Episode 2: None Dead, Eighteen to Go Part 2
The episode began with footage from the previous episode, showing the initial stampede of when the race first started, a map of the world showing where the teams were, the teams racing for the elevator, and finally the teams going down the zipline. "Last time on the Ridonculous Race..." Don began to narrate. "18 teams started to race around the world with their lives at stake. After a lot of running, waiting, even more running, confronting fears, and pushing themselves further than I thought possible, everyone reached the airport and booked themselves on three different flights to Morocco."
The inside of flight 1 was shown, with all of the teams sitting comfortably, while the Tennis Rivals were napping in their seats. "Flight number 1 with six teams aboard has already departed. The next six teams are on flight number 2, which is about to take off." the inside of the second plane was shown when Don mentioned it, with each of the teams looking just a bit worried about their standing.
Now the inside of the airport was shown, with the rest of the teams waiting. "Meanwhile, the Reality TV Pros, Adversity Twins, Rockers, Goths, LARPers, and Father and Son's flight will not be departing for another hour. Will one of these teams suffer a humiliating and painful first departure at the end of the first leg of the race? Time to find out, this is, the Ridonculous Race!"
After the intro ended a world map was shown with two plane icons flying from Canada to Morocco, "Twelve teams are already on their way to Morocco, while six are still anxiously waiting at the airport." Don explained the current situation, with the scene cutting to the airport now where Mickey was rubbing hand sanitizer on his hands.
"Hey Jay, do you want some sanitizer?" Mickey offered his brother, holding the small bottle out for him to take.
Jay shook his head, showing off some gloves. "No need, since we're going to a desert, I'm making sure to not touch anything. You remember what happened the last time I got sand on my skin right?" Jay turned down the hand sanitizer, looking at the clock in the airport anxiously the whole time.
Mickey nodded, frowning at the memory. "Yeah, how long did that rash last for? 4 days?" Mickey asked him, still preferring to talk about their usual painful memories than their situation.
The question wasn't answered though, as the LARPers popped up from behind the bench they were sitting on. "Greetings gentlemen!" Leonard greeted them loudly, startling the twins.
"What say you to an amalgamation of adversaries? A weaving of wizards and doppelgangers to rule them all!" Leonard offered them an alliance in the dorkiest way possible, with Tammy finishing the offer by throwing up a bunch of confetti.
"YES!" Mickey instantly accepted the offer, looking thrilled to have a safety net just gifted to them like this. Jay on the other hand looked much more doubtful.
"Mickey I think we should- GAH! I'm allergic to confetti!" Jay yelled as the confetti Tammy threw landed on him, making him run off while trying to get the confetti off his body.
Mickey hurried off his brother, leaving Leonard and Tammy a bit confused. "Well they accepted, so it would seem our guild has been established! Let us go and recruit more adventurers!" Leonard declared, walking in the opposite direction to go make the same offer to the other teams.
Dwayne and Junior were on the other side of the lobby, with Dwayne repeatedly trying to use the phone machine. "These machines are so old, I don't know if your mother will even pick up!" Dwayne complained, getting frustrated with the coin operated phone.
Junior had already tried to dial with the machine as well, but it wasn't working. "Hey dad, I've got an idea. Instead of calling mom, what if we call the police? They'd be able to bail us out of here!" Junior whisper yelled to his dad, looking around them for a moment to see if anyone had heard them.
Dwayne's eyes widened at the idea, although he hesitantly decided to dial the three numbers into the machine. Although it seemed the producers had prepared for that, as there was a sudden beep that came from the machine before Don's voice came on. "Hello team! It seems you're trying to call the police! Remember that this show is perfectly legal, and you'd only make things worse for yourself by getting the police involved! We'll be checking the footage to see which team this is, and this will serve as your last warning to not try and escape!" Don warned them, making Dwayne quickly hang up the phone.
Back with the LARPers, they had now approached the Goths who were sitting on a different bench in silence. "Salutations!" Leonard greeted them, with the camera zooming in on his spit spewing mouth for a moment. "We wish to propose an unstoppable conjoining of alchemy and alabaster to vanquish those who dare to cross us!" Leonard offered the Goths their alliance, but they just tried to ignore him.
A bit annoyed by the ignorance, Leonard walked around the bench to face them. "Surely you shall not say nay?" Leonard awaited confirmation from them, still hopeful that they would accept. Tammy threw out some more confetti, to try and make themselves seem cooler.
Both Goths just let out a sigh together, getting up from the bench and walking away without a second thought. Leonard watch them leave with dismay, although his attention was taken away by Tammy throwing yet another bunch of confetti over him. "Come on Tammy go easy on the confetti! We've only got one bag's worth in our convoy!" Leonard reminded her, to which Tammy just tossed up more confetti.
-Interview: LARPers-
"Tammy and I met in 9th grade, and we were immediately very close." Leonard mentioned how they met, sitting with a small smile on his face.
Tammy giggled, remembering it as soon as it was brought up. "We were stuffed into the same locker." she added, also having a small smile.
Leonard clapped his hands together, then spread them out. "And a friendship was born! We chatted and ate our lunches together while we waited for the janitor to locate the bolt cutters! That was the start of our guild, the Eagle Riders! Over the years more people we met joined and we all hung out after school!" Leonard reminisced of those school times that already seemed so distant now that they were in the race.
Tammy pulled out her ocarina, and playing a few notes on it. "That was a message to the rest of the guild, they all know that we'll be able to win this race with ease. We both have speed enchantments going after all."
-End Interview-
The scene now cut to what was basically a slideshow presentation, showing the flag of Morocco and then a picture of a desert in Morocco with a camel. Don popped up in the picture, thanks to digital effects. "Morocco! Originally named Italy until it was discovered that there already was an Italy!" Don began to introduce the country for the audience.
While Don listed off what was in the country, pictures were shown on screen of what said things were. "Home to scorchingly hot foods, as well as scorchingly hot deserts!"
Now cutting to the airport in Morocco, flight number 1 was shown landing on the runway, while Don was standing next to a Don Box just outside the airport. "Flight number 1 has just landed! Now the teams need to find the Don Box, and collect their next travel tip." he stated, then walking away as the teams now ran out towards said Don Box.
