This fanfiction was made possible by contributions to my PMs and reviews from readers like you. Thank you.
Some people think this story and the Total Drama fandom as a whole is dead.
But not us.
Not us.
"It's been a great year, ladies and gentlemen, and I really enjoyed going on this journey with you guys. I will see you all in my first chapter next year. Peace the f**k out. Here's to 2019! So long, and thanks for all the fish! :D" - Me, at the end of the previous chapter
The first chapter of the new decade. Good thing absolutely nothing of note happened in the past 2 years and we can pretend they never existed. Enjoy!
- Chapter xxxiv -
Destination 9 (Part One) - Jammin' in Jamaica
Current Venue: Jumbo Jet, First Class
Geographical Location: [N/A]
"Ah!" I screamed.
I had just awakened from the most vivid nightmare in the early hours of the morning.
In the vision, I was sleeping in my bed back home, spooned up against Gwen. I woke up freezing. The bed was soaked with nearly frozen water and it reeked of salt and seaweed. Everything was wet. The mattress, pillows, blankets, everything. My arms were wrapped around Gwen and her body was just as cold as the water, possibly even colder.
The vision continued. I propped myself up and turned on the lamp next to my bed. Gwen was asleep on her side with her back to me and I see that her arms have been bound behind her with twine, the knot was so tight that it's turned her hands blue, almost as blue as her hair.
Then came the worst part of the vision. There was blood seeping from the cuts in her wrists. I was paralyzed by absolute terror, the kind only experienced in a nightmare. Slowly, Gwen rolled from her side onto her back, and then I saw her face. It was indeed the Goth girl, but she looked deformed. Her face was too broad and her nose looked flattened and smashed, almost like she was pressed up against a piece of glass. Her eyes were bright and shiny, her mouth was locked into a wide grin. Her face was pale. Extremely pale, and much paler than usual. There were far too many teeth inside her mouth, and some of them were broken. She had slits on the edges of her lips, making her grin sadistically like the Joker.
"Noah, there's something I need to show you." She told me with a wide grin.
That's when I woke up in the First Class seat, bathed in sweat and tangled in my blanket. I swear I could still smell the ocean.
I thought back to the previous day.
I may have won the challenge, but I didn't feel like a winner at all.
I found myself with Owen and Izzy, sitting in First Class while feeling like a third-rate loser.
Ozzy was the first group of people I met after the disastrous exchange that took place in the Dining Area. I ran through the previous sequence of events over and over in my mind.
Alejandro 'accidentally' spilling the beans and letting it slip that I had paid Cody to get with Bridgette.
Not only was this a horrible insinuation, but it was also complete and utter fake news. I had merely made a friendly ten-dollar wager that he would hook up with Bridgette before the season was done.
Al also told the others we were plotting his demise, which I don't deny. The fiasco led to Bridgette slapping Cody and everyone being pissed at me and my best friend. We then had to listen to Alejandro's insufferable gloating about how much of a master manipulator he was.
What a braggadocious bragging douche.
In the end, The Schemer (AKA me) had been outschemed.
I was stunned, hurt, sad, angry, upset about the explosive revelations that Alejandro had made public. I did to Bridgette's emotional state what DJ did to animals' physical states: unintentionally murder.
The only possible super-thin silver lining in the huge dark cloud was that Izzy and Owen weren't at the Dining Area.
While I was surprised that Owen wasn't situated in the room of eating, I immediately raced over to them and told them my version of the events before Alejandro got to them.
I told them that Alejandro had misheard the conversation that Cody and I had back in Paris and that his alternate version just wasn't true. I didn't go as far as to accuse the Latino of purposefully lying.
"So that's why people were glaring at you and wishing death upon you." Owen said.
"Yes. That's why- wait, what? Death?"
"It's okay Noah Boa." Izzy said. "It'll blow over soon."
Her words didn't offer much comfort, but I thanked them for believing their friend's word. Just shows it's hard to get far in this game without contacts. The only ones I had now were my two pals on Team Chris. I wanted to rejoin their team now more than ever. I just wanted to feel... needed.
If I went out like this, I would be fed to the ravenous wolves that comprised the Total Drama fanbase. I would rather outrun real wolves than have to deal with that angry mob.
Some may accuse me of lying by omission to Ozzy, but it was nothing compared to Alejandro's lie back in the Dining Area.
