Episode 8: Part 2

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place>
     Fran and Balthier traveled through the Irisa Field and crossed a marble bridge, which looked ready to crumble. Once across, they followed a sign pointing them down a slope that went beneath a large, old tree. At the end of the slope was a small opening with two marble columns on either side of it. They entered and found that this was hardly the weirdest thing about this location. Suddenly, they walked along a long, winding, marble path that seemed to be floating on air. There was no ground beneath this garden. There were several red-and-yellow signs telling teams to watch their step.
     "Wasn't expecting this," Balthier said. "Were you?"
     "Only a little," Fran replied.
     "Oh, come now." Balthier smiled and led Fran through the ruins to a U-Turn mat that waited ahead on a wider section of ground. These larger sections were not without danger, however, as they had random holes in them. Avoiding one such hole, Balthier and Fran stepped on the U-Turn mat.

<Announcer Gippal>
     "A U-Turn appears at the end of the detour. Teams can use the power of a U-Turn to slow down another team, forcing them to backtrack and perform the other side of the detour they did not previously complete. This is the fourth of six delay points in this race."

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Impossible to use it," Fran told the camera, since they had already used their delay. They moved to the clue box, where Fran removed the next clue. "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?"
     "Suppose that's me," Balthier said as he looked on with Fran for the rest of the information.

<Announcer Gippal>
     "A roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this roadblock, that team member must solve a difficult puzzle. There are enough puzzles so that all teams can work at the same time if need be, while also being unable to see each other's course. They are all identical. In this puzzle, teams find one of the puzzle areas, which are full of colored, translucent blocks. If one of these blocks is touched, it will follow a specific path, which is marked on the ground. A blue block will follow the blue path on the ground, while a green will follow green. There is only one route each block will follow and it cannot be stopped manually before reaching the destination. However, if another block is in the way, the block will only move as far as it can, then stop.
     "Teams must navigate through this maze to reach the clue, hidden deep within the puzzle area. They cannot climb the blocks, nor jump over the holes in the ground. They must move the blocks out of their way to reach the clue, and that is the only way. Should someone become stuck, they can raise their hand, and they will be helped out of the puzzle while their puzzle is reset to its original form."

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Certainly sounds like fun," Balthier said.
     He made his way to the first puzzle room and saw the very large puzzle area. There were a few holes in the ground and the area was surrounded by a low wall, which he knew was out of bounds should he cross it. On the ground were several lines of white, blue, green, and red. He stood on the indicated green square and, upon doing so, about thirty or forty blocks rose out of the ground. They all had a black frame that made them distinct and easy to see, though the panes of glass making up the blocks were tinted blue, green, red, or they just remained white.
     The first step seemed easy enough. There were only two paths into the main puzzle area, but both were blocked. The red block to the right, however, he noticed would move too far and continue to block his path, while the white block would slide just far enough to no longer block him. He touched the white block, which moved along its path and slid back, allowing him enough room to enter.
     "This will be fun."

     The oven's timer dinged and Ma quickly took the casserole and the bread out of the oven. She and Zell carried all components of their dinner over to the patent shop and waited in line. Ma continuously batted Zell's hand away from the casserole until it was finally their turn at the machine. The dials spun and the rating went down and down until it finally stopped at exactly 30.
     "Liar, machine!" Zell shouted. "This meal is a 100!" He took a plastic spork from his pocket, which he had stored there earlier for just such an occasion, then grabbed a sporkful of casserole and ate it.
     "Zelly!" Ma said as Welch handed her their clue. She looked to Welch and thanked her. "Are we allowed to have a bite?"
     "Sure, but only if I can!" Welch said, happily.
     Ma pulled the spork from her apron out, which she also was storing just in case she was allowed a taste, and took a bite and grabbed a piece of garlic bread for the road. She pulled a second spork from her bag and handed it to Welch. "Here you are."
     "Gosh, thanks!" Welch started to dig into the 30-point casserole as Ma and Zell went outside to read their clue.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place>
     "Make your way to the Aquatic Garden in the Surfario Ruins. Caution: U-Turn ahead," Zell read.
     He and Ma asked several of the locals for the directions and were pointed out the north exit to the city.

