Episode 9: Part 3

     Faris surfaced and joined Reina, who was already waiting. Faris had only surfaced because she was instructed to. "How many?" she asked.
     "None," Reina said. "It's hard!"
     "Aye, but at least I got one."
     "Oh, good! Well then, let's dive again!" Reina took a deep breath and dove in. Faris followed her immediately after.

     "So lost!" Zell shouted over the winds as he and Ma soared beside some mountains, waiting for an opening. Instead of an opening, they found the mountain range curving inward so that they had to backtrack to continue around the mountains.
     "Hand me the map, Zelly, and take the reins!" Ma shouted back. She took the map and slid aside so that Zell could drive the drake. She scratched her head and watched over Zell's shoulder. "I guess we'll just see what happens?"

     Fran reached the top of the wall and joined Balthier in jogging up the stairs to the balcony while the Ronso started climbing up the wall. They reached the Xing board and saw their picture pasted up on it.
     "Can't say I'm terribly surprised," Balthier said. "Shucks. And after all that work to try to get ahead of the Ronso. Now we're left waiting for them."
     "At least we know where we stand," Fran said. She stood to the side and watched the drakes.

     "You're lost," Dona said to Barthello. Their drake carried them high in the air beside a long mountain range over a forest. It refused to cross the mountains, despite Dona's complaints.
     "It is hard to navigate," Barthello said. "The map is very bad and the mountains appear to surround us completely. It's just a matter of luck to find the small openings that aren't clearly marked on the map."
     "I don't care, Barthello. I'm not having fun and you need to get us to the next stop. I feel disgusting after Reina splashed me with that disgusting water."
     "She did what!?" Barthello shouted. "I knew you got wet, but she did that intentionally? I can't believe it. I will get you to her, Dona! We will take our vengance!"
     "Don't over-react, Barthello. But yes, let's catch up to them and make her pay."

     The Ronso made quick work of the wall-climb and after a quick victory pose that involved a lot of muscle flexing at the "hornless crew," the Ronso raced through the castle to get to the balcony.
     "About time," Balthier said, quickly moving from the Xing mat to the clue box.
     "Ronso are not last?" Biran said, looking at the board.
     "Ronso only tied for last!" Yenke said. He high-fived Biran.
     "Strange, those ones," Fran said.
     "Make your way by wind drake to Carwin," Balthier read.
     Balthier and Fran wasted no time getting to their drake while the Ronso fumbled through tricky words like "drake" and "to." They lifted off and headed to the northeast.
     "The word is to, Yenke!" Biran said, smacking Yenke in the back of the head. "Toe has another letter!"
     "It hard!" Yenke replied. "Ronso not meant to be bilingual! Only speak Ronso language!"
     "There is no Ronso language!"
     "Concentrate on race, Biran," Yenke said. They approached the final drake. "Other people go north, but dragons not fly high. Not fly over mountains. More mountains north, but Yenke remembers path to not-north."
     "But Yenke, if Ronso just follow hornless ones, then win at end, Ronso still in game," Biran said.
     "Yenke think it time to stand on Ronso legs. Ronso legs much stronger than human legs!"
     "That right they are!" Biran cheered. "Okay, Biran tr-- Biran truuuu-- Okay, Biran trust Yenke. Ronso go south!"
     Biran let Yenke drive the drake and they both hopped aboard. Their drake started to fly from the castle to the southeast.

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

     "Biran and Yenke very impressed by mini-dragon," Biran said. "He had many horns."
     "Horns on head. Horns on wings," Yenke said. "We bring home picture of mini-dragon. Maybe make statue of mini-dragon for Mt. Gagazet. It beast of horny proportions."
     "Almost afraid to touch mini-dragon. It mythical beast! No Ronso can tame. And definitely no human!"

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

     Reina's head shot out of the water as she held out a crystal shard. "I got one!"
     "Good fer you," Faris said, pulling a third crystal up. "Only one more!"
     "This is hard though. . . . We've been here a long time. I'm getting pruney!"
     "Aye, as 'm I. But yeh get used ter it bein' a swashbuckler."

