A Dramatic Ridonculous Race

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

With Chris McLean rotting in prison, it seems like the era of Total Drama has come to an end. However, numerous contestants flock to other shows, and some find themselves in yet another race around the world, and they'll make some new friends along the way. Some of them may even find love.

17. Lord of the Ring Toss

(Lord of the Ring Toss)

OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I figured that the pork and beans challenge would cause problems for Bridgette, given her being a vegetarian, but at least it didn't get them cut from the race. I always enjoy doing the interactions between Cameron and Lightning, and showing off their teamwork. Without the Surfers taking the win, I thought it was only fair for another team to get a chance to shine, and given what I've done with the Rockers so far, I figured it was only right to give them another win. Glad to see you agree with my claim about Spud, and I stand by it. As far as Noah and Emma's falling out goes, I liked how they did it in canon, but I wanted to do something different. Also, I wanted to show that Don isn't a sadist of a host, unlike Chris. I figured it helps to further differentiate between the two of them.

SuperSonicHeroes: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Father & Son going here was pretty much a given, but I did try to give them a little bit more justice than they got in canon. Plus I think it's been established that Don is a lot more reasonable than Chris or the executives on Total Drama. The placements were probably the biggest issue for me, mainly given Bridgette being a vegetarian in this particular eating challenge. On the plus side, it gave me the chance to let the Rockers take first again.

Frosty Wolf: I'll admit that removing a tattoo might not be particularly high on the list of things that the show should pay for, but at least it does show that they care about the well being of the contestants. Bridgette's part was particularly hard for me to figure it out, but at least I managed to work it out in the end.

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"Last time on the Ridonculous Race: Our teams ended up getting chock full of beans. I have to admit, I never would've thought that so many people would hate beans. After spending most of the episode brooding over his breakup, Noah managed to mount an epic comeback with help from Owen and the power of friendship, after which Emma told him that they could get back together once the race was over. Total bull… is exactly what happened next. Dwayne and Junior managed to form a real and genuine connection with each other over the course of their time in the race. They also caught a series of connecting flights home after they came in last and got cut from the race. Only 9 teams are left in the race aroud the world for one million dollars, and things are about to get a lot more fierce. As for how that is, you're about to see right here and right now on… the Ridonculous Race!"

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One intro later…

"And here we are again." once the intro had come to an end, Don started off the new episode in front of the Chill Zone from the day before "As is to be expected by now, the Chill Zone from yesterday is the starting line for today. In this case it's Southern Alberta, and the right to grab the first travel tip of the day goes to the winners from yesterday, in this case the Rockers."

"Yeah man, rock and roll!" Rock made his way over to the Don Box, with Spud trailing not far behind him "I still can't believe it, we totally got first place again!"

"Wait, we're in first place?" Spud shot him a dull look.

"You know it dude, for the second time!"

"Alright man, we're killing it! Let's do a victory riff!"

"Save it for later man, right now we got another race to kick some tail in! Let's not count our chickens before they roost, or however that saying goes." so Rock pushed the button on the Don Box and pulled out a tip "Alright man, it looks like we're gonna be heading over to the Arctic Circle."

"Dude that's so cool, circles are totally one of my favorite shapes."

"Yeah, pretty sure it's not that kind of circle dude."

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"As has been quoted by those two idiots, the exciting destination for today's leg of the race is the Arctic Circle, which just so happens to be home to the world's harshest climate, whitest animals and favorite story book characters that are nowhere near as cuddly as people think. Each team will have to fly to our destination by Cessna, two teams being allowed on each flight, and once they land they'll find the Don Box with their next tip. What's more, each of the teams will be chilled to the bone when they discover that we've put another Boomerang into play. If they find it attached to their tip, then they can send one of the other teams back to repeat the first challenge, which all but guarantees them to come in last place. It's just our way of taking what's already cold and making it that much colder."

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Now back with the frontrunners…

"Alright let's do this, first place here we come! Hey good luck to the rest of you guys!" Rock and Spud waved at the other teams as they took off running, notably Brains & Brawn and the Surfer couple.

"You guys do you music aficionados." Lightning gave a simple wave to the Rockers as they left, only to look over and see Cameron looking at him with surprise "What?"

"You referred to them as aficionados." Cameron pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah so, that a bad thing?"

"Quite the contrary, I'm just surprised you chose to use such a sophisticated choice of vocabulary in such a casual manner."

"Hey what can I say, there's a lot of things people don't know about me. I'm like an onion."

"Because you have layers."

"That too."

"Um… very well then. But I do say that you have proven to be much more complex than I was first led to believe."

"Yeah, I had a lot of stuff that I didn't really know how to deal with." Lightning breathed a sigh, then gave a small smile "But after you got me to fess up about all the emotional baggage that I was dealing with, I guess I just sort of felt a weight being lifted from my shoulders. Then I just started being myself, and look at where we are now."

"Indeed, the two of us have proven to be quite the formidable team. I dare say that I'm letting myself be overcome by overconfidence, but given the current statistics of our performance in the race up until now, our chance of winning the entire competition is much more likely than I first anticipated."

"You know it little buddy, Brains & Brawn are going all the way to the top!" Lightning wasted no time in hoisting Cameron onto his shoulders, then grabbed a tip from the Don Box, and then the two of them took off running.

It was then that Carrie and Devin made their way over to the Chill Zone, with the Surfers right behind them "Hang on a second homie, I'll grab the tip from the Don Box and be back in just a second okay?"

"Actually homie, I think I'm gonna take care of this one." Devin promptly made his way over to the Don Box without another word, at the same time that Geoff did "Hey man."

"Hey what's up dude." Geoff caught Devin in a quick fist bump, then leaned in close so no one else would be able to hear him "Heard about what happened with your girl. You doing okay now bro?"

