Total Drama Academy
The Reboot Paradox
a Total Drama fan fiction story
by Lord Akiyama
Author's Note: This is a reboot, or reimagining, of my original Total Drama Academy story, which is still active mind you. This universe is developed on the idea that there had been only three shows that were made roughly at the same time: Total Drama Island, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, and Total Drama: Pahkitew Island.
Chapter Two
Sixteen hours.
It had barely been an hour since the announcement was made that it would take that long before they reached their destination. Despite how seemingly high tech the bus was, it could distract for only so long before most, if not all, of the passengers would start to go stir crazy.
Courtney and Duncan decided to give the personalized viewing devices a shot. Rather, Courtney wanted to try it and managed to talk her punk boyfriend into begrudgingly tagging along. He had to bite back his annoyance when she picked some sappy Christmas drama that probably originated from the Hallmark Channel or the like. They were barely fifteen minutes into the movie before the inevitable happened.
"This bites..." Duncan muttered aloud.
He slumped into his seat as much as it would allow for him to without reclining back or causing him to slide off. The earphones he was wearing were fortunately wireless, otherwise they might have been pulled out of his ears. It was uncertain if his actions were intended to disturb Courtney. Yet disturb her they did.
"I know you're not fond of these types of movies," she said after letting out a slightly annoyed sighed. "But could you at least try to sit through it objectively?"
"No, I'm not talking about the movie," he responded. He made little effort to right himself back into a proper sitting position, instead rubbing his temple with a free hand. "It's not that bad, actually. But it's not enough of a distraction from the fact that we're not even an hour into our sixteen hour ride to hell."
"Don't say it like that," Courtney groaned. She put forth all of her focus and attention on the monitor playing the movie they were trying to watch. It was turning into a losing battle. "Please don't."
To his credit, Duncan said nothing further. He instead exhaled a sigh of his own and made some attempt at watching the movie along with her. A surprising thing to accomplish considering that he remained slumped in his seat. And yet he still managed to get a good view of the monitor in front of him. But try as he might, he could not focus on the movie. Within a couple minutes, he sat up slightly and buried his face in his hands and let out an annoyed groan.
"God, this is worse than that Awake-A-Thon..." he grumbled. Again, it was uncertain if he intended to be loud enough to disturb Courtney. Yet disturb her his actions did.
"Oh, now I can't concentrate on the movie!" Courtney moaned. She slumped slightly in her seat and let out the kind of exhale that was a cross between frustration and desperation. She didn't have the care to turn off the movie, but lacked further desire to give it any attention either. The silence passed for a good minute before someone spoke.
"You sure you don't wanna make out?" Duncan asked. A smirk had formed on his lips when she started to tremble and blush madly. "That might pass the time faster."
"Our last make out session went farther than I dared allowed!" Courtney hissed. She was trying to sound as stern as she could in a whispered voice, but it just sounded more like panic than anything. How pink her face had become didn't help. "I don't want that happening in public! Certainly not on this bus!"
"You have to admit, though," Duncan said. His smirk widened. "The idea turns you on." He felt no shame in watching her squirm and squeeze her thighs together as tightly as she could.
"My Great-Great-Great-Great-Auntie Perdita invented aluminum foil, yeah," Staci said. There was a weird sense of pride making such a statement. "Before her, people would keep fresh food in poison ivy to keep germs away."
"Hmmm, poison ivy..." Max mused aloud. It appeared that he would listen to whatever Staci would proclaim in full, cherry pick anything that caught his fancy, and wrote them down in a notebook clearly labeled "Ideas for Evil Schemes" in crayon. And yes, he took notes using crayon, not pencil or pen. "Poison ivy... and germs! I can work with that. You just may be the best henchwoman yet, Shadi Staci."
"I'm your best friend?" Staci gasped. She then lightly cheered as she began to rapidly clap her hands. "I've never had a friend before and already I'm your best friend! That reminds me of my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Uncle Ludwig, yeah. He invented the birthday cake. Before him, people would serve baked salmon stuffed with sour cream to celebrate birthdays."
"Baked salmon..." Max noted with intrigue. "Sour cream... Yes, the ideas are beginning to formulate in my devilishly brilliant mind. It won't be long before I have the perfect scheme to plot my revenge against Super Donkey!" He began to unleash his maniacal laugh and, as had happened before, he started to cough just as he was coming to the end. "Curses! I need to remedy that. Pronto!"
Heather was having a difficult time coming up with something to make the time move faster. Unfortunately, the best she could come up with was to file her nails. That was it. Rather, it was the one distraction she could think of given that she was feeling like she was under duress from the white-haired buffoon counting out loud every rep in his work out behind her.
"Ninety-eight..." Lightning grunted to his sit-ups. Sit-ups that were being done while he hung upside down from one of the empty overhead compartments. "Ninety-nine... Sha-hundred!" Upon reaching the triple-digit milestone, he swiftly re-positioned himself while still hanging from the overhead compartment. He was now doing pull-ups. Using only his thumbs. "One... Two... Three... Four..."
Heather grumbled incoherently. This sort of thing was why she could never dig jocks in the first place. So absolutely focused on their own physical conditioning and nothing else. Not even the notion of respecting the sanity of any one unfortunate enough to be within hearing range of them, which Heather was. This bus ride was going to be a terrible time for her to have to endure, knowing full well that the destination was probably going to be worse.
Jasmine couldn't help but be curious about Sky. The aspiring Olympian had a movie playing on the monitor at her seat. Looked to be a documentary on the Olympics, if Jasmine had to guess. But Sky was clearly not paying it any proper attention. She didn't even have earphone on. Rather, she appeared to be focused on a couple documents she had in her hands. Which she had been holding onto for quite a while. And had yet to flip either of them over to the next pages. Something was up.
"Hey, Sky?" Jasmine asked.
She watched Sky flinch slightly and look up to see who was speaking to her. The smaller girl let out a sigh of relief that it was a friend. This was one of the few times Jasmine ever saw any one not be intimidated by the immediate sight of her. Particularly when she was literally standing over them, leaning in with an arm laid out on the top of the seat's headrest.
"Oh, hey there, Jasmine," Sky managed to say. "Almost startled me there."
"Yeah, 'appens a lot around me, mate," Jasmine responded with a light laugh that ended with a snort. "But seriously, ya doin' alright there?"
"What do you mean?" Sky asked. She appeared to have a genuine look of confusion on her face. Seemingly not quite aware of what was believed to be the obvious.
"Well, ya kinda seem distracted," Jasmine answered with a raised brow. "Maybe a lil' too distracted, if ya know what I mean."
After blinking, Sky did finally managed to look around herself. She didn't seem to get it at first. But then realized she wasn't able to hear the movie being played. Then recognized that her thumbs need to be peeled off the documents she had been holding. That was when it hit her and she let out an embarrassed laugh.
"Ah, I see..." Sky managed to utter. She cleared her throat and turned her attention back to Jasmine. "Yeah, guess you can say for sure I'm a little distracted."
