It's time to get this show on the road! The first episode of The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle is ready to be kicked off! You ready?
While there may or may not be a little ship tease in this chapter, I wouldn't assume that just because certain characters interacted that they'll become an item. Ships will take time to form and develop, and friendships and conflicts are just as important as romantic relationships. So there'll be a lot of interactions between contestants on all three fronts throughout this story.
Now, without further adieu, let's get this show on the road!
Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama nor the spin-off the Ridonculous Race. Justin, Scarlett, and Junior belong to those two franchises, Naoya and Kayla belong to me, and the rest of the contestants belong to their respective creators.
Episode 1: This Ain't a Scene, It's a Ridonculous Race
Standing on the corner of a Toronto street, the cameras began to film Don as the second season of the Ridonculous Race was finally underway.
"Hey, there; this is Don," he flashed a narcissistic smile to the camera, "We're coming at you from Toronto, Ontario. Thirty-three brand new contestants, one Ridonculous Race alumni, and two Total Drama alumni will be arriving by bus to compete with us for that coveted million dollar prize! But we have a little twist this season…"
He crossed his arms and explained, "This time? Each leg of the race, the teams will be shuffled randomly, meaning that at any time, someone may be competing with their best friend. Or their worst enemy. Because of this, a new layer of strategy has been added to the race. Wiiith a few other twists coming down the road."
"How will the first episode go down?" Don asked, before saying, "Find out right here on… The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"
After the theme song, the camera moved towards the bus, Don's voice began to narrate, "We have already shuffled our thirty-six new contestants into their beginning eighteen teams, which they'll be part of for this episode only. Let's check in on them, shall we?"
Team 1: Xavier, the Ace Detective and Rosa, the Unintentional Seducer
Team 2: Brooke, the Kind-Hearted Bookworm and Junior, the Comeback Kid
"So, you're a detective?" Rosa had asked her first teammate in the competition, who looked up from the book he was reading and nodded to her.
"It's a family occupation," he replied, simply, "Basically, if you don't believe the police can help you, we'll take care of it instea- Err, what are you doing?"
Subconsciously, Rosa had begun to coyly twirl her finger on Xavier's arm. She withdrew her hand, once again not able to help accidentally flirting with guys. She cleared her throat awkwardly.
"I'm sorry about that," she apologized simply.
Xavier shrugged and returned to his book, being one to not recognize flirting whatsoever, "If you're looking for a magnifying glass, then I'm afraid to tell you that not all detectives carry those."
"Detectives still carry magnifying glasses?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
The detective nodded, "For some reason. Why, I'll never know. But, I don't, for one-" The camera panned off of the deadpan detective, deciding to put its interest instead on Danielle and Junior.
"What'cha writing?" the younger contestant asked, as Brooke was writing down notes on a notepad.
"Uh," the brunette bookworm tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before replying, "I'm writing a novel. I want to take some inspiration from the competition, too."
"Wow," the thirteen year old commented in awe, "That's… Actually really cool."
Brooke, not one to be receptive to compliments, rubbed the back of her neck and asked, "Not really. I mean, it's just writing-"
"Uh, yeah, really," Rosa added, jumping into the conversation, "It's actually really awesome."
"I have to admit," the British detective chimed in, "It's better than just leaving the competition with nothing but bruises." In his own way, this was showing his own interest in the topic.
Brooke, unsure of what to even say from all of these encouragements, cleared her throat and sheepishly said, "Um… Thanks."
Team Confessional: Xavier and Rosa
"Nothing but bruises?" Rosa asked, turning to face her current teammate, "You're not all that optimistic, are you?"
"I wouldn't call myself a pessimist," Xavier crossed his arms and chuckled, "But I am definitely a realist."
"Then what's the realist view of us winning the first challenge?" she asked, putting her hands on her lap to stop herself from accidentally flirting with someone again.
"One out of eighteen," was his quick reply, before adding, "...Oh, you were wanting me to be encouraging."
Team Confessional: Brooke and Junior.
"This is my second time on this show," Junior spoke to the camera, grinning as he crossed his arms, "As much as I love my dad, I'm really glad that he might not end up getting us eliminated this time."
"...I'm pretty sure he can see this," Brooke reminded.
"...Sh-" The camera cut out before Junior finished his sentence.
Team 3: Kelly, the Over-Preppy Cheerleader and Scarlett, the Evil Scientist
Team 4: Danielle, the Wild Animal Child and Kayla, the Pastel Goth
"R-A-C-E!" Kelly finished her cheer, before waving her pompoms around and giving out a giddy "Whooooo!" of exclamation.
Scarlett, who was leaning against the window, finally turned to look at the cheerleader and asked, "Not to be rude, but do you think that you could spread your cheers with the rest of the contestants and not just me?"
"I'm always happy to spread some good vibes," was Kelly's smiling response, "I'll be back!"
When Kelly got up to go see how the other teams were doing, Scarlett mumbled under her breath, "Finally." She was glad that she had another chance to win some money, but she knew she couldn't pull the stunt she pulled at Pahkitew Island twice. She'd be really sent to jail for that.
Meanwhile, with Danielle and Kayla, the two contestants were idly chatting, getting to know each other.
"I haven't ever really seen a goth with your… style before," the British animal lover spoke, as she motioned towards Kayla's light-violet hair and bright color coordinated clothes.
"I get that a lot," Kayla shrugged slightly, "Buuuut, that's fine! It's my style! You know. Unless other goths kick me out of friend groups, I'm going to keep it up!"
