Episode 8: Part 3

     Zone put the final chip into place and closed up the device he and Watts were working on. He gave the two-in-one motion sensor and heat sensor a quick test on Watts and found that both sensors were working properly, so they headed to the patent office to check it on the machine. Zone placed it on the table and tried to pull the handle, but was too nervous and let Watts do it. When Watts pulled the handle, the numbers did not fall upward, but instead started to climb. He and Zone high-fived and waited for the numbers to finally stop. It finally landed on 80 and the two saved their cheers for later as they both ran out of the building and headed to the Surfario Ruins they had visited not long before.
     "We should've done that one in the first place," Zone said while they ran. "Much faster."
     "Yeah, definitely," Watts replied.

     Zell continued his very random strategy of running around and touching blocks quickly. He was completely out of breath, but strangely enough, by trying every permutation as quickly as possible, he finally wound up with the correct answer and took the clue. He stumbled outside and collapsed to his knees as Ma ran to him with a bottle of water ready. She handed it to him and took the clue, then read it to him as he drank the water.
     "Make your way to Surfario," she read. "Oh, Zelly. Why'd you go and push it?"
     "I didn't push it, Ma," he said. "Just gimme a second and I'll be ready." He stood up and chugged the last bit of the water. "See? All better."
     "You'd better be. We have so much more running to do!"
     "Ha ha. Don't worry, Ma. I'll still bet you'll be the next one out of breath."
     Zell and Ma left the Aquatic Garden and headed back to Peterny to find their next destination.

     "Biran is loving this," Biran said as she pushed the blocks around the room. He obviously had no real strategy except to touch the blocks and watch them slide away. Slowly but surely, he was figuring out the paths of the blocks, but not necessarily how he could use that information to finish the task.

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place>
     Dona and Barthello reached Peterny, but were fully aware that Balthier and Fran were right on their heels. Dona found a local to ask about Surfario.
     "We need to find Surfario and fast," she said to the local woman.
     "Take the western exit and head northwest for a while," she said. "There's a bit of a hill to go down, but it's not much."
     Dona started racing off to the western exit. Barthello followed shortly after, but paused to thank the woman before doing so. During their race to the west, they constantly checked back to Fran and Balthier, who obviously had no trust in following Dona and Barthello, as they also stopped to get directions. Dona and Barthello hoped to use this delay to their advantage to gain ground on the sky pirates.

     Zone and Watts reached the Aquatic Garden for the second time, but this time, they were able to collect their clue. Watts took the clue from the box and read it to Zone. "Roadblock: Who likes to play with blocks?"
     "Both of us," Zone answered. "It really sounds like a heavy-lifting roadblock, so I think you should do it. But then again, if it's a puzzle, maybe I should. I'm so confused. I can't think under this pressure!"
     "Okay, relax. I'm decent with puzzles, too. So I'll do it, just in case."
     "Okay, good luck."
     Watts read through the clue and gave a grunt of disapproval when he found out it was a clue, but did not seem too shocked by the concept. He raced inside his puzzle room and touched the green panel to make all the blocks appear. He started slowly pushing around the blocks to figure out how this puzzle worked. Once he had a good understanding, he raised his hand to reset the puzzle and waited. As all the blocks sank into the floor to reset, he stayed away from the green restart button and began checking the floor for all the block colors and patterns to get an idea of what to do without the blocks to obstruct his view.

     "Finished!" Faris shouted as she took her clue. She raced outside to join Reina, who was sitting and talking to Zone.
     "Good luck," Zone said as Reina stood up to leave.
     "You too," Reina said. "You need it more, in fact. Beat those Ronso, okay? And I'll just pray that Dona and Barthello go the wrong way." She smiled at Zone before joining Faris in reading the clue.
     "Make yer way to Surfario," Faris read. The two girls waved to Zone and headed out of the Surfario Ruins in search of the town of Surfario. They headed south to Peterny to ask for directions.

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place>
<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 2nd Place>
     Fran and Balthier caught up to Dona and Barthello just as they found Surfario. Both teams raced for the clue box, but Fran and Balthier slowed down when they noticed a sign nearby that read "Speed Bump" and had their picture on it. They broke off from the race with Dona and Barthello to instead find out about their Speed Bump penalty.

