(a/n) here it is at last: the first (half) episode of Total Drama & Dragons! Sorry if the wait was a bit long but I think I've done an alright job as far as introducing the characters and a bit of exposition goes. Anyway please let me know if you think I've gotten your character right or if there's something I could do with them better. And sorry about each characters limited screen time but that's how these introductory chapters go. Also if you notice any major grammatical errors or over sites in story structure please let me know. Constructive criticism is never a bad thing.
EPISODE 1 PART 1: CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER!
"Long ago, in a mysterious land across the seas… called Muskoka, Ontario. There was a contest."
The camera slowly fades in from black to reveal a shot of a stained glass window. Depicted in the colorful glass, a bearded Owen dressed as a Viking holds a briefcase full of money up towards the sky, standing victorious over the fallen bodies of Gwen dressed as a witch, a demonic version of Duncan with horns and goat legs, and Heather in an ornate dress with a tiara on her head and an elegant sword just out of reach of her hand.
"From across the vast lands of Canada, twenty-two champions were chosen from a lowly and retched caste known as teenagers. Brought together by the great, and incredibly handsome Chris McLean himself, their war of wits and wackiness was waged on the isle of Wawanakwa. In the end, Owen the Vast stood victorious over all others. And so the contest known as Total Drama came to an end…"
A new stained glass window fades into view, showing demonic Duncan air guitaring on the red carpet. Behind him is a sad looking Beth dressed as an elf, and Courtney wearing a cloak, stomping on a broken bow in her rage.
"Until it returned, and greater than before! The gods of FreshTV had decreed, 'Behold! The ratings are adequate. Let there be more so they may rise to even greater heights! But trim the fat from the cast. No one likes Katie and Sadie.' And so it was done, and Duncan of Juvie stood above all others. And it continued…"
A few more stained glass windows are shown, depicting the winners of each season. Starting with Alejandro wearing a wide brimmed hat with an ostrich feather and wielding a rapier, followed by Cameron in a full suit of heavy armor, helmet under his arm, then Mike in a wizard's cloak with a spell book in hand, the shadow of Mal looming over him, then Shawn in a white robe holding up a golden idol of Chris against a horde of zombies, and finally Geoff and Brody dressed as pirates.
"For six seasons and a spinoff did Total Drama grace us with its awe inspiring lunacy, crowning champions and handing out millions, until one day…"
The next window shows Chris McLean kneeling before a council of hooded, faceless figures looming over him.
"The gods of FreshTV spoke unto Chris, saying, 'The ratings are no longer adequate. Go ye now, from our channel and ne'er return… Oh and Cartoon Network said to buzz off too.' And so did Total Drama come to an end, and Chris McLean was banished. Wander the world he did… until new gods spoke unto him…"
The next window shows a bearded Chris in a ratty robe, shielding his eyes from a group of shining figures in the distance.
"They said, 'Behold, Lord McLean, we are the gods of Fanfiction, and we offer you sanctuary! Bring ye your show into our realm, and you shall have everlasting joy, with endless teenagers to torture and play mind games with at your leisure. What say ye?' And Chris answered, 'What say me? I say…'"
"Total Drama is back, baby!"
The camera quickly panned down from the stained glass windows to reveal Chris sitting on a throne, a jewel encrusted crown on his head and a fur lined purple cloak draped over his shoulders. Trumpets sounded in the background as he first appeared on screen.
"I am your host, Chris McLean! Or should I say King Christoph of Castle McLean? It's been a while, but I'm happy to say that Total Drama has finally returned, and this time with a bit of fantasy flavor to it. We've got an all new island, an all-new cast, and all new shenanigans. This is Total… Drama… and Dragons!"
x-x-xTHEME MUSICx-x-x
Sitting high on his throne, King Christoph of Castle McLean raised his ridiculous scepter with a golden sculpting of his own smug visage. "Bring in the fools—I mean champions!"
Trumpets sounded and the great double doors bearing the letters "TD" slowly creaked open across the throne room, the fourteen chosen heroes entered, some seeming awestruck by the great scale of this seasons setting, others looking cool and confident, and at least one looking completely indifferent to everything around her.