     "I've got it!" Zone said to Watts. "If we trade our 70-point Hybrid Bomb with Reina and Faris's 50-point Broken Prophet Cider, we'll both have exactly 1,000!"
     "Let's do it, I suppose," Watts said. "But tell them we want ours counted first, since it was your calculations and all."
     "Good idea." Zone walked up to Reina and Faris and shared the good news. They happily agreed to the conditions and made the trade. Zone called for Welch to count their items. Once again, she counted very quickly, then handed the boys their clue. Zone ripped open the clue and read it while Welch counted Reina and Faris's objects. Zone read loudly enough for Reina and Faris to hear their next destination, plus that a U-Turn was coming up.
     "Ohh, that's not quite enough!" Welch said to Reina and Faris.
     "Yer kiddin'!" Faris barked at her.
     "Nope, sorry. Recount and try again, please."
     "Yeh tricked us!" Faris shouted at Zone and Watts.
     "I thought I calculated right," Zone muttered.
     "We need to recount all these- Or maybe one of the ratings is wrong?" Reina sounded confused and saddened.
     "We didn't trick you," Watts said. "Well, I did a little, but it was Dona. She stole one of your items."
     "And yeh didn't tell us!?" Faris shouted.
     "Hush, Faris," Reina said. "He's telling us now. What'd they take?"
     "Some badge," Watts said. "We're really sorry, but we can't stay any longer."
     "Of course not," Reina said. "Good luck, guys."
     "It's the Badge of Intellect!" Zone said, looking at his chart. Watts slowly pulled him from the building while he shouted final words to Reina. "It was worth 20!"

<Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place>
     Zone and Watts searched the streets for directions to the Surfario Ruins and finally learned that they were to the north. Zone seemed to be a bit upset, so Watts tried to talk to him on their walk. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away."
     "Why didn't you?" he asked.
     "You'd have been too focused on finding more items for them."
     "I would not! Well...you may be right."
     "Best thing we can do now is hope to reach the U-Turn before Dona and Barthello. Give 'em what's coming to 'em."
     "Yeah, let's do it!" Zone started walking faster, leaving Watts to catch up with him.
     "This'll surely put us on the radar," Watts mumbled to himself. "Better know what you're doing, buddy."

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place>
     Dona and Barthello casually walked through the Irisa Field and came across the cracked bridge. Barthello started to cross it, but soon noticed that Dona was no longer beside him. He turned and saw Dona pretending to be reading the map. He knew she wasn't, however, since it wasn't even fully unfolded.
     "Dona, what's wrong?" Barthello asked.
     "Nothing, I just want to make sure we're going the right way," she replied.
     "Are you afraid of the bridge?"
     "Me? Puh-lease," she said, putting the map away.
     As Dona slowly inched toward the bridge, Ma and Zell approached from behind, jogging at a much faster pace than Dona and Barthello were walking.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place>
     "I'm starting to get in shape, Zelly!" Ma said happily. "I'll bet I could fit into some of my old clothes now!"
     "That's great, Ma!" he replied.
     "Oh, but time to walk now," Ma said, grabbing her side. "Phew, that last dress size will have to come off later."
     They calmly walked across the bridge, both falling completely silent as they passed Dona and Barthello. Afterward, they resumed their playful banter.

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 3rd Place>
     Dona finally reached the bridge and put her first foot on it, then took it off. "It'll break."
     "I've been standing on it the whole time," Barthello said. "And Zell and his mom just crossed it while I was on it."
     "That doesn't prove anything."
     Barthello suddenly got an idea. He took a couple steps backwards, further into the bridge. "You don't mean to say you weigh more than Ma, Zell, and me combined, do you?"
     "What did you say?" Dona's eyebrows narrowed and her hands gripped her hips tightly.
     "That you must be fat," Barthello said, taking another couple steps backwards.
     "You don't want to say that again."
     "That you're fat!?" Barthello shouted, since now he was across the bridge entirely.
     "Take it back."
     "Make me." Barthello smirked. He cupped his hands and took a deep breath, then started to shout. "Dona is a huuuuuuge-"
     He was cut short as Dona had raced across the bridge and tackled him full-force. She hit him really hard, but, because of his stature, it was only enough to knock him off balance, not off his feet. Barthello picked Dona up and gave her a tight hug. "You did it, Dona! You crossed the bridge! I'm so proud of you! OH! And I'm so, so sorry about the things I said! I just wanted to help you cross the bridge! Honest! You're the thinnest person I know. Possibly the thinnest, sexiest woman in the world!"
     "Sexiest? Put me down, Barthello," Dona said, breaking Barthello's grip. He put her down and they started silently walking toward the Aquatic Garden. Then, out of nowhere, Dona took Barthello's hand, bringing a smile to the normally-stoic man's face.

