—-
The six remaining camper's stood on the dock of shame, looking down at the boats that were strewn about in the water around them. Chris McLean stood in front of them, and he wasn't too pleased at all. He stood with his hands crossed at his sides, and eyed the campers expectantly, awaiting an answer.
When nobody spoke up, Chris decided he'd repeat himself in the question he'd just asked moments ago.
"What the heck's the problem?!" He uttered again, this time louder than before, the contestants all looked towards Zhang.
"Him." Jade told Chris, "he's stolen my idol, he's framed my teammates, he's ruined friendships, you have to do something!" She pleaded with Chris.
Harmony and Andrea nodded in agreement. Zhang was smirking as he heard this, and he folded his arms proudly, eyes narrowed.
"It's not my fault you could muster up the brain power to listen to anybody." Zhang retorted at Jade. He walked over to Jade again, and began to imitate the contestants he eliminated, starting with Bryce.
"Oooh! Please Jade, believe me! I thought you were my friend!" He impersonated, and Jade scowled at him furiously.
Zhang then switched to Daniel. "He's evil! I have nightmares about him in my sleep! You're making a mistake!"
Once Zhang was done, he burst out in crude laughter, causing the other contestants to widen their eyes and cringe.
Zhang wiped a tear from his eye, "I mean, it literally had to flounder a boat in front of you for you to finally see!" He explained, before bursting into laughter once again. "You're part of the "problem," too! Accept it, espouse it!" He laughed and said at the same time, the camera panned over to Jade, who's expression was changing from anger to guilt.
"That's not fair, you can't say it like that!" She shouted at Zhang, but Chris put a stop to the brewing argument by blasting into his megaphone once again.
"SILENCE!" Chris shouted, and everyone turned towards him once again. "Okay," the host began to say, "what do you even expect me to do about this situation, huh? Just magically eliminate everybody who got bested?"
"No!" Jade said as she got ruled up again, Logan tried to put a hand on her shoulder to console her, but she swatted it away, much to the surprise of him.
"Hey!" Logan exclaimed.
"You need to disqualify him!" Jade told Chris, pointing a finger at Zhang in the process, and Zhang raised an eyebrow. "Stuff and nonsense." Zhang told Jade, "you can't disqualify me simply because I played the game. I brang the drama to Total Drama. The name even fits."
Starr gaped her mouth in disbelief, while Chris smiled widely. "When you mention it like that, I see your point, Zhang!" He exclaimed. "There's no reason to disqualify anybody. Regardless of what they did, to be honest with you."
"But…" Jade stammered, trying to find an argument that would stick. "He-he sank Jerd's old motorboat! What about that? You're just gonna let that slide!?"
Chris opened one eye, and raised an eyebrow again as she mentioned this, but he then shrugged, which surprised everyone. "Jerd's a fisherman, you know how many other boats he has?"
Chris then began walking away from the dock, leaving everyone by themselves. "I'd recommend getting dinner and heading to bed, the challenge starts at 8 AM tomorrow!" He called from afar, and everyone groaned.
Zhang smirked again, as he turned to Jade, "see? Told you."
The other contestants looked down at the ground in nervousness as they began to walk to the mess hall.
(Confessional: Jade)
Jade wears a look of scorn and revenge in the confessional, her fists are clenched tight, and it's clear that she's thinking about getting back at Zhang.
"I'm getting that idol back, or I'm getting eliminated trying, and if I do, I'm taking him out with me. Mark my words."
Jade's look of malice then switched to sadness as she rubbed the back of her neck in guilt.
"Sorry in advance, Bryce. I should've believed you, and you probably hate me now. Maybe I was part of the problem…"
(End confessional: Jade)
—-
The rest of the day was rather uneventful, the campers ate dinner at the Mess Hall, although most people were still trying to come to terms with the new revelations rather than talk.
After that, the campers took a shower in the communal bathrooms. Zhang made sure to keep the idol with him at all times, it didn't matter if it's hidden or not, only if he had it. Otherwise, somebody would surely steal it.
In the girl's side of the cabin, Starr and Logan sat at the desk at the far end of the room, by the window. Logan was writing something down in a notebook, while Starr was playing music.
"Wonderwall" By Oasis." Starr replied, "great song, and I'm kind of disappointed that it doesn't get the recognition it deserves."
Logan shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Yeah, I guess." He said coldly, which made Starr's smile fade. "What's wrong?" She asked.
Logan sighed, "are we just going to ignore what happened earlier today?" He asked Starr in a very serious tone. "I know we were both kinda oblivious to it, but we can't just let him get away with everything."
Starr looked away for a moment, but she eventually nodded. "I know, but I don't know exactly what to do. That's the problem."
"We could probably ask Andrea and Harmo-" Logan began to say, but he was interrupted when the door to the cabin opened, and Andrea, Harmony, and Jade walked into the room with chairs, and plopped them down in front of them.
"I believe I heard my name?" Andrea asked as she adjusted her chair. Logan simply stared at her in confusion. "Y-yeaah?" He responded slowly.
"Well, you're in luck, because we have a plan." She said as she pointed at Harmony and Jade, and then herself, Starr turned off the music to listen, "really? What's your plan?" She asked, Andrea, Jade, and Harmony looked at each other seriously before saying anything.
"It's not really favorable," Jade explained, "but it's the only way anything will work. You're not going to like it though."
Logan folded his arms and tapped his feet on the floor impatiently. "Well, spit it out, let's hear it!"
Starr nodded along with him, looking very interested at the plan they had made. Andrea nodded, and spit it out.
"We need to make sure Zhang loses the challenge, whatever you can to sabotage him, do it, but that leaves one teeny tiny problem." Andrea explained, and Logan raised an eyebrow. "What problem?"
"Zhang has his idol, meaning that unless we steal that from him, he can't be voted out." Andrea told the two.
"Then we just steal the idol back, easy peasy." Starr blurted out, "that should make it so we can get him out."
