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 One
(Narrated by Chris McLean)
Hey there, folks! Chris McLean here to introduce you to a brand, spanking new Total Drama! I know what you're thinking. Forty-nine money hungry teens, three shows, two wicked islands, and a single arrest for yours truly, how can this next one get any more chaotic and awesome? By bringing back twenty-four of your favorites for an all-star extravaganza! But it ain't gonna take place on an island, no sir. Heck, it ain't gonna be a typical Total Drama series at all. Check it, a pretty swank boarding school offered themselves up as the setting for a reality show in exchange for some cheap publicity. After some negotiating, we thought it would be fun to see how our former campers would handle two years getting the education of a life-time. Intriguing, eh? Enough for us to give it a whirl. We'll throw in challenges to keep the drama level up a bit, but we're sure those kiddies will get into all sorts of trouble by themselves. And we'll be able to record them!
Here's how it's gonna go down. Knowing that most of the teens would exile themselves on Mars rather than come back for another Total Drama, we've had to invoke a nifty little clause in their contracts so that they don't have a choice but to return. But I'm looking forward to seeing their faces when they find out this show could end up being the launching pad for ideal futures and careers to be set for life. So much I'm looking forward to the reactions that we haven't told them about it yet. All they know is that they're getting picked up by a bus that's gonna take them to where the show will be shot. They don't even know who else will be appearing with them. That's right, they're going in blind. And we've got cameras set up on the bus to record all the drama they're sure to have from all the anticipation that's building up inside them.
So here we go with...
TOTAL...
DRAMA...
ACADEMY!
ALL-STARS EDITION!
The bus was a surprisingly high tech vehicle. One that seemed to be constructed with the idea of being the most state-of-the-art mobile transportation this side of Canada, perhaps of North America. The black coloring, lack of windows, dim overhead light, and air conditioning that kept the temperature relatively cool at all times would normally project an eerie atmosphere to an unsuspecting passenger. This was offset by the futuristic door that automatically opened and closed, personalized monitors and trays of a high end quality compared normally, and the most comfortable chair that recline the body in full. This bus was designed for comfort and relaxation in what had generally been a cramped and stiff public transport.
Of course, all that was the least bit concerning to the young woman, black haired with teal streaks, sitting at the very back of the bus. Brooding with frustration and discontent, she was an unwilling passenger heading to a destination she had no desire to go to. Unfortunately, she was contractually bound to do so. Ever since she had boarded the bus, she had been slumped in her seat and staring into infinite space. The goal being to cancel out all conscious thought of her present predicament and the potential horrors that awaited her. It managed to last several minutes before she started getting annoyed at the apparent lump of mass huddled up at the opposite side of the bus from her.
Whoever it was, they were cowering in as much of the corner at the back of the bus as their body would allow. Their entire body covered with at least one big brown overcoat and then some. It seemed like they were doing all they could to try to hide while expressing the amount of fear they felt at potentially being discovered. To the young woman sitting parallel to them, it only made them that much more noticeable that it eventually got on her nerves.
"Hey," she said. The covered mass immediately stopped shaking. "Normally I could care less if people want to ignore me. But the manner in which you're trying desperately to be hidden is bothersome. And it's only been ten minutes. What's the deal?"
"Sorry," a somewhat mousy voice uttered. It sounded female and slightly more high pitched than the young woman's, though muffled considering she was beneath clothing. "I just... I really don't wanna be seen right now. Especially by people who would know me."
"Am I supposed to know you?" the young woman asked with a raised brow.
"Didn't you watch the other shows?" the lump questioned in return. She sounded rather perplexed.
"Like hell I would," the young woman responded with a huff, slumping further into her seat. "I've been trying to recover from my experience on my show. What good would it do to watch other people suffer the same horrors I did?"
"Good point," the lump noted in agreement. "Even still, I... I really don't look so good. And I'm not used to covering myself up."
"I take it you had a pretty bad experience on your show?" the young woman asked.
"It was awful!" the lump answered in a sudden shriek. "That smug bastard did not like me from day one and went out of his way to terrorize and humiliate me!"
"Chris McLean?" the young woman hypothesized aloud.
"The mere thought of him makes me so angry!" the lump continued to rage. "I hate that man!"
"Okay, I think I better understand your hiding now," the young woman stated with a slight chuckle. "I won't bother you about it any further, if you don't want me to."
"Thanks," the lump responded. There was a quiet pause before speaking once more. "I'm Dakota."
"Gwen," the young woman said.
For the next several minutes, the bus ride continued on in relative silence. Dakota remaining in her bundled lump form in her corner while Gwen continued to slouch in her seat. The biggest difference being that, instead of staring into space, Gwen was now reading a packet of papers in a thorough manner. Upon closer inspection, the paperwork that she was reviewing was an apparent copy of her Total Drama contract. She had just turned a page when the bus slowed to a stop for a brief moment before resuming its movement, signifying that another passenger had been picked up.
When the door would automatically slide open, it would be accompanied by a hissing sound. Which was why Gwen raised a brow when there was an apparent added sound effect upon the new passenger entering. It took the door closing behind them for her to recognize that they were responsible. Creating a sort of robotic swooshing noise whenever the door opened or closed. This vocal noise was provided by the male passenger who walked through in a very casual, very laid back demeanor. A seeming big individual if largely because of how huge and bushy his black hair was, further enhanced by a huge and bushy goatee that overall helped to give off the impression of being the equivalent of a male lion's mane.
It took a moment for the male passenger to register her presence on the bus. While she was slouched in her seat, it wasn't so far deep as to disappear completely from view. Once he saw her, he merely winked, pointed both of his index fingers at her in pistol shapes, and made a pair of clicking sounds. After a brief second, Gwen barely managed to offer a wave in acknowledgment. Somewhat to her surprise and relief, this was the most interaction the male passenger pursued. After putting his bag away in an overhead compartment, he sat himself somewhere in one of the middle aisle seats and appeared perfectly content as he was. Gwen waited a moment to see if he would actually try to communicate with her further, but shrugged and returned to reading her contract.
A few minutes later, the bus slowed to a stop and then resumed moving. The door later slid open, no longer accompanied by the previous passenger's sound effects, to reveal a face Gwen was familiar with. In her opinion, it was to his credit that the lanky male managed to avoid picking his nose upon entry and sauntered his way further into the bus. The bespectacled redhead eventually caught sight her and smiled slightly as he made his way over in her direction.
"Hey, Gwen," he said in his low, almost monotone raspy voice.
"Harold," Gwen merely said in acknowledgment.
"Uh," Harold uttered when he got to be a few rows in front of her. He looked around for a moment before turning back to her, patting the top of the seat he was standing next to. "Is it alright if I sit around here?"
"Sure," Gwen answered with a shrug.
"Cool," Harold said as he dropped his bag underneath what would now be his seat on the bus. He sat down and stayed quiet, but only for a few seconds. Then he turned back to Gwen. "So, uh... How's it going?"
"Harold, it's because you're going out with Leshawna that I'm willing to tolerate you," Gwen stated about as bluntly as she was willing to be without sounding irritated. "Don't push your luck."
