Episode 11: Part 2

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place>
     The first plane landed in a strip of dirt on the small island of Besaid. Zell jumped out of the plane, then helped Ma get out. He started jumping up and down, pointing at the statue in the distance, just a short jog up a dirt hill. Zell took the clue, then waited for Ma to join him. She was huffing and wheezing when she reached the top.
     "Gosh, Ma, it wasn't that hard," Zell said.
     "Of course not...when you're your age," Ma replied.
     Zell smiled and ripped open the clue. "Pray at the statue for victory for as long as you'd like, then make your way to the town of Besaid."

<Announcer Gippal>
     "At this statue, many teams pray for a safe journey and for victory. Teams may stop and pray here, though that is optional. Afterwards, they must make their way a short distance to the town of Besaid. In the center of town they will find their next clue."

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Let's take a moment," Ma suggested.
     "You crazy?" Zell shouted. He started to tense up, but knew it was a pointless, time-consuming argument, so he dropped to his knees to pray silently. He often opened one eye to look over at Ma and see if she was still praying, then shut his eye quickly.
     Ma was silent for a while, then finally ended with an "amen" and tapped Zell on the shoulder. "Thanks for waiting. Let's go."
     "Oh yeaaaah!"
     The two raced down a mountain trail to a small town composed of tents and huts. In the back of the town was a large temple. And for as beautiful as the island setting may have been, Zell and Ma's eyes were on a clue box sitting in the middle of a dirt circle in the middle of town. They raced over to it and Zell pulled the clue from the box.
     "Detour: Sonar or Go Far?"

<Announcer Gippal>
     "A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. The choice: Sonar or Go Far. In Sonar, teams take a device called a search sphere and find four buried spheres with a button on them. When they find a sphere, they must simply push the button. Once teams have pressed all four buttons, a box labeled with their names on the pier will open. This box will contain their next clue. Each search sphere has a color and will only seek out buried spheres of the same color, so that one team finding all the spheres will not allow others to simply jump on the wagon, so to speak. The task is not difficult, and is basically following a metal detector, then digging a very small hole with their hands. But if teams do not notice a buried sphere, they could spend a long time backtracking.
     "In Go Far, teams are given a map of where four buttons are located. The only difficulty is that some of these numbers are located in high areas and may require intense climbing. Also, some of the foliage of the island may hide the numbers. But having a map eliminates the luck factor and relies mostly on physical ability. Like with Sonar, pushing the four buttons will unlock their clue on the pier."

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Up to you, Ma," Zell said. "You know what I wanna do."
     "I'm sorry, Zelly, but I don't think I can climb fast enough," Ma said. "Can we do 'Sonar?'"
     "I guess so."
     Zell grabbed a nearby search sphere. It was just a beeping green orb that beeped louder and faster the closer the search sphere was to a buried sphere of the same color. There was also a display of several red bars that lit up in a way corresponding to the volume and frequency of the beeps.
     They started out back the way they'd come when the sphere started immediately beeping.
     "Lucky day!" Ma shouted. She and Zell started moving around to try to find the exact spot. While finding the exact spot was difficult, they definitely found where the beeping was loudest and most frequent. Zell handed Ma the sphere so that he could dig doggie-style, tossing dirt through his legs and clawing at the ground. Ma occasionally added a hand to help out. They unveiled a portion of the sphere and moved over a half-step to dig where the rest of the sphere was. Once the button was exposed, Zell pressed it.
     In a distant shot of the pier, there was a close-up of three clear boxes with clues contained inside. The three boxes sat on the pier and had four red lights along the bottom. On the box labeled "Ma and Zell," the first red light turned green.
     "One down, three to go!" Zell said happily.

