Chapter Text
“Last time on Total Drama Level Up…
“Our remaining eight remaining adventurers embarked on a dungeon crawl. They went up against diabolical puzzles, dastardly traps, and the toughest interns we had left standing after testing said traps. Their quest culminated in a fierce battle against a fire-breathing dragon, where Sir Damien landed the killing blow to win immunity.
“But the fun wasn’t over yet. At the elimination ceremony, it looked like Raj’s goose was cooked. But in a shocking twist, Scary Girl went turncoat and voted to send Julia packing! What a way for our last remaining former finalist to go out.
Why would Scary Girl undermine her own alliance? How will MK fair without her partner-in-crime? Who out of the seven remaining players will be the next to take a trip down the Tunnel of Failure? Find out the answers to these mysteries and more on Total! Drama! Level Up!”
The communal bedroom was dark when MK awoke on day ten of Total Drama Level Up.
Most mornings, the rising sun streaming in through the window blinds would offer meager illumination. This morning, as with yesterday and the day before, the sun was smothered by thick gray clouds of a storm system that stretched across southern Ontario. The rain had let up for now, with just the occasional droplet pattering against the window as MK sat up.
She reached for the lamp on the nightstand beside her bed and turned it on with a click, blinking against the sudden brightness.
“Morning, Jules,” MK said on reflex, glancing towards the bed across from her.
As her eyes adjusted, an empty mattress came into focus.
It took a moment for MK’s half-asleep brain to process what she was seeing. Then a memory from last night sent a cold jolt of clarity through her.
“Oh. Right.”
Slowly, MK slung her feet out over the bed and rose.
She shuffled across the room to the mattress. Pillows stacked and blankets slightly askew, just as the former occupant had left it.
The silence was deafening as MK stood, staring, thinking how oddly empty the bedroom now felt. The same emptiness she felt when returning from the elimination ceremony the night before. The gnawing emptiness that had kept MK awake last night, wishing she had Theodore to hold – a comforting presence to ease the ache in her chest-
“Good morning.”
MK let loose a string of curses as her heart jumped into her throat. She whirled around to find Lauren staring from across the room.
“OMG, were you sleeping in Julia’s bed?” Lauren asked with a cheeky smile.
“W-what?!” MK’s eyes popped open, a blush flaring as she frantically crossed her arms in an x. “No no no, I was just – I only – I didn’t-”
Lauren’s smile became a grin and she giggled. “I’m just messing with you, girl! I saw you just wake up.”
“O-oh, okay then,” MK said, nodding slowly as her pulse started to go relax. “Wait, how long have you been up?”
“A while now, but I only just got back here a minute ago.” Lauren hooked a thumb over her shoulder, where a ventilation grate on the wall behind her hung open.
“What were you-? Oh right, your recon. Got any info for me?”
Lauren shrugged. “Not much, I’m afraid. All I know is the interns are building a fake house.”
MK arched an eyebrow. “Just a house? Like from the zombie challenge?”
“No, this one’s a lot bigger. Fancier looking, too. But they put the walls and roof up first, so no clue what’s going on inside.”
“Well, that sucks,” MK said, giving Lauren a look as she shoved her hands in her pajama pants pockets. “We really could’ve used the advantage.”
Lauren rocked on her heels. “Maybe. But inside info or not, we’ve still got the rest of the season locked.”
“As long as everything goes as expected.”
“It will.” Lauren’s eyes softened slightly. “Look, I get that you and Julia were close, but you’re making the right call. Stick with me, and I’ll take us and Zee to the final three.”
“Didn’t know you were a poet,” MK snarked. She sighed and nodded. “But yeah, I’m with you.”
“Excellent. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some recon to do before I get to my date.”
“Yeah yeah, go have your fun-” MK blinked. “Wait, I thought you already scoped out the challenge?”
“I did.” Lauren had already turned, reaching to grab the edge of the open vent. “But since you brought it up, I might as well make sure everything else is still on track.”
With practice eased Lauren climbed up into the vent, pulling herself up to vanish into the darkness.
MK watched her go, then shook her head and headed out towards the showers.
“Well, after almost three seasons I finally outlasted Julia in the game,” MK said in the confessional closet. She paused, frowning and rubbing her arm. “It’s funny; I always pictured this as a moment of triumph. But it just feels… hollow. Maybe it’s because it wasn’t me specifically that brought Julia down.”
MK glanced away, contemplative. “Yeah… that’s probably it.”
“Celebrate good times, come on~!” Raj sang as he swaggered into the cafeteria, a spring in his step.
The only others present were Damien and Emma, already seated. They watched, amused as Raj practically danced his way through the breakfast buffet before making his way over to them.
“Someone’s in a good mood today,” Emma said, chuckling.
“Can you blame me?” Raj asked, a sunny smile on his face as he sat across from her. “The biggest cheater in this game is finally gone! And we sent her packing.”
“Well, us and at least one other,” Damien pointed out. “Guess someone finally recognized Julia for the threat she was.”
“I told you it was only a matter of time before their alliance fell apart with so many schemers trying to work together,” Emma said.
“Guess you were right. All we gotta do now is capitalize on it by keeping our voting bloc together.”
Raj swallowed a mouthful of slightly burnt waffles and nodded. “You got it, bro. Got anything in mind for our next play?”
“Well…” Damien drummed his fingers on the table. “I get that you’re still ticked at MK for also cheating, but can we target Scary Girl first? I still wanna pay her back for taking Millie out like that.”
“Say no more, I’m in,” Raj said right away.
“Scary Girl’s not gonna know what hit her,” Emma said.
Damien smiled gratefully. “Thanks, guys.”
Emma stood up. “Hey, I’ll be right back, I gotta use the little girl’s room.”
She turned and left, completely unaware of the piercing blue eyes staring out from behind the slats of the nearest overhead vent covering.
“So… you and Emma, huh?” Raj asked when she was gone, turning towards the boy next to him.
Damien raised an eyebrow at Raj’s tone. “Yes? What about us?”
Raj smiled slyly. “Oh, you know. You two seem to be getting pretty chummy lately.”
“I mean yeah, I guess,” Damien said. “Never really got a chance to know her during the last two seasons, but she seems like a cool girl.”
“Yeah, she is. The kinda girl any guy would be lucky to have.” Raj paused, then rubbed the back of his head. “Well I guess not any guy. Not the ones like me and Bowie anyways. I mean we’re lucky to have her as a friend-”
“Wait.” Damien’s brow furrowed, and his eyes shot open. “Wait. Are you saying me and Emma…? N-no, there’s nothing like that!”
“You sure? All I’m saying is you guys have been getting along great.” Raj shrugged. “And I may have heard through the grapevine that Emma’s finally ready to give dating another shot. Find someone to show her that relationships can be fun again. Maybe, I dunno, a nice guy she’s already friends with, who just happens to be single…”
Damien’s jaw dropped, a faint scarlet in his cheeks as he shook his head. “Dude, come on: this is Emma we’re talking about. Girl’s an influencer and streamer, she’s popular and funny and outgoing.” His eyes glanced downwards, looking away. “And me… I’m just a nerd.”
“Just a nerd? Get outta here with that kind of talk! You’re super smart, you’re considerate, a great listener, you care about your friends… any girl would be lucky to have you. I mean not any girl, like the ones into other – eh, you get what I mean.”
Raj stood up, grabbing his almost-empty tray. “And I’ll say this: you’d make a better boyfriend than Chase ever was.”
With that Raj turned to make his way back to the breakfast buffet for seconds, leaving Damien sitting alone in contemplative silence.
Lauren was in high spirits as she popped open the vent and slid out into the hallway near the rec room. Her spirits brightened further when she opened the door to find a familiar lanky figure on one of the couches.
“Hiii Bubbles,” Lauren said.
Zee, who’d been staring out the window with a thoughtful expression, perked up at the sound of his new nickname.
“Morning, Doll,” Zee said, tipping his hat.
“Something on your mind?” Lauren asked as she made her way over to sit next to him.
“Eh, just been thinking about last night.” Zee plucked the soda can off the coffee table in front of them, taking a sip. “Like, how Julia got packing when I thought all four of us were voting together.”
“Let’s just say there was a change of circ*mstances. But don’t worry; I’ve plans for getting you, me and MK to the final three.”
Zee looked at her for a moment, then smiled and nodded. “Okay, I trust you.”
He set his soda down and held one arm up across the back of the couch. Getting the message, Lauren scootched in. Her heartbeat quickened as Zee put an arm around her shoulders and pull her close, where she rested her head on his chest. The couple sat together in silence, basking in each other’s presence as they listened to the wind howl outside.
“Bet it’s pretty exciting getting this far in the game, huh?” Zee asked after a few minutes.
“Yeah it is,” Lauren said, beaming. “After getting voted off so early two seasons in a row, feels good to be this close to the finals.”
“I can imagine. What would you do with the prize money if you won?”
“Start my own Halloween haunted house business,” Lauren said right away. “I’ve loved haunted houses ever since I was a little girl, and it’s always been my dream to design my own. I’ve even volunteered at local hauntings every fall for the past few years, so I know the ins and outs of how they work.”
“Wow, no kidding?”
“Yup!” Lauren giggled at the memories of last autumn. “Last year was under a table with a hole to make it look like I was a severed head, and I’d scream and shake the whole thing whenever someone passed by.”
Zee chuckled at the mental image. “Sounds awesome.”
“Oh it was. What about you? Got any plans if you win the money?”
“Hmmm…” Zee reached for his can, idly turning it in his grip. “Well, one thing I’ve always wanted to do is go on a cross-country RV road trip. A million bucks would get me a sweet RV and a lot of gas.”
“Oh yeah, that’d get you one of those big luxury models. Any specific destinations in mind?”
“Nah, I just love the idea of hopping behind the wheel and seeing where the road takes me.”
A lightbulb went off in Lauren’s head. She looked up at Zee as she snuggled closer to him, batting her eyelashes.
