Disclaimer: See prologue

"Last time on the Ridonculous Race, our bunny hunting bonanza saw the Ice Dancers bag, bully, and blow their chance to get back into first place. Dumped Devin took a trip down denial, and the Goths gained a new team member, a bunny they named Loki. Yeesh, that rabbit is still as creepy as them. In an intense race to not get last place, it was the recently returned Mother & Daughter who got the boot. What was I going to do? Pull something completely out of the blue like a double elimination, yeah right. Who will get cut from the race next? Find out here on… the Ridonculous Race!"


"Welcome back to the Ridonculous Race, we're in New Zealand, and for the second time in the race, the Goths have the opportunity to get the first tip." Don recapped as the Goths walked up to the Don Box, Loki the Goth bunny riding in Ennui's shirt.

Crimson pressed the button on the Don Box, and pulled out the tip. She blinked boredly as she read the tip out loud. "Go go on the loco".

Don explained as a train station and train was shown. "Teams must race up this dangerously steep trail to this train station, and then take a historic train ride through New Zealand's lush mountains all the way up to Decision Junction, where their tips are waiting."

The Goths left the starting point, allowing the Ice Dancers to step forward and get their tip. Scowling, Josee snatched a tip from the Don Box.


(Confessional- Angry Ice Dancers)

"After seven terrible finishes, we are getting first place today, and I mean it!" Josee snarled.

"We have said it before, and we will say it again. We do not settle for second or third!" Jacques added with a declaratory finger raised in the air.

(End confessional)


The Goths were ahead of the pack, but the Ice Dancers were slowly closing the gap between them and the leaders. Not too far behind them were the Stepbrothers.

"We get second place two legs ago, and then we get third place yesterday? We are so awesome!" Chet exclaimed to Lorenzo as they ran side-by-side.

"Hehe, yeah! Today we're getting first place!" Lorenzo agreed.

"Stepbrothas~!" The two sang, chuckling afterwards.

Further down, Junior glanced back at his father. "Hurry up, Dad! We need to catch this train!"

Dwayne stopped a moment, chuckling. "Not to worry, sporto. I checked the schedule and-" A train whistle blew, and he griped. "Aw, come on!" He hurried up the path after his son.

They arrived at the train station just in time to see the first train leaving.

"Train number one leaves the station with the Goths, Ice Dancers, and Stepbrothers." Don voiced over as the train left. The Ice Dancers waved mockingly out a window, and were hit by a support beam of the station, causing them to fall back inside their train car. The Goths stared emotionlessly at their path ahead, while the Stepbrothers made taunting faces at Father & Son.

"Aw puss buckets…" Junior muttered.

"Language, mister." Dwayne warned sternly, and then lightened up. "Hey, listen. We'll get the next one." He pulled out a deck of cards. "Want to play cards while we wait? I'll shuffle."

Junior hemmed and hawed for a moment, and then pulled out some headphones. "I think I'll just listen to some music." He put them on, and started bobbing his head to the tune.

Dwayne frowned sadly. "Oh, alright…"


(Solo confessional- Dwayne)

Dwayne stood in the foreground of the train station while Junior stood at a kiosk in the background, looking at a magazine.

"Sure, a million dollars would be great, but I came here to spend some quality time with Junior." Dwayne glanced at his son in the background. "Yeah, the kid will be off to high school soon. He'll be dating, learning to drive, prom, college- oh…" He started getting all sentimental, and looked at his son meaningfully. "My little bird is leaving the nest…"

(End confessional)


Junior smiled as he glanced through a magazine with a picture of a tattoo on the cover. He held the magazine up to the kiosk window. "I'll take this Maori tattoo magazine, and…" He trailed off momentarily in thought. "Got anything on how to deal with an embarrassing parent?" An arm extended out the window, and handed Junior a second magazine. Taking it, Junior opened it up. "Australian Parent: how to get your ankle biter to do what you want."

Dwayne shuffled his card deck to himself until a small breeze blew the cards out of his hands. He gasped, and turned to catch the cards before they blew away entirely, only to end up running into one of the station's support beams.

Rock and Spud ran beside Tom and Jen at a slower pace.

"Hey," Rock greeted them, Jen specifically, "how's your ankle doing?"

Tom and Jen both smiled. "It's doing well. Thankfully those rabbit holes didn't do much damage." Jen answered. "How about yours?"

"They're both totally back in action. Can't get us out of this race that easily." Rock grinned confidently.

"Yeah," Jen agreed, "same here."


(Confessional- of the Sisters)

"I'm so glad that Em is giving love another shot." Kitty squealed.

"You're not worried at all, are you?" Emma questioned.

"No, I know how important winning is to you, and you've learned from your mistakes." Kitty pointed out. "This time you'll take it slow."

