The screen was the type of empty black that could only be described as Dana's favorite color, or perhaps Natt's in a more fitting metaphor. A sudden screeching guitar riff kicked off to signal the start of that segment that we all know and love so much: the Aftermath. The letter "T" took its turn flying across the screen first, and, of course, it was followed by a clip from the show, that being the moment where Natt was about to go dance like a disco freak while Anne mentioned Vicente's crush on Dusty to him.
"'Vicente totally has a crush on Dusty! Oh, don't give me that dry look, it's super cute! You should see him, he's always acting so nervous around her and stuff!'"
"'Ah...well...that's nice and all, but why are you telling me?'"
"'Because, we gotta help him! He totally likes her, but he is too nervous to admit it! If we were to maybe boost his confidence about it or something so he could tell her...don't you just think they would be an adorable couple?'"
"'I mean, if you're all that excited about it, I guess we can try to help the guy out. A-alright, I gotta get on that disco floor soon.'"
"'Of course! Break a leg, Mr. Funkypants!'"
That first clip finally cut out, and the next thing that greeted the screen was the graceful letter "D" doing a spiral around the empty void before disappearing. This transitioned into the next clip from the show, where Natt was dressed as his sister and Jianne was dressed as Sebastian in the role reversal challenge.
"'Hey, watch where you're going!'"
"Eh? Oh, sorry about that!'"
"Y-you better stay out of my way, or I'm gonna…I'm gonna…bahaha! I'm sorry, dude, but you look ridiculous like that!'"
"'Natt, you know your sister has much more expression than that! Besides, you're not being as flirty as she would be! And Jianne, Sebastian's hands are a gender-neutral gift. If he got knocked down by someone, he would knock 'em out, not laugh at them! Both of you guys are out of this one!'"
"'You know, I would usually be more upset about something like this, but it was totally worth it! That's just damn hilarious!'"
"If I'm out, does that mean I can take this ridiculous outfit off?'"
With another clip over, it was time for the next letter, this one being the classic "L" that was the first of two letters that made this season's aftermath intro a bit more unique. The clip that followed was of Natt searching for treasure on the fallen pirate ship, where he was first introduced to Father Time's business card.
"'"Hm…treasure, treasure, where might you be? This will do…it seems shiny enough. …'Father Time…?' I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before…but what's a business card doing on a shipwreck? This has got to be from way after when the ship crashed…'"
We came right back to that black screen, where it was time for the letter "C" to have a go of flying over the blank space. It made for some very riveting content. This letter was followed by the clip of Natt talking to Poseidon when he finally caught up to him on Dana's submarine.
"'"It's an organization, you said that last time. But what is this organization for? Don't say it's some other TV production thing, you wouldn't be this worried about it if that were the case. It's simple, geezer. You just have to answer my question, that's all I'm asking for.'"
"'That's quite enough, my boy. I have made it clear that this was unimportant, and you're now breaking into my room and threatening me for answers. You will drop this matter immediately or I will have no choice but to have you expelled from the competition. No ifs, ands, or buts. Do I make myself clear?'"
"'I understand…you're scared right now. That's the only thing that could cause you to act like this. But you aren't scared for you…you're scared for us. That's right, isn't it? I'm right…that's fine, then. I'll figure it out one way or another, I'm sure. I'll see you around.'"
There was just one more special letter that had to get a turn showing the blank space who was boss, that being the "A." This letter was followed by a clip which featured Natt in the virtual world, standing next to Zachary after the battle against Thomas had just been won.
"'That really was a lot…we can at least put a stop to Father Time, now. Right, Zach? ...Zach?'"
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 camera finally gave us a glimpse of the Aftermath stage, which was far more crowded than how it was in the first episode, where March was the only guest that they had. The guests from the previous aftermaths were actually piling up quite high on the sidelines, with everyone from Archie to Jett all causing quite the ruckus. Archie and March sat together, of course, with March drawing something down in one of her nice sketch pads while Archie frantically scribbled away at his handy poem book. Liz had Gretchen sitting to the left side of her, while Tony sat on her right and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The rockstar had an acoustic guitar in her hands and was strumming some gentle chords while the mischievous couple listened in with smiles on their faces. Taylor suddenly leaned in on Gretchen, kissing her on the cheek in an all-but-sober manner, causing her to blush and accidentally drop her guitar on Damien's head, which knocked the boy out cold. As he flopped forward onto the hard ground, Jett felt the need to dig into his pocket and snatch his wallet, but when he saw that the camera was focusing on him, he smiled and tucked it back into the pocket he snatched it from. Flint sat up at the way top of the risers, reading a book that had the odd title of, "How to Impress a Girl by Starting a Boy Band." Alex sat next to him, an eyebrow raised at this odd piece of literature, but he inevitably just shrugged it off. Last but not least, there was Anne, who seemed to be a bit of a nervous wreck…her hair disheveled, her eyes looking raw from tears that had been cried. It was Anne odd sight on her, that was for sure.
The former guests were one thing, but there were two others that were more of what the fans were after in the very center of the stage. Haley had her arms crossed with an annoyed look upon her face as she stared up at the table in the center of the room…which Sebastian was standing on. Of course, he had a smug grin on his face as many of the show's fans cheered him on, but when he jumped off of the table in an attempt to do a superhero landing, he hit the ground way off course and his face slammed against the floorboards. Haley couldn't help but snicker to herself while the fans gasped. "What a smackdown entrance, am I right?" There were crickets chirping after Haley's attempt at a joke, and she softly grumbled to herself before taking a seat on the host's couch.
Sebastian shot up from the ground, showing a grin that let everyone know that his beloved body, and face, were not harmed in this little stunt. Everyone went wild, loving that cult of personality that he had about him. "You know what time it is, don't ya, folks? That's right! We're back for another episode of Total Drama: Sebastian's Supreme Super Show!"
"That is the cheesiest name you could've ever come up with." Haley rolled her eyes at her co-host, who raised his hand to his ear, pretending that he couldn't hear a thing she just said. "You're such a toddler, I swear. In any case, we should mention that this will be the very last episode of Lost City's aftermath!" The audience sounded a bit defeated when they heard this, and the many Sebastian stans that were huddled at the front of the seating arrangement burst out into tears. "I know, I know, it's sad to see us go, but with the show coming to a close, there's just no time left. But we've got this episode jam packed with lots of interviews to keep you all entertained for one last hurrah!"
"That's right! Me and the undesirable on the couch are gonna interview one…two…a lot of people! I know you're probably wondering how each of the show's newest losers are doing since they messed up bad enough to lose their chance at the five million, so let's get right into it!" Sebastian clasped his hands together while he plopped himself down on the sofa, making sure that he was scooted far away from Haley. "Our first guest tonight is one that you all know and love, but the same can't be said for the contestants that she's 'gotten eliminated.' She's Flint's one and only queen, and she accidentally does everything extremely right or horribly wrong! Give it up for Alexis!"
