A/N: Hey, guys! So, in the wake of the finale, I decided to write this little oneshot! Honestly, the finale was a lot better than I thought that it would be... The only thing that really bothered me was the major cliffhanger with the balloons. I mean, did Chris really just kill eight people? Anyways, this was originally just going to be about Brick and Jo, but then I started thinking: one, if stuck together at the Playa, could Brick and Tyler become friends? Two, would it be possible for Jo and Lindsay to have a sensible conversation? Well, after this far too long author's note, I hope that I can answer these questions and more!
P.S.: If you're looking for another story based on the balloon thing, I recommend Up, Up, And Away In These Pitiful Balloons by bored2death and Revenge With Some Ressurection by HopelesslyObssesedFanGirl709. Both are awesome :)
Disclaimer: If I owned Total Drama, Jo would have won All-Stars
/(._.)/
It was a sunny day around camp Wawanakwa. Few clouds rested in the sky, and everyone was gearing up for the final chalenge; well, everyone on the main island, at least. As the fifth season went on, the number of losers in the viewing room at the Playa des Losers had dwindled as everyone not chosen for the season slowly lost interest. By the time the finale rolled around, the room was practically empty, filled only with those who feared for the All-Stars' safety. As it turned out, not only were Mike and Zoey in danger- after the first few episodes, the players figured out from Dawn that the losers were not being flushed back to the Playa. Instead, Chris was keeping them in a small, dark tunnel underneath the island.
Currently, only two people were watching the finale: Tyler to find out what had happened to Lindsay, and Brick because he worried about all of his fellow competitors.
"Especially Jo, right, buddy?" Tyler asked his friend as they sat down in the viewing room.
"I-I care for the safety of all of my fellow soldiers," Brick stammered before quickly changing the subject. "Hey, where is everybody else?"
"Most of them stopped caring a while back. A few others stopped watching when it came down to Mike and Zoey, and DJ didn't want to see any more injuries at all this season. Dawn simply declared that no one would die from this challenge and took B with her on a nature walk, Dakota is still out looking for Sam, and Owen apparently has a role in the final challenge. It looks like it's just you and me, buddy!" Tyler grinned and turned back towards the TV.
After Brick was eliminated from the island during season four, he and Tyler had become fast friends; they bonded over their extreme (and sometimes irrational) fears, as well as their mutual tendency to injure themselves. They had both been disappointed, yet relieved when they found out that they weren't chosen as All-Stars; they knew how insane Chris had become. When the All-Stars left for the island, Tyler had promised Lindsay that he would watch the season, while Brick had been threatened and almost challenged by Jo to watch the whole thing. "You had better watch me play and win this thing, Brickhouse," she had said. He had replied as usual, with a smile and a "yes, m'am!"
True to their word, both boys were now settled on the couch with a tub of popcorn, waiting to see what the final chalenge had in store. "Oh, bro, I think it's starting!" Tyler said, tapping his friend on the shoulder.
Sure enough, the episode began exactly how they had thought that it would: Zoey confronted Mal about not being Mike, said how she was going to bring Mike back, etcetera, etcetera. Not that Tyler and Brick didn't care for the two of them, but they were much more worried about the friends that they hadn't seen in months. The episode began to get more interesting when Chris revealed a giant wall of weapons. Then, came the balloons.
Brick was in the middle of telling Tyler about some of the weapons when he choked on his words- "yeah, so that's the plastic leg that Lightning used for the... WHA-?" Tyler then proceeded to choke on the handful of popcorn that he had been chewing.
"CAN THEY BREATHE IN THERE?" Brick asked no one in particular, as Zoey asked the same thing on screen.
"I dunno," they heard Chris reply, "how about you ask our classic competitor, Owen? He filled them."
"Ohh, I see why they needed him now," Tyler said, his eyes glued to the screen.
The two friends continued to watch the competition as Gwen, Cameron, Alejandro, and Heather were shot down before Chris called time, and asked an intern to get the others down.
"Well, at least my Lindsay'll be safer if she doesn't have to compete," Tyler said.
"Yeah," Brick replied, "I guess that we're finally done having to worry about this show..."