“So… does your dream RV have room for two?” She asked.
Zee coughed, sputtering on the soda he was sipping. He pulled the can awake and looked down, blushing, at the girl resting her head on his chest. Lauren smiled flirtatiously.
“I definitely wouldn’t mind the company,” he finally said, slowly smiling back. “In fact, you know what would make a great theme for a trip like that? Haunted houses.”
“Ooh, I like the way you think.” Lauren’s blue eyes locked with Zee’s brown as their faces slowly inched closer together. “But you know what? I don’t care where we go, as long as we’re together.”
Without waiting for a reply, Lauren leaned in to press her lips against Zee’s. He was caught off guard for a fraction of a second, then quickly melted into the kiss.
They closed their eyes as they kissed, warmth spreading through their bodies. Zee kept one arm across Lauren’s shoulders while the other wrapped around her waist to pull her even closer. One of Lauren’s arms snaked around Zee, hand on the small of his back. The other reached up, her fingers tracing across Zee’s chest through his shirt as he-
“Attention players!” Chris said over the intercom, making Zee and Lauren jump apart. “Please report to the cafeteria.”
“Hmm?” Zee blinked and looked at the nearest clock. “Seems pretty early for the challenge.”
“And why the cafeteria and not the main warehouse?” Lauren asked.
Exchanging perplexed shrugs, Zee and Lauren stood up and headed for the door.
Within minutes, the six contestants had gathered in the cafeteria. Chef Hatchet stood at the front of the room, clipboard in hand. Chris was nowhere to be found.
“Hey Chef, what’s the deal?” Raj asked, he and the others sitting at the tables. “Are we starting the challenge already?”
“Not quite,” Chef said, shaking his head. “The challenge still isn’t for a few hours, but we’ve got a lot planned before that. Chris will explain everything. He should be here right about…”
The double doors to the cafeteria flew open, clanging against the walls. Everyone looked over to see Chris standing in the threshold. His usual navy polo and khakis were nowhere to be found; instead he wore an immaculate suit and tie, a black domino mask covering his face around his eyes.
“Good morning, players,” Chris said as he walked past the contestants to stand beside Chef. “Congratulations on reaching the final six. To celebrate, you’re all invited to the McLean masquerade ball!”
“Ball?” Emma asked, eyes brightening. “As in a dance??”
“What’s the catch?” MK asked immediately, fixing the host with a suspicious look.
“Yeah, you never do something this nice for us,” Damien added, crossing his arms.
“And what does a dance have to do with video games?” Zee asked.
“No catch,” Chef said. “There will be a challenge later where today’s game genre will be explained. But until then you’ll get to enjoy a day of music, food and dancing as a reward for making it this far in the game.”
“But wait, there’s more!” Chris continued. “For the first time in Total Drama history, we’re bringing back eliminated contestants before the finale!”
“I beg your pardon?” Lauren asked flatly.
The other contestants exchanged surprised looks.
Chef nodded, holding out his clipboard. “That’s right. Everyone gets to pick one eliminated contestant to invite to the ball as your plus one, who will also act as your assistant during the challenge. Raj, you get first pick.”
He passed the clipboard to Raj, who snatched it up. He took the pen and started to sign his name, but paused and furrowed his brow.
“You good, dude?” Zee asked.
Raj frowned, glancing between two names. “I’d love to go to the dance with Bowie, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen my bro…”
“Go ahead and invite Bowie,” Emma said, “and I’ll pick Wayne as my plus one so you can see both of them again.”
“For real?” Raj beamed and signed his name next to Bowie’s. “You’re the best, Ems!”
He passed the clipboard to Emma. She wrote her name next to Wayne’s, then passed the list to Damien.
“If we’re talking about someone to help us when the challenge starts, I’m going with Priya,” he said, and signed the list.
The clipboard was handed to MK. She put the pen to paper, paused, and wrote her name next to Julia’s.
“Well the only one I wanna go to the ball with is you,” Zee said to Lauren when MK passed the list to them. “But if we each have to bring someone else along, how’s this sound?”
He whispered into Lauren’s ear, and she nodded. “That works for me.”
Zee wrote his name next to Ripper’s, while Lauren wrote hers next to Axel’s. She handed the list back to Chef, who looked it over with Chris.
“All right then,” Chris said, clapping. “We’ll make some calls, your plus ones will arrive shortly, and we can get this party started.”
“Well, this is unexpected,” Lauren said in the confessional closet. “I know some of the others wouldn’t be happy with me for getting them eliminated, but I didn’t think I’d have to deal with them until the finale.” She shrugged and grinned. “Oh well! Whatever happens, I can handle it. And at least I get to go to a dance with Zee.”
“This is great!” Raj said excitedly. “I thought I’d have to reach the finale before getting to see Wayne and Bowie again. And I get to go to a dance with my boyfriend!”
“So… I’m gonna be a bit out of my element here,” Damien admitted, looking slightly troubled. “Dances have never been my thing. Whatever the actual challenge is, I hope it starts sooner rather than later.”
Less than an hour after the cafeteria meeting, the six teenagers and two hosts stood in the lobby, watching through the glass double-doors as a bus pulled up to the building. The vehicle had barely come to a stop before a figure came bursting out of the door to sprint into the warehouse.
“Wayners!” Raj said, opening his arms as Wayne tackled him in a bear hug. “Missed you, bro!”
“I missed you too, Rajjy!” Wayne said, exuberant. “And you know who else missed you?”
“Bowie!” Raj’s eyes lit up when his boyfriend was next to step through the doors.
Wayne released Raj, allowing him to run up and wrap Bowie in a hug where they shared a tender kiss.
“Great to see you again, hun,” Bowie said when he pulled back from the kiss. “You seem to be doing well for yourself.”
“Well, it was a little rough after you got voted off,” Raj admitted. “But I’ve been hanging in there. Emma’s been a huge help.”
“I can imagine.” Bowie gave Emma a grateful smile. “Thanks again for watching out for him.”
“And thanks for the invite,” Wayne added.
Emma beamed. “Anything for a friend.”
Priya was next off the bus. She shot a brief glare at Lauren as she entered, but perked up when Damien called her name.
“Priya!” He said, spreading his arms. “Bring it in, girl!”
“Hey Damien!” Priya said, smiling as she stepped into the embrace. “Looks like it’ll be you and me today.”
“Looks like it,” Damin said when he pulled back. “Hey, did anyone happen to tell you guys what the challenge actually is?”
Priya shook her head. “No, just that we’d be attending some kind of dance with you guys and assisting you with the challenge afterwards. Whatever it is, we’ve got it in the bag.”
Damien smiled confidently. “Hell yeah we do.”
“Yo dude!” Zee called out, waving down Ripper and Axel as they entered.
“Hey bro,” Ripper said giving Zee a fist bump. “Thanks for the invite. More Ripper screentime for the lucky viewers.”
“They told us we’d be acting as your plus ones to some dance?” Axel asked Lauren.
“Sort of,” she said. “You’ll be our partners for the challenge, but Zee and I will be going to the dance itself together. So he had the idea for both of us to invite you both so you can enjoy the dance too. Like a double date kind of thing.”
“Works for me. I wonder what kinda grub they’ll have-” Ripper blinked and looked between Zee and Lauren. “Wait. Double date?”
“And dancing together?” Bowie asked, equally perplexed.
Zee blinked as almost everyone turned towards him, and his eyes widened. “Oh yeah, we didn’t share the news, did we? See, me and Lauren-”
He paused when Lauren tapped him on the shoulder. Zee turned his head and found Lauren’s lips pressing against his.
“Sorry, I figured a visual demonstration would be more effective,” Lauren said when she pulled back. She giggled at the wide-eyed, slack-jawed expressions from her fellow contestants.
The only one not staring in stunned silence was MK, who instead focused on Julia as she stepped through the doors.
“You just couldn’t bear to go a single day without me, huh?” Julia asked her with a smug smile. “I get it, I am amazing.”
MK snorted derisively. “Oh please. Without you around to snore like a truck backfiring, last night was the first good night’s sleep I’d had in a week.”
“That’s rich coming from someone who sounds like rusty nails going through a paper shredder when she sleeps.”
MK and Julia glared at each other for a few seconds, then burst out in amused laughter.
“Seriously though, it’s good to have you back, girlfriend,” MK said sincerely. “Even if it’s just for today.”
“Good to be back,” Julia said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and giving Lauren a brief glare. “Let’s take these losers to the cleaners.”
Chris whistled sharply, and everyone turned his way.
“Okay, now that the reunions are done and over with,” he said, turning, “follow me and we can get this show on the road.”
He started walking towards the main warehouse floor, the twelve teenagers following.
Chef, however, stayed behind in the lobby. He pulled a phone out of his pocket, dialed, and put it to his ear.
“Hey, it’s Chef. The rest of our guests on route?” Chef paused, listening, then grinned and nodded. “Excellent.”
In the middle of the warehouse stood a modest two-story Victorian-style manor home, surrounded by a sparse forest of fake trees. The contestants took in the steep gable roofs and bay windows framed by decorative trim as Chris led them down a stone walkway, past a wrought-iron fence and up a spacious porch. An intern in a suit stood at the front door; he nodded as Chris approached and opened the door.
One by one the teens filed into a spacious foyer. An ornate rug stretched across the floor, oil paintings of landscapes lined the walls, and a crystalline chandelier hung from the ceiling. A grand staircase led to a second story. On the ground floor, a set of double doors in one wall were open to the next room, while another set of doors in another wall were shut tight.
“Welcome, one and all, to McLean Manor,” Chris said to the assembled teens. He motioned to a framed map on the wall next to the stairs, showing an overhead view of each floor, then nodded to the closed doors. “The dance itself won’t start for a while, so the ballroom is closed off for now. Until then, we have a variety of amenities for your enjoyment. You can relax in the lounge, grab a bite to eat in the dining room, take a stroll through the conservatory, enjoy the peace and quiet of the library, or shoot some pool in the billiards room. Oh, and since this is a masquerade ball you’re attending…”
Chris walked to a plain door next to the stairs that seemed to blend into the wall. It opened to a long room with racks full of fancy clothing, a row of mirrored vanities against one wall and changing booths in the back corner. Various masks hung from wall hooks: simple black domino masks, white masks with gold trim, masks styled in the shape of animals, and more.
