Leg II, Part II
"Alright Falco, ready?" Fox asked as he got out of the taxi.
"Yeah, yeah, let's find it already!" The two began searching for the clue box.
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DK pried open yet another shell with little effort. Nothing.
"OK?" he inquired.
"No, it's not OK. We need to find that flag." Diddy said. He dove underwater to try again.
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Yoshi and Bowser Jr. descending after grabbing the envelope, while Marth was just getting to the top. Peach starts to descend as Wolf and Leon finally enter the building.
"Ah, crud!" Wolf half-cursed. "Leon, go fast, alright?"
"Heheeh. Don't worry. I was built for this." The chameleon said as he harnessed up.
"All right Yoshi! Let's go!" Koopa urged.
(rip)
"Travel by taxi to Persimmon's and search the grounds for your next clue." Yoshi read.
"Whew, that was tough!" Bowser Jr. huffed.
"You did great son! Let's go catch those two." Bowser patted his son on the back as the two raced off.
"Peach! You actually did something right for once!" Samus laughed.
"Ha ha." Peach mocked. "Shut up."
(rip)
"Persimmon's huh? OK. Hey, you! Let's go." Samus commanded her taxi driver. The two drove off in pursuit of the others.
"Just my luck I get caught with the slowest descending one." Marth said as he touched the floor.
"Just open the clue." Roy scoffed.
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Diddy gasped for air. "It's not working! We've searched everywhere! Wanna switch?" Diddy cringed at the response he was about to get.
"No!" DK shouted.
"What?"
"No!" DK shouted again.
"Wow. OK, then. Your call." Diddy dove again as two other figures dove into the water.
SPLASH!
"OK, Falco, you look around here. I'll go deeper." Fox said.
"Hey you guys choose this one too?" Diddy asked, surfacing again.
"Apparently!" Falco yelled.
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"Is that…? OHMYGOSH IT IS!" Luigi shouted. "Kit! We're here! At last!" he climbed out of the taxi. Followed by his teammate, the two rushed up the steps. Meanwhile, Link was trying to help Zelda, whose foot had become lodged in the seat.
"This is so not fun." She glowered.
"OK, come on. Just a little…there." Link pulled his partner out, while still remaining calm.
"Who can climb in record time? That's-a me, Mario!" Mario beamed.
Luigi shot Mario a look.
"Hee hee. Sorry."
(rip)
"It's gonna be you, Z." Link said.
"Me?"
"Yeah, come on, you can do it, no problem." Link urged.
"Fine, the princess agreed."
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"Man, I knew we shouldn't have hitched that ride." Waddle Dee said.
"Oh quiet." Kirby hushed. "We'll get a taxi to Persimmon's eventually, Here, try and flag this one down."
They successfully get the driver's attention by Kirby hopping up and down on top of Waddle Dee.
The driver opened the door, laughing. "You two are certainly quite a pair aren't you?"
"Take us to Persimmon's, please." Kirby said.
"Aren't you a little small to be flying planes?"
"Just do it." Waddle Dee snapped.
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Five taxis are parked outside Persimmon's, and three teams are reading their clues.
"Detour: Water or Air?" Bowser Jr. read.
"Let's do Air." Bowser suggested. "I…can't swim."
"Water should be faster." Marth said.
"Definitely Water." Koopa said. "That OK with you?"
"Yeah, yeah, let's just get it done." Yoshi agreed.
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"Got it!" Leon yelled down.
"Great, now come on!" Wolf called up.
"Zelda, you're doing great! Don't worry about them!" Link encouraged.
Zelda grunted with each effort to find a foot hold, slowly making her way up the mountain.
"Mario! You're almost there!" Luigi said.
"This is fun!" Mario shouted, as he scrambled from ledge to ledge. He grabbed the envelope.
"Come on, we gotta catch up to Leon and Wolf!"
"Coming!"
(rip)
"Travel by Taxi to Persimmon's" Luigi read. "Man, Wolf and Leon are gone already. Let's MOVE! We can't be last."
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"Got it! Yes!" Diddy held up a small red and yellow flag triumphantly. Yoshi surfaced as well, holding a flag in his hands.
"How did they get done before us?" Falco asked angrily.
