Chapter 6

The holidays were over, it was a new year and school was back and mostly things were the same except now Gwen was a bit of a celebrity. Everyone in the school mostly ignored her before but now she was popular with some while others annoyed her because they were die-hard 'Duncney' or Trent fans. Gwen cursed herself for going on that show, thanks to that stupid show she's got everyone on her back, asking her all these questions, talking about some of the other contestants(mostly Trent, Duncan, Courtney, Heather, and even Cody). The only sanctuary she had was art class, the one place she could hide in from everyone and have fun drawing.

There had been minimal spirit activity since the events at the CN Tower and the meeting with Carlos. Obviously Gwen had made a big impression on everyone.

"It must be nice to not worry about getting bothered by all those fans." Andromeda whispered as Gwen fell onto her bed, tired out from the last few weeks of school and training.

She had just had finished another day of school and another day of being bothered by a few brainless fans.

"I know. It was crazy, between school and training with Kurt and Carlos it's like being on Total Drama again." Gwen groaned. "Not to mention the lack of sleep."

"The amount of spirit activity is not my fault." Andromeda retorted.

"Yeah well, I got to blame someone." Gwen put her face on her pillow.

"You chose all those missions and you decide to complain about it?" Andromeda teased her.

"Yeah, I know." Gwen mumbled. "It's not like I'm not grateful, I just can't help it."

"Look on the bright side; you're getting better at this. I am confident that you'll only continue to get better."

Gwen smiled at the compliment. "Thanks."

Gwen always could count on Andromeda to talk to when she couldn't talk to anyone else, even her own family. It's been like this ever since they had first met. She turned on the TV to see if anything good was happening. As she flipped through the channels she stopped when she saw a familiar face on the screen.

"DJ?" She sat up and turned up the volume.

"On the celebrity news today, former Total Drama contestant Devon Joseph aka DJ and his mother ended up in big trouble as their food show was cancelled after several customers were rushed to the emergency room after tasting of DJ's personal cooking. The show called 'Momma's Heaping Healthy' hosted by both DJ and his mother promoted several foods that were high on calories, carbs, and cholesterol that despite how delicious the food was it ended up with some customers falling down having to be rushed to the hospital. Fortunately for them no one had died but several families have made it their intention to sue the Josephs for neglect and incompetence in making the food safe to eat." The female reported said, holding up her script. "One reporter attempted to interview Mrs. Joseph but she slapped him away leading the reporter file an assault charge on her. The show was meant to tour all of Canada but in only under a week was cancelled. They are expected in court early next week."

"Ouch...poor DJ," Gwen winced.

"An Avatar actually attended that show," Andromeda informed her.

"And?"

"She's lucky her partner was a Healing Spirit or she'd be out of commission."

"Oh man," Gwen turned green a bit. "I don't even want to know what DJ and his mom served."

"Ooh wait there's more!" Andromeda said eagerly.

"On an even sadder note, today Duncan Matthews and Courtney Andrews had another spat today after Courtney was once again forced to bail Duncan out after he committed Vandalism on a Celebrity Man Hunt advertisement board."

"Oh boy," Gwen groaned. "Not again."

"The couple argued in public until broken up by another celebrity couple of the total Drama series: Bridgette Daniels and Geoffrey Thompson." Geoff and Bridgette were shown pulling Duncan and Courtney in separate directions from one another.

"Geoffrey?" Gwen snorted. "I am never letting Geoff live that down."

"And finally the last sad news for Total Drama contestants, Isabella 'Izzy' MacConn who had been a talented actress since the end of Total Drama Action, staring in numerous Hollywood movies was fired when she scared her crew when she apparently lost it. Ranting and cursing about the director on set she later calmed down saying she was just kidding her rampage led to her director attending counselling and the end of her career."

The TV then showed Izzy on set during her rampage.

"... OR I'LL KICK YOUR (beep) BUTT! I WANT YOU OFF THE (beep) SET!"

"Sorry." An intern whispered off screen.

"No! Ha-ha. Don't be (beep) sorry, THINK FOR A SECOND! NO, NO, NO! I WILL NOT TAKE FIVE, (beep)!" Izzy yelled. "I'm ready to go, NOW! You call yourself a director of photography? Why were you walking right through the set? WHY WERE YOU WALKING RIGHT THROUGH THE (beep) SET?"

The Director ran off crying.

"Ha-ha-ha. Okay, I was just kidding. Guys? I just went ballistic there for no good reason. What?" Izzy looked around looking very confused.

"Saw that coming." Gwen smirked as she watched the news.

"I saw that coming before you even met her," Andromeda added.

"How does that make sense?"

Andromeda quickly changed the topic. "Is anything else happening with your old associates?"

