Episode 4: Part 3

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 7th Place>
     Dona and Barthello reached the Water Palace and received their clue from the box. Barthello read the roadblock out loud.
     "Yours," Dona said quickly.
     "But- Dona!" Barthello interjected. "If we plan on winning, I cannot do every roadblock. I can only do six total. Are you sure I should be doing all of them?"
     "Yes, Barthello," she snapped. "If I said it to you, then I'm sure." She glanced to the group of people waiting at the teleporter and noted who was in the crowd. "Wait, the smelly rats aren't here? And the princess is letting her mother do it? Barthello, please. I can do this one. Stop hogging the roadblocks."
     "I-" Barthello started, then regained his composure. "Yes. You're right. This one should be yours."
     Dona marched to the teleporter and entered, while Barthello walked to the group of women and stood near them with his arms folded across his chest. The girls all seemed shocked that Dona was doing her first roadblock.

     Rude exited the teleporter and ran to join Reno, who gave a quick hoot of joy. They read through the clue, then raced off to try to find Faris and Reina and the cannon travel.

     Brahne gave a fierce growl, then whipped at the post. It latched on and she tugged it to make sure it was sturdy, then ran at full speed and jumped across the gap, falling well short of the required distance. She fell downward but held the whip tightly, when suddenly the post began to be swayed by her weight and started to uproot itself. The staff quickly grabbed their own ropes and equipment and tied it onto the pole and pulled in the opposite direction with all their might to steady the pole. Brahne slowly climbed up the whip as the staff began to sweat more and more heavily over the gigantic load they were essentially holding up.
     Meanwhile, Biran and Dona waited impatiently for Brahne to pull herself up so they could get to the other side.

<Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in 8th Place>
     Freya and Fratley reached the Water Palace and pulled their clue from the box. "Roadblock: Who's proficient with many weapons?" Freya read.
     "I can do it," Fratley said. "Please, stay here and rest until I return."
     He raced off to the teleporter and stopped behind Dona to wait for a turn at the whipping.
     "Oh gawd," Dona said as he arrived.
     "Goodness!" Fratley said suddenly, looking completely past Dona and at Brahne, who was dangling from the whip with her stubby legs kicking wildly. He ran to her aid and slid down by the gap and reached his arm down to help. Biran followed suit and also reached down to help. They each grabbed ahold of Brahne, one under one armpit and the other under the other, then lifted with all their might. With the combined force of Fratley, Biran, and Brahne (not to mention the staff), she finally reached the top and stood back on her own two feet. Everybody heaved a loud sigh of relief.
     "Thank you, my furry heroes!" Brahne said to Fratley and Biran. She blew them both one giant kiss, then turned and trotted down the stairs and jogged to the next room, where she took up a sword and started chopping at the bushes.

     Balthier lined up his shot with his bow and arrow, then fired off a shot at the target. It connected right in the middle and Balthier grabbed his clue before heading back to the entrance.

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place>
     Reina and Faris reached the cannon travel, which was a lot scarier than either had imagined. There was a small platform with stairs leading up to it. At the bottom of the stairs was a scruffy man that had hair like a barbeque scrubbing brush and wore a pair of soot-covered goggles. At the top was an extremely large cannon pointing out over the trees.
     "They're kidding, right?" Reina said to Faris, but her sister had already gone up the stairs and slid into the cannon. "In... there?"
     The scruffy man nodded.
     "Oh goodness," Reina said. She quickly shrugged her fears off and ran up the stairs and slid into the cannon.
     The scruffy man checked that they were in properly, then pushed a button on a remote control. The cannon exploded in a puff of grey smoke and Reina and Faris were sent flying extremely high into the air. They spun around and were both tucked tightly into a ball-shape. They flew for only a short while before decending into a section of snow-covered trees.
     They landed in a very large air-filled mattress to keep the racers from harm. Both laughed and cheered, then jumped out of the bag and found a clue box nearby. The surrounding area was snowing very lightly; just enough to keep the ground and trees covered with white. Beside the clue box was a 'yield' mat.

<Announcer Gippal>
     "This is the second of six delay points along the race. A yield can be used to force a team to stop for a predetermined amount of time. If a team has been yielded, they must stay at the yield until the hourglass is empty before they can continue. Teams may only use a delay point once, so they must decide when it is most advantageous to use it."

