Welcome to the Aftermath folks! Man am I not enjoying the prospect of writing this. Don't expect a super long episode, I'm hoping to get around 8000 words, strongly doubt I'll crack the 5-figure mark.
I am gonna throw out that as of writing this introduction, I have no plans to have anything massively impactful happen on these episodes. Just some resolution, cross-generation interactions, and largely a way to break up the competish. Think of these as character finalizations or development for future seasons. I'm gonna do one roughly every 6-7 episodes (so ep 7, 13, 20, and 25), and hopefully I can plug and chug pretty simply. That schedule is subject to change, but preliminarily I think it'll work
Please remember to vote on the poll on my page and leave some brutally honest reviews for me, I need all the help I can get in the writing department (I'm a Physics major, writing ain't exactly a skill I'm actively improving aside from this series).
Without further ado, onto the Aftermath!
"Ah, great to be back." Geoff stretched offscreen as the camera pushed in on a door with a large gold star marked "TALENT". The camera panned inside to show the party dude limbering up, oddly missing his signature cowboy hat. He looked practically identical to how he did in the Ridonculous Race, still wearing the same pink button up, open of course, same long blonde hair, and same blind, infectious optimism.
"Not the words I'd use, but I'm glad you're in good spirits." Bridgette smiled from in front of the lightbulb-studded mirror. The other blonde hadn't changed much either, with the only noticeable difference being the fact that she was wearing her hair down instead of in her signature pony tail.
Geoff finally covered his head with his cowboy hat, popping up over Bridgette's shoulders to make sure he looked TV-worthy. "Of course I am babe! It's always so awesome to get to be a host for one of my favorite shows."
"Favorite?" Bridgette repeated, casting a suspicious glance towards her boyfriend. "How can this train wreck be your favorite?"
"It just brings back great memories of all our friends, and of the competish!" Geoff cheerily replied. "It's all been super fun for me Bridge."
"I'm glad." Bridgette warmly replied, though her gaze quickly soured. "I wish I could say the same."
"Oh yea. I kinda forget all about Ass-ejandro." Geoff rubbed the back of his neck. "But there was something good to come out of it!"
"Really?" Bridgette snarkily responded. "And what would that be?"
"Your kickass song babe!" Geoff beamed, reminiscing on Bridgette's performance. "That was like, the number one viewed song from World Tour."
"Thanks Geoff." Bridgette blushed, returning to finish her make up. "That was a pretty great song, huh?"
"Tchyea!" Geoff giddily answered. "And Stuck to a Pole? Certified banger."
"Aww, you're adorable." Bridgette's face swelled with crimson as she leaned towards Geoff. "Come here."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Geoff replied, pulling Bridgette into a tight hug. The couple began sloppily making out, audible enough so that the suits outside their door could hear.
"Why did we bring these two back?" The first suit, a tall Latin man with shaggy brown hair, pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning lightly.
"Because, imbecile." The second suit, a short, petite woman with sharp red hair, answered. "These two are ratings gold! That's the only reason Don made up that hoaky rule to let Geoff and Brody back in the race."
"Be that as it may, I think we could've chosen better hosts this go around." The first suit said with a huff.
"Who did you have in mind that would be better?" The second suit hotly replied, looking insulted. "I'd love to know since more than half our couples are split up competing this go around or refused to come back due to their slipping sanity."
"Alejandro and Heather." The first suit plainly responded. "You're telling me Bridgette and Geoff are a better ratings farm than Alejandro and Heather? I doubt it."
"The choice was mine, and you're going to have to live with that." The second suit sniffed.
"Fine." The first suit rolled his eyes, then turned back towards the door. "Open up, we're on in 10!" He slammed on the door, startling the occupants.
"Crap!" Bridgette yelped, pulling herself off of Geoff, who's face was now caked in red kiss marks. "We gotta go."
"I'll meet you out there." Geoff blushed. "I should probably wipe off first and get some make up on."
"You do that." Bridgette smiled, exiting the door towards the Aftermath set.
The Aftermath set remained somewhat unchanged, though the Peanut Gallery couches were adorned with some cobwebs. The host table was dusty, and some paint was starting to peel off the back wall. On the plus side, the guest and host couches were both replaced with modern looking blue and white couches respectively. The flat screens were even bigger and had a higher pixel count, and the floors appeared to glow with the polish illuminating the spruce planks. The set was darkly lit, with interns finishing up pre-production.
Bridgette strolled over to her seat, fluffing out her hair and yanking her baby blue hoodie down over her naval. Geoff quickly walked out after, adjusting hit cowboy hat and taking his seat to the left of his girlfriend.
"How do I look babe?" Geoff asked as Bridgette ruffled through her note cards.
"Like a million bucks." Bridgette smiled, rubbing one final kiss mark off his neck.
"Places people, we're about to start rolling!" A tall, stick thin woman called off from the side.
"Ready?" Geoff asked his soulful surfer chick.
"Ready." Bridgette beamed back to her party animal.
A distinctly shrill, 2010's-esque male voice rang out from behind the camera. "And we're live in 5, 4, 3, 2..." He trailed off as the lights began to illuminate the stage and murmurs began cropping up among the studio audience.
"Welcome to the Total Drama World Tour Aftermath!" Geoff loudly exclaimed, grabbing Bridgette's hand and raising their united palms into the air. "I'm Geoff!"
"And I'm Bridgette!" Bridgette proudly continued. "And we're back as your hosts for this season's Aftermath specials!"
The crowd erupted into a chorus of cheers and some moderate swooning. Once they died down, the hosts took their seats.
"Geoff, don't forget that this is volume two." Bridgette chuckled, prodding him in the ribs.
"I didn't forget Bridge!" Geoff merrily responded. "I'm just so stoked to be here, I couldn't waste any more words!"
"You're so stupid." Bridgette laughed. "Moving along, before we can bring out any guests or run any segments, we have to introduce our Peanut Gallery!"
The crowd once again whooped and began sitting at the edge of their seats with anticipation.
"First up, our resident raspy nerdy dude with plenty of mad skills." Geoff emphasized the mad skills part. "It's Harold!"
Harold walked out to moderately loud applause. He wore and carried himself the same as he had in previous seasons, though there were some differences. He now only sported the hamburger shirt, foregoing the long sleeve shirt underneath. His hair was slightly longer, though that was hardly noticeable, and his soul patch remained all the same. His chest and arms were definitely larger than his last appearance on the show, and he received from light cooing from some front row audience members.
"Harold, my man, great to see you." Geoff greeted.
"Thanks Geoff." Harold smiled back. "It's great to be back on the Aftermath."
"So, Harold, you've been helping Chris a lot with these challenges so far. What's up with that?" Bridgette pressed.
"Oh, nothing." Harold brushed off, grinning. "Chris just offered me a little bit of cash to help him. Plus, I love being able to demonstrate my mad skills for the world to see. If I can't compete this go around, I might as well showcase my multiple prowesses."
"Honorable rationale dude." Geoff nodded. "So we gotta know, how are things going with Leshawna?"
"Pretty good." The nerd told his male host. "Even though we're not together, we're pretty good friends, and that's totally cool with me."
