Leg 9.1


Previously on the Amazing Race: Hope's Peak Edition

Six teams raced from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to Dubai in the Arabian Peninsula.

The alliance drove two teams to U-turn two other teams.

"Let's U-turn Nagito and Nekomaru," Shuichi said.

"Shit," Nekomaru said, approaching the board. "Well… I guess we have to U-turn Makoto and Sayaka now."

In Dubai, teams got revved up.

"Wooo!" Ibuki shouted, driving a racecar.

In the end, Hajime and Chiaki came up on top.

"Hajime and Chiaki, you are team number ONE!"

But the U-Turn and Speed Bump combination was too much for Makoto and Sayaka to make up for, leading to a field elimination.

*Monokuma arrives behind a pile of tires*

"Makoto and Sayaka, you have been eliminated from the race."

Five teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?


This is the Butterfly House, a butterfly conservatory in Dubai's neighboring city of Sharjah. It will now serve as the starting point for the ninth leg in a race around the world.

Hajime and Chiaki won the previous leg and will depart at 4:53 AM.

Hajime and Chiaki: 1st to depart, 4:53 AM

"Where are we going?" Hajime asked, opening the clue.

"Fly to Phuket, Thailand," Chiaki read.

[i] Fly to: Phuket, Thailand

Teams must now leave the sandy metropolis of Dubai and fly almost 5,000 Kilometers to Thailand's largest island, Phuket. Once teams arrive in Phuket, they must make their way to the Phuket Zoo for their next clue.

"Alright, let's go!" Hajime said. He and Chiaki got into a cab as they sped towards the airport.

"We've finally got a second first place in this competition, and it makes me feel like we're a real strong team," Chiaki said. "Not that we aren't a strong team. But we still have serious competition."

"All of the other teams are strong in their own ways," Hajime said. "Kaede and Shuichi are both really smart and good at thinking outside the box and stuff like that. Nagito and Nekomaru kind of seems like an odd team, but they've won a leg and have the second best average in this race. Leon and Ibuki are definitely the underdogs in this competition… I don't even think they've got a top three finish since Leg 1. We're not too worried about them… but you never know. We do have our eyes set on Chihiro and Hina. At the start, they kind of looked like a flimsy team who almost got eliminated on several occasions, but recently they've stepped up their game and gotten three second places in a row and it doesn't look like that streak is going to get any worse."

"But if we had to choose, the teams we want gone are Shuichi and Kaede, and Nagito and Nekomaru."

Chihiro and Hina: 2nd to depart, 5:02 AM

"Fly to Phuket, Thailand," Chihiro read. "That's beautiful! I've always wanted to go to Thailand!"

"We are starting this leg in second place, yet again," Hina said. "Sure, we're bummed out on winning potential prizes, but that's not what matters in the end. We just need to persevere in this race and make it to the end, and then put all of our soul and energy into that final leg back home."

Shuichi and Kaede: 3rd to depart, 5:24 AM

"Looks like we have a predetermined flight today," Shuichi said. "That's fine. Five teams left, they have to bunch everyone together to make it a real competition."

"We're kind of bummed about losing our alliance members Makoto and Sayaka yesterday," Shuichi said. "But that's not important. All we can do is push on."

"Out of the three teams not in our alliance, I think we want to bring Chihiro and Hina into the finals." Kaede said. "They haven't had a first place yet, and we've finished in front of them on most occasions. I'm certain we can beat them. As for Leon and Ibuki… we've finished before them on EVERY leg so far. We're not worried. But as we have learned from this race, anything can happen."


Dubai International Airport

The teams sat in a square at the airport terminal.

"It's going to be really hot and sticky there," Ibuki says. "This course is super relentless! It makes me want to scream!"

"Don't, we'll get banned from the airport!" Shuichi said.

"Aww…"

"But yeah, what's with the high temperatures?" Leon asked. "Montreal was hot, Rio was hot, Morocco was hot, Africa was hot, Dubai was hot, and now Thailand?"

