Complete darkness, not even to be met by the annoying outbursts of Chris McLean and his introductions that seemed to drag on forever. It was then that letters started to fly around on the empty black screen, the Aftermath guitar riff kicking off as they did. The letter "T" flew across the blank space, soon being succeeded by a clip from the show, one that showed Jett with all the contestants in the cafeteria. He was trying to explain what exactly it was that he was doing there, which was all a lie, of course.
"'Yeah, see, I was kinda in the middle of prepping a song down here, but I can't much do that now. Whenever I find a new group of people, it puts me in a weird state of…hm…how do I put this…ah! Permanent jet lag!'"
The clip finished off, and we returned to the blank screen where the letter "D" flew across it. This was followed by another clip, this time being when Jett was pretending to look for himself alongside Natt, just to shove the dull boy over soon after.
"'Hm…this guy's pretty good. The tent's basically just one big, open area, but we can't see him anywhere.'"
"'Yeah, tell me about it…I've been looking so hard, too! Come on, fellas! We just had a grand old time and now you're chasing after me like a bunch of savages!'"
Back to the screen again, the letter "L" decided to take its turn flying across the screen, with another clip coming after it. This one showed Jett on the ferris wheel, just having watched Vicente save Dusty from certain doom.
"'Aw, would you look at that? I told you guys that ferris wheels were super romantic! Really warms my heart to see couples all happy like this.'"
"'Well, he's just an idiot! We'll wait for him at the bottom of the ferris wheel, and when he gets down here-'"
"'I'll tear him limb from limb!'"
"'You know, on second thought, ferris wheels are super lame. I think I'm just gonna get off of this one now, I'm bored!'"
The next letter to fly by was a "C" and it was followed by yet another clip. This one came from when Jett was hiding in the eccentric gardens.
"'First thing you know, he's doing a whole song and dance about jet lag, next minute, he's going around making us all look dumb and stealing the money from the competition.'"
"'Man, I don't know if that's the actual order of those two things happening. And, no offense, but do you really need to know anything about who I am or what it is that I do?'"
The last letter made its way to the screen, this one being an "A." Again, there was a clip that followed the letter, this one being from when Jett had finally been captured, and Chris was interrogating him.
"'You know, I kinda like this pesky rascal. He's got enough clichés and witty comebacks to make a nice addition to our cast here, don't you think so, Chef?'"
"'What!?'"
"'Yeah, I said what I said. I've got another season planned after this one, and I think adding in as many interesting faces as we can scoop up will boost the ratings. Jett, how would you feel about tagging along for a chance to win some prize money, rather than have to go through all the trouble to steal it?'"
"'Yeah, thanks, but I think I'm all good on that hullabaloo. Seriously, tying me down to one place for weeks? Months even? I'd rather be bound by the wrists and forced to drink down buckets of grease drippings from the nearest WcDonald's.'"
The letters pieced themselves together to spell out "TDLC: A," and just like that, the guitar riff finished and the letters disappeared from everyone's sight.
The camera hovered over an ocean, quickly descending beneath the water and happening upon Atlantis, zooming in on the wreck of the Chris space station, where the host himself was on his knees, sad that there was an asteroid in his face, while Poseidon patted him on the shoulder and Amphitrite sighed in annoyance.
"Dear mom and dad, I'm doing fine," the camera quickly shifted over to the carnival zone in Atlantis, showing Natt and Anne on a large Ferris wheel, enjoying their time together until it suddenly fell out of place and rolled away.
"You guys are on my mind," down at the controls, Zachary and Amelia were revealed to be messing with them, laughing maniacally until Vicente came over and bonked both of them on the head with plastic baseball bats.
"You asked me what I wanted to be and I think the answer's plain to see," in one of the carnival tents, March and Luna watched Benjamin in awe as he rode a unicycle while bouncing on a trampoline, juggling bowling pins, and holding a torch with his teeth.
"I wanna be famous!" Tony tossed a frisbee at the wheel, causing Benjamin to fall on top of an unsuspecting Bonnie, and the torch to set his shirt on fire before the bowling pins landed on his head, which caused Liz to give him a thumbs up with an evil grin on her face.
"I wanna live close to the sun," out in the ocean, Alex was in his diving suit, trying to catch a sea monkey, but failing utterly, just like he had when it was a space monkey, while Dusty shook her head in disappointment, lassoing the creature back to them, but catching Jett instead.
"So pack your bags, cause I've already won," on the seafloor, Archie studied a squid closely until it shot ink all over his helmet's glass shield, which made Jianne giggle a little bit before wiping it off.
"Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day," not too far from where the two were, Damien and Gretchen ran away from a massive shark, which knocked them off to the side, showing that it was swimming away from Flint, who was throwing rocks at it while Alexis chased after him.
"I wanna be famous!" the camera switched gears to show a submarine, with arcade-esque machines in it that Taylor and Crustacean were fighting over.
"Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na," zooming into a "pod" of sorts near the arcade games, a virtual world that was full of immaculate fantasy aspects and monsters was shown.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" Nicolás, dressed as a knight, was running in fear as blasts of dark energy were tossed at the ground behind him, each blast destroying part of the ground.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" the camera revealed Thomas, in dark mage garb, as the source of the blasts, floating in the sky and laughing maniacally until Maggie, dressed as a witch, flew over to him on her broom and tackled him to the ground, making out with him before he blasted the camera with one of the energy balls.
Afterwards, the whole group was seen on a nautically themed aftermath stage, which Sebastian and Haley were at the center of, glaring at each other while all of the contestants, accompanied by Maggie, who was hugging Thomas tightly, whistled.
The Aftermath stage was a lot different than it usually was, not a single light showing any bit of who or what was on it. The audience was entirely silent, wondering if they showed up at the right place for the show, when, suddenly, a light flashed on the stage, revealing a massive green curtain covering the entire thing. Spotlights started swinging around, lighting up the audience and bringing some confusion as to what exactly was happening. Finally, that voice piped up from a set of loudspeakers that sounded like they belonged in a sports arena. "Ladies aaaaaaaaaaaaand gentlemen! Are…you…ready!?"