"Shelley isn't my girl, and frankly I'm not so sure that she ever was. But at least Carrie was here to help me work through all of that." Devin gave a small smile "I doubt I could've had a better partner in anyone other than her."

"I know that feeling all too well my man. It's how I feel about Bridge."

"Touching as that is, I don't think it's the same way with the two of us."

"It's not?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Anyway I don't want you guys getting cut from the race. But I don't wanna get cut before I do my thing either."

"Yeah that reminds me, how are things going with that?"

"So far so good, I just gotta get to the end of the race and then the whole scene is gonna be totally perfect. Thanks for helping me pick the thing out by the way."

"No worries man, I'm happy to do anything to help you out with this."

"Yeah that actually brings up another question I had in mind. You know that thing I asked you to do for me when the big day came, or really to be one of the guys to do it?"

"Yep, I've been thinking a lot about it. I'd be honored to be up there with you."

"Aweomse dude, and thanks for keeping this whole thing under wraps. I want the whole thing to be a surprise."

"No worries man, but the hardest part of this was keeping it a secret from Carrie. I doubt she'd be able to keep something this big under wraps."

"I don't know dude, she's better at keeping things to herself than you think."

"What's that mean?"

"Uh… Hey look we got our tips and the other teams are coming, gotta go!" and so Geoff took off running, leaving Devin behind in his wake.

"...Well that happened."

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"By this point, all of the teams have collected their travel tips and boarded the cessnas, and are heading for the heart of the Arctic Circle, where the ice is nearly as thick as the tension between most of the teams."

"Wow, we're uh… We're pretty high up now." Owen cast a nervous glance over at Noah "So be real with me little buddy, these tine planes are totally safe for us right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that big guy." Josee suddenly popped up next to him "Actually I do remember reading somewhere that 86% of small planes end up crashing in a series of painful explosions."

"...Eep."

"Yep, this is gonna suck." was all Noah got to say before Owen scooped into another death grip hug.

"Well that's one team of suckers successfully manipulated." Josee gave a smirk of triumph, only to stop when she noticed the look that Jacques was giving her "What?"

"Was it really necessary for you to sick him on his partner like that?" Jacques cast her a raised eyebrow.

"Hey if there's one thing I've learned since we became professional ice dancers, you can do one of two things. One, you can learn how to play mind games and trick the other peons into making their own mistakes. Two, you learn how to say that you used to be an ice dancer but couldn't cut it because you didn't have the stomach to get the job done."

"Okay even if I did agree with that, and I'm making it pretty clear that I don't, you really think that they're the best team to go after?"

"Well it's not like I see you coming up with anything. And before you give me one of those stupid morality speaches, how about you make yourself useful and come up with some kind of actual plan."

"Fine, if that's what you want." Jacques breathed a sigh and frowned in thought for a moment, then glanced over at her "Well if we really want to increase our chances of winning the entire race, the best way to do that would be to go about eliminating the teams that pose the biggest threat to us."

"You mean like the Performers?"

"I said the the biggest threat, not the one you've got the biggest grudge against."

"Well then what do you suggest?"

"As I said, go after the team that poses the biggest threat. I'm talking about Brains & Brawn."

"You seriously think they're the biggest threat?"

"Think about it from a logical standpoint. Cameron has superior intellect and Lightning has superior physical prowess. Combine that with the significant improvement that their teamwork has shown since the start of the race, and they're one of the most likely teams to be able to win it all. If we don't get rid of them now, they may very well become unstoppable by the end of the race."

"...(Bleep)."

"What?"

"I hate it when you're right. Mostly becuase it means I'm wrong."

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"The first plane, which is carrying the Rockers and Brains & Brawn, has finally made it to the Arctic Circle, and the two teams are making a mad dash for the Don Box."

"There it is!" Rock and Spud were the first team to reach the Don Box, with the former pulling out a travel tip "It's another Botch or Watch challenge, you rode the bull back at the dude ranch so this one is all mine."

"Right on man, so what do you have to do?" asked Spud.

"Let's see, it says I have to find a ring hidden somewhere in the piles of snow and toss one onto the ring of a narwhal."

"A what now?"

"I think those are the things that look like freaky water unicorns, you know with the giant horns on the end of their noses.

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"As Rock mentioned, this is another Botch or Watch challenge. In this case, whichever member of each team didn't ride the bull at the dude ranch in Alberta will have to find one of the rings that we hid somewhere around the nearby frozen lake, among various piles of snow, and then they have to successfully toss one onto the ring of a narwhal. Once they manage to complete this task, teams must ride one of the provided snowmobiles in the direction of East until they catch sight of the next Don Box with their next set of instructions. Also I should warn the teams in advance, that Don Box will be the last chance for them to use the Boomerang to send one of the other teams back to repeat the first challenge."

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And now with the frontrunners…

"Alright buddy, time for us to show them what we've got." Lightning grabbed a tip from the Don Box next "Looks like we gotta- Aw crapbaskets."

"I take it this challenge doesn't amount to one of your strong suits?" asked Cameron.

"I wish, at least then we'd be less screwed. It's another Botch or Watch, I rode the bull back at the dude ranch, so that means it's your turn."

"I suppose that's not entirely impossible for me to accomplish, so long as it's not anything that can be considered too strenuous or physical."

"It's throwing a ring onto the tusk of a narwhal."

"...Ah. I see. What did you say it was called?"

"Crapbaskets."

"Yes, that seems appropriate given the circumstances."

"Well we gotta do the challenge either way, so we might as well give it a shot before we start whining about it."

"Yes you do have a valid point. I highly doubt that my lack of physical strength is considered to be as bad as people claim."

