"Last time on the Ridukeulous Race, baby, woo!" In came that crashing voice of Duke, it was truly impossible to get used to the eardrum shattering that it always brought upon everyone. "Our nineteen remaining teams started off the game in Iceland, the biggest sham of a country we've been to yet. Gotta agree with Virgil, the lack of ice was very disappointing." The clip of Virgil ranting to Katla about her people and her country was displayed as Duke narrated, soon transitioning to show teams from the first bus running on the geyser field. "We had everybody bolt across a field of active geysers in search of Katla, the cute Icelandic girl in the swan dress! They had to repeat a phrase to her in Icelandic to get their travel tip, but only the team's botchers were allowed to speak! The watchers had to keep their mouths shut or suffer the consequences! Looking at you, Katie and Sadie!" Katie and Sadie were then shown getting their timeout brought upon them by Duke, all thanks to Sunny.
"After getting that tip from Katla, they had to take a helicopter to head over to Skaftafell National Park, where they were tasked with the second either or of the season: feast or fossil!" Some teams were shown eating at the table while a bulk of the others were shown in the ice caves, looking for a fossil to bring to Duke. "In a shocking turn of events, the Dweebs got first place and the Dynamic Gamers snatched up second. There were quite a few low performers, namely the rule-bending BFFFLs and the Mystical Opposites, but Flora being bummed out by Logan yelling at her was enough for her to throw the game for both her and Helena. Too bad, so sad." The camera cut away to show Duke flexing on the chill zone from the prior episode. "Four teams down, eighteen remain! Will they all survive today's race? Probably not! Find out now on…THE RIDUKEULOUS RACE!"
Cue Intro
"We're still here in Iceland, where yesterday's chill zone is today's starting line! As we all know, the Dweebs managed to score first place in the last leg, which means they'll be kicking off the race for us when they grab the first travel tip from this dukebox!" Duke grinned widely and gestured to the dukebox that was sitting just outside of the chill zone. Andrew and Richard looked between each other before Richard bopped the box on the button, grabbing the tip and taking a good look at it.
"No…way…" Richard's eyes widened and he started to drool with a grin wider than Ursula's rear end flashing up on his face. "W-we're going to the land of the babes: Brazil!"
"You got that right, Richard! Brazil is famous for many a thing, but I'll be damned if I don't admit that it's full of hot chicks! Hey, it's full of hot dudes, too! Duke swings both ways, baby!" Duke popped up in front of a picture of a Brazilian city during a sunset. "Not only does it have gorgeous people, but it's also got some of the world's best coffee and…I'm sorry, still stuck on the babes. I mean…look at them! They're babelicious!" Duke held up pictures of a bunch of Brazilian locals, having more than just a difficult time focusing.
"Our teams are going to travel here via these chartered planes!" Duke was shown standing at an airport landing, gesturing to one of the aforementioned planes. "Our first nine teams are lucking out, since they get to catch a direct flight here, but for the failing nine teams, they'll have no choice but to take the plane that's just so happening to stop by Brazil…a whole two hours later! I'd hate to be in their shoes right now!"
With Richard and Andrew already starting off to grab a cab to the airport, other teams from the top placing nine just got to grabbing their tips. It didn't take long for each of them to get in a nearby taxi, and they all took off to meet at the airport. Olive and Becky got out of their taxi and waited outside of Mitsuki and Kotomi's, but it was taking quite some time. The two girls looked between each other in wonder while inside the taxi, the siblings were arguing with each other.
"I don't care if they chose you to join their stupid cult or whatever, all that's happening is that you're letting yourself get distracted by them! Seriously, you're really easy to take advantage of, and those girls are sketchy! For all we know, they're just lulling you into a false sense of security so they can cut us off to save their own butts." Kotomi had his arms crossed, and didn't even look at his sister while he talked down to her.
"T-they wouldn't do that to me…we have a special bond. They keep calling me their race mom. That's definitely not something they would do to someone they're using." Mitsuki pouted a bit, but seemed to be confident. At least she did, until Kotomi glanced at her, staring at her like she was pathetic. "...O-okay, maybe that is something that someone would do to someone they were planning to use, but that's not what's happening here! They're really my race daughters!"
"Yeah, sure they are. You haven't noticed how they've managed to split us up these past two episodes? Taking away from all of the time we could use to strategize? Granted, you don't really help much with that, but still!" Mitsuki's face started to turn red, as she was getting quite annoyed with her brother's belligerence at this point. "Oh, are you mad? Mad because I'm pointing out exactly what's happening to you?"
"No, I'm mad because you…you didn't even wanna come here with me in the first place! N-now I'm actually spending some time with people and having fun, and you suddenly want me around? T-that's…that's so mean! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the only person that's using and manipulating me is you!" Mitsuki seemed almost embarrassed to call out her brother, but she did it nonetheless.
"Tch, I don't need to manipulate you. It's not worth my time. If I wanted to manipulate anyone, I'd do it to someone that I actually know is a worthy addition to whatever I've got going on here. You're my teammate, you're supposed to be with me regardless of me manipulating you or not, anyways." Kotomi shook his head and sighed, opening his door to step out of the cab. "You're being such a pain, as always. I can't imagine anything being more of a pain than you right now!"
Mitsuki grumbled and got out on her side, the two siblings glaring between each other while Becky and Olive just stared and watched in silence. Mitsuki started to open her mouth to say something, but before she could, a cab suddenly came racing in…and it hit Kotomi head on, sending him flying well across the airplane landing pad that everyone was currently on. Her jaw fell in shock as Lyle and Zeke stepped out of the most recent to arrive cab.
"What was that big thud?" Zeke looked around to see what had happened, only seeing Mitsuki falling to her knees, still in shock.
Confessional
"K-Kotomi…" Mitsuki clenched her fists tightly and held them against her lap while she stared down at the ground, not even sure what to say. Becky and Olive sat next to her, the latter looking concerned and gently rubbing her back while the former stayed silent.
Confessional End
"K-Kotomi!" Mitsuki rushed over to her brother, who was now laying flat on a hospital gurney that was being moved along by two Icelandic paramedics. He was all scrunched up with some clearly broken bones, but he seemed to be awake and fully aware of what was going on. "Kotomi…I…"
"Save…it…you wanted time away from me, well here you go! I'm getting shoved into an Icelandic hospital until I recover! Plenty of time for you to, agh!" Kotomi winced as the paramedics started to try and pop his dislocated bones back into place. "W-watch it, you freakishly muscular jerks! Ugh…whatever! Just, whatever! Now we're both getting kicked out of the race because of you! I hope you're happy!"
"Kicked out of the race? Who said anything about that?" Mitsuki and Kotomi looked back to see that Duke was standing nearby, grinning maniacally.
"But…when Sua injured Zerine, you-"
"Right. When Sua injured Zerine, I disqualified Sua. Mitsuki didn't injure you, you got hit by a car. I guess I could go as far as eliminating the Conservationists for this…" Duke glanced behind him, grinning wider as both of Zeke and Lyle trembled nervously. "...Buuuuuut I don't think I really feel like doing that. On that note, Mitsuki will be just fine to continue the race…with a new partner."
"A NEW PARTNER!?" Mitsuki and Kotomi shouted at the same time, both absolutely shocked by this revelation.
"B-but Duke…how am I supposed to find a new partner? We're all the way in Iceland…I don't even have friends back home, much less in Iceland." Mitsuki used most of her courage for the day between yelling at Kotomi and now questioning Duke, which ended up shriveling her up into a nervous sack afterwards.
"Easy! I'm just gonna head into the airport and snatch up some new arrival. Most people would love to be in a contest like this, so it shouldn't take me very long." Mitsuki tried to say something, but she couldn't force herself to, and Duke ran to the airport to go get somebody, leaving the awkward group of contestants just standing around outside.
"Look, uh…Kotomi…we're really sorry that our cabby hit you." Lyle rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, but both he and Zeke seemed to be unable to even look at Kotomi with how ashamed they were.
"Y-yeah…really sorry about that." Kotomi just looked at the Conservationists in disgust, the very same kind of disgust that he often showed to his sister. Zeke finally did manage to look at him, but the second he noticed how viciously he was staring back at him, he looked away again.
"You two are gonna pay for this someday…I swear it!" With that threat, the paramedics hauled Kotomi off to their ambulance, putting him in the back and driving away from the airport. The Conservationists looked between each other, awkwardly laughing about the threat, but it was clear that it definitely spooked them a wee bit.
Confessional
"See, when someone threatens you like that, it almost sounds like it's a voodoo curse or something. As we all know, voodoo curses are very much a real and terrifying thing to deal with. I mean, people use the blood of animals to cast these hexes and curses!" Zeke shivered a bit as he spoke, the very thought of animals being used for these rituals appalling him. "It makes me a bit nauseous just thinking about it."
"R-relax, Zeke! There's no way that anything bad is gonna happen to us…I mean, Kotomi is being taken to a hospital. He's gonna be there for weeks, maybe months! It'll give him a good amount of time to forgive and forget…I hope." Lyle tried to stay calm, but he failed, as both he and Zeke were soon trembling again.
Confessional End
"Huh…Mitsuki, whatcha think your new partner is gonna be like? It could be just about anyone, right? Anyone from around the world…maybe they won't even speak English!" Olive looked up to Mitsuki in question, though she still seemed to be silent and upset about what had happened to her brother. Becky reached out and tapped her sister on the shoulder to get her attention. "What is it, Becks?"
"I think Mitsuki needs to just think to herself for a moment or so…even if Kotomi was a total weakblood, he's still her brother. It probably hurts pretty bad to see him get hit by a car and end up so…twisted up." Admittedly, the sight of the gore didn't bother Becky, as she had seen much worse, but she did her best to be respectful to Mitsuki.
