(Ca-Noodling)
Spectacular Webhead 11: I know, but somebody had to get eliminated. I watched a little bit of Young Justice, but fell of it awhile ago.
Piecesxoxo: Thanks, I really enjoyed doing their interactions.
Blagoj Pejov1: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
SuperSonicHeroes: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I figured a lot of people would be happy to see the Goths sticking around for awhile. I know what you mean about the Rockers. I did plan for them to stick around longer, but I never really saw them lasting too far past the Mexico challenge. I figured better get rid of them before they overstay their welcome. Truth be told, I didn't realize that I used the phrase "Thank the great god above" that much, but I'm glad you approve of it. Geoff and Carrie bonding was something I enjoyed, and I only thought it was appropriate given their shared connections to Bridgette. I won't say anything about Geoff's plans yet, but they'll come about very close to the end.
Frosty Wolf: True, the Ice Dancers have done a lot of terrible things during the race. I noticed the similarity between Josee and Heather pretty early on. It's actually part of why I gave her such a big rivalry with Leshawna in this story. I wasn't fond of getting rid of the Rockers, but I didn't see them moving past that point, and I think the final seven is respectable. Devin does have to go through his fair share of grief before telling Carrie how he feels, but I can tell you now that the whole thing with him falling off the cliff is not going to happen here.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Last time on the Ridonculous Race: Things got pretty spicy in Mexico, and alliterative to a whole new degree. Devin picked a potent pepper to impress Carrie, but the pepper won. Peter Piper, eat your heart out. The Ice Dancers made a move to grab the gold, until once again, all of the crazy that Leshawna had in spades ended up snagging first place for the Performers. Not only did the Ice Dancers fail at grasping the gold, but they also failed in ousting those creepy Goths. In the end, we had to give a heartfelt goodbye to the Rockers, whose love of spicy foods got the better of them. Now we're down to six teams. Which one of them is bound to disappear this week? There's only one way to find out, and it's to tune in right here and right now, for the next exciting installment of… the Ridonculous Race!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
One intro later…
"And here we are again." once the intro had come to an end, Don started off the next episode from the Chill Zone of the previous one "Allow me to welcome you back to Mexico, where the winners from yesterday are the first to depart in today's race. In this case, that honor belongs to the Performers."
"Yeah you know it!" Leshawna and Trent bolted up onto the cene in front of the Don Box, the former smirking at the sight of the Ice Dancers glaring at them "And just like that, everything feels right with the world. Time for us to make sure it stays that way. From here on out, we do what we gotta do to stay in the top ranks."
"As long as we're not going overboard or crossing any lines, I can live with that."
"And we're making sure that we don't come in behind the Ice Dancers again."
"There is that. Frankly as long as we do that, I'm cool with at least getting to the final five."
"Wouldn't be the first time that I got there. At least this time I ain't gonna get screwed over for some stupid reason."
"...Oh yeah. That." Trent cringed at the memory "Sorry about that."
"It ain't your fault sugar, same with the others. I blame Chris for screwing me out of 100,000 big ones. Like I'm gonna put up with any more of his (bleep) again."
"No arguments here." so Trent went over to the Don Box and pushed the button, then pulled out a tip "Looks like we're travelling to Can Tho Vietnam."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Can Tho is not only well known for being a great name for a movie villain, it's also the largest city in the thriving Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Each of our six remaining teams will find their next tip located along the infamous Mekong River, where the fish happen to be as plentiful as they are pungent. No seriously, they smell like Owen."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"One by one the teams collect their first tip of the day and make a beeline to grab a cab headed for the airport. However, some have more trouble with the tip than others for… obvious reasons if you saw the last episode."
"Okay, got the tip." Devin pulled a tip out of the Don Box and tried to read it, only to quickly find himself struggling with it "Let me see, it says… uh… New plan, Carrie you read the tip while I go and snag us a cab. Taxi!" so he rushed off to get a cab… only for this to be followed by a loud crash "Ow."
"The road is the other way!" Carrie called out to him.
"I knew that!" he bolted the other way, though as he did he turned towards the camera "So as it turns out, I'm violently allergic to hot peppers, especially when they get rubbed right into my eyes. To make a long story short, my sight is kind of off right now. But I'm trying to make sure that Carrie doesn't find out about it. I'm trying to impress her, lay the land so that I can tell her how I feel about her."
"Devin you're going the wrong way again!"
"...I knew that!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
And then there was this…
"Taxi!" after another wrong turn, Devin finally managed to reach the main road and hailed a taxi with little trouble "Hurry up Carrie there's no time to waste!" he grabbed the nearest blonde by the hand (who just so happened to be Bridgette) and pulled her into the cab, which then took off at full speed.
"So… that happened." Carrie glanced over at Geoff "I don't suppose you would want to split a cab and play catch up?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the visually disabled…
"Not that I don't appreciate the company Devin, but you know I'm not Carrie, right?"
"Wait what?" Devin rubbed his eyes and looked over to see Bridgette in the cab seat directly next to him "What the- How did- I thought that-"
"Okay be honest with me, you still can't see well can you?"
"Um… maybe?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the last place team…
"Vietnam." Crimson looked down at the tip in his hand, then turned to Ennui as he held Loki tightly in his arm "Let's not waste any time."
"Agreed." Ennui gave a simple nod as he followed Crimson, though as he did he turned to face the camera "After what happened yesterday, I have no intention of letting Loki out of my sight again. If anyone tries to take him from me… I'll let Loki show them why he's not a creature to be underestimated."
