Total Drama Reunion
AN: Alright I know it took awhile, but I've been suffering from…technical issues and a bout of writers block. Many of you have waited patiently, and I know I still have a few reviews to reply to, I will get to them as soon as I get my computer working, and can access my e-mail again, lousy Netzero. Oh, also for the sake of continuity, I've made Justin's last name officially 'McGorgeousness' since Chris DID call him by that name. Also Cody will be a bit of a star this chapter, but he's not to 'main character' just one of my favorites lol, he wont be getting this much 'air time' for quite awhile after this though. Also there is a guest character of sorts this chapter from another famous series, see if you can guess who.
I do not own Total Drama, if I did Gwody would have been canon and Duncan would have remained a punk instead of becoming what he has.
"We're going to be starting with a special group, and no I don't mean the former champions, I mean another special group, one that has touched many of your souls and hearts with their albums," Chris explained, genuinely seeming to be speaking from his own (nonexistent) heart.
"At least they did before splitting up and going their separate ways, utterly failing at finding even a shred of success, aside from Justin McGorgeousness," Blaineley cut back in.
"So tell us, what happened to the Drama Brothers? Why did you let such an obvious and easy meal ticket go down the drain like that?" the faux blond asked grinning.
Clearing his throat, Trent, Harold and Cody each nodded before casting a glare at Justin.
"The truth is," Trent started before taking a deep breath.
"We didn't exactly split up, not the way most bands do. Justin got hired by some modeling agency and left, after he was gone things went downhill…fast," the musician admitted as he (along with several others) glared at said model.
"What? I couldn't turn down that kind of offer; it would have been stupid to stay with a group making thousands when I was offered a modeling contract that's making millions. It's common business sense," Justin defended.
"You go in one day a month and pose for a bunch of underwear shots for Hanes, it's not like it would be that difficult dude," Cody shot back.
"Ok, first of all, they are boxers, not 'underwear'," Justin defended before continuing "second of all it takes a full month of training, diet and exercise to maintain my body so that it stays in the shape it is in now."
"Bull! You're just lazy man, you could have done both and you know it!" Harold jumped in.
Chris and Blaineley shared mutual smiles as the former band nearly broke into a brawl.
"It's not like he actually did anything when he was in the band, he played the freaking tambourine, a trained monkey could do the same thing," Cody added with a snort.
Justin gasped and literally froze on the spot.
"It's true, the only thing you actually did to help us was pose for the covers of our albums, your girl bait dude not a musician. You can't even tell a difference between our songs after you left from the ones while you were a part," Cody continued before Trent cut him off.
"Look it doesn't matter alright, what happened happened, Justin sold out and we went under after he left, end of story. We tried to continue without him but our sales and popularity just weren't enough to compete with bands like Midnights Bite and War Wolf, girls don't listen to music they ogle boy bands," Trent explained.
"Hey! Don't throw me in with fan girls, I actually listen to good music," Eva growled.
"Then why did you have Britney Spears on your MP3 player back on TDI?" Sierra asked rolling her eyes.
The silence was deafening.
Chris as well as several of the campers struggled to hold back their snickers, knowing that if they didn't Eva would likely kill them. Thankfully a distraction saved them.
"Like I said, it doesn't matter. It was a phase; we had a lot of fun and learned some things that we use in our lives now. My current band has been able to do pretty well through the connections I made in the Drama Brothers," Trent offered.
"He's right, I learned how to use synthesizers and a lot about programming software, it helped me get through collage and get the job I have now," Cody agreed.
"And the moves I learned from dodging fan girls and groupies have saved my bacon plenty of times," Harold added.
Chris and Blaineley frowned as things settled down, knowing they would have to bide their time and look for their next opportunity.
"Yes well, I guess it's about time to get on with the actual show," Chris muttered before turning to face Trent.
"Ok, so tell us Trent, what have you been up to? Life been treating you alright? And has your experiences here affected your life in any way?" Chris asked, reading directly from his cue cards.
Trent smiled and chuckled.
"Wow, never thought I would actually get an interview. Uh, lets see, after we split I lived with my parents for a few years, got a job working in a place that sold and repaired guitars. I gave lessons and worked behind the counter for the most part, but I made a few guitars in the back during my breaks. Sold the first one at a charity event and I still make a few in my free time, I sell them on eBay and I do take a few orders now and then for special cases. When I had enough in savings I broke out on my own, made a few friends and started a new band. We play mostly locally because we're still small time, but we're getting there."
