Time for leg 6 of the Amazing Race! YAY!
Responses:
IloveRoy: Thanks!
LegoMan727: I'm glad you enjoyed being the co-host! And Nintendo Nut1 kinda broke into the Starfox weapons armory...yeah.
Anters: Everything is awesomeness. YAY! BTW, this next leg is in Ostia, Lilina's homeland.
tikitikirevenge: I know I'm better than hoogiman, don't worry. Wait, hoogiman's a dude?
Special Guest Appearances by Clarine, Rutger, Klein and Tate from Fire Emblem: Fuuin No Tsurugi!
Backstage...
"This is fun!" Nintendo Nut1 replied. She was skipping down the studio hallway in a rather demented matter. "And I get to snuggle Link, YAY!" She then did a three-second freeze. "Wait...someone's watching me!" Turning around, there was nothing in the hallway except for a previously unseen potted plant that sat next to her dressing room. "I must be imagining things..."
Nintendo Nut1 then made her way to the filming area of the studio. She still had that creepy vibe that she was being watched, though. "All right, who's there?" She was glancing around the studio, but she had noticed nothing. She was about to walk off, but then realized something. "Hey...that director's chair wasn't there before...ha! Stop following me!" Nintendo Nut1 pointed eloquently pointed at the director's chair before regaining some shred of her sanity. (Yeah, what sanity?) "I must be hallucinating..."
"You must have rather sharp eyes to see that."
"YEEK! WHO'S THERE?"
"Hmph." With that, the director's chair was surrounded by smoke as it transformed into a dashing 16-year-old boy with spiky, short brown hair and eyes that never stayed one color for long. He wore a random t-shirt, a long sepia leather duster, olive cargo pants, and fingerless gloves. The young man wore a smirk as he announced, "I am superdave, your resident superhero! Well, if you live in Georgia, U.S.A., anyway..."
"Let me guess...you're my co-host for the chapter..." Nintendo Nut1 anticipated.
"Exactly." With that, superdave and Nintendo Nut1 wended their way to the set of the Amazing Race, anticipating anything and everything unexpected.
"Welcome to the Amazing Race." superdave said. "When we last left off, we met with the teams at Corneria City, where Nintendo Nut1 here just had to hijack a LandMaster Tank. Wait, how come I don't get a LandMaster Tank to destroy all?" His voice changed and held the quality of a corrosive acid that scared the readers.
"Oh-kay..." Nintendo Nut1 said. Suddenly, superdave had regained his composure and remarked, "Sorry. That was Dave, one of my alternate personalities. He loves to destroy stuff."
"...anyway, the Pit Stop was the Ambassador Bridge, the symbol of freedom and courage here in Corneria City. Teams stayed at the mandatory Pit Stop where they can eat, sleep, and mingle with the other teams. They have no idea what will happen next, and they can only use the clues given to them to locate the next Pit Stop. Fox and Falco, who first arrived at 7:37 pm, will depart at 7:37 am." Nintendo Nut1 finished.
Fox and Falco
1st to depart, 7:37 am
Location: The Ambassador Bridge, Corneria City
"Let's see." Falco replied as he tore open the clue. "'Locate the Private Airport outside Corneria...'"
"How self-explanatory." superdave quipped. "Teams must head to a private airport outside Corneria City. Once there, teams will receive their next clue." Suddenly he blurted out, "I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! SHUT UP!"
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Nintendo Nut1 asked.
"Sorry. I forgot to tell you I'm schizophrenic..."
"Oh. Okay. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Let's go." Fox replied, flagging a taxi and directing them to the airport.
Roy and Lilina
2nd to depart, 7:39 am
Location: The Ambassador Bridge
"Oh my, where to next?" Lilina replied as they read the clue.
"I guess its part of the adventure." Roy answered, grabbing a taxi and riding off with the azure-haired mage.
Pikachu and Pichu
3rd to depart, 7:45 am
Location: The Ambassador Bridge
"This is fun." Pikachu replied as he read the clue.
"Well, why wouldn't it be?" Pichu retorted as they boarded a taxi.
Yoshi and DK
4th to depart, 7:47 am
Location: The Ambassador Bridge
"YAY!" Yoshi replied, waving his arms around happily as he read the clue. "We made it this far in the race!"
"And we don't intend on stopping!" DK finished as they hijacked a cab and drove off.
Marth and Sheeda
5th to depart, 7:50 am
Location: The Ambassador Bridge
"Well, off again on a day of fun and adventure..." Sheeda remarked as she read the clue.
"Indeed..." Marth concurred as they drove off in a taxi.
Link and Zelda
6th to depart, 7:56 am
Location: The Ambassador Bridge
"Yay, we're so far!" Zelda squealed. "This is so cool, Link!"
"I know, Zel, and I can say we'll get the million." Link asserted.
"I'm sorry, I can't resist..." Nintendo Nut1 replied as she strolled up to Link, grabbed his head and kissed him tenderly on the lips for what seemed like a long while.