“Since this is a masquerade ball, we’ve provided you with formal wear,” Chris said. “Suit up and we’ll get the party started.”
“I’m still positive Chris has something horrible planned for us later on, and this is just to lull us into a false sense of security,” MK said in the confessional closet. She shrugged. “But for now I might as well try to relax and enjoy myself. After what I’ve been through this season so far, I think I’ve earned it.”
After several minutes passed, the contestants and their guests gradually filed out of the dressing room. The men (and MK) wore three-piece suits ranging from solid black to shades of gray and blue, vests and ties providing splashes of color. The rest of the women wore either full dresses or blouse-skirt combos, in a wide spectrum of colors and styles. Rounding out their ensembles, each wore a mask over the upper half of their faces.
Chris, who’d been looking down at his phone, smiled and nodded at the assembled teens.
“All right, everyone’s looking good,” he said. “And you got done right on time, because the last of our guests have just arrived.”
“Wait, more guests?” Zee asked, the others looking equally confused. “Who else is left?”
As if in response, footsteps were heard coming up the porch.
The front door opened, and a heavyset blonde man in a mustard yellow suit entered. The black domino mask he wore over his eyes did nothing to hide his identity from those among the contestants who recognized him.
“Hey, it’s Owen!” Raj said, waving.
“Hey, what’s up everyone?!” Owen asked exuberantly.
“Uh, and he is…?” Emma asked, raising an eyebrow.
“From Total Drama’s first generation of campers and winner of the original season one,” Priya said instantly.
“He also was a guest judge during the cooking challenge last season,” Axel said.
“That’s right,” Chris said, “and he didn’t come alone!”
“Come on it, guys!” Owen called out.
One by one, by more people – two men, three women, all of them around Owen’s age – stepped into the foyer.
A short woman whose ghostly pale skin contrasted sharply with her black dress, matching domino mask, and shoulder-length raven hair streaked with teal, blue and green.
A tall Asian woman in a deep red dress, a long slit running up one leg. Her black hair was done up in a bun, and piercing gray eyes stared from behind a stylized fox max.
A smiling woman with her blonde hair in a braid, her white mask lined with glistening with faux sapphires. The skirt portion of her deep blue dress seemed to flow like ocean waves.
A shorter man who practically swaggered in, smirking beneath his sparrow’s mask, wearing a garishly-stylish purple vest under his suit.
And finally, a bored-looking Indian man with plane white crescent moon mask over half his face, hands shoved in the pockets of his greenish-gray suit.
“Gonna go out on a limb and say these are more past contestants,” Bowie said.
“Brilliant deduction, Sherlock,” the Indian man said flatly.
“Ooh, I like him already,” MK said.
“Correct-o-mundo, Bowie,” Chris said. “Introducing Gwen! Heather! Bridgette! Cody! And Noah!”
“That’s right folks, the Code-Meister is back!” Cody said, a co*cky grin on his face as he bowed.
“I’m sure your tens of fans are thrilled,” Gwen snarked.
“So, these are the new guys, huh?” Heather asked, regarding the assembled teenagers with a critical eye. “Hmph. Not nearly as iconic as us, but leagues above the freakshows from seasons four and six, so at least they have that going for them.”
“Be nice now, Heather,” Bridgette said. She smirked. “They’ve got enough to deal with being on Total Drama.”
Noah also looked over the cast, and a single eyebrow rose above his mask. “What’s her deal?”
The contestants turned to look. Priya’s eyes were practically bulging out of her head, her mouth opening and closing.
“I-i-it’s them! It’s really-!” Priya stammered. “Gwen and –! And Noah –! And H-Heather! Oh my God…!”
“Whoa, she’s gonna faint!” Damien said when Priya started swaying on her feet. “Somebody catch her!”
“I gotcha!” Wayne said, rushing behind Priya with his arms outstretched. “Fall into my arms!”
Priya’s eyes slipped shut as she tilted back-
-and abruptly pitched face-first onto the floor.
“Season one champion, ladies and gentlemen,” Julia snarked.
As Wayne helped a woozy Priya to her feet, Chris clapped to get everyone’s attention.
“Well, now that introductions have been taken care of,” he said, “Let the festivities begin!”
“Yeah, let’s get this party started!” Owen said, to which Raj and Wayne joined in cheering. “Now then, the invites mentioned a buffet?”
“Indeed they did,” Chris said, pointing to the open doors at the end of the foyer. “Head back through the lounge, and the dining room is through the doors on the right.”
“Say no more!” Owen said, already moving.
“Save some for the rest of us, Butterball,” Heather called out to him.
With that the group began collectively following Owen. As they walked, Chris made eye contact with one of the veterans, exchanging subtle nods.
The dining room was a simple rectangular chamber, a set of doors leading to the lounge and a second, closed set of doors that the contestants assumed was another entrance to the ballroom. Candles burning on ornate bronze candlesticks placed at various points provided ambient mood lighting, and a marble bust of Chris sat on a pedestal at the end of the room. Tables covered in white cloth were piled high with fresh bread, cooked vegetables, diced fruit and roasted meats, savory smells filling the air. The sights and smells of the feast laid out had the stomachs of the remaining six contestants collectively roaring.
“Now this is more like it,” MK said eagerly. “About time we got some real damn food around here.”
“I can imagine,” Cody said. “Is Chef’s cooking still atrocious?”
“You have no idea,” Emma said, shuddering. “It’s usually burnt, undercooked, or somehow both at once.”
“And you should’ve seen what we had to eat for the gross-out challenge back in season one,” Bowie said, shuddering at the memory. “Croissants with hair and lice, toejam cookies, a live tapeworm…”
“Don’t forget that horrible cow liquid,” Zee added helpfully.
“Nice to know some things never change,” Bridgette said, chuckling.
“Ah yes, the three certainties of life; death, taxes, and Chef Hatchet’s awful cooking,” Gwen snarked.
Minutes passed, and as the guests gradually piled their plates with food, they and their host made their way back into the lounge; some opted to remain standing, while others took a seat on some of the multiple fine leather chairs and couches. A roaring inferno crackled in the fireplace, next to which hung a large oil painting of Chris McLean, with more paintings of various sizes and subjects lining the walls.
“So… which one of you is the dumbass I heard about who signed up for Total Drama without knowing a thing about it?” Noah asked the crowd of teenagers as he casually leaned against the fireplace.
Damien chuckled sheepishly and raised his hand. “That’d be me. Name’s Damien, by the way.”
Noah nodded. “So tell me, Damien: what the hell were you thinking?”
“I don’t know! My friends dared me to make an audition, I learned about the million bucks up for grabs, and I just…”
“Saw dollar signs?” Cody asked, smirking.
“You’re ones to talk, considering you all signed up for Total Drama in the first place,” Lauren said with an amused giggle. “And how you kept coming back for more punishment.”
“It’s not like we had the whole history of the show we could have looked into when we signed up,” Heather said.
“And we only willingly came back a few times; most of the time, our contracts made us stick around,” Gwen said, casting an unamused sidelong glance at Chris.
“That why you’re here tonight?” Wayne asked.
“No, the network reached out to us about a cameo, and we took them up on it. But not before we had Emma – Noah’s wife I mean – go through the proposals with a fine-tooth comb to make sure there was nothing in the fine print that would drag us into more of Chris’s sick little games.”
“I tried to propose a new All-Stars season,” Chris said from beside the doorway to the foyer, “one that pits the series veterans against the new blood, but-”
“No,” Gwen, Cody, Heather and Noah said as one.
“-that was the response.”
Owen finished chewing a mouthful of food and swallowed. “Ah, come on guys. You sure you don’t wanna come back for one more season? For old time’s sake?”
Heather looked unimpressed. “Hmm, how do I put this delicately? I’d rather deepthroat a cactus covered in barbed wire and razorblades than compete in another season of Total Drama.”
Chris shrugged. “Ah well; at least cameos are ratings gold. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to check on; feel free to explore the rest of the manor until the ballroom opens.”
With that he turned and left, footsteps echoing through the spacious foyer beyond the threshold.
“Yeah, it’s probably for the best none of you come back to the show,” MK said, smirking. “Wouldn’t wanna risk any of you throwing your backs out.”
“Boom!” Ripper said from his spot on Axel’s lap, she and the Hockey Bros laughing.
“Hey now, let’s respect our elders,” Priya said. She blanched and shrunk back when the adults looked her way. “N-not that I’m saying you’re old! I-I meant in terms of uhh experience, like with how well you know the game…”
Heather crossed her arms and nodded. “Thanks Priscilla. Nice to know someone knows to show respect around here.”
“Oh! You’re welcome, but it’s actually Priya.”
“Don’t care, already forgot it.”
“You know Priya’s right; we should give respect where it’s due,” Bowie said. His smile morphed into a sh*t-eating grin. “After all, Noah and Cody paved the way for me and Raj.”
“Hardy-har-har,” Noah said flatly as everyone laughed. “Been almost twenty years and that just never gets old.”
“Ah, lighten up, Noah,” Cody said. “After all, that moment from the Awake-a-thon is what made us so popular in the first place and landed us a spot in season three.”
“Yeah, ‘cause there’s no better metric for popularity than how much gay fanart people draw of you,” MK snarked. Finishing the last of her food, she set her empty plate aside and looked towards Julia, who was also done eating. “Come on Jules, let’s blow this pop stand. I wanna check out that billiards room.”
“Wanna go for a stroll through the conservatory, Doll?” Zee asked Lauren, who beamed and nodded.
“And I’m going back for seconds,” Owen said to no one in particular as he took his empty plate back into the dining room.