"T-thanks, Becky…Olive…thanks for being here for me…" Mitsuki bit her lip and closed her eyes while tears welled up in them, crouching down and pulling the two girls in for a hug. Becky wasn't the type to enjoy this type of close contact typically, but she stayed silent and just let it happen. Olive, on the other hand, was more than eager to participate in the hug.
"And I'm back! I found the perfect teammate for you! Though, thinking of a new team name for the two of you was a bit tough, I must admit!" Duke came rushing out of the airport, dragging someone behind him by their wrist. It was a girl…a girl that was way, way taller than Mitsuki. Not only was she taller, but more muscular, more busty, and more bodacious in the waist. All the elements to make Mitsuki jealous and spiteful on the spot. Her skin was honey-toned, and her head was topped with a mop of messy, purple hair that just about reached her shoulders. She had bright, brown eyes that matched the excited energy of the big smile on her face. Her outfit was simple, but a bit messy, with dirt stains all over pretty much everything. It consisted of a purple tube top, black cargo shorts, the pockets of which were packed by various digging supplies, a pair of brown, leather gloves, black working boots, and a pair of goggles that hung down around her neck.
"I can tell you're already dumbfounded!" Duke laughed proudly as he brought the girl over to Mitsuki, who was just staring in disbelief. "This here is…uh…"
"Hon-knee!" The girl smiled as she offered her name to Duke for the second time now.
"Right, Honey. She's gonna be your replacement partner…which means that, from now on, your team won't be known as the Uncomfortable Siblings, no no! You're going to be called…the Hottie and Nottie!" Mitsuki just couldn't believe her eyes. She hardly even protested against the insulting name that was picked for them.
Confessional
"No, no, no!" Mitsuki's thoughts were getting really loud again, as they tended to do. "My brother gets hit by a car and then gets replaced by some random big-titted bimbo!? That's so unfair! Now, everyone is gonna be staring at her delicious boobies and no one will even notice me! How am I supposed to get myself a loving relationship with her at my side!? Life is so cruel…" She slumped forward in defeat, while Honey leaned towards her a bit.
"I really like your dress. Yellow is very good color on you!" Honey knew English a bit better than most people from different countries, she spoke it with a pretty thick Indian accent, though. Still, she could be understood, but her compliment only got a groan sent her way from Mitsuki.
Confessional End
With things now back in motion, the first nine teams had gotten on board the plane that was about to take off in search of Brazil. Naturally, Mitsuki sat in between Olive and Becky, her arms crossed and brow furrowed as she was no longer miserable about her brother, but angry that she was stuck with Honey, who was sitting on the other side of Olive. Next to the new arrival were Lyle and Zeke, who couldn't even look at Mitsuki with how awful they felt about the accident…which technically wasn't their fault, but still. Right past them were the Dynamic Gamers, Colin sucked into some game on his GameGuy while Freddy was just staying silent and observing everyone around him. On the other side of the plane, directly across from the gamers, there were Logan and Evan, the former using the latter as a barrier to keep her distance from Xavier and Marty. Those two currently had Cheese out and were taking turns giving her little crackers to eat. Sunny and Lukas were next to them, but while Sunny was wrapping her arms around Lukas' left arm, kicking her feet with a smile on her face, the boy himself could only stare back at the airport, worrying about Katie and Sadie. Then came the Awkward Neighbors, Jamie Lynn currently jamming out to some rock music through some headphones while Phoebe glanced over at the Dweebs next to her. Andrew was still trying to get Mitsuki-Chan to speak to him, but it seemed to no avail, only making him worry more and more about what was wrong. Then…there was Richard.
"Woah…woah woah woah momma!" Richard had a beaming grin on his face as he took a look across the way to see Honey in all of her voluptuous glory. He couldn't take his eyes off her, but she hardly glanced in his direction. "Man…what I'd give to have a girl like that." As he kept staring, Phoebe took note of this. She watched in silence for a moment before looking to see what Jamie Lynn was doing. When she saw that she was too wrapped up in her music to even pay attention to her, she dug into her pocket to retrieve her hat, which she tossed on her head backwards before twitching a bit.
"Ugh…'bout damn time you let me have another turn. Your brain smells like self-pity…which reeks, by the way." Libby spoke to herself, but as everyone still knew her as Phoebe, they didn't pay her much mind. She cracked her neck a little and rolled her shoulders, getting up from her seat and walking in front of Richard to block his view. "...'Sup, dude?"
"Huh? Who put this wall in front of me?" Richard was so wrapped up in his love of Honey's figure that he didn't even notice Libby at first, but when he shook his head, he seemed to recall her. "Oh, Phoebe…Jamie Lynn took the leash off of ya, did she?"
"Psh, as if that ratty bitch has any control over what I- er…" Libby stopped herself mid-sentence, seeing that Richard was looking at her weirdly for how she was speaking to him. "I-I mean…o-oh…she just…wasn't paying attention…and she looked like she was having fun with her music, so…I went away so she could enjoy it more. Oh, woe is me…such a pathetic bitch that ruins everyone's fun."
"I wouldn't say you ruin everyone's fun. I mean, I get a kick out of seeing you run around or swim in that flimsy, white tee you've got on." Richard admittedly was trying to be more nice than perverse, but he still just came off as a pervert regardless of that.
"Y-you do…? Well…that's nice…" Libby turned around for a brief second, grinning evilly while she thought to herself, "I do a pretty damn good impression of you, don't I, bitch? Nobody can see through this!"
"You good there? You're smiling like a supervillain and it's a little freaky. I mean, I like freaky, but this is just a different type of freaky." Richard had tapped on Libby's shoulder to get her attention, which wiped the grin off of her face. She spun back around and went back to mimicking that miserable look that Phoebe typically had.
"Y-yeah, I'm good…well, not really, but I'm not dying…right this second, at least."
"Well, that's good then. Hm…what was I doing before you came over here? Oh yeah, there was that new girl tha-"
"NO!" Libby suddenly shouted, getting the attention of everyone on the plane, all but Jamie Lynn, who was still too deep into her music. "U-uh…I mean…uh…I'm…horrified of planes like these…the ones that have the open hatches in the back. C-could I maybe sit in your lap during the flight?"
"Phoebe, I would love nothing more than you sitting in my lap right now." Richard looked positively thrilled, which brought a slight smile to Libby's face. She practically pounced on him, wrapping her arms around him tightly while she sat facing him. Her head was buried into his shoulder, and with her poofy hair all in his face, it was a bit too much for him to still look at Honey.
Confessional
"I totally zoned out for a bit there, but when I looked and saw that Phoebe wasn't in her seat anymore, I thought she might've gotten sucked out through the back of the plane. I mean, I would've lost the race, but blessing in disguise, right?" Jamie Lynn snickered to herself, "I'm joking, obviously. I would never want her to die. Besides, she's giving herself a punishment worse than death by sitting on that dweeb's lap. Believe me, I want them not to be involved with each other, but at times where we can't focus on the race or we have to wait, I'm not gonna waste the effort to pry them apart. Like two garbage monsters made perfectly for each other…it's sickening."
Confessional End
"Hey, Lyle…should we talk to Mitsuki? I mean, I feel like we should do something for what we did earlier…right?" Lyle winced at the very suggestion of talking to Mitsuki, the tension in the air making it a bit hard to even think about that. Zeke sighed lightly, "I can't just sit here with all this guilt, man! I'm gonna talk to her."
"You're a brave man, Zeke. I respect you on levels I can't even show you without things getting a little weird in here." Lyle patted Zeke on the shoulder, and the latter took in a deep breath to turn and face Mitsuki.
"H-hey there, Mitsuki! Sorry about the whole thing with…you know, hitting your brother with the taxi and everything." Mitsuki took notice of Zeke talking to her, blushing a bit, but turning away with a slight scowl.
"What does he want? He and his partner cursed my fate by sticking me with this bimbo, and he thinks a simple apology is just gonna patch things up!? I don't care if he's handsome, I'm not just gonna forgive him so easily! Hmph!" As usual, Mitsuki kept her aggressive inner-monologue to herself, making quite a few weird faces as she did.
"Uh…r-right. See, Lyle and I were just wondering if…I don't know, if there was maybe anything that we could do to try and make it up to you?" Mitsuki's expression got a bit softer as Zeke went on, "We caused this mess, kinda, sorta, in a way…so it's only fair that we be the ones to make up for it."
"Mmm…y-you…" Mitsuki trembled as she started to speak to Zeke, but it was no use, she was getting too flustered. "C-crap! Talking to guys other than Kotomi is just so…agh! How do I…aha!" She glanced over at Olive and lightly tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Oh, heya, Mitsuki! Whatcha need?" Olive smiled, listening carefully as Mitsuki leaned towards her and started whispering to her. "Hm? Oh yeah…yup yup. Okie dokie! I can do that!" She spun around to face Lyle and Zeke, who were both looking back at her confusedly. "So, Mitsuki says that you can start making it up to her by explainin' how the race works to her new partner! Well, she didn't say 'new partner,' but the words she said are words my momma doesn't like me sayin', yup!"
"Well…I guess we could do that." Zeke looked over at Lyle, the two nodding at each other before looking back at Honey, who was staring back at them with a big, dumb smile on her face. "Hey there, Honey! That's your name, right?"