"Here's hoping that doesn't happen, though," Danielle encouraged, smiling lightly.
"Hey!" Kelly slowed to a stop as she stood in front of Danielle and Kayla, "Who wants to hear some cheering to pep them up for the race?!"
Scarlett, still back at the seat she was in to begin with mumbled, "I really doubt they'd want to-"
"Sure!" Kayla beamed at the cheerleader, "I'd love to hear one!"
Danielle shrugged, "Sure. Why not?"
"...Hear it," Scarlett finished, with a slight scowl.
Team Confessional: Danielle and Kayla
"Honestly, it's not a bad idea to try to intermingle with the teams," Danielle mused as she sat in the confessional with her teammate, "I mean, we're all on the same show and we definitely could end up on teams with the others, so we might as well be buds."
The pastel goth nodded in agreement, "Exactamundo! Let's make this summer one to remember!"
"I'm all for that," Danielle smiled and nodded at the other girl.
Solo Confessional: Kelly.
"I can tell that Scarlett isn't the most into this," the blonde, tanned cheerleader revealed, with her hands on her hips, "I mean, I did watch Pahkitew Island, so I know how she is, but… We're on a team! We've got to get along, and I'm sure she, like, understands that!"
Solo Confessional: Scarlett
Scarlett could be seen banging her head on the wall of the confessional, mumbling, "I'm. Already. Surrounded. By. Imbeciles."
Team 5: Rebecca, the Aspiring Rock Star and Rosalina, the Yaoi Fangirl
Team 6: Sam, the Ex-Intern and Blaine, the Aspiring Photographer
Rebecca looked up from strumming at her guitar to see Rosalina framing her hands around Sam, the ex-intern, and Blaine, the photographer, in a heart-shaped motion.
"What are you doing?" Rebecca asked in confusion, "You have a crush on one of those two or something?"
Rosalina shook her head vigorously, and turned in her seat to face Rebecca, "Of course not! I'm seeing if I get good crushing vibes from them!"
"Towards you?" Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, silly," the girl in the Japanese school uniform giggled, "Towards each other!"
The rockstar shrugged and turned back to her guitar, "I'm not really sure that shipping real people is the best idea in the world."
"Of course it's a good idea!" Rosalina exclaimed, just wanting to get a yaoi pairing started this season as soon as she could, before asking Rebecca, "Hey, uh. Can you go ask them about their feelings for each other for me?" Rebecca then looked up from her guitar and looked over at the camera, staring at it as if she was on The Office.
Meanwhile, with Sam and Blaine, the two boys had begun to have animated smalltalk over Blaine's hobby.
"The last thing that I got a great picture of was this huge scenery from a mountain," Blaine explained, adjusting his glasses slightly, as he handed his camera over to the ex-intern, "See?"
Sam glanced at the photo and gave a descending whistle, "Man, I bet that was a badass time."
"It was pretty cool," the photographer replied with a grin, "Hey, wanna take a selfie? I'd think it'd make a pretty nice start to the competition."
"Sure," Sam shrugged slightly.
"Awesome," the boy with the partially dyed hair nodded, "Can you grab my other camera out of my suitcase? I don't wanna waste film in this one."
"Alright," Sam shrugged again and stood up, walking towards the suitcases. However, when he walked, he accidentally bumped into a girl that was around six inches shorter than he was.
"Crap, sorry about that," he rubbed the back of his neck before asking, "You alright?"
The African-American rocker rubbed the back of her red and yellow dyed head and nodded, "Yeah, yeah! I'm fine! No worries, dude."
"Good," he nodded, before extending a hand out to her, "The name's Sam. And you're…?"
"Rebecca," she smiled lightly, taking his hand and shaking it, "Rebecca Jones."
"Nice to meet'cha, Rebecca," he replied with a grin, before maneuvering around her, "I'm just gonna… Get Blaine's backpack."
It was then that Rebecca remembered what Rosalina had asked her to do, "Hey! How do you feel about Blaine?"
Sam stared at her in confusion, before Rebecca quickly added, "No, I mean- My teammate asked me to ask you."
Solo Confessional: Rebecca
Rebecca groaned, "First my mom embarrasses me on my audition video, and now this. Great. This isn't the best start I've ever had to a show."
Solo Confessional: Sam
"Blaine's cool and all, but I don't swing that way," Sam shook his head, before musing, "But, y'know? That Rebecca's kinda cute herself now that I think about it."
Team 7: James, the Computer Hacker and Ethan, the Prankster
Team 8: Brady, the Cowardly Jerk and Lily, the Not-So-Innocent One.
James looked up from his laptop to see none other than his teammate, Ethan, snickering, as he took a water bottle and filled up a water balloon.
"Don't get my computer wet," James warned, fixing his gaze back on his work.
"Pssh," Ethan waved the computer hacker off, "I wasn't. But do you see that chick over there?"
He pointed towards none other than Lily, who was currently knitting what seemed to be a pink blanket. James blew out some air from his nostrils, but said nothing. Well, she did look like an easy target at least. As long as his computer didn't get wet, he was fine with whatever Ethan was planning.
Brady, Lily's teammate, gave an exaggerated yawn at what Lily was doing, "Knitting? Seriously? Who are you, that grandma over there?" He jerked his thumb towards Gertrude, who was animatedly talking with her teammate.
"It relieves my stress," Lily replied, not looking up from what she was knitting, "You do not have to sit and watch me knit. So please, do not feel like you have to."
