NYC, what is it about you? You're big, you're loud, you're tough. And you're totally awesome! (BTW, if you get that reference, let me know in a review, because that's a musical I actually have seen on Broadway). I have been to New York. Did you know exactly how green the Statue of Liberty is? She's minty! And yet all those cartoons show her as white. So, hmmm…today's fun fact…I was there during the Fourth Of July, and it wasn't a big deal at all. Just concession stands selling American flags during the day, and fireworks at night. Not as much fun as I expected. I much preferred the rest of the holiday, where I got to see three shows (two of them musicals) and had a few days of summer in the middle of my usual winter.

Thanks for reviewing, AnonBrowser, OnmiAbsoluteUIGodzilla, iwashere01, lordgemini and IllusionSign.

I checked the confessionals, just to see if I could get any more information on whether Alejandro had tried to make Bridgette lose. He did mention something about everyone going down, but nothing more. I even tried reviewing the footage, and even that didn't completely make it clear if he meant to or not, just that he was on his team's sled just as Bridgette got stuck. He might not have even seen it happen. It was annoyingly inconclusive. Also, Bridgette wouldn't have the chance to say anything to him until the next location, since the whole of Team Chris was up in First Class.

The guys and Izzy were, on the whole, better company than Team Amazon, apart from Gwen. I was quite glad Courtney was gone, though, because I was sure that would mean they would be better company next time. I got on well with pretty much all the guys, but I tried to follow through on flirting with Alejandro. I didn't do it too much, just making jokes about how it was a shame that host-contestant relationships might be frowned upon and smiling at him. He seemed to respond, just as much as he had with the other girls I'd witnessed him flirting with. I hoped that meant something, but only time would tell.

I had breakfast at the same time as Alejandro and Tyler, the next morning, but this time I just had yoghurt. It was pretty high-quality low-fat stuff, though, so it filled me up well.

Izzy looked over at Owen, who was still lying on the couch asleep with ropes around him. "Awww, look at Big O! His fear of flying is so adorable!" At that moment, Owen fell off the couch to reveal…

"Finally!" Noah. "Thanks for not noticing I was missing all night! What am I, Tyler?"

"Hey!" Tyler snapped, spraying Alejandro by mistake.

I passed Alejandro a serviette, asking "What's Noah talking about? Why would you not being noticed be normal?"

Noah answered for him. "His girlfriend can't remember his name. The fanblogs don't talk about him. At the last location, Lindsay kept calling him by my name."

"Oh." I muttered the word softly. There wasn't much more to say.

Alejandro suddenly stood up. "I think it's time the rest of the teams got a taste of what they're missing," he stated, taking a stack of snacks from the minibar. "I feel bad for them, all stuck in Loser Class." A lot of the contestants had started calling Economy that.

I followed him, and gave him my best smile, asking "Do you mind if I come along? There was something I promised to do for someone on Team Victory anyway."
"Of course, Toni." Alejandro said, giving his own perfect smile back. "Who am I to dissuade my favourite co-host to join me?" That made me blush, but I managed not to go all girly and tried to at least appear cool and collected. Soon enough, the heat left my face. Fake it til' you make it, all I can say.

As we walked down the hall, I explained "Bridgette mentioned to me she had a little issue with you yesterday. Don't worry, she knows you didn't mean anything, but there was something she didn't mention, and I said I'd help her ask you. You don't mind, do you?"

I thought I saw Alejandro's face flicker this time, but he regained a calm composure and said "Well, it's a shame, because I really do like Bridgette, but I suppose if that's how she feels…"

So before Alejandro was even in the room, I was already over to Bridgette and whispering to her to get her composure so she could say what she needed to.

To her credit, she did really well. She glanced back at me as he entered, and I nodded at her. "Um," she said, nervously meeting his eyes, "I just wanted to tell you…um…I might have misled you yesterday. The thing is, I have a boyfriend back home. And…well…I'm sorry for what I did, because that wasn't fair to you or to him. I think it's best that we stay away from each other for the rest of the show. Is that okay?" She sounded a bit stiff and rehearsed, but at least it got the message across.

