Hey everyone, this is the first of two prologue chapters made specifically to introduce you to the characters that I have accepted. We start with the first nine as promised. Also as promised, I now have a set deadline until apps are officially closed.
FEBRUARY 17TH, 2023
After the end of this date (Central US Time), no more apps will be considered so make sure to get yours in before then if you haven't already. So without further ado, here's part one.
A small graphic of a bold black letter 'P' and smaller but still bold letter 'C', overlapping each other just a tad, faded in over a background of a beautiful city skyline. The purple setting sky toned the area with a nightly resonance, while many of the gargantuan skyscrapers illuminated the streets below with their fluorescent lights. Flashes of car headlights speeding through the city kept the area feeling lively and busy.
Meanwhile, the voice of a man speaking through voiceover could be heard. "Hello there everyone," he greeted. Despite not seeing the man, you could easily tell by the way he spoke he was smiling from ear to ear. "I'm John Peralta and welcome to the city of Milwaukee. Just a few miles to the west from where we currently are resides Bennington Island. The location for the upcoming new season of The Peralta Challenges."
The camera then flashed away from the luminescent city and instead now viewed a small, coniferous island littered with mostly rocks, trees and other natural set pieces. However, in the bottom half of the site, were a collection of various buildings. Some older than others. The first set of buildings on the left were a pair of old sleeping cabins, with the rustic yellow paint chipping away in places.
At about twenty yards to the right, a much more high-end and fancy building was placed. One side was completely composed of glass windows while the rest was founded with maroon bricks. The roof was flat, with a ladder leading to the top near the back of the building.
"Ah yes," John said through his voiceover, as the camera slowly zoomed in on the cool-looking building. "This is the Main Hall. Where my office is. Go ahead, come join me inside."
The camera flashed again, this time putting the view directly in front of the man himself. He sat in his office chair, his computer monitor illuminating his face. An open silver-blue button-up shirt wrapped around his body tightly while an orange t-shirt with the Peralta Challenges logo on it was layered underneath.
John clasped his hands together, resting them on his desk as he charmed a smile at the camera. "Hi there," he greeted again. "Welcome to my office. Right now, I'm overlooking some applications. As you may know, we are currently looking for eighteen total campers. Just like the last one."
A small document was pulled out from under his desk, where he placed it down gently onto the surface. "So far, I have nine already selected," he explained, tapping against the document. "But before I continue selecting any more, I want to show you all who we have picked so far."
He slid the document over, allowing the camera to focus directly on the names listed below:
Yana Hayashida
Clifford Andersen
Edgar Bradamante
Jaz Holiday
Kyla McLewis
Gerald Wilson
Bo Stevens
Rae Yang
Miriam Wolfenlogger
John slid the document back and stuffed it into his desk, grinning back at the camera once finished. "Oh but don't think it's just names that I have to show you," he said, giving a swift wink. "I asked each of these fine young individuals to record a little introduction for the world to see. It's time you meet half the cast."
The camera then cut away to a black screen as John resumed his conversation via a voiceover. "First up," he announced. "Meet Yana Hayashida, the Upbeat Rock-Climber!"
A video of a cheerful girl wearing rock climbing gear faded in shortly. She was latched up to a cliffside, brushing away her long blonde hair out of her face a little. For some reason, she had two bandages attached to her hair, like hair clips. One pink and one blue. She greeted the camera with a little wave.
"Hiya, I'm Yana," she introduced, closing her eyes as she gave a precious smile. "I'm a rock climber from Japan who moved to Milwaukee not that long ago. So, as you might've guessed, the location of this show is quite convenient." Afterwards, she made her way up further the cliff before the camera swiveled around in a seamless transition.
Now Yana was standing in her room, wearing her normal everyday outfit which consisted of a black and white striped shirt with long sleeves underneath a looser white short-sleeved shirt that had some tears near the collar. Black leggings which have intentional tears at the kneecaps hugged up against her skinny legs while red sneakers with blue laces covered her small feet.
"We're in my room now," she explained, holding her arms out to the side and rocking back and forth on her heels. She then closed one eye and pointed a thumb up in the air, revealing that she wore black fingerless gloves as well. "How'd you like that editing?"
