AUTHOR'S NOTES
In this rewrite, I pretend the canon Season 2 Rematch never happened. This is simply because to sum it up shortly: I enjoyed Reboot (2023) and wouldn't change much but Rematch (2024) was abysmal.
This means Season 1 stays the same and then we jump straight to my version for Season 2. Therefore, it goes in a completely direction than the official version (different challenges, different arcs, different character interactions etc…). I hope I do these characters justice.
Note on my timeline:
TDI 2007 aired on July 8 2007
Reboot S1 aired on June 30 2023 (This lines up when Chris says it takes place 15 years later. 16 years later would be July 8 2023. Anything earlier than this date is still counted as 15 years in my version)
Reboot S2 begins on June 27 2024 (approximately one year later)
All reboot characters were born in 2006
AO3 Announcement:
I am currently waiting to receive an invite link to AO3. It should arrive Sunday May 26 so if you prefer to read over there, you will have to wait three extra days since I will post this episode on the morning of Monday May 27. In general, I will first post the episodes here and then later on AO3. You can pick and choose which one you want to follow!
With that all out of the way...
*Due to the formatting, it would probably be better to read this on mobile than desktop*
*[Soundtrack 1] = the music that plays when the characters walk to the elimination ceremony (Reboot), [Soundtrack 2] = the music that plays when Bowie dances on the tiles (Reboot S2E4), [Soundtrack 3] = the tense elimination ceremony music in TDI 2007 when there are two campers and one marshmallow left (Courtney-Ezekiel, Heather-Beth), [Soundtrack 4] = romance music in TDI 2007 (Leshawna running to Harold on the dock, Gwen and Trent about to kiss)
*For best experience, read the dialogue in each characters' voices. Enjoy!*
June 27 2024
11:32 am
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
Julia was sitting casually at the campfire, typing away on her phone with a relaxed, almost bored expression. She could not believe she had come back to this place for another summer. The mail she received had told her to come back to Camp Wawanakwa on June 27 by noon. She had arrived an hour early and was the only one here… for now.
All of a sudden, she heard laughter. She looked up and narrowed her dark violet, almond-shaped eyes. She recognized that obnoxious giggling. How many times had she heard it last year? Julia had certainly not forgotten.
Sure enough, Priya and Millie arrived at the campfire site. Julia rolled her eyes. The first two people joining her would of course be the ones who had (undeservedly) outranked her last season. Julia returned to her phone while Priya and Millie talked loudly as they held each other's hands.
"That was soooo fun! Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, Hungary, ROMANIA…" Priya said slightly out of breath as she counted her fingers. She pulled out her phone and opened her photos app, going straight to the 'Europe 2024' album. Over 2,000 photos had been taken and almost all of them contained her and her best friend Millie Williams in the same frame.
"Look how cute you are in that outfit, awwww!" Priya laughed at a picture of Millie sitting in a Paris café wearing a French maid outfit. "I'll remember this trip for the rest of my life!"
"And you still have so much money left!" Millie grabbed Priya's hand enthusiastically. "You should save it up though. As fun as Europe was, you want to really use it for med school. You're so lucky you don't have to do student loans because those are a pain in the – "
"I know, I know," Priya waved Millie off. "And hey, if you ever need help paying for UofT, don't be afraid to ask!"
Millie's heart swelled with gratitude at Priya's generous offer. "You would do that for me? Really? Priya, you're the best! I – "
For the second time, Millie was interrupted but this time it was from the person who Priya and Millie had been choosing to ignore this whole time.
"Aww did you two buttknuckles have fun in Europe?" Julia drawled, without even looking up to acknowledge them. "It's been a year since we've seen each other and I see nothing's changed. You're both still getting on my nerves." This was coming from a place of personal feelings. Julia never believed Priya, but especially Millie, of all people should have outlasted her.
Julia put on a high-pitched mocking voice.
"LIKE OMG WE WENT TO EUROPE. WASN'T IT SO COOL?... LIKE OMG YASSS PAY MY STUDENT LOANS PLEASEEE… ugh shut up," Julia finished harshly in her regular cold tone.
Deep down, Julia was feeling resentment towards these two for having so much fun. She had not gone anywhere the past year. Instead, she had been stuck at her parents' bakeshop on Vancouver Island. Wawanakwa was really her only chance to fly out. She also had to pay for her tuition herself this coming fall, something she was not too pleased about despite having millions of dollars thanks to her social media influencer status. Julia would rather spend $5k on clothes and make-up.
"And you're still extremely rude," Millie snorted, putting her hands on her hips defiantly.
"Nice to see you too Julia," Priya said in a low voice, which clearly indicated she was in fact not pleased to see Julia.
