3rd Person POV:
The final four teams were all on the same flight to New York.
Confessional: The Surfers:
"Could we win? At this point, I don't see why not," Geoff said.
"Ha-ha! We definitely have luck on our side, we were lucky to get back into the race at all. And make it to the finale, with a future girlfriend? Triple lucky," Brody smiled.
Confessional: The Police Cadets:
"That's right, the little police cadets made it all the way to the big bad finale. So look out! We're the ultimate superhero and sidekick duo," Macarthur smiled, while Sanders frowned.
"Seriously?" she questioned.
"Um, you're the superhero," Macarthur tried to save herself.
"Oh, okay then," her partner smiled.
"But I'm the loveable, funny sidekick, who's just as good at everything, And maybe a little stronger," Macarthur said, while Sanders scowled.
Confessional: The Daredevils:
"This is it, day one: had you told me we'd make it to the finale I wouldn't have believed you. This race has meant so much to us," Kristen said.
"Exactly, I got what I came here for, a future boyfriend, and now it's time to get you your ticket to med school and a police lady girlfriend," Marnie smiled.
"That, and we have to get rid of the Ice Dancers for good," Kristen said as the sisters hi-fived.
Confessional: The Ice Dancers:
"If the other teams think they have a chance, they're kidding themselves," Josee smiled, evilly.
"But the joke is on them," Jacques said before he and Josee broke out into cackles.
"We're the best, always have been. Today is no different. We're going to win!" Josee laughed.
End Confessionals
Marnie POV:
Our plane touched down at JFK airport and we raced out of the plane and in the direction of the don box. Geoff slammed down and grabbed the first tip.
"It's an all-in, who's ready to take on the traffic," Geoff read, and I grabbed a tip as well.
"For this challenge we have to take one of the assigned Ridonculous taxis, and then race toward the empire state building. Once we arrive, we gotta climb 86 flights of stairs, in order to reach the observation deck. That's where we'll get our next tip, attached to one of the four suitcases. Moving one step closer to the final chill zone and the million dollar prize," I read.
"Fun fact, last team to arrive is pretty much doomed," Sanders said, eyes widening.
"The taxis," Brody exclaimed, running off.
"Come on Kris!" I said, pulling her away.
"Go, go, go! Viet! Viet!" Jacques screeched, we got into our taxi and raced away right behind Geoff and Brody, with Kristen driving us away. I grabbed our map and began to search for shortcuts.
"Keep going down this road!" I told her.
"Got it!" Kristen said driving as fast as she could, after a while we'd managed to then catch up with Geoff and Brody.
"Marnie, are we almost there?" Kristen asked.
"Yup, just keep going, and..." I took a look in the side view mirror to see the Ice Dancers racing toward us.
"Swerve!" I yelled, pulling the steering wheel to the left. As the two of us got into the other lane the Ice Dancers sped past us, and smashed into the back of Geoff and Brody's taxi. As I breathed a short sigh of relief, we sped away forward. Looking in the rearview mirror I saw the Ice Dancers bashing into the Surfers, spinning them around. The pair of them then sped past us. Suddenly, I saw Brody and Geoff were spinning toward us.
"Kristen watch out!" I yelled, before Brody and Geoff smashed into us, and then suddenly all of us smashed into a pole. Brody got out of their taxi and gagged from motion sickness, I also got out feeling a little dizzy. Shaking my head I opened the door and Kristen fell out, and then she face planted.
"Gnarly, are you guys okay?" Brody asked.
"We're okay, thanks guys," I smiled.
"I'm feeling a little woozy-boozy," Kristen said before she went back to planting her face in the pavement.
"Uh yeah, I'm okay. But our taxis are toast," Geoff said.
"Aw man, now what?" Brody asked. I looked around and found an entrance to the subway.
"Guys! Look! We can take the underground!" I smiled.
"Underground?" Geoff questioned.
"You mean we start digging?" Brody asked. I mentally facepalmed.
"Sorry, let me retry. Look! Subway entrance! What do you say?" I said in a sing-songy tone.
"I say book it!" Brody smiled.
"Yeah-ah!" Geoff laughed.
"Woo-hoo!" I smiled, pulling the still face planted Kristen along the road by her ankle.
"Woo-hoo-hoo!" Brody smiled as we ran down the stairs, and I continued to pull on Kristen's ankle, with her making several grunts along the way. Once we got to the bottom of the stairs we'd reached the subways. We bought four tickets and got on, sitting down on an empty bench. Next to a dosing hobo.
"It's way cleaner than I expected," Geoff commented.
"You're right, it is surprising," Kristen said.
"Hmm, true," I smiled, shifting closer to Brody.
"You know guys, I'm starting to think we won't even get mugged," my favourite surfer boy smiled. Suddenly the intercom came on.
"Next stop, empire state building,"
"Ya-ha-ha-ha-hay!" Kristen cheered, pulling me into a hug. I smiled despite feeling slightly choked.
"Boom!" Geoff and Brody said, hi-fiving, after our subway finished its relatively short journey. We left the subway behind as we got out of the subway entrance. Thankfully Kristen had fully recovered and had gone back to running after one of her wisdom teeth had fallen out.
