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Part 5 of The Amazing Race stories
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2020-11-12
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2021-05-06
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The Amazing Race: Anime Edition

Summary:

22 characters from 11 anime are chosen for a special Anime edition of The Amazing Race. Eleven teams must travel the world, navigate themselves in foreign areas, perform brutal challenges, and avoid coming in last place for a shot at 100 million yen. Contains teams of characters from Konosuba, Re:Zero, Rising of the Shield Hero, A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun, Sword Art Online, K-On!, Your Name, Kill la Kill, Food Wars, No Game No Life, and Steins;Gate.

Chapter 1: Leg 1.1 (Honolulu, USA)

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Please note that I've had to tweak some backstories in order to justify all these characters being in the same world together. Exactly how they've been tweaked will be prevalent in their introductions, though I will step in with an Author's note if I need to.

I understand there is a high chance that you haven't seen all of the anime in this fic. Of course, there will be spoilers for a few of them. But if you don't mind that, knowing the source material is not at all necessary for enjoying this fic. The characters will be treated as if you're a TV viewer who's never seen them before (but of course, knowing the source material for most of them will add a whole depth of dimension).

In case you're wondering, the host is actually an original character. He's not from any anime whatsoever, I just picked a generic Japanese hame, but it's difficult and not really worth my time to find an anime character who fits the role, I'm familiar with, and isn't affiliated with any of the existing 11 teams.

Lastly and most importantly, all the characters in this fic will be speaking English, as well as all of Japan. Because of the nature of this fic (world travel), it's difficult to show a language barrier between Japanese and English when this is already written in English. There will still be some language barrier between English and other languages, however.

With that Author's Note out of the way, enjoy!


Plain Bold text signifies when the focus is shifted onto another team. Current placements may or may not be shown.

Bold Italics text signifies when the host is speaking directly to the audience. The racers themselves are not hearing this exact speech.

Plain italics signifies a confessional, which is when the contestants are speaking directly to the camera. The confessional will take place after the leg is over, and they will be talking about the events of the race in retrospect. However, the confessionals themselves will be shown as the race unfolds.


Leg 1, Part 1


A young man stood in front of Tokyo Tower.

It's early morning here in Tokyo, and the sun has just risen, giving rise to a brand new day. From this city, eleven teams will embark on a race around the world for 100 Million Yen. My name is Hinata, and I will be the host for this race.

The camera zoomed in on a bus making its way across the busy Tokyo streets.

The teams are now making their way to the starting line at the base of the Tokyo Tower. The eleven teams are:

The bus came to a stop as the teams climbed out, one by one.

Souma and Erina

Anime: Shokugeki no Souma

"We're both aspiring chefs," Soma explained.

"Totsuki Academy is the best culinary academy in the world," Erina said. "Souma's the 1st seat, meaning he's currently the best chef in the academy, and I'm actually now the director or headmistress of the school."

She leaned into the camera. "Between the two of us, I'm still the better cook."

"Not true, you'll see one day." Souma replied. "We know we're probably going to have to deal with cooking on the race," Souma said. "But that doesn't mean cooking's all we can do. We're strong, we're smart, we've got this in the bag."

Note: This version of Soma and Erina come from between Season 4 and Season 5 of Shokugeki no Soma.

Kazuma and Megumin,

Anime: Konosuba, Isekai Quartet

"I'm Kazuma, that's Megumin," Kazuma said.

"..." Megumin stayed silent. "Is that all you have to say?"

Kazuma sighed. "Fine. We came from another world. Then we pushed a button, and then we're in some kind of high school, yada yada yada…"

"I'm the best Crimson Demon mage in the world! Everyone bows down to my Explosion spell!" Megumin chanted. "To think a Crimson Demon can't complete a simple game like this is simply preposterous!"

Kazuma sighed. "You're not Aqua, at least."

"What do you mean 'At least'?"

Subaru and Emilia,

Anime: Re:Zero, Isekai Quartet

"I'm Natsuki Subaru, and I'm broke as hell!"

"Subaru…" Emilia replied, looking at him in disapproval.

Subaru sighed. "Alright, I'll be serious. Emilia and I are in the same scenario as Kazuma and Megumin. We pushed a button and we got transported to this world. We come from a different world, but we're already somewhat familiar with them.

"We've got this," Emilia said. "We don't need to be tough to win."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Anime: Rising of the Shield Hero, Isekai Quartet

"My name is Naofumi, and this is Raphtalia," Naofumi said. "I'm the Shield Hero from another world, but yes, I do originally come from this world. I've made my way through life with my shield being my only weapon. Raphtalia isn't weak either, both of us have undergone large amounts of training."

Raphtalia nodded. "If you couldn't tell from my ears and my tail, I'm a raccoon and tanuki demihuman. I'm sure that not very many people in this world know exactly what I am, but I won't let that stop us. As the only demi-human on this race, I'll be sure to do my best! For both me and Master Naofumi!"

"Raphtalia and I were transported to this world from that dimension after a button appeared on my shield when I was blocking something," Naofumi said. "And we ended up in some kind of high school. That was over a year ago, though, so we've been living here for a while."

Note: This version of Kazuma and Megumin, Subaru and Emilia, and Naofumi and Raphtalia come from the crossover series Isekai Quartet. As such, they already know each other, and may reference characters from Overlord and Youjo Senki, despite characters from those animes not being in this race. They've also been attending the school for over a year, so they're all somewhat familiar with the layout of Earth.

Mako and Ryuko

Anime: Kill la Kill

"I'm Mako Mankanshoku!" Mako said, doing a cutesy pose.

"And I'm Ryuko Matoi," Ryuko stoically replied. "We're friends who come from Honnouji Academy. We've been through a lot together, like fighting student council members, and a bunch of… weird… stuff… that I'm not comfortable with explaining on air."

"I was Ryuko's first friend when she came to the academy! She made a fool of herself, trying to kill the student council president with half a pair of scissors, bu-"

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Ryuko said. "That's enough."

Taki and Mitsuha

Anime: Your Name

"I'm Taki Tachibana," Taki said. "And this is my girlfriend Mitsuha!"

Mitsuha waved.

"We first met on a staircase in Tokyo," Mitsuha said, "And somehow, we both saw each other and just felt a connection. We've had no problems with anything since."

"Now, we're not as… special as a lot of the other teams here, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything. We're fans of the show, we've trained a lot, and we know we can do this."

Kirito and Asuna

Anime: Sword Art Online

"Asuna and I met in Sword Art Online," Kirito said. "I assume you've heard of it. 10,000 players were trapped in the Sword Art Online VRMMO game. We couldn't log out, and if we died in the game, our VR sets would kill us in real life."

"It was really tough," Asuna replied. "But we managed to get through it. If we could survive that, there's nothing stopping us from surviving this race."

Touma and Mikoto

Anime: A Certain Magical Index, A Certain Scientific Railgun

"I'm Kamijo Touma, and this is Biribiri!"

"I have a name, you know!" Mikoto scolded, then sighed. "I'm Misaka Mikoto."

"Heh," Touma said. "We're from Academy City. It's a city full of technology, and both of us have been put through a lot of things. I'm a level 0 esper, meaning I have no special powers, but Biribiri here is a level 5 esper, the 3rd most powerful in Academy City."

"That doesn't really mean anything," Mikoto replied. "I mean, we're not allowed to use esper powers on the race, anyways. That's not important."

Ritsu and Mio

Anime: K-On!

"Ritsu and I are bandmates in our school's Light Music club," Mio explained. "I play the bass while Ritsu's on drums."

"It's a lot of fun," Ritsu replied. "We get to eat sweets, drink tea, hang out-"

"And practice…" Mio interrupted.

"Y-Yeah. Practice. Anyways, while we might not be as physically fit as any other people here, I'm going to argue we have one of the strongest bonds here." Ritsu said. "If we argue, we'll work it out. If we make a mistake, we'll recover."

Sora and Shiro

Anime: No Game No Life

"Shiro and I are brother and sister!" Sora announced.

"We play games a lot," Shiro said. "Isn't this what the race is? One big game?"

"Yup, that's exactly what it is!" Sora said. "Honestly, travelling might be a big issue. We typically never leave our house and stay up for hours on end playing games. But when you've got a game this big with a reward that large, you know we're going to take the opportunity. As long as we're together, we can do this."

"We've done a lot of thinking and research on this show," Shiro said. "We've strategized, tried to learn what to expect, who should do what challenges, we're certain we can win this 100%."

Note: This version of Sora and Shiro stem from before they were taken to the land of Disboard. They will have no knowledge of anything in their new world.

Okabe and Kurisu

Anime: Steins;Gate

"My name is Hyouyin Kyoma!" Okarin shouted as Kurisu facepalmed.

"We're on live TV, here." Kurisu replied. "Don't make a fool of yourself."

Okarin sighed. "I'm Okabe Rintaro, but you can call me Okarin for short. And this is my assistant Cristina!"

"I told you a million times, don't call me Cristina! It's Makise Kurisu and you know it!"

"We are mad scientists who will take over the world!"

Kurisu sighed again. "We are scientists. Okarin's still in college and I'm a graduate. But we're not taking over the world or anything like that. He's just a little… delusional."

Note: This version of Okabe and Kurisu comes from the Steins;Gate worldline after the events of Steins;Gate. While Kurisu may not have any memories from the events of Steins;Gate, Okabe does remember.


The teams lined up in front of Tokyo Tower.

"Welcome to Tokyo Tower, and the starting line for your Amazing Race!" Hinata shouted.

Everyone applauded.

"In just a few minutes, you'll be setting out for the journey of your lifetimes. But first, I would like to explain the rules of this race in case you guys need a refresher, as well as for the sake of those watching at home."

"This race will be split into twelve segments, known as 'legs'. Through these legs you will have to go to different locations, complete challenges, and check in at the Pit Stop in order to complete the leg. Eight of the twelve legs on this race are elimination legs, meaning if you check into the Pit Stop last, you will be eliminated. However, three of the legs are non-elimination. On a standard non-elimination leg, the team that came in last will not be eliminated, but instead be issued a penalty on the next leg. That penalty will be to complete an additional task called a Speed Bump."

Hinata picked up a yellow envelope with the words "The Amazing Race" printed on the front. "This is what is known as a clue. These contain information, such as where to go next, what challenge to do, and so forth. There will be three main types of challenges in this race."

"The generic challenge will be given in a Route Info clue. It will tell you to do a challenge together as a team or find a certain location. That's it, it's simple."

"The Roadblock is a challenge that only one team member may complete. The non participating member is not allowed to offer any assistance, unless the clue says otherwise. However, be sure you properly assign who does which Roadblock, because each team member cannot complete more than 5 Roadblocks at the end of Leg 10."

"The Detour is a choice between two challenges, though you only have to complete one. Each of these challenges has their own pros and cons, so you should choose which one you want to complete based on what you think will be faster."

"There's an element in this race called a U-Turn. A U-Turn board will be situated directly after a Detour. If you arrive at a U-Turn board, and put the name of a team that has yet to arrive, they will be forced to complete the side of the Detour they did not complete. However, be sure you use this wisely. You're only allowed to use a U-Turn once in the entire race. If you U-Turn someone who has passed the U-Turn board, there will be no effect. And if you U-Turn someone and they survive that leg… well, they'd be very pissed at you."

"The team that checks into the Pit Stop first on this first leg will win two Express Passes." Hinata said. "The Express Pass is a powerful tool that you can use before, or during any challenge that you don't want to complete. All you have to do is turn it into the judge, and they'll hand you your clue. You can keep one Express Pass for yourself, though you have to give the other Express Pass away to another team by the end of Leg 4. The passes themselves can be used up until the end of Leg 9."

"After 12 legs, the first team that crosses the Finish Line will win the Amazing Race, and the ONE HUNDRED MILLION YEN!"

The teams all cheered.

Hinata then pointed behind him to the racers' bags, as well as a field of balloons behind them. "Over there is your first challenge, as well as the bags that you brought with you. There's a clue on top of them. The information is in the clue. Read it carefully."

Hinata got into a starting pose. "Well then, the world is waiting for you."

He put his hand up as the racers got into a starting pose.

"Travel safe…"

The camera panned over all the teams.

"GO!"

All the teams raced to their bags, then picked up their clues and ripped them open.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 1st Place

"Route Info," Sora read.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 2nd Place

"Pop the balloons to find the keys to one of the cars parked in the street," Mio read.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 3rd Place

"Once you have found some car keys, drive yourselves to Tokyo Narita Airport and fly to Honolulu, Hawaii." Megumin read.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 4th Place

"Warning: There is only enough room for four teams on the first flight," Erina read. "The second flight is set to arrive almost an hour later."

[i] Fly to: Honolulu, Hawaii

Teams must now run around this field of 100 balloons and pop them in a search to find one of eleven car keys. Once they have found the keys, they must locate the car the keys are for, then drive themselves to the Tokyo airport and book their flights to Honolulu, Hawaii. There is only room for four teams on the first flight, which is set to depart one hour earlier than the second flight.

"Let's do this," Kirito said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Just pull them down," Naofumi said. Naofumi and Raphtalia pulled down adjacent balloons and then tried to squeeze them with their hands.

"The balloons we had to pop were actually very tough," Naofumi said. "It took a lot more effort than it appeared."

Raphtalia tried to squeeze it between her knees until it popped. "No key in here, Naofumi-sama."

Kazuma and Megumin

"I just wish I could explode all of these balloons here," Megumin said.

"Yeah, that'd totally not incinerate the keys," Kazuma replied.

Megumin grabbed one and used her nails to pierce the balloon. "Kazuma, Kazuma!"

"Yes, I'm Kazuma."

"I found it!"

Megumin reached into the balloon and showed him the key.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

"Was that your first one?"

"Yeah!"

"Great, let's go!"

Sora and Shiro

"You got it, Shiro?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," she replied, pulling down the balloons and popping them with speed.

"What Shiro ended up doing was folding up the clue into a triangle," Sora explained. "And then using that pointed edge in order to pop the balloons. We were definitely going through them quicker than any of the other teams."

*POP*

*POP*

Ritsu and Mio

"How are they doing it so fast?" Ritsu asked, staring at Sora and Shiro.

"Ritsu," Mio clapped. "Don't worry about them. Worry about us."

"Alright, alright," Ritsu replied, pulling a balloon down. She pressed it against the floor and body-slammed on top of it to pop it. "Why are these balloons so tough?"

Touma and Mikoto

Both Touma and Mikoto were struggling to pop the balloon. Touma had the balloon pressed up against the ground while Mikoto was trying to squeeze them between her hands.

"I'm so tempted to zap this right now," Mikoto said.

"We don't want a penalty, right?" Touma asked.

Mikoto managed to pop it, but nothing was inside.

"Seriously?" she asked.

Kazuma and Megumin

"Where's the car?" Megumin asked.

"I'm looking," Kazuma replied. He pressed the button, then heard a car honk from a car a few cars up.

"There it is," Kazuma said, running to it. He and Megumin hopped inside as he started it up and drove out onto the street. "We're going to Hawaii!"

Sora and Shiro

*Pop*

"I have it, Sora," Shiro said.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 2nd Place

"That's great!" Sora replied, grabbing the keys and running out of the field.

Mako and Ryuko

"Ryuko! Ryuko!"

"Did you get it, Mako?" Ryuko asked.

"Nope."

"Then why the hell were you calling m-"

Subaru and Emilia

Subaru punched a balloon until it popped.

"Do you have it, Subaru?" Emilia asked.

"No. We have to keep going if we want that first flight."

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 3rd Place

"Biribiri," Touma said. "I got the key,"

"I told you, don't call m- huh?"

"I got the key."

"Then why are you standing there, idiot? Go!"

Okabe and Kurisu

"I got it, Okabe," Kurusu said. "Ive got the key."

"Aha! As expected of my assistant Cristina!"

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 4th Place

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 5th Place

Ritsu and Mio ran out of the field after the scientists, key in hand.

"We're fifth out," Ritsu said. "We could still beat another team to the airport and get to the first flight. It's not a lost cause."

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito shook the balloon as the key inside popped it.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 6th Place

"Asuna, let's go!" Kirito shouted.

Taki and Mitsuha

Mitsuha grabbed the balloon and stomped it with her shoe, revealing a key inside.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 7th Place

"Taki, let's get out of here," Mitsuha said. She and Taki hightailed it to the parking lot.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 8th Place

"That took way too long," Naofumi said, hopping into their car. "That's really annoying."

"We can get though it." Raphtalia replied.

"I never said we couldn't."

Mako and Ryuko

"Ryuko, RYUKO!"

"Mako, don't waste my time."

"Fine, then I guess I'll hang onto the key then."

"You found it?"

Mako nodded.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 9th Place

Mako and Ryuko ran to the street and unlocked their car.

Souma and Erina

"This is really irritating," Erina said. "We're the last ones here."

"We're not last," Souma said. "There's still Subaru and Emilia."

He pointed to Subaru and Emilia, who were holding a key and running out of the field.

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 10th Place

"Okay, never mind, we're last," Souma said.

"Graah, how can you be so calm?" Erina asked. "You're always like this, you show no sense of stress or urgency!"

"Oh, I'm stressed of course," he replied. He popped the balloon, revealing a key. "I found it."

Erina snatched it away from him as they raced to the street.

Souma and Erina: Currently in Last Place


Tokyo Narita International Airport

Kazuma and Megumin raced inside.

"We're looking for the marked counter, right?" Megumin asked.

"That sounds right." They ran around the airport, completely passing by the counter marked with red and yellow stripes.

Sora and Shiro

"Here, here here!" Sora pointed. He and Shiro ran up to the counter. "Two tickets to Honolulu, as fast as possible."

The agent nodded and handed them their tickets. "You're on the first flight."

Sora and Shiro: 1st on Flight 1

"We're on the first flight, hell yeah!" Sora grabbed Shiro's hand and thrusted it up into the air.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto ran up to the counter right after Sora and Shiro. "Tickets, please."

Touma and Mikoto: 2nd on Flight 1

"We got it," Touma said. "Woah. My heart's racing."

Kazuma and Megumin

"Oh, it's right there!" Kazuma shouted. "Why didn't you see it? You might've been able to see it better without wearing this!"

He pulled on Megumin's eyepatch.

"Kazuma, stop, it seals my power!" Megumin shouted. Kazuma let go of the eyepatch, causing it to recoil back and smack her in the eye.

"Ow!"

Kazuma sighed. "Take that off!"

Megumin pouted and took her eyepatch off and put it in her pocket.

Kazuma then turned to the counter and asked for their tickets.

Kazuma and Megumin: 3rd on Flight 1

Ritsu and Mio

"Go, run!" Ritsu shouted.

"I'm going, Ritsu!" Mio replied. Kurisu and Okabe were right on their tail, but the girls arrived at the counter first.

Ritsu and Mio: Last on Flight 1

"We got it!" Ritsu said, hugging Mio.

"Dammit, missed it by seconds," Kurisu said. "That's fine."

Okabe and Kurisu: 1st on Flight 2

With that, all the teams rushed in and booked their remaining flights onto Flight 2.

Taki and Mitsuha: 2nd on Flight 2

Kirito and Asuna: 3rd on Flight 2

Naofumi and Raphtalia: 4th on Flight 2

Mako and Ryuko: 5th on Flight 2

Subaru and Emilia: 6th on Flight 2

Souma and Erina: Last on Flight 2


Flight 1

"Attention all passengers, this is your captain speaking" the loudspeaker said. "Unfortunately, there seems to be a problem with the engine."

"Are you kidding me?" Touma asked. "Just my luck."

Sora rammed his head into the seat in front of him.

"Unfortunately, it seems we will not be able to leave for at least ninety or so minutes. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"So," Mio said. "If the other flight goes perfectly, that means the four of us are racing for last. Ugh… this is not what I needed today."