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Having been spared elimination at the end of the last leg, Fran and Balthier have now hit a Speed Bump, a task only their team must perform. In this Speed Bump, Fran and Balthier must search the Mosel Dunes nearby for three treasures. The Mosel Dunes are a vast desert that can get very hot and dehydrate people quickly, so in order to grab these treasures, they will have to stop in small, watery areas along the way to rehydrate themselves. Should they pass out from the heat, an attendant will come to assist them, but will take a treasure back from them as a fee. When they have gained all three treasures, they will be allowed to continue the race, with the hopes of making up this valuable lost time."

     "Sounds wonderful," Balthier said. "At least we're used to deserts."
     "Though I hoped to avoid them," Fran replied. They searched the town for a local that knew the location of the desert.

     Dona and Barthello opened their clue and Dona read it to Barthello. "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins."

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must now travel through a short cave, followed by the long expanse of the Mosel Dunes. In the middle of the Dunes is the Mosel Ruins, where they will find their next clue."

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Walk through a desert?" Dona whined. "Barthello, I hate this race more every day."
     "I know. But Dona, we can win this one," Barthello said. "We might even get a prize!"
     "We'd better."
     Dona and Barthello searched in the same fashion as Fran and Balthier. Both found locals that pointed them further west, so the two teams raced through the town and out the western exit. The cave was not far from the town and both teams entered together.
     Inside the cave was very dark. Torches lit the path through and a very obvious "NOT THIS WAY" sign blocked them from a second path in the cave, so they continued straight to an exit leading to the desert. Light streamed in brightly and both teams were required to stop and read a sign about the dangers of the desert. There was also a poorly-drawn map of the desert the showed the location of the Mosel Ruins. Barthello made note of the location as Dona whined about every one of the cautions listed.

     "There! This is it!" Watts said. He touched a series of three blocks, then ran to the beginning and touched the final block. It moved from his path and he grabbed the clue, then exited the puzzle. Zone jumped to his feet and joined him to read through the clue. "Make your way to Surfario," Watts read.
     The Forest Owls headed out of the Aquatic Garden in search of Surfario. Watts explained the puzzle to Zone on the way and thanked him for the chess lessons years prior, since the maneuvers and planning reminded him so much of the game.

     Fran and Balthier searched through the sand for their first treasure, but were having difficulty with the fatigue that was setting in quickly. They spotted an umbrella in the distance and made their way to it. The umbrella, they learned, marked one of the water holes where they could rest. They sat beneath the umbrella and re-hydrated themselves on some bottles of water that were provided while they stood in a shallow pond of water. The water seemed clean enough, save for the shoes that had just entered it, but for sanitary reasons, bottles of spring water were provided.
     "Did you see any treasures?" Balthier asked.
     "No, but I see something there." Fran pointed to an object in the distance, where she saw a speck of light reflecting off a treasure chest.
     "I think we can make it," Balthier said. "But tell me when you're ready. I don't need you passing out on the way back and losing our new treasure."
     "Worry about yourself. I'm a Viera. You're a-"
     "Whatever you're thinking, let's not say it. Don't want to hurt any feelings now, do we? Just say that I'm wearing more clothing and we can run to that box."
     "Right, let's go," Fran said. She left the comfort of the umbrella and headed to the shining treasure box. Balthier was right behind her.

     "BIRAN DID IT!" Biran shouted as he found the clue. Yenke had heard him and was already standing and ready to run. So was their guide, at Yenke's request. Biran emerged with the clue and read it to Yenke and their new friend. "Make way to Surfario- Ronso already go there!"
     "Old man, there a shortcut?" Yenke asked.
     "I'm twenty-two," the man said.
     "How that answer to Yenke question!?"
     "Sorry. I meant to say that there isn't. Peterny is the only way. It's why Peterny is so popular."
     The Ronso started running back to Peterny with their friend. Biran and Yenke started asking him further questions about the location of the Mosel Ruins, since they already knew it to be their next location after Surfario.
     "Stock up on water in Surfario," he advised them. "Trust me; it's hot out there."
     "Ronso not like hot," Yenke said. "Maybe Ronso jump into water before desert. Lots of water at Surfario."

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place>
     Ma and Zell reached Surfario and pulled their next clue from the box. "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins," Ma read.
     "Speed Bump is here," Zell said. "Wonder if they did it already."
     "We'll find out later, Zelly. We've got a race to win first!"
     "Good call, Ma!"