A gradual exodus ensued as the crowd of current and former contestants broke apart into smaller pairs and groups. They slowly trickled out of the lounge until only Emma, Raj, Wayne and Bowie were left.
“So, how’s it feel being back in the final six?” Bowie asked his boyfriend and best friend.
“Pretty damn good,” Emma said with a confident smile. “It’s been too long since I’ve made it this far.”
“I’m proud of you, Rajjy!” Wayne said, slapping his buddy on the shoulder. “I knew you’d go the distance.”
“Hell yeah I am,” Raj said, beaming. “Me, Ems and Damien have the final three locked. And the best part is we took out Julia on the way there.”
“God, I wish I could’ve been there to see that,” Bowie said wistfully in the confessional closet. “When this season airs, I know which episode I’m watching first.”
“Speaking of how the game is going…” Bowie looked over to Emma, smirking, “a little birdie told me you and Damien have been hitting it off lately.”
“Psst. I’m the birdie,” Raj said in a stage whisper.
Emma blushed slightly and smiled sheepishly. “Guys, come on. Yeah, we’ve been talking and getting to know each other, but there’s nothing more to it than that.”
“Well now’s the perfect time to change that,” Wayne said helpfully. “You could totally dance with him today.”
“I guess I could…” Emma paused, an uncertain look on her face as she shook her head. “I don’t know. I know I should put myself back out there, I just don’t know if now’s the right time…”
The four looked up as one at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Gwen stood near the doorway to the dining room, holding a wine glass and slowly swirling the grape juice within. (Non-alcoholic, the legal department had insisted.)
“Sorry, didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I couldn’t help overhearing,” she said. “You’re… Emma, right? The one who had the boyfriend drama last season?”
“Yeah, that was me,” Emma admitted. “You watched the show?”
“A few episodes here and there. Honestly this show can be pretty funny when I’m not the one suffering through it.” Gwen paused to take a sip of her drink. “But I saw enough of season one to know about the sh*t that went down between you and Chase.”
Bowie, Raj and Wayne winced at the sound of the C-word.
“Yeah, that wasn’t exactly my highest point in life,” Emma said, letting out a small sigh as she slumped in here seat.
“Take it from someone who’s had her share of failed relationships; don’t let them hold you back,” Gwen said. “Your experiences will always be a part of you, but they don’t define you. Keep moving forward, live life the best you can.”
She gave a raised her hand to take another drink, the motion drawing attention to the silver and gold bands on her fourth finger. Gwen smiled and softly as she lowered the glass. “And you never know; someday you may find someone that’s right for you.”
With that Gwen crossed the room and left. From there the conversation among the boys changed gears to how Raj had been doing in the game, Emma sitting to herself in thoughtful silence.
The billiards room, as the name suggested, was a room dominated by a large pool table. Leather lounge chairs for spectators sat placed out of range of pool cues, which sat on a mounted wall rack. Julia chalked the cue she held in one hand while MK racked up the balls.
“And there we go,” MK said, pulling the rack away and leaving fifteen balls arranged in a triangle. “You wanna break?”
“With pleasure,” Julia said, taking her spot at the front of the table.
She aimed her cue, sliding it between her arched index and middle fingers. A sharp crack echoed as she struck the cue ball, sending it shooting in to scatter the fifteen object balls. They bounced off the bumpers and each other, the three ball rolling into one of the corner pockets.
“So… how have you been holding up since yesterday?” MK asked casually as Julia lined up another shot.
“The elimination still stings, but not as bad,” Julia said with a slight shrug. She hit the cue into the one ball, which narrowly missed the side pocket. “Helps that they got another decent hotel to keep the losers at. Nice hot tub. Spent a long time there last night.”
“Well, that’s good.” MK paused to take a shot at sinking the thirteen. She got it right in the side pocket, but then failed to bank the ten into the corner with her follow-up. “It really does suck not having you around. We were running this game for a while.”
“Yeah, we were. At least you’re close to the end. And I assume you’ve got a way to get you to the finale.”
“The gears may or may not be turning behind the scenes,” MK said, smirking.
“They involve still working with Scary Girl?”
MK hesitated, smirk dropping. Julia’s expression was neutral as she tried and failed to land the five in the corner.
“… Yes and no,” MK finally admitted. “There’s a few more moves I need to make, but I have a plan for dealing with Scary Girl when the time comes. I promise.”
The billiards room fell silent as Julia gave a long look towards MK.
“Hey, we both promised there’d be no hard feelings over the game, right?” MK asked, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. “There’s a million bucks up for grabs here, so we do what we uh, have to…”
She trailed off as Julia stood over her, expression unreadable. MK struggled to maintain eye contact with the piercing blue-gray gaze that seemed to stare into her soul.
“All right,” Julia finally said, nodding. “If that’s how you’ve gotta play the game, then that’s how it is.”
MK let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Right. Just doing what I have to do to win.”
With that she took her next shot, aiming for the eleven. She sent it into a corner pocket, but misjudged the trajectory of where the cue ball would bounce; it hit the solid black eight, which rolled directly into a side pocket.
“I just hope you’re better at Total Drama than you are at pool,” Julia said teasingly as MK cursed quietly.
“Eh, I’m just out of practice is all,” MK insisted, already racking the balls up again. “Best two out of three.”
Julia was about to respond when a new woman’s voice spoke up.
“So, you’re the new me I’ve been hearing so much about.”
MK and Julia looked up as Heather sauntered into the room, looking over the latter with a critical eye. Noah walked beside her, hands in his pockets.
“Heather,” Julia said, nodding at the new arrivals. “Come to meet the new bad girl queen of Total Drama?”
Heather barked out a laugh. “As if. I was running this game with a manicured fist when your whole world was a crib.”
“Yeah, and your first season ended with your head shinier than a cueball,” MK snarked, picking up the ball in question from the table.
“Big talk coming from someone who sleeps with a stuffed unicorn,” Noah snarked right back.
“Hey Noah,” Julia said curtly, “do you still remember how Cody’s ear tasted?”
The air shimmered with a tension as the pair of Total Drama rookies and veterans stared each other down.
Finally, Noah cracked an amused smile. “Heh, good one. You snot-nosed punks aren’t half bad.”
“You’re all right too, you old geezer,” MK admitted with a chuckle.
“And you know, I did check out some compilation videos of your performance,” Heather said to Julia. “You did a damn good job after embracing your true self. Really showed those other losers in your generation who’s boss.”
“You’re too kind,” Julia said, tossing her hair over one shoulder. “And it was cool the way you had the others wrapped around your finger in season one.”
MK went back to arranging the balls. “You guys want in on the next match? Veterans against rookies?”
Heather glanced at the pool cues on the wall and shrugged. “I can go for a game.”
Noah nodded, grabbing a cue for himself and Heather. “Let’s show these whippersnappers how it’s done.”
The McLean Manor library was full of bookshelves that stretched to the ceiling, lined with tomes of various shapes and sizes, armchairs set aside for readers to sit in. Damien’s eyes lit up as he entered the library from the second floor hallway, but his smile ran away when he got a closer look at the shelves.
“Aw man, these are just painted on,” Damien said, rapping his knuckles against one of the rows of fake tomes, all of which were one solid piece of wood.
“Hey, these are real,” Priya said from in front of shelves that had actual books. She looked closer and frowned. “Wait never mind, it’s just a bunch of dictionaries, thesauri, car manuals and… some Ayn Rand books.”
“Ugh, nothing even remotely readable,” Damien said. He sat down in one of the chairs with a huff.
“It was worth a shot.” Priya sat down across from him. “So, you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself this season.”
Damien gave a small smile. “Yeah, I guess I am. Made it all the way to the final six again. Just a few more people standing between me and that sweet grand prize.”
“I just hope you can bring down Scary Girl sooner rather than later.” Priya scowled. “I got to thinking after being voted off and realized she was the one that cast the last vote for me. And Millie told me about the stunt she pulled that got her eliminated.”
“Don’t worry; Raj, Emma and I have a plan for how to deal with her.”
“Awesome.” Priya’s smile returned, slyer this time as she leaned forward in her seat. “Speaking of which, Millie was telling me that you and Emma seem to be getting along lately.”
Damien blushed, groaning and bringing a hand to his forehead. “Come on! First Millie, then Raj, now you? What is it with everyone suddenly wanting to play Cupid?”
“Because you’re a nice guy and our friend, and we wanna see you happy. And I’m sure Emma’s friends want her to be happy after how badly her last relationship ended.”
“Yeah, Raj said the same thing this morning.” Damien fell silent for a moment, leaning back in his seat. “I don’t know. Yeah Emma’s really cool girl and all, and she’s fun to talk to and hang out with. I just… don’t know if she’d be interested in a guy like me.”
Priya opened her mouth to respond, but a man’s voice spoke first.
“What’s up, little dudes?” Cody said as he swaggered into the library.
“Oh, hey… Cody, was it?” Damien asked, looking to Priya for confirmation, who nodded. “How’s it going, man?”
“I’m alright, I’m good. Did I hear somebody was having romance troubles?”
“You could say that, yeah. I’ve been making friends with one of the girls here, we get along great, and now everyone’s saying we’d make a great couple.”
“Do you want to be a couple?”
Damien paused for a few thoughtful seconds, the redness in his face steadily growing. “I mean, I don’t hate the idea…”
Cody beamed. “Then you’re in luck, my friend! You’re about to get a crash course in the Code-meister School for Impressing the Ladies.”
Priya, remembering her extensive research on the history of Total Drama and Cody’s past behavior, plastered on a smile and shook her head. “Uhh thank you but that’s really not necessary-”
“Please, I insist! I’m happy to share my wisdom with the next generation. Now listen closely while I impart some truth on you.”
Damien and Priya exchanged wary glances, then looked back towards Cody as he leaned in.
“If you’re friends with a girl and develop feelings for her, what you do is… politely ask if she’d like to go out sometime. If she says yes, great! If not, respect her decision and keep being happy to have her friendship.”
