It was a cold autumn afternoon in Vancouver, as cloudy as always in the Canadian city. On one of the park benches sat the country's best known geek: Cody Anderson. He was reflecting on the decision he made five years ago to participate in Total Drama, at first he thought it would be a fun, unique and memorable experience in his life. I mean, who wouldn't turn down the opportunity to meet new people, participate in fun challenges and possibly find love?...
Oh, that sounded so perfect to be real.
Well, the meeting new people part was spot on. He made friends with people like Ezekiel, Trent, Tyler, Noah, Owen, DJ, Harold, Justin, Beth, Heather and even Gwen, although his friendship with her broke down during the World Tour season. Cody knew that the show sometimes brought out the worst in the contestants, even host Chris McLean took advantage of every moment of drama to line his pockets with money paid to him by the producers.
He is sure of one thing, if one day he meets Chris again. He will definitely punch him in the face, even worse than the punch he gave Duncan in Greece.
Chris currently enjoys his luxuries in some mansion he bought after the great success of the last season of Total Drama, that bastard is definitely on the black list of almost all the participants of the seasons. However, Chef Hatchet was the exception, because he was the only one who came out to publicly apologize for the suffering he and Chris put the contestants through, including the cast of The Ridonculous Race. Who knew Don was just as cruel as Chris during the challenges.
"One of the good things about that season was that Noah met Emma, those two have a good chemistry." Cody thought, as he sipped from his can of soda.
Cody still remembers the day Noah texted him to be invited to his and Emma's wedding. He obviously attended his friend's wedding, it was fun to be reunited with Owen and Izzy, who had become a couple again. Eva, Tyler and Lindsay also attended the wedding, it was no surprise to learn that the latter two were still together, even though she sometimes forgets his name. In Eva's case, she had nothing better to do, but she also came out of respect for the friendship she had with Noah. In the end, everything went smoothly during the wedding, well, until Owen and Izzy ate the cake for the guests when everyone lost sight of them.
"At least I managed to get a picture of the moment where Noah and Emma chased the two lovebirds." Cody said, remembering Owen's screams of fear and Izzy's maniacal laughter as they ran for their lives. Lucky for the guests, he brought another wedding cake in case something like that happened. Really, who wouldn't expect someone like Owen to eat the cake? So far he kept bugging Noah that he'd forgotten to think about that possibility.
Cody wasn't going to admit it out loud, but he felt a little jealous that Noah has gotten a girl to love him.
From the beginning of the first season, Cody ignored the prize money and focused on having a relationship with Gwen that wasn't just friends, only to end up in a wheelchair caused by a bear. While Cody was happy that Gwen found a healthy relationship with Trent, he was still waiting for the right time to be with the goth girl. When they broke up during Action, he thought he finally had a chance. When he participated in World Tour, Sierra came on the scene and his heart was shattered when Gwen started dating Duncan.
But that's not all, if Cody had to describe what happened to his life after he left the show, he would describe it in one word: Disaster.
When he went back to school to continue with his studies, he had to suffer a lot of teasing and bullying from his classmates because of all those times he was humiliated and treated like an outcast on the show. However, he did not let most of those words destroy what little self-esteem he had left and decided to continue with his studies. In the end, all that effort paid off because he managed to get a good paying job that required someone who is highly knowledgeable about technology and coding.
Well, it could be said that his life is not perfect as he planned it since he was a little kid.
But hey, it's not all bad for him!
He still keeps in touch with most of his friends, although sometimes they are busy with their own responsibilities. It was an unexpected surprise for him to learn that Heather considered him her friend, even though she stopped talking to most of the first cast. However, he enjoyed the conversations he had with her about their lives after the program. It was no surprise that she and Alejandro ended their relationship, because the Latino had been dating another girl behind the queen bee's back, which was former Revenge of the Island contestant: Anne Marie.
"I thought Alejandro would change that flirty attitude after being locked up in that robot for a long time." Cody thought, pulling the soda can away from his mouth.