"Wanna talk about it?" Jasmine asked. She gave her friend a comforting voice, hoping that it would be enough to get the other to open up. There was a moment's hesitation from the smaller girl. This was followed by a defeated sigh.
"Everything was going fine at first," Sky began to answer. "Was on such a high when I got home, having won our show and all. Most of the money put away for when I start training for the Olympics." She held up the documents that had been in her hands for a while. "Began looking into prospective colleges." She paused for a moment and her head slowly looked downward. "Keith wasn't thrilled to hear that I intended to break up with him before going on the show. Whole conversation was far from pleasant, as you'd expect. But we managed to work it out enough that we parted amicably in the end." She paused again. She hesitated to continue.
"And Dave?" Jasmine dared to asked. The pregnant pause that lingered was perhaps the most uncomfortable either girl had felt in a good while.
"I tried my best," Sky responded breathlessly. "I really did. I'm sure he did too. Things just fell apart so quickly. I got offended at anything he said. He got offended at everything I said." She slouched in her seat and took a deep breath. "It was when our families got involved that things really went to hell. Bad enough that he..." She trailed off glanced away in shame. "The restraining order probably wasn't the right thing to do, I don't know. But it was at the point that it scared me. And I felt like I had do something." She let out a slow exhale. "I wish things had worked out better. That I didn't have to do it. I really didn't want to."
It didn't seem like Sky was going to break down and cry. Rather, there was a strange calm to her. Save for some involuntary trembling. It was strange to Jasmine. It was like Sky had somehow become the physical embodiment of her indecisiveness. Indecisive on how to actually feel, if she should feel a certain way, if she should try to fight it. That worried Jasmine more than anything that had been said.
"Sky, look at me," Jasmine said. She crouched to be at eye level with her friend. And about as close up to her face as either would be comfortable with. "We're 'ere fer ya, a'ight? Fer anythin'. Ya need it, Shawn an' I 'ave yer back. No need fer ya ta go at anythin' alone, mate. Say tha word an' we're there."
Sky looked back at Jasmine. She saw the truth to her words in her eyes. The assurance that she can go to her and her beau when she needed it. It allowed her to relax a little. Not by much, but enough that she wasn't as indecisive as she had been just a moment ago. Something beyond Jasmine caught her attention and it made her smile. Something positive for a change.
"And in return, you can count on me to help reign in your boy from causing lasting damage to poor, innocent bystanders," Sky said. She let out a light laugh as her friend turned with a brow raised to see what she was talking about.
"One of the most important and life-saving things to do during the apocalypse is to make sure you use the bathroom before you need to head out," Shawn stated. There was no hint whatsoever that he was kidding around. The information he was sharing he took seriously. "Urine has an overpowering smell that will attract walkers even when you're covered head to toe in their musk to mask your own natural scent."
While she sighed and shook her head, Jasmine couldn't help but grin. There was just something charming about Shawn being in his element like this. Granted, she should be concerned with the high probability that Ezekiel and Cameron would end up getting nightmares as a result of listening to him. It would certainly seem so with the way they were shaking all over, too scared to even attempt to shift their attention to someone or something else. Not with the fear of zombies being embedded in their psyche.
"B'oot if they're attracted t'oo tha smell of u'oorin, w'oodn't that mean y'ooo sh'oodn't g'oo t'oo tha bathr'oom, eh?" Ezekiel managed to ask. All the while still trembling with absolute terror that was shared by the boy sitting next to him.
"If you try to think like that, than you're already doomed," Shawn answered in a rather blunt manner. Causing the other two to shake even more. "Your body can be your greatest obstacle in staying alive if you're not too careful. It needs to go to the bathroom, otherwise your bladder will explode and you'll be too cramped up to move any muscle below the waist."
"My bladder will explode?" Cameron repeated in a slight squeak. Almost in an instinctive manner, he began to roll himself into a ball. "Oh man... I'd question the validity of that if I hadn't experienced so many impossible things happening back on Camp Wawanakwa..."
Slightly nearer to the back of the bus, there was a small gathering made up of mostly males. They seemed to have come up with a way to, at the very least, keep themselves occupied with an activity that was enjoyable and not be bothered by the passage of time. For under the encouraging guidance of Geoff, Harold and Beardo were taking their beat-boxing to another level. They were essentially having an ongoing beat-box session designed to run as long as they were capable of performing without interruption. If anything, it was more of a proper test to see if Harold could hold his own with a true human soundboard that was Beardo. The atmosphere heightened by Owen and Izzy's enjoyment of the spectacle as the excited audience and occasional singers.
"This is so awesome!" Owen cheered. "It's like their mouths are actual drums or machines!" It was quite apparent he had never seen beat-boxing before, so he was utterly blown away by the very nature of it in the first place.
"Maybe they are machines!" Izzy cackled. Perched upon the shoulders of her hefty boyfriend, one wasn't really sure if she was playing along to the analogy or being straight serious. Nevertheless, she continued to cheer on the activity being displayed. "Woo hoo! Pump it up!"
"You got it, dudette!" Geoff called back. He shot a finger pistol in her direction for acknowledgment before turning his attention back to the beat-boxers. "You heard her, bras! Pump it up!" Without having stopped at all, Harold and Beardo obliged and turned their performance up a notch. Going harder than they had thus far. Impressive when Beardo sounded like he was speaking out of an old-time radio. And they were performing a song in an upbeat tempo that would seemingly contradict the somber lyrics.
Beardo:
See, someone's got ta tell tha tale
Whether or not it turns out well
Maybe it will turn out this time
On tha road to Hell
On tha railroad line
It's a sad song
Izzy and Owen:
It's a sad song
Beardo:
It's a sad tale
It's a tragedy
Izzy and Owen:
It's a sad song
Beardo:
Gonna sing it any way
One would think that the performance would be an annoyance to those who were within the immediate vicinity and were focusing on something else. Like meditation. But Dawn seemed to be completely unphased by the activities that went on around her. In fact, it was more like she was very much in her own realm on consciousness that everything else had been successfully rendered nonexistent while in her meditative state. Had any one been paying any heed to her they might have been impressed. They certainly would've been with the fact that she seemed to defy logic and the laws of gravity by hovering about a foot above her seat.
"To bare witness to such romantic beauty," Ella sighed in proclamation. Her hands clasped together just below her face, looking at her cousin with her beau lovingly. "Oh, how my heart sours! It is so inspiring!"
"Yeah..." Gwen managed to utter. As much as she probably should be paying attention to just how excited her cousin was, it was something else she was more concerned about. "Yeah, it's inspiring... I'm sorry, Ella. I'm still surprised you managed to get through a god awful experience as well as you did. Surely that bastard of a host tried to break you."
Surrounding the two at one end of the back of the bus were the three who had become Gwen's closest friends. On one side was Bridgette, on the other side was LeShawna. And Trent was essentially being a comforting backrest for his goth girlfriend, his arms gently wrapped around her waist from behind. All three watched the conversation with great fascination and curiosity. Because they had not expected Gwen to be related to any one like Ella.