"Well, that's… we just need to make sure we're in front of someone else. Someone to push behind us." Kazuma said. "The girls don't seem very strong. We can beat them."

"You're sitting right next to us," Ritsu said. The camera panned out to show Kazuma was literally sitting in the seat right to Ritsu.

"Oh. S-Sorry, Ritsu."


[i] Proceed to: Waikiki Beach

Once teams touch down in Honolulu, they must make their way to Waikiki Beach, where their next clue awaits.


Honolulu International Airport

Flight 2: 4:30 PM

The plane touched down in Honolulu's airport. As the jetbridge connected to the plane, the door opened up as the seven teams aboard rushed outside.

All seven teams began rushing their way through the airport and outside to the cabs.

Taki and Mitsuha

"We need to get to Waikiki Beach. Do you know?" Mitsuha asked. The driver nodded and motioned for them to get inside.

"We're on the race," Taki said. "And we're in Hawaii. This is amazing."

"And I'm here with you! This is like a honeymoon. Before we get married."

He looked away from her. "That's just a normal vacation." he whispered.

Subaru and Emilia

"It's really odd for me to be somewhere this hot," Emilia said. "Normally in Lugunica it's just snow and average weather."

"Yeah, I get that," Subaru replied. "I bet a lot of places we go to are going to be really hot, though."

Kirito and Asuna

"This is just like a game," Asuna said. "It's a game, in a really… beautiful place, really."

Okabe and Kurisu

"I'm back in America," Kurisu said. "This is actually pretty nice."

"It's not America, it's Hawaii." Okabe said.

"I don't know if you're trying to be funny, or if you're just stupid."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Naofumi-sama, look at all those beaches!" Raphtalia pointed.

"I see them," he said.

Ryuko and Mako

"I wonder what we're going to do here," Mako said. "Maybe… eat some Takoyaki… eat some Okonomiyaki… eat some sushi…"

"Those are all Japanese things, Mako," Ryuko said.

Souma and Erina

"I'm still mad we couldn't make the first flight." Erina said.

"We could catch up. You don't know what this course has to offer."


Kirito and Asuna hopped out of their cab and ran up to the clue box.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 1st Place

"Route Info," Kirito read.

[i] Row, Row, Row

Teams must now use this kayak and row themselves out to the ocean and to this buoy, which holds their next clue.

"Let's go, then," Asuna said. They ran up to the kayaks. "Do you want to go in the front or in the back?"

"I don't care, I guess I'll be in the back." Kirito replied.

Kirito and Asuna put their lifevests on as Kirito hopped in.

"Kirito, we need to push it more into the water first."

"Just push me."

"Huh?"

"I'm not getting out. Just push me into the water."

Asuna pushed Kirito out of the boat, splashing him into the water.

"No, push the boat into the water, not push me into the water!"

"Oh."

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

Souma and Erina pushed their boat into the water and hopped inside, beginning to row out to sea.

"Ah, the counter current," Souma said.

"It's just when getting off the shore." Erina replied. "Don't worry about it and keep rowing."

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 3rd Place

Taki climbed into the front as Mitsuha went into the back.

"What are we looking for?" Mitsuha asked.

"Some kind of buoy," Taki replied. "It's probably going to be yellow and red because those are the colors of the race."

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna finally got the hang of it as they rowed after Taki and Mitsuha.

"Okay, we got this, let's power past them." Kirito said. Asuna nodded agreement as they both sped up their rowing.

Taki and Mitsuha

"How are they going so fast?" Mitsuha asked, looking behind them.

"Don't worry about them. Just row, we've got the whole leg to catch up to them."

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 4th Place

Mako and Ryuko pushed their boat into the water as Subaru and Emilia showed up right behind them.

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 5th Place

"Let's do this, Emilia-tan!" Subaru shouted. They climbed into the kayak together and began rowing themselves into the tide.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna rowed fast enough to overtake Souma and Erina.

"Dammit," Erina said.

"It's alright," Souma said. Kirito looked back at them, then looked forwards again as they encountered the buoy.

"Alright, it's right here," Kirito said. He took the clue and unhooked it from the buoy before ripping it open and reading it right there.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 1st Place

"Detour: Play with Fire, or Oven Require?"

This Hawaiian luau at Sand Island will now be the stage for the Race's first Detour. It will be their choice: Play with Fire, or Oven Require.

[D1] Play with Fire

In Play with Fire, teams must dress up and learn this Hawaiian fire dance while holding a flaming torch. If they can manage to do the dance perfectly in front of an audience, teams will get their next clue.

[D2] Oven Require

Kalua pig is a staple in Hawaiian luaus. In Oven Require, teams must create an underground oven for cooking the pig. First, they must dig this ditch to the exact dimensions as the example. If teams are observant enough, they will realize the diameter and depth of the hole is marked on the length of their shovel. Once they've dug the ditch and got the OK from the judge, they must start a small fire on the bottom, cover the fire with coals and stones, and then carry a large pig to the ditch to get their next clue.

"What do you think, Asuna?"

"Can we row back to shore, first?"

"Oh, right, okay."

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina grabbed their clue. Souma clenched it in his teeth as he and Erina rowed back to shore.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 6th Place

"Come on, Raphtalia. Put some effort into it. It's just like our training." Naofumi said.

"I'm trying, Naofumi-sama. This is my best."

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 7th Place

Okabe and Kurisu cruised through the water.

"This is fun," Kurisu said.

"Sure," Okabe replied.

"Would you rather be testing your lab gadgets?"

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna returned to their cab and hopped inside.

"Sand Island," Kirito said. They opened their clue and read through it.

"Which Detour do you think is better?" Kirito asked.

"Well, I think fire dancing might be easier for us. We're already used to swinging around swords." Asuna replied.

"Alright, we'll try it." Kirito said. "But the fact that it's a dancing challenge really bothers me."

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

Souma and Erina returned to the beach. "Detour: Play with Fire or Oven Require?"

"Well, it's obvious," Erina said. "We make the oven. It's cooking."

"Well, we're not actually cooking anything. We're just digging the ditch."

"I'd be better at that than dancing," Erina replied.

Mako and Ryuko

"Mako, what are you doing back there?"

"I'm rowing!"

"You're making us turn weirdly!" Ryuko scolded. "Do you not know how to row?"

"I'm rowing fine! I'm not doing anything!"

"Then why are we going in circles?"

"Our rowing was atrocious," Ryuko explained. "I mean, even now we're still arguing over whose fault it is, but regardless of the reason, we were going in circles and all the other teams were passing us."

"I don't know? Maybe it has to do with the audaciousness of the wind turbulent antidisestablishmentarianism."

"...What? Stop using random words to justify your point. You're not helping."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha rowed back, seeing Mako and Ryuko arguing.

"Seriously? Arguing already?" Mitsuha asked.

"Mitsuha," Taki said. "Focus."

"Right," Mitsuha replied. They made it onto shore as they ripped the clue open.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 3rd Place

"Let's do the dance," Mitsuha said. "I did some dances back when I lived in Itomori."

"Oh, I know. You were a shrine maiden, right?"

"..."

"What?"

"How do you know that?" Mitsuha asked. "I never told you about that."

"You… uh… you did, I think"

"I don't tell anyone that isn't from Itomori about that. I'm really self conscious about it."

"We're wasting time, let's just go do the dance."

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 4th Place

"Let's do the ditch digging." Subaru said. "We're bound to mess up the dancing challenge. I can't dance."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 5th Place

"Oven making," Naofumi said. "I'm not dancing."

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 6th Place

"There's no way we can do dancing," Okabe said. "There's just no way in hell that Hyouyin Kyouma could dance well."

"Yeah… I was about to say that…" Kurisu said.

Mako and Ryuko

"Mako," Ryuko said. "Whatever you're doing, stop it."

"I'm not doing anything," Mako replied.

"We're literally backwards now, and everyone's come and gone. We're last." Ryuko said. "Let's just turn back around and get to the buoy before our gap widens."

Ryuko and Mako tried to turn themselves around, but the kayak ended up tipping, throwing them both into the water.


A/N: What do you guys think of Chapter 1 so far? Who are you rooting for? Who do you think gets eliminated?

Anyways, some things to say before I end off this chapter.

This is the format I will be writing in. Each 'leg' of the race will be split into two chapters, a front half and a latter half. However, the finale will always be one 12,000+ word chapter. So, the next chapter you'll be seeing the results of this leg.

Though I'm writing these chapters as they come out, the winner and boot order has already been determined. The route actually is up in the air right now. I have a route written, but i'm open to change it if I can think of anything better. Feel free to suggest locations, but this route is an eastwards route, so I won't consider locations that are significantly west of where we currently are. If you have any questions, (as long as they're spoiler friendly) I'll answer them in the comments section on Ao3, or in PM's or the next chapter on FFN.

By the way, there is Season 32 of the Real Life Amazing Race airing on CBS (CTV in Canada). You should watch it if you enjoyed this. (Past seasons are available on Hulu and Amazon Prime). 

Chapter 2: Leg 1.2 (Honolulu, USA)

Chapter Text

Leg 1, Part 2


Flight 1: 5:15 PM

The four teams on Flight 1 rushed through the airport and ran straight to the taxis.

Sora and Shiro

"We were delayed ninety minutes," Shiro said. "We were meant to have an hour lead, but now that means we have half an hour to make up. Assuming nothing went wrong with the second flight, of course."

"We can power through this," Sora said. "I just know we can."

Ritsu and Mio

"That's honestly just a really terrible way to start off Leg 1," Mio said. "We thought we had an advantage, but now it's a penalty."

"We don't need to be first," Ritsu said. "As long as we can beat one other team we're probably fine."

Touma and Mikoto

"This really sucks," Mikoto said.

"You know how unlucky I am," Touma replied.

"Now, my right arm is kind of weird," Touma explained. "For some unexplained reason, it negates any kind of power that touches it. Things like electricity, fire, magic, that stuff all gets cancelled out. However, it tends to give me… really bad luck."

"Well, whatever. Let's push through this. You and me." Touma said.

Kazuma and Megumin

"Megumin, we're not allowed to explode anything," Kazuma said. "So you have to think of ways other than blowing things up."

"I know that, I know that!"

Mako and Ryuko

"Okay, okay, just don't row. I'll do the rowing from now on," Ryuko said.

"You sure?" Mako asked.

"I'm sure. Just enjoy the ocean."

Mako held her oar down as Ryuko rowed on her own to the buoy.

Kirito and Asuna

"This is the place," Kirito said. "Can you wait here?"

The driver nodded as they ran out to see a sign. The words Play with Fire were directed to the left, while Oven Require pointed to the right.

"We're doing Play with Fire," Asuna said. They then ran to the left for the Detour.

"It looks like we're going to have to get changed," Asuna said. "We have to get dressed inside the marked changing tents."

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina moved the opposite direction and headed for the oven challenge.

"Alright," Erina said. "Let's get digging."

She and Souma picked up their shovels and ran over to the marked area to begin digging their hole.

"How deep is this thing supposed to be? I don't see an example." Erina said.

"Not sure," Souma said. "I'm sure there's something that must tell us."

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna came out of the tents, changed. Kirito was just wearing a grass skirt while Asuna was the same, but with a top made of the same material.

"Alright, let's see what we've got to work with," Kirito said. He and Asuna walked over to the stage, where the performer showed them the example. He stood still, then spread his stance wide and twirled his flaming baton with great speed. He then began twirling it with one hand as he walked in a clockwise circle, then swapped it to his other hand with no dip in the speed. He then rotated it to the left, right, then above his body while still spinning it, then threw it up in the air and caught it.

"Woah," Kirito said. "Uhh…"

"In Sword Art Online, we were obviously using swords. But we never had to deal with things like that. We weren't rapidly swinging them in a circle for twenty seconds. We weren't throwing them up in the air. That was just insanity." Asuna said.

"Are we actually going to be using flaming torches?" Asuna asked. "If so, that's kind of an issue."

"Well, we should try it at least," Kirito said. "If not, we can always switch."

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 7th Place

Mako and Ryuko returned to shore and opened their clue.

"What do you think?" Mako asked.

"Hmm… let's do the fire dancing."

They climbed into their taxi. "Sand Island," Ryuko said.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha ran out of the changing tents and up to the performer who demonstrated for them.

"Oh my god…" Taki said.

"We were watching the performer demonstrate for us, and I was like… first off… no." Taki said. "There's no way we could learn that faster than digging that ditch. There's just no way. Even if Mitsuha could get it, we both had to get it down in order to get the clue."

"I think we should switch." Taki said.

"Switch? Let's practice for, like, five minutes first," Mitsuha replied.

"That's just going to be five minutes wasted," Taki said. "There's no way I'm going to be able to learn this."

"If you ignore the fire, it doesn't seem that difficult! You just need to spin it, walk, and throw it."

"Alright, fine."

Okabe and Kurisu

"I don't think our driver knows where he's going," Kurisu said. "Aand… he's stopping to get directions. Great."

Souma and Erina

"Oh, Nakiri!" Souma said.

"What?"

"It's marked on here!"

"What is?"

"The dimensions. On the shovel."

"Well then? Dig!"

He began digging it, but he was kind of struggling doing so.

"The hole that we had to dig was in the dirt and grass," Souma explained. "It wasn't in the sand, so it was actually really difficult to penetrate the ground with the shovel."

Souma used his fist to pound the shovel into the ground. "Come on…" he muttered.

"Souma, quit fooling around and dig!" Erina shouted.

"That's what I'm doing," he said. "The ground's really tough."

Subaru and Emilia

Subaru and Emilia rushed to the hole digging stations.

"Let's do this," Subaru said. "Just digging a hole."

Emilia prodded at the ground with her shovel. "This looks a lot tougher than I thought," she said.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna stationed next to the stage to practice with normal batons.

"Okay, so you just spin them clockwise like this," the instructor said, doing so. "You need to be really careful to not smack them against your legs or your arms, because that'll make you restart when you're performing"

"Got it," Kirito said. Both of them practiced twirling their batons around, but Kirito's hand got contorted a little too much and he ended up dropping it.

"Is it really safe for us to be doing this? I'm gonna burn down the stage," Kirito said.

"You don't need to worry about getting burns," the instructor said.

"Are we using real fire?" Asuna asked.

"Uh… I can't say."

"So the answer is no, then?" Asuna asked. "I'll take that silence as an affirmation."

Souma and Erina

"Outside of our dormitory," Souma said. "We have a garden. I do some occasional plowing and tending, but it's nothing like this."

He jammed the shovel into the dirt and scooped it out before dumping it onto the ground.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia began chipping away at the dirt and grass.

"This is nothing," Raphtalia said. "We've got this."

"I'd be more than upset if a little dirt got us out," Naofumi said.

"I had to deal with a lot in our old world," Naofumi explained. "I was on my own at first. I was left with a shield, which didn't have any offensive capability, so I was forced to become strong in the muscle department. When I met Raphtalia, we began training together. We both grew stronger over those few months and here we are."

"How big are we supposed to make this thing?" Raphtalia asked.

"I don't know," Naofumi replied. "I'm sure we'll know it when we know it."

Subaru and Emilia

"Argh…" Subaru shouted. "This is tough!"

"My hands aren't really used to this kind of work," Emilia said.

"At home, I really haven't had to do anything overtly physical," Emilia explained. "I don't do much, really."

"I don't understand how people do this every day." she said. "It's really admirable."

Subaru stared at her. "Maybe I should start doing this."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha began spinning their batons.

"This actually isn't so bad," Taki said.

"With the batons, it actually was easier than it seemed," Taki said. "Of course, it was easy to drop it or screw up something else, but once you've got the spinning motion down, the others weren't that hard to get a grasp on."

"When you're doing it one-handed," the instructor said. "The baton's already spinning. You don't need to spin it more, so focus more on keeping it in the air than keeping the spin speed."

He demonstrated by spinning the baton around his hand, which seemed more like him juggling it in the air than spinning it with his hand.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 8th Place

Touma and Mikoto arrived at the rowing challenge.

"Alright, we've got this," Touma said. Mikoto hopped into the canoe as Touma pushed it into the water.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 9th Place

Sora and Shiro ran up from behind them, pushing their own canoes into the water.

"I don't know how to row," Sora said. "Never done it before. The last time I can think I've done anything remotely athletic was back in elementary school."

"We're definitely going to struggle a bit more with physical tasks, but we're absolutely certain we could blast through mental tasks later. We're not too worried about that." Shiro explained.

"H-How do I row?" Sora asked. "Do I really just like, put it in the water and just push?"

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 10th Place

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in Last Place

The final two teams raced in and grabbed their canoes, going into the water.

"What the hell are they doing?" Kazuma asked, staring at Sora and Shiro who were barely moving.

"I've cursed them," Megumin replied. "Let's go."

They raced past Sora and Shiro.

Ritsu and Mio were rowing with average speed, but Sora and Shiro rammed into them with their canoe.

"Woah!" Ritsu said. Mio grabbed her oar and pushed the siblings off of them.

"Rude." Mio said.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna threw the batons into the air, then caught them at the same time, finishing off the routine.

"That was perfect," The instructor said. "Now you just have to do it onstage."

"Alright," Asuna said. "Let's do this."

Kirito and Asuna lined up onto the stage as the judge tossed them their batons.

"Uhh…" Kirito said. "Alright."

"We thought we'd be working with actual fire," Kirito explained. "But I should've known that they wouldn't let us do something dangerous like that."

"It was like a baton, but it had a lightbulb on either end that simulated fire, as well as some orange fabric that made it look like it flowed," Asuna explained. "On the bright side, we didn't have to worry about burning ourselves."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter," Asuna said. "Let's do this."

Kirito and Asuna: 1st Attempt

The two gamers got into their positions, then began spinning their batons clockwise. They then began moving in a clockwise formation, still moving their batons. However, they got to spinning it on one hand as Kirito dropped the stick.

"Bzzt!" the judge shouted. "No, no, no!"

"Dammit," Kirito said. "That's fine."

Souma and Erina

"The sun's setting now," Erina said. "Which is making this side of the detour a lot more difficult because we can't really see where we're digging."

"We're almost done," Souma said. "We've just gotta make the bottom flatter."

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko arrived at the Detour and changed into their dancing outfits before exiting and running out.

"Let's see what we could do," Ryuko said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Exactly how deep is it?" Naofumi asked.

"Not sure," Raphtalia replied. "I didn't see a model or anything."

"There has to be some kind of indicator somewhere."

"I don't know!"

Taki and Mitusha: 1st Attempt

Taki and Mitsuha spun the baton fast, but the judge cut them off when Taki walked counterclockwise and Mitsuha went clockwise.

"Taki, it's clockwise!" Mitsuha said.

"I was going clockwise."

"Which way does a clock go?"

"..."

"Well?"

"Oh."

Okabe and Kurisu

"Finally," Okabe said. "Let's go."

Okabe and Kurisu arrived at the digging challenge, where most teams seemed to be mostly done with the digging.

"That ride must've set us back, like, fifteen minutes," Kurisu said. "We have to make up some time if we want to stay through this."

"I'm not sure if you're last," Souma said from the other hole. "We were the second of this flight to arrive, and there were no holes dug here. Of course, the first flight all could've done the dancing, but I think their flight must've had an issue or something. We can't be completely sure, though."

"Yukihira," Erina said. "We're almost done."

Souma and Erina flattened out the bottom of their ditch. "Could we get a check here?"

The judge walked up to the ditch and put a tape measure across the top, then to the bottom.

"Looks good," he said. "Now you just need to light a fire at the bottom, cover them with stones and leaves, then put the pig on top."

"Alright," Erina said. She ran over to get some kindling and wood, throwing it into the hole before Souma lit it on fire.

"Now we just need stones," Souma said. He ran over to get some stones before covering them with leaves.