     A drake touched down just outside Carwin and released its two passengers: Biran and Yenke. They raced to the clue box and were both a bit startled to see so many clues remaining in the box.
     "Ronso...doing good?" Yenke asked.
     "Of course Ronso doing good!" Biran shouted. He ripped open their clue. "Use submarine to find and enter the sunken Wall-see Tower."
     Biran and Yenke headed to the coast to find a submarine. They found the four remaining subs floating just off shore and made their way inside one. They were overwhelmed by all the buttons and gauges inside. Both began pushing random buttons and even sometimes the gauges to try to find anything that would start the submarine.
     Biran sat in the captain's chair and found exactly what he needed: an illustrated guide to driving the submarine. He studied the pictures while Yenke closed the hatch. The submarine finally started moving and Biran and Yenke began their very short search for the underwater tower.
     "There! There!" Yenke pointed at it, even though Biran was already heading straight for it.
     "Biran knows! Yenke need to sit down and shut mouth!" Biran drove the submarine into the entrance, where some machina helped them park the submarine. They exited the submarine and took a clue from the nearby clue box.
     "Detour: Search for Shards or Rip to Shreds," Yenke read.
     "Rip to Shreds!" both Ronso cheered. They high-fived and headed to the stairs to find the Rip to Shreds detour.
     After going down a flight of stairs, the Ronso stepped in water and looked at each other accusingly.
     "Biran cannot read!" Yenke shouted.
     "Yenke cannot read!" Biran shouted at the same time.
     They both ran up the stairs, then headed across the landing to the detour labeled as "Shreds" not "Shards" and headed down a flight of stairs. In the room at the bottom there were five giant crystals, each with a pair of hammers, a pair of chisels, and one large sledgehammer. The Ronso walked to the nearest crystal and picked their equipment. Biran was first to grab the sledgehammer, while Yenke grabbed a hammer and chisel. Biran took a swing at the front of the crystal and pounded the side of it, but it only knocked off a very tiny shard. Yenke, meanwhile, stuck his chisel into the back of the crystal and started pounding it in with his hammer.

     "Got it!" Faris shouted as she rose out of the water at the steps. She had to wait, however, until Reina came out of the water.
     "Oh cool, you got it!" she said when she surfaced.
     The girls handed off their five crystals and took their next clue from a man nearby. They headed upstairs to get to better lighting, then read the clue.
     "Make your way to the Pit Stop at the top of this tower!" Reina read with a high level of excitement.

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must now climb five flights of stairs to the top of the tower. The last team to check in here...may be eliminated."

     Reina and Faris quickly ran up the stairs, though they were slowed down by their wet hair and clothes. Reina slipped at one point, but Faris was behind her and was able to brace her before the fall. They finished climbing the stairs and soon found a room with a giant crystal sitting in the middle. Vines grew beneath the crystal and the elegant room had a faint music playing in the background. Reina and Faris ran toward the mat, then ran even faster when they saw that the greeter for this leg was their old friend Butz. Reina jumped in for a hug, leaving Faris behind to just smile and greet Butz with a nod of her head. Gippal, standing beside Butz, laughed.
     "Welcome to Walse Tower," Butz said, breaking Reina's hugging grip. She joined Faris on the mat.
     "Reina and Faris," Gippal said, "you're team number one!"
     The sisters cheered and hugged. Without warning, Reina pulled Butz into yet another hug, only this one a group hug with Faris as well.
     "I knew you'd be here first when Gip told me you were in the race," Butz said.
     "So this is, what? Your third win?" Gippal asked.
     The group hug broke up and Reina nodded. "Yeah, number three."
     "You two might be the team to beat."
     "Sounds right ter me," Faris said. "We win anything, Gippal?"
     "As a matter of fact, you did. You've both won a magical lamp, capable of summoning powerful creatures. The more water is inside the lamp, the more powerful the creature you'll summon."
     "Too bad our monster hunting days are over," Reina said. "But they'll make beautiful decorations!"
     "I've got the perfect treasure chest ter keep mine in."