The door off to the side swung open and Alexis came right on through, waving to the fans that cheered her on. About halfway through her walk across the stage, she tripped over something. She was about to fall and hit the ground, but some fans suddenly ran up to the stage to catch her. They carried her delicately to the guest chair, waving her off with fans whilst one of them held up a plate full of grapes for her to enjoy. This only seemed to annoy her, and she waved them away. Each of the fans sighed with an unmatchable sadness while Flint, who was still in the risers, scoffed at them. "Alexis! How does it feel to join the other losers from the show?"
"Oh, it's just wonderful. I was hoping I could lose out on five million dollars due to sabotage. Just goes to show to not let yourself accidentally stumble into anyone else's mess." Alexis rolled her eyes at Haley and shifted her glance to the risers, where Gretchen and March were both leering at her. She shook her head at them and looked back over to the hosts. "There's just no winning…I don't know why I can't seem to ever be left to my own business."
"Maybe you were an accident baby and now you're just doomed to live a life with bountiful accidents, who knows?" Sebastian shrugged his shoulders, only for some of the fans to gasp at this comment, with Alexis glaring dead at him. He didn't seem to care, as he just leaned back and kicked his feet up on the table. "Hey, just a theory, that's all. By the way, since you're clearly not into Flint, maybe me and you could make out a bit, eh?" Alexis slapped Sebastian across the face, though he didn't even seem to flinch as he just shrugged again. "Worth a shot."
"We've all seen how you treated Haley…so despicable." Haley nodded on her side of the couch, and Alexis leaned forward towards Sebastian and dug her finger into his chest. "I may stumble into some horrible scenarios, but there's no way I'll ever let myself make the mistake of winding up in a fling with you."
"Smart." Haley reached up for a high five, which Alexis gave her before she sat back down on the guest's seat. Sebastian rolled his eyes, but kept his posture relaxed with his feet still kicked up. "Now, we do have quite the immense amount of guests to get through, so we should get right into the questions from the fans! Alexis, your first question is coming at you from LordGemini! 'Was it fun playing the villain in the season? If you have the chance will you strike again?'"
Alexis' face flushed up with red and she sat up in her seat while crossing her arms. "I-I wasn't playing the villain at all! People kept getting eliminated and blaming it on me for no good reason, that's all!" The queen shifted her glance over to the risers, where March and Gretchen were shaking their heads at her. She sighed and looked back to Haley with a hint of worry in her eyes. "Do people really think I'm a villain because I didn't tell someone that her outfit wasn't cool?"
"Uh…you know, I think it's actually more because of all the domestic abuse that you laid upon that poor Flint." Sebastian pointed at Flint, but he was far too lost in his book. In fact, it seemed as if he hadn't even noticed Alexis gracing the stage. She was a bit confused about this, but she did her best to ignore it. "Of course, that, or you dropping your ass down on Gretchen and stealing her treasure from her. Either or could work."
"I didn't-...ugh, just move onto the next question or whatever." Alexis groaned and rubbed her temple with her fingers, growing more and more annoyed with the obnoxiousness of the hosts.
"That's right, you can't hide the truth, no matter how hard you try! You're a primo villain!" Alexis didn't glorify this taunt with a response, and Sebastian shrugged before moving onto the next question. "We've got one for you from Phoenix Writer GPH! 'Why are you such a big fan of Kenny Jackson? How does Jett compare as a musical talent?'" Jett perked up in his seat as he heard his name, since he was another one that was hardly paying attention to his surroundings as he was more invested with Damien's wallet. He saw that it was Alexis in the chair, and he quite immediately lost his bravado and quivered in his seat.
"I'm such a big fan of Kenny Jackson because he's amazing! Or…at least he was. I guess he caught wind of some asshole impersonating him on the show…which leads me into the second question. Somehow, Jett's voice was enough to put Kenny Jackson to shame. He revealed his face to the world and quit music altogether, admitting that he'd never be as good as that despicable poser." Alexis glared at Jett and mouthed some profanities at him, causing him to nervously smile and wave.
"It's true, Kenny Jackson dropped the musical act altogether, switching it out in favor of his own talk show! Needless to say, the ratings haven't been…amazing. Guess that traveling music man gimmick was really his ace in the hole." Haley shrugged her shoulders and leaned towards Alexis. "So, we've got just one more question from you, this one is from MTDN! 'If you could get a second chance to do something differently while you were on the show, what would you change?'"
"Okay, now that's a question I can actually get behind. Seriously, it feels like some of these people are deranged…or just very aggressive." Alexis sighed and shook her head before moving on to answer the question. "Right, in any case, my biggest change to how I performed this past season? I would've talked to less people. I seemed to have no issues with Jianne, she never ended up seeing me as some villain that was out to get her, but the moment I tried to help anyone else or be generally friendly, that's when the bad started happening. Doesn't matter, it's over and done with now."
"Oh, look at you being so admirable about your defeat. Just scurry over to the risers, would ya? You're taking up all my spotlight." Alexis rolled her eyes and got up from the guest chair, soon heading for the risers while the fans applauded her. She waved lightly to them, but when more fans rushed up to try and get on the stage to treat her like a queen, she glared at them and scared them away. Sebastian seemed annoyed by her actions, "Imagine not being appreciative of your fans…couldn't be me. Yeah, I see all you stans down in the audience, I feel the love!"
Sebastian held a heart up with his hands towards his mob of fans, all of which immediately swooned while Haley looked at them like they were all pathetic. "The spotlight is actually meant for the guests, Sebastian, you should know that by now." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back again, this time kicking his feet up on Haley's lap, though she punched him right in the kneecap, causing him to pull his legs back and hiss in pain. "We'll be moving onto our next interviewee now…another familiar face! He's a total dope that doesn't understand the consequences of his actions, and he couldn't hold a friendship if it was the death of him! Let's bring out Big Ben!"
Benjamin pushed the door to the stage open, walking through while he had one of his hands buried deep in a box of chocolate chip cookies. He smiled as he munched down on them, while there were some mixed emotions from the crowd upon seeing him. Some people were appalled after what he had done to Damien, while others, like the Sebastian stans, were cheering him on for being a total chad. He happily moved over to the guest's seat and plopped himself down in it, reaching in the box to get another cookie…only to realize that he had finished them all. He tossed the box aside, causing it to hit the unconscious Damien right in the head. "Hi, everybody!"
"This is how you treat your former friends? Sick, dude." Sebastian reached over and patted the oaf on the shoulder, though he seemed to be quite confused by this gesture. "You know, because you just…I mean you…nevermind, I should've figured that the point wouldn't have made it through that impressive wall of bone guarding your brain."