Of course, he shouldn't have said that. The moment that those words left his mouth, a great gust of wind brushed over the island, sweeping up every remaining player on a single wave. The eight All-Stars screamed in terror as they were swept away in the direction of the enormous lake.
Brick could only sit and mumble at the TV: "b-but... th-they can't be- Chris wouldn't let her die, would he?" Meanwhile, Tyler was pretty much freaking out in front of the TV.
"NO! LINDSAY! Oh no, what do we do, what do we do!?" He screamed, running back and forth in front of the TV. It was then that Brick remembered everything that Jo had taught him about leadership. He stood up, grabbed his friends shoulders, and said:
"Pull yourself together, soldier! We WILL figure this out."
"Do you have a plan, bro?" Tyler asked, beginning to calm down.
"No..." Brick replied, slowly beginning to smile, "but I think I know some people who will."
/(._.)/
Jo was annoyed - at pretty much everyone and everything at this point. After being swept away from the island, all of their balloons had been headed directly for the sun. Luckily for them, the balloons didn't have much helium to begin with, so they all ended up floating on the surface of the lake: six contestants still in balloons, two who had gotten out.
Said two contestants were the second largest cause of Jo's annoyance (the first being Chris): of all of the pairs to have escaped, it had to be Dud-can and little miss CIT. Duncan had escaped when, still wearing handcuffs, he somehow managed to pop his balloon with his pocket knife. He was then able to sloppily throw said pocket knife in the direction of the remaining balloons, and who else could he have hit besides his type-A ex, Courtney?
"Well hey there, Princess," Duncan said with a smirk, "long time no see, huh?"
"Ugh, just great! I'd rather still be stuck with Owen's noxious fumes than stuck out here with you," Courtney snapped back in disgust.
"Admit it, Court: I know you still want me," Duncan said, wiggling his eyebrows.
"I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT-"
At this point, Jo had to but in. "HEY, mr and mrs argues-a-lot, would you mind helping us out here!? In case you haven't noticed, the rest of us are still trapped it these fart bubbles!"
Duncan was the first to reply. "Yeah, as much as I'd LOVE to help the rest of you losers, I kind of lost my pocket knife freeing Princess here."
"Well, that's just GREAT. Alright guys, as this group's leader, I suggest that we all look for ways to pop our balloons. Besides that, thanks to these two idiots, all we can do is wait for someone to send help," Jo said to the other All-Stars.
Some of the contestants snickered at the thought of anyone sending help, yet they all set to work trying to escape. After about 10 minutes, Scott was the only other contestant who was able to get out of his balloon. Fortunately for him, he had had a knife with him that he used for whittling; unfortunately for everyone else, he dropped it when he fell into the lake.
"Ugh!" Jo attempted to pop through the balloon with her fists once more, but to no avail. She gave up and listened to what was going on around her, but all she heard was more failure.
Lightning, after trying the same strategy as Jo, had decided that he needed to get stronger to pop his balloon. He was now doing push-ups inside of his orange bubble: "Sha-ONE! Sha-TWO! Sha-THREE!" He would do about 10 push-ups, try to pop his bubble, 10 push-ups, try to pop his bubble, and so on.
Sierra was whining to Sam about how much she missed her "CamCodykins"; Sam obviously wasn't listening, though, as one could hear the sounds of his back-up GameGuy through his balloon.
Duncan and Courtney had continued arguing, and now Scott had joined in; he was mainly only arguing with Courtney, though, only occasionally throwing an insult at Duncan. Lindsay was probably the least annoying one there, as she was simply sitting down and humming some random tune.
Eventually Jo, who was floating a bit too close to the arguing threesome for her tastes, simply couldn't take any more whining or bickering. "That's it! I've had enough of you three. I'm moving over there for some peace and quiet." She didn't think that the three arguing All-Stars heard her, but she began to make her way towards a spot about 20 feet away from where she was floating anyways.
As she was rolling away in her balloon, the voice of the other blonde All-Star interrupted her thoughts. "Oh, can I come with you, Jane?" Lindsay asked, rolling towards Jo's balloon.
