"Were you able to find your passports?" Toadsworth asked.
"No. We tried everything. Even checked with the police. Nothing." MetaKnight said.
"Without your passports, I cannot check you in to the Pit Stop." Toadsworth said. "And all of the other teams have checked in as well. I'm sorry to tell you that you have been
eliminated from the race."
Kirby & MetaKnight: Friends/Star Warriors – Last Place / 3:49 AM
"We did our best." MetaKnight said. "It's just too bad that our best couldn't stop lost passports."
"(Definitely not the way I wanted to go out.)" Kirby said.
Leg 8 Trivia:
- Much like most other legs, this Detour was changed between planning and writing the leg. Though, this one had the least change. The original Detour planned was still Fly or
Fry, but the items teams would be searching for was changed. The original Fly option had teams still searching for the cookies and marshmallow clouds, but instead of
cupcakes and brownies, they had to find ParaTroopa and ParaGoomba wings. The Fry Detour originally had teams searching for Shy Guy Boots and Masks, as well as Baby
Buzzy Beetles and Spiny Eggs.
- The original Pit Stop was set to be a location I called "Shy Guy Sanctum", which was likely just going to be the room from the original Paper Mario where you fight General
Guy, but I felt that having a historic location like a seaside fort once besieged by pirates as the Pit Stop was better suited than some random boss room.
- On that note, a very early version of this leg involved it taking place inside of Shy Guy's Toy Box and another version of it was set to take place in Shy Guy Jungle (which at
the time of designing that version of the leg, I am pretty sure I hadn't played Sticker Star yet). The Shy Guy Jungle version of the leg featured the same challenges as this,
but also included an Intersection prior to the Roadblock.
"…make your way to Toad Town Station and take a train to Shy Guy City." Yoshi read. "Shy Guy City's a nice place."
"What's it like, Dad?" Jr asked.
"Just like it sounds." Yoshi said. "A city filled with Shy Guys."
"Once in the city, teams found themselves hunt through the market for their choice of desserts or local strange delicacies…"
"Detour… Fly or Fry."
"I'm not eating weird stuff…" DK said. "Let's do Fly."
"Janey, I found it!" Athena called out. Janey caught up to her and Athena grabbed the clue. "Detour… Fly or Fry."
"Let's do Fry." Janey said. "That can't be any weirder than Fried Tork."
"That's not what you said about the last eating challenge you did." Athena said.
"Detour… Fly or Fry." CJ read.
"Eating challenge number 3. Let's do it." Shaylene said.
"Teams that chose the Fry option found themselves chowing down on the strange foods."
The Sages sat at a table as the chef carried out a tray of food. The Spiny eggs had been cracked open and fried, the wings had been plucked and deep fried, the Bloopers had
been cut up and boiled and the Buzzy Beetles were boiled in the shell.
"Bon appétit." The chef said, placing the food in front of them.
"This actually looks good." Shaylene said, grabbing a piece of boiled Blooper. She popped it into her mouth and started chewing. "Ok, maybe not."
Janey took a bite of Spiny egg.
"Blech… I was wrong… It is worse than fried Tork…" She said.
"This squid thing is super rubbery…" Athena said. Meanwhile, the Yoshis were swallowing items whole with their tongues.
"Almost done, Dad." Jr said, swallowing a wing.
"Just a little more." Yoshi said, munching on a Blooper.
"The Sages used their U-Turn power to slow down the Yoshis…"
The Sages ran along the train tracks and watched as they led into a large railyard filled with train cars. Not far from the road leading into the yard was a clue box and next to
that was the U-Turn board. The Sages ran to the board and started fishing through the box for a team's picture.
"Should we do it?" Shaylene asked.
"They're a strong team. I don't want to take chances." CJ said. He placed a picture on the board.
"We choose to U-Turn Yoshi and Yoshi Jr." The Sages said in unison.
"At the Roadblock, racers found themselves trying to repair a small section of train tracks."
CJ looked down at two long rails, a bunch of railroad spikes, a mallet and a bunch of planks of wood. He reached down and picked up a railroad spike.
"I haven't held one of these in a while." He said.
