Well, fun times, and I think Toni can watch the Aftermath live if she wants to. The contestants aren't allowed to, but…oh, and London. Fun facts…well, you probably know the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda started out on the West End before Broadway. I actually saw it there before it went to Broadway. It was in the summer, but it was also very rainy, and I wore a jumper and jeans to the performance. The West End is great – I saw Wicked there twice! Okay, I also saw it twice at home, right across the world and in our city's most luxurious theatre, but still, four times for one show and none of them on Broadway is pretty good. More on London…there's a whole shop that just has M&M merchandise. Even better was the toy department store Hamley's. It was disappointing when I visited at age thirteen and realized nothing there interested me anymore (although I still love Build-A-Bear).

Thanks for reviewing, OmnipotentUIJudgeOfCharacterOG, lordgemini and AnonBrowser (well, she's got friends on this show which hasn't really done anything, so I think she can handle it).

We spent most of the week sunbathing on the beach. Gwen came out of the infirmary the day after the challenge, and while she still seemed a little quiet, she was back to her old self by the end of the week, and we were back in the air.

Yep, the Telethon was a success. Chris let me watch the whole thing live. It didn't look good at first, since the first donation was from Harold's mom. But they had better luck as they offered things like Leshawna singing, Lindsay's lip gloss ("Has anyone seen Tyler? Tyler, they're stealing my lip gloss!") and Duncan sightings around the world (one somewhere in the US and another in Italy). Even Ezekiel showed up and got a lot of questions about what made him agree to come back after being so desperate to stay on the plane (yay me – he said I told him Chris would never let him back in the game anyway). Either way, Izzy's guest appearance finally got them to the million-dollar mark, and most of it went towards us and future fuel-ups.

One thing I did get to do in the week was follow through in trying to get Bridgette to give me surfing lessons. You could rent boards down the beach and once I got back into the swing of it, I started learning a few of the tricks. I could tell just by watching Bridgette that I'd never be as good as her, but I did get a little better, even though we only rented the boards for about an hour for the last three days.

First Class was off-limits for the flight for some reason. As we filed in, Chris added to me, "I'll call you to get briefed later. For now, just letting you know you've got hosting duty in London."

That was kind of good news. We were halfway across the globe from London, so it would be a long flight, but there was loads of cool stuff there, so the challenge almost had to be something fun. It was also one of the oldest cities in the world, so that had to help.

Alejandro appeared to be asleep for most of the flight, so I took the opportunity to ask the guys on his team "So what's it like, having the new guy step in and take leadership of your team?"

"Oh, Al's great!" Owen said in a breezy tone. I couldn't help thinking something was bugging him, though. He seemed a bit too happy.

"Yeah, he's a good guy," Tyler agreed, "And a good leader, too." He sounded more natural.

Noah, however, glanced at Alejandro and said "Just give it up, you've already lost."

I scowled at him. "Um, what?"

"I know why you're asking," Noah said with a bite to his voice, "And I'm telling you as someone who knows that what you're trying to do won't get you anywhere."

I stared back at him, but I understood what he was saying. He knew why I was asking. And I got the feeling he saw through Alejandro better than any of us. Well, maybe Heather saw it too, but they were the only two who didn't need it spelled out. Even I couldn't see it.

But I didn't want to say that. So I just said what I'd wanted to say straight out. Yeah, I'd said I'd go for it tactfully, but I really wasn't in the mood. "Seriously, Noah-it-all, why are you always putting everyone else down? Does it make you feel good to do it? I've seen you making fun of Owen's weight and yet he's stuck by you as a friend this whole time! No wonder you don't have any other friends."

Noah didn't lose his composure when I spoke, but I could see something in his face that told me I'd hit on something. "Gratitude much when I was trying to be helpful." he muttered crossly. "And FYI, I won class president in junior year back home for a reason."

"That's right!" Owen added, looking a bit cross, clearly wanting to back his friend up. "I don't mind what he says about me, anyway, I already know I'm fat. And no one puts down my little buddy!"

I shrugged. "Whatever. I'm putting him down for putting everyone else down. But fine, if you want a lot of people to be turned off by you, go ahead, be my guest."

Chris called me into First Class just before we arrived. "Everyone's going to need to parachute down, including you," he warned me, "Because we can only land to pick everyone up. London wouldn't let us land on time." He had a guest in there, a scary-looking man with a top hat, coat, mask and wearing some kind of perfume.

