Hey guys!
Welp, this was finished a couple of days early, but waiting for today hasn't really done much harm.
Now, for this one, the missing contestants (well not really missing) get their part in the story. There's four locations where so many of them are at each, and they've been done into small… say, mini-chapters. Second one doesn't really involve much of the three contestants there, because it's all focussed on excited pre-teen fans (I couldn't really find a way to include the contestants until later on in the mini-chapter), and the last one is shorter than all the others – but there's only one person to write for it, so there was no point in lengthening it out.
I do not own Total Drama. Just any OCs mentioned (who are in no way related to the contestants) and… this computer. XD
Chapter 2: Somewhere Over the Border…
If there was one way to describe the situation, it would be quite simple. Of course, with eight balloons scattered around the central north part of the United States, there were many ways to describe it. But, even after having been confirmed to be generally headed to Chicago, some balloons ended up going in drastically different directions. Where, though?
xx
Location: Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Contestants in area: Duncan, Lightning
The atmosphere was silent. Nothing made a sound. Except for a lone bison bellowing before moving off, its intentions unknown.
Suddenly, a dark, yet small shadow made its mark on the grass below. It was only a matter of seconds before a loud pop echoed out, sounding much louder in the open air, and it all fell to the ground.
Bits of orange balloon were now scattered everywhere, either lying flat or folded over. In the middle of the mess, Duncan lay face-down on the grassy area, arms and legs spread out in a starfish position.
"Ugh, sick." He grumbled, lifting his head up. "Good thing I didn't die in there." He quickly leapt up to his feet and stretched out, taking a good sniff. "Beautiful fresh air, check. Any sign of life… wait, why am I listing off things? I'm not Courtney. Geez…" Duncan crossed his arms and looked around. "Where the heck am I anyway?"
The landscape just ahead was dotted with many sharply eroded hills, pinnacles and spires, some taller than others. Up above, the night sky was clear with the full moon shining brightly, albeit the fairly average temperature. A light, cool breeze blew through the area, gently ruffling the grass, as well as the leaves of a small bush nearby.
"Well this definitely isn't camp." Duncan muttered, flopping onto the ground. "What has weirdly shaped rocks that are really- wait a second." He looked up, furrowing his brow in thought. "Weirdly shaped rocks… damn it, I don't know. I can't be back home. Vancouver doesn't have this kind of stuff."
Suddenly, another loud pop echoed out, this time a bit more distant. Duncan got up again and turned around, trying to find the source of the sound.
"Whoever that was, it better be someone tolerable." He said, straining his eyes to look ahead.
Meanwhile, at least half a mile away, Lightning was sitting on a rocky surface in the middle of broken pieces of balloon, looking like he just swallowed a fish. Gasping, he quickly shook his head and jumped to his feet.
"Dang, Lightning's glad to be in a place with proper air." He remarked, grinning before looking around, his face then falling. "Wait a sha-second, this ain't camp. Where is camp?"
Looking ahead again, Lightning ran off down a fairly level slope, if not tilting slightly. He suddenly skidded to a stop at the edge of what seemed to be a much steeper slope.
"What the sha-heck?" He exclaimed. "How does Lightning get down there without slippin'?" Thinking for a few seconds, he sat down at the edge and carefully pushed himself off, but instead of having a smooth run, there were lots of bumps and bounces, nearly causing Lightning to fall off to the side several times.
Eventually, he slowed down at the bottom as it levelled out more, eventually coming to meet the grass.
"Phew." Lightning breathed, wiping his forehead as he then pulled himself up to a standing position. "Where the sha-heck is this then? Some weird place in Canada?"
Frowning in thought, he placed his hands on his hips and looked around, then catching eye of Duncan, who was standing about five hundred or so yards away.
"Oh! Lightning knows that dude!" He exclaimed, running off towards his former teammate. "SHA-YO!"
Further ahead, Duncan was just standing there, seeming to be not bothered about anything, until a set of footsteps came into earshot.
"Finally." He muttered, turning around, only to groan in disappointment. "Darn it."
