Right, let's keep going. Paris! Thank you for your reviews, SilverWriter0927, Gage the Hedgehog (they're actually not even in my top third of teams), Urshura Maria (me too), StarHeart Specials (not my favourite, but my favourites aren't actually that important in this fic) and Bloodylilcorpse (Ditto, but I agree – I would've liked them to stay longer).

We started off again the very next morning. Since Carrie and Devin were first to the Chill Zone last time, they got the first travel tip. Carrie gave it to Devin, who said "Oh, wow! Looks like we're going to Paris!"

Now that was cool. Everyone seemed really excited about it, not just a few teams. Apparently, we had to take a moped to the airport, and then go to the Eiffel Tower.

The Fashion Bloggers in particular got really excited. They both started squealing as Kat and I jumped on our moped and zoomed off.

Okay, note one of the first things I learned about my sister: Never trust her behind the wheel. She drove like an escaped mental patient with nurses and a hitman on her trail. That said, we arrived at the airport fifth, just after the Daters and before the Tennis Rivals.

The Surfer Dudes actually crashed into the airport, still on their moped, and I heard them making a confessional then and there. Brody was talking all about how he once crashed into his neighbour's gazebo. They both started laughing, then Geoff spoke up. "Dude, we shouldn't laugh. Totally ruined that wedding." Then both of them called out "FREE CAKE!" and kept laughing. They seemed sort of like nicer, friendlier, and slightly more mature versions of the Stepbrothers. And I meant that in a good way.

Kat and I made a confessional while we were on the plane – we got to catch the first plane with eight other teams. The other nine had to wait for the next.

"I'm rethinking who we should make an alliance with." Kat said. "We definitely need one for at least a few challenges. I'm still thinking about the Best Friends. What do you think, Reeni?"

I paused, thinking about who I liked the most, as well as who was the strongest. "I like the Surfer Dudes, or the Reality TV Pros." I finally said. "They seem pretty cool."

Kat nodded. "They're nice. Now," she paused, grinning, "Who did you want to say?" I stared at her. She laughed. "Don't look so surprised. I could tell, you have a few teams you'd rather ally with."
I looked away from the camera and mumbled "None of them are on this flight."

"So? Who are they?"

I listed three. "My first choices for an alliance would be the Sisters, the Vegans, or the Adversity Twins."

Kat patted my shoulder, like I was a puppy or something. "We can be friends with them outside of the challenges. We need to make proper game alliances too." She smiled. "Maybe you can make friends with that nice kid who's on that team with his dad."

"Stop teasing me!" I snapped, leaving the confessional backdrop.
We landed at night, and this time, we were the last team to get a taxi and last to the Don Box. I took the tip.

"A Botch or Watch." I read. "My turn. I have to...draw a caricature of you."

So I started drawing carefully, and Kat posed, not in a very original pose, but in one that was easy to draw. As I finished her outline and started decorating her features, making them comical, I heard the Surfer Dudes finishing, and Owen saying to Noah "Awww, I think the way they support each other is beautiful. We should hug!"

"No."

"Please? What about a high-"

"Face forward!"

"I don't remember Noah being this bossy on the show." Kat murmured to me. "Then again, he wasn't on the first season for long, and Alejandro took on leadership for his team in the third, so he didn't have much to do."

"Was that the guy who walked on his hands for most of the season after the mutants were cleared from the island?" I asked. "He didn't seem much like a leader. All he did was get that girl – Heather, right? - eliminated and then he was pretty much a lone wolf."

Kat laughed. "If you'd seen the third season, you'd be glad he hasn't joined this cast. True, he wasn't that strong in the season you watched, but in the other one...he basically seduced and manipulated his way to the finale, and only lost because he fell in love himself. Plus, he was good at almost everything."

Before I knew it, several more teams were arriving (those from the second flight), and I was showing my picture to the local artist, just as I heard Kitty asking Emma if she was dating anyone new.

