Episode 6

## Episode 6a: The Write Idea

**As breakfast before the challenge begins, one house is revealed to be currently acting gloomy, two contestants catch onto another, and, with a shocking reveal, one contestant has a hair change. Soon, two new helpers and a new intern arrive as Chris introduces this day's challenge.**

### Episode

The most recent elimination caused quite a stir among the remaining contestants, some in a positive light, and some in a very negative light. There were several days between the previous challenge and the next to allow for things to simmer down, and sure enough, they did. Some students were still bitter, such as Roo ((and surprisingly, Starr)), though for the most part, things were back to normal. As shocked as some were, most everyone was glad that they were still in the game, even if others weren’t. That was what they had signed up for, wasn’t it?

Convening in the breakfast hall as they did every morning, it was quickly obvious when somebody was late. This morning, it appeared that Rosemary wasn’t present, which surprised her teammates. She was always prompt, if not the first one to arrive.

Roo, who was still in a tizzy over the most recent elimination, had become even more protective of his teammates, for fear that they would go next. Scooting his chair next to Jasten and Chloe, he glanced at them. “Any idea where Rosemary is? It’s not like her ta miss brekkie.” he observed.

“Maybe she overslept? It happens to the best of us, you know.” Chloe pointed out. “I wouldn’t worry” xe added.

“That’s good oil; I s’pose I should wait a bit before getting all worked up over nothing.” Roo agreed. He knew he was being more on edge as of late, and he tried to restrain himself. It took all his self-control not to jog out everything on his mind, which he still couldn’t do thanks to his leg. It was healing quickly, but still a ways off from being usable again.

“Good oil…?” Chloe repeated. Xe wasn’t terribly savvy on Australian slang, which Roo had been using more freely as he’d grown comfortable with the other students.

“It means, ‘good idea’, I think? Something like that.” Jasten inferred, thinking of the context in which Roo used the phrase.

“That’s bang on, lil bun! Sorry, sometimes the things I say don’t make a lick of sense, do they?” Roo laughed, scratching the back of his head. He felt a bit self-conscious, though Jasten and Chloe were quick to reassure him.

“Oh, not at all! It’s actually fun to be learning new phrases and idioms.” Chloe insisted readily, not wanting Roo to worry, since he seemed to do enough of that as is.

Jasten was about to chime in with his own sentiments, though he was interrupted by the opening of the cafeteria doors. Turning to take a glance, they recognized Rosemary as she entered the room. However, an accompanying group of gasps sounded as everyone got a look at her.

Rosemary avoided eye contact as she entered the room, knowing that all eyes were on her. After all, her long red locks were no more. Instead, her hair was cropped short, and was not her natural blonde color. The pixie cut actually looked rather fitting on her, but it was the shock of the drastic change that lingered in people’s minds at this moment. Rosemary quickly grabbed a tray of food before sitting down at the Larkhill table.

“Good morning, darlings!” she cooed, though her friendly tone sounded a bit forced at this time.

“Rosemary, you hair- what happened?” Calliope asked in shock. “I mean, it looks adorable on you, but it’s so… so different!” she gasped, marvelling at the change. Calliope glanced from Riley to Rosemary, observing their hairstyle was actually quite similar now, though the color varied greatly.

“Oh, this? I just fancied a bit of change.” she laughed, taking a bite of oatmeal.

“A bit? I wonder what a lot of change would have looked like, then.” Wallace joked. “Looks good, though.” he added simply before focusing back on a book he was reading. He looked a bit distant this morning, for reasons unknown.

Curiously enough, multiple members of Larkhill looked rather out of it as they occupied the table, and the usual chatter was severely lessened to only a few brief conversations. Jasten looked around, and noticed that even Starr had a dazed look in her eyes- she’d been this way for a couple of days now. It seemed that Chloe was the only other person at the table acting normal, and this bothered him. He didn’t dare prod into the lives of others, though, and left it be for the time being.

“So, how are you this morning?” Calliope asked softly as she turned to Riley. Riley was more silent than usual; ever since Leo’s astrology reading, she’d been preoccupied with her thoughts, experiencing a bit of a mental dilemma. Riley didn’t even hear Calliope the first time she asked, and instead, Riley mindlessly poked at her meal.

“Riley, are you alright?” Calliope asked, a little louder now. This startled Riley slightly, and she sat up straight, clearing her throat.

“My apologies. I… didn’t sleep well last night.” she blurted out, though she wasn’t lying.

“Oh, I see… if it’s any consolation, I can’t say I’ve been my usual self lately either.” she mused quietly. Riley nodded in response, and the duo fell into silence.

Across the cafeteria, things were marginally more lively at the Hawkfield table. At the very least, only Cain was uncharacteristically subdued. He could feel Starr’s glare focused on him from her team’s table- she was setting her sights on him. Admittedly there was only so much she could do while they were on separate teams, but Cain felt the heat nonetheless. Not only that, but with one of his few allies gone, he had to reconfigure his plan, lest he be one of the next to go.

“Feeling under the weather again?” Angelo asked with a bit of concern. Not being close to anyone in particular, the lavender-haired boy was trying to be a little more amiable towards his team in general, at least hoping to form one bond of some sort so he was not completely on his own.

“I’ve seen better days.” Cain admitted, pursing his lips. “How about yourself, though? You seem relaxed, as per usual.” he observed.

“Relaxed, hm? Well, I can’t say I’m in a bad mood, honestly. So perhaps I am doing fairly well.” he considered. The duo fell into silence, before Angelo spoke up again. “I don’t know if you’d be interested, but I have some natural remedies that may pick up your mood?” he offered.

“Like the aromatherapy you performed at the talent show?” Cain asked- he’d completely forgotten about it due to the other events that had transpired. However, he recalled how it proved effective, even in the talent show demonstration.

“Indeed- I keep a variety of oils with me, and I could make something to clear your sinuses and relax any muscle tension.” Angelo said. “I may not know science like Quinn, but… in a way, this is my chemistry.”

“I see; well, I actually would rather appreciate that, if you would.” Cain mused. He was surprised that Angelo was being so friendly- he figured the entirety of Swanfen outright hated him given how he acted in the cheerleading challenge. Angelo saw the puzzled look on his face, and could assume what he was getting at.

“I… I try not to hold grudges.” he said softly, smiling slightly.

“Is that so? That’s reassuring to hear.” Cain nodded his head, smiling slightly in return.

Khadija listened to Cain and Angelo carefully, her eyes glued to a book even though her ears were open and aware. She briefly looked up at Angelo, and he glanced back at her.

