Hello people of Fanfiction! This is going to be a first for me. Though I have written a few stories here and there, taking a crack at Total Drama stories will involve me stepping out of my comfort zone. So, I figured I'd start small and begin my Total Drama writing with a short story. I really hope you like it.
I don't own Total Drama.
"Trent, why don't you just take a break from this? You've been here since last night! You've gotta be exhausted!"
The only response given to Cody's plea was a grunt, one that was barely audible at best. The tech geek sighed and shook his head. "Look man," he said putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know what that lady said was brutal, but it's not like we haven't had bad reviews before. Why are you letting this get to you so much now?"
The lady in question was a Mrs. Martha Mallory, a rather infamous writer who worked for the magazine Music Now. A woman who claimed to have been practically been born in the music industry, she knew talent when she heard it and also knew when performers were just wasting the time and money of themselves and their audiences. Accordingly, whenever she wrote a review, a musician's career could skyrocket or plummet depending on her judgment.
So it was during the brief period of time after Total Drama All-Stars ended and before Total Drama Pahkitew Island started that Mrs. Mallory attended a Drama Bros. concert. Though her article had not turned the band into a group of musical pariahs as they had feared, it still had a heavy impact on their front man Trent.
"While I cannot deny that the Drama Brothers certainly do have great potential, I must be honest and say there will not be much of a future for them if they continue to sing songs that are rather repetitive in both sound and message. In the sincerest way possible, I advise lead singer and lyricist Trent Travis to consider topics other than recovering from lost love when writing new songs."
The second Trent had finished reading the column the day before, he bolted back into the hotel resort that was Playa Des Losers. Despite none of them having been selected as contestants for the newest season of Total Drama, all former contestants were bound by their contracts to stay there and watch the latest episodes a few hours after filming and editing was finished. Another requirement was to interact with all eliminated contestants. Most of the cast didn't mind this as they all had to do the same thing a year previously back when Total Drama: Revenge of the Island first aired. They all figured Chris and the producers were counting on new conflicts being born which could bring new drama for future seasons.
One of the benefits of staying at the Playa was taking advantage of all it had to offer. Besides the pool, hot tub, juice bar, and barbecue outside there was also a small movie theatre, a bowling alley, and Trent's personally favorite place; a music studio that contained several instruments free for him and the band to use. Currently, Trent sat at the studio's piano and rested his head on the keys with Cody by his side.
"I don't get why it's bothering you so much," Cody said now sitting down next to him. "She was nowhere near as harsh with us as she is with other bands. Being a little repetitive in material isn't the worst thing in the world." Trent let out a groan as he raised his head.
"Because my songs are more than just a little repetitive Cody," he started to explain as he rubbed his eyes before turning himself around away from the piano. "She's right. As different as the lyrics in each song sound at first, they really don't stand out apart from one another in the long run." He then let out a yawn before continuing. "I've let myself fall into a rut and it's reflecting badly on all four of us because of it. I feel like I haven't written a good song for the longest time. At this point, I don't blame Harold and Justin for thinking about quitting."
Before he could stop himself, Cody nervously let out a small squeak. The other day he, Harold and Justin had a private meeting to discuss whether or not they really wanted to continue on as the Drama Brothers. Even before Martha Mallory's article had come out, none of them had felt that there last performance was as good as their earlier ones had been a couple years ago. Though Cody still wholeheartedly believed in the dream, their friends had their some reservations about it.
Justin, who never really was all that musically inclined to start with, felt more at home when it came to strutting down runways as a model. Whether it was showcasing new fashions for men or just flashing his bare chest, it was better suited for him than singing or dancing.
Harold on the other hand was truly growing weary of being any kind of celebrity; be it boy band member or former reality TV star. Despite many instances of his claiming to enjoy "playing the field," it was really just blowing smoke on the dweeb's part. Harold could have as many as thirty groupies to himself in a single room but he wouldn't enjoy himself if the lovely Leshawna wasn't present. Being famous was greatly cutting into their time together which Harold disliked with great intensity.
The three of them had discussed ways to break the news to Trent, the one responsible for bringing them together as a band in the first place. Justin and Harold had decided to go over it with Cody first, hoping to spare Trent's feelings a little bit longer. Despite past indiscretions on Total Drama and on the road, the four of them really had become good friends and to the two who wanted to leave, it was naturally hard.
Though Cody was initially shocked at their news, he was understanding and shared their worries. Whenever a show went sour, Trent took most of, if not all of them blame. Breaking something such as this to him would be anything but easy.