"Wha-! What's with this girl?" Zelda fumed. After Nintendo Nut1 let go, breathing heavily, Zelda ran over and clutched Link protectively. "He's my Link! Shoo!"
"Oh, come on, share the goods..." Nintendo Nut1 replied lustily.
"Why you little-"
PLEASE STAND BY AS WE ATTEMPT TO RECONNECT BACK TO THE STORY. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
(metal clattering and the sound of glass breaking)
"Take that!"
OH, FOR THE LOVE OF NAYRU-
"Ha-HA! You are beaten!"
SHUT THE (BEEP) UP AND GET BACK TO THE (BEEP) STORY! BUNCH OF (BEEP) (BEEP) IDIOTS...
"Sorry..." Nintendo Nut1 replied. "Link's just so hot..."
"Yeah, my boyfriend's pretty cute, huh?" Zelda agreed.
"They're scaring me..." Link muttered.
"Well, good luck..." superdave replied as he gave Link thumbs up.
Private Airport, Outside Corneria City
"There's the clue!" Falco pointed out. "'Take the charter flight to the region of Ostia, on the Lycian continent...'"
"Teams must now make a charter flight to Ostia, on the continent of Lycia. Once they land there, teams must make their way to Baez LaGrange, an island monastery on the Ostian seas. Once there, teams will receive the next clue." superdave replied. "If you don't review, your luck may turn terrible...wait, are those subtitles? I took bloody English at the goddamn university for crying out loud..." superdave replied in a voice not unlike a rat.
"What now?" Nintendo Nut1 replied.
"That would be David, another one of my alter egos." superdave had regained control of himself. "He's as cold as ice, and he's very sinister and humorous. Don't get on his bad side..."
"Don't worry, I won't..."
"Well, we got to wait now, I guess..." Falco replied. "I hope the others don't catch us..."
3 hours later
"Damn! They snaked us!" Falco spit out as all the other teams boarded the same flight.
"All the teams are now on their way to Ostia via the charter flight." Nintendo Nut1 said.
"Once they land, teams must go to Lake Andréa and take a ferry to Baez LaGrange, where teams will find the next clue."
Ostia, Lycian International Airport
Charter Flight from Corneria City
Roy and Lilina
Currently in 1st place
Location: A small field outside the airport, Ostia
"Wow...Ostia hasn't changed one bit...I like it." Lilina replied, as she lay down on the grass and let the wind rush over her face. "Oh, yeah...I could just fall asleep right now..."
"But we still have a race to run..." Roy said.
"Oh, yeah...anyway, Lake Andréa should be that way." Lilina said, brushing off her skirt and pointing toward the east. "Shall we?"
"This is fun..." Roy said.
Link and Zelda
Currently in 2nd place
Location: A small field outside the airport
"Whoa...this place is so beautiful and picturesque..." Zelda replied.
"Nothing like back home, I can tell you that." Link reported. "I could just lie down and fall asleep right now and I wouldn't care..."
"But we're in a race..." Zelda stammered.
"Yeah, so that sucks." Link replied. "Anyway, according to this map that came with the clue, Lake Andréa is to the east." he noticed, holding the map every which way to check for accuracy.
"Maybe at the end of the race, we should do some catching up, just you and me..." Zelda said lustily, tracing Link's chest with her finger.
"I know." Link replied, kissing her before running off towards Lake Andréa.
Pikachu and Pichu
Currently in 3rd place
Location: A small field outside the airport
"YAY! Run around, run around, run around..." Pichu sang as he scurried through the grass as happy as one could be.
"Well, we've still to locate the Baez LaGrange place or whatever it's called..." Pikachu replied gloomily.
"Of course..." Pichu said. "Let's go, then!"
Marth and Sheeda
Currently in 4th place
Location: A small field outside the airport
"YES!" Sheeda yelled, stretching her arms. "It feels so good to be back at home!"
"Yeah, I haven't been here so long that I almost forgot what it felt like..." Marth agreed.
"So, we have to find the island monastery, Baez LaGrange?" Sheeda asked.
"Precisely."
"Then let's go!" Sheeda squealed, grabbing Marth's hand and dragging him toward the lake.
Lake Andréa Ferry Station, en route to the Baez LaGrange Monastery
"Man, where's the ticket attendant?" Lilina asked, peering over the counter and glancing around. "They should be here right now..."
"Maybe they're on lunch break or something..." Roy answered as Link and Zelda walked through the glass double doors. "We've got company, Lilina."
"Oh, hey, guys." Lilina waved cordially to Link and Zelda, who sat down on one of the nearby couches. She collapsed onto one of the chairs and asked, "Now what? If all the other teams come before the attendant, we're screwed..."
"Nothing to do but wait, I guess..." Zelda remarked, brushing some of her blond locks out of her face. "We can't worry about circumstances beyond our control, anyway..."
