- Episode 3: Saving Tovarisch Tracy -
Episode numero tres opened with Jayshawn appearing from below the camera's opening shot. Ecstatic and energetic as always, he began the episode recollection.
"Ay, what's up, y'all? Let's jump right into it! Last time on Total... Drama... Million Dollar Academy! We had a bunch of shit go down, lemme just tell you!"
Clips of the previous episode played as Jayshawn recalled the events.
"The Dropout bros tried to get along and shit. The two emos on my team got close, except for Stephen leaving Alanna high and dry every time. Bruh, the dude dresses like it's 2011. At the very least he could get rid of the eyeliner, and maybe cut off the bangs? Like, how the fuck are you supposed to see? Don't get me started on that guy. Let's see, what else... Oh, right, we learned from Mercut that the challenges were gonna be college major-themed.
"Personally, I think that shit's boring as fuck, homie. Like, yesterday we did an arts and craft challenge. Of course my team lost because my team barely operates without someone charismatic to lead them, and that 'challenge' was some pointless shit that I wasn't a fan of. So, yeah, the purple-haired Brit chick won the challenge with her painting of Holden. I mean, aight, aight, it was pretty dope. Chick can draw. But she better watch out today when we aren't doodling like a bunch of kids!" Jayshawn went silent for a moment. "Yo, Brook?" he spoke to the silver-haired girl behind the camera.
"Y-yes?"
"That's your name, right?"
"Right, ahem, that's- yes, that's me-"
"What am I forgetting?"
"Oh, well, I don't know, I'm not su-"
Jayshawn cut her off again. "Oh, yeah, I got it, I got it, I got it. We got rid of Shawn yesterday because the dude was a fucking idiot! Hiding under the table and banging his head against it just as soon as we had the slightest bit of content finished! What a fucking disappointment! So, like I said: Queen, Dropouts, y'all better watch your backs. No more distractions from Shawn, no more Zee holdin' up the wrong project and sneezin' everywhere, no more arts and crafts, no more chances for y'all to beat the Grads, and it's all goin' down right here, right now on Total... Drama... Million Dollar Academy!"
The screen faded to black.
"Ay, you like that? Was that good?"
Brook sheepishly cleared her throat, and quietly replied, "Yes, that was great, Jayshawn."
The following morning, Alanna woke up just as uncomfortable as she'd fallen asleep. As a member of the losing team, Mercutio's sleeping quarters for the losers was nothing more than a grimey dumpster interspersed with a creaky garage. Fitting the ten members of their team into the dumpster was by no means an easy task, so Alanna ended up sleeping with her back to one wall of the garage. As she stood, she groaned with pain, a crick in her neck taking her by surprise.
"God. Ow."
"Yeah, welcome to the club, sister," Noah replied from the other side of the garage, cracking his back as he stood behind the dumpster.
Around them, most of the members of the team were still asleep, while some of them weren't even present. Alanna stepped forward and nearly tripped over Bowie sleeping in the fetal position below her.
"Thanks for becoming a tripping hazard."
Bowie grumbled. Still in the midst of sleep, a smile formed on his face. "That's right, Shia, give me all you've got." [1]
Alanna came to stand by Noah, watching Zee sleep in a precarious position within the dumpster. The likely stoner had his neck and face facing forward at one end of the dumpster with his body slanted and leaning up the side of it. If his torso were to droop forward anymore, it seemed possible that he'd break his neck.
"Damn, boy," Alanna commented. "And I thought I slept like trash."
Alanna and Noah jolted as Izzy rustled her way out of the rafters in the garage's ceiling. She dropped down to her feet before them, refreshed and ready to start the day.
"Morning!" she chirped, then headed off.
Jayshawn, Fish, Londyn, Cody, and Stephen weren't among them.
Tree leaves rustled among their branches. On one of the several, tall trees along the grass out in front of the academy building, Fish gripped branches and yanked himself higher. He had a lighthearted grin, and it became apparent why as soon as he tilted himself around to offer Londyn a hand.
"Why, thank you, kind sir," she joked as Fish helped pull her up. "Oh, god, we're so high up!"
"Yeah, well, I would've preferred the mile high club, but this is gonna have to do."
Londyn stared up at him with surprise, and all he did was wink at her. She blushed as she pushed herself to climb higher.
The pair continued climbing for a while, higher and higher. Though Londyn didn't necessarily need Fish's help climbing, she happily accepted it and asked for it as well.
Finally, they reached the highest point of the tree's crown, the wind tugging gently at them from this height. Fish grunted as he climbed up onto a branch where Londyn sat staring through the canopy at the breathtaking view. Ahead of them they could see the rooftops of the eight story building. She could even see the dorms behind the building, plus more campus walkways, the losing team garage, a far spanning horizon of the roads leading to this secluded area. A forest with trees without leaves covered the northern end of the horizon for what seemed like miles.
"It's amazing up here," Londyn commented.
"You feel that adrenaline?" Fish asked. "That feeling in your chest? The feeling of knowing that even one misstep and you're nothing more than a mangled corpse by the time you hit the grass?"
