Disclaimer: See prologue
"Last time on the Ridonculous Race, our teams took a blistering stroll through Hawaii. The Surfer Dudes showed some love as they took first place. Josee found a new good luck charm; Tom and Jen spoke to Carrie and Devin about working together in future challenges; and Kelly revealed a secret that she and her husband were keeping from Taylor all her life when they thought they were eliminated. When they found it was a non-elimination round, Taylor began to give Kelly the cold shoulder. Will Taylor continue to give her mother the cold shoulder? This is… the Ridonculous Race!"
"Welcome back to the Ridonculous Race, where our racers are ready to say aloha to Hawaii. Our Surfer Dudes came in first." Don gestured to the Surfers arriving at the Don Box.
"Woo! Dibs on first tip!" Geoff cheered.
(Location confessional- Hawaii's Chill Zone)
"I don't know what's crazier, that we're in first, or that we're not in last?" Geoff said.
Brody smiled at his partner. "Dude, deep."
(End confessional)
Brody pressed the button, and received the tip.
"We're going to… to… Dubayee? Huh?" Brody scratched his head as he tried to pronounce the name of their next location.
"Or as it's more commonly known, Dubai, an oasis of luxury, man-made islands, and a mall so big even teenagers get lost." Don informed as a slideshow of Dubai played. When the footage was over, he stood in front of a fancy hotel along with a shuttle bus. "Once here, teams must bus to Burj Al Arab, the only seven-star hotel in the world, and find the next Don Box."
"Taxi!" Geoff raised his hand, and summoned a cab.
At the airport, the check-in receptionist was preparing a cup of coffee, and was about to take his first sip when the first six teams stampeded inside.
"Dubai, please!" Geoff asked the receptionist, him and Brody ahead of the crowd. Everyone else was trying to edge their way to the front.
The receptionist typed on his computer to see what was available. "Flight leaving now time, twelve seat. Rest on next flight."
The first six teams cheered just as the Police Cadets arrived.
"First flight, alright!" MacArthur whooped.
Sanders sighed, "Count again."
MacArthur paused, and quickly counted. "Two, four, six- aw sh-"
(Location confessional- outside the airport)
Sanders stared at MacArthur flatly.
"You know, officers shouldn't curse. We have an image to maintain." Sanders mentioned to her partner.
MacArthur scoffed as she crossed her arms, "Yeah, next you're going to tell me officers shouldn't fart either." She snarked.
Sanders' flat gaze shifted to the camera.
(End confessional)
"While the last seven teams wait for the next flight, the first six teams are about to fly Air Dubai, with the most opulent first class section… for winners only." Don voiced over footage showing the remaining seven teams waiting in line for tickets, and the first six teams boarding their plane.
While the teams that placed second to sixth, Geoff and Brody merrily jumped into a hot tub. "Cannonball!" Both boys shouted.
Surfacing in the hot tub, Brody took a chocolate chip cookie from a plate next to them, and took a bite. "Mmm, cookie?" Brody asked Geoff and the others.
Jacques in particular lit up at the mention of a cookie. "May we?" He reached for a cookie, but the flight attendant pushed him and Josee into the economy section, and closed the curtain.
Brody shrugged at the sight, "Huh, guess not."
Jacques growled as he turned to Josee. "That hot tub should be ours. How did we place fourth?!"
"Do not worry Jacques, our luck is about to change." Josee took out her lava rock, and stared at it deviously.
"Josee's replaced her lost lucky rabbit's foot with a pretty rock. Our luck is bound to improve!" Jacques cheered. No sooner than he finished his last word, the luggage compartment overhead snapped open, and he was bombarded by lots of luggage. "Ouch! Ow! That is pointy!"
"Forged from fire, this rock embodies my fiery determination to win!" Josee cackled, a fiery background ominously replacing the airplane scene.
"You mean our determination to win?" Jacques asked from the floor, bringing Josee back to reality.
"Hm?" Josee hummed, "Oh yeah, sure."
"Both flights are headed for Dubai, one hour ahead of the other. It'll be a quick flight-" Don was interrupted by crackling in his earpiece. "What? Seventeen hours? Ouch. Well, plenty of time to enjoy each other's company." Chet and Lorenzo were shown facing away from each other in annoyed wait.
The last seven teams waited their hour delay out. Jay and Mickey were sitting on a bench when they were approached by Rock and Spud.
"Whoa," Spud gasped in awe, "dude, there's two of you now! How did you do that? What happened to your brother?"
"Spud, it's Mickey." Jay answered, gesturing to Mickey.
"What? No way, dude! Your brother wears a helmet, and this dude's not wearing one." Spud pointed out.
"I lost it back at the bay." Mickey explained, hanging his head sadly.
"Ohhh…" Spud's eyes widened as he finally understood, and he smiled at the twins. "Then you guys look great." He took out his headphones, and walked away, putting his headphones on and bobbing his head to the music.
