Santa & Santana

== MTAR 6==

Santa & Santana are an uncle/niece duo in Season 6 of Mooyou's The Amazing Race Live. Nick 'Santa' Lopez owns a toy-making factory based in Antarctica, while Santana Lopez is a student at McKinley High, Ohio, and she lives in Lima Heights Adjacent. Their infrequent communication makes Santa the only relative that Santana can stand, and vice versa, the only relative that can stand Santana. They feel they make a powerful duo, as Santa represents everything that is family-friendly, good, kind and can do well with anything related to the cold, while Santana represents everything that is evil, sexy, naughty, adventurous and can do anything relating to hellish heat conditions. Santana was originally slated to take part with Lima Heights Adjacent neighbor Antony 'Satan' Clark who later dropped out of the race to pursue his college degree. Santana is a good friend of Brittany S. Pierce who raced with pop sensation Britney Spears to win Season 4.

Leg 1 (United States → Russia)
Santana Lopez ("A good shot")

Ice

"Born This Way"

1st place out of 12 teams

Santa & Santana started the race a little unorthodox - while the other teams and Santana all carried backpacks, Santa carried around a sack full of his race equipment, clothes and toys. The team narrowly scraped a ticket on the earlier flight to Russia. At the Roadblock, Santana fortunately shot the right dummy and gained a lucky headstart along with 3 other teams. This infuriated some other teams such as Benedicto & Stefani, who felt that Santana's evil behavior did not deserve grace from God. Santana instead believed that it was grace from Satan. The team would later keep their lead by quickly finishing an ice-sculpting Detour thanks to Santa's ice skills and Santana's experience with bananas. Throughout the leg there have been references to Santana's sexuality. Santa & Santana checked into the pit-stop in first place, winning themselves the coveted Express Pass for the season.

Leg 2 (Russia → Vietnam)
Nick 'Santa' Lopez ("Accepts the king's call")

Village

2nd place out of 11 teams

Santa & Santana got on the earlier flight to Vietnam, where Santa experienced difficulty adjusting to the change in temperature. He chose to do an imperial examination Roadblock where he struggled a bit with counting days, but made up time in the art and writing portions. The team picked a faster but more expensive Detour, where Santana threatened an old village shop-keeper who did not speak English. At the pit-stop, Santa cautioned Santana not to bully the pit-stop greeter as she did with the first Russian girl, but Santana, despite wanting to mean well, still offended the greeter by offering him money for new teeth. The team checked into the pit-stop in 2nd place, narrowly beaten by Piper & Tristan, who Santana threatened to beat down.

Leg 3 (Vietnam → Hong Kong)
Nick 'Santa' Lopez ("Needs to see things in a different perspective")

Extreme Taste

"Valerie"

1st place out of 11 teams

Santa & Santana mixed up their pit-stop departure time and fell behind after having lost some time. They however still somehow managed to catch back up to the earliest plane with only one other team. They completed a challenging food Detour first and stayed in the lead. Santa & Santana were worried about how they were perceived by the other teams, and fortunately arrived at the Blind Double U-Turn in first place. Santa was decided to be due for a change in perspective, and quickly used his toy-making skills to help him fix shop signs. Along the ferry ride from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, Santana had a short but emotional moment thinking about her friend Brittany. The team checked into the pit-stop and regained their first place status.

Leg 4 (Hong Kong → Australia)
Nick 'Santa' Lopez ("The Sherlock Holmes of Australia")

Skiffs

"Sail Away"

5th place out of 10 teams

Santa & Santana once again made the mistake of oversleeping past their check-out time, but with delays from the other two flights, still managed to stay in the front half of the pack. They completed the Detour quickly and held second place for a short while until they reached the Sydney Opera House. Their bad luck with finding clues under the chairs led to them being the team that spent the longest time at the Opera House, and moved them to the back of the pack. Despite Santa's best efforts at the Roadblock, the team couldn't catch up to those ahead of them, and checked into the pit-stop in 5th place, their only placing so far in the race outside of the Top 2. At the pit-stop, Santana made sure to kick Phil in the foot to vent her anger.

Leg 5 (Australia)
Santana Lopez ("Ready for the big thing down under")

Cool

2nd place out of 9 teams

Santa & Santana departed the pit-stop in 5th place, but managed to make up a bit of time with good navigation skills, while a couple of teams ahead of them ran out of gas. Santana continued on her rampage on all things Australian, and expressed that she felt her own bosom was more scenic than the Blue Mountains. However, she fueled her anger into the Roadblock after giving in to the clue's sexual innuendo. Although the team picked a slower Detour option thinking that Santana's devil hands could melt iron, they beat out teams like Chloe & Katherine and Bert & Sam (and earning their wrath) in a foot-race to second place.

