Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > General > Writer's Corner > The Amazing FF Race, Episode 12: "Eleven Worlds, 31 Cities, and Over 12,000 Miles"

[Rodney]

All right, folks! This is it! This is the final installment of The Amazing Final Fantasy Race! The eleven teams that started out on the race have now been trimmed down to four, and those four will be racing it out to avoid the final elimination before the remaining three duke it out for the million-gil prize! Who'll be the last team to go? And who will win? Find out! Look out for some spoiler-ish info from the first season. Enjoy!

Episode 12: Part 1

(Announcer Gippal)
“Previously on The Amazing Final Fantasy Race, eleven teams set off from the starting line on Mt. Gagazet and raced over 10,000 miles to the resort town of Wutai. Each team faced many difficult challenges, suffered various hardships, formed and broke relationships, and overcame different adversities. Along the way, seven teams fell by the wayside.
“Irvine and Selphie — Reina and Faris — Locke and Celes — Wakka and Lulu — Cid and Edea — Tseng and Elena — Quale and Quina, you’ve both been eliminated from the race.
“Comrades-in-arms Lucil and Elma established themselves as clear frontrunners early on, dominating the race from the start. And their will, drive, determination, and complete domination landed them square in the final four.
“Allies Cyan and Gau seemed like total underdogs from the moment they left the starting line. But they fought hard through bankruptcy, injuries, and multiple attempts on their lives, enjoying everything the race had to offer as they did so, to reach the final four.
“Dating couple Freya and Fratley ran a solid race, but had some questionable moments when Fratley made attack after attack on opposing teams. Still, their love and dedication to one another brought them to the final four.
“Father and daughter Godo and Yuffie certainly were not always on the best of terms with each other. But in finally learning to cooperate with, and actually developing a growing respect for, one another, they managed to race their way into the final four.
“Tonight, in this two-hour season finale, one team will fall victim to the final elimination, and the three that remain will race to the finish line for the one-million-gil prize. Tonight, one of these four teams will win . . . The Amazing Final Fantasy Race.”

An overhead shot showed a large, five-tier pagoda in an Asian-themed town. Gippal was then seen walking in front of that pagoda.
“This is Wutai,” he said, “a once-powerful town devastated by the evil Shinra Corporation and turned into a humdrum resort town that only a tourist would love. Or, for that matter, even think of visiting. And here in this town is the Wutai Pagoda, home to the Wutai Warriors. This pagoda was the elev-enth Pit Stop in a race around worlds.”
Over a montage of the four teams’ prior arrivals at the Pit Stop, Gippal’s voiceover continued.
“Teams arrived here at the end of the last leg for a twelve-hour, mandatory rest period that allowed them to eat, sleep, and mingle with the other teams,” Gippal explained. “Will Freya and Fratley continue to work fairly well together, or will Fratley’s horrible machinations finally come to Freya’s knowledge? Will Lucil and Elma continue dominating the race, or will the dominators finally be dominated? Will Cyan and Gau show the other teams that underdogs can triumph? Or will Godo and Yuffie recover from losing everything, make the final three, and win the race?”
There was another shot of Freya and Fratley arriving first at the Pit Stop as Gippal concluded his introduction.
“Freya and Fratley, who were the first to arrive at 11:36 a.m., will depart at 11:36 p.m.”

(Freya & Fratley: 1st to depart, 11:36 p.m.)
Freya stood on the left side of the mat and watched Fratley, who stood on the right side, tear open the clue and read it.
“‘Fly to the kingdom of Tycoon in World One,’” he read.

(Announcer Gippal)
“Teams must now fly over 1,000 miles through space to World One, a world that has been battered by meteors and terrorized by the evil villain, Exdeath. Once there, they will be flown to the kingdom of Tycoon, a kingdom ruled by the Tycoon family and was nearly destroyed by a meteor. Outside of the front gate, they will find their next clue.”

(Freya & Fratley: 1st to depart, 11:36 p.m.)
“Let’s go,” Fratley said.
“I’m right behind you,” Freya said.
The two of them ran off the mat and headed into Wutai.
“We are beginning the penultimate leg, and we are feeling good about our chances,” Freya said in an accompanying interview, which she seemed to be giving alone. “We are on our own now that Lucil and Elma have ended their alliance with us, but I still think we can do just fine without them.”
Fratley, however, had a different opinion, and he expressed it in his own interview. “Lucil and Elma betrayed us on the last leg,” he said. “They used the Yield on us rather than on one of those damn Fun Bunch teams, which really made me angry. But there is no need to worry. I will make them pay soon enough.”

(Lucil & Elma: 2nd to depart, 11:46 p.m.)
Lucil stood on the left side of the mat and opened the clue. She read it to Elma, who stood firmly on the right side.
“‘Three teams have 100 gil for this leg of the race, one team has nothing, not even pants,’” Lucil read. “Are you ready, Elma?”
“I’m ready, Captain,” Elma said.
“Then let’s go.”
They ran off the mat and into town.
“We are fully aware that we have targets on our backs,” Lucil said in an accompanying interview. “Sir Fratley has already tried to literally stab Elma in hers after we broke off our alliance with them on the last leg, and we know he’ll definitely be coming after us for Yielding him and Lady Freya. So we must try to avoid him and his wrath at all costs.”
“It’s not gonna be easy,” Elma said. “We’re two very strong, very determined women, but he’s a very strong man, and he’s going to do anything he can to get his revenge.”

(Cyan & Gau: 3rd to depart, 11:51 p.m.)
Cyan, standing on the left side of the Pit Stop mat, ripped open the clue. Gau stood on the right side of the mat, listening carefully.
“Tycoon?” Cyan said. “Oh, we should be very grateful the two sisters are not present, Sir Gau.”
“Why, Cyan?” Gau asked.
“Did thou not hear the name?” Cyan asked him. “We are going to Tycoon. That is the same as Princess Reina and Princess Faris’s last name. Well, at least Princess Faris’s birth name. They would be having a bit of an advantage if they were still around.”
“Oh,” Gau said. “We say hi to their friends?”
“If we see anyone who knows them, yes,” Cyan said. “Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
They jogged off the mat and made their way into town.
“There’s absolutely no more room for mistakes now,” Cyan said in their accompanying interview. “Sir Gau and I have managed to bring ourselves this far in the race, so we do not plan on doing anything to end it.”
“Gau and Cyan glad we get this far,” Gau admitted. “We not want go home now. We see the Hungry Boys go home, and that bad. Same thing not happen to us. We want make that final three.”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Cyan took some of the money out of his pocket and left it just on the steps leading down into the main part of town. “Here is a bit of money for Lord Godo and Lady Yuffie.”

(Godo & Yuffie: Last to depart, 12:00 a.m.)
Godo stood still on the left side of the mat while Yuffie, who stood on the right side, tore open the clue and read it.
“‘Fly to the kingdom of Tycoon in World One,’” she read aloud. “‘Three teams have 100 gil for this leg of the race, one team has nothing, not even pants.’”
Godo and Yuffie looked down in dismay at the big, frilly pink dresses they’d been forced to wear.
“This f@#king sucks,” Yuffie whined.
“Oh, I don’t know, Yuffie,” Godo said. “I think that looks pretty good on you.”
“Dad!” Yuffie protested angrily.
“Now, if only someone would ask you to the debutante ball,” Godo continued teasing.
“Dad, shut your ass up, or I swear to God —” Yuffie began.
“Relax, Yuffie. I’m only joking,” Godo said. “Now come on. Let’s go. We can remedy this situation right away.”
They left the mat and, instead of heading into town, ran for the nearby manor.
“We lost everything we had on the last leg, and were forced to race in these damn dresses,” Godo explained in an accompanying interview. “We are glad that we hit the last non-elimination leg, but we know we have an uphill battle to fight to keep ourselves in this race.”
“We’re not planning on giving up,” Yuffie said. “We’ve run eleven legs and are about to start our twelfth one. We want to make that thirteenth leg. We want to cross that finish line. And we’re NOT going to let any damn thing stop us from making it there!”
Godo and Yuffie entered the manor and went down a hall.
“Hey, old man,” Yuffie said, “why are we in your house?”
“We’re taking care of our little situation right now,” Godo said, leading Yuffie to his room. “Wait right there.” He dug around underneath a sleeping mat and came out about twenty seconds later with about 300 gil in his hand. “I was saving this for a rainy day, and, well, it doesn’t get much rainier than this.”
“It really doesn’t,” Yuffie agreed.
“Oh, and while I’m at it . . .” Godo went over to a drawer and took out an outfit that looked exactly like his regular clothes. “Clothes to wear when we make it through this leg.”
“You sound pretty confident we will,” Yuffie observed.
“You’re not?”
“F@#k yeah, I am! I’m just surprised you are, too.”
Godo grabbed a sack he saw lying on the floor nearby and threw his clothes into it. Then, he and Yuffie ran out of the manor. They were about to run into town when Yuffie saw the money Cyan and Gau had left them on the steps and picked it up.
“Those guys are awesome,” Yuffie said. “So glad they made it this far with us.”
Godo nodded and they continued on their way.
Just as they were getting past the Wutai shops, Yuffie realized something else.
“Oh, wait, old man,” she said. “Follow me.”
They trotted toward a house on a raised surface up some steps.
“Isn’t that your house?” Godo asked his daughter. “Why are we going there?”
“Why else, old fart?” Yuffie replied. “Why should you only get to pick up some clothes?”
They went inside the small house and Yuffie quickly took two fresh sets of clothes from her small dresser and threw them into Godo’s bag, along with two bars of soap and two towels.
“Hygiene’s pretty damn important, too, you know,” she said.
“Yes, of course,” Godo said.
With that, they left her house and made their way toward the weapon shop.
“I saw Staniv during the Pit Stop,” Godo said, “and he told me someone set up a travel agency here in town just after we left for the race.”
“You serious?” Yuffie said. “This town just gets cheesier by the minute, doesn’t it?”
They went into the shop and were both relieved and dismayed to see the other three teams already there (although more relieved than dismayed to see Cyan and Gau).

