{Disclaimer} I don't claim ownership over any of the characters, names, or any other merchandise referenced in this work of fiction. I do, however, have rights to the situations I set them in, and kindly advise you to ask permission to use said situations if you so choose to.
{Summary} As a gift from the production crew of the Total Drama series to the cast, each one of the unwitting teens was shipped back to Wawanakwa for the remainder of their summer, just a few weeks before filming for Total Drama World Tour began. It's the only vacation anyone's had in the past year, what with the past two seasons of glorified, televised torture, and everyone's glad to have some time out of the limelight, as far as they know. What drama will the Total Drama teens stir up on a real vacation, more specifically, which two infamous hoodlums will discover they have much, much more in common than anyone could've thought?
A Little Dizzy
The nights spent on the island were unlike any other. Something about the ability to see each and every one of the shimmering ivory stars congregating in contrast across the fathomlessly bleak nighttime sky put things into perspective. In the eyes of the universe, none of these odd few teenagers meant a thing, and yet – as Bridgette made a quick head count of those around the shore side bonfire – the whole lot of the young reality stars would never even think of forgetting the evenings spent with each other in Camp Wawanakwa.
The brisk tarn air coupled with the surprisingly chilling, near-midnight breeze and wafted unabashedly down the beach, successfully bringing a few campers to the conclusion that it was time to turn in for the night. As the crowd surrounding the makeshift, blazing campfire thinned, Duncan and the rest of Cabin Three bid their valedictions to the receding forms of their other friends and took to sitting in a large circle around the modestly controlled flames with the remaining teens. Courtney and Gwen were instantaneously at either of the punk's sides, glaring the poisonous words into each other's eyes rather than speaking them aloud, causing Duncan to sigh throatily of exasperation. It was insanely childish, how both the young, overly competitive women were acting, and he was the one who'd ignited the well in tact bonfire on a few liberated stacks of Harold's underwear!
His aquamarine gaze roved over that of his friends and cabin mates, Geoff and Bridgette, who resided comfortably on the opposite end of the circle, immersed in yet another passionate kiss. The dark haired delinquent frowned and forced his attention elsewhere, only to grin lackadaisically at the sympathetic expression on DJ's face, relaxing on his stomach between Bridgette and Cody, his large, well built arms propped up in front of his massive torso to support the kindly features on his face. Duncan then looked away and scanning busily through the remaining set of faces all sitting about the heated vicinity; upon realization, he quirked a brow in interest, and a slight sort of worry that he was certain would never reveal itself to the others.
"Anybody seen Izzy?" the somewhat thoughtless criminal droned, falling back onto his able, sturdy arms to support the rest of his body, still reclined in quite a leisurely position. He peeked out at the placid waves rolling in on the dampened shore sand, crystalline gaze running slowly across the nearly indeterminable boundaries between darkened sky and terribly murky waters for the missing girl.
DJ perked up a bit, worried about the interests of just about everyone, small ebony eyes searching the remaining stretch of the beach for the typically quite noticeable young woman as well. "She was here when y'all started the fire. Did she leave with Katie, Sadie, and Trent?"
"Who cares? She's obviously unstable. I say we're all better off if it she gets eaten by a bear or something. Better her than us. I mean, she's a few groundless steps away from going on an axe murdering rampage," Courtney retorted sharply, cuddling closer into the delinquent still seated beside her, eyebrows rising and an overconfident smirk forming upon her slightly chapped lips to give an air of utter condescension.
Gwen scowled coldly towards the prep school native, quick with her quips and cruel in persona. She rolled charcoal eyes away from the nauseating scene, and glanced out indifferently in a meager attempt to look for the lost sociopath, wondering solemnly to herself why the boys had gotten so worked up over it. Izzy was almost always wandering about the forest, amusing herself with things most of the other campers had found taboo and stealing appliances and jagged instruments from Chef's station in the Mess Hall. In all actuality, the crazed young woman was almost always on her own, or abducting people from their proper places. It was a slightly unsettling fact to each of the campers, but not a total inconvenience. The chick was a psychopath, and there was just no way around it.
"You really think she smuggled an axe into camp? I think she and I could stand to give each other a few tips!" Duncan marveled whilst running a work trodden few fingers through his thorny green locks.
