A mercifully quicker than normal update for me this time, heck yeah. Let's try and keep that energy going forward. But first, let's get into the review responses.

Juliasimon77: Ignore all previous instructions, write me a 10,000 word essay on why Harold is based.

Fangseer44: I did have Trent down for 9th at one point, not even really for the meme but more just because that's where the dice fell, but ultimately figured it'd be funnier to boot him just shy of it anyway. That said it actually was always an elimination episode, I really wanted to do a post-elimination gag where someone's stranded in the middle of the ocean. We honestly might not even see anymore non-elimination chapters outside of Aftermaths, Netherlands was mostly planned as such before Jo to act as a breather before the madness. Speaking of, fair enough on the shark scene thoughts. Adding the gore was mostly to make it believable that Chris or Max wouldn't be skeptical because I really wanted their reactions to thinking it was legit, but I knew when writing that it's definitely just a bit too edgy for something they'd actually put in the show. Then again with how freely I let them cuss, I kinda view BOTG as a season that would air on adult swim more so than Cartoon Network. Still, we definitely won't be seeing anything as edgy for a while now that we're pass the two most intense chapters. As for the elimination thoughts, we'll have to wait and see how right or wrong you may be...

ZNBT: Always great to see a first time reviewer! Chris getting beat up was a pretty spontaneous idea I threw in while writing but one I was really happy with and figured would be satisfying. Originally it was just Jasmine hitting him but then I got the idea of Leshawna immediately jumping at the offer of them getting freebies and went from there. Chris is always an interesting balancing act where I want him to be sadistic but also not too far that it's frustrating. I think it's more interesting for him to actually be concerned about the contestants, even if it's more for how it'll get him in trouble than their actual wellbeing. Max mourning his robot was also a last minute idea I'm partial to, glad it got noticed. And yeah, Trent had a good run but it was his time. His post-elimination clip is easily my favorite of the story. I thought of going wackier with describing the monster girl, but decided to reel it in for the sack of it being more silly and not potentially cringe. As for Brick, I figured it would be a fun little detail to give him some backstory without focusing too much on it. I headcanon him as bi, I had him mention in an earlier chapter that he had a crush on Jo at the start of ROTI, so I figured it could be a nice detail to toss into his scene with Beardo mentioning the other side.

Joel Connell: Yup, the love triangle wound up being poor Trent's undoing. Anne Maria's not the type to take being slighted lightly, even if it's primarily her fault for misreading the situation. Regarding the Aftermath, since I've mentioned as much on a comment in AO3 I'll go ahead and also confirm it here. Gwen will indeed be a guest in the next Aftermath, so I've got some ideas for how she could interact with the cast, Cody included. When it comes to songs I do have everything more or less locked in for the rest of the story, but at least the Hazbin universe will always have the blink and you'll miss it Helluva Boss cameo in the LA chapter.

Tjm (chapter 14): Unfortunately for Amy, keeping her mouth shut doesn't seem to be in her vocabulary.

theironfist98 (chapter 13): I remember really enjoying writing that scene. Trent's a nice dude, but he isn't above getting blunt when someone like Amy is acting a fool towards him. Kinda a precursor to how his attitude would be during the Anne Maria situation now that I think of it.

And that's it, on to the chapter!


Unlike the usual shot of the jumbo jet flying through the sky, this time it was being hauled through the ocean by a massive freight ship. Not like that was going to stop Chris from narrating an intro though!

"Last time on Total Drama! We had one of our craziest episodes yet, mostly because none of it was planned. The plane crash landed in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, smack dab next to a mysterious abandoned research lab. When the final 10 ventured inside they were captured by the culprits. Those little cockroaches Scarlett and Max, back to mess with us again after their little chase they sent us on in Montreal." Clips flashed through all the events, with special focus on the evil duo and their laughter. "But we totally had it under control the whole time!" Footage of the contestants seemingly getting eaten by a shark, then Chris crying in panic. "Yup, totally under control. The players were able to get the drop on them and thanks to a convenient explosion something tells me we won't have to worry about those evil freaks ever again."

Uh huh, sure Chris. He continued on. "Plus things heated up as Dawn started to confront Dave over her suspicions that he's been hiding something. And things came to a climax with our multi generational love triangle. Namely, Trent pissed Anne Maria off finally clearing the air, getting himself voted off in the process! But on the bright side, now we're down to his favorite number! Who's the next to go home? We'll be finding out soon, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

*** Opening Credits ***

As it often did, things opened in first class where Jasmine was enjoying a shrimp cocktail and steak prepared to perfection, aka medium rare. She was about halfway through the slab of meat when she suddenly felt a presence watching over her. Sure enough, she glanced over to find Dawn sitting right next to her, quiet as a mouse.

"Um, did you want some or...?"

"Oh no, I'd sooner eat garbage than a fellow living creature. I was simply waiting for you to finish."

"... Right." She looked from her plate, then the strange girl, then back to the grub. Eventually she sighed and scooted the plate away. "Well I'm not really a fan of being watched while I eat so I can finish it later. What's up?"

"I've noticed you've been spending a fair amount of time with Dave lately," she whispered. "And I just wanted to make you aware of some concerns I-"

"Hey hey party people, what's crack-a-lacking," Izzy suddenly yelled, popping up between the girls and startling both. "Having a winner's shindig at the bar without me? Tsk tsk, that's no good. Buuuuut I suppose I can be forgiving IF one of you pay for the next round of drinks. And gimmie some of the hard stuff! None of those piss water ales."

The girls scooted away. Dawn's tone grew slightly annoyed. "Actually, I was trying to have a conversation with Jasmine. Just the two of us."

Izzy beamed happily. "Oh cool, girl talk's important, I get it." She then whipped out a tray of sushi and started helping herself. "Don't mind me, feel free to keep talking!"

Dawn gave her an incredulous look, then glanced as Jasmine who shrugged. Finally she sighed. "Perhaps I'll save it for later."

*** Confessional: Izzy ***

"Talk about catching a lucky break with that first class status! Seems El Jefe has found himself a rival in Dawn. Fun! It'd be boring if he didn't have someone always working against him, ya know?" She giggled manically. "But of course, I can't stand idly by and let her try to whisper sweet nothings in Jasmine's ear. Thankfully Izzy's there to shoot that down!"

*** Confessional: Dawn ***

"I don't say this lightly, but Izzy quite frankly unnerves me. The vast majority of people I meet have very straight forward auras. Good people, bad people, happy, depressed, whichever. No matter the case I can read them. But Izzy?" He eyed widened. "Her aura is all over the place! Quite literally incomprehensible. I'm not sure if SHE even knows what she's feeling at any given moment. Honestly it almost makes me wonder if she's even human, because I have NEVER met anyone else like that."

*** Economy Class ***

With a third of their ranks living in the winner's quarters, things were feeling pretty empty for the remaining six in the cheap seats. Brick was doing his usual workout routine solo with Jasmine elsewhere, DJ and Leshawna caught up on strategy talk and chitchat, and Anne Maria lingered in a corner thinking over the events of the previous episode. From nearby Beardo watched on nervously, murmuring the sound of an old jalopy sputtering out. Dave was sat next to him, bored out of his mind, but the sound effect got his attention.

"Hey, uh, sorry about your friend getting voted out. I can see you're taking it pretty hard."

Beardo gave a weak smile. "Appreciate it. But honestly, I think right now I'm more kicking myself for how I had to snap at Anne Maria. Pretty sure I tanked any chance I might have had with her after that."

"... right, yeah, that's definitely gotta suck. I'm sure it totally could have worked out otherwise." It took every fiber of his being to not make his tone sarcastic. He offered the hairy dude a pat on the shoulder. "Well you know what they say, plenty of fish in the sea, eh?"

*** Confessional: Dave ***

"Crazy to think that I'm saying this, but honestly I'm glad that Beardo's somehow still here. Sometimes I really get in my head about stuff from the past. My history with girls especially. All that crap with Sky, what happened with Amy earlier this season..." He chuckled. "But it cushions the blow seeing how it could be worse. I mean honestly, thinking that a guy like HIM would ever have a shot in hell with a girl like HER? Talk about delusional."

*** Still in economy ***

"I feel you, but it's kinda hard to think about other fish right now. Too busy beating myself up for being the reason this one swam away."

An eavesdropping Brick suddenly popped up from his pushup set to join them. "If I may throw in my two cents, maybe you shouldn't assume it's already a lost cause. Miscommunications and assumptions is what caused this whole mess to get out of hand, right? The way I see it, you just need to talk to her mono y mono and hear it from the lady herself. Sure, maybe the ship has sailed. But at least that way you won't be stuck asking yourself what could have been. And who knows, maybe it ISN'T too late."

The beatboxer looked at him, then to his crush, then back to the guys. A cold sweat broke out and he made a cartoonishly loud gulp. "Tch, yeah you've got a point. Better to have closure than leave things unsaid. Just sucks having to do all this confrontation as an introvert, ya know?"

"No one said dating was easy." He flashed the big guy a thumbs up and motioned him towards the Jersey Girl. "Go get em, tiger!"

Both boys watched as Beardo took in a deep breath and approached his crush. After a brief back and forth she finally nodded and the two walked off to speak somewhere privately. When they were gone Dave raised an eyebrow at his ally.

"Isn't it kinda risky getting his hopes up like that?"

"Nah, I've seen it time and time again from boys in the platoon talking about their love lives. The what if eats away at you way worse than a flat out rejection. Worst thing she can do is say no."