"HEY!" Pichu replied as he and Pikachu casually strolled into the station. "How's life, y'all?" All the teams heard a crash. Turning towards the source, they saw that Lilina had collapsed on the ground. "Did we come at the wrong time or something?"
"Oh, at this rate we'll never win..." Lilina groaned.
"Hey, it's okay..." Roy assured her. "Besides, we got this far, didn't we?"
"Yeah, I guess..." Lilina said, picking herself up and flicking dirt off her sleeve.
Next came Ness and Mewtwo, who were rather distracted because of the many people that were with them. Lilina was about to complain when the attendant waltzed in, glancing about at the many people standing about the room. "Oh my, do you all want to sail to the Baez LaGrange monastery?"
"YES!" all of them shouted.
"Whoa, geez, you don't have to yell..." The attendant gave them tickets for the ferry, which then sailed off to the crumbling ruins of a monastery that awaited them...
Yoshi and DK
Currently in 5th place
Location: The Lake Andréa Ferry Station, Ostia
"Man! We missed the ferry!" Yoshi screeched, stamping his foot on the ground. "This sucks!"
"We'll be eliminated for sure..." DK groaned. However, the ferry was sailing back with the other teams still aboard. "Hey, what's going on?" On the boat, they could overhear protests from several of the other teams, especially Roy and Lilina. "Hey, it looks like they have to refuel."
"YAY! Maybe we can get on!" Yoshi squealed. Indeed, when the station master came out to refuel the ferry, Yoshi and DK were let on. "YAY! We're tied!"
"Oh, joy. This will be a blast, I just know it..." Roy muttered sarcastically, running a hand through his crimson locks in annoyance.
Baez LaGrange Monastery
Ferry #1 from the Lake Andréa Station
Roy and Lilina
Currently in 1st place
Location: The Baez LaGrange Monastery, Lake Andréa
"There's the clue!" Lilina squeaked, pointing to a crumbling arched hallway a few yards away. Mauling the clue box, she retrieved a clue from it, tore it open, and read it. "'Go back to the mainland and use the Merrimack-Garrison Path to reach the site of Ostia's annual Harvest Festival...'"
"Teams must now make their way to the Harvest Festival site, 3.4 miles from their current location." superdave explained. "Once they reach the festival site, they must make their way to the clue, sitting next to a rather elegant fruit display near the Merrimack-Garrison Path. Hell, I think I can relax now..." superdave said in a somewhat chirpy voice as he lay down on a lawn chair. However, because the lawn chair was old and had holes in the wood, he fell right through it and landed on his back. "Yow! What the hell..."
"Let me guess...another one of your weird alter egos?" Nintendo Nut1 asked.
"That was Crash...he's always getting himself into trouble...ow, my back..."
"This'll be fun..." Roy said as the other teams ran up to the clue box.
Yoshi and DK
Currently in 5th place
Location: The ferry back to the Ostian mainland
"Man! That was scary, looking for a clue in that weirdo chapel..." Yoshi replied as he boarded the ferry.
"Technically, it's a monastery..." Mewtwo corrected.
"Sorry..."
"Anyway, how about we form a temporary truce between all of us?" Link suggested. "I mean, we'll tear through this race if we all work together..."
"Yes, but if we eliminate all the other teams and we are left, we would turn on each other..." Pikachu noted.
"Point taken." Link took back his comment.
"But it would be inevitable." Ness remarked. "I mean, if we all are the last teams left, it would be unavoidable and we would eliminate each other anyway."
"I think this truce between us is beneficial." Lilina said. Everyone had turned to her, and she continued, "We would help each other and we can pick off the weaker of the teams. Besides, Roy and I know this place better than some of the others. I would assume the only other people that know more about Lycia than us would be Marth and Sheeda," she added, motioning towards Marth and Sheeda.
"Then it's official. We form a truce with each other." Link replied, sticking his hand out and gesturing the others to do the same.
"YEAH!"
Mario and Luigi
Currently in 6th place
Location: The Ferry Station at Lake Andréa, Ostia
"Man, we're late..." Mario replied, muttering to himself about missing the ferry.
"May-a-be because you had-a to ask-a those people about-a Baez LaGrange with no-a more sense than a baby..." Luigi snapped.
"Sorry..."
Roy and Lilina
Currently in 1st place
Location: The Harvest Festival, Ostia
"Wow!" Lilina squealed. "The festival hasn't changed one bit!"
"Maybe we should have a bit of fun while we're here!" Roy announced, glancing around the festival grounds.
"Why not?" While Roy and Lilina were enjoying and partaking of the sights of the carnival, on the other side there were four people were chatting, drinking cider, and/or participating in the festivities. One was a girl of 16 who had blonde hair and bright, purple eyes; she wore a thigh-high purple dress and lavender boots. She was holding a Mend staff in her hand. Her brother of 18 had similar blonde hair and deep, purple eyes; he wore a blue archer's outfit and had a Longbow strung on his back. A man of 22 also wormed his way through the group; brown hair, sepia eyes, red clothing and a long katana defined the swordsman. The last member of the motley group was a girl of 17 with light blue hair and eyes of the brightest blue one had ever seen. She wore a white dress with blue armor covering her chest, back and shoulders, and wore thigh-high boots that completed the outfit that heavily defined her slender figure. She also had a spear slung over her back. The blonde-haired girl was playing some ring toss when she wondered, "Bro...Klein? Did you enjoy the carnival?" she asked, addressing the archer.