"Hon-Knee! Is like the sweet stuff!" Honey nodded a bit too fast, and her goggles, which were still dangling around her neck, flew up and cracked her in the nose. "Yipe! That hurt really bad…"
"Are you okay?" Lyle watched as Honey rubbed her nose with her finger, a bit concerned. Soon, she pulled her hand away from her face and held out a big thumbs up. "Well, good. So, your partner told us we gotta tell you how to-...uh…Honey?"
"Hm?" Honey tilted her head to the side, wondering what it was that both of Lyle and Zeke looked so upset about. Zeke shakily raised his finger and pointed at his own nose, which convinced her to rub her glove finger against hers to discover that she had quite the nose bleed. "Oh no…that's no good." Becky could smell the blood from her seat, which piqued her curiosity. She glanced in that general direction just as Honey started taking a deep breath, a breath so deep that the blood sucked back into her nose and squirted out of her eyes and onto Lyle and Zeke. "Oops…sorry…"
"That…was so…fucking metal." Becky was utterly astounded by the disgusting display that Honey had just put on, and she soon tugged on Mitsuki's dress to get her attention. The psuedo-MILF looked down at her 'child' in question. "Mitsuki, you need to marry that woman."
Confessional
"Lyle…" Zeke sat perfectly still, not even blinking as the blood was spattered all over his face.
"Zeke…" Lyle was in similar condition, covered in blood from Honey's eyes.
"...I think…maybe this isn't going to be as easy as we thought it was."
"...I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one, buddy."
"I rarely find myself impressed with other people, mainly because mere mortals are so pathetic." Becky had her arms crossed while Olive was snacking on a bag of gummy worms next to her. "I took an exception with Mitsuki because she won't even back down to sharks that are trying to tear her limbs off…and now, I take exception with Honey, who just shot blood out of her eyes onto the two Nature Bozos. This race was so worth my time."
"And, um, I tak exception, um, to both of 'em cause, um, they said that I could maybe have you get me more gummy worms cause I, uh, ate 'em all, yup." Olive showed Becky the empty bag and smiled.
"..." Mitsuki sat in silence, not daring to look at Honey, who was hovering over her. "...W-what do you want…?"
"When's our wedding?" Honey looked genuinely confused, and she was holding two dresses in her arms. "I didn't know I was getting married on this, but I had the dresses with me in case."
"We're not getting married…and w-who just carries around two wedding dresses with them when they're traveling?" Mitsuki slightly glanced over at Honey, who shrugged and sheepishly put the dresses away.
Confessional End
"With flight one already on the way to Brazil, the remaining nine teams are just now boarding flight two…oho, this part is gonna be really a-moo-sing!" Duke chuckled as the cabin of the second flight was shown, revealing that it was full of cattle that were just roaming around and eating hay off of the ground.
"Now, see, Elliott? This here steer is working hard, loving life and all that. That's what I'm preaching! A hard day of work is the only thing that truly makes life worth it! That, and the thrills that come with it, of course!" James chuckled as he patted one of the cows on the back, though Ursula swooped right in next to him. "Ah!"
"Hello again, James! I know the last time we were in each other's company wasn't so…wonderful. I was hoping we could maybe get a fresh start? I'm sure you'll really like me a good deal once you get to know me!" Ursula closed her eyes and smiled warmly at James, who rolled his eyes.
"I was already petting one fat cow, do I look like I need a second one to pet? Yeesh." James walked away, leaving Ursula stunned that he just called her a cow like that.
Confessional
"Oh, it does so bring me joy to see ya struggling with that geezer, Ursula." Lady Belle chuckled as Elliott sat in her lap, totally checked out of this world.
"You shut up! I'm not a fat cow! He's just- no offense, Elliott- he's just a blind buffoon!" Ursula stomped her feet, though Elliott still didn't even pay attention to her insulting his "father," as the loving treatment from Lady Belle was more than enough to keep him occupied. "He'll be coming around soon enough…I know I've more than enough beauty to woo someone like him over."
"Keep tellin' yourself that, darling." Lady Belle snickered, getting a glare shot her way from her teammate.
Confessional End
"I just…don't get what we did to make Sunny so upset with us! Like, all we did was talk to Lukas a little bit, but we tried talking to her, too!" Sadie looked like she had some mixed sadness and bewilderment as she tried to figure out what was going on, with Katie giving her a shoulder massage. "Can you get a little closer to my neck?"
"Mhm!" Katie obliged, with Sadie sighing in relief as the massage got deeper towards her neck. "You know what I think? I think that Sunny is a kid and you're maybe, like, worrying a little bit too much about what a kid thinks about you."
"Yeah, you're probably right. Maybe it would be better if we didn't talk to Lukas as much? Maybe?" Sadie shrugged lightly, but before she could continue her thought, her and Katie were approached by Sophie, who was grinning like an imp. "Oh, hey…uh…other…small child. There's a lot of small children on this show, it's a little hard to remember all the names."
"Sophie, Wilderness Girl, nature extraordinaire, most honest girl you'll ever meet, at your service!" Sophie saluted the BFFFLs, who were having a hard time not laughing at her schtick. "I hear you guys over here talking about Sunny! I know, eavesdropping is bad and all, but I needed to do it for my Eavesdropping On A Plane Full Of Cows And Hay patch."
"That's a patch?" Katie was puzzled by the run-on patch name, looking to Sadie for answers that she didn't know how to give.
"Sure is! I ma…found it in the book myself! That's beside the point!" Sophie shook her head and cleared her throat. "See, Sunny is what we like to call a 'problem child.' Aka, a child that is a problem!"
"I…I think we gathered that…" Sadie tried not to sound rude, but with how ridiculous Sophie was being, it was difficult not to come off that way.
"Let me continue! Better give you the Interrupts Sophie In The Middle Of Exposition patch, yeesh! So, Sunny has a big fat crush on her babysitter, but therein lies the issue! He…is old." Sophie cringed as she imagined Lukas, though her image of him had him shown with wrinkles and gray hair. "Blech! Sunny is too young to go macking on his European lips, but she doesn't seem to understand that. Sooooo all she understands is that these two women with all the midriff in the world showing are coming around to steal her man. You see what I'm getting at?"
"She thinks we have crushes on Lukas? Katie's married, though." Sadie frowned for a moment while Sophie just kept inquisitively staring at her. "Oh, me! No, no I don't have a crush on Lukas."
"Like, we were just hanging out with him because he's a cool guy and all! Plus, he totally saved Sadie from falling in the catacombs, which was cool!" Katie let out a sigh with a smile on her face, "I guess it was a little romantic, but Sadie didn't fall for him in a romantic way! She just fell in a normal way!"
"Doesn't matter, Sunny's brain is too underdeveloped to understand that! But this is all good, because that's how you can solve your Sunny dilemma! She's clearly got it out for you guys, but Lukas definitely isn't the type to sit by and watch her sabotage you. He'd probably be pretty upset with her, and then she would be all upset in turn. That's when you two swoop in for the kill! And by kill, I mean you talk it out with her while she's down! You try going in too early and it's not gonna work." Katie and Sadie listened closely to Sophie, astounded by the amount of sense she was making. "I know, I'm kind of a genius."
"Sophie, are you bothering these two girls?" Bea walked over to the scene, a bucket draped over each of her wrists. "Sorry, my little scout can be quite a handful at times."
"Oh, no…it's alright!" Sadie smiled at Bea before looking at the buckets that she was carrying, "What's in there?"
"Fresh, unpasteurized milk, of course! I found this patch in the book that I didn't remember seeing before. The Airplane Cow Milking Bossanova patch! I really don't know why it exists, but I'm sure it'll be getting sent my way from the head honchos soon enough." Bea chuckled, soon extending the buckets of milk towards the BFFFLs. "Want some?"
Confessional
"I think, like, Sophie probably knows more about Sunny than everyone else here except for Lukas, so maybe she is the best person to talk about regarding the whole problem we've got." Sadie still seemed to be a bit sad about everything, but a little less so now that she had spoken to someone else about it.
"I still think we're worrying too much about a literal child, but you're the smart one, so…" Katie shrugged her shoulders, "Also, Bea said she was milking the cows, but I only saw male cows on the plane. Do you think…" Both of the girls went silent as they glanced over at a bucket of milk that was near them.
Confessional End
"And now plane number one is finally landing in Brazil! Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be fine…" Duke whistled nonchalantly as the plane dumped out the first nine teams in the middle of a dense rainforest. The next dukebox wasn't that far ahead, and Colin and Freddy just so happened to be the first to reach it, with Colin being the one to press the button and grab the tip.
"Oh, look…it's another botch or watch. Humina humina…" Colin read over the tip, his eyes slightly widening as he finished it. "...Ants…"
"That's right, ants! But not just any ants!" Duke flung in from out of nowhere, slamming down on the ground near the teams. He stuck the landing perfectly, with Evan happily clapping for him…at least until he was elbowed in the hip by Logan. He took a short walk over to a large pole that was stuck in the ground, with an oven mitt dangling on the side of it. "We're talking bullet ants, poisonous little bastards that sure know how to make you regret being alive if they bite ya! Whoever didn't have to say the phrase back in Iceland will be shoving their hand into this ant infested oven mitt to dig out their next travel tip! Anybody a masochist? No?"
"You know, I'm beginning to think that all of the worst botch or watches are going to the ones that botched in the first leg…" Evan gulped as he and the other botchers started walking towards the pole. Though most of everyone was utterly horrified of the task at hand, there was one brave soul that didn't seem too bothered.
"Step aside, weakbloods…you're about to watch these bullet ants beg for their lives." Becky whistled and waltzed right up to the oven mitt. She dug her hand in with no problem whatsoever, and the bullet ants just seemed to watch while she fumbled around. One ant decided it wasn't having it, and scurried over to her hand to bite it. Oddly, though, the very second it made that bite, nothing happened to Becky…but the ant evaporated into thin air, just like that. She retrieved her tip without any further issues, leaving the rest of the ants entirely traumatized. "Easy, see?"
