DISCLAIMER:
Hello, we're in the middle way of the story. This time the prairie boy took the spotlight. What will be his story about? Can he win? Find out right now.
Total Drama belongs to Fresh TV and his creators and distributors. I don't own anything from the properties used in this fic.
Ezekiel's Story
The room remained silent while Owen went to the basement, the guests looking at each other. Justin and Tyler went to look for a screwdriver and a cup of wine while the others looked at Zeke.
"Hey man, I won't repeat it again but, are you sure you understand the kind of stories we are telling?" asked Duncan putting a hand on Zeke's shoulder. He was showing an unusual amount of concern for the prairie guy.
"Yes, we're telling first-time stories, eh? And I have some of the best ones you can hear in all Canada," said Ezekiel, making clumsy finger guns.
"Now I'm sure you don't have any idea of what we're talking about," added Noah taking a sip of his orujo. "Uff, this thing is stronger than I thought."
Alejandro chuckled, "It's not a drink for little kids, " and then drank a shot of orujo in one go.
Noah glared at the Spaniard, but just as he was about to say something, Owen came out from the basement with a big cooler in his arms.
"Hey, guys! I found a lot of beer in the basement and it's cold," shouted Owen leaving the cooler near the table with still orujo, wine, some screwdrivers, and the moonshine.
Trent raised his glass. "Great, now Ezekiel can start his story."
The prairie guy took a sip of his moonshine and then leaned forward. "Before starting my story, I need to tell you about myself, about how I ended here, and of course about how karma works."
This story starts after I was eliminated from the World Tour season, you remember, eh? My elimination was so unfair that I decided to stay on the plane. I was obsessed with the prize money, with MY money. How can you be eliminated first on 2 seasons, eh?
And after some days on the plane, I woke up in a hospital. I was weak like a newborn and couldn't move my body at all. At first, I thought I had lost consciousness on the plane from the heat and malnutrition, eh. You know that kind of thing that happens when you're isolated for a long time without food.
Then the nurses and the doctors seemed all excited, and also my Ma and Pa, everyone was there. It was quite a happy surprise, but something felt off. And my fears were confirmed when Pa instead of shouting at me, hugged me and started to cry. I mean, Pa was a strong man and never cried, not even when we lost almost all the harvest to an early snowfall when I was 8 years old. Ma was also crying, but Ma usually cried when she had to.
Then they told me everything. I didn't get it at the moment, but I was in an advanced level of toxic waste intoxication that mutated my body and lived in the wilderness for more than 2 years eh! TWO YEARS. Luckily the show found me on Boney Island, and the Milton foundation helped me to get treatment to rehumanize me. Sadly I was still weak and without my hair, but I can count my blessings.
Annotation: Harold
"Let me try to understand this. Are you saying that you were mutated at a genetic level, and then this mysterious corporation captured you and repaired all the polynucleotide chains leaving you as before? Sorry, but it's completely unbelievable," said Harold, raising an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about, Doris? He was a freak, and now he's a person again. What's the problem?" said Duncan narrowing his eyes at the guy with glasses.
Harold scowled at Duncan. "GOSH! I don't argue the results. What I found hard to believe is that anyone would spend millions of dollars of research and investigation to cure some random competitor on a reality show."
"It wasn't to cure me, eh!" said Ezekiel, taking a sip of his glass, "it was to help to develop a cure for other cases like mine. But I was famous because I appeared on TV. You can't underestimate the Zeke's fame."
"Wow! That's cool! I also want to appear on TV," said Owen smiling absentmindedly, and giving Noah a glass of moonshine.
The genius rolled his eyes. "You already did it in 11 different shows, remember? Are you so drunk you forget it?"
"Hehehe, of course, I remember, I was just joking, hehehe," said Owen sweating nervously.
"Anyway, I'm curious about some aspects of this story, so please continue amigo," said Alejandro, leaning forward to hear better.
So as I was saying, I was in the hospital. I had trouble remembering the last 2 years of my life, I lost my hair and had general anemia. I spent 3 months in the institute, and honestly, I felt terrible, eh? I was furious. Why me? What did I do to deserve that?