     Ma and Zell's drake finally found a break in the mountains and headed for Carwin. Both seemed highly relieved to finally be heading toward their destination as opposed to heading almost the exact opposite, just to get around some mountains. As their drake was just about to land at Carwin, Zell looked over his shoulder and saw another drake approaching. He tapped Ma on the shoulder and pointed.
     "Who is it?" Ma asked. She and Zell stepped down from the now-grounded drake and jogged to the clue box. Both checked over their shoulders often to try to see who was joining them.
     "Oh, man," was all Zell could say when he saw the team.
     "It's Dona and Barthello," Ma said. She took the clue from the clue box and read it to Zell. "Use a submarine to find and enter the sunken Walse Tower."
     "Is there anything we can do to trick them into leaving?"
     "Come on, Zelly. That's not how we play. We play for ourselves, remember? Let's run our own race. Now hurry up or I won't let you drive the submarine."
     "Oh hell yeah!" Zell cheered. "Thanks, Ma. You're the best!"
     They raced for the submarines on the coast and passed Dona and Barthello as they reached the clue box for themselves.
     "I can't stand them," Dona said, glaring over her shoulder at the Dinchts.
     "Ignore them. We'll beat them soon enough," Barthello said. He read the clue to Dona, then the two of them raced from the city to the coast with the waiting submarines.

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in Last Place>
     "I'll bet those are for us," Balthier said, pointing down to the submarines below their drake. Two of them dropped into the water and out of sight, leaving only one more submarine.
     "That means we're in last place," Fran noted. "We must do well on the detour."
     "Very well, indeed." Balthier landed the drake and helped Fran down before jogging to the clue box.
     They grabbed their clue and opened it while already heading toward the submarines. Balthier read it to Fran as they walked, just to ensure they didn't skip a task.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 3rd Place>
     Ma and Zell parked their submarine a good minute before Dona and Barthello arrived, but were not allowed to leave the submarine while another submarine was entering, so they were forced to wait. Once they received the all-clear, they hopped down from the submarine and raced to the clue box. Zell reached it long before Ma since he was so eager to leave. He ripped it open and read it to Ma when she arrived.
     "Detour: Search for Shards or Rip to Shreds?" he read.
     "Neither of those sound great," Ma said. She thought about the choices while Barthello took his and Dona's clue. "I really don't see myself doing well with breaking something."
     "I'm not so great with a hammer, either. Anything I know of that needs a good pounding, I just give it the ol' left-right combo!"
     "We'll search for shards then, I suppose," Ma said. She and Zell headed toward the Shards detour as quickly as they could.

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 4th Place>
     "I don't like those choices," Dona told Barthello. "You pick. I'm already dirty, so I don't mind sitting in the water and waiting, but I am not going underwater. So pick whatever works best for you."
     "Okay, Dona," Barthello said. "We'll do Rip to Shreds. I might have a plan."
     "Are you saying there's some kind of brain in there?" Dona joked, pointing at Barthello's head.
     Barthello smiled briefly. "Come, Dona."

     Yenke continued to chisel away at the crystal, while Biran insisted on whacking it with a sledge hammer. He was still not doing a great deal of damage to the crystal, whereas Yenke had taken out a fairly decent chunk from the back.
     "What Biran doing wrong?" Biran asked.
     "Yenke is not sure. Never break crystal before," Yenke said. "Maybe Biran should do chisel-hammer like Yenke. Yenke doing well."
     "Maybe. Yenke been smart in past. But Biran does not understand how small hammer and horn-shaped object make more break than big hammer! Biran understands that horn is strongest thing on planet, but this is big hammer! And bigger always better!"

<Fran & Balthier: Sky Pirates, Currently in Last Place>
     Balthier and Fran raced from the submarine to the clue box, where Fran took out and read their clue.
     "Detour: Rip to Shreds or Search for Shards?" she read.
     "Brute force has never been our forte, but searching. . . . A tough call, but I say we search," Balthier said.
     "Agreed. Let's go."

     Ma and Zell immediately started diving for the shards. They swam around the room and searched, but were having some great difficulties. One of those difficulties was that Ma was struggling with a cheap pair of goggles that had been provided and refused to open her eyes underwater.
     After only a couple minutes, Ma surfaced to catch her breath and attempt to put on the goggles once more. She put them on correctly this time, but the lenses fogged up, making it difficult to see.
     Zell surfaced in time to help Ma, but he had yet to find a shard. "Gotta get 'em wet first. On the inside. That's why they're all foggy." Zell took Ma's goggles and dipped them in the water before handing them back. "Try now."
     "Much better!" Ma said. "Sorry to slow you down."
     "Don't worry about it. But don't talk about it either! Dive, Ma. Dive!"

