Well after a few accidents in China, it's probably safe to say that I now have a fear of parachuting in a windy city. HA! Just kidding... maybe. Though it's probably safe to say that you should watch out for giant yarn balls rolling your way. Those things aren't exactly as soft as you think they are.

Anyway, Sky and I were up first after Owen and Noah, "Fly to Oulu, Finland."

"Finland?" She asked.

"Yup." I confirmed. We ran to the the stop to get a taxi, but they were flying past us! Literally, it looked like the drivers wouldn't stop for anything, "Taxi! Hello?! Need a ride here! Aren't you guys gonna stop?! Come on! We need to go to the airport!"

Sky stomped onto the road and screamed, "HALT!" In that instant, the taxi stopped right in front of her, we got in, and she politely requested, "Airport, please." The driver took off to our location.

Wow, she went from aggressive to cool-headed just like that. My cousin is something alright.

Anyway, after a short flight, we arrived in Finland, rode another taxi, and approached the Don Box for our next challenge.

"YES! First ones here!" Sky cheered.

"Wait a sec." I stopped for a moment, "Owen and Noah were ahead of us. How'd they fall behind?"

She only shrugged in response and took the next tip from the Don Box, "It's an All-In: Finnish Spa Day. Teams have to sit in a dry sauna-"

I smiled at the thought of relaxing, "That sounds awesome!"

"-fully clothed at the highest heat for ten minutes."

I frowned at the challenge, "Okay, less awesome." Remember back in Morocco when I said I can handle the heat? Well, this is a steamed room we're talking about so it's going to be as hard as it is for everyone else.

"Each one has just enough room for two teams. Since there's an odd number, a third team can do the challenge too. After the sauna, collect a tip from the next Don Box by crossing the semi-frozen river." We both looked over at it and saw a baby seal sneeze to slide off the ice.

"Well, this could be as hard as it looks." I sighed then replaced it with a determined expression while pounding my fists together, "Let's do this!"

She put a hand in front of me, "Hold on! Let's wait for Owen, Noah, Emma, and Kitty first before we do this."

"Because...?" I remembered the important thing, "Oh, right our alliance."

She gave a smug smile, "And your girlfriend."

I shot back a death glare, "No."

(Dual Confessional: Outside Saunas)

Zane: See, what Sky's trying to do is get me and Kitty even closer. I don't why you're doing this. You should be focusing on the race instead of romance.

Sky: Hello? Do you need a reality check? Never have or been in love in your life, break bad habit, and become a good person. Besides, we have first place!

*Rockers Enter Sauna*

Zane: *Frowns* Second place.

Sky: Don't worry, they'll be here soon.

*Goths Race Into the same one as Rock and Spud*

Zane: *Slightly Angry Expression* Third place.

Sky: *Uneasy* We're still in the top placement like we've always been.

*Adversity Twins, Ice Dancers, Cadets, and Daters Pass By*

Zane: *Death glare* Seventh.

Sky: Where are they? *Reality TV Pros and Sisters Arrive* *Smiles* Oh, they you are! We were just wondering where you were.

Zane: *Shrugs* Not me. I was gonna bail. *Nervous* Of course, it would've been great if you got here sooner... *Sighs* Ah, nevermind.

"Anyway, the saunas can fit six of us inside and I figured we all should go try together since we're in alliance," My cousin explained. Ah, yes. Use the excuse of being in alliance to bring a double date to the party. Real professional.

"A sauna, huh? Sounds hot." Kitty was mostly mocking Emma.

Give it a few moments, it'll be hot.

(A/N: I'll count it off: 3, 2, 1...)

"SO HOT!" She complained as we were sitting in the sauna sweating bullets. See? "Has it been ten minutes yet?"

"Close." I groaned in exhaustion, sitting next to her while giving a weak smile, "Ten seconds." She only moaned then laid on my shoulder, "Hey, at least you have me." Instantly regretted saying that instead of 'us' because everyone was staring at me, "Er...I mean us. Have us!" I managed a nervous laugh.