Well, by the time I was discharged I hadn't found the answer. But before going home, they asked me to meet Mr. Milton, the main sponsor of the research. Pa And Ma wanted to wait for me, but they needed to go back to the farm some days before me for a problem with the harvest, so I waited for Mr. Milton alone.
While waiting there was this program on TV, eh? It was about karma. You don't know what karma is? It's the principle in which your actions decide your destiny. The Universe is a zero-sum game, so your good actions will bring you a good future, and your bad actions will bring you a bad future.
Annotation: Justin
"Do you really believe in that bullshit?" asked Justin raising an eyebrow.
Trent narrowed his eye at the male model. "There are a lot of persons that believe in the karmic laws, so don't call it bullshit just because you don't share his ideas."
"But there is no conclusive evidence of the existence of any kind of correlation between our actions and the events on our future. There is probably no causality between them," said Harold adjusting his glasses.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," said Cody shaking his finger. "But there are lots of things that science can't explain. And also, Gwen believed in karma, so I also believe in it," he then high-fived Trent.
"You don't have to believe in karma, eh, but it exists. Just let me continue with my story," said Ezekiel showing a smug smile.
At that moment, I thought the program was stupid. Karma, eh? What did I do to deserve to be turned into a monster for 2 years?
Then Mr. Milton appeared. He was a middle-aged man, maybe in his fifties, his blond hair almost white, blue eyes, and a big smile under a horseshoe-like mustache. He walked directly toward me. I stopped looking at the tv and faced him.
But to my surprise, the man suddenly hugged me and kissed me on the forehead, crying. "I'm sorry for all that happened to you, son. But thanks to you, my baby is cured. There are no words to thank you for that. If you ever need anything, call me."
I don't know why, but suddenly I too started to cry. At that moment, I felt that these past two years weren't for naught.
Then we talked some more, and he told me all about his daughter, eh? I didn't know anything, but it was harsh, the poor lass was also mutated. After that, I left the hospital, all the expenses were covered by Mr. Milton. He also paid my ticket back to Alberta on the most luxurious flight to Fort McMurray and got some people to drive me to the airport eh! Quite generous.
But when I arrived, there was this old lady in front of the line for my flight. She was literally pleading at the employees a seat to the next plane to Fort McMurray, and she seemed desperate.
So I decided to leave her my ticket and get a tourist class for the next day. I was sure Mr. Milton wouldn't be angry, and who knows, maybe I would compensate karma. The employees tried to dissuade me, but I was decided, and the Zeke never goes back on his word. Of course, I had to pay for the new ticket and the hotel room with my money, but it was worth it, or so I thought.
So I went back to the small hotel I would stay for that night. I was about to enter when a piece of paper hit me in the face. It was a ticket for the Max Lotto game playing that night, I looked around for the owner but couldn't find them, so I just put it in my pocket. I would check it later.
Annotation: Geoff
The blond guy looked at Ezekiel with wide eyes. "DUDE! Don't tell me you win the Max Lotto? It's a prize of 10,000,000 dollars!"
"No, I didn't get the jackpot, but I get all 6 digits matched, getting a prize of 1,000,000 dollars. Quite a coincidence, eh?" said Ezekiel making a small smile.
Almost all the presents gasped, sans Alejandro, and Duncan, looking at the prairie guy with wide eyes.
"Did you really find a lotto ticket for 1 million dollars accidentally?" asked Noah, as shocked as everyone.
"Yes, and the strangest thing is that I couldn't find the owner, and I look for them a lot," said Ezekiel shrugging. "Now you believe it was karma?"
Harold folded his arms, frowning. "It was just a coincidence. You only think it was karma because it was a random ticket that got you exactly 1,000,000 dollars. But there is no proof that it was actually karma."
"But it was a flying ticket!" said Owen excited. "And it won a million, just like the one in the show, what are the odds? It must be karma," the blond guy then looked at Ezekiel with wide eyes. "You're right man, now I should stop robbing from my mom's fridge every time I go to her house."
Harold stood quiet, he was sure karma wasn't real, but there was no use to argue with them after such coincidence.
"Now that you mentioned, I lost a lotto ticket on Ontario near the airport some time ago, " said Justin smirking and rubbing his chin.
"Don't even try!" said Duncan pointing the Justin and glaring.