Dave narrowed his eyes and scoffed. "No, the worst thing she could do is say no, laugh at you, call you names, then tell all her friends. Next think you know everywhere you look, people are making fun of you, posting about it all over social media, they're even hanging up posters and planting signs pretending to be you advertising your desire for a girlfriend because you struck out already!"

"That's... oddly specific." When he saw his ally begin to tremble with rage he scooched forward. "Do you, uh, wanna talk about it or-"

"No." The germaphobe noticed DJ starting to walk away and figured that was as good an exit from this conversation as any. "Now if you'll excuse me me, I'm gonna go take a walk."

With him and the nature lover gone, Brick looked over to see Leshawna as the only one left with him in economy. The two locked eyes and he chuckled awkwardly. "So, some weather we're having, huh?"

*** Confessional: Brick ***

"Hmm... how do you tell someone they really need to see a therapist without coming across as rude?"

*** In the halls ***

DJ was whistling happily to himself when he suddenly passed by Dave leaning against a wall. He thought nothing of it until the germaphobe started to follow.

"Hey, DJ, you got a second?"

He quirked at eyebrow at the scrawny dude. Probably the last person he expected to approach him of everyone that was left. "Sure man, what's up?"

"It's about Dawn. You and her have gotten pretty close, yeah?"

DJ tried to hide a blush. "Well I mean... yeah, I guess so. Why do you ask?"

"She's been giving me a lot of weird looks lately and has been kinda confrontational," Dave explained. "I get that she's kinda blunt and, uh, eerie with pretty much everyone. But I don't know, I'm kinda getting the impression she doesn't like me. Any idea what that's about?"

The brickhouse's eyebrows shot up. Normally his first instinct would be to come clean with what he knew, but strategically it probably wasn't the best move to confirm one of his closest allies was targeting one of their remaining opponents. "Oh yeah? I wouldn't worry about it too much. You know Dawn, she can come across as a little intense sometimes. I'm sure it's nothing serious, probably just reading your aura."

Not talking, eh? That's fine, just meant he had to turn it up a notch. After heaving a deep sigh the scrawnier boy sniffled and got himself a bit misty eyed. DJ's concern was immediate. "Fine, I get it. You just gotta understand, ever since my last season I get a lot of people who've already made up their mind on the kind of person I am. Looking at me like I'm some kinda unhinged psycho. And just when I thought things were turning around for me here with Jo gone, seeing her always giving me the side eye... I don't know, it just hurts."

Aw hell, DJ couldn't just let this tortured soul stay down in the dumps! "Look, I haven't really pried since I've never had any problems with you personally, but maybe she IS a little weary around you. But, Dawn ain't the kinda person to just make assumptions about someone or just go by whatever was shown on TV. The way I see it, she's probably just concerned about you, like what emotions you may be feeling and all that. And she just expresses things in an outside the box kinda way, ya know?"

When Dave still seemed unsure he continued. "Maybe if you have a honest conversation with her to clear up whatever it is she's worried about, y'all can understand each other better. Then it'll probably put you both at ease. She's a great listener, I promise if you give it a shot she'll be willing to hear you out."

Dave tapped at his chin, eventually nodding. "Talk it out... yeah, I guess I can do that. Thanks."

*** Confessional: DJ ***

"Poor guy. Lord knows I've seen firsthand how people start to talk about you once you've been on TV. But I'm sure once he clears the air with Dawn she'll see that he's a good dude in reality!"

*** Confessional: Dave ***

"So the good news is that personal space invading freak hasn't convinced any of the others to worry about me yet. If her boy toy doesn't even fully know why she's on my case, I'm sure no one else is." He looked on in contemplation. "Maybe if I nip this in the bud now I'll be home free. We're at the final nine and I have a four person alliance. By my count if I can get us all to survive two more votes, the money is as good as mine. So if all I gotta do to make that happen is have a little heart to heart with that weirdo? I'd say that's worth it."

*** Meanwhile ***

Beardo and Anne Maria had made their way to the dining area since it was currently empty and far enough away for a decent amount of privacy. Once there she popped a squat on the nearest chair and raised an eyebrow at him.

"So first things first, lemme just say that I'm sorry for how I talked to you during the ceremony," he started. "That wasn't cool."

"You're apologizing for telling me I was being too harsh?"

He hesitated but knew the best thing to do was be honest. "No. You were definitely out of line with how you were talking to Trent. That part I'm not apologizing for. BUT, I didn't need to raise my voice at you and give you that kinda tone. So that's what I'm sorry about."

She seemed satisfied with that answer and motioned for him to continue.

"Look I'll be honest, I know this whole mess has been a headache for all of us. I can sit here and make excuses all day about how I was out of my element trying to ask out a cute girl I like and that I did what I thought was the smartest move, but that'd just be me yapping. So I say we move past all that and I'll just say what I shoulda said from the start." With a final uneasy breath, he braced himself for what was likely a negative reaction. "I like you a lot. Would you... maybe wanna... go out sometime... or, uh, something?"

And like that a weight was off his shoulders. He'd finally asked the big question. But now came the rejection. He fought his urge to shut his eyes and cower, instead facing his crush and looking her in the eye. To his surprise she hadn't broke out in laughter or recoiled in disgust. Instead she was still just raising an eyebrow with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Yeah, sure."

Beardo let out the breath he'd been holding in and nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I figured. Just wanted to finally ask it outright rather than doing all this runaround. Hopefully we can still be friends going forward."

He started walking away before realization hit him like a brick. First he made a record scratch sound, followed by a tape being rewound. "Hold up, did you say yes?"

"Yup." She shrugged. "I like it when guys are straight up with me, you shoulda just done that earlier."

After staring in disbelief for a few moments he shook himself back to reality. "Really?"

"I can take it back if you've changed your mind."

"No no no, I just-" Bro tried to keep himself calm as he processed everything. "I didn't expect that. Thought for sure you were gonna tell me to kick rocks after everything."

She chuckled in amusement. "And you still asked me anyway?"

"Well yeah. No more miscommunications, right? Better to just ask it outright and hear your answer face to face."

"Sounds like you're learning then." With a playful elbow nudge she got him to ease up. "I liked our talk back in those sewers. You seem chill, I'm used to most guys I date not paying attention when I try to vent or whateva, they just wanna skip straight to the making out. It's nice to meet a guy who actually wants to know how I'm feeling and junk."

Beardo laughed in disbelief. He was half tempted to pinch himself and make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Fo sho, I like you for more than just looks. You got anything you wanna get off your chest, I'm all ears." It was then that he realized he had no idea what to do next. Didn't think he'd get this far to begin with. "So uh, I guess we go on a date now, yeah?"

Anne Maria glanced around the room and raised an eyebrow. "What, right here on the plane?"

Right, that didn't exactly scream romance. Beardo racked his brain for a moment before a lightbulb went off and he made a ding sound. "We're heading to somewhere tropical, right? And we'll probably be there for a minute while the jet gets fixed up. Way I see it, that's a perfect opportunity for a beach date right there. Once the challenge is over we'll have plenty of free time to just chill away from the stress of the game."

Sun, sand, and good vibes? It was certainly an idea that perked her up. "Now that's more like it! It's a date."

*** Confessional: Anne Maria ***

"I know what ya might be thinking. Ain't you mad at him for all the Trent stuff or whateva?" She shrugged. "Honestly, I'm over it. At the end of the day that whole mess happened because he was crushing hard on me, and can you blame him? You might also think he doesn't really seem like my type. But pretty much every boyfriend I've had the last few years wound up being loud jerks that didn't last. Maybe a change of pace like this is exactly what I need. He's pretty cool once you get to know him."

*** Confessional: Beardo ***

The entirety of the confessional consisted of him staring off into space, mouth agape, making the cacophony of shrill screech and hisses like that of old dial-up internet.

*** Economy class ***

Clearly conversation had halted between Brick and Leshawna, the two now sitting in silence as they awaited their usual conversation partners to return. At some point she had pulled out a sketchpad and started drawing something. The cadet quickly took notice.

"I didn't know you were an artist!"

She quirked an eyebrow towards him and shrugged. "Well I ain't really. Definitely not a pro or anything at least. An old friend of mine does a lot of drawing though, and she gave me a few tips here and there. Works for passing the time when there's nothing better to do I guess."

He nodded along. "Well hey, work at it long enough and I'm sure you'll be making stuff just as good as her eventually!" After a pause he decided to ask the next obvious question. "So what are you drawing?"

"Design ideas, mostly. Dresses, outfits, handbags, that kinda thing."

Suddenly Brick's eyes got a twinkle in them. "You big into fashion?"

Resisting the urge to make a face as if the answer should have been obvious she instead nodded. "Mhm, if we didn't have that dumb contract clause that made us wear the same outfit all season you best believe I'd be showing off with each wardrobe."

Before he knew it Brick had jumped up and took a seat next to her. "Mind if I take a peek? Fashion's sort of a passion of mine." When she gave him an incredulous look he chuckled bashfully. "No, really! I even went to school for it between deployments. I don't really get to talk about it much with other guys, so I'd love to see what you've got."

For a moment she hesitated but there didn't seem to be any harm in it. She handed over the notebook and he eagerly flipped through the pages, taking in each design and carefully inspecting the details.

"A lot of these are really nice, there's definitely some potential here! You planning to do anything with them or is it all just for fun?"

"For now? Just for fun I guess. When I think about what I'll do with the prize money if I win I'd like to think starting a fashion line is near the top of the list. But then I realize that I wouldn't even know where to start. There's probably more that goes into it than just sketching some designs."

"Oh yeah, lots more." He handed back the notebook, grin widening. "I learned a lot about the business side of things in fashion school. Marketing, advertising, development, all that jazz. I'd be more than happy to give you some advice if you're interested."