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
“Hey, you guys,” Yuffie said. “What’s up?”
“Not much is up, Lady Yuffie,” Cyan replied. “Sir Gau and I are looking into flights to World One, but we are failing to come up with anything that arrives really early. The earliest one they have arrives at 2:30 in the afternoon.”
“Well, please, if we may,” Godo said, walking over to a travel agent sitting behind a desk with his daughter following him there. “Excuse us?”
The travel agent, a young woman, looked up at them. “Yes?”
“We are trying to get to Tycoon in World One as quickly as possible,” Godo told her. “We need the absolute earliest flight we can possibly get.”
“Well, let me see,” the travel agent chirped cheerfully as she turned to her computer and began looking up available flights. About two minutes later, she turned back to Godo and Yuffie. “We have a flight that departs at 6:45 a.m. and goes to Albrook in the World of Balance. It arrives there at 10:10 a.m. After a two-hour layover, it flies to Tycoon in World One. It arrives at 2:30 p.m. It’s the earliest one.”
“Just like Cyan and Gau found out,” Yuffie said.
But then, the travel agent said, “Well . . . no, that’s not true. We do have one earlier flight, but it has a fairly tight connection. It departs from here at 7:20 a.m. and flies to Esthar in the World of Sorcery, arriving there at 10:20 a.m. The connecting flight departs for Tycoon at 11:20 a.m. So it should arrive at 1:30 p.m.”
“A risky connection, eh?” Yuffie said. “Well, well. Things just got interesting.”
“What are we going to do?” Godo asked his daughter.
“As if you have to ask?” Yuffie said, giving her father a wink. “We’ll take it!” she said to the travel agent. “Two tickets, please!”
“All righty, then.” The travel agent, after taking a few seconds to get Godo and Yuffie’s names, printed up two tickets for them.
“Art thou certain that thou want to risk that?” Cyan asked. “’Tis an extremely risky maneuver thou art making, as thou will miss the flight should it be delayed and thou fail to make it fifty minutes prior to boarding time.”
“Risk not pay off, you’re screwed,” Gau said matter-of-factly. “Should play safe.”
“Guys, guys, guys,” Yuffie said, waving her hands in front of her. “This is the next-to-last leg. I think, at this point, the playing safe is over and we should start taking a few risks. Risks are the be-all, end-all of the race at this stage of the game.”
“Yes,” Godo said, “but we’ll either come out looking like geniuses if our risk pays off, or like total fools if it doesn’t. This is seriously risky.”
“Risky is my middle name, old man,” Yuffie said.
“Really? I thought it was Ashley.”
“Shut up, old-timer.”
“Well . . . thou hast made a good point, Lady Yuffie,” Cyan said. “We shall be taking this same risk.” He walked up to the travel agent. “My young companion and I would like the same tickets you gave those two, please.”
“Sure,” she said. “Coming right up.”
She printed out tickets for Cyan and Gau after getting their names.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
Freya and Fratley were speaking to another travel agent in the same office and managed to find out about the same flight with the same risky connection as Cyan and Gau and Godo and Yuffie had.
“Well, what do you think?” Freya asked Fratley.
“It is certainly a gamble,” Fratley admitted, “but I so love gambles.”
“So do I,” Freya said, looking at their travel agent, a young man. “We shall take two tickets, please.”
“Cool,” he said. “Give me your names and hold on just a minute.”
He took Freya and Fratley’s names and, in no time at all, printed out their tickets.

(Lucil & Elma: Comrades-in-Arms)
Lucil and Elma were at a third travel agent in the office and found out about both the safe flight and the risky one.
“So . . . we can either take the sure thing and get to Tycoon at 2:30, or take a risk on a connecting flight and arrive an hour earlier?” Elma asked their travel agent, another young man.
“That’s right,” he answered.
Lucil shook her head. “It is too big of a risk. We should not take it.”
“Captain, why not?” Elma asked.
“Not only does the flight leave later, but the connection is far too tight,” Lucil said. “Should we miss it, we are stuck waiting for another flight that leaves hours later, so we would get to Tycoon even later than the safer flight.”
“That’s true,” Elma said. “He did say that the next flight out of Esthar would be at 3:00 p.m. if we missed the connection.” She sighed. “So we’re taking the sure thing?”
“We are taking the sure thing,” Lucil confirmed.
“I’ll just reserve your tickets, then,” the travel agent said, taking Lucil and Elma’s names.
And the whole time, Yuffie was watching with a shocked look on her face.
“Lucil and Elma just don’t take risks,” she said in an exasperated interview. “The entire race, they’ve played it way too safe. Straight, safe racing is important, but the big risks can make or break you in this game.”
Lucil and Elma’s tickets were printed out, and they gladly took them.
After they had their tickets, they saw Cyan and Gau and walked over to them.
“Uh, Gau?” Elma said.
“Yes?” Gau said.
“I forgot to thank you for helping me on the last leg,” she said. “If you hadn’t shown up when you did, Sir Fratley would’ve killed me, and it wouldn’t necessarily have been a mercy killing.”
“It nothing,” Gau said, blushing very bashfully at the thanks he was receiving. “Gau glad you okay.”
“We are also very glad that thou art finally on our side where he is concerned,” said Cyan.
“It took us a long time to believe it,” Lucil said, “but we are happy we found out we were wrong when we did, thanks in part to you and the rest of the Fun Bunch.”
“Thanks once again,” Elma said as she and Lucil turned and left to find someplace to sleep while they waited for their flight to leave in the morning.
Cyan looked at the two women as they left, a worried look suddenly appearing on his face.
In an interview, he said, “We would certainly like Lady Freya and Fratley out of the race, but it was at that moment that I became more worried about Lucil and Elma. They have done fabulously well this entire race, making fewer mistakes than anyone and never once finishing below third place. Having them in the final three could possibly be even more dangerous than having Lady Freya and Fratley there.”
“Lucil and Elma are the team to beat!” Gau chimed in at the end of the interview. “They need be beat!”
Cyan continued watching Lucil and Elma as he, Gau, Godo, Yuffie, Freya, and Fratley all left to find someplace to rest, as well.

(6:45 a.m.)
In the morning, the flights began boarding outside of Wutai. The first was the flight that only Lucil and Elma were taking. They boarded their flight, sat down, and waited for the flight to take off, which it did shortly after.

(7:20 a.m.)
When the later-departing flight arrived, Cyan and Gau, Godo and Yuffie, and Freya and Fratley all boarded. They all knew they were taking quite the risk, but all three teams were willing to deal with the consequences if it didn’t pay off. Mostly because there were two other teams there it also wouldn’t be paying off for.
The passengers finished boarding the flight, and it took off.

(Announcer Gippal)
“Lucil and Elma are flying to Albrook in the World of Balance, and then on to Tycoon in World One. Cyan and Gau, Godo and Yuffie, and Freya and Fratley are all flying to Esthar in the World of Sorcery, and then to Tycoon in World One.”

(10:10 a.m.)
Lucil and Elma’s flight arrived in Albrook and the two of them looked out their window to see the familiar-looking houses of the World of Balance.
“I can’t believe we’re back here again,” Elma said.
“Yes, but sadly, it’s only for two hours,” Lucil reminded her. “However, we can take this time to look around.”
“Gladly,” Elma said.
The two left the spaceship and headed off to check out the town.
“Do you think the others will make it?” Elma asked Lucil.
“I honestly do not know,” Lucil answered, “but I do not think so.”

(10:25 a.m.)
The second-departing flight landed in Esthar in the World of Sorcery and the three teams onboard got off and raced to their connecting flight. All three teams were frantic due to one small fact.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
“I cannot believe our flight was delayed by five minutes!” Freya said as she and Fratley ran through a terminal.
“Neither can I,” Fratley said. “We shall have to go quickly if we want to make that flight.”
They finally made it to the check-in counter to check in for their flight.
“We are here to make the 11:20 flight to Tycoon, if we are still able to do so,” Freya said nervously, her fingers crossed and her tail wagging in fear.
The man behind the counter checked his computer, glad to temporarily take his eyes off the ratlike creatures, and said, “Huh. You just made it by at least two minutes. It’s down that way.” He pointed them to where they had to go and wait.
“Oh, thank you,” Freya said, relieved.
“Yes, thank you, indeed,” Fratley said.
They left to head for the waiting area.

(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
Godo and Yuffie ran up to the counter about a minute after Freya and Fratley had left it, panting hard.
“Hi,” Yuffie said. “We too late to catch that 11:20 flight to Tycoon?”
The man at the counter shook his head. “Nope. Got here just in time. I’m checking you in right now.”
“Great,” Yuffie said. “Great. Our risk paid off.”
“Thank God,” Godo said. “I was about to have a heart attack.”

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
Cyan and Gau panted in just after Godo and Yuffie had left with their tickets.
“The 11:20 flight!” Gau said.
“Yes, we would like to board that flight, if thou please,” Cyan said.
“Just two seconds under the buzzer, boys,” the man said.
“So we made it?” Cyan asked.
“You made it,” the man assured them.
Cyan and Gau both hugged each very tightly, relieved that their risk had indeed paid off. They received their tickets.

(11:20 a.m.)
Freya and Fratley and Godo and Yuffie boarded their flight and gladly sat down in their seats.
“It was a very dangerous risk that we took,” Fratley told the camera from his seat, “but we made it. Unfortunately, the remainder of the dreaded Fun Bunch made it, as well, but we can easily beat them in any task and finish our leg long before they do.”
Over in her seat, Yuffie told the camera, “All three teams made it onto the connecting flight, and I’m totally psyched about that. We’re still ahead of Lucil and Elma, and being in front of at least one team is VERY important, on this leg more than ever.”
Cyan, from his seat, told the camera, “We are feeling quite fortunate to be on this flight, with Lucil and Elma still behind us. If all goes right for all of us, thou could be looking at the final three of this race.”
After the camera showed slow-motion shots of each team, the flight took off.

(12:10 p.m.)
Lucil and Elma returned to their spaceship after taking a look around Albrook, and even a few of the towns in the surrounding area.
“Nice world they have here,” Elma said. “I wish we’d spent more time here.”
“As do I,” Lucil said. “At least we managed to obtain a map of World One in that Kohlingen place.”
“Yeah, we really needed that,” Elma agreed.
The two women took their seats as the spaceship got ready to take off.
“You think we’ll be ahead of the others?” Elma asked.
“If the risk they took did not pay off, and they missed their flight,” Lucil replied, “I would say there is a fine chance of that.”

(1:30 p.m.)
The 1:30 flight arrived above a large castle in World One. It was just a few miles from what appeared to be a large meteor that’d crashed into the ground.
The spaceship landed near the castle and the three teams on board the ship disembarked and raced for the clue box at the front gate. Fratley got to it first with Freya close behind him. He opened up the clue box, took out a clue, tore it open, and read it aloud.

(Freya & Fratley: Currently in 1st Place)
“‘Detour: Seek or Swim,’” Fratley read.

(Announcer Gippal)
“A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In this Detour, teams must choose between Seek and Swim. In Seek, teams must find the marked dragons waiting on the castle roof and fly them five miles to the town of Walz, where they will then look around the town for five important pieces of equipment normally purchased by travelers — a battle axe, a long sword, an iron shield, an iron helmet, and iron armor. Once a team has collected all five pieces of equipment, they must turn it over to this woolly mammoth-type creature, Garula, who will hand them their next clue. It is not an overly physical task, but the items are well-hidden and extremely hard to find, which could make for a very long search. In Swim, teams must fly their dragons approximately eight miles to the Torna Canal. Here, they will have to swim half-a-mile through this canal to find a clue floating on a buoy at the end of it, and then swim back to their dragons at the beginning of the course. It is an extremely physical task, but strong swimmers could finish quickly. Teams must simply tell their dragons where they wish to go. They’ll already know the way.”

(Freya & Fratley: Currently in 1st Place)
“I am thinking Seek would be better,” Freya said.
“Yes, I was thinking a similar thought,” Fratley agreed. “We’ll find the rooftop and the dragons awaiting us there.”