"You have a lady waiting back home, H-bomb?" Bridgette asked her former teammate.
"Nope." Harold answered. "Too much going on for relationships right now."
"Respect that bro." Geoff offered Harold a fist bump, the latter quickly accepting.
"Our next guest is a particularly interesting fan favorite." Bridgette began. "His girlfriend is competing this go around, he's been to a finale, and has a life-motivating fear of zombies, it's Shawn!"
The survivalist wasted no time, flying through the air in a ball and landing with a large stomp. The audience began cheering until they caught wind of him, gagging as they did. The survivalist had undergone even less changes than Harold, if you could even notice there was a change. The only thing that was immediately apparent was the lack of an orange vest, replaced with a khaki one. Other than that, the season 5 winner remained exactly the same as he looked on Pahkitew Island.
"Shawn, pleasure to meet you dude!" Geoff beamed.
"Likewise." Shawn replied. "You'd be a great fighter against the horde."
"Uh, thanks?" Geoff blinked, looking warily over at Bridgette.
"It was a compliment babe." Bridgette reassured him.
"Radical, thanks bro!" The ever chipper Geoff smiled at Shawn.
"Of course!" Shawn answered right back.
"Shawn, I have to know, how was it competing on a mechanical island?" Bridgette asked.
"Pretty darn weird." Shawn admitted. "It was a lot better than having to deal with mutant animals though. Those things are one step away from becoming zombies."
"But dude, you won your season based on that zombie phobia, right?" Geoff questioned the zombie conspiracy nut.
"Sure, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to FACE any." Shawn explained. "The whole point of living your life around a fear is that you don't want to ever have to deal with it, but can if you absolutely need to."
"I can respect that." Harold piped up, nodding to the zombie nut who smiled back awkwardly.
"Cool." Bridgette drew out. "Our next guest has not one but two of his ex-girlfriends competing, and I got to say, I'm less than stoked to see him."
"Give it up for our resident delinquent, Duncan!" Geoff boomed, throwing his arms towards stage right.
Duncan strode out to a raucous chorus of cheers with some light jeers thrown in for good measure. The punk's biggest change was the dye in his mohawk, which instead of the bright neon green TD fans had become accustomed to, it was a bright, glowing red. His shorts were now standard jeans and the audience saw his last change when he opened his mouth to growl at them, a tongue piercing now occupying his mouth.
"Duncan, bro, great to see you!" Geoff stood up to give a hug to one of his best bros. Duncan stopped him, clasping his hand and pulling him in for a bro hug.
"You too man." Duncan said as he sat down, sitting as far away from Harold as he could. "What's up Bridge, not gonna greet me?"
"Hi Duncan." Bridgette sneered, malice penetrating her gaze.
"What's your problem?" Duncan snarled, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's the fact that you kissed Gwen while you were still going out with Courtney?" Bridgette shot.
"Man, you're still on that Malibu?" Duncan annoyedly asked. "Courtney was crazy, Gwen's hot. Not too much to it."
"So why didn't you at least break up with Courtney first?" Bridgette seethed.
"Cuz she probably woulda killed me!" Duncan yelled out, exasperated. "You saw how she was."
"That still doesn't change the heinous thing you did to Courtney, and to Gwen!"
"You're one to talk." Duncan snorted. "And I didn't do shit to Gwen, thanks. She dumped me, remember?"
Bridgette grew red and went to respond, but she was blocked by Geoff's arm. "Haha, great times." He awkwardly continued, growing a little red at the mention of Bridgette's infidelity himself. "Anywho, let's bring out our next guest, Eva!"
The powerhouse stormed out to (somehow) the most ludicrously positive reaction thus far. Eva remained entirely unchanged since her second elimination in Total Drama Island, though if someone was to nitpick for difference they could say that her lower body had thinned out slightly while her back expanded in width and thickness. She sat down roughly next to Duncan, a sour grimace etched upon her face.
"Eva, how've you been?" A now sufficiently calmed Bridgette asked.
"Fine." Eva grunted. Duncan, despite one of the most dangerous competitors in TD history choosing to sit by his side, was oddly calm.
"Got up to anything in your time off from the show?" Geoff pressed.
"I'm a professional powerlifter now." Eva proudly told him. "I've set records all over Canada and plan to debut in the Olympics next time they pop up."
"Wow, that's majorly impressive." Geoff gawked.
"I'll say." Shawn added, leaning down from his top row seat to place his head over Eva's right shoulder. "Can I get your training program? I need to be a little stronger when the zombie apocalypse happens."
Eva simply grunted in response.
"Our next guest draws comparisons to our previous all the time, and for good reason. Here's Jo!" Bridgette clapped.
Jo walked out soaking up the limelight, but was annoyed with the lack of positive response she received. She scowled, placing herself next to Eva. The two of them cast a quick sideways glance at each other.
"Pleasure to meet you dude- I mean, dudette." Geoff corrected.
"Thanks Party Foul." Jo snarked back.
"Wow, kinda harsh." Bridgette recoiled.
"Sorry Quinoa Queen, that's just how I roll." Jo smirked.
"I like her." Eva laughed from beside Jo, actually smiling as she did so.
"Same to you." Jo smiled back, and the two shared a firm handshake.
Bridgette smiled at the pleasant interaction between the two physically dominant women of their respective generation, and turned towards stage right. "Our next guest is a fan favorite and very nearly won the whole game last time he competed, it's Cody!"
The geek strutted out to a generally warm reception, seemingly recreating his TDI entrance. Cody was the same old Cody, maybe only being a couple inches taller. He high fived his fellow Drama Brother Harold and took a seat between him and Shawn, gagging slightly at Shawn's stench. Cody peered down at Duncan, who glared right back at the Volume One third place finisher.
"Cody, great to see you." Bridgette greeted.
"Same to you Bridgette. You too Geoff." Cody shot a double finger guns at the two hosts.
"So, dude, bummed you couldn't compete this time around?" Geoff inquired as he shot the finger guns back at Cody.
"Not really." Cody admitted. "I probably wouldn't have gone that far without Sierra, and if she's not coming back, I probably wouldn't stand a chance."
"You got that right." Duncan smirked.
Bridgette glared at the punk, but quickly set herself back to her calm and soulful self. "Speaking of Sierra, how's she doing?"
"I almost wish I knew, but I'm kinda glad I don't." Cody told her. "I slowly stopped answering her texts and she pretty much left me alone once we went off to college. It's a little sad, but nothing I'm losing sleep over."
"I hear ya dude." Geoff lamented. "How about this tech stuff though? I saw that mechazoid you pulled out in Ireland, that was radical."
"Just prep work for college." Cody flatly explained. "I got into Yale to do some mechanical engineering, so I started learning all about tech and robots and stuff to get ahead and make a great application."
"You must've hit it out of the park with all these incredible inventions." Bridgette gushed. "I mean, dude! This is seriously impressive."
"Thanks Bridgette!"
"Moving along." Geoff began. "Our next guest was booted off first in his season, but made a lasting impression among TD fans around the globe. It's Beardo!"
Beardo came out to muffled applause, waving shyly at the camera as he did. Beardo's biggest change was having a stain-free shirt, otherwise he remained exactly the same as he was on the mechanical island. He sauntered over to the couches and, upon seeing Shawn smile at him, smiled back and placed himself next to the survivalist.