     Fran and Balthier snagged their first treasure and were currently wading in another umbrella-covered pool. Both were scouting out the next treasure and decided they had to just search for it. Balthier picked a direction and the two began searching. Fatigue hit really quickly in the section of the desert they were searching for treasures in, as opposed to the trail most teams had to walk. Balthier happily spotted the next treasure box and grabbed the small token inside. He started to head back to water when he heard Fran mutter an "I...failed." and suddenly collapse.
     "That's not good," Balthier said as he rushed to her aid. Some staff gave her water and cooled her down, while another staff member demanded the new token from Balthier, which he gave without hesitation.
     "Sorry," Fran muttered as she came about her senses.
     "Not to worry. Just don't go doing that again."

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 3rd Place>
     Reina and Faris reached Surfario and found their next clue. Reina read it to Faris. "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins."
     "I'd much rather stay 'ere in this watery town than in a desert. 'Tis no place fer a pirate," Faris explained.
     "Not like you've never been to one, though," Reina reminded her. "Let's go."
     "Aye."

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, 1 Treasure Found>
     Balthier waited for Fran to give word that she was ready, then the pair raced for a nearby treasure Balthier had spotted. He opened the chest and pulled out the token inside, then raced back to the shade with Fran.
     Both looked around to see if they could find another treasure chest, but were unable, so they headed to another nearby safety area and looked along the way. Balthier took a sudden turn to the right and opened a chest he'd spotted on the other side of a large rock. He pulled out the token and pointed for Fran to meet him at the safety location they'd started at. Both re-hydrated themselves before heading back to the starting point, where a staff member handed them a clue.
     "Congratulations. You have gone over your Speed Bump. Now return to Surfario and get your next clue," Balthier read. He and Fran wasted no time in returning as they watched Reina and Faris exit the cave and start on their own desert journey.
     "We have lost a lot of time," Fran said.
     "Indeed we have."

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place>
     Dona and Barthello finally reached the end of the desert and found the Mosel Ruins, which had a clue box sitting proudly and brightly outside the entrance. The Ruins were made of stone and built into the side of a mountain. Most of the outside of the building seemed to be crumbling apart, but it had new doors put in that gave some reassurance that somebody had reinforced the structure of the ruins.
     Barthello took the clue and read it to Dona, who seemed to have grown increasingly irritated after a walk in the desert. "Make your way inside and solve a final puzzle to unlock the Pit Stop for this leg of the race! Warning: the last team to check in may be eliminated."

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must now search the ruins and find a hidden staircase in the war room. To open this staircase, however, each team will have to solve one of six puzzles. The puzzles are simple. In each of the puzzles, there is a lone, black statue of either a warrior, thief, or symbologist. There are three buttons to insert either a white warrior, white thief, or white symbologist. Teams must figure out that the solution is to place a white statue beside the black one that can defeat it, leaving only the white statue, and must figure out that warrior defeats thief, thief defeats symbologist, and symbologist defeats warrior. It's like rock-paper-scissors, basically. If they insert an incorrect statue, they will be forced to return to the main hall before trying a second time. During this time, another team may complete the puzzle they worked on, forcing them to do a different one. Once they have solved the puzzle, a light on the floor will light up the path to the war room, and they will be able to enter the staircase. Down these stairs is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here...may be eliminated."