"There's the um-pire state building!" Geoff exclaimed, pointing at the massive building.
"Let's move!" I cried.
"Oh, watch out for falling gorilla poop!" Brody told me. I gave him a questioning look and exchanged glances with Kristen. She was about as weirded out as I was. Brody and Geoff then ran past us and into the building. We just shook off the weird comments and ran after them.
Kristen POV:
Once we were inside the building we began to scale the 86 flights of stairs. After a relatively short climb we were at the top.
"Woo! Made it!" Brody smiled.
"Nice!" Marnie smiled.
"Four briefcases! We must be the first teams here!" Geoff said, pointing at the briefcases. I ran up to them and read the tip attached to it.
"We rule!" Brody cheered.
"Take this briefcase, to the midpoint chill zone in Central Park! Then give your tip to Don to move on! If you're the last team to arrive you're eliminated," I read.
"Great! Grab the briefcase! Let's move!" Marnie said.
"Alright! Central Park! Here we co-ah! AHH-HA! Double leg cramp dudes! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAHA! Brody exclaimed.
"Dude! Not again!" Geoff said.
"NO!!! Not again!" Marnie suddenly exclaimed. Then from her sweater pocket she pulled out what must've been a banana but now it looked more like a burnt sausage.
"What is that?" I questioned.
Confessional: The Daredevils:
"Very first challenge, we climbed so many stairs Brody's calves became twice their usual size," Marnie exclaimed.
"So what? You've kept a banana in your sweater since then to make sure you can help him?" I asked.
"Um yeah?" Marnie said.
"That is the sweetest yet most disgusting thing you've ever done for someone," I said, while Marnie smiled.
Confessional: The Surfers:
"If that doesn't prove that Marnie's the perfect girlfriend for me I don't know what will," Brody said.
"Yup, she might even know you better than I do," Geoff smiled before the two of them burst out laughing.
End confessionals
"Is that thing even edible?" Geoff asked.
"Iron stomach dude, piece of cake," Brody smiled.
"I would step away, especially you," Marnie said to me, Brody then took off the peel revealing a green cloud of pong.
"Ugh," Geoff gagged. Brody then shoved the banana in his mouth and quickly swallowed, before he burped, and a green cloud escaped his mouth. Geoff who smelled all of this gagged before upchucking his breakfast all over the floor. I plugged my nose and Marnie shoved her hand over my mouth. After a couple of minutes waiting for Brody, he could finally stand again.
"It's working guys, my calves are loosening up," Brody said.
"Sweet! Let's bounce!" Geoff said, taking off with their briefcase.
"Come on Kris! Let's move!" Marnie said.
"Coming! Coming!" I said running after her, briefcase in hand. As we began to run down the stairs, we heard Josee's voice. I saw a smug smile spread across Marnie's face.
"First inside the building! First to the final challenge! First to win the million!" Josee smiled, suddenly Geoff and Brody must've run past them.
"Hey guys," Geoff smiled.
"Hey, what's up?" Brody asked.
"What? How did you get here?" Josee asked.
"It's okay Josee, at least we're still in second place," Jacques tried to calm down his angry partner. Then suddenly, we got to their level.
"Maybe try running normally and you might have a chance at winning," Marnie said, running down the stage.
"Marnie please, let them run how they want. Especially if they're deliberately trying to lose," I said. Josee first scrunched up her face, growled and then screamed through the building. Geoff and Brody then ran past Sanders and Macarthur.
"Hey guys," Geoff smiled.
"T'sup?" Brody asked.
"No time to chat!" Macarthur said.
"Yeah, we're coming for you next!" Sanders said
"Ha! Awesome!" Brody said, then we ran past them.
"Hey girls!" Marnie smiled.
"Good luck!" I said winking at Sanders, she smiled at me.
"Thanks," she smiled. Hurrying, we reached the exit, and ran out of the building with Geoff and Brody.
"Look, Don left another Ridonculous taxi for us," Brody said.
"Ah! Sweet, thanks Don!" Geoff said. "Girls hop in!" he added.
"Thanks!" I smiled. As we reached Central Park, all four of us raced out of the taxi and through Central Park.
"Woo-hoo!" Geoff cheered.
"There's Don!" Marnie smiled.
"Yes girl!" Brody said.
"Geoff, Brody, Marnie, Kristen, you're the 1st and 2nd teams to arrive at the midpoint!" Don said, before we all wrapped him into a group hug.
"Dude!" the four of us smiled.
"Ugh! Too tight! Can't breathe!" the host said.
"Oops, sorry bro," Geoff said.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"That Don Box holds the tip to your next challenge, good luck," Don said, the four of us ran over to the box. Geoff grabbed the tip for himself and Brody and me doing it for myself and Marnie.
"It's an all-in, buoys will be buoys," Geoff read.
"Oh that is so true," Brody agreed, Marnie giggled slightly. I began to read the tip after he finished reading.
"Go to the boathouse, and use one of the boats to search the buoys in the middle of the pond for the combination to unlock your briefcase," I read.
"Girls we're gonna split up for this one, okay?" Brody asked.