"You mean my spine?" Benjamin cocked his head to the side in question, only succeeding in getting an annoyed groan back from Sebastian as he pulled himself back to his seat. "Yeah, the doctors say that my spine is actually twice the girth of the average spine. Dunno why they used that word to describe it, but it's a pretty funny sounding word! Heheh, girth…"
"Uh…right…Benjamin, after the whole elimination and everything, have you maybe learned to have some sympathy for what you did to Damien? That was the whole point of what Bonnie did, right?" Benjamin blinked back at Haley with a blank expression on his face. "Like…you kinda kicked him out of the game over misreading something. You were his closest friend, and you really dealt a blow to him with that. Certainly after Bonnie's chat with you, you feel a little bad about what happened, right?"
"I…uh…I hurt him?" Benjamin looked over at Damien, seeing that the boy was just laying there on the ground with the discarded box of cookies laying near his head. He looked back to Haley, who nodded at him, and his dumb guy smile sunk into a frown. "I…hurt him. I hurt him…I hurt him! T…that's what Bonnie was talking to me about back there? I was so lost in the music and the rush of competition…and when I got eliminated I think I forgot all about it…oh no…"
"Yes, I know, it's very heartbreaking. Can we just move on from the sob story and give this guy his second set of questions? He's already been on the show once, we don't need him getting the attention for too long." Haley sighed and handed some of the question cards to Sebastian, who began flipping through them until he found one that he liked. "Ah! Here's one! From Alexneushoorn, 'Will you ever learn to stop screwing over other contestants because of your own stupidity?' Right on topic, too!"
"I hurt Damien…I screwed him over…oh no…" Benjamin seemed to be spiraling into some sort of existential crisis while the hosts were waiting for him to answer the question. He looked up at them, tears welling up in his eyes, and only making them feel a bit uncomfortable. "I'm sorry Damien…I'm sorry…"
"Uh…r-right. How about we just move onto the next question, hm?" Haley chuckled nervously as she took one of the question cards up, trying her best to move on from this awkward moment. "Uh…yeah! Here's one from Grape Escape! 'Are you upset at Bonnie for eliminating you? Assuming you remember that, that is.' Well, Benjamin, what do you think, any good answer for that one?"
Benjamin looked back down at the floor, sighing in defeat as tears started to fall from his eyes. "I hurt Damien…I hurt all my friends…no no no…" Sebastian was getting annoyed at this point, and he grabbed another card from the pile.
"Alright, we have one more question for you, you better actually answer it! Seriously, I'm getting annoyed with the sad guy act. From LittleRedline, 'Do you have anything to say to Damien after you jipped him like that?'" Benjamin didn't answer, as he just started to softly sob to himself. Sebastian shot up from his seat, grabbing the boy by the color of his shirt and pulling him up from his seat. "Look at me, ya annoying bastard! You're a pathetic sack and you do ruin everything you touch. Everything! Get over it and get a grip, would ya?"
Sebastian tossed the astounded Benjamin to the floor, dusting his hands off before sitting himself back down while Haley smacked him on the back of the head. He seemed completely unphased by this as he just kept glaring at Benjamin, who was laying on the ground while staring back at him. The dumb guy took a look at his own hands before quietly getting up from the floor and moving to the risers, sitting down as far away from everyone else as he possibly could. "Get mad at me all you want, that shit was annoying with Damien, it was just as annoying with Benjamin!"
"You really do lack tact, Sebastian…I feel like there were definitely gentler ways to let him know about his screw ups." Sebastian didn't seem to care about what Haley had to say. She sighed as he crossed his arms. "Right…let's move onto our next guest, shall we? This lil' lady is as rowdy as they come! She busts a saloon door down with her hands tugging up on her belt buckle, making sure that she's got a straw of hay between her teeth! Rooting, tooting, and by god, shooting, give it up for Dusty!"
Dusty was the next person to walk through those doors, but when she realized that she did have a straw of hay between her teeth and her hands were on her belt buckle, she immediately spat the hay out and moved her hands. She blushed as she scurried right over to sit in the guest's seat while the crowd cheered for her…some of the male fans a bit…too thrilled to have her there. She waved to the crowd, but stopped mid-wave, her jaw dropping as she saw some guy holding up a sign that read, "I wish that chair was my face!"
"N-now, why do ya pervs always feel the need to say such gross things!? I oughta rip that sign up into shreds to knock some sense into ya!" Dusty was still flushed with red while she looked away from the audience, holding one of her hands up to aid in blocking her view of them.
"Dusty, it's nice to have you here! You know, you've merged in both seasons, and your placement only got higher in this second season! Does this give you some high hopes for the next season?" Haley leaned forward, thrilled to have Dusty on the show while Sebastian was still peeved about the whole Benjamin thing.
"Heh, ya bet yer sweet bottom it does! Heck, who knows? Maybe I'll even win myself a season with the luck I've been having!" The crowd cheered loudly for the cowgirl, but she still refused to look their way, as she didn't want to risk seeing any more perverted signs.
"Yeah, let's save the overestimating of yourself for when we actually get back into the swing of things, alright? After all, I'll be competing again once next season rolls around." Sebastian stopped brooding as he grinned at Dusty, who was less than charmed by his nasty nature. "I'm just saying you'll have a whole lot to be worrying about…what with Jett and the other new-"
"Let's not mention that just yet, Sebastian!" Haley covered his mouth with her hand before he could finish saying his piece, and was immediately disgusted and pulled her hand back away from him when he stuck his tongue out and licked it. "Ugh! You are just so disgusting sometimes, you know that, right?"
"You just hate me cause you ain't me." Sebastian shrugged while Haley continued to nag at him, all the while keeping Dusty just sitting there in the guest chair, waiting for something to happen. "Look, you've got the cowgirl getting bored because you're too busy chattering on and on about yourself! How about some viewer questions, Ol' Dusty Road? This one is from LittleRedline. Ooo, it's about something from the last season! 'Okay seriously, what was with the freaking GUN of all things?'"
"Huh? Ya mean this?" Dusty dug into her pocket and pulled her revolver out, immediately causing some gasps from the audience and the former contestants as they all ducked and covered. She sighed and stuffed it right back into her pocket, soon pulling out an ID of sorts. "I've got an open carry license, I ain't just some felon that's walkin' 'round with an unregistered firearm. Most of my neighbors have got one, sometimes two on them at all times! 'Sides, with crazies like Thomas running rampant and tryna kill people, ya'd figure people wouldn't be so worried about me having it to protect not only mahself, but them as well."
