Chapter 1: episode one || monster cash.
Chapter Text
The episode opened on a distance shot of Jabberwock Island, the sun high in the sky.
"Last season on Total Drama Island," the familiar voice of Chris McLean started, "Maki and Junko battled it out for the $100,000. But, in a shocking turn of events, it turned out that Junko wasn't actually Junko was actually Mukuro, the actual Junko's sister. In the end, Maki, a girl with a super-sized attitude won the super-sized check, but then gave half of it up for the chance to win one million dollars! With the million smackeroos stuffed inside a briefcase, our twenty-three campers set off on The Race for the Case!"
"...Until the case was eaten by an shark," Chris deadpanned, then laughed. "Bet you they didn't see that one coming! Now, the sixteen who were the closest to winning have been given the chance to win another million dollars! ...Actually, it's the same money."
Chris was now walking down a road that ran through a set of stage lights and a single trailer, with fake buildings in the background. "They've been instructed to report to an old film lot for a whole new set of challenges."
Then, a graphic of a stopwatch ticking away was shown. "Forty-two days." Next was a desk calendar, with the pages rapidly flying as sun and moon patterns alternated in the background. "Sixteen castmates." A filmstrip appeared in the center, with each of the competing contestants in a frame, as well as a treasure chest filled to the brim with cash and jewels. "One heck of a lot of cash!"
The filmstrip melted away to Chris standing in front of some trees, another pair of trailers, a large tent, film equipment, and a humongous amphitheater. "Welcome to...
Total...
Drama...
Action!"
[Several stage lights swung out in front of the fake buildings of the lot and turned on; a camera popped out of an open manhole and a tree hollow respectively, taking a rat and a raccoon with them. A film slate was clapped, and the main camera then began to fly through the film lot, passing Chris driving a cart, who grinned and waved.]
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doin' fine,
[The camera flew past a tree and the road along the studios, dodging the backdrops that rolled out in front of it and flying right through a costume rack.]
You guys are on my mind!
[The camera then flew up a hill and dived into the pool of water below. In the water, Shuichi could be seen in his trunks. A shark suddenly swam straight towards him, and he panicked and swam up, clinging onto the edge of the pool to collect himself, unaware of what was happening right beside him.]
You asked me what I wanted to be,
And now I think the answer is plain to see!
[Right beside Shuichi, Mikan stood on a surfboard hooked up on a rigging on the pool. Behind her was a backdrop of a sunset sky in a studio. Seagulls shot past her like bullets while she frantically tries to dodge them.]
[The camera then panned over to Junko, who cackled as she fired the seagulls from a Gatling camera pulled back to show Mukuro raising an eyebrow at her with an unimpressed look. The camera flew in-between them and out the studio door, but not before a Sasquatch wearing a wig and dress ran past.]
I wanna live close to the sun!
[The camera faded to show a beach set, where Komaru and Toko were lounging in chairs with their swimsuits beside a couple of sharks. Toko suddenly sneezed, switching to Genocide Jack, who bolted off with a cackle, freaking out Komaru and even the sharks.]
Go pack your bags, cause I've already won!
[The camera quick-panned to the right, showing Celestia in the confessional. She brushed her hair as someone from off-screen applied make-up on her cheek. She turned her head, only to get a face full of hair spray, wincing as she dropped her brush and rubbed her eyes.]
Everything to prove, nothin' in my way,
[Another pan to the right showed Tenko and Kaito each standing on a rock pillar in front of a dark backdrop, wielding dueling sticks. They exchanged a few blows, but Tenko got the upper hand and knock Kaito off his feet. He managed to grab onto the edge of his platform, but lost one of his slippers in the process. It dropped down into a large pot filled with a sickly green substance. Chef picked up the pot by the handles and took a deep whiff of it.]
I'll get there one day!
[Chef turned around and set the pot down on the table right in front of Kazuichi, who took one look at it before immediately gagging.]
(Na-na nanananaaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[The camera pulled out to show Mondo watching the scene from a monitor inside a tent. The monitors switched to show outside a studio, much to his confusion, and he started to sweat as he glanced over the complex control pane before him. He pressed a button, and an explosion went off where the monitors showed.]
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[The camera cut to the explosion, clearing out and showing an angry grizzly and a stunned Yasuhiro. The bear growled, and Yasuhiro came to his senses, yelping and running in the opposite direction. The bear didn't give chase, surprisingly, instead and did something completely unexpected—took off its head, revealing Ibuki laughing.]
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[The camera zoomed in on the limousine window, rolling down to reveal Leon grinning and winking. He opened the door and the camera flew through a series of flashes from other cameras and the hands of paparazzi and to Chris waiting at the amphitheater stage. He smiled and opened the envelope in his hands, then looked over at Chef walking into the scene, wearing a dress and carrying a tray of Gilded Chris' with a scowl. Chris frowned, and the scene pulled back to show it on a television screen.
The camera then panned down, where Makoto and Sayaka were sending nervous smiles, trying to ignore the black-and-white teddy bear sitting in the middle of them, then zooming out to show all three of them sitting on a regular couch in a talk show-esque set, and the other twenty-one campers sitting on a tiered-couch to the right as the intro ended.]
The episode began with a close-up of a sewer grate billowing steam before the camera panned out and showed the rest of the decrepit film lot. The opening in the high concrete wall was marked by a large but broken golden arch, chain-link gates that were already opened, and an unattended guardhouse.
Soon after, a dirty bus drove onto the scene, squealing to a halt at the entrance. The rear fender fell off as the doors opened. Kaito was the first one to step out, stretching his limbs.
"Man, it's great to be near civilization again!" he laughed.
Mikan and Shuichi followed him out. Mukuro and Junko tried to exit at the same time, but inevitably got stuck in the doorway.
"Junko..." Mukuro muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Mukuro!" Junko exclaimed.
The twins attempted to push through the doorway, ending in both of them flying out at the same time, with Mukuro knocking into Mikan and sending them to the ground.
"Sorry," Mukuro apologized, helping Mikan up to her feet.
"Oh, th-thank you!" Mikan exclaimed, bowing profusely.
The bus doors closed and the vehicle sped off, leaving a cloud of dust and exhaust in its wake. After the cloud settled, all sixteen campers were standing in front of the lot's entrance with their luggage.
"And where the fuck is McLean?" Mondo grumbled.
"He's probably just running late..." Shuichi suggested.
"A-Assuming he's even c-coming at all," Toko added.
"What, so you're gonna leave?" Leon asked her. "Even with a million bucks on the line?"
"I d-didn't say that."
"Let's face it," Sayaka said. "The money's the reason we all put up with Chris."
Yasuhiro laughed. "You got that right! And I'm gonna be the one to take home the gold!"
"Save the gloating for when you've actually won!" Kazuichi shot back.
The honking of a vehicle grabbed their attention and they all looked over and saw Chris driving up in a large white cart.
Mondo snorted. "Finally."
"Hop on, everyone!" Chris instructed, which the campers did. "Come on, people! Sheesh, we haven't got all day! This cart's rented by the hour."
Once everyone had settled into the cart, Chris got it moving again through the film lot, passing by several sets and studios. "Welcome to the set of Total Drama Action!" he announced. "This season's hottest reality show will be shot here, on an abandoned film lot."
"Ooh, does this mean we're gonna be in the movies?" Komaru asked excitedly.
"No, it means you're gonna be on TV." Chris adjusted his rearview mirror to glare at her. "And don't interrupt me! Ever." He turned around and flicked Komaru's nose, then turned back to the road.
"Oops," Komaru said, putting a hand to her nose.
"You'll be spending the next six weeks here," Chris continued as they drove through a western set; complete with cacti and tumbleweeds bouncing along the sandy street, "competing against in challenges and for rewards. All for the chance to win some monster cash!"
Ibuki guffawed. "Is that a pun?! Are we gonna have a monster movie challenge?!"
"Shush!" Chris told her, and Ibuki did a sealed-lip gesture and gave him a grin. "Like last season, one team will win, and the other will watch one of their own make their way down the dreaded Walk of Shame, to the Lame-o-sine!"
He pressed a button on his dashboard, and only the windows on his section of the cart rolled up before he drove through a giant cloud of exhaust fumes produced by a sputtering, run-down limousine idling at the end of a red carpet. The castmates began to cough and hack, with Makoto asking, "You couldn't have gotten a better ride?"
"No," Chris answered firmly, rolling his windows back down. "Now, since we don't have the regular confessionals to dump your deepest, darkest secrets in, you'll dish the dirt in our new make-up confessional!" He passed by the same trailer that'd been shown earlier in the episode.
CONFESSIONAL - JUNKO:
"This isn't too shabby," she noted, looking around the new confessional. The position seemed to imply the camera was sitting behind a one-way mirror set on a dressing table. The background contained a costume rack and several shelves of hats and other accessories. "It's not up to the standards of a real star, of course, but it'll do for these guys."
"To your left is the craft services tent, catered by Chef." Chris idled in front of said tent, where a crash could be heard. A raccoon ran out soon after, chased by Chef wielding a cleaver. While most of the castmates looked shocked or horrified, Ibuki attempted to stand up to get a better look at it, only for Chris to floor it, sending her flying back in her seat.
"If you survive Chef, you'll have to make it through the dramatic award ceremony, where all but one loser will receive a Gilded Chris Award." A triumphant tune played as they passed the humongous amphitheater, complete with giant golden statues of the host.
CONFESSIONAL - CELESTIA:
"The Gilded Chris?" She looked like she was going to laugh. "Even I'm not that vain."
"Hey, are we done now?" Tenko complained.
"I have an eject button," Chris replied matter-of-factly, "and I'll use it."
Tenko huffed, leaning back in her seat. "Ugh, fine, I guess we'll keep listening to you!"
Chris drove through a new set; it was a space set, consisting of the moon's surface as the ground as well as an UFO.
"Whoa!" Kaito gasped, eyes lighting up as he pointed towards the set. "Look! Look, it's space!"
"Interesting variety you've got here," Celestia mused Chris as she glanced around with mild curiosity. "Why exactly was this film lot abandoned in the first place?"
"Glad you asked, Taeko!" Chris replied jovially, much to her irritation. "A few months ago, this film lot was home to a high-budget monster movie until the star began experiencing some... uh, er... difficulties?"
"She had a mental breakdown, no doubt," Junko said with a knowing nod. "Happens all the time in these types of businesses."
"Actually, the star wasn't a her. It was an animatronic monster!"
The music took a dramatic spike as the camera showed bite marks in the trees and buildings surrounding them.
"...What happened to it?" Shuichi hesitantly asked.
CONFESSIONAL - SHUICHI:
He sighed, a distressed look on his face. "Thinking back on it now, I probably shouldn't have asked that."
Just then, an earth-shaking roar filled the area and caused a few of the teens to cringe and cover their ears.
"Maybe that was just a recording..." Mukuro suggested.
Chris just silently smiled, and a scaly green tail decorated with orange spikes came out of nowhere whipped into a building, knocking it over. He slammed on the brakes, and several castmates cried out of surprise or outright screamed. The building was now sticking out upside-down in front of the cart. Everyone leaned out of either side to stare at it nervously.
"Since we're on a film lot, this season's challenges will be based on movie genres," Chris explained after they leaned back in. "Today's genre..." The monster roared in the distance. "The monster movie! Duh."
Now in view, the monster was a bright green and had a build similar to a dinosaur. The castmates gasped in horror.
"For your first challenge, everyone must get from here to the cast trailers while our state-of-the-art monster prevents your every move! Chef has kindly offered to control the beast."
The camera panned over to inside a dark tent where Chef was dressed in a motion capture suit, acting out the monster's movements in real time.
"And... Action!" Chris announced dramatically, only to receive crickets from the teenagers. "Uh, that means go."
The cart suddenly became a flurry of activity as everyone tried to get off at the same time.
"Outta my way!"
"Comin' through!"
"Excuse me!"
"S-Sorry!"
The scuffle ended with Kazuichi getting thrown off the cart completely, causing Chris to wince. "This is gonna be a long season," he told the camera.
On a beach set, complete with palm trees, a large umbrella, and a sandcastle, the castmates were screaming and running in a group. The monster wasn't far behind.
"Whoah, that's totally awesome!" Ibuki exclaimed, turning around to get a good look at it. "I wish I could get a picture of this!"
Mikan grabbed her arm and pulled her away, telling her, "W-We don't have time for that, Ibuki!"
The girls ran off again, now notably behind everyone else, and the monster was on their tail. To make matters worse, Mikan tripped and facepalmed right into the sand.
Ibuki gasped and swiftly turned around to help her friend, but didn't get a chance to reply before a giant claw reached down and swiped them both up before they knew what was happening. Mikan screamed, but Ibuki laughed.
"This is so cool! I can see everything from up here!"
The monster carried them over to a bouncy castle and dropped them. Mikan screamed and Ibuki screamed as they fell all the way down. Upon touching the castle, they bounced back up into the air before landing back down.
Meanwhile, Shuichi ducked behind a small shack on the beach set while Toko, Komaru, and Makoto ran past. The monster's tail smacked down right in front of them, forcing all three to a halt.
"Ugh, this isn't working!" Toko complained. "How are we even s-supposed to these stupid trailers, anyway?"
"Hm..." Komaru hummed in thought. "Oh! Maybe we saw them on the tour somewhere?"
"He took us all over the place, though," Makoto pointed out.
Komaru sighed, defeated. "Oh. Right."
Kaito was a little ways behind them, but suddenly pursed his lips, running over to the shack and snatching Shuichi's arm. "Come on, man! We gotta find those trailers!"
Shuichi looked surprised, but dared not to slow down as Kaito dragged him to a city set filled with storefronts and other various buildings. They ran past Sayaka and Leon, who were running in the opposite direction.
"This challenge isn't that bad, now that I'm thinking about it," Sayaka told her boyfriend with a giggle.
"Yeah," Leon agreed, laughing. "What, no explosions? No burning buildings? No bears?"
An explosion went off at that moment, and both of them snapped their heads towards a house getting burned down to a crisp. The bear that was inside it roared and began to chase after them. The scene pulled out on a television feed, in the tent where Chef, and now Chris, were.
"I thought the bear was tranquilized and returned to its handler?" Chris asked.
"Had one day left on its contract," Chef replied.
Chris grinned. "Nice!"
Back with Sayaka and Leon, Sayaka glanced over at the buildings. "Maybe we can hide in one of the buildings?"
"Good idea," Leon replied, and the two ran over to one of the buildings. Leon kicked the door in, only to find...
"All of these buildings... are fake?" He blinked once, twice.
"Yep." Leon and Sayaka looked over in surprise at Kaito and Shuichi, who were presumably in the same boat as them.
"It makes sense, though," Sayaka sighed. "It is a set."
Heavy footsteps caused all four's eyes to go wide. They all ran in the other direction when the monster tried to grab them in one hand, only to run straight into the other one.
"I can't believe we lost like this!" Kaito exclaimed.
The monster finally released them, dropping them in the bouncy castle as well.
The focus switched to Mondo, Kazuichi, and Yasuhiro navigating the beach set, with Mondo in the lead.
"Do you even know where we're going?!" an irritated Kazuichi asked.
"Yes!" Mondo snapped back. "...No! Do you?!"
"Dudes!" Yasuhiro cut in. "My fortune is telling me—"
A roar knocked all three of them back into a dune, leaving their imprints in the sand. The monster swiped them up by their legs, leaving them dangling upside-down as they were carried to their destination.
"Aw, man!" Kazuichi griped. "This is all your fault!"
"Are you fuckin' kidding me?!" Mondo replied as they were dropped into the bouncy castle. "You woulda gotten caught anyway!"
Tenko and Mukuro were still running through the beach, only to be met with Junko and Celestia running in the opposite direction. Confused, Mukuro watched them while Tenko gasped and yelled, "Watch out!"
Thanks to their quick reflexes, both girls managed to roll out of the way just before the monster's tail slammed down right where they were standing. In the process of getting away, Tenko accidentally barreled into Celestia and Junko.
"Watch it!" Celestia snapped, roughly pushing Tenko off of herself and standing up.
"Sorry!" Tenko apologized sheepishly, standing up a few moments later.
"Come on, we'd better get going before he sees us," Mukuro told her.
Junko laughed, pointing up. "I think you're a little too late!"
The monster's clawed hand appeared and grabbed all of them before they could fight back.
"Hey, why'd you have to get us together?!" Tenko protested as they were carried away.
"Yeah, you could've at least used different hands," Junko added.
The monster, of course, gave no reply except for a sudden drop in the bouncy castle.
"I love you!" Tenko cried, hugging Mukuro.
"Love you too," Mukuro grinned on the bounce up.
Celestia gave everyone already in the castle a once-over. "Well, it is good to know that I wasn't the first to lose this challenge," she said. The others all glared at her.
Komaru, Toko, and Makoto ran down the street of the city set, screaming as the monster chased them. It caught up and cornered them at an intersection, and they gasped.
"What do we do?!" Komaru panicked.
"Over there!" Makoto pointed to an "alleyway" between two buildings to their right. "Hurry!"
The three bolted towards the alleyway, narrowly missing a swipe from the monster.
CONFESSIONAL - MAKOTO:
"Who knew I'd be the one to take initiative?" he asked, flashing a sheepish smile.
The trio ran down the alleyway, with Komaru blowing a raspberry back at the monster. Unfortunately, it didn't lead them far—they ended up on the other side of the fake buildings.
"Crap," Makoto said.
CONFESSIONAL - MAKOTO:
"Still working on it, though." He laughed nervously.
The monster roared, alerting them of its presence. Komaru clung onto Toko, who both screamed as the monster reached down. Makoto's eyes widened, and in a split-second decision, he shoved the girls back, and only he got grabbed by the monster.
Komaru, meanwhile, screamed and screamed some more until Toko finally hit her on the head. "Get up!"
"H-Huh?" Komaru sat up and blinked, glancing around. She noticed the distinct lack of her brother and the realization began to sink in. "W-Wait, did Makoto...?"
"Y-Yeah." Toko looked out at the street with a forlorn expression. "It's just us."
They stood in silence for a few moments before Komaru spoke. "Okay, we just gotta find those trailers before the monster comes back, right? Any ideas?"
Toko gave her a look. "Does it look like I have any ideas?"
"Right."
Slowly, Komaru and Toko began to jog down the street, following the sidewalk to the nearest intersection and took a left. They made it about a yard before the shadow of the monster fell on them, and they looked up to see the monster blocking their path.
"Oh, come on!" Toko yelled. "How are even that f-fast?!"
The monster grabbed them and Toko shot Komaru a pointed look. "Do something!"
"Um, uh..." Komaru frantically looked around. "Hey! Monster!" The monster raised its arm to look her directly in the eye, and she gulped. "I won't let you take us! Because... I can do this!" She started biting at its hand, though unsuccessfully.
Both Toko and the monster stared at this in disbelief, even exchanging a brief look. With the monster distracted, Komaru took that as her chance to sock the monster in the eye.
"Take that!"
The monster was taken off-guard and it stumbled back. Its claw opened, releasing the girls.
"I c-can't believe that worked!" Toko exclaimed incredulously as the duo ran off.
"Me too!" Komaru replied, just as shocked as she was. "I just thought of that off the top of my head!"
CONFESSIONAL - KOMARU & TOKO:
Komaru looked over at Toko, a smirk growing. "You have to admit, it was a genius plan!"
"Yeah, sure," Toko admitted. "But i-it was also just dumb luck. I highly doubt we're getting away with that a s-second time."
Komaru immediately deflated, her smirk flipping into a frown. "C'mon, have a little more faith in me! I can have good ideas."