"Do you see Zhang anywhere? It's obvious that he hid it again, and we don't know where, so that's out of the question, which leads us to the second, and probably more important problem." Harmony told Starr. "Since Zhang can't be voted out, we have to all vote for him so he'll waste his idol. Meaning that…"
Harmony trailed off, and she sighed heavily. Logan's face turned into one of concern.
"He has a sole vote tonight, simple as that. He'll eliminate any one of us that he chooses, because his vote is the only one that will count."
Starr gasped quietly, while Logan scratched his head uncomfortably, "oh boy, I was not expecting that at all."
"Who do you think he'll vote for?" Starr asked Logan, who looked at the floor and shrugged. "I don't know, and I really don't want to think about that right now."
Logan stood up from the desk, and began to walk out of the room. "I'm tired, and I feel like going to bed, I'll talk to you guys tomorrow."
Andrea, Harmony, and Jade watched him leave silently, while Starr gave him a little wave. "Bye, Logan." She called to him.
Logan made a small wave to Starr as he exited the room.
(Confessional: Logan)
"That news made me really nervous, although I am somewhat relieved that Jade is still in the game, as that seems to be who Zhang hates the most, but if she wins immunity, then I don't know who he'll target."
Logan shifts in the confessional.
"Hopefully anybody except for me and Starr, I've grown very fond of her over the last few weeks, and I know before I said that I wasn't looking for a relationship, but maybe that wasn't exactly true…"
(End confessional: Logan)
After their conversation, everybody went to bed, except Zhang, who was just starting to make his way back from hiding his idol under the rock in the woods.
After he was finished, he stepped away and dusted off his hands, staring at the small rock in the dim dusk light.
He smirked in satisfaction, taking a deep breath of the cool evening air. He scanned the area cautiously as he stepped back. The woods were quiet, with only the distant chirping of crickets breaking the silence. He then turned and began walking back to camp, his footsteps silent against the forest floor.
As the last traces of sunlight faded, his smile faded to a look of apathy, he muttered under his breath to himself, "Let them try. It won't matter."
He exited the woods, entered the cabin, and went to bed.
—-
Cabin - Boys' Side
The early morning sun filtered through the small, grimy windows of the cabin, casting a dim light across the room. Logan was the first to stir, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he stretched out on his bunk. He swung his legs over the side and stood up, grabbing his undershirt and tee shirt from off of the floor. As he put it on, he noticed Zhang, who was now awake, rubbing his eyes and staring at him.
"Good morning, liar." Logan spat at Zhang, who smiled as he got out of bed and put on his day clothes.
"Good morning." Zhang said back cooly, causing Logan to frown. "I wouldn't count on it." He told Zhang, "you lied to everyone's faces, and I can't let you get away with it. You may be able to hide behind your little idol for a little while, but eventually you'll lose." He finished, and now it was Zhang's turn to frown.
Zhang grabbed his loafers and exited the cabin, before turning back to the woods to fetch his idol, Harmony and Jade exited their cabin, and saw him disappear into the foliage.
"We should follow him!" Jade told Harmony as she started to head his way, but Harmony held her arm back, and shook her head "no".
"It's not worth it." Harmony told her, "besides, he's already too far ahead. Just come eat breakfast with us."
Harmony and Starr walked out from the cabin, looking awfully tired. Jade immediately noticed the bags under their eyes, and her face fell.
"I didn't get much sleep last night, either. How can I, knowing somebody's going home that's not him." She pointed into the woods.
"He's in there again?" Andrea asked Jade. "What a loser."
"That's where he hides the idol now." Harmony explained to her. "He's too smart to leave it out in the open, we'll steal it back."
Andrea frowned as Logan exited the cabin, looking at the girls in mild surprise. "Hello, there." He told everyone, Starr in particular. And they headed off to breakfast.
—-
In the depths of the woods, Zhang walked towards the area where he hid his idol, looking behind him every so often to make sure nobody was following him, he found the rock that was above the idol.
It was unmoved, fortunately for him. He carefully approached the rock, crouching down with a sly grin. The morning sun filtered through the trees, casting a faint glow on the small area. He knelt beside the stone, his fingers brushing against its rough surface. It hadn't been touched, just as he expected.
"Perfect," he whispered to himself, pleased that no one had discovered his hidden advantage.
But instead of taking the idol back with him, he stepped back, looking at the rock with a serious face. He then walked away, leaving the idol behind.
(Confessional: Zhang)
"I'll let them think I have the idol again, it'll probably throw them off, because instead of looking back there, they'll look at what I have on me. I'll come check on it again after the challenge."
(End confessional: Zhang)
—-
The camera cuts to the 5 other campers eating in the mess hall, once again, Zhang is absent from the group. Harmony nibbled on a piece of toast as Andrea stuffed a stack of questionable quality pancakes into her mouth.
Starr, who sat across from Logan, played absentmindedly with her fork, her eyes occasionally darting toward the empty seat where Zhang usually sat, and then at Logan, who couldn't help but crack a smile as he noticed Starr's gaze.
Starr met his eyes, and she blushed as she looked down. Logan felt bad for a moment, but perked up again with a smile. "You don't have to feel bad, you can look at me all you want." he playfully flirted with her, Starr smiled, while Harmony and Andrea raised an eyebrow.
(Confessional: Starr)
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm ready to ask him out. I'm just trying to find the right timing, maybe after the challenge?"
Starr plays with her jacket zipper in thought.
"Yeah, after the challenge."
(End confessional: Starr)
Zhang entered the Mess Hall just as the announcements rang, startling everybody. He turned back and exited the Mess Hall without even grabbing a plate of food.
"Attention, campers! It's challenge time! Meet me at the theater stage for your next challenge in 10 minutes!"
Andrea facepalmed, "oh great." Was all she said as everyone got up and left.
—-
The camera cut to the stage, with two sets of bleachers facing the stage as audience seats. Andrea, Harmony, Logan, Starr, and Jade sat on the left set, while Zhang sat alone on the right, his arms crossed and face scowling.
Chris stood on the stage, Chef by his side, and the two were whispering to each other quietly, not wanting anybody else to hear.