Haley popped back up from behind the seat she had ducked and covered with, a bit relieved to see the ID. "Gotta say, that's probably the best answer we could've gotten on that." Dusty crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Haley, who blushed and shrunk down in her seat. "N-not that I think you're a felon or anything! B-but…just…bringing it on the show was a little…nevermind. Nevermind! I'm sorry…"
"Darn straight. I don't ever wanna have to pull it on someone, but I betcha it would've had Thomas stopping his shenanigans real quick if I was around for that mess. Not to mention that we coulda been over and done with Father Time without havin' to worry bout much." Dusty put her ID away and leaned back in her seat. "How's about we move on to the next question?"
"Y-yes, that's probably a good idea." Haley grabbed the next question card for Dusty, still a bit flustered from before as she read it. "U-uh…well, this one really isn't much of a question. It's honestly just a statement…but it's from a fan, so I guess it still kinda counts? From MTDN, 'You're the best contestant ever on this show. You're the queen. People should be simping for you. I know this is not a question, but I am your biggest fan and I want others to acknowledge you for being the best girl that you are.'"
"Well, shucks. I think yer pretty great, too, feller." Dusty smiled at the camera, causing some of the hearts in the audience to melt, but in doing this, she realized that she was looking right out towards said audience, and she caught a glimpse of a sign that read, "Wrangle me up, mommy!" Immediately, her face turned far redder than Haley's. "Consarnit, ya perverts can't just settle down for five minutes, can ya?"
"Maybe don't be walking around with your ass hanging out all the time if you don't wanna get people pervin' on you. Just saying." Sebastian shrugged, and both Haley and Dusty glared at him. He sighed and shook his head as he grabbed the next card. "One more question for you and we'll go ahead to our commercial break. This is from LordGemini. 'Why do you always use that sexy and funny accent?'"
"W-what in tarnation!? It's just the way I talk, I can't control it! Y'all know what? I don't have to sit hear and deal with all y'all perverts, I'm just gonna take my leave! …To the risers!" Dusty got up and stormed to the risers in a huff, leaving Sebastian to sigh and shake his head, yet again.
"Well, there you have it…the sexy cowgirl that hates being called the sexy cowgirl." The aftermath host got up from his seat, making sure to stand right in front of Haley so that she couldn't see the audience, only succeeding in getting a rather painful punch to the rear end from her. This caused him to cry out in pain before falling to the floor and rubbing his bum. "M-my dump truck!"
"Folks, we'll be back for some more interviews right after this commercial break!" Haley smiled and waved at the camera while the audience cheered and the view of the stage panned out.
The camera cut from the stage to cue in the first commercial break. This commercial kicked off with a dark screen that was suddenly illuminated by the effervescent neon lights that could only be found in a city that was only awake during the dead of night. The Neon City was always something that had been spoken about like some sort of El Dorado, with parties that were the equivalent to finding a fortune and sights that just brought delight to all retro enthusiasts. In the far reaches of the brightened city, a sign much more massive than the rest lit up with words that started an intriguing message. "Calling all cards…" A sign below the first one then lit up to add more to this message, but it was still unclear what exactly it was getting at. "The party starts in four years." The lights of these bright signs flickered for a brief period before they cut out entirely, with the city soon losing all the immense lighting and leaving nothing but darkness in its wake.
The camera cut back to the stage, zooming in to show both Sebastian and Haley sitting down on the couch again, though still clearly annoyed with each other. Alexis, Benjamin, and Dusty had been added to the ranks on the risers, and Damien had finally got up from his bout of unconsciousness, though he seemed to be a bit frazzled, as he was missing a good deal of cash from his wallet. Jett whistled inconspicuously behind him, and when Dusty leered at him, he pointed at Tony, who was showing a wad of singles off to Liz, who seemed wholly uninterested. Of course, the cowgirl attempted to wrangle the cash away from Tony, who growled at her like an angry dog while Jett snickered to himself. Sebastian stopped glaring at Haley for a brief moment to grin at the fans. "Welcome back everybody! Did ya miss me? Don't answer, I already know you're gonna say yes!"
"Here he goes again…so cocky." Haley sighed and rubbed her forehead before looking over to the fans as well. "We're pressed for time with all these interviewees, so why don't we dive right into the next one? This lady doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the cutthroat Hollywood game, even when she's far, far away from Hollywood! She knows the game, she's brutal, and she'll definitely walk all over everyone else to get to the top, let's bring out Amelia!"
The fans went absolutely ballistic as Amelia burst out onto the stage, only preceded by a red carpet being rolled out that led all the way to the guest chair. She smiled innocently at the fans, but when she saw the former contestants, namely Tony and Liz, the smile seemed to be a bit more malicious in nature. She walked her path to the chair, plopping down in the seat while a stage hand came and took the carpet away. "I presume I'll be given the rest of the runtime up here for my interview, no?"
"Uh…well, we've got four more people to interview after you, and there's no way in hell that I'm letting anybody get that much screen time outside of myself!" Sebastian proudly pointed to himself before glancing over at Haley. "I guess my sideshow monkey can have some screen time too. Only because bullying her makes for good content!"
"Bullying me? That's one way to put it…though I think harassment is far more fitting." Haley sighed while Sebastian stuck his tongue out at her. "So, Amelia…yeah, I'm pretty sure not a lot of the others around here actually like you, so you must be happy that things panned out the way they did with Luna, right?"
"Ha! As if I would ever be happy about anything involving that little worm!" The audience gasped as Amelia spewed out her hatred. "That model…she dared to insinuate that her mind was superior to mine just because she managed to get me out on a total fluke! The only reason I was eliminated in the first place is because I let her handcuff me out of pity!"
"Bro, no way! I totally saw that episode, you sat there laughing a maniacal laugh and then she cuffed you, easy peasy." Amelia leered at Sebastian, who didn't seem to be bothered by her anger in the slightest. "Hey, I'm just saying the facts and nothing but the facts. You're the one up here spewing lies and deceit…or is this all just another part of your big Hollywood Act?"
"You're a circus act, that's what you are. Seriously, you used to have that gaudy green hair…it was like a pile of unmowed grass on your head. Blech." Amelia fake gagged while Sebastian got red in the face. "I don't much feel like chit chatting with you annoying hosts for much longer…even if I deserve this screen time, I'd rather spend my time doing something that matters."
"You really are such a charm." Haley sighed while Amelia lifted her chin and grinned. She grabbed the first card for the girl, "Alright, we've got a question for you from Nobody245. 'How did you get to final seven when everyone knew you threatened to kill the final four from last season?' I was wondering the same thing…you and Zachary made it quite far, but with the whole Space Station incident…it just doesn't make sense."
"Don't look to me for an answer on that, I'm not the one that would make sure I got voted out. You can all blame yourselves for that." Amelia shot her backhanded comment to the group on the risers, getting a pretty fierce set of glares back from Tony and Liz, which, of course, didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. "In any case, once I had gotten to the merge, it was only a matter of making sure that I didn't lose any challenges…which really wasn't that difficult. Everybody else just pales in comparison to me, as I'm sure you're aware."