“Hm?” he let out a slight hum of curiosity as Khadija looked to him.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just noticing… you’re less flirtatious than normal.” she said, and was correct. He’d progressively toned down his attempts as of late, so it seemed. Angelo hadn’t even realized and laughed with a hint of nervousness to his tone.

“I suppose so….” Angelo conceded awkwardly.

Across the table, Addison was staring in shock at Rosemary. So she’d chopped off her hair? What a surprise it was…. now, Addison had not given up her pursuit of imitating Rosemary. If anything, she was merely calculating her next moves carefully, as the merge and subsequent challenges had rendered the situation turbulent. As she looked at Rosemary, Kara cleared her throat.

“So, are you going to cut your hair now? It’d be pretty funny- you seem like the type to treasure your long locks.” Kara noted, causing Addison to nearly fall out of her chair in surprise.

“What– what would make you say that?” Addison asked, feigning innocent curiosity.

Kara raised a brow. “Oh, come on. You’ve been trying to mimic her style since the beginning, right? I mean, you’ve toned it down for now…” Kara was more observant than people gave her credit for, and as she was not preoccupied with other relationships, she’d quickly noticed Addison’s antics back when they were on Eaglemoor.

“That’s so silly! Why would I copy Rosemary?” Addison giggled in amusement, though she was internally seething.

“I don’t know. I wanted to ask, though I figured you react like you are now- defensive denial and all that.” Kara shrugged. Emeris now gained a slight interest in the discussion, eavesdropping.

“Denial? I’m simply confused as to why you think I would do such a–” she was cut off by Emeris.

“So that’s what you were doing? I just thought you were fickle as hell.” he grunted. As another person joined the conversation, Addison began to sweat. This wasn’t good at all- and if they drew the attention of any more people, she could really be in for it.

“Keep your voice down, or people may get the wrong idea!” she pleaded softly.

“Or get the right idea.” Kara retorted, crossing her arms. “But fine. I don’t give a damn what you’re up to, as long as you’re not causing me any trouble.”

Addison gritted her teeth, wanting to deck Kara in the face. However, she simply ignored her for now, turning to look at Emeris.

“Find a new target. Rosemary is probably too nice to tell you to step off, but I’m not.” Emeris growled slightly, eyes narrowing. He was issuing a warning of sorts; he wasn’t sure why he felt the need to defend Rosemary…. but she was clearly in a funk this morning, so he figured he could at least make sure Addison wasn’t further trouncing her mood.

“That’s– ah, there’s no point. You really think that’s what I’m up to?” she mused, hoping her act was convincing. It always was… though Emeris was a difficult one to convince. Inhaling sharply, she was about to say something else, though Quinn’s voice interrupted them, as she spoke rather loudly to Leo.

“So, you see now, right? I know what I’m doing!” she said, smiling brightly.

“Hm… I apologize for doubting you. I still am reluctant to be your lab rat, though.” they said resolutely, causing Quinn to frown slightly.

“What? But I showed you that you have nothing to worry about.” she argued.

“True, but maybe I want to stay the way I am! My sleeping habits have improved as of late, and I’m feeling less groggy as I’ve gotten used to getting up early.” they explained. “Why are you so insistent on using me to test your concoctions, anyways?”

Quinn paused as she was asked this- she didn’t really know off the top of her head. “Well I-…. huh. I guess…” she paused, considering this. “Well, I guess it’s because I like being around you, Leo.” she said bluntly. They didn’t expect her to say this, and such an answer made Leo blush slightly.

“Well, we can still hang out together even if you’re not experimenting on me.” they said, rolling their eyes.

“I guess you’re right…” Quinn murmured, never having considered this possibility. “You know, Leo, you’re pretty wise- fitting that you were in Owlsward, right?” she laughed.

At this moment, Chris entered the cafeteria, causing all conversation to cease. Behind him, there were two interns. The recognizable Alli, and… someone new? She had medium brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail, and a standing slouch that indicated she would rather be anywhere than standing next to Chris McLean.

“Wow, the lot of you look awfully sad. Who died?” Chris laughed, though was slightly irritated by the lack of enthusiasm from his contestants. “You better cheer up, because it’s challenge time! You can’t go competing with sad scowls like those, you know.” he rolled his eyes. As he spoke, the new intern punched his arm.

“What, I don’t even get an introduction?” she huffed irately. Chris’ eye visibly twitched as he took a slow inhale, clearing this throat.

“Of course… well, all of you have meet Annie the intern, right? Well, we’ve got another one now. Hopefully you won’t have to see much of her.” Chris said flatly. Alli sighed, resigned to the fate of never having her name remembered by Chris. the new intern stepped forward.

“I have a name, McLean. And my name doesn’t make people want to hurl when they hear it, unlike someone I know.” she huffed, glowering at Chris, who simply held his tongue.

“Yeah, yeah. Her name is Krista, and she’s a royal pain–” Chris began, though Krista elbowed him in the side.

“Please don’t tell me I’m the only one confused here.” Calliope murmured, looking around.

“You’re really not.” Wallace sighed, hardly looking up from his book.

Alli stepped forward, explaining the situation. “Kirsta’s mom and Chris are dating, so that’s how she got the job.”

The thought of McLean dating anyone sent a disturbed shiver through the crowd, and Krista laughed.

“My reaction exactly. I don’t even want to be here- I just want the paycheck.” Krista scowled.

“Okay, I’ve had enough of you two! Abby, go get me a soy latte…. and take Krista with you! Have her try and get a job at Starbucks while you’re there.” Chris groaned, giving a sigh of relief as the two interns left.

“Is it sad that that’s not the strangest thing I’ve seen all morning?” Kara retorted sarcastically.

“Oh, sass me now…” Chris smirked suddenly, able to take on his usual demeanor once the two interns were out of the way. “So, where was I? Ah, yes! Today’s challenge!” he said, cackling. “I think you’ll find I put together quite a fun romp for you all today. Must have been my good mood that inspired today’s event.” he said sarcastically, causing a ripple of worry to wash over the students.

“But first, we ought to bring in our two helpers for the day!” he noted, and the doors opened once again. To returning contestants sauntered in, both with arms crossed out of habit.

By this point, Calliope had been acknowledged as the resident expert, and anyone who didn’t know the two cameos turned to her for an explanation. She blushed slightly, glad to be of use.

“That would be Dylan from Total Drama Tumblr, and Cleo from Total Drama City- am I right?” she giggled.

“Calliope knows her stuff.” Cleo noted with a nod of her head. “I kind of expected that though.” she added with a slight laugh.