He and Erina then ran over to get the raw pig, working together to walk over and rest it on top of the taro leaves.

"Is this good?" Souma asked. The judge nodded and handed them their clue.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 1st Place

"Yes!" Souma shouted. "We got it!"

"Yukihira. The clue."

"Right," Souma said, grabbing the clue from the judge and ripping it open. "Make your way to your next Pit Stop!"

[i] Proceed to Pit Stop: Makai Tower

Teams must now make their way to the base of Makai Tower, one of the One Waterfront Towers, the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The first team to arrive here will win the double Express Pass. However, the last team to arrive may be eliminated.

"Let's go." Souma said. He and Erina ran out, back to their taxi.

"Makai Tower, do you know?" Souma asked. The driver shook his head. "Do you have Google?"

Kirito and Asuna: 2nd Attempt

Kirito and Asuna spun their batons around at the speed of light, moved to one hand, swapped hands, then threw it up into the air before catching them simultaneously.

The judge clapped. "Bravo! Bravo!"

He handed them a clue.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Kirito read.

Souma and Erina

"It's showing up One Waterfront Towers," the driver said.

"Alright, then, go there," Souma said.

"They're twin towers, though."

"Just drive to one of them, we'll verify in the lobby."

The driver nodded and took off.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna rushed to their taxi.

"Makai Tower?" Asuna asked. The driver nodded and instructed for them to get inside.

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko twirled their batons around, but Mako ended up smacking Ryuko in the face with it.

"Try not to burn me, please."

Okabe and Kurisu

"Okabe," Kurisu said. "Look at the shovel. Those are the measurements for the hole!"

"Got it," he replied.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 8th Place

Touma and Mikoto returned to the shore, reading their Detour clue.

"Let's do the digging," Mikoto said.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 9th Place

"Oh, we're dancing," Ritsu said. Mio blushed in embarrassment, but didn't protest.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 10th Place

"AAHH!" Megumin shouted. "Fire! That's awesome!"

"But are you sure you'll-"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

Sora and Shiro: Currently in Last Place

"I mean, they're both physical," Sora said. "This isn't looking good for us."

"I think we should dig," Shiro replied.

Taki and Mitsuha: 3rd Attempt

Taki and Mitsuha threw their batons into the air, and caught them flawlessly.

"Did we get it?" Taki asked. The judge nodded and handed them their clue.

"OH MY GOD!" Mitsuha shouted. She hugged the judge before taking the clue and ripping it open.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 3rd Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Taki read.

"Aaah! Pit stop already!" Mitsuha cheered.

Subaru and Emilia

"Do you know exactly how deep we're supposed to dig?" Emilia asked.

"Not exactly…" Subaru replied. "I don't think they told us. It's fine, though."

"How could that be fine? There must be something we're missing. The chefs' didn't seem too deep, but I don't know exactly."

Mako and Ryuko: 3rd Attempt

Mako and Ryuko spun their batons with lightspeed as they tossed them into the air, catching them on the way down.

"Is that it? Did we mess up?" Ryuko asked.

"No, no, no," the judge said.

"What?"

"You didn't mess up. Here's your clue."

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 4th Place

"Oh, thank god," Ryuko said. "That was a nice fakeout."

Okabe and Kurisu

"It's night now," Okabe said. "And they're bringing in the tiki torches."

"Should we tell the other teams about the measurements? Naofumi and Raphtalia seem like they're digging way too deep." Kurisu said.

"Well, it is a competition," Okabe said. "But Souma did say that it didn't seem like the first flight arrived here yet. Let's finish this, then we tell whoever doesn't seem to have a hang of it once we're leaving."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Are you sure this is right?" Raphtalia asked. She was standing in a hole that was almost as deep as she was tall.

"Can we get a check?" Naofumi asked. The judge walked up to it, then shook his head no.

"Okay," Naofumi said. He pulled out his clue a second time. "There's no dimensions on the clue itself."

Subaru and Emilia

Emilia picked up the shovel. "Oh, Subaru," she said. "There's inscriptions on the shovel."

"Oh, those are the measurements?" Subaru asked. "Argh! They're smaller than we thought! We could've been out of here ages ago!"

Kirito and Asuna

"I really hope we're going to the right place," Asuna said. "Right before the Pit Stop. The worst thing that can happen is that you get lost before the Pit Stop."

Souma and Erina

"The Express Pass is ours," Souma said. "We're not letting anyone take it. Well, unless the first flight already came, but I doubt it at this point."

"It looked like Kirito and Asuna were getting changed as we were leaving," Erina replied. "So there's a good chance they're right on our tail… but we're not going to let that stop us from winning the leg."


Hinata waited at the Pit Stop mat, right at the base of Makai Tower.

Souma and Erina came rushing in.

"Souma and Erina," Hinata said. "How are you feeling?"

"We're feeling good," Souma said. "What about the Express Pass? Is it ours?"

"You're team number ONE!" Hinata shouted.

Souma and Erina: 1st Place

"Oh, and we've got another team coming in," Hinata said. "Come on in!"

Kirito and Asuna rushed onto the mat.

"Kirito and Asuna," Hinata announced. "You're team number TWO."

Kirito and Asuna: 2nd Place

"What?" Kirito asked. "2nd? We were on the second flight!"

"Apparently the second flight had some sort of problem," Hinata said. "I don't know the details. But you're the second team to arrive here at Makai Tower."

"Wow, that's… that's unexpected." Asuna said.

"Now, Souma and Erina," Hinata said. "For winning this leg of the race, you have won the dual Express Pass."

Hinata handed Souma and Erina two Express Passes.

"Any time you have a challenge you don't want to complete, all you need to do is hand in your Express Pass and you'll bypass the challenge entirely," he said. "You need to be sure to use it before the end of Leg 9. And you must give away the second Express Pass to a team of your choice by the end of Leg 4."

"Hey," Kirito said, winking at Souma.

"Haha… absolutely not." Souma said.

"Winning this leg is just a total boost to our confidence," Souma said. "I knew we could do it, but just simply winning Leg 1 is just further reinforcement of this fact."

"We won't let anything come between us and that grand prize," Erina said. "Nothing."

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto arrived at the Detour site.

"There are still three teams here," Touma said. "We've got this."

They each picked up a shovel, but Mikoto pointed to some engravings on the bottom.

"I think those are our dimensions," Mikoto said.

"On the bottom of the shovels were these engravings that marked off exactly how deep, how wide, how long the holes should be," Mikoto explained. "It was very difficult to see, but the angle the fire light was hitting our shovels made it stand out. Naofumi and Raphtalia didn't seem to be getting the memo."

Subaru and Emilia

"Oh, there's teams behind us!" Subaru exclaimed.

"Looks like the first flight… what happened?"

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Subaru said. "At the very least, we're not fighting for last yet."

Subaru filled in the last of the dirt that needed replacing. "Could we get a check?"

The judge walked over to them, then measured the ditch with a tape measure. He nodded and gave them a thumbs' up.

"Yeah!" Subaru cheered with Emilia. "Now what?"

They waited around, and nothing was happening.

"Once we got our ditch checked and approved, we were just waiting around for our clue." Subaru said. "And it wasn't coming to us."

"He approved it, didn't he?" Subaru asked.

"He did, he definitely did." Emilia said. They awkwardly lounged around, waiting.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio arrived at the practice zone.

"So we just spin it?" Mio asked. The instructor nodded.

"We're performers, yes," Ritsu explained. "But we don't usually dance. We're usually stationary while holding instruments. And I drum, so I'm almost always sitting down. Mio doesn't usually like the spotlight, so this is somewhat unfamiliar territory for us."

Ritsu and Mio began spinning their batons, but they ended up dropping it as it clattered onto the floor.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin spun their batons as they walked around in a large circle. However, Kazuma's baton knocked Megumin's to the ground.

"Kazuma," Megumin said, staring at him. "Why?"

Sora and Shiro

Okabe and Kurisu


"Taki and Mitsuha," Hinata said. "Mako and Ryuko. You are teams number three and team number four."

Taki and Mitsuha: 3rd Place

Mako and Ryuko: 4th Place

"3rd and 4th?" Mako asked. "What?"

"That's insane," Mitsuha said. "Wow."

Okabe and Kurisu

"Could we get checked?" Okabe asked. The judge came up to the pit, measured it, and nodded.

"Alright, now we just need to set a fire, and do the other prepwork," Kurisu said.

Subaru and Emilia

"This doesn't seem right," Emilia said. "Do you have the clue?"

Subaru handed Emilia the clue.

"It says we have to start a fire, layer it with stones, then put in the pig," Emilia said.

"What? Dammit," Subaru said. "Whatever, let's just do that and get out of here!"

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro began digging, but struggled trying to break the surface.

"Are we really supposed to dig through this?" Sora asked. "I don't know if we can. It's really tough."

"Well, we have to keep going at least," Shiro said. "We can't give up now, unless you want to do the dancing."

Okabe and Kurisu

After setting up the fire, stones, and inserting the pig, Okabe and Kurisu asked for a check, which brought them the clue.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 5th Place

"Should we tip off Naofumi and Raphtalia?" Kurisu asked.

"Well, we're about to leave, so I don't see why not," Okabe said. They ran over to Naofumi and Raphtalia.

"What is it?" Naofumi asked.

"Your hole is too big," Kurisu said. "The measurements are marked on your shovel."

Naofumi looked at his shovel. "Oh my god. You've got to be kidding me."

Kurisu awkwardly smiled as she and Okabe left the scene.

"Seriously?" Raphtalia asked. "Are you kidding me right now?"

Subaru and Emilia

Emilia and Subaru lowered the pig into the ditch.

"Can we get a check now?" Subaru asked. The judge walked up to it and observed it, nodding and handed them the clue.

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 6th Place

"That was a huge blunder," Subaru said. "God, we didn't read our clue. That sucks."

"We just need to make sure to read it next time," Emilia replied.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"We way overshot the amount of dirt we needed to dig," Raphtalia said. "And now we have to put more than three-quarters of it back."

"We just need to be observant next time," Naofumi said. "Well, if there is a next time."

"Don't say that," Raphtalia comforted. "We're not last yet."

Touma and Mikoto

Touma used the shovel to measure the depth of the hole.

"That looks good," Touma said. "But we need to expand the sides a bit."

"Y-Yeah," Mikoto replied. She laid her shovel flat on its side. "Just a few more inches."

Kazuma and Megumin

"I think we're ready to try it," Kazuma said.

"I'm so excited!" Megumin shouted. They got onstage as they gave them their "flaming" batons.

"I-It's not real fire?" Megumin asked. "Lame."

"Whatever. Just do it like we practiced." Kazuma said.

Kazuma and Megumin: 1st Attempt

Kazuma and Megumin began twirling their batons, but Megumin moved a little too early.

"No!" the judge shouted.

Sora and Shiro

Sora wiped sweat off his forehead. "We've been here for a while and we've barely made a dent in this thing."

"We've noticed the dimensions on the shovel, so we know exactly how much we're supposed to dig," Shiro said. "But the actual digging is slowing us down. It's just very physical."

Touma and Mikoto

"I think we've got it," Touma said. "Could we get a check?"

The judge walked up to the ditch and measured it using a tape measure.

"All good," the judge said. He walked away as Touma brought some wood and tinder and Mikoto used a lighter in order to set it on fire.

"Now we just need to put some rocks on it," Mikoto said. "And then put in the pig."

Ritsu and Mio: 1st Attempt

Ritsu and Mio began twirling their sticks, but Ritsu lost her grip as it went flying to the left side of the stage.

"I'm so glad that's not actual fire," Mio said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Luckily, putting in dirt isn't as difficult as shovelling it out," Raphtalia said. "I think we're good. Judge!"

The judge walked up to it, then nodded and gave them a thumbs' up.

"Alright, now onto the fire," Naofumi said.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto dropped the pig onto the stones.

"Alright, is that it?" Mikoto asked. The judge nodded and handed them the clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 7th Place

"Alright, we got it, let's get out of here," Touma said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 8th Place

Naofumi and Raphtalia grabbed their clue and ran back to their cabs.

"We let a team from the other flight beat us," Raphtalia said. "That's not good."

"They were supposed to be in front of us, though," Naofumi replied. "I'm not that upset because we know there are still teams there, but I am slightly upset at home much time we wasted."


Okabe and Kurisu: 5th Place

"How'd things go today?" Hinata asked.

"Well, we got a bad taxi and thought we arrived at the Detour in last," Kurisu said. "But apparently something happened with the second flight, and now we're in the middle of the pack."

"We'll improve tomorrow," Okabe said. "Hyouyin Kyoma won't let this hinder him!"

"Who's that?" Hinata asked.

Sora and Shiro

"Graaah!" Sora shouted, hefting away the dirt. "Oh, this is going to take ages at the rate we're going."

Ritsu and Mio: 3rd Attempt

Ritsu and Mio circled around, then tossed the batons into the air. Ritsu caught it, but it bonked Mio on the head and clattered to the floor.

"Noo!" Mio shouted.

"That challenge was really tough," Ritsu said. "Lots of coordination in a way that was different than coordinating with drums or coordinating with instruments. More bodily coordination."

"That's fine, that's fine, we'll just go again," Ritsu said.

Kazuma and Megumin: 4th Attempt

After twirling and spinning, they tossed their batons in the air and caught them on the way down.

"Woohoo!" Megumin shouted. "Yeah!"

The judge handed them their clues.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 9th Place

"Let's get outta here," Megumin said.


"Subaru and Emilia," Hinata said. "You're team number six."

Subaru and Emilia: 6th Place

"Not terrible," Subaru said. "But that's all we need for now."


"Touma and Mikoto, Naofumi and Raphtalia," Hinata announced. "You're in seventh and eighth place."

Touma and Mikoto: 7th Place

Naofumi and Raphtalia: 8th Place

"We're the first of our flight, at least," Touma said.

Ritsu and Mio: 5th Attempt

Mio whacked Ritsu with the baton, causing her to stagger forwards.

"Dammit, Mio!" Ritsu scolded.

"I'm trying my best! It's really hard!"

Sora and Shiro

"That looks about the right depth and width," Shiro said. "Check!"

The judge walked up to the ditch and nodded.

"Alright, get the firemaking supplies," Sora said. "We've got to get this done. I think there's only one team left at the fire dance."

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin raced from their cab to the Pit Stop at the base of the tower.

"Kazuma and Megumin," Hinata said. "You're team number nine."

Kazuma and Megumin: 9th Place

"Alright, not bad considering what kind of situation we were in," Kazuma said.

"Huh huh huh… a Crimson Demon won't let a faulty flight like that stop her!"

Ritsu and Mio: 6th Attempt

"Sora and Shiro look like they're almost done," Mio said. "We have to get it this time."

"Okay, okay," Ritsu said.

They both distanced themselves from each other as they began the routine, spinning their glowing batons before walking in a clockwise circle.

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro lit the fire in their pit before throwing the stones inside.

"Okay, that looks good, now for the pig," Sora said.

Ritsu and Mio

After their clockwise rotation, Ritsu and Mio threw their spinning batons into the air before catching them.

"Is that it?" Ritsu asked. "We got it?"

The judge nodded and handed them their clues.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 10th Place

"Great, let's go and change." Ritsu said.

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro threw their pig into the oven as the judge handed them the clue.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in Last Place

With that, Sora and Shiro began running over to the street.

"We let our taxi go," Sora said. "Dammit, we should've asked him to wait."

"There's a taxi here," Shiro said. Shiro and Sora ran up to that taxi.

"Hi, can you take us to Makai Tower?" Sora asked.

"Sorry, I've got two girls that I'm waiting for," the driver said.

"You don't need to worry about them. Just take us."

"They haven't paid yet."

"We'll pay you. We'll pay their fare, and give you a good tip. Just take us to the tower."

He sighed. "Fine, as long as you pay the fare."

Sora smiled as he and Shiro stepped into the cab.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio ran up to the street after changing back into their normal clothes.

"Wait, is that our cab?" Mio asked. "Why's he leaving?"

"Did Sora and Shiro steal it?" Ritsu asked. "Wow. Jerk move."

"We asked our cab to keep the meter running and to wait for us," Ritsu explained. "The cab was still there when we were doing our dancing routine, but by the time we got changed, Sora and Shiro were gone, and our cab was gone."

"It's not hard to put two and two together. Our cab gone, Sora and Shiro gone… we knew what happened." Mio said.

"Oh my god, it's the middle of the night in some remote part of Honolulu," Mio said. "Can we really get a cab like this?"

"Just run until we find one," Ritsu said. "There's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to find one."

They began running through the street.

Sora and Shiro

"Is this it?" Sora asked. The driver nodded. Sora and Shiro paid their fare as they got out and sprinted to the Pit Stop.

"Sora and Shiro," Hinata said. "You're still in the race, you're team number ten."

Sora and Shiro: 10th Place

"That was really close," Sora said.

"What happened today?" Hinata asked.

"Well, both sides of the Detour were pretty physical," Shiro said. "We're not too good at physical challenges."

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio finally called a cab once they returned to a busier section of the city.

"Makai Tower," Mio said.

They climbed into the back as Mio put a hand up to her temple.

"I'm seriously about to cry," Mio said.

"It's okay, it's okay," Ritsu comforted.

"Like, we could've survived if they hadn't stolen our cab," Mio said. "It just really makes me mad."


Ritsu and Mio hobbled up to the Pit Stop.

"Ritsu and Mio," Hinata said.

"Yeah?" Mio asked.

"Tough day?"

"It has been a very tough day, Hinata." Ritsu said. "Bad flight, messing up at the Detour, just a lot of things went wrong today."

"Well, Ritsu and Mio, I'm sorry to tell you that you are the last team to arrive."

Ritsu and Mio: Last Place

"We know," Mio said.

"The good news is that you're not eliminated," Hinata said.

"What?" Ritsu asked, eyes lighting up.

"This is a non-elimination leg."

Both of them cheered up and hugged each other.

"You've survived, and you're still on The Amazing Race. However, please note that because you came in last place this leg, you will have to face a Speed Bump sometime on the next leg of the race. In order to survive, you'll need to complete the Speed Bump and check in in front of at least one other team. Are you ready?"

"We're ready." Mio said.


Race Stats


Next Time on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition

In Las Vegas, teams find themselves in a scramble.

*Ritsu almost getting hit by a bus on the Las Vegas Strip*

"Yeah, maybe don't get killed," Mikoto said.

And drama begins ramping up.

"Why'd you steal our cab?" Mio asked.

"Well, we let our own cab go, and that was the only cab that was left." Sora said. "It's obvious why."

"It's just the best choice for us in that scenario." Shiro said.

*Ritsu rolling her eyes*

Eleven teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?

Chapter 3: Leg 2.1 (Las Vegas, USA)

Chapter Text

Previously on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition:

Eleven teams from eleven anime started off in a race around the world.

"Go!" Hinata shouted.

In Honolulu, Mako and Ryuko struggled.

"What are you doing?" Ryuko asked, on a canoe. "Why are we going in circles?"

Ritsu and Mio came up short.

"You are the last team to arrive," Hinata said.

But they were given a second chance.

"This is a non-elimination leg."

Who will be eliminated next?


Leg 2.1


This is Makai Tower in Honolulu, Hawaii. It will now serve as a starting point for the second leg in a race around the world.

Souma and Erina, who won the previous leg, will now depart at 10:00 AM.

Souma and Erina: 1st to depart, 10:00 AM

Souma ripped their clue open.

"Fly to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA," Souma read.

[i] Fly to: Las Vegas, USA

Teams must now board a flight to Las Vegas in the continental United States. Once teams arrive in Vegas, they must find their way to Mandalay Bay to find their next clue.

Souma and Erina left their Pit Stop and caught a taxi.

"Could you take us to the airport?" Souma asked.