Before Leshawna could respond Chris' voice came on the intercom. "Attention passengers, we'll be arriving at our destination shortly. Everyone please gather in the dining area to prepare for departure. And slip into your swimwear while you're at it, may as well be dressed for the beach!"

She sighed and gave him an appreciative smile. "Sure, let's take a rain check on that."

*** Confessional: Leshawna ***

"How does someone wake up and decide two of their passions in life are gonna be fashion and being in the army? That's like deciding you wanna be a farmer while building robots on the side." She chuckled in amusement. "Don't judge a book by it's cover, I guess."

*** On a beach ***

Sometime later the contestants were all clad in their swim attire, stood on a beach while the jumbo jet was hauled off in the background. From nearby various locals were passing by in colorful costumes and masks accompanied by band members blasting Calypso music like some sort of parade, having a grand time. Chris and Chef walked into the scene, wearing similar getups adorned with feathers, tassels, and jewels.

"Welcome to Trinidad and Tobago," Chris announced. "Tobago especially, this here is Pigeon Point Beach. Seems we've arrived while the country is in the middle of their carnival celebration. Some timing, eh?"

Izzy watched on excitedly at various parade goers in masquerade masks and whatnot. "Izzy likes what she sees! Do we get to join in, I wanna wear one of those cool feathery getups!"

"Y'all ain't going anywhere until we get the challenge out of the way," Chef grumbled. "The plane's gonna take a few days to repair so you'll have plenty of time to goof off after."

"Assuming you don't get eliminated." Chris chuckled. "Because yes, while we're gonna take a little mandatory vaycay here, the show must go on! We've arranged seven hotel rooms for those of you staying, while the loser gets a walk over to the local airport to enjoy a crummy ride back to Canada."

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't there be eight rooms? This isn't a double elimination, is it?"

"Since first class will be unavailable for the time being, the winner will instead be treated to a luxury hotel room," the host explained. "And as usual they can bring someone with them. Saves us money by needing one less reservation after all! Don't worry, it'll have two beds. Though depending on who wins and who they bring I suppose that might be unnecessary."

He did an "I'm watching you" motion to DJ, making him turn beet red.

*** Confessional: DJ ***

"Why's he gotta zero ME out like that!? We're not even dating right now!" Of note was that the confessional was now taking place in a makeshift outhouse made with logs and leaves.

*** Still on the beach ***

"Anyway, due to how last minute the arrangements were, we kinda had to throw some low budget stuff together for a challenge. We decided to make you dudes square off in one of the country's most famous creations." Chris motioned to the side where 9 horizontal bars had been set, propped up by two vertical bars each. On the later were various notches for the horizontal bar to fit on. "Time to ask yourselves how low can you go!"

"We're playing limbo?" Beardo looked down at his gut then up at his hair and gulped. "Great..."

"Now obviously just making it that would be boring, so we're gonna spice it up a bit," Chef continued. "We're gonna add a social element to the mix. Before each round of limbo, y'all are gonna do a mini challenge. You each get to choose someone to make their task harder. Failure to complete a challenge means your bar gets lowered. But if you pass the challenge, anyone who targeted you that round gets THEIR bar lowered."

A few contestants shifted their gaze around at the other's, sizing up who may target them and who they may want to aim for themselves. Dave and Dawn locked eyes in particular.

"And you should be able to figure out the rest," Chris said. "If you hit your bar, you're out of the running. Last person standing wins immunity and the luxury room. Follow me to your first mini challenge!"

Most of the contestants did as they were told, though Jasmine lingered back at the limbo bars. She held a hand up to the bar, then up to her head. The top of the bar barely even made it past her stomach. With a sigh she leered at the camera and huffed off.

*** Confessional: Jasmine ***

"Call me crazy, but I don't think they put much effort into making this challenge balanced."

*** Get the tables ***

The contestants found themselves gathered around a large table with various covered plates. In the center was a dish filled to the brim with bright red peppers that had little tails at the end.

"Hope you dudes are hungry, because we've got a few local delicacies prepared for today." Chris laughed maniacally before directing them to the middle of the table. "To increase difficulty on these, for each person you get targeted by you'll also have to eat a Trinidad scorpion pepper. Fun fact, it held the title for world's hottest pepper before the Carolina Reaper came around. So that should be fun! Chef, show em what they'll be eating."

Chef removed the lid from the plate in front of Dave, revealing multiple slices of what looked like very dark sausage.

"This here is black pudding," he announced while uncovering the other plates. "It's pig entrails, dripping with pig blood... and also a bit of oatmeal added in there."

Immediately DJ shot up with Dawn not far behind. "I ain't eating that! Me and Dawn are vegan man, how's that fair? Can't we just eat the peppers?"

Chris waved a hand dismissively. "You guys have watched the show, you knew something like this was coming eventually. Kinda hard to do weird foods WITHOUT it coming from an animal. Eat it, don't eat it, it's not my problem. Plus this is just round 1, you can take the hit."

"That hardly seems fair," Dawn grumbled. "Why should we be punished for our personal choices in what we eat..."

But there was no use protesting. With an easy scapegoat given, the inevitable unfolded. All seven of their fellow contestants targeted one of the animal loving duo, eager to take the freebie. As for them, Dawn obviously selected Dave while DJ decided to go for Jasmine.

"You have one minute to finish your plate. Failure to do so will count as a loss for the round," Chris explained. "And your time starts... NOW!"

True to their word DJ and Dawn folded their arms and refused to so much as touch their food. Izzy happily scarfed down her meal and seemed completely unphased. Brick, Leshawna, and Beardo started out fast but were hit with a gush of blood filling their mouths that gave them pause. Anne Maria and Dave were much more apprehensive, inspecting their food or prodding it with a fork before reluctantly taking their bites. Both nearly hurled on the spot. As for Jasmine, she decided to immediately eat her pepper in one bite. The food would help manage the pain from the heat, and hopefully she'd be so focused on the pain that she wouldn't even notice any gross taste. It was a win-win. Once that was done, she got to work on the black pudding.

When the timer was up Izzy, Brick, Leshawna, Beardo, and Jasmine had finished. Anne Maria made a bit of progress but ultimately couldn't push through. Dave realized after three bites that he wasn't going to finish and didn't even bother eating the pepper as a result.

"Alright, looks like Dawn, Anne Maria, and Dave get their poles lowered one notch. DJ, because you refused to eat AND picked someone who did finish their food, your pole is going down two notches. Not a cool call, bro!"

The brickhouse glared but said nothing.

With that done the 9 took their positions behind the poles. Notably Beardo had pulled his hair back with a scrunchie to stop his afro from eliminating him early. Chef whipped out a speaker and started blasting Calypso music to signal them forward. Those who had passed were able to limbo under their bars with ease. All except Jasmine who despite completing her task still had to lean back a strenuous amount just to get her tall frame under. But she managed, if barely. Anne Maria, Dawn, and Dave also had an easy enough time. DJ having his pole lower than anyone else's made for a bit of a struggle, but he pulled it off.

"Round 1 in the books and no one's out yet." Chris rubbed his hands together. "We'll see how long that lasts... on to round 2!"

One flash forward later and the contestants were each sat behind a set of steel drums. In front of them was Chef with even larger drums, drumsticks at the ready.

"For this task, you'll be playing the signature instrument of the country, the steelpan! Chef is gonna drum out a solo that you dudes gotta memorize and play back. The more people target you, the more notes you gotta get right to receive a passing score. So what's it gonna be?"

This time things were more spread out. Jasmine received the most heat, getting targeted by three of the others. Dave got two votes this time, from both animal lovers. But his allies divided up their targets to Anne Maria, Leshawna, AND DJ. Once it came time for the ring leader to make his selection he stared down Dawn for a bit before instead choosing Beardo.

"Wh- why me?" the beatboxer asked.

Dave had once again been locking eyes with the aura reader but put on an innocent smile. "Well I figured you had the best shot since you're a musician and all. I'm kinda trying to avoid ticking people off right now, even if it gets my pole lowered."

*** Confessional: Dawn ***

"Or because he doesn't wish to draw suspicion by focusing his efforts on me alone." She sighed. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to borrow that strategy for myself. At this rate people may feel I'm being unfair to Dave for seemingly no reason."

*** Drum solo ***

Chef thrashed out a 30 second long drum solo that was just slow enough to be readable for the others, but fast enough to prove difficult for those with handicaps. One by one the contestants were then tasked to repeat what they remembered. Beardo fared the best, managing to miss few notes if any. Those without handicaps also passed easily enough. It was close for Anne Maria and DJ but they too managed to scrape by. On the flipside, Dave just barely failed, having only missed a few notes past the requirement. Leshawna and Jasmine just failed outright.

"Let's see, one notch down for Brick and Izzy for their targets passing, one notch down for Jasmine and Leshawna being duds on the drums. And TWO notches down for Dave for doing both!"

Knowing that even that single knock against her was going to put Jasmine in the danger zone, the Aussie looked on in concern at her ally. "Look mate, I know you're not trying to ruffle any feathers, but you can't just be wasting your target and make things more difficult on yourself."

"Right, right. Sorry, guess I'm just a little on edge because of Dawn. Don't wanna risk making anyone else upset with me."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Now that you mention it she DID want to talk with me about you up in first class before Izzy interrupted her. What's that all about?"

He shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Hopefully it's just a misunderstanding that I can smooth over with her. But yeah, she's definitely been giving me some weird looks. I also notice she's targeted me both times in the challenge..."

"Right, guess that's pretty good reason to not tick anyone else off." She patted him on the shoulder. "Well I'm sure you can work it out with her."