"Welcome, champions all, to Nettleoak Island! This is Castle McLean and I am your host and your king, and this is my right hand man Executioner Hatchet." Chef appears from behind the throne bearing a black face mask to hide his identity and wielding a wicked looking executioner's axe. "You can call him Chef."
A meek looking girl with short layered brown hair in a green jacket and white dress skirt raised her hand. "Um, sorry, but why is he called 'executioner' Hatchet?"
"Excellent question Sasha. We'll get to that later. But thanks for volunteering to be our first introduction to the viewing audience."
Going red in the face, Sasha walks up to the throne. "He-hello your highness."
"That's your majesty, but I'll let it slide. So… I hear you're a bit of a tech genius, Sasha. Well I'd like you to know that will be of absolutely no help to you in this competition. We got magic up in here!"
"But the application specifically said that any fantasy elements would be simulated using lasers, holograms, animatronics, and—hey!" Chris suddenly pushes her off screen.
"That's enough out of you. Now who's next?... how about you, Stuart?"
A tall, lanky kid with greasy black hair tied in a ponytail wearing a black t-shirt with the words "King of Hate" on the front, and "NOBLE" on the back running down the spine in gold letters (as well as the logos of various gaming and food companies printed in various spots) and black sweat pants with gold trim stepped forward. "Greetings, Chris, from one King to another."
"Excuse me?"
"They call me the King of Hate. It's my gamer tag."
Chris moves so fast that Stuart yelps in surprise as Chris is suddenly in front of him, gripping the front of his shirt with both hands. "There will be none of that, do you hear me? I'm the only king on this island. If I hear you call yourself a king again I will make… your life… hell… get it?"
Stuart almost squeaks as he speaks, "Got it."
"Good." Chris releases him. "Now get out of my sight. Amy, get up here!"
x-x-xCONFESSIONALx-x-x
Stuart looks down at the camera which appears to be placed inside some kind of bucket but it's hard to tell from the angle. "Ugh! Did he have to put the confessional camera in the chamber pot? Disgusting! Anyway… No one disrespects me like that! That narcissistic douche will pay for making a fool of the King of—"
Suddenly Chris pushes Stuart out of the cameras view. "Did your king give you leave to use the confessional chamber pot yet? No! Now Get out of here!"
x-x-xEND CONFESSIONALx-x-x
As Stuart skulks off with a look on his face that seems both shaken and infuriated, a girl takes his place before Chris. She has a stocky, athletic build with chestnut brown skin and freckles peppering her face, her kinky black hair tied into two "afro poofs". She wore a plain white t-shirt underneath faded blue overalls and leather cowboy boots that went up to her mid-calf. "Howdy. You look mighty adorable in yer little costume, boss man."
"Hmm… you know normally I might find the word adorable as a threat to my fragile masculinity but coming from you I find it surprisingly endearing. Welcome to my Castle Amy! Now please enjoy the catering table with Sasha and Stuart. Next let's bring up… Jojo"
Next a large muscular young man steps forward, easily one of the tallest of the group, with unkempt brown hair and a jaw that looked like it was chiseled out of marble. He wears a black tank top cut above the navel, fitting pants with a leather belt, knee high leather boots, a purple and white striped scarf around his neck, and fingerless gloves studded on the knuckles. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. McLean. My name's Johnny, but my friends call me Jojo."
"Jeez buddy, what anime did you walk out of?" Chris winks at the camera. "So in your audition tape you cracked a rock in half with your bare hands. Impressive."
Jojo just shrugs and then walks off over to the catering table. As he approaches Sasha looks up at him in awe. "You broke a rock with your hands? How strong are you?!"
"It was more of a boulder actually. And I only used one hand." He seems absurdly nonchalant as he explains his, and Sasha's eyes look like they're about to bulge out of her skull.
"Shannon, you're next!" Chris announced.
A petite girl with short dark hair and glasses wearing a dark blue blouse and kaki capris giddily skipped up to Chris's throne. "Hi! I'm Shannon Fodder. Nice to meet you."
"Chris and next we have—"
"Um, Chris, I just got up here."
He gives her a threatening glare. "UP. NEXT…" Shannon hangs her head and wanders off. "… we have Marty!"