“McLean, I hope you know I only showed up because Claire won’t stop apologizing to me ever since she got home.” Dylan informed him dryly. “She won’t even tell me why she’s apologizing.” he said, at a loss. It seemed that the episode with Claire’s cameo hadn’t yet aired on television.

“Oh, she’ll get over it.” Chris laughed, amused that it had bothered her so deeply. “So, then, can any of you students figure out what these two contestants have in common?” he asked.

“They’re both tan?” Leo guessed, rolling their eyes.

“They’re both snarky?” Calliope figured, tapping her chin.

“While both of those things are true, they’re not the answer I was looking for! Not that I figured you’d be able to get it.” Chris laughed. “You see, both of these tan snarks are extremely observant. Cleo runs a multitude of fandom blogs that catalog every observable detail of a series, while Dylan is our resident genius that made it far in his season thanks to be a chessmaster of sorts. Both of them would be valuable assets in this challenge… though each team will have one of them at their disposal.” Chris explained.

“So then, what’s the challenge?” Chloe asked curiously.

“I was getting to that, you know.” Chris rolled his eyes. “Today’s challenge is my take on journalism, if you will.” he began. “Each team will need to produce a school newspaper by day’s end. This wouldn’t be too challenging, but of course… there’s always a twist.”

“To write a newspaper, you need stories- interesting ones that your readers will want to know about. Thus, the second aspect of the challenge. Your newspaper must include one article about every member of the opposing team, and that’s where things get fun. I’ll be the only judge this time around, and I want you to really give me something worth reading. Dig deep, and use your resources to find out all you can about each other. This may be hard for some of you, if you have friends on the other team- especially if your teammates know who those people are. Not to give any ideas…. but Jasten would likely know some things about Emeris, wouldn’t he?” Chris tossed out the suggestion, a toxic grin on his face while Emeris’ eyes widened slightly.

“Those are your only instructions. You know what I want to read, though will you have to guts to expose it? I’ll be curious to see…. and as for the two helpers here, you get one of them to help you dig up information and compile your newspaper. Cleo, why don’t you go give Larkhill a hand? Dylan, that leaves you with Hawkfield.”

The two guests nodded, moving to stand by their respective teams. An unsettling feeling stewed among the students as their mission was made clear. Some were excited for the challenge, ready to win at all costs. Others were nervous as to what would be said about them.

“Well, that’s all I have to say!” Chris laughed, relishing in the nervous expressions of the students. He then turned on his heel, exiting the cafeteria. The cameraman followed him into the hall, where he winked to the lens.

“If you thought the last challenge was brutal, how do you think these kids will handle having to expose one another’s deepest secrets? I sure hope nobody’s been too trusting… you never know who would sell you out for a good story.” Chris said ominously. “What exactly will the contestants uncover, and will anyone come out unscathed? Find out when we return… on Total. Drama. HIGH SCHOOOOOOOOL!” Chris signed off dramatically, a nearly demonic laugh escaping his lips as it cut to a commercial.

And advertisement played to endorse a convention coming the Total Drama City- DramaCon2015. Images of various cosplayers showed up on screen, including a rather convincing Julia cosplayer….

### Cast

#### Staff

* Chris McLean
* Chef Hatchet
* Cleo (First apperance)
* Dylan (Frist Apperance)
* Krista (First Apperance)
* Alli

#### Contestants

* Addison
* Angelo
* Cain
* Calliope
* Chloe
* Emeris
* Jasten
* Kara
* Khadija
* Leo
* Quinn
* Riley
* Rosemary
* Roo
* Starr
* Wallace

### Trivia

General

* This episode's title was created by Jack.
* This part is currently the shorted part of the series

Continuity

* This Episode is the first episode where Phoenix doesn't appear as a contestant
* This episode marks the first apperance of Krista the Internt
* It also markst he first apperance of Dylan and Cleo from Total Drama Tumblr and Total Drama City respectively.
* This episode marks the first apperance of Rosemary having her hair cut and dyed blonde.
* This episode marks the first time a contestant has caught onto Addison
* In this case, it's Kara.

#### References

* The part's title is a reference to the phase "The Right Idea."

## Episode 6b: A Truly Pressing Matter

**As the two houses and their helpers help formulate a plan of attack against the other. Several secrets get spilled in a completely heartwrentching session. Before the episode ends, one contestant winds up attacking another, leaving us off on a dramatic cliffhanger.**

### Episode

“Alright, you guys. Listen up- this is journalism. You may want to to tiptoe around the inevitable, but there’s no limit to what we can do in a challenge like this. You could even go as far as to say that the limit does not exist!” Cleo paced in front of Larkhill, giving a lecture of sorts. This was her forte, and she was determined to lead her team to victory. “I can only help you so much, so I’m going to need you to step up to the challenge and fess up to what you know.” he said, making eye contact with each team member she walked by. She was feeling rather ruthless, as hearing of Chris dating anyone other than Chef soured her mood.

“I’ll do my part. I love everyone here, but this is a competition. Secrets gotta come out at some point, so may as well speed it up and let ‘em down easy, right?” Starr reasoned, twirling a curly lock around her finger. She didn’t care much about the people still in the competition, save for a select few. She figured that if she needed to hurt some feelings, she could get away with it in the name of winning the challenge.

“That’s the spirit, Starr!” Cleo encouraged, grinning. “Secrets are… impossible to keep. And if we get them out now, we can prevent it from happening later.” she said; she was aware that this was terrible reasoning, but it seemed to be enough to engage the Larkhill students.

“I don’t know, I just… I really don’t know if I can do this.” Chloe sighed, scratching the back of xer head. “I know this is a challenge and we need to win, but I just don’t think this is something I can do…” xe mumbled reluctantly, not wanting to be seen as weak by xer team.

Pausing to consider this, Cleo nodded her head. “Okay, how about this? Chloe, you can be the editor-in-chief. You don’t have to dig up anything, you just need to write it into a juicy story. You’re a great writer, at least with poetry, right? So you can find out how to word everything right.” Cleo compromised.

“That’s fair, actually. Okay… I’ll do the writing with what I’m given.” Chloe agreed, glad to be given some form of a pass in order to not have to try and dig up anything incriminating.

Cleo then moved to write down the names of every Hawkfield member on a whiteboard. “Okay, these are our targets. We need at least one interesting fact or secret about each of them, and we can work from there. I’m counting on the fact that some of you are close to members of the other team, or you know them well enough to know how to get information out of them.”

Wallace then raised his hand, momentarily breaking out of his slump to offer advice. “Won’t everyone be on their guard about themselves today? It’s not like we can casually unearth anything when they know that’s what we’re looking for.” he muttered.