Chihiro read the clue. "It looks like we'll catch a break today," he said.

Nekomaru leant over. "What do you mean?"

"Our tickets say we'll arrive at 5:00 PM. That sounds like we'll have just a few hours before it turns into a night leg."

"Alright! I'm sick of these hot temperatures! That'll be a nice change of pace." Hina said.

"Knowing the race, they're probably going to make this the most physical leg of the season." Hajime said. "Being at night doesn't mean that we won't get tired or exhausted."

While conversing, the teams scanned each other up.

"We're not too concerned with the alliance at this point," Hajime explained. "It's an alliance between a strong team and a weak team. Now that it's no longer a three-team alliance, I'm not worried."

"While looking around the teams, we realized that we all had one enemy that we wanted to take out today." Shuichi said. "That's Nagito and Nekomaru."

"Sure, we had that pact with them to try and tear down the alliance, but that practically happened." Hina said. "It wasn't an alliance, and it wasn't a friendship. Nagito and Nekomaru are serious threats, and as it looks like Shuichi and Kaede are probably going to target them, why not join in?"

"I think the alliance will fall apart on its own," Nagito said. "I mean, there are five teams left. Even garbage like me knows you'd be a complete fool if you would work together with another team. It's just too risky."

"We do want to get Leon and Ibuki into the final three," Kaede said. "We're going to help them as much as we can this leg, but we won't hesitate to save ourselves if we have to."

The teams boarded the plane as it left Dubai.


Teams are now en route to Phuket, Thailand via Ho Chi Minh City.


Phuket International Airport: 5:00 PM

The five teams raced through the airport to try and get a taxi cab first. Each of them got into an awaiting taxi.

"Phuket Zoo!" Shuichi said. "Very fast! We're in a race!"

Chihiro and Hina

"Oh, god, yup… it's hot." Hina said, fanning herself with the electric fan.

"D-do you mind if you fan it over here?" Chihiro asked. Hina tilted it over.

Leon and Ibuki

"Ibuki is stoked that we get to play with the aminals!"

"Not to get your hopes up, but I'm not sure if we're going to be playing with 'aminals'. We're probably going to go there, pick up a Detour clue, and leave."

"Aww… you persimmon."

"Do you mean pessimist?"

"That's my point! Ibuki thinks you're being mega boring and annoying right now!"

Shuichi and Kaede

"We're stoked," Shuichi said. "Leg 9. We've made it through nine legs, we have a 60% chance to get to the final leg, and a 20% chance to win the hundred million. Those are good chances."

"That's still a 40% chance to be eliminated," Kaede replied. "We just need to push through and do our absolute best."

Nagito and Nekomaru

"Hopefully our luck will prevail!" Nagito said. "I have full faith in my luck!"

"Heh… Nagito… you need more than luck to survive this race."

Shuichi and Kaede

"There's the zoo!" Kaede pointed. They got out of their cab and ran into the zoo.

"Which exhibit is the clue box at?" Shuichi asked.

Chihiro and Hina

"Ooh! Look at the tigers!" Chihiro pointed.

"Oh, they're so cute!" Hina said. "Uhh… we should be looking for the clue."

Nagito and Nekomaru

"Over there! By the elephants!" Nagito pointed. They ran up and ripped the clue.

Nagito and Nekomaru: Currently in 1st Place

"Give these elephants a new wardrobe," Nekomaru read.

[i] Dress an Elephant

Elephants are an integral part of Thailand's culture. Now, teams must now adorn these elephants with a rug, headdress, and anklet, used in royal proceedings. Once these elephants have been dressed up to the judge's specification, teams will receive their next clue.

"Alright, let's do it." Nagito said. "I have a good feeling about today!"

Chihiro and Hina

Chihiro and Hina walked around the zoo as Hina lifted up a trash can lid and peeked inside.

