:O What's this? It's something that I've been wanting to do for a while! If you're wondering if you recognise me or not, I've been writing an SYOC fic here for a few years sporadically, but I'm here with a new story! I'm considering this a rebirth of Total Drama! It takes place in a universe where none of the seasons have ever occurred, we're starting with a completely fresh slate. The only thing I'm taking from canon here are the challenges, the rest of it all, that includes the teams, the pairings, the relationships etc. are going to be my own ideas. I hope you enjoy reading it and I hope you leave a review at the end to let me know what you think! Enjoy the opening chapter of Total Drama Rebirth!
"The island of Wawanakwa." A voice could be heard as shots of a large island, a forest, a large mountain and a large clearing could all be seen. "This is the setting for what is looking to be the most explosive teen reality competition that you've ever seen. With twenty-four bloodthirsty teens coming here to fight for a staggering one hundred thousand dollars." The shot now turned to a man, probably in his late thirties standing on a dock. He was wearing a blue shirt and cargo pants, projecting a very laid back aura as he stood there. "They're going to have to compete in grueling challenges, eat authentic and frankly gross summer camp food and make sure that they don't get voted off by their fellow campers." The man smiled as the camera zoomed in on his face.
"My name is Chris McLean, and I'm gonna be your host for this adventure! I welcome you all to Total! Drama! Island!"
(The Dock)
Our host Chris was standing in the same place as he did during the intro, he shot a cheesy grin to the camera as he began the show in earnest.
"Hey guys! I hope you're as excited as I am to kick this show off in earnest! We've got twenty-two excited teens ready to fight each other tooth and nail to get their hands on the hundred thousand big ones." The host grinned, "Shall we meet them now?" As if on cue, a large boat pulled into the dock - on its bow stood a boy, he let out a cheer as he pulled into the dock, leaping off from the boat with his luggage in tow. The most obvious thing about him was the large cowboy hat that sat on his head, covering his blond hair.
"Geoff!" Chris greeted the boy with a grin, "Welcome to the party!"
"Hell yeah dude!" The boy cheered, giving Chris a fist bump as he did, "I'm never early to a party but there's a first time for everything." The boy gave a laugh as he said that, looking around at the island around him, "It's not as fancy as I was expecting but I reckon we could still have some fun!"
"That's the spirit my dude!" Chris was immediately swept up in the cowboy hat-wearing boy's enthusiasm, his smile spreading even wider. "Stand at the edge of the dock while you wait for the other contestants to turn up." Geoff did as he was told and walked to the end of the dock, as if on cue another boat pulled up carrying a new contestant. The girl standing on the boat had brown skin and a sharp bobbed hair cut. She stood on the boat with her arms crossed and a small smile on her face. She hopped onto the dock and immediately stuck her hand out for Chris to shake.
"Courtney." Chris nodded, "As professional as ever." He took her hand and shook it which caused the girl to smile once again.
"I try and keep a good image, you never know when someone important might be watching you." She said to the host who nodded along.
"Inspirational to all young teens." Chris replied with a hand on his heart, "Go and join your fellow camper down the end of the dock though, we've still got a lot of people to get through."
The professional girl nodded and went to join Geoff;
"Wassup Dudette." Geoff said, extending his fist out to Courtney for her to tap, which she did with a slightly confused look on her face.
"Nice to meet you." She began, "I'm Courtney."
"Geoff." The party boy replied with a chill grin, "Totally cool."
While the two introduced themselves, another boat pulled up to the dock. This one carried a smaller boy with brown hair wearing a sweater over a long shirt and jeans. He was smiling showing a gap in between his front teeth.
"Cody" Chris called to the boy who waved at the host as he stepped onto the dock.
"Hey Chris." The boy, now known as Cody, gave the host a set of finger guns as a wink which caused the host to laugh.
"Planning to work that charm in the game?" Chris asked.
"You know it." Cody gave him another wink as he walked over to the other two contestants and they began once again the process of introducing themselves.
In the meantime another boat pulled up to the island, this one carried a girl with long blond hair. She used a bandana to keep it away from her face. She was wearing a tanktop, mini skirt and cowboy boots as she stared dreamily at the sea around her.
"Lindsay!" Chris introduced the new girl who stepped off the boat with a small giggle.
"Wait a minute… I totally know you." She said, pointing to Chris who smiled at her, nodding slowly.
"I'm the host of the show Lindsay." he said slowly to her, "Chris McLean, I was a part of the casting interviews."
"Were you…" Lindsay said scratching her head, "I could have sworn you were my chauffeur."
"No Lindsay…" Chris sighed as the blond girl continued to look very confused. "I'm still Chris."
"Okay Chip." Lindsay smiled as she wandered over to the other contestants. Our host could only shake his head as the next boat pulled up to the dock. This one carried a slightly more muscular boy with black hair and a green shirt. The most notable thing about him was the guitar case that was strapped to his back, which one would assume had a guitar in it.
"Trent!" Chris said with a smile, "You ready to play us some sick tunes?"