“Oh,” Damien said, he and Priya blinking. “That’s… actually pretty sensible.”
“Yeah, I kinda thought you’d be, uh…” Priya trailed off.
“Lemme guess, you were expecting me to give Damien some cheesy pickup lines to use? Maybe tell him to make some grand public display of affection?” Cody chuckled good-naturedly. “I get it, I do have a reputation from my time on this show. But that’s the old me. These days, the Code-meister is all about mutual respect and honesty. That’s the cornerstone of any successful relationship. Remember that if things work out between you and your lady friend, Damien.”
With that Cody stood up, whistling as he sauntered out of the library.
“Well, that didn’t go as expected,” Damien said after a moment, still looking stunned.
“Not what I was expecting from Cody of all people,” Priya admitted. “He’s right though; honesty probably would’ve fixed a lot of the issues Caleb and I went through in season two…”
“Just be honest, huh?” Damien sat back in his chair, silently mulling over Cody’s advice.
“So uh, when did this happen?” Ripper asked, motioning to Zee and Lauren. They were holding hands, as were Ripper and Axel as all four of them walked down the hall towards the conservatory.
“Well we got together yesterday,” Zee said, “but our first kiss was actually the day before during the zombie apocalypse challenge.”
“Yup!” Lauren said, beaming and blushing at the memory. “I got tripped up in the last round fighting Zombie Robot Caleb, Zee swooped in to blow him away with a shotgun, and I couldn’t help myself from kissing him.”
“Nothing more romantic than saving someone’s life in a zombie outbreak,” Axel said sincerely.
The four reached their destination. Situated directly above the ballroom, the conservatory was a large room with high ceilings and tall windows that overlooked the warehouse outside. The room was filled with a variety of plant life: topiary trimmed into a variety of shapes, leafy ferns dangling from hanging pots, and rows of colorful flowers. Most of the flora was plastic but a few were real, the scents of leaves and mulch filling the air.
Zee, Lauren, Ripper and Axel took in all of this as they entered the conservatory from the second-floor hallway. Bridgette was already there, sitting on a bench and admiring the flowers. She looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps and smiled at the new arrivals.
“Hey, what’s up, little dudes?” Bridgette asked amiably.
“Evening,” Axel said, nodding her way. “Bridgette, right? I remember you from the rewatching the original show.”
“Isn’t she the one who got voted off first in season two ‘cause she wouldn’t stop making out with her boyfriend?” Ripper asked, smirking.
“Oh, you mean the same thing that got you two eliminated last year?” Lauren said, giggling when Ripper and Axel shot her annoyed looks.
“Yeah, that was me,” Bridgette confirmed with a good-natured chuckle. “Geoff and I were young, super into each other, and we kinda got carried away.”
“Eh, I remember Geoff,” Zee said. “He was always one of my favorites of the classic contestants. You and him still together?”
“Yup! Fifteen years and still going strong.” Bridgette smiled wistfully. “Feels like just yesterday we were meeting at Camp Wawanakwa. Crazy how time flies.” She took note of how Zee held hands with Lauren, as were Axel and Ripper. “Looks like Total Drama is still bringing people together, huh? Best of luck to all of you going forward.”
“Damn, fifteen years,” Ripper said after Bridgette got up to leave. “Think we’ll still be together after that long?”
“I certainly hope so, but who knows what the future holds,” Axel said. She smiled, looking into her boyfriend’s eyes. “For now, let’s just enjoy the time we have together.”
“Sounds good to me,” Zee said, and looked to Lauren. “You wanna check out the flowers? Maybe they’ve got something carnivorous here.”
“You read my mind,” Lauren said, beaming.
The couples began walking together between the rows of pots and planters, drinking in the arrangements of plants both real and fake.
As they approached a bush of flowering hibiscuses, Zee reached out to pluck one of the purple-blue flowers. Before Lauren realized what was happening Zee turned towards her, tucking the stem of the flower behind her ear.
“There we go,” he said proudly. “A pretty flower to match your pretty eyes.”
Lauren’s cheeks turned a bright red barked out a laugh at the abruptness of Zee’s statement. “Oh stop, no they aren’t…”
“Of course they are. They remind me of one of those paintings in the haunted house where the eyes seem to follow you around the room.”
Her blush grew as Lauren let out a lovestruck sigh. Behind them, Ripper and Axel exchanged surprised glances.
“When did Zee get smooth?” A perplexed Ripper in the confessional closet.
“Ah man, we gotta find you some flowers,” Ripper said to Axel. He looked around, his eyes landing on a hanging pot where tiny blue flowers sat on vines. “Maybe these would make a good necklace?”
“Well considering that’s toxic leadwort, I wouldn’t recommend it,” Axel said. She giggled as Ripper jerked his hands back right as he was about to touch the plant. “Come on, let’s find some flowers so we can have a matching corsage and boutonniere.”
Ripper and Axel walked off towards one end of the conservatory, Zee and Lauren heading in the opposite direction. The latter pair turned to walk down an aisle, more pots and planters to one side and a large bay window to the other. Outside most of the warehouse lights had been shut off, leaving the manor and surrounding trees on the sole island of light in the middle of an ocean of darkness.
“This is a nice change of pace,” Zee finally said. “We get to see our pals that’d been voted off, relax and unwind, go to a dance later… I don’t know about you, but I’m digging how chill the vibes are today.”
“At least until Chris pulls the challenge on us,” Lauren pointed out. She giggled and gave Zee’s hand she held a gentle squeeze. “But until then, I really like spending time with…”
Lauren trailed off as she noticed something straight ahead: a plain door set into the wall, almost hidden behind some fake bushes. A lightbulb went off in her head.
“Say Zee, can we try something?” Lauren asked.
“Hmm? What’s up?”
In response Lauren led Zee along until they reached the door. Lauren tested the knob, found it unlocked, and pulled it open. The closet inside was mostly bare, save for a few empty pots in one corner and some gardening supplies lining the shelves on two of the three walls.
“I know it’s a cliché, but I’ve always wanted to sneak off at a party to make out with my boyfriend,” Lauren said, a sly smile and faint blush on her face as she led Zee inside.
Zee started to say something when Lauren pressed her lips against his. At first startled, he quickly melted into the kiss as Lauren shut the door behind them, leaving them in near darkness save for the light spilling in through the cracks between the door and the frame.
Lauren’s arms snaked around Zee’s torso, hands gliding slowly across his back. Zee’s arms encircled Lauren, one hand coming to rest on the small of her back while the other going between her shoulder blades. Their bodies pressed close together as did their lips, the air around them growing warmer by the second.
Feeling her pulse pounding in her veins and breathing heavily through her nose, Lauren found herself gently pushing forward. Not breaking the kiss, Zee allowed himself to be pushed back. Lauren pinned Zee against the bare closet wall –
- which promptly spun backwards, sending the teens tumbling to the floor with dual yelps of surprise.
“Oof, what the heck…?” Zee asked, flat on his back with Lauren on top of him. They looked up to find themselves in a very narrow corridor, a dingy lightbulb dangling from the ceiling just ahead providing meager illumination.
“Secret passage!” Lauren said, eyes sparkling. “Okay, this place just got interesting. C’mon, let’s see where it leads.”
The two climbed to their feet and made their way down the cramped confines, so narrow that they had to walk single file. They reached the bend at the end of the corridor, the turn leading to a steep staircase. As they made their way down the steps, they could feel the vibrations of others moving about in the manor proper, muffled conversations barely audible through the walls.
At the end of the corridor stood a plain door. Lauren tested the knob; it slowly, quietly swung open into the lounge – the only ones present were Gwen and Owen, standing with their backs to the door.
“Shh,” Lauren whispered to Zee as they took the small step down out of the passage. Quietly closing the door behind them, they saw the door was in fact the life-sized portrait of Chris that hung (or appeared to hang, it would seem) next to the fireplace. Gwen was speaking as they silently approached from behind.
“That’s when I said to – Jesus Christ!” Gwen yelped as she happened to glance behind her to find Lauren standing just feet away.
Owen also yelped and jerked back, accidently flinging the turkey leg off the plate he held. His head moved with instinctive swiftness, catching the drumstick out of the air with his mouth.
“Touchdown!” Zee cheered.
“Where’d you come from?” Gwen asked, eyes wide.
“Well, my parents met at a midnight screening of Saw II back in ’05,” Lauren started to say, but Gwen held up a palm.
“Forget I asked,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re… Lauren, was it?”
“Everyone calls me Scary Girl.” Lauren took Zee’s hand. “And this is Zee.”
“Yeah, I remember you from last year,” Owen said to the latter. “You got good taste in sodas, my man.”
“Thanks, brah,” Zee, said. His free hand went to the pocket inside his suit jacket. “What’s your poison? I’ve got orange, lemon-lime, root beer-”
“Ooh, toss one of those my way.”
Gwen arched an eyebrow as Zee produced two separate aluminum cans, passing one of Owen. “Where does he even keep those?”
“I’m still not sure.” Lauren giggled, leaning her head on Zee’s shoulder. “But that’s okay, I like a bit of mystery in my man.”
“You’re together?” Owen asked. He smiled as Zee nodded, raising his can in a toast. “Hey, good for you! Ah, young love. Brings me back to the carefree days of my youth. Right Gwen?”
“I mean I wouldn’t call my love life on this show carefree,” Gwen said. She shook her head and chuckled. “But it’s nice to know relationships on this show work out for someone.”
The four of them turned their heads at the sound of someone clearing their throat. The suited intern from the porch stood in the archway to the foyer, doing his best to look posh and dignified.
“Sorry to interrupt, but the uh, ball is about to begin,” he said. “Can I have you gather in the foyer while I fetch the others?”
“Sure thing, my man,” Zee said, tipping his hat.
The intern led them to the foyer, then headed up the stairs. He met Bridgette and Noah on the way up, directing them down before carrying on. He reached the billiard room where MK and Julia were in the middle of their third game, having narrowly beaten Heather and Noah earlier.