Priya turned swiftly to a large crunching noise on the ground. Next thing she knew, she saw the familiar dazzling outfit of Bowie, along with the hockey bros, Wayne and Raj.
"Don't mind Julia guys," Bowie chortled as he took off his strawberry-pink sunglasses and gave a long, exaggerated stretch and yawn. "Social media influencers tend to start drama everywhere they go. Especially if their name is Julia. Natalie. Sterling," he hissed her name venomously. Julia scoffed at Bowie. And here was the final person who had outranked her.
"Crosschecked her before the season even started," Raj roared with laughter. "You're a real snow owl Bowie. Hoot! Hoot!" he thumped Bowie on the back affectionately. Bowie smiled and hooted back. After an entire year of dating Raj (and still going strong), he had gotten used to their lingo. How many Snow Owl games had he been to the past year? He had never heard so many people hooting. Bowie almost considered Raj and his teammates to be half-human, half-owl with how much hooting they did.
"HOOT! HOOT! NO MERCY! HAHAHAA!" Wayne added, fist-bumping Raj.
Bowie leaned on one leg sassily with his bag slung over his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at Julia who looked much too calm. It's time to unnerve her, Bowie thought satisfied.
Bowie gave a little cough. "May I remind you that you need allies in this game to make it far? You're really living life dangerous, starting the rematch off on the wrong foot like that…" he said slowly, staring at Julia and waiting for her reaction.
Julia rolled her eyes. Once again, without even looking up at Bowie, she gave a cool-headed response. "You worry about your allies. I'll worry about mine," she said smoothly as she waved him off.
"Hi guys!" Priya aggressively waved at Bowie and the hockey bros to get their attention.
Bowie turned in mock surprise to the person he had lost to last season. Julia was not the only one still holding grudges, though Bowie was admittedly the nicer of the two.
"Oh hello Priya. Ready to get eliminated first this season?" Bowie teased.
"Not a chance," Priya winked.
Bowie gave a snarky laugh. "Your parents may have taught you how to win Total Drama but did they ever teach you how to win back-to-back? You know what they say about the rematch, it's always harder than the first… Especially because now we're all out to get you!"
Priya nodded. "That's true… but you also have a target on your back Bowie. You did really well last season," she said. Indeed, second place was no joke by any means and if Bowie thought she would get all the attention and he could just waltz through this season and be ignored… well, he was deeply mistaken.
Bowie blinked as he let Priya's statement sink in. "Alright then, shall we make a majority alliance right now? You, Millie, Raj, Wayne and me. Not Julia. That's three guys and –
"A GIRL IN A BEACH HOUSE! WAZZZZAAAAA?" a loud, booming voice said behind Bowie's back. Bowie groaned. "Oh lord…" he mumbled as he stared incredulously at Chase who had just arrived holding hands with Emma. Ripper and Zee followed right behind them. Bowie sighed at Emma's hand touching Chase's.
Girl how many times do I have to tell you? You can do SO much better than him Bowie thought furiously though he did not say this out loud. Bowie and Emma had not spoken to each other since last year and he really did not want to resume the conversation that had ended their friendship.
"YOOO, GOOD TO SEE YOU GUYS AGAIN! The Total Drama family is back!" Chase roared into the sky as he embraced Wayne and Raj like brothers. Bowie slid away slightly uncomfortably and only returned a weak smile to the boisterous Chase.
"YUSSS. Oh my gosh you guys, Chase and I just hit one million subs on our channel, Three Guys and a Girl in a Beach House. And to celebrate, we decided to do another season of Total Drama, just for fun because I mean… like …WHY NOT?! RIGHT?!" Emma pumped her fist excitedly as she hugged Priya and Millie. Bowie coughed nervously at Emma who was deliberately avoiding him.
Ripper snorted as he plopped himself down on to a stump next to Julia who cast him a disgusted sideways look. Ripper did not see this. "We didn't really have a choice," he threw his hands up exasperated. "Apparently that dumb contract we signed in our first season, which I obviously didn't even read, said at the very bottom that we were going to be competing in two seasons."
Zee took a long sip of his soda and blinked. "Seriously? I thought we was just popular with the peeps watching at home so the networks ordered another season…"
Ripper blinked. "Yeah… yeah!" he squeezed his hands into fists, elated that for once in his life he was popular. "Maybe that too!… Anyways, Mr. Popular is here to claim his million bucks so you might as well all just head to the Dock of Losers. No one stands a chance against the Ripster this season!" he pointed at himself proudly.