Brady scoffed and stood up, as he noticed Ethan sneaking up behind the girl, "Heh. You're right. I don't. Later."
With that, Brady went and sat down next to James.
"I can't wait until Ms. Prim and Proper gets soaked," Brady looked on in amusement, speaking aloud, "This is a competition! Not America's Next Top Doily Maker!"
"Mm," James replied with a nod, looking up from his laptop to watch the scene, "It should be pretty funny."
Ethan stood behind Lily, undetected from her gaze. A grin spread across the prankster's face as he picked up the water balloon and held it over his head.
Suddenly, Lily's arm jerked up, causing the needle in her hand to puncture the water balloon, soaking Ethan. James and Brady looked on in awe, as Lily turned back to Ethan and exclaimed, putting a hand over her mouth, "Oh my gosh! You're soaked!"
Solo Confessional: James
"That was obviously on purpose," James smirked, "Not bad for a goody two-shoes."
Solo Confessional: Brady
"Well, that was really damn boring," Brady grumbled, crossing his arms, "I mean, at least someone got soaked out of it, I guess."
Team 9: Jackie, the Ambitious Artist and Josh, the Tragic Comedian
Team 10: Victor, the Mean Principal and Vanessa, the Flirty Geek.
"So, you sing, dance, and do art?" Josh asked his teammate in curiosity, before laughing slightly and saying, "Talk about a triple threat."
"Sculpting, piano, and violin too," the Indian-Canadian girl added with a nod, "But yes. I just really enjoy every art form, honestly."
"Damn," the comedian added with a whistle, nodding slightly, "I guess that's more of a quintuple threat than anything, huh?"
"You could say tha-" Jackie was cut off by the loud yelling of a middle aged man. Both teammates gave each other a bewildered look before looking towards the source of the yelling.
"It's obscene!" the principal named Victor shouted, gesturing towards Vanessa's clothes before pointing towards Junior and Rosalina, "There are children present!"
Vanessa looked down at her sea green tank top, black skinny jeans, and white sandals, before looking over at Victor, "Hey. You're the one being a pervert." She would have added this time, but she already had enough of this guy. He was absolutely obnoxious.
"Me?! Perverted?!" the man began to stomp his foot in an outrage, "That is just like kids these days! You're always on your damn Face Tumblers and My Tubes, ignoring what smart, glorious adults like myself- Where are you going?!"
"Gonna listen to anime music away from you," Vanessa shrugged, as she moved past Victor, adding in annoyance, "Buh-bye."
"Grrrr, that's just like-" once again, Victor burst out into another rambling rant at this, absolutely annoyed beyond belief of this.
Jackie gave a, "Huh," before turning back to Josh, "One of us should probably go say something to her." She didn't necessarily want to, but she did throw the idea out there for Josh to pick up. And pick it up he did.
Standing up, he went to go sit in the empty seat next to Vanessa, "So. You escape Mt. Vic-suvius?"
Vanessa laughed a bit before nodding, "I'm not going to let that old man ruin my time."
"Exactly," Josh replied, before shrugging, "Who knows. Maybe he'll be done erupting before long."
The flirt nodded for a moment before looking Josh over once and smirking, "Soooo… How're you doing?"
Team Confessional: Jackie and Josh
"For real, though," Josh spoke, with his arms crossed, "That's a really good way for everyone to hate you on the first day. Not cool, Victor."
"Maybe if he teams up with someone else annoying, they'll lose the race together," Jackie replied, noting, "It'd be a win-win."
"So, basically, nothing of value would be lost?" Josh asked, chuckling a bit.
"Essentially," Jackie agreed, amusedly.
Solo Confessional: Vanessa
"I'm not going to let that old man ruin my fun," Vanessa determined, crossing her arms over her chest, "I've got a competition to win, you know?"
She gave a coy smile and added, "Annnnd, there's some pretty yummy guys and girls around here too. That helps a good amount, honestly."
Team 11: Ash, the Nature Lover and Shakir, the Insane Funny Guy.
Team 12: Melissa, the Failed Manipulator and Isadora, the Exuberant Explorer
As Victor continued to rant, bringing a lot of attention upon himself, two team members watched on in a mix of annoyance and amusement.
"Wow," Ash, the nature lover, mused, "He's only been here for one day and I already hope he gets eliminated."
"Yo, maybe the first challenge will be sacrificing him off the top of Toronto's Sky Tower," the always lovably odd Shakir mused with a grin, "...Damn, that's not that bad of an idea, actually…"
"Or maybe the first challenge will be, 'leave Victor on the bus and never look back,'" she replied, smirking slightly.
Shakir tapped his lip for a minute before nodding, "Yeah, honestly, I could go for that, too!"
The two sat in silence for a minute, before Shakir asked, "No, really, do you think they'd let me climb the sky tower like they did last season? Or would I hafta put that in my own hands?" Ash just gave a shrug of indifference to that. From just the few minutes she had known Shakir, it wasn't like that would stop him anyway.
Also watching the ranting man was a certain Latina and a certain self-proclaimed antagonist.
"Wow," Isadora looked on, before bluntly stating, "I feel bad for her, but I'm reeeeally glad I'm not on his team."
"Same," Melissa agreed, before looking over at the Latina and grinning, "So… Alliance?"
Isadora blinked for a second, before raising an eyebrow, "This early? We haven't even done a challenge yet."