A few hours had passed and the captured contestants were still sitting in the bouncy castle, either conversing with each other, or looking boredly out of it, like Mondo. His eyes widened upon spotting something outside, and he stood up.
"It's about time!" he berated Toko and Komaru, who were standing outside. "What the fuck took you guys so long?!"
"We got lost," Komaru replied sheepishly.
Mondo snorted. "Get us outta here, will ya?"
"On it." Komaru retrieved a pin from Toko's hair and poked a hole into the side of the bouncy castle, with everyone still inside.
"I don't think that was what he meant," Celestia called out.
As everyone got out of the bouncy castle, the foot of the monster came crashing down on the west trailer, causing the castmates to wince.
"Whoa," Chris commented, stepping out the other trailer to the east. "Am I ever glad I chose to wait in that trailer." He walked over to the contestants, giving them a once-over. "Looks like you all made it. Guess I lose the bet. That was just a warm-up. Good news is, your next challenge is a reward!"
The contestants began to cheer, and Chris continued with, "It will be the boys against the girls, with the winner getting first pick of the trailers, where you'll be living for the next forty-two days! You'll have your choice of Trailer A, or Trailer... yeesh." He cringed at the crushed trailer, but recovered quickly, grinning. "Off to the craft services tent!"
In the craft services tent, all of the castmates, along with Chris and Chef were standing inside, staring at a buffet table filled with delicious-looking food.
"That looks good!" Sayaka noted.
"Yeah, looks like something out of a commercial," Leon agreed.
"Not surprising, considering all of this food is fake," Chris told them.
"F-Fake?!" Mikan repeated over the disappointed groans of the other contestants.
"Yep." He gestured over to Chef, who held a saw and a jar of paste, and had a few other supplies sitting in front of him. "Just props made from foam core, silicone, sawdust, and wax. Your challenge is to find the key hidden somewhere in this tasty-looking buffet. Whoever wins gets to pick their team's trailer."
Everyone lined up on either side of the table, and Chris glanced between them. "And... Action!"
At his call, the contestants began ripping apart the food; Makoto teared through a pie, Junko carelessly tossed a pineapple behind her, Ibuki lifted a steak up to her eye, Toko and Komaru looked through a plate of sandwiches, Mondo clawed through a cake, Sayaka dumped out a bowl of salad, Mukuro pulled apart a couple of sticky buns, Tenko shoved her entire arm in a roast turkey, Kaito stared thoughtfully at a pitcher of water, Leon stuck his hand in a bowl of mashed potatoes, Kazuichi and Yasuhiro scooped out a watermelon, Celestia hesitantly glanced over the food items, Mikan tried to dodge the bits of fake food flying around, and Shuichi glanced over at everyone else uncertainly.
A few minutes of this passed before Shuichi picked up a dinner roll out of the basket he was searching and stuck his thumb in it. His eyes widened, and he held a single key.
"I-I think I found it!"
CONFESSIONAL - MONDO:
He laughed. "Looks like that guy is finally useful for somethin'! That, or he got lucky. Either way, we won, and that's what matters most."
CONFESSIONAL - KAITO:
"That was pretty darn cool of Shuichi, findin' the key like that," he praised. "Seems a bit unsure of himself, though."
CONFESSIONAL - CELESTIA:
She scowled. "This is why I don't work in a team! All of them are completely useless!"
"And Shuichi is the winner!" Chris announced. The boys whooped and cheered, congratulating a flustered Shuichi.
"Have fun sleeping in your pancake!" Kazuichi gloated to the glum girls.
"You're not really going to make us sleep in there, are you, Chris?!" Sayaka asked.
Chris chuckled darkly. "Well, that's really up to Shuichi. He found the key, so it's up to him who gets which trailer! So, let's get this over with, shall we?"
Back outside, the girls and the boys stood on either side of Shuichi, who glanced between the two trailers.
"Um... I choose Trailer A," he muttered. He made a point not to look at any of the girls. "Sorry."
"No hard feelings," Komaru said, though she was visibly holding back tears. "We would've done the same thing."
The boys cheered again, and the girls sighed, but both groups ended up being surprised when the monster's foot came crashing down on the boys' trailer, flattening it like the girls'.
CONFESSIONAL - MAKOTO:
"I can't say I didn't see that one coming," he sighed. "But still..."
Night had fallen, and Chef was hammering away on top of one of the rebuilt trailers.
"Okay, everyone!" Chris announced, driving past everyone in the cart from earlier. "Get a good night's sleep, because you've got a seriously early wake-up call! Call time is 6 AM! Sleep quickly!"
Inside of the boys' trailer, their living quarters consisted of bunk beds, a sofa, and a bathroom.
"I call top bunk!" Kazuichi immediately called, running over to a bed.
"I got bottom," Yasuhiro called, following behind.
"Callin' top." Kaito pointed to the top bunk closest to him before looking at Shuichi. "You want bottom, bro?"
Shuichi nodded and Kaito grinned back at him as the two put their luggage on their new beds. Leon and Makoto called a top and bottom bunk respectively, leaving Mondo with two beds to himself.
In the girls' trailer, meanwhile, the girls stood around in their pajamas.
"Wait," Mukuro noted, looking at the beds. "There's nine of us, but only eight beds."
"True..." Komaru said. "I guess two of us could share a bed." She looked over at Toko. "Toko! Let's share a bed!"
"W-Wait, what? I don't—"
"Then it's settled," Sayaka smiled. "I'll take a bottom bunk. Toko and Komaru can take the top."
"Bunk with me, Mukuro!" Tenko clung to Mukuro's arm. "Do you want the top bunk or bottom?"
"Sure, I'll take—" Mukuro started, only to have her other arm snatched by none other than Junko.
"Muku, don't you wanna bunk with your little sister?" she asked, pulling Mukuro towards herself.
Tenko narrowed her eyes at Junko, pulling Mukuro back. "You know, if Mukuro wanted to bunk with you, she would've said something!"
"Oh, really?" Junko narrowed her eyes back. "Then why don't we ask her?"
"Uh," Mukuro started, looking between the two awkwardly. "You guys are not making this easy for me..."
"U-Um, I could bunk with you, Junko." All three girls looked over to see Mikan raising her hand timidly. "If you want..."
"Yeah!" Tenko shoved Junko over towards Mikan. "Bunk with her!"
Junko stared down at Mikan, then shrugged. "Fine, but only because you're cute."
"C-Cute?!" Mikan blushed, hiding her face as the two made their way to a bunk.
"Now that idiotic argument is over, I will take the top bunk," Celestia said, claiming her bed.
"Looks like we're bunking together again, roomie!" Ibuki laughed, throwing her luggage on the bottom bed. Celestia grimaced.
Some hours later, all of the contestants were sound asleep in their trailers. Chris poked his head from behind the girls' trailer, stepping out in between them, making a shushing gesture.
"Shh, they're sleeping." He immediately took out an air horn and blared it. "THIS IS YOUR 5 AM WAKE-UP CALL!"
Everyone in both trailers woke up and screamed.
"I'm only kidding!" he said with a laugh raising an sleep—for now." Chris turned towards the camera. "And that's a wrap on day one! How will our contestants fare from here on out? What will tomorrow hold for Toko and Komaru? Who knows what drama is store? Well, I do, but I ain't telling! See you next time for another thrilling episode of... Total! Drama! Action!"
The animatronic monster roared, and Chris yelled. "Can someone please put a wrap on that monster?!"
Chapter 2: episode two || alien resurr-eggtion.
Notes:
And here I am, with the next episode of TDA! Nothing much to say here except that I hope you enjoy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Last time on Total Drama Action... Sixteen teenagers. One engaging host. A dilapidated film lot, and a whole lotta coin! KA-CHING! Oh, and did I mention a remote-controlled monster? Haha, I love this show! Some, fared better than others. Toko and Komaru ran for their lives, and Shuichi aced the fake food challenge, scoring first pick of the trailers! But, even though he picked the right one, the boys' hope of victory were crushed, along with their new digs."
Chris stood between the two cast trailers as he grinned at the camera. "Who will be one step closer to the million bucks? Find out, on another thrilling episode of...
Total...
Drama...
Action!"
The episode opened up inside of the craft services tent, where Chef served a scoopful of what looked like scrambled eggs onto Yasuhiro's tray, which already had a singular piece of toast and two slices of bacon on it.
"More eggs and bacon for me, Chef!" Yasuhiro laughed. He was given another scoop of eggs, much to his delight, adding, "Keep 'em comin'!"
Chef growled at him, making Yasuhiro sweatdrop and eventually move along. Sayaka and Leon were the next ones to approach the counter, getting their serving of breakfast. Leon stared down at Sayaka's eggs and whistled at Chef. "Hey, breakfast doesn't look half-bad, man."
"Thanks," Chef replied dryly, "accidentally" dropping Leon's scoop of eggs onto the ground.
"Point taken, jeez," Leon scoffed, taking his egg-less tray and following Sayaka over to the two wooden tables set up.
"Do you want some of my eggs?" Sayaka offered.
Leon shook his head. "Nah, I don't really care for them, anyway."
Sayaka giggled. "Well, if you say so."
Meanwhile, at the tables, Ibuki pouted at her plate of breakfast. "This food is super, duper, totally bland!" she complained. "Like, I couldn't even make a full song out of this 'cause it's so bland! But, fortunately, the twin duo of salt and pepper's here to the rescue!" She took the salt and pepper shaker beside her and poured a copious amount of both next to her food, mixing them together before adding her eggs in.
"Oh, that's a pretty good idea!" Komaru grabbed the shakers and did the same with her own eggs.
"I don't think you guys need an entire avalanche of salt and pepper on them, though..." Makoto commented, staring at their plates concerningly.
As soon as everyone else got their breakfast and were sitting down at the tables, Chris walked inside the tent wearing a red beret and cravat whilst carrying a backpack. "Welcome to Day Two of Total... Drama... Action!" He held up a film slate and clapped it.
"Are you gonna do that every time?" Mondo grumbled.
"Yes," Chris answered. "Yes, I will." Mondo snorted, and the host continued. "Today's genre, aliens!"
Several campers perked up at that.
"Our unpaid interns have been hard at work figuring out what makes an alien movie successful! Chef?" Chef motioned over to Chef, who stirred a pot of an unidentifiable green substance.
"You got three basic rules," Chef said. "Aliens want to take over the world and start makin' lots of baby aliens. People fight back. Then the military's called in." He flung the scoop towards the campers, which hit Komaru in the face before scowling at Chris. "Yo, Chris! Where's my paycheck at?!"
Chris' eyes widened and he quickly answered with, "Its... in the mail!" Chef scowl deepened, and Chris moved on with, "Today's challenge: find an alien egg and return to home base before Mama Alien finds you!" He held up a map and unfurled it, which showed a curved dotted line stretching between two points labeled "A" and "B", as well as an "X". "The two fastest get to pick the teams this season."
"You might as well give me a team now!" Kazuichi exclaimed confidently. "I've watched so many alien movies, so winning this challenge is gonna be a piece of cake!"
Toko smirked. "Of course y-you would like alien movies. You p-practically are one."
"H-Hey, that's not true!" Kazuichi insisted. "I just watch them because they're cool!"
"I wouldn't count on an easy win," Mondo warned. "Knowledge doesn't mean shit when aliens can be beaten by just your fists."
"He has a point," Kaito added.
CONFESSIONAL - MONDO:
"Now that I'm forced in compete in another season, I don't intend on bein' an early boot again." He leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up. "Beating today's challenge is gonna be a great start."
"What if they're the super-smart aliens?" Mikan questioned. "Like, the ones with futuristic gadgets?"
Mukuro snorted from beside her. "Let's be realistic: this show does not have the budget for all of that. We're getting an intern stuffed inside a suit at most."
"Now that'd be hilarious!" Tenko laughed.
"Sorry, Kaz," Junko told him unapologetically, "but you just aren't gonna cut it."
Kazuichi scowled. "Yeah, well, we'll just have to wait and see!"
"Wait, who is playing Mama Alien?" Shuichi asked.
Chris simply gestured over to the serving counter and Chef walked into view, now dressed up in a lime green alien costume.
"Called it," Mukuro commented.
"You call that slime?!" Chris complained. "Make-up! More slime over here!"
Bright green slime began to pour down onto Chef from the ceiling at the same time he grumbled, "I hate my life."
"Here are your GPS devices, complete with maps of the film lot." Chris began to pass out tablet-like devices to each of the campers from his backpack. "Find the alien eggs, but be careful! Cause today, you're all on Chef's menu!" He smirked and Chef laughed menacingly.
Some time later, the castmates were walking together through a sci-fi-themed set; it was entirely indoors and consisted of various ramps and walkways all around, and miscellaneous machines, valves, tubes, and wires covered the walls.
"This is so cool!" Ibuki exclaimed, looking down at her GPS, which showed her and everyone else's location with a red dot. "It's like we're in an actual alien movie! The only thing that's missing is some super-cool outfit gear!"
Yasuhiro stopped at a metallic door as he passed it, shuddering. "Jeez, this door's giving me major negative energy."
The scene pulled back to show Chris sitting in the monitor room watching Yasuhiro. "Thanks," he chuckled. "Now take that!"
He pressed a button and a puff of steam burst out from above. Mikan, being the closest to it, yelped and jumped into Ibuki's arms. When the steam dispersed, they locked eyes and Ibuki grinned while Mikan frantically apologized.
The focus then switched to Komaru, Makoto, Toko, and Celestia all peering at their devices.
"Why are we the only dots on the screen?" Celestia demanded, pressing her finger against her GPS.
"Y-Yeah, where's Chef?" Toko added.
Komaru looked back at Celestia, did a double-take, and blinked. "How did you get into our group?"
Celestia glared back at her. "There are no groups. And there is only one way we can go, in case you haven't noticed."
CONFESSIONAL - CELESTIA:
"I have officially decided: I am doing away with any sort of alliances this season," she said. "It is simply too much hassle to rely on others in this type of game—or in general, really."
Everyone continued down the corridor, but stopped abruptly in their tracks upon hearing a strange noise nearby—or, more specifically, a drawn-out groan. Leon turned around and gestured for everyone else to be quiet.
"Nah, man, you gotta put more emphasis on it," Yasuhiro said, putting a finger to his own lips. "Like "shh!" He frowned and put his finger down once he noticed everyone else staring at him. "Sorry."
Still, the noise continued.
"Ew, what is that?" Junko asked, scrunching her nose.
"I have no idea..." Mikan replied.
"Chris?" Makoto asked.
"I get blamed for everything," Chris complained from inside the monitor room.
Leon squinted down the corridor before looking back. "So, who wants to take one for the team and check it out? Toko?"
"No way!" Toko snapped back. "G-Get someone else to do it!"
"How about Kazuichi?" Junko suggested.
"Where is he, anyway?" Mukuro asked, looking around.
Mondo rolled his eyes, cracking his knuckles. "Well, no use in cowerin' back here like a bunch of pussies. Chef, I'm comin' for ya!" He stomped down the corridor with a scowl and wheeled around the corner, only for it to morph into an annoyed look. "Nevermind, it's just Kaz."
Sure enough, when the others caught up with him, they saw Kazuichi lying on his side and covered in a green substance.
"Oh, so that's where he went," Sayaka commented.
"Wow, so much for being the one who would win the challenge," Leon snorted, stepping over Kazuichi.
"It wasn't my fault!" Kazuichi protested. "Chef ambushed me before I could do anything!"
"It was kinda your own fault for going off by yourself," Ibuki pointed out.
"Okay, enough screwin' around!" Kaito declared, pushing his fists together. "We have alien eggs to capture!"
Several other campers agreed and at that moment, the red dots on everyone's GPS began to flash rapidly, much to their confusion.
"Uh, has it occurred to anyone that bunching together like this wasn't the brightest idea?" Mukuro asked, looking up from her device.
"You guys really need to work on your strategizing," Junko said.
To make matters worse, an electronic voice began to blare, "DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!" from their devices and the teens all exchanged nervous looks. This continued for a few seconds until Tenko finally piped up.
"Hey, are we going to go or what?!"
"Wh-Where we are even supposed to go?!" Mikan panicked.
"Oh!" Ibuki exclaimed, raising her hand. "The basement is where they keep the alien eggs in the movies, right?"
"Sounds good enough to me!" Kaito agreed, and he, Ibuki, Mikan, and Shuichi all ran down a nearby ramp.
"Maybe we should go up," Komaru suggested, pointing to a ramp in front of them that lead upwards. "I mean, it's probably there for a reason, right?"
"I guess it's worth a shot," Makoto shrugged and he, Komaru, and Toko ran up said ramp.
"Well, I don't know much about alien movies," Mukuro admitted, "but I've heard boiler rooms are pretty common."
"There's actually one east of here!" Tenko exclaimed, looking at her GPS.
"The hell we waitin' for, then?" Mondo asked. "Let's go!"
Tenko, Mukuro, and Mondo all continued down the walkway. Meanwhile, the rest of the teens who remained in the walkway—Leon, Sayaka, Yasuhiro, Junko, and Celestia—all glanced at each other.
"Okay, even I know that we should be running right now," Yasuhiro said. "So we should definitely group up, yeah?"
"I guess you have a point..." Junko said lamely.
Celestia, however, scoffed. "You all can group together. I, on the other hand, will be going by myself."
"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Sayaka asked her, but Celestia had already turned on her heel and was already off in the opposite direction, and she sighed in defeat.
Leon shrugged. "Hey, if she wants to make herself an easy target, then that's her problem."
"Anyways," Yasuhiro glanced around, "I guess there's no other way to go except back, right? You guys ready to go?" As he said that, Chef silently dropped down behind him, unbeknownst to Yasuhiro.
Leon and Sayaka stared at him in silent shock, causing Yasuhuro to ask, "What?", confused.
CONFESSIONAL - YASUHIRO:
"Ever since my Dad burnt down our house with a cigarette, I've been trying to train myself to catch even the tiniest sounds," he explained. He then sweatdropped. "Don't think it's really working out for me, though."
"Say hello to eternity," Chef then spoke. Yasuhiro barely turned around before he was shot in the side by a paintball gun, sending him to the ground.
Sayaka and Leon took that as their cue to start running past Yasuhiro and Chef. Chef immediately wheeled around and chased after them. They managed to put some distance between him, but it didn't last long as they hit a dead end soon after.
"Son of a bitch!" Leon cursed.
Chef quickly caught up to them and as they wheeled around, he took them both out in rapid succession.
"You can shoot me, if you want," Junko told Chef when he turned back around. "I don't really care."
Chef gave her a weird look but obliged, shooting her in the chest.
Meanwhile, Celestia walked down a random walkway by herself, eyes glued to her GPS. So much so that she ended up bumping into Chef, who rounded a corner. He aimed his gun at her and she frowned.
"Hm. I wasn't expecting something so... sad," Celestia commented, staring at his paintball gun.
Chef scowled at her and tossed the paintball gun over his shoulder before jumping into the air and coming back down with a bigger, eight-barreled, paintball gun and cocking it.
Celestia's eyes went wide, but she recovered just as quick and narrowed her eyes. "Don't think you have beaten me because you got an upgrade."
She took off running past Chef, who chased her and fired several rounds at her. To her credit, she managed to dodge the first few shots. However, she stopped looking at the ground at some point and consequently tripped, smacking her chin on the metal floor.
As she rolled over on her back, Chef approached her with a dark smile. He readied his gun and shot Celestia multiple times in the face.
"What was that?!" Chris complained from the monitor room. "Where were the guts?! The gore?! I'll fix it." He swapped his beret with a camoflague cap. "I really should wear camo more often."