Confessional
"I don't fear anything…not a single thing in this world is enough to take me down. I'm a bit surprised that anything even tries anymore." Becky held a bullet ant in her hand for a moment before tossing it into her mouth and swallowing it whole. "Meh…would've been better with hot sauce."
"Look, Becks! I made a lil' hat for my bullet ant! I'm gonna name him Doohickey!" Olive proudly held her hands up to show Becky the bullet ant that was running around with a tiny hat on. "Pretty cool, yup!"
Confessional End
"Ugh…whoever writes these tips is almost beyond weakblooded." Becky cringed as she looked over the tip, with Olive trying to get a peak at what it said. "'Feeling divine? Then swing your butts to the coconuts!' I think I'm nauseous from just having to say that."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Duke could be heard howling a manly howl as he swung overhead on a large vine that was dangling from the tree tops. He leapt off of it after a short while, landing on the other side of a large gorge in the forest. "After surviving the smackdown from those bullet ants, the teams must swing across this here gorge to search for their next travel tip in this-" He pointed ahead to a massive pile of coconuts, with one particular coconut having a crayon face drawn on it. "-Pile of coconuts! And, no, Zeke and Lyle…you can't eat or drink from the coconuts."
"B-Brazil sure is a dangerous place, Marty." Xavier gulped nervously as he saw the gorge ahead. He turned to face his teammate, seeing that he was smiling pretty snarkily at him. "W-what, uh…what's got you smiling like that?"
"Oh, nothing…I was just wondering what part of you those ants are gonna be munching on first. It would be a shame if it was your hands, since, you know, you need them to bake." Marty's grin got wider and wider while Xavier just kept nervously looking at him. "Yeah, that's right…and you can't use your feet, gotta be running with 'em!"
"S-so…"
"I think you're gonna have to use your teeth to pull the tip out of that mitt, buddy!" Xavier's expression fell to pure horror as Marty was now staring him down like a psychopath. "Well? Aren't you gonna go get the tip?"
"M-Marty, it seems really dangerous to just grab it like that…with my teeth…maybe you should do it instead and we can just take the penalty that we get thrown at us. C-can't be too bad, right?"
"Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Marty suddenly looked a lot angrier than before, with Xavier shrinking where he stood. "This is what you do, you've been doing it this whole time! You go and use me for whatever hard tasks we have, or I have to clean up after your messes and I'm sick of it! Now, go in there and get your face bit by those ants or else!"
"N-no! I don't wanna!" Xavier took off running, booking it as far away from Marty as he possibly could.
"Oh, you get back here, mister!" Marty chased after Xavier, leaving the other teams to deal with the bullet ants.
Confessional
"You can't make me!" Xavier shouted as he ran past the camera before disappearing into the dense rainforest once more.
"It's your turn to botch, now botch!" Marty ran in the same general direction as his partner, disappearing, just as he did.
Confessional End
"Well…here goes nothing, I suppose." Lyle gulped nervously as he took a few steps towards the oven mitt. He dug his hand into the mitt, yelping in pain almost immediately. "AYOW! AGH! OOF! I CAN FEEL IT IN MY BONES! ARGH!" He eventually pulled his incredibly swollen hand back out of the oven mitt, the travel tip he needed wedged between his now sausage-like fingers. "Oy…I love bullet ants just as much as other animals, but I'm getting the feeling that they don't love me the same way."
"I think the best way to think about it is if you relate the bites to kisses! Bullet ants don't have lips, so their kisses and bites must be the same thing, simple as that!" Zeke blew a kiss to the oven mitt before he and his partner started to walk away from it, allowing the next team to go.
"Am I really about to dig my hand into a hive of bullet ants just for a chance at getting some game show money? Do I have no self-respect?" Colin deadpanned for a moment before laughing obnoxiously, "Who am I kidding, of course I don't!" He then shoved his hand into the mitt, pulling it back out with a travel tip ready. "Huh…I don't think they even bit me…"
"Or…you're an animatronic!" Freddy shot up and pointed an accusing finger at his partner, but Colin soon yelped when an ant that had snuck its way onto his hand finally bit him, causing his hand to puff up like Lyle's. "...Kidding! I'm kidding, of course! My partner could never be an animatronic, not a chance of that!"
"Mitsuki-Chan, prepare to be impressed and astounded by your prince's technique! I shall retrieve these ants with nary a single bite to my skin! I move at the speed of light, I hunt like a wolf in the dead of night!" Andrew ran in, shoving the gamers out of the way before quickly dipping his hand in and out of the mitt, fetching the tip with ease. "See? No problems here…nothing personal, ants…you just need more training if you're going to bite me!"
"Uh…Andrew?" Andrew glanced over at Richard to see that he was nervously pointing at his face.
"Nani!?" It didn't take long for the rotund weeaboo to notice that a bullet ant was right on his cheek, just about to dive its teeth into his soft flesh. "Yare yare daze…you thought it would be that easy, didn't you? Your next line is…" Andrew made some chittering noises, followed by the ant making some chittering noises to match. "In another life, we could've been worthy adversaries. Sayonara, bullet ant-o." The weeaboo quickly unsheathed his sword and slapped it back into the sheath, effectively decimating the ant with no issue.
"I'm sure your digital waifu is gonna love that, bud." Richard stared judgingly at his partner, who was already dashing towards the vine with his arms flailing behind his back. "Every fuckin' time with that Haruto run, I swear…"
"Get in there already, yeesh!" Jamie Lynn groaned as she had to forcibly push Phoebe, whose hat was no longer on her head and in sight, towards the oven mitt. "It's just a couple of ants, you'll survive…probably."
"B-but there's already enough bugs crawling around in my skin, I don't wanna add more to that!" Phoebe tried her best not to panic, but she was already well into hyperventilating when she got to the mitt. She scratched at her wrists for a moment before taking in a deep breath and just diving her hand right in, grabbing a tip and getting bitten several times in the process. Her hand definitely got it worse than Lyle and Colin, as it was hardly recognizable as a hand anymore. "I feel…dizzy…"
"Oh, would you quit being such a baby? Give me that!" Jamie Lynn snatched the tip from Phoebe and dragged her along with her to head towards the vine. Lukas used this opportunity to crack his knuckles and step up to the plate, not afraid of the ants that lay in wait. He wiggled his fingers for a bit before shoving his hand into the mitt like he was about to grab a sugar-coated donut from the office party he was at. He did get bit, but…well, there wasn't really any screaming whatsoever. Just silent pain and a single tear dropping down his face.
Confessional
"My Lukas isn't afraid of anything, not a single thing! He could take on a whole army of ants and it wouldn't even be an issue for him! In fact…" Sunny rustled around a bit before holding up a see-through container that was stuffed full of bullet ants. Lukas backed up a little bit when he saw all the ants rumbling around in there. "C-come on, Lukas! You're embarrassing me in front of the whole viewing world!" Sunny whimpered slightly, leaving Lukas to silently sigh and shove his already swollen hand into the container, trying his best to hold back the tears. "See? He's invincible!"
Confessional End
"Okay, just stay calm…stay calm…stay very, very calm!" Evan tried to pep himself up as he got ready to dig around in the mitt, but Logan wasn't having it, as she shoved him right towards it, forcing him to dig in there when he wasn't ready yet. "Ah! Aaaahha!" He pried his hand back after a little bit, holding up the tip while frowning at his hand. "L-Logan…why would you do that…?"
"Um, because you were taking forever? I wasn't gonna let you waste our time. Let's just get going already!" Evan sighed while Logan berated him, yet again. The two set off, leaving Mitsuki and Honey as the only two still at the mitt, since Xavier and Marty had gone MIA.
"W-well…I guess this isn't so bad…" Mitsuki sighed and started to dig for the travel tip, noticing that the ants seemed to swarm away from her hand. "W-what the…? Oh, real mature ants…I'm not that disgusting." Already annoyed, Mitsuki pulled her hand back with the tip and started walking away from the mitt while Honey trailed behind her.
"I think you're not disgusting, Mitts-Oo-Key." Honey smiled innocently while she admired the scenery around her. "I'm supposed to be on my way to America right now, but this is a fun detour."
"You're a fun detour…wait a minute…" Mitsuki paused for a moment to think about what she had just said. "Shit! That didn't come out as insulting as I wanted to, that just made it seem like I wanted to do the nasty with her! Yuck! As if I would ever want this bimbo's massive melons and thicc waist anywhere near me like that! I bet she tastes like dirt and sweat, which I'm only into if it's anyone other than her! Blech!"
"...I'm a detour?" Honey tapped her chin in thought, with Mitsuki just sighing and continuing on towards the vine.
"Gahaha! I don't wanna dieeeeeeeeee!" Phoebe screamed as her and Jamie Lynn grabbed onto the vine to swing across the gorge, not daring to look down, but hardly finding any comfort in staring ahead, either.
"Would you shut up already? Yeesh, you're driving me insane with all your nagging and screaming." Jamie Lynn rolled her eyes, leaping off of the vine and landing just fine on the other side of the gorge. "See? We're already on the other side. …Phoebe?" She looked around to see that her partner wasn't standing near her, but still clinging onto the vine for dear life. "Phoebe, you're supposed to let go of the vine, you moron!"
"B-but if I let go…eep!" Phoebe let out a squeak as her grip slipped and she started falling to the gorge below. As she fell straight down, something inside her urged her to grab her hat, which she tossed on her head, turning into Libby. "You're such a damn wreck, I swear. Whatever, I'll fix this, bitch." The internet phenomenon looked around at her surroundings, identifying the ridiculous amount of sharp looking rocks below. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to a massive mushroom. "Bingo!"
