Chapter Text
Alejandro observed Noah, smile itching at the corner of his lips. He was trying hard to hide it, absolve himself from any blame.
There was no other outcome, Alejandro had won. The least he could do was take credit for what he had done.
Noah knew that was probably asking too much of him. He accepted his elimination as fact the second they lost— owe his prediction up to knowing Alejandro’s petty nature. He insulted the guys character, ergo he deserved to get thrown off the plane.
They shouldn’t have lost in the first place, they had done everything right. ‘Catch the Ripper’ Chris said, clearly that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t fair but, Noah could only accept the punches as they came. Laying back and taking it was what he was good at, watching from the sidelines as his fellow competitors (his ‘friends’) got booted one by one.
Ironic how the one time he tried to help it blew up in his face. It made it hard to want to keep going— to try and save himself from his fate. Who cared anymore, he had done his part.
Alejandro had plot armor.
He simply didn’t.
That was that.
It was no big surprised when his name was called, Chef handing him a parachute to slip onto his back.
The parachute felt heavy, his hands gripped the sides tightly— the force turned his knuckles a lighter shade, straining from the effort. The wind blew his hair every which way, blurring his fellow teammates in his vision.
This was it, the end.
He doubted he would get another shot, he failed twice. No third times the charm for him, no requiem.
“It pains me to see you go.” Alejandro said, he was the first one to speak, his words dripped with fake sorrow— there was no doubt no matter how authentic it came across.
“Yeah, sure… I bet you’ll be sobbing into your pillow tonight.” Noah said, rolling his eyes. He was done with Alejandro’s charade, pretending that he gave a crap about anyone other than himself.
Noah knew he was being hypocritical but, at least he pretended to care about other people, Alejandro did it purely to gain an advantage. Every part of him was fake, how could no one else see that.
“Don’t worry Noah I-I promise that I’ll be sob… “ Owen couldn’t even finish the sentence, breaking down in tears. He held his arm up to his face, blocking the painful sight from view. Noah appreciated his sentiments but, they did nothing to hide the unease in the back of his mind—the fresh feeling of failure disguised in apathy.
“You don’t have to do that dude it’s fine I’ll see you in a couple weeks.” Noah said, hand touching Owen’s arm gingerly. He was surprised Chris was letting him speak to them but, he wasn’t about to refuse an opportunity to say goodbye. He was angry but, that didn’t mean he would shut Owen out. The big guy didn’t deserve that.
“Alright enough with the goodbyes I need you gone so I can cut this footage.” Chris chimed in, expectedly, exasperated sigh escaping him. Noah fought the urge to snap at him.
Whatever.
He was done, he didn’t care enough about anyone else on the team to spare them a glance.
“I’m coming quit your whining.” Noah said, willing himself to take a step— it was hard convincing himself to move towards the open door hearing the wind whipping around him. He felt frozen, feet set in the ground at the thought of having to jump out of the plane; again.
Noah was almost relived when he felt someone grab his arm, tilting his body back towards the benches. It was Alejandro, Noah immediately saw the bracelet wrapped around his wrist.
What was he up to now? Noah had no ideas seeing as he was out of the competition.
“I meant what I said amigo it had to be this way.” Alejandro explained, like he cared about Noah’s opinion of him. The guy had voted him out minutes earlier, Noah wasn’t in the mood to hear any rendition of ‘his side of the story’. All he wanted to do was lay down and never think about Total Drama again.
He doubted any of that would be happening but, it was nice to dream.
“Don’t try that with me..” Noah said, narrowing his eyes, A couple more second passed before Noah snatched his wrist away from him, ignoring the apparent puppy dog eyes he spotted on his face. What was his deal? He didn’t really regret what he did, he never regretted it.
Noah didn’t ponder it further, keeping his eyes strained forward at the open door.
In one last display of solidarity he held his hand up, a small wave meant only for Owen.
“See you around..” Noah said numbly, eyes watering up regrettably. He would miss Owen, only him. He would be Alejandro’s next target and Noah knew he could do nothing to stop it.
That wasn’t to say he couldn’t try to help.
“And beware of eels!” Noah said, loud enough for the entire team to hear. He didn’t want to leave it up to chance so he pointed an accusing finger straight at Alejandro. Noah cherished the way his face fell, if only for a moment before it was replaced by a cruel smile.
“Bye little buddy!” Owen said earnestly. Noah wondered if anything he did would make a difference.
“See you dude tell Lindsay I said hi.” Tyler said, finally joining the conversation. Noah didn’t hate him but, he was annoyed with his compliance.
“Good riddance nerd.” Duncan added. Noah did hate him given the lip piercing Duncan had nearly given him at the end of the first season— that was only the most pressing thing.
Noah didn’t bother to respond, nodding to Chef who stood near the doorway. His face remained blank, eyes connected with his for one last goodbye.
