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Previously on the Amazing Race, our teams gambles for the win, but some slipped up on the second task. The YouTubers took first once again much to Donna's dismay. Ren confronted Chris about Zack. In turn, Chris revealed that he has had secret feelings for him the entire time. Cal blackmailed him, giving him until the finale to tell him the truth about his harsh behavior. But some actions have consequences as the engaged couple fell into last and were cut from the race.

We still have seven teams left in the race for the million. Which ones will make is through this episode? Time to find out. This is... the Amazing Race.

***

"Welcome back to Brandt Centre in Saskatchewan," Toner introduces. "Our Final Seven teams will be leaving in the same order in which they arrived, starting with the winners: the YouTubers."

Majira steps up to get the first clue and he reads it aloud. "'Take a double-decker along Highway 1 all the way to the Forks to find the next clue box'."

The Forks lies in the capital of Manitoba: Winnipeg; a city started by several French fur traders. The city is known as the "Gateway to the West" with a diverse culture shown through its numerous festivities such as Folklorama and Festival du Voyageur. Teams will take a double-decker bus east until they reach the Forks in the middle of the city where they will find the next tip.

Echo & Majira head out of Brandt Centre first. The cab drivers stick closely behind them. After losing again yesterday, Donna is out for blood this time. She doesn't care if she has to take things to an extreme level. Either way, those YouTubers are going home today. If it's the last thing she does.

Josee steps up next for her team. As she and Ryan run out with the tip, she can't help but admire the wolf a little bit. Yes, they've broken up a while back to become the haters, but lately she's starting to think that they could get back together. "You know, I think things are doing great between us," she says.

"Yeah," Ryan agrees. "I think we can go as far as saying things are very well." They stop momentarily, letting the marines pass them, and they look into each other's eyes. Quickly, they lean into each other for a little kiss. Once it ends, Josee gives him a firm slap on the cheek. "Is there ever going to be a time where our make out sessions DON'T end up with a slap?"

"Probably not... unless we were in first place," Josee purrs.

The friends with benefits leave next. "I'm happy we're in fifth place," Toby says. "But with only seven teams left, we need to start picking up our pace otherwise we'll be toast."

Felix nods. "I agree. I think we should consider an alliance with another team right now. Donna is insane and the YouTubers always keep to themselves. The marines are already going through their own issues at the moment and the haters are... well... their own bag of nuts."

"That only leaves the strippers and officers," Toby points out.

"Yes. The strippers though, don't really talk to anyone except themselves. Besides, I don't understand Cinnamon with his American Sign Language. That leaves Nick & Judy." Felix glances behind them as he sees the officers race out of the building towards the bus. "Maybe we should try them. They don't seem to be working with anyone..."

Cinnamon grabs the tip as the last team departs for the bus. After all 14 racers are on board, the doors close and everyone starts heading east along the highway. The only teams that catch some shut-eye are the strippers and haters. Zack just looks out the window, gazing at the country as it passes by. Nick thinks of ways to skid past the cab drivers in this leg of the race (after a couple days of being at the bottom, it's time that things start to change).

Donna glaces at the seat ahead of them, where a pair of purple and red ears poke out from the seats. "There has to be some way to get rid of them this week," she mutters to her partner.

Vito snaps out of his half-asleep daze and shakes his head. "I'm not sure," he says. "The only thing I know about YouTubers is that they really enjoy the camera, but the camera has been on them most of this race and look at them; they've won three rounds of it."

"They have to have some other weakness." As Donna thinks about it, Majira shifts a little as he starts to fall asleep. Echo has her earbuds in, listening to her favorite song. Without either of them knowing, the bus hits a bump and something falls out of Majira's grip. It rolls across the floor until it bumps the vixen's foot. Donna looks down and sees it's a stuffed strawberry about the size of her palm.

She reaches down, picks it up and tries to figure out where it came from. Then she sees the purple-tipped ears flicker and realizes it belongs to Majira. Her face spreads into an evil grin. Weakness found, she thinks to herself.