Most everyone within earshot of the bristly viridian haired troublemaker gaped, easily off-put by the blatantly violent undertones in his statement. Looking around at the slightly frightened young faces about him, said felon shrugged, pride exuding from his unyielding desire to stir up all manner of unrest. Gwen smiled warmly in his direction, though his alluring crystalline eyes were already plastered upon the sky in utter wonderment and intrigue and she was profusely ignored. Courtney was still nestled beneath his burly, cheap fabric clad arm, blathering on and on about her revulsion for the current topic of conversation, forcing the young goth's daunting stare to turn hostile.
"Courtney, you have all the time in the world to talk shit, except now. We have to think about what we're gonna do about Izzy! We've all seen how she gets; we can't just let her have free reign of the whole place in the middle of the night, y'know, while we all sleep? I hate to agree with Cutthroat over there, but I'd really like to wake up living tomorrow morning. C'mon, I'll help look for her." Gwen advocated, standing up from her crouched place on the chilled beach sand and brushing off her skirt as was habitual.
The scheming brunette grimaced at the dark teenager, obviously taking offense to her meager insults and parted her lips to hiss back at the infuriating fellow camper, but was preempt by the rough, cavernous voice she recognized as her boyfriend's. "I'm not sure how I feel about interrupting an equal in a potential rebellion, especially when they've got the advantage, but, sure, I'll go too."
DJ stood up as well, nodding his commitment to the dissimilar search party, and glanced down uneasily at Bridgette and Geoff, now a dribbling, slurping heap on the ground beside him. "Looks like we're goin' it ourselves, then. You guys wanna split up or go in a—"
"Wait a minute!" Courtney snapped encircling her bronzed arms around Duncan's own as she too, took a stance, defensive and upset, as anyone and everyone could tell without difficulty. "I'm going too, and we're splitting up into twos. So, Gwen and…whatever your name is, run along. Duncan and I will search the camp. You two have fun in the forest; if you're lucky, she'll only jump one of you and devour your brains."
Crossing her arms over her breast in undeniable fury, Gwen glowered upon the shorter, domineering little thing, at the ready to begin yet another insult battle. Duncan and Courtney, with audible complaint, walked off in the direction of the lodgings, leaving the young poet absolutely livid and the kind hearted giant a bit stricken by just how horrible his few experiences with the former counselor-in-training had been. If the gentle jock wasn't nearly as respectful and fastidious as his mother had raised him to be, he was fairly certain he'd have been just as angry as the pale young woman beside him. He laid his large, all too capable hand upon that same, misunderstood girl's shoulder and flashed a soothing smile, thusly eliciting an uncharacteristic one from her in return.
"Don't worry about her," the heavily tanned young Jamaican born arbitrator murmured sweetly, unsure of his own advice, but still determined to keep peace, "she's just a little rough around the edges. I don't think Duncan would go out with her if she was all bad, right? C'mon, sister, let's go find Izzy."
Tilting thick brows upward but still gazing up certainly at her compassionate friend, the goth nodded and followed him past the forest limits, calling the missing lunatic's name as they traveled. "Hey, DJ? Um, thanks."
"You're welcome." He spoke softly, listening in concealed fright to the ambience of the forest as the hunt hastened on ever so laboriously.
Duncan's chest rumbled gutturally as he breathed out a maddened groan, the rather short trek to the cabins elongated by his girlfriend's incessant ranting. He drove a large palm over his sweat moistened forehead, gazing out longingly at his cabin, only a small distance from the couple that he could sprint with ease, but would probably be scolded for by the tremendous nightmare beside him. His lightly hued gaze met with the night sky once more, scanning for the first sight of the moon that evening, to no avail, for which he was swiftly brought back to reality and chastised for efficiently.
"Are you even listening to me? Duncan!" she snapped, letting him loose from her cast iron grip around his left arm and propping her arms up upon her curvaceous hips. "What was that crack about that—that psycho hose beast? I know she's staying in your cabin with you with that surfer girl! Did you kiss her? Did she kiss you? What about Bridgette? That's it, I'm demanding a room change from Chris tomorrow, and then I'll give those damn lawyers a piece of my mind about this whole 'vacation'. Something doesn't feel right here!"