"Beardo, you've amassed quite the following." Bridgette noted, looking up at the monitor above them. A YouTube channel called BeardoBeats displayed on screen, showing he had managed to grow his following to over 3 million subscribers since his last appearance.
"Woah dude!" Geoff exclaimed as he looked up to the TV. "That's major cool."
Beardo hummed out a slight harmonic tune, putting his hands together as though he was praying, and bowed his head to the party animal.
"Viewers are dying to know, are you still suffering from the same social anxiety that caused you to get booted out first in Pahkitew Island?" Bridgette warmly asked.
"Yea man, I was totally shocked when you got the boot over Leonard." Geoff added. "Dude thinks he's a wizard, that's nuts."
Beardo festered a little, looking for the right words as all eyes were on him. He began to sweat as his mind started to race. Duncan was the first to notice this, smirking and rolling his eyes.
"Knew that weirdo wouldn't be able to talk." Duncan bragged, leaning back in his seat.
Bridgette shot the delinquent a death glare. "Give him time."
"A little bit." Beardo croaked out softly. His face immediately went very, very red, but he steeled himself. "It's still pretty hard, but I'm gettin' there."
"I can sympathize with that." Harold nodded. Beardo smiled back at the nerd.
"Figures you would, Doris." Duncan scoffed from the bottom couch.
"What's with all the grouchiness man?" Geoff asked his former teammate. "You're totally harshing our mellow, even Eva is calm!"
"Don't push it, party boy." Eva warned.
"My bad." Geoff sheepishly retreated.
"Lay off man." Duncan warned.
"You started it!" Bridgette protested from the side, growing angry again.
"It's cool Bridge, it's cool." Geoff assured her, sitting her back down. "Beardo, got anything else to tell us about what you've been up to? That YouTube following is pretty dope man."
"I've just been making beats and dropping the occasional rhyme." Beardo explained to the hosts. "I've also been picking up on some more sound effects, check it." Beardo suddenly kicked off a barrage of meme-y sound effects, finishing with the classic 'bruh'. The audience began hollering in positive reception.
"Wicked!" Harold wheezed.
"Napoleon Dynamite is right, that was pretty cool." Jo admitted from the row below.
"Thanks guys." Beardo sheepishly smiled, making a coin collecting sound effect as he relaxed in his seat.
"Our next contestant is a totally kick-butt woman who got totally screwed out of a chance at winning a million in her season, please welcome Zoey!" Bridgette announced.
Zoey sauntered out to thunderous applause, and she took it all in stride. The red head's fashion sense had become more indie since leaving Revenge of the Island, her top now also adorned with an oversized, unbuttoned dark green shirt. She blushed at all the applause and hopped up to the top bench, putting herself between Harold and Cody, the latter savoring an opportunity to check Zoey out. Eva noticed, flicking him in the knee as Zoey sat down.
"Zoey, dudette!" Geoff smiled. "Pleasure to make your graces!"
"Thanks!" Zoey cheerily beamed back. "It's so cool to meet the number one Total Drama couple!"
"Uh, I think Court and I take that cake." Duncan butted in.
"Yea, cuz you guys were soooooo healthy." Bridgette rebutted, rolling her eyes.
"You and Geoffy ain't much better!" Duncan hotly spat back. "I remember him being a dick the first time you did this show. And what about that time in the first World Tour, huh?"
"Oh, you little arrogant, conniving, mean-spirited-" Bridgette rolled up her sleeves as her and Duncan got nose-to-nose with one another.
"Guys!" Zoey shouted, jumping in between and separating them before a fight could ensue. "I meant the best active, together couple. No shade to either of you."
"You're lucky Zoey was here to save you Malibu, cuz you weren't gonna like what I had to say." Duncan prodded further.
"You two gotta chill with all the anger." Geoff said, uncharacteristically responsibly of him. He pulled Bridgette back and seated her, opting to place himself closer to the Peanut Gallery couches this time around in order to avoid any further hostility. "Zoey, we gotta know, how did you feel after being booted by Lightning in favor of Cameron, giving Lightning easier competition in the finale?"
Zoey shrugged. "I'm over it to be honest. Yea, not getting a chance at the million sucked, but having to go head to head with Lightning in a gladiator fight? No thank you. And being told that I'm stronger competition did at least give me a silver lining in losing. Plus, it's not like Cameron was a slouch of a competitor either. Did you see that super suit he built?"
"That thing was so cool!" Cody gushed from beside her. "I need to build my own."
"It was awesome for sure." Harold nodded. "I wonder which camp he went to to learn those skills."
"He was a bubble boy, Einstein." Jo rolled her eyes. "He's got all of humanity's collective knowledge bottled up in that giant cranium of his that his pencil neck barely supports."
"Someone's bitter." Eva remarked.
"Eh." Jo scoffed. "Kid duped me. Respect where respect is due cuz if it wasn't for him, I would've won. He's smart, and..." Jo trailed off, blushing. "I'm kinda proud of him."
Several awws echoed out from the audience, including some from Zoey, Harold, Bridgette, and Beardo.
"That was really sweet Jo." Zoey told her as she leant down to her former teammate's level.
"Don't expect any more from me, Commandoey." Jo barked.
"Speaking of commando." Geoff piped up. As he did, Bridgette recoiled and some audience members let out an 'ewwwww'. "Not like that people!" Geoff pinched the bridge of his nose. "I wanted to ask about Commando Zoey!"
The audience began hushedly murmuring as Zoey started shrinking in her seat. The redhead and everyone else in the building who'd seen season four had a distinct recollection of the final couple episodes where Zoey's kind, shy, apologetic persona died and a pull-no-punches warrior with an even shorter top and permanent eye black rose from ashes like a phoenix.
"D-do we have to talk about Commando Zoey?" Zoey stammered, clearly looking uncomfortable.
"C'monnnnnn." Cody urged from beside her. "You were so totally cool!"
"Big time." Beardo agreed, making a karate kicking sound to accentuate his point.
"Yea, you were like, a big reason why I signed up." Shawn admitted from the side, trying to get Zoey closer to spilling some beans about her alter ego.
"Really?" Zoey asked, blushing widely as she did so.
"Oh yea!" Shawn exclaimed. "I saw you take down Chef with those traps and thought Total Drama would be the perfect spot to try out my zombie surviving skills, and maybe even learn some more."
"Well, I guess if the reception is so positive." Zoey's blush got an even deeper shade of red as the crowd went nuts.
"Just tell us the basics." Bridgette explained. "Was this the first time Commando Zoey made an appearance? Is it her last? What does Mike think? How did the people back home adjust to seeing your display?"
"Well, for starters, the people back home didn't really watch it." Zoey sadly stated. "Of course, everyone is a HUGE Total Drama fan until the weird indie chick is competing, huh?" She rolled her eyes as she continued. "Some people stop me every now and then and say nice things, and some of the guys I went to high school with were terrified of me when I came back." She let out a small chuckle.
