In The Beginning
...
The Past
A young boy hopped out of his parents' car on a drafty grey day. Alejandro was his name and he was on vacation to Canada with his parents and his older brother José. His Canadian step-father had been meaning to show them all his homeland for a while. It was very cold and dull outside – no one else was present when they had reached the Niagara Falls. Little Alejandro ran over to the railing, which was wet from rain, and looked at the astonishing waterfall; José walked up to him.
"Ya like it?" he said.
"Yeah?" said Alejandro; José scoffed.
"That's cool." He looked back at his parents' car; they were still talking to each other, not paying attention to their children.
"Hey, Al!" he then said, grabbing his brother by the shirt. "I, uh, kinda caught you reading some of my very interesting books about psychology and, uuuh, the ability to manipulate others. Does any of this ring a bell, Al?"
"Um, n-no?" said Alejandro, his voice trembling.
"You sure?" said José. "'Cuz I'm not mad or anything. I'm not! Unless you drew, like, pictures in it?"
"No."
José gave Alejandro a shoulder pat.
"Hey, wanna try out something that's really fun?" said José. "You know how we can take a closer look at the falls, huh?"
"How?"
"Let me show you, little guy!"
José put his arms under his brother's shoulders, lifting him over the railing. Alejandro closed his eyes, fearing the worst, but when he opened them they got as big as saucers. The waterfall looked even more amazing when there was no stupid railing obscuring his vision. He let out a "Wow!" and looked at his big brother.
"Thanks José!"
"No problem, Al. Now, try to hold on to the railing, okay?" Alejandro felt that José was letting go of him; he closed his eyes again. "I'm gonna let go, and you're gonna hold yourself up! You here me? Hold yourself up!"
Alejandro grabbed on to the slippery railing with his left hand. He opened his eyes and smiled.
"Wow! I guess I am as strong as you, José! I am."
"Yeah," said José and sighed, "you sure are!" He removed his hands from Alejandro's armpits.
Alejandro found that there was nothing underneath his feet and that the railing he had grabbed onto was more slippery than he thought. He hung from the railing in panic, feeling that he was loosing his grip. He saw José waving at him, and then he started running towards their parents. Alejandro gasped and lost his grip of the railing.
When José reached the car, he was doing a very convincing faux cry.
"Mommy? Mo-ho-ommy?"
"What, José? What is it?" she replied.
"It was te-terrible!" José collapsed on the ground, sobbing. His parents were about to disvover something terrible.
The Headquarters
Cody woke up.
When his eyes finally got used to the darkness he could make out that he was lying inside some sort of coffin, which appeared to be black and cylinder shaped. Too confused to do anything, he closed his eyes, hoping that he would wake up again to find out that it had all been a dream. He had no such luck.
He began to feel a tad claustrophobic and he could sense that the panic was coming to him. He began panting and sweating, making useless attempts to open the thing he was trapped within; he simply couldn't! Suddenly, he could hear voices speaking; he lied still and tried to listen closely to them, but he could not make out any sentences, only certain words. He was startled as a black sheet was suddenly removed from above the coffin, revealing it to have been made of glass, and not something black.
He saw a tall bald man in a suit looking over him as a he felt a smell he had never felt before enter the coffin. Whatever the smell really was, it made him go back to sleep.
Another World
Bridgette was having a pleasant dream. From what she could gather, she was on a road trip with Trent, Gwen and the love of her life, Geoff on a sunny day. They were on top of a hill near the ocean. Bridgette was sitting on a bench by a big tree, Trent and Gwen were sitting on one of the branches, watching the sea, and Geoff was standing near the steep part of the hill, facing the ocean. He held his strong arms out; the wind was blowing right on him, causing his pink unbuttoned shirt to flutter and his cowboy hat to fly off his head and land in Bridgette's face.
"Geoff! I'm trying to enjoy the view." said Bridgette, putting the hat on the bench.
"Oh, I'm sorry! You can't see me?" said Geoff, grinning at her.
"Really clever there, Geoff." Bridgette replied, rolling her eyes.
"I know." shouted Geoff.
Bridgette shook her head and lied down on the bench, watching the leaves on the tree as they wiggled in the wind, as did their shadows in Bridgette's face. She noticed that Trent and Gwen were no longer sitting on the branch, but floating in the air next to each other, a few feet away from the tree. Bridgette turned her head towards Geoff who was hovering towards her. He grabbed her hand and the two flew up above the tree branches together. Eventually they started kissing in mid-air.
It was a very pleasant dream, and it would be the last time in a while that Bridgette felt pleased.