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place>
     "I think we're in first, Dona!" Barthello said happily. "But this might be a hard puzzle."
     He and Dona headed inside the ruins and looked at a display with six statues that were divided into three groups of two. In each group, one of the statues was white and the other was black. There were three types of statues, and each was represented once in white and once in black. They were carved to look like either a warrior, a thief, or a mage. On the plaque for the statues, the mage was renamed as a "symbologist."
     They moved to the center of the display and watched as the statues came to life and began attacking each other. First, all the white statues that were paired with the lesser versions of black statues all crushed their black counterparts. Then, the statues all disappeared and reappeared with the black statues beside the lesser versions of the white statues. They crushed the white statues. The display ended there.
     "Is that our clue?" Dona said. "I hope you got all that."
     "I...hope so, too," Barthello said. "Let's find the puzzles. Probably one of the doors in the back."
     "You're certainly taking the lead this leg. But fine. Let's do what you say."
     There were two doors in the back of the room. Barthello picked the right one and led Dona through a series of hallways. The hallways all eventually led in a giant circle. At the back of this circle were six rooms labeled as "Puzzle 1" and "Puzzle 2," all the way to "Puzzle 6." Having gone counterclockwise, they came up to Puzzle 6 first.
     Barthello, always the gentleman, opened the door for Dona to enter first. After she entered, he followed her in. Inside was a black statue of a warrior. There was an empty pedestal next to the statue and three buttons on a panel directly in front of the empty pedestal. The buttons said "Warrior," "Thief," and "Symbologist."
     "I...don't know," Barthello said. "Any ideas?"
     "One-in-three chance, I suppose," Dona said. "Pick one, Barthello."
     "Yes, ma'am," he said. He closed his eyes and pressed at the panel. His initial attempt missed all buttons, but Dona helped guide his hand to the pad, where he pressed the button for "Symbologist." A white symbologist appeared and shot the black statue with a lightning bolt. After doing so, the black statue disappeared and the white remained.
     A line lit up on the floor, leading them out of the room and down the hall to the war room. They shrugged and followed the path into a room in the center of the ruins. Inside, there was a large, stone table with several chairs surrounding it. Way in the corner, where the line of light led Dona and Barthello, was a staircase into the basement of the ruins. They walked down them and saw Gippal standing beside a fit, blonde man in black. They walked up to the mat and stepped on.
     "Welcome to the Ruins of Mosel in Elicoor II," the man, Cliff, said in a Sylvester Stallone accent.
     "Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you are the first team to arrive. However..."
     Barthello and Dona had already started to rejoice, but stopped immediately with the "however." They now waited silently for Gippal to continue.
     "Naw, I'm just kiddin'," Gippal said. "You two are team number one!"
     Dona tried to hurt Gippal at all costs, but was unable since apparently Barthello wanted a hug and had picked her up off her feet. She calmed her anger and happily hugged Barthello back. She even threw in a quick peck on the cheek, which made the muscleman go weak in the knees as Dona slid out of his grasp.
     "As the winners of this leg of the race, you've both won a trip for two to Costa Del Sol in the Fantasy 7 verse, courtesy of Rin's Travel Agency, which you can enjoy after the race."
     "Thank you so much, Gippal," Barthello said.
     "You thought you did something bad at the detour, didn't you?"
     Barthello nodded. Dona, however, did not.
     "Well, it certainly wasn't nice, but it wasn't against the rules. So enjoy your first win, you two. This is the last time you'll win, right?" Gippal joked.
     "Of course not, Gippal," Barthello replied. "We're due at least one more, right at the end."
     "Oh can it, Barthello," Dona said. "I need some off-camera time with you."
     "That sounds good," Gippal commented.
     "It...might be," Barthello replied. "It could go either way."

     Ma and Zell reached the clue box at the Mosel Ruins and both wiped their foreheads. Zell pulled a clue from the box and read the information about the puzzle and the Pit Stop to Ma. They walked inside the ruins and watched the display of the statues attacking each other and both tried their best to figure out what was happening.

     Zone and Watts raced for Surfario at top speed after noticing the Ronso were closing in on them. They were unable to beat the speedy Ronso in a footrace, however, as the Ronso stole the lead from them at the last second. But instead of grabbing a clue, both Ronso cannon-balled into the river beneath the bridge-based city of Surfario. Zone and Watts braced for the splash to hit them, then shrugged and took their next clue.
     "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins," Zone read.
     "Okay, west is that way." Watts pointed to the west. "Let's hurry!"
     The boys headed west while the Ronso crawled from the water. Yenke opened the clue box, but Biran punched him in the back when he did so.
     "Ronso already have this clue," Biran said. "It tell us to travel west to Ruins!"
     "I...won't go with you to the ruins," their guide told them. "I really have to get back to my job. When we walked back through town, I saw somebody robbing my wife. I should help her. Oh, but before I forget! There's a puzzle there I've heard of. It's something along the lines of rock-paper-scissors. Be prepared. It seems this race you're on likes puzzles."
     "Ronso thank helpful human," Biran said. "If Biran had extra horn to give to human, he would put it right in helpful human's head."
     "Oh. Thanks."
     "As thanks for helping, Ronso will now sing Hymn of Fayth to you." Both Ronso began clearing their throats, but the man frantically waved his hands to object.
     "Oh no no no no no. I couldn't hold you up like that. Gotta go--bye!" He ran off toward Peterny as the Ronso headed west to the cave. Coming in the opposite direction was Fran, followed closely by Balthier. The Ronso ran past them, leaving Fran and Balthier to shield themselves from the water dripping off the hairy Ronso.