"I'm sure I can try." The boy responded coolly, a serene look on his face.
"Nice." Chris grinned as Trent moved over to the other contestants without being prompted.
"Oh you play an instrument?" Courtney asked the boy with a raised brow, "I play the violin myself."
"Neat." Trent said with a smile, "I'm a guitar guy through and through." He commented, "It's the easiest to write songs with."
"That's so cool dude." Cody said, looking at the boy with a look that could easily be confused for either awe or admiration.
"Haha thanks. I try." Trent responded awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling to himself.
In the meantime another boat was pulling up, this one carried a girl with wild curly orange hair and a green top and skirt combination. She was currently perched on the bow of the ship, holding on seemingly with both her hands and her feet as her hair blew in the wind.
"This is so totally awesome!" She screamed as the boat stopped at the dock, the girl immediately leaped off the boat and did two backflips in the air before landing in front of Chris with a wide grin.
"This is Izzy." The host said, shocked by the exuberance of the girl.
"Haha thanks Chris!" The girl spoke quickly, if you weren't paying attention her words could easily come across as a fast-paced jumble of sounds. "Do you think there is a race of underground gnomes on the island? I think I can hear their little drills mining."
"No." Chris deadpanned as the girl shrugged before bouncing off to the end of the dock to talk to the other contestants. Right on time too as the next boat pulled up, this one carried a boy with a green mohawk wearing a black t-shirt. He scowled the whole time that the boat approached the island, and continued to scowl as he stepped off, glancing at the island and the other campers who had arrived.
"Wow… what a dump." He scoffed, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.
"Probably still better than juvie though Duncan." Chris reminded the boy who rolled his eyes again at the comment. "Which I should remind you, is where you're going if you do anything funny."
"Yeah yeah whatever." The boy shrugged, "I'm not here to cause trouble or something like that." He said half-heartedly as he also wandered to the end of the dock to be with the other contestants.
"Hey gorgeous." He said, winking at Courtney as he walked over to the others, causing the girl to roll her eyes and scoff at him. "Come on, don't be like that, everyone likes a bad boy." Duncan laughed.
"I'm not interested." She said quickly, crossing her arms and taking a step away from him.
"That's what they all say." Duncan smirked as he stood away from her and turned towards the end of the dock to watch everyone else arrive. Speaking of everyone else, another contestant was just arriving. This one carried a girl with pale skin and hair, dyed both black and teal in streaks. She was wearing a corset top and a skirt as well as long boots. Her face seemed to be disinterested in all of her surroundings as she stepped off the boat and sighed.
"Why did I even sign up for this." She mused to herself as Chris looked at her with a grin.
"Gwen." He began, "I um… well I don't know the answer to that actually. But you signed the contract so tough luck!"
The girl who could easily be described as a goth just sighed again and walked down to the end of the dock.
"Hey. You look beautiful." Cody said to her as she walked up, giving her what he believed to be a sexy smirk that just looked awkward on his face, which was picked up by Gwen who looked at him with light disdain.
"Um thanks." She said, inching further and further away from him as he followed her, clearly not getting the hint. The next boat was also driving into the dock, this one carried a larger pale boy with sandy blond hair and a large grin.
"This rocks!" The boy exclaimed as he stepped onto the wood.
"Owen! Glad to see you're excited." Chris said happily as the boy suddenly pulled him into a hug.
"Totally Chris!" Owen said as the host looked vaguely uncomfortable.
"Can you put me down now." The host urged the boy who quickly dropped him as he looked at him rather sheepish.
"Sorry dude, I'm just really excited." Owen laughed nervously as Chris shook his head to assure him he wasn't upset.
"And we love that enthusiasm Owen! Just keep it away from me." Chris smiled as the boy went to join the other contestants. As he did, another boat was pulling up to the dock, it carried a tall girl with darker skin. Her hair was tied into a long braid behind her and was dyed a purple colour. She stepped onto the dock and immediately let out a load squeal as she immediately got right up next to Chris.
"Chris McLean." She breathed in deeply next to him, her eyes closing in joy, "You're wearing your signature cologne, ARTMS by Modhaus, I can tell. I'm wearing it too." The girl frankly sounded slightly unhinged as she spoke to the host who rightfully looked rather perturbed.
"Um… correct Sierra?" Chris said as the girl looked at him with wide eyes.
"You just said my name!" The girl screamed, she began hyperventilating as Chris seemed to look behind the camera at production who only shrugged at him.
"Alright… you can go and join the others." Chris shooed Sierra off to the end of the dock while the girl continued to breathe heavily. The other contestants all shared looks of confusion between them as she got to them.
"Guess they casted some crazies too." Courtney muttered to herself which earned her a giggle from some of the people around her. At the same time, next boat was pulling up to the Dock, this one carried a very muscular black boy wearing a white cap on his head. His shirt was green and fitted him snugly, showcasing his built physique. He stepped off the boat calmly and gave Chris a smile.
"Hey dude, it's good to be here." He said calmly, causing Chris to smile.
