Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone who submitted a character! I hope you're all as ready to dive into this story as I am! I don't know how long to expect chapters to be, unfortunately, but this one ended up being so long I decided to split it into two parts. So if you're character isn't introduced in this part, don't worry! They'll be coming next chapter! Please leave reviews to tell me if the story is good or bad and if there's anything you think I should change or fix, because it's my first time writing a fic like this! Thanks for reading, xox - Roger
Instead of waiting at the end of a dock for the contestants to arrive, the way Chris McLean has done for countless past seasons, he stands in the middle of the tarmac of an airport. The concrete stretches like a field around him, the hot noon sun causing the surface to appear hazy and wobbly. Despite the heat, Chris is grinning when the camera zooms in on his face.
"I hope all you viewers out there are ready for something completely different from anything we've ever done," he says cheerfully, without preamble. "'Cause this season is gonna be packed with challenges, adventure, and - of course - drama unlike anything you've ever seen on TV ever before!" He spreads his hands excitedly and the camera zooms out slightly. "We're about to launch off on the most thrilling, action-packed season of Total Drama yet. Are you ready out there? I sure am! It's time for... Total!" The camera zooms out more as he shouts each word: "Drama!" At this point a launch bay with a rocket ship docked can be seen in the background. "Space!"
The camera zooms out and keeps zooming out, Chris's voice echoing in the background as the town turns into nothing but a jumbled mess of dots, and then becomes obscured by cloud. The camera keeps zooming out until the whole Earth can be seen, surrounded by a sea of stars. The logo flashes brightly across TV screens all around the world.
Instead of playing the opening credits, the cameras return to Chris McLean's face, still standing in the same place. He winked at the audience, saying, "What's the use in showing you the clips from the season when you haven't even met any of the campers yet? This year we're going straight to the introductions - and it looks like our first contestant is coming right at this minute!"
Sure enough, a car was racing up a side road toward the square of concrete Chris was standing on. It was a non-descript black SUV with tinted windows. Other than the wind blowing the grass that grew beyond the pavement and the heat mirages squiggling above the surface of the asphalt, the car was the only thing moving as far as the camera could see.
When the SUV got to the place where Chris was, the door opened and a boy and his luggage were quickly thrown out. The car barely even paused before speeding off, back away down the road. The boy who has been rudely ejected scrambled to his feet, calling out after the car.
"Wait! You never said if you were going to tell Allison I love her!" The boy looked heartbroken at the rejection. "How will she know I love her if no one will tell her for me?" He asked no one in particular. Chris cleared his throat and the boy turned to face the camera for the first time. He was tall and he had brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a graphic t-shirt that had the face of a wolf howling on it and he was wearing khaki shorts with it. On his feet were comfortable Billabong flip-flops. He seemed surprised to see Chris there.
Chris looked him over once, and said "Welcome to Total Drama Space, Scott! You're the first one to arrive! How about giving a quick shout-out to someone back home while we've got a spare moment? Tell the audience something to remember you by!"
Scott looked at the camera Chris had pointed out to him with a look of perplexity on his face. "Can everyone in the world see me?" Scott asked, walking closer and closer to the camera until his face took up the whole lens. "I wanna say hi to my girlfriend Allison! I hope she's still my girlfriend! I've only been gone for an hour so far! I really miss you Allison, you're the best! I can't wait to see you again! I wish you were here with me! You're the best girlfriend a guy could ever want to have, and I love you so much and I really miss you, and -" Chris dragged Scott away from the camera by the collar of his shirt.
"Wow, okay, I think Allison gets the point, Scott. Ans look at that, our next camper has arrived!" Another SUV had pulled up while Scott had been hogging the camera. As soon as Chris sees the silhouette leaving the van, he knows exactly who has arrived. "If it isn't Lilly and Luna Marks, Total Drama's new resident conjoined twins!"
The twins step off the step of the SUV and have their luggage thrown out unceremoniously in the same way Scott's had been. The second van speeds off into the distance without a second glance just like the one that came before it. The two-headed girls are an unusual spectacle for most of the audience watching. There are very few known cases of non-separated conjoined twins even in this day and age - less than twenty are known. The girls are smiling happily, however, and are obviously ready to face new and exciting challenges, since they've signed up for the contest.