An Asian boy steps up next, slightly taller than Jojo and extremely well-muscled, with dark brown hair done up in a fauxhawk. He wears a green short sleeve button up shirt which is completely unbuttoned to show off his abs, gray cargo shorts, and moss green sandals. He bows in front of Chris. "Your majesty." he greeted.
"Greetings you filthy, uncivilized barbarian. Welcome to Castle McLean!"
"Gotta say you went all out on the set pieces this year."
"Oh it's no set piece. This is an actual medieval Castle… But most of the rest of the stuff you'll see on the island we did have to build for the show, yes. But we'll get to that later! Marty, if you'll step aside, its Maddie's turn!"
The next contestant to approach was a petite, pale skinned girl with short brown hair. She wore a blue hoodie so dark that it nearly looked black, baggy jeans, a plain blue baseball cap, and a red bandana around her neck. She had a completely disinterested look about her as she glanced from Chris to the banners with his smug face hanging from the walls. "Whelp… This is gonna be terrible."
"At last an appropriate level of enthusiasm." Chris said, rolling his eyes. "That all you got to say?"
"Yep." And with that she walks off.
"Okay then… Christian, why don't you come up here next. And please try to make it interesting for me would you? That girl just drained the energy from the room."
Chris realized almost immediately that he'd made the wrong choice, as the next to walk up was tall but very thin and so pale he was almost sickly looking. His messy dark brown hair fell down to his jaw line and his eyes looked glassy and had bags underneath making him look like he hadn't slept recently. He wore a forest green hoodie, baggy worn out blue jeans, black running shoes, and a fancy looking silvery watch. He mumbled "hey" as he shuffled by Chris, not even bothering to stop.
"Seriously?" Chris seemed flabbergasted at Christian's sheer audacity. "Ugh I picked a lousy bunch this year. Toxa, get up here!"
The next contestant was a girl with a lean, athletic build with long straight hair reaching just past her waist, dyed a pastel shade of purplish-blue. She wore a long black top that left her shoulders bare, a navy miniskirt with gold buttons, fishnet stockings, navy boots and a black choker. She also had in contacts that made her irises yellow instead of their natural blue. She looked Chris up and down with one eyebrow raised. "This is Chris McLean? Odd. I took you for a clown."
"You know normally I would've found that highly insulting and would've devoted a large amount of energy into making your stay on my island a living hell, but considering how boring the last two were I'm just glad to see you've got a personality."
"Oh I've got more personality than you can handle, your majesty." The last two words sound very snide and demeaning as she struts away.
x-x-xCONFESSIONALx-x-x
Toxa gazes down into the confessional chamber pot. "Chris probably thinks he's so intimidating with his castle and his sadistic tendencies, but he has no idea that he's messing with Toxa Pexine this year."
"That's it!" Chris shouted from off camera, "The next person to use the confessional before I grant permission is going to wear it for a hat!"
x-x-xEND CONFESSIONALx-x-x
"Punk kids not showing their king respect." Chris grumbled. "Up next we have Milo. Will he be boring or will he be rude I wonder?"
A handsome young man with a rather lean, muscular build, fair skin tone, and short, straight black hair comes up next. He wore a black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up, long white pants, and a silver ring on his right index finger. "Bonjour, your majesty." He greeted, bowing deeply. "I am in awe of your grandeur."
"At last someone with respect." Chris said, "Welcome to castle McLean! Please enjoy some refreshments."
Milo saunters off to join the others at the catering table where he nods smoothly to Toxa and Maddie. "Ladies."
"Hey Handsome." Toxa giggle.
"Hey sleaze bag." Maddie snorted.
"Marilyn, come on up here!" Chris called out.
A young woman with an hourglass figure, lightly tanned skin and freckles peppering her cheeks and nose with wavy brown hair that reaches down to the small of her back. She wore a baby blue polo shirt, a light tan skirt, Mary Janes, and a green butterfly hairclip. "Hi Chris! I made everyone a friendship bracelet so here's one for you!" She tosses a string of beads at him which bounces off his face and into his lap. "Oops."
"Thank you… Marilyn…" Chris is struggling not to grind his teeth. "Now please get out of my sight before I strangle you." Marie, looking shaken, quickly skitters off to join the others. "Michael! You're next!"
