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.

18. Episode 6 Part 3

Episode 6, Now I Have To Bring Out The Frying Pan - Part III

Finished! I'm so happy to finally be able to finish this train-wreck of an episode. Hope you all enjoy! :)

…

The sixth leg of the race raged on as the Roadblock continued to be a big struggle for all who volunteered. People inside the paintball arena were getting covered head to toe with paint as the task was tiring everyone out. Everyone except Fox of course. He was having a blast.

"Hyah!" yelled Fox, shooting several yellow paintballs at Ness. He had been hit. "Gotcha!"

"PRIVATE NESS, GO BACK TO HOME BASE!" yelled the loudspeaker.

"Aw man!" said Ness, irritated, before going back to home base.

NESS: 5 Minutes to Go

Fox was getting close to the red team's home base again. He knew he had this one in the bag.

CONFESSIONAL:

FOX & KRYSTAL: Dating

"For me, I could do the Roadblock in my sleep," said Fox. "I've done plenty of paintball shooting in my time during my academy days, so the other racers didn't stand a chance."

END:

While looking through a peephole behind one of the wooden walls, Fox spotted the number of enemy soldiers that were guarding the red flag. There were three.

"This'll be a piece of cake," said Fox, installing more ammo in his paintball gun.

He wasn't joking. Once he jumped out from behind the wall, he shot all three soldiers with yellow paintballs. Once the coast was clear, Fox quickly grabbed the red flag and ran back to home base.

"Yes!" cried Krystal excitedly while watching him from the sidelines. "You've got this, Fox!"

"Someone better shoot him down while they still can," said Bowser Jr., not wanting to fall behind again.

It was no use. Fox had far too much combat experience for anyone to be able to shoot him down. Fox continued using his sharp reflexes to avoid getting shot at while using his fast and accurate aim to shoot down enemy soldiers. Before anyone knew it, he made it back to home base with the red flag safe in his hands.

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

"Yes!" cried Krystal. "That's my love!"

Ness was extremely irritated. "How is Fox so darn good at this game?"

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"It frustrates the living heck out of me that Fox is just so good at everything that he makes everyone else look incompetent by comparison," said Ness. "It's so annoying."

END:

"Grr!" said Bowser, completely aggravated that he got beat by Fox again. "Great!"

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," said Fox's soldier partner, handing it to him.

"Thanks a lot, soldier."

FOX & KRYSTAL: Currently in 2nd Place

After that, Fox quickly exited the building so he and Krystal could leave. While doing so, the big voice on the loudspeaker once again told everyone to go back to home base to begin the next round of capture the flag.

"Great!" said Ness sarcastically.

"Not again," said Daisy.

Meanwhile, Fox and Krystal met back up with each other outside the paintball arena.

"Good job, Fox," said Krystal, kissing him on the cheek before he let her read the clue. "Your gunman-ship remains impressive as always."

"Yep," Fox agreed. "No sweat."

Krystal read the clue after ripping it open. "Make your way to Corneria City's Central Park and find the…" suddenly, Krystal paused upon noticing the rest of the details, "…f-find the James McCloud Memorial." Krystal felt awkward reading the clue knowing James McCloud's memory was a bit taboo for Fox, who already starting looking rather troubled just from hearing his name. "Fox…"

Fox shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Krystal. Let's just get there quickly and get it over with."

Krystal nodded her head. "…right."

The two vulpine quickly ran back to their taxi and instructed the driver to get to Corneria City Square as quickly as possible. Pretty soon, they were on their way.

CONFESSIONAL:

FOX & KRYSTAL: Dating

"I don't usually get all emotional whenever my father is brought up," said Fox, "but when we were told to go and visit my Dad's memorial, that was different. I still haven't entirely gotten over my father's death and it's not something I like to talk about."

END:

"Are you going to be okay, Fox?" asked Krystal, patting his shoulders while sitting in the backseat of their taxi.

"I will," said Fox, clasping his hand tightly while trying to be strong about it. "It is what it is, so… whatever we have to do there, let's just get it done as quickly as possible."

"Okay," Krystal completely understood.

Link & Zelda, meanwhile, continued arguing while they too were on their way to the memorial. They argued non-stop that it was getting on the taxi driver's nerves.

"You know, you could at least try to be more compassionate with me Link?" said Zelda. "I can't help it if I can't be as good at this game as you want me to be. I don't want to mess this game up for us anymore than you do."

"But you're already messing up our game, Zelda," said Link. "We're not going to win if you're not going to contribute. That's why I'm upset"

"I am contributing, Link! I help take care of our cash and our plane tickets, and I help keep us organized…"

"You're also extremely naggy and you're completely useless in challenges," Link added.

"You jerk! You're the one acting all whiny whenever I get mad at you."

"No Zelda, that's what you're doing."

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I do not!"

"Yes, you do, Zelda. Own it!"

"No! I'm not going to own it because it's not true!"

It wasn't long before Link & Zelda's taxi driver thankfully reached Corneria City's Central Park. Upon arrival, the Hylian couple got their bags out of the trunk and payed their fee. When Zelda asked the taxi driver if her could wait for them, however, he shot her an ugly look.

"Heck no!" the taxi driver stated. "You guys suck!" He then immediately drove off as quick as he could, leaving Zelda in a state of bewilderment.

"…what the heck was that?!" she said.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"I guess the taxi driver didn't want to wait for us because he didn't want to continue dealing with Link and I fighting during long car rides," said Zelda, facepalming herself. "This meant we were going to have to call for another taxi once we were done with our task, and that takes FOREVER!" Zelda sighed. "I'm getting so sick of Link constantly trivializing our standing in this game with his attitude problem."

END:

"Forget about it, Zelda. Let's just go," said Link, putting his backpack on.

Link & Zelda went across the street towards the entrance of the park where Link spotted the clue box next to a flower vender.

"There it is," he stated.

After running up to the clue-box, Link opened it and obtained their clue to read it. While doing so, the details within the clue suddenly made them feel sad.

"Renown fighter pilot, James McCloud, was a beloved hero who founded Star Fox to help protect the freedom and peace of all of Lylat," Link read. "One fateful day, he ended up captured in the hands of the evil maniacal scientist, Andross, who wanted to take over the entire galaxy as revenge for his banishment. McCloud was eventually presumed dead. Andross' actions led to an all-out conflict between his followers and the rest of the galaxy, sparking the Lylat Wars where countless lives were lost in the ensuing conflict. To honor James McCloud's memory, as well as all who lost their lives in the war, you must place a reef of flowers under James McCloud's statue before taking a moment of silence in order to receive your next clue," Link had finished reading. "Wow… that's pretty heavy."

"Yeah…" Zelda agreed, "…come on, let's grab some flowers." Zelda went over to the vender to get a reef.

Meanwhile, Fox & Krystal were feeling somber as they continued riding in their taxi towards Corneria City's Central Park.

"I've only visited my father's memorial once since my father died," said Fox, somberly. "I could never bare going back there again because the memory of my father's death had always brought me nothing but pain and sorrow."

"You mean you haven't been able to come to peace with it?" asked Krystal.

"No, I have," Fox replied, "it just hasn't been easy for me. I still haven't entirely gotten over it, really. Back then I was just so overcome with anger and rage that all I could ever think about was revenge. I really thought defeating Andross would make it all better and yet… the pain of my father's death was still there, even after the war was over. I knew getting revenge wouldn't bring my father back, but…" Fox heavily sighed. "…you see, my father was more than a hero to me. He was the only family I had left."

This resonated with Krystal on a level that hit way too close to home. Reflecting on everything he just told her, she then asked him…

"What about your mother?" Krystal asked. "What happened to her?"

Fox seemed quite surprised when she asked him this for people rarely brought up his mother. "Well… she got killed in an explosion while using the family car when I was still a young pup," said Fox. "My mother's death was the main reason my father and I were so close to begin with. We needed each other more than ever since then because family meant so much to the both of us; more than anything in the universe."

Krystal knew just how he felt, for she too held lost loved ones so dear to her heart. The very thought hit her so hard that she couldn't resist the urge to lay her head on Fox's shoulder.

Meanwhile, after Link & Zelda had bought a reef of flowers, they were escorted into the park by a fellow Cornerian soldier, who was picked amongst other soldiers that would escort other teams. He led them to the big statue depicting James McCloud himself. While there, they couldn't help but notice the numerous towering stone pillars surrounding the statue. Each pillar contained the names of all who had lost their lives in the war, and there were flowers and roses placed everywhere by mourning visitors.

"Wow," said Link, gazing in disbelief at everything he saw.

"So that's Fox's father?" said Zelda, looking at the statue. Even though Fox inherited most of his looks from his mother, she couldn't help but notice the striking resemblance between James and his son. No one could deny just by looking at it that James was definitely Fox's father. Same uniform, same pose, same smile. It was almost uncanny.

Without wasting time, Zelda put the reef of white flowers under the statue before she and Link took their moment of silence together. (The clue stated it had to last one minute.)

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: NEWLY DATING

"Just gazing at that memorial, you can't help but think about all the people that were affected by this terrible war," said Zelda. "You think about the family members that were lost, the sacrifices that were made, the horrors that everyone went through. War is just an ugly affair for anyone to have to go through. It brings nothing but pain and sorrow, and it just sends shivers down my spine thinking about how the death of Fox's father was only the beginning of it all. I mean… that's just too horrible to even imagine."

END:

Once their moment of silence had finished, the soldier that escorted them immediately gave them their next clue.

"Thank you," said a somber Link, obtaining their clue. After ripping it open, Link set his emotions aside so he could read what they had to do. Once he had finished reading, the Hylian couple left the statue and exited the park to look for another cab.

"Taxi!" Zelda yelled out to oncoming cars while Link whistled.

It took a while just like Zelda feared, but eventually, another taxi came for them. Once the taxi driver pulled up, Zelda showed him the contents of their clue.

"We need to get here fast and I mean REALLY fast," she said, pointing her finger at where they had to go. "You know where that is. Right?"

The taxi driver hesitated. "…I think so. Yeah," he said.

"Wait… you think, or you know?" Link asked, getting suspicious after getting in the car.

"I know I can get you there," the taxi driver insisted. "Trust me."

Not wanting to waist any more time, Link & Zelda just took his word for it and left in their new taxi. Once the dust settled, they took some more time to reflect on what they saw back at the memorial.

"Man, that was…" Link began. "I don't know how to describe it really, but… I mean, I've always known about Fox's dead father and all. I just never knew the full extent of his death until now."

"I know," said Zelda, feeling somber about it as well. "It's awful."

"And all those people that lost their lives…"

"Yeah, I know. May they all rest in peace."

Link agreed. "Yeah, that's exactly whatI was thinking."

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"I think our time at the memorial definitely taught the both of us not to take anything for granted," said Link. "Just thinking of all those friends and families that lost their loved ones in the Lylat Wars. It definitely reminds you of the importance of family, and for me, it helped me re-evaluate my own relationship with Zelda. I've come to realize that… even though Zelda and I do have our fights and disagreements, I know my life wouldn't be complete without her. I'm definitely going to try and make an effort to be more patient with her, even when I feel like she's being unreasonable. Sure, it's tough and all, but…" Link shrugged. "I guess that's a big part of what it means to be in a relationship."

END:

Back at the Roadblock, Ness was able to be the next one to succeed in capturing the other team's flag.

"YELLOW TEAM DEFEATED!" boomed the announcer. "PRIVATE NESS WINS!"

"Yes!" cried Lucas, excitably. "He did it! He did it!"

"Grrr!" growled Bowser, growing frustrated again when he heard the announcer. "Come on!"

"Good job, Ness!" said Daisy, cheering for her fellow alliance mate.

"Congratulations, here's your next clue." Ness's soldier partner pulled the yellow envelope out of his shirt collar and handed it to him.

"Thank you," he replied before exiting the building

NESS & LUCAS: Currently in 3rd Place

The two boys were back outside reading the clue.

"Make your way to Corneria City Square to receive your next clue," Ness read. "Alrighty then. We better get going."

"We're catching up again! Yay!" cried Lucas as they ran back to their taxi.

Meanwhile, Link & Zelda were busy giving their taxi driver directions.

"We need you to get us to the Underground City as fast as possible," said Zelda.

"Yeah, and we also need to avoid rush hour traffic as much as possible," Link added, "if you can."

Following the instructions from their clue, the Underground City was the place that Link & Zelda had decided to go next, and here's why:

TOAD'S NARRATION:

"A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons," said Toad. "In this Detour, teams will have to continue using public transportation in order to get to either task. They'll have to choose between Go Up High or Go Down Low."

"In Go Up High, teams must travel North-West of the city and find the Cornerian Flight Academy. This well-known school is the place where the youth of Corneria train to become fighter pilots for the Cornerian Army. Once teams arrive, they'll need to ask around the school and look for Peppy Hare, a retired fighter pilot and advisor for the Star Fox team. Once they find him, he'll have each team member strapped into and lifted up high in the air in an aircraft simulator where they will be instructed to shoot down enemy fighters that will be shown flying on the big screen in front of them while trying to steer their own simulated aircraft. To complete the task, both team members have to score as many points as they can without getting shot down. If the latter ends up happening to either teammate before scoring enough points, that person will have to start over. Once both team members score at least one-hundred points, they'll receive their next clue. Teams can only perform the task one at a time, so if other teams are present, they will have to wait in line until it's their turn. It's only a simulation so they're not battling real foes, however, being able to score points while steering the simulated aircraft as it's moving nearly one-hundred feet high above the ground can be as frightening as it is challenging.

