Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama. All rights to Fresh TV and Cartoon Network.

"Ah, yes. Toronto. The capital of North America. The only place where you can see the Albino Panther roam through the city with all the freedom in the world."

"You made that last bit up."

"I didn't. It's true, Pasty, look out the window." Gwen turned her head, and true to Duncan's word, a yacht sailed past the train the two were inhabiting, an albino panther raising its head in a proud manner, and giving a roar that shook the heavens. Once the shock wore off, Gwen gave a sigh.

"You're just doing everything you can to avoid the elephant in the room, aren't you?" This question seemed to confuse the Juvie. "That was a panther, not an elephant." Gwen facepalmed herself so hard she could've sworn she left a mark. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to talk about their relationship, especially since the two of them were no longer together. Duncan wasn't a mind-reader, but he could sense awkwardness, so he decided to change the subject.

"So, aside from us two, are there any other former Total Drama contestants in this thing?" Gwen thought for a few moments before answering. "Well, like I mentioned last week, there's Noah and Owen in a team, Geoff's entering with a friend of his named Brody, and so's Leonard."

"Who the heck is Leonard?" Gwen raised an eyebrow at this. "You didn't see Pahkitew Island?" "Pasty, I've been in prison for most of the year it was airing, how could I?" Duncan snarked, causing Gwen to give another eye-roll. "I heard some of the guards discussing it though, Leonard was the walking-talking Disney movie, right?"

Gwen had to giggle at Duncan's opinion of Ella, even though he was thinking of another contestant. "No, Leonard's a guy. He's the one who thought he was a wizard." Duncan laughed at this. "The contestants after us just kept getting weirder, didn't they?" Gwen let off another little giggle, thankful that things weren't as awkward as she thought they would be. "Yeah. They pretty much did. You're thinking of my cousin Ella."

Duncan almost spat out his drink at what Gwen had said. "Wait, you two are cousins, but you two are nothing alike!." Gwen couldn't help but smirk at the shocked look on Duncan's face. Once it had the shocked look dropped off Duncan, the two sat in awkward silence until Duncan decided to break it by saying what he thought was the dumbest thing that had ever gotten past his lips.

"Why did we break up?" Gwen snapped her head up so fast she almost broke a neck, and looked straight at Duncan, her pitch black eyes piercing into his soul.

"What do you mean 'why did we break up'? You should know perfectly well why that happened." Duncan stared at her with a blank expression plastered on his face, causing Gwen to roll her eyes and shoot another glare. "Does the name Courtney ring a bell?" Duncan's thoughts went haywire once he heard that name. The first woman he had ever dated, who he cheated on with Gwen. Both of them had regretted that so much, but it was clear it was too late to make things right.

"You couldn't keep your mind off of her the last few weeks we were dating! It was always 'Courtney this' or 'Courtney that' and 'Was Courtney watching?'. "Isn't one of the main reasons you two broke up the fact that she wanted to change everything about you because she thought you weren't good enough for her?" Gwen yelled, shocking Duncan, until he remembered All-Stars and how obsessed he was with his ex. "Well you would have acted the same if Trent had started dating someone else!" Duncan retorted. Gwen looked at Duncan, sadness radiating off her.

"No Duncan, I wouldn't. Because me and Trent got over it. But you? You still weren't over Courtney. And that hurt a lot. If you hadn't been so obsessed with her, then I never would have dumped you, you never would have blown up Chris' 'cottage', and then maybe the last year before I bailed you out wouldn't have been hell." Upon finishing the verbal tirade, Gwen turned her back to Duncan, clearly regretting her choice of partner. "You know, I thought we could be friends again, but I guess I was wrong."

Elsewhere…

The first shot we see at the start of the Ridonculous Race is the Union train station, a man standing over it. The man in question is somewhere in his forties, with a white t-shirt under an olive jacket with marine jeans, his chestnut brown hair combed with a spike. This man is Don, the host of Ridonculous Race. He glances at the crew and when the director gives his signal, starts his narration with open arms and a wide smile. His voice boomed with confidence.

"This is Toronto, the capital of North America, birthplace of funk, where the albino panther roams free. Beneath my manly size thirteen brogues, 18 teams are arriving at this historic train station, ready to embark on a race around the world."

"I'm your host Don, and this is ..." Don smiles at the camera, making a dramatic pause before ending the sentence.

"The Ridonculous Race!" As the Intro rolls, the crew helps Don down the emblematic building, and to the busy city streets below, where he continued his narration once the intro finishes. "Welcome to the Ridonculous Race, right now 18 teams from across the country are readying themselves to embark on a race to the death.", he stops for a moment once a deafening sound rings from his earpiece, and after a brief moment of silence, he continues his presentation like nothing ever happened "Not to the death?, Okay", Let's meet the teams that aren't racing to the death." He finishes with a cheeky wink to the camera.