About an hour or so later, Chris looks over and sees his teammate with his eyes closed and his breathing steady. The words of Ren & Cal come back to him. If he doesn't fess up about his feelings, they'll tell him. The fox is sound asleep and facing him. Maybe this will be a good opportunity.

The wolf/husky leans back and slowly inches towards Zack. His own heartbeat starts to pick up as he can feel his lips brush against the vulpine's. He can feel the electricity spark between them. If only he had the courage to just stand up and tell him. Just as the lip brushing was about to turn into a full-blown kiss, Zack's eyes slowly opens up. Busted.

Chris thinks fast, shoving his partner away. "What do you think you're doing?!" Chris snaps. Zack shrinks back, pinning his ears down. "Jeez, first you're a lousy teammate and now you're trying to kiss me?! What's wrong with you?!"

The fox pushes him out of the way and runs down the aisle towards the back of the bus where Toby & Felix sit. Chris stays at his seat and facepalms himself. Why is this happening to me? he asks himself.

***

By the time the bus arrives at the Forks, most of our racers are ready to get started. The doors open and most of the teams pile out for the clue box with Zack tailing behind slowly. "Looks like we have ourselves another One-Way," Nick observes. "'Chocolate Wonderland'?"

For this One-Way, teams must search through a giant display of over a thousand Hershey's bars outside the market for their next tip. Each one is hidden inside seven different bars in the display.

Most teams dive into the sweets, tearing the wrappers open to find nothing inside. But for the drivers, Donna grabs Vito's elbow before they begin. "I'm going to find some way to knock the YouTubers into last place using this." She holds up the stuffed berry she got on the bus. "If Majira is as protective over it as he always is, then he'll come looking for it as soon as he realizes that it's gone."

"Ok," Vito agrees. "In the meantime, we should probably start the task." The fox runs over to join those tearing the display apart. Donna looks around and sees someone selling balloons on a vendor. She runs over to the coyote running it.

"I need a dozen red balloons and I'm sort of in a hurry," she explains. The seller shrugs his shoulders and starts filling some with helium.

Meanwhile, the other six teams are diving in. Ryan chose to sit down for this task with Josee standing, figuring that they start on each end and meet in the middle. Toby realized a good strategy is to hold the bar down by a finger and tear the front end off. It's fast and easy. As Chris looks around, Zack manages to keep his distance, still afraid that his partner will snap at him again for no reason.

Pepper holds a few bars out away from him carefully as Cinnamon rips the wrappers. The reasoning for this is because the grey fox has a chocolate allergy. It gets too close and he gets a rash. A bad one.

Vito looks around, giving an occasional glance over at Donna, who's still getting balloons for some reason. Nick sees this as he mindlessly rips the same wrapper in half again and again and again. "Uhhhh, Nick, you might want to try a new bar." Judy snaps him out of his daze. The sly fox looks down to see paper confetti at his feet.

"Oh, sorry," he says, reaching for a new Hershey's bar. "It's just that ol' Vito & Donna are up to something again. I don't know what it is, but I want to know."

Felix reaches for the higher shelves (thinking that since most of the remaining racers are short, Toner would do that just to mess with them). A few feet away, Zack sits on his rear end, ears down and tail curled around himself. He sloppily rips the wrappers open and lazily tosses them aside. But he doesn't just seem lazy, Felix notices. He looks sad; depressed even.

"Hey, is everything ok?" he asks. The brown fox kneels down next to the other vulpine. "You're looking kind of... down."

Zack sniffles. "I don't know what it is about me, but for some reason, Chris is just so mean to me all the time. At first it was light but now he's... he's..." He doesn't finish the sentence. He buries his face in his paws, tears streaming out and whimpering slightly.

