Beer Brawl

Story by houndlover56 on SoFurry

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#19 of The Amazing Race 3


Previously on the Amazing Race, our last seven teams had a sweet dive in Winnipeg. After violating Hershey's bars and biking through the city, everyone made it to the finish line in time. Meanwhile, Donna hatched a plan to get rid of one of her rivals by stealing what didn't belong to her. After having to backtrack, our canine YouTubers, Echo & Majira, sadly came in last and were cut from the race.

Only six teams are left in the game. Will any of them survive? It's time to find out right here on... the Amazing Race.

***

"We're back in Winnipeg in front of the Legislative Building," Toner reminds those who don't know where they are. "Our low winds and high anxiety depict a Category 1 Racing Hurricane with our remaining players. First ones up today are the ZPD officers."

Nick steps up first to read the clue. "We're heading for Wisconsin."

The state of Wisconsin borders two of the five great lakes and is known for its breweries, its love of displaying motorcycles and probably more types of cheeses than Paris and Rome combined. Once teams land in Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, they'll find the next clue box with their next challenge.

The officers head for the airport as the cab drivers step up next. Donna has mixed feelings this morning. Yes, she finally got the YouTubers out after trying for the past few days, but she still needs to be in first. There are two other teams that are already on her hit list. Nick & Judy and Felix & Toby. Eliminate them and the million dollars is as good as hers.

Next, the strippers and marines grab the tip, hailing for taxis to drive them out.When Toby reads where they're going, all he says is, "Sounds like a cheesy episode, am I right?" Bu-dum tsssss.

The haters depart last. Yesterday they were in a good mood and got along pretty well. Today, on the other hand, it's a completely different case. "I told you we could've been done sooner if only you had just let me keep looking at the top shelf. But no, you insisted on me sitting down to look!" Josee complains.

"You were the one who kept whining because you were hot all freakin' day!" Ryan shouts back. It doesn't look like it's going to be an easy day for them. Same for anything else since everyone else is on the same flight as them.

Once everyone is in the air for a short, 3-hour flight, most plug in earbuds to drown out the haters' occasional bickering. One fox keeps his ears down, though; still thinking about what Felix had told him during the One-Way task. Chris is in love with me, Zack thinks, and he doesn't want to admit it so he bullies me. To him, it sounds like a classical TV moment where the two act like they hate each other when in actuality, they're in love.

Zack has never considered Chris to be a potential boyfriend. The wolf/husky has been so busy being rude to him that it never crossed his mind. Now that he knows this, it's time to start pushing him towards it.

The sneaky fox starts by letting out a yawn and leaning over to rest his head on Chris' lap. "What are you doing?" the bigger canine asks.

"I need a nap," Zack explains. "And I don't like sitting back for one since it hurts my neck." He snuggles up, resting a paw on his knee to show he isn't going anywhere. Chris looks up. The seatbelt sign is turned off so he can't really do anything about that. Then again, it's really cute that Zack wants to rest on him.

Don't do anything to hurt him, Chris tells himself. An impulse to push the fox away starts to take over his paws. Don't you dare do it! He balls his fists up and closes his eyes, trying to think of literally anything else.

"Dude, I'm surprised we made it all this way," Pepper says to his partner. "From day one, I thought we'd be toast after the first few days. But to make it to top six? That has to be lucky." Cinnamon nods in agreement.

The plane lands at around 10:37am. All the teams rush out to try and find the next clue box. The officers, still in first place, find it first, continuing their lead. "Looks like we have a Detour," Judy says, holding the yellow tip. "'Shot Glasses or Field Goals'?"

In this show, Detour is another word for choice. In this case, teams can either head to One Barrel Brewery where they must collectively drink ten shot glasses of non-alcoholic beverage before strapping on Fatal Vision goggles and trying to their name perfectly on the blackboard. Get approval, and a bartender will hand them the next clue.

Or, teams can head to Camp Randall Stadium where both members must kick a football past the goal posts from the 25-yard line. If one fails, they have to start over. Once both team members are done, they'll be given the next tip by a local coach. Both clues will lead the teams to the checkpoint at La Follette High School. The last team to arrive... could be sent home.

"I think that Texas proved that I'm not good at sports," Donna says, thinking back to how Vito completed the baseball task in Houston. She shakes her head of these thoughts and pulls her partner towards the street. "We're doing Shot Glasses."