"Where is it?" Chihiro asked. They walked right by the clue box.

"Oh! It's right here!" Hina pointed. "We're blind."

Chihiro and Hina: Currently in 2nd Place

"We get to play with the elephants?" Hina asked. "That's so fun!"

"Look at them!" Chihiro pointed. One of the elephants stuffed an apple into its mouth.

Hajime and Chiaki: Currently in 3rd Place

"It's right up here!" Hajime said, ripping open the clue.

Shuichi and Kaede

Shuichi and Kaede ran around the elephant pen, then saw Hajime and Chiaki getting into it.

"Where's the clue box?" Shuichi asked.

"It's on the other side of the pen!" Chiaki shouted. They ran around as Nagito and Nekomaru watched.

"What?" Nagito asked. "They're helping them?"

"In the middle of the elephant pen, Chiaki just shouts where the clue box is to Shuichi and Kaede. Just a few days ago, we were talking about how much we wanted them gone, about how we wanted to U-turn them. Now they're helping them?" Nagito asked.

"I don't understand their logic," Nekomaru said. "Whatever. Let's go."

Shuichi and Kaede: Currently in 4th Place

"Yay! We get to play with the elephants!" Kaede cheered excitedly.

Leon and Ibuki: Currently in 5th Place

"I told you, we're playing with the animals!" Ibuki said.

"Shut up."

Nagito and Nekomaru

"Everyone got here real quick," Nagito said. "We have to get some kind of lead here if we want to win today."

"There was no model, so we had to kind of assume how you were meant to orient them," Nagito said. "It wasn't too difficult, though."

Nagito grabbed the anklets. "Let's do these first," he said. He tossed two to Nekomaru as they kneeled down around the elephant's legs.

"DON'T SQUASH ME," Nekomaru commanded. The elephant tooted its trunk in response. Nekomaru tried to wrap the anklet around the leg, but the elephant kept moving it out of the way.

"Stop moving your foot!" Nekomaru shouted.

Chihiro and Hina

"Map!" Hina commanded, as the elephant laid down on the ground.

"They gave us a few Thai commands," Hina said. "To make it easier to get these clothes on these elephants. And it was such a great experience!"

"This is amazing!" Chihiro said, grabbing the elephant rug and laying it over the back of the elephant. "They're so cute!"

Shuichi and Kaede

Kaede grabbed the anklets and walked over to Shuichi, then stopped.

"I think I stepped in poop…" She said.

"We can wipe it off after," Shuichi said.

"It's still disturbing," she replied, handing the anklets to Shuichi.

Leon and Ibuki

Leon tried to tie the straps around the elephant's legs to secure the rug to the elephant, but it kept hiking up its legs and slamming it over his hands while he was trying to work.

"Oh my god, stop." Leon said.

Meanwhile, Ibuki was putting on the anklets with little to no issue.

Hajime and Chiaki

Hajime put the headdress on the elephant's head as Chiaki struggled to pull the elephant rug over the back.

"A little help here?" Chiaki asked. Hajime ran over and gripped the other end, to pull it over the back and tie down the rug to the legs.

Leon and Ibuki

"No! S-Stop moving!" Leon shouted, frustrated at the elephant.

"Leon, I think you're scaring it."

"Shut up! I'm trying my best!"

He got both of his hands around the leg to try to tie the rug to the legs, but it continued pressing its legs around its body.

"God, WHY IS OUR ELEPHANT SO FUCKING STUBBORN?"

"We had probably the most reluctant elephant out there," Leon said. "It absolutely refused to do what we were trying to get it to do."

"I think it just sensed Leon's neggo attitude and wanted us to lose," Ibuki replied, giggling.

The elephant put its foot down as Leon sighed in relief. Then it began running to the other side of the enclosure.

"Whaddefuk?"

"After it!" Ibuki shouted.

Nagito and Nekomaru

Nekomaru had finally gotten the anklets around the feet.