"In Go Down Low, teams must travel East beyond the outskirts of Corneria City to the nearby mountains. It is deep beneath these mountains where teams will find the Underground City, a place where the citizens of Corneria City go to evacuate during enemy invasions. Upon their arrival, teams will find safety deposit boxes with combination locks hidden somewhere deep within the tunnels. Their task is to figure out how to open them by correctly solving the combination on the lock. To figure out the combination, teams must first take the elevator shaft down to bunker area #3 which contains over two-hundred bunker houses. While wearing helmets with headlamps, teams must search around in the dark for three separate bunker houses each containing a black number spray painted on the walls. The numbers they are looking for are 9, 3, and 19. After finding all three numbers, they must return to their safety deposit box and figure out that the combination goes in the order of the largest number to the lowest in order to unlock it. If they can successfully figure out the combination, they'll receive their next clue. It's a less scary task that requires patience and good teamwork, but finding the numbers and figuring out the combination could take a very long time.

END:

"Are you sure we should be doing 'Go Down Low', Link?" said Zelda. "It sounds like it'll take forever."

"We have to," Link insisted, wanting to play it safe. "There's no way we'll be able to handle a simulation since it's obviously way too technological for us."

"Oh, right. Good point," Zelda replied. "This Detour is weird though. I wonder why the tasks are so far apart from each other?"

Link shrugged. "Perhaps it's supposed to make this game harder and more complicated? I don't know."

"It better not."

As for Fox & Krystal, the dreaded moment had finally arrived once they were the next team to find the clue-box at the Corneria City Central Park. While reading the clue, Krystal skipped the parts that told the details of James' death so as not to upset Fox. "You must take a moment of silence in front of the statue for at least one minute to receive your next clue."

Fox heavily sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with… and quickly." He added.

"Okay, Fox," she said before heading over to the flower vendor.

Once both vulpine had bought their reef of pretty white flowers, they were escorted through the park by another soldier. Upon coming in sight of the statue, Fox could hardly bare to even look at it as it brought back painful memories. He really didn't want to do this so he stopped walking midway.

"It's okay, Fox," said Krystal, comforting him. "I'm here for you."

"I know." said Fox, trying not to lose it. "I just need a quick moment."

"You can do this, Fox…" she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Do it for him."

"…yeah." Fox gave her a brief smile, showing his appreciation, "…you're right. He would want me to, wouldn't he?"

After placing their reef beneath the statue, the two vulpine held hands and took their moment of silence together. While doing so, Fox read the engraving on the memorial.

IN HONOR OF JAMES MCCLOUD: A NOBLE HERO, AS WELL AS LOVING HUSBAND AND FATHER

"NO MATTER HOW LOST YOU MAY BE, HOW HOPELESS YOU MAY FEEL, HOW DOOMED YOU MAY SEEM, YOU NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER."

– JAMES McCLOUD

'…Yep,' thought Fox, nodding his head a bit, 'that's definitely my father.'

Upon closing his eyes, Fox could hear his father's voice saying those exact words to him. It was enough to slowly bring one small tear streaming down his face. He missed him… so much.

Sensing this, Krystal gently laid her head on Fox's shoulder once again. "He misses you too, Fox," she whispered to him.

In that moment, all of time was at a complete standstill. Fox thought of every happy memory he ever had with his father, and how proud James would be for all that Fox had done for Lylat since his passing. As the wind blew on his fur, Fox lifted his head up to look at the statue of his father and slowly grinned as he was finally able to let the moment pass.

After their moment of silence had finished, the soldier handed them their next clue.

"Thank you," said Krystal, obtaining it.

FOX & KRYSTAL: Currently in 2nd Place

After Krystal read their clue, the two vulpine quickly left the memorial and headed for the park exit.

CONFESSIONAL:

FOX & KRYSTAL: Dating

"At first, I was angry that I was being forced to confront my past against my will," said Fox, "but now, I'm glad I got to revisit my father's memorial. It really helped me come to peace with his untimely death. Even though I'll always miss him, I'm happy knowing that my father is in a better place and that he's with my mother again. As for me, life will go on, and as long as I continue living for others…" he then thought of a certain blue-furred vixen, "…I can move forward knowing that I'm never truly alone."

END:

After calling for a taxi and giving the driver directions, they were now on their way to their next destination. They had decided to do the 'Go Up High' side of the Detour. While riding in their taxi, Fox was still feeling a bit emotional.

"Thanks for helping me out back there, Krystal," said Fox, putting his arm around her shoulder. "I really appreciated that."

"Your welcome. I know how much your father meant to you, Fox."

"You're not embarrassed by how I handled myself back there, are you?"

"No, of course not," Krystal replied. "Don't ever be ashamed about how you feel, Fox. Not ever."

CONFESSIONAL:

FOX & KRYSTAL: Dating

"When I first met Fox," said Krystal, "my first impression of him was of someone who was really cocky and arrogant, but after he saved my life back on planet Sauria, I felt indebted to him. By joining Star Fox, I was able to get to know him better, and we became really good friends, and before long… I found myself falling in love with him. I think what really helps brings us closer together is definitely the loss of our loved ones, for I too have lost family dear to me due to tragic circumstances. We understood each other, and I think that's how we're able to connect to each other." Krystal sighed, "… I just can't imagine life without Fox."

END:

While continuing to ride in their taxi, Fox gave Krystal a kiss on the head as she laid it on his shoulder. "I love you, Krystal."

Krystal smiled back while looking up at him. "I love you too, Fox."

Back at the Roadblock, Jigglypuff was once again able to grab the yellow flag. This time, having learned her lesson from before, she was now going back the way she came through the arena.

"I can do this," she told herself. "I just have to not get shot."

Kirby was cheering for her from the sidelines. "Yeah, Jigglypuff! You go girl!" He proceeded to whistle loudly for her.

Meanwhile, Link & Zelda's cab driver was having trouble trying to find the Underground City. He kept slowing down asking random people on the side of the road on what route to take, except many of them kept saying that they didn't know where it was.

"Why does he keep asking for directions?" said Zelda, growing aggravated. "I thought he said he knew where it was."

Link was looking at the map he had bought the previous day. Keeping track of where their taxi was going, he realized they were going further and further in the opposite direction of where they were supposed to go. "Are you kidding me? He doesn't even know where he's going."

"Sir, go back on the main highway!" Zelda ordered. "You're taking us the wrong way!"

The taxi driver sighed. "Fine, you asked for it." The taxi driver did just as she ordered. Upon doing so, however… they later got stuck in traffic again.

"You can't be serious!" said Zelda, looking around at all the cars surrounding them.

"See, this is why I was trying to find an alternate route back there," said the taxi driver. "I was trying to avoid rush-hour traffic."

"Why didn't you warn us if you knew this was going to happen?!" Link asked the taxi driver.

"Hey now, my job is to always do what the customer tells me to. Like I said, you asked for it."

"THAT'S your fricking excuse?!"

"Argh!" Zelda slammed the side window with her fist in anger. "This is the worst day ever!"

Back at the Roadblock…

"YELLOW TEAM DEFEATED!" yelled the announcer. "PRIVATE JIGGLYPUFF WINS!"

"Yes!" cried Kirby. "She did it! Yes!"

"Whew…" said Jigglypuff, catching her breath. "Made it."

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," private Goldie pulled the clue out of his shirt collar and handed it to her.

"Thank you," she said. She then quickly left the arena to find Kirby so they could leave.

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Currently in 4th Place

Seeing Jigglypuff leave greatly agitated Bowser Jr., especially since he and his dad were the ones that arrived first. "Grrrr! Come ON already!" He angrily banged the glass wall, nearly causing it to crack. "I'm sick of falling behind! I hate not finishing first! I WANT TO BE FIRST!"

"Dude-a…" said Mario, standing a few feet away covering his ears. "Calm it down, will ya?"

Bowser Jr. stuck his tongue out at him in response.

Peach shot him a mean look. "Little brat."

Meanwhile, Link & Zelda's taxi continued to struggle with rush-hour traffic. They weren't getting anywhere fast.

"Ergh! I'm tired of this!" said Link. "Lets just get out and find another taxi."

"Again?!" Zelda complained, but doing so was pointless since Link had already made up his mind while getting their bags out of the trunk.

After paying their fare to the taxi driver, the Hylian couple once again found themselves walking in between cars on the highway, causing nearby cars to continue honking madly at them. This only made Zelda grow furtherly aggravated with Link.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"Link is such an idiot!" said Zelda, completely perplexed with irritation. "Why does he constantly have to walk out onto the streets where cars are running? What if traffic started letting up again?! We could've gotten killed! Link has no consideration for my well-being nor even his own! He's so foolish!"

END:

After getting back onto the sidewalk, the Hylian couple were now trying to run ahead of traffic. They did this for about half an hour until they realized the highway went on forever and traffic was still not letting up. There were no exits that led anywhere back into the city and there wasn't even a taxi in sight. The situation felt slow and hopeless.

"Now what?!" said Link, growing desperate.

"I can't believe you, Link," Zelda complained. "This is the stupidest idea you've ever come up with!"

"Not the time, Zelda."

Zelda looked at the stone wall they were walking next to. "Thanks to you, we'll have to backtrack. We'd have to climb over that wall just to get back into the city quicker."

That's when a lightbulb went off in Link's head.

"You know what, good idea," said Link, gesturing Zelda to climb onto his hands. "Here, climb on."

"What!?" Zelda was taken aback by this. "B-but I was only joking!"

"I don't care, just climb on," he insisted.

"But that's dangerous Link!" she protested.

"Climb on!"

Doing what he said, Link hoisted her up so she could begin her climb. After much struggle, she grabbed hold of the top part and pulled herself up to the top of the stone wall. "Okay, I'm up."

She then reached her hand out for Link to grab hold of. After throwing his backpack to the other side of the wall, Link jumped up and grabbed hold of her hands and used his feet to climb up. After much struggle, he too was on top. After a sigh of relief, he jumped down to the other side and was now in a back-alley way.

"Alright Zelda, you can jump now."

"Uh… I don't know if I can jump down from here Link. It's too scary from up here."

"You can do it, Zel. I know you can."

"But what if I end up hurting myself?"

"You won't," Link insisted. "I promise."

"Ergh! I hate you for making me do this, Link!"

Link was getting impatient. "Just do it, Zelda! I told you, I won't let you get hurt. Now jump!"

After one more moment of hesitation, she then jumped off the wall without warning and fell on top of Link. Link was now lying on the ground face-first with Zelda sitting on top of him.

"You were supposed to catch me!" she said, unimpressed.

Link angrily spat dirt out of his mouth. "Well, excuuuuuuuse me, princess!"

Both of them got back up on their feet while the camera crew were also getting onto the other side of the wall. Soon, everyone was ready to go.

"Let's keep moving," said Link.

Zelda didn't like that they were now relegating themselves to climbing walls just to get out of these precarious situations.

"I could've broken a bone, you know!" Zelda nagged him once more. "This is getting ridiculous, Link."

Link ignored her as they were now heading back into the city just like he knew they would.

Meanwhile, Ness & Lucas became the next team to arrive at the memorial in Corneria City's Central Park. They bought their reef of flowers and put it right next to the others that were placed under James McCloud's statue. During their moment of silence, however, neither Ness nor Lucas felt like showing any sympathy for Fox's late father for they still held animosity towards Fox & Krystal for their earlier actions. Ness was even shown tapping his foot repeatedly while waiting impatiently for their one minute of silence to end.

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"I honestly didn't care what happened to Fox's father," said Ness, "We had to get out of their quickly. There's no way we were going to waste time being sentimental for some dead guy we don't even know when we're too busy trying to stay alive in this game."

"I felt bad for Fox and his father and all," said Lucas, "but still, that doesn't change how upset we are towards Fox & Krystal for what they've been doing. This is a game, and we're not getting eliminated because of them."

END:

"Alright, your minute of silence is over," said the soldier who escorted them. "Here's your next clue."

"Thanks," said Ness, grabbing their clue to read it.

NESS & LUCAS: Currently in 3rd Place

"Detour," Ness read, "Go Up High or Go Down Low."

"I say we do 'Go Up High,'" Lucas suggested.

"Yeah, I agree."

The two boys immediately left the park and went to find the Cornerian Flight Academy as quick as they could.

Back at the Roadblock, while continuing to shoot enemy soldiers with paintballs, Bowser was the next one to be able to capture the yellow team's flag, overcome every obstacle in his way, and complete the task.

"YELLOW TEAM DEFEATED!" yelled the loudspeaker. "PRIVATE BOWSER WINS THE MATCH!"

"Well FINALLY!" said Bowser Jr., throwing his hands in the air before leaving. "Took him long enough."

"YES!" Bowser shouted, blowing flames out of his mouth in excitement. "How do all you pathetic losers like me now?! I'm the best and you all suck! Boo yeah! WOO HOO!"

Everyone else shook their heads in annoyance.

"Ergh!" said Daisy. "Shut. Up. Already!"

"Seriously?" said Mario.

"What a jerk," said Peach, disgusted by Bowser's obnoxious remarks.

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," said Private Coop, pulling it out of his shirt collar.

"Thanks!" Bowser snatched it out of his hands before high tailing it out of there.

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: Currently in 5th Place

"This is not good-a," Mario despaired as he and Luigi were once again one of the last two teams left at the task.

