North Pole Showdown Chapter 3: Not All Cooked Up to Be
Teams
Superior Snowstorms – Iggy, Ben, Tony, Nicky, Tess, Ji-Soon
Sunny Snowflakes – Lucien, Jacque, Tsu, Winter, Letty, Sasha
Gleeful Gingerbreads – Char, Marco, Brandon, Bonnie, Andrea, Aditi
Shining Stars – Paul, Ketch, Elodie, May, Winnie
"Last time on North Pole Showdown," Embarc commenced the episode, using a rolling docker to flatten dough on the kitchen counter of Santa's workshop.
"The twenty-four contestants were divided into teams of four," Embarc narrated previous events as flashbacks occurred. "Those teams being the Shining Stars, Gleeful Gingerbreads, Sunny Snowflakes, and Superior Snowstorms. For the first team challenge, each team had to select three of their members to participate in a talent show."
More flashbacks showed up as Embarc continued to narrate. "The participants were judged by my friend Yasmín and all of them handled their talents pretty well. Except for Winnie, who burned all the hard work I put in decorating the ampi-theater!"
The flashbacks ended. Back in the kitchen, the rolling docker was now snapped into two in Embarc's hands. The hostess' facial expression showed annoyance and a hint of anger. She noticed the camera filming her again. So, she putted the broken rolling docker on the kitchen counter, fixed her orange curly hair, and smiled.
"Sorry, wasn't supposed to show that," Embarc laughed it off. "Anyway, because Winnie destroyed the ampi-theater, the Shining Stars were sent to elimination. In the end, Dominic was sent packing due to him trying to take control of the team, which failed since he is the official first boot."
Embarc walked out of the kitchen and entered the mess hall. A bunch of pans, pots, cookbooks, utensils, and other kitchen supplies were on several tables.
"Everyone likes a treat. And this episode will be no different. Which team will sugar their way to victory, and which one will lose in a bitter taste of defeat? Find out now on North Pole Showdown!" Embarc expressed excitement and then winked at the camera.
(Intro Plays)
Three cameras pop up from their hiding spots. One from outside the igloo ceremony, another coming out of an evergreen tree with snow on it, and the last one popped up from a toilet. The camera drone showing footage flew into a window to get out of the bathroom.
Dear Mom and Dad I'm doin' fine,
The camera drone displayed Embarc in her office with papers pasted all over the walls. The papers had pictures of the contestants on them and red arrows all around for Embarc to figure out what kind of ships the hostess could do with the cast.
You guys are on my mind.
Ketch stood next to Embarc and saw the camera drone inside her office. He poked Embarc's shoulder with a finger to let her know. The hostess tried to grab it to remove the footage, but the drone evaded her and went out a window.
You asked me what I wanted to be
The drone caught Tsu hugging his Clover Warrington body pillow in the cold snowy weather. A polar bear took the body pillow from Tsu to hug it for itself.
And now I think the answer is plain to see,
Tsu demanded the polar bear give back his body pillow, but the creature roared at him. Tsu ran away while the polar bear gave chase on two feet. Iggy laughed at Tsu's predicament from a distance. He was then pelted by a snowball at the back of his head.
I wanna be famous.
The culprit who hit Iggy was revealed to be Winter who leaned on a wall of a wooden house. She turned around with a smile and noticed Jacque observing her with his arms crossed and a suspicious look on his face. The camera drone went inside the wooden house.
I wanna live close to the sun,
Elodie showed taking baked cupcakes out of an oven and placing them onto a table. Paul and Andrea sat at the table with the former wanting to swipe cupcakes for himself despite a 'Do Not Touch' sign being next to the sweets. Andrea slapped his hand away.
Go pack your bags, 'cause I've already won,
At the other side of the table, Tess painted some happy little trees on a piece of paper held by an easel while Nicky sat on a wooden chair to play her violin.
Everything to prove, nothing in my way
The two girls were startled by Dominic, Tony, and Brandon breaking a hole in the wall with each of them racing each other on a snowmobile. The camera drone followed them after the three made another hole in a different wall to leave the house.
I'll get there one day.
The three boys crashed into a giant pile of snow. Marco recorded them with a camera nearby while Lucien and May were each sleeping peacefully on a snow angel that someone must have made on the ground.
Cause, I wanna be famous!
Aditi observed penguins waddling next to her outside Santa's workshop with a snowman right by her. Bonnie came out of the snowman which prompted Aditi to run away from her. Bonnie frowned and Char came to pat her shoulder to make her feel better. Which got the redhead to grin.
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!
Winnabelle excitedly rode on Rudolph the red nose reindeer in the field of reindeer that was fenced. Ben and Letty watched Winnabelle making noise which caused the two to stop reading a book they each had in their hand. The former looked at the pageant disaster with annoyance while the latter dismally sighed.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
Ji-Soon displayed one of her cosplays for Santa's elves on an outdoor wooden stage. Striking poses for delight. One of the elves took a picture of her with the camera's flash on in his hand.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
Santa Claus dragged Sasha by the arm out of his fridge because she started eating his ice cream with a spoon. The contestant held onto a bowl of ice cream as the jolly man brought her outside in the snow with the rest of the cast sitting. The entire cast whistled as the song finished. The camera drone zoomed out to reveal the show's title on a wooden billboard.
(Intro Ends)
The episode started with May waking up from her slumber on her bed in the Shining Stars room. She removed the blanket she used to cover herself. Then she rubbed her eyes. After that, a close up shot of her face showed she still appeared exhausted.
"Good morning May!" Elodie greeted happily to her teammate, holding a large rectangular tray with food on it. "I made you breakfast in bed."
The dish on the plate was a baguette with hot coffee on the side and two sauce cups. One sauce cup had butter in it while the other jam.
"Thanks," May smiled at her teammate as Elodie put the plate over her waist.
