"Geez, you really want me to remember all the bad memories, huh?"
"Well, at least we won't be disturbed out here… and it was your idea not to go back to the tent, genius."
"…True," the Warden caved in as he dipped his paddle into the water.
"Besides," Gwen added, "if I really wanted to bring back some bad memories, I'd shove my paddle somewhere…"
"Please don't."
"Don't worry. I'm not planning on it."
"Oh, good… Not that I plan on fathering children someday, but I'd like to keep the option open," Cody said, smirking.
Gwen let out a soft chuckle. "Well, with your femdom fetish, you probably won't live long enough to father children."
"…Good point," he said, pausing a few seconds afterward before continuing. "Do you think Noah will live long enough to father children?"
"Hell no."
Laughter erupted from the canoe, which was now still on the water. After all, could you row if you were doubled over with laughter?
Gwen was the first to stop laughing, but Cody was still laughing quite hysterically. "Alright, Cody, it's not that funny."
"What are you talking about? That's freaking hilarious!" Cody praised.
"Whatever," she said, though still smiling. "So… You still want to talk, or…"
"Nah… Let's just stay out here for a while. Enjoy the view and whatnot. I don't get to see things like this very often. Sure, Superjail's a wonder to behold, but this is pretty nice, too."
A thought occurred to Gwen, and she turned toward him. "By the way, you keep talking about Superjail, but you never really told me what it's like. So…what's it like?"
A few seconds of silence followed. Cody leaned back in the canoe, took off his hat, and scratched the back of his head as he thought about how to explain Superjail to someone who had never seen it.
A few more seconds later, he slapped himself in the face, startling Gwen. "Duh! Why didn't I think of it before? I'll show ya!" He took a jar out of his hat, opened it, and quickly lifted it up, the momentum sending large amounts of what Gwen assumed was "pixie dust" in the air. The dust surrounded the canoe, and once the dust disappeared, so did they.
-X-
"What the… What the hell happened?" Gwen asked as they appeared in what seemed to be an office of some sort, though it seemed too colorful to be one.
"This is Superjail," Cody said with a grin. He gestured toward the window, and Gwen turned to it.
She gasped. "Good God…"
It was so… futuristic... So… breath-taking…
So… yellow…
"Well, what do you think?"
Gwen couldn't speak. It looked so surreal… like a dream.
"Speechless?" Cody asked when she didn't answer. Gwen merely nodded.
With a grin, the Warden wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "This is the result of all my life's work… Well, the last ten years, anyway. So, would you like a tour?"
"…Sh-sure…"
Cody's grin softened into a sweeter smile. "I knew you would."
-X-
"…Um…wow. Is everything shaped like your head?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, Ivo. Nothing's wrong with that."
Cody obviously didn't get the joke. "Who the hell is Ivo?"
"…Nevermind." She looked over the pod again. "Nice craftsmanship, though, that's for sure."
"Yeah, it's pretty resembling, isn't it?"
"So… are you going to give me the tour, or are you going to narcissistically stare at your own face all day?"
Cody chuckled and shook his head. "Some people just don't appreciate art."
"Hey!"
"Just joking, geez!" He opened the door for her. "C'mon, are you going to let me give you the tour, or are you going to insult my narcissism all day?"
"How about both?" Gwen said with a smirk as she entered the pod. "Alright, are you sure this thing is safe?"
"Well, we haven't had many casualties on these tours…"
"Okay, THAT wasn't funny…"
"Relax, you'll be fine," Cody reassured. "I was just joking. If anything, the worst that could happen is if the power goes out and we're stuck in this damn thing."
"Would that be so bad?" she teased, and he stared at her with wide eyes.
"Uh… well… I guess not. Plus, I could always take us back at any time."
"Boy, you really know how to ruin the mood, don't you?"
-X-
"AHH!"
Owen quickly sat up. "Wha…? Jared? You alright?"
Jared was shaking uncontrollably. "W-Warden…G-Gwen…Th-They're gone!"
Owen turned to the empty mats. "Oh. Oh, yeah…" Then he lay back down.
"Owen!" Jared shouted at the big guy. "What if something b-bad happened to them?!"
"Jared…" Owen began as he sat up again. "…I don't want to miss breakfast tomorrow, but I will if I don't get my eight hours. Please. Shut. Up."
"B-But… the War—"
"Chill, dude! They're fine. They've obviously left of their own free will. No blood splatter, no signs of struggle, and if they were kidnapped I think we either would've heard it happen or we would be with them."
After Owen's surprisingly detailed explanation, Jared began to calm down, sighing with relief. "Oh… Good point… But how do you know so much about this?"
Owen grinned at the short accountant. "Well, I haven't told you guys this, but… I'm a police officer."
Jared's eyes widened. "Really?"
Owen nodded. "Yep. Actually, I'm the reason why Duncan was allowed to come here too. The warden of his jail was a little wary of letting him go to the reunion, and he called me to help him out, since he's only one of the few here that I know of that knows I'm a cop. So I pulled some strings…"
"I get it, I get it," Jared interrupted. "I just can't see YOU being a police officer. Is it 'cause you love helping people?"