Chris nudges his partner to the side. "If I know one thing is that we're both good with our feet," he points out. "I say we do Field Goals."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Zack asks. But he knew that he had a point; especially for the fox. On his first day at the barracks, he saw a huge spider on the window. By the time he realized it was on the outside, there was a huge gaping hole in the glasses shattered by his foot. And he wasn't even wearing boots at the time.

The marines are followed by the officers as they hail cabs for the stadium. Everyone else, though, decides to go with Shot Glasses. "You know how long it's been since I had a drink of Vodka?" Toby asks. "Too long. How long have we been on this race? Three weeks?"

"You're not alone there," Felix says. "I'd pretty much kill for a bottle of Malibu right now. Even then, the tip said that the drinks are nonalcoholic which means it's not as fun." At least to him since they've woken up from drunk sex before.

Another taxi passes them and it contains the haters. Too bad the vehicle can't contain their anger. "If we come in last, I'm never talking to you again," Josee snarls. Before Ryan can respond, she rants as usual. "We've come in last twice already and we almost did it a third time yesterday. You're just lucky I know how to pedal fast."

"And you're lucky that I ever brought you into this race in the first place!" Ryan shouts. "I could've taken my best friend, Melanie; who, by the way, is waaaaaay more good-looking than you'll ever be!"

Josee gasps at the insult. "Take that back!" she yells. "How dare you compare me to that selfish, evil little troll with a rat's tail!"

"Woah, seems like Josee & Ryan aren't having such a fun trip, huh?" Pepper asks. Cinnamon looks on at the other cab, nodding in agreement (which seems to be all he ever does nowadays). "I think that you and I have got this in the bag. We've been drunk now and then. Remember the time we went to Vegas? Man, those vixens never saw us coming, did they?"

Cinnamon blushes and smiles. "No they did not," he ASLs.

The strippers take the lead, arrive at the brewery first with the haters not far behind. The bartender (red badger with a white stripe) sees them and right away he starts filling several dozen glasses set in front of him. "Cheers, bro." Pepper raises his glasses as he gulps them down.

Ryan starts downing the shots right away, but Josee is a little reluctant. "I don't really like drinking," she explains. "It's something that I promised myself never to do after the time that my father had a really bad hangover and needed to go to the hospital. Ever since then, I swore an oath never to do that ever again."

"But it's a Detour," Ryan says. "It means you have to participate as well or else we get penalized! You only have to drink one!" By that time, he has already downed his eighth shot. He looks over and sees the strippers already almost done and other teams could arrive any minute. "Here, we'll do this together. On three. One..."

"But I can't drink-"

"...Two..."

"Ryan! I-"

"... Three!" Ryan tilts his head back. Josee mirrors his movement, the beverage cooling her burning throat from yelling quite a bit during the show. "See? That wasn't so bad. Plus, the tip said it was nonalcoholic." The tigress ignored. "Ok, next we have to put on vision goggles and write our names on the blackboard."

The bartender hands the two beer goggles just as the strippers motion to him that they're finished as well. At the same time, the friends with benefits and drivers arrive on the scene. "Only ten shots?" Toby asks. "Awwww man."

"Come on, hun." Felix wraps an arm around Toby's and they get seated. The drivers, although confident, are a little nervous about this task. For once. Yes, they are New York cab drivers and they've been in and have driven people to bars and breweries before, but they've never actually took a sip of drinks like this before. Except for the time Donna had one margarita years ago but she never drank it.

"Why did we choose this task again?" Donna asks.

"Because we saw it was easier?" Vito tries to answer. Then he tries a different approach to the challenge. "Actually, it was because if we did that, we'd be there forever, knowing you." The vixen straightened up in her seat, giving Vito a look that said Keep going, I dare you. "Let's face it Donna, you are terrible at sports and everybody knows it. You've been like that for the numerous years that I have known you."

"You better stop while you're ahead," she warns.

"I mean, you are terrible at everything: basketball, baseball, volleyball. Whew, no wonder you didn't want to do the other task. You would've made the Giants look terrible." Her blood started to boil and could hold back from punching him in the muzzle

"How DARE you insult our hometown sports team!" Donna shouts. "I'll show you I'm capable of doing this; I'll show you ALL!"