May rose up and grabbed the baguette with her hand. She eyed it a bit, noticing how long the baguette is in her drowsy state.
"Am I supposed to eat all this?" May asked Elodie confuse.
"No, you can save some for later," Elodie answered nicely.
As May took a bite of her baguette, Elodie heard the morning groan sounds of Winnabelle waking up from her slumber. This made Elodie look at Winnabelle as her teammate rose up from her bed.
"I'm surprised Embarc did not wake us up early. Must be an afternoon challenge then," Winnabelle believed.
Just then, Ketch entered the Shining Stars' room with a rectangular tray of his own. On the tray was a plate that had bacon, sausages, and buns flattened like pancakes. Also on the tray were a sauce cup with syrup in it and a glass of milk.
Ketch noticed Winnabelle awake and smiled widely with joy.
"Phew, made it just in time. I made you breakfast Winnie. Is got all the stuff you need to be energized for today," Ketch told the pageant disaster contently.
Excitement running through his veins, Ketch quickly dashed towards Winnabelle. His shoelaces were untied, and he stepped on one, causing himself to trip onto the floor and pour the breakfast he made onto Winnabelle's pajamas, face, and hair.
Elodie and May winced at seeing Ketch fall. Elodie quickly went to check on Winnabelle while May continued to eat her baguette.
"Sorry about that," Ketch apologized as he got himself up from the floor. He dusted off his hands with his pants. "Didn't think I will need to tie them so soon," He told Winnabelle.
"I am going to get some napkins and make a new batch of breakfast for you," Elodie told Winnie as she grabbed a piece of bacon from her teammate's hair.
"Thanks, but the new breakfast is not needed," Winnie took back the piece of bacon and takes a bite off it. After chewing and swallowing the piece she continued to talk. "I've eaten in messier ways before. My mom usually scolded me for doing that though."
Ketch and Elodie briefly watched Winnie eating bacon. Winnie then rubbed one of the flattened buns on her syrup stained top and takes a bit of the bun.
"I am… going to be getting those napkins now. And you'll need to put on your spare attire after eating breakfast," Elodie told Winnie, feeling repulsed by the eating.
Once Elodie left the team alone Ketch looked around the room and noticed Paul is not with the team.
"I wonder where Paul could be?" Ketch pondered curiously.
"Give me back my painting!" Andrea announced, chasing after Paul through the hallways of Santa's Workshop.
"Man, my skills must be slacking," Paul said to himself as he runs with Andrea's painting in his hand. "Could have sworn she did not see me taking this wonderful painting."
The painting Andrea drew is melting clocks on balloons rising from a river at night. At this point, Andrea and Paul were running in circles along the hallways. Paul found this fun, which is why he never tried to outmaneuver Andrea in the first place.
As this happened, Bonnie was in front of the entrance of the Gleeful Gingerbreads' room. With the door being opened, she watched all of this with a big grin on her face. She had a cupcake in her hand with frosting.
Char went to the entrance from inside the room to see what all the commotion was about.
"What's going on over here?" Char asked Bonnie.
"Paul stole one of Andrea's paintings and I told her about it after she made me a cupcake," Bonnie explained before licking some of the frosting from her cupcake.
Paul ran pass Char and Bonnie.
"And you're not going to help get the painting back?" Char asked Bonnie as he watches Paul run until he is out of sight.
"Well, Andrea is hot. However, Paul is hot too. Right now, I'm in a tossup on who I will help out," Bonnie answered. She licked the rest of the frosting on her cupcake. "Mmm, I love white chocolate cream."
Andrea is shown exhausted from the running, breathing heavily while sweat dripped down from her head.
"Yikes Andrea how long have been running?" Char asked his teammate with concern in his voice and face.
"Thirty… seconds," Andrea panted. She dropped to the floor and laid on her back, still breathing heavily with her mouth close.
Char and Bonnie looked at her, the former on Andrea's right side while the latter on Andrea's left.
"Do you need mouth to mouth?" Bonnie grinned at Andrea.
"No," Andrea let out, looking at the ceiling instead of her teammates.
"Worth a shot," Bonnie shrugged.
Confessional - Andrea - Gleeful Gingerbreads
She no longer appears tired from her running. Although she did look a bit queasy, having her hand on her forehead.
"I'm not exactly the athletic type in certain areas. Which is most of them. I'm going to see if Brandon can help me retrieve my painting back. Can do this alone. Always need two or three people gathered for a cause."
Confessional - Char - Gleeful Gingerbreads
"Not sure if it was the best decision to keep Paul around. I'm not in the Shining Stars so they must have a reason to keep him, but him still stealing from others is going to paint a target on themselves. I definitely want to help Paul out with this, but you never know when somebody on your own team will use that against you.
End Confessionals
"Hey there viewers!" Marco said excitedly, looking at his phone while doing a livestream. "Today I have a special guest with me who will be showing you all how to change a flat tire."
Marco showed through the camera of his phone Brandon near a red car. In front of Brandon's shoes is a wrench tool and jack tool.
"I still don't understand how there is car in the North Pole," Brandon scratched the back of his head. "At least it doesn't have an engine."
"Brandon, you're on," Marco told the mechanic as he checks his twitch chat.
"Oh right," Brandon looked at Macro's phone with a big smile. "Brandon here, and I'm going to teach you all how to change a flat tire. First, the four items you essentially need are a lug wrench, a jack, a spare tire, and a vehicle owner's manual. I already have the lug wrench and jack here as you can see."
Brandon picked up the lug wrench and jack. Then he continued to talk.
"Besides them, is highly recommended to wear gloves, have a flashlight with working batteries, a…"
Suddenly, Brandon gets pelted by snowballs. This caused him to stop talking and remove the snow from his face with his hand. He and Marco heard laughing.
"Uh, sorry viewers, I'll have to reschedule this stream," Marco said and quickly logs out of his twitch account.