“Well, that’s valid to say. But how would we work around it?” Rosemary asked curiously, resigned to the theme of the challenge. She simply hoped she could skate by without too much trouble occurring. Rosemary gave a slight yawn when she finished speaking, as she had just taken a nap.

“That’s what I was getting at. Jasten, don’t you have those little robot things you used in the last challenge?” he asked, and a lightbulb seemed to go off throughout the team. “Surely you have them- and if you don’t, you know how to make them.” Wallace cornered Jasten on the subject.

“Well, yeah, I have them… I… are you meaning that we should use them?” he concluded, hoping that the obvious wasn’t correct. He didn’t want to use them for nefarious purposes, but it seemed as though he would have little choice.

“That’s actually pretty brilliant.” Riley conceded, crossing her arms. “I’m sure we can pick up some good information with that, and even hear what they plan to say about us.” she noted. “Having those little bots could win the challenge for us, if you’re willing to use them.” she added, glancing at Jasten.

Jasten looked at the ground nervously, feeling Riley’s gaze on him. He thought back to their conversation, and he knew he couldn’t hold back something that would help the team. “Yeah…. I guess… I guess we can use them. If it’s for the sake of the challenge, I mean.” Jasten forfeited finally.

“Those will be perfect! Four for you, Jasten Fifer!” Cleo cheered, grinning. Calliope giggled softly in the background as she caught the reference, and Cleo was further encouraged that someone had caught her reference. “You better go grab those- they’re not hard to use, are they?”

“Not at all. I’ll be right back; they’re in my room.” Jasten explained before scampering away. Roo and Rosemary watched him go, concerned that he’d been roped into the strategy in such a major way. Were they to fail, it could make quite the scapegoat out of him. And if they won? The other team would surely have their sights on him. A low hum of disapproval rumbled in Roo’s throat, and he took a deep breath.

“I just don’t know if any of this will come good. Even if we win, it’s not worth a Zack if we end up hurtin’ everyone.” Roo objected warily. Wallace glanced at his teammate and tried to think of how they could make him comply. Roo and Rosemary were the two most opposed to the purpose of the challenge; although everyone seemed to be upset over it, most complied due to moral obligation, or due to wanting to win. Wallace put his arm around Roo’s shoulder.

“Buddy, buddy. It’s not the most pleasant challenge, but I think it’s important that we do win. After all, four of the people who voted off your little buddy are on that team, and chances are that one of them will be picked off when they lose, you know?” Wallace reasoned, trying to convince Roo. “I mean, don’t you want those people gone after they voted Phoenix off?”

Roo considered this and took a deep breath. “I…. well…. I’m in no pozzy to judge ‘em for voting… but… I am still right livid about it… okay. I’ll give it a burl, alright?” he gave in, looking to Wallace. The ginger boy wasn’t sure of the native slang, but Cleo gave an understanding nod towards Roo, as she was also from Australia.

“That’s the spirit! And don’t worry, mate, they’ve got Buckley’s chance of winnin’!” she insisted, grinning as her accent came through. Roo’s eyes lit up, and they shared a moment of camaraderie.

“Ace! I didn’t realize you’re an Aussie, too! You hide the accent right well, you know.” Roo chuckled, easing up as the issue seemed to be temporarily resolved. Cleo lightly elbowed him, smirking.

“Aye, I sometimes talk well enough like an American, don’t I? It’s as if the accent’s gone walkabout when I’m in the States.” she noted, snickering. “Anywho, we best get back on track. I got a plan for some of these Hawkfield blokes, if you’re willing to work with me.” she began, pointing back to the whiteboard they huddled around.

They then broke into discussion as Jasten returned with his buggybots, while the camera cut away to Dylan and Hawkfield. He also had a whiteboard, and was loosely scrawling the names of the Larkhill students on it. Although chicken scratch, the lot could mostly figure out what was being written.

“Before we begin, may I volunteer myself as editor? I am rather skilled in writing- much more than I can say I am as a reporter or interviewer.” Khadija explained, crossing her legs as she looked at the board.

“I don’t see why not. Somebody’s got to do it, anyways.” Dylan reasoned. He was admittedly looking forward to this challenge, as he was a bit of a sinister fellow when he wanted to be, and expected for the students to get particularly ruthless in the thick of the competition.

“While I don’t like being involved in something so mean-spirited, it’s for the sake of the team, so I’ll do whatever I can!” Addison professed, while Kara and Emeris rolled their eyes at her theatrics. She caught sight of this and suppressed a toxic remark, vowing to get them back later.

“I agree wholeheartedly with Addison. This is a competition, mind you. I don’t enjoy hurting others, but we’re just doing what we must.” Cain said, maintaining a noble tone while observing the situation. His team more or less liked his company- at the very least, they didn’t hate him like Starr and some choice members of Larkhill.

“You all seem eager to toss aside your humanity.” Emeris grumbled under his breath. He was increasingly unhappy with this challenge, knowing what was at stake for some of the people he had to report on. He wasn’t one to throw away his opportunity in the competition, but knowing what he did… he was genuinely worried for what was to come.

“What? And you think we should hand over the challenge to the other team because you’re afraid to step on some toes?” Addison laughed, her saccharine tone starting to grate on Emeris’ nerves.

“That’s not what I said at all, but thanks for twisting my words.” Emeris said through gritted teeth, before falling silent. Dylan observed this animosity, wondering if he could use it towards the team’s advantage. He silently wondered what caused such friction between Emeris and Addison, not immediately catching onto Addison’s true nature.

“We need to be willing to step out of our comfort zones if we hope to win. Larkhill is likely having to do the same, and they’re a lot more softhearted if you ask me.” Leo observed, crossing their arms. “I’m all about respecting other people's’ privacy, but I’d rather get in there and win the challenge before they can even touch on what we have to keep private.”

Quinn was listening to the entire discussion, but also digging around in her bag as if she was looking for something. She remained quiet while they spoke, grinning slightly as she felt around her backpack. Leo took sight of this, and for a moment, they felt a bit worried. Khadija also took note, and glanced at Quinn.

“What are you looking for?” she asked, raising a brow as she pulled a dry-erase marker out from under her hijab. She fixed Dylan’s sloppy handwriting, hoping he wouldn’t mind. He honestly didn’t, stepping away from the board and allowing her to write.

“I just came up with something the other day- I think it works, and if it does… then we’ve got this challenge won without a doubt.” Quinn revealed, and suddenly her eyes lit up. She pulled out a water bottle, though a thick blue liquid sloshed around inside.