Obviously Chris hasn't told him. Why would he hold back? Felix asks himself. Zack seems like a nice person. Too fragile, but nice. He can't stand to see him like this any more. Wrapping an arm around him, Felix confesses, "Listen, Zack, Chris doesn't hate you at all no matter what you think."

He looks up at him. His eyes starting to become red and his cheeks wet with tears. "H-He doesn't?" Zack asks, choking back a sob.

"No. Absolutely not. He's just been acting that way because he really like you. And I mean 'likes you' likes you." Soon, Zack's face brightens up when he picks up Felix's hint. "He tried to deny it to me before, but I saw it all over him. He has an obvious crush on you."

It was hard for Zack to believe, but as a man who watches romantic movies more than any marine in his barrack, he knows that sometimes people hide their crushes by bullying them or picking on them. Which means if Chris is picking on him...

"It makes sense!" Zack says, suddenly enthusiastic. "Chris has only ever verbally attacked me. He never used physical force once on me in his entire life! Thanks, Felix!" He gives him a quick hug (that nearly knocks the breath out of him), then focuses 100% more on the task at hand.

"Is it me, or has the temperature gone up all of a sudden?" Josee asks. She's not very used to heated environments; it was amazing how she got past the sauna challenge back in Oregon. The tigress waves a paw in her face, trying to cool off a little bit. She can already feet the sweat coming out of her forehead.

Ryan, on the other hand, is sitting down, and in the shade based on the angle of sunlight and the display case casting a shadow. To him, it's simple: sit down and you're in the shade. Stand up, you'll fry up instantly. "Maybe you could try sitting down," the wolf proposes. "The pavement seems a lot cooler."

"But how else am I supposed to get the high shelves?" Josee retorts.

"True, but there are a few more untouched down here. Plus, there's always room next to me." Is she didn't know any better, she'd think that Ryan was hitting on her. After he dumped her on national TV weeks ago. Then again, it might be a little appealing to her in a way.

After a few seconds, Josee sits down on the ground next to her partner, feeling the unusual vibes between them. They both want to kiss the other, but it feels like the wrong moment. Coming in first seems like the right moment. While Josee would normally complain about that, it seems like nobody else is really doing well in the task either.

The bunny on the other side of the display goes through a few more on the corner, until she feels a weird bulk on the back. She rips it open and there sits the next tip. "Yes!" Judy shouts. She then reads what they have to do next. "Ok... 'Find the meeting place where the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba come together'."

In this One-Way challenge, teams must make their way to the checkpoint at the Manitoba Legislative Building a couple kilometers away. Here's the catch: they have to arrive on bicycles. And they will be given no clue as to where the place resides so they'll have to ask around for directions. The last team to arrive at the building could be heading home.

Nick & Judy lock onto their first place lead, but some of the others are starting to catch up. As Donna gets the last balloon filled, Vito rips open the seemingly hundredth bar he's checked and finds the next tip inside. "Finally!" he says. Donna runs over to him. "Where have you been?"

"Busy," she snaps. She holds up the balloons. "Now help me tie these onto the berry." Vito holds Majira's strawberry in place as the vixen wrapps the dozen strings around it and ties it in a double knot. "If this doesn't get them distracted, nothing will."

She sends them off into the air and runs (while evilly snickering) with Vito towards the bike rack. Chris eventually finds one near the top shelf. "Finally! Third place, here we come," he chants. "Come on, Zack." He pulls the fox to his feet and the marines run off. Zack, feeling that his partner will treat him even ruder than before, decides not to tell Chris that he knows about the crush. It's better to leave things the way they are instead of trying to make it worse.

This leaves the strippers, haters, YouTubers, and friends with benefits. Pepper continues to holds the bars out for Cinnamon to rip for him. "Dude, how much longer are we going to be here?" Pepper asks. "People are starting to leave. We can't come in seventh again; you know what that'll mean?" Cinnamon nods.

"Toby, are you having any better luck over there?!" Felix shouts.