"Okay," Harold responded. He nodded his head to show that he got the point. He twiddled his thumbs for a bit and then looked around to try to see if there were others around before returning his attention to Gwen. "Uh, can I ask you about who else is on the bus so far? I mean, since we're not gonna really chat unless Leshawna is here, maybe I could get to know the others."
"Dunno anything about him, frankly," Gwen said after having rolled her eyes and then nodded in the direction of the bushy haired figure further up the bus.
"Okay," Harold uttered with a nod. "Got it." He then turned his attention to the other male passenger, leaning as much toward him as his seated body would allow. "Hey, I'm Harold."
"He-loh..." the bushy haired individual started to say very slowly in a rather low speaking tone as he turned to smile and wave in a relaxed manner. "My name is Bee-air-doh..."
"Bee-air-doh," Harold repeated. He appeared to already be impressed by the other just by hearing his name. "Whoa."
"Yeah..." Beardo responded in the same very slow voice.
The few seconds of the exchange Gwen had witnessed was more than enough for her. She rolled her eyes again and sighed before turning to paperwork in her hands.
Gwen's ability to concentrate on the contract was hindered several minutes later when Harold and Beardo decided to engage in a beat-box duet. While she couldn't dismiss the quality of their skills, having already known how impressive Harold was back on the show and Beardo sounding like he was an absolute natural. What was problematic to her was how distracting it was. Certainly when there were only a few bodies on the bus at the present moment.
It was a few moments later that the bus slowed to a brief stop before moving again. The boys were too focused on their beat-box jam session to heed any notice of what was happening, nor were they initially aware that the door had slid open to reveal the latest passenger. It was only when their presence was passing them by when Harold finally took note.
"Wow," he exhaled, sounding taken aback. "You're really tall."
Beardo made a violent record scratch sound, which was followed by a really loud slap from Gwen facepalming. It took Harold some time to realize that he probably said something that did not come out as he might have intended. Perhaps it was fortunate for him that the tall young woman, whose black hair beneath a slouch hat was tied up into a ponytail, merely raised a brow in her initial response, seemingly to signify that she was not as offended as the others feared she might have been.
"Uh, yeah," the tall young woman managed to utter. "Thanks, mate." She hesitated for a moment before moving again, making her way toward the back of the bus. After putting her bag in an overheard compartment, she ended up taking a seat in the row directly in front of where Dakota was huddled. She seemed to think for a moment before turning to Gwen curiously. "Sorry ta inteh'rup, but do ya know 'im?"
"Afraid so," Gwen uttered with a sigh, sliding her hand off her face. "And yes, he's often very blunt right from the get go, unaware that not everything he says is as complimentary as he thinks they might be."
"Oh, alright," the woman said, sounding slightly confused. "I do tend to intimidate folks, so I wasn't sure if that was tha case wit' 'im." Her Australian accent was not as thick as it could have been, though it wouldn't have hindered how sweet she was regardless.
"It actually takes a lot to intimidate him," Gwen noted, slumping into her seat. "But he does have the unfortunate habit to rub people the wrong way." Apparently no one paid attention to the fact that the bus had seemingly stopped and started again within the last moment. For the door slid open to reveal the latest passenger and it was one that Gwen instantly recognized. She also knew the trouble it was bound to bring. "Speaking of..."
Entering the bus was another young woman. The brunette wore a smile that looked as though she was looking to impress upon any and everyone who looked upon her. However, that smile disappeared very quickly when she stopped and spied upon the presence of Harold. Harold gasped when he saw who it, one that sounded uncertain and rather fearful. The young woman's expression then darkened before she threw her nose up and sat herself in the nearest seat, which was some few rows away from the front.
"Uh..." Harold managed to cough after a quiet moment. "Hey, Courtney." He tried his best to put on a pleasant, friendly demeanor.
"I would appreciate if you don't talk to me, Harold," Courtney responded. She didn't quite try to hide the contempt in her voice, turning only just enough so that she would be able to catch him through the corner of her eye. "It's taking all my strength to not strangle you for the TRAITOR THAT YOU ARE!"
Harold slightly reared back in his seat with a pained expression on his face. This was accompanied by Beardo making a sort of whistling sound that mimicked energy being depleted. Under better circumstances it would've seemed impressive.
"Yeah..." Harold sighed as he hung his head.
"Do I wanna know what 'appened wit' those two?" the tall young woman slight whispered to Gwen.
"I imagine you'll know soon enough," Gwen answered with a shrug, crossing her arms and slouching further into her seat.
The silence that hung in the air for several minutes was about as unpleasant and uncomfortable as could be. Courtney kept her nose up in an attempt to face forward and avoid any further contact with those behind her. Harold kept his head hung, really unsure of what to do, if anything. Beardo didn't even try to make any sort of sound effects to break the silence, determining that it was best to keep quiet. Gwen had resumed reviewing her contract, but she lacked the ability to maintain her entire focus on it. Dakota would shiver for a brief second every now and then in her lump state. And the tall young woman was uncertain about doing anything aside from trying to get a better examination of her surroundings. Thus it felt like it was a really long time when it really wasn't by the time the bus slowed to a brief stop and then resumed movement. The door slide open, but the new passenger did not quite show themselves. Rather they weren't revealed in the normal manner.
A young man with brown hair in a beanie would quietly move as fast as he could from one point, crouching to stop for a moment to thoroughly examine the area as quickly as he could, and then moved on to repeat the process. This did not go unnoticed as the others could not help but watch him curiously, which he managed to completely ignore. This inspired Beardo to whisper sounding out the plucking of violin strings to mimic tip toe steps whenever the new passenger was on the move. Gwen raised a brow to the whole display until she noticed that the tall young woman appeared to have a different reaction. She was trying to suppress a giggle, though a quiet snort managed to get through.
"No windows, only a couple bathrooms in the back instead of an exit, no visible escape hatches on the ceiling or the floor..." the young man was heard muttering as he got close enough to the back for those seated in the area to be heard. He then leaned against the arm of a nearby seat to moan. "Aw man, they made the perfect safe bus. I'm in a death trap!"
"If it makes ya feel bettah, Shawn sweetie, I got some life pra'zervin' instra'ments wit' me," the young woman said rather suddenly, sounding as though she was just coming out of a gentle laugh. This definitely caught the attention of the young man who whipped his head to face the speaker and appeared to brighten up in an instant.
"Jasmine!" Shawn managed to exclaim without pitching his voice too high. He leapt over rows and landed in a seating position next to the tall young woman looking very relieved. "Whew! If you're here, then I guess we should be fine in this false hope of a vehicle for now."
"Tha kinda romantic talk I've bin wan'in' ta 'ear all day, mate," Jasmine said, letting out another gentle laugh. She then cupped Shawn's face and drew him in for a kiss, which he gladly accepted.
"Dude, now that's more like it!" a new voice called out. Most looked over to see the new passenger after unable to recognize that the bus stopped and started a moment before to pick them up. Before them was a male looking very fit, as exemplified by the muscle definition of his body made visible by his pink shirt being unbuttoned and opened. The cowboy hat over his blonde hair giving an odd boost to the effect of his sparkling smile. "Being cool and partying is what I'm here for, bra!"