Marco looked to his left while Brandon his right. They both witnessed Tony and Tsu laughing. Tony and Tsu then high fived each other.
Elsewhere around the outside of Santa's workshop, Iggy tried to get his teammates into shape. This had mix results.
"Come on girls you three can do pushups better than that," Iggy told sternly.
Tess and Ji-Swoon had no problem doing pushups but were concern about going faster. In Nicky's case she struggled.
"Come on Nicky you haven't even done five pushups," Iggy said to the violinist.
"I won last challenge why are we being punished?" Nicky wondered as she kept struggling to do pushups.
"Is not punishment it is call keeping in shape. I have to make sure my team is capable of enduring any challenge we face," Iggy answered. "I can't carry my team all the time."
"Then why isn't Ben doing pushups?" Ji-Soon asked her captain sincerely as she pointed at Ben reading a book next to a Christmas tree.
Iggy looked at Ben and narrowed his eyes at him. "I'll be right back," He told the girls as he headed towards Ben.
Nicky stopped doing pushups and sighs with relief. She sat on the snow with her legs crossed.
"Thanks Ji-Soon," Nicky showed gratitude.
"No problem," Ji-Soon smiled at Nicky. She then sat next to her teammate. "Now, how did you get so good playing the violin? What's your favorite color? What's the reason why you were that outfit?"
"Um, I, uh…" Nicky began to feel nervous from the rapid questioning.
"Hey Ji-soon, want to know the stories behind my paintings?" Tess asked as she stood up.
"Gladly!" Ji-Soon immediately got up to head to Tess.
Tess and Nicky smiled at each other. Nicky mouthed thank you to the travelling artist.
Confessional - Nicky - Superior Snowstorms
"I don't know why, but I feel comfortable around Tess. At least compared to my teammates. She's got the easy-going vibe to her. Plus, she's cute."
End Confessional
"You are supposed to be doing pushups with the girls," Iggy said to Ben, now standing in front of the bookworm.
"Yeah, no need for me to do that. Tony didn't do pushups," Ben replied as he flipped a page from his book.
"Tony went jogging with me early in the morning. And yes, you do need to do that because right now you are a liability when it comes to physical challenges," Iggy countered.
"Not every challenge is going to be physical," Ben spoke in an uncaringly tone.
"And yet the majority are," Iggy stated. He saw Ben flip another page and sighed. "Look, I can tell you're a smart guy. So next time try to be reasonable when it comes to exercise."
"Maybe next time you should be reasonable and not push our teammates over their limit," Ben retorted.
"Ugh, whatever," Iggy jogged away from Ben.
With no one looking at him, Ben showed a small frown.
Inside the festive hangout lounge the Sunny Snowflakes minus Tsu were taking the opportunity to be at the place before Embarc can announce a challenge. Jacque and Sasha were playing blackjack at a wooden table with Letty in charge of the deck. Winter and Lucien were playing air hockey. Well, at least Winter was trying to play. Lucien was rather doing his best to stay awake.
"Lucien focus, you're losing six to zero," Winter tried to get the drowsy astronomer's attention.
"Remind me again why I considered playing this game with you?" Lucien said, his eyes blinking from time to time.
"So that we could bond and establish a potential friendship," Winter explained, putting a hand on her hip as she appeared annoyed.
"Checkers would have been better," Lucien spoke before falling asleep. His face landed on the air hockey table.
Winter's disappointment was crystal clear on her face.
"Hit me," Jacque told Letty, showing confidence.
Letty passes a card from the top of the card deck to Jacque. Jacque now had three cards in his hand.
"Hit me too," Sasha smirked.
"You're good to show your cards?" Jacque asked Sasha.
"What are we even betting on anyway?" Sasha wondered, answering with a question of her own.
"Bragging rights I guess," Jacque shrugged.
"But there's nothing much to brag about beating you," Sasha replied slyly.
That got a good chuckle out of Jacque. "On the count of three we show our hands. One… two…"
Speakers throughout Santa's workshop and outside began to ring.
"Attention teams," Embarc called from the speakers. "Meet me in fifteen minutes at the workshop's kitchen for today's challenge, thank you."
Confessional - Jacque - Sunny Snowflakes
"Sasha and I are going to get along just fine," He smirked at the camera with his arms crossed.
End Confessional
A new scene started with each team behind a table while looking at Embarc who is also staring at them. Each team's symbol appeared on screen.
"Welcome to the workshop's kitchen teams," Embarc greeted happily. "Some of you already have been in here before," She glanced at Elodie and Ketch who smiled at her. "While for others it is their first time. Anyone want to guess what today's challenge is?"
"A cooking challenge?" Aditi wondered.
"Nope," Embarc responded, smiling widely.
"Then what's the point of being in the kitchen if we ain't doing no cooking challenge?" Tony raised an eyebrow at Embarc.
"That's because the challenge today is the baking challenge. Not a cooking challenge," Embarc answered sweetly. "Each team has an hour to create a dessert that I will be judging on presentation and taste."
"Wait, you're okay with judging a baking challenge but not the talent show one?" Winter questioned.
"None of my friends are available at the moment so I have to be judge for this one," Embarc gave her reasoning. "Every team has the storage supply, fridge, and freezer where food is. The cabinets also have pots, cooking utensils, and more to make sure you all are able to make your desserts."
Cameras briefly showed footage of the storage, freezer, cabinets, and fridge.
"Now without further ado, on your marks…"
"Hold on just a moment, where is the gifts my team and I were supposed to get since we won the last challenge?" Iggy questioned Embarc.
"Come to think about it, my team tied with them so we should have gifts as well," Winter pointed out.
"Oh, about that," Embarc forgot about the gifts. "Well, needless to say that the reward for winning challenges has been slightly altered."
"Come again?" Paul said confused.
"I wish I could," Bonnie muttered quietly.