"Map," Nagito commanded, the elephant lying down on the floor. He and Nekomaru grabbed the rug and pulled it over the elephant.

"Look," Nagito repeated, elephant standing up and wrapping the rug around it.

"Alright, just tie them down around the upper leg." Nagito said. Nekomaru had done the left side, with Nagito on the right side, and soon all four legs were done. Nekomaru placed the headdress on the elephant's head as they asked for a check.

"It's good," the judge said, handing over a clue. They ripped it open."

Nagito and Nekomaru: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way to Old Town Phuket and search for your next clue at the Phuket Sun Restaurant."

[i] Proceed to: Phuket Sun Restaurant

"Let's go," Nagito said. They ran out of the enclosure and grabbed their bags.

Hajime and Chiaki

Hajime clipped the anklets around the legs.

"We're done!" Chiaki said. The judge handed over their clue.

Hajime and Chiaki: Currently in 2nd Place

"We can catch up to Nagito and Nekomaru," Hajime said. "We just can. We have to."

"It's not a good sign when the one team you want to get out is in first place," Chiaki replied.

Nagito and Nekomaru

"We need a taxi… we had to let ours go," Nagito said.

"We started off the race with holding our taxis for more or less the entire day," Nekomaru said. "But we eventually realized that the money that they were giving us at the start of each leg was getting smaller, and we need to save up for the finale, so we figured the best course of action was to just let our cabs go at the challenges. And it wasn't just either; I'm certain every team let their taxi go."

"Taxi!" Nagito shouted. One immediately approached them. "Hah… just my luck," Nagito said.

Hajime and Chiaki

Hajime and Chiaki held their hands up, trying to hail a cab, but none arrived.

"Come on!" Hajime shouted.

Chihiro and Hina

Chihiro got on Hina's shoulders as he clipped the headdress to the elephant's head.

"Can we get a check please?" Hina asked. The judge gave a thumbs' up and handed over the clue.

Chihiro and Hina: Currently in 3rd Place

Chihiro kissed the elephant on the bridge of its trunk as they waved and ran away from the enclosure.

"That was amazing!" Chihiro shouted.

Nagito and Nekomaru

Nagito looked behind them as he noted the lack of taxis trailing them.

"We heard that Hajime and Chiaki left almost right after us," Nagito said. "But I don't see them anywhere… Maybe they're not as lucky with getting a cab."

Leon and Ibuki

"NO, GET BACK OVER HERE!" Leon shouted.

"Come on, Ellie! Work with us!" Ibuki encouraged. The elephant continued running around the pen and away from them.

"I hope you go extinct."

Hajime and Chiaki

"Finally, a cab!" Hajime said, waving. The cab pulled over.

"Do you know the Phuket Sun restaurant in Old Phuket Town?" Hajime asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Get inside."

Chihiro and Hina

"TAXI!" Hina shouted. "There's one up there!"

"Nope, that's H&C." Chihiro replied. "I guess we just have to sit to the edge and wait for a cab to arrive."

Shuichi and Kaede: Currently in 4th Place

"Thank you," Shuichi said, running out of the elephant enclosure. Kaede took a quick detour to wipe her shoe in the grass.

"I'm not getting that out of my head…" Kaede said.

Nagito and Nekomaru

"Look at these buildings! It looks like Europe!" Nekomaru said.

"Is that important for this race? Does that have significance? It probably does," Nagito said. Their cab pulled up to the restaurant as they exited and ran to their clue box.

"Roadblock," Nekomaru read. "Who's ready to spice up this race?"

"I'll do it," Nagito replied.

[R] Spice it Up

Thailand is famous for creating spicy food, with help from peppers like these, known around the world as Thai chilis. And now, one team member will learn how hot these can be. In this Roadblock, one team member must answer three trivia questions about the culture of Thailand. After each question, teams will be presented with a plate of Thai food that will either be mild or very spicy depending on whether or not they got the question right. After all three questions have been answered and teams have eaten each plate of food, they will be presented with a Prik Kaleang pepper, which they must eat to receive their next clue.