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One quick transition later…

"There we go, this should suffice for my first attempt." Cameron quickly pulled a ring out of a pile of snow and turned to face the lake in front of him "Now if I can simply calculate the proper angle for-"

"You go for it little buddy, show them what you've got!" Lightning swiftly patted Cameron on the back… only to end up doing it so far that the ring shot out of his hand and landed in the water with a loud splash "Uh… Okay, that one's on me."

"Well science does have a history of significant amounts of trial and error, and that was only our first attempt. Besides, there's only one other team here at the moment, and they have yet to actually acquire any rings of their own."

"Yeah way to rock it with the search bro, you da man!" Spud was rocking out with the devil sign on one hand as he cheered on Rock's attempts to find a ring, only to falter when an eskimo poked his head out from a pile of snow "Uh… you da man too."

"Hm. That is peculiar, I hadn't considered the possibility of running into any of the locals during our time here."

"Yeah, but not too many rings by the look of it." Lightning took a look around the various piles of snow, and he breathed a sigh "Just great, the one ring we can find and I end up (bleep)-ing the thing up like an idiot."

"There's no need for us to rush ourselves so heavily in the current situation. We still have quite a significant lead over most of the other teams, and there's no guarantee that the Rockers are about to-"

"Yeah I got it, now that be how we do!" as it turns out, Rock had managed to ring a narwhal with signifiant ease, and now he was of rocking out "We're totally back in first place now!"

"Wait, we're in first place?" Spud shot him a dull look.

"You know it dude!"

"Alright, we're killing it!"

"Yeah but we don't wanna blow it, we can't just come in last again because we're too busy with rocking out or whatever. If we're gonna rock our way to the top, then we gotta be sure that we're doing it right." and so the two of them took off running.

"Hm. Rather peculiar." Cameron watched as the Rockers made their way over to the snow mobiles "Well in any case, I still have to continue my search for the-"

"Heads up little buddy, Lightning's got this!" Lightning suddenly bolted forward and threw a ring into the water… only to hit absolutely nothing.

"As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, there are two things to note here. One, you have to wait until you see one of the narwhals. Two, this is a Botch or Watch and I'm supposed to be the one to complete the challenge."

"...Oh. Right. Crapbaskets. Yeah that's on me."

"There's no need to fret, we're still in second place."

"I guess, but I feel like I'm kind of sliding back into old habits.

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"As the Rockers move on via snow mobile, and Brains & Brawn face their own struggles with the ring toss challenge, more of the other teams arrive to collect their travel tips. Some are more focused than others however."

"Looks like it's another Botch or Watch." Devin looked down at the travel tip in his hand, and then he glanced over at Carrie "I guess that means you're up for this one."

"No worries Homie, I've got this one in the bag." Carrie gave him a bright smile that left Devin somewhat taken aback, and then she rushed off to find a ring.

"...Wow." Devin took a moment to compose himself, and then he glanced over at the Goths "So just for the sake of being clear, is it just me or did something seem different about Carrie to either of you? I don't know what it is, but the way she smiled at me just now was… wow. I can't think of another word for it."

"All we see is that the genuine emotion you display is something we find revolting." Ennui told him flatly, and then he and Crimson walked away.

"Huh." Devin blinked and glanced over at the camera "You know to be totally honest, I probably should've seen that coming the second I knew they were there."

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"By now most of the other teams that haven't already completed the ring toss challenge are about to start on it, or already are starting on it. Some are doing better than others, and some are just outright insane."

"If I can calculate the proper angle, then…" Cameron moved to throw the ring… only for it to fall two feet in front of him "Oh yes. Of course. I failed to calculate for my distinct lack of muscle mass or physical capability."

"Can you step aside?" it was at this moment that Ennui drew his attention from right next to him, startling Cameron into backing away as Ennui simply held out the ring over the water… and then a narwhal rose up and let the ring slide down onto it. He then walked away with the rest of his team, though as he did so he glanced over at Crimson "Okay I'll admit that was pure luck, but the rest of the teams don't need to know that."

"...Case and point. In the meantime, some of the other teams are coming pretty close, but close can only count in two areas. One of them is horseshoes, and the other one is airborn viruses. Okay I can see that the second one has aged about as well as milk. We're probably gonna have to edit that out. Anyway like I said, some do better than others."

"Alright come on Owen, be the naturalist!" Owen tossed a ring towards the water and managed to land it on the tusk of a narwhal "Yes I did it, the naturalist strikes again! Come here little buddy, time to celebrate!" he promptly pulled Noah into another bone-crushing hug, and then he carried his crushed form towards the snow mobiles.

"Okay okay, still not too bad." Lightning took a moment to calm himself down and took a look over at the camera "So we're behind two other teams but it ain't so bad. I just wish we could trade places. I get that it's a Botch or Watch and I'm supposed to be supportive and all that, but I just feel so helpless right now and it's frustrating as hell."

"Ah, here we are." Cameron pulled another ring out of a pile of snow and turned towards the water as he prepared to make his move "I just have to calculate the probability of a narwhal appearing close enough for me to reach it, and the proper angle needed."

It was at this moment that Josee and Jacques made their way onto the scene, and the former cast a devious glance over at the latter "There are only 8 other teams for us eliminate before we can finally take home the gold, and I plan to crush them all with the power of my mind."

"I'm still not convinced you're not trying to set the Performers on fire with your mind just by glaring at them." Jacques noted dryly.

"Well I'm convinced that you should just let me take the other teams out."

"Even if I was on board with that, which I'm not for a variety of legal reasons, I told you that the best plan to stick to is eliminate the biggest threat. That means you should start with Brains & Brawn, and if their history on Total Drama is any indication, it shouldn't take much for at least one of them to fall back into old habits. Observe." so with a deep breath, Jacques made his way over to Cameron "I take it that you're still working on this challenge?"