"So glad to see someone a bit more friendly DJ, we've been missing them." The host laughed along with the tall boy.
"Aww thanks Chris, I just treat others how I want to be treated, that's what my momma taught me." The boy responded which earned him a sweet smile from Chris.
"That's so good DJ." He said as the boy walked over to the other contestants, he greeted them all with a smile which was met with varying levels of enthusiasm.
"Dude you're so totally ripped." Geoff said with a grin, "You gotta tell me your secrets."
"Eating right and consistency." DJ answered him with a grin, "You're not exactly slacking yourself though!" He said, pointing to Geoff's abs which were on display from his open shirt.
"Aww this is nothing." Geoff responded with a dismissive wave of his hand and a chuckle. The two bros bonded over exercise while the next boat pulled up to the dock, this one carried a girl, or should I say girls as there were two of them, identically dressed in matching crop tops and shorts. One girl was taller and thinner with a tanned complexion, and the other was shorter and larger with a much paler skin tone.
"EEEEE! Oh Em Gee! Sadie this is going to be so exciting!" The taller one exclaimed to her friend.
"I know Katie! Like so totally uber exciting!" The shorter one, known as Sadie responded. Both of their voices were high pitched and had an effect of cutting through the air like a knife.
"Wow." Gwen muttered as she held a hand to her ear to shield it from any more pain.
"Katie and Sadie." Chris said as the two girls stepped onto the dock, their luggage in one hand and the other intertwined with the other.
"Hi Chris." Sadie began.
"We're like so totally pumped to be here." Katie continued as the two of them giggled between each other. Their voices were even annoying the host who struggled to keep on his charming and personable persona.
"I can't wait to spend all summer with you Katie." Sadie said with a grin.
"Awww I can't wait to spend all summer with you Sadie." Was her response which only made Chris visibly look like he was holding back a sigh.
"And we can't wait to spend all summer with both of you." Chris responded, his charming smile appearing back on his face as both girls nodded happily before walking over to the end of the dock with the other contestants. As they left the next boat was pulling up to the dock, this one carried a boy with a slender frame. He had orange hair and glasses and a noticeably poor posture if the way his shoulders were hunched forward was any indication.
"Harold." Chris said with a smile as the lanky boy stepped onto the dock, he had a notable wheeze when he breathed. He looked around the dock before nodding approvingly.
"This place is totally sweet." He said with a thumbs up.
"You think?" Chris asked with a raise of his eyebrow, confused that anyone would think anything other than disgust at the conditions.
"Of course, this is going to be good for me to show off my skills." Harold said with a nod.
"You got skills?" Izzy said as she suddenly appeared behind the boy who jumped in the air and held his chest breathing heavily. "Can you do this?" She asked as she took a hold of her eyelids and managed to flip them creating a rather unnerving visual.
"Um… no." Harold said as he recovered from the fright he had received.
"Oh well that's boring." Izzy sighed before cackling and walking away from the other ginger in the cast.
"You get used to her… I think." Chris shrugged to Harold who walked over to join his fellow campers. "We're met twelve of our campers now, we're more than halfway through, are you guys getting excited yet? Because I know I am." The host explained to the camera as another boat pulled up like all the others before it. This one carried a girl with blond hair tied into a ponytail and wearing a blue hoodie. She was carried a large surfboard as well as her luggage, the latter of which she placed on the dock once she stepped onto it.
"Bridgette." Chris announced the girl who smiled with a nod. "Hoping to catch some big waves?"
"You know it." Bridgette laughed as she looked around. "Although… I'm not exactly sure this is… ideal for it."
"You'll have to make do." Chris shrugged as the girl walked over to the other contestants.
"I love your hair." Lindsay said to the girl as she walked over, "It's like… rough in that cute sporty way."
"Thanks?" Bridgette said as she took the 'compliment'.
"You're welcome Brenda." Lindsay smiled genuinely at the surfer chick who continued to be very confused by Lindsay.
"She's just like that. I don't think she means any harm." Courtney said to Bridgette who nodded in understanding.
"Thanks…?" She took a moment to wait for the professional girl to introduce herself.
"Courtney." Came the response as she held out her hand for a shake, which Bridgette accepted.
As we've all come to expect by now, the boat was pulling up with another contestant on it. This one carried a smaller boy with brown skin and black hair wearing a sweater vest. His face was turned into a sneer as he scanned over his surroundings. He stepped off the boat and looked at Chris before beginning to talk before the host could introduce him.
"I'm assuming you got my memo of all of my life threatening allergies, I made sure to send it to you months ago." He spoke and the tone of his voice was flat and lacking in much emotion.
"Um… sure." Chris nodded as the boy narrowed his eyes at the host, "We're not going to kill you Noah, probably." The host shrugged as the boy revealed to us as Noah rolled his eyes.
"Sorry Chris, um what do you mean probably?" A voice came from the other contestants. The camera panned to show Trent looking rather concerted as he took a step towards the host.
"I mean… you probably won't die, is it hard to understand?" Chris responded with a laugh,
"No, I totally get it, it's just the potential lack for our own safety that caught me off guard." Trent continued to look concerned as Chris brushed him off.