"Just lucky I guess" Fox shrugged. "At least Marth and Roy don't seem to be having much luck."
"Agh agh agh agh agh!" Roy sputtered as he surfaced. "I swallowed a stupid thing of seaweed!"
"Then keep your mouth closed next time. In fact, just keep it closed as long as you can. Like for the remainder of the Race, haha." Marth dove to pry open another giant clam.
"Grr."
"Thanks a lot" Diddy tipped his hat to the fisherman. Yoshi and Koopa received their clue as well.
"Travel on foot to the Pit Stop, Hera Towers. Hurry, the last team to check in may be eliminated."
Teams must now run to the Pit Stop approximately one mile from Persimmon's: Hera Towers. These massive twin buildings are so named because, as the highest buildings on the planet Corneria, they seem to reach out to the Queen of the Goddesses, Hera, in the heavens. These 471-story towers are the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here may be eliminated.
"Tallest buildings in Corneria, eh? Shouldn't be hard to find." Yoshi mused.
"Let's run, DK" Diddy urged.
"OK!"
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Meanwhile, somewhere above Corneria…
"See anything?" Bowser Jr. asked.
"Nope. Nothing yet." Bowser squinted at the city's skyline.
"I hope not a lot of teams are ahead of us." Bowser Jr. mumbled as their Arwing continued its route around the city.
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"Detour: Water or Air?" Kirby and Samus read at the same time.
"Air. I don't feel like swimming." Waddle Dee decided. "Oh man, hurry up, Wolf and Leon are coming!"
"Wow. We haven't seen them since the airport. We must be really far behind!"
"Hey! I heard that! Are you trying to say we're bad at the Race?" Wolf snapped. "It'll be the last thing you guys ever say."
"Not now, we'll kill them later. Now come on, it's getting dark." Leon watched Solar, the Lylat System's sun, nervously, as it was already getting lower in the sky. Kirby and Waddle Dee disappeared into the hangar. Peach and Samus decided to do Air as well, and followed them.
"Detour. Hmm…" Leon read the clue.
"Well, let's do Water. It'll be faster. Come on!" Wolf sprinted off in the direction of the beach.
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"Hey I just had a really crazy thought. No one's seen the Mario Brothers at all, huh?" Marth asked.
"Well, they're around somewhere." Falco griped, bitter that he still hadn't found the flag. "Man, I'm really tired."
"Look, just go with it, OK?" Fox brushed off his wingmate as he dove again.
"Out of my way, pup!" Wolf snarled as he pushed Fox out of the way.
"Aw, man, now we're competing with you losers?!"
"Quiet, bird." Leon cackled.
"What was that?!" Falco challenged.
"Enough! Open the damn clams, so we can get out of here!" Wolf yelled.
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"I see them, I see them!" Koopa pointed straight up at the sky. "Those two huge towers!"
"Looks like a race to the finish! We have to beat them!" Yoshi panted.
"DK, hurry! We can still catch up!" Diddy yelled.
"Come on!"
"Hurry!"
"Outta my way!"
"Go go go!"
"OK!"
The camera shows the view of one team stepping onto the mat. RD smiles as he greets them.
"Welcome to Corneria City." A sergeant dog greeted them and shook their hands.
"Thanks" Yoshi replied, out of breath.
"Yoshi and Koopa, you're team number one!" RD exclaimed.
Yoshi & Koopa-1st place, 6:22 PM
"Oh yeah!" Koopa celebrated. Yoshi gave his friend a high five.
"Now as the winners of this leg of the race, you have each won a brand-spanking new go-kart along with 4000 coins worth of tune-ups and parts. You can call up any mechanic and customize your cart however you want." RD told the winning team.
"Oh yesssss!" Yoshi shouted. "We're awesome racers!"
"I'm just getting started, but this is exactly what I need!" Koopa said.
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"Well, here we are." Diddy said.
"DK and Diddy, you're team number two!"
DK & Diddy-2nd place, 6:23 PM
"Hey, we moved up, at least!" Diddy said.
"Yeah, I suppose." DK replied.
"…Wait, what did you just say?" Diddy inquired.
"OK!" DK shouted, thumping his chest.
"…"
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"Hey, finally!" Falco cheered as he raised a flag from the soggy depths of the Corneria Sea. "Haha, see you four losers later!"
