"Welcome back to Total Drama Island: Return to Wawanakwa!" Chris welcomed as she main camera panned in on him, "Before the break, the new Merciless Moose team lost the immunity challenge and are forced to vote one of their own out tonight. Let's take a look of what they have in store for tonight..."

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The focus for the cameras was the male's side of the losers' cabin, currently housing Aaron, Daniel, & Matthew. After calling Veronica in with them, the four of them began debating their options with regards to the elimination ceremony. Having successfully thrown the previous challenge, they were now tasked with deciding who to cut.

"Where do we start?" Aaron asked as he took a seat on a chair.

"Well, it's obvious that Katelyn & Ellie are the only options," Veronica rationalized as she stood confidently, "We've just gotta figure out what our priorities are, and vote out the person who we don't need."

"Well, if you ask me, we're in need of physical ability," Matthew noted, "And between the two of them, Katelyn is definitely weaker."

"And she has a bit of an attitude," Aaron added, "We already dealt with Zeyad; we don't need another one of him."

"Katelyn has a bit of a leader-like personality. Normally, that's good, but this team doesn't need two leaders. Daniel kind of has a leader-like personality too, but speaking from experience, he's a fair leader. I don't know anything about Katelyn, so I might as well get rid of her so I don't have to find out."- Veronica

"The thing is, I feel that Katelyn is a lot more easily controlled than Ellie is," Daniel insisted, trying to change the group's mind.

"I promised Devin that I would protect Katelyn; if she goes home, Devin might just turn around and eliminate Amalia at the first opportunity. I have to do whatever I can to protect her."- Daniel

"I'm just basing my decision off of how we all feel when we're around them," Aaron explained, "Would you rather be around Katelyn; someone who will boss you around until the day is done, or Ellie; someone who will support you and simply be a voice to talk to?"

"Ellie's been pretty good to me, while Katelyn has pretty much pretended that I don't exist. I don't know if I can consider Ellie to be an ally, but I'd prefer to keep her around."- Aaron

"When you put it that way, the decision is simple," Matthew rationalized, "Katelyn's gotta go."

"That's the plan then; she's gonna ruin this team if we're not careful," Veronica rationalized.

"Right," Aaron agreed before turning to Daniel, "Any objections?"

"And...the group will not listen to what I have to say. But that's not gonna stop me; I'll find a way to ensure that Katelyn is safe. I've just got to play my cards correctly."- Daniel

"Yeah, I see your point: this team is simply better off without Katelyn," Daniel agreed, not wanting to seem stubborn, "Now, for the big question: do we know if either of them have an immunity head?"

"Trust me, guys; I followed Ellie around all night," Aaron claimed, "She doesn't have the head, and neither do I."

"And Katelyn's never been to Boney Island," Veronica noted, "And your point is?"

"I'm just thinking of a contingency plan just in case one of them has an immunity head," Daniel explained, "Like, if two of us voted for Katelyn, and two of us voted for Ellie, it ensures that at least one of them goes home. If the vote is 2-2-2, we can then vote for Katelyn on the re-vote."

"Yeah, that's 100% the safest option," Matthew agreed, "All we need to figure out is who's voting for who."

"How about...Matthew & I vote for Katelyn, and Veronica & Daniel vote for Ellie?" Aaron suggested, not wanting to vote for Ellie.

"Y'know...if the plan is to vote for Katelyn, I do have a bit of a personal vendetta to settle..." Daniel claimed, "I'd like to be the one to vote for Katelyn."

"What vendetta?" Veronica asked, curious.

"I mean, she got rid of Callie, and she was a really nice girl," Daniel explained, "She was an ally of mine and this would, y'know, allow me to avenge her."

"Of course it's a lie. I mean, I did like Callie, but it's not worth holding a grudge. If I promise to vote for Katelyn to set up the split vote, I can simply switch my vote to Ellie, which will spare Katelyn."- Daniel

"That's fine with me," Veronica agreed, "Aaron and Daniel can vote for Katelyn, while Matthew & I vote for Ellie. Any objections?"