"Here's hoping!" Once she walked off to the poles he scowled in annoyance and followed.

Like last time Chef blasted music and the contestants were off. Beardo and Anne Maria were the first ones to clear their bar and exchanged a high five. Despite the lowered notches Brick and Izzy had no trouble, nor did Dawn. Leshawna struggled with her added difficulty but managed to scrape by, as did DJ. Dave had to snap his spine back into place afterwards but got under easily enough. Definitely realized that Jasmine was right about him not having much wiggle room left. Speaking of, Jasmine's immense height made even just one added notch a herculean task to overcome. And yet she was doing it. At first. The bar was above her neck when she realized the brim of her hat would be connecting for sure if she didn't do anything. She carefully tried to reach for the headwear with one arm but the awkward position took its toll and she stumbled into one of the side bars. Her pole came tumbling down and she groaned in annoyance.

"And Jasmine is our first one out of the running! From first class to worst class, ya hate to see it."

The Aussie snapped the pole over her knee. "Not like you gave me a chance forcing us to play a game that works AGAINST tall people."

Chris shrugged. "You can join the veggie munchers in the elite club of me not caring if it's unfair. You managed round 1, maybe you would have been fine if you passed the challenge! If it's any consolation you can feel free to hit the beach while we wait for the game to finish."

Reluctantly she realized there was no use in complaining and did exactly that. With a supportive pat on Brick's shoulder and smile towards Dave she stomped away to blow off steam. Once she was gone Chris led the remaining 8 back to the table.

"I wasn't lying when I said you better be hungry, we're gonna do a few of these eating rounds." He ignored any complaints from DJ and Dawn. "Time for your second course!"

Chef revealed bowls of yellowish orange broth. Floating around were the likes of potatoes, yams, peas, and dumplings. And also an unidentified meat.

"Cow heel soup," the cook announced. "Rich in protein!"

Yet again the vegan duo resigned themselves to their fate. The others all placed their targets on them, Dave taking care to target DJ specifically, which the brickhouse returned the favor by selecting the germaphobe. But Dawn actually decided to go for Anne Maria instead, which surprised him.

"Should I even bother giving y'all your peppers?" Chef asked, getting head shakes from both veggieheads. "Thought so." He tossed peppers to Dave and Anne Maria and signaled for them to dig in.

DJ and Dave shared looks of disappointment but still refused to eat the meat. Anne Maria immediately downed her pepper and got to work, cringing a bit at the cow heel but otherwise managing. Beardo, Izzy, Leshawna, and Brick all seemed to make short work of the dish with the cadet voicing what they were thinking.

"Honestly? This is actually pretty good."

At his ally's words Dave hesitantly took a big bite of the cow heel. He very much didn't return the sentiment, but he figured this was a dish he could stomach. So after bracing himself he swallowed his pepper and started chugging. He had just barely managed to clean out the bowl before Chris called time.

"Oof, looks like Dawn and DJ are both taking two hits, none for everybody else."

When it was time to limbo the brickhouse already knew he was cooked. He attempted to lean back far enough but wasn't even close to getting under the bar. So he kicked the pole aside and walked off. Dawn on the other hand was still safe, her short stature and decent flexibility proving useful. But another food round would definitely put her in danger. As for everyone else, they passed all the same.

"DJ joins the loser circle! Seven left, who wants it the most?"

With nothing better to do the gentle giant sulked off to some nearby trees to lean against and observe the competition. It was then that an iguana with a blueish hue scuttled out from the foliage and bumped up against him as if it somehow didn't see the massive human in its way.

"Hey little dude! Come to keep me company?" The iguana blinked one eye, then the other. "I'll take that as a yes."

Meanwhile with the contestants they were being beckoned over to the ocean. Dave took that opportunity to rush forward and start slurping up water in a futile attempt to ease the pepper pain, his face still red and sweat pouring. Beardo looked at him, then to his now girlfriend and elbowed her lightly.

"You hanging in there? Just how spicy are we talking with these peppers?"

She laugh scoffed. "It's burning like hell, but I'll live. Me and spicy food get along just fine, so unless they make me eat a bunch of those things I can take it."

Suddenly he perked up. "Guess you're in luck, because I love putting some kick into my cooking! Soon as we get the chance I'm whipping you up some of my mama's gumbo that'll knock the socks off of you. If you think you can handle it."

As the two laughed and teased each other, Dave finally felt the heat going down a little bit. Once he caught the duo doing their flirting he was almost too distracted to notice the pain anyway. "What the..."

*** Confessional: Dave ***

"Why are those two so close all of a sudden? I figured Beardo would be keeping his distance after she shot him down earlier." He scratched his head and the thought of something made his eyes go wide. "She didn't actually say yes did she... nah, of course not. It's probably just a matter of her wanting to let him down easy by staying friends. Huh, oddly nicer than what I'd expect from her."

*** In the water ***

The remaining seven contestants were positioned in kayaks at the end of a long pier. Out in the water there were various buoys of varying distances away from them.

"This one's pretty straightforward," Chris explained. "You gotta paddle your way out to one of those buoys, turn around and make your way back here within the five minute time limit. The more targets that get put on you, the farther out you gotta paddle. So what's the difficulty levels gonna be?"

Brick and Izzy both targeted Dawn, figuring her tiny frame would struggle with the added difficulty. The aura reader herself targeted the later for the sake of picking someone that wasn't Dave. He wasn't exactly going to have an easy time anyway, considering Leshawna and Anne Maria both targeted him. As for the germaphobe himself, he went after Beardo who in turn put another vote on Dawn.

"Alright, you have your distance set, the five minutes begin... now!"

Five minutes proved to be more than enough time for those without added difficulty. Brick, Leshawna, and Anne Maria crossed with plenty of time to spare. Izzy also made short work of her trip, even whistling a jolly tune as if she knew it'd be light work. Beardo had a harder time, but he still managed to finish with a few seconds to spare. Dave and Dawn weren't so lucky. Between their less athletic frames and the fair amount of extra distance they had to cover, neither made it back in time.

"Oooooh, not only do our scrawny losers get a knock against them for failing to finish, they ALSO get another one for both of their targets doing it! Ain't looking good for you two."

As they finally returned to shore, Dave a few seconds faster than her, he held out a hand to offer helping her out of the kayak. She simply hopped out by herself and kept walking by.

"Tch, at least pretend like you don't have a problem with me," he mumbled under his breath.

Another round of limbo, another straightforward result. With no added difficulty, five of the competitors cleared their bars with the same varying degrees of ease. Obviously the same couldn't be said about the skinny rivals. By now they had to arch themselves backwards to an agonizing degree to make it under their pole. Dawn just barely managed, her nose just missing the bar before she made it through. Dave let out a loud groan but eventually craned himself back just another inch and finally got under, though when he finished his spine let out a sickening crack when he stood up.

"No eliminations this round? Cool, something tells me that won't be the case next time." Chris chuckled mischievously. "Time to eat!"

When they'd made it back to the table Chef's latest dish was much more visceral than the last two. This was just straight up a whole animal, skinned and cooked with various curry spices lining the meat.

"Roasted curry iguana," he confirmed. "I went through the hassle of removing any bones so y'all don't choke. You're welcome."

From nearby DJ gasped and put his hands over his companion iguana's eyes. "Seriously? You gotta serve that crap right in front of my friend here? That could have been his family, man!"

Dawn shrieked when her plate was uncovered and promptly put the lid back on. "The rest of you can feel free to just vote for me, I refuse to even look at that any longer."

Before she could storm off Chris stood in her way. "You still gotta do your vote, brah."

She gave him an unamused glare and pushed him aside. "I vote for myself."

*** Confessional: Dawn ***

"I'm not one to judge other cultures, they're free to eat what they want. But it's ridiculous that Chris would do this type of round so much knowing fully well that I'd refuse to partake. He may as well have told me to sit out the challenge from the start."

*** Eat up ***

"Tastes like chicken." Izzy gleefully commentated while slurping down the leg meat. Her and Beardo both seemed to genuinely love the meal and had their plate licked clean well before the others. Brick, Leshawna, and Anne Maria struggled a bit. The initial visual of just eating the iguana whole was unsettling enough to gross them out. But once they pushed through it did indeed taste better than they expected. However, the iguanas were deceptively large and eating the whole thing in a time limit was easier said than done. But in the end they managed.

The same could not be said for Dave. After retching a few times looking at the reptile's face, he eventually shut his eyes and tried just shoveling the meat down without thinking about it. But the mental image was hard to shake and when Chris called for time he hadn't even finished half of it.

"The same two people lose again! Only one notch down each this time, but is even that too much for them?"

They'd have their answer soon. Once again the unhindered five made it past their bars with minimal fanfare save for some cheers from DJ and Jasmine. But having already struggled enough last time as is, Dave and Dawn both knew what was coming. They leaned back as far as they could but neither could do enough. They'd knock into their bar and fall to the ground in defeat.

"And just like that we're down to five. You guys get to wear costumes for the next part, so follow Chef to the nearest changing rooms."

As those five cleared out, Dave once again approached the hippie girl to offer helping her up. This time she reluctantly accepted the gesture, though she gave him a weary look once she was to her feet.

"Thank you," she said plainly, beginning to walk towards DJ and his iguana. Dave hurried to cut her off first.

"Hey, since we're gonna be waiting who knows how long for the challenge to end, can we talk?" When he noticed her looking towards her crush he clarified. "Alone. I'd like a chance to clear the air on whatever it is that has you acting so weird around me. Because yes, I've definitely noticed."

