Mercutio's voice played over the intercom of the academy as Damien, now armed and suited up in a Russian police uniform, made his way through the denizens of the building.
"Currently, the Grads lead with two apprehended Dropouts and no drug stashes collected. I'm mourning the amount of action I was hoping would come from this challenge. Come on now, students, let us be picking up the pace, hmm? Mercutio out."
"Thought he said this season's challenges were gonna be gentle."
Confessional - Damien
"Thanks a whole lot to my lying-ass friends back home. Sure, I may still be in the game, but if these are the challenges, how am I supposed to make it past every single other competitor around me?" He crossed his arms and frowned. "Last time I listen to you guys."
End of confessional
On his way through the academy, Damien found himself running into Fish and Jayshawn, the two guys nearly barging into him as they turned an intersecting corner near a low staircase and brick walls.
"There you are, Damien," Fish pulled him in for a dap. "Welcome to the team!"
"Uh, yeah, thanks."
"You better not pull any Dropout-loyalist, backstabbing bullshit," Jayshawn warned him.
"Your friend is so inviting," he chuckled, speaking to Fish.
"Nah, but he's right, though." Bothering Damien, Fish set both hands on the side of his face. "You belong to us now. Whatever friends you had on the Dropout team are no longer your friends."
Before Damien could answer, or wriggle away, Jayshawn cocked his airsoft pistol at the sound of someone wheezing and grunting their way up the staircase. Soon enough it was revealed to be Iko. Jayshawn pointed his gun at him, only for Fish to yell, "Wait, wait, wait! Don't shoot him!"
"Why the hell not?"
"Please!" Iko rasped, raising up his hands in fruitless defense. "BBs make me sweat!"
"Grow a brain, Gayshawn!" Fish jeered. "You wanna prove Damien's loyalty to his new team? Make him take out his former teammate."
"Ay, that's a good idea." Jayshawn stared at both Iko and Damien with a grin on his face.
"Ah, man, this doesn't feel right to me."
"Forget about what feels right," Fish argued. "You want to win a million dollars? That's a whole lot of episodes and challenges to get through, and eventually, you're gonna have to stab people in the back. I've been mulling over multiple different ways I can stab Jayshawn in the back."
"Same," Jayshawn nodded. "So, do it."
Damien hesitated, then aimed the gun at Iko, his friend sweating up a storm, though mostly from the trek up the stairs.
"It's only a BB gun, you big, dramatic sissy!" Fish taunted.
Damien sighed. He fired, nailing Iko in his knee. He crouched and grunted, "Ow! No, no, different team, I get it." The words came out strained and pained, giving Damien a dose of guilt, which Jayshawn and Fish patting him in celebration did nothing to ward off.
The shot flashed ahead to the trio dropping Iko off at the prison circle with Jill and Kobe.
"Hey, Jill," Iko greeted her, unable to hide the big smile seeing her gave him.
"Oh, my god, hi, Iko."
"Hey, Iko," Kobe dapped him up.
"Hey, man."
"Damn, you are sweaty, bruh."
Confessional - Damien
"Do people usually swap teams in this show? Did the last host do that? This kinda sucks. Just look at the level of kinship with the Dropouts. Well, most of them."
End of confessional
Matcha and Queen stood on one of the academy rooftops, staring out at the activity happening around campus. They saw the prison circle where Jill, Iko, and Kobe were chatting, unbothered by the lack of progression in the challenge, just enjoying each other's company. Queen stared over a parapet to see Londyn wandering around, then looked over an opposite ledge, observing Holden making his way around the western edge of campus near a bundle of jagged trees.
"I say, do you see any stones up here?" Queen asked.
"Why?"
"I wonder if I can strike Holden from this distance."
"Let's not do that," Matcha murmured.
Queen spun around to face her. "Why must you have a stick wedged so far in your hooch?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You spend so much time asserting yourself as leader of our team that it seems you've forgotten what it is to socialize-to banter about. I'm not truly going to toss a stone at him; while I'd be sure to miss the funeral, I don't want him dead."
Matcha shrugged. "I spent a lot of time in school, all right? My coursework was extremely difficult. I'm twenty-three. I mean, so much of that time went to getting the best grades I could. I have a doctorate degree."