The crowd immediately started cheering, clapping their hands together like ferocious beasts that were being tossed scraps from their human overlords. One man ripped his shirt off, revealing a tattoo of Sebastian's face right in the center of his chest. A woman that was standing off to the side swooned and crashed against the ground, soon being carried out by the paramedics that were at the scene. "I…can't…hear you!"
"WE'RE READY!"
"Alright…everyone…prepare to be graced by the one, the only…Seeeeeeeeeeeebastiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" The curtain wildly swung open, revealing the Aftermath host standing in the center of the stage, tipping his sunglasses down to wink to the crowd. The cheering got more obnoxious and wild, with some fans even starting a bare knuckle brawl in honor of their idol. Security came through to remove the aggressors, though Sebastian waved them off, allowing the fighting to keep on going. "How the hell is everyone doing tonight!?"
An uproar of cheers with indiscernible answers erupted, to which Sebastian nodded and chuckled. He had a microphone in his hand, the one that was connected to those loudspeakers. "That's the obnoxious, incomprehensible answer I was looking for! I know just what it means…it means that everyone is doing damn amazing, now that I'm here!" Even more cheering came about, Sebastian reveling in it like some sort of prophet that had been blown out of proportion. "HELL YEAH!"
The host jumped backwards, landing on top of the table that was on the stage and standing proudly. He waved his hands at the crowd, getting them to simmer down ever so slightly, though the noise they made was unending. "Now, I know what some of you are thinking…'Where's that other host? The one that I can't remember the name of?' She had her fifteen minutes of fame, which means it's my turn! Don't act like you don't want this, because I know you do!"
Even more cheering came about, undoing all the minimum work that the host had done to get the crowd to quiet down in the first place. He snickered to himself, again waving his hand to make them shush up a bit. "Now, now…I know you're all just rabid at the very thought that you're getting an episode chock full of Sexy Mr. Me, but we gotta get through some of the boring before we can get to some of the good. That being said, we'll return back with our very first guest after this laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame commercial break!"
The crowd boos, with Sebastian nodding his head in agreement while the camera started to pan out from the stage. The boy didn't care for any of the commercials, but since they were paid for, he had no choice but to let them play.
The camera finally cut away from the aftermath stage, revealing a rather dark room before its lens. A dim light came to flicker on, revealing a girl with a massive, toothy smile on her face. Once the lights were on, the room really wasn't that scary, it just had a lot of childlike aspects to it. The walls were pink, the bed had pink and white coverings with many fluffy pillows all over it. Also, on the bed, there was a large, stuffed chinchilla. On one side, the coloring was entirely white, and quite adorable looking. The other half was black in color, with a more evil expression on it. It looked like one of those creepy toys that would be made for a movie like Doraline. The girl herself was rather tall, even when she was sitting down, like she was. She had an hourglass frame, and beige-toned skin. Her eyes were a really bright red color, and they had this sort of gaze that made you want to look away, but it was just impossible not to stare into them. Her hair was done rather cutesy, just like how her room was. The color of her hair was a light pink, and it was done into two massive ponytails, each held by a clip of the chinchilla's face. As far as her attire went, she wore a white jacket, which she left unzipped to reveal a black tee, which had a red eye in the center of the chest. It was a little creepy, but it was hard to tell if this girl was aiming for creepy or cute. She had a red mini-skirt on, and it was amazingly matched by her red, platform boots, those which went all the way up past her knees. Finally, to finish off her ensemble, she was wearing a choker, one that was black, and thin in width.
"Hey hey!" The girl spoke up, her voice rather high pitched and a bit off putting. Hearing someone like her speaking in a dark room would surely trigger a panic. "It's meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Clover Warrington! If you know me, that's just wonderful! And if you don't, then why not!?" Clover gritted her teeth, soon blinking twice before putting on an apologetic, yet pouty expression. "Aw…I got a little feisty there…I'm sowwwwwwy." The creepy girl continued to pout for a second before shaking her head like a dog that didn't wanna give back a sock that was in its mouth. "Right! I'm supposed to be doing a thing! A thing to tell you all about my book!"
Clover dug around in one of the drawers of the desk she was sitting at, eventually pulling out some manga of sorts. She held it up with a huge smile on her face, looking at the camera and waiting for a response before glaring at it. "Well!? Don't just stare at me and not say anything! …Oh…right…you're all not here right now, this is just a camera. Silly me! Anywho, the book…is a part of my series: 'Impaled by the Spear of Love!' It's my super amazing, adorable, kawaii yaoi manga! Won't you all read it for me? I love having new readers!" She slammed the book on the desk, her pupils shrinking down as she stared dead into the camera. "I…really…would love it if you read! And I'm sure you'll 'love' it,too!" With a wave, the camera suddenly cut out, leaving the viewers to wonder what exactly was up with that creepy girl.
We're brought back to the Aftermath stage, where Sebastian has now seated himself on the hosts' couch, smiling at the audience as they cheered for him like rabid animals chasing a hunk of meat. He waved his hand, and, like faithful dogs, they all quieted down, allowing him to reclaim his spot as the loudest presence in the building. "How 'bout all of that bologna? This girl seriously wants us to read her book…it's some cheesy romance blah blah garbage! I'd give it a negative five stars if it were possible to rate things in the negatives…oh, wait!"
Sebastian shot up from the couch, snapping his fingers and cueing a stage hand to rush over to him, handing him a tablet. The host tapped away at the screen, causing the larger screen, which was hanging from the ceiling, to light up with a website named "SebastianRater." "Introducing my brand new website…SebastianRater! On this site, you can give whatever product or service you're rating a rating that really reflects how you feel about it. Take a look at this one! This lady rated WcDonald's an 'endless void of eternal diarrhea out of five!' pretty nifty place if you ask me, definitely go check it out."
