Episode 2: Part 2

<Biran & Yenke: Comrades: Currently in Last Place>
     Biran and Yenke continued to stare at the waves made by their broken plane bobbing on the rough waves of the ocean. They both relaxed and watched the sunrise over some distant hills, though both were on opposite wings of the plane, just to ensure that it was in no way romantic. 
     "Biran is angry," Biran said. "Biran want to win, but hornless plane does not work."
     "Biran and Yenke will win," Yenke told him. "Ronso strong. Puny plane cannot stop Ronso."
     "Yenke is right. Biran will just crush other teams. But what we do now? Plane does not move. Swim?"
     "Hornless, hairless cameraman cannot swim and film."
     "Why does cameraman not have hair on his head?" Biran laughed and pointed at the camera. "Biran has hair on whole body! Camera-friend cannot make hair!"
     The two Ronso continued to laugh at the cameraman as a second airplane pulled up beside the two Ronso. Instead of boarding, the Ronso continued to laugh at the cameraman.

<Announcer Gippal> 
     "If a team's vehicle breaks down through no fault of their own or otherwise becomes inoperable, they may request a replacement vehicle without receiving a time penalty. However, no time credit is given for their wait in this unlucky situation."

<Biran & Yenke: Comrades: Currently in Last Place>
     Biran and Yenke finally crossed over to the new plane and fired it up. Both Ronso laughed proudly and resumed their quest for the temple.

<7:00 am: Temple of the Ancients>
     The ten teams continued to wait in line at the back entrance to the Temple of the Ancients, when suddenly the chains covering the door began to glow a bright bluish green color. The teams near the door stepped back, while several other teams that were seated rose up and picked up their possessions. The chains finally stopped glowing, then fell to the floor. The door swung open and the teams ran in with Zell and Ma leading the pack.
     The room was long and rectangular. The floors and walls were brick, but covered by dust and dirt. At the end of the long hallway was a clue box sitting in the corner.
     Ma was the first to the clue box. She reached in and pulled out the clue, and then went to the opposite corner to read it with Zell. She ripped open the clue and pulled out a yellow 'Detour' card. "Detour, Ten o' Clock or Six o' Clock?"

<Announcer Gippal>
     "A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. For both detours, teams will travel into the next room where a large clock awaits them. They will make the clock's hands face themselves, at twelve o' clock, and the detour they have chosen, then they'll follow the hands to their chosen detour. 
     "In Ten o' Clock, teams will travel through the 'X' door and find a long hallway. Their task is simply navigate remote controlled cars to the other end of the hallway. However, large cement cylinders will roll down the path and crush their cars. Luckily, on one a side of the cylinder is a long cavity that the RC cars, if timed right, can hide in and avoid being crushed. Teams can follow their cars along a small, protected area to the side so they can see their car's progress. The task is fairly straightforward and teams with good timing could finish quickly, but if their car is destroyed, they must restart, which could take a long time.
     "In Six o' Clock, teams will travel through the 'VI' door and proceed to a chamber with many paintings on the walls. Inside the room are several podiums with a list of questions on them. Teams must answer the questions by finding clues around the room in the murals and texts on the walls. After answering five questions correctly, they will receive their next clue. The task is not difficult, but finding the answers to some of the questions could take a long time."

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place>
     "What should we do, Ma?" Zell asked. "I'm pretty good with a car, but I think you have to drive one too. Can you do it?"
     "I think we'd have better luck than if we kept you away from anything involving thinking," Ma said with a chuckle.
     "Okay, Ten o' Clock then," Zell said. He thought for a moment. "Wait, what?"
     "Hurry, Zelly!"
     Ma and Zell quickly jumped out through the door, barely edging out Reno and Rude, and approached the clock. The room was fairly cryptic. It was a giant abyss with a large clockface as their floor with doors all around as each of the clock's numbers. The clock's hands sat at three o' clock, with one hand facing Zell and Ma's feet and the other facing the door labeled "III". To Zell's left was a small control panel to the clock with buttons reading Hour and Minute and Random. Zell pushed the hand reading Hour and watched as the hand facing their feet shifted away and now faced the "I" door.
     "Dangit, wrong way," Zell said. "Why doesn't this have an undo button?"
     "Don't worry, Zelly. We're in first I think, so they all have to wait for us anyway," Ma informed Zell.
     "Good point, Ma. But I want to keep our lead on the team that hasn't shown up yet."
     "Aww, you're such a smartie!"

<Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 2nd Place>
     Reno and Rude waited behind Zell and Ma for their turn at the clock. Reno tapped his foot impatiently while Rude stood completely still with his arms folded across his chest.
     "What should we do?" Reno asked Rude.
     "The cars," Rude responded.
     "Good idea!" Reno said. "I was thinking the same thing! You're such a smartie!"
     "Oh come on, boys," Ma said over her shoulder. "Mockery will get you nowhere."
     "Oh yes ma'am, sorry ma'am," Reno said. "I didn't mean to mock you though. My partner here, he really is a smartie."
     "He does seem like it," Ma said.
     Zell finally aligned the minute hand to Ten o' Clock and the hour hand to their position at twelve o' clock and waved for Ma to follow him. Ma smiled and walked carefully behind the less-careful Zell along the hour and minute hands and into the next room. 
     Before Reno and Rude could follow, the hands spun around wildly and returned to pointing to twelve and three.
     "No freebie for us I guess," Reno said.
     Rude nodded and manned the controls for the minute hand. 

<Cecil & Rosa: Married, Currently in 3rd Place>
     Cecil and Rosa waited behind Reno and Rude and continued to read their clue.
     "Looks like it was a good idea to lineup," Cecil said. "Looks like we all have saved some time and everybody else is behind us now. Good idea, darling. Thank you."
     Rosa looked behind her as other teams followed Reno and Rude and Cecil and Rosa's examples and stopped reading their clues in order to gain a better position in line. "You're welcome, sweetheart. So which should we do? Ten or six?"
     "Six for sure," Cecil said. "I'm not wonderful with technology. That was always Cid's department."
     "Agreed."

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 4th Place>
     "Seems we've lost our edge," Balthier said. "How did all these other people line up before us?"
     "They did not have to run around that large blue woman," Fran said. 
     "That was a setback," he trailed off. "So then, what detour? The cars?"
     "Yes, I think Ten o' Clock would be best."
     "All right. All we have to do now is wait then."

<Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 5th Place>
     "I think Six o' Clock," Freya said. "Do you?"
     "I'm not so sure," Fratley said.
     Freya sighed. "The old Fratley would have agreed."
     "Oh, okay. Then yes, Six o' Clock sounds perfect."

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 6th Place>
     "I can navigate any vessel through any conditions," Faris said. "But how're yer abilities?"
     "Six would be better suited for me, but let's give Ten o' Clock a try," Reina said. 
     "Okay, but be decidin' quickly if we're to change detours."
     "I will."

<Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 7th Place>
     "Cars," Zone said.
     "Cars," Watts confirmed.

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 8th Place>
     "These are our only two choices?" Dona whined to Barthello. "Ugh. Let's do the Six o' Clock one and be done with this horrible place."
     Barthello nodded.

<Celes & Cid: Subject/Researcher, Currently in 9th Place>
<Brahne & Garnet: Mother/Daughter, Currently in 10th Place>
     Celes and Cid looked back to Brahne and Garnet as they all decided what detour to do.
     "I'd prefer the cars," Cid said. "But I'm guessing Six o' Clock is more suited for us."
     "I would also like the cars," Brahne said. "Reading and looking at pictures... Dreadful! I feel the need. The need, for speed."
     "Woman after my own heart."
     "Do I have it yet?" Brahne paired her question with a wink.
     "I-" Cid paused and was interrupted by a loud banging sound behind them.

<Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in Last Place>
     Biran and Yenke stood by the open backdoor at the Temple of the Ancients, having just kicked the door open and sent it slamming into the wall.
     "Biran is back in the race," Biran said. He pointed to the clue box and Yenke quickly ran to fetch their clue.
     Yenke brought back the clue and ripped it open. "Detour: Ten o' Clock or Six o' Clock."
     The two Ronso seemed to take an eternity to read the clue.
     "Is Yenke done reading?" Biran asked.
     "Not yet," Yenke replied.
     "Is Yenke done yet!?"
     "Of course Yenke is done! Yenke has been done for ages. Yenke thinks we should do whatever the first one says."
     "Biran agrees. Biran wants to show pitiful hornless humans that Ronso can use hornless machina."
     "Stupid broken water-plane was not Ronso fault," Yenke said. 

