Author's Note: Heya, I just wanted to address a comment on here that I got on AO3 after the latest chapter as it was quite important to where the story goes. As far as I've been aware since the new season has come out, people have stayed away from shipping the new cast with any of the older gens, even in the few cast swapping fics it generally hasn't happened much.
While the 15 year gap mentioned in canon is the main reason why, we've already had the tweet from Terry McGurrin saying that if production wanted it could just be IRL, which does open up the possibility, but until then I suppose it's up to the fans if they want to stick to the gap or not, which is why I'd shortened it to five years instead. Personally my opinion is that as long as it's clarified that they're a similar age (like the shuffled fics or something like Total Drama: All 68) then it should be ok, but everyone will have differing opinions on this.
As for this fic specifically, I'm still unsure about going full send on shipping Lauren and Ezekiel. I've really enjoyed writing these two together so far, and so far any potential shipping for the duo has been left up to interpretation, however I'd like your opinion on this as it would help to see what the community thinks. Should they stay as they are, or should they be a couple?
Either way I really appreciate all the support on the fic so far.
Reviews
PenaltyPingo: Thanks for the review! Hopefully it won't be the last time either that Lauren gets hold of a jackhammer.
RFtheGreat: No worries friend, take however much time you need. Lauren always knows how to put a jackhammer to good use that's for certain (just ask MK and Damien). And yeah we'll see what Chris has planned for them in future chapters.
Chapter Six
"Aw Man… that phone had all the dirt I needed to get into the finals."
Mary-Kate (or MK as everyone called her) frowned in annoyance, having just been eliminated from Total Drama Island. She looked up just as the Drone of Despair started to latch onto her hat, clinging onto it as the drone began to lift her off the Dock of Shame.
"This rots… On the bright side, at least I didn't make any friends." She deadpanned to herself, beginning to be taken away from the Island, Chris McLean being the only one to see her off.
Her glare only intensified as she thought over the events of the challenge. Julia had begun flipping out at everyone, as expected since MK did use her phone to upload a video of her shouting at that raptor the day before. They lost the last challenge because Julia had also let her ego get in the way, causing Zee of all people to win the challenge for his team.
And to top it all off, her own strategy had been uncovered by Julia, finding the phone she had been using to record everyone's confessionals with and exposing her just before the elimination ceremony. MK honestly didn't know what was more stupid from her former teammates, the fact that they didn't vote off the bigger threat first or the fact that they only voted for her NOT because of her watching their confessionals, but because Julia convinced everyone that she apparently 'watched everyone poop'. MK rolled her eyes at that last thought, not willing to shake her head in disgust due to the possibility of falling off of the drone.
As she passed over the waters she heard commotion down below her, however she wasn't able to hear what was going on. MK risked a glance down and saw a boatful of people in outfits similar to the interns that were working under Chris approaching an island, she followed their trail up and saw the shores of Boney Island that she was quickly passing by.
"Huh, wonder what's gotten those interested in that island, oh well, not my problem." She said to herself.
Eventually she could see the pleasant sight of the Playa Des Losers approaching fast, on the dock waiting were the other eliminated contestants with one of them being curiously missing…
Where the hell was Scary Girl?
MK was quickly dropped off, entering a quiet stare-off with the others until eventually Caleb broke the deadlock.
"So MK was it? Surprised they kicked you off so soon…" He said.
"Yeah well flying under the radar clearly didn't work." She replied sarcastically, "Didn't help that Julia decided to go full Heather and start treating everyone like dirt." She continued, a sly smile creeping onto her face at the chaos she inadvertently caused.
"Yeah, we saw that video that got posted, turns out miss nice girl isn't so positive after all." Stated Nichelle, rolling her eyes at the thought of the fake personality that Julia had created.
"Yeah that was me, I recorded the whole thing and posted it on her social media." MK snarked, grin widening at their shocked reactions.
"Anyway, aren't there supposed to be five of you here? Is Scary Girl waiting around the corner with a jackhammer or something?" MK continued, questioning her absence and somewhat concerned about her own safety after the last time they encountered each other.
Axel and Damien exchanged glances before the latter stepped forward nervously.
