The Amazing Race: Video Game Edition

by TARfan97

It's an adventure that can't be missed. Twelve teams of fan-favorite Nintendo characters embark on a race around the universe for a cash prize of one million dollars. Nine teams will be eliminated, three teams will make it to the end, but only one team will emerge victorious. This is an Amazing Race story like no other in history. This is The Amazing Race: Video Game Edition.

17. Episode 6 Part 2

Episode 6 - Now I Have to Bring Out The Frying Pan, Part II

Hi everyone, TARfan97 here! I hope everyone is doing their best to stay safe during this very tough time that the world is going through right now. I hope this update on my story will help provide a temporary distraction, and I hope you all enjoy. Also, here's to the TAR 32 premiere, and I cannot wait till it airs this May.

…

Picking up from where we left off at the Cornerian Air & Space Museum in Corneria City, all seven remaining teams had just recently gotten into a big fight that eventually turned into an all-out brawl, so Master Hand had to arrive in order to break it up. When he ordered all seven teams to go to opposite sides of the area, all seven teams knew they had landed in hot water. Likewise, this meant the game had to be put on temporary shut down so that Master Hand could diffuse the situation before it got too out of hand.

Master Hand had always known it was only a matter of time before the racers started getting on each other's nerves. It was inevitable really. He just didn't fathom that it would get this bad. Although he couldn't deny that the fight entertained him greatly - not to mention, the ratings that it could bring to the show. Still, however, Master Hand knew that all seven teams needed to be punished in some way for resorting to violence. Ordinarily, if anyone chose to act in such a manner, that was grounds for dismissal right there. However, since all seven teams miraculously chose to brawl with one another, that was out of the question since that meant shutting down the game entirely.

'Ugh!' Thought Master Hand to himself. 'This job is such a pain!' Master Hand obviously had no intention of kicking anyone out, not when this race was just getting good. Still, he needed to think of an alternative punishment, one that would work for both him and the network.

In the meantime, each team was shown sitting at a different spot far away from each other while being kept watch by production crew members, many of whom that were now running around frantically due to everything that just happened. Because the fighting got so intense, several racers were shown with cuts, scrapes, bruises, black eyes, etcetera, that they ended up having to get taken care of by the medical team. Some teams were still angry and upset over the whole incident while other teams were already feeling ashamed for what they did.

CONFESSIONAL:

MARIO & LUIGI: Brothers/Plumbers

"It was-a total madness," said Mario. "We were told not-a say a word to anyone while production had to assess everything, which I think-a was definitely the right-a thing to do, because otherwise there'd have been more trouble."

PEACH & DAISY: Princesses/Best Friends

"So many people got injured in that fight," said Peach, while surveying her bandages. "I ended up with like five cuts on myself, but I was even more upset with Daisy. I couldn't believe she would just attack my boyfriend like that. She knows my Mario would never intentionally hurt a lady, so she owes him a serious apology."

END:

If this were a fighting tournament, Master Hand would have praised the racers for what they did, but the Amazing Race was an entirely different competition. He knew for the sake of the show's livelihood that he needed to reprimand the teams in some way, and it had to sound convincing in front of the network. Getting in touch with his acting ability, he began to give them the most brutal scolding at that he could think of.

"Alright, I need all seven teams back over here immediately! NOW!" Master Hand boomed. All seven teams immediately obeyed and began gathering before him while camera crew and such went back to their places.

CONFESSIONAL:

FOX & KRYSTAL: Dating

"It amazes me how so much conflict got built up into one big blow-up in such a short amount of time," said Fox. "Of course, I expected this sort of thing from Bowser & Bowser Jr. since those two practically 'thrive' on conflict. I just didn't think Link of all people had it in him to lose his cool and be the one to strike first by tackling Bowser like that… but of course, Bowser DID insult Link's late mother. Not to mention, the whole trampling thing so… As for Daisy, for some reason, she somehow thinks that Mario tried to shove her on purpose to try and get an earlier number, but… come on now. We all know that's just nonsense. As for Ness & Lucas," Fox sighed. "Yes, I admit, I messed up by not being more honest with them, and I guess Zelda's attempt to cut in front of everyone at the front gate was maybe pushing it a little too far, but… for Ness & Lucas to try and blame Krystal and I for everything that just went wrong for them in the heat of the moment?" Fox shook his head. "That to me is just not cool."

END:

"WHAT is the matter with all of you crazy idiots?!" Master Hand yelled. "Have you all forgotten that this is supposed to be a family friendly TV show? FAMILY FRIENDLY! You do know what that means, right? That means there are KIDS watching you run this race, and the kids are supposed to be your BIGGEST FANS for crying out loud! They worship you! They look up to you! They even look at some of you as roll-models! Just what kind of an example do you think you're setting by fighting like a pack of ANIMALS?! Huh?! Do you not realize just how much you risk your own opportunity to play this game with that kind of behavior?! When are you EVER going to learn that your actions have CONSEQUENCES?!"

None of the racers could edge in a word in otherwise. They were just so ashamed that they didn't even know what to say.

CONFESSIONAL:

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Long Distance Dating

"I hate it when Master Hand gets mad at us," said Kirby. "It's never a good feeling to be brutally scolded at by him, especially when some of us were actually tried to behave ourselves. I'm definitely feeling like Jigglypuff and I are the ones that got dragged into that fight more than anyone else. We didn't cut in front of anyone or shove anyone, we were just minding our own business while trying to run this race. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, people start yelling at Jigglypuff for no reason, and then after that, Bowser Jr. starts throwing fireballs at me for no reason, and when all of this is happening to you with a stomach ache, that's bound to set you off."

END:

"Now, I'd like to know who started this fight and why!" Master Hand demanded.

Without wasting a second, everyone immediately pointed fingers at Bowser & Bowser Jr.

"They started it," said Kirby. "Bowser Jr. tried to burn me for no reason!"

"AND they even shoved me like three times already!" Jigglypuff added.

"Oh sure, blame the evil bad guys," said Bowser, rolling his eyes. "How predictable."

"Yeah, we're the real victims here," said Bowser Jr. "Everyone's just scapegoating us because they hate us. We're not the ones to blame here."

"You ARE the ones to blame!" said Link, who then faced Master Hand while pointing at the two koopas. "They've been bullying and harassing everyone this entire time! They are vile, horrible, and cruel! They deserve to be kicked off!"

"Uh, excuse me, Mr. Oh So Angelic," Bowser retaliated towards Link, "aren't YOU the one who tackled me in the first place? If anyone should be kicked off for resorting to violence, it's you."

"Hey! Link only tackled you because you kept taunting him, Bowser!" said Zelda, defending her boyfriend. "And just for the record, YOU'RE the one who resorted to violence first when you trampled me!"

"I second that notion!" said Jigglypuff, raising her hand. "They're playing way too rough. They need to go. Now!"

"Affirmative," said Fox.

"I agree," said Peach.

"Same-a here," said Luigi.

"Yeah, they're bad!" said Lucas.

"You're all a bunch of pathetic losers," Bowser Jr. retorted.

"SILENCE!" Master Hand boomed, petrifying the racers once more. "In case you don't realize, you are ALL guilty of resorting to violence! You all chose to let your anger get the better of you by fighting with each other! You ALL deserve to be kicked off this race! In fact, you deserve it so much that I may as well end this race right now!"

"What?" cried Lucas. "No!"

"No! Please! We won't do it again, we promise!" Jigglypuff begged.

"Master Hand, please, don't do this!" Krystal pleaded him.

"PIPE DOWN!" Master Hand boomed again, nearly causing some nearby buildings to crumble. "I didn't actually say that I was going to kick any of you off!"

"Huh?" said Peach.

"What?" said Bowser Jr.

"I'm confused," said Link, scratching his head.

"Look, the network can try to breath down my back for this mess should they dare to do so, yet what I say still goes. On MY terms, this race will continue like normal, and not one of you is leaving. Not anyone."

"Ha, ha!" said Bowser Jr., mocking the other teams by pointing at them. "Losers!"

"And you all thought you'd gotten rid of us for good," Bowser bemused, irking everyone even further.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" said Zelda, being overdramatic. "That is so unfair! Bowser and his horrible son DESERVE to get kicked off this race! Bowser frickin' TRAMPLED me for crying out loud! That is just WRONG!" Zelda stopped to take a couple breaths. "I am just so sick of those two horrible monsters always being rewarded for their bad behavior… I'm sick of it!"

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: Father-Son

"I still maintain this whole 'trampling business' is Garbage Princess's own fault," said Bowser, referring to Zelda. "She was practically begging for it. She should have just stayed in her place - which is last place - and not try to cut in front of us at that front gate. Besides, if I truly wanted to harm her, I would've done far worse to her."

END:

In spite of everyone's annoyance at the koopa's being unfairly reprieved again, everyone was happy nonetheless that no one was getting the boot just yet and that the race was still on. There was cheering and hugging and everything.

"Don't be so relieved," said Master Hand, waving his big finger, "I'm not letting you all off the hook that easily… You all still need to be punished for what you did!"

That's when everyone got nervous again.

"Now, we haven't decided what your punishment will be just yet, but I'm going to make sure of it that none of you are going to like it," Master Hand warned. "This way, there will be no more incidents like this ever happening again, or at least there better not be, otherwise next time I might not be so gracious."

Luigi gulped.

"I'll let you all know what your punishment will be once this leg is over… for the six teams that will be continuing on that is."

Suddenly, this put everyone in a state of shock.

"What?!" said Krystal, completely taken aback.

"You can't be serious!" said Bowser, infuriated.

"You mean this isn't going to be a non-elimination leg?" said Kirby.

"Yes, Captain Obvious, it isn't," said Master Hand. No one could believe that they were all being informed of this right away. "If you don't like it, you can either moan and complain like whiny little babies, or you can take it like real competitors and race your butts off to avoid elimination. Now, if you excuse me, it's time for me to go."

The ominous black hole from before had reappeared up in the sky.

"Wait!" cried Lucas before he left. "So, just to be clear, you're REALLY not going to kick any of us off?" He asked for he still couldn't believe any of what just happened.

"Believe me kid, by the time we let you know what your real punishment is, you're going to wish you were kicked off this race!" Master Hand threatened. "Now, good day to you all, and don't cause any more trouble!"

After that, Master Hand exited through the black hole and left. Once he was gone, there was nothing but awkward silence for a few moments before people started talking again.

"What do you think Master Hand is-a going to do to us?" Mario wondered.

"We're not going to have to perform community service, are we?" said Zelda, who hated doing manual labor.

"Maybe he'll whip us all to death," said Bowser, trying to instill fear in other teams.

"No, he's not!" said Peach. "Master Hand's lot of things, but he's definitely not cruel. Not like you!"

"Yeah, but…" Ness began, "knowing Master Hand's usual punishments, he'll probably force us to eat fried beetle larvae for dinner or something."

