HELLO ALL. WELCOME TO THIS STORY. A COMEBACK FIC TO GET BACK TO WRITING AFTER A VERY LONG BREAK. THIS ONE IS A SMALL FIC. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.
THIS STORY TAKES PLACE AFTER ALL SEASONS INCLUDING RIDONCULOUS RACE.
I DO NOT OWN TOTAL DRAMA OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
The sun shone on the picturesque land of Toronto, Ontario. Sunday, the ninth day of beautiful September. A day which is referred to as the day of rest and relaxation in most parts of the world; a day where one is free to feel lazy and unwind themselves from their weekday lives. But for a certain someone this wasn't the case.
He was sitting on his bed, hands buried in his messy hair and tugging it at the roots. Releasing his hair, Trent stretched and shook his head vigorously trying to kick out the drowsiness. Just like every other person, waking up at 7 in the morning on a Sunday is more than frustrating. But this Sunday was an important one, he knows it. Fighting the urge of crawling back into his sheets, he jumped out of bed, rubbed his eyes then went into the bathroom to perform his daily routines.
After a while, he popped into the mini open kitchen planning to make a strong cup of coffee that'll bring him into his senses. The first thing that caught his eye once he entered the kitchen was one of his flatmates asleep on the floor in front of the fridge. There were several juice boxes and a half eaten sandwich around the said flatmate. Trent pinched his nose bridge and shook his head. He took the bottle of water on the counter, opened it and poured the entire thing over the sleeping man's head.
The guy immediately jumped up into a start, flung his arms to either side and vigorously shook himself in a vain attempt to get the water off him. He wiped the water off his face, swept his wet green hair to one side and glared daggers at Trent.
"DUDE! The fuck is your problem?!"
Trent countered, "I've been doing this same routine for the past two weeks. Heck, I even bought more water bottles just to wake you up from the fridge. Plus it's not my fault that you come late every time Duncan."
"Listen, I'll do whatever I want. Got that" Duncan said, wringing the bottom of his skull T-shirt.
Trent rolled his eyes and then smirked, "I don't think so."
Duncan looked at him, a challenging expression on his face "And why can't I?"
Trent shrugged. "Well for starters, you don't pay your part of the rent fully. So you're kinda like the lesser one here. And I have no idea where you get money from either."
"Well that's fair. But man you sound like my dad" the ex-prisoner said, "Even he used to wonder where I get my money from."
"You stole from some little stores didn't ya" Trent said.
Duncan glanced at Trent, "Y'know, sometimes you make me feel like you are my dad wearing a 'Trent mask' 'cause even he guessed the same shit."
Trent smirked, "Are we wrong though?"
Duncan looked up at the ceiling and chuckled, "Ahh... Good times"
Yes, Duncan. The green haired delinquent from Total Drama. One of the people Trent hated the most in the show for well known reasons. The only reason he became a flatmate was because of the other flatmate-DJ.
Trent and DJ decided to share a flat once their "Total Drama lives" had come to a fortunate end. Though they were already friends on the show, they bonded more over something else- Music. Trent expected DJ to be a talented drummer. He wasn't wrong. Along with being a sick drummer he was also a wonderful pianist and a lover of reggae. One day during the time when the Drama Brothers were together, DJ joined their rehearsal and started playing the piano for fun before the band arrived. Trent was the only one who saw him and encouraged him.
DJ told Trent two months ago about Duncan's prison sentence ending and said that Duncan had asked him whether he could crash in with them because his dad ordered him to go out, find a job or do something useful and settle in independently. Initially, Trent was reluctant in letting Duncan stay with them, but eventually gave in when DJ pleaded and told him that he could try giving him a second chance.
The two months with Duncan haven't gone bad as he thought- though he comes late at night once he goes out and also doesn't pay his part of the rent fully- at least he didn't bring in police interference or violence, for now.
Just then DJ entered. "Wassup ma brothers!" he greeted and high-fived both of his flatmates. He felt the water from Duncan's hands and said, "Yo why'd you always make him go all splash on you bruh."
"Ask him why he's wasting water." Duncan said, glancing at Trent.