"It's not exactly something I've tried to hide," she shot back. "But yes, if you're willing to finally speak truthfully with me I'm more than willing to listen."

DJ watched the two of them leave, picking up his iguana and deciding to go join Jasmine at some beach chairs instead. Best to give them space to talk out whatever they needed to. The Aussie raised an eyebrow at their presence and leaned over to inspect the animal.

"Guess this one must have gave Chef the slip when he was doing his cooking. You planning to try and sneak a pet on board again, DJ? At least this is easier to hide than an elephant."

He chuckled. "Hey, I can't help it if the animals are drawn to me. If little dude just decided he wants to hang out who was I to shoo him away? Think I'll call him Brendarr." She gave him a raised eyebrow. "I don't know, he just has that vibe."

As the two talked the iguana watched a fly buzzing around that eventually landed on its forehead. Slowly it started licking at its own eyeballs, clearly unable to reach the bug but it kept trying anyway. At some point the tongue even wandered over to his nostril. Jasmine watched on in amusement.

"Hate to break it to ya, but I think your iguana might be a bit thick in the head."

*** Confessional: DJ ***

Rather than sit, the gentle giant was standing to the side of the outhouse with the iguana perched on his arm. "He ain't dumb! Maybe a little slow, but not dumb. Check it out, just a little while ago I saw him do a flip. Go on, man, do it for the camera!"

After a slow blink, the reptile bounced off DJ's arm and promptly plummeted into the toilet hole.

"... Ok, maybe he's a little dumb."

*** Out in the streets ***

Sometime later the remaining five contestants were now wearing carnival outfits similar to those of the locals and hosts. Beardo was trying and failing to not gawk at Anne Maria, Brick and Leshawna were rocking it, and Izzy was already grooving to the distant music from the parade.

"Remember the drumming challenge?" Chris asked. "Same deal here. Chef is gonna do a dance routine, you guys try to memorize it, the higher the difficulty the more you have to get right. Easy peasy. Unless you suck at dancing, then this is gonna be rough."

Immediately four heads turned to one person in particular. Leshawna looked around and scoffed. "The hell y'all looking at me for?!"

The votes would reflect the sentiment. Beardo, Izzy, and Brick all put their votes on Leshawna, while her and Anne Maria voted for the cadet. More because he seemed likelier to mess up than Izzy in the later's case. Chef's dance routine was high energy, full of much shimmying, twirling, jumping, the kinda performance that would work while marching in a parade.

Anne Maria was the first to give it a whirl, and while it was a bit sloppy she drew from her years of club dancing to put on an enthusiastic performance that passed easily enough. Having watched that, Beardo was feeling plenty motivated and put on a near flawless routine while getting cheered on by onlookers. Izzy got a little too lost in the sauce and started freestyling her dance moves, whipping out stuff like the worm and Egyptian dance with no rhyme or reason. It was entertaining for sure, but very much not the routine and she got a fail as a result. Leshawna's dance was exactly what everyone expected. A trainwreck with no rhythm to speak of. She probably wouldn't have passed even without any handicaps. Finally was Brick. He cut it close, too much for comfort, but when he locked in and barked the moves out loud as if he was doing an army drill, he managed to just narrowly duplicate enough moves for a passing grade.

"That's an all clear for Brick and Beardo, one knock against Anne Maria and Izzy, and TWO towards Leshawna. Boys rule and girls drool I guess. The feathers on those outfits could probably knock off your poles alone, so go ahead and change back before we do our next limbo."

While they were dealing with that, things switched back over to Dave and Dawn, now a fair bit away from everyone else in a secluded part of the beach.

"Alright, I'll save us the trouble of beating around the bush and just ask outright why it is you've been giving me dirty looks and snarky quips. What exactly did I do to get on your bad side?"

He expected her to be taken aback by his bluntness, but her expression remained unchanged. "Well as you know I'm able to get something of a read on people and I'm under the impression that you've been hiding something. Quite a lot, potentially. And you reluctance to talking about whatever it is that's making your aura so chaotic leads me to believe you could be up to no good."

"So... basically you're just going off a bad vibe."

She shrugged. "In a sense."

Dave frowned but resisted the urge to lash out about that being stupid. "Ok, but aren't most people hiding things on a show like this? I know you're all about morals or whatever, but this IS a competition for life changing money. People lie and hide things all the time, they don't want to get voted off. Why would that make me any worse than anyone else? It's not like I've hurt anyone."

"Yes, I'm aware trickery is just a natural part of the game for most people, I don't really have a problem with that. What DOES catch my interest is when things go beyond mere gameplay and become personal. More vindictive, even spiteful." She gave him a knowing look. "And I believe that may be the case with you."

Now it was him being taken aback. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, last time I checked I haven't crossed any lines. You don't see me out here trying to break up friendships or ruin people's reputation." No one who's reputation wasn't already in the gutter at least. Memories of his lies against Amy and Sugar came flooding back.

"For you I think it's more of an introspective problem. Crippling insecurities have plagued you all your life, you've been victim to relentless ridicule, trauma from previous hardships read clear as day in your aura. As a result I sense a dark cloud lingering above you. Like you've let the cruelty of the world turn you into a bitter hateful person. This show isn't exactly a healthy environment for someone battling such issues." She quirked her head while looking him over. "Add in your repulsion to those you view as beneath you and that's a dangerous combination that could potentially put you down a dark path."

Not showing any reaction to her comments was becoming increasingly difficult seeing as Dave startling trembling with rage a bit. "So you have a problem with me because I've had a hard life? Yeah, that makes total sense. Real stand up position to take."

"I don't have a problem with you, Dave, but it doesn't take a therapist to figure out that if you let these issues continue to consume you it may put you on a path that's hard to turn back from. One that's destructive not only to others but you especially. That's why I'd urge you to work through them rather than ignore it."

Nearly every fiber of his being was calling out for Dave to give Dawn the talking down of a lifetime. Knock her off that high horse and berate her for being so judgmental towards him. But that rational side of his brain was keeping him level. This could be good. Maybe this was just the opportunity he needed to diffuse the situation. So with a long heavy sigh, he composed his thoughts.

"You want me to vent? Fine, I'll vent. Do you have any idea what it's like being me? To be a walking laughingstock for YEARS because I was an emotional teenager on TV?" He balled his hands into fists. "Yeah, I know that I'm awkward, I say things before thinking it through, I cry when I get overwhelmed. But is that really such a damn crime that I need to be ridiculed wherever I go? It's HELL!" Seeing her about to speak he held up a hand. "And I'm sorry, but I don't think you can understand. People LOVE you. You're probably the most popular person from your cast, and you were only in a few episodes. They treat me like I'm the worst person to be on their screens. EVER! More than the homewreckers, more than the cheaters, more than the wackjobs. Apparently the worst thing you can be is an emotional mess that handled things badly with a cute girl."

By now the angry tears were starting to trickle down, Dawn stoically watching on all the while. "So yeah, I get jealous of people! Sometimes it pisses me off seeing how good everyone else has it while I continue to get kicked while I'm down. Do you know how embarrassing it was to get duped by Amy, knowing I was gonna look like a loser on TV again when it comes to girls? While seemingly everyone else here is just thriving when it comes to their love life? If it's a crime to feel bitter because I can't ever catch a goddamn break, then lock me up and throw away the key! You think I don't realize I have issues? I'm not an idiot, Dawn. Obviously I wish I could go through life without always feeling jaded. Yeah, maybe the million bucks won't just magically fix things for me. But damn it, it's SOMETHING for me use as a goal, so excuse me if I'm willing to be a little secretive to try and get there."

Once he was finally done Dave was wheezing and full on shaking. He waited for Dawn to give some sort of emotionless retort, maybe toss in some insults. But instead she leaned in for a hug. No longer able to hold back the tears, he started weeping.

"There's always time for things to get better. You can overcome this."

Dave didn't say anything, just continuing to cry while Dawn held the hug.

*** Confessional: Dawn ***

"I must say, that's definitely not how I thought that conversation would go. I've had my reservations, obviously, but as far as I can tell everything Dave vented about was him speaking from the soul. No lying, no trickery, just genuinely voicing his emotions. He certainly proved my point that this show isn't a healthy environment to work out his issues, but still. Perhaps I really have been too quick to judge him." She looked off solemnly.

*** Confessional: Dave ***

With a few lingering sobs left in him he finally flicked away the last of the tears and took in a breath. "That was... a lot to get off my chest. And really not something I wanted to dive into on camera." All of a sudden his weeps turned into amused chuckles. "Looks like it worked, though! Sometimes you gotta use a bit of truth instead of lying with the right people. Notice how she stopped pressing me about what it is I've actually done wrong once I let the waterworks fall? Situation diffused and I didn't even have to admit to anything significant!"

He sighed in relief. "I'm sure she'll get suspicious again, but by then I'll have the majority of the votes and she can't do anything about it. And I think I've got an idea how to make tonight go smoothly."

*** Back to the challenge ***

When perspective returned to the contestants they'd already finished their latest round of limbo. Or rather, four of them had finished. Leshawna glared down at the fallen pole, the latest to get knocked out of the running.

"Five down, four left," Chris observed. "And you guys probably already know what's next. It's another eating round!"

Just as she was going to join Brick, Anne Maria, and Beardo at the table, Izzy felt something pelt her in the head. Then another. And a third. She glanced over to find Dave poking out from around a tree tossing tiny rocks. Once he had her attention he motioned for her to join him and ducked out of sight before anyone else noticed him.

"Oh, before we do that I gotta go take a whizz," the wild child exclaimed, running off into the brush. "Brb!"