"Don't!" cried Kirby, not wanting to get grossed out since he already had an upset stomach.

"I don't really care," Fox shrugged. "As long as I'm not kicked off this race, I'll take whatever punishment that he sees fit."

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"Man, I'll tell you, we really got off easy on this one," said Lucas. "I thought the game was over right then and there. Still, you can't help but feel worried about what's going to happen to you in the future, especially when you know you're either going to get eliminated, or you end up staying but have to face some unknown horrible punishment. My mom always told me that violence never solves anything, and now… I think I finally understand why, so it's definitely safe to say I'm going to be taking her advice a whole lot more from now on."

END:

Without a moment's waste, the race was now back in session, and it was time to begin the arwing rides. Falco Lombardi - an ace pilot of the Star Fox team, as well as a fellow colleague of Fox & Krystal - came over to the seven teams to call for the first team to get on.

"I need for team number one to come over here please," said Falco.

"That's us," said Bowser Jr., handing him slip #1.

Falco escorted the two koopas to two automatic arwings and helped them each climb aboard.

"Oh-ho, this is going to be sweet!" said Bowser Jr., feeling excited.

In the meantime, Peach was feeling greatly concerned about her and Daisy's standing in the game as she was shown talking to the camera. "Because we ended up getting the seventh number for the arwing rides, this means we're going to be leaving in last place. Plus, now that we know that this is an elimination leg, we're going to have to work extra hard if we want to stay in this game."

Fox & Krystal on the other hand, who had gotten the sixth number, weren't as worried as the princesses.

"In this leg, Krystal and I have the homeland advantage," Fox said to the camera, "so even though we're now in the back of the pack, I definitely feel confident that we can catch up to everyone because we know where to go from here."

Once Bowser & Bowser Jr. were safely buckled in and secure, Bill went to the control panels and began closing the front cockpits of both arwings.

"First place baby!" Bowser yelled out to the other teams as the front rear finished closing. "In your face, losers! Bwahahaha!"

"Shut up," said an irritated Zelda quietly while several other racers either shook their heads or rolled their eyes in irritation.

"And just how did those two monsters get in first place again?" said Ness.

"Yeah," said Jigglypuff. "Last time I checked; they were in last."

Falco pressed a green button on the control panel. Suddenly, both arwings began floating over the ground and ascended into the air. Once they were clear to take off, both arwings suddenly shot into the sky at high speeds.

"Yeah Hoo!" cried Bowser Jr.

"Oh… my… gooooosh!" cried Bowser as the arwings sped up faster into the sky.

The scene transitioned back to the racers watching.

"Holy cow!" said Link, amazed by what he was seeing. "That looks awesome!"

"It looks nauseating," said Zelda, feeling sick to her stomach just by watching it happening.

"It looks like fun!" said Daisy.

"Oh, it is," said Fox. "It really is."

"You know, Fox, you didn't put up much of a fight back there," said Falco, teasing him. "Have you been slacking off on your work-out regimen or are you just getting old? He, he."

Krystal couldn't help but giggle at this, causing Fox to go sweat drop in embarrassment.

"…Oh, can it, Falco," said Fox, for he was only in his late twenties. "I was just going easy on them, that's all. Besides, aren't you supposed to be a year older than me?" he said this with a sly grin.

"Heh," was Falco's only response. He and Fox had been piloting rivals for as long as they could remember.

Meanwhile, once both arwings got high enough, they suddenly made a backwards loop and started heading down towards the ocean while spinning around.

"W-W-Whoa!" cried Bowser Jr., hanging on for dear life.

Then suddenly, both arwings pulled up before hitting the water and then they started spinning around before going back up again.

"Yeah!" Bowser Jr. yelled out. "This is totally sick!"

"I think I'm going to become sick!" said Bowser, getting dizzy.

This went on for several more minutes. The arwings performed loops, barrel rolls, dives, etc. It was just like a rollercoaster. Finally, it was time to land. Once both arwings had landed back down, both koopas quickly unbuckled and got out.

"That… was… WICKED!" said Bowser Jr. ecstatically. "I want to ride it again!"

"Ugh! No thank you," said Bowser, rubbing his head, pretending to have a headache. "I thought I was going to die from head explosion doing that."

"H-H-Head explosion?" said Lucas, who was now beginning to fear for his life.

Krystal shook her head at Bowser for this. "What a drama queen."

"Oh no," said Zelda, feeling concerned since they were going next, "it's really going to be that bad?"

"Don't listen to him," said Krystal. She knew he was obviously trying to psych the other teams out. "You're going to have loads of fun. Trust me."

Kirby, however, still remained worried for his stomach still wasn't feeling very good from yesterday's food-poisoning.

"Congratulations. Here is your next clue," said Falco, handing it over to Bowser.

"Thanks." Bowser swiped it out of his hands.

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: Currently in 1st Place

"Alright, we're out of here," said Bowser, picking up his pack.

"See ya, wouldn't want to be ya," Bowser Jr. taunted the other teams again. Jigglypuff stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Once they were at a safe distance from the other teams, Bowser ripped open the clue to read it. "Make your way by taxi to the Cornerian Military Base and look for the person in this picture." Bowser was now holding a picture of a fighter pilot in the form of an anthropomorphic bulldog wearing a green helmet.

TOAD'S NARRATION:

"After completing the arwing rides, teams must get in a taxi, travel several miles, and find the Cornerian Military Base," said Toad. "The clues will each provide teams with a pass that will let them go inside the base. Once inside, they must ask around for anyone that knows the person in the picture given to them and find out where to find him. Teams will learn that the person they're looking for is Bill Grey, an experienced fighter pilot and leader of the bulldog and husky units. Once they find him, he will give them their next clue."

END:

"Once you find the person in the picture, you'll receive your next clue," Bowser read.

"Alright, let's find a taxi already," said Bowser Jr.

The two koopas quickly ran off to go find a taxi outside the museum entrance. Meanwhile…

"Team number two, going next," said Falco.

"Alright, that's us," said Link, who then handed him slip #2.

"Oh, my goddesses," said Zelda, getting more and more anxious. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"I was feeling really, really scared," said Zelda. "I had never ridden in an arwing before, so this was definitely something new for me. I just kept thinking 'What if there's a power failure and my arwing ends up crashing and exploding?' You know? I could seriously die doing this."

END:

Meanwhile…

"Taxi!" cried Bowser out to a cabbie that was driving down the road. It then slowed down for them.

"We need to get to the Cornerian Military Base, fast!" said Bowser, paying his fair to the driver.

"You got it sir," he said. They then immediately departed.

As for Link & Zelda, once they were safely buckled in both arwings, Falco Lombardi closed the front cockpits.

"No turning back now," said Link.

Falco then pressed the buttons on the control panels to close both cockpits of the arwings. Meanwhile, Krystal was using her telekinetic powers to sense how they were both feeling.

"You think they'll be alright?" Fox asked her.

"Link should, but I can sense that Zelda is becoming more and more of a nervous wreck," said Krystal, almost pitying her.

Soon after that, the arwings were shown shooting up into the air at fast speeds once again.

"Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!" cried Zelda repeatedly while covering her eyes with her hands.

"Woooooo-hooooooo!" yelled Link, who was having the time of his life.

In the meantime, tensions were beginning to arise amongst some of the waiting teams again. Ness & Lucas were avoiding Fox & Krystal and the Mario Bros out of bitterness due to the latter two teams' previous actions relating to their alliance. And while Kirby & Jigglypuff held no ill will towards any members of the Final Three Alliance, they took Ness & Lucas's side to show their loyalty to the Helping Hand Alliance.

"I see you've got your work cut out for you, Fox," said Falco, observing his and Krystal's competition.

"That's one way of putting it," said Fox while feeling the ire of Ness & Lucas.

"I can sense that Ness despises us," said Krystal, using her telekinetic powers again. "This isn't good Fox. If this keeps up, him and Lucas might even persuade other teams to gun for us."

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"I want absolutely nothing more to do with Fox, Zelda, or anyone in that stupid final three alliance," said Ness. "They showed their true colors by stabbing us in the back multiple times. Fox & Krystal keep cheating us out of plane tickets while lying about it to our faces, Zelda tried breaking the agreement by cutting in front of us at the gate, and even Mario tried to shove his girlfriend's best friend out of the way just to get ahead! There is nothing ethical about the way any of them are playing this game and I want them all gone, especially Fox & Krystal."

END:

"What are we going to do about this, Fox?" said Krystal, for she didn't want a target on her back like this. "How can we convince Ness & Lucas that we're not trying to hurt them in any way?"

Fox shrugged. "Well, we could always try telling them everything they want to hear and apologize. It's either that or we have to start helping them out too. Whatever it takes to convince them that we're not out to get them."

Krystal looked back at Ness, who glared at her in response. "You're probably right."

As for Peach & Daisy... they had a conflict of their own that seriously needed to be addressed.

"I can't believe we're in last place now," Daisy complained. "We do not deserve this. Not after how hard we've worked to ensure that we would get a good spot in line."

"Well you know, in a way, you kind of deserve it, that's for sure," said Peach.

"Excuse me?" said Daisy, taken aback by that comment. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean, unless you're clueless as to why I am now angry at you."

"What are you talking about, Peach? What did I do to suddenly make you angry at me?"

"What did you d- I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Daisy. How dare you!"

"Okay, I don't understand what your problem is right now, so… what? You saying you want beef with me? Is that what you want?"

"Clearly, you're the one who wants beef with me since you're the one who decided to attack my boyfriend! Both verbally and physically, and for no reason!"

"Hey, just in case you don't remember, HE was the one who ran into ME on purpose! My attacking him was perfectly warranted. Did you not see the way he tried to shove me out of the way just so he could get the first number?!"

"No, I didn't see it, nor do I believe it! You are completely mistaken if you think he did it on purpose!"

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are! My boyfriend would never intentionally harm a female. Never in a million years! You should be ashamed of yourself for reacting the way you did, Daisy!"

Overhearing the commotion, Luigi tapped Mario's shoulder.

"What-a?"

"They're-a fighting," Luigi said silently, beckoning his finger at the princesses. Luigi was always a sucker for catfights. At that moment, everyone left present bore witness to the two princesses fighting.

"I had every right to react the way I did, Peach! I wasn't going to just stand there and take it like some passive, old-fashioned female!"

"That's where you're wrong, Daisy! You'd have been the bigger person if you had decided to just let it go and not let it get to you, but nooooooooo… You decided to let your emotions guide your conscience and take it out on my dearly beloved! You didn't even take my own feelings into account! I mean, how did you think I was going to feel about it when you attacked him, Daisy?! There was nothing classy about what you did. Nothing classy at all!"

"Well excuse me for being the victim, Peach! Honestly, I would've thought that you, my best friend, would understand where I was coming from! I thought you'd be okay with how I handled Mario because I thought we understood each other!"