"That was Commando Zoey's first appearance and I'm really hoping it's her last." Zoey nervously laughed. "She's a great alternate personality, but she's too intense for me to be all the time. Speaking of alters, Mike thought it was really cool! After the finale, we actually bonded further over my Commando Zoey side."
"That's so touching." Geoff dabbed at tears around his eyes. The audience agreed, as a chorus of 'aww's cropped up during Zoey's second monologue.
"Continuing with our last guest from season five, it's the evil mastermind himself who somehow made the top five, it's Max!" Bridgette gestured towards the Peanut Gallery.
Max, however, didn't come out to his muffled applause. Instead, four arms were seen chucking him out on stage, where he landed hard. He groaned as he picked himself up, sitting himself next to Jo. Max hadn't changed a single bit. Exact same build, same gray track suit, same purple hair, and same evil grimace.
"Evil needs no introduction." Max snided, earning a glare from Bridgette.
"Alright, I'm gonna just say it, is this dude serious?" Duncan asked from the side, leaning forward and looking over in bewilderment.
"Extremely." Shawn answered.
"I'll have you know that I am evil incarnate and the most diabolical player this game has ever seen!" Max shouted towards the punk.
Everyone in the Peanut Gallery looked blankly at one another for a second before bursting into laughter. Even the nicer people like Harold and Zoey took great pleasure in laughing at Max's bravado.
"Yea right." Jo laughed. "Did you not see your minion almost kill everyone?" Jo airquoted minion as she struggled to contain her laughter.
"That was only because Scarlett was under MY leadership and wanted to prove herself." Max defensively retorted.
"What did you even do that was evil?" Duncan prodded. "Everyone calls me way more evil than you, and all I did was bully Doris and kick off Malibu in Island. Face it man, you're not evil."
"Stop it!" Max demanded. "I am the most evil, wicked, nasty, cruel, and most importantly evil player to ever play this game!"
"I don't think so."
Gasps rang out from the audience as everyone, even a still upset Max, whipped their heads around to the right side of the stage to see who cut the evil genius off. There, standing directly under a conveniently placed spotlight, was the Queen Bee, Queen of Mean, elimination machine, angry teen, season three winner(een), Heather. Her hair was kept the same way as it normally was around the front with a braid that jutted out the back of her head and flowed all the way down to her butt. Several contestants either shuddered or grew massively uncomfortable at the sight of Heather as she stalked closer to the couch. She stopped directly in front of Max, boring a hole through his soul.
"Move."
"Why, most certainly." Max sheepishly smiled, trading spots with Duncan at the end of the couch.
"Great to see you again." Duncan whistled.
"Bite me, dunderhead." Heather bit, sitting down and folding one of her legs over the other.
"Guess Dunky won't get a Team Amazon trifecta, huh?" Bridgette smarmily asked. "Cody, you might get it first!"
"Not a chance." Heather scoffed as Cody hung his head and Duncan rolled his eyes. She then took a deep breath and turned to face Cody. "Nothing personal."
Cody perked his head back up and started to smile. "No worries. I didn't think you and Alejandro would've broken up."
"Wait, did you guys?" Jo leaned her head out and asked.
"Yea, we need this juicy drama." Geoff giddily added, leaning in towards Heather. In fact, it appeared everyone in the room had pressed in on the Queen Bee.
"Back up!" Heather demanded. At her request, everyone reclined back. "No, Alejandro and I are still together. So can I stop seeing so much fan art of me and Gwen? And Owen too. Also no more of me with Duncan, or Cody, or Lightning, or-"
"We get the gist." Bridgette interrupted, shuddering. "Some people out there are sick."
"Hear, hear." Eva added.
"So, Heather, what's life been like after three hurt-tacular seasons of Total Drama?" Geoff inquired.
"Private and lush." Heather snapped. She quickly collected her composure and continued. "Good, I mean. Going back to rich parents with a million bucks and a bunch of people wanting my autograph and picture just felt so perfect. Like everything I had deserved was coming to me all at once, topped off with a sexy Spanish boy toy."
Several audience members gushed or catcalled at this comment. One in particular screamed out: "Hottest contestant ever!"
"What she said." Heather smiled, though it came out more devilish than she planned.
"I gotta say Heather, you're a lot nicer this time around." Bridgette cocked an eyebrow.
"Yea, what gives!" Jo complained. "I was so excited to meet super mean, rude, bossy, evil Heather and I'm getting the lite version!"
"Alejandro thinks my social skills could use some work." Heather admitted. "I think you guys forget that outside of the competition, I'm actually not that horrible. I mean yea, I'm a bitch, but I'm a lovable bitch." Heather smiled to an uproar from the audience.
"Wow, surprised that guy was capable good deeds." Geoff remarked.
"He's the same as me, just better at using his charms in the game." The Queen Bee explained.
"How is Alejandro now, anyways?" Bridgette pressed on.
"The bro took a very heinous injury." Geoff solemnly nodded, looking up the TV that had turned on to static.
"Alejandro looked poised to win season three, much to the chagrin of all of us." Bridgette lamented.
The screen showed Alejandro leaping up to the top of the mountain with his idol of Heather and Chris in the background with the briefcase.
"But right before Alejandro was able to claim the biggest prize of them all, his unrequited love interest stormed up the mountain to play spoiler." Geoff continued.
Alejandro was now shown at the edge of the volcano facing Heather, who was catching her breath on her totem of Alejandro.
"After some talking, Alejandro realized he was madly in love with Heather, pulling her in for a kiss after declaring they could rule the world." Bridgette narrated as the audience started 'aww'-ing again.
Alejandro and Heather's kiss was shown as well as the gushing that accompanied it by the 22 other teens watching on.
"But, true to her ice cold nature, Heather kneed Alejandro in the kiwis and slapped him down the mountain, claiming the ultimate prize for herself." Geoff covered his crotch, as did the other males in attendance.
Heather was shown kneeing Alejandro in the balls and slapping him onto an ice cube and down the mountain. She then turned back towards Chris, chucking her totem into the lava and cheering.
"Unfortunately for Heather, Chris never bothered to tell anyone that the pineapples being thrown in the volcano would cause a gigantic eruption. Typical." Bridgette said.
The generation one cast was shown moving out of the way of the no pineapples sign as the volcano began to erupt.
"Alejandro, who was just recovering from getting his eggs scrambled, was trampled by the crowd and unfortunately submerged in lava." Geoff grimaced.
Alejandro was shown at the bottom of the mountain being trampled by everyone and calling out for help before getting engulfed by the magma.
"Chris saved Alejandro to avoid a lawsuit, but the damage was so severe that Alejandro was locked in the Drama Machine." Bridgette concluded.
The clip of Alejandro become Darth Drama played behind ominous music, showing Alejandro's mutilated fate.
Geoff shuddered. "Totally gnarly man. And not in a good way."
Beardo let out a Wilheim scream from the side as the audience murmured in agreement.
"I'm amazed he lived." Eva grunted.
"Of course he did, he's a super human." Heather defended. "He's doing a lot better. His voice was messed up for a little, but it's back to normal now so we're all good."
"You're telling me he had NO scars?" Bridgette asked, incredulous and almost a bit mad.
"Nope!" Heather beamed.
