in. "The tree is clearly bigger than anything else."

"It is," Chris said. He paused. "And since everyone's here, we can now start the challenge!"

Everyone gasped.

"You said the challenge was to bring the biggest thing back here!" The influencer snapped. "I should be the winner!"

"Finding your items was integral to the challenge," Chef said. "We never said they were the challenge itself."

"At this point, you should've expected things wouldn't be that easy." Chris added.

No one could argue with that, so they listened in for the challenge rules.

"Each camper has a door." Chef pointed at a wooden flat board with a small square hole near the bottom. "Whatever you brought back, you have to put through the slot. If you break your door, you're out. The first camp to get their entire object through the door wins immunity."

"How on earth are we supposed to do that?" Nichelle asked.

"By using these tools," Chris said, opening a door on the toolbox, revealing several sharp objects, meant for cutting, breaking, and smashing.

Confessional (MK): "I'm not a mechanic, but I am an expert on breaking things. Just asked my 35 game controllers."

Confessional (Raj): He looked around the outhouse. "Breaking this down should be a piece of cake."

Confessional (Damien): He and the sheep were now hugging each other and screaming, realizing the terrible fate the animal was about to experience.

Static

Chris blew his air horn again, signaling the start of the challenge.

Julia immediately started chopping her tree with her ax. MK opened the hood of Chef's car.

"Easy, Chester…let's make things easy." Damien went to grab Old Chester. However, the animal did not like what Damien was implying, so ran towards him, knocking him to the ground and running him over.

Axel opened her fridge. She was greeted with the sight of a moldy, disgusting plate of…well, it used to be food. Axel sniffed, gagged, and tossed the plate somewhere far away.

Raj, wielding an ax, charged at the outhouse. He slammed the blade against the wood. Only, instead of chopping into it, the ax bounced off the wall and the blunt end struck Raj in the face. He grunted and fell back to the ground.

Nichelle was standing by her boat, thinking to herself.

Confessional (Nichelle): "Usually, I like to come up with a cool catchphrase when I'm doing something cool, like breaking down a boat. But, I don't know, it's surprisingly hard to come up with one about boats."

Static

"Alright." She held up her hand. "Dive. Dive. Die!" She karate-chopped the front of the boat. A loud crack was heard and Nichelle winced, pulling her hand back and clutching it with her non-broken hand. "Ow!" She screamed.

Axel turned and saw her girlfriend in pain. She stopped what she was doing and ran over. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Not really…" Nichelle grunted. "My hand really hurts. I think it was the catchphrase. That one was for a submarine, not a boat."

"It's not the catchphrase." Axel scolded, reaching into her pantpocket. "It was the fact that you slammed your hand against solid steel." She pulled out a roll of tape. She carefully took Nichelle's hand and began wrapping it up. "You have an arsenal of tools and you used your hand!"

"Sorry." Nichelle sighed. "Thanks…" It suddenly dawned on her what was going on. "Umm…" She looked around, then leaned towards Axel and whispered. "I think you should go."

Axel stopped. "What? Why?" With her free hand, Nichelle pushed Axel's face to her right. "Oh." The zombie commando realized.

All the other competitors had stopped what they were doing and watched, bewildered at what was happening. Axel looked back to Nichelle, and the two shared uncertain expressions.

"Umm…" The doomsday prepper tried to think of something. She suddenly had an idea. "T-That should…stop you!" She pointed, desperately trying to act intimidating. "Now with your hand taped up, you won't…be able to smash anything…any further." She glanced at the other competitors, who were still confused. Axel thought it was best to leave, so she ran back to the fridge.

The competitors soon returned their focus to the challenge. MK looked over Chef's car with a power drill in hand.

Confessional (MK): "Last year at school, I had to take either auto mechanics or theatre. I picked theatre, but then they asked me to share my emotions as part of an acting exercise, so now I know a lot about cars."

Static

Damien had finally been able to calm down Old Chester and was talking to him. "Listen, I need you to get through the hole if we want to win this challenge. I can do that in a way that isn't horribly grotesque, but you need to work with me." He pulled out an electric razor and turned it on.