"Hurry it up stupid!" Chet yelled at Lorenzo as they left the airport, since Lorenzo was just ever so slightly behind his brother.
Lorenzo shoved him to the ground in response, sticking his tongue out as he ran by. Although he had gotten himself distracted by doing so and bumped into the Tennis Rivals who had just grabbed their tip. All three of them fell to the ground in a small heap, with the old men groaning. "Watch it you brats! We're in a race for our lives here!" Pete yelled at them as they walked away to look of their tip.
The other four teams from flight number 1 had gotten their tips with no problem and were all looking them over. "The spice is right, it's an All-In. What's an All-In?" Carrie asked as she read the tip.
The camera now cut back to Don, who was walking up to a spice vendor that had an assortment of spices in bags in front of his stand. "An All-In requires that both team members take part in the challenge. In this case, teams must make their way to use of this spice kiosk and choose five spices from the bountiful array! Some are sweet, but some are so blisteringly hot they'll turn your tummy into a volcano of pain!" Don explained what the challenge was, gesturing to the bags of spices. Even though his hands came close to the spices, the vendor didn't stop him mostly out of fear.
Now back with the first batch of teams, Stephanie was reading the tip while her and Ryan were jogging down the sidewalk. "It says we gotta pick five spices from the kiosk. Supposed to get cumin, cinnamon-" Stephanie began to read off the rest of the tip, before the camera cut away from her and to the Tennis Rivals.
"Paprika, saffron, and ginger..." Gerry read off, with the camera then cutting away from them and to the Ice Dancers.
"To receive your next travel tip! Go go go! Taxi!" Jacques shouted after finishing the tip, with both dancers waving their arms to try and stop a taxi for themselves.
A whole bunch of taxis were shown with their signs lighting up, and five of them sped off while the Stepbrothers were still fighting with each other on the sidewalk. "You poohead! We missed the taxis! If we die, it's all your fault!" Chet yelled, tackling Lorenzo to the ground.
"Oh yeah? Well I'd rather be dead than work with you!" Lorenzo kicked Chet in the stomach, before standing back up and waving his arms out at the street. "Taxi! Get over here already!" he shouted, before Chet tackled him to the ground yet again.
-Taxi Interview: Best Friends-
Inside one of the taxis, the Best Friends were sitting in the back together with Carrie still looking very nervous while Devin was trying to console. "See homie? We're doing great! We made it on the first flight, we got in a taxi right away, and now we're headed straight for the first challenge! Nothing to be worried about." Devin assured her, patting her on the back.
Carrie nodded her head, taking a few deep breaths. "You're right... we're doing great. I'm just still just scared we won't make it all the way through. Do we really have what it takes?" Carrie asked him, peering out the window now and looking at the two taxis that were in front of them.
Devin nodded, looking out the window with her. "Of course we will, I know you can do it, I know WE can do it! Since we're already such a great team, I don't think we have anything to worry about. If we let ourselves get nervous and we doubt ourselves, that's when we fall apart. That's what Shelly tells me, and just look at how our relationship is going." Devin answered, although the mention of Shelly didn't exactly help brighten Carrie's mood.
-End Interview-
-Taxi Interview: Daters-
Inside of one of the taxis in front of the Best Friends, Ryan was sitting on the right and Stephanie on the left. "I know a ton about spices. I eat them in restaurants, so I can probably tell which is which just by looking at them." Stephanie said to the camera, making it obvious that she didn't know much about them.
"You do Steph, and I love that you know about them! Cuz you know what that means? That means we're gonna do great this challenge! Way to go girl!" Ryan encouraged her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Stephanie gasped, smiling widely at him now. "I love how you love that! I just know we're gonna win this babe!" Stephanie then kissed Ryan on the lips, and a makeout session began with them in the taxi.
-End Interview-
-Taxi Interview: Tennis Rivals-
In the taxi right behind the Best Friends, the Tennis Rivals were both napping in their seats. Although a sudden turn jerked them awake. "Gah! I'm barely running on any sleep, so I'm feeling pretty drowsy." Gerry groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"You're telling me, you don't last that long even when you do get sleep!" Pete joked, immediately trying to keep the mood light.
Gerry chuckled, although he wasn't really too keen on just forgetting the situation they were in for the sake of a joke. "Yeah, it's hard to get sleep on the plane though when you've got your livelihood on the back of your mind. It was still nice of the Vegans to hand over their seats for us at least, so we have two hours ahead of the last bunch." Gerry said, since the Vegans had put themselves on flight 2 just for the Tennis Rivals.
Pete raised an eyebrow. "The veggie heads? They're nice, but maybe they're too nice for their own good. I say we ditch them as soon as we can. Since I don't think they'd let us live over them. They're probably trying to manipulate us, that's what those vegans do! They lure you in, and bam! Next thing you know you're stuck in a sponsor ship for almond milk that tastes worse than the bottom of my shoes!" Pete warned Gerry, having some suspicions towards the Vegans.
"Maybe, or they're just being nice. You know how those hippies are, they think that helping old folk like us is the way to heaven and they'll take any chance they can to be good. Considering that we're all gonna die, maybe they're trying to end on a high note?" Gerry replied, much more trusting of the two than Pete was.
"Who knows? But I'm not gonna follow them as much, since we'll eventually have to beat them no matter what." Pete ended the conversation, crossing his arms.
-End Interview-
"Meanwhile, the teams on flight number 2 prepare for cold hearted battle!" Don narrated, with the scene now cutting to the second flight.
Jen had a magazine in her hands, with it showing off various models in different outfits. "Oh I'd look sooooo good in this. Maybe after the race I can get it for our blog?" Jen asked Tom, now looking over at her partner.
Tom however, was taking a nap for the flight with an eye cover on his face, snoring somewhat loudly. Jen rolled her eyes and adjusted Tom's posture in his seat to help him not snore. "You're lucky I'm the one sitting here. If it was anyone else, they'd probably put the gas mask over your face." Jen said to Tom, even though he couldn't hear her.
Behind them, the Geniuses were also looking through a magazine, although the one they grabbed was a tourism guide to Morocco, since they wanted to gather as much information as they could before arriving. "Morocco has a population of 32 million people, despite it's daunting climate. Although it does border two seas, so it is an economic center for sure. That would mean we should expect large crowds of people if we're landing in an urban area correct?" Ellody asked her partner for input, taking into account what they knew.