"Well, I came for your sake, didn't I, Clarine?" Klein muttered, leaning against a nearby tree.
"You need to loosen up more...it's not good for you to be worried constantly about something..." the blue-haired girl said, who was playing a target shooting game.
"Let it go, Tate; he can be rough around the edges sometimes..." the swordsman remarked, sipping at a mug of warm cider he had retrieved from a nearby stall.
"I don't hear you suggesting anything, do I, Rutger?" Tate snapped.
"Hey! Calm down!" Clarine protested, wedging herself between her arguing comrades. "We came to have fun! Don't ruin it..."
"Fine. But she started it!" Rutger accused, pointing eloquently at Tate.
Now we turn our attention to Roy and Lilina, who has now discovered the clue box.
"Here it is!" Lilina squeaked, triumphantly holding a clue in the air. She tore it open and read, "'Detour. Climb or Descend...'"
"A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In this Detour, teams must choose between Climb or Descend." Nintendo Nut1 said. "In Climb, teams must go to the small grove near the entrance to the festival and use a system of ropes and pulleys to hoist themselves up to the decks strung across the treetops. Once there, the rappel instructor will give them their next clue. This task is rather demanding, but those with strength and speed should finish quickly."
"In Descend, teams must make their way to the Tunnel of Roland near the exit." superdave added. "Teams must safely descend the ladder to an underground spring under the festival grounds. Once they reach the bottom safely, the teams must string up a waterproof satchel holding their next clue. YEAH! I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves..."
"Oh, now what?" Nintendo Nut1 asked.
"Sorry." superdave replied. "That's my last alter ego. He's Edens, a band dork who enjoys annoying people.
"What do you think we should do?" Lilina asked.
"Maybe we should Climb...it seems quicker than to go into some weird tunnel." Roy predicted.
"Where are the trees, then...?"
Link and Zelda
Currently in 2nd place
Location: The Harvest Festival
"This Lycia place really knows how to throw a festival..." Link noted as he watched several people drinking, playing a game, or riding on several horses stationed around the festival grounds.
"Yeah..." Zelda replied. "I hope some drunken person doesn't try to do something, though..."
"Don't they always try something at the festival?"
"I guess that's true..." Glancing around, they noticed the clue box sitting in front of a rather large fruit pyramid. "Man, if Yoshi saw that, he'd go bonkers..."
"Will he eat it? Probably. Will he knock it over? I hope not..." Link muttered balefully to himself as he read the clue.
"Yeah, otherwise we'd be buried in fruit..." Zelda agreed. "Should we Climb?"
"Meh, why not?"
Yoshi and DK
Currently in 3rd place
Location: The Harvest Festival
"OMFG! FRUIT!" Yoshi squealed as he literally mauled a stall owner to grab a large watermelon from said stall.
"Yeah, you can't control yourself...OMFG! BANANAS!" DK yelled as he ran over some people en route to a large pile of bananas sitting near the ring toss stand. Clarine, the cleric from several paragraphs earlier, took notice and had an air of displeasure around her. "Man, this place is going to the animals..."
"I've heard of monkey business, but this?" Klein groaned as DK was stuffing bananas into his mouth.
"Oh dear..." Tate could only mouth.
"Mmm...bananas...hey, there's the clue!" DK said, pointing towards the fruit pyramid. Yoshi looked up from where he was swallowing watermelons and rushed over to grab a clue, but not before hoarding an orange for himself. "Climb or Descend...take your pick." Yoshi said.
"We Climb. I'm good at climbing anyway." DK said, running off and leaving half-eaten bananas and banana peels on the ground.
"What in Lycia..." Rutger muttered as DK ran off.
Pikachu and Pichu
Currently in 4th place
Location: The Harvest Festival
"Where's the clue...Pichu, a little help here!" Pikachu yelled. Getting no response, he turned to see Pichu with a large mug of cider in his hand. "PICHU!"
"Oh come on, can't we have some fun?" Pichu vexed as he drank some cider.
"Fine...hey, I think I see the clue!" Pikachu replied, running towards the clue box.
"YAY!" Pichu replied, finishing up his cider. "Climb or Descend...let's Climb. HELLO WISCONSIN!"
"What the hell..." Pikachu wondered. He later got the point when Pichu climbed into a chair and fell out, sending the bowl of fruit crashing down with him. "Holy Articuno...can he be...no way!" Pikachu reasoned as he dragged Pichu towards the trees.
Ness and Mewtwo
Currently in 5th place
Location: The Harvest Festival
"There are a lot of rather...unscrupulous characters before us. Employ caution." Mewtwo warned.