Chester looked nervous.

Confessional (Damien): "I hope this works. The hardest part will be getting Chester himself through." He paused. "I hope Priya's doing okay."

Confessional (Priya): "Damien's…wrong." Thwunk. The outhouse shook, but Priya didn't notice. "Quarry camp and catapult camp were super fun." Thwunk. Again. "Sure, I wanted to go to the regular camp, but my parents said-" Thwunk. She looked at the wall. "Could you stop that?!"

Raj appeared behind her, looking through the small window. He was holding an ax. "Oh, sorry. Didn't see you in there."

Static

Axel was working to remove the fridge's door, by violently kicking it off its hinges. It worked in one swift move.

Julia, meanwhile, was still chopping down her tree. "...and you ruined my shot!" She shouted, still chopping away at a progressively quicker and angrier shot. "I had the perfect shot set and you got in the way. I don't care if it was a public space and I don't care if you had a baby. Wait until I'm done!"

Confessional (Julia): "When I need to break stuff, I just picture the faces of people who wronged me. Like a mother running right in front of my camera, during my yoga vlog at the mall."

Static

Axel was still making progress, breaking apart the plastic trays on the inside.

Nichelle was still looking at her boat. "Why is this so hard? I really can't think of any puns involving boats. And I can't use my hand. Maybe my foot can-" She gasped, getting an idea. "Got it!" She positioned herself directly in front of the boat. She cleared her throat and brought her foot way up high. "Row, row, row your BOOT!" She slammed her foot down onto the front of the boat.

CLANG

The sound echoed around the challenge area. The boat suddenly started shaking. Bit by bit, it crumbled from the hard stomp Nichelle had given it. Soon, she was left with a pile of significantly smaller pieces. Nichelle smiled proudly.

Confessional (Nichelle): "It was the catchphrase that made the difference!"

Static

Julia soon had a large pile of splintered wood and logs surrounding her.

"Julia is definitely one of the frontrunners of the challenge," Chris said. "And Priya…" He looked over to see last season's runner-up. "...is hugging a boulder." He was right. She was looking very calm, as she rubbed her hands across the giant rock.

Raj was still trying to break down the outhouse and had still made no progress. "Alright," He said to himself. "If one ax didn't work…then I'll use two!" He was revealed now be holding axes in both hands. He let out a battle cry and ran towards the outhouse.

He slammed the axes against the wood. However, they immediately bounced back and struck him in the face again. He fell backwards again and groaned in pain. "Chris…what is this thing made of?"

"Wood, I think." The host answered.

Chef went over to the outhouse and knocked on the wood. "Wow. I guess all the years of pent-up farts and moody teenagers this thing has endured, has made the outhouse almost impenetrable."

Raj got back up. "Then that just means it needs another hit." He took his ax again and swung low at the structure. However, it slipped from his hands, bounced off the wood, and struck him right in the kiwis. Once again, he crumpled to the ground in pain. "Why wasn't I wearing a cup that time?"

"I don't think you know what impenetrable means." Chef looked down at him. He then looked up and gasped.

MK was currently ripping bits and pieces out of Chef's car. She tore out a metal box and tossed it to the side.

"Oh, no!" Chef yelped. "Now, how am I going to tell people my love for butter tarts by honking the horn?" He pulled out his phone. "I better call my mechanic.

Damien had finished sheering Chester. He had gotten all the wool through the hole but wasn't having any luck in getting the sheep in.

Currently, he was instructing the sheep to do jumping jacks. "If I get you just a little slimmer, you should fit right in." Chester was getting more agitated.

Axel, meanwhile, was making steady progress. In fact, she had reduced her fridge down to significantly smaller bits and only had one more pile of scrap left to put through.

She dumped it into the hole and jumped back. "Done!" She yelled.

"Woah!" Chris walked up to her. "You're not done yet."

Axel was confused. "Do you see another piece of refrigerator here? I got it all."

"I seem to recall that there was a plate inside the fridge."