"Grr."
"Don't worry about them Roy, just focus on getting these stupid clamshells open."
(rip)
"Travel on foot to the next Pit Stop, Hera Towers." Fox read.
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"The sun's going down, we'll never make it if it's nighttime!" Waddle Dee complained.
"At least we know a few other teams are here, too." Kirby said, noting the various Arwings around her.
Bowser looked as if he was going to explode any second from sheer frutration, when Bowser Jr. made a startling revelation.
"There! On the bridge. Take us there!" he said to the pilot.
"Hey, what?" Peach asked. "They found it. Well, follow them!" The Arwing slowly lurched forward, when suddenly the descending Arwing disappeared – it had cloaked itself.
"Damn it, I should have known!" Peach screamed.
"Doesn't matter, Peach." Samus said. "I see where they were headed! To that bridge!" The girls' plane dove as well.
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"Sun's going down, not a good sign!" Mario said in a warning tone.
"Just hurry up!" Luigi said. "We're in last right now!"
"Open the clue, Z!" Link hurried over to the clue box.
(rip)
"Detour: Water or Air? Oh man, I really don't feel like getting my hair wet."
"Now's not the time to be a priss Zelda." Link dashed off toward the beach.
"Link, get back here this instant!" Zelda fumed.
"Haha, have fun with that" Mario dashed past Link.
"Apologize." Zelda demanded.
"OK, OK, I'm sorry. Look let's just do Water OK? It'll be faster and we won't have to look in the dark for a flag."
"Boy I feel sorry for whoever's Arwing is up there." Link mused as he looked at the lone Arwing in the sky.
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Kirby and Waddle Dee are frantically scanning the city, having no luck whatsoever.
"We have to find this thing before night falls!" Kirby whined.
"Don't yell at me, OK? I'm trying to focus!" Waddle Dee blocked out his friend.
"Hey, what's that?"
"What's what?"
"That!" Kirby pointed. Flying past them was the father/son team, holding the flag, making faces at the two hapless puffballs.
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"Haha, that was classic!" Bowser roared.
"You learned from the best." Bowser Jr. said.
As they entered Persimmon's once more and got their clue, Peach and Samus landed their Arwing.
(rip)
"Alright, Pit Stop, here we come!" Bowser laughed.
"Papa, not so loud." They'll hear you. Jr. cautioned as the friends got out of their craft.
"You're slow, so let's go already!" Jr. scuttled ahead.
"Hey!"
"Pit Stop, Hera Towers." Peach read. "K, let's go then."
"Wow, you're being awfully calm. It's nice." Samus chuckled. Peach glared at her.
"I'm tired, OK?"
"Yeah, because flying around an airplane is so much work."
"…"
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"Fox and Falco, you're team number 3!"
"Yes!" Fox cheered.
Fox & Falco-3rd place, 6:40 PM
"Ah, we fell a rank." Falco, less enthusiastic, kicked the pavement.
"Hey, it's still top three." Fox said.
"Hmmph."
Fox looked up with Marth's "How-did-I-get-stuck-with-him" face.
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Roy surfaced, clenching his teeth.
"Look I know you're angry, but this is no time to-whoa!" Marth stopped mid-sentence. Roy had the red-and-yellow flag in his teeth! He trotted over to the fisherman, who promptly handed over their clue.
"Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop, Hera Towers." Roy read. "Come on Marth!"
Zelda splashed the water with her fists. "We're going to be eliminated! Ahh, I can't take it! WILL SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT I'M DOING HERE?!" she screeched.
"Oh man…" Link groaned. He kept his eyes focused on the sky. "Look, as long as that Arwing is up there, we're OK. That one's doing the Air Detour."
"Ahahahaha! Behold, I am the king!" Wolf triumphantly held up a flag after almost two minutes of being underwater.
"I was beginning to think you'd never come up." Mario taunted.
"Yeah, ha ha. Look, who has a flag and who doesn't, huh? That's what I thought. Come on Leon!" Leon followed his leader, snickering evilly at the two remaining teams.
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"I see the towers, but how do we get to them?" Bowser snarled.
"The blondes went off a different way, so either we're wrong or they're wrong." His son reasoned.
"Come on, let's just take this next street! And for the record, they'd better be wrong!"