"Gwen and Duncan: The Punks, who also happen to be exes."

In the interior of the train, the camera focused on the previously mentioned team, although thanks to their earlier argument, neither of them were in a friendly mood. Duncan was in his seat, arms crossed with a look that said 'I would do ANYTHING to be anywhere but here.', while Gwen looked out the window with an unamazed expression on her face, sighing as the train advanced forward.

Group Confessional: Punks

(Duncan lies slouched lazily on his stool, looking bored while Gwen has her back turned.)

Duncan: "Gwen and I first met on Total Drama, and we were close friends, eventually dating at one point. Until All-Stars, where our relationship ended…"

Gwen: *turns to Duncan* "Well duh. It was your own fault, remember? You just HAD to go and get obsessed with your first ex! I'm only here because my Total Drama contract somehow forced me to compete!"

Duncan: "Didn't you say you wanted to explore the world?"

Gwen: "Yeah, when I was four! How did you know about that?!"

Duncan: "Sierra told me pretty much immediately after we started dating, even though we were already travelling in World Tour."

Gwen: "Of course she did. Well, it doesn't matter! That ship has sailed now, and so has any chance of us rekindling our relationship!" *turns away from Duncan*

Duncan: *rolls his eyes* "I'm only here because Gwen had run out of options for partners, and the fact that I REALLY need the money."

While Don started introducing the other teams, Duncan and Gwen disembarked the train and landed at Union station, neither of them saying a word to each other as they made the walk to the starting line. Duncan had taken notes on some of the other arriving teams, starting with familiar faces. As Gwen had previously mentioned, Owen and Noah were competing, but they didn't seem to yet take notice of the two's arrival. Neither had Geoff, who was with his friend Brody. One competitor that had caught Duncan's eye was a black male of average height, dressed in wizard garbs, a small blonde woman in viking attire standing next to him. Curiously, Duncan leaned over to Gwen and asked 'What's with Gandalf The Green?" Gwen rolled her eyes for the umptenth time. "That's Leonard from Pahkitew Island we were discussing earlier." Duncan had to resist the urge to laugh at his get-up. "Five bucks says there the first team eliminated."

Duncan had noticed most of the other competitors were around his and Gwen's age, the only exceptions being Father and Son (Dwayne and Junior) and the Tennis Rivals (Gerry and Pete). "Why are those two dudes competing? I'm pretty sure a retirement home isn't one of the destinations. I mean, look at them, they look like they're in their 60s." Gwen sighed to herself, wondering why she chose him again. "Duncan!" "What? Too low of a number? 70s? 80s?"

"I brought you here to race, not to insult the other competitors." Gwen snapped. Duncan couldn't help but chuckle at Gwen's attempts at being angry, even if it wasn't the best time. "Don't think I can't do both. I am quite the multitasker." Gwen sighed and walked away, keeping an intrigued eye on two pale-skinned competitors walking by, one male and one female. "Tryna get lessons on how to be an actual goth, are ya?" Duncan taunted, ignoring the middle finger Gwen threw in his direction. Duncan let out another chuckle, only to feel something bump into him.

Duncan turned, ready to punch the daylight out of whoever nearly knocked him over. "HEY! WATCH WHERE YOUR-" Duncan's yelling ceased once he saw who it was. A familiar face to the juvie: A short plump woman in police gear, with long brunette hair held around in a ponytail. This was MacArthur, one of the Police Cadets, and she too was surprised to see Duncan. The two stared at each other awkwardly before Gwen, wondering what was taking her teammate so long, stood between them. "So, uh. Do you two know each other?" With the silence broken, MacArthur spoke up. "Yes. Far too well." which got an eye roll from Duncan. "Not another one of your exes, is it?" Gwen asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity. "How many exes do you think I have? But no, this is MacArthur. She's my aunt." Gwen quickly took note of MacArthur's attire. "Another cop in your family? How many people in your family are part of the police?" Gwen asked, half-jokingly.

"Pretty much everyone except me. I think she might be competing in a team as well." Duncan said, MacArthur nodding in response. Duncan leaned over to Gwen before whispering "Let's get out of here before she learns I've been in prison again." Gwen nodded in silent agreement.

After a quick walk, the two had arrived at the starting line, where Don was standing and finishing his introduction. "Welcome contestants! This is the starting line for your twenty-six part race around the world. Each part ends at a chill zone. Get there fast because the last team to stand on the 'Carpet of Completion' may be cut from the competition." This had caused fear to strike most of the contestants, except Duncan and Gwen, who just rolled their eyes as Don continued. "But the first team to reach our last chill zone will win one million dollars!" This had received cheers from the contestants, Duncan simply just nodding while Gwen only did a lazy fist pump as Don had continued speaking.