"Depends how much I care to check," Gwen replied, not missing how Andromeda hastily changed the subject. "Let's see...another Drama Brothers incident...nope. Bridgette and Geoff's latest date...sweet, but nope. Tyler and LeShawna's reality shows...ouch, LeShawna went on a Weight Loss show? Bad move," She shook her head.

"So the usual chaos and anarchy then?"

"You know it," Gwen nodded before her phone rang. "Go ahead."

"Hey Gwen, don't turn your TV on."

"It's already-" Suddenly an urgent report came in. "On."

"Earlier today Parliament became the scene of what some call a vicious prank while others call an assault. A supposed 'gargoyle' threw down hot water onto several officials who were entering the premises. One of them, Minister Donald was especially targeted by this assailant, being splashed seven times in a row. Later a note was left on Donald's car door, stating the reason why he had been mostly targeted among the other 'annoying politicians' was because of his support of the SOPA down in the United States."

"SOPA?"

"Stop Online Piracy Act," Kurt explained. "Some ridiculous new bill that would kinda kill creativity as we know it and would be impractical to enforce...but anyways guess who did it."

"...I'm guessing it wasn't a Trickster Spirit."

"Carlos."

"What?"

"He's a mischievous little devil."

"And you're having me train with that lunatic?"

"Hey, he knows a lot of offensive methods that would come in handy and despite his attitude well..." Kurt struggled to find something to say. "Okay that's actually all I've got right now. Look, just don't worry about it and we'll all be fine...and not splashed with hot water." He promptly hung up.

"...greeeeat..." Gwen groaned. "I'm being trained by a geek and a maniac."

"That is Genius and Freedom Fighter!"

"AH!" Gwen spun her chair around and looked around her room. "Carlos? Where are you?"

"I'm not in your room per say...check under your mouse pad."

She lifted the mouse pad and saw... "A portal?"

"A one way portal," Carlos corrected her, sticking one hand through it before pulling back quickly. "And it lets me hear everything!" He stuck his hand through and waved, giggling. "Hello!"

"Carlos close this portal right now or the next thing coming down that portal is a-"

"One way portal, remember? You can't send anything through." He pulled his hand back as she grabbed at it.

"Hey, stick your hand out, see if it comes back."

"Sorry Gwen, but this is part of your training," Carlos said. "You never know when a spirit will use a seal to spy on you, and thus you must be prepared and know how to remove them. Now, look on the underside of your desk."

Gwen bent over and saw a sheet of paper with a seal taped to her desk. She pulled it out. "What is it?"

"Congratulations, you found a portable seal! You can use this to trace it with your Omni-Glove and record it for later. For now, use this seal on the portal. Do so and it will vanish." Carlos peeked through. "One key part of training Gwen: Incentive. You do the training or I get to toss random things into your room in all hours until you get it right."

"He has a point you know," Andromeda whispered.

"Not helping!" Gwen snapped. "How did you even set this up?"

"Trade secret, now figure it out!" Carlos replied. "And hurry or in two minutes I'll shoot a hose through this."

Gwen grabbed her Omni-Glove and urgently began to trace the seal on the paper. After a minute of careful hand movement she managed to succeed, and then she rushed back to her desk.

"Here comes the hose!" Carlos cackled. On the other side of the portal he could be seen hefting the hose and ready to turn it on. "Man I never get tired of this."

Gwen slapped one hand down on the portal and called on the seal she had just recorded with her Omni-Glove. It appeared in a flash of blue...

Xxx

"Here it comes!" Carlos fired the hose at full pressure...only for the portal he had made on the wall to vanish. The water splashed back of and soaked him and most of the thankfully empty room. "Glughglughglughglugh!..." He turned the hose off and spat some water out. "...she's a fast learner."

Xxx

Gwen sighed in relief. "Well thank god that crisis was averted."

"You know they're not out to make your life miserable. This'll help you." Andromeda said.

"Yeah well, I guess that helped out a bit. Note to self: Be extra paranoid." Gwen chuckled as she sat on her bed.

"That is one good lesson." Andromeda snickered. "You never know what could happen as an avatar or a contestant of a reality show. You better hurry or you'll miss your next shift."

Gwen sighed as she got up to change into her clothes she wears for her Avatar duties.

"I sometimes wonder if you are just doing this to spite me." Gwen said as, glaring down at her necklace.

"If you can't handle it you are welcome to quit. No one will judge you if you do."

Gwen smirked. "You'd love that."

She slipped on her Omni-Glove and then picked up the coat Sadie found for her. It was her new favourite coat and she wore it when she was out on her avatar assignments.

Xxx

Time skip

Duncan mimicked Courtney's yelling with one hand while walking to the front door of his house. "Duncan you gotta start to behave yourself cuz' I'm sooooo smart and I know what's best for-" He stopped as he saw there was no mailman, instead just a single note on the welcome mat with his name on it. "..." He picked it up and opened it.