     Zell and Ma reached the long stone hallway and found a pair of remote controlled cars with remotes sitting on top of them. The main hall was very wide in order to compensate for the large stone cylinders rolling down the path in an endless cycle. They were shaped like large 'C's because of the large cavity on one side and the hollow center.
     Beside the path of doom was a long corridor of stucco walls, giant pane-glass windows facing the path of doom, and wooden floors. The path did not match the scheme of the rest of the temple.
     Zell grabbed a pair of RC cars and their respective controllers and moved the cars to the starting line. He returned to Ma and handed her a controller. The two entered the unmatched side path, which was marked by red and yellow flags. From the first window they could clearly see their cars on the starting line.
     "Okay, the controls look pretty simple, Ma," Zell explained. "I think this tiny wheel that looks like a steering wheel is the steering wheel. In fact, I'm pretty confident in that. Then the button down by your trigger finger is the gas. Push it in to gas, release to brake."
     "Looks fun," Ma said enthusiastically. "Ready set go!"
     Zell and Ma's cars started whizzing forward, but in exactly 1.2 seconds a giant stone pillar rolled over them and crushed them to bits.
     "Oh poopie," Ma said.
     "I think this might be harder than we thought," Zell said.

     "Oh good, haven't missed anything!" Reno said as he and Rude joined Zell and Ma in grabbing more RC cars and placing them on the starting line.
     "Zelly, you should show these boys how to operate the cars," Ma instructed Zell.
     "Oh no, it's okay." Reno looked down at the simplistic controls and back to Ma. "I think we've got it covered."
     The four waited in the room and sent their cars racing down the path. All four suddenly stopped and started easing forward to line up with the long cavity.
     "Easy enough," Reno bragged.

     Brahne and Garnet sat with Celes and Cid to chat while waiting in the long line for the clock.
     "And that's how I started re-learning how to summon eidolons with Ramuh's help," Garnet explained to the group. "From there it was easy to remember how to summon. Shiva, Ifrit, even Bahamut!"
     "That's amazing!" Cid said.
     "Oh get over yourself, little girl," Dona butted into the conversation.
     "Eavesdropping much?" Celes said to Dona.
     "I'm just very receptive to somebody bragging so loudly about measly little accomplishments. I can summon, but you don't hear me bragging about it on national television."
     "Summoners all special," Biran said, inviting himself to the conversation as well.
     "Ronso help summoners on their quest," Yenke added.
     "Dona is summoner. Dona is special. New girl is summoner. She special too."
     "I'm Garnet," Garnet introduced herself to the helpful Ronso.
     "And it is something to brag about," Brahne said. "She is a very special summoner. Why, when her father and I took the poor child in, that evil husband of mine had her little summoner's horn removed, and yet she was still able to summon."
     Biran immediately backhanded Yenke in the chest. "She- But she is summoner."
     "Biran. She is hornless," Yenke added.
     "Biran does not know what to think. Biran is confused. Summoner... Hornless? Is summoner... Ronso?"
     "Is summoner... Kimahri?" Yenke was quickly backhanded by Biran for his suggestion.
     "Hornless summoner girl is not Kimahri. Stupid Yenke!"
     "Oh god," Dona said. "At least the Ronso will distract them and not me. Barthello, are we next yet?"
     "Not yet," Barthello said. "Cecil and Rosa only got through about twenty seconds ago."

     Cecil and Rosa ran through the 'VI' door and were met by three large dirt steps leading downward. Far to their right was a large door with a yellow and red flag above it. Cecil pointed to the door and guided Rosa inside where large pictures were drawn in a gold colored room. The biggest mural was of a large meteor about to crash into a populated countryside.
     The pair made their way to a podium with a small model of the temple itself floating inches above the podium. The podium suddenly began to speak to them. "Question number one: This temple houses the ultimate materia. What color is that materia?"
     "What's a materia?" Cecil asked. Rosa shrugged. "We'd better find out though. Let us search the walls."

     Fran and Balthier entered the 'X' door and jogged over to pick up their cars. Then they headed into the marked hallway with the other racers where Reno was currently cursing his car.
     "Okay, I hate this," Reno muttered to Rude. "I can't see crap around this pillar!" Reno gestured to a pillar outside the marked hallway that was visually obstructive to part of the course.
     "I'm with you," Zell said. "It's really hard to see with the pillars and those stone things rolling over our cars. I think I could run this path like an obstacle course easily, but getting this little car is friggin impossible!"
     "Guess that puts us in the lead," Balthier said as he and Fran entered the marked hallway with their cars as the other two teams went to grab more cars.
     "You won't be," Zell said. "It's tough. It takes you a long time to get the hang of it."
     "I'm sure," Balthier said. His car quickly navigated into the cavity of the first rolling pillar and continued on. "Beginner's luck I guess."
     Zell cursed under his breath and punched a nearby wall before grabbing his RC car and racing back inside the marked hallway.