The next contestant was a tall, lean young man with scruffy black hair and five o'clock shadow. He wore a brown trench coat with a white t-shirt and red tie underneath, black pants, black converse sneakers, wears a gold signet ring on his right hand's middle finger with a Celtic Knot on the face. "Chris! lookin' as ugly as ever."
"Big talk for someone who looks like they walked out of a vertigo comic book."
"I'm sorry, what toys-r-us catalogue did you order that crown out of?" Michael chuckles as he walks off.
"Smart ass. Malia, you're next!"
The final female contestant came up to Chris doing a cartwheel, going around his throne and then doing a backflip before landing directly in front of him like a professional gymnast. She was a short and very petite girl with a fit, athletic body, dark brown hair tied in a rope braid, and a medium sized scar on the palm of her right hand. She wore a white tank top with the phrase "Seize the Day" on it in, red high waisted sailor shorts, a cropped jean jacket, and black Converse knee-high boots. "Hiya, Chris." She greeted cheerily.
"At last, some Showmanship! Welcome to Castle McLean Malia!" She bows and then backflips away to the catering table. "And finally," Chris continued, "we have our one and only returning veteran… Leonard!... Leonard?"
Leonard the LARPer could hardly hear Chris as he stood in awe of his surroundings.
x-x-xCONFESSIONALx-x-x
Leonard gazed down into the confessional chamber pot. "Castles, Kings, valiant knights, monstrous dragons, sorcery and adventure! At last… I have found where I belong…" he wiped a tear from his eye. Then he's suddenly shoved out of the way by Executioner Hatchet who then grabs the pot and slams it down on Leonard's head as he shouts and screams in protest.
Through the blackness, Leonard's voice is heard. "It smells funny in here."
x-x-xEND CONFESSIONALx-x-x
"LEONARD!" Chris shouted, snapping the boy out of his delirium. "Here! Now!"
"At once my liege!" He quickly approaches Chris and kneels before him. "How may I be of service to your mighty dynasty?"
"By paying attention! Now get your renascence-fair-crazy-butt out of my sight!"
"At once, my liege!" he quickly shuffles away on his knees backwards, continuing to prostrate himself before the king of Castle McLean until he was safely off camera.
"Spazz." Chris grumble. "Anyway, that's our cast, beautiful viewers. How will the drama unfold? Who will hook up? Who will be at each other's throats? And will Leonard last more than a single challenge?" Find out when we return from this commercial break.
x-x-xCOMMERCIALx-x-x
Chef, in his normal clothes instead of his executioner outfit, stands in front of a completely unedited green screen. "Watch Total Drama & Dragons… we done here?"
x-x-xEND COMMERCIALx-x-x
Returning from the commercial break, Chris, Chef, and the contestants have moved from the throne room of Castle McLean and are now standing in a little village outside of the castle on the islands coast with a single picturesque mountain in the distance. All around them were paid actors dressed as villagers going about their business, quaint little cabins dotted the area and along the main street were all kinds of businesses: pubs, inns, blacksmiths, magic shops, alchemy shops, a temple, and in the middle of the town square was a raised platform which Chris stood on. "Welcome to Chris Town!" Chris announced. "This is where you will be staying for the duration of the show. Here you will buy food, a place to sleep, and your weapons and equipment that you'll need for challenges, and where every week one of you will step up to the Chopping Block of Shame and Executioner Hatchets Axe of Losers!" Eerily, Chef's sadistic grin could be seen through his executioners mask as he ran his thumb along the blade of his axe. "Any questions?" Chris asked.
"Yes," Amy spoke up, "What do you mean by 'the axe of losers?'"
"Oh, trust me, you'll find out when your time comes." Chris promised. "Any other questions?"
"Yeah what do you mean we'll be 'buying' stuff?" Michael asked, "We weren't allowed to bring any money with us."
"Excellent question, Michael. Chef, if you please?"