The artist accepted and gave me the next travel tip.

Kat read it over my shoulder. "We have to go to the catacombs and find a stack of Roquefort cheese wheels? Whoa."

We went down the steps cautiously, into a chamber full of skeletons. I shivered, and Kat put her arm around me, thinking I was scared. I wasn't, I was just a bit creeped out and cold. Really.

I pulled away. "Are you freaked out? Because it's freezing down here, but fascinating too."

I looked up, and I saw Kat try to hide a shudder. But she said "No. I'm a little cold, but it's not really scary, is it? These plague victims are fascinating, and it's not like we can catch anything from them."

It took ages to find the cheeses, but not many people had gotten there, thank goodness. According to a sign in there, we had to sail the cheese to an art gallery called the Louvre. We had to row really fast, but we even managed to pass the Stepbrothers, who were rowing out of time, not looking at each other.

Dwayne and Junior were just ahead of us. "Fifth!" Don said as they passed. We stepped onto the Carpet of Completion. "Sixth!" (The Police Cadets had won, followed by the Ice Dancers, Surfer Dudes and Best Friends).

Kat and I high-fived, although one thing I had to admit was that I had been annoyed by her during the challenge. Thinking I was scared in the catacombs! Oh yeah, as if.

At this point, my sister gave me a little push towards the Father-Son team. "Why don't you go talk to Junior? He'd probably want to talk to someone his own age, too."

"Kat!" I groaned. "Don't push me like that! We don't even know each other!"

I noticed Dwayne and Junior having a similar conversation. Junior's expression mirrored mine. But eventually, he approached me. "Um, hey." he said awkwardly.

"Hey." I managed a smile. There was a pause, before I added. "Awkward."

Junior laughed. "Yeah, it is."

"Let me guess..." I said. "Your dad said you should talk to me because I'm the only other kid on this show?"

Junior nodded. "And your...she's your sister, right?...thinks we should be friends because we're close in age?"

I nodded back, and we both laughed. "So...how old are you?" I asked.

"Thirteen. Not exactly a kid. You?"

"I turned twelve the day before the race started." I admitted. I hesitated, but added "Do you think of me as a kid?"

"Are you going into sixth or seventh grade next year?" Junior asked.

"Seventh."

"Then 's only a year younger than me."

I'd admit, it was actually kind of nice to talk to Junior. We felt like we had similar places in the race – much younger contestants with a family member who underestimated us, treating us like kids when we were sometimes more mature than them. And Junior was by far the most mature thirteen-year-old I'd ever met. I mean, he was more mature than the Stepbrothers, who were seventeen (although around the same maturity as the Adversity Twins, who were the next youngest after Junior and I – sixteen). Maybe we would become friends. Besides, while I felt too shy to speak freely around the older ones, I felt like I could be myself around Junior, because we were on level ground. Not that I wanted to swear or anything (I actually didn't see the point of swear words), but I could be as sarcastic or sincere as I liked.

People continued arriving. The Stepbrothers were actually next.

It was up to the eleventh or twelth team when the Reality TV Pros came running up. "If it isn't Noah and his Ark." Don joked. "Twenty minute penalty."

"What? Why?" Owen exclaimed.

"Because the challenge was to sail the cheese down the river."

"But it's inside me!" Owen protested. "I am cheese!"

"That you are, cookie." Don said serenely. "Now step aside and hope you aren't the last to place."

I couldn't help giggling. I remembered one episode on the movie lot where Owen kept imagining his teammates as food, and them feeding him roast chicken-scented perfume and fruit-flavoured lip gloss when there was nothing else. He was eliminated by a teammate who'd just returned from the first season, if I remembered right.

Owen and Noah weren't quite last. Their penalty ended just as the Tennis Rivals arrived. Both teams dived for the carpet, and Don declared the Tennis Rivals the losers because Gerry's foot wasn't on the Carpet. The two elderly competitors were gone.

Development, development. Let's keep developing things next episode!