The episode starts with Don narrating. "Last time on the race around the states, Brody was back after making a full recovery, and despite the fact Harold helped him when he was in danger, Brody still thinks Harold is taking things too far with his lawsuit." "We then went to a high school in Massachusetts, where the idea was to roll a basketball to the white line, without going over the line." "This was obviously easier said than done, with how the physics of a basketball actually work." "In the end, Noah managed to nab his second win of the season, and he and Emma signed autographs for the principal." "We are now entering the second half of the competition, and all 36 contestants that are currently still competing, are mathematically eligible to win the whole thing." "Who is going to increase their chances at the million dollars?" "Find out on this episode of, the race around the states."

Intro consists of a shorter version of the final countdown.

As everyone else was working hard in self defense class with Officer Chambers, Junior was lying on a bench outside, sleeping. He was dreaming about finally getting to meet Denny Hamlin. He was woken up by the sound of a voice. "This is a weird place to fall asleep." Junior opened his eyes, sat up, and Emma sat down beside him. "The pain is getting worse, and we've only just reached the second half" said Junior. "Dude, nobody is forcing you to do this, you're not required to participate in your condition" said Emma. "Since i've made it halfway, I might as well go the full mile" said Junior. "Listen, I want everyone to be there at me and Noah's wedding, I don't want you to severely damage yourself and not be able to attend" said Emma. "If I don't get through this, I don't want you cancelling anything, I don't want to be the reason for your life not being turned around" said Junior. "Wait a minute, what do you mean by having my life turned around?" asked Emma. "Listen Emma I mean this in the nicest way possible, but before you and Noah fell in love, you were kind of a dick" said Junior. "All you really gave a damn about was winning, and you completely disregarded the fact that Kitty is one of your blood relatives." "I don't know how else to put this, if you and Noah never started dating, you'd probably still be an asshole."

(Confession cam- Well, that's one way of putting it)

Emma- "Oh God, everything he just said was 100% true." "Before me and Noah started dating, I was way too aggressive to the people around me." "I'm only now just realizing how much Noah has changed me." "Oh man, I never realized how important our relationship was until now." "All things considered, I think I want to marry him even more."

**End confessional**

(Room 9- the reality tv pros)

"Well, we've done it, we've finally reached the halfway point" said Owen. "For you it's the halfway point, for me it's only one third of the way through" said Noah. "Oh, you're referring to the wedding" said Owen. "Listen Owen, I have a favor to ask of you, I want you to be the preacher at the wedding" said Noah. "Wow, do you really mean it?" asked Owen. "Owen, you are my best friend, I cannot think of a better man for the job" said Noah.

(Room 1- the fashion bloggers)

"I think it's time I went with something different" said Jen. "What exactly do you have in mind?" asked Tom. "Well seeing as how we've both been wearing blue this entire time, I think it's about time we wore purple" said Jen.

(Room 3- father and son)

Dwayne looked down at his son's sleeping form, and thought to himself, "Oh Sarah, I really wish you were still here." "If only you and your baby brother could actually give each other a hug."

When everyone stepped outside the hotel to get on the bus, they saw that instead of wearing her usual blue shirt, Jen was wearing a short red one, that exposed her bellybutton. "Is this new look permanent?" asked Kelly. "Maybe, depends on how many followers this gets" said Jen.

When they got off the bus, they were standing next to a pickleball court. "We are in the state of Washington, the state famous for pickleball, A.K.A a slightly more difficult version of tennis" said Don. "This challenge is going to be very similar to the previous one." "What you need to do is serve the pickleball, and get it as close as you can to the white line on the other side of the court without going over." "Except this time, the ball stops being scored when it hits the ground." "If it rolls or bounces out of bounds after it's landed in fair territory, you will be scored based on where it landed."

This challenge wasn't nearly as difficult as the basketball one, and Kitty ended up finishing in last place by default, due to being the only one to go over the line. This time where the ball landed for each contestant was a lot closer, and it took five hours of slow motion replay to determine where everyone finished. By the time they finally got it figured out, Sanders was declared the winner, with Brody finishing in second, Chris third, Ryan fourth, Owen fifth, Leonard sixth, Laurie seventh, Jen eighth, Geoff ninth, Crimson tenth, Lorenzo eleventh, Ennui twelfth, Junior thirteenth, Stephanie fourteenth, Noah fifteenth, Mary sixteenth, MacArthur seventeenth, Miles eighteenth, Kelly nineteenth, Jacques twentieth, Jay twenty first, Rock twenty second, Spud twenty third, Tom twenty fourth, Emma twenty fifth, Ellody twenty sixth, Pete twenty seventh, Chet twenty eighth, Tammy twenty ninth, Dwayne thirtieth, Taylor thirty first, Carrie thirty second, Gerry thirty third, Josee thirty fourth, Harold thirty fifth, and Kitty thirty sixth by default.