"That is so pathetic and idiotic of you, Daisy!" Peach yelled. "Clearly, I am NOT okay with it at all! You didn't even properly take into account as to whether or not it was truly intentional! If you had handled it differently, we wouldn't even be in the mess that we're in right now!"

"This is not my fault, Peach! If Mario hadn't ran into me, he wouldn't have made me knock over the number stand, and thus, we wouldn't be in last place because of that! It's all his fault due to his own foolishness and recklessness!"

"Oh, so you're telling me that just because of that, you decided to put our game in jeopardy by attacking him with your frying pan! Admit it, Daisy, you're a major contributor as to why that huge fight went down between every single one of us!"

"You leave my frying pan out of this!" Daisy yelled. "Besides, I'm not the one who started that fight, just like I'm not the one who started this stupid fight, so don't get all over me, sweetheart!"

"Well, what are you going to do? You going to bring out your frying pan and attack me with it? I'd like to see you try since I'm the one who taught you all of your moves!"

"Oh! Believe me! I don't even NEED my frying pan to take YOU on in a fight! You filthy hag!"

Peached gasped before quickly responding with… "Ugly witch!"

"Spoiled brat!"

"Dirty rat!"

"Fat pig!"

"Stupid cow!"

"Oh boy…" said Lucas, who never liked seeing two good friends fight with each other. "It's getting ugly all over again."

"Boyfriend beater!" said Peach.

"Victim blamer!" said Daisy.

"Icky slug!"

"Smelly maggot!"

"Emotional idiot!"

"Poster-child of helpless princesses!"

"Hypocrite!"

By using their words instead of their frying pans, the two princesses continued lashing out at each other with the most hurtful names they could think of. The Mario Bros couldn't help but giggle at this major tiff that the two girls were having.

"Wow," said Mario, shaking his head while trying his best to contain his laughter.

CONFESSIONAL:

MARIO & LUIGI: Brothers/Plumbers

"This-a game is just bringing out the worst in everyone," Mario bemused. "I mean, Mama-Mia."

"Yep-a, that's the Amazing Race for you," Luigi agreed. "It does-a that to you."

END:

It wasn't long until Link & Zelda had finished their turn riding the arwings as they landed back down at the museum. Once Falco had opened the cockpits, the Hylian couple had gotten out.

"That was fun!" said Link, excited from the adrenaline rush. "Did you have fun, Zelda?"

"Yeah, I guess so… except I never want to do that ever again."

Suddenly, Link & Zelda spotted the Mario Bros consoling two crying princesses. Apparently, the more Peach & Daisy kept throwing hurtful words at each other, the more it wore down on them both emotionally, and it wasn't long before they had to bring out the tissues.

"Uh…what happened to them?" said Link, curious as to why they were both suddenly having this random emotional meltdown.

"You-a really want to know?" said Luigi, consoling a crying Daisy.

"It's nothing major," said Jigglypuff, reassuring him while holding a tissue box for them. "They're just having one of those personal B.F.F. moments. Nothing to worry about."

"It's just a little disagreement between them, that's all," Krystal added.

"Oh my," said Zelda, almost amused.

Fox then quickly whispered to Link, "They totally just got into this epic verbal smackdown. You should've seen it."

"No way, really?" said Link, who was now feeling intrigued by this before being suddenly pulled back by Zelda.

"Come on, Link!" said Zelda, impatiently. "We got to go now!"

"Alright, alright!"

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," said Falco, handing it over to Link.

"Thanks a lot, man."

LINK & ZELDA: Currently in 2nd Place

Once Link & Zelda had read their clue, they left the museum to search for a taxi like the koopas did before them.

"Team number three?" said Falco.

"Alright, it's our turn now, Kirby," said Jigglypuff, who then handed her tissue box over to Mario before running back to her partner. "Isn't it exciting?!"

Kirby rubbed his hurting belly. "Uh… just great." His upset stomach was getting so much worse, he'd rather pass out.

Jigglypuff gave Falco slip #3 before they proceeded to climb aboard the arwings. Once inside, the two puffballs were getting buckled in. Kirby's buckle got latched onto him so tightly, it increased the pain of his stomach even more. "Rggh!" he cried. 'Why didn't I take any stomach medicine this morning?" But there was nothing he could do about now as the arwing's front cockpit closed in.

Meanwhile, back outside the museum entrance, Link & Zelda were busy getting a cab.

"Taxi!" cried Link, remembering everything Fox & Krystal taught them on how to get one.

Once a taxi slowed down and parked next to them, Link put both their bags in the back of the trunk while Zelda worked with the taxi driver, who was an anthropomorphic panda.

"We need to get to the Cornerian Military Base, and we need to get there fast."

"Sure thing, miss."

Meanwhile, Kirby & Jigglypuff were now flying up in the air in their arwings.

"YAY!" yelled Jigglypuff with her little arms up in the air as her arwing was shooting straight up into the sky along with Kirby's.

"AHHHHH!" Kirby screamed. He wanted to have fun, but the pain in his stomach made it impossible as his arwing kept shooting at high speeds. Suddenly, both arwings took a U-turn before flying down towards the ocean.

Meanwhile, once Link closed up the trunk to the taxi, he was shown rubbing his belly as his own upset stomach from yesterday's food poisoning started getting worse again, but he ignored it as he got in the backseat. Soon, they were settled in and on their way to the base.

"I wonder what's gotten into Peach & Daisy all of a sudden?" said Link. "They're usually calmer and more collected than this."

"I think the stress of last place is getting to them," said Zelda. "Oh well. Too bad for them. I mean, they kind of deserve it after what they did to us earlier."

"Huh?" Link was taken aback by that statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"Trying to force me not to go first at the museum entrance when I had every right to? That's so petty of them. Same thing goes for those brats, Ness & Lucas."

"Come on, Zel," said Link, taken aback by her snide comments, "they're only wanting this game to be as fair as possible. You probably would've done the same thing if you were in their shoes."

"No, I just would've handled it better because I'm not okay with it whenever anyone bullies me out of first place. That's just not cool."

Link sighed with disbelief. "It didn't seem like they were bullying you, Zelda. I mean, it did feel a lot like you were trying to get us to cut in line back there. Besides, we did form an agreement with Ness & Lucas after all, so what was the point in breaking if it was only going to make them angry at us?"

"It's not cutting in line if the line isn't there anymore, Link. They chose to leave the front of the line because they weren't there at the gate entrance when we got there this morning. You remember that? That's what gave me the right to get us in front of everyone, and they didn't like that which makes them selfish, so they really were being petty by bullying us out of the front of the line when they did and I don't respect them for that. I'm sorry, but that's just my point of view on this."

Link sighed while shaking his head. "Whatever, princess technical."

Meanwhile, the puffballs continued flying down towards the ocean in their arwings.

"Woo hoo!" cried Jigglypuff. "This is fun! Faster! Faster!"

"Ay, ay, ay, ay!" cried Kirby as his arwing got closer to the ocean.

Before hitting the water, both arwings suddenly pulled up and went back up into the air. Kirby's arwing then suddenly started doing tons of barrel roles. "Whooooaaaa!" Hi cried. That's when his stomach started churning violently. "Uh, oh!"

Both arwings then took sharp turns. Before long, Kirby's pink skin had suddenly turned into an ugly shade of green. His insides were preparing for a volcanic eruption, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't keep it down any longer… "Bweeeeghhh!" He uttered as gooey vomit splattered all over the inside of the arwing… it was not a pretty sight. "Ugh!" he uttered.

Then suddenly, the aircraft continued spinning around, causing puke to go flying all over the place. Eventually, the arwing stopped spinning for Kirby to be able to contain himself a bit. "Poyo…" Kirby complained as he was now sick and covered in puke.

Meanwhile, Link's upset stomach was finally beginning to catch up to him too. Unlike Kirby, however, Link's stomach problems had decided to take the other exit, and Link couldn't take it anymore.

"Ergh!" Link winced. "Man, I really have to go badly."

"Can't you hold it in a little longer, Link?" said Zelda, not wanting to fall behind again.

"No, I can't. If I do… ergh!" Link winced.

"Why didn't you just use the bathroom while we were still at the museum?"

"I didn't have to go then! Besides, we were in a hurry."

Zelda facepalmed herself before throwing her hands up in disbelief. "I can't believe this! This is very bad timing Link. VERY bad timing."

"Tell that to my digestive system."

Zelda went to talk to the cab driver. "Sir, I'm really sorry, but we need to find a place that has a restroom."

"You can't be serious," he said, annoyed as he was already heading into busy traffic.

"Please, I have to go really bad!" Link told him.

The taxi driver sighed. "Fine. Well, there should be one at a restaurant just a couple miles ahead. We'll have to go there since it's closer."

Meanwhile, the arwings the puffballs were in had landed back on the ground at the museum. By this point, the princesses had calmed down a bit. Once the puffballs got out, the other teams, as well as Jigglypuff, were completely surprised by the poor state Kirby was in.

"Oh my goodness," said Daisy, covering her mouth in shock while looking at Kirby. "Is he covered in vomit?"

"Kirby!" cried Jigglypuff, shocked by the filthy state he was in. "Kirby, my sweetie, what happened!?"

"No way," said Fox, surprised yet a bit amused. "He actually threw up in there?"

"I don't feel so good," said Kirby, rubbing his head for he was now getting a sick headache.

"Oh boy," said Jigglypuff, feeling his forehead. "You've got a fever. We need to get you some medicine, stat."

While the medical team was taking care of Kirby again, the other teams were surveying the arwing Kirby rode in.

"Holy heck," said Lucas, looking at the big disgusting mess inside. "Look at all that puke."

"Ugh!" said Peach, waving her hands in front of her nose to detract the smell while retreating from the look of the messy aircraft. "That's disgusting."

"I'm-a guessing one of us is going to have to ride in this puke filled arwing, huh, Mario," said Luigi.

"Yep-a," said Mario, "No doubt about that, Luigi."

"Wow, that really stinks for you guys," said Krystal, pitying them since they were going next. "No pun intended of course. Heh, Heh."

"Don't-a feel bad," Mario responded. "We're-a plumbers after all. We've-a handled stinky situations like this countless times."

"Yep," said Luigi, "We can handle riding in a puke filled-a arwing."

"Not going to happen," said Falco.

"…Say wha?!" said Mario.

"We can't have anyone riding in an aircraft covered in puke. That's a safety hazard and a health violation; hence, it's against regulation rules. We'll have to transport a new aircraft over here before we can let you guys have your turn."

"Aw, seriously?" said Luigi, disappointed upon hearing this. "Come on."

CONFESSIONAL:

MARIO & LUIGI: Brothers/Plumbers

"I was-a very disappointed," said Luigi. "I really wanted to ride in that-a puke filled arwing just to show people how tough I am and that I'm-a really not to be underestimated. I mean… man, what a thrill that would have been."

