Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or its beautiful characters .. but I will one day ! x) It all belongs to SquareSoft. :salutes: -.-;;
Balamb Garden Amazing Race
Chapter Two ll The Four Corners
Zell Dincht did not do pink.
Black and blue were fine with him. Yeah sure - those colours looked good on him! Red was no big deal either. They were on his favourite clothes and shoes. And that outfit had served him well during the whole crazed-up-hag-Ultimecia event, hadn't it?
As a general thing he sometimes moved out of his comfortable clothing into his Garden uniform, and on the more formal occasion he donned his SeeD one - but they were alright as well. Those dull, dark colours worked for him too.
But pink?
"I am not putting that on," Zell had stated blatantly as soon as his eyes fell on the piece of material Selphie handed to him, and he stood firmly by his proclamation now as he sat at his desk, glaring daggers at it.
"C'mon Zelly!" Selphie said reassuringly, bouncing in her boots, "It's just a bandana! Besides, you have to wear your team colour."
"Easy for you to say," Zell retorted, now staring at the yellow bandana wrapped around the brunette's head ninja-style, "You always wear yellow!"
The Amazing Race competitors were in Quistis' classroom, getting themselves ready for the big event. More to tear his eyes away from the grotesque-coloured bandana in front of him than anything else, Zell hopelessly looked around the room at his friends.
Seifer was complaining as Quistis tied their team-coloured bandana around his upper arm, her own red one entwined elegantly in her blonde hair. Likewise, Rinoa was also wrapping a blue one around Squall's arm, him looking uncomfortable while she chatted happily about the upcoming race. Zell diverted his eyes to Selphie and Irvine, who were the only team with both members excited, their yellow bandanas dangling from their heads.
"Who came up with the colour scheme, anyway?" Zell complained irritably, "I mean, red, yellow, blue and pink?"
"Well, what other colour could we have picked?" Selphie asked innocently.
"Uhh - I dunno... GREEN?"
"Oh..." Selphie seemed to ponder on this for a second, then perked up, "Well, it never occured to us! Anyway, pink is Zuka's favourite colour and since she's in YOUR team..."
"Alright, alright!" Zell growled as he caught up the pink bandana in distaste, "I'll put on the stupid thing!"
Smiling victoriously, Selphie's eyes lit up when somebody entered the classroom, "Oooh, she's here! Hi, Zuka! Whoo-hoo, now that everyone's here, we can start soon!"
"Hi, Selphie. Hi, Zell," Shizuka greeted slightly breathlessly, putting down a small bag, "Sorry I'm late..."
"It's okay," Zell said automatically, his tone suddenly much less aggressive, "Hey, look, it's your favourite colour..."
Selphie grinned and then turned to survey the scene. The eight of them were grouped in the far corner, their small backpacks (containing a change of undergarments, pyjamas, and not much else) sitting around them on the floor and on the desks.
"Okay, everyone!" Irvine called energetically, after whistling loudly to catch their attention, "I'll hand it over to these two lovely ladies to explain the rules."
Beaming, Rinoa and Selphie stood up at the front. Everyone sat down and looked up at them. Quistis and Shizuka sat up straight, looking attentive. Zell was slowly bandaging his pink bandana around his hand with a frown on his face. Seifer was reclining on a chair casually, looking as cool as usual. Squall had his arms folded beside him, staring up at the two girls in resolute attention.
"So, welcome to the Balamb Garden Amazing Race!" Rinoa said excitedly, holding out her arms, and when they all continued to stare at her like lumps she continued emphatically, "Right, so the basic things you should know about the race is that it goes for one week. And there are a set of challenges you must complete. You can only move onto the next challenge once the previous one has been done, so you can't skip any."
"Don't forget you have to take a photo of the challenge to prove that you've done it!" Selphie piped up, raising her hand as if voting, "If not, you'll lose points for that task."
Nodding, Rinoa continued briskly, "You want to finish all the challenges the fastest, but you also need to do them satisfactorily. Be creative! You can use whatever is at your disposal without breaching the rules.
"Oh, and foul play will not be tolerated," she added very seriously, "Marks will be deducted for any dodgy behaviour."