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 2nd Place>
     Dona and Barthello's plane landed on Besaid. Barthello exited and helped Dona from her plane. Barthello took a deep breath.
     "Ahh. It's good to be back in Spira," Barthello said.
     "You're wasting time," Dona said. She led Barthello up the mountain to the statue beside their next clue. She took it out and read it to him. "Pray at the statue for victory for as long as you'd like, then make your way to the town of Besaid."
     "We should pray."
     "Oh puh-lease," Dona said. She saw he was not willing to negotiate it and sighed. "Fine. Very quickly."
     Barthello and Dona did a very quick prayer in the traditional Yevon-style, then proceeded to Besaid. Along the way, they noticed Zell and Ma following a beeping search sphere.
     "Oh not those things," Dona said of the search sphere Ma was holding.
     "Yup, it's the Detour," Zell said. "Err, one of them."
     "Where's the box?" Dona asked.
     "About six islands that way," Zell pointed way in the distance behind them." When he got strange glares from both Dona and Barthello, he just bonked the side of his own head lightly with the palm of his hand. "Like I'd tell you! Final leg, guys!"
     "It's there," Barthello said, pointing to the town of Besaid; specifically to the clue box in the center of town.
     "Then go get it, you big dope!" Zell joked.
     Dona, having had enough conversation for one day, left to get the clue in Besaid. Barthello, as always, was in tow. They reached the clue box and Dona pulled out their clue. "Detour: Sonar or Go Far?"
     "Climbing has never been our strength," Barthello said. "I think Sonar."
     "I suppose so," Dona said. She grabbed a blue search sphere and turned it on. She and Barthello started to walk around and look for buried spheres. It didn't take long before it started beeping a lot. "There," Dona said, pointing at the ground.
     Barthello got on his knees and started scraping at the ground. He unveiled the blue sphere shortly after and pushed the button. "Done."
     "I hope it stays this easy," Dona said. She and Barthello started to walk out of the town, all the while watching the search sphere.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 1 Found>
     Zell walked behind Ma, who was using the search sphere. He would sometimes start to walk faster than her, then turn around and walk back to her.
     "You're making me nervous, Zelly," Ma said.
     "But we're going too slow," Zell said. "Final leg! Gotta find these things a-sap!"
     Ma started to pick up the pace as she made her way across a section of bridges. Zell started to jump up and down angrily while looking over her shoulder.
     "Beep already!" Zell said.

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, 1 Found>
     Dona and Barthello walked out of town slowly. Dona watched the search sphere carefully and Barthello prepared himself for some digging. Just as they started up the hill, where a group of the local blitzball team was practicing, the search sphere started to beep. Dona started moving around, chasing the more frequent beeps and finally pointed to a section of ground.
     "There," she ordered Barthello to dig.
     He scrapped frantically at the ground and unveiled their next sphere. He pushed the button and lit up their second sphere.
     Dona continued on in search of her next sphere while Barthello dusted his hands off.

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, Currently in Last Place>
     Reina and Faris's plane landed at Besaid. The girls jumped from the plane and raced up the hill to the statue. Reina pulled out the clue and read it to Faris.
     "Should we pray?" she asked after reading it.
     "No time," Faris said. "Got ground ter make up. Maybe later."
     The girls saw Zell and Ma in the distance searching for something. Dona and Barthello were approaching them, but seemed all too fixated on a sphere in Dona's hand to even notice them.
     Reina and Faris decided not to waste time with them as they headed off to Besaid to find the next clue box. Faris reached the box and pulled out their clue.
     "Detour: Sonar or Go Far," Faris read.
     "We're too behind to play with the neat sphere," Reina said.
     "Aye. We be doin' Go Far." Faris took the map out and pulled it open. It was a map of Besaid Island with four red dots on it. The dots were all across the island and none of them were too close to each other. "Hope yeh got yer runnin' shoes on, sis."
     "I'm ready!"
     They raced out of the town in the direction of the first dot, which was right back by the first clue box at the statue.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 1 Found>
     "Finally!" Zell shouted as Ma's search sphere started to beep. She walked around for a short while, trying to find the signal, then stopped and let Zell dig in what they believed to be the correct location. He uncovered his sphere and pushed the button on it just as Dona and Barthello reached their same location to search for a sphere.
     Dona's sphere started beeping as well when she was only a few steps from Zell's sphere.
     "No way," Zell said. "So all our spheres are close together?"
     "Seems that way," Dona said.
     "Well we've gotta get the next one before you follow us, then!" Zell shouted. "Come on, Ma!"
     "Okay!" Ma replied. She and Zell raced ahead quickly to try to find the next location.
     Dona rolled her eyes. "Like we need to follow anybody. Now find the sphere, Barthello."
     "Yes," Barthello said. He searched around with Dona and they soon found their third sphere. Barthello pressed the button. Dona readied the search sphere again and they started to search for their final sphere.