Cody turned his gaze towards the lake in the park, watching the leaves of the trees fall towards the water. He was just enjoying this quiet moment, still having a few days off before he went back to work. Maybe he would kill some time watching old tapes of episodes from the Total Drama seasons, it would be fun to revisit his 'glory' moments when he wore the facade of "The Codemeister".
Geez, he knows he acted like a pervert during the first season. He still remembers how the girls at his school immediately stayed away from him, the worst came later when they put up signs saying they should be careful around him.
Even if he stayed away, most of his classmates still bothered him.
"Honestly, using the 'Codemeister' facade is not something I'm proud of." Cody thought a little embarrassed.
The geek looked down at his soda can, noticing that it was empty. He just sighed as he got up from the bench and walked to the nearest trash can.
"I'd better get back to my apartment before it gets dark."
He found a trash can, threw the can in there and started walking towards the exit of the park.
"Maybe I'll have a little snack before dinner, some barbecue flavored chips would be perfect."
"Dude, I already told you I'm not giving any interviews about my past as a Total Drama contestant." Cody replied, speaking into his phone with another annoyingly insistent interviewer.
"Come on, Mr. Anderson! You know this would work quite well for your reputation, you'll just have to answer a few questions." Said a voice on the phone, insisting on the subject of an interview.
"I said no, I already know what kind of questions you guys are going to ask me."
"Please reconsider your-"
"My answer is still no, that's final." Cody replied, before hanging up the call.
"This is the twelfth time I've been called in for an interview this day! Seriously, how many times am I going to have to say 'no'?" Cody said with some anger, turning away from the phone as he walked toward his bedroom.
After many weeks on the job, the geek has a large amount of money saved up, including some of the money his parents sent him years ago. He was able to afford some luxuries like buying an expensive TV, some collectible video game consoles, a late model laptop, among other things he wants to buy. In short, he may live in an apartment but the appliances, furniture and decorations make it look luxurious, almost like the first class area in All Stars.
Cody entered his bedroom, seeing how it was still kept as clean and tidy as he had left it before hitting the streets. He sighed, walking over to a shelf that had some framed photos, next to them was a neat row of tapes that had "Total Drama" on the cover.
He looked at a photo of him, Trent, Justin and Harold in the classic outfits they wore when they toured as the band "The Drama Brothers".
"Hehe, I never imagined in my life I'd be in a band. Those were good times, although I was hoping we wouldn't disband so soon." Cody said with melancholy, he felt sad when the first and last split of the band happened, but he knew it was the best option if they wanted to avoid conflicts between them.
Cody looked at the next photo, a photo where he was smiling as Sierra hugged him and wore his cap on her head.
The smile he had after seeing the previous photo disappeared, being replaced by a grimace of discomfort and sorrow.
Sierra, he was happy when she reluctantly agreed to be his best friend after the World Tour. During that period of time, she stopped being so obsessive with him, well, she still kissed him on the cheek but he let it go on occasion. He thought about maybe giving her a chance, since she was almost the kind of girl he always wanted Gwen to be.
Unfortunately, that chance never came when Sierra was invited to participate in All Stars. It was a shocking surprise when she returned to acting even more obsessive than on World Tour, he felt sorry for Cameron when he learned that he was the new victim of Sierra's harassment. After the season ended, Cody decided to cut all ties with her for his own safety. Just as a precaution, he decided to move to another location in case she decided to visit him, stalk him or even steal more of his personal belongings.
"It's been six years since I've heard from her." Cody said, while at first he was relieved that she didn't go looking for him, that relief changed to concern when he saw that she didn't upload any new posts on her Total Drama fan blog during these past few years. He just hopes that nothing terrible has happened to Sierra, she doesn't deserve to suffer any serious consequences for her past actions.
Cody looked at the next photo, it showed the precise moment where he and the rest of Team Amazon were smiling confidently and determined to win.