"Oh man, Lightning's glad he's not alone here!" Lightning said, stopping a few feet away. "But first things first, ya know where we are?"
"Yeah, I've been trying to work that out." Duncan replied. "Something doesn't fit in, though."
"What do you mean? Camp ain't too far away, right?"
"Probably not, looking at the scenery and stuff."
"But… it's gotta be close!"
Duncan took another look around until a realization then hit him, and he sighed, shaking his head.
"What is it?" Lightning asked.
"Dude, I don't think we're in Canada anymore." [1]
"Oh… then where?"
"Somewhere in the middle of the Badlands… which is in the States."
"Sha-darn…"
xx
Location: O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois
Contestants in area: Courtney, Lindsay, Scott
Three balloons slowly floated across the sky, eventually descending down towards the airport below, and passing over the main building.
Meanwhile, on the runway, one Cathay Pacific plane was not far away from beginning its taxi, and inside it, the passengers were soon to be going through the safety demonstration.
In one of the front row seats, a young blonde girl of about thirteen sat bolt upright, yet with her head tilted down. Earbuds were in her ears, the cord connected to her iPhone, which was resting in her lap, and was showing the last few minutes of the fifth season's most recent episode.
"Linus! Linus!" She hissed, elbowing an eleven-year-old boy with shaggy brown hair next to her.
"Kara, leave me alone!" The boy, Linus, whined, eyes glued to his iPod Touch. "I'm playing Sonic Dash!"
"And I'm watching the last scene of Total Drama's latest episode! Linus, you've just about missed it!"
"I don't care, I wanna finish my game!"
Kara sighed and turned back to her phone, only to gasp in shock.
"Linus!" She said in a slightly louder voice, still watching the screen. "Camp Wawanakwa's sinking!"
"Wait, what?" Linus paused his game and looked over to Kara's phone, just as the island itself was shown to be disappearing into the water. "Oh man, what the heck? That's crazy! How?"
Before Kara could reply, three loud popping sounds echoed out, followed by a few thuds coming from above.
"What was that?" Linus whispered, looking to the roof.
"Attention all passengers aboard this flight," a female flight attendant began via the intercom, "as most of you may have noticed, there were some strange sounds from the roof, so we are just going to get our ground staff to check out what's up there."
Kara looked out the window in confusion, spotting a large vehicle driving towards the plane, a ladder folded up on top of it. Suddenly, something orange was sent fluttering to the ground, followed by another – they were only just visible in the darkness outside.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…" She breathed, her stomach tightening in excitement. "Linus, is this too good to be true or what?"
Sitting up, Linus peered out the window and gasped as another orange thing fell down.
"Nah, that's totally a bit of orange balloon." He said, grinning. "Oh man, I wonder who's up there? I hope it's Duncan. He's awesome!"
The two continued looking out the window, yet getting no luck with seeing anything for at least five minutes, even when the ladder was mechanically lengthened out to reach the plane's roof.
Right then, the female flight attendant spoke up again with some amazing news.
"Okay, on the roof, there were three contestants from the Canadian hit reality television series, Total Drama." She announced. "Now I do have a feeling that there are a few fans on board, so we will disclose their names until they get on the plane, as they will be joining us for the flight."
Kara squeaked, clapping her hands to her mouth, and started bouncing on her seat. Linus straightened up at the announcement, a slowly growing smile on his face.
"This… this is like a dream come true…" Kara choked out, just as she heard the back door opening. "Oh my gosh…" She hastily undid her seatbelt and stood up, turning around to look over the many rows of seats ahead.
Several other kids either around her age, older or younger had done the same thing, some even sitting with their knees on the seat.
"Oh wow, so many people!" A voice exclaimed from outside. "Hi guys!"
Cheering and squealing erupted from many of the kids and teens on board as Lindsay slowly walked around to the aisle, waving and smiling.
"I… I… YAY!" Kara cheered, sitting back down in her seat. "I can't watch, I just can't watch! It's too exciting!" She said hurriedly.
