Hello everyone! Welcome to this one-shot, Killing Time!
If any of you guys read my profile, you would see that I actually joined the site in late 2016. This is because in early 2017, I posted a Total Drama fanfic - the first ever fanfic that I wrote. I was inspired by many Total Drama fanfics to finally write one - such as A Codette World Tour by TDI Charlie Brown, Niagara Schmalz by The Kobold Necromancer, and the main inspiration for first fanfiction - Time Brand by The Canadian HoneyBadger. If you've looked at all three in detail, you would see that all of these stories are focused on Cody. That was also the case for the story I wrote (and that'll be the case for this one too!).
However, my attempt at writing such a story failed - primarily due to my inexperience, and due to the fact that I made it a crossover between a game that I played at the time - Oxenfree. I basically just inserted the main character from the game and went through the Stations of Canon via Cody's point of view (basically, I kept the plot the same) - thus, it wasn't very good and I felt compelled to delete the story.
However, after reading another recent Total Drama fanfic that was inspired by Time Brand (shout out to softSpokenLoser for their story Second Chances), I was inspired to try again and write another Total Drama Story focused on Cody. At the same time, I also wanted to take some inspiration from Oxenfree again - but to have that inspiration affect the story in a more meaningful way.
Thus, I decided to write a time loop fic instead of a time travel one! However, this story will focus on multiple perspectives - not just Cody. You will know who based on the name that appears at the beginning of each section.
Also, just keep in mind that in this story - the campers are NOT in a competition, they're just high schoolers partying at an abandoned island - similar to Oxenfree, if any of you guys played it!
Now, on with the story!
KILLING TIME
COURTNEY
Courtney and the others didn't know what to expect when it turned out that the local geek, Cody Anderson, was also headed to the abandoned Camp Wawanakwa for the party. She dreaded the possibility that her boyfriend would just pick on him, like he always did back at school.
Of course, none of them expected to find him surrounded in a pool of his own blood after he went into the woods to avoid Duncan.
A serial killer on the island…the CIT thought as she reminisced on the events back on the island.
As she left the morning breeze while on the boat trip back home, she shivered. Courtney wasn't sure if it was due to the cold, or due to something else.
"You okay, babe?" A voice said behind her. Duncan.
As the punk went in close to hug her from behind, Courtney allowed herself to feel the warmth of Duncan's body.
"Not right now…but I will be.." Courtney admitted.
"I feel you," Duncan replied. "I feel bad, Court." He confessed.
"It wasn't your fault."
"If I didn't keep picking on him, he wouldn't have gone into the woods…"
"You didn't know there was a psycho there!"
"..."
"And besides, when we saw him - we both made sure to get the others and stop the killer."
"...Yeah, you're right. Part of me just wishes that we could change things, ya know?"
Courtney smiled sadly at Duncan. "I know."
Part of her wished the same thing. Cody, Beth, Tyler, Justin, Izzy…he got so many before we could stop him…if only we knew…
Of course, another part of her just wished she could forget.
DUNCAN
That scrawny geek, Cody, didn't seem to want to stop being annoying, apparently.
"Can't we just go back?" he asked the punk pleadingly. "Have a nice night back in town instead?"
Duncan raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. "Really?" He asked.
"You know? With other people, where it's safe..."
"Scared, dorkahontas?" Duncan said with a sneer. Why even come here if you're gonna be a chicken? He thought.
He doesn't go for the bait. "Yeah, I am."
The punk rolled his eyes and let out a scoff. "Tch. Just go back home then. The dock is right there, just get on the boat!" Duncan pointed out.
Duncan was confused by the look in Cody's eyes. It looked as if he was split between wanting to leave him and the others alone, and also wanting them to come with him.
What's his deal?
Even Geoff and DJ looked confused at Cody's demeanor.
Suddenly, the gap toothed geek slumped down and let out a sigh. "Fuck…"
Um…
Cody suddenly ran away from the campfire, towards the cabins.