"Eh, go ahead Ripper. It's all yours. I might not even try super hard this time," Chase said casually as he leaned against a tree and started to play with some leaves.
"What do you mean? Don't you want to win?" Millie looked at Chase disbelievingly. Of all people, she thought the out-of-touch-with-reality prankster would fight hardest for the money.
Chase shrugged. "Tell em Ems," he nudged his head to Emma, inviting her to explain. Bowie sighed defeated. Oh no… nicknames as well? he thought grumpily.
"Chase, Ripper, Zee and I agreed to split the money four ways if either one of us wins. Sooo yeah! That's 750k for each of us!" Emma smiled.
"Oh right! I almost forgot! The prize money increased to $3 million this time, eh? Got to account for infestation," Wayne said proudly as he envisioned himself buying a bus for his hockey team along with many boxes of donuts.
"Inflation," Bowie hissed under his breath.
Emma nodded and gave Wayne a wink. And then… from the shadows –
She had arrived so silently almost no one had noticed her. Being 5'2" didn't exactly help her case either. "Sharing money? I could never…" MK said cheekily as she sat down on the grass.
Though Julia had been keeping to herself up until this point, she gave a little chuckle at MK's comment. Julia wholeheartedly agreed with MK and thought anybody who was willing to share the prize money simply did not deserve it. They weren't here to make friends, they were here to win.
"Oooh, mysterious MK. She doesn't share money, she steals it," Bowie said scathingly to the pickpocket who snorted.
"If you're such a good pickpocket, why don't you just steal the prize money?" Ripper said roughly.
MK sighed at this subtle jab. "Stealing is a sophisticated art. I wouldn't expect someone with your brains to understand…" she snorted, unimpressed.
Chase chortled and gave Ripper a friendly nudge. "Whenever someone starts insulting your intelligence, it means they can't find anything wrong with the way you look," he winked. Ripper returned a nod and a smile.
Next thing they knew, they heard loud hoof-like noises going TACK! TACK! TACK! on the earth floor. Bowie instantly recognized the sound of high heels. Nichelle Ladonna had arrived. She wore a glossy, pink bag over her shoulder proudly.
"Heyyyy everybody!" Nichelle said, looking eagerly around at everyone's faces. Unfortunately for her, the others were not as keen to see her as they all whistled, hummed and checked their phones nonchalantly. Nichelle Ladonna was not used to being ignored like this! She scoffed. At least Zee finally gave her a friendly wave.
"Sorry Jerry, can't hear you through that fake wig of yours," Bowie said sassily as he waved his fingers. He did not have time for fakes.
Nichelle sighed. Why was she not surprised that they did not believe her? Would they give her the cold shoulder all season?... She stomped her foot on the ground.
"Ugh, it's really me you guys! I know I left a bad impression last season but I worked really hard all year to be better at challenges. I pinky promise. From now on, you're getting the real Nichelle. The better Nichelle. The improved and upgraded Nichelle!" she said boldly.
Emma who had been doing her best to avoid Nichelle's eyes couldn't help but turn and face her at these words. Even Ripper gave her an intrigued glance.
"You wasn't the only one busting their butts preparing for this season Nichelle," Damien chortled as he high-fived Zee and Ripper. "I'm here to win it! Dame came to play! I've been practicing all year," he said proudly. He dropped his heavy bag to the floor with a THUD!
Though the others didn't know it, Damien had brought with him a giant stack of paper filled with his handwritten notes on how to win certain types of challenges. He would of course be studying it during his leisure time here. You could never be too prepared!
"Hi Damien!" Priya waved energetically at Damien who waved back.
"OOOO," Chase said annoyingly, making heart-shaped hands.
"Shut up Chase," Priya hissed. "Damien helped me win last season so of course I'm grateful for that!"
Damien nodded and gave Priya a wink. Chase snorted disbelievingly.
Five minutes later, a big beefy man with wings for lats made his way over to the group. Since he had been eliminated first last season and as such hadn't formed any real connections with anybody, he was not expecting an enthusiastic welcome. Caleb tried to make his way over silently, hoping to sit down next to Priya or Millie and start a small conversation. They were the two nicest after all. Unfortunately for him it was Ripper who noticed him first.
"And just who the hell are you?" Ripper said rather bluntly. "Are you an intern?"
Caleb blinked. This was embarrassing! To be confused for an intern when he had been competing last year! Caleb scratched his head. "Uhhhh, no? It's me…Caleb," he said slowly, checking Ripper's face for a Eureka! moment of realization but it did not come. Ripper continued to blink confusedly at Caleb. Caleb sighed. Was Ripper pretending to not know who he was?...
"Sorry, who? We don't know you…" Julia said softly, still texting busily.