With Komaru, Makoto, and Toko, they reached the top of their designated ramp, only to realize they hit a dead end.
"Crap," Komaru said.
"How the h-heck did the GPS lead us here?!" Toko demanded.
"We'd better hurry up and find another route," Makoto said.
"Too late for that, kiddies."
All three of them went slack at the voice and they turned around to see Chef. They gasped and Chef promptly shot all three teens.
As for Kaito, Mikan, Ibuki, and Shuichi, they were walking down another ramp together.
"I hate to say it," Kaito said as he checked his GPS, "but I think we might be lost."
"And here I thought I had a genius idea!" Ibuki cried.
"Maybe we should go around and check all of the rooms," Shuichi suggested. "We'll have to find the eggs eventually, right?"
"I-I guess it's worth a shot," Mikan agreed.
And so, the four entered the room nearest to them; it was completely barren and the only exit was the door they went through.
"Doesn't look like they're in here," Kaito noted.
"Darn," Ibuki pouted.
They turned around to head back out, but the door abruptly slammed shut, locking them inside.
"Um," Mikan started, "I don't think we should have came in here..."
Her assumption was proven correct when a green slime started to spray from the fire sprinklers on the ceiling, dousing all four of them.
"This is so gross!" Ibuki cried. "It's all wet and sticky!"
"Seriously," Kaito agreed. "This is gonna take forever to get out!"
CONFESSIONAL - SHUICHI:
He hid his face in his hands, pulling his cap down. "Why did I think that was a good idea?! I'm so stupid..."
The camera cut over to a glowing pit fulled with alien eggs, presumably in the boiler room.
"This means we've almost won, right?" Tenko asked her girlfriend. "I mean, we just have to get the eggs."
"Kinda," Mukuro replied. "But Chris did say only two people could win."
"Don't worry, if it comes down to it, I can take Mondo out!" Tenko assured.
"I'm right here, ya know," Mondo said, rolling his eyes. "You guys ready to get the eggs?"
"Yeah, but we'd better make it quick," Mukuro said, sparing her GPS a glance.
Tenko did just that, and Mukuro grabbed two eggs at once, only for them to break immediately. She tried again, successfully getting the eggs this time. At the same time, thanks to his height, Mondo was able to retrieve his own egg.
All three of them had an egg in hand soon enough, and that was the moment Chef burst inside with his paintball gun at the ready. He shot at the teens, but all three managed to outrun it and out the door opposite the one Chef entered.
They found themselves outside and running into a Wild West set.
"Attention, civilians!" came a familiar voice from above. Chris was hovering over them in his helicopter. "The military is here to protect you now. Unfortunately, we can't let you leave with any alien eggs."
As he told them that, Chef came up behind them with a smirk.
"But you told us to take the fuckin' eggs!" Mondo protested. "That was the whole challenge, wasn't it?!"
"Right," Chris replied with a devious chuckle, "I did." He pressed a button, and two bombs that had been strapped to the underside of the helicopter were released.
"Hit the deck!" Mukuro warned, and she, Tenko, and Mondo all dived in different directions.
The pair of bombs touched down on where they had been standing, causing a humongous wave of slime to flash up—so much so that Chris had to fly back. "Woo! Glad I don't have to clean that up!"
All three of them, miraculously, managed to escape the slime bombs unscathed. The only problem was...
"Huh?! Where'd our eggs go?!" Tenko panicked.
Both Mondo and Mukuro blinked down at their egg-less hands, but Mondo was the first to notice one if the eggs perched on top of a wooden plank balanced over a fallen Chef. Tenko and Mukuro soon noticed it, too, but he was the quickest to act, snatching the egg and laughing triumphantly as he dashed off with it.
"No!" Tenko cried. "He's getting away!"
Mukuro's panicked for a moment before she looked back and gasped; a remaining egg was sitting intact just behind Chef. "There's an egg over there, Tenko. Go get it; I'll distract Chef."
"Wait, what?!" Tenko shook her head. "No, you should be the one to get the egg, I'll—"
Mukuro firmly placed her hands on her shoulders. "Tenko. Trust me. Get that egg."
Tenko nodded, sighing. "Okay. Okay, I trust you."
Mukuro nodded back, then ran over towards Chef, who was slowly rising to his feet. She grabbed the gun he'd dropped and started firing at him, forcing him to shield himself and allowing Tenko to easily snatch the egg and run off with it. Mukuro tossed the gun aside and followed after her.
"I'll get you next time!" Chef yelled menacingly, shaking his fist.
"Can't you do anything right?!" Chris complained, walking up to him.
"Where's my money?!" Chef immediately shot back. "Hmm? Give! Me! My! Money!" Chris dashed off, and his scowl deepened.
Over at the cast trailers, the thirteen eliminated contestants were idling around when Chris and the others showed up.
"We have our two winners!" Chris announced. "Our only two winners. The rest you of really stink. As our winners, Tenko and Mondo will be able to pick their teams. But first, we gotta vote two cast members in the most thrilling Gilded Chris ceremony yet!"
The contestants collectively gasped at his last statement.
"Yeah, you heard me," Chris said. "I said two. I'm liking the twos today. Must be Tuesday." The contestants fell dead silent at his joke with the exception of Junko, who snickered. "Yeah, I don't get paid to write this show."
Triumphant music began to play as the camera focused on the amphitheater against the night sky. The castmates sat on the bleachers opposite the stage where Chris, dressed in a blue tux, approached the microphone attached to the podium.
"It's time to cast your votes. Under your seats, you'll find your voting devices. Just press the button of the person you want voted off."
The contestants pulled out said voting devices; they were small enough to hold in one hand and showed a scrolling screen of the competing contestants with an empty checkbox next to each one.
"Oh, and no peeking! Or it's nana-na, nana, nana-na, hey, hey—eeyy, goodbye!"
The contestants all began to choose their votes using the device.
"The votes have been cast," Chris announced after a few moments. Some of the kids began to laugh when a Chef walked out on stage wearing a pink dress and holding a plate of Gilded Chrises, to which he scowled at. "If you get a Gilded Chris, it means you're safe. For now. And the Gilded Chrises go to... Mondo! Tenko!"
Both challenge winners caught their Gilded Chrises proudly.
"Leon, Junko, and Mukuro." Each one was given a Gilded Chris in turn.
"Ibuki, Mikan, Shuichi, and Kaito are also safe." The four were each given a Gilded Chris. "So are Toko and Komaru!" Komaru hugged Toko excitedly as they were tossed their Gilded Chrises.
"Next is Hiro." Yasuhiro cheered as he was tossed his Gilded Chris. "Surprisingly, Taeko, and last but not least..."
Kazuichi, Sayaka, and Makoto were the only ones left without a Gilded Chris. Kazuichi looked anxious at the prospect, however, biting his nails, while Sayaka and Makoto looked almost happy.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Kazuichi!"
Kazuichi was tossed a Gilded Chris and he cheered as he caught it.
"Wait, what?!" Leon protested, standing up. "Why the hell did you guys vote for Sayaka?!"
"Leon, it's fine," Sayaka assured, standing up as well and holding his hand. "This was planned, actually."
Leon blinked at her. "What?"
"Yep," Chris confirmed. "These two lucky birds were chosen to host our new aftermath show! I still decided to hold the elimination ceremony for jokes and giggles. Did I get ya?"
"That wasn't funny!" Kazuichi yelled.
"Any final words?" Chris asked the eliminatees.
Makoto turned to his sister and smiled. "I'll try to watch you as much as I can. And you'll try your best to win, right?"
"I won't let you down," Komaru replied, and the two hugged each other.
"Same to you, Leon," Sayaka added.
"You got it, babe!" Leon leaned in and gave her a kiss on the lips.
Makoto and Sayaka were now walking down the red carpet together, waving at everyone else as they approached the Lame-o-sine. Chef was already holding the door open for them and they climbed inside. Chef slammed it shut, and the limousine sped off.
"Who will Mondo and Tenko pick for their teams?" Chris asked back at the stage. "Will Kaz ever live up to his own hype?"
"Hey!" Kazuichi exclaimed from off-screen.
"Tune in next time for another exciting episode of... Total! Drama! Action!"
Chris' eyes suddenly widened upon spotting a scowling Chef in the shot, and he slowly backed away.
[BONUS CLIP]
In the back of the limousine, Sayaka and Makoto sat with a seat of space in between them.
"How are you feeling about the whole aftermath thing?" Sayaka asked him.
Makoto scratched his head with an awkward laugh. "I'm... not sure. I've never done anything like that before, and I'm not really interesting."
"Well, I wouldn't worry," Sayaka reassured. "I'll be there to help you. Plus, you already have a charm about you that I think the audience will love."
"Thanks..." Makoto flushed. "What about you, though? I mean, you basically lost another chance to fulfill your dream."
"I'm not mad, actually. Leon's still in the game, and maybe I'll even get the chance to show off my singing and dancing during the aftermaths." Sayaka giggled. "Besides, if this season is anything like the last season, it's probably better that we were the first ones out."
Makoto laughed. "True."
Notes:
Boys - Kaito, Kazuichi, Leon, Mondo, Shuichi, Yasuhiro
Girls - Celestia, Ibuki, Junko, Komaru, Mikan, Mukuro, Tenko, Toko
Eliminated - Makoto, Sayaka
-
So, Sayaka and Makoto are our aftermath show hosts. How do we feel about that? Like? Dislike?
Yeah, I know a few of you guys were hoping for Makoto to make it far, but alas, this was not his season. You'll still get to see him (and Sayaka!) during the aftermaths, though.
Also, Mondo and Tenko will be picking this season's teams! Got any predictions for those?
Until next time! Ciao!
Chapter 3: episode three || riot on set.
Notes:
Today, our teams for this season will finally be revealed! I hope you're as excited as I am about it.
Enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Last time on Total Drama Action! Fifteen teenagers... One spooky film lot... And a whole bunch of alien eggs! In a world where an army Chef wore an alien costume, only the strong could survive. Finally, only two were left to share a heroic victory. Now, they will be pitted against one another, by destiny. And so it was, that a pair of friends were the subject of a vote-off for the ages."
"This week," Chris said as he stood in front of the cast trailers, "we're gonna bring the pain! Haha! Well, if I have anything to say about it—and I do, by the way. So brace yourselves for some deliciously painful...
Total...
Drama...
Action!"
The episode opened up in the middle of the night, outside the cast trailers, before zooming into the boys' trailer. Inside, they were all sound asleep as the camera panned over them. It then showed the same thing inside the girls' trailer, except a horn suddenly went off, causing Mikan to jolt up and bang her head on the bed above her.
"Ow!"
"All crew on set!" Chris shouted through a megaphone outside. "Call time is 4 AM!" Lowering it, he kissed it. "I love this thing."
CONFESSIONAL - LEON:
"I dunno if I can deal with getting woken up at these ungodly hours?" He scratched his head. "I almost miss the island."
The door of the girls' trailer opened and the girls came trudging out, still in their pajamas, most of them looking tired. The boys were the same, shuffling out of their trailer one by one.
"Well, there goes my hopes of having a consistent sleep schedule..." Shuichi muttered to himself.
The scene skipped ahead several hours so that the sun was already well in the sky and the castmates were now in their regular clothes and lined up by gender, save for Mondo and Tenko, who were standing with Chris in front of them.
"You're on a film set now, and you're gonna learn that showbiz is not all red carpets and pool parties," Chris said, narrowing his eyes at Leon and Yasuhiro in particular, who exchanged looks. "Today, you're gonna get schooled on how top on-set production life can be."
"It can't be harder than working the morning rush at a drive-thru coffee shop," Kaito countered. "Everyone thinks their order is clear, but at 6 AM? It sure as hell isn't! And then they have the nerve to get angry with me when their cappuccino doesn't have enough foam!"
"Well, speaking of taking orders from people you don't like, it's time for Tenko and Mondo to pick their teams, then try to stick it to each other," Chris said.
"Just so you know," Tenko told Mondo, "I've already decided my team, so you might as give up now."
CONFESSIONAL - TENKO:
"Okay, I didn't," she admitted with a sheepish grin, "but Mondo doesn't have to know that I don't know, right?"
"Okay, let's get this bloodbath started!" Chris grinned, looking between everyone." You're gonna choose schoolyard-style: boy, girl, boy, girl. Ladies first. Since we have no ladies, Tenko."
Tenko glared at him briefly before thoughtfully glancing over the available selection of boys.
CONFESSIONAL - TENKO:
"I promised Mukuro I would try my best to overcome my... um, dislike of men, so I guess this will be as good as a chance to do that," she explained. "The question now is... Which one do I pick?"
"Um... Shuichi!" Tenko finally decided, who looked surprised at her decision, but scurried over to her nonetheless.
CONFESSIONAL - MONDO:
"I woulda picked Mukuro to be on my team, but she's still Tenko's girl," he said. "Gotta respect that."
"Ibuki," Mondo picked.
"Woo-hoo!" Ibuki cheered, hopping over to Mondo. "Ibuki's got the honorary gold medal of getting picked first! She shall wear it with pride!"
"Mukuro!" Tenko chose, giving her a soft smile as she joined her.
"I choose Kaz," Mondo said, and Kazuichi smiled smugly as he joined his team."
"Kaito!"
"Komaru."
"Mikan!"
Mondo stared between the only two boys left—Yasuhiro and Leon; the former was preoccupied with looking behind him while the latter smirked expectantly, as if he knew he was going to be picked next.
CONFESSIONAL - MONDO:
"Yeah, normally I would've picked Leon," he admitted, "but he pissed me off one too many times. He'd prolly make me do all the work, anyway."
"Hiro," Mondo finally said, to which Yasuhiro whooped at as he joined his team.
"Seriously?" Leon protested. "You're gonna choose him over me?"
"If it's any consolation, that means you're automatically on the other team," Chris told him, gesturing to Tenko's team.
"Whatever," Leon grunted as he begrudgingly trudged over to the other team.
Mondo glanced back at the remaining girls with hesitance; Celestia, Junko, and Toko.
CONFESSIONAL - MONDO:
"How the hell do I choose between crazy, crazier, and useless?" he asked, folding his arms. "Shit, this is gonna be hard."
"Do you know what would be a great idea?" Komaru asked Mondo, sidling up next to him. "If you picked Toko to be on our team!"
Mondo sighed, putting a hand on his side. Toko."
Toko looked genuinely surprised at his choice, before glowering at him. "L-Let me guess: you picked me out of p-pity, is that right?"
Mondo sighed again. "Just hurry up and get over here."
Toko did exactly that after a beat, but not before shooting him a dirty look.
"We pick Celestia!" Tenko immediately called, grabbing Celestia's arm and pulling her over to her team.
CONFESSIONAL - CELESTIA:
"While having to take orders from such an obnoxious girl is less than ideal, I have to say that the other team has much more annoying people." She looked off to the side briefly and rolled her eyes. "Which, honestly, isn't saying much."
"Shit," Mondo cursed to himself before glancing over at the last remaining castmate. "I guess Junko's on my team."
Junko shrugged and made her way over to Mondo's team.
"Tenko," Chris announced, running over to her, Kaito, Leon, Mikan, Mukuro, and Shuichi, "I christen your team... The Screaming Gaphers!" Their team logo appeared at the top of the screen, depicting a pale green lightbulb with a pair of crossbones behind it.
"Mondo, you're the Killer Grips," Chris told him as he ran over to him, Ibuki, Junko, Kazuichi, Komaru, Toko, and Yasuhiro. Their logo consisted of an orange-red fist raised in a salute.
"Hell yeah!" Kazuichi exclaimed, shooting the other team a smirk. "The Killer Grips are gonna grip ya!"
The Gaphers gave him weird looks in turn while Shuichi said, "I don't think that came out the way you intended it to..."
"What the hell's a "Gapher", anyway?" Leon asked, wrinkling his nose.
"I don't know, but it sounds like something that has rabies," Mukuro replied.
A crash from off-screen caught everyone's attention and they all looked over to see two male interns; a white one with curly hair and a black one wearing all red, standing next to some equipment.
"I'm sick and tired of getting no respect around here!" the white man declared angrily before stomping off, his companion shoving a television off its stand before following.
Chris gave them an odd look before looking back over at the castmates. "Okay, since we're running late now and don't seem to have any more... whatever those two... crew dudes did... We better get going." He grinned and walked over to two sets of film equipment, including a trailer. "Your challenge? For each team to set up a film lot."
Leon snorted. "How is that a challenge? We can get that done in ten minutes flat."
"Oh, will you?" Chris smirked. "As location manager, I want your sets to go... there!" He pointed up to the top of a giant cliff set behind himself.
Most of the other castmates side-eyed Leon, who laughed nervously, while Mondo asked Chris, "Are you always this big of a bitch when it comes to challenges?"
"Yes. Yes, I am." Chris pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and spoke into it. "Chef, clear for traffic up there?"
On the top of the cliff, Chef glanced around the set and shrugged.
"Lights!" Chris announced through a megaphone as the teams rushed over and grabbed the lighter equipment. "Camera! Action!"
The Grips were the first ones up the hill and were having an easier time getting their equipment up. The Gaphers, however, were having a much harder time due to infighting (Tenko and Kaito), fighting with members of the other team (Leon and Celestia), copious amounts of tripping (Mikan), or general lack of strength (Shuichi).
"Obviously, this isn't going to work," Celestia grimaced as she watched Mikan faceplant onto the ground for the umpteenth time. "We need a strategy."
"You're not wrong," Mukuro agreed as she gestured over at Shuichi. "I don't think those arms are going to cut it."
Tenko ripped a light from Kaito's hands and turned to the rest of her team. "What kind of strategy, though?"
The Gaphers all exchanged looks with one another before all eyes landed on Shuichi, who seemed to be thinking of something. Upon noticing this, his hand went up to his cap and his eyes went to the ground.
"Do you have an idea, Shuichi?" Celestia prodded.
"Yeah, if you have one, just say it," Leon added.
"A-Ah, well..." Shuichi hesitated.
"Don't worry 'bout it, Shuichi!" Kaito hopped in, patting his shoulder. "A bad idea's better than no idea!"
Tenko glared at him. "No, it's not!"
"T-Take your time, Shuichi," Mikan assured him. "We'll wait forever, if that's what it takes!"
"You all are not helping," Mukuro sighed.
"N-No, it's fine..." Shuichi took a shallow breath before peeking up at his team's expectant gazes. "Um, I was just thinking... What if we passed the equipment up relay-style? It would be way more efficient."
"That's..." Tenko tapped her chin, "not a bad idea! I knew I put you on this team for a reason!"
"Um... thanks?" Shuichi replied awkwardly.
CONFESSIONAL - KAITO:
"Shuichi definitely has a lot of potential, it's just his lack of confidence that's holding him back." He then gasped and slammed his fist on the dressing table. "You know what? I'm gonna make him my Sidekick!"
"Alright, this is how it's going to work!" Tenko punched her fist. "The rest of you will work on passing the equipment, and Mukuro and I will work on getting the trailer up. Okay? Okay!"
"Can I be the man up top?" Kaito asked her. "We can still win this if we have a strong finish!"
Tenko groaned. "Fine. When the rest of you get Kaito's signal, start passing up the equipment, okay?"
"W-Wait, should we stand in specific spots or in a specific order?" Mikan asked.
"I don't think it matters!" Tenko replied as she ran off with Mukuro.
"Okay, everyone, let's get our asses into gear!" Leon said as the Gaphers ran off into position.
Meanwhile, the Grips were still hauling their equipment up, but Kazuichi slowed down poolupon noticing what the other team was doing. "Uh... I think we might have a problem."