Suddenly, the dream was over, at which point Bridgette found herself lying in tall, brownish grass; the blue sky above her and the grass waving in the breeze was all she could make out. She also noticed that she was wearing a skin-tight, grey spandex-uniform, rather than her usual clothes. She closed her eyes and grunted, not bothering to even ask what the hell is going on!
When she opened her eyes, LeShawna was standing over her, also wearing grey tights.
"You okay, hun?" she said.
"I guess," said Bridgette, "but I'd love to know just where the hell I am and why!"
"Not even a clue. We gotta see if anybody else is here." She helped Bridgette on her feet and the two looked around. Beth emerged from the tall grass, eventually, also wearing one of those tight uniforms. She still had her glasses, though, and, like the other two, she had her usual haircut – the side ponytail.
"W-what is this?" she stuttered. She looked around. There was nothing, aside from Bridgette and LeShawna, around her but tall grass, and only some bushes and trees, for miles upon miles and some beautiful blue-white mountains in the distance, seemingly surrounding the gigantic field, as did a green forest, which looked like a thin line of moss on the bottom of the majestic chain of mountains. Next to her, Lindsay got up.
"Aw, this costume makes my tummy look fat!" she whined. She still had her bandana, but all her other closed had been replaced with a uniform.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" shouted Eva, who just then showed up, wearing what the rest of them were wearing. "Or, fuck, why am I here?"
"Well it warms my heart to see you again!" said LeShawna, rolling her eyes.
"Huh. Looks to me like all the girls of Total Drama are here right now." said Beth, as Izzy, Courtney, Katie, Sadie, Heather, Gwen and Sierra approached the group.
"Hey, girls!" yelled Sierra, not seeming as worried as she should. "Hey, did you guys notice this, like, über-crazy place? What do you guys think it is, huh? And why are we wearing tight, grey, yucky clothes?"
"Well, now that we're all gathered I guess we can start guessing, or somethin'." said LeShawna.
"I think we should start by hunting for food!" yelled Izzy.
"Shut up, crazy girl!" said Heather. "Now, first of all, is there anybody here except us girls?"
"Why don't we explore and find out?" said Courtney.
"Ssh!" said Izzy suddenly. "D-do you guys hear that?"
The others listened closely; they couldn't hear much at first but soon it occured to them that someone was shouting in the distance.
"This way, gang!" Izzy yelled and started running towards the voices.
The other girls followed her until they all reached something perculiar that blocked their path; it was almost like a force-field, preventing them from going any further. It looked like a red, transparent curtain – not at all unlike aurora borealis - which the girls examined and burned themselves on when trying to touch it; this absurd "wall" was too high for them to jump over and too wide to get around, it seemed. They were all extremely confused at this point.
"Any one besides me who'd love to know what this thing is?" said Courtney.
"Kinda looks like one of those things Norway has in the sky, doesn't it?" said Sadie.
"Oh yeah, totally!" said Katie, nodding.
"That's cute, girls, but what friggin' is it?" said Eva.
"That is one excellent question!" Courtney replied, scratching her thigh – the spandex was quite uncomfortable.
On the other side of this barrier, they could see the guys approaching. Duncan, Justin, Geoff, Trent, Tyler, Harold, Owen, Noah, DJ and Cody; they were all there, all wearing grey, tight spandex, just like the females.
"Hey!" yelled Duncan. "We're here!"
"Duncan?" said Courtney. She looked if there was away for her to reach her boyfriend. "Honey, you can't come over here. There's... there's no way over or around this thing!"
The guys began exhamining the curtain which kept them from going to the girls.
"What exactly is this 'thing'?" said Noah.
"Your guess is as good as mine." said LeShawna. "Don't touch it, though! That hurts."
"Splendid!" said Noah, rolling his eyes.
"Y'know, it's actually a pleaseure to see some of you guys again." LeShawna added.
Owen chuckled. "Yeah, it's been long!"
"This is heart-warmimg but maybe we should try working out where we are?" said Harold.
"Sounds like a plan." said Cody.
He sighed and put his hands on his hips, looking around to see if the place in any way looked familiar to him. He eventually said:
"Maybe we're somewhere in Europe, you know? Maybe there's just a secret field up in some mountain range."
"Even if that was plausible, it would be colder up here for that to be true." said Noah. "I know the mountains of the Earth; I know no huge fields between any of 'em!"
Harold cleared his throat and said:
"I don't know about you guys, but I don't know any place on Earth that looks like this!"
The others looked at him.
"Are you seriously saying..." Noah began.
"Well... could be!" said Harold.
"W-wait... You think it's possible that we are on another planet?" said Duncan.
"Maybe even in another part of the galaxy, or even another galaxy! Do you know any planet with a breathable atmosphere near our solar system?"