"Yeah, but that's not the main reason…" Owen admitted.
"Oh yeah? What's the main reason?"
"…The doughnuts…"
-X-
"So, what do you think of the tour?" Cody asked as the pod came to a halt.
"Aside from the tour guide, pretty good," Gwen joked, and Cody made a weird face. "Kidding. Alright, can we go back to Wawanakwa now?"
"You actually want to go back there?" Cody asked as they left the pod.
"Yeah… The longer I'm here, the more likely I'll probably get massacred. No offense, Cody. Honestly, I don't know how you do it."
"Well, I…" He wasn't able to finish, as the two were now standing face to face with a new… face.
"I wasn't expecting you back for another few days, Warden."
"Oh, hey Alice," Cody greeted, and he began the introductions. "Gwen, this is Alice. Alice, this is Gwen. She's a good friend of mine from Total Drama. I was just giving her a tour of the place. We're about to head back to the reunion."
"Oh, no, you're not. Do you know how hard it is to do my job AND your job? That's a load of bullsh—"
"Alice, I need to go back," Cody argued. "Besides, I gave you the responsibility because I know you can handle it. If there's anyone capable of doing both jobs at one time, it's you."
"Don't flatter me. …Alright, I'll do it, but under one condition."
"What's that?"
"I get a vacation, too. AND I get to perform more advanced torture on inmates of my choosing."
Gwen's pupils shrunk. MORE advanced? What kind of torture was she accustomed to NOW?
"Alright, fine, fine…" Cody conceded. "Now get back to work."
"You're on vacation. You can't tell me what to do."
"Ugh…" Cody turned to Gwen, who was still quite scared of the… "woman" standing in front of her. "C'mon, Gwen. Let's go." He held up another jar of "pixie dust" and performed the same routine as before.
-X-
"WAAAAAAHHHH!"
Splash!
"Whoops! Sorry… We missed the canoe…"
…
"…Gwen?"
…
"GWEN!"
Just then, he realized she hadn't surfaced. 'Oh God…' Cody gulped. "GWEN!" What if she drowned? What if the fresh-water sharks were swimming around? Cody panicked. He looked around, not finding her anywhere.
"I'm right behind…"
"GAH!!" Cody's arms flailed, splashing water, and turned around, finding Gwen in the water next to him. "Geez! Do you know how scared I was?"
"You're scared?" Gwen questioned. "You have a crush on She-Hulk and THIS scared you?"
Cody rolled his eyes. "Yes, losing you DOES scare me. Now, c'mon. Let's get back to the ca—"
He stopped when he realized Gwen was now staring down at the water.
"…Gwen?"
"…Losing me scares you, huh?"
Cody put a hand up to his forehead, afraid of what he was about to say. Unfortunately, he felt it needed to be said, so they could finally get over this bridge. "Jiminy Christ, Gwen. Look, I'm sorry, but will you please just let it go? I thought we were done with this. I'm fine. You didn't mess me up. Just… don't beat yourself up over this, okay?"
Gwen sighed. She knew he was at least right about her beating herself up. She also knew that if Cody really did have something to share with her, he probably would've done so if she wanted him to share it. So she gave up. "Alright. Let's just get back into the canoe."
-X-
The canoe ride back was awfully quiet, and it ate away at her. She wanted to say something to Cody, but after that last little incident, things got really awkward—too awkward.
It was too silent, and it scared the crap out of her. Cody was never the silent type, and he certainly wasn't now. Back when they were sixteen, she'd have given anything just to shut him up. Now, she'd give anything just so he would speak.
Cody couldn't understand why she was hurting like this—why she blamed herself for his insanity. And he probably never would. It was very complicated. And it was filled with so many "what if" scenarios.
See, her love life with Trent had fallen drastically over the decade. Trent loved Gwen with all his heart, but he was afraid of commitment. He wasn't sure if he was ready to make Gwen his bride, his wife. Plus, a successful career in music comes with adoring fangirls and roadies, and the trust between the two started to wither away. Both were afraid the other would become unfaithful, even though neither of them was.
After they broke up, Gwen often wondered what it would've been like if things played out differently. What would happen if she didn't fall in love with Trent? What if she fell in love with someone else?
Like Cody.
Then the "what if" scenarios began to pile up even more. What if she did fall in love with Cody? Would they have still been together? Would she have had to worry about him being unfaithful?
Would he have stayed sane?
That last question was the question she asked herself the most since the reunion began. If she would've fallen for him, they probably would've been a normal, loving couple. No roadies. No Superjail. Just them.
She was actually looking forward to seeing him at the reunion, to maybe clear the air with him. No, she wasn't expecting him to still like her—she half-expected him to be in a relationship, as she knew that deep down he was truly a nice person—but she was still hoping to at least replenish an old friendship, and maybe eventually something would result because of it.
That last part, obviously, was only if he was still interested.
But still, she thought about it from time to time, and well… she actually enjoyed those thoughts.
But now that she knew what Cody had become, it changed things.
A lot.
And it scared her knowing that she was the deciding factor in all of this.
She didn't care what Cody said. It was all her fault.