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, 0 Found>
     Reina and Faris searched the strange statue for a hidden button. It didn't take long before Faris found it on the back.
     "Aha!" she said. She slammed her finger on the button.

     There was a brief cutaway back to the pier, where Reina and Faris's box gained its first green light. Ma and Zell's had two, while Dona and Barthello were at three.

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, 1 Found>
     "Next one isn't far," Faris said. "Don' worry, sis. Maps be my thing!"
     "Good, because it sure isn't mine," Reina said. "Where to?"
     "Jus' followin' the path."
     Reina and Faris continued down a path where there was a strange structure built into the side of a path. More importantly was the broken pillar standing about seven-feet tall, which, according to Faris, was the location of their next button. She and Reina started looking all around the column, but neither could find it. They started checking the floor and even the side of the canyon wall nearby. It didn't take too much searching for Faris to figure out where it was.
     "Stand on me shoulders," Faris told Reina. She stood by the pillar and gripped the side of it firmly.
     "Ohh, on top," Reina replied. She jumped up on Faris and after some struggling, finally managed to climb up her and reach the top of the pillar. Sure enough, there was a button on the top of the pillar. Reina pressed it, then jumped off Faris.
     "All the way ter the beach, now," Faris said. She and Reina started to jog along the long path to the beach.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 2 Found>
     "These are hard to find," Zell said. He and Ma headed into a clearing that overlooked a small river. The area was a lot greener than most others and overlooked a series of palm trees.
     "It's here, Zelly!" Ma said as the search sphere started beeping.
     "Where!?"
     "I don't know, it isn't too strong yet," she replied. She walked around the area, chasing a strange signal. It seemed very picky in this area and seemed to go from moderately high beeping levels right back down to hardly any beeping.
     "Having fun?" Dona asked as she and Barthello entered the same area.
     "Dangit, how'd you get here so fast?" Zell asked. "Following us, aren't you?"
     "Hardly."
     "Well fine! We're gonna beat you though! Maybe it's...here!" Zell dove on the ground and started digging a small hole. He didn't uncover anything. "Or here!" he said, diving to a new location around where Ma's sphere beeped.
     "Why would you beat us?" Dona asked. She started pointing to random places on the ground where Barthello was to dig.
     "Because we're the good guys!" Zell said, putting his muddy fists on his hips like a superhero.
     "And we are?" Dona glared at him, waiting for the answer.
     Barthello looked up at Zell nervously, shaking his head at him subtly, trying to make Zell not say the answer.
     "EVIL!"
     "Figures. You think that because somebody is not so optimistic and not so annoyingly cheerful that they must be evil, right? Never mind intentions. Never mind how I tried to save this world once before. I'm mean and therefore evil, right? RIGHT?"
     Ma leaned in close to Zell. "Gulp is right," she whispered. "Just find the sphere, Zelly. This is our race and we don't need to worry about our opponents. Win or lose, we're going to do our best."
     "You're right, Ma," Zell said. He started to search the ground again, but found his ear caught in a death-grip, courtesy of Ma.
     "Forgetting something?" she asked.
     "OUCH! Fine, Ma. I know, I know." Zell rubbed his ear immediately after Ma released it. He turned to Dona and lowered his head. "I'm sorry about saying what I did."
     "Like I care," Dona said, folding her arms across her chest.
     Zell was going to respond negatively until he saw Barthello on the ground giving him a thumbs-up. He smiled and hopped back to the ground to search.
     Not long later, Zell and Barthello both screamed out happily. "Found it!" They looked at each other, then back down at their spheres to push the buttons.
     "One left!" Zell said. "Let's hurry, Ma! We've gotta beat these two!"
     "Heh, good luck with that," Dona said. "That was our last one."
     "No way!" Zell shouted, extremely surprised.
     "Come, Barthello."
     Dona and Barthello left without another word as they headed down to the beach. They saw Reina and Faris slowly climbing up the side of a cliff to reach their next button.
     "We should hurry," Barthello told Dona. "We don't know how close they are."
     "Fine." Dona started to actually jog toward the beach with Barthello. Behind the beach was a pier leading out to a boat that was waiting at the dock. It was a large, transport ferry with the name S.S. Liki written on the side. Barthello admired the ship as they ran by to find the three clear boxes at the end of the pier. Their box, located between the other two, had all four lights shining a bright, cheerful green. Barthello lifted the box lid and opened it wide enough to reach his clue inside. He dropped the lid back on the box and ripped open the clue.
     "Using the two tickets inside, take the ferry to your final destination...!" Barthello was so shocked by what he read that his eyes were actually visible. "KILIKA ISLAND!"
     "You're KIDDING!" Dona shouted.

