Failure.

That was the word which was going through the mind of the know it all. This wasn't the first time he had failed in the Total Drama competition, he vividly recalled being voted off extremely early in the first season. He recalled the anger that was upon him and the pelting he received for his own scathing remarks. That feeling of pain and hurt and failure was something that seemed almost pleasant compared to what he was feeling now. For not only did he fail himself, but he failed his friend.

He failed Owen.

He allowed Alejandro to take over the game, to eliminate him and left Owen completely alone. The big lug was now trapped with a wolf in sheep's clothing. A wolf that was going to devour Owen, to use him and turn him against any other 'friend' before shoving him out of the plane.

This was all Noah's fault.

That was the belief of the bookworm, for he truly believed that if he had been more clear and concise. If he didn't try to hide his messages with wit and Churchill rhetoric then maybe . . . just maybe Alejandro wouldn't have taken over the game.

"What a fool."

Noah cursed himself.

He was currently waiting in one of the dressing rooms at Playa des Losers, apparently he was contractually obligated to join in on the Aftermath Show. Something which he did not look forward to, he knew just how much they loved to put salt into the wound.

DING DING.

The Bookworm blinked, he raised his head up and looked around. Was that a ding? As in the one from the World Tour? The one that meant he had to sing or be eliminated?

Noah scoffed, they couldn't possibly still be making them sing? He then let out a gulp as he realized that they probably could. In fact, he knew that there was likely something in the contract that stipulated that they had.

Curse Chris and his almost 1,000 page contracts.

Truly, Noah had signed his soul to the devil.

The Bookworm raised his head higher as he heard the P.A. system come to life. He then quirked up a brow listening as Blainey's voice came out,

"I don't hear singing! If you don't sing you won't be qualified to return to this season of Total Drama!"

Return?

Was that what this Aftermath show was for? To determine which one of these losers could get back into the game? What was being offered here was a second chance, a second chance at the million and a second chance to get back at Alejandro.

All he had to do was humiliate himself once again.

"I suppose that I've already hit rock bottom, it's not like I can dig even further down."

He muttered out with a sigh and closed his eyes,

"You're invisible when you're me

There's no one to see my truth

If they could look up they'd see

"Hey, Noah's got the proof!"

He tried to warn Owen what an eel that Alejandro was. He tried to get serious in the game and expose the manipulator for what he was. But he was too late, Alejandro had already gotten his metaphorical tendrils into each and everyone of his teammates.

Noah was the odd one out, whose words were practically invisible to them.

"Man, it's mortifying

What's the point of even trying?

'Cause now

I'm trapped with no escape

Banished, disavowed

I vanished like a cloud

Of dirty hipster vape"

What truly was the point in trying? If he even won this challenge then what? He would get to return to World Tour, to a bunch of people who already got infected by Alejandro's nonsense. To get eliminated once again by a bunch of fools. There was no place back on that plane, it was a death trap where hope and dreams went to the wayside.

But he recalled that cocky smile of Alejandro, taunting him as he left the plane. He recalled the sadness on Owen's face, losing not only Izzy but also Noah in quick succession. Someone had to put a stop to Alejandro and his manipulations . . . and why not him?

"Nobody said life's fair

Guess they will never see

The demon who isn't there

You're invisible when you're…"

The fact that he was sitting in Playa des Losers while Alejandro was cruising through the competition showed that life truly wasn't fair. And if he didn't get back there, then those fools will never see that demon for who he truly is.

"Me."

Noah let out a sigh, getting up from his chair. The music stopped and a sign lit up, which meant it was time to partake in the Aftermath show. Before Noah left the room he spotted a camera and looked directly into it,

"There, Chris. Hope you're happy."

And with that sarcastic laced remark, the Bookworm left and joined his fellow losers into the studio. It was far different than what it was in Action, where it used to be a simple Oprah or Elen style room . . . it was now a giant board game.

A sigh escaped Noah's throat, he was questioning why these things could never be simple. Why could they not just be a popularity vote? No, they had to be something completely and utterly inane to maximize both pain and embarrassment.