Mary nodded, then adjusting her glasses. "That would be statistically likely, unless the area was cleared out for the show. Should we make another ally while we have this time? We can't strategize for the challenge, as we don't know what it is." Mary suggested, looking at the other teams on their flight.
Ellody tapped a finger to her chin, before nodding. "I suppose we should not let this time go to waste. Socializing in the early stages of the game is key after all." Ellody replied, then getting up from her seat with Mary and walking down the aisle.
The duo stopped when they passed by the Sisters, which neither of them were currently busy. Kitty was reading the same magazine Jen had grabbed, while Emma was lost in thought. "Hello fellow competitors, we noticed that you two are some of the more competent teams in the competition." Ellody greeted them, giving a friendly wave.
Emma snapped out of her focus and looked up at them from her seat, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "What do you two want? Are you seriously trying to make friends with us?" Emma asked them, since from appearances alone, the Geniuses didn't look like the type that got out much.
Mary shook her head, frowning slightly. "Of course not. It would be illogical to befriend people that you know will be dying soon. No, we simply came to offer a truce. You're a team that we don't want to end up on your bad side. Whether or not you wish to see it as a friendship is up to you, but we plan on staying out of your way." Mary offered the truce, which now caught Kitty's attention.
"Sounds good to me! Who knows, maybe we'll become friends? Even if we're going to die, it's still better to be surrounded by friends than enemies." Kitty agreed to the truce, although Emma was skeptical of this still.
"I'll accept a trial mini-alliance. Depending on how we perform today, I'll consider an actual alliance. Now leave us alone." Emma responded fairly coldly, not wanting to get friendly whatsoever.
Ellody and Mary didn't respond verbally, although they exchanged satisfied looks with each other as they walked back to their seats.
"Some of the teams from flight 1 have reached the spice kiosk." Don narrated as the five teams that grabbed taxis immediately ran up to the kiosk after their taxis dropped them off.
MacArthur was in the front of the pack, although she stopped and stared at the bags with confusion. "Hey why aren't any of these labelled? How are we supposed to pick the right ones?" MacArthur asked, getting an eyeroll from Sanders.
"Because, if they were labelled, then there would be no challenge! We have to figure out what the spices are!" Sanders replied to her teammate, then starting to look over the spice bags to see if she could recognize any of them.
Carrie looked over the spices and pointed at one right off the bat. "Ooh! This one is cinnamon! This is cinnamon!" Carrie exclaimed, pointing at the bag with cinnamon in it.
Devin nodded, giving her a thumbs up. "Great homie! We just gotta find four more then and we'll be on our way!" Devin cheered for her, now stepping away from her so they could look at spices separately and save time.
Stephanie pointed at a yellowish colored bag of spices, looking excited that she spotted it. "This one is cumin! I just know it!" she shouted, although her hand recoiled when the vendor went to scoop up the spice.
"No wait, it might not be. Never mind, it is! But what if it isn't? I don't want to get this wrong, argh!" Stephanie yelled in frustration, although she eventually decided to just scoop it.
A compilation was shown after that, with various hands from the five teams pointing at various bags of spices that the vendor scooped up. More than five different bags of spices were pointed at, so clearly some of the teams there had gotten their answers incorrect. But none of them knew which would be the wrong spices until the next part of the challenge.
"That's five." Jacques said as the last scoop for the Ice Dancers was put into a bag and handed to them with a travel tip attached to it. "After selecting their five spices, the teams get their next travel tip from Youssef." Don narrated, as the five teams now looked over the tips in their hands.
Gerry winced as he read the tip, and Pete looked a little grossed out when his partner showed it to him. "What? We gotta ride a camel to a restaurant? What are they doing putting restaurants out here? You'd get sand in your shoes while eating." Pete complained, looking to his right and seeing a whole bunch of camels that were ready for the teams to ride just a bit away from the kiosk.
"Maybe it's a millennial thing? Let's just get this over with." Gerry replied, walking to the camels with his partner while the other four teams jogged.
While they walked by, Pete waved over at the vendor. "Hey you! Where's the restaurant we're supposed to go to anyway? This tip doesn't tell us!" Pete asked, showing the tip to the vendor.
The vendor just deadpanned at the two, before taking the tip from them and flipping it over, showing a map on the back that told them where to go. "Oh, hehe, thanks." Pete thanked him sheepishly, before hurrying off to the camels.
The other four teams were climbing onto their camels, although Carrie gagged a little as they did so. "Wow, these things really stink! How long have they been out here?" she asked, waving a hand in front of her to ward off the smell of the camels.
"Maybe once we get moving it'll smell better? That way we're not around as many camels." Devin told her, helping Carrie get onto the camel and sit behind him.
A little bit away from them, MacArthur heard her comment and sniffed her armpits, before also gagging. "Uh... yup! It's definitely the camels!" she agreed loudly, before hopping onto the camel and sitting behind Sanders.
"As the first teams head off into the desert, flight number 2 arrives in Morocco." Don narrated, with the 6 teams on the flight all running out of the airport together and with the Vegans being the first ones to hit the button on the Don Box and dispense a tip.
Shortly after the tips were dispensed, the Vegans, Geniuses, Sisters, and Fashion Bloggers were the teams who were lucky enough to get into the cabs currently at the airport. "Taxi! Wait!" Taylor yelled, running down the sidewalk desperately trying to catch up with one of them.
"Hold on Taylor! We should wait here, since this is where the taxis arrive!" Kelly shouted to her daughter, who just blatantly ignored her.
"Meanwhile, flight number 3 is finally in the air and teams discuss some strategy!" Don narrated as the third plane was shown flying in the air, before the scene cut to the interior.
Owen and Noah were sitting next to each other with Owen clutching a teddy bear closely while Noah just read one of the magazines to pass the time. "Are we there yet? I'm scared!" Owen asked, still suffering from his fear of flying.
Noah shook his head, not looking away from his magazine. "We just left the airport. Wasn't the whole point of you bring Beary was so you wouldn't be scared? Just hug him or something." Noah told him, not sounding all too interested.
