Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama. Life is full of disappointments.
Dear Readers: Here we go with my biggest project to date! I've been wanting to do an OC season for a while.
Credit to GirlPower54 for giving me the idea to use non-human contestants, but I do believe I put my own fantasy spin on this story.
Also, Churro (one of the characters you will soon meet) belongs to slush73212.
Weird Update On The Author's Personal Life: So excited for the new Total Drama season! Eva better be in it...
Warning: This story will contain a homosexual couple as one of the main plot points, so if you're uncomfortable with that this may not be the story for you. I hope you'll give it a try, though.
Two hundred years ago, the humans had fallen. The dominant species for so long, their own greed had led to their downfall. Borders, rules, and even compassion had no meaning. They turned on each other. Great cities were levelled, toxic chemicals were released, and civilization was torn apart in a bloody World War III.
Humans had a natural affinity for technology, which was the elemental opposite of the magical power held by the mythic beasts of the world. Back when the humans ruled the world, technology was everywhere. The beasts were forced into hiding, repelled by the power of the humans' innovations. The magic of the world disappeared along with them. But the great war allowed these magical creatures to awaken once more. After being stored for so long, the magic was released into the world again as the beasts began to stir.
This energy affected the entire world. In areas with high concentration of magic, there was a chance that the animals living in the area would gain a magical affinity. This affected different animals in different ways. Increased intelligence, walking on hind legs and opposable thumbs were common, but other powers such as control over the elements, increased physical prowess, poison, and more were seen. These magical animals were known as the Enlightened, while those unaffected by magic were scornfully referred to as Ferals. Ferals were kept as livestock or left to roam the wilds, blissfully unaware of the change in the world's ownership.
The mythical creatures rebuilt the world, creating great new civilizations, and welcomed the Enlightened into their society. In two hundred years the world has undergone great changes, but the greatest new trend in magical entertainment is only just beginning…
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and dark clouds gathered in the sky. A torrential rain fell onto the beach of the small island. Suddenly, there was a loud screech, like that of a bird of prey.
A large, bright yellow bird burst onto the scene, accompanied by a guitar riff. He had a crest of long, trailing blue feathers like a mohawk on his head, and his wing feathers were tipped in blue and jagged like lightning bolts. "Yo, Nimbus here," he shouted over the wind.
Nimbus grinned at the camera. The thunderbird was wearing a black leather vest and tan shorts, and had a pair of sunglasses on his forehead.
"Welcome to Stormbound, a revolutionary new addition to reality shows. Over the next month, we will be taking twelve campers here to Camp Ventallan for a one-of-a-kind summer camp experience. These teenaged mythical creatures will compete in intense challenges." Nimbus swooped down to the beach, where an obstacle course had been set up. "Brave the harsh conditions." Nimbus raised his wings, causing lightning to flash in the sky. "And face the judgement of their peers in our totally dramatic campfire ceremonies, copyright pending." Nimbus soared over a campfire pit with stumps arranged around it. "One by one they will be voted out, until one remains. That lucky creature will be the winner of a small hoard of ten thousand gold." Two interns, a winged squirrel and a raven, came in carrying a chest filled with gold coins. "This is, Total! Drama! Stormbound!"
Right before the camera cut off, Nimbus got hit in the head with a hailstone. "Ow! Seriously?"
"Coming live from Camp Ventallan, this is Total Drama Stormbound!" announced a small raven. She was lanky, with long legs and scruffy black feathers. "I'm Nyla, and this is Blitz." She gestured with a feathery hand to a creature besides her.
Blitz was a red squirrel, slightly shorter than Nyla. She was shifting back and forth nervously, fluttering the pair of furry wings on her back. Both creatures were wearing the same blue shirts with a front pocket and gray shorts, marking them as interns. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked the flying squirrel.
"I'm positive," Nyla affirmed. She continued to the camera, "We're the interns on the show, and Nimbus didn't think we were important enough to introduce." She made a face.
"You'll probably be seeing a lot of us during the show, so we- well, Nyla wanted us to introduce ourselves," Blitz added. "So, um, hi."
"Interns!", a voice hollered. The two exchanged glances.
Nyla chuckled. "Oh, he's mad."
"And… that's our cue to go." Blitz zipped away, her red wings a blur, with Nyla close behind.
The last thing that could be seen onscreen was a very angry thunderbird before…
The screen went blank.
The smiling wyvern hummed a tune to herself, a bottle of glitter glue in the long talons on her wings. She was sitting at a long wooden table, carefully applying the finishing touches to a white banner. It depicted a yellow logo with a sparkly gold unicorn rearing. Nearby was a similar banner, this one purple and showing a flying pegasus.
The wyvern had dappled scales that ranged from a warm gold to a deep brown and bright green eyes. She wore a white Camp Ventallan t-shirt and hot pink shorts. The shirt had "Camp Counselor" on the back, which looked like it was also written in glitter glue.
