(Little Bull on the Prairie)
Cody Fanatic: Glad to see you enjoyed the dynamics, especially since that's one of the parts of the story I enjoy doing the most. I also tried to balance out Noah and Emma's romance a bit more than in canon. I wouldn't say that he's going to experience a lot of newfound rage, but I did want to do something different than what they did in canon.
OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. The character dynamics are something I always enjoy doing, and I love showing Kitty being so fed up with the over the top romance between Noah and Emma. The Carrie and Devin plot is going well, and it helps that they have someone like Trent offering some wisdom from his own experience. The Ice Dancers getting another win was more or less a given, but you'll see what happens when Leshawna gets her hands on them soon enough. I wouldn't say that Noah is showing mounting range, but I do plan to show some of that in the next chapter. I won't say who's going next, so you'll just have to wait and see.
SuperSonicHeroes: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. The Ice Dancers coming in first was a given for the episode, but I figured that the Rockers would excel at the dance challenge too, and I thought it would be fun to show how formidable they can be if motivated properly. I personally didn't have a problem with the way Devin and Noah handled their heartbreaks in canon, but I did want to do something different. I also enjoy the character interactions as always, and I figured it only made sense that former Total Drama contestant would try and convince others to not sign up for the show, for their own sake. Even if Chris is in jail, anyone who's seen the show knows that he always has something up his sleeve. I figured that story about Leshawna and Comic Con would get a lot of laughs, because I know I laughed a lot when I thought of it.
Frosty Wolf: Glad to see you agree with my thoughts on the matter. I figured it was only right to give the Rockers a chance to get into the top three, given that I'm trying to do right by them as much as I can. Leshawna hasn't been known to hold back about expressing her opinion, and that was meant to show how it can come back to bite her. Plus I wanted to show how someone like her would react to anime, and how anime fans would react to her.
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"Last time on the Ridonculous Race, New Zealand took our ten remaining teams on one hell of a roller coaster ride of many highs and even more lows. At the tale end of all of it, Dwayne tried to impress his son with a tattoo, only to find out that it's for women only, which is unfortunate for him but hilarious for everyone else. The Rockers rocked their way into the top three when Josee pushed the wrong button. Shows what happens when you piss off the wrong people, or it would if they were actually competent. Noah and Emma on the other hand, they hit a pretty big roadblock when Emma put the brakes on their relationship. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty sure that hit close to home for a lot of us. Devin on the other hand, he tapped into the rage within and pulled the Best Friends up into the top three, which was quite the sight to behold. There's plenty more drama to come. Someone is bound to be sent home tonight, but the question remains, which team is that going to be? There's only one way to find out, and it's to tune into the newest exciting installment of… the Ridonculous Race!"
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One intro later…
"And here we are again." once the intro had come to an end, Don started off the new episode in front of the Chill Zone from the day before "As is to be expected by now, the Chill Zone from yesterday is the starting line. The first team to depart is the king and queen of ridonculous comebacks, not to mention being ridiculously creepy, the Ice Dancers."
"More like the king and queen of reclaiming the gold that we rightly deserve." Josee was the first one to step up to the plate, with Jacques right behind her "We're not just back on top, we're going to stay there. We're finally back to where I belong after having to endure 7 horrible legs of this god forsaken race. No we're not just back, we're blazing with golden flames, and now the competition is about to get burned!"
"...Yeah good to know, can you just take your tip already?"
"Right right, I'm going." so Josee pressed the button on the Don Box and quickly pulled out a travel tip "It says here that we have to go to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump."
"Wait what?" Jacques glanced over at the tip with a raised eyebrow "Is that supposed to be the name of a place or a threat of some kind?"
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"Truth be told it's actually a little bit of both. Buffalo happens to be located along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in our very own homeland, Alberta Canada. Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump was originally going to be referred to as Concussion Valley, but then it turned out that the name had already been taken by another place. Each team is going to have to book a flight that will take them to Lethbridge Alberta, and then in one of the provided trucks, drive to a certain dude ranch with a Don Box in order to receive their next travel tip."
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Meanwhile, with the other frontrunner teams…
"Rock and roll!" Rock and Spud were the next team to grab a tip from the Don Box "We're going to a dude ranch! This is gonna be awesome!"
"Alright, dude ranch for the win!" Spud started rocking out, making the devil hand sign with his tongue out, only to stop and glance over at Rock "What's a dude ranch again?"
"I'll tell you on the way." so Rock grabbed Spud by the arm and led him away.
"Alright, it's time for us to do this." Devin and Carrie went next as the former grabbed a tip, but then the former glanced over at the Rockers "Huh, you know I can't believe I never realized that before."
"Realized what?"
"You ever notice that Spud kind of looks like Eddie from Stranger Things?"
"Who now?"
"You know the guy from season 4 with the guitar and the bat things that-"
"Hey hey hold on, you know how I feel about spoilers!"
"Sorry homie. Anyway let's get going."
"Right." the two of them took off running, though as they did Carrie took the chance to glance over at the camera "I know he looks better after the whole thing with his breakup, but now we haven't really talked since we finished the race yesterday. He's been really distant from pretty much everyone all night, that whole thing about Stranger Things was the first thing I've heard him say in almost a full day and… I have to be honest, I'm not looking forward to this. I just want to have my Devin back."
What she didn't notice was that Bridgette was watching the Best Friends leave from afar, and her face fell as she let out a sigh "Great, my sister is dealing with boy trouble again and there isn't anything I can do for her. What else does today have in store?"
"Hey babe check this out!" Geoff came running up to her with a tip in hand "We're gonna be heading to a dude ranch, and I'm a dude! This is it for us!"
"Um, sweetie you realize that I'm not a dude right?"
"Yeah I know but you're you, and you're bound to make everything awesome."
"...You always know how to make someone smile don't you?"
"What can I say, it's a gift." Geoff gave a shrug "Now we gotta get going. This is gonna be the greatest day of our lives!" and so they took off running.
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"While the first six teams are getting off to a serious start, most of them having both highs and lows in terms of competitive spirit, team seven isn't being taken seriously by anyone, the reason for it being absolutely hilarious."
"Taxi, hey taxi, we need a taxi over here!" after several failed attempts, Dwayne finally managed to flag down a taxi "Can you take us to the airport please?" the only response he got was the cab driver laughing in his face and then driving off "Oh for crying out loud!"
"I know, this is totally ridiculous." Junior let out a groan "Seriously dad, that stupid thing on your chin is costing us the game!"
"Okay I get it, sure this tattoo might be meant for girls, but right now I'm stuck with it so I might as well wear it with the pride of a man. At least until we win the race and get the million, and then I can afford laser tattoo removal."