Justin glared back at the delinquent, "It was only a joke, shiiiish. Ugly people really can't take a joke."
Anyway, after some days, I cashed the prize and became the owner of 1,000,000 dollars. I went back to the farm, and now I needed to decide how to use it, eh. I considered buying a new tractor and changing the roof of the barn. But Mr. Milton already helped my family with that while I was sick, so I had all this money just for me.
But karma is karma, eh? So I realized that I also needed to pay my bad karma if I wanted to be happy in the future. Even if I got glimpses of the past two years now and then, my memories were foggy. So I began to research what I did while mutated. I was lucky that the Total drama show featured many episodes which showed what was I doing, the people I hurt, and the kind of damage I caused in the past.
So I made a list and started with Duncan here. I attacked him during the Tanzania challenge in World Tour and was probably the first person I hurt.
Annotation: Duncan
"And the guy began big time. He got me a Harley Davidson V-rod black, which is still my pride and joy. Thanks, Zeke," said Duncan raising his glass.
Justin glared at him, "now I understand why you're so friendish with him. Greedy people are so ugly," Duncan didn't bother to answer him.
"You mean your bike was a present? Zeke, dude, it's a really expensive bike," said Geoff holding his hat.
Zeke smiled, looking at the floor. "It was the less I could do after pummeling him like that, eh! I'm glad you like it."
"Like it, man, I love it. It's the best present I ever had," said Duncan, smirking.
DJ scratched his head. "Didn't you say that the best present you ever had was what Courtney gave you on your birthday?"
Duncan's cheeks turned a little red, he took a sip of his drink and smirked again. "DJ is right, Zeke, make it second best."
And then, after I got Duncan his motorbike, I started to try to make more amends to more homies. I wrote a list of 22 people that I hurt in some way during those days, eh. So I started to look for them in one way or another. Some were easy, and others pretty hard.
To Heather, for example, it was kind of hard, eh! She still thought I owed her a million dollars. She wasn't completely wrong, but I didn't have that kind of money, I needed my prize to compensate as many people I possibly could, not just one lass.
So, in the end, I paid her a two-person trip to Las Vegas with all expenses covered and $5000 on casino chips, eh! It was quite the fancy gift.
Annotation: Alejandro
"And it was a wonderful gift, amigo. I was really surprised when mi chica suddenly invited me to go with her to Las Vegas. I have almost no time to prepare, and she didn't tell me where did she get the money for it."
"Woo-hoo, you went on a 2 weeks vacation with your girlfriend," said Owen in an excited tone, but then he put a puzzled expression. "But then again, she's Heather, so I'm not sure if expending two weeks with her is a good or a bad thing."
Alejandro shrugged, "It may sound surprising, but we had a great time. We won 12,000 dollars on the casino and then lost 8000. We went to some shows, and she only threw me into a fountain once. So far, our best vacations."
"A couple made in hell," said Noah shocking his head and looking at his now empty glass.
"I heard that," said Alejandro narrowing his eyes at the Indian guy.
"Really? What a surprise? I say it for you to hear it," replied Noah narrowing his eyes at Alejandro.
Tyler stood between them, "Don't fight. They're an X-treme couple made in hell. So leave it at that, and let's hear the rest of the story."
Alejandro raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything else, letting Zeke continue with his story.
Ahem, as I was saying, I was looking for all the persons I wronged, eh. But there was one that wasn't in Canada. She was living with some relatives in the States. In New Jersey, to be exact. I didn't want to wait for her to come back and risk the karma to get me in the meantime, so I traveled there.
As I didn't want to look like some kind of creep, I talked with her before going to her place. She told me to meet in a Pizza shop named Toni's instead of her home. So I went there.
Honestly, I was nervous, eh. Some people were very stressed and angry when I introduced myself, one guy called the police, for example, and Heather threw me a chair. And it was a big chair, eh, not of the folding ones.
Anyway, I went into the pizzeria, and I found her. She was a little older than in the show but still used the same hair in this updo, with tanned skin, and man, she was beautiful.
Annotation: Noah
"If you mean she was using her hair in a puff, was orange-skinned thanks to the tan spray, and was wearing more makeup than Sephora, then yes, she was the same person. If not, you mix her with another one," said Noah in a snarky tone, shrugging.