Peach sighed. "Now what?"

…

"This is not good-a," said Mario as he and Peach watched helplessly at the sidelines.

"Now what?" said Peach. "We're falling behind again. This is bad!"

While the game of capture the flag was being reset for the sixth time, Daisy was rethinking her strategy. She discussed it with her soldier partner.

"Maybe instead of focusing on shooting other soldiers all the time, I should just focus more on getting the flag first," she told her soldier partner while heading back to home base with other soldiers.

"Good idea," he responded.

CONFESSSIONAL:

PEACH & DAISY: Princesses/Best Friends

"I wasn't going to let this Roadblock get the better of me," said Daisy. "I couldn't get frustrated. I knew I had to keep going and do what I had to do to succeed. When I want something, I'll fight tooth and nail to get it."

END:

"Ayaah!" Luigi complained, feeling exhausted while going back to home base once again. "This is way too hard-a…"

CONFESSIONAL:

MARIO & LUIGI: Brothers/Plumbers

"That-a Roadblock was really difficult," said Luigi in despair. "It felt-a like no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't evade those paintballs that were constantly being shot at me. It-a was getting tiresome and I was constantly getting hurt all over. I just-a really wanted it to end."

END:

As for Kirby & Jigglypuff, they were the fourth team to arrive at the James McCloud memorial. While placing their reef of flowers under the statue, they became heavily saddened after reading their clue over what happened to Fox's father and all the people that lost their lives in the Lylat wars. Before doing their moment of silence, Jigglypuff started wailing dramatically like a baby, causing Kirby to surprisingly do the same thing, for he was still quite young after all. The tragedy behind the story they just learned was just too much for them to bare that they ended up releasing the waterworks. The soldier that had escorted them raised his eyebrow at this as he found their display of sympathy to be a tad bit excessive.

'O-kayyyy…' the soldier thought while scratching his head.

CONFESSIONAL:

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Dating Long Distance

The two puffballs continued wailing in the confessional.

Jigglypuff sniffed. "It's just so horrible. Why would anyone EVER want to start a war?! Why can't everyone just stop hurting each other all the time? I mean… why can't we all just get along?!"

Kirby blew his nose with a tissue. "That moment at the memorial was really hard to go through, having to learn about all those lives that were taken due to some stupid war that happened. Also, to hear how Fox lost his Dad in the most tragic way possible just because of that… I can't even imagine such a thing. I can't even think of that without..."

Kirby burst into tears again, followed by Jigglypuff.

END:

"Alright you two, here's your next clue," said the soldier once their moment of silence was over.

"Thanks," said Kirby, obtaining it while wiping away another tear. He was able to contain himself quickly before reading it.

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Currently in 4th Place

"I say we should do 'Go Up High,'" Jigglypuff suggested after listening to Kirby read the clue. "It sounds easier."

"My thoughts exactly," Kirby agreed.

After that, the two puffballs left the park and returned to their taxi.

"We need to get to the Cornerian Flight Academy as quickly as possible," Jigglypuff told their taxi driver.

"You got it," she responded. After that, the two puffballs were on their way.

As for the other teams that were on their way to the academy, Ness & Lucas were now shown riding in a monorail train after being given some valuable piece of advice from the people of Corneria City.

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"We were told by a couple of strangers that the quickest route to the academy was by taking the monorail train before we had to backtrack a couple blocks on foot from the nearby station," said Ness. "So that's just what we did."

END:

"I hope this gets us in the lead," said Lucas, while holding onto a metal railing.

Ness agreed. "Yeah, me too."

Meanwhile, Fox & Krystal were still riding in their taxi as they drove through the city. Krystal noticed a monorail train that was moving right next to the highway they were on, and it was moving ahead faster than their taxi.

"I don't know, Fox," said Krystal, growing doubtful. "I can't help but think we should've taken the monorail instead."

"Don't worry about it, Krystal," said Fox, feeling confident. "We know we're still in the lead and we know where to go since we live here. Nothing's going to stop us."

"Alright, just don't get too cocky about it, Fox," she said, knowing his habit for doing so whenever they were on a roll. "We don't want to jinx ourselves."

"Krystal, it's impossible for us to get lost since we have the homeland advantage, so I know we can come in first today."

"That's not exactly what I meant." Nonetheless, she knew that anything could happen in this game.

Link & Zelda, meanwhile, were still having trouble trying to get another taxi.

"Taxiiii!" cried Link, holding up his thumb. Still no luck.

"Link, nobody wants to help us because they hate us," said Zelda since several pedestrians would often glare at them with contempt. "We're too different from everybody."

"Don't be ridiculous, Zelda," Link replied. "We're just not having any luck, that's all. We can't give up."

"Whatever, Link."

When they continued to have no luck, they kept walking around the city for someplace else to grab a taxi. They were now stopping at a road crossing waiting for traffic to stop. With the cars constantly driving by, there were lots of horns honking, police sirens were going off, and people were constantly yelling at each other in the street. All this hustle and bustle was giving Zelda a headache.

"Ergh! These streets are loud!" Zelda complained.

"Yep," said Link, not really caring as he was too busy reading the map.

Zelda then smelled a funky odor in the air. "Ugh! This place stinks!"

"Uh-huh." The smell didn't really bother Link.

"I can't…" Zelda heavily sighed, feeling aggravated over everything, "…Corneria City sucks."

Link stared at her in disbelief before taking a quick look of his surroundings. "I like Corneria City. I think it's cool."

Zelda glared at him.

"Shut up," she stated, feeling as though Link was trying to make her look bad.

Meanwhile, after having no luck with traffic, the puffballs asked their taxi driver to drop them off at the nearest monorail station instead, and that's just what they did.

"Thank you very much," said Jigglypuff once they got there, paying their fee while Kirby retrieved their bags.

After that, they went up the ramp to the nearest entrance of the monorail station and went to wait in line for the next train to come by. While doing so, they looked at a big map of Cornerian City displayed on the public directory to find a station that was closest to the Cornerian Flight Academy.

CONFESSIONAL:

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Long Distance Dating

"We found out that taking the monorail was cheaper as opposed to paying to get stuck in traffic while riding in a taxi," said Kirby, "so, of course we were going to take the monorail. I mean, come on. Who wouldn't?"

END:

Back at the Roadblock…

"RED TEAM DEFEATED! PRIVATE DAISY WINS!"

"Yes!" Peach cheered after witnessing Daisy return to home base with the yellow flag. "She did it!"

This made Mario extremely worried. "Oh no…"

"Whew!" said Daisy, feeling really good while covered in paint. "Thank goodness!"

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," said one of her soldier partners.

"Thank you."

PEACH & DAISY: Currently in 6th Place

After obtaining her clue, Daisy then ran out of there quickly. The Mario Bros watched her leave in despair.

"This is a disaster," said Luigi, feeling down.

"Last place again?!" said Mario, feeling infuriated. "When are we ever going to get a break?"

Meanwhile, Bowser & Bowser Jr. were the fifth team to arrive at the James McCloud Memorial. Rather than offering their condolences to James McCloud, however, they decided to throw out insults instead.

"Yeesh!" said Bowser Jr., looking at the statue of James. "Now I know where Fox gets his looks from. This dude is hideous."

"You're telling me," Bowser agreed. "Just look at that stupid head of his. It's shaped like a bell."

Upon hearing these insults, the soldier that escorted them was really beginning to feel his blood boil.

"You said it," Bowser Jr. agreed, "and those shades he's wearing aren't doing him any favors either. I mean, who does he think he is? A movie star? Ha! Please. He doesn't even have any charisma."

"Yeah. I know I'm much better looking than this loser that Fox calls a father," Bowser added. "Not only that, this James dude is nothing but an irresponsible parent for leaving his son behind just so he could go out and play hero for all of the galaxy."

"Yeah, and where did that leave him? Blown to kingdom come, that's what. Now, poor little Foxy boy is nothing but a sad little loser orphan with no one to love him. Boo-hoo for him."

Both koopas then started laughing at their own words.

'Why those ignorant, terrible monsters!' thought the Cornerian soldier. It irked him to have to hear those koopas outright disrespect the honorable hero, James McCloud.

Bowser & Bowser Jr. then started placing their reef of flowers under the statue before taking their one minute of silence – albeit disingenuously.

"Alright, your done," said the soldier once their moment passed. "Here's your next clue."

"Give me that!" Bowser rudely swiped it out of his hands, infuriating the soldier even more.

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: Currently in 5th Place

"Detour: Go Up High or Go Down Low?" Bowser read.

"Definitely Go Up High," said Bowser Jr. "It sounds more fun."

"Heck no!" Bowser vehemently disagreed. "I'm not going on any more crazy rides. We're doing Go Down Low."

"But dad-"

"No butts!" Bowser interrupted. "We're doing this my way, and my way is the only way!"

"Oh please, like you ever-"

"NO BACKTALK!" Bowser rudely shouted. "My decision is final!"

"Stop interrupting m-"

"BE QUIET!" Bowser yelled even louder.

"STOP YELLING AT ME!" Bowser Jr. yelled back.

"SHUUUUUUT UUUUUUPPPPPPPP!" Bowser roared at the top of his lungs. He really did not want to get onto an aircraft simulator.

The soldier was completely speechless.

'What's wrong with that guy?!' he thought.

CONFESSIONAL:

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: Father-Son

"…He's nuts!" said an incredulous Bowser Jr., talking about his dad. "He always has to be the one in charge on this team, and he always has to interrupt me. I hate that!"

"Yeah, of course I'm being mean to him," said Bowser, crossing his arms. "So what? I have to be. Can't just let him go around doing whatever he wants whenever he wants to. That's bad parenting. Everyone knows that."

END:

"Ergh!" Bowser Jr. groaned in response. "Fine! We'll do it your way. Let's just get out of here already."

Both koopas exited the park to find a taxi.

"Good riddance," said the soldier once they left.

Meanwhile, Ness & Lucas were leaving the monorail train once it pulled up at the station they were heading for. Once they were back on the sidewalk, they started running down the block that they were told to go through to reach the academy.

"I sure hope we're going the right way," said Lucas, trying to keep up with Ness.

As for Fox & Krystal, their taxi was being stopped by a traffic light.

"Come on red light, turn green already," said Fox, getting impatient.

"I hope we don't fall behind," said Krystal.

"We won't," Fox assured her. "Trust me."

And as for Link & Zelda, they continued to struggle with getting lost. As they continued walking through the city, Link's stomach continued to be a problem for his digestive system.

"Ergh!" Link winced. "my bowels hurt."

"Again?!" said Zelda, growing increasingly irritated with Link once more.

"I gotta go, Zelda. I can't go on like this," Link insisted.

"Fine, but use a real bathroom this time," She whispered, pointing towards a public restroom they were walking by.

While Link went to use the restroom, Zelda decided to ask people around to see if they could help her out.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"I don't think it's fair for Link to accuse me of not contributing to our team," said Zelda. "I do so much more than he gives me credit for. In fact, I was the one asking for directions while his hopeless butt was busy using the restroom. I even had to ask around for stomach medicine from a bunch of random strangers all because Link was too stubborn to do it himself."

END:

Once Link was finished, he walked outside to find Zelda standing next to a taxi she had managed to obtain for them (or rather, she got a couple of strangers to do it for her).

"What's this?" Link asked.

"I got us a taxi driver who can take us to the Underground City," she replied. "See? I can be useful."

"Uh-huh," said Link with a raised eyebrow before he put their bags in the trunk.

While the Hylian couple was back on the road in their new taxi, Zelda told Link everything. "The driver says he knows of a way to get us to the Underground City as fast as possible."

"Oh really?" said Link. "Well that's nice to hear."

"Oh, and one more thing," Zelda reached into her bag and took out two pills for Link. "I snagged some stomach medicine for you from a couple of nice people."

"Oh sweet, thank you…" Zelda, however, kept the pills out of his reach before he could grab them. "Hey!"

"Nuh uh, Link." She said, wagging her finger. "First you have to say you're sorry."

"For what?"

"For calling me useless and making me feel bad about myself. Now say it."

Link was in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"Say it, Link. Only then can you have your medicine."

Link rolled his eyes. "You are so immature."

"Say it."

"Zelda, just give it to me."

"Say it!"

"Fine! I'm sorry."

"For?"

Link rolled his eyes once more. "I'm sorry for calling you useless and making you feel bad about yourself."

"AND for talking down to me like the jerk that you are! …but, regardless, I accept your apology." She then handed Link the pills that he desired.

"Humph. Excuuuuuuuse me, princess!" Link stated before taking the medicine.

Back at the Roadblock, Luigi was determined to give it his all while shooting enemy soldiers with his paintball gun left and right as his soldier partner helped protect him while guiding him through the course. Just as he was advised, he took advantage of the safe zones by staying in them while shooting as many enemy soldiers as possible while cautiously not shooting any soldiers that were in the safe zones themselves. There was no time to waste now.

"Come on-a, Luigi," said Mario, feeling anxious while watching him. "You can do it-a."

Pretty soon, once he finally got the chance, Luigi was able to grab the other team's flag and began running back to home base.

"Yes!" cried Mario. "He's-a got it! He's-a got it!"

Luigi's soldier partner was determined to help Luigi succeed by guarding him and shooting other soldiers that were aiming at him. Paintballs flew everywhere, yet so far, none had hit Luigi. After much struggle, Luigi was able to avoid all obstacles and quickly bring the enemy's flag to home base.