"We won the last leg, and we got the Express Pass," Erina said. "That's definitely a huge advantage to us. The only downside is that the others might see us as a threat, but we know we could work through that."

"In this season, we have two Express Passes. We can only keep or use one for ourselves, so we have to figure out a team to give the second Express Pass to before Leg 4." Souma explained. "The best bet is to give it to a weaker team who we want to bring far into the race with us, but at this point, you just don't know. Some teams who fell behind could be competent but made a mistake, some teams who climbed to the top just got lucky. We definitely should wait to see how everyone races, who's going to pay us back, who might backstab us."

Kirito and Asuna: 2nd to depart, 10:02 AM

"Las Vegas, huh?" Kirito asked. "This is going to be an interesting leg."

"Maybe we could do some games. I know gambling isn't our forte, but I know we could get through it." Asuna said.

"Are we even legally allowed to gamble?"

"Yesterday, we missed out on the Express Pass and on first place by just a few seconds," Kirito explained. "Anything could've helped, and that just tells us that every second matters. We can't afford to make any mistake, regardless of how small it is."

Taki and Mitsuha: 3rd to depart, 10:29 AM

Taki and Mitsuha lined up at the airport, getting their tickets.

"It looks like everyone's going to be on the same flight today," Mitsuha said. "That's a bummer."

"We came in third place," Taki explained. "Which is a really high position, especially when there's eleven teams. We were hoping there'd be multiple flights so we could get a further advantage landing in Las Vegas, but it seems like everyone's going to be crammed into one flight.

Ritsu and Mio: Last to depart, 11:56 AM

"Fly to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA," Ritsu read.

"We came in last place." Ritsu said. "We probably could've gotten in tenth if Sora and Shiro didn't take our taxi, but you know, whatever, it's fine. We survived."

"We do have a Speed Bump this leg, which will definitely slow us down." Mio explained. "We just need to be sure that we race well enough to finish in front of at least one other team, even with that Speed Bump. First, tenth, it doesn't matter, as long as we're not last."


Honolulu Airport

The first ten teams lounged around the airport.

"Who do you think got eliminated?" Kirito asked.

"Definitely the music girls." Asuna replied. "I mean, they're up against these gamers."

"Yeah, but the gamers seem like they'd die if they had to lift a two pound weight," Touma said.

"Fair enough," Kirito said.

Sora and Shiro then walked up from behind them.

"Oh, hey!" everyone cheered.

"Thanks," Sora replied. "We survived the leg. Not our best performance, but, you know, anything happens."

After chatting for a bit, Ritsu and Mio arrived.

"What?" Sora asked.

"Hi," Mio said.

"You survived too? Wait, who got eliminated?" Mitsuha asked.

"It was a non-elimination," Ritsu said. "We got lucky."

"Well, we're glad to see that everyone here at the very least can race two legs of the race." Mikoto said. "Come on, sit down!"

"Last leg, we didn't have much time to talk with everyone," Kirito explained. "I mean, our flights left almost immediately after we arrived at the airport in Japan, and then again, we were on two separate flights."

Sora and Shiro began talking to Kirito and Asuna.

"You two are SAO survivors?" Sora asked.

"Yeah," Kirito said.

"That's so cool! Lucky!"

"L-Lucky?" Asuna asked. "How in the world is that lucky?"

"We sit at home all day and play games," Shiro said. "Something like that would be fun, but also exciting for us."

"It really wasn't that exciting, I think you're getting the wrong impression. It was really traumatic." Kirito explained.

"Yeah, sure, people died, I get that," Sora said. "But just living in a game world sounds thrilling!"

"I won't deny that; it was very thrilling," Kirito said.

"Don't encourage them," Asuna said.


Kazuma, Megumin, Subaru, and Emilia were deep in a conversation.

"So, just us being in an alliance is kind of a given, right?" Kazuma asked. "I mean, we know each other from the school."

"Yeah, I guess so," Subaru said.

"I don't see why we wouldn't want to," Emilia said. "It's nice to have a team to watch your back."

"Hey! Naofumi!" Kazuma shouted.

"What?" Naofumi asked, turning around.

"Want to be in an alliance?"

"No."

"Okay."


"Why did you steal our cab yesterday?" Mio asked.

"Well, we let our cab go, and it was a remote area. Your cab was the only one there," Shiro said.

"But that was our cab. You let your own cab go, that's your problem."

"Look, We get that we shouldn't have released our cab, but that was our only opportunity. We only did what we have to to survive." Sora said.

"So no 'I'm sorry' then?" Mio asked.

"Why would I be sorry? I just said, we did what we had to to survive. Had we not done that, we would be in your position right now." Sora justified.


"You two seem like the most generic people here," Touma said.

"Yeah, well, what can we do?" Taki asked, rubbing his head. "Just a dating couple. I would take offense to that if it weren't true, haha."

"Yeah, almost everyone here has some kind of unique background. We've got three from another world, we've got me and Biri-biri, who are espers, or rather, she's an esper."

Mikoto used her finger to shoot an electric shock into his back. "I have a name."

"You barely use my name, either," Touma replied. "Anyways, we've got SAO survivors, shut in NEETs, chefs, musicians, scientists, we've just got a lot of unique people in this round up."

"Yeah. I guess we can just be 'Team Star-Crossed Lovers'." Mitsuha said.

"You do know what that phrase means, right?" Mikoto asked.


Teams began boarding the plane.

"Leg two," Ryuko said. "Someone's definitely going home today, so we pray that it's not us."

"We're all on the same flight, so today, it's anyone's game," Kurisu said. "I just really hope we don't get bad luck."


Teams are now en route on the same flight to Las Vegas, USA.


McCarran Int'l Airport: 9:30 PM

All teams rushed out of the airport to the dry desert of Nevada.

Mako and Ryuko

"We need to get to Mandalay Bay," Ryuko said. "Could you take us there?"

Okabe and Kurisu

Okabe and Kurisu climbed into their taxi. "Mandalay Bay."

"That rush out of the airport is so much more chaotic when there's twenty other people, oh my god," Okabe said.

Sora and Shiro

"There were so many cabs lined up," Sora said. "So I doubt anyone's left without one. That means everyone's on our trail."

Ritsu and Mio

"Speed Bump today, don't know how long it will take," Ritsu said. "So we need to make sure we make up time on these challenges to get as big of a buffer as we possibly can.


Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna climbed out of their cab.

"It says to look in the lobby," Kirito said. "Come on, let's go."

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko hopped out of their cab and grabbed their bags.

Ritsu and Mio

"This is a big hotel," Mio said.

Kirito and Asuna

"Clue box right there!" Kirito shouted, pointing. They ran up to it and ripped it open.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 1st Place

"It's a Roadblock," Kirito read. "Who likes riddles?"

[R] Scramble on the Strip

Las Vegas is home to many world-famous themed hotels, resorts, and casinos. In the race's first Roadblock, one team member must go on a scavenger hunt throughout the Las Vegas Strip on foot.

One team member will be given a series of three cryptic clues to follow. Team members must continue following these clues individually until they are instructed to reunite with their partners.

"I'll do it," Asuna said.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 2nd Place

"Roadblock," Ryuko. "You want to do it?"

"Sure," Mako replied.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 3rd Place

"Roadblock," Ritsu read. "I'll do it.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 4th Place

"It's me," Mikoto said.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 5th Place

"I guess I'll do it," Shiro said.

"Good luck!" Sora said, putting their backpacks down and sitting down on the ground.

Asuna, Shiro

Asuna read the clue carefully.

"Make your way to the gate of the residence of the Old British King." Asuna read.

"Asuna," Shiro said, walking up to her. "Do you want to work together on this?"

"Sure," Asuna replied. "I don't know exactly what this is."

"Well, it might be best to ask someone," Shiro replied. "These are supposed to be really cryptic."

Mikoto, Ritsu

Mikoto stood together with Ritsu.

"Want to work together?" Ritsu asked.

"Sure, why not?" Mikoto replied. "Do you have any idea?"

"It says British King," Ritus said. "I have no idea what that means, though. "

Mako

"I'm doing a riddle right now. Could you help me?" Mako asked.

"Sure," the guy in the lobby replied. "What is it?"

"Make your way to the gate of the residence of the Old British King," Mako read.

"Hmm…" the guy said. "I'm not sure. It's in Vegas, right?"

"That's right."

"Sounds like Excalibur, but I'm not certain."

Asuna, Shiro

"Could we use your phone?" Asuna asked. The woman in question nodded and handed it over.

"British king…" Asuna muttered, typing it in. "It gives me a million answers…"

"Why not Google hotels? It's got to be somewhere famous."

Asuna nodded and searched for hotels.

"I think I got it," Asuna said. "It looks like Excalibur."

"That makes sense," Shiro said. "Let's go."

Asuna and Shiro ran out of the hotel.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 6th Place

"It's a Roadblock," Souma said.

"I'll take care of it," Erina replied.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currency in 7th Place

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 8th Place

Kazuma and Emilia began working together.

"It was kind of a given that we'd work together," Kazuma said. "Well, at least me and Emilia, who were doing the Roadblock."

"Old English king…" Kazuma read. "Could that be King Arthur?"

"Who?"

"Right, right, you wouldn't know…" Kazuma muttered.

"You have the 'Internet' thing here, right? Why don't we just look it up?"

Mikoto, Ritsu

"Excalibur," the man said.

"That's a hotel?" Ritsu asked.

"Once you go outside, you'll see one that looks like an Egyptian pyramid. It's right after that, and it looks like a castle. You can't miss it."

"Alright, thank you!" Mikoto said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 9th Place

"Roadblock… me," Naofumi said.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 10th Place

"I'll do it," Kurisu said.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in Last Place

"You got this, Taki!" Mitsuha cheered.

Mako

"I'm looking for a hotel that looks like a castle…" Mako said. "Oh, there it is!"

Asuna, Shiro

"Seriously?" Asuna asked. Shiro was almost on her knees, panting.

"I can't run that fast," Shiro said.

"We've only been running for half a block. Can you walk?"

"I can walk." she said.

Just then, Mako ran right past them.

"Oy, this is a pain," Asuna said.

Kazuma, Emilia

Kazuma and Emilia sprinted through the sidewalk.

"It's so flashy here," Emilia said. "It really hurts my eyes. I've never seen a city this flashy in the middle of the night."

"Don't think about it," Kazuma replied. "The castle hotel is right up ahead."

Erina

"I'm looking for Excalibur," Erina said. "It's right next to the Mandalay Bay, so it's not that much of a problem, but we're not sure exactly how many clues we're going to have."

Naofumi

Naofumi sprinted out of the hotel, following people.

"I didn't take the time to look up what I'm looking for," Naofumi said. "But I figure if I'm just following people, I don't even have to look it up."

Taki, Kurisu

Taki and Kurisu rushed outside, following Naofumi.

"Are we the last ones to leave?" Taki asked.

"I think so. Don't let that faze you, though," Kurisu said. "We know where we're going, and there's lots of leg to make up."

Mako

Mako arrived at the entrance of the hotel, which was designed like a castle gate.

"Okay," Mako said. She ran up to a cluebox right next to it, then opened it up and ripped the clue open.

"My gondola rides are far from free, I have the highest occupancy, to find me, knock on room 2003"

"Hmm…" Mako said.

Asuna, Shiro

Asuna and Shiro grabbed the clues from the box.

"My gondola rides are far from free, I have the highest occupancy, to find me, knock on room 2003," Asuna read.

"Gondola sounds like Venice…" Shiro said. "Is there a Venice themed hotel?"

"Yes, yes, there is!" Asuna said. "The Venetian!"

Asuna turned to the nearest passerby. "Do you know how to get to the Venetian?"

"Just go north up the Strip. You'll find it, eventually, but it's like a 30 minute walk. Maybe 20 minutes if you run."

"I don't want to run anymore," Shiro said.

"The issue for this challenge, at least for me, wasn't the puzzle solving. That was a cakewalk," Shiro said. "The issue for me was running all this time. And I was with Asuna, so I was essentially forced to either keep up with her or slow her down."

Asuna sighed. "Do you want a piggyback ride?"

Shiro slowly nodded as she sighed and picked Shiro up on her back.

Mako

"They mentioned the Venetian," Mako said. "So I'm sure that's where we're going next."

Mako ran off after them.

Mikoto, Ritsu

"Gondola is… Venice, right?" Ritsu asked.

"Oh my god you're right," Mikoto said. "There's probably a Venice themed hotel around here somewhere."

"Let's ask someone," Ritsu said.

Kazuma, Emilia

"The Venetian, huh?" Emilia asked. "It's far?"

"Let's go grab a cab if it's that far," Kazuma said. "It'll save us a bunch of time."

"Oh, alright," Emilia replied.

Kazuma and Emilia ran down to the street and hailed a cab.

"Hey, could you take us to the Venetian?" Kazuma asked. The driver nodded as they hopped inside.

"This is great," Kazuma said. "We could split the fare. And I'm with a pretty lady."

Erina

"That's the Venetian, for sure," Erina said.

"I'm a chef, and I've toured various places to try some of the local cuisine," Erina said. "Venice is one place that sticks out, so there's no way I wouldn't get it from that clue."

Naofumi

"Gondola… what?" Naofumi asked. "What the hell does this mean?"

"I was just looking at that clue, and I was completely drawing a blank. I had no idea what I was looking at," Naofumi said.

Taki, Kurisu

Taki and Kurisu ripped both of their clues open.

"That sounds like Venice," Kurisu said.

"Really? Oh, I guess you're right," Taki replied.

Kazuma, Emilia

Kazuma and Emilia got out of their cab.

"Wait here," Kazuma said. "It says knock on room 2003, so we're going to floor… 20?"

"You know more about hotels than I do," Emilia replied.

Kazuma and Emilia went inside and dashed for the elevator.

"Alright, floor 20," Kazma said, clicking the button.

Ritsu, Mikoto

Ritsu and Mikoto crossed the street as a bus barreled past the red light, almost hitting Ritsu.

"Yeah, maybe don't get killed," Mikoto said.

"Sorry," Ritsu replied. "It's chaotic out here."

Asuna, Shiro

"Alright, alright, get down, this is too much," Asuna said. Asuna let Shiro off her back. "Can you run now? I don't mean to be that kind of person, but if you're going to slow me down again, I'm going to have to leave you behind."

"It's fine," Shiro replied. "I'll run."

Asuna smiled as they continued running.

Kazuma, Emilia

Kazuma and Emilia dashed up to room 2003 and knocked on the door. A guest came out and handed them their clues before closing the doors.

"Alright," Kazuma said. They ripped the clues open and read them.

"Aarrr… Shiver me timbers, find yerr next clue where we stole arrr doubloons." Emilia read.

"Pirate speak?" Kazuma asked. "Hmm…"

Kazuma and Emilia got back into the elevator, going down.

Erina

"From the looks of it," Erina said. "It seems like a lot of the teams paired up, and I'm just on my own right now. Just shows how everyone else just needs outwards help."

Mikoto, Ritsu

"Why do we have to run so much?" Ritsu asked. "I thought this was supposed to be a mental challenge?"

"That's… that's life, I guess…" Mikoto said. "We're wasting time. We should go."

Kazuma, Emilia

Kazuma and Emilia went up to their cab driver.

"Could you help us with a riddle?" Emilia asked.

"What kind of riddle?" the driver asked.

"We have to go somewhere in Vegas, and this is our only clue," Kazuma said, giving him the clue.

"Oh, this looks like the Pirate Ship at Treasure Island," he said. "Hop in, I'll take you there."

Kazuma and Emilia hopped into the taxi.

Asuna, Shiro

Asuna and Shiro ran up to the Venetian.

"It says room 2003," Shiro said. "So that's the 20th floor."

"Got it," Asuna replied, dashing in.

Kazuma, Emilia

"This is a really easy Roadblock," Emilia said. "It really concerns me."

"Someone's going to mess up," Kazuma said. "But it's not gonna be us."

Erina

Erina dashed inside the Venetian, then went for the stairs.

"Stairs are almost always faster than elevators," Erina said. "And I knew this. But… I didn't consider the benefit that the elevator has over the stairs."

"Oh my god," Erina said, standing on the guard rail. "Why did I do this? Twenty flights of stairs…"

She gave up and went for the elevator around the 10th floor.

Taki, Kurisu

"Lots of running," Kurisu said. "I'm not really sure if someone like me's made for this."

"Well, it's called The Amazing Race for a reason," Taki said. "You'll be fine."

Mikoto, Ritsu

Mikoto and Ritsu ran into the Venetian.

"Okay, where exactly do we find it?" Ritsu asked. Mikoto checked the clue.

"Room 2003." Mikoto said.

"Alright, then, I guess we can just wait for the elevator," Ritsu replied.

Asuna, Shiro

Asuna and Shiro grabbed their clue, then read it on the elevator down.

"Pirate talk," Asuna said. "We have to be going to some pirate themed place."

Mako

Mako grabbed her clue as well, before ripping it open and reading it.

Kazuma, Emilia

Kazuma and Emilia got out of their cab at the Treasure Island pirate ship.

"There's the clue box," Kazuma pointed. Both of them ran up to the clue box and opened it.

"Reunite with your partners before you read the rest of the clue." Kazuma said. "So, the Roadblock's over,"

"Yeah, let's get back to Mandalay Bay," Emilia replied. They dashed to their cab.

"Mandalay Bay," Kazuma said.

Taki, Kurisu

Taki and Kurisu ran into the hotel and got into the same elevator as Mikoto and Ritsu.

"There's a lot of running, huh?" Kurisu asked.

"Yeah, like a lot of running," Ritsu said. "My legs are going to be so tired after this."

The door opened on the 10th floor as Erina walked in.

"Why are you getting on all the way up here?" Mikoto asked.

"Don't ask."

Naofumi

Naofumi waited at the bottom floor for the elevator.

"Come on, why do all the elevators have to be out of service or full?" Naofumi asked.

Kazuma, Emilia

Kazuma and Emilia got out of their cab and ran into Mandalay Bay.

"Oh my god, already?" Megumin asked. "That was quick."

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way to the Neon Boneyard museum and search for your next clue," Subaru read.

[i] Proceed to: Neon Boneyard Museum

This is the Neon Boneyard, a museum in which old, unused neon hotel and casino signs are put on display. It is here that teams will find their next clue.

Kazuma and Megumin and Subaru and Emilia ran outside to their cabs.

"Neon Boneyard," Kazuma said.

"It shocks me how fast you got out of that," Megumin said. "But… something doesn't feel right about it."

"Don't worry, it's fine," Kazuma replied. "We were just really fast, that's all."

"If you say so,"

Asuna, Shiro

"Return to your partners before you read the rest of the clue," Asuna read. "Alright, it's gonna be a long run back,"

Shiro didn't say anything, but sighed in disappointment.

Taki, Kurisu, Ritsu, Mikoto, Erina

The five racers in the elevator all got out and ran to the room before knocking on the door. He threw their clues at them before closing it.

"We're all in one group, want to work together?" Ritsu asked.

"Nope. Bye." Erina said, leaving, then awkwardly stopping because the elevator waited for everyone.

Mako

Mako ran to the pirate ship and ripped the clue open.

"Return to your teammate," Mako read.

Naofumi

Naofumi walked into the elevator going up.

"I swear, if I'm last, I'm going to be upset," he said.

Taki, Kurisu, Ritsu, Mikoto, Erina

The five racers in the elevator disembarked, then began asking around for answers to the riddle.

"That's Treasure Island," the receptionist said. "It's not far from here."

The five teams then ran out, in a race to reach the clue box first.

Naofumi

Naofumi arrived at the room and knocked on it, causing the guy who was inside to give him the clue.

"Pirate speech," Naofumi said. "Great."

Taki, Kurisu, Ritsu, Mikoto, Erina

The five teams all ran up to the clue box at Treasure Island, then ripped it open.