"Look over here," he gestured to a box that looked like him except square, a machine of about 1.1 metre, with a button on top of the head. "This is our Ridonculous tip box, also known as 'The Don Box'." "Don box, how original. Looks like he's not got Chris' sadism, but his ego instead." Gwen whispered to Duncan as she rolled her eyes, causing a little snicker. Don either did not hear those words, or chose to ignore them, as he just continued explaining "Press this button to get your tips that will lead you through the Ridonculous Race around the world."

After a few moments, Don finally spoke the words every team was waiting to hear. "Ready, teams?" Hearing this, the teams all took their usual positions. It was all a matter of time before they ran like a herd of wild animals.

"On your marks...get set...RACE!"

Within an instant, the teams ran to the first box in sight, but trampled over Don, who did nothing but plead for them not to touch the face or hair. "Is he gonna be okay?" Gwen asked amidst the confusion, only to notice Duncan was not in sight. Looking back, she saw Duncan rummaging into Don's pocket, opening up a wallet and pulling out a $20. "Finders keepers, losers weepers." Duncan yelled, smacking Don in the face with his own wallet and running off.

Despite the late start, the two got to the Don Box just after Geoff and Brody. Gwen pushed the button and grabbed the tip, holding it so both she and Duncan could read it.

"'Race on foot to the CN Tower'," she read aloud. "...and find the Don Box to get your next tip!" Duncan continued, before the two took off just as the other teams got to the Don Box next. The two took off again and managed to pass the Surfer Dudes, while still trailing behind the Ice Dancers and Father & Son.

"There's the tower!" The two heard Junior call out. "And here comes the competition!" Jacques ran past with his partner as they smiled at the cameras, confusing the Punks. Luck was on Gwen and Duncan's side, however, as Dwayne tripped over a trash can. He quickly recovered, but it landed on top of the Ice Dancers, allowing the Punks to dash past into second place.

The two had soon arrived at the entrance of the CN Tower, the Don Box proudly standing in front, or as close as an inanimate object can get to standing. The two quickly received their tip for the next leg, reading what it had to say. "It's an Either-Or." Duncan frowned in confusion, "What the heck's an Either-Or?" His question was quickly answered as Gwen read the rest of the tip: "We get to choose a challenge. Stairs or Scares. Either take 144 flights of stairs to the top or ride the elevator to get the scare of a lifetime at the skywalk."

After a moment of contemplation, Gwen decided "Let's do the scare. It'll be faster." Duncan disagreed, and he made it known. "Wouldn't stairs be easier? It involves less waiting." Gwen sighed, couldn't Duncan go one day without annoying her. "Don't even think about it, There's 147 floors. We shouldn't waste energy on the first challenge." "Are you saying that as a tactical decision, or do you just find running all the way up not very appealing?" Duncan's question remained unanswered as Gwen took off towards the elevator. "Scares it is then." Duncan shrugged before running off to catch up.

They arrived at the elevator where Father and Son had left for some reason, leaving the Punks perplexed before they entered. The two soon discovered why, as someone had pushed the buttons in the elevator. "What the… The elevator's broken!" Duncan complained, causing Gwen to roll her eyes again. "Don't be too impatient. if luck's on our side, this will be faster."

With a sigh, Duncan started waiting around for the elevator. During this process, numerous other teams had arrived, causing the Punks to lose their lead. While waiting for the elevator, the two stumbled across a familiar face.

"Noah! How are things going?" Gwen greeted him with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. "They're fine. My crippling addiction to embarrassing myself on international TV, combined with Owen, forced me to come here." Noah smirked, betraying the bored expression in his eyes. "Let me guess, you got too much self-esteem and decided to come out and lose a little?" Noah questioned, causing Gwen to scoff. "Nope. My contract to Total Drama somehow forced me here." This got a laugh out of the snarky bookworm. "Who's your partner then?" Noah asked, only to see a certain green mohawk behind Gwen. "Wow. Out of everyone, you chose Orange Is The New Black?" Noah asked, causing Gwen to giggle at the Bookworm's nickname for Duncan

"Let's just say all my other choices were busy." Gwen confirmed, not really wanting to discuss Duncan when he was only a few feet away from them. "Wait, so are you two back together?" Noah asked, raising his brow in curiosity. Gwen sighed. ""No, we are not back together. We're not even friends at the moment." With nothing left to say, the two former castmates wished each other good luck as Gwen returned to wait for the elevator with Duncan.

After what felt like years, the elevator returned, allowing the teams to enter, while enduring another awkward silence. Gwen kept a curious eye on the Goths, only for Duncan to try and make conversation.

"So..Have you been seeing anyone lately?" Duncan asked. "Yeah, great job, Duncan! Ask her about her love life. THAT's not gonna be awkward." Gwen raised an eyebrow at this. "Honestly? Not really. I've been busy with art classes, so I've not really had the time." Gwen muttered, hoping for the elevator ride to end as quickly as possible. She saw Duncan smirk, causing a shiver to crawl up Gwen's spine. "Dang it, Gwen, stop getting distracted! He's just using you again!"