But the camper's weren't looking at either of them, they were looking at who was behind them, a mysterious figure stood half hidden behind one of the stage curtains…
"Alright, campers! Today's challenge is going to be a very special challenge, it's a music challenge!" Chris announced, spreading his arms wide. Chef nodded along with him.
Andrea groaned. "Please don't tell me we have to sing," she muttered, already unimpressed.
Chris continued, ignoring her. "That's right, you'll be putting on a little musical number for me, Chef, and… drumroll please for the special guest! …An actual music producer!"
The curtain opened, revealing a sharply dressed man with sunglasses and slicked-back brown hair, he also sported a mustache. He waved to the contestants, and Starr's eyes widened, recognizing him immediately.
"No way," Starr whispered excitedly. "That's Roy Harmonica! He's, like, huge in the indie music scene!"
Chris smirked. "You know it! Roy here will be judging your performances. The camper with the best performance will win the challenge, and in turn, immunity."
Everyone exchanged glances, Starr and Harmony looking thrilled, while Logan looked disappointed.
(Confessional: Harmony)
She was giddy with excitement as she sat in the confessional, eyes wide with joy.
"Yes! Finally! My choir experience as a little girl might actually mean I could win this!"
(End confessional: Harmony)
Roy eyed each of the campers individually, scanning the seats to see their reactions. "Alrighty then," he began, "here's how things are going to work, You'll be judged on three main things: Creativity, Stage Presence, and of course, Musical Ability. Now, I know some of you may not be pros, but that's okay. I'm looking for energy, originality, and how well you can hold the stage."
As Roy was explaining, Jade angrily snapped her gaze from him to Zhang, who didn't return it.
Chris chimed in, clearly enjoying the suspense. "You'll each have about three minutes to perform. You can do a solo, or you can pair up with another camper. But remember, even if you're performing in pairs, you'll be judged individually. So no hiding behind anyone else!"
Starr and Logan looked at each other in delight when Chris finished, they'd clearly be working together for this.
Roy continued, pointing to the stage setup. "You've got instruments here to choose from—guitars, drums, keyboards, whatever you want. And don't worry about singing if you're not a vocalist. Just make sure whatever you do, it leaves an impression."
Chef stepped forward, adding his two cents. "And if it's bad, you'll hear from me. And you don't wanna hear from me!"
Zhang rolled his eyes at Chef from the bleachers, which Chef noticed, he turned beat red in anger as he stormed over to Zhang, his boots thudding loudly against the wooden stage floor as the other campers fell silent.
Zhang barely had time to react before Chef towered over him, arms crossed, his glare sharp enough to cut steel. "You think this is a joke, boy?" Chef barked, his voice booming. "Rollin' your eyes like you don't got a care in the world! You think you're too good for this challenge, huh?"
Zhang stayed silent, but his smirk faltered for a brief second under Chef's intense gaze.
Chef, still fuming, turned back to the rest of the campers, his voice still loud and commanding. "Chris out here, making me deal with these maggots." He said as he stomped away, heading back toward the stage, leaving Zhang sitting there with clenched fists, clearly irritated by the public call-out.
"You all have 6 hours to prepare, we'll start the performances at dusk, and immediately after that will be the elimination, so be prepared." Chris said as he started to walk away, "you may start, me and Roy have a few things to discuss."
Chef, Chris, and Roy Harmonica went out of frame, and left the campers alone. Everyone went to look at the instruments and decorations behind the curtains, and there were a lot. Fabrics, streamers, glittery objects, neon signs, even a fog machine with a remote was available to use.
Zhang walked over to the fog machine, but Andrea shoved him out of the way, Zhang went tumbling to the ground over the force of the push. Andrea then grabbed the fog machine and remote and walked back to grab an instrument.
Zhang got back up, and turned around to face everyone with rage. He stood up, grabbed a few random decorations, and then looked at the instruments, he picked a large piano with wheels, and he wheeled it away.
(Confessional: Zhang)
"Parents made me practice for years, I hated it, but now I can play almost everything."
(End confessional: Zhang)
Jade looked through the instruments, she found an electric guitar, and she smiled wide. "I'm taking this!" She exclaimed as she hoisted the electric guitar off of the shelf.
Andrea was looking over her shoulder, shrugging nonchalantly. "You do you." She told Jade before looking over to the drums, and her eyes went wide with curiosity.
She walked over to the drums, they were maroon colored, with a big drum in the middle, and four smaller drums surrounding the big one, with three cymbals sticking up for the set. There were some pairs of drumsticks sitting on the side.
"I'm guessing you're choosing those?" Starr asked Andrea. "That's probably the last thing I would've expected."
Andrea looked over at her, annoyed. Starr cringed in embarrassment, backing up "no- no offense, of course." She added.
Logan walked over to the two, "you're going to want help lifting those." He told her matter- of-factly. "Those weigh at least 100 pounds-"
Didn't matter, Andrea ignored him, and grunted as she lifted the huge drum set up into her arms, and carried them off of the stage, startling Logan.
"You and I are pairing up, remember?" Starr told Logan as she nudged his side. Logan looked at her in confusion for a second, before nodding. "Oh, right. I didn't pick an instrument." He said.
Logan went over to the shelves of instruments, looking at them uncomfortably. He looked behind him at Starr, who was smiling eagerly.
"You're not going to pick one?" Logan asked her.
"I'll do the vocals!" Starr explained. "You can play, and I can sing!"
Logan looked back at the rack, and he absentmindedly chose a guitar, before turning around to face Starr.
"There, we'll use this." Logan told Starr as the two grabbed some purple streamers as stage decorations. They then set all of their things in a pile behind the stage.
"You stay here," Starr told Logan as they put everything on the ground. "I'm gonna get more deco, make sure nobody tries to steal what we have." Logan nodded as Starr finished and walked away, he then looked at the things on the ground, and sighed.
(Confessional: Logan)
Logan sat worriedly in the confessional, looking about nervously.
"I have no idea on how to play music! Or sing! I want to tell Starr that it might not be best to partner up, but I'm afraid she'll be disappointed…"
Logan rubs his neck sheepishly.
