"And we're back on the eighth episode of Total Drama Double Trouble!" Chris declared as the cameras panned on him, "Before the break, Veronica & Kavan shopped 'till they dropped and won immunity. With this upcoming elimination being the first post-merge vote, it's sure to set the pace for the rest of the season. But before that, let's take a look at the merge brunch for everyone."

--------

With that, the cameras turned their attention to the mess hall, where the twelve campers were eating away at brunch, all while dressed in the outfits from the last challenge. Served to them today was french toast, scrambled eggs, grilled sausage, fried bacon, a kale salad, croquettes, assorted donuts, and various fruits, among other dishes. This was the first time this season that all of them were eating together, so this was a good time for them to talk to each other.

"Good job on the challenge win," Dallas congratulated to Veronica & Kavan.

"Thanks!" Veronica thanked as she reached for another croquette.

"Seriously, how did you guys move that fast?" Spencer asked, curious.

"We didn't really have a plan," Veronica claimed, wanting to be modest, "It was luck, honestly."

"This is the first non-team immunity challenge that I've won while on the show, and I hope to win a few more. The thing is, I don't want to win too many in a row if I don't have to. The last thing that I want is for me to be targeted for being a physical threat."- Veronica

"It seems that we're all having a good time right now," Kavan remarked, "That's what counts."

"I hope that this lasts long," Dallas expressed, "This feels nice."

"It's weird that Dallas is being so nice. When she left, she was really........mean. Maybe Playa de Losers changed her for the better."- Callie

"It's taking so much energy to keep on acting nice. I'll admit it, I have a bit of an attitude: I know it and everyone else knows it too. But if I can act nice and get some people to trust me, I might just work my way back into the flow."- Dallas

At this point in the game, as much as the campers wanted to relax and just enjoy the meal in front of them, they couldn't help but think about how they would play the rest of their game. They needed to figure out who they would align with, who they would target first, and what little moves they could make to better their chances at winning. Daniel was a perfect example of this; aside from taking a few bites of buttered toast, Daniel was too focused on the game to eat.

"Where....where...." Daniel muttered to himself as he blankly stared at the table.

"Now that Amalia is gone, I need to keep an eye on everything that I possibly can. Chris could be throwing any new advantage or twist into the game, and I want to be the first to know about them."- Daniel

"Daniel!" Rhythm exclaimed.

"Oh! Sorry!" Daniel apologized as he snapped out of his trance, "I was daydreaming. What's up?"

"For the fifth time, can you please pass the plate of french toast?" Rhythm asked, laughing at Daniel's obliviousness.

"Oh, sorry, here you go," Daniel remarked as he grabbed the plate and began to move it towards Rhythm, "Um....hold on. I kinda want some french toast."

"Uh...alright?" Rhythm agreed as she watched Daniel put three slices on his plate before handing her the main plate, albeit a bit slower than expected, "You like french toast?"

"Yeah," Daniel agreed as he readjusted his shirt, "Eh...I think I'm gonna go change my shirt."

"C'mon, you've been wearing green and blue shirts for the past couple weeks," Karlie noted, "And neon yellow looks good on you."

"Neon yellow looks good on Amalia, not me," Daniel reminded as he walked towards the door, "I'm gonna keep it for Amalia, though."

With that, Daniel exited the mess hall and casually walked his way back to the losers' cabin. As he got closer to his destination, he looked behind him to make sure that no one was following him. With the coast clear, he ran into the losers' cabin and shut the door behind him, now free to do what he needed to do.

"Let's see what we've got," Daniel remarked as he reached into his pants and pulled out a folded piece of parchment, "Interesting..."

"When I turned to give the plate to Rhythm, I had my hand under the plate, and I felt a piece of paper taped under it. Immediately, red flags went up, so I took the plate back, stalled by putting toast on my plate, and then I handed the plate to her whilst ripping the paper out from underneath. I knew that I needed to get it out of sight, so I stuffed it into my pants, pulled my shirt down, and then got up and left."- Daniel

"Let's see what this says," Daniel declared as he unfolded the parchment and read it, "Congratulations, you are about to be told the whereabouts of an invincibility statue. But before you go share this clue with others, you should know that this invincibility statue has 'special' powers."

