Prologue Part 2: The Staff

Baggy-eyed, Chris pulled himself away from his computer. He'd been watching audition tapes for days and nights on end, trying to pull together some semblance of a good cast. And wouldn't you know it, he'd gotten so damn close… but a good cast wouldn't be enough.

Chris McLean could've spent all the time he wanted putting together his dream cast of random kids, but it would never be enough. With no island and no interns, there'd be no show. Sure, he didn't need his producers, but he absolutely needed production! And now, once again, a dilemma racked Chris's mind.

Chris "knew" better than anyone just how "amazingly" famous his "perfectly sculpted" face is, and that fame could've easily been turned against him. If anyone caught on to what he was doing, the network could've figured it out, and the police could've been on his tail… not a worthwhile risk. His year in prison was easily the worst of his life, being without a hot tub, a massage, or even a bottle of worthy hair gel.

On the bright side, Chris knew exactly where to get his support from. After all, he wasn't the only one who still wished Total Drama was on air. There would always be Total Drama loyalists, and if he could talk sweet nothings into their ears, they'd line up behind him like a parade of zombies.

Not that Shawn had anything to do with this plot, no sir. The first person on Chris's mind was the original Total Drama loyalist, the self-proclaimed biggest one in the history of ever: Sierra, stalker extraordinaire.

"Chris? CHRIS!? Is that you, Chris!? OMG, it's been like, soooo long, you have noooo idea! I can't believe you got fired from the network, like, WTF producers! How DARE they! Saying that you're not a great host is like saying my Cody-Wody isn't the hottest man on the-"

"MAY I SPEAK NOW!?" Chris shouted, hoping the purplette superfan would eventually realize that he didn't call her as some random friendly gesture.

"Oh, hehe, sorry Chris," Sierra chuckled, "I tend to get carried away when I'm talking about my favoritest show ever!"

Her detonation of the Jumbo Jet in World Tour aside, Chris had a hard time not forgiving Sierra with all of her blatant flattery. She doesn't even intend to flatter him sometimes, but it works nonetheless.

"Now, Sierra, listen," Chris said quietly, "I want you to help me with a certain… something. A top-secret, Total Drama something!"

"EEEEP!" Sierra cheered immediately.

Chris winced. "Shhhh! I said secret! The whole country's gonna know if you keep yelling like that!"

"Hehe, whoops!" Sierra turned her voice down to a low whisper. "Is this better?"

The host groaned. "Sure. Whatever," he claimed. "So, are you still the biggest superfan ever?"

"Oh my goodness, you have no idea how big a fan I-"

"Good enough," Chris cut in. "Know any other fans who really love the show? Especially if they want to be on the show."

"So many!" Sierra replied in high spirits.

"I'm offering them the full Total Drama experience. All you have to do is talk to as many people as you can, and refer them to this location: I'm sending you an email of it right now."

"Email? Chris, don't you have social media?"

"Top-secret, Sierra. Top. Secret!"

"Okay, I get it," Sierra said, "but… I've already been on the show. So what's in it for me?"

Chris smirked. "Oh, nothing special… just some Cody footage the fans have never seen before."

"Some WHAT!?"

"I have Cody's unaired confessionals right here in my studio," Chris told her smugly. "Do you want to be the first fan to see them? Or would you rather someone else got to see all of his-"

"ANYTHING FOR CODY-KINS!"

"Guess I'll see you soon, then," Chris finished as he hung up. He put down his phone, letting out a huge sigh.

"She's still a crazy bitch… great. This better work out for me."

"Hello? Why do I recognize this number?"

The next person Chris chose to track down could've been even more feisty than Sierra. They didn't exactly walk away from each other on good terms. As in, Chris played him like a fiddle and fired him out a cannon.

"Look, I've got a modeling gig in ten, so I'm kinda busy-"

"Sure you do, Topher. Sure you do."

Topher gasped, but quickly changed his tone to one of arrogance. "Is this geezer McLean? Funny story, I hear you got fired recently. Seems like you lost your touch, eh, old man?"

"Funny story, I hear you still haven't hosted a thing in your life, rookie," Chris replied with a touch of venom.