"In third grade music class, I accidentally made 4 girls cry from trying to play the flute. I never touched an instrument again after that."
(End confessional: Logan)
—-
Starr walked on stage just as Harmony began to walk off, carrying a violin. Starr picked up a pile of miscellaneous decorations, and headed after her.
"Harmony, you were in a choir as a kid, right?" Starr asked Harmony, who nodded. "Yes." She said, "why?"
"Well, that probably makes you a pretty good singer, I'd want you to perform with me and Logan! I think it'd be fun." Starr explained, Harmony listened as she spoke, looking over periodically to see Logan standing over by a pile of decorations.
"Sorry, Starr." Harmony told her apologetically. "But I think I'll just perform by myself-" Harmony started to tell Starr, but she stopped mid sentence when she noticed something.
She looked around at the other's beginning to perform, her eyes scanned to see Zhang setting up the piano, taking a seat and flipping through an old book of sheet music.
Her eyes then flipped to Andrea, who had placed her drums awkwardly on the ground, holding up the fog machine and looking at it in confusion. She pressed the "on" button on the remote control, and a large, continuous stream of fog and haze spewed out of the machine, and into Andrea's face, making her turn it off quickly and cough.
Harmony's face lit up. "I have an Idea." She enthusiastically said to Starr, who smiled curiously.
—-
11:00 AM
The contestants were all practicing playing their instruments, Jade was behind the stage, playing her electric guitar poorly in the style of rock. It sounded more like screeching cats than actual music.
She stopped playing, and sighed.
(Confessional: Jade)
"I'm really not that great at playing music. Maybe slightly better than the average joe, but still not great."
(End confessional: Jade)
"Looks like I'll have to put on more of a visual performance than an audio performance." Jade told herself as she put the guitar down and walked away. "Back to the stage it is." She said as she walked off screen to fetch more decorations.
On the other side of the stage, Harmony was playing quite a nice solo with her violin, her hands moving the bow seamlessly and effortlessly across the strings.
Across from her, Andrea watched her practice, she sat on her drums as she lightly smacked a few of them with her drumsticks, making nonsense noises. The fog machine, remote, and a few random decorations laid strewn about on the ground next to her.
"Andrea," Harmony called out, Andrea stopped tapping on the drums, and looked at her expectantly. "What do you need?" She asked her.
"That fog machine," Harmony started to explain, "when Zhang goes up to perform, can I see the fog machine, I have a plan." She told her.
"What plan?" Andrea pressed her.
"You'll see." Harmony said. "Just make sure you give me your fog machine." She added. Andrea loudly smacked a cymbal. "Yeah, yeah, sure." She told Harmony. And the latter smiled wide.
"Thanks!" Harmony said happily as she looked at the fog machine. "So this is what we'll do first…"
—-
On the stage, Starr and Logan prepared for their performance. Starr wanted to go up first, but Logan disagreed.
"Why not?" Starr asked him. "Too scared?" She teased him, making Logan roll his eyes jokingly.
"I just want… more time to prepare!" Logan came up with on the spot, that seemed to be good enough for Starr, and she went back to quietly singing.
(Confessional: Logan)
"She does have a very sweet and pretty voice." Logan told himself. "I wish I could be like her, I gotta tell her I can't play music. I feel like a liar."
(End confessional: Logan)
The duo restarted their practice song, and Starr began singing the song again, this time a little louder. Logan strummed awkwardly, his fingers stiff and misplaced on the guitar strings. Not only that, but they were incredibly off-tune to her voice. Starr didn't notice at first, but soon, the missed chords started to pile up.
Starr paused, turning to him with concern. "Logan, are you okay?"
Logan sighed heavily, staring at the ground. "Starr, I... I have to tell you something before we perform. I don't know how to play guitar. Or any instrument, really."
Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't look mad. Instead, she laughed softly, shaking her head. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" She softly said.
"I didn't want to mess this up for you," Logan admitted, looking embarrassed. "I thought I could just… fake it."
"Well, I'm happy that you told me the truth." Starr told Logan with a soft face. "You don't have to fake anything."
"Really?" Logan asked as he looked up from the guitar. "You're not mad at me?"
Starr shook her head no, and grabbed his hand. "Maybe I'll play, and you'll sing? Would you be better at that?"
Logan nodded happily, and he gave the guitar to Starr. "I think that would be great!" He said, and the two began practicing together again.
—-
1:00 PM
Zhang played the notes of the piano, reading his sheet music that was placed on the top of the piano. His fingers moved effortlessly, mostly because he'd been doing that for years.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw black leggings move in front of the piano, and then Andrea's head come into view as she watched him play. He was too busy focusing on the sheet to react to what happened next.
The sheet music was snatched by Andrea as Zhang was in the middle of playing it, Zhang jumped in surprise, and watched as Andrea turned the papers around to look at them.
"Give… that… BACK!" Zhang screamed at Andrea as he hopped off of the piano and grabbed Andrea's arm.
Andrea jumped back, and shoved Zhang onto the ground full force, he went plowing into the dirt, his body rolling in a circle as his suit became covered in smeared grass stains.
Andrea walked over to where Zhang had rolled, and began ripping the old sheet music into little pieces. Zhang watched in rage as his face turned a light shade of purple. He launched himself at Andrea, who barely moved as he threw himself into her.
The last thing Zhang saw before being knocked out was Andrea blowing the torn pieces of paper into the wind.
WHAM!
—-
Harmony was fiddling with her violin when Andrea ran over to her, panting and looking slightly nervous.
"What happened to you?" Harmony asked Andrea in concern. "You look like you saw a ghost…"
Andrea looked back behind her, before turning back to Harmony. "Things didn't… go so right…" She slowly explained.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harmony pressed her.
"Uggh! I… punched him… in the face." Andrea finished, looking down at the ground in what was either guilt or shame.
Harmony widened her eyes at the news. "What?! You were just supposed to steal the sheet paper so he couldn't practice! You could've killed him, knowing how strong you are!"
"It's not like I mean't to do it!" Andrea defended. "And besides, he's fine… I think."