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place>
     Reina and Faris moved to the yield mat and faced the camera. "We choose not to yield," Reina announced. She then grabbed a clue from the clue box and read it to Faris. "It says: 'Walk the seasons Spring to Winter. Spring again and we can enter.'"

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must now decipher a clue relating to their current environment. In the surrounding forest are various sections that look like the four seasons of the year: Spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They must start in spring, then walk in the correct order: spring, summer, autumn, winter, then spring once again. Once successful, they will be handed their next clue."

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 1st Place>
     "..that be it?" Faris asked.
     "That's... all."
     "We should figure this out, sis. Put yer thinkin' hat on."

     Biran finally whipped the post and pulled himself across to the other side, then ran down the stairs to search for the next area. He found Brahne chopping away at bushes. She was sweating a lot and was not even halfway through. Watts was just up ahead, taking several swings with his axe at the marble statue. He had made a large dent in the side, but the statue still was not down.

     Back at the whipping post, Balthier was taking his turn trying to lasso the way back, but failed. He stepped back to allow Dona a turn. She flicked out her whip but did not hold the handle tightly enough, so the whole whip shot out of her grip and landed on the other side. Balthier ran forward and stepped on one end of the whip before the weight of a portion of the whip that dangled from the cliffside forced the entire thing to slide off. He pulled the whip up and handed it to the staff.
     "I guess that makes it my turn," he said. He whipped the post and caught it snugly, then pulled himself to the other side. He raced back to the teleporter and teleported outside, where he collected his bag and Fran. They read the clue, then proceeded to the cannon travel center.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in Last Place>
     Zell and Ma ran to the Water Palace and grabbed their clue.
     "I'm glad to see so many teams here," Ma said before reading the clue. "Roadblock: Who's proficient with many weapons?"
     "That's me!" Zell said. "I'm a SeeD. We're trained in all sorts of forms of combat! But it's your turn to do a roadblock. And my thumb hurts."
     "Stop whining, Zelly. We need to catch up, so you go in and make your mama proud."
     "Yes, Ma." Zell said. He raced to the teleporter and waited in the line behind Fratley. "Glad to see I didn't miss the party," he said to Fratley.
     Fratley smiled and looked over his shoulder at Zell. "And with any luck," he whispered, "you won't be at the tail end of things soon." He glanced at Dona. "She's only two attempts away from moving to the back of the line."
     "Yessssss," Zell cheered quietly, but still included an arm thrust.

<Reno & Rude: Partners, Currently in 2nd Place>
     The Turks plopped down on the large inflated mattress in the Upper Lands. They wasted no time in finding the yield mat.
     "We refuse to yield," Reno said. He ripped open the clue and read the rhyme to Rude. "Any ideas?"
     "No," Rude said. "Maybe the trees have words written on them like seasons or months."
     "Heeey, there's usin' the ol' noodle!" Reno said. "Let's check the trees or for like, writing in the snow, y'know?"

     Reina and Faris followed a path that led them to a new area. It was like walking back in time, because the trees were suddenly not white from snow anymore, but instead were brown and yellow and other fall colors.
     "This must be what it means! We were just in winter, and now we're in autumn!" Reina said. "Come on, let's keep running and find spring!"

     "The girls went this way," Rude said, pointing to footprints in the snow that were starting to fade.
     "Good job, dude!" Reno said. "That's good eyesight. And I think it makes up for your bad eyesight on leg two, y'know? Good job, pal. Now let's do what Turks do best and follow them. And of course, pass them at the last second, y'know?"
     "Right."

     Watts crashed through the statue and started running for the long range section just as Brahne reached her own statue. She picked up the axe and panted a couple times, then screamed a mighty battle cry and brought down the axe directly on top of the statue. The force shattered the statue in one shot and Brahne waddled on to her next station.

     "You've got to be kidding me," Dona said as the whip failed to latch onto the post.
     "Next person's turn," the staff member said.
     She handed the whip to Fratley and made her way to the back of the line. He stepped up and lashed the whip out toward the pole. It hit, but failed to stick.