Alejandro showed no sign of me having told him what was coming. "I'm sorry, too, Bridgette." He said charmingly. "Let me assure you I never meant you to get stuck or to compromise your relationship. It is painful that you wish me to stay away from you, but I'll respect your wishes." He held out one of the snacks. "But will you please take this as a peace offering of sorts?" Bridgette smiled shyly and accepted the bag of chips.

It looked like Bridgette wasn't the only girl Alejandro would have to stay away from. Team Victory accepted everything, but when he offered something to Sierra, Heather jumped in front of her.

"Well, she doesn't want it!" she informed Alejandro fiercely. "We never trust the enemy, especially the excessively disgustingly flirty ones."

"No thanks…enemy." Sierra chimed in with a giggle.

I took my leave at that point. "I'll be calling you all to the common area soon," I warned the teams. "We're still setting up, but trust me, it might not be as exotic as Japan, but it's even more stylish." The teams looked suspiciously at me. "I swear!" I added, holding up my hands in defense. "I'm not Chrissy. I don't twist things. What if I told you that the place we're headed to has huge department stores, tons of art galleries and we're headed to the most, er, central part of it? You'll see."

Okay, there was maybe one bit that implied something not quite true. If you hadn't guessed, we were on our way to New York City, and most of the challenge would be in Central Park. But the first part actually took place on Lady Liberty's island and then they had to take a boat through the sewers to get there. Hey, don't look at me, it wasn't my idea.

The common area was all set up with a giant inflatable boat two minutes later, and I called everyone to the area to sit in it, already wearing my life jacket.

Why was I the only one wearing one? "Sorry, guys." I said. "The producers are cheapskates, so they refused to get the thirteen we should have on hand. But the boat is dependable, I swear." Then the floor opened and we all fell out screaming, me included.

Still, once we got out of the Hudson River and onto Liberty Island, everyone was starting to look excited as they realized exactly where we were.

"New York, home of Macy's, Broadway and about a thousand art museums that I'm sure whoever wins will be coming back to next summer." I introduced the place. "Your challenge is going to be a carriage race to Central Park!"

"Oh, I've always dreamed of riding a horse-drawn carriage!" Owen gushed.

"I didn't say what kind of carriage." I said. "Sorry, buddy. It's actually a baby carriage race. But before you get to Central Park, you need to get your carriages. The interns put them up there." I pointed up to the Statue of Liberty, where you could see the three carriages in team colours. "Everyone needs to climb up the ropes we stationed for each team, grab the carriage, and then head down to that dock over there." I pointed to where team colour-coordinated motorboats floated. "There's buoys showing you where to go. We'll talk the next part of the challenge once you get to Central Park. And just so you complain to the right person, the producers came up with most of this challenge, but a lot of the ideas came from Chrissy, and I didn't have any input. So don't shoot the messenger."

Lindsay raised her hand. "So when do we go shopping?"

I gave a sigh. "Trust me, Lindsay, I'd love to go shopping too, but we don't have the time. We'll be leaving straight after the challenge, so no time for shopping."

"NOOOO!"

I gave a sigh. "Just go, okay?" I mean, yes, I would have liked to shop myself, but it wasn't the end of the world that we didn't have time. I knew for a fact that Lindsay came from the richest background of anyone on the show. Her parents could easily pay for a trip to New York after the show, and the flight wasn't even that long.

I had to be taken up to the top of the statue to wait. While we were there, Chris started giving me notes again. "Don't start telling them not to shoot you because these weren't your ideas," he said sternly. "As the host, you have to expect them to be mad at you. The ratings seem to like you apologizing insincerely and the comradery rapport you had in Japan, so up it a bit more here. And for the moment, go chivvy them a bit."