I stared at the gash on my hand that Al had inflicted on me back in Germany, which had now almost faded away. I felt my jawline, now with no more sting despite how hard Tyler had punched me in Paris. The reason I was hurting now was something else. No physical injuries, but instead, I, Noah Carter, had been metaphorically stabbed in the gut.
I was outed as talking about making bets in exchange for dating girls and failed to diffuse the situation in time, which makes me tonight's biggest loser.
The team had won the challenge, but it was like I was already booted out. Hell, I would've been voted out in Newfoundland for sure, even though our team didn't even lose.
We were victorious in the reward challenge, and this is what I get as a reward? Moping, brooding, and sulking.
As Chris so aptly put it when describing Alejandro, "This guy is a reality producer's dream and everybody else's nightmare."
Other than Owen or Izzy, there were few I was on speaking terms with. I didn't feel like talking to anyone else and it would be best to just lay low and let the situation die down. Give them some time to cool off and clear their heads.
I guess Alejandro got the hint since he didn't try to talk to Owen or Izzy. Still, nearly everyone else was against me.
Now, back to today.
Everyone else had cucumber peels over their eyes, relaxed.
Oh, how I wish I could be like them.
Alejandro sighed, satisfied with his masterstroke.
"Winning really is everything." Tyler remarked.
"Says the guy who frenched a cod." I thought to myself. I didn't dare say it out loud this time.
"It was a tie." Owen pointed out.
"Damn it!" Trent cursed. "The one time Team Amazon loses and it ends up being a reward challenge!"
At least DJ was in high spirits thanks to the fishy trickery I pulled with his fish. Glad I could make someone happy.
It wasn't long before Owen peeled the cucumbers off his eyelids and put them in his mouth.
"Yo fatso, it's a facial, not a fruit plate." Trent said.
"Can't it be both?" Owen asked, pulling a cucumber off my eyelid and digesting it.
At that moment, Chris Maclean was walking through the First Class hallway and Alejandro got up and followed him.
"Izzy and Owen are the only remaining members of Team Chris, but we're prepared to welcome him as a full-time member of our team, Team Epic." Alejandro said.
"If you'll allow it." The boy quickly added.
"Looking for a numbers advantage over Team Amazon, eh?" Chris asked. "No dice.
"Besides, I'm not dissolving a team named after me." He added. "I like to call them Chris's People. CP for short."
Yeah, I don't think that you understand the implications of that acronym.
The oblivious host began to walk away, but Alejandro spoke up again.
"What if they choose to swap teams like Sierra and Izzy did in Egypt?" Asked the teen.
Funny you mention that Al, since you vehemently protested the swap back in Egypt, even claiming that Chris wouldn't allow it.
Part of me wanted Chris to agree. Voting me off would be tougher for Alejandro, Trent, and Tyler (AT&T) to do if I had Izzy and Owen's votes.
"No more swaps, and that's final." Chris said, crushing my hopes.
"It's okay, Al." Owen said to the Spaniard. "The teams are probably gonna merge soon anyway."
"Wrong. Convo over. Chris out."
Chris had left the room.
I sat still, quietly observing all that was taking place before my very eyes.
"It's okay." Owen said. "Izzy and I will survive. We even won the last challenge."
"Uh, tied." Tyler piped up.
"Exactly." Owen said. "If we keep it up, we might even make it to the finale together."
"I would love to see that." Alejandro said, obviously lying as they went back to their seats.
"Owen, these chairs are spring-loaded." Izzy said, reclining forward in hers. "Watch this."
She released and let out a painful kick into his tender areas.
"Why is it always the kiwis!?" Owen moaned in pain.
To divert my attention, I thought about the challenge in Newfoundland. Before everything blew up and went to crap.
Courtney and Gwen had apparently decided to veer the Amazon ship off course because they were spooked by a mysterious sighting. At least, that's what I overheard Sierra talking about when confronted by Heather.
Either way, I was glad I wasn't the only one seeing things. Still, it was of little comfort. The reality of Alejandro misunderstanding my quote, and subsequently lying about it, was far scarier than my dreams. This was worse than my nightmares. As frighteningly chilling as those things could be, whether you're falling down an endless pit, being chased by a bloodthirsty monster, or visiting your mother-in-law, nightmares were fake and disappeared once you woke up.
Or seeing your girlfriend tied up with her mouth slit.
I shuddered.
This was real.
Compared to this, I would take falling and monsters and mother-in-laws any day of the week.