"Right, my love life will not become my sole focus. Even if Noah is cute does that wiggly eyebrow thing, and has the butt of a Roman god. Oh my gosh, when are we going to have our first kiss? I haven't even-!" Emma began to ramble until Kitty stared at her flatly. "What?"

(End confessional)


"Have you ever seen that show Alligator Bite? Owen and I were thinking about auditioning, maybe you and Kitty should too." Noah suggested to Emma as they ran up the trail.

Emma stopped, and took Noah's hand. Catching onto what Emma was probably thinking, Noah gazed at her and she gazed at him, both leaning in.

Owen, who had brought a bag of popcorn with him, ate it while watching the couple. "I love happy endings." He said through a mouth full of popcorn.

Running up beside Owen, Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Why did we stop running?" She caught sight of her sister and Noah, and gushed. "Aww…"

The high IQ and the law student were inches from kissing, and were about to when their moment was interrupted.

"Coming through, dudes!" Geoff announced as he and Brody plowed through them, knocking them down.

Returning to reality, Emma got up and glared at the Surfer Dudes. "Not so fast, party boys! Go, go, go! Move it!" She ran after them.


(Confessional- romance wreckers)

"We had to catch this train no matter what, but I feel bad for Noah and Emma. They were almost in smooch city." Brody apologized in the confessional.

"Yeah, if that happened to me, Bridge would put me in the doghouse for weeks." Geoff nodded, and smiled at the thought of his girlfriend.

"Dude, you'd be so in the doghouse, you'd be in the dog's doghouse!" Brody remarked, and the Surfer Dudes chuckled.

"True that!" Geoff held up a fist, and Brody bumped it.

"Boom!" They chorused.


(Confessional- Kiss interrupted)

Glaring at the camera, Noah remarked, "If I ever see the Surfer Dudes trying to kiss, I'll be sure to interrupt them."

Owen laughed for a moment, but went silent when he realized what Noah meant.


(End confessional)

"Train number two leaves with Father & Son, Surfer Dudes, and the Rockers." Don narrated as the second train left.

Junior was reading the magazine about handling parents when Dwayne joined him in the booth he had been sitting in. "What'cha reading, pally?" He inquired.

Quick to stow away the magazine, Junior swapped it out with the tattoo magazine. "Oh, uh, just reading a local tattoo magazine."

"That's my boy," Dwayne encouraged him, "soaking up the culture." He chuckled a bit before getting stern. "No tattoos."

The Rockers and the Surfer Dudes approached Father & Son, all smiling.

"Hey, Father & Son dudes! All aboard the bro train!" Geoff greeted, and he and Brody pretended to blow train whistles.

"Up at Decision Junction, the first three teams are already arriving." Don narrated while the Ice Dancers, Goths, and Stepbrothers get off their train.

"It's an Either Or-" Josee began to read off the tip before Lorenzo snatched the tip from her. She glared at him.

Lorenzo happily read the tip, not even noticing Josee's disdain. "Jump Down or Jump Around."

Don stood on a bridge. "In today's Either Or, teams can either bungee jump down off this bridge, and catch a local Maori fish with their bare hands." The camera went underwater, and was attacked by a Maori fish. The footage shifted to two men on a stage performing a dance. "Or, teams can jump around to perform a traditional Maori Haka, a warrior challenge dance designed to terrify anyone who is subjected to watching it." The men stopped, and Don was shown cringing in fear. "It's effective. Once teams successfully complete this Either Or, it's a foot race to today's Chill Zone. Last team to arrive, and say it with me, may be eliminated from the competition. Why didn't any of you say it, I said say it with me?" He finished, giving a confused look to people off-screen.

"Jump down?" Lorenzo gave his stepbrother a knowing smirk.

Chet grinned wildly. "Jump down! Mom would never let me go bungee jumping." He and Lorenzo ran off to do their challenge.

"Jump around." Josee said, and she and Jacques ran off with their arms out and their fake smiles on their faces.

Blinking in a bored manner, Crimson, Ennui, and Loki glanced at each other. "Jump down." Ennui stated bluntly. They walked off to their challenge.

Back on the second train, Geoff and Brody eagerly told a story to Junior.

"So he zips me up into a board bag while I'm snoozing," Geoff told while pointing to Brody.

"And puts me/him on the airplane luggage belt thingy." He and Brody finished in synchronization.

On the other side of the booth, Junior and the Rockers laughed. Brody reached a hand across the table, and fist bumped Junior.

In another booth, Dwayne sat alone and sighed. "Yep, it's official. He'd rather be with his cool new bros than his uncool old dad…" He looked up when he noticed Brody walking past. "Hey Brody, you got a sec?"