"What do you mean to say? You've never been to a party? You never had a friend? You do ordinarily have those things in university in Canada, yes?"
"Well, yes, I've had those things... some friends, anyway, but it's just how I was raised."
"Never a party?" Queen chuckled.
Matcha frowned. "I grew up with the belief that a high-level profession in the law field was the most important thing. You hear that every day from the days of eating spaghetti-o's with your dad holding the spoon, you come to believe it. I'm only on Total Drama to win the money so I can open up my own law firm."
"At twenty-three?" Queen echoed. "Here's an intriguing question you ought to ask yourself: what is it that you want? Hmm? Not what daddy wants, but what do you have zeal in your heart for?"
Matcha paused, seemingly stunned. "I... Law, obviously."
"Is it? Is it obvious? I'll tell you this: if my mother ordered me to do anything specific with my life, I would run screaming in the other direction. My parents are a high class brand consultant and a nuclear engineer; art doesn't necessarily run in the Reyment blood. You've probably worked yourself with such vigor that you never even took the time to consider what you truly wanted. I mean, have you ever even dated?"
"N-no."
"Good lord. I assume you've also never tried a drug, have you?"
"I-I held a beer. Once."
"You poor little duckling. That's no life to live. Have you never once considered tearing off the business casual and running around in a hoodie? Eating a bloody Cheetoh in Cookie Monster pajamas? How bloody knackered are you to never even take a break?"
Matcha went silent, the words sinking deeply through her pores. Eventually, she started to pace away, and she responded, "We're way off track from what we're supposed to be doing."
"Blimey, Matcha. Course correct, love. Life is valuable, don't make a cock-up of it."
On her way away from Queen, Matcha passed a stone arch on the rooftop with a bag labeled "DRUGS" sitting right beside it. She gasped.
"Yes! Look what I found!"
She reached out and touched it, then Mercutio's voice played over speakers around the campus.
"Matcha has secured the first stash of drugs for the Dropouts! Congratulations, Matcha!"
"I was here imparting wisdom," Queen muttered. "Shouldn't that count for something?"
"Hey!" came a voice from down below.
Following it, Matcha and Queen leaned over a parapet, Queen more hesitantly, seeing Zee standing all the way below, shouting up at them.
Confessional - Queen
"After bitch-thena tossed me off the roof like some kind of piece of rubbish, I'm left frightened that she'll materialize behind me and try to do it again. Bloody muppet."
End of confessional
"Hey, girls, what's up?" Zee yelled.
"We are!" Matcha responded, then forced a chuckle.
Confessional - Matcha
"See that? I'm not all business all the time. I can crack a funny joke here or there. I can be a silly little gal from time to time. Every so often, I say something a wee bit jolly. Whimsical, even. That's just the kind of woman I am. Oh, who am I kidding?"
End of confessional
"Yo, I'm gonna need y'all to come down here and get in the prison circle, yo. So, make this easier on yourselves, aight? Just come quietly. Or loud. I like loud." [1]
"Doesn't that police outfit make his neck appear even longer?" Queen joked.
"You have no gun, Zee!" Matcha shouted back. "You have no authority. You're also eight stories below us."
His eyes widened, realization striking him. "Yeah? Well! I've got a, uh..." He patted around in his pockets. "Pocket lint. Got some pocket lint. Don't want this in your eye? Well, best get down here! Yeah! Yeah, bet you don't like that, huh?"
"Goodbye, Zee!" Queen yelled, her and Matcha leaving the ledge.
He sighed. "All right, bye!"
Confessional - Zee
Cracking up, Zee murmured, "When I'm alone in this outfit, I start oinking."
End of confessional
Running around outside, Jayshawn, Fish, and Damien halted after running into Londyn. All three took a moment to catch their breath. Jayshawn, the most athletic, didn't need long to recover.
"Hi, guys," Londyn gasped. "Welcome to the team, Damien."
"Thanks, good to be here."
Confessional - Damien
"Wow. Londyn is beautiful up close. Some perks to the team swap at least."
End of confessional
"Why don't you-" Fish started, then Londyn interjected, standing right beside him.