"Return to your teammates," Taki read. Once they heard that, it was a mad dash back to Mandalay Bay.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin's cab pulled up at the Neon Boneyard museum.

"Thank you," Megumin said, hopping out. They walked up to the clue box and ripped it open.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

"Light up the signs…" Kazuma read.

[i] Light It Up

Teams must now choose a marked sign, then screw in enough light bulbs to completely fill the sign. Once the sign has been lit up and ready for display, the manager will hand teams their next clue.

"Easy enough," Kazuma said. He and Megumin picked a sign and grabbed a box of light bulbs and a ladder,

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 2nd Place

"Alright, let's do this," Subaru said.

Subaru and Emilia picked a spot next to Kazuma and Megumin, then began screwing in their light bulbs.

"This is easy," Subaru said. He grabbed a ladder and climbed up to screw in the bulbs on the top of the sign. Emilia tossed one at him, but he wasn't looking and it smacked him in the face before shattering on the ground.

"Sorry," Emilia said.

"Don't worry, it's alright!" Subaru replied.

Asuna, Shiro

Asuna and Shiro returned to the lobby of Mandalay Bay.

"Kirito, we got it, let's go!" Asuna shouted.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 3rd Place

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 4th Place

"Make your way to the Neon Boneyard," Kirito read.

"We're the first ones out, right?" Asuna asked.

"No, two teams got it done before you," Kirito replied.

"What? How?"

"I don't know, but it was like forty five minutes ago."

They hopped into their cab.

"Forty five minutes?" Asuna asked. "Okay, something's up with that."

Souma and Erina: Currently in 5th Place

"Make your way to the Neon Boneyard," Souma read.

Naofumi

Naofumi talked to some people.

"I'm solving this clue, I was wondering if you could help me?"

The man took it in his hand. "I think this is the Mirage," he said.

Naofumi nodded and ran out.

Subaru and Emilia

"We're done," Subaru said. The judge walked up to the sign, nodded, and gave them their clue.

"Yes!" Subaru cheered. Emilia ripped the clue open.

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way to Fremont Street and find your next clue," Subaru read.

[i] Proceed to: Fremont Street

Teams must now make their way to Fremont Street, where they will find their next clue.

"Good luck!" Emilia shouted.

"Thanks, we don't need it," Kazuma said. "We're done.

The judge viewed their work, then gave them the clue.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way to Fremont Street," Megumin read.


At Mandalay Bay, the teams began streaming in.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 6th Place

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 7th Place

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 8th Place

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 9th Place

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 10th Place

"And… Master Naofumi's not here…" Raphtalia said. "I'm feeling really helpless right now, and I just pray that he's out there doing his best, coming back now."

Kirito and Asuna

"Right here," Kirito said. Their driver let them out as they ran to the clue box.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 3rd Place

"That's easy," Kirito said. "No struggle."

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 4th Place

"We're putting in lightbulbs," Sora said. "Alright."

Mako and Ryuko

"Two teams got out of that shockingly fast," Ryuko said. "Kazuma and Emilia."

"Just the run itself was really long, took around an hour if you sprinted." Mako said.

"Yeah… that's what's bothering me… did they Express Pass it?" Ryuko asked. "Wait, no, Souma and Erina have the Express Pass. And they only have one Pass to give away, so they couldn't have given it to both Kazuma and Emilia… something's up here."

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin raced through Fremont Street.

"There's Ritsu and Mio's Speed Bump," Kazuma said, pointing to a sign next to them. "And there's the clue box,"

Kazuma ripped the clue open.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

"Detour: Prop Hunt or Chip Count?" Megumin read.

[D] Prop Hunt

Magic shows are a defining feature of Las Vegas entertainment. In Prop Hunt, teams must search through the magic props in the backstage of the MGM Grand's magic show for a clue. However, that might be a more difficult challenge than people anticipate.

[D] Chip Count

Gambling is the defining feature of Las Vegas. In Chip Count, teams must travel to the Mirage casino. Given a chart of the denominations of each color chip, teams must count up 500,000 dollars in poker chips to get their next clue.

"Let's do Prop Hunt," Kazuma said.

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 2nd Place

"Prop Hunt," Subaru said. "That sounds so much easier."

Sora and Shiro

"Can you toss me a few more bulbs?" Sora asked. Shiro tossed him a few bulbs to complete the H on the old Sahara sign.

Kirito and Asuna

Asuna tossed a lightbulb at Kirito, who was on a ladder, but she threw it a little too low and it shattered on the ground.

"You've gotta stop throwing them like that." Kirito said.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 5th Place

Souma and Erina walked into the Neon Boneyard.

"This is really awesome!" Souma said.

"Sure," Erina replied. "I guess. Let's just get to the challenge."

Souma and Erina picked a sign and began putting lightbulbs onto it.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 6th Place

Ritsu and Mio began screwing in the bulbs.

"This is actually tiring my arm," Ritsu said. "I'm really out of breath right now,"

"That's fine, just try to get it done," Mio replied. "Try to do as much as you can. I'll take care of the rest."

Naofumi

Naofumi walked around the lobby of the Mirage.

"I don't see anything," Naofumi said. He sighed before going to get some help.

"Oh, this?" the person asked. "Hmm… this sounds like Treasure Island."

"So there's no pirate-themed attraction at the Mirage?" Naofumi asked.

"Not as far as I know," the man said.

"Dammit," Naofumi said. "How do you get to Treasure Island?"

"It's a block that way," the guy said.

"Fucking hell."

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 7th Place

Mikoto held up a bulb and lit it up in her hand using electricity.

"Biribiri," Touma said. "Put them in."

"I know, I know," Mikoto replied.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 8th Place

"This is a really easy task," Mitsuha said. "We're almost half of the way done, already."

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 9th Place

"We were the first at the Roadblock, now we're almost last," Ryuko said. "Well, we just have to make up time at the next challenge," Ryuko said, screwing in the bulbs as they lit up the sign.

"This is a really awesome challenge, though. It's so cool!" Mako said.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 10th Place

Okabe was workin from the left of the sign while Kurisu was working from the right.

"We can get the ones we can't reach last," Kurisu said. "We don't need to fiddle with a ladder."

"I know," Okabe replied. "Hyouyin Kyouma knows all these masterful techniques!"

"Oy vey,"

Naofumi

Naofumi ran to the pirate ship in front of Treasure Island, opening the clue box.

"The last clue," Naofumi said. "Dammit."

After reading it, he rushed back to Mandalay Bay.

Sora and Shiro

"Can we get a check, please?" Sora asked.

"You're good," the judge said, giving them their clue.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 3rd Place

"Make your way to Fremont Street," Sora read.

Kirito and Asuna

"It looks good," the judge said, handing them a clue.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 4th Place

"Make your way to Fremont Street," Kirito read.

Naofumi

Naofumi returned to Mandalay Bay, where Raphtalia sat alone in the lobby.

"Raphtalia," Naofumi said. "I'm done."

Raphtalia nodded and tossed him his backpack.

"We're the last ones," Raphtalia said.

"I know," Naofumi said. "I know."

Chapter 4: Leg 2.2 (Las Vegas, USA)

Chapter Text

Leg 2.2


Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin arrived at the MGM Grand.

"Okay, staff entrance?" Kazuma asked, reading the clue.

Kazuma and Megumin ran around to the staff entrance, where they found a route marker.

"It's in here, let's go," Megumin said.

Kazuma and Megumin followed the marked pathway and into a marked door.

"Oh my god," Megumin said, opening the door.

"We underestimated how big that room would be," Megumin said. "We figured it'd be like a show stage or something, no, it was like the size of two gyms."

"Well, let's start searching," Kazuma said. Kazuma opened up a chest, but nothing was inside.

Subaru and Emilia

Subaru and Emilia ran into the room.

"Holy-" Subaru said. "Why are there so many?"

"Just look," Kazuma said. "You'll be bound to find one sooner or later."

Emilia lifted up a coffin, then closed it after not seeing a clue inside.

Ritsu and Mio

"Can we get a check?" Mio asked, stepping away.

Souma and Erina

"Check, please," Souma said.

The judge walked up to both signs, then handed each team a clue.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 5th Place

Souma and Erina: Currently in 6th Place

After reading their clues, both teams dashed to their taxis.

"Fremont Street," Ritsu said.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma opened a rack of cabinets, then closed them after seeing there was no clue inside.

"Okay, what is this?" Kazuma asked. "I would think we would find one already…"

"Can I explode all these containers?" Megumin asked.

"No! We're not allowed to! You'd burn up the clue anyways!"

"But it'd be so cool, right?"

"No, no it wouldn't!"

Subaru and Emilia

Subaru and Emilia worked on either side of the aisleway.

"How thorough are you looking?" Emilia asked.

"Well, a quick glance is fine," Subaru said.

"Are you sure?" Emilia asked. "I mean, these things are shaped weirdly."

"No, no, it's fine," Subaru replied.

Taki and Mitsuha

"Check, please," Taki said.

The judge nodded and handed them the clue.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 7th Place

They ripped their clues open, then dashed to their cabs.

"Ritsu and Mio have a Speed Bump, so we've got a team with a disadvantage," Mitsuha said.

"They just left," Taki said. "So hopefully they stumble on that Speed Bump or on the next challenge and we have a chance to jump ahead."

Touma and Mikoto

The judge handed Touma and Mikoto their clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 8th Place

"Make your way to Fremont Street," Touma read. He and Mikoto ran straight to their taxi and jumped inside.

"I don't like being in the back half," Mikoto said. "I feel bad back here."

"We can catch up at the Detour," Touma said. "We're not going home today."

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 9th Place

The judge handed them their clue.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Ryuko said.

Okabe and Kurisu

"Can we get a check?" Kurisu asked. The judge walked up and examined the sign.

"All good," the judge said, giving them their clue.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 10th Place

"I don't think Naofumi or the raccoon lady came through yet," Okabe said. "They're still behind us, which is comforting."

"We can't get cocky," Kurisu said. "We don't know exactly what could happen. We could be in last all we know."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro walked through the street.

"It's so crowded here," Shiro said. "I hate it."

"We'll be getting out of here soon enough," Sora said. "Oh, there's the clue. And the Speed Bump."

They ran up to the clue box and ripped their clue open.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 3rd Place

"Detour," Sora read. "We're doing Chip Count."

"Going into this race, we told ourselves that we would try our best to avoid any needle in a haystack challenges if we had the chance," Shiro explained. "Those are way too risky. If you're lucky, you can get it immediately, if you're unlucky, you could be there for hours."

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 4th Place

"We're doing Chip Count," Asuna said.

Kirito and Asuna ran to their cab.

"We're thinking of solidifying an alliance with Sora and Shiro," Kirito said. "I mean, you helped out Shiro in the Roadblock."

"I did," Asuna said. "I mean, Shiro did help a lot for the puzzles. They're really smart, I think working with them's a good idea."

"Well, we're just going to have to wait until the next time we see them," Kirito said. "Whether that's at the Detour or at the next airport time."

Kazuma and Megumin

"I don't understand," Kazuma said. "We've looked in at least forty percent of the props here. And there's at the very minimum, eleven clues here."

"Well, something's off," Subaru said from the other end of the room.

"We've looked in most of the props on this side, and we haven't seen anything either," Emilia said. "Is there something we're not seeing?"

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio dodged around the crowds and approached the clue box.

"Wait," Mio said. "There's our Speed Bump."

She pointed to the Speed Bump pedestal that was lying in the square. They took their clue off the pedestal and ripped it open.

[SB] Soarin' over Las Vegas

For coming in last the previous leg, Ritsu and Mio must now complete a Speed Bump, an additional challenge that only they have to complete. In this Speed Bump, Ritsu and Mio must zipline over Fremont Street. As they're ziplining, they must look out for two red flags, which they'll have to catch mid-zipline. Once they arrive at the end, they will hand in their flags to be given the okay to continue racing. However, if they miss them, they'll have to redo the zipline. 

"Alright, where to?" Ritsu asked.

"It says SlotZilla," Mio said.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 5th Place

"Detour," Erina read. "Prop Hunt or Chip Count?"

"Let's do Prop Hunt," Souma said.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha navigated their way to the clue box.

"Looks like the girls already made their way through," Taki said, pointing at the empty Speed Bump sign. They ripped open their clue.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 6th Place

"Prop Hunt," Taki said.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 7th Place

"Chip Count," Kurisu said.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 8th Place

"Chip Count," Mikoto said. "Hands down."

"No way in hell we're choosing a luck challenge," Touma said.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 9th Place

"Prop Hunt," Mako said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in Last Place

Naofumi and Raphtalia arrived at the Neon Boneyard museum.

"Dammit, all the clues are gone," Naofumi said. They sighed and ripped their clue open, then entered the museum.

"We still have the rest of the leg to make up time," Raphtalia said. "It's not over until Hinata says so."

Mio and Ritsu

The music girls climbed up the stairs to the marked zipline.

"Oh my god," Mio said.

"This is awesome!" Ritsu shouted.

"No, no, no…" Mio muttered.

"Come on, Mio," Ritsu encouraged. "We don't have a choice."

The helper walked up and helped them get into their harnesses.

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro arrived at the Mirage, then walked through the casino, following the marked arrows to an array of poker tables, with a table covered in piles of unsorted poker chips in the middle.

"Alright, pick one," Sora said, "There."

"What's this?" Shiro asked, picking up a slip of paper. "Oh, it looks like a chart for the chip values."

"Our target is 500,000 dollars," Sora said. "Wait, these values are really awkward."

Red: 12$

Blue: 29$

Orange: 37$

Yellow: 53$

Green: 106$

Grey: 242$

Black: 521$

"The chips we had to work with had really awkward values," Sora said. "And, the problem with that was that you needed to get 500,000 dollars exactly. If you went over by a single dollar, then you'd be told to fix it."

"Shiro, do you think you could find a solution?" Sora asked.

"If you give me a little bit of time."

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna walked up to their station.

"Woah," Kirito said, looking at the list of chips.

"Um," Asuna asked. "This is more than counting."

"You think about that, I'll go talk to Sora and Shiro about working together." Kirito said. He walked up to the siblings.

"Hey," Kirito said. "We were thinking about how much you helped Asuna in the Roadblock today, and we were wondering if you'd like to make an official alliance."

"What do you mean alliance?"

"Like, we work together, help each other, try to reach the finals together, stuff like that." Kirito said.

"Honestly, my first instinct was that we could do fine without an alliance." Shiro said. "So I didn't really think we had any reason to ally with them."

"Kirito and Asuna are coming off as a strong team. We figured we shouldn't bring them to the finals, because that'll just decrease the chance that we win," Sora explained. "But then, we figured we could work together for a few legs to get their guards down, and then strike them when the time is right, when they're not expecting it. And until then, Kirito and Asuna won't see it coming."

"Now, Shiro and I are on the same wavelength, so we didn't really need to talk to each other to understand what the other was thinking." Sora explained.

"Yeah, sure, we'll ally," Sora said.

"Great!" Kirito said. "Do you have any possible solutions or tips for this poker thing?"

"Well, I think I've found a solution," Shiro explained. Sora, Asuna, and Kirito gathered around.

"If you look at the chart, all of the poker chip values add up to 1000, which is a nice, round number."

"You did that in your head?" Kirito asked.

"Shiro, that girl," Kirito said. "She's like a supercomputer. Strategy, math, she can do that almost instantly. We're really glad to have her on our side. We do not want to be on the opposite side of that."

"So you're saying, if we just get 500 of each chip, then we'll be able to pass?" Asuna asked.

"That's how math works," Shiro said. "Theoretically, it could possibly be faster to just go as many of the highest denominations first and then trial and error from there, but this method is 100% guaranteed to work and you won't have to do the nasty math at the end."

"That's great! Let's start."

Mio and Ritsu

The girls got attached to their ziplines as the door opened, sending them out over Fremont Street.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHhh!" Mio screamed.

"WOOOOOHOOO!" Ritsu shouted. "THIS IS AWESOME!"

"I'm gonna puke!"

"Not here, not here!"

In due time, they reached the end of their zipline as the staff member took off their harnesses.

"That was terrible," Mio said.

"So," the staff member said. "Do you have your flags?"

"Huh?" Ritsu asked. "What do you mean?"

"Your flags. On the zipline."

Ritsu pulled the clue out of her back pocket and read it again.

"While you're soaring, pick up two flags, one for each person, and turn it into the staff member at the end of your ride. If you miss the flag, you will have to try a second time."

Mio deadpanned to the camera.

"We have to go again?" Mio asked. Ritsu snickered.

"Ritsu! This is time consuming! Stop laughing!"

"Sorry, sorry," Ritsu said. "Let's go."

Subaru and Emilia

"We've been here for like, half an hour and haven't found anything," Emilia said. "How do you feel about switching?"

"Well, I don't really want to switch, we could find it," Subaru said. "Oh, but if Emilia-tan wants it, then I'll switch with you!"

"No, I mean, I don't know how much longer it'll take." Emilia said. "I think switching's the right call."

"Alright," Subaru said. "We're switching Detours."

Kazuma and Megumin

"Hm?" Kazuma asked, looking at a box.

"What?" Megumin asked.

"Doesn't this box look bigger on the outside than it does on the inside?"

"I guess… it totally does."

"Should've known… they're magic props, of course they've got hidden compartments everywhere."

Kazuma felt around, then pulled the false bottom off the box. "Still no clue, though."

"The other two shouldn't've left," Megumin said. "That's a bad call. We would've told them about this, anyways."

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina arrived at the MGM Grand's Prop storage.

"The other two teams are here," Souma said. "We can catch up."

"Then do it instead of saying we can," Erina replied.

"Okay, sorry."

They began looking inside of props and opening boxes.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha walked into the room full of props. "Woah," Mitsuha said.

"Let's get searchin'!" Taki shouted.

"Dammit, everyone's caught up," Kazuma said.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto arrived at the casino, joining the two teams already there.

"Hey," Touma said.

The other two teams looked up and waved, but did nothing more.

They looked at the chart.

"Woah," Touma said. "Why is it so improper?"

"Lemme see that." Mikoto said, snatching it away. "Okay, yeah, this might be more difficult than I had originally thought."

"Let's just get as many black pieces as we can and we go from there."

Okabe and Kurisu

The scientists looked over the chart.

"Damn," Okabe said. "This is problematic."

"Let's just get as close to 500,000 as we can and then jigger with the values until we get it," Kurisu said.

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko arrived at the prop challenge, and immediately began checking boxes.

"Nothing in there," Ryuko said, moving onto the next box. But the next moment, Kazuma came up, then pulled out a clue.

"So, I was checking all the boxes, but Kazuma just comes up and pulls out a clue from the box that I just verifies was empty," Ryuko said. "And I was just so confused. I was like, am I going blind or insane?"

"What?" Ryuko asked. "How?"

"Megumin!" Kazuma shouted. "I got it!"

Megumin ran over as they ripped the clue open.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Megumin read.

[i] Proceed to Pit Stop: The Strat

This is the Strat, one of Las Vegas's hotels in the strip. It's famous for its amusement park-esque attractions, like the SkyJump. Teams must make their way to the top of Stratosphere Tower, then jump off the tower and descend down to the landing zone, where their Pit Stop awaits. The last team to check in here at the mat will be eliminated.

"Let's go!" Kazuma shouted, running out of the hotel and out to the street.

"TAXI!" Megumin shouted. A cab stopped and let them inside.

"The Strat," Kazuma said. "I have a good feeling we're in first place right now. The other Detour could've been faster, but I have a good feeling."

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio harnessed up a second time, then went on their zipline again.

"WOOHOO!" Ritsu shouted.

"I still hate it," Mio said. "Oh, flag!"

They both reached out and snagged their flags before ending their zipline.