"Shit, shit, shit," Mondo cursed as he looked back at what was happening.
"What do we do?!" Ibuki panicked.
"Run faster!" Mondo demanded, and that was what they did.
Back with the Gaphers, they were making great progress, with all of their equipment being passed through the team at this point.
"We're actually doing it!" Kaito exclaimed as Leon passed the last of the equipment to him. "We're gonna win this thing!"
He turned to set it with all of the other equipment at the same time the Grips reached the top of the cliff with theirs.
"It's neck-and-neck, people!" Chris announced. "Now for the heavy stuff!"
"How the heck are we supposed to get our trailer all the way up the hill?" Yashiro asked.
"I don't know, but we have to hurry!" Komaru pointed down at the Mukuro and Tenko, who already had their trailer a quarter up the cliff.
The Grips gasped and all of them looked at Mondo expectantly, who stared thoughtfully at their own trailer. "Hold on, I've got an idea. Kaz, you've got your toolbelt on ya, right?"
Kazuichi responded with a confused look. "Yeah?"
"Give it to me—I'm gonna need it."
Kazuichi sighed and glanced down at his toolbelt, hesitantly handing it over to Mondo. "You better not scuff it up!"
Mondo nodded in acknowledgement before running back down the cliff and towards the trailer. Using the toolbelt, he looped it around the hitch and tied it around his waist and started up the cliff again as the rest of the Grips encouraged him.
Leon was the first one to notice Mondo and turned to the rest of his team. "Hey, we gotta go help Mukuro and Tenko! The other team's catching up!"
The Gaphers ran down down to their teammates, half of them pushing the trailer while the other half pulled as the scene faded to black.
"Welcome back to Total Drama Action," Chris opened from a lawn chair. "And we're in the middle of some pretty wild action right now!"
The Gaphers were still pushing (and pulling) their trailer up the cliff, but Mondo and the Grips had caught up to them by this point, and they continued on each other's tails. The team that ended up getting their trailer to the top first was...
"Yes! We did it!" Tenko cheered. "We won!"
"Well," Chris corrected, "not exactly."
"Huh?"
"That was only the first part of the challenge," he explained. "Did I neglect to mention that?"
The Gaphers groaned, and the scene skipped ahead to both teams standing before Chris, who stood in front of two sets; the one on the left looked like an elderly person's living room, while the one on the right looked similar, but had a darker and masculine feel to it.
"It's time to make a movie," he announced, facing the Grips. "And what we've got here is the set for a tearjerker, starring an elderly lady considering her long life."
Kazuichi sighed a breath through his nose. "Why did we have to get the most boring ever?!"
Chris ignored him and turned to the Gaphers. "You'll be making a feature about a thug who tries to go straight but can't resist the lure of the street."
"How... original," Mukuro remarked.
"Excuse moi," Celestia butted in, shooting a glare at the host, "what about lunch? There has to be some sort of rule about this kind of thing, it has been at least twelve hours!"
"Oh, yeah?" Chris countered. "Who here is in the union?" He raised his hand, but no one else followed. "Yeah, I thought so."
CONFESSIONAL - CELESTIA:
She scowled and folded her arms. "You know what? I am not even surprised. When has Chris ever treated us other than toys for his own amusement?"
"And now, it's time to choose an actor to perform the scene." Chris looked over at Chef, who walked on-screen with a couple of manilla folders in his arms. "Chef, give the teams their teams!"
Chef shoved one of the folders in Mondo's hands, and he opened it with an uncertain look. "Okay... It looks like we'll need someone to play an old lady. Who wants to take a stab at it?" He looked up at the girls in particular.
"Ooh, Junko's been in magazines, right?" Ibuki piped up. "She already has an eye for the camera! Plus, she has those funny personas!"
"No can do," Junko shook her head. "I got bored of those already and I kinda don't have anything in the back burner. You get it, right?"
"I could try," Komaru volunteered, raising her hand. "Acting seems pretty fun, anyway. I bet I could do a good job!"
"Sure," Mondo shrugged. "I'm guessin' no one else has any objections?" He tossed the folder to Komaru and she caught it, though it almost slipped from her hands. "Alright, let's get this show started."
"Okay," Tenko read from the Gaphers' folder, "it looks like our character's name is "Big Lucky Parmigianino."
"And he's supposed to be a tough guy, right?" Kaito asked. "So we just choose the toughest-looking guy on our team."
"Or girl!" Tenko interjected, shooting him a dirty look.
Kaito chuckled. "No offense, Tenko, but how many girl gangsters have you seen on TV?"
"Uh, well... None," Tenko admitted. "But I'm sure they exist! ... Probably."
"How about we change that?" Mukuro suggested. "I could take a stab at the acting thing."
"Yes!" Tenko immediately handed the folder to Mukuro. "Mukuro will be our actor! Everyone else can work on the other filming stuff."
"I call dibs on sound!" Leon called, making a run for the soundboard just off the set.
"Alright!" Chris exclaimed through his megaphone. "Set up the shot! Whoever can get Chef, mister ex-army corporal, to show any emotion wins the challenge."
As he said that, Chef took a seat in a director's chair and slipped on a pair of headphones before growling at the camera.
When the focus returned to the Grips again, Ibuki was sitting on top of the set and adjusting the stagelights. "Don't worry, Komaru!" she assured. "As an up-and-coming musician, I know how important lighting is to an amazing performance, so you know Ibuki's got your back!"
"Thanks, Ibuki!" Komaru gave her teammate a thumbs-up to which Ibuki smiled at.
Meanwhile, Yasuhiro held a boom box in his hands while Toko stood beside Komaru with the script in hand.
"I-I guess we just need to get you into your role," Toko told Komaru. "So just a-act like how an old lady would!"
"Oh, so I should hunch down like this?" Komaru bent her knees slightly.
Toko pursed her lips and pushed Komaru down even further, causing her to yelp. "Ow, ow, my knees!"
"Looks like the microphone works," Mondo chuckled, adjusting pressing a few buttons on the soundboard.
Junko, unbeknownst to the rest of her team, was silently watching the other team with a smirk.
CONFESSIONAL - JUNKO:
"Now that I'll be actually competing as myself—it's a shame that Mukuro and I are on different teams, really—I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: I don't actually care if I win the money or not. In fact, it would be better for me if I didn't win. But, first, I want to eliminate as many people as I can. Oh, I can't wait to see the absolute despair when they realized they got duped twice!" She laughed a wicked laugh. "I will need some help with that, though. Luckily, I have an idea on who would fit my needs perfectly."
"Yo, can I get a sound check over here?" Leon asked, slipping on headphones.
"Of course!" Tenko turned towards the person operating the microphone. "Mikan, the microphone!"
Mikan nodded back in acknowledgement, but due to the way she was holding the microphone caused her to accidentally hit Mukuro in the forehead with it. The sound of the impact mixed with the grunt of pain made the feedback louder than usual, and the Gaphers winced.
"Okay!" Tenko exclaimed, taking the microphone from Mikan, giving her a sympathetic smile. "Maybe we should have someone else take over the microphone! Mikan, you can... take five until we need something from you, okay?"
Mikan looked like she was about to cry at that, but said, "Oh, o-okay. I get it," before trudging off the set.
Junko took that as her opportunity to strike and snuck her way over to the Gaphers' set and took a seat next to Mikan, who was now sitting by the wires behind it, crying silently.
"Are you alright, Mikan?" Junko asked her, an expectant grin on her face. "I saw what happened over there."
"Y-Yeah, mostly..." Mikan wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Um, but you're on the other team, right?"
"You're not gonna let that stop you, are you?" Junko nudged Mikan playfully, though perhaps a bit too hard. "We're still trailer-mates, right?"
"Y-Yeah, I guess so..."
"I'm just gonna cut to the chase." Junko crossed her ankles. "I want you to join an alliance with me." Mikan opened her mouth, presumably to protest, but Junko held her hand up. "I already know what you're gonna say, but look at it like this: if you join me, I'll make sure you'll be more appreciated than your own team will ever be to you."
Mikan's mouth hung open, seemingly at a loss for what to say.
CONFESSIONAL - MIKAN:
She bit her fingernails, glancing around the trailer. "I-I know it'd be wrong of me to join an alliance, especially with a member of the other team, but... Junko has to have a good reason for it if she's asking considering how Celestia's went last season... Right?"
"U-Um... I guess I'll join—" Mikan started, and Junko pulled her into a side hug before she could finish her sentence.
She grinned widely, showing off her shiny white teeth. "Awesome-sauce! This is gonna be great!" Junko hopped up and ran back over to her own team's set, leaving a dumbfounded Mikan behind.
"And now, time for the final hair and make-up adjustments!" Chris told both of the teams.
"Stand still," Celestia hissed at Mukuro as she tried to apply makeup to her cheek, but she was more preoccupied with choosing which fedora to put on.
"I'm trying to get into my role," Mukuro protested. "If you want to make it go faster, you're more than welcome to help me." She held up a dark green and a chocolate brown fedora to make a point.
Celestia huffed, looking between the two fedoras. "The second one," she finally said. "It would look better with your color scheme."
Mukuro put the brown fedora on her head and glanced at herself in the full-length in front of them. "Huh, you're right. Thanks, Celes."
Celestia stayed silent for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "Are you ready for me to do your make-up now?"
Mukuro nodded, and Celestia went back to finishing her make-up.
Meanwhile, Toko was tying a baby blue bonnet underneath Komaru's chin while Junko did her make-up. Komaru also wore a baby blue dress to match.
"There's no way we can lose this!" Kazuichi gloated as he and Yasuhiro set the boom box and microphone down in a good position.
Soon enough, both teams were ready and Chris held a film slate above his head and clapped it. "And... Action!"
The Gaphers' scene was shown first, with a professional (and darkened) filter over it as Mukuro stepped into view, a paintball gun in her hand. Appropriate music started to play as she started speaking. "Now you listen and you listen good. If your fighter doesn't go down in the first round, you'll be sleeping with the fishes!"
She shot the paintball gun, must've which hit one of her teammates off-screen. "Ow!"
"Oh, my bad," she apologized.
As for the Grips, soft music played as Komaru hobbled onto the scene with a cane. In her best elderly voice, she said, "When I was a young schoolgirl in Poland, frolicking through the fields with my pet goat in the summer sun, those were my happiest days. I lived a good, long life. I've loved, I've laughed, but what I miss most of all... is my sweet little goat." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Baa... Baa..."
"She's really loving her role, huh?" Kazuichi commented as he and the rest of the Grips watched Komaru from behind the soundboard.
"We know she's committed, at least," Mondo replied.
"Baa, baa..." Chef echoed before bursting out into tears. A few nearby contestants also shedded some tears.
"C-Cut!" Chris demanded, trying to hide his own emotion from the camera. "Okay, enough! It's too much for Chef to take! Komaru clearly wins for best performance! The Killer Grips win it!"
"Yes!" Komaru raised her arms in the air, along with her cane, but accidentally struck herself in the knee with it upon lowering them. "Ow!"
In the girls' cast trailer, Mukuro tossed a bouncy ball against the wall while Tenko watched her in concern.
"Everyone's going to vote you out!" Tenko told her. "We have to talk to them and convince them to vote someone else out!"
Mukuro quirked a brow. "Why? It's not like we lost because I was bad. Besides, it's not a big deal if I get voted off, anyway. I got to the finale last season."
"I want you here!"
Mukuro frowned. "Who would we even vote off?"
"I have an idea," Tenko replied, and Mukuro's brow raised again as her girlfriend leaned in and whispered something in her ear.
The segue into the Gilded Chris ceremony like last episode, except a jazzier tune took over as Chris stepped up to the podium. "And now, it's time to cast your votes and determine who will stroll down the Walk of Shame. Under your seats, you'll find voting devices. Just press the button of the person you want voted off. It's easy! So... cast your votes!"
The beeps of the voting devices filled the air while the Gaphers cast their votes.
"Who will it be?" Chris asked as a couple members glanced over at their teammates. "Who will be cast off the set?"
Chef performed a short drumroll with actual drums, then pointed over at a large, old-fashioned computer, which printed out the votes.
"And it looks like the votes have been cast," Chris said. "Chef?" Chef ripped the paper off the printer and handed it to him. "Remember, if you get a Gilded Chris, you get to stay because the Gilded Chris represents the luster of fame, and immortal greatness!"
A trapdoor suddenly opened next to him and the golden awards were raised up on a pedestal.
"And Gilded Chrises go to... Tenko and Leon!" Both of them caught their Gilded Chrises, smiling.
"Kaito and Shuichi also get awards!" Kaito smiled proudly as he was tossed his award, while Shuichi's was more bashful.
"Only three nominees left." The three girls in question, Mikan, Mukuro, and Celestia, who all stared at Chris; Mikan looked anxious as always, Mukuro had a neutral look, while Celestia just looked bored. "And the loser is...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Taeko!"
Mikan's expression switched to relief, Mukuro's brows raised, and Celestia was left gaping.
"Time to go!" Chris pointed in the Lame-o-sine.
"What?!" Celestia exclaimed in disbelief. "How did I get voted off over the person who actually lost us the challenge?!"
Leon shrugged. "No one liked you that much. Mukuro at least has Tenko."
Celestia glowered at him, then sighing defeatedly. "I suppose you have a point. I am willing to accept that. I shall take my leave with dignity."
"And, remember," Chris said as Celestia walked past the stage, "you can never come back, ever!"
She strolled down the red carpet and to the limousine, where she stepped inside before it drove off.
[BONUS CLIP]
Celestia shut the door of the limousine, and her expression immediately switched back into a scowl. "I cannot believe I lost my chance at the money. Again." She sighed deeply. "It looks like I will have to get my castle the old-fashioned way. I suppose it was inevitable, though. I placed third last season, after all."
A smirk suddenly formed as she looked out the window. "There is an aftermath show, however. Perhaps I could use that to my advantage..."
Notes:
Killer Grips - Ibuki, Junko, Kazuichi, Komaru, Mondo, Toko, Yasuhiro
Screaming Gaphers - Kaito, Leon, Mikan, Mukuro, Shuichi, Tenko
Eliminated -Makoto, Sayaka, Celestia
-
And Celestia is the next one gone. How do you feel about it? I thought it made the most sense to boot her here since most of the contestants would want her here gone anyway, and it gets rid of a character that made it far last season.
How do you feel about the teams this season? I hope Mondo's and Tenko's picks made sense. Also! The Mikan/Junko alliance! I have some fun plans for that in the future :)!
That's all for now, I think. Thank you for reading, as well as the support so far, and I hope to see you next time!
Chapter 4: episode four || beach blanket bogus.
Notes:
And with today's episode, we're jumping into beach-themed movies!
On with the show!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Last time on Total Drama Action! Mondo was a boy; Tenko was a girl, and last time on Total Drama Action, these two were pitted against each other by a shocking team redistribution. Meanwhile, Junko made an alliance with Mikan—ooh, scandalous!—and Komaru's mad thespian skills managed to just beat out Mukuro. It was all too much for Chef's tender heart, and it was Celestia who took the Walk of Shame."
Chris stood in front of the cast trailers yet again with his signature smile. "How will the Gaphers fare with one less member? What will happen with Junko's and Mikan's alliance? Will my non-fat vanilla latte ever get here? All the answers, uh, answered, right now! In another exciting episode of...
Total...
Drama...
Action!"
The episode opened in the craft services tent, where Chef stirred a pot of brown mush with a scowl before serving a scoop on Mikan's tray.
"W-Well, I guess this will be good if I decide to go on a diet..." she muttered to herself.
Ibuki, standing right behind her, picked up on that and guffawed. "You?! On a diet?! You've already got a smoking hot bod, Mikan! Yep, yep! A ten-outta-ten from Ibuki!"
Mikan immediately flushed, almost dropping her tray in the process. "Th-That's... I'll get back to you on that in three to five business days!" She hurried over to her team's table, much to Ibuki's amusement.
Meanwhile, Shuichi was already sitting down and silently eating his own breakfast when Kaito took the seat to his left. Shuichi glanced over at him, confused, prompting him to say, "Hey, man! You got a minute?"
"Er... y-yeah?"
Kaito shoveled a spoonful of breakfast in his mouth, chewing as he spoke. "So, basically... I noticed the potential you have."
Shuichi blinked back at him. "My... potential?"
"Yeah! You're really smart, and you have great ideas that help the team, like the relay thing last challenge!"
A blush began to tint Shuichi's cheeks. "A-Ah, well... That's... I-I mean—"
"That right there's is what I'm talking about," Kaito interrupted. "You're totally unconfident in yourself, and it pisses me off!" He let his spoon clatter against his tray, pushing his fists together. "So I've decided I'm going to make you my Sidekick!"
"...Huh?"
"Yep! I'm gonna take you under my wing as my Sidekick and help you get some confidence! Whaddya say?"
Shuichi adjusted his cap, glancing down at his breakfast. "...Y-Yes? I mean, I guess I could at least try it and see... what happens."
"Sweet!" Kaito pulled Shuichi into a tight hug, which only served to exacerbate his blush.
CONFESSIONAL - SHUICHI:
"I... have mixed feelings about this," he admitted. "A-About the sidekick thing, I mean. On one hand, I'm grateful that he's trying to help me, but on the other hand... I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with his energy..."
At the Grips' table, Komaru chatted with a less-than-impressed Toko as they ate their breakfast.
"Yeah, so," Komaru said, twirling her spoon in her hand, "I had woken up in the middle of the night, right? And—I'm not even joking when I say this—I freaking saw the ghost of my dead middle school teacher in the corner of my room! It was super freaky!"
Yasuhiro immediately yelped, clasping his hands like he was about to pray. "Y-You totally had a bunch of negative energy for that to happen!"
"Or it's not real," Toko deadpanned.
"It is!" Komaru insisted. "If I had a picture, I would totally show you!"
Yasuhiro yelped again, exclaiming, "I can't eat here anymore!" before taking the bacon on his tray and stuffing it into his pockets before running off, to which Toko and Komaru stared incredulously at.
CONFESSIONAL - TOKO:
She bit her fingernail, glancing at the camera. "Jeez, I'm not th-the first one eliminated, but at what cost?"
A piercing whistle cut through the air then, causing everyone to look over at the source. A surf pop tune played as Chris entered the tent, wearing a pair of sunglasses as well as a whistle around his neck.
"Hang onto your coconuts, players!" he exclaimed. "We're goin' back to the beach! Ever seen one of those 1950's surfer movies where the kids get up to neato fun before the bonfire twist-a-thon, and the bully kicks the sandcastle into the nerdy guy's face?"
His question was met with several shrugs, raised brows, and blank stares from the castmates.
"Damn, you're old as hell," Leon snorted.
Chris scowled briefly, but quickly bounced back. "Well, get ready to recreate one! Two challenges, followed by a tiebreaker—if necessary. So, grab your swimsuits!" With that, Chris turned and exited the tent.
When the scene changed, a visible wind blew, covering a couple of hanging stage lights in a thin layer of frost. The camera panned down, where the castmates had changed into their swimsuits, but were noticeably shivering.
"W-Why the hell does it feel like we're in Antarctica?" Kaito chattered.
"As some of you can see," Chris said, dressed in a thick white parka and snow goggles, "we're actually in the recording studio."
In full, various film equipment and a pair of giant fans surrounded an icicle-rimmed pool; a surfboard was attached to it, and the entire thing sat in front of a green screen.
"So why the fuck's the AC cranked?" Mondo asked.