"Cool, sounds good. We wish you good luck," Marnie said, kissing his cheek. We then ran past them in search of a boathouse with a pond.
"Okay we can't just run around this massive park, searching for every boathouse. Let's think for a moment," Marnie said.
"Look, a map, over there!" I said pointing at a nearby board with a map.
"Okay, so logically thinking, what pond do you think the producers would choose?" I asked Marnie.
"If I was an evil producer on a dangerous reality TV competition, which pond would I choose?" Marnie pondered out loud.
"Marnie! Do this properly!" I told her. "Okay, no, not there. Not there either," I thought out loud.
"What about turtle pond?" Marnie suggested.
"Why would they pick a pond filled with cute little reptiles?" I asked, the sound of reptiles made Marnie shudder.
"Look, that pond is filled with snapping turtles so naturally it's the most dangerous," Marnie explained.
"Again, with the fact that despite them being snapping turtles, they normally will leave us alone as long as we don't invade their territory," I said, Marnie glared at me.
"What?" I questioned.
"Stop overthinking things!" Marnie then yelled at me. Suddenly, my eyes widened.
"Come on!"she yelled, we took off, right as the Cadets arrived. After a short enough run we reached the same pond that was on the map. We quickly got into a brown canoe, and then began to paddle through the pond.
"There, let's try this one first!" I told Marnie while pointing at a buoy right in front of us. Once we reached it, I began to search for numbers.
"So, what's the code?" she asked.
"I don't know, I can't find any numbers," I said.
"Here's one," Brody said, pulling up a buoy. "Three-four-one," he said.
"No, to the next buoy," Geoff said.
"Try that code as well," I told Marnie.
"Nope nothing," she said.
"I'll get the numbers you distract them somehow," I heard Sanders say to her partner.
"I got this, hey Brody. I'll trade you the million for a date, just like in Beijing." Macarthur said. I looked at Marnie who only looked at them with a small smile on her face.
"Sorry Macarthur, I already have a future girlfriend," Brody told her.
"WHAT?! WHO REPLACED ME?!!" Macarthur yelled.
"Me, sorry," Marnie smiled.
"Oh right, back in the Bahamas, sorry Marns," the Police Cadet apologised.
"It's okay, now, get ready to get your butt kicked," Marnie smiled before we saw the combination on our buoy.
"Five-nine-seven," I told Marnie, she tried and then shook her head. We paddled away and continued to search. As we paddled we must've gone through at least twenty different buoys. And at each one Marnie shook her head. After several tries we heard Sanders yell out.
"Yes! It worked! Hello, map to the chill zone,"
"Woo! Yeah!" Macarthur cheered before she dropped the buoy she'd picked up in their canoe.
"To the shore quick!" Sanders ordered as she and Macarthur paddled away.
"Come on Kristen! Get the next buoy!" Marnie told me, I grabbed the buoy I had my hand on and pulled it up.
"Okay! 2-7-6!" I said. Marnie then tried the combination and it opened our briefcase.
"WOO! First place her we come!" Marnie yelled, as we began to paddle away. As we paddled away, I looked back and saw Brody and Geoff had finished the buoy challenge as well. I began to paddle as fast as I could going way faster than I would've normally. We eventually saw Sanders and Macarthur a bit further in front of us. They reached the end, a bit before we did.
"Come on Marnie!" I told my sister as I helped her out of the boat, and we took off after the Cadets. But Brody and Geoff were not giving up; they were around a minute behind us.
3rd Person POV:
"Come on! Come on!" Sanders yelled, running past a small flock of pigeons.
"Coming on, coming on," Macarthur said, tiredly running after her.
"Move it! We need to go faster!" Marnie yelled, running alongside Kristen. Behind them Geoff and Brody were still trying to catch up with both girl teams. While running Sanders looked back and saw both the Daredevils and the Surfers running toward them. From the back Brody spoke up.
"Hey I see them both! We can do this!"
"Uh oh, I can also see the chill zone! Turbo boost!" Geoff exclaimed.
Confessional: The Surfers:
"Normally when Geoff says turbo boost it means he's about to fart," Brody explained as a wide grin made its way across Geoff's face. "But I figured this time he meant let's go faster," the brown-haired surfer explained.
"Totally true, we were in a rush," Geoff reassured.
End confessional
At the chill zone Don was explaining what was going on, while on a nearby bleacher all of the other eliminated contestants had gathered.
"It's the last dash to the final chill zone after 21 countries and multiple challenges. It comes down to this!" he said pointing in the direction of the oncoming runners. In the front it was still Sanders and Macarthur, they ran past an old man feeding a collection of colourful birds. They were closely followed by Marnie and Kristen, with the latter pulling the former by her arm. The two sisters were being followed by Geoff and Brody. Back on the carpet of completion Don was waiting with the platter of money.
"Who is going to win this million dollars?" he asked, holding out the platter. Macarthur quickly caught up with her partner, but soon enough the Daredevils and Surfers also caught up with them and they ran in a kind of crowd formation. Everyone was panting, and were out of breath, meanwhile, most of the eliminated contestants were cheering on the finalists. As all six of them raced past the other contestants and up the short amount of stairs they were all on equal footing then suddenly...