"When I read that this invincibility statue has 'special' powers, my mind immediately starts thinking about the invincibility statues from seasons 4 and 5 of the original Total Drama series. If that's the case, this is gonna be a serious game changer."- Daniel

"Good news: you won't have to travel to Boney Island to get it. Bad news: you won't be able to get it until the next immunity challenge," Daniel read, wanting to find out all that he could, "During the next challenge, there will be four differently-coloured tables; the invincibility statue will be attached to the main leg of the gold-coloured table. Once the challenge starts, you may go and obtain the statue. But be wary: the other campers may be watching you. And if you do not grab the invincibility statue before the challenge ends, it will expire. Good luck, because you'll need it."

"I'm not too worried that people might see me; if I can play it after the votes are read, I'll at least make it to episode ten. The hard part will be figuring out how to get it while the challenge is going on. Maybe it's just something that I'll have to figure out when I get there."- Daniel

"Well, I guess that's good," Daniel commented as he re-folded the parchment and stuffed it into his pants pocket, moments before Karlie came bursting through the door, "Woah! Karlie-"

"No time, just follow my lead, got it?" Karlie requested just as Spencer & Tory entered the room, "See guys, he's right here."

"Daniel, we need to talk," Tory declared, "We need a civil, calm talk. Got it?"

"I'm listening," Daniel agreed, unsure of what to do.

"Go ahead, Spencer," Tory allowed as Spencer stepped forward and faced Daniel.

"Tory keeps on telling me that I need to talk to Daniel before he starts planning to eliminate us. I'm still scared that he'll want to rip out my guts, but I guess if I can convince him that everything is fine between us, we might survive a bit longer."- Spencer

"Daniel, I'm really sorry that Amalia had to leave because of something that I did," Spencer apologized, "I swear that it was an accident; I would never do anything to-"

"Spencer, calm down; I know that you're not like that," Daniel insisted, "Accidents happen and we have to live with them."

"So.... you're not mad?" Spencer asked before being slapped on the shoulder by Tory, "I mean....uh...can we just let this slide?"

"I will if you will," Daniel agreed as he shook hands with Spencer, "I don't take things that happen in this game personally. That's just not who I am."

"That's the truth: this game is so different from real life that we can't take any move made here personally. I can forgive Spencer for what he did, but I surely won't forget it. From a personal perspective, I can let it go. But from a strategic perspective, he just knocked out my closest ally, so even though him and I are 'all good', I know that I'm gonna have to take a shot at him soon."- Daniel

--------

Before long, the brunch was over, the campers changed back into their normal clothes, and were off to do whatever they pleased until the elimination ceremony later that night. They all knew that they had to work hard to make sure that the vote went their way. For Rhythm & Dallas, they didn't have many solid connections with the other campers, and had to take time to figure out their gameplan. As of now, they were walking hand-in-hand on the beach, where they were away from the prying eyes of the other campers.

"I need a full update," Dallas insisted, "Give it to me straight."

"Last time around, I was voted out for being too aggressive. This time, I'm still going to be aggressive, but I'm gonna be less loud about it. Hopefully people think that I'm just 'going along for the ride' and all that."- Dallas

"It seems that Cole, Tory, & Spencer are together, which means that Zeyad is with them too," Rhythm rationalized, "Veronica, Kavan, Karlie, & Daniel should be together too. And I've been working with Callie & Alina lately."

"Well, I guess we're siding with Callie & Alina for right now," Dallas remarked, "And we'll need to side with one of the other alliances to have a majority."

"I really think that we should side with Veronica's alliance," Rhythm admitted, "They'll protect us."

"But Veronica was a driving force to get me out," Dallas reminded, "I wouldn't have been out if she didn't 'mind-control' everyone else to vote for me."

"I think it was Annie that made the move: after all, you did try and vote out her boyfriend," Rhythm noted, "Actually, Tory might still be mad at you for voting her out, so he could be after you. Veronica's alliance might be our only option."