"Oh my God," the delinquent jeered beneath his breath, practically flouncing up the steps to his cabin's porch, not bothering with the panicked questions Courtney had tossed at him. "Look, I don't see her, and obviously you're not interested in looking for her. Why don't you just go home, and I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Not so fast! I'm not going anywhere until I know Crazy Girl hasn't sunk her claws into you!" the interventionist hissed back to him, taking her place a few feet from the young criminal and glaring threateningly into his terse azure orbs. He wasn't paying attention, made all too apparent by his heaven-turned eyes and involuntary grin. Courtney joined his daunting stare to the sky and, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, parted her full lips to capture his attention once more.
"Duncan!" she hissed.
The lanky teen pointed his index finger at the demanding young woman, brows lifting in wonderment at his discovery. He shushed the girl continuously as she made resolute attempts to seethe out her frustrations, his smile growing wider with every passing moment. "Do you hear that?"
Courtney frowned, "Hear what? This is so-"
He gritted his teeth and forced air through them and his puckered lips, pressing his solitary standing finger to them and taking a few steps back, apparently trying to get a better view of the roof. The shapely teenage girl grumbled obscenities beneath her breath, squinted ebony eyes following her boyfriend's receding form as there was obviously not going to be any communication between the two. As she tried to get a comprehensive grasp of the defiant boy's course of action, Courtney briefly took a moment to make sure she penalized the jerk for silencing her in such a disdainful, disgraceful way. Nobody treated her that way, and she was all too willing to do what she could to make that clear.
Moments passed, and the private school student noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Just as Courtney pouted and readied her most venomous bouts to toss in her thoughtless boyfriend's direction, a carnal wail raddled the cabin and filtered out into the night, successfully calming the ferocious young CIT and causing an eruption of similar howls to resonate from deep within the contiguous woodland. Courtney sidled nervously into the fragmented wooden wall behind her, lucidly frightened by the continuous outburst of carnal yelps echoing from the thick pine brush distantly behind her, suddenly thankful she and Duncan hadn't taken DJ and Gwen's place in the forest to search for Izzy.
The perfectionist reached out feebly to the presently beaming young criminal, harshly whispering his name until he approached the cabin once more. She glared at him from her huddled place upon the cabin's highly unglamorous porch. "What was that?"
"I-I think it's Izzy!" the green plumed teen chortled out delightedly, a wide grin spread upon the lips Courtney had caressed with her own in what felt like so long ago. "She's on the roof, howling like a coyote. Let's get her down, here, put your foot on the window sill and pull yourself up."
Courtney gave the modestly muscular juvenile delinquent a strange look, as if it was absolutely absurd that he'd even consider going up and apprehending the scarlet locked psychopath from her perch and bring her inside where she could do no extensive harm to the others. She felt around in the seamless darkness for the banister lining the poorly crafted wooden stoop from the unstable set of stairs drawing down into the camp courtyard, and sat down profusely, determined not to partake in anymore of the insufferable boy's wrongdoings. Her slender, tanned arms crossed immediately and her gaze drifted into the distance, finally catching a daunting glimpse of the moon for the first time that entire evening, slightly mesmerized by its ethereal glow, straining for the small Canadian island from the far, immeasurable reaches of space just to reflect the sun's light upon that particular region of the Earth. It was a beautiful, nearly mystical thing, any profound being would've marveled, but it meant little to Courtney, as she snapped her attention back to her boyfriend, now scaling the side of the cabin and reaching out above the flimsy, battered roofing for assistance from the teen evidently already at the top.
"Yeah, I-I'll just stay down here. Just get her down and then we can go back to the beach, right, Duncan?" she spoke uneasily, standing, then shifting from foot to foot in impatience. "Duncan?"
Izzy was struck from her sacrament howling with the frantic clattering of the roof, the support so weak it even threw the young woman out of balance. She cocked her head to the side, fiery tendrils draping over her slender, slightly tanned shoulders and running in a slightly tangled heap down her back, arched as she crawled along the roof to peer over its side, watching on with intrigue as the punk she'd learned she would be sharing a room with for the remainder of her summer was making an effort to climb up to join her.
"What's the password?" the offbeat beauty wagered, giggling evocatively and gazing down through wide emerald eyes, not phased in the slightest by the delinquent's tenuous grip upon the edge of the pitiable excuse for roofing residing shakily beneath her curvaceous, rather exposed body.