The host slammed the tablet back into the stage hand's arms, causing them to frantically run off the stage without a second thought. "Now that we've got that silly commercial out of the way, how about we bump right along to our interviews?" The crowd went ballistic, each clapping their hands while Sebastian nodded at them and sat back down in his seat. "Haley may have gotten the comeback challenge on her episode, but I'm the one who's got seven whole interviews to get through! Yeah, that's right, the producers love me!" Again, the crowd kept on clapping. Surely their hands were growing sore and raw at this point. "Now, without further ado, let's pull one of these bozos out here! You love him, you hate him, you love to hate him. This guy could seriously sell a condo to a homeless person and still turn a profit out of it! Put your hands together foooooooooooooooooooooooor Toooooooooooooooooooooooonyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"
Sebastian hollered the conman's name out while the crowd continued to go nuts. Tony slid out onto the stage, aiming finger guns at the crowd and firing them, somehow causing a "cha-ching" noise to sound as he did. He strutted over to the guest chair, plopping himself down in it and dusting off his rings with a handkerchief. "Tony, Tony, I respect the hustle, my man! Shame me and you couldn't have been on the same team last season or in this one…we'd definitely get some work done together."
"Yeah, well, can't change the past…yet. With enough money, you can change anything you want, of course." Tony smirked to himself, the crowd loving that attitude of his and Sebastian's in the same place. "Seriously, the kind of profit I'd get for funding research on a time machine would be killer."
"A time machine? Surely you can't be serious, there's no way time travel is ever gonna be a possibility!" Sebastian slammed his fist down on the table, only getting a shrug back from Tony.
"Open your mind to all sorts of possibilities if you ever wanna be a hotshot, like me. You don't get these kinds of deals and maintain this much capital without being willing to play some risky games." The conman flashed his fingers to the crowd, revealing many glimmering gems on his rings. The crowd let out a loud "oo" while Sebastian rolled his eyes at the boy, growing tired of him stealing his spotlight already.
"I'm sure you could go on and on about your successes as an entrepreneur all day, but we've gotta do some more important business. The fans, baby! They've got questions for you!" Sebastian pulled a card out from his leather jacket, holding it up to his face so he could read the questions off of it. "Now, for your first-"
"Hang on a minute…where's all the other losers at?" Tony looked back at the risers behind him, which were entirely empty. "Ain't they supposed to be chilling over there or something like that?"
"As if I would let a bunch of old news take away from my spotlight! Now, as I was saying…your first question comes from LordGemini! 'Who is the best kisser, you or Liz?'" The crowd applauded the question, each shrieking in excitement while Tony blushed a bit. "Well, money man? What's the answer?"
"As much as I love to celebrate my own successes and occasionally take the credit for things I didn't actually do, I gotta give that one to Liz. Coincidentally, the girl's figured out the science behind what makes a kiss so good. Girl makes your knees weak with her smooching skills!" Some of the crowd laughed at Tony, who shrugged his shoulders with that grin of his still there. "Hey, honesty is the best policy, I always say!"
"Oh man! You are so lucky we aren't doing a 'Truth Or' segment today, we'd totally have you pinched by the lobster claw for that one!" Sebastian chuckled to himself, pressing a button on his fancy remote and causing a ginormous, metal lobster claw to descend from the ceiling, which floated right behind Tony. The conman glanced at the contraption, gulping nervously before looking back to the host. "I think I'll just leave it down here…you know, just in case I wanna spice things up. Your next question is from Zoryan El Muerto! 'What's the biggest con you ever committed?'"
"Biggest con I ever committed? Heh, buddy…nothing I do is a con. Everything is flat out on the table for those people I make deals with." Tony grinned before the claw pinched down on his rear through the chair, causing him to leap up and yelp. "Yowza! Alright, fine…maybe I do sneak a couple of things into the fine print of my contracts here and there. Biggest con was…well, I managed to get the deed to my parents house. They thought I was joking about it, but Tony Marmalade doesn't do stand-up. He cuts deals. And all deals are final."
The crowd gasped at Tony's revelation, feeling mixed about how clever and evil he was. Sebastian chuckled delightfully, loving the gall of the boy to be able to pull something like that off. "Alright, that's a pretty good con, I gotta hand it to you. Now, we just got one more question for you…from Nobody245. 'Why the hell did you trust Benjamin to be the one to help take out Amelia in your place?'"
Tony was a bit taken aback, as well as offended by the question. "I don't know who you think you are, doubting my methods, but I'll have you know that it was my only option! Of course, getting Amelia out while I'm out already isn't a necessity, so I was just hoping the ditz would be able to get her somehow. I could've asked March, but she would've just said no. And I could've texted one of the goons still at Atlantis, but they tend to…well, want to work against me."
"Wow, such an incredible answer…Tony, I'd love to keep you on the stage all day long, but I've got more interviews to get to!" Sebastian pressed a button on his remote, causing a few of the floorboards to open up. Beneath the floor, Alex, Taylor, and Anne could all be heard chattering. The lobster claw grabbed Tony by the jacket before he had a chance to run, dropping him into the floor before it closed up and sealed him away with the others. "What an eyesore, that guy! Now that he's out of the way, we can move along to some folks that might actually be interesting! Next up on our little list is the only member that's actually littler than the list! She may be tiny, but boy, she's explosive! The mad scientist herself, it's Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiz!"
The crowd went back to clapping their hands while Liz stumbled onto the stage, holding a beaker in one hand and a test tube in the other. She poured the contents of the test tube into the beaker, causing it to suddenly explode, leaving ash all over her face. She shook her head, causing the ash to fall to the floor, soon heading over to the seat where Tony just was and sitting down in it. "Wassup, gurl? Make any new discoveries lately, or are you just blowing yourself up all the time?"
'I'll have you know that I'm on the brink of the discovery of the century! If I can manage to get the formula right, I should be able to finalize this compound…the sole purpose of it being something that can substitute the need for food and sleep in just one sip! Surely, this will improve the world's productivity, and there will be less resources to worry about if food isn't a necessity." Liz snickered to herself before looking at her exploded beaker and sighing. "I'm still muttering through some workarounds to the explosions."
"Hm…maybe in the meantime, you can try to grow the rest of your hair back. I remember you having a full head of hair before…now you're looking like a boy with that short hair. Besides…your eyes are creepy. I recall your hair covering one of them before." Sebastian pointed at the girl's face, causing the big screen to light up with a close up of her. Her blue eye and her silver eye were both fixed on Sebastian in a glare.
"I think I look just fine as I am, thank you very much. Besides…shouldn't you be worried about fixing up that blonde mess of yours? You look like you decided to grab a mop head and wear it as a hat." Liz stuck her tongue out at the boy, who was checking himself out in the mirror, hardly affected by the insult.