She giggled a little before noticing someone at her doorway. "Oh, hi Kai and Kira," she greeted, turning the camera manually to show two young men, one with blonde hair, the other with red hair. "These are my brothers. We met each other back at the orphanage in Japan."
"So this is it, huh," Kira, the blonde, said, looking a little bummed. "You're leaving soon?"
Yana nodded and went up to the two, holding her arms out to them. "Yep," she affirmed, pulling them in for a group hug. "I'm all packed and ready. Gonna miss you guys."
Kai, the red-head, smiled a little to himself. "Hmmm, guess I can do what I want now," he remarked.
Yana let them go and shook her head. "Absolutely not," she scolded, crossing her arms. "You behave yourself when I'm gone."
Kai rubbed the back of his head. "I'm only kidding, sis," he said through nervous chuckles.
Kira then held up something, handing it to Yana. "Don't forget this," he said. It was a black collar with a small white bow clipped onto it.
Yana smiled graciously and took the collar, attaching it to her neck. "Thank you," she appreciated, rubbing the top of both of her brother's heads before giving each a kiss. "Be good. I have to go now."
"Bye, have fun," Kai responded.
"I hope you win it all," Kira added.
Afterwards, Yana took hold of the camera and grabbed her suitcase. She then smiled directly into the lens. "I'll see you soon Mr. Peralta sir," she said before the intro ended by fading to black.
"Quite the charming girl, don't you think?" John voiced as the next intro was fading in. "Next up, meet Clifford Andersen, the Mendacious Artiste!"
The camera soon revealed a young African American man wearing a dark denim jacket that loosely fell over a short sleeved Vineyard Vines button down polo. The polo was uniquely designed in many different pastel colors with a different color in each section. On one sleeve it was a light red, on the other it was a lavender color. The collar and the seam that the buttons were attached to were a light blue. Half of the torso was a light green, the other half was a pale pink and the back of the shirt was the same light blue as previously mentioned. Accompanying the snazzy shirt that the man was wearing, were some dark denim jeans with patches on them and a pair of brown moccasins.
He was currently brushing his short tapered and blue-tipped afro with a comb before picking up a nearby art book that seemed to have some odd painting plastered onto it. "Welcome to the realm of insanity that is my house," he said bluntly. "I'm Clifford, someone who's been dying for an opportunity like this. I even predicted it with this painting I made."
He revealed the painting, an abstract collage of green, blue and brown colors. "A vivid display of victory, huh?" he said with a chuckle before tossing the art book aside. "Anyways, I'm nearly packed up and ready to go. My family don't seem to know why I would partake in such an endeavor but yet again, since when do they usually try to understand my motives?"
He took a pair of horn-rimmed black glasses and adjusted it properly onto his head. "Lot's of things I'm particularly excited about," he continued. "But just know that I will be a real player. I'm a cunning individual. One that can come out of the woodworks with a swing so mighty it would make Babe Ruth blush."
Next, he put on a small gold and white Swarovski watch with other beaded bracelets as well. "You could say I'm all dripped up," he remarked, flashing his watch to the camera. "That's my style, after all. Always looking my best and not like some bum living under a toll bridge."
Finally, he put on a deep brown beaded necklace with a music note hanging from it. "Think I'm set," he said to himself before nodding at the camera and grabbing a small handbag. "You can expect great, diligent things from me. I'm never lazy. When I want something, I get off my butt and get it."
Suddenly, some banging could be heard from Clifford's door. "EY, CLIFF!" shouted a man's voice. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? MA'S BEEN CALLING YOUR NAME, FOOL! QUIT BEING LAZY AND GET YO BUTT OVER THERE!"
Clifford sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm coming, just give me a sec," he responded. He then folded up his art book and stuffed it into his bag before looking at the camera and shaking his head. "God, I'm so glad to be getting out of this freakin' house." Finally, he walked off-camera, allowing the intro to fade to black.
"A tenacious individual for sure but we'll see how he fares later," John remarked, allowing the next intro to prepare. "Here's the third camper we've selected; Edgar Bradamante, the Emo!"
The camera revealed a pale white boy that had a black fade haircut with bangs so long that it covered his right side of his face. His eyes were shaded with black mascara, his nails painted the same shade of black. He wore a black turtleneck shirt with long sleeves and black skinny jeans with matching sneakers.