"Yahoo!" cried Mario happily. "He did it-a!"

"RED TEAM DEFEATED!" yelled the loudspeaker for the last time. "PRIVATE LUIGI WINS!"

"Whew!" said Luigi, exhausted. "What a relief."

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," said Luigi's soldier partner, pulling the clue out of his shirt collar and handing it to him.

"Thanks-a," Luigi responded, obtaining it before waving all the soldiers goodbye. "Thanks for everything! It was a blast!"

Mario was soon shown hugging Luigi to congratulate him, in spite of the fact Luigi was now nearly covered in paint.

"Good job-a, Luigi," he said. "You knew you could do it."

Luigi ripped open their clue to read it.

MARIO & LUIGI: Currently in Last Place

"Make your way to Corneria City Central Park and find the James McCloud memorial…" he continued reading.

After reading where they had to go, both Mario bros quickly returned to their taxi.

"We need to get to Corneria City Central Park-a, and we need to get there as fast as possible!" Mario told the taxi driver.

"You got it."

At long last, they were on their way.

As the Mario Bros were heading for the memorial, Ness & Lucas were the first team to arrive at the Cornerian Flight Academy. Once inside, they walked through the hallways searching for route markers.

"Oh, there's one," Lucas spotted a route marker, hanging next to a sign.

Flight Simulation Room: 3rd Floor

Cafeteria: 2nd Floor

Main Lobby: 1st Floor

Ness & Lucas took the elevator and went up to the third floor. Once there, they went down the halls to find the Flight Simulation Room.

"You nervous, Lucas?" asked Ness, knowing they were going to do a task that sounded scary on paper.

"Nope. I ain't nervous one bit."

Upon opening the doors to the Flight Simulation Room, however, the Earthbound kids could not believe their eyes. Looking up, they got a good look at the technological aircraft simulators that they saw performing flips and spinning in circles… and it was happening a hundred feet high up in the air in front of a giant screen. It looked frightening.

"Oh. My. Gosh," said Ness, completely speechless.

"Uh oh," said Lucas, feeling like he was about to soil his pants. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Meanwhile, after having arrived at the memorial, Peach & Daisy were now doing their moment of silence after placing their reef of flowers under the statue of James McCloud. They felt saddened upon learning what happened to Fox's father and the events of the war that unfolded.

CONFESSIONAL:

PEACH & DAISY: Princesses/Best Friends

"It feels really sad to think about the tragic events that befell this amazing galaxy," said Peach. "When I look at the stone pillars containing all the names of people who lost their lives, you come to realize that they're not just the names of soldiers that fought in battle. There were also innocent civilians that got killed too. Babies, children, the elderly, people with goals and dreams that never came to fruition. Their lives were all taken away in cold blood and… heaven forbid - they probably didn't even see it coming."

END:

Once they were finished, they received their next clue from the soldier that escorted them.

"Thank you very much, mister," said Daisy.

"My pleasure," he said.

Peach ripped open their clue to see where they had to go next. "Detour: Go Up High or Go Down Low."

"I say we do 'Go Up High'," Daisy suggested. "It sounds easier."

"Yeah, I agree."

Once the two princesses got back inside their taxi and were on their way to the academy, they were in deep thought about what they saw at the memorial.

"It's awful to think of what happened here all those years ago," said Peach, shaking her head.

"I know," Daisy replied. "It leaves me speechless just thinking of every soldier that stood up and sacrificed themselves for the freedom of their home."

"Yeah, it really makes you think just what citizenship really means to these people," Peach said, looking at the Cornerians walking down the streets outside her car window and how they were all still alive because of countless brave souls. "The fact that soldiers were willing to put their lives on the line just to protect a bunch of people they didn't even know? They were heroes. They really were."

"I agree," said Daisy. "I don't know if I could've done that if I was in their shoes, as much as I hate to admit it."

"Hopefully, there won't come such a time for us," said Peach, thinking about their own kingdoms back at home.

Back at the Cornerian Flight Academy, Ness & Lucas were preparing themselves to ride in the aircraft simulators, despite feeling scared.

"Hi there," said Peppy, a middle-aged anthropomorphic grey rabbit, who was now walking over to them to shake their hands. "You two must be one of the racing teams."

"Yes sir," said Ness.

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"That old bunny seemed really cool," said Lucas. "I'll bet he has tons of wonderful stories to tell."

END:

After giving them their instructions, Peppy helped Ness & Lucas into their own simulated aircrafts and buckled them both into their seats. The layout of the aircrafts was different compared to the arwings that they rode earlier. After showing them how the buttons worked and how to steer, they were ready for liftoff – in a manner of speaking.

"You got this Lucas!" Ness called out from his flight simulator.

"Yeah, I can do it!" Lucas replied back before asking Peppy, "So… how long did you say each ride lasts, again?"

"About ten minutes," Peppy replied while helping to buckle their seats. He then went and typed in the coordinates on his control pad. "Good luck, boys."

After the aircraft's doors were firmly shut, both Ness and Lucas grew anxious while feeling themselves being lifted up higher.

"Here we go," said Ness.

"Oh gosh," said Lucas. It was beginning to feel like déjà vu from the arwing rides.

After both aircraft simulators were hoisted up over a hundred and fifty feet in the air, their surroundings went dark while the gigantic screen in front of them was turned on and they were instantly given the feeling that they were about to fly through a foreign alien planet.

"All range mode!" said Peppy, punching a red flashing button. With that being said, Ness & Lucas took control of their aircrafts and they were now flying around a giant arena over a red sand desert. They then spotted incoming enemy aircraft fighters coming from far away, and this was confirmed while looking at the green radars in their aircrafts.

"Let's shoot 'em down!" cried Lucas, who was now getting very excited.

"Roger that," said Ness. He was having fun already before he started shooting.

Meanwhile, Fox & Krystal's taxi had finally reached its destination.

"Thanks a lot," said Fox, paying the taxi driver their fee.

Once the vulpine got their bags out, they went inside the Academy. Memories were flowing back through Fox's head as he and Krystal were going through the hallways.

"Never thought I'd be back here, again," said Fox.

Meanwhile, Ness & Lucas started off having some trouble with poor aim as it was rather tricky trying to shoot down enemies that were shooting at them on the giant screen.

"Ergh! Come on!" said Ness, who aimed at three bad guys but missed.

Lucas shot aimed at two, but he missed. "Dang! This is not easy."

"Uh oh!" cried Ness, who was being shot by bogeys on his tail, so he attempted a somersault to shake him off. "Whoooooa!" The feeling of doing a somersault up high in the air sent adrenaline through him.

"Yes!" cried Lucas, gaining his first point. "I got one!"

Meanwhile, once the two vulpine entered the flight simulation room, they saw the two flight simulators flying high up in the air before noticing Peppy.

"Oh, Fox, Krystal!" said Peppy, delighted to see them, "Good to have you two back!"

"Hey, Peppy," Fox replied as he and Krystal hugged him.

"Nice to see you two are still in the game. I knew you could do it."

"I suppose another team is already here?" asked Krystal, looking up at the flying simulators.

"Yep," Peppy replied. "You guessed it."

"So who's up there?" Fox asked.

"Just a couple of kids. I think one of their names is uh… Luke, or something?"

"Ness & Lucas!" Both vulpine replied, feeling rather shocked.

'How did they get ahead of us?' Fox thought.

Kirby & Jigglypuff, meanwhile, had gotten off the monorail they had taken and were now making their way to the academy.

"Come on, Kirby. Hurry up!" Jigglypuff called after him while running through the city streets.

"I'm trying," Kirby replied. His stomach still wasn't feeling entirely healthy as it hurt while they ran.

As for Link & Zelda, while sitting in their taxi, they were feeling down for they knew they more than likely lost their lead. They were growing paranoid that they might even be in last place again.

Zelda sighed while shaking her head. "This game is hard."

"Yep…" Link replied, feeling as though that this leg had been going on forever.

Despite this, they finally managed to get back on track as their taxi brought them to where they needed to go. They were now stopping at a ferry station near the big river which ran all the way up from the ocean.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"Our taxi driver told us that the quickest and easiest way to get to the Underground City was to take a ferry ride," said Zelda, "so that's what we agreed to do in order to finish faster."

END:

"Thanks," said Zelda, paying their fair while Link got their bags out.

After that, the Hylian couple ran inside the Ferry Station and went to the ticket counter.

"We need two tickets on the earliest and quickest ferry you have," said Link.

Just a couple minutes later, Link & Zelda managed to snag a ferry boat and they were quickly heading upriver for the mountain that led to the Underground City.

"Wow, this is the quickest and easiest way to get there," said Zelda, completely impressed.

"Dang," said Link, admiring the scenery. "Would you look at that."

As their boat ran through the water, Link & Zelda got to have a good view of the city near the harbor. Its futuristic visuals were breathtakingly nice to look at. Even Zelda couldn't help but admire how pretty it looked despite voicing her contempt for the city earlier.

Not long after, their ferry boat had reached the shore on the other side. After docking, Link & Zelda disembarked, left the ferry station, and ran across the street when there weren't any cars out. After looking at a big sign pointing them to where they had to go, they were soon running through a wooded area down the path through the mountain side that led to the underground entrance.

"Alright, we're finally here," said Link as they ran inside the cave.

Going through the dark tunnels, the Hylian couple went down some flights of stairs that went further and further underground. They soon found a door with a red and yellow route marker, so they opened it and found themselves in a rather eerie white hallway. Running through the hall, Link & Zelda found another route marker that led them to another door. Upon opening it, they found the room housing safety deposit boxes each containing a clue locked inside.

"Alright, we made it!" said Zelda, feeling relieved.

Link went and grabbed a couple of helmets with headlamps on top for them to wear. "Alright, let's be quick."

The two then went into the elevator shaft and took one that would lead them all the way down to bunker area #3 like the clue said. After what felt like a long time, the elevator reached its destination and opened the doors. After exiting, Link & Zelda came across a wide open bridge that led to the entrance of bunker area #3.

"Oh, wow!" said Zelda, looking all around her.

"Holy cow!" said Link, amazed by what he saw while going across the bridge.

From where they were at, they could see the entire layout of this gigantic cave known as the Underground City. Looking off into the views of the precipice, they saw multiple bridges up above and down below, each extending from several different elevator shafts and stretching to different bunker areas. It was almost like exploring Atlantis, only deep underground.

Link was the first to reach the door on the other side of the bridge. Upon entering bunker area #3, however, their surroundings became pitch black.

"Oh wow, it's dark in here," said Zelda.

"Here, turn on your headlamp," said Link while turning on his.

Looking around, they found themselves in what looked like a maze of several different hallways with doors each housing its own distinct bunkhouse for evacuees to live in.

"Let's start looking for those numbers," said Link, who then pointed to a door on his right. "I'll search this bunkhouse."

Zelda followed him inside as Link was searching the bunkhouse for any numbers. It was dark inside there too.

"You see anything yet, Link?" Zelda asked.

"No, just a couple of cots and a cabinet with food packages of some sort."

"That sure is making me feel hungry right now. I wish we could've stopped for a bight to eat back at that café."

This annoyed Link. "Zelda, I need you to focus here. Now's not the time to complain about how hungry you are."

"Sorry."

Meanwhile, at the other side of the Detour, Fox & Krystal were waiting their turn while Ness & Lucas were finishing their turn on the simulators. Up till then, both boys only scored around half as many points as needed in order to win. They were getting frustrated that they couldn't score any faster.

"Come on!" yelled Ness, shooting madly. "Hold still already!"

"Times up!" yelled Peppy, who then turned off the simulation to bring them both back down.

"Already?" said Lucas.

Upon getting out, Ness & Lucas were completely dismayed upon noticing that Fox & Krystal had arrived.

'Them again?' Thought Ness.

"Hey guys," said Fox, waving hi to them.

Ness & Lucas rudely ignored them.

"Really?" said Krystal, shaking her head in dismay. "You can't even say hello?"

Meanwhile, Peppy displayed Ness & Lucas's scores on the big screen.

NESS: 62 points

LUCAS: 48 points

"Ugh!" said Lucas. "We gotta try that again."

"We're going to have to better than that if we want to succeed," said Ness, looking at their points.

Of course, since Fox & Krystal had arrived, Ness & Lucas had to let them go next as the clue stated.

"Come on, Krystal. Let's just get this done," Fox ushered her so they could finish quickly.

Since both vulpine already had plenty of experience with these flight simulations before becoming mercenaries, they didn't need any instruction from Peppy. Ness & Lucas were only furtherly annoyed by this while watching both vulpine get inside their flight simulators.

"I can't stand those two," Lucas whispered to Ness. "I hate how they're too dang good at this stuff."

"Well, what did you expect?" Ness replied. "They are experienced pilots after all."

The scene returned to Mario & Luigi, who were the last team to finish their moment of silence at the James McCloud Memorial. They were saddened upon learning the story of Fox's father and the tragedies of the Lylat Wars, but they knew they were in last so they couldn't dawdle.

"Alright, you're done," said the soldier who escorted them, handing them their next clue.

"Thanks," said Luigi, who got to be the one to read it.

MARIO & LUIGI: Currently in Last Place

"Detour: Go Up High or Go Down Low?" Luigi read.

"We have to do 'Go Down Low' since it's closer from here," Mario insisted. "We can't lose any more time."

Luigi understood and agreed to it before they set off for the Underground City themselves.