"Glad the dude didn't bite it though." Geoff admitted. "That would've been like, terrible for your karma dude."
"Don't remind me." Heather guiltily shied away from the spotlight.
"Give it up for the season seven Peanut Gallery!" Bridgette instructed to the audience, who thunderously responded in kind.
"Season seven?" Jo looked over at Bridgette with peculiarity. "I thought this was season six."
"We're including the Ridonculous Race as a TD season." Geoff explained.
"You're only doing that cuz you were in the finals." Duncan protested.
"Maybe, but it's our show, our rules." Bridgette explained. "Now then, let's get on with our guests. We know we've kept you waiting long enough."
The reaction from the audience was somehow louder than last time as they feverishly waited for the first of four eliminated contestants.
"Our first contestant was determined to come back and be a big power player this season, but she was unfortunately cast aside by her teammates for not being useful. Give it up for the first boot of Total Drama World Tour Volume 2, Dakota!" Geoff introduced.
Dakota strolled out smiling and waving to the audience, blowing a kiss out to them as she did so. The audience went from loud to boisterous, only calming themselves after Dakota hugged Bridgette, Geoff, and Zoey.
"Welcome to the Aftermath Dakota!" Bridgette greeted.
"Thanks! It's so cool to be here and get to be on TV every few episodes!" Dakota beamed, sitting down on the Aftermath couch.
"Gotta be a pretty big bummer to be kicked off first, huh?" Geoff asked, wincing at the memory of himself getting kicked off first.
"Meh." Dakota shrugged. "I don't play for the money, I just like the camera time."
"No kidding." Duncan scoffed.
Bridgette glared at the punk, but said nothing. "I think you could find a better show to get exposure on." She chuckled.
"Sure." Dakota agreed. "But I wouldn't have met Sam if I never competed."
"Yea, that's a big time plus!" Zoey called out from the Peanut Gallery.
"You two and your girly feelings." Jo mocked, waving her hands as she did. "What a waste of time."
"Agreed." Eva fist bumped Jo.
"I, for one, think your guy's relationship is beautiful Dakota." Bridgette piped up as the audience cheered.
"Thanks! I feel really bad that he has to compete without me again though." Dakota frowned.
"He's been doing incredible though." Geoff assured her. "Dude's been a challenge menace so far."
"Who'da thought Couch Potato would be so valuable?" Jo remarked.
"I did." Dakota snapped. "Sam's gonna kick so much butt this season, just watch."
"Do you think he could win it all?" Bridgette asked.
"If he knows I'm home rooting for him, he totally could." Dakota smiled.
"Everyone knows all their fans are rooting for them back home." Heather rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean any of you could actually win just cuz of their support."
"Any of you?" Cody repeated from behind her, putting emphasis on the you part.
"I already won, remember?" Heather reminded the geek.
"Radical." Geoff said. "Dakota, go cop a squat on the loser bench."
Dakota walked over and claimed the first spot of the loser bench, which was behind the interviewee couch as Bridgette ruffled through her cue cards to get to her next line.
"Our next guest looked like she'd set herself up for a big run with an early ally and almost got rid of a big favorite in Jasmine, but was foiled after her events in the challenge caused her team to think she was too callous and useless, it's Amy!" Bridgette announced. "Who wrote these cards?" She whispered to herself, clearly feeling flustered for having to be a little rude.
Amy came out with a deep scowl etched across her face, one that only sunk deeper when she heard all the jeers and boos being hurled her way. She plopped herself on the couch with a huff, folding one leg over the other.
"Yea, I don't really wanna interview you." Geoff plainly admitted, turning to talk to Duncan and Heather in the gallery.
"Hey! I deserve to be interviewed after getting kicked off this stupid show." Amy demanded.
"Geoff, it is our job." Bridgette reminded her boyfriend.
"Ugh, fine." Geoff groaned, turning himself away from his conversation. "Welcome to the Aftermath Amy, what happened, yadda yadda."
"What happened is that monstrous tyrant of a leader manipulated everyone into voting for me when it should've been her going home!" Amy screamed in frustration.
"You take that back!" Shawn shouted from the Peanut Gallery.
"Hate to break it to you, but no one manipulated the votes." Dakota leaned over the interview couch. "They just all voted for you."
"What?" Amy nearly shrieked. "But why me? I'm the best twin!"
Max laughed hysterically from the Peanut Gallery. "As if. Samey is so much more villainous."
"Sammy." Shawn corrected.
"Not to mention everyone likes her better." Zoey added.
"She's also outplaced you both times, so you can't say you're a better player than she is." Harold explained.
"And Sammy is better at challenges." Eva grunted.
"Whatever." A flustered Amy remarked. "Can we just get on with my interview?"
"Sure." Bridgette replied. "Amy, tell us about this alliance with Ezekiel. What was the plan there?"
"The plan was to make that homeschooler prairie boy my new Spare-me." Amy snorted. "I wanted him to do whatever I told him whenever I told him, and he so would've."
"Are we talking about the same Ezekiel?" Duncan asked.
"Him listening to women would be a first." Eva noted.
"Did you not see him vote with me?" Amy shot back. "He was listening, it's not his fault Samey's got her claws dug into Jasmine and got me eliminated."
"Wait a minute, you think it's Sammy's fault you got booted?" Geoff inquired, looking confused.
"Everything wrong in my life is Spare-me's fault, thank you." Amy responded.
"You can't seriously think that." Bridgette said, looking at Amy like she was insane.
"Yes, I can." Amy snorted. "Mommy and Daddy think the same way too, they just won't tell Samey the truth."
"That's ridiculous!" Bridgette shouted. "Sammy is so incredibly nice, how could you even think that?"
"Because Samey is the second me!" Amy shouted back. "She's the lesser me, the second Amy, the underling to my empress."
"What's wrong with you?" Bridgette finally fully lost her temper, screaming as she did so.
"Well looks like we're out of time." Geoff chuckled, forcibly sitting Bridgette back down as he turned towards the camera. "We'll be right back with the Total Drama World Tour V2 Aftermath!"
The camera cut off and Geoff pulled Bridgette off behind the stage.
"Babe, I know people are being pretty vile out there, but you gotta keep that head level." Geoff instructed.
"I'm sorry Geoff, I'm trying." Bridgette insisted. "I just am struggling so hard with Duncan. Add in Amy being so cruel, and it's just-"
"Look, I get it." Geoff assured her. "But you can't be yelling at people at the time, okay?"
"Okay." Bridgette answered. "I'm sorry babe. Make sure I keep my temper in check, okay?"
"No problem." Geoff smiled.
The camera cut back to the standard Aftermath view, with Geoff and Bridgette back in their normal seats and Amy taking her seat on the loser couches, though she was noticeably far away from Dakota.
"Welcome back to the TDWTV2 Aftermath!" Bridgette boomed.
"Before we bring out our next guest, I want to run a brand new installment of That's Gonna Leave A Mark!" Geoff gestured towards the TV, which flickered to life.
The TV static cleared as the intro to That's Gonna Leave A Mark played in the background, accompanied by the mini-series background tune.