With a phenomenal amount of gusto, Libby started to change the direction she was falling in so that she was leaning in towards the mushroom. She pressed her hands down against the massive fungus, propelling off of it back towards the top of the gorge. With a sigh, she pulled her hat off of her head and hid it away, shuddering and turning back into Phoebe just as she landed.
"Oh, there you are." Jamie Lynn sighed and started tugging Phoebe back towards the pile of coconuts, not giving her even a second to breath after that terrible falling experience she just had.
Confessional
"I-I almost died back there…" Phoebe's expression was pure fright and nothing more as she sat completely still.
"Yeah? Sucks to suck sometimes, don't it?" Jamie Lynn rolled her eyes before looking back at the camera. "Phoebe's always going on and on about dying or being about to die or whatever it is. It's really annoying. You could blow on her nose and she'd probably say she thinks she's gonna contract some deadly disease."
"Well, actually…" Phoebe slowly raised her finger and was about to continue, but when she saw her partner leering at her, she brought her hand back down.
Confessional End
"Geronimooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Olive howled at the top of her lungs as her and Becky swung across the gorge, both landing perfectly on the other side with no issue. "Becks, that was so much fun! Can we do it again? Can we, can we?"
"Sure, I'll try to remember to take you back to this specific gorge in this specific part of the rainforest next time we just so happen to come to Brazil." Becky rolled her eyes and kept walking, with an ecstatic Olive cheering and following after her.
"Evan, don't you dare drop me or I'm going to force feed you to a paper shredder!" Logan berated her cousin as he held her with one arm while using his other arm to cling onto the vine that they were swinging across the gorge with. They managed to land all well and fine, though Evan was his typical brand of sad with how his cousin was yelling at him. They started to walk towards the coconuts when they suddenly heard a massive thud behind them. "Eh? What was that?"
"Ugh…" Colin groaned as he and Freddy had smashed against the wall of the gorge, not quite making it to the other side. The two of them slowly, and quite painfully, started to slide down against the wall, eventually landing on the same mushroom that Libby had used to bounce herself back up to the top. Of course, since they slid down so slowly, it didn't bounce them at all, they just lay there in pain. "This mushroom isn't like the ones from the games at all…"
"As our teams from the first plane are mostly starting to make it to the other side of the gorge, the second plane is just now landing with the other nine teams!" The second plane landed, as Duke had called out, allowing the remaining nine teams to pour out of it and rush to the next dukebox. They got their tip and read the rules of the botch or watch, some already getting nervous as the saw the oven mitt with the bullet ants ahead.
"Alright, since everyone else seems to be so terrified of these ants, I'll just have to show you all how it's done." Arnold proudly started walking to the oven mitt, though Aisling grabbed him and pulled him aside, showing her crystal ball to him. "Please, tell me you have something actually important to tell me."
"Yes…see, I figured now would be a wonderful time to consult the crystal ball on how you should approach this challenge. Going in blindly surely will only result in you getting bit several times over." Aisling did her best to warn Arnold, though he just scoffed and turned back to the oven mitt, leaving her behind. "Sigh…he just never listens."
"You got a crappy partner, too, huh?" Virgil rolled his sleeves up while he passed by Aisling, allowing Michael to stand next to her.
"Go, Virgilio! You fear no ants, you'll have no problems with this!" Michael squealed excitedly for his teammate to cheer him on, though Virgil only flipped him off. "Oh…well, good thing I know that a middle finger from you is really a sign of love!"
"You two have quite the interesting bond…" Aisling took note of Michael and Virgil's interaction, a slight smile on her face. "Pardon my intrusion, but is there any chance I could coerce you into doing a brief tarot reading with me? No charges or fees, of course."
"Tarot cards? I am so down for that! Can you do Virgilio, too? Aye, he'd love this!" Michael continued to squeal while Aisling took a look at her crystal ball for a brief moment, frowning at it.
"S-something tells me that he won't like it very much…"
Confessional
"Arnold has still been belligerent with me, which has been making it quite difficult to focus on the others. I'll typically do a reading once I meet everyone, but I've been so caught up with trying to get him to draw his cards that I just forgot everyone else!" Aisling blushed, entirely embarrassed from her blunder. "Well, I'll still be trying to get him to draw, but I'll definitely look to the others for now. I still won't give up, though!"
"You probably should. You're just wasting your time." Arnold rolled his eyes at his partner as he held up a travel tip in his horribly swollen hand. "Plus, if you pester the wrong person with your hullabaloo, don't be expecting me to save you or anything."
Confessional End
"Grrrrrr, stupid coconuts just don't wanna crack open, what gives!?" Jamie Lynn shouted as she held a coconut in her hands, which she was repeatedly smashing against the other coconuts in the massive pile to try and bust it open, not to much avail. Phoebe sat next to her in the dirt, nervously side-eyeing a mallet that wasn't too far away from them.
"U-um…Jamie Lynn? I think we could probably use the mallet over there to…you know…bust it open…" Phoebe almost didn't wanna finish her suggestion, as speaking up just made her feel more nervous with her partner.
"...There was a mallet there this whole time and you just didn't tell me? Jeez, you really are useless." Jamie Lynn groaned and got up to go get the mallet, allowing Phoebe to briefly toss her hat on and flip off her partner as Libby. Of course, she put the hat away just before her partner returned, so she didn't suspect a thing. "Well, whatever, I'm not even gonna bother getting too worked up over all your mistakes anymore. Here we go." Jamie Lynn cracked the mallet against the coconut, breaking open the shell and revealing the next travel tip within it. She nabbed the tip and took a look over it. "Wonderful, another all-in. You'd better actually try with this one."
"Right, I-I will…" Phoebe sighed and got up from the ground, just staring down at her feet.
"Awooga!" Duke's eyes were practically popping out of his head as he took notice of the Brazilian local woman that was only wearing a skimpy, peacock-themed outfit that showed off her Amazonian form. "Erm, excuse me, almost lost my cool there! In this all-in, the teams have to work together to make both a headpiece and a tailpiece that would make for a fitting costume in Carnival! When this local says they've done a good enough job, they'll get their next travel tip!" He cleared his throat before looking back over to the woman, "Just do me a favor and watch out for Richard, he might like you a little too much."
"Huh…well, this can't be that bad, right?" Jamie Lynn shrugged, with her and Phoebe soon running ahead from the coconut pile.
Confessional
"This whole thing with all the feathers and the glue, it's practically just a kindergarten arts and crafts project if you ask me." Jamie Lynn stared at the feathers in her hands, roughly sorting them by color while she stood near Phoebe, who was crouched down on the ground, scavenging some more feathers. "I'm pretty smart, so I don't think I'll have any issues with this challenge. Jittery McShaky Hands on the other hand…"
"W-what? N-no, I'm pretty good with arts and crafts…you should see all the drawings in my journal." Phoebe seemed pretty excited for once, as she sug around and retrieved her journal, which she opened to show a bunch of horrific drawings that seemed like they came from a nightmare world. "This one here is my older sister…this one's my dad…and this one's me."
"...I think maybe you'd be better off tossing this journal into a fire. I'm gonna have nightmares just thinking about these drawings." Jamie Lynn turned away from Phoebe, who sadly closed her journal back up and returned to her scavenging.
Confessional End
"The Awkward Neighbors have surprisingly taken the lead in the race, but anything could happen, with more teams from the second plane getting through the ants!" As Duke spoke, the vast amount of teams still back at the oven mitt were shown. The botchers stood in line to take their turn while the watchers found themselves nervously waiting for them to get through their challenge. Jacque sighed and dug his hand into the mitt, lightly yelping when he pulled it back out with the next travel tip.
Confessional
"I do find it hilarious that you're ending up with all the horrid botch or watches, Jacque. It makes me think that the host is certainly favoring me over you, but let's be honest, who wouldn't?" Angel gently laughed behind her hand while Jacque glared at her, his own hand still throbbing from the bites. "See, when Jacque and I competed together on our other show, I was always known for being the more impressive of the rivalry. I'm smarter, I'm far more attractive, I'm just better."
"Yeah, go ahead and say that you're better than me but neglect to mention that you were totally smitten for me." Angel's eyes widened and Jacque grinned, crossing his arms with pride. "Yup, ain't no one who watched the show could say otherwise. You were practically all over me…it was a little funny, to be honest with ya."
"I was never any such thing, nor will I ever be any such thing! Smitten for you? I'd sooner fall in love with that homeless man that left a few days ago!" Angel let out a single "ha," turning her back to Jacque, who was still grinning, but now raising his eyebrows in a cocky manner at the camera.
Confessional End
"Stop chasing me, I said I don't wanna do it! L-let's just cut our losses and go home already!" Xavier was panting and sweating like a madman as he was still running away from the truly agitated Marty. They were well past the thick of the rainforest at this point, having ended up on some sort of beach near a cabana.
"No way! It was your idea to come on to this show and now you just wanna drop out? Not happening!" Marty was sweating just as bad as Xavier was with the unbearable heat beating down on him. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but pansying out of every little challenge that comes your way isn't going to get us anywhere!"
"But I might die if I do these things that we're supposed to do! You don't want me to die, do you?" Marty groaned, picking up his pace to finally tackle Xavier down to the sand below. "Ah! Marty, no, please!"
"Xavier, shut up!" He picked his partner up from the ground, grabbing him by the shoulders and staring him dead in the eyes. "You and I are buddies, really good buddies at that! This…this whole thing you've been doing during the race? That's not my friend! I know you wouldn't just force me to do all the work while you sit around and watch! So go on, what's the matter with you?"