“Guess it’s showtime,” Julia said. She smirked and tossed her hair behind her shoulders. “You ready to dazzle, MK?”
“As I’ll ever be,” MK grumbled, setting her cue down across the pool table. “Dances like these have never been my thing. Way too crowded and loud.”
“Bet it gives you good opportunities to pick pockets at least, with everyone distracted,” Julia said, to which MK chuckled.
“You know me so well. Can’t do that here though, crowd’s way too small to blend in with. Guess I’ll find some other way of keeping myself occupied.”
“You can always dance with me.”
MK froze on her way towards the door. She looked at Julia, whose eyes widened as she cleared her throat.
“Dance near me, I mean,” Julia quickly clarified. “Even if your dancing sucks, I radiate enough style for the both of us.”
MK swallowed and nodded. “Sure. I’d love to dance… beside you, sounds good.”
“Right, cool.”
“Cool.”
The girls left, each trying to ignore that pleasant warmth in their chests at the thought dancing… near each other.
“You’ve got this, Damien,” Priya said encouragingly as she and Damien approached the door to the library. “After everything you’ve been through on Total Drama, this is a walk in the park.”
“I’ve got this,” Damien said to himself more than anything. “It’s just six words: Emma, would you like to dance, Emma would you like to dance, Em – Emma!!”
Damien and Priya jumped slightly as he opened the door to the library to find Emma standing there, hand reaching for the doorknob. She also leapt, but quickly recovered and cleared her throat.
“Damien! I was just looking for you,” Emma said.
She paused and glanced down the hall. Wayne, Raj and Bowie poked their heads out from around the corner, each giving her a supportive smile and thumbs up. Emma nodded and took a deep breath.
“I was wondering if-” Emma started to ask, right at the same time Damien said; “I wanted to ask you-”
They stopped short, blinking.
“Sorry, you can-” Damien said at the same time as Emma said; “Oh sorry I just-”
They stopped again, staring for a moment.
“Do you wanna dance with me?” Emma and Damien finally asked in almost-perfect unison.
Eyes wide, they looked to one another before letting out matching sheepish laughter.
“I’d uh, love to dance,” Damien said, a hint of red in his face. “If you want to, that is.”
“That’s my boy,” Priya said quietly and proudly to herself.
Emma smiled and nodded, herself blushing. “Yeah, I really wood.”
“That’s my girl,” Bowie said proudly while Raj and Wayne high-fived.
That was when the intern came up to them, politely requesting the group’s presence in the foyer. From there he proceeded down the hall to the conservatory where he found Ripper, Axel and Heather. He brought them all downstairs, where he stood before the assembled crowd – six contestants, their six plus-ones, and the six special guest starts.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the intern announced, “it is my honor to welcome you to the McLean Manor Masquerade Ball.”
With that he turned and opened the doors to the ballroom.
The crowd watched the ornate doors slowly swing open the chamber beyond, and several of them jumped back with startled cries.
The ballroom was open and spacious with a tall arched ceiling, the support pillars carved with swirling patterns. Orchestral music played over corner-mounted speakers, echoing from the acoustics. The white marble floor was big enough to hold the crowd of eighteen with room to spare.
It was in the middle of the floor that Chris McLean lay on his back, eyes shut and mouth hanging open, streams of crimson running down his forehead and staining his suit. Chef Hatchet knelt over him, wearing a Victorian-style overcoat above his usual outfit, with a deerstalker cap perched on his head. He’d been studying Chris with a magnifying glass, and looked up to see the crowd of teenagers and adults gawking at him.
“Challenge time, kids!” Chef said, standing up. “Your genre today is puzzle and logic games. Such games usually resolve around a mystery to solve.” He motioned to the “body” at his feet. “For you, it’s solving the mystery of who murdered our host, Chris McLean.”
“No-o-o-o-o!” Owen wailed in despair, startling those around him as he dropped to his knees. “He was so young!”
“Oh please,” Heather said, rolling her eyes in the confessional closet. “Chris is so old, his prom theme was fire.”
“That’s right, Chris is dead… and one of you killed him!” Chef said, pointing to Owen, Gwen, Heather, Bridgette, Cody and Noah. He turned towards the teenagers. “During tonight’s festivities, one of the veterans decided to pay Chris back from the years of torment they suffered on Total Drama. Your challenge is to search the manor for clues and determine who the culprit is.”
“Why, so we can award them the Cross of Valour?” MK asked with a smirk, earning a round of laughter.
“No, because that’s how you win immunity,” Chef said, giving her a flat look. “At any time you can come down here and formally accuse one of the guests. But you’d better be sure; if you’re wrong, not only are you out of the challenge, but you’ve made things easier for your opponents by narrowing the suspect pool. First one to correctly guess – or the last one standing – wins.”
“Sounds simple enough,” Raj said. He raised an eyebrow. “So, our partners…?”
“Someone for you to talk about the case with, discuss clues and theories. Think of them as the Watson to your Holmes.”
“Or the Hastings to our Poirot,” Damien said. Everyone turned to stare at him blankly. “Captain Hastings and Hercule Poirot? Agatha Christie?”
“I get it,” Gwen called out, giving a thumbs up.
“Thank you Gwen!”
Shaking his head, Chef crossed his arms behind his back. “Look alive, kids. Your challenge officially begins… now.”
As they’d been instructed, the veterans stood off to one side in the ballroom. The contestants and their helpers quickly broke off into two sperate groups of six.
“Let’s split up and look for clues, gang,” Raj said right away. “We should start high and work our way down. Bowie, you and I will check the conservatory.”
“Priya and I will check the library again,” Damien said.
“Which just leaves the billiards room for me and you,” Emma said to Wayne, who nodded.
“Let’s do this, people,” Bowie said firmly. “We’ve got a murder to solve.”
The six of them made their way out the door leading to the foyer while Ripper made his way up to the veterans.
“All right,” he said, crossing his arms, “which one of you is the butler?”
His question was met with six puzzled looks.
“Beg pardon?” Cody asked.
“Uh, duh! Everyone knows the butler is always the culprit in these kinds of mysteries.”
“None of us are butlers; we’re party guests,” Bridgete said. She hooked a thumb over her shoulder to where the suited intern was opening the door to the dining room. “That’s more his deal, and he’s not even a suspect.”
“… Oh.” Ripper turned to Zee and shrugged. “Welp, I’m out of ideas. Sorry dude.”
“It’s cool, we’ll figure this out,” Zee said. He rubbed his chin, looking between the doors to the dining room and foyer. “Hmm…”
As Zee pondered, the remaining four teens approached Chef, glancing down at the fallen host. Up close, they could see it was just a dummy dressed up to look like Chris.
“So, is there anything you can tell us about the uh, state of the ‘body’ or whatever?” Julia asked, using finger quotes.
“I wanna do an autopsy!” Lauren said eagerly, to which the other girls gave her concerned glances.
“That won’t be necessary,” Chef said quickly. “I can tell you that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. You’ll have to figure out the rest yourself.”
Axel examined Chris and the floor around him closely.
“He wasn’t killed here,” she said after a moment.
“How do you figure?” MK asked.
“Blood running down his face and on his clothes, but nowhere on the floor. He had to have been killed somewhere else, then brought here. To establish who could’ve killed Chris, we first need to find the murder scene. And the weapon, if possible.”
“Where did Chris go after he left the dining room?” Lauren asked.
“He didn’t say,” MK said. “But if there’s no evidence of the murder taking place here, and we were all in the lounge and dining rooms, he must’ve been killed somewhere upstairs.”
“Then let’s go,” Julia said, already making her way to the door, “we have to find the rest of the clues before those other losers.”
Lauren, MK and Axel followed her into the foyer. Ripper started to follow, but paused when he noticed Zee standing still and looking around.
“You coming, dude?” Ripper asked.
“In a bit; first, I wanna check out the ballroom,” Zee said. He approached a spot where one of a dozen brass candlesticks was mounted to the wall, an electric faux flame glowing on the end. He reached up to give it a tentative yank; it didn’t budge. “I wonder…”
Up in the library, Damien and Priya were hard at work. They’d already checked around the tables and chairs but found nothing out of the ordinary. Currently, Damien was examining the false bookshelves for anything suspicious, while Priya did the same over by the only real bookshelf.
“Find anything yet, Priya?” Damien asked, probing the rows of wooden books.
“Not yet,” Priya said, frowning as she pulled some of the books off the shelf and pushed others aside. She found nothing, then groaned as she looked upon the rest of the rows. “It’s gonna take forever to check all these – wait, what’s this…?”
Her eyes were drawn to the second shelf from the bottom. Almost all of them were dictionaries, except for a lone copy of Atlas Shrugged, far from the shelf with the other books by its author. Curious, Priya knelt and pulled the book out. She looked into the open space.
“Uh, Damien? You’re gonna wanna see this.”
Damien looked over as Priya reached between the books. His eyes widened as she pulled out a brass candlestick, one end dripping with fake blood.
“Well, I think we’ve found our murder weapon,” he said, walking over to examine the makeshift bludgeon Priya held. “That looks like one of the candlesticks from the dining room.”
“That’s one piece of the puzzle,” Priya said, turning the weapon in her hand. “Should we search the dining room next?”
“Yeah, sounds like a plan…” Damien trailed off as he looked up at the bookshelf, narrowing his eyes. “But first hold on a second.”
Raising an eyebrow, Priya watched Damien pull one of the chairs over to the shelf and stood on it. He reached for the highest shelf, where one of the thesauri was lying on its spine to stick out from its brethren.
“Sorry, but this has been bugging me since we came in here earlier,” Damien said, pushing the book into place. “There, much bett – whoa!”
He and Priya started as one of the fake bookshelves slid to one side, revealing a darkened hallway beyond.
“Looks like some kind of secret passage,” Priya said. She cautiously looked inside; a single lightbulb illuminated a narrow passage that stretched off towards a turn.