"Right. Just hold onto this until then." Junior handed their travel tip over to Dwayne and had him use it to cover his chin, and then he managed to flag down a taxi "Note to self, make you grow a beard when we get home." so they got in and took off for the airport.
It was around this time that Emma and Kitty made their way to the sidewalk "Taxi, hey we need a taxi over here!" once they flagged one down the former tried to get in, only to be stopped by the latter grabbing her by the arm "What are you doing, we're in the middle of a race."
"Don't you think we should wait for Noah and Owen to catch up?" asked Kitty "I mean we are in an alliance with them after all."
"What? Not a chance, if Noah and I are taking a break then that means that the same goes for the alliance."
"Oh come on, you can't actually be serious about this."
"Hey you yourself said that I had to try and give love a shot, and now you're saying that I have to put the race before anything else. You really have to make up your mind and stop acting so fickle about everything." and then the two of them got into their cab and took off towards the airport.
"Hey hold up!" this was when Owen came running up to the scene just in time for the cab to take off, with Noah trailing behind him "Aw man, they totally left us behind."
"Why wouldn't they?" Noah glanced over at Owen with a raised eyebrow "We're in the middle of a competition, if I had to leave them high and dry I would too."
"You sure? I mean we were in an alliance."
"There was a lot going on, apparently all of that can change in the blink of an eye. Let's just get a cab and get moving."
"Right. Hey Noah?"
"What?"
"It's okay to be upset about Emma. I know I was really bummed out about Izzy back when we broke up. I even sang a whole song about it. Ask Gwen, she can tell you."
"Yeah I know, I've seen it on a number of top ten lists I found on YouTube."
"Right. The point is, it's okay to be upset little buddy."
"I'm not upset, I'm doing just fine. Whatever I thought was there between me and Emma, it's pretty obvious that she thought differently, so frankly it worked out for the best. Now I can put my focus on winning the race and getting a million dollars."
"I know, it's just-"
"I said. I'm fine. Now drop it." Noah said this through clenched teeth as he walked off in order to hail a cab.
"...Oh boy."
"Hey man." this was when Trent came up next to Owen "Where's Noah?"
"He's off trying to get us a cab. What about Leshawna?"
"Pretty much the same thing. And probably scaring the crap out of the cab driver." Trent cringed at the thought "So everything okay with you guys?"
"Not really. I don't know if you heard, but…"
"Noah and Emma broke it off? Yeah, it was kind of hard not to overhear. How's he taking all of that?"
"That's kind of the problem. The thing about Noah is that he's never actually had a girlfriend before he met Emma, so he's definitely never been dumped before. Now he's just brooding and cynical again, but he snaps more than he used to."
"Oh boy, I was kind of afraid of that. Looks like he's kind of bottling up those emotions because he doesn't know how to deal with them. That's not really good for a guy. I kind of saw the same thing going on with the Best Friends after Devin and his girlfriend broke up."
"Any idea what I should do?"
"What he needs is to let out his emotions that he's bottling up, but in a healthy way."
"But how do I get him to do that? He's my little buddy, I want to help him with getting through this."
"I think the best help you can offer to him is just being there when he's ready. Aside from the race, you should give him some space and let him come to you. It's worked out pretty well in the past."
"Well… if you're sure…"
"Hey Owen, I got us a cab." Noah drew his attention "We've got a race to win, get moving already or I'm leaving you behind."
"Hang tight little buddy, Owen's coming!" and so Owen took off running towards Noah, and the two of them got in their cab and took off for the airport.
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"One by one, our ten remaining teams arrive at the airport, and as soon as they do it turns into a mad dash to get tickets headed for Alberta. However, it turns out that there aren't enough seats for everyone on the first flight, so a few of the teams are left as stragglers, specifically Father & Son, the Sisters, the Reality TV Pros and the Goths. As for the rest of them, they manage to get on the first flight, which is bound for Alberta, being ahead of the second batch of teams by a full 30 minutes."
"I don't know, I mean he doesn't look that bad." Emma glanced over to see Noah burying his face in a magazine, his expression unreadable "He at least looks a little better after yesterday, don't you think?"
"Uh sure, whatever you need to tell yourself." Kitty just cringed and looked away from her in a rather awkward manner "I'm sure you totally knew what you were doing."
"Hey it's not like I wanted to squash any chances I had with Noah, but I didn't have any other choice in the matter. You've seen for yourself time and again how love just turns me into this complete and total nightmare, and nightmares like that don't win races, don't win million dollar prizes, and don't pay for law school."
"Unless they're about being chased by something super terrifying, so then you have to take off running really fast. But yeah, you were a total nightmare. It's kind of your thing really." she was met with a glare from Emma "You know what, I'm gonna go ahead and run to the bathroom. I'll be back in a few minutes." so she made her way over to the bathroom in the middle of the isle, where she found Dwayne standing outside "I'm gonna go ahead and guess that the line starts behind you?"
"What can I say, time flies when you're having fun." Dwayne gave a shrug "And when you're in the middle of binging Total Drama Revenge of the Island, it makes you slurp down a few more drinks than you realize, and before you know it nature ends up calling."
"...Good to know. Good choice for binging by the way."
"Junior was the one that picked it out. I've gotta admit, the best thing about being part of this race is that he and I got to form a real connection."
"I know exactly how you feel, my sister has been so busy with college stuff that I've barely had the chance to see her in ages. Being part of this race made it feel like I have a big sister again, and frankly it feels pretty good."
"Yeah but my son even called me cool, you have no idea how much it means to a parent to hear their teenage kid say something like that."
"For the record, I said you were cool-ish." Junior made his way out of the bathroom "And that was before I found out that tattoo on his chin was meant for women."
"You still said it and you can't take it back, and I love that. It was really great. You know I have to be honest, even if we end up getting cut from the race today, I'm gonna end up going home a happy man."
"Hey watch it dad, you don't want to jinx us."
"Oh come on man, there's no such thing as a jinx."
"Even I know you're never supposed to say that." Kitty pointed out dryly.
"Come on, what are the odds that saying that just one time-"
"Attention ladies and gentlemen, a storm over Montana is going to delay our landing, so we ask you all to please be patient with us."
"Well… I bet it's gonna mess with the first flight too."
"We just received word folks, this is a freak storm and it's only going to affect our flight."
"...I'm one of those people that believes in coincidences."
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"Putting that aside, the first flight has landed in Alberta, bringing with it the Ice Dancers, the Rockers, the Best Friends, the Surfers, the Performers and Brains & Brawn. Now they're going to drive one of the provided pickup trucks all the way into the Wild West, where things are about to get pretty interesting."