Scott is not quick enough on the uptake to assimilate the fact that he's looking at two girls who happen to occupy the same body. "Why are you two sharing a sweater?" Scott asked, genuinely confused. Lilly bursts out laughing, and although Luna blushes shyly, it's clear she finds Scott's cluelessness funny, too.
"We aren't sharing a sweater," Lilly explains patiently, as if she's used to answering this kind of questions - and she probably is, although the people who ask them are probably usually about seven years old. "We're sharing a body. It's the way we were born." Scott makes a face, clearly thinking the matter over very hard.
"Doesn't that bother you?" He asks. It sounds like he's wondering why they don't just separate themselves.
Lilly rolls her eyes, but it isn't in a mean way. "We've had our whole lives to get used to it, so it doesn't bother us much anymore. Right, Luna?" Lilly knows that her sister doesn't like being forced into the spotlight like that, and blushes even more, but she nods earnestly in agreement anyway.
Another SUV pulls up, cutting off the conversation before Scott can make anymore "enlightened" comments - this is probably a stroke of luck for the twins.
Chris welcomes the new arrival with open arms. "Emma Sorenson!" He announces as a blonde girl's head pokes out the door of the car. She's about to step gracefully down from the step when a strong gust of wind blows in, tossing the girl's hair into her face. A muffled shout signals the girl's distress as her arms start windmilling. She promptly falls flat first into the concrete. The van driver thoughtfully tosses her bags out beside her and drives off. Chris, Scott, Lilly and Luna all watch in fascinated silence as the girl springs back up to her feet, insisting that she's okay. She tries to take a step forward to meet the other contestants, but she trips over the luggage at her feet and lands on her face again.
"Okay then," Chris says, shrugging at the camera. "Ladies and gentlemen, Emma Sorenson." The girl has gotten her foot tangled in one of the straps of her backpack and can't get back up to her feet. The camera slowly turns away from her, although the sounds of her struggle can still be heard in the background.
Another SUV is already on its way. It has barely come to a stop before the door is flying open and a girl comes flying out at full speed. She's bouncing up and down in excitement and she's already talking at a mile a minute. Her luggage seems to be chucked out of the car with a bit of extra speed, and the tires actually squeal against the asphalt as the driver hurries to get as far away from the hyperactive girl as possible.
"Oh my gosh, it's so freaking great to be here!" She gushes, clutching her hands to her chest. "I've wanted to be on Total Drama since I saw the first season when I was little! Hi Chris McLean! I love you! I'm your biggest fan! I'm so excited to be on TV! Hey world!" Much like Scott did, the girl crowds up to the camera so that everything is obscured by her face. She waves excitedly. "Hi world! I'm LoLo Alyak and I'm here to kick butt and win a million bucks! You'd better believe this is gonna be the best season of Total Drama ever, because I'm on it!"
The other contestants and Chris are all impressed that she can talk so much without pausing for breath. Chris grabs the back of her collar and drags LoLo back toward the other competitors like he had done with Scott. "Well, LoLo, I guess there's no need to introduce you, since you've already done that." The girl seems like she's a few seconds away from bursting with excitement, and she's clapping her hands gleefully.
"I'm so excited to get this season started! I can't wait! When do we get to start playing games and winning challenges? Come on, let's get started!"
She's abruptly cut off (to the relief of her fellow campers and, frankly, half of the Earth's population) when Emma manages to get up from where she had been lying, tangled with the luggage, only to hit LoLo in the face with a wayward hand. The hyper girl goes straight down.
Emma gasps and covers her mouth in complete shock and horror. "I can't believe I did that!" Emma says, looking around for some sort of direction. Nobody else seems what to do either, and Chris just shrugs.
"Another camper!" He announces cheerfully, choosing to ignore the downed contestant. He's pointing at the road, where yet another black car is heading toward them. Lilly, Luna and Scott are all looking eagerly at the car, waiting to see who will join them next, while Emma guiltily pats at LoLo's face, trying to wake her up again.
When the SUV stops, nothing happens. The door doesn't open. The driver signals to Chris and rolls down the window so they can talk. The campers can all hear Chris's side of the conversation. "Where is he? ... What do you mean he never showed up? ... So you have no idea where one of our contestants is? ... There's no back-up plan, we've never needed a back-up plan before..."