“That looks… interesting.” Angelo murmured, raising a brow as he eyed the contents of the water bottle. “What exactly is that?” he asked curiously.

“What you see before you is a one-hundred percent, bona fide truth serum!” Quinn announced proudly, though she was met with skeptical looks. She frowned slightly at the lack of enthusiastic reception. “Hey, come on, I though you’d be a little more amped?”

“I don’t know if I buy into the concept of a truth serum.” Dylan muttered, and Emeris nodded in agreement. “Can you prove to us that it works?” he asked curiously.

“Well, would any of you be willing to try it?” Quinn asked, glancing around the table. None of them noticed the small bug-like robot that was tucked under Cain’s chair. The members of Hawkfield looked at one another, shaking their heads. Dylan sighed, about to force one of them to volunteer, when he saw Krista the intern puttering around in the background. Grinning slightly, Dylan waved her over.

“Hey! Krista, is it? Mind helping us out?” he called out to her. She trudged over, raising a brow.

“Depends. What do you want, and what’s in it for me?” she groaned. Dylan yanked the water bottle out of Quinn’s hand, and poured a bit of the solution into the lid of the water bottle. He extended the cap towards her.

“Drink this, and I’ll give you fifty bucks.” he promised her. Krista rolled her eyes, considering the prospect of money. She was only here in the first place for a paycheck- she may as well take up the offer.

“Oh, fine. But if it kills me, I’m suing.” she muttered, instantly downing the contents of the water bottle cap. She made a face as the taste was peculiar to her, narrowing her eyes when she looked back at Dylan. “Now fork over the fifty bucks.” she demanded.

“No thanks. I was lying, which is something you hopefully won’t be able to do anymore.” Dylan snickered, waiting to see if things panned out as Quinn said they would. It seemed impossible, but it was now put to the test.

“Are you freaking kidding me?! You are such an ass- and to think I thought you were cute back when I watched your season of Total Drama–” Krista paused, clasping her hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened slightly, and Dylan looked both amused and shocked.

“Oh, really? That’s something I didn’t need to know.” Dylan snickered, leaning back in his chair as he waited to see what she would say next.

“What the hell is wrong with me?! I did not mean to say that. I mean, sure, I still think you’re actually really hot and I think it was totally out of left field for you to hook up with Claire but– WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?!” Krista seething, shaking her head. She turned on her heels, quickly trying to get out of the situation. As she left, Dylan burst into laughter, wiping a tear from his eyes.

“Okay, Quinn, congratulations. You’re my new favorite person. Also, I need you to figure out how we can get everyone on Larkhill to drink this crap.” he said, snickering.

“Can do, captain.” she agreed. She was elated that her serum worked, and the rest of Hawkfield appeared to be a mix of impressed and mildly terrified, should Quinn ever turn against them for whatever reason.

“We should have a backup plan, though. How else can we get under people’s skin?” Dylan asked, looking over the group. Leo tentatively raised their hand, a bit nervous to volunteer themselves.

“If you can get me the birthdays of the Larkhill students, I can consult their sign.” they said with conviction. Some were still skeptical of astrology, but after the talent show, many were convinced of their ability, or at least of Leo’s intuition.

“Okay, sure. I’ll buy that, I guess. I mean, we’ve got a working truth serum at our disposal, so I guess anything’s possible.” Dylan figured. “So that’s out plan of attack. We’ll get the Larkhill contestants to down this serum, and Leo is the ace up our sleeves in case things go awry, as they often do.”

The team then dispersed, discussing their plan further while things went underway. The buggybot underneath the chair reported this audio back to the one controlling it- at this point in time, it was Calliope. As she listened through her headset, she had an expression of utter disbelief on her face.

“What’s the matter, Calliope?” Riley asked curiously, sitting down beside her. Calliope shook her head, handing the headphones to her.

“You’ve got to listen to this. You won’t believe it unless you hear it.” she stammered, and played the audio for Riley. She started when Quinn announced the truth serum, and ended shortly after Krista left the room. As the scene unfolded, Riley looked to Calliope with the same horrified expression.

“Well, she can’t infect our troop if we warn the others- right? We just… can’t eat or drink anything until the challenge is over.” Riley concluded. “This shouldn’t be too bad, it’s only until this evening, after all. Let’s hope everyone ate a filling breakfast.”

“Right, right. Okay, I’ll pass the word along!” Calliope said, jumping to her feet. As she stood, however, the sleeve of her sweater caught on Riley’s goggles, causing her to double back and stumble, falling down instantly as the sleeve snagged free. She landed in Riley’s lap, eye wide as she stared up at the cadet who caught her.

Riley’s arms wrapped tightly around Calliope, for fear that she would fall onto the hard flooring. Once secure, Riley froze to process the scenario. As she realized the position they were in, Riley nearly dropped Calliope, but managed to push her into an upright position, while Calliope scrambled out of Riley’s lap.

“I’m s-so sorry! Wow- I just… wow…. I didn’t mean to- my sweater- your goggles-” Calliope became quite flustered, trying to find the words to explain herself. Riley’s own face was turning bright red, and her freckles blended into her skin thanks to the rosy hue. She pulled the goggles over her eyes to shade part of her face, and crossed her arms.

“Right. It was an understandable accident, Calliope. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” she huffed. “Now, er, you best go inform the rest of the troop of our findings.” she added quickly, clearing her throat.

“Oh, right! Of course!” Calliope agreed, scampering away to where Jasten was teaching Rosemary and Roo to control the buggybots.

“So we just listen up?” Roo asked, tinkering with the headphones.

“Basically, yes. I mean, you can put it in record mode so you can analyze the audio later. That way you don’t have to be glued to the headphones at all times, you see.” Jasten explained, becoming more relaxed as he settled into explaining his invention.

Rosemary put on a pair of headphones and picked up a remote control. She figured she could pass the time by making the bug crawl along various walls. It would be entertaining, perhaps… she didn’t want to use the bots for their intended purpose, but she couldn’t rightly sit out of the challenge. So she played along, and would try to kill the time as she could, while keeping herself protected.

Chloe was typing away at a computer, practicing xer writing. “So, what do we even know about Quinn? She doesn’t talk about herself much. None of us do, at least not around others.” xe murmured.

“Quinn? She’s the science gal, ain’t she? I bet you anything she’s rooted her fair share of spaces. Experiments gone wrong and all that- that’s a right stereotype, ain’t it?” he mused, chuckling. “Not that I got any basis about that.”

Cleo smirked, nodding her head. “That’s good, print it!” she interjected, to the surprise of Chloe and Roo.