"Okay, so the map says we have to keep going straight until-" Trent was cut short by the feeling of something crashing into the back of their truck "What the hell was that?!"
"I only need one guess, and it's about a crazy (bleep)!" Leshawna shot a pissed off glare into the rear view mirror and found the Ice Dancers ramming into the back of their truck, Josee being the one in the driver's seat "Great, that's just what we need."
"Suck on our dust you Broadway rejects!" Josee shot a certain finger gesture at the Performers as she and Jacques raced past them.
"Go ahead and try whatever you want, I'll grab hold of that skinny little snout of yours and shove it right up your-" Leshawna was cut off by the sensation of their truck hitting a rock and a tire going flat "(Insert massive stream of bleeps)! I don't suppose there's any chance that you know how to fix a tire?"
"No but looking back, one of those skills that it probably wouldn't hurt to have. Now what do we do?"
"Well I got one idea, but there's a pretty fair chance you're not gonna like it."
"How bad could it be if- Oh no."
"Oh yeah, karma's a (bleep) and she's back in heat!" Leshawna slammed her foot down on the gas and promptly rammed their truck into the back of the Ice Dancers, sending both teams crashing into a ditch on the side of the road.
"Okay that's kind of weird." it wasn't long after this that Bridgette and Geoff went by in their own truck "No sign of the Ice Dancers, or Trent and Leshawna."
"Hey the way I see it babe, we've got two possibilities." Geoff gave a shrug "Either aliens got a hold of them or… No you know what, I'm gonna stick with the aliens."
"...Somehow, I don't think that's it sweetie." Bridgette just idly patted Geoff on the arm, and the two of them continued on their way.
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"By this point, the second flight has finally landed in Alberta, a full hour after the first flight had landed, which they can contribute to that freak storm. Now the four teams lagging behind the rest are going to be battling it out with each other in the race to not come in last. One can only guess as to how much panic they have on their faces right now. Or other emotions, at least that's the case with one of them."
"So… you gonna be okay little buddy?" Owen glanced over to where Noah sat behind the wheel of their truck "I mean are you gonna be okay to drive?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Noah didn't bother looking at him.
"I mean… maybe you wouldn't feel like driving right now."
"It's not like I can trust you to drive us there in one piece. You only have a learner's permit after all."
"I can drive with that, I just need a fully licensed passenger with me at all times. You count for that, you are breathing."
"I wouldn't be if you were driving us."
"Right." Owen looked away awkwardly, but then after a moment he gave a nervous glance back over at Noah "So… you wanna talk about anything?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Uh… okay. If you're sure."
"I said I am."
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Meanwhile, with the frontrunners…
"Hey babe check it out, we're one of the first teams here!" Geoff and Bridgette reached the dude ranch and rushed over to the Don Box at the same time the Rockers did "We're totally gonna rock this one, and we've got the aliens to thank for it."
"Wait, there are aliens?" Rock glanced over at Spud, then at Geoff, and then the two of them promptly shared a high five "Right on dude, that's totally awesome! We're gonna meet aliens and we're in first place!"
"I know right, and it's all when we're at a dude ranch! This is one of the greatest days of my entire life!"
"...Yep, never change sweetie." Bridgette gave a small sigh as she made her way over to the Don Box to grab a tip, only to stop and spare a quick glance over at Spud "Huh. You know Devin was right, he does look a lot like Eddie from Stanger Things."
"Huh? Oh you mean the rocker dude?" Spud gave a dull glance over towards her "From season 4 right
"Yeah, you've seen it?"
"Oh yeah, but mostly because the guy who plays him is my older brother."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he's a big time actor, but I like to rock out and stuff with Rock. I guess show biz is kind of in the family."
"Huh. I guess you do learn something new every day." Bridgette gave a shrug, then pulled a tip out of the Don Box "Okay, so the challenge is another All In. Tip your hat, split your jeans and eat like a cowboy by all means. I'm not really sure what that means actually."
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"For this All In challenge, each team will have to work together to get down an entire pot filled to the absolute brim with pork and beans. Once they finish the entire pot, they'll find the next travel tip stuck to the bottom of it, containing their next set of instructions."
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And now for the frontrunners…
"Holy crap man, getting a crap ton of pork and beans to scarf down for free? This place is totally awesome!" Rock gave the devil horns hand sign in glee.
"Wait, we get all this for free." Spud blinked, then gave a grin "This is totally wicked!"
"You know it dude, now let's do this!" and so the two of them started digging in.
"Yeah I can scarf most stuff down without too much of a problem, and with the two of us working together this is gonna be a total piece of cake." Geoff was about to dig into his own pot of pork and beans, only to stop when he noticed Bridgette looking green and sickly "You okay babe?"
"Not really, no…" Bridgette glanced into the pot as she felt her cheeks bulge "I don't think I can do this."
"Hey come on babe, you've got an iron stomach yourself."
"No I mean, it's PORK and beans. I can't eat meat, remember?"
"...Oh. Right. I forgot about that. Aw crapbaskets." Geoff cringed at the thought and looked over at the camera "Yeah, this is gonna take us a little while."
It was at this moment that Cameron and Lightning made their way into the building and took a look around "I believe the tip mentioned their to be an eating challenge involved."
"Yep, a whole thing of pork and beans. You gonna be okay for that?" asked Lightning.
"Despite my rather fragile constitution, such a thing is of little concern to me. Besides, given that this is an All In, I'm sure that both of us have to take part or we'll receive a penalty. Now let's get to work."
"You got it, Brains & Brawn taking the race by storm!" so Lightning dragged Cameron over to a table with a full pot on it, to which he grabbed a spoon and handed one to Cameron "Let's show them what we're made of."
"I agree. To teamwork and to victory." and so the two of them started scarfing down as much of the contents of the pot as they could.
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Meanwhile, with the other teams…
"Okay, so far so good with getting there… Other teams are pulling ahead, but I ain't giving up now…" Geoff looked up from the pot and saw Brains & Brawn and the Rockers scarfing down their own pots with surprising levels of speed "Looks like I'm gonna have to pick up the pace a little bit."
"Yeah, hold that thought…" Bridgette looked down at the pot as she picked up a spoon, only for her cheeks to bulge and make her recoil.
"You don't have to do this babe, I ain't gonna force you. I can do this on my own."
"But if you do it on your own then we're gonna get a penalty." Bridgette paused and looked over as the Goths showed up and got their own pot "This is bad, more teams are showing up. I gotta do something, but…"
All the while, Ennui was glancing over at Bridgette and watching her wrestle with her dilemma, with Loki being perched on her shoulder "The struggle to achieve victory while maintaining the principles you hold dear. It's a bitter pill to swallow, and not in a good way." then he looked over to see Crimson looking rather downcast "You okay?"