The rules were soon given out, each contestant would roll a dice on their turn and go forward the corresponding number of spaces. Then they would have to complete the challenge. The goal was to be the first to make it to the end.

Noah crouched down, grabbing one of the oversized dice. He cursed his lack of fitness as he lifted it up and rolled it.

Two.

That was suboptimal, in a game like this one you wanted to get as high of a roll as possible. Instead he had gotten one of the worst ones there was. Instead of complaining the Know-It-All stepped two spaces forward, standing directly upon a tile that held a green 51.

"Ooh! Noah, seems you've landed on the Area 51 tile!" One of the two hosts spoke up, this one being Geoff. Amusement was clear in his voice as he plucked out a note card from the pile that he had beside him,"Let's see here. You have to stay on the tile and dodge the lasers, oh and if you get off then those face huggers will get ya dude!"

"Do I have to?"

"Not if you want to die. GO!" The second host Blainey finally spoke up. She had a fake grin upon her face, the kind of fake grin that just said,'I hate being here. I have better things to do with my time.'

Noah did not even have time to come up with a witty remark, much less sigh. For he was being barraged with an onslaught of lasers. He began to dodge and maneuver his way around them, desperately hoping all of that D.D.R that he did with Izzy back in the original Playa des Losers would pay off.

Sweat began to drop down his brow as the time ticked by and he was beginning to question if this even had a time limit? Was there even a way to win this one or did Chris make some that were completely unwinnable?

Then he noticed it at the corner of his eye, Blainey nervously checking her watch. If she was checking it for the time limit of the challenge then there'd be no reason for her to be so nervous. That meant that there was another reason for her supposed demeanor.

"G-Geoff! Just h-how long does this show go on?"

Noah asked as he continuously dodged the lasers. This sudden question caught Geoff off guard and he scratched the back of his head.

"Uhh around 23 minutes and huh we've already been going fo-"

"And that's time! Noah wins this round!" Geoff was hastily interrupted as Blainey stepped up and turned off the lasers. Noah practically fell to the floor gasping for breath.

It was just as he thought, this show was on a strict schedule and the Total Drama contestants shenanigans were causing this to potentially go off schedule. He felt as Blainey gripped his body and pulled him to his feet, it was clear that she was rushing things along to meet the deadline.

Fine with him.

Noah meekly picked up another die and threw it on the ground. It was a six, which was far better than his last roll. The Cynic marched forward six spaces until he was standing upon Courtney's face. He could not help but let out a sigh of relief, after all if it was Courney then that meant that the challenge was going to be something less physical.

"Alright, Dude! You've landed upon the Courtney tile! Seeing as Courtney looooved to hound Chris and the Total Drama legal team with her lawyers, it's only fitting that you'll have to answer a question 'bout Canadian law." Geoff explained as he turned the note card around so he could ask the question,"According to Canadian Content Law, a percentage of music that is aired on the radio has to be Canadian . . . what is that percentage?"

The Know-It-All stared blankly at Geoff before raising up a single brow,"That's it? Is it really going to be that easy? Fine, if you must know the answer is 35 percent and it has to fulfill at least two requirements in order to be considered Canadian."

Geoff blinked and glanced over at Blainey, the two of them were utterly stunned. In all honesty, they had thought that no one was going to get this one.

"Can I go now? Or do I have to ask for you permission, teacher?"

"Y-yeah, Dude. Give that dice a roll!"

With that Noah once again lifted up the die, he chucked it up into the air and allowed it to hit the ground. The die rolled along before stopping on a four. Geoff's eyes lit up at this and Noah inadvertently let out a gulp as he recalled just how . . . sadistic Geoff was with his challenges back in Total Drama Action.

"Dude! That takes you to the final tile!"

Cue a sigh of relief from the Know-It-All, it seemed that his brief moment of concern was unfounded. He stepped forward until he reached the London tile . . . a tile which had brought back bitter memories. It was back in London where he had lost both the game and the competition.

Alejandro's confident smirk flashed in his mind and Noah could not help but clench his fist. Motivation roared through his lazy bones as he was determined to win this and return to the World Tour.