"Rule number one about being a reality show manipulator is to get some people to work under you!" despite what she was saying, Melissa seemed to be genuine about forming an alliance, "So, uh… Pretty please?"
Isadora stared at Melissa for a moment, before deciding to stand up and walk away, saying nothing more to the girl.
"...Man, I didn't want to have to eliminate you," Melissa sighed, crossing her arms and looking away sadly. There went her chance at a first friend in the competition.
Isadora decided to sit in the aisle seat across from Ash and Shakir, asking Ash, "Uh… What's he doing?"
Isadora pointed towards Shakir, who was hanging upside down from the luggage rack, counting forward to what seemed to be a thousand.
Ash shrugged, "No idea. It's amusing at least."
Team confessional: Ash and Shakir.
"Uggggh, are we there yet?" Shakir groaned, laying out on the bench of the confessional, obviously bored from the long trip to their first destination.
"Does it look like we're there yet?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.
"...Yes?"
"No," she shook her head, causing Shakir to groan once again.
Solo Confessional: Isadora
"I'm not going to let first impressions change much here," Isadora smiled at the confessional camera, "Take it easy, you know? Unless something just absolutely gets unbearable, I just know that this competition will be amazing!" She seemed to have had a burst of renewed vigor, ready as ever for the first challenge.
Team 13: Lexi, the Flirty Punk and Gertrude, the Thrill-Seeking Grandma
Team 14: Markus, the Stressed Workaholic and Liam, the Classy Gentleman.
"And then, he flew out of the arena, and I gave him a hard piledriver to the stomach!" Gertrude was explaining one of her personal experiences to Lexi, who was extremely interested to hear what the older woman had to say, "Direct hit! Pinned him down! Won the match, you can bet your bottom dollar!"
"Nice," Lexi congratulated Gertrude, before saying, "I never thought I'd hear about a woman who decided to take up wrestling at like… age seventy."
"You're never too late to live out your dreams, deary," Gertrude gave the teenager a wink, "Never forget that, and you'll be golden in whatever you do."
"Huh," Lexi mused for a moment, before nodding a friendly nod to the grandmother, "I'll keep that in mind."
"'Atta girl," Gertrude replied, before digging in her suitcase, "Now where did I put that slingshot…"
Meanwhile, Mark was working on an essay. In a moving bus. Before the competition. His partner, Liam, leaned over and looked at it for a moment, before asking, "Why are you doing schoolwork on a reality show?"
"It's for my mom," Markus replied, a little tiredly, "I have to give an essay about the entire inner area of what she's working on right now. Four-hundred words or more."
"Maybe you should relax," Liam tried to reason with him, but he shook his head.
"No, I need to go ahead and get it done before the challenge- Ow!" Markus was then hit in the back of the head by a paperclip. He and Liam turned back towards Lexi and Gertrude, who looked at the two boys and then each other, before pointing at their teammate, saying, "She did it."
Team Confessional: Lexi and Gertrude
"We both did it," Lexi amusedly told the cameras, her arms crossed over her chest, "I never thought that hanging out with someone like Gertrude would be so chill and fun, honestly."
"Right back at you, sister," Gertrude replied with an amused cackle.
Team 15: Charlotte, the Enthusiastic Actress and Jake, the Genius Techie
Team 16: Mitch, the Creepy Shut-In and Davis, the One-Man Acappella Group
Charlotte peered over Jake's shoulder at his work, moving a strand of dyed pink hair out of her face.
"What'cha up to?" she asked out of curiosity.
"I'm getting as much information about where we could be going as possible," he replied before shaking his head, "But… Don's got it locked up pretty tight."
"You're hacking Don's servers?" Charlotte asked, laughing slightly.
"Hey, it's fair game," the Asian techie grinned, "I mean. It's not like there's anything there, anyway."
"Teammate, our victory is nigh~" a certain singer could be heard nearby, bringing the attention of the actress and genius towards him and his partner.
"The destruction of the world as we know it is nigh," was the cloaked Mitch's dark response, "When this world is engulfed into fire and flames, you will see."
"...Fire and flames is the same thing," Davis reminded the creepy boy. All Mitch did in response was give a low, dull, "Meh."
Team Confessional: Charlotte and Jake
"He's not really the biggest ray of sunshine, is he?" Jake asked, amusedly.
"I don't know," Charlotte gave a shrug, "It's kinda creepy cute."
"Creepy cute?" Jake repeated.
"Creepy cute."
Jake nodded, "Ah. Creepy cute."
Team 17: Justin, the Male Model and Tai, the Illusionist.
Team 18: Naoya, the Company Heir and Helen, the Snack Addict.
"And then, when I won that cooking competition, I got my first acceptance to an actual reality show," Helen continued to chat Naoya's ear off, prattling on and on about her goals and accomplishments.
The heir, however, looked less than pleased. If he knew he was going to be figuratively trapped in another way, he wouldn't have signed up for this show in the first place. He turned back from his seat to watch another team, that was a lot more entertaining than just listening to someone talk for now three hours.
"Do another one," Justin prodded Tai, in awe of the illusionist's abilities.
The mute magician nodded and held a quarter in his hand. Closing his hands around the quarter, he then released them, showing that it had disappeared. He tapped at his wrists once or twice to show that he hadn't hidden it inside of his sleeve.
He stood up and walked over behind Helen and Naoya. With a pushing motion from his hand, he sent a cloud of dust around Helen.
Helen coughed for a moment before asking, "What the-" It was then that she suddenly spit out a quarter.