     Freya and Fratley entered the mural room and quickly found their own podium. Before activating it, they watched Cecil and Rosa return to their podium and start writing something down.
     "I believe eaves-dropping will only hinder us," Fratley said quietly to Freya.
     "It always does," Freya replied. "Shall we begin then?"
     "Question number one," the podium said. "This temple houses the ultimate materia. What color is that materia."

     "I got mixed messages," Cecil whispered to Rosa. "Are you sure it's black? I also read something about dark materia."
     "Dark isn't a color, sweetheart," Rosa said.
     "My soul is dark," Cecil muttered to himself.
     Rosa pushed a button beside the mini-temple. Their answer suddenly disappeared from the page and a light beside a label reading "Question 1" turned green.
     "Wonderful job, Rosa my love," Cecil said.
     "Question number two: Who built this temple?" the podium asked.

     "Everybody is still here," Reina noted as they entered the room with the RC cars. "That scares me."
     "Aye, me too," Faris said. "But this is just the sea's way of washing the other ships aside so ours may sail in front."
     "That's really strange," Reina said. She ran over and grabbed a couple RC cars and placed them on the starting line.

     "Yes!" Zell shouted as his car passed over the finish line. "Just waiting for you now, Ma!"
     "You may be waiting a while," Ma responded. "My car just got crunched."
     "Aww, Ma. I told you to take it slow!"
     "Well somebody scared me when he started yelling about his car."
     "Oh. Sorry, Ma."
     "It's okay, Zelly." Ma walked out of the marked hallway and over to the stash of cars, just as Zone and Watts entered the room and began searching for cars of their own. "Oh, hello boys!"
     "Hiya," Watts said. "How is it?"
     "Hard," she responded.
     "Love it. Should give us an edge."
     "How so?" Ma asked as she placed her car on the starting line. Zone squeezed in behind her and added their two cars as well.
     "Basically all we do is play with toys like these," Watts said. "In fact, I know this exact brand of RC car."
     "Ooh, that should make you two very happy campers. Just try not to beat me too bad. Eat my dust and all that." Ma smiled at her use of her hip, trash-talking vocabulary and headed back to the marked hallway.

     Dona and Barthello entered the mural room and saw Cecil and Rosa reading a text on a nearby wall while Freya and Fratley observed the mural on the wall.
     "This looks boring," Dona whined. "Is the whole race going to be this dull?"
     "Please, Dona. I really like this show," Barthello responded. "Can we... Can we work together to win? Or at least stay in longer?"
     "Fine," Dona said. "Lead the way, Mr. Takes Control."

     Celes and Cid finished controlling the clock and walked across the minute hand to the 'X' marked door. 
     Cid looked back to Brahne and Garnet. "Good luck you two. We can't wait for you long, especially since we're bringing up the back of the pack."
     "It's okay," Garnet shouted back. "Good luck to you too!"
     Cid and Celes waved before racing into the door and disappearing from sight. Garnet and Brahne waited for the clock to reset, when Garnet had a strange, unnerving feeling. She turned around slowly and came face to chest with the blue and yellow fur of Yenke and Biran.
     "Umm, y-yes?" she asked timidly.
     "Puny summoner must do clock challenge with no help," Biran said. "No help from friends, no help from horn."
     "Summoner has no horn! No horn! No horn!" Yenke chanted.
     "I haven't had my horn for ages," she responded. "I don't even remember having it actually."
     "It okay," Biran said in a patronizing voice. "Biran and Yenke will help little human female who lost her horn. Biran's horn is big! And mighty! Yenke's is kind of okay too."
     "I think I've got it actually." Garnet aligned the clock to the 'X' door and proceeded to walk across the clock hands. Brahne followed her carefully. The two eventually reached the door, despite the severe bending of the clock's hands as Brahne walked across them. The clock then reset itself to the standard starting position.
     Yenke quickly moved over to the panel to control the clock and starting spinning the hands around.
     "Hurry, Yenke," Biran said. "We must catch up to hornless human girl. We must tease her to make her grow strong and forget her weaknesses that she feels from having no mighty horn."
     "Biran and Yenke such good people," Yenke added.