"Being at the railyard and working to fix a stretch of rail was kind of surreal." CJ said (After-Leg). "As a kid, I was obsessed with trains and I wanted to be a conductor."
"(Done!)" Kirby said. The foreman walked over and examined Kirby's work.
"Sorry, these spikes aren't in correctly."
"Amateur." Janey mumbled, driving a spike into the ground.
"Despite being U-Turned, the Yoshis managed to get a reprieve as the Star Warriors misplaced a passport…"
"(Maybe we should just keep going.)" Kirby said.
"We can't continue without the passport." MetaKnight said.
"(What do we do?)" Kirby asked.
"I guess we can try to see if there's a Dream Land Embassy back in Toad Town…" MetaKnight said. "Or we can go to City Hall here and see if they can point us in the right
direction."
"Despite the Kongs attempting the Fast Forward, Sages CJ and Shaylene excelled throughout the leg and came in first…"
"Welcome to Shy Guy City." The Shy Guy, General Guy, said.
"Thank you." Shaylene said.
"CJ and Shaylene… You are team number one." Toadsworth said.
"Boo ya! We are on fire, baby!" CJ cheered.
"I have more good news." Toadsworth said. "As winners of this leg of the race, you have each won a 2017 Mushroom Motors Sports Coupe, as well a year supply of gasoline,
courtesy of 1-Up Fuel."
"No way!" Shaylene said.
"What?!" CJ gasped. "Awesome!"
"While the Star Warriors couldn't recover from their lost passport."
Kirby and MetaKnight slowly walked back to the Pit Stop.
"Were you able to find your passports?" Toadsworth asked.
"No. We tried everything. Even checked with the police. Nothing." MetaKnight said.
"Without your passports, I cannot check you in to the Pit Stop." Toadsworth said. "And all of the other teams have checked in as well. I'm sorry to tell you that you have been
eliminated from the race."
"Four teams remain… Who will be eliminated next?"
Dating Sages fly to the top; Star Warriors fried and dropped
(The camera flies over the train tracks on the edge of the city, pans to the railyard not too far away, zips over the market and stops over Shy Guy Fort. The view zooms in on
Toadsworth, who's standing there holding an umbrella shaped like a brown-spotted tan mushroom, shielding himself from the bright rays of the sun.)
"This is Shy Guy City. And nestled in the southern shore of this port city is this place: Shy Guy Fort. This 1,500-year-old fort, which has defended Shy Guy City, and the Mushroom Kingdom, from pirates and enemy armies alike, was the eighth Pit Stop in a race around the world. Teams arrived here at the end of the last leg for a mandatory rest
period. Can the frontrunning Sages hold their lead and stay on top? What about the now last place Yoshis? Can they recover from the U-Turn in the last leg and stay in the
race?
CJ and Shaylene, who were the first to arrive at 2:39 AM, will depart twelve hours later, at 2:39 PM."
CJ & Shaylene: Dating – 1st to Depart / 2:39 PM
CJ and Shaylene stood on the mat, waiting to open their clue. Shaylene was wearing black yoga pants and a simple pink tank top. CJ wore black athletic shorts
and a yellow tshirt
with a slanted black letter H on it, as well as the word "Hyperion" cutting through the middle of the H. As soon as the signal was given, CJ tore open the clue.
"Take the train to Toad Town, make your way to Princess Peach's Castle and use the… special Fast Travel Station?" CJ read. "…in the throne room to travel to the Arid
Nexus?! Pandora? You have 75 coins for this leg of the race."
"Teams must now board the train from Shy Guy City back to Toad Town and make their way to the throne room of Princess Peach's Castle. Inside, they will use the special
Fast Travel Station to take an interplanetary trip to the planet of Pandora. Once they arrive in the Arid Nexus, they will find their next clue."
"How in the world did we get clearance for Pandora?" Shaylene asked.
"That explains the waivers." CJ said. "But this works out for us."
"While Shay and I had a hand in helping to set up the race and get it cleared and what not, we weren't part of the team that designed the challenges. And we weren't given
any advance notice as to where we were going either. Teams were given a lot of paperwork and prepped for potential travel to dozens of countries, of course including Hyrule
and the Mushroom Kingdom." CJ said (After-Leg). "But Pandora was a complete surprise. Interplanetary travel was not something we expected."