"...Should we follow him?" Courtney asked, confused.
"Ah fuck it. Why not?" Duncan said. "Let's see what that weirdo is doing…"
The five of them all got up - Duncan, Courtney, Bridgette, Geoff, and DJ.
As the group went back, Bridgette spoke up. "Did you see his face? He looked like he remembered something awful…"
Duncan frowns. "What—"
The group heard a scream from another camper, Beth.
"NOOOOOOOOOO-"
They all ran.
Duncan busted open the door to one of the cabins.
Nausea pooled up in his stomach.
So much blood…
Cody was on the floor, a hook piercing his stomach. One of the windows near him was bust wide open.
"What the fuck…"
"I had to try…I forgot that he also got Beth…" Cody said in between coughs.
"Shit! We need to help!" Courtney pointed out. "DJ! Help me stop the bleeding! Geoff! Go to our cabin and get my first aid kit!"
"On it!"
"Okay!"
As those two followed Courtney's orders, Bridgette went to try and console Beth.
Meanwhile, Duncan and the others who were with Beth - Owen, Harold, and Ezekiel - all looked at the dying teen in shock. One thought all crossed their minds.
…What did he mean by that?
BETH
Cody looked angry to be here. He wasn't partaking in any conversations, he'd been answering questions with little words, and he'd been off in his own head most of the time.
Beth was confused about that. I thought he and Harold wanted us to come with the cool kids…
"Hey," she said to him quietly. "If you're not feeling this, we could just turn around and go home."
"What?" Owen exclaimed. "No, you can't! You told us this was gonna be awesome, man!"
"Yeah, we can't…" Cody agreed. It sounded like it physically pained him to say it.
Cody stayed quiet until they entered one of their assigned cabin for the night. As Owen prepared the food he brought for them (though mostly him) to eat, Cody excused himself to go get something.
"Man, he's been acting weird, eh?" Ezekiel pointed out.
"It's probably nothing, Zeke. Now come on, eat, while I show you my mad skills!" Harold declared.
When Cody eventually came back, Beth gasped at the sight of Cody holding a knife. Cody's grip on the weapon was so tight that his knuckles had gone pale.
He took a seat on one of the beds, ignoring the silent looks of judgement that others were giving him.
"Why do you have a knife?" Beth asked timidly.
Cody looked at her.
"I knew you were going to say that," he said. "You always do."
"Huh?"
He shook his head and instead decided to stare ahead, towards a window in the cabin. After a few seconds, the starting began to unsettle the farmer girl.
"I don't remember how this started," he admitted. "But I think I know how I can end this loop. I just have to kill him…one good shot and I've broken it…." he muttered to himself.
"What the.? What are you even talking about, eh?" Ezekiel said.
"Don't worry about it." Cody said as he approached the window. He stabbed in a downward motion and the group immediately heard someone scream in a hoarse voice.
"ARGH!"
"CODY! WHAT THE HELL!"
Harold and Owen immediately went towards the window and dragged Cody back.
"NO! I ALMOST HAD HIM!"
Beth frowned. "What-"
The window and the wall were immediately shattered. The sounds of a chainsaw filled the cabin, as Beth and the others peered in fear at the intruder gazing at them in a rage.
The intruder was a man wearing a mask. He was wielding a hook on one hand, and the chainsaw was held by the other hand. Cody's knife, however? It was in-between his mask.
He shouldn't be alive…Beth thought in shock.
"You'll pay for that, brat!" The man shouted in a hoarse tone.
Meanwhile, Cody was beginning to sob. "I thought I had him…how…"
TRENT
Trent was at peace.
He was lying down at the beach, with Gwen at his side, leaning in to him.
"Zzzz…"
Gwen's dozing off helped to provide a peaceful ambient noise as he took in the night sky. However, he soon began to realize that they should probably head back to their cabin.