"Don't worry, everything here has been tested by our highly qualified health and safety team." Chris placated the guitarist who seemed to nod in understanding as Noah sighed.
"Yay." He raised his arms half-heartedly as he walked over to the other contestants like everyone else before him. Once more another boat was pulling up to the dock, this one carried a larger black girl with her hair tied up into a ponytail. She had a confident smirk on her face as she walked onto the dock with her large suitcase behind her.
"Leshawna." Chris nodded approvingly as he held out his fist for her to tap which she did.
"Wassup Chris." Leshawna greeted the host with energy, more than could be said for some of the cast.
"Nothing much." Chris shrugged, "Hosting a internationally broadcast TV show." His joke caused Leshawna to laugh as she began wheeling her suitcase.
"You're funny." She let Chris know which caused him to beam with pride. As our newest camper walked over to the other contestants, she caught the eye of one particular contestant.
"Wow." Harold breathed at her, his mouth hanging open. "You're…-"
"Beautiful and stunning and gorgeous? Yeah I know." Leshawna responded quickly, flicking her hair behind her shoulder. Her response elicited a chuckle from Gwen although she tried to hide it when others looked at her.
"Haha yeah." Harold said with a dopey smile on his face as Leshawna playfully rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah I get it sugar." She said as she joined the growing group of teens.
The next boat was pulling up too with the next contestant, standing on deck was a tall and muscled boy with tanned skin and black hair. He was staring off into the sun, whose light seemed to be bouncing off his skin perfectly as the sea spray framed him perfectly, like it was a picture. Almost everyone on the dock looked at him with wide eyes, in awe of his beauty, even Chris seemed to be taken aback.
"Damn he gets me every time I see him." The host sighed, shaking his head to regain his composure. "Justin, welcome to the show." The boy stepped onto the dock with a perfectly beautiful smile as he addressed Chris.
"Thanks Chris, it's great to be here." Justin looked at the rest of the cast who continued to stare at him. "It's great to meet all of you too, I'm sure we'll be good friends." He flashed them all his smile once more, his teeth glinting in the sun due to their shine.
"Oh em gee Katie, that boy is like so hot." Sadie gushed to her friend, she thought she was being subtle but unfortunately neither of the BFFs had a volume lower than loud, so everyone on the dock heard them.
"I know Sadie… I can't believe we get to spend all summer with him." The taller friend gushed similarly, both of them looking rather smitten.
"You sure do." Just in said smoothly as he appeared in between the two girls, putting his arms over both of their shoulders. They didn't reply with words, instead letting out piercing squeals as their cheeks turned deep red.
While those two experienced the thrill of a crush, the next boat arrived carrying yet another contestant, this one was a short girl wearing glasses with brown hair tied up into a ponytail behind her head. She was smiling widely as she arrived, revealing the braces that lined her teeth.
"I am so totally excited to be here." The girl said quickly as she stepped onto the dock, due to her braces she spoke with a rather strong lisp, it also caused her to unfortunately spray spit as she spoke, making Chris cringe slightly if the pained look in his eyes was any indication.
"We're excited to have you here Beth." The host welcomed the girl who giggled,
"You're way shorter in real life." She noted off-handedly which caused the host's smile to drop slightly and give Beth a look up and down, likely thinking on the irony given her own height.
"Sorry about that." The host shrugged as Beth just giggled again. She got the hint on where she should go and walked off down to the other end of the dock to be with the other teens. Author to reader, I can let you know that we're nearly at the end of introducing all of the campers, we've only got five left to go and one more is fast approaching the island. A boat was pulling up to the island but this one was suspiciously empty… Chris and the cast looked on in confusion as suddenly a loud voice was heard.
"WOOHOO! This is extreme!" The camera panned to show a boy with brown hair in a red tracksuit holding onto a rope that is attached to the back of his boat. And he's on water skis. All seemed to be going well as he rode the waves expertly, earning him some impressed looks from Chris and other contestants, especially Bridgette who nodded approvingly. It all came crashing down however when the boy hit a particularly vicious wave which caused him to fly upwards, out of the skis and directly onto the dock, which he painfully slammed into, skidding across the wood rather painfully before stopping at the feet of his fellow campers, who looked at him with varying levels of worry and concern.
"Are you okay?" Bridgette quickly asked, crouching down to the boy to see if he needed medical attention.
"Oh yeah! I'm totally fine!" Tyler responded, getting up slowly and rubbing his face as he sat on the dock. "I just gotta sit here for a bit." He smiled at Bridgette who shook her head lightly in disbelief.
"Make sure you get looked at if it gets worse." She chided him, which only caused him to laugh and give her a thumbs up.
"That's Tyler by the way." Chris laughed as said person waved at his fellow teens, some of whom waved back. "And dude, that was an epic wipeout, it's already going in the compilations."