Harmony crossed her arms in disapproval at Andrea, but then her face switched to a sly grin. "I guess he does kinda deserve it." Harmony said quietly, and she giggled to herself.
Andrea couldn't help but smile either, and the two shared a quick laugh while Zhang's groans could be heard far in the distance.
—-
5:00 PM
A few hours later, everyone was done rehearsing, or… ad-libbing, in Logan's case, and the sun was beginning to head west.
Jade practiced one last time before the performances started, as she would be the first to go up in a few minutes.
She decided to play one of her favorite songs, "Ruby Soho" by Rancid. She'd listened to the instrumental enough times to memorize how to play it, but actually playing it was a different story.
She tried a few times, and they sounded okay enough. But not exactly how she'd imagined it.
"Maybe if I add a few lyrics in there?" Jade said as she strummed her electric guitar again.
Unfortunately for her, the announcements sprung to life, interrupting her practice. But to her surprise, Roy Harmonica was the one who was making the announcement.
"The performances will start in 4 minutes, everybody who is NOT performing at this time may leave their instruments and stage decorations in the stage closet of the stage."
Jade looked confused, and she looked around at the stage. "There's a stage closet?" She asked nobody.
"Yes, there's a stage closet, now move it!" Roy somehow answered over the speaker.
—-
A few minutes after that, the curtains were closed, and everybody who was putting their things in the stage closet were leaving, with the exception of Andrea and Harmony, who were hiding inside the closet, holding the fog machine.
As Andrea turned to leave, Harmony shot her a thumbs up with her free hand, and Andrea nodded in acknowledgement.
(Confessional: Harmony)
"Ohhh I hope this works, I know there were still other sheet music papers lying around somewhere, I forgot to take them away so I think Zhang just practiced a different song after the whole Andrea incident. But I think this'll stop his chances of winning for good."
(End confessional: Harmony)
Harmony found a large rope, used for stage decoration, and tied the fog machine up onto one of the lower strobe light racks, she hoisted the fog machine up onto the top of the rack, and smiled wide.
Jade, who was hanging up her decorations, looked at her, clearly puzzled. "Uhh, since when were we performing together?" She asked Harmony with a raised eyebrow.
"Oooh, don't mind this. Just something I added." Harmony replied, and Jade shrugged. Harmony then slinked back to the stage closet again in wait.
Jade stepped up to the far end of the stage, knowing that the curtains would be opening any second now, she held her electric guitar in her arms, trying to keep calm, but her nerves were getting the best of her. She took a deep breath as the curtains opened, revealing the audience in the dimly lit theater.
Andrea, Logan, Starr, and a black-eyed Zhang sat waiting in the bleachers. Jade took a small mental note when she failed to see Harmony sitting in the bleachers, too. It appears she was absent.
Roy Harmonica sat at the judges' table next to Chris, with Chef standing ominously at the edge of the stage, glaring at Jade as he waited for her to start. Jade glanced over at Harmony's fog machine rig, hoping whatever sneaky plan Harmony had wouldn't mess up her performance.
The stage was decorated with rainbow colored streamers, and two large speakers for her electric guitar. She started strumming the opening chords of her song, and it wasn't exactly musical genius performance level, with quite a bit off beat notes, so Jade tried to make up for it with some lyrics, especially at the beat drop.
"Destination unknown! Ruby, Ruby, Ruby Ruby Soho!" She chimed at the drop of the song, although she didn't have much of a singing voice, it didn't sound terrible to her, and that was good enough.
Once she was finished, she held her arms out in the air, still holding the electric guitar. Roy, Chris, Chef, and the campers in the bleachers clapped. Even Zhang, but it was more of a slow, sarcastic clap than anything.
After lowering her arms, Jade looked at the judges hopefully, "so, how was it?" She asked the judges.
Chris was the first to show a reaction, he looked around at the other judges, and shrugged. "Well that was… loud. The playing wasn't exactly so good, not exactly sure the song choice was great, either. I give it a 4." He said
Jade frowned as she heard that, and turned to the other judges to see their responses.
Roy looked somewhat pleased with her performance. "I see extreme potential in you, kid. I liked the attitude, but you gotta work on that guitar. Can't be skipping notes. I'll give it a 5."
Jade nodded sadly as Chef turned to speak, his arms were crossed, and he was frowning. "Sounded like a cat fight, but you got some sort of spirit, so it wasn't completely terrible. I guess I'll give ya' 2."
Chris stood up to announce the results, "well, with a score of 12, Jade takes the first spot on the leader-board! Next up will be… Logan and Starr, you'll have a few minutes to set the stage up and get ready. Jade, clear out!"
The curtains closed, and the camera shifted to the audience, who were looking not so happy.
(Confessional: Andrea)
"Well, that could've gone… better to say the least. I hope whatever Harmony does works."
(End confessional: Andrea)
—-
Back on the bleachers, it was Logan and Starr's turn to go up, they looked at each other, and then at Andrea, who wished them luck, the two then headed onto the closed stage, and opened the stage closet door to fetch their decor
What they found instead surprised them. They were staring at Harmony, who shushed them as she gestured over to the fog machine that she tied up above the stage.
Jade was just finishing cleaning up, and she eyed Logan as she passed by to leave the stage, shrugging to the two.
Starr and Logan grabbed their stage decorations, which were black and purple streamers with glittery shapes that could hang from the stage ceiling. Logan passed Starr the guitar.
"Remember what we'll do?" Starr asked Logan.
Logan nodded, "You play I'll sing, I guess."
The curtains opened, revealing everyone in the bleachers(with the exception of Harmony)
The camera cut to Zhang, who was beginning to notice the absence of Harmony, he looked around wildly, searching for her.
And there were of course the judges, who were patiently waiting for their introduction.
Starr stepped up first, followed by Logan, who seemed a bit more nervous. Starr introduced their act. "We're doing a duet. I'll be playing this guitar, and Logan will help me on vocals."
Roy Harmonica nodded. "Interesting. Let's hear it."