Seifer and Zell groaned audibly.
"There goes my plan," Seifer said dully.
Quistis gave him a hard stare, "You think I would have permitted it?"
"Of course! Anything to help us win."
She shook her head.
"Bonus points will be given to the team who spends the least amount of money," Selphie said exuberantly, catching their attention again, "Uncle Cid's organised money accounts for each team, and you have to use the cards we gave you earlier for all your purchases. If not, you must write down whatever you spend in gil. We're really relying on the girls on each team to make sure of this!"
Quistis, Rinoa and Shizuka nodded affirmatively. The boys all looked rather taken-aback.
"Gee," Irvine said reproachfully, "You can trust us, you know."
Ignoring this, Rinoa went on briskly, "You'll find yourself in all sorts of different areas over the week, depending on your challenge. Use whatever you can to get there!"
"We've got the Ragnarok," Zell said at once. He grinned and cracked his knuckles in satisfaction, "This is gonna be a breeze."
"No!" Selphie shouted, jumping indignantly and pointing at him accusingly, "We've made it perfectly clear with Matron that no one is gonna go anywhere near Dragon-R! That's cheating! Immediate disqualification."
Zell scowled. Seifer sniggered.
"That means we have to walk to places?"
"Of course," Rinoa said matter-of-factly, putting her hands to her hips, "It wouldn't be fair if one team had to hike across the Esthar plains while another flies over the continent with that spaceship."
"Yes, it would!"
The girls rolled their eyes.
"Well, that's about it," Selphie finished off with great flourish, as she and Rinoa handed out thick, heavy manilla envelopes, "Here are all your challenges, sealed and numbered - " (Zell stared at the number of pink envelopes within his own pack) " - and remember you have to do all of them! No skipping!"
"Okay, okay," Zell said impatiently, nervously tapping the floor with his shoes, "Are you done yet? All these rules are makin' me jittery."
He was not the only one getting anxious. Squall, Seifer and even Irvine were sitting rigidly in their seats, as if ready to bolt out any second. The girls smiled indulgently at one another.
"Looks like they're finally getting into the spirit of things," Rinoa commented in a pleased voice, "Alright, guys! Let's get ready."
"Never thought I'd be nervous about starting something like this," Seifer muttered to Squall as they sprang to their feet at Rinoa's command and put their bags on, making sure their manilla envelopes were easily accessible.
"Neither," said a disgruntled Squall, who, in spite of his usual cool exterior, found his heart beating faster than usual as the trivial race loomed up ahead.
"Hold up for a sec!" a cheerful Selphie yelled suddenly, grabbing her digital camera, "Let's take a photo first!"
"C'mon!" Zell broke out anxiously, now positively bouncing on the spot in his usual combat stance, his pink bandana flapping in the air, "Let's get this thing started today!"
"Calm down, Zelly, it'll only take a sec - "
The group all stumbled together awkwardly.
"Say cheese!"
Snap.
"Smile!"
Snap.
"Silly photo!"
"Oh, for Hyne's - "
Snap.
"Red team!"
"You've got to be kidding - "
Snap.
"Whoo! Yellow pride!"
Snap.
"Pink team! Aww, aren't they cute?"
"Sel - "
Snap.
"Blue team! C'mon, smile Squall!"
"...Whoa. Scary sight."
Snap.
Several photos later, and the boys' patience remarkably thinned to the brink of explosion, Selphie put her camera away and they all ambled into a line against the back wall of the classroom, their bags finally on and one member of each group clutching onto their manilla envelope.
"Alright, guys!" Selphie exclaimed blithely, jumping on the spot in her enthusiasm, "This is it! The first ever Amazing Race in Balamb Garden is about to begin. We'll see you all in a week's time at the final destination!" she winked mysteriously, "Remember; have fun, teamwork, and no sabotage!"
She suddenly did the SeeD salute; the others all snapped up into the attention stance at once and followed suit.
"Till we meet again," she said solemnly, slowly bringing down her hand. Her green eyes sparkled and she shouted, "Are we ready?"
"YES!" Zell, Squall, Irvine and Seifer chorused as though soldiers. Rinoa and Shizuka giggled.