"The reward for the Superior Snowstorms and Sunny Snowflakes for winning last challenge is a one-minute head start collecting ingredients and utensils for the dessert they will be baking," Embarc informed.
"Is something I guess," Jacque spoke nonchalantly.
"Alright team I need your bodies to block the fridge, freezer, and storage while I go get the ingredients," Iggy informed the Superior Snowstorms.
"Or we don't do any of those and I can just do this," Tess took out her paintbrush and created a piece of strawberry sliced cheesecake on her team's table.
Everyone appeared dumbfound at what just happened except Embarc.
"Neat, just leave it on the table and I'll eat it with the rest of the desserts when the hour is up. Which starts now. Bye-bye," Embarc waved goodbye to the teams and exits out of the kitchen.
"Wait," Winter exclaimed. "What about my team's one minute…"
Winter heard a commotion happening behind her. She viewed her team, the Shining Stars, and Gleeful Gingerbreads fighting over ingredients and utensils. Only exceptions were Winnie and Andrea.
Confessional - Tony - Superior Snowstorms
"That is some paintbrush Tess has," He admitted while using a toothpick. "Where can I get pennello like that?"
Confessional - Winnie - Shining Stars
"I'm more confident in my team winning since Elodie said that she's a baker. Hopefully she decides to lead the team for this challenge."
End Confessionals
The Sunny Snowflakes were behind their table looking at the ingredients and utensils they managed to get. Their team's symbol appeared on screen.
"Anyone know how to bake?" Winter asked her team.
All of Winter's teammates raised their hand.
"Anyone here that bakes good?" Winter questioned.
All her teammates still had their hands up.
"Okay, anyone here that can bake more than just the basic cake, pie, and cookie?" Winter let out a third question to see if someone puts their hand down.
"To be fair anyone can bake those with instructions," Lucien stated.
"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Winter retorted.
"Oh yeah," Lucien immediately slept, banging his head on the table in the process. This did not wake him up. He continued to sleep down on his knees with his head on the table.
Winter facepalmed while Tsu, Jacque, and even Sasha giggled.
"Everyone put your hands down," Winter commanded and her teammates obeyed. "Jacque, what can you make?"
"Chocolate cake," Jacque answered proudly.
"Too basic," Winter commented. "Sasha?"
Jacque stopped smiling and looked at Winter like she is an idiot.
"I can make ice cream. Although I tend not to do it anymore for reasons," Sasha got slightly nervous at the end and tucks a bit on her shirt.
"Tsu?" Winter hoped he provided a better dessert suggestion.
"Depends. I can make a cake, but the design has to be based on Clover Warrington," Tsu stated politely. "If not, I can only do basically an average cake."
"...does it have to be based on Clover Warrington?" Winter hoped not.
"Is either that or just an average cake," Tsu shrugged.
"Letty please tell me you can bake something good," Winter looked at the vacant virtuoso.
"I don't really like baking," Letty admitted, looking puzzle if she should keep talking.
"I asked if you could bake something good. Not if you don't like baking," Winter stated as she stood next to her teammate.
"Winter, you look a bit uneasy. If Letty doesn't want to bake or be in charge we can't force her," Sasha conversated, putting a hand Letty's shoulder that comforts the virtuoso.
"Sasha I have news for you. One, she has to bake whether she likes it or not because is part of the challenge. Two, I'm still captain but I need someone to be in second in command by providing what we will be baking," Winter pointed out, narrowing her eyes at Sasha.
"Then just go with Jacque or Tsu," Sasha suggested while also narrowing her eyes at Winter.
Letty felt like she was shrinking as stood between the two girls.
"Letty," Winter looked at her teammate contently with a sweet smile. "You don't want to disappoint your captain, do you? That will be a real shame."
Letty gulped and her spine shivered a bit. She took a deep breath and breathed out. "I… know how to make a vlaflip dutch dessert."
"Good," Winter finally felt actual joy. "Tell us the ingredients and how it will be made."
Confessional - Jacque - Sunny Snowflakes
"Who does Winter think she is? At first, she wanted to try establishing friendships and now she is acting like if she is the boss of a restaurant. Maybe she knows that she's not as safe as she thought she would be coming into the game."
Confessional - Sasha - Sunny Snowflakes
"I am aware that everyone has their own tactics when it comes to strategy. I am also aware that I can also do the same one Winter did to Letty, but for some reason I felt bad for Letty despite me wanting to study how her brain works. Is weird."
Confessional - Winter - Sunny Snowflakes
"I came into the competition thinking I could be this sweet angelic buddy that will be deceitful from the shadows, but of course I'm captain of the team. Which is why I'm being a little spiteful to my teammates because one I don't like people. And two because that sweet angelic facade will not work on any of my teammates except Letty."
End Confessionals
"Andrea can totally make a wicked dessert," Marco told the Gleeful Gingerbreads as their team's symbol appears on screen.
"I wouldn't call my desserts wicked," Andrea spoke with a small bright smile. "The better term would be heavenly."
"Either way, during the ice golem challenge Elodie and Andrea made a cupcake together, so this lovely lady knows a thing or two about baking," Marco said confidently to his team.
"I don't think a cupcake will be enough to win over Embarc," Brandon mentioned. "We should make something that can wow her."
"Whatever it is I want to be in charge of the custard or cream," Bonnie spoke. Then she looked at Andrea. "The dessert we'll be making will have custard or cream right?"
"We will be using heavy cream for it," Andrea answered innocently.
"Yes," Bonnie got excited, grinning happily.
Char looked at the ingredients on the table as the conversation between the team keeps going. "What will be making Andrea?" He asked the angelic angel as he kept looking at the ingredients.
"A knickerbocker glory," Andrea responded as she grabbed a bowl. "Let's get to work on the ice cream."
Besides the Superior Snowstorms, the Shining Stars were the most confident in winning the challenge thanks to having Elodie and Ketch on the team.