"Wait a minute" said Mario, surprised upon hearing this. "You actually wanted to ride in that thing? …With all the puke splattered everywhere inside of it?"

"Yeah, totally," said Luigi. "It-a would've been a riot."

Mario laughed while shaking his head in amused disbelief. "Oh wow, you are just…"

"Oh, stop!" Luigi playfully nudged him, trying not to laugh as well. "Don't-a say I'm weird."

"You're a freak!" He said, messing with him. This caused both Mario Brothers to burst out laughing like crazy.

END:

"How long will it take for the arwing to get here?" Mario asked, hoping they didn't have to wait too long.

"Riiiiiight now," said Falco while pressing another button on the control panel, and then suddenly, in came a freshly clean arwing transported over to them like magic.

"Wow!" said Ness, in wonderment and disbelief.

"Cool, isn't it?" said Fox, trying to bring good vibes to them.

"The future is totally awesome!" said Lucas.

"Now we can get on," said Mario, itching to get moving as he handed Falco slip #4.

"Go right ahead," said Falco, giving the Mario Bros the go to take their turn on the arwing ride.

While Mario & Luigi were buckling themselves in, Kirby was fully taken care of. He had been fed stomach medicine while Jigglypuff cleaned as much vomit off of him as she could. They were now ready to go.

"You feeling better now, little guy?" Falco asked Kirby while handing Jigglypuff their clue.

"He'll be good as new in no time," said Jigglypuff, staying positive while ripping open the clue.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting there," he said, rubbing his belly once more.

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Currently in 3rd Place

Once the puffballs read where they had to go next, they quickly left the museum and went off in search of a taxi while the Mario Bros became the next team flying off into the air in the arwings.

As for Link & Zelda. While they were on their way to the restaurant to find a bathroom, traffic was getting bad again, and Link & Zelda's taxi started coming to a complete stop behind other cars.

"Urgh! We're not getting anywhere fast!" said Zelda, getting frustrated. Hailing from a more medieval existence, they were both completely new to the concept of traffic in a city, and Zelda did not like it at all.

Link's stomach was getting worse by the minute. "I can't wait any longer Zelda, I have to get out of this vehicle," Link said while unbuckling his seat belt.

"What?! No! Are you kidding me? Link, no! We're not even next to the sidewalk you idiot!" cried Zelda, who thought he was crazy trying to get out while there were still cars around. She tried to get him to sit back down, but Link persisted.

"I got to get out now, Zel," he insisted while opening the door. It was now time to get fearless. "Go ahead and pay him."

"But Link…" she started, but Link wasn't having it.

"Pay him NOW! I got to go, BAD!"

"Ugh, fine!" said Zelda, who then handed the taxi driver the cash they owed him while Link frantically got their bags out of the trunk.

When Link started walking, Zelda was too scared to get out of the taxicab.

"Zelda, come on!" yelled Link while carrying her backpack, wanting to get out of there already.

It was a struggle for her, but she knew this had to be done. "Uh… okay!" Eventually, she got out of the car and reluctantly faced her fear of potentially getting run over. She couldn't but feel paranoid that traffic would start speeding up again.

Together, Link & Zelda were shown quickly squeezing by the other cars in the multi-laned highway trying to get to the sidewalk while everyone else present was honking loudly at them and yelling at them to get back in their car.

"Argh! My goddesses, these people are loud!" cried Zelda, covering her ears.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"People were honking and yelling at us like they thought we were crazy," said Zelda. "I thought they were being rude the way they were doing it. I mean, I just… urgh! I hated it," she said, shaking her head.

END:

Once they reached the sidewalk, Link quickly started running again. Zelda struggled to keep up with him.

"I will never forgive you for making me do that, Link!" She yelled but Linked ignored her. As they ran, Zelda couldn't help but get anxious again about where they were going. "Link, how will we know which restaurant is the one that the cab driver was referring to?" said Zelda, still feeling anxious.

"I don't care, so long as whatever restaurant we find has a bathroom in it," said Link, running madly as though his bowels would burst any moment.

Meanwhile, the taxi the koopas were in had finally reached the military base.

"There it is, right there," said Bowser, getting out their money. "Go over to that toll gate right over there."

"Oki Doki," said the taxi driver, doing what he said. After a few minutes of waiting behind other vehicles, the taxicab pulled up next to a Cornerian soldier on toll duty. He began inspecting the inside of their vehicle to make sure there were no weapons in the cab.

"Alright, you're good," said the soldier. "Do you have a pass for us?"

"Got it right here," said Bowser Jr., showing it to him.

"Alright, you're clear to go."

Once the gate opened, the taxicab began driving around the inside of the base. The place was huge. They saw tons of troops and soldiers marching in formation from one place to another, there were battle ships being tested on, land masters were being driven through a big training field, arwings and spaceships were landing and taking off here and there. The whole place was incredible! The koopas, however, didn't pay any mind to it as they were too focused on running the race at the moment.

"Here, park over there," said Bowser, pointing to a spot in front of the main office. "We're going to ask around in there for a bit."

Once that was done, the Koopas were shown at the front desk of the office asking a uniformed female feline where to find the fighter pilot in their picture.

"He should be over at the military training grounds today," she said. "Just drive three blocks north of here, turn right, and you can't miss it."

"Thanks," said Bowser. They then quickly ran back to their taxi.

"Alright, turn up here and go three blocks east," Bowser demanded once they got back in.

"Oki-doki," said the taxi driver.

Back at the museum, Mario & Luigi were finishing up their turns riding the arwings.

"Yahoo!" cried Luigi.

"Wow, that-a was awesome!" cried Mario.

Once the arwings landed back down at the museum, the Mario Bros quickly unbuckled and got back out.

"Hey, boys," said Krystal. "Did y'all have fun?"

"It-a was amazing!" said Luigi, giving two thumbs up.

"Good," said Fox, pleased to hear that. "Glad y'all enjoyed it."

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," said Falco.

"Thanks-a," said Mario, who proceeded to rip it open.

MARIO & LUIGI: Currently in 4th Place

"Now it's our turn," said Lucas, feeling excited as he handed Falco slip #5.

"I just hope I don't throw up like Kirby did," said Ness as they got inside the arwings.

Back at the military base, the koopas had reached their next destination once they spotted a red & yellow flag. After getting out and telling the taxi driver to stay where he was at, the koopas went off in search of Bill Grey.

"Alright, where is that furball?" said Bowser as they searched the area.

"Maybe we should look inside that big green building," said Bowser Jr., referring to the one in front of them on their left.

They went inside and searched. They had spotted a random soldier doing mechanical work on his ship.

"Hey!" said Bowser, holding up their picture to him after running up to him. "Is this you?"

"Uh… no," said the soldier.

"Ergh!"

With no luck, they decided to go out the other end of the building to look outside again and that's when they spotted another red and yellow flag. After running down the path from where the flag was pointing at, Bowser Jr. eventually spotted whom he believed to be the fighter pilot they were looking for. He was standing near a paintball shooting range.

"There he is," he said as he hurried toward him. "Hey!"

After running over to the fighter pilot, the koopas were now face to face with him.

"We'd like our clue now," Bowser Jr. demanded.

"Do you have a photo of me?" Bill responded.

"Right here," said Bowser, shoving the photo in his face.

"Alright, alright, you found me," He said, getting the photo out of his face. "Here's your next clue," Bill then handed it to them.

Upon obtaining their clue, Bowser Jr. ripped it open to read it. "It's another Roadblock. It says 'Welcome to training mode. Who'll take this one?'"

TOAD'S NARRATION:

"A Roadblock is a task that only one person may perform, and no person can perform more than six Roadblocks on the entire race," said Toad. "Corneria City is the home of the Cornerian Army where soldiers train hard to serve their home planet and fight for the peace and protection of Lylat. In this Roadblock, team members must take part in one of the Cornerian Army's most favored forms of combat training: paintball shooting. Team members will have to put on protective gear and pick to either be on the red team or the yellow team. After obtaining their paintball gun and learning how to use it, team members must go inside the battle arena to perform in an on-foot dogfight and shoot paintballs at the opposing team while playing capture the flag. If anyone gets shot, they must go back to home base, wait five minutes, and start over. To make the task more complicated, there are going to be three safe zones that team members out in the open can use to protect themselves. If anyone gets shot while in the safe zone, it won't count, but on the other side of the equation, if any team member shoots anyone that's inside the safe zone, they will have to go back to home-base, wait seven minutes, and then start over. If team members want to complete the task as quick as they can, they are going to have to be extra cautious as to when they can and cannot shoot opposing players. Once a team member captures the other team's flag and brings it to home-base, they will receive their next clue."

END:

"I'm doing it," said Bowser, opening the red envelope. "It's the only way we can keep the lead without you screwing things up for us like you usually do."

"Hey!" This remark annoyed Bowser Jr. greatly. "F.Y.I., aren't you the one who nearly got us kicked off the race in the first place by getting into a fight with Link?"

"That was Link's fault," he said while reading what he had to do. "He's the one who tackled me. Fricking moron couldn't leave me well enough alone."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have trampled his stupid girlfriend."

"Shut up! It's her own fault for getting in my way."

"Yeah, sure. Nothing is ever your fault. Not ever."

"Can it, son! I'm trying to read here!"

After he finished reading what he had to do, Bowser went over to where the Cornerian soldiers were at, who were all anthropomorphic canines. Two of them instructed Bowser to follow them. They led him to the equipment shed where all the paintball guns and gear were at. After helping him put on his jumpsuit and protective gear, they then had to instruct him on how to use a paintball gun. They showed him how to open the gun holster, how to put in ammo, and how to shoot properly. After that, they left Bowser to a couple minutes of target practice before they could let him inside the battle arena.

Link & Zelda, meanwhile, had finally reached the restaurant that they were looking for… or at least, the one that they thought was it, but that didn't really matter. Link quickly opened the entrance door and went inside.

"Hey ma'am, where's the bathroom?" Link asked a leopard hostess impatiently for he really had to go that badly.

"It's in the back," she said, pointing him towards it.

Link quickly ran towards it while Zelda decided to wait outside for him. Once Link was inside the men's room, however, he was met with immediate disappointment because every time he knocked on the door of the stalls, someone else would answer.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"I couldn't go to the bathroom because none of the bathroom toilets were vacant," said Link.

END:

"Come ON!" cried Link. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He just couldn't.

CONFESSIONAL:

"I really, REALLY had to go," said Link, suddenly looking red in the face over what transpired next, "so once I got out of that bathroom, I just bolted outside, and took an alternative option."

END:

"What the… "said Zelda, once she saw Link running out of the restaurant and into an alleyway. "Link, where are you going!?"

Link quickly went behind a dumpster where no one could see him, dropped his trousers, and immediately took a dump. Link had never felt so relieved.

"Link, what the heck are you…" Zelda gasped upon realizing what he was doing by smelling the foul odor. "Oh, my goddesses! Link, that's just gross!"