“Okay, this adds a new factor to the mystery,” Damien said, rubbing his chin. “If there are secret passages in play, the killer could have potentially used them to move around. The dining room can wait; for now, let’s see where this leads.”
“Sounds good, c’mon.”
Priya and Damien proceeded down the passage in single file. They came to the turn and found a staircase leading down, the steps creaking beneath their feet. Coming to another passage, they proceeded towards the door at the end – only to freeze when the door swung open on its own, revealing the ballroom beyond.
“Whoa! Secret passage!” They heard Ripper’s voice say. “How’d you know that was there?”
“I figured there might be more after me and Lauren found one that leads from the conservatory to the lounge,” Zee’s voice said.
“Oh, that’s what you guys were doing? Me and Axel figured you’d snuck off for a little-“Ripper stopped short as he and Zee looked into the passage. “Nerds?”
“Oh, hey Damien,” Zee said casually. “You found the secret passage too, huh? Where’d you come from?”
“We were just in the library-” Damien said, only to slap a hand over his mouth. “Oop!”
“Damien!” Priya said, aghast. “Don’t go giving intel to the competition!”
“Sorry, it just slipped out!”
“Wait, what’s that in your hand?” Ripper asked.
Priya blinked, and quickly plastered on a smile as she put the hand holding the murder weapon behind her back. “Nothing! Definitely not the murder weapon if that’s what you’re thinking, hahaha!”
“That looked like a candlestick…” Zee said, narrowing his eyes and rubbing his chin. “Like the one from the… dining room! C’mon, dude.”
Damien and Priya stepped out of the secret passage into the ballroom, the latter watching Zee and Ripper cross into the dining room.
“Damn it! Come on, before they find any clues,” Priya said. She started to move, but paused when Damien held up a hand.
“Save your energy,” Damien said, looking towards the gathered veterans. “I think I know who killed Chris McLean.”
“You do?” Chef asked, he and the others looking curiously at Damien.
“But all we’ve found so far is the murder weapon,” Priya said.
“Yes, we have. And it was hidden in the library, where the two of us went after eating and where we stayed until we got called down for the dance. Someone only could’ve hidden the murder weapon before we went upstairs. And that someone is…”
Damien pointed dramatically. “Owen!”
“Me?!” Owen asked, blinking in shock. “I would never do something like that to Chris McLean! He’s one of the coolest guys I know!”
“He stuck a bomb to your face during the season four premier,” Noah said flatly.
“Yeah, but I got better.”
“Oh, I think you would, and you did,” Damien said to Owen. “When you went back into the dining room for ‘seconds,’ you were actually grabbing one of the candlesticks. You then slipped in here, struck Chris over the head with it, used the secret passage to head upstairs to the library where you hid the murder weapon, then came back downstairs through the same passage before anyone realized you were gone. The evidence points to you as Chris’s murder, Owen.”
Damien crossed his, smiling proudly as he looked to Chef. “So, what’s the verdict?”
“Damien,” Chef said, “you are… incorrect!”
Damien’s smile dropped like a lead balloon. “What??”
“Sorry, but you’re out of the challenge,” Chef said. He pulled a cordless microphone out of his pocket and spoke into it, his voice amplified through speakers placed throughout the house. “Attention, players! A false accusation has been made, leaving five suspects. Owen is not one of them. I repeat: Owen is not the killer.”
“Told you I didn’t do it,” Owen said smugly as Damien groaned.
“Guess I jumped the gun on that one,” he muttered. “My bad.”
Priya furrowed her brow, looking at the bloodstained candlestick in her hands. “But wait, you’re right that someone had to have hidden the weapon before we got upstairs. If it wasn’t Owen… who else could it have been?”
Over in the dining room, Zee and Ripper searched around the room for anything that would indicate the entrance to a secret passage. Mostly Zee, as Ripper was constantly sneaking bites of the remaining food laid out on the tables.
“If I was a secret passage, where would I be?” Zee asked out loud. His eyes fell on the bust of Chris McLean. “Maybe…”
Zee approached the bust, studying it closely. Upon closer examination, he noticed a thin line stretching horizontally across the forehead. He felt about, and the top of Chris’s head flipped up to reveal a bright red button. Upon pressing it, a section of the wall slid away to reveal a dark hallway beyond.
“Nice find, dude!” Ripper said. “Got any ideas who done it yet?”
“Not yet, but I have some theories…” Zee said, rubbing his chin.
“Did you hear that?” Wayne asked Emma as they prepared to leave the billiard room. “Guess someone’s already out.”
“At least that narrows down the pool for us,” Emma said, shrugging. “You wanna check in on Damien and Priya, see if they found anything? Or we could help Raj and Bowie search the…”
She trailed off as they stepped out into the hallway, where they nearly bumped into MK and Julia, Lauren and Axel. Emma narrowed her eyes and nodded curtly at the new arrivals.
“Hey guys!” Lauren said cheerfully. “Great party so far, huh? Food, drinks, murder… it’s awesome!”
“Uh, sure,” Emma said, eyeing her warily.
“Wouldn’t bother with the billiard room,” Wayne said, shaking his head. “Not a single clue in there.”
With that he and Emma began making their way down the hall, the other four staring as they left.
“Think Wayne’s being honest?” Axel asked, hands on her hips. “Or is there a clue in there he’s trying to keep us from finding? Or maybe that’s what he wants us to think, and he’s trying to trick us into wasting our time looking for a clue that doesn’t exist? Reverse psychology and all that.”
“Axel, I don’t think Wayne knows how regular psychology works, let alone reverse,” Julia said bluntly.
“Still, worth checking out,” MK said. “Me and Jules will take the billiards room, you guys check one of the others.”
“On it,” Lauren said. “Come on Axel, let’s check the conservatory again.”
She and Axel began making their way down the hall while MK and Julia headed into the billiards room. The table was still laid out with the game they’d been in the middle of when the intern fetched them for the dance. The pair spent the next few minutes looking over every nook and cranny of the room, searching for anything out of the ordinary and finding nothing.
“Okay, maybe Wayne was being straight with us about there not being any clues in here,” Julia said.
“Maybe,” MK nodded, looking around near the lounge chairs. “Plus the two of us came up here right after we left the lounge, so I don’t see how anyone could have…”
“Hmm?” Julia looked over as MK trailed off and knelt beside one of the chairs. She walked over. “What’s up?”
“There’s indents in the carpet, like something was here until recently,” MK said, pointing out two square-shaped depressions in the carpeting. Her eyes went to the legs of the chair next to her. “Here, help me move this.”
Julia nodded. She and MK grabbed the chair, their combined strength allowing them to move it with ease.
A pool of red liquid stained the carpet beneath where the chair had been sitting.
“Huh,” Julia said after a moment. “Looks like we found the crime scene.”
“Hmmm… Was this chair in this spot when we were up here earlier?” MK asked.
Julia furrowed her brow, thinking. “I think so, yeah.”
“So that means the murder must’ve happened before we came up here.” MK frowned, scratching her head. “But how is that even-?”
The sound of creaking hinges cut her off. MK and Julia looked over just in time to see a section of the wall between the cue racks swung open, Zee and Ripper stepping out from the darkened corridor beyond.
“Oh! Hey girls,” Zee said. “Check it out; me and Ripper found a secret passage from the dining room.”
“Yeah, this house is full of ‘em!” Ripper said excitedly. “This is cool as hell, it’s like something out a spy movie.”
“Or maybe a murder mystery, since this is a murder mystery challenge,” Julia said flatly.
Zee glanced down and his eyes widened at the crimson stain on the floor. “Whoa, is that blood?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty sure this is where Chris was murdered,” MK said. “What I can’t figure out is how. I mean Julia and I came straight here after we ate in the lounge, so someone would have to have killed him before we got up here, which doesn’t seem possible.”
“Priya found the murder weapon in the library down the hall,” Ripper said helpfully. “They used one of the dining room candlesticks to do the deed.”
“So the weapon came from the dining room, it was hidden in the library, and the crime scene is the billiards room,” Julia mused. “I think this is coming together. There’s probably another clue in the conservatory, we should-”
Zee gasped and snapped his fingers. “I know who did it!”
“You do?” MK, Lauren and Ripper asked in unison.
Zee quickly made his way out the door, the others hurrying after them. They made their way down the stairs and through the foyer to the ballroom. Wayne was there, standing near Damien and Priya while Emma spoke to Chef.
“… so after she talked to us in the lounge, went back into the dining room, took the candlestick, came in here to kill Chris, then took the secret passage up to the library to hide the weapon,” Emma said, pointing. “Gwen is one-hundred percent the killer!”
Chef shook his head. “Sorry Emma, but you’re wrong.”
“Aw, what?” Emma’s jaw dropped. “Who else could it have been then?”
“I know,” Zee said loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “The true culprit is-”
“Heather! I guess Heather!” MK said quickly.
Everyone stared in mild shock at MK’s outburst.
“… No, it’s not Heather either,” Chef said after a moment.
“Why did you even suspect Heather?” Julia asked, raising an eyebrow.
MK shrugged. “I didn’t but I had a one in four chance of guessing correctly, so I took a shot in the dark.”
Zee shook her head. “Sorry MK, but there’s only one person who could’ve committed the murder. I can even tell you exactly how she did it.”
“She?” Wayne asked, furrowing his brow as Damien and Priya exchanged confused looks. “But the only woman left is…”
“That’s right.” Zee pointed dramatically. “Bridgette! You killed Chris McLean.”
Bridgette’s green eyes widened behind her mask. The ballroom fell silent, Zee’s accusation hanging in the air.
“That… is correct!” Chef said, smiling. He pulled out his microphone and spoke into it. “Attention players, the challenge is over! Zee has correctly identified Bridgette as the culprit and won immunity.”