"I think I look fi-ine. Either way, I'll be the one asking the questions here, missy!" Sebastian grabbed another card from his jacket, lazily glancing down at it. "Alright, we've got one for you from LordGemini! 'What would you say is the best thing about Tony?' You know, if you can think of anything noteworthy of him at all, that is."
"Hmph…your general disregard of how amazing that boy can be amuses me." Liz held her right hand up, pointing up to the ceiling while crossing her left arm across her chest. "If there is one thing that I admire about him above anything else, it's his quick thinking ability. Someone like myself would prefer to make a long, thought out plan, while he's able to come up with things on the spot. Sure, sometimes they don't pan out well, but it's taking those risks that really makes him as unique as he is."
The crowd let out an "aw," which was soon interrupted by Sebastian. "You two really are simps with the way you talk about each other, you know that? Let's move onto another question so I don't end up hurling from all this affection. From Phoenix Writer GPH, we've got one that you probably haven't thought about at all. 'If you had to choose who wins the season out of the remaining cast, who would you pick?'"
"I have to? Well, that's annoying…I can't say I'm entirely fond of most of the remaining members of that cast. I suppose…it is rather interesting to see Alexis messing things up and getting other people to take the fall for it. I'd be intrigued to see her stumble her way to the five million." Liz snickered as she recalled how Gretchen and March were eliminated before shaking her head and returning to her typical scowl. "I'll say Alexis."
"Alexis, Alexis, the mega hottie of the cast! I have a feeling our next guest would give the exact same answer for that question. In any case, I've got one more question for you before I banish you from the stage." Sebastian smirked while Liz crossed her arms, glaring intensely at him. "This one is from Nobody245, and it's one I think we'd all like to know the answer to! 'Since Amelia and Luna both lied and used you, Flint snitched on you and Tony, and he and Nicolas were general pains to you, who's on the top of your kill list?' Well? How about it?"
"That's an interesting question…in fact, I've come prepared for this very question!" Liz stood from the seat, pulling out a bar graph and standing it up for the crowd to see. In one hand, she held a pointer, which she used to gesture to the graph. "Now, I've organized this by contestant versus how high they are on my 'shit list.' You can see here that the members of the Sharks, excluding Zachary and how obnoxious he is, are rather low in comparison to the former members of my team…with Luna topping that list. I've seen her talk with Alexis…I don't care for people who use me for their plans. Amelia didn't use me, so she is slightly lower on the list."
"Wow…really fascinating stuff…" Sebastian nodded at the girl, who took a bow before he pressed the button on his remote, opening up the floor again and causing her, as well as her graph, to fall down to the others. The crowd clapped obnoxiously while the floorboards closed back up. "We've got time for one more interview before we gotta move along to our next commercial break, so let's get on with it! His name is Barry Allen, he's the fastest man alive! I kid, I kid…but the dude is a speedy little rat, I'll give him that! Let's bring out the one, the only, Fliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiint Goldenroooooooooooooooooooooood!"
The show's resident simp rushed out onto the stage, waving to the crowd while they applauded for him. He ran around in a circle, showing off just how fast he was before bolting to the seat and slamming down in it with a beaming smile on his face. "Flinty Boy, how the hell are you?"
"I'm doing as spectacular as I always am, my guy!" Flint clapped his hands together and leaned towards Sebastian. "But you know I've gotta ask how you are! Haven't seen you in so long!"
"Eh? Somebody actually cares to know how I'm doing?" Sebastian sniffled ever so slightly, holding his hands against his chest and smiling. "I'm touched…and here I was, about to mention that time you pissed yourself in the middle of the night!" Flint's smile immediately shifted to a look of pure and utter embarrassment, all his bravado gone with the wind. "You think Alexis will still be down to tango with you after that little oopsie?"
"H-hey! It's not my fault that the whole Thomas business gave me some pretty bad PTSD…though it may be my fault that I refuse to go back to a therapist." The crowd gasped, shocked to hear that Flint was avoiding seeking help. "They make you pace yourself when you talk, and that's not what I'm all about! You guys know I like to live as quick as the wind! Talking's included in that."
"Fascinating…so brave, so courageous. Well, bed wetter, I've got some questions for you from the fans…think you'll be good to answer them? Or are you just gonna piss yourself some more?" Sebastian grinned while Flint covered his face in embarrassment. "I'll take that as a go ahead! Our first one comes to you from LittleRedline! 'Since we know that Alexis is a sucker for boy bands, have you considered starting one to impress her?'"
"Hm…I've never thought about that before." Flint tapped his chin in thought, a slight grin popping up on his face as he considered the possibilities. "I suppose that's worth a shot…I just need to find out a gimmick and an outfit for the whole thing."
"Eh, maybe just toss a bunch of black clothes on and do some guy liner. She definitely won't think you look tacky or anything like that." Sebastian snickered, though Flint didn't seem to realize that this was a joke. "Let's move on to your next question…we gotta get them done quick so you don't pee yourself from stage fright."
"Man, I don't pee myself! It was a one time thing…three times." Flint looked down at the ground, his face flushed red while Sebastian went on to interrogate him some more.
"Yeah, whatever you say. Your next question is from Grape Escape, and it's all about the ladies! 'Have you considered dating…anyone else? I'm sure someone like Bonnie or Luna would love a simp.' Well? How 'bout it, buddy? Maybe they'd be willing to accept you for all your pants peeing flaws." The crowd laughed at Flint after Sebastian continued to badger him for the incident, though the speedster did try his best to ignore them.
"I could always hit on some other girl, but what's the point? I don't simp because I want to simp…I simp because I think there's some real mystical connection between me and Alexis, or whatever that means. She's not just some girl that's super hot, she's some girl that's super hot and a bunch of other things, to boot! Maybe you'll understand what we have someday." Flint was proud with his answer, but Sebastian was not. The cocky host narrowed his eyes at the boy, looking back down at his question card soon after.