"Who knew that picture was taken before the chaos and drama attacked the team." Cody said, looking sadly at the photo of his former team.
At first, he was surprised that he had ended up on a team alongside the strongest and fiercest women in the entire competition, the geek was sure that they were now unbeatable. Oh but karma really is a bitch, as the further they progressed through the challenges, it all started to turn into a real nightmare.
Gwen? He still talks to her, although their friendship became a bit strained due to how she manipulated him to her advantage during the World Tour season.
Courtney? She didn't want to talk to the rest of the original cast again, especially him because he helped the person she hates most in the world.
"I never thought Courtney was the type of person who would be able to hold a grudge forever." Cody said, turning his gaze to the next photo in line.
The geek just looked at that in silence, in the picture you could see all the first cast smiling and posing a few minutes before the pier where they were standing broke. Although the framed photo had a small crack in the glass, right where Ezequiel was looking towards the camera.
"Life really treated you like shit, didn't it, Zeke?..."
Cody considered Ezekiel his friend, even if he didn't believe it at first. When Chris had fooled the previous cast that they were going to participate in season four, the geek tried to help the homeschooled boy try to regain his sanity, though it was somewhat difficult due to Ezekiel being in a wild state. Despite that risky plan, he managed to get Ezekiel to regain some of his sanity after trying to help him on many occasions. But everything went to hell when Ezekiel was taken to the island with the intention of being used as part of a challenge that the sadistic host had planned, and from there everything got worse for the homeschooled boy.
Currently, no rescue team was able to locate Ezekiel's location after the end of All Stars. Some said that he might be on Boney Island but no one dared to go there since it was revealed that there now lived the most dangerous and terrifying mutants on the planet. In the end, the homeschooled boy was presumed dead, Cody didn't want to imagine his parents' reactions when they found out that their son would never appear again.
The geek walked away from the bookshelf, as he walks to his bed and sits on the edge of it, staring sadly at the floor.
"I wish things had been different for us..." Cody said sadly.
Sometimes he wished he could go back in time and change some things that happened in his life and the lives of his friends. But that was never going to happen because it sounded stupid and impossible, many people wish they could go back in time to fix their lives but never get their wishes granted. So what would be different for him? Nothing, now he would just have to live with the memories of the mistakes he and his friends made during his participation in Total Drama.
"Pfff, like time travel is possible. That only happens in movies and video games, I shouldn't confuse harsh reality with sweet fiction."
Cody just lay on his back towards his bed, staring at the ceiling as he lost himself in thought. Despite having a break from his job, he was used to going to sleep early due to his stay at Total Drama and the demanding work hours his boss handed him. I know he was their best employee in the entire company, but heck, that doesn't mean his boss is going to treat him as hard to keep him professional and set a good example for the rest of his co-workers.
"A little nap won't hurt, later I'll re-watch the tape of the first season of Total Drama." Cody said in a calm tone, still staring at his bedroom ceiling.
After a few minutes of just staring at the ceiling, the geek closed his eyes and let himself fall into the sweet clouds that the realm of dreams always brings...Or maybe not?...
Cody opened his eyes slowly, expecting to see his neat and tidy bedroom again, but his eyes widened in surprise when he saw where he was.
There was only pure darkness all around him. There was no light, there was no one around, nothing to hear, smell, taste or feel, only he was floating in the midst of all the darkness around him. Cody could only observe with horror where he was, this did not look like one of the usual nightmares he had about some traumas he went through: from being mauled by a bear, to almost being eaten by a shark. Despite being scared, he realized he could still hear his own thoughts, even if he was inside a dream.
"So this is what it feels like to be in the darkness itself. I'm not going to lie, being here is too scary, even for a nightmare. Now I understand how Gwen felt when she was buried alive twice, although at least she could wait for someone to pull her out of that grave. Concentrate Cody, you only have to wait a few minutes or maybe a few hours to wake up from this nightmare. All I have to do now is just think to myself, I must try to keep distracted from this place."