     Dona and Barthello found the room full of crystals and picked a crystal far away from the Ronso's prying eyes. Barthello handed a small hammer and a chisel to Dona, who had folded arms and seemed as if she was refusing to help.
     "Please, Dona," Barthello said. "I have a plan. I just need you to work on the bottom for me while I weaken the top."
     "Fine, Barthello," she said. "I just thought your 'plan' involved me doing something less hands-on. Like sabotage."
     Barthello picked up the sledgehammer and began working down the top of the crystal with large swings and loud grunts to accompany them.

     "Biran has idea!" Biran told Yenke. "Oh, but shhh! Keep voice down!"
     "What Biran idea?" Yenke asked.
     "Can Yenke make fake-horn stay in crystal?"
     "Yes. Yenke pound it in like this!" Yenke pounded the chisel into the crystal until it would stay there on its own. The chisel sat about halfway up the crystal.
     "Okay, stand back!" Biran took a huge swing with the sledgehammer, hitting the chisel into the crystal. There was a loud shattering noise as the top half of the crystal where Yenke had been working fell completely off the top. The chisel clattered noisily to the ground.
     "Biran use smart think!" Yenke shouted. He raced for his chisel and picked it up, then brought it back to the crystal and started pounding in a new section for Biran to break off.

     "Enough room for us?" Balthier asked Ma as he and Fran walked down the staircase to the Search for Shards detour.
     "Only as long as you don't beat us," Ma joked.
     "Any luck so far?" Balthier began taking off portions of his clothes he did not want to get wet, which were his boots and overshirt. Fran already dove into the water.
     "Zell found one, and I've found one, but that's it. But we haven't been here too long."
     "I see. Well, may the best team win, I suppose." Balthier dove into the water, followed closely by Ma.

     Dona backed away from her chisel, which she left relatively close to the bottom of the crystal. Barthello took a swing at it, causing a big crack to appear in the crystal, but it seemed to have a lot of strength holding it together. He hit it two more times, each time barely adding to the cracks until finally the whole chisel was buried and subsequent hits were futile.
     "Great," Dona said.
     "It's okay...I think," Barthello said. "Use the other chisel and we'll try something closer to the top. Break off smaller pieces first."
     "Whatever you say, but if you mess this up, we're done."
     "I know."

     Yenke stepped away from their short crystal as Biran smashed the chisel in the side. The crystal shattered until only a little stub remained and all parts except a tiny point were below the required height. Yenke ran over and smashed the point off with his little hammer as a man brought the Ronso their next clue.
     "Victory for Ronso!" Biran shouted. He opened the clue. "Make way to Pit Stop at top of this tower."
     The Ronso tossed down their equipment noisily and ran to the stairs.

     "Number two!" Zell shouted. He added another shard to his and Ma's pile, which was now at three. He took a quick glance at Fran and Balthier's pile, which only had one. "Yes," he cheered quietly to himself.
     "I heard that," Fran said after coming back up for air.
     "Yeaaargh! I err-- Dah!" Zell took a deep breath and headed back under. Fran did the same.

     Biran and Yenke entered the Pit Stop room and ran to the mat and hopped on.
     "Biran and Yenke," Gippal said, "this is your best finish yet. Team number two!"
     "It all because of Yenke," Biran said. "Yenke make Biran proud. Not proud enough to cry. Proud enough to give arm-punch." Biran socked Yenke in the arm.
     "Oh...kay. Why so proud of Yenke?"
     "It all because of Yenke!" Biran started to explain. "Yenke do chocobo good! Both do good on climbing rope, and Biran do better, but Yenke do okay. Then Biran want to follow hornless ones, but Yenke remember seeing mountain path and fly horned dragon good. Also Yenke put horn-shape object in crystal and make crystal break faster. Yenke smart. Surpass Biran in smarting. But not fighting!"
     With that, Biran tackled Yenke and started play fighting with him. Gippal rolled his eyes and stepped away from the mat, motioning for Butz to do the same.