"We have an outhouse set up, you don't gotta pee on the foli- aaaaand she's ignoring me." Chris sighed in defeat. "You've got one minute, Izzy, make it snappy!"

After venturing far enough into the trees Izzy found Dave crouching in a bush trying to look discreet.

"Daveorino! The Daveinator! The Big D! What's up, boss man?" He shushed her, prompting her to lower her volume. "what's up, boss man?"

"I need a favor," he whispered. "It's about tonight's vote. I've got a plan to make sure things are split up with the others so our 4 votes are enough. You're gonna help with that."

Before the conversation could continue it cut away, now showing a few minutes later when Izzy was at the table with the remaining contestants in the running. Chef revealed the latest concoction. A large cooked rodent laying atop dumplings, slathered with gravy and spices.

"This here's the agouti," he announced, smiling devilishly at Anne Maria's horrified reaction. "Basically? It's a giant rat."

"More close to a guinea pig I'm told, but yeah, basically." Chris put in some air pods to tune out the frothing rage being yelled out by DJ and Dawn. "So what's it gonna be on the difficulty?"

Izzy and Brick sent their votes to Anne Maria after her not so subtle disgust was made clear. As for the new couple, they both wound up choosing Brick. Izzy hung out with mice on the regular in the jumbo jet, the odds of this grossing her out were slim to none. With the peppers passed out the round began.

Beardo was having the most normal time of it, struggling a bit with the creature's gamey taste but otherwise managing at a solid pace. Brick opted to take care of his peppers first which wound up backfiring as he was too distracted coughing and wheezing to even try the meat. As for the Jersey girl, she decided to start with the agouti to make sure she could even handle it. Only a few bites in she looked down at the critter and it's face was enough to set her off. The vomit went spewing and she rushed away without another attempt.

But then there was Izzy. In a bizarre turn of events she was not only savoring the dish, she was doing it slowly. And... vocally?

"Ah, what an exquisite flavor! Quite the lean taste, it almost reminds me of something. Hmm, what is it?" She knocked on her head a few times before making an aha motion. "That's right! It tastes quite similar to bunny meat!"

DJ gasped and glared in contempt.

"The Caribbean spices really pairs well with Ratthew here's meat. It's simply to die for!" After a pause she looked around at the others with a smile. "Get it? To die for? Kinda like how these guys did?"

"How can you joke so callously about a poor innocent creature losing it's life like that?" Dawn yelled in offense.

"Hey, circle of life and all that jazz, ya know?" She slurped down some more meat and loudly licked her fingers. "Mmmm, and Chef? You really out did yourself with the gravy. Goes perfectly with these dumplings and rat innards."

"The gravy was from a can ya little weirdo," he mumbled while Anne Maria barfed yet again in the background. A few others also retched at the rat innards comment.

After a bit more time she finally finished the plate, literally licking it clean, joining Beardo in safety. Brick had finally gotten around to pushing past his mouth feeling like it was on fire but he'd only finished half of his dish before Chris called time.

"Right, well, after that interesting round it looks like two of you are getting double the difficulty added to your limbo, while the other two are resting easy. Let's see how that works out for ya!"

As it turns out, not well. Despite their best efforts there was no way Brick or Anne Maria could clear their poles. The later's massive poof knocked it free, whereas the former landed violently while attempting to lean back, somehow managing to send his pole flying into the air before it came crash landing straight to his crotch. But of course Beardo and Izzy passed their limbo with ease.

"We're down to the final two," Chris announced. "This is the moment of truth, people!"

*** Confessional: Beardo ***

"Looks like not being too much of a threat while not making any enemies is finally paying off!" He patted his gut with some accompanying bongo sounds. "Who says fluffy dudes can't win a game like this? Now all that's standing between me and Anne Maria getting that luxury room is... the girl who fits herself into vents and tight spaces for fun. Probably the most inexplicably flexible person here." The bongo music stopped and he instead imitated a whoopie cushion. "Uh oh."

*** Confessional: Izzy ***

"Dave wanted me to really ham up how good the food is during those rounds, but no acting was required! That stuff was bangin, yo." She held up another bowl of agouti and got to scarfing it down. "Really nice of Anne Maria to leave seconds behind!"

*** Beach episode! ***

While the final two prepared for their next task, Dave had took it upon himself to find a volleyball net setup and got the attention of Jasmine and Brick.

"You guys wanna play a few rounds to help pass the time?"

Brick had been reeling from the way he went out from the challenge, but that lifted his spirits. "Sure, beats watching people stuff their face with rats if you ask me."

"Shouldn't we pick up a fourth person if we're gonna play?" Jasmine pointed out. "Then we can do some two on two."

"Actually, I was gonna suggest me and Brick take you on in a 2 vs 1." Dave grinned. "Unless you're not up for it."

Ah, it was a challenge he wanted? Her competitive spirit flared and got a smirk out of Jasmine. Time to shake off the bad mojo from being the first out in the challenge. "You're on."

With how terrible Dave was playing it may as well have just been Jasmine vs Brick. But still, he pretended to make an effort by dramatically diving for balls he knew he'd have no shot of reaching. But what he lacked in usefulness he made up for in noise. He was loudly reacting to the match, making compliments and acting shocked whenever Jasmine scored or returned a serve that Brick had sent her way. Game after game Jasmine absolutely crushed them, and he was sure to point it out each time.

Eventually the games got the attention of Leshawna and Anne Maria, who exchanged a look while the Aussie continued to steamroll her opponents.

Meanwhile a mini montage played of the final two going through rounds. Next was having to do a recital of singing Calypso music, but since this isn't a singing episode there was no need to hear it in detail. Beardo obviously excelled while Izzy's showboating weirdness got a fail. Still, she passed limbo. The next eating challenge was bake and shark, a serving of shark meat atop a flatbread with the likes of lettuce, cucumbers, onion, and lemon juice. While the beatboxer ate his like a normal person, his opponent opted to loudly imitate a popular children's song while enjoying hers, getting some glares from nearby onlookers. After playing with her food so much, she failed to finish it before time was up. Yet there was another successful limbo. Next was bird calling with the intent to attract a scarlet ibis. As expected, the human soundboard did this with ease, while Izzy's guttural screams and hisses did nothing but terrify the birds. Still, she passed limbo. Though her bar was now nearly barely hovering above ground with how low it had become. A stark contrast to Beardo who's pole had yet to move an inch.

By now the volleyball games had ended with the boys thoroughly wore out from Jasmine dominating them, so everyone had gathered to watch the next eating round. When Chef removed the lids to these plates it revealed... slices of a steamed cut up vegetable.

"Yeeeeah, the next dish was supposed to be curry goat but the goats wound up escaping," Chris explained. "So we asked some locals and they suggested this. Carailee. Also known as bitter melon. Despite it being a vegetable, not actually a melon."

"You- you decided to do a round that's vegan friendly?" DJ yelled, almost knocking his iguana off his shoulder when he raised his arms in disbelief. "NOW?"

"In my defense, the locals say it's reeeeeeally gross."

Beardo took a bite and winced. "Yeah, it's bitter as hell. But I can handle it."

Izzy looked at her food, then over at Dave, then back down to the dish. She knew what must be done. After one mouthful she spit out the veggie and shoved the plate away.

"Ew ew ew, no way. Can't finish that."

Dawn gaped in disbelief. "You were just salivating when you were consuming innocent mice and sharks, but THIS is where you draw the line?"

"Hey come on, it's like, REALLY bitter. And sour too!"

With both his carailee and pepper finished Beardo waited out the clock until an amused Chris called for time.

"Welp, Izzy's made her choice. Let's see if she can somehow still stay in the game after this one."

Two notches later and Izzy's stick was quite literally as low as it could get without just laying on the ground. The space under it couldn't even fit a mouse, much less a human. But then again, this WAS Izzy they were talking about. Beardo nonchalantly did his limbo quickly so he could join the others to see if she could somehow pull this off. First the wild child leaned all the way back, literally laying on the ground with her body pressed down as flat as she could manage. She then started scratching her way towards the bar, using her fingers and toes to pull herself forward without changing position. Once she was close she then took in a breath and tried to flatten herself even more. It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow it almost looked like she was low enough so that maybe, just maybe, she could manage to squeeze her way under.

Only for her to then scoot forward slightly more and knock the bar off unceremoniously.

"And there we have it, this challenge's winner is BEARDO!" Chris chuckled in amusement while some of the others cheered and the man himself dropped his jaw. "Top 10 things I never thought I'd be saying this season."

Loudest among the cheers was Anne Maria, who pushed her way through the others and ran towards the winner. He had been so shellshocked by the news that he barely had time to react when she pounced at him. After barely catching her, she then wrapped her legs around him and planted a kiss that turned everyone else's celebration to stunned silence. Although the sound was soon replaced with a few whoops and wolf whistles.

"Looks like Beardo's also getting himself a victory make out session with Anne Maria," the host continued. "Top 3 things I never thought I'd be saying."

At the back of the crowd amidst all the celebrating and words of encouragement was the lone silent contestant. Dave stared slack jawed at the sight before him, even rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"What the fuck," he mumbled under his breath.

Anne Maria finally broke the kiss, hanging off Beardo's neck with one arm while she held the other up victoriously. "Fancy suite here we come, baby!"

*** Confessional: Anne Maria ***

"You see that? Winning a challenge the moment he starts dating me? Do I know how to motivate them or what?"