"It's JO," Jo responded, "but sure, whatever." It was better to have not-so-intelligent company than completely annoying company, anyways. When the two girls got far enough away as to no longer have Duncan, Courtney, or Scott as an annoyance, they both sat down in their respective bubbles. "So, what's up, blondie?" Jo asked her companion.
"Well, the sky, of course! But you know, it REALLY smells in here. Why is Chris so mean that he shoved us in these things?"
Jo facepalmed at this, but decided to continue the conversation anyways. "I dunno," she replied, "bad childhood, maybe? At least Chris being a jerk is something that we can agree on."
"Hehe, like, totally! I thought he was mean in season one, but this season he was like, a bajillion times more mean!" Then she sighed. "I wish Tyler were here. He could totally get us out!"
"Wow, you remembered his name! I'm impressed," Jo replied. She actually was impressed - she had seen the first three seasons, and she knew what Lindsay could be like.
"Well, of course I remembered!" Lindsay said, earning an eye roll from Jo, "just like you can always remember Brock's name!"
"His name is Brick," Jo said, before she realized what Lindsay had said. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"
"See, you remember Brian's name because you like him, just like I like Tyler!" Linday grinned while Jo scowled.
"I. DO NOT. LIKE HIM." Jo said. Then why are you blushing, she asked herself.
"Are you sure? 'Cause I'm not all that smart, but even I can see it! Ohmygosh, you guys would be like, so cute together!"
Lindsay didn't mean any harm, but Jo growled at her nonetheless. "We are RIVALS. You don't know what you're talking about, Blondie." At this point, even Lindsay could sense the threatening tones in Jo's voice, and decided to change the topic.
"So, um... I hope we're rescued soon..." She said, hoping that Jo wouldn't decide to stop talking to her.
"Yeah, whatever." Jo sighed, realizing that the whole awkward conversation wasn't really Lindsay's fault; it's not like she was trying to embarrass her, she just... didn't know how Jo really felt. Or did she?
"So, anyways," Jo smiled, changing the topic, "how has Beth been?"
"Oh, she's doing great! Before the season, we..." The girls continued their conversations like this untill Lindsay got tired, and declared that she needed a nap.
"You're not so bad, toothpick," Jo said as Lindsay fell asleep. She was then left to her own thoughts.
/(._.)/
Brick and Tyler were walking along the long, forested path outside of Playa des Losers, looking for a certain blonde that they knew could help them save the All-Stars. "How do you know she'll be out here, bro?" Asked Tyler, who had calmed down considerably since earlier.
"She likes to come out here to enjoy nature and talk to the animals," Brick replied as they continued along the path, "Jo and I saw her almost every time that we came out for a run, before the fifth season started."
"I'm guessing that that was practically every day?" Tyler asked, smirking at his friend's far away look.
"Yeah..." Brick replied, a smile on his face and his head in the clouds. In fact, his head was so far in the clouds that by wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, and walked straight into B. "Oh! My apologies, soldier. I... Was not quite paying attention, hehe." B smiled and shrugged in a 'don't worry about it' gesture.
"Oh, hello guys! Brick, your aura is particularly bright pink today. However..." Dawn began, scrutinizing the two boys, "I sense a dark blue mixed in with the pink: this symbolizes a fear for the ones that you love. Oh no, did something happen during the finale!?" Quickly, the two boys filled her in.
"So, we came to you for help," Tyler finished. "What do you think that we should do?"
Dawn, flattered that they had come to her, began to think. She got an idea and turned to the boys. "OK, consider this: what was Chris' favorite mode of transportation between the Playa and the main island?"
When Tyler and Brick returned blank looks, B twirled his finger in the air to help them out.
"That's correct, B! His helicopter. However, since he does not need it for the final challenge..." Dawn said, hoping that the other two boys would catch on.
"M'am, are you suggesting that we steal Chris' helicopter? As much as I want to save J- everyone, is it really the right thing to do?" Brick asked nervously.
"Brick, you and I both know how much you want to save her. Besides, Chris is an evil man who deserves to have his helicopter stolen by two brave men."