All my stress and apprehension disappeared when I saw her, eh. Because I recognize her. Not only from the photos, but I remembered her. It was the first time I recalled something so clear from my time ill, so I was quite happy.
"Hello, Anne Maria, right? I'm Ezekiel. You can call me Zeke," I said, taking off my toque. My hair had already started to grow, being already half an inch long.
She was filing her nails, looked at me, and then raised an eyebrow. "Ciao, I'm the one and only Anne Maria. I usually don't meet with my fans, so you're a lucky boy. Tell me, what do you want?"
Then a man with a deep voice and a European accent shouted from the kitchen. "Don't lie to il giovane. You don't have any fans."
"Zio Toni, shut up, this is a private conversation!" shouted Anne Marie, losing all that charm and class she showed before. "Sorry about the old man. He doesn't have any manners."
I shocked my head, "Don't worry, eh. My family also can be quite noisy from time to time."
"And you want my autograph? Or maybe you come to ask me to take part in some kind of your tube or whateva project? Because if it's that you should know, I'm pretty busy and can't take part in those kinds of things," explained Anne Maria, taking out a can of hairspray.
"If you dare to use that inside il mio ristorante, I'll kick you out of the store," shouted Mister Toni again in a quiet angry tone, eh? And even now, I don't understand how he could see her from the kitchen.
Anne Maria rolled her eyes but put the can away. "I swear that if he wasn't my mother's brother, I would put him in his place. Anyway, tell me what do you want?"
I rubbed my neck. "You see, I'm traveling the country to pay my debt with the karma to all people I hurt during my time sick, eh? So I wanted to compensate you for any problem I caused you. Well, this isn't Canada, so you can say I'm actually traveling the world, not the country, but don't get lost in details."
There was a moment of silence. I expect her to start shouting or throwing me chairs or something. But she only narrowed her eyes at me and said. "Did we meet before?"
I kept looking at her, not understanding her question, "EH?"
"I don't remember meeting you before. But if you're the guy making those prank calls, I'll kick your ass like a furious squirrel monkey," said Anne Marie glaring and clenching her fist.
I put my hand in front of me to defend myself. I didn't want to be attacked by a furious squirrel monkey. "No, I don't. We met in Total Drama, eh. During a challenge, I kidnaped you."
She relaxed and narrowed her eyes at me, trying to remember. She then looked at me with wide eyes. "You're that creepy guy from the mines! Wow, did you got a tan or something? you look a lot better."
"Eh!? No, I just receive special treatment," I replied, I didn't know if she was joking or if she really believed my feral look was only for lacking a suntan. "So I wanted to compensate you for kidnapping you and all that. Is there something you want?"
The pretty girl put a finger on her cheek. "Forget it, I really wanted a diamond like the one you gave me, but it ended being a Zirconia-"
"Don't worry, I'll get you a diamond," I said. I was happy because this would be one of the easiest of my amends.
Anne Maria's jaw dropped, looking at me with sparkling eyes. "Are you serious?"
I stood up and hit my chest. "I never lie, eh! Just wait here, I'll bring it to you."
"No, wait!" she shouted and stood beside me. "Bring it to my house. This is the direction," she said while sending me a message. "I'll be waiting, Ezekiel," she then smiled and winked.
I don't know why, but I felt warm on my chest. Then I went to the diamond shop.
Annotation: Cody
"Wait, just wait. You bought that girl a diamond?" asked Cody with wide eyes.
"Man, answering that question will spoil the story, eh!" replied Zeke, frowning.
Justin chuckled. "What this guy means is that a diamond is quite an expensive and personal gift, especially for a lady. You really had a lot to learn about the world."
"Not that you know a lot about it," said Alejandro making a mocking smile.
"I at least know enough to don't date that two-faced Heather, Al" said Justin, glaring at the Spaniard.
Alejandro stood up, "Don't disrespect my Dama, fake abs."
Owen quickly stood between them. "Ok, calm down, guys. We're all a little drunk. So let's sit and keep enjoying the stories, Ok? We don't need to fight."
Both handsome men sat, as well as Trent, Cody, Geoff, and Duncan, all ready to try to stop the fight.
"A diamond sounds fancy man, what happened then?" asked DJ, trying to get on the story again.