(Godo & Yuffie: Currently in 2nd Place)
“Yuffie, I’m many things, but a strong swimmer, I am not,” Godo said.
“Fine, fine,” Yuffie sighed. “We’ll do Seek.”

(Cyan & Gau: Currently in 3rd Place)
“Gau want Swim!” Gau said excitedly.
“We have both dealt with the Serpent Trench before,” Cyan said, “so I think Swim should be no problem for us. Swim, it is.”

The three teams ran into Tycoon Castle and followed marked arrow after marked arrow to reach the roof of the castle. They finally made it there and beheld the sight of four large, white, mystical dragons waiting for them.
Freya and Fratley jumped onto the dragon closest to them, with Godo and Yuffie choosing the dragon on the opposite end of the line. Cyan and Gau hopped onto the back of the dragon next to the one Freya and Fratley had chosen, and after telling their dragons where to take them, they were all on their way to their chosen Detours.

(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
The dragons flew so quickly, they actually made it to Walz in just fifteen minutes. They landed right at the entrance of the city, and Godo and Yuffie jumped off.
“This has gotta be it,” Yuffie said. “It’s gotta be Walz.”
“Stay, dragon, stay,” Godo said from behind Yuffie.
Yuffie turned around and saw her father feeding their dragon a small, green snack.
“What the hell are you doing?” Yuffie asked.
“Feeding our dragon,” Godo replied. “It says we must do so right here on the clue.” He pointed to something at the bottom of the clue that Yuffie had missed.
“‘You must feed your dragon a special Tycoon Castle Dragon Treat and tell him to stay to keep him there,’” Yuffie read aloud. “Ooh, good catch.”
“Thanks.”
“No, I was talking to the dragon. It snatched a bird right out of the air and ate it in one bite.”
“Oh.”
“Well, come on. Let’s get searching. I see Freya and Fratley coming.”
They ran off into town to start their search just as Freya and Fratley’s dragon came down to land.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
Freya and Fratley climbed off their dragon and ran into town close behind Godo and Yuffie, while their dragon spread its wings and took flight once more, heading back for the castle.
“We should start in the corners of the city and work our way around from there,” Fratley said.
“Agreed,” Freya said. “That is always a good way to start.”
They hurried to the nearest corner of the city, where, sure enough, four long swords were hidden.
“There’s one item,” Fratley said, taking one of the swords. “Four items to go.”
“Let us check the other corners for them,” Freya said.

(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
Godo and Yuffie had also thought of Freya and Fratley’s strategy and were searching a different corner of the city. Right away, they found four iron helmets lying there and took one of them without hesitation.
“Next corner!” Yuffie said.
“I see Freya and Fratley running away from that corner over there,” said Godo, pointing to a corner directly across from the one they were in. “I think they found something.”
They went over to the corner Freya and Fratley had left and found the remaining three long swords waiting there.
“Score!” Yuffie said. “Two down, three to go!”

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
Cyan and Gau’s dragon landed at the beginning of the Torna Canal, a narrow body of calm water surrounded by high cliffs.
Cyan and Gau climbed off their dragon, Cyan remembering to feed him his treat and tell him to stay.
“Here we are,” Cyan said. “This is the Torna Canal.”
“It so long,” Gau said. “You think we get through it, Cyan?”
“Of course,” Cyan said confidently. “I did not spend countless hours swimming through the moat in Doma for nothing, Sir Gau. This should be a very simple challenge for me.”
“Okay,” Gau said.
The two ran in through an open gate and immediately jumped into the water, and the two of them began swimming upon surfacing.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
Freya and Fratley found the iron helmets Godo and Yuffie had found earlier and grabbed one of their own, upping their total to two.
“Well, I’m glad we finally have our second item,” Freya said, “but we’ve spent at least twenty minutes looking around this town and I’ve seen no other items other than that one.”
Fratley pondered things over. “Maybe that is all we can find on land.”
“What do you mean?” Freya asked.
Fratley pointed down into the water below the city, which he already saw Godo and Yuffie trudging through. “Maybe the last few items are somewhere down there.”
They made their way down some nearby steps and waded their way into the water, their feet instantly feeling cold from the water touching them.
Godo and Yuffie, meanwhile, felt quite warm, mostly because of the bulk of their dresses. Even in all that cold water, they didn’t seem to be feeling much of it at all.
“Well, at least these dresses are good for something,” Yuffie said. “At least I won’t catch a cold from this Detour.”
“That’s something we can thank Gippal for,” Godo said. “Oh, look over there.” He pointed at four iron shields hidden quite well behind some barrels set in the shallow water.
“Awesomeness!” Yuffie went over to the barrels as fast as she could in the shallow water that was up to her knees and grabbed a shield. “Hurry, old man. Gotta keep looking.”
“Well, I’m trying to hurry,” Godo said, “but it’s not exactly easy to go this fast when you’re wearing a dress in the water.”
“Just pull up the dress, Dad!” Yuffie said. “Geez, you’re going slower than Cait Sith, who, by the way, had to hop in order to go fast!”
“You want I should hop around, then?” Godo shot back.
“If it’ll make you go faster, be my guest,” Yuffie said.
As if on cue, Godo started hopping through the shallow water, indeed picking up speed because of it.
“I didn’t actually mean it!” Yuffie called after her father, now trying to keep up with him and found herself having to do so by also hopping. “Hey, this does work.”

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
“Sir Gau, art thou all right?” Cyan asked, doing a perfect forward crawl through the water.
“Yeah,” Gau said, happily backstroking his way through the canal.
“Good,” Cyan said. “You know, this reminds me so much of the days when I would teach Owain how to swim. He was always so afraid of underwater monsters coming after him that he would refuse to try swimming. I would have to get in the water myself first to show him there was nothing in there. That worked the first few times, until one fateful summer morning.”
“What happen?” Gau asked.
“A piranha bit my posterior and scared poor Owain half to death,” Cyan replied. “The poor boy had to be forced into the water by Elayne after that unfortunate incident.”
“Ouch.”
“Indeed.”

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
Godo and Yuffie hopped their way underneath an archway, looking for any items there.
Luckily for them, there was just enough light under the dim archway to spot four sets of iron armor waiting for them.
“Here’s four,” Godo said. “One more to go.”
“Yeah,” Yuffie said, reaching down to grab one of them.
But at the same time she touched it, so did the hand of another.
“What the — ?” She looked up and saw Fratley. “What the f@#k do you want?”
“I want that armor,” Fratley answered.
“I saw it first,” Yuffie responded.
“I believe I did,” Fratley replied.
“No, I know I did,” Yuffie said.
“And I know I did,” Fratley said.
Both were pulling on the armor they’d picked up, trying to snatch it away from the other.
“Now, you two, don’t fight over this. Now’s not the time,” Godo said. “Besides, there are three other sets of armor right here.”
“And he can go ahead and take one of them,” Yuffie said.
“I think she should,” Fratley said.
“Can’t you two just —” Godo started, as the pulling got even more intense.
“Dad! You wanna help the situation? Start pulling my damn waist!” Yuffie shouted.
“Okey-dokey,” Godo said quickly, grabbing onto his daughter’s waist and pulling on it.
Fratley tried pulling as hard as he could on his end, but being against two people was seriously to his disadvantage, and he lost the two-on-one tug-of-war battle pretty fast. All three racers ended up sprawling backwards into the water.
Yuffie coughed and sputtered on some of the water as she held onto the armor. “Thanks, old man,” she said.
“You’re very welcome. I think,” Godo said, noticing how pissed Fratley was looking right now.
“Damn you both,” he growled. “Fine. Have your armor. I think I will take one of these others.” He bent down and took a set of armor.
“I found a shield,” Freya said, approaching from behind Fratley with an iron shield in her hands. “We just have the battle axe to find.”
“And we shall find it before these two . . . creatures do.” Fratley took Freya’s hand and the two of them trudged out from underneath the archway and performed a high jump that basically carried them out of the water for a few seconds before carrying them a long distance away from Godo and Yuffie. They splashed down and continued moving.
Freya and Fratley happened upon a house with a door right there in the water and went inside. And there, right inside the door, were four battle axes, leaning against the wall in a line.
“Here we are,” Freya said. “That’s all five of them.”
“Yes, now let’s find this Garula creature and get out of here,” Fratley said.

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
“Ah! There it is!” Cyan said. “I see the buoy, at least thirty feet away!”
Cyan and Gau swam up to a yellow buoy with four clues dangling from it in protective plastic coverings. Cyan tore one off and turned around.
“What now, Cyan?” Gau asked.
“The clue said we must return from whence we began the swim, Sir Gau,” Cyan said.
“Okay.” Gau started swimming, but suddenly grimaced.
“What is the matter?” Cyan asked his young friend.
“Cramp!” Gau said. “Gau have cramp!”
“It is all right,” Cyan said. “It is the distance of the swim. I don’t believe thou hast ever swam this far before.”
Gau shook his head.
“Thou will be fine,” Cyan said. “Just hold onto me. I will help thee get back.”
Gau held onto Cyan’s shoulders as he began swimming his way back to the start of the course.
“You not tell friends I cramp up, will you?”
“I believe they will see it, anyway. We are on camera.”

(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
“This is it,” Yuffie said, finding the same house Freya and Fratley had found earlier and peeking inside to see the battle axes. “I found the axes.”
“Grab one, then, and let’s go,” Godo said.
Yuffie walked inside, picked up a battle axe, and carried it back out.
“Let’s find this Garula guy,” she said.

(2:30 p.m.)
The later flight landed near Tycoon Castle and the last team disembarked and headed for the front gate. Lucil and Elma were anxious to see if they were indeed in front, or if their opposition had beaten them there. Lucil reached the clue box just before Elma did.

(Lucil & Elma: Currently in Last Place)
“Please say their risk didn’t pay off,” Elma pleaded silently. “Please say their risk didn’t pay off.”
“It looks like their risk did pay off,” Lucil said calmly. “There is only one clue left in here.”
“Oh, man!” Elma said. “It did?!”
“Yes, it would appear so,” Lucil said, ripping their clue open. “‘Detour: Seek or Swim.’”
“We need to do Swim, Captain,” Elma said after reading through the clue. “We’ve got no time for a luck-based task.”
“Agreed. Let us find the dragon we need.”
They ran up to the rooftop of the castle and found the last dragon on the roof. They quickly got on and Lucil told him where to go, so he quickly lifted off and began his flight to the Torna Canal.

(Freya & Fratley: Currently in 1st Place)
Freya and Fratley climbed out of the water and looked around the town as they carried all five of their items.
They finally caught sight of a large, lumbering creature resembling a woolly mammoth, just like the one described in their clue, and walked over to him. They were positive this was Garula.
“Hello,” Freya said as she and Fratley put down the items they’d collected in front of Garula. “Are you Garula? We’re here with the equipment you needed.”
Garula looked at the five items lying before him, knew they were the right ones, and gave them a nod. He reached up with a trunklike appendage and dug through his fur. He pulled out a clue and handed it to Freya.
“Perfect,” she said, opening the clue. “‘You have raced through a total of ten worlds, but now, it’s time to begin the journey home. So fly on your dragon to the Tycoon Meteor and, from there, warp to Besaid Village in the world of Spira.’”