Meanwhile, Peach & Daisy were getting frustrated dealing with rush hour traffic while riding in their taxi.

"Ergh! Come on!" said Daisy, growing impatient.

"The traffic in this city is ridiculous," said Peach, shaking her head.

Upon noticing the monorail from up above that was going faster than they were, Peach & Daisy decided to bail out.

"Okay, I've had just about enough!" said Daisy. "We're taking the monorail instead."

"Good idea," Peach agreed.

After paying their fare to the taxi driver, they squeezed their way through the cars in the road, and then asked around for directions.

"Excuse me," said Peach, talking to an anthropomorphic badger. "Where can we find the nearest monorail station?"

"Just go straight down this road and you'll find one five blocks from here," he pointed.

"Thanks," said Daisy.

Bowser & Bowser Junior were growing frustrated with traffic as well, only they've been handling it much worse.

"HONK YOUR HORN ALREADY!" Bowser loudly demanded.

"OW!" cried the taxi driver, covering her ear drums. "Don't scream so loud in my ear, you freak!"

"I don't care!" said Bowser. "Get these idiots to move out of the way!"

Later…

"Why aren't you running that red light?!" yelled Bowser to the taxi driver. "Don't you understand we're in a race?!"

"I can't run the red light, you bozo! I'll get pulled over by the police!"

"That is not my problem!" said Bowser. "Run that red light right NOW!"

Later…

"GO FASTER!" Bowser yelled in the poor taxi driver's ear once more. "You drive like an old granny!"

"Alright, that's it!" She wasn't having any more of this. "Get out!"

Soon after, the koopas were left stranded in the middle of the city while their taxi quickly drove off.

"GRR! This is all your fault!" Bowser yelled at his son.

"What?! No, it's not! You're the one that wouldn't stop yelling at her!"

"I wouldn't have to yell if you would just be more aggressive like me!"

"You're the one who keeps hurting us by acting like a psychotic freak!"

"You shut your filthy mouth!"

"YOU shut it!"

"Don't tell your father to shut up!"

"You're a TERRIBLE father!"

As the koopas continued fighting, Peach & Daisy had made their way to the nearest monorail station they could find. They then went up the ramp, and got on the monorail. While sitting in their seats, however, they noticed several passengers were looking at them with hostile looks in their eyes.

"Why are they staring at us like that?" asked Peach.

"I don't know, but it's making me feel uncomfortable," Daisy replied. "Maybe we should've continued taking a taxi."

"It's because they think y'all are monkeys," said an unknown voice from a passenger sitting next to them.

"I beg your pardon?!" said Peach, feeling offended at being told that she looked like a monkey. "How dare you!"

"Look, I know you two are only human" said the passenger, who was an anthropomorphic koala wearing glasses. He was a Cornerian scientist. "But still, you two look similar to monkeys, and that's not good for you two considering that many people of Lylat hate them now."

"Why is that?" said Daisy, who was now curious.

"Well… these days, monkeys are being marginalized due to the horrible actions of Andross and his followers in the Lylat Wars."

"Wait a minute, back up…" said Peach. "Are you saying Andross and his followers were all monkeys?"

"Yes. They're the ones responsible for all of the pain and devastation that the people of Lylat had to endure throughout the terrible war."

"You know…" said Daisy, giving thought to this. "…now that I think about it, we haven't seen a single monkey the entire time we've explored this city."

"That's right, and because of everything that happened in the Lylat Wars, monkeys are now having to live underground these days."

"Oh, my goodness," said Peach, who then began to think of the more innocent monkeys who had nothing to do with the war. "That's terrible."

"Not only that. Even humans are no longer very well accepted now since… well, according to the theory of evolution, humans ARE scientifically theorized to be descended from monkeys after all. Now, for me personally, I find this level of thought to be completely asinine, but it's simply because of that that the humans have also been receiving their fair share of discrimination from people as of late. It's very sad."

Peach & Daisy were quite shocked upon hearing all of this.

"But… that's not fair," said Peach. It made her feel hurt.

Daisy pondered on this even further. "I'll bet that too is the reason why humans aren't seen very often in Lylat. What human could possibly want to endure such ridicule simply because they're theoretically linked to a hated species?"

"No kidding," said Peach as she continued to notice passengers glare at them. This only made her pity them.

Back at the Underground City, Link & Zelda were still struggling as they still hadn't found a single number in black spray paint yet. It was even more frustrating when bright light kept getting flashed in your eyes while walking around in the dark.

"Zelda, you need to search the rooms on the other side of the halls," Link suggested. "If we keep searching in the same room, it's only going to take longer."

"Okay, good idea." Taking Link's advice, Zelda went inside the bunk house across the hall, and searched. After finding nothing, she went to the next one. Bunkhouse after bunkhouse, the Hylian couple searched and they searched, yet they hadn't found anything.

"Ergh! This is taking forever," Zelda complained while looking around.

"Where's a number when you need one?" said Link before searching another bunkhouse.

On the other side of the Detour, Fox & Krystal were finishing up their turn on the flight simulators. As a gamer, Fox was having too much fun.

"Gotcha!" yelled Fox, shooting down three bogies at once. He had already scored over a hundred and seventy-five points. Krystal, on the other hand, wasn't as good at it as Fox.

"Come on, come on!" said Krystal, who kept missing her target at certain points.

CONFESSIONAL:

FOX & KRYSTAL: Dating

"I've never played video games before," said Krystal, "and let me tell you, that flight simulation is NOTHING like the real thing. The aim on my screen lagged at certain points and the simulation was too bumpy. If I were fighting in a real fighter jet, I would've kicked some serious tail. That's what I prefer."

END:

Pretty soon, their turn was over. After getting off, Peppy tallied their scores on the big screen.

FOX: 207 points

KRYSTAL: 96 points

"Woo hoo!" said Fox, feeling proud of himself. "Boo yeah!"

Krystal rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Show-off."

"I'm sorry, Krystal, but you're just four points short of your goal," said Peppy. "You'll have to go again."

Ness & Lucas were pleased upon noticing this.

"I'm sorry Fox," said Krystal.

"It's okay, Krystal, you did fine," Fox reassured her. "You were close, so I know you can do this."

"Yeah, I know."

Ness & Lucas got to go again. It was during this time that Kirby & Jigglypuff finally managed to find the academy and become the next team to arrive at the flight simulation room. Upon entering, Krystal spotted them.

"Fox, look." Krystal pointed them out. "Kirby & Jigglypuff are here now."

"Hey, guys!" said Jigglypuff, happy to see them.

"Hi Jigglypuff. Hi Kirby," said Fox.

Upon noticing the two flight simulators up high in the air, however, Kirby was starting to feel nervous.

"Oh no…" said Kirby.

CONFESSIONAL:

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Long Distance Dating

"I'm looking up at those two flying simulators up there, and I'm seeing them spinning around, performing backflips, and doing barrel roles…" said Kirby. "Just watching it all happen from the ground was making me feel nauseous all over again. My stomach still wasn't feeling better after throwing up on that arwing ride, so I really didn't feel like I could do it."

END:

"Kirby? What's wrong?" asked Jigglypuff, noticing he was looking pale.

Kirby shook his head. "I can't do it, Jiggs. I just can't."

…

"I can't do it, Jigglypuff. There's no way I can ride that thing without throwing up again. I just can't."

Feeling concerned, Jigglypuff looked up at the flying simulators. "Oh dear… I didn't think of that."

"Don't you think you should think it over and reconsider, Kirby?" Krystal suggested. "I would if I were you."

"Yeah," said Fox. "After all, the Underground City is a pretty long ways away from here. It might put your game in jeopardy if you decide to switch tasks."

"Please think it over, Kirby," Jigglypuff begged, not wanting Kirby to make a decision he'd end up regretting.

With that, Kirby agreed that he would wait until Ness & Lucas were done so he could make a decision. Once Ness & Lucas's turn was up, both boys got out while Peppy tallied their score.

NESS: 102 points

LUCAS: 109 points

"Yes! We did it!" Lucas cheered.

"Good job, Lucas," said Ness, hugging him in celebration. "You did better than I did this time around."

"Congratulations, here's your next clue," said Peppy, handing it to them.

"Thanks," Lucas received it.

"Good job, boys," said Fox, attempting to give them a high five. Of course, both boys rejected his high five out of spite as they high-tailed their way out of there. This was enough to surprise even Kirby & Jigglypuff.

"Seriously?" said Krystal, completely baffled. "They can't accept a high five either?"

Fox sighed while shaking his head in disbelief.

CONFESSIONAL:

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Long Distance Dating

"I was pretty shocked seeing Ness & Lucas dismiss Fox & Krystal like that," said Jigglypuff. "I don't think they even realize it's only a game. Fox & Krystal aren't even breaking any rules. They're only doing what they have to do to win. I hope Ness & Lucas can learn to understand that and not be all resentful."

END:

It was now Fox & Krystal's turn again. Since Fox had already scored enough points, it was only Krystal that had to go again.

"You can do this, Krystal," said Fox. "I believe in you."

"Thanks, Fox," she replied. "Wish me luck."

"You don't need any. You're good at this. I know you are."

As for Kirby & Jigglypuff, Kirby had made his decision.

"I can't do it, Jigglypuff," he said. "I don't want to end up throwing up again while I'm up there. I don't think I'll be able to complete the task if I do."

Jigglypuff sighed disappointingly. "Okay, then. We'll switch."

"Alright, let's be quick." They then bolted out of there.

Meanwhile, once Ness & Lucas had exited the building, Lucas ripped open their clue to read it.

NESS & LUCAS: Currently in 1st Place

"Congratulations on completing the Detour. You must now make your way to Star Fox Headquarters at the Command Tower of Corneria City."

TOAD'S NARRATION:

"After completing the Detour, teams must now make their way to the southernmost point of Corneria City and go inside the Command Tower," said Toad. "This place serves as the headquarters for team Star Fox, and it's also the place where the Commander in Chief, General Pepper, commands all of Corneria's military forces in all of Lylat, including team Star Fox. Now, it will serve as the pit-stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here… will be eliminated."

END:

"Hurry, the last team to check in will be eliminated," Lucas finished reading. "THAT we already know."

At that moment, Kirby & Jigglypuff had caught back up with them, much to their surprise.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" said Ness.

"We couldn't do it. We're switching tasks," Kirby replied.

"Oh wow, really?" said Lucas, shocked upon hearing this.

"You want to come with us to the monorail station so we can help you guys out?" Ness suggested.

"Sure, we'd love that," said Jigglypuff.

Both teams then made their way back to the monorail station.

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"I was feeling very concerned for Kirby & Jigglypuff because they're part of our alliance," said Ness. "I knew that if those two switched tasks, there was going to be a very good chance that they would lose a lot of time and end up falling behind."

END:

Back at the Underground City, Link & Zelda were still struggling with finding numbers. They had already searched over fifty bunkhouses and hadn't found anything.

"Link, I'm ready to give up," said Zelda, walking back over to him.

"We're not quitting, Zelda!" Link insisted. "We're seeing this through till the end. I don't care if this takes us another hour."

"Ugh! Fine."

Not long after, Zelda managed the find the number 9 on the back wall of one of the bunkhouses. This filled her with joy.

"Link! I found one! I found one!"

"That's good! Write it down and then look for another one!"

Meanwhile, Bowser & Bowser Jr.'s taxi eventually led them to the same ferry station that Link & Zelda used to reach the Underground City. Bowser payed their fare while Bowser Jr. got their bags out.

"Alright, we better get our tickets," said Bowser, running like mad.

Once both koopas got their tickets, they quickly got on a ferry and were making great time as they were now heading across the big river towards the Underground City.

"If we end up in last place, I'm blaming you for it, Dad," said Bowser Jr. "I didn't even want to do this task."

"Oh, can it, junior," Bowser replied. "You're decision-making is obsolete compared to mine, so sit down and shut up!"

"Quit calling me junior already!"

Meanwhile…

"I found another one, Link!" Zelda happily yelled out from a random bunkhouse from down the hallways. She had found the number 19.

"Awesome!" Link replied. "If we keep this up, we're golden!"

"And who's the one that said I was useless?" Zelda chided him.

"Not the time, Zelda. You need to keep searching."

On the other side of the Detour, Krystal had finished her turn on the aircraft simulator. After getting out, Peppy brought up her score on the big screen.

KRYSTAL: 125 points

"Yes! That's my girl!" Fox loudly applauded.

"Congratulations, Krystal," said Peppy, handing her their next clue, "you've succeeded. I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you very much, Peppy," Krystal replied, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Fox, Krystal, keep up the good work," said Peppy. "I'm rooting for you two."

"Thanks a lot, old timer," said Fox, giving him a hug as well before they departed.

"Good luck," Peppy called out to them.

Meanwhile, Peach & Daisy's monorail train had arrived at its final destination. They got off, and bought a taxi cab to travel the rest of the way. Pretty soon, their taxicab had finally made it to the Cornerian Flight Academy. While driving by, the princesses saw Fox & Krystal exiting the building.

"Oh look, there's Fox & Krystal," said Peach, pointing them out.

"Are they done already?" said Daisy.

Krystal ripped open their clue to read it.

FOX & KRYSTAL: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way to Star Fox Headquarters at the Command Tower of Corneria City."

"Good thing we know how to get there," said Fox before they quickly departed. "Come on, let's be quick!"

Upon seeing them leave, Peach looked at Daisy in astonishment. "We gotta hurry."