"Last season, I aligned with Veronica mainly so she could take the heat for the big moves instead of me. And I ended up making it to the finale. I'm willing to try it again."- Rhythm

"And I'm reasonably sure that Zeyad might want me out because I voted him out," Rhythm added, "I'm not willing to take that chance."

"Hey guys!" Zeyad called out as him and Cole ran up to the couple, "We need to talk!"

"We're open ears," Dallas allowed, not wanting to be stubborn, "Talk away."

"Well, Dallas, you and I just got back, and I'm sure that neither of us want to leave right away," Zeyad noted, "I think it's best that we work together."

"I agree completely," Dallas agreed, happily nodding her head in response.

"Right now, I have a group of four ready to vote together. All we need is two more. If Zeyad really thinks that Rhythm & Dallas will vote with us, I'll trust him. But if I really feel that the two of them won't join us, I still have my invincibility statue, and I have full plans to use it."- Cole

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An invincibility statue was a very hot commodity in the game of Total Drama. If used correctly, it could change the course of the game. You could play it for yourself, you could play it for someone else, or you could even use it to steer votes away from you before the ceremony. But for Karlie, after being given an invincibility statue by Daniel in the last episode, decided to make a big gesture with it.

"Are you serious?" Daniel asked to Karlie as they stood in the game room of the mini-mansion.

"One hundred percent," Karlie insisted as she held out the invincibility statue in front of her, "It's yours."

"This could be the reason why I lose this game, but it's a risk that I'm willing to take. By doing this, hopefully Daniel will trust me completely, and realizes that I can be as loyal to him as Amalia was. Although, Amalia did backstab him a lot last season. Man, this isn't as good of an analogy as I thought..."- Karlie

"After all, you were the one that gave it to me, so now that you're still here, it should go back to you," Karlie rationalized.

"That means a lot," Daniel commented as he took the statue and placed it into his vest, "Thanks a lot."

"Don't mention it," Karlie replied as she went to hug Daniel.

"I certainly won't," Daniel assured, reciprocating the hug.

"Willingly giving up an invincibility statue is a crazy thing to do. But now I have a newfound respect for Karlie. She trusts me enough to give me back my statue; that's the kind of trust that I need around me. She's gotta be my ride-or-die right now."- Daniel

"Hey guys..." Veronica greeted as she entered through the doorway, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Uh....nope, nothing at all," Daniel answered as he disengaged from the hug, "What's up?"

"We need you two upstairs," Veronica revealed.

With that, the three campers made their way to the second floor and into Veronica & Kavan's bedroom, where Kavan, Callie, Alina, Rhythm, & Dallas were waiting for them. Based on the need to have such a large group of people meet on such short notice, it was implied that something serious needed to be discussed.

"Alright guys, welcome to the group," Kavan welcomed as he sat on the bed.

"Let's just get this started," Dallas declared as she leaned against the armoire, "I think it goes without saying that we need a majority if we want to stay in this game."

"I think we can work really well together," Callie admitted as she sat on the floor with her legs crossed, "Even though we've had our ups and downs, we're a good team."

"I really like this alliance. Alina is my right-hand girl, Rhythm helped keep Amalia in the game, Dallas seems to be a bit nicer now, and Daniel & Karlie did their best to try and keep me safe when we were on the same team. I haven't really talked with Veronica & Kavan, but I'd really like to get to know them."- Callie

"Hopefully we can keep this going until the other four are gone," Veronica expressed as she sat down next to Kavan, "We need to stay loyal and work together."

"Yeah, like that is ever gonna happen. I'm a realist: we won't get past two voteoffs before we start taking shots at each other. But until then, I'm gonna make sure that Kavan and I stay safe."- Veronica

"We might as well jump right in," Veronica rationalized, "Who should we target?"

"Well, if we're basing it on challenge performances, Tory is the biggest threat," Karlie noted, "But from a social perspective, Spencer is the most threatening."

"I kinda want to take a shot at Cole," Rhythm admitted, "I think he's more threatening than he seems."

"And he's with Zeyad," Alina added, "They're a tight pair."

"But then Zeyad will be pissed if we vote out his boyfriend," Kavan noted, "That's not good for us."