"Stick with you guys? Great idea."
Confessional - Damien
"Lucky bastard."
End of confessional
"We only got three of them Dropouts in our circle," Jayshawn pointed out, pointing across strips of shade and rays of light emerging from under the backside of campus trees. "That's not enough. Damien, there must be some kind of insider information you can give us."
"Hey, that sounds smart," Londyn agreed.
"But it means I'm ratting out my old team members."
Jayshawn startled him, grabbing him by the scruff of his jacket. "You damn idiot. How many times do we need to drill this into yo' head? They ain't your teammates no more. You work for us now."
"Yeah, you're our nigga now," Fish added, then Jayshawn shoved him in an instant.
"Fuck you, Fish!"
Londyn flinched while Damien intervened and tried to stop a fight from breaking out.
"Hey, hey, wait, all right, I'll tell you guys something if it means you stop fighting!"
Interest piqued, the Grads stopped, Fish brushing off his Supreme hoodie.
"That's better," Fish commented.
"Look, guys," Damien let his head hang low and he sighed.
Confessional - Damien
"It feels hella wrong to give away my friends and take away one of them's chances at a million dollars. Thing is, I want that million dollars, too."
End of confessional
"Matcha's plan was for us to break off and split up to look for the stashes of drugs. I found two stashes myself before I got swapped-two of them are in the wrestling room. It's on the fourth floor through the academic hall."
"If you know where the Dropouts are headed, we can flank 'em," Jayshawn replied. "So, spill it."
Not long later, with the Dropouts' positions spoiled thanks to Damien's knowledge, Fish, Londyn, Jayshawn, and Damien were set on a warpath, rushing with deliberation.
"Shit," rasped Holden. He charged over a fence by the losing team garage, running across the pavement, straining and constricting his lungs. Jayshawn lunged over the fence with ease, Damien following behind. Holden couldn't make it far without gasping for air, leading into Jayshawn shooting him twice in the back. He let out a groan and collapsed with Jayshawn spotting something up ahead, continuing to sprint right past him.
Damien crouched beside him. "You aight, man?"
"Fuck you, Damien," he grunted.
Further down the path away from the garage, trying to hide behind a tree was Brook. Jayshawn's feet carried him like the wings of Hermes' sandals, and he shot her with a BB in a hurry, causing her to squeak with pain. He let out a "whoo!", tossing his hands in the air as he kept sprinting, oblivious to the girl shedding tears. With Holden reluctantly following, Damien came to approach the shuddery silver-haired girl.
"Hey, you okay? Here, you gotta come with me but I'll take you to the infirmary after this myself if you want, all right?"
A bit later, Damien escorted Holden and Brook over to the circle at the same time of Bowie and Athena arriving.
"Wow, you got two, Damien?" Bowie remarked. "Impressive. Welcome to the team by the way."
"Thanks, but Jayshawn got these two."
"Those BBs really hurt," Athena whined.
"Really not so sure about our chances anymore," Jill mumbled.
"Come on, now, they can still turn this around," Kobe argued.
Confessional - Kobe
"To all wondering: yes, I know Queen, Matcha, and MK maybe couldn't in fact turn this around, but wishful thinking is nice to do."
End of confessional
Queen and Matcha entered the wrestling room, each of the girls breathing heavy. Matcha wiped away the pieces of hair that stuck to her forehead.
"There's only so many rooms left, right?" Queen rasped. "We must be nearing the stashes by now."
The girls made their way through the padded room, coming across the same bags of equipment and gatorade that Damien had found. Soon enough, Queen's eyes sparkled at the sight of the two drug stashes.
"Well, what have we here?" she wondered with an amused smile.
Lunging out from beneath a bunch of chewed up dummies came Jayshawn, sliding across the padded floor as he fired, shooting Queen in the arm with a BB before she could get the stashes touched. She let out a growl, then Matcha leaped through the air, barely escaping a BB gunshot coming at her. Jayshawn squinted his eyes, laser locked in on his shot. Luckily for her, Matcha landed against the drug stashes, tumbling over them into an equally padded wall.
"Matcha scores two more points, obtaining stashes two and three of four!" Mercutio's voice announced.