"She's uh, not here right now. She… kinda went AWOL after her elimination and is on another island with a bunch of wild animals." He explained, tripping over his words a little.
"Not to mention said island is full of mutant creatures AND a former contestant turned animal himself." Axel continued.
MK shuddered in response, realising the chaos that Scary Girl could get up to on that island wouldn't be good for anyone. She then remembered what she saw on the way to the Playa involving the interns. "Wait, is that why some of Chris's interns were taking a boat to Boney Island, is that where she is?" She asked.
Damien nodded, "Yeah, I saw her and Ezekiel on the shores of the island as I was being carried here. Looks like Chef told them where they are and is going to collect them…" He trailed off, realising what this would mean for them.
MK sighed, "Great…" she said, rolling her eyes at the news.
The interns keeping an eye on them urged them to hurry up so Axel grabbed MK and began dragging her towards the resort, the others following suit.
"I'll tell you what I told Damien, they're gonna be here no matter what so just suck it up thief." Axel stated angrily.
MK just groaned in response, 'maybe I shouldn't have been so hasty with exposing Julia, then I wouldn't have to deal with this crap…' she thought to herself.
*Minutes earlier*
The boat glided across the otherwise quiet waters of Lake Wawanakwa, carrying around six different interns, each of them holding different pieces of equipment designed to subdue any threats on Boney Island.
Each occupant of the boat knew what they had been tasked to do by Chef Hatchet, to find Lauren AKA 'Scary Girl' and the once-human Ezekiel who were both somewhere on the island, and return them both to the Playa Des Losers resort by any means necessary.
At first they thought the capture equipment they were given was a bit excessive, however those who had seen the prior seasons knew how dangerous the now feral Ezekiel would be if provoked, and they had all seen during challenges in the current season that Scary Girl would attack them as well if she saw entertainment out of it.
Some of the equipment they had on them wasn't too excessive, such as simple nets, others were holding tranquilisers just in case the two decided to attack, one intern in particular had a taser on standby, most likely for Ezekiel.
As the boat washed up on the shores of Boney Island, one intern looked up to see the Drone of Despair passing over with the latest eliminated contestant, carrying them over towards the resort.
They looked down just in time to see the rest of the interns getting off the boat, readying themselves for the task ahead. It wasn't going to be long before they found the two missing contestants and they needed to be prepared in case the confrontation became violent.
For everyone's sake, they hoped that it wouldn't come to that.
When they had eventually gotten back to the cave following their trip to the Fun Zone, Ezekiel had practically thrown himself into his nest, feeling exhausted following their confrontation with the mutant shark Fang.
Lauren on the other hand skipped into the cave, seemingly completely fine from the events of the day, she picked up her decorated skull from the rocks nearby gleefully, and jumped into the nest after Ezekiel, giggling madly.
"That was fun!" She said ominously, tilting her head slightly with an audible crack towards Ezekiel, who lazily stared back at the Scary Girl.
He glanced down briefly at the skull she was holding, noticing that she once again had his toque snuggled on top of the wig she attached to it when she gave it the 'makeover'. She noticed him looking and smiled widely.
"You don't mind me using it do you?" She asked sweetly, the otherwise innocent comment looking slightly more deranged by her wide creepy smile, although this went completely over Ezekiel's head, having gotten used to Lauren's antics during her brief time on Boney Island.
"N-not really…" He replied, "It's not l-like it's that c-comfortable for me at the moment." He continued, pointing at what little hair remained on his scalp.
Lauren just smiled even wider, teeth on full display. "Maybe I could give you a makeover as well." She said, her excitement growing at the thought of helping her friend.
Ezekiel just smiled at the Scary Girl as she began musing over what different hairstyles she would give to the Feral Homeschooler, he didn't interject too much into her ideas, just accepting seeing his friend expressing more interests other than scaring people, not that he disliked that about her.
Suddenly her smile froze, quickly turning into a small frown as she pondered something briefly, before groaning to herself.
"Aww I left all my spare makeup back on the island…" She pouted, her expression looking like someone had told her none of the skeletons she found were real.
Ezekiel just stared at her in silence, not exactly knowing what to say to her at that moment.
Eventually he was able to speak up. "W-wouldn't they have s-sent your things b-back to the r-resort? Like my s-season?" He questioned, struggling to remember back to his brief time on Camp Wawanakwa.