"Sure man, what's up?" Brody turned to Dwayne.

"Junior really looks up to you guys so how do I be like you?" He asked the surfer.

Brody held his hands up like a surfboard. "Let's say you're surfing a wave, if you try and control the wave, you'll stiffen up and totally bail. You've got to chill, loosen up, and let the wave do its thing. You get me?"

Understanding what Brody was saying, Dwayne smiled. "Yeah, thanks."


(Confessional- Advice by Brody)

Geoff pointed at Brody. "Dude, you should be like a guidance counselor or something, seriously."

"Thanks, man!" Brody fist bumped Geoff.

(End confessional)


The Sisters and the Reality TV Pros sat in a booth together. Emma smiled, and informed the group. "I have a plan on how to get us to the finale as an alliance."

"I love the way you say alliance." Noah commented, his chin resting in his hands.

"First off, regular team meetings to go over any competitive feelings we might be having, and to discuss Owen and Kitty's behavior." Emma explained.

"Hey!" Kitty snapped.

What?" Owen questioned.

Emma leaned forward excitedly. "Sticking together will also allow us to gather plenty of anecdotes for the rehearsal dinner."

Noah also leaned in across the table teasingly. "What kind of person needs to rehearse eating?"

"Ooh, sign me up!" Owen answered, happy to join anything that involved food.

"No, silly Billy," Emma giggled, "it's what you do the night before the wedding!" Noah became confused as Kitty grabbed Emma's arm.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Kitty interjected before Emma could say anything more.

Emma smiled at her sister. "Sure, maid of honor! Whoa!" She yelped when Kitty tugged her out of the booth, and to the back of the cabin.

Kitty pushed Emma in front of her, and gave her sister a wide-eyed look. "It's adorbs that you've got a plan for spending the rest of your entire life with him, but don't tell him! Guys hate that, and the million is our focus, right?"

"Right, sorry." Emma apologized. "When I look in those dark, chocolate brown eyes and start swimming in them, I-"

"The game! Focus on the game!" Kitty scolded her sister.

"Right, sorry," Emma sighed, "here is me, putting my feelings aside, and focusing on the Noah-" Kitty slapped her back into focus. "The game! Focusing on the game!"


(Confessional- Sure about that?)

Emma and Kitty stood at the station up ahead.

"Kitty's right. I really need to focus on the game, and get Noah out of my head." Emma frowned. "My ex-boyfriend Jake was constantly on my mind, and look what happened. I totally fell apart. I'd hate to lose because of a boy. It's all about the race, and winning that million dollars."

(End confessional)


In another car on the third train, the Police Cadets, Best Friends, and Fashion Bloggers were all seated in booths. While Sanders and MacArthur sat in a booth in the front of the car, the Best Friends and Fashion Bloggers occupied the next two booths behind them. Carrie sat in the booth right behind the Police Cadets with Jen, and then in the next booth back were Devin and Tom.

"I know Tom said to trust Devin will figure things out for himself and our friendship will be okay, but I'm worried. I think he might've been hit with too much news." Carrie told Jen, who was reading a fashion magazine as she listened to her friend.

Jen looked up from her magazine. "Yeah, I guess he seems overwhelmed."

"And to think, if I had just kept my crush secret, then he'd only have one thing to worry about right now." Carrie sighed, resting her elbows on the table between them.

"Hey, don't go blaming yourself." Jen reached a hand across the table to pat her friend's arm. "Tom and I were the ones that pushed you into confessing. If anything, Tom and I ought to share the blame with Shelley."

Carrie sighed again, "No, you were right. I had to say something or I might've lost my chance forever. You were also right about Shelley, she did cheat. Ooh… this whole race is turning into a mess." Carrie slumped onto the table, and Jen continued to console her.

In the next booth, Tom heard everything, and returned his attention to Devin. "Listen, I know we're not that close of friends, but you need to stop this distant moping thing. You're hurting Carrie." He said, pointing over his shoulder.

Devin held out his arms incredulously, his face full of stress. "What am I supposed to do?! Not only do I find out that my best friend who I've known for years had a crush on me this whole time, I find out that the entire time I've been gone on this race my girlfriend was cheating on me!"

Tom held up an interjectory finger. "Um, don't know if you want to consider this, but I think even if you hadn't participated in this race, she would have still cheated on you. Considering she cheated in the first place, she would've just done it some other time."

The Best Friend blinked his already wide eyes, and groaned, resting his forehead on the table. He glanced up at Tom. "Anything else you want to tell me?"

The Fashion Blogger nodded. "Yes, forget about Shelley, and focus on the race, especially your partner, the one who you know would never cheat on you."

Taking in the advice given, Devin sat up straight, and glanced out the window in thought.