Rock watched his partner walk off before giving a thumbs-up to the twins. "He's right. You look great, Mickey. You too, Jay." He went to go join Spud. Jay and Mickey exchanged a glance.
(Confessional- Spud's got a point)
Jay and Mickey sat in the confessional booth.
"Ever since Mickey lost his helmet, the other racers have been giving him compliments. It's really weird." Jay said, very confused.
Mickey reached his hands up to feel his head. "My head feels awkward."
(End confessional)
On the first flight, the buckle seat belt light blinked repeatedly.
"I know the seat belt sign's on, but why bother?" Noah quipped as the close-up of him panned out to reveal Owen squeezed uncomfortably on his lap.
"It's cozy." Owen commented with a slight chuckle.
(Confessional- Don't even want to know)
Owen cowered in the confessional.
"Flying is the scariest. I usually squeeze my Beary to get through it, but I swallowed him, so now I squeeze my Noah." Owen said, reaching over to hug Noah to demonstrate. Noah winced and gasped for breath as he did so.
(End confessional)
"Hey, you want the window seat?" Owen offered to Noah.
Noah glanced across the aisle, and smiled at what he saw, leaning back in his seat. "Nah, gonna pass."
Owen followed his gaze, and chuckled once he realized Noah was gazing at Emma. "Oh really, but you always want the window seat." He teased his little buddy. "I wonder why you want to stay there." Unamused by Owen's teasing attempts, Noah picked up a magazine and buried his head behind it.
Across the aisle, Kitty was trying to talk to her sister.
"I was thinking we should form an alliance with, I don't know, Noah and Owen." Kitty suggested.
(Confessional- Subtle, Kitty, subtle)
"I have enough trouble keeping this one on track," Emma said, pointing to her sister beside her, "with a whole other team to worry about, I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on her as much."
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Yep, we really need an alliance."
(End confessional)
The Sisters glanced at Noah, who now was blocking out everything around him by listening to music through headphones.
"Noah's a snarky know-it-all. Do you have any idea what it's like to be around someone like that?" Emma asked her sister.
Kitty glanced away from her sister as she sarcastically answered, "I can't imagine." Emma threw her a look, and Kitty recovered quickly. "But, they're pros. They know what's what."
Owen attempted to buckle his seat belt, which was pretty hard considering someone of his girth. "Okay, come on…" He attempted once more, but he unintentionally let a fart rip in the process.
It was so foul that alarms started ringing and both Noah and Emma coughed.
Covering his nose, Noah scowled at Owen. "I'm going to hang out in the toilet where it smells better." He got up to do just that when he met Emma in the aisle, and they exchanged a small smile.
Checking back with the seven later teams, Jay repeatedly pressed the flight attendant button. A stewardess rushed over.
"Stewardess! This altitude is giving my brother a nosebleed, and an inner ear infection!" Jay alerted her.
Mickey whimpered in his fetal position. "How much longer is this flight?!"
Leaning over the top of their seats, Taylor threw them an irritated glare. "We're still on the ground, you babies."
A zoom out of the plane revealed they really were still at the airport.
Inside, Taylor sat in her window seat, facing away from her mother.
"I like how you handled that, honey." Kelly praised her.
"Oh, do I get a fake trophy for it?" Taylor shot back, rolling her eyes.
(Confessional- Burn!)
Taylor sat facing away from Kelly, who was trying to lean over and comfort her daughter.
"Taylor, I feel terrible about this." Kelly tried to say.
Giving a fake smile for a moment before frowning again, Taylor retorted, "Oh, in that case all's forgiven. Psyche! That means it isn't."
(End confessional)
Finally looking at her mother, Taylor told her, "Mom, I need some space. I'm giving you a time-out."
"Uh, I'm not sure it works that way, honey." Kelly pointed out.
In response, Taylor drew a huge breath, and began to hold it.
Standing up, Kelly stopped her. "Okay, sure." She left their seats, and walked up the aisle, where she found Dwayne and Junior with an empty seat. "Is this seat taken?"
"No," Dwayne stammered, "it isn't, but ehehe, I am. Married, that is."
Junior sighed, "She's not into you, Dad."
"Oh, sorry."
"No problem." Kelly slid into the seat. "I'm just having some family issues right now. It all started back when Taylor was…" She started to tell her tale, and Dwayne listened as attentively as he would with his own wife.
(Confessional- A Mom & Dad conversation)
"Play our cards right, sporto, and we'll have our first alliance. Great, huh?" Dwayne told Junior.
Junior looked at him, and raised his arms incredulously. "What? Have you met them?!"
(End confessional)
"And I guess I shouldn't have told her the truth." Kelly finished.
Dwayne answered, "Our opinions mean a lot to them. Like, this one time, Junior made pancakes for Mother's Day. I told him they were overdone, and he almost cried."
Kelly smiled, able to relate. "I had the same thing happen with Taylor, except I was the one making the pancakes for her, and she them at me, and the pan."