Hearing this made Lauren's expression do a complete 180, as her disappointment quickly gave away to one of her signature wide smiles. "You're right!" She shouted gleefully. "We should go and grab my things, then I can help fix you up." She continued passionately, her face getting really close to Ezekiel's.
Ezekiel on the other hand didn't look so enthusiastic about heading back to the losers resort, as it meant coming back into contact with other people, people who would be afraid of him, or worse, he'd fall back into the clutches of Chris McLean.
Lauren's smile dropped once more seeing her friend's mood dropping, quickly realising what was upsetting him.
"Oh… yeah… I forgot you don't do too well with people anymore…" She said slowly.
Lauren didn't quite know what to say to help him, but like the other day with his nightmares, she did feel the need to help him, feeling the slightest bit of guilt creeping in.
Before she could say anything else however, Ezekiel spoke first. "D-do you think… other contestants… accept me?" He asked softly, stuttering on his words, broken English coming through once more.
Lauren immediately nodded enthusiastically, having more experience with her cast. "They accept me for the most part, and I'm definitely scarier than you." She responded, making a show of appearing ominous in an attempt to convince Ezekiel to believe her.
This ended up working, as Ezekiel cracked a small smile at the Scary Girl. "O-ok, I trust you…" He said softly.
Lauren grinned once more in response, satisfied with the job she had done. She began to talk once more about what she could try and do to fix his lack of hair when Ezekiel stood up promptly and groaned in annoyance.
"We f-forgot about the e-elimination…" He moaned, facepalming.
Lauren leaped out of the nest with ease, somersaulting through the air and landing perfectly.
"If we hurry we can still catch it. I hope it's someone on the other team this time, or that jerk Ripper." She cackled gleefully, beginning to run out of the cave with her skull still in her arms.
Ezekiel watched her dash out of the cave and began running after her, neither of them realising that this would be the last time either of them would step foot in the cave.
They had been searching for a while now, the natural hazards of Boney Island making it really difficult for them to search the place for them effectively.
The natural parts of the island weren't that large, however the local wildlife had already tried to attack them multiple times, from the woolly beavers to the birds they had caused the search for Ezekiel and Scary Girl to slow down dramatically. Over half of the equipment they had brought had already been used up or completely destroyed fighting off the animals, thankfully they still had the tranquilisers.
A lot of the island had already been explored with no success and a growing concern for having to search within the Fun Zone was being made between all of the interns.
Just when all hope was beginning to fade for the group, they could hear sounds in the nearby area, the sound of people talking. Interest peaked, they began to push forward, intent on capturing the pair now that they finally had a rough idea of where they were at.
Hiding behind some large bushes, the group peeked through, not quite hearing what was being said, but it was definitely them. The intern with the tranquiliser readied their weapon, aiming for who they thought was the bigger threat of the pair, and prepared to fire.
Ezekiel had been running through the forest for a short while when he had finally caught up to Lauren, the Scary Girl having stopped near some large bushes, the skull no longer in her hands but instead gently laying by her feet. She was holding something in her hands, inspecting the ground as if something there was bothering her.
She perked up, hearing the sounds of Ezekiel's footsteps approaching and turned around with a large creepy grin on her face.
"Look what I found!" Lauren said gleefully, holding what appeared to be a torn up piece of netting.
Ezekiel raised an eye in confusion, he had been stuck on the island for years, there was never anything resembling a net on the island, not even in the Fun Zone. He would know if there was, having explored every inch of the regular part of the island.
"I found these tracks as well." Lauren continued, stepping aside so that he could see what she was looking at on the ground, there were several footprints marked on the ground, some of them were normal for the island, being the marks of the woolly beaver. However, amongst them were a set of boot prints, and in a completely different shape to those of Lauren's, someone else was here…
They shared a brief look, both knowing what this could mean. They knew it was only a matter of time, Lauren had been on the show recently, they were never going to be alone on the island forever since people would undoubtedly be looking for her. It didn't stop the fear from entering Ezekiel's mind, he knew what this meant, Chris had found him, he didn't want to go back to just being another 'animal' for Chris to use.