"Then why don't you just come early or sleep on the couch then?" Trent countered.
"Instead of that can't you just wake me up the normal way" Duncan debated.
"You think we haven't tried that bro?" DJ said, "You're dead when you sleep. Two days back, we played loud Motörhead on full volume and still you didn't get up."
Duncan raised his arms, "Alright fine you two. Sheesh!" DJ and Trent chuckled.
"Anyway" DJ started, "Trent, we gotta reach the HQ in an hour. He told us to be there by eight. We gotta reach a bit early bro."
"Yeah c'mon, we gotta move quick" Trent said.
"Any breakfast?" DJ asked.
"Yesterday's leftovers." Trent replied.
"Eh that's enough" DJ said, "You go pack up your guitar. I'll get the food." Trent nodded and headed into the bedroom.
Duncan was looking at these two with a confused look on his face. "So where are you two going?"
DJ raised an eyebrow. "We're gonna go to Griffin records HQ to meet up with the producer. We even told you about it last week man"
Duncan raised his eyebrow. "Oh that new pop record label" Duncan said.
"Yup the new independent label in Canada. Griffin Records" DJ said excitedly.
"Some stupid pop record. You guys should try metal and hardcore music. That's the real deal" Duncan said.
"SHUT UP DUNCAN!" Trent shouted from his room. Duncan laughed.
"Yo I like metal but I also love pop. So c'mon Duncan don't say things like one genre is awesome and the rest suck. People have their own tastes." DJ commented.
"Alright man whatever. Let's heat the chow" Duncan said rubbing his palms.
Trent came out of his room and walked to his guitar case rack in the hall. His eyes narrowed when he saw his guitar out of its case. He took the guitar in one hand and the case on the other and turned to face his flatmates. "Uhhh why is my guitar out of the case? Again?" he questioned, raising them. Then he glared at Duncan.
Duncan noticed the look and immediately countered. "What are you looking at me for"
"Last week also it was outside. I know you took it so spill" Trent said.
"I didn't. Why would I-" Duncan was cut off by his phone's ringtone. He took it out of the pocket, checked the caller id and went outside to attend the call.
"You didn't answer me!" Trent called behind him.
"Yo Trent, you still have your guitar and nothing's wrong with it. So it's all cool man." DJ said, eating a half slice of yesterday night's pizza.
Trent calmed down. "Fine. Let's finish off quick and get going."
"Have you finished the cover yet?" a man questioned from the other end of the phone.
"Yeah almost." Gwen replied on speakerphone, looking at the sketch of the album cover art she was working on. "I got some touching up to do on it. Some borders, texturing and highlighting left. I can do that in a couple of days."
"Awesome!" exclaimed the man excitedly. "I'm so glad we hired you for the job."
Gwen smiled. "Haha. Thanks, told ya you won't regret it."
"Absolutely." the man replied, "Call or message me once it's complete ok Gwen."
"Yeah sure Cal. Bye then, lemme work on it."
"Sure. Bye." the man replied and immediately Gwen saw her black home screen wallpaper on her phone.
Gwen had joined as an album cover artist a few weeks back and this was her first, let's say big, project to work on. Compared to the other projects she had worked on, this was a bit more challenging yet interesting.
She had been told to make an album cover based only on the genre of the song. Normally, she would know who the artist was and would base her art according to the lyrics or singer's attitude and taste. In this case though, the singers nor the lyrics are known to her and making the cover art can be a little tricky. Although Calvin, the "main guy 1" of the label who was on the phone earlier, had told Gwen that she can wait until those details arrive but she said it would be a challenge and started working on it.
She did some designs on the corner of the cover and held her work up to see the progress. She smiled feeling satisfied and proud of herself. Suddenly she remembered about a detail that she forgot to ask Cal. She thought of not calling him as he would be in a meeting in a few minutes. So instead she took her phone and texted him.
"Hey Sorry if I'm bothering When will I know about the singers?"
"The deadline is in 2 weeks Gotta add their names on the cover"
Surprisingly he replied back almost immediately.
"DW bout that"
"We're gonna meet 'em later today and decide a few things"
"I'll let you know when we're done"
Gwen shrugged, typed "Cool" and dropped her phone on the sofa beside her.