<Announcer Gippal>
     "Teams must now board the S.S. Liki, which is bound for Kilika Island. This island is the final destination of the race, though it is still far from over. Although there is technically only one S.S. Liki, there are several ferries that look the same and carry the same name that will leave the dock in Besaid. The ferries cycle so that each boat leaves every ten minutes."

<Dona & Barthello: Summoner/Guardian, Currently in 1st Place>
     "Our last leg is...at home," Barthello said. He seemed almost overcome with emotion. "I think we can do it, Dona! We can do it!"
     "Not if you don't get your dumb face on the boat," Dona said.
     "Oh! Sorry!" He raced up the plank to the boat and handed the two tickets to the ticket-taker. They boarded the ship and climbed a small flight of stairs to the second floor, which was covered by a a colorful canopy. They leaned over the side that watched the dock and prayed that neither of the other two teams would board before the boat left.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 3 Found>
     "Where could it be!?" Zell shouted. He jumped up and down a lot, then started punching the air.
     "Well, all our spheres have been close to Dona and Barthello's," Ma said. "I never saw them go farther than us--"
     "So we just go back and find their sphere!" Zell ran to Ma and hugged her, picking her up off the ground even. "You're so dang smart, Ma!"
     After putting Ma down, he started racing off and boisterously waving his arm for Ma to follow him.

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, 2 Found>
     Reina and Faris were searching around in a raised area that overlooked the beach. There was an old, demolished structure in the middle with foliage growing all around. The dot on the map was vague as to its exact location and the girls were searching everywhere they could.
     "Anything?" Reina asked.
     "Yeh'd know if I found it, sis," Faris replied.
     "Yeah, I guess so."
     "Don' worry, sis. The last dot be on the beach. Should be a lot easier than this one."
     "That's good. Just gotta find this one first."

     Dona and Barthello were not showing any signs of nervousness except for Dona's foot, which was shaking like crazy. It stopped shaking instantly when the ticket-taker took in the plank to the dock and the boat started slowly pulling away from the dock.
     "We're in first," Dona said with extreme disbelief. "And going to Kilika. Makes me want to stop by our house to get a change of clothes before going on."
     "Dona! We can't!" Barthello argued.
     "Relax. I'm joking, Barthello."
     "Oh. O-o-of course you were, Dona. I knew. I was just joking back!"
     "You're so cute sometimes," Dona said with a smile. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when we hit Kilika."
     "Yes, Dona," Barthello said.