It's just so comfy here though…he thought.
Trent then took notice of somebody walking up to them, as he heard footsteps going through the sand.
Soon, Cody's face entered his view. The geek looked puzzled.
"You guys weren't here last time," he said cryptically.
"Uh, I guess not?" Trent did not know how to respond appropriately to such a statement.
He was soon further baffled to hear some of Cody's mutterings, though. Lindsay and Tyler? Why mention them?
Cody then shook his head. "Whatever then. Look, I saw a bear near the woods, and it looks hungry - I think we should all head back. I just wanted to warn you guys."
"Oh. Well you can go ahead, we'll just go back in a bit."
"What? No, we should go back together."
Trent let out a chuckle. "As much as I'd love to go back, I don't want to wake up Gwen just yet. You know she gets angry when she's sleepy." Trent pointed out. "And besides - I thought you said you weren't jealous of us spending time together?"
"What? No, it's not like that—"
"Look, just go back, man!" Trent said as put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes with a smile.
Had he opened his eyes, he would've noticed Cody's mournful look as the gap toothed geek instead went towards the woods, knife in hand.
"This is new. Last time, it was that jock and the dumb blonde." A hoarse voice said.
"Who's there?" Trent asked as he opened his eyes. Damn, I guess I dozed off too..
The teen immediately gasped in shock and tried to wake Gwen up.
"Wha-" Gwen said, as Trent interrupted her.
"Wake up! Now!"
"So you were the two that Cody tried to save," The killer said with a chuckle. "Too bad he failed. Again."
The man grinned behind his mask as he allowed the two teens to get up and start to run.
As they got off to their head start, the man began to laugh.
"I'm gonna enjoy this!" The killer declared.
Trent felt tired. He felt woozy.
The ground below him felt wet.
He could barely see anything now. He tried to feel the body, the hands of Gwen next to him, but he couldn't move anything.
Is this how it feels to die? He thought.
Then, he heard the sound of someone running up to them. Someone with brown hair, maybe. He doesn't know who they are. Maybe if he wasn't bleeding out, he would remember. The person was sobbing.
"Trent…I'm so fucking sorry"
He felt a hand try to cover his abdomen.
"Please, just try to hold on"
He felt a hand cup his face.
"Please, I can't lose both you AND Gwen"
It's just noise. He closes his eyes.
"NOOOOOOOO-"
Trent was at peace.
GWEN
Gwen wasn't really sure what to do when Cody ran up to her and Trent while they were walking to the beach. A handshake? A fist bump? Somehow, she never came across the social protocol for 'hey, I know you used to annoy me with your crush, but I guess we're cool now since you helped me hook up with someone else!'
Cody answered the question for her however. He went up to the two of them and slammed right into their bodies, forcing them into a sudden group hug.
"Um," Trent said. "Nice to see you here, too?"
"Trent, Gwen…," Cody whispered. He buried his face in between their bodies. "I'm so sorry, I'm so fucking sorry."
"Are you... crying?" Gwen asked. Shit. "...Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Cody replied. "I'm just really, really glad to see you guys."
LINDSAY
Lindsay was shocked when she saw that her and Tyler's spot beneath the docks had already been occupied by someone.
"Colby?" She asked.
The brown-haired teen was hugging his knees and crying. However the moment she spoke, she was dismayed to see the teen flinch and try to cover his face.
It was awkward. Immensely awkward.
Tyler tried to push through the awkwardness.
"So uh…you okay, dude?"
"Yeah! Yeah…I just needed somewhere to sit down, is that all…" Cody said lamely. "So THIS is where you guys were…"
"Yeah…" Tyler uttered in agreement, not knowing what else to say.
"Aw…poor Colby! Was Duane giving you a hard time again?" Lindsay asked as she went to hug Cody. He needs it! She thought.
"What? No! I just-"
"And why do your arms feel so weird?" Lindsay pointed out.
