The doors whooshed open, and Scott walked onto the bridge. The soldiers working there continued going about their jobs, piloting the ship and keeping all necessary functions active. There was not an active battle going on around them, as both sides had temporarily ceased fire for some reason.
"Vice Lieutenant Admiral Petty Spaceman Scott!" the communications officer bellowed from across the room. "Incoming transmission for Super Special Commander McLean, sir!"
"Great," Scott mumbled sarcastically under his breath, "big head's ready to ram me in the backside."
He coughed to get everyone's attention.
"Everyone, out!"
All of the officers got up from their seats and headed for the bridge exit, save for the communications officer, who activated the big screen virtual monitor and opened up a program to allow a video feed to appear. Only then did she get up and leave.
But not before Scott stopped her, grabbing the blue-haired, dark-skinned woman by the arm.
"What do you say, toots? After this, you wanna become part of the Million Mile-High Club?"
The women frowned, pulled loose from Scott, and promptly gave him a hard slap across the face.
"I'm married!"
She then stomped out, angry. But not as angry as Scott was.
"Well, excuse me Mrs. I-Wear-Uniforms-Two-Sizes-Too-Small! I thought you were 16!"
"Ya know," interrupted Chris, appearing on the screen as the bridge doors whooshed closed after the women exited, "being a womanizer isn't in your job description. Besides, it's weird unless you're ACTUALLY hitting on someone your age!"
"But... but... you won't even LET me..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, spoiler alert! You never know who might be watching!"
Scott turned around and glared at you.
"You damn, dirty spies, you!"
"Okay, Scott, enough with breaking the fourth wall!"
Scott spun back to face his commander.
"I heard you had captured three enemy combatants and then LET THEM ESCAPE!"
"Um... no."
"What, you're just gonna lie blatantly to my face? This isn't a reality show, THIS IS WAR!"
"But... I thought..."
"At least tell me you know where they escaped to."
Scott rubbed the back of his neck, then twiddled his thumbs, indicating he did not.
"Well, why are you still wasting my intergalactic minutes? FIND THEM!"
With that, Chris slammed his fist down, ending the transmission in the process. Scott gritted his teeth as he started thinking of what he would do to Mike and his squad if he caught up to them.
Total Drama: That's the Spirit!
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
This is the last of the introductory chapters. The action and comedy start picking up with this installment, so thanks for sticking around! Things are definitely going up from here, as more and more characters get introduced!
Disclaimer: The characters of the 'Total Drama' series belong to Fresh TV, Inc., Teletoon, and Cartoon Network, not me. Any songs used are property of the respective owners and such, except when noted as parody.
-
Total Drama: That's the Spirit!
Episode 3 [29]: Doooooooooooooogded (10.08.12)
-
Mike slid the rice paper door to his left and was immediately greeted by a generous steam cloud. He stepped through it, making sure to close the door behind him, and made his way towards the hot spring.
"Hi, guys!" Mike exclaimed, waving hello at his friends.
Brick and Cameron both waved back; they were already at ease in the naturally-heated outdoor pool, located behind Castle Wawanakwa. Mike was about to step in when he noticed that both of his friends were not wearing anything... well, at least from what he could see, as both of their waists were below the surface of the water.
"Say, are we supposed to be..."
Brick reached into the water and pulled out a portion of the towel wrapped around his lower body, just enough for Mike to see. The spiky-haired boy breathed a sigh of relief.
"For a minute there, I thought we were supposed to be au naturel."
Mike then proceeded to make sure the towel around his waist was tied snugly before getting into the water.
"Ooh, that's a little hot there..."
He eased his way in, letting his body gradually adjust to the water's temperature. Once he was knee-deep, he made his way over to Cameron and sat down beside him.
"Man," Mike said, sighing. "Of all the planets we crash landed on, I'm glad we're on one that has a hot spring."
"You said it," said Cameron, in agreement.
"Zoey's got it good," Brick thought aloud. "Being a princess, living in a palace, getting to end your days soaking in a nice... hot... spring..."
Brick's speech slowed at those last few words, as his mind began to wonder. Mike started doing the same. Both of their faces started becoming red, and it was not because of the hot water they were in.
"Zoey... in virtually nothing..."
Both of them imagined Zoey walking in, wearing nothing but a towel tightly wrapped around her body that left very little to the imagination.
Unfortunately, Cameron had to ruin their fun, because he was seeing the vision too.
"WHY DO YOU WANT TO SEE HER LIKE THAT?"
That snapped his friends back to reality. Cameron calmed himself down, and then continued.
"My mom always says that you're never supposed to see anyone else completely in the buff. You know, unless, you're married. Or you're 25."