To my surprise, the Diamond shops were rare, even in the city. And not every shop sold diamonds, and of course, all diamonds were small, eh! Also learning that Diamond shops are just normal jewelry stores helped me a lot.
At first, I wanted to buy a diamond as big as the one I gave her, but after visiting many shops, I realized that maybe it wasn't possible to find one in New Jersey, so I had to change my plans.
After 20 shops, I found a beautiful clover-like necklace with a 2 carat diamond, made of white gold. I asked if they had it in golden gold, but they told me no, so I bought it anyway and took it to Anne Marie.
Annotation: Harold
"You bought a necklace with a 2 carat diamond and white gold only to repay the karma? I won't judge, but do you remember how much it cost?" asked Harold adjusting his glasses.
Ezekiel put a hand under his chin and took a sip of his moonshine before answering. "No, I don't remember, eh? But I'm sure it was less than 10,000 dollars."
"That doesn't narrow the price in any meaningful way. The diamond alone in a necklace with that description must cost over 5000 dollars, GOSH!. How can you forget about how much it cost?" said Harold, he wasn't the only one looking with wide eyes at the prairie guy.
"But it was to repay karma. Any amount is low for a good future, eh!?" answered Zeke showing a big goofy smile.
Tyler gave him some thumbs up. "That it's some extreme karma repayment, man. You're awesome."
Ezekiel blushed and then continued with the story.
After buying the necklace, I began to walk around the city, looking for Anne Maria's address. But New Jersey is bigger than I expected, even bigger than Deadwood, the biggest city near our farm.
After walking some time and thanks to many people that I asked for directions, I at last found Penrose canal and from there it was just 4 streets to find her house. It was already late, but the city lights worked quite well, not like in my town.
I was lucky because she was at her house's door talking with some guys I thought were her friends, eh!? But those three were actually ruffians, only that at that moment I didn't know it. So I come closer and greet them.
"Good night Anne Maria," I said, making finger pistols. "Ayo homies."
"Get lost redneck, we're talking with the guidette," said the bigger of them.
I'm not a violent man, but neither the kind of person who is easily intimidated. Have you ever seen a mad moose? That's scary, not like these guys. And I may be ignorant, but even I know three tough guys around a girl aren't 'talking with her.'
"Hey, I'm the lady's friend, so stop pestering her, you ruffian," I said, pushing him.
"Lady?" said Anne Marie, chuckling. She looked quite pretty.
But I shouldn't be distracted by her looks because the big thug punched me on the face with such strength that I fell to the ground.
"You think you're some kind of hero, damn redneck? I told you to go back to the farm," he said and kicked me on the stomach. Luckily I'm strong, but that kick really hurt.
I needed to stand up before he kicked me again and probably had to fight against them. After all, this probably was part of my karma. But it was my first fight since I was cured, so I was nervous. If I wasn't careful, I could hurt them, or maybe I wasn't as strong as before, and they would hurt me. Either way I needed to do my best.
But I had good karma, so I didn't find out.
Before he could kick me a second time, Anne Maria hit him in the temple with her shoe's heel. HER HEEL EH? I don't know how she took her shoe off so quickly, but she did it and began to hit them quickly and with a lot of strength.
"I told you to stop calling me and not coming here anymore. But if you don't understand words, maybe you'll understand my shoes. So STOP HITTING HIM AND GET OUT OF HERE!" she said in a loud voice.
I always thought that men were meant to protect women because women were weak. But my days on Total Drama taught me I was wrong. And that day, I reaffirmed it. I never watched someone assault a person in such a brutal way. And I live on the prairies, eh. Well, it's enough to say they ran away like scared coyotes.
"Are you like ok?" Anne Marie asked me, raising an eyebrow.
I stood up and shook off the dust from my clothes, "Yes, I have been worse. Are you ok?"
"Hehehe, of course, I can deal with jerks like them any day of the week, ok?" she said, smirking and arranging her puff. "But It was totally sweet of you to defend me like that. Do you want to go inside and dine with me? As gratitude for defending me."
I didn't want to be rude to her, so I accepted and went inside her house. I was surprised because it was quite cozy and traditional, very different from what I imagine from Anne Marie's appearance. After all, she's so modern and fashionable.