"No, I'm not into that shit!"
"Right," Harold said, "but anyways, do any of you guys know any place on our planet that looks like this? Y'know, a huge field surrounded by mountains?"
"I dunno." said LeShawna, shrugging.
"Me neither." said Courtney.
"Guys, this really aint funny!" said DJ. "I- I gotta get home to mama. I- I can't be in space! I gotta get home."
He was clearly beginning to panic so Geoff walked over to him to calm him down a bit; he gave his friend a pat on the back.
"Don't worry, dude." he said. "We're about to figure out why we're here, okay? Then we might figure out how to get ourselves home!"
"Ya think so, man?" said DJ.
"Yeah, I know so!"
"So," said Courtney, "we were all asleep when we arrived here, right? Okay, does anyone remember what they did before falling asleep?"
"Hmm. Not much." said Justin, stroking his chin. "I remember being at a party that Owen invited me to!"
"Oh yeah, that was awesome!" yelled Owen.
Justin glanced at the big oaf.
"Not the best time, dude."
Owen crossed his arms and looked ashamed. They were all quiet for a while, and sat down on the ground, pondering, except for Heather, who didn't want to sit on the dirty ground.
"Hey Katie," said Sadie, suddenly, "wasn't there, like, some bald guy coming into your room?"
They caught the others' attention.
"Come again?" said Cody.
"Yeah, there was a bald man in my room." said Katie. "That's, like, the last thing I remember! He made me go to sleep with his music."
"Um, this bald guy," said Eva. "did he have, uh, no eyebrows?"
"Yeah." said Katie, shrugging.
"Um, 'kay. Did anyone else see this guy?"
Harold walked as close to the light-wall as he could.
"Hey LeShawna," he said, "didn't we see some bald-headed dude when we were at that restaurant? I'm pretty sure that's where he made us fall asleep."
LeShawna's eyes widened.
"Oh. My God!" she said. "You're right!" She looked around at all her companions. "I think we were kidnapped by the same guy!"
"Probably! I saw him too." said Geoff.
"Damn it, who is he?" said Noah.
Suddenly, Duncan spoke up.
"There's more than one!" he said, gaining everyone's attention. They began chattering, uttering words such as 'What?' and 'More?' until Duncan kept talking. "Courtney and I saw two guys. One of them made Eva fall asleep, another stopped Courtney and me from escaping, but he had this weird... um... flashing screen over his face!" Duncan held his hands in front of his face when describing the screen.
"Slow down a bit." said Sierra. "Did that make you loose conciousness? Because my computer screen started flashing and that's what made me fall asleep."
"Okay okay!" yelled an impatient Heather. "We get it, we were all kidnapped by weird bald guys! Now, does anyone have a guess as to exactly who they are and what the hell they want?"
"Even if they're aliens," said Harold, "I don't see why they would want to put us on some random planet, if that's what this is!"
"I'm worried about the food supply." said Owen, rubbing his big tummy.
"Actually, 'lunch box' here has a point." said Noah. "We might end up staying here for a long time, if we don't starve to death, I mean!"
Katie and Sadie held each other tight and gasped.
"I don't wanna starve!" they both said.
"Me neither." said Lindsay.
"Calm down, all of you!" said Tyler, who got close to the light-wall to talk with Lindsay. "Linds, it's gonna be alright, we'll find food and we will get through this." LeShawna walked over to Lindsay and put her arm around her shoulders.
"Just like we got through Total Drama together, hun." said LeShawna. Just then, Duncan got up from the ground within the blink of an eye.
"A-ha!" he shouted. "Of course! LeShawna, you hit the nail on the friggin' head!"
"What is it, sweetie?" said Courtney.
"Don't you get it? Chris did this!" Some of the others gasped upon realising that this may very well be true, others glanced at each other, unsure. "He wanted us to believe that it was all over after season 3, that's why we haven't heard from him for months! But after waiting long enough, he'd strike!"
"Strangely, this makes sense." said Courtney, scratching the back of her neck. "I mean, who honsestly thought Chris was bored with us? Who thought he was through torturing us?"
"Actually, what I thought was that he died when Hawaii fucking exploded on him!" said Eva.
"Interesting theory." said Noah.
"Maybe we should try looking for cameras? There might be one in that tree over there." said Sierra, pointing towards a big tall tree on the 'girl-side' of the field. "Or in that one!" She pointed at another big tree on the other side of the light-wall.
"What, we're just going to agree Chris is the reason we're here?" said Cody.
"Got any better theories?" said Heather.