He was inside his dimly lit room that was littered with music posters on the wall. In the background, some Hybrid Theory era Linkin Park music was being blasted. "Greetings, I'm Edgar," the man spoke, his voice a bit frail and indecisive. "I guess it's cool to be accepted for this show or whatever."
He grabbed a black baseball cap and plopped it on his head. "I honestly don't know what I should say here," he explained, brushing a bit of loose hair off his cheek. "Whatever, this whole thing is useless. I need to go and get packed. Later." He then let out a disinterested sigh and turned off his camera.
"I'm sure this guy is gonna be quite the social butterfly," John said sarcastically as he queued up the next intro. "Now we have a specially made intro from the crew of Cosplay Services. Meet Jaz Holiday, the Fame Hungry Maid… and her sisters I guess too."
The camera faded into a blue screen with a title popping up that declared, 'Cosplaying Services'. The title card faded away next, revealing a sizable blue room with three beds, two clean and one dirty. There was also a wardrobe with a mirror and a giant purple rug laid out on the floor.
Offscreen, a young female voice spoke. "Hello to all of our fans and newcomers alike," she greeted in an oddly deadpan and bored manner. "This is Cosplaying Services. Starring…"
"Oh cut the intro already!" shouted another voice. She quickly ran her way to the rug, sitting down and bouncing up and down excitedly. She was quite skinny and frail looking, with white skin and long brown hair tied into pigtails. Her most surprising feature was that she was wearing a maid's outfit for some reason.
"Hi there, I'm Jaz of course!" the maid said with much excitement. Shortly after, a muscular girl with a ballerina outfit and a curvy girl wearing a playboy bunny suit sat down next to Jaz on her right and left, respectively. The two of them didn't seem quite as excited as their sister.
"This is Fiona and Cathy, don't worry about them," Jaz continued, shaking her head a little as she clasped her hands together. "Oh, I can't wait. I'm gonna be so famous, eeeee!" Both of her sisters covered their ears with disgust.
Jaz carried on, giggling to herself as she couldn't seem to sit still due to her unbridled excitement. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe they would pick me," Jaz squealed with delight before grabbing each sister by a shoulder and shaking them mockingly. "What am I saying? Of course my sweet good looks would triumph over you two uggos, hehehe!"
Cathy, the girl in the playboy bunny outfit, shoved Jaz away and crossed her arms. "Congratulations," she replied with a sense of bitterness. "You get to promote our show by wearing that stupid maid get up."
Fiona, the one in the ballerina costume, chuckled as she stretched the fabric of her outfit with a pinch. "At least she's not stuck wearing this," she remarked.
Jaz rolled her eyes, staring down at her outfit. "It's not just about promoting the show, you guys," she grumbled before perking her head up with a cheery smile. "It's also about looking sexy for all of the viewers, hehehe. I mean, just look at me. I'm exactly what reality TV has been looking for!"
Cathy scoffed, plugging her nose with her fingers. "Well you'll still have to deal with that sexist pig of a host…" she spat.
Fiona raised an eyebrow and directed a stern look at her sister. "You don't even know the guy personally," she said. "Why such a claim?"
"'Cause he's a man in showbiz, duh," Cathy replied with disgust. "All men are sexist. Showbiz men are just way even more."
Fiona rolled her eyes and smirked. "Sounds like you're just jealous, sweetheart," she quipped.
"Am not!" Cathy denied strongly.
"Hey shut up, both of you!" Jaz shouted, looking quite displeased. "This is my introduction, okay?" Fiona and Cathy turned away with contempt while Jaz fiddled with her hair and awkwardly stared at the camera, unable to think of anything to say. "Uhh…"
"Heh, good job sis," Fiona snarked, crossing her arms smugly and causing Cathy to chuckle along. "Really impressing the audience at home with your top-tier TV presence."
Jaz's face grew red. "Oh whatever," she fumed. "I'm the one they picked, not you guys so suck it!" She then stormed off, holding her head up with snide as Fiona and Cathy fell into each other laughing hysterically while the camera faded to black.
"What a fun, happy and wholesome family," John quipped before moving along to the next. "Anyways, we move on from cosplayers to critics. Meet Kyla McLewis, the Eccentric Media Critic!"