"I'm simply attempting to calculate the proper angle to throw." Cameron told him "Though I will admit that compensating for the lack of muscle mass is proving to be more difficult than I had initially anticipated."

"I see. It must be frustrating for you, I can tell that your partner is getting worked up over your performance. You never know, he might hold it against you."

"Lightning wouldn't do such a thing."

"Are you sure? Didn't the two of you come to blows a few times towards the end of Total Drama Revenge of the Island?"

"We did, mostly towards the end of the season, and even moreso since the two of us had to face off during the finale, but we've since then worked out our differences. He's not the same person that he was during that time."

"I'd like to believe that as well. However, keep in mind that Lightning does have a history of being competitive, arrogant and being unable to work properly with others. I am aware that he's turned over a new leaf in recent times, but I know for a fact that one is always defined by their past. You never know how people can fall back into old habits."

Cameron paused and turned to face Jacques all the way "There… is a certain degree of logic behind what you're saying."

"Just call it something to think about." Jacques patted Cameron on the shoulder, causing him to fall face first into the snow "Um… sorry." and so he made his way back over to Josee "See that's how it's done without letting personal bias get in the way."

"And now the seeds of doubt have been planted." Josee gave a wick smirk as she pulled a certain something out of her unitard "And once we get the chance, we can use the Boomerang on them to knock them out of the race entirely."

"So long as that goes to plan, but just to be safe let's not waste any more time on this challenge than we have to. There are three other teams have already finished it, and the manipulation game will only get us so far."

"We'll see about that soon enough."

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Meanwhile, with the frontrunners…

"Alright bro, let's keep the winning streak coming." Rock grabbed a tip from the Don Box and read it out loud to Spud just as the Goths showed up on the scene "Looks like this one is gonna be an All In, so that means both of us have to do it."

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"For this All In challenge, each of our remaining teams have to work together in order to saw various blocks of snow and assemble them into a proper igloo. Once they get a thumbs up from the local acting as the judge for the challenge, it's a foot race headed East until they reach the Chill Zone, where I intend to be surrounded by as many portable heaters as the crew is able to provide. Seriously they need to go find some heaters, it's ridonculous how cold it is. Anyway putting the obligatory pun aside, the last team to arrive may be cut from the race entirely and sent home."

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Meanwhile, with the ring toss challenge…

"Now then, compensate for the lack of muscle mass and…" Cameron threw the ring towards a narwhal, only for a strong gust of wind to blow it away back onto a pile of snow "I see, I forgot to compensate for possible wind resistance." he paused as he noticed another ring land on the tusk of that same narwhal.

"Yes, now it's time for us to claim victory!" it was at this moment that Josee and Jacques ran right past Cameron while doing their signature poses, during which the former took a glance over to him "Hey good luck with this, I hope you don't end up losing because you're so weak and your partner thinks you're useless." and so the two of them took off for the next Don Box on their snow mobiles.

"He wouldn't think that… at least I believe so." Cameron went over to pick up the ring, then paused as he looked over and saw Lightning looking away from him, and he glanced over at the camera "I know that what Jacques was saying earlier was his own attempt at psychological manipulation, I did see enough of that from Scott to recognize the signs. But at the same time, what he said was fairly logical. One is always defined by their past. Is Lightning growing so frustrated with my lack of physical capability that he's falling back into old habits?"

"Hey Cameron?" Lightning glanced over at him "You know I don't think I ever mentioned this before, but one thing about sports I probably should've brought up is that you gotta point your feet to wherever you wanna throw something. It's all in the legs."

"My legs?" Cameron looked down and saw his feet pointing in different directions "That seems rather strange."

"Hey it worked for me. Even if I can't do the challenge, I can at least make sure that you know how to do it."

"That is logical. Thank you for the input." Cameron gave a small smile, one that Lightning was quick to return, and then he looked over at the camera "Jacques did have a point with what he had said before, about one always being defined by their past, but my father did once tell me that the best thing about the past is that it's in the past, and what matters is where you are now. The fact is that right now Lightning is more than just my partner in a race, he's now my friend. I can depend on him, and right now he's depending on me to get this right." so with a deep breath, he took a step forward, aiming his feet in the direction he wanted, and he let the ring fly forward, until he landed on the tusk of a narwhal "Yes, success!"

"There we go little buddy, now that's what I'm talking about!" Lightning hoisted Cameron over his shoulder as the two of them took off for the snow mobiles "Nice work back there."

"Thank you, but it was with your assistance I was able to succeed. I do feel rather guilty my lack of physical prowess caused us to fall behind."

"I didn't mean to make you feel like that or anything… I was just thinking about some pretty hardcore stuff. How much things have changed since this whole thing stared."

"Since what thing? Are you referring to the race?"

"Yeah sort of, and since the whole thing on Total Drama. I kept putting so much pressure on myself to be the best, that I guess I just got so engrossed in it that I turned into this totally different person. It sucked."

"Well it's as my father said to me when I was little. The best thing about the past is that it's in the past, and what matters is where you are now. Right now the two of us are partners, and we have a race to complete."

"You ready my mind, now let's do this!" and so they took off on their snow mobile just as the Best Friends and the Surfers finished the ring toss and reached their own snow mobiles.

All the while, Don just watched from the sidelines and prepared to sign off the show for a commercial break "Looks like the race for first place is neck and neck at the moment, with more teams catching up by the minute, but then comes the race for last place. Of course the question still remains, which one of them is going to bite the bullet this week? There's only one way to find out, and it's to tune in when we return on… the Ridonculous Race!"