"I love it when you get vengeful."
"I know."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, at the airport…
"We're here!" Geoff and Carrie screeched to a halt in the airport when they found Bridgette and Devin waiting for them "How'd it go?"
"I already got our tickets, we should go." Bridgette told him.
"Awesome, see you guys on the plane." and so they bolted.
"I got our tickets too Carrie, so let's go!" Devin handed her the tickets and immediately bolted at full speed… which was followed by a loud crash "Ow."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"All of our six remaining teams have boarded the same flight to Vietnam, and when they land they're bound to find themselves in a race to grab a taxi."
"TAXI!" sure enough, once the final six teams landed they bolted out of the airpor and moved to grab taxis, which they all did within a matter of moments. All but two of them that is."
"Wait!" Kitty and Emma rushed out onto the street, with Ennui, Crimson and Loki trailing right behind them "Dammit, there aren't anymore cabs."
"There are alternative options." Crimson pointed to where two rickshaws were parked near the bus stop, and she and the rest of her team promptly leapt into the passenger east "Escort us to the Mekong River." and so they and the driver went on their way.
"Well when in Vietnam, get good Instagram material." Kitty promptly took a selfie with the driver of her and Emma's rickshaw "Anyway let's get in, we don't wanna fall behind."
"Yeah call it a hunch, but I doubt this kid is fast enough."
"You sure about that?"
"Positive. Now that I finally have my mind off my Noah… or whatever his name was… I'm putting as much of my focus on the race as I can."
"Uh huh. I'm not entirely certain if this is a good thing or not. If you don't trust the kid to get us ahead of the others, then what do we do?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few moments later…
"Oh god… legs on fire… and so are my lungs…" Kitty was left sweating and panting heavily as she found herself driving the rickshaw, with Emma and the driver in the passenger's seat "And I have my answer… this is so not a good thing…"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
One cab/rickshaw ride later…
"So long losers, we'll be seeing you at the finish line!" Josee and Jacques bolted out of the cab and made a mad dash for the Don Box, the former giving the Performers a certain finger gesture amidst the posing and smiling.
"Not on your life you icy little (bleep)!" Leshawna pounced on the Ice Dancers and tackled them to the ground "Alright white boy, what are we dealing with?"
"Hold that thought for a second." Trent was quick to push the button on the Don Box and pull out a tip, and he cringed slightly "Oh crap, you're not gonna like this."
"What are we dealing with?"
"It says we're dealing with something called a Superteam challenge, where three teams will have to go catfish noodling together."
"...We gotta do what now?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Catfish noodling is a well known local fishing technique in which people use their fingers as bait in order to collect catfish, which are as enormous as they are gross. In this Superteam challenge, teams will be required to work in groups of six, or groups of three if you're counting teams, and collectively noodle a total of six catfish in order to receive the tip that contains their next set of instructions. And as a special added bonus, if one of the superteams manages to catch the catfish branded with the Ridonculous Race logo, then they'll be rewarded with what we refer to as a Zip It Ticket. This will allow all three of those teams to skip the next challenge and make a mad dash straight for today's Chill Zone. And as is to be expected by now, the last team that arrives may be cut from the race and sent home."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
And now for their reactions…
"Every fiber of my being wants to wretch at the thought…" Josee forced herself not to wretch as she locked eyes with the Performers "But if we want to claim the gold in this challenge, then we'll have to work… together."
"That's the least of my concerns in this challenge." Jacques shuddered violently "I hate fish with every fiber of my being. They're so slimy and wiggly, and for some reasons they try to slap me with their fins whenever I get near them!"
"Yeah well it sucks to be you right now, we need to get our hands on that branded fish if we're going to get our hands on another gold. I'll do whatever I have to in order to make sure that we get it… even if it means helping those Broadway rejects."
"Oh boy, this is gonna be bad." Trent cringed at the thought as he turned to Leshanwa "Look I've got a pretty good idea of how you're gonna react to this, you'd rather stick a tire iron down your throat then team up with them, but the rules are pretty clear and I'm pretty sure we don't have a choice about this."
"I know." was Leshawna's blunt response.
"Go ahead and curse as much as you like but- Wait, what? Seriously?"
"I get it, it's part of the challenge and if we don't do it then they'd kick us off. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." then she pulled him close and lowered her voice "Besides, like a wise man once said, sometimes you gotta keep your friends close and your enemies closer." she then released him and turned back to the Ice Dancers "So I guess it's the four of us, and then we go with whichever team shows up next."
"In that case, we'd better get a boat while we've got the time." and so the four of them rushed off towards the edge of the river.
It wasn't long after this that the next team arrived on the scene, the first of which being the Surfers, with Bridgette being the one to pull out the tip "It's called a Superteam challenge. Looks like we have to work with two other teams for this one."
"Cool, you mean we gonna work with your sister and Devin?" asked Geoff.
"Probably, but it says that the teams are decided based on the chronological order of which each team reaches this Don Box."
"...Huh?"
"Us and the other two teams that get here first, so that means-"
"Hey girlfriend, party boy, we need another pair of butts over here!" Leshawna called out to them from her place in the first boat.
"...That our team has pretty much been decided already. Come on, let's go." and so the two of them made a mad dash for the first boat "This is a pretty welcome surprise though. I didn't think that we were gonna get to work together like this."
