Peppers Are Hot, Keys Are Cold
#19 of The Amazing Race 2
On the last leg of the Amazing Race, the teams traveled to Alaska to take a dip in a steaming-hot sauna then gave each other a hand pulling each other across the snow. The mountain climbers manage to take back first place. And thanks to the actions of a certain red skunk *cough* Tammy *cough*, Zoe & Patricia fell behind and were cut from the race. Who will leap into victory today? Only one way to find out. Stay tuned to... the Amazing Race.
***
"Welcome back to Girdwood, Alaska." Toner says. "Yesterday's winners are the first ones to get today's clue." Becky steps up to the clue box and she reads the clue to KiKi.
"Route Info: grab flight to Cancùn." Mexico; known for the spicy food, Spanish language, and again, influence on the US, the teams will travel here and find their next clue at the airport.
"Let's do this!" KiKi says. As they take off, the other six teams get the clue and get immediately back to the airport for the long five hour flight to Cancùn.
***
"At least we can finally ditch the coats." Miles says. "But seriously, shifting from cold environment to hot? That's crazy."
"And it's exactly what Toner would do." Joey says. "Make us suffer in severe temperatures just for a bunch of money." Miles laces his fingers through Joey's and gently squeezes.
"But we're so close to that million bucks. We can't give up."
"I know." Joey slightly blushes. She's known him for a long time and deep down, always had a suspicion that Miles secretly liked her.
"I can't believe all we get are airline peanuts for the whole flight." DeeDee says. "Besides, these things never taste good. Ever." As she opens the bag and starts eating them anyways, Kit & Kitty curl up and start trying to get a little rest.
"After all, rest is something we're gonna need in this race." Kit had said.
"Oof." Diesel waves a paw in front of his nose. "You mind pointing that bag the other way? Unlike you I actually don't want damaged nostrils by the time I'm off this flight."
"You're just mad you can't handle stench." DeeDee says.
"Yes I can... to some extent."
"Whatever you say." Although there is a bit of teasing in her voice.
"Final 7." Tammy says. "Only six more teams to crush and we're one million dollars richer."
"I still can't believe what you did to those sleds yesterday." Rachel says. "It even ended up cutting Zoe & Patricia from the race."
"I don't care. Besides, it did earn us a couple allies." She points a few rows away where Jasper & Mitch sleep with smiles on their faces. They can finally breathe knowing that Zoe's no longer there to torment them.
"True." Rachel says, as much as she hates admitting it. "But what about Barbara & Eddy? They were Zoe's allies."
"They are my next target." Tammy says. "I would normally try to take a stab at the twin/police alliance, but now's not the time."
"You ok, Barbara?" Eddy asked. He only did because he saw her a little bit steamed. She takes a deep breath and turns to her partner.
"No. To be honest, I'm not." She says. "Thanks to Tammy and Jasper teaming up, we have no allies."
"Maybe we could try going after them?"
"No. I don't want to win by stopping to their level. We're just gonna win by being one step ahead of them."
***
The flight lands in Cancùn at approximately 12:36 pm. Once the team leave the airport, they get the clue and hurry, knowing every second counts. "Route Info: get to the beach to find your next clue." Kit reads. Teams quickly get into cabs and drive to the beach where a series of challenges await them.
The mountain climbers and the Olympians get there first. "One-Way: Hot Pepper Roulette Challenge." Rachel reads. Whoever grabbed the clue must eat one of three peppers: mild, hot, and scorchingly hot. Once they do, their partners must swim far out into the water and dive down and find a canteen full of milk along with the next clue tied to it. The more hot of pepper they eat, the less far their partners have to swim.
"Oh no." KiKi says. "I'm not as good as Becky when it comes to spicy foods."
"Oh please. How bad can they be?" Rachel asks. She grabs a red pepper and eats it whole, thinking it's nothing. That's when the burning sensation comes. Even worse than cinnamon gum. "Holy shit!! It could be really bad!!!! Hurry Tammy!!!" KiKi grabs a yellow one and eats it. It's hot, but not as bad as she thought.
"Quickly Becky! I ate a yellow one!" KiKi shouts. Becky and Tammy dive into the water and surprisingly, Becky swims a lot faster. Tammy reaches a red flag in the water attached to a buoy; the same color as the pepper Rachel ate. She grabs a breath and goes underwater in search of the canteen.
When Becky reaches the yellow flag, the frat bros, twins, and Policefurs eventually arrive. "We have to eat hot peppers?!?" Kit asks. She's never been a fan of hot food.
"Relax, you can just eat the middle one." Kitty says.
"Good point!!" Rachel says, her mouth still on fire. "I should've done that!!!! Tammy, where are you!?!?!" Kit eats a yellow pepper and Kitty gets in the water.
"I know how to handle spicy foods." Diesel says.