"Zelda, SHH!" said Link, who didn't want to attract attention while doing his business.

"Are you… have you gone whack, Link!? I'm… I'm completely embarrassed to be dating you! Don't you have any sense of decency!"

"Zelda be quiet! You're making a scene!"

"You are the filthiest human being in existence! Do you not realize how unsanitary that is!"

"Zelda, SHUT UP!" he cried, getting nervous as people were starting to notice.

Zelda gasped and covered her big mouth once she realized this.

"What's going on?" said one of the spectators. It was an anthropomorphic duck.

"Uh… nothing to see here, folks," said Zelda, madly waving her arms around as if she could magically cover the alleyway entrance. "Just go about your routines and enjoy this beautiful day. Heh heh…"

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

Zelda was shown covering her face in embarrassment. She was not happy with Link for how he handled the situation.

"I didn't mean to upset you like that, Zelda," said Link.

"Link… you are just…urgh!" she growled in frustration.

"I didn't have a choice. I really had to go."

"You're disgusting."

"It's wasn't my fault all the toilets were taken."

"Oh, so you really thought that going to the bathroom in some rotten alleyway where people could potentially see you was the best solution to the problem? You couldn't have just used the ladies' room?"

Link rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, and end up getting in trouble for harassment? No way. I'll take the dumpster any day."

"Ergh! Whatever, Link. You're still gross."

"Hey! Excuuuuuuuuse me, princess."

END:

Back at the Roadblock, after several minutes of target practice, Bowser was ready.

"Alright, which color team do you want to be on?" said one of the soldiers, carrying a red bandana and a yellow bandana.

"Definitely the red team," Bowser decided, taking the red bandana. "Yellow is for cowardly wimps, whereas red is the most powerful color of them all. He, he, he."

"Alright, I'm going to stay by your side while you're battling in that dome," said one of the soldiers. "My partner, Private Coop, will remain at home base guarding our team flag. Keep your headgear on so we can both speak to you whenever you're not around. Also, from now on, you're to address me as Private Whitey. Got it?"

"Private Whitey?" said Bowser, nearly bursting with laughter. "What? Did you get that name because you wear whitey tighties under that oh so tough uniform of yours? Ha, ha, ha!"

Private Whitey gave him a menacing glare. "They call me Whitey because of my sharp white fangs," he said, sheathing them frighteningly through his lips, making Bowser shut his big mouth. It's not wise to mess with soldiers after all.

"…Okay, fine, whatever… let's just do this already," said Bowser, still feeling pumped with his paintball gun fully loaded.

Bowser and Private Whitey began walking inside the battle arena. Once inside, Bowser put his safety goggles on while observing his surroundings. Already, he was hearing some shooting going on somewhere. He just couldn't see where.

CONFESSIONAL:

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: Father – Son

"It was like a maze in there," said Bowser. "There were these towering wooden walls all around the area and you had to wander around them and always keep an eye out for any enemies that could shoot you."

END:

Bowser Jr., meanwhile, was shown on the second-floor landing area behind a glass wall while observing everyone that was inside the huge battle arena. He was looking for his dad so he could see what he was doing. "Oh wait, there he is. Okay, so now he's just got to get to the other side to get the other team's flag and then come all the way back. I see that now."

While observing Bowser, Bowser Jr. noticed a few soldiers covered in paint were running down this long glass tube that was built one story above where everyone was shooting and went right down the middle of the arena. The glass tube had several ramps leading up to its openings that allowed soldiers to get inside. "I'll bet that big tube thingy is something soldiers have to run through to get back to home base if they ever get hit."

With Private Whitey right behind him, Bowser kept his finger near the trigger at all times while sneaking around the wooden walls. Suddenly, he spotted another soldier coming their way.

"Hyah!" cried Bowser as he pelted the soldier several times with paintballs. Covered in red paint, the canine soldier looked most annoyed

"Dude, we're on the same team!" said the canine soldier, pointing to his red bandana that he was wearing on his wrist. "What the heck, man?!"

"Oh… shoot!" said Bowser, feeling rather humiliated.

"Yeah, just in case you forgot, the other team is wearing yellow bandanas," said Private Whitey, nearly chuckling.

"I know that!" said an irked Bowser. "Just got a little excited is all."

Bowser Jr. facepalmed himself while shaking his head. "Man, that is just embarrassing."

Several moments later, after carefully sneaking around some walls here and there, Bowser looked through a peephole on one of them. He saw that there were no enemy soldiers on the other side, so he quickly went over there.

"Oh no, wait!" said Bowser Jr., realizing what was about to happen, "No! Dad! Don't go over there!"

Too late. Once he went to the other side of the wall and was out in the open…

Pew! Pew! Pew! Several paintball bullets were being shot at Bowser from a few soldiers hiding behind another wall.

"Ah crud!" said Bowser before hearing a loud buzzer sound on the ceiling speaker, which was followed by…

"PRIVATE BOWSER GO BACK TO HOME BASE!" said a big booming voice behind the loudspeaker.

"Ergh!" Bowser growled in utter annoyance while covered in yellow paint. "Just great!"

"Wow," said Bowser Jr., throwing his hands in the air, "already my dad sucks at this Roadblock."

"Follow me, soldier." Private Whitey escorted Bowser to a nearby ramp that led up to the big glass tube. "You'll have to go back to home base through this tube. That's the quickest way back." He said, confirming Bowser Jr.'s theory.

With that being said, Bowser quickly ran down the glass tube over to home base where their red flag was being guarded. Once there, Private Coop led Bowser inside a metal cage before locking it shut. He now had to wait in there for five minutes.

"This sucks," said Bowser, feeling most annoyed.

BOWSER: 4 Minutes, 57 Seconds to Go

"Looks like this is going to be a tough one for sure," said Bowser Jr.

Meanwhile, Link was finishing up his impromptu bathroom break in the alleyway, which went on for quite a while since his digestion problems were that bad.

"Come on, Link. Hurry up already!" yelled Zelda, growing more and more impatient. "We got to go! NOW!"

"Hold on, Zelda!" Link yelled back before zipping up his trousers.

Once Link was ready, he & Zelda went off in search of another taxi.

"You took way too long Link!" Zelda complained as they started searching. "WAY too long!"

"I can't control how my digestive system works, Zelda."

"Yes, you can, Link! Even I have better control over my own body. WAY better control."

"No, you don't. You're not the one with the upset stomach, and all of your excessive complaining never helps make it any better."

"I wouldn't have to complain if you would just take better care of yourself and not let that get in the way of this game, Link!"

"Well excuuuuuuuse me, princess!"

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"Zelda is always complaining about the most trivial things that have to do with me," said Link. "It doesn't matter whether I'm snoring at nighttime, or if I'm breathing through my nose too loud while I'm eating, or if I'm in the bathroom for too long. It's just complaint after complaint after complaint, and she can never get it through that fat head of hers that complaining never solves anything! It's so aggravating, and unnecessary, and it really makes me want to rip my own head off!"

END:

Pretty soon, the Hylian couple were able to find another taxi.

"We need to get to the Cornerian Base as fast as possible," said Link to the taxi driver before they were on their way.

"There better not be any more rest stops along the way, Link," Zelda chided him.

"Zelda… please just stop," said Link, almost begging her to.

As for Kirby & Jigglypuff, they became the next team to arrive at the Roadblock as they had unknowingly passed up Link & Zelda on the way to the military base in their taxicab. Jigglypuff was the one to receive their next clue from Bill Grey before ripping it open to read it."

"You're too sick to compete, Kirby," Jigglypuff insisted after reading the clue. "I'll do it."

Kirby did not object as Jigglypuff opened the red envelope to see what she had to do.

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Currently in 2nd Place

"It says I have to play capture the flag using a paintball gun?" said Jigglypuff, completely caught off guard. "…Oh my gosh."

Next thing she knew, she was shown struggling to put on a sweaty, used up jumpsuit, and she was not happy about it. "Urgh! This SUCKS!" she yelled out for everyone to hear, making some of the soldiers laugh.

"Wow," said Kirby, amused.

"I hate being so nice all the time, because then I end up having to put on dirty uniforms. Ugh!" Jigglypuff continued. Eventually, she got all her gear put on.

"Alright, now do you want to be on the red team, or the yellow team?" asked one of the canine soldiers, carrying the two bandanas.

"I'll take red." She then wrapped the red bandana around her head.

After a few minutes of target practice, Jigglypuff grabbed her paintball gun and went into the battle arena where Bowser was already at. The soldier that was accompanying her was named Private Steele while his partner guarding the red flag at home base was named Private Goldie. Already, she was shown wandering around the zigzagged walls that scoured the arena.

"Well, well, well," said Bowser Jr. as he saw Kirby walk over to where he was at, "Looks like you pink twerps finally arrived."

Kirby ignored him as he looked through the glass wall trying to find Jigglypuff.

Jigglypuff was shown to be shaking while carrying her paintball gun as she continued tip-toeing next to the walls.

CONFESSIONAL:

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Long Distance Dating

"I was feeling really nervous," said Jigglypuff. "I was felt weary of the prospect of getting hurt from being pelted by paintballs, I could barely get a hold of myself at first."

END:

"I sure hope Jigglypuff knows what she's doing," said Kirby, watching her from behind the glass wall.

"Pft, please," scoffed Bowser Jr. "There's no way she'll ever be able to handle any of those soldiers. She's a girl."

"Jigglypuff can handle anything she puts her mind to, way more than you realize," Kirby defended her, remembering her incredible performance at the previous Roadblock back in Kanto.

"You can do this, Jigglypuff," she said to herself while looking through one of the peepholes. "You can do this."

When she stepped out into an opening from behind the wall, she suddenly found herself being pelted by paintballs before she had time to react. The loud buzzer sound went off again.

"Oh no!" she cried, though she surprisingly found that it didn't hurt as much from getting hit.

"PRIVATE JIGGLYPUFF, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!" boomed the loudspeaker.

"Ha, ha!" said Bowser Jr. Kirby just glared at him in response.

Within a few moments, Jigglypuff was escorted back to home base by Private Steele through the glass tube and was shown to be locked inside the same metal cage Bowser was in before, who by the way, had finished his penalty time and was back in the arena.

"Wow, this is hard," Jigglypuff lamented while clinging to the metal bars.

JIGGLYPUFF: 4 Minutes, 17 Seconds Left to Go

Back at the museum, Ness & Lucas had finished their turn riding the arwings.

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," said Falco.

"Thanks," said Ness before ripping open the clue.

"That was fun," said Lucas, feeling happy and excited.

NESS & LUCAS: Currently in 5th Place

Fox & Krystal decided to use this moment as an opportunity to make amends with them.

"Ness, I know you're mad at us, but can't we bury the hatchet and let bygones be bygones?" said Fox.