Naoya stared at Helen. Helen stared at Tai. Tai didn't seem surprised at all. Naoya glanced at Justin. The three contestants then clapped for the magician, who promptly gave a bow.
Team Confessional: Justin and Tai.
"You know, with my dashingly good looks and Tai's skills?" the Hawaiian male model asked, "I'm pretty sure that this first challenge will be a piece of cake."
Tai just gave a silent nod and smile, glancing over at Justin once.
The bus slowed to a stop and opened its doors to let the contestants out. They had finally reached their destination. Not Toronto, Ontario, like they expected. Instead, this season was starting out at Vancouver, British Columbia.
As they walked out of the bus alongside their partners, Don greeted them at the first Don Box, "Welcome, racers, to British Columbia! The first leg of the Ridonculous Race!"
"Technically wouldn't you call this the starting line?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Leg, starting line, whatever," Don frowned and shook his head, "The point is-"
"The point is irrelevant," Mitch replied in monotone, "Just like the essence of life."
Don gave Mitch a strange look, as did a few of the contestants as well. Clearing his throat, Don spoke, "Okay, Mitch. You make Crimson and Ennui look like sunny preps in comparison."
Mitch's expression didn't change, but he simply said, "Thanks."
Don rolled his eyes before complaining, "Great. Now I've forgot where I got to. Where was I?"
"I'm pretty sure you were going to explain the first challenge," Markus rose his hand to answer Don's question.
"Right; glad I remembered it!" Don grinned vainly before turning and motioning towards the group of buildings behind him, "Do you guys know what this is?"
"Ooh, I do!" Charlotte's eyes glimmered with enthusiasm, "It's Vancouver Film Studios!"
"Correct, Charlotte!"
Solo Confessional: Charlotte
"An acting challenge?" the actress seemed absolutely overjoyed with the thought of an acting challenge being what started them off, "I have no idea how acting could play into the race, but I'm ready! Way ready!"
Team Confessional: Jackie and Josh.
"It's every Canadian actress's dream to be cast by Vancouver Studios," Jackie explained, knowingly, "To think that we have a challenge tailored for our team this early in the competition."
"I'm not really sure they'll accept stand up comedy though," Josh mused before asking, "Hey, what if the challenge has absolutely nothing to do with acting?"
"No way," Jackie shook her head, "I can feel it. This has to be an acting challenge."
"Since the setup of the competition is a little different this season, I'll be reading your first Don Box tip," the host explained, as he hit the button on the machine that resembled him, pulling out the ticket that spit out of its mouth, "Your first challenge is simple. You must traverse through the studio lot to pick up your personal Ridonculous Race passports, and exit the south exit of the studio, where you'll find me and the chill zone. The team that makes it there first will receive an advantage in our first location after we shuffle the teams again, meaning two teams will get the advantage. The last team to make it may or may not be eliminated. Sound simple?"
Team Confessional: Jackie and Josh
Jackie stared at Josh dryly for a minute, before Josh pulled out his phone and hit a sound-effect that went, "Wah-wah-wah-wahhhh."
Team Confessional: Charlotte and Jake
"I really hope we have an acting challenge before this ends," Charlotte sighed, a little bummed that they wouldn't be acting in the challenge. That was her whole life, after all.
"Am I the only one worried that this so-called walking challenge will be something a lot more dangerous than it should be?" Jake asked, turning towards his teammate.
"How bad could it be?" she shrugged, "They can't do something too dangerous on the first episode, right?"
"This is way too dangerous for the first episode!" Markus screamed, as he and Liam tried to outrun the special effects explosions that were behind them. Almost immediately when all the teams started, this happened. Explosions went off. Earthquakes began to go off. All thanks to the studio's pro special effects teams.
No challenge would be that easy.
"We can do it!" Liam exclaimed, trying to encourage his teammate, "We just have to keep running and grab our passports at the center of the par-"
Liam slammed into Mitch, the two boys falling to the ground, as their partners looked on in awe.
"Uh… where did he come from?" Markus asked, turning to face Davis.
"He's fast and quiet," Davis replied with a shrug, before giving an almost musical scream when he saw another set of explosions go off, "Nevermind that! We need to get going again-"
Mitch was missing. Davis stood there for a moment, as he watched Markus help Liam up and the two ran off once again. Deciding to not stay and get himself blown up, he decided to head on as well.
Solo Confessional: Mitch
"The fact that I could die at anytime invigorates me," the morbid hooded figure mused, "It almost gives me the drive to win this competition."
Somehow, Naoya and Helen had found themselves in the company of Xavier and Rosa. How, they weren't exactly sure. But they had found a place underneath a tree in the studio lot that wasn't experiencing as many explosions as the rest of the studio. Naoya and Helen looked moderately worried from the challenge, Rosa looked concerned, and Xavier was in deep thought.
"We're doomed," Naoya paced nervously, "I knew I should have stayed in the mansion! The first time I get to go out on my own and now I'm gonna die-"
"Hey, hey," Rosa stepped forward and grabbed Naoya's hands, rubbing them slightly subconsciously, "Calm down. They can't kill us. I promise. Trust me." Once again, her words had a flirting undertone, but not on purpose.
"...O-oh, right."
Helen turned to Xavier and said, "Your partner really needs to tone… whatever she has down."
"Your partner was just about to have a nervous breakdown, or did you conveniently forget that?" Xavier asked, sarcastically back to her.
"So what if-"
It was then that another explosion rocked the area. This time, however, the tree that they were under was affected and began to topple down towards them.