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"Haha, I told you, Zelda! You rock!" Link surfaced with the flag from the inside of the clam that Zelda pried open. "Come on, let's get our clue!"
"Good luck." The fisherman wished them.
"Ah, thanks." Link replied as he opened the clue. "Da da da…Pit Stop! Hera Towers! And hey, looks like that Arwing is STILL up in the sky! Gotta feel sorry for the team up there, eh Zelda?" Zelda just giggled.
"Hey, you're laughing, that's good! Less chance of you screwing up now."
The princess of Hyrule gave Link a playful push. "Shut up." She laughed.
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RD watched as two teams arrived at the same time. However, one got there first.
"Peach and Samus, you're team number four." He announced, then addressed the other team. "Marth and Roy, you're team number 5."
Peach & Samus-4th place, 7:07 PM
Marth & Roy-5th place, 7:08 PM
"Man, you guys are fast! How'd you get here?" Samus asked.
"Like you said, we're fast." Marth bragged.
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"Where is the damn thing?! The sun's set! We have to find it!" Kirby yelled frantically from their still-airborne Arwing. "Come on…come on…"
Waddle Dee focused on each building, every minute making harder due to the quickly fading light. "Hey. Hey…HEY! Hey, that's it! Kirby, that's it!"
"Where?!"
"I think it's on that bridge, right?"
Kirby bolted to the other side of the plane. "YEAH! Hey, pilot! Take us down to that bridge!"
At last, the two friends' Arwing descended to the ground.
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"Boy it feels good to see that mat again!"
"What kind of a greeting is that?" asked RD, feigning hurtfulness.
"Oh, you know what I mean, ya big pansy."
"Just for that, I won't tell you what place you're in." RD crossed his arms.
"…"
"…"
"…Isn't that against the rules?"
"Damn contract." RD cursed. "Wolf and Leon, you're team number 6!"
Wolf & Leon-6th place, 7:18 PM
"Whew! Feels good to not be in the back!" Wolf laughed.
"Just wait until next time when we get first!" Leon pointed a finger at RD.
"I think you guys are the ones that want to win the most aren't you?"
"Um, let me think about th-yeah! Of course! I'm all fired up baby!" Leon boasted.
"Didn't that used to be a song?" Wolf asked jokingly.
"Um…"
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"I hate these streets, I hate these streets, I hate these streets, I hate these streets." Bowser complained as the father/son team were making their way to the Pit Stop.
"It's like nighttime now. Never a good sign." Bowser Jr. added as he stared up at the now dark-blue sky. "We have to get to Hera Towers soon. Hey, there's a guy! Ask him!"
Bowser Jr. walked up to the man in question, who simply pointed at the large towers that were clearly visible, even in the night sky.
"Yes, we know." Jr. groaned, "but how do we GET there?"
The man simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Thanks for nothing, jerk!" Bowser Jr. kicked him in the shins and ran back to his father, who sighed.
"Come on, we haven't tried this road yet."
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"OK, RD, give it to us straight. Are we out?"
RD looked at the pair solemnly. "Link and Zelda, you're…team number 7!"
Link & Zelda-7th place, 7:24 PM
"S…Seventh? Really?" Link couldn't believe his ears. "Hear that Zelda?! 7th!"
"I heard, I heard!" she smiled.
"See what happens when you stay positive?"
"Oh Link!"
And here is where I will stop because this is in no way, shape, or form a romance.
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"Man, these flags are bigger than I thought!"
"Just heave it in the plane." Kirby said.
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"Dark…dark means…GHOSTS! I'm scared!"
"Luigi, shut up, start helping, and most importantly, shut up." Mario glowered, losing his patience.
"But there could be ghosts underwater!" quivered the green-clad plumber.
"…"
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"Bowser and Bowser Jr…you're team number 8."
Bowser & Bowser Jr.-8th place, 7:30 PM
"Man…a bunch of teams got here while we were running around the streets!" Bowser growled.
"At least we weren't eliminated, Papa!" Jr. chirped.
"How did I raise such an optimistic son?"
"Aw, thanks Papa!"
"That wasn't a compliment."
"…"
"WE SHOULD BE FIRST!"