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in Last Place>
     "I've no doubt we're in last now," Balthier said. He grabbed a clue and read it. "Travel west through the cave and desert to find the Mosel Ruins."
     Fran and Balthier headed west, right back to the desert they were just in. Neither seemed pleased about it, but they were in much too big a hurry to care much about where the race was sending them.

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in 3rd Place>
     Reina and Faris panted as they found the ruins and took their clue. Reina read the clue to Faris before they headed inside to look at the display of statues fighting.

     Ma and Zell found Puzzle Room 1 and entered. There, they found a statue of a black symbologist. They looked at each other, then at the panel of three options.
     "Any guesses?" Zell asked.
     "What are we supposed to do?" Ma asked.
     "Beats me. Push a button, Ma. Then, if it's wrong, we'll go to the big statue display and come back here. If we keep getting the same puzzle room with the same puzzle, then we're bound to guess the answer eventually!"
     "Okay, then I'll push...this one!" Ma pushed the button for thief. A white thief statue appeared and quickly slashed at the symbologist. The black statue fell and a line on the floor lit up that led to the war room.
     "We did it?" Ma asked.
     "You did it, Ma!" Zell cheered happily. He tossed his and Ma's backpacks outside their puzzle room and picked Ma up piggyback-style and carried her all the way to the war room and down the stairs to the Pit Stop, where he put her down to be properly greeted.
     "You look excited," Gippal said. "Ma and Zell...you're team number two!"
     "Ye--aww," Zell moaned, though he still seemed excited. "I thought we were first."
     "Another puzzle room had the 'done' light, Zelly," Ma explained.
     "Oh yeah? I didn't see that. Nuts. But oh well, I'm still pumped! I have the best ma in the world!"
     "Aww, Zelly. You're too much sometimes," Ma said with a smile and a tear in her eye.

     Reina and Faris entered the first available puzzle room, which, for them, was Puzzle Room 5, since they had walked through counterclockwise. There they encountered a statue of a black symbologist.
     "What d'ye think of this?" Faris asked.
     "About all I can think is that we probably need to put in a white statue that'll break this one and let us through," Reina replied. "But I wasn't looking closely enough at the statue types. I think we should go back and look."
     "Aye, but be thar a penalty fer guessing?"
     "Not that I read," Reina said. She pulled out the clue and skimmed it once more. "Nope, we can guess."
     "We'll try this one, then," Faris said. She kicked the buttons and her foot collided with the button for symbologist. A white symbologist statue appeared and they both blasted each other apart with magic. The black statue reappeared shortly after. "Okay, back ter the hall."
     The girls left the puzzle room and headed back to find the main hall to watch the statues battle again.

     "Hornless human mention rock-paper-scissors," Biran said. He and Yenke were running very quickly through the desert. They were so engaged in their conversation, they didn't even notice as they ran right past Zone and Watts. The water soaking their fur was evaporating very quickly. "Biran not know what rock-paper-scissors mean."
     "Oh! Yenke thinks Yenke knows!" Yenke said proudly. "Rock-paper-scissors like Ronso game: Guado-Yevon-Al Bhed! Al Bhed beat Yevon, Yevon beat Guado, Guado beat Al Bhed!" He paired all these names with hand symbols that were intented to represent each group. None of them made any sense as to why they respresented what they did. "Only, this game not have Ronso."
     "Ohh, no Ronso." Biran paired it with a symbol, which was a pointed hand. It obviously represented a horn. "Biran always pick Ronso."
     "Yenke, too. But sometimes, Yenke try to trick Biran and pick Guado!"
     "That why Yenke lose. Yenke stupid."

     Reina and Faris entered the main hall and started watching the demonstration a second time. They made note of their black symbologist statue. At first, a white thief appeared next to it and cut it down. Then, the statues all reset and the black symbologist reappeared beside a white warrior statue, which was struck down by the symbologist.
     "I'm not sure," Reina said. "Do we want to put it against something it beats? Or something that beats it?"
     "Can't say fer sure, but if we think o' this statue as a guardian, then we'd want to take 'er out, right?" Faris replied.
     "Okay, let's use the white thief!"
     Reina and Faris left for the puzzle room.

     Zone started to stumble a bit as he walked through the desert. He finally called out to Watts, who was a few steps ahead of him. He took off his backpack and grabbed a water bottle from inside. He chugged it quickly and poured the last little bit of it on his face.
     "Yeah, it's rough out here," Watts said. "But we've gotta hurry." He watched Fran and Balthier jog past them as he helped Zone to his feet. Despite being behind, neither was capable of much more than a brisk walk. Both were exhausted and completely out of breath.