Mike draped his arm around Cameron and pulled him close.
"Dude, one, we're all naked under these towels right now, so, and no offense, but I don't think your mom's logic is sound..."
"AAAAHHHH!" screamed Cameron, uncomfortable with that revelation.
"And two, live a little! I know you've been sheltered most of your life, but girls are wonderful, beautiful beings! Both to talk to AND to look at."
"Still," Brick interrupted, "I kinda agree with the little dude. Don't these kind of situations lead to her screaming at the top of her lungs, followed by us getting left with stinging hand prints on our faces?"
Mike grumbled. "Brick, you're supposed to be on my side! Besides, this is a hot spring! A HOT SPRING! You expect her to come walking out that door wearing anything more THAN a towel?"
Mike emphasized the word 'door' by pointing at it, just in time to see a silhouette appear in it. The boys could easily tell it was Zoey, as her thin arm reached for the end of the door to slide it open.
"I'm too sensitive to get slapped!" Cameron shouted, before ducking his head under the water to hide himself.
Brick pulled out a piece of old parchment and a quill, and started writing on it, even as he continued to sit waist-deep in water.
"If you're reading this," he said aloud as he wrote it, "then you'll know that I was a proud soldier with a bright future, that happened to be struck down in his prime..."
"BEING OVERDRAMATIC MUCH?" screamed Mike.
The door slid open, and Zoey stepped out. The steam made it hard at first for Mike to see Zoey's body completely, even as she turned around to close the door behind her.
"Oh, guyyyyyyyys..." she said, in a particularly suggestive tone.
The steamy fog lifted as Zoey approached the water, and Mike and Brick got their first look at her...
...dressed from head-to-toe in her yellow military uniform.
"...what are you doing in my hot springs?" Zoey finished, now in a more confused tone of voice.
To which Mike answered, in pained anguish and disappointment...
"OH, COME ON!"
Some time later, Zoey was leading the boys, now back in their own military uniforms, through the castle corridors and to the F-Chamber. Cameron, for some reason, was alternating between chugging down water from a plastic bottle and spitting it out.
"I said I'm sorry, man," Brick apologized to him.
"I appreciate you saving my life after I nearly accidentally drowned myself," Cameron said in response, "but why did you have to be the one to give me CPR?"
"Uh, the princess wasn't certified. I am."
"That's not the point!"
"We're here," Zoey said, interrupting them.
They had arrived at the entrance to the F-Chamber. Zoey turned herself sideways and then leaned into the scanning sensor off to the side, letting the top of her head press against it.
[Hair print recognized! Welcome to the F-Chamber, princess!]
The door opened, and Zoey led them in. Inside, the room was immediately lit up by a fire igniting in the fireplace and all the lights in the room turned on as well. The boys were stunned to see a room comparable to one you would see in a high-end log cabin. Animal heads were mounted on the walls, several bearskin rugs were on the floor, and a skeleton was taped to a chair in the corner. The boys looked uneasy as they turned to Zoey, looking for an explanation to all of this.
"Uh... it was already here when I bought the place?"
The boys thought about it for a second, and then...
"Makes sense," Mike replied, with all three boys nodding in acceptance.
"This is what I meant when I wanted to go someplace warmer," Zoey clarified, as she walked towards the fireplace.
"Well, you could've been a bit clearer!"
"Well, I thought you three were smart!"
The boys all gasped. Zoey realized her mistake and quickly apologized.
"Sorry! I didn't mean it! I'm just reading from the script, honest!"
"Well, ma'am," Brick spoke up, "seeing as how we're already halfway through this chapter, may I suggest we just get to the backstory?"
"I suppose..."
The four of them took a seat near the fireplace. Brick and Cameron sat on one side, on the couch, while across from them, Mike and Zoey shared the loveseat. Once they were all comfortable, Zoey began talking...
"So I guess I should start about two years ago, when all of this mess really began..."
[In a quaint village, whose name is too long and Japanese to pronounce so the author decided to just call it Toronto, two friends decided to go on a quest...]
Trent and Cody high-fived each other.
[...along with a girl whose father refused to let her return home until she got married.]
Gwen popped up between the two boys. They run off for a second and then return. Trent offered her a bouquet of flowers, while Cody a box of chocolates. Gwen frowned.
[Their journey was filled with peril and adventure.]