"He was very mean to me, I will admit," Ella responded to her cousin. "And I was saddened that he disliked when I sang. To the point that I was forbidden to do so for such a long time. But I kept my spirits up and met such nice people that I was not disheartened throughout."
"Hmmm..." Trent mused aloud rather suddenly. It was as though he figured something out with the slight smile that was forming on his lips. "If I didn't know any better, I would venture to guess that something similar happened to someone I know." Bridgette and LeShawna picked up on what the music man was saying and gleefully joined in before Gwen could even register what was about to happen.
"That's right!" Bridgette gasped in realization. "There was someone on our show, Ella, who kinda went through roughly the same thing you did on your show."
"Oh?" Ella uttered. She was quite intrigued to hear what the others had to say.
"Yeah, girl," LeShawna said. She leaned in enough to rest an arm on an open armrest while propping her head up. She raised an amused brow and had her attention directed at Gwen. "Someone who had ta endure a whole lotta crap on Camp Wawanakwa. But she persevered and made it through wit' all kinda friends in tha end." It was the last statement that clued the goth girl in on what, or rather who, was being talked about.
"W-Wait a second!" Gwen stammered. She nearly cried out as a light shade of pink was starting to appear on her cheeks, a stark contrast to her regular appearance. "I didn't have a good time! I hated being on that goddamned show with a passion!" A second to pause made her realize she just talked herself into an inescapable trap.
"Gwendolyn!" Ella gasped with an excited squeal. "You had the heroic journey! Oh, please let me sing a song about it! It will be as wonderful as it is beautiful!"
"You have to admit, babe," Trent whispered in Gwen's ear. This caused her to shake in a slightly ecstatic manner. "Even though you didn't end up winning the competition, you managed to get a happy ending."
Gwen did everything that she could not to squirm uncharacteristically. She trembled, but she fought to not act all girly. Only the shade of pink on her cheeks were starting to intensify. Bridgette and LeShawna couldn't get her embarrassed about being in a relationship moments earlier. Yet they were able to get her embarrassed at the thought that, despite all the suffering she had to go through, she actually had a positive experience on the show. And there was nothing Gwen could do to stop them from continuing to tease her so.
At the other end of the back of the bus were the last two passengers. In a way, there was perhaps nothing that would make getting through sixteen hours difficult for Sam so long as he had the capability to play video games. The new GameGuy 2.5 was said to have enough battery power to last a good twenty hours. This seemed like as good of an opportunity as any to put that claim into practice.
Next to him was Dakota. She was positioned so that her legs were laid out upon two seats and her upper body was held up so that she was seated while leaning a bit up to her gamer boyfriend. All the while she was still covered completely in the huge overcoat. The portion covering her face seemed to slip, if only ever slightly. She frantically pushed it back into place and tried to act like it was nothing. Unfortunately, Sam noticed. And he looked away from his game as a result.
"You sure there isn't anything I can do to make you feel better?" he asked. Even with the tone of concern in his voice, he managed to look as though he was, to some degree, upbeat. Even when she flinched upon his speaking to her. "This is supposed to be some sort of high tech bus, right? I'm sure they have something you can use."
"Oh..." Dakota squeaked. As much as having the overcoat covering her entire body would muffle her voice, she managed to still be heard clearly. Even when she was speaking in a very shy, nervous whisper. "Oh, no. I know there's nothing on the bus that I can use. I'm sure."
There was a brief moment of silence. And then Sam did something unbelievable. He turned off his game. A rare thing he ever did. Dakota was one of the reasons he would ever do so willingly. And it was on Dakota that he focused his attention. So much so that he truly wasn't aware of his surrounds. Turning off the GameGuy 2.5 made only a small snapping-like click sound. And it seemingly was what caused everything else on the bus to stop in their tracks. In a flash, this became the most interesting thing to witness for virtually everyone fixed their eyes on the couple at the back of the bus suddenly. Well, Dawn still had her eyes closed while in her meditative state, but there was a sense that even she was nevertheless paying attention to what was happening.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked. It was simple. It was gentle. It broke Dakota's heart. She almost shattered upon his asking her in his genuinely caring voice. It took her a minute or so to regain any sense of composure to at least respond.
"I'm sorry, Sam..." Dakota said. She sounded as though she was on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry... I didn't want to... Daddy didn't want to... But..." There came a shift in tone. "But that smug a-/censored/-hole said we had no choice!" The rage was brief and the sorrow returned. "Now... Now I'm not... I'm not awesome any more, Sam..."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked. He shrugged a bit, still maintaining an upbeat appearance. "You're always awesome, babe."
"That's not what I-" Dakota started to say in a panic. She stopped herself. Taking a second to formulate the words she thoughtfully preferred. "I mean... They made daddy..." She had the words, but it was still hard for her to actually say them without breaking any more than she seemingly had already. "I'm not awesome-looking, Sam... They forced me to change back... to the old me..." Her head shifted slightly in a way that suggested the feeling of shame.
Everything seemed to be in a stand still for a moment. Attention maintained on the couple, waiting to see what would happen next. What happened next was Sam scooting himself over to be closer to Dakota. She trembled. He then moved his hands up. Slowly and gently peeling away the portion of the overcoat that covered her face. Soon enough, her entire head was exposed.
Revealed was a very beautiful young woman. Beautiful in that her complexion was about as immaculate as could be. Lips fully shaped for a girl her age and long hair that flowed as it fell straight down until curving at the end. She was stunningly perfect. Save for her skin being pure orange and her hair being neon green. Her eyes had been shut, but they began to open a moment later. Red vertical irises over yellow eyeballs. Shining because of how watery they had become from the tears that were forming. The look of someone scared of the reaction she would receive from the one person she was afraid to show her face to.
Sam's expression never once changed. It was the upbeat look he had since finding out she was on the bus. In fact, it looked like his smile widened a little. Genuine and true. Dakota shattered into a million pieces. Crying as tears ran freely down the sides of her face. Leaning in just a slight inch, her forehead meeting his.
"I was so scared..." she managed to utter between her trembling inhales of breath. "I was so scared... you wouldn't like me... for having to change back..."
"I like you for you, Dakota," Sam gently whispered back. He wrapped his arms around her, providing whatever additional comfort he could. "You'll always look awesome. No matter what."
Her crying started to transition into small laughs. Her lips forming into a smile. The tears were now representing relief washing over her. Sam's upbeat expression ever present, the smile widening just a little more. His embrace tightened just slightly so as to remain gentle. Through it Dakota was able to bring her hands up, relieved of the overcoat covering and just as pure orange as her face, placing them upon his cheeks.
There was a brief moment where the scene continued to play out. Offering inspiration to the other couples on board the bus. Gwen leaned in a little more into Trent's embrace. Bridgette and LeShawna sharing looks with their respective beaus Geoff and Harold. Izzy dropped out of her perch just enough to instead hug Owen from up top. Jasmine and Shawn reaching out to one another to hold hands. Duncan wrapping an arm over the shoulders of the blushing Courtney. Romance was indeed in the air. Until it was disrupted unexpectedly.