"Yeah, it's just…" Crimson let out a sigh "This place reminds me a lot of the farmhouse where my grandmother lives. You know I spend a lot of summers there. The only reason I'm not there this summer is because we're doing this race."
"We can always go and see her once we're done with the race."
"That would be nice."
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Meanwhile, outside the restaurant…
"Okay, looks like we're the fourth team here." Devin and Carrie got out of their truck and took a look around the outside of the ranch "It could be a lot worse, but we don't want to fall behind any further right?"
"Right, so we'd better get moving homie." Carrie gave him a bright smile as she went over to the Don Box, though as she did she glanced over at the camera "He's doing a lot better than he was before. He's even smiling now. That's a good sign right?"
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Meanwhile, with one of the frontrunner teams…
"Come on, come on, gotta do it faster…" Geoff continued stuffing his face with the contents of the pot, only to stop after a moment to catch his breath "Hoo boy… a lot of beans I gotta get down…"
"Geoff stop, you're gonna make yourself sick at this rate." Bridgette told him.
"We got a challenge to finish babe, I can't just give up now."
"But this is an All In challenge, if you do it on your own then we're gonna get a penalty! I can't let that happen, or let you make yourself sick!"
"You don't eat meat Bridge, I'm not gonna let you give that up just for a race."
"But I… I have to do something." Bridgette picked up a spoon and looked down into the pot, her face turning green in the proces "I… I have to, but…"
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Meanwhile, in another part of the restaurant…
"Hey son, take a look at this!" by this point, Dwayne and Junior had made their way into the restaurant and were waiting for a pot of pork and beans "We've already gone from seventh place to fifth place, things have to be looking up for us now."
"There you go boys." this was when a waitress brought over a pot for the two of them, only to stop and look at Dwayne "Say isn't that tattoo supposed to be for women?"
"...Okay you know what, that does it. A man can only take so much of this abuse outside of a sitcom, and this isn't How I Met Your Mother or the Big Bang Theory! I need to get my hands on a marker and a mirror!"
"Forget about that for dad, we've gotta hurry up and eat." Junior told him.
"Hey take it easy kiddo, this pot is the kind of big that you only see in cartoons. I doubt anyone else is gonna be able to finish this for a good long time-" he was cut off by a loud belch, courtesy of Spud as he and Rock finished downing their pot "Woah man-"
"-now those dudes can eat." note how the two of them said this at the same time, which is what led to what happened next.
"Jinx, that's one for me."
"Oh for the love of god dad, enough with the jinxing already!"
"I've been telling you son, there's no such thing as a jinx." and then he accidentally slapped a spoon in the pot, causing beans to splatter all over his face.
"...I'm gonna go ahead and let you have those beans."
"Aw man, they get to eat it off their faces? They're totally lucky." Spud let out a groan, and then he glanced over at Rock "You think we could get another pot?"
"Forget about that dude, we got a challenge to do." Rock pulled out the travel tip from within the pot and read it out loud "It's a random Botch or Watch. Whichever member of each team isn't holding the tip is gonna have to ride a mechanical bull."
"They've got a mechanical bull? I love this place!"
"Totally man, I am so jealous right now!"
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"To be more specific, this place is famous for having the Bull Buster 3000, the most dangerous mechanical bull on the face of the planet. Each team member taking part in this Botch or Watch will have to stay on the back of this mechanical devil, horns included, for a total of 8 seconds before they're allowed to move on. Once they do complete the challenge, it becomes a foot race out through the back of the restaraunt and down the cliffside path, all the way until they reach the Chill Zone. As is to be expected by this point, the last team to arrive may be cut from the race entirely."
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Now to see how the frontrunner team handles it…
"Sweet, this is gonna rock." Spud promptly mounted himself on the back of the mechanical bull and gripped the horns… only to be flung off almost immediately, sending him crashing into a wall in front of him "Ow… was that 8 seconds?
"Dude, it wasn't even one second." Rock was met with a groan of pain that left him cringing visibly.
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Meanwhile, outside the restaurant…
"Okay it's official, that's the last time I'm letting you get behind the wheel of anything!" it was around this time that Trent and Leshawna were rushing on foot to the Don Box outside of the restaurant, with the Ice Dancers hot on their heels, and the former pulled out a tip "It's an All In, and you'd better be ready because this is gonna be a tough one."
"How tough are we talking exactly?" Leshawna shot him a raised eyebrow.
"It's an eating challenge, and it's gonna be a big one."
"Hey as long as it ain't live crickets or something, I can handle it. I've downed cups full of cockroaches, remember?"
"I've spent the last two years trying to block that out- Oh god, I'm getting flashbacks." and on that note, the two of them made their way inside, with the Ice Dancers following right behind them.
It was only after they left that Emma and Kitty showed up in their own truck "Yes we made it, safe and sound. So do you see any sign of Noah? And Owen too I mean. Yeah I totally meant to say him too the whole time."
"Yeah, sure you did." Kitty shot her a look of clear skepticism.
"So is there any sign of them?"
It was at this moment that Noah and Owen pulled up onto the scene in their truck, and the former locked eyes with Emma for a brief moment, but then he quickly looked away as he went over to the Don Box and pulled out a tip "It's an All In, let's go in there and get this over with."
"Y-Yeah, whatever you say little buddy." Owen just followed after him without another word on the subject.
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Meanwhile, inside the restaurant…
"Alright, what are we dealing with here?" Leshawna and Trent made their way inside the restaurant, only to pause as they took a look around "Okay, eating challenge and an idiot on a mechanical bull. Meh, I've done worse."
"You're seriously okay with riding that thing?" Trent shot her a raised eyebrow.
"I've ridden the real deal before and taken it down no problem, how hard could a metal ripoff of it be?"
"When was this again?"
"Total Drama Island, the extreme sports challenge, remember?"
"Not really. The only thing I really got from that is falling out of a plane and ending up in a full body cast. That and I was having a really good hair day."
"...Yeah, that's the takeaway from all the (bleep) we did back then."
"You've got yours and I've got mine." so the two of them made their way to a table, where one of the waitresses brought them a pot full of pork and beans "Pork and beans huh. Okay, we've dealt with way worse right. Actually I have, I don't know about you."
"Well on the one hand, I have made it pretty clear before that I've got a weak stomach."
"Yeah I know, I still remember you puking so hard you flooded the confessional."
"And you flooded the mess hall when you puked, so we're even. But on the other hand, after you deal with the kind of stuff they give you on Total Drama, normal stuff that people find gross seems pretty tame in comparison."
"Plus this is an All In, so we've both gotta do it."