     Watts approached the target area and grabbed the boomerang. He held it like a frisbee and spun it at the target. It had decent aim, but not enough force as it stopped short and returned to him.
     Much to his shock, Brahne then entered the area and started looking over the weapons. She smiled evilly when she saw the javelin and took up the powerful spiked weapon. She hurled it at the target, but missed. She went back to the table and picked up another javelin. While she was picking a new one up, Watts threw his boomerang again and missed. He caught the boomerang as it returned to him, then quickly threw it out again, this time connecting with the target. He was handed his clue afterwards.
     "Sweet," he said. "Good luck, Ms. Brahne."
     "And to you too!" she hollered back. "Toodles!"

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 3rd Place>
     "You must be joking," Balthier said as he looked at the giant cannon.
     "Don't worry, you're the leading man," Fran said as she grabbed the top of the cannon and slid in one leg, then the other. "The leading man isn't afraid of something as harmless as this, is he?"
     Balthier sighed. "One day, you'll be the death of me." He joined Fran and slid into the cannon. The cannon shot them out across the skies and and they flew to the forest and landed in the inflated mattress. Both rolled out quickly, then looked at each other.
     "Well?" Fran said. "You're alive."
     "And bringing a whole new meaning to the term 'sky pirate.' I rather like it."
     Fran and Balthier ran to the yield mat and faced the camera. "We shan't yield," Balthier said, then took a clue from the box. "Walk the seasons spring to winter. Spring again and we can enter."
     "Reminds me of home," Fran said. "Let's look around."
     Fran and Balthier walked to the south and found that at a certain point, the trees were not white, but instead pink. They were covered with blooming pink flowers instead of the white twigs where they started.
     "This is, without a doubt, spring," Fran said.
     "Back to winter then?" Balthier asked.
     "No, it says walk the seasons. Going from spring to winter then back to spring is hardly walking. Let's find summer."
     "I'll never question a Viera when it comes to hidden paths and rhymes." Balthier pointed to an area in the Spring section where a man stood holding their next clue. "Once we walk the seasons, I believe he'll give us our next clue."
     "I agree."

     Watts reached the whipping post again in time to see Fratley making his final attempt at getting across. The whip lashed out and snagged the post firmly, so Fratley ran at the gap and jumped off, making sure his best leg provided the force of his jump. He was unsteady at first, but he regained himself as he pulled on the whip and cleared the gap. He looked back at Dona and smiled before gracefully walking behind Watts and down the steps.
     He finally reached the bush cutting area, where Biran was just finishing up. He cleared the last bush, then chopped down the statue with as much ease as Brahne. He ran like a truck to the final area, where Brahne was failing at hitting the target with her javelins.
     "No no no, that horrible way to throw," Biran said. Brahne instantly perked up when she heard his voice. Biran walked to the table and grabbed his own javelin, then hoisted it above his head. "This how a Ronso throw spear!" He hurled the javelin directly at the target and though it was not dead-center, he hit the target and took his clue. "Shoopuf lady need to hurry. Biran and Yenke want her and hornless summoner daughter to not be eliminated."
     Brahne nodded, then grabbed a javelin and scowled at the target. She let out her warcry and threw the javelin at the target. it barely knicked the corner, but she was presented with a clue nonetheless.
     "Biran is glad," Biran said before running back toward the whipping post.

     Watts exited the haunted forest and collected Zone, who was still a bit shaken from an awkward conversation with Reina. They ran together toward the cannon travel. Watts knew better than to say anything to Zone, who seemed to have a lot on his mind right now.

     Reina and Faris walked into an area with green grass, green trees, and a blue lake in the middle. They walked in from the north and immediately noticed Fran and Balthier walking in from the west.
     "Spring?" Reina asked Fran.
     "Autumn?" Fran asked.
     Reina looked to Faris for confirmation to tell her, and Faris nodded. "Yep."
     "This is spring," Fran replied.
     "Are you all working together then?" Balthier asked as Reno and Rude came into sight.
     Reina and Faris spun around and saw the two Turks following them. "Oh. I- I don't-"
     "Hurry!" Faris ordered Reina. They started running toward spring and the Turks quickly gave chase. Fran and Balthier also chose to run toward autumn just in case.

<Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place>
     Watts and Zone landed in the fluffy mattress, this time both in Zone's famous fetal position.
     Watts pulled Zone from the mat. "That. Was."
     "Scary," Zone said.
     "Awesome."
     They started to walk toward the yield mat, when suddenly they saw Balthier and Fran running into their wintery section. Thinking they were racing for the yield, Watts and Zone quickly sprinted to the yield mat. "We choose to yield nobody." Watts said quickly to the camera. He watched Fran and Balthier for a split second as they ran by without stopping at the yield mat. "I... guess we're jumping at shadows." He took a clue from the box and read it out loud.
     "They ran that way," Zone said. "Calculate it. Do we go the way they came? Or where they went?"
     "It says 'spring again,' so we should follow them. If I'm reading this right, we just have to follow them to the end, and that'll also be our beginning."
     "That's what I think, too," Zone said. The pair ran to the south and followed Fran and Balthier to the area of brightly colored pink trees. They saw them approach a man in the corner, who handed them a clue.
     "That means this is spring," Watts said. "Now let's just figure out how they got umm... here."

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place>
     Balthier took the clue they were given and read it out loud. "Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at the Wind Palace. Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must travel a short distance to the Wind Palace. The last team to check in here, may be eliminated."

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place>
     "That's probably it," Balthier said. He pointed to a large building that looked similar to the Water Palace, save the shallow waters. The Wind Palace was instead built on a small plateau just beyond a small shambles of a village.
     Fran and Balthier jogged to the north and entered the large doors of the Wind Palace. Just inside, in front of a pyramid with a seed in a box at the top, was the Pit Stop mat, Gippal, and an old man with pointed ears who seemed to be asleep. They ran to the mat and stepped on... and waited.
     Gippal finally nudged the old man.
     "Huh? Wha? Oh, sorry," he said. "Welcome to the Wind Palace."
     "Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're team number one!"
     "About time I'd say," Balthier said as he hugged Fran.
     "As the winners of this leg of the race, you win an elemental named Sylphid."
     A small, blue djinn suddenly appeared, floating in mid-air just over the old man's shoulders. He wore puffy yellow pants. "You called?"
     "These two are your masters now," the old man explained to Sylphid.
     "You're always giving me to new people! Gah! The hell, man? I'm not your slave!"
     The old man waved his hand and Sylphid disappeared. "He's always cranky when he gets a new master. Just summon him whenever you want."
     "But not on the race," Gippal said with a laugh. "Feel good to be first place?"
     "Hopefully," Balthier said. "It might make us more of a target, but what do you expect from a leading man?"
     "Well, congrats, guys. I pegged you for serious competitors, so it's nice to see you rise up."

     Zell finally whipped the post, then jumped the gap and reached the other side. Dona quickly took up the whip and vigorously attacked the other post. From whipping it so quickly, it didn't take long before it got tangled around the post. She jumped for the other side, but missed and swung into the cliffside. A big puff of dirt fell on her as she whined for Barthello to help her.
     Directly above her, Biran whipped the opposing post and leapt across the gap. He made his way outside and joined Yenke. They read their clue and headed off to find the cannon travel.

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 2nd Place>
     "I can't run anymore," Reina huffed and wheezed as they reentered the spring area. The Turks were right on their heels.
     "Well those two can, so run yer ass off!" Faris urged her on. They found the man with the clues and grabbed theirs, then read it quickly and started power-walking to the north.
     Reno and Rude grabbed their own clue only a moment after the girls grabbed theirs, then read their clue and ran to catch up.
     The girls reached the doors to the Wind Palace, when suddenly the Turks emerged from behind them and ran in front of the two girls. They ran full-force to the mat and beat the girls by a couple seconds. Gippal motioned for them to scoot over so that Faris and Reina could join them.
     "Reno and Rude," Gippal said, "you're team number two. Faris and Reina, you're team nu-"
     "Two!?" Reno interrupted. "No way! I thought- Oh, sorry, Gippal. Didn't mean to interrupt, y'know? I just forgot about that pretty boy and the sexy bunny."
     "...Okay. Faris and Reina, you're team number three!"
     "We'll take it," Reina said. "It was a pretty tough leg, and we raced with these two almost the whole way! It was intense."

     Zell attacked the bushes with horrible form, but wonderful speed and devotion. Just ahead of him, he saw Fratley attacking a statue. He made very precise cuts, but the statue was only losing pieces instead of falling over entirely. Zell chopped through the final bush just as Fratley knocked down the last of the statue. Zell dropped the sword and picked up the axe, then started chopping at his own statue.