"What you have to do is catch Jack the Ripper and bring him over to the guard and answer the question. Think you're up for the final task?" Blainey asked, checking her watch once again in order to ensure that they were running on time.

"No, I simply did the last two because I wanted to torture myself again before heading back to bed." Noah snarked before catching the burlap sack that Geoff tossed to him. The Bookworm's gaze then landed upon the poor intern who was currently dressed like Jack the Ripper. The oversized top hat was clearly obscuring the vision of the Intern and that jacket was far too long.

Noah could not help but smirk, knowing that this challenge was in the bag. He bent his knees and leapt forward. He chased after the Intern with every bit of energy that he had left in his being. He was treating this as if it were a life and death situation. In no time he leapt upon the back of the poor intern, bringing the burlap sack over his head.

With a gasp of air, Noah slowly dragged the intern over to the guard,

"Question, now."

Noah practically demanded as he stared over at the guard. The guard did not speak but pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it over to the contestant. Noah greedily gripped the card and scanned it over,

"What band was Chris Mclean in?"

He blinked and felt all eyes upon him. All of the losers were staring at him, wondering if he was the one who was going to win, wondering if he was going to make it back to the competition.

"Oh, how could I ever forget this one?" Noah chuckled,"He was part of that disaster of a boy band called Fame Town." With that the entirety of the peanut gallery exploded with laughter, even the ever stoic London Guard had a fit of giggles.

"Congrats, dude! You won! Which means you're back in the game!" Geoff shouted as he slapped Noah upon the back. In the background, Blainey could be seen falling over with relief that they had just managed to finish the show in time.

Noah took a breath of fresh air and let out a soft grin. He had won this game and had gotten a second chance at the million, a second chance at taking on Alejandro. Sure, he was getting thrown back into the Hell Hole that was Total Drama World Tour . . . but it was worth it.

"Give that Alejandra what he deserves, Honey!" A loud voice called out. Noah stopped and turned around, blinking in surprise as he saw LeShawna leading the peanut gallery over to him.

"Seriously, don't let him win. Pull out some mad skills and beat him, like gosh!"

"Aww I wished I could've won, but good luck to you, Noah!"

"Izzy says you got this! TEAM E-SCOPE FOR THE WIN!"

"Hmph. I'll be watching how you do, Bookworm. Don't disappoint."

Noah blinked as he heard the comments from Harold, Beth, Izzy and Eva respectively. He turned his head and saw both Trent and a heavily injured Tyler giving him a thumbs up. For once in his life he wasn't invisible and for once in his life he was the one being cheered on.

It felt good.

Then he stumbled forward as he felt Geoff slap his back once again. He turned to look over at the usually jovial party-goer,

"Yeah, dude. Better have Alejandro become Ale-gone-dro. Be nice to give 'im one of the classic Geoff challenges in the Aftermath." There was a vindictive tone in Geoff's voice. It was clear that he was not happy with Alejandro at all, especially with how the Latino manipulated and seduced Bridgette,"Now c'mon, let's go. You got a plane to catch."

Noah nodded and began towards the door. Waiting right next to the door was one Gwen. She had an almost forlorn look upon her face as she folded her arms across his chest,

"Hey, Noah."

The Bookworm simply raised a brow and waited for her to explain herself,

"I know that we never talked . . . but can you do me a favor? Tell Courtney that I'm sorry, sorry about Duncan and the whole situation I put the two of them into."

Noah stood there for a moment, mulling over the request. After a moment he gave her a slow nod, with that he finally left the building and entered into a taxi. He had a competition to get back to.

"I'm coming for you, Alejandro."

That was a promise that he was going to keep.


There we go! Got this chapter done. It's a remake of an old attempt at a fanfic that I made as a kid. It goes by the same name (so I guess this is a second chance for Second Chance), so hopefully you can spot the improvement in writing and characterization here compared to there. I also decided to put in a bit of a musical number considering that I did promise a musical number over seven years ago.

In any case, the songs that I'll be using in this fanfic will mostly be from musicals. After all, I am not good with writing music. The song from this chapter was Invisible Reprise from the Beatlejuice Musical.

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I hope that I'll write a second one.

Might also need to relearn how to format on fanfiction.