"Alright, one more question for you…then we can get out of your hair. Or get you out of my hair, rather." Sebastian cleared his throat as he prepared to read the last question on the list. "From Nobody245…'Since you have not only angered an assassin, but a mad scientist and a person who could take and sell everything you own in seconds, why do you keep making enemies like this?' Pretty good question…surely a bed wetter like you doesn't need this many enemies."
"For the last time, man! I'm not a bed wetter!" Flint stood up from his seat in defiance, Sebastian soon pressing the button on the remote and causing the floorboards to open beneath the speedster. He sank down under the floor pretty quickly, with the opening closing up soon after.
"I guess he didn't wanna answer that one…what a nutcase, that kid." Sebastian shrugged his shoulders as he stood from his seat, grinning at the crowd while they applauded his very existence. "Now, we've got four more bozo interviews to plow through after another ad, so stay tuned if you wanna see more of me making these guys look like clowns!" The camera started to pan out from the stage while the audience kept on cheering for Sebastian and his splendor, not one of them wanting to miss a second of him.
The camera cut away from the stage again, now shifting to a catwalk of sorts. On the catwalk, there were several models wearing clothing that accentuated each of their own unique body shapes and made their natural beauty pop. These models weren't all thin as a toothpick, but they were all as beautiful as could be, really throwing up a middle finger to those people who had a certain definition for what beauty was. In front of the catwalk, there was a girl who was seated in a director's chair. She was a decent height, not too tall, not too short, and she was curvaceous with a wide waist and even wider hips. Her skin was a gorgeous bronze tone, and her emerald green eyes really dazzled as they stared approvingly at the models. Her black hair was tied into a loose ponytail by a silver band, the ponytail itself dipping all the way down to her left elbow. Right at the band, the hair transitioned in color from black to purple. This girl wore quite the eccentric dress, that being one that was a mix of many colors. It had one singular sleeve, which was entirely white in color, and covered her left arm. The rest of the dress was mainly purple in color, though it did have some white flower and green leaf patterns all over it. The dress itself cut off at the knees, with black leggings running up her legs underneath it. She had silver platform boots, which the cuff was just an inch or so below the knees. On her right wrist, there was a silver bracelet with a singular white flower decoration on, one that was just like the flowers on her dress.
"Woohoo! You rock that stage, girls!" The girl in the chair stood up, clapping her hands together for the models, each of which blushed, alluding that they may not have been super confident in their looks prior to this. The "director" turned to face the camera with the type of supportive smile you'd get from your mother attending your first dance recital. "Hey, how you all doing? Good? Great! The name's Vanessa Cambridge, head fashion designer and runway director of You Beauty!" Vanessa winked at the camera, that smile of hers still holding strong. "At You Beauty, we don't care about none of that nonsense with the 'latest fashion trends.' No way, no how. We wanna show off the real beauty, which ain't the dress, honey…it's you!"
Vanessa held her hands up in a heart gesture, making her seem even more pleasant and inviting than she already was. "I know, there are some gorgeous little idols out there that are thinking, 'But I'm not beautiful…' Honey, I respect your opinion, but if you're thinking that, I'm gonna have to disagree. Everybody's beautiful, and all we strive to do here is help bring out your own beauty with a style that represents you! Anyone can be a model on our runways, be it girl, boy, or anyone else! We'll give it our all to give you a style that says, well, you!" Once again, Vanessa winked at the camera, with a phone number and a business location flashing on the bottom of the screen. It was there for a brief moment before it eventually cut out.
The camera came back to the Aftermath stage, showing that Sebastian was snoring on the couch, having fallen asleep during the commercial break. He let out a loud yawn as the crowd cheered for him, soon turning to face them while rubbing his eyes. "Eh…was I watching a commercial, or a snooze fest? Seriously, who cares about what fashion looks good or whatever…everybody knows that I'm the one whose got style down to the T."
The host flicked the collar of his jacket, smirking at the audience and getting another round of applause, just for existing. It was crazy how much they admired this cult of personality. "In any case, I've gotta roll through some more interviews before the episode randomly cuts out due to us running out of air time. Lemme just see here…" Sebastian looked down at his guest list, noting who was next up. He let out a loud groan before tossing the list aside. "Man, I don't wanna deal with this one…didn't she get enough screen time when she won the last season? Yeah, you all know who I'm talking about…everybody…here's Gretchen…"
Sebastian gestured to the side of the stage, where Gretchen slid on her knees, playing an air guitar with the intensity of a true rockstar. She stood up tall, raising her fists in the air and headbanging something fierce while the audience applauded her. She took a walk over to the guest chair, sitting across from Sebastian, who was boredly leaning against the side of his sofa with a tired look on his face. "Yawn…you failed to wow everyone for a season and a half, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Excuse me? I don't know what you've got stuffed up your arse, but I like to think I did a pretty good job of hyping the fans up. And not for nothing, but aren't you just jealous because you didn't even get to compete this season?" The crowd was shocked to hear Gretchen so openly taunting the host, who hovered his hand over his remote.
"Meh…you know, we could just skip right over your interview, since you seem like you don't really need this extra screen time. That seem cool with you?" Gretchen narrowed her eyes at the host, who finally sat himself up in the sofa, letting out another obnoxious yawn, right in her face this time.
"Aw, dude!" The rockstar pinched her nose, waving away the boy's breath with her other hand. "When's the last time you brushed your teeth? Don't they have some luxury toothpaste or something fancy for you hosts?"
"Uhhhh…" Sebastian glanced over at a bag of onion-flavored chips that were on his couch before grabbing them and chucking them across the room and out of sight. "I'll be asking the questions here, buddy. And speaking of questions…we've got a couple of questions coming at you from the fans. Yeah, not sure how you've got fans, but it's whatever I guess." Gretchen sighed as Sebastian pulled a question card from his jacket. "So, this one is from…LordGemini. 'What's the instrument you prefer to play that isn't the guitar…or Taylor.'"
Sebastian had a cheesy grin on his face as he read the pervy question, chuckling as he noticed the redness of Gretchen's face. "S-someone actually asked that? Not that it's a bad question, but did they have to include that last part?" Sebastian shrugged his shoulders, Gretchen soon sighing before going on to answer the question. "I mean, the guitar is my way to go, but I can pretty much jam with any instrument…so long as it makes sense in a rock band. That's right, I don't want nothing to do with the triangle…too boring."