Chris nodded and gave a half proud smirk.
"Not bad my man, not bad. I think I remember that one you sold at the charity event, black cherry heart right?"
Trent was obviously surprised but nodded. "Ye-yeah, we had an order come in but the guy never picked it up, the manager sold me the leftover material at a discount, but I had to buy the rest at full price, still I had a lot of fun making it, took me a few months but it was worth it."
The former host chuckled.
"No joke man, that thing is a real beauty. I almost hate to play on it through because I keep thinking it'll break," Chris admitted.
Putting two and two together Trent's eyes widened.
"Moving on, has your time on Total Drama affected your life in any way?" Blaineley asked once again stealing the limelight.
"Uh, well, I guess. I mean people recognize me every now and then. Not as much as they used to, and my manager used who I was as a promotional for the shop, especially when I started giving lessons…aside from that the only thing its done is made me…wary of eating seafood."
"Oops," Lindsay chuckled nervously.
"Hey I'm actually thankful, better here on live television than at some restaurant. At least here I had a good chance of getting medical attention," Trent offered not wanting to upset the young woman.
"Say Trent, that's a nice ring you've got there," Blaineley pointed out as she pulled the young mans hand up to inspect the lone piece of jewelry.
"Wedding bells been-a ring-ring-ringing Trent?" Chris teased.
The guitarist turned slightly pink before answering.
"Not yet, still a few months away," he replied carefully.
"Ah, so who's the lucky young lady?" Blaineley asked, smelling a good story nearby.
To her disappointment and everyone else's surprise, Trent merely smiled.
"I'm the lucky one, not her. And out of respect for her wishes that's all I'm going to say on the subject."
Chris snapped his fingers and Blaineley pouted, both knowing that they wouldn't be getting any more dirt out of the young man.
"Well, next we have Harold, who I'm sure has a few interesting things to tell us. Same as Trent, what have you been up to, and have your experiences from Total Drama had any impact on your life?" Chris asked with his usual knowing grin.
Smirking back, Harold nodded.
"Yeah, life's been pretty good to me, I've got money, my own place, and married the woman of my dreams," Harold answered causing several of the girls to coon at his final remark.
"Wait, you and LeShawna actually hooked up? Why didn't I hear about this?" Blaineley asked, confused at how anything like this could have gotten past her.
"Aren't you missing something, like, oh, I don't know, a ring?" Chris asked.
Shaking his head, Harold pulled a thing piece of leather from around his neck and held up the ring attached to the end.
"I prefer to wear it like this so it's closer to my heart," he answered, once again making several of the girls coo and aw.
"Awww that's so romantic, LeShawna he's such a sweetheart," Lindsay called out, prompting a nervous Tyler to pull her closer to himself and shoot the nerd a death glare.
LeShawna chuckled but smiled warmly at her friend's remark.
"I can't help it; I just speak what's in my heart is all. Trent taught me that music is the language of the soul and the thoughts of the heart, I channel that positive chi into my poetry and songs."
Duncan's laughter could now be heard over any other sound in the camp.
"Dude, poetry? You write poetry for a living? That's really pathetic dude," the delinquent teased.
Crossing his arms, Harold huffed.
"I write poetry in my free time, same with my music. I've been a postal worker for the last six years, not as glamorous as being one of the Drama Brothers, but it still pays well, and I only have to work for two hours a day."
This however only caused Duncan to erupt into a roar of laughter.
"Postal worker? DUDE that's even more pathetic! What do you do? Walk around in shorts and knee high socks delivering mail?"
Narrowing his eyes, Harold returned fire.
"No! I don't walk, I have a car that I drive for my deliveries, GOSH. Besides, as a Federal employee I've got macho benefits, full health care, dental, and a health insurance policy that insures if I get hurt on the job, my ass is covered for life. I can file full disability and retire before I turn forty, can you?" Harold smirked at the now silent punk.
"What!"
"It's true, my little ginger snap and I are both Federal employees, if and when we retire we'll make more than you probably do working," LeShawna added causing the punk to fume.
"Another cool benefit of my job, is that I get all the free cans of pepper spray I want," Harold threw in as a final insult as he held up a can so the mohawked punk knew he wasn't just idly threatening him.
"Ahem, back to the questions, have your experiences from Total Drama had an impact on your life?" Chris repeated.