Up in the conservatory, Raj and Bowie hung their heads and groaned while Lauren let out a cheer, startling Axel. The four of them made their way back downstairs to the foyer, where the real Chris was walking in through the front door. The five of them entered the ballroom where Lauren ran up to Zee to wrap him in a tight hug.
“So Bridgette was the murderer this whole time?” Raj asked, looking in confusion at the blonde woman in blue. “How’d she pull it off?”
“And how did Zee of all people figure it out?” Bowie asked, looking towards him.
“That’s what I wanna know too,” Damien said.
“Elementary, my bros,” Zee said. “Let me break it down for you: the murder weapon was a candlestick from the dining room, the murder itself took place in the billiards room, the weapon was hidden in the library, and finally Chris’s body was dumped in the ballroom. All of which happened after Chris left us in the lounge while we were eating.”
“But how could Bridgette have killed Chris?” Priya asked. “She was with us in the lounge.”
“Was she? Bridgette was with us in the dining room, yes. But does anyone remember her coming into the lounge with us?”
The other contestants fell silent as they considered Zee’s words. One by one their eyes widened with realization.
“That’s right; while we were eating and chatting, Bridgette put her plan into motion.” Zee motioned to the door to the secret passage, still hanging open. “Those secret passages were the key to the whole thing. There’s one connecting the ballroom to the library, the lounge and the conservatory, and the billiards room to the dining room.
“Bridgette grabbed a candlestick, then took the passage to the billiards room where she waited to ambush Chris. After bludgeoning him, she hid the murder weapon in the library, then used the passage to take his body down to the ballroom to create confusion. Then she took the same passage back upstairs, where she tried to make it look like she’d been in the conservatory the whole time.”
Zee smirked at Bridgette. “And that was your fatal mistake; how did you get up there before any of us? It’s only possible if you were already upstairs before the rest of us left the lounge. All of the evidence points to one outcome: Bridgette killed Chris, in the billiards room, with the candlestick.”
Bridgette was silent for a moment, then chuckled and nodded. “You got me. I murdered Chris McLean.”
“Wow Bridge, didn’t think you had it in you,” Heather said with a smirk. “I’m impressed.”
“So the rest of you didn’t know about this?” Axel asked, looking at the other veterans.
“No, they just told us we’d be special guest stars on an episode,” Cody said.
“Had I’d known the challenge involved getting to murder Chris, I would’ve volunteered as the culprit in a heartbeat,” Noah said, crossing his arms and pouting.
“Not if I got to him first,” Gwen said, chuckling.
“I didn’t actually get to do anything to Chris,” Bridgette explained. “I just went where my instructions said to go to make it look like I was the killer.”
“Yeah, but it’s the principal of the thing,” Heather said.
“Congratulations on winning immunity, Zee,” Chris said, walking up and clapping him on the shoulder, “and for avenging the death of a beloved television personality.”
Heather, Gwen and Noah snorted back laughs, earning a sharp look from Owen.
“As for the rest of you,” Chef said, “one of you is going home tonight.”
Damien shot a dirty look at Lauren, who smiled at him as she cuddled closer to Zee.
“So… what happens now?” Emma asked, looking around.
“Now the challenge is over, so it’s time for all of our guests to leave,” Chris said.
“Wait, seriously?” Raj asked, frowning. “We don’t even get to dance at that ball you mentioned?”
“Nope! You guys have had way too much fun today already.”
“Aw…” Raj hung his head, but Bowie put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, don’t worry,” Bowie said kindly. “After the season’s over, we’ll go out dancing to celebrate.”
Raj sniffled, smiled and nodded. “It’s a date.”
They embraced, their lips coming together in a tender kiss. When they separated Wayne swooped in to wrap Raj in a bear hug of his own.
“Good luck with the rest of the game, Rajjy!” Wayne said. “You got this, bro!”
“And good luck to you too,” Bowie said, looking towards Emma. “I’m rooting for Raj, but if anyone else here is gonna win, I hope it’s you.”
“Aw, thanks Bowie,” Emma said, beaming.
“Best of luck, Damien,” Priya said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Me and Millie are cheering for you.”
“I’ll make you guys proud,” Damien said firmly. “I made it this far, time to go all the way.”
Ripper and Axel wished Zee and Lauren luck with the rest of the game. Behind them, Julia approached MK.
“Bet you’re relieved to not have to dance after all,” Julia said casually.
“I mean, yeah, not gonna lie,” MK said. She paused, glancing at Julia. “Still, getting to dance with- near you wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world, I guess.”
“Well… maybe when this is all over, we can go dancing sometimes. Hit up the club or something.” Julia smirked. “Or if you don’t want anyone to see your terrible moves, I can always chat up some loser while you grab whatever’s in their pockets.”
MK smirked back. “Now you’re talking my language. Bring it in, girlfriend.”
She held out her arms and Julia stepped into the embrace. They stood together for several long seconds, holding each other close and trying to not acknowledge how right it felt.
“By the way, if I see you at the loser’s hotel before the finale, I’m kicking your ass,” Julia said pleasantly when she finally pulled away.
MK barked out a laugh. “If I lose after making it this far, I’d let you. Good thing that ain’t happening.”
“It better not.” Julia’s smile was one of genuine encouragement and respect. “You already got the better of me, so you’re not allowed to lose.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” MK said, trying to ignore the way Julia’s smile had her heart flutter in her chest.
As a group the players made their way out of the foyer, back to the dressing room where they changed back into their regular outfits. Chris led the entire group out of the manor, through the warehouse and back into the residence area. The contestants watched their friends and loved ones file out the door towards the bus idling outside, next to where cars were parked.
“See you later, little dudes,” Cody said as he left.
“Good luck on the rest of the game,” Bridgette said, curtsying.
“And try not to let Chris talk you into coming back for more seasons,” Gwen said with one-hundred percent sincerity.
“Weird Goth Girl is right,” Heather added. She returned the look that Gwen gave her, and both women rolled their eyes with a shared chuckle.
“And if you do, you can do way better on the reality TV circuit than Total Drama,” Noah said.
“Later Chris!” Owen said, smiling and waving. “Call me if you need any more cameos!”
“By the way,” Cody said to him, “I’ve been meaning to ask: how do you still look so young?”
Owen shrugged. “I’ve got good genes.”
One by the one the veterans took their leave. The warehouse felt much emptier with only the six contestants left, the pending elimination looming over their heads.
“Players, you’ve done well to make it this far,” Chris said that night in the elimination chamber. Chef stood behind him while five contestants sat before him, Zee watching from the peanut gallery. “But for one of you, your game ends tonight. Chef, if you would?”
“Damien,” Chef said, “you’re probably one of the smartest ones left in the game, but you were first out when you made a guess without all the evidence.”
“Yeah, I botched it today,” Damien admitted, sighing.
“MK. Your partner in crime may be gone but you went along with a lot of her schemes, which hasn’t won you many friends.”
“Like I was ever here to make friends,” MK said, pointedly ignoring the empty chair beside her.
“Scary Girl, you’re still very scary, and your antics this season have made you a lot of enemies.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Lauren said innocently.
At Chris’s instructions, the six made their way to cast their votes. The hosts counted them in silence.
“Hm. I see,” Chris said simply, setting the last vote down and picking up a foil-wrapped coin from the platter on the podium. “Zee, for solving my murder you get the first extra life.”
Zee nodded and stood. As he made his way to the front of the room, without warning he leaned down to give Lauren a quick peck on the cheek, earning a startled squeak.
“For luck,” he said, smiling. She giggled and smiled back.
“Man, I’m still not used to that,” Damien said, perturbed.
“Is it any weirder than Ripper and Axel?” Raj asked.
“Good point.”
“MK,” Chris said, getting everyone’s attention. “You get the next extra life.
“Then Emma.
…
…
…
…
…
…
“Damien.”
Lauren and Raj both sat with crossed arms, his expression intense, her smile expectant.
“The last extra life goes to…
…
…
…
…
…
...
…
…
…
…
…
…
“… Scary Girl.”
Raj’s eyes popped open. “Huh??”
“As expected,” Lauren said, giggling at the shocked looks on his, Damien and Emma’s faces. “Thanks for helping me get rid of Julia, by the way.”
“That was you that voted for her?” Emma asked. She glanced towards MK, who looked away with a stoic expression.
Lauren’s smile became a grin as she fixed her icy gaze on Damien. “And I had a feeling I’d be next on your hit list. Too bad for you any tiebreaker would go to me.”
Damien sucked in a breath through gritted teeth, bringing a palm to his forehead. “Oh, we forgot the tiebreaker rule!”
“Yup! I’ve got a win from the rhythm game and survival horror challenges. How much immunity did you win, Rajjy?”
“One…” Raj said, shoulders slumping.
“Sorry Raj,” Lauren said as she snatched her token and stood beside Zee. “But for you, it’s game over.”
“Do not steal my lines,” Chris said, shooting her a flat stare as Chef opened the curtain to the Tunnel of Failure.
Raj nodded and stood. He kept his head high as he approached Emma and Damien. The former looked back at him, downcast, the latter keeping his gaze on the floor.
“Sorry man,” Damien muttered. “We should’ve tried going for MK, I-”
“You’re cool, bro,” Raj said, smiling gently. He put his hands on their shoulders. “We tried our best and got outplayed, it happens. Good luck to you both, I’ll be cheering for you.”
They shared one last group hug, then Emma and Damien watched as Raj made his way down the corridor.
“Well, that’s it for me,” Raj said with a sigh in his final confessional. “This season was a rollercoaster. Sucks that I outlasted Wayne and Bowie without even competing with them… But I also managed to make it far on my own.” He gave a small, proud smile. “On the bright side, at least I took Julia out before I went! That one was for you, Bowie.”
Raj reached the glowing neon red of the GAME OVER door, pushing it open. The rain was just starting to pick up again, and he braced himself to step out into the chill.
“And then there were five,” Chris said as the door slammed shut. “We’re on the home stretch now, folks. Tune in to see who will join the ever-growing list of losers next time on Total! Drama! Level Up!”