"...I'm just scared…" Xavier's head sunk as he finally stopped struggling against Marty, who let go of his shoulders. He didn't run anymore, he just sat there, "After the whole incident in Morocco, where Cheese almost croaked from heat stroke…I've just been scared for him. I'm worried about putting him in these situations where he might get hurt! I don't care about what happens to me, I'm just worried about him…and I've been a pretty crappy friend because of it, haven't I?"
"Yeah, you totally have…" Marty sighed and wiped some of the sweat from his forehead, "Look…I know you love Cheese and hate going anywhere without him, but…it may be better if you send him home here." Xavier looked back up at Marty, a saddened look on his face. "I know, I know, it's a lot to ask, you don't go anywhere without him, but…just think about it. The brief time away from him isn't going to hurt anyone. And you know your family would never let anything bad happen to him while you're gone."
"...I know…" Xavier looked down to his hoodie pocket to see that Cheese was staring up at him from it. He let him climb onto his hands and held him up close to his face, tears welling up in his eyes. "Marty's right, buddy…I don't want anything bad to happen to you, I would never want that. You'll be okay without me, right?" Cheese squeaked and seemed to nod his head back at Xavier, who finally managed to smile again, though the tears were still present. "I should've known..you're a tough mouse. Well…that settles it. We'll finish this leg and have Duke send Cheese back home!"
"That's the Xavier I know, all right!" Marty smiled from ear to ear, and the two soon wrapped each other up in a large embrace, with Cheese running back and forth between each of their shoulders. "Question is…how do we get back to the oven mitt?"
"Luckily for you guys, you don't need to!" The duo leapt up and screamed as they found Duke standing next to them. "See, somehow, you guys managed to run all the way to the chill zone for this leg!" Marty and Xavier looked down below them to see that they were standing on the chill zone, just as Duke had said before. They started cheering, but it seemed the host had other plans for them, "Now for the bad news! With skipping the entire leg comes some penalties…in this case, a two hour penalty!" He slammed the time clock down on the ground next to them, bringing them both to gasp. "Look at it this way: if you're lucky enough, another team might get eaten by wild animals and you won't be the last ones to finish the leg! Haha!"
Confessional
"Well, it looks like my mistake ended up being a lot worse than we could've imagined it to be…Marty, I promise, if we make it through this leg somehow, I'm not gonna let any of this mess us up again. I'll be putting forth one hundred– no, two hundred percent from now on!" Xavier looked pumped up as Marty smirked lightly at the camera.
"Yeah…I'm sure you will." Xavier looked slightly defeated from the remark, "Hey, buddy…not sarcasm this time. I promise."
Confessional End
"Andrew, I really think it would just be better if we swung on the vine like every other team," Richard watched as Andrew started doing some stretches, though his massively rotund body made it difficult for him to actually do any full stretches.
"Nonsense, plebeian! A true warrior like me doesn't need to use a vine, I can simply run fast enough to cross the gap." The weeaboo adjusted his posture and backed up a bit before starting to run straight towards the gorge, "FOR MITSUKI-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" He started to get some good distance after his initial jump, but soon enough, he found himself plummeting to his doom. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Luckily, though, he landed on the mushroom below, the immense weight of him mixed with his kinetic energy not only bouncing him up to the other side of the gorge, but also the gamers that were stuck below. He panted heavily while Richard just easily swung across on the vine.
"That was real impressive there, champ. I bet your app is probably so wet right now." Richard snickered and walked past his teammate to grab two of the coconuts and stuff them into his hoodie. "Hey, hey Andrew, look! Boobies!"
"Y-you're…ha…pathetic…" Andrew tried to regain his breath, but ended up collapsing on top of the gamers, who had just been freed from their other dilemma.
Confessional
"Hey, I thought it was a pretty funny prop joke," Richard shrugged, still with the coconuts in his hoodie. "Just because you can't appreciate it doesn't mean it's not funny."
"Your…idea of funny…is severely lacking…in any humor elements…" Andrew was still laying flat on the ground with the gamers trapped beneath him.
"What do you think, Fredbear? Is this guy an animatronic or not?" Colin's pained, muffled voice came from underneath Andrew, startling Richard, who didn't even know they were there.
"Weighs as much as one, I'd say…Andrew, show me your mouth!" Freddy managed to squeeze out from under the weeaboo, almost immediately prying at Andrew's mouth to open it up. He found himself disappointed with the lack of metal teeth, "Nope, guess this one's clear, too. Just when I thought we were getting close, too…"
Confessional End
"Bash open coconuts…does it matter what we use to do it?" Honey looked over at Mitsuki inquisitively, but she just scoffed at her and looked away.
"Y-you could probably just smash it against your head or something…I bet that would work…" Mitsuki was still silent as always, but clearly ticked off, though Honey didn't seem to notice. The newbie reached into her tool belt, pulling out a spade and cracking it against the shell, breaking open the coconut with ease. "Of course you have tools with you, since you're just so amazing…bimbo bitch. The absolute nerve of this girl is making me so angry! I oughtta spank her for that…wait a minute…" Mitsuki stopped thinking for a minute before gasping, "LEAVE ME ALONE, GAY THOUGHTS!"
"Um…that's not my name…" Honey looked a bit confused as Mitsuki started running around while screaming and flailing her arms like a madwoman. "We're running around now? That's not what the tip says to do…but you know better than me so…AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Honey followed Mitsuki in suit, with Olive and Becky watching them, both amused.
Confessional
"Becks, I love our new race mom. She's so much fun!" Olive smiled as she scribbled a picture of herself, Becky, Mitsuki, and Honey together, all holding hands with fire burning around them. "We just gotta show the two of 'em to Ivy when we get back home, we gotta!"
"Oh, I agree. I think she would find them just as amusing as we do." Becky laughed in a dry tone as she watched Honey and Mitsuki still running around behind her.
Confessional End
"WOOHOOOOOOOO!" Karma and Vanessa cheered in unison as they swung across the gap, both landing perfectly, but not realizing that they had actually landed on top of Virgil, who was twitching as he crumpled up on the ground.
"You…fat…bitches…" Virgil weakly groaned before Michael ran over to him and dragged him out from underneath the two girls.
"Excuse you, honey, ain't no way you just said that!" Vanessa rolled her one sleeve up, steaming as she started to storm towards Virgil, who stuck his tongue out at her. Karma didn't seem any more thrilled than her partner was, but Michael was quick to intervene.
"Ladies, studly man, please! There' no need for the punching and the squishing and the…intolerant 's just all get along, right?" Michael did his best to diffuse while Karma and Vanessa looked between each other with an unsure look on their faces. "What? What's wrong?"
"He seems to be mouthing the 'f-slur' behind your back, dahling." Karma pointed at Virgil, causing Michael to gasp and snap around to see Virgil looking pretty miserable, but in a different way than usual.
"Virgilio! We said no more of that, what happened to our agreement?" Virgil shrugged and started walking away from Michael, who chased after him and kept shouting at him. "Don't you go walking away from me, Virgilio! I'm not done being angry with you! You didn't even let me cross my arms and pout yet!"
"I don't feel like waiting for you to do all that, okay? I'm not in the mood for it." Virgil hardly even looked at Michael as he kept going ahead to the coconuts, leaving his partner concerned.
Confessional
"Now, see, this here is very confusing. Virgilio typically doesn't get that upset about things, so I don't understand." Michael tapped his chin in thought, watching as Virgil just started digging around through the coconuts, though not with as much enthusiasm as he would regularly have to be smashing things. "Hm…"
"Ugh…that's not right…" Virgil groaned while he smashed two coconuts together. "Fffff…ffff…" With each eff noise Virgil made, it seemed to make him more and more upset. "The hell is wrong with me? That's like my favorite word! Why is it bothering me so damn much!?"
Confessional End
With more teams working on getting to the other side of the gap, or just now getting to the other side and starting to hack away at their coconuts, Mika and Conroy found themselves in quite the pickle, as they had been wrapped up in the vine and were dangling above the gorge.
"Hm…hey, senior? What do you think of this? Any good plan for how to save ourselves from a vicious falling doom?" Mika looked back at Conroy to see that he was doing that thing again, where he was just staring off into space while calculating. "Go, senior, go, senior, go! You can do it! You'll think of the best-"
"Nope, I've got nothing." Mika looked defeated as she noticed that complete seriousness of Conroy's voice. He looked down at the rocks below, analyzing them some more before giving up. "Yup…the vine will probably snap soon and we'll fall to the rocks below. Probably gonna die on impact, but we might survive long enough to suffer a bit."
"Oh, I see…well, what if I did one of these?" Mika started to violently shake herself, causing the vine to thrash about and break a little more. Conroy didn't even seem to be nervous, as he just kept watching Mika at work. Eventually, she managed to thrash about just enough to get the vine swinging pretty far before snapping, causing them to bound over the rest of the gorge and land at the feet of Karma and Vanessa. The basketballers were still wrapped up in the remnants of the vine, with Mika giggling and Conroy even stifling a chuckle.
"Dahlings, you're all wrapped up in that mess…let us help you out of it." Vanessa nodded as Karma spoke, and the two worked together to free the team from the vine prison. They scrambled to their feet, with Mika still laughing while she dusted herself off. "You really seem to have had quite the thrill ride there, dahlings."
"Mhm, honey. I gotta be honest, I saw you dangling over the gorge and I was pretty sure that you were gonna be falling down and going splat all over the place. That woulda been no good, nuh uh." Vanessa looked up at Conroy, noticing something off about him while he was staring down at his partner. A smirk suddenly grew on her face , "Karma, gurl, can I pull you aside a sec?"