"Wait a second," Heather called out. There was shock and disbelief in her voice. "Dakota? Dakota as in Dakota Milton?"
"Yeah?" Dakota responded quietly. The mood shift was instant. Whatever bliss she had been in merely a second ago was replaced by distrust and suspicion. Emphasized by the dark glare that was in her eyes when they simply glanced over at the person identifying her.
"Is that supposed to mean something to us?" Duncan asked. Not holding back on how sour he now felt as the possibility of making out with Courtney in public had been dashed.
"You don't know who she is?" Heather questioned back. She was incredulous at the seemingly dumbfounded looks she received from some of the others. "Who her father is? He's one of the biggest entrepreneurs this side of the Atlantic, let alone Canada. Milton Hotels and Resorts?" It took that for the name to finally click for just about everyone.
"You're THAT Dakota Milton?" Courtney cried out to Dakota. All eyes were now back on the neon green haired girl wrapped in Sam's arms.
"Yeah..." Dakota answered. She sheepishly glanced away from everyone for a moment.
"Girl, yer stupid rich," LeShawna noted. She was just as perplexed as most any one else that such a person was in their presence. "Why tha hell would ya wanna go on one of these sho's?"
"I thought it would be the best way to get famous independently from daddy's name," Dakota responded quietly. She then let out a sigh. "But... it didn't quite work out that way."
"What the hell happened to you?" Heather asked. She was the one most stupefied by not only seeing Dakota, but seeing Dakota the way she was. "All the gossip was that you disappeared the second you started on your show. That it was part of what got Chris arrested."
"If only..." Dakota muttered in a low growl.
"And you hooked up with someone like him?" Heather added. The level of disbelief at what she was witnessing reached a whole new level. "He's so beneath you!"
"I told you not to bad mouth Sam!" Dakota barked. Her expression darkened. Some of the folks who were in the seats in front of her, in particular Geoff, Harold, Beardo, and Owen, leaned away from her as much as they could. Sam pulled away from her, but unlike the others, he wasn't doing so in fear. Rather, he was giving her room.
"What could some pathetic slob have done to have impossibly won your affections?" Heather continued. She was completely oblivious to the quiet that had set in. And it was because she was going through her bag that she was not yet properly paying attention. "Don't you realize how damaging to your reputation it would be if you were caught dead in public with-"
It was perhaps by luck that Heather managed to look up when she did. Allowing her to throw up her bag in front of her. Absolutely terrified at what was lunging at her such ungodly speed that it was right there in the blink of an eye. The large clawed hand flashed in view for a second and the bag was now completely sliced in half. Heather let out a scream seeing her bag destroyed. She let out an even louder scream upon seeing what was responsible.
Towering over Heather was what looked to be an absolute giant of a beast. Spikes protruding from the arms, claws that looked to be elongated, sharpened teeth baring from a frothing mouth. Those alone were enough to make the intimidating figure scary. What really put the fear factor over the top was that it had pure orange skin, spiky neon green hair, and red eyes against yellow eyeballs that were burning with unwavering hatred. Dakota Milton had turned into a monster and she looked ready to kill Heather right then and there.
"INSULT SAM AGAIN!" Dakota yelled. Her voice becoming very heavy, making the rage all the more horrific. "DARE!" She was right up into the face of Heather. The other shaking and curled up into a ball in a vain attempt to shield herself from certain death. "DOUBLE DARE, BITCH!"
Heather let out a blood-curdling scream that lasted for a good long while. It was because she ran out of breath that she eventually stopped screaming. A few seconds later, she realized that she hadn't been attacked. Still shaking, she opened her eyes and looked to see the Dakota monster still towering over her. But only for another moment. Dakota snorted, perhaps with a sense of satisfaction, before turning and marching away. Heather stayed in her fetal position, now desperately trying not to close her eyes.
A good majority of everyone else on the bus were locked in stunned horror at what they just witnessed. Ezekiel dove under his seat. Lightning had managed to fit himself entirely into the overhead compartments. Max shoved Staci in front of him to be his shield. Courtney had thrown herself completely against Duncan, who himself had never looked as terrified as he was in that moment. Even Jasmine backed out of the aisle, displaying a fear and intimidation she had never imagined herself experiencing.
There were a select few who appeared to not necessarily look quite as scared as the others were. Izzy mimicked whistling, seemingly impressed by what Dakota had become. Dawn had finally opened her eyes, but her expression was that of the dream-like state she was usually found in. Gwen did look genuinely concerned with the scene she had witnessed, but it was almost as if this was not the first time she's experienced it. And then there was Sam. His upbeat expression having not dropped at all. Rather, he looked quite excited.
"Cool," Sam mused aloud to Dakota. She appeared to be making her way back to him. "You can now change between Dakotazoid and back. That's so awesome!"
Many of those who had been locked in petrification found themselves being released from their hold when a number of things happened that surprised them. One was Dakota's reaction to what Sam had said. She stopped for a second and quickly found herself smiling shyly, bringing an arm over to rub the other. Watching this, though, allowed them to see the second surprise. A slow process of apparent transformation on display. By this point, they noticed the spikes shrinking, the claws retracting, and the hair growing back into the previous long length.
"ONLY WHEN REALLY MAD," Dakota said to Sam as she started to move back toward him again. The heaviness of her voice began to lighten back to her original slightly high-pitched tone. When she spoke again, she seemed to speak more coherently as well. "CHANGE BACK... when I start to calm down a little."
"Whoa!" Geoff uttered suddenly. This caused most everyone on the bus to turn to him. His expression of fear gone. Replaced with amazement. "Dakotazoid? You're THE Dakotazoid?"
"No way!" Duncan said as well. This caused Courtney to look at him curiously. His attention was too focused on Dakota to notice at first. "I'm seeing Dakotazoid in person?"
"You're real?" Bridgette cried in disbelief. Many of the others were now starting to feel very perplexed over what was happening, to the point that a couple were getting exhausted from all of the sudden excitement.
"What's this about Dakotazoid?" Sky asked. A curious brow raised while looking from the three who had spoken up to Dakota. The latter starting to feel a little anxious.
"Only the most awesome monster fighter ever!" Geoff answered. "That last fight a while back was totally rad, yo! She did this wicked lariat that had me and my buds jumpin'!" Dakota's anxiety eased upon hearing the compliment. The shy smile returning to her face.
"You're not kidding, man," Duncan added. "Everyone who saw the fight was hooked. Watched it in a bar while waiting for Princess' parents to go to sleep so I can sneak into her room." He yelped upon receiving a very sharp elbow to the abdomen from a blushing Courtney.
"I really thought Geoff and his friends put on a monster movie to liven up the party that was being thrown," Bridgette explained. "But it was no less impressive. That Dakotazoid was female was kinda cool. Seeing that she's real and in front of me..." Bridgette draped herself on the seat in front of her to keep from keeling over. "Wow!"