(Shy Guy Station)
"Excuse me, when's the next train to Toad Town?" CJ asked.
"5:00 PM, arriving in Toad Town at 7:45 PM."
"Of course." CJ said.
"And once again, here we are waiting a couple hours for a train that everyone's going to be on." Shaylene said to the camera.
DK & Diddy: Best Friends – 2nd to Depart / 3:03 PM
"The Arid Nexus, Pandora?" DK read. "I've never heard of Pandora."
"Isn't that where Athena and Janey are from?" Diddy asked.
"Is it?" DK asked.
Athena & Janey: Engaged – 3rd to Depart / 3:15 PM
"Looks like we're going home." Athena said.
"It's only fair." Janey said. "Everyone else has pretty much had that chance."
DK & Diddy: Best Friends (Shy Guy Station)
"When's the next train back to Toad Town?" DK asked.
"5:00 PM."
"Well, I guess we're hanging around for a bit." Diddy said.
Yoshi & Yoshi Jr: Father/Son – Last to Depart / 3:29 PM
"…to the Arid Nexus, Pandora. You have 75 coins for this leg of the race." Yoshi read. "That's the other planet that Athena, Janey and Tina came from, isn't it?"
"Sweet… Interplanetary travel." Jr said.
(Shy Guy Station)
"Hi, we're looking to catch the next train to Toad Town." Yoshi said.
"The next train leaves at 5:00 PM."
"Of course." Yoshi said. "We're not getting out of last any time soon."
All Teams (Shy Guy Station) – Shy Guy City / 5:00 PM
All four teams stood on the boarding platform as a train pulled up.
"So I guess I was wrong." Yoshi said to the camera. "Looks like we're all on this train together."
"And once again, we're all tied." CJ said to the camera.
"Thankfully, I think Janey and I have an advantage." Athena said. "We're going to our home turf."
"It's really getting down to the wire. This leg, and maybe this race, could be anyone's at this point." DK said.
Toad Town – Arrival / 7:45 PM
The four teams plowed their way off the train and rushed into town, the Kongs and Pandorans going one direction and the Sages and Yoshis going another.
"Janey, wait!" Athena said, stopping her fiancée. "The clue said 'in the castle's throne room'. Maybe we should try that big white castle." She pointed to the white castle with
the red roofs in the north of town.
"Good idea." Janey said, following the Sages and Yoshis.
Yoshi & Yoshi Jr / CJ & Shaylene / Athena & Janey
The Sages and Yoshis rushed into a glistening white castle in the north of the city, followed shortly after by the Pandorans. Within a few moments, they reached the throne
room, where they found a strange tower-like device, with a single lens and antenna at the top as well as a small number pad with a few buttons on the front.
"That's definitely a Fast Travel Station." Athena said. She and Janey stood in front of it and pressed a green button on the number pad. The two were engulfed in a white light
before vanishing.
"Freaky." Yoshi said, before he and Jr stepped up and did the same.
"Ready for this?" CJ asked, looking at his partner, who was visibly nervous.
"To go back where Handsome Jack almost killed you?" Shaylene asked. "Not particularly. But let's do it." They stepped forward and were soon engulfed by the light as well.
(Arid Nexus, Pandora)
The three teams were dropped in a large desert area. Above them was an elevated highway, next to them were a set of vending machines, and in front of them was the clue
box. Around the area were a few buildings and scattered throughout the desert were large piles of bones. Running along the sand was a large pipeline, which led to a big
building and a tall wall.
"Sweet! Vending machines! I could really use a drink!" Yoshi said. "We just landed and I'm already dying from this heat."
"Yeah, those… don't have drinks in them." CJ said. "They… sell guns."
"Wait what?" Yoshi questioned. CJ and Athena quickly grabbed their clues.
"Welcome to Pandora." CJ said, before he began reading his clue to quickly deflect off topic. "Travel on foot to the Hyperion Truth Network. You will find your next clue inside."