Nagito entered the restaurant and sat down as a waiter walked up to him.

"Are you ready?" She asked. Nagito nodded.

Nagito

"What does the word Phuket mean?" She asked. "Is it: Island Pearl, Mountain Jewel, or Forest Dew?"

"Uhh…" Nagito trailed. "I don't know… I'll just leave it to luck. Mountain Jewel."

The waitress went into the back and brought out a plate of Pad Thai. Nagito picked up the fork and shoveled some of the noodles into his mouth.

"I think I'm home free," Nagito said. "This is good food."

Chihiro and Hina

"Finally, a taxi!" Chihiro said, running up to the street and putting a hand in the air. The cab pulled up just as Shuichi and Kaede left the zoo.

"Wait!" Kaede shouted. "Do you mind if we share the cab? It's a big one and it can definitely hold all of us."

"I don't see why not," Chihiro replied. "Get in."

Leon and Ibuki

The elephant had finally calmed down as they managed to secure the rug with strings around the legs.

"Finally," Leon said. "I hate animals."

"Ibuki thinks you're an animal."

"Shut up. Let's just get the anklets down," Leon said.

Hajime and Chiaki: Currently in 2nd Place

"You got this," Chiaki said.

"Are you sure?" Hajime asked. "I'll be maxed out on Roadblocks and you won't have a choice but to do the next two."

"It looks like it's an eating challenge, and I don't have a strong stomach," Chiaki replied. "Besides, I'm sure I'll be fine for the next two Roadblocks."

"Alright, fine, I'll do it," Hajime replied.

Nagito

Nagito looked at Hajime entering the restaurant and put his fork down on his empty plate.

"Bring out the next one!" he said. The waitress took his empty plate and began asking him the second question, quiet enough that Hajime didn't hear.

"Which river divides Thailand and Laos?" She asked. "The Mekong River, the Chao Phraya river, or the Tha Chin river?"

"Mekong river," Nagito replied.

"At the Roadblock, I had so much of my faith in my talent, that I just decided to randomly guess the ones I didn't know," Nagito said. "That seemed to work out in my favor."

The waitress came out with a plate of curry. Nagito ate it with little thought as it wasn't spicy.

Hajime

"What does Phuket mean?" the waitress asked. Hajime stared right ahead as she listed off the answers.

"Can I go check with someone out on the street?" Hajime asked. The waitress smiled and shook her head.

"Umm… okay… the first one. Island Pearl."

The waitress brought Hajime a plate of pad thai. He nervously took the fork and put the food into his mouth, hand shaking.

"That's actually pretty good…" he said. "I think I'm fi-"

He paused as the spice began to kick in. "Dammit."

He bent over and pounded the table.

"That's the thing about spice," Hajime said. "It gets you. Like, you sit there for a few seconds, and everything seems fine, but it just spurts into your mouth li- let me rephrase that. It rushes into your mouth at supersonic speed and makes you want to move to the Arctic Circle."

"God… whyyy?"

Nagito

Nagito shoveled the curry into his mouth as fast as he possibly could. "Do I have to eat the rice?" he asked. "I'm getting full."

"No, just the curry's fine," the judge said. Nagito put his spoon down as the plate of curry was taken away from him.

"You're killing it, Nagito!" Nekomaru shouted. As he was watching, Nekomaru sat down on a chair outside and took the chance to get their wallet out of the fanny pack and check how much money they had right now. However, he didn't notice something else falling out and bouncing under the chair and behind everyone's bags.

"Thirty thousand yen… and sixty Euros... not bad…" he said. "Chiaki, how much money do you have?"

Chiaki also looked inside her wallet. "Uhh around twenty-five thousand… and some other money from other countries. I don't know the exchange rate, but I've got quite a few Euros, American dollars, Canadian dollars, and the South Africa money. I don't know exactly, but we do have to keep an eye on our cash. The last thing we want is to run out and not be able to pay a taxi, y'know?"