"Huh-" Cody asked as something fell out of his pocket.
A switchblade.
Tyler saw it and Lindsay noticed his grimace. It seemed like he came to a realization.
"Cody, pull up your sleeves."
"..."
"Cody…"
"...It's NOT like that.." he growled.
"That's not very convincing bro…" Tyler replied. "Look, if you're cutting yourself, we need to get you help-"
"I'M NOT CUTTING MYSELF!" Cody shouted. "Do I look emo to you?! It's just…"
"Just what?"
Cody sighed. "You wouldn't get it."
The gap toothed geek got up and walked away.
"What was that about?" Lindsay asked her boyfriend.
Tyler hugged her. "I dunno babe…I dunno."
HEATHER
Heather was tired of arguing with LeShawna all day. All she wanted to do was destress from being around plebeians all year long by going to this camp, but someone just had to invite that ghetto-glamor, too-tight-pants-wearing, rap-star wannabe.
Does she really have to bother me while we're at the lodge? Well, at least it's not weird goth girl…
That is why when Heather saw Cody walking up towards them, she was relieved.
"Oh thank God," she muttered. "Hey geekwad! Can you tell LaFonda here to leave me alone?"
"Excuse me?!" LeShawna exclaimed indignation. "Oh, I am so tired of your mall-shopping, ponytail-wearing, teen-girl reading, peaking-in-high-school-"
"Ladies! Enough!" Cody snapped in annoyance.
"Woah…what's up with you stringbean?" LeShawna asked.
For once, Heather agreed with her.
"Nothing…I just gotta set something."
Both Heather and LeShawna stood still as they witnessed Cody enter the kitchen and emerge a few seconds later, knife in hand.
"What the hell?" Heather demanded.
"What did you get a knife for?" LeShawna asked as she took a couple of steps back from the smaller teen.
Cody refused to look at them. "Don't worry about it…"
"Oh I'm worrying about it!" Heather stated with a scowl. "What? Are you tired of Duncan stuffing you in lockers or something? You gonna stab hi-"
"No! Why does everyone keep saying that?" Cody shouted, incensed.
Keep saying that? What's that supposed to me-
"GET OUT THE WAY!" Cody suddenly screamed.
Heather suddenly felt herself get tackled by the teen. She fell to the wooden floor.
"What was that for-"
"Huh. You're getting better at that!"
Heather felt her blood run cold as she looked at who interrupted her. "...Who is that?" She said, trying not to scream it out in fear. She could see that LeShawna was shocked into silence as well.
Having already gotten up from the floor, Cody used his body to cover her and LeShawna. He raised his knife at the masked man threateningly.
"Leave them alone." Cody snarled.
"Cod-"
"Run guys."
"But-" LeShawna started.
"Just run! And get help!"
Both Heather and LeShawna looked at each other, and they immediately knew what they had to do.
They both ran.
They both tried to ignore how Cody's sounds of struggle soon morphed into a scream as they left the lodge.
JUSTIN
"How does this pose look?" Justin asked as he began to flex his ab muscles. He was currently just outside woods near camp, with two judges sitting nearby on a tree stump.
Said judges then gave their response.
"It looks so cute!"
"Yeah! Very cute!"
Heh. Still got it! The model thought as he saw Katie and Sadie swoon over his body.
"That's good to hear." Justin said as he put his shirt back, ignoring the sad noises of the two BFFs. "Thanks for your help, guys. Hopefully my agency finds them just as nice as you guys did!"
"I'm sure they will!"
"Uh huh!"
Justin let out a chuckle. "Well in that case, let's go back to the lod-"
"ARGH! YOU LITTLE SHIT!" A hoarse voice snarled. It sounded like it was coming from across the bushes that surrounded their left .
"..Justin?" Sadie said quietly as she and Katie hugged each other in fear, trying to keep quiet.
Justin hunched down too. "I'll go take a look…"
The model stepped quietly to one of the bushes and looked past it to see what was happening.