After a few more awkward moments of silence, the elevator doors slid open, signalling that it had finally reached the skywalk. As the two ran forward, they noticed another one of the teams, Tom and Jen aka the Fashion Bloggers, standing in front of the travel tip giver. "Hold on, I need to make sure my helmet is disinfected before we do this." Duncan rolled his eyes as he and Gwen dashed to each grab a helmet before running to the outside of the skywalk.

"Well, at least they were nice enough to give us hel-", Duncan started speaking, but was cut off as he saw how high up they were, almost as if they were on the back of Godzilla, with the wind repeatedly slapping them in the face as he and Gwen stood frozen in shock. "Well, at least they have the safety rail." Duncan pointed out, motioning to the aforementioned rail holding on to the tower. It was then, almost as if it was summoned by Duncan's tempting fate, a small orange bird flew past and landed on the rail. Despite the bird being as light as a feather (hehe) it was too much for the rail, as it soon broke off the tower and fell to the streets below.

This event caused both of the Punks' eyes to widen. "You have to love how these TV programs warrant our security. "The helmets will definitely help when we fall and become pizza on the floor." Duncan and Gwen took turns shooting off sarcasm, before they resumed the task at hand and started advancing across the skywalk, the Best Friends, Tennis Rivals, and the Sisters having already passed them.

"Hey, Gwen? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Duncan asked, having to raise his voice so Gwen could hear him. ""What do you want, Duncan?" Gwen asked, annoyed at Duncan presumably attempting to distract her from the race. "What you said earlier, about any chance of us getting back together, did you mean it?" Duncan questioned. Gwen could have sworn she heard a tone of hurt in Duncan's voice.

"It is, Duncan. If you want love, go back to that cold-hearted C.I.T, since it's obvious that's all you care about." Gwen said, not looking back at Duncan as she held her hands in front of her face to protect them from the wind as she advanced across the skywalk. Duncan sighed. "Must she always bring up Courtney? I'm over her. She's with Scott now and I accept that!" Duncan scowled, getting more frustrated as he heard Courtney's name. "I don't want her back, she wants to change me into something I'm not. But you, you're everything to me."

"Yeah, because I'm supposed to believe th-AH!" It was at this moment that Gwen had lost her balance, and slipped over the edge, having been too distracted by her argument with Duncan to pay attention to her surroundings. Running solely on instinct, Duncan ran ahead and grabbed Gwen's hand, catching her before she could fall.

Group Confessional:

Duncan: "Of course I was gonna save her. What was I supposed to do, let her fall? I'm a delinquent, not a psychopath."

Gwen: "Would you have done the same if it was Courtney?"

Duncan (sighs): "Why must you always bring her up?"

A brief struggle later, Duncan had successfully lifted Gwen back up, but ended up pulling a little too hard as Gwen ended up landing right on top of him, causing the two to blush at being in closer proximity akin to their time as a couple. Choosing to ignore what had just happened, Duncan and Gwen rose to their feet, finished the sky walk and entered the observation deck, catching up to some of the other teams in the process and receiving their next tip, which Gwen took and read aloud. "Catch a flight with a zip, ride the line to your tip." "Wow. It rhymes. A lot of effort must have gone into this show." Duncan snarled as Gwen rolled her eyes.

The Punks quickly took off towards the zip-line. "I'll hold you and the bar, you take the travel tip." Duncan ordered, confidence dripping from his voice. "Such a gentleman. I warn you though, drop me, and I will haunt you and your family for ten generations." replied Gwen. While she was trying to hide it using sarcasm, the fear was obvious. The two took the zip-line down ahead of Best Friends, Gwen holding onto Duncan with one arm, as he held onto the bar with both hands as tight as he could, which thankfully wasn't for nothing as Gwen grabbed the tip.

The two eventually hit the ground, colliding with the mattresses, surprising both of them as they looked at Don. "What's with the surprised faces?" Don asked, confused. "We're just...surprised to hear from a sane host that cares for our safety!" Gwen answered, though she could have sworn she heard Duncan mutter "Then explain the safety rail." "Last reality show we were one, there would have been a man-eating shark at the bottom!" Gwen continued, referring to her and Duncan's stints on Total Drama. Don shrugged this off as Duncan's eyes scanned the next tip. "Book two seats on the next flight to Morocco. Not excited about it, are you Pasty?" Duncan mocked. "Wow, it's almost like Morocco has a lot of heat and sun, and I have ghostly pale skin!" Gwen sighed. "But don't mind me, let's go!" Gwen yelled that last part, the emotion clearly faked which caused Duncan to giggle before they boarded the first plane with the other five teams, ready to go to Morocco for the next part of the challenge.