“But… I wasn’t bein’ serious, exactly. I mean, I don’t know if that’s deadset, really.” Roo quickly tried to backtrack. “I was just makin’ a joke more than anything.”

“Who cares? It sounds like it could be true, doesn’t it? That makes for a good story, even if it’s not completely correct.” Cleo declared. “I’m sure there’s some grain of truth to it, anyways.” she added offhandedly. “Print that, Chloe! ‘Quinn’s Experiments end in Explosive Results!’ She’s competing to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages she’s caused.” Cleo rattled off, grinning. “And that’s not mean to say or anything, right? So let’s roll with that.”

“Wait, we’re actually going with that? I mean, it doesn’t seem mean-spirited, which is good… if anything, it’s kind of funny.” xe mumbled, typing out a story.

“That’s it! Exactly! We don’t need to be mean, if that’s what you’re worried about. Just have some good fun, and point out some maybe true things, and we’re right as rain.” Cleo insisted.

At that moment, Calliope scampered over, informing the team of the ‘truth serum’ Quinn had developed.

“Speak of the devil….” Wallace grunted. “So no eating or drinking? That’s manageable, I guess.” he sighed, laying his head on the table. He seemed quite deflated, which was a shocking change from his usual demeanor.

“Something wrong, buddy?” Roo inquired, frowning slightly.

“Don’t mind it.” Wallace mumbled, shoving the negative thoughts out of his mind. He was in a blue mood, and figured there was no point in discussing it. It would just complicate things, and God forbid a Hawkfield member was eavesdropping…

“Well…. alright, I s’pose. I’ll leave it for now.” he conceded, glancing down. His own leg was healing steadily, much faster than expected. Although the break looked nasty in the moment, the corrected cast ((courtesy of Khadija)) was working wonders for him, and he hardly even used the crutches at this point.

Rosemary suddenly glanced around, raising a brow. “Hey, wait a minute. Where did Starr go?” she asked, noticing that the disco diva had disappeared a while ago.

“Oh, she’s on a special mission, you see.” Cleo smirked gleefully. “Trust me, she’s doing her part.” she added hastily. Indeed, Cleo had discussed a particular plan of attack with Starr, and had sent her to complete the task.

Starr was walking down the halls, looking for her target. Sure enough, she spotted him tinkering with a water fountain. He looked to be having a hard time with it, as he wasn’t much of a handyman. The target was, of course, Angelo.

“Hey there, Angelo! What’s up, sugar?” Starr cooed, sauntering over to him. She felt sick putting on this ruse and for what was to follow, but she was actually quite excited to complete her mission, as she never did care for the lavender flirt.

Angelo glanced up at Starr, putting on his usual charming smile. “Well, good morning to you too! I’m doing quite well- how about yourself?” he asked, standing up and running his fingers through his hair.

“Oh, I’m doing alright. I just spotted you and wanted to say hi, is all.” Starr murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It’s been a bore, not having you on my team anymore.” she added, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. She put on her own flirtatious grin.

“Is that…. is that so?” he was shocked to hear such a thing, and was a bit skeptical. She was always pleasant, but never appeared to be partial to him.

“Oh, sugar, of course! You were certainly the most handsome face of the lot, you know. Not to say that looks are everything.” she laughed. She wasn’t entirely sure how flirting worked, but figured it was working enough. Angelo blushed slightly at her advances.

“Should that not be my line? I mean, you’re absolute beauty and confidence… it was an honor to be on a team with someone like you.” his suave tone hung in the air, and he wrapped an arm around Starr’s waist. She wanted to vomit, but refrained. Instead, her hand moved to his opposite shoulder, so her arm was around him. She grinned down at him.

“You’re such a tease, you know? You say stuff like that to everyone…. I almost wish you only talked about me with such favor, honey.” she winked down at him, stifling her disdain in the moment. She was getting closer…

“What-? Oh, Starr, what’s causing you to say such things?” he asked, and a thought struck him. Had one of his team members already given her a dose of the truth serum? Was she being honest because she couldn’t help it? His face grew heated, and Angelo became quite nervous when actually put to the test.

“Because, Angelo….” Starr’s voice trailed off, and her fingertips danced along his shoulder, inching closely to his neck. “Because this is a competition, and you let your guard down.” she said, her tone suddenly cold as she yanked off the ascot, causing Angelo to shriek and fall against the ground, clasping his hand around his neck.

“What’s the matter, sugar? Got something to hide?” she asked the lavender boy, towering over him. She tried to get a peek at his neck, but he covered it as if his life depended on it. Her eyes narrowed, and she took a deep breath, forcing a slight smile. “I’m sorry to put you in a position like this, sugar, but it’s a competition, and I promised my team I’d do my part.”

Angelo bit his lower lip; he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. This was so bad, he didn’t know what to do. Like a turtle on his back, he couldn’t get up without moving his hands away from his neck. Shaking slightly, he moved his hands away, getting up. When Starr saw what he was hiding, her eyes widened slightly.

“There- ARE YOU HAPPY?!” he shouted, turning to run away. However, he saw the buggybot scampering down the hall, and froze. Starr glanced just beyond him and also caught a glimpse of the robot- however, she mistook it for something else entirely, and she suddenly collapsed onto the ground, pressing herself against the floor.

Angelo heard the clattering, and turned around, wondering what was wrong. She looked utterly horrified, and glared past him. “A rat- I think I just saw a rat!” she shrieked, jumping to her feet again and looked around. Not knowing where it was only made her situation worse, and Angelo snatched his ascot off the ground, as she’d dropped it in her panic.

“Looks like you’re the one who let your guard down.” Angelo said coldly as his ascot was back in place. “Rats, huh? Afraid you’ll get the plague or something.” he mused, turning and walking away, wiping the tears out of his eyes.

Fuming, Starr punched the wall, lower lip quivering. She quickly retreated into an empty classroom in order to gather herself. She’d made an error, and she could possibly pay for it beyond what she could afford to lose.

Back at the Hawkfield office of operations, Angelo burst through the door, regaining his composure. However, he was now on a mission to destroy, feeling hurt as he sauntered towards Dylan. Dylan glanced up from the computer he’d been allowed to use- Chris permitted the two mentors and the editors alone to use the devices.

“I’ve got a story on Starr.” Angelo said without skipping a beat. Dylan noticed the glimmer in Angelo’s eyes, and smirked. He wondered what had occurred, but figured it wasn’t matter, so long as the results were good.

“Do tell.” Dylan leaned back in his chair, while Khadija listened in so she could type up the story.