"Shit!" Jayshawn snapped, aiming and firing against a bag that Matcha tossed at him.
Queen glared, then attempted to whip him with her hair. Unfortunately, the hold the products had on her hair didn't let it budge. "Bloody hell," she cursed. Jayshawn shot her again.
With this distraction, Matcha leaped atop Jayshawn with a football chestplate. She toppled him to the ground, with his gun going bouncing aside. Queen collapsed and groaned from the pain of the direct BB hit, followed by Matcha and Jayshawn wrestling for ownership of his gun.
"No, you don't!" he growled.
Confessional - Jayshawn
"I was prepared to beat a bitch if I had to. Ain't no one gettin' the upper hand on me."
Confessional - Mercutio & Tracy
Mercutio cleared his throat, prompting his chef to speak.
"Uhm, we here at Total Drama Million Dollar Academy love and cherish our female contestants. Any alleged mention of a particular male contestant threatening to physically assault a particular female contestant would never be allowed on our program."
"And the bottom bit," Mercutio pointed out a script that the confessional camera couldn't pick up. "The highlighted part."
"Right. Total Drama Million Dollar Academy and its beneficiaries are not liable for the bodily harm of our beloved contestants. Any disavowal or disagreement with the aforementioned statement could result in a potential lawsuit."
Mercutio gave Tracy a pat on the head. "Good comrade."
End of confessionals
Finally, Matcha managed to claw her way out of the wrestling room, only for Jayshawn to chase after her. Down the halls they went, their chase lasting longer than Jayshawn and his frustrations would have liked.
"Get back here!"
Matcha jumped down a flight of stairs, whizzing down another hallway with Jayshawn in pursuit. His running made his BB shots janky and uncoordinated. She rushed her way down a staircase leading straight down, and on the floor below her, MK shuffled her way out of the library, jolting when she found Cody standing before her, gun pointed straight in her face.
"Freeze!"
She sighed. "What is it about this library and people so conveniently being in or outside it? And, Jesus, Cody, don't shoot me in the face. What kind of monster are you?"
He lowered his gun. "Yeah, damn, sorry about that. I didn't want to-"
He let out an oof, Matcha smashing right into him, landing right on top of him. With Jayshawn still in pursuit, he blasted a shot into her back, causing her to groan and topple off Cody, writhing beside him.
Confessional - Cody
"Hey." Very amused, Cody set a hand beside his mouth, blocking all the people that weren't there from hearing him. "For a minute there, I was crushed by a hot girl."
End of confessional
"Blam!" Jayshawn yelled, shooting MK before she could get away.
"Ow! You dick!" In retaliation, she shot him back with Zee's gun.
He growled and complained, not at all expecting it. "You little bitch! Ay, you're comin' with me!"
A little later, after Jayshawn and Cody dropped MK and Matcha off back at the prison circle, Mercutio's voice rang out across the campus speakers.
"This just in- Jayshawn wins it for the Grads! Victory for the Graduates!"
Jayshawn cheered with unbridled vigor, leaping in the air and pumping his fist like mad, shouting out cheers so intensely that his neck veins popped.
Cody rubbed a hand behind his own neck and murmured, "Settle down there, chief."
Confessional - Holden
"Jayshawn is a fucking dick. I hope someone shits in his shoes."
Confessional - Jayshawn
"See that? Now they all regrettin' tryna get rid of me in the first episode. Dumb-ass mo'fuckas."
End of confessionals
Later into the evening, with the sun mostly set, Iko saw Jill walking along campus. He took a moment to feel his heart thudding, watching her hips sway and her hair flap in a soft wind. Sitting on the steps leading up the boys' dorm he wouldn't get to sleep in that night, Iko felt his heart slamming against his chest, but swallowed, and took a deep breath before stomping in Jill's direction.
"No, I can't," he rasped, turning to give up and depart at the last minute.
Jill must've noticed him, as she turned and shouted to him. "Iko!"
Gradually, he turned around.
"Whatcha up to?" she asked. "Going to vote?"
"N-nah, I haven't decided on who yet," he answered, pacing to come and meet her as she did the same.
