"Welcome back to the finale of Total Drama Island: Return to Wawanakwa!" Chris welcomed, "Before the break, the final two were re-introduced to the eighteen eliminated campers, each backing up a finalist of their choice. With the final challenge soon to begin, let's get down to the action!"

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"Alright, it's time to introduce the final challenge of the season, humbly named: The Total Drama Gauntlet," Chris declared, "This challenge is separated into five different stages. In the first stage, known as the 'Shovel Sprint', you will have to run down a forest path in order to obtain three shovels at the end. While doing this, you must do your best to avoid a few traps set up, including a crossfire of arrows, wrecking balls, and spikes."

"And...this is where we die," Rhythm rationalized.

"Don't worry, because of the lawyers, none of these traps can actually kill you. They may hurt you, but they won't kill you," Chris assured, "After getting three shovels, you must head to the 'Cube Minefield' on the beach, where you must dig in designated spots in order to find a cube with your colour in it. But beware: there are more traps hidden in the sand, ranging from a punching glove to a bag of hot trash."

"Just like the beach challenge in All-Stars," Amalia recalled.

"Correct," Chris agreed, "In the third challenge: The Manual Motor Mayhem, you must pedal a specially-made car through the forest all the way to the Wawanakwa mountain. In addition, you will be able to use paintball guns to shoot your opponent in order to make them crash."

"Pedal cars?" Rhythm asked again.

"We were informed before the season that not all contestants have their driver's license, so we can't legally allow you to drive real cars. Anyways, it's much harder this way," Chris rationalized, "For the fourth stage, you must run up the mountain while Chef will attempt to hit you with his meatball gun."

"Figures," Amalia remarked, recalling the third challenge of the season.

"Once you reach the top, you must take your cube and place it into the beacon, which will project a wide beam of light into the sky, sealing your victory," Chris finished, "Any questions?"

"Yes: why do we need three shovels?" Rhythm asked, "We can't use three shovels at once."

"You can if you have people alongside you," Chris noted, "Per the lawyer's request, you will each be able to choose two campers from your 'cheer squad' to help you during the challenge. They will not be able to win, but they can help in any way that they can."

With that, the two finalists turned around to look at their set of bleachers. For Amalia, her choice was easy; although, granted that she only had three people to choose from, she didn't have much of a choice with who to pick. Conversely, Rhythm had a plethora of people to choose from, and wasn't certain over who would help her the most.

"Amalia, who would you like to choose?" Chris asked.

"I'll pick Ellie and Callie," Amalia declared.

"Yay!" Ellie cheered as she ran over to hug Amalia.

"Yeah..." Callie interjected, much less enthusiastically than Ellie.

"I'm not too thrilled with being thrown into the most dangerous challenge of the season, but if Amalia wants me to compete with her, I'm going to do all I can to help her win."- Callie

"Rhythm, who will you pick?" Chris asked.

"I'd like to volunteer!" Daniel declared as he stood up from his seat, "I've got something to prove."

"Alright, deal!" Rhythm agreed, allowing Daniel to run over and stand next to Rhythm, "Anyone else?"

"I'd like a shot," Veronica admitted.

"Fine by me," Rhythm agreed as Veronica walked over to join Rhythm.

"I can't believe that Daniel is this upset! Not only does he not want to see me win, he wants to be the one to make me lose! Ughhhh! I messed up big time!"- Amalia

"I'm so happy that Rhythm picked me. Even if I'm not one of the final two, it feels good knowing that I can help someone that I care about win a million dollars."- Veronica

"Alright, as for the rest of you, please follow Chef, and he will lead you all to the top of the mountain to await the end of the challenge," Chris ordered as Chef Hatchet began leading the fourteen other campers towards the mountain, "As for you six, it's time for you to get into position. I'll give you a minute to talk over your strategies before we get started."

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After a few minutes, the six competing campers lined up at the edge of the forest, ready to begin the most important challenge of the season. For Ellie, Callie, Daniel, and Veronica, this was their chance to prove to their respective leaders that they didn't make a mistake by choosing them. For Amalia & Rhythm, this was their chance to control how the rest of their lives would be; all they needed to do was win one more challenge and they would be known worldwide as a winner of Total Drama and the recipient of a one million dollar prize. It all came down to one challenge.

"Alright! Remember: the winner of this challenge will take it all!" Chris reminded, "Ready, set, GO!"

With that, the six campers took off into the forest, ready to face the first stage. At first, both teams seemed to keep pace with each other. It was no surprise: Ellie excelled at track & field, Daniel, Amalia, & Veronica were known for being athletic, and Rhythm & Callie had their fair share of success in challenges. Within a minute, the teams managed to arrive at the trap area, where they were met with a frightening sight: two fifteen-foot long arrow shooters shooting arrows from both sides of the path.