Dwayne, unable to believe her answer, gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Eh, well, that's kids for you."
"Kitty is so unfocused…" Emma told Noah. Noah smirked, and replied, what he said couldn't be heard as a zoom out focused on Kitty and Owen, who were watching from their seats.
"Ugh, they're so snarky and full of themselves." Kitty commented as they spied on their teammates.
Looking across the aisle, Owen asked, "How are they not a couple yet?"
Sitting down, Kitty faced Owen, "It's Emma. She's still hurt from her last breakup."
"Oh, still fresh?"
"It was three years ago."
"Oh."
"Yep, getting these two together is going to take some work." Kitty glanced back at their partners out of her peripheral. Owen chuckled, and they fist bumped, concreting their agreement to get their partners together.
"Flight number one has landed in Dubai, and the teams are being shuttled to the Burj Al Arab." As Don spoke, said flight landed, and cut to the bus arriving at the hotel.
Noah took a tip from the Don Box which read, "Either Or: Serve or Squeegee."
Up above on the top of the hotel, Don explained the challenge, "Teams can either return one serve each from the world's toughest ball launcher, the Tennis Menace, or wash an entire column of windows from the top down." A squeegee sitting precariously on the edge of a window-washer platform fell off, and fell to the ground. It fell at such a speed that it burst into flames, and turned to ash upon impact with the ground. Seeing this, Don put a finger up to his ear piece, "Are you sure legal cleared this?" A reply warbled over static. "Really?"
The show faded to commercial.
"Welcome back to the Ridonculous Race. The teams from flight one were the first to arrive at the hotel, and have the choice of either-" Don explained
"Serve." Geoff decided.
"Or," Don added.
"Squeegee. Come on, let's go!" Noah declared, running into the hotel to use the elevator. Owen and the other teams followed suit.
Along with Geoff and Brody, the Best Friends, the Ice Dancers, and the Fashion Bloggers all chose Serve. Brody stepped up first with a racquet in hand.
"Okay, buddy, you got this?" Geoff asked his partner from the sidelines.
"I got this." Brody replied, getting into a stance.
(Location confessional- on the hotel rooftop)
"Tennis is the ultimate wimp sport." Brody said.
"No checking, no tackling, just a fluffy little ball." Geoff explained, making a ball with his hands for visual aid. "It's like super-sized ping pong. What could be dangerous about that?"
(End confessional)
"You got this?" Geoff repeated at a louder volume.
Annoyed, Brody turned his back on the machine to shout back, "I got this!" At that moment, the ball launcher turned on, and rapidly fired balls at Brody. Covering his head, Brody made a retreat. "I so don't got this, dude!" Carrie, Devin, Tom, and Jen all watched as he ran back to the sidelines.
Carrie nervously eyed the Tennis Menace, and Devin put a hand around her shoulder. "I know you're scared, but no matter what happens, I believe in you." He encouraged her. Carrie chuckled, blushing as she did so, and approached the Tennis Menace to take her turn. As she got into position, Devin put a finger to his chin in thought, "Anyway," Tom and Jen looked away from Carrie to look at Devin and listen to what he said, "Shelley hangs out with her tennis instructor all the time, and she says tennis is a mental game."
Caught off-guard, Carrie flinched as a tennis ball knocked her racquet out of her hands, causing her to frown sadly.
"Hey, you okay?" Jen asked as she walked up to take her turn. She quickly yelped as she narrowly avoided a ball cracking her sunglasses.
(Confessional- Might want to hide those sunglasses from the Tennis Menace)
Tom and Jen sat in the confessional booth, both highly alert.
"Okay, did you see that?" Jen inquired her partner.
"Yeah, I did." Tom responded with a nod. "Did you hear the way Carrie giggled after Devin gave her encouragement?"
"Something's up," Jen said suspiciously, holding her hand underneath her chin, "Carrie was totally ready to take on that machine until Devin started talking about his girlfriend."
Tom hummed in thought, "You don't think?"
(End confessional)
The second flight was almost to Dubai, and Kelly was still telling stories about Taylor's childhood to Dwayne.
"Well, and that's it, right? After she crashed her third sports car, I wanted to cut up her credit cards, but I knew she'd just steal mine." Kelly wrapped up another story. "That's parenting, right?"
"I guess teens are more challenging…" Dwayne mused, taking a sip of his water.
"Oh no, that all happened when she was ten," Kelly corrected him, "the real trouble started when she turned twelve." Dwayne did a spit take.
"Kelly, the problem is that Taylor doesn't have proper boundaries, that or she was born rotten." Dwayne responded.
Kelly gasped, standing up and snatching Dwayne's glass of water, "How dare you?!" Throwing his water on him, Kelly walked back to her original seat with Taylor.
(Location confessional- on the second flight)
A skeptical Dwayne stood with Junior in the aisle.
"I'm worried Kelly and Taylor aren't the best team to partner with." He said, holding his hand to his chin thoughtfully.
Junior snorted, "Yeah."