"Do you have your flags now?" The instructor asked. They nodded and handed their flags, to which the instructor gave them the OK to continue racing. Once they did so, they ran down to the clue box and ripped their clues open.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 10th Place

"What do you think?" Mio asked.

"Prop Hunt," Ritsu replied.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Raphtalia screwed in the last bulb. "Could we get a check?"

The judge walked up to them and handed them their clue.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in Last Place

"Thank you," Raphtalia said.

Subaru and Emilia

Subaru and Emilia arrived at the chip counting challenge.

"Huh? What happened?" Touma asked.

"We switched," Emilia said. "The other one was so hard."

"It's not much better in here," Okabe said. "Look at your chart."

"What chart?" Emilia asked. "Oh. Oh. Oooooh."

Subaru grit his teeth. "Well, we can't go back. We've already switched once."

"Let's just get through this." Emilia said. "It's math. We'll probably be fine."

Sora and Shiro

"How much more?" Sora asked.

"We just need to get a hundred more black chips and we're golden," Shiro replied.

Kirito and Asuna

"I'm so glad we have them on our side. We'd probably struggle so much with this otherwise," Kirito said.

"That's still a really smart strategy, though. I'm impressed they came up with that," Asuna replied.

Souma and Erina

"Eh? What's this?" Souma asked, flipping up a flap on the bottom of the box. "Oh. Secret compartment. Should've known."

"After several minutes at the Detour, we realized that the boxes and props had hidden compartments." Erina said. "So after that, it was easier to understand what we had to do, but it practically invalidated everything we searched through prior."

Sora and Shiro

Sora used his finger to count out the chips.

"Okay… five stacks of one hundred each… that should be good… Check!"

The judge walked up and counted out the chips.

Chip Count: 500,000$

The judge nodded, and handed them their clue.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Sora read. He nodded at Shiro as they ran outside.

"Taxi! Taxi!" Sora shouted.

"Sora, here!" Shiro said, pointing to the road. The climbed into the back and consulted with their driver.

"The Strat," Sora said.

Kirito and Asuna

"Can we get checked?" Kirito asked. The judge nodded at their chips and then handed them their clues.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 3rd Place

"Alright, yes!" Kirito said. "Let's go!"

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin arrived at the Strat and took the elevator up the tower.

"Okay, here it is!" Kazuma said. The door opened as they ran up to the marked area. Right then, the staff members began strapping them up into harnesses.

"This is really cool," Megumin said.

"So you're going to go one at a time," the staff member said. "We're going to hook you up to that rope, and then you're going to just fly down to the ground. Who's going first?"

"Me!" Megumin shouted.

"Okay, please go to the balcony."

Megumin walked up to the edge of the balcony as the staff began hooking up the cords and ropes to the back of the harnesses.

"Now, you're going to just jump off. Whenever you're ready."

Megumin looked down at the million-story drop below her.

"Alright," she said. She walked up to the edge, then leapt off.

"That freefall was exhilarating! Maybe not as exhilarating as it is to explode things, but yeah, it was pretty awesome."

"AAAAAAHAAHHHHHHH!" she shouted, frefalling until her descent slowed near the bottom.

"Wow," She said, touching down to the ground as the staff began unhooking her harness. She ran up to the Pit Stop with Hinata.

"Please wait for Kazuma," he said. Megumin looked up as Kazuma leapt down after her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh my god, i'm gonna die," he said. The staff unhooked them as they ran up to the Pit Stop together.

"Kazuma and Megumin," he said. "You are the first team to arrive."

"Yes!" Kazuma shouted. "Yes! We did it!"

"We checked in, and we were so excited to have our first win," Kazuma said.

"However,"

They both looked up at him in confusion.

"Kazuma, during the Roadblock, you were told to travel to each destination on foot. You took a taxi to several of them. For that, you've incurred a thirty-minute penalty."

"What?" Kazuma asked. "Penalty?"

"Yes. In addition, the time that you saved by taking a taxi instead of walking was approximately forty minutes. For that, you've incurred an additional forty-minute penalty. A total penalty time of one hour, ten minutes. Please go wait over there."

Kazuma and Megumin: Time Remaining: 1h10m

They grunted and moved to the side.

"Kazuma!" Megumin shouted, smacking him on the forearm. "Why did you do that?"

"I didn't know…" he replied

"That's something Aqua would do!"

"Well, at the very least, we know we're safe from elimination," he said.

"How so?"

"Emilia did the same thing. And they haven't arrived yet. They're going to get the same penalty, which means we're guaranteed safe." Kazuma said. "But it's just a question if Subaru and Emilia check in before they get eliminated."

"Subaru and Emilia are our friends," Kazuma said. "We don't want them to go home. But, it's better them than us."

Souma and Erina

Souma checked inside a hat, where there was a secret compartment on the top of it.

"Aha!" Souma said. "Nakiri! I got it!"

Erina nodded. "Let's go."

Souma and Erina: Currently in 4th Place

"We know at the very least we're not last," Souma said. "We know Kazuma and Megumin arrived before us and left before us, but they could get lost or something. We want to win."

Sora and Shiro

Shiro got strapped in as she descended down the side of the Stratosphere tower, then followed by Sora.

"That was terrifying," Sora said. "I never want to do that ever again."

They ran up to the Pit Stop.

"Sora and Shiro," Hinata said. "You are team number one."

Sora and Shiro: 1st Place

"Wait a second, there's another team coming down."

The siblings turned around and saw Kirito and Asuna coming down the tower.

"Oh my god that was great," Kirito said. They held hands and ran to the Pit Stop.

"Kirito and Asuna," Hinata said. "You're team number TWO."

Kirito and Asuna: 2nd Place

"Yeah!" Kirito shouted.

"Sora and Shiro," Hinata said. "For winning this leg of the race, you have won a trip for two to Madrid, Spain."

"Yeah, we missed out on first place… again… but still, 2nd is a great placement," Asuna said. "We're not upset. Sure, we'd like that prize, but it's no big deal."

"What happened to them?" Asuna asked, pointing to Kazuma and Megumin in the corner.

"Penalty," Hinata said. "Don't worry about them."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in Last Place

"We're doing Chip Count," Raphtalia said.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio arrived at the prop challenge.

"There are still teams here!" Mio said. "Great!"

Mako and Ryuko

"Ryuko, RYUKO!" Mako said, leaping for Ryuko. Ryuko moved out of the way, causing Mako to collapse into a box.

"What?" Ryuko asked.

"There's hidden compartments!" She shouted. Just then, everyone else in the room stopped and stared at them.

"Hidden compartments?" Taki asked.

"Seriously?" Ryuko asked.

"Hehe… sorry."

"Mako just shouted that almost the moment we arrived," Ritsu said. "And we were like… okay. Thanks."

"Whatever," Ryuko said. "Fine. Let's just rush though."

Taki and Mitsuha

"Well, that helps," Taki said. "Oh, I found one."

Taki pulled a clue out of the side wall of a box.

"You got it?" Mitsuha asked. "Read it!"

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 5th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Taki read.

Touma and Mikoto

"Okay… and that gives us… 499,999. Really?" Touma asked.

"Let's just check it anyways. Maybe we choked on the math," Mikoto said. "Check?"

The judge walked up and looked at the chips.

Chip Count: 499,999$

"Sorry," the judge said. "That's not right."

Touma put his hands on his head. "We can't just add one chip because there isn't a one dollar chip."

"I guess we can just remove some of the black chips and try to fill in the gaps with the other chips? Maybe then we'll be able to get the 1 dollar net change?" Mikoto asked. "I think that's the only issue."

Subaru and Emilia

"Erm," Subaru said. "Check?"

The judge walked up and looked at it.

Chip Count: 500,004$

"That's not correct," the judge said.

"Damn, this is hard," Subaru said. "I don't think switching is the right choice, in hindsight."

Okabe and Kurisu

The scientists stacked the chips on each other.

"How much is that?" Kurisu asked. Okabe counted the chips and then calculated the math.

"It's 450,035." Okabe said.

"Alright, let's keep going."

Souma and Erina: 3rd Place

"Souma and Erina, you're team number three," Hinata said.

"Alright," Erina said. "Not great, but it's passable at least."

Touma and Mikoto

Touma took off a few black pieces, then filled the gaps with pieces of other colors.

"Okay, now we're over by five…" Touma said.

"Oh, if you remove a red piece, and replace it with two white pieces, then it removes five." Mikoto said. "Oh, and we got it! Check!"

The judge walked up and looked at the poker chips, before handing them their clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 6th Place

"That took way too long," Mikoto said.


Mitsuha descended down the tower, then joined Taki at the mat.

"Taki and Mitsuha," Hinata said. "You're team number four."

Taki and Mitsuha: 4th Place

They both looked relieved. "Alright, that's great." Mitsuha said.

Mako and Ryuko

"Ryuko, got it!" Mako said. Ryuko nodded as they ripped the clue open.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 7th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Ryuko read.

Ritsu and Mio

"Mio, found it!" Ritsu shouted, pulling the clue out of a hat.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 8th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Ritsu read.

Okabe and Kurisu

"No, no, now we're short one…" Kurisu said. "Hmm…"

"Why is this so much more difficult than it has to be?" Okabe asked, pounding his fists on the table.

Subaru and Emilia

Subaru removed a few black pieces and replaced it with a few green pieces.

"Check!" Subaru said.

Chip Count: 500,027

"Yeah, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing." Subaru said. Emilia looked disappointed.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia ran through the casino.

"Oh no," Okabe said. "Dammit."

"Teams," Naofumi said. "Okay, we're still in this."


"Touma and Mikoto, Mako and Ryuko," Hinata said. "You're teams number five and six."

Touma and Mikoto: 5th Place

Mako and Ryuko: 6th Place

"Alright, we're still in this," Touma said. "Yeah."

"And it looks like we have another team…" Hinata said.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ritsu and Mio reached the bottom as Mio kneeled down.

"I'm done with harnesses and heights…" She said. Ritsu carried her to the Pit Stop.

"Ritsu and Mio, you're team nu-"

Mio ran to the closest garbage can to throw up.

"Oh, how pleasant." Hinata said. "Are you okay?"

She wiped her face then begrudgingly walked back to the Pit Stop.

"Motion sickness," she said. "I'm fine."

"Well, Ritsu and Mio, you had a Speed Bump, but you're team number seven."

Ritsu and Mio: 7th Place

They both smiled. "Really? Seventh? I thought we'd be almost last by now. Maybe ninth if we're lucky." Ritsu said. "We were the last to leave our Detour."

"Well, you're seventh. And speaking of placements, Kazuma and Megumin, please come to the mat."

Kazuma and Megumin walked up to the mat.

"Kazuma and Megumin, your time has expired, you're team number eight."

Kazuma and Megumin: 8th Place

"I'm still upset," Megumin said. "I can't believe you'd overlook that."

"What happened?" Mio asked.

"We took a cab at the Roadblock," Kazuma said.

"Oh, that explains how you got so far ahead," Mikoto said.


Subaru and Emilia

"Wait, if we're down by that much… then maybe if I take this and replace it with two of these…" Emilia said. "Wait, no, that just took us down again."

"Oh, but it took us so we only need twelve, so if we just add a white chip,"

Subaru added a white chip.

"And there we go! Check!"

The judge walked up to the table and checked their work. "Here's your clue,"

Subaru and Emilia: Currently in 9th Place

"We were there for like two hours," Subaru said. "That was absolutely miserable."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Naofumi and I work as merchants in our spare time, so we know a bit about money and counting and such," Raphtalia said. "But we never had to work with denominations like this."

"Oh, boy," Naofumi said.

Okabe and Kurisu

"Wait, so if we just remove this orange piece… I think that's it. Check!"

The judge looked at their work and handed them their clue.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 10th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Kurisu read.

"Dammit," Naofumi said. "Pit Stop's next… we're last."

"Well, we don't know that for sure," Raphtalia replied. "People could still be screwing up the other Detour."


Subaru and Emilia got strapped up to their harnesses.

"Oh my god," Subaru said.

"Calm down," Emilia replied. "You're fine. You're on a harness."

"Alright, alright," Subaru said. Just then, he inched towards the end, and descended down to the ground. Emilia followed shortly after.

"Subaru and Emilia, you are the ninth team to arrive."

"Yes," Subaru said. "We live another day."

"Not exactly," Hinata said. "I haven't checked you in yet."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Emilia asked.

"Emilia, during the Roadblock, your clue instructed you to travel to every location on foot. However, you took a taxi. For that, you've incurred a penalty time of thirty minutes."

Emilia's eyes spread open.

"Additionally, you gained a total time of approximately forty minutes by taking a cab. So you've incurred an additional forty minute penalty, for a total penalty time of one hour, forty minutes. Please go wait in that corner."

They reluctantly moved over.

"Subaru, I'm sorry," she said.

"It's fine, you just made a mistake. Besides, the other two could mess up for an hour."

"Hopefully."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Wait, wait, scrap this," Naofumi said. "Look at the chart. These values all add up to 1000, so if we get 500 of each, then we'll be able to get 500,000 exactly."

"But we've been working on this for almost half an hour," Raphtalia said. "Wouldn't it be easier if we just continue like this?"

"If we continue, we'll have to mess around with the chips at the end to get the exact amount," Naofumi said. "I think that's too risky."

"Fine, your call." she said, pushing all the chips away and starting new piles.


"Okabe and Kurisu," Hinata said. "You're team number nine."

Okabe and Kurisu: 9th Place

"Yes!" Okabe said.

Subaru and Emilia: Time Remaining: 45m

"We've got forty five minutes left," Subaru said. "Looks like they're taking a while, but they could just blast in here any second."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Raphtalia and Naofumi organized all the chips, getting 500 in each stack.

"Can we get a check?" Naofumi asked. The judge looked at everything, nodded, and handed them a clue.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in Last Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Naofumi read.

Subaru and Emilia: Time Remaining: 25m

"You know, this could be another non-elimination," Subaru said. "Or maybe they get lost, or get into an accident or something… we don't know what's happening"

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia rode in their taxi.

"You know, this could be another non-elimination," Raphtalia said. "Or maybe they got lost, or got into an accident or something…"

"Don't get my hopes up," Naofumi said.

Subaru and Emilia: Time Remaining: 9m

"Our time's whittling down," Emilia said. "Maybe we could actually survive th-"

Emilia looked up and saw Naofumi and Raphtalia getting harnessed up.

"Dammit," Subaru said, throwing a mini-fit before recovering. "Well, it's over."

Raphtalia reached the ground first, followed by Naofumi immediately after.

"Naofumi and Raphtalia," Hinata said. "You're the last team to arrive."

"We know," Naofumi said.

"However," Hinata said. "Subaru and Emilia incurred an hour and ten minute penalty, you checked in before their penalty time was over, and you are team number ten."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: 10th Place

Naofumi looked astonished. "What? We're not last?"

"No, you are not," Hinata said. "You have not been eliminated, you get to race another leg."

"Woah!" Raphtalia said. "Oh, I'm so relieved."

"Subaru and Emilia, please come to the mat."

Subaru and Emilia sighed before walking over to the mat.

"Well, as you just heard, you're officially the last team to arrive." Hinata said.

Subaru and Emilia: Last Place

"And I'm sorry to say that you have been eliminated from the race."

Subaru and Emilia: Eliminated

"Well, that's life," Subaru said. "You have your ups and you have your downs."

"I'm just still so disappointed… all because of that one mistake…" Emilia said.

"Calm down, everyone makes mistakes," Hinata said. "Don't worry too much about it."

"Obviously, we're both really disappointed in our performances," Emilia said. "But, bottom line, we raced two legs together and we increased our bond."

"Still, it is really upsetting." Subaru said. "After all that effort, just to go home first."

Subaru and Emilia walked away from the Pit Stop.


Race Stats


Next Time on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition

The teams sprint their way through Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where teams will get sporty.

*Sora kicking a soccer ball with terrible accuracy*

"Dammit, I just don't know if I'm cut out for this."

*Ryuko spiking a volleyball onto the sand*

"Yeah! In your face!" Mako shouted.

Ten teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?


A/N Please be sure to leave a comment if you enjoyed; it really means a lot to me. 

Chapter 5: Leg 3.1 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Chapter Text

Previously on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition

Eleven teams raced from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Las Vegas, Nevada.

At the Roadblock, Kazuma and Emilia made a game-changing mistake.

*Kazuma and Emilia climbing into a cab, while everyone else travelled on foot*

At the Detour, Sora and Shiro decided to take advantage of Kirito and Asuna's efforts to work together.

"Kirito and Asuna are coming off as a strong team. We figured we shouldn't bring them to the finals, because that'll just decrease the chance that we win," Sora explained. "But then, we figured we could work together for a few legs to get their guards down, and then strike them when the time is right, when they're not expecting it. And until then, Kirito and Asuna won't see it coming"

After coming in last the previous leg, Ritsu and Mio overcame a speed bump to stay in the race.

"Ritsu and Mio, you had a Speed Bump, and you're team number SEVEN."

In the end, Sora and Shiro won the leg.

"Sora and Shiro, you're team number ONE!"

But breaking the rules of the Roadblock resulted in a penalty, which caused Subaru and Emilia to fall to last.

"Well, as you just heard, you're officially the last team to arrive. And I'm sorry to say that you have been eliminated from the race."

Ten teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?


Leg 3.1


This is Las Vegas, Nevada. Nicknamed "Sin City", it is now the starting point in the third leg of a race around the world.

Sora and Shiro won the previous leg, and will depart first at 3:34 PM.

Sora and Shiro: 1st to depart, 3:34 PM

Shiro ripped their clue open.

"Fly to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," Sora read.

[i] Fly to: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Teams must now fly to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once teams arrive in Rio, they must take a taxi to Maracanã Stadium where they will find their next clue.

Sora and Shiro left the Pit Stop mat.

"We're really confident going into the next leg," Sora said. "As long as it's not super physical, I'm certain we'll do fine."

"We got tenth on the first leg, which is an absolutely terrible placement," Shiro said. "But mostly because that was a physical leg. We got first on the second leg, because yesterday was really mental. So as long as today isn't all physical challenges, I'm sure we're fine. Besides, even if there are a lot of physical challenges, there are still a lot of people who aren't very physical. There's the musician girls, there's the scientists, and so on."

Kirito and Asuna: 2nd to depart, 3:36 PM

"Ooh, Rio!" Asuna said.

"We've gotten second place twice in a row," Kirito said. "And I think it's about time we get a win."

"We have an alliance right now with the siblings," Asuna said. "They really helped us out last leg, so we figured we could help each other out on challenges whenever we needed it. But mostly, it's nice for someone to have our back."

"We're getting out of America, and I guess it's nice to go somewhere more exotic," Asuna said.

Souma and Erina: 3rd to depart, 3:42 PM

Souma and Erina climbed out of their cab at the airport.

"Whatever the other teams do isn't important," Erina said. "We could get through this without relying on other teams. If they want to offer us help, they're welcome to, but we're going to try our best to keep all our information to ourselves. We're not going to join any permanent alliances, we just want to run our own race."

"Looks like we're booking our own flights today," Souma said. "That's great if we could keep our lead from the rest of the teams."


McCarran International Airport

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro walked up to an agent. "We need to get to Rio de Janeiro. As fast as possible," Sora said. "It doesn't matter how much it costs. Unless it's business class. We can't do that."

"Alright," the agent said. "Looks like I can book you one that gets you in at 11:00 tomorrow morning."

"Are you sure that's the earliest possible flight?" Sora asked.

"The earliest one with enough empty seats."

"We'll take it," Shiro said.

Sora and Shiro: 1st on 11:00 Flight

Right after, Kirito and Asuna walked into the airport.

"Hey, have you got your tickets yet?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, one for 11:00 tomorrow morning." Sora replied.