     Several cars raced through down the hallway through the rolling stone pillars. The camera labeled them for each of the racers with Reno, Rude, Zone, Fran, Balthier, Ma, and Faris in the front, while the others lagged behind. A stone pillar rolled across the lead cars and Ma's car swerved as she gasped loudly and watched her car get smashed to bits alongside Fran's car.
     "Fran?" Balthier asked. "Wasn't that your car?"
     "Her constant gasping threw me off," Fran replied as she went to get a new car.
     Reno, Rude, Zone, Balthier, and Faris all reached the finish line at the same time. A man dressed in a purple robe handed Reno and Rude their clue.
     "Thanks, bud," Reno said. He ripped open the clue and read it with Rude reading over his shoulder. "Make your way to the town of Gongaga and find your clue among the trash."

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must now travel to a small hidden town known as Gongaga. The town was mostly destroyed when a Mako Reactor exploded, and teams must search the piles of wreckage to find their next clue."

<Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Aww, Gongaga?" Reno whined. "I hate that town. All those stupid frogs everywhere. So annoying, y'know?"
     "Whatever," Rude said. "Let's just go before the rest catch up and follow us."
     "Yeah, it's our big chance for a break-out lead, what with the home field advantage. Let's go!"
     Reno and Rude raced out of the hallway through a door marked by red arrows. It pointed them down a series of corridors that took them to a single stone, which once they stepped on it, rose up almost magically to the floor above them. Once there, they headed out of the small room and out the front entrance of the temple. Beyond the entrance was a series of several steps leading down to a rope bridge across a small moat. From here it was a quick jog to the sea-planes. The two boys in black jumped aboard their plane and set sail in the shallow waters of the world.

     Cecil and Rosa wrote down their final answer: Jenova. The words disappeared and a panel on the front of the podium sprung open to revealed their next clue. Cecil bent down and grabbed the clue, which he read to Rosa.
     "Make your way to the town of Gongaga and find your clue among the trash."
     "Wonderful, let's go," Rosa said. She kissed Cecil on the cheek. "Thanks for keeping your head. I know finding these answers was aggravating."
     "It wasn't too bad," he said. "Let's hurry to this trash town."

     "Done!" Watts said as he guided his car over the finish line.
     "Took you long enough," Zone said. The man in purple handed him their next clue, which he opened and read aloud.
     "No clue where that is," Watts said. "Hope your map skills are up to par."
     "Me too."

     Freya and Fratley searched the walls frantically with Freya analyzing the murals while Fratley read through the texts over and over.
     "I cannot find it anywhere," Fratley said. "Cecil and Rosa found it quickly. Why can't we?"
     "I am not sure," Freya said. "We must be missing something."
     "I think you should join me in searching texts," Fratley said. "We are looking for a name, which a picture cannot tell."
     "Okay. I will search the left, you the right."

     Several cars raced for the finish line. The camera-added labels read Fran, Cid, Ma, and Brahne. Each of their cars waited in a perfect line as the pillar rolled over them without crushing a single car. Once it past, all four cars revved up and raced over the finish line.
     "Good job, Ma!" Zell cheered. He took their clue alongside Balthier, who took the clue of Fran and himself.
     "Nicely done," Balthier said to Fran. "You two as well," he said to Zell and Ma.
     "Hey, I was done long before you," Zell cockily reminded Balthier.
     "Zelly, don't antagonize," Ma lectured Zell.
     The foursome read through the clues and headed outside together. Fran and Balthier ran faster and began to pull away from Zell and Ma, when suddenly Zell called out to them.
     "Hey you guys!" Zell shouted. Balthier and Fran slowed down and looked over their shoulders at him. "I don't suppose you'd like to-"
     "Form a very temporary alliance?" Balthier finished his sentence. "Sounds good to me. We'll team up until the next challenge, then we'll split again."
     "Deal," Zell said. He caught up to them and rubbed his hand on the side of his jean shorts, then extended it for a handshake. Balthier promptly stuck his own hand out and shook Zell's. Balthier and Fran started to jog off again, while Zell just admired his hand.
     "Ma, this is amazing," Zell said. "I'm getting so many handshakes!"
     "That's wonderful, dear," Ma said patronizingly. 
     "Don't break stride though," Balthier said. "We'll share information and directions, but only if you don't slow us down."
     "Right, we're coming," Zell shouted. He and Ma quickly joined Fran and Balthier in running for the exit.