     Reina and Faris entered their puzzle room and quickly pushed the "thief" button. The path to the war room lit up and the girls celebrated quickly before following the line down to the Pit Stop. Both hopped on the mat and waited for Gippal.
     "Reina and Faris," he said, "you're team number three!"
     "We c'n take that!" Faris said happily. "Live ter fight another day."
     "Where are we off to next, Gippal?" Reina asked.
     Gippal laughed. "I'll let you know in about twelve hours."

<Biran & Yenke: Comrades, Currently in 4th Place>
     Biran and Yenke reached the ruins and found their next clue. They stood for a while, reading through their clue, trying to figure out the intricacies of the puzzle. Both were completely dry upon reaching the clue box and both seemed eager to get out of the heat. They walked inside and admired the large display of statues. Both seemed highly confused about what they were watching.
     "Biran knows!" Biran said. He pointed to each of the statues as he spoke. "One with sword beat one with smaller sword, but not beat old man. Old man beat one with sword, but not beat short sword. It like our friend said!"
     "So what is puzzle?" Yenke asked. He pointed to each of the statues. "Yenke will just remember that old man is like Yevon, because Yevon is old. Long sword man is like Guado, with their long, dumb hands. And little sword man is like Al Bhed, because nobody remember Al Bhed, and Yenke not going to remember little sword man with his insuperior sword. It like Ronso with short horn: outcast."

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in 5th Place>
     Fran reached the ruins just ahead of Balthier, who seemed to be in need of a breather. Fran took the clue from the box and read it while Balthier got some water from his bag.
     "A puzzle? Wonderful," Balthier said. "Like I haven't had enough of those today."
     "We must hurry," Fran said. She watched Zone and Watts walking to the ruins, having not passed them long ago.
     "And no doubt they'll be good at puzzles."
     The pair ran inside to look at the statues just as the Ronso had made their way to one of the back puzzle rooms.

<Zone & Watts: Resistance Fighters, Currently in Last Place>
     Watts ran ahead and grabbed the clue. He read the details of the puzzle as quickly as he could to Zone before they headed inside. The demonstration had only barely begun for Fran and Balthier, so the Forest Owls joined them in watching.
     The demonstration cycled once and began its second cycle when Balthier suddenly spoke. "Ah, I get it now. Come on, Fran."
     He and Fran ran out of the main room and down one of the back corridors. When they were behind a door and out of earshot of Watts and Zone, Fran finally asked Balthier about the solution. "So what is the solution?" she asked.
     "I'm actually not a hundred percent," he replied. "I just know my best bet is to fluster those other two. They'll solve the puzzle quickly unless they feel the pressure. I doubt they'll go home, though, if those Ronso have anything to say about it."
     "Speaking ill of others tends to lead to disaster. Mind your tongue."
     "Suppose you're right. My apologies."

     Biran and Yenke looked at the black warrior statue and pondered it for a while. "So Ronso need to break black statue," Biran said. He stood on the pedestal ahead of him and attempted to punch the statue himself, but to no avail. He returned to his position next to Yenke and thought some more. "What was long sword again?"
     "Long sword like dumb, long Guado hands," Yenke replied.
     "Ohh, right. So Guado are beaten by Yevon. Also by Ronso. . . . Who Yevon again?"
     "Yevon led by old people, so Yevon is old."
     Biran looked at the panel, which read "Warrior, Thief, Symbologist" with a button beside each word. "So..."
     "Yenke not know! Yenke know symbology is hard class though, so Yenke says that one!" And with that, he jammed his fist onto the symbologist button and created a white symbologist. It blasted the black warrior apart and lit up their path to the finish.
     "Good Yenke!" Biran cheered. "Hurry, Ronso follow line!"

     "This isn't good," Zone mumbled. His stomach was obviously irritating him, but he stayed on his feet to watch the statues cycle through their second demonstration. "They know how to solve it!"
     "Wait, I think I do, too," Watts replied. "Look. The warrior is rock, the thief is scissors, and the mage is paper! It's rock-paper-scissors!"
     "You're right! Gah, hurry!"