Rock was tapping his shoe on the floor nervously, while Spud was listening to music in his headphones. "You know, Spud and I haven't really gone flying before. But we're not scared! So many bands go on tours, it makes us feel like rock stars right now! Bowowowow!" Rock imitated a guitar in his hands while talking to the camera, with Spud just remaining oblivious to what his partner was doing.
Back at the spice kiosk, Lorenzo and Chet were bickering over what spices to trade. "This one looks good, let's go with this one!" Lorenzo pointed at a bag with a green spice in it, which the vendor scooped up.
Chet pushed Lorenzo aside and pointed at a different bag with red spice in it. "No you stupid! We're taking that one! Green spices are probably all icky!" Chet argued, to which the vendor scooped up a bit from the red spice filled bag.
"Oh yeah? Well you must be stupid, since everyone knows that red means hot! We're taking the cooler spices!" Lorenzo tackled his brother to ground and they started hitting each other repeatedly while the first few taxis from the second batch began to show up.
By the time the Stepbrothers noticed that other teams had shown up, the Vegans and the Geniuses ran up to the kiosk and began to pick out their spices. It was only a matter of seconds before they both picked out their spices in sync. "Cumin, cinnamon, paprika, saffron, ginger!" Ellody and Laurie pointed at their spices one by one, with the vendor scooping from each of the correct bags two times each.
Laurie looked impressed that the Geniuses knew that much about spices and stepped closer to them. "Wow, you know your spices too?" she asked, while Miles and Mary took their bags and tips from the vendor.
Ellody nodded, crossing her arms. "That we do. This task was surprisingly elementary for us." Ellody answered, a confident smirk on her face.
Miles looked at the tip and let out a sigh, although hearing that someone else shared their interests alleviated her disappointment in the use of camels. "Would you both happen to be vegans too?" Miles asked them curiously, handing the tip to Laurie while holding onto the bag herself.
Mary shook her head, handing the tip to Ellody while doing so. "We're vegetarians. Like you, we understand how important animal lives are and we enjoy the health benefits of being vegetarian. Although we still believe that animal products are essential to having a balanced diet. As long as they are ethically sourced, animal products are fine with us. So no honey or things cruelly extracted." Mary answered, with Ellody nodded in agreement with her.
"I can respect that. Thanks for doing your part!" Miles said as she and Laurie jogged past the Geniuses. They didn't hop on a camel, instead just opting to jog to the restaurant.
Now that the small kinship had been established, the Geniuses looked back to the kiosk where the Sisters were having some difficulty picking their spices. "Here, we'll help you out. We already got all the correct spices, which ones have you not picked out?" Ellody asked them, with Emma perking up at hearing their voices.
"We've got cinnamon and ginger, but the rest blur for us." Kitty told them, while Emma stayed quiet and tried to figure this out on her own.
Mary pointed at three different bags after Kitty told them what they had, with both sisters watching. "Those are saffron, paprika, and cumin. We'll be heading off now." Mary instructed, before jogging off to get on a camel with Ellody.
Emma hesitated to follow their instructions, but she ultimately decided to go along with it and picked the three spices Mary suggested. "That's all five, let's get going Kit!" Emma ordered, running to the standing camels and hopping on one of them with her.
-Interview: Geniuses-
Mary and Ellody looked pleased with themselves, with Ellody still having a confident smirk on her face. "Our mission to establish early game friendships is going better than we expected. The challenge allowed us a perfect opportunity to help the Sisters and turn them from a threat to one of our allies. Emma is an intellectual for sure, so we must keep her on our side." Ellody stated, keeping a serious tone.
Mary nodded in agreement with her partner, crossing her arms. "Very much so, we should be on track to have three allies by the end of the first leg. The Vegans were very easy to swing over, as they believe that sharing tastes equal friendship. Such a base way of thinking." Mary added, since it only took a few sentences to get on the good side of the Vegans.
-End Interview-
-Interview: Sisters-
Kitty looked like she was in a better mood, although Emma still looked to be rather bitter. "I don't trust those so called Geniuses whatsoever. Everyone in this game is looking out for themselves, us included. But if they're going to help us out, then I'm fine with letting them do that." Emma said, making Kitty disappointed.
"Emma, what if we just try to be friends with people? If we keep making ourselves look as serious as possible, then people might target us! You need to cool down a little." Kitty warned her sister, not liking this approach to the game at all.
Emma shook her head, refusing to even consider being nice. "No! If we're going to make it to the end, then we can't let ourselves get close to anyone. Even if we wanted friends here hypothetically, they'd die anyway, so what would be the point?" Emma argued back, to which Kitty let out a sigh of defeat.
-End Interview-
"As more teams reach the spice kiosk, flight number 3 has finally arrived in Morocco." Don narrated, as the third plane as shown landing on the runway in the airport. "They'll need to hurry if they want to catch up with any of the teams already in search of the culinary!"
Speaking of those teams, the initial pack of teams that had set off to go search for the restaurant had split up now, each taking their own way through the desert trying to follow the maps on the back of their tips. Gerry and Pete had completely separated themselves from the group, and were currently going in the opposite direction of the restaurant they were supposed to be riding towards without even knowing it. "Any sign of the place yet?" Gerry asked, having a hand just above his eyes to give them some shade.
Pete rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You've asked that like 7 times now, didn't you take your pills before coming on the show? The restaurant isn't anywhere near us still!" Pete replied, very clearly annoyed.
Gerry grumbled to himself, also getting annoyed with her partner's attitude. The scorching heat wasn't helping their mood either. "Well it's not my fault they put a restaurant in the middle of nowhere! How do they even expect to get business like that?" Gerry defended himself, blaming the restaurant for them being lost.
As they continued to ride the camel in the wrong direction, they soon came across the Vegans who were walking the right way. "Hello friends, are you aware you are travelling the wrong way?" Laurie asked, making Gerry and Pete glance at each other for a moment.
The Tennis Rivals facepalmed simultaneously, although they didn't want to focus on their mistake. "We were uh, just backtracking to let you two catch up and show you the way." Pete replied to Laurie's question, obviously lying as indicated by an embarrassed chuckle.
Miles held up the back of the travel tip, showing them that there was a map on it. "Thank you for thinking of us, but we have maps on our tips. So we're fine! Good luck!" Miles thanked them, then continuing to jog down the path towards the restaurant.