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, 3 Found>
     "There it is!" Zell shouted, pointing at Dona and Barthello's exposed sphere in the ground. "Look around there!"
     Ma was taking deep breaths and put her hands on her knees. She handed Zell the sphere. "I can't, Zelly. You do it while I catch my breath," she said between breaths.
     Zell took the search sphere and started running around like an idiot. His running worked, however, as the sphere started beeping louder and more frequent. He followed the beeps until they were at full volume and frequency, then started digging. After two small holes, he found the final sphere and pushed the button. "Bingo!"
     "Let me guess," Ma said. "Now we have to run again, don't we?"
     "You're finally starting to get it!" Zell joked. He started running back down to the beach with Ma far behind him. He frequently stopped and waited for her to join him, but she eventually had to just walk. Zell seemed upset, but still told Ma it was okay.

<Reina & Faris: Sisters, 2 Found>
     "Found you!" Reina said, pushing the third button that was underneath a broken sundial.
     "Good job, sis!" Faris shouted. "Hurry, ter the beach!"
     Faris raced for the cliff and jumped down to the beach. She opened her arms to catch Reina, but Reina jumped down in a different spot by herself. Faris shrugged, then raced to the other side of the beach to search for the final button.
     Reina followed Faris, but stopped to watch Zell and Ma walk to the pier. She waved to them and they waved back.

     Zell and Ma walked along the pier and found their box. Zell opened it and removed his clue and tickets. He ripped it open and read it to Ma. "Using the two tickets inside, take the ferry to your final destination: Kilika Island."
     "Sounds fun," Ma said. "But I kinda thought that about this island, too, and this island just left me pooped!"
     "I hear ya," Zell said.
     "Liar."
     "Err, well, sorry, Ma. But at least we get a rest. This boat will take awhile to get there."
     "That's true," Ma replied.
     They boarded the boat and handed the ticket-taker the tickets.
     "How long till we leave?" Zell asked him.
     "About two minutes," he replied.
     "Just in time! Sweet!"
     "Sweet as they may be, I kinda hope Reina and Faris miss the boat."
     "Ditto. We might actually have a chance to win against Dona, but I dunno about Reina and Faris. They're a couple of tough girls. Probably the two toughest in the race!"
     "A-hem."
     "Ohhh, I mean, besides you, Ma! You, Faris, and Reina! Top 3!"
     "Still lying," Ma said with a smile. "I raised you to be such a nice boy." She paired this statement with an attack on his hair; rubbing the top of his head to mess up his spikey hair.
     "Oh come on, Ma! Now I have to fix my hair-horn!"
     While the Dinchts were messing around, the fourth light on Reina and Faris's box turned green. The boat's engine started up and the ticket-taker pulled in the plank from the dock. The girls came running down the pier, screaming for the boat to wait. Faris reached the end of the pier and took the clue from their box while Reina flagged down the boat and begged for them to wait.
     Both girls looked up eagerly at the ticket-taker and put on their best puppy-dog-eyes faces. The ticket-taker frowned, then shook his head. "Sorry, ladies."

     Reina and Faris addressed the camera while the boat drifted away from the dock. Their voices continued through a montage of scenes showing them waiting for another boat, boarding it, and setting sail.
     "Sucks we be in third still," Faris said. "Got so close ter bein' right back in it, but nay."
     "At the very least, we're getting closer," Reina said. "We were thirty minutes from the front before, now we're only twenty."
     "An' the front just be Dona an' Barthello, so the real front be Zell 'n Ma, 'n we're only ten minutes from them."
     "We're just kinda joking," Reina told the camera. "Staying in high spirits. We're actually very afraid that Dona and Barthello will take it before our ship even arrives. We're hoping for just one more thing to slow them down and give us a chance to catch up."
     "Otherwise, we lost the race b'fore we even landed in Spira."

<Ma & Zell: Mother/Son, Currently in 2nd Place>
     Zell sat on the side of the boat, despite the nervous ticket-taker constantly asking him to be careful and suggesting he move. His affirmations of "It's okay, I'm a SeeD" seemed ineffective at calming the nervous man.
     "Zelly," Ma said from behind him. She stood up out of her lounge chair on the deck of the large boat. "Zelly. I don't feel....good."
     Zell looked back at Ma just in time to see her collapse on the deck. "MA!" Zell shouted, jumping from the ledge of the boat and racing over to her. "SOMEBODY GET HELP!"