After parking at the main entrance, Daisy got out quickly while Peach got out her fanny pack.

"Thank you very much," said Peach, paying their fare to the taxi driver. "Wait here for us, will you?"

The taxi driver agreed while Daisy got their bags out. After getting their baring's, both princesses ran inside to do the task.

As for Mario & Luigi, they were busy asking for directions to the Underground City. Unbeknownst to them, they were now being helped by none other than Slippy Toad, the mechanic of team Star Fox, as well as Fox McCloud's very good friend.

"You know, if you go to the ferry station and take a ferry boat, you'll get there quicker," Slippy recommended.

"Alright-a, good idea," said Mario.

"Where do we find it-a?" asked Luigi.

Slippy pointed east down the road. "Just go twelve blocks down this road, turn left, go ten blocks that way, turn right, travel another twenty blocks and soon you'll see it just around the corner."

"Oki doki," said Luigi, frantically writing it all down. "Thanks."

Meanwhile, Ness & Lucas and Kirby & Jigglypuff had returned to the monorail station. Upon their arrival however, the monorail train was leaving the station, so this meant both teams had to wait for the next train.

"Man, that sucks," said Kirby.

"It's okay," Jigglypuff insisted, "We still need to figure out where to go, so let's figure out how while we wait."

"Let's try that big map at the directory," Ness suggested, pointing at it.

The big map at the directory, however, was huge. Showing the entire layout of Corneria City, there were monorail track lines almost everywhere, and it was hard to make out which one was the fastest route. It didn't help that they couldn't find where the Underground City even was.

"So… which of these routes should we take?" said Kirby.

No one had an answer. Not even Ness & Lucas knew what to do.

Bowser & Bowser Jr., meanwhile, had gotten off their ferry boat, ran to the cave entrance, and were now running down the stairs to the hallway that led to the chamber where all the safety deposit boxes were at. Once they had arrived, they grabbed their helmets with headlamps and immediately got to work.

"Good thing we're searching in the dark, because darkness is my number one ally," Bowser remarked as he and Bowser Jr. got into the elevator.

As the koopas went down the elevator shaft heading to bunker area #3, Link & Zelda were still looking around the bunkhouses. Searching for that last number was taking a really long time.

"Come on!" said Link, growing irritated. "Where the heck is that stupid number!?"

As Zelda was finishing searching around another bunkhouse, she turned to leave when the light from her headlamp shined on the face of a red and green monster with devil horns. Zelda screamed in fright.

"Surprise, princess," said Bowser with a slasher smile before chuckling evilly.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"Bowser is creepy," said Zelda, still mad at him for trampling her earlier. "I hate him."

END:

"Zelda, what's going on?" Link asked as she ran back to him.

"Bowser & Bowser Jr. are here now.

Link shook his head in annoyance. "Just what we need right now."

"We have to hurry, Link."

As Link & Zelda continued looking, Bowser Jr. had already found their first number.

"Dad, look!" he called out. "I found the number nineteen! Am I awesome or what?"

"Then quit wasting time celebrating and keep looking," Bowser angrily stated, "and don't yell out the number's, you dumb moron!"

As for Peach & Daisy, after being given instructions by Peppy, they were now buckled into the aircraft simulators. Performing the task, however, wasn't easy.

CONFESSIONAL:

PEACH & DAISY: Princesses/Best Friends

"I kept having trouble trying to steer my aircraft," said Peach. "I couldn't aim because I had to keep the aircraft from steering down as I aimed for the bad guys."

END:

As for Daisy, it wasn't as difficult steering the aircraft, though she had a hard time shooting down enough enemies to score points.

"Come on, hold still!"

By the end of their turn, their scores were tallied.

PRINCESS PEACH: 34 Points

PRINCESS DAISY: 58 Points

"Darn!" said Peach, completely dismayed. "We got to try that again."

Back at the monorail station near the Cornerian Military Academy, another monorail train had come and gone as the puffballs and the Earthbound kids were still having trouble figuring out where to find the Underground City on the map. At that moment, Fox & Krystal had arrived.

"Hey, guys," Fox called out to them once he saw them.

"Them again?" said Lucas. "Those guys are so annoying."

Regardless, Ness & Lucas continued trying to help the puffballs on where to go, but they failed to make any progress. Soon after, another monorail train going south came by. Ness wanted to beat both vulpine so he decided for him and Lucas to bail on Kirby & Jigglypuff.

"I'm sorry guys, I wish we could continue helping, but we got to go."

"Uh… okay," said Kirby, though it did sort of tick him off.

"Good luck," said Jigglypuff, though she too was rather annoyed as she watched both Ness & Lucas and Fox & Krystal leave. Now, the puffballs were stranded and didn't know where to go. So far, the Helping Hand Alliance was proving to be anything but helpful.

Kirby saw passengers getting onboard the other monorail train that was going east.

"This is getting us nowhere, Jigs," said Kirby. "Let's just hop onto that monorail train over there and figure it out as we go."

"Okay, fine."

Both puffballs quickly got onboard.

Meanwhile, Ness & Lucas didn't like being in the same monorail car as Fox & Krystal. They decided to move all the way down to the leading car in the front, thinking it would help them leave earlier.

"You sure this'll help us win, Ness," asked Lucas.

"It's worth a shot."

Later, they asked for directions from other passengers.

"Excuse me," said Lucas, talking to a female anthropomorphic black panther. "Do you know the fastest way to the Command Tower?"

She shook her head. "No. Sorry."

Back at the Underground City, Bowser had found their second number. It was the number 3.

"Got one!" Bowser yelled out.

Overhearing him, Zelda decided to run down the halls to where he found his number. Upon entering the bunkhouse Bowser had exited, she found the number 3 on the ceiling.

"Link, I got it!" she yelled out to him joyfully. "I got our last number!"

"Oh, you found it?" said Link, impressed Zelda had found all three numbers by herself. "Good job, Zel!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" said Bowser, beating himself up for yelling out anything.

Link & Zelda exited the bunker area and went up the elevator shaft back into the little room where all the safety deposit boxes were at. They then examined the lock that they had to decipher the code with.

"I've already figured it out, Link," said Zelda. "We've only got six possible combinations to work with, so let's go through all of them."

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"By doing the math, I calculated the different combinations through multiplication by using 'three multiplied by two multiplied by one.' That's six combinations total," said Zelda, feeling proud of herself. "See? I don't bear the Triforce of Wisdom for nothing."

Link rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Anyone could've figured that out. Including me. Easy peasy."

"And yet, you didn't, Link," said Zelda, poking fun at him.

END:

"Alright, here's all the possible combinations," said Zelda, having written them all down in her notebook.

3 - 9 - 19

3 - 19 - 9

9 - 3 - 19

9 - 19 - 3

19 - 3 - 9

19 - 9 - 3

"Alright, lets go through them quickly," said Link, who was already getting to work on the lock.

Meanwhile, Bowser had found the number 9.

"I found the last number, Junior!" Bowser shouted. "Let's go back up the elevator now!"

"I said quit calling me Junior already! Gosh!"

Meanwhile, Link had gone through all of the combinations and not a single one of them worked.

"You've got to be kidding me!" said Link, completely infuriated.

Suddenly, Zelda realized something. "Wait a second, Link. I've read in my studies at the castle that there are certain locks that require being turned around three times before putting in the combination. I think this lock is supposed to be one of them. Let's try that."

"Alright, fine. We'll try it out."

While Link was going through the combinations again, the koopas had returned to the safety deposit boxes with all three of their numbers. Instead of writing down all of the possible combinations, however, the koopas got right down to work with their combination lock. Doing so was insufficient, however, as they weren't making any progress so far.

"Come on, already!" said Bowser, turning the lock impatiently.

After having gone through the first five possible combinations, Link took a deep breath before attempting the final combination.

"This has got to be it," said Link.

"I pray to the Goddess Hylia that this will work," said Zelda, clasping her hands together in nervous anticipation.

Link turned the combination lock around three times before putting in the numbers as followed: 19 - 9 - 3

Suddenly, Link felt a jolt in the lock before it finally opened. They had figured it out!

"I got it!" said Link excitedly before opening their safety deposit box and getting their clue out.

"Ah, no way!" said Bowser Jr. "Seriously?"

"Hurray!" Cried Zelda. "We did it!"

"Come on, lets go!" Link ushered her as they quickly departed with their next clue in hand.

"Forget about them," said Bowser. "Just keep going."

Once Link & Zelda had climbed the stairs all the way back up the front cave entrance, Link ripped open their clue and read it.

LINK & ZELDA: Currently in 3rd Place

"Make your way to Star Fox Headquarters at the Command Tower of Corneria City. Hurry, the last team to check in will be eliminated."

With that being said, the Hylian couple had decided to take the ferry boat all the way over to the southern tip of the city since they figured that would be quicker.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"It felt so good being able to finish ahead of those evil koopas," said Zelda. "It felt like pure poetic justice after Bowser trampled me earlier just to get ahead. Those two do not deserve to win at all."

END:

The Hylian couple were now riding on the ferry boat and cruising through the large river on their way to the Command Tower. Zelda was feeling very proud of herself.

"Isn't it amazing that I was the one who found all three numbers, figured out all the possible combinations, AND figured out how to open the lock all in one go? You see Link? I told you I'm not useless."

"That's good, because I'm expecting more of this from you from now on, Zelda. Especially when it comes to Roadblock participation."

Zelda rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Meanwhile, further down the river, Mario & Luigi had arrived at the ferry station in their taxi. Mario paid their fare while Luigi got their bags.

"Thank you very much-a, sir," said Mario to the taxi driver before he and Luigi went to buy tickets for the ferry ride.

Pretty soon, Mario & Luigi were riding the ferry boat on their way to the Underground City. While going up the river, they noticed Link & Zelda coming the other way in their own ferry boat.

"Hey look-a," Luigi pointed them out. "Link & Zelda are coming the other way."

Meanwhile…

"Yep, that's Mario & Luigi," said Link, having spotted them as well before waving hi to them. The Mario Bros waved back.

"That means we're still in the game!" said Zelda excitedly.

As for Bowser & Bowser Jr., after several tries, they eventually learned how to work the lock properly before figuring out the combination.

"I got it!" said Bowser, opening the safety deposit box. "Finally!"

"Took us long enough," said Bowser Jr. as Bowser got their next clue out.

Bowser ripped open the clue to read it.

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: Currently in 4th Place

"Hurry, the last team to check in will be eliminated."

"Alright, lets get out of here," said Bowser Jr., picking up his backpack. They too had decided to take the ferry boat to the southern tip of Corneria City.

Later, Mario & Luigi had gotten off the ferry boat and were now running to the cave entrance of the Underground City. While running down the path through the woods, they saw Bowser & Bowser Jr. coming the other way.

Bowser Jr. threw a raspberry at them as they ran, "Losers! Ha, ha, ha."

CONFESSIONAL:

MARIO & LUIGI: Brothers/Plumbers

"Not only were we super disappointed that those-a evil koopas had finished the task, we became very concerned that we were more than likely in last-a place and could end up getting eliminated today," said Luigi. "Why does this always happen to us-a?"

END:

Meanwhile, after riding the monorail around Corneria City for what felt like an hour, the puffballs got tired of it and decided to get off at the nearest station. They were now officially lost.

"Now what are we going to do?" said Jigglypuff, who was beginning to lose hope.

"Lets just keep asking for directions," said Kirby. "We can't give up."

After walking around the city for a bit, they had spotted an anthropomorphic bulldog police officer eating a sandwich on his motorcycle.

"Excuse me sir." Jigglypuff asked the police officer, "How can we get to the Underground City via the monorail system?"

"Oh, you'll never reach the Underground City by monorail," the police officer confirmed. "That's outside city limits. The monorail system only runs within Corneria City and nowhere else."

Kirby and Jigglypuff looked at each other in disbelief.

"So we wasted all that time on the monorail for nothing?" said Kirby, feeling dumb. "That's just great."

"You know you can take a ferry boat to the Underground City," the police officer informed them. "They say that's supposed to be the fastest way there."

"That's great!" said Jigglypuff. "Does the monorail go directly to that ferry boat station?"

The police officer shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me."

Kirby & Jigglypuff groaned upon hearing this.

"I'm tired of taking the monorail, Jigglypuff," said Kirby. "It's too confusing. Let's just take a taxi from now on."

"Fine."

Meanwhile, the monorail train that the two leading teams were on was now stopping at the station near the Southern tip of Corneria City. Once the doors opened, both teams quickly got out.

"Come on, Krystal!" said Fox as they ran down the ramp.

The vulpine were now leading since they got off the monorail closer to the exit ramp, meaning Ness & Lucas were running far behind them.

"How did Fox & Krystal get ahead of us?" said Ness, completely stupefied after spotting them running down the ramp.

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"So much for my so-called-strategy of getting off at the front car of the monorail train," said Ness, facepalming himself.

END:

After leaving the station, Fox quickly whistled for a taxi before it pulled up for them.

"We need you take us to the Command Tower, and quickly please," Krystal beckoned the taxi driver.

"You got it, miss."

As the vulpine were on their way, Ness & Lucas did the same thing.

"We need to get to the Command Tower as fast as possible!" said Lucas to their taxi driver.

"No problem, kid."

Now, both teams were on their way to the Command Tower. Several minutes later, Fox & Krystal had arrived and were the first team to be dropped off.

"Thanks a lot, sir," said Fox after getting their bags and paying their fare.