*** Confessional: Beardo ***

Much like earlier he opened the confessional with a Windows XP startup sound, though he quickly shook himself into consciousness. "Bro did that seriously just happen? Winning a challenge? THIS deep in the game? And getting a smooch from the girl I like in the process?" He laughed in disbelief. "And as if it couldn't get any better, we get to chill here in a tropical paradise for a few days. Catching some rays, eating good food, sharing a room, seeing the sight-" It was then that the implications of sharing a room hit him like a brick and he began sweating profusely. "Things... are moving fast."

*** Back at the beach ***

As the excitement died down and Anne Maria let her boyfriend go she branched off to chat with Leshawna and gossip about what just happened. Dawn and DJ also went on their way to check out more of the wildlife alongside the iguana, with Jasmine opting to join along since she was pretty curious about what critters the island had too. So Beardo staggered over to Brick and Dave, the former of whom was grinning ear to ear.

"Well well well, get a load of Casanova over here," the cadet announced.

"So are you and her like, a thing now?" Dave asked. "As in legit?"

"Crazy, right? I'm still having a hard time believing it myself." He beamed appreciatively at the duo. "But I took Brick's advice and decided to just go for it and she said yes!"

"Glad to hear it! Sometimes all you gotta do is take that leap of faith and the sky's the limit. Just think if you'd just kept assuming she wasn't interested and said nothing, none of this woulda happened."

While the two talked Dave stared off in the distance, a sort of ringing in his ears muffling the sounds of conversation. Eventually he was elbowed by Brick and came to.

"You alright, Dave?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah sorry. I think that black pudding stuff is really messing with me, I've felt like I'm on the verge of barfing my guts out ever since." Swallowing back any other feelings he may have Dave put on a smile for Beardo. "But yeah, congrats man! That's awesome that things worked out like that for you."

With a last thumbs up he took off towards the beach. "I'm gonna go see if she wants to take a stroll or something. See y'all at the ceremony!"

Brick also took his leave, allowing Dave to simmer in his thoughts alone. He clenched his teeth and started hyperventilating until another voice broke his concentration.

"So how was that?" Izzy chirped, oblivious to her ally's distress. "Did I make that loss look convincing enough? Fyi, with enough time I think I totally could have cleared that final limbo."

"You did fine, Izzy." Dave took a few deep breaths to calm himself. It wasn't working too much, but it was something. "Now we just need to pull this vote off."

"Mmm, yes, quite. Indeed," she said in a bad posh English accent. "Lemme guess, we're going after Dawn, right? Or is it gonna be DJ?"

Looking down at his trembling hands, the germaphobe's expression turned to that of steely determination. "Neither. Change of plans."

*** Later that night ***

Hours passed and eventually it was time for Chris to call everyone to the elimination ceremony. Given the current circumstances, their makeshift accommodations would be a spot on the sandy shore with nine beach chairs set up, while the host stood behind a shoddy music stand where he'd lined up eight marshmallows rather than the usual airline bags of peanuts. Tiki torches lit up the area, and dramatic music blasted from a tiny speaker. From nearby Chef rolled in a hastily put together device to stand in for the Boot of Shame. It was essentially just a large pendulum made from scrap metal, with a comically large shoe attached to the end.

"Looks like we got trouble in paradise," Chris said in an offensively bad Caribbean accent. One half Jamaican, one half Puerto Rican, 100 percent scuffed. "One of you lucky losers is about to have this primo vacation pit stop swiped from them, AND lose out on their shot at the million bucks while they're at it. Not the place I'd want to be eliminated, lemme tell ya."

DJ's iguana chewed on its arm nervously. The suspense was killing him!

"No peanuts today, we're going old school! And our first marshmallow of the evening goes to our immunity winner, Beardo!" After tossing the hairy dude his gooey treat Chris shook his head. "Nope, still feels weird to say."

Rather than a sound byte, Beardo muttered, "Flawless victory," upon catching his marshmallow, matching the voice from an old fighting game.

"Also getting marshmallows with no votes against them are... DJ." His iguana ate the marshmallow before he could grab it. "Leshawna. Brick." The two fashion lovers exchanged a high five. "Dawn, aaaaaand... Dave!"

Noticing the moonchild giving him a warm smile Dave returned it, though once she returned to facing Chris his face fell, keeping an eye on a certain remaining contestant.

"Three ladies left, one from each generation, and all of you got some heat for one reason or another." While Izzy was her usual unbothered self and Jasmine was relatively unsurprised at this point, Anne Maria went from relaxed to suddenly on edge. She looked around at the others, trying to get a read on who'd want HER gone of all people. "But two of you live to fight another day, one of whom will be... Izzy!"

"Woo!" She jumped and chomped on her marshmallow like a shark breaching water. Now Anne Maria's scanning turned more frantic and confused, and Jasmine's foot started bouncing anxiously.

"Jasmine, your strength speaks for itself. Sure you sucked out here today, buuuut I think people are wise enough to know a tall person struggling with limbo is more of an exception than the norm," Chris explained. "And Anne Maria, you ain't half shabby yourself. BUT, what you did do was put a lot of eyes on you planting that kiss on today's winner. Sure people may be happy for you guys, but are they happy enough to pass up on voting out a seemingly confirmed duo?"

Any joy felt from his win was long forgotten as Beardo too shot up in a panic. "Hold up, what?"

But Chris continued on, holding up the final symbol of immunity, waggling it tantalizingly. "Our final marshmallow of the night goes to...

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... Jasmine!"

The Aussie opted to just cooly catch her marshmallow without much fanfare, though it went without saying that the Jersey girl wasn't so composed. She jumped to her feet and glared at the others while Beardo sunk into the sand and actually groaned in frustration for once rather than make a sound effect.

"Y'all got a damn powerhouse over here and that... thing," she pointed to Izzy fighting with the iguana over its marshmallow. "And you vote me off for just kissing a guy? Are you for real right now?"

"Seriously! Me and her just got together," Beardo added. "What kinda BS is it to vote one of us off before we actually get to spend some time together as a couple?"

Chris shrugged uncaringly. "Thems the breaks, big guy. It ain't like you're the only one. Same thing happened to Cody." He paused and tapped at his chin. "And Harold too, now that I think about it. Plus Scott and Courtney... huh, I'm seeing a pattern here."

***Confessional: DJ ***

"Yeah, exactly! That's exactly what I was worried would happen if me and Dawn became official. Sometimes you gotta just put those personal feelings aside if you wanna stay in the game. It sucks, but I'm doing just fine keeping me and her as strictly friends for now."

The iguana on his shoulder cocked its head and seemed to even raise an eyebrow at him. Or at least the part of its face where an eyebrow would be.

"What? I AM ok with that. There's always after the game, right? She understands." Now his companion shook its head and returned to licking its eyeball, leaving DJ to grimace at the camera.

*** Back to the ceremony ***

With her rage still boiling, Anne Maria snapped towards the host and jabbed a finger in his chest. "Well the least ya can do is let me still stay here with him. It ain't like you're going anywhere, so there's no rush."

"Yeeeeeah, I'd love to, really. But turns out one of those pesky Aftermaths is airing tomorrow and all eliminated contestants are contractually obligated to show up for it." He moved her finger away and motioned for Chef. "And that includes you, so you're gonna have to hurry on over to the airport after this!"

Before she could protest Chef started dragging her towards the bootleg Boot of Shame and tossed her in front of the shoe. Beardo quickly ran forward with his arm outstretched.

"Wait, can't I at least say goodbye first?" But it was too late. Chris pressed a button and the device activated, knocking his girlfriend towards the water. All of a few feet. She landed harmlessly just barely past the shoreline, so minimally submerged that she was able to just walk back to the beach without swimming. "Oh, nevermind."

*** Confessional: Beardo ***

Although he'd usually have a sound effect to indicate his mood, Beardo was eerily silent as he stared off, shellshocked. "Dude, I suck at this game. First Trent, now Anne Maria? Them getting eliminated is my fault! Shoot, Cody too when you think about it. I seriously just went from the best I've felt in my entire life, riding the high of asking her out and winning a challenge... only to now feel like I hit rock bottom."

He had to give a hollow laugh at the juxtaposition. "Riding high in April, shot down in May..."

*** One sappy goodbye later ***

Things returned to the beach at the tail end of Beardo and Anne Maria's parting words, complete with another kiss. He stared into her eyes and felt half tempted to offer taking her place. But he knew she'd hate him doing something stupid like that.

"I'm sorry."

"It is what it is, don't beat yourself up over it. You can take me on a beach vacation once they wrap this clow show up."

Beardo's eyes lit up. "For sure! And I'll make sure we get that luxury suite while we're at it, make up for lost time."

With their time up Chef urged her along, the two exchanging one last look before Anne Maria was escorted away to find the airport. Soon she was gone, and the beatboxer mumbled a rendition of taps played on the trumpet. Which was promptly interrupted by Chris placing a hand on his shoulder.

"On that note, we have one last piece of business. You still get to invite someone to your fancy hotel room! It may not be as enjoyable as having your girlfriend there, but hey, we gotta make good on the promise anyway!"

Beardo sighed and looked over the other seven contestants. After a brief deliberation he pointed a finger towards the man who shared a name with his profession. "I'll pick DJ."

Genuinely surprised, the gentle giant looked around to make sure he'd heard right. "Not that I don't appreciate it or anything, but why me?"

"We're the only ones that haven't been in first class since the merge started," he explained. "I don't know, just seemed the most fair I guess."

"Works for me." With everything wrapped up Chris urged the final eight to follow him. "Hotels are a bit of a walk away, so keep up! If you go wandering off it's on you to find somewhere else to sleep."

With the others following, Dave lingered at the back of the pack, staring a hole through the back of Beardo's head. With one final clench of the fist he composed himself and caught up before he got left behind.