I took a look down at the contestants, feeling shaky. Alejandro was coming up faster than anyone else, already halfway up. Izzy was just below him, not as quick but still pretty fast. I could see from my vantage point that Sierra was not looking where she was going. Her eyes were on Cody, who was just above her. Gwen was highest up of Team Amazon, scowling with concentration as she pulled herself up.

"Pick up the pace, everyone!" I called down. "We've got a part two to get to!"

Alejandro reached the top first, just as I'd expected. "You – or the producers, I suppose – are pure evil!" he gasped out.

"Takes one to know one." I teased. I caught another flicker in his face, and I laughed. "Don't worry, no one else is up and they won't film that part. I haven't seen any hard evidence of it so far. And I'm not allowed to tell. I still kind of like you."

I gave Alejandro a flirty look as I spoke. I saw a flash of suspicion, but then he smiled back, making me wonder if I'd imagined the suspicious look.

When I took another look down, it looked like Cody, Tyler and Noah had gotten distracted looking down Lady Liberty's dress. This, I had to pick out. "Dudes, she's made of copper!" I called down. "Quit being perverts to a goddess statue just because none of you can do it to a real girl!"

I still stand by that it wasn't my yelling that caused Cody to slip off the rope and land right in her cleavage. Sierra had to pull him out with her teeth. Cody needed to bandage his ankle later in the day, but he survived the rest of the challenge, and he would have suffocated without her.

Team Amazon was the first to have all their team members up. "I'll get the carriage," called Heather, "Which is something only a really valuable teammate would do!" Well, she did have to go on one of the crown spokes, so she had to be steady.

Team Chris had a hard time pulling Owen up, so Team Victory, with less members anyway, was next to be all up, with Bridgette first and Lindsay last. "I'll get the carriage!" DJ offered, and tiptoed up the spoke of the yellow carriage gracefully.

"Um, how do we get down?"

I looked up. Heather was glaring at me as she asked the question. The rest of Team Amazon wasn't glaring, but they were questioning.

I pointed to the fireman's pole. "It's a long drop, but just hang on to the pole. I'll be coming down as soon as the contestants are all down, and I'll meet you all at Central Park."

I was the only one who knew about how they'd have to go through the sewers to get there, and I'd have to meet them outside there.

Team Chris finally got Owen up (after a detour in one of the statue's nostrils), and Izzy somersaulted up their carriage's spoke before they went down, following Team Victory, who'd already gone. I followed them, but at least I got to go to the mainland by jet pack, just so I could arrive before anyone else. Like McZee on those old games where he shows up on every screen before you get there. Except I don't have a Scottish accent when I'm in the UK or blue skin, and I don't have a habit of saying "Don't you recognize Her Dorkness?" Well, he said 'SuperZee', but he didn't have the benefit of the superhero challenge from last season (I still had my Her Dorkness costume ready to wear when passing out candy to the kids next Halloween – they'd recognize me for sure).

Enough about McZee. Team Victory and Team Chris were fine when they came out. But as they came out, Alejandro looked back, asking "Where's Heather's boat?"

A giant albino alligator apparently tried to eat Team Amazon's boat. They were also in last place again, even though the four of them had reached the top of the statue first.

"Sorry, I had no idea that urban myth was a true thing." I apologized. "Anyway, onto the second part of the challenge. You guys will be bobbing for very big apples in Snapping Turtle Pond – and like the game, you can use anything but your hands. Each of you will follow one of the paths behind me. Team Victory, you got here first, so you get the most direct path, which is the middle one. Team Chris is Really Really Really Really Cold, you've got the path on the right, and Team Amazon, you've got the one on the left. And since you've all got baby carriages, you're all going to need one teammate to jump in and be the baby."

"Cody!" chorused the Team Amazon girls.

"I'll do it." Noah calmly told his teammates.

"Oh, and I'll do it for Team Victory!" Lindsay squealed. "I love it when people call me baby."

Noah was actually nice enough there to nudge Tyler and tell him "Make a mental note of that, bro."