After that little spat, she got down seven drinks before she even knew what Vito was trying to really do. "See that, folks?" Vito asks the audience. "Reverse psychology works. And they say it doesn't anymore."

While those four teams are gulping their way towards victory, the other two teams arrive at Camp Randall Stadium. The coach there (blue wolf wearing a Badgers uniform) stands there to judge the competition. Since there are two goals, both the officers and marines can go at the same time.

"So, I just have to kick this over the goalposts?" Zack asks, looking up at the twin yellow bars, slightly swaying with the wind.

"I guess so," Chris says. In his paws, he holds a football signed by Bart Houston. "You want to take the first shot?" It wasn't that he was bad at sports, he was mostly thinking of the spider incident that made him want his partner to go first.

The fox takes the ball from Chris and sets it down on the ground on one of its ends. Chris holds it in place for him. "Anytime you're ready," he says. Zack backs up to the 30-yard line for a head start. He runs at it as fast as he can and drives his right foot into it, sending the ball soaring through the air. Surprisingly, it makes it through the posts on the first try.

"Yes!" he squeals. "Now you have to get this and we'll be in first place."

On the other side of the field, Judy has the ball held down while Nick takes another shot at it. Both of them are a little out of breath from running quite a bit. Sly fox kicks it and this time, the ball hits one of the posts but it falls in between on the other side. "Uhh, judge?!" he shouts over at the coach, who gives them a thumbs up.

"Nice job," Judy says. "Now I have to do it or else we're in big trouble." As the fox runs over to get the ball, she takes a few steps (well, more than a few steps) to get a faster head start. Since the other four teams apparently did Shot Glasses, she has no idea where they stand. For all they knew, they were in dead last already.

Back at the brewery, the haters and cab drivers are in a hot race for first. As soon as Ryan puts his goggles on, he knows this next task won't be easy. His vision is completely slanted and blurred as well as spotty. As he has to do is write his name, but that won't be easy. The bartender guides the four of them to the blackboard behind the counter and each of them are handed a piece of white chalk.

The beneficial friends finish next with an "I wish I had gotten real alcohol" from Toby. But the tiger puts aside drinking for the moment as him and Felix are practically blinded with the vision goggles.

"We're done!" Pepper calls over the bartender. Cinnamon gives a thumbs up as well as a slight belch from the drinks. "Haha, dude, your breath smells like something died in your muzzle." He meant that as a joke, which Cinnamon understood. Which is why he blushes.

With eight people trying to write at the same time, it isn't exactly easy to watch, especially for the badger watching it all unfold before them. All he can see are scribbles that he guesses are supposed to make out letters. The worst one is Josee trying to get her "J" down correctly. For Ryan, it seemed easy for him. That's because he was closing his eyes and visualizing the letters in front of him. All of a sudden, his name's written in beautiful cursive on the board.

"Done," he says, inching out of the half-blind crowd to wait for his partner to finish. If they bounce back into first place, that tigress owes him a kiss or two. This time with no slapping.

"How did I do?" Donna asks. The bartender shakes his head no. She growls as she furiously erases where she thinks she wrote to start over. Her partner misses the place where he dots his "i" but otherwise, it doesn't look bad.

He sifts his way out of the bunch to the side to wait with Ryan. "You've got this!" Vito cheers on the same woman whom he just insulted not ten minutes ago. Toby & Felix try and try again, but both times, they fail epically.

"Damn it," Felix mutters. "What am I bloody missing?" The answer was his "i". He just didn't realize it yet.

Out of all the people, Cinnamon has the worst luck since his name is way too long with eight letters. Even his partner only has six to do and half of them are the same. Speaking of which, Pepper finishes just as mellow as he went into it. For a couple of the others, it seems to be working as an ok strategy.

***

Chris sets up for his third kick. The wolf/husky is out of breath like the other team that is with them. The only person there not exhausted is Zack because he got his on his first try. "Come on, bud; you've got this!" The fox cheers on.

It warms Chris on the inside to know that his teammate is very supportive despite how arrogant he's been to him this entire race. Zack's finger presses down on end of the ball. The hybrid heads back about a dozen yards before charging at the ball with full speed and kicking with all his might. It soars through the goalposts and the marines' spirits are lifted.

The coach gives them the ok and they head out. Meanwhile, Judy's still trying her best to perfect what she's doing wrong. She's literally two or three times bigger than the ball itself. It doesn't really help in her case. "Let's go, Carrots!" Nick urges. "Toner's waiting for us!"