I had to convince the others that I was innocent, or at the very least, what Alejandro had told them wasn't 100% true.
Hard to do once everyone's already turned on you.
The best place to make my case was back in the Dining Area when everyone was there. Instead, I had frozen like a deer in headlights.
If there was anything positive to take from this, when you're down and out, there's nowhere to go but up. In my case, I could very well be going down.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when Owen tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to come with him.
Since I didn't feel safe speaking in front of the others either, I followed him.
We were back in the Dining Area. How wonderful.
"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked Owen.
"Well… uh…" Owen hesitated.
"It's okay, buddy." I said. "You can tell me."
"Okay." Said Owen before continuing. "I've made up my mind. I'm going to break up with Izzy once and for all."
I stood there in stone-cold silence.
"I still like her, but she's so…"
"I'm going to stop you right there." I said. "As her ex-boyfriend and one of your best friends, I'm unsure of what to say right now."
Matt, the Master of All Time and Temporality had told me that I needed to break up Ozzy, but I just couldn't find out how to do this.
I had enough going on.
"It's up to you, man." I told Owen. "Whatever you feel is best."
"Okay." He said.
Owen headed back, but I decided to stay awhile longer.
Very rarely am I part of the problem. Usually, I'm the entire problem.
In this instance, however, Alejandro's main target was Cody. I was merely a side effect of his untruth.
I could only imagine what the geek was going through right now back in Economy Class. I bet all the girls were glaring daggers at him at this moment. Heather, Gwen, Courtney, Sierra, Bridgette.
Now that I was back in the Dining Area, the entire incident had been replaying in my mind, again, and again, and again. Cody going on the defensive and trying to hide his true intentions. Alejandro rephrasing our conversation in Paris the way it suited him. Bridgette slapping the geek across the face. The remarks from Trent, Gwen, and the others afterward.
"How dare you. How could you!?"
Just the anger, venom, and menace in Bridgette's voice when she said that. I had never heard her talk like that before. To me, Cody, or anybody. The words echoed in my mind. Bridgette had always been a good girl. A nice girl. She even tried compromising with Heather, for goodness sake.
The tears streaming out of the blonde's face later. Raw emotion.
"You embarrass me. You embarrass your friends. Most of all, you embarrass yourself." Gwen said.
My girlfriend had told me off like that before going to console Bridgette.
Of course, she had. Bridgette was Gwen's friend as well. Most people on the show would call Bridgette their friend, including myself.
Still, there was a semblance of truth to Alejandro's claim, as much as I hated to admit it. It was our fault for talking about it in the first place and giving the Spaniard ammunition against us. I had put myself in a compromising position, and not the sexual kind.
In hindsight, the dialogue with Cody was a really bad idea.
Then again, hindsight is 20/20, after all.
I was in the Dining Area, but it felt like the Dying Area because that was what I wanted to do.
If only I had wasted a couple of minutes and made sure to check the vicinity when I conversed with Cody, none of this would've happened.
To make matters worse, I saw Alejandro, Trent, and Tyler coming back out to where I was sitting.
"Oh, if it isn't AT&T." I said.
"Al, I never thought that you would sink this low." I told him.
He smirked. "Noah, the first rule of being on reality shows is to never reveal your true intentions."
"I thought the first rule of reality shows was you do not talk about reality shows." Tyler piped up.
"Shut the hell up, Tyler!"
"Sorry."
"Noah, Noah, Noah. Before you try to expose someone's dirty tactics, you must make sure that you are clean."
"I seriously doubt that some of you guys don't say bad stuff behind my back when I'm not around. I was just the unlucky sap to have been overheard, that's all." I said.
"A lie isn't believable unless you mix some truth into it, Noah. Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually, they will believe it."
"Amigo, you're going to stop with your 'rigorous' investigation with Cody. You're going to accept that there is no alliance against you. Or… Trent and Tyler are going to destroy you. We could beat you up right now and no one would believe you if you informed them."
I pretended not to care. On the inside, I was terrified.
"You need to understand that I will do anything to win this show." Alejandro said. "As a former winner yourself, I know you know what I'm talking about. So, don't mess with me. Don't interfere with my business again. Because I will eliminate you and everyone you care about. Capisce?"
"Capische." I muttered.
Seemingly satisfied, he left back to First Class with his posse.
"Calm down, Noah. Calm down." I told myself. "It's going to be alright, everything is going to be just fine."