"Whole milk?" Elodie asked her teammates as she carried a clipboard in her hand.
"Check," Ketch presented the milk by grabbing it. However, he did not hold it steady and dropped it onto the floor. He sheepishly chuckled before bending to grab the milk carton.
"Cornstarch?" Elodie read from the list of ingredients on her clipboard.
"Check," Winnie presented the supply of cornstarch on the team's table.
"Eggs, unsalted butter, frozen puff pastry, vanilla bean split…" Elodie continued listing off the ingredients.
"Elodie, if we don't have all the ingredients, we can just get them from where they are in the kitchen," May interrupted before yawning. "Baking takes a lot of cooking time so we need to be as quick and focus as possible."
"We can also steal ingredients from the others if we're empty handed," Paul suggested.
"Let's just prepare the mille feuille," Elodie said, ignoring what Paul proposed. "May you will be task to for the whisking and heating. Ketch takes care of putting the six egg yolks in this bowl," She pointed at the bowl on the table beside her. "Winnie split the vanilla bean open. We'll figure out the rest as we go."
In the mess hall, the Superior Snowstorms were chilling at a table watching the other three teams preparing dessert. Each Superior Snowstorm drank from either a piña colada or a milkshake comfortably.
"How's it going over there?" Tony taunted the three teams in the kitchen.
Jacque, Winter, Tsu, and Paul glared at him as they were working. This caused Tony to laugh.
"Hey Tess, make a giant cake right now to really let them all know which team is going to win this challenge," Tony said with a big smirk on his face.
"Sure," Tess gladly took out her paintbrush and created a three-layer circular strawberry cheesecake.
Several of the contestants in the kitchen became shock upon seeing this.
"Oooooo, yummy. I want a taste!" Ji-Soon said joyfully.
As soon as Ji-soon scooped some of the cake with her cup the cake pops, releasing various bright paint colors. The paint smeared all over the Superior Snowstorms' clothes. This made several of the Sunny Snowflakes laugh at the team, including Bonnie from the Gingerbreads and Paul from the Stars.
"Guys, concentrate," Winter told her teammates so that they can get back to work.
Ji-Soon noticed her cup now has paint inside. "Suddenly I am no longer thirsty," She turned her cup upside down for her drink and paint to drop onto the floor.
"Tess," Iggy called for the artist.
"Yes captain?" Tess happily smiled at her leader.
"By any chance the cake you made for Embarc is also just paint?" Iggy asked, trying to be calm and nice.
"Yep," Tess nodded contently.
"And you knew it would taste like paint from the start?" Tony wondered.
"Well other times I've painted food it always ends up tasting like paint. I thought this time it would not be the case," Tess admitted, not seeing the issue.
Ben pinched the bridge of his nose with annoyance. Nicky slightly frowned.
"Alright everyone we have no time to use. We are already in a disadvantage thanks to Tess," Iggy informed. "We're going to make tembleque for Embarc."
"Tembleque?" Ji-Soon pondered eagerly and immediately gets close to Iggy. "What it this templeque?"
"Is a Puerto Rican dessert," Iggy answered. "And don't give me more questions. We don't have time for that."
"Yes sir!" Ji-Soon saluted. "So, what other stuff you know…"
Iggy interrupted her by groaning, which caused Tony to chuckle a bit.
Confessional - Nicky - Superior Snowstorms
"I wo-wonder why Tess thought of all the other times her paintings ta-tasted like paint this time it will be no different. That's pretty weird. Does she eat paint?"
End Confessional
With the Sunny Snowflakes, Winter turned on one of the stoves from the kitchen to heat up milk inside a spot. She grabbed a wooden spoon from the table to stir the milk around, mixing it with vanilla seeds.
"Once it boils lower ze heat and wait for fifzeen minutes," Letty instructed Winter, appearing rather uneasy.
"Got it," Winter understood. She looked at her teammate and noticed Letty's troubled look. "Something wrong?"
"I…" Letty hesitated to speak.
"You can always tell me what's your issue Letty," Sasha approached the virtuoso, wearing a purple apron.
"Aren't you supposed to be making the fruit sauce?" Winter questioned Sasha, observing here suspiciously.
"Oh, Jacque and Tsu are working on it," Sasha politely answered.
Camera footage demonstrated Jacque pouring milk and cornstarch into a bowl while Tsu added sugar. The plain cosplayer then whisked the ingredients together with a whisker.
Back to the girls on the team, Winter deadpanned at Sasha.
"Are you going to do anything useful or stand around acting pretty?" Tsu asked Sasha.
"I'm in charge of dealing with the fruit sauce," Sasha informed, not bother by Winter's tone.
"And you haven't done it because…" Winter stopped talking to hear an answer.
"You don't do this with Lucien by the way," Sasha said, now feeling slightly bothersome.
"That's because he is actually awake cracking the eggs," Winter pointed at what the astronomer is doing with her spoon.
"I don't have time for this. I'll make the fruit sauce now," Sasha walked away.
Letty still felt uneasy as she stood in place.
Confessional - Winter - Sunny Snowflakes
"Like I'm going to have her win over Letty so easily."
Confessional - Sasha - Sunny Snowflakes
She wrote on her notepad in silence with extreme focus.
End Confessionals
Bonnie is shown using an electrical handheld mixer for a strawberry and cream mixture. As she mixes, she stared fondly at Andrea, Brandon, and Aditi's rear. Andrea and Aditi were next to the team's table chatting with Brandon. Meanwhile Marco streamed his team's interactions.
"I'm worried that the ice cream won't be ready in time," Brandon revealed his concern to Andrea and Aditi.
"Ice cream takes a while to prepare itself in a freezer, yes?" Aditi asked for confirmation.
"Usually 24 hours. But once we put it in the freezer, I'm going to lower the temperature even further," Andrea answered.