(Location confessional- Train three)

"Poor Carrie and Devin," Jen said in the aisle, "they're such close friends, and this whole thing about Shelley has really shook them up."

Tom nodded. "Hopefully, we can help them fix this. We are friends, and they need our help." They yelped, and toppled over when the train tilted upward.

(End confessional)


Train three passed train two on another track. "While trains two and three jockey for position, the frontrunners from train number one enjoy a healthy lead." The two men at the stage completed the dance demonstration, and the camera panned out to show Josee and Jacques watching.

"Yeah, okay, we've got this." Josee got into position. "Jacques?" She implored for Jacques to begin.

Jacques got into position beside her, and they began doing the series of grunts and thumps to the chest and knees in perfect synchronization, amazing the judges. Soon enough, the Ice Dancers struck their finishing pose and let out the final grunt, turning their heads to see the judges give their judgment.

The men on stage clapped while smiling proudly, and gave the ice dancing duo two thumbs-up. Upon seeing the approval, Josee and Jacques stretched and bowed.

"Try doing it on skates sometime, then it might actually be impressive." Josee commented while admiring her filed nails before she and Jacques headed to the Chill Zone.

Meanwhile at the bridge, Chet and Lorenzo grinned at the drop below them.

"This is so awesome!" Chet remarked. "I'm glad that kangaroo didn't make us lose the last leg. It would've sucked to miss this challenge!"

"Hehe, yeah! Sucks to be that Mother/Daughter team and all the other eliminated teams right now!" Lorenzo agreed with a laugh.

Picking up the ankle harness, Chet looked to his stepbrother. "Mind if I go first?"

"Go for it, stepbro!" Lorenzo answered, gesturing to the drop.

"Here I go!" Putting on the ankle harness, Chet leaped off the bridge. He screamed enthusiastically as he descended while Lorenzo watched with awe.

A zoom out showed Don walking in front of the bridge. "Looks like the Stepbrothers are really enjoying their brotherly bonding. Will Lorenzo get a turn? Find out when we return on… the Ridonculous Race!" He stated, cuing for commercial.


Train three arrived at the train station. "Train number three reaches the junction ahead of schedule, and against all odds." Don narrated as the Police Cadets, Best Friends, and Fashion Bloggers exited their train car while the Sisters and Reality TV Pros exited theirs.

"I can't wait to post my review online." Noah commented as he and Emma ran to the Don Box together. "Got a death wish? This is the train for you."

Emma chuckled. "You are hilarious!"

All the teams retrieved the tip, and began reading.

"Jump Down or Jump Around." Kitty read the tip out loud.

Carrie and Jen stared at each other at the same time with matching smiles. "Jump Around!" They high-fived.

"Yeah, definitely Jump Around." Tom agreed with a nod of his head. Noticing Devin's lack of voice, Tom nudged him in the chest.

"Uh, yeah! Jump Around." Devin hastily agreed, and the quartet ran off to the challenge.

Sanders smirked, and jabbed her thumb in a direction past MacArthur. "Jump Down?"

"Yeah!" MacArthur whooped, and the Police Cadets ran off.

"Jump Down/Jump Around!" Noah and Kitty said at the same time, causing all four to frown.

Emma chuckled lightly. "Okay, it looks like it's time for our first family meeting!" Kitty kicked her in the ankle. "Team! I mean, team meeting!"

Josee and Jacques arrived at the Chill Zone, but appeared to be the only ones there.

"Hello? Don?" Josee called out.

Don walked up with a tarp draped over his body and a towel wrapped around his hair. "What are you doing here? Did you skip the challenge?"

"No," Josee retorted, posing smugly, "we finished it."

"We're the first ones here, no?" Jacques prodded.

"Yes, you're first here. Congratulations, now I'm going back to makeup." Don stated flatly, walking back offscreen while the Ice Dancers cheered.

"Is it just me, or are these challenges getting easier?" Josee asked boastfully.

Chet shrugged apologetically as he stood back on the bridge with Lorenzo. "Sorry, no fish."

"Aw man…" Lorenzo groaned, but then brightened with a small smile. "Well, at least I can take a turn now." He was about to take the harness from Chet, but was intercepted by Sanders. "Hey!"

"You snooze, you lose!" Sanders quipped as MacArthur swiped the harness from her, and her eyes widened when she felt something snapping around her ankles. She glanced down to see MacArthur clicking the harness together. "Whoa, why am I the one jumping?" She questioned as her partner stood back up.

MacArthur grinned at Sanders. "Come on, you owned every obstacle course at the academy. You're going to nail it!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I should…" Sanders trailed off, sighing reluctantly. "Whatever, we both know that you were going to wear me down eventually."

"Atta girl, now go get that fish!" MacArthur pushed her off the bridge. Flailing her arms, Sanders screamed as she descended.