"No, but additional questions. If Chris is behind this, who are those guys he hired? Why did he hire them? Also, what are the origins of this thing? How did Chris create it?" He gestured at the light-wall. "And why has he taken our clothes, but not our bandanas, piercings or glasses? And why in the name of Zeus' butthole would Chris make a show about a bunch of confused teens on an unknown planet?"
No one said anything when Cody was finished.
"Uh, which one of those questions should we think about first?" said Noah.
"All of 'em." said DJ. "Really, y'all, would Chris do something like this? He'd torture us, sure, but this just don't seem very Chris-like."
"He's just being creative!" said Duncan, still completely sure Chris was the man responsible.
DJ didn't say anything, instead he just walked over to the nearby tree and leaned against it. He thought it was strange that he didn't feel more worried about ever seeing his family again; it was something about the place and its beauty that kept DJ calm.
"You know," he said finally, "this isn't... that bad!" The others looked in his direction. "This place is pretty lovely. Maybe it won't be so bad if we stick around for a while, huh?"
"Are you okay, man?" said Trent.
"Yeah." said DJ. "Fine!"
"He's... kinda right." said Gwen, who then lied down in the tall grass. "This place is... peaceful, actually. It's not like we're in the middle of the desert or in the artic, right?" The others, instead of answering, exchanged glances. "It's nice here. It's warm. It's... friendly."
"Something about this smells weird." Izzy whispered in Eva's ear. "Smells like shrimps with ketchup."
"Uh-huh?" said Eva. She yawned. "Y'know, they're both right. This doesn't seem all that horrible!" She too lied down in the grass. Katie, Sadie, Beth and Lindsay walked over to the big tree on their side of the light-wall, where they sat down to rest.
"What's going on?" said Bridgette. "We're giving up? We're- we're calling this our new home now?"
"Until we get some of our questions answered, I suppose." said Courtney.
"But... but where's the food and- and the shelter?" Bridgette was clearly getting worked up. "And... and... Geoff!" She walked over to the light-wall holding out her hands. When she made contact with it she screamed as she burned her palms on it. She fell to the ground, clenching her hands.
"Bridge?" yelled Geoff. "Listen to me, it will be fine, okay? I swear, I will find away to... to get through past this wall, okay."
"O...okay!" said Bridgette, still angry.
LeShawna escorted her to the tree where they both sat down, getting ready for some rest. The other girls were either napping in the grass or sitting down by the tree, sleeping – same with the guys on the other side of the wall; some were lying in the tall grass, while the rest were resting near the tree.
Bridgette sighed and thought that she might as well sleep too; she wasn't tired so it seemed pointless, but everyone else seemingly wanted to rest, so she decided to try and get some sleep anyways.
Soon enough, she had calmed herself down, at which point she actually noticed that Gwen and DJ were right. The place looked beautiful and inviting somehow. How bad could it be? Maybe she'll meet her boyfriend in another dream? Maybe she should just get some rest?
The Past
His mother and Canadian step-father stayed at the Niagara Falls, talking to the police and trying to tell them what terrible thing had just happened there; his mother couldn't stop sobbing so his step-father had to do most of the talking. Eventually, after asking some qustions, the cops at last started searching for Alejandro, or what remained of him, in the rough water below the astonishing water-fall.
José was sitting in his step-grandfather's car – his step-father had called him and asked that he would come pick José up and watch over him over night, whilst he remaineded at the Niagara Falls with Josés mother, hoping, praying that the cops would find Alejandro unharmed, or at least alive. Josés step-grandfather, his name was Ben, was playing some old sixties-music on his radio, whilst José sat in the back seat, leaning his tired head on the window. Ben had been silent up until this moment.
"What exactly happened, eh?" he asked. José raised his head. "Did you see it, boy?"
"I... I don't really know." said José. "It... happened so fast!"
Ben sighed. "I understand." he said. "Too bad, I really wanted to meet him, ya know. I'm really sorry."
José sighed too. "Yeah... me too."
"He could have grown up into something great." said Ben.
"Mm-hmm." replied José.
He leaned his head on the window again, listening to the calming music, looking out at the people, trees and buildings they drove by. He wasn't really paying close attention to any of them, until one man in particular, for some reason, caught Josés full attention. A tall, bald-headed eyebrow-less man with a grey fedora hat and a black suit was standing on the sidewalk near a pedestrian crossing; the man was staring into Ben's car, completely focused on José. José felt that this man knew the truth about Alejandro.
Ben had to stop the car at this point, because the traffic light had turned red. The bald man walked across the street, slowly, looking angrily at José all the way. This didn't seem to bother Ben in the slightest; he just waved politely at the man. Soon the light went green and Ben began driving again. By now, José felt extremely uncomfortable.
END OF CHAPTER
…
Yeah, I'm continuing it! Yay. ;)
