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Previously on the Amazing Race, out remaining five teams took a trip to Columbus, Ohio. The marines struggled to maintain their lead but ended up in 4th place... again. Our winners were Vito & Donna. The haters began to make up, agreeing that it was the race that tore their relationship apart. So when they got eliminated, Josee & Ryan finally got back together.

We're down to our Final Four teams, but only one of them will walk away with the million dollar grand prize. Who will it be? Time to continue... the Amazing Race.

***

"Yesterday's checkpoint was at COSI, which is today's starting line," Toner begins, like he does every day. "Teams always leave in the same order in which they arrive. First up are the cab drivers."

Vito & Donna leap up to the first clue box of the day. "Doesn't first place feel good?" she asks with a smirk. "We hope to maintain out lead from here on out. The only issues are the officers."

"As long as they are in the race, we have a tough battle on our hands," Vito says. "Er... paws." He takes the first tip without another word. "Ah! We're going to Kentucky!"

Yes, Kentucky; a small state just south of Ohio known for its love of chicken and horseback racing. Teams must travel by bus all the way to Lexington, the Horse Capital of the World. Once it arrives at a local restaurant, they'll receive their next tip.

A local transit arrives at COSI and collects the drivers first. But they're disappointed to learn that all four teams will be on board for the ride to Lexington. "This is an outrage," Donna complains, "We shouldn't still be tied with the other losers. When will it be our time again?!"

Vito just shrugs her off. "Eh. I'm mostly excited we're in the Final Four. But I do agree that with the others on our tails, we'll never be able to maintain our lead."

"We need to do something that will sabotage the other teams." Donna starts thinking about her competitors. The officers are obviously a huge target but they're gung-ho on striking back at them too; they'll be extra careful to not leave any weaknesses. The strippers don't care about anything except themselves; Donna doesn't even think that they know they're in a competition. Chris & Zack...

That's it! she thinks. The marines obviously have feelings for each other; they just refuse to admit them. If she can get them to confess... they'll be distracted enough that they'll fall into last place!

Or she could just leave them alone. After all, they've been in 4th place seven times in a row.

Nah, she's gonna mess with them.

In Chris' mind, he still wants to tell Zack how he feels about him. Ren only gave him until the finale to tell him how he feels. With only four teams left, the finale is right around the corner. He needs to tell him NOW!

He takes a deep breath before nudging his partner awake. "Hey, can I talk to you about something?" Chris asks.

Zack yawns. "Sure. What is it?"

Chris stares into those deep, glistening eyes of his. Zack has his tail curled up in his lap and only realizes that he has his arm around the back of his seat. "I just wanted to say..." Doubt begins to take control. Chris bites his lip, unable to form any words. "... that I'm..." He tries to fight through the urge to hold back his feelings.

He fails.

"... I'm very happy you came with me on the show despite how much of a jerk I've been." Well, it's not the confession he was looking for, but it was a start; something he can work with.

Zack's heart flutters as soon as he hears this. "Oh. Really?" His big orange tail begins to thump against his lap.

"Yeah." And he means it too. The fox yawns again and falls back asleep. Except this time, he curls up on Chris' shoulder. The wolf/husky blushes, unable to control his own tail from wagging.

A full three hours pass before the teams officially arrive in Lexington. The bus stops outside of a local KFC restaurant. The pungent smell of cooked chicken immediately hits their noses as soon as the doors open. "Sweet!" Pepper exclaims. "I've just been craving some wings lately."

Nick is the first to hit the clue box there. "We have a One-Way, folks," he reads. "'You can't spell MEAT without TEAM'. Do I want to know what that means?"

It doesn't mean what you think it means (nasty pervs). For this One-Way task, teams must work together and eat and entire 3-and-a-half pound bucket of fried chicken. They'll find the next tip at the bottom of the bucket. (But seriously, for those who thought this challenge meant... "something else"... get help.)

The other three teams head inside where they receive their free chicken from a coyote waitress. As soon as Judy gets an eyeful, her stomach immediately becomes upset with her. "Carrots isn't the best at eating challenges," Nick explains. "I think North Carolina and Arizona proved it."

"I can do this," Judy retorts. "I just can't eat too much."

"Um... it's 3 pounds. Do you have any idea how long that we're gonna be here?" At the word "three", the rabbit passes out and collapses. Nick sighs. "I'll start eating."

Vito wastes no time digging into the chicken, but at the first bite, his mouth suddenly turns into a scorch. "Ahhh!!! Ahhh!!! Momma Mia this is so fucking spicy!" he shouts.