(Announcer Gippal)
“Teams must now return to their dragons and fly them ten miles to Tycoon Meteor, a meteor that crashed near the kingdom of Tycoon and almost destroyed it. Once there, teams must enter the meteor and use the shining point inside to warp over 1,500 miles through space to Besaid Village, an island village in the world of Spira. The village is the home of first season runner-up, High Summoner Yuna. Once in the village, they will find their next clue at the door of the temple.”

(Freya & Fratley: Currently in 1st Place)
“We’re going back to Spira,” Freya said. “That’s where the whole race began.”
“I can hardly wait,” Fratley said. “Let’s go while we’re likely ahead.”
They ran back toward the exit of town and looked for their dragon . . . but they were stunned to see him gone.
“Where is our dragon?” Freya asked no one in particular.
“I don’t know,” Fratley said. “We left him here when we arrived. He couldn’t have just flown away, could he?”

(Cyan & Gau: Currently in 2nd Place)
Cyan and Gau got back to the beginning of the Torna Canal and quickly climbed out of the water. After shaking themselves dry, Cyan opened up the clue and read it.
“‘You have raced through a total of ten worlds, but now, it’s time to begin the journey home. So fly on your dragon to the Tycoon Meteor and, from there, warp to Besaid Village in the world of Spira,’” Cyan read. “We are returning to Spira, Sir Gau!”
“Yay!” Gau yelled happily.
“Get on the dragon, Sir Gau, and we shall get to this Tycoon Meteor,” Cyan said.
Gau jumped onto their dragon and sat right behind Cyan. Once he was on, Cyan told their dragon where they needed to go, and he took right to the air.

(Godo & Yuffie: Currently in 3rd Place)
“Here ya go,” Yuffie said as she and Godo dumped their equipment in front of Garula.
Garula looked at the equipment, reached into his fur, and pulled out a clue for them.
“Yes!” Yuffie said. “Bingo!” She took the clue and opened it. “‘You have raced through a total of ten worlds, but now, it’s time to begin the journey home.’” She stopped reading for a moment. “Wait a minute. The journey home? Are they talking about Spira?”
“I would think so,” Godo said.
“That’s not our home!” Yuffie objected. “We live in Wutai on The Planet!”
“It’s probably just saying we’re starting the journey back to Spira, since that’s where the race began,” Godo said.
“Then why the f@#k didn’t they just say it’s time to begin ‘the journey back to Spira?!’” Yuffie asked.
“BECAUSE THEY WANT TO UPSET YOU, YUFFIE!” Godo screamed, getting very impatient with his daughter. “I don’t know! Let’s just not question the clue and finish reading it, already.”
“Oh, fine,” Yuffie scoffed. “‘So fly on your dragon to the Tycoon Meteor and, from there, warp to Besaid Village in the world of Spira,’” she finished.
“Let’s get back to our dragon,” Godo said.
They ran toward the city exit when they saw Freya and Fratley standing there, confused.
“What’s your problem?” Yuffie asked them. Well, specifically, Freya, as she wanted to avoid talking to Fratley.
“For some reason, our dragon isn’t here,” Freya said.
“Oh,” Yuffie said. “You guys did remember to feed it the treat and tell him to stay, didn’t you?”
“What?”
“It said so on the clue.”
Freya took out the Detour clue, read it through, and found the part they had missed. “Oh, my Lord,” she said. “She’s right. We didn’t read the last part of the clue, Fratley.”
“Why did we have to choose now to turn into the Suits?” Fratley wondered aloud.
“Man, sucks to be you two,” Yuffie said. “Well, bye!”
She and Godo ran to their dragon, jumped on, told it to go to the Tycoon Meteor, and flew off.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
“We need a new dragon,” Freya said.
“The only place we know of that has dragons is Tycoon Castle,” Fratley said.
“So we’ll have to go back on foot?!” Freya shrilled.
“Yes, and we may be in for a long walk,” Fratley said.
They ran out of Walz and began their long journey back toward Tycoon.

(Lucil & Elma: Comrades-in-Arms)
Lucil and Elma’s dragon took them down and landed at the Torna Canal.
“Thanks, boy,” Elma said. “Have a treat, boy. Oh, and stay.” She fed him a treat and petted his head, which convinced their dragon not to go anywhere.
“Here is the canal,” Lucil said. “We need to start swimming and find the buoy right away.”
“Captain,” Elma said with a salute.
The two women then dove into the water and got right to swimming, both of them knowing they had some serious time to make up.

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
“Meteor . . . METEOR!” Gau shouted, pointing down at the large meteor they’d flown over in their spaceship.
“I see it, as well,” Cyan said. “It looks like we have made it.”
Their dragon flew down and let them off his back, and they both gratefully thanked him for the lift.
“Many thanks, noble creature,” Cyan said. “Safe return to thy castle.”
The dragon nodded and flew off, heading back to Tycoon Castle.
Gau waved to the dragon as he flew away, and then the two of them entered the meteor through a hole big enough for a person to fit through.
“Light!” Gau said, pointing to a shining point of light inside the meteor.
“The warp point,” Cyan said. “Let us get on at once.”
They walked over to the warp point, stepped on it, and braced themselves as they felt their bodies grow lighter and lighter until they just vanished into thin air and began their warp through space.

(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
Godo and Yuffie flew down near the Tycoon Meteor about two minutes after Cyan and Gau had warped.
“Come on, come on, warp time, warp time!” Yuffie said.
“Of course, of course,” Godo said as they slid off their dragon. “Thanks for the lift.”
“Yeah, thanks!” Yuffie said. “Let’s go.”
They rushed into the meteor, found the warp point, stepped on it, and warped away. Just seconds after Yuffie said, “God, do I hope the Chocobo Knights are still behind us!”

(Lucil & Elma: Comrades-in-Arms)
“Captain! I’ve got it!” Elma called to Lucil, pulling a clue off the buoy.
“Good,” Lucil said. “Then hurry. We have to head back right now.”
“This really isn’t my idea of fun,” Elma panted as they began the swim back.
“Nobody who thought they were ahead only to find out they were really behind would be considering this situation fun,” Lucil said.

(Cyan & Gau: Currently in 1st Place)
Cyan and Gau appeared right in the center of a village surrounded by people dressed exclusively for warm weather. There were small, one-room houses and shops all around them, and a large temple overlooking it all.
The two of them saw the clue box near the temple doors and darted directly over to it. Gau got the clue out of the box and opened it. He gave it to Cyan, who read it.
“Roadblock,” Cyan said. “‘Who’s ready to take a dive?’”

(Announcer Gippal)
“A Roadblock is a task that only one person may perform. In this Roadblock, that person must dive into this cove and unlock a treasure chest containing a clue. They must use one of twenty provided keys, only one of which is the correct key. Once they have unlocked the chest and taken their clue, they may return to their partner on dry land.”

(Cyan & Gau: Currently in 1st Place)
“Would thou like to do this one, Sir Gau?” Cyan asked.
“Yeah! Gau wanna do it! Gau love water!”
“All right. Then we’ll need to follow the marked arrows to find this cove, Sir Gau,” Cyan said.
“Okay. Find arrows!” Gau said.
The two of them ran out of the village and found some arrows at the foot of a path leading up a hill. They started up the path just as another team appeared in the center of the village.

(Godo & Yuffie: Currently in 2nd Place)
Godo and Yuffie looked around at the village they’d appeared in and were in awe at their surroundings.
“Wow,” Yuffie said. “From the medieval to the tropical. Ain’t that something?”
They found the clue box in front of the temple doors and got their clue.
“Roadblock,” Yuffie said. “I’m not even gonna bother reading it. I used my last one two legs ago, so they’re all yours from here on out.”
“I know,” Godo said. “Let’s find those marked arrows.”
They ran out of the village and promptly located the marked arrows pointing the way to the Roadblock.

(Lucil & Elma: Currently in Last Place)
Lucil and Elma climbed out of the canal and ripped open their clue. Elma read it aloud.
“‘You have raced through a total of ten worlds, but now, it’s time to begin the journey home. So fly on your dragon to the Tycoon Meteor and, from there, warp to Besaid Village in the world of Spira.’” She looked at Lucil. “Back to Spira, Captain!”
“This is good news, indeed,” Lucil said. “Finally, a home field advantage for us.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Elma said. “Let’s get going!”
They leapt onto their dragon, told him where to take them, and flew off through the sky, hoping they still had a chance.

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
“Flag . . . FLAG!” Gau pointed to a race flag he saw in the distance. It hung on a small flagpole near a cove. Near the flagpole were four sets of keys — twenty apiece.
“Outstanding!” Cyan exclaimed. “We have found the cove, Sir Gau! All thou hast to do now is —”
Gau didn’t even wait to hear it. He just ran up to the edge of a small cliff, grabbed a key, and jumped off the side of it. He splashed down into the water and began swimming immediately.
“— grab thy key and jump in,” Cyan finished.

(Gau)
Gau swam down to one of four treasure chests he saw at the bottom of the cove. He used the key he’d grabbed and inserted it into the lock. Turned it. Had no luck.
“Did thou get it?” Cyan called down to Gau when he surfaced.
“No! Throw another key!” Gau responded, throwing the key he’d used back up.
Cyan caught the bad key and threw down another one for Gau to use.
Gau dove back down to try again just as Godo and Yuffie arrived. Cyan saw them and said, “Lord Godo and Lady Yuffie are here. We didn’t have as good of a lead as I imagined.”

(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
“You’ve just gotta take one of the keys and dive,” Yuffie said. “Try it on one of the chests and see what happens.”
“All right,” Godo said. “This is where ninja power comes in handy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Watch me.”
“Um . . . okay.”

(Godo)
Godo folded his hands in front of his face, closed his eyes, and concentrated as hard as he could.
“Yeah, that’s right, Dad,” Yuffie said. “Do it!”
Godo then suddenly shot his eyes open. He looked down at the keys, locked his gaze on the one he wanted, and took the eighth key in the line (going from left to right). Then, he jumped into the cave, swam down to a chest Gau was not trying to open, and turned the key in the lock.
And he smiled underwater as the treasure chest opened, revealing the coveted clue, which he grabbed and took back up to the surface with him.
Yuffie started cheering wildly when she saw the clue in Godo’s hand, absolutely happy that he’d gotten it right on the first try. As she cheered, she pointed to a rope ladder placed by the producers so that Godo could climb out of the water.

(Godo & Yuffie: Currently in 1st Place)
“Impressed?” Godo asked his daughter.
“No matter how many times I see it,” she replied. “Come on! Open it! Open it!”
Godo opened the clue. “‘Make your way on foot to the next Pit Stop, a small beach on Besaid.’”