"Thanks!" Asuna replied. They walked over to the agent to get their tickets.

Kirito and Asuna: 2nd on 11:00 Flight

"Yes, earliest flight," Kirito said.

Souma and Erina: 3rd on 11:00 Flight

"Well, that's that," Souma said, sitting down on a chair at the gate.

"We need to figure out someone to give our Express Pass to," Erina said.

"When we won leg 1, we won the Express Pass." Souma explained. "And we have to give it away to another team by the end of the next leg."

"So during that time, we're thinking about who we should give it to. I think our best bet would be to give it to a weak team. But I don't feel like we know enough about everyone to pin down who's weak and who just got lucky or unlucky yet. Right now, we've already crossed off some people. Kirito and Asuna and Sora and Shiro are automatic no's because Kirito and Asuna got second twice in a row and we feel like they're a strong team. Sora and Shiro did get tenth on the first leg, but they won the second. Just winning a leg this early for us is pretty threatening."

"How about we wait to see how this leg pans out?" Souma asked. "We don't know for sure who's the best option, and we have a whole leg to do so."

"Yeah, I see that," Erina replied.

Taki and Mitsuha

"There's an opening for 11:30," the agent said.

"Is there nothing earlier?" Taki asked. "We're in a huge rush."

"There were a few spots for an 11:00 flight, but it looks like it's full. Unless you're alright paying business class."

"No, we can't do that," Mitsuha said. "11:30's fine."

Taki and Mitsuha: 1st on 11:30 Flight

Right after them, Mako and Ryuko, as well as Touma and Mikoto began booking their flights.

"Alright 11:30," Mako repeated. "That's fine, I guess."

Mako and Ryuko: 2nd on 11:30 Flight

Touma and Mikoto: 3rd on 11:30 Flight

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio walked up to the agent after Touma and Mikoto left.

"Can we just get what they got?"

Mio pointed to the two teams who just got their tickets.

"Sorry, but that just filled up."

"You're kidding me," Mio said. "Seriously?"

"Sorry, they got the last tickets."

"Okay, okay, what's the next flight?" Ritsu asked.

"The next flight's at 12:30."

"That's an hour gap," Mio said. "Why does this always happen to us?"

"And you're certain there's no way we can get onto this next flight?" Ritsu asked.

"Unless you get first class, then no."

"Well I mean we could technically get first cl-"

Mio glared at Ritsu as she stopped her words. "Okay, that's fine."

Ritsu and Mio: 1st on 12:30 Flight

"That sucks," Ritsu said. "That really sucks."

Kazuma and Megumin: 2nd on 12:30 Flight

Naofumi and Raphtalia: 3rd on 12:30 Flight

Okabe and Kurisu: 4th on 12:30 Flight

"Yeah, from now on, we're going to read our clue," Kazuma said. "Naofumi, Raphtalia, how far behind were Subaru and Emilia?"

"Hmm…" Raphtalia said. "From what I heard, they only had five or so minutes left."

"Our total penalty was one hour, ten minutes, because this idiot doesn't know how to read," Megumin said. "Forty minutes for the time we saved, and thirty for the rule infraction. So, if they had just taken those forty minutes and run it normally, they would still be in this."

"Well, that's why you have to pay attention to the details," Kurisu said. "In science, a small detail you overlook could cause a huge explosion."

"E-E-Explosion!" Megumin said. "Please, please teach me!"

"What are you doing? Why are you so close to me?" Kurisu asked, backing away as Megumin got right in her face.

"Hououin Kyouma knows how to make an even bigger explosion! Mwahahah!"

Megumin shifted her attention to Okabe.

"You're scaring me," Mio said.

"Okay, knock it off," Kazuma said. "We're in the middle of an airport. You're going to get us arrested."


Teams are now en route to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The first flight is set to arrive at 11:00 and holds Kirito and Asuna, Sora and Shiro, and Souma and Erina. The second flight is set to arrive at 11:30 and holds Touma and Mikoto, Mako and Ryuko, and Taki and Mitsuha. The last flight is set to arrive at 12:30 and holds Ritsu and Mio, Okabe and Kurisu, Kazuma and Megumin, and Naofumi and Raphtalia.


Rio de Janeiro International Airport: 11:00

The three teams on the first flight busted out of the airport.

"TAXI!" Kirito screamed.

The three teams got into the taxi.

"Maracanã Stadium," Kirito said.

Souma and Erina

"It's November, and it's really hot over here," Erina said. "Hawaii wasn't this hot."

"It's like in the nineties." Souma said. "But hey, that's Earth for you."

Kirito and Asuna

"Hopefully we get to go to the beach," Asuna said.

"We already went to the beach in Hawaii," Kirito said.

"Well it wasn't ninety degrees in Hawaii," Asuna replied. "And so what if we went to the beach there? Does that mean we can't go to the beach here?"

"Fair point."

Sora and Shiro

"What? Why are we getting off the beaten track?" Sora asked.

"Gas," the driver replied.

Sora sighed, then leaned back in his chair. "Dammit."

"On the race, there's also tons of elements that are out of your control, most of which are related to taxis" Shiro said. "There's whether or not your driver really knows where you're going, there's if your car is out of gas, and then there's other elements that are more difficult to explain. What I'm trying to say, is that there are considerable elements of luck involved as well."

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Shiro said. "We can just sit and wait."

"It kind of unnerves me that we're going to a soccer stadium," Sora said. "We're definitely some of the least athletic people here."

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna arrived at the stadium.

"There's the box!" Kirito shouted, running up to it and ripping the clue open.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 1st Place

"Roadblock," Kirito read. "Who's a good guardian?"

[R] Goalkeeping

Soccer is the most popular sport in Brazil. In this Roadblock, one team member must dress up in gear and take the role of a goalie. They must do what they can in order to prevent any balls from entering the goal while this barrage of soccer players try to score. If teams can last three minutes without any balls slipping through their grasp, they will get their next clue. However, if a single ball slips through, teams must go to the back of whatever line is formed and try a second time.

"I'll do it," Kirito said. Kirito was then led into the stadium's changing room to get dressed in goalie gear.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

"Well, you did the last one," Souma said. "I'll do it."

Kirito

Kirito walked out onto the field as Asuna walked up to the bleachers.

"Good luck!" Asuna shouted. Kirito turned back towards her and gave her a thumbs' up. The soccer player instructor ran up to him.

"So, you're going to stand inside the goal," he said. "And we're going to kick the balls at you rapid-fire. If you last for three minutes, you win. If a single ball passes you, you have to restart. Remember, you can use your hands."

"Got it," Kirito said. "Let's start."

Kirito: 1st Attempt

The player kicked a ball to the right, which Kirito quickly grabbed and deflected. But as he was doing that, another player kicked a ball to the left and immediately scored.

"Seriously?" Kirito asked. "Whatever, it's fine, Sora and Shiro aren't here, so we get to go again immediately."

"On the field, there were two goals, one on each side of the field," Kirito explained. "So two teams could go at any given time. If you failed, you had to go to the back of the line. But because at the time, Sora and Shiro hadn't shown up yet, we could retry immediately upon loss."

"That's fine, that's fine," Kirito said. "Let's just do this again."

Souma: 1st Attempt

Souma stood in the goal, arms outstretched.

"My strategy for the Roadblock was to try to stay as close to the center of the goal as I could, because there were several balls to deflect. I was watching Kirito do his as I got setup, so I noticed that the moment you get too far to one side, you're open on the other side. So I was trying to stand in the center and try to lean as much as I could to one side in order to deflect the incoming balls."

Souma deflected one ball on his left, and another ball on his right before kicking two out of the way, but he slipped and fell onto his back as one soared over him and into the goal.

"Dammit." he said.

"You better win it next time!" Erina shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, I will, don't worry," Souma replied.

Sora and Shiro

"Seriously, how long does it take to get gas?" Sora asked. "We've been sitting in here for almost ten minutes."

"What is he doing?" Shiro asked, getting out. "Oh, he's smoking."

"Seriously?" Sora asked. "Smoking? In the middle of a cab job? And at a gas station of all places?"

"Screw it, let's find a new cab," Shiro said. They threw the driver the fare as they ran out onto the street.

"If we hang onto that guy, it's gonna be bad news," Sora said. "But the downside is, we need a new cab, and that's gonna be a pain."

"I just hope he took us in the right direction," Shiro said. "Because if he took us in the opposite direction we're supposed to go, then I'm going to be upset."

Kirito: 2nd Attempt

Kirito deflected balls to his left and right as the soccer team sent barrage after barrage of projectiles.

"This isn't too far off from fighting a field of monsters in SAO," Kirito said. "But it's more physically demanding than in that game… ow…"

A ball ricocheted off his head as he grabbed one and spiked it out of the goal. Then they stopped.

"Is that it?" Kirito asked. "Are we done?"

"You're done," The soccer player said, handing him a clue.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 1st Place

Asuna ran down from the stands as they ripped their clue open.

"Make your way to one of the beachside bars by Copacabana Beach," Kirito read.

[i] Proceed to: Beachside Bar

"Let's go," Kirito said.

"You wanna get changed, though?" Asuna asked.

"Nah."

Souma: 2nd Attempt

Souma knocked away all the balls until the referee blew a whistle, signifying the end of the three-minute time.

"Alright, yeah!" Souma shouted. The soccer player walked up and handed him the clue.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

Souma ran to go change, then they ran outside and hopped into their taxi.

"We're going to win again today," Souma said. "We just are."


Rio de Janeiro International Airport: 11:30 AM

The three teams on the second flight dashed their way out of the airport, running out and climbing into their cabs.

Mako tripped and tumbled on the floor, as Ryuko helped her up and shoved her inside the car.

Mako and Ryuko

"Ow…" Mako said.

"You need to be more careful," Ryuko said. "We can't easily stop and see a doctor if you break anything."

Touma and Mikoto

"Recently, we've been in the back to middle of the pack," Touma said. "We just hope that today we can begin an upwards swing and prove ourselves one of the stronger teams here."

"Well, if we're in the middle of the pack again, I'm not going to be upset," Mikoto replied.

"Why do you say that?"

"It's Leg 3 and we haven't had a U-Turn yet." Mikoto said. "Which means it's coming up soon. You don't want to win a leg directly before a U-Turn because the others will see us as a threat and try to take us out."

"Fair point," he said. "I'm sure Sora and Shiro and Souma and Erina are on everyone's hit lists when it comes to a U-Turn."

Taki and Mitsuha

"This is the first real language barrier we have," Taki said. "Luckily our driver speaks English, so we're going to try and hang onto him for as long as we can, but I know absolutely no Spanish."

Mitsuha whacked his shoulder with their clue. "Portuguese!"

"What does a porch of geese have to do wit-"

"What is wrong with you? Portugese, the language!" Misuha scolded.

"Eh?"

"Brazil speaks Portuguese, not Spanish."

"Whatever."

Mitsuha rolled her eyes.

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro directed their new cab.

"Stop, stop," Sora said. "What's stop in Portuguese?"

"Estou entendendo (I understand)" the driver said.

"What did he say?" Shiro asked.

"Something about Nintendo?"

The driver stopped in front of the clue box as they rushed out.

"Stay." Sora said.

They ripped the clue open.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 3rd Place

"Roadblock," Sora read. "Who's a good guardian? I'll do it."

"Well, do it fast," Shiro said. "We wasted so much time that I wouldn't be surprised if the second flight shows up."

Sora quickly got changed and went onto the soccer field as Shiro advanced up to the bleachers.

"So I just need to block all the balls for three minutes?" Sora asked. "Doesn't sound too hard."

Sora: 1st Attempt

A ball soared to the right, but Sora missed it as it passed him.

"Seriously?" Shiro asked from the bleachers.

"Okay, okay, not my forte." Sora said. "Oh, physical challenges."

"Being pretty much NEETS, neither of us really get out and do anything physical," Sora explained. "So of course more physical things are going to be more challenging for us. But when it comes down to who does what, I'm stronger than my sister by a large margin, so the burden is thrust onto me."

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 4th Place

"Roadblock," Taki read. "You want to do it?"

"You did the last one, it's only fair," Mitsuha said. "Unless you don't mind going twice."

"Go ahead," Taki said.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 5th Place

"Okay, doesn't seem like a problem," Touma said.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 6th Place

"Me," Ryuko said. "This is going to be a cakewalk."

Sora: 2nd Attempt

Sora slapped away two balls before getting hit in the face once, and a ball rolling into the side in his confusion.

"Come on!" he shouted. He looked up to see Mitsuha run over to the other goal.

"Dammit, they're here," he said.

Mitsuha: 1st Attempt

"Okay, maybe Taki should've done this one," Mitsuha said.

The soccer balls rolled on the ground towards her as she kicked them away. A ball soared in the air as Mitsuha tried to lift up a leg to block it, but it passed her and hit the net.

"How am I supposed to kick that? I'm not a gymnast!"

"What's she doing?" Taki asked. "Does she not know the goalie can use their hands?"

Shiro heard him and smiled a bit. "You can't tell her. That's against the rules."

"Oh, shut up."

Sora and Mitsuha went to the back of the line as Ryuko and Touma took their place.

Touma: 1st Attempt

As the soccer balls flew towards him, he kicked away the ones on the floor and swatted away the ones in the air.

"Okay, okay," he said. "This is easy. Just gotta do this for three more minutes…"

He hit a ball in midair, which bounced back only to hit another ball that was incoming and reverse course, which then bounced off the side of the goal and into the net.

"Seriously? Is luck seriously doing this to me right now?"

Ryuko: 1st Attempt

Ryuko reflected the balls left and right.

"Oh, she's good…" Taki said.

"YOU GOT THIS, RYUKO!" Mako shouted.

Sora: 2nd Attempt

Sora stood at the goal again, waiting for the players to begin kicking. Once they started, Sora deflected a few, but then one rolled between his legs.

"I hate this," Sora said. "Real sports suck. Can I be, like, using a controller, please?"

Ryuko

Ryuko headbutted a ball as the onslaught ended.

"Is that it?" Ryuko asked. The referee nodded as the player handed her a clue.

"Mako! I got it! Let's go!" Ryuko shouted.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 3rd Place

Ryuko ran back to the changing room before running out and grabbing their taxi.

"You were awesome at that! Your arms were like this!"

Mako imitated what Ryuko was doing as she chuckled.

Kirito and Asuna

The driver let them out onto the sidewalk by Copacabana Beach.

"Is it one of these circular bars?" Kirito asked.

"Circular bars?"

"Yeah, the ones shaped like a circle."

They got closer to find a clue propped up onto it.

"Alright, here we go," Kirito said, ripping the clue open. "Shake fifty cocktails..."

[i] Shake it

Teams must now create fifty caipirinhas, the national cocktail of Brazil. Once the bartender approves of the fifty drinks, he will hand teams their next clue.

Kirito and Asuna got behind the bar.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina came running down the street and straight to Kirito and Asuna.

"Where's the clue box?" Souma asked.

"There's no box," Asuna said. "It's just out in the open. I think there's only one clue per bar, though."

"Thanks," Erina said.

"I understand they're a strong team, but it's early, so we're not going to not help them." Asuna said.

"We don't want to win by deceit or trickery or anything. That's what we hate most." Kirito said.

Souma and Erina ran to the next bar over and found their clue.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

"Alright, this is right in our comfort zone," Souma said. "Well, not alcohol, but, you know what I mean."

Kirito and Asuna

"Okay, how do we do this?" Kirito asked.

The bartender began showing them. He threw a few pieces of lime into the cocktail shaker before smashing down on it with a rod a few times to release some juice, then added a few scoops of sugar before pouring in the ice and liquor. He then closed the shaker and shook it up for several seconds before pouring it out into a glass. He then put a slice of lime on the rim of the glass before sticking in a straw.

"Seems simple enough," Asuna said. "Let's start."

Kirito and Asuna took a cocktail shaker each before throwing in some lime chunks.

"How many did he put in?" Kirito asked.

"Four, I think" Asuna replied.

They put in four limes, then mashed it a bit before adding one scoop of sugar and then shaking it up. They poured it out onto a glass and put it onto the counter, but the bartender grabbed it and threw it into the drain.

"Oh," Kirito said. "Did we mess up?"

Souma and Erina

"Okay, five limes, two scoops of sugar, five ice cubes, and then the liquor." Erina repeated. "Alright, we got this."

"Being chefs, it's really important to know exact quantities and do things in the right order." Erina said. "A little bit too much sugar could turn your dish from a five star masterpiece to diner-level food."

Souma cleared his throat.

"I mean, uhh… bad. Bad food." Erina corrected.

Mitsuha: 3rd Attempt

A ball soared right over Mitsuha's head.

"How am I supposed to block the ones that are flying? My legs can't stretch that high."

She walked to get back in line as Touma started to walk over.

"You know you can use your hands, right?" Touma asked. "You're a goalie."

"Okay, in retrospect, I really should've been paying attention to the other racers," Mitsuha said. "If I lifted my head up once and paid attention, I would've caught it after my first round."

"The fact the uniform gave you gloves was a giveaway, though," Taki said. "I mean, why would they give you gloves if you weren't supposed to use your hands?"

Mitsuha grabbed him and shook him around.

"Oh," Mitsuha said. "Thanks?"

Touma: 3rd Attempt

Touma grabbed a ball and threw it out before kicking a few out of the way. Then, everyone stopped.

"Oh, we're done?" Touma asked. He began to walk away as a player kicked a last ball, but Touma saw it and dashed back to kick it away.

"You thought you could trick me?" he asked, smiling.

"Okay, yeah, you're done," the referee said. The player handed him a clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 4th Place

"We passed Sora and Shiro, who were on the first flight," Mikoto said. "Hopefully they're struggling more."

"Well, they're shut-ins," Touma said. "I don't think they're used to having to use their muscles all that much."

Sora: 5th Attempt

Sora kicked a ball away and grabbed one that was about to hit him before throwing it away. He blocked two more before one went right into his blind spot, hitting the net.

"What?" Sora asked. "When did that get through?"

Souma and Erina: 10 Drinks Finished

Souma and Erina continued their process.

"This is really easy," Souma said. "Not a problem for us."

After shaking the shaker, Souma tried to open it, but to no avail.

"Hmmmpppphhh…." he groaned, "Seriously?"

Erina sighed and grabbed it, opening it with ease.

Kirito and Asuna: 3 Cocktails Finished

Kirito put a drink on the counter only for it to get thrown away.

"Okay, we're doing something wrong," Asuna said. "If only three of the fifteen or so got through, we need to change what we're doing."

"Should we call in the demonstration again?"

"Yeah, that's a good call."

Kirito and Asuna called in the bartender to demonstrate.

"Okay, five lime," Asuna said. "And then mash them together, then two scoops of sugar, then the ice, then the liquor."

Asuna repeated that exactly and put it onto the counter, and the bartender let it stay.

"Okay, we got this now."

"Once we got the exact quantities and the exact order, it was just easy to blow through it," Kirito said.


Rio de Janeiro International Airport: 12:30 AM

The final four teams rushed out of the airport, grabbing their taxis.

Ritsu and Mio

"We have a disadvantage going into this leg, being on the last flight," Mio said. "A disadvantage three legs in a row."

"We've just not been having a good race so far," Ritsu said. "On Leg 1, we were on the first flight, but it got delayed and turned into the last flight. On Leg 2, we had to deal with a Speed Bump. This leg, we're on the last flight again."

"Well, we just have to race hard," Ritsu said. "Try and survive, we don't need first place, we just need not to be last."

Okabe and Kurisu

"It's so hot here," Kurisu said, fanning herself. "I really hope there's nothing too physically strenuous, because that would suck in this heat."

"You're going to jinx us," Okabe replied.

"Jinxes don't exist."

Kazuma and Megumin

"We're determined to not make any more mistakes, like last time," Megumin said.