"Awesome." Tyler nodded happily, giving Chris the hang loose sign as he remained sitting on the floor to recover. The next boat was also pulling up to the dock, carried a muscular girl with black hair tied into a ponytail behind her. Wearing her own athletic gear, this time in dark blue, she seemed all the part of an elite athlete. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she scowled at the contestants already there. She stepped onto the dock and looked Chris dead in the eye, which made even our steely host slightly nervous.
"Eva." He greeted her with a smile and a nod, which she did not return, instead choosing to look over the other 20 contestants.
"This is my competition?" She asked with a raised brow, "Write me the check now." She laughed as she walked over to everyone else. The abruptness of her statement had left a few of them looking rather off-put by the girl, but almost all of them were too scared of her to even say anything. But one person who was unafraid to say something was Duncan, who walked up to Eva with a confident swagger that only a juvenile criminal could have.
"You better watch what you're saying she-hulk otherwise you're gonna end up going home first." He jabbed at her, crossing his arms and giving her a look up and down. The muscular girl seemed unaffected as she looked directly into his eyes.
"I suggest you don't get in my face again Green Day Reject because the next time you do, you might not have your pretty boy looks any more." Eva snarled at Duncan who seemed taken aback by her aggression. The other contestants all continued to eye her warily as Chris clapped his hands happily at the drama unfolding.
"It's getting exciting now!" The host spoke to the camera as another boat was pulling into the dock, this one carried a boy wearing a hoodie and jeans as well as a blue hat which covered his head. He stepped onto the dock and looked around him with a sense of amazement.
"Ezekiel." Chris introduced the boy who waved at the host, "I know you don't get out much so what's it like being out in the real world?"
"It's pretty similar to the farm." He notes with a shrug, "I got to see a live fish on the way here though, that was pretty cool."
"Wow, your life is so interesting." Chris smiled as he directed the boy over to the end of the dock which he wandered to slowly.
"Thanks Chris." Ezekiel said as he did so. The penultimate boat was now driving into the dock. The girl who stepped off of it was tall, wearing a crop top and shorts and sunglasses to hide her face. Her long black hair had an almost unnatural shine to it as she took her sunglasses off to reveal her rather displeased face at her surroundings.
"Heather, we're so happy to have you." Chris greeted the girl who scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"And I am so not happy to be here." She sighed, "This place is a dump."
"It sure is!" Chris agreed with her, giving a thumbs up as she rolled her eyes once more before picking up her suitcase and walking over to the other end of the dock.
"You're super pretty." Beth said to the girl who looked down on Beth with a look of disdain before turning away and putting her sunglasses back on.
"Thank you." Was all the response that the farm girl got, it didn't seem to overly bother her though as she smiled happily and didn't press anything further. As they spoke the final boat was driving into view, and Chris looked excited.
"Oooh this guy is one of my favourites." Chris said with a little giggle, "Maybe we're saving the best until last?" The boy on the boat was tanned with long black hair wearing a red shirt that he had partly unbuttoned. He stood with his hands on his hips and a smirk was playing at his lips. He stepped onto the dock and nodded at all of his contestants.
"My there are a lot of beautiful faces to look at, am I one of the last to arrive?" He asked the host who nodded.
"You are the last Alejandro, pleasure to have you here." Chris said to the suave boy who nodded again at the information.
"Then I apologise for keeping you all waiting." He said to the other contestants, many of the girls were giving him wide eyes as they stared at him. "I hope I can make it up to you as the season continues." He winked at the ground causing a couple of the girls, namely Beth and the BFFs to swoon at him, some of the boys, namely Justin and Noah rolled their eyes at his antics.
"You're going to have plenty of time to do that!" Chris said with a grin, "Six weeks in fact! Which is about to start right now! I need all of you to gether on this end of the dock so I can take a photo for promotional images." The 24 teens moved with varying levels of enthusiasm as they all arranged themselves into a pose. Their lovely host stood their with the camera and stood like a proud dad taking photos of his kids at their sports day.
"Good job guys! On three say Wawanakwa! One! Two! Three!"
"Wawanakwa!" Came the shouts of all 24 teens in unison as the flash went off.
"Aw Crap, the cap was on." Chris laughed as he took the lens cap off of the camera to the groans of the contestants but they quickly resettled into photo mode. "Oh oops, Memory is full." Chris laughed as the teens continued to groan.
"Can we speed this up, this is really hurting my knees." Courtney moaned, having been one of the contestants to crouch to the ground for the photo.
"Yeah yeah, I got it." Chris smiled as he took one more photo, just as he did there was a massive crunch that was heard as the dock underneath the contestants collapsed, leaving them all to fall into the water. "Haha! That was great! And I got it on camera!" Chris laughed as the contestant's heads started appearing out of the water.
"I just got my hair done!" Heather moaned as it was now wet and sticking against her face. The host only shrugged as the contestants began pulling themselves up to shore.
"You'll live." He laughed as he motioned for the contestants to follow him, "Time for our little tour!" He took all of the contestants away from the coast and towards the centre of the island. "Welcome to Camp Wawanakwa, you're gonna get really used to this place by the way, you can see the cabins here, that's where you're going to sleeping."