"Ooh, that stings!" Topher said in a tone that clearly showed how little it stings. "I'm afraid you're still not worth my time, wrinkly. Got anything better?"

"Easy," Chris said nonchalantly, "I can help you fix that."

"Fix what?"

"The whole 'haven't hosted a thing in your life' thing."

"You WHAT!?"

Chris heard a table slam on the other end of the phone, and assumed it was a good table slam, maybe even an eager table slam. Chris cleared his throat and said, "Kid, you may be naïve, obnoxious, and not nearly as attractive as yours truly, but I gotta admit, you do have potential."

Topher seemed shocked silent for a few seconds. "...Really?"

"Really."

"Really… really?"

"Yeah, really really."

"Really really really?"

"Don't push it, wannabe," Chris said, bored. "Now… can you keep a secret?"

"Anything for you sir!" Topher said jovially. Wow, he sure changed his tune quickly. All it took was a few details from Chris, and a new recruit was on board for his project.

Chris sat in a new office, his own office, once again coated from top to bottom in memorabilia of himself. Life was getting so much easier for him now. No more panic, no more worries. Now he could scroll through previous applications for as long as he liked until the show could get started.

Even when Cameron flailed his tiny little arms against Chris's door, Chris himself only sighed in annoyance. "What is it now, Cam?"

Cameron himself sprung into the room as soon as the door was opened. "I can't take it anymore!" he yelled, a fearful expression on his face and his body drenched in nervous sweat.

"You look like crap, dude," Chris said flatly. "Now spit it out, bubble boy."

"S-S-Sc-Scarlett held up a screwdriver to my eye! I thought she was going to impale my optic nerves!" Cameron said, physically vibrating.

"Aren't you wearing glasses?"

"That's besides the point!" Cameron shouted with a voice crack. "Why is she here? Why do I have to put up with her!?"

"Hey hey hey, calm down," Chris said with his usual smile, "I don't like having her around either. Nor do I ever want anything else to do with her. But she's tech-savvy, easy to locate, and easy to bring in."

Cameron had a bewildered expression. "What do you mean, 'easy to bring in!?' She tried to kill you and the whole cast of Pahkitew Island!"

"Yeah, and she would do that for just a million bucks," Chris shrugged. "So it was easy. If she'd destroy an island for a mil, she'd probably be willing to build a new one for two mil."

"YOU'RE PAYING SCARLETT TWO MILLION DOLLARS!?" Cameron looked like he was about to explode… or pop. Get it? Because bubbles pop? And he's a bubble boy? ...I'll see myself out.

"Okay, okay, fine!" Chris stood up, waving his hands around. "Fine. I'll pay you too. When you're done, I'll give you a million."

Cameron seemed to relax again, but something didn't sit right with him. "Only… one million?"

"I've already given you a mil before, Cam. Remember?" Chris smiled.

"I-I remember," Cameron said nervously, "but… didn't I earn that million? Didn't I?"

Chris sat still for a while. Until abruptly, the host began laughing hysterically. Cameron attempted to laugh along, until it became abundantly clear Chris was laughing at him, and doing so maliciously.

"'Earned it…' hah, what a joke! You never earned anything, Cameron!" Chris stepped closer to his former contestant just to leer over him. "Tell me how you earned that money, bubble boy. Huh? How did you win it? How did you win Revenge of the Island?"

Cameron was intimidated by Chris long before even entering his office, but now, Chris seemed even more dangerous than usual. "I… beat Lightning? In the finale…?"

"All by yourself, huh?"

"...Yes…?"

Chris put on his token smile and put an arm around Cameron's shoulder. "Let's see here. I want you to think back to that day. Imagine if I hadn't let you build anything."

Cameron's mind flashed through vivid images of Lightning brutalizing him, tearing him limb from limb… a hideous scenario."

"Now, why don't you remember Iron Cam?"

New images came to mind for the bubble boy: seeing Lightning through a digital interface, he was actually winning. He stood a chance at all, what a miracle!

"Lastly… who was it that built Iron Cam?"