Dakota maintained her shy smile as she got to Sam. Sam's upbeat expression seemed to brighten as the adoration for his girlfriend, particularly when it related to her Dakotazoid persona, filled him with great pride. Dakota draped her arms over his shoulders. She was starting to shrink down to her previous size, though it was a very slow process. Those really paying attention to her would finally be able to notice that she had a tail as Dakotazoid, which was shrinking inward. They also finally noticed, since she was no longer covered in an overcoat, that she had been wearing pink clothing that had ripped due to her enlarging.
"'ang on a moment," Jasmine said. She threw her hands up for a second for affect. "She's Dakota Milton. But she's also Dakotazoid. 'ow is that so?"
"Because of what happened on the show," Cameron answered. He had been hiding behind his seat through the Dakotazoid moment and was just now bravely pulling himself enough over the headrest to be seen. "Chris got her exposed to toxic waste that was on the island." Dakota had closed her eyes and the transformation process seemed to pause upon having to hear again what caused her present condition.
"I'm sorry, did you just say Chris intentionally did this to her?" Gwen asked sternly. She instinctively went to grab the copy of her contract.
"I wasn't a contestant at the time," Dakota said rather suddenly. Cameron was about to respond, but it seemed Dakota would rather explain what happened herself. "I got eliminated after only the second challenge. But I was desperate to stay on the show." She embraced Sam a little tighter. He wrapped his arms around her waist to hug her back for comfort.
"Ya wanted ta stay?" LeShawna repeated in disbelief. "Damn, girl. That's whacked!"
"I was sure being on there would get me a spin-off show of some kind," Dakota responded. There was a sense of guilt in her voice when she said this. She then let out a sigh. "Daddy paid a lotta money so that I'd be allowed back on." Her voice then shifted to that of anger. "But that sunovabitch forced me to be an intern!" Beardo made a whistling sound that mimicked energy being depleted. "Exactly! I get back the camera time I would've lost for being eliminated early, but I had to cater to that bastard's every whim! You have no idea just how really f-/censored/-ing disgusting his toe nails are naturally!"
"Harsh..." Geoff mused. No one was paying any attention to Heather, who had suddenly gotten out of her scared state and risked looking over her seat to listen in on what was being said.
"And by being his intern, that meant you weren't under the legal protections contestants had regarding voluntary and involuntary infliction of serious harm," Harold surmised bluntly. Gwen grumbled at hearing that statement.
"'All you have to do is make sure there would be enough time for the others to escape before dying, Dakota,'" Dakota said in mocking Chris McLean. She frankly did not care if she wasn't close to sounding like him. "He hated me so much that he was gonna get me killed! And then he had the gall to make me a contestant again, after the first signs of mutation kicked in, because the Jersey Shore reject quit when there wasn't supposed to be an elimination over a diamond that turned out to be a goddamned fake!"
Nearly everyone on the bus was engrossed in Dakota explaining how she ended up mutated. One in particular was Courtney. Her experience on her show was hardly aligned with Dakota's. But there was a sort of shared feeling that they were eliminated before their time was up. Dakota managing to get back on the show only to endure some of the worst hardships imaginable seemed to have had an affect, however minor, on Courtney's belief that she should have done whatever it took to get back on given that her elimination was unjust. Hearing Dakota's story left her wondering if she should be fortunate that she didn't try to get back on.
"And the kicker!" Dakota seethed. She was still going and everyone was completely invested in hearing it through. "Oh, the real kicker! He got Sam, who had already been eliminated, and buried him alive with his oxygen level serving as the timer to retrieve the f-/censored/-ing treasure that was with him!" Gwen and Trent glanced at one another nervously and trembled. A similar experience on their show hitting too close to home for comfort. Dakota's voice seemed to go through a similar sort of trembling as she continued. "It wasn't enough that he did so many horrible things to me. He had to kidnap the sweetest person in the world and was gonna get him killed for a stupid challenge!"
"You got to rescue me, babe," Sam said. He had some how maintained his upbeat expression as he tried to give her some comfort in his words. He even gave out a light chuckle as stood on his toes to kiss her on the cheek.
"I did, didn't I?" Dakota responded. Her voice going small for the first time since she started to tell her story. It went small with relief and a smile formed on her lips.
"And you went home the most awesome babe ever," Sam added. The feeling of pride returning to his voice as he tightened his embrace of her. They were seemingly allowed to stay like this for a brief moment before someone decided to interrupt.
"How did your father take to you becoming Dakotazoid?" Sky asked rather bravely.
"You know what?" Dakota started to answer. "He was fine. Obviously concerned that his little girl came home as Dakotazoid at first. But daddy said that as long as I was happy he would accept it. And I was happy."
"Her dad's a pretty cool guy, you know," Sam noted. "He set her up with the sponsorship for her fights and started to ease up at work so he could hang out with her more."
"Daddy really likes Sam, too," Dakota added. She let out a giggle, as if that was a proud thing to proclaim. Which to her, it was. "Let's him visit whenever he wants. Even gave him his own room for whenever he was allowed to spend the night." Gwen and Trent shared another glance. This one more uplifting. Another similar situation they had to Dakota and Sam. "I was happy." As if on cue, Dakota's mood dropped. "Until they forced us to come back. And forced me... forced daddy... to change me back."
"How?" Cameron asked.
"Some stupid, goddamned legal loophole that came into existence," Dakota answered darkly. "Saying some bullsh-/censored/ about invoking a clause to force me to come back. That I needed to change back before returning. And that daddy was responsible for changing me back because he was just as liable since my transformation came as a result of his paying to let me stay." Dakota started to sniffle. "He couldn't fight it! He wasn't allowed to fight it! He had to change me back! He had to and it almost bankrupt him!"
Dakota stopped talking so that she could cry. At the same time, it seemed her emotional state was such that the transformation process was able to resume and she was shrinking in size. Most everyone else could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of sympathy for Dakota. Gwen and Trent held into his embrace, wanting to savor every moment they could on the belief that what befell Dakota and Sam could befall them given some of the similar experiences. Courtney slouched into her seat, a feeling of guilt and shame starting to wash over her. Even Izzy and Owen felt very sad, unable to think of anything to brighten up about.
Only Sam, some how again, managed to maintain an upbeat expression. The comforting shoulder that Dakota would need. A literal comforting shoulder when the transformation process completed and she was at her original height. Her tear-covered face buried against his shoulder. Her arms just enough to wrap around the back of his neck.
"Daddy convinced them this was as far as he could get yesterday," Dakota said. She had finally been able to stop crying enough so she could finish her story. Her face remained buried in Sam's shoulder, letting out the occasional sniffle.
"You know why you're awesome, Dakota?" Sam asked. He waited a moment before she slowly removed her face from his shoulder to face him. "Because no matter what, you never give up. You persevere. You endure. Everything they throw at you, you take it on. You fight back on your terms, not theirs. And you come out a hundred times more awesome than you were before." He brought a hand up to wipe away a tear even though her cheeks were utterly wet. She blushed at the gesture, reforming a shy smile.