(Confessional- Police Cadet pushover)

Sanders and MacArthur sat in the confessional, frowns on their faces.

"I couldn't spend time arguing with MacArthur." Sanders explained in the confessional. "We almost got eliminated yesterday because the Ice Dancers sabotaged us. If Mother & Daughter weren't there, we'd have been toast."

"We're going to get back to the top, and serve up the Ice Dancers with a side of bacon and hash browns." MacArthur pounded a fist into an open palm. "Then we'll see who's toast."

Sanders snorted. "More like French toast."

MacArthur raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Whoa! Nice one, Sanders!" She praised her partner, and Sanders smirked proudly.

(End confessional)


"Come on," Kitty sighed as the meeting still hadn't come to a conclusion, "we both have slammin' dance moves."

"Bungee jumping is on my bucket list," Noah remarked, "that is, if I were actually lame enough to have one."

Emma moaned. "Ooh, this is so tough. I had no idea there were so many factors between you and-" She was cut off by the arrival of train two.

Rolling her eyes, Kitty gave up. "Fine, we'll bungee jump."

Immediately brightening, Emma smiled. "Great, meeting adjourned!" The two teams then ran off to do their challenge.

Brody and Geoff were the first to jump off the train. "Hurry, dude! It's over there!" Brody pointed out the Don Box.

"Rock and roll!" Rock cheered as he and Spud, along with Father & Son exited the train.

Junior grabbed a tip from the Don Box, and read it. "Jump Down or Jump Around?"

"Ooh, ooh! Definitely down! Bungee jumping is totally sick!" Brody declared, and he and Geoff left the station.

"Jump Around, we totally can do. Right, Spud?" Rock asked with a smile.

Spud shrugged with a carefree smile. "Totally, man. We rock at jumping around." He and Rock went off to do the dance.

While Junior still thought over the decision, Dwayne took calming breaths as he stretched his arms. "Oh yeah… chillax-ify yourself…"

Raising an eyebrow, Junior regarded his parent with wide eyes. "What's happened to you?"

"Let's jam, bro-bama! Jump time!" Dwayne finished his deep breaths, and opened his eyes, holding a fist out to Junior. Junior stared at the offered fist.


(Solo confessional- Junior)

"He's trying to be cool." Junior rolled his eyes while Dwayne stood in the background, doing some supposedly cool poses while he waited for Junior. Junior widened his eyes, and held up his magazine on embarrassing parents. "Wait, I can use this!" He smiled, an idea popping into his head as he lowered the magazine.

(End confessional)


Bumping his father's fist, Junior awkwardly responded, "You're awesome… and I value your opinion." He added.

"You do?" Dwayne questioned, before correcting himself. "I mean, cool!"

"As far as we know, there's going to be a line at both challenges. Since Jump Around is a dance, and the Rockers know how to dance, they'll probably get through that one pretty quick." Junior glanced over his shoulder in the direction the Rockers went in. "So we should get the challenge done faster if we do that one."

Dwayne pumped his fist. "Let's rock it!"

At another post on the bridge that didn't hold the Stepbrothers and Police Cadets, the Goths were doing the challenge. Crimson stood back as Ennui buckled the harness around his ankles. Standing upright, Ennui lowered his gaze to Loki in his shirt. "Ready, Loki?"

Loki growled in response.

Ennui hopped off the bridge, and bungee jumped down to the water. He and Loki went under, and noticed a Maori fish swimming their way, snapping its jaws threateningly. Loki glared at the fish, and snarled at the fish when it neared. The menacing fish halted in close range to the Goths, its eyes showing it was visibly terrified of Loki. Taking advantage of the terror-stricken fish, Ennui grabbed it, and the bungee cord pulled the three out of the water.

Crimson watched her teammates come back up blankly, the Surfer Dudes also watching in wait.

"Got one." Ennui stated as he and Loki landed back on the bridge.

"Great, let's go." Crimson left the post, and Ennui unlatched the harness, handing it to the Surfer Dudes, who stared at them in confusion.

Lorenzo snatched the harness from Sanders, and buckled it on.

"Alright," he whooped, "my turn!" He jumped off the bridge with a yell.

"You got this, stepbro!" Chet cheered him on.

Further back at the post, Owen and Kitty were talking while Noah and Emma were off to the side.

"Noah and Emma seem a little distracted today." Owen told Kitty.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Gee, you think?" She walked past him, and walked over to Noah and Emma. Noah had climbed up on some of the bridge's cross support beams while Emma directed him. "Lorenzo just jumped, so after the Police Cadets go, it should be our turn, but we're probably still in last."

"Just a little more to the left." Emma advised Noah, and then looked at her sister happily. "Can you take a pic of me and No-No?"