"Thanks, Dawn," Tyler said, picking up on the compliment. "Alright, Brick, let's-"
"Not so fast, Tyler!" Dawn interupted, "I sense that Brick has the skill to fly the helicopter; however, getting to and into the helicopter is a different story. I sense that you will need the help of two others: one to handle the guards, and another to pick the lock on the helicopter doors. You already know who these people are, no?"
"Oh! I understand now!" Brick said, grabbing Tyler's arm. "Come on, we need to get back to the Playa!"
/(._.)/
As soon as the boys found the door that they were looking for, they quickly knocked and stood back, waiting for a response.
"Yes?" Harold asked as he opened the door.
"Harold, buddy!" Tyler said, "we need your help! See, for the final challenge, Owen farted in some balloons and put our friends inside of them. But then a gust of wind came and took my Lindsay away!"
"That's a scientific impossibility," Harold replied in a monotone voice. "Those balloons would not have helium, only methane, and they therefore wouldn't be able to float or even hover in the air."
"Yeah, tell that to Lindsay, who's currently floating somewhere away from us!" Tyler replied, becoming annoyed with the nerd.
"Look, Harold," Brick began, "we just need you to use your... Um... 'mad skills' in order to pick the locks on Chris' helicopter."
When he heard that people actually needed his crazy awesome skills, Harold immediately perked up.
"Alright, I'll help you guys save Lindsay and Jo. Can we save Sam too, though? I need someone else to play video games with, and he's really the only other worthy competitor here."
"We're gonna save everyone, bro! We just need one more person to help us out," Tyler explained. The boys continued to make their way down the hallway, Brick leading the way towards the next door that they needed. When Brick saw that they were almost there, he leaned over and whispered to Tyler:
"Getting this soldier may be a bit harder than the last one," he said, worry building up in his chest.
"Don't worry, bro, I'm sure it won't be that hard to convince h- oh," Tyler stopped talking as soon as he saw which door they were in front of. "Are you sure that we need her help? I mean..."
"Yes, sir, I'm afraid that we do. She's the only one besides Izzy who can take out the guards, and we don't have time to search the mainland for Izzy."
"Alright, well, um... leaders first?"
Brick nodded and, although his eyes were filled with fear, he turned to knock on the door.
"WHAT?" Eva asked as she answered the door. Immediately, Tyler and Harold moved to cower behind Brick as Brick attempted to keep his bladder in check.
"Umm... Hello, m'am," Brick began, regaining his composure, "we have come to request your assistance in helping our friends, who are currently floating somewhere on Lake Wawanakwa."
"So? what do you want me to do?" Eva asked, surprisingly calm.
"All that we need you to do, m'am, is somehow remove or distract the guards so that we can... Err... 'Borrow' Chris' helicopter."
"Sounds great; I get to hurt someone related to Chris, and help steal something that belongs to Chris! I'll do it."
"Alright!" Brick and Tyler said.
"Awesome," Harold replied.
/(._.)/
They could see it: the great, metal machine, the one thing capable of rescuing the eight people who had been set adrift. It had been the great evil known as Chris who had caused this tragedy, and now it would be that evil's prized possession that ended it. As the four previous competitors approached the helicopter, they saw four large, towering figures standing directly in front of it.
"This is where I come in, right?" Eva said, her gaze fixed on the four armed guards.
"Yes, m'am!" Brick answered.
"Go show 'em what you got!" Tyler added.
And show them she did. As soon as Eva reached the first guard, she began to take out her anger as if she were beating up Chris, and not just some of his guards.
"THIS is for stopping me from getting my million dollars!"
"THIS is for allowing HEATHER to make the finals for a season!"
"THIS is for never giving me a chance to compete again!"
"AND THIS IS FOR RUNNING OVER MY MP3 PLAYER WITH YOUR STUPID JEEP!"
As soon as all four guards were unconscious on the ground, the other three contestants came to join Eva by the helicopter. Brick then saluted her.
"Well done, m'am!" He said, lowering his arm. "You have served your teammates well."
"Thanks, Cadet," Eva replied before turning to Harold. "You can handle it from here, right, scrawny?"