     Ma and Zell reached the U-Turn mat and faced the camera.
     "Uhh, too late!" Zell said. "Accidentally used this on the Frat-Rat."
     "What a mistake that turned out to be," Ma said as she took the clue from the box. "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?"
     "Oh, oh! Please, Ma! I've gotta do this one," Zell pleaded.
     "Go ahead," Ma said in a very motherly voice.
     "Sweeeet." Zell ran to the first available puzzle room and stood on the green switch. The blocks formed in front of him and, when he saw the quantity of blocks, he started to regret things. "This...might be hard."

     Dona and Barthello found the U-Turn mat and realized they suddenly had an interesting situation.
     "Should we use it?" Barthello asked.
     "If you're considering it, then yes, probably," Dona said. "Who is behind us?"
     "Zone and Watts, Biran and Yenke, and Reina and Faris. I think we shouldn't use it on Biran and Yenke."
     "And why not? There better not be an alliance I don't know about between all you musclebound-"
     "No, nothing like that. It's just that they've already used their delay, so knocking them out of the competition would still leave two teams that could use their delays on us."
     "I thought you were muscle, not brains," Dona said. "But you're right. Still, if we used it on them and they survived, they wouldn't be able to get back at us."
     "Yeah, but-" Barthello paused to think. "It could be risky if we U-Turn either of the other two teams. They seem to have an alliance. If we knock out one, the other might just be really, really mad at us. They'll do anything to stop us."
     "They already really really want to stop us. Better to eliminate them as quickly as possible and only have one to deal with."
     "Yeah, but-"
     "No buts, Barthello. We're U-Turning either Reina and Faris or Zone and Watts. Choose one."
     "Why do I-"
     "Choose now."
     Barthello nodded and reached into the box and slapped a picture onto the U-Turn mat before they moved to pick up their clue. The camera intentionally hid the identity of the U-Turn as it turned to face Barthello and Dona reading their next clue.
     "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?" Dona read. "You do it. These blocks might be heavy."
     "Very well," Barthello said as he found his puzzle room.

     "Perfect!" Biran said, holding their new monstrosity above his head. Their spear was now covered in spikes. The front was only distinguishable because it had a large spearhead that was decorated with feathers. The back had a smaller spearhead and only one dangling feather. All along the spear itself were spikes, except in the locations where they had placed the grips. There was only one gripping spot, which was just big enough for a Ronso-sized hand. Only someone with Ronso strength could ever hope to wield this weapon, which was probably just as dangerous to use as it was to fight against. They took it to the patent shop and used the machine to determine the quality. The wheels spun around and finally landed on a value of 20.
     "Sorry, guys," Welch said. "I think it's all those spikes. They look scary!"
     "They metaphors. For horns!" Yenke told her.
     "I...think I get it," she said. "But still, it needs some more work. Maybe taking the spikes off would make it kinda cool?"
     Yenke and Biran decided it was worth a try, then started ripping the spikes off with their bare hands. Welch was rather frightened.
     "Don't worry, it only because of our Ronso strength!" Biran told her.

-------------------------{Biran & Yenke: Interview}-------------------------

     "It not because of Ronso strength," Biran told the camera in a separate interview.
     "Ronso only attached pointies with Elmer glue," Yenke explained.
     "If horns were really attached, then definitely need Ronso strength!"

-------------------------{End Interview}-------------------------

     With all the spikes removed, they checked the spear again. This time, the dial did not move at all. It stayed right on the 50 mark.
     "Can Ronso make spears or what!?" Biran said as he took the clue from Welch. He and Yenke read their clue and ran outside to try to find the Surfario Ruins, but after asking separate locals, they soon began fighting over the directions.
     "Pathetic hornless human say it to west!" Biran shouted.
     "No, to north," Yenke shouted back.
     "Can Ronso go different directions?" Biran asked the cameraman. He told them that they couldn't, so the Ronso settled it the only way they knew how: a horn-off.
     Biran stood horn-to-horn with Yenke. Both slowly moved their heads toward each other until finally, Yenke got poked in the head by Biran's horn. "Ha ha! Biran win! Biran horn larger, so we do like Biran say. Ronso go out this exit."
     With that, the Ronso made their way out the west exit of Peterny.

<Puzzle Room #1>
     "This certainly can't be right," Balthier said. He looked around at the room, wherein he was completely surrounded by different colored blocks. He touched a green one, which slid out of his way and released him from the block prison, but he was still surrounded by several other blocks. "I wonder if I should start over. Wish I knew if I was moving in the right direction. If I could see a map of all this it'd be a breeze. Likely, anyway."

<Puzzle Room #2>
     "Ma should've done this." Zell took a seat on the ground to try to gain a new perspective. He finally saw a solution to the puzzle. "Aha!" he shouted as he jumped to his feet. He ran and jumped across a hole in the floor to reach the treasure, but the puzzle suddenly started to restart. "What gives!?" he shouted. He waited for a response, but then decided to read through his clue a second time. "Ohh, the whole 'can't jump over holes' thing. My bad. Man, this sucks."

<Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in 4th Place>
     Watts began to approach the broken bridge with Zone slightly behind him. "Close your eyes, bud."
     "Why? There's something scary, isn't there?" Zone said, cradling his stomach.
     "I dunno, are you okay with crossing crumbling bridges?"
     "I can do it," Zone replied. "I'm on a mission to beat Dona and Barthello. Just...don't remind me about the bridge ever again, okay?"
     "Got it."
     Watts and Zone crossed the bridge and found the passage to the Surfario Ruins. They headed down the winding path to the U-Turn mat. Both suddenly froze when it was in viewing distance.
     "We're U-Turned," Watts said. Sure enough, their faces were on the U-Turn signboard in the section labeled "U-Turned." In the "Courtesy of" section was a picture of Dona and Barthello.
     "I thought they were trying to knock the girls out," Zone said.
     "I shouldn't've said anything," Watts said. "Come on, back to the detour."
     "Said anything?" Zone asked as he turned to leave. They both started jogging out of the ruins while Watts explained.
     "I saw them steal the thing from Reina and Faris's pile. I said something. I forget what, but something to the effect of calling them dirty players."
     "Great. We have enemies now."

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 5th Place>
     "Finally, a 20!" Reina said. She pulled the Fruity Potion from the rating machine and put it in their pile. Welch examined the pile and handed Reina the next clue. "Make your way to the Aquatic Garden in the Surfario Ruins. Caution: U-Turn ahead."
     "We be perfect bait fer this U-Turn," Faris said. "Let's hurry, sis."
     "Right."
     They headed outside and searched through the crowd for somebody that new the location of the Surfario Ruins. Finally, they found the same man that talked to Fran and Balthier, who knew what they needed before they even asked. He pointed them to the north. They left in the indicated direction and started through the large, green field, where they saw Zone and Watts coming for them quickly.
     "Easy roadblock?" Faris shouted to them, smiling.
     "Dunno," Watts huffed. "We got...U-Turned."
     "Oh no!" Reina shouted. She covered her mouth with her hands. She tried to think of something else to say, but the boys were running by them quickly, so all she could think to say was, "Good luck!"

<Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 5th Place>
     Biran and Yenke finished their trek down a hilly field and reached a town beside a river. Several docks and other bridges connected this waterside down. They wandered through the town and finally found a clue box. Biran opened the clue and read it to Yenke.
     "Travel west through cave and desert to find Mosel Ruins," Biran read. He started to lead Yenke through the town to the west exit, when suddenly, a thought crossed Yenke's mind.
     "Biran, something not right," he explained. "Last clue say U-Turn coming. But no U-Turn."
     "It probably in new place. Mossy Ruins. Hurry up, Yenke. Slowing Ronso down!"
     "Yenke think something wrong."
     "Biran know what wrong! It Yenke!"
     "Yenke not wrong!" Yenke shouted. "This not right place. Yenke would bet his horn on it!"
     Biran gasped very loudly and fell silent. He finally nodded. "If Yenke is that sure, then Biran agrees. Ronso go back."
     Yenke and Biran left the riverside town and headed back to Peterny to ask for directions again.

<Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in Last Place>
     Watts led Zone through the crowded streets of Peterny and back to the detour. This time, however, they went across the street to the Invent detour. They searched through the different sections of parts and finally decided to do some engineering.

-------------------------{Zone & Watts: Interview}-------------------------

     "We couldn't think of much on our run back to the detour," Watts told the camera. "The only thing either of us could think to do was to make a motion sensor and a heat sensor."
     "During an engagement of ours back on our world, we found these sensors on a couple of guards and learned how to not only replicate them, but make them better," Zone said. "Now we're making them here, which really shouldn't be hard since they provide some really useful tools. Most of the work is already done for us. It's just a matter of connecting the right wires and such."

-------------------------{End Interview}-------------------------

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 4th Place>
     Reina and Faris reached the U-Turn sign and saw Zone and Watts's picture on the board. After a quick glare at Dona and Barthello's picture, Reina joined Faris in reading the roadblock clue. "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?"
     "Suppose I should," Faris said. She read through the clue, then headed off to her own room to do the roadblock.

     Barthello pushed around his blocks and learning the tricks to the maze such as blocking your block's path. He was having a fairly easy time with it since he was so tall and could see around the blocks, but was struggling with planning out his moves in advance.