I was wrong. Nothing at all was going to be 'just fine'. On the contrary, everything was going to be bad. Bad? I mean worse than it already was.
I think the happiest person on this plane right now was one 'Mister Chris Maclean'. The ratings were sure to shoot through the roof after Alejandro's claims and Bridgette's outburst and all the drama that had occurred. It had absolutely nothing to do with the challenge either.
That one instant, one lapse of judgment, one moment when I was careless enough to let my guard down, had been used against me and my best friend. We were punished for it.
In the next challenge, I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn't. I could save my skin, but Cody would go down in the process. No way was I making him the scapegoat, not after I had worked so hard to reinstate our friendship. If both of our teams avoided elimination, then Team Chris would fail and either Izzy or Owen would be sent home.
It was a lose-lose-lose scenario.
It was like a chess match. Alejandro had made his move and put me in check. It was now up to me to move my king to safety or get checkmated.
When an opponent is in check they must move to protect themselves, often in a way that they don't want to, exposing new vulnerabilities.
Once attained, a good player can often keep pace with their opponent's moves, placing them in check repeatedly eventually forcing an error.
Alejandro will eventually run out of good moves and will soon have none left. If I was patient and persistent, I could force an error.
He was in a corner hoping to win on time with distraction by getting me to forget to hit my clock. I need to hit the clock and force a move out of him. If I did, and didn't let up, I was bound to succeed.
Easier said than done.
Trust is very difficult to gain but easy to break.
I thought I knew what I was getting into when I joined this season. I didn't expect it to be this difficult. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
I remembered the Pareto Principle. It was the 80/20 rule.
80% of my problems came from 20% of the people on this show, all thanks to Trent and Alejandro.
The relationships on this show were nothing but a shifting web of friendships, alliances, grudges, and trysts.
It was like Matt had held a Universal Remote, pressed rewind, and forced me to relive this hell all over again.
Maybe Matt looked at 14,000,605 possible outcomes and decided that this one is the only one where I belong. In others, I might end up becoming a serial killer, or a hobo, or worst of all, an athlete. Ugh. I couldn't know for sure, but it was possible.
I had to be extra careful from now on. Everything I said could and would be used against me in this game. Any action I take is dangerous, so I had to just think before I acted. Every risk I take must be a calculated move, every move a calculated risk.
A sinister voice echoed through my head.
"Hiding is unbecoming of you." It darkly said.
Sometimes events are dominoes. The first knocks over the second, the second knocks over the third, and there you are.
There I was.
There was no place I could go, no group that would welcome me. It was just me, myself, and Noah.
Well, maybe one place.
If you want to win, you must first understand why you've been losing.
I headed over to the Confessional and locked the door. No one would be able to see me here.
Except for the entire viewing world.
I opened my mouth, but words wouldn't come. Wanting to take my mind off the whole ordeal, I decided to talk about the challenge instead.
"So… uh… once again, Chris never ceases to amuse me with his penchant for devising diabolical challenges. He just loves to invent new ways to torture people." I said. "I mean kissing fish? Seriously?
"I guess people really will do anything for a million dollars, but that is just straight up nasty. No wonder my little cousins aren't allowed to watch this show."
"Well... I guess there's no avoiding the elephant in the room."
I sighed before continuing.
"Congratulations, Alejandro." I said, applauding. "I have to admit that you achieved what you set out to do."
"As for Trent, nicely done piggybacking off of Al." I said. "For once, you made a move in this game that didn't make me want to laugh with sad pity for the disgusting life that you live."
"It was all timed perfectly, too. First, I'm already reeling from the fact that Chris made me switch teams."
I scowled and shook my fist in anger at the host before continuing.
"Then, you faked an injury to coast on by while at the same time painting me as the reason for any failures due to my selfishness. You completely threw me under the bus! I even had to trick Lindsay into voting herself off, angering Tyler to no extent."
I rubbed my forehead and groaned in frustration.
"Then, as if that wasn't enough, you and Alejandro have now taken away some of my closest allies by misrepresenting what was supposed to be a private conversation, thus making them hate me."
"Okay. You know what? I guess that one was my fault." I said after a while.
"We were failing the challenge and everyone was looking at me to fix it somehow. It's all 'Blame it on Noah'. That's how it works over there. I mean, this is a million dollars we're talking about here."
"Anyway, that was a heck of a bombshell Alejandro dropped. So I'm the bad guy now. Is that right?"
I loudly exhaled, unsure of what to do.