"Negative!" Toby shouts from the other side of the display. They assumed if they worked on opposite ends, they'd be more focused on the task than of each other. For the most part, it seemed to be working out.

Majira tears one open and sees the familiar colors of the next clue. "Awesome. Fourth place-" Before he can continue, the wind blows and a familiar scent hits his nose. That smell. He knows it anywhere. It's the one he's been giving off since he was a cub. Strawberry.

He turns around and sees, floating in the air, his stuffed berry, slowly rising towards the sky. "NO!!!" he shouts. He tosses the tip aside, forgetting everything about the race entirely. He runs out to reach his airborne berry, but the soft plush only grazes his fingers when he jumps to get it. "How am I supposed to get it?!?!"

He starts to panic. Echo's looks around for anything that can get it down from where it is. The only thing she can think of is the little kitten who, for whatever reason, is carrying around a watermelon slice. One with seeds. She holds her paw out to stop her. "Excuse me, can I see that for a second?" she asks.

The kitten looks between her and the fruit in her paws.

***

Nick acts as a lookout while Judy stops a stranger (kangaroo with black-tipped ears) to ask for directions towards the building. "Thank you very much," she says, swinging her leg back over and begins to resume pedaling.

"Well, what did he have to say?" Nick asks.

"We mostly have to go back down the highway again in order to reach the building. Which means... Hello first pla-" She's interrupted by the sounds of an evil-giggling vixen and her sidekick zooming by them. The drivers! "How in the world did they catch up?!"

"Who cares? After them!" Nick pedals harder and starts to catch up.

Somewhere behind them, the marines ride their bikes without a words being said. Chris tries hard to maintain balance, something that isn't as easy as it seems, while trying not to look at Zack too much, even though his cute fluffy tail is flowing in the wind. And his big brown eyes stab into his heart like Cupid's arrow. Before he knew it, Chris crashes into the wall of some building.

Zack immediately stops. "Oh my goodness! Are you ok?!" he asks, helping his partner onto his feet.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Chris groans. "Let's just continue before something bad happens."

At the checkpoint, Toner waits by the carpet with his phone in paw. "I'm just saying that the carpet could use a little redesign. Like mayb but the name of the series on top of the blue globe on it?" Milton (his boss) barks at him on the other end. "Uh-huh, budget cuts? That doesn't make sense. This season has more ratings than the last two combined." He perks up when he sees one pair of bikes heading his way, "Oh, hang on, I've got to go. I have punishments to dish out."

He hangs up just as Vito & Donna step onto the carpet. "Yes! First once again!" the vixen cheers.

"Yep," Toner confirms. "BUT... Donna did not participate in the One-Way challenge. She was too busy buying balloons." She blushes and tries to look innocent. "While you two discuss your weird problems, you can wait out your ten-minute penalty."

10:00

"Way to go, Donna!" Vito snaps. "I was at that display for what seemed like forever! You couldn't have hurried up and gotten fewer balloons to get the job done?!"

"I needed to make sure that his strawberry floated into the sky!" she argues. "Otherwise, we'll never get rid of those camera-loving brats!"

***

Echo took a big bite out of the watermelon the kid gave her. She made sure to suck off the juicy fruit around the seeds. The fennec looks back into the sky where the stuffed berry still floats slowly away. She takes a deep breath and shoots the seeds out of her mouth, one at a time. Six of them pop, making the berry descend to where Majira can reach it.

He jumps out and snatches it as soon as he's able, cutting off the rest and hugging his stuffed berry close to him. "I was so worried," he says. "How did this even happen?"

"I'm not sure," Echo answers. "But for right now, we should probably get back into the race." She skims over the tip that her partner found.

4:36

4:35

4:34

Donna angrily paces back and forth in front of the carpet, ranting/mumbling to herself. "Are ten minutes have to be up by now!" she accuses.

Toner shakes his head no. Moments later, another pair of bikes make their way to the building. One carrying a bunny, the other a sly fox. They land on the carpet, hitting the brakes in time and they turn to the host. "Officers take first place."