Both of the Tennis Rivals sighed with relief that the Vegans didn't make fun of them, now turning their camel around to head the right way. "Those veggie heads really are helpful kiddos aren't they?" Pete commented, looking at the back of their travel tip and just having the camel follow the Vegans.
Back at the spice kiosk, the Fashion Bloggers were on their last spice they had to pick, while the Surfer Dudes and Mom and Daughter had just gotten started picking their spices. But things got more tense for the three teams as taxis from the last batch of teams now pulled up to the kiosk. Father and Son, the Adversity Twins, and the Reality TV Pros were the first three to exit their taxis. "Hurry Dad, we can catch up here!" Junior shouted as they ran to the kiosk.
Jen looked over and saw the teams running towards them, making her panic a little. "Let's just take this one and go!" Jen pointed at the bag with green powder in it, to which the vendor scooped up some and put it in their bag. He handed them their bag and their tip, which Jen grabbed and hurried off to the camels.
Tom ran behind her, climbing onto the camel looking a bit uneasy about their decision. "Are you sure that last one was paprika? What if we have to go back because we got them wrong?" Tom asked, peeking into the bag after Jen handed it to him.
"Relax Tom, there is like no way we had to get them all right. We got most of them correct, we should be fine with whatever it is!" Jen tried to downplay his concerns as the camel now started to walk. Lucky for them, they seemed to have picked one of the more lively camels, since it was going at a fast pace.
Tom took a breath to calm himself down, before just accepting Jen's quick decision. "Alright, the other teams probably wouldn't get them all either. How is anyone supposed to just know spices like that?" Tom asked, now gaining a confident smile. "Yeah, no way we had to get them all, we did good enough."
While they left, Mickey and Jay ran up to the spices and looked over them. "Hmm, is this one cinnam- ACHOO!" Jay sneezed loudly, which spread around some of the cinnamon powder in the air. Of course, Mickey ended up breathing it in as well and went into a coughing fit.
-Interview: Adversity Twins-
Jay had a major runny nose, while Mickey was taking an inhaler. "Okay, so we can't breath cinnamon. Spices mess with our senses, in plenty of different ways too. No spice hurts us the same..." Jay stated, although he didn't look too upset about it. Things like this were just normal for them.
Mickey took another whizz from his inhaler, then putting it back in his pockets. "Hey, at least it means we'll know which spices are which right? We can do this!" Mickey tried to look at the positive, which cheered Jay up just a little bit as he wiped his nose.
-End Interview-
"The last teams gather spices..." Don narrated, with the last three teams showing up to the kiosk stand while the Surfer Dudes had just gotten their last bag and left.
Leonard walked up to the bags of spices and inspected them closely. After looking at them, he gave a friendly wave to the vendor. "Greetings merchant, do you except dragon coin?" Leonard asked, to which the vendor just looked at the camera with disappointment.
"But they've still got a long journey ahead of them!" Don finished narrating as the camera showed the Surfer Dudes getting on their camel and setting out for the long ride to the restaurant.
-Interview: Surfer Dudes-
Geoff and Brody looked pretty calm, almost as if they weren't even worried in the slightest about their situation. "We were kinda towards the back of the pack, but no biggie! We just gotta keep our heads above the water." Geoff said, with his usual chipper tone.
"Shyeah dude, we'll ride over the wave from the back, and we'll cruise through like it's nothing!" Brody agreed with his partner, making the motion of going over a wave with his hands.
"Things are starting to heat up as the Daters and Best Friends are the first teams to reach the desert restaurant." Don narrated, with the camel carrying the Daters stopping at the restaurant first with the Best Friends arriving just half a minute later.
Stephanie ran up to the Don Box next to the stand and got their tip, reading it as soon as she grabbed it. "This one's a botch or watch. 'Just stew it'. What's a botch or watch?" Stephanie read the tip, looking over at Ryan once he jogged over to the Don Box.
Ryan took the tip from her and read it himself, which laid out how the challenge worked. "It's a challenge only one of us is allowed to do. Hand your spices to the chef so he can add them to a bowl of Moroccan stew, which one of you must eat. I've got this one babe, I can chug some stew down pretty quickly!" Ryan explained to her, before doing as the tip instructed and handing the bag to the chef.
Carrie and Devin soon did the same after the chef handed a bowl of stew to Ryan, with Devin handing the bag over. "I'll take this one Carrie. I can handle spicy foods just fine!" Devin told her, just watching the chef mix their spices together.
Carrie gave a thumbs up, and then flipped over the tip to the rest of it. "When you finish your stew, race on foot to the chill zone as fast as you can because-" Carrie read off the rest of the tip, before the scene cut her off and switched to Don standing at the chill zone.
"The last team to meet me here WILL be cut from the race!" Don stated, with a burly man standing behind him that was hired for something.
The scene cut back to the restaurant, with a bowl of stew being handed to Devin sizzling hot. "Wow, well we got the right spices right? Shouldn't be too difficult!" he said confidently, walking away from the stand with Carrie while the Ice Dancers showed up on their camel.
Once the dancers hopped off the camel and got their tip, Jacques handed the chef their bag while Josee pulled out a rabbit's foot on a string and held it close to her. "Come on bun bun don't fail us now!" she told the rabbit's foot, getting odd looks from the Best Friends while walked away.
-Interview: Ice Dancers-
Josee was still holding the rabbit's foot in her palms, showing it to the camera. "I'm not superstitious at all, I just believe that this rabbit's foot is responsible for everything good in my life." Josee pointed at the foot, with Jacques looking a little weirded out.
"It's her good luck charm, no one can touch it but her. We've done well in nearly everything we do, so I believe it works!" Jacques agreed with her, although his weirded out face said otherwise.
-End Interview-
Back at the spice kiosk, the last few teams were in more of a rush to get their spices. Dwayne was trying to pick the spices despite clearly not knowing what spices were what, and more concern was brewing in Junior. "Dad come on! We can't stay here forever! The other teams are leaving!" Junior tried to rush his dad, pointing over at the camels were Mom and Daughter and the Adversity Twins were climbing onto their camels and leaving.
Dwayne began to panic a little, before coming to a quick solution. "Uhh, let's just pick out any five!" Dwayne blurted out, not knowing what the next challenge would end up being.