"Great Barrier Reef!" Xavier exclaimed, as he grabbed Rosa by the arm and tugged her to the right. Helen quickly did the same with Naoya, tugging him to the left. The tree collapsed, crashing onto the ground, nearby. However, it separated the two teams.
"Hey, are you guys okay?" Naoya called from the other side of the tree.
"Of course they're okay," Helen urged Naoya, pulling him to come on, "Let's get moving!"
"Yeah, but wouldn't- Woah!" With that, Naoya was interrupted by Helen tugging him on so they could make it to the center of the studio.
Rosa watched the two run off before turning to face the detective standing next to her, "I guess we'll find a way around."
"It seems that way," the Brit nodded slightly, crossing his arms over his chest, "We don't seem to have any other choice."
Solo Confessional: Naoya
Naoya looked moderately annoyed as he crossed his arms and looked into the camera, "You know? I honestly wonder how good of a partner Helen is. Especially if whenever I'm not on a team with her, she might ditch me like she did Rosa and Xavier."
Team Confessional: Rosa and Xavier
"Can't you use your detective skills to get us to the finish line quicker?" Rosa asked, raising an eyebrow at her partner.
With an overdramatic tone, Xavier replied, "Damn it, Rosa, I'm a detective, not a miracle worker!" He paused for a second before adding in his usual calm tone, "I've always wanted to say that." Rosa laughed a bit and rolled her eyes.
"G-got them!"
As Junior kept an eye out for any "natural" disasters on the film lot, Brooke had grabbed her and Junior's passports, running back to her younger teammate and handing him his.
"Thanks, Brooke!" he replied with a grin before deciding, "Let's hurry before things get… well. Way worse."
Brooke nodded, "Alright!"
With that, the two were off once again, and Melissa and Isadora showed up to the center of the studio instead.
"Alliance member!" Melissa exclaimed, pointing towards the passport, "Retrieve our passports!"
Isadora turned towards Melissa and crossed her arms, "Okay. We're not in an alliance. And what's the magic words?"
"...Pretty please with sugar on top?" Melissa asked, showing a genuinely sweet smile.
Isadora sighed, but went over to grab the passport. Meanwhile, Kelly went to hop over the cracked places in the pavement to grab her and Scarlett's passports, doing several flips and cartwheels to do so.
Scarlett, who had stopped next to Melissa, stopped the girl from saying anything, pointing out, "No. I do not need a second Max."
Solo Confessional: Melissa
Melissa seemed a little hurt that no one was really paying her much mind, despite her doing what she thought she had to for popularity. After a moment, she gained a determined look on her face, "Right! I'll just try harder! I'll show them how bad-"
An intern slipped into the confessional and said, "Hey! Nice shirt!"
"Awww, thanks!" Melissa replied, as the intern left. She then turned towards the camera and groaned.
"Will you hurry up?!" Brady asked, frowning, as he turned back towards Lily, who was just walking at a leisurely pace through the studio lot.
Lily shook her head and simply replied, "Better safe than sorry, I believe."
"Better sorry than dead laaaaaaast!" The cowardly jerk suddenly screamed as he fell into a pit that the workers at the studio had built in the ground, landing with a thud.
The prim and proper girl peered down into the whole and smirked, asking, "Oh? You were saying?"
Brady chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head, "Will you, uh, help me up?"
"I might be too slow to do so," Lily replied, tilting her head slightly, "Won't I?"
She watched as Charlotte and Jake, who already had their tickets, jogged by. She sighed and reached her hand down into the hole to try and pull Brady back onto the streets of the studio.
Solo Confessional: Lily
"Of course this place would be boobytrapped," the Native American girl looked down at her fingernails, "I wasn't born yesterday, and I did see the last season. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, really."
She then looked at the camera and tilted her head slightly with a sweet smile, "I guess I'll have to shift into high gear then, won't I?"
Charlotte and Jake continued onwards, before halting in their tracks. To their surprise, a large metal gate was put up in the path in front of them. It looked a little too high to climb up either. Well. For the most part.
"Oh, come on!" Charlotte exclaimed, "We already have our tickets! We're so close to the finish line!"
Jake rose a finger and smiled, saying, "I think I can be of some use. It won't be live, but I could pull out my laptop and try to use Google Earth to get us through."
"Are you sure there'll be wi-fi out here to do that?" the actress asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Of course," the techie replied with a nod, "Even studios need their wi-fi connection, you know!"
Speaking about teams that already had their tickets, two teams were neck and neck, trying to get closer to the finish line. They just so happened to be Danielle and Kayla VS. Victor and Vanessa.
"Hey, you guys!" the perky goth waved to the other two team members, "How're you guys?"
"Hey, Punky Brewster," Vanessa teased the goth back, "And… Don't ask."
"Yeah," Victor replied, trying to keep up with his teammate who was a little faster than he was, "Don't ask- What the hell's with your hair color?!"
"This'll end well," Danielle spoke, trying to keep up with the others. Vanessa she was fine with, but why did they have to catch up with Victor of all people? The bane of youth in the flesh?
"...Aren't you balding?" Kayla asked back, raising an eyebrow.
"I AM NOT BALD-AAH!"
Another earthquake shook the area the two teams were in. Suddenly, the ground began to crack, separating the two teams onto separate street platforms: Danielle and Kayla on one, Vanessa on another, and Victor on yet another.
