SATURDAY

A crowd was talking amongst themselves in the woods. It wasn't a gigantic crowd, just one of those slightly large crowds that makes outsiders wonder what's going on. Of course, with a crowd like that sometimes it can be a little confusing to figure out who to ask. That problem was solved once a familiar face showed up:

"Oh hi!" Tino Tonitini smiled, the background suddenly becoming gray. "You're probably wondering what's going on...well, the people of Bahia Bay have set up a marathon to sponsor cancer awareness. This marathon, unlike most others, is a partner race. Teams of two race to the finish, the prize being four lifetime passes to Tesla Park. Naturally, Lor, Carver, Tish and I automatically signed up. Lor and I have teamed up, while Tish and Carver teamed up. You know, 'brain with brawn'."

"Hey Tino come on!" Lor called out.

"Whoops, the race is about to start, gotta go!" Tino left, the background regaining color.

Tino and his friends got into position at the starting line.

"On your mark...get set...go!" Mrs. Duong fired the starting gun.

This time she wasn't pregnant, she already had her two children. You see this was actually taking place a year after the series.

The racers ran, Tino and Lor as well as Tish and Carver somewhere in the middle. Of course Lor could have outrun most of the other competitors, but racers had to stay near their partners or be disqualified. The race continued through the woods and towards the mountains. There were three paths, two through the woods and one through the mountains. When Lor and Tino reached this crossroad they stopped.

"Hm, which way to go?" Tino pondered.

"Well, I think all the roads lead to the finish line, and it looks like the rest of the racers are continuing through the woods." Lor noticed. "Let's take the mountain path! We won't have any competition and can go as fast as we want!"

"I don't know, I think the other racers are avoiding the mountain path for a good reason." Tino hesitated.

"Come on!" Lor insisted, dragging Tino towards the mountain path.

Tino had to give in, so he and Lor ran through the mountain path until they noticed that the path was getting narrower. This explained something so obviously that the only way Tino could point it out was through his way:

"This must've been why the other racers avoided this path." He said sarcastically.

"Oh come on, all we have to do is slow our pace. We can use the mountain wall as a handrail." Lor chuckled.

They continued on, slowly making their way down the path. Suddenly, a bit of the path crumbled underneath Lor's foot, causing her to slide down the cliff!

"Tino!" Lor cried as she slid down.

Tino froze, not knowing what to do...

"Let's see, I could continue the race to get help, though that would disqualify us, or I can go down the cliff to try to save Lor myself and risk multiple broken bones and maybe even a concussion." Tino thought out loud. "Well, there's only one thing to do..." He left the scene.

He then suddenly came back, with a rope made out of vines he found.

"What?" He frowned, the background becoming gray again. "You really thought I was going to abandon a friend?"

The background turned back to color as he rappelled down the cliff. When he reached the bottom he saw Lor sprawled on the ground, unconscious but still alive. Fortunately, the cliff was not as high as Tino first thought.

"Lor?" Tino put a hand to her head; she only made a groaning noise.

Tino thought about what to do...eventually he decided that he was going to have to carry her to the finish line. He sighed exasperatedly, he wasn't the strongest member of the group.

He tried picking her up so that one arm supported her neck and the other supported her legs. It was difficult, but he managed it.

"Okay...suddenly I'm wishing...I got knocked out instead of her..." Tino grunted. "It, *phew*, would be easier for her to carry me than the other way around."

He continued carrying her down the path, until he reentered the woods. He heard someone coming...it was Tish and Carver! They stopped upon noticing Tino carrying Lor.

"What happened to Lor?" Tish asked, concerned, going over to them.

"She kinda fell down the cliff back there." Tino leaned against a tree. "I didn't want to leave her while she was unconscious so..."

"Boy, that must've been quite a workout." Carver commented.

"Was that a comment on my physique or Lor's weight?" Tino remarked sarcastically.

"Mostly your physique." Carver smirked. "But either way, it is hard for one human to carry another if they're around the same height."

"Come on Carver, we'd better help Tino." Tish said.

"Right."

Carver gently took Lor's legs, but Tino insisted on carrying her by the shoulders. He and Lor were still partners after all. Tish supported Lor's back, and the three of them awkwardly made it to the finish line.

There were murmurs among the crowds when they saw what was going on, The respective parents of Tino and his friends came down to them. This included Dixon - he and Tino's mom married a few months ago - and his daughter Moira. Dixon's last name was Atravesado (it means 'mixed breed dog' in Spanish).

"What happened?" Mr. McQuarrie asked.

Tino tried to explain, but was exhausted by this point and fainted. Tish explained instead as Tino's mom and new dad and sister kneeled next to him.

Lor's parents took over carrying Lor while Mr. and Mrs. Atravesado picked up Tino. They carried them over to a nearby cabin where racers were allowed to rest and refresh themselves.

Black turned to a small cloudy view, which slowly cleared until Mr. and Mrs. McQuarrie, Lor's grandma and Lor's brothers (don't know if it was all of them or not) were in view.

"Lor? Lor honey are you okay?" Mrs. McQuarrie asked, concerned.

Lor groaned, her head hurting a little, but managed to sit up.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You apparently slid down a cliff when you and Tino took the mountain path here." Mr. McQuarrie explained.

Lor looked around and saw that she was in a cabin. Then she saw Tino on a bed near her bed.

"Tino!" Lor gasped. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, he's just exhausted." Mrs. Atravesado smiled.

"Yup, he carried you most of the way here." Lor's grandma explained. "Tish and Carver later caught up with him and helped him carry you the rest of the way. Lot of guts that one."

Tino yawned and stretched as he got up.

"How are you feeling?" Dixon asked.

"A lot better, how's Lor?" Tino asked.

"See for yourself." Lor chuckled.

Tino turned and saw Lor smiling at him.

"Glad to see you're awake, I was worried about you." Tino smiled back.

"Yeah, I guess the mountain path wasn't a smart idea after all." Lor rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Thank you, by the way, for getting me down here. I mean Tish and Carver later helped too, but you obviously did most of the work."

"Yeah, well, I didn't feel comfortable leaving you out in the wilderness alone." Tino shrugged. "I mean there are bears, coyotes, bobcats..."

"Uh, coyotes and bears would have left her alone." Mrs. Atravesado pointed out. "Bears only attack when threatened and coyotes are more scared of us than we are of them."

"Oh."

"Hey, good to see you two are all right." Carver said, entering the cabin.

"I am also acutely relieved." Tish agreed, following Carver inside.

"Tish, please, my head still hurts a little." Lor groaned.

Tish rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything in case Lor was being sincere and not just teasing her use of sophisticated words.

They hung out a bit longer, just talking. Since neither team won the tickets they planned out tomorrow. They decided to just relax and do their usual things: junk food at the beach, visit the museum, lunch at that pizza place, etc.