"Yep," Rhythm remarked as she gazed at the barrage of arrows in front of her, "Definitely more dangerous."

"At least the arrows have rounded tips," Ellie noted as she pointed at a passing arrow, "Probably won't hurt more than a sting."

"How're we supposed to get past this?" Callie asked, "Like, how?"

"Like this!" Daniel declared as he ran into the barrage, pulling Rhythm as he did so.

"Ow! OW! OWWWW!" Rhythm exclaimed as she was pelted with arrows.

"They're doin' it," Veronica noted as Daniel & Rhythm made it to the other side.

"Yeah...that hurt a bit..." Daniel admitted as he began rubbing his lower back.

"Okay, what about the rest of us?!" Amalia asked.

"Uh...that seems like your problem," Daniel noted, "C'mon Rhythm, you've got a game to win."

"Man, Daniel must be really mad at Amalia. He's really doing his best to help me win, and he seems even more determined to see Amalia lose. A bit out of character, but I don't care as long as he helps me win."- Rhythm

"C'mon!" Amalia shouted, upset.

"Hey, if he can do it, so can we!" Ellie rationalized as she grabbed Amalia and Callie's arms and began running into the barrage, "CHARGE!"

"Eh, why not?" Veronica remarked as she followed the trio.

While Amalia's team + Veronica made their way through the arrows, Rhythm & Daniel continued their trek down the path. The next obstacle in their way were hurdles, but not the kind that you'd find in track & field events; they were solid brick walls with plastic spikes on the top of them. Due to safety concerns, Daniel came up with a strategy: he would throw Rhythm over the hurdles, and then he would dive over them.

"Brace yourself!" Daniel warned as he threw Rhythm over another hurdle.

"Woah!" Rhythm explained as she landed on her back, "Could you be a bit more gentle?"

"Sorry," Daniel apologized as he did a dolphin dive over the hurdle, "C'mon."

"Question: are you really this mad at Amalia?" Rhythm asked as they continued running.

"She did me wrong so many times, and forgiving her just takes so much effort," Daniel explained as they reached another hurdle, "C'mon."

"Are you done with her?" Rhythm asked as she climbed into Daniel's arms.

"I'd like to see what she has to say to me," Daniel remarked as he threw Rhythm over the next hurdle before jumping over.

"She seemed pretty upset," Rhythm admitted, "She's scared that you're gonna break up with her."

"She should be," Daniel agreed, "After all that I've gone through over the past few weeks, every other guy probably would've left."

"Woah..." Rhythm muttered, shocked at what Daniel just told her.

"Stop!" Daniel ordered as he stuck his arm out in front of Rhythm, preventing her from being hit by a wrecking ball, "Quick: get on my shoulders."

"What?" Rhythm asked, confused, "How is that supposed to help?"

"Treat it like a swing-set: you grab onto the rope holding the wrecking ball, and jump to grab onto the other rope," Daniel explained as he bent down onto one knee, "And then you jump all the way to the finish."

"What about you?" Rhythm asked.

"I'll let myself deal with that problem," Daniel assured.

"C'mon Callie!" Amalia ushered as she helped Callie over the last hurdle.

"Now get on before they pass us!" Daniel ordered, forcing Rhythm to climb onto his shoulders and jump, allowing her to grab ahold of the first rope, "Now just jump!"

"Hey..." Veronica greeted as she managed to catch up, "What should we do?"

"We're heading through," Daniel declared as he ducked around the wrecking balls, weaving as he did so.

"And...no choice!" Veronica declared as she followed Daniel, doing her best to not get hit.

"As much as I admire Daniel's motivation to beat Amalia, I think he's getting a bit out of control. We're trying to help Rhythm win, but we don't wanna die either."- Veronica

"You can do it!" Amalia insisted to Ellie, who still had yet to jump over the last hurdle.

"Alright..." Ellie agreed as she jumped over the last hurdle, narrowly making it, "Okay, what next?"

"These," Amalia noted, pointing at the wrecking balls above them.

"Let's just crawl under," Callie suggested as she got onto her stomach and began crawling.

"That's too slow though!" Amalia noted.

"Do you want to die?" Callie asked as she continued crawling.

"Chris said that we wouldn't die," Amalia noted, "I think it's for the best-"

"GET TO CRAWLING!" Callie screamed, forcing the other two to join her.

"Yikes....I think I should just listen to Callie; I don't really want to see her mad."- Amalia

"I pledged to help Amalia win, and I'm not gonna let her down. Even if that means being a little....aggressive, I'd rather yell than have Amalia lose."- Callie

While Amalia and her team began their trek under the wrecking balls, Rhythm and her team managed to make their way over to the shovel wall, where six shovels awaited their presence. In their minds, all they had to do was grab a shovel and run to the next stage. But for one of them, it was much more complicated than that.