Donna throws a cup of cold water at his muzzle and he sighs in sweet relief. "What did you think, lame brain, that the food was going to come cold?" In the back of her mind, though, she knows that she isn't a huge fan of engorging herself. However, in a race for a million dollars, sometimes it's worth it to make a few sacrifices.

She looks over at the marines, who are surprisingly quick. Both of their muzzles are buried deep inside the bucket, chowing down faster than she's ever seen them. Then again, they're both carnivores, they have to eat meat all the time in order to maintain their strength.

"How is it so easy for them?" Donna asks. "WE are carnivores too, are we not?"

"Personally, I try not to think about labels," Vito responds. When he takes another bite, he cries out in pain again and gulps down some water. "This is going to take us all day." His partner facepalms.

Cinnamon & Pepper also have no trouble delving into their free food. "I bet you a half million dollars that I can suck the whole meat off the bone in just a few seconds." Cinnamon rolls his eyes, continuing to chew.

"I'm going to do it!" Pepper sticks a whole leg into his maw and gnaws on the meat to the bone. He slips the bone out, chewing on all the chicken that was on it.

Cinnamon stares wide-eyed as Pepper places the clean bone on the side. "How did you do that?" he asks through ASL.

"A little something that I've been practicing for years."

Nick manages to get half of his bucket finished by the time Judy comes to. His stomach begins to hurt from overeating as it isn't easy for someone his size. "Carrots, are you going to wake up and help or do we have to risk a penalty?" he asks sarcastically.

She hops onto her feet. "Yeah, sorry. I'm just not used to eating other animals; I'm a herbivore, remember?" Nick hands her a small chicken leg, enough so the officers can't get a penalty.

All four teams continue to work on the One-Way, some more disgusting than others. Vito has finally managed to get his temperature problems in order, albeit he dragged out a pocket fan to cool down the meal much to Donna's dismay.

Chris & Zack finish their bucket of chicken first. Zack leans back against his seat, belching softly. Rubbing his bloated stomach, he says, "I swear, this has been the most fun I've ever had in this entire race."

"Same here," Chris breathes. Who knew that being carnivorous has its advantages? "Now let's see what we have to do next." He grabs the tip and reads it to his partner. "It says we have to take a cab to some horse race track on the other side of town to find out next tip."

"Ok. Let's... do it." Zack lets out a large belch, blushing softly. "Excuse me." The boys take a minute to get out of their seats. Suddenly, eating 3 pounds of chicken in 3 minutes is starting to take their toll on them. They're slightly dizzy and tired, their belts tightened around their waist. But first place makes the feeling a little worth it.

The marines head outside where Chris manages to hail a taxi. Donna becomes panicked. If they can finish that easily, they should be able to. But Vito is eating slow. With each second that passes, he seems to slow down on purpose. "Will you speed up? You have a larger stomach than me and, if you haven't noticed, we're losing!"

Vito rolls his eyes. "I'm trying! You know how hard it is to stuff yourself with 3 pounds of this stuff?" Donna no longer wants to take any more excuses. Feeling aggressive, she takes a whole leg and shoves it directly into Vito's maw.

"The challenge is to eat. So eat goddammit!"

Nick & Judy finish the challenge next. Judy only nibbled down a few bites of the leg Nick gave her; otherwise, he ate the rest. Only when she grabs the tip does she notice that Nick's face is beginning to turn pale. "Uh... are you feeling ok?" she asks.

The fox shakes his head. Quickly, he grabs the bucket and hurls inside of it, the restaurant goers turning their heads away. But most of them are already leaving, appetites down the toilet. "For anyone in the future who wants to eat 3 pounds of food in one sitting," Nick tells the audience. "... Don't... Just don't."

At the race track, the marines have mostly digested their food, feeling slightly better (what they really needed was a sip of water to help wash the aftertaste out). They head inside the track, where the seats are full of locals cheering on. "Wow," Zack says. "I wonder who they came here to see."

Chris grabs the next clue from the clue box. "They came to see us," he answers. When the fox doesn't understand, the wolf reads the tip. "It's a Roadblock. 'Whoever didn't ride the High Wire Bike in COSI must now ride a horse for the citizens of Lexington'."

In this task, players get to ride a horse around the track. The catch is that they must hang on long enough to make three laps. To add to the pressure, half of the city is gathered to watch the racers either ride to victory or fall off in a heap of hilarious pain. The checkpoint in this case would be the finish line itself. Last team to complete the challenge... could be heading home.

"Looks like it's your turn," Chris points out.