They laughed together.

Leon and Ibuki

Leon put the headdress on the elephant's head.

"Can we get a check?" Leon asked. The judge walked up and inspected the elephant.

"I'm sorry, it's not good enough," the judge replied. Leon balled his hands in anger as Ibuki stared, stunned.

"We get our elephant checked, and the judge says no!" Leon said. "We look at our elephant, and glance at the other elephants that the other teams have already finished up, and we can't see any significant difference."

"What the fu-"

Hajime

Hajime panted as he downed a glass of water, and called the waitress for more.

"Don't even bother pouring it. Bring me the whole pitcher." he said. The waitress nodded and gave Hajime an entire pitcher of ice water, which he drank from.

"I'm dying over here," he said.

Shuichi and Kaede: Currently in 3rd Place

Chihiro and Hina: Currently in 4th Place

"Roadblock," Kaede and Chihiro read.

"I'll do it," Shuichi said.

"Me." Chihiro said. "It's all me."

Nagito

"Last question," the waitress said. "Which of the following countries does not border Thailand? Burma, Malaysia, or Vietnam?"

"Vietnam," Nagito replied. They came out with a dish of fried rice as Nagito began eating.

"I really am lucky," he said. He wolfed it down in next to no time as the waitress came out with one pepper.

"Oh, no." he said as the waitress giggled. He picked it up by the stem and popped it into his mouth. "Wow… okay…" he said, chugging his water and coughing. The waitress handed over the clue as he ran over to Nekomaru.

Nagito and Nekomaru: Currently in 1st Place

"You wanna read it?" Nekomaru asked. Nagito shook his head, still red and heavily breathing from that pepper, and just reached into their backpacks to pull out a water bottle.

Nekomaru opened up the clue. "Detour. Chair or Flair?"

Teams will now have a chance to experience a way of Southeast Asian transportation, or immerse themselves in Phuket's nightlife. It will be their choice: Chair, or Flair.

[D] Chair

Back in leg 4, teams had an option to drive a Parisian bike-towed rickshaw through the streets of Paris. Teams will now have an option to do something similar. This time, however, there's a major difference. There's no bike.

In Chair, one team member must pull this manual rickshaw, with their partner sitting in it, one mile down this marked course. At the one and a half mile marker (2.4 kilometers), teams must switch who's pulling it and who's riding inside, and pull it half a mile (0.8 kilometers) to the marked destination. Once teams have reached the marked destination, they will receive their next clue.

[D] Flair

The sun is setting over Phuket. And as such, Patong Beach's Bangla Road has closed its streets to traffic and has begun to light up with bars and music.

In Flair, teams must become bartenders and entertain customers by performing a juggling-like maneuver using the drinks and cocktail shakers, a process known as flair bartending. Once they have successfully performed the maneuver perfectly and made a cocktail, a satisfied customer will hand teams their next clue.

"What do you think?" Nekomaru asked.

"Oh… uhh…" Nagito replied between breaths and sips of water. "Ch-Chair… oh my god this sucks"

"Are you sure you can carry my weight?" Nekomaru asked.

"I-If I'm just pulling you, I… oh my god…. I can probably do it for *huff* the shorter portion"

Nekomaru grabbed Nagito's hand and pulled him out onto the sidewalk, where they immediately hailed a cab.

"I love your luck," Nekomaru said. "This is definitely our luckiest leg so far. I've had to shit for a while now, but I've been holding it in so we can stay on this groove and come in first this leg!"

"We were at a restaurant for twenty minutes while you were sitting around doing nothing," Nagito said. "Why didn't you just use the bathroom then?"

"I didn't think about that…"

Hajime

Hajime put the water pitcher to his mouth and chugged as fast as he could, apathetic about the amount of water that was spilling onto his shirt and lap. He mustered up the strength to eat the last bit and push the empty plate away from him.