She chuckled quite nervously. "You're, uh, sort of scaring me."
"No reason to be scared, dollface," Fish replied seductively, inching towards her. "I'm just going on about how much I love living life on the edge like this."
Londyn peeked down to see Fish sitting at the very edge of the branch they sat on. "Do you mean literally?"
Fish smiled. "Nothing gets me quite as excited as putting myself in life-threatening positions like these. You ever had sex on train tracks?"
"Uhm, not yet," she chuckled.
"How 'bout this: you ever get oral while covered in gasoline in a room filled with matches?"
This stunned her for a moment. "You're an unusual one, Fish."
"Ah, come on. You've got an OnlyFans, right? I thought someone so sex positive might not turn the other cheek at something like that."
"H-how do you know about that?"
Without answering, Fish leaned in and kissed her. The girl was receptive, placing her palms softly against the sides of Fish's face as they kissed. Fish tugged her closer to him, and Londyn's eyes shot open as she felt herself shift on the branch. In the same instance, Fish bit her lip, then whispered, "Scary, isn't it?"
The two continued kissing, rubbing and stroking each other as they embraced. Their making out went on for a while longer until Fish suddenly detached himself from her lips. While Londyn still seemed in a daze, Fish was already helping himself get back down the tree and all its winding branches.
"W-wait, Fish, where are you going? Why are you leaving? I thought we were having a moment."
Now at about the same level as her thighs, he smiled up at the girl. "Yeah, yeah, I guess we were. Were, though, darling. I mean, I've got important shit going on. I can't suck your face all morning, doll." Londyn stared at him, mystified, but Fish merely smirked and winked at her. "You're damned cute, girl. Wow. I'll talk to you later."
She watched him go, pushing her skirt over her knees as he shifted his way down the branches. "Wait, Fish, can't I get a hand?"
"You can get much more than that, but later!" he called up to her.
"No, I meant with..." She trailed off, watching him climb down far enough that she knew he wasn't paying attention anymore. "Getting down the tree."
Confessional - Londyn
"I don't get it! That's twice now that Fish and I have been kissing, then he suddenly ditches! I-I mean, I've never really had this sort of reaction from guys that I've been involved with, you know? It's making me really, really..." As Londyn searched her thoughts for a word, Alanna appeared in the background, heading towards the library's confessional table. "Flustered. Really confused. And, I mean, I just like him so much, but I don't even really know anything about him-"
"Uhm, hello?"
Londyn swiveled around to see Alanna standing behind her. "Oh! Hi! Say, could you answer a few questions for me?"
"Uh, really, I'd rather not. I wanted to use the confession-"
"It's about a boy. So, what if a boy started kissing you, and generally making you feel really, really fuzzy inside, but then he goes from hot to cold in an instant? I mean, when two people kiss, it's not like those pornos where they stop as soon as the camera quits rolling! There's a level of aftercare, is there not?"
Alanna watched Londyn rant with a slightly disturbed, confused look on her face.
"I mean, if it's only been three days and already he wants to kiss me, you'd think he'd seal the deal and ask me to date him! Or at least say he wants to star in one of my OnlyFans videos, but evidently not. I guess for him he just wants to run away as soon as anything starts getting heavy." Londyn gasped. "I wonder if he's nervous..."
Alanna glanced over to the camera while Londyn continued, with the brunette's eyes shouting, "Please, help me."
End of confessional
Strolling the halls near the eighth floor with a rare break away from the camera crew, Cody wandered about aimlessly, tapping his fingers against the pockets of his baggy pants as he whistled. He took a glance through one of the several sets of windows akin to those in manors, positioned on the wall to the right of him. The runt stared at the sun coming up in the far distance, past a sea of trees that brought Cody back to when he originally competed on Total Drama Island. The warmth of the sun shone down on the trees, grass, and walkways in front of the academy, very far below Cody's current height.
"Wow." He shrugged and kept on moving. "Mother Nature, you keep doing you, girl."
That's when he heard a lock click. It was the sound of a door locking. Cody paused, seeing several doors between more sets of useless lockers on the left wall of the hallway. Puzzled, Cody moved towards the closest door to him, peering through its rectangular, narrow window to see a number of musical instruments laying about; most likely a band room. Cody curiously approached the next door, only seeing yet another random classroom.
"Whole lot of filler in this academy..."
As he neared the third door, he could hear faint voices coming from inside. He halted, straining to hear these voices, but they were only garbled, indecipherable murmurs. Cody jammed one of his blue eyes by the window to see a strange room. It was built like an office, yet also like an auditorium, seeing as there were about five rows of seats in front of the desk and office assortment ahead. Cody made out the sight of Mercutio pacing about while Cody's teammate, Stephen, sat in a seat that had been pulled up by Mercutio's desk.
"So, this must be where Mercutio spends his time," Cody murmured. "What's Stephen doing in there? What, does detention exist this season?" he joked, despite no one being around to hear him. "Maybe I can hear what they're saying..."