(End confessional)
Noah and Owen prepared to do the Squeegee challenge, and Emma and Kitty walked up to the platform beside them.
"Hey, we're doing the same challenge as you two. What are the odds?" Kitty joked.
Owen held up a hand in an offering way. "Maybe we should work together?"
Emma leaned towards her sister and lowered her voice to a whisper, "No alliances, remember? Come on!"
(Confessional- She'll cave)
"Remember," Emma told her sister, "we're here to finish first. No surrender, Noah distractions-"
"Did you just say 'Noah'?" Kitty smirked.
"Zero! Zero distractions." Emma covered her sister's mouth, and corrected herself.
(End confessional)
"With the teams from flight two arriving, the heat is on." Don announced as the second flight arrived, and the teams hopped on their bus to the hotel.
Owen wiped a window with his squeegee. "This is hard, but we're making good progress. How many is that?" He asked Noah.
A camera shot from further away revealed they were not that far from where they started.
"One." Noah quipped. Owen chuckled.
A window down and a column over, the Sisters were ahead of them. Kitty snapped a selfie as the winds at their altitude shook their platform. Seeking safety, Kitty clung onto the side of the platform. "I'm starting to think this is more terrifying than tennis."
"Just help me lower this thing," Emma ordered, picking up a manual, "according to the manual, the sides move separately so we pull these two levers at once."
"Why would they design it like that?"
"Why would they put a tennis court on the roof? Just pull on three. One, two, three!"
They both flipped their switch, and the platform lowered a bit before it became severely lop-sided, leaving the sisters dangling from one side of it.
"Uh, gonna say that was your fault." Emma remarked.
Kitty gave her sister a flat look. "Of course you are."
Down below, the bus carrying the remaining teams arrived, and everyone hurried out to make up for lost time.
"The teams from flight two have reached the hotel in time to catch up with the front runners." Don announced.
"Serve or Squeegee?" Taylor questioned.
The teams heard screams from above them, and they glanced up to see the Sisters dangling from their platform and screeching at the top of their lungs.
"Serve!" Dwayne, Kelly, Taylor, and the twins quickly declared.
(Confessional- Good call)
"We're feeling good about this tennis challenge. Sure, I'm allergic to felt, and watching moving balls gives Mickey motion sickness, but at least we won't have to deal with heights." Jay pointed out.
"Heights give me life-threatening nosebleeds." Mickey informed the camera.
"For the first time, I know we can win this one." Jay said proudly, puffing up his chest confidently as Mickey did the same.
(End confessional)
The teams all joined the front runners up on the rooftop tennis court as the Best Friends and the Ice Dancers stood on the court. They all made sure to stay a clear distance from the machine. Jay in particular had his arm out in front of his brother protectively.
"Hey, my nose isn't bleeding!" Mickey pointed to his clean nose, clearly happy with it.
The machine shot out a ball, and it smacked Mickey right in the nose. Mickey made a face, and Jay glanced at his brother.
"Nosebleed?" Jay got his answer in the form of Mickey collapsing to the floor.
(Location confessional- rooftop tennis court)
"The wind was all whoosh! The twins were all yes! Then the machine was all boom! And Mickey was all splat!" Rock explained while Spud stood beside him absent-mindedly.
(End confessional)
The machine began to fire rapidly, causing the racers to yelp as they dodged being hit.
"Cool…" Junior said in awe. He was about to head out onto the court when his father put his hand on his shoulder.
"We'll be switching to windows." Dwayne decided, guiding his son in the direction of the window-washing platforms.
Kelly and Taylor met them on the way. "So are we." Kelly decided as well.
"Mom, why? I have like a bajillion tennis medals." Taylor boasted, only for her smirk to fall when she saw her mother's sheepish smile. She grunted and walked away, "You ruin my life!"
"Silence!" Jacques shouted from the court. "I am trying to perform!"
"Yeah, good luck!" Devin taunted.
(Solo confessional- Devin)
"I've watched Shelley play tennis for years, and believe me, Jacques has a better chance of hitting a beach ball than a tennis ball." Devin pointed towards the court with his thumb.
(End confessional)
The ball launcher shot a ball out, and Jacques returned it way into the sky.
Seeing Jacques complete the challenge, Devin frowned. "I'll shut up now."
"Oh, excellent idea!" Jacques agreed as Josee switched places with him. "Just watch, you might learn something."
Taking a moment to kiss her good luck charm, Josee got into positon. At the last second, a seagull landed on Josee's head, distracting her. The moment she looked away from the machine, it started firing. Josee tried to swipe at the seagull, and it flew away just in time for her to get pelted by a multitude of balls. "What?! Interference!" Josee cried out to the others, trying to justify another turn, and she got hit in the back of her head, knocking her down.
Jacques, Carrie, and Devin cringed. Recovering moments later, Devin taunted, "Ooh, better luck next time." Jacques ran up to Josee, and scooped her up in his arms.