"It's all snowballed into a giant mess, and it's heading right towards me. So, how do I counter a move like that and deflect all the hate back to you two jerks?"
I paused and thought for a long time before sighing.
"…Maybe a couple of one-liners?"
I stared at the imprint on the back of my hand. Then, I rubbed the sore area of my face.
I had dug my own grave, built my coffin, and nailed it shut from the inside.
It felt like what happened when Gwen accused Cody of stealing her diary back on The Island.
As I was pondering my next move, I felt a sudden jolt. The plane suddenly began to veer and swerve.
Had Izzy managed to get back in the cockpit again?
I looked outside and saw raindrops and lightning.
Oh, man! I had been in the Confessional for so long that I hadn't even realized we were flying in a storm!
"Literally the perfect storm." I said.
I could hear Chris and the pilot Chef talking over the intercom.
"Hey, Chris?" Chef asked. "There's a blinking red light here."
"Analysis." Chris replied.
"It looks like a small incandescent bulb, designed to indicate something out of the ordinary, like a malfunction." Chef expertly said.
"I find it pretty and somewhat hypnotic," Chris said cheerfully.
"That too, Chris."
"Right. Pilot Hatchet, Manual!" Chris instructed.
I was hoping Chris would go through the manual and identify the issue. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up because I heard the sound of glass breaking.
I assumed Chris had smashed the blinking red light with the flight manual. Oh yeah, I forgot this was Chris Maclean we were talking about here.
"Problemo solved." Chris said.
The problem was not solved, however, as the plane began to slow down in midair. Never a good sign.
"Uh, Chris, we might be out of gas." Chef said unhappily.
"What makes you think that?" Chris asked.
"We just lost engine one." Chef said.
"Been nice chatting. Bye." I said.
Quickly racing out of the Confessional, I looked out a window on my right. The engine on the right-wing of the plane had begun to shut down.
Oh, for crying out loud!
I then went to the left window and saw the engine on the left wing was beginning to shut down as well, and the red glint on it had started to fade.
"And engine two is no longer on fire." Chef analyzed from the cockpit.
"Buckle up, Chef." Chris said.
I heard a 'click' as both co-pilots buckled their seatbelts, unsure why they weren't already buckled in for some reason.
Realizing my precarious position, I ran back into the Confessional and locked the door. Getting back into my First Class seat would take too much time, and I was too exposed in the Dining Area. I didn't even want to think about heading to Economy Class.
"Don't look, doll." Chris said to someone or something I assumed was the bobblehead doll of himself that sat on the dashboard. "This might get hairy."
Why? Just… why?
I heard the host grabbing the radio and turning it on.
"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking." Chris said. "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is we will be landing immediately."
I head people cheer.
"The bad news is...we're crash-landing."
Cheers turned to cries of anguish.
The plane abruptly stopped moving and froze briefly in mid-air like Wile E. Coyote.
The Total Drama Jumbo Jet plummeted to the ground below.
We were now on a downward spiral.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
I heard Chris, Chef, and contestants in Economy and First Class screaming hysterically.
We were headed for a crash landing when I heard the intercom beep.
"When it comes to air travel, we know you had no choice whatsoever." Chris stated casually over the intercom. "But thanks again for choosing Air McLean."
Sitting tightly in the Confessional, I heard people yelling all around me as we dropped at a rapid rate. I didn't dare look out the window, holding on to whatever I could for dear life.
We fell and fell and fell. This felt different from our landings in The Yukon or Japan. It felt like we were falling forever, like in a nightmare. We would just keep falling and never land at all.
"Chris Maclean, you little motherf-"
CRASH!
I heard a thud and my body rattled in the Confessional.
After lying down and waiting for the injuries I had sustained to die down, I got up.
At long last, I looked out the window to see millions of grains of one particle in particular.
Sand.
This wasn't a return trip to Egypt.
We had landed in Jamaica.
A super special thanks to Starheart Specials for suggesting and writing the 'Madagascar 2'-style plane crash scene way back in March of 2018. I made a few POV changes but I'm happy you gave me the suggestion. I'll use the second part of the next chapter. You're a good author, StarHeart! :P
SEAT SHEET
Epic – Alejandro, Trent, Tyler, DJ, Noah
Chris - Izzy, Owen
Amazon – Bridgette, Gwen, Cody, Courtney, Heather, Sierra
Drop of Shame – Duncan, Ezekiel, Harold, Leshawna, Lindsay