Brick and Lightning were engaged in another heat-filled battle of mini-hoop basketball in the plane's Loser Class. Lightning pump faked and got Brick to jump, taking the opportunity to sprint past the cadet. He threw down a vicious dunk and hung on the hoop, which snapped under his weight and force applied, causing him to fall on the ground and get hit in the face by the hoop.
Dave, Jasmine, Sam and Rodney were shown on top of the pub's roof in Ireland after the darts challenge. Jasmine and Sam went to help Dave up, who quickly shrugged off their help. Dave promptly walked over to what he thought was a door, but in his disorientated state, ended up being the roof's ventilation system. He walked headfirst into the system.
Owen was scarfing down pancakes in the cafeteria, though he went too fast and accidentally threw his fork down his throat. Courtney hit him in the back to dislodge it, sending the fork careening out his throat and directly into Noah's face.
Sammy and Trent were running along carrying a paralyzed Scott through the Sistine Chapel. Trent tripped, causing Scott to be dropped on the floor as Fang got closer. The shark didn't see Scott get dropped fast enough, tripping over his nemesis and faceplanting in front of him.
Dawn and Lindsay sat across from one another in First Class, the latter's palm being in the former's hand and also having paint through the lines of her palm. The plane hit some turbulence, and Lindsay inadvertently slammed her hand into Dawn's face, painting a rainbow on Dawn's face.
Brick attempted to rev the jet ski away from the Cook's Keep, but it was stalling. He kept turning the key and starting the vehicle, but it refused to engage. Eventually, Brick got it, smirking to Jasmine as he did. He immediately sped into a large rock, sending Jasmine soaring into the water.
Dakota and Sam were walking along the rope bridge in Arizona, chatting it up, when the sound of something dropping grew louder and louder. They both looked up to see all their confiscated electronics coming hurtling down, whacking them in the head. As they fell over, the bridge beneath them creaked, sending them careening down below into the canyon.
"Oh-ho man, always a doozy." Geoff laughed, rubbing a tear of joy from his eye.
"Glad I never was on the receiving end of that segment." Bridgette shuddered.
"It's pretty bad." Harold agreed, reminiscing on his several appearances on the hit bit.
"With that outta the way, let's continue on to our next guest, shall we?" Geoff rhetorically asked the audience, who switched from hysterically laughing to positively responding to Geoff's question.
"Our next guest looked very secure in her own team and was poised to have a strong run this go around, but some dirty schemes from Noah caused her to take another early exit, it's Leshawna!" Bridgette introduced to roaring applause.
Leshawna strutted out and smiled, blowing a kiss to Harold and waving to the rest of the Peanut Gallery as she sat. She shared a fist bump with Geoff and a hug with Bridgette.
"Yo, what's up guys?" Leshawna greeted, causing the crowd to enter a frenzy once again.
"Leshawna, fantastic to see you dudette!" Geoff boomed.
"Same to you, sugar." Leshawna nodded. "You too, Bridgette. And of course you too Harold." She winked, causing Harold to blush.
"You're being pretty flirty there Leshawna." Bridgette noted. "Are you still into Harold?"
"Of course, I'd have to be a dang fool not to be after all those poems." Several women in the audience gushed at the mention of Harold's poetry. "But I know he's too busy right now, doesn't mean I can't have some fun."
"Righteous!" Geoff beamed.
"Leshawna, how was your run on the show this go around?" Bridgette asked.
"Let's see." Leshawna started, holding out her hand. "I fought with Courtney a lot, had to deal with Lightning's arrogant self, sort of fell out with Gwen, and got the boot from Noah." She said, ticking off a finger for each sentence. "How do you think it went?"
Beardo made the GTA wasted sound effect from the bleachers and everyone solemnly nodded in agreement.
"Yea, not my best question." Bridgette sheepishly admitted.
"But what happened with Gwen?" Geoff inquired. "You two have always had a tight bond, and with Noah and Owen, I figured you guys would be a lock for the final four of your team."
"Preachin' to the choir." Leshawna said dryly. "I don't know what's up in that girl's head, but lemme tell ya, it ain't right."
"Only Count Gwenula would throw away her main ally for some 'needing to solve my own problems' junk." Jo airquoted.
"Wouldn't be the first time she's done something like that though." Cody noted from above Jo.
"Yea, remember in TDA? She refused Trent's help and then voted herself off because she thought that was what was right." Harold added.
"Doesn't make it any less stupid." Eva remarked.
"But it does make it more nefarious." Max cackled from beside Eva. Mid-cackle, Eva jabbed the evil genius with an elbow, sending him to the floor moaning.
"Whateva." Leshawna said. "At the end of the day, I'm still rootin' for Gwen. It'd be cool if she could win a season this time."
"No doubt." Bridgette nodded. "But what about Noah? Gwen suspects that Noah caused you to go home."
"And she's right." Geoff interrupted.
"Yea, I was getting to that." Bridgette teased. "Do you think Gwen will last much longer if Noah realizes she's onto him? Or could Gwen convince the rest of Team Omega to give Noah the boot?"
"That's a tough one." Leshawna admitted.
"There's no way Pasty gets the boot before that nerd." Duncan scoffed from the gallery.
"Yea, Noah-it-all is definitely gonna get dropped next." Jo agreed.
"But Noah's got all these dastardly schemes going." Heather reminded the two bullies. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was able to convince Courtney and Lightning to boot Gwen next."
"Lightning's a wild card though." Shawn interjected. "The word cooperative doesn't come to mind when describing him."
"Or smart." Zoey grumbled.
"Leshawna, what's your opinion?" Geoff redirected.
"Honestly, I don't know who's gonna go next." Leshawna noted. "It could be any of them, really. Except Owen. That brother clings on like a fungus, ya know?"
"All too well." Heather shuddered, being reminded of when she was shaved because of Owen's refusal to go down.
"Give it up for Leshawna everybody!" Bridgette instructed the audience, who got riled right back up as the sister with attitude took her seat next to Dakota. Notably, Amy was sitting as far away from Dakota and now Leshawna as she could.
"Our final guest came in with some major baggage, but hopefully has dealt with all those issues, it's Dave!" Geoff announced, throwing his hands to the stage left.
Dave walked out sheepishly smiling to the camera and waving, being met with crickets. He made it all the way to his seat when the first audience member reacted, shouting: "Oh brother, this guy STINKS!"
"Thank you." Dave awkwardly sat down, nerves swelling throughout his body.
"Dude, I kinda don't wanna interview you either." Geoff told him, although he stayed looking at Dave. "I'm gonna, but like, for serious, why does your generation kinda blow?"
"I'm not sure?" Dave nervously answered. "We don't all suck, I swear. Look at Shawn and Jasmine."
Shawn smiled and waved as the crowd went into a brief frenzy.
"I think you left someone out there Dave." Bridgette prodded. "And that's our first and juiciest question for you."
"Do we have to start with that?" Dave whined. "Can't you ask me about my Chef-demanded alliance with Jasmine or something?"
"Sure, since you gave us the idea." Bridgette nodded. "What was up with that?"
"Not too sure to be honest." Dave admitted. "Chef just kinda told us we should look after each other, so we did. I didn't really think Jasmine liked me that much after the finale."
"I'll shoot you straight bro, she didn't." Shawn called out.