"I ain't complaining either girlfriend, been way too long if you ask me." Leshawna promptly pulled Bridgette into a tight hug, then looked at Geoff "Sup?"
"Hey." Geoff gave a grin "Been awhile."
"You know it." Leshawna broke off, then turned towards the camera "Truth be told, the last time I got to work on a team with Bridgette was back during Total Drama World Tour. We both got screwed by that (bleep) Alejandro, so that wasn't fun. I ain't making the same mistake this time around though."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, at the Don Box…
"Hey check this out." Carrie pulled a tip from the Don Box and turned to Devin "It's called a Superteam challenge, that means we have to work with two other teams."
"Which ones though?" asked Devin "I mean I figured the Surfers because of your sister and all, but I'm pretty sure those two blond blurs out in the river are them."
"Yeah, I noticed that. They're out there with the Performers and the Ice Dancers, so I guess that leaves us with the Sisters and the Goths. Wait over here and let them know what's going on, I'll go and grab us a boat." and then she rushed off.
"But I can… aw man…" Devin let out a groan as he turned towards the camera "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me? Besides my eyes I mean. The stronger I feel about Carrie, the more I just screw things up. No, I can't think about that right now. I have to prove to Carrie that I'm her hero, her knight in shining armor. Then I can tell her how I love her, and everything will turn out just fine. It's totally foolproof."
"Proof that you're a fool."
"Thanks. Hey!" Devin whipped around and was face to face with the Goths "What the heck does that mean?"
"It means you're trying too hard." Crimson told him flatly "It's well known that ambition is the enemy of success." and then they walked away before Devin could respond.
"I just found out that I'm in love with my best friend." Devin turned back to the camera "How am I not supposed to try hard after a bombshell like that?"
It was at this moment that the Sisters showed up in their rickshaw, Kitty slumping forward in a state of sweaty exhaustion "Oh thank god… I can breathe again…"
"Not going to lie, that was a bit further than I thought it was going to be. But you still did a great job." Emma gave her a thumbs up as she rushed over to the Don Box "And we managed to beat the other teams so-"
"Actually we're already here, and so are the Goths." Devin got their attention, though he was facing the wrong way.
"Oh. Well that's not a problem, not yet at least. We can pull out ahead of the others during the challenge." and so Emma pulled out a tip and read it over… only to let out a groan as it dawned on her "Oh you've gotta be kidding me."
"Yeah, and the other superteam already went out there, so it's gonna be us and the only other team that's still here."
"Just freaking perfect. So who else is gonna be part of our super team?"
"The other team's already gone, so it's your team, my team and the Goths."
"Okay, so we have to go get a boat and-"
"Over here teammates!" Carrie waved at the group from her place in a boat.
"Ah. Well let's hope the first superteam is screwing themselves over big time."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the first superteam…
"Okay seriously, this is ridiculous!" Josee shot a pissed off glare at where Jacques sat in the boat preparing himself "For crying out loud Jacques, get your tail in here and noodle us some fish already!"
"I'll be there in a moment." Jacques strapped on a set of gloves.
"For the love of gold this is just fish, and take off those stupid sparkle gloves! We're not in an episode of Twilight!"
"Never! I have no objection to sticking my bare hand in a glove full of bullet ants, but I won't put it in the mouth of a fish! They're too cold and slimy! It's like when you're forced to give a foot rub to your grandmother!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the second superteam…
"You know it's kind of weird." Carrie watched as Devin looked out the bow of their boat, and then turned back to the Sisters "Devin has been so sweet lately. If I didn't know any better, then I would think… No, I no longer let myself read into every little thing that he says and does like it means something. Unless any of you think it means something."
"Take it from a voice of experience, love holds you back." Emma gripped Carrie by one of her shoulders "It's for the best if you just take those feelings and push them as deep down inside as you can, and just ignore them."
"Okay…?"
"Well that's one reason." Kitty cut in "But also the fact that you deserve to find someone that really does appreciate everything you bring to the table."
"Maybe, but…"
"Hey Carrie check it out, I found this bucket full of chum and fish bones that we can use to get them to come to us!" Devin held up the bucket, but then the boat hit a rock and accidentally made him spill its contents… all over Carrie's head "Oh crap."
"...Feelings being pushed down. Down. And they're gone." she was promptly met with the sight of Loki holding out a wash cloth to her "Thank you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the first superteam…
"Come on, come on… Yes, I've got one!" Trent held up a hand out of the water and revealed a catfish stuck on it "Okay that's one, how are the rest of you doing?"
"Come on you little (bleep), get over here! I'm not losing out on the gold because you don't know how to follow directions!" Josee was trying to get her hands on a catfish, albeit with very little success, causing Trent's catfish to let go of his hand and plop back into the water.
"You can't yell at the fish, all that's going to do is scare them off. Losing your temper with them is doing a lot more harm than good."
"Oh please, I don't have any problems. It's those ugly little (bleep) that refuse to do what I want them to do! Besides, if anyone's got that problem it's big, loud and proud over there." she jerked a thumb at Leshawna, earning a glare from Trent.
"Hey watch it, we might be working together for this challenge, but I'm not going to tolerate anyone insulting my friends. Besides, she's not that bad once you get to know her."
"This coming from the guy that she cheated out of $100,000. Yeah, we saw Total Drama Island back when it aired."
"I blame Heather for that one more than Leshanwa. Anyway I think it's safe to say that we don't like each other, but we have to work together if we want to get through this challenge, otherwise none of us get to win the million. Agreed?"