"Wouldn't that cause problems?" Brandon pondered.
"It will be fine. Embarc gave us those shots for us to survive cold temperatures," Andrea assured.
As Bonnie continued to stare, she accidentally went faster with the handheld mixer, making a mess of the mixture that splats onto the table and Marco's phone.
"Hey," Marco quickly went to get paper towel to get the mixture out of his phone.
"You know Bonnie you can be a little more subtle than that," Char said as he walked to the ginger. His clothes had spots of strawberry mix cream all over. Some of the mixture even got onto his face.
"Oops, sorry," Bonnie apologized. "Can I… lick it off your face?"
Char chuckled. "No thanks," He replied and then looked at Marco still busy cleaning his phone. "Yo Marco, pass me the paper towel roll."
After taking another piece of paper towel, Marco tossed the roll to Char who caught it. Char then looked back at Bonnie as he rips several paper towels.
"So, which one of them are you trying to get a date with?" Char asked, speaking quieter to not gain attention.
"I don't know," Bonnie admitted with a shrug. "All three of them are gorgeous. Then there's also Paul. And… wait, why do you want to help me out?"
"That's what teammates are for," Char responded sincerely.
"This isn't for strategy reasons? An extra vote?" Bonnie found it hard to believe someone would help her out of the kindness of their heart.
"Nope, I just like helping people," Chat replied as he cleaned off the cream on his shirt and face.
"Oh," Bonnie let out a smile. "That's nice."
Meanwhile, Ketch finished mixing batter in a pot on a stove near the Shining Stars' table.
"This part is almost done Elodie," Ketch informed happily.
"Good job Ketch," Elodie gave a thumbs up to the cook. "You three doing good?" She asked the rest of her teammates.
Elodie saw May sleeping on the floor, Winnie being incredibly nervous trying to cut puff pastries with a knife, and Paul reading a book. The book was most likely stolen from one of the enemy team members.
"Winnie, have you never used a knife before?" Elodie asked concerningly.
"I've butchered plenty of farm animals for eating but I can't stop thinking about all those times my mom made me bake all kinds of desserts for pageants," Winnie revealed. "How was I supposed to know how much sugar I couldn't put? You never gave me instructions," She bursted out.
"Uh, take a break Winnie. I'll be in charge of the cutting," Elodie said in a comforting tone.
Winnie sighed and put the knife she held onto the table. As Elodie went over to grab the knife Ketch takes the pot out from the top of the stove to bring over to the freezer.
However, Ketch did not have mittens on and his hands started to burn up. Furthermore, he tripped on himself and accidentally threw the pot onto the table. The batter splatted all over Elodie's clothes and face as she grabbed the knife. Elodie's lips felt the batter and unable to resist she licked batter off her lips.
"I… need… to be… left alone," Elodie started to hyperventilate. Her eyes went wide and her hands started to shake.
"Whoa Elodie are you okay?" Winnie asked worryingly.
"I am so sorry," Ketch apologized.
"Geez how much sugar was in that batter?" Paul wondered.
Elodie calmed herself to breathe properly but she knew the effects were kicking in.
"Make a new batch now," Elodie demanded of her team and quickly sprinted out of the kitchen.
"Wait Elodie!" Winnie called out. "We need you for…" She stopped raising her voice once she saw the pastry gal fully leave the kitchen. "The instructions."
Ketch rubbed the back of his head in shame. "Things aren't looking too good," He said to Winnie and Paul.
"What did I miss?" Paul asked as he lowered the book he was reading.
"May is asleep again, Ketch accidentally dropped the batter, and Elodie is unavailable due to some condition I guess," Winnie informed. "We have no idea what to make for dessert now."
"Ketch, you know how to make at least one dessert?" Paul asked his teammate.
"I… really only know how to make fast food," Ketch revealed sheepishly. "Oh, I can do ice cream. I just need an ice cream machine."
"The ice cream machine is broken," May woke up just to say that before going back to sleep.
"Noooooooooooo!" Ketch got on his knees as he exclaimed in sorrow.
Winnie blankly stared at him. "I dislike being negative, but I don't see us surviving this challenge."
Suddenly, an idea occurred to Paul.
"Have no fear, I'll make sure we win this," Paul triumphantly left the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" Winnie wondered perplex.
Confessional - Iggy - Superior Snowstorms
"Letting all you viewers know that despite the setback Tess caused my team we managed to come back strong. That is all."
End Confessional
"You call that mixing!? My grandma mixes better than that!" Iggy shouted at Nicky who is using a whisker to mix the ingredients chosen for the tembleque in a pot. "Come on we are losing valuable time!"
"Is too much pressure," Nicky said as tears started to run down her eyelids
The Superior Snowstorms heard Nicky's whimpering.
Iggy felt a bit guilty. He immediately took the pot and whisk away from Nicky.
"I'll finished the dessert. Just, play your violin or something else that doesn't inconvenience me," Iggy stated.
Nicky wiped her tears away and walked out of the kitchen. Tess went to comfort her.
"I still wonder why this show allowed a child to be here," Tony told Ji-Soon, Ben, and Iggy.
Ben shrugged while Ji-Soon watched Iggy work on their dessert.
Ji-soon opened her mouth. "So…"
"Nope, no talking. Need concentration," Iggy interrupted.
Confessional - Tony - Superior Snowstorms
"If we lose, pretty sure Iggy is out of here. But, will that be the right play?"
End Confessional
The Sunny Snowflakes were just about finishing up their dessert. Tsu poured vanilla custard from a bowl with a spoon into an old fashioned glass cup until its half full. Sasha used a different spoon to pour the fruit sauce she made into the glass cup. The fruit sauce appeared red. Finally, Winter put plain yogurt on top of the fruit sauce.
"Not going to lie, it looks appetizing," Jacque admitted, eyeing the dessert.