The camera revealed a smiling red-headed white woman with her hair tied back into two separate ponytails. She wore a sleeveless pink T-shirt with the words 'MCLEWIS REVIEWS' typed on top of a clapperboard logo. She also wore purple leggings with white stars dabbled all over it and a pair of pink sneakers with white laces.
"Bonjour!" she greeted with a friendly wave and warm smile that showed off her pink-painted lips. "I'm getting ready for a huge plane trip that will take me all the way to an island somewhere in America."
She picked up a white hat with the same logo as her shirt and slid it onto her head. "Where I come from in Paris," she continued. "I am a famous media critic. One that is known for my cheerful personality mixed with harsh criticism. I've grown quite the respected reputation over here but now it is my time to spread that over to the states with this show, oui?"
She went to grab her phone on a nearby desk but it slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground. "Ack, sacre bleu!" she growled, pounding her fist on the desk. "You can't be fumbling like that when we make it to America! Stupid idiotic phone!"
She quickly blushed and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oop, excuse me," she squeaked. She bent down to pick up her phone and gave it a couple hand brushes and then a kiss.
"All fine," she assured, faking a cheerful smile before dropping it quickly. "Ack, forget it… This intro is already ruined." She sighed and covered the camera with her hand, ending the introduction.
"Ahh, it iz so fun to zpeak like this," John joked with a horrible fake french accent. He coughed a little afterwards, dropping the charade. "Sorry… Anyways, our next guy should be fun. Meet Gerald Wilson, the Sarcastic Hacker!"
The camera soon revealed a young man with dirty blonde hair and rosey pale ivory skin. He had on purple-framed glasses, a dark purple shirt with a light purple pixel skull decal, purple fingerless gloves and a pair of dark green shorts with white socks and tan dress shoes. He sat by a computer, the screen sprinkling down various numbers and characters.
"Sup losers," he greeted with a smug grin. "It is I, the one and only Gerald Wilson and it looks like I'm gonna be on this lame show. At least my presence will prevent it from going completely over the scales in the Lame-o-Meter." He snickered to himself a little, causing his small potbelly to jiggle a bit.
"All you need to know about me is that I'm not a nice guy," he explained, adjusting his glasses. "I keep it as blunt and truthful as possible. I don't like many people because I don't see any reason to do so. But I am smart when it comes to the game. You'll see. I'm as quick and aware as anyone ever."
"So to all the other idiots I end up meeting over there in crappy Wisconsin," he continued, pointing two thumbs towards himself. "You're all going down by this guy, awww yeah." He then crossed his arms and smiled proudly as the camera faded to black.
"Oh, he's confident alright but what an eyesore for an outfit," John mocked as the next introduction was about to begin. "Say hello to Bo Stevens aka Mr. Keep It Real!"
The camera opened up to a basketball court where a couple of men were playing. Suddenly, the camera was adjusted to face an African American man with long dreadlocks that were tied up tightly in a ponytail at the top of his head. The sides and the back of his head were faded. He was kneeling down so he could tie up the white laces on his green sneakers. He also wore a green t-shirt with the number 20 on it in white blocky numbers with black gym shorts as well. There was a black jacket laid out on the bench next to him that had the name 'Bo' sewn on the collar.
"What up, bro," the man said, finishing up his tying. "Just having one last game of hoops with the homies before I have to leave. I ain't ever been to Milwaukee before but there's always a first time for everything."
"Ey Bo," called out a voice. "You ready yet?"
"One sec, homie," Bo replied. "Just gotta finish up with this intro that I have to do. But hey, while you're at it, tell 'em how much I keep it real."
"Hell yeah," Bo's friend agreed. "Bo is the realest dude out here. Always keeping it straight, ya know what I mean?"
Bo got up, picking the camera up with him. "They better," he said. "I don't play around. I'm just straight business."
Another friend showed up and wrapped his arm around Bo, showing off his grills at the camera. "All y'all fake ass bitches better watch out," he said. "Bo gonna come in and see right through you."
"He gon expose all y'all," Bo's other friend added.
"Yeah man," the friend with grills followed. "He gon do all of that and then come back home with that cash. No cap."
Bo nodded his head and pointed at the ground. "See these dudes already know," he said, causing his friends to nod along and agree vocally. "They already know." After a few moments of him and his friends hyping things up, Bo smirked at the camera. "Aight, I gotta play some ball. I'll be seeing you soon." He then turned off the camera and ended his introduction.