"Josee, mon petit chou, we won't make podium by waiting in line. Let's switch to windows!" Jacques told her.
"Fine, but after we win, I'm throwing a massive tantrum." Josee agreed.
(Confessional- thank you, seagull)
"Tantrums run in her family. Once, I was late to picking Josee up from practice, and her mama attacked me with a lamp." Jacques recalled, his pupils shrinking at the thought of the lamp.
"I don't miss that lamp." Josee commented.
"Or your mum." Jacques added.
(End confessional)
Dwayne and Junior were making progress washing windows, and Dwayne stopped for a moment.
"Now son, the trick to proper squeegeeing is to-"
"Wipe the window?" Junior answered simply.
Dwayne shrugged, "Pretty much," Junior turned to continue washing windows while Dwayne chuckled and went back to work himself, "fast learner."
A column over, Kelly watched them enviously.
"He thinks he's parent of the year. Who is he to tell me how to-"
"Mom, get moving. These windows won't wash themselves." Taylor snapped, a hand on her hip.
"On it," Kelly reached down to pick up her bucket of water, "good call, honey."
(Confessional- At least Taylor's talking to her)
Taylor filed her nails with disinterest in the confessional her mother was making.
"Working on these challenges is good for Taylor and I. At home, we're so busy with our everyday lives."
Taylor paused in her filing to point out, "Actually, I'm a lot busier than she is, but I try to squeeze her in." She didn't even notice the annoyed look on her mother's face.
(End confessional)
"Alright, my turn!" Chet boasted as he got ready to return a serve.
"Sure, just don't screw this up, Butt Stain." Lorenzo quipped behind him.
"Would you shut up?! I'm trying to focus here."
Lorenzo smirked at the irritation he could see he was causing Chet. "Sorry, I know it's hard for you to do that."
Chet gnashed his teeth, and approached the Tennis Menace.
It shot a single ball his way, and he slammed it with his racquet. It bounced off of Chet's racquet at such a perfect angle, and with such power that his return actually shoved the machine off the edge of the court.
Lorenzo shot Chet an annoyed look. "Nice going, Chet. Now we all have to wait until that thing is brought back up here to take our turn!" Chet glared at him in response.
The machine fell, and landed on the Sisters' platform. The Sisters quickly took to a corner of their platform together.
"Uh," Emma spoke up worriedly, "is this part of the challenge?"
The machine began to fire rapidly, and Kitty, in her panic, used the squeegee in her hand as a makeshift racquet, frantically returned all of the shots.
"Really?! Why didn't we do tennis?!" Emma remarked incredulously. One of Kitty's returns hit her switch on the opposite side of the platform, and Emma lost her balance, falling towards the machine. "Whoa!" At the last second, she grabbed onto the launcher's barrel. "Kitty, help!"
Over a column, and a few windows down, Noah stopped what he was doing when he heard Emma's cries. Looking up, he saw her and the machine slip off the platform.
"Emma, no!" He cried out frantically as the show cut to commercial once more.
The show returned, showing Emma falling from her platform.
She screamed, and flailed her arms until she stopped falling for some reason.
She looked up, and saw Noah grasping her arm. Beside her, the Tennis Menace fell to the concrete below.
"Hey Clumsy, you dropped something," Noah greeted with a smile.
(Confessional- Nice save)
"You know that moment when you realized you'd care if someone died? I didn't… until then." Noah said.
"That is so beautiful." Owen complimented him.
(Confessional- another)
"Okay, so maybe Noah's not the worst person in the world." Emma remarked, her arms crossed.
Kitty smiled while saying, "Nicest thing she's ever said."
(End confessional)
The Ice Dancers washed their windows, using their ice-dancing techniques to make the display even more spectacular.
They were just wiping another window when the window showed someone on the other side watching them. They stared at their single-person audience until he held up a card saying 6.0. The Ice Dancers smiled at each other.
(Confessional- Not that impressive)
"Just because a task is menial, does not mean you skimp out on artistic impression." Jacques noted to the viewers.
"The goal is to achieve greatness. Winning will then be thrust upon us."
(End confessional)
"Wipe faster, Mom!" Taylor barked at her mother.
Gritting her teeth, Kelly responded, "Yelling won't help, sweetie."
Rolling her eyes, Taylor retorted, "Um, I yell at the maid all the time, and she cleans faster. I think I know what I'm doing."
A helicopter returned the ball launcher to the tennis court, but the launcher itself was all broken up and dysfunctional. It poorly shot a ball onto the court. The shot was so abysmal that it bounced before it even got past the net.
"Nice," Devin commented with a smile, "anyone could clobber that." Carrie giggled at his joke. Devin frowned after a moment and added, "Well, almost anyone." He pointed to the Adversity Twins, who were breathing heavily.
"We can do this," Jay approached the court nervously, "nothing to freak out about… Tell Mom I loved her!"
Down below, the Reality TV Pros and the Sisters were now on the same platform.