"Good job Letty," Lucien said proudly, now fully awake for the time being.
"Thanks," Letty replied, looking at the floor while rubbing her arm up and down.
Winter gave a disappointing glance at Lucien before looking at her team's dessert.
The Gleeful Gingerbreads were also almost done finalizing their dessert. Andrea came out of the kitchen's freezer to show a bowl filled with strawberry ice cream. Bonnie licked her lips at seeing the ice cream.
Aditi put a sundae glass on the top. Next, Marco put different berries into the glass, just about three quarters full. Brandon used a scooper to scoop up the ice cream to put on top of the berries. Lastly, Char added whip cream and strawberry coulis on top.
"There, perfect," Andrea said contently, even blowing a kiss at the dessert.
"Is the leftover ice cream for the rest of us?" Bonnie asked her team, staring at it delightfully.
"Precisely," Andrea slowly nodded. "Make sure she doesn't eat too much of it," She whispered to Char.
Char gave Andrea a thumbs up.
Elsewhere, inside Santa's private bedroom, Paul opened the door to place. He tip toed inside the dark room with no Santa Claus in sight. He took out a flashlight from his pocket to see parts of the room and notices a small wooden table containing a plate with food on top. Not just any food though. On the plate were cookies and a glass of milk.
Paul eagerly went to take the plate with the milk and cookies by simply using one hand. He got of Santa's bedroom with swift speed. Then he shut off his flashlight before locking the door.
Confessional - Paul - Shining Stars
"Let's face it the team was a bust for today's challenge. Had to think of a genius way to make sure my team doesn't lose again. Stealing milk and cookies from Santa is quite impressive I would say. The team and I just have to pretend we made the cookies."
End Confessional
Embarc sat on a bench of one of the picnic tables in the mess hall, happily humming a song as she waited for the desserts to come by. There were a few ball ornaments on the table. Including some snow that began to melt.
Iggy, Andrea, Winter, and Paul come out of the kitchen. Each of them carried their team's dessert on a plate.
"Ooooo, those look all yummy," Embarc excitedly said to the four.
The other contestants walked out of the kitchen to watch the judging an results. Elodie came from the mess hall doors looking relatively sad.
"Did the team managed to make the mille feuille?" Elodie whispered to Winnie.
"No," Winnie whispered back. "But Paul made cookies. I think?"
Elodie's sad expression turned into a small smile, believing her team still has a chance to win.
A Christmas elf came to give Embarc a glass of water.
"Thank you Domino," Embarc expressed gratitude kindly.
"Its Steve," Steve the elf muttered before leaving the scene.
"Alright contestants," Embarc looked at Iggy, Paul, Andrea, and Winter. "Time to see which team made the best dessert."
"I'll go first," Iggy told Paul, Andrea, and Winter. He quickly put his tembleque dessert onto the table.
"Tembleque? My oh my," Embarc looked surprised at the dessert. Then she smirked at Iggy. "Tienes confianza dándome un postre de mi nación," She spoke to Iggy in Spanish.
Iggy's eyes widened and started to feel nervous. He bottled up his nerves to appear secure in his victory.
Confessional - Iggy - Superior Snowstorms
"Trying to figure out if that's a good thing or bad thing. Only way to find out I guess."
End Confessional
Embarc used a spoon to cut a piece of the tembleque and take a bite. While it was only for a few seconds her eating the piece, the Superior Snowstorms felt like it was taking hours, especially for Iggy. After swallowing and tasting it, Embarc took a sip of her water glass.
"There's too much cinnamon for my taste, but is still amazing," Embarc told the Superior Snowstorms, smiling happily while also mantaining seriousness. "Truly reminds me of where I'm from. Eight out of ten."
Nicky, Tess, and Ben clapped while Iggy, Ji-Soon, and Tony cheered.
"Who's next?" Embarc wondered.
Andrea went to present her team's dessert and put the Knickerbocker onto the table.
"This sure looks tasty," Embarc gladly grabbed a different spoon on the table to take a bit of the Knickbocker an eat it. After savoring the flavors and consuming it she made her decision. "The ice cream and sauce is pack with strawberry sensation. Although I wish more could of been done with the berries instead of just putting them into the glass. Eight out of ten as well. Next dessert."
Confessional - Lucien - Sunny Snowflakes
"Is she really going to give every team an eight out of ten?"
End Confessional
"And that's an eight out of ten for the Sunny Snowflakes' dessert," Embarc informed after eating a bit the vlaflip.
"Hey Embarc, what happens if everyone ties?" Marco wondered.
"Oh, well, I guess no team heads to the igloo ceremony and no one gets eliminated," Embarc answered.
"And what happens if we get the higher score?" Ketch asked, refering to his team the Shining Stars.
"Then the other three teams will vote a member off," Embarc infromed in a casual manner.
Tension music rose as the Superior Snowstorms, Sunny Snowflakes, and Gleeful Gingerbreads now hoped the Shining Stars ties with them or lose. Paul approached the picnic table Embarc is sitting and gives her the plate of Santa's cookies, along with the milk.
Embarc took a bite of a cookie and immediately her eyes widened joyfully. She happily put the rest of the cookie in her mouth.
"We're doom," Ben, Sasha, and Nicky spoke at the same time, believing their teams lost.
"This cookie is the best there is. Ten out of ten!" Embarc declared.
The Shining Stars cheered victorious.
"Way to go Paul!" Elodie congratulated.
"Awesome man," Ketch said before sharing a fist pump with Paul.
"Whoa, who said anything about the Shining Stars winning?" Embarc spoke with a sly smile.
"We got a ten out of ten though," May recalled.
"Yeah, doesn't that make us winners of the challenge?" Winnie wondered.
"No, because even though this got a ten out of ten," Embarc pointed at the cookies. "I know for a fact this wasn't made in the kitchen. These cookies have the same taste as the ones that belongs to Santa Claus. How do I know? I've tasted them before."