     "Dearie me, let me help you!" Brahne said to Dona. She reached down into the gap and helped Dona pull herself up. "Be careful now, sweetheart."
     "I was fine," Dona sulked. She ran down the stairs and ran to the next section where she picked up a sword and started chopping the bushes. "Ugh, I hate this game."

<Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 5th Place>
     Biran and Yenke flew through the skies from the cannon travel and crashed down on the inflated mattress. As soon as they hit, the mattress started squealing and air shot through a hole in the top.
     "What happened?" Biran asked.
     "When Yenke landed, Yenke pierced hornless human air-filled thing! With Yenke horn!" Yenke said triumphantly.
     "Biran is so proud. Yenke growing up so fast."
     Biran and Yenke ran to the yield mat and looked at the camera. "Biran has already used his delay and cannot use another. And Yenke never get one, so no more delay for Ronso."
     Yenke read through their clue. "Walk seasons spring to winter. Spring again, Ronso can enter."
     The Ronso continued to stare at clue without speaking. They replaced words with glances at each other and scratching their heads.
     "Clue... not tell Biran where to go?" Biran said. "That make Biran angry! Worthless hornless clue not even good! Biran want new clue! Yenke! Get real clue from box! Yenke has failed and picked a miserable clue again!"
     "Yenke thinks all clues not tell Ronso where to go."
     "That not make sense to Biran. Biran will do what Biran always does! Follow somebody else around and intimidate them!"
     "Yenke too!"

     Zell finished off his statue and entered the final area of the roadblock. Fratley was already there, lining up his shot with the javelin. Zell headed over and found a boomerang sitting on the table.
     "All right! A boomerang! I love these kinds of things!" He threw the boomerang out and hit the target immediately. "Oh, sorry Frat-Rat. Hope I didn't throw you off."
     Fratley threw the javelin and nailed the target right in the middle.
     "No, you did not," Fratley responded.
     Zell smiled, then quickly raced Fratley for the teleporter. Both ran with their clues in hand and tried to pass the other in reaching the whipping poles. Zell's headstart proved helpful as he stayed ahead the whole way and reached the poles just before Fratley. Both, however, had to still wait for Brahne, who struggled with the whip again.

     "That should do it," Zone said as he and Watts entered spring for a second time. They started to walk to the man with the clues, when Zone noticed Biran and Yenke watching them.
     "What?" Watts asked them, having caught Zone's glances behind him.
     "Ronso were given defective clue," Biran said. "Need hornless humans to tell Biran what to do."
     "Sorry, guys. It's a race and we can't be helping other teams."
     With that, Watts and Zone ran to get their clue, then headed north for the Wind Palace.
     "Zone and Watts," Gippal said as they reached the mat, "you're team number four!"
     "Perfect," Zone said. "We like it here."
     "Why?"
     "We're flying under the radar," Watts explained. "Staying around fourth or fifth keeps us relatively unnoticed. We're not a threat, so nobody will try to knock us out, but we're not horrible, so nobody will use us as a safety net, sacrificial lamb sorta thing."

     "There we are!" Brahne cheered as her whip stuck on the pole. She took a running start, then jumped across the gap, once again falling short. Zell and Fratley quickly lent a helping hand to pull her up. After a few minutes of struggling, she was up and on her way out.
     "Garnet, dear!" Brahne called as she teleported in. Garnet seemed surprised to see her mother not the absolute last.
     "Good job, Mother!" Garnet shouted. They opened the clue and read it, then made their way to the cannon travel center.

     Zell yanked on the whip and flung himself across the gap. He threw the whip back to Fratley. "Good luck, Frat-Rat!" he shouted. "Go quick before that mean woman gets here. Knock her out!"
     "Indeed I shall," Fratley replied.
     Zell ran outside and collected Ma before reading the clue.
     "I'm so proud of you," Ma said.
     "Thanks, Ma," Zell said. They headed off to find the cannon travel center as well.