"Now?!" Kitty questioned incredulously.

Noah strained as he tried to stay in position. "Hurry, I can't hold a pose. It's why I'll never compete on Canada's Massive Male Model." Noah quipped with a loving grin.

"Might as well make most of our wait time in paradise." Emma said while clasping her hands together. "Didn't someone say that stuff to me all the time?"

Exasperated, Kitty walked back to the jump point. Lorenzo was back, and Sanders was once again doing the jump. "What's taking so long? We still haven't had a turn." She told the two teams.

"Cool it, twin ponytails. You'll get your turn." MacArthur told her sternly.

Lorenzo laughed. "Yeah, and you'll fail. Then Chet and I will get to go again, and leave you in the dust!"

"Yeah," Chet chuckled, "we're so awesome, we'll get the fish on our third try."

Kitty sighed, facepalming.

At the stage, the other teams stood back as the Rockers stepped up. Father & Son, the Fashion Bloggers, and the Best Friends watched them.

"Alright, we're up!" Rock whooped.

The Maori guys did the demonstration for the Rockers, and Rock and Spud watched, the former paying close attention while Spud had his blank expression as usual. The demonstration finished, and the judges stood upright, watching the Rockers.

Rock and Spud stood still. Spud blinked while Rock waited with a knowing look on his face, folding his arms over his chest.

Confused by the lack of action, Jen raised an eyebrow. "Um," She spoke up, "aren't you going to take your turn?"

Rock gave her a smirk over his shoulder, and held up an index finger. "Wait for it…" He drawled out.

Spud blinked, and his eyes widened in realization. He got into the dance's starting position, surprising the other teams while Rock joined him. Together, Rock and Spud flawlessly copied the dance to the shock of the judges. Rock and Spud struck the final pose, and let out a mighty grunt. Smiling at the Rockers, the judges gave them two thumbs-up.

"Awesome, we did it!" Spud cheered.

"Next stop, the Chill Zone!" Rock pumped a fist, and waved to the other teams. "See you guys there!" He and Spud ran off. Stunned, the three teams stared at each other.


(Confessional- Too awesome for words)

Rock and Spud sat in the confessional, both of them smiling proudly.

"Whenever Spud is supposed to learn something, it might look like he's not learning, but the information is actually sinking into his brain." Rock explained, pointing at his own head for emphasis. "Whenever we would study the night before a test in school, I would read off my notes to Spud, and he would recite them back perfectly an hour afterwards."

"I passed a lot of tests in school that way." Spud added.

(End confessional)


Carrie and Devin took their turn, but fumbled thanks to Carrie messing up the moves and Devin performing awkwardly. Chet bounced back up to the bridge with a Maori fish in hand to Lorenzo's pleasure and the Police Cadets' annoyance. "With first and second taken, it's a race to lock up third place." Don narrated. Sanders quickly took her turn again, and came back up with a fish. Kitty took her turn for the Sisters, and Brody had a little too much fun bungee jumping all over the place while Geoff watched him in amusement. The Fashion Bloggers managed to get approval from the judges, and shared a quick hug, running off to the Chill Zone afterward.

The Rockers, Stepbrothers, Police Cadets, and Fashion Bloggers raced to the Chill Zone. The Police Cadets picked up the pace, and passed up the Rockers, taking third. The Rockers, Stepbrothers, and Fashion Bloggers passed over the Carpet of Completion, taking fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.

"Eh, I can live with third." Sanders shrugged once she and MacArthur completed the leg.

"Hello, losers." A taunting voice called, and the Police Cadets looked over to see the Ice Dancers relaxing on recliner chairs. Jacques was browsing a magazine while Josee smugly sipped from a straw in a fruit drink. "What took you so long?" Josee questioned rhetorically.

"Can't live with third when they're ahead of us." MacArthur amended Sanders' previous statement, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder at their rivals. Sanders bobbed her head in agreement.

Back at the stage, Carrie attempted to figure out the dance while Devin was still not putting his all into it. Still waiting behind them, Junior watched while Dwayne attempted to do cool dance moves. "Hoo ha, ba burrito?" Carrie stood upright, and saw the judges' unamused frowns. "Ooh, I don't think that's it."

Devin sighed. "I'm sorry, Carrie. We're doing so bad because I'm not doing it well enough. I have so much on my mind, and with everything that's happened, I can't figure out how I'm supposed to act around you. I don't want to make things worse between us than they are right now."

Carrie frowned sympathetically. "I understand completely. You got told two very big things, and they conflict with each other." She searched for something else to say, glancing up at the judges. "Can we maybe just pretend things aren't so awkward at the moment, so we can work together like we usually do to get through this challenge?"