Starr eagerly began strumming on the guitar in a surprisingly low, ominous tone. Logan tapped his sneakers on the wooden stage floor to the beat.
"Yeah, yeah." Logan said to introduce the song, still tapping on the ground. "That's right, girl."
Starr strummed louder, and Logan jumped right to the first verse.
"He moves wherever he wants, always gots' a plan,
Framin' up people, that's his whole... jam.
A plan of lies, and deceit, that's right, girl."
Logan whirled his body around, now facing the opposite direction from the judges, Andrea and Jade widened their eyes from the bleachers, while Zhang gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
Logan then began the second verse as Starr strummed more violently.
"He smiles real slick, and quick... but the truth's in the dust,
Sets up the scene, gots 'em losin' their trust!
Pits friends against one another
Make em' hate each other!"
Logan felt dissatisfied with the last line of the verse, as he wanted the song to rhyme, but Starr seemed to be one with the music. Eyes closed, she hummed quietly along to Logan.
Logan turned back around, facing the judges once again, he stomped over to the edge of the stage.
"Yeah, that's right, girl. And his name… IS ZHANG!"
He yelled/sang the last line as he pointed a finger over at Zhang, who skulked in the bleachers, the judges all turned around to look at Zhang. And then back at Logan, who repeated the line over and over.
"...IS ZHANG! IS ZHANG! IS-"
Logan stopped singing, keeled over, and started coughing violently, clearly not used to the stress. Starr stopped playing the guitar and helped Logan stand back upright. "You alright?" She asked him concerningly, to which he nodded.
"I guess that's it, then?" Roy Harmonica asked in a flat tone, Logan and Starr both nodded.
Chris was next to speak up, "what do we think, guys?" He said as he looked at Chef, and then at Roy.
"I liked the girl's guitar rhythm, not too shabby, as for the singing, it was… okay? But it wasn't great exactly. "I'll give it a 6." Roy responded.
Chris shrugged, and then turned back to the stage, "I'll say it was better than the last one, for sure. 6 for me, too."
Logan and Starr smiled, as they were now guaranteed to be ahead of Jade in points. The last person to give a review was Chef, who grumbled quietly, "it was decent, I guess. Nothing special, I'll give you a 5."
Logan and Starr high fived as Chris clapped his hands. "Logan and Starr have taken over 1st place with a total score of 17! Can anybody top that? Let's find out. Harmony will be next."
The stage curtains closed once again, and as Starr and Logan gathered up their things and exited the stage, Harmony came out of the rack room with a hulk of her decorations, which consisted of white stage fluff clouds, and white ribbons, even a glowing star.
She prepared her violin as the curtains opened to reveal the beautifully decorated stage. Chris smiled.
"Oooh!" He said, clearly impressed. "I like this!"
Harmony nodded in gratitude as she started her introduction. "I'll be playing a solo violin piece. I chose something soft and soothing."
Roy looked excited and clasped his hands together, "alrighty, then! Let's hear this!"
Harmony took her position, closed her eyes for a brief moment, and began to play. The first few notes of the piece, "Meditation" from Thaïs by Massenet, her violin was quiet enough to not be irritating to the ears, but loud enough so that the contestants in the bleachers could hear.
As she played, Andrea couldn't help but crack a smile. "That's… that's really nice!" She complimented her quietly.
Harmony's bow glided effortlessly across the strings, her fingers dancing gracefully along the neck of the violin. She'd clearly been playing for a very long time, because it sounded almost perfect.
As she played, she hummed quietly to herself, and it seemed to be helping her play, almost as if she was envisioning the music.
The piece lasted for almost four and a half minutes before Harmony finally stopped playing, oddly enough, she looked out of breath.
She did a small bow as the last note faded away, "thank you." She added as she stood back up. Even the usually stoic Chef seemed impressed by the excellence of her performance. Smiling wide eyed at the stage.
Then, one by one, the judges stood up and gave a round of applause. Roy harmonica's seemed the most enthusiastic.
"Wow, that was beautiful! You've got a real talent for setting a mood. The decorations were a nice touch, but that violin was incredible. Almost immaculate, even! I give it a 10!" Roy said first.
"I second that!" Chris told Harmony, "that was truly spectacular!"
Although Chef seemed pleased with the performance, he settled down pretty quickly. "I give it a 9." He stated.
Harmony looked confused and slightly upset at that. Chef shrugged when he noticed Chris and Roy looking at him quizzically.
"I've heard better, technically." Chef added. "9 it is."
Harmony rolled her eyes, but eventually accepted her score. "And with a score of 29, Harmony easily takes over first place!" Chris announced. "This is going to be hard to beat!"
Chef flipped through some papers, "the next person who will be performing is… Andrea. Put your things on the stage, now!"
The curtains closed, but nobody saw Harmony exit, Andrea assumed that she just went back to the stage closet. Andrea's suspicions were right, because as she grabbed her stage decor, which was plain green and white props, she found Harmony huddled in the closet.
"Zhang's next after me." She told Andrea as she grabbed her things. Andrea rolled her eyes, but left Harmony in the closet.
—-
The stage opened, and Andrea sat there, in the middle of the stage, on her drum set. She looked unsure of herself, as if she'd forgotten the hours of practice she'd had earlier.
"Uhh," Andrea told the judges, "I'll be… doing a drum solo?" She told the judges, although she looked lost. "No fancy songs, just pure rhythm."
"Okay then, I'm intrigued-" Roy began to say, but Andrea cut him off, she began to play the drums, although it was hardly playing, she merely bashed random drums about and repeated a verse over and over.
"...Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…"
Chef cringed, while Roy Harmonica looked like he wanted to faint, Chris looked at Andrea unimpressed, watching her with a frown.
Andrea started banging random cymbals around, creating an unnecessary amount of noise. Roy Harmonica covered his ears in protection as his water glass shattered everywhere.
Andrea tried to move around while playing the drums, maybe getting a little too bit into the music, but the weight of her body caused the drum set to fall apart, and drums rolled everywhere.
A cymbal landed on Andrea's head as she laid on the ground, which created another noisy sound.