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One commercial break later…

"There's the Don Box." Jacques and Josee reached the Don Box and dismounted their snow mobile, and the former moved to grab a tip from the Don Box, until…"

"Hold it!" Josee was quick to stop him and hold up the Boomerang in her hand "We can't go onto the next challenge yet!"

"You do realize that this is part of the race right?"

"Don't even think about patronizing me."

"Right, because you never do that to me."

"I'm going to choose to ignore that and focus on my scheme for the time being. This is the only chance we have to use the Boomerang."

"There are already three teams ahead of us, and who knows how many more teams are on the way right now."

"And that's my point, we can wait for a moment for one of the other teams to show up and send them back, then they're all but guaranteed to get sent home!"

"...You're thinking of it being the Performers aren't you?"

"What gave it away?"

"The fact that you're obviously resisting the urge to laugh maniacally like a supervillain from a bad movie. Besides, we don't know when the Performers will finish, if they do at all. Plus our plan was to focus our efforts on Brains & Brawn-"

"Since they're the strongest team, yeah yeah you made your point. But here's a bit of logic for you, if the Performers might not finish then what are the odds that Brains & Brawn will?"

"Alright, now we're finally getting somewhere!" this was when Lightning and Cameron drove up onto the scene on their snow mobile and promptly dismounted it.

"...You still don't get to brag about this like a smartass."

"Oneside figure skaters, we've got a race to win."

"Yes well, there's one thing about that." Jacques snatched the Boomerang from Josee's hand and made his way over to the Ice Dancers "There's one thing stopping you from going further."

"What do you mean?" Cameron shared a quick look with Lightning "I'm not sure I like where this is going."

"You really shouldn't, because I mean we're Boomeranging you."

"...I'm not sure Boomeranging is an actual word."

"It's not, the term is using the Boomerang." this was when Don suddenly popped up in between the two teams "But in any case, that's exactly what's happened with Brains & Brawn, and since the first challenge is a Botch or Watch, that means that this time Lightning is going to have to be the one to ring the narwhal."

"Ah. I see."

"Well… it could be worse right?" Lightning gave a shrug "At least we know that the challenge isn't that hard if you know how to do it."

"That is an accurate assumption. Shall I drive this time?"

"Works for me."

"Excellent, allow me to go and turn around our vehicle." and so Cameron walked away towards the snow mobile.

It was at this moment that Josee promptly dragged Lightning aside, her voice low "Look I get that you're probably mad that we used the Boomerang on you, but trust me when I say that it's for your own good."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lightning shot her a raised eyebrow.

"It means that I overheard Jacques talking with your partner earlier about you, and the things they were saying weren't particularly flattering. Cameron said that he thought you were falling back into old habits, you know like the way you were back during your time on Total Drama Revenge of the Island."

That was enough to cause Lightning to tense up "That's… That's not the kind of person I am anymore."

"I get that, but I heard what Cameron was saying to the camera earlier. According to him, you may have turned over a new leaf since you started the race, but he himself said that one is always defined by their past."

"But…" Lightning fell silent, and once he saw Cameron pull up with the snow mobile, he got on the back without uttering a word, and the two of them took off.

"And the trap falls into place." Josee gave a smirk full of malice and triumph, only to notice the look she was getting from Jacques "What?"

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"While Brains & Brawn find themselves being sent back to complete the first challenge all over again, more and more of the other teams either are about to complete or have completed it, and are moving onto the second challenge. Some facing more obstacles than others."

"Come on homie, it shouldn't be that much further." Devin and Carrie continued making their way towards the Don Box on their snow mobile, though they were briefly distracted by the sight of Cameron and Lightning passing them in the opposite direction "What the-"

"Wasn't that Brains & Brawn?" Carrie shared a quick look with Devin "Why would they be going back? You think someone hit them with the Boomerang?"

"I guess, I don't see any other reason why they would have to go back."

"Yeah probably. Hey speaking of which, I think we lost track of Geoff and Bridgette."

"No I see them, they're right behind us and-"

"LOOK OUT!" this was when Geoff and Bridgette were forced to veer away to avoid colliding with a certain baby seal… only to end up going off a ramp and crashing to the ground, leading to them getting buried under a mountain of snow "Just for the record… that did not go the way I thought it would."

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Meanwhile, at the site of the second challenge…

"Next block." Crimson finished carving a block of snow and picked it up, only for it to slip out of her grasp and fall to the ground "This isn't working."

"We should just build a mound of snow and hollow it out." Ennui paused, then glanced over at the camera "Fluffy white snow, it's really not our thing."

"At the very least, we could make it look like a skull."

"...That would be nice. Let's get to work."

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Meanwhile, with the ring toss…

"Come, come on…" Trent threw a ring towards a narwhal, only for it to miss and disappear into the watery depths "Oh come on!"

"Okay for real hon, I'm all for encouragement but this is getting (bleep) nuts." Leshawna told him dryly "Seriously pick up the pace already, I ain't letting us get sent home before I get to take out the Ice Dancers."

"I know I know, you're not one to let go of a grudge. Trust me, I've learned about that the hard way by now."

It was at this moment that Cameron and Lightning pulled up onto the scene on their own snow mobile "This is… proving to be more problematic than we had first anticipated."

"What are you guys doing back here? I thought you finished the challenge already."

"We did, but then the Ice Dancers halted our advance in the race by using their Boomerang to send us back here, and now Lightning has to do the ring toss."

"Yeah, so just hang back and let me take care of this okay." Lightning quickly dismounted the snow mobile and walked off to get a ring without so much as another word.

"Huh. Well he's focused I guess."

"That was… rather abrupt." Cameron shared a look with Trent and Leshawna "I wonder what's gotten into him."

"You'd probably know better than me dude."