"Seems like a no nonsense, honest fella. I'm sure he'll have a few interesting things to say about his competitors," John said, displaying the next introduction. "Our penultimate camper for today is none other than Rae Yang, the Odd One Out."
The camera showed a young, white girl with wavy dark blonde hair. She wore a beige hooded trucker jacket over a plain red t-shirt with dark brown cargo pants that had many pockets as well as some white socks with black sneakers. She knelt down by a big chest and opened it up.
"So…" she said, sifting through some boxes of tabletop games that were packed inside. "I've been accepted. Cool. Now I'm just struggling to figure out what games to bring." She quickly stopped and looked at the camera. "You have tables over there right?"
She quickly tapped her head. "Duh, why am I even asking?" she said to herself before searching through a bit more. "Let's see… Hmm, I think this one could be good." She pulled out a box of Catan and sat back.
"Perfect," she remarked, holding the box to her chest tightly. "Hopefully people might be okay with playing this with me. It's not too complicated… I think."
She shrugged afterwards. "I got so many things I wanna bring," she explained, resting her chin on top of the Catan box. "I'm someone that usually likes to keep to myself so I definitely need things to keep me occupied." She put down the box and smiled. "Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for accepting me and stuff. I really hope I can do well on this show."
She shrugged again. "I guess that's it," she said nonchalantly as the camera faded to black.
"Man, I just love these social butterfly types," John quipped before pulling up the final introduction. "Last but not least; Meet Miriam Wolfenlogger, the Aloof Archer!"
The camera revealed a shot of an empty soda can, resting on top of a log stump in the midst of a wooded area. Nothing seemed to happen until a swift arrow zoomed past and penetrated the can, carrying it along until it landed in the ground. Moments later, someone hoisted up the camera and flipped it to reveal themselves, a short tan skinned woman with a very peculiar outfit.
She wore a forest green blouse with puffy green short sleeves that had a brown corset layered on top of it. WIth that, she also had on a matching forest green skirt with a brown strip bordering the bottom as well as a similarly colored brown belt tightened up amongst her waist. Underneath everything, was a purple bodysuit that covered her arms, legs, and the lower portion of her face. She also wore brown, fingerless leather gloves with matching knee-high boots and a long, dark purple hooded cloak draped around her shoulders.
"What a shot," she remarked to herself nonchalantly, brushing away some of her magenta hair from her face. "Uh, got plenty more where that came from."
A twist of the camera revealed an entire collection of empty soda cans with arrows sliced through them. The camera was then lowered and placed onto the log stump. Miriam adjusted the view so that it faced a far away target that was nailed high up onto a tree. It looked at least 300 feet away and 100 feet high. However, Miriam simply aimed her bow and shot a blazing fast arrow, directly hitting it with ease.
She picked up the camera again and carried it towards the target, zooming in on where the arrow had just landed. "Bullseye," she said, surprisingly without much enthusiasm before rotating the camera to face her again. "That's enough practice for today. I gotta go soon. Uh, see ya." She waved goodbye and then used the same hand to cover the camera lens, ending her introduction.
Finally, the camera flashed back to John in his office. "Well now," he said, shooting a sharp grin. "Not bad for our first half. We'll update you soon when we've selected the rest of the cast. Until then, see you soon, my friends." He ended things off with a wave farewell and then adjusted himself to face his computer, typing away as the camera faded to black for the last time.
Alright, well that's half our cast as well as a deeper look into how John will be as the host. He's quite sarcastic and witty but much more humane then our boy, Chris. He also likes lousy puns so watch out. Anyways, here's a list of the OCs and the users that they belong to.
Yana - SinWriter7
Clifford - Jade's One of a Kind
Edgar - lordgemini
Jaz - Nobody245
Kyla - TDNerd
Gerald - Tech-Star
Bo - Mr. Ruff
Rae - 37KarsOnMars
Miriam - MorbidGinger
If you're OC was accepted so far, lemme know how I did with them here. Anything in particular that I need to adjust? If you're OC was not accepted so far, fret not because they're still in consideration. These nine are just the current nine that I felt worked best together. That being said, if you think you want to send another OC, one that might work better with the crowd we have now, then do it. Send as many apps as your heart desires. Just remember to do it before the deadline.
And as always, stay hydrated and have a wonderful day :)