Once she was finished, the judges all looked either angry or anguished. Chef stared daggers at her.
"That was horrible!" Roy Harmonica yelled at Andrea, who looked taken aback. "And on top of that, you broke my very expensive drum set, I'm giving you a 1, but only because you can't get 0."
Andrea frowned furiously. Chris was the next one to chime in, "I'm going to have to agree with Roy, that was absolutely terrible. You're getting a 1."
Chef spoke last, and he did not look happy. "I should come up there right now and show you how real people play the drums! You made my ears bleed, girl! You get a 0!"
Chris looked over at Chef, "Chef, you know you can't give people a 0-" he tried to tell him, but Chef interrupted him.
"I don't care!"
Chris and Roy shrugged. "Okay then, Andrea takes last place with an awful score of 2. Hopefully Zhang's performance can be… better."
Andrea glowed red as the curtains closed and she stormed off stage, her minimal decor in hand. As she turned to leave, Harmony peeked her head out of the stage closet.
"That… did not look like it went well." Harmony tried to console her, but Andrea swatted her hands away angrily.
"Zhang's up next." Andrea warned Harmony. "Whatever this… plan is, it better work!"
And with that, Andrea threw the remains of her performance into the stage closet, and stormed off. Harmony nodded to herself, silently agreeing with Andrea.
Then, Harmony's eyes went wide, she knew Zhang would need to go into the stage closet to get his stage decor, she had to get out of there, or she'd be caught.
She exited the closet, and not ten steps later, she ran into Zhang, who was startled to see her.
"My my, where have you been?" Zhang asked Harmony, who folded her arms over her chest and scoffed nonchalantly.
"Me? I was helping people set up their performances. Would you like some help, too?" Harmony lied, knowing full well that Zhang would decline. And he did, he scrunched up his face and shook his head.
"I don't need help from anybody, let alone you!" He said stubbornly as he threw the stage closet door open, took his decor out, and left. Harmony sighed in relief as she patted her blouse pocket, where the remote control was. She then left towards the bleachers.
—-
A few moments later, the stage curtains opened, revealing the decorations Zhang had chosen to use for his performance, a piano magically got into the center of the stage, standing on top of a white and black checkered rug.
Zhang sat at the piano, straightening his golden tie as he prepared himself for his performance. The judges waited patiently for any sort of response.
"I'll be performing a classical piano piece. Something simple, yet soothing. I've been practicing for years, so I think I'll do just fine..."
Chef rolled his eyes in annoyance, focusing on the past interaction with Zhang earlier more than his description of his performance. Roy Harmonica on the other hand, looked very pleased and eager to hear the piano.
"I have very high hopes for you." Roy told Zhang, who smiled and nodded, he opened the sheet music resting on the piano and started playing "Fur Elise" - by Beethoven.
At about 3 minutes long, it was comparable to Harmony's performance in length, Zhang ran his hands across the piano keys easily and effortlessly, as he's been doing this many, many times before.
And it did sound very nice, at least at first, because Harmony, who was now sitting in the bleachers, held out the remote, and pressed the "on" button.
The stage was immediately shot with a thick smog from the machine that pointed down on the stage. It quickly floated down from the top of the stage and blanketed the floor, and with that, the piano.
First, Zhang squinted his eyes as he tried to see the sheet music through the fog. He started missing every few notes, now no longer able to see, he had to rely completely off of memory, which wasn't an easy task.
A few moments after that, Zhang started coughing violently, as the fog was getting into his airway, the judges also started to cough slightly, although nowhere near as much as Zhang as they were farther away.
By the end of the song, Zhang was subbing his eyes with one hand, coughing with the other, and trying to play the piano with his elbow. It didn't work very well at all, and the song was completely unintelligible. Zhang then got really angry and threw the sheet music off of the piano, and then threw the stool he was sitting on to the side.
Roy Harmonica immediately stood up and covered his eyes from the fog. "That's enough!" He yelled at Zhang as he threw his performance about the stage.
Chef looked really, really angry as well. His eyes narrowed and his face turned dark purple and red. "You just always just have to make a scene out'a everything you do! Huh?" Chef screamed at Zhang, who was too busy covering his eyes from the fog to listen to the judges.
"That was a pretty bad performance." Chris said as he wiped his eyes. "I'll only be giving it a 2 because it started out decent."
"That was obviously sabotage!" Zhang yelled at the top of his lungs. He then looked at the contestants in the bleachers. And the camera focused on Harmony, who was smiling brightly as she waved the remote around. Zhang realized instantly who the culprit was, and his frown deepened as he pointed at her.
"And it was obviously her!" Zhang continued as he jabbed a pointed finger at Harmony, but the judges just groaned.
"My head hurts too much to deal with anything right now, take your two points from me and leave." Roy Harmonica told Zhang, despite his anger.
"I'm givin' ya one point from me!" Chef yelled at Zhang, "now take it or leave it!"
Zhang yelled one last time as he stormed off of the stage. Causing the contestants in the bleachers to cheer quietly to themselves.
Chris stepped up to make the announcement. "And with an impressive 29 points, Harmony is the clear winner of tonight's challenge!"
"Very impressive, indeed." Roy Harmonica agreed. "She's the clear musical winner!"
Chris walked over to the 5 contestants in the bleachers, Zhang had left, so he wasn't there. "As for the rest of you," Chris began to say suspensefully, "you'll be eligible for elimination tonight, since it's getting late, you'll have a few minutes to talk about things."
And with that, Chris left, along with Chef and Roy. The campers looked at each other in nervousness and unease.
(Confessional: Harmony)
"Yes! I knew that trick with the fog machine would work! There's no way Zhang could have ever won with that thing on!"
Harmony stopped gloating for a moment.
"Small thanks to Andrea, too. Couldn't have done it without her."
(End confessional: Harmony)
(Confessional: Logan)
"So… we're really doing this… huh? Letting Zhang have uncontrollable power for a night just so we can flush his idol. I don't like that plan one bit. But it's the best we're gonna get."