After ten minutes, Kitty picked up from what it looks like a bucket of water and offered to splash it on me, "What would you like a cool off?"

I gave her a fearful look, "No, thanks! That-" She did it anyway and poured it all over me, "-was Owen's sweat." I pointed he sat in buckets full of his sweat.

"I-I am like a sweat volcano," Owen groaned.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed as if she did the biggest mistake of her life. Before I could even move a muscle she was already pulling me toward the river, "Don't worry, I'll fix this Zane!"

"No, no, NO!" I tried to stop her, "It's good! It's okay! You don't have to put me in the river! You can just-" She threw me into the water as Goths were standing, taking them down with me too. Needless to say, I was frozen solid when I resurfaced, "Put... me... down." And that's two mistakes she made in only ten seconds flat. Don't get me wrong. I can handle dry heat, but the cold? Not so much.

I could at least see her scratching her head and laughing sheepishly, "Whoops." Sky only sighed and facepalmed at the scene.

(Confessional: Outside Saunas)

Zane: *Head is free from the ice as Kitty tries to break the rest of his body out frantically* Well, that went about as poorly as it could've.

Kitty: I'm so sorry! I just acted in the heat of the moment!

Zane: *Manages a weak smile** Kitty, I said it was okay... uh... I lost count after 17.

"YEAH!" Owen jumped right into the river and became frozen like me. Note: I'm still trying to get thawed out by you know who. Emma and Noah had just arrived at the river.

"Whoa! That looks way too cold." Emma said.

"Come on, it's not that bad," Noah replied. Really? Just tell it to the two friends who are now getting freed from a new ice age. He jumped in anyway and was freezing, "S-s-see?"

After getting completely de-iced, I crossed to the other side very fast since I didn't want to get frozen again, and noticed the Goths' makeup and wigs completely messed up and removed.

"Uhh..." I could only let out as I saw their real appearances. Ennui had brown hair and looked preppy, while Crimson was had blue eyes with ginger hair. Under all that they seemed pretty normal.

"So, is everything o-" Sky stopped as she saw the same thing I did.

They looked strangely at us then to themselves and screamed. Both of them took out their mirrors and shrieked in terror again.

"My face!" Ennui yelped.

"Don't look at me!" Crimson wailed and tried to cover her face.

I only gave wide-eyes at the situation, climbed onto shore, and took the next travel tip, "Head to downtown Oulu and get ready to air out your rock on." A confused expression crossed my face, "What does that even mean?"

"No idea." Sky answered.

We arrived downtown just before the Reality TV Pros and were at an open stage where the audience appeared to be Goths that just looked like Crimson and Ennui before their makeup and wigs were ruined. Now I know how Don feels when he sees the Goths at every chill zone.

"Cool! I wonder who's playing?" Owen wondered, stepping out of his cab.

Noah took the tip from the Don Box and replied, "Uh, we are."

"It's a Botch-or-Watch." Mickey said.

"Teams must battle it out in Finland's national sport: Air Guitar," Emma read then scoffed, "Air Guitar? For real?"

I spoke up with unamused look, "You'd be surprised at some of things people do and call competitions."

"You sound like the voice of experience."

"Trust me... I am."

Aside from that, Sky continued, "Performances will be judged by the applause meter. Max out the applause meter and rock on by the chill zone. Get it too low and you'll have to go to the back to try it again."

"Whoever didn't pull the rickshaw in Beijing must perform here." Kitty finished.

I grew a confident smile, "Air Guitaring, huh? That's not a challenge, that's like guitar without a guitar..." I lost my grin at the last part.

Backstage, I was practicing my air guitar, looking crazy, with my cousin examining how I was.

Sky complimented, "Nice job... I think. How do you feel about doing this?"

"Like a idiot." I answered.