"...Fine. For now."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the love birds…
"Come on, come on… Yes!" Geoff managed to pull a fish out of the water, only he was doing it with his bare hands, and it slapped him with its tail before slipping back into the water "Oh come on! Well, at least it's better than what happened with the beavers back on Wawanakwa. How the heck am I supposed to do this though?"
"You just have to be careful with how you use your noddles." Bridgette gently gripped Geoff by one of his hands and lowered it into the water "First you put your hand under like that, and then you have to just wiggle your fingers like little worms."
"Oh yeah. You know that feels kind of good." the two of them locked eyes and exchanged a small smile "So… you wanna make out?"
"After we reached the Chill Zone, okay?"
"Aw man. I guess."
"There we go. Anyway I'll go search over there, you keep at it over here. We'll have plenty of time to make out and stuff after today's race, okay?" she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then swam off.
"Maybe a lot more time than that." Geoff gave a small smile as he watched them leave, then turned to the camera "I don't know how many of you guys saw this, but Bridge and I have been a thing for a long time now. We met on Total Drama Island, we got through the other seasons, we faced all kinds of hardships and screw ups, but we always came out of it. If we can get through those, then we can get through anything, and I figured why not put off the happy ending and all, right? So once we get to the end of the race, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna ask Bridgette to marry me."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the second superteam…
"Alright guys, let's get to the task at hand." Emma gathered the rest of the super team around her to get started on the challenge "There's a pretty good chance that there are some of those catfish right underneath us. Kitty and Crimson, you two jump off the stern into the water and to scare the fish to where Carrie and I are at the bow, and we'll do the noodling thing to catch them and get them in the boat."
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun. CANNONBALL!" Kitty leapt off the boat and did a cannonball into the water, creating a loud splash.
"Okay, that's part 1 down. Come on Carrie, let's go."
"Right." so Carrie slunk her way into the river behind Emma and put her hands underwater in order to do the noodling technique "Here fishy fishy, come on over…"
"Remember we just have to wiggle our fingers and- Oh my god, ew ew ew!" Emma yanked her hand out of the water and found a catfish sucking on it "I got one, I got- Oh dear god it's slimy, and its tongue is on my hand!"
"I got one too!" Carrie pulled her hand out and had a catfish sucking on it "Oh man, this feels so weird, and not in a good way!"
"For the love of god, just take them already!"
"Got it." Ennui promptly took the fish off Emma's hand and threw it into the boat "That makes one."
"And this makes two." Devin reached over to take the fish from Carrie's hand, only for it to start slapping him across the face with its tail "Ow ow ow-"
"Oops, sorry about that. Hang on, try it this way." Carrie turned the fish around only for it to jump up and blast Devin in the face with water, knocking him to the ground.
"Okay, I imagined that going differently." Devin let out a sigh as he threw the fish into the boat and turned to the camera just as Carrie and Emma swam off to get more fish "I just can't seem to do anything right today. I gotta find some kind of way to show Carrie that I'm the one that she can count on. Come on Devin, wake up and get a grip already!" and then he slapped himself a few times "Ow! Okay, that hurt more than I thought it would."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the second superteam…
"Okay, soo far so good." by this point, Leshawna and Bridgette had paired up and were working on their own quote of fish "Okay, that makes two so far. Nice worl girlfriend."
"Right back at you." Bridgette shot her a small smile "You know it kind of brings back some memories, us working together like this."
"You mean like back in World Tour?"
"Yeah. It would've been a lot better if it wasn't for… you know."
"Alejandro having to (bleep) everything up for our team? Yeah, I hear you. The next time I see him I swear I'm gonna grab him by the throat and (insert massive stream of bleeps)."
"That… seems a little bit excessive."
"Hey you don't see me trying to hold Josee underwater until the bubbles stop coming up."
"Like you could loud and proud." Josee let out a loud scoff, only to be met with a slap to the face by a fish tail, which led her to pounce on Leshawna in a rage.
It was at this moment that Trent handed his fish to Bridgette and then got in between Leshawna and Josee and broke it up "Enough! I thought neither of you wanted to lose, but in case you hadn't noticed, that's what's happening right now!"
Sure enough, Emma and the rest of her superteam proved to be hard at work as they loaded yet another catfish into their boat "There we go guys, we only need two more."
"You see what they're doing right?"
"They're…" Josee forced herself not to gag "They're working… together, as a team. Well in case you hadn't noticed, I wasn't born with that gene?"
"Yeah, I think we all noticed by now. We also noticed that you hate just about everyone else in this race, sme more than others."
"But right now, can you hate the thought of losing even more?" then he pulled Leshawna toward him, his voice low "Plus you said it yourself earlier, sometimes you have to keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
"...I hate it when you use my own words against me. Especially when it means that you're right, because it usually means that I'm wrong." Leshawna gritted her teeth as she turned back to the Ice Dancers "Fine, we'll stay out of each other's way, but only until the rest of the teams are out of the way."
"Agreed, albeit very reluctantly." Josee turned to face Leshawna as she held out her hand, a gesture that Leshawna reciprocated."
"Good." Trent addressed the rest of the teams "Now that all of the animosity is taken care of, I do have a few ideas about our game plan."
"You go ahead and relay it to the rest of the teams." Josee on the other hand turned her attention to a certain animal that caught her eye: a crocodile sleeping on the shore nearby. She then went on to subtly make her way towards the other team's boat.