"Should we just go ahead and get started?"
"Works for me, start stuffing your face white boy!" and on that note, the two of them got to work on their pot.
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"By this point, all of the teams have arrived at the dude ranch and have either finished, are currently working on, or are about to start the eating challenge. The race to come in first is on, and I think it's safe to say that things are about to get messy."
"Move it, I'm not coming behind those Broadway rejects again!" Josee and Jacques bolted into a restaurant and were quickly present with a pot full of pork and beans, which promptly caused them to recoil "Oh dear god…"
"Well, there are worse things that we could be forced to choke down." Jacques pointed out, his tone rather feeble.
"Like a silver medal, a fair point I have to admit. Alright fine, let's just get this part of the damn challenge over with before-" she was cut off by Spud flying overhead and crashing into the bar behind them.
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Meanwhile, with the bromance…
"Okay, that's not really anything too bad right?" Emma broke off from stuffing her face full of pork and beans and looked over to see Noah downing his own portion of the pot "I mean it might just be a super crazy coincidence that he's closing himself off and stuff the moment I broke up with him, and he's been like that ever since."
"I don't know, maybe…" Kitty just went on downing her portion of the pot.
"Would it kill you to just agree with me for once?"
"Oh for the love of (bleep)!"
Noah on the other hand, he just looked over at the Sisters, Emma in particular, and then he just looked away as he continued downing his portion of the pot "How much is left in there?"
"The thing's almost empty, keep going little buddy!" Owen continued practically inhaling the contents of the pot, only to stop when he noticed Noah trying down the contents of the pot with surprising resilience "You know little buddy, you don't have to keep forcing it."
"It's an All In, that means we both have to do this. As easy as it would be to let you inhale it so we can move on with our lives, that would mean we'd get another penalty, and I'm not getting another one after Paris. And yes, the irony of that isn't lost on me."
"No it's not that, and trust me I'd love to eat the whole thing on my own. I love eating, it's what I was born for." Owen cast a nervous glance over at Noah "I mean you don't have to… pretend not to be upset about Emma."
"...Oh. That's what you meant."
"Yeah. Trust me little buddy I get it, I went through the same thing when Izzy and I broke it off back in Jamaica. It's okay to be sad about it."
"Uh huh." Noah let out a small groan "Look big guy, I appreciate the sentiment and all, but she made it pretty clear what her choice was. Yeah it hurt like hell, kind of hard to deny that, but it's pretty obvious that the money is the most important thing to her."
"What if she and Kitty don't win? Then that whole thing would be for nothing."
"Oh. Well that would suck I guess. Anyway let's get back to finishing the pot, we've still gotta deal with a mechanical bull after this, and frankly I can't guarantee you won't flatten it when you sit on it, even though I kind of want to see that."
"Wait wait wait, hold up a second." Owen started at Noah intently "Emma is the first girl that you really got into, she breaks it off with you to win the race, and when you think that she might not all you can say is that it'd suck?"
"What exactly do you want me to say Owen?" Noah suddenly bolted to his feet "I finally let my guard down around someone other than you and Cody, I actually put my heart out there to someone that I actually care about, only for her to stomp on it like she's doing the (bleep) Mexican hat dance. Is that what you want to hear me say? Because that's pretty much exactly what happened. However much it meant to me, it's pretty obvious that she didn't feel the same way." once he finished his littel rant and let out a sigh as he sat back down "Now if you don't mind, we have a challenge to finish, and I don't want to get sent home today."
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"As the rest of our teams continue choking down pork and beans, our current leaders are trying not to choke, and they're failing spectacularly."
"Yeah, Spud could be doing a lot better with the bull." Rock glanced over at the camera and gave a grin "But nobody else has even tried the bull yet, so the two of us are still good to keep rocking like it's 1994!" and then Spud got flung into him, sending both of them hurtling into the wall behind them "Ow…"
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Meanwhile, with the lovebirds…
"Come on, you have to do something…" Bridgette looked down into the pot and forced her cheeks to stop bulging "I know it's meat and you don't eat animals, animals are your friends, but you love Geoff, he's your partner, you have to do something… Just take a breath, and do what you have to do… Don't let him know you're afraid…"
"You know I can still hear everything you're saying right?" Geoff looked up at her "You don't have to do this babe, I can do it on my own no problem."
"If I don't eat then we'll get a penalty, and we'll get cut from the race."
"Babe the race is one thing, I'm not gonna ask you to give up on what you believe in just to win it."
"I know, but… I'm not."
"What do you mean?"
"I know I love animals and I made a promise not to eat meat because of it. But I also want to stand by you. How can I call myself your girlfriend or your partner if I let you get sick because I'm too afraid to do this?" so Bridgette took a breath, and then she started slowly downing a series of spoonfuls of pork and beans.
"Bridge…"
"I'm doing this for us." she paused in between bites and looked up at him "Though I can't guarantee it's gonna stay down when we're done."
"Yeah, that's fair. You know I'm kind of surprised it's just the Rocker bros that are doing the bull right now, I figured Owen was gonna scarf that whole thing down no problem and-"
"Oh man, the beans are shifting!" and then Owen suddenly let out a massive fart that shattered the windows, made the paint on the walls peel, and caused Loki to fall off of Ennui's shoulder and pass out.
"...Do that. You know, I figured something was missing. Kind of nostalgic when you think about it, you know what I mean babe? Babe?" Geoff looked over to see Bridgette puking violently out a nearby window "Yeah okay, that's fair."
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Meanwhile, with some of the less volatile teams…
"Okay, I think we're finally done." Devin let out a sigh as he lifted his head from the pot "Yeah I'm not gonna lie, that was a lot of beans… So where's the tip?"
"Hang on, I've got it right here." Carrie reached in and pulled the tip out of the pot "It's a Botch or Watch, since I'm holding the tip you have to do it."
"Got it, what do I have to do?"
"It says you have to last for 8 seconds on the mechanical bull." the two of them looked over to see Spud getting flung off the bull and through the roof of the restaurant.
"...Yeah good to know. Call it a hunch, but I get the feeling that I'm gonna end up taking a page out of your sister's book."
"Meaning?"
"I'm gonna puke out a window."
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Meanwhile, with the current frontrunners…
"Woah, that thing is all kinds of gnarly…" Spud let out a groan as he was pulled out of the wreckage of one of the many holes in the wall by Rock "Hits a lot like that one dude from Kiss with the tongue."
"Yeah that's awesome and all, but you're gonna have to pick up the pace dude." Rock pointed out "The other teams are starting to catch up."
"Hey take it easy man, if it's gonna happen then it's gonna happen." so Spud got back onto the bull… only to immediately be launched through the ceiling.