Cameron kept thinking back to the computer, how he created a program with algorithms for attacks and maneuvers. He thought back to the wall, where he wrote down his code and his blueprints. He even remembered gathering the suitcase, the laptop, and the toxic marshmallow. But for some reason, no matter how much he wracked his brain, he had no memories of actually building the suit.

"I… was it me?" Cam was confused, already shaken but now close to broken. "Why can't I remember that!? Why!? WHY!?"

Chris smirked deviously at the kid as he dropped the bomb. "No, Cameron. I had the interns build it for you. I changed the challenge for you, and you still failed, so I saved you twice. I gave you not just a fighting chance, but a winning chance.

"You owe your win to me, Cameron," Chris told the boy straight to his face. "You owe your everything to me."

Cameron froze in terror. After a while, Chris moved, giving Cameron a patronizing pat on the back. "Scarlett knows that if she actually hurts you, she's not getting paid, so stop freaking out about it. Now, why don't you get back to work, bubble boy?"

Cameron made not a sound as he slowly began to turn.

"I said get back to work!" Chris yelled. "Move, move, move!"

Cameron changed his pace and bolted out of the room. Chris, starting to file his fingernails, commented, "Sheesh."

Here he was, standing against the railing of his work station, looking out at a sea of superfans and overeager nobodies. All of the preparations were in check. He just needed one more thing.

"It's go time, people," Chris said with the widest grin possible, "Go bring me some contestants!"

Everyone ran off, save for one or two new interns, who stayed back. "Sir?"

"What do you want?"

"Isn't this, like… kidnapping?"

Chris shrugged. "Your words, not mine. Now go!"

The remaining interns left, and Chris headed straight for the hot tub. He'd be ready when the contestants arrived. He'd been waiting forever, after all.

A/N: I'm still alive! Don't ask me how, because I have no idea. It's been a long, tough few weeks. School keeps chewing at my brain like a rabid rat, so I haven't had much time to actually communicate with people on here.

To everyone who send in an app and does NOT have a character on the list below, I can't apologize enough for not following my own rule and talking to you. To be honest, I have too many good characters in my messages, so many that I don't even know what to do with them.

Chances are, if your character was not chosen here, it was either because I accepted your other character instead, or the character filled a similar role to another character already chosen. The casting process has been incredibly hard not just for my lack of time (and time management, sorry), but also because almost every character I've received has been introverted or villainous. Don't get me wrong, I love writing introverts (I am one) and villains (I'm totally one of those too, mwahaha), but if I accepted a full set of characters from my current list, the entire story would be people avoiding talking to each other and scheming against each other.

On that note, while the cast is almost full, I'm still looking for extroverted, wild, and/or prominent personalities. Once I've gotten enough characters who fit at least part of that description, I'm ready to go. If you've already submitted a character whom I have accepted, I humbly request that you allow other writers to take the remaining spots.

Speaking of the remaining spots, there are anywhere from 2 to 6 spots remaining. At minimum, I need two more females, but I will accept up to 2 males and 4 females based on how many applications I receive.

For those of you who submitted, thanks for doing so! If your character got in, congratulations, if not, you can ask me and I can explain why they were not chosen. And for everyone, good luck, and thanks for reading!

Current List:

Boys: (10/10-12)

- Arawn Iman Lee- pine swiftwings

- Benjamin H. Crusoe Anfather III- Waking Bad

- Therion Suárez- Epifanio Therion

- Pixel Jay Ruto- Fangie-Kun

- Drew Coleson- JustDrew

- Dean Bradshaw- TheAllTimeGreatest

- Kahlin "Kyle" Tony Mora- Nikolai777

- Stefan Ace DaMere- Queen Becc

- Jun Li Feng- Skyn1nja123

- Min Yongsun (Dominic)- NessieTheMessy

Girls: (8/10-12)

- Kris Raven (Rae) Yang- 37KarsOnMars

- Trinity Nelson- SmartyMartyDiscoParty

- Lorca Tompson- BaseballCapClyde

- Elodie Jane- Rouge Tundra

- Sybil Van Tropé- Candela Monsoon

- Brittany Drake- LaViolaViolaRosa

- Bailee Cena- Rainpath of Thunderclan

- Vanessa Michelle Navarro- Gucci Mane LaFlare