"Hey!" Lauren waved her hand in Ezekiel's face to no response, she could see him beginning to panic, shaking beginning to intensify, to the point where he'd collapsed against the side of a tree.
She didn't know how to respond to this, she was used to seeing people scared out of their minds, hell she was usually the cause of that, but she'd never seen anyone have a full blown panic attack before. That unfamiliar feeling of concern for the Feral Homeschooler surfaced once more, so Lauren did the only thing she could think of in the circumstances.
Ezekiel's internal panic was distracted by Lauren pulling him towards her, cupping his face in her hands and kneeling down so they were face to face. Her expression was dead serious despite the smile still being on her face.
"It's ok Zeke, He's not going to hurt you." She said to him gently, her voice matching the seriousness in her eyes, her smile becoming more warm than creepy. "I won't let him, any of them. I'm here for you…" She continued, trying to be as reassuring as she could.
Ezekiel stared at her for what felt like a long time, blushing slightly. There were some doubts in him as to whether or not she would keep her word, but she looked and sounded sincere in what she was saying. The Scary Girl looked somewhat uncomfortable as she wasn't used to being in this position, usually being the scarer rather than a comforter, but Ezekiel could see she was genuine in wanting to help him.
He hugged her, feeling some reassurance that he would actually be ok, that he may eventually get to be human again with her help. Lauren tensed up in surprise from the hug, but quickly returned it, smile on full display once more, they stayed like that for a few moments, Lauren continuing to say small reassurances to him as he calmed down.
As he opens his eyes once more, Ezekiel glances at the large bushes nearby, seeing something shining within the leaves. His eyes widen as he sees the metallic glint of a gun, and in panic he shoves Lauren away from him just as the tranquiliser fires.
Lauren's eyes snap open in shock as she hits the ground next to where the skull was, seeing Ezekiel shakily pull the tranquiliser dart out of his exposed shoulder as it starts to quickly take effect, knocking him unconscious.
Lauren scoops up the skull and places it in Ezekiel's tattered hoodie, before picking him up. Seeing the interns appearing from behind the bush with what little equipment they still had, she began to run away from the site, Ezekiel in her arms, desperate to get back to the cave before they could capture them.
Unfortunately for her, she didn't make it far before she felt something hit the back of her leg, sending her falling to the ground, Ezekiel tumbling out of her arms. Lauren gets up, growling at the approaching interns whilst quickly realising that they might not be able to escape from this.
Thinking that it was going to be easy now that Ezekiel was unconscious, the interns approach Lauren without caution, only to dart off when Lauren throws a rock with surprising strength into one of the interns, knocking them out.
Lauren grabs a large low hanging branch from one of the trees, snapping the end off of it to use as a weapon. One of the interns sneaks up behind her, only for the Scary Girl to quickly turn around, a creepy grin on her face, and smacks them with the branch, knocking the net out of their hands and sending them to the ground.
She tilts her head around to face the others, an audible crack heard by everyone still conscious, as she leaps up into the trees to hide from the sight of the interns. The one with the tranquiliser readies their gun, only for the branch to be thrown down, knocking the weapon away.
Lauren leaps down on to another intern, kicking them in the face and sending them to the ground. She turns around to the remaining three interns, eye twitching and a deranged smile grinning from ear to ear.
Unfortunately for her, she didn't make sure that every intern she'd knocked down was unconscious. She heard a click, then felt the prick of a dart hit the back of her leg. She turned around just in time to see the intern she smacked with the branch still on the ground, tranquiliser gun in hand pointed at her, a small terrified grin on their face. She groaned softly before collapsing to the ground unconscious.
Two of the interns that were still conscious quickly grabbed both Lauren and Ezekiel, worried about them potentially waking up before they could get back to the resort, and began to make their way back to the boat, the other interns grabbing the two that Lauren had knocked out.
End Chapter
Author's Note: Admittedly I struggled a bit with writing this chapter, but a lot needed to happen in this one. We caught up with the eliminated contestants, explored the dynamic between our two main characters some more, and moved the plot forward with their subsequent capture. Expect a lot more interactions now that Ezekiel and Lauren are heading to the Playa Des Losers, Ezekiel interacting with the other 2023 cast members will be interesting in particular.