"It won't matter; we have the numbers," Dallas reminded.

"And besides, it's not just about physical or mental strength," Daniel insisted, "Do we think that any of them have an invincibility statue?"

"Spencer just used one, so not him," Karlie noted, "Cole might be the only one to have one."

"Then we might want to take a shot at him then," Alina rationalized.

"But Tory's the most physical out of the three of them," Callie reminded, "We should get him out so we don't have to worry about losing any immunity challenges."

"I've done pretty well in challenges this season, but I want to make sure that I'm in a good place to win individual immunity. Tory's gonna be a big threat later on if it comes to winning challenges."- Callie

"I think that the safe bet is to vote for Spencer," Kavan suggested, "He's the odd one out of those four; I don't think the other three will be too upset if he's voted out."

"Roni and I have been targeted lately and I want to back off a bit. Maybe it's best to just vote out Spencer and create the least amount of drama as possible."- Kavan

"Do we know who they're voting for?" Veronica asked.

"They tried to convince Dallas and I to vote for Alina," Rhythm admitted, "But we didn't really listen."

"We made up our mind: siding with Veronica is the best for us. Right now, Veronica is an even bigger target than she was last season, so we at least have her to hide behind when a blindside happens."- Rhythm

"Well, we have four options," Daniel recalled, "It all depends on who we think is the most threatening."

"Attention campers!" Chris called out through the loudspeakers, "It's time for the elimination ceremony! Please make your way to the campfire area now!"

"And we better decide now," Daniel insisted, "What's the call?"

"There's a reason for any of them to be voted out. Zeyad is unpredictable, Cole might have an invincibility statue, Tory is physically strong, and Spencer is a bit of a mystery box. It's a tough call, but I think we'll make the right one."- Daniel

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After five minutes of waiting, all twelve campers were sitting on the stumps in the campfire area, patiently waiting for Chris to begin the ceremony. With this being the first time this season that they would all be voting as one group, this would be the start of how the rest of the game could play out. This vote would determine if the dominant alliance stayed in power, or if the minority members could flip the game on its head.

"Welcome campers to the first post-merge elimination ceremony," Chris welcomed, "Veronica & Kavan have immunity; the rest of you are all vulnerable. One by one, you'll all go into the Confession Can, x-out the photo of the person that you want to vote for, I'll check & tally the votes, and then I'll hand out marshmallows to those who are safe. Whoever doesn't receive a marshmallow will be forced to walk down the Dock of Shame and leave the island on the Jet Ski of Losers. And if there's no objections, go and vote!"

--------

"I'm feeling worried right now. I've got to make a big move."- Cole

"I'm really sorry, but you're a threat. I'm just playing the game."- Callie

"You're stronger than you let on. I can't risk you taking a shot at me right now."- Veronica

"I wish that we can talk more after this. Y'know, assuming that you don't get voted out."- Dallas

"My alliance thinks that you're a big threat, and I have to go with what they're saying. Sorry."- Kavan

"I'm scared that it could be me going home tonight. Hopefully you go home instead."- Alina

"I'm probably getting the bullet tonight. Let's hope it's just over quickly."- Tory

"I hate to do it to you again, but it's a game, and I hope you understand."- Rhythm

"Hopefully we can get past one ceremony without having to scramble for safety."- Karlie

"I really wish that we talked more this season. Sorry man."- Daniel

"I'm just hoping that this plan works. I don't wanna finish in 12th again."- Zeyad

"I really think that you're a good person, but I have to vote for you. Sorry."- Spencer

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"Alright campers," Chris began as he held up a platter of eleven marshmallows, it's time to-"

"Chris!" Cole called out as he stood up, "You want a big move? Here comes one."

With that, Cole walked towards Chris as he pulled an invincibility statue out of his pocket. This wasn't surprising to anyone: his allies knew beforehand, and the other alliance had already suspected that he had an invincibility statue, to the reaction was more tame than it normally would be.

"But....I think I know what's going on," Cole claimed as he handed Chris the statue, "I'm playing it for Zeyad."