In one scene, Trent and Cody were seen trying to roll a 600-pound Owen, in a princess' gown, no less, out of cage after being fed a ton of hot dogs. In another, Duncan was seen fake-gagging with Gwen in reaction to Lindsay, who was dressed as Ke$ha, sang on stage behind them. A third had Courtney berating the group even as a zombified DJ was trying to bite her on the arm. A fourth had Bridgette being assaulted by Izzy the giant octopus in the ocean as Gwen watched from a nearby raft. A fifth had Tyler posing for the cover of 'Playtoon Magazine,' his whole body exposed to the world save for his private parts, which he kept covered up by holding a small, planted cactus between them and the camera shooting him. Lastly, Geoff hosted a TD-version of 'Mario Party' between Trent, Cody, Duncan, and Gwen, in which the winner would officially lay claim to Gwen's heart.
[In the end, Cody won, getting the chance to pork Gwen. Wait, we can say 'pork' in this? Okay, yes, he got to pork her.]
Cody and Gwen waved goodbye to all of the other characters as they entered the former's house, even as Trent bawled his eyes out, Duncan was unsheathing a knife from his pocket, and Sierra had tied a noose around her neck.
[But before he could, something happened...]
There was a bright flash of white light that enveloped the entire cast. When it faded, everyone was gone.
[24 teenagers disappeared without a trace.]
A bunch of interns were shown a week later, searching for the missing teens.
[One search party was sent out to find them...]
But very few of them were actively looking around the disappearance site, as most of them either goofed around, had idle chit-chat, or, in one case, picked up a knife - Duncan's knife - off of the ground and use it to stab someone in the head...
...which was actually a head of cabbage that another intern happening to be holding.
"Hey!" he complained. "You killed my lunch!"
[And then another...]
A group of beavers were seen wandering around the area, doing absolutely nothing.
[And another...]
The main cast of 'Stoked' was now doing the search, though for some reason they were all dressed in orange prison uniforms.
"You just HAD to pull down that officer's pants!" growled Fin.
"That's not my fault!" argued Reef. "Johnny shouldn't have DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGDED!"
[The search was eventually abandoned. That is, until one day about a month ago...]
Dakota and Princess Zoey, both dressed like jungle explorers, were pushing their way through some deep brush when they came upon a clearing. In this clearing, the ground was 85 percent sand and 15 percent grass. But at the center, sitting on a flat rock face, was a white marble.
"You!" Dakota pointed at Zoey. "Get it!"
"Why do I have to get it?" whined Zoey. "Besides, I'm the princess! You have to do what I say!"
"Your argument is inva- inva- inva- it's wrong, okay?"
"And how's that?"
"'Cause I'm Dakota! And I'm stinking rich!"
Zoey sighed. "Guess there's only one way to settle this."
The redhead pulled out a gold coin. On one side was a side-profile shot of her head, while on the other side, there was the castle. She flipped the coin to determine who would retrieve the bauble.
It landed on its side.
"Best two-out-of-three?" Dakota asked.
Zoey rolled her eyes, then grabbed Dakota and pulled her along, having decided they should both go for it. They ended up reaching it with no problem, with Zoey being the one to squat down and pick it up.
"Okay."
"EEEEEEK!"
"What, Dakota? You gonna complain that you didn't get it?"
"No... QUICKSAND!"
Zoey looked down and saw that she and Dakota had stepped into quicksand. And they were knee-deep before she had even noticed it. Zoey wound up her arm and threw the marble to edge of the pit, where it landed safely in the grass.
Back in the present...
"The rich snob and the princess were never heard from ever again," Zoey said, "but at least the marble was now in a safe place where anyone could reach it!"
Mike raised his hand.
"Um, Zo? About the princess..."
"THEY WERE NEVER HEARD FROM EVER AGAIN!"
"Yes, ma'am, whatever you say, ma'am!"
[A research team ended up finding that marble, and a couple more along the way as well! They quickly went about analyzing them...]
The team, made up of the stated-dead-but-actually-still-alive Princess Zoey and Dakota, as well as two other people - a guy and a third girl - who stood back in the darkness so their identities remained a mystery, at least for now, were seen gathering around a microscope and a computer.
Suddenly, Zoey was holding a printout, and all four of them were in shock over the findings that were written on it.
[It turns out that the spirits of 'classic' 24 were encased in these marbles. One each, for a total of 24 marbles. We didn't know how they got in there, or if what was in them were the actual spirits, or just data representations of the missing teens. But before we could figure out how to free them...]
Dakota was seen laughing maniacally as she took the three that they had found, snatched them, and ran out of the laboratory... which was actually the L-Chamber of Princess Zoey's castle.
[Dakota had to be a butt and stole them, thinking that they had some monetary value.]
Zoey then pointed out the door, ordering the two silhouetted figures to go after the blonde heiress.
[I sent the others to track them down, but... they never came back.]
"Never ever?" asked Cameron.