"What, that doesn't-" Axel turned to see where she threw the plate. In that spot was a group of bears, sticking their noses in the old mush. The zombie commando sprinted towards them. She pushed some of the bears inside and grabbed as many bits of broken plate as she could. Once she had it all, she ran back to the door and put it through. "Now?!"

Chris shook his head. "You forgot the food that was inside."

"But the bears ate it all."

"Oh, then that means you're out of the challenge if you can't get it back."

Axel looked at the bears again. They had gone back to eating the mush and had just finished the last remaining glob. She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, I'm not out…"

Raj had still made zero progress in breaking down the outhouse. He brought in a chainsaw and was currently trying to cut through. After a minute of absolutely no cuts to the wood, he gave up. "Gotta think bigger!" He tossed the chainsaw to the side and ran off.

A second later, he came back, driving a crane with a wrecking ball attached to it. He positioned it over the outhouse and pulled a lover. The ball dropped down onto the outhouse. Like the axes before, instead of crushing it, the ball bounded off the roof and landed on the roof of the compartment he was sitting in. Raj was unceremoniously squished under it.

Confessional (Raj): He was covered in scratches and his jersey was tattered. "Man, whatever this outhouse is made of, I gotta see if the Snow Owls can use in our hockey gear. We'd be unbeatable."

Static

MK was using a crowbar to pry off the car's bumper. She had made steady progress and had the wheels, doors, and exhaust pipe removed. Chef watched in horror, as he saw his car get smaller and smaller. "What would the rebuild cost me?" He spoke into the phone. "It's a two job…possibly more… definitely more…at least a week."

Suddenly, the car burst into flames.

Chef yelped. "Put it out! Put it out!" He ran towards it.

Chris put a hand on his co-host's shoulder. "Chef, remember, you're not allowed to interfere in the challenges. Like you did with that blonde lady…whatever her name was."

Chef reluctantly stayed where he was.

Meanwhile, Priya, still holding her boulder, opened her eyes. "Found it!" She ran to grab a pick axe. She smashed it against a specific point of the rock. Cracks spread around it and within a moment, the boulder was reduced to little pebbles. Priya grinned proudly.

Confessional (Priya): "Ha! I found the weak point! I can't wait to rub it in Damien's face!"

Static

At that moment, Damien, still with Chester, ran by, running in place with his knees up. The sheep was doing the same thing.

Priya pointed at him. "In your face! I knew Quarry Camp would be good for something!"

"How is that going to help you get into med school?"

"I…" Priya held up her hand to make a point, but nothing came out of her mouth. "I…I-It doesn't matter. I can still win this." She went to pick up her tiny rocks.

"You don't have any bad memories going to…Quarry Camp?" Damien asked.

Priya scoffed. "No. I mean, once I got past the callouses in my hands, the dust in my lungs, and the inescapable heat of the sun, I was fine."

Damien just stared at her, looking horrified.

Priya seemed to understand what he was getting at and briefly thought about it. However, she quickly shook it away. "D-Don't distract me! I'm gonna win this!" She ran to her door with her handful of rocks.

Damien watched on, disappointed. Chester baaed in agreement.

Raj was back to facing off with the outhouse. He gasped for air, as was still making no progress.

Confessional (Raj): "Nothing's working, but I think I have an idea. My doctor, my teacher, and my cousin all said the same thing to me. They think I have the thickest skull in the entire world. So I guess it's time to start using my head."

Static

Raj picked up a bucket, placed it over his head, and ran towards his structure. He smashed his head into the wall and…finally, was able to break it down. He fell back to the ground and looked at his progress. "Yes!" He raised his arms.

Axel was still alive in the challenge. She had grabbed one of the bears that ate the moldy food and was currently holding it in a headlock, aggressively shaking it around. "Come on! Cough it up!" The bear tried to squirm out, but the grip was too tight.

Having just put some of her boat pieces through the hole, Nichelle watched what was happening.

Confessional (Nichelle): She sighed dreamily. She then quickly came back to reality. "Wow,I have a lot of questions I need to start asking myself."