"If the triangle is boring then it should be the perfect instrument for you! A match made in heaven, I'd say!" Gretchen crossed her arms, annoyed as could be with Sebastian and his spunk. He shrugged his shoulders again, not sure what she wanted from him. "How about we move on to the next question, Grouchy Gretch? This one comes from Nobody245…geez, everybody likes this person's questions. Guess that's what happens when I let the audience vote on questions…they all vote for the ones from the same guy. Anywho, moving on. 'Since you are the winner of Space Station, what do you think about your upcoming competition for next season?'"
"For next season…? Oh, right…I saw that we were gonna have two more people competing against us." Gretchen tapped her chin as she thought about Jett and Bonnie. "Well…Bonnie is nice…on occasion. But the perving kinda gets on my nerves. Seriously, I have caught her waiting outside the shower for people to come out so many times. I guess I'll give her that she's determined. And then…the other dude…Jett? If that's actually his name…what a piece of work, that guy. Sure, he's got some crazy singing skills, but he's so obnoxious. Guess that doesn't make him much different than some of the others we've got around."
"You sure do know how to make the fun questions boring, don't you? Let's just get along with the last one so I can finally go back to being the center of attention…you're too likeable for my tastes." Sebastian leered at Gretchen as she playfully stuck her tongue out at him, getting a chuckle from the audience. "Our last fan question comes from Phoenix Writer GPH. 'Are you a fan of Kenny Jackson's work?'"
"The actual Kenny Jackson? Or Jett?" Gretchen shook her head after asking, really not caring all too much. "Either way…boy band's have never been my style. I admire the traveling music man gimmick, but I wouldn't wanna be on a tour with him…or play alongside him. He seems like he really doesn't appreciate his fans, so that's an astoundingly bad vibe to give off."
"Well, at least you were able to answer the questions, I guess…but I'm bored of you…still. Toodles!" Sebastian pressed the button on hif remote, opening up the floorboards. The lobster claw, which was still floating behind the chair, bumped the back of the chair, causing Gretchen to tumble out of it and fall into the pit before it closed off. "Always those rockstar types that really get on my nerves with their 'I love my fans' and 'let's all have fun' attitude. Super lame if you ask me. Now, for our next interviewee, we've got ourselves a contestant that's been dying to come see me…again! That's right! She can draw her way through art school, but can't draw conclusions when it comes to what people mean when they say 'cool.' Give it up for March, everybody!"
The crowd started going bananas as March walked onto the stage, blushing and twiddling her thumbs. It was definitely embarrassing for her to have left the show so soon after coming back, and she just knew that Sebastian was gonna play on it. She nervously walked over to the guest chair, shrinking down in it while the host stared her down, an intense smile on her face. "You know, I really am glad that I get to interview my first ever interviewee a second time! I know, you really wanted to see me again."
"W-well…I was hoping I could go a little bit further in the competition, but nothing's wrong with me being back here. I had some fun while I was there!" March smiled innocently, getting an "aw" from the crowd. "It just sucks that I let myself mistake cool for 'cool.' And that Alexis didn't have the heart to tell me I was doing it wrong."
"Ah, I do so love it when people blame their shortcomings on others. It really brings a smile to my face, y'know? By the way…you sure had a lot of people out to get you while you were there, huh? I mean, we know Amelia and Luna for sure, but Alexis? Not to mention the fact that Damien probably wanted to get rid of you…deep down…somewhere." Sebastian shook his head, getting lost in whatever point he was making. "I guess what I'm wondering is did you have any friends there…like, at all?"
"Y-yeah! I mean, I got along just fine with Gretchen, Benjamin, Natt, Jianne…you know, a lot of people! Some people just really like to focus on the drama rather than the fun times, I guess." March rubbed the back of her head while shifting her glance away from Sebastian, who was annoyed by her sweetness.
"Alright, Petunia…how about we move onto the questions from the fans? Surely you remember the fun we had last time around…right?" Sebastian grinned as he pulled the question card out of his jacket, March shrinking down in her seat even more than before. "We've got one for you from Alexneushoorn, one I'm sure you'll love. 'How does it feel to be a returnee on Lost City, only to leave the competition so soon again?'"
"W-well…I didn't like leaving super early after I came back…it kinda made me feel stupid." March blushed, that oopsie of hers playing over and over again in her head. "If I could go back, I would've kicked myself in the rear and told myself to focus on the game better. I guess my artsy brain really does kinda put things on autocorrect pretty frequently. Oh well…at the end of the day, what's done is done."
"What's done is done indeed, just like your run in this season! Two shots and you get eliminated super early in both of 'em!" Sebastian slapped his knee, letting out a hyena-like laugh, which was followed by the audience doing the same. "Alright, alright, how about another one? Let's just see here…this one's from Grape Escape. Oh! Oo la la, it's about romance! You know a thing or two about romance, considering you're a part of two failed romances! 'Out of the cast, who would you consider dating now? Interns are options, too.'"
"I don't much appreciate you dogging on me like that, but I'll turn the other cheek. As far as the others…I'm not sure. I think I need some more March time before I return to the romance scene. I let myself mess up something that could've been beautiful to be a part of something toxic instead." March sighed and looked down at her swinging feet. "I just don't deserve to be in a relationship until I can get myself to a good spot on my own. Either way, I won't know the answer to that question for a while."
"Aw, come on, March! You can't even tell us about a daydream fantasy or something like that?" March shook her head at the host, who rolled his eyes back at her. "You're no fun, you know that?"
"If being honest means that I'm no fun, then I'm proud to be no fun." March smiled sweetly at the host, whose eye twitched in response.
"Man, whatever…we're moving onto the last question. You're turning out to be just as boring as Gretchen was." Sebastian shook his head before looking down at the question card again. "Alright, this is more stuff about romance, but not about you…about someone else! From Phoenix Writer GPH, 'Hey March, as somebody who has strong connections to both Archie and Damien; can I put you in the awkward position of asking whether or not you ship Damianne?' I really wanted to know the answer to this one, myself…so you'd better give us a good answer!"