"Never ever," replied Zoey, sadly. "In fact, I haven't seen or heard about that the third girl since! It's like she disappeared off of the face of Wawanakwa! Oh, and the galaxy."
"But what about the guy?" questioned Brick. "Is he AWOL too? Or MIA? Or DOA?"
"No. Well, sort of. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think he's some big shot in one of those stupid space armies."
"Hmmmm..." said Mike, rubbing his chin as he visibly thought aloud. "I wonder if we know this guy."
Suddenly, the door to the F-Chamber slammed the doors open. The foursome spun around and was stunned to see Scott standing there, with a smirk there.
"Ah," he said. "Never thought I'd be in this dump again."
"Man," chuckled Mike, as he looked at Zoey. "You should really fire your guards. Anyone and everyone just walks in here, don't they?"
"Ugh," grumbled Zoey. "They're... they're all on vacation."
"They sure picked a swell time!" screamed Cameron, who then jumped behind the couch to hide.
Zoey got up from the loveseat and trotted over to Scott, with a scowl on her face.
"Never thought I'd see you again, TRAITOR!"
Scott chuckled as Zoey stopped about arm's length from him.
"Such harsh words, EX-GIRLFRIEND!"
Mike jumped out of his seat upon hearing that.
"EX-GIRLFRIEND? EX-GIRLFRIEND? ZOEY, WHEN THE HECK WERE YOU GONNA TELL ME YOU WERE ONCE DATING THE SCUM OF THE MCLEAN ARMY? ESPECIALLY SINCE WE'RE DATING?"
"Hello, not actually dating, so didn't think that was relevant, MIKE!"
"Now, now," Scott interrupted. "No need to fight. I'm not here to get back with the princess."
Mike breathed a sigh of relief.
"Though I did take her cherry..."
"WHAT?" screamed Mike.
"In your dreams, maybe!" shot back Zoey, defiantly.
"Anyway," Scott said, changing the subject, "I originally came to claim that marble that you took from our old comrade, Dakota."
"You know about that already? Wow, even with the postal service underfunded, news travels fast."
"Yes. And now that I know whoever possesses all 24 spirits will gain the power to control the universe..."
"Control the universe?" interrupted Brick.
"Another thing you kept secret from us?" growled Mike. "What other juicy tidbits are you keeping secret from us, Zo? You gonna tell us you're actually a DUDE?"
"If you want the two of us to be a thing, Mike," Zoey shouted back, "you're not helping your case!"
"Don't worry about 'Spiky,'" Scott said to Zoey about Mike. "They were prisoners on my ship who escaped. And I've been told to bring them back, dead or alive. Preferably dead, but whatever."
"We're not going back!" Mike shouted.
"I'm glad you said that. Now I can kill you without any guilt."
Mike, Cameron, and Brick walked over and surrounded Zoey, in a protective formation.
"I have no beef with you, Princess Zoey, so long as you hand over the marble. But if you help those losers, you're dragging your entire planet into our intergalactic war! And that will be the final nail in your monarchy coffin! Mwa ha ha ha ha!"
Brick and Cameron were seen getting ready for a battle, while Scott waited patiently for Zoey's decision. Zoey had stepped off to the side, giving Mike a chance to talk to her while she debated her options.
"You can't give him that marble," Mike told her. "With that kind of power, the McLean Empire will easily win the war!"
"I don't care about your stupid war," Zoey said. "But I hate him even more."
She thought for a second before making her decision.
"Okay. I want to help."
"Good. We could use it."
[Zoey has joined your party.]
Zoey reached into seemingly nowhere and pulled out a gift-wrapped box. She handed it to Mike, who accepted it without debate.
"These might help."
Mike proceeded to open it.
[Mike received Wawanakwa Royal Shirt.
Mike received Wawanakwa Royal Pants.
Mike received Wawanakwa Royal Jacket.]
"You should probably equip those to your party," suggested Zoey.
Mike motioned as if he was going to, but instead he talked to Zoey again.
"When you're ready to fight Scott," Zoey said, "just talk to him. Of course, since you don't have any experience in battling with Marble Spirits, perhaps you want me to give you a tutorial first? Yes? No?"
Mike thought about it, then answered.
"No."
Zoey went quiet, so Mike approached Scott.
"So the princess is on your side? Fine... I'll kill all of you!"
Zoey led off the battle.
[Helios]
She used the spell on herself, healing '5' health even though she was at full strength. Scott was next.
[Sharp Shooter]
Scott's laser rifle started glowing blue. He fired it at Mike. A '28' appeared above him. He then fainted on the spot.
[Game Over!]
Brick started screaming for his fallen comrade.
"Mike? Mike? MIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!"
*** To be continued... ***