Noah overheard the idea and took it for himself. "Good idea, just give us the five closest to you." Noah told the vendor, who did as told and scooped from the five bags closest to him twice.
After handing the bags to the two teams, the pros and the family duo got on their camels and quickly left the area. Only the Goths, LARPers, and the Rockers were left to pick their spices after those teams left.
"While the last few teams try to dig themselves out of last place, the race for first heats up as more teams dive into the restaurant challenge!" Don narrated, as a compilation was shown of various teams riding their camels across the desert, with some of them arriving at the restaurant. The Police Cadets, Geniuses, and Sisters were the next three teams to make it to the restaurant in that order, with MacArthur sweating bullets as she fell off her camel.
"Too... hot... I feel hotter than a tax evader being interrogated..." MacArthur panted, laying on the sand while Sanders grabbed their tip.
Sanders handed the chef their bag of spices, letting out a sigh when she saw how tired her partner was. "Ugh, I'll eat the stew. But only because we're in a secure position right now! We're going to have to double time it once we're done." Sanders told MacArthur, who gave a weak thumbs up from the ground.
While more teams showed up to the restaurant, Ryan and Devin tried to down their stew quicker than before. "Come on Ryan! Show that stew who the champ is!" Stephanie cheered her boyfriend on, hugging him while doing so.
Carrie was watching Devin eat the stew from a distance, looking hopeful. "Oh Devin..." she said quietly, before turning around and seeing that the camera was on her.
Carrie blushed at this attention, realizing she was caught ogling him. "Oh okay, I love him! But don't tell him! I've loved him since we were four, but he has a girlfriend, and we might just die on this show, so do I tell him how I feel now? I just don't know. We might just die together and he'll never know how I feel about him..." Carrie sighed, feeling defeated about their situation overall.
Before she could say anything else on the matter, Devin held up his bowl and wiped his mouth. "Done! Let's go homie!" he called out to Carrie, who snapped out of her lovey trance and ran off with him.
Just as the Best Friends left, Ryan finished his stew as well. "We're done!" Ryan exclaimed, holding up his empty bowl.
Stephanie right away started to run off, looking at the map on the back of their tip. "That's my boyfriend! Let's hurry!" Stephanie cheered for him, with Ryan already running behind her and soon beside her.
About 10 minutes later, most of the teams were now at the restaurant challenge, with some eating and some waiting in line for their stew. The Vegans and the Tennis Rivals had just arrived together, with the Vegans letting the old men go first as always. Kelly and Taylor were in front of them in line, and Taylor looked confused by what the Vegans were doing. "Why are you helping them out? You know only one team gets to live right? I'd just let them die." Taylor said bluntly, surprising both the teams behind her.
Laurie glared at Taylor, crossing her arms. "You really only value yourself like that? That's just cruel. They're old men, and we like to make sure everyone here has a fair chance at survival, because we all deserve a fair chance at escaping." Laurie replied, with Miles nodding in agreement with her, also glaring at Taylor.
Taylor nodded, not really caring what the Vegans thought. "Whatever, go get yourselves killed for someone who won't even care. Makes the game easier for the rest of us." Taylor ended the conversation right there, since Kelly handed the bag of spices to the chef and got their stew going.
While the silent tension between the Vegans and Mom and Daughter grew, the rest of the teams were trying to chug their stews as fast as they could to avoid letting the competition pass them up. Josee was drinking her stew on one leg, maintaining a graceful pose while Jacques watched. "Oho! What a beautiful performance by Josee!" Jacques cheered her on, clapping his hands while she drank and soon finished their stew.
Tom and Jen still hadn't started their stew, having just gotten their bowl from the chef. "Okay, so you picked the last spice, so I'm thinking you should be the one that eats it. I'm not burning my tongue off because you picked the wrong one." Tom told Jen, holding out both his palms towards the stew and making a motion as if he was pushing it away.
"You're only saying that because you don't want to get any of it on your short. News flash Tom, I don't either, so expect us to lose a few places while I drink this." Jen told him, before beginning to drink their stew.
Emma and Mary were drinking their stews at the same time together, while Kitty and Ellody watched. "So, how did you two meet? You'd have to know each other pretty well to be a team right?" Kitty asked Ellody, since neither of them were currently doing anything.
Ellody tapped a finger to her chin before she quickly came up with an answer. "Ah yes, we met at an engineering students' potluck picnic. We both brought pi-chart pie! We're both quite whimsical and intelligent, so our friendship was imminent." Ellody answered, letting out a brief snort-laugh.
Kitty giggled with her at the coincidence from the Geniuses' first meeting, although it was brief as well. "Say, speaking of friendships, you know how my sister has that 'trial mini-alliance thing? Since you helped us out and all and we'll probably end up going far in the race together, wanna just be friends along the ride?" Kitty asked, looking hopeful the answer would be a yes.
Ellody considered it, before smiling and nodding. "If you put it that way, a professional friendship would be delightful. It would strengthen trust in our alliance and make us overall more powerful. Please do not expect us to put our lives before yours though. We all seek to win this competition." Ellody accepted the friendship, making Kitty clap excitedly.
"Done!" Mary exclaimed, wiping off her mouth off afterwards. Seeing that her partner was done, Ellody gave a quick wave to Kitty, then jogged off with Mary.
"Finished! Let's go Kitty!" Emma called to her sister, not bothering to wipe her mouth until they started running.
Another 10 minutes passed and a few more teams left the restaurant while the last few teams arrived. Seeing that everyone was eating stew with their spices in it. Dwayne let out a nervous gulp at what he was going to have to do. "Heya son, maybe picking the closest five spices wasn't the best idea. Maybe we should go back and get the right ones?" Dwayne suggested while Junior hopped off the camel.
"There's no time Dad! We gotta hurry!" Junior handed their bag to the chef, while Dwayne just went along with it and hopped off the camel.
Owen and Noah had just gotten their bowl from the chef, and Owen's face was already red from how hot the stew was. "I don't think we got the- HOT! -right spices!" Owen gasped for air in between slurps, although he was still chugging the stew as fast as he could.