"All the lights and cameras get so hot, they could melt Chef's heart," Chris explained, pointing over at his assistant dressed in a green scarf, grinning creepily at them. "And the network told my agent sweaty wasn't a good look on me." He motioned towards the surfboard. "Your first challenge: hang ten this deck into the big blue without swallowing tail in the soup!"
"What," Tenko deadpanned.
"U-Um," Shuichi spoke up, "I think he just means whoever stays on the surfboard the longest, wins."
"Exactamundo, groovy cats!" Chris confirmed. "So? Who's goin' first?"
All was silent for a couple moments; Junko and Kazuichi glanced at each other, Mukuro folded her arms in an attempt to gather more body heat, and Yasuhiro proceeded to look everywhere but at the host. At the same time, a cricket chirped atop a light, only for another gust of wind to freeze it completely and cause its hind legs to snap off.
"The team that wins will get a half-hour headstart on the next challenge," Chris explained. "And, given tonight's reward, you should be fighting harder than Tenko's abs over who gets first shot."
Everyone was silent again—though, it wasn't as long as last time, as Kaito leaned over and whispered something in Shuichi's ear. Shuichi tensed up slightly, but ended up hesitantly stepping forward.
"We have a volunteer!" Chris announced loudly, making Shuichi flinch.
Shuichi reluctantly climbed up the pool and stepped into the surfboard, getting into surfing position—which, unfortunately, looked more like an awkward crouch.
"And, please, welcome the return of some season one fan-favorites..." Chris gestured to the pool. "The sharks!"
Immediately, one of the giant sharks jumped out the water and snapped its jaw at Shuichi. He flinched back, yelping.
CONFESSIONAL - SHUICHI:
He shook in his seat, hugging himself. "I-I'm kind of starting to regret taking Kaito up on his offer..."
Shuichi was clinging onto the lighting support beam above the pool, safely out of the sharks reach. Realizing the new predicament he was in and asked, "Ah! C-Could someone help me down, please?!"
"How did you even jump that high?!" Tenko asked in disbelief.
"Hold on, man!" Kaito called to him. "Shit, uh..." His eyes darted around the studio before landing on an unaware Yasuhiro, who was snacking on his bacon from breakfast and pointed at him. "Hey, sharks! Don't you guys like bacon?!"
The sharks immediately switched to Yasuhiro, staring hungrily at his bacon as they tried to get out the pool. That bought Shuichi enough time to drop down from the fixture and safely be caught by Kaito.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Y-Yeah..." Shuichi stammered. "Thank you..."
"Yeah—" Kaito then coughed, finally realizing he was holding Shuichi for longer than necessary and let him down. "No problem, dude."
While everyone else looked on in relief or indifference, Tenko was the only one to scowl at them.
CONFESSIONAL - TENKO:
The scowl didn't leave her face as she crossed her arms. "What does Kaito think he's doing? Did he forget that he has a girlfriend or something? He must have, because now he's trying to go after Shuichi!" She huffed. "I'm keeping my eye on you, Kaito..."
Ibuki was the next one to climb onto the surfboard, getting into position. A shark hopped out in front of her and took her entire bikini with it, leaving her completely naked—albeit blurred out. She didn't seem fazed by this in the slightest, cackling it off until someone from her team pulled her off.
Mikan took her turn next, and the green screen showed a sunset. She struggled to find her balance, and it didn't help when Chris hit a button on the control panel and changed the sunset to a tornado-struck farm. Chef plugged in the giant fans and they started blowing at top speed, and Mikan was quickly blown off the surfboard, hitting the backdrop.
Next was Kazuichi, who stepped on the surfboard. It cracked the moment he stepped on it. When he put his other foot down, it snapped in half and he fell, smacking his chin on the piece still up before falling into the water. "Fuck, I bit my tongue!" he cried.
Chris then stepped in front of the camera, blowing his whistle. "Break time! Union rules."
"Finally!" Leon exclaimed.
"I don't mean you, sharkbait," Chris told him.
Much to the teens dismay, the sharks were sitting in chairs with pink towels on their heads while sipping cups of tea. Chef even held out a platter of food for them to take. Meanwhile, Mondo climbed onto the now fixed surfboard and got into position, scoffing.
"No sharks? This is gonna be a fuckin' breeze."
His face fell when he looked over and saw the minigun turret pointed directly at him—unexpectedly, it was loaded with seagulls. Chris cocked it and the barrel started spinning. "I love this game!" he laughed before opening fire.
To Mondo's credit, he managed to dodge almost all of the seagulls until one hit him in the face and cost him his balance, and fell into the pool soon thereafter.
After some more attempts from both teams, the last person was about to go up.
"Finally, we have Leon!" Chris announced as he stepped onto the surfboard, adding, "Try not to get your piercings wet," as he took aim with the reloaded gun. Leon rolled his eyes, and Chris began firing; Leon dodged all of the seagulls with ease, and with all of his ammunition gone, Chris resorted to throwing a director's chair at him, which he also dodged. Chris looked around frantically for something else before landing his eyes on the nearest contestant and smiled evilly.
Leon's eyes went wide as he shouted and ducked as Mikan flew at him. She hit the backdrop once again, whimpering as she slid down.
"And with that, Leon secures victory for the Screaming Gaphers!" Chris exclaimed.
"Hell yeah." Leon fingergunned and jumped down from the surfboard, strolling back over to his team as they cheered and congratulated him.
"Dammit," Mondo groaned, fixing his pompadour. "I can't believe we fuckin' lost like this!"
"No! We just gotta amp up our competitiveness by, like, ten!" Kazuichi suggested. "We can still win this!"
"If you at home like competitiveness," Chris smiled, leaning into the shot, "you'll love what's up next!" With that, the screen faded to black.
"Welcome back to Total Drama Action!" The episode faded back in with Chris and the castmates standing outside the front gate of the film lot, all of them back in their regular clothes. "Where, against all advice to the contrary, the players have changed out of their bathing suits. Hope you like swimming in your jeans."
Mukuro scoffed. "Right, because we're definitely going to the beach this time."
At that very moment, a horn honked and a decrepit-looking school bus pulled up.
"You were saying?" a smug Chris asked.
CONFESSIONAL - KOMARU:
"Huh, Chris actually told us the truth for once? Maybe this is the gateway for finally getting treated with actual respect?" She laughed and shook her head. "I'm not that delusional."
"You okay?" Kaito asked Mikan as they started up the steps of the bus. "You got roughed up a bit back there."
Mikan suddenly looked embarrassed, rubbing her arm. "O-Oh, yeah, I-I'm fine... It's nothing that I'm not used to, anyway."
Kaito frowned at this and Mikan quickly stepped onto the bus before he could question her further.
The scene changed once again, and Chris stepped onto the sand of the familiar beach of Jabberwock Island. "Yes, campers, we're actually back at your old stomping grounds: Total! Drama! Island!" He, Chef Hatchet, and the teens were standing by two sectioned-off areas of sand.
"If you need to take a moment and reminisce about the great times you had here..." he said.
The castmates immediately burst out into laughter.
Chris scowled. "Fine, we'll skip the good memories montage. Screaming Gaphers, you've got a thirty minute headstart on... the Sandcastle Building Contest! To be judged by resident King o' the Dunes!" Chef placed a tall, sand-colored, castle-shaped crown on his head and Chris continued with, "Make like prop masters, guys, and give me something awesome. I really don't want the tiebreaker to have to go down. I don't think legal's quite approved it yet."
He motioned over his shoulder, where a test dummy stood, only to get crushed by the giant boulder that had been suspended above it. Then, a reddish-orange car suddenly came flying off from the high ground behind the beach and crashed into the pile.
"Alright, everyone!" Tenko exclaimed to her teammates. "Grab a bucket and let's get to work!"
Leon raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you even know what we're gonna build?"
Tenko sweatdropped, fiddling with one of her braids. "L-Let's just focus on building the foundation of the sandcastle, okay?!"
"Uh," Mukuro spoke up, "I haven't build a sandcastle before, actually."
Tenko eyes lit up. "It's super easy! Come on, I'll show you!" She grabbed Mukuro's hand in one of hers and a bucket in the other, leading Mukuro towards the water, and the rest of the Gaphers took that as their cue to start as well.
The scene then flashed forward to Mikan and Junko at another part of the beach, where the bus they'd arrived in was parked at. The hood of the bus was opened and Junko retrieved a bolt from the engine before tossing it into the bucket Mikan was holding for her.
"Um, n-not to be rude..." Mikan started, "but why are we even doing this? Dismantling the bus, I-I mean."
Junko simply grinned back at her, looking like a giddy child. "Trust me, Miki, it'll all make sense in due time!"
Mikan blushed. "M-Miki?!"
"Yeah, it's a nickname I thought for you! You like it?"
"Yeah, I love it!" Mikan nodded, her blush growing deeper. "Th-Thank you, Junko!"
CONFESSIONAL - MIKAN:
"I can't say I completely understand Junko..." she admitted, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "But if she truly thinks this is a good idea, then I'll trust her
"Three, two..." Chris threw his hand down, and Chef blew a trumpet. "Thank you, Chef. Screaming Gaphers, your thirty-minute lead is over." The Screaming Gaphers had already built a large central sandcastle and were now working on building five towers surrounding it as Chris walked over to the other team. "So, Mondo, dude, get castlin'."
Mondo stared at the rest of his team with uncertainty. "Uh... Any of you know how to build a sandcastle?!"
Kazuichi stared back at him in disbelief. "You don't even know how to build a freaking sandcastle?!"
"Water! We need water!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, and Ibuki grabbed two buckets and started running off. "Where do we even get it?!"
"I-It's not like there's an entire lake or anything..." Toko grumbled.
"You're totally right!" Ibuki turned and ran in the opposite direction, kicking up sand as she did, which flew directly into Toko's and Komaru's faces.
Toko sneezed loudly, then began to giggle, much to the confusion of the others. When the dust cleared, they were even more perplexed to see that her eyes had turned blood red and her tongue seemed longer, somehow.
"Hey, hey, hey!" she grinned wickedly, then snapped her head to either side and frowned. "What the hell's goin' on here?! I didn't sign up for a surprise beach trip?!"
"T-Toko...?" Komaru stammered.
"I'm not that loser!" she insisted. "I'm Genocide Jack, only the most feared woman of all feared women! But for simplicity's sake, let's just call me Jack, mkay?"
"How the heck can you be a woman and your name is Jack?" Yasuhiro
"Everyone, just shut the fuck up, okay?!" Mondo interrupted.
Jack turned onto Mondo, glowering and pointing a threatening finger at him. "How dare you tell a lady to shut up! I should rip your tongue clean out your mouth!"
"U-Um, maybe we should get working on the sandcastle now..." Komaru carefully put her hands on Jack's shoulders, trying to placate her.
Jack, surprisingly, put her hand down and smiled happily. "Ooh, I love sandcastles! I wanna help build one!"
The other Killer Grips all exchanged confused glances with each other.
"Yes!" Tenko exclaimed as she stared down at what they had built. "We can't lose with this!"
The sandcastle in question was three-tiered, consisting of the central tower, the five towers surrounding it, and a thick and high wall around that. The rest of the Screaming Gaphers were also crowded around it, looking impressed with their work.
Mondo grumbled as he and the rest of his team conjured up a crude-looking structure that only vaguely resembled a castle. On her hands and knees, Komaru patted up what appeared to be an attempt to be a dome, only for it to collapse and make her groan in frustration.
"And it was actually looking somewhat decent!" she cried. "Now we have to start all over!"
"Don't remind me," Mondo muttered.
"Wait a minute..." Ibuki said, pursing her lips and putting a hand on her chin. "Chris said something about props, right?"
Yasuhiro gave her a confused look. "Yeah? I'm pretty sure he did."
"We could use paper mache to help build our castle!" Ibuki suggested. "Do any of you guys have spare paper?"
"I do! I do!" Jack said, raising her hand. "I do a lot of origami, so I use a lot of paper! Hehe." At the weird looks the others were giving her, she frowned again. "What? Can't a girl have a hobby?"
"Of course!" Ibuki nodded, but even she looked a bit taken back herself before bouncing back. "With those papers and some hairspray, we'll have our own bonafide paper mache!"
A grin formed on Mondo's face. "Hey, good work, Ibuki! Alright, guys, back to work! We got a sandcastle to build! Jack, or Toko, or whoever the fuck, get the paper; I'll get the hairspray!"
Soon enough, the Grips managed to build something sturdy, thanks to the paper mache; it was narrower and blockier than the Gaphers', and had seashells added as decoration.
Meanwhile, a swarm of seagulls had decided to take over the Gaphers' sandcastle, and they were currently trying to swat them away. Kaito flailed his arms to try and scare them away, but in the process, lost his balance and crashed right into the sandcastle, effectively destroying it. "Oops."
"No!" Tenko cried.
CONFESSIONAL - TENKO:
"Can I kill him now?" she asked the camera.
"We have a winner!" Chris announced, to the Gaphers' dismay. "Mondo and the Killer Grips' clever paper mache prop! Which means, we need a tiebreaker!" He expression fell into a scowl. "And I was hoping for the evening off. Instead, gather ye some wood, campers, for a fire of the bon variety."
In the woods, Komaru was gathering up sticks off the ground when Toko scurried up to her with a mortified look on her face, gripping her shoulders tightly, causing Komaru to squeal and drop the sticks.
"K-Komaru! I need you to be honest w-with me! What happened when she came out?!"
"Huh?" Komaru tilted her head. "When who came out?"
Toko gritted her teeth, clearly not wanting to say the next words that came out of her mouth. "Jack."
"Oh." There was a long pause from Komaru as she stared at the other girl long and hard. "Um, well, nothing too bad happened. You—she? She was pretty intense, though..."
Toko breathed a sigh as she released her hands, prompting Komaru to ask, W-Wait, I don't understand. What's the difference between you and Jack? Aren't you the same person?"
Toko didn't respond, instead turning on her heel and walking back in the direction she'd come from, leaving Komaru to sigh.
Nightime fell over the island, and a full moon proudly shone in the sky as the castmates and Chris stood on the beach again. Chris clapped his hands, and the firepit along with the assorted torches lined up on the shore burst into flames.
"Hey, what was the point of sending us to get firewood?!" Kaito protested.
"I needed some alone time," Chris countered. "You think these hands manicure themselves?" He held out a hand towards Kaito, who shrugged back. "Which brings us to the tiebreaking challenge: a watusi-twist mashed potato dorky old school dance contest! Teams, choose your best boogier for battle!"
Leon spun on his heel and slid forward. "I can handle this one, guys," he said.
As her team decided amongst themselves whom was going to go up, Ibuki shot her hand up and waved it around wildly. "Pick Ibuki! Pick Ibuki! Ibuki's got some sweet moves! I literally joined a dance battle competition one time and almost won!"
Mondo shrugged. "Why the hell not?"
Chris walked over to a stereo sitting on a nearby table and pressed the "play" button. A surf rock song began playing and Ibuki and Leon approached one another and stood face-to-face.
"I hope you're ready to go down," Leon taunted with a chuckle.
"I can take whatever you got, my fellow competitor!" Ibuki laughed back.
Both Leon and Ibuki took a step back and began to dance. They proved to be more than talented, and as they swayed, spun, and swung, their teammates looked genuinely surprised by their moves.
CONFESSIONAL - KAZUICHI:
"I gotta say, for someone whose music is unconventional, Ibuki's got some totally sick moves!" He laughed and put his hands behind his head. "We've got this in the bag!"
CONFESSIONAL - MUKURO:
"I can't lie, Leon's got some pretty good dance moves," she admitted. "Let's just hope it's enough for us to win."
"Shake your lady lumps!" Komaru giggled as she and a couple other Grips started dancing too.
"You've got this, Leon!" Kaito encouraged.
"Man," Chris said, looking between Ibuki and Leon, "they're pretty even. Gonna be tough to pick a winner."
"We'll see about that," Junko said to herself with a smirk, glancing down at the rock between her feet. With a subtle flick of her boot, she kicked the rock over where Ibuki was dancing.
Too focused on dancing, Ibuki ended up tripping on it mid-spin. The music came to a stop as she face-planted on the sand.
"H-Hey, get up!" Toko snapped at her. "You're gonna make us lose the challenge!"
"Sand!" Ibuki cried, clawing at her face. "There's sand in my eyeballs! It burns!"
Chris came looming over Ibuki, a frown on his face. "What are you doing?! That's not dancing!"
"She tripped!" Mondo explained. "Just give her a minute!"
"Yeah, it's a little too late for that," Chris said. "Since Leon is the only one still standing, he and the Screaming Gaphers are the winners!" As the Gaphers cheered, he continued with, "And your reward... The greatest beach party ever pitched!"
A hip-hop tune played on the stereo as the Gaphers were partying, complete with a buffet filled with various foods, while most of the Grips stared on in envy, disappointment, or both.
"If the losing team could just follow me to the bus," a nearby Chris said. Chef suddenly came over, covered in oil, and whispered something in his ear that made him furrow his brows. "... Which is broken. Looks like you guys will just have to watch the Gaphers gorge on victory."
Watching this from their party spot, Tenko said something to her teammates as she pointed over at the other team. After a few moments of conversation, they went over and approached the defeated Grips.
"Do you guys want to... come join us?" Tenko asked them.
Mondo raised a brow. "Your party? Why would we do that?"
"Hey, you don't have to join us," Leon smirked.
"Please, Mondo!" Komaru pleaded, clasping her hands together. "This might be the only fun we'll have all season!"
Mondo snorted, rolling his eyes. "Fine. But only because we'd be stuck with nothin' to do otherwise."
"Yes!" Ibuki cheered, making a dash over to the buffet table. "I'm gonna stuff my face with so much food!"
"Hey, save some for me!" Kazuichi exclaimed, taking off after her.
One by one, the teens begin to make their way over to the party until it was only Junko was left. She frowned and narrowed her eyes, but ultimately ended up joining them.
CONFESSIONAL - JUNKO:
"My team got lucky that the Gaphers decided to be generous," she started. "But, whatever. I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve."
"Wow," Chris said, watching the confessional from the control room, "looks like Junko is as conniving as she is good-looking. Maybe we're related?"
"I highly doubt that," Junko bluntly told him through the camera.
Chris cringed and scrambled to shut off the confessional feed entirely. "Delusional girl couldn't even swim in my gene pool. More importantly, tune in next time for more me! And a few minutes of Junko, on... Total! Drama! Action!"
Standing up, Chris walked off the shot and shouted, "Which one of you geniuses left the two-way mic on?"
Notes:
Killer Grips - Ibuki, Junko, Kazuichi, Komaru, Mondo, Toko, Yasuhiro
Screaming Gaphers - Kaito, Leon, Mikan, Mukuro, Shuichi, Tenko
Eliminated - Makoto, Sayaka, Celestia
Well, no one got eliminated this episode, but I hope it was fun just the same!
Also, Genocide Jack has finally been introduced! She's not a serial killer in this AU, BTW, but she's still chaotic as ever, lol. Thank you so much for the support, as always, and I hope to see you next time!
Chapter 5: episode five || 3:10 to losertown.
Notes:
Don't have anything to say right now, so I'll see you at the end. Hope you enjoy the episode!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"People have always been drawn to the beauty of the sea. But that's not where we were last time! Mikan's surfing adventure turned trailer park when a twister ruined her fun, and Ibuki was stripped bare. Heheh. Leon's wicked moves won the Gaphers the first challenge, but while their sandcastle was decent, victory went to the Grips, thanks to Ibuki's quick thinking! Tied at one apiece, the Gaphers were crowned the Watusi winners when Ibuki tripped and got sand in her eye, scoring them a Hawaiian-style luau."