"That's what I expected." Dave sighed. "I feel awful about that."
"What was going through your head during that dude?" Geoff asked.
"I was just mad at Sky for having a boyfriend." Dave told the hosts. "I wish I could say there was more, but all those rejections just got to me and I snapped."
"Feel you man." Cody nodded.
"Then Chris gave me the remote to control the island and said Jasmine and I could each walk away with half a million, and that was the drop that burst the dam." Dave explained. "I hate that I ever did that."
The audience surprisingly started 'aww'-ing once more, and some began clapping.
"That was really earnest honey, good job." Leshawna clapped him on the shoulder.
"Thanks." Dave quietly thanked. "And Shawn, I'm really sorry."
"I get it dude." Shawn brushed off. "Well, I don't get it, but no harm no foul. I walked away with a million bucks, I can't be too mad at you."
"Thank you." Dave chuckled.
"Very beautiful Dave." Bridgette acknowledged. "But now we have to ask the big one."
"Really?" Dave whined.
"Sorry dude, but we gotta send our viewers home happy." Geoff remorsefully told him. "Now onto it. What's up with you and Sky?"
Dave let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the interviewee couch. "I think we're okay?"
"That's it?" Geoff asked. "C'mon! We need more than that."
"Fine." Dave griped. "You all saw the last episode, we kinda made up but then I started being whiny old Dave again and then we made up AGAIN and then I got eliminated and then she said we were good." He threw himself deeper into the couch and let out a long breath. "Happy?"
The entire room was stunned at his outburst. Eventually, one punk from the gallery started slowly clapping.
"That was fucking hilarious." Duncan laughed. He was quickly elbowed by both Jo and Heather, making him stop. "But seriously dude, that was lame."
"I'm not agreeing with him, but I think you could've handled it better." Heather poignantly told Dave.
"Haven't heard that a million times." Dave mumbled.
"It's still good you apologized though." Geoff encouraged the now significantly downtrodden Dave. "A good apology goes a long way." He winked towards Bridgette, who blushed.
"I didn't know if I said I was sorry that well though." Dave replied.
"Our viewers thought you did." Bridgette told him. "All the fan mail we kept receiving talked about how much they loved seeing you and Sky interact and seeing Sky forgive you."
"Really?" Dave asked, hope filling his voice.
"Tchyea dude!" Geoff giddily answered. "That's like the number one thing we've been hearing."
"Oh wow." Dave smiled. "I guess I did the right thing?"
"Yea you did bro!" Shawn shouted.
Beardo answered with a 'ding-ding' sound effect, shooting him a thumbs up.
"Yes!" Dave shouted. "I can't believe it, the fans actually kind of like me?"
"Keyword being kind of." Heather tutted.
"That would actually be two key words." Harold corrected.
"Cram it Doris." Duncan snorted.
"Anyways." Bridgette continued, glaring back at Duncan. "We have one more question Dave."
"Shoot!" Dave happily complied, a big grin etched across his face.
"Not so fast bro." Geoff darkly smiled.
"What do you mean?" Dave innocently asked.
"First we have to get you hooked up for, drumroll please." Geoff called out to the screen above, which played a video of Chef giving a drum roll. "Truth! Or! Lasers!"
A wooden Lady Justice was shown with the similar Truth or Pain jingle going in the background, zooming out slowly. As the camera paused, a laser shot out from behind the camera, disintegrating the statue instantly.
"Woah!" Dave shouted. "Where's the laser going to come from?"
"Don't know, I didn't set it up." Geoff told him. "Onto the question, Bridge?"
"Dave, do you think there's any chance that you could get back with Sky?" Bridgette posited.
The entire room went silent and the smile instantly dropped from Dave's face as he started pondering the question. The audience inched to the edge of their seats while everyone looked generally uncomfortable.
"That was a pretty heavy question Bridge." Geoff whispered.
"It was what the producers wanted." Bridgette plainly responded. "So, Dave?"
"W-well..." Dave shakily started. He took a deep breath, hoping to shake any nerves, and started again. "I don't think we could."
The entire audience and several members on stage gasped at this revelation, everyone save Shawn, who had drawn the same conclusion, and Eva, who refused to show shock.
"That's very noble of you Dave." Zoey complimented.
"Yea, that takes some major restraint." Geoff nodded. "How'd you come to that decision?"
"Just based off of how things went last time I guess." Dave explained. "Plus, Sky has all these crazy ambitions and goals, and she's achieving them too. I'm pretty comfortable just working in the garage and having a quiet life."
"I can relate." Heather admitted.
"Basically, Sky and I are two different people. She's great, and I'll always look back on her and these times with mixed feelings, though generally positive, and with a lot of love. But at the end of the day, I don't think she and I are a great match because of that. I'm gonna wish her well in life next time I see her, but this is the end of us romantically." Dave monologued.
The audience was stunned as were the stage members. Slowly, Cody stood up and started clapping, followed by Leshawna. Soon, Beardo, Eva, Harold, Heather, Jo, Shawn, Zoey, Dakota, Bridgette, Geoff, and a majority of the audience was clapping for Dave, who stood up and took a bow. Duncan rolled his eyes and Max crossed his arms defiantly. When the applause died down, Dave resumed his seat.
"No lasers means he told the truth." Geoff noted. "That was super inspiring bro."
"Thank you." Dave blushed.
"Kinda lame no one got beamed with a laser." Duncan remarked.
"Good point." Bridgette said, wolfishly grinning at Duncan. Duncan cocked an eyebrow at this as Bridgette, Geoff, and Leshawna shared a look. In a flash, Dave was seated on the loser couches and Duncan was thrown into the hot seat by Geoff and Leshawna, being tied down.
"Hey what gives?" Duncan protested. "I'm not even playing this time!"
"That doesn't mean you don't have some truths you don't wanna expose." Leshawna grinned.
Duncan gulped deeply as he wriggled around in his ropes to no avail.
"So, Duncan, I gotta say I'm really not happy with how you treated Courtney and Gwen." Bridgette told the punk. "Those are my girls, and you hurt them."
"Who cares, people get hurt everyday, big deal." Duncan rolled his eyes.
"Yea, but people don't always have a giant laser pointed at their forehead on national TV for hurting someone's friends, huh?" Bridgette chided, smiling.
"Whatever, I ain't got nothing to hide." Duncan brazenly retorted.
"Okay then." Bridgette responded. "Did you ever have feelings for Gwen, or did you just want to piss off Courtney?"
Duncan shot Bridgette a death glare and squirmed a bit before realizing he couldn't get out, sighing. "I didn't feel anything towards Gwen until Courtney started being crazy. Then I realized she was pretty hot on top of being a cool person. Happy?"
The laser didn't fire, indicating he told the truth. "Not yet." Bridgette answered.
"I got one." Cody piped up. "Do you have any respect for Harold?"
The audience 'ooo'd and 'ahh'd at Cody's question as Duncan mouthed "fuck you" at Cody. "None at all." Duncan smirked. The laser ignited, zapping him and causing him to groan. "Alright fine!" He yelled. "Harold has some respect from me. That stuff during the kung fu movie challenge was pretty cool."
"I'm glad you finally appreciate my mad skills." Harold rasped.