"Well, yeah, I mean how could it not. If I hadn't been on this crummy show I never would have met LeShawna, but aside from that, I guess. I learned how to run and deal with wild animals, that helped back when I had a walking route when I first started working for the Postal Service. German Sheppard's and Doberman's aren't that much different than dealing with Duncan or Courtney or wild bears, so it helped that way I guess," he answered.
"Alright then, moving on, Cody, how have you been these last few years? Your final appearance on Total Drama had you trying to help Heather win after you were eliminated in the shortest tiebreaker in the series history. How did you cope with knowing you had lost your chance at the million dollar prize in not even five minutes after the final episode started?" Blaineley piped in looking for a vulnerable target.
Folding his arms back behind his head, Cody smirked.
"Well, when I got home I was surprised to find out that I had become a celebrity. Honestly that's all I ever wanted, my parents are loaded as it is so money wasn't ever really what I was after."
Blaineley felt her jaw drop.
"I came to pick up girls, but I stayed because I made a lot of friends. Finding out that I was the fan favorite for winning World Tour, and that people felt I had been cheated was pretty cool. I'd never had people actually fight for me like that, it was…nice," the geek answered.
"Wait you mean that you never had any intention of winning?" Alejandro demanded.
"I never said that, I'd hoped that winning would make me popular with the ladies, I just never cared about the money. My parents are millionaires dude, why do you think I never tried to sue you or this show for everything I was put through?" he asked with a genuine look of surprise.
"No way, the geeks loaded?" Duncan asked, sensing something was up.
"I never said that, I said my parents are loaded, money isn't really something I care about. When you have a lot of something it isn't important to you," he defended.
The sound of a cash register ringing could be heard as Blaineley's pupils turned into dollar signs.
"Well, now that everyone has discovered what they could have learned by looking you up on Wikipedia, lets move on to the important things, like my questions," Chris cut in obviously annoyed that the spotlight wasn't on him at the moment.
"What have you been up to since leaving Total Drama, and how has life been treating you?"
Smiling, Cody puffed up slightly.
"Well, after the show I finished high school and went to collage, I graduated with a major in computer programming and minored in communications. I wanted to get a job that I would enjoy, so I spent a year tinkering around trying to find something I could do that wouldn't get boring after a few years. That was harder than I thought though because I had done so much while on this show," the geek admitted with a nervous chuckle.
"In the end, it sort of happened by accident, I was tinkering with my X-box three sixty and figured out what the design flaw was that caused the 'red ring of death', since my dad is on the board of directors for Microsoft's Canadian branch, I was able to submit my findings to a few friends of his. I was hired the next day and have been working there ever since."
"Let me see if I can get this straight, you fixed a video game, and got hired because of it?" Alejandro asked incredulously. "What do you do, sit in an office all day playing video games?" he joked.
When the geek only smiled back and chuckled nervously, the Latino antagonist felt his anger begin to boil.
"To be fair, I am the Deputy Director of Quality Control and Assurance. So its not like I goof off all day, there's more work to being a game tester then you think," Cody defended.
"Oh great, so you don't just play video games all day, you get paid to play video games all day!" Alejandro accused.
"Play video games, write reports, file reports, and try to figure out programming issues. I have like twenty people that work under me dude, I'm the one that has to keep track of everything my division finds and make sure the reports go through. Do you have any idea how much work that is?" Cody fired back.
Gwen found herself frowning and yet again deep in thought.
"Why didn't he ever say that his parents were rich? If a guy isn't built like Adonis or has a foreign accent, money is the first thing they try for picking up girls, everyone knows that," her mind argued. These thoughts were cut short however when she saw Heather lean forward and raise her hand.
"Excuse me, I have a question, how much do you make a year?"
Cody blinked, then blushed and stuttered as Heather not quite so subtly crossed her legs and leaned forward enough that one could easily see her generous curves.
"Uh-I-uh, that is, I make, it's a six figure salary, why?" he finally managed to stammer out as a response.
Narrowing her eyes, Gwen elbowed her former rival.
"What are you doing?" she whispered with a hiss.
"Exactly what it looks like I'm doing, I'm always looking for my next ex," she replied with a not so innocent smile.
"That's el-burro! No way nerdling makes a six figure salary from playing video games!" Alejandro shouted.
Snapping his fingers, Chris held out one hand that an intern quickly deposited a clipboard into.
Pulling out a small pair of glasses, Chris flipped through several pages before finding what he was looking for.
"Actually, according to his most recently filed tax return forms, between his job, and royalties from both Drama Brothers records and Yum Yum Happy Go Time Candy Fish Tails sales, Cody filed two hundred and seventy eight thousand as income," Chris answered mildly surprised himself. It was far from what he made, but it wasn't exactly chump change either.