The shot changed to Chris walking through the beach set. "With only thirteen left, which team will get the upper hand? Find out next, on...
Total...
Drama...
Action!"
The episode opened outside the cast trailers, where the sun beamed down on the campers relentlessly.
Komaru sat on the steps of the girls' trailer, trying to catch the shade from the canopy, Ibuki was slumped on the ground next to her, Mikan and Tenko sat on a nearby bench, while Komaru and Kazuichi scrunched up together in a kiddie pool, all looking generally uncomfortable.
Leon leaned out of the window of the boys' trailer, looking similarly worse for wear. "Who the hell... allowed it... to be this hot?"
CONFESSIONAL - LEON:
"Look, I'm no stranger to doing stuff in the heat," he said, utilizing the small fan on the dressing table, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it. If only there was a water boy out here..."
The door of the boys' trailer opened, and Shuichi came out and stumbled down the steps, only to promptly collapse when he made it to the ground, making a nearby Mondo raise an eyebrow at him.
"You good, bro?"
CONFESSIONAL - SHUICHI:
"Kaito and I stayed up last night doing some training," he explained with a yawn. "I wish we hadn't done it so late, though..." He yawned again. "And this heat isn't doing me any favors."
Kaito was the next one to exit the boys' trailer, though something looked noticeably off about his appearance—namely, his hair wasn't spiked-up like it usually was, instead laid down, barely reaching below his neck. Several of the campers within sight of him stared at him.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, crossing his arms. "I already know."
CONFESSIONAL - KAITO:
"In my defense, it's too hot to do anything! Even trying to do my hair almost made me pass out!" He ran a hand through it and breathed out a sigh. "Whatever. It'll only be like this for a day, tops!"
A western tune took over as Chris stepped into view, wearing a cowboy hat, and a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. He cocked the revolver in his hand and fired a shot into the air, startling most of the camper, with Mikan covering her ears.
"Come on, man, what the heck was that for?!" Kazuichi snapped.
"Take it easy," Chris said, twirling the revolvers in his hands. "Guns are loaded with blanks." He blew off the smoke off the one he shot, before hoistering them. "At least, I'm pretty sure one of 'em is." He broke into a cowboy drawl, continuing with, "Since there's no beatin' the heat, we're goin' west this week! There's a town meeting at high noon! Be there, or I'll drive you deadbeats outta town!"
Chris watched the watch in his hand as it ticked down to noon as he stood in the western set; a single tumbleweed blew through the road, only for it to instantaneously incinerate the moment it stopped. All of the contestants stood in a line in front of him, desperately trying to shield themselves from the heat.
"Listen up, pardners!" Chris announced, walking down the line. "In any good western, there are heroes, outlaws, horses, and pretty dames. The hero defeats the outlaw, then rides off into the sunset on the horse."
"What about the pretty dame?" Komaru asked excitedly.
"None of your beeswax!" Chris snapped, making Komaru flinch, before laughing and ruffling her hair. "Just messin' with ya! They usually hang out in the saloon during the bar brawl."
"Personally, if I were a dame, I'd be in the middle of the action," Mukuro said.
Junko snorted. "I thought dames were supposed to be pretty."
Mukuro side-eyed her sister and, surprising both herself and the other contestants, shoved her into a nearby water trough. "Sorry," she immediately apologized. "You're just... irritating me right now."
"Enough with the comedy routine!" Chris interrupted. "All eyes on me! Time for your first challenge! No cowboy worth spittin' at would go one day without saddle practice. Time to saddle up!"
He gestured over to an old-looking horse drinking out of a metal bucket.
"That's the best steed we could afford?!" Chris asked Chef, who was working on an adding machine in a nearby building.
"You want a five-star hotel, and champagne, and caviar for breakfast?" Chef shot back. "I gotta cut somewhere!"
"It's perfect!" Chris grinned. "Don't change a thing!"
CONFESSIONAL - KOMARU:
"I love horses!" she squealed. "They're so majestic, and I've always wanted to ride one."
CONFESSIONAL - KAITO:
"I tried to ride a horse when I was seven or eight at the petting zoo," he explained with a light chuckle, "but Ma and Pops stopped me. Good times."
"You call this a challenge?" Kazuichi scoffed, going over to the horse, about to climb on it.
"Not so fast," Chris interrupted. "You cowboys and cowbabes are gonna have to mount the steed from up there." He pointed up at the railing around the water tower that a ladder led up to. "Not there, way up there!" The camera panned to show another ladder leading up to a diving board suspended high above the horse. "Since the Gaphers won last week, they go first."
Mikan and Shuichi exchanged anxious looks at that, to which Chris said, "Don't worry, our unpaid interns have assured us it's safe."
He gave a small nod over to Chef, and the footage flashed back to him standing on the diving board, stomping on the hands of an intern frantically hanging to the edge of the board.
"No! NO!" After another kick, the intern was sent plummeting down with an audible crashing sound.
"Looks safe to me," Chef chuckled darkly.
Back in real time, the Gaphers stared at Chris apprehensively while Tenko glared at him. "If we won last week, why do we have to go first?!"
"Because I said so," he responded. "And I'm your host, Chris McLean."
"Ugh." Tenko grumbled and looked up at the diving board, then down at the horse. "That's going to hurt coming down."
"I'll go first, if it'll make you feel better," Mukuro offered. "And before you say anything, it's not a big deal."
"Y-Yes, actually, if you don't mind..." Tenko shyly fiddled with her fingers.
"Good luck," Kaito told Mukuro.
"Thanks." Mukuro gave her girlfriend a peck on the cheek before looking up at the diving board again. "Well, here goes nothing." She started towards the ladder.
"Don't lose this for us!" Leon shouted at her.
"I won't!" Mukuro shouted back as she started climbing up the ladder. When she reached the top, she looked over the edge and her brows raised before she steeled herself. Straightening her shoulders, she jumped. She landed on the oblivious horse idling in the center of the bullseye painted on the ground, which whined at the impact.
"...Are you okay?" Tenko hesitantly asked.
Mukuro didn't respond at first, looking rather dazed, but she managed to snap out of it quickly and dismounted the horse. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine. You did say it was going to be a rough landing."
Chris laughed. "That was awesome, Mukuro! Gaphers, 1. Grips, you're up!"
"I'll jump," Mondo volunteered, walking over to the ladder as his team watched.
"Good luck, dude!" Yasuhiro called to him.
"Thanks," Mondo replied as he began climbing, "but I don't need it."
Yasuhiro laughed. "If you say so!"
At the top, Mondo wasted no time and simply jumped off the diving board. He ended up missing the target completely, however, as the horse quickly moved out the way, and Mondo hit the ground, making his teammates wince.
"Yeesh," Chris winced, "glad it wasn't me! Gaphers, 1; Grips, zip! Shuichi, you're up!"
The camera showed Shuichi falling in mid-air. Like Mondo, he missed the horse, but he landed on the fence that bordered the set. Leon jumped soon after, managing to successfully land on the horse.
"Good job sticking the landing, Leon," Chris complimented. "Shuichi, not so much."
"You okay, man?" Kaito asked.
"Yeah..." Shuichi groaned, slowly but surely pushing himself off the fence.
"Gaphers, 2; Grips, zilch!" Chris announced.
"W-Well, are you gonna jump?" Toko asked Komaru expectantly.
"I'll jump if you jump," Komaru responded.
Toko bit on her fingernail. "Fine."
The girls climbed up the ladder and held hands as they jumped together, both of them screaming as they fell. They were shown landing on the horse, eyes screwed tightly shut. Komaru was the first one to slowly open her eyes, gasping. "Oh my god! We made it!"
Toko opened her eyes soon after. "W-We... We did?" She looked around. "We did!"
Mikan was the next one to jump, whimpering as she fell slowly, using her apron as a makeshift parachute. Unfortunately, a gust of wind sent her off-course, and her teammates could only watch helplessly as she flew towards the electrical wires.
Flickering lights and a buzzing sound could be heard at the same time Mikan shrieked.
"Hey, are you going to send someone to help Mikan?!" Tenko asked Chris.
The smiling host began to laugh, but the footage paused and pulled out to show the control room; Chris was standing there, reading off a piece of paper in his hands with a serious look on his face. "We here at Total Drama Action care about the health and welfare of our..." He squinted and raised the papers to his face. "... competitors. Furthermore, no animals were harmed in the making of this show."
Junko was next, standing on the diving board with an amused smile. She closed her eyes and jumped, and the horse turned its head to look at the barn next to it. A crash made it jump, and the horse looked back to see that Junko had landed in the bucket in front of it.
The horse was drinking out of the slightly bent bucket again when Kazuichi and Yasuhiro went up. "God, I hope I don't land on this horse the wrong way ..." Kazuichi whispered to himself.
He took a deep breath and both the boys jumped. They landed on the ground seconds later, Kazuichi with a pained look. "I landed the wrong way," he wheezed out.
Ibuki fell down next. She landed on the target, and her teammates cheered for her as she gave them an unfazed smile.
"Alright," Chris said, looking at the teams. "The Grips hold the lead by one point. Tenko, Kaito, it's up to you two to break the tie. Who wants to take one for their team?"
"After you, fellow teammate!" Tenko said, pushing Kaito forward.
"Nah, I'm gonna let you handle this one." Kaito pulled Tenko forward.
Tenko and Kaito both found themselves standing at the ladder, glaring each other down as they grabbed it at the same time and began climbing.
"You should invest in cutting your hair," Kaito told him. "It totally gets in the way of everything!"
"At least my hair doesn't make me look like a wet dog," Tenko shot back.
"Hey, my hair does not make me look like a wet dog!" Kaito defended as they reached the top. "It's the heat's fault!"
In his rage, Kaito shoved Tenko off the diving board. Tenko caught his hand in the nick of time, taking him with her.
They fell, but didn't land on the horse. Or on the ground at all, for that matter.
"Where the hell did they...?" Mondo trailed off as he and the others looked up to see they had gotten caught by their pants on the weather vane on top of the barn.
Kaito and Tenko groaned while Chris laughed. "This is your fault," she accused Kaito, only for her skirt to start tearing. "Uh-oh."
She screamed as she fell completely, landing on the horse on her back. "Ha!" Tenko laughed. "I did it!"
"And with that, the teams are tied at three apiece!" Chris began walking off, and the castmates followed him. "To the next challenge for the tiebreaker, cowpokes!"
As he and the castmates started to walk off, Kaito shouted, "Hey, is someone gonna help me down or what?!"
Shuichi and Mikan were the only ones on his team to stay back, about to help him when the scene faded to black.
A western tune played once again as a tumbleweed passed through the set, and Chris approached the two teams.
"The hallmark of any good western is the quick-draw cowboy showdown! Captains will pick their strongest cowpoke to compete in what will likely be... a fight to the death!" He laughed, but his cellphone began to ring and he took it out of his pocket to answer it. "Yello? Uh-huh. I see. Fine." He ended the call with a beep. "Our lawyers have informed me that you may shoot until someone is mildly injured, or cries like a little baby. But a fight to the death is strictly prohibited. Time to pick your cowboys!"
"We pick Mukuro for the challenge!" Tenko offered.
Junko scoffed. "Well, that's not surprising." Tenko responded with a sharp look, and she added, "Hey, I didn't say I was against it."
"Okay," Chris said, looking over at the other team. "And Grips?"
Yasuhiro's hand shot up, much to the varying reactions of his teammates. "I can win the challenge for us!"
"Yeah, right!" Kazuichi protested. "Like we're gonna let you screw this challenge up for us!"
"No, really!" Yasuhiro said. "I think this is finally my chance to shine!"
The rest of the Grips stared at Mondo expectantly, who shrugged. "Sure. At least we'll know who we're votin' for if we lose?"
Yasuhiro's excitement quickly depleted and he gulped.
CONFESSIONAL - YASUHIRO:
"Alright, maybe picking a duel with one of the strongest girls here wasn't the smartest idea," he admitted, scratching his head. "Game: 1; Hiro; 0."
CONFESSIONAL - JUNKO:
"Yeah, it's no surprise who's gonna win this one," she laughed while she filed her nails. "Sometimes the trash takes itself out."
Yasuhiro and Mukuro stood in a pen with their backs to each other whilst wearing cowboy hats. They both wielded small water pistols while Chris stood behind them, with the rest of the castmates lined up along the walls of the buildings in the background.
"Okay, here's how this is gonna work," Chris explained. "In true showdown fashion, you'll both take ten paces forward, turn around, and start shooting each other on my signal. The challenge ends when one of you is completely soaked. You can make use of whatever's around you, but your teammates aren't allowed to get involved except by cheering you on. Capiche?"
Yasuhiro and Mukuro nodded.
"Any other questions?" the host asked. Thirteen hands immediately raised. "None? Okay then! Yo, Chef!"
Chef strolled into the scene, wearing a transculent and old-fashioned pink dress with a matching bonnet and fan. He began to fan himself, to which Chris snickered at.
"Lovin' the dress," he complimented, "Chefette."
Chef scowled back at him and growled, and the camera flashed forward to him firmly tying the last knot of the rope he used to tie Chris to a fence post. "Maybe when I change, I'll come back and untie you," he spat, picking up the bottom of his dress and walking away.
"I can't feel my arms," Chris whined as he wiggled in his bonds. Letting out a defeated sigh, he said, "Cowboys at the ready."
The scene briefly switched to letterbox form as Yasuhiro and Mukuro held onto their weapons tightly and took ten steps forward. The wind whistled, and Chris exclaimed, "DRAW!"
Yasuhiro and Mukuro quickly turned around and fired. The former's eyes went wide as he looked down at his shirt, which now had a distinct wet patch on it. He didn't get a chance to recover or even fire back, as Mukuro continued shooting him until all the water from her pistol was gone.
"Wow, this wasn't even close," Chris said, sounding a bit annoyed. "Either way, the Gaphers are the winners!"
The Gaphers cheered loudly, and Yasuhiro groaned as he stumbled to his feet.
"Y-You were saying something about winning the challenge, Hiro?" Toko mocked.
"You Grips are losers," Chris said, sticking something into a small fire. "And you know what happens to losers?" He pulled it out to reveal that it was an L-shaped branding iron, red-hot and sizzling. "Which Grip wants to take the heat?"
At once, six of the Grips stepped back, leaving Yasuhiro to stare with panic.
CONFESSIONAL - KOMARU:
"Poor Hiro," she said sadly. "He was just trying to be useful for our team. Not to be mean, but I'm glad I'm not him right now."
Chris plunged the branding iron into a barrel of water, frowning. "Legal says branding's out," he said. "Guess I'll have to settle for booting one of the Grips off in the most exciting Gilded Chris ceremony ever!" He began dancing, pelvic thrusts aplenty. "Now go shower, you guys stink! Peeyew!"
After the introduction of the Gilded Chris ceremony played, it opened on the seven Grips sitting in the stands as they voted with their devices.
"The votes have been cast!" Chris announced. "If you get a Gilded Chris, it means you're safe—for now."
Chef walked up, wearing a black suit coat over his normal clothes and carrying six awards in his arms.
"What happened to your dress?" Chris asked mockingly, earning him a scowl and "I'm watching you" gesture from Chef. He quickly turned back to the teens. "And the Gilded Chris goes to... Komaru and Toko!"
"Ibuki."
"Mondo."
"Junko."
Kazuichi and Yasuhiro watched the stage nervously. "And last but not least...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Kazuichi."
Kazuichi caught the Gilded Chris with a toothy smile while Yasuhiro hung his head in shame.
"Yasuhiro, my man, it's time to go," Chris told him.
"Yeah, I'm going." With nothing left to say, he got up and trudged down past the stage and down the red carpet. The Lame-o-sine was waiting for him, and he climbed inside and it zoomed off.
"Well, that's all for this week!" Chris grinned back at the stage. "Hiro might not be here anymore, but the show must go on! See you all next time on... Total! Drama! Action!"
[Bonus Clip]
Yasuhiro still wore a disappointed expression as he slumped in his seat. "Man, I really thought this was gonna be my season! Guess I learned to pick my battles." He sighed. "Well, I guess it's fine. At least I won't be the one getting humiliated anymore..."
Notes:
Killer Grips - Ibuki, Junko, Kazuichi, Komaru, Mondo, Toko
Screaming Gaphers - Kaito, Leon, Mikan, Mukuro, Shuichi, Tenko
Eliminated - Makoto, Sayaka, Celestia, Yasuhiro
-
With that, Hiro is gone. This episode is fun to watch, but not as fun to write IMO, so that's why this is shorter than the other episodes. Still, I'd like to know your opinions on it. Also, our first aftermath is coming up next episode! I know the aftermaths aren't the most popular amongst the TD fandom, but I'm looking forward to writing them. We also have a special guest joining us for them, but you've probably already figured it out, if you've been paying attention.
Anyways! Thanks for reading, and thank you for the support so far, and I hope to see you guys next time!
Chapter 6: episode six || the aftermath I: win-ner lose.
Notes:
Hi, everyone! Today, we'll be diving into our very first aftermath of the season, and the first one in general! I actually really like the aftermath segments, so I hope you guys enjoy this episode!
On with the show!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The episode opened up with electric guitar music at the same time letters flew towards the camera to spell out "TDA Aftermath". Several clips featuring Celestia's elimination were shown.
"What?!" Celestia exclaimed in disbelief. "How did I get voted off over the person whoactuallylost us the challenge?!"
Celestia glowered at him, then sighing defeatedly. "I suppose you have a point. I am willing to accept that. I shall take my leave with dignity."
She strolled down the red carpet and to the limousine, stepping inside, and it drove off soon after.
Clips of Yasuhiro's elimination were played next.
Kazuichi caught the Gilded Chris with a toothy smile while Yasuhiro hung his head in shame.
"Yeah, I'm going." With nothing left to say, he got up and trudged down past the stage and down the red carpet. The Lame-o-sine was waiting for him, and he climbed inside and it zoomed off.
Once the clips were finished, the camera faded into a talk show-esque set, complete with two double-tiered couches on the left and right. A singular couch sat in the middle, seating both Sayaka and Makoto; the former flashed her best smile at the live audience cheering and clapping before them, while the latter looked more awkward and out-of-place.
"What's going on, everyone?" Sayaka greeted. "Welcome to the brand new Total Drama Action Aftermath Show! I'm Sayaka!"
"And I'm Makoto," Makoto added. "We're here to, uh, dish out everything Total Drama."
Sayaka continued. "You may remember us from our time on Total Drama Island, as well as our five minutes of fame during its sequel, Total Drama Action. Speaking of which, what does everyone think of it so far?"
The audience cheered, and Sayaka giggled. "Yeah! It was so great to be a part of it all!"
"Speak for yourselves," a feminine voice grumbled. Both Makoto and Sayaka looked over at the source of it, Hiyoko, who was sitting on the double-tiered to the right, along with the rest of the non-competing teenagers.
"Um, I'm pretty sure she was speaking for herself," Makoto pointed out.
"Either way, I'm glad you reminded us you're here!" Sayaka gestured over to everyone else. "It's everyone from the first season! They may be losers, but not in our book! Hiyoko, everyone!"
Hiyoko's eyes widened and she hesitantly waved at the audience while a side clip showed her getting locked in the kitchen pantry during the first season.
"Give it up for Kaede!"
Kaede smiled warmly as her clip showed her hitting the escaped psycho killer with a pan during the horror challenge.
"Kokichi!"
Kokichi gave a mischievous grin, and his clip showed him returning to the island for a second time.
"We also have Kirumi!"
Kirumi offered a polite wave and smile while her clip showed her leading her team during the cooking challenge.