The freak just continued to stare at the dark void where he was, he turned his gaze to the side in a vague attempt to look for something in all the darkness. To his luck, he managed to spot a small light that was starting to get bigger.
"What the hell is going on?" were all Cody's thoughts, as he continued to stare at the light through the darkness.
Finally, the light began to expand and take on a human-like shape, at the same time the darkness began to be replaced by a spatial environment. Cody was scared but at the same time curious, maybe this nightmare was slowly starting to be replaced by a peaceful sleep. He simply waited, as that was the only thing he could do before the light finally faded and revealed who had just appeared instead.
Cody observed a person that due to his figure could be deduced to be a man wearing a yellow mask with a smile, the stranger was wearing a formal black suit and a white shirt, besides wearing a red tie around his neck. The geek watched the stranger attentively, although he was startled when he saw the other boy look at him as soon as he realized he was being watched. Although what happened was unexpected, the stranger just let out a mocking laugh.
"Well, well, well. Looks like you finally made it here, maybe you're one of the lucky few to run into me." The stranger said with an amused tone, as he slowly put on a black top hat.
"Umm, yes, I think I am lucky. But first I want to ask you a few questions...who are you, why are you here, am I still dreaming?!" Cody asked nervously, looking intently at the stranger standing a few steps away from him.
"Oh, sorry for not introducing myself sooner." The stranger replied, while feigning a fake cough and looking back at the geek, "My name is 'The Gentleman', though it's just a name you can use to represent me, my real name is complicated to pronounce and it would take decades for you to be able to say it correctly."
"So his nickname is 'The Gentleman', well, that makes some sense because of his very elegant way of dressing." Cody thought, opening his mouth to speak but is interrupted.
"Answering your second question, I am here due to the fact that I simply enjoy wandering through some people's dreams or universes. Anything that helps me ignore my usual life as the guy who can observe other people's lives, even though most of the things I observed were just nonsense. Especially what happened to you, I'm sure you are the representation of the most pathetic thing a person can be when looking to flirt with girls."
"I take it back, that was not gentlemanly at all."
"So, you're telling me you've been watching all the misfortunes that have befallen me and my friends when we were competing on Total Drama?"
"Yeah, I've watched every season, I must admit some of your friends would have made it that far if it wasn't for Chris sometimes manipulating the rules."
Cody raised an eyebrow, looking at the smirking masked boy, "Couldn't you have stepped in at some points where things got worse there?"
"Dude, if I wanted to I would have stepped in to stop the homeschool boy from saying those words, or stop miss CIT from becoming so insufferable during every season. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to intervene in my own way in these events, if I do that I'll end up in serious trouble with certain people."
The geek sighed sadly, "I guess that makes sense, there will always be restrictions when someone has those kinds of special abilities."
The Gentleman watched as the geek who stood in silence, before simply shrugging his shoulders.
"However, they never told me that someone else could take it upon themselves to change things up and make it even more interesting, it would be something like another chance to do it better." The Gentleman said with a calm tone, staring at the geek.
"Another chance, what do you mean?" Cody was interested now, maybe this would be the long awaited wish he was hoping for?
"A chance to go back to the day where your popular life changed, back to Camp Wawanakwa, get mauled by a bear again. meet all your friends again and maybe go even further, basically anything you want to change!" The masked man said.
Cody was speechless, for several years he wished he had this opportunity. One question crossed his mind though, is this still a dream?
As if he had figured things out, the other man spoke, "Don't worry, this is not a dream. Well, actually it is, but my presence is real, you were lucky that I appeared just at the moment you were dreaming about." He said with a calm tone.
"At least that doubt is gone, although there's something here that doesn't add up for me..."
"Normally I would immediately accept this deal, but I want to know something...What's the trick?" Cody asked firmly, crossing his arms.