"Dear contestant, you have been invited to-"

Xxx

"Take part in a new, brief season of Total Drama," Harold continued as the Drama Brothers gathered around to read their letters together.

Xxx

"For an easy chance to win a prize of five hundred thousand dollars," LeShawna and Tyler read simultaneously.

Xxx

"All you must do is report to the required location, specified in a map of Ontario on the back of this card," DJ read.

Xxx

As the hand cuffs fell from their wrists, Beth and Lindsay read their own letters. "Unlike previous seasons, this will only take one night and shall have no rules or official teams."

Xxx

As Eva lifted a heavy weight with both hands, one of the other people at her local gym held the card for her to read. "You will have until morning to locate the treasure."

Xxx

Izzy hang upside down from a branch over her mail box as she read. "If none are able to find the treasure, then no money shall be awarded for this season and everybody will not be given a ride home."

Xxx

"You have until tomorrow morning to attend," Owen continued.

Xxx

"Any who do not show up will be ineligible to compete," Geoff and Bridgette read their letter together.

Xxx

"So come on down," Heather read as she leaned back in her chair.

Xxx

"And take another chance to become rich," Courtney sounded eager.

Xxx

"And famous...oh huzzah," Noah yawned.

Xxx

"And be recognized as the winner! Yo-yo! Zeke is in the house!" Ezekiel grinned. "Uh...but how do you use this map?"

Xxx

"Eeeee!" Katie and Sadie were too busy squealing and hugging to read the rest of the card.

Xxx

1 hour later

DJ and his mother drove through the woods on their tour bus which was almost the last thing that they had left besides clothes after what had happened when they had lost everything in court. They had lost the house, their money, their show; they only managed to keep some clothes and their tour bus.

"Take a right turn here, momma." DJ pointed ahead and his mother turned the tour bus.

After reading the note he and his mother decided to head to the location as fast as possible hoping that Chris would have a place set up and let them sleep in something better than a tour bus. Hopefully DJ could win and they'd be able to use the money to get back everything. Up ahead they saw several vehicles parked already at a cabin and they could see some of the other contestants waiting.

DJ saw Geoff wave as the tour bus stopped. "Thanks momma!"

"You be careful honey," She called after him as he got off.

"Hi DJ!" Beth said as she stood with Lindsay...and several large men in suits.

"Uh...what's with the guards?" DJ asked.

"They only let us out because if we win we'd be able to use the prize money to pay for the damage to the Mona Lisa," Beth explained. "If we don't win they'll take us back to France and throw us in jail."

"...wow," DJ nodded. "Good luck with that." He wanted nothing to do with that after his cooking show fiasco.

"Hey man!" Geoff and Duncan walked up and they exchanged high fives.

"This is so much fun! We are competing again, Katie!" Sadie squealed as she Katie hugged each other.

"And it's great to be together again." Bridgette hugged DJ who returned the hug. "At least I can see my friends again."

"I know right?" Tyler looked at Lindsay.

"I know. So do you know where Tyler is?" Lindsay asked looking around while Tyler tripped over as he had been walking over and Lindsay's questions made him fall over.

"Ouch." Trent said as Katie and Sadie grabbed his arms. "Uh...hi girls."

"Hi Trent." They said dreamily.

"LeShawna, my goddess you made it!" Harold ran up to LeShawna but was stopped by her hand.

"Whoa! Slow down, boy." LeShawna stopped him in his tracks. "I told you we're better off as friends. No time for relationships when there's lots of money to be won."

"As you wish." Harold bowed before her. "But I'll show my worth when my mad skills helps me win."

"Yeah right!" Duncan laughed but stopped when he saw LeShawna cracking a fist.

"All right, we got all the greetings out of the way, can we go now?" Heather asked, tapping her foot.

"Wow, what crawled up and died on your head?" Duncan asked, pointing at her hair.

"It's my hair! It finally grew back after Gothy and Lindsiot shaved it off!" Heather snarled pointing at her hair.

"Hey, I just realized Gwen still hasn't made it." Bridgette realized Gwen had not been among the contestants who had arrived.

"She might be just a little late." LeShawna shrugged, having already known that Gwen had not made it.

"Who cares? If gothy wants to be a loser let her." Heather stomped off in the direction pointed out by a sign that said 'This way'.

"I couldn't agree more with Heather. It's better for us she's not around." Courtney said, grabbing Duncan's arm as she started to pull him in the direction Heather had gone.

"We can't just leave without her." Bridgette argued.

"Sorry, Bridge, but I need to win to help my momma." DJ said, starting to walk after them.

"It's okay, Bridge, she might make and she can catch up." Geoff wrapped an arm around her.

Bridgette nodded reluctantly as they walked down the path.

"Yo-yo-yo! Zeke in the house!" Ezekiel followed them.

"Gwen will make it but we can't let Heather or Courtney win." LeShawna said as she headed down the path with Harold close behind her.