     In a nearby maze, Balthier was having similar difficulties. He pushed some of the blocks to make a path in, but was completely fixated on the block in the beginning of the maze.
     "I know I need to move that one and that is all, but if I move it, it blocks a different section of the path, which hardly does me any good at all. I sure hope this maze even has a solution..."

<Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 5th Place>
     Biran and Yenke reached Peterny for a second time. Biran immediately found the man who told him to go to Surfario and started yelling at him. "You told Biran wrong directions! You say Surfario this way, but it not!"
     "S-S-Surfario is that way," he stuttered.
     "Biran only going to ask this one more time." He took out the clue and used it to help phrase his question. "Ronso need to 'make way to Aquatic Garden at Surfario Ruins.' Which way Ronso go!?"
     "R-Ruins?" the man asked. "Oh! Well that's to the north."
     "Biran hate this guy," Biran whispered to Yenke. He turned his attention back to the man. "Okay, you show Biran where it is or Biran is going to-"
     "Biran! No threaten people," Yenke interrupted. "Ronso only supposed to yell at other racers, camera people, and Kimahri. Not helpful man with no horn. It not his fault he howls alone."
     "Yenke acting weird today," Biran said. "But Yenke is right, again. Hornless lone-howler! Will you please help Ronso find places?"
     "Certainly," the man said. "Anything to be on camera. Hi, Mom!"
     The man, at the request/demand of Biran, started to run with the Ronso following him out the north exit of Peterny.

     Faris pushed at the blocks and began working on a plan to get all blocks into one area of the course to free up the rest. The plan was going well until she realized that there were a few blocks from this cluster that needed to move, but with such a large grouping of blocks, it was difficult to undo the block-knot she'd created.
     "Gar, such shame," Faris said as she put her hand in the air.

     Barthello touched a block that moved onto the path of the block that always blocked them from the end. His eyes suddenly lit up as he ran back to the start, noticing that with this block in the way, he could move them out of the path. He touched the final two blocks and reached the clue at the end of the maze. As he touched it, all the blocks sank back into the floor and he walked out of the maze.
     Dona seemed completely shocked to see Barthello emerge first and ran to him to give him a hug. Unfortunately, she ran so blindly and did not notice a hole in the floor, but Barthello on the other hand, did notice. He caught her just before she fell through the deadly pit and picked her up for a hug. Ma, Fran, and Reina all seemed confused by the sudden affection they were seeing from Dona. Especially Reina, who seemed to be comparing this side of Dona to the picture on the U-Turn board.
     Barthello put Dona down and quietly read through their clue. "Make your way to Surfario."

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must now travel to the new site of Surfario by making their way back through Peterny and out the western exit. You know, the way Biran and Yenke went."

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Are we in first?" Barthello asked. Dona nodded and Barthello smiled. "Okay, let's find Surfario."
     "I assume it's close," Dona replied. "But there is nothing around here."
     "Maybe we should go back to Peterny. It isn't far. We'll ask for directions."
     "You men and asking directions," Dona mumbled. "Fine. Lead on, Barthello."
     Dona and Barthello walked carefully out of the Aquatic Garden to avoid any more holes in the ground. On their way out, they ran into Biran and Yenke and their guide.
     "Excuse me," Dona said to Biran's guide, being as polite as possible. "Where is Surfario?"
     "No tell!" Biran barked at his guide. "These people are hornless enemies. They try to beat Ronso!"
     The man remained silent, leaving Dona and Barthello to storm off toward Peterny without knowledge of their next location.

     Biran and Yenke found the U-Turn mat and were glad to see they were not the victims of this delay point. Biran found their next clue. "Roadblock: Who like playing with blocks?"
     "That Ronso all-time favorite!" Yenke said. "Yenke wants to do it!"
     "But so does Biran," Biran said. "Okay, horn-off!" The Ronso, once again, compared the length of their horns. Yenke's was still not as long as Biran's and therefore got poked in the head.
     "Yenke will win one day," Yenke said.
     Biran read through his roadblock, then left to find his room of blocks. It was not quite the task he expected, but he enjoyed watching the colorful blocks slide around on their tracks nonetheless.

     The final block slid out of his way as Balthier made his way to the clue. He grabbed the clue and watched the blocks sink into the floor. He exited the room and was met with a slightly disappointed Fran.
     "What?" he asked.
     "You're not the leading man anymore," she replied.
     "Somebody beat me? Hm. Fancy that." He ripped open his clue and read it to Fran. "Make your way to Surfario. Is that not where we are already?"
     "This is the ruins, remember? Hurry, we make haste back to town. We'll find Surfario from there."
     "Very well. Lead the way, Leading Lady."