The conversation was interrupted when the three of them heard a noise right outside Harold and Cody's door. It sounded as if something had bumped into the hallway's wall. They opened it slightly and looked around but saw nothing. They surmised it as either DJ's pet Bunny having gotten lost inside the resort again or Sierra attempting to get yet another lock of Cody's hair for her collection.
What they didn't know after they had closed the door was that it was Trent who had been walking by. Wandering the halls in the hopes of clearing his mind with his head faced down, the musician stopped once he heard what they were saying. Not wanting them to see him if they left the room, he began to back up and leave but tripped over a loose shoelace (which he cursed himself for not noticing earlier) and fell backward. Luckily for Trent though, he was able to duck into his own room before his friends looked out.
In the far back corners of his mind the possibility of Trent finding out about this had occurred to Cody but he dismissed it. Something so similar to the plot of a TV sitcom was hardly possible of actually happening so why worry about it? Now he was mentally kicking himself for making such a bad call. In fact, he couldn't even look at his friend and instead chose to notice how interesting his shoes suddenly appeared. He brought his head back up when he felt a hand on his arm.
"I'm not mad at you guys Cody," Trent said with a knowing smile. He then stood up and allowed himself to stretch, having grown stiff after spending so much time at the piano. "Believe me, I totally get it. I mean, we never made any promises to do this for the rest of our lives? Who am I to deny Harold and Justin from what they truly want?" He turned back to face Cody and crossed his arms, but still grinned a little. "Although I am a bit miffed I was excluded from the conversation."
Hearing the joking tone in the cool guy's voice, Cody slowly began to smirk the sly smile that had given him such a large fanbase back during the first season. He got up and lightly punched Trent's shoulder before the two exchanged a high-five. The geek should have known better. While Trent may have had a few negative moments from time to time, he was nothing if not understanding. He'd have to remind Justin and Harold later.
"Well we better get upstairs dude," he told Trent as he began to exit the room. The dark haired young man raised his eyebrows in confusion which Cody took as a cue to elaborate. "Tonight's episode, remember? The producers are gonna get mad at us if we're not all in the room to watch."
Trent's eyes widened as he unconsciously smacked his forehead. "Aw man!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe I forgot!" He then sighed and began to follow Cody toward the door. "It's just as well. I haven't managed to come up with a single idea that seems good. You're right bro, I really do need a break."
Cody nodded and opened up the door. "Glad to hear it," he chirped. "So c'mon, let's go."
THUD!
Cody quickly turned back around and let out an exasperated moan. On the floor was Trent, flat on his back and totally conked out. His lack of sleep had finally caught up to him. The geek shook his head before heading off to find someone who could help him carry Trent to the theatre room.
...
"Sorry we're late everybody. Thanks for the help B, you can set him down on the bean bag over there."
Luckily Cody didn't have to go very far to find help in his endeavor as the strong, silent genius who was better known as B had been heading off to the theatre room himself when the geek had left the music studio. Happy to help, the larger boy effortlessly heaved the cool guy up onto his shoulder and carried him there without so much as a word (which was typical for him).
B did as he was asked and before anyone could say anything else, Cody was tackled to the ground by a squealing Sierra. "Eeee! Codykins!" she exclaimed jubilantly. "So that's where you were! Why didn't you tell me! I've been so lonely!"
Hardly able to breathe, let alone explain himself, Cody merely motioned towards the TV with his head. Understanding his body language, Bridgette turned on the TV and the teens began to watch the show.
"On the last episode of Total Drama..."
The episode that day was a water challenge featuring jousting sticks, similar to the fictitious challenge that had been featured in the opening sequence for Total Drama All-Stars. Both the first and second casts were there to watch, only this time around they were joined by three of the eliminated members of the third cast; Beardo, Leonard, and most recently Rodney. Strangely though, Amy (whom the producers had so appropriately dubbed "the Evil Twin"), had been seen anywhere on the Playa that entire day. When Bridgette had called the producers about it, they merely told her not to worry and watch the show, their lack of care irking the surfer girl.
Right before the final scene, B was permitted to leave the room to ensure that the bounce house was working. Back during Revenge of the Island when Chris first revealed the Hurl of Shame, the former players took it upon themselves to give the newbies a soft, cushiony landing.
As everyone began to debate over what should be done and argue about whose ideas were better, Izzy nonchalantly set up a bounce house by the pool in the time it took her friends to blink. When asked where she got it, Izzy told them that she had swiped it from the TDA studio lot as she wanted a souvenir from the season. She claimed to have originally took the giant, animatronic monster from the first episode, but her parents forbade her from having two giant monsters in the backyard so she went back to swap it for the bounce house. Hardly anyone questioned Izzy over already having one monster back home, as they believed they'd be better off leaving the topic alone and just be thankful she came up with a safe and effective solution.