We dined lasagna with wine and talked for some hours, eh. We both despised Chris McLane and had a lot of stories of our time on our show. Also, both enjoyed the resort more after being eliminated than participating in the show. Well, I was only one day on the show, so It would be weird if I thought otherwise.
She watched the clock on the wall and gasped. "What? Midnight already? It's so late. Do you have a place to spend the night? If not, you can sleep here, ok? My uncles aren't coming back tonight."
I thought about it. Pa said to never reject a woman's kindness, and also doing it could affect my karma. So I told her, "if it's not too bothersome, I kindly take your offer." I also touched my torque while accepting.
"Then I'll prepare you a room," said Anne Marie standing up. So I think this was the moment to give her the present.
"By the way, I bought you this. I hope it's to your liking," I said, taking out the box with the necklace.
"Oh, the ring, hehe, I can't believe it, but with all that happened I totally forgot about it. Of course, I like I-" She opened the box and stood there, speechless. I was afraid she didn't like it. After all it wasn't a ring.
"I'm like, wow! It must have cost you a fortune. Are you sure I can keep it?" She said, taking it out of the box and looking at it as if it was the best thing ever.
"Of course, it isn't as big as the other one bu-" I couldn't end the sentence, as she jumped and hugged me.
"Thanks, Zeki, all is forgiven. I'm sure that karma or whateva will treat you great after today," and then she kissed me. It was a wonderful, unexpected, and sweet kiss.
Ezekiel's story, the end.
"And that is the story of my first kiss ever, eh? It's not wonderful?" said Zeke raising his head proudly.
"And what happened next?" asked Justin with an impish smile.
"I sleep in her house, and we have kept in contact. She even visited me on the farm a couple of times," said the prairie boy nodding.
Justin rolled his beautiful eyes. "No, I mean if you slept with her."
"Yes, I already told you I stayed in her house. Well it was her uncle's house," replied Zeke putting a hand under his chin and a thoughtful expression.
The model shook his head and covered his eyes with one hand. "Just forget it, man. I don't know if you're like that, or you're feigning."
"Gosh! I can't believe you're just telling your intimacies like that. I pass. There is no way I'm taking part in this charade," said Harold folding his arms.
Duncan chuckled. "Anyway, we only wanted true stories Doris, not dreams or delusions."
"What do you mean by that?" said Harold, lowering his eyebrows and adjusting his glasses.
"That you probably don't have any story to tell anyway. You would just feed us anything of that Japanese crap you watch as if it happened to you," said Duncan, chuckling and then drinking his beer.
"HEY! Anime is great, don't dare to call it crap," said Tyler, glaring at the delinquent.
"That's true! As Tyler said, anime is an adult form of entertainment as valid as any other. And I'll make you eat those words, Dumbcan. Sorry Tyler, I'll be the next one to tell his story in this poor's man canterbury contest," said Harold, with a solemn expression.
"Yes, man, no problem. You show them," said Tyler giving Harold a high five.
"Fell honored, I would reveal to you a story of pure romance distinct to any other told tonight," said Harold, extending his arms and looking at the rest of the guest with a solemn expression.
Author Notes:
With Zeke's story, I tried to write some drama, of course I mix with some comedy, but the first part of the story is intentionally sad and with many hidden meanings. This makes special emphasis on Zeke as the narrator.
Maybe the kind of story with the others interrupting is not the best for this kind of story (and also the second half is more comedy-driven), but I hope you enjoyed it all the same.
Now answering the reviews.
amit avrashmi: I thought about using Lilly, but Cody was the best to tell the story that may or not may be true. And about Dawn, it's fun because I consider her as one of the candidates for Zeke story, but in the end, I chose Anne Maria
Fernanda15fa: Like you, most of the guests think the story is fake, but maybe it's true ;). Also I wanted to show that Cody is more popular than people think, talking about his many adventures.
Total Simaniac: Yes, Cody went all out with the story, maybe it's true or maybe he is a bad liar, I will let you decide, but he touches all the cliches.
For this story I wanted 1 of the guests to tell an unexpected story with an unknown character, and Cody was the lucky one. I'm glad you liked it
I hope you enjoyed Zeke's story eh!
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you like it, no forget to review.