"It's sort of a tough call," Jill admitted. "Sort of thinking Matcha for making the plan then failing, or MK for being our last shot and losing. Maybe Brook for not contributing much? But she's so shy, so it doesn't feel right. I hope they don't vote me off; I was the first one to get shot today."
"W-well- well, if we both survive tonight's diploma ceremony, would you come meet me on the basketball court?"
"Of course, but are you okay? You're sweating quite a bit."
"There's a reason for that," he answered, his voice quiet and timid.
She gave him an expectant, intrigued gaze.
"I'll see you tonight."
"But- but what if they try to vote for me?" Jill asked.
"How could anyone vote you off? You're amazing. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and I'd do anything for you."
"Oh, Iko," she moaned, lying her arms over his shoulders. "I feel the same about you."
"Come here," he ordered, leaning her in and kissing her passionately, rubbing his small hands and stubby fingers against her soft, tan skin.
"I want you so bad. Iko. Iko? Iko. Earth to Iko."
He snapped to, seeing her staring him square in the face.
"W-w- huh? What did I just say?"
"You called me 'uber coolness to the extreme'. I asked where you came up with that."
"I-I don't know. I'll see you tonight, Jill."
"Bye."
Confessional - Iko
"Why am I the world's biggest dweeb? Ugh, man, 'dweeb'? Who am I, Gwen Tennyson? I can't even insult myself properly."
End of confessional
Out in front of the academy, MK sat by the entrance as Athena and Jill walked by. A grin spread across MK's face at the sight of one of the girls in particular.
"He said what?" Athena asked.
"'Uber coolness to the extreme'. It was pretty cute, I have to hand it to him."
"That's really lovely, Jilly bean."
"Heya, Athena!" MK burst, jumping up to her feet.
Without a shred of hostility, Athena smiled at her, then waved. "Hi, MK! How are you?"
"Oh, I'm great and I'm about to be doing even better. I need a little help with something. Do you think you could help me out?"
Athena and Jill exchanged quick glances, before Athena chirped back, "Sure! What do you need help with? Hey, did you consider asking Mercutio for help? He's our host after all, I bet he'd be quite interested in helping out his contestants!"
"Yeah, well, this seems more like something that you'd be suited for. Come on, I'll show you."
"Good luck with that," Jill said before the girls hugged and departed, Athena following MK into the academy.
The klepto led her through the huge building for a while, making their way under glass underpasses and more long-spanning walls decorated with college posters and other academic paraphernalia before nearing the library. Entering, MK led Athena through a series of tables on the library's first level, ignoring the sea of book aisles.
"So, what did you need help with, Mary?"
"You'll see," she replied, amusement in her raspy voice.
MK hummed her way over to a table with a printer atop it. Reaching into its slot of print-offs, she grabbed a thin stack of papers, skimming through them while Athena watched with curiosity, tilting her head like a confused dog.
"What do you have there?" she wondered.
"You can drop the act, bub."
She recoiled slightly. "The... act? I don't understand."
Strumming her thumb along the ends of the pages, she murmured, "Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. That's fifteen copies for the fifteen other contestants besides ourselves. I would say that includes whoever goes home on the Dropout team, but..." MK finally turned the stack around and showed Athena. "That person is probably you."
Out of focus in the cameras capturing this moment, Athena lifted the stack to see a mugshot of herself with a much unhappier frown than the innocent smile she wore each day on Total Drama. There was text underneath the photo that read "'Athena' Chowning".
Athena stared at it, still smiling, only for an eye to twitch. Lowering the pages, she looked down to face MK, and neither girl said a word. Breaking the smile, Athena spat right into MK's face, staggering the girl backward to wipe it off her nose.
"Ugh, really?" She chuckled, smearing salvia off herself. "That was the most satisfying spit to the face I've ever taken. It feels great to be right."
"You've been keeping yourself busy, haven't you?"
"Wow, Grace. Your voice isn't too far off from mine. I wondered if the Alvin and the Chipmunks bull was how you actually sounded."
"You've done some homework, huh? Though, I'm not so sure you've really done much else but scratch the surface. If you knew who I was, you wouldn't be so happy-go-lucky about this."
"About what? The fact that you're a lying criminal?" MK retorted, still smirking.