"What if I told you that Courtney was here?" Linus asked, still sitting on his knees and watching the happenings. Coincidentally, Courtney was the next one to enter the plane, closely followed by Scott. "Whoa!"
"Linus! Stop your stupid tricks!"
"Nuh-uh. She's actually here. I can see her!"
"Wait… w-what?" Kara peered over her seat, and gasped, spotting the former contestant walking down the aisle, now barely rows from her seat. "BEST FLIGHT HOME EVER!" She yelled. "Oh my gosh, wait until we do arrive at San Diego!"
"Wait, what?" Courtney suddenly exclaimed, having overheard Kara's excited chatter. "San Diego?"
xx
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Contestants in area: Jo, Sam
A train slowed to a stop outside one of Milwaukee's smaller, suburban stations. Simultaneously, a balloon passed overhead, hovering above it for a few seconds until it popped. Bits of balloon went everywhere, and Jo went stumbling down to land on the train's roof.
"Oof…" She groaned, almost immediately pulling herself up. "Alright, where's this dump of a place then?" She looked around, her expression then turning slightly confused. "Doesn't look like Toronto. Definitely doesn't look like Saint John. Heck, if this isn't even Canada, then what?"
Frowning, Jo looked down towards the platform of the train station, and noticed a sign just to the left side of it, which she couldn't exactly read from such an angle, yet the one visible word was 'Wisconsin'.
"Ah great, I'm not in Canada." Jo grumbled, crossing her arms. "Now what?" She stared ahead, just as another popping sound echoed around the area. "Well, looks like I'm not alone, at least." She ran off along the train, which was still stationary. "Hey, Couch Potato!" She called out.
Further ahead, Sam was slumped over on his knees, then falling down to face plant on the roof.
"Aw man…" He moaned, slowly lifting his head up and adjusting his slightly crumpled glasses. "Huh, where's this?" He sat up and looked around, frowning in thought. "Sure doesn't look or feel like Carman."
"That's because it's not." Jo said, leaping over from another carriage. "We're somewhere in Wisconsin in the States."
"Darn, we're in the United States?" Sam exclaimed, looking down.
Right at that moment, the train started moving again, and the two teens hurriedly dropped down to hold onto the roof.
"Quick, find the cargo carriage!" Jo shouted, peering through a small grate on the roof. "Wait, this one's it. Find an entrance!"
Sam hastily looked over his shoulder as the train picked up speed, suddenly spotting a large hatch just about eight feet behind.
"Found a hatch!" He called, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.
"Great. Next place this thing stops at, we get in there!" Jo yelled back in reply.
The next train stop was, in fact, not for a good ten minutes or so. But just as Sam found himself slowly drifting off to sleep, the train started to slow down, jolting him awake.
"Oh man, finally." He remarked with a sigh.
"Get in the carriage!" Jo barked, carefully crawling around Sam and yanking the hatch open as soon as she reached it, leaping in immediately after. "Come on, move it or lose it!"
"Coming!" Sam called, pulling himself over to the open hatch and just about falling in, landing on a big pile of hay. "Well, as long as we aren't exposed to the elements, I guess we're good."
"Yeah, whatever, out of the open air, yada yada." Jo waved her hand dismissively, climbing up onto a tightly-packed group of hay bales. "I'm gonna get some sleep." She curled up and shut her eyes.
The train chugged out of Milwaukee, stopping at two more stations along the way.
Quite some time later, Jo woke up to the morning light streaming in from the hatch, which was now shut. She looked around and saw Sam slumped on the pile of hay, still deep in sleep.
"Alright, if there's a stop coming up, we're getting off, whether he likes it or not." She muttered, pulling herself up to a sitting position and standing up. Right at that moment, the train slowed down again. "Well, that's timing." Jo remarked, walking over to Sam and kicking him. "Oi, sleepyhead! We're getting off at this one!" She hissed.
"Wha…?" Sam mumbled. "Amelia, it's too early for games."