“Starr’s got a huge fear of rats. She thought she saw one in the hall and buckled over, losing it. It was beyond a phobia, if you ask me. It totally wrecked her.” he recounted, and Khadija vigorously typed away at the keyboard.

“Really? Interesting… normally a fear like that isn’t that fascinating, but if there’s a reason behind it, or if it’s that dramatic… well, good job, Angelo. This will do.” Dylan said with a curt nod.

“While you were out, I did a bit of digging of my own about our dear friend Chloe.” Dylan said sarcastically, and the present members of Hawkfield turned their attention to him. He paused until he knew that the attention was on him, then spoke. “Well, it took a bit of digging up, but Chloe seems to be from quite the family…. the Claibornes were excessively wealthy, amassing a small fortune until very recently. While it’s normal in this economy for people to get knocked around the financial spectrum, this was a little too abrupt to be a product of chance. So I did a bit more research.” Dylan explained, and Khadija’s fingers moved even more rapidly across the keyboard to keep up with what he was saying.

“Chloe’s father was involved in a variety of scams and swindling. Their fortune? Not earned, but stolen. Looks like the police finally got up to xer dad, and that’s how xe ended up on the show- trying to save xer bankrupt family.” Dylan concluded.

“That’s…. wow. Are you sure we should publish that?” Kara objected suddenly. “Like, a fear of rats is one thing. Someone personal finances? Dude, that’s harsh. Really harsh.” she pointed out.

Khadija took a long pause, then continued typing. “We can’t afford to lose. If we’re giving in to this twisted system, it can’t be for naught.” she said solemnly, though her eyes displayed a profound sadness as she typed up the story.

“That’s the spirit, more or less.” Dylan shrugged. “Oh, and I did find something else of note. I couldn’t get too much details, though, so we might need some creative input to pad the story.” Dylan hummed, clicking away.

“Well, don’t keep us in the dark. Out with it.” Angelo prodded him, wondering what detail had been picked up by Dylan.

“It’s about Wallace. It appears that he was adopted from an orphanage.” Dylan mused. “Now, I don’t know if this is something he openly hides, but he may not be so keen as to tell us that the orphanage he’s from has fallen into financial troubles. He must be here to try and win the money for the orphanage, I infer.”

A silence fell over the room as this was brought to light. They all felt awkward, having to learn such personal things about the other students. Khadija had lost her will to try and stop this, so she continued to pluck away at the keyboard, doing her part. A grogginess settled over her expression, but it had nothing to do with a lack of sleep.

The group then continued to work, as most of Hawkfield was out of the room in order to force the truth serum upon Larkhill. Speaking of, Larkhill was primarily convened in their appointed office when Starr re-entered, looking the slightest bit frazzled. She’d taken time to recollect herself, but even then she was a bit shaken up from the incident.

“Mission accomplished.” she said flatly, pacing up to Chloe and Cleo. “We’ve got our story, and it’s gonna be on the front page if I can help it.” she declared with narrowed eyes, before quickly breaking into a laugh. “I feel kind of bad, but this is so good, it could win the whole challenge for us!”

“What? Starr, what were you doing?” Calliope asked curiously, while Jasten suddenly looked up, taking off his headphones. “Starr… what did you see?” he asked curiously, having reviewed the audio of Starr and Angelo.

Starr furrowed her brow, and something dawned on her. “Jasten… were you- those robots you have, was one of them spying on Angelo?” she asked, a sinking feeling washing over her.

“Well, ah, yes, actually. We sent the out to spy on everyone we could find.” he muttered. “So…. you should probably tell us now… what you saw.” he said, looking a bit wary. Starr cleared her throat, turning to Chloe and Cleo.

“Alright, so I got a peek under that ascot of Angelo’s. And he’s hiding something, alright.” she informed them. “I don’t know the meaning or story behind it, but he’s covering up one hell of a scar. I assume he’s not covering it up just ‘cause it’s ugly. No, something caused that scar, and he doesn’t want anyone knowing about it.”

“A scar…. maybe we should…. not publish that… he sounded… he sounded so-” Jasten was cut off by Starr as she shook her head.

“Sugar, he’ll be fine. This is a competition, and this is what we got to do, honey.” she said firmly, which was enough to silence Jasten. Rosemary caught the expression on his face, and looked progressively more worried. She took off her headphones, a mournful look in her eyes.

“This whole challenge is messed up.” she whispered to Jasten, who nodded slightly.

“But what can I do? If I didn’t help… well…this is just what has to happen, I mean.” he reasoned, tugging at the hem of his shirt in a nervous fidget.

Cleo then looked at Starr. “You’ve got a grudge against Cain, don’t you? What can you say on that guy?” she asked. “Surely someone must know something on him.”

“He’s sick, or something. That’s what Jasten told me, honey.” Starr blurted out, and Jasten was drug back into the conversation. Starr felt bad for tangling him in the mess even further, but she wanted to make sure he was just as involved as she was.

“I… I mean…. yeah… I think it’s common knowledge that he’s sick… and that it makes him act weird when he’s delirious.” Jasten mumbled, staring at the ground. “I mean, apparently everyone saw it at the football game.”

“We sure did… I don’t know if I buy that he’s sick. He could just be using that as an excuse- I mean, he… he… he snapped my bracelet! And before that, he hit me with a cantaloupe… I think he’s vicious, and I bet you anything he’s just a germophobe or something, and just says he’s sick to trick people and get away with bad deeds.” Calliope went off on a rant, a nerve being struck as Cain came up.

Cleo glanced at Chloe. “Did you get all that down? Because that’s the perfect story on Cain! He’s not sick at all, just a hypochondriac! Man, that’d be crazy.” she agreed, and Chloe jotted this down.

“Speaking of stories, I think I just found something we’re going to want to print. This… this is wild.” Cleo said, leaning in close to her computer screen. The Larkhill students looked up with slight interest, unable to mask their curiosity.

“It’s about Khadija. Okay, part of this you probably all knew, but this could take things to a whole new level…. dang, no wonder she wears a hijab. It must be full of secrets!” Cleo marveled before revealing her findings. “So first of all, she’s a child prodigy. An absolute genius- that much could be assumed already, though. I mean, just look at her and you can tell. However, the plot thickens here. It seems to be speculated that she was involved in a lab explosion a while back…. quite a doozy of one, too. It reportedly left her hard of hearing, and…. oh wow…. some say that she caused the explosion… on purpose.” Cleo gasped, passing the story along to Chloe.

“No.” Rosemary said, standing up. “We can’t print that. I won’t let you- we can’t print that, Cleo.” Rosemary insisted, nearly begging. “That’s way too far. You guys agree, don’t you? You guys?” she looked around the room.