Because those who were voted off took a ride down the Flush of Shame last season, the bounce house went unused. However, thanks to Sierra snooping around, they were able to learn of the dreaded Cannon of Shame before the first episode of TDPI and successfully blew it back up before Beardo made his landing.
Taking advantage of the door being open, Harold and Justin volunteered to take the still sleeping Trent back to his room so he could sleep soundly in his bed. Cody would've went along, but the dweeb and male model felt obligated to do so as they didn't have the nerve to get Trent out of the music room. That and Cody's uber fan wasn't releasing her iron grip on him anytime soon.
"Gosh, he looks almost as bad as he did back during the Awake-a-Thon," Harold observed as he and Justin were now walking outside along the pool. They had hoped that the cool night air would be able to stir Trent awake long enough for them to apologize but at the moment, all he did was mumble quietly. Not too far ahead of them was B next to the bounce house with binoculars in hand, keeping an eye out for whoever was eliminated.
"Which is exactly why I painted my eyelids during that challenge," Justin said. "There's a reason they call it beauty sleep my friend." He looked at his slumbering friend. "You think he'll be sore at us?" The two decided to stop walking for a moment and Harold shook his head. "If what Cody told us is true, I don't think so," he replied. "But gosh, he has every right to be. What we did was highly dishonorable."
The pair were interrupted when they heard Trent's mumbling grow louder. The nighttime breeze finally did its trick as Trent lifted his head and dazedly looked around. "Huh? Justin? Harold? Where am I?" Now that he was awake, his bandmates were able to let Trent stand on his feet and shake himself into coherence. Scratching his head, the cool guy took notice at the bounce house with his friend B still staring out into the sky. He turned to Harold and asked, "Did I sleep through the whole episode? Who got the boot today?"
The dweeb shrugged as did Justin before all three of them jumped slightly at a loud, shrieking noise. "I think we're about to find out," Harold said as the three of them dashed over to where B was standing.
"I cannot believe I got shot out of the stupid cannon! Again! All because of you, Sparemy!
"Nobody told you to come back you overbearing shrew! You could've just left me alone! For once in our lives!"
The eliminated contestant, or contestants as it were, had finally landed in the bounce house safely. However, neither one of them seemed to take notice of the four boys outside of it as they were both preoccupied with trading insults and attempting to pull out each other's hair. The boys could only stand and awkwardly glance at the spectacle as none of them wanted to dare risk their necks by going inside. When considering how intense fighting could get between girls in the history of Total Drama, one could hardly blame them for not wanting to intervene.
"So now the nice twin and the not-so-nice twin are both here now, right?" Trent asked deciding to finally break the silence, hoping to be brought up to speed. The others simply nodded in response, too stunned to really do anything else.
"Those two days on the island without you were the best of my life!"
"Yeah? Well those seventeen minutes without you were the best of my life!"
"Like you even remember that!"
By this point, Trent could not take anymore. He was tired, hungry, and desperately wanting to take a shower. Plucking up courage, he stepped toward the bounce house's entrance and tried to speak over the twins' argument.
"Look girls," he shouted as he pulled open the front flap. "You're both here now so why don't you guys just-OW!" Trent was cut off as one twin proceeded to rather strongly push her sister right at him not even realizing he was there. Before Trent could even register what had happened, he and the twin who was knocked into him were now sailing straight into the pool. If he wasn't completely awake before, the freezing cold water would change that. He surfaced and looked around for the twin no longer in the bounce house as he gasped for air. Thankfully, she came up a couple of seconds after him, shivering as she too breathed deeply.
"Are you all right?" He asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She began to look up at him and Trent could see that it wasn't Amy as her face did not have a mole on the cheek. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, clutching her head in shock. "I am so, so sorry! I-I didn't mean for that to happen! A-Are you alright?" Trent couldn't help but chuckle a little at her frazzled state in spite of how tired he was. He took his hand off her shoulder and held it out for her to take.
"Hi. You're Sammy, right?"
And that is the end of the first chapter. To be honest, I'm not sure how many chapters it will be but I do know who I should thank for inspiring me to write the story in the first place. Starryoak, Karts of Sugar Rush, LazyAwesomeNinja, chrisATD1, and most of all, Light of the Dawn. This one's for you Lo! If you're ever looking for a great TD story to read, check out one of theirs because I swear they are all amazing to say the least.
Constructive criticism is appreciated. Flames are not. I'll try to have the next chapter up in a week. Once again, I hope all who read this story enjoy it. Please review!