     Sweat rolled down the scruffy cannon travel man's head as he helped pack Brahne into the cannon, then had Garnet slide on top. He closed his eyes as he hit the button to fire them off, then gritted his teeth when he heard them explode out the cannon. Brahne and Garnet fired out across the forests and soon came down on the inflated mat. Air exploded out the holes created by Yenke and expanded tenfold. The mattress was nearly obsolete as crew members jumped on to repair the holes and fill it with air again.
     Garnet and Brahne reached the yield mat and jumped on. "We're not yielding," Garnet told the camera.
     "Yet," Brahne added.
     Garnet grabbed her clue and read it. Suddenly, the Ronso emerged from the spring area.
     "Ronso need help!" Yenke said.
     Biran backhanded Yenke in the chest. "What Yenke mean is, Ronso think it pathetic that hornless summoner not know what to do."
     "Hornless!" Yenke piped in.
     "What do you know about this area?" Garnet asked Biran. "Is there something around related to seasons? We're in a winter wonderland here, so maybe other seasons are around?"
     "Biran just know that down that path is very pink. Ronso not like pink. Except on flowers."
     "And cookies," Yenke added.
     "Okay, so we need to start in spring and walk back to here, then to spring again!"
     Garnet led Brahne to do just that as they departed for spring, then continued on to look for summer.
     "Biran know shortcut," Biran said to Yenke. He stepped in spring, then jumped back to winter, then back into spring. They ran to the man with the clue and demanded theirs, but he shook his head 'no.'
     "No!?" Biran shouted. "Yenke, quick! Find hornless summoner and follow her!"

     "I hate this," Dona said as she threw boomerang after boomerang at the target. "I wish Barthello never watched TV." She finally threw a boomerang that barely tapped the corner of the target. She was handed her clue, which she ripped out of the staff member's hand and ran off with a final "Ugh! Finally!"
     She reached the whip point, where Fratley was struggling to grab the other side. "Oh, gawd, it's down to me and you?"
     "You and me," Fratley corrected. He took several attempts at the whip, but failed to latch on. A crew member made him give the whip to Dona, who gave five lashes of her own. All five failed and Fratley regained the whip. "It seems it is all coming down to this," Fratley noted, hoping to worry Dona. "I look forward to a race to the finish with thee."

     "This ain't it, Ma!" Zell said. They were inside a large house where a giant cat was trying to sell them overpriced merchandise.
     "Umm, Mr. Cat, please," Ma said, "where is the cannon travel?"
     "Buy some candy, then I'll tell you," the cat said.
     "We don't have time for this," Zell said. He reached in his pocket, then threw some gil on the table.
     The cat looked down at the money. "A little more, please," he said.
     "Oh my God that's expensive candy!"
     "Zelly!" Ma yelled at him, adding a smack to the back of his head. "Taking the Lord's name in vain, and yelling at an innocent kitty cat. I didn't raise you like this!"
     "But the Frat-Rat was right behind me, and that annoying girl Dona will finish soon enough too! We're probably in last, and we're here buying candy from this.. this..."
     "Neko," the cat said. "My name is Neko."
     "Zelly...." Ma urged.
     "...Okay, Neko," Zell finally said. "I'm sorry. Sorry for losing my temper." Zell handed the rest of the gil to Neko.
     "Thank you!" Neko shouted. "The cannon travel is east of here. It's really purr-etty close!"
     "Thanks, cat," Zell said as he darted out the door. Ma waved to Neko and grabbed the candy they'd bought before following her son.

     Garnet and Brahne were closely followed by Biran and Yenke as they reached spring for the second time (or about fifth for the Ronso) and received their clue from the man. They ran north to the Wind Shrine and ran in to the Pit Stop mat. They all four stepped on at the same time.
     "Brahne and Garnet, Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "you're team numbers five and six! How does that make you feel?"
     "Relieved," Garnet said. "I was so scared that Mother had to do an entire physical detour by herself. I'm very proud of her for completing it."
     "Aww, that's so sweet, dearie," Brahne said. "But never never doubt your mother. She'll always dominate and destroy the competition!"

     Fratley's whip finally snagged the other side and he pulled himself across. He handed the whip to the staff member and ran outside to join Freya.
     "We have no time to lose," Fratley said. "Dona is right behind me." He read the clue to Freya, then they took off running for the cannon travel center.