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"By this point, all but two of the teams have reached the site of the second challenge and have started working on their igloos. Or whatever some of them are building, and yes I'm referring to the Goths. And then there's the Surfers getting attacked by what looks like a very angry and ridiculously strong baby seal."

"I will say that this is rather concerning." Cameron watched as Trent and Leshawna conducted their own search for a ring hidden in the snow, then glanced over at the camera "The Performers do display a significant level of teamwork, and even they appear to have substantial difficulty. But then again, Lightning was the one that advised me on how to complete the challenge, so I anticipate that completing it on his own power is going to be easy for-"

"Heads up, time for the Lightning to strike!" Lightning suddenly bolted past Cameron and threw a ring into the water… only for it to fly off into the distance.

"...Then again, I believe science always has room for error."

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Meanwhile, with the second challenge…

"Okay, we're done." by this point, Ennui and Crimson had finished building their giant mound of snow in place of an igloo "Now we just have to hollow it out."

"Okay, here we are." this was when Carrie and Devin made their way onto the scene, with Geoff and Bridgette trailing a short distance behind them "Now we just have to find a good spot to set up, and then we can get started."

"Yeah sure, whatever you think works." Devin on the other hand was a bit distracted, given that he had his eyes on Carrie the whole time "Woah…"

"What was that?"

"Huh?" Devin glanced over to see Geoff standing next to him, Bridgette starting to carve a block of snow a short distance away from them "What was what?"

"You know what I'm talking about dude."

"No I really don't."

"Come on, you totally know." Geoff leaned closer to Devin, his voice low as he gave him a wide grin "You were totally checking Carrie out."

"What? No I didn't- Geoff I wasn't-"

"Hey don't worry about it dude, the way I see it that's totally awesome! It means you're finally getting over that one girl that was totally mean to you for years."

"You mean Shelly?"

"Yeah that was her name, that's been bugging me for like three days."

"Dude, I don't know where you're going with this, but Carrie is my best friend, and frankly that's how I want things to stay right now." and so he walked off to help Carrie with building their igloo.

"That's what he says at least." Geoff glanced over at the camera as a giant grin began to spread across his face "We'll see about that. It wouldn't be the first time a guy I know said he wasn't gonna get a girl on some level."

"Hey trust me buddy, we've all been there." Owen pointed to where Noah was carving a heart out of the snow and showing it to Emma, leaving her blushing as a result.

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"As seven of our remaining teams continue to battle it out for first place over the course of the igloo challenge, our two straggler teams, those being Brains & Brawn and the Performers, keep up with their own battle to avoid coming in last. Neither of them are making much progress on that front though."

"Time for the Lightning to show you how it strikes! Sha-BAM!" Lightning launched one of the rings forward… only for it to miss a narwhal by a few inches "Well that's another one down, but I ain't giving up yet! Lightning's about to strike while it's hot and ain't nothing gonna stop him now!" and so he bolted off to search for another ring.

All the while, Cameron just nervously glanced over at the camera "Something about this entire ordeal feels uncomfortably familiar. Now Lightning does seem to be falling back into some of his old habits. Refusing to accept help or acknowledge anyone else around him, referring to himself in the third person… and the clear need to prove himself. But what could have caused him to fall back into this state of mind?"

"Step aside smart guy, Lightning ain't coming in last this time!" Lightning tried to bolt directly past Cameron… only to end up tripping on a rock and falling flat on his face, while the ring fell out of his hand and into the water "Oh come on!"

"Lightning, I think it would be in our best interest if we discussed-" Cameron didn't get a chance to finish before a ring landed on another narwhal, courtesy of Trent.

"Oh yeah baby, now that's how we roll!" Leshawna hoisted Trent onto her shoulders and started dancing (much to the horror of those present)... only for this to come to a halt when the patch of land she was standing on broke off and started floating away down the river "(Bleep)."

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"As the Performers are left to float away, and Brains & Brawn are left to work out their own set of issues, the teams ahead of them continue to work away on their igloos. And on a fair amount of drama for people who like that stuff instead of focusing on the race."

"Okay, I think we're almost done babe." Geoff placed another block on the wall of the igloo, and then he glanced over at Bridgette "So get this, you're not gonna believe what I saw a little while ago."

"Sweetie we've gone over this, just because you see a baby seal doesn't mean it's the same one that kept harassing DJ during World Tour." Bridgette told him calmly without looking up from the block of ice she was carving.

"No not that, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were all related or something. Anyway get a load of this, I saw Devin totally checking Carrie out earlier."

"What do you mean checked her out?"

"I mean he was totally staring at her butt." that was enough to make Bridgette drop the carving tool she was holding.

"And this is… supposed to be a good or bad thing?"

"Think about it babe, it means he's totally getting over his ex, and now I think he's getting the hots for Carrie!"

"No I get that, but protective instincts for my sister are starting to kick in. Even if it is a guy that she's known all her life, he was still staring at her butt. I should be there for her regardless of how this goes."

"Hey I don't blame the guy either, it is a pretty nice butt." Geoff then looked over to see the dirty look Bridgette was giving him "What? Yours is way better babe, you know that!"

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Meanwhile, with the first challenge…

"This is proving to be rather problematic." Cameron looked over to where Lightning was picking himself up out from the snow "You shouldn't be pushing yourself like this, right now all you're doing is overexerting yourself and not thinking clearly."

"(Insert muffled rantings)." Lightning promptly spat out some snow "Lightning can't just give up and call it quits now, Lightning's got a challenge to finish!"

"I know that but… Are you trying to prove yourself?"

"What? What are you talking about? Lightning don't have anything to prove to-" he cut himself short when he noticed the serious look that Cameron was giving him.

