Sarah's POV
When Sammy said there would be MAJOR payback to the Ice Dancers, she wasn't kidding at all. Both of us felt their time was coming soon whether by us, the Cadets, Sisters, Surfers, or the by the show itself, Jacques and Joseé were going down, down, DOWN. I, and I'm sure everyone else that were either eliminated or still surviving, wanted them eliminated so bad from the race so we could just gloat in their faces at how bad and big of babies they truly were!
But alas, that would be for another time. Right now, the alliance between us the Sisters was still into play. However, that wouldn't stop me from messing with the Ice Pigs. The pressure of the competition would get to them soon enough.
After the Ice Dancers got their tip, and glared daggers at me and Sky which we did back, we went up to the Don Box for our next travel tip.
"We're going to the Bahamas." I said after reading the travel tip.
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Don's POV
"The Bahamas, known for its pirate history, stunning Caribbean beaches, and fluorescent pink flamingos. Once teams land in Nassau, they'll find this Don box and their next travel tip."
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Sarah's POV (cont.)
Sammy and I wasted no time and took off to the road and called for a taxi. A yellow cab stopped in front of us and we got in. "Quick, airport!" The driver took off immediately to the next destination.
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DUAL CONFESSIONAL TIME (CHEERLEADERS)
SARAH
*Serious expression* "From now on 'til the finale, we're gonna beat those Ice Dancers by-" *pounds fist into his open hand* "-any means necessary."
SAMMY
"You mean we're gonna-"
SARAH
"We'll only mess with them if and only if we have the upper hand." *Hears the Ice Dancers' cab in front of them speed up and pass the others easily* "And it looks like something is coming up."
END DUAL CONFESSIONAL
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In a few minutes, we quickly arrived to the airport the same time as the Cadets, Surfers, and Sisters. Just in time to see Joseé grabbing the desk manager from what I can definitely say is threatening him to put us all on later flights.
That and we overheard them as we came in.
"Two tickets to Nassau, NOW! Four more teams are coming and YOU are gonna put them all on a later flight! GOT IT?" Joseé's voice was very on edge in an angry kind of way.
MacArthur laughed and all of us were smiling ranging from happy to taunting. "I guess it's true. 'Ice' guys do finish last!"
"And if it makes you feel better, you might get a 5th place medal. A copper medal, to be exact," Sammy taunted.
"FUH... RRG... RAH!" Joseé was so furious to the point where she-and I'm not kidding- threw a flight computer out the window and was trying to break apart the other at the desk which the manager was hiding under to stay away from her wrath. Good call, dude.
Jacques glared at all of us. "We. Are. So sick of you CADETS AND CHEERLEADERS!" And to even add insult to injury, Joseé helped emphasize Jacques' statement by throwing the computer she was tearing apart away.
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COMBINED CONFESSIONAL TIME (CHEERLEADERS & POLICE CADETS)
SANDERS
*Chuckles* "Did you see her face?"
SARAH
"I know, right?! It was priceless! PRICELESS!!!" *all four of them laugh*
END COMBINED CONFESSIONAL
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A short plane ride later, all of us piled to the Don Box.
"It's an All-In: Arr Matey This Way be Treasure Maps." Sammy read.
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Don's POV
"Welcome to Nassau's pirate museum. Teams must travel here by cab and search this grand display of petty theft for one of these. A Ridonculous treasure map. Once they find a map, they must travel by jet ski to the coast of Abaco Island, where they'll find this Don box for their next tip."
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Sammy's POV
All of us darted to the taxi station. Once again the Ice Dancers sprinted ahead, separating us from the Sisters, and put us in last place. It seemed like a problem right?
No. No, it wasn't.
"Hey, driver. We'll pay for $20 bonus if you get ahead of that cab in front of us and make sure they NEVER pass by." I bribed once again since the prison challenge. The driver smirked and pulled ahead of the Ice Dancers' cab. Now, it was a slightly more relaxing ride to the museum.
And the best part? There was no sign of the Ice Dancers catching up. Just them going their normal speed.
We arrived to our location and stepped out of the cab.
"Yes! Second to last!" I cheered then put a finger on her chin. "Not sure it's something to celebrate about but at least we're ahead of the Ice Dancers." We both smiled for in victory.
That is until said enemies had the decency to run right over us. "See ya never, Cheer-batties!" We both stood up and glared at them with scratches evident on faces as they laughed at us.
I called out to them, "We'll make sure you get 5th place! I'll even have Sarah rip out your organs if it comes to that!"
"Yeah!" Sarah glared at them.
We ran inside the museum and started our search for the map. We split off into different sections in the museum. I search right while Sarah was on the left. With all the teams here, pressure was nearing its peak for sure. I searched calmly through the barrels and behind picture frames. Sarah looked behind the display tables. Eventually, I went back to where she and Emma were, reached behind a frame, and got a Ridonculous Race map...