Chris gestured to the man. "This is one of our interns. Don't be worried if you see him around – he's part of the challenge, but he knows to leave you alone." The intern briefly removed his mask to smile at me reassuringly, and then put it back on. "We're going to the Tower Of London, and the teams need to try and track Jack the Ripper down, but he'll be hunting them too."
"We're doing a Sherlock Holmes thing?" I paused, trying to decide what to think. It was no West End or waxwork exhibition, but it was kind of cool. Finally, I decided. "This sounds like a fun challenge."

"You don't have to be around most of the time." Chris told me. "The Ripper will be bringing everyone he finds back here, so you can meet them here. Winning team catches him first."

"What if he gets everyone?" I asked swiftly.

"Last teammate standing." Chris replied. "Now you better get to the common area if you want to grab your pick of the parachutes."

I was lucky to get that headstart. We were one parachute short and Noah and Owen had to drop together. However, Chris, once again, had to pull me aside before he made the announcement. He came into the common area before anyone else specifically to tell me "Team Chris is down a man. Someone decided to spy on the Ripper and so we're leaving him out of the challenge. Just tell the other three that Jack's the reason they're shorthanded."
So when we were on the double-decker bus we were taking to the Tower Of London and I'd done my introduction, that was what I did. As Chris had told us, Alejandro was missing.

"The Ripper got Al?" Owen exclaimed. "Not Al!"

"Do you think he's okay?" Heather said in a voice that sounded genuinely concerned. Then she added quickly "Because wow, big advantage for us. Yay!" Seconds later, she even suggested they look for him in case it was some kind of scheme. I think I was the only one who noticed she seemed unusually concerned for someone she was meant to hate. Gwen was interested in leading her team as she had done research on the Ripper, and Sierra was still too busy gushing about how young people married in ye olde England, clearly making parallels about how she would like to marry young if she got Cody.

I had to take them to get their first clue. I led the three teams up to three guards. "Everyone, your first clue will be found within the Changing of the Guards. The clue is hidden in something in his uniform, so you need to strip your guard until you find it. Don't worry, you won't need to remove anyone's boxers or whatever they're wearing, but everything else you should check until you've found it. And while you're at it…" Ding-ding!

Everyone groaned, and I went off to find the plane while the song began.

Being on the plane the whole time meant I got to hang out with Alejandro while we were waiting for people to be caught. There were three cameras filming everything live, so we could hear and see what was going on. I didn't say much at first, remembering what Noah had said. The others said he wasn't evil, so he probably did want to help.

"Is there something you wanted to ask me?" Alejandro finally asked, making eye contact with me. It was hard to think with those green orbs in front of me.

"Not really…" I murmured, trying to regain composure and hoping I wasn't blushing. "But I did want to know…can you please just tell me straight if you've been flirting with me for a reason or not?"

Alejandro paused. I couldn't figure out what he was thinking until he said finally "Toni, I do everything for a reason. You have been watching the footage, correct?" I nodded. "Then you should know that. I don't necessarily want to divulge my reasons. I'm sure you understand why."

"Oh." I paused, wondering what to say. I got the feeling that meant a romantic relationship was not going to happen. Finally, I smiled and said in a teasing tone "Well, you can add another broken heart to your list. I'd like to be friends with you, though. If you don't mind having a friend who has a tiny bit of a crush on you. Just be aware – I'm not going to be cool with all your evil deeds."

Alejandro laughed and smiled back at me. "I'm happy to be friends with you," he said lightly, "And when I said you were my favourite co-host, that was the truth. You're far easier to like than Chris."

As we finished speaking, I suddenly heard Noah mention Alejandro on Team Chris' camera. They'd found the rack they were meant to use to get the second clue, and Tyler had offered to be the one who got stretched. Noah was just saying "Quick, tie him down before Alejandro shows up and makes me do it just because I'm shorter."

I looked at Alejandro, who shrugged. However, his face darkened in seconds as Owen asked "Why don't you like Al? He's great."

Not because of that, because of what Noah said next. "I don't trust the guy. He's like an eel dipped in grease, swimming in motor oil."

"Dirty?" Owen said, puzzled.

"Slippery." Noah corrected. "Think about it. He's like Heather, only with social skills."