…Cody? The model thought his eyes were deceiving him.
Was he truly seeing Cody Anderson, the resident tech geek of their little town…fighting some random masked man? And almost winning at that?
"...Cody? Is that you?" Sadie asked in shock, as she and Katie joined Justin in looking at the scene.
Big mistake.
Cody's focus was broken as he looked at them in shock.
Soon, the three of them looked on in shock as the man seized his opportunity to stab his hooked hand into Cody's gut.
"So close…" The geek uttered.
NOAH
"So why are we out in the woods again?" Noah asked.
"We're going exploring of course! Duh!" Izzy exclaimed with a laugh.
"Let's just get this over with then…" Eva said in a low growl, as she continued to listen to music from her MP3 player.
Noah frowned at that. I should've taken my book with me…
His thoughts were soon interrupted when Izzy immediately went down on all fours and started sniffing the ground like a dog.
"Oh come on…" Eva groaned.
"Again with this, Izzy?" He murmured in annoyance.
"Noahhhh!" Izzy whined. "I promise you! This time, I really do smell something!" Izzy put her nose down to the ground. "Oh no….it's blood…"
"Blood?"
"Is it an animal?" Eva asked in concern, as she took off her earphones.
Izzy got up and shook her head.
"Shit! You don't think-" Noah started before he got interrupted.
"I don't know…but we need to find them! They might need help!" Izzy declared as she ran off.
"Wha-" Noah stated in shock, before he and Eva shared a look.
Noah let out a sigh as he and Eva began to run after the crazy girl.
"You better not be messing with us, Izz!"
After a few minutes of running, Noah was panting. However, his exhaustion became the least of his worries when he saw where Izzy stopped.
"What the fuck…" He uttered in shock.
The scene was gruesome. Blood pooled all over the grass. The smell was horrible as well.
"Cody…" Eva said in shock.
Said boy was being cradled by Katie and Sadie, who were crying over his dying, prone body.
"Stay with us…" Sadie said in-between sobs.
Justin was talking to Izzy. "There was some crazy killer…Cody was fighting him, and we…" Justin wiped some tears off his eyes. "We accidentally distracted him. That was enough for the guy to put that hook in his stomach. For some reason...he left us alone…"
'Why always the stomach…" Cody slurred out.
"It's okay…it wasn't your fault. You didn't know." Izzy said to Justin. She patted his back. "Right now, all we can do is be there for him. Then, we have to tell the others."
Justin nodded.
And so, the group all surrounded Cody in his final moments.
"You're gonna be okay, bud." Noah said as he kneeled down and grabbed Cody's hand.
Cody chuckled. "Heh. You always say that."
To Noah's shock, he didn't find Cody's response to be surprising at all. Why do I feel like I've heard him say that before?
CODY
Cody sat down near the docks, feeling shame seep into every part of his being.
He let out a sigh as he peered into the water.
He could still remember what happened after his first "death".
Cody stared at the killer in shock as he felt the hook into his stomach. He couldn't hear the screams of Beth or the others. He could only hear the taunts that the killer said to him.
"Heh. You lose."
As Cody felt himself be let down by the killer, he felt the killer utter in his ear another thing as well.
"Next time - win. Otherwise, you'll repeat this day a thousand times." [1]
Cody grimaced as he remembered those words. He put his hands up to his torso, as he felt the lines that marred his body, even with his shirt being in-between the skin.
He still remembered the first time he woke up in the cabin, as if nothing happened. He let out a scream that woke everybody else up, as he felt a searing hot pain course through his chest.
That was his first mark.
A mark for every time I've failed…surely there's around 999 of them now…he mentally begged.
He was just so tired.
Man, why did he also have to be aware of the loops too? Guess it makes sense though…he probably put me in it…
So lost in his despair Cody was, that he failed to listen to the footsteps approaching him in the docks.