"I can see that..." Ness turned and noticed Clarine and the others. He asked, "Are they unscrupulous as well?"
"HEY! SHUT UP!" Clarine yelled, shaking her fist at them.
"We could safely assume that." Mewtwo said, noticing the clue box near the fruit pyramid. "Call me crazy, but I believe that's the clue box." Teleporting over, they tore open a clue and read it. "Climb or Descend...I suggest we climb."
"Sure." Ness and Mewtwo had teleported off after reading the clue, leaving Clarine and the others speechless.
"Whoa..."
The Climb Area, Harvest Festival
"Oh...I hate heights...I hope I don't die...help!" Lilina squeaked as Mewtwo, Pikachu, Link and Yoshi was gaining on her.
"Don't look down!" Roy encouraged.
"Too late..." Lilina stammered. She tried inching her way up, but stopped short. "I'm scared..."
"Here." Roy had leaned over the side of the treetop deck, grabbed her by the hand, and single-handedly pulled her onto the deck. "Are you okay?"
"I...I think so." Lilina stammered, hugging Roy out of relief. "Thanks, Roy."
"It's okay..." Roy answered, ruffling her hair slightly. "I'm glad you're safe."
"Thanks." Lilina then noticed the rappel instructor give them a clue. "Let's see...'Travel by horse-drawn carriage to Castle Ostia...'"
"Teams must now make their way to Castle Ostia, the center of government in this region of Lycia." Nintendo Nut1 said. "Teams will find their next clue waiting for them in front of the main gate."
"Let's go!" Roy announced, but went a little too crazy and ended up falling off the side of the treetop deck with Lilina in tow. "WAAAUGH!"
"Oh shit..." Yoshi noticed, watched Roy and Lilina crumple when they hit the ground. "I DON'T WANNA DIE! WAAAAH!"
"Then be careful, for Farore's sake!" Zelda gritted, watching them lay on the ground. "What if they're...DEAD!"
"Oh my god!" Ness yelled. "Are they okay?"
At this point, Klein noticed that something had gone awry and wondered, "Man, what in Lycia is going on? There are a lot of people gathering over there..."
"They said someone fell over the treetop deck!" Tate panicked with her voice full of worry.
"WHAT!" Clarine yelled. "Well, move over! Medic's on their way!" She then rushed off anime-style, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
"Holy cow, she's fast..." Rutger noted, drinking some cider. "Probably some drunken stiff who thought he could fly."
"OH MY GOD!" Clarine shouted from over yonder. "Klein! Come quick! It's Roy and Lilina who fell over the deck!" This produced several results. Rutger was so surprised by the revelation that he abruptly spit out his cider all over Tate, who drove it off and wiped herself off with a towel. Klein's face had gone pale, and Clarine was frantic. "They're not waking up..."
"Holy Saint Elimine...come on!"
"Yikes..." Yoshi said after he and DK grabbed the clue. "Wake up!" He shook Roy and Lilina, but had no effect. Getting desperate, he grabbed some dude's mug of cider and poured it all over their faces. Roy and Lilina awoke, coughing and spluttering. "Oh, my back..." Lilina groaned. "I feel like I got run over by a train..."
"Try falling 30 feet off the treetops." Link said, he and Zelda rushing over to them. "Man, you had us worried."
"Hey, nothing to worry about..." Roy muttered ruefully, rubbing his temple gingerly. He then noticed Clarine, who was standing over him to see if he was okay. "Clarine? What are you doing here?"
"Hold still." Clarine had held her Mend staff above the injured duo. She was chanting softly, and a bright light emanated from the tip of the staff as their wounds closed up, leaving no trace of ever being injured. By this time, Tate, Klein and Rutger had joined them in expressing concern. "Hey, are you okay?" "Is anything broken?" "How many fingers am I holding up?" "Can you feel anything?"
"WHOA!" Roy quickly stood up and announced, "We're okay, so don't worry..."
"That's good." Yoshi replied as Link, Zelda and DK nodded in agreement. "For a minute, I thought we had a dead swordsman and mage on our hands."
"I would imagine that death cannot overcome Lilina and Roy that easily." Mewtwo said as he and Ness rappelled to their position, obviously relieved at their wills to live. "They're fighters, I can give them that."
"YEAH! CELEBRATE! CIDER FOR ALL!" Pichu chanted, waving a bottle of the apple stuff around.
"Oh, Lord, I think he's drunk..." Pikachu said.
"Hey, Roy, who are they?" Tate asked, pointing to the Smashers. After introducing themselves and explaining their situation, she said, "I am relieved that you made quite a few friends, however weird they are. You are all in a race around the world?"
"Indeed." Roy said. "We allied together for this part of the race. So we should be good for now, anyway."
"That's good..." Clarine said. "Hey, can you take us with you?"
"WHAT!" Klein almost shouted as several interested eyes peered in their direction. He then muttered a little more quietly, "Are you crazy! They're in a race! We'd just be a hindrance!"