That declaration was half-shocking and half-logical. After all, Cole protecting Zeyad made sense from a relationship standpoint, but strategically, none of them expected Cole to willingly risk his future in the game for Zeyad. If anything, that was more shocking than Cole having an invincibility statue in the first place.

"Are you sure?" Zeyad asked as Cole took his seat next to him.

"I've never been more sure," Cole assured as he leaned in for a kiss, which he received.

"This is an invincibility statue; any votes cast for Zeyad will not count," Chris declared.

"Let's do this," Daniel remarked as he stood up and pulled out an invincibility statue.

"Yeah....it was bound to happen eventually," Tory commented as the group watched Daniel walk over to Chris.

"Let's see..." Daniel muttered as he turned around and stared at his fellow campers, "Rhythm, you said that they wanted you to vote for Alina, right?"

"Yeah," Rhythm confirmed.

"Yep..." Cole muttered to Zeyad, who was smiling.

"Then I think it's clear with what I need to do," Daniel commented as he handed Chris his statue, "I'm playing it for Callie."

That move pretty much confused everyone present. The minority alliance was shocked, wondering how Daniel came to the conclusion that Callie needed protection. As for the majority alliance, they were dumbfounded, wondering how Daniel could completely go off the board with his choice.

"Okay, I really appreciate the immunity, but I don't think I need it," Callie admitted.

"You can change who the immunity goes to, if you want," Chris added.

"I'm gonna stick with it going to Callie," Daniel assured.

"Okay, I think Amalia being gone has finally made you go insane, dude," Kavan commented, concerned.

"Just trust me!" Daniel requested before facing Chris, "Just say it's real."

"Well, this is an invincibility statue; any votes cast for Callie will not count," Chris remarked.

"Wait, did neither statue cancel any votes?" Karlie asked, curious.

"No, they cancelled votes," Chris confirmed, "But they didn't cancel the majority of the votes."

"Did they cancel the plurality of the votes?" Daniel asked.

"Um......Chef!" Chris called out as Chef Hatchet walked closer to Chris, "What does plurality mean?"

"It means......this," Chef Hatchet replied as he pulled up the definition on his phone and showed it to Chris, "The number of votes cast for a candidate who receives more than any other but does not receive an absolute majority."

"Oh...." Chris muttered before facing the campers, "Then yes. Both statues canceled a plurality of the votes."

"Perfect..." Daniel muttered, content.

"What happened?" Spencer asked, still confused.

"I think.....Callie & Zeyad each received the same amount of votes, but no more than six votes each," Daniel expressed before turning his head to look at Chris, "Chris, is it a re-vote or are their still non-voided votes?"

"Just to be clear, Callie & Zeyad each received four votes, all of which are voided. But there are still four votes that count!" Chris revealed, shocking the campers as he held up marshmallows, "But first: Zeyad, Callie, Rhythm, Dallas, Kavan, Veronica, Daniel, Karlie, and Alina, you all are safe."

With the aforementioned nine campers receiving marshmallows, that left three campers on the chopping block: Tory, Spencer, and Cole. This was no surprise to them: with them being in the minority alliance, they knew that they were in danger of being voted out. And now that they knew that one of them was going for for sure, they were left in a state of pure paranoia and fear as Chris revealed the final results.

"The final marshmallows got to......Tory! And...........Spencer!" Chris revealed as he tossed the final two marshmallows, "Cole, you messed up man."

"Oh no..." Zeyad muttered as he turned to face his boyfriend, "I'm so, so, sooooooo sorry...."

"It's not your fault," Cole insisted as he pulled Zeyad in for a hug, "It's nobodie's fault but mine."

"Should we go?" Tory asked, wanting to leave the two of them alone.

"Chris, can he walk me to the Jet Ski of Losers?" Cole requested.

"Only if we can get a few closeups of him crying," Chris replied.

"Chris!" Callie exclaimed, "That's rude!"

"What? We're lacking in drama and this is the best we've got!" Chris insisted.

"Whatever allows us to spend a bit more time together," Cole agreed as he stood up with Zeyad, "Let's go."