"I don't think Maki or Rantaro need an introduction."
Both Maki and Rantaro waved as their clip showed them talking together during the Awake-a-thon challenge, back when Maki had longer hair.
"And how about a shoutout to Ryoma?"
Finally, Ryoma waved ever so slightly, and his clip showed him eating the sushi during the trust challenge. Sayaka turned to address the audience again when, unexpectedly, the lights dimmed and a singular light beamed down on the empty spot between her and Makoto.
"Huh?" Makoto looked up and furrowed his brows. "What's happening?"
Sayaka did the same. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Mic test! Mic test!" a high-pitched voice then exclaimed. "Can you guys hear me! Great, then let's give a warm welcome to... Monokuma!" A peculiar-looking bear suddenly popped out from behind the couch and sat in the empty spot; half of its body was entirely black, while the other half was entirely white. One of its eyes was a normal black eye, but the other was bright red and jagged, as if it could cut someone just by looking at them. On top of that, on the left side of its body, his mouth was stretched up into a sinister grin.
Needless to say, all of the teens on stage were beyond confused at this new development, with the audience adding confused murmurs of their own.
"Hello, world!" Monokuma greeted jovially as the lighting went back to normal.
"Ah! It talked!" Makoto yelped, scooting as far away from the bear as possible.
"Of course I can talk!" the bear exclaimed, raising a paw. "I'm a robot!"
"A robot?" Sayaka asked, confused. "Who's controlling you?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets!" Monokuma told her. "More importantly, I should also introduce myself as one of the hosts of this new Aftermath show!"
"Um, host?" Sayaka blinked several times. "Last time I checked, it was only me and Makoto who were picked as the hosts."
"Well..." Monokuma laughed. "Let's just say I pulled some strings, pupupupu... But enough about me! We've got a show to host, right?"
Sayaka and Makoto shared an uncertain glance before the former cleared her throat and forced a smile at the audience. "We also have a ton of texts and e-mails from all of you.We'll have a couple of you on Webcam, which is super cool."
"Celeste will also be here," Makoto announced.
"And, of course, Hiro!" Sayaka added, which got the audience cheering wildly."It's almost time to welcome our first guest, but, first, take a look at this!"
She pointed up at the giant screen behind them. It flickered to life, showing various clips from Celestia's time on the film lot. "Somehow, Celeste being here is both incredibly surprising and not surprising at all. After everything she did as the "bad girl" of last season, I think a lot of people were tuning in just to see what she was going to do this time around."
"Although, with all the enemies she's made, it was obvious she wasn't going to last very long," Makoto commented. "And it was proven true when her teammates voted her off in the acting challenge episode."
"Our first guest has a rather nasty revenge steak, and had her real name revealed on national television, Celestia!"
Sayaka gestured over to the curtains off to the left, and Celestia emerged from them a moment later and walked out on stage. The audience started booing her, to which she scowled as she walked over to the empty double-tiered couch, though it quickly turned into a raised eyebrow upon noticing Monokuma. Sayaka shrugged helplessly in return.
"Hi, Celeste," Sayaka greeted with a smile. Makoto simply waved.
"Hello, Sayaka," Celestia greeted. "Hello, Makoto."
She glared at Makoto specifically as she took a seat, who awkwardly started with, "So, Celeste, it's good to have you here. It must be tough losing out on the million dollar prize."
Celestia laughed humorlessly. "Hm, well, you would know."
The audience gasped, and Makoto coughed before asking, "So, Celeste, how did it feel to be the first one voted off the show?"
"How did it feel, Makoto?" Celestia shot back. "After all, you and Sayaka were the first ones out, if we're going by technically."
"Well, I mean... We weren't exactly voted off, it was..." Makoto began stuttering, and Celestia smirked. He sighed in defeat. "Okay, so what exactly did losing out on the Gilded Chris mean to you?"
"It meant that I lost out on the money that I rightfully deserve. That is all."
"I think it's time we play a fun little game called Truth Or Hammer!" Monokuma suddenly announced, causing everyone to stare at him in surprise.
A grand tune began to play as a golden statue of Lady Justice was shown under a spotlight. The camera kept panning out until a wooden hammer smashed it.
"Here are the rules," Monokuma explained. "Sayaka and Makoto will ask you questions, but if you answer incorrectly, a giant hammer will swing down and knock you clean outta your chair! Exciting, huh?"
"That sounds... a bit dangerous," Sayaka commented, eyeing Monokuma suspiciously.
"Really?" Celestia deadpanned.
"Let's give it a test run, shall we?" Monokuma suggested.
A giant hammer, similar to the one shown a few moments prior, swung by Celestia's couch and knocked her clean out of her seat. She ended up a few feet away, laid out on the stage.
Makoto's and Sayaka's eyes went wide, a jarring contrast to Monokuma's wild laughter. "Works like a charm, it seems! Makoto, Sayaka, would one of you be so kind as to ask Celestia another question?"
"Um, right," Sayaka said as Celestia walked back to her seat, noticably disheveled. "Celeste, be honest with us: are you jealous of anyone else on this show, competing or non-competing?"
"Nope," Celestia answered simply, to which the hammer came swinging down and nearly knocked her from the couch again. She managed to duck just in time, however.
Celestia grimaced, then sighed. "...I suppose I will concede that I am rather envious that the two of you have managed to get jobs as the hosts of this show, however. I'd almost prefer to be in your positions."
"Yeah, I can see why," Sayaka commented. "When we got eliminated, we at least got to host this aftermath show."
Celestia sent her a tight smile. "As I recall, you two also lost out on the million dollars as well, and I doubt Chris is paying you for this, so let's not get too ahead of ourselves."
Sayaka frowned at the same time the audience "oooohed", and Maki raised an eyebrow from the peanut gallery. "Uh, is this still an interview?"
"I-It's fine," Makoto assured. "Let's just move on to the next question... What went through your head? When you were voted off, I mean."
"I was more disappointed with myself than anything else," Celestia replied. "Perhaps I should have considered forming an alliance with someone. Or tried harder in the alien challenge so I could have picked my own team."
"Really? I don't think that would have worked," Makoto pointed out. "It's not like you really had a single ally among them." He quickly followed up with, "But whowouldhave you picked for your team if you'd been able to?" Makoto asked.
"Hmm..." Celestia tapped her chin with her nails. "Mukuro, for certain. Other than that, I would pick people with useful skills, and who wouldn't be able to turn the team against me."
Sayaka sighed. "I don't know what other answer we expected..."
Celestia shrugged. "It is hardly my fault that the game is played that way."
"How about we hear from a viewer now?" Sayaka suggested, tapping on the large display screen in front of herself and Makoto. "TurboSalty682 asked, what do you think about Junko's new alliance with Mikan?"
Celestia looked genuinely surprised at that. "Hm? An alliance between Junko and Mikan? I didn't know about the alliance, but I have to say that I am quite surprised at her choice in ally."
"Well, it makes some sort of sense, doesn't it?" Kaede piped up. "Mikan doesn't seem like the type to say no, even if she wanted to."
"Eh," Kokichi said.
"Either way, it really makes you wonder," Sayaka added.
"Oh, yes, it certainly does," Celestia replied. "I'll be interested to see what comes of it in future episodes."
"Alright, let's check in on our web cams!" Sayaka clasped her hands together and Makoto tapped on the display screen this time. "We've got Hana from Kyoto!"
The big screen flickered and showed a girl who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. She had long black hair tied up into pigtails.
"Hey, Hana!" Sayaka greeted.
"Hi!" Hana waved back. Her eyes landed on Celestia and she gasped. "Oh em gee, Celeste! I'm such a big fan of you and your style!" She pointed to her own pigtails in question.
Celestia smiled up at Hana. "Thank you, Hana. It seems like there is at least one other person out there with taste."
"We also have Steve... the Yeti?" Makoto furrowed his brows as he switched the screen.
A purple yeti, not unlike the one from the first season, appeared, scowling at the camera.
"Um, how's it going?" Makoto asked awkwardly.
"Chris McLean," the yeti started, "is the best host ever!" Its voice began to change into someone more familiar, unexpectedly. "You stink!"
"Yo, Chris!" Chef shouted from off-screen. "If I wanted to sit in a hot tub by myself, I—ooh, you on the webcam?"
"Steve" smiled sheepishly.
"Chris?!" Sayaka and Makoto exclaimed in unison.
The screen quickly flickered off, and the two hosts exchanged a weird look.
"Maybe we should move on Hiro," Makoto said.
"After the break!" Sayaka announced as the screen faded to black. "We'll be right back!"
A light tune played, and Chef was shown standing in a kitchen holding a plate of meat with a skunk's tail attached to it. "This episode of the TDA aftershow was brought to you by Chef's Roadkill Cafe, where Sundays are Bring Your Own Meat! You hit it, we spit it."
The camera faded back into the stage, where Celestia had moved to the couch where the non-competing contestants sat.
"We're back!" Sayaka exclaimed. "We're about to introduce our second guest!"
The big screen showed Yasuhiro's moments from both the first and second season. "In Island, Hiro was the victim of Celestia's alliance, getting dumped when he was no longer useful to her. Free from her clutches, he was able to go into Total Drama Action with a fresh start."
"Things seemed to be looking good for him," Makoto added, "until, well, they didn't. His team ultimately voted him off in the western challenge after costing them the tiebreaker."
Sayaka gestured to the curtains once again. "Our next guest has a knack for fortune-telling, and has burned down a kitchen once... Yasuhiro!"
No one came out, however.
The big screen showed Yasuhiro still sitting on the couch of the backstage holding room, watching the TV inside that displayed the current footage.
"Oh, I'm on TV!" he noted, laughing. His eyes then widened. "Oh, shoot—am I supposed to be out there?!"
He hopped off of the couch and ran out of the room, appearing on stage a few moments later. The audience clapped and cheered as he made his way to the couch.
"Hey, Hiro!" Sayaka greeted.
"Thanks for having me, Sayaka, Makoto, and creepy-looking bear!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, taking a seat. He grinned and waved at the peanut gallere. "Good to see you guys as well!"
Most of them waved back, though Celestia crossed her arms and frowned.
"Sorry that you lost out on the money," Makoto said apologetically.
Yasuhiro shrugged. "It's all cool, man. No biggie. I guess I'll just go back to doing fortune-telling."
Monokuma giggled. "On the contrary, I think you have bigger things to worry about right now! Like the questions Sayaka and Makoto are gonna ask you, and the giant hammer that's gonna come down if you don't tell the truth!"
"Sounds good!" Yasuhiro blinked. "Wait, huh?"
"It's super fast," Sayaka warned.
"Uh, so," Makoto asked, "how do you about having been voted out so early?"
"Uh, bad?" Yasuhiro answered. He sighed. "I just wanted to be useful for once, so that's why I volunteered for the tiebreaker last challenge. And now I just keep replaying the whole it in my head, trying to figure out what I coulda done better..."
"Wow," Sayaka said with a stunned look, "If it's not too personal, can I ask you why you feel like you aren't useful?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned it before, but... I feel like people haven't taken me seriously my whole life. I probably have my personality to blame for that, though. I've always thought I was just being chill, but... I guess that wasn't the case."
"That's... surprisingly deep," Makoto commented.
"How about we hear from another viewer now?" Sayaka asked. "Snowgirl98 asked, who are you rooting for now that you've been eliminated?"
Yasuhiro scratched his head. "I dunno, actually... Leon, Mondo, and Kaz, maybe? We did work together to get the money last season. But, really, I'd be fine no matter who wins." He paused. "Except maybe for Junko and Mukuro."
Sayaka nodded, then looked down at the display. "Oh, hey, I think it's time for a segment that we like to call, "That's Gonna Leave A Mark!"
A short introduction played, containing various clips of the contestants getting hurt, formatted in a similar format to the Gilded Chris ceremony.
"Jeez," Makoto said, smiling sheepishly, "I'd almost forgotten how much Chris put us through in the show..."
"Here's what all you fans didn't get to see on the show!" Sayaka announced, gesturing to the big screen once more.
The first clip showed Mikan fiddling with the boom mic during the acting challenge. Kaito tapped her shoulder and she swung around, smacking him in the head with the microphone.
"Ooh, now there's a sound check Kaito didn't need," Sayaka said.
The next clip featured Kazuichi, Yasuhiro, and Mondo getting carried away by the animatronic monster in the monster movie challenge. Mondo ended up slipping out of its grasp, and thanks to him being upside-down, landed directly on his head, not helped with the fact that it was also on hard asphalt.
"And it looks like Mondo should've quit while he was, well, out."
The third and final clip showed Chef dressed up as Mama Alien as he stalked through the sci-fi set, gun in hand. Not paying attention to where he was going, he slipped in a puddle of slime and fell, hitting himself in the head with the gun in the process.
"Now that's going to leave a mark!"
The segment ended and the audience erupted into a fit of clapping and cheering. Makoto offered them a tiny smile. "And that's it for today, everyone."
"But don't worry, we'll be back next time!" Sayaka added, smiling brightly. "After all, the season's only just beginning! And don't forget to join Chris next time for the next dramatically thrilling episode of Total! Drama! Action!"
The camera skipped forward; the audience had been cleared out and all of the contestants were gone from the stage, except for Sayaka and Makoto.
"You did pretty good out there, you know," Sayaka told him.
"Really?" Makoto scratched the back of his neck and shot her a nervous look. "It sure didn't feel that way."
"Well, most people feel like the first time they're on stage," Sayaka pointed out. "I'm sure you'll get over it, and the next show will be even better!"
Makoto nodded at her, smiling a bit. "Thanks, that means a lot."
Notes:
A wild Monokuma has appeared! Yeah, I mostly included him for fun, but I also kind of needed a way to include the "Truth Or [Random Object Here]" segments without absolutely decimating Sayaka's and Makoto's characterizations. Also, Also, sorry Monokuma wasn't that prominent in this Aftermath; this format wasn't one I'm used to writing, so you know. On that note, what did you think of this Aftermath? Anything you liked/didn't like in particular?
That's it! Thanks for reading, as always, and I hope to see you next time!
Chapter 7: episode seven || the chefshank redemption.
Notes:
Hey, guys… It's been a while since I last updated this, huh? Even more so than the last time I went on hiatus, but I had burnout from constantly updating the first story, I started college in January, I was focusing on other WIPS… You know how it goes. Also, I don't really like this episode. The canon episode, I mean, so that kinda killed my motivation to write this.
But, anyways! I'm back (hopefully), and I'm ready to present this chapter to you all! I really liked writing the end of this, so I hope you all enjoy it as well :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Last week, the dry dessert heat baked our favorite pardners like roadkill on the blacktop! But, crispy bottoms or not, they still had to mount their ancient steed from a one hundred-foot platform! But that wasn't all. A water gun showdown pit Mukuro against Hiro in a duel of who could soak the other first. After a pathetically short transgression, it was Mukuro who came out on top, and Hiro was sent to the limo for costing his team the challenge."
The camera, per usual, cut to Chris standing between the cast trailers. "With twelve remaining, it's anyone's guess who will win this week! Will the Gaphers manage to win again? Or will the Grips even things out? See for yourself on...
Total...
Drama...
Action!"
The episode opened on the morning sun shining over the film lot, accompanied with a peaceful tune as the inside of the boys' trailer was shown. Most of the boys were beginning to stir from their sleep, with Kaito being completely awake, shooting straight up.
"I call dibs on the shower!" Hopping down from his bed, he raced towards the trailer door.
Leon's eyes popped open immediately at that, and he shot up soon after. "No way, man!" he protested. "You take ten years to get ready!"
"Can't hear ya over the sound of the door opening!" Kaito responded obnoxiously loud, opening it, only to realize that he couldn't. "Eh?"
"What's wrong?" Leon asked, coming down from his own bunk and meeting Kaito at the door.
"The stupid door's jammed," Kaito huffed, trying to open the door again. It didn't budge.
"Really? Lemme try." Leon stepped forward, Kaito stepped back, and he gave the door handle a hard tug, but ended up ripping it clean off in the process. "Fuck."
Kaito frowned. "Well, that didn't work."
"Good goin', you fuckin' geniuses," Mondo snarked. He and the rest of the boys were fully awake now, slowly piecing together the situation.
"I wonder why the door would be jammed…" Shuichi pondered quietly, putting a hand over his mouth.
Kazuichi seemed to be contemplating something before hopping down from his bunk and snatching his toolbox from his designated dresser. Making his way over to the trailer door with a determined look, he pushed Kaito and Leon to move aside and gestured for Leon to hand him the door handle. "Gimmie that handle. I'm gonna try something."
In the girls' trailer, meanwhile, they were in the exact same predicament; Mukuro was trying to break down the door while the rest of the girls either watched.
"Ugh," Junko complained, folding her arms. "I thought you were supposed to be strong, sis. This is taking way too long. Let's just climb out of the window or something."
"U-Um, actually," Mikan pointed out, "the windows were bolted shut even before today. And I don't think smashing them would be a very good idea…"
"Oh my god, we're gonna die in here!" Komaru cried. "And I had so many things I wanted to do—like, like finishing off my manga collection!"
"Stop that!" Ibuki groaned. "Now you're gonna make Ibuki nervous!"
"Wow, e-empath much?" Toko commented, rolling her eyes.
"Ah!" Mikan exclaimed, pointing up at the ceiling—specifically at a black hatch with a handle. "U-Up there! I think that's the emergency exit! I think one of us could squeeze through and get help?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, maybe…" Mukuro said, turning around to look at what Mikan was referring to.
"I can do it," Tenko offered.
"Are you serious?" Toko asked incredulously. "There's no w-way all of us have the s-strength to lift you up there!"
"I do," Mukuro interjected.
"I don't know," Junko drawled, "my dear sister might not have the strength to haul you up there, Tenko."
"S-She might have a point," Mikan agreed. "What if either of you don't have good balance and you fall?"
"I have amazing balance, actually!" Tenko corrected cheerfully. "It's one of the first things you master in neo-aikido."
"Yeah, that still can work," Komaru chimed in, seemingly calmed down now. "Even if they fall, we'll be there to catch them."
"Lucky! Falling into a crowd of girls is one of Ibuki's life goals!" Ibuki chirped.
"Until you end up taking some of them down with you," Mukuro added gravely.
Toko scoffed. "Are you two g-going to go up there or not?"
"Oh, yeah!" Tenko looked over at Mukuro expectantly, who kneeled over to give her a foothold. "Leave it to us!"
Back in the boys' trailer, Kazuichi was still in the process of trying to fix the door handle with his toolkit when Leon groaned loudly.
"Alright, I'm done waiting," he complained, straightening up from where he'd been leaning against one of the dressers. "Let's just ram the shit."
"No!" Kazuichi protested, holding one arm out. "I've almost got it!"
"Dude, you said that, like, five minutes ago," Kaito said from his bed.
"Ah… Maybe we should let Kazuichi finish with the door?" Shuichi piped up meekly from beside Kaito.
Kaito turned to him to reply, but was cut short when Mondo stood up from the floor and cracked his knuckles. "Nah, fuck that! I'm with Leon. Get your ass outta the way, Kaz."
"No, I told you—aha!"
The door finally swung open at the same time Mondo came barreling in Kazuichi's direction, and he sent himself flying onto grass. The rest of the boy stepped out of the trailer to find Chris, dressed in a police uniform, and the girls standing in front of their own trailer, still in their pajamas.
"Mornin', boys," Chris greeted.
"What…?" Mondo blinked, still on the ground.
"Oh no," Junko mocked, "the poor man's in shock."
"Hope you all enjoyed your taste of the gulag," Chris continued.