Noah rolled his eyes and poked Owen's stomach. "Oh come on I've seen you eat! You're about as picky as a raccoon, just chug it!" Noah ordered, knowing full well that Owen could down a stew. It was edible, that couldn't be said for some of the other things that Owen had eaten in the past.
Now in open desert past the restaurant, the Best Friends and the Daters were in a footrace for first place. "Do you see the chill zone homie?" Devin asked as he jogged along with Carrie, since she was just a little bit in front of him.
"I think I see it! Yahoo! We're gonna live!" Carrie pointed ahead of them, cheering for their safety while the Daters closed the distance between them.
The camera panned to the left and showed the chill zone next to an oasis, where Don was waiting for the teams The Daters were the first team to step onto the chill zone, with the Best Friends stepping on the mat just a few seconds later. "Welcome to the chill zone! You are the first teams to arrive, congrats!" Don congratulated them.
Even though they still hated Don and were still trapped in this race, both teams burst out into loud celebration. "Yeah baby! We showed them who is winning this thing!" Stephanie hugged him, before the couple started making out.
Carrie and Devin hugged each other briefly, before Devin raised a fist to the air. "Woo! We did it! We did it! Man, I wish I could see Shelly's face right now seeing us do so well! She's probably so relieved." Devin cheered, the mention of Shelly making Carrie's celebration die down a little.
"Yeah, haha... Shelly." Carrie raised a fist in the air weakly as well, still having a smile on her face.
-Interview: Daters-
Stephanie and Ryan both looked extremely happy, with Ryan having a hand on Stephanie's shoulder and Stephanie having a hand around his hip. "Coming in first is huge! We'll be in the lead for the next part of the race, and we can just keep dominating the game! As long as we have our love, nothing can stop us!" Stephanie exclaimed, being extremely proud of this first win.
"Yup, we both knew we would win this first part of the race anyway. Steph and I are going all the way to the end, and that's a promise!" Ryan added, just as proud as Stephanie was.
Stephanie had a twinkle in her eye as Ryan spoke, feeling ever so proud of him. "Oh you know it baby! Give me some of that!" Stephanie then kissed Ryan on the lips, and it turned into a makeout session from there.
-End Interview-
Back at the restaurant, the camera showed the remaining teams chugging their stew down in great haste. It then focused in on Owen, who just finished chugging his stew. His face was still red though as he tossed the bowl away. "Ha... ha... need... water!" Owen cried out, although Noah took his hand and tugged him along away from the restaurant.
"No time for water, you can have all the water you want when we finish!" Noah told Owen, as if Owen were a child that needed to be bribed in order to do something.
Rock and Dwayne were chugging down their stew and finished at around the same time, although Dwayne's reaction to finishing was much stranger than Rock's "Gah! I can't see! The stew must have caused blindness!" Dwayne waved both of his arms around aimlessly, dropping the stew in the process.
"C'mon Spud let's go! Can't come in last!" Rock called to his partner, who took a few seconds to realize that Rock was referring to him before lazily running behind Rock and just following his lead.
Seeing that Dwayne wasn't going to be able to move on his own, Junior grabbed his dad's hand and started to run just after the Rockers left. "Come on Dad we gotta go! I'll lead the way!" Junior told him, with Dwayne trying to keep balance while blindly running with his son.
-Interview: Rockers-
Spud was listening to music with his headphones on while Rock gave his partner an annoyed look. "Both challenges today felt like botch or watches, but that's gonna change soon! Spud is gonna have to get his act together, or else we're gonna go like, BLEGH!" Rock stuck his tongue out and made what he thought was the sound of dying.
Spud took his headphones off for a second, hearing his name. "Oh what? Were you talking to me dude?" Spud asked, making Rock facepalm.
-End Interview-
Now as more teams were reaching the chill zone, a compilation played of each team arriving with Don announcing their placements.
"3rd!" the Ice Dancers posed on the chill zone, with Josee standing on top of Jacques.
"4th!" "5th!" the Geniuses and Sisters showed up at around the same time, with the Geniuses showing up just ever so slightly earlier.
"6th!" the Police Cadets arrived with MacArthur carrying Sanders on her shoulder, clearly in pain from a stomach cramp.
"7th!" Chet kicked Lorenzo off of the chill zone after they arrived.
"8th!" the Surfer Dudes chest bumped each other in joy.
"9th!" the Fashion Bloggers looked satisfied, although Jen looked just a little bit annoyed.
"10th!" Mom and Daughter showed up, with Kelly clutching her chest in pain while Taylor looked fed up with her mother even though Kelly was the one who drank their stew.
"Way to go mom! You made us take forever to get here!" Taylor complained, pulling out her filer and started to work on her nails.
Kelly walked off the chill zone with her daughter, still having her hands on her stomach. "Sorry sweetie, mommy will do better next round!" Kelly assured her.
"11th!" the Reality TV Pros arrived, with Owen soon running over to the oasis and shoving his head in the water to cool off.
"12th!" the Adversity Twins cheered together, just happy to not be super close to last place.
"13th!" Rock sighed in disappointment with their placement while Spud didn't really seem to care.
"14th!" Dwayne and Junior both pumped their fists in the air in celebration, with Dwayne soon passing out and falling onto the carpet face-first.
"15th!" the Goths both just blankly looked off into the distance as they stepped onto the carpet.
"That leaves the LARPers, Vegans, and Tennis Rivals! One of these teams, will be dying today!" Don narrated, with the scene cutting back to the restaurant where all three teams were slurping down their stew.
Miles soon finished the stew for the Vegans, wiping her mouth once she did so. "See you at the finish line, good luck!" Laurie told the Tennis Rivals as they jogged away towards the chill zone.
Gerry waved to the two of them as they left while Pete continued to chug their stew down. "God I'm gonna be sick..." Pete muttered, having one hand on his stomach as he continued to try and chug their stew down.
Tammy was currently drinking the stew for the LARPers, and she was going at a bit of a slower pace. "Come on Tammy, there's only one other team left, we have to get going!" Leonard tried to motivate her to drink their stew faster, but it didn't do much.
"I already had some consumables for the stat buffs earlier, I didn't think we'd have this much to feast on." Tammy told him, referring to the snacks they had on the plane.
Leonard remembered what she was talking about and nodded in understanding. "Oh, well carry on then." Leonard told her, completely missing the point of rushing her and forgetting it.