"The spice made it more difficult and harder to eat, which slowed us down." Hajime said. "Somehow, Nagito got all of the questions right on his first try, and he didn't have to eat any of the spicy dishes, which is absolute bullcrap, but there's nothing I can do about it now."

Hajime gulped down the rest of the water in the pitcher and laid it out as the waitress came back.

"I was just watching him, and he completely inhaled around a gallon of water," Chiaki said. "That probably wasn't that healthy."

"Before you start with the question," Hajime said. "Please, more ice water…"

The waitress gave Hajime another pitcher of water as she came back with the next question.

"Which river is the border between Thailand and Laos? The Mekong River, the Chao Phraya river, or the Tha Chin river?"

"Tha Chin, I guess?" Hajime asked. They came out with a pot of curry and rice.

"I've made a terrible mistake," he said, spooning in the curry and rice. "Goddamn."

Shuichi, Chihiro

"Do you want to work together on this?" Chihiro asked.

"I think it will be in both of our best interests if we just kept to ourselves from now on," Shuichi replied. "Nagito and Nekomaru are around twenty minutes in front of us, and we don't know how far behind Leon and Ibuki are. I think working together at this point just puts us at risk."

"You have a point," Chihiro replied, looking down. "I see."

"Where are Leon and Ibuki anyways?"

"Probably still at the elephants. I hope they're enjoying themselves, at least." Chihiro said, smiling at the thought of staying longer with the elephants.

Leon and Ibuki

Leon and Ibuki looked at their elephant, then looked at the other elephants in the enclosure.

"What? There's nothing wrong!" Leon shouted, on the verge of a mental breakdown. Ibuki looked at the other end and gave it a scan.

"Ibuki thinks it kind looks strange… like it's tight at the back and loose at the front."

Leon looked and noticed that it kind of bunched up at the front and seemed abnormally tight around the back.

"Is it backwards?" Leon asked in frustration. "How were we supposed to know that?"

"I deduced that because the legs were shorter in the back, the strings on the back would naturally be longer than the strings on the front." Ibuki said, fingers on her temple. "Oh, Ibuki said 'Deduced'! I sound like a genius!"

"You ARE a genius!" Leon shouted. "That's it. If it's reversed then it would be tighter around the back and loose at the front. That has to be it. Help me untie the strings."

Leon reached to the legs to untie the strings, but it restarted hiking its legs and trapping his hands.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he shouted in frustration. He resisted the urge to punch the elephant. "We're back to this shit?"

Shuichi, Chihiro

"Yeah, that challenge was a lot of fun." Shuichi said. The waitress came out and told them to spread out around the table so they wouldn't hear each other's answers. She visited Shuichi first.

"What does the word Phuket mean?" She asked. "Is it: Island Pearl, Mountain Jewel, or Forest Dew?"

"Mountain Jewel?" Shuichi asked. She brought out a plate of pad thai as she moved on to Chihiro.

"What does Phuket mean? Island Pearl, Mountain Jewel, or Forest Dew?"

"Mountain Jewel," Chihiro replied.

"During our time in the Dubai Airport, we used the internet to get some info on Phuket," Chihiro said. "And it seemed that was a good call. The first question was 'What does the word Phuket mean,' and that was one of the things I looked up."

The waiter also brought out Chihiro's plate as he and Shuichi tried it, with Kaede and Hina watching.

"It it bad?" Kaede asked.

"No, it's actually real tasty," Shuichi replied. Chihiro nodded and gave a thumbs' up.

Hajime

"Last question," the waitress said. "Which country does not border Thailand? Burma, Malaysia, or Vietnam?"

"Vietnam," Hajime replied.

"One of the questions was 'which country doesn't border Thailand," Hajime said. "And I knew it instantly. Obviously, I looked at a map of the country on Google before we arrived. But I cared more about the fact that I thought was done with the spicy food."