Caleb felt hurt at these words. So Julia didn't even know who he was either!
"Are y'all for real? I was here last season!" he protested.
"Really?" Millie said in awe. Caleb couldn't believe it. Even Millie did not know who he was…. and she was one of the few Caleb had been expecting to remember him. This was not encouraging. Perhaps he really was a nobody around here.
"YES I WAS!" Caleb spluttered as his hands flapped around chaotically. "Just because I was eliminated first last time doesn't mean I'm irrelevant. It definitely won't happen again…" And then finally Caleb turned round to Bowie, the person who had been responsible for his early exit.
"YOU!" Caleb barked as he pointed a finger directly at Bowie's face. Bowie jumped as he finally stopped pretending to tie his shoelace. He didn't even have shoelaces.
"You definitely know who I am. Thought it was funny I didn't even get a chance huh? You're getting payback this time, I promise you. You'll be sorry you ever did that to me!" Caleb growled.
Julia looked up excitedly from her phone for the first time. Only Bowie being uncomfortable could make her do this. "Never mind, I like you now. GET HIM CALEB!" she said cheerfully. Raj began to open his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by a loud THUD! on the ground. He turned around to the source of the noise.
Next to him lay a large army-green bag filled with numerous survival trinkets and what appeared to be the entire military.
Axel sat down next to Wayne and Raj stone-faced. She sighed before turning the corners of her lips upwards. The result was a very awkward smile. After all, Axel did not smile often. But… she had heard that smiling often helped make friends and allies, something she had lacked last season.
"Sup?" she said, slightly nervously. Wayne and Raj gave her thumbs-ups.
Finally, a pale girl with dark purple hair and vivid pink highlights cartwheeled her way over. She put her hands behind her back mid-air and ended up crashing on her neck. Wayne recoiled in fear. Scary Girl got up, brushed herself off and snapped her neck back in place.
"There you are! I missed you friends!" she said lustfully as she stared at each face. Everybody, deeply unnerved by her, looked up at the sky or pretended to check their phones. Except for Zee who once again gave a friendly wave to the person everybody else was choosing to ignore. Scary Girl returned a wide grin, displaying each individual tooth.
A minute of silence until Priya finally broke it.
"Soo.. what's everyone been up to?" she glanced at Scary Girl apprehensively. "I travelled Europe with Millie."
"Hit a million subs with Emma, Ripper and Zee on our new Three Guys and a Girl In A Beach House channel. Now we're gonna buy a cottage up north in Ontario," Chase said proudly.
"Celebrating my prom queen victory," Bowie and Julia said simultaneously. They each raised an eyebrow and looked at each other disgusted. After all, each considered the other a joke.
"YOU won prom queen?" they both snorted. A little gasp as they both shook their heads.
"You are SO lucky we didn't go to the same high school," they said together once again. They both blinked furiously.
"STOP IT!" they both said, yet again. "UGH!" they stomped on the ground in frustration.
Raj roared with laughter as he patted Bowie on the back affectionately. For him, Bowie was the only acceptable Prom King and Prom Queen.
"Prepared way too much for this game," Damien chimed in.
"Plotting my devious comeback," MK said rather bored.
"Joined the 1500 club, and I'm finally benching 405," Caleb said casually. He figured he should actually interact for potential friends. So why not start by showing off an impressive gym stat? "For reps," he added nonchalantly. Emma and Axel stared open-mouthed while Wayne, Raj and Chase whistled appreciatively.
"Damn dude, that's impressive," Chase said earnestly. The only time he had benched 405 was for a FAKE WEIGHTS! I ALMOST DIED! prank video on his channel. Caleb smiled and flexed his giant bicep for everyone to admire. 20-inch arms always got you attention no matter where you went.
"I thought it was 350?" Priya said casually. Though she did not know Caleb that well, she still followed him on MySelfieGram. He had been kind enough to give her a follow back. After scrolling through his feed numerous times (and taking a few screenshots), Priya swore the number 350 was familiar to her.
Caleb blinked and looked at Priya incredulously. "Damn, that's old! That was my PR four months ago!"
Priya giggled but quickly turned her head as she had just heard a familiar CRUNCH! CRUNCH! noise on the ground. Yes, she even knew how Chris' footsteps sounded like. That's how dedicated she was to this game.
Sure enough, a few moments later, Chris Mclean had joined the gathering. He stood proudly in front of them all, glad to see all 16 faces once more. There would be no need for formal introductions again as they all knew each other. He removed his sunglasses and flashed an evil grin. His beady eyes lit up hungrily as he rubbed his hands excited. It was time for the fun to begin.