"Please?" Tate asked, using her cute face to try and convince Klein. The last thing she expected was for him to actually come along, though.
"Humph...fine. Just try not to get us killed, ok?" This answer had surprised Tate, and she thought she had seen a blush on Klein's face. 'Is it possible that Klein...no, I'm probably dreaming. He probably loves someone else...'
"In any case, we should probably head to Castle Ostia. The fastest way to the castle is on Primrose-Woodard Path, correct?" Yoshi asked.
"That's correct. Let's move."
Primrose-Woodard Path en route to Castle Ostia
It was 5 hours later that they left for the Castle after a few turbulent moments. (Actually there were two reasons. One: they had to wait for Pichu to sober up, and two: Yoshi ate some fruit on the pyramid and caused it to collapse onto the nearby Path. That sucks.) During the little tour, some bandits started riding up beside the line of carriages while everyone was talking.
"This is fun." Link said as their carriage was steadily moving towards the castle. "Reminds you a lot of home, right?"
"Yeah." Zelda stuck her head outside and yelled towards Roy's coach, "Hey, Lilina! Are we almost there?"
"We should be at the castle in 2 hours, at the least!"
"OK!" Zelda turned back to Link and said, "Thank you."
"For what?" Link asked.
"For bringing me with you on this race. I mean, it's not the race or our progress I'm happy about, but our chance to be together." Zelda said. "And for that, I thank you."
"Hey, you're welcome." Link said. He was about to kiss her when an arrow darted in front of him. "What in Farore's name...?"
"If this is some kind of a joke, I d-" Zelda was cut off by the sounds of a scuffle outside. There was a frightened whinny from a horse followed by a loud report from outside the carriage. Followed immediately after was a loud voice crying in ringing tones, "Stand and deliver in the name of the Four Holy Things!"
"What on earth-? Are we being held up?" Zelda asked.
"On a path that leads from nowhere to nowhere else?" Link said. "It's hardly likely."
Rutger, who was with Roy and Lilina, seemed to share Link's opinion. "You're dicked in the nob!" they heard him yell. "Lady Lilina and Lord Roy are in this coach!"
"Stand and deliver!" the bandit yelled. "Drop your weapons, or I attack!"
"We've stood, we've stood..." they heard Yoshi yell. "Now what?"
"An excellent question. I wonder if he's thought of it." Link wondered.
"Oh, think you're so smart, eh?" the bandit yelled. "No matter! ATTACK!"
"Now!" they heard Tate yell from the front carriage. "Drive, horse master, drive!" With that, all five carriages sped up and screeched off, running over some bandits and scaring the crap out of others.
"Wha-hey! You won't get away that easily!" the bandit yelled. He and 10 of his men mounted horses and rushed off after them.
"That was rather fun..." Link breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly an arrow pierced the chair and lodged itself in the wall in front of them. Zelda screamed as Link stuck his head out the window and yelled, "We got company!" He ducked his head back in time as an arrow shot through the air where Link's head was moments before.
"Take this!" they heard Yoshi yell. Looking outside, Zelda was in time to see Yoshi throw an egg into a bandit's eyes. It splattered all over the guy's eyes, blinding him. By the time he removed the gooey mess from his eyes; he had collided with a tree and slumped to the ground. Zelda would have laughed if an arrow hadn't whizzed by her ear. She screamed and ducked her head inside.
"It's not safe inside! I'll take them out!" Looking outside, they noticed Klein actually climbing to the roof of the carriage and stringing his bow for battle. "If we are to be killed, I would rather die in battle!"
"Wait!" Tate yelled.
"I would rather die with honor, so don't stop me!" Klein insisted.
"I meant wait for me!" Tate soon hoisted herself onto the roof of the carriage, her light blue hair flying wildly about in the wind.
"I hope you don't get yourself killed...please survive for my sake..." Klein muttered that last part to himself as he opened fire on the bandits, spearing them in the arms or legs.
"Wait, what the hell are we doing?" Mewtwo wondered. "We can help! Have at thee, cowards!" He fired a slew of Shadow Balls at several bandits and succeeded in killing a few. "Oh yeah, who da bomb?"
"This'll be fun..." Pichu said as he thundered a bandit and electrocuted him. "YAY!"
And so began a mini-war that erupted between the bandits and our favorite teams. This went on for several minutes until there was a nomadic trooper and the leader left. That's when things got interesting.
"I think that's all of them..." Tate replied, leaning on Klein's shoulder because of fatigue. "I think we don't have to worry now."
"Indeed..." Klein then spotted the nomadic trooper taking aim at Tate. Looking at her, he noticed that she had tossed her lance into the carriage. 'Ack! Sorry, Tate, I care about you too much to let you die...'
"Look out!" Klein yelled. Before she could react, Tate felt herself being tackled onto the carriage roof. She had slapped him and asked, "What's your problem?"