Hajime ate the fried rice. "My mouth is so full of spice that I don't even know if this is spicy or not."

He got done with it rather quickly as he downed another pitcher of water and slid the empty plate away from him, where the waitress picked it up.

"Now for dessert," the waitress said, bringing out a pepper.

"You're fucking kidding me," Hajime said.

"Nope!" the waitress replied, giggling. "This is the last thing. Just eat it and you're done."

Hajime picked it up by the stem and popped it into his mouth.

"Go on, chew it." the waitress said. He reluctantly bit down on it, sending his mouth into another burst of anarchy and hell.

"It's… *huff* it's down," Hajime said. He wiped a tear out of his eye, then realized what just happened.

"Did I just touch my eye? Oh, that was a mistake! Oh fuck!"

Chiaki rushed in and took his hand to pull him out of the shop.

"Are you alright?" Chiaki asked.

"Don't worry about me. Just read the clue."

Hajime unscrewed a bottle of water and poured it over his eye.

Hajime and Chiaki: Currently in 2nd Place

"Detour. Flair or Chair?"

"I think we should do Chair," Hajime said. "Unlike the last time, it looks like they map out the route. It seems really straightforward and there are less technical things to keep track of…"

Leon and Ibuki

"The sun is down…" Leon said, retying the straps and trying to push the legs out of the way. "That's a bad sign."

They successfully tied down the rug as the judge handed over their clue.

Leon and Ibuki: Currently in Last Place

They ran outside and hailed a cab with little to no effort. "I have less respect for elephants now," Leon said.

"Leon, Ibuki thinks you're being wayyy too dramatic and you're going to make the audience hate you."

"Oh, yeah, this is going to be broadcast on national television. I guess I forgot."

Nagito and Nekomaru

Nagito and Nekomaru arrived at the rickshaws.

"Why don't we do a test run?" Nagito asked. "As in, we just run around in circles here to make sure I can actually pull your weight. I'm unsure at the moment."

"I'm fine with that," Nekomaru replied. Nekomaru stepped into the seat of the rickshaw as Nagito picked up the handles and began moving. "This isn't too bad. You're heavy, but I can definitely make half a mile. Not sure how fast I can make it, but I can definitely go all the way."

They swapped seats so now Nekomaru was pulling Nagito.

"Alright, where's the route?" Nekomaru asked.

"There's a yellow and red race arrow over there. It's illuminated with a light underneath it so we can see it in the dark, so it's probably that."

Nekomaru picked up the rickshaw handles and pulled Nagito with little difficulty.

"This is nothing! You're like a feather!" Nekomaru shouted. He began running.

Chihiro

"That was a good meal," Chihiro said. The waitress took the plate and asked the second question. "Which river divides Thailand and Laos? Is it the Mekong River, the Chao Phraya river, or the Tha Chin river?"

"I have no clue," Chihiro said. "Uhh… Chao Phraya."

The waitress brought out the plate of curry and placed it in front of Chihiro. He put it in his mouth.

"Oh god," he said. "Oh god. Oh god. Oh god."

*Cough* *HICCUP*

"Aw, isn't she just the cutest when she's hiccuping?" Kaede said.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Hina replied. "He does look like he's in pain, though, but I'm also in pain knowing I can't run over there to do anything."

Shuichi

Shuichi also took a bite of the curry and had a similar reaction. "Nope. Oh, god… I'm gonna die."

"That was the spiciest thing that I have ever eaten," Shuichi said. "And that was the most pain I've ever been in."

He coughed and spat all over the floor, desperately getting up to drink some water.


Please leave a comment about what you think! Tell me about who you're rooting for, your predictions, and your suggestions to make Season 2 an improvement for this one! Also, feel free to suggest locations to me about the Season 2 route!

Also... judging from how things turned out so far, who do you think is getting eliminated next? Who will win the leg? And who will win the race?