Tyler, though, didn't understand and patted his pockets. "I don't have a pen."

"All good!" I called out. "And, just one more thing." Ding-ding! The bell spoke for me. "Now go!"

As always, I did not get to hear the song until after it was recorded, because I went to wait at the pond, but it turned out to be a little show tune-esque, about how awesome New York was (Sierra's blog called it 'What's Not To Love' when the season was over). The apples were already waiting (with rewards for the winners inside), and so were Chris and Chef.

"As a matter of fact, I am cold right now." Chris told me. "I know it's not March yet, but do New York winters have to be so freezing?" He wasn't wearing his coat, and I wasn't wearing my cardigan, but I'd wager my T-shirt made me a lot colder.

"I've heard New York summers are much worse. People faint on the solstice," I said, shrugging. "I'd hate to ride the subway in case it gets stuck and the air conditioning goes off."

Team Victory only arrived a little earlier than the other two. "The other teams are here?" Leshawna exclaimed. "I thought we got the shortest path!"
"Maybe, but your dancing took us the longest to recover from!" Lindsay suggested.

I had to hold back laughter, remembering Leshawna's dance moves last season.

"And look at the size of them apples!" DJ added.

"It's cool, I've got this." Bridgette told her team, diving straight in. Well, she was most comfortable in the water, and she seemed anxious to redeem herself after the Yukon.

Tyler and Sierra both dived in, too. Tyler tried blowing the apple first, but then ended up bashing his head against it all the way to the end. Sierra carried hers on her head, and Bridgette towed hers by holding the stem with her teeth.

I was more interested in an inter-team interaction, though. Alejandro was watching the swimmers, then he turned to Heather and said softly "Central Park is so romantic, don't you find?"

"Whatever." Heather replied, glaring at him. "I know you've been messing with everyone's head, so back off or you'll wish you had."

Alejandro just moved closer. "My wish doesn't involve backing off."

Heather stamped her foot. "Ugh, just go play with your stupid team and leave us alone!"

"You're beautiful when you play hard to get," Alejandro said, and when Heather just growled, he left her alone. "I'm going."

"You bet you are – right out of the game!" Heather yelled after him. Look, yes, I did see her switch up a sleeping Noah with another baby carriage. I was allowed to ignore it or not as I saw fit, so I went up to Heather and whispered "I saw the carriage switch. I just thought you should know if you have any worry at all that they won't find Noah in time. Also, who's going to stay behind to inform the mom that her baby's alive?"

"So what?" Heather said, rolling her eyes. "Are you going to make me put it back or penalize me for it?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. You can choose whether you want to take that risk or not."

As it was, Team Amazon did win, and Heather hadn't switched the carriages back, which caused Team Chris to lose. "But today," I said, "Is the first reward challenge of the season! So lucky for you guys. Team Amazon, you get First Class, and I'll see you in the elimination room for your reward."

The reward, as I mentioned, were things in the apples. One held candy, which Cody eagerly scooped up, apples, which Sierra looked very excited about, and a little electric meat grinder, which Heather dropped out of the plane (Chris hadn't told me where we were going next, but I had a feeling the meat grinder had something to do with the next location).

I smiled at the camera. "Looks like Team Amazon's clambered their way back to the top. But are they going to keep that position? Find out next time, on Total! Drama! World Tour!"

This time, she didn't sing it. I think she'll be alternating. Who knows what the Aftermath was like this time? You know where we're going next. Also, do any of you remember Angus McZee? He was a strange blue exposition fairy on a few creative computer games done by Microsoft, called Creative Writer, Fine Artist and 3D Movie Maker. His "Don't you recognize SuperZee" that I reference is in an extended introduction to the third one. Seriously, look up the games. He also had a Scottish accent in the UK version, but American in the US version.

Also, just so you know, I looked up exactly how long a flight from Toronto to New York is to reference Toni saying Lindsay could go to New York any time. It takes an hour and a half.