"Nah, do what ya' gotta do, man," Aaron allowed.

"This is why I like having an alliance," Matthew noted, "Things run much smoother for us when we actually work together."

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Having an alliance is the key tool with regards to surviving in this game. It gives you numbers, it gives you security, and it gives you people to talk to when you need to rant about something. With Devin, Kiana, and Amalia, they were all eager to build some chemistry, given that they were in a new alliance. To do this, they decided to spend some time resting on the balcony of Amalia's room.

"Are you serious?!!!" Kiana asked, shocked by what Amalia just told her.

"Yep," Amalia confirmed with a smile on her face, "It was soooo romantic!"

"I can't even fathom the thought of swimming with another boy in a bikini, let alone my underwear!" Kiana admitted, laughing in shock.

"You two must really like each other," Devin noted.

"Daniel is one lucky guy; he got to see a girl in her underwear and she was perfectly fine with it! Why can't these kinds of things happen to me?"- Devin

"By telling Devin & Kiana a couple of private stories, it allows me to build a bit of trust with them. Hopefully this pays off down the road."- Amalia

"How did that even happen?" Kiana asked, curious.

"I just dragged him out to the dock and one thing lead to another," Amalia explained, smiling at the memory of that moment.

"Man..." Kiana muttered, completely in awe, "If that's what being eighteen is like, I can't wait!"

"I'd say it's more of what being a rebel is like," Amalia admitted, "Those kinds of things really excite me."

"That's interesting..." Devin admitted, "'Cause I never saw Daniel as the type to love rebels."

"Well, Daniel is a new type of guy," Amalia claimed, "Y'know, I've always heard of the stories of couples who meet at a summer camp and end up falling in love, but I never thought that it would happen to me."

"Why not?" Kiana asked.

"Because I always thought that people like me don't end up going to summer camps," Amalia explained, "Not a lot of 'rebels' go to summer camp."

"Why do you want to be a rebel?" Kiana asked, "I've never understood why people at my school want to be bad."

"Being a rebel isn't always about being bad," Amalia insisted, "It's about expressing yourself without the confines of rules."

"And that includes swimming at night in your underwear, I guess," Devin added, causing everyone to laugh, "Finally! Someone laughs at something that I say!"

"Yes, truly an accomplishment," Amalia commented sarcastically.

"Well, I'm gonna go and get some food," Devin declared as he stood up from his chair.

"I'll come with you," Kiana declared as she followed Devin into the hallway.

"She's nice," Kiana commented to Devin as they walked down the hallway.

"Oh really?!" Alexander interjected as he popped out from his room, "Is that so?"

"Hello, Alexander," Devin greeted non-enthusiastically, "What's up?"

"I'm here to talk," Alexander announced, "Let's walk."

"If we lose the next challenge, I need at least four people if I'm going to get Amalia out of this game. I know that Laila is on my side, so all I need is Devin & Kiana. Now that their allies are all on the other team, they'll be easy to reel in."- Alexander

"Ya' see, I'm looking for a bit of an alliance," Alexander revealed, "At the end of the day, you two were key members in our victory today, so I want to keep you guys by my side."

"Follow my lead..." Devin whispered to Kiana before turning to Alexander, "I mean, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it wasn't for your leadership. Right, Kiana?"

"Oh! Yeah! Of course!" Kiana agreed, "You really led us to victory!"

"Well....yeah, I guess so," Alexander agreed, flattered, "Y'know, I know that I can....I mean we can get this team into a good position by the time that the merge hits. Hopefully by the time that we get there, we can have a majority alliance and run the game."

"I have absolutely no problem with that," Devin claimed, still playing along with Alexander, "All I have is her."

"And all I have is him," Kiana added, pointing to Devin, "This helps all of us."