"You're just like Sebastian," Haley giggled as both her co-host and the guest she was interviewing flared up in a sudden bout of anger, their faces contorting into…almost the exact same expression. "Seriously, it's like putting two of the same picture right next to each other! Anyways, let's move onto the next question before one of you has an aneurysm. This one is from MatiasND. 'Did you expect for you and Luna to eliminate each other?' Of course, we will ask the same question to Luna when she gets on the stage."
"Eliminated by her? Ha! That's laughable! We all know that I simply allowed myself to be eliminated, so I was eliminated by myself in a way! There was no way anyone could consider that any sort of victory on Luna's part!" Amelia crossed her arms and bore an uppity smirk while Sebastian just stared blankly at her.
"...Sounds kinda lame, chief. Getting yourself out? Arguably worse than getting eliminated by Luna." Amelia turned red again…it seemed that with her on the stage it was impossible for there to be a time where not one single person was angry or annoyed. "Anyways, since you said you could be using your time to be doing much more interesting things, why don't we give you your last question? This one is from Grape Escape. 'So…would you smash Bonnie?'"
"Absolutely not. There's no way I'd let my perfect movie star body be sullied by that woman's spit. Have you seen her? It's like looking at the most literal imagination of a mole person." As Amelia went on and on with her ridicule of the intern, there were a good deal of former contestants getting annoyed in the risers…namely Dusty, though, as she had a huge glare plastered on her face. "Am I quite done now?"
"Yeah, your fifteen minutes of fame has come and gone, so you can skedaddle." Amelia got up from her seat grumpily and continued grumbling to herself while she moved over to the risers. She noticed that…well, no one wanted to sit next to her, as they all scooted away from her. Jett patted the seat next to him with a smile on his face, and Amelia reluctantly took it. Sebastian stretched his arms out before using them as a platform to rest his head upon. "Yeah, so that was the movie star. I know, so exciting, right? Well, we've got another annoying ball of anger about to pop on the stage, only this one is arguably hotter than the last. She makes a living out of crushing people's hearts for her own enjoyment and she's well known for getting shoved to the dirt by pathetic nerds, give it up for Luna!"
Luna had heard all of what Sebastian said, and when she came out onto the stage, she only seemed to be annoyed already. The contestants cheered for her, seeming to really love the mean girls for some reason. She shot a smile to them, a perfect smile to match her perfect looks, of course, and she made her way to the seat to be interviewed. Before sitting down, she noticed Amelia on the risers, and shot her a disgusted look, getting one in return. Haley leaned up in her seat before Sebastian could jump to start the interview. "Luna, you're another one of those contestants that made a deeper run than your previous season…how does this make you feel about your shot in the next season?"
"Are you daft? I'm going to win next season in the blink of an eye…it's what a gorgeous star like me deserves, right, love?" Luna's tone of voice was always something…well, provocative, for lack of a better word. The audience felt themselves blushing as she spoke in that manner, only causing the grin on her face to grow wider. "I'm aware that our cast size is going to be…what is it, twenty-five? That still doesn't sour my tea, I know I'll have that win secured."
"Confidence is key in stuff like this, which is why you won't be winning…because I'm gonna slam the competition right into the pavement!" Sebastian flexed his bicep, getting a cry of sheer love from the audience to boost his ego. Luna pouted with her lip and narrowed her brow at him. "Aw, I thought you said that it wasn't gonna sour your tea, but you look like you just took a sip of the world's most sour tea!"
"It's an expression, cur." Luna insulted the show's host, but he seemed more like he wasn't sure what she was saying to him with that word. "Cur? It means you're swine, of course…you're below me. Is that a better way to spell it out for you?"
"So sassy! Haley, can you switch spots with her? I think it'd be fun to have the other contestants interviewed by her!" Both Luna and Haley seemed to be annoyed by this question, as they both glared at Sebastian. "Eh, it was worth a shot. So, Luna, we've got plenty of questions for you, but let's start with that one that was asked for both you and Amelia! From MatiasND, 'Did you expect for you and Amelia to eliminate each other?'"
"I admit that I had let my guard down whilst I was getting ready to get that pitiful excuse for an actress out of the game, which was my downfall. In any case, no I didn't expect for my plan to backfire on me…we'll use it as a learning experience." Luna grinned at Amelia, who crossed her arms angrily, "You should use that lesson in a similar manner…at least, you would if you had half of a brain."
The audience "oo"d while Luna insulted Amelia, but the actress refused to respond to this, as she just turned her chin up and looked away. Haley snapped in front of Luna's face, pulling her attention back to the hosts. "I get that you always wanna start some problems, but we've got a show to run if you don't mind. Your next question is coming at you from Nobody245. 'Do you think you're ready for another relationship after your breakup with March?' A better question would've been, 'Do you think you deserve another shot at romance after all the crap you pulled?'"
"Don't get mad at me because I'm a bit too spicy for your unrefined palate. I'm always ready for another romance, but it's more so the question of whether or not anyone deserves a shot with me. March was an interesting experiment, but I think I'll stay away from people like her from now on. Too much worrying about how others feel and all that…it's quite disgusting." March glared at Luna, and was about to say something, but Archie placed his hand on her shoulder and got her to calm down before she caused a scene.
"Yeah, we'll be sure to let all the people that want you to step on them know that they'll have to start treating their families like shit if they want a shot with you. You hear me, folks?" Sebastain grinned out at the audience, and there were some mixed mumbles from different crowd members. "Now, just one more question for you before we move on to the next guest. This one is from Phoenix Writer GPH. 'We know you "hate her," but if you had to pick out your favorite thing about Amelia to compliment what would it be?'"
"Oh dear, my favorite thing about that creature?" Luna looked over at Amelia to see that she was still looking away from her. She shrugged her shoulders and looked back at the hosts. "She at least has a somewhat palpable fashion sense…I don't gag when I see whatever she's gotten herself dressed up in. Will that work for you?"
"Sure will! Everyone, that was Luna, ain't she just…so peachy?" Haley rolled her eyes while the audience clapped for Luna, the model herself heading right for the risers and sitting near Liz, much to the annoyance of the scientist, who immediately switched spots with Tony. The model rolled her eyes. "Alright, one more interview before we go to our next break! Our next guest got to babysit Amelia and Zachary for an extended period of time and that became all he was known for until he went and netted himself a drop dead gorgeous girlfriend and got clobbered over the head by a glass bottle! Everybody, give a warm welcome to Vicente!"