"...Yeah, this is gonna take us awhile." so Rock just went off to help Spud out of the hole for the umpteenth time.
"Alright, I guess it's my turn." Devin braced himself as he made his way onto the back of the bull… only to be thrown off after about three seconds "Ow…"
"Devin!" Carrie was quick to rush over to Devin's side and help him out of the wreckage "Are you okay homie?"
"Yeah, it's just my ribs… and my spleen… and I think some internal bleeding… But on the plus side, at least nobody else is gonna beat that bull so easily…"
"Step aside." this was when Crimson stepped up and mounted the back of the bull, and to the surprise of everyone, she didn't even budge throughout the entire 8 seconds, and when it was done she simply dismounted it "Done, now let's go."
"What the- When did- How did you do that?"
"It's really not that hard. Having to ride a mechanical bull is a lot easier than having to ride an actual bull." she was met with a series of confused looks from the others "I don't want to talk about it." and so she made her way out of the restaurant, with Ennui and Loki trailing behind her in silence.
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Meanwhile, with the eating challenge…
"Okay, I think that's all of it." Geoff breathed a sigh of relief as he finished downing the last of the beans, and he looked over to see Bridgette forcing down the last of her portion "You gonna be okay babe?"
"Yeah, I think I… Nope, definitely not…" Bridgette promptly leaned out the window to puke again, and after a moment she breathed a sigh of relief "Okay, I think I'm good."
"Just take it easy babe, I'll take care of things." Geoff reached into the pot and grabbed the travel tip, which he promptly read out loud "It's a Botch or Watch. Yes, we get to ride the mechanical bull!"
"Which one? A Botch or Watch means only one of us."
"Uh, let's see here… Okay, it says that whichever member of each team is holding the tip… The other one has to… ride the mechanical bull. Aw crapbaskets."
"Yeah, I know you wanted to ride that thing really badly." Bridgette let out a sigh as she pulled herself to her feet "But I guess I'm gonna have to live that dream out for both of us."
"Wait what?"
"You're the one holding the tip, so that means I'm gonna have to be the one to ride the bull. You almost made yourself sick so I wouldn't have to compromise my principles. Let me at least do this for our team."
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Meanwhile, with the second challenge…
"Oh man, this bites harder than that one time outside that Denny's." Spud hung his head as he was helped out of the wreckage by Rock once again "Seriously, I didn't go into that thinking I was gonna get my elbow stuck in a cow's-"
"Yeah we don't need to relive that again." Rock told him dryly, but then he suddenly gave a smirk "But I think you might be onto something there."
"I am?"
"You remember what happened that night don't you?"
"Yeah with my elbow and the cow."
"Not that, I had a hard enough time getting that out of my head to begin with. I mean when you got back up on stage after we got your arm free, you got back up on stage and started rocking out harder than you ever had before, and you remember why?"
"Cause I started rocking out to Bon Jovi."
"Yeah man, so if we bring back the fire you had back then, you can wreck this challenge without breaking a sweat!"
"But Bon Jovi isn't here, and we don't have any stuff to rock with."
"Rocking isn't about stuff, it's about what's in your soul."
"Woah… that's deep."
"Right? Anyway just get on and I'll do the rest." so Rock took a deep breath, and then he started with his plan "She says, we've got to hold on to what we've got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We've got each other and that's a lot for love. We'll give it a shot."
"Aw yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!" Spud gripped the handles on the mechanical bull, his eyes blazing with determination as the challenge started, the bull shaking him back and forth wildly, but failing to deter him.
"Woah, we're half way there. Woah, living on a prayer. Take my hand, we'll make it I swear. Woah, livin' on a prayer!"
"LIVING ON A PRAYER!" Spud finished the song on a high note as the time expired, and he dismounted the bull in triumph "Yeah I did it, let's do a victory riff!"
"Save it for when we finish dude, to the Chill Zone!" and so the two of them took off running as fast as they could out of the restaurant.
"Right on dude, nice work." Trent gave the Rockers a thumbs up as he and Leshawna made their way over to the mechanical bull to start the challenge "I got this one."
"You'd better, I ain't coming behind them again." Leshawna shot a glare over towards where the Ice Dancers were still scarfing down the contents of their pot.
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"As the Ice Dancers find themselves falling behind the Performers once again, not to mention the rest of the teams currently ahead of them, the Goths and the Rockers are currently in a race for first place."
"Come on come on, yes there it is!" Rock and Spud screeched to a halt once they finally reached the Carpet of Completion "Well?"
"Nicely done Rockers, it actually does please me mildly to tell you that you've arrived in first place." Don was met with a series of cheers from the Rockers "Yeah, people do love a decent underdog story. The ratings for this one are gonna be great."
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"The race for first place has officially come to an end, but there are still two races going on at the moment. One is to not come in last place, and the other one, probably the more important of the two, to not upchuck pork and beans all over yourself."
"Yes, I did it!" Bridgette got off the back of the bull and breathed a sight of relief, only to end up turning green as she took off running to a nearby window, where she proceeded to puke her guts out "Oh man…"
"Yeah I know…" Devin glanced over at him from his place at the window next to him "You too huh?"
"Yeah… lotta beans… and meat… Oh man, I don't think I'm gonna stop anytime soon…"
All the while, Dwayne and Junior just watched that scene unfolding, and the former glanced over at the latter "Okay, I think that's gotta be a sign. Hey go ahead and grab that tip out of the pot, would you son?"
"You sure about that?" asked Junior "I'm pretty sure that means you're gonna have to do the bull challenge."
"Yep I'm sure. I mean I'm pretty sure that I've made it clear by now that in no way, shape or form do I believe in jinxes."
"But?"
"But just to be safe, there's no chance I'm gonna let you get on that death trap of a mechanical bull. Plus at least I'll have a minute to digest before I go on, it's not like anyone else is gonna finish on that thing so fast."
"Sha-bam, now that's what I'm talking about!" Lightning dismounted the bull in triumph, then hoisted Cameron onto his shoulders and took off running out of the restaurant.
"...Yeah change of plans, I'm thinking I'm gonna want to get out there soon."
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Meanwhile, at the Chill Zone…
"And here comes the next team." Don was quick to greet the next team to arrive at the Chill Zone, which just so happened to be Brains & Brawn "Cameron and Lightning nicely done, the two of you are in second place."
"Yes!" Lightning hoisted Cameron back onto his shoulders and triumph "Now that's what I'm talking about, with the two of us together we're unstoppable! Third place can suck it! I mean, no offense guys." and so they made their way off the scene.
It was at this moment that Devin and Carrie made their way onto the Carpet of Completion "So I guess that means we're in third then? Alright, I guess that's okay."