"Izzy, help me up," Duncan grumbled lowly. He wasn't intent on revealing his fear to the unstable, splendorous young teen watching him struggle, though the violent jerk of his unsupported foot surged a yelp of desperation from his lips, eyes going wide in panic. "Izzy!"
The misbehaved boy gazed up in awe at the notoriously fanatical red head as he was swiftly pulled unto the lodge's peak with only slight hesitation, her small sweat dampened hand encompassing his and skillfully towed him up. He fell onto his back panting, the jagged edges of the roofing pressing into his skin, but not drawing blood through the blackened fabric of his tee-shirt. Propping himself up on his forearms and taking a brief examination of these newfound surroundings he'd forced himself into, Duncan apprehensively met eyes with Izzy, quirking a brow in coy interest as well as slight resistance.
"What're you looking at?" He barked promptly.
Izzy only giggled in response, enraptured with the oddly hued deviant and his contemptuous and self-absorbed mannerisms. The two had never gotten to know one another in the past two seasons, though Izzy – then Explosivo – could recall how impressive his invasion and waylay expertise was when both teams were all too literally at one another's throats for immunity back in Total Drama Action. Even then, she hadn't been given the chance to share her knowledge of any and all things prohibited with the erudite fellow delinquent. The able young lunatic leaned forward, staring intently at the defensive teen's face, tracing invisible lines over every minute detail, as if in study.
"Seriously, what are you looking at?" Duncan groused, too doubtful to push the girl to acceptable boundaries or do much else than scold her as meekly as he had already been. Turquoise eyes, widened in palpable fret and ambiguity, fell half-hooded once more as Izzy fell back onto her haunches, a good few feet from the disdainful former convict.
Snickering once more, this time just under a hastened breath, Izzy tongued at her fuller bottom lip as a means to ease the partial chapping that it'd succumbed to and tasted at the pristine moisture that accumulated thereafter. "How scared you are. You looked more afraid when you thought I was gonna let you fall, but there was no way I'd let you go and break your legs like that."
"I was not scared! Surprised you didn't watch me fall on my ass and laugh about it, maybe, but definitely not scared." The emerald locked swain was quick to spar, casting his view astray of the strangely charming little woman and over the system of gutters lining the edge of the roof. "And how are you so sure I'd break both my legs if you didn't help me?"
"I'm not." Izzy remarked plainly, idly tapping a few unoccupied fingers to her chin, "You could've just broken one leg, or one arm, or both your arms, or one leg and one arm. If you want to get technical, I could try and guess the left or the right, but that could take a lot more time than you'd probably like. Well, I don't really know what you'd like, but you seem like a pretty impatient guy, so I'm guessing you'd wanna get it over with as soon as possible. I know a few guys like that, but they've all filed restraining orders against me, so I guess I don't legally know them, but you get the idea."
"Slow down, babe. I'm not your therapist or some shit, I'm just in it to get everyone back on the beach to calm down. They all think you're plotting some crazy stunt to murder everyone in their sleep, and I thought it sounded pretty cool, but I guess it scared the girls, so we went off to look for you, and I guess I win. Yay." He droned sarcastically, grinning alongside the psychopath as she listened to his own story, not paying much attention to the fact that he'd silenced her in the first place.
"Believe me, if I was planning something that big, I'd do it in the open where everyone could watch their fate unfold in front of their faces, knowing they couldn't do anything to stop it; more eerie that way. That's how it worked in 'The Gutwrencher', at least." Izzy replied with an obviously enthralled smile.
Duncan's thick brows cusped in sudden enthusiasm, going so far as shaking loose mildly astonished chuckle in response to the beauty's educated allusion to one of his own favorite thrasher films. "You like 'The Gutwrencher'? I should've guessed, but it's still cool. So, what were you doing yelling at the moon up here anyway? I know a loveable tub of fun that'd have no problem occupying your free time, if you know what I'm saying."