Leg 6 (Australia → Tanzania)
Took Fast Forward and skipped Detour & Roadblock

1st place out of 8 teams

Santa & Santana decided to take a risk and battle Piper & Tristan for the race's only Fast Forward, knowing very well that it could signify elimination were they unsuccessful. Although things looked bleak when they took a wrong turn in the reserve, the team managed to quickly locate an injured rhinoceros and bandage it to earn the Fast Forward. Having won the Fast Forward, they sped to the pit-stop and checked-in in 1st place.

Leg 7 (Tanzania → India)
Santana Lopez ("Can beat the king of the Slytherins")

Out With The Old

"Crash And Burn"

2nd place out of 8 teams

Santa & Santana were once again bunched on the flight departing Africa, and headed to India. Despite being on the same flight as everybody else, Santana contemplated crashing the plane, and at the same time, wondered why nobody else in the competition liked her. Santana conquered her fear of snakes at the Roadblock, but sadly was not rewarded with any crocodile leatherskin handbags. In order to make up time, the team spent more money than usual to get themselves through the Detour. Although they were second to the pit-stop, their greatest fear did not materialize as Piper & Tristan were instead Marked for Elimination by Benedicto & Stefani. However, the leg was not over, and many of the team, Santa & Santana included, would be penalized for not taking auto-rickshaws to the Detour location at the subsequent check-in.

Leg 8 (India)
Buddhist Teachings

Yielded Piper & Tristan

Nick 'Santa' Lopez ("Can maximize comfort with frugality"); with Sam

Santana Lopez ("Needs to find the meaning of life"); with Bert

"Thank U"

4th place out of 8 teams

Santa & Santana started the leg by unluckily picking the wrong assigned flight at the airport, but caught up to the lead after slaying the Detour. They were the first to the U-Turn point, and despite having had an earlier agreement with Piper & Tristan to work with them at the Intersection, realized that they had already made a prior commitment with Bert & Sam, who were there too. Santa & Santana in a classic moment of villainy chose to U-Turn Piper & Tristan who they felt were their biggest competitors. Santa & Sam first teamed up in a palanquin-making Roadblock, after which Santana & Bert were surprised to find out that they were forced to perform the next surprise Roadblock. Santa & Santana lost time when they could not find the right milk jug, and because of their penalty last leg, arrived second at the pit-stop, but checked-in in 4th place.

Leg 9 (India → Portugal)
Santana Lopez ("Doesn't give a funk")

Barrels

"Rockafella Skank"

3rd place out of 6 teams

Santa & Santana edged out the other teams to board the earliest plane to Portugal. There, they maintained their lead throughout the Roadblock and up till the Yield, where they chose to Yield their rivals Piper & Tristan. Although they sped through the Detour and towards the pit-stop in first place, they lost time searching for Phil's exact location, and checked-in in 3rd place.

Leg 10 (Portugal → The Netherlands)
Seek

Nick 'Santa' Lopez ("Can cheese out the rat"); Express Pass used

2nd place out of 5 teams

Santa & Santana missed the early flight to the Netherlands, and fought to catch up with the teams ahead. As it was the last leg where they could use the Express Pass, they elected to spend it to bypass the Roadblock, and managed to gain lots of ground. After narrowly being beaten by Hillary & Sarah in a velomobile race to the pit-stop, they checked-in in 2nd place, only to find that the leg was not yet over. Having made a last-minute deal with Hillary & Sarah, Piper & Tristan were Marked for Elimination instead.

Leg 11 (The Netherlands → Denmark)
Sweet

Nick 'Santa' Lopez ("Is tracing their childhood very well")

1st place out of 5 teams

Santa & Santana departed the pit-stop in 2nd place, and were allotted a second-class cabin which quickly earned Santana's wrath. The team gave in to Santa's hunger pangs and opted for the Detour option involving selling danishes. In a three-way footrace to the Double U-Turn, the duo beat out the rest to escape being U-Turned. They had however already used up their U-Turn power in a previous leg. The team maintained their lead to the pit-stop, and despite arriving second, checked-in in 1st place thanks to Piper & Tristan's penalty, winning themselves tickets to Fashion Week in Paris.

Leg 11 (Denmark → Ghana)
Santana Lopez ("Has got the call")

Discover

"Back to December", "Car Wash"

2nd place out of 4 teams

Santa & Santana knew how crucial this penultimate leg would be, and were ready to give it their all. Santana happily got wet and sexy during a van wash Roadblock, and her experience with Mercedes' weave helped her get through an art Detour quickly. After drawing symbols for the eliminated teams, the team found that they had checked-in in 2nd place, and had made it to the Final 3 and therefore the final leg of the race.