"Hmm..." Daniel muttered as he gazed at the shovels.

"C'mon, let's go!" Rhythm ordered as her and Veronica grabbed two shovels and began running towards the beach, "Daniel! C'mon!"

"Hold on a sec!" Daniel insisted, "I need to find the right shovel!"

"They're all the same!" Veronica insisted, "Just pick one!"

"Ugh, whatever," Daniel conceded as he grabbed a shovel and headed towards the beach.

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With that, Rhythm's team made their way to the beach, where they saw roughly one hundred red xs in the sand, indicating where the campers would have to dig. It was a bit of a daunting sight, but they were ready for the task, even if it would take a while to complete.

"Congrats to Rhythm's team for being the first to make it to the second stage," Chris welcomed, "You may now begin digging."

"Split up!" Rhythm suggested, causing all three teammates to head out to different corners.

"C'mon! We're here!" Amalia declared as her team arrived at the beach, "Start digging anywhere!"

With the arrival of Amalia's team, all six campers began digging in the sand. Even though digging speed was a factor with regards to finding their cubes quickly, it was really pure luck. You could easily find your cube on the second try, but you could also end up finding it on the fiftieth try. It was all a matter of persistence.

"How far do we have to dig?" Rhythm asked.

"I don't know," Chris admitted, laughing soon after, "I didn't bury them."

"Man, you'd think that Chris would be a little more helpful. Wait.....just forget that I said that."- Rhythm

"Any luck?" Amalia called out to her teammates.

"Nope!" Callie answered as she was hit in the face by a flying punching glove, "Ugh...."

"Nada!" Ellie replied, continuing to dig.

"Aw man..." Amalia muttered as she looked to her right and saw Daniel next to her, digging furiously.

"I haven't had a long talk with Daniel since the last elimination ceremony. This might not be the right time to talk to him, but I just have to know where him and I stand."- Amalia

"Daniel..." Amalia called out, receiving no reaction from Daniel, "Mind if we talk?"

"Don't you have a challenge to do?" Daniel asked.

"Daniel, I'm sorry for voting you out," Amalia apologized, "But you have to realize that it was a game move. It's what I had to do to help me win."

"And yet, you're talking to me, thereby preventing you from digging, finding your cube, and running to the mountain," Daniel noted, "How is that supposed to help you win?"

"Are you even listening?" Amalia asked, now frustrated, "Can you at least give me some sort of response that isn't being condescending?"

"And here you are asking more from me than I care to give," Daniel remarked, "Nothing new, eh?"

"Y'know what, whatever," Amalia conceded as she returned to digging, "I'll talk to you after the challenge."

"Fine by me," Daniel admitted as he continued digging furiously, causing him to break his shovel, "And this is why I wanted to pick the right shovel..."

"Nope, not here," Amalia remarked before Daniel ran over and grabbed her shovel, "Hey!"

"Gimme the shovel!" Daniel ordered as the two of them began fighting over the shovel.

"Oh, so now you want to talk to me?" Amalia noted rhetorically, "Well I ain't giving it up!"

"Hey, remember when you said that you wanted a strict dominator?" Daniel recalled before picking her up and throwing her into a hole as he ripped the shovel from her hands, "Hope that felt good!"

"Ugh...." Amalia muttered, uncomfortable, "That hurt, if you actually care!"

"Amalia!" Callie called out from the entrance of the hole, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Amalia responded, "I mean, it's a five-foot drop, but I'm alright."

"Hey! Look next to you!" Callie called out, pointing to the spot right next to her.

"Woah..." Amalia commented as she picked up the red cube next to her, "Callie! Catch!"

"Sweet!" Callie remarked as she caught the cube, "Ellie! Let's go!"

"And Amalia's team has taken the lead!" Chris narrated as the red-dressed team took off into the forest.

"Thanks, Daniel!" Amalia thanked as she ran away.

"Damnit!" Daniel cursed, throwing his shovel on the ground in anger.

"Come on!" Rhythm exclaimed, disappointed, "We've got to hurry up!"

"That's what we're trying to do!" Veronica claimed as she continued digging before being hit by a bag of trash, "Ow..."

"There we go!" Rhythm exclaimed as she dug up her cube, "Veronica! Help me get this out!"

"Coming!" Veronica announced as she jumped into the hole, handed the cube to Rhythm and jumped back out, "Let's go!"

"And it looks like Rhythm's team isn't about to give up just yet," Chris narrated before turning to the main camera, "Will Rhythm's team be able to catch up? And who will take it all? Find out after the break on the finale of Total...Drama...Island:...Return to Wawanakwa!"