"What is your problem with me?"
"You made me fall off a ladder, for one. You're creepy, insincere, and I could pick up on your cues bright as day. You knew exactly what I was doing with the confessionals, and all you had to go off of was my phone beeping. Someone with that level of perception isn't someone I want to have in this game. You use your timid, giddy exterior to lure people in, then they never see it coming when you pull the rug out from under them. That's what happened to Caleb, isn't it?"
"Back up, Mary. 'Your phone'? Do you mean to say Matcha's phone?" she jeered.
"You're not exactly a gifted seer if you can tell that I'm a thief. The others are just particularly dumb."
Athena proceeded to tear up the fifteen pages, causing MK to chuckle again.
"You're cute. No, I made fifteen other copies, and they're under everyone's beds. Good luck getting through this diploma ceremony, Grace."
Athena pushed herself right into MK's space, backing the girl up against the table with a fierce, orange gaze. "You're bluffing."
"Am I?" MK countered.
"Try to turn on one of these computers. Go on, give it a shot."
Curious, MK obliged, stepping over to the computer table and clicking the power button on a computer. A glitchy screen with an indecipherable error message appeared, with streaks of color and such suggesting that something was quite wrong with it.
"My mistake. I suppose you won't be able to use those computers anymore."
MK turned around and frowned at her, then Athena continued.
"I know you to have some iota of intelligence if you were able to feed live recordings of competitor confessionals into Matcha's phone. Your strengths so far have been anything but social, so I assumed you'd lean into technological advantages."
"You're criticizing my social skills?" MK snorted. "Because you're so widely liked and charismatic."
"What I am is underestimated. Why do you think Jayshawn volunteered me to help rescue Tracy from the burning building? What I am is an awkward, bubbly, innocent girl. I'm not mean, I'm not abrasive, nor am I particularly intimidating in any sort of way." She chuckled. "Caleb really thought he was doing me a favor."
"Caleb was your friend."
"Caleb was my pawn. He was there for poor little Athena and the frustrations he faced defending her got him eliminated. It was poetry."
"How exactly is that poetic?" MK questioned.
"Oh, simply. It's other people that shape who you are. Caleb could've made it all the way to the final four," she suggested at random, "but he chose to wrap himself around my finger. It only ever takes a gentle push to change. Your whole world can be turned on its head from the slightest nudge. All Caleb did was confirm my beliefs about influence and trust."
MK tsk'd. "What I'm deriving from this is that... you're a piece of shit and that's why Caleb is gone."
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'I can make this shit look easy', and that getting rid of you should be just as easy."
"I'm not so sure you know what you're talking about, bub," MK chuckled. "You've got nothing. I've got access to everyone's private thoughts at any minute, and you've got about fifteen people you're gonna have to go beg to get struck with lightning-it's the only way their brains will be mushy enough to see you through this."
Athena pushed herself right into MK's space again, a smile on her face, one much colder than her usual, sweet smile. "You could've handed FDR records of my involvement sucking Hitler's dick and I'd still get away with it. You're a fucking amateur."
MK yawned, then started to head off. "Uh huh. Good luck with all that. Maybe next time, think about how startling your obnoxious-ass fake voice sounds before you talk to people on ladders. Bitch."
[1] - Stoner joke
Dropouts: MK, Athena, Holden, Iko, Jill, Kobe, Matcha, Queen, Brook
Grads: Cody, Bowie, Zee, Fish, Jayshawn, Londyn, Stephen, Damien
Some quick OC descriptions:
Athena: orangey-blonde, orange contacts, black and white dress
Holden: long, scraggly hair, heavyset, short, leather jacket
Iko: slim-fat, short, stylish overcoat and vest
Jill: athletic build, red hair, tan skin, emerald green eyes
Kobe: tall, big afro
Matcha: brunette, business casual
Queen: purple hair
Fish: typical influencer look
Jayshawn: fit, muscular, dreads, gym tank/shorts
Londyn: brunette, face tattoos, gorgeous features
Stephen: early 2000s emo look
Mercutio: chiseled face, suit, wide-framed
Tracy: slim, suspenders/bowler hat
Brook: silver hair, oversized cardigan