"Hmph!" said Ness, still upset with him while ripping open his clue aggressively.

"Look, we admit, we were wrong to lie to you and screw you over at airports," Fox, telling him what he thought he wanted to hear, "so can you forgive us, please?"

Ness continued ignoring him as he read the clue out loud. "You must find the fighter pilot in this picture who will give you your next clue."

"Alright, we're out of here," said Lucas, who grabbed their bags and started running with Ness towards the museum exit.

Watching Ness & Lucas leave, Fox sighed for he did not like feeling like the bad guy. "Well, that didn't work."

"Hey, at least you tried," said Krystal, reassuring him.

Immediately after, it was Fox & Krystal's turn to ride the arwings.

"I need team number six over here, please," Falco called out.

"Make it quick for us, Falco," said Krystal, handing her fellow piloting comrade slip #6.

"And don't go pulling any tricks while we're flying," Fox told Falco, not wanting any nonsense from him.

"Sure, not to worry Foxy. I'll be suuuuper careful. He, he, he," he said, grinning slyly from ear to ear.

"And stop calling me that already!"

Ness & Lucas, meanwhile, had managed to get themselves a cab and were already on their way to the Cornerian Military Base.

"Those stupid foxes, pretending to 'apologize' for what they did," said Lucas, talking smack. "Can you believe those guys?"

"I don't care what Fox & Krystal have to say," said Ness bitterly while reading the map. "It's more than likely they'll stab us in the back again once they get the chance, so I'm not buying any of their fake apologies. They will get theirs."

"Yeah, they're such snakes."

Soon after, Fox & Krystal were shown flying up in the air in the arwings. It felt weird for them flying in an arwing without controlling it like they're used to on a regular basis. It was almost terrifying, really. Already, Falco had them performing multiple loops at high speeds.

"Falco, go easy!" Fox yelled through the receiver.

"Sure, Fox. He, he, he," Falco said before having Fox's arwing shoot down towards the ocean faster than he was supposed to. There was nothing that he loved more than to mess with the ol' vulpine.

"FAAAALCOOOOOOO!" cried Fox once more for he was now getting scared.

"Falco, you pull him back up this instant!" Krystal scolded him on the receiver.

"Fine, fine, whatever," said Falco, who then slowly pulled Fox's arwing back up towards the air.

Once Fox felt safe again, he looked down towards the museum from where he was flying. "I swear, I'm going to kill that bird one of these days," he said out loud.

"I heard that," said Falco on the other end of the receiver.

"Oh brother…" Krystal shook her head in reaction to those two boys. It was business as usual.

Back at the Paintball Shooting Arena, Jigglypuff had finished her time penalty. While sneaking around the walls with her soldier partner, she became surprised when she suddenly came across Bowser.

"Gotcha!" cried Bowser, shooting Jigglypuff in the face with red paintball bullets.

"Ow! Stop it!" yelled Jigglypuff, who then looked at Bowser angrily. "We're on the same team, you moron!"

"I know. I just really wanted to shoot you that badly!" Bowser retorted while laughing maniacally.

"Urgh! You are such an ogre!"

"Why thank you," said Bowser, taking it as a complement before he ran off.

"Urgh!" Jigglypuff blew up into a balloon in frustration. "Snotty jerk! I'm sick of him."

Meanwhile, Mario & Luigi had also passed up Link & Zelda to the military base as they ended up being the next team to find Bill Grey.

"Is this-a you?" asked Mario, showing him his picture.

"Yep, here's your next clue."

Mario ripped open the clue and read it.

MARIO & LUIGI: Currently in 3rd Place

"Welcome to training mode: Who'll take-a this one?"

"I think I should do this-a Roadblock since you did the last one, brother," said Luigi.

"Okay then, go ahead-a," Mario agreed before Luigi opened the red envelope.

Soon after, Luigi was shown walking around the battle arena with his soldier partner while wearing a yellow bandana and carrying his paintball rifle gun.

"You got this-a, Luigi, you can do this!" yelled Mario behind the glass wall from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Fox & Krystal had finished their turn riding the arwings as they landed back down at the museum. Because Falco kept playing tricks while they were flying in the air, Fox gave Falco the ugly eye as he stepped out of the arwing.

"When are you ever going to learn to grow up, Falco," said Fox while getting out of the arwing.

"Hey, just think of it as payback for that one time you put super-glue on my arwing seat before one of our missions," Falco responded while pulling their next clue out of his pocket. "I had to get my jumpsuit tailored because of that, you know."

"Come on, Falco, that was years ago!" he said, walking toward him.

"In my book, a bird's revenge is never overdue."

"Exactly when do you plan on getting over that already?"

"Hmm… probably never."

Fox sighed while shaking his head. "You know, Falco. If you weren't such a sour, flightless bird, I might have picked you as my potential racing partner."

"Who are you calling flightless?!" Suddenly, in the middle of their playful argument, Falco felt the clue getting swiped out his hand by Krystal. "Huh?"

"Alright, that's enough boys," she said impatiently while ripping open their clue.

FOX & KRYSTAL: Currently in 6th Place

Krystal had finished reading the clue while holding the picture of Fox's good friend, Bill Grey.

"Alright, we better find a taxi quick," said Fox before he and Krystal started running off to find a taxi near the museum entrance. He was already feeling excited about meeting back up with Bill.

"Hey Fox!" Falco called out to him. "If y'all don't win the money, I'll never let you hear the end of it!"

"We'll just see about that, Falco!" Fox of course knew that that was just Falco's way of saying good luck.

Peach & Daisy, on the other hand, had finally managed to calm down from their tiff they had earlier. They were now ready to ride the arwings.

"And now, it's finally our turn," said Peach.

"At long last," Daisy added as she handed Falco slip #7.

The two princesses proceeded to get inside the arwings.

CONFESSIONAL:

PEACH & DAISY: Princesses/Best Friends

"I actually wasn't nervous about flying in the arwing at all," said Peach, who loved the thrill of roller-coaster type rides. "Besides, we already flew in the air by riding on the talons of giant owls back in Hyrule, so this was nothing.

"I was too busy feeling concerned about catching up to everyone that I didn't have time to be scared," said Daisy. "It's hard to care about anything else when you know you're in last."

END:

Pretty soon, both princesses were shown flying in the air all around Corneria City.

"Yeeeeaaaaaahhh!" cried Daisy. The arwing ride helped her forget she was even racing.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" cried Peach, having the time of her life. "Wooo hooooo!"

As for Ness & Lucas, they were having trouble finding the Military Base.

"Our taxi driver just missed his turn on the highway, so now we got to backtrack," said Ness, completely upset.

"I hope this doesn't cost us too much time," said Lucas as their taxi continued driving through the busy streets of Corneria.

Back at the paintball arena…

"Ow!" cried Jigglypuff, getting pelted by red paintball bullets again. She then heard laughter from the other wall and recognized it as Bowser's. "Bowser stop it! Ow!" Bowser had shot another paintball bullet at her, causing her to grow more aggravated. "Stop shooting at me!"

"Bwa, ha, ha, ha!" cried Bowser, who just loved inflicting pain. "This Roadblock is just too much fun!"

"Dude, what the heck is his problem?" said Kirby, growing more upset each time he kept watching Bowser shoot her unnecessarily.

CONFESSIONAL:

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Long Distance

"It kills me having to watch Bowser shoot paintball bullets at Jigglypuff when there's nothing I can do about it," said Kirby. "Does he feel no shame for his behavior?"

"I honestly don't know why Bowser has it out for me so much," said Jigglypuff. "Shoving me three times was bad enough, but now you're going to shoot me with paintballs every chance you get? Zelda was right. He really is a psycho."

END:

As for Luigi, he spotted a few soldiers walking around while looking through one of the peep holes. He decided to leave his hiding place to shoot them.

"Hyah!" cried Luigi, hitting all three soldiers with paintballs. He then heard the same loud buzzing sound.

"PRIVATE LUIGI, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"What-a?" said Luigi, confused. "Why?"

"You can't shoot anyone standing in a safe zone," said Private Boom, Luigi's soldier partner. "See?" He then pointed towards a large black square the three soldiers were standing on.

"Nice try buddy!" said one of the soldiers, laughing.

"Whoops…" said Luigi, scratching his head.

"Mama Mia!" said Mario, facepalming himself. "Now he has to start all-a over."

After being escorted back to home base, Luigi was put in one of the metal cages. Because he shot three soldiers in a safe zone, he had to wait out seven minutes over the usual five if you got shot.

"Great…" said Luigi while clinging to the metal bars.

LUIGI: 6 Minutes, 37 Seconds to Go

Meanwhile, after finally managing to reach the military base, Link & Zelda became the next team to receive their next clue from Bill Grey.

LINK & ZELDA: Currently in 4th Place

"Welcome to Training Mode: Who'll take this one?" Link read the clue out loud. "I know you can do this, Zelda. You're a strong girl."

"But Link, my elbow hurts," Zelda complained, rubbing it with her hand.

"It's only a flesh wound, Zel. You can still perform the task in spite of it."

"But what if my injury gets infected, Link? I'm… I'm not doing it!"

This greatly annoyed Link. "Zelda, you can't be serious. The medics already had it disinfected and bandaged. It can't get infected now."

"But what if the task involves getting dirty, and mud starts seeping through the holes of the bandages or something? What if I just get another injury? I don't want to take any chances on this. Not till my scraped elbow is completely healed."

"Come on Zelda, quit making excuses! I've got bandaged injuries of my own. Plus, I've already done four Roadblocks and you've only just recently done one!"

"But this task is obviously going to be military based, and that's much more up your ally than it is for me. Besides, you heal faster than I do, Link. My health and well-being are too important to me."

"You see? There you go with the excuses again."

"I don't care, I don't want to do it!"

Link was losing his patience for they were just wasting time. "Ugh! Fine! Whatever!"

"So, does this means you're do- "

"Yes, I'm going to do it, Zelda!" Link interrupted, growing fed up with her.

"Hey! Don't yell at me, Link! That's just mean!"

Not long after, Fox & Krystal became the next team to arrive at the Cornerian Military Base for they knew the quickest ways around the city, and they met up with Bill Grey too.

"Fox, you made it!" said Bill, completely glad to see him.

"Good to see you Bill." Fox gave his good friend a hug while patting him on the back. "How's it going, brother?"

"Everything's totally radical! I'm psyched to see you guys are still in this game, Krystal." He then gave her their next clue.

"And we didn't even need to use your goofy picture to know who and where you were, Bill," Krystal teased, making Bill laugh a bit while blushing.

FOX & KRYSTAL: Currently in 5th Place

"Welcome to training mode: Who'll take this one?" Krystal read.

"We gotta get back in the lead, Krystal," said Fox. "I'm going to have to do this Roadblock since I have more experience in combat training."

"Alright, fair enough," Krystal agreed, despite having gained plenty of experience herself lately. "Just promise me you'll let me do the next couple of Roadblocks after this one. Okay, Fox?"