The Gentleman let out a small chuckle, before looking at the geek. "Heh, I was already expecting you to ask that question. I'll get to the point, you may suffer from some mild or severe headaches depending on what things you changed in the past. But don't worry, those aches and pains will only last a few minutes, after that you'll be good as new. So, you still want to take the deal?" he said.
"That's it, I'll just suffer from some headaches? My job in itself made me have to endure several stressful weeks, I think I can handle that."
"Whatever happens, I'll be back. Whatever it takes..." said Cody. "So yes, I'll take the deal." He said, holding out his hand.
The Gentleman did the same, placing his hand over Cody's. Closing the deal with a strong but formal handshake.
A few seconds passed, before Cody decided to speak. "Umm, what's going to happen now, dude?" he said.
The other man merely held up his other hand, making the fingers ready to snap at any moment.
"Now...it's time for you to wake up from this dream. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Anderson." The Gentleman said, snapping his fingers.
And with that, Cody saw the darkness again before fading from the dream realm...
Cody opened his eyes in surprise, quickly rising from his bed as he hurried to his bathroom.
The first thing he saw was that he was no longer in his apartment, the decorations and family pictures hanging on the walls made it obvious.
He was at his parents' house, seeing that made him think this was real.
But still, he needed to see himself in a mirror and check that what he witnessed moments ago was not a dream.
"Please, that wasn't just another regular dream..." Cody thought, managing to get to his bathroom and observe himself in the mirror.
He let out a sigh of relief, seeing how his face showed his classic youthful features from when he was 16.
He was now in his youthful body and still unscarred from the damage he suffered in Total Drama.
Cody didn't have time to smile as he felt a sharp pain run through his head, he leaned against the sink to keep from falling to the floor.
That headache wasn't the same as he suffered when he worked at that company, this felt much worse.
But it's worth having to suffer that every time he sought to change some events in his life and that of his friends.
The geek waited a few minutes in the bathroom, trying to count the minutes he suffered this headache.
...
One minute...
...
Two minutes...
...
Three minutes...
...
Four minutes...
...
Five minutes...
...
After counting five agonizing minutes, he felt the pain in his head disappear immediately.
Cody stopped leaning on the sink, as he stood back up now with a small smile.
"Okay, now I know this is real...Wait, what date is today?"
He immediately ran out of the bathroom into his bedroom, desperately looking for his old phone.
And he found it quickly, his first phone was sitting on top of his nightstand where his alarm clock was also.
Without wasting any time, he grabbed his phone and turned it on.
The geek let out a sigh of relief when he saw the date on his phone.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
God, it's still uncomfortable to go back a few years.
He has one day left before Chris' interns call him to the meeting place where they will take him to Camp Wawanakwa.
He still has time to get better prepared to go back to that place where any disaster could happen.
Meh, this won't be so hard now that he knows what will happen.
Cody is thankful he met this guy called The Gentleman.
He would make sure not to waste this second chance.
What the geek didn't know is that headaches aren't the only side effects of time travel.
Be that as it may, he could handle it, his determination to change things for the better is quite strong.
After all, that would only make things even more entertaining for us, wouldn't it?
Hello everyone, here is your friend: Mr. Giancarlo, presenting his first story in this place.
I know, the idea of Cody going back in time and competing again is used a lot in other stories. Most of these stories are quite interesting and fun to read, but it's a shame that some of them are unfinished or abandoned due to their authors' personal issues. Therefore, there will be one or two small references or scenes inspired by some of the stories on this theme.
Honestly, I want to try to do this and see how things go, I mean, it will be fun to write the next chapters where we will see more of Cody and the rest of the cast.
And yes, you'll also see more of "The Gentleman" in the next few chapters, although I'll just say he'll just be in charge of annoying our favorite geek a little bit.
Anyway, Thanks for checking this out, tell me if you like it and tell me if you don't! Comments are always appreciated, my friends.
With nothing more to say, see you in the next chapter of: Those Who Remain In The Game (Yeah, not the best title I could think of lol).