"Hey don't worry about it homie, it's not the end of the world." Carrie gently patted him on the shoulder "Besides, maybe we'll end up winning the next one."
"Yeah guess you're right. Thanks." Devin gave her a small smile, then suddenly pulled her into a tight hug that caused her face to turn red "You know something, I don't think I could've asked for a better partner."
"Yes yes that's very touching, but I still have a race to conduct." Don was quick to cut into the moment and shoo the Best Friends away just as the Surfers showed up "And just like that, the two of you are in fourth place."
"Oh good, so it's over…" Bridgette breathed a long sigh of relief "That wasn't fun… for a lot of reasons actually…"
"Think of it this way, at least it's over right?" Geoff patted her on the shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile, earning one in return as well as a tight hug.
"I'm sorry I slowed us down so much in the eating challenge."
"Hey don't worry about it babe, we knew going into this it wasn't gonna be easy. But we said we were gonna do this together, and that's what we're gonna do. It's the sort of stuff that the good couples do right?" and so the two of them walked away from the scene.
"See stuff like this is how we get the family rating." Don then glanced over to see the Goths finally make their way onto the Carpet of Completion "Okay seriously, what the heck happened with the two of you? You guys were the first to finish the bull ride."
"Yeah, but then we found a skull rotting in the sun, so…" Crimson didn't get a chance to finish her explanation.
"No no no stop talking, forget I asked. Last time I'm making that mistake with you two. Anyway you're in fifth place, now go before I start thinking about it again." and so he sent them on their way.
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"Back at the restaurant, the Ice Dancers have finally finished their pot of pork and beans and prepare to line up to take on the mechanical demon known as Buster."
"Bring it on you hunk of scrap metal! I dealt with the real deal like a beast, what the (bleep) are you gonna do?!" Leshawna's grip on the bull only grew tighter, at least until the timer finally sounded and she got back on the ground "And that's how I roll, take notes people!" and so she and Trent took off running.
"Oh that is it!" Josee was left snarling like an animal in her rage, though was quickly distracted by the site of Kitty laughing gleefully on the bull, until the timer sounded.
"Yes, way to go!" Emma caught Kitty in a high five once she was back on the ground "I have to hand it to you Kitty, I'm seriously impressed with you right now."
"Well it's about freaking time!" Kitty pulled Emma in close and immediately caught a selfie with her "I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to hear you say that."
"Yeah well, it better be worth me seeing spots for the next hour. You know you're gonna have to drag me to the Chill Zone." and so the two of them prepared to take off running, until…
"Oh joy, yet another challenge that forces me into something I never wanted to do." Noah rolled his eyes as he mounted the bull, his voice alone causing Emma to stop in her tracks.
"Hey you got this little buddy, just try and stay loose up there." Owen told him.
"What the (bleep) does that even mean?"
"I don't know, I heard it in a cartoon once."
"Oh right, because our lives are exactly like cartoons."
"See he's cynical and sarcastic, that's a good sign right?" Emma glanced over at Kitty "That means he's being his usual self, because otherwise that would mean I've broken the most amazing peace of perfection that ever walked the Earth, but there's no way I actually did that right? That would make me feel terrible."
"Okay lack of muscle mass, don't fail me now." Noah braced himself… and was immediately sent flying off the bull and crashing into the bar "It failed me. Ow."
"This is the part where you're supposed to pretend that it's actually possible!"
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"The race for first place has long since come to an end, and now the race to avoid coming in last place has been narrowed down to the last three teams. Of course the question remains, which one will receive the title of failure of the day?"
"Watch and see how a professional does this." Jacquees braced himself as he mounted the back of the mechanical bull, only to end up screaming terror as the bull started rocking him back and forth wildly, and yet he didn't stop screaming even after the timer sounded.
"Are you done screaming like a Dragon Ball character yet?" Josee shot him a dry look, and then the two of them took off running for the Chill Zone.
"Oh joy, now I'm up again." Noah let out a pained groan as he pulled himself back to his feet and made his way over to the bull "Great, another opportunity for the world to kick me right in between the legs."
"Come on little buddy, this could be our last chance." Owen told him.
"You think I don't know that? Frankly I'm not even sure I care at this point."
"Oh come on!" this was when Owen finally put his foot down, his sharp tone taking Noah by surprise "If Emma didn't want to date a quitter before, what makes you think she'd want to do it now?"
"Uh…"
"Come on little buddy, doing this race with you has been the best time of my life. I can't think of anyone else I'd wanna go on a huge race around the world with. But I want the real version of my little buddy back, not the version of him that's so cynical and miserable and angry all the time."
"That was me to a T before I met Emma."
"Yeah but then you just being you because you liked it, now you're doing it because you're so sad and angry. I hate seeing you hurt like this."
"What am I supposed to do about it?"
"I don't know, but… Look take it from a guy that's been there, being upset about the girl all the time isn't gonna get anything done. I just… I want my friend back. The real one."
"Wow… I'm not really sure what to say to that."
"Remember what I said to you back in Finland? You gotta stop worrying about being a hero to some girl and just… be a hero to me, okay?"
"...Yeah. I remember." Noah took a deep breath, a newfound determination burning within his eyes "Alright Chubby Buddy, I won't let you down." so with his renewed resolve, he mounted the back of the mechanical bull and braced himself as the bull started shaking him back and forth like a maniac, until the timer sounded and everything stopped "Is it over?"
"Yes you did it, way to go little buddy!"
"Good, now you're probably gonna have to carry me. I can't feel my pelvis or anything below that."
"You got it little buddy!" and so Owen slung Noah over his shoulder like a ragdoll and took off running out of the restaurant.
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Meanwhile, at the Chill Zone…
"And here come some more teams." Don counted off the next two teams to arrive at the Chill Zone, those being the Performers and the Sisters "Trent and Leshawna are in sixth place, and that leaves seventh place to go to the Sisters. That leaves three teams still in the running for loser of the day, but it's still a bit too close to call for certain."
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Meanwhile, at the restaurant…
"I still don't get why people do this when they get hurt." Junior gave a shrug as he held up a steak to Dwayne's blackened eye "Anyway you're up on the bull again dad, you know because there isn't anyone else left."
"Oh great, who am I kidding?" Dwayne let out a sigh "You were right Junior, I was an idiot and I jinxed us both. There's no chance we can do this now."
"It's not hopeless for us dad, not yet at least. You can do this, if you pull through and beat the bull this time, and then the two of us run really fast, we just might have a chance to beat the Pros to the carpet, and then we've still got a shot at winning the race."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. Kind of. Okay truth be told, I don't have a clue."