"You're just hoping Bridgette shows up so you guys can show everyone up," Gwen called out in a teasing manner. She apparently was directing this to not only the incoming passenger, but also to Jasmine and Shawn.
"Aw, you know Bridge and I are just having fun when we're together, Gwen," the new guy responded, trying his best to sound modest as he made his way toward the back.
"Oh, you guys are having fun alright," Gwen responded with a chuckle.
"Sup, Harold!" the male said, throwing his bag into an overhead compartment as he prepared to sit himself on the opposite side of the bus from the other. He managed to do this at the same time as he did responding to Beardo's double pistol point and clicking.
"Hey, Geoff," Harold said pleasantly with a wave.
"Sup, Courtney!" Geoff called out.
"Geoff," Courtney answered with a huff. She kept her nose up and continued to face forward
"Whoa," Geoff uttered, rather taken aback by Courtney's response. "What's up with her?"
"She's trying to ignore Harold's presence," Gwen answered before any one else good.
"She's still ticked at him?" Geoff questioned, scratching the back of his head underneath his hat as he finally sat himself down. He looked around so he could face Gwen. "Harsh, bra. Doesn't she know he's trying to apologize to her?"
"I don't think she's willing to accept his apology right now," Gwen replied. Harold letting out a sigh and hanging his head again showed that this was the correct assessment.
"Bummer," Geoff said. He started to look around in the hopes of getting the atmosphere to be more cheerful and caught sight of the couple he had seen kissing earlier. "Sup, party dudes!"
"Can you ease up on the excitement?" Shawn asked, taking the other by surprise. He seemed rather anxious all of a sudden. "Don't you know all your hollering makes you, and thereby this bus, a walker magnet?"
"Walker?" Geoff uttered, looking very confused.
"Zombie, mate," Jasmine said in explanation. "My sweetie 'ere would rather we avoid any means of drawin' tha apocalypse upon us."
"One of those, huh?" Gwen said with a chuckle. She then put the paperwork she had been holding aside and leaned over. "You know, I think I might like hanging out with you guys."
It seemed that Geoff was making it his mission to liven up the atmosphere on the bus. Over the next several minutes, he would engage in brief conversations with just about everyone else and get them to loosen up. With Courtney, he managed to get her to stop holding her nose up, but she refused to ease up on her quiet scorn for Harold. Gwen was rather surprised that Geoff had not managed to catch sight of the bundled up lump that was Dakota, though she imagined it was largely because the party man was looking for faces and the other girl was covering herself up and hide as best as she could.
Geoff was in the midst of encouraging Beardo and Harold to restart their beat-box jam session when the bus slowed to a stop for a moment and then went moving again, signifying that another passenger had been picked up. The door slid open to reveal a relatively portly young woman with a red ribbon at the top of her brown hair. It seemed odd for her to have a ribbon at all given just how incredibly short her hair was, looking as though they were in the process of growing back out. Rather unconsciously, she made her way to a seat that was squarely in front of Courtney and proceeded to talk, as if for the hell of it.
"Yeah," she uttered as she started putting her back in the overhead compartment. This turned out to be a warm up before firing away, as if she was speaking directly to Courtney. "This bus looks really neat. But it's because we have my Great-Great-Great-Great-Uncle Zebekiah to thank. He invented the bus, yeah. Before him, people would attach horse wagons to the back of their cars."
"What?" Courtney managed to exhale in utter disbelief what she had just heard. "That... That's not true. That's not true at all."
"Uh-huh!" the mouthy girl said defensively. "It is true. You're just jealous, yeah. Just like the people who were jealous of my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Aunt Eleanor. It's because she invented the backpack, yeah. Before her, people would travel with their belongings in rolls of toilet paper."
"No," Courtney responded breathlessly, placing a hand on her cheek. "No, no, no! There's no way that's true!"
"She was on one of tha shows?" Jasmine whispered to those around her in a perplexed tone. "For real?"
The scene of the girl mouthing off absolute nonsense was rather hypnotizing. Just about everyone watched with curious wonder as she was essentially assaulting Courtney verbally, who was getting more and more demoralized by what she was hearing. So attentive to the scene everyone was that they paid no heed to the fact that the bus had stopped and started again, having picked up a new passenger. They were not even aware that the passenger, with their black hair tied up in a ponytail, had entered and was making their way toward the more crowded area of the bus, taking a quick look at the scene themselves until they decided to speak.
"Woo boy, that girl has a mouth," the new girl whistled. "It's barely been a second and I already don't wanna be around her." To some, she was a familiar face worth smiling over seeing. Certainly to one in particular.
"Leshawna!" Harold cried as he jumped from his seat with joy. "You're here!"
"I knew my Ginger Biscuit would be here," LeShawna said with a laugh as she made her way over to Harold. "How about you gimmie some suga', baby?" With a finger, she lifted his chin up enough for her to give him a kiss.
"I'm so happy, I can hardly contain myself," Harold managed to say, sounding as though he was about to explode from lack of oxygen as he was swelling up with happiness.
"Alright, down boy," LeShawna said with another laugh. "Let's not do everythin' all at once, okay? There'll be plenty of lovin' fo' me ta give ya." She gave him a light smack on his bottom, resulting in him letting out a strange, ecstatic noise before hopping into a seat.
"Sure you don't wanna show Geoff that he and Bridgette will have PDA competition?" Gwen teased, snickering with a hand not quite covering her mouth with affectionate amusement.
"Oh, hush!" LeShawna laughed back as she sat herself next to her love struck man.
"That's so cute," the chatty girl said, having managed to catch sight of Harold and LeShawna in the midst of her seemingly unending stream of talking. "Though not as cute as my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents Alfred and Mildred, yeah. They invented kissing. Before them, couples would just rub their cheeks together for twenty minutes."
"Wha..." Courtney uttered, breathing rather heavily as her hand was now upon her forehead, looking like she was about to get sick. "You seriously believe this gibberish you're spewing? Why?"
To Courtney's relief, the other girl eventually stopped talking and took her seat. This left her with the chance to finally catch her breath and possibly regain some composure. Meanwhile, Geoff continued his efforts to liven up the atmosphere. He felt confident that LeShawna's presence would help, and it did for a moment. LeShawna was in her element making small talk with everyone, in particular Gwen and Harold. But the attempt at a celebratory mood dimmed as the bus slowed to a stop and eventually started again. Seconds later, the door slid open to reveal the latest passenger.
"Sha-pow!" the new body proclaimed upon entry, flexing as he spoke. "Y'all can just get off the bus and go back home now. Lightning is here to win the whole sha-bang!"
There was little question that the young man was an athlete, even without the jersey he was wearing. He had the look, the build, and, perhaps more importantly, the boisterous charisma. It was more than enough to leave everyone else on the bus speechless, though not necessarily with awe. He seemed content with the lack of response from the few seconds of quiet and was about to take a seat near the front when someone managed to pique about a particular feature of his.
"Dude, what happened to yer hair?" Geoff asked, pointing out aloud the other's unnaturally white hair. This apparently didn't sit well with the recipient of the question
"Are you trying to make fun of Lightning?" Lighting responded, having immediately stood up and faced Geoff with indignation. "Ain't nobody make fun of Lightning and get away with it! You'll be eating dirt before sundown!"