"Got one!"
...At the same time Kitty did... and we were holding the map in our hands.
"Um... you can have it, Kitty," I said.
"But what about you and Sarah?" she asked.
"Don't worry, we'll find another," Sarah assured from her side.
"Oh, Sarah." Joseé called deviously with a smile. "You can take this map!" She threw a rolled map into her face. And when she opened it, it was a Ridonculous Race map.
She smiled tauntingly along with the girls as we looked at it. "Wow, Joseé. You're right. I really do deserve this."
Sarah showed her exactly what she threw at her. She and Jacques returned wide-eyes for a second before Joseé growled in irritation and her partner facepalmed.
"Give me that!" She had livid eyes and was charging towards me at an alarming pace.
"Well, if you say so." Sarah shrugged casually. As soon as she is closing in on me, she sidestepped and watched Ice Queen slip on all the discarded maps and fell on the floor.
"In your face, Ice Dunces!" Kitty said as we ran out of the museum.
"We'd say it's ice to meet you, but then we'd be lying!" Sarah added.
We ran to the beach and into the changing our swim suits. We even applied sunblock so we won't get burned. Once we're done, we hopped on our jet ski and headed to the next challenge.
"There's the island!" Kitty exclaimed, pointing ahead. She and Sarah took travel tips from the Don Box.
"Oh no, it's a Random Botch." She read from her tip with concerned look on her face.
"What's so bad about that?" Sarah asked with a confused expression, then looked back on the travel tip and she realized. "Oh. Dive to Survive: Whoever's holding this tip-"
Emma sighed in relief, which I returned with a glare while Kitty looked to her. "Hey!/Emma."
"Sorry." She apologized.
"Whoever's holding this tip must search for sunken treasure...?" Kitty finished looking unsure and a little scared.
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Don's POV
"In this beyond dangerous challenge, the botchers must navigate these underwater tunnels in search of gold doubloons., armed only with their map, a flashlight, and a small tank of oxygen. If they take too long, they'll run out of air. And you need that stuff, to live. So find this big cavern, locate the gold coins and swim back up to... the pier, race their jet skis to the shore, and run along the beach to... this first midpoint chill zone of our grand finale. Three teams will move on. The last team to arrive may never be able to look at a beach again without crying."
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Sarah's POV
I noticed Kitty shivering with fright and asked. "What's the matter with her?"
She only sighed. "At my 7th birthday party, we had a pirate themed pool party. We dove for treasure and Kitty's bikini strap got caught in the drain."
"Ooh, rough." Was all I could say.
"Yeah. Her top got stuck in the filter and-"
"Okay, I've heard enough."
"Just stating the facts!"
I fully prepared myself for the diving challenge whereas Kitty looked below the water with a frightened expression. It hurt me to see her like this. Really it did. No matter what would happen, I'd have her back when we were down there.
"Hey." She turned to me just as I gave her a reassuring smile. "We're in this together. The alliance is still ongoing."
"Um, yeah. I'm just... uncomfortable when it comes to water." Kitty admitted. "I've uh... had an incident you could say before all of this." She had an even more scared look. "I'm not sure if I can even do this."
"It's okay. Like I said, we're in this together."
She let a breath in response, trying to calm herself.
"Whenever you're ready." I waited for her until she nodded. Both of us ran across the docks, dived into the water, and were immediately greeted by darkness.
I turned on my flashlight for better sight. I could hear Kitty gulp from beside me as we were going down. "Um... I'm starting to have second thoughts about this."
"Ah, don't worry, Kitty." I grinned, looking to her. "The only thing to fear is fear itself."
"And... what pretty much lurks in the darkness."
"How are you guys doing down there?" Sammy communicated with us. "The Surfers just pulled up."
"We're good." I pointed my flashlight toward my map. "Just starting to navigate through here."
"Okay, the tunnel entrance should be..." Kitty focused her flashlight into a dark cavern and then screamed. "WHOA! Yeah, I don't think I can do this!"
"Of course you can do this! You're the toughest, most resourceful person I know." Emma encouraged her. "I believe in you Kitty. As I do in Sarah."
"Aw, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to us." Kitty said back.
"Okay, but you better move now. Brody's on his way," Sammy said through the communicator.
As we continue swimming in the tunnel, we heard someone scream 'AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!'
"What was that?" She asked.
"Just Joseé screaming in her mic." Sammy answered. "Nothing to deal with yet."
After a while of searching, more panicking...
...from Joseé .
"I can't do it. I can't... WHAT DO YOU WANT?! Wake up, Joseé. You're a winner. And winners never quit! Are you a baby? You're pathetic, Joseé! A pathetic baby who sucks her thumb and wets the bed." Me and Kitty cringed for a moment then just looked awkwardly to each other as she went even more insane.