Static

Axel gave the bear a swift punch to its gut. She heard a low rumble and the bear's cheeks suddenly grew. She pointed its head towards the hole and the bear upchucked through it. The bear then flopped to the ground, while Axel cheered. "Alright, now I win!"

"I'm pretty sure I saw more than one bear eating the food." Chris said.

The zombie commando grunted and turned. The other bears were already in the process of running off. Axel tried to stop them, but they were gone in a second.

"Oh, and it looks like Axel's ticket to immunity just left. She is out of the challenge!"

The zombie commando stomped her foot in frustration.

Damien was still trying to push Old Chester through the hole. The sheep was not being cooperative and put its legs out to block him. The neurotic contestant pulled him back and held him up. "Come on, we gotta work together." He turned. "We want me to win this, right?"

Old Chester finally had enough.

He glared at Damien, reeled its back legs back, and kicked him in the face. The neurotic contestant was sent flying backwards and crashed through his door, leaving a large Damien-sized hole through it.

Old Chester trotted away.

"I'm pretty sure Chef told you what would happen if you broke your door," Chris said. "I'll remind you…you're out!"

Damien sighed.

Nichelle had a large majority of her boat already through the door. She was confident she was going to win.

She grabbed another piece and ran back to the door. However, the piece she removed caused another piece to fall. It tilted and landed on the motor. The sudden hit caused the motor to activate and the propeller started spinning. It kept spinning and, with no base attached to it, the whole motor was now spinning. It slammed some of the pieces around, until it came in contact with a flat piece of metal, stuck in the ground. The piece was launched out and went flying towards Nichelle. The former Hollywood star turned, just in time, and ducked the oncoming projectile.

Unfortunately, the flat piece sliced through the door, cutting it in half.

"Oh, I'm sure you heard this a lot in Hollywood," Chris said. "Cut! You're out of the challenge!"

Chef's car had finished smoldering. Only, whatever was left of it, was now reduced to a smoldering pile of ash.

MK used a broom and dustpan to scoop it up. She soon had it all and ran to her door. A second later, she tripped over a rock and spilled all the contents. The ash scattered into dust and went into MK's mouth.

She coughed. "Sedan…can't be good for the lungs."

"MK, did you just inhale Chef's car?" Chris asked. "Unfortunately, that means you can't put it through the slot and-"

"I'm out…got it." MK was still coughing.

"Down to three." Chris narrated. "Raj, Julia, and Priya."

The influencer was completely focused on getting her tree through and was nearly done.

Raj, despite his setback, was also making steady progress and had caught up.

Priya was also nearly finished with her rocks. Except, she didn't look too good. "Gotta focus. Gotta focus." She was speaking to herself. "Come on, you didn't spend all that time at Quarry Camp to mess it all up. Who cares if it hurt your hands, who cares if you got sun blisters, who cares if I was only allowed to drink the sweat running down my body, who…" She trailed off, slowing her pace. She then dropped her rocks and stopped completely.

Damien watched, holding his breath. He looked around. "Um…Chris?" He said. "Raj broke the confessional, so what am I supposed to use?"

The host just shrugged. "Just sit on the pile that Raj left and that should work.

Remnants of the Confessional (Damien): "I really hope Priya is actually understanding what I've been saying. This could be a real turning point."

"Oh, hey Damien," Raj said, coming back with more wood. "Who are you talking to?"

"The audience. I'm doing a confessional."

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt." He tossed in more wood and ran off.

Static

"And it looks like it's just down to Raj and Julia. Since Priya seems to have stalled.

Last season's winner shook her head. "Oh no!" She looked frantic, so she grabbed her rocks and made a beeline towards her door.

Julia was holding some of the few remaining bits of wood. She looked at her remaining competition.

Remnants of the Confessional (Julia): "I need this win. No way am I letting immunity slip by me."

"Good luck, Julia," Raj said, holding more wood. "But I'm almost done, so how are you going to win if you're just sitting there?"

"Oh, that's easy, I-" Julia's eyes suddenly shot open.