There were some mixed murmurs of confusion as Vicente made his way to the stage, a little annoyed that people were still having somewhat of a hard time remembering who he was. He rolled his eyes and started walking to the guest's chair, but as he saw Dusty, his eyes lit up and he blew her a kiss. She blushed and smiled daintily while Luna and Amelia rolled their eyes in unison. The reality TV pro took his seat and leaned back a bit. "Hola everybody…now that the minor concussion is all better I can actually see straight again."
"You really let Zachary hit you that bad, huh? That's kinda pathetic, man." Sebastian shook his head at Vicente in complete disappointment, but the boy only shrugged in response. "Now, we all know who you are…I mean, we don't really know who you are. You claim to be a reality TV pro, but after seeing you just fall for a goofy blunder last season…you're not that pro, are you?"
"I seem to recall my overeagerness to trust people getting the best of me and leading you to win that challenge for your team, yes. In any case, I believe this season was a far better showcase of all of my skills. I did end up getting fifth place this time around, after all." Vicente seemed proud to say this, but there was still a bit of silence that followed and just made it awkward. "Man, I'm never gonna live last season down no matter what, am I?"
"Not at all! And that's coming from me, the girl 'Who?' of the cast!" Haley seemed a bit too excited to say this, but the audience had her back as they cheered for her. "In any case, we did manage to scrape up a couple of questions for you from the fans. It was honestly a little difficult, but here we go with your first one. This is from LordGemini. 'Why do you always wear a hat? Are you afraid of going bald?'"
"Eh? Why would I…and how does that even…er, no. I just wear these hats because they fit my style. My family got pretty lucky in the hair genes, so I don't think that I'll be going bald anytime soon, either." Vicente was a bit put off by the strange question, "That's really a bit weird to ask, but hey, who am I to judge?"
"'Who am I' is correct! You are who!" Sebastian laughed while Vicente rolled his eyes at him. "Hey, don't blame me for jumping in on the game that everyone else is already playing…you know I could be so much worse if I really wanted to insult you. In any case, we'll move on to your next question, from Phoenix Writer GPH. 'How come you were so adamant about beating Zach?' I'm curious, too…you probably could've just left it along and made it further into the game."
"You don't understand, there was some strange sort of juju going on in our minds. We knew that the other knew about the whole whale incident…I assume he wanted to keep that a secret, but now that everyone's seen what happened, it's not like it mattered much. In any case, I guess I was just worried about the other contestants getting hurt by him. Well, maybe not Jianne, but Nic and Natt…okay, maybe just Nic. Anyways, I just wanted him to face proper treatment for what he did before he could do something like that again." Vicente nodded to the question, but the audience still seemed to be…well, just uninterested as a whole. "These are the first fans I haven't been able to win over…feels weird."
"Eh, just roll with it and it really won't seem that bad." Haley grumbled to herself before grabbing the next question card. "We have just one more question for you before we cut to our next break, and this one is from Alexneushoorn. 'Do you see yourself fostering a friendship with Alex since you're basically the only one other than Zachary and Alex himself who remembers what Zachary did to Alex and you were the only one who stood up for Alex after what happened?'"
"Cat's out of the bag on what he did since everyone here has seen what happened from watching the episodes. Anyways, Alex is a cool dude, wouldn't mind hanging out with him a bit more since we both didn't get much time with each other on either of these seasons." Vicente shot finger guns at Alex, who beamed at the fact that someone was complimenting him.
"Such a riveting answer." Sebastian rolled his eyes and got up on the table in between Haley and Vicente, only causing Haley annoyance and startling Vicente. "Alright, folks, we've got two more interviews for the night, but we've gotta go ahead and cut to our next break! We'll be back in just a few minutes to get to those last two, so make sure to stay tuned for more of me!" The cocky host grinned widely as the camera started to pan out from the stage while the audience applauded him.
While the camera cut so that Sebastian and Haley could play whatever commercial was needed for their break, there was a duo of people backstage. The one could be recognized as Dana, who looked just as uninterested in her surroundings as ever, while the other, Maggie, stood across from her with a nervous look on her face. "He didn't want to leave anyone behind, but we just didn't have the time…or the escape pods available for that matter. You have to understand that you and the contestants were the top priority for us when we were trying to decide who should leave through the pods."
"Do you think I'm like…mad, or something? Do I look like I'm mad?" Dana pointed up to her face, which showed the most utter lack of expression as she could muster. Maggie lightly shrugged her shoulders, getting a sigh of annoyance back from her adopted little sister. "I'm not upset about your execution, I'm upset that you took another amount of months to disappear and refused to contact me…like, at all. I had no idea where you were…"
"Right…I'm sorry, I should've mentioned that I was going to be gone for a while." Maggie dropped her head down a little bit until Dana quickly reached over to her and hugged her for a brief moment before letting go. Maggie glanced back up at her and smiled a little bit. "Look at Miss Moody and Broody showing affection."
"Whatever…also, you know that you could've told me what was going on in advance and I could've prepared for it, right? I've got a multi-million dollar company at my disposal…I'm sure we could've put in some sick security measures." Maggie seemed to be a bit dumbfounded by this, as she simply hadn't thought of it. "Whatever, it's over and done with now. Just try not to randomly vanish from me again before the next seasons start…after all, you're gonna be with Chris the whole time." Dana sighed and rubbed her forehead while Maggie nodded slightly, and the camera cut away from them.
The camera view came back to the aftermath stage, where Vicente was now seated next to Dusty on the risers, her leaning her head on his shoulder. Sebastian and Haley were back down on their couch, and while they would usually be glaring at each other, it seemed they were too excited with everything to be focused on hating each other. Haley happily waved to the audience, "Welcome back, everybody! I wish we had more time to really chat about things, but we're apparently going over on our time, so we'll need to get right into our last two interviews!"
"That's right…who would've known that Haley talks way too much? That's right, me!" Haley didn't glorify Sebastian's taunting by getting angry at it, keeping her smile on her face. "In any case, this next contestant is probably the most curious person in the world. He sticks his nose in other people's business for whatever reason, and he just loves to get involved with danger if it means that he might be able to protect someone else. All in all, he's a pretty chill dude…just kinda creepy looking. Put your hands together for Natt!"
Natt slowly opened the door to the stage and walked out into open sight…causing the crowd to go utterly ballistic. There were screams of joy and applause like no other, causing him to blush a little bit, though he still didn't show much of any emotion. He made his walk to the guest's chair, but before he sat himself down, Anne rushed right up to him, hugging him so tightly that he seemed to turn blue in the face. She buried her face in his chest. "I was so worried about you…w-when that guy showed up, I didn't know what was going to happen. Thank goodness you're okay…"
The crowd "aw"d while the dull boy held Anne close to him. She soon leaned up and kissed him on the nose, a slight smile on her sad face. He ran his hand through her delightfully curly hair before kissing her back, though on the lips. Haley thought the whole thing was pretty sweet, while it annoyed Sebastian. Still, it seemed that he knew that this wasn't a time to interrupt the moment. After a little more time in their embrace, Anne sat back down, a little less worried looking than before. Natt took his seat on the guest chair while Sebastian sighed before leaning forward. He pointed at Anne, "Hey, come sit in the chair with him."