Victor took one look at Vanessa and yelled, "Ha! Serves you right, missy. I'll just take this chance to get ahead!" With a grunt, he jumped onto safe ground again and took off running towards the finish line once more.
"...Do you think he knows that if he gets there without Vanessa they'll get penalized?" Danielle asked, turning towards Kayla. The goth just shrugged, not knowing the answer to that.
Solo Confessional: Victor.
"Heheh…" he chuckled nervously, smoothing out what little hair he had, "I seem to've… Overlooked that. Heheh."
Danielle and Kayla jumped onto Vanessa's platform, the latter extending her hand out to the flirty geek. However, Vanessa looked a little surprised.
"You guys're… helping me?" in a show where backstabbing other teams was made an art, this was an entirely different and unexpected twist to her. A very pleasant one, however.
"Of course," Danielle replied with a smile, before asking, "I don't think either of us have anything against you."
"Exactly-pactly, D's right!" Kayla nodded, faux-sagely, before excitedly moving her hand in front of Vanessa again, "Come on, V! Let's go!"
"'Kay, K," Vanessa teased the goth once more, before turning back to the platforms. With Kayla's hand in one hand, and Danielle's hand in another, the three girls jumped from one platform onto the one Victor was once on. With one more leap, they landed on the safety of the studio path; for now.
"Thanks, you two," Vanessa replied, before giving them a wink, "If I wasn't in a hurry, I'd just kiss both of you."
"I wouldn't mind," Kayla shrugged, non-chalantly. Her own opinion when it came to that was that you only live once.
"You should probably hurry to catch up with Victor," Danielle recommended, before adding, "Before Don decides to give you two a penalty."
"Right," the gamer nodded, before giving the two girls a wave, "You guys don't mind if I run ahead?"
Danielle and Kayla looked at each other and then looked back over at Vanessa and shook their heads, smiling. Nodding to them, Vanessa hurried on, as Danielle and Kayla followed somewhere behind her.
"Man, this challenge is fun!" Ethan exclaimed, as he and his partner had their tickets, and continued to run through the studio. James gave a grunt of indifference, just watching as more explosions went off around them.
They then noticed that rounding up behind them was a certain nature lover and a certain Popi.
"Sup, guys?" Shakir asked as they became neck and neck with the other team, "Likin' the weather? An overcast of explosions, right?!"
"And a sixty percent chance of doom," Ash added, smirking slightly.
"Only sixty?" Ethan asked, laughing slightly, before being nudged in the ribs by James.
"Are you just gonna let them pass us?" James asked, glaring at the prankster.
The Latino just shook his head and replied, "No… But since we're all together, maybe we should run together! You know! Become buds?"
"Sure," was Shakir's answer. "No," was James's answer.
"Majority rules!" Ethan called, before turning towards Ash, "How about it?"
Ash was quiet for a moment. They couldn't really have a trial alliance or anything this early. And while James seemed pretty moody, neither boy seemed to be worrying to her. So, she just shrugged in response.
Solo Confessional: Ethan
"You've gotta make friends this season," Ethan told the camera, simply, "You never know when you're stuck with someone else. Plus… I'm pretty sure that Ash and Shakir would help me plan more pranks later! Definitely!" The true reason why he had the idea was unveiled for the world to see.
Sam and Blaine continued their run to get closer to the finish line in silence. They were doing well, already having their ticket and having dodged the majority of the explosions that rocked the area, as well as the earthquake.
Suddenly, an explosion went off nearby, causing the two boys to stop. They watched as Lexi and Gertrude, standing on a large plank of wood which seemed to be Gertrude's idea, went flying in the sky towards the finish line, cheering from the obviously radical idea.
"When grannies fly," Sam noted in awe, "Huh." Blaine didn't say anything, but simply took a picture of the flying duo.
Solo Confessional: Blaine
"Man, this is literally the most amazing picture I've taken in a couple of days!" Blaine was looking down at his camera and grinning, "I've got to thank them later!"
Meanwhile, Jackie and Josh were still struggling to grab their passports, as they jumped from platform to platform. Neither were expecting such an intimidating challenge for their first challenge of all things. But then again, maybe that wasn't too surprising after all.
Finally grabbing their passports, both of them breathed a sigh in relief. Now they would just have to make it back to the end and they'd be finally finished.
"Next time we're on a team, don't jinx us when we're doing a challenge," Jackie joked, nudging Josh slightly.
"I make no promises," Josh replied, causing the two to laugh for a few seconds. Well, until Jackie replied, "No, seriously. Don't."
Don watched as two teams were making their way towards the first Chill Zone. One of the two teams were Rebecca and Rosalina, to his utmost surprise. However, he was even more surprised by the team behind them.
"Nani?!" Rosalina asked in Japanese, "How did- They- Huh?!"
"...We've gotta speed up," Rebecca decided, as none other than Victor and Vanessa were hot on their tails.
"We can't get a penalty this early in the competition!" Vanessa exclaimed, glaring at Victor.
"I slowed down, didn't I?!" the middle aged man asked, between huffing and puffing in exhaustion.
It was then that one of the two teams made it to the chill zone first.
"Rebecca and Rosalina, you've won the first round of the race!" Don announced, before adding, "Victor and Vanessa, so close, yet so far! Second place!"
Rebecca, Rosalina, and Vanessa all cheered for their placements. Victor, however, was less than amused that they didn't score first. Suddenly, he was knocked to the ground by the third place team, Lexi and Gertrude, who fell from above on the plank of wood they were riding on. Everyone fell silent, before the five women cheered once more.