Judy & Nick hug each other tight with the latter of the two looking over his shoulder saying, "In your face, cabbies!" Normally, Judy would scold Nick about gloating, but for some reason, it felt good to do that against the drivers. Especially since they've been penalized.

00:03

00:02

00:01

00:00

The drivers run across the carpet with Toner declaring them in second place (again). Seconds later, another pair arrives with one scratching at his fingers. "Cinnamon & Pepper, third place," Toner says. "And someone please get Pepper some ointment! I'm pretty sure those rashes last longer than he might think!" The fox might've touched the chocolate by accident despite his brilliant strategy.

Meanwhile, the beneficial friends are slowly catching up from behind, pedaling their bikes as fast as they can. Felix slows to a halt, though, when he sees his friend helping his partner up onto his feet. "Zack!" the brown fox calls over. "What happened?!"

"Chris accidentally crashed into a building," he answers. "Is it ok if we head to the checkpoint with you guys?"

Felix turns to Toby and gives him the puppy dog eyes. He clearly wants to helps his friend out so the tiger says, "Sure. But we might want to move, I saw the haters were catching up pretty fast." Though Chris isn't sure, Zack growls as him (something he's not used to) and he agrees to ride with them.

"I still cannot believe we've made it all the way to the Final Seven," Zack says in wonder.

"Final Six if we play our cards right," Toby points out. Chris rolls his eyes, not wanting to hear any part of it. The foxes talk out the directions they got and seem to come to a common agreement: the checkpoint is west. So, the group goes along the highway until they come upon a building that looks similar to the Capitol Building in D.C. only more square. "That must be it."

They ride up to the carpet where Toner waits for them. "Marines, you're in fourth," Again? Chris thinks. "And Toby & Felix, you're in fifth."

The brown fox pulls Zack aside and asks, "Are you sure you're going to be ok for the rest of this race?" he asks.

He turns around to see Chris riding off to... wherever. A couple weeks back, he would've said no, he absolutely cannot live to stand Chris any more. But after this secret got spilled, all Zack wants to do is talk to his partner about it. "Yeah," he eventually says. "I'm sure."

***

Four pairs of tires rip through the city towards the Legislative Building. This is it, folks, a mad dash to the finish line between the haters and the YouTubers. Echo & Majira close in on the tense couple, but Josee wills her feet to pedal faster. Her grip on the handlebars tighten. Ryan looks onwards as his ex-girlfriend passes him. Toner sees both come around the corner at the same time and zoom towards the checkpoint. But one team zooms first and ends up crashing into a nearby tree. "Haters, you're in sixth place," Toner declares. "You're still in the race."

"Great," Josee mutters, spitting a few leaves out of her mouth. A little squirrel lands on top of her head, eyeballing her in an anxious way. "What're you looking at you bag of nuts?!" It scurries off.

The last pair stops their bikes just on top of the carpet, both of them knowing it's too late. Toner clears his throat. "Echo, Majira... Stuffed strawberry... you're the last team to arrive. I thought that this news would come sooner but here it is: you have been eliminated." The YouTubers just stare at him in shock. "Good luck in whatever Channel or carnival you end up in. Now go away."

THey turn their bikes around and walk off. Donna hi5s Vito. Mission, success. As Majira casts one last look over his shoulder, he sees this gesture and knows exactly who stole his strawberry...

***

"I'm glad we went to St. Kitts and Jamaica," Echo says. "And no matter what anyone says, we absolutely kicked some behind in this game. It sucks it has to end here."

Majira nods. "I agree. I mostly had fun in Texas. Portland we could always go back to if someone ever asks us to come over to hang out." He unknowingly clenches his fists at one last thought. "Those drivers better get what's coming to them or else I'm coming back to do it myself."

"Relax, bud. I'm sure it will. Now let's go home and film some more vids, shall we?"