(Announcer Gippal)
“Teams must now make their way on foot only a short distance to this small beach here on Besaid. On this beach is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here . . . will be eliminated, and be out of the quest for one-million gil.”

(Godo & Yuffie: Currently in 1st Place)
“Come on! The Pit Stop! We’re still in front of another team!” Yuffie yelled, pulling Godo along.
“All right! All right! Don’t rush me!” Godo yelled.
Yuffie turned back and glared at him.
“Oh, yes, right.”
They left the cove behind and ran down a small incline, leaving Cyan in shock of how fast Godo had completed the task.

This is part one of the episode. Part two continues in the post below.

[Rodney]

Episode 12: Part 2

(Gau)
“Sir Gau! Lord Godo finished already! Hast thou found anything yet?” Cyan called down.
Gau resurfaced and threw the key back up to Cyan. “This key bad, too! Toss down another!”
Cyan nodded, grabbed a key, and threw it down to Gau, who caught it in his left hand.
“Gau try this one next,” Gau said, diving down again. “Be right back, Cyan.”
“Hurry this up, Sir Gau,” Cyan said. “Who knows when another team might arrive?”

Gippal stood on the mat next to a short-looking man with dark hair, squinty eyes, and what seemed to be a uniform of some sort. Beside the man stood a chocobo he was breeding himself.
“So, uh, what do you call yourself again?” Gippal asked. “Sorry to keep asking, because I swear I’ve seen you around Spira before.”
“Oh, I’m Clasko,” the man said. “I was a Chocobo Knight two years ago, but now, I’m a Chocobo Breeder.”
“Why? Chocobo Knights too tough for you?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t cut out for it. Especially with my captain and another member of our unit practically riding my ass.”
“So pathetic.” Gippal rolled his eyes. “Oh, look right over there.” He pointed to a team approaching him and Clasko and preparing to step on the mat.
Godo stepped onto the left side of the mat in front of Gippal, just behind Yuffie, who’d stepped onto the right side.
“Welcome to Besaid!” Clasko greeted them brightly.
“Thank you,” Godo said.
“Hey, thanks!” Yuffie said, curtsying in her dress. “Hey, another good use for this thing!”
“Godo and Yuffie,” Gippal said, “you’re team number one!”
Godo and Yuffie both let loose with overjoyed screams as they jumped up and down hugging one another out of pure happiness.
“And I have some good news for you,” Gippal went on. “As the winners of this twelfth leg of the race, you’ve won a trip for two to the tranquil town of Troia, compliments of Red Wing Airlines, which you can enjoy after the race.”
“Oh, wow, I’m totally psyched!” Yuffie said, high-fiving Godo.
“Congratulations, you guys,” Gippal continued. “You’re one of the three teams who will be racing to the finish line for the one-million-gil prize.”
“Thank you, Gippal,” Godo said. “Best news we’ve heard all day.”
“Awesome! Totally awesome!” Yuffie exclaimed.
In their post-leg interview, Godo said, “We have won our third leg and made the final three. We are in such a state of shock, it’s unbelievable. We kind of didn’t see ourselves getting this far, what with our rather dysfunctional dynamic.”
“The old man and I did it,” Yuffie said. “We’re running to that finish line. We’re crossing that finish line. And after all our hard work, we’re gonna be hearing Gippal tell us we’re the official winners of The Amazing Final Fantasy Race. And yeah, I admit it. I never could’ve done it without him. I owe him so much for this.”

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
Freya and Fratley, after a long, long, long run, finally made it back to Tycoon Castle.
“We’re finally here,” Freya puffed. “I was beginning to think we’d gotten lost on our way back here.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Fratley said. “It wasn’t your ‘innate sense of direction’ we were following this time. It was mine. So of course we didn’t get lost.”
Freya looked mad, but only for a moment, knowing she had caused a few navigational snafus on the race.
“Now come on. We must get a new dragon,” Fratley said.
They ran through the front gate and into the castle courtyard, where Fratley immediately ran up to a guard and said, “We need to know where to find the dragons. We accidentally forgot to feed ours, and he flew away.”
“Ah, yeah, can’t forget to do that,” the guard said. “Up on the roof.”
Fratley ran past the guard without even thanking him and headed up to the roof, with Freya running close behind him. They found their dragon sitting up there, along with the other two newly-returned dragons Cyan and Gau and Godo and Yuffie had taken.
“There still seems to be a dragon missing,” Freya said. “We know that Godo and Yuffie finished that Detour. So if Sir Cyan and Gau also finished the Detour . . .”
That’s when they saw another dragon fly by overhead and heading in a slight southwest direction.
“. . . then that means Lucil and Elma have already gotten here and finished the Detour,” Fratley growled. “Damn those traitors!”
“They’re not traitors, they just ended our alliance,” Freya said.
They climbed aboard their dragon, told him to head for the Tycoon Meteor, and held on as he flew them off after Lucil and Elma’s dragon.

(Lucil & Elma: Comrades-in-Arms)
Lucil and Elma made it to the meteor and jumped off their dragon.
“We must thank you for the ride,” Lucil said to the dragon. “We truly appreciate your help.”
“Safe flight back to Tycoon,” Elma said. “Our prayers are with you.”
The dragon gave the two women a nod, took to the sky, and winged his way back to Tycoon Castle.
Meanwhile, Lucil and Elma entered the meteor, found the warp point with no big problem (like anyone would have a problem finding a big, shiny star), and stepped on it. In seconds, they vanished and warped their way out of World One.

(Gau)
“No good, Cyan!” Gau tossed another key up to Cyan, who tossed another one down to him.
“That is seven bad keys so far, Sir Gau,” Cyan said. “Surely the one good one is among these keys.”
“If it is, Gau not see it!” Gau called up to him as he dove again.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
Freya and Fratley’s dragon landed near the Tycoon Meteor and let his riders off.
“Thank you so much,” Freya said with a slight bow to the dragon.
Fratley said nothing at all. He just ran into the meteor. Freya, exasperated at his lack of courtesy, followed him as the dragon took off to return to Tycoon Castle.
The two Burmecians stepped onto the warp point and vanished right away, bound for Spira and Besaid therein.

(Lucil & Elma: Currently in 3rd Place)
Lucil and Elma appeared in the middle of Besaid Village and quickly caught sight of the clue box standing outside of the temple. They ran up to it and Elma pulled a clue out after counting the ones inside.
“Two left,” Elma reported. “Looks like we passed someone, Captain.”
“Terrific,” Lucil said. “What’s the clue?”
“Let’s see,” Elma said, tearing open the clue. “We’ve got a Roadblock. I used up my last one in Wutai on the last leg, so this one’s yours, Captain.”
“Of course,” Lucil said, reading through it. “This should be simple enough, although there does seem like there will be quite a bit of luck to this task.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t have much time,” Elma said. “Whoever the last team is, they could be here any minute.”
“You’re right,” Lucil said. “Elma, let’s go.”
“Captain.”
They ran out of the village in search of the path leading to the cove.

(Gau)
“Noooo! Still not it!” Gau screamed in frustration.
“Fifteen bad keys,” Cyan marveled. “It is amazing how unlucky thou art getting even after all of these attempts, Sir Gau.”
“Gau not happy, Cyan!” Gau said on the verge of whining. “This hard stuff.”
“Relax, Sir Gau,” Cyan said softly and soothingly, knowing Gau was a great deal close to going crazy. “Thou must not get frustrated. Not with two other teams behind us. Thou must stay perfectly calm. Take a deep breath before thou continue.”
Gau listened to Cyan and took a very deep breath before he was finally ready to continue. He tossed his latest bad key to Cyan, got his next key from him, and dove down.

(Freya & Fratley: Currently in Last Place)
Finally, Freya and Fratley appeared in the center of Besaid Village and looked around for the clue box. Freya spotted it first and pulled Fratley along with her as she ran for it. She reached it, took out a clue, and opened it.
“We are the last ones here,” Freya said, “just in time for a Roadblock.”
“It’s your turn to do this one,” Fratley said, “so the best of luck to you.”

(Lucil & Elma: Comrades-in-Arms)
Lucil and Elma finally reached the cove. Both were elated to see Cyan standing there.
“Yes! We’ve caught up!” Elma said. “We could still be in this!”
“And I’ll make doubly sure of it.” Lucil picked up the first key in the line (again, from left to right). Then, she dove into the cove.

(Lucil)
Lucil swam down to a chest, saw it had been opened, and correctly guessed that a team had been through there. She then swam over to an unopened chest, put in the key, and opened it.
Dud.
Lucil swam up, threw her key up toward Elma, and waited for her to toss down another one. Then, she dove down to try again.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
Freya and Fratley arrived at the cove and were pleased to see Cyan still waiting for Gau.
“I guess I’m up, then,” Freya said, taking a key in the last untouched set of keys. “Here I go.”
She jumped into the water and got to work.

(Gau)
Gau put his key in the lock and turned it, hoping for the best.
At last, the treasure chest opened, revealing the clue inside of it!
“Uwaaoooo!” Gau yelled, sounding all gurgled underwater. So he resurfaced, waving the clue around, and shouted, “Uwaaoooo!”
“Top notch, Sir Gau!” Cyan said joyfully as Gau swam toward the rope ladder.
“Gau got it, Cyan! Gau got — UWAAAAOOOOOOOO!” Gau suddenly shot straight up into the air, flew over Cyan, Elma, and Fratley’s heads, and landed flat on his butt.
“Sir Gau, what happened?” Cyan asked. “Art thou all right?”
“Three fish bite Gau!” Gau groaned, rubbing his sore butt. “They bite when Gau go for ladder.”
“It will be all right,” Cyan assured him. “We’ll have it looked at once we reach the Pit Stop.”

(Cyan & Gau: Currently in 2nd Place)
Gau ripped open the clue and handed it to Cyan.
Cyan read it and said, “Speaking of the Pit Stop, that is what is next! A small beach located nearby!”
“Uwaaoooo!” Gau bellowed.
“Yes, I know, Sir Gau,” Cyan said. “I am greatly excited, as well.”
“No, Gau still hurt in butt!” Gau said, still rubbing his butt.
“Oh. Still, let us be off for that Pit Stop.”
They both tore out of there quickly, both of them fully aware that the two teams behind them could finish at any time.

(Freya)
Freya came up for air and tossed her first key to Fratley.
“That one didn’t work,” Freya said. “Throw me the next one.”

(Lucil)
“Four keys and still nothing,” Lucil said, throwing Elma her key. She got her next one from her. “This bad luck is not what I need at this moment.”
“Come on, Captain,” Elma urged her. “Keep going. We can make it.”