     Dona and Barthello withered down the crystal and finally drove the final chisel into the crystal. The remains shattered and Barthello took his next clue.
     "Make your way to the Pit Stop at the top of this tower," he read. "Thank you for your help, Dona."
     "Don't thank me, Barthello," Dona said. They started walking up the stairs. "I want to win, but for a long time, I didn't think we could. But you've been supporting us very well and I'm starting to feel we could win this. . . . Assuming we're not out already."
     They climbed the tower and faced Gippal on the Pit Stop mat.
     "Dona and Barthello," Gippal said, "you're team number three!"
     "Thank you, Gippal," Barthello said.
     "Congrats on making the final four."
     "It's the final one we're aiming for," Dona informed Gippal. "We don't need a reminder about how close we are until the end."
     "Yikes. Scaaaary. You got it, Dona. I'll keep updates to myself from now on."
     "Good."

     Fran and Balthier both started swimming back to the stairs to add a newly-found shard to their pile. Balthier gave Fran a thumbs-up underwater. They arose and added the two shards to their pile, making theirs now the exact same size as Zell and Ma's. It was three to three.
     "It's up to luck now," Balthier said. "Good luck, Fran."
     "Same to you," she replied.
     They dove under to search for more. A short time later, Zell emerged and looked with shock at their pile, which jumped from one to three.
     "Gah! They caught up!" Zell screamed. "Gotta find more! Gotta find more!"
     "Like this?" Ma said, holding up another shard.
     "Yes! One more to go!" Zell hugged Ma, then freaked out about wasting time and dove into the water.
     Ma smiled and added the shard to their pile. "I'm glad I did this race. No matter what."

     All four divers failed to find new shards as they each searched a couple times. The shards were becoming scarce with only three shards remaining.
     Ma came back yet again empty-handed. She dove under yet again to find a shard, but was having issues with her goggles again and let a bit of water into them to stop them from fogging up.
     Zell rose out of the water again. He held a shard high in the air and shouted, "YEEEEAAAAAH!" He handed over the five shards and received his next clue, but had to wait for Ma to return, since she had no idea they were done.
     Balthier and Fran emerged from the water. Balthier groaned and Fran sighed.
     "Good show, Zell," Balthier said. He offered Zell a handshake.
     Zell looked curiously at the hand, then wiped off his own and shook his hand. "Hey, man, beat Dona and Barthello! Get those shards. I want them gone like a stain on your favorite shirt."
     "Right, we will," Balthier said. He and Fran dove underwater and swam past Ma, who was making her return to the surface.
     "Zelly! You did it!" she cheered.
     "Pit Stop time, Ma!" Zell said. He read the clue for Ma, though he had already read it in private.
     They raced to the top of the tower and found Gippal and the mat waiting for them. They stepped on the mat and waited for the good news.
     "Ma and Zell," Gippal said, "you're team number four!"
     "Booya!" Ma said. "Was that right?"
     "Sure is!" Zell replied. "We're still in the race and-- Wait, team number four?"
     Gippal nodded.
     "Aww man! That means Dona and Barthello are already here." He scoffed his foot on the ground as if to kick dirt. "Oh well. At least our number one competition is gone."
     "And what about those girls, Zelly!?" Ma said. "Girls are competition, too."
     "They were first again you know," Gippal said.
     "Really? Wow. They're kinda kicking our butts then!"

     Fran found her third shard and dove underwater, but turned back when she saw Balthier approaching with a shard of his own. They handed off their five shards and took their clue. Balthier grabbed his clothes and they raced to the top of the tower.
     They reached the top and jogged to the mat with sad background music added after the fact.
     "Welcome to Walse Tower," Butz said to them.
     "Cheers," Balthier replied.
     "Fran and Balthier," Gippal said, "you're the last team to arrive."
     "Bugger."
     "I'm sorry to tell you, you've both been eliminated from the race."
     "That's all right," Balthier said. "I guess this leading man is in the wrong race."
     "Seems everybody was gunning for you," Gippal said. "Think the delays finally took you two down?"
     "The delays have been deadly," Fran said, "but no. We were eliminated by poor luck. Poor luck in the detour. Poor luck in the flight over here. It wasn't our day."
     "Nor our race," Balthier added.
     The sky pirates waved to Gippal, then walked together toward the staircase. They slowly walked down, hand-in-hand, as the screen slowly faded to black.