"Gulag?" Komaru scratched her head. "Isn't that a meal, or am I thinking of something else?"
"Oh, you're thinking of something else, alright," Chris grinned, "because today is Prison Flick day!"
The castmates groaned.
CONFESSIONAL - LEON:
"The gulag just sounds like last season to me," he said with a shrug.
"Damn, if only that Ryoma guy was in this season," Leon muttered.
"Oh, hell yeah!" Kazuichi pumped his fists. "We got Mondo on our team, so this challenge should be a piece of cake!"
Finally snapped out of his stupor, Mondo rose to his feet and turned to glare at Kazuichi. "Don't get your panties in a twist, it was only juvie."
Kazuichi rolled his eyes. "Same difference."
"Prison!" Chris continued, pacing in front of the unimpressed teens. "The confinement, the claustrophobia! The vile, nasty food! And you're always looking your shoulder 'cause Mr. Killer Dude wants to cut ya for taking the last tater tot! And no matter how hard you try, digging out spoonfuls of dirt, year after year, there is no escape!" He then added plainly, "Unless you get voted off, of course."
Chris and the castmates were now gathered inside a mostly dark prison set with a few stage lights to brighten it somewhat. The Grips and the Gaphers stood on opposite sides of the set, with two long tables with an assortment of cooking dishes atop of them behind them. Chris stood in the middle the room, in front of a covered cart and a pair of cages.
"Lockdown, people!" he exclaimed. "Let's get this challenge started! Teams, take a prisoner from the competition. And Chef—"
Chef stepped out in a warden getup, looking stern as ever.
"—I mean, warden," Chris corrected with a laugh, "will lock 'em up!"
"Okay," Tenko spoke once her team was in a huddle, "I think we should pick the weakest member of their team."
"But what if whoever we pick's taken out of the challenge?" Kaito interjected. "We should the pick their strongest member."
"That's just a risk we're going to have to take," Tenko countered, shutting him down, while he shot her a glare.
Meanwhile, within the Grips' huddle, Komaru gasped. "Mikan! We have to choose Mikan. If this challenge is what I think it is, then we'll breeze through it, easily."
"Since when d-did you start having semi-intelligent thoughts?" Toko jabbed, and Komaru pouted.
Mondo shrugged. "Sure, I ain't got a problem with that."
"Gaphers?" Chris asked said team after another minute.
"Toko," Tenko answered.
"Crap," Toko muttered to herself.
Chris glanced over at the other team expectantly. "Grips? Remember, this is an important choice. Especially for losers like yourselves."
"We choose Mikan," Mondo replied.
"Alright. Today's first game is the prison chow-lenge!" Chris pulled off the sheet of the cart, revealing that it was filled to the brim with unsavory ingredients. "Each team of prison chefs whips up the foulest, nastiest, most barf-inducing slop this side of Alcatraz. Mikan and Toko have to stomach as much as they can. Last one to power hurl wins!"
Soon enough, both Mikan and Toko were being herded into the cages by Chef.
CONFESSIONAL - MIKAN:
"I-I think I actually got lucky here," she started. "O-Or, well, my team did. I was forced to eat worms and mud all the time when I was little, so I probably have a stronger stomach than Toko… Hehe! I'm finally useful for my team!" She giggled after that sentence.
"I really hope this will be worth it…" Mikan whined as the cage door was shut on her.
"Have I ever let you down?" Chris asked.
"Yes," Mukuro replied bluntly.
"All the fucking time," Leon added.
"Anyways," Chris continued on, ignoring them, "the winning team gets this." He held up a golden shovel, which seemed to gleam in what the light they had.
"That's a crappy reward! What the hell are we gonna do with a shovel?!" Kazuichi protested.
"It's for digging, dumbass," Mondo replied. "You know, how they get outta the prison in the movies?"
"Prisoners ready?" Chris asked, looking between the two teams as he raised his arm. "And… culinate!" He threw his arm down, and he began commentating when the contestants started heading for the ingredients. "Tenko goes straight for the horse lips, while Ibuki starts mixing up slimy anchovy paste and curdled gravy! Oh, and it looks like Komaru has come up with a nice supply of dead hair for her team!"
"This should be good, right?" Komaru asked Mondo when she came to him with several hairbrushes in her arms.
"Don't see why it wouldn't," he shrugged before pouring his own concoction into their team bowl. Komaru shrugged and tossed in the hair from the brushes in right after.
At the same time, Leon came over with a green and half-eaten chicken. He slammed it down on the Gaphers' table and began to slice hunks of meat off of it with a knife. When he'd picked it mostly clean, he grinned, smashed the skeleton with a mallet and dumped the bones into his team's mixture.
"Time's up!" Chris announced after some time. "Jailbirds, I hope your appetites are primed."
"One order of mashed goat brains with cockroaches, coming right up!" Tenko said as she delivered her team's bowl of greenish-brown "food" over to Toko.
"Uh, yeah, I think you'll have to figure for yourself what the fuck this is," Mondo told Mikan regretfully as he handed a similar-looking bowl over to her. "Sorry."
"Th-This looks, um, not incredibly bad…" Mikan reluctantly took the bowl from him hands.
"Are you maggots ready?!" Chris asked the two girls. "One minute to down that chow! And… dig in!"
Mikan took a spoonful of her food and forced it into her mouth, shuddering as soon as she did so.
Toko, meanwhile, was staring at her first scoop with shaking hands. "O-Okay," she muttered to herself, "you c-can do this." Slowly, she plunged the spoonful into her mouth. Her body lurched. "Wh-What the hell did you put in this, rotted fish guts?!"
Mikan swallowed and took another spoonful. He chewed, then paused, taking a hand to her mouth to pull out a long hair. She whimpered as she let it fall to the ground.
"Whoa, who knew Mikan had such a strong stomach?" Ibuki pondered as she stood with the rest of her team. "The cockroaches I put in it were still moving!"
"C-Cockroaches…?" A look of horror dawned on Toko's face as she clapped both of her hands over her mouth, her bowl falling to the ground with an audible splat, leaning over and throwing up just mere seconds later.
"And Mikan keeps it down for the Screaming Gaphers," Chris said excitedly, "and wins the reward!"
Tenko grabbed the shovel from Chef's hands, and her team cheered.
"A-Am I allowed to stop eating now?" Mikan asked as Chris opened her cage.
"Yep," Chris replied.
"Th-Thank you!" Mikan cried, putting the spoon back in the bowl and walking out of the cage. She set it on her team's table and turned towards her teammates.
"Um…" Shuichi started cautiously. "Are you going to be alright, Mikan?"
Mikan nodded slowly.
"Hey, you did great back there, Mikan!" Kaito jumped in, going over and patting her on the back. "I can't believe you ate all of that without even gagging!"
Mikan giggled softly. "D-Don't worry, I've been used to eating things like that since elementary school!"
Shuichi and Kaito blinked at the same time. "Ah," the former spoke.
CONFESSIONAL - KAITO:
"Okay, what's a casual way to bring up potential childhood trauma in conversation?" he asked the camera.
"Well, that was pathetic," Junko sneered at Toko scurried over to the rest of the Grips.
"Yeah, seriously!" Kazuichi agreed. "You couldn't just force it down?!"
"Bl-Blame Fashion Disaster over h-here!" Toko pointed an accusatory finger at Ibuki. "She's the one who brought up c-cockroaches!"
"The other chick did it just fine!"
"Hey, c'mon, cut her a little slack!" Komaru protested. "It's the other team's fault for choosing her in the first place." Kazuichi huffed in annoyance and stomped off, while Komaru directed her attention towards a hunched-over Toko. "Are you gonna be okay, Toko?" She cautiously put a hand on her back, but quickly panicked when Toko ended up slumping over completely.
"HOLY SHIT!" It appeared that Jack was back, a disgusted expression on her face. "What the hell did Gloomy eat for breakfast?! This taste in my mouth is rancid! I need enough mouthwash to fill up a swimming pool, stat!"
"Um…" Komaru let her go, and Jack barged past, and she was left staring in confusion.
CONFESSIONAL - KOMARU:
"O—kay, there's definitely something going on there with Toko," Komaru scratched her chin. "I don't know how I would even bring that up to her, though… Jeez, this would be easier if we were allowed to have our phones."
The episode faded out and back in, showing Chris and the constants standing outside in some prison courtyard, with the teams standing by a dirty laundry cart.
"Elimination challenge! Here we go," Chris explained. "No "Get Outta Jail Free" cards here, people! This is, "Escape from Total Drama Pen!" He gestured towards the laundry carts. "Each team must hop in their laundry carts, while one member pushes through the obstacle course to freedom!"
The obstacle course in question contained wooden dummies dressed like prison guards with rotating arms, a pair of narrow platforms over a pool with giant sandbags swinging back and forth, and finally, another set of prison dummies with sharp objects attached to their hands.
"When you reach the wall, get diggin'," Chris continued. "First team to reach the boxcar to freedom wins immunity! Convicts, select a pusher!"
"I'll do it!" Tenko and Kaito volunteered simultaneously, and the two glared at each other.
"I'm pushin'," Mondo stated firmly as the focus moved to the Grips, turning to the rest of his team, who were already starting to climb inside the cart.
"Sure, less work for us," Kazuichi shrugged, lowering himself into the cart.
"Uh, what?" Tenko asked Kaito as the focus moved back on the Gophers. "What makes you so confident that you can get us through these obstacles? I mean, what if you're too slow?"
"Hey, I'm fast!" Kaito protested, and Tenko crossed her arms, unconvinced. "Just gimmie a chance, alright? I know I can do this."
Tenko turned to the rest of the team. "Okay, what does everyone else think? Do you want me or him to push us?"
"Ah, I'm fine with Kaito pushing us," Shuichi spoke up, and Mikan nodded in agreement.
"I think Tenko should push," Mukuro said.
"Leon?" Tenko asked, looking over at him.
Leon groaned. "It literally doesn't fucking matter. Just have Kaito push."
"Fine!" Tenko threw her hands in the air and huffed. "Don't blame me if we lose!"
"This is it, teams," Chris said when both teams were ready and in starting positions, Kaito and Mondo ready to push. "On your marks, get set… Escape!"
The two boys started pushing their team, with Kaito managing to get an early lead as they headed for the first obstacle. They weaved through the field in opposite directions until they were right beside each other. Their carts bounced off each other, rattling their teammates, and they locked eyes, a competitive fire in both of them.
"Whoa!" Komaru cried as she crashed into Jack.
"Hey, what's this?" Jack commented. "Some unexpected girl-on-girl action?"
Both teams reached the second obstacle, the sandbags swinging threateningly. Everyone, including the ones in the cart, all ducked down to avoid them. However, Ibuki's horns stuck up high enough for one of the bags to brush past it and show it down enough that the unexpected change in pace sent Mondo tumbling down on his knees while the cart kept rolling without him, but he quickly got up and dashed to keep up with the cart.
"We're in the lead, Kaito!" Leon exclaimed as he kept an eye on the obstacle course. "Keep the cart steady and we'll be the first ones at the wall!"
"Roger that!" Kaito responded, picking up the pace. He and the Mondo-less Grips cart sped through the third and final obstacle with relative ease and at about the same time.
The Grips cheered as they realized they were heading towards the wall, but Komaru realized that weren't slowing down at all. "Um, Mondo, you should show down now."
The cart didn't slow. "Mondo?" Kazuichi spoke up, eyeing the approaching wall.
"Can we slow down now?!" Kazuichi added with more urgency.
Just in the nick of time, Mondo managed to catch up to his team cart and stop it just before it hit the wall, and his teammates breathed sighs of relief.
"Alright, we needa get diggin'," Mondo commanded. "Everyone's gonna have to put their back into it, alright? We don't have a shovel, so we gotta do extra to catch up."
Meanwhile, once Kaito and the Gaphers reached their respective spot, Tenko jumped out of the cart with the golden shovel and dashed over the giant red "X" on the ground and started digging.
The Grips were then showed them underground, digging. All of them were on their hands and knees, with Mondo in front scooping out the path, Komaru, Ibuki, Junko, and Kazuichi patted down the sides and tossing the excess dirt back for Jack to fling back even further.
"I think we're makin' good progress," Mondo said as they stopped to take a breather.
"All of this digging is so exhilarating!" Jack exclaimed, letting her tongue whip around wildly. "I feel like I've finally found my purpose in life!"
"Right, on sister!" Ibuki exclaimed.
"What, your purpose in life is to act like a hyperactive dog that needs to be put down?" Kazuichi snarked.
"That's rich coming from someone who smells like one," Junko snorted, and Komaru giggled.
"Wha—huh?" Kazuichi lifted up his arm to sniff his armpit. "I do?!"
"Alright, no more talkin'," Mondo interrupted. "We need to start diggin' again."
The Gaphers were also underground, and Tenko was in front digging, while the rest of the team crawled after her. "I can already taste our victory!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Shuichi agreed as he stared at her thoughtfully. "Um, although… Wouldn't it be faster if we helped dig, too?"
"Yeah, my Sidekick is right! You need help," Kaito spoke up, starting to move forward to get to the front, but Mukuro stopped him short by putting her arm out.
Tenko snorted, still digging. "Of course you'd agree with him."
Kaito glared at the back of her head. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Leon groaned. "Could you two please not start this again? Kinda in the middle of a challenge here."
"Tell him that!" Tenko retorted, turning around to point the shovel towards Kaito.
"Just let me help you!" Kaito protested, making a grab for the shovel, but she quickly lifted it out of his reach.
Mikan and Shuichi stared at the events unfolding, the latter slinking back with a guilty look.
CONFESSIONAL - SHUICHI:
Shuichi sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Great. Every time I try and take matters into my own hands, I just end up making everything worse…"
"It feels like we've been digging for hours!" Komaru whined as the focus moved back to the Grips, who were still digging.
"Yeah, where even are we?!" Kazuichi demanded.
"We should reach the boxcar soon." Mondo scooped out another mound of dirt, then paused and looked back at his teammates. "Hey, it looks we found one of those prairie dog tunnels." At the blank looks they gave him, Mondo clarified, "I bet we could take 'em up to the top."
"Let's hope so," Komaru sighed.
Back with the Gaphers, Leon rolled his eyes, clearly frustrated at the current debacle and groaned. "Okay, that's it!" he exclaimed, pushing past the others to get to the front and snatch the shovel from Tenko's hands. "I'm digging. Mukuro, keep Tenko and Kaito from killing each other, will ya?" He didn't wait for anybody's input before he started digging again.
CONFESSIONAL - LEON:
"Yeah, I don't really like taking charge," he said, leaning back in his seat. "But with the way Tenko and Kaito are going at each other's throats, and the rest of the team being borderline useless, somebody's gotta step up."
On the surface, a large rock could be seen sitting, though it was quickly pushed away by a ringed hand. Leon poked his head out immediately after, scowling at the sight before him. "Aw, man, we lost?!"
The other Gaphers stuck their heads out as well and proceeded to express similar expressions. The Killer Grips had already reached the boxcar and were cheering their victory.
"W-We lost?" Mikan asked.
"This is all your guys' fault!" Leon accused, sending a pointed look towards Tenko and Kaito, and their eyes widened.
The Gaphers girls were sitting around in their trailer some time later, discussing the upcoming elimination ceremony.
"Okay, look," Tenko said, looking between Mikan and Mukuro, "I know it looked bad back there, but that was just a… rough patch? But we can bounce back from it, if you guys keep me on and vote out Kaito."
Mukuro shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind."
Tenko looked over at Mikan expectantly. "What about you, Mikan?"
Mikan donned an uncomfortable look as she avoided eye contact with her as she started to stand up from her bunk. "Um… A-Actually, can I have a moment to think about it? I'll be right back, I promise!"
Tenko gave her a confused look. "Sure?"
Mikan practically dashed out of the trailer, wringing her hands nervously as she did so.
"Mikan!" a voice whispered-shouted.
She spun around. The familiar face of Junko greeted her from behind the trailer, and Mikan's eyebrows raised as she half-ran to meet her over there. "J-Junko! I need to talk to you! A-About the elimination ceremony tonight, I mean…"
"Oh good, because I need to talk to you about that, too," Junko told her, leaning against the trailer. "What's up?"
"Um, well…" Mikan wringed her hands again. "We're deciding on whether to vote out Tenko or Kaito, but… I-I don't want to vote out either of them! I mean, Tenko is a good team leader, but Kaito is my friend, and I don't know what to do!"
Mikan was borderline whimpering as Junko crossed her arms and tapped her painted nails against them in thought. "What if you don't have to?" she asked.
Mikan raised her head at that. "E-Eh? What do you mean?"
"I mean," Junko explained, her smile growing, "what if you convinced your teammates to vote out somebody else entirely? Like… Leon! You're not friends with him, right?"
Mikan pushed her knuckles together and shook her head. "N-No."
"Perfect. Then you'll vote him out instead." Junko put a hand on Mikan's shoulder. "Tell me how it went after the ceremony, 'kay?"
Mikan nodded, and after taking a deep breath, she went back to the trailer and opened it. Tenko and Mukuro's gazes landed on her expectantly, and she clasped her hands together. "Um, actually, I think have someone else we could vote for…"
CONFESSIONAL - MIKAN:
"I-I feel kinda bad for voting someone out someone who hasn't done anything yet,but I guess it was better Leon than Tenko or Kaito…" She gave the camera an uncertain look.
CONFESSIONAL - JUNKO:
"Yeah, I could've taken the easy way out and convinced Mikan to vote out Tenko or Kaito anyway," she said with a smirk, "but having her vote out Leon is better, because now I have her trust. Besides, the despair Leon gets from this unexpected plot twist!" She giggled loudly.
The elimination ceremony began as usual, and the Gaphers were casting their votes, with Tenko and Kaito staring each other down with glares from across rows.
"Time's up!" Chris announced after a minute. "Time to tally the results!" Throwing out the Gilded Chrises, he called, "Mukuro, Mikan, Shuichi, Kaito. Another reward, another day to compete."
"And as for the two of you…" Chris looked between Tenko, who was glaring at Kaito more intensely now, and Leon, who lifted a slightly surprised eyebrow at the fact that he was apart of the bottom two. "The final Gilded Chris goes to…"
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Tenko!"
"What, are you shitting me?!" Leon protested, scowling at his now former teammates at the same time Tenko caught her Gilded Chris. "There's no way you guys kept those two in over me, someone who's actually trying to be a team player!"
Mikan sunk down in her seat, a guilty look on her face, and before he could say anything else, Leon was promptly pulled up from his seat and got handcuffs slapped onto him.
"Dead man walkin'!" Chef called as he escorted an irritated Leon down the Walk of Shame a minute later, and into the Lame-o-sine.
"And Leon is gone," Chris said from the amphitheater stage. "How will the Gaphers deal with this new development? Tune in next time to find out on… Total! Drama! Action!"
[Bonus Clip]
"Stupid show," Leon grumbled as he sunk down in the seat of the limo. "Stupid team. I'm so ready to be done with all of this." A voice from the front then started speaking to him, and his eyes widened. "Huh? Aftermath show? You've gotta be kidding me." He groaned loudly and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, at least Sayaka will be there."
Notes:
Killer Grips - Ibuki, Junko, Kazuichi, Komaru, Mondo, Toko
Screaming Gaphers - Kaito, Mikan, Mukuro, Shuichi, Tenko
Eliminated - Makoto, Sayaka, Celestia, Yasuhiro, Leon
-
And after a underhanded from Mikan (and Junko), Leon is gone. What did you think about that turn of events? Again, I don't really like the canon episode, but I hope you liked this one! Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time!
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