"On your marks..." Zell punched his right hand into his left one, crouching down low, "... get set..." Seifer swallowed in anticipation, clenching his hands.
"...GO!"
There was pandemonium as everybody almost tore their manilla envelope apart in their haste to grab their first task. Seifer pulled out a red challenge and ripped it slightly in his hurry.
"Seifer!" Quistis said rebukingly.
"What? It's not like we'll need to use it again."
B.G. Amazing Race
Challenge
1. Pass the level 10 SeeD written test.
Without a word the two blondes dove for Seifer's desk on the right side and turned on his computer. Up near the front, Irvine and Selphie were running to her commonly-used one.
"Ah, crap," Zell, who had been geared up to bolt out of the classroom, cursed under his breath as Shizuka switched on their computer, "It just had to be an academic challenge..."
There was a tense, library-type silence in the 2F classroom as the eight of them accessed their laptops and fumbled with the keyboard to click on the SeeD tests. Passing a SeeD written test meant getting one hundred per cent; you scored anything under and you didn't qualify.
"Uh oh!" Selphie said audibly as the low beep sounded from her computer, signifying that she had not passed. A minute later, the beep sounded again. Squall found this rather distracting.
"C'mon Squall, you must know all this!" Rinoa urged quietly as he stared blankly at the screen.
4. ATB stands for Ability Tone Back.
His mind had gone point-blank. The incessant typing from Quistis and Selphie's continuous failing beeps were making him nervous. Was the answer a yes or a no? Oh, come on... he knew this... he had done the test ages ago...
Squall frowned anxiously, desperately wanting the answer to flash in neon lights across the screen. He knew every second ticking was a second gone, and a second quicker the others were going to pass the test...
Seifer suddenly made a triumphant noise, making Squall lose all train of thought and Zell to say audibly, "What the heck?" Everyone turned to look at him as they stood up, Quistis switching off their laptop as Seifer dug out their second challenge.
"And that is why you have a lovely instructor on your team, jokers!" Seifer mocked to them as he strut out of the classroom backwards, "She's got the smarts, I've got the looks, she's got the looks as well - yeoow!"
Quistis had dragged him out by the ear.
A minute later, Zell's laptop made the successful tinkling noise, and he whooped, "You're a genius!" to the bashful girl beside him, who blushed at this compliment. They both energetically ran out of the classroom with their second challenge.
"See ya later! Hehehe..."
Squall was still stuck on the same question. He didn't want to guess it, because if he got it wrong he'd have to do the test all over again...
"Just say no!" Rinoa said impatiently, reaching for the keyboard, but he quickly blocked her hands.
"But I'm not sure..."
"Squall..."
"Just let me think."
"NO! You always think too much. I say the answer's no - "
"Rinoa - "
"Squall," she said gently, sensing his frustration at not being sure on the stupid answer, "We are about to come last if you don't make up your mind. You don't want that to happen, do you?"
"BOOYAKA!" Selphie chirruped suddenly, punching the air, and Irvine said enthusiastically, "Good on us, Sefie!"
Rinoa watched in despair as they both left the classroom as well, leaving only the blue team behind.
"Well," she said dully, "We're last now."
Squall hit the "no" key with sudden vigor as this piece of news. He rushed through the rest of the test much to Rinoa's alarm and they were both equally surprised when they heard the sweet, tinkling noise.
"See?" Rinoa said triumphantly, smiling at the lost look on his face, "I told you the answer was no."
"Come on, let's go," Squall said tightly, grabbing her hand and dragging her out with him.
"Hey - we haven't even read our next challenge yet!"
"We can do that on our way," Squall shook his head and murmured in a disgruntled voice, "I can't believe we're coming last already..."
A/N: Firstly I would like to thank my GREAT reviewers. x) I was so overjoyed to see them! Hehehe. Anywho, to sum things up a little, I have never watched the Amazing Race before either. -.-;; My church held one for us and it was really, really fun (though obviously not as intense as the real one is xP) so I decided to torture the FF8 characters in one as well. xD I believe I shall have fun with this story. Please review! As a birthday present? x) I shall be 15 in four days! (blows party blower) - msq.