"Exactly!" Alexander exclaimed, glad that someone was agreeing with him, "Well, we can talk later; I've got to go and make dinner now. See ya!"

"See ya!" Devin replied as he watched Alexander run downstairs, "Well...that's about a minute of my life that I won't get back."

"Couldn't have said it better," Kiana admitted.

"At this point, it's better to just agree with Alexander. The more power that he thinks he has, the cockier he becomes, and the easier it becomes to vote him out."- Devin

"Alexander is exactly the type of person that I don't like being around. Luckily, I have Devin with me so I don't have to face him alone. He's gotta go as soon as possible."- Kiana

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Even though no one ever said it out loud, everyone had a priority list with regards to who they wanted out of the game. Most often, those at the bottom of the list would be those that they trusted the most, while those at the top of the list would be those that are seen as a hindrance to their game. It could be someone who is a physical threat, someone who is a mental threat, or in Katelyn's case with regards to Matthew, a physical liability. Right now, Katelyn decided to vent her frustration to Ellie while in the communal bathrooms.

"I mean, I respect him and all, but I'm starting to question why he's here," Katelyn admitted whilst showering.

"He's taking a leap of faith, and he's gonna be an inspiration to a lot of people," Ellie noted as she began blowdrying her hair.

"Honestly, Matthew might be the only person here with a goal other than winning the million dollars. I know that there are going to be a lot of people out there who will doubt him, and for him to make it this far really shows his heart and determination. People are gonna love him."- Ellie

"Of course he will, and he should be proud for making it this far," Katelyn agreed, "But at the end of the day, this is a game, and we have to do what's best for our games. We've got to separate our feelings from our strategy, and realize that he is the weakest person on our team."

"Do you really think that he's the best person to get rid of?" Ellie asked, "I mean, Daniel didn't exactly perform as well as he should've."

"I haven't forgotten about Daniel; if it wasn't for him, Cassie would still be here. I've been waiting to get revenge and this might be the perfect time."- Ellie

"At least Daniel can get over a river without help," Katelyn noted, "And overall, I don't think that getting rid of Matthew will upset too many people."

"At the end of the day, if we get rid of Daniel, I know that Amalia will be upset, Tory will probably be upset, and maybe even Devin & Kiana will be upset too. If we eliminate Matthew, I think people will be more understanding of it because of his performance in the challenge."-Katelyn

"I mean, the fact that he's in a wheelchair is also a danger for popularity," Katelyn remarked as she exited the shower with a towel wrapped around her, "If he makes it to the end of the game and the eliminated campers have to vote, he's gonna win unanimously."

"Well, if you put it that way....fine..." Ellie conceded as she pulled her hair into a ponytail, "Well, we're gonna need at least two more votes. Who do you want me to talk to?"

"Talk to Veronica," Katelyn ordered, "She could probably convince the other guys to split their votes, which would allow us three to eliminate Matthew."

"On it," Ellie declared as she began walking towards the door, "See ya later."

"See ya," Katelyn replied as Ellie exited the communal bathroom.

Now alone, Katelyn was given some time to reflect on her own game. She felt that she played a good game so far, but this was the first time that she was worried for her safety. In the past, she always seemed to be the 'Queen Bee' of her team, but now that her alliance was cut in half, she was scared that she would be left in the minority of the vote. As much as she didn't want to, she would have to consider any opportunity that came a-knocking.

"Hello?" a male asked as he knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Katelyn asked as she got fully dressed.

"Daniel," Daniel answered, "Can we talk?"

"Come in," Katelyn allowed as Daniel opened the door and entered the communal bathroom, "What's up?"

"Well, with the elimination ceremony coming up soon, I figured that I might as well let you in on what's going on," Daniel explained.

"Alright, go ahead," Katelyn allowed as she began brushing her hair.

"To start, a deal was put in place involving a five person alliance," Daniel revealed, "The alliance is going to be you, me, Devin, Kiana, and Amalia."