Cyan and Gau ran up to the mat and faced Gippal, Cyan standing on his left and Gau on his right.
“Cyan and Gau,” Gippal said, “you’re team number two!”
Cyan and Gau shared a very relieved hug at their placement.
“Congratulations,” Gippal said. “You’re one of the three teams who will be racing to the finish line for the one-million-gil prize.”
“Fantastic!” Cyan said, throwing up his fists.
“Yes . . . YES!” Gau yelled triumphantly.
The two of them shared an even tighter hug this time.
“You’ve made the final three,” Gippal said. “Kinda surreal, isn’t it?”
“It is very surreal, Gippal,” Cyan said. “We did think we had it in us to make it this far, but now, even after we have made it . . . it is so much for me to take in. I made it such a long way in this race with Sir Gau, whose cooperation I cannot begin to appreciate, and I am more thankful than thou will ever know.”
“Gau, in only two seasons, you’re the youngest person to ever make it this far in the race,” Gippal said. “How does this feel to you?”
Gau answered with the new word he’d latched onto. “Surreal. Surreal, surreal, surreal, surreal!”
Cyan sighed. “The ‘new word trap’ again,” he said.

(Lucil)
Lucil tried her ninth key and still had no luck. So she swam up, threw her key to Elma, and tried her luck with her tenth key.
“Come on,” she said, sounding gurgled underwater. “Please work. Our race lives depend on it.”
And then, at last, the key opened the treasure chest when the lock was turned! The clue floated out and Lucil grabbed it quickly.

(Lucil & Elma: Currently in 3rd Place)
“All right, Captain!” Elma yelled as Lucil scrambled up the rope ladder and out of the water. “You did it!”
“No time for praise,” Lucil said. “We need to run! The clue says the Pit Stop is next!”
“Right!”
They took off as fast as they could.

(Freya)
Freya, after only five attempts, unlocked her treasure chest and got the clue out of it.
She swam up to the surface, splashed out, and yelled, “Success! I am successful!”
She swam toward the rope ladder and shot up it.

(Freya & Fratley: Currently in Last Place)
“I know Lucil and Elma left,” Freya said, “so we’re in last right now.”
“We’ll see about that,” Fratley said, grabbing her awfully roughly.

Gippal stood at the mat and watched as Lucil and Elma sprinted across the beach, toward the mat and to safety. Clasko, who stood beside Gippal, smiled as though he recognized the two women running toward them.
“This is it,” Lucil said. “We’re going to make it, Elma! We’re going to make it!”
“Final three, here we come!” Elma shouted.
And then, the worst thing ever happened.
When Lucil and Elma were about seven feet from the mat, Freya and Fratley dropped down and landed two feet in front of the mat. They’d quickly used their Jump ability to gain ground on, and then pass up, the Chocobo Knights.
Quickly, they hopped onto the mat, Freya taking her place before Gippal on his left side, and Fratley on his right side.
Lucil and Elma both literally screeched to a halt, the most astonished, horrified expressions on their faces.
Fratley turned his head toward the two stunned Chocobo Knights, gave them a malicious smirk, and batted his eyebrows at them.
Even Gippal was shocked, as he had trouble getting the words out of his mouth. “Freya and Fratley,” he barely said, “you’re team number three!”
Freya leapt for joy at the amazing news, while Fratley crossed his arms and beamed proudly.
“Congratulations, both of you,” Gippal continued, although he was still barely able to get the words out. “You’re one of the three teams who will be racing to the finish line for the one-million-gil prize.”
“I cannot believe this,” Freya said. “We actually did it. We actually made it to the final three! By the skin of our teeth, we did, but still . . .”
“It could not have been accomplished by a better team,” Fratley said, “not to mention a more . . . deserving one.” He sent Lucil and Elma a very icy look.

“Lucil and Elma,” Gippal said, waving them in, “come on in.”
Sad music began to play as Lucil and Elma stepped onto the mat and Freya and Fratley cleared it, Lucil standing on the left side and Elma on the right.
“Lucil, Elma, I’m — I’m sorry,” Freya said as she and Fratley walked off to join the other safe teams in the Pit Stop.
“I’m not,” Fratley muttered, loudly enough for the sound guy on hand to pick it up.
And loudly enough for Freya, who had an odd look, as well.
“Welcome to Besaid,” Clasko said somberly. “I’m so sorry about this, Captain Lucil, Elma.”
“It is quite all right, Clasko,” Lucil said.
Elma gave an agreeing nod.
“Lucil and Elma,” Gippal said gravely, “you’re the last team to arrive. I’m sorry to tell you, you’ve both been eliminated from the race.”
“We understand,” Lucil said, bowing graciously.
Elma wiped away a tear forming in her eye.
“I’ve gotta say, this is quite a shocker,” Gippal said. “I mean it. It’s a f@#king shocker. I never thought it’d be —”
“Us?” Elma said. “Yeah, neither did we.”
“Yeah, you two never — never — finished below third place the entire race until now,” Gippal said, “and it just has to be on the leg where finishing fourth is a bad thing. What happened?”
“We are both very strong racers,” Lucil said. “We both know that. But our fatal flaw was never truly realized until now — we don’t like to take risks. We are very conservative women. The risk taken by the other teams was all it took to ensure their safety and their places in the final three. It led to our untimely demise.”
“It was all coming together,” Elma said, trying so hard not to cry. “We had done so well in this race and were ready to run to the finish line, but as much as our virtually-mistake-free racing has helped us, we have just learned the hard way how important risks can be, too.”
As she said this, Clasko was tearing up watching his former comrades-in-arms’ final moments.
The camera then segued to their final words, which seemed to take place in Besaid’s inn.
“I am very proud of what Elma and I managed to accomplish on the race,” Lucil said. “Elma did such a magnificent job for this team, helping us both through the race. She’s been a team player all the way, as well as a fantastic friend. I’ll never forget this experience with her in a millennium.”
“Captain Lucil brought her leadership to the table, which is just what we needed,” Elma said. “The way she kept constant control of the team was admirable and a complete reminder of how she leads in real life. I don’t think I’ll ever meet a woman as strong or confident as Captain Lucil. I respect her like I respect no other person, and I’ll continue to respect her forever.”
“I feel it is a great honor to finish fourth behind the top three teams of the race, all of whom are very strong and very deserving of the final victory,” Lucil added.
“We’ll be happy for whomever it is that takes that victory,” Elma said. “There is no doubt about that.”
And after one final slow-motion shot of Lucil and Elma walking side-by-side down the beach and away from the mat for their final time, they were gone.
And the camera segued to more interviews from the final three teams.
“We are down to three teams,” Cyan said, “which means our ultimate showdown is finally beginning.”
“Man, I’m surprised, sorry, and satisfied all at the same time that Lucil and Elma aren’t in the final three,” Yuffie admitted. “It shows that nobody’s safe and that anything can happen.”
“You can be the strongest team in the race and still not make it to the end,” Freya said. “That became all too clear today.”
“With three teams left, it’s all coming down to this,” Godo said. “No more eliminations, no more doubts, no more mistakes.”
“Gau want to win,” Gau said. “Gau not planning on giving gil to others, no matter what.”
“I did not come all this way to lose this race to four detestable creatures,” Fratley said. “The final battle is here, and none of them will be walking away from it alive.”
The screen faded to black, and the first half was over.

Later, an overhead shot showed a wide, white-sand-covered beach on a tropical island. Gippal was then seen walking across the beach.
“This is Besaid,” he said, “a backwater island in the world of Spira. It is here where pretty much everyone says annoying things such as ‘ya?’ and ‘brudda,’ and where the ill-fated blitzball team, the Besaid Aurochs, resides. And here on this island is this beautiful beach. This beach was the twelfth Pit Stop in a race around worlds.”
Over a montage of the three surviving teams’ prior arrivals at the Pit Stop, Gippal’s voiceover continued.
“Teams arrived here at the end of the last leg for a twelve-hour, mandatory rest period that allowed them to eat, sleep, and mingle with the other teams,” Gippal explained. “There are no more eliminations, so they will have to rely on their wits now more than ever to win the race. Who’ll be the team that does it?”
There was another shot of Godo and Yuffie arriving first at the Pit Stop as Gippal concluded his introduction.
“Godo and Yuffie, who were the first to arrive at 3:15 p.m., will depart at 3:15 a.m.”

(Godo & Yuffie: 1st to depart, 3:15 a.m.)
Godo stood on the left side of the mat and prepared to open the clue. Yuffie, who stood on the right side, got very impatient and took it from him.
“Come on, come on, clue time, clue time!” she said, opening the clue instead.
Godo sighed. “Why do you almost always do that?” he asked her.
“Because you’re f@#king slow,” Yuffie replied, looking at the clue. “‘Travel by ferry to the island of Kilika and find the Kilika Woods.’”

(Announcer Gippal)
“Teams must now sail about 200 miles across the ocean to reach the island of Kilika, an island whose village was recently rebuilt after an attack by Sin, and is home to High Summoner Ohalland. Upon arrival, they must make their way to the Kilika Woods, where they will find their next clue.”

(Godo & Yuffie: 1st to depart, 3:15 a.m.)
“Let’s go,” Yuffie said.
“Yeah,” Godo said.
They left the mat and headed for a nearby pier.
“It’s one of the greatest feelings ever to make the final three,” Godo said in an accompanying interview which seemed to have been taped just after they’d finished the previous leg. “I don’t think anyone would have expected a middle-aged man and his high-spirited, teenage daughter to make it to the end of the race.”
“Old man and I made it the whole way through, and now, we mean business,” Yuffie said. “No, we mean SERIOUS business. The game plan’s changed now. We don’t have to worry about staying out of last. We just have to worry about staying in first. With three teams left, the whole race just got down to the wire.”
Godo and Yuffie ran to the end of the pier, where they saw a sign that killed both of their spirits instantly.
“‘Next ferry arrives at 6:00 a.m.,’” Godo read. “‘Departs at 7:00 a.m.’”
“Such a drag,” Yuffie scoffed. “We lost our lead again.”
“Indeed,” Godo said. “Well, we still have some time to rest, so let’s go back to that inn we saw in Besaid. We can get a few more hours of sleep there.”

(Cyan & Gau: 2nd to depart, 3:38 a.m.)
Cyan stood on the left side of the mat and watched as Gau, who stood on the right side, opened the clue and read it.
“Kilika,” Gau said. “Where that, Cyan?”
“It is apparently a long way across the ocean,” Cyan said. “I purchased a map in the village and learned as much.”
“Oh,” Gau said. “Okay! Let’s go!”
They left the mat and ran to the pier.
“We are about to begin the final leg,” Cyan said in an accompanying interview, “as part of the final three teams. Things have truly gotten incredibly intense, as the million gil is practically within reach.”
“Gau so happy to get this far!” Gau said. “Gau running whole race is what Gau wanted all along! Strongest team in race make Gau doubt it happen, but Lucil and Elma gone, and me and Cyan still here! It happen!”
Cyan and Gau walked to the end of the pier, saw the same sign Godo and Yuffie had seen, and knew they had more time to rest. So they headed back for the village to rest up, enjoying the view of the night sky as they went.