The contestants all looked at two practically identical cabins standing next to each other.
"They're not… co-ed are they?" Came the worried voice of Gwen who looked between some of the male contestants and shuddered.
"No, each cabin is split into a boy and a girl side." Chris said with a nod which seemed to put many of the campers at ease. They continued walking until they reached another large structure. "This here is the cafeteria! It's where you're going to get fed with food prepared by our very highly esteemed Chef Hatchet!"
As soon as Chris said that the door crashed open and a large rat scurried out of the kitchen, which caused some of the more nervous campers to jump out of the way and scream. In the doorway stood a large man wearing a chef's hat and apron holding a large cleaver which he was swinging at the rat, cursing at it.
"That's him." Chris said with a smile, "You'll get to meet him properly later." Chris beckoned for the students to follow him to yet another location. It was an outhouse, stood in the ground with nothing overly special about it. "You guys are going to be using this place a lot." Chris smiled as he pointed to the outhouse, "Because this is where you're going to come to spill all of your deepest thoughts, secrets and feelings about the game. And it's totally confidential! Except to all of the people watching at home, and me, and the editors, but it's totally confidential! Why don't you go in there now and try it out! Tell us about why you're here! How you're going to win! You know?"
(Confessionals: Yes from everyone)
GEOFF: This is gonna be so awesome! This is basically gonna be one six week long party!
COURTNEY: Although this camp isn't as nice as the ones I've had the pleasure of being a part of as a CIT, I'm going to give it my all and prove to everyone here that experience is the key to success.
CODY: Watch this space guys! By the end of the competition I'm going to be swimming in ladies that are head over heels for me! And then I'm going to win the money too!
LINDSAY: Wait… what am I meant to be doing again?
TRENT: I think this summer is going to be really good for my creativity, I can already feel the start of a new song coming on! I think I'm gonna call it 'Off the Boat'
IZZY: If anyone asks I am absolutely most definitely not on the run from law enforcement in any way shape and or form. (She leans right into the camera and looks directly into it) Hear that Johnny the editor? You better. (She sits back in the chair and laughs once more)
DUNCAN: This place blows man, but it was this or juvie… honestly thinking on it I really don't know how they let me onto this show.
GWEN: Yeah I got nothing to say sorry, they're just forcing me to sit in here.
OWEN: I'm gonna make so many awesome friends this summer! And I'm gonna eat so much good food, it's gonna be so amazing!
SIERRA: I'm here because Chris is hosting. He might not know it but I run the number one most popular Chris McLean fansite in the entire world… there's only two of them but that means I'm beating you Topher! You hear that! I'm better than you!
DJ: There's a lot of energy here on the island, and a lot of people are a lot more…extra that I'm used to dealing with, but my momma taught me to always put on a smile and put your best foot forward, so here I am.
KATIE & SADIE: Katie: Oh em gee Sadie, why are there like so many totally hot guys here?
Sadie: Oh em gee Katie I know! Justin and Alejandro have that suave hot model vibe totally going on!
Katie: I knowwww! And Trent is like totally that sweet creative singer type! I bet he really cares about your feelings!
Sadie: You're so right Katie oh em gee! And we get to spend all summer with them!
(The two of them let out a chorus of their famous Squee as the excitedly bounce up and down in their seats)
HAROLD: I came here to show off my awesome skills to the world, people are school aren't really very accepting of them, which is totally their loss. But they'll see.
BRIDGETTE: I thought we were going to be going to a resort? Was I the only one that got that memo? If I'd known I wouldn't have brought a massive surfboard but oh well… we'll make do I suppose.
NOAH: What a drag, I only signed up for this stupid show to get the money, and get away from my family… I'm starting to think that that could have been a mistake.
LESHAWNA: Baby, I signed up to go a resort… and this is not a resort! I don't do well with the outdoors, or wild animals, or bad food, or shared bathrooms, and here I am with all of that! This is my own personal hell!
JUSTIN: I'm here to get some exposure for my modelling gig (He shrugs at the camera)
BETH: Growing up on a farm means I'm totally used to all of the outdoors and the dirt. I'm not so used to talking with other people though, so that's what I'm gonna be working on while I'm here!
TYLER: Are you ready to experience the thrill ride that is Tyler?! I'm practicing my opening line when I start my professional sports career. I think that one's got potential!
EVA: I know I'm going to win, I could outrun, outlift, outsmart everyone here and still have time for dinner. I've just got to make sure they don't vote me off because I'm mean or something.
EZEKIEL: Is this how TV works? (He is inspecting the camera placed on the wall in front of him.) I didn't realise it was so invasive.
HEATHER: I run my school, I run my family and I run the lives of everyone else around me? What makes you think this little crummy show will be any different? Trust me, it's going to be a cakewalk.
ALEJANDRO: If you haven't noticed already… I'm very charming. I mean, I'm beautiful, smart, funny, soon enough I'll have all of these buffoons eating out of my hand as they hand me the money. It'll be a sweet victory.