"Super awkward..." We heard Emma respond to... well... everyone in general during Joseé's episode.
"No kidding." Sammy's voice rang out.
"Do you hear me?" Joseé finally ended.
"Oh, we're hearin' it." MacArthur replied, in a taunting tone. "Can someone please disconnect her mic?"
"Yeah, I'm with MacArthur." I spoke up. "I'm starting feeling an odd mixture of guilt and annoyance."
"Shouldn't you talk her down?" Sanders voice came up on communicators.
"I've taken this kind of crud from her for 14 years! It's about time she got a taste." Jacques responded.
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DUAL CONFESSIONAL TIME (SISTERS)
KITTY
"14 years of that? Almost feel sorry for him..." *smiles along with Emma* "Well, almost."
END DUAL CONFESSIONAL
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DUAL CONFESSIONAL TIME (CHEERLEADERS)
SARAH
"Gosh. If anything, I'd have Blaineley as a partner, and from watching those World Tour episodes, she is such a fake-blonde phony. If you're watching this, Blaineley, no offense."
SAMMY
*nods in agreement*
END DUAL CONFESSIONAL
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"Emma, we've made it to the caverns." Kitty updated as we stopped in a big room. She pointed her flashlight around. "I think I see something gold..." She stopped over a treasure chest full of gold coins. She gasped in excitement.
I smiled along with her and pointed ahead. "There it is! We've found the treasure!" We swam toward the chest.
"Yes!" Emma and Sammy cheered. "Knew you two could do it." Sanders and Jacques groaned.
"Kudos!" Geoff replied.
"Thanks." I thanked.
"No problem, Sarah." Emma responded.
"First place, all the way." We both looked to an... angler fish. "Aah!" Kitty freaked out accidentally letting go of her flashlight which resulted by getting eaten by the fish. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!"
"Don't worry. I still have mine." I reassured her. However, the angler fish ate my flashlight as well. I glared at it as the lights inside flickered on.
"Hey! Give them back!" I grabbed onto the angular fish. As soon as I did, it started to drag me around the cavern. "Whoa! Aah! Little help here?"
As soon as she had the opportunity, Kitty grabbed onto it and it stopped. "Got it!" The fish then growled in response.
"That can't be good."
The fish suddenly moved even wilder making us scream in terror.
"Guys, what is it?!" Emma spoke up in communicators in concern.
"We're being dragged away by a fish!" Kitty responded, very frightened.
"And it's not as fun as it sounds!" I added, and screamed at the last word.
During our wild ride, we heard that Brody (after mistaking it for balloons) was able get gold doubloons, and Sammy ask him if he saw us.
"Uh... nope. Sorry."
"Guys, where are you?"
"A couple caves over... I think..." Kitty replied, while I was punching the fish for it to cough out our flashlights as it kept swimming in defiance. "Oh, enough already! Give it back!" Unfortunately, the fish got away from us and with our flashlights.
Yet, that wasn't our worst problem.
*CLANG*
"Oh, no!/perfect."
"What?" Emma responded in panic as to our comments as we both struggled. "Is everything okay down there?"
"We're... we're stu-u-u-u-u-uck! AAAHH!" Kitty cried as we were both stuck in the hole we were in.
"We're doomed." I sulked my head down in despair. "Can't someone dive in and get us out?"
"The tip says they can get divers to rescue you, but you'll get cut from race." Sammy answered.
I made an angry expression. "Can this show not be sadistic for once?" We both tried our best to get out of the hole we were in, but wasn't heading anywhere. After a while, we both stop struggling and Kitty groaned while I growled. "Well, isn't this great? Just exactly how I planned it. Both of us are stuck in this hole with no way out! And if that weren't enough, we'll be soaked corpses by the time we get out! The show REALLY likes to mess with people!" I screamed in anger and frustration. "Maybe they should send waterproof robots to annihilate us or just fill this ocean with tiger sharks and electric eels to eat us already!"
"Sarah, STOP IT! GET A GRIP! You're scaring my sister!" Emma scolded just as she heard Kitty's cries in response.
I sighed calmly. "Sorry. I... I was losing myself there. I haven't been in a tight spot like this for a while. What's the use anyway?"
I looked at Kitty in her eyes just like she did me.
"I was supposed to help you with this and... look how that turned out. We're stuck in this hole with no way out. Now we're both gonna die. And..." I sniffled. "It... It's all my fault." Tears started to form in my eyes. "I don't even deserve to be in this race anyway. I'm a failure."
"Hey, you're not a failure, Sarah . If you weren't here, you and Sammy would still be in trouble, and all of us wouldn't be here right now. You did what you could and that's all that matters," Kitty reassured.