Gazing at her, Devin stayed silent for a moment. "I… suppose we could try that. Want to try this again?"

"Definitely."

The pair got into position, and did the Haka as instructed. Because they were making an effort to not be awkward, their dancing flowed together better, and the judges approved once they were finished.

"We passed!" Carrie smiled.

"Yeah," Devin said, "we did. Let's go to the Chill Zone." Devin jogged away, and Carrie soon joined him after giving a brief wave to the Father & Son.

At the bridge, Noah had the ankle harness on, and was currently glancing down at the water.

"It looks dangerous, Noah. We should try it together." Emma said next to him.

"That would be so romantic, but we only have one harness, and I'm wearing it." Noah pointed out as he rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Then let me bungee jump. I can get a fish for both of our teams."

"I love how you're willing to do the challenge for the both of us."

Kitty and Owen watched the lovers, clearly regretting setting their friends up at the moment.

"Yeah… maybe getting those two together during the race was a bad idea." Kitty commented.

Owen silently agreed, and walked towards his little buddy and his little buddy's crush. "Um," he spoke up as he tried to wedge himself between them, "go Noah! You can do this challenge! Go get 'em, buddy!" He patted his partner on the back, and pushed him off the platform to make his encouragement seem more believable.

"Emma!" Noah cried out, flailing his arms as he fell towards the water below.

"Noah!" Emma shouted after him worriedly, and leveled a glare at Owen. "What was that for?"

"Uh, I tripped on something and accidentally pushed Noah?" Owen replied, blatantly lying, his eyes darting around.

Two pictures appeared on the screen, showing Geoff and Brody with a fish, and the Best Friends standing awkwardly side by side. "With three teams left, last place isn't looking very desirable." Don narrated as the footage switched over to Dwayne and Junior, the only remaining team left at the dance challenge.

Junior continued to attempt the dance as instructed, but Dwayne kept on breaking into his own moves. Annoyed and frustrated, Junior stopped dancing to scowl at his father. "Dad, stop!"

"But my moves are super cool." Dwayne replied, continuing to dance.

"No, they're super not!"

Dwayne stopped dancing, and gestured to the judges. "Oh, and they're cool?"

"Uh, they're huge men with face tattoos. Yeah, they're cool." Junior retorted.

"But I-" Dwayne tried to reply.

"Dad! You are not cool," Junior cut him off, "and you never will be!" Dwayne flinched at his son's words, and slumped in defeat. Noticing his father's sadness, Junior frowned in concern. "Dad, I didn't mean it like that. I-"

Dwayne sighed. "Let's just get this over with." He got into starting position, and Junior did the same. Channeling his sadness, he completed the dance with Junior the way they were supposed to. As they performed, Junior was impressed with his father's concentration. By the time they were finished, the judges had tears welling up in their eyes, and gave them their approval.

The Reality TV Pros and Sisters ran to the Chill Zone with their fish. Owen was surprisingly running at a faster pace than Noah, and he and Kitty ran ahead of their partners. Noah and Emma were a few paces behind them with the fish.

"I was thinking of naming the fish 'Noah', but it's not cute enough. Maybe I'll name it after my ex-boyfriend 'Jake'; he called me too intense, if you can believe it." Emma told Noah as they raced.

"Remember the part where we're trying not to lose?" Kitty quipped from up front.

Emma smiled at her sister. "Coming! I'm just using Jake's hideous teeth to cut a lock of Noah's hair." She held her fish's lips up to the hair on the back of Noah's head, and clapped the fish's lips together like scissors.

"You what now?" Noah asked, coming out of his romantic daze.

"Emma!" Kitty scolded from off-screen.


(Confessional- Fish, the new tools for barber shops everywhere)

"Obsess much?" Kitty questioned rhetorically.

"Yeah… maybe I have a problem." Emma agreed hesitantly

(End confessional)


Emma ran up beside Kitty, and they headed for the Chill Zone together. "You told me to go for it!"

"Not like this," Kitty explained, "the way you're going, you're going to lose the race and the guy. You know I'm right."

The older sister glanced back at her crush, who gazed at her with a smile as he jogged.

A familiar voice rang out, "There's the Chill Zone!"

Not too far behind the Reality TV Pros, Father & Son were on their way as well.

Upon seeing the final team, Emma turned to her sister. "We need to hurry." She and her sister picked up the pace.

"Wow, they're fast." Owen commented to Noah as the girls extended the distance between them.

"Girls," Noah quipped with confusion, "can't live with them, can't run as fast as them."

Emma and Kitty arrived at the Carpet of Completion. "Emma, Kitty," Don greeted them, "you're in ninth place."

"Emma! Kitty!" Noah called from afar. The Sisters turned, and saw Father & Son almost catching up to the Reality TV Pros.