Both vulpine then quickly went inside the tower. Going up several flights of stairs and running down the hallways, they followed the red and yellow route markers until they reached the big chamber where two long lines of Cornerian soldiers were standing along a red carpet that led to where Toad and the pit-stop greeter were standing at the map. The pit-stop greeter was none other than General Pepper himself.

"Atten-tion!" said General Pepper, beckoning all of the soldiers to give out their solute of welcome as Fox & Krystal ran down the red carpet. It was an amazing site to behold. Fox & Krystal were then shown walking onto the mat to greet Toad.

"Fox, Krystal," said General Pepper, giving them the welcome salute, "it's good to see you two again."

"Sure thing, General," said Fox, warmly before he and Krystal saluted him in return out of respect.

"Fox & Krystal…" said Toad before pausing a little bit.

"Yes, Toad?" said Krystal, nearly giggling at the intentional suspense Toad was trying to make.

"…once again, you guys are team number one!"

FOX & KRYSTAL: 1st Place

Ecstatic, both vulpine proudly high-fived each other, smiling happily.

"Of course," said Fox, unsurprised yet proud of himself. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Yay!" cried Krystal.

"Now I have some great news for the both of you," Toad continued. "As the winners of this leg of the race, you have won a trip for two from Adventurocity to Soleanna, the city of water, which is on Planet Mobius."

"Oh wow, that's amazing!" said Krystal.

"While you are there, you'll be given a romantic boat ride in the canals of the city, be given a windsurfing lesson at Wave Ocean, and you even get to enjoy plenty of spectacular dining experiences while celebrating the Festival of the Sun."

"That sounds perfect," said Fox, smiling at Krystal before kissing in celebration. They knew they were going to be in for a real treat.

Not long after, Ness & Lucas were the next team to arrive.

"Atten-tion!" said General Pepper. The Cornerian Soldiers were once again giving their welcoming solute as Ness & Lucas were running down the red carpet before arriving at the mat.

"Welcome to Corneria City," said General Pepper, saluting them welcomingly.

"Thanks a lot," said Lucas, saluting him back out of respect. Ness did the same.

"Ness & Lucas…" said Toad. "You are team number two."

NESS & LUCAS: 2nd Place

"Okay," said Ness, though feeling slightly disappointed they weren't able to beat Fox & Krystal. "We'll take that."

"At least we're back in the front now," Lucas added.

CONFESSIONAL:

NESS & LUCAS: Best Friends

"I feel so incredibly proud that we were able to pull ourselves out of last place after the fiasco we went through with the police in the previous leg," said Ness. "It really just restored our confidence and competitive spirit. We might not have been able to beat Fox & Krystal but that's okay. There's always the next leg."

"Yeah," said Lucas. "I don't ever want to be in last place ever again. Being in last is no fun."

END:

Fox & Krystal, meanwhile, were shown kissing each other in celebration for their second leg win.

CONFESSIONAL:

FOX & KRYSTAL: Dating

"It feels amazing to win another leg," said Krystal. "I'm so happy we get to go to Soleanna. It's going to be so romantic."

"Yeah, winning prizes is great and all," said Fox, "however, the race is still on. We're already six legs in and if we just keep playing the game the way we've been playing, I know we can make it into the finals. You just wait and see."

END:

Back at the Cornerian Military Academy, Peach & Daisy continued struggling during the Detour as the enemies continued to be frustrating to aim at. During their third try, Peach accidentally got shot down by an enemy on her tail.

"No!" she cried, feeling disappointed that she failed so miserably.

Not long after, both princesses got out of the aircraft simulators to see their scores.

PRINCESS PEACH: 67 points

PRINCESS DAISY: 89 points

"Man!" said Daisy. "This is hard."

"At least our scores are improving," said Peach, trying to bring positive vibes.

"Don't be discouraged, your highnesses," said Peppy. "You can do this. I know you can."

Both princesses were pleased upon hearing his words of encouragement.

"Okay," said Daisy. "Let's keep going."

"Fourth time's a charm," said Peach, still trying to stay positive.

On the other side of the Detour, it was now Mario & Luigi's turn to search the bunkhouses for numbers.

"Found one!" cried Luigi. He had found the number 3.

"I found one too!" Mario called out to Luigi all the way from down the dark hallways. He had found the number 9. So far, they were doing pretty good.

In the meantime, Link & Zelda's ferry boat had reached the southern tip of Corneria City. The Hylian couple were now getting out and heading toward the Command Tower that they saw from far off while riding the ferry.

"Come on Zelda, hurry up!" cried Link as Zelda was getting easily winded again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said, growing annoyed with Link for being faster than her.

It wasn't long before Toad and General Pepper had spotted Link & Zelda.

"Here's another team," said Toad.

"Atten-tion!" cried General Pepper to the Cornerian Soldiers as Link & Zelda ran down the red carpet before landing on the mat.

"Hi Toad," said Link while putting his bag down.

"Welcome to Corneria City," said General Pepper.

"Link & Zelda…" Toad started.

"Yes, Toad?" said Zelda.

"…You're team number three."

LINK & ZELDA: 3rd Place

"Alright!" cried Link, feeling ecstatic while he was the only one cheering. "Third place! That's awesome! We're getting better, Zelda!"

"Yeah… I guess," she replied, except she wasn't satisfied.

CONFESSIONAL:

LINK & ZELDA: Newly Dating

"I'm so ticked we didn't come in first place today," said Zelda, feeling irritated. "We had a good lead, but then we kept getting lost due to our taxi drivers being incompetent, and my stupid boyfriend kept having to go to the bathroom! Ergh! Just once, I want to reap the benefits of all of my hard work by winning a good prize of some sort. Is that too much to ask?"

END:

"Now Zelda, I have to ask you," Toad began. "What do you think of Corneria City so far?"

This made Link burst into giggles while Zelda's face turned red.

"It's uh… very interesting, Toad. Very interesting." Zelda responded, feeling awkward knowing what she said about the city earlier.

Not long after that, Bowser & Bowser Jr. were the next team to get off the ferry, head towards the command tower, and arrive at the pit-stop.

"Atten-tion!" cried General Pepper to all the lined-up Cornerian soldiers, who then immediately gave their welcoming salute to the two koopas as they ran down the red carpet to the mat.

"Toad, you better have food waiting for us at the pit-stop," Bowser Junior disrespectfully said towards Toad. "I'm starving."

"Welcome to Corneria City," said General Pepper, kindly.

"Shut up, you old mutt!" Bowser rudely responded, causing some of the soldiers to gape their mouths wide open in shock. "So what's our placement for today, Toad?"

Toad gave the both of them a disapproving look. "Bowser & Bowser Jr… I am very much displeased to tell the both of you that you are still in this race and that you are team number four."

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: 4th Place

In response, Bowser sighed ungratefully. "Fine, whatever." He dismissed the both of them before turning his back on them to leave. "I'm taking a nap."

"And I'm getting myself a hamburger," Bowser Jr. added. "Later, losers," he said to all the soldiers.

Toad turned his head towards the shocked general with a raised eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders. "You see what I have to deal with here?"

General Pepper was shown to be quite taken aback by the koopas hostility.

"Toad, I admire you greatly… simply for having to deal with those wretched fellows," General Pepper responded.

CONFESSIONAL:

BOWSER & BOWSER JR.: Father - Son

"I'm not impressed with our game lately," said Bowser. "Fourth place isn't good enough for me. If we want to be the most feared team to ever win this game, we need to be more dominant, and that means we need to be more aggressive. As much as it pains me to say this, we can't just waste our time bad mouthing and making fun of the other teams. We have to maintain focus!"

Bowser Jr., on the other hand, was still busy eating hamburgers.

"Gert thert cermera ert erf mer ferce!" Bowser Jr. talked with his mouth full as he covered the lens of the camera with his scaly hands.

END:

Kirby & Jigglypuff were continuing to struggle for they had been riding around the city for a really long time. Their taxi driver kept getting lost, and he was now talking to some random pedestrians asking for specific directions on how to get to the Underground City.

Jigglypuff shook her head in despair. "I hope this doesn't mean the end for us."

Kirby gently grabbed her hand to comfort her. "We can't give up hope yet, Jigs. It's not over until it's over."

Speaking of the Underground City, Mario had found their last number down in the bunker houses. He had found the number 19.

"Luigi!" he cried, coming out into the dark hallways. "I found our last-a number!"

"Oh yeah!" Luigi replied.

After leaving bunker area #3 and going back up the elevator shaft, the Mario Bros were quickly able to figure out the combination and open their safety deposit box.

"Yippee!" cried Luigi joyfully. "We figured it out-a!"

MARIO & LUIGI: Currently in 5th Place

Mario grabbed their next clue out of the safety deposit box, ripped it open, and read it.

"Make your way to Star Fox Headquarters at the Command Tower of Corneria City. Hurry, the last team to check in will-a be eliminated."

With that said, the Mario Bros grabbed their bags, and made their way back up the long winding stairs all the way back up to the cave entrance. This tired them out as running up those stairs became exhausting. Still, they refused to give up.

Meanwhile, back at the Cornerian Military Academy, Peach & Daisy were taking another go by their seventh attempt with the flight simulators. Peppy was even willing to give them some pointers on completing the task along with some words of encouragement.

"Never give up," he said. "Trust your instincts."

"Thank you," said Peach, feeling appreciative of him for this.

As soon as both simulators were back up in the air, both princesses gave it their all as they continued to shoot down as many enemies as possible. Pretty soon, they were done and their scores were shown onscreen once again.

PRINCESS PEACH: 106 points

PRINCES DAISY: 128 points

"Congratulations, girls," said Peppy as both princesses screamed happily while cheering victoriously. He then handed them their next clue. "I knew you could do it."

"Thank you so much!" said Peach upon receiving it before hugging him happily.

PEACH & DAISY: Currently in 6th Place

After reading their clue, both princesses grabbed their backpacks to leave.

"Alright, lets get out of here," said Daisy.

"I hope we're not too late," said Peach, knowing they took quite a long time.

Back at the Underground City, Mario & Luigi were panting heavily from running up the long winding stairs as they made their way back to the front cave entrance. They were now back outside taking a short break to catch their breaths.

"Whew!" said Mario, breathing heavily. "We-a made it!"

Eventually, they were able to get a hold of themselves.

"Come on, we better keep-a moving," said Luigi.

And so they did. They took a ferry boat back to the ferry station that they arrived at to get to the Underground City to begin with. Upon disembarking, they called for a taxi, and managed to obtain one.

"Excuse-a me, miss," said Luigi to the driver, who was an anthropomorphic porcupine, "we need to get to the Command Tower as fast as possible."

"Can you do that for us-a?" asked Mario.

"Sure thing," she said. "I'll get you two there as quick as I can."

Although she knew it would be faster for them to take a ferry over there, she withheld this information to gain more money for her shift today.

The Mario Bros were now on their way to the Command Tower.

As for the princesses, they had made their way back to the monorail station and were now taking the monorail all the way to the station nearest to the Command Tower. Both princesses were feeling uneasy as they grew worried that they might end up eliminated. It didn't help that the passengers continued to give them hostile looks for obvious reasons.

CONFESSIONAL:

PEACH & DAISY: Princesses/Best Friends

"I knew we couldn't let those people get to us like that," said Peach, "but still, it doesn't feel very good."

"I didn't let those people phase me," said Daisy. "I just kept my mind busy by concentrating on our goal of getting to the pit-stop as quickly as possible."

END:

As for Mario & Luigi, their taxi continued to shift through traffic as quick as it could. Luigi was growing concerned knowing that they had been paying for taxis all day and their hotel expenses the previous night didn't help matters. While going through their cash, Luigi was noticing that they were running low on money while also watching the numbers on the money meter go up.

$25.09

…

$25. 64

…

$26.17

"Hey miss, how much-a farther until we get to the command tower?" Luigi asked.

"We're about half-way there," she replied.

That's when Luigi became worried. "Mario, we've-a only got thirty-two dollars left."

Mario became incensed upon hearing. "You've-a gotta be kidding me!"

"We're-a going to be in debt by the time we get there. What do we do?"

…

"You've-a gotta be kidding me!" Mario was getting very nervous that they might fall behind and get eliminated.

"What do we do?" Luigi asked.

Mario didn't want to get out of their taxi just yet, not when their taxi driver knew exactly where to take them. Mario shook his head. "Lets-a just get their first. We'll worry about-a money later."

"…are you sure?" said Luigi, who thought this sounded unethical.

"I know you don't-a like begging for money, Luigi. Believe me, I don't like it either, but we don't-a have any other choice now."

Luigi shook his head in bewilderment. How could they have gone so far as to squander through their money like this?

As for Peach & Daisy, time after time, their monorail train had to continue stopping at different monorail stations to let passengers on and off. This went on for a while.

"Come on, come on…" said Daisy, tapping her feet impatiently.

It wasn't long before Mario & Luigi had arrived at the front entrance of the command tower at the southernmost point of Corneria City. When the taxi driver asked them for their fare, Luigi sheepishly gave her the thirty-two dollars they had left.

"Are you kidding me right now?" she scolded him upon receiving their cash. "Y'all two owe me way money more than this!"

They now owed their taxi driver over twenty-five dollars.

"I know, I know," said Luigi, feeling bad, "but don't-a worry. We can get-a you some more money in just a few minutes."