I smiled back as I gained back some spirit. "Thanks, Kitty. But right, how do we get out of here before our tanks ran out of air?"
Kitty brightened up. "Sarah, that's it!"
I confused where this was going. "What's it?"
"We're both gonna have to ditch the oxygen tanks and swim for it!" Okay, this is the craziest idea I've ever heard.
"Wait, what?" Sammy's voice came up. "No, Kitty! That's too dangerous!"
"She's right. You heard Jacques. You both can't hold your breath long enough!" Emma agreed with her.
"Well, maybe Joseé can't, but we can." Kitty tried to reassure the three of us. "I've been practicing to hold my breath. I can go four minutes without batting an eyelash." She looked at me directly in the eye. "Think you can handle this, Sarah?"
"I'll try," I answered.
"Okay, here we go!" Both of us took off our oxygen tanks, pulled ourselves out of the hole, held our breaths, and started to swim up to the surface, taking our bag of doubloons with us. It didn't take long just like she said. We inhaled largely just when we were above water.
"Made it." I said.
"Thank goodness!" Emma and Sammy sighed in relief.
"Are we toast?" Kitty asked when we both stepped on the docks.
"It's not over, 'til it's over." Emma stated, clearly saying we're gonna give up yet.
The four of us got on our jet skis and drove off to the beach. By the time we got there, the Cadets were already done and changed into their normal attire while the Ice Dancers were busy changing into theirs. By the time we were done changing into our normal attire, the four of us were in the bottom two. While we sprinting to the mid-point chill zone, the Cadets passing the Ice Dancers was a sight to see.
But for Joseé, it was her way of showing she was still spoiled brat by throwing a coconut at MacArthur's head while she was running.
Sanders took of this, stopped, and glared at the Ice Dancers who passed on by. "Hey!" Joseé only laughed like the Ice Witch she was.
We stopped where MacArthur fell, and gasped. Well, the girls were the ones gasping. I only presented a concerned look to MacArthur on the ground, then glared at Joseé just as she looked back at me and blew a raspberry.
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DUAL CONFESSIONAL TIME (SISTERS)
EMMA
"Yikes! Right after MacArthur helped her stay in the game... and you know... *shrugs* alive?"
END DUAL CONFESSIONAL
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DUAL CONFESSIONAL TIME (CHEERLEADERS)
SARAH
"Smooth move, Joseé. Throwing a coconut at someone who saved your life, *sarcastically* real professional!"
END DUAL CONFESSIONAL
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DUAL CONFESSIONAL TIME (ICE DANCERS)
JOSEÉ
"Just because she got all soft doesn't mean I have to!"
END DUAL CONFESSIONAL
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Sammy's POV
Amazingly, Sanders picked up MacArthur while she was down and ran past us when we started racing again. For real, she's stronger than she looks.
"Wow, you're glute strength has improved!" MacArthur said to her as Sanders started passing the Ice Dancers. Since when does carrying your big partner with your arms mean you're using glute strength?
All of us were now neck-in-neck to the chill zone approaching fast. Sky and I, without realizing, pushed ourselves, running past everyone else to the chill zone.
"Cheerleaders, 2nd place." Don announced. "Ice Dancers, 3rd. Cadets, 4th place."
Wait... that meant...
"Emma, Kitty, I'm sorry... but you've been cut from the race." I groaned in disappointment.
"Guys, we're sorry!" I said as I ran straight back to them, with a sympathetic expression. "We didn't mean to leave you both behind. We were just so focused on the competition and-"
She smiled and stopped me, "Sammy. It's okay. We were gonna get eliminated sooner or later. Besides, we had a great time. Emma even complimented me."
I returned a strange look to her from behind. "You did?" She nodded her head.
"Wait, what about your promise to Noah?" Sarah pointed that out.
"That was before I finally saw the light. I'm gonna call him anyway," Emma replied.
"Ahem." Don cleared his throat on purpose. "Don't mean to interrupt, but the competition's starting to heat up." He pointed to where the Cadets and Ice Dancers were running to their respective boats.
"Right, Sarah and I are still in the race." I looked back toward Kitty and I held her hands. "Meet us at the final chill zone, okay."
"Sounds great." Kitty replied with a smile. "Oh, and guys?" She and Emma smiled mischievously. "Make sure you crush those Ice Dancers for us."
Sarah smiled smugly. "With extreme pleasure. Oh, and before I forget... I wanted to give you guys these."
She gave them two bangles, both white with one side printed with red, black, and gold polka dots. (A/N: See this in the 'Meet the Cheerleaders' part.)
"These confirm that we are now friends," Sarah said as the four of us hugged.
"Thanks, Sarah," Emma and Kitty replied.
I smiled and waved to her as Sarah and I started running to the boat. "See you at the chill zone!"