Don clasped his hands behind his back formally while the Sisters frowned in concern. "It looks like our final two teams are about to arrive. The question is which team is still in the race?"

Close-ups of the Reality TV Pros and Father & Son flipped back to back as the dramatic showdown music intensified. Noah and Junior vied to be the first one for their team on the carpet while Dwayne and Owen lagged behind for obvious reasons. While teams in the current situation usually had expressions of determination on their faces, the two teams were actually quite worried about the results as they neared. The dramatic montage ended on the Sisters and Don as the camera zoomed out to show the carpet as well.

Noah and Owen were the first to step on the carpet. "Reality TV Pros, tenth place! You're still in!"

"Emma," Noah said to his crush, "I have no idea what dictionary you guys use, but your definition of alliance is way off."

Emma sighed. "I'm sorry, Noah, but this is what I was afraid of. I like you, a lot, but I can't be with you, not on the show." She turned away sadly, and walked off with Kitty, leaving Noah to gape after her. He was so shocked that he lost all feeling in his legs, and collapsed to the ground.

"Oh boy…" Owen said uneasily, helping his partner up, who now had a broken, troubled look on his face.


(Confessional- Broken Noah)

Owen attempted to comfort his partner, who was still in a broken state.

Owen lifted his friend's head underneath his chin with a finger. "Aw, cheer up pal! There's plenty of other fish in the sea, like this one." Owen held up their Maori fish. "I love you, Noah. Kissy-kissy!" Owen declared in a high-pitched voice, moving the fish's lips along with the words.

Noah simply slumped to the floor, falling off his stool while Owen grimaced.

(End confessional)


Dwayne and Junior stepped onto the carpet, sad frowns on each of their faces.

"Father & Son, you've come in last. I'm sorry, but you're out of the race." Don told them.

"Aw nuggets…" Dwayne slouched forward dejectedly.

To the great surprise of Dwayne, Junior turned around to hug him. "Thanks for this, Dad. It was a lot of fun." Junior thanked him, smiling gratefully. Touched by the gesture, Dwayne returned the hug.


(Confessional- Last before they leave)

Dwayne sighed as he apologized to Junior, "I'm sorry I tried too hard, pal. I just thought if I could be cooler, you'd like being with me more. Because of what I did, we lost the race."

Junior held up his magazine on parents, and read from it. "Actually, according to this, I'm supposed to be pulling away a bit right now. What's happening is normal. It doesn't mean you're not cool-ish."

"I'm cool-ish? I'll take it." Dwayne responded, beaming.

(End confessional)


The confessional transitioned into Father & Son's farewell footage, showing their highlights.

"I can't be too upset." Dwayne said in a voice over. "The race has changed Junior and I. My son is going home a man."

"And I found out just what Dad can do outside of his office, like chugging Moroccan stew, riding a rhino, and all sorts of stuff. I guess he really is cool-ish." Junior added.

Dwayne chuckled. "Thanks, sporto. That means a lot." The footage ended, and showed Dwayne and Junior walking down a mountain. As they left, Dwayne turned to Junior. "Hey, want to go home and watch some Total Drama?"

Junior grinned at his father. "Only if we can watch until soda squirts out your nose."

Chuckling some more, Dwayne rested his hand around Junior's shoulder. "Of course we can, son. Of course we can." He answered, the pair disappearing over the peak.


Current Team Rankings:

1st: Josee and Jacques- Ice Dancers

2nd: Crimson and Ennui- Goths

3rd: Sanders and MacArthur- Police Cadets

4th: Rock and Spud- Rockers

5th: Chet and Lorenzo- Stepbrothers

6th: Tom and Jen- Fashion Bloggers

7th: Geoff and Brody- Surfer Dudes

8th: Carrie and Devin- Best Friends

9th: Emma and Kitty- Sisters

10th: Noah and Owen- Reality TV Pros

Eliminated:

11th: Dwayne and Junior- Father & Son

12th: Kelly and Taylor- Mother & Daughter

13th: Mickey and Jay- Adversity Twins

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

Farewell to Dwayne and Junior, on the plus side, no embarrassing tattoo for Dwayne. The original episode seemed like a good wrap-up point for Father & Son, and it seemed a little pointless in canon that they were leaving the next episode after that when they had such a nice ending to their bonding arc. Earlier in the story's development, I considered having them go past episode 17, but I wasn't sure how they'd fare in the Arctic Circle.

Now, without the double elimination and the returning team added this early, I had several extra eliminations that needed to be taken care of before the episode with the super team challenge so this episode was transformed from a non-elimination leg to an elimination leg.

Not really any other notes worthy of mentioning here so review and tell me what you think of this episode. Reviews are awesome!