"Damianne…as in Damien and Jianne?" March tilted her head to the side and placed her finger on her chin as she thought about it. "I mean, I did notice the two of them were spending a good amount of time with each other…and were pretty happy whenever they were around each other. If being together is going to make both of them happier, I say they should go for it…I'm sure Archie is emotionally mature enough to not let someone else dating his ex bother him. Either way, it doesn't matter what he has to say about it."
"That was so riveting, truly. You can color me impressed…I thought you were gonna bomb harder than Gretchen did, but it looks like you just managed to squeeze through the margin and be slightly more interesting. You mind taking a bow for us?" March got up from the guest chair to take a bow, which is when Sebastian pressed the button on his remote and opened the floor beneath her. The crowd clapped for the girl as she faded from their sight, and the floor closed right back up. "We've got one more interview before our final commercial break, and then one more after that commercial. Let's move along, shall we? This boy really is the epitome of a pity party…and I've got Archie down in the basement! Cheated on, cheated out of the game twice, ignored by his best friend, and then betrayed by his other best friend! Will he ever catch a break? For the sake of entertainment, I hope not! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Damien!"
The crowd went utterly berserk as Damien slowly trudged onto the stage, looking down at the floor as he seemed to have completely no idea how he should react to all that had happened. He slowly lifted his chin to look at the crowd, nervously looking away before he continued to the guest chair and sat down in it. He couldn't even look Sebastian in the eyes, he was just that distraught. "Yo…Damien…buddy! You in there? The gears turning, or are you just out of your mind right now?"
"H…huh?" Damien slowly shifted his gaze to meet Sebastian's, though the eye contact only lasted a few seconds before he glanced back off to the side. "Oh…hi Sebastian…"
"...Uh…are you gonna be all doom and gloom this whole time? Seriously…all that happened was your best friend cheated you out of five million dollars in front of a whole world of viewers. Like, get over it…or not! Everyone, let's watch that clip again!" Sebastian fiddled with his remote, bringing the scene of Benjamin shoving Damien into the water slide up. It played on loop, Damien's eyes widening as the audience laughed at it happening. "This not enough to get you talking? Alright, how about we try something else!"
Sebastian fiddled with the remote some more, bringing up a series of scenes. The first showed March and Luna kissing back on the Space Station, a clip that was never shown before. It was followed by Damien's initial elimination in Space Station, where Tony and Thomas framed him. This was followed by the clip of Archie choosing not to talk to Damien when he came off of the submarine in Atlantis, talking to March instead. "S-stop…please…"
"Oh? Finally gonna talk, are you?" Sebastian paused the video feed, smirking at the miserable boy across from him. "See, folks? All it takes is a bit of reminding them about how sad their life is to get them to speak! Anyways, we've got some viewer questions for you, pretty boy! This one is from Alexneushoorn…'Do you have any ill will towards Benjamin for getting eliminated because of his stupidity twice in the history of Total Drama?' Well? Go on…tell us! We're all just dying to know!"
"I don't…I mean…I don't know if…he didn't mean to…right?" Damien slightly looked up from the ground, only for Sebastian to play the scene of Benjamin shoving him into the slide again. He winced as he saw it, looking right back down to the floor in defeat. "...I…I can't answer that. Please…move on to the next question…"
"Boo! That's super boring, Damien!" Sebastian paused the clip as he voiced his annoyance towards the theater boy, who didn't even look back at him. "Ugh, I guess someone will be able to top the boring charts. Can't let Gretchen win everything, now can we? Our next question is from Zoryan El Muerto. 'Will things between you, March, and Archie ever be the same again?' Oho! That's such a good question…you know, the girl that cheated on you…and your 'best friend' who cast you to the street? How 'bout it? You still wanna be buddy buddy with them?"
"I…Archie…March…?" Damien looked up again, only to be met with the clip of Archie choosing March over him again. Tears welled up in his eyes as he was reminded of how they treated him. He shook his head and looked back down, trying his best to maintain what little composure he still had. "I'm not sure…can we just move on to something else?"
"Ugh…Damien, you're killing me, man!" Sebastian rubbed his brow with his hand, letting out a long, drawn out sigh. The crowd mumbled to themselves, each not sure what exactly what was going on. "The fans need some entertainment, man! Can't you give them something? You are an actor, after all…whatever. Let's just move onto the last question. This is from Grape Escape, and it's another great one! 'So, you wanna bone Jianne?'"
"W-what!?" Damien looked up from the ground, a shocked expression on his face. He looked back and forth between Sebastian and the crowd, seeing all the eyes on him. He stood from his seat, his face getting redder and redder with each second. "You can't…you can't ask me a question like that…I like Jianne. I do…I would never say anything gross about her in front of all these people…I just like her."
"You really do know how to make things super boring…I don't think you're gonna last very long in showbiz, baby!" Sebastian pressed the button on his remote, opening up the floor beneath Damien and causing him to fall through it, much like the other contestants before him. As the floor closed back up, Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. "Well, that was kind of a lackluster interview before the commercial…our next guy should more than make up for it with all of his ego. Seriously…he was spilling it all over the floor on his way in! We'll be back with him after this commercial break!" The host snapped his fingers at the crowd, each of them cheering obnoxiously as the camera panned out from the stage.
The camera cut again, this time shifting to an advertisement for a movie. An explosive blast covered the screen with bright flames, soon being followed by the voice of a narrator, one of those that would be in any typical action film. "In a world where things blow up every fifteen minutes for plot convenience." The explosion fizzled out to reveal a man with a shiny smile. He had a picture perfect face for this Hollywood schtick, and he damn well knew that. A strong jaw, a gorgeous smile, not a wrinkle, bag, or speck to take away from the hotshot vibe he gave off– the whole package. He was a decent height, with a fairly muscular build– just the type of guy you'd expect to see in one of these films. His skin was porcelain-toned, and his green eyes had a sort of hawk-like gaze to them. His hair was black in color, a medium length, not going too far down past the middle of his neck, and quite curly, with just a few curls hanging over his forehead. His outfit, well, was an ordinary black and white tuxedo with a black bow tie to match it. "Chris Steele is…Devin Masters."