"Taking lessons on being the sweetest boyfriend ever from those video games of yours, I see," Dakota mused aloud with a light laugh. She let him let out a chuckle for a second. Then she pulled him in for a gentle kiss.
For the most part, the rest of the bus was satisfied and relieved that Dakota started to feel better. A few couples took after Dakota and Sam's lead, be it in gentle embraces like Gwen and Trent or in simple hand holding like Jasmine and Shawn. Duncan got to brush his lips against Courtney ever blushing cheek, figuring that was as far was he would probably be allowed to go in public for the time being and being content with that.
It was a couple of the others that came to a depressing realization. Dakota's storytelling was one hell of a roller coaster ride of emotions that just about everyone on the bus felt. It pretty much left them emotionally exhausted. Which was incredibly worrying on a psychological level. The reason being that there was still several hours left of the otherwise miserable bus ride before they reached the destination of their inevitable doom.
The movement of time felt even slower for some by the fact that there were no windows on the bus. No way of telling whether it was day or night. There wasn't even a clock present, save for whichever passengers had the wherewithal to wear watches before boarding. Which was hardly any because, really, what teenager would wear watches these days when they could bust out a smartphone or other electronic devise that had the capacity to tell time. And besides, checking the time would not have been any better. It was all too easy to lose it at how it felt like a week had passed when it was really seven minutes.
As expected, the affect Dakota's story had on just about everyone really wore them down. It became harder and harder to try to make the time pass faster than it felt. To the point that nearly everyone ended up falling asleep. The only ones really awake were Sam, Dakota, Sky, Lightning, and perhaps Dawn.
Sam had maintained full focus on his video games enough to not be bothered by time while Dakota seemed to find enjoyment in watching him play with her head on his shoulder. Sky wasn't necessarily doing anything, yet she somehow managed to stay awake while seemingly lost in thought. Lightning was determined to not go to sleep by working out as much as his body would allow. As for Dawn, even though she had her eyes closed, her hovering a foot from her seat while in a meditative state seemed like a good indication that she was awake.
So when a loud beeping noise sounded, it caught nearly everyone off guard. Have been roused so suddenly from their sleep, many looked around for the source of the sound while trying to figure out what it meant. The ones who didn't flinch were Dakota and Dawn. Dakota appeared to merely take the sudden noise curiously in stride while Dawn simply opened her eyes. The beeping noise lasted for half a minute and was followed by an announcement.
"All passengers, we ask that you be in full seated positions at this time," the announcement, which sounded to be in an automated feminine voice, stated. "Dinner will be served shortly. Please keep your arms and legs within your seating area at this time to avoid potential injury." The last sentence was not comforting to some of the passengers.
About a minute later, everyone discovered why they were to keep their arms and legs tucked in. The seats moved and rotated about. Izzy let out a cheerful yell like she was on an amusement park ride as the seats began to be re-positioned so that there were two rows facing one another. In between was a huge aisle, though seconds later a rectangular platform rose up from the floor. When the platform stopped, smaller rectangles slid out from each end in front of the seats. A number of square panels on the central platform slid open and rising out of them came a feast that made everyone wide eyed with their mouths watering.
"Bon appétit," the automated voice announced.
It was the most incredible looking display of food ever seen. Roasted turkeys, honey glazed hams, cheese stuffed ravioli, wild mushroom risotto, chicken parmigiana on top of spaghetti noodles, street tacos, tourtière, poutine. The amount of dishes and the variety of foods on display just seemed to go on and on given how everything on the bus was situated for this amazing meal. And the aroma was absolutely intoxicating.
"It's so... beautiful..." Owen uttered breathlessly. Staring at the food before him like it was an angelic work of art. A masterpiece that he could not wait to dig into. And he went at it right away. Everyone else followed suit in mere seconds.
Plates and utensils appeared right as they started to grab whatever food they could. Each would also receive a pair of drinking glasses. One was already filled with water. The other to pour their drink of choice as several pitchers containing various sodas would emerge from the central platform. At first, most everyone went for the first thing they could see. They wanted to make sure this meal was the real deal and not some psychological trick. After several moments of savory bliss, they slowed down and took their time to enjoy their food.
"This risotto!" Bridgette cried after a number of bites of her meal. A free hand placed upon her heart as she practically swooned. "I've never tasted anything so good in my life!"
"Sooooo gooooooooood..." Beardo mused. He had taken some bites into a roasted turkey with some gravy added and looked as though he was in heaven.
"Please tell me we can get the recipe for the tourtière," Harold said. He still had some tourtière in his mouth when he spoke. "I want to be able to keep eating this forever!"
The outbursts of absolute affection for the marvelous meal before them, which included Ella belting out a glorious, harmonious musical note that matched the feeling everyone had, would die out. The passengers continued to eat and enjoy the delicious dinner at a leisurely pace. Enough that small conversations would emerge here and there.
"Hey Dawn?" Cameron asked the meditating girl. He had found himself sitting next to her and noticed how apparently full the plate of ravioli and garlic bread in front of her was. "Aren't you going to eat any of your food?"
"I've already eaten," Dawn said dreamily. She maintained her meditative state.
"Really?" Cameron responded. "But then why is your plate-" He stopped when he noticed that, some how within a span of a second, Dawn's plate had been emptied save for bread crumbs and trails of Alfredo sauce. "Huh... That's odd..." He wasn't the only one to notice.
"H'oo did y'oo d'oo that, eh?" Ezekiel asked curiously. He slipped his hand underneath his toque and scratched the back of his head.
"Ask not about how it was that I ate my food without your perceiving its execution," Dawn answered. She had yet to break her meditation even when she was in an act of responding. "Ask instead whether the reality of the food's digestion is in your mind's eye or rather a figment of your imagination."
"Eh?" Ezekiel uttered. He was as much confused by what Dawn had told him as he was fascinated by her very being. He couldn't help but be left in awe despite being perplexed.
"So what kinda prospective colleges does ah aspirin' Olympian look for?" Jasmine asked Sky curiously after having finishing a bite of the honey glazed ham. Sky was about to answer, but they found themselves interrupted by another who happened to catch wind of the conversation.
"Say what now?" Lightning questioned. Quite aghast at the notion that there was any one else on the bus who was any where near to being as athletically capable as he was. "Who but the Lightning thinks they can be an Olympian?"
Sky and Jasmine stared at him with dumbfounded expressions painted across their faces. They really weren't sure how exactly to react to him for a good moment. Eventually, Sky slowly raised her hand to identify herself as the aspiring Olympian.
"You?" Lightning scoffed in disbelief. He then let out quite the belittling laugh. "That's rich. Look at you. You probably wouldn't know a type of shoe to wear when yer swimmin'. What makes you think you can be an Olympian over the Lightning?"
Sky and Jasmine were stun locked. They really did not know what to think of this narcissist trying to insult Sky. And they had to previously deal with the likes of an abrasive pageant queen, a proper super villain in disguise, and a crackpot who tried to replace Chris McLean. Just went to show there were even stranger people out in the world outside of their show.