"Teams must now make their way across the Arid Nexus to the building that once housed the Hyperion Truth Network, a propaganda radio station tailored to tell the news of
Hyperion's former president, Handsome Jack, infamous for terrorizing Pandora."
"The Truth Network is that building ahead of us." Athena said. The three teams rushed out into the borderlands in pursuit of their next clue.
DK & Diddy: Best Friends (Peach's Castle)
"I'm guessing this is the Fast thingy?" DK wondered.
"Do we just hit the button?" Diddy asked, pressing the green button. The two were engulfed in the white light before vanishing.
(Arid Nexus, Pandora)
The Kongs were dropped where the Sages, Yoshis and Pandorans had stood not long earlier. Twilight had begun bathing the desert sky.
"Look, there's the clue." DK said. "Travel on foot to the Hyperion Truth Network. You will find your next clue inside."
"Let's go." Diddy said.
Athena & Janey / CJ & Shaylene / Yoshi & Yoshi Jr (Arid Nexus - Hyperion Truth Network)
The three stood on a small platform underneath the building.
"So… how do we get up there?" Yoshi wondered.
"Like this." CJ said. He pressed a nearby button and the platform began to rise. They were soon on the same level as the building. They quickly rushed inside and grabbed their
clue.
"Roadblock… Who's ready to get down and dirty?"
"A Roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. In this Roadblock, both team members must travel across the Arid Nexus to the abandoned town of
Fyrestone. Once there, one team member must search the junk piles scattered around town for an ECHO device, the standard of communication and navigation on Pandora.
Once they've found the ECHO, they must bring it to one of the Junk Loaders around the city, who will program the ECHO's map with a waypoint leading to their next clue."
"Down and dirty?" Janey asked. "Sounds like my kind of gig."
"You've already done 5." Athena said.
"Fine…" Janey sighed.
"One thing we were told going into the race was that each racer could do a max of 5 Roadblocks prior to the final leg." Athena said (After-Leg). "I'm guessing it's so that no
one racer does all the work for a team."
"I'll handle this one, Dad." Jr said.
"I'm up." Shaylene said. They continued to read their clue.
"Aw c'mon. Junk Loaders? Junk digging?!" Janey said. "This is literally my thing!"
"Sorry." Athena said.
DK & Diddy: Best Friends
The Kongs wandered toward the Truth Network, both clutching a bottle of water.
"Are we even sure we're going the right way?" Diddy asked. As if to answer his question, the elevator came down from the Truth Network in the distance and the Kongs saw
the other three teams rushing away from the building.
"Yes." DK said.
(Hyperion Truth Network)
The Kongs ascended to the top of the building and ran inside to grab their clue.
"Roadblock… Who's ready to get down and dirty?"
"I'll do it." Diddy said. He read the clue. "Okay, first, we have to go to a place called 'Fyrestone'."
CJ & Shaylene / Athena & Janey / Yoshi & Yoshi Jr (Fyrestone)
The three teams walked into a small, run-down abandoned town nestled near some tall rock formations. Running above the town was an elevated highway. The buildings
around town were small domes, and scattered around town were piles of junk, pools of purple goo and strange robots with bodies made from the trunks of cars and arms and
legs that looked like they were built from the junk around town. Shaylene, Athena and Jr rushed off and started digging through the junk piles.
"Good luck, Shay." CJ said.
"I wish I was doing this." Janey huffed.
"You can do it, son!" Yoshi said.
DK & Diddy: Best Friends (Arid Nexus)
"So… where is Fyrestone?" DK wondered.
"I have no idea…" Diddy said. "And it doesn't look like there's anyone nearby to ask…"
"Do we just wander the desert aimlessly?" DK asked. He noticed the pipeline running along the desert. "Maybe if we follow that pipe, it'll take us somewhere with people and we
can ask where to go. It has to lead to some kind of facility where whatever it's carrying is treated or something. A facility means employees."
"Worth a shot." Diddy said.
Shaylene / Athena / Yoshi Jr (Arid Nexus – Fyrestone)
"Anyone need a spare tire?" Shaylene asked. "No. Okay." She pushed it out of the way and it rolled down the pile and across the dirt before crashing into a vending machine.
A Girl of the Future Page 28