"...Why do I feel like I just unleashed an unspeakable evil?"
"Because you did." Leshawna told him dryly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the first superteam…
"Come on, come on…" Devin continued looking around the river for signs of catfish, though his eyes were still very blurry "Stupid pepper juice in my eyes… There's gotta be another catfish or something around here somewhere."
"Oh wow, would you look at that?" Josee swam over to Devin and pointed at the crocodile on the shore "Did you see that absolutely massive catfish over by those rocks? I have to say that it would take a very impressive man to catch a beast like that." and then she swam away, leaving the cogs in Devin's head to start turning.
"...And just like that, karma finally starts swinging my way." Devin gave a grin as he turned away from the camera "This is perfect. All I have to do is go over and get my hands on that giant catfish, Carrie swoons over it, I tell I her I love her, we get our fairy tale kiss and then we live happily ever after. Wait, I'm actually talking to the camera right? Well anyway, they did say it was over by the rocks, so here goes." and so he swam his way over to the rocks and made a grab for the crocodile.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now for when the first superteam reunites…
"There." Ennui dropped the last catfish into the boat "That's all six. One of us will have to go and get the judge now."
"You guys wait here, I'll go ahead and take care of that." and so Emma promptly swam off to get the judge.
"We're missing one of our team members."
"Hey you guys, I've got one!" this was when Devin made his way back over, covered in scratch marks but pulling the crocodile by the tail underwater "It's really big and kind of a fighter, but man do I got one!"
"...Something seems wrong with this picture."
"What do you mean?"
"First, you're covered in scratch marks, but catfish should have nothing that they can scratch you with. Second, they're not heavy so you shouldn't be struggling so much with it. Third, we were instructed to use the noodling technique.
"Oh. I didn't think of that."
"Where did you find that?" asked Carrie.
"It was around the rocks over there, but what does-" Devin was cut off by the crocodile bursting out of the water, chomping down on Devin's arm and then dragging him underwater before he or anyone else was able to react.
"DEVIN!"
"I've got him." Crimson promptly sunk underwater in a matter of seconds.
"Are… Are they going to be okay?"
"Give it a moment." was all Ennui said.
"You know aside from the whole crocodile thing, this superteam thing is actually working out pretty well." Kitty glanced over at the others "I know Emma is probably gonna say no, but I wouldn't be against making it official once the challenge is over."
"Hm… Normally Crimson and I decided not to form any alliances with any teams that aren't dark enough… but I will take it into consideration."
"Cool. I think."
"Here we go sir, it's right this way." this was when Emma came back over to the group with the judge in his boat "We got all six catfish just like we were instructed, and now they're ready for you to count, so be sure to have the tip ready for- Wait, where are Devin in and Crimson?"
It was at this moment that Crimson rose up from the water holding Devin by the arm, followed by the crocodile bursting up from the water and rushing away in terror, and then she promptly threw Devin into the boat "You may want to check him over for any injuries, or else he might bleed out."
"Thanks for the save." Devin winced as he sat up, only to be pulled into a tight hug by Carrie, and he gave a small smile "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to freak you out or anything."
"I'm… just glad you're okay." Carrie breathed a sigh of relief "But how did you end up with a crocodile anyway?"
"I kind of thought it was a really big catfish. Man, it's gotta be my eyes again. I could be doing so much better if I could just see clearly." he was met with the sight of the judge hanging him a small vial of liquid and a note "What's it say?"
"It says that he was instructed by the doctor to give these to you as soon as we ran into one of the race officials, take them and let it set and that should fix your eyes. Hold on, I'll put them in for you." so Carrie took the vial and put a few drops into Devin's eyes.
"Okay, blurry again… and I think I'm good now."
"Good." so Carrie was promptly handed the tip from the judge and read it out loud for all of the others "Looks like this one is an All In, something about getting lost and found underground."
"What the heck does that mean?"
I'm not entirely sure."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"For this All In challenge, each of our six remaining teams will have to take taxis to the famous Vietnamese wartime tunnels. Somewhere in said tunnels, our personnel have hidden a Don Box that holds a tip with the directions they need to reach the Chill Zone. As we've already mentioned before, the last team to arrive may be cut from the race. Of course even before that, they'll have to be extremely cautious. The tunnels are riddled with decades worth of traps, dead ends and more than a few spiders. With any luck, a certain someone might get the chance he needs to prove that he's a hero. Assuming he doesn't screw it up. Then again knowing him by now, he probably will."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now with the second superteam…
"Are you (bleep) kidding me?!" as one could imagine, Josee was less than thrilled when she and the others noticed the first Superteam taking off "Let me get this straight. You mean to tell me that I… cooperted… for nothing?!"
"I'm pretty sure sabotage doesn't cound as cooperating." Bridgette shot her a glare filled with disapproval.
"Yeah well I didn't see you helping with any of-" this argument was cut short by the sound of a loud shriek "Come on Jacques we've been over this, if the gloves cut off your blood flow then either take them off or (bleep) DEAL WITH IT!"
"No it's not that, I see the branded catfish! Someone hurry up and get it before it swims away or else-" Jacques was cut off by the branded catfish, the Ridonculous Race logo visible, jumping up and chomping down on his hand, causing him to shriek in pure unholy terror "GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!" he slammed it against the side of the boat and threw it into the boat itself, earning a series of looks from the others "What?"
"...That freak out might be worthy of YouTube, but all I see in front of me is a Zip It Ticket with my name on it!"