     Zell and Ma landed safely in the Upper Lands forest and rolled out of the inflated mattress, which was held together by large band-aids. They ran to the yield mat and looked at the camera.
     "We do not-" Ma started.
     "Wait, Ma!" Zell shouted. "If we're not in last, we're close to it. I think we need to yield somebody."
     "Who's behind us though?" Ma asked. "The only teams that could be behind us are the friendly rats and that unfriendly woman and her muscular friend."
     "But we got lost, Ma. I know Frat-Rat can do that whip thing, so he's probably in front. Our only chance is," Zell started digging through the pictures and Ma posted their own picture under the "yielded by" section. "Them!" Zell held up a picture of Dona and Barthello. "Should we do it? We still don't know that anybody is behind us. Maybe we should just hurry our butts up and beat people in a foot race!"
     "We should still put this up, just in case," Ma said, pointing to Dona and Barthello's picture. Suddenly, there was a loud noise as the mattress shot out air through the hole that opened back up and Freya and Fratley rolled out of the mattress.
     "No, no! This one!" Zell said. He dropped the stack of pictures after finding Freya and Fratley's picture in the pile, then slammed it against the yield board. "We choose to yield Freya and the Frat-Rat!" he told the camera. "Really sorry, guys!" Zell shouted to Freya and Fratley, who were still more or less disoriented by the fall.

     "What just happened?" Freya asked Fratley. He shrugged until both came into view of the yield board with their pictures on it. "That rat bastard!"
     "Freya!" Fratley yelled.
     "I mean, umm, that jerk?"
     Fratley rushed over to the yield mat and found the sand timer. He flipped it over and watched the sand drain out with Freya.

     "Will this horrible roadblock never end?" Dona whined as she whipped over and over at the post. Finally, the whip caught and she jumped across, much more gracefully than before. She ran out of the haunted forest and joined Barthello.
     "Dona, you're... dirty," he noted.
     "And it's all your fault, too," she replied. "Now hurry, we're in last and I'm not going to get dirty without winning a million gil." She ripped open the clue and read it to Barthello, then the pair ran to find the cannon travel center.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 7th Place>
     Zell and Ma walked through the seasons until they were finally back to winter. Freya and Fratley were still standing at their yield sign with about half the sand still remaining in the timer. As they headed to spring, the remaining to racers dropped in quite literally and landed in the big fluffy mattress. Zell's eyes grew wide at the sight of yet another team behind them, and punched the ground in frustration. He and Ma continued through the winter to Freya and Fratley. While passing them, Zell said, "I didn't know they were behind us, too..." but continued walking by when Freya and Fratley refused to reply one way or another. He and Ma continued on to spring to receive their last clue.

     "Yes, there's somebody else that's tired of the vermin in this race," Dona noted of Freya and Fratley as they waited for their time to end. Dona grabbed her clue from the box and ripped it open. She and Barthello retreated to an area away from them to read it together. "Walk the seasons spring to winter. Spring again and we can enter? Barthello, figure this out. Now."
     "I... well... I'm not good with puzzles, Dona," Barthello muttered. "Seasons are... spring, summer-"
     "I know, Barthello. Here, look." She pointed to the nearby woods, which were autumn colors. "That looks like fall. It says to walk from spring to winter, then spring a second time. Come on, let's find spring."
     Dona and Barthello headed into the autumn section of woods to find the spring section.

     Zell and Ma ran to the Wind Shrine and hopped on the Pit Stop mat. Ma smiled at Gippal, but Zell instead wore a frown.
     "Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number seven!"
     "Thanks, Gippal," Zell said.
     "Why the long face?" he asked.
     "We messed up. We thought we got lost and everybody passed us, so we yielded the first team we saw: Freya and the Frat-Rat. But I like those guys, Gip! I didn't know that nasty girl was behind us, too!"
     "It's okay, Zelly," Ma said, patting her son on the back. "They'll make it. We're just playing a game anyway."
     "Yeah, I guess you're right," Zell said. "But man, if they manage to beat Dona and Barthello, I think we can figure any chance of an alliance with them is off..."