"You better hope you do." DeeDee says. Diesel eats a yellow one in front of DeeDee to spite her and she jumps in and starts swimming.
"Dude, I love spicy peppers!" Mitch says. "Ever since we had that Habanero sauce at that party once."
"I know." Jasper says. "Now let's eat that red once and we can catch up to our allies." He points to Tammy, who's coming back with a canteen in paw. Becky also returns with one.
"Here." Tammy says. As Rachel downs the milk as much as possible, Tammy reads the clue attached to it. "Roadblock: take a dive for a lucky dip." Whoever was pulled by their partner in Alaska must get in a scuba diving suit and swim 200 feet out and dive down for a key. Once they do, they must swim back and it's another 200 yard race on foot down the shoreline to the checkpoint. Last team there could be eliminated.
Mitch eats a red pepper, handling the heat very well, unlike Rachel. As Jasper swims out, Miles & Joey and Barbara & Eddy eventually show and they take the clue. "I'm not good with peppers." Barbara says.
"It says the one holding the clue has to eat it." Eddy says, clue in paw.
"Oh. Never mind then. I'm not that great of a swimmer either."
"Oh well. You want to come in last?" Eddy reaches for a yellow pepper and Joey can't decide between green or yellow. She already knows she'll never be able to handle red.
"Joey, I know you don't like spicy stuff," Miles says, "but you need to eat this yellow pepper. Otherwise we could go home."
"Alright. I'll do it." Joey says, eating the yellow one before she can get an excuse not to. The heat start to come to her. "Oh my goodness! Hurry, Miles!" Miles and Barbara quickly get into the water and start swimming for the yellow flag. Jasper quickly returns to shore and gives Mitch the canteen.
"Oh, thank you compadre!" Mitch says. As he chugs down, Jasper looks at the clue.
"Looks like you're gonna be doing more, pal." He says. "It's a Roadblock. It's your turn, dude."
"That's ok." Mitch says. Meanwhile, Rachel helps Tammy get into the dive suit and Becky helps KiKi.
"You really need to hurry." Rachel says.
"You think I don't know that?" Tammy asks. Jasper & Mitch eventually arrive on the scene. "Thank goodness. Did you eat a red one?"
"Yes I did." Mitch says, Jasper helping him get into the suit. "It wasn't as hot as I expected."
"It was like eating the sun for me." Rachel says. "I guess spicy foods are kryptonite for me."
"Remember," Becky whispers into KiKi's ear, "this is a race. And they're the enemy. So matter what, if you see a key, grab it."
"I'll try my best." KiKi says. Her, Mitch, and Tammy dive into the water and start swimming outwards.
"Got it!" DeeDee says when she returns.
"It's about time." Diesel says. He starts drinking the milk and DeeDee reads what happens next.
"Roadblock. A scuba challenge, eh?"
"You realize I'm the one who has to do it since it's a Roadblock." Diesel says between gulps.
"Oh come on! How come you get all the good challenges?"
"Kitty! Hurry up!" Kit yells.
"I'm trying!" Kitty says. Her, Miles, and Barbara currently fight to get back to the shore with their partners.
"You guys go on, we'll catch up." Kit says.
"If you say so." DeeDee says. Her and Diesel run over and join those who have started the scuba challenge. After managing to out swim the others, Kitty reunites with Kit.
"Thanks." Kit says as she opens the canteen and starts drinking.
"You're welcome." Kitty says. "Alright, it's a Roadblock so it's your turn. You have to get into a... scuba diving suit." That makes Kit accidentally choke on the milk and coughs for a few seconds.
"Is she ok?" Miles asks.
"Yes, she just has a problem with stuff like scuba suits." Kitty explains. Kit's coughing fit eventually stops.
"Why is that?" Joey asks.
"I have a great fear of getting into something like a scuba diving suit, and never getting out of it." Kit explains.
"So you have a fear of the inability to escape?" Miles asks.
"Yep. That's one way of putting it." Joey and Kit finish te milk and move on to the next task, bumping the critics into last place.
"Hurry up, Eddy!" Barbara says. "We're in last and you don't chug faster, we're done for."
"I'm almost done!" Eddy says. He only feels a few ounces of milk left. He quickly swallows and him and Barbara start running.
Kit & Kitty, Miles & Joey, and Diesel & DeeDee arrive at the next task. While DeeDee helps Diesel get in and Miles helps Joey, Kitty mostly focuses on calming Kit down. "Listen, we're close enough to last place to start worrying." Kitty says. "You need to pull it together and start doing this. Just go down there, grab the key, and get out. Once we get to the checkpoint, I'll help you out of that thing, ok?"
"Ok." Kit says, trying to keep a straight face when in actuality, she's nervous as hell. Barbara & Eddy soon arrive and they start getting ready.
"Why do I have to go?" Barbara asks.
"Because I pulled the bobsled in Alaska." Eddy says. "Just get in there and start doing the challenge."