     "Biran and Yenke," Gippal said after the Ronso had hopped onto the mat, "you're team number four!"
     "Ronso do awesome! Better every day!" Biran said. "And not be able to do it without Yenke. He very smart today. Biran thinks his horn must have grown. Still not bigger than Biran horn, but bigger."
     "You best friend Ronso could have," Yenke said, pulling Biran in for a hug.
     Gippal looked at Cliff and grinned. They both slowly backed away from the mat for a moment to give the Ronso some space. "Awkward," Gippal whispered to Cliff.

     Balthier and Fran stepped into one of the two remaining puzzle rooms. Inside was a black statue of a thief.
     "Any guesses?" Balthier asked.
     "The statues in the main hall," Fran said. "They fought. I assume we must provide a statue with these controls."
     "To defend? Or attack?"
     "It is...vague."
     "That it is," Balthier said. "Well, let's assume attack, shall we? All those statues do is destroy each other, so I assume the first to do so wins. So we must defeat a statue of a thief. How?"

     "In here!" Zone said. He led Watts into the room and found that they, too, faced a black thief as their opponent.
     "Thief was scissors, so they're beaten by rock, which was..." Watts trailed off.
     "Warrior!" Zone shouted. He jammed on the button and watched as the white warrior defeated the black thief. "YES!"
     The pair stepped outside and began to follow the bright line.
     When they were no more than two steps out the door, both were taken off-guard by the third puzzle room's line lighting up. The door to the Puzzle Room 3 opened and Balthier stepped outside. He and Watts caught each other's stare. With no words spoken, all hell broke loose. Everybody, including Fran, who had only barely seen their situation, tossed their bags aside and broke into a sprint to the war room. Watts kept the lead all the way to the war room, but lost time by having to open the door himself.
     He pushed it open and sprinted left around the large table in the center of the room. Balthier had caught up with Zone and was in a dead heat with him while Fran lagged behind by a single step. She chose her own route: over the table. All four raced as fast as they could run to the stairwell in the corner of the room. It was wide enough for all four to run side-by-side, which was necessary since all reached it at approximately the same time. Fran's shortcut paid off, as she now led the pack, followed closely by Watts.
     Fran made a final jump to the mat, skipping the last four steps altogether. She landed on the mat first and looked behind her desperately to see who'd won. She was unable to tell, however, as all three had touched the mat in the time it took her to turn her head.
     "...Oh man," Gippal said. He looked at all four racers as they gasped for air. "Fran, you were here first. Watts, you were second."
     "And us?" Balthier asked of he and Zone.
     "I need a moment." Gippal pulled Cliff aside to discuss in private. All four tried their best to listen to their distant whisperings.
     "You can hear them, can't you?" Balthier asked Fran.
     "My ears are sharp. Yes, I can hear," she replied. Her face remained emotionless.
     "And!?" Watts asked her.
     "You'll see."
     Gippal and Cliff returned to the mat. Cliff was the first to speak.
     "Welcome to the Ruins of Mosel in Elicoor II," he said.
     "I'm planning to milk this, you know," Gippal said. "If we can go to commercial, that'd be great. Right here."
     "Fran already knows," Watts told Gippal.
     "Oh, really?" he asked. She nodded.
     "Lame. Well, okay. But I'm still going to milk it. Team number five is," Gippal paused for what seemed to the teams like an eternity, "Fran and Balthier."
     "No," Zone mumbled.
     "Zone and Watts, that means you are the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from the race."
     "Good race," Watts said, offering a handshake to Fran. She accepted it as Balthier shook Zone's hand, as well.
     Fran and Balthier stepped away from the mat and walked down a hallway to join the other teams. The boys at the mat could hear Fran's voice echo in the underground passage as she mocked Balthier. "Third place in a footrace? Some leading man."
     "It's for dramatic purposes, of course," he replied.
     "Staying off the radar didn't work, did it?" Gippal asked.
     "We weren't off the radar," Watts replied. "Not at all."
     "We were fooling ourselves to think so," Zone said. "But the strategy was solid. Our execution was just terrible."
     "That's the Forest Owl way. We'll stick to coming up with plans. Leave the physicality to the rest of the world."
     "This is hardly a defeat to be sad about," Gippal said. "You lost by a couple milliseconds. And to a really good team."
     "We're not sad," Watts said. "I'm not, anyway. It was great racing with Zone. Wouldn't have wanted a different person by my side this whole way. Not in a million years."
     "Besides, we won some killer marbles!" Zone said sarcastically.
     "That's a hell of a bright side," Watts said. "When we get home, we're playing a game. And you're going down."
     "Bring it on."