(Freya & Fratley: Last to depart, 3:44 a.m.)
Freya stood on the left side of the mat and opened the clue. She read it to Fratley, who stood on the right side.
“We’re off to this island called Kilika,” Freya said. “This should be very interesting.”
“Off we go, then,” Fratley said. “Let us defeat what remains of those moronic Fun Bunch teams.”
“Um . . . okay,” Freya said.
They left the mat and jogged toward the pier.
“We’re finally here,” Freya said in an accompanying interview. “The final three. We had every bit of faith that we would make it this far, but it was harder than we expected. There were more strong teams around than we assumed there would be, but we still beat them out and made it to the final leg of the race. I could not be happier.”
“Freya and I have dominated this race,” Fratley said, “along with our erstwhile allies and recently-defeated opponents, Lucil and Elma.” There was a black-and-white flashback to the just-eliminated Chocobo Knights standing before Gippal their final time. “I will not miss those truly disgusting women in the least for turning against us, but I will give them every bit of credit for being a strong team. But now that they’re out of the race, the million gil is ours for the taking. Unless I am mistaken, Freya and I are the strongest team remaining right now.”
At the end of that long, deluded interview, they made it to the pier and saw that they wouldn’t be taking off till the morning, so they went back to Besaid Village to get some more rest.

(6:00 a.m.)
A ship arrived at Besaid at 6:00 a.m., and the three teams were back at the pier to board it. An hour after they’d boarded (the ship needed time to bring goods to take to Kilika aboard, as well), the ship set sail.

(Announcer Gippal)
“All three teams are now traveling by ferry to the island of Kilika.”

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
Cyan, Gau, Godo, and Yuffie all stood on the deck of the ship sometime after the ship had left Besaid, all of them staring out at the water, which was a bit hard for Yuffie to do, given . . .
“Urk! Bleeeeaaaahhhh!” Yuffie screamed, vomiting over the side of the ship.
“Lady Yuffie, art thou all right?” Cyan asked her.
“What do you think?” Yuffie said. “I’m friggin’ seasick here! I can’t ride on ships in the air or in the water. Makes me sick.”
“Thou seemed fine on the cargo ship we took from Costa del Sol,” Cyan reminded her.
“We bought some seasick pills, remember?” Yuffie, in turn, reminded him. “Took ’em before we got on.”
“And the cargo ships we flew on in Gaia?”
“I just took Cloud’s advice and kept myself moving around.”
“And the spaceship rides?”
“I said air and water. I’m fine with space travel. Urk!”
She bent over the side and barfed again.
“Well, why didn’t you get any seasick pills before we left this time?” Godo asked his daughter.
“I tried to,” Yuffie said, “but when I asked around, everyone in Besaid pretty much either didn’t know what those were, or just laughed at me. Said I was a ‘crazy lady,’ or something stupid like that. Urk!” She vomited once more.
“Come on. We’d better get you below, then,” Godo said. “We’ll talk to you two later.”
Godo took Yuffie by her arm and led her off the deck and down to the cabin below, leaving Cyan and Gau behind.
“It is a pity she has to miss this wonderful view,” Cyan said to Gau.
“Yeah! Pretty!” Gau said.
“Thou dost know that we have experienced so much on this race, dost thou not, Sir Gau?” Cyan asked.
“Gau know,” Gau said. “Gau see and do more than Gau thought Gau ever do in whole life.”
“It has been amazing,” Cyan said. “People always say they are here to win, but they never realize the extraordinary things they can go through. Sir Gau, if we win this race, that will simply be an incentive for all of this.”
“Gau agree,” Gau said.
They both went silently resumed staring out at the sea, enjoying the view of it.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
Freya and Fratley came up on the deck after taking some time to rest below it.
“Are you feeling refreshed, Freya?” Fratley asked her.
“Quite so, thank you, Fratley,” Freya said. “Although I’m feeling hungry right now, so excuse me for a few minutes while I go see what there is to eat down below.”
“Of course,” Fratley said. “I’ll be right here waiting.”
Freya went back below the deck and Fratley looked around up on it.
That’s when he saw Cyan and Gau a short distance away from him.
He looked around, saw no crew members up on deck, for some reason, and was instantly pleased.
“Good,” he chuckled. “No witnesses.”
He drew his spear and stealthily slipped across the deck and crept up behind Cyan and Gau. He raised his spear and prepared to drive the blade of it into Cyan’s back.
But just as he was about to strike, Cyan suddenly drew his sword and said, “I can sense danger a mile away!”
Just in time, Cyan blocked the attack with his sword and used it to push Fratley back.
Fratley just glared at Cyan with the intensity of one-thousand suns, angry he’d ruined his attack.
“Thou attempt to take our lives in a public place this time?” Cyan said. “’Tis exceedingly low, even for thee.”
Fratley said nothing. He just swung the blade of his spear at Cyan and was even more peeved when he ducked.
“Dost thou truly want this fight here?” Cyan asked.
“What ‘dost thou’ believe?” Fratley replied mockingly.
“If that is what thou desire . . .” Cyan said. “Sir Gau, thou should get below.”
“I think two would be a greater challenge,” Fratley said. “The boy can stay.”
Cyan looked at Gau, who nodded with a surprisingly serious look on his face.
“Be on thy guard,” Cyan said. “He hath raced dishonorably this entire race, so I would not be surprised if he fought as such.”
Fratley didn’t even give them time to prepare. He swung his blade at Cyan’s head.
Cyan blocked the swing and gave a swing of his own.
Fratley dodged that swing and swept at his opponents’ legs with his spear.
Cyan and Gau both jumped over his spear, easily dodging it.
“Lobo Rage!” Gau yelled, scratching Fratley across the chest.
Fratley wasn’t hurt, but some of his clothes were ripped, and that was enough for him. Angrier than before, he swung twice at Gau, both times narrowly missing him.
While he was busy going after Gau, Cyan came in with an Empowerer attack that sent Fratley sliding across the deck.
Fratley responded with a strong Dragon’s Breath attack that sent both Cyan and Gau hurtling toward the side of the ship.
Gau switched over to his Soldier Rage and swiped at Fratley just hard enough for it to feel like he was getting swiped at by a sword.
Fratley followed that up with a Lancer attack that weakened his attackers.
But Cyan came back with a Quadra Slash that had Fratley knocked down with four swings of his sword.
Fratley responded to that attack with a Dragon’s Crest attack. That attack knocked both of them into the railing, barely keeping them from falling over the side.
Before either could respond, Fratley jumped up into the air using his Jump ability and came down a few seconds letter, slicing Cyan across his chest and pinning him to the rail.
Fratley, with his opponent stunned, pressed his blade to his throat, almost slitting it. He looked at Cyan with so much hatred burning in his eyes and smiled a most menacingly sinister smile as he prepared to slice off his head.
Gau tried to help with a Magitek Armor Rage attack, but Fratley easily knocked him away with the bladeless part of his spear, not wanting to take his hands off Cyan.
“Any last words, Cyan?” he said in a fairly loud whisper.
“Yes,” Cyan said, thinking quickly and coming up with a surprisingly effective idea. “Man overboard!”
He grabbed Fratley’s spear and held it tightly as he lifted it up and flipped it overboard. And Fratley’s grip on it had been so tight, nothing could stop Cyan from making him go with it! Both spear and owner went plummeting into the water below.
Now that the two of them were safe, Gau ran over to Cyan and gave him a relieved hug. “Cyan okay?”
“I am all right, Sir Gau,” Cyan said. “He did not hurt me too badly.”
Some of the ship’s crew, having heard Cyan’s call, hurried up onto the deck. They ran over to where Cyan and Gau were, and Cyan told them about Fratley falling overboard. They hurried and threw out a rope so that Fratley could get back on the ship.
Fratley grabbed onto the rope and held on as he was pulled back onto the ship, dripping wet. Although he was tempted to continue with the fight, some of the crew had now opted to stay on the deck in case someone else fell overboard, which meant there’d now be witnesses.
But that didn’t stop him from saying what he had to say next. “Damn you both,” he growled. “I should’ve killed you and your Fun Bunch when I BURIED YOU IN THAT ROCKSLIDE!” His voice elevated into a scream at the end that slightly startled Cyan, Gau, and the nearby crew.
After looking shocked for about five seconds, Cyan said, “So thou admit to being behind that rockslide, after all?”
“And that octopus attacking you,” Fratley said. “And Cid and Edea being injured riding their chocobos and being eliminated because of it. And Quale and Quina being shot out of space. And that impertinent girl, Yuffie, falling off her Dactyl and nearly plummeting to her death. And three members of your alliance frying on thousands of volts of electricity. And yes, even the near-stabbing of my own former ally, Elma!”
“So it not only us you go after?” Gau said.
“Of course not!” Fratley shouted. “I went after everyone who I deemed worthy of it! Everyone who stood in my way! I didn’t kill all of them, but I now know I should have! Just like I should have killed the entire Fun Bunch before any of you could make it this far! I despise you, Cyan and Gau. You and Godo and Yuffie and Quale and Quina, and I wanted you out of this race from the very beginning! Now I am stuck facing two-thirds of your alliance in the final three because I COULD NOT GET RID OF YOU! YOU JUST WOULD NOT DIE!”
Fratley took a few deep breaths as he continued to seethe, and then, he stormed off.
Not knowing — although the camera did — that Freya had come back up to the deck and was about to go over to Fratley when she’d heard his tirade start. And that this time, finally, she’d heard everything. And hearing it all put her in quite a state of shock.
Not wanting to look like she had, though, she collected herself, stepped out onto the deck, and walked up to a raised platform where Fratley was, acting calmly as though nothing had happened.

Early that evening, the ship finally pulled into the port of Kilika, a town with many homes set in trees and had many tropical elements to it. It was right on the ocean, which made it even more beautiful. For a town that’d been attacked by Sin, you never would’ve guessed it had been, as the town had been so beautifully rebuilt, it was unbelievable!
Once the ship had set anchor in Kilika Port, the three teams disembarked and ran for the Kilika Woods, which they got to in no time. At the entrance of the woods sat a clue box. Due to their superior speed, Fratley was the first one there with Freya right behind him.

(Freya & Fratley: Currently in 1st Place)
Fratley took out a clue, ripped it open, and read it aloud. “‘Detour: Browse or Brawl?’”

(Announcer Gippal)
“In this Detour, teams must enter the Kilika Woods and choose between Browse and Brawl. In Browse, teams must enter the Kilika Woods and look through the foliage surrounding the many paths, where the people of Kilika have hidden twenty-four spheres for them to find. Of these spheres, teams must each only find eight different ones that contain images of a great reminder of the race — the eight teams who were eliminated before reaching this point. Once they find one of each of the eight teams’ spheres, they must turn them in to a local woman, who will hand them their next clue. It is not a very physical task, but it is incredibly luck-based and could take a lot of time. In Brawl, teams must find this giant, plant-based fiend called an Ochu and simply defeat it. However, long-lasting Shell, Protect, and Reflect spells have been cast on this fiend, as well as a Mighty Guard spell. Once the fiend has been defeated, a local man will hand them their next clue. It is a very physical task and quite difficult, given all the protective spells, but teams who are physically strong, or have the right strategy, could finish quickly.”