I can do this, she thinks. I can do this. She takes a deep breath before running at the ball and using all of her energy into her right foot, thrusting the ball out of Nick's paws and into the air. They watch as a slow-mo moment happens. The ball bounces onto the bottom pole but it tilts the other way; landing on the other side. "Yes!" she cheers. "Now, let's get out of here!"

At the brewery, one team is close to wrapping up. "There. Is it done?" the only vixen asks. THe bartender looks at her handwriting. Sloppy, but legible. He nods. " Ha! In your face, Vito! Now let's go be champions!"

They run out just as another yells, "Done!" Josee gets approval. "Yes; second place is what I'm talking about!" She takes her goggles off, running to Ryan to hug him tight. Together, they head out of One Barrel and running to catch a cab around the lake.

***

"All I'm saying is that checkpoint could really use a couch or something. Do you know how exhausting it is having to stand here wait for people for what seems like hours?" Toner asks. He's on the phone with his boss again, Milton. "Uh-huh... uh-huh... Ok! Ok! I get it! Budgets, money, blah blah blah. What do you want me to do about that?" He looks into the distance where two taxis seem to be trying to outrace each other. "Hold up, I've got to do this check-in thing."

Both come to a stop a few hundred feet away from the carpet. The cab drivers run out with the confidence that they're back in first place. But behind them, the haters catch up and pass them. Donna pushes herself to run faster than Josee. Which we all know that the tigress can't have happen.

For Toner, this is a popcorn worthy moment. It's also worth a photo finish but since no one has a photograph camera (and because it's a clear winner)... "First place goes to the haters," Toner reveals. Josee jumps into Ryan's arms, purring happily and nuzzling his ears.

"We did it, baby!" she shouts. And, the moment both of them have been waiting for, they share a little kiss and this time, Josee doesn't hit him. (But don't get them wrong, they're not getting back together.)

As they step off the carpet, the other team (who is now more volatile) steps on. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Silver City," Toner mocks openly. "Once again, you're in second place." Donna throws another rage tantrum at coming so close to the win yet failing for the fourth time in a row. It's starting to get on her nerves. If she even sees the number two again, she's going to smash someone's head inside out.

Next, Nick & Judy arrive to check in. "Third place," Toner confirms. The marines come next, checking in at fourth place again. While Zack may be happy with that, Chris is getting tired of hearing the number four. It's the sixth time overall that they've come in fourth.

This leaves the friends with benefits and the strippers in a dead tie for last place. Felix managed to get his name right (after five tries) and is currently waiting on the side with Pepper for their partners to finish. They can both feel the tension growing with each second that ticks away.

Suddenly, they snap their heads up when they hear "Done" by the sound of Toby's voice. Cinnamon also turns around and gestures towards his signature. The bartender shrugs, figuring why not, and allows them leave.

Both teams hustle to leave the brewery and get rides to the High School. "Hey, Toby?" Felix gets his partner's attention. "Even if we end up getting cut from the race, I want you to know that I had an awesome time with you."

The larger tiger look down at him and smiles, pulling him close. "I had fun too," he says. "But... let's not go home." Felix couldn't agree more.

***

Nearly fifteen minutes later, a taxi pulls up to La Follette High School with a certain fox and tiger duo feeling very anxious. They hop out and run along the pavement until they reach Toner at the carpet. "Please tell me we made it," Toby breathes/begs.

"You did make it..." Toner says. The boys hug each other tight, when the host completes his sentence. "... in last place. The strippers got here a moment ago." Cinnamon & Pepper walk by with paper cups in paw. "So, yeah. You're the last team to arrive."

Felix's ears and tail go limp. It sucks because he was so close and yet so far. Toby wraps an arm around him, hugging him close to his chest. He's about to soothe the fox out of tears that might fall when Toner blows on a noisemaker that scares both of them. "What the fuck was that for?!" Toby shouts.

"Because you two came in last," Toner says. "But... psych! This is a non-elimination round; you boys are still in the race. Man, you should've seen the look on your faces!" The red dog chuckles to himself as the beneficial friends hug tight again, this time happily. They head off away from the school to do what they would... normally do. "Well, we had six. And six remain. But I swear that someone's getting thrown off this race train. Who will it be? Keep watching... the Amazing Race."