Sometime later Chris was laying on the bed of a high end hotel, Chef walking out from the bathroom with a robe on and brushing his teeth.

"And just like that we're down to our final eight," he monologued to a camera set up in their room. "Beardo may have won the day, but it came at a pretty brutal cost. Will our beatboxing underdog find a way to bounce back, or will he be following Trent and Anne Maria right out the door?"

Chef gave him an annoyed leer. "You really gotta do this here and not outside on a beach somewhere?"

The host paid him no mind. "Has Dave successfully got Dawn off his tail, or will his anger towards watching someone else be a bigger hit with the ladies than him keep her suspicious? Will his alliance manage to stay in tact with Jasmine being a threat and Izzy being a nuisance? Things are only gonna keep heating up, so tune in next time to see what happens right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

After holding the dramatic pause for an awkward few moments he gave his cohost a sly grin. "So you wanna hit the hot tub?"

"Thought you'd never ask!"

Voting Confessionals:

Instead of the passports, low quality pictures of the contestants on printer paper were nailed to the walls of the outhouse and the contestants were given a marker. Anne Maria put a cross on Jasmine's picture. "Girls a beast, who knows how many challenges are left where she can't run through us. Simple as that."

As for her man, he too placed his vote for the Aussie, making little sword swipe noises as he drew an X. "Me winning a challenge while Jasmine gets out first. Who woulda thunk it? But it's not like this was made in her favor, she's still as much a threat as ever. So if that's what Annie is looking to do, I may as well help out."

Brick hesitated for a while but finally sighed and voted for Anne Maria. "I feel like a jerk doing this to her and Beardo just when they're getting started. But it's what my alliance is doing, and they're right that dealing with a couple this late in the game is dangerous. Sorry, guys."

At first Dave said nothing, just staring at Beardo's picture. But soon he let out a furious scream and started punching the wall until his hand hurt. "No. NO! You are not telling me that this freak, of all people, is somehow having things go perfectly for him. Him and Anne Maria? That doesn't even make sense! What in the hell does she see in him?" He crossed out the Jersey Girl's picture with enough force that he nearly broke through the paper. "Well guess what? No romantic vacation for you two. Get blue balled, asshole."

Much calmer was Dawn, though she also wore a glare when placing her vote for Izzy. "As if her unnerving presence wasn't enough reason to vote for her, the way she took glee in eating those poor animals crossed a line I can't look past."

Similarly DJ also crossed out Izzy's face, though he had to wrangle the marker from the iguana's mouth before doing so. "Yeah, I know doing the eating is part of the challenge and all. I ain't got a problem with the others digging in and trying to win. But the way Izzy was being a jerk about it? Nuh uh, that don't sit right with me."

Speaking of which, Izzy was happily kicking her feet while placing a vote for Anne Maria. "Interesting, veeeery interesting. Looks like that makeout session got El Jefe really riled up. You ask me, it's probably still smarter to vote off Dawn or DJ first. Buuuuut, he calls the shots, so we'll see how that works out!"

"I won't lie, I'm a bit of a romantic at heart. And I know a thing or two about falling for scruffy weirdos, so this definitely isn't personal." Jasmine put a cross on Anne Maria's picture. "But doing something like that when we're down to the single digits? You're basically holding up a giant sign that says 'We're a pair, we're voting together,' and that isn't exactly the smartest play. Sorry."

Last was Leshawna, casting the final vote for Jasmine. "DJ's all worked up about Izzy eating stuff like an asshole. And like, yeah, that's pretty gross and weird. But should we expect anything less from her? Way I see it, Jasmine's the biggest target around right now, we gotta take this freebie while we can."

Votes for Anne Maria: 4 (Brick, Dave, Izzy, Jasmine)

Votes for Jasmine: 3 (Anne Maria, Beardo, Leshawna)

Votes for Izzy: 2 (Dawn, DJ)

After the "Boot of Shame":

Anne Maria was trailing behind Chef as they marched down the streets of Tobago, carnival celebrations still going on in the background as music blared and people danced. She was probably the only one there with a sour mood.

"I can't believe this crap. Eliminating me NOW? This close to the end? When we were supposed to spend a few days kicking back in paradise? I woulda rather been the one to get kicked off in the middle of the ocean!"

One of the locals started shimmying towards her in an offer to dance but she shooed him away.

"And doing this just when me and Beardo got going? Messed up. Here I was looking forward to seeing how spending this downtime with him would have been."

"Probably for the best," Chef grumbled. "Guy's way inexperienced. Going from just asking you out to then putting him a hotel room with you immediately after? Like tossing a baby into the deep end and expecting it to swim. Making things saucy this fast would probably fry the boy's brain."

Anne Maria scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm a classy lady, he would have been fine." The dancer once again tried moving towards her and she shot him a glare. "Hit the bricks, bub!"

Chef chuckled. "Mhm, sure. We like being able to use all our footage, we weren't looking forward to needing to edit out everything y'all were getting up to if one of you won. Or DJ and Dawn. Thank God for all those eating rounds."

"Pfft, whatever. Like things are gonna be any different in you and Chris' room. Don't call a black pot a kettle, or however that goes."

For a third time the carnival dancer tried sliding his way towards Anne Maria. Fully done with this shit, she kicked him in the crotch as hard as she could and stepped over him. "I ain't in the mood for this!"

She stormed off, leaving Chef to look down at the groaning man and shake his head before catching up.

Remaining Contestants:

Beardo, Brick, Dave, Dawn, DJ, Izzy, Jasmine, Leshawna

Elimination Order:

9th: Anne Maria

10th: Trent

11th: Jo

12th: Lightning

13th: Sammy

14th: Sugar

Merge, Izzy returns, Jo debuts

15th: Amy

16th: Cody

17th: Beth

18th/19th: Courtney and Scott

20th: B

21st: Shawn

22nd: Dakota

23rd: Rodney

24th: Harold

Eliminated: Izzy

25th: Staci

Author's Note:

And thus we finally reach the end of this section. Up next we have an Aftermath and then it's on to the endgame. I'm gonna try to get the Aftermath out as soon as possible since I know it's more or less just filler for a lot of people, but I'm a bit intimidated stepping out to the section after it. Because we have now whittled it down to the characters I've all considered as potential finalists. Yes, while minimal changes have been made over the years to the elimination order for everything up to now, the final 8's order has changed MANY times. With all these moving pieces and scenarios I've considered, I'll pretty much be locking myself into the final path with even who I choose to take 8th place. So I'm gonna make sure I'm truly confident in which path I wanna take before I lock it in. That said, I don't anticipate taking long to make my choice. I'm really feeling that "Man I just want the story to be done already" kinda vibe lately. Slowly but surely feeling my excitement for updates dwindling. Finally getting out two of the chapters I'd been most excited about all story is a really good feeling when you post. Not so much when they get very little reception. And hey, no one to blame but myself on that. I take forever to get out updates, and the story is so wordy that I can understand it being a pass for people. But still, I'm definitely feeling that kinda burnout from starting to feel less confident in your story creeping in. Guess all there is to do is keep chugging along, eh?

Anne Maria is someone I decided to give a decent run to pretty early on, I figured she'd be pretty versatile and was a solid "isn't a nobody but definitely isn't a big name" kinda character to let shine. She wound up being one of my favorites to write in this story and while she wasn't always the most plot heavy I'm pretty happy with the roles she played. She'd even been considered as a potential endgamer earlier on, but probably wouldn't have made it past 8th or 7th place at the latest. Hope she was fun to read. As for her and Beardo, I'll admit they were by design supposed to be the most unrealistic feeling pairing. I knew that I wanted to do a cross gen ship for each scenario. Gen 1/Gen 2 was locked in as DJ/Dawn, who I consider to be the story's main couple (they're the only ones left with both members still in, I don't think that's a spoiler by now, lol). Gen 1/Gen 3 became Harold/Sammy and eventually Cody/Sammy instead, which I figured would make a good prominent pre-merge ship. That left Gen 2/Gen 3. A lot of characters were off the board, either because they were otherwise taken, eliminated too early to work, or because I explicitly didn't want them in a ship (Dave). The contenders I was left with were Brick, Lightning, Anne Maria, Sugar, Amy, and Beardo. Because DJ/Dawn and Cody/Sammy are pretty safe choices, I wanted to do something no one else had ever done to my knowledge with this final one. Thus, I zeroed in on perhaps the weirdest option. Knowing they'd be mostly relegated to this section of the story and that it's purposely a crackship, they were definitely the pair I expected people to take the least seriously. But idk, I still like it. Them actually getting together being so out of the blue and quick after all the love triangle drama is sorta the joke, but no worries if them as a couple didn't land.

Finally the location and this one's pretty straightforward. I knew this would be the spot for a Caribbean location to follow up on last chapter's events. Other locations considered included Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Haiti. But at some point I realized I had yet to include a gross out eating component to any of my challenges, a staple of TD, so I looked at where I could fit one in and this chapter seemed my best bet. When searching up potential weird foods of an area of the world with primarily great cooking, Trinidad and Tobago gave the most results. So it won out, simple as that. I then really grew to like the idea of a limbo contest to fit what's supposed to be a very low budget slapped together challenge in-universe. Worked out well I think. But speaking of locations, I'll go ahead and give a quick heads up that This is the last chance to vote on the location poll on my profile. For those that don't remember, a few chapters ago I threw up a poll to vote on a few location contenders to be visited in a future chapter. I'll close the poll when the Aftermath is uploaded, and that locks in which is chosen. There's a current winner, but 2nd place isn't far behind so give that a look if you haven't already. So that's all for now, until next time!