"Glad we're alive, but I'm kind of bummed we'll tie for last." Emma said.
"Can you be any more negative?" Kitty questioned her sister skeptically.
"Sure," Noah answered for Emma, "she implied we'll finish. We only have one squeegee between us, and you guys lost all your water."
Owen smiled, getting an idea. "It's not over yet! I know how to win this, but you guys got to agree to an alliance first."
Kitty clapped as Noah and Emma shared a look before consenting, "Alright." "Sure."
"I will be our squeegee!" Owen announced, taking off his shirt.
Inside the hotel, a hotel worker was on their break, taking a sip of coffee when she heard a plink sound, and looked up to see a shirtless Owen up against the window. He chuckled cheekily. The hotel worker instantly did a spit take.
Turning his head to address his alliance buddies, Owen said, "Let her drop!"
Noah pushed Owen up against the window while Emma and Kitty operated the levers, sending their platform down the windows rapidly. Owen cheered as his girth cleaned the windows.
The sound of Owen squeegeeing the windows was so loud that those up on the roof could hear it, especially Jay.
"That sound!" Jay cried out. The sound went on long enough that it made him faint. He began to fall forward.
The Tennis Menace shot a ball.
The ball flew towards Jay's racquet as he fell forward, and bounced off the racquet's netting. Jay was left hanging over the net dividing the court.
"Sweet move, tiny bro!" Geoff encouraged him.
Mickey ran up to his brother. "Jay! Jay, are you okay?"
The Tennis Menace shot another ball, and this time, it hit Mickey on the side of his head. The impact, while weak, was still strong enough to conk out Mickey, who fell over.
The Surfers and the Rockers watched on with surprise for a moment.
"Whoa!" Geoff gasped, and pumped his fist in the air. "Twins finish first!" He, Brody, and the Rockers gave the Twins a round of tennis applause.
"Two windows left, and the gold is ours!" Josee told Jacques. Her gleeful smile turned into a frown when she and Jacques looked to their left to see the Sisters and Reality TV Pros slide down their windows and crash on the ground.
"Whoo! Way to go, Owen!" Kitty praised Owen as he flopped on his back.
"Way to take one for the team, big guy." Noah complimented him as Kitty handed the big guy his shirt back.
Putting it on, Owen chuckled, "It feels like I just took a rollercoaster through a car wash."
While Noah and Kitty helped Owen up, Emma retrieved a tip from the Don Box. "Find the Chill Zone in the Gold Suk. The what?" Emma wondered out loud.
Don appeared at the Gold Suk, and explained, "The Gold Suk, just a normal plaza where everything is made of gold. To reach the Chill Zone inside this shop, teams must travel here in taxis, some of which are made of gold, literally." A man walked by, licking a gold ice cream cone. "They really like their gold here." He added as an afterthought.
"To the gold!" Josee commanded, and the three teams raced to get taxis to the Gold Suk.
Up on the court, all the teams were taking advantage of the now-easy ball launcher, quickly getting their turns done. Spud was able to get a shot by using his belly, and Ennui got one just by simply holding up his racquet. After the Goths were done, the Bloggers and the Best Friends got ready to take their turns.
"You can do it," Devin encouraged Carrie once more and added, "just ask yourself what would Shelley do?"
Carrie turned on him, frowning, "No, I'm not Shelley, and I never will be!" She ran off the court.
"Carrie, wait!" Devin made to run after her, but was stopped by Jen putting a disapproving hand on his chest.
"You don't want to do that, trust me. You'll only make it worse if you're the one that caused her to get upset in the first place." Jen informed him, and turned her head to address Tom. "Tom, you go help Carrie. Devin and I will take our turns." Tom nodded, and ran off to go find Carrie.
Kelly sighed exhaustedly as she did one final wipe of her squeegee, and got off the platform, which was now at the bottom of the hotel. "There, all done."
"Took long enough," Taylor complained, and looked down at her boots before whining in disgust, "Ew! There's bird poop on my boot." She held up the boot in question, which had a white splatter of bird poop on it. Before Kelly could say anything, Taylor wiped her boot on Kelly's jacket. Once it was clean, Taylor put the boot back on. "There, totes better."
Kelly gasped, staring at the offending bird poop before scolding her daughter, "Do not treat me like a doormat!"
"You're all sweaty and gross anyway. Why should we both suffer?" Taylor responded flippantly.
Kelly rolled her eyes before the nearest lever of their platform caught her attention. Narrowing her eyes, she flipped the switch, causing it to rise up a few levels with Taylor on it.
"Hey! Don't just stand there like an old mannequin, help me!" Taylor exclaimed.
"No, I'm giving you a time-out."
"You can't do that! I'm your daughter!"
"Well that's how it works. I won't help until you apologize."
"You're in for a long wait!"
The Reality TV Pros and the Sisters ran through the Gold Suk.
"Remember, we're looking for a gold Chill Zone." Owen reminded them.