"Yeah, that's… great." Bridgette shared a quick look with Geoff "As glad as I am that we get to go right to the Chill Zone, I'm not sure partnering with the Ice Dancers is turning out to be our best idea."
"So we're not working with them again?" asked Geoff.
"I'd rather not if we don't have to."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"While team evil, well the team with the Ice Dancers anyway, collect their Zip It Ticket and make their way directly to the Chill Zone, the remaining three teams arrive at the entrance to the underground tunnels to sart the second challenge."
"So this is it." Ennui and Crimson were the first ones to poke their heads into the entrance to the cave, with the other teams following her lead "This is so cool. It reminds me of the catacombs back in Paris."
"Yeah no kidding, it's all kinds of creepy." Kitty muttered.
"I meant that it's wonderful. It could be an amusement park or camp for kids."
"...Whatever lets you sleep at night. Come on, let's get this over with." and so the three teams all bolted into the cave… only to find that it broke off into three different paths "I had to open my big mouth didn't I?"
"So I guess we have to split up and go down different paths." Carrie looked at the others "Best of luck you guys."
"Perhaps we should try and stick together during this, for survival purposes. We would thrive down here, but the rest of you would likely struggle."
"Well yeah, but now that the superteam challenge is over, we kind of have to split up and do our own thing."
"So be it. If we find the Don Box, we'll just send out a signal to the rest of you. Perhaps a bird call of some kind." and then Ennui and Crimson (Loki still tucked into the former's shirt) slunk away into the tunnel on the right.
"Oh the hell with it, let's just go." Emma took off into the tunnel on the left, with Kitty trailing behind her.
"Okay, so… process of elimination I guess." Devin and Carrie shared a look and shrugged, and then they went down the middle path.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, at the Chill Zone…
"Well on the one hand, our last place team has split up, and ⅔ of them consider stabbing each other in the back." Don then looked over to where the Ice Dancers, Performers and Surfers stood on the Carpet of Completion "On the other hand, our newly created Axis of Corruption has made its way to the Chill Zone and earned a three-way tie for first place. Congratulations to the three of you."
"...You're really going with Axis of Corruption?" Bridgette shot him a raised eyebrow.
"We were going to go with Axis of Evil, but we couldn't for two reasons. One, your team isn't worth calling evil. Two, we would've had to get into a big legal battle for the trademark on it, the guys from some Hot Wheels cartoon from awhile back."
"You mean Battle Force 5?" Geoff's eyes lit up "I love that one!"
"That's the one. Anyway, three way tie for first. Do with it what you will from here." and so he walked away.
"Okay, I know I'm gonna hate myself for this in about an hour." Trent turned to Leshawna and the Ice Dancers "But what would you guys say to taking this axis and making it an alliance, until we get to the final two? At least this way we wouldn't waste so much time and energy being at each other's throats."
"The white boy's got a point. Put her there partner." Leshawna held out a hand, Josee being the one to take it, both of them snarling at each other as they did.
"Yeah… that's probably not gonna end well." Geoff shared a look with Bridgette "You sure it's cool to just break off from the rest of them like that?"
"I know it'd be better to be with an alliance than against one, but the Ice Dancers play dirty, and I refuse to stoop that low." Bridgette told him "Besides, Leshawna and Trent wouldn't stoop that low either, so I don't think we have too much to worry about."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." and then the two of them walked away from the Chill Zone.
"Well until then, fellow alliance partners." Josee turned and walked away from the Chill Zone, a smirk spreading "This is all too easy."
"The fact that you're just playing with them?" Jacques gave a raised eyebrow.
"Of course. All we have to do is let them think that they're safe, and then once they lower their guard, we rip right through them like a hot knife through butter and send them packing, and then that gold and the million is as good as ours."
"I thought that was your logic. Tell me this though, isn't it likely that they have the same idea in regards to us?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"The race for first place has come to an end, as has the race to enter the top three, and now the three members of the former superteam are racing through the tunnels to avoid coming in last, along with getting caught by booby traps in every direction. And some of them are in the process of doing… other things."
"So about the others…" Crimson glanced over at Ennui as the two of them made their way down their path "Do you think the others will stand with us or abandon us here?"
"With the Sisters, they more than likely will." Ennui told her "With the Best Friends, it's possible but no guarantee."
"You're surprisingly confident in them."
"They're survivors like us. I felt a certain kinship."
"Would you actually wish to form an alliance?"
"No. But even so, I wouldn't wish to leave the other teams down here. We would thrive in this environment, but they won't."
"Fair enough." the two of them came to a stop when they came to a dead end at the end of their path "It's a dead end. Should we go back and take one of the other paths?"
"That's one option. Or…" Ennui pulled Loki out of his shirt and set him down on the ground, leaving him to go to town on the wall.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the all female team…
"Okay, that's definitely a bad sign…" Kitty and Emma continued making their way down their path, and the former looked up as the roof of the cavern began shaking "You think it's wrong that we're more or less letting the Goths think we're still part of a team?"
"First off the Goths aren't stupid, they know what they're doing." Emma told her flatly "And second of all, they want to win the race and the million just as much as we do."
"Well yeah, but-"
"But nothing, if they don't get that then they can just-" Emma was cut off when the ground beneath her feet suddenly crumbled away, leaving her dangling over a pit of spikes.
"Emma!"
"Kitty help, you gotta pull me up!"
"I'm on it, just hang on!"