"Uh..." Geoff uttered with apparent bafflement. He looked around to the others, who didn't seem to know what to make of this new fellow either. "Sure, dude. Whatever you say, bra." Few were paying attention to the fact that the bus had slowed to a stop for a second and then started back up.
"Oh, you ain't intimidated by the Lightning?" Lighting questioned, still yelling and still acting offended at what he perceived was a slight against him. "Well, you should be! There ain't no one who can compare to me!"
It was then that the door slid open. The toque-wearing new passenger entered, but stopped suddenly upon recognizing that all eyes were on him. In particular the imposing figure in front of him who looked anything but pleasant.
"Look here!" Lightning said, just as he suddenly grabbed the brunette by the collar and hoisted him up off of the ground. "This little scrawny sheep knows Lighting is the best!" He showed off the shivering boy as if he was something to be displayed, as well as the feat of strength in which to do so with one hand. "See him all shaking with awe and alarm. He knows Lightning is the sha-bomb!"
"Hey!" Jasmine yelled as she got to her feet. "Put 'im down this instant!"
"Oh, oh!" Lightning uttered in a mocking tone once he had a good look at the one addressing him. "Just because you taller than Lightning don't mean..." He started to trail off when he was realized the girl was making her way towards him. "Don't mean..." He trailed off some more when he realized just how tall she was compared to him. After a second, he gave out a huff and dropped the boy he had been holding to the floor. "Aw hell, Lightning don't care about this lil' freak any way!"
Jasmine had stopped as soon as Lightning had let go of the boy and proceeded to make his way back to his seat. She then watched as the toque-wearing figure crawled away and eventually scrambled back to his feet before bending down a bit to address him.
"Ya okay, mate?" she asked. She did not quite expect the response to be for him to squeak and dive into a nearby empty seat, rolling himself up into a ball and shaking. It was, though, a scene she was used to seeing happen to her and she sat back down with a sigh. "I hope I didn't make things worse for 'im."
"Ezekiel has been afraid of girls in general for a while now," Harold said in explanation. "He had been taught previously by his dad that they were inferior to boys and said so aloud. He almost got beat up as a result and it made him the first to be eliminated on our show."
"But 'e 'as learned 'is lesson, right?" Jasmine asked, looking over at the shivering boy with some concern.
"I'm sure that lesson he had long learned by now," LeShawna noted. "It's more of whether or not girls know that about him so as not to punch him at first sight." Her having said this aloud caused the boy pull his toque down in an attempt to hide himself.
Geoff held off on making further attempts to liven the atmosphere. Not with the concern that the Lightning fellow, who kept to himself with his arms crossed, would make another hostile outburst. Ezekiel managed to eventually calm down to sit properly in his seat, but appeared to maintain some distance from the others regardless of Jasmine wanting to make attempts to reach out to him. As such, things were kept relatively quiet for several minutes before the bus slowed to a stop and then started back up. Out of habit, most of the others looked up to see who the new passenger was as the door slid open to reveal them.
"Well, look who it is, sweetie," Jasmine said to Shawn with a relaxed smile. She then waved out to the person entering. "Sky, over 'ere!"
Upon hearing her name called out, the short young girl with medium black hair and red earrings looked up to see a pair of familiar faces waving her over. Letting out a deep breath, she formed a smile on her face as she made her way over toward them.
"Hey, guys," Sky said as she took the seat in front of Jasmine and Shawn. She did not seem to speak any further in the short period between placing her bag beneath her seat and then letting out a long exhale upon sitting down. This did not go unnoticed by her friends.
"Boy, for someone who was super determined throughout the show, you don't seem as chipper I imagine the winner of the whole thing would be," Shawn noted aloud. As this was one of the few times he made no mention of the apocalypse, it was a clear indication that he was genuinely concerned about someone else's well-being at the moment.
"Yeah, well..." Sky initially responded before trailing off. Her attempt to smile as a means of passing off concern faded fairly quickly an she let out another sigh. "The last couple weeks haven't been... enjoyable... for me."
"Some'in' 'appen ta ya?" Jasmine asked. There was a moment of silence. During this, the bus began to slow to a stop, but Jasmine and Shawn figured the quiet had more to do with what they imagined was what might be bothering Sky. "Does it 'ave ta do wit' Dave?"
"Let's just say he better not be here," Sky said as she leaned back in her seat. "If I'm here, then he legally shouldn't. Not with the restraining order I have against him."
"Ouch," Shawn hissed in mimicking pain. At the same time, the bus began to move again.
"Not my proudest moment," Sky noted with another sigh. Another moment of silence might have been left at that if not for the door sliding open and the latest passenger making their presence very well known.
"Schmoopy-boo!" an incredibly ecstatic voice called out from the newly arrived blonde girl as she unconsciously dropped her bag and began running down the aisle.
"Babe!" Geoff happily cried as he got to his feet. "You made it!" He was about to move over, but was immediately pounced upon by the girl and they fell over into the seats they would presumably be occupying. Seconds later, all kinds of lip smacking was heard.
"Should warn you guys in advance that they'll be doing this forever," Gwen said, unable to contain her affectionate laughter.
"Gwen, stop teasing," the blonde girl said with a giggle of her own. She had apparently stopped kissing Geoff long enough to bring her upper body up to face Gwen, though she also had to brush aside her ponytail. "I haven't seen Geoff in a long time."
"And how long ago was that, Bridgette?" Gwen asked with a raised brow and a knowing smirk.
"Uh..." Bridgette uttered sheepishly as she began to blush quite heavily. "Three days ago..."
"Just remember that you don't have to keep making out like you're each other's source of oxygen, alright?" Gwen said, more so to say something of the like aloud rather than offering some form of advice.
Bridgette did nothing for a second. She then started to fidget, rapidly patting the seats with increasing speed, her eyes darting from one person to the next. Before long, she let out an excited giggle and jumped back back down on Geoff to resume their kissing. The game of tonsil hockey nearly got intense enough to really leave an impression on those who were not familiar with them, as evident by the shy blushing Jasmine and Shawn both had as they looked from the others to one another every now and then. Beardo started making beat-box music that may or may not be considered romantic for the situation. Gwen even noticed briefly that Dakota moved just enough from her corner to risk a curious look.
"Boy, they really don't stop, do they," Sky muttered. Her eyes were as wide as they could be and her mouth only slightly ajarred with amazement at witnessing the scene before her.
It took a good long while, but the rather noisy make out session between Bridgette and Geoff eventually cooled. The two had finally pulled their lips apart from one another for them to at least engage in conversation with others. Soon most of those in the back half of the bus were slowly but surely getting to know one another. Dakota had gone back to her previous state of hiding in the corner. Ezekiel would occasionally be peering from behind his seat, stealing at glance at the others, Bridgette in particular, before diving out of view when it appeared someone might turn to him. The three at the front half of the bus, meanwhile, were seemingly content with keeping to themselves.