"I gotta be honest Junior, the feeling of blood pooling in my spine calls for emergency care and probably a lengthy stay in a hospital. But right now, the only medicine I need is knowing that you have faith in me to do this." so with renewed determination, Dwayne mounted the back of the mechanical bull "Alright you mechanical spawn of the devil, this time I'm doing this for my son! But for the love of god, please don't kill me!" so he held on as tight as he could as the bull started shaking him around, but he held his grip until the timer sounded.
"Way to go dad, you did it!"
"Yes I did it, and I'm still alive! I'm a survivor!" and then the bull jerked and sent him hurtling out the door "Correction, I'm a survivor who's probably gonna need intensive care!"
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Meanwhile, at the Chill Zone…
"Jacques and Josee, the two of you are in eighth place." Don was met with a series of cheers and relief from the Ice Dancers "Yeah yeah you're still in the race, now move it. We've got other teams coming in." he promptly shoved them out of the way and turned towards the camera "Now that the final team has bested the bull, it all comes down to a foot race to avoid coming in last place. Which team is going to avoid elimination for today?"
"We… finally… MADE IT!" with a burst of speed, Owen and Noah rushed onto the Carpet of Completion, practically gasping
"And that's a sort of congratulations for the Reality TV Pros, the two of you have arrived in ninth place, which means that you're still in this thing."
"Yay…" Owen promptly hit the ground with a thud "That was close… but we did it… So that's good…"
"Yeah, not really any thanks to me." Noah let out a sigh as he rolled over "Hey listen Owen, about what you said earlier. Thanks."
"Really?"
"Really. I never thought I was gonna end up losing it over a girl dumping me, and then it turned out I actually have feelings. Go figure. But you snapped me out of it. I guess what I'm trying to say is… You really are my hero."
"Noah… That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"...You're not gonna start crying are you?"
"No!" he said this while tears began brimming in his eyes.
"Okay that's about all I can take."
"Noah?" this was when Emma showed back up and knelt down next to him "Can we talk?"
"...I really should've seen this coming." Noah moved Owen a little bit and sat up in order to meet her at eye level "Sure I guess, what is it?"
"I just want to say that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you yesterday. I wasn't lying when I said how much I like you, and I do want us to be together."
"...Oh. Huh. Not gonna lie, didn't see that coming. But I thought you said that…"
"I know I sad I can't do it during the race. I need to focus on winning the prize money so I can pay for law school."
"Yeah… probably for the best really. Seriously, the one time I put my heart out to a girl and it screwed me up worse than when I found out about Teen Titans Go. So I take it we're sort of on hold then."
"For now at least, but after the race is over and I win, you and I are so on."
"Fair enough. So when one of us wins-"
"Weren't you listening? I said when my team wins." and so she got up and walked off without another word.
"...Huh. Well that happened."
"Yeah no kidding." Owen glanced up at him "So does that mean that if we win then she won't date you?"
"I guess not. I don't know, she didn't make it very clear."
"Wow man, that is cold."
"I know. Is it bad that I find that kind of a turn on?"
"Hey I like when Izzy gets all kinds of crazy, guys just know what they like."
"Yes yes we all wonder about the mystery that is women, it's a fact of life. Now if you don't mind, I have a race to conudct." Don promptly sent Owen and Noah on their way just as Father & Son finally reached the carpet "Dwayne and Junior, I'm afraid that the two of you are the last team to arrive."
"Yeah, I figured as much." Dwayne let out a sigh.
"But I'm happy to tell the two of you that-"
"It's another non-elimination round? Alright, that means we get to stay." he and Junior promptly started cheering… only for this to promptly get cut short.
"No no, the two of you have been cut from the competition. I'm sorry, but this is where the race ends for the two of you."
"Oh. Well then what was it you were happy to tell us?"
"Well for one, we're in Canada so you don't have as long a way to go to get home, unlike some of the other loser teams up to this point. For another, as mentioned in the contract you signed at the start of the race, we'll be covering the bill so you can afford to have that tattoo on your chin removed. Unlike the sadists on Total Drama, we actually do care about the well being of our contestants."
"Huh. Well at least one good thing is coming out of this."
"Actually I think a lot more did than just that." Junior took the opportunity to pull Dwayne into a tight hug "Thanks for having us do this dad, it actually turned out to be a lot of fun."
"Yeah. It was for me too son." Dwayne returned the hug for a moment, and then the two of them started walking away from the scene "You know I really can't be too upset about this. It feels like this race really has changed a lot for the two of us. After everything we've been through, I get to see my son go home a man."
"And now thanks to your tattoo, I get to see my dad go home a woman."
"Hey weren't you listening? Don said they'd pay for me getting this thing removed. Too bad though, I think I'd look good with a beard."
"I'm pretty sure mom would beg to differ. She made you get rid of that moustache."
"Yeah that's true. Hey here's a thought, when we get home to do want to do another marathon of Total Drama Revenge of the Island?"
"Only if we can laugh so hard soda ends up squirting out of your nose."
"Of course we can son. Of course we can." the two of them shared a smile as they walked away into the sunset.
A/N:
And with a new chapter comes another new elimination, and unfortunately that means Father & Son's run in this race has come to an end. If it's any consolation, this time they have at least one win under their belt this time, so that does provide some consolation compared to canon.
I will say that the placements for this leg of the race were osmething that I struggled with a fair bit. As much as I wanted to have the Surfers come in first, there was a bit of a snag in that plan, specifically the pork and beans challenge. Bridgette being in place of Brody didn't mesh well with this one, given that she's a vegetarian, so as much as I didn't want to, I had to push her and Geoff back a bit. On the plus side, it gave me the chance to give the Rockers another win under their belt.
As far as interesting character interactions go, I can't really say there was a lot between different teams, since they didn't interact that much. But with that being said, it gave me the chance to explore the dynamic within each team, especially given all of the drama that's unfolding in this chapter. Examples include Owen helping Noah cope with his falling out with Emma, and Geoff being supportive to Bridgette during her whole ethical dilemma.
Also I stand by that claim I made about Spud. He really does look like a cartoon version of Eddie Munson from season 4 Stranger Things. Seriously, take a look at him and tell me you don't see the resemblance.
Rankings:
Rockers- 1st
Brains & Brawn- 2nd
Best Friends- 3rd
Surfers- 4th
Goths- 5th
Performers- 6th
Sisters- 7th
Ice Dancers- 8th
Reality TV Pros- 9th
Elimination order:
Father & Son- 10th
Stepbrothers- 11th
Adversity Twins- 12th
Mother & Daughter- 13th
Fashion Bloggers- 14th
Vegans - 15th
Geniuses - 16th
Tennis Rivals 17th
LARPers - 18th