Noah and the girls followed him until Noah spotted something in a store display. The store's display window held Gilded Chris statuettes from season two. Noah smirked, and pointed to them, "Look, they even have dollar stores."
Emma guffawed, holding her stomach as she laughed out loud.
(Confessional- Got the joke)
Emma and Kitty stared at the camera blankly.
"I didn't get it." Emma stated flatly.
(End confessional)
The two teams eventually came across a store with an 'RR' on top.
"This is it!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Ladies first." Noah stepped aside and gestured for Emma and Kitty step inside first.
"Really? Why would you? I don't know what to say…" Emma responded.
"Maybe just get in before another team shows up?" Noah smiled at her.
"Oh, right." Emma smiled back, and she and her sister entered the shop.
Don stood inside the store with the Carpet of Completion. "Sisters," he greeted them, "congratulations, you're the first team to arrive." Emma and Kitty cheered as Noah and Owen entered the shop. "Owen and Noah, you're team number two."
(Confessional- Aw, Noah did something nice)
Noah shrugged. "It's not like this is for the million bucks, so I might as well let her know how I feel."
(Confessional- The Sisters' response?)
"Wow," Emma said in the confessional astonishingly, "Noah is… he's…" Emma caught herself and coughed, "really interested in forming an alliance with us."
Kitty frowned at her sister, and facepalmed.
(End confessional)
Jacques and Josee arrived at the Chill Zone.
"Welcome to the Chill Zone, you're in third." Don informed them. The Ice Dancers gasped. "Kidding," Don chuckled as the Adversity Twins came up behind him, and he pointed at them with his thumb, "the twins got here way before you."
"Mickey and I took one of the non-gold cabs. They're a lot faster." Jay explained.
"You mean… we're fourth?! We didn't make the podium at all?!" Jacques exclaimed, his eyes wide.
Don stared at him with confusion. "What podium? There is no podium."
Josee pointed at Don vindictively. "There is always a podium!"
(Location confessional- the Chill Zone)
Jay and Mickey stood inside the store as Josee could be heard raging and throwing stuff across the store in the background.
"Third place! Usually we have much worse luck than that." Mickey cheered.
"It's almost as if another team soaked up all the bad luck in the area," Jay added before he and Mickey quickly ducked to avoid Josee throwing a gold lamp at the camera, "crazy." They glanced at the now-cracked camera concernedly.
(End confessional)
More teams came in rapidly.
"Fifth!" Don announced as Father and Son arrived.
"Sixth!" The Goths.
"Seventh!" The Police Cadets.
"Eighth!" The Surfers.
"Ninth!" The Stepbrothers.
"Tenth!" The Rockers.
"As more teams arrive, one team is on their way while two teams are in a dead heat for last place. Whose apathy will come out on top?" Don narrated as the Bloggers left the Best Friends on the court with only Carrie needing to take her turn. Meanwhile, Taylor was still hanging from the suspended platform, refusing to apologize to her mother.
Kelly walked back to where she left Taylor with a tip in hand. Tom and Jen ran past her, and got in a cab to head to the Chill Zone.
"Taylor," Kelly said in a stern tone, "I'm going to show you what your attitude is doing to us."
Taylor rolled her eyes at her mother down below. "It's 'tude, Mom. No one says attitude anymore. You can't even lecture right."
"I got a tip from the Don Box," Kelly held up the tip and read from it, "it says our next destination is a mall, full of gold." She looked up at her daughter sadly. "We could be shopping right now!" She sobbed.
Taylor found herself trembling at the idea. "I-I didn't know. I am sorry, Mom. I am like so sorry!" She admitted.
"You really mean it?" Kelly smiled hopefully.
"Well," Taylor thought for a moment, "not for anything I did." She sighed and glanced down at her mother again. "Look, you're kind of lame, and most of the time, you totally embarrass me. But," Taylor paused, "as long as you'll take me shopping, I'll pretend you don't."
Kelly sniffled and held out her arms, "That's all I ever wanted." Taylor let go of the platform, and fell into her mother's arms, who caught her with ease. With Taylor still in Kelly's arms, they went off to go find a taxi.
Up on the court, after multiple tries, Carrie finally managed to return a serve, her return putting an end to the infernal ball launcher, sending it off the edge of the court for a second time.
Devin and Carrie hurried down to the main floor, and went out to hail a cab. They managed to get one the same time as Kelly and Taylor.
"The Gold Suk!" Carrie told the driver of the Best Friends' taxi.
"Hurry!" Taylor told the driver of Mom & Daughter's taxi.
(Location confessional- in the taxi)
Carrie looked at Devin, ashamed.
"I'm sorry if we get eliminated because of my bad tennis skills." She apologized to him.
"No," Devin rejected the apology with his own, "I'm sorry if I said anything during the challenge that upset you and made you lose focus. The Fashion Bloggers made me see that."