Zack struggles to hop on top of a black racing horse, strapping on goggles and a helmet. "Hey, Chris! Look at me! I look like a real jockey!" The fox grabs ahold of the reigns and takes off, rushing around the elliptical track. At the first turn, Zack falls off the horse and crashes to the side. "Ouch."

***

The officers finish the task next with Judy hailing down a taxi. "Nick isn't feeling too good," she says. "Let's just hope that whatever this next challenge is, I can handle most of the work."

Nick lets out a large belch. "I can handle this. Really... I'm still focused on the race and... taking about the drivers." He can feel the meat coming back up his throat. Judy covers the camera lens with her paw since no one wants to see that.

Donna force feeds Vito the rest of the chicken, putting them in third place. "We need to leave now!" she growls. She pulls them outside to the street, ready to stop traffic if it means making it to the track in time.

Both foxes get in a taxi, pumped up and ready for the next challenge. Mostly the vixen, but Vito's leg is starting to jiggle in anticipation. Back inside the restaurant, the last place strippers finish as well, leaning back in their seats, enjoying the feeling of bliss that comes after binging.

***

Zack has tried three times to complete even one lap around the track. But every time, he cannot seem to stay balanced on top of the horse. He's been flung around a couple times to the point where a few bruises show on his arms.

"I'm starting to see why I never wanted to become a jockey," Zack says.

"Come on, you can't quit now," Chris motivates. "Besides, we're still in first place."

But the fox shakes his head and points towards the entrance where the officers have shown up and grabbed the tip. "It's a Roadblock," Judy reads. "Uh-oh."

Nick barfs in his bucket again. "Are you telling me I have to ride a horse in order for us to win?" he asks, lightheaded. Judy nods. "Great. The things I do for us." He slowly walks over to the gates where three other horses wait.

"I'm a little worried about Nick," the rabbit says. "Sometimes he can be a little too persistent to the point where he doesn't know when to call it quits. I'll admit that it's a good quality. But I don't want to win the money watching him suffer like this."

Vito & Donna arrive next. "Roadblock, you're up," the vixen says. Vito runs over to grab his helmet and goggles, hopping onto the saddle of the third horse.

"While we're alone," he says to the viewers, "third place doesn't really bother me. Right now, third place will keep us in the game."

"What are you talking about over there?!" Donna demands.

He thinks of something to try to cover his tracks. "Um... nothing! Giddy-up!" he chuckles nervously as he starts moving forward.

Zack, Vito, and Nick are all on the track, racing to get all three laps complete. However, all three foxes cannot seem to get the hang of horseback riding. Vito loses hold on the reigns and falls off rounding a corner. Zack finds a way to hang on, but has trouble speeding up fast enough. "Come on," he says, "we have to keep moving." But his horse does nothing but move at a slow, leisurely pace.

Things get very interesting once our last-place strippers finally arrive. "Awesome, man, you get to ride a horse." Pepper pats on Cinnamon's back. Though the brown fox is trembling in his jeans. When he was four years old, his mother took him to see a horse race. One of the horses went out of control and crashed into the bleachers, injuring dozens. He's been afraid of them since.

Pepper notices and gently pushes him towards the starting gates. "You've got this. That incident happened over twenty years ago. Besides, you'll be wearing a helmet and goggles the whole time. Totally safe." He helps Cinnamon hop onto the saddle. The brown fox taking deep breaths, telling himself that he can do this. He can do this.

Can he?

Zack continues to have wipeout after wipeout. "Ugh," he groans. "I cannot stay on long enough to make three laps. What else can I do?"

"Have you tried leaning to the side when you make turns?" Chris asks. Zack thinks for a second then hits himself in the head, frustrated. "That's how you're supposed to do it, silly." He ruffles the fur on Zack's head playfully.

The further Nick races down the track, the more he thinks about trying to catch up to Vito. His stomach is no longer upset with him. But he learned to try not to overeat ever again. Soon enough, he's side by side with Vito on the second lap, getting closer to victory with each stomp of a hoof. "Hey! Move aside; fox coming up on your left!"

Vito glances over his shoulder and sees Nick catching up to him faster than he could imagine. As they near the finish line, Vito reaches an arm out. "I'm aware," he says innocently. "Time to make said fox... go home." The second Nick is running side by side with him, Vito pushes him to the side, veering the red fox to the right.

A local newsfox on the inside of the track digs out his camera and snaps a photo of Vito crossing the finish line. A large smile crosses Vito & Donna's muzzles as Toner announces, "Drivers come in first place." Then he adds aggravatingly, "Again!" Nick's horse stops dead on the finish line in time for him to get his bucket back. "And the officers come in second."