"What else could I do?!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the soon to be lovebirds…
"Eesh…" Carrie and Devin continued making their way down the middle path, only they were submerged in complete darkness "Who the heck turned out the lights?"
"Oh yeah I've got some matches, give me a second." Devin promptly lit one of the matches… only to shriek in terror when he realized he was covered in spiders, causing him to drop the match.
"Hold on, I've got it." Carrie lit another match and used it to light a torch "Alright Devin, the spiders are gone. Devin?"
"Yeah, yeah I totally knew that." as it turns out, Devin was clinging to Carrie's leg, but trying to play it cool "I'm just making sure that no spiders are crawling up your legs." and then he bolted to his feet "You're all clear."
"Thanks for that homie." and so the two of them started walking "I guess we'd better go ahead and keep looking for the Don Box."
"Yeah sure thing, let me lead the way." but then the two of them got stuck in the middle of a crevice in the path "Ow! Oh sorry."
"No you should-"
"No you go ahead-"
"I got-" but then the two of them just started laughing.
"Hang on, just let me…" he pushd himself out the back "There we go, after you."
"Thanks."
"Sure thing." and so the two of them made their way out of the crevice and continued on their way, though now Devin was starting to sweat profusely, and the two of them gained a few feet of distance from each other "Okay this is it Devin, don't screw up this time."
"Okay Carrie, don't read into the sweat. It's just hot down here and the torch doesn't help that too much, and he's definitely not in love with you. Besides, you said before that you were over him."
"So listen Carrie, here's the thing." Devin rushed back up to her side and wiped away some of the sweat "I know I've been kind of… weird for the past few days, but there is a good reason for that. I finally realized just what it is that I really want. I know I should've realized this a long time ago, but it's-" he suddenly ran into her back when she came to a stop "What gives, why did you stop?"
"Take a look over there, we found it!" she pointed to where the Don Box sat in the center of the cave in front of them "There's the Don Box!"
"Oh yeah, that's… great." Devin's downcast expression was quickly wiped away by the sound of loud screaming "Uh… you heard that too right?"
"Uh huh. Did that sound like a good scream or a bad scream to you?"
"That was bad, that was definitely a bad scream. What do you think's going on?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the screamer team…
"Come on, come on…" Kitty gritted her teeth as she tried to pull Emma out of the pit, though she was having little success "This is bad, you're slipping!"
"For the love of god, just don't let go!" Emma cringed with fear as she looked down at the spikes below her, only to suddenly be pulled up and out of the pit and into a set of arms, much to her immense relief "Oh thank the great god above I'm not dead, thank you so much!"
"Normally I'm revolted by affection, but given your near death experience, I'll withhold showing any disdain for it."
Emma looked up and found that Ennui was the one holding her by the arm, and she quickly freed herself "Thanks. You guys might have had a point about sticking together during this whole thing after all." she freed herself of his hold, and it was then that she noticed the large hole in the wall "Um… wasn't there a wall there a few minutes ago?"
"Yes."
"How did you-"
"Loki ate the way through for us." they looked down to where Loki was spitting out pieces of rubble and debris.
"...That is one BAD bunny."
"You have no idea." it was then that they heard the sound of loud squawking "Huh. I didn't think they would actually do the bird call."
"Either way, that means they found the Don Box." Crimson told him.
"True. Let's go." and so the four of them (five of them counting Loki) took off running.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, at the Don Box…
"What are you doing?" Carrie placed a hand over Devin's mouth "I just asked if we should let the rest of the teams know, I didn't flat out say do it!"
"Sorry, I thought you wanted me to." Devin told her "Besides what else could we do, leave them down here?"
"...Okay, good point." so Carrie pulled a tip out of the Don Box "I've got the directions to the Chill Zone, now do you think we should wait or-"
"Here they are." this was when the Goths and the Sisters showed up, with Crimson pulling out a tip and Emma doing the same immediately after "We have the directions."
"Perfect, now let's go!" and so the three teams took off. Well, all but one member of the teams that is.
"...And just like that I'm alone, covered in sweat and shame." Devin breathed a heavy sigh as he turned to face the camera "Once again, the more I try to impress Carrie, the more I end up just screwing everything up. Maybe the Goths are right, maybe I'm trying too hard to-"
"Devin come on, we have to hurry!"
"Right right sorry, I'm coming!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"From here on out it's a foot race, one final dash to the Chill Zone! I can't wait to see which one it's going to turn out to be!"
"I'm coming I'm coming!" Devin was the last team to make it out of the exit to the cave, a short distance behind the rest of them.
It was during this that Ennui glanced back to see Devin and Carrie trailing behind them, now neck and neck with the Sisters "It seems he's figured out where he went wrong."
"You still wish to see them succeed?" Crimson glanced over at him.
"They're survivors like us. I sense a sort of kinship with them. At the very least, I wish to see them succeed before they're eliminated. They can't lose yet."
"So what do we do?"
"Not us. Loki." so Ennui pulled Loki out of his shirt and threw him towards Devin.
"What the-?!" Devin didn't get a chance to react before Loki crawled into his shirt, causing him to scream as he suddenly grabbed Carrie by the arm, then bolted forward with surprising levels of speed, passing the Sisters and leaving them trailing close behind the Goths.
"And thus it's secured."
"A lot more than that is secured right now!" Don was quick to count off the teams once they arrived at the Chill Zone "The Goths are in fourth place, and that means it's fifth place for the Best Friends. All of you are still in it!"