"Come on, my team and I baked them in the kitchen. You don't have proof of us stealing the cookies. Heck we could have stolen the secret recipe and made the cookies," Paul insisted Embarc was in the wrong.
"Really?" Embarc got up from her seat and crossed her arms. "Winnie, did your team bake the cookies in the kitchen?"
"Um… I… uh…" Winnie looked side to side seeing the different facial expressions of everyone as her nervousness started to climb. She did not want to lie, but if she told the truth her team will be set up to elimination again. "My team… my team.. my team did not bake the cookies in the kitchen."
Confessional - Paul - Shining Stars
"Crud, should have seen that coming."
End Confessional
"Well, that settles everything. Shining Stars will be heading back to the igloo ceremony tonight for the second time in the row," Embarc informed.
During the night, Letty was currently in the festive hangout playing chess by herself. She heard footsteps coming close to her.
"Winter," Letty believed it was her captain. "I…"
"Winter in the bathroom," Sasha's voice was heard. "I made sure she is occupied so that I can talk to you privately."
Sasha sat down on a chair to be in front of Letty.
"Now tell me, why did you look uncomfortable during the challenge?" Sasha kindly asked, requiring to know the reason.
"I've… never had a moment where I was in charge of something. And if I did I don't remember," Letty revealed, looking away from Sasha as she held a pawn in her hand. "I just carry out orders people give me."
"I noticed Winter regaining control of the team halfway through the challenge," Sasha remembered, keeping eye contact on Letty as she grabbed a queen chess piece. "Did you enjoyed being briefly in charge?"
"I don't know. Yes? No? Look, can we not talk about this?" Letty pleaded as she put the pawn in her hand back on the chess board.
"Understandable," Sasha agreed before putting her queen piece on the chess board and sliding it to knock down the pawn Letty put. "Want to play a game of chess?"
"No thanks," Letty got up from her chair and proceeded to leave.
At the igloo ceremony, each Shining Star sat on a stump. All of them were quite disappointed in their loss today. Their team's symbol appeared on screen.
"Shining Stars, why the long faces?" Embarc asked, even though she knew the reasoning. "This next part is maybe going to sound harsh, but is part of my job. Okay? Okay! Glad we got that clear."
"I still think you should have given us the win. I was thinking outside of the box," Paul said, not fond of losing.
"If you would baked the cookies yes, but none of you did. Plus, instead of taking the cookies you could have just baked something on the spot," Embarc countered. "Would you have lost? Who knows, but at least… nevermind, we all know why you messed up. Time to talk about the others. Ketch you spilled the first batch of dessert team was making. Which caused a domino effect on Elodie leaving the kitchen for some reason."
"I had to leave the kitchen for a good reason," Elodie said quietly as she blushed from embaressment.
"Winnie once again could not lead her team as captain and May… what is your reason?" Embarc pretended to wonder.
"I think I fell alseep during the challenge," May answered.
"Correct, so pretty much all of you have a reason to be voted off. But who will be it? Guess we'll find out soon enough," Embarc winked at a camera at the end.
Confessional - May - Shining Stars
"I'm voting for who I wanted gone last time. Even though there is a possibility I'm going home tonight," She yawned at the end. "I really need to do better."
Confessional - Paul - Shining Stars
"Last time I voted for Winnie, but I don't know if I should vote for her again. I wouldn't have needed to steal those cookies if it weren't for Ketch messing up."
End Confessionals
"Alright, you all voted for who you want gone from your team. Those who received no votes and will get a candy cane are Winnie, Elodie, and May. Congrats ladies," Embarc tossed a candy cane to each safe Shining Star.
"Bottom two again? Wow, I"m off my game," Paul commented.
"You're also off the competition because you got the most votes," Embarc revealed. "Sorry Paul."
"Are you really sorry?" Paul wondered as he got up from his seat.
"Well yeah, it always sucks to see some get eliminated from the game, but that's just how it goes," Embarc sincerely answered.
"I get that," Paul then looked at his teammates. "Even if the majority of you voted for me I still appreciate us being together for the time being. Can I at least get a group help?"
The Shining Stars got out of their stumps to hug Paul except May, who falls asleep in the middle of walking to him.
"Alright Paul, time to follow me to the Chimney of Shame," Embarc ordered. She looked at a camera. "Santa Claus didn't enjoyed his ride with Dominic so we're doing a different approach."
Once done hugging, Paul followed Embarc while the remaining Shining Stars head to their dorm, hoping they will not come back here again so soon. Paul entered the Chimney of Shame, which is a red chimney somewhere near outside the workshop in the snow.
"Where will this lead me to?" Paul asked Embarc.
"Oh, it will lead to the Playa de Losers route," Embarc answered nicely.
"That's doesn't make sense considering where we are," Paul pointed out.
"Don't question it. It saves you the headache," Embarc stated. "Now bye-bye!"
As Embarc waved goodbye, Paul shrugged and slid down the chimney. Embarc then looked at a camera once again.
"Only twenty-two contestants remain! Will the Shining Stars manage to avoid being in another elimination ceremony? What kind of plans will the Sunny Snowflakes continue to do? Did the Gleeful Gingerbreads make sure Bonnie didn't have too much ice cream? And can Iggy not be a pain for his teammates once? Find out next time on North Pole Showdown!" Embarc declared before the episode faded to black.
Teams
Superior Snowstorms – Iggy, Ben, Tony, Nicky, Tess, Ji-Soon
Sunny Snowflakes – Lucien, Jacque, Tsu, Winter, Letty, Sasha
Gleeful Gingerbreads – Char, Marco, Brandon, Bonnie, Andrea, Aditi
Shining Stars – Ketch, Elodie, May, Winnie
Placements
24th - Dominic
23rd - Paul
Author's Note: I am back, hope you all enjoyed reading.