Judy runs up to her partner as he sets his barf bucket down. "Wow. I've got to say, that was pretty amazing," she says.

"You really think so?" Nick's words are slightly slurred but still understandable.

"Absolutely. Every time I've gotten sick, I've slowed us down. But you managed to get us in second. I'm very proud of you." She embraces him.

The race for last place is between the strippers and the marines. Zack does anything he can to try to control his horse. Taking Chris' advice, he takes extra precaution around the curves, leaning towards the center. Cinnamon, on the other hand, has few troubles at all. But he goes much slower than his fellow competitor because of his fear of being thrown off.

After completing his second lap, he notices Zack speeding up behind him. "Dude!" Pepper shouts. "You need to speed up if we want to win this thing!"

Cinnamon's paws tremble on the reigns. Seeing the other fox slowly pass him makes him even more nervous. He suddenly urges his horse to go faster for the first time. Get ahold of yourself, he thinks. You're in control here. Nothing bad is going to happen.

The wind flows through his fur as both foxes round the corner. The cheering section goes nuts as they inch towards the finish. "It's down to the wire, folks," Toner hosts into a microphone. "The team in third place is..." Sweat rolls down Cinnamon and Zack's foreheads. Both of them not ready to head back into the loser's circle. Facing his fear head on, the brown fox gives a sharp flick of the reigns and he speeds up and passes the checkered line. ".. the strippers!"

Pepper cheers and shouts, running onto the course to embrace his best friend as he hops off the horse.

Defeated, Zack pins down his ears. However, his horse isn't stopping. In fact, he seems to be getting faster. "Uh-oh," he mutters. Thinking fast, he jumps off, flat onto the ground. Chris helps him onto his feet. "Thanks for that."

"Um... why is your horse not stopping?" Chris asks. Up ahead, Cinnamon & Pepper let go of each other. And Cinnamon is directly into the horse's path and doesn't even notice!

"Cinnamon!" Zack yells. "LOOK OUT!!!"

But it's too late. The horse plows directly into Cinnamon, stomping on his chest and shoulder. The strippers' horse runs away as the other chases him. Chris & Zack gape in horror as Cinnamon lies on the ground, blood spilling from his shoulder. The crowd gets onto their feet, watching the unimaginable even go down.

"Medic!" Toner shouts.

***

The medical team, which only consists of one jaguar, wraps up Cinnamon's injuries with gauze. "This should hold until we can get him to a hospital," he says.

"I've already called an ambulance over 9-1-1," Toner says. "They should be here any second."

Cinnamon still lies on the ground, whimpering and tearing up in pain. The blood stopped but there must be a few crushed boned in there somewhere. Pepper sits by his side, holding his paw for support. "You doing okay, Cinnamon?" Toner asks rhetorically. Neither of them answer. "Well, I managed to get an explanation as for what happened. As it turns out, your horse and Zack's horse are... enemies on the racing field. So I'm assuming that he was trying to knock over the other horse; you were just in the way."

"Is he going to be all right or not?" Pepper asks.

Toner waves a paw. "Oh, yeah. He'll live. It's only a few crushed bones and internal bleeding. Unfortunately, his injuries are too severe to keep him in the race so... looks like you're out." Both foxes pin their ears down. "But-" their ears perk back up, "-since this was a non-elimination leg, someone needs to come back to take your place. I'll let that choice be up to you two."

Cinnamon & Pepper glance at each other. Since Pepper is the only one that can talk, he makes the choice for them. "Ok," he says. "Since this team was doing pretty good and deserves to be here as much as everybody else... we choose Felix & Toby to come back."

"Done and done. Strippers, good luck with all of... this." Toner indicates the massive injury. After they're in an ambulance, the host turns to the viewers at home. "The strippers are gone, but the friends with benefits return! Four teams are still left in the quest for one million dollars. Join us next time for the Grand Finale right here on... the Amazing Race."

***

"That million dollars would've helped us out so much," Pepper says. "But I'm glad to know that both of us will walk away alive." Cinnamon nods, even though it hurts. "We may not have won, but I think both of us have gained a lot from our experiences here. I've never felt so much closer to my partner than I do right now."

Cinnamons sniffles and tears up. Only this time, they're tears of joy instead of pain. Pepper continues. "When we get home, I'm gonna stick by your side no matter what. Look on the bright side, you faced your fear head-on and look what happened: you're still alive."

"I guess so," Cinnamon ASLs. Ouch.