"Wait, how is he getting royalties from those horrible fish candies?" Heather asked, her head snapping up at the mentioned of the familiar snack food.
"I watch the show Grim, you, Grimmer, and Bossy didn't do anything that challenge, Cody and Sierra did all the work, so I only put their names on the forms for endorsement royalties," Chef Hatchet answered gruffly.
"At least I don't rely on money to pick up a girl, if you are even capable of picking one up," Alejandro muttered.
"Hey! I never use money to pick up girls, and I can so pick up a girl if I want to!"
The scarred man only laughed.
"If you really were skilled, you would be married by now, or at least in a somewhat serious relationship."
Narrowing his eyes at the former nemeses, Cody fished out his PDA and typed in a few commands.
"How's this for proof?" he challenged, holding out the device for all to see. Most of the guys weren't interested, but several of the girls had gotten up to see how valid the geeks claim was.
On the screen was an image of Cody holding a young woman around his age, she appeared to be Asian, had several piercings and had died her hair purple.
"That's Nicki, my last girlfriend. We were going pretty solid for about six months," Cody stated.
"What happened? She find a guy that she actually liked?" Duncan jabbed.
Cody frowned.
"No, she had to move back to Japan, her father's sick and she wanted to take care of him. We still talk from time to time," he answered.
Gwen noticed the striking similarities to herself and frowned even deeper.
"Please don't tell me he's still carrying that crush around," she mentally pleaded. Right now she didn't need any more mess to deal with.
"Still into goths I see," Chris joked, noticing Gwen's discomfort.
Cody shrugged before replying.
"Not exactly, she was more of a punk rocker than a goth, she was into a lot of heavy metal bands, concerts and stuff, we went to a few actually," Cody again defended.
"Right…well, moving on, how has your time on Total Drama affected your life?" Chris asked trying to move things back to him and his schedule.
The geek frowned and remained silent for several moments deep in thought.
"Well, I guess I would say that it's made me less naïve about people. I learned a lot about how not to just trust everyone or take what I see as proof of anything. I also learned how to get along with groups of people that are…unique," Cody worded his response carefully before adding one more bit with a chuckle, "and what not to do if I want to impress a girl."
Nodding in understanding, Chris turned his attention to Justin.
"And now we come to Judas, tell us, how has life been treating you, and what have you been up to since the end of Total Drama?" Chris asked with his normal grin still in place.
The shirtless model smiled and chuckled before responding.
"Well, after I was contacted by the agency, I started my own world tour of sorts. It's pretty rare for me to stay in any one place for longer than a few days, but I get paid very well. Last year I actually signed my one hundredth multi million dollar contract," the one time nemeses of Total Drama replied smugly.
"So…what exactly do you do?" Chris prodded.
"Well, I fly around the world going to exotic locations and model for different advertisements or endorsements. I have an upcoming shoot in Vancouver next week," he answered.
"And you're still single?" Blaineley asked hopefully.
"Oh of course, I don't have time for any serious relationships, most of my time goes towards maintaining this," Justine responded as he posed and flexed for the camera, his teeth sparkling and causing a few of the former contestants to yet again swoon.
"That's it? Doesn't sound like much of a life to me," Heather of all people replied.
Everyone's eyes turned to the supposedly reformed 'Queen Bee'.
"What? It's true, what's the point of having all that money if you can't have any fun with it? It's not like he would have the time to enjoy owning a yacht or a private beach," Heather defended.
"Partially true, but I enjoy having people wait on me hand and foot. That and I know that every catalog published now has at least one photo of me in it," Justine retorted before adding, "and I know that I can retire at any time. I work because I want to, not because I have to."
Heather raised an eyebrow at her 'replacement' in response.
Chris sighed.
"As much as I would love to let this continue, and believe me I really would, we have to take a short break for our sponsors."
End chapter three
Sorry the chapter ended so abruptly, but I couldn't get the ending to come out right, this was the best I could do. If anyone doubts my claim about Cody coming from a rich family, double check his profile, it states that his parents get him every gadget and tech widget that comes out, and as a geek and tech junkie myself I KNOW this requires a lot of money. Next chapter will be another 'off camera' segment featuring some of the campers and a little fun courtesy of our favorite cougar Blaineley. Again, please review, your comments help keep me going and inspire me to keep writing.
Till next time, Ja Ne!