     "Come on, dearie!" Brahne urged Garnet.
     "I'm trying, but these Ronso are driving so close to mine," Garnet said.
     Garnet watched her car, which was pinched between Biran's on the left and Yenke's on the right. Neither car was physically touching hers, but they were each within inches on either side.
     "Ooh, little hornless summoner is intimidated by our mighty horned cars," Biran teased her.
     "Goatling summoner is worried about horny Ronso," Yenke added. He got several strange looks from the other racers, but most shrugged it off as just a crazy Ronso saying.
     "Mmm," Brahne commented. "If only."
     "You're all making me very nervous. And disgusted," Garnet said. She drove her car over the finish line, which also meant that both Ronso steered theirs over the finish as well.
     The purple old man handed Garnet and Biran their clues. Garnet read her clue to Brahne, while Biran and Yenke stood over her shoulders and mouthed the words with her while assuming her posture.
     "Ha ha ha ha!" Brahne laughed. "You two are too funny!"
     "They're mocking me, aren't they?" Garnet asked. She sighed. "Let's just go."
     "Puny summoner cannot find way without Biran and Yenke," Biran said. 
     "Summoner can hold Yenke's horn if summoner would like," Yenke suggested.
     "Please leave me alone," Garnet said. She slowly made her way past the large Ronso and her larger, captivated mother.
     "May I?" Brahne asked Yenke.
     Yenke's heart dropped as he looked Brahne over in fear. "Umm."
     "Yenke has crossed line," Biran said.
     "Yenke is sorry," he told Brahne. "Yenke must protect his horn."

<Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place>
     Reno and Rude parked their plane by the shore by a single house and began running inland. There was a large pasture of grass with a large desert to their right and a small forest to their left, which they quickly began running toward after it came into view.
     "You sure this was the closest place to park?" Reno asked.
     "No," Rude replied.
     "Wonderful. Well just keep running. And beware of frogs. Those guys are annoying y'know."
     "Yeah. Hate 'em."
     The Turks ran through the forest circling the trash town and quickly made their way to the large piles of trash. There were red and yellow flags marking two large mounds of discarded scrap metals and destroyed houses. 
     Reno looked at Rude and motioned to the pile. "Well, start digging."
     Rude nodded and began looking through the piles of trash. Reno searched the pile on the left while Rude searched the pile to the right. Rude carefully searched each section, while Reno started recklessly throwing trash around in search of a clue.

     "There!" Fratley shouted. He pointed to a word on the text. "I found it!"
     Freya ran over to him and looked over the word, then nodded. The pair quickly moved to their podium and wrote the answer on the magical paper. The answer disappeared and their podium opened up. Freya took the clue and read it quietly to Fratley.
     "Okay, let's go," Fratley said.
     Freya and Fratley raced out of the room and headed for the temple's exit.

     "You saw that, right?" Dona asked Barthello.
     "Yes. It was that text over there." Barthello moved to the text Freya and Fratley had just read through. "When we get to the final question, the answer is in here."
     Dona scribbled down an answer and the Question 4 light turned green. Their final question was announced by the podium as Dona joined Barthello in looking for the answer.
     "There," Dona said, pointing to the word Jenova so closely that she touched the ancient text.
     Barthello jogged to the podium and wrote the word down. The podium revealed their clue, which Barthello removed and read to Dona.
     "Garbage? Great," Dona complained. "This really is an amazing race. Amazingly disgusting."

<Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Here," Rude said, holding a clue above his head. Reno threw one last piece of junk from the pile before joining Rude, who read the clue out loud. "Make your way by buggy to Nibelheim. Caution: Xing ahead."

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must now travel to the town of Nibelheim by a car known as the buggy. The buggy can cross shallow rivers and can get them to Nibelheim quickly, but the buggy is known for its frequent breakdowns. In Nibelheim, teams will find the first of six pre-determined delay points: the Xing."

<Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 1st Place>
     "I don't remember that one from last season," Reno said.
     "We should get there quickly then," Rude suggested.
     "Yeah, let's grab the buggy and haul."
     Reno and Rude quickly exited Gongaga, where on the outskirts they found eleven buggies waiting for them. All were red and had six wheels.
     "Let's take that one," Reno said, pointing to the far left buggy. He and Rude got into the buggy and headed north for Nibelheim.
     "Home field advantage is great," Rude commented.
     "Exactly my thoughts, y'know."