The camera cut to show the actor slamming his fists down on a table quite aggressively, though something seemed just a bit off from before. The jawline wasn't as strong as the man that was shown before, and the nose was just a bit thinner. Oddly enough, when the camera angle shifted, everything was back to normal, as it should be. "Dammit, Jones! I don't care that it's a crapshoot, I'm gonna find that guy!"
Another explosion came about, cutting to show the actor jumping off of a building, though it was a bit peculiar again. The jawline and nose were definitely different, but it seemed as if the color of the man's left eye was blue, rather than green, like his right eye. Perhaps a contact fell out? "Cases will be cracked…and so will some heads." There were more explosions, this time changing the scene to show the actor getting the snot beat out of him by a gang of villains, seemingly in some actual pain. A good look at his face showed that he had bags under his eyes…something that was the exact opposite of the initial man that was shown. After a brief change of pace, the camera shifted to show the original actor standing over the bodies of the unconscious gang members. "A Master's Game, rated R. In theaters now."
The camera finally came back to the Aftermath stage for the final time, with Sebastian sitting on the couch, ready to roll through the last interview. He waved and blew kisses to the fans while they cheered for his existence, soon shushing them up by waving his hand down, as he did before. "Yeah, I know! Finally a commercial with some action packed fun! I was hoping the other two could be like that, but it doesn't matter now. One good one is enough for me…in any case, we've got another interview to get through!"
Sebastian stood from his seat, pressing a button on his remote, causing the screen to light up with a picture of Jett on it. The boy was running from the police with a donut stuffed in his mouth, waving back to them tauntingly. "This guy is a real man of mystery, no records exist under any of the names he gives us! It's pretty wild that he's got a new face every week, but that just means he's got enough entertainment to keep the blood pumping for ages! Definitely not Kenny Jackson, Nunya Business ain't quite it, and this last name might not be it either, but either way…here's Jett!"
Jett slid onto the stage as if he'd been shoved by someone. He glared off to the side of the stage, only reenforcing that thought while the crowd clapped for him. He looked out at them, raising an eyebrow at them curiously before walking over to the guest chair, where he sat right down. He made sure to make himself cozy before looking over at Sebastian, who was sitting himself back down in his own seat. "Jett…I'm pretty sure that ain't your name, but I like it! It rolls off the tongue pretty nicely, don't you think?"
"Uh…well, yeah. I'm the one who pick-...I mean, yeah. My mom sure knew what she was doing when she named me." Jett chuckled while the audience mumbled to themselves, some unsure of what to think about the guy. "Anyway, I hear you're Sebastian…word is that you've got a whole lot of fans that admire you like some sort of god. That right?"
"I guess you could say that." Sebastian smirked as he checked his nails, all of his fans cheering for him as obnoxiously as before. Jett smirked, setting his sights on the boy as he sat there. "But I do the whole questioning business here, you got that? Speaking of which…I kinda spent most of our time on me, so we're gonna have to speedrun your interview."
"Yeah, use the screen time where it's needed most, I say. Go on, fire away with those questions. I know you've got them for me." Jett lounged in his seat, glancing off to the side of the stage for a brief moment, although nothing was there.
"For your first question, we got this in from Alexneushoorn. 'Where did your musicality come from?' I mean, we all know you aren't Kenny Jackson, so you might as well spill it and tell us how you got so sing songy." Sebastian leaned forward a bit, seemingly more interested in this guy more than all the prior contestants.
"That's a great question, you know that? Thing is, I really do hate all that singing nonsense…but it makes for a good distraction. Ever need to captivate an audience? Burst out into song and dance…gets 'em every time." Jett snickered before glancing off to the side again, though Sebastian paid it no mind.
"Hey, sounds good to me. Boy, I do love captivating an audience, but I'm already amazing enough without the song and dance routine. Guess I don't need to resort to those methods, like you." Jett shrugged his shoulders, seemingly unbothered by Sebastian's teasing. "Anyways, we've got two more questions for you, and this next one is from Nobody245. 'Since we only saw you trying to steal the money, is there anything you want to say to the contestants that will make them want to work with you next season rather than vote you off first?'"
"I think they'll come around to the idea of working with me when I get to showcase my skills…besides…if I'm able to hold off ten people chasing me down while fitting two musical numbers into the act, what sound team would eliminate me right away? Seems like it would be silly, especially when I'm willing to meet them halfway and work through our differences." Jett nodded his head to the host, again, glancing off to the side. This seemed to be getting on Sebastian's nerves, but he still ignored it, nonetheless.
"Alright…last question for you, it's from LordGemini. 'As a vagrant, where do you wash your underwear?' You're not going around commando all the time, are you? Though, that would be pretty neat." Sebastian tossed the question card away, having no use for it anymore.
"Well, I pass by a good amount of laundromats here and there…I don't skip them when I go through town. I do like to maintain proper hygiene, after all." Jett smiled, again, looking off to the side. Finally, Sebastian had had enough with the glancing away from him.
"Alright, what on Earth are you looking at!?" The host stood from his couch, turning around to see an angry mob of the losers, all except for Damien, who was sitting in the corner, standing right there. "Oh…I see…he let you out, didn't he? W-well, guys, I've got a great explanation for why I locked you all in the basement!"
"Get him!" Taylor shouted, signaling the group to chase the boy around the stage. Jett stood from his seat, clasping his hands together as he went to the center of the stage.
"Well…looks like that's all, folks!" With the tug of a string, Jett pulled the curtain shut, and the lights to the Aftermath stage went out, only a single scream from Sebastian's mouth echoing throughout the building.
Author's Notes:
*Another Aftermath down, which means there is only one more to go! There's only nine episodes of Lost City left…we're really in the home stretch, aren't we? Thank you all for submitting questions, and I'll see you all next time!
*Thanks to Musical-Total Drama Nerd for letting me use Clover, LittleRedline for letting me use Vanessa, and Phoenix Writer GPH for letting me use Chris Steele…and Felix!
*Placements: No Placement - Sebastian, Haley, Jett; 22nd - Crustacean; 21st - Thomas; 20th - Archie; 19th - Anne; 18th - Alex; 17th - Taylor; 16th/15th - Liz/Tony; 14th - Flint; 13th - Gretchen; 12th - March; 11th - Damien