(The Island)
After every contestant took their turn in the confessional, Chris directed them to the final stop on their tour, a burning log fire with a set of tree stumps lined around it that people could use for seats, which some of the contestants did while others stood behind them all. The host stood behind an oil barrel that he used like a makeshift podium.
"Welcome to the campfire everyone." He began his speech, "This place is going to become very important over the next six weeks, because it's where we go to send each other home." The contestants all looked at each other, sizing each other up. "The team that loses the challenge will come here and vote for one of their fellow campers to go home, and the person with the most votes will be sent right back the way they came! Down the dock of shame and onto the boat of losers."
"You said teams?" Cody asked the host, raising his hand.
"I sure did!" Chris smiled, "Teams that you're going to be placed into right now! So if I call your name, please step over to my right: Beth, Cody, Harold, Courtney, Sierra, Trent, Leshawna, Tyler, Eva, Ezekiel, Katie and Owen." The contestants all moved to the right of Chris, with one half of the BFFs looking rather uncomfortable without her other half.
"And the rest of you, that means: Heather, Noah, Lindsay, Alejandro, Gwen, Duncan, Sadie, Geoff, Bridgette, DJ, Izzy and Justin, please move over to my left." They did as they were told as Chris pulled out two rolls of fabric, one green and one red. He threw the green one to the group to his right, which was caught by Courtney, and the red fabric was thrown to the left to be caught by Duncan.
"Team on my right! You will henceforth be known as the Screaming Gophers!" Courtney unfurled the fabric to show a green gopher screaming as the name suggests.
"And on my left, you guys are the Killer Bass!" Duncan unfurled their own fabric which revealed a red fish angrily snarling on it.
"Wait… but Sadie can't be a Bass, because I'm a Gopher." Katie cried to Chris.
"Yeah Chris, I can't be a Bass because Katie is a Gopher." Sadie echoed to which the host only shrugged.
"I really don't care, teams are final unless stated otherwise, guess you'll have to make some new friends." The two bffs immediately looked like they were going to burst into tears as their teammates moved to comfort them.
"Hey, it's alright," Courtney rubbed Katie on the shoulder, "She's still going to be here, and you'll see her every day." Her words were kind and Katie managed to get her emotions under control as was Sadie with some help from Bridgette and DJ.
"Go and settle into your cabins guys and grab some food from the cafeteria! You'll be summoned when it's time for your first challenge." The host dismissed his campers who all nodded as they walked off to their cabins to unpack.
(Confessional)
KATIE: Me and Sadie have been best friends since Kindergarden! We've never been apart for longer than 12 hours before so I don't know if I'm going to be able to cope without her!
COURTNEY: I find the whole reliance between them really annoying, but it's not good to our team if one of our members is spending the whole show crying over it. One skill I was taught as a CIT was emotional redirection, take someone's negative energy and redirect it somewhere more positive!
(Killer Bass Girls' Cabin)
Our six girls had taken themselves to the cabin and it's safe to say that they were not overly impressed.
"Bunk beds?" Heather scoffed as she looked around at their room, decorated with red accents. "Didn't realise we'd turned seven again."
"I call a top bunk!" Izzy shouted as she leapt from the floor onto a top bunk, crawling under the covers quickly before her head poked out the other end.
"I'm not even going to question it." Gwen sighed as she set down into her own bunk.
"Katie would have loved a top bunk." Sadie sniffed as she set her stuff on her own bottom bunk as some of her teammates already rolled her eyes.
"She's not dead." Heather scoffed, "She's in the next building, it's about ten steps away." She reminded the BFF who only sighed in response as she rubbed her hand on the bed covers.
"She would have hated the material on these beds, it'd be itchy for her."
"I'm sure she'll be fine Sadie, and so will you." Bridgette tried to comfort the girl who seemed to be struggling with the separation.
"Should my pillow be moving like that?" The voice of Lindsay said as she lifted up her pillow which caused a small bug to scutter out from under it. The girls all shuddered as they picked up their own pillows, just to be safe.
(Confessional)
HEATHER: See that Sadie girl? Perfect target for someone like me, she's missing her friend, she's vulnerable and lonely, so I'll sweep in and take her under my wing and then I've got a little minion to work for me. It's the perfect plan.
BRIDGETTE: I can only imagine that Sadie feels really left out without her friend, so I'm just trying to help her feel less like the world is ending. Her problems might seem tiny to us, but to her they're overwhelming. It's all on perspective.
LINDSAY: (She is facing away from the camera) Is this thing on?
(Screaming Gopher Boys' Cabin)
Owen was the first one into the boys cabin as he excitedly opened the door and let out a happy whoop!
"This is going to be so awesome!" The larger boy exclaimed as he threw his stuff at a bed to claim it as his own. "It's going to be like one massive sleepover! Just us guys!"
"Haha yeah just us guys! No girls allowed." Ezekiel echoed with a smile as he chose the bunk above Owen.
"Speak for yourselves," Cody said the a chuckle, "I'm kinda sad we don't get to hang out with the girls."