So that was probably part of what Noah was trying to say to me. I had to admit, it was good of him to say that. And, well, he was right, even if it wasn't a problem for me, especially now. But he didn't know Alejandro could hear him.

"I suppose he's a goner, huh?" I said softly. "If you can get the rest of the team to send him out, that is."

Alejandro didn't reply, but he narrowed his eyes further than I'd ever seen them before. It almost made him look frightening, like a Disney villain during their sanity slippage at the end of the movie.

Cody and Sierra arrived less than a minute later, and Cody instantly jumped behind me. "Please don't let her kiss me!" he pleaded into my ear.

I heard the story later on that she'd blocked him in a passageway and insisted they kiss like lords and ladies who used to sneak off in the olden days to make out and would get arrested if they were caught.

She'd kept asking for it while the Ripper was dragging them away, so when Sierra went to dart around me, I stepped up and said "Sorry, Sierra, you're not in the right place any more. You can't claim historical accuracy on a plane and I don't think Cody's as much of a history buff as you are, anyway. You can ask him if he wants to kiss you, but you actually need to listen to his answer and leave him alone if he says no."

Which he did. Sierra glared at me, but she left him alone.

Tyler arrived next, and Alejandro immediately started whispering to him. I had no idea what they were talking about, but Tyler was nodding, smiling. It looked like there would be one teammate who wasn't going to listen to Noah. The Ripper dumped out Bridgette next, and then returned soon after with DJ. Team Victory was totally taken out. Heather was the last to be captured. After that, Noah and Owen returned with one full sack, and Gwen with another.

"Sweet!" was Owen's first comment. "Everyone's okay!"

"Everyone's fine." Heather said airily, filing her nails. "You guys were so stupid to be worried."

"But it was reassuring to see some were concerned." Alejandro added, narrowing his eyes at Noah.

For the first time, the know-it-all seemed a little anxious. "You were watching everything? Wow, that's awkward." When Alejandro quoted his line, Noah added "Where I'm from, that's a compliment! Tough neighbourhood – but hey, we caught the Ripper-type guy!" And to be fair, that part was true.

"Congratulations, Team Chris Isn't As Hot As This Team!" I said. "You can head up to First Class. Gwen, whoever's in that bag, I'm sure they've been in there long enough."

"Well, Chris wanted a criminal." Gwen began to explain. "So, okay, I didn't catch the right one, but –" And she pulled off the bag to a chorus of gasps. We all recognized her catch.

"Duncan?"

And now that we'd gotten him back on the plane, Chris wouldn't let him back off and sent him off to First Class with the rest of Team Chris, now part of their team.

"As for the Victory duo," he added, "One of you will have to go home. Toni will host a tiebreaker. And whoever's left, you'll be with Team Amazon for the rest of the game."

I spoke with Team Victory quietly about who was going home. I didn't have to do a tiebreaker, after all. It was all about who wanted it more, and after a long discussion, they decided that DJ would leave and Bridgette would stay.

"And can you do me a favour?" I asked Bridgette. "Please make sure Sierra isn't trying to molest Cody all the time? She keeps doing it and it makes everyone uncomfortable, most of all him. Just try to befriend her or something. She knows the show and how honest you are, so she won't suspect any ulterior motives."

As for DJ, I stepped out of my role as co-host for a second and gave him a hug goodbye. "You really will be missed." I told him. "Hopefully you can maybe see a few sights in London before you head home. Too bad it's still so cold – there's a lot of squirrels in spring and fall."

And with that, Team Victory was gone, and what was left was merged into another Amazon.

The bit about the squirrels is actually something I saw. I forget which park I was walking through, but there were squirrels everywhere in the autumn. You could get about a metre close before they scampered away. It was amazing, since there are actually no squirrels in my country. I did once see one during Christmas (I've spent three there because we have family in England) – a grey one up a tree, but that was it. One time, my family saw a fox on a walk outside, but I wasn't with them at the time. Oh, and that line about Sierra wanting to kiss Cody even in the bag – I don't know if anyone else remembers it, but just before the commercial break, you can hear Sierra saying "We didn't kiss! I want my kiss!"

Also, the reason the intern is wearing perfume is because Jack the Ripper was known to wear some kind of cologne or fragrance that lingered after he'd made a kill.