--------

With the remaining campers looking on from the beach, Zeyad tearfully walked Cole down the Dock of Shame. Zeyad was extremely saddened; even though he got his wish and wasn't voted out immediately after the merge again, the cost was his boyfriend leaving in his place. Now that he was back in the game, Zeyad thought that he could spend more time with Cole. But sadly, that time wasn't going to come for a little while longer.

"I'm sorry..." Zeyad apologized, still being hugged by Cole.

"Stop saying that; this is what you wanted," Cole insisted, "You wanted another shot at winning, and I just gave you it. Don't let this stop you from winning."

"This is my fourth chance!" Zeyad corrected, "You've only had one!"

"We can't change that; you have your fourth chance and you've got to make use of it!" Cole declared, "Stay strong for me. You're going to win this game; don't let anyone tell you otherwise, okay?"

The campers watched silently as Cole & Zeyad continued their emotional exchange. For Spencer & Tory, they were concerned as this elimination surely eliminated a member of their alliance and sent another member into a state of sadness. For everyone else, they could empathize with the duo, but they knew that it had to happen. They were in a game for a million dollars; being nice wasn't a surefire way to win, and they had to do what they had to do.

"They look really sad," Spencer commented.

"I kinda feel bad," Callie admitted.

"Come here," Alina instructed as she brought Callie to her embrace, "Don't let this get to you."

"Don't worry, I'll get over it," Callie assured, reciprocating the hug, "Eventually."

"I feel bad that Cole has to go. He hasn't really stirred up a lot of trouble or anything; we just thought that him and Zeyad together was too strong to keep around. I hope that he doesn't take it personally."- Callie

"And that's the end of that," Chris remarked as he pushed the button on his remote, sending Cole away from the island in a matter of seconds. Following that, he returned to the other campers with Zeyad and continued, "One more thing: Veronica & Kavan, as you've won immunity, you get to pick one person to join you in the mini-mansion and one person to send to Boney Island."

"We already talked about it, and we've made our choice," Veronica declared, "Dallas can join us in the mini-mansion and Karlie can go to Boney Island."

"I need to have a one-on-one talk with Dallas. Before we voted her out, she really wanted to take control of the team, so I need to know where she truly stands. As for Karlie, I want someone that I trust to go to Boney Island. Sure, Daniel probably has a better shot at finding something, but sooner or later, he's gonna take a shot at me. So I've got to take away as much power from him as I can."- Veronica

"I would've liked to stay on the island; I need more time to talk with people and see what they're thinking. But now that I'm headed to Boney Island, I might as well try and find something."- Karlie

With that, Karlie left towards the boat to be taken to Boney Island, while the remainder of the campers returned to their lodgings for the night. As Chris was left alone on the beach, he reflected on the episode. He was pleased with the amount of competitiveness that the campers displayed in the episode, and with the dramatic emotions shown by some of the campers, he knew that he hadn't even scratched the surface for the amount of drama in this season.

"I don't know what to say. But if you think that this is the peak of drama for this season, prepare to be shocked by the remaining episodes," Chris assured as he looked at the main camera, "What will Zeyad do now that Cole is gone? How will Karlie fare on Boney Island? And who will be voted off next? Find out next time, right here, on Total...Drama...Double Trouble!"

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Final Words:

"I'll admit it: I was blindsided. I knew that my alliance of four wasn't getting any bigger, so I made a big move, and I pretty much ended up voting myself out. I don't regret what I did: I was willing to sacrifice my place in the game for Zeyad, and that's what I just did. I carried the torch while he was gone, and now it's his turn. I really think that he can win this game; I just hope that he finds a way to break the big alliance. But for now, I'll be waiting at Playa de Losers; relaxing in paradise while waiting for the others to join me. It's gonna be a blast."- Cole

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Votes:

Cole: Callie (Voided)

Callie: Cole

Veronica: Cole

Dallas: Zeyad (Voided)

Kavan: Cole

Alina: Cole

Tory: Callie (Voided)

Rhythm: Zeyad (Voided)

Karlie: Zeyad (Voided)

Daniel: Zeyad (Voided)

Zeyad: Callie (Voided)

Spencer: Callie (Voided)