A huge amount of noise stops the conversation. For a minute everyone freezes in fear. It sounds like someone is dropping huge bombs somewhere in the near vicinity. Out of nowhere, a car burst into existence like it was coming through a giant wormhole tunnel. It skidded across the tarmac leaving fire burning in the wake of its tires. The doors of the car slid upwards in a futuristic way, and a boy tumbled out followed by his dog. "No, Einstein, get back in the car! I told you you weren't coming!" The boy said, trying to herd the dog back into its place. "Space is no place for a dog." With a whine the dog got back into the car. "Thanks for giving me a lift, Doc!" The boy said, waving as the futuristic car zoomed away again. The exploding sounds started again and the car disappeared back into a wormhole-like tunnel.
The campers and Chris all stood stunned. The SUV diver seized his chance to drive away. The boy had no luggage with him except his backpack and he was wearing an orange vest and glowing blue boots. "Hey, sorry I'm late!" He said, smirking like a cool kid. "The Doc and I had to go back in time!"
There was silence for a few minutes before Scott said. "Wow, you have a cool dog! I always wanted a dog but my mom said I was already too much work for her."
Everyone turned to stare at Scott, including the new guy. That's what Scott thought was interesting about what had just happened? Really?
Chris McLean resumed his hosting duties. "Ladies and gentlemen, Marty McFly! Welcome to Total Drama Space, Marty!"
The campers all greeted him politely, but they were mostly all still weirded out by his arrival. The only one who wasn't fazed by it was Scott, who was trying to get Marty to talk to him based on the fact that so far, they were the only two guys.
Chris was too busy looking at the horizon to pay attention to the campers, who were now talking among themselves. Mostly the girls and guys had separated, if only because Scott had sort of cornered Marty to ask inane and sometimes bafflingly stupid questions, like "what was the first fruit you ever ate? Mine was the blueberry, I used to eat blueberries all the time when I was a kid." Emma had managed to revive LoLo with the help of Lilly and Luna, but LoLo had missed out on Marty's spectacular arrival.
A new car was approaching, and by the time it had pulled to a stop everyone was looking forward to seeing what new, interesting person would pop out. It turned out to be another girl, who practically flew out of the vehicle in an impressive display of acrobatics. She performed a neat front hand spring and landed in a pose in the middle of the group of gathered campers. Most of them clapped politely, but Luna whispered to Lilly, "That wasn't really necessary, was it? There's no need to show off when we're not in a challenge, is there?" Her twin shrugs the shoulder she controls. Lilly has less of a problem with people with big egos than Luna does. Luna tends to be more sensitive in general.
Marty seems very interested in the new girl, to Scott's confusion and slight disappointment. Marty smiles at the newest arrival and tries to make small talk, but Scott bludgeons in and asks the girl, "Have you ever had to you use your skills to destroy an enemy?" The girl looks completely thrown off, staring at Scott and glancing at Marty, to see if there's some joke she's missing. Marty is just as baffled as she is, and tries to make it abundantly clear that he's not associated with Scott.
Chris taps the girl on the shoulder. "Come on, Ruby, I think the most distance you get from Scott the better - and that goes for everyone!" He laughs and turns Ruby toward the camera to introduce her properly to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, Ruby Soma!"
Ruby decides to join the girls after her introduction, and Marty smacks the back of Scott's head. "You're scaring all the girls away from me!" He snapped admonishingly. Scott blinked at him, confused. "I was just trying to make conversation!" He says.
The next car to pull up contained another boy, to Marty's relief. Hopefully he could ditch Scott with the new guy and try to infiltrate the ranks of the girl campers. Chris introduced the new boy as Jericho, and said, in an ominous voice, "And try not to get on his bad side... He's been known to get a little mean!"
Jericho makes a face in protest. "Only to those who deserve it," he says, but he has a dangerous smirk on his mouth that makes the other campers feel sort of nervous. Again, Scott doesn't pick up on the social cue, and decides that Jericho ought to be on team boy, and welcomes him in by asking "Is that Eminem on your shirt?" The rapper on Jericho's shirt is Tupac.