Total Drama World Tour: Miranda's Way (Alternate Version)

Chapter 25: "Mercy Always Wins"

In actuality, she looked quite silly with that frilly thing on her head, but Miranda thought better of telling her that.

Chef suddenly pushed over a gigantic metal box that didn't look too damaged by the explosion. Upon seeing this box, Chris's previously depressed face lit up with hope.

"Hey! My emergency kit! We're saved!" he cheered, running over to Chef.

"That's right, kids! Get ready for surf, sun, and beauties in grass skirts. We're going to Hawaii!"

Everyone cheered when they heard this. It was the perfect setting for the end of this wild adventure.

"I know, best host ever. Never doubt me."

Chef opened the box, which held a small helicopter inside, one much too small to fit six people, which Alejandro noticed immediately.

"Uh, is that a two-seater?"

"Yep. Chef flies, I supervise."

"And we?" Miranda crossed her arms with a pout.

"Will be competing to get to the big island first, using only your wits and whatever you can find out here."

"But we're in the middle of nowhere!" Cody exclaimed anxiously.

"True. So, check these fancy-dancy GPSes I'm generously giving you."

He threw the three competitors large, bulky machines that would've looked incredibly high-tech in the nineteen sixties. Miranda looked down at the screen and noticed a blue dot flashing at their location, surrounded by nothing remarkable.

"Middle of nowhere, Alberta. Well...they work," she answered dryly.

"Set them to Tijuana Beach. It's right on the Mexican border. Now move it! Go, go, go!"

Everyone began quickly setting the coordinates on their machines.

"Wait! What about me?" Sierra called.

"Make like you took the Drop of Shame and figure it out yourself!" Chris yelled dismissively.

Without sparing another minute, he was in the ascending helicopter.

"Don't worry! You're all totally gonna make it!"

The helicopter flew away, leaving the four stranded in the rubble.

Alejandro silently set his coordinates, turning around to walk away. Sierra and Cody were both rummaging through the plane debris. Miranda glanced at both parties, then down to her GPS, which she had no idea how to function. Fearing the idea of being behind, she made a split-second decision and followed Alejandro.

Once she caught up to him, she gently pulled on his sleeve to get his attention. Alejandro reluctantly stopped, huffing frustratedly. He knew it was her, of course. No one else had such a cute way of getting attention. But after what she'd done to him last night, instead of smiling at her presence, he could only be resentful that she was trying to get in his way.

"...Hey, I know this is a race, but...I have no idea how this thing works, heh...Can you just...help with these coordinates? I should be fine after that."

Alejandro took a deep breath, slowly gesturing for her to hand over the GPS. And without a word, he began to punch in the coordinates.

Miranda was immediately made uneasy by his demeanor. His silence was almost deafening. The tension in just his posture was enough to make her feel like she was suffocating. There were no fond glances, no annoyingly cute pet names...It made her feel oddly cold. And as if that all wasn't enough, he held a familiar fury in his eyes, one she had grown terrified of over the months. It was the look she saw in many of her nightmares, the sleepy ones and the awake ones.