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(rip)
"Make your way on foot to the Pit Stop. Warning: The last team to check in may be eliminated." Waddle Dee read. "Well, ready to face destiny?" Kirby nodded. "Let's go, then."
"To think we went from first to last." Kirby whined.
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"I'm beginning to think we've searched a lot of these before." Mario sufaced for the thousandth time.
"Well, we can't switch now, Air would be impossible in these pitch black conditions!"
"Just keep at it, Luigi." Mario sighed.
"I'm trying Mario, can't you leave me alone for two minutes?!" Luigi screamed.
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"Hey look! There's RD!" Waddle Dee shouted.
"We made it, at last."
The two friends held hands and jumped onto the mat simultaneously. RD looked at the two seriously. "Kirby and Waddle Dee…you're the ninth team to arrive."
"What? Really? You mean, not last? That's amazing!" Kirby gushed. "But I guess that's what this Race is all about right?"
"However…" RD continued. "You two took an illegal mode of transportation to the Roadblock. You rode on someone else's taxi.
"WHAT???"
"Therefore, you will have to incur a 30-minute time penalty before I can check you in."
Kirby paled. "Oh no."
"Have a seat, I'll tell you when 30 minutes is up."
"Great. Our only hope is that that last remaining team is lost or stuck somewhere."
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"Luigi!" Mario yelled at his brother. "You're not helping at all!"
"I'm tired, soaked, cold, what do you want from me?" Luigi retorted.
"I want to finish this leg, even if it means we get eliminated!"
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Time Left: 23:00
Kirby: …
Waddle Dee prays in a last-ditch effort to save themselves.
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Mario pried open his 350th clam. "Nothing! And it doesn't help that these guys close up again in just a few minutes!"
"We're through. There's nothing we can do." Luigi babbled, rocking back and forth. "We're through. There's nothing we can do."
"Look, we'll get through this, but we won't unless you start HELPING!" Mario splashed some water on Luigi's face, which seemed to magically snap him out of his trance.
"Let's do this!" he said, determined.
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Time Left: 11:00
Waddle Dee: Maybe we'll get extremely lucky.
Kirby: One can only hope…
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"AT LAST!!! Sweet freedom!" Luigi gushed, clutching the flag like a security blanket.
"Yeah, I think I'm soaked to the bone marrow." Mario replied, disgusted.
"Good luck." The fisherman wished them.
"Yeah, we'll need it at this point." Mario scoffed.
"Hey, cheer up! There's still a chance!" Luigi patted Mario on the back.
"Wait, since when did you become the optimist and I the pessimist?" Mario questioned.
"Oh about a year ago."
"…"
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"Can we check in now?"
"No."
"Rats."
"Hey…no…it can't be…" Kirby's eyes widened.
"Woohoo! There's the Mat! And RD! Hi, RD!" Luigi gushed.
"What are you guys doing here?" asked Mario.
"Getting eliminated that's what!" Kirby bawled.
"Mario and Luigi, you're team number 9." RD stated simply.
Mario & Luigi-9th place, 8:02 PM
"Kirby and Waddle Dee were issued a time penalty for illegally riding on someone's taxi to the Roadblock. You got here before that penalty was up." RD explained.
"Ohh. Sorry guys." Mario said.
"Well, one of us had to go." Waddle Dee admitted sadly as he stepped on the mat.
"Kirby and Waddle Dee, you had 8 minutes left of your penalty."
The two nod their heads in understanding.
"But I'm sorry to say you have been eliminated from the Race."
"See you around guys." The brothers said.
"Yeah, I guess." Kirby sulked.
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"Well, I'd LIKE to say we tried our best, but the truth is I really brought the team down. I hate my pessimism. See? I'm doing it again! Augh, make it stop!" Kirby spazzed right out of his interview chair.
"Heh. What can I say? A loss is a loss. You just gotta take it." Waddle Dee said simply. "But…I REALLY WANTED THAT MILLION! WAAAAAA!" he cried, finally coming unglued.
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On the next episode of The Amazing Race: Nintendo Edition, a shocking revelation is made.
"What?!" Diddy fumed. "How is that even possible?"
And a Roadblock might finally push Peach over the edge.
"Shut up. Don't ever talk to me again. I hate you!" Peach screeched.
"…"