Static

The influencer placed another wood piece in the hole and frantically ran back to her tiny pile. She saw Raj was heading to his door with his last piece. If she didn't hurry, she was out.

She dove towards the piece, picked it up, and ran. Raj was nearly at his door.

It was now or never. Julia threw her arm back and chucked the wooden chip at her door.

Raj was so close to his door, but Julia's piece soared to her's before he could reach it. It went right through, just before Raj could make it.

"Julia wins!"

The influencer celebrated and raised her arms. Raj and Priya groaned in defeat. From the sidelines, MK gave an impressed nod.

Damien watched, as he saw his friend storm off. He went after her. "Priya, I-"

But last season's winner cut him off, putting her hand up. "I want to be alone right now." She continued walking.

Damien watched her go, feeling hopeful, but also worried.

Chris was more focused on the winner of the challenge. "Julia, congrats on the win. Maybe if you get the million, you can buy Chef a new car."

The co-host was still on his phone but also clutching the little bits of ash left of his car. He sniffed. "I'll bring it in…first thing Monday morning." He dropped his phone and cried to the high heavens for his destroyed vehicle.

Damien was back in the woods. Though, he looked frantic. "Where is it?!" He looked around the tree. "It has to be here somewhere!" He climbed up to look in the hole. "I know I left it in here!" He poked his eye in, only to meet with a fist from the squirrel that resided in it.

He fell all the way down to the ground. He was hurt but had more problems.

Remnants of the Confessional (Damien): "It's gone! My immunity idol is gone! I left it in the tree and now I can't find it! This is bad! If I don't have it, someone else might've taken it. And if I don't have it, I might be eliminated. Emma won the first merge challenge but then got eliminated after the next challenge. I won that one, so that isn't good for my chances right now."

Static

The competitors were heading towards the elimination ceremony. They all looked nervous, but some were more fearful than others. They soon took their seats.

"Julia, you won immunity, but that only lasts for tonight," Chris explained. "Seven will turn to six, so let's find out who that unlucky one is. Chef?"

"Damien, you tried to stuff a sheep through a hole. We're going to get some calls for that!"

The neurotic contestant looked worried.

"Axel, you stomach-punched a bear. Not as bad as what Damien did, but you also helped Nichelle after she hurt her hands. You're too late in the game to be exposing your own alliances."

The zombie commando glanced over the Nichelle, who was sitting next to her. Both seemed nervous at the potential outcome.

"Raj, because of you, everyone's gonna have to pee in the woods until we get the outhouse fixed."

The hockey bro shrugged. "Wayner and I did that all the time when we had away games. The bus even had a bathroom, we just preferred it.

"And, MK." Chef sniffed. "You…destroyed my car."

"Don't blame me, blame the rules." The hacker pointed.

Chris held up his plate of marshmallows. "Get one of these, you're safe. If you don't, then your journey ends here."

He started listing the safe competitors. "Raj…Priya…MK…Nichelle…"

The former Hollywood star gladly took her treat, but her good mood quickly faded when saw who didn't have one yet. She saw Axel looking fearful.

Damien was also incredibly nervous.

"The final marshmallow goes to…"
Nichelle could see Axel's hands were shaking. She wanted so desperately to hold them and help her calm down, but also didn't want to risk forcing Axel out of the closet, so held herself back.

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"...Damien."

The neurotic contestant let out a loud sigh.

"Watch this," Chris whispered to Chef. "Axel is totally going to flip out."

But the zombie commando just sat where she was. She looked defeated and sad. She quickly glanced over at Nichelle but turned away before their eyes could meet.

Nichelle could see just how miserable she was and wanted so desperately to go over and hug her. But she knew it wasn't her call to make.

Axel silently got up and started walking away.

"Huh," Chris said. "I was not expecting that."

The zombie commando continued walking toward the dock. After a few steps, she started to slow down. Nichelle noticed. Then, she came to a complete stop.

Before anyone could do anything else, Axel turned around, ran back to the stumps, grabbed Nichelle by the straps of her shirt, pulled her up, dipped her down, leaned forward, and kissed her.

The former Hollywood star was surprised but was too happy to say anything.