Everyone else started going down the path the map said to take when they had parked, leaving only the security guards to wait for the competition to start.

Xxx

Meanwhile Gwen had been Kurt's shop for the most of the day brushing up on her training; with Kurt he was good at methods while at the same time able to find several people who could train her in physical combat. She trained a bit before going onto Total Drama Island which had let to her being able to fend off a psycho killer with a chain saw and a hook.

"All right, you're done Gwen." Kurt passed her a bottle of water as she sat on the couch, sighing in relief.

"You're a sadist, you know that." Gwen glared at Carlos who smirked back at her.

"Suck it up, sunshine." Carlos used Duncan's nickname for her which made Gwen give him a glare that probably would have torched him if he didn't already have a spirit of fire.

She drank her water bottle very fast and then tossed it into the recycling behind her with just one throw. "So, everything's done now?"

"Yep." Kurt nodded. "In the meantime I'll check for signs of any activity on my map because I know how much you like to go out and hunt right after training."

"Oh, ha, ha." Gwen got up and picked up her coat. "If I'm not needed than I'm out of here. Let Carlos handle whatever problems still lurking around here."

"Hey!" Carlos objected but Gwen was already out the door.

"Smartasses." Gwen mumbled as she walked down the street towards her house.

She walked into her house and opened the door.

"Gwen!" Her mother called out.

"Yeah mom?" Gwen took off her boots.

Her mother came out with a card in her hand. "This came for you earlier today. I tried calling you but you didn't answer."

"Whoa. Must be a bad hearing day for me." Gwen took the card. "Thanks."

"If you like I can make an appointment to have your hearing checked." Elizabeth said.

"No thanks. I am sure that was only a onetime thing." Gwen smiled.

"Well okay, but you let me know if you have any trouble hearing." Elizabeth hugged her and went back into the kitchen.

Gwen sat down at the table and looked at the card. "You have got to be kidding."

"A small competition out in middle of the woods? Wouldn't it have been seen on the news if there was a new season?" Andromeda whispered.

"There should have been and Chris would have his goons pick us up." Gwen whispered as her mother came out.

"So are you planning on going?" Her mother asked.

"I don't know. Two seasons were too much for me in one life time." Gwen said, not sure on whether or not she should go.

"I think you should. You haven't seen any of those friends of yours and you seemed a bit distant lately." Her mother sat next to her.

"Sorry if I looked that way." Gwen replied, not wanting her mother to be suspicious. "You're right though, I haven't seen anyone in a while."

"So go and have some fun." Her mother smiled, making Gwen feeling better about going. "Just don't be up too late."

Gwen chuckled as she got up and hugged her mother. "All right, thanks mom."

She quickly headed for the door and grabbed her boots.

"You're not leaving me behind this time?" Andromeda asked as Gwen had not worn her star necklace the last time she was on Total Drama.

"I need someone to keep me out of trouble." Gwen replied. "Plus you never know. Everyone's got a head start so I might have to bend the rules a bit here."

"You're going to go to that competition and back home all in one night?" Andromeda challenged.

"I'm just gonna portal to the location, I won't use my powers for anything else," Gwen replied as she began to draw a Hexagon. "Besides, it's in an area with one of those Hexagon Shrines Kurt told me about a few months back. The ones forest sprites make so Avatars can get around quickly."

"They used to come in handy so much in the colonial era," Andromeda agreed.

Xxx

Gwen came out of the other side of the portal and entered the shrine. Stretching her limbs she walked out of the shrine and into the dark forest.

"This looks like something out of a ghost film. The dark creepy forests surrounding the house that we're supposed to spend the night in." Gwen said out loud.

"That's happened more than once." Andromeda pointed out.

She walked through the forest, following the map as it pointed her down the path.

"I can imagine DJ getting spooked in a forest like this." Gwen looked around. "I haven't even heard an owl hoot."

She stopped as she looked at map and traced the path with her finger. "Okay, the place I am supposed to be at is here." She stopped at the end of path. "Which means I should be able to see it..." She looked up. "Now."

In front of her was a large mansion, bigger than any house she had ever seen in her life with a creepy feel to it. By the looks of it the mansion had five floors with a possible basement and had ten windows on first two floors with three larger windows on the third and she could see railings on the roof meaning it was possible to walk to the to the very top of the mansion.

A fence surrounded the mansion with a torch on either side of the gate leading up to the front doors. Gravestones were seen around the mansion, all of this giving it a creepy feel even to Gwen.

"Oooookay, that's creepy-" Gwen yelped when thunder roared and it began to rain. "...that's slightly creepier."

She walked up to the front doors and took her hood down as she knocked on the front door...which creaked open to her after the second knock. "...again, slightly creepier."

"I think it only gets worse," Andromeda chuckled.

"Oh hush you," Gwen muttered, stepping inside the foyer.