Eventually, the bus began to slow to a stop. When it started back up again shortly afterward, attention was turned to see who the new passenger was. The door slid open to reveal a fairly small and almost sickly young boy. It clearly looked like he could easily be pushed over by a butterfly. Nevertheless, there was something sweet in the way he looked at his surroundings with a genuine sense of awe.
"Wow," the bespectacled brunette uttered as he slowly moved through the aisle, looking up at the ceiling above. "I bet mom would like the features of this bus. Then we'd be able to actually go traveling around for a change."
"Oh, uh-uh!" Lightning suddenly yelled as he stood up in a flabbergasted manner, causing the new passenger to jump back in horror. "No way! Cameron's back, too?"
"Oh," Cameron uttered nervously, sensing very quickly just how upset the other was with his apparent presence. "Hey, Lightning."
"This is an outrage!" Lightning proclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the smaller fellow. "Cameron already won our show! He shouldn't be allowed for a second time to prevent Lightning from winning!"
"Dear God," Sky muttered as she watched the exchange in an aghast state. "Please tell me I'm not looking at a mirror."
"Excuse me?" Lightning questioned, feeling appalled as he briefly turned towards Sky. "Did you just call Lightning a mirror? Lightning is anything but a mirror! Lightning is the total package and there ain't no one else like me!"
"Nah, you're not looking at a mirror, Sky," Shawn said to his friend. "You'd never boast about yourself so much and so loudly that you'd attract walkers in an instant."
"I'll... take that as a compliment?" Sky responded with confusion. The atmosphere on the bus was getting so intense that hardly any one noticed that the bus had slowed to a stop and then started moving again.
"Why don't I sit over here, Lightning?" Cameron muttered with as best of a smile as he could muster, pointing unconsciously toward one of the seats that was far away from the other as he could blindly determine. "Will that make you feel better?"
"No, it will not!" Lighting answered with a definitive huff as he started making his way into the aisle "What will make Lightning feel better is you getting off this sha-bus!" He was about to move in on the other when he was roughly shoved into. He looked over to see that a new male passenger had emerged looking none too pleasant.
"Hey, Odell Joke-ham," the latest arrival growled. "How about stepping aside so I can get through? Cause if you don't, I'll thump you into an overhead compartment."
There was no question that his green mohawk, various piercings, and very cold demeanor made it very clear that he could back up the intimidation his appearance displayed. As things were moving pretty fast, it was taking most a moment to get good clarity at what was going on near the front of the bus. One who was well aware of what was happening was Courtney, who was trying to hide just how excited she was at the sight of the young man before her.
"You dare insult the Lightning, punk?" Lighting questioned making an attempt to stand up to the new passenger. It turned out that he wasn't doing a very good job at not being afraid.
"Yeah, I do," the punk responded. "So what are you gonna do about it?"
"Dang it!" Harold yelled suddenly when he got a real good look at who just arrived on the bus. "Duncan has to be here, too?"
"Oh, good," Duncan said when he heard who it was that just spoke. With a devilish grin he turned toward Harold, cracking his knuckles. This allowed Lightning the opening to quickly dive back into his seat and hide. "Guess I'll be able to have a little fun after all."
"You try anythin' funny around my man and I'm gonna punch the green outta yer stupid mohawk," LeShawna hollered as she got to her feet, arms crossed and a very determined look on her face.
"Ah, dammit," Duncan grumbled aloud. "Since when did twinkle toes get himself a bodyguard?"
"You lookin' for an ass-whippin', delinquent?" LeShawna yelled gripping the seat in front of her tighter.
"If any one deserves a beating, it's that traitor of a boyfriend of yours for eliminating me illegally!" Courtney screamed out suddenly. She got to her feet and stood next to Duncan, who was briefly taken aback at having not noticed her earlier before smiling with amusement.
"Gosh, I'm trying to apologize to you!" Harold called out, angrily getting to his feet. "Why won't you let me?"
"An apology?" Courtney screamed in disgust. "Is that supposed to make me forgive you for breaking into the goddamned voting box, throwing out all the votes, and replacing them with my name as a poor excuse for getting back at Duncan? You weren't man enough to take him on directly that you instead went after me for no reason whatsoever?"
"She's your mirror," Shawn said to Sky, who wasn't sure how upset she should be about hearing that.
"Maybe you don't deserve his apology after all, prissy pants!" LeShawna responded to Courtney in a huff. "I seem to recall you belittled him when he turned out to be yer team's MVP! Hell, he did more fo' you than yer vandalizin' boy toy! If anythin', y'all should be apologizin' to him!"
"Like hell that's happening, thunder thighs!" Duncan raged with fire beginning to burn in his eyes. "You wanna stand in the way? Fine! I have no problem knocking your fat ass into the ground!"
"That's it!" LeShawna cried. "I'm shovin' them piercin's up yer pee-hole!"
It took a great deal of effort, but Jasmine, Shawn, Sky, Geoff, Bridgette, Gwen, and even Beardo managed to subdue the four who were about to go to war on one another as quickly as they could before the fisticuffs started flying. The hardest ones to calm down turned out to be Harold and Courtney as they were screaming the entire time and seemed incapable of stopping. After what felt like an hour but was really a very long several minutes, the four combatants had been placed back in their seats to brood and seethe with fury. When the others were satisfied that there would be no further attempts to engage in battle, they returned to their original seats with heavy sighs of cautious relief.
"Can I sit with you guys?" Cameron asked with a squeak rather suddenly, shaking as he popped up from the floor. His presence near some within the back half was surprising as he was completely forgotten about in the middle of what was happening between Courtney, Duncan, Harold, and LeShawna. "I'm too scared to be alone."
The silence was so uncomfortable that it made the already cool air feel that much colder to the point of freezing. For their part, the ones were about ready to throw down were slowly starting to ease the tension they were feeling. Duncan seemed content slumped in his seat with an arm over Courtney's shoulders, who in turn appeared to be scribbling randomly on a notepad. LeShawna had her head held up in one hand with the other hand was wrapped around Harold's waist while the other tried to read a book regardless of the fact that it was upside down. Cameron found himself rolled up in a ball and sucking on his thumb in the seat next to Ezekiel, who himself looked about ready to faint with all the fear that was building up inside him.
"Figured things would go downhill..." Gwen grumbled, having leaned forward with a hand on her forehead as opposed to doing anything that might require any form of concentration she lacked at that moment.
"It is inevitable for the experiences of life to go downhill," a dreamy voice spoke unexpectedly. It appeared to be coming from the seat directly in front of Gwen. "But fear not. Your aura is strong, thus you will be uphill more often than not and find balance."
"Huh?" Gwen uttered in confusion.
Out of curiosity, she looked over to see who it was that spoke to her. She found a petite girl with long, light blonde hair sitting cross legged and looking as though she was in a meditative state. There was something natural and odd to this girl's presence and Gwen was quite perplexed about not knowing what to do next as a result.
"Dawn?" Cameron said suddenly, having also looked over upon overhearing some of what had been spoken seconds before. "How did you get in here without us noticing?"
"I took a shortcut," Dawn replied. One couldn't be sure if she said this matter of factly.
"There's a shortcut?" Shawn questioned in shock. "Quick! We need to find it and secure it before walkers are able to stumble upon it!"