"Just look up." When she did this, she watched as an arrow whizzed through the air where her chest was just seconds before. "Stay down." Klein was laying belly-down on the roof of the carriage as he pointed the bow in the direction of the shot. He let loose an arrow, and it speared the trooper right in the eye before he fell over dead. "Tate, are you okay?"
"Yeah...but man, I could have been fricasseed..." Tate muttered. "Thanks, Klein."
"I care about you too much to let you be killed by some arrow. But be more careful next time, will ya?" These words caused Tate to blush furiously. 'Wow...why is he being so nice to me? Maybe I've been too hard on him...' the Peg Knight thought.
"Curses!" the bandit yelled. "My troops are in the grave, dammit! Now what...oh, well! I'll just kill you all by myself!"
"Oh, crap..." Klein said.
"Are we going to die?" Tate wondered.
"Hey!" Lilina yelled from the carriage. "We're here!"
"We're where?" the bandit wondered as the carriages came to a stop. Flesh and blood soon slammed into stone as the bandit collided head-on with the outer walls of Castle Ostia. He lost several teeth and fell off his horse out of sheer shock. "Guh...20 years of tyranny brought to an undignified end..." Link and Zelda were the first to notice that.
"Ha-ha! He ran into the wall!" Link taunted.
"That must have hurt..." Zelda pitied. They noticed that Yoshi and DK had advanced to a familiar green metal box near the castle gate. "Hey, they're going to the clue box! Get them!" Meanwhile, Lilina was caught up in her own affairs.
"Guards!" Lilina motioned to the guards at the front gate. "Take him to the dungeon! He tried to kill us!" She said the last part with more feeling as she clung to her beloved Roy.
"That was some adventure..." Clarine replied while she was tugging an arrow out of her clothes.
"Did everyone get out alive?" Rutger asked.
"We're still in one piece, yes?" Tate answered.
"I should hope so..." Klein retorted.
"YAY!" Yoshi squeaked. "We got the clue! 'Road Block: Can you breach the impregnable?'"
"A Road Block is a task only one person may perform, and no one person can do more than six in the whole race." superdave said. "In this Road Block, that person has to climb the castle wall and successfully reach the top. Once there, the person must grab a key and rappel down to the castle courtyard, where they will use the key to unlock the clues sitting near the main gate. This task sounds easy, but Castle Ostia has the reputation of being one of the hardest strongholds to breach." He then spied a burning torch mext to him and said, "Fire...good..."
"What now?" Nintendo Nut1 asked through a chocolate bar.
"Me pyromaniac. Fire good."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night...STARFOX!" Nintendo Nut1 pulled out another gatling gun and started shooting the air in an erratic manner.
"Well...this'll be interesting..." Yoshi said as he made his way to the climbing area.
Link and Zelda
Currently in 2nd place
Location: Castle Ostia's main gate
"Can you breach the impregnable...my, my, now this is getting interesting." Link replied.
"I'll do it, but we have to do some catching up tonight..." Zelda replied lustily.
"Oh my..."
Roy and Lilina
Currently in 3rd place
Location: Castle Ostia's main gate
"OH! I'll do this one, Roy!" Lilina chirped. "I can do it!"
"Well, well, look at who's the eager beaver..." Roy quipped.
"Come on, please?" Lilina begged. "Don't you trust me?"
"Fine, but if something goes wrong, I'll do it..."
Pikachu and Pichu
Currently in 4th place
Location: Castle Ostia's main gate
"What does impregnable mean?" Pichu asked, having never heard the word before.
"I think it means unconquerable or something..." Pikachu said.
"Oh dear, then we do have a problem on our hands...paws...whatever." Pichu replied.
"I'll do it, then." Pikachu said.
Ness and Mewtwo
Currently in 5th place
Location: Castle Ostia's main gate
"Whoa...so this is Castle Ostia..." Ness replied.
"The Road Block says this tasks is impossible...I'll take the challenge." Mewtwo said.
Castle Ostia-Some random wall of the stronghold
"Oh dear..." Zelda said as he began scaling the wall. "This is not cool!"
"AUGH!" Yoshi screamed as he slid down the wall on his belly. "That burns..."
"It's so slippery..." Zelda said.
"GO LILINA!" Roy and his troupe cheered.
"What the...?" Zelda turned to see Lilina, of all people, scaling the wall with ease. "How the hell do you do that?"
"Try using your feet to grip one of the stones sticking out of the wall." Lilina said, climbing onto a foothold. "It gets easier with practice."
"That's what you say..." Zelda muttered, sliding off the wall again and crashing to the ground. "Ouch..."
"Maybe if I..." Mewtwo tried jumping and kicking the wall to form a foothold, making it easier for him to climb up. "Whew! That helps."
"CRAP!" Yoshi squeaked as he slid off the wall again. "Belly burns!"
"This is fun." Pikachu said, sticking his tail into various cracks in the wall and ascending with ease.
"You would say that..." Lilina muttered, climbing to the top. She hoisted herself onto the top of the battlement and started searching for the key. "If I were a key, where would I hide...?"