(Freya & Fratley: Currently in 1st Place)
“I needn’t a reminder of the disgusting teams we have faced and defeated,” Fratley said. “We shall do Brawl.”
“O-okay,” Freya said, a few angry overtones in her voice from the long-awaited truth she’d learned.

(Godo & Yuffie: Currently in 2nd Place)
“Normally, I’d love to kick a monster’s butt, boom-bang,” Yuffie said, “but all that protective magic? We didn’t bring any of the Destruct Materia that could help us take care of that. I don’t think even your transforming s@#t can help.”
“Probably not,” Godo agreed. “Let’s do Browse, then.”

(Cyan & Gau: Currently in Last Place)
“I think I have had enough fighting for one day,” Cyan said.
“Gau, too!” Gau immediately agreed.
“Then thou dost agree that Browse would be better for us?”
“Gau sure do.”
“Although . . .”
“What, Cyan?”
“We both do know Dispel.”
“Oh, yeah! Brawl! Brawl!”
“My thoughts exactly.”

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
Freya and Fratley ran into Kilika Woods and saw a tall, brown-haired, muscular man with barely anything on his top half standing on a path. He looked pretty tough.
Freya approached the man and said, “Hello. My name is Freya. What is yours?”
“Me?” the muscled man said in a deep, sort of gravelly voice. “My name’s Barthello. I live here on this island.”
“I thought as much,” Freya said. “Well, I was wondering if you knew where I could find something called an Ochu?”
Barthello nodded and pointed just a short distance away. “There are some just up the path.”
“Thank you.” Freya waved Fratley over to her and the two of them hurried up the path.
Less than twenty seconds later, they spotted four huge-looking creatures sleeping in the middle of the path. They looked like large, podlike plant creatures with huge vines waving around as their arms. Two big leaves on top seemed to open and close. Obviously, their mouths. They had small, stubby legs they could walk, run, and hop with, as well.
One thing was for sure. They looked pretty mean.
“There they are,” Freya said. “Just like Barthello said.”
“Yes,” Fratley said, “but I wonder why there are four of them when only three teams are left?”
“Fratley!” Freya hissed. In his ear, she loudly whispered, “Lucil and Elma were eliminated in fourth place. They obviously did a decoy run through here.”
“Ah. All right, then,” Fratley said. “Well, let’s get that one right there in front of us.”
“Of course,” Freya said.
They charged at an Ochu standing about nine feet from them, and Fratley struck it right away.
The Ochu immediately awoke from its sleep and prepared to attack the two Dragon Knights. It swing its vinelike arms at them, attempting to whip them.
Freya and Fratley both dodged the attack and flipped back, landing just a few feet away from their previous positions.
Not letting its attack stop them, they ran back into the fray.

(Godo & Yuffie: Father/Daughter)
Godo and Yuffie ran along a different path in Kilika Woods, and almost right away, they saw a small walkway leading off the path they were on. Yuffie followed that path and ended up at a small device that looked like half of a blue sphere mounted on a golden ring. On that ring seemed to be a button of some sort.
“Hey, what the hell is this?” Yuffie said, bringing the strange contraption to Godo.
Godo looked the contraption over and needed only ten seconds to realize what it was. “Ah, during the Pit Stop in Besaid, I saw someone using one of these. That is the sphere the clue said we needed to look at.”
“Heh, really?” Yuffie said. “I thought it was a mirror that someone had seriously messed up on making. Well, let’s see what this does.” She pressed the button on the sphere and waited to see what’d happen.
An image appeared inside the sphere a few seconds later. An image that both Godo and Yuffie recognized.
“That’s . . . the two Turks, right?” Godo said.
“Hell yeah!” Yuffie said. “That’s friggin’ Tseng and Elena! These must be the spheres with the other teams on them!”
“If we have to look for spheres with all the eliminated teams on them, then that means there are eight of them,” Godo said, “as eight teams were eliminated before now.”
“Right,” Yuffie said. “So we’ve got seven more of these to find. Damn. Another Easter egg hunt. Just had one on the last f@#king leg.”

(Cyan & Gau: Allies)
Cyan and Gau ran up to where they spotted Freya and Fratley fighting their Ochu and ran by them, unnoticed, to the other three Ochus, all of which were still somehow sleeping through all the noise being made by the Dragon Knights.
“That is odd,” Cyan said. “The three Ochus sleeping here and the one Lady Freya and Fratley are battling seem to make four Ochus. But there are only three teams left in the race. Something seems wrong here.”
“Cyan!” Gau said. “Lucil and Elma! Decoy leg!”
“Ah, of course,” Cyan said. “How silly of me to forget. Well, then, on to the slaughter of this Ochu!”
Cyan hastily drew his sword and struck the Ochu standing the farthest from him and Gau, waking it up in a flash.
The Ochu swung its vines at the two of them, but they easily dodged the attack.
“Now, Sir Gau!” Cyan shouted.
“Okay!” Gau stepped forward, focused his mind, and cast Dispel on the Ochu.
A second later, it was all blown away. The pre-cast Protect spell, the pre-cast Shell spell, the pre-cast Reflect spell — everything. Now, it was just an unprotected Ochu awaiting its demise.
“Excellent,” Cyan said, concentrating as hard as he could. “Fire3!”
An overwhelming large blaze of fire engulfed the Ochu and scorched it like you wouldn’t believe!
“Fire3!” Gau cast a Fire3 spell of his own and gladly joined in on the scorching.
“Thou must keep this up, Sir Gau,” Cyan said, “and we shall defeat this beast in a mere four to six spells!”
“Got it!” Gau yelled.

(Godo & Yuffie: 1 of 8 Spheres)
After following the small path Godo and Yuffie had found off the larger one they’d been on, they crossed over a small creek of some sort and came to a bridge on their left-hand side.
“Yuffie, I see another sphere lying on that bridge,” Godo said.
“Really? Awesome!” Yuffie said. “Let’s see whose it is!”
They jogged up to the sphere, picked it up, and turned it on.
Both looked gleeful when an image of Wakka and Lulu (the former of whom was smiling and the latter of whom was . . . not) appeared on it.
“Hey, Grump and Chump!” Yuffie said excitedly. “Seems like only yesterday they were getting lost and eliminated! So that’s two spheres for two teams!”
“Yes, and we’d better find the last six, and fast,” Godo said.
They ran across the bridge and circled around to where they’d been just before finding the smaller path on which they’d found their first sphere.
“Damn it! We’ve already covered this part!” Yuffie said.
“We’ll go back this way, then,” Godo said. “Hurry!”
“Don’t have to tell me!” Yuffie said.
They ran back to where they’d begun the Detour and this time went a different way from there. It was a dead end, leading only to water again, but luckily for them, there was also another sphere there, which thrilled the father and daughter.
“All right,” Godo said. “This could be our third sphere. Who’s on it?”
Yuffie pressed the button and waited for the image.
“Score!” she exclaimed. “F@#king score! It’s — it’s — it’s them!”
“‘Them,’ who?” Godo asked his daughter.
“Man, I totally forgot their names,” Yuffie said. “Those two! That teenage couple!” She paused, trying to think of the names. “Oh, yeah! I remember! Irvine and Selphie! Cowboy and Hyper Girl!”
Godo stared at his daughter for a moment. “Who?”
“Exactly,” Yuffie said. “Come on.”
They ran back to the main path and headed up to where they could see Cyan and Gau and Freya and Fratley still battling their respective Ochus, and ran right past them.

(Freya & Fratley: Dating)
Freya leapt forward and struck the Ochu with her spear, only doing a little bit of damage.
“What’s this?” Freya said. “That should’ve done lots of damage to this creature. In fact, every one of our attacks should’ve done so!”
“The Protect spell,” Fratley realized. “It is reducing the power of our physical attacks.”
“Well, we cannot try magic,” Freya said. “Neither of us know any, and it is protected with both Shell and Reflect, anyway.”
“Additionally, according to the clue, the Mighty Guard cast on it prevents fire, ice, water, and thunder magic from harming it once apiece,” Fratley said.
“Well, we can’t strike it and expect partial damage, and we don’t know any magic spells that will rid it of its protective spells,” Freya said. “What do we do now? Continue with the battle or abandon it for Browse?”
Fratley, with not a moment’s hesitation, answered, “Irontail Fratley has never run away from a challenge. We shall stick with this one!”
Freya sighed. “If that is what you want,” she said.
Although throughout the battle, she’d been processing the appalling information she’d found out, and deciding what to do with it. . . .

(Cyan & Gau: Currently in 1st Place)
Gau cast another Fire3 spell on the Ochu and dealt the last bit of damage needed. Before long, the Ochu collapsed to the ground, dead as a doornail, and a set of bright lights came emanating out of it, verifying its demise.
“Good work, Sir Gau!” Cyan said, putting a hand on Gau’s soldier. “We have defeated this foul creature!”
“Clue . . . CLUE!” Gau said.
“Oh, yes, we need the clue,” Cyan said. “We shall obtain it at once, Sir Gau!”
They ran off to find somebody — anybody — who could possibly have a clue for them. They finally came across Barthello, who seemed to be the one person they could see in the woods.
“Pardon us,” Cyan said, “but would thou happen to hold a clue?”
Barthello stared, nodded, and said, “Of course I do. Good reward for a couple of guys bold enough to take on an Ochu and live.”
He reached into a large pocket on his pants and pulled out a clue. He handed it to Cyan, who opened it and read it.
“‘Travel by ferry to the city of Luca and find the stadium,’” he read.

(Announcer Gippal)
“Teams must now board a ferry and travel over 300 miles to the city of Luca, the second-largest city in Spira. Once there, they must find the entrance of the stadium, where they will find their next clue. Ferries depart for Luca once every hour.”

(Cyan & Gau: Currently in 1st Place)
“Let us be off, Sir Gau,” Cyan said.
“Yeah!” Gau agreed.
They ran by Freya and Fratley, who looked completely astounded that they’d finished so quickly, and made their way out of the woods to find the port.

(Godo & Yuffie: 3 of 8 Spheres)
Fairly soon after going past the Ochu fights, Godo and Yuffie made a left turn and followed a small path through some trees. Somewhere along the path, they stumbled upon yet another sphere.
“Here’s another one,” Godo said, picking it up and turning it on. “Let’s see who the lucky team is.”
They waited a few seconds and lit up their expressions upon seeing an image of Reina and Faris appear.
“The two sisters!” Yuffie said. “Awesome! But . . . the pirate sister is looking a bit comatose on that sphere. You’d think she just had awful sex all night and was so traumatized by it, she didn’t get a wink of sleep afterwards.”
“That’s four found,” Godo said, “and four to find. Let’s go.”
“Yeah.” Yuffie ran off to continue her search.
Godo stayed behind for a moment to repeat, “‘So traumatized by it, she didn’t get a wink of sleep afterwards?’” Then, he shrugged.
He then hurried to catch up with Yuffie.
They ran to the end of the small path and saw that they’d made it back around to the same bridge they’d seen before. But instead of crossing it, they de