"We're still on a team, they're just not sleeping in the same room…" Harold said matter of factly, "We should be respectful of the girls either way, they deserve the privacy just like we deserve ours."
"Good luck finding privacy on a reality TV show, you'll need it." Trent laughed as he set his guitar against a wall before finding a bunk for himself.
"Either way, we're gonna win all the challenges because you've got me!" Tyler pointed to himself as he tried to climb up the ladder onto a top bunk, only to miss a rung and slip and fall to the floor, he raised his thumb to let his teammates know he was okay as they all laughed at his pain.
(Confessional)
CODY: It's sad that the other team has Gwen and Bridgette, they're totally the prettiest girls on the island… but we've got some good ones too! Katie is gorgeous!
TRENT: Yeah it's going to be an interesting six weeks, I can tell you that much already.
(Cafeteria)
The contestants were now in the cafeteria getting some well deserved food after a morning of filming the introduction. They were forming a line to a window where the food was being served by the one and only Chef Hatchet. He was ladling up spoonfuls of what looked like a mystery meat substance? I don't think even Chef knew at this point but he looked apathetic if not angry as he served it up.
"Are you sure this is safe to eat?" Leshawna raised her eyebrow at the Chef who only snarled at her which caused the girl to roll her eyes at him before walking off to her own table to eat.
"I really don't think this is safe to eat." Noah was the next in line and he looked extremely wary as the food on his plate seemed to move. "You got anything more… edible in the back?" The nerd asked Chef who snarled at him just like he had at Leshawna, however it seemed to have less of an effect on the bookworm. "Oooh scary." Noah snarked which caused Chef to reach over the counter and grab the book work by his collar.
"Listen up worm!" The chef shouted in his face, drawing the attention of every other teen in the building. "I am paid to serve you up the food I cook! I am not paid to babysit you, to cater to your every whim or to pamper you like I am your mommy! If you don't like what I cook then that's just tough luck! You don't eat it you don't get fed! Am I making myself clear?!" His voice was powerful enough to blow Noah's hair back and his face looked rather dazed as he formulated his words.
"Crystal." He said as he staggered to his seat and treated himself to the wonderful food that Chef had cooked.
"It makes a lot of sense to treat us like this." Sierra spoke to all the other gophers at her table, whether they wanted to listen to her or not. "I mean reality TV thrives when their contestants are emotionally charged, so by feeding us bad food and making the living conditions uncomfortable, they slowly wear us down until we start fighting each other all the time."
"Wow." Courtney answered her, not bothering to look up from her food.
"Yeah super interesting." Sierra smiled, oblivious to the lack of attention being given to her.
On the other side of the room, DJ was uncomfortably poking the food that he had been given, watching the way that is was almost trying to pull his fork into itself.
"I see you're having the same struggles as me." Alejandro said as he slid up next to DJ, "The things we'll do for money right?"
"Momma always told me to be grateful for what I'm given." DJ shrugged as he tried to eat the food. "People always have less."
"Your mother sounds like an incredibly gracious and wise woman." Alejandro spoke to which DJ nodded,
"Like you wouldn't believe." The two continued to try and eat their food as they all got to know each other. Scenes familiar all over the cafeteria.
(Confessional)
DUNCAN: Even juvie food was better than that crap, I think it's still crawling down my throat… (The delinquent coughed as he tried to get the food to go down.)
BETH: I'm really excited to get to know my team more! I feel like we've all got way more in common than we think! Me and Ezekiel both grew up on a far! Me and Cody both have brown hair! And Me and Harold both wear glasses! So much in common!
CHEF: (He is crying in the confessional before remembering that the cameras are on. He proceeds to run out)
(The Cafeteria)
"All Campers please report to the cliff for your first challenge!" Chris' voice echoed over the intercom that had speakers all over the island. The contestants all quickly got up and began to head over to their challenge, the excitement of the new experience still hadn't worn off for them.
"It's only the first challenge right?" Geoff asked the teammate who was next to him, in this case Gwen, "So it can't be that hard."
"I literally don't know, we're in the same boat." The goth girl responded coldy as they began to climb up to the top of the mountain. Once there, these two and everyone else was met face to face with Chris McLean who greeted them all happily.
"Hey guys! Hope you're ready for the first challenge… You're gonna be jumping… off this cliff!" The camera panned out to show that the cliff was incredibly large, freakishly so in fact.
(Confessional)
GEOFF: I should have just shut my damn mouth!
(The Cliff)
"So who's going first?" The host asked as all 24 contestants looked amongst themselves awkwardly. This is going to be a long season.
Well there we go! I hate writing introduction chapters by the way! I find the whole thing hard to do in a way that's engaging so I apologise if it was a bit of a slog to read! As you can see, teams are already different which is going to create some different dynamics in the cast which I'm excited to explore! No spoilers on pairings or friendships or even rivalries, you'll have to keep reading to find those out! But just be prepared that they may well surprise you!
Thank you for reading and I hope that you tune into the next installment whenever that comes out! Don't forget to leave a review telling me what you think!
Much Love
Illuvian