"Yes!" Devin pulled Carrie into a tight hug "I actually did it, I didn't screw up this time! Not too bad at least."
"Um, Devin?" Carrie pulled away from him and covered her nose.
"...Oh right. I'm sweating. Yeah, I think I'd better go and take care of this." and so he walked away from the Chill Zone, though as he did he looked down into his shirt and saw Loki crawl back out and onto his shoulder "What exactly were you-?"
"Loki has a wide variety of talents and abilities." Ennui and Crimson stepped towards them as the former held out his hand, allowing Loki to jump onto it "Motivation is only one of those he can provide for others."
"So that means… you guys saved us from getting eliminated? But why?"
"We know about your newfound realization on your feelings for your partner." Crimson told him flatly, causing Devin to stiffen "But Ennui has pointed out that in a certain sense, your team is like ours."
"Emotionless, dark and brooding?"
"Far from that. We're survivors." Ennui told him "And I chose not to let you be eliminated when you had failed to solidify your resolve."
"Um… I'm not really sure I get it, but thanks. And you were right before, about what you said back at the dock. I think I'm trying way too hard with her. Maybe I just… need to take some time to think about what to do."
"If that's what you want to do, then do it. But it's your choice. Helping you today was a saving grace of sorts. Don't expect another." and so the Goths promptly walked away from the scene without another word.
"...Okay then."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with his other half…
"Just great…" Carrie let out a sigh as she sat down on a rock near the Chill Zone "Now what am I supposed to do?"
"Maybe find some solace in a little bit of girl talk?"
Carrie glanced over to see Bridgette sit down next to her "Oh hey Bridge. What's up?"
"Well I'm glad my sister didn't get eliminated for starters. Sorry about not waiting for you guys in the other boat."
"It doesn't really matter." Carrie just hung her head slightly.
"Come on, talk to me. What's the matter?"
"Well… Devin almost cost us the race today. The whole thing with his eyes is one thing, but it's like he's… trying to prove himself or something. I have absolutely no idea what's going on with him lately. It's like the longer we're in this thing, the less I know him. It's just… I want to win the race and the million sure, but I want to win it with my best friend, not some total stranger. I don't know what to do Bridge."
"Well I can't say for certain what's going to happen Carrie, but there is one thing that I can promise you." Bridgette pulled her into a tight hug "Whatever you decide, I'm going to be here for you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the losers…
"And then there was one." Don watched as the other teams took their leave of the Chill Zone, and then he turned to the Sisters "Emma and Kitty, you both raced hard and one of you had quite the strong character arc. I'm sorry to say this, but you've been cut from the competition. Your bid for the million ends here."
"Are… Are you sure?" Emma looked up at him with a slight bit of hope "Is there maybe some kind of loophole?"
"Trust me law school, you're about as out as you can get."
"Aw dammit."
"Well… the final six isn't too bad right?" Kitty gave her a hopeful smile "And Noah did say that he was gonna be starting a software development company, so it's not like you really need the million bucks."
"Yeah, that's true. And I got to do this." Emma pulled Kitty into a tight hug, and then the two of them started walking away "But seriously, this has been one of them most incredible experiences of my life, with or without the guy or the prize money."
"I just hate that things turned out like this. We were so close. Sorry we blew it."
"What are you kidding? You totally rocked this Kitty. Seriously, I know I don't say this a lot, but I really am proud of you how handled this thing."
"Aw, that might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Frankly as awesome as the million bucks would've been, I'd rather take my sister over that sort of prize money any day. Truth be told, I don't think I've ever felt like more of a winner than I do right now."
"So where are we going now?"
"To see if we can find a phone somewhere."
"...You wanna go call Noah don't you?"
"I think you already know the answer to that." and then they walked away into the sunset.
"Sad but touching at the same time. And that right there is how you know it's a good source of entertainment." Don turned to the camera to sign off of the episode "Five teams move onto the next round, but the question still remains. Who will survive the next set of challenges that we have in store? There's only one way to find our for certain, and it's to tune into the next exciting installment of… the Ridonculous Race!"
A/N:
And thus we go from the final six to the final five. I can imagine the elimination this time is going to be at least somewhat controversial, given how beloved the Sisters are by the fandom, but in all honesty, I just didn't have a lot for the two of them to do going forward, so I figured it would be better to get rid of them now.
On that note, I decided to get a little bit creative with the Super Teams. Rather than just make an Axis of Evil outright, I had things a bit mixed up, with the Surfers and Performers being stuck with the Ice Dancers, while the Goths, Best Friends and Sisters make up the other team.
As far as interactions go, this one for the most part has the Goths interacting with the members of other teams, in particular the Best Friends. Speaking of which, my plan for them is to give the end of their arc a slight overhaul. They're going to go through their fair bit of grief and comical pain sure, but I can tell you now that they won't end it in the same way they did in canon.
Ranking:
Ice Dancers- tied for 1st
Performers- tied for 1st
Surfers- tied for 1st
Goths- 4th
Best Friends- 5th
Elimination order:
Sisters- 6th
Rockers- 7th
Reality TV Pros- 8th
Brains & Brawn- 9th
Father & Son- 10th
Stepbrothers- 11th
Adversity Twins- 12th
Mother & Daughter- 13th
Fashion Bloggers- 14th
Vegans - 15th
Geniuses - 16th
Tennis Rivals 17th
LARPers - 18th