"She won our sho', mate," Jasmine finally responded after a very long pause.
"She what?!" Lighting cried. "That's not possible! How can two midgets get the best of the Lightning? This show is sha-rigged fo' sho'!"
"I'm a what?" Sky uttered. She was so perplexed at the behavior of this buffoon that she was less concerned about being insulted than she was that she might actually be taking psychic damage from how he was talking to her.
"Oh, the so-called Olympian don't like the truth?" Lighting fired back. A cockiness beginning to emerge in his belief that he hit a sore spot on the other. "What'cha gonna do about it, huh? You supposed to have won your show, right? Why don't you prove it to the Lightning?"
"Doing what?" Sky asked. She narrowed her eyes at him. For the first time really developing a proper reaction to him. One of dislike. Which in turn caused the competitive side of her to simmer at the surface. "Seeing who can use a proper vocabulary the best?"
"Everyone knows the scoring system in vocabulary is whacked!" Lightning responded. He clearly didn't seem to get that he might have been insulted. "When we get to where we is, I bet I can outlast you to the finish. In fact, the Lightning will win the whole sha-bang!"
"Sure," Sky said. She maintained a glare at the other before deciding to return to her dinner before the sudden confrontation resulted in the loss of her appetite. "We'll see."
"You got that right, shorty," Lightning proclaimed. He clearly wanted to be the one to get in the last word before returning to his own dinner. "The Lightning ain't losin' this time."
"This bus sure gotta lotta stuff goin' on," LeShawna noted after finishing one of her street tacos. "Almost like we finally caught up wit' one of them ol' cartoons about tha future."
"You said it, dudette," Geoff agreed in a hearty tone. He was still chewing on some poutine, but finished swallowing before speaking again. "I bet you could totally live in here and it would be all cool."
"Probably not the best idea, depending upon the circumstances," Shawn uttered. He couldn't help himself. "Even the most secure moving vehicle, managing to house state-of-the-art technology and functioning to absolute perfection, would not last more than three days minimum to a mob of walkers. Just takes one loose screw and the whole thing becomes a death trap."
"You really do take the threat of a zombie apocalypse seriously, huh?" Trent mused with a raised brow. He had just finished swallowing a bite of the chicken parmigiana.
"How could you not?" Shawn responded in a near panic. "Every day some one some where is secretly tampering with the very fabric of nature where one misstep will cause the dead to walk the Earth. Manipulating biological molecules either in a futile attempt at curing some damned fatal disease or engineering super soldiers to commit mass genocide."
"I've told you before, you crazed simpleton!" Max shouted. He waved his spoon at Shawn in a threatening manner. "Gene splicing is a complex art! No mad scientist can just whip up any concoction in an elementary school laboratory to try to turn a lizard into a fifty-foot, three-headed leviathan called Frank!"
"Frank?" Heather muttered. The confused scowl she gave Max was ignored, though she probably didn't seem to care all that much any way.
"That reminds me of my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Uncle Frank, yeah," Staci said. She was speaking primarily to the one person who was listening to her, Max. "He invented the safety glasses. Before him, scientists would cover their eyes using soup cans with the bottoms cut out and replaced with eye glasses."
"Hmmm..." Max mused. He rubbed his chin in thought. "Soup cans with the bottoms cut out... Yes, I can work with that..."
"I wouldn't speak so boldly of your evil plots, vile villain!" Izzy suddenly proclaimed. She pointed her knife at Max and raised a brow for affect. "For they will be discovered and thwarted by the swift kick of justice from Super Donkey!"
"Yeah, that's right!" Owen cheered. "Super Donkey is so heroic and mighty! You don't stand a chance against her, Max!"
"Curses!" Max growled. He shook a fist in the air for a moment before turning his attention back to Izzy and Owen. "That do-gooder will pay for having crossed paths with Maximilian!"
"Bet you weren't expecting dinner and a show, eh Princess?" Duncan said to Courtney. He wiggled his eye brows, which made her roll her eyes. Though that didn't stop her from forming a slight smirk right after putting a bite of risotto into her mouth.
Gwen was the only one to notice it. That Dakota was not quite as blown away as everyone else was when dinner was served. Rather, the former fame-monger enjoyed how her beau had reacted. Now Gwen was watching Dakota occasionally feed Sam bites of the ravioli from her fork. She decided to present her hypothesis.
"So who should we be thanking for this delicious meal, Dakota?" Gwen asked. She formed a smirk on her lips and raised a brow for affect. This was enough to catch Dakota off guard, coughing in surprise. Many of the others took notice and turned to her as well.
"Figured it out, huh?" Dakota asked back when she was able to clear her throat.
"You technically were the first one on the bus this morning," Gwen noted aloud. "And as was pointed out earlier, your family is quite rich. I'm kinda doubting we're riding this bus and getting this fantastic dinner out of the goodness of those heartless producers."
"Hang on," LeShawna said rather suddenly. "Didn't ya say yer daddy went bankrupt tryin' ta turn ya back ta normal?"
"Almost went bankrupt," Dakota corrected. She lightly waved her fork for affect. "The producers getting this bus was part of what daddy had to pay. It's actually one of a number of prototypes his company had been working on and one that he was willing to let go."
"This is a prototype?" Harold asked in awe.
"There's more than one?" Cameron added in surprise.
"A few were being developed for me in mind," Dakota said. She shyly looked to the side for a second given what she had said. "I think this was one of them. The idea being that when I became a famous television starlet, I'd need a private bus that would satisfy my needs. After what happened on the show, though... well, this kinda bus would be totally useless for Dakotazoid." She seemingly couldn't help herself and let out a light giggle.
"An' this dinner?" Jasmine asked curiously.
"Daddy probably got the bus stocked with this food before it took off, I guess," Dakota responded. She gave a slight shrug. "Don't wanna think about what the producers would've done had daddy not done so."
"You can say that again," Duncan uttered. He finished getting through some of the poutine on his plate. "We kinda lucked out getting a meal like this. Will probably be the last time we'll eat anything as good once we arrive at wherever the hell we're going."
It was a gut punch everyone should have expected, but were all taken aback by. The gravity of Duncan's words weighing down so heavily upon them that they began to feel extremely somber. The joy and luster of the meal before them having vanished into thin air. Nothing happened for a good while as it just seemed like there was hardly any will to do anything knowing that in several hours they would meet probable doom.
It was a moment longer before, of all people, Ella stood up. She raised the glass of water in her hand and began to sing.
Drink with me to days gone by
To the life that used to be
At the shrine of friendship, never say die
Let the wine of friendship never run dry
Here's to you and here's to me
Ella remained standing for a moment, keeping her glass raised. She would soon be followed by her cousin. And then Trent, Sky, Duncan, and Cameron. It wasn't long before most of the remaining passengers followed suit. The only ones who didn't seem interested being Heather, Lightning, Max, and Staci. Caught up in the moment everyone was that they failed to notice that Dawn was not necessarily raising her glass up physically. Seconds later, those who had raised their glasses drank from them and finished what remained of their dinner in silence.