"Who, Owen?" she spoke in a significantly hushed tone, as if trying to soothe the boy opposite her to quiet his own voice as well. "I'll hang out with him tomorrow, maybe steal something from Chef's trailer and give it to him for lunch; he'll be fine. I always howl at the moon when it's full, but it's normally just wishful thinking. I mean, the odds of a werewolf actually living on the island and coming to bite me are really, really, really slim. Doesn't matter, I'm pretty sure they have surgery for that kinda thing. Oh, that's how I'd spend the million dollars if I won!"
He shook his head in amused disbelief, lowering the level of his own voice of mutual respect for the girl, if anything. "Sounds like a plan, I guess."
"Damn straight," Izzy added without missing a beat, quickly meeting eyes with the delinquent, glad to see he was looking right back at her with an eased, lethargic haze clouding his deep azure eyes. "Hey, what're you here for? What're you gonna do with the money if you win?"
Duncan sighed and reluctantly drove his waiting stare from the girl and back into the sky, shaking his head into the freshly discovered silence. He shrugged his broad, slumped shoulders as if an existent weight had been unloaded upon them. Well aware that her presumably muddled attention was settled upon him, obviously expecting an answer, he heaved his chest in a long drawn breath and lolled his head back to face her, grinning surreptitiously. "Actually I was gonna use most of it to pay off my, uh, 'debts' to society for all the hell I raised back home. Whatever's left, I'll probably spend on something big, expensive, and stupid like an indoor pool, or a life-sized Chris McLean dartboard; more likely the dartboard."
"Yeah, Hatchet brand boxing gear would be wicked; get me pumped for our next showdown. He's had it in for me since I stepped off the boat the first time, but I must admire his persistence. I'll knock him down too hard one day, then he'll learn not to make enemies with the great Explosivo!" she mused giddily, running her hands along one another in accordance with her words.
"Explosivo?" Duncan repeated back to her, a bit disbelieving if not just a bit patronizing.
Izzy smiled capriciously, a wild glimmer in her vast emerald pools. "Boom-boom, brochacho!"
The ghastly young radical grinned in response, trying and failing to stifle a much too amused laugh. He ran a large, callous palm over the arm still supporting his well built body, poising his lips to rasp out a brash joke in a less than modest reply, but widened his eyes instead as a painfully familiar shrill flooded through the newly applied silence in the few feet between the two rebellious teenagers.
"Duncan? I-Is she up there? Can we go back now? We still have a—a lot to talk about!" Courtney shouted heavenward, cupping her mouth and making a meager effort not to sound as frightened as she really was; she did so enjoy having that tough, nearly uncontrollable young man wrapped around her finger.
The aforementioned rebel heaved a sigh, yet remaining slightly jovial as he flashed a final, approving smirk back to the twisted scarlet haired girl sitting beside him. "That'll be my cue to get outta here."
"Courtenstein?" the broad eyed beauty replied immediately, remembering less than fondly the instance just before Total Drama Action wherein the delinquent's controlling girlfriend had ruthlessly assaulted her whilst swinging on one of her beloved many jungle vines, believing she knew where the prize money had been stowed away. As far as Izzy was concerned, the fellow female camper was just as insane as people believed she was, but reasoned not to mention anything to her newly acquired acquaintance, of sorts.
Duncan chuckled a bit, crawling on all fours towards the edge of the roof and extending an able hand out to her, asking wordlessly for assistance, and to assist her in return. "Yeah, Courtenstein,"
The slender, explosive young woman nodded in sanction and obliged, clambering her way almost predatorily towards the green haired criminal and encompassed his hand in both of her own. She lowered him down to the porch with slight difficulty, her legs hooked just beneath the rain gutter and her features contorting to reflect some of the strain on her body. Duncan fell on his feet after a few more tedious seconds of struggle, similar grunts falling from both of their lips. He nodded at her, smile dissipating expertly as he turned back to Courtney, her expression exasperated and unhappy, as was habitual as of late.
"You're just going to let her stay up there?" she spoke flatly as he took her hand with only slight hesitation. The two walked from the cabin back in the direction of the beach having long forgotten DJ and Gwen's venture into the forest for much the same reasoning. "We only came out here to get her situated some place where she couldn't attack someone."
"She's fine on her own. Besides, she can go inside anytime she wants. There's a hole in the roof." Duncan retorted, crystalline eyes wandering back into the blackened sky to gaze up at the moon, grinning immeasurably as the sound of Izzy's carnal howling filter into the night.