Trent and DJ arrived at the Griffin Records HQ in DJ's silver Hyundai Accent. They got out and marvelled at the glass structure in front of them. For a relatively new record label, they had a fabulous HQ. They scanned the building top to bottom and looked at each other.
"This is dope man" DJ said. Trent smiled.
"C'mon let's get in."
Through the revolving door, they entered the lobby where they found the receptionist. A blonde haired lady, probably in her twenties greeted them with a glowing smile.
"Good Morning! Welcome to the Griffin HQ. I'm Evie. How may I help you?" she looked at the two young adults and recognition registered in her mind almost immediately. "You're Trent and DJ right"
"Yes we are" Trent replied with his signature smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." she replied, still smiling. "Mr. Martin was expecting you today. I'll call and let him know you're here." She dialled his number in the black telephone beside her and spoke with .
She hung up and gestured to Trent and DJ to follow her. "Alright guys, follow me."
They followed Evie as they walked through some long hallways. A minute or two later, she pointed out the door which had a gold plaque with Dexter Martin, calligraphed on it.
"You guys can get in. I'll leave you here then. Good Luck!" she said cheerfully.
The boys thanked the blonde as she left. They looked at each other and let out a gush of air to release some of the tension.
DJ knocked on the door and instantly, they heard a voice say "Come in" from the inside. They opened the door a little and slowly entered the office of Dexter Martin.
Dexter immediately got up from his office swivel chair and greeted the two young adults. Shaking hands with each of them. "Trent, DJ. How are you two? Great to see you again."
Dexter was a man in his thirties about 5'10, wearing a grey suit with straight dark hair which was combed over and rocked a stubble.
"Hi . We're all pumped up for this." Trent said excitedly.
"Oh me too. A beautiful song deserves recognition. I'm happy our A&R found you guys." Dexter replied, "Oh and call me Dex".
"Alright cool" DJ said.
"Ok so there are two reasons why we called you up. We'll discuss them in the meeting room once Calvin arrives." Dexter said, "Cool?"
"Yeah that's good" Trent started, "Sorry but uh, who's Calvin?"
Dexter raised an eyebrow then a look of realization spread on his face. "Oh right. You guys haven't met him. Calvin Green and I are the main producers here. Both of us together started this whole Griffin Records." he explained.
"That explains why some of my friends were confused about who's, y'know, "the guy" of Griffin Records" DJ said, air quoting.
Dexter chuckled. "Yeah I know that confusion. But both of us share the same post and we do what we love best- searching for talented gems waiting to be discovered."
Trent and DJ smiled hearing that. Just then Dexter got a message on his phone. He read it and looked up at the two guys.
"Cal said he'll meet us in the meeting room in a few minutes. Come on let's go then" Dex gestured to them to follow him.
The meeting room was only 3 rooms to the right of Dexter's office. They entered the huge room and saw a big table with chairs on either side and one each at the ends. There was the Griffin Records logo hanging on the wall. It was all very neat and well arranged. They took their seats around the table and a minute or two later, Calvin entered.
He dressed in a similar fashion as that of his colleague, except he wore a black suit and quiffed dark brown hair.
"Trent and DJ. How ya doin" he greeted in a gleeful voice and sat next to Dex on one side of the big table.
"We're good." DJ replied. "You must be Cal"
"Indeed I am." he replied.
"Since we're all here, let's get to the discussions." Dex said. Everyone nodded and hummed 'yes'.
"Alright then. So guys, Dex and I were thinking, if we can make this duo, into a trio" Cal suggested.
Trent and DJ looked at each other with confused looks. "What do you mean trio?" Trent asked.
Dex started, "Well, we were discussing how we can make this song even better than it already is."
Trent wasn't really able to comprehend but he went with the flow. "So how do you say we can make it better?"
"By making a trio. This duo plus one" Calvin started. "I found an awesome voice plus guitarist that really blends in with your song. Having the three of you perform is gonna make it better."
"But Dex didn't you say we'd be starting recording two days after today or somethin" DJ asked
"Well yes. But now that got shifted to the 13th of this month." Dex informed.