"AHA!" Zelda said. "I could just use Farore's Wind to reach the top! Zelda, you're a genius..." Using it led her to the top, but Lilina was where she landed, so they ended up crashing each other.
"Ow...Zelda!" Lilina whined.
"Sorry..." Lilina looked around and discovered a key inches from her face. "Ooh? Thanks for helping me find the key!" Before Zelda could maul her out of anger, she jumped off the wall and crash-landed in the bushes. "Owww..." Flicking some leaves out of her hair and brushing mud off her wrist, she made her way to a book with a ridiculously large lock on it. "This must be the clue...aha! The key fits! 'Go to the next Pit Stop, the Ostian Royal Overlook...'"
"Teams must now make their way into the castle courtyard and look for the Ostian Royal Overlook." Nintendo Nut1 explained. "This overlook, which made its way into the hit movie Lycia, is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in will be eliminated."
"Guards, please let Roy and company come in." Lilina replied. After everyone joined her, she said, "Follow me. I know where the Pit Stop is." She led them to a small hill near the back of the castle, where Nintendo Nut1 and superdave were waiting. "You are a hard girl to find..."
"Well, at least you're first place." Nintendo Nut1 said.
"YAY!" Lilina squeaked.
"Lilina! I'm glad to see you've gotten first, my daughter!" a loud voice said. Lilina turned, and saw a large old man with blue hair and a great blue beard. He had a large amount of armor on him.
"Holy Saint Elimine...it's Lord Hector!" Roy gasped.
"Dad!...Dad!" Lilina ran up to him, crying and saying, "I missed you..."
"Aw, it's okay." Hector embraced the crying girl. "It really is me, and I'm glad to see you're well. Roy, I give you my thanks for looking out for her." Roy laughed a bit, embarrassment evident in his voice.
Minutes later, Link, Zelda, Pikachu, Pichu, Yoshi, DK, Ness and Mewtwo ran up behind them. "Wow...lotsa teams!" superdave announced. "Let's see...Link and Zelda, Pikachu and Pichu, Yoshi and DK, and Ness and Mewtwo, you are teams 2, 3, 4, and 5."
"YAY!" That's when Clarine, Rutger, Klein and Tate ran up behind them, panting and wheezing. "Hey, you could at least wait for us..." Clarine gasped.
"Well, if it isn't your troupe, Roy." Hector bellowed. "How's it been?"
"OMG! Lord Hector!" Tate goggled. "But I thought you were dead!"
"I was only faking."
"Well, you had us fooled..." Klein replied. This raised a question in Tate's mind.
"Klein, what were you saying before about you caring too much for me that I wouldn't be killed?" A noticeable blush crept up Klein's face
"Well, I...um...you see...I...(sigh)...I don't know if you do still...but, I love you, Tate." Klein replied, going up to her and kissing her right on the lips.
"Klein...I...I love you too." Tate said, her mind full of emotions as she returned the kiss to her Klein. "I always loved you. You are that special someone to me."
"I know. You never let anything get you down, and I grew fond of you, Tate."
"Happy day!" Yoshi announced.
"Mazel tov! (Hebrew for congratulations)" Mewtwo responded.
"Yeah! Let's celebrate!" Pichu replied, pulling out the bottle of cider from the Harvest Festival and 17 glasses. "Let us drink to your health and to your fortune, and to hell with the aftereffects."
"How sweet..." Tate answered.
"Pichu!" Roy exasperated.
"What if you get drunk again?" Link said. But the entire group erupted in laughter as they enjoyed every minute of the day. It was then that superdave grabbed Souvenir Set 5 (see ch. 6) and a spare Souvenir Set 1 (see ch. 2) and announced, "Well, if I know Georgia, there's a lot of people who need a superhero there. I have enjoyed my time; I never did like mushy stuff though. See ya!" With that, superdave transformed into a carrier eagle and flew off with the Souvenir Sets. After that, it was uneventful, with Marth and Sheeda, Fox and Falco, and Mario and Luigi coming in that order, leaving Young Link and Dr. Mario as the last to arrive.
"I'm sorry to tell you that you are eliminated from the Amazing Race." Nintendo Nut1 handed them a Souvenir Set and watched as they walked sadly off the set.
"Well, that was fun while it lasted, but I guess I wanted to go all the way..." Young Link balefully muttered.
And that is the 6th leg of the race. If you are applying for the co-host position, you know the drill:
Penname:
Age:
Favorite Smasher:
Description:
GENDER!
hair color
eye color
your attire
race
personality
any personality quirks
The following Souvenir Set will be awarded to the lucky person who becomes the next co-host:
The Castle Ostia miniature
A Lord Hector figurine
The Divine Weapon, Durandal
A Guidebook to Ostia
The Guide to Ostia for Dummies book
A new weapon of your choice
The Fire Emblem: Fuuin No Tsurugi video game
Farewell! Until next time!
Gamer21