Jo groaned and kicked him again, this time causing him to suddenly sit up in fright.
"What's going on?" He asked, looking around.
"We're getting off, that's what's going on!" Jo replied as the train came to a halt. "How we get off, I've got no idea yet."
A back door then slowly dropped down, letting even more light in.
"Uh, there we go?" Sam said, sounding unsure as he got up.
"Right. Come on!" Jo grabbed his wrist and nearly dragged him out of the carriage, passing a bemused train driver along the way. "Okay, where to next?" She stopped once she got to the platform, letting go of Sam.
"Um…" He began, looking over his shoulder and noticing a sign, gasping in shock as he read it. "You really need to see this." [2]
"See what?" Jo asked, turning around. She spotted the sign, which showed the name of the train station, the city or town it was in and other information.
Three words stood out, however.
'Little Rock, Arkansas'
"Oh, you gotta be joking. We're still in the States?" Jo exclaimed, slapping her forehead in frustration. "And I thought we were headed north!"
xx
Location: Central Park, NYC, New York
Contestants in area: Sierra
It was late at night, yet there were still many lights glowing at Central Park. When you live in the city that never sleeps, it would be seen as normal.
Not for some, however.
A lone balloon slowly floated down, landing precariously at the top of a large tree. A fairly sharp branch suddenly dug into it, and it popped, freeing everything inside.
"AH!" Sierra stumbled out and grabbed onto a flimsy branch as the balloon pieces fluttered downwards. Unfortunately, the branch snapped, and she fell down to face plant onto the next one, which was much thicker and sturdier. "Ow…" She moaned, her limbs hanging loose.
Lifting her arms up to rest on the branch, she slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position.
"Oh em gee… where am I?" She asked herself, looking around. "This doesn't feel like Springhill. Is… is this even Canada?"
Gulping in worry, Sierra looked behind her and noticed a way down, albeit including a few tangled branches. Swinging her legs over, she slowly lowered herself until her feet could just reach the next branch below. She let go, only to stumble forward and miss it completely. Reacting fast, she hastily tried to flip round, but ended up landing on the grass below the tree.
"Ouch!" She exclaimed, rubbing her backside. "Oh… I gotta find someone who knows where this is!"
Merely minutes later, Sierra was running all around the area, which seemed to almost go on forever. Tree after tree. Fountain after flowing fountain. Not to mention the various park benches dotted here and there.
"There's gotta be something!" Sierra cried, coming to a stop by a brick wall with a series of arched tunnels going through it. "I can't… be stuck in a place I don't know… wait, wait, what's an area like this that is massive?"
Frowning, she looked up to the top of the brick archways, just as something caught her eye.
A dark yellow sign, reading 'CENTRAL PARK ZOO' in white writing.
"Central Park… I went all the way to New York City?" Sierra was stunned for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. "Ha, that's funny. But New York? How do I get home?"
Realizing that there was nothing much else that could be done, she sighed and slowly walked off, retracing her steps back to the tree she'd landed in – which in reality, wasn't actually that far.
Suddenly, Sierra felt a wave of tiredness wash over her, and she yawned, looking up at the tree.
"Okay, I guess I'll have to sleep in this thing." She eventually said, walking over and pulling herself up to the starting point of all the branches – a fairly flat area covered in leaves. She lay back on it, her head resting on the base of a branch, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
xx
And there we go – everyone's safe and sound, at least. I know that some of these may be a bit… out of timing with each other, but they're gonna be like that. Sometimes what happens in the mini-chapters won't all be in sync – like how Jo and Sam arrive at Little Rock the next day.
Oh, references. I finally remembered them XD
[1] – Decided to put a Wizard of Oz quote in this one, but of course having modified it slightly. I found myself laughing after realizing that Duncan was the one who said it.
[2] – This is from The Croods, and has no changes made to it. Only just thought of this the other day.
Anyway, that's all for now. It will be, as I said in the first chapter, updated after a fortnight (unless I can somehow kick my butt into updating weekly) but I hope that this was worth the wait!
Until next time!