"Woo'kers?" Ezekiel uttered, his voice being heard by some of the others for the very first time and through a heavy accent. "What are thoo'se, eh?"
"Shawn Sweetie, maybe ya should wait 'til we're some place less crowded if ya wanna talk about tha apocalypse," Jasmine noted to her boyfriend with a sigh.
"You're right, Jasmine," Shawn said with a nod. "We'll ride this bus trip out. And when we get to our destination, we'll get a better idea of how to best plan and prepare."
"Th-the apoo'calypse?" Ezekiel said, not quite taking in some of the things he was hearing very well. Jasmine found herself at a bit of a loss at how exactly to handle this and decided upon leaving it be for now. At the same time, the bus began to slow to a stop.
"What, you some kinda fortune teller?" Gwen asked Dawn with a raised brow. "No offense, if you are."
"You need not worry about offending me with your uncertainty about your surroundings," Dawn answered, her dreamy voice sounding a little soothing all things considered. All while still looking like she was meditating. "And though I am no fortune teller, I have been told that I have keen perception of certain, though not all, things that may befall those around me."
"Alright, I'll bite," Gwen sighed, feeling like she had nothing better to do as the bus began to move again. "Am I gonna like whomever it is that just boarded the bus?"
"I'm afraid not, Gwen," Dawn responded, the expression in her voice having remained unchanged. The door slid open and most looked up to see who it was. Dawn still had her eyes closed, but she didn't need to in order to confirm how correct she was.
"Dammit!" Gwen growled.
"Oh, hell no!" LeShawna huffed angrily. "You bettah not try anythin'! I am not in the mood right now fo' yer crap, Heather!"
The young woman in question wore a scowl that could easily be seen as permanent. Arms crossed over a puffed up chest from taking a deep breath, her right foot tapping the floor in a very judgmental manner. All beneath short black hair that appeared to have regrown just enough for her to tie a very small ponytail at the back. She was every bit as displeased at seeing the others as they were at seeing her.
"I'm not liking this any more than either of you freaks," Heather seethed directly at those who had addressed her. She received a middle finger from Gwen in return. "Bite me, weird goth girl!"
"That's rich coming from you, pit-breath," LeShawna scoffed, holding her nose up at the other.
"Go to hell!" Heather screamed. She began to march down the aisle when a leg suddenly popped out to stop her. She looked over to see that it belonged to Duncan who, along with Courtney, were staring daggers at her. "Do you mind?"
"Yes, we do mind," Courtney responded.
Heather seethed for a moment before finally turning and sat herself in the front row after forcefully shoving her bag into the overhead compartment. She looked back at everyone else for a moment, making sure they all knew just how much of an irritation she found them all to be, before slumping into her seat and out of peripheral view.
"You may be rest assured to know that this foul shadow over your soul will be lifted before day's end," Dawn said suddenly to Gwen. When Gwen looked over, she noticed that Dawn appeared to no longer be meditating. This was evident by being able to see the petite girl's teal eyes looking back at her.
"I hope you're right..." Gwen responded with another defeated sigh.
Seemingly to prevent another long, uncomfortable silence to hang, LeShawna talked Harold and Beardo to resume their beat-box jam session. Courtney and Duncan did what they could to tune them out as a result. Shawn now had Ezekiel and Cameron enthralled, or rather paying attention out of fear, with his tips and tricks for surviving what he deemed was the impending zombie apocalypse. Jasmine just sat back, shaking her head with a smile. Meanwhile, Bridgette and Geoff went back to their game of tonsil hockey while Gwen decide to review her contract once more. This lasted for a good while before they recognized that a new passenger had boarded by the bus slowing to a stop and then moving again seconds later.
When the door slid open, it was accompanied by an apparently maniacal laugh. The figure seemed to be milking the manner in which they would be making their entrance, so they stayed in the shadows for a moment before finally stepping through. Revealed was a small young boy, possibly the smallest to have boarded the bus thus far. It only made him having purple hair that was bowl cut look all the more strange.
"Let all who gather on this bus cower in fear," the new passenger said in an attempt to sound sinister. "For I, Maximillian, have returned! And it will be diabolically... EVIL!"
"Seriously?" Jasmine uttered with a slight groan, slumping in her seat with a bit of displeasure. "'e gets ta be 'here?"
"You!" Max called out, pointing at Jasmine. It seemed like he needed to make dramatic movements every time he spoke. "You have been a hindrance to my evil too often in the past. I will make sure that you do not interfere with my schemes this time. You will be the first to suffer and bow, begging for mercy like the wretched infidel that you are!"
"I'm quakin' in my boots, mate," Jasmine muttered, lacking any sort of enthusiasm.
"Silence!" Max demanded. "How dare you mock my evil! I will ensure that you and your allies are punished for your feeble insubordination! No one. Not you. Not any one on this bus. Not any one in the whole world will stop me. For I am pure evil!" He started up his maniacal laugh once more. But just as he was getting to the end, he started to cough a bit. "Still working on the laugh..."
"Laughter is the best medicine, yeah," the chatty girl with the red ribbon said rather sudden. It took Max by surprised as he jumped a little. "It's because my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Uncle Nathaniel invented laughing. Before him, everyone would cluck like roosters to express how funny something was."
"This moron for real?" Duncan asked Courtney in disbelief. This was his first experience with the chatty girl and, like Lightning and Heather, was left quite bewildered.
"The second we arrive at wherever we're supposed to be, I'm getting as far away from her as humanly possible," Courtney responded, in the process of losing her breath again. "The audacity to say such falsehoods and think people would believe them."
"Is that so?" Max pondered aloud to what the chatty girl had said, not to how any one else had been reacting. After a moment to think, he let out a sinister chuckle. "Cluck like roosters... My devious mind is now swirling with evil ideas!" He made his way over to the girl, rubbing his hands in a devious manner. He paid little attention to the bus slowing to a stop and the moving again. "It is settled! I shall spare you having to suffer at my feet. Hence forth, you shall be my evil henchwoman!"
"We get to be friends?" the chatty girl gasped. "I've made a friend, yeah! I'm Staci!"
"Then I shall christen thee... Shadi Staci!" Max proclaimed. It just so happened that this occurred at the same time as the door sliding open for a new passenger to enter. But most everyone had their attention focused on this scene regardless of whether not they really wanted to. "Continue to stimulate my evil brain with fiendish ideas and I shall rule the Earth!" He started to let out one more maniacal laugh, though it again ended with him having a coughing fit.
"Yay!" Staci cheered, hopping up and down repeatedly as she clapped rapidly.
"You want the barf bag, princess?" Duncan asked aloud, looking rather sick himself.
Gwen had been slouched in her seat to such a degree that she was essentially as close to being laid out and staring up at the ceiling as she could without having activated any of the reclining features. She did not bother watching the scene at the front and was quite frankly doing everything that she could to tune out any and all sounds. It was on the verge of succeeding when she heard someone clear their throat. It belonged to a voice that she recognized very well as the new passenger gently came into her view.
"'scue me, beautiful," the young man said with a smile and slight chuckle. "Is the seat next to you taken?"
Gwen could feel her heart go pitter patter. A genuine smile formed on her face. One that displayed the immense sense of joy she had at seeing the familiar green eyes of the black haired young man with a guitar case strapped to his back.