(End confessional: Logan)
—-
Starr and Logan are sitting on the cabin porch, smiling at each other. Starr looks incredibly nervous, but she seems to be smiling through it all. And Logan was staring right back at her. Smiling wide, Logan took in a deep breath, and began to talk.
"You know," he began, rubbing the back of his neck, "I didn't think I'd meet anyone here I'd actually like. It's kinda unexpected. I was solely in it for the money at first."
Starr chuckled nervously, her gaze dropping to her hands again. "Yeah… I didn't think I'd meet someone like you either."
Logan looked at her, confused. "Uhh, I think you meant-" He began to say, but Starr interrupted him.
"I… I really like you, Logan." Starr confessed to him, and he did look overwhelmed at first, but he quickly let his face soften back into a warm smile. "Starr, I like you too. A lot, actually."
Starr was elated with excitement, she looked like a tiny child on christmas morning. "Do you want… to be my boyfriend?" She asked him. But after Logan didn't respond after a few seconds, she started to panic.
"If… if not, then that's… that's okay!" She anxiously stuttered. "I just… I…"
Logan put his hands on Starr's, causing her to calm down again. "Yes, I think I'd love to be your boyfriend. Just as long as we don't let it distract us too much."
Starr nodded happily, as this is all she wanted to hear. Although her smile quickly faded when she looked to her left to see Zhang watching the two with a painfully straight face.
"What do you want?" Logan asked Zhang, who said nothing as he walked away, leaving the two utterly bewildered.
—-
At the elimination ceremony, everyone looked highly nervous at what was to come. Zhang(surprisingly) looked the least worried. While Starr and Logan held hands for comfort. Chris walked on the screen with 5 marshmallows on a plate.
"For winning the challenge, and immunity, Harmony earns herself the first marshmallow." Chris said as he tossed a marshmallow to her.
Harmony looked at Andrea once she received her marshmallow.
"Second marshmallow goes to… Jade." Chris said as he threw the marshmallow to her. Jade gobbled it up without thinking. Leaving Andrea feeling highly anxious.
"The third marshmallow is Logan's." Chris said, and Logan sighed in relief as he caught his gooey marshmallow. Starr looked happy for him.
"The fourth marshmallow is for… Andrea." Chris said flatly, and everyone gasped. Logan and Starr both turned white as a ghost as Andrea fumbled to catch the tiny marshmallow in her big hands.
But with Andrea safe… this left Starr and Zhang…
"No! No! Not now!" Logan yelled as he squeezed Starr's hands even tighter.
Chris held out the final marshmallow to the two as he spoke. "Starr, Zhang, this is the final marshmallow of the night. And it goes to… Starr!"
Starr looked down at the ground in sadness as she let the marshmallow drop to the grass. She didn't even try to pick it up, as she knew what would happen next.
"Zhang, you had the most votes, it was 5-1." Chris told Zhang, who began to stand up, pretending to look sad. "It's time for you to-"
-Zhang fished the McLean Brand Chris Head from his suit pocket. Brandishing it for everyone to see. "Sorry, but I'm not so sure I'm going anywhere. At least not if I have this."
Chris smiled. "Nice! I figured you'd play that. Since you're now safe from elimination, the person with the second highest amount of votes will be eliminated, and that is… Starr! With 1 vote. What a shame!"
Logan gritted his teeth in rage as he and Starr stood up from the logs they were using as seats. The two exchanged a bittersweet hug. And even Harmony stood up to exchange goodbyes.
"I will win for you." Logan told Starr directly. "I promise. And then we can split the money, and-"
"-I'm not sure your parents would be super thrilled about that." Starr told Logan worriedly.
"It doesn't matter what they think right now! What matters is you're the person I care about the most on this island, and the person I've cared about the most in a long, long time. And the least I can do is win for you."
Starr nodded as tears began to fall from her face. "Thank you." Was all she said before Chef ushered her towards the Drone of Despair. Logan fell to his knees as he watched his new girlfriend walk farther and farther away, and under the Drone of Despair, which promptly lifted her up into the air and carried her away into the night.
At about the same time, Roy Harmonica got onto a jet ski that was resting next to the dock, and Chris waved to him as he sped off into the night.
Back at the elimination ceremony, everyone was glaring angrily at the now idol-less Zhang, who smiled devilishly back. But one contestant looked even angrier.
Logan looked like he might just attack Zhang at any moment. Clenching his fists with rage.
—-
(Confessional: Zhang)
"It was a very tough decision, my original plan was to eliminate Harmony out of sheer revenge, but I knew that wasn't smart. So Andrea was going to be my target. But after I happened to stumble upon that little… honeymoon, I decided that two people teaming together would be more dangerous than one."
(End confessional: Zhang)
The camera cut to the dock, where Chris started his outro.
"Now that Starr's gone, how will Logan handle the knowledge that it's all Zhang's fault? With only 5 people left, the finale's not far on its way. And can Zhang survive another day? Find out on an all new episode of Total, Drama, Island!"
Camera fades out.
—-
Editor's note:
This episode is almost a week overdue, and I'm truly sorry about that. I got a bout of pneumonia in the middle of writing, and I decided to take a break so as to not have the episode itself suffer from it. As for the elimination, it might be surprising that Starr's getting the boot when she just got together with somebody. But it obviously isn't the last we'll see of her, and it helps develop Logan's feelings about Zhang into a more personal hate. As for Zhang, he better win the next challenge, or it's donezo for him. This episode was also far longer than I would have hoped, but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.
See you in episode 11!
Contestants: Andrea, Zhang, Harmony, Logan, Jade
Placements:
14th - Ace - "The Midshipwoman"
13th - Hayden - "The Burnout"
12th - Tiffany - "The Melancholic Girl"
11th - Olivia - "The Fashionista"
10th - Jack - "The Bro"
9th - Daniel - "The Lucid Dreamer"
8th/7th - Bryce - "The Jaded Horse"
8th/7th - Felix - "The Greasemonkey"
6th - Starr - "The Music Enthusiast"
Votes:
Zhang: 5( Harmony, Andrea, Logan, Starr, Jade)
Starr: 1(Zhang)