"Yeah, just sit-a tight," said Mario, getting their bags out before heading towards some people on the sidewalk to beg for spare cash.

Peach & Daisy's monorail train was getting closer and closer to its final destination. The intercom came on for all the passengers to hear.

"Passengers, we'll be arriving at the station near the command tower of Corneria City in just five minutes."

Both princesses smiled at one another.

"That's what I like to hear," said Peach.

"Me too," Daisy added.

Meanwhile…

"Excuse-a me, sir," said Luigi to an anthropomorphic water vole. "Do you… by any chance… have any change that-a you can spare?"

As for Mario…

"Pardon me, miss," he said to an anthropomorphic cheetah. "Do you have any cash that you're-a willing to part with?"

"What do you need cash for?" asked the anthropomorphic vole to Luigi.

"Well… I'm uh… I'm-a broke, and... um… and I need-a money to buy some food for my wife and kids."

The vole gave him a raised eyebrow. "Well, begging ain't how it's done, kid. Go get a job." He then walked away.

Luigi facepalmed himself in annoyance. "Ugh! Seriously?"

"What am I donating money for?" asked the anthropomorphic cheetah to Mario.

"I owe my taxi driver fifty dollars, and I don't have that kind of money for her right now… so if you could help me out?"

"Well… I'm only willing to give you ten dollars." She then got some money out of her purse. "If that's alright with you."

"That's perfectly fine, miss," said Mario, taking the ten dollars. "That's perfectly fine."

Peach & Daisy's monorail train had arrived at the station. They were now getting out with other passengers.

"Come on Peach, hurry!" said Daisy.

"I'm coming!"

The two princesses bought a cab once again.

"We need to get to the command tower as fast as possible!" said Peach.

"Oki doki, no problem," said the taxi driver.

Meanwhile, Mario handed their taxi driver fifteen dollars. He had attained five more from other people in the street. "Here-a you go. We're-a getting there."

"You better be," she responded. "I don't have all day you know."

Luigi, on the other hand, was begging for money from an anthropomorphic alligator.

"What do you want me to donate money to you for again?" he asked Luigi.

"Its uh… it's for charity."

"What kind of charity?"

Luigi thought about it hard. "It's-a for… um… world peace?"

The alligator was unimpressed. "Not interested. See ya." He then walked away.

Luigi shook his head in bewilderment. "Maybe I should've just-a said it was for an orphanage instead."

As the Mario Bros continued exploring the streets for money, unbeknownst to them, the princesses had arrived at the front of the command tower in their taxi.

"Alright, here's the money we owe you," said Peach, handing it to their taxi driver.

"Thanks a lot, girls," said their taxi driver, satisfied.

The two princesses got their bags out and quickly ran towards the entrance of the command tower. It wasn't long before they were to be the next team to be greeted with a welcoming solute by the Cornerian soldiers as the two girls ran down the red carpet and onto the mat.

"Welcome to Corneria City," said General Pepper.

"Thank you very much," said Peach, feeling grateful that this leg was now finally over.

"Peach and Daisy…" said Toad.

"Yeah, Toad?" said Daisy.

"…you are team… number… FIVE!"

PEACH & DAISY: 5th Place

Both princesses looked at each other in disbelief before cheering like crazy.

"No way! For real?!" said Daisy.

"We're team number five?!" Peach added.

"Absolutely," said Toad. "You both are still in this race."

"Thank you, Toad," said Daisy.

"That makes me feel really good," said Peach, feeling relieved.

CONFESSIONAL:

PEACH & DAISY: Princesses/Best Friends

"It was a very tough day for us," said Daisy. "We fell in last place at the museum, we got into a horrible fight with the other teams, Peach and I got into a horrible fight with each other, we struggled with the Detour… and yet, we never gave up. That's all you can do when running this race. You just have to keep going no matter how bad things get."

END:

Both princesses gave each other high fives in celebration for making it half-way through the race.

Meanwhile, Mario gave their taxi driver five more dollars. "We're-a almost done."

As for Luigi…

"What do you need money for?" said an anthropomorphic swan.

"Well, you see… I'm-a… in a race, and my partner and I are trying to survive so we can win."

"Really?" she replied. "Would twenty dollars do you good?"

"Oh, would you please-a?!" Luigi replied happily before she graciously gave him a twenty-dollar bill. "Thank you so much-a!"

"Good luck."

Luigi ran back to their taxi where Mario was at, and handed the twenty-dollar bill to the taxi driver.

"Alright, you're covered," their prickly taxi driver verified. "You're free to go."

"Thanks a lot-a," said a relieved Mario.

The Mario Bros quickly grabbed their bags and ran towards the tower quickly. It wasn't long before they were the next team to arrive at the mat with a welcoming solute by the soldiers just like all the other teams before them.

"Welcome to Corneria City," said General Pepper.

"Mario and Luigi…" said Toad. "…you are team number SIX!"

MARIO & LUIGI: 6th Place

"Okay," said Mario, feeling satisfied. "I'll take that."

"Me too," said Luigi, happy he can now breathe easily again. "I thought we were goners for sure."

"You're still in the race," Toad reminded them.

CONFESSIONAL:

MARIO & LUIGI: Brothers/Plumbers

"Alas, we continue to finish in the back of the pack, but-a we still have a chance to win," said Mario, "and that's all that really matters."

"Yep-a," said Luigi. "Tomorrow is another day."

END:

Mario & Luigi gave each other a brotherly hug in celebration for surviving this brutal leg.

The sun was shown going down over the futuristic buildings of Corneria City. It was already dark out by the time Kirby & Jigglypuff's taxi had finally managed to find the ferry boat station that led to the Underground City. They had fallen so far behind.

"Thank you very much, sir," said Kirby, handing him a ton of money due to their taxi driver taking way too long to navigate.

Kirby & Jigglypuff bought tickets for the ferry boat by using all of the money they had left. This made Jigglypuff want to cry. Still, Kirby & Jigglypuff refused to give up. Once they had arrived at the Underground City, both puffballs immediately got to work and searched for the three numbers down in bunker area #3. After what felt like another long period of time, they managed to find all three numbers. However, they were struggling to figure out the combination to their safety deposit box. That's when Jigglypuff started crying.

"Shhhh," said Kirby, embracing her. "Jigglypuff, it's okay,"

"We're never going to get out of here," Jigglypuff sobbed.

"We're not giving up, Jigs. We're going to finish this. Let's finish strong. Okay?"

Jigglypuff nodded her head in agreement. "Okay."

Eventually, Kirby was able to crack the combination and get their clue out of their safety deposit box. This made Jigglypuff delighted.

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Currently in Last Place

"Hurry, the last team to check in will be eliminated," Kirby read, slightly irritating him. "Like we don't already know that?"

After reading their clue, the puffballs were out of there.

"I'm so glad we got that over with," said Jigglypuff as they ran up the stairs.

A futuristic helicopter was shown landing a good distance near the front entrance of the Underground City. Toad was shown getting out and walking towards the cave entrance to wait for the puffballs to arrive.

"We can do this, Jigglypuff," said Kirby as they ran up the stairs. "You never know. Anything can happen."

After getting to the top of the stairs, Kirby & Jigglypuff were surprised to see Toad waiting for them as they ran towards the exit of the cave. They became crestfallen for they knew just what that meant. Pretty soon, they were both standing in front of Toad.

"Kirby and Jigglypuff…" said Toad. "All six of the other teams have been checked in now. This leg is now over."

Both puffballs nodded their heads understandably.

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Last Place

"This of course makes you two the last place team to check in," Toad continued, feeling bad for them, "and as you both already know, this is an elimination leg, and you've both been eliminated from the race."

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Eliminated

Upon hearing Toads confirmation, both puffballs stood silent for a moment… and then.

"YEEEEEESSSSS!" they both suddenly cheered in celebration out of nowhere before jumping up and down for joy around the cave, shocking Toad.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" cheered Kirby.

"We did it, Kirby!" cheered Jigglypuff.

Toad had become quite baffled for they were now acting like they've won the whole game.

"We're number seven!" Kirby continued.

"We're number seven!" Jigglypuff repeated.

"LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN!"

"YAY! WE'RE NUMBER SEVEN! WE'RE LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN! YAY!"

Kirby happily spun Jigglypuff around in the air, making her laugh with joy. It was quite a sight to behold.

"Wow…" said Toad as they finished celebrating. "That… is the most unexpected reaction I've ever seen out of any team that's been eliminated so far."

"Of course," said Kirby. "Why not?"

"Yeah," said Jigglypuff, "We knew only one team could win this game, and if we had to be one of the eleven losing teams, then… well, you may as well learn to be proud of whatever you can accomplish in this game."

"And I think we did pretty good," Kirby added. "We finished halfway, and that's awesome."

"Aren't y'all even sad that y'all lost?" Toad asked.

"We are…" Jigglypuff confirmed, "but you know what? Why even care at this point? It's just a game. It's not the end of the world, so… you can't let losing bring you down too much."

"I'll admit, though, I do feel responsible for our loss since I wanted us to switch tasks and we ended up getting hopelessly lost," Kirby admitted. "But I've been sick lately and we thought it was a good move, so… all you can do is your best."

CONFESSIONAL:

KIRBY & JIGGLYPUFF: Long Distance Dating

"I had a really fun time running this race," said Jigglypuff, happily. "It was even better than I imagined it to be and I believe it only made Kirby and I even closer. I just wish this race didn't have to end so soon for us. Oh well."

"In the beginning, I didn't think I was going to enjoy running this race with Jigglypuff," said Kirby. "I thought she was going to annoy me the entire time and I'd end up going insane. Instead, this race has helped me learn to have fun and appreciate Jigglypuff a lot more. She has really proven herself to be a very strong girl and I couldn't be any more proud to have her as a partner. I just love her."

END:

"So what's going to happen to the other teams?" asked Jigglypuff. "You know, for that big drag-out fight we all had earlier today."

Toad laughed a bit in response to her question. "You'll find out about that later. For now, though, I have a big surprise for the both of you and it's waiting for you two at the mat. Follow me."

Both puffballs looked at each other curiously before they followed Toad to the helicopter. They all got in and buckled themselves into their seats before Toad commanded the pilot to fly off. After taking off, Kirby & Jigglypuff found themselves flying over the bright lights of Corneria City. It was a beautiful sight to behold and the experience was something neither Kirby nor Jigglypuff would ever forget.

It wasn't long before the helicopter had arrived and landed at the very top of the Command Tower. Upon getting out, Toad told Kirby & Jigglypuff to wait a while before he went back down to the mat. Several minutes later, Kirby & Jigglypuff were then being escorted by Cornerian soldiers all the way down to the big chamber where Toad and all six remaining teams were now waiting.

"Atten-tion!" said General Pepper, once more commanding all the soldiers to give out their welcoming solute as ceremonial music was now playing. Kirby & Jigglypuff were shivering with anticipation in response to this as they slowly walked down the red carpet towards the mat while holding hands. Looking down the other end of the chamber, they saw Fox & Krystal, Ness & Lucas, and Link & Zelda standing next to Toad on the left before seeing Bowser & Bowser Jr., Peach & Daisy, and Mario & Luigi standing next to General Pepper on the right. Judging by the looks on their faces, they were all very happy to see that Kirby & Jigglypuff were okay. Kirby & Jigglypuff were now shown walking onto the mat at long last.

"Welcome to Corneria City," said General Pepper.

"Kirby & Jigglypuff," said Toad, "I just want to say congratulations to the both of you for completing the first half of the race. You both have competed exceptionally well and you've worked really hard to get here. For that, I want to congratulate the two of you with a very special reward. General Pepper?"

General Pepper was shown holding a silver case. He then opened it to reveal a gold medal to present them with. Taking the medal out of the case, it was shown to be cut in half for the both of them to share. He first gave Kirby his half-gold medal, making him smile joyfully. Jigglypuff was then given her half-gold medal, making her giddy with glee. Both puffballs then put both halves of their medal back together and held them up high in the air in victorious celebration as everyone clapped and cheered. It was a bittersweet moment as everyone was congratulating both puffballs for finishing strong. Kirby & Jigglypuff looked on at everyone feeling a great deal of sadness as well as some slight relief now that their game was over and that they could now rest easily.

…

Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.

…

On the next episode of the Amazing Race…

"Lets rock and roll!" said Fox as he and Krystal begin the seventh leg.

…One team encounters an early scare…

"How could you lose all of our money, Peach?!" said Daisy. "Are you kidding me?!"

"This is not my fault, Daisy!"

…and tensions continues to escalate with the six remaining teams at the airport.

"Don't talk to us!" Ness angrily told Fox & Krystal near the ticket counter.

"What do you want from us?" said Krystal. "Do you want us to help you or not?"

Teams travel to Planet Sauria, also known as "Dinosaur Planet…"

"Look-a, Luigi!" said Mario, pointing up at a flying pterodactyl. "Isn't that amazing?!"

…but money continues to be an issue amongst the teams…

"I told you not to barter all of our money!" yelled Bowser to his son. "You are just beyond stupid!"

"Don't act like I'm trying to make us lose, because I'm not!"

…and after all the drama that went down in leg 6, watch what happens when the six remaining teams are forced to work together when they encounter an Intersection.

"Oh my gosh!" said Zelda.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" said Lucas.

…

Boy, are y'all upset that Kirby & Jigglypuff got eliminated instead of those nasty Koopas? I know I am… and I'm the one writing this story! Hope you all enjoyed regardless! Stay safe out there!