Everyone gasped.

"Wow!" Chef exclaimed.

"I was definitely not expecting that." Chris said.

"They're kissing?" Damien questioned.

"Maybe that's her way of saying goodbye?" Priya suggested. "Does that mean she'll kiss the rest of us?"

"Ew," MK said. "Public displays of affection."

Axel finally pulled away. Nichelle had to catch her breath from the intensity of the kiss. She looked up at her girlfriend and smiled.

The zombie commando returned it. "You said it was my call, right?" Nichelle nodded. Axel pulled her girlfriend to her feet and turned to face everyone. "Everyone…Nichelle and I…are girlfriends."

"Wait, what?!" They all responded.

Nichelle continued. "Axel trained me in the woods and we both discovered that we really like each other. So we decided to become a couple."

"Is that why we never saw you around before or after the challenges?" Julia asked. The girlfriends nodded. "Huh. I'm surprised we never said anything about that."

"As much as it pains me to separate a loving couple," Chris interrupted. "Even though it actually gives me great joy, Axel is still eliminated. Follow me to the dock."

The zombie commando and former Hollywood star held hands, as Axel walked away. They didn't separate until Axel couldn't reach her anymore.

"I'm surprised you haven't said anything about this, Raj." Chef noted.

"Why would I?" Raj asked.

"Because you're not the only openly gay contestant here anymore?" Damien suggested

"Oh." Raj then gasped. "Wait, that means Axel copied what I did to Bowie when he got eliminated!" He gasped again, louder. "Holy cow! Nichelle and Axel are dating!"

"You just realized that?" Julia snided.

Axel walked down the dock and began her final narration. She was smiling. "Getting eliminated sucks, but it's a little better when I get to kiss my hot-as-heck girlfriend goodbye. I know I'm going to have to answer a lot of questions when I get home…"

Remnants of the Confessional (Axel): "...but I don't care. I'm done hiding who I am. Now the only hiding I'll be doing is in my bunker when the zombie apocalypse hits." She suddenly gasped. "I need to make another bedroom!"

Static

Axel awaited the Drone of Despair, as it grabbed her and took her away.

Chris watched her leave. "Axel has now kissed her second chance at the million goodbye." He chuckled. "Stay tuned to find out who the next competitor voted off will be, here… on Total…Drama…Island!"

Axel is one of those characters that I wish the canon series did more with. I really liked her design when I first saw her, so I was excited to see what they could do with her. Season one was sorta disappointing to see her being the second one gone and while I don't hate Ripaxel by any means, it's not something I would've wanted to see from her after what was set up.

I guess I'll talk about why I went with Nichaxel as one of the couples. I was originally hesitant about doing another gay couple because the first season set up the idea that gay relationships are handled differently than straight ones. Things happen differently with Raj and Bowie and I think that makes sense. But, I also needed another couple to give us something. I couldn't do Ripaxel if Ripper was gone and I made Caleb an antagonist, so he and Priya weren't an option either. I eventually thought about doing a gay couple again and finally landed on Nichelle and Axel.

I eventually decided to connect Nichelle hiding her lack of skills to keep up a facade to someone hiding their sexuality for fear of being rejected. As for the other half, I made Axel bi to keep the idea that Ripaxel could happen. And like Nichelle, Axel is dealing with issues stemming from her parents not being able to accept the part of her that likes the same gender. Again, Total Drama set the idea that gay couples are handled differently.

I'm happy I was able to get one more chapter out before my summer job. I am writing this six days before I release it, so maybe I can hash out some ideas for the next chapter. Speaking of, I'm really excited about this next one. Why? Well, you'll have to wait and find out. I'll see you when it gets released.

Ciao.

Merge: Priya, Damien, MK, Raj, Julia, Nichelle

Axel: Julia, MK, Damien, Priya, Raj

Damien: Nichelle, Axel

Elimination order:

16th: Ripper

15th: Chase

14th: Scary Girl

13th: Zee

12th: Wayne

11th: Millie

10th: Bowie

9th: Caleb

8th: Emma

7th: Axel