"Totally," Harold replied. As Eva left, he turned to the other two boys and said, "are you guys ready to see my awesome skills in action?"
"Sure, Harold!" Tyler said, giving him a thumbs-up.
"All that we need you to do is pick the lock on the helicopter door and then start the engine for us. I can fly the helicopter from there," Brick explained.
"Awesome. I learned lock picking at Picky Steve's Lock-Picking Camp, and hot wiring at Wiry Steve's Hot-Wiring Camp." After this statement, Harold set to work. He spent about five minutes each on the lock picking and hot wiring jobs before declaring that he had finished.
"Excellent work, soldier!" Brick said, once again saluting his team.
"Thanks, Brick," Harold said, saluting back, "it's nice to see that someone appreciates my mad skills."
With that, Harold left as Brick and Tyler climbed into the helicopter.
"Alright, bro, are you ready to do this?" Tyler asked as he sat down in the passenger seat.
"Yeah!" Brick replied with a smile, "LET'S GO SAVE JO!" This earned him a smirk from Tyler. "AND EVERYONE ELSE!" He added, his cheeks turning red as he strapped himself into the pilot's chair. The helicopter began to hover in the air, and off they went.
/(._.)/
"Ugh, this SUCKS!" Jo said to herself as her balloon continued to bob up and down on the lake. Hardly anything had changed in the three hours that the All-Stars had been stranded. What had changed had gotten worse: Sierra was now crying over losing her CamCodykins, Sam had turned up the volume on his GameGuy in an attempt to drown out said crying, and the threesome in the middle hadn't even taken a break from arguing. Lightning had somehow managed to escape from his balloon, and was swimming laps around the others, taunting the four contestants who were still trapped inside of their balloons.
"Sha-YEAH! Lightning's the greatest! Lightning's the champ!" It only got worse each time that he would pass by Jo. "Haha, sucks to be you, Sha-Jo! You gotta keep breathing fat guy's fart cloud, 'cause SHA-LIGHTNING'S THE BEST!"
"I swear, if he keeps this up I'm gonna-" Jo mumbled to herself before being cut off by Lindsay, who was screaming at Lightning:
"WOULD YOU STOP THAT!? SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO GET OUR BEAUTY SLEEP!" She screamed from inside of her bubble. This seemed to do true trick, because Lightning swam back in he other direction to bother Sam and Sierra.
"Huh. Thanks, Blondie," Jo said to her now-awake companion.
"No problem, Joey!" Lindsay replied. So close, yet so far...
Suddenly a noise, or rather lack thereof, interrupted the blondes: it appeared that the ginger, the CIT, and the delinquent had finally stopped arguing.
"Well, it's about sha-time that you guys stopped arguing," Lightning said, unaware of the fact that he too had been extremely annoying.
"Guys, do you see that?" Courtney asked, pointing to a faraway area out on the horizon.
"See wha- oh! Is that a helicopter? We're saved!" Scott cried, forgetting about the argument. Jo couldn't see where anyone was pointing through her bubble, so she placed her ear against the orange rubber and listened closely. Sure enough, she could hear the nearby sounds of rotating helicopter blades coming closer and closer each second. 'Did Chris actually send help?' She asked herself. The answer was proven to be no when she heard a voice call out: "LINDSAY!"
"Tyler!? Is that you?" Jo heard Lindsay call out from the bubble next to her.
"Don't worry, Linds, I'm coming to save you!" Tyler called out from the doorway of the helicopter.
"Tyler, wait!" Brick pleaded from the pilot's chair; but it was too late. In one fluid motion, Tyler jumped out of the helicopter and began to fall in the direction of Lindsay's balloon. Surprisingly, he hit his mark. The pressure of his body weight on the balloon caused the balloon to pop, sending Tyler up into the air and Lindsay down into the waters of lake Wawanakwa. Tyler hit the water in a very painful looking belly flop, sinking just a little before Lindsay pulled him back up.
"Tyler! I'm so glad you're here!" Lindsay squealed.
"Hehe, I'm glad I'm here too, Linds," Tyler replied.