"Maybe if you just imagine yourself in your room playing Guitar Knight." She suggested.

"That's kinda hard to do when your friends and crush watching you." I referred to the Kitty, Emma, Owen, and Noah.

Noah was first to go on stage. He was doing great until he tripped over a wire on stage that cause speakers to unsettle. Owen ran to cover him, but I'm sure the speakers would've done less damage. By the time he got back here, all of the other teams were here.

It was my turn and just as I was about to start...

"YOU STINK!" Trash-hole audience members: they ruin everything.

I glared at the person who yelled, "I haven't even started yet you IDIOTIC MORON!" I jumped up in anger while doing air guitar making the crowd cheer. It turns out it was just enough to max out the applause meter, "Wow, I just got a break."

Sky and I walked over to the chill zone and met with Don, "Congratulations, Acrobats. You're today's winners!"

"I... wasn't even trying," I interjected.

"Don't care. You got first place. Relax and enjoy the rest of the show." He gestured for us to go to a bench.

"But I-"

"You won."

"Still-"

"Got to the chill zone."

"Are you sure-"

"First place."

"Okay-"

"You're the winners." He wasn't even paying attention this time and was on a Game Guy.

"Whatever you say." I shrugged.

"Too bad."

"I just said-"

"Relax now."

"You do realize-"

"Winners."

"I'm okay with this. I'm not even gonna argue."

"Placed first."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "You're... not listening to a word I'm saying aren't you?"

"Away. Go." He swatted a hand for us to leave him alone, making us both sigh.

Surprisingly, everyone else after me failed miserably on the first try (A/N: Air Guitaring: it's harder than it looks). Ennui was doing good until the same trash-hole that called me out yelled at him when his paper bag fell off, "GET OFF THE STAGE PREPPY!"

Don't worry. I stood up for him by giving the guy a big red tomato to the face. I guess no one wanted to copy my little tantrum and make themselves look like an idiot.

Sky returned an unamused look toward me, "Really?"

"What? I can't stand up for other people?" I shrugged.

As I went backstage, I saw Devin and Carrie giving Crimson compliments.

"Crimson? Wow, you're skin is so... flesh colored!" He said.

"I love your hair." She pointed to her.

"You're throwing a lot positive emotions my way, and I don't know what to do with that." Crimson replied in a frightened stance.

Sky placed a hand in her shoulder before I could say anything, "You can just accept who you really are and stay emo. You don't need all that makeup and wigs for what you really are inside," Crimson only blinked at her in response, making her sigh, "Or just go down to the Goth-style shops."

Ennui came by at the scene, "Thank you, but we can handle this ourselves." He faced his partner, "This is just what the world is for us now, Crimson. I think I know how to handle it."

(Dual Confessional)

Ennui: We're quitting. (A/N: WHAT?!)

After Mickey's stage freakout, I asked Sky, "Why didn't you let me comfort them?"

Sky gave me an unimpressed expression, "Because you would've said something sarcastic like 'I'd try this new emotion that normal people use called happiness.'."

I glared for a moment, "That's not-" I had wide-eyes and realized, "Actually, yes. That is what I would say."

"Uh-huh, I thought so." She walked away with attitude. Yeesh, I didn't even know Sky had it in her.

After a little bit, the Rockers had showed up and Spud showed them how it was done. After that, everyone else followed their example and got to to the chill zone. So they can follow their performance, but they won't do mine? I'm somewhat offended... but still. In other news, the Ice Dancers came in fifth again much to their dismay. But Owen and Noah were desperately trying to complete the challenge and the Goths were nowhere to be seen.

"How'd we go from first to last?" In response to Owen's question, Noah shot him a glare, "Oh, right."

"It's Emma isn't it?" I raised an eyebrow knowing the answer all too well. Bookworm only sighed in remark, "Just pretend no one's looking... oh wait, nevermind."