"What?" Katelyn questioned as she turned to face Daniel, "I didn't make that deal."

"All of a sudden, Daniel drops the bomb that I'm in a new five-person alliance. Normally, I'd be happy, but I didn't know anything about this!"- Katelyn

"Devin did," Daniel explained, "He wanted to find a way to keep you safe, so he made me a deal that involves me keeping you safe and him keeping Amalia safe."

"Devin set this up?" Katelyn asked, wanting to make sure that she heard him correctly.

"Yeah; he seems to really care for you," Daniel commented, "I mean, I don't know what's going on with you two, but I think that he'd sacrifice himself for you in this game."

"Hearing that Devin actually made a move to try and protect me makes me feel....weird. I mean, I thought that Devin was just a terrible player, but it seems like he's actually a really loyal guy. Maybe if him and I end up making the merge, we could actually make it far together."- Katelyn

"If I can convince Katelyn that I am looking out for her, it increases the likelihood that she'll let me proceed with my plans. It's time to play a bit of 'mind games'."- Daniel

"What about the votes?" Katelyn asked, "Who are we voting for?"

"I'm gonna be honest: there's an alliance consisting of Aaron, Veronica, and Matthew," Daniel revealed, "And they think that I'm splitting the votes with them to get rid of either you or Ellie."

"Really?" Katelyn asked, a bit confused, "But I thought that Veronica didn't like Aaron."

"That's what I thought. But I guess they made an alliance to get rid of Zeyad," Daniel replied, "The problem is that I can't do anything about it."

"What do you mean?" Katelyn questioned.

"If I flip, the other side will know that I'm the loose pair of lips in the alliance, and I will be the next one out," Daniel claimed.

"No you won't," Katelyn corrected, "If Matthew gets voted out, you, me, and Ellie can band together and get rid of Veronica & Aaron."

"Ellie's gonna vote me out," Daniel insisted, "I don't think she's forgiven me for voting for Cassie. There's got to be another way to solve this!"

"Attention campers!" Chris announced over the loudspeakers, "It's time for the elimination ceremony! Please make your way to the campfire area!"

"C'mon!" Katelyn exclaimed, "We've got to do this!"

"There's got to be another way..." Daniel muttered.

"Honestly, Daniel's a complete p**sy! Why can't he just grow a pair and make the big move?! Ughh...I don't know what I'm gonna do about him..."- Katelyn

"I had to find a way to keep my promise to Devin without ruining my own game. Right now, I need Katelyn to think that I'm the one being controlled, and not the one controlling everyone else, and hopefully everything goes smoothly."- Daniel

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Illuminated by the light of the burning bonfire, the two teams piled into the campfire area. As per usual, the winning team took their seats on the sidelines, while the Merciless Moose took their seats on the stumps. With this being the first voteoff after the second team swap, this vote was crucial with regards to showing the distinct divisions in the team, and would quickly put each player in a position of safety or danger.

"It's elimination time! but before we get to that, let's welcome Rhythm back from Boney Island!" Chris announced as Rhythm walked into the campfire area, causing everyone to clap for her, "Rhythm, now that you're back, I'd like to you know that after the vote is done tonight, you will be made a member of the Merciless Moose."

"Knew it," Daniel whispered to Veronica, to which she nodded in happiness.

"You may take a seat next to them," Chris declared, allowing Rhythm to sit down next to her new team, "And once again, I'll need a volunteer from the Wild Wolverines to spend the night on Boney Island."

"Me!" Amalia shouted as she stood up and raised her hand before Alexander could.

"F**k!" Alexander cursed as he leaned back into his seat, "I'm always late!"

"Now's not the time for a joke, is it?" Devin whispered to Kiana, who shook her head in response.

"Alright Amalia, down that path is a boat that will take you to Boney Island," Chris declared as Amalia began walking away.

"Good luck!" Daniel wished.

"Thanks!" Amalia thanked before blowing Daniel a kiss and walking down the path.