After putting the helicopter on auto pilot and releasing a rope ladder, Brick walked over to the helicopter doorway before calling out to his friend:
"Tyler! Are you OK?" Brick asked from up in the air.
'Is that Brick? He actually came for us?' Jo asked herself as Tyler called back "Yeah, I'm good!"
At this point, Jo butted into the boys' conversation: "Well, it's about time, Jarhead!" She called up to Brick, "are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna GET ME OUT OF THIS FART BUBBLE?!"
"Oh, um, right! Just a second, Jo!" Brick called out to the waters below. "Alright, McArthur, don't mess this up," Brick said to himself as he prepared to jump. "You are large and in charge, you are LARGE AND IN CHAAAAARGE!" Brick yelled as he began falling towards Jo's balloon.
He was hoping to make his entrance slightly more graceful than Tyler's; however, he ended up doing the exact same thing, popping Jo's balloon before face planting directly onto the surface of the lake. Jo rolled her eyes before diving down to retrieve him and pulling him back up to the surface. "Nice entry, Brick-for-Brains," Jo smirked at the Cadet as she held him above the waterline. "Thanks for the rescue, though, I owe ya one."
"Hehe, umm, no problem, Jo," Brick replied, his cheeks turning red once more. Behind Jo's shoulder, he could see Tyler giving him a 'Go On!' motion with his hands. Finally, Brick went for it: he leaned forward and kissed Jo directly on the lips. Jo was shocked, but didn't pull away.
The kiss only lasted about five seconds before Brick truly realized what he was doing. "I- I'm so sorry, m'-m'am! It will never happen again, m'am!" he stammered as he pulled away.
Jo rolled her eyes and snickered at how red Brick's face was. "Well, that came out of nowhere. Look how red you are!" She laughed before pulling him in closer. "Now come here!" This time, their kiss lasted for about a minute, giving Tyler enough time to free Sierra and Sam with the pocket knife that he had brought. Sierra took pictures while Sam cheered Brick on, and this probably would have gone on for a much longer time if the couple hadn't been interrupted by a certain CIT.
"Excuse me, lovebirds, but I would like to go someplace where I can dry off before SUEING THE PANTS OFF OF CHRIS!" Courtney screamed.
Jo would have told Courtney to take a hike, but remembered that she wanted to do the exact same thing to Chris. She and Brick helped everyone else onto the helicopter before getting on themselves and heading back to the Playa.
/(._.)/
"Um, isn't the Playa supposed to be right here?" Brick asked, looking down at the now empty lake.
"And isn't Camp Wawanakwa supposed to be right over there?" Tyler asked, pointing to where the island used to stand.
Suddenly, the campers heard a familiar voice down below: "hey, isn't that my helicopter!? Chef, what's my helicopter doing up there? It should have sunk with the Playa!" Chris exclaimed, staring at the vehicle in the sky.
"Oh, hi Chip!" Lindsay called out, waving at Chris.
"Ahh! You kids! What are you doing with my precious helicopter?" Chris yelled from below. Instead of an answer, all he got were angry remarks:
"I WILL SUE YOU, CHRIS! SUE!" Courtney screamed out of the helicopter window.
"YOU'RE A DEAD MAN, MCCLEAN! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE! Jo called from right next to Courtney.
As the other campers shouted threats at the host, Tyler turned to Brick and asked, "so, where to next?"
"Well, there's another small island not far from here called Pahkitew. I say that we land there and take a boat back to the mainland," Brick replied.
Chris watched as his helicopter began to turn and fly in a different direction. "Chef!" He called out, "they're getting away with my helicopter! After them!"
Chef grabbed the log with the six remaining All-Stars, plus Chris, and began to paddle after the helicopter. "This adventure is just getting started," Chef sighed to himself before continuing on his path.
/(._.)/
A/N: Well, I hope that that was as much fun to read as it was to write! Let me know if you liked it, loved it, even hated it! - just leave a review. Also, let me know if I'm keeping everyone in character, and if you want to see more total drama stuff from me (or not). It's been awesome, and thanks for reading :)
~iamsoproh