"W-what!? Sebastian, you're showing compassion!?" Haley gasped in pure astonishment, Sebastian only rolling his eyes back at her.
"Not at all, just pointing out that…uh…just shut up, okay? Clown, sit in the seat with him." Anne kept on smiling as she bounced back over to the guest's chair, taking a seat right there with Natt and holding tightly onto his arm, getting a smile back from the boy as well. "Yeah, so, Natt…you really risked a whole lot just because you wanted to make sure that nobody got hurt a little while back. People probably think really highly of you…or in some cases, they're probably wishing they had your courage. In any case, good job or whatever."
"Gee…thanks Sebastian. I'm just glad it turned out alright in the end…and I heard that Bonnie's actually recovering really quickly from the whole…stabbing that happened." Natt's lips curved into a frown, "If I was still there I could've helped prevent that…"
"No need to blame yourself for that happening, Bonnie was doing everything she could to make sure no one got hurt as well. The two of you are practically heroes for all that you did back there." Haley clapped her hands for the boy, and the rest of the audience followed in suit. "Were you scared at all when that was happening? Did the thought that you might end up getting killed after you broke out of the virtual world ever strike you?"
"I don't know if that was really on my mind…" Natt glanced over to Anne to see that she was quivering her lip a little bit as Haley had asked that question. He rubbed her shoulder gently to try and calm her down while Sebastian lightly smacked Haley's arm with the back of his hand.
"Seriously Haley, don't be asking stuff like that. Let's just go ahead and get to the guest questions…we'll only be asking the ones that kind of dance around that topic, or only view the family friendly parts of it." Sebastian seemed like a whole different person while talking to Natt, and even with him having just slapped Haley, she couldn't blame him, as she only nodded and kept quiet. "Let's see here…okay, we've got one for you from BadLuckAE. 'How did you react when you found out about Sunny and Maggie's friendship?'"
"Eh…me and Maggie never got along super well or anything, but I'm no one to tell Sunny who she can and can't be friends with. And I'm honestly kinda glad that Crazy's got herself a good friend to help mellow her out a bit." Natt shrugged his shoulders while still making sure to rub Anne's shoulder to keep her comfortable. She leaned up against him closely, and appeared to be calming down a bit from the question from before.
"Yeah, she's definitely in need of someone like that…maybe a few more, seeing as she's probably the craziest person any of us has ever met." Haley went ahead and grabbed the next question card, though Sebastian was looking closely to make sure she wouldn't pull something to upset Anne. "Okay, here's one from LittleRedline. 'How do you feel about still being a member of the "never been given a fair boot" club with Damien?'"
"Eh…doesn't really bother me, that's pretty much just what this show is all about. It's a cutthroat game, and I honestly don't think I've got what it takes to ever reach a finale. I just can't see myself having the guts to pull a sneaky move like what Zachary did. It's fine though, because I stick around to be with all my friends. Didn't have many of those back home…outside of my family, at least." The crowd absolutely loved this answer, as they were going bananas, yet again.
"Alright, Natt, we've got just one more for you, then you and Anne can go sit back down, alright?" Natt nodded while Sebastian reached for the final question card. "Yeah…this one's from Alexneushoorn. 'Do you think that a lot of people are going to want to get your autograph because of your acts of heroism in stopping Chronos/Father Time?' I mean, I know I'd be loving that sort of attention from the fans, so how about it?"
"Uh…I never really thought about it, and to be honest, I don't really care. I didn't do it to be popular or anything. I just did it because it felt like what I should do at that moment." Natt looked down to see that Anne had fallen fast asleep on his shoulder. "Sorry…you mind if I take her to the risers now?"
"Go ahead. Everyone, that was Natt, hero of Atlantis." Sebastian lightly applauded the boy while he picked Anne up and made his way to the seats. There was still cheering from the crowd, but not nearly as much as before, as they were trying to keep quiet so that Anne wouldn't be startled awake. "Well, this just leaves us with our final guest…the last guest we'll ever be having on our aftermath."
"That's right, we've just got this one guest that was supposed to be here so long ago." Haley sat up in her seat, but it was clear that she was a bit nervous, while Sebastian leaned back and went back to being his usual self. "This guy tried to kill Chris during Space Station, and he's since mellowed out a bit, even trying to…apparently save some people from suffering the fate of the submarine sinking with them in it. Everybody…h-here's Thomas."
The door to the stage opened, and the audience went completely silent as Thomas walked out into the open. He looked over at everyone, the red contacts he used to sport gone entirely as his blue eyes were exposed. He didn't say a thing, he just dipped his head a bit and made his walk to the guest's chair, sitting down in complete and utter silence. There was no noise from the other contestants, as everyone just watched and waited for something to happen. "So, big guy, how does it feel to finally come hang out with us? You were supposed to be here forever ago!"
"Apologies…I was held up with some business, as I'm sure you're aware." Thomas' voice sounded a bit crackly, as if he was feeling a strange sort of way. "It's all taken care of, now…I believe you have questions for me? Let's just jump right into those, I don't wanna be here longer than I have to."
"R-right, we can just do that, that seems like a great idea…" Haley nervously reached over for the pile of question cards while Sebastian rolled his eyes at her, clearly unamused with how pathetic she was being. "U-uh…this one here is from Phoenix Writer GPH. 'Your heart grew three sizes last episode, does this mean we can expect an apology to Flint?' O-of course you don't have to apologize to him about anything, y-you can do whatever you want."
Thomas raised an eyebrow before looking back at Flint, who was still buried deep in his book. "Sorry, I guess?" The assassin didn't seem all too enthusiastic about this, but he did it anyways, even though the avid reader didn't respond, not even with a nod. Thomas looked back over at Haley, his expression showing a bit of relaxation. "You know I'm not going to do anything to you, right? …I mean, since I'm not getting paid to or anything." He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away a bit, not sounding too wholehearted in his answer.
"Dunno why Haley is so scared, I don't think you're that scary." Sebastian scoffed at Thomas, but the assassin didn't seem to be offended by this jab at him or whatever it was. "Whatever, we'll keep on going with the questions, since I don't wanna deal with you for much longer. Here's one from MatiasND, 'When did you first become an assassin?' You know, since we're all so interested to know more about you."
"I was young…really young. I was an orphan that just happened to be picked up by an agency that dealt in this line of work. They raised me to be just like them, if not more efficient, from the age of…eight…? Seven, maybe? It's a tough call, it was just a long time ago." Thomas looked down at the floor while resting his cheek upon his fist. "It doesn't matter anyways, since I was effectively removed from that family after my many blunders."