"And now it's time for my second favourite part of the episode: the voteoff," Chris declared, "Merciless Moose, you know what you need to do. X-out the picture of the person that you want to vote for, I'll check the votes, hand out marshmallows, and whoever doesn't receive a marshmallow will be forced to walk down the Dock of Shame and leave the island on the Submarine of Losers. Now vote!"

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"You're going to make a lot of fans happy, and I'm sorry that this has to happen."- Ellie

"This is purely strategic. I hope that you aren't going home tonight."- Matthew

"If this works out, you'll be going home and I can keep an ally in this game."- Aaron

"You and I had a good relationship, but when the chips are down, I don't know where you stand."- Veronica

"You wouldn't believe how much it hurts me to do this, but this is the only way that I can save my game."- Katelyn

"I've been thinking about voting you out for a while now, and I think that now is the perfect time to make that happen."- Daniel

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"Time to reveal the results!" Chris declared as he picked up three marshmallows from his tray, "Veronica, Daniel, and Aaron, you guys are safe. Matthew, Ellie, & Katelyn, you each have received at least one vote tonight."

As Veronica, Daniel, & Aaron caught their marshmallows, the remaining three campers were left in a very insecure state. Matthew did his best to remain calm, but couldn't help but ponder the thought of his allies stabbing him in the back. Ellie knew that she was in the minority, and was mainly focused on whether or not she was the target. As for Katelyn, she was concerned, but did a fair job of keeping a monotone expression.

"The next marshmallow goes to....Matthew," Chris declared as he threw a marshmallow to Matthew, "And the last marshmallow of the night goes to.......Katelyn. Sorry Ellie, but this is the end of the road for you."

"What?!" Ellie exclaimed as she stood up from her seat and faced her teammates, "How is this supposed to help you guys?!"

In her defense, no one on her team seemed happy. Veronica, Aaron, and Matthew were left confused, granted that they were expecting the vote to be a tie. Daniel also seemed confused, even though he knew how the vote with pan out. Katelyn was the odd one out; she seemed upset, as if she had just done something completely immoral.

"It's a shocker, but there's nothing that we can do," Chris declared, "It's time for you to go!"

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Ellie slowly walked across the Dock of Shame, disappointed and confused. She made an effort to try and be the all-around girl in the cast. She pulled her weight in challenges, came up with different plans, and made genuine relationships with many of the other campers. Her elimination seemed like a big slap in the face.

"Katelyn!" Ellie called out from the end of the dock, "You better win this game!"

"I won't let you down!" Katelyn replied, barely loud enough for Ellie to hear her.

"As for the rest of my team, you just made an awful mistake," Ellie claimed before stepping into the Submarine of Losers, "Let's go."

With that, the Submarine of Losers drove away and disappeared into the water within a matter of seconds. As for the rest of the campers, they were left in a state of paranoia. Even though no one 'deserved' to be voted out, many of the campers felt that Ellie was voted out prematurely. Sadly, there was nothing that they could do about it, and they were forced to accept it.

"What happened?" Aaron asked, whispering to Veronica.

"I think I know," Daniel whispered, having overheard Aaron, "I'll explain it later."

With Chris' confirmation, the remaining campers returned to their rooms with mixed emotions. At this point, everyone started to realize that so many campers have already been voted out, and that from this point on, the game wasn't about to get any easier. In order to survive, they would have to adapt, strategize, and socialize, even if there was no guarantee that it would work.

"With blindside, after blindside, after blindside, who knows what'll happen next?" Chris asked rhetorically as he turned to the main camera, "Will the Merciless Moose recover? What will Katelyn do now that she just lost her main ally? And what will Amalia do on Boney Island? Find out next time, right here, on Total...Drama...Island:...Return to Wawanakwa!"

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Votes:

Ellie: Matthew

Matthew: Ellie

Aaron: Katelyn

Veronica: Ellie

Katelyn: Ellie

Daniel: Ellie