"Look on the bright side: the Goths aren't even here," Owen tried to put a positive spin on things. Noah gasped and pointed behind us. We turned back and saw the Goths' new look.

It scared the living daylights out of me.

"Step aside. We're here to rock." Ennui declared.

I stammered, "W-wow. I see you took Sky's suggestion on going to the Goth shop," I managed a weak smile and thumbs-up, "Very brave."

"Hey, there you guys are! You won't believe the super preppy couple that said they were you!" Owen exclaimed.

A light glare from me returned to him, "They were the super preppy couple."

Just one look from the audience on stage was enough to get the Goths a secure spot in the chill zone (Note that one of the guys in audience even fainted at the sight of them).

"That went well." Ennui said.

Don glared at them, "Oh, yeah. I'll be having nightmares about it."

The Goths walked over to the Ice Dancers and saw a trophy shaped coal in Josee's hand.

"Whoa. Is that a Hawaiian lava rock?" Crimson asked.

"What of it?" Jacques remarked.

"That's hardcore. Those things cast a shroud of darkness around all those who plunder them." Ennui explained.

"Can we have it?" His partner requested.

"Your good luck charm has been cursing us all this time?! Well done, Josee!" Could've been worse. You could've been on the volcano that nearly burned Alejandro to a crisp!

"Thanks. How do we break the curse?!" She asked them desperately.

"Just toss it anywhere in Hawaii." Ennui's answer made them Ice Dancers look at each other.

In a unexpected turn of events, Mickey gained confidence... then lost it when he got on stage and scratched himself. Jay tried to help but ended up in the same predicament as his brother. I don't know what to say on this one rather than...

"Now's your chance Noah. Go out there and rock on!" I pointed to the stage.

"But if Emma's watching, I can't." That's the first time I've ever heard him whine. I facepalmed and groaned.

"OH, COME ON!" Owen screamed in frustration, "Do you think Emma wants to date a quitter?"

"Maybe..."

"Dude, just go out there and do what Spud and I did." I gestured.

"Easy for you to say. You just got lucky when some guy screamed out at you before you even performed then became audience favorite." Cheesy, but I guess it is true.

"Okay. Owen, this is where you play good cop," I gave up trying to convince, "Or else I'm switching to bad cop and trust me... you do not want Bad Cop Zane in the house." I pounded my fists together.

"Racing with you the most fun EVER. There's no one in the world I'd rather eat eyeballs with. But if we get eliminated, it's over for us and for you and Emma. Is that really what you want?" Wow, that was very heartfelt. It makes me wanna cry.

After a moment of silence, Noah replied, "Gee, big guy. I don't know what to say."

I smiled, "How about, 'I'm glad Zane's not ripping me a new one.'? Just think about being Owen's hero rather than Emma's." Speaking of him, he cried at the last part and I comforted him.

And after a good lecture, Noah was able to complete the challenge and was able to get himself and Owen the second to last spot to the chill zone, beating the Adversity Twins who got eliminated.

After their quick confessional, I greeted Bookworm with a high-five, "Nice job, dude! Now Emma will ask you out for sure."

Noah scratched his head, "Yeah, about that... I'm off her for good.

"Well, that's gr-WHAAA?" I stopped and look out him crazy, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's think about this for a moment."

"I've already made up my mind, Zane. It's like I said: if she was into me, she would've said something by now. But that's just not the case," He left me in astonishment. So that's it?! He's just gonna give up on Emma?!

I stammered as he left, "I... wh... you...I just..." I turned to his partner, "Owen, do something about this. Bad Cop Zane wants to knock some sense into him!"

"Sorry, dude. But once Noah does something, he never looks back." He shrugged.

I groaned in frustration. By now, Emma's gotta like Noah. But once she finds out that he doesn't like her anymore, she and Kitty will quit the alliance. What do I do now?

(A/N: Wow, this is yet again the longest chapter in this story yet. And some kind of cliffhanger I might add.)