"Fine." She grunts. Meanwhile, Tammy, KiKi, and Mitch already have a head start on finding the keys. Once they make it to the bottom, they immediately start looking.
Mitch looks around some reefs, Tammy looks through the sand, KiKi thinks maybe it's in a sea sponge, knowing how Toner could be setting the tasks. As they keep looking, they look up and see Diesel, a frightened Kit, and Joey slowly float down to the bottom.
"Where could these things be?" KiKi says in her mind. She looks down at a rock and notices a key teeth sticking out. She grabs it, and quickly goes back to the top. Tammy notices and her eye starts twitching.
"No way she can win!" She shouts in her head. She notices a sea sponge and looks inside. There. Two keys lie. One must've floated in there. She grabs both and, knowing that more people are coming, quickly digs a hole in the sand and buries it. Tammy starts heading back to the top.
"Got one!" Mitch says. He passes by Diesel, Kit, and Joey who start their search. KiKi makes it back to the surface and starts swimming back. As Tammy comes too, Barbara just arrives and starts going down. Tammy fights to catch back up to KiKi.
"You find it?!" Becky shouts.
"Yes!" KiKi says. She makes it back to Becky and they start running. Tammy also makes it ashore and her and Rachel take off.
"Push for it, Rachel!" Tammy says. The Olympians use as much energy they have into running faster and catching up. Toner and the checkpoint rug come into view. Tammy & Rachel slowly catch up to Becky & KiKi and one pair of feet makes it to the rug.
"Becky & KiKi come in first. Again." Toner announces.
"Oh yeah!" Becky says. As she helps KiKi get out of the scuba gear, Tammy & Rachel step on.
"You two are in second."
"Oh well." Tammy says. "We're in still in the race." She walks by Becky. "And you two may be in first; but you're not safe, yet."
***
"Found one!" Kit says. She found it under a reef. She quickly fights to get back to the surface and finally get out of the suit. Barbara finally makes it to the bottom and starts her search. Now that the fight for first is done, the race to not come in last has just begun.
Joey looks through a couple of plants and even through a few reefs. Eventually, she finds a key... right next to an urchin. "You've gotta be kidding me!" She says in her mind.
"Think, if I were Toner, where would I stash a key for a contestant?" Diesel asks to himself. He looks around and sees and oyster. "That's definitely a place he'd hide one. He grips the oyster and starts prying it open with all the strength he has.
Barbara looks around finds, literally, nothing. That is, until she looks down and sees some of the sand has been tampered with. She moves that piece of sand out of the way and uncovers a key.
Joey, using quick maneuvers, manages to get the key away from the urchin unharmed. Diesel finally got the oyster open and he was right, a key was hidden just inside. The three of the swim back to the surface and race to get to the shore.
***
"Fraternity brother come in third." Toner says.
"Alright!" Jasper says. "Way to go, man! I know I would never be able to do that."
"Thanks." Mitch says. "Do you mind giving a bro a hand he points to the scuba suit he wears.
"No problem." They step off, leaving four teams who have yet to check in. Toner sees the twins running to him. Kit seems to be panting like crazy, something she never did before in the race. The girls step on the rug and Kit grabs Toner by his shirt.
"Why would you make me do that?!?!?!" She yells.
"Calm down, Kit! You girls are in fourth." Toner says. Kit let's go of him and he falls to the ground.
"Forget that! Get me out of this thing!!!!" Kitty reaches into her pocket and brings out a pocketknife.
"Relax! I'll get the thing off of you." She says. Her and her sister step off the rug.
"Need a hand?" Joey asks, reaching a paw out. Toner grabs it and she pulls him up.
"Thanks." Toner says. "You and Miles are in fifth."
"Sweet!" Miles says.
"Awesome!" Joey says. As Miles goes over to help her out of her gear, Diesel & DeeDee and Barbara & Eddy run like hell to make it to the rug before the other. The critics pass the police, but they end up passing by the next moment. The rug is only yards away. One team jumps out and they land on the right.
"Diesel & DeeDee, 6th place." Toner announces.
"Alright!" DeeDee says. She carries Diesel off the rug as Barbara & Eddy step on.
"Critics, I'm sorry, you're in last place."
"Oh man!" Eddy says, pinning his ears down. "I'm sorry if I blew it."
"That's fine." Barbara says. "I started pushing you too hard again like I did at the beginning of the race." She hugs Eddy and kisses his forehead.
"Ain't that touching." Toner says. "But unnecessary, as this was another non-elimination leg. You two are safe."
"What? Really?" Eddy asks, ears and tail perked back up.
"Yes. Now get with the rest of the teams before I change my mind." Barbara & Eddy walks away. "Well, we had seven, and seven still remain. But tomorrow, I promise someone's dream of winning the million will come to end. Right here on... the Amazing Race."