"Sure thing, Krys," Fox promised before reading the red envelope. Once he read what he had to do, Fox went to get ready while Krystal went up into the sidelines booth of the arena where other racers were at.

"Good luck, Fox!" Bill called out to him. "You show your fellow competition how it's done!"

Meanwhile, Peach & Daisy had finished up their turn riding the arwings at last.

"Congratulations, girls," said Falco. "Here's your next clue."

"Thank you very much," said Peach, obtaining it.

PEACH & DAISY: Currently in Last Place

"To get inside the military base, you'll need to use this pass that will allow you inside," Peach read the clue. "Okay, now we can go."

The princesses began frantically sprinting back to the Museum entrance to find a taxi.

"We're not out yet, Peach, we can still stay in this game!" said Daisy while they ran.

Not long after, the princesses managed to obtain a taxi.

"So far, so good," said Daisy, putting their bags in the trunk while Peach gave the taxi driver directions.

Before they knew it, both princesses were safe inside their taxicab and were on their way to the Cornerian Military Base. Once the dust settled, there were a few moments of silence before Peach decided to speak first.

"I'm sorry for going off on you like that, Daisy," said Peach, feeling bad for fighting with her.

"Huh? Oh …Yeah," said Daisy, rubbing her arm, "I'm sorry too. You were right, I shouldn't have attacked Mario like that. I was in the wrong, and I'm sorry I called you all those horrible names. You think you can forgive me?"

"Only if you can forgive me." Peach then held out her index finger. "Best friends for life?"

Daisy wrapped her index finger around Peach's. "Best friends for life."

After that, both girls gave each other a good hug while both simultaneously saying, "I'm sorry!"

Back inside the battle arena, Bowser had gotten to the other side of the arena. After shooting the soldiers that were guarding the yellow flag, he was just about to grab it, until…

"Ow! Ow!" cried Bowser, getting pelted with yellow paintballs. It was Luigi, who was just now getting out of his metal cage now that he finished his penalty time. "Luigi!"

"Nice-a try, Bowser," said Luigi with a sly smile, until suddenly… "Ouch!"

"Gotcha!" cried Jigglypuff, having shot tons of red paintballs at him.

"Ayahhh!" cried Luigi, who then sulkily went back into the metal cage.

LUIGI: 4 Minutes and 59 seconds to Go

Without wasting any time, Jigglypuff grabbed the yellow flag and made a run for home base.

"Yes!" cried Kirby, excitably. "She's got the flag!"

Jigglypuff followed Bowser and ran all the way down the glass tube back to home base.

"Wait… I don't think she's supposed to do that," said Kirby, suddenly going from excited to worried again.

"No, she isn't," Krystal confirmed. "She has to go back through the arena to take the flag to home base."

"Jigglypuff, go back!" Kirby suddenly yelled out for her. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear him through the glass barriers separating them. No one could.

Once Jigglypuff got back to home base through the glass tube, the other soldiers guarding the red flag immediately told her she couldn't come back that way.

"What do you mean I can't come back this way?" said Jigglypuff, confused.

"You can only use the tunnel if you get hit," said Private Goldie. "You have to return to home base by going back through the arena itself!

"You mean I have to take the long way back?! Are you kidding me?!"

"You'll have to go all the way back to the opposing team's home base and return from there," said Private Coop while locking Bowser in his metal cage.

"Ugh!" uttered Jigglypuff as she went back down the glass tube. "This Roadblock has way too many rules in it!"

While Jigglypuff ran back down the glass tube, fellow alliance members Link and Fox were scouring the walls of the paintball arena together as they had decided to team up since they were both wearing yellow bandanas.

"Oh boy," said Fox, spotting Jigglypuff from above. "Looks like she didn't do the task correctly. Poor girl."

"Man, that sucks," Link added.

Once Jigglypuff got back to the other side of the tube, however, yellow soldiers had gathered in front of the tube entrance after having spotted her with their team flag.

"Oh crud!" she said. Realizing she had no other options; she was forced to exit the glass tube and get pummeled by yellow paintballs.

"PRIVATE JIGGLYPUFF, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"I'll take that," said one of the soldiers, taking back their yellow flag from her. "Nice try bubble girl. Ha, ha, ha!"

"Great!" Jigglypuff complained while stomping all the way back down that same glass tube. "That yellow flag was in the palm of my hand! Ergh!"

JIGGLYPUFF: 5 Minutes to Go

"Man, this task is brutal," said Kirby, feeling sorry for her.

Meanwhile, Ness & Lucas were finally able to arrive at the Cornerian Military Base after getting a little lost around the city in their taxicab.

"Excuse me, where can I find the man in this picture?" asked Ness, showing it to the soldier on toll duty at the front entrance.

"I think he's supposed to be at the paintball arena today," he said.

"Where do we find that?"

"It's just a few blocks down to your left once you get inside."

"Okay, thank you." Their taxi driver then drove them inside the base.

After going where the Cornerian soldier told them to go, Lucas spotted the red and yellow flag.

"There it is, right there!"

Ness & Lucas got their bags out of the trunk, told the driver to wait with the other taxis and found the path that the route marker pointed them towards. They eventually spotted Bill Grey, and once they showed him his picture, he gave them their next clue. Lucas got to be the one to read it.

NESS & LUCAS: Currently in 6th Place

"I think it's better if I do this one, Lucas," said Ness, despite the fact he had already completed three Roadblocks before. "It's obviously going to involve combat training, and no offense or anything, but I don't think you're tough enough to handle that sort of thing."

"No offense taken," said Lucas, who understood where he was coming from. "Just finish quickly for me, okay?"

"Will do."

Not long after that, Peach & Daisy had arrived at the military base to find Bill Grey as well.

"Is this you?" said Daisy, showing Bill his picture.

"Yep, that's me," he said before handing her their clue. "Here you go."

"Thanks!" said Peach, excited that they were easily able to find Bill.

PEACH & DAISY: Currently in Last Place

"Roadblock: Welcome to training mode: Who'll take this one?" Daisy read. "I'm doing it since I'm the tomboy of this team."

"Alright, you go girl!" said Peach while Daisy handed her backpack to her.

Now that everyone was at the Roadblock, things were starting to heat up again. Upon entering the arena, Ness had decided to be on the red team, while Daisy decided to be on the yellow team.

"Ah shoot, I should've picked the red bandana," said Daisy, noticing the color Ness chose. "We'd be working together if I did. Oh well."

When Daisy was escorted to home base by her soldier partner, Private Rex, she was even more displeased to find Luigi performing the Roadblock and not Mario.

CONFESSIONAL:

PEACH & DAISY: Princesses/Best Friends

"I was really hoping Mario would be the one performing the Roadblock, that way I could enjoy pelting him with paintballs as payback for ramming into me on purpose back at the museum," said Daisy, disregarding the fact she had already punished him with her frying pan earlier.

END:

It was now anyone's game as Bowser, Jigglypuff, and Ness of the red team were squared off against Luigi, Link, Fox, and Daisy of the yellow team. Chaos began erupting again - albeit, in a much more constructive manner this time around - as team members and their soldier partners were madly shooting paintballs at each other left and right. There were still tons of animosity left over between the teams due to everything that had happened back at the museum, and the Roadblock helped everyone participating let out all their anger.

"Hyah!" cried Link, shooting yellow paint bullets at Bowser madly, and boy did it feel good.

"PRIVATE BOWSER, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"That's for trampling my girlfriend you jerk!" cried Link.

Bowser growled. "Get over it already!" He then went back down the glass tunnel.

BOWSER: 5 Minutes to Go

Ness, on the other hand, managed to get a hit on Fox.

"Argh!" cried Fox, getting hit by red paint bullets.

"You're out!" cried Ness, feeling good about himself for pummeling Fox, whom he immensely despised at the moment.

PRIVATE FOX, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"You'll pay for that!" replied Link, shooting yellow bullets at Ness… but he missed.

"Good try, Link," said Fox before entering the tunnel. "Don't forget every piece of advice I gave you on getting the red flag."

"You got it, Fox," Link assured him.

FOX: 5 Minutes to Go

Daisy, meanwhile, was shown shooting yellow bullets at another soldier on the red team… except he was safe.

"PRIVATE DAISY, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"But I didn't get shot!" said Daisy. "I shot him!"

"You can't shoot anyone in the safe zone," Private Rex reminded her. This time, the safe zone was a big black circle. "You have to go back."

"Ergh!" Daisy uttered.

DAISY: 7 Minutes to Go

Later, Jigglypuff also messed up when she shot two soldiers standing on a big black rectangle.

"PRIVATE JIGGLYPUFF, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"Again?!" said Jigglypuff, growing tired of the metal cages already.

"You can't shoot anyone in the safe zone," Private Steele reminded her. "You gotta go back."

JIGGLYPUFF: 7 Minutes to Go

Once Bowser was released from his metal cage, he continued to act like a prick by continuing to shoot his own allies.

"Ow!" cried Ness, getting pelted in the head by red paint. "What the heck, Bowser!"

"Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Bowser laughed maniacally. "This is most fun I've had the entire race! Bwa, ha, ha, ha!"

"Jerk!" yelled Ness while Bowser ran off like a maniac. "What part of 'We're on the same team' doesn't he understand? My gosh!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" cried Daisy getting covered in red paint, and right after she just recently finished her time penalty.

"Gotcha!" yelled Bowser. "Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"PRIVATE DAISY, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"Oh, come on!" said Peach, watching from the sidelines.

"I hate him!" cried Daisy, quietly cursing Bowser while stomping her way down the glass tunnel. "Hate, hate, hate him!"

Meanwhile, after finishing his penalty time, Fox caught back up to Link, who was hiding behind a wall just before the enemy's home base.

"You get the red flag," said Fox. "Private Jet and I will sneak in low and surprise them."

"Rodger," said Link, who then ordered his own soldier partner, Private Brick, to go with them.

"Rodger that," Private Brick replied.

With that being said, Fox, Private Jet, and Private Brick quietly snuck their way from behind the wall and crawled up the ramp to the enemy's home base and quickly shot the soldiers guarding the red flag. While paintballs were flying at high speeds, Link quickly snuck in and grabbed the red flag. He then ran back to the wall and was safe with the flag in his hands.

"We'll cover for you," said Fox. "You and Zelda leave first. Krystal and I can catch up."

"Alright, thanks," said Link quietly.

Whenever Link encountered safe zones, he would take advantage of them while Fox shot red soldiers that were aiming for him. Shooting guns was his specialty after all, so this was a piece of cake.

"Oh gosh, this is intense," said Zelda, clasping her hands together while watching from the sidelines. She was thankful that she chose not to do the task.

After several long moments of this, Link finally ran back to home base with the other team's flag.

"RED TEAM DEFEATED!" yelled the loudspeaker. "PRIVATE LINK WINS!"

