[NOTES]
This story was written at first on discord, before season 2(Bowie's fake apology kinda contradicts it lol) in script format, based on a joke that the three ghosts of the Christmas Carol would visit Bowie to lecture him on his behavior. As it is based off of a joke, it is not meant entirely seriously, but I still tried to capture the characters to some extent. Credit to discord user loyallotad for the joke.

[END OF NOTES]

Bowie yawned, in bed a few nights after he had failed to win the Reboot season of Total Drama. It was hardly fair, he'd played hard, maybe made a few underhanded decisions, but at the end, he lost due to some luck with porcupines?

He signed, rolled over, trying to get to sleep. Suddenly, he heard a voice speak, very monotonously, "I am the ghost of the past. Boo."

Bowie recognized this voice. He turned around in surprise as he saw a very familiar face and asked, "Wait, aren't you Noah? An old contestant?"

"You got it correct. Congrats," was the gruff response from the former contestant.

Bowie smiled, as he commented, "Y'know when watching reality as a kid, I found you kinda relatable."

"Very original," Noah said dismissively. "Anyway, I'm here to remind you of that yes, I tell it like it is, which has not always made me popular-"

"Don't see much of an issue with that," Bowie interrupted. He too had a habit of sometimes being a bit too honest when he had an issue with something.

"And how about going further, like smashing up friendship just for some cruddy reality show?" asked Noah, his dull gaze not leaving Bowie's eyes.

So was this why Noah was talking to him? Well, he wouldn't just let some two-time pre-merger lecture him. The message boards were annoying enough. "Strategy is a part of the game, and I don't let crowns go," he started, drawing himself up in a confident tone. "Plus, there's also sweet cash involved."

"And how did the cash work out for you," Noah pointed out dryly. "Either way, if you're that desperate for crowns, and take winning some crappy show to be one, that reveals the peasant."

"Yea whatever, you've never won," Bowie responded mockingly. "And no, Hanging out with a winner doesn't count."

Noah barely flinched as he responded, "I didn't suffer through Chris's régime du terreur. What tragedy. Anyway, if you're listening, point is, you don't have to be a twat. I'm already above and smarter than everyone else anyway, so if you are too, what's the point?"

Bowie stared at him quizzically. "For proof?"

Noah yawned as he said some parting words, "All you've proved is some insecurity. Anyway, gotta head out now, Owen wants to show me his best burp. Might be better than your grease."

"My what-" Bowie was oddly offended, but then he remembered, this guy was some loser who never even merged. "Get back here-!" Imagine that guy, never making a merge and talking down to me like that.

Suddenly, a new voice reached Bowie's eardrums, again oddly familiar, a brief "Hey".

"Huh?" said Bowie, surprised, as he looked up and spotted another familiar face in the same ghastly aura that Noah has appeared in,

"Leshawna here," was the response of the former contestant, "or the ghost of your present. Whichever way you swing."

Bowie rubbed his temples. Was Leshawna going to lecture him too? At least she had more substance than Noah, but she never reached the finale either. "

If this is about me being a 'twat', don't want to hear it," he responded, "and you ghosts are officially worse than the message-boards."

Leshawna chuckled as she started, "Being fair, I do love you showing Julia who's boss, peeps like that have got to know what's up."

"Yep," said Bowie, oddly satisfied that perhaps a ghost wanted to praise him rather than criticize him. "Istg, some message boards legit think that I did their icon goddess dirty or something."

"Boy, ignore those haters," Leshawna scoffed. Then her face suddenly turned serious, as she added, "Though not all of them, kicking Millie down like that… pretty cold."

Only a few seconds and Leshawna had shown that she was just like Noah! "Called it! Anyway, look, you aren't a bean yourself," Bowie pointed out with a grin as he recalled, "I remember certain crocodile tears and smack talk."

"Okay sure, I've been a bit selfish and thought a little high of old me," Leshawna admitted begrudgingly, "But that attitude ain't helpful, that's for sure, my popularity took quite a dive."

"What. Ever. Not like I was going to be voted out like you were."

"Not saying your game was all wrong, brother, but there's more to it," Leshawna articulated. "Even if you would have gotten some sweet cash, as I once said, 'Have a nice life with everyone shunning you.'"

"What?" responded Bowie, incredulous as to Leshawna's accusations. "In case you have forgotten, I still have Raj... and for everyone else, I can do a cheesy cheer if that works."

"Oh! Not sure if that's work when it's not genuine," Leshawna's voice shot back, a little indignant at the dig of her cheer. "Even then, what you did was probably worse. But I got to go, so it's all up to you."

Well, at least Leshawna had actually merged. But still, these ghosts are so annoying. "I'd take the message-boards honestly," Bowie whispered aloud.

"I hope my presence does not trouble you much then."

"Huh- Another one!" Bowie quickly looked up and a small smile lit his face in spite of the odd visits. "Wait, aren't you Alejandro Burromeurto? Someone I can definitely respect, your strategies were really inspiring."