It was a given fact that no one on the bus would be able to remain asleep once the bullhorn sounded. Very few would react almost violently, lashing about at being forced to awaken from their slumber. It didn't help that the bullhorn kept going for a few seconds longer than normal before it finally died down instantly.
Nearly every one of the passengers struggled for a second to be in a fully conscious statement. It took them another second of frantic looking to realize where they were. Followed by another second to recall how the high tech features of the bus functioned in a way that allowed for the seats to be laid out exactly like beds with pillows and blankets provided from overhead. Most couldn't remember how they managed to get into their night clothing, but there they were clad in them.
Finally able to be completely up and alert, whether they really wanted to or not, they noticed a number of things. The first was that it felt as though the bus was stationary and not moving. It would seem that they arrived at their final destination, wherever it was. The second was the source of the bullhorn. It came from the front of the bus. In the hands of the man who had managed to instill fear and hatred within virtually each one of the passengers.
"Good morning, kids!" Chris McLean announced. "I hope you had a pleasant night's sleep aboard our newly acquired bus. Because today's the big day!" It was uncertain if he had intended to continue before he was interrupted with a terrifying roar.
"YOU!" Dakota growled. She appeared to be in the middle of her transformation into Dakotazoid, so her voice wasn't quite heavy yet. Her attention fixed on the one individual she loathed above all others in the world. "YOU... SONUVA... BITCH!"
"Hey there, Dakota!" Chris called out. He appeared surprisingly unphased by the other's transformation. To the point that it almost looked like it was being treated as a non-factor. "Glad you could make it. Listen, sorry you had to go through all that mumbo jumbo to change you back. It was a necessity considering what we got-"
It happened in the blink of an eye. Dakota, who had finished fully transforming into Dakotazoid, had launched herself to the front of the bus and swung down upon the handsome host with tremendous force. Her claw slashing through him completely. It took a second of really paying attention to see that Chris's being seemed to go fuzzy and then was back to normal. He was a hologram. A good one, as it were. Dakotazoid let out a roaring scream of venomous anger that it nearly shook anything that was incredibly loose on the bus.
"-planned for you guys," Chris said. He spoke as though he had not been interrupted by Dakotazoid attacking him. Or rather attacking his holographic self. He then let out a chuckle. "Figured you'd wanna kill me on sight, Dakota. Sorry to disappoint again, but I'm afraid you're gonna need me to be very much alive."
"YOU DEAD, CHRIS!" Dakotazoid yelled. Though she knew the Chris McLean in front of her was a hologram, she didn't seem to care and she continued to slash away at the figure.
It was then that the other passengers really had the chance to comprehend what was happening. And it scared the vast majority of them. Heather, in particular, was slowly crawling back to try to get away without being seen. Some of the couples, in particular Courtney and Duncan as well as Bridgette and Geoff, wrapped themselves in embraces so that they could hold onto one another. The only ones not left in a state of fear being Sam, Izzy, Gwen, and Dawn.
"Whenever you're done playing around with my hologram, perhaps you can step outside so we can begin the adventure of a lifetime for you kiddies," Chris said. He chuckled a little more, likely over the futility of Dakotazoid continuing to slash away. Seconds later, the hologram disappeared completely with no part of him left behind to attack.
"CHRIS!" Dakotazoid screamed in fury. She shoved her clawed fingers into the central slit of the door at the front of the bus. Forcing it open to the point of almost breaking it. With the way out opened, she swiftly rushed through and was no longer in sight.
Everyone who remained on the bus seemed to be stun locked for several moments. No sound between them. Daring not to move in case something terrible happened. Most just way too frightened to even think about doing anything but staying where they were and to hope for the best. Eventually, the silence would become too much and curiosity got the better of them. Certainly got the better of one of them.
"You alright there, Dakota?" Sam called out. He scrambled to get out of his makeshift bed and headed off the bus. Paying no heed to any one that might have watched him leave. Or to any one that decided to follow suit.
"I gotta see this," Duncan muttered as he began to shuffle to his feet.
"Are you crazy?" Courtney hissed in horrified panic. She most definitely did not want her punk boyfriend to leave her behind. "What if she loses control?"
"I know," Duncan responded. "But I gotta see if she'll actually kill him."
That sentence was the trigger for Gwen to jump out of her makeshift bed, joining in on seeing what was happening outside. Trent hesitated for a second, but nonetheless followed behind his goth girlfriend. Before long and seemingly one by one, everyone else decided to head out as well. Heather being the last to leave and doing so in an extremely cautious manner.
Duncan, Courtney, and Gwen were the first to see when they stepped off the bus. That Dakota and Sam, several feet apart, were standing perfectly still. Dakota seemingly in the process of transforming out of being Dakotazoid and back to her old self. They appeared to be the only two bodies that were outside before the others began exiting the bus. A surprising sight given all that happened just moments ago. Sam looked as taken aback as the others seeing that Dakota was transforming back without having killed Chris, whose presence was nowhere to be found.
Perhaps forming some semblance of bravery, Sky dared to walk up to Dakota. If anything, she wanted to see what exactly it was that was causing the other to revert to her original form. When she got a good look, Sky saw that Dakota was completely distracted by the view before her. The aspiring Olympian turned to see for herself and it took her breath away.
"Is that..." Sky started in trying to ask a question. Her already soft voice trailing off.
"Yeah..." Dakota whispered back in return.
"It's real...?" Sky asked in awe and disbelief.
"It is..." Dakota answered back.
The very first impression that one would have of the sight before them would be that, out in the distance, was a city. Slightly larger than a small town, perhaps even a medium-sized one at that. The buildings, even from so far way, looked very sleek and modern that they were possibly the most futuristic looking pieces of architecture presently in existence. The design was meticulous to ensure that the flora and fauna could flourish peacefully while being a vibrant and sprawling human habitat. Overlooking it all to the center north was a majestic tower. Not too tall, but a truly impressive feat in construction.
It was another moment or two before any of the others decided to chance following Sky to be next to Dakota and see what they were seeing. Sam was the first, situating himself behind his girlfriend and placing a gentle hand upon her shoulder. He, like most of the others, didn't seem to be familiar with what he was seeing. The one person who was as blown away as Dakota and Sky happened to be Courtney.
"No..." Courtney gasped breathlessly. "No... We're here?"
"Yeah..." Sky replied. "We're definitely here..."
"Mind telling us what here is, Princess?" Duncan asked. He didn't whisper and he raised a curious brow over what it was that was seemingly impressive.
"I can't believe it..." Courtney responded. Not quite answering the question just yet. "I can't believe I'm seeing... I'm seeing..."
"Académie de la Rose Blanche..." Dakota proclaimed breathlessly. "White Rose Academy..."
Next Up: White Rose Academy
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Total Drama and its characters are copyright © of Fresh TV, Teletoon and Cartoon Network (and soon Max). This story was created purely out of sheer enjoyment so please don't sue. Or throw me off a thousand-foot high cliff into a shark-infested lake. That would so smarts.