"It's okay. You didn't know you had pushed a button," Carrie poked her index fingers together and then smiled, "but you're right. Tom and Jen were a great help today. Maybe we should work together with them after all if we're still in the race." Devin smiled in agreement.
(End confessional)
Don watched as Tom and Jen ran past him to the Carpet of Completion. "Eleventh place!" He turned to the camera. "With our final two teams on their way, it's a race to not come in last."
"There's the Gold Suk!" Kelly cried out as the two teams arrived at the mall.
"Run for it!" Devin exclaimed as both teams hurried out of their taxis.
Both teams ran around the mall, looking for the shop holding the Chill Zone.
Carrie peeked in a store window, trying to make out any sign of the Carpet of Completion.
Taylor looked around, not seeing any sort of sign.
Devin thought to look at a directory, believing it may hold some sort of clue.
Kelly ran past a few stores.
After a little bit, Taylor gasped and pointed off in a direction. "There it is!" The camera panned over, revealing the store with an open door and the 'RR' signage over the doorway.
Both teams, within the store's vicinity, glanced at each other before breaking into a sprint as tense racing music picked up. They all wore identical looks of fear they would come in last. Carrie and Devin glimpsed off to their side, showing Kelly and Taylor doing the same to them.
Inside the store, Don curled his hands into excited fists. "Here they come!"
…
…
…
Devin and Carrie raced into the shop, and ran to the Carpet of Completion.
"Devin and Carrie, twelfth place! You're still in the race!" Don informed them. They cheered, and left the carpet as Kelly and Taylor stopped on the carpet. Don grew solemn, and told them, "Kelly, Taylor, you've come in last. You're out of the race."
Kelly slouched and sighed, "We were so close…"
Taylor shrugged, actually smiling as she said, "Hey, as long as we're here, we might as well shop to cheer us up." Kelly smiled a little at the suggestion as their farewell footage began.
"I hope I never touch another camel, but I loved Paris. I can't believe how good your drawing was." Kelly said in a voice-over.
"I know, so good," Taylor agreed, "and I can't believe your upper body strength. I need to see your trainer like yesterday."
"You know, it's funny, we entered this race to win more money, but we ended up getting something we actually needed."
"Speaking of which, if we're going to shop more, I'm going to need you to double my allowance."
The farewell footage ended, and switched to Kelly and Taylor getting in a cab with a bunch of shopping bags and boxes. Kelly chuckled as they got in the cab.
"Oh Taylor," Kelly said, "I'm canceling your allowance."
As the taxi's door shut, Taylor could be heard saying, "Wait, what?!"
Current Team Rankings:
1st: Emma and Kitty- Sisters
2nd: Noah and Owen- Reality TV Pros
3rd: Mickey and Jay- Adversity Twins
4th: Josee and Jacques- Ice Dancers
5th: Dwayne and Junior- Father & Son
6th: Crimson and Ennui- Goths
7th: Sanders and MacArthur- Police Cadets
8th: Geoff and Brody- Surfer Dudes
9th: Chet and Lorenzo- Stepbrothers
10th: Rock and Spud- Rockers
11th: Tom and Jen- Fashion Bloggers
12th: Carrie and Devin- Best Friends
Eliminated:
13th: Kelly and Taylor- Mother & Daughter
14th: Stephanie and Ryan- Daters
15th: Laurie and Miles- Vegans
16th: Ellody and Mary- Geniuses
17th: Gerry and Pete- Tennis Rivals
18th: Leonard and Tammy- LARPers
Author's Note:
Kelly and Taylor are out! Since the Fashion Bloggers are still making small, yet subtle impacts, they haven't done enough to cause someone else's elimination yet. The impact of this chapter was their interaction with the Best Friends. Hanging around them, they're connecting dots and helping their not-alliance partners with the challenge as they promised they would if they form a partnership.
Also, last chapter introduced a running gag that continued here. Mickey's missing helmet. Since the Fashion Bloggers were sticking around, I thought it would be good for them to give fashion advice since fashion is one of their top priorities, and the twins really needed it. That, and judging by the Fashion Bloggers' reaction to helmets in episode 1, they really dislike helmets so it worked out pretty well. The second reason for making Mickey lose the helmet was I honestly hated the stupid thing, and wanted to get rid of it. As Don and the Rockers pointed out, he looks better without it, and it became funny enough to the point it became a running gag where people compliment him now that he doesn't have his helmet.
Regarding Chet knocking the Tennis Menace off the hotel, I figured someone had to do it, and Chet seemed like a good enough candidate. He and Lorenzo already have conflict like the Daters did, so Lorenzo egging him on ticked him off to the point he could return a serve as viciously as Stephanie, keeping Noah and Emma's romance plot on track. It also allowed for the Stepbrothers to get more time in the limelight. Throughout the story, time that would've been hogged by the Daters will now be spread out among the teams so they all get more limelight as the Stepbrothers did here and Mother & Daughter last chapter.
Be sure to leave a review, and tell me what you think about the AU's changes from canon so far. Reviews are awesome!