"Yes!" cried Zelda, cheering for Link. "He won! He won!"

Suddenly, the loudspeaker told everyone to go back to home base to restart the game.

CONFESSIONAL:

MARIO & LUIGI: Brothers/Plumbers

"Whenever someone catches the other team's-a flag," said Luigi, "everyone has to immediately return to home base to start over."

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"I was so mad when I was told to return to home base," said Ness, irritated. "I was so close to obtaining the yellow team's flag by then, but Link finished before I could. Crud!"

END:

"Whew!" said Link, taking off his safety goggles. "Thank goodness!"

"Congratulations, Link," said Link's second soldier partner who helped guard their team flag. He was shown pulling another clue out of his shirt collar. "Here's your next clue."

"Thanks," said Link, obtaining it from him. He then left the arena while all the Cornerian soldiers present were congratulating him with applause. "Good job everybody! That was fun!"

"Aw man!" said Daisy, disappointed while still waiting out her penalty. "I wanted to be the first one to finish!"

Meanwhile, Link was shown outside the paintball arena again.

"Link, you were first!" said Zelda, reuniting with him. She never looked more excited as she hugged him. "You did it, Link! We're in first!"

"Yeah Zelda," said Link, though he wasn't feeling enthusiastic to see her. "…We're in first."

Link ripped open their clue to see where they had to go next.

LINK & ZELDA: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way to Corneria City Square and find the James Mccloud Memorial…" Link read.

TOAD'S NARRATION:

"After completing the Roadblock, teams must continue traveling by taxi and make their way several miles to Corneria City Square," said Toad. "Once there, teams must find the James McCloud memorial, which contains a big statue depicting the renowned fighter pilot named James McCloud: Former leader of the Star Fox team, as well as Fox McCloud's late father. The statue was erected in his honor after he was declared dead while battling the mad tyrant, Andross, who was later defeated by Fox Mccloud himself to avenge his father during the Lylat Wars. Once teams find the memorial, they'll be given further instructions on what to do there upon receiving their next clue."

END:

"Alright, let's get out of here," Zelda insisted, giving Link his backpack before they ran back to their taxi.

"We need to go to Corneria City Square," Zelda told the taxi driver. "Do you know where that is?"

"Of course," he said. "I can take you there in jiffy."

"Perfect!" said Zelda, excitedly.

Once the doors were closed, and seat belts were buckled, Link & Zelda were on their way.

"See, what did I tell you?" said Zelda while they were back on the highway. "Having you do the Roadblock was the best idea I ever came up with, and now we're in first," said Zelda, feeling proud of herself.

"Yeah, for now we are," said Link, feeling irked by her that he just couldn't feel good about his win.

"Come on, Link. Be proud of yourself!" she nudged him playfully. "You finally gave us a lead for once. You should be happy!"

"Zelda, you do realize I've only just now completed my fifth Roadblock, and we're already nearing the halfway point of this game."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, once I've completed my sixth Roadblock… that's it. I won't be allowed to do any more Roadblocks. This means the rest of the game will rest entirely on your shoulders, and Zelda… quite frankly, with your amount of agency you've been presenting as of late, our chances of staying in this game are leveling down to pretty much zero."

Zelda looked most displeased at him for ruining the moment just by saying that.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"Don't ask me why I love Link," said Zelda. "I don't understand why he can't just be happy whenever we achieve success. Instead, he just has to act like a sour puss simply because he thinks I'm not performing 'good enough' for him. He was being so condescending, and it annoyed me greatly."

END:

"Link, I made you do it because I've never held a futurized weapon before in my life," said Zelda, defending herself for she did not like to be criticized. "Besides, you know I wouldn't have been able to take on any of those soldiers all by myself."

"How do you expect to take on any challenge all by yourself?" Link replied. "Just what do you think the whole purpose of Roadblocks is even for? This race is supposed to be about challenging ourselves to find inner strength in obstacles we've never encountered before. You're just too scared to face those obstacles because you're afraid you'll mess up and fail."

"I'm not scared Link, and I don't fear failure. I just… happen to know my own limitations, and that's a good thing."

"That's your excuse? Knowing your limitations is your excuse?"

"It's better than having no excuse, that's for sure."

"Oh, please, Zelda."

Back at the paintball arena, Fox was kicking some serious butt shooting down anyone that wasn't on his team.

"Woo hoo! Go Fox!" Krystal cheered from the sidelines.

"Hyah!" cried Fox, shooting Bowser with yellow paintballs. "You're out!"

"PRIVATE BOWSER, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" yelled Bowser, throwing his paintball gun to the ground in frustration. "You'll pay for that, Fox!"

"Ergh!" uttered Bowser Jr., growing more impatient watching his dad, "Come ON already!"

Kirby gave out a little whistle. "Wow, that Fox sure is hard core."

"I know, isn't he dreamy?" said Krystal, admiring her tough-as-steel lover while watching him kick some serious tail. She had never felt so blessed to be in such a wonderful relationship with him. A relationship so pure, so true, and so loving.

Link & Zelda, meanwhile, were not shown to be as much of a loving couple as Link continued arguing with Zelda in the taxicab.

"Zelda, you know this race has a Roadblock limit rule," said Link. "You know fully well I can only perform six Roadblocks."

"I'm aware of that, Link," said Zelda, growing more aggravated with him. "I just happen to know whenever it's strategically not the right time to perform a Roadblock."

"You mean all the time?"

"Shut up! I did the Pokémon battling Roadblock for you in the last leg, so no. It's not all the time!"

"That's not the point, Zelda. My point is, I'm running out of Roadblocks to perform, and once I've completed my last one, you'll have to perform the rest, and this could potentially end up badly for us. That's my main issue here."

"Whatever, Link. It's not that big of a deal."

"Uh… yeah, for now it is. It will, however, become a big deal if you end up struggling on a task that I could've performed better at, and that could be our own undoing. You know, you really should have thought of this earlier, Zelda. You should've realized that you needed to contribute more to help us stay in the game longer, but nope. Instead, you choose to be lazy, and now it's only a matter of time before the race is over for the both of us.

"You don't know that for sure, Link," said Zelda, getting defensive. "There's bound to be plenty of Roadblocks that I can potentially excel at. I can't help it if there are certain times that I don't feel like I'm up to the challenge, especially when it comes to anything that I have no experience in. I mean… take crushing boulders for instance. I've never even wielded a hammer before in my life, but you have. That's why I made you do it. Do you not see any of the strategy in this?"

"Sure, I can see that clear as day, Zelda," said Link sarcastically, for her reasons kept sounding more like excuses. "Still, you would've done just as well, Zelda, considering you were Sheik at that time. Experienced or not, you're more capable than you give yourself credit for. Plus, I know you also would've handled the ghost hunting Roadblock perfectly fine, and just maybe, go-kart racing wouldn't have been too difficult for you to handle. Oh, and may I remind you, you would've EXCELLED at getting a picture taken of the Deku King back in Termina! You're practically a ninja for crying out loud! That Roadblock was so easy, an eight-year-old would've done it!"

"But then I would've gotten my garments dirty!" said Zelda. "Also, I'm far more technologically challenged than you are when it comes to futuristic moving vehicles, and I hate ghosts!"

"There you go again! You're always making excuses!"

"No, I'm not, Link!

"Yes, you are, Zelda!"

"I am not! And no, they're not excuses, they're factual truths! Now shut up!"

"Admit it, you know it's true! Just own it!"

"I said shut up, Link, and I'm not going to 'own it' if I know I'm not capable at performing certain tasks!"

"Oh my GOSH!" Link yelled. "Woman, what is WRONG with you?! You won't take responsibility for ANYTHING!"

"SHUT. UP. LINK!"

"No! I am not going to shut up! You know what your problem is Zelda?! You may be a talented and powerful princess, but you have no confidence in yourself, and you know why? Your father sheltered you way too much! You're selfish, spoiled, and a brat!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Zelda was now angrier than ever before.

"Yeah, I said it!" Link retorted.

"How dare you insult the royal king of Hyrule! And how DARE you insult me! You don't EVER call me a spoiled brat!"

"And I don't mind saying it again, your royal laziness! Also, just for the record, it's no wonder Bowser keeps calling you Garbage Princess!"

"Don't make me slap you!"

The Hylian couple fought and argued almost all the way to Corneria City Square. The taxi driver was most annoyed.

"You really are selfish, Zelda! Also, do you not realize how cruel it was of you to force me to perform a Roadblock on the same day that I'm suffering from stomach pains and diarrhea! You're scraped elbow pales in comparison, and don't you dare add in that you're suffering from sleep deprivation, because I'm tired too! Just Look at my face!" Linked went in close to her while pulling his eyelids. "Have you not seen the purple bags under my eyes!"

"Your stomach problems are your own fault, Link! Also, keep your gross eye bags away from me! I'm not going to kiss them if that's what you're expecting!"

"That's saying a lot considering we never kiss!"

"That's because you've done nothing to earn one!"

"Wha?!" That heinous remark infuriated Link on so many levels. "Ergh!"

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

Link sighed. "Arguing with Zelda is never fun; she just wants to be right all the time and she never lets me have the last word. She'll say anything to protect her pride, and I don't understand why she has to act this way. I don't – I just don't get it."

END:

Link couldn't find anything to say about what she just said, so instead, he decided to give her the cold hard truth.

"I've only got one Roadblock left to do, Zelda," Link reminded her once more. "One Roadblock and that's it. Congratulations, princess. You've just earned yourself the 'I should've done better award.' Once that one Roadblock has come and gone, Zelda, you're on your own."

"We'll see who ends up on their own if you don't keep your mouth shut," Zelda threatened.

"At this point, Zelda, I could care less. I'm not sorry for telling you everything you needed to hear. For once in your life, Zel, you need to just get some confidence and stop making excuses for yourself all the time. No matter how hard you try to justify yourself, no matter how often you want to be right, it's not going to help you out when the time comes for you to start pulling your own weight. You can hate me, and argue with me, and threaten to dump me all you want, but you're going to have to start contributing at some point. The clock is ticking, Zelda, and you are running out of time."

"So is your flat behind once my father gets word of you calling him a horrible parent. You'll be sorry you ever insulted the high king of Hyrule, Link, and I'll make sure of it that he punishes you most severely."

"Fine. Can't wait."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

Link didn't bother continuing for he knew this would just go on forever. Zelda didn't say anything else either. There was nothing but silence after that. During that time, Zelda couldn't help but contemplate everything Link just told her, in spite of her anger. She would never admit it, but she knew that Link really did have a point. Once he completes his final Roadblock, the rest of this race will depend entirely on her and her alone. Painfully, this slowly added a very heavy weight of anxiety to her inner being. A weight that would not leave her for the rest of the game.

…

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this episode.

Once again, I do not own Nintendo, or the Amazing Race. Hope you all enjoyed. Stay safe!