Cody softly pressed his ear to the glass, struggling to hear just what the pair were talking about. Something about the scene had him feeling uneasy about venturing into Mercutio's odd office. Most of what came to Cody was either gibberish or completely incomprehensible. Eventually, he did make out Mercutio asking, "Are you sure you want to use it now?"
Cody squinted his eyes with confusion. "Use what now? What are they talking about?"
The brunette lad stared at them with bafflement as they conversed. This same baffled feeling turned to a sinking feeling in his stomach when he noticed Mercutio stopping his pacing, redirecting his attention from Stephen, slowly craning his neck to face Cody. He gasped, then instantly darted away from the door.
Confessional - Cody
Cool and collected like a particular green vegetable that frightens cats, Cody relaxed in his seat by the table. As he went to put his feet up, he retracted as soon as he distantly heard Tracy shout, "No feet on the table! Mercutio's rule!"
"Now, I know what you might be thinking: what in the name of all that's spiffy and dandy would Cody be doing getting freaked out by Mercutio catching him peeping like that? It wasn't like the time you were watching Gwen undress. Well, I realized that there could only be one thing that was going on in there. Wanna guess? Really, wanna take a guess? Hey, Brook?"
Cody shifted his eyes to meet Brook's, the silver-haired intern hiding behind the camera. She raised one of her baggy jacket sleeves over her mouth.
"You wanna take a guess?"
"No, thank you."
"Well, remember back in Total Drama Action when DJ and Chef had that brief alliance? Yeah, so, I caught Mercutio and Stephen red-handed. Big time. Then I thought, 'Wait, Cody. Stop. Stop trembling. Don't zip away like a little boy. Think this through,'" he said smoothly. "'If you've caught them, then all that means is you've got the power.' I've finally got a little leverage in my pocket. Heh. Yeah. Look at me go."
End of confessional
Stephen eyed Mercutio stomping up past the rows with his one eye not blocked by a wall of jet black hair. Still seated, the emo muttered, "What?"
"Stay here," Mercutio ordered.
The Russian host opened up the door. He looked to the left; no one. To the right; Cody leaned up against one of the lockers with his arms crossed and a goofy, amused smile and relaxed eyelids.
"Hey-hey-hey there, Mercutio. Someone looks a little uneasy, eh?"
"Cody, what are you doing?"
He shrugged cartoonishly. "Oh, I don't know. I guess I should ask what you and Stephen are doing in there. Eh? You know? I mean, hey, man, I'm not trying to tell you how to do your show; you know that best. I will say that, ahem, alliance territory," he whispered through a cupped hand, "landed Chef Hatchet in a cup of the ol' hot water. Careful about this one, chief; you don't wanna end up like a steamed-"
Out of nowhere, Mercutio rounded on the teen, gripping his collar and smashing him against the locker. The clank of Cody's body against the locker echoed throughout the early morning sun-lit hallway.
"Lobster," Cody croaked.
As he began to slide down the lockers, Mercutio grabbed him with both hands and pinned him back against it, pressing one of his arms against his throat. Cody wheezed, the wind knocked out of him, then his baby blue eyes opened wide at the sight of the rippling muscle Mercutio's forearms had. The man seemed to have separate hobbies aside from reality TV hosting.
"What? What are you-" Cody rasped.
"You little fucker. Do you have any idea what you're messing with? Huh? Canadian," he sneered with uncharacteristic hatred.
"Why are you pinning me like this?" Cody squeaked, his face turning blue.
"Trust me, my little friend; you will stay out of my way if you know what's good for you, do you understand me?"
Gritting his teeth, Cody nodded desperately, looking up at the ceiling as he prayed for oxygen. Mercutio finally released him. The host stood still as Cody collapsed to his hands and knees, gasping for breath.
"Oh, god... oh, my lungs..."
"Go now," Mercutio instructed with bone-chilling strictness. "Leave this hallway and don't return to it."
Cody scrambled back to his feet, still breathing heavily. He stared at the man, still as the lockers along the walls, and turned tail and booked it back the way he'd come as fast as he could possibly run.
[1] - A reference to one of my favorite Family Guy jokes
Dropouts: Caleb, Damien, MK, Scary Girl, Athena, Holden, Iko, Jill, Kobe, Matcha, Queen
Grads: Cody, Izzy, Noah, Alanna, Bowie, Zee, Fish, Jayshawn, Londyn, Stephen
Some quick OC descriptions:
Athena: orangey-blonde, orange contacts, black and white dress
Holden: long, scraggly hair, heavyset, short, leather jacket
Iko: slim-fat, short, stylish overcoat and vest
Jill: athletic build, red hair, tan skin, emerald green eyes
Kobe: tall, big afro
Matcha: brunette, business casual
Queen: purple hair
Alanna: tall, brunette
Fish: typical influencer look
Jayshawn: fit, muscular, dreads, gym tank/shorts
Londyn: brunette, face tattoos, gorgeous features
Stephen: early 2000s emo look
Mercutio: chiseled face, suit, wide-framed
Tracy: slim, suspenders/bowler hat
Brook: silver hair, oversized cardigan