-Interview: LARPers-
"We may have been in last place, but that was no cause for concern!" Leonard said confidently, then pulling out some kind of blue crystal. "Even if we were to take longer to finish our stew, we still have a speed buffing crystal!"
Tammy then reached into her pocket and pulled out a green one. "I have a strength crystal with me, so the other teams don't stand a chance!"
-End Interview-
Pete soon finished his stew and tossed the bowl aside, running away from the restaurant and towards the chill zone with Gerry. "We can do this! These decades of athletic training aren't going to go to waste!" Pete declared, motivating both him and Gerry.
Just a few seconds after the Tennis Rivals left, Tammy finished her stew and tossed the bowl aside as well. "Level completed!" she exclaimed as the LARPers began to run off after the Tennis Rivals.
"Onward to victory!" Leonard exclaimed with her, even though the Tennis Rivals were running even faster than them despite their old age.
"16th place!" Don announced as the Vegans stepped onto the carpet of the chill zone, making them sigh with relief that they were safe for now.
Laurie and Miles shared a hug with each other, before looking back towards the direction they came from. "I can see the Tennis Rivals! Phew." Laurie pointed at them, happy to see that they were outpacing the LARPers.
-Interview: Vegans-
"We stuck to our principles, and we were able to stay in the race! I'm really happy God has given us this chance to carry on. It must be a sign!" Laurie said with joy, then closing her eyes and going into silent prayer.
Miles nodded in agreement with her. "Mhmm, we've met some wonderful people here already, including the Tennis Rivals, so I do hope that we'll be able to help them as long as we can during the race."
-End Interview-
-Interview: LARPers-
"The Tennis Rivals were really starting to make things look hopeless, so we were left with only one option! To use... magic!" Leonard raised both his hands, as if he actually planned on using magic while Tammy had a smirk on her face.
-End Interview-
Leonard pulled out his staff from seemingly out of nowhere while Tammy pulled out her ocarina. "Song of flames!" Tammy shouted, before beginning to play the ocarina poorly.
"Long-ranged attack!" Leonard shouted, pointing his staff at the Tennis Rivals while a lightning sound effect was played.
Nothing happened, despite the dramatic flair, but by sheer coincidence, Pete soon collapsed to the ground and clutched his chest. "Gah! Heartburn! Can't..." Pete cried out in pain as he felt something sharp in his chest.
Gerry heard his partner's cry and turned around, quickly picking him up over his shoulder. "I got you! Knew we should have taken the heartache pill sponsorship!" Gerry assured Pete, now running as fast as he could while the LARPers started to close the gap between them.
"It's a dead heat for not last place, it could be anyone!" Don narrated from the chill zone, watching as both teams were nearing the chill zone at pretty much the same time.
One of the teams soon ran onto the Carpet of Completion, letting out huge sighs of relief. Don gave a few slow claps for them, since they had just barely survived the first leg of the race. "17th place goes to...
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...the LARPERS!"
Leonard and Tammy cheered for each other, both looking proud of themselves. "That's what you get when you have magic on your side! Victory!" Leonard cheered, holding up his staff.
"I wouldn't call 17th place victory, but you still get to live. So go on ahead." Don told them, to which the LARPers walked away together while the Vegans gasped at this result since they had stuck around.
The camera showed the shoes of the Gerry step onto the carpet, before zooming out and showing the two men entirely. Both looked defeated, horrified, and dreadful all at the same time. "We... we lost..." Gerry muttered, dropping Pete onto the carpet. He was in complete shock and disbelief, even though he had just watched the LARPers finish and take their last chance at living.
"Pete, Gerry. You are the last team to arrive. You are out of the race." Don told them, making Gerry's heart sink while Pete's heart was still in pain and on fire basically.
Instead of playing a montage like these kind of shows normally would, the burly man from behind Don walked over to the men with a tennis racket in hand. The man was a stoic figure, being Russian and fitting the bill for the typical silent strong Russian guy. "Wait! You're not just going to kill them on the spot are you? They're clearly in grief right now!" Laurie protested, seeing as how Gerry was still reeling from their loss while Pete was dealing with the pain of his heartburn.
Don nodded his head. "Consider this our way of putting them out of their misery. Dimitri, handle them please." Don replied, snapping his fingers and making the Russian man push the Vegans away from the carpet.
The Vegans tried to put up a fight and push back to try and get to the Tennis Rivals to give them a proper goodbye, but Dimitri shoved them to the ground without hesitation and soon marched over to the old men.
"What the hel-" Gerry began, but was cut off and knocked out by a swift whack to the head from Dimitri's tennis racket. It created a large dent in his skull, killing him pretty much instantly thanks to how fragile he was.
Pete witnessed his friend's death and gasped, although he didn't last long either as Dimitri bashed his face in with the racket, turning his facial features into one big bloody mess. The last thing either of them saw were the Vegans watching in horror, tears running down their faces.
Death Order:
18th: Tennis Rivals
Current Status:
1st: Daters
2nd: Best Friends
3rd: Ice Dancers
4th: Geniuses
5th: Sisters
6th: Police Cadets
7th: Stepbrothers
8th: Surfer Dudes
9th: Fashion Bloggers
10th: Mom and Daughter
11th: Reality TV Pros
12th: Adversity Twins
13th: Rockers
14th: Father and Son
15th: Goths
16th: Vegans
17th: LARPers
Author's Note: There you have it! The first death of the fic! I know it may seem a little predictable to have an already early boot become the first boot of the fic, but I had plenty of reasons to kill off the Tennis Rivals first. But let me say this first, I really enjoy the Tennis Rivals as characters. They are very likeable fodder characters, but in the end, they're still fodder. In a death race, two old men are not going to make it through no matter how hard they try, especially given the competition. You'll see the impact their deaths have soon enough, but I felt it would be most appropriate for them go here. Sorry to any of their fans who were hoping for them to go further. I know some teams got more focus than others in this episode, but to be fair, even in canon some teams got ignored for certain episodes. Don't worry though, everyone will have a role in some form before their death, even if it's a minor one. Be sure to review and let me know what you though, since feedback greatly helps with these kinds of competition fics!
This episode's review question is...
What team do you think is mostly likely to make it to the finale?
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time! Remember, Sky is the best!