Solo Confessional: Rosalina
"Huh…" she tapped her lip for a moment, before grinning, "You know…? I could get to shipping Don and Victor-"
"No," Don stuck his head in the confessional, chastising her, "No, no, no. No. No."
Once he had left, Rosalina whispered to the camera, "I'm totally shipping it."
The next six teams to arrive, in order, were Kelly and Scarlett, Naoya and Helen, Sam and Blaine, Xavier and Rosa, Ash and Shakir, and James and Ethan.
"See?" Ethan asked, turning to James, "Now was that really that bad?"
James looked from Ethan to Ash and Shakir to back to James once more. He simply replied, "Yes."
Brooke and Junior, Brady and Lily, Danielle and Kayla, and Justin and Tai were the next four contestants to reach the Chill Zone.
"Huh," Don mused as he watched Justin and Tai cross the finish line, "Usually the mute contestants go first."
Tai furrowed his brow at Don. If that was supposed to be a joke, it sure wasn't funny. Justin didn't seem all that amused either.
"I didn't speak much during Total Drama Island," Justin reminded. A few awkward seconds passed before Don went, "So?" Grumbling, Justin went to stand next to the rest of the teams, Tai following after him.
"We made it!" Josh exclaimed as he and Jackie crossed the finish line. Despite all of that, they actually made it to the Chill Zone.
"That leaves Charlotte and Jake, Markus and Liam, and Melissa and Isadora to reach the Chill Zone," Don announced, before asking, "Who will be the next team to-"
"US!"
Don watched as Melissa and Isadora reached the Chill Zone, coming in sixteenth place.
"Weren't you guys a little further ahead than sixteenth place once?" Don asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's a mystery," Melissa replied, waving her fingers in front of the host, while Isadora just shrugged.
Don shrugged as well, focusing his attention on the last two teams who were finally making their way towards the Chill Zone, "Who will be the last to arrive? Will it be Charlotte and Jake? Or Markus and Liam?"
Team Confessional: Markus and Liam.
"If I get eliminated first, my mom would have my head," Markus spoke in the confessional, rubbing the back of his neck, "Last place would really suck."
Liam shrugged, "It didn't really matter anyway. They have twenty-six episodes, the last team wouldn't be sent home this episode, I believe."
Markus took a breath of relief and replied, "...True."
"Markus and Liam, you've made it to the Chill Zone!" Don exclaimed when the two made it to the mat, before turning to Charlotte and Jake who arrived right behind them, "Charlotte and Jake... I'm disappointed... That I won't be sending you home, because this is a non-elimination round!"
"So we had no reason to hurry?" Jake asked, exasperated. But hey. They were safe for another day. That was good.
"Oh, you had a reason," Don chuckled, before turning to the winning team, "When we change teams at the start of the next episode, Rosalina and Rebecca's teams will be the first to get access to the Don Box, which means a headstart towards the airport and the first destination outside of Canada!"
Solo Confessional: Rebecca
Rebecca smiled lightly and nodded to the camera, "Alright. It looks like my luck's turning around. Now all I can hope for is to take this start and keep scoring well for the rest of the season!" She gave the "Rock on" hand signal to the camera before the camera faded to static.
Solo Confessional: Rosalina
"Viton?" Rosalina was still thinking about a ship name for Victor and Don, "No... That'd be Victon. Dor-"
"For the last time, I don't want to be shipped with that old man!" Don asked, peering into the confessional cam again.
As he left, the thirteen year old whispered, "He totally does."
As Don stood in front of the eighteen teams, he began to look straight into the camera and speak, "We've had our warm-up lap on the Ridonculous Race. But next episode, things are for real! Who will be the first team to be eliminated? Stay tuned to... The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!" With that, he flashed his signature smile to the camera and ended the episode.
Episode 1 Rankings:
1st- Rebecca and Rosalina
2nd- Victor and Vanessa
3rd- Lexi and Gertrude
4th- Kelly and Scarlett
5th- Naoya and Helen
6th- Sam and Blaine
7th- Xavier and Rosa
8th- Ash and Shakir
9th- James and Ethan
10th- Brooke and Junior
11th- Brady and Lily
12th- Danielle and Kayla
13th- Justin and Tai
14th- Mitch and Davis
15th- Jackie and Josh
16th- Melissa and Isadora
17th- Markus and Liam
18th- Charlotte and Jake (Non-elimination.)
Remaining contestants: Ash, Blaine, Brady, Brooke, Charlotte, Danielle, Davis, Ethan, Gertrude, Helen, Isadora, Jackie, Jake, James, Josh, Junior, Justin, Kayla, Kelly, Lexi, Liam, Lily, Markus, Melissa, Mitch, Naoya, Rebecca, Rosa, Rosalina, Sam, Scarlett, Shakir, Tai, Vanessa, Victor, and Xavier.
Eliminated contestants: None as of yet.
And there's the first episode! It was mostly to setup how each character will work in this story, and get a feel of their personalities. Because of this, the challenges from episode two and onward will have a bigger focus and will take up more of the screentime.
How do you think I handled your oc? Don't be afraid to let me know!
Of course, I'd like to know what you thought of the chapter in general as well! What you liked, found interesting, certain teams that worked for you, thoughts on who you think will be the first two characters eliminated, etc. Because next episode, the teams will switch again and I can guarantee that two contestants will be packing their bags (although there will be two chances for characters to return to the competition later.)
Next episode: Home on the Color Pallet