“Any day now it’s not like I’m on a time crunch.” Chris said, clearly not in the mood to watch some big dramatic moment.
Noah gripped onto the edge of the doorframe, feeling the wind race by him. It was cold, goosebumps pricking his skin. He would have to jump, or Chris would throw him out of the plane himself.
He acknowledged the racing of his heart, the fear that coursed through his veins. That didn’t stop his fingers from slowly slipping free, body leaning forward until he embraced the clouds.
The drop was instantaneous, his stomach bunching up in a knot. He could barely keep his hand on the cord with his limbs were flailing around.
He was falling, he was going to die, he could see the ground getting closer.
Noah was logical but, the fear was overriding any sane thought. It was due to pure instinct alone that he realized when to pull the cord— the white material that expanded behind him served as a large relief.
It was a working parachute, he was okay.
“Leave it to Chris to give me a heart attack, just add to the humiliation why don’t you.” Noah complained.
The wind no longer felt dangerous but, comforting. The breeze flowed around him like they were in sync, cutting through the sky like a knife to butter.
The feeling was nice, Noah couldn’t tell if it was simply relief at not barreling towards the ground.
Noah’s looked upwards, watching the plane continue on its journey. Screw that flying death machine. He didn’t need Total Drama anymore , he was done with the drama. (for lack of a better word.)
Noah's eyes were forced downward as scenery filled his vision. He didn’t recognize his surroundings, seeing a couple trees and a house that he doubted he would land next to.
The wind was blowing him further and further away, his hand hesitated on the pack around his back. He had to be ready to land. Seeing that he had taken Chris’ mandatory safety class he had absolutely no idea how to.
“The working parachute is nice and all but, it sure would be great if we were taught how to land.” Noah vented to the air in front of him.
The ground was rapidly approaching and-
Scratch that a lake was in his way, the wind deciding to torment him further. Not only did he have to figure out a way back but, he would have to do it with wet clothes if the parachute got its way.
Noah tried to tug his body away from the lake but, it only encouraged the wind. The breeze pushed him closer and closer to the lake as his feet dangled meters above the body of water.
“This is all that slimy eels fault..what was he trying to do anyways, get me on his side as I was about to jump out of the plane…real smart move.” Noah pondered, cringing as his shoes hit the water.
Noah quickly slipped the parachute off, deciding to get it over with and truly soak his clothes. The pack would only make him more likely to drown and, Noah wasn’t in the mood.
“I guess that wasn’t so bad.” Noah said as his feet touched the bottom of the pool. It wasn’t as deep as he thought, water only going up to his shoulders.
Noah knew he needed to stop jinxing himself as he felt something brush up against his leg. A slimy something.
“What the hell..”he muttered, trying to wade through the water. The faster he got out the faster he could find a way back. Knowing Chris there was probably some sort of crew that he had sent out to find him—he was a necessity for the aftermath segment apparently.
Noah felt something brush up against his other leg.
He reached his hand down to be met with sparks. Sparks was the wrong word it was more like a current of straight electricity flowing through him. The water only made it worse, his muscles clenching up as he tried to flinch back.
The water made it difficult but, he fell— his head took on water and all he could see was blurry mud and rocks swimming around him.
Half of his body felt petrified until the searing sensation in his hand and leg stopped.
Through the murky water he could see something small, snake like, attempting to escape him.
It was an eel. An electric eel given his impromptu shocking.
Typical.
Noah tried to flail around but, his muscles felt weak—pain was shooting up his body while his heart beat nearly out of his chest. He had never been shocked before but, the sensation wasn’t a pleasant one.
Feeling weak Noah began to grow worried about drowning, unable to take the large gasps of air his body wanted him too.
As his lungs began to burn he felt arms wrap around him, pulling him to the surface.
Noah coughed, gasping for air as his body hung limp.
The pain was already fading, replaced with pure adrenaline that dulled any feeling. Noah was thankful as it hurt. It hurt a lot.
“Hey careful I got him..it’s okay you're going to be fine.” A voice behind him said—an intern by the green shirt and khakis.
“I’m…..”
“Fine.” Noah said, mouth feeling dry as he was laid out on the ground.
“Yeah sure and that wasn’t an electric eel that just shocked you.” The intern responded, gesturing to another intern standing over him.
“Alright stay with me we’re going to treat these burns and get you back transported back to the set for examination.”
The set, right.
It was exactly where he wanted to go after falling out of a plane and getting shocked by some stupid, slimy, eels.
This was all Alejandro’s fault. Every single thing and, more.
Noah pictured his cruel smile as he was carried away. His emerald green eyes watching as he was treated for electrical burns. His hand on him, grip tightening as he hovered over him.
That slimy eel.
Noah didn’t want to think about him ever again.
He had won.
Noah was done.