"I mean it Lightning. Ever since the Ice Dancers used the Boomerang on us, you've become far more determined than you've been. As if you were reverting back to your old ways. Why go to that length when we've done so well up to this point?"

"Oh come on, Lightning isn't-" Lightning cut himself short again, and then he breathed a heavy sigh "I mean I just… I don't wanna be the reason we get kicked off the race, and I didn't want you or anyone else to think that I turned into… you know, what I was before. Look how that whole mess turned out. I guess it turned into this giant, what did you call it?"

"A self-fulfilling prophecy. I assume this was because one of the Ice Dancers said something to you before we returned?"

"How did you know?"

"Becuase one of them said something to me earlier as well. If I had to form a hypothesis, the two of them were trying to sabotage our efforts in the race."

"And I guess I played into their trick like a giant sucker."

"No more than I have with others like Scott in the past. But the thing about it is that neither of us are the same person that we were previously." Cameron put a hand on Lightning's shoulder and gave him a small smile "Whether we win or lose this race, we've grown and matured through the various experiences we've endured, and we can carry those with us moving forward. Regardless of what happens today, I believe the best thing for us to do would be to finish these challenges to the best of our ability, and win or lose, we can leave with our heads held high. I believe that to be a satisfactory way to finish our tenure in the race, don't you?"

"...Yeah. That sounds pretty good. Alright, I can do this." Lightning pulled himself back onto his feet, and then with a deep breath he stepped forward and let the ring fly… and subsequently land on the narwhal "Yes!"

"Excellent, now I believe we have a race to win!"

"You got it little buddy, Brains & Brawn are coming in hot!" Lightning mounted Cameron on his shoulders, and then the two of them rushed over to their snow mobile.

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Meanwhile, with the second challenge…

"I can just hear it now." Josee let out a menacing chuckle "The sound of those two rejects tearing each other's throats out!"

"Um…" Jacques cast an unsettled glance over at Josee "That seems a little bit excessive don't you think?"

"Hey you're the one who decided to go after them today!"

"I said focus our efforts on them, not make them tear into each other like something out of the Walking Dead. Besides they don't matter at the moment, right now we should be concentrating our efforts on finishing our igloo before-"

"Done." Ennui and Crimson showed their igloo (or mound of snow made to look like a skull) to a very unsettled local judge, earning a thumbs up and prompting the two of them (and Loki) to take off running.

"...Before that happens. We'd better pick up the pace."

"Yes, we did it babe!" Geoff spun Bridgette around in a hug after receiving a thumbs up from the judge, and then the two of them took off running.

"And now we really need to pick up the pace."

"Here's a thought, next time shut the (bleep) up and work!" Josee barked at him as she shoved the last block of ice into place "Now get the judge over here, tell him we're done!"

"I see him now, he's giving us the thumbs up!"

"Good, now let's go!" and so the two of them took off running after the Surfers and the Goths as fast as they could.

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Meanwhile, with the castaway team…

"Yeah, I'm thinking this is gonna be a big problem." Trent glanced down into the semi-frozen river "I can't say for certain that the temperature of the water won't kill us."

"Hey it can't be that bad." Leshawna gave a shrug "Keep in mind that Cody got dropped into a frozen river back in the Yukon and he pulled through just fine."

"You really wanna take that chance?"

"Hell no, I'm just making a point that it won't kill us. Besides, it's not like we got any other options."

"...Are you thinking about pushing me in to be sure?"

"Um… no?" Leshawna was met with a dull look from Trent, only for their attention to quickly be grabbed by a narwhal hooking its horn onto their patch of ice, pushing it forward "Okay, not gonna lie, I didn't see that coming."

"Well it works in our favor. I think."

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Meanwhile, with the frontrunners…

"Looks like things are about to come to a head." Don was quick to greet the first team to arrive at the Chill Zone, which in this case happened to be the Goths "Congratulations you two." he was met with a low growl from Loki "Sorry rabbit, you three. You're in first place." he was met with blank stares from the Goths, and so he breathed a sigh "Okay I've given up on getting any kind of genuine emotional reaction out of you. Get out of here so I can start to count off the rest of the teams." he sent them on their way and counted off Geoff and Bridgette as they made it onto the Carpet of Completion "Nicely done Surfers, you two are in second place."

"Yes!" Geoff caught Bridgette in another hug, and then the two of them started making out, which led to Don pushing them off the carpet and into the snow, not that it did anything to stop them.

"The couple that shows no emotion in the face of victory, or the one that goes straight to sucking each other's faces so hard the show might as well be rated R. Honestly I'm not sure which one I would prefer." it was then that Don looked over to see Jacques and Josee finally arrive at the Chill Zone "You know third place is something to be proud of."

"I'll have you know that this is what I think of second place!" in her rage, Josee promptly stormed over to a nearby snowman and demolished it in a matter of moments.

"Wait no stop, you're hurting Chilly Billy!"

"He should've stayed out of my way." and so she stormed off in a rage.

"Billy! No! BILLY!" Don fell to his knees and let out a skyward scream in a manner akin to Wrath of Khan.

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"Anyway, first place has already been taken, along with the top three. Now it's turned into a race to avoid coming in last. Some of the teams have it harder than others however. Now if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to mourn the loss of Chilly Billy."

"Excellent, so there are other teams still present." Cameron and Lightning raced onto the scene and dismounted their snow mobile "But they do seem to be particularly close to finishing their igloos."

"Then we're just gonna have to work hard and fast." Lightning pulled out a saw "Besides, the two of us each built suits of armor for a gladiator match in less than 20 minutes right? How bad can this be compared to that?"

"Very true. I believe we should get started." and so the two of them got to work on making blocks of ice for their igloo.