"It's all yours, handsome," she said breathlessly.
She adjusted herself into a proper sitting position so as to allow the young man through to sit right next to her. As soon as he was situated into his seat, she slowly and gently placed her upper body against him and they began to cuddle with her head upon his shoulder. He obliged to the unspoken, yet seemingly obvious wish of wrapping his arms around her. They quietly exhaled roughly at the same time and then they noticed that LeShawna and Bridgette were looking at them with absolute interest.
"C'mon now," LeShawna said in a teasing tone. "It's your turn."
"It's only teasing if you know that the recipient is going to be embarrassed," Gwen responded with a chuckle. "I haven't heard anything yet to suggest that's gonna be the case."
"So when was the last time you and Trent have been together?" Bridgette asked, her attempt to turn the tables on Gwen for earlier.
"We see each other every weekend," Gwen replied. This apparently was not what the other girls expected Gwen to say.
"You frontin' me?" LeShawna asked, taken aback by what she just heard.
"I thought you guys lived something like two hours apart," Bridgette noted, just as surprised.
"We do," Trent answered with a chuckle of his own. "We just managed to figure something out so we could see each other often." There was a moment of silence as the two girls were left quite speechless.
"Damn, girl," LeShawna managed to finally utter. "Every weekend. That's a helluva commitment."
"It sure is," Gwen said with a gentle laugh, snuggling herself further into Trent.
With LeShawna and Bridgette gushing over Gwen cuddling with Trent, Geoff hung out with Harold and Beardo as they continued on with their beat-box jam session. Dawn managed to maintain a sense of absolute peace as she meditated seemingly uninterrupted. Max began brainstorm sessions with his new minion Staci, essentially letting her spew anything that came to mind about her so-called family legacies and cherry picking ideas from them for evil plans. Having to hear the so-called diabolical duo was making Courtney nauseous while Duncan was getting miffed that any sort of fun he would have had was being dashed with each passing moment.
It wasn't long before the bus began to slow to a stop. What seemed curious was that it took a little longer for the new passenger to apparently board the bus before it got moving again. Then they heard a sweet, gentle voice. The level going from low to high as it seemed to be getting closer to the door. Moreover, the voice was singing a particular key before going into what sounded like an actual song.
What a beautiful day this is
A wondrous day to be had
With all of my friends together
We shall be happy and be glad
"What the hell is that?" Heather yelled in irritation.
"That infernal singing!" Max proclaimed in frustration. "She will be among the first to suffer at my evil hands!"
"Aw, man," Shawn muttered. "She should know by now how greatly attracted to her singing walkers are."
"Just let her get it out of her system," Sky said with a sigh. "You can bet Chris is gonna ban her from doing so as soon as we arrive to wherever it is we're going."
"Then why is 'e brin'in 'er back in tha first place?" Jasmine wondered aloud.
"Wait a second," Gwen uttered, her eyebrows furrowed. "Is that..."
The door slid open and for the first time bright light shone through. When the light faded, standing in front of the door was the fairest looking young woman possibly ever seen. At the top of her black hair was a pink ribbon and she was wearing a casual pink dress that was more elegant than it really needed to be. And as though she had not stopped, she continued to sing with her angelic voice.
Friends who are both familiar and new
No negativity to think of
Filled with joy and love for all
This adventure that we're-
"Ella?" Gwen said, looking at the new arrival in surprise.
Nearly everything came to a sudden stop, in particular the singing. Everyone had turned their attention to Gwen is surprise, none more so than the girl who had been singing. After a few seconds to register who it was that spoke, the girl brightened her expression to a greater level one would not have thought possible.
"Gwendolyn!" Ella cheered with happiness. She made her way down the aisle, though it seemed that she wasn't so much moving as she was gliding. It was enough of a distraction to prevent everyone from recognizing that the bus was slowing to a stop and started again a second later. When she reached Gwen, Ella gently clasped her hands over those of the other. "It is so good to see you! It's been far too long. We have so much catching up to do!"
"Yeah, really," Gwen managed to say, looking quite perplexed. "The folks let you onto one of the shows? Alone?"
"Why, yes!" Ella responded joyfully. "It took some convincing, but I assured them that no matter what happened I would have a pleasant time. There were bad moments, to be sure, but all in all, I had so much fun!"
"Should I be surprised you know this freak?" Heather scoffed, looking quite disgusted. Her expression suddenly changed to fear when she just barely managed to duck from an incoming object that had been thrown at her by Gwen.
"Goodness," Ella uttered, placing the tips of her fingers upon her bottom lip.
"Insult my cousin again and you'll be getting a knuckle sandwich," Gwen growled in Heather's direction.
"I'll have the fastball special!" a voice suddenly called out. A voice that left many on the bus quaking in fear.
"Oh no!" Duncan groaned as he brought a hand up to facepalm.
Before any one knew it, a body dropped out from the ceiling, landing on the floor at the front. It swiftly rose and standing before them was an orange haired girl with green eyes and a strange set of green clothing. She also happened to be wielding a baseball bat and looked like she was chewing tobacco, though for all any one knew she was merely just mimicking the latter. Every part of her being made it very clear to everyone who wasn't already aware that she was a wild child.
"Now taking the mound to bat... it's IZZY!" she announced with a cackle, raising the baseball bat in triumph. There was much moaning and groaning from those who were familiar with her, knowing that her presence meant they would be meeting chaos in no time.
"Great," Duncan grumbled to Courtney. "Just when I couldn't lose my sanity any more from some of the loons you and I are gonna have to deal with, they bring in crazy girl to push me over the edge."
"Are you crying?" Izzy asked, suddenly right up into Duncan's face and wearing a baseball cap that seeming came out of nowhere. One eye was squinted, but the other was opened very wide. "Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!"
"Why did I bother signing up for this crap in the first place?" Heather muttered before rolling her eyes and burying her face in her arms that were upon her lap.
Izzy seemingly disappeared before any one knew it. Some were concerned, afraid of what she might pull that would make zero sense. Others managed to occupy themselves with something else that was deemed more interesting, which was that Gwen had a cousin like Ella. Folks certainly wanted to know more, but found themselves having to wait as Ella was all about gushing over Gwen being in a relationship, and with a musician no less.
Several moments later, the bus slowed to a stop and then started back up again, signifying the boarding of a new passenger. The door slid open to reveal a fairly chubby young man saunter through. With auburn hair and glasses, he appeared to actually not pay attention to his surroundings and was instead focused on the handheld gaming system he was playing. Thus he was oblivious to the reactions he was receiving, some looking upon him with some form of disdain.
"Level fifty!" the new fellow stated with a chuckle as he walked down the aisle casually. There was a sense that he may sound older than he was. "And they said I couldn't pull it off in less than three hours."
Being essentially the only one aware of Dakota's presence on the bus, Gwen managed to catch from the corner of her eye the covered lump trying to hide in the corner tense up. This gave Gwen the pretty good impression that this guy playing video games was perhaps the one person Dakota was most concerned about seeing her.
"Whoa," Harold uttered aloud with awe. "Is that the new GameGuy 2.5?"