"Don't get too high and mighty Doris." Duncan warned.
"Last question." Bridgette told him. "Do you still have feelings for either Courtney or Gwen?"
Duncan, rather than getting angry or sweary, felt his eyes go wide and face flush with color. He squirmed and for the first time in a while, the Total Drama viewing world saw Duncan nervous.
"No." Duncan eventually stammered. The laser beam didn't take kindly to his lying, blasting him with an even more aggressive jolt of electricity that singed his clothes and face. He coughed out smoke as his face got even redder.
The audience and stage members gasped once again, causing Duncan to somehow fester even more.
"No way!" Heather exclaimed.
"Who is it?" Zoey inquired.
"Tell us!" Eva roared.
"Shut up!" Duncan ordered, and, surprisingly, everyone complied. He sighed and looked back towards Bridgette. "Courtney." He seethed.
The laser deactivated and Duncan ripped himself free of the bonds that had been significantly weakened by all the blasts. Bridgette stood there shocked as Duncan stormed off stage.
"Well, guess that ends our show!" Geoff announced, looking over at Bridgette who refused to look elsewhere than besides stage right where Duncan had left.
"Uh, Bridge?" Geoff nudged her, snapping her out of her trance. "We gotta sign off the ep."
"Right!" Bridgette hastily replied.
"We hope you all enjoyed this installment of the Aftermath for Total Drama World Tour Volume Two! I've been your host Bridgette!" Bridgette commenced.
"And I've been your other host Geoff!" Geoff continued.
"And we'll see you right here next time on Total! Drama! Aftermath!" The two belted out as the theme song played and the camera cut.
"And we're clear." The same shrill, 2010's voice told the hosts as a bell rang and the couches began clearing.
"Bridge, what was up with you and Duncan?" Geoff asked at he and his girlfriend walked backstage towards the TALENT door.
"I'm mad at him Geoff, that's what." Bridgette replied.
"Yea, but did you have to be so harsh on him?" Geoff inquired.
"Did you see what he did to Courtney?" Bridgette snapped. "And then how he treated Gwen? He doesn't deserve me being nice to him right now, and he doesn't deserve you being nice either."
"I guess." Geoff rubbed the back of his head. "I just think that the Truth or Laser stuff was a bit overkill."
"And it's not overkill when it's used on the ex-players?" Bridgette retorted.
"Nah, it's in their contracts so it's game." Geoff nonchalantly explained. "Duncan didn't really sign up for that, y'know?"
"Yea, I guess." Bridgette shakily agreed. She opened the talent door and her mouth went agape when she saw Duncan sitting on the couch, picking at his nails. He was clear of his singed-ness but his eyes were a bright red and he had a deep scowl on his face.
"I'm gonna go talk to Brenda." Geoff excused himself, leaving to find the shorter suit.
"Why are you back here?" Bridgette calmly asked, as though she was trying to convince a bear not to maul her.
"Did you have to do that?" Duncan asked, not breaking his gaze with the floor or taking his hands away from picking at his nails.
"The producers usually like us to get something out of those Truth or Pain segments." Bridgette weakly chuckled. "And Dave wasn't lying, so..."
"So you aired my dirty laundry." Duncan spat.
Bridgette immediately went red in the face herself, hanging her head. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, great, all is forgiven." Duncan sarcastically smiled.
"Look, I just." Bridgette started, placing herself next to Duncan. "I didn't like what you did to Courtney or to Gwen. It was gross."
"You don't think I know that?" Duncan asked the surfer, looking at her incredulously.
"Then what's up with pretending you don't care?" Bridgette pried.
"It's my brand Malibu!" Duncan yelled. "I've always been this gruff, mean bully who'll kill you for looking at me funny. I can't exactly compromise that by talking about my fuckin feelings all the time."
"I understand." Bridgette retreated, letting Duncan calm down. "For Courtney's and Gwen's sake though, I wanted answers, and some justice."
"Then come to me in private for that shit, not on international TV." Duncan bemoaned, stopping his nail picking to throw his head back against the couch.
"Okay, I took the wrong approach, and I'm sorry." Bridgette admitted. "But can you just explain why stuff went down how it did?"
"Another time." Duncan brushed off, making his way to the door. "I don't wanna think about this anymore. Goodnight Bridgette."
"Goodnight." Bridgette called out, watching Duncan walk off and Geoff come back in.
"Was that super heinous?" Geoff asked as he went over to the mirror and grabbed a make up wipe, wiping himself clean.
"Not really." Bridgette told him. "I think I'm getting somewhere with him."
"Righteous." Geoff replied. "You wanna get somewhere with someone else?" Geoff winked.
"God, that was terrible." Bridgette teased.
"Is that a no?" Geoff asked, perplexed.
"It was a yes, doofus." Bridgette laughed, pulling him in by the shirt collar. "Come here."
The two began loudly making out again, as Brenda, the shorter suit from outside, yanked at her collar.
"You really sure bringing these two back was a great idea?" The taller suit, Carlos, asked.
"Certain." Brenda told him. "These two are ratings gold."
"They better be." Carlos pinched the bridge of his nose.
The two suits walked away as Bridgette and Geoff continued loudly making out, the lights all around them flicking off one by one.
Duncan breathed in the air outside, sighing. He pulled out an old, crumpled up Polaroid of Courtney and himself lounging at the Playa from his wallet. He looked at it, then back up towards the stars. With a grunt, he pocketed the Polaroid and started walking downtown, into the night.
Holy hell I cracked 10,000 words I'M AMAZING. AND THIS TOOK LIKE 4 DAYS. I LOVE BEING MOTIVATED, IT'S LIKE HEROIN.
I hope the Aftermath was at least mildly enjoyable. Like I said, this is mainly conflict resolution or conflict arisation (I don't care that that's not a word, it is now). As of right now I don't have any plans for a return because honestly, it's a little overdone. Every single season there's been a return (Izzy and Eva in Island, Izzy and Courtney in Action, Duncan and Blaineley in WT, Dakota in ROTI, Alejandro (technically) in All Stars, Amy in PI, and the Surfers in RR) and it's just so played out to me that I don't wanna bring people back, especially when everyone knows the returns are almost always there just to get eliminated again. It undermines the play of the other competitors and I dislike it.
I feel like this was a bit blocky but at the same time, the horizontal lines are, like, scene breaks in my mind, and an Aftermath episode contains very little scene breaks, at least in my opinion. I hope you all can ignore the feeling of this being text-wall-y, if it comes off like that at all.
I also just wanna explain the Bridgette-Duncan animosity real quick because yea, it does kind of seem like Bridgette's being a hypocrite. Here's the thing, Bridgette fucked up and she apologized, like went out of her way to sing a whole song about it and shit. Duncan just does not and has not cared, and Bridgette, being someone who knows what it's like to cheat and receive backlash for it, decided to give Duncan a taste of her world. Along with that, Bridgette is just really tight with Courtney and Gwen and it's my belief that she would be super hurt over Duncan's actions.
Finally, we got another 5 bonafide episodes in store for our contestants between this Aftermath and the next, so get ready for some new locales, new drama, and new eliminations. Til next time, shuppyer out.