"Can we sit here?" A voice asked. Bridgette.
Cody whipped around and stared at the people who had joined him at the dock.
He was stunned to see the amount of people there.
Bridgette, Geoff, Duncan, Justin, Gwen, Tyler, Heather, Harold-
Everybody is here?
"Uh," he said. "..Why?"
None of them responded. But their faces betrayed a certain type of pity.
Cody immediately went pale. "You're all remembering," he said. "You're remembering, right? Oh, my God..."
"I..I think so?" Someone replied. Tyler.
Trying to stop the panic in his body from growing, Cody pressed his hands over his heart. It didn't work.
"It's been... it's been really tough," Cody said with a sob. "Like, it's all been tough, but I think the worst part is just...it's all my fault…I keep screwing up the events, just... being overfamiliar, or not paying attention, or getting pissed off, and I can't explain it because none of you guys ever remembered before."
They all stared at him. Cody knew that nothing he was saying made any sense.
And yet, he could see that to some part of them, it *did*.
Cody stood up and took a deep, shaky breath. "I'm sorry you're all remembering. You're all gonna have to go through this over and over again, and it's gonna be awful. But we're in this together now. We'll find a way out. I've got a plan."
Cody let out a wobbly smile.
Cody was surprised when he felt himself being hugged by someone. And then someone else. And then someone else. And then more and more people.
"Yeah, we'll get through this."
"We got you, Codester!"
"Just tell us the plan!"
Cody could feel the tears dripping down from his eyes. For the first time in a while however, he could confidently say it came from happiness, not pain.
There were all back on the ship that would send them back home, and Cody couldn't stop grinning.
It took a couple of more tries, but that just made everyone remember things more.
Through force of habit, Cody put a hand to his chest. To his relief, he felt no more lines.
'Well, that was a party to remember!" Duncan said, holding the hook he got from the vanquished serial killer.
"Yeah, I can't believe there was a serial killer, and we all stopped him!" Justin added.
"And nobody died too!" Beth said with a smile.
"Well…nobody died this time…" Bridgette said quietly, as she looked at Cody.
Soon, every other teen in the boat also looked at the geek.
But Cody just smiled back. "It's fine! I'm just glad it's all over with."
He was glad to hear everybody else agree with him.
"Oh definitely…"
"I'm never going back…"
"God, I miss school now! I can't believe I'm saying that!"
Cody chuckled at that, and soon allowed himself to listen to what everyone was saying.
He did not remember if he was still close with everybody here before the island. But that doesn't matter anymore. At least they are now, and if there's one thing that Cody can thank the island from hell for, it would be that.
"God..did anybody do their homework for tomorrow? I totally forgot mine!" He heard Ezekiel say.
Homework…I honestly can't even remember I did it…
Well, he'll deal with that tomorrow.
Tomorrow.…
For the first time in a while, he truly has another tomorrow.
So for today - when he gets home - he's just gonna be killing time.
And that's it for this story!
I hope it wasn't too confusing. I wanted to focus on the time loop aspect in an unconventional way, which is I tried to have most of the parts be from the perspective of people NOT in the time loop - AKA, everybody who is NOT Cody.
I also hope that my writing didn't make any of the characters too OOC. I haven't watched the series in years unfortunately. However, I like to think that the story being an AU where the cast are in high school instead of reality TV can give me *SOME* leeway in terms of OOC-ness. Well, at least I hope so, lol.
I also tried to add some supernatural aspects. This too, was inspired by Time Brand. The most obvious inspiration is the quote (win or repeat this day a thousand times) and the cuts. However, I wanted to add a wrinkle with the killer knowing that Cody was in a loop.
I'm also proud of the title - because of how it's a triple entendre.
1 - Through his actions, the serial killer is literally on "killing time"
2 - By stopping the loop, Cody and the others are figuratively "killing time"
3 - They are the final words of the story
And that's all from me. See you guys, and thanks once again for reading!