"S-so you're not an assassin, anymore? I really find it hard to believe that you would just drop your whole line of work over two failures…" Thomas looked up at Haley, but he didn't glare, nor did he show much of any type of expression. "Um…we'll do your last question so we can finish up the show, how about that? This one is from…MTDN. 'Is there any chance of you actually getting with Flint if your thing with Maggie won't work out in the end?'"
"Funny." Thomas actually did chuckle a bit at this question, much to Haley's surprise. "I don't think me and Flint will ever end up being an item, apologies to you crackshippers out there. Now, are we done? I just…don't have the energy to entertain right now." Sebastian pointed towards the risers and Thomas got up to sit down, making sure that he sat on the opposite side of Natt. The two boys looked between each other with blank expressions before looking away.
"Well…Haley is effectively terrified and our interviews are done, so we'll cut to our last commercial break before we close out the show for the last time! See you guys back in a few!" Sebastian waved to the crowd while the camera panned out and they cheered like wild animals…
Something strange was happening…there was definitely a lot of panning out from the stage, but the camera didn't seem to cut away to whatever the commercial was supposed to be. No, instead, it zoomed right in on the door that the guests were coming in from. The door was shoved wide open with a tremendous amount of force, and the noise that erupted from behind the door sounded a bit like a frat party. There was the signature loud music, and what sounded like the rattling of some cans while someone pushed out into the room. "GO LONG!" Someone shouted from off stage, and the boy that just made his way into the camera's view started running to the center of the stage, stopping right there and catching an oncoming football.
Everyone was a bit confused to see this boy just make this sudden entrance, but there were a few members of the audience who knew exactly who he was, and they couldn't help but gasp in complete astonishment. He was tall…we're talking Benjamin levels of tall, only he was far more muscular…and he had all of his fingers. His skin was a lightly tanned apricot tone, being complimented well by his blue eyes and his blonde hair that was done in a side part, his hair being flipped over the right side of his forehead. He flashed a grin to the audience, showing a brilliant white smile that had an air of cockiness to it. His attire really lived up to the frat boy look, with a dark blue polo, which had the top button unbuttoned, of course, light tan khaki pants, and dark blue athletic sneakers. There was a little emblem on the right side of his shirt, right in the chest area. It seemed to display a football surrounded by a Greek wreath headdress. "'Sup ladies?" The boy glanced over his shoulder to see Sebastian glaring at him for stealing his spotlight, but this only made his grin go wider.
An older gentleman followed the cocky boy onto the stage, this one being just a bit taller than him, but with just as much muscle on his body. His skin was espresso toned, and he had deep, brown eyes. He also had black hair, but it was primarily covered by a red cap so the style couldn't much be seen. He donned a red blazer with the name "Jackson" on the back of it, leaving it unzipped to show his white shirt underneath. He also had a pair of red sweats on, and red athletic sneakers to finish off his attire. Even more people knew who this was, and even Sebastian was gasping at this point. "Alright, as promised, I brought you one of my star athletes." The older man tapped his fist against the boy's chest, and the boy looked to be as proud as could be from this. "Tanner's definitely gonna help out with your ratings, so make sure not to bench him."
"Psh, who would ever bench me? I'm a machine!" Tanner looked at Haley on the couch, still shining that wondrous grin at her, though she seemed to be just annoyed by this. "...A love machine, that is." He raised his eyebrows twice in unison before winking at the martial artist, only for the older man to bop him on the back of his head with his fist. "Ah! Come on, coach, that's a party foul!"
"Tanner just keep your head out of the clouds. You've got a crazy enough game to win a show like this…you know, someday my own boy may end up like you." The coach shook his head in disappointment before pointing to the camera. "Alright, McLean, you've got Tanner here, and that other host has got my son. Don't make me regret drafting them off to you." With those words, the coach left the stage, and Tanner looked all over the stage.
"So…I just kick my feet up over there, then? You guys got any beer?" Tanner looked to the two hosts in question, though Sebastian was still in complete awe at the star that had just graced the stage while Haley shook her head with her annoyance still about her. "...Light beer?"
"Just sit down. We knew you were coming, we didn't know you'd be making such an obnoxious scene when you got here." Tanner shrugged his shoulders and headed over to the risers, making sure to take a seat right in between Gretchen and Taylor. The two were a bit astounded by his audacity, and even more astounded when he tried to put the moves on them, but this came to a halt when Taylor punched him right in the spleen. He hunched over in pain before moving down a row to sit next to Damien, who sighed and looked down at the floor. "Yeah…this is Tanner. Chris really wanted to go all out for next season, so he's bringing him along. …Yippee."
"Haley! Did you not see who that coach was!? You better show some respect and accept this gift he's bestowed upon us before he takes him away!" Sebastian shouted at Haley, spit flying from his mouth and only grossing her out. She scooted all the way to the other edge of the couch, and Sebastian sat back down with a smile on his face. "Tanner may not be as peak and as iconic as I am, but we'll welcome him with open arms!"
"Right…in any case, I do believe that closes things off for us. One whole season, flying by so quickly." Haley smiled slightly as she got up from her seat, gesturing to the risers that were utterly and completely packed with people. "All these lovely contestants had the shot at the five million dollar prize, but they lost it all, and now…only Jianne, Nicolás, and Zachary remain in the runnings!"
"That's right!" Sebastian shot up from his seat as well, shoving Haley aside to be more of the center of attention. "Who do you think will be the one to take home that sweet cash prize? Will it be the overly competitive hardhead that won't let anyone beat her in a one on one match? How about the nerd that fumbled his way to the top three by clinging onto her sleeve for dear life? Or maybe it'll be the movie star that isn't afraid to do whatever horrible things he's gotta do to make his way to the top? Three great choices, but only one of them will be right!"
"Let us all know who you think is gonna net that sweet prize, but for now…I'm Haley, and the cocky bastard standing at center stage is Sebastian! We'd like to thank all of our lovely guests for helping us make this aftermath special, and we hope you enjoyed every moment of it!" Haley took a cute little bow while the contestants on the sidelines waved to the audience.
"That's right! This has been the Total Drama: Lost City Aftermath! Thanks for coming along for the journey!" The camera panned out while Sebastian and Haley started waving to the audience, and it eventually cut the whole stage out of view for the very last time.
Author's Notes:
*And that's the last aftermath we'll be having for this season, with only two more episodes left in total after this! So, who do you think is gonna win it all? Let me know in the reviews as always, and I'll see you guys next time!
*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; 10th - Alexis; 9th - Benjamin; 8th - Dusty; 7th/6th - Amelia/Luna; 5th - Vicente; 4th - Natt