"Oh yes, dahl– IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!" Karma started speaking normally, but with Vanessa pulling her to the side at near light speeds, it was hard not to scream. "My word, something's got you really excited. Well, go on, what's so mahvelous that you're all jittery?"
"You can't tell me you didn't see what I was seeing, right?" Karma shook her head, causing Vanessa's smirk to fall to a slight frown. "Gurl, how he's looking at his partner! She's got him feelin' some kind of way, can't you see it? I know that look, he's just hiding it behind those big glasses of his."
"He is? Let me check again," Karma spun around, making it blatantly obvious that she was staring at Conroy, though…he and Mika were too wrapped up in each other to notice. She narrowed her eyes at him, just staring and thinking for a moment before gasping. "Dahling, I do know that look! That's the 'I really like this person but I'm not good enough for them' look!"
"Exactly, gurl! You know what that means?"
"Oh, I believe I do…" Karma and Vanessa suddenly posed fabulously together, each of them looking like they were currently modeling for some photoshoot while simultaniously taking a menacing stance like a pair of villains.
"Time for a Glow-Up!" They chanted in unison, finally getting Conroy's attention, though he just looked puzzled as he looked at them.
Confessional
"What are you thinkin for the routine, Karma? I already started checking out some fits that I think will have him dazzling the whole slew of racers." Vanessa had a tablet in her hands, and was drawing some different outfits over a picture of Conroy. "I think that green is a fitting color on him, but I'm almost certain he would look far better in a lilac or almost a magenta."
"Oh, right as always, dear Vanessa. As for the skin care routine, I noticed that he has some acne sprouting in his t-zone, but nothing else along the face. We'll start him on a good cleanser for mixed skin types and match it with an oil-free moisturizer." Karma also had a tablet in her hands, which she was building a basket of skin care products with. "I think it might do him well to grow just a hint of stubble and maintain it as well. That look would just be, mwah, mahvelous."
"I don't really know why, but Karma and Vanessa were…staring at me and standing in some strange pose. It's a lot like those weird movements that you do sometimes, Mika." Conroy looked down at Mika to see that she was currently balancing herself on her nose and one finger while wrapping her other arm around her waist and twisting her legs up. "...Yeah, exactly like that."
"All the blood is rushing to my head, which means I'll be able to focus and think harder on the task at hand! Right? Riiiight?" Mika wobbled a bit before toppling over onto Conroy's lap, causing him to glance at the camera with a faint blush.
Confessional End
"Oh, Elliott, darling? Would you mind cracking open two of those coconuts with your strong, workin' boy muscles? I would be very much appreciative if you could do that for me." Lady Belle blew a playful kiss to Elliott, who immediately flushed with red and nodded in silence, rampaging towards the pile of coconuts and getting right to rummaging around.
"Hm…let's see…these two should be fine." Elliott pulled up the two bulkiest looking coconuts that he could find, squeezing his hands down on them hard enough to crush them up and reveal two travel tips. He grinned at his own work, soon flashing that same grin to his ginormous mistress, who seductively waved to him. "Heheh, I'm so enjoying this race, now."
"Seems like you done went and got your hands full with a bit more than you can handle," Jacque snarkily commented as he went ahead with trying to smash open one of the coconuts. Elliott looked over to him out of curiosity, "What? Why're you looking at me like that?"
"What do you mean I've got my hands full? Seems to me you're just jealous that I've got that hot lady hounding after me." Elliott smirked and flexed a bit to impress Lady Belle, getting a bit of a chuckle sent his way from Jacque. "You're just laughing because of the jealousy."
"Listen up, fella…I ain't ever been less jealous of someone in my entire life, I can say that with more than enough certainty. From your end, you see this attractive woman that's gone head over heels for you, but that's just cause you don't know a lick 'bout her type." Jacque took a look over at the bachelorette, who, luckily, wasn't looking his way. "She ain't just want you for romance, there's somethin' else she ain't tellin' you about."
"Again, all I'm hearing is jealousy. Don't know what you've got to be jealous about anyways, isn't Angel your girlfriend?" Jacque rolled his eyes at Elliott's question, now finally managing to crack his coconut open.
"Angel and I definitely ain't an item, I can tell you that with more than enough confidence. Heck, only reason we're here together is because we know our strengths balance out the other's weaknesses. That's beside the point!" Jacque shook his head and got off of the random tangent, looking back to Elliott with all seriousness in his eyes. "I'm warnin' ya now before it's too late…stop eating that pasta. If ya have any common sense, you'll listen to me."
"Yeah, whatever you say, dude." Elliott rolled his eyes, leaving Jacque to sigh and walk back over to Angel, who was waiting nearby.
Confessional
"Man, I knew that someone was gonna be jealous when they saw Lady Belle giving me all that attention, just never figured it would be Jacque. I mean, he's definitely lying. Him and Angel are totally dating!" Elliott scoffed and looked over to James, who was tearing up a bunch of pictures. "What, uh…what are you doing, dad?"
"Hm? Oh, Ursula has been showing me all these pictures of her at the beach, I believe trying to woo me over with her looks? Well, I'm not having it! I'm destroying every single picture! Maybe she'll get the picture soon enough." James finally finished destroying the pictures, throwing them to the ground and spitting on them.
"...Dad, I gotta be honest with you…I think you're insane for not falling for her. But whatever floats your boat, I guess." Elliott snickered, soon thinking to himself, "I mean, she's not as hot as my gal, that's for sure. Oho, how lucky I am!"
Confessional End
"What do you mean this costume isn't good enough? Are you blind!?" Logan stomped her feet as the Brazilian local disapproved of her costume, which she had shoddily put together with plenty of the peacock feathers falling out of the crown and landing on her feet. "Ugh! I should get that racist, Virgil, over here! He'll make you regret telling me no!" She stormed off angrily while the local glared at her, leaving Evan to just stand there awkwardly.
"Um…sorry about my cousin. S-she gets a little aggressive when she's talking to women that are taller than her." Evan rubbed the back of his neck while the local just kept on glaring, making things even more awkward. "A-alright, I'm gonna go back with her then…we'll be back." He ran after his cousin, who was already getting started on her next costume, getting angrier and angrier. This got him thinking, "This is like back on the beach…what if I just got her to be even angrier? No, no…why would I use her like that? She would never use me like that! …Wait…"
"Evan, go punch that woman in the face! She deserves it for talking down to me like that! And don't even try to argue with me about it, or it's gonna be lights out for you!" Logan aimed a fist at Evan's stomach, punching him right in the gut and causing him to fall to his knees in pain. "Oh, quit being such a baby! It's not charming, whatsoever!"
"Ah…but…Logan…" Evan groaned weakly before looking at Logan to see that she was fuming as she looked at him. He thought for a moment before suddenly scowling a bit. "You know…after you stormed away, she didn't stop judging you. She was making all sorts of mocking gestures about your height…I think she even called you a shrimp in Spanish."
"S-shrimp!? Hrngh…" Logan balled up her fists as her blood started coursing through her veins at maximum speeds. Evan tried not to smile at his clever work, but he couldn't entirely hold it back. Luckily, she failed to notice this, as she was already turning back into that nonsensical hurricane that she had been before. She swallowed up a plethora of feathers and gems in her wake before finally stopping in place with a perfectly assembled costume. "That's what I think of her calling me a shrimp! That…son of a…biiiii…" Like the last time it had happened, Logan's expended energy got to her and knocked her right out. Evan caught her like he did on the beach, smiling at the costume.
Confessional
"Logan's smart, but I think I like it more when she's the brutish one…it's well past due that I've gotten myself sometime as the brains of the group." Evan smirked at the unconscious Logan before slinging her over his shoulder. "Should I feel bad for using her like this? Why would I? After all, I'm just doing what she would do."
Confessional End
"Well, what do you think?" Honey modeled her new costume in front of Mitsuki, only wearing the costume as she had taken off the rest of her clothes to put it on. "Should I go over to the lady now?"
"W-whatever, fine…" Mitsuki grumble and Honey beamed before running happily over to the local, leaving her to slowly trail after her. "Crap! Such a skimpy outfit like that…there's no way anyone in a five thousand…no, five million mile radius will bother looking my way! Grr, I should be the one modeling for the lady! It's me that everyone should be looking at, me! I deserve it!"
"I'm sensing some rather intense and kinda hot emotions coming off of your scalp, real Mitsuki." Mitsuki turned to see that Richard was facing her, a bright red handprint on his cheek. She stared at the mark, a little confused. "Oh, this? Yeah, guess the local wasn't too much of a fan of my compliments. I don't get it. All I said was I'd let her sit on my face any day of the week." The pervert shrugged and shook his head, "Anywho, I can tell there's something steamy brewing in that mental prison of yours. Nothing but steamy thoughts about your new babe of a partner."
"I-I would never think anything steamy about her…I don't even know how you came to that conclusion." Mitsuki grumbled and blushed as she looked past Richard to see Honey flaunting herself by the local. "Oh yeah, just show off your gorgeous body, enjoy the attention! Fuckin' bimbo…"
"You're doing it again," Richard grinned right at Mitsuki, his eyes seeming to pierce her soul with how intently they were staring at her. "That's right, I'm in your head! Perv to perv, I gotta say, I'm a bit impressed. So many repressed thoughts just hanging out in here…I could spend ages looking around."
"G-get out of my head!" Mitsuki suddenly screamed and ran off towards Honey, leaving Richard to snicker. Phoebe glanced over at what had just happened, smiling a little bit.