Chef approached each of the contestants and handed them a small cloth sack with Chris's face on it, tied off at the top with a draw string. Curiously opening the bags, the contestants found a handful of plastic gold coins, each of which had Chris's face on one side and the TD symbol on the other. "This is the currency of Chris Town. Each of you has been given a bag of gold coins, more than enough for all of you to buy you're starting weapons and equipment, a room at the inn, and food. There are also silver coins, worth one tenth the value of gold coins, and copper coins, worth one tenth the value of gold coins. After each challenge, you will all receive another bag of coins, with the exception of whoever is voted out of the contest. The losing team will get a bag of copper coins which should be just enough for food and more modest sleeping arrangements. The winning team will receive a bag of silver coins, which will get you food and a better place to sleep, with a little left over which you can save to upgrade your weapons and equipment later on."
"Is there any way to get more gold coins?" Milo questioned.
"Glad you asked Milo. See, in addition to the normal voting where the losing team sends one of their players to the Chopping Block of Shame, the winning team will also get to vote for their Most Valuable Player of the day! Whoever is voted MVP will receive a bag of gold coins… oh, and before you ask, you can't vote for yourself to be MVP."
"Now there's a couple more thing I'd like to explain before I let you all go. First, In keeping with our Dungeons & Dragons theme, we've developed a life point system for this season. Each of you will start with exactly three life points, which you can lose while in combat with the various monsters and other enemies you'll find throughout the island. The winning team will gain an extra life point after the challenge as a reward. The only way to heal your life points is to either have your team's cleric heal you, which they can only do three times per challenge, or pay a cleric at the temple to do it, which isn't cheap. Now I'm sure you're all wondering what happens if your life points hit zero. It should come as no surprise that you'll be eliminated from the contest. However, if any of you should 'die' because of this we will skip the usual voting elimination for the night."
"Now as I've said, you'll use your winnings to buy weapons and equipment. Here are a couple examples." From behind his back Chris produces a model sword with a chris head pommel and a wizard's staff that looked like a tree branch with a twisted top.
x-x-xCONFESSIONALx-x-x
Leonard stares down into the confessional chamber pot, drooling like an idiot with a dazed look in his eye. "Staff…" he moaned like a zombie.
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"These weapons are equipped with special chips that will interface with the enemies you'll encounter, dealing damage to them after a successful strike. In the case of the staff, there is a small touchscreen on one side where you will be able to select spells and then cast them with this button. You'll have a limited number of spells to start with but you'll be able to buy more later on. As for the melee weapons, you'll be able to upgrade their strength at the blacksmith or just buy stronger ones after saving up some coin."
"Also be aware that there are certain legendary weapons hidden throughout the island with will have very interesting powers that you won't be able to buy, so keep an eye out for those."
"And the last thing I'd like to explain…" An echoing roar sounds in the distance, "is that."
The roar echoes out again and the contestants start looking around for its source. Mia was the one who spotted it. "What the heck is that?!" It descended down from the peak of the mountain, gliding on great leathery wings which cast a shadow like death over the land. As it came closer they could see its blood red coloring and the trail of smoke billowing from its face and along its long neck, down its back, and trailing passed its tail. The beast swooped down over the village, passing just over the chopping block of shame and the contestants' heads before grabbing one of the terrified village actors with his massive claws and flying off as the poor man screamed bloody murder.
"W-w-what the hell was that?!" Marty stammered.
"That," Chris said, "Is the Total Drama Dragon! A monstrous beast that lives at the peak of Mount McLean. AND it's also your get out of elimination free card! See, the dragon has a treasure hoard in its den, and hidden somewhere in that hoard is the Immunity Idol! At any point in the game any of you may climb to the mountains peak, enter the dragons den, and attempt to claim the idol for yourself. But be warned, the dragon won't be easy to take down. Of course you could try to snatch the idol and escape without actually defeating the dragon, but it's kind of touchy about people stealing its treasure so attempt that at your own risk. Any questions?"
"Yeah is that guy going to be okay?" Shannon asked.
"If there are no questions, then I will release you for the day. I suggest you spend your coin wisely and get prepared for tomorrow, because at eight a.m. sharp I expect you all to meet me at the gates of Castle McLean for your first challenge where we will decide the teams. Until then, I bid you adieu." With that, Chris disappears into a puff of sparkly purple smoke.
x-x-xCONFESSIONALx-x-x
Stuart stared glumly into the confessional chamber pot. "We're doomed, aren't we?"
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