"Yes, that is me, though I am representing the ghost of the future," was the response, in the eloquent voice that Bowie had always admired.

Bowie knew Alejandro, and knew that he was one to play very dirty if he had to, and some hope lit his heart. "Well, unlike the other two, you've actually made it to the end and know what you have to do, so we understand each other right."

"Yes, when I was invited to compete, I was the new guy," Alejandro started, "but that did not prevent me from wanting to make it to the top."

"Neat," Bowie commented enthusiastically. "Glad some ghosts around here have sense."

However, Alejandro seemed to ignore him as he continued bleakly, "So I schemed and plotted, it was not late in the contest when I gaslighted the naive surfer into thinking I cared about her when she was not with her boyfriend, only to abandon her to the mercy of a a pole."

"Yea, pretty cold, no pun intended," Bowie admitted, "though as I say, strategy is a part of the game."

Alejandro continued, but he seemed to take no notice of Bowie's words as he monologued, "But it was far from over. Soon after, I tricked a potential ally into thinking he was not cursed… only to tell the truth when he was unable to join my team. Then I broke his arm to be sure I won."

"Yea, World Tour was my favorite season," Bowie chuckled, "though I do already know of your strats, so no need to loredump."

Alejandro continued to not look at him, still in his odd monologue, as he continued, "Then I manipulated a fragile mental state of one who was just betrayed by her friend and boyfriend to further my own needs." His tone changed, some informality creeping in as he added, "Not to mention the geek I almost fed to a shark."

Bowie was still confused as to what Alejandro was getting at, but tried to sneak in a word himself. "I kno-".

Alejandro interrupted him again, "I made it to the end. I was the new guy who made it to the top. I stood on the volcano, poised to throw in my sacrifice and win my dues. But my competitor was quite lovely, and she suggested that she felt a mutual manner, so I dropped my guard, only to be..."Bowie noticed the same tone shift in Alejandro's voice as he continued, "pwned hard."

Bowie's expression hardened as he realized that his new guest was no different from Noah and Leshawna, just more clever about it, as befitted Alejandro Burromuerto. "If you're trying to say that I shouldn't actually play because you did and failed just cause you fell for some girl," Bowie started, his voice a mix of indignation and mocking, "I'm good, thanks. I know Raj would be cool with me winning."

"Perhaps," Alejandro conceded, "but you are not perfect either and may still be susceptible to others' tricks." A thoughtful look crossed his face as he stated, ""Remember, you could have faced off of against Millie if you put your ego aside when Priya suggested you were too scared to face her."

Bowie chuckled, seeing the weakness of Alejandro's argument. "Well, if I pushed her in, wouldn't I be a bigger… 'twat', as Leshawna called me."

"That isn't the point," Aleajandro responded, "me coldly brushing aside her troubled expression would have been the more… 'twat' move too. But you can be manipulated yourself. Either way, that wasn't my main argument. After a grueling year in a robot-"

Bowie interrupted, "Before you say anything, that wasn't even because of your 'villainy' that season, more of a freak accident than anything else."

"Sure, albeit it could have been avoided if I simply did not care for the top and abstained from the game," Alejandro retorted thoughtfully. "Anyhow, after I escaped it, I discovered more permanent consequences. I was not trusted, always being targeted, and when I discovered a greater evil lurking, he correctly deduced that no one would believe 'the most manipulative player', as he called me, and I was humiliatingly defeated when all my attempts to warn others failed.

As Alejandro talked, Bowie couldn't help but admit that he maybe had a point, but then realized that he was talking about his feud with Mal, one in which Bowie did not regard him as having acted competently. "Yea yea yea, maybe just don't like tell him you have the DVD and be more specific than a greater evil being in the art."

"Like you've never messed up yourself!"Bowie smirked as he noted that his comment seemed to annoy the former villain, who up until then, has remained composed. Alejandro smoothed his hair in embarrassment as he added, "But to continue, when I took the chance for a million again, I put myself in conflict again, but as I was the disliked one, I just was unceremoniously chased by a shark.

Bowie's defiant look gave away to some doubt, as he argued, "Well, Mike was being the jerk there."

"Absolutely. Not all of my suffering was just, but my message to you is clear," Alejandro responded, his voice almost as confident as when he had first arrived. "What happened to me will happen to you if you continue the path I took. As I said at the beginning, I represent your future."

Bowie looked a lot more nervous now as his face paled. He gulped and fidgeted with nails realizing that perhaps the diplomat's son was right.

Alejandro smirked as he threatened, "Allow me to metaphorically construct a metaphorical grave," then he disappeared in the same fashion of Noah and Leshawna.

"No! No! This isn't worth chasing crowns," Bowie yelled out loud, talking to no one to himself. He continued, in a quieter tone, "I am an icon, not an insecure cringelord who keeps looking for more. I don't want to live a life with everyone shunning me. Millie realized that without any ghosts."

He squared his shoulders as he declared, "Enough is enough, I will play fair this time around."