Nimbus flew through the door, followed by a chihuahua wearing a tiny sombrero on one of his ears. "How are the banners going, Agate?" Nimbus asked the wyvern.
"Great!" she chirped. "I'm almost done."
The thunderbird nodded in approval. "Cool. They're very … um, glittery."
"Yeah, I think the kids will love them."
"Um, what do you think, Churro?" Nimbus looked down at the chihuahua.
"Horses? Really?" Churro shook his head. "Little girls like horses! They're teenagers!"
Agate's face fell and she looked down at her bottle of glitter glue.
He thought for a moment. "But then again, it will be pretty funny to see the kids react to stupid banners. Horses it is." Nimbus smiled as Churro nodded approvingly. The chihuahua strode off.
Nimbus picked up the pegasus banner, while Agate held up the unicorn one, now completed. He explained to the camera, "Upon reaching the camp, our competitors will be split into two teams: The Soaring Pegasi, and the Prancing Unicorns. Agate chose the names." The wyvern grinned sheepishly. "These teams will compete against each other in challenges that will test their strength, skill, and ability to work together. The losing team will have to vote someone off of the island, never to return again."
"Never? Wait, how about the-" Agate chimed in, before Nimbus covered her mouth.
"They didn't need to know that!"
Five years ago…
"Do you like it?" a blue thunderbird asked Nimbus. She was older than him, and her feathers were bright blue. She wore a dark gray hoodie with the word 'fly' written on it. "I figured you liked human stuff, and this one looked pretty funny," the thunderbird, Stralia, explained.
Nimbus studied the box in his talons. "Thanks, sis. This looks hilarious. Classic humans." He snorted, and turned the box over. "Total Drama Island," he read. "It's a reality show." He knew by now that humans kept their videos in discs, which often came in boxes like this one. "Let's watch it now," he decided.
"I'll get the mice and crackers." Stralia breezed away.
The two watched Total Drama Island while munching on dried rodents. Stralia mostly was laughing at the humans' primitive technology (and beliefs, and ways of talking, and faces, and…) but Nimbus was thinking. The concept of the show seemed interesting enough, and he bet that he might be able to do it better.
Two years later…
"I've done it, Lia! You need to see this!"
"Nice seeing you too, little bro," Stralia teased. "What's been going on with you. You look taller."
"I have big news," the two thunderbirds said at the same time.
"You go first," Stralia offered.
"Remember … Total Drama?"
"You mean that human game show video I got you?"
"Yeah, that one. I've been thinking, what if I did something like that. I could find an island, hire a psychotic chef and some snarky interns, use the ol' thunderbird weather tricks on the campers, and boom! We got a show."
Stralia nodded, but something seemed to be worrying her.
Nimbus continued. "I thought you could co-host the show with me. It would be awesome to have an experienced performer help out. If you want to, of course."
"I'd love to, but I have news too," Stralia said. "I got a record deal."
Nimbus' eyes widened. "You what?"
"Chimera Records says they like my style. I'm going to be working with them on my first album."
"That's so cool, Lia!"
"Yeah, I still can't believe it. But it means I'll be really busy."
"So you can't come on the show?"
"I'd love to, but music is my thing. I have to do this."
Her thing. Nimbus' sister knew. She had found something, a passion of hers, and made it big just like their parents. But he, on the other hand, was barely staying afloat. "That's fine." He tried to contain his disappointment. "I know this is important to you."
"Thank you, and good luck on your show. I'm sure it will be awesome."
Nimbus nodded. He didn't need a rising pop star to become famous; he could do it on his own. He'd show her, he'd show them all.
I can never remember characters in OC stories, so here's your cheat sheet, as well as being a little spoiler about the cast.
Contestants
Ash the Enlightened cat - The Friendly Intellectual
Cirrus the gryphon - The Rebel Princess
Dusk the Enlightened bat - The Passive Pessimist
Frost the kitsune - The Scheming Loner
Glade the timberwolf - The Laid-Back Athlete
Luna the Western dragon - The Guardian
Magnolia the plant golem - The Whiny Actor
Paradise the Enlightened chameleon - The Secretive Beauty Queen
Scorch the phoenix - The Narcissistic Cool Guy
Sol the Western dragon - The Diplomat
Terra the dire badger - The Stubborn Feminist
Tide the telkhine - The Cheerful Acrobat
Stormbound Team
Nimbus the thunderbird - host
Churro the Enlightened chihuahua - co-host
Agate the wyvern - "recreations director"/head intern
Blitz the Enlightened squirrel ("flying squirrel") - intern
Nyla the half-spirit raven - intern
And a quick world-building note: the mythical creatures' society has around the same "technology" level as current human civilizations, but using magic instead of tech. Another thing, the prize is only ten thousand gold because I'm assuming one gold coin is worth more than one dollar.
So, how was it? This was a very different concept, I believe. Hopefully it was interesting and not weird. Please leave a review, I'd love to hear what you think.