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"As more and more teams get the thumbs up from the judge, and some are left straggling in their attempts to make up for lost time, the last place Performers finally arrive to get started with the igloo challenge."

"Okay we're here, let's not waste any time screwing around." Trent was quick to cast a glance over at Leshawna "I'll stack the blocks, you grab the saw and get to work on sawing blocks until I give the okay."

"You got it white boy!" Leshawna snatched the saw and quickly got to work on sawing blocks of ice.

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Meanwhile, at the Chill Zone…

"And here they come now." Don was quick to greet the rest of the teams as they arrived at the Chill Zone, starting with the Sisters "Fourth place!"

Then came the Reality TV Pros.

"Fifth place!"

The Rockers

"Sixth place!"

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Meanwhile, with the igloo challenge…

"Here's another one! And another!" Lightning continued pouring out blocks of ice one by one until they formed a complete layer of the igloo "What's next?"

"Now we focus on finishing the second layer." Cameron gritted his teeth as he forced himself to pick up a block of ice and place it on top of the rest "We have to keep going!"

"You got it little buddy!" Lightning went back to sawing, though as he did he took a glance over at Cameron "It's still kind of crazy to think about how things have changed."

"You mean since the start of the race, or since…"

"Since Total Drama Revenge of the Island, yeah. I feel like I'm kind of a totally different person than I was before."

"And I will admit that thanks to the experiences we've endured, I've grown much stronger and more confident than I believed myself to be capable of."

"It's just a lot to take in."

"I know. But we can dwell on it after we avoid elimination."

"Yeah, sounds good to me."

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Meanwhile, with the other team…

"That's another one, just one more and we're done with the second layer." Trent placed down a block of ice on the igloo and looked over at Cameron and Lightning "This is gonna be a close one for sure, I think it's safe to say by now that the two of them have really good teamwork with each other."

"But then again, they ain't the only ones that know how to work together." Leshawna gave a smirk as she cut out two more blocks "Cause that's how we roll, now cram those things in there scrawny white boy!"

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Meanwhile, at the Chill Zone…

"You're in seventh place." Don counted off the Best Friends as they arrived at the Chill Zone, and then he glanced over at the camera "Seven teams are down, and now there are only two teams remaining. Brains & Brawn and the Performers are facing possible elimination. The race to not come in last intensifies, and the pressure is definitely on now."

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Meanwhile, with the igloo challenge…

"DONE!" Brains & Brawn and the Performers managed to finish their igloos at almost the exact same moment, and once they received the thumbs up from the judge they all took off as fast as they could.

Once they were gone however, the judge looked over to see the eskimo from earlier holding up a flower for her… which prompted her to tackle and kiss him.

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"To speed things up, and because it's way too cold out here for this… let's go with stuff, the last two teams are allowed to ride their snow mobiles to the Chill Zone."

"Come on, come on…" Lightning gritted his teeth as he tried to force his snow mobile to go faster, still neck and neck with the Performers "We're not giving up that easily!"

"Don't think we're going down without a fight either you Coach Carter reject!" Leshawna tried to ram them, which led to the two snow mobiles grinding against each other.

"Um, guys?" Trent directed everyone's attention to where a giant mound of snow lay directly in front of them, leaving the four of them to scream in terror as they plowed right into it, and then came out as part of a massive snowball.

"Seriously guys, if not a sofa for the Chill Zone then how about a-" Don didn't get to finish that thought before he was forced to run by the giant snowball closing in on the Chill Zone, and one team being spat out onto the Carpet of Completion "It was definitely a close one, but eighth place goes to the Performers! You're still in the race."

"Yay…" Leshawna let out a groan as she and Trent lay sprawled out on the carpet.

"And then there was one."

It was at this moment that Lightning forced his way out of the snowball and dragged Cameron out with him, only to pause and take in the scene before him "Aw crapbaskets."

"Cameron and Lightning, the two of you are the last to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you've been cut from the race. If it's any consolation, people do love a good reference to Team Four Star, so you get a lot of credit for that."

"Well at least something good came out of this."

"Actually, I believe a great number of things did." Cameron gave a smile as he and Lightning both started to walk away from the scene "Taking everything into consideration, I'm not actually that upset by our loss."

"Truth be told, I'm not that worked up about it either. Going through everything we did in this race has really changed things for us, especially for me."

"For me as well. Even though we might not have claimed, we can take all the experiences and lessons we claimed during our time in this competition, and apply it to our actual lives, and use them to grow as people."

"And who knows, maybe if we do stuff like this again, we can show the world what Brains & Brawn are really made of."

"That sounds like quite the sight to behold." and so the two of them mounted their snow mobile and rode off into the horizon, ending the episode.

A/N:

And thus, one of my original teams in this story has finally met the end of their run in the race. I knew going into this that Cameron and Lightning were never meant to win. That was pretty obvious too, given that they're both previous finalists, but at least I did my best to do them justice. Granted the Ice Dancers ousted both of them from the competition, but at least they didn't spend the end of their run at each other's throats like the Daters would've. Even if they lost, at least they went out with a sense of dignity.

On another note, there isn't really much to say about character interactions between teams, aside from some between the Surfers and Best Friends, Geoff and Devin more specifically. On the plus side, it gave me the chance to give more time to the dynamics within some of the teams.

Rankings:

Goths- 1st

Surfers- 2nd

Ice Dancers- 3rd

Sisters- 4th

Reality TV Pros- 5th

Rockers- 6th

Best Friends- 7th

Performers- 8th

Elimination order:

Brains & Brawn- 9th

Father & Son- 10th

Stepbrothers- 11th

Adversity Twins- 12th

Mother & Daughter- 13th

Fashion Bloggers- 14th

Vegans - 15th

Geniuses - 16th

Tennis Rivals 17th

LARPers - 18th