"Sure is," the gamer answered. He apparently found a place in his game to pause as he pulled away from it long enough to look over at Harold. "Been plugging away at this baby ever since it came out last month."
"Lucky!" Harold said. "I heard that system is really hard to come by. Both in price and availability."
"It is!" the gamer responded with another chuckle. "But I have the coolest girlfriend ever, man. I think she meant to call it an early birthday gift even though my birthday isn't for several months. But that only makes this extra cool because it came from her."
Gwen noticed Dakota ease up her tension, if only slightly. It would appear that she was the gamer's girlfriend. Gwen could see from some of the others that the idea of this new fellow having a girlfriend to be rather doubtful. This was despite the presence of Harold and LeShawna as a couple. There was certainly one person who didn't buy it.
"Was probably meant to be a go away present," Heather scoffed, loud enough for essentially everyone on the bus to hear her. "As in 'Go away, you slob'." She got a reaction as a result, but it was one that few expected.
"Don't you dare bad mouth Sam, you skank!" Dakota screamed, standing straight up and managing to keep herself covered underneath the overcoat. "He's the sweetest boyfriend ever!"
A good majority was quite surprised and taken aback that there was someone who had been on the bus they had not noticed before. Most were wide eyed, some were ajarred, a couple looked like they were frightened at this strange new presence. Gwen being the only one to not look surprised, content with just sitting back to take in the reactions from everyone else. It was enough for everything to go dead silent for a few moments. Even the bus stopped moving, but it was only for a few seconds, presumably having picked up another passenger, which was hardly of concern to the other occupants.
"Dakota!" Sam proclaimed with happiness, breaking the silence. "You're here! This is gonna be so cool!" He went over to her in the back seat, but stopped short of hugging her when he noticed that she hesitated for a second. "Something wrong?"
"I-I'm just... not feeling fine right now," Dakota managed to say from beneath her overcoat covering. She appeared to be fidgeting in some manner, which displayed her shift to being shy and nervous. "Haven't been for a while."
"Bummer," Sam uttered, slightly crestfallen. Then he perked up a bit and smiled. "But hey! At least we get to be together again, right?"
"Yeah," Dakota responded, looking and sounding as though she was relaxing a little. "Totally, Sam."
The door slid open and it was followed by some struggling grunts. Those who looked over saw a very heavyset young man try to get through. After a couple seconds, the blonde haired kid managed to squeeze out of the door. He took a moment to catch his breath, seemingly having exerted a lot just then, before raising his arms in the air as if victorious.
"WOO-HOO!" the big guy cheered. "We're back on Total Drama! This is gonna be awesome!"
"You!" Max proclaimed suddenly and angrily, getting to his feet and pointing a finger at the new arrival. "How dare you bring your pestilence before my evil presence!"
"Oh no!" the heavyset boy cried, cowering in fear at who was yelling at him. "Max!"
"Blood is not thicker than water, dear cousin Owen!" Max declared, making his way over toward the big kid in a menacing manner. Which was kind of funny given how short he was in comparison. "If I am to enact upon my evil plans, you must be eliminated at once! Retrieve my bag, Shadi Staci! I believe Lechón is in order for tonight. Evil Lechón!"
"NOOOOO!" Owen screamed in terror.
"That sounds so tasty, yeah," Staci said, clapping her hands together rapidly as she was getting to do something with her friend. "My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa Boy invented Lechón. Before him, people would smoke their pigs using straws."
"Good gracious," Courtney uttered breathlessly, looking about ready to faint. "This girl's poppycock is making me dizzy."
"Not so fast, evildoer!" a voice suddenly cried out. In a flash, Izzy dropped down and stood between Owen and Max. Only this time she was wearing long, gray animal ears, a gray eye mask, and what looked to be a gray tail at the back.
"What is the meaning of this?" Max questioned, slightly taken aback by the figure standing before him. "How dare you disrupt my evil? Who do you think you are?"
"I'm your worst nightmare!" Izzy answered in a gravelly voice. She switched back to a normal voice when she looked over her shoulder to address Owen. "Fear not, Owen! Super Donkey is here to save you from the minuscule mad man!"
"Super Donkey!" Owen cheered. "My hero!"
"We've officially crossed the Twilight Zone, princess," Duncan muttered. Like everyone else on the bus, he watched the scene play out before him with absolute disbelief. He also looked about ready to gag.
"Take that, vile villain!" Izzy proclaimed. "HEE-HAW!" She dropped down into a crouching position, facing away from Max, and landed a hard kick into his mid-section. He was sent flying instantly and crashed into Staci, both bodies ending up piled onto their seats.
"Whoa!" Sam whistled. "This is almost like when you beat that Mantaur guy, Dakota!"
"Curses!" Max uttered in the equivalent of an inebriated state, raising a feeble fist in the air and shaking it. "My evil has been foiled by a mighty kick! You have not heard the last of me, Super Donkey! I shall have my revenge!"
Everything suddenly went quiet when soft piano notes were heard on the bus speakers. Those with keen ears would pick up that the music being played was the closing bits of the Total Drama theme. With it being just soft piano notes, it made it seem like elevator music. A voice then followed, presumably the bus driver.
"Hello, contestants," the bus driver announced in a very dull, monotone voice. "What's happening? This is your bus driver speaking. Yeah, I'm gonna need all twenty-four of you to sit back and relax, m'kay? You see, we won't be reaching our destination until tomorrow morning. So if you could just make yourself as comfortable as you could for the next say sixteen hours, that would be great. Oh, and I almost forgot. Dinner will be served in about three hours without stopping. So we're just gonna keep on truckin', m'kay? Great. Thanks a bunch!"
"Sixteen hours?" Heather shrieked in discomfort. "I have be stuck with these losers for sixteen hours?"
"Aw, c'mon guys," Owen said in an attempt to cheer everyone up. "It's like one big sleepover. And we have Super Donkey to watch over us!"
"Ooo, Super Donkey!" Izzy cheered. It appeared that when no one, Owen in particular, was looking, she zipped out of view and was back sans the apparent donkey costume she had been wearing a second ago.
"Izzy!" Owen cheered, as if seeing her for the first time in a very long while. "You're here! Man, you should've seen what happened! My cousin Max looked like he was about to do evil things to me, but then I was saved by Super Donkey!"
"Cool!" Izzy mused in amazement, seemingly oblivious to the notion that she was the one who had been Super Donkey in the first place.
"Lightning don't like this one bit!" Lighting proclaimed with a huff. "Sixteen hours. Lightning is here to compete, not sleep!"
Most everyone else appeared to be reacting negatively to the prospect of being stuck on the bus for sixteen hours. A few others disliked the belief that the inevitable horrors that await them was going to be that far away as they would rather get things over with sooner than later. Duncan and Courtney being among them as they both sighed and slumped in their seats.
"Sixteen hours..." Duncan grumbled to Courtney. There was a quiet moment for a second and then a smirk formed on his face. "Wanna make out?" This caused his girlfriend to try to look exasperated while blushing madly.
Next Up: Sixteen Hours
Total Drama and its characters are copyright © of Fresh TV, Teletoon and Cartoon Network (and soon HBO 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.