<Freya & Fratley: Reunited Lovers, Currently in Last Place>
     The sand finally slipped through to the bottom of the timer and Freya and Fratley, ready as ever, grabbed their clue and read it through.
     "Spring must be that way," Fratley said quickly and pointed to the south. "Zell and Ma went that way and never turned back, so that's where they're supposed to end. Dona and Barthello are going backwards. We can still make it!"
     Freya and Fratley headed south and found where the trees were covered in pink. They started to look for the path that took them to summer, when in the distance they saw Dona and Barthello walk into spring from summer. They all four made eye contact with one another, then Dona and Barthello quickly spun around and ran back to summer.
     "That way," Freya ordered Fratley as they started running for Dona and Barthello.
     Dona and Barthello were nearly at autumn when Freya and Fratley found them in summer, just across the pond. Freya ran around the pond to the left and Fratley went right. Without even asking, Dona leapt on Barthello's back and ordered him to run. He pounded through the autumn forest, sometimes getting confused by some strange owls fluttering around in the trees, but soon found winter again and headed through to the south. They finally found spring from the winter area and spotted the man with their clue. Barthello ran to him and took the clue from the man. Dona ripped it open and read it to Barthello, just as Freya and Fratley entered spring.
     "Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop at the Wind Palace warning the last team to check in may be eliminated- Barthello, go! There!" Dona pointed to the north as Freya and Fratley neared them. She and Barthello started running north as fast as they could, and even with Dona's running break, she still seemed out of breath.
     Freya grabbed her clue from the man's outstretched hand and ripped it open while she ran. "Make your way... on foot... to the Pit Stop... at the Wind Palace..." she read.
     "Warning," Fratley continued, reading over her shoulder. "The last team to check in... may be eliminated."

     Gippal waited at the mat and watched as the Wind Palace doors swung open. Barthello blasted open the gates, then grabbed Dona's hand to help pull her along the final stretch. Barthello was practically dragging Dona when suddenly Fratley leapt over his and Dona's connecting arms and darted for the Pit Stop mat. He reached the mat and waved for Freya to join him. She entered the Wind Palace and looked as if she'd leap over them, as well, when a sudden look of pain stopped her from jumping, but still didn't slow her down. She smiled and instead got some speed behind her, then slid under their legs and tagged the Pit Stop mat like it was baseball. She looked to Fratley to see his face, but he did not have a happy look on his face. Instead, it looked more curious as he looked back and forth between feet and Gippal, because Dona and Barthello's feet were on the mat as well.
     "Whoa," Gippal said. "I umm... wow. Do I have to call this? I'm not an umpire!" He scratched his head and surveyed the situation. "Well, Fratley, you're definitely the first person to arrive, but... wow."
     "We were first, now boot off these rats," Dona ordered Gippal.
     "Okay, hold on, hold on. Here's the deal. This is an elimination leg, so one of you two is eliminated. I'm going to check with our camera crew to watch the slow-mo, so you just wait here and don't kill each other."

     Gippal returned a short time later to a bunch of pointless shouting. Freya and Fratley were not raising their voices, but everytime they spoke, Dona seemed to get louder. Barthello remained quiet the whole time. Gippal took his place at the top of the mat and lined up the teams with Freya and Fratley on the right and Dona and Barthello on the left.
     "Okay, here's the result," Gippal said. "Fratley, you were first. Barthello, you were second. So it all comes down to Freya and Dona. Just so you know, there were no penalties on this leg, so it really all comes down to whoever's foot landed first. And with that: Dona and Barthello, you're team number eight!"
     "Finally," Dona exclaimed. She walked away from the mat without another word.
     "Thank you," Barthello said to Gippal. He turned to Freya and Fratley and shook their hands as Gippal delivered the bad news.
     "Freya and Fratley," Gippal said, "that means you're the last team to arrive. And I'm sorry to say you have been eliminated from the race."
     "Thank you," Fratley said to Gippal. "And you, too," he said to Barthello. "You were a great rival. I wish you had a better partner."
     Barthello lowered his head, then walked to join Dona away from the mat.
     "So," Gippal said, "regret it all? You took a lot of physical, mental, and emotional pain from a yield, all for nothing."
     "It was not nothing," Fratley said. "It was the first chance I had to be with Lady Freya again. I shall always cherish this time."
     "As will I," Freya added. "Thank you for a wonderful chance to reunite, Gippal. We would otherwise be spending time getting to know each other slowly, but this allowed us to jump-start our relationship and remember each other for who we are. It's almost as if we are starting right where we left off."
     "Now I only hope we can get home without one of us getting amnesia again," Fratley joked.