“And throw away the victory? Be my guest. But when we lose because you’re scared, then… then a target will be on your back.” Wallace grunted. He was acting so out of it, so unlike his usual self. He couldn’t pull himself out of the dreary feeling, and apathetically spoke the first negative words to come to his mind.

“I…..” Roo hesitated to speak. He quickly put on the headphones, pretending to not be a part of the conversation. Jasten actually was wearing headphones and didn’t hear what was going on, while Starr had no objections.

Riley inhaled sharply, debating whether she should get involved. She didn’t know if she could come out unscathed unless they pulled off an all-out offense against Hawkfield, and with a slightly ashamed sigh, she turned her back on the conversation.

“Just…. just write it up for now. We can decide later.” Calliope said ambiguously, running her fingers through her hair. “Unless we can get something better to print about Khadija, I don’t see any other option.”

“All’s fair in love and war- except there’s not much love up in here.” Cleo said, shrugging. “Besides, those Hawkfield kids don’t seem to mess around. I bet they’re going to publish far worse about all of you, you know. So we have to beat them at their own game.” she declared, which was enough to convince Chloe to keep typing.

Back in the Hawkfield office, they hit a rut. They were waiting for the results of the truth serum attack, and had not much else to do in the meantime.

“Should we come up with backup stories in case the plan turns up fruitless?” she suggested. Dylan nodded in agreement, glancing at the whiteboard.

“Sounds good. So…. Calliope? What’s her angle?” Dylan asked offhandedly. “Or Riley, maybe?”

“Well, Calliope is a closet goth fanatic. Though that’s basically common knowledge by this point, I’d assume.” Khadija murmured.

“She is? I wasn’t aware…” Leo said, yawning.

“The bag on the first day, the bracelet Cain broke… it all adds up. She comes from a rich family- she’s a debutante. Of course she’s not allowed to show her true colors, if her true colors are black as a raven’s feathers.” Khadija narrated, typing up her own words.

“I see, I see. Okay, so we can turn up the heat by calling out Calliope….” Dylan agreed, and the group continued to work. “I hope the others come back soon… we gave them quite a task, but they should be able to manage.” Dylan hummed.

“The others” consisted of Addison, Kara, and Emeris, sent out to taint the water sources with the truth serum, or find other means to get them to drink it. Addison was less pleasant than ever as it was just the three of them, though she still used all her self-restraint not to tear Kara’s throat out.

“Half of this work would be totally unnecessary if people would fess up what they knew.” Addison said offhandedly, running her fingers through her hair. She still needed to dye it the blonde hue, as it was still a strawberry blonde sort of shade.

“Don’t look at me; I don’t know a thing about anyone else. I know how to mind my own business. Besides, by your logic, you should tell us all about Rosemary since you’re obsessed with her.” Kara shot at Addison, sparing no formalities as she called Addison out.

“You’re still on about that?! Oh my gosh, what is your problem, Kara? I think some of those piercings might be digging into your brain if you think I’m obsessed with Rosemary.” she retorted, placing her hands on her hips. She glanced at Emeris, narrowing her eyes. “And what about you? I always see you with Rosemary and Jasten- you’ve got to know something. Why aren’t you telling us? Are you trying to help Larkhill win or something?” she accused him.

“Whether I know anything or not, it’s none of your damn business.” Emeris shot back, placing his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, I think it is my business, given that this is a challenge, and you’re purposefully sabotaging our team!” Addison was growing more heated, and Kara stepped back for the moment, taking a deep breath. She wanted to stay out of this as much as possible.

“You don’t even know if I know anything worth saying. You’re making assumptions.” Emeris retorted.

“Oh, fine, then allow me to find out for sure!” she glowered at him, and lunged forward with the bottle of truth serum in her hand. If he wasn’t going to cooperate, she would make him comply. She unscrewed the lid and splashed his face with the serum, forcing some of it down his throat. his eyes widened as Addison had tackled him to the ground. She only got off of him once she was sure that he’d consumed some of the concoction. Dusting herself off, she screwed the cap of the bottle back on.

“Now then, you’re going to tell me everything.” she said, her tone as sweet and artificial as taffy. Kara watched in horror, and the camera suddenly cut away to Chris sitting in an office full of monitors.

“Oh, snap. These kids are BRUTAL! What secrets are about to broadcasted to millions? How will the students react when they see their articles published for everyone to read? Will my intern ever get back here with my soy latte? Find out all the answers to those questions and many more when we return to Total. Drama. HIGH SCHOOOOOOL!” he sang out. As the camera zoomed away, he let out a groan. “Seriously, they never brought me my latte!” he whined before the commercial break began.

Today’s commercial was announcing a new animated series, titled “ARMR”. It seemed to be a parody of some other popular web show, but with just enough changes as to avoid copyright claims. The plot seemed to be something along the lines of teams fighting with weapons… it was vague, but the animation looked interesting, and likenesses of past TDT+ contestants were used for each character.

### Cast

#### Staff

* Chris McLean
* Chef Hatchet
* Cleo
* Dylan
* Krista
* Alli

#### Contestants

* Addison
* Angelo
* Cain
* Calliope
* Chloe
* Emeris
* Jasten
* Kara
* Khadija
* Leo
* Quinn
* Riley
* Rosemary
* Roo
* Starr
* Wallace

### Trivia

General

* This episode's title was created by Em.

Continuity

* This episode reveals some huge secrets on several of the contestants (and an intern) this season.
	+ Krista is revelaed to have had the hots for Dylan.
	+ Although not an actual secret, Quinn was said to have caused a lab explosion.
	+ Starr's revealed to be absolutely terrified of rats.
	+ Chloe's father is revealed to have been arrested, and that xe's family amounted xer family's fortune through swindling and treachery.
	+ Wallace is revealed to have been adopted from an orphanage, and is trying to raise money for that orphanage
	+ Angelo is revealed to have a huge scar on his neck, which he covers up with that ascot.
	+ Although not necessarily revealed, it's hinted that everyone's catching onto Cain's hypochondriatic nature.
	+ Khadija is revealed to have possibly caused a lab explosion that left her heard of hearing.
	+ Calliope being a closet Goth finally comes into light.
* This episode marks the first time a contestant has (intentionally) assaulted another contestant; in this case, Addison assaulted Emeris to get a truth serum down his throat.

#### References

* The part's title is a reference to the phase to both the phrase" Pressing Matters", which are concerns or events that are urgent in nature, and the word "Pressing", referencing to the fact this is a news themed episode.