Confessional
"Thank goodness, someone here that I can relate to…" Phoebe knocked against her own skull, "Get out of my head, please." She shuddered a bit and slapped her hat on, turning back into Libby. "Nah, too cozy up there. Got me a whole sofa and flat screen set up, too. I'd offer to let ya chill with me if you weren't so damn pathetic."
Confessional End
"Oh, yay!" Honey cheered and clapped her hands as the local woman gave her a travel tip, which she gladly handed to Mitsuki, who was just now getting back to her. "Here! You can read it!"
"F-fine…" Mitsuki sighed and grabbed the tip from Honey, trying her best not to accidentally touch her. "Says that we j-just gotta go right to the chill zone from here. That's the end of the race, if you didn't know."
"That it is, Mitsuki!" Duke appeared back down on the beach, standing right at the chill zone that he had timed Xavier and Marty out at. "Our chill zone this time around is here at Copacabana beach! You may be thinking, 'But, Duke! The beach is across open water! How do we get there?' Well, simple question jabronis! All you need to do is get a hold on one of the tandem handgliders back up there on the cliff and sail across! That, or fall to the water below and swim across. Marty and Xavier still have an hour left on their penalty, leaving you all plenty of time to secure a spot in the clear!"
"Handgliding…never done that before…" Mitsuki looked a bit nervous, while Honey seemed to be incredibly thrilled by the opportunity. She took Mitsuki by the hand, against her will of course, and tugged her along with her to the edge of the cliff. "D-don't touch me! Hiss!"
"It's our turn now!" Evan ran back up to the local woman with Logan still in his arms. She was modeling their newly made costume, which was way better put together than the last one they had tried out. Eyeing the duo over for a moment, she eventually shrugged and gave them their tip. "Yes! Is this what it's like to reap the success of your own good ideas? I need to start using my brain more!"
"Beat it, weakbloods." Becky ran in and shoved Evan and Logan aside, showing off her dark, mysterious outfit that she and Olive had put together. "I get my tip now, right? I don't wanna have to make a whole nother costume for this."
"Becks, ya gotta be a little nicer to the random strangers! Like, if they ask you to get in their car for some candy, ya always take 'em up on an offer like that!" Olive smiled innocently while Becky rolled her eyes, and the two were awarded a tip from the local. One by one, more teams came too from the fashion bit, showing off their stuff. Karma and Vanessa had no problems acing this part of the race, with Karma modeling the spunky costume that they had made. Zeke modeled for Lyle and himself, and were almost instantly approved with their incredibly natural looking attire. While this all was going down at the top of the cliff, Marty and Xavier were still waiting at the beach, watching the timer.
"Thirty minutes left on our penalty…the seconds are starting to seem like minutes to me, man." Marty started grinding his teeth as he stared at the time, watching it slowly tick down. "What if it doesn't run out before the others get here?"
"I…I don't know. But they're starting to glide down here…look!" Xavier shakily raised his hand to point up at the cliff, revealing an onslaught of teams that were sailing down on their paragliders. Duke approached the two nervous boys and place his massive hands on their shoulders.
"Yup, if I were you two jabronis, I'd probably be getting ready to say my goodbyes at this point." The host laughed uproariously and left the two doomed boys to themselves once again.
Confessional
"In case we don't make it out of this leg…it was a good run." Marty shrugged his shoulders as he stared at the camera. "I could be more upset, but me and Xavi got to talk things out like adults…and I'd say that's a huge milestone for him. Proud of the guy."
"And I'm glad you didn't just sit back and let me keep cgoing on the way I was. I really needed that kick in the pants." Xavier smiled towards Marty and held up a gorgeous, fresh loaf of bread. "Baked this when the penalty started up…wanna try it?"
"Bro…I would love to."
Confessional End
"This is soooooooooooooooooooo much fuuuuuuuuuuuuun! I love this race, Mitsuki!" Mitsuki screeched loudly in fear while Honey cheered about how much she was loving her time on the race, and the soon landed perfectly on the chill zone, dropping their handglider off to the side.
"First day on the race and you already get first place…good job Honey! Oh, and Mitsuki, I guess." Duke shrugged, leaving Mitsuki to grumble as her and Honey walked away from the chill zone. "And it looks like we've got many more teams well on their way!" As he had mentioned, more teams started to land on the beach, passing right by Marty and Xavier without a second thought. "Vicious Pop Stars, second! Bloody Prom Queens, third! Glow-Up Gals, fourth! Awkward Neighbors, fifth! Conservationists, sixth! Reality Show Rivals, seventh!"
"Ugh…I'm still feeling all weak in the knees from when Andrew fell on top of us, Fredbear." Colin trembled as he and Freddy were the last team to make it to the cliff's edge, with Freddy carefully inspecting the handglider. "What, uh…what are you doing?"
"Oh, you know, I just have to make sure that this thing isn't going to do anything sketchy…like try to stuff us into an animatronic…or bite a child at a birthday party. All that basic stuff you'd check before using any mode of transport." Colin chuckled while Freddy finally ended up approving of the handglider. "Alright, I think we're all set to start gliding! On three! One…two…three!" The two gamers ran forward and jumped off the cliff, hovering in the air before staring at each other. "Hm…you noticing what I'm noticing?"
"That we didn't actually grab the handglider?" Colin gestured back to the handglider, which was still laying at the top of the cliff.
"Yup, that's exactly what I was gonna say. What a goofy situation we've ended up in. You know, this reminds me a lot of that one time from Five Nights at Freddy's: Foooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooour!" The two boys finally started to fall down to the water below, screaming all the way before making a massive splash pan out from where they landed.
"Let's keep it coming, folks!" Duke chanted, more teams running to the chill zone as he did. Marty and Xavier kept looking at their timer, which was now down to fifteen minutes. "We got the Dweebs in eighth! Sailor America Fans, ninth! Bachelorettes, tenth! 'Father and Son?,' eleventh! YouTuber and Editor, twelfth! Wilderness Girls, thirteenth!"
"Come on, we gotta swim faster! Just imagine we're trying to flee a mermaid animatronic or something!" Colin shouted to Freddy, whose eyes suddenly went wide. He grabbed his partner by the hoodie and started to paddle as fast as his arms could take him, causing Colin to blush slightly from the act of heroism. "T-this is nice."
"Psychic and Skeptic, fourteenth! Basketball Team, fifteenth! BFFFLs, sixteenth!" Duke got more eager as only two teams remained in the runnings, with the timer for the Friendly Duo now down to a minute and the Dynamic Gamers, led by Freddy's fear-filled adrenaline rush, barreled through the water. "Things are getting close here, with only one more spot before a team gets declared as last place! Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…"
"Come on, come on…" Xavier was practically biting his nails right off with how badly his teeth were chattering down on them.
"Five…four…three…"
"Almost there, almost there!" Marty turned to face the chill zone, ready to run at any second now.
"Two…one! Friendly Duo, your penalty is up!" With Duke's announcement, Marty and Xavier got ready to run, but they were entirely steamrolled by Freddy dragging Colin past them. With both of the knocked to the sand, it made it easy for the gamers to swoop into the chill zone, finally ending the rampage that Freddy was just on. "Dynamic Gamers, a real close call, but you guys made it in seventeenth place."
"Woohoo! Aw yeah! We did it! Nice job, Fredbear!" Colin went to congratulate his teammate, only to find that he was on the ground in the fetal position, sucking on his thumb. "Uh…Fredbear?"
Confessional
"M-mermaid animatronics aren't real, mermaid animatronics aren't real, mermaid animatronics aren't real…" Freddy continued to shake back and forth, cradling himself while Colin watched him.
"There, there, buddy…everything's gonna be okay." Colin attempted to pat Freddy on the back, but Freddy rushed in and wrapped his arms around him, shaking nervously. Colin blushed again, looking directly at the camera. "Today…is a good day."
Confessional End
"Well, Friendly Duo…I can't say I'm surprised of this outcome." Duke shook his head as he walked over to Marty and Xavier, both of which were just now getting up from the ground. "You guys went and skipped the whole leg of the race, but with that, comes plenty of penalties, as I said before. I'm sorry to say it guys, but…you're…NOT out of the race!"
"H-huh?" Xavier looked puzzled, and he turned to Marty for answers, though he didn't seem any more sure of it than he was. "We're not out? But…we came in last place…"
"You did come in last place, that's true…but I do reckon that we've already up and lost us two people during this leg. Well…'people.' Kotomi's currently stuck in intensive care…and I seem to recall a little conversation you two were having earlier." Duke smirked as he stared down at the boys, who were starting to put two and two together.
"So…you mean…" Marty looked back up at Duke, a faint smile on his face.
"That's right…Cheese, mouse dude, you're out of here!" Cheese peaked his head out of Xavier's pocket, squeaking proudly before hopping down to the sand.
"Man…a whole post-race scene to dedicate the elimination of Cheese. That little dude deserves it…truly a wonderful friend and teammate." Marty spoke as the clip of Cheese first showing himself in front of other teams back in Toronto was shown.
"Yeah…it still pains me, but it's definitely for the best. I know that my family will take really good care of him while we're still here." Xavier took his turn to say some words, while the next clip was displayed, that being Cheese almost suffering heat stroke back in Morocco.
"Squeak, squeak!" Chees happily walked along the beach towards the sunset, with Marty and Xavier saluting him as he did. "Squeak, that's all, folks!"
22nd: The Rivalry Twins - Maya and Jeremy
21st: The Dual Artists - Zerine and Sua
20th: The Cool Guys - Evander and Kurt
19th: The Mystical Opposites - Flora and Helena
N/A: The Mouse - Cheese