(Confession cam- It took five freaking hours)

Ryan- "Well would you look at that, i'm sitting as the points leader."

Sanders- "Okay, now that i've got a win, I can put up a good fight to get into the chase." "It shouldn't be too hard, i'm only 7 points outside the top 10." "Or I could get in via the wild card spot, if Stephanie finishes a whopping thirty four positions ahead of Jay." "I definitely don't want to see Stephanie winning the next challenge and Junior finishing last." "It would put me in the chase, but at the cost of my boyfriend's wild card spot."

Kitty- "That last place finish didn't hurt me as much as I thought it would, i'm only one single point out of the top 10, I still have a realistic chance."

Owen- "Okay, not only am I going to be the preacher at a wedding, I am also 12 points inside the top 10."

**End confessional**

The podium ceremony was now happening. Chris was on the third place pedestal, Brody was on the second place pedestal, and Sanders was on the winners pedestal. Chris had his arms crossed, clearly disappointed about not having a win yet. Don did not say anything, he just walked up to Sanders, holding a glass case with a sword inside of it. "Um okay, not a bad prize by any means, but I don't think i'll ever need to use it" said Sanders. "You could put it on display in your bedroom at home" said Don. "Or you can cut bread with it" said Spud. "Who, in their right mind would use a sword for food cutting?" asked Taylor. Harold then raised his hand into the air. "This moment we're having right now, reminds me of the first time I played checkers" said Jay. "I had no idea what the fuck was going on." "Okay, that's a wrap" said Don. "Now that she has a win, how much more does Sanders have in her to be a contender?" "Find out next time on, the race around the states."

Point standings

First place: Ryan, 684 points, 1 win

Second place: Chet, 668 points

Third place: Emma, 665 points, 1 win

Fourth place: Noah, 664 points, 2 wins

Fifth place: Leonard, 636 points

Sixth place: Kelly, 619 points, 1 win

Seventh place: Crimson, 598 points

Eighth place: Owen, 591 points

Ninth place: Harold, 587 points, 11 wins

Tenth place: Taylor, 580 points

Eleventh place: Kitty, 579 points

Twelfth place: Sanders, 573 points, 1 win

Thirteenth place: Ennui, 571 points

Fourteenth place: Laurie, 563 points, 1 win

Fifteenth place: Tammy, 554 points

Sixteenth place: Geoff, 543 points

Seventeenth place: Jen, 534 points

Eighteenth place: Lorenzo, 520 points

Nineteenth place: Junior, 495 points, 2 wins

Twentieth place: Jay, 494 points, 2 wins

Twenty first place: Stephanie, 461 points

Twenty second place: Mary, 440 points

Twenty third place: MacArthur, 435 points

Twenty fourth place: Jacques, 417 points, 1 win

Twenty fifth place: Miles, 405 points

Twenty sixth place: Pete, 360 points

Twenty seventh place: Rock, 350 points

Twenty eighth place: Spud, 301 points

Twenty ninth place: Brody, 285 points, 2 wins

Thirtieth place: Izzy, 272 points, 1 win

Thirty first place: Chris, 241 points

Thirty second place: Ellody, 232 points

Thirty third place: Tom, 229 points

Thirty fourth place: Gerry, 197 points

Thirty fifth place: Carrie, 174 points

Thirty sixth place: Leshawna, 171 points

Thirty seventh place: Josee, 142 points

Thirty eighth place: Mickey, 139 points

Thirty ninth place: Dwayne, 129 points

Fortieth place: Devin, 114 points

Forty first place, Dawn, 81 points

Forty second place, Lindsay, 18 points

Authors note: I don't really know all of the rules of pickleball, but I do know that it is very similar to tennis. As for the claim about it being harder than tennis, that's debatable.

The idea for the winner of the Washington challenge to receive a sword, comes from a real life historical figure named Washington, who carried a sword. Well, I think the first U.S president had a sword, i'm just basing this off of how I see him in paintings.

As always, if you have an idea for a challenge in an upcoming state or a prize for a future challenge winner, feel free to let me know in a review.

Thank you for reading and please have a great day.