"All that is fine, but even if we bring in a third member, how will they learn to sing or play the song in this four day gap?" Trent questioned.
"We looked into that as well." Cal started to elaborate, "the guy we picked actually knows the song."
Trent was shocked, confused and surprised while DJ was plain confused.
"But how is that even possible?" Trent questioned. "I wrote the song, me and DJ composed it with music. And only we practiced" he was furious thinking about how some jerk stole their song.
He stood up from his chair, "I'm sorry. As much as I want to make music" he sighed, "I don't want to do it with someone who stole my song."
Cal looked at Dex and then back at the young adults, "Well, he never stole the song." This caught DJ and Trent's attention. Cal continued, "He even credited you two after his performance saying it wasn't his song."
Trent and DJ looked at each other. DJ spoke up, "When do we meet this guy."
Suddenly a knock was heard on the hardwood door.
"About now." Cal replied.
"Come in!" Dex called out.
A familiar face peeped into the room. One with green streaks of hair and a piercing on the eyebrow.
Trent and DJ looked around and when they saw him, they were stunned, shocked.
"Duncan?!" They exclaimed.
Upon seeing his flatmates, Duncan immediately facepalmed and cursed under his breath.
"Why? Out of everyone else, why you two?" he fretted, rubbing his forehead.
Trent and DJ were still in shock. DJ scratched the back of his head.
"Bro, When? You hated pop" DJ asked.
Duncan ran a hand through his hair, "Well, it's like a-a y'know, guilty pleasure."
"Duncan and pop, sounds so weird" Trent said.
"Not when you hear him" Dex said smiling, "He's got some good vocals. And a nice acoustic flow with his guitar."
"Stop it dude" Duncan glared at Cal.
Cal raised his arms, "I'm just saying the truth. Listen to this."
Cal took out his phone and played a video clip of Duncan performing in a quite posh pub.
As the brown haired producer said, he really had a great voice and was playing the acoustic guitar very well. DJ tapped his fingers according to the tune, and looked at Duncan impressed. As the clip ended, Trent noticed something on the guitar. A 'DB-9' written in black and red at the bottom of it.
"Cal when was this taken?" Trent asked.
He thought for a few seconds then answered, "Last week I believe"
Trent nodded. Then a minute later, he realized something. "It all makes sense now. You learnt the lyrics when both of us were practising, you went through the chords and learned how to play it. And my guitar was outside its case last week. And that's cuz you took it to play there."
"Pffft, who said it's your guitar? Is y-your name on it" Duncan countered stammering in between.
Trent smirked. "Oh yeah? I had that guitar during my time with the Drama Brothers. It has 'DB-9' written beneath. And look at this." Trent took his guitar out of the case and showed the mark, smiling triumphantly at Duncan.
Duncan looked around before answering. "Yeah fine. I took your guitar. I knew Cal would be there at the pub."
"But then why would-" DJ started but was interrupted by Dex.
"Guys, sorry but we got to make a decision here. Trent, DJ and Duncan, are you ready to perform as a trio?"
The three guys looked at each other as if they were talking with their eyes.
"I don-" Duncan started but was immediately cut off by Trant and DJ.
"Yes we're ready."
"Fine, I'm ready" Duncan muttered.
"Awesome. So here, sign these papers and it will be official" Cal said.
Trent nodded as the three guys signed the dotted line of each paper they were given.
"All great! Only one thing's left. Your trio name. I'll leave that for you to decide and tell me as soon as possible." Dex informed them.
"Sure" Trent replied as they went out of the meeting room.
As they were walking in the hallway, DJ spoke up.
"So Duncan when did-"
"I'll tell you on the ride back" Duncan said.
They got into the car as DJ took the wheel.
"Alright so tell us everything" Trent said.
THIS FIC WAS ORIGINALLY GONNA BE A ONESHOT, BUT I HAD A LOT OF CONTENT, THAT I'LL SEPARATE IT INTO 2,3 OR MAX 4 CHAPTERS.
HOPE YOU LIKED THIS ONE. REVIEW/FAV/FOLLOW.
I'LL SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAP. UNTIL THEN BYE
-sbktd