"We're still kind of upset that our alliance members were the first ones out," Kazuma said. "And in a way, that's kind of my fault too, because if I had read it properly neither of us would've gotten penalized, and Subaru and Emilia would still be in it…"

"It's Emilia's fault too," Megumin said. "Just shut up and focus on today."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia sat in their car in awkward silence.

...

The driver turned on some music.

"Turn that off." Naofumi said.

"No."

Mitsuha: 7th Attempt

Mitsuha deflected the soccer balls left and right.

"Oh, this is much easier," she muttered. She jumped up and spiked one away from the goal as the referee blew the whistle.

"Yes!" Mitsuha shouted. Taki clapped and stood up from their spot at the bleachers as the player handed her a clue.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 5th Place

"Sorry for that blunder," Mitsuha said.

"Don't worry about it. We're not last right now so it's not a big deal," Taki replied.

Sora: 10th Attempt

Sora missed another ball, ruining his attempt.

"This sucks," Sora said. "First flight, dropping down to the last."

Souma and Erina: 49 Drinks Finished

"And, last one," Souma said, placing the final cocktail on the counter.

The bartender looked over their drinks, then handed them their clue.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 1st Place

They walked out of the bar and ripped their clue open.

"Detour," Erina read. "Party or Volley?"

Teams will now have a chance to either prepare for Carnival or play a classic beach sport. It'll be their choice: Party or Volley.

[D] Party

The carnival in Rio is known as the biggest carnival in the world. In Party, teams must make their way to Praça Tiradentes and decorate this carnival float. If teams can decorate it according to the image they are provided, teams will receive their next clue.

[D] Volley

Beach volleyball is one of the most famous beach sports to play here at Copacabana Beach. In Volley, teams must participate in a game of beach volleyball against these two professionals. While the pros are only allowed to use their feet, racers will be allowed to use their hands. If teams can score ten points before the pros score thirty, teams will get their next clue.

And just to spice things up, there is a five-team limit for either side of the Detour.

"What do you think?" Souma asked.

"Let's do Volley," Erina said. "There's tons of space to screw up with attention to detail challenges."

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko ran up to Souma and Erina, who were just leaving.

"Hey, where's the clue box?" Mako asked.

"It's on the counter of one of these bars. Each bar has one clue." Souma said.

"Thanks," Ryuko said.

They ran past Kirito and Asuna.

"Hey," Mako said. Asuna waved at them as they ran to the next bar.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 3rd Place

"Alright, let's do this," Ryuko said.

Kirito and Asuna: 49 Drinks Finished

"Souma and Erina got ahead of us," Kirito said. "That's fine. We've still got a Detour ahead of us."

Asuna put up the last drink on the counter. "That's fifty, right?"

The bartender looked around. "Yes,"

Then, he handed them a clue.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 2nd Place

"Detour: party or Volley," Kirito read.

"Volley." Asuna said. "You did the soccer thing quickly. You'll do this well."

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 7th Place

"Roadblock," Ritsu read. "Oh, this is all you, Mio."

"I... I don't..."

"Come on, you did the last one."

"Fine."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 8th Place

"It's my turn," Raphtalia said. "This looks fun."

Sora: 17th Attempt

Sora failed his seventeenth attempt, then looked up to see Mio and Raphtalia come onto the field.

"At that point, my heart just sunk," Sora said. "The last flight was there, and I still hadn't finished. I could tell that I was definitely improving as I was staying in there longer than before, but the question at that point was: could I improve fast enough to get it before we drop to last?"

"I just don't think I'm cut out for this," Sora said, kicking a ball away in frustration.

Chapter 6: Leg 3.2 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Chapter Text

Leg 3.2


Sora

Sora stood to the side, drinking water while talking to his sister.

"I mean, like, I'm trying my hardest, and it doesn't even look that hard," Sora said. "I honestly don't know why I'm failing this so hard."

"Relax," Shiro said, grabbing the bottle out of his hand. "I can't help you right now. You have to do this on your own. Calm down, being upset like this will just make it harder"

"I know, I know." Sora replied. "Fine, I'll just try to relax."

Mio: 1st Attempt

Mio ran up to the goalpost.

"Are you ready?" the player asked.

"N-No."

"Okay, great," he said. He began kicking balls towards the goal, and Mio tried her best to swat them away, but one immediately got past her to the right.

"Seriously?" she asked.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 9th Place

"You want to do it?" Kazuma asked.

"Y-Yeah!" Megumin replied, fists pumped.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in Last Place

"Okay, this one's all me," Okabe said.

Raphtalia: 1st Attempt

Raphtalia began knocking the balls back left and right.

"Back in our world, I was known as "Naofumi's sword"," Raphtalia explained. "Because he wasn't allowed to use any weapons other than his shield, he had to rely on me for offense."

"Honestly a dumb rule, but whatever," Naofumi said.

"And, because of that, I have very good hand-eye coordination. So, this challenge wasn't a huge issue for me."

She leaned left and right to take out all the soccer balls that were incoming, swinging her arms as if she were holding an invisible sword.

In due time, the barrage stopped as the player handed her the clue.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 6th Place

Raphtalia quickly got changed before heading out to their cab.

"Naofumi, wasn't I great?"

"Of course," Naofumi stoically replied.

Mako and Ryuko: 6 Cocktails Served

The bartender grabbed half the cocktails they put onto the counter, then tossed them down the drain.

"Oh, come on," Mako said.

"Okay, okay, we're messing up," Ryuko said. "I just don't know what."

"Is it the proportions?" Mako asked. "Like, maybe we have too much lime?"

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 4th Place

"Make fifty cocktails," Touma read. "Alright, let's do this."

They got behind the counter and began watching the demonstration.

Megumin: 1st Attempt

Megumin flailed her arms around to knock out several balls, but it wasn't efficient enough to block everything coming at her.

"Okay, that didn't work," she said.

"I mean, Kazuma's bigger than me, so I told him he should've done it," Megumin complained. "But he said we haaad to balance out our Roadblocks since he did the last one."

She leaned into the camera and whispered. "He failed the last one."

"I'm sitting right next to you, whispering isn't going to do anything," Kazuma said.

Okabe: 1st Attempt

A ball soared towards his head as he headbutted it out of the air.

"He's got this," Kurisu said. "He's not the strongest person in the world, but he's tall and he's got a good enough reach."

As he turned to get a ball, he slipped and fell, allowing for two more to soar over his head.

"Or, maybe not."

Sora: 18th Attempt

Sora smacked the soccer balls out of the goal left and right.

"Okay," he muttered. "Okay, okay, okay. I'm on a roll now."

Mako and Ryuko: 6 Cocktails Served

After watching the demonstration a second time, Mako and Ryuko continued their cocktail-making.

"So, five pieces of lime, squish it, then add two spoons of sugar, five pieces of ice, a shot of liquor, and then shake it up," Ryuko said. "In that order? Or does order matter?"

"Well, we'll try and see, right?" Mako asked. Ryuko shrugged as they continued making them.

Touma and Mikoto: 10 Cocktails Served

"We know that things like this are really technical and precise," Touma said. "So whenever you have a demonstration, you have to do it almost exactly like the demonstration."

Mikoto shook the cocktail shaker, but it flew out of her hand and hit Mitsuha in the temple, causing her to collapse onto the floor.

"Shit, sorry, Mitsuha!" Mikoto shouted.

Mitsuha groaned and stood up. "I'm fine," she said, tossing the shaker back at them. "Where's the clue?"

"It's on one of these bars. You're gonna have to run up and down the sidewalk to find one that isn't taken."

"Thanks," Taki said.

Sora

Sora grabbed the last ball and threw it out of the goal, then the referee blew the whistle.

"Did I get it?" Sora asked, smirking. The player ran up to him and gave him the clue.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 7th Place

"Yes! Yeah! Fuck yeah!"

"Are you done yet?" Shiro asked. Sora stopped celebrating and just ran straight outside.

"That took way too long," Sora said. "I'm sorry, but at least we're not last."

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina arrived at the volleyball courts.

"We're here for the race," Erina said.

"Okay," the volleyball player said. "Go change into your swimsuits. There's a changing area over there."

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna ran right past the chefs and towards the volleyball court.

"Swimsuits," the player said, pointing to the changing area on the beach.

"Got it," Kirito said. "Let's go."

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 5th Place

"It's not a lot to remember, so it shouldn't be a huge problem unless you're not paying attention," Mitsuha said. "Five limes, two sugars, five ice, and a shake."

She did so and shook it up before placing it onto the counter, where the bartender approved.

"Alright, that's simple enough," Taki said.

Mako and Ryuko: 20 Cocktails Served

"Okay, we have it down now," Ryuko said. "The rest of this shouldn't be very difficult."

Touma and Mikoto: 30 Cocktails Served

"Cocktail shaking's a huge workout," Touma said. "Just replace one of those stupid infomercial shake weights with one of these, and once you're done, you've got a nice drink reward."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

As he shook it, he dropped it, causing it to break open and spill all over his shorts and making it look like he had an accident.

"Dammit," he said, grabbing a towel and wiping it up.

"Just my luck."

"Don't wipe it up, you'll slow us down." Mikoto said. "It's hot, it'll evaporate."

"Fine," he said.

Mio: 3rd Attempt

Mio blocked a ball with her head before swatting a few more away. One ball she blocked with her body, then the referee blew the whistle.

"That's it?" Mio asked. The referee nodded as the player handed her a clue.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 8th Place

"Woohoo!" Ritsu shouted. "Way to go, Mio!"

Okabe: 3rd Attempt

Okabe caught three balls in succession, and used the last ball to deflect the oncoming ones.

The referee blew his whistle. "Time!" he shouted. With that, the player walked over to hand Okabe the clue.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in 9th Place

With the clue in hand, the scientists sprinted out of the arena.

Kazuma sighed. "We're the last ones here."

Megumin: 3rd Attempt

"You better get this!" Kazuma shouted. "We're already last!"

"I know!" Megumin shouted back. "Shut up!"

With newfound energy, Megumin swiftly deflected all the balls that came her way, even headbutting several of them and whacking them back at the players.

"Alright, here you go," the player said, handing Megumin their clue.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in Last Place

Kazuma and Megumin sprinted out of the arena.

"You couldn't have done that before?"

"Shut up!"

Souma and Erina

After changing into their swimsuits, Souma and Erina ran up to the volleyball courts.

"Let's do this," Souma said.

"In this side of the Detour, we had to score ten points before our opponents scored thirty," Erina explained. "And they had to use their feet, while we were allowed to use our hands. So I figured, this is going to be really easy and we'll be out of here in no time."

Erina served the ball towards their opponents, who responded by passing it to each other, then kicking it back over the net. Souma ran over and punted it back to them, but they jumped up and vollied it back. Erina ran up to volley it back, but she knocked it into the net.

The scorekeeper added one point to their opponents' scores.

"Jesus christ," Souma said. "This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought."

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna ran out of the changing rooms and to the volleyball court adjacent to the chefs'.

"You ready?" Kirito asked. Asuna nodded as he served the ball.

The pros kicked it immediately back, causing Asuna to pass it to Kirito, who jumped up and spike it onto the opposite side of the court.

"1-0!" the scorekeeper shouted.

"We got this," Asuna said.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 6th Place

Sora and Shiro read the clue and dashed behind the bar where they began to watch the demonstration.

"Easy," Sora said. "Let's get started."

Touma and Mikoto

Mikoto put up her last drink onto the counter.

Their bartender grabbed it, then took a sip before giving them their clue.

"Woo!" Mikoto shouted. They grabbed it and ripped it open.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 3rd Place

"Detour," Touma read. "Hmm…"

"Just do the floats," Mikoto said. "It's gonna be easier, especially if we have to play with pros for the volleyball one."

"I'd like to say we're both smart and strong," Touma said. "We both live in Academy City, first of all, so I'd say our schooling helps us a lot with mental challenges."

"But on the other hand, both of us have been in fights, and we've been in huge battles where our bodies were put to the limits. Brains vs Brawn is pretty much a toss-up for us. So in scenarios like this, it's all about the details." Mikoto said.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 4th Place

Mako and Ryuko took their clue from the bartender.

"Detour," Mako read. "Party or Volley?"

"Volley," Ryuko replied. "Hands down."

"We're more of a physical type team," Ryuko explained. "That's not to say we're dumb or that mental challenges make us struggle, but we definitely would fare better in physical challenges than mental challenges."

"I'm just kind of here," Mako said, sheepishly smiling. "I'm not that strong either, but as a team, yeah, physical's better."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 7th Place

Naofumi and Raphtalia ripped their clue open.

"Make caipirinhas, the national drink of Brazil," Naofumi read.

They ran behind the bar and watched the demonstration.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha both shook their shakers and poured the resulting cocktails into a glass before putting it onto the counter.

"Check?" Taki asked.

The bartender walked up and counted the amount of cups.

"That's 40," he said.

"Oh," Mitsuha said. "That's… wow. Okay, whatever. Let's just make these last ten."

Sora and Shiro

Shiro shook up the canister, but it slipped from her hand and spilled all over the floor.

"Dammit," Sora said. "You got my shoes all wet!"

She said nothing, but bent to pick it back up.

Souma and Erina: Score 0-3

Erina served the volleyball again. The two pros sprinted at the ball, kicking it into the air, then leaping up to launch it over the net. Souma dashed around and caught it, launching it towards Erina. Erina then tossed it back, but the pro headbutted it back into their side, causing it to touch down inside the court.

"Zero to four!" the scorekeeper shouted.

"This is kicking our asses," Souma said. "Should we switch?"

"No," Erina said. "It's fine, we got this."

They started up the next game, where Erina served. The pros quickly kicked the ball between then, then kicked at them, but it got caught in the net.

"One to four!" the scorekeeper shouted.

"Okay, see?" Erina said. "We can do this."

Kirito and Asuna: Score 1-3

The ball landed on their side, losing them a point.

"One to four!" the scorekeeper announced.

"Okay," Kirito said. "Maybe the first one was just beginner's luck,"

"That was a lot tougher than it looks," Asuna said. "Even if they used their feet, they're still pros, and we've never even played volleyball before."

Okabe and Kurisu

Okabe and Kurisu got out of their cab, right outside of Sora and Shiro's stall.

"Hey," Okabe said, running up to them. "Where's the clue?"

"The clue?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, the clue box. Where is it?"

"It's over on the beach," Sora said. "It's really crowded, but there's a guy with a very distinct yellow and red swimsuit. Just ask him."

"When the scientists came up to us and asked where the clue was, we knew that they needed to go to one of the bars that no one had been to yet. But, since we did drop several places at the Roadblock and were teetering close to last place, we decided to fib a little to give us some extra time." Sora explained.

Kurisu looked confused. "The clue said-"

"Well, we found our clue over there." Shiro said, pointing to the beach. "Trust me."

"Yeah, trust my cute little sister!" Sora shouted.

"Okay, fine, if you say so," Kurisu said, running with Okabe to the beach. Sora smirked a bit before continuing to make the drinks.

"That was a pretty smart move," Shiro said. "But if they survive, I don't know if they're going to like us very much."

"I don't care about people liking us," Sora replied. "It's a game, and we're going to play the way we want to play."

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio ran up to Taki and Mitsuha's station.

"Do you know where the clue is?" Mio asked.

"It's on one of the bars lining the sidewalk," Taki replied. "I think you need to go to an unoccupied one."

"Alright, thanks," Ritsu said. Mio and Ritsu began running to the other bars on the sidewalk.

With that, Taki and Mitsuha put their last drinks on the table. "Check?"

The bartender counted out their drinks, then handed them their clue.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 5th Place

"Let's do the float decorating," Taki read.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto's cab pulled up to the square, where five carnival floats sat around.

"This is cool," Touma said, running up. The float decorator walked up to them and handed them a postcard.

"Okay, so it looks like this is what we need to replicate," Mikoto said.

The postcard they were given was an image of the float, with a giant inflatable globe on top. There were several country flags lining the back. There were also several environmental props on the float, including fake grass, a fake tree, and fake rocks. The sides of the float itself were covered in purple flowers.

"Let's start with the globe," Touma said, running to the truck filled with props, that was now labelled with their names.

As they looked around, they spotted a few deflated globe balloons on the floor.

"Let's start inflating this thing," Mikoto said. "Is there some kind of inflator? Or like a blow dryer or something?"

"No." Touma said, looking around.

They walked around and looked throughout the truck, but couldn't find any kind of inflating device.

"Do we just have to blow into it?" Touma asked.

"Blow into it?" Mikoto asked. "This thing's taller than us!"

"We had to inflate the giant globe," Touma explained. "It was like a giant beach ball. But this thing was massive, and we couldn't find any bike pumps or anything, so I figured we had to inflate it using our breath."

"Do we have any other option?" Touma asked. Mikoto sighed as Touma found the blowhole and began filling it with air.

"Fine, I'll start with the flowers," Mikoto replied.

Souma and Erina: Score 3-12

As Erina served the ball, the pros rallied it between each other before volleying it back over. Souma ran up and leapt onto his stomach to catch the ball, which subsequently fell into the sand immediately after.

"Three to thirteen!" the judge shouted.

"I'm fine," Souma said, standing up and brushing himself off.

"No one asked," one of the players said.

"That was completely uncalled for!" Erina shouted.

"Don't worry about him. Let's just keep playing."

Kirito and Asuna: Score 4-12

"This isn't easy," Kirito said. "But we're definitely winning at a good enough ratio that it's definitely possible for us to get this the first time."

"Yeah, three wins for them equals one win for us," Asuna said. "That's the exact ratio we need, but of course it's not going to be consistent."

Asuna leapt to the side to volley a ball back at the pros, which they subsequently dropped.

"Five to twelve!" the scorekeeper shouted, turning the scoreboard.

Kirito clapped his hands together and pumped his fists in the air. "Woo!"

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 9th Place

Kazuma and Megumin got behind the bars as they watched the demonstration.

"Can I drink these?" Megumin asked.

"No, no, no!" Kazuma shouted. "You're still underage!"

"But we're here and we have a whole challenge revolv-"

"NO!" Kazuma shouted.

"And that's how you make a caipirinha." the bartender said, placing the finished product on the counter.

"Okay, how do we do this?" Kazuma asked.

"I literally just showed you the demonstration," the bartender said, sighing. "Were you not paying attention?"

They nodded.

"Do you want me to redo it?"

They nodded again.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio threw in a few limes, a few ice cubes, and the liquor, then shook it up and put it into the glass.

Right when they put it onto the counter, the bartender grabbed it and threw it into the garbage.

"Does that mean we screwed up?" Ritsu asked.

"Probably," Mio replied. "Just keep going until you got something."

Mio put hers up onto the counter, which was accepted by the bartender.

Sora and Shiro: 45 Cocktails Finished

Sora shook the shaker, but one half fell off, spilling it all over the floor.

"Dammit," Sora said. "Am I not closing this right?"

"Don't worry about it," Shiro said. "We've only got five to go."

Shiro poured out hers into the glasses and set them onto the table.

Okabe and Kurisu

Okabe and Kurisu walked along the beach.

"We've been out here for twenty minutes," Kurisu said.

"But Sora and Shiro said it's out here," Okabe replied. "Wait, what if they're secret spies from the Organization?"

"Enough with your chunni. I just don't think Sora and Shiro have any real reason to lie to us."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: 35 Cocktails Finished

"You guys are making those fast," the bartender said.

"We're not weaklings, and we're not stupid," Naofumi said. "When we know what to do, we know what to do."

"That's right!" Raphtalia shouted. "Woohoo! This is fun!"

"You do you."

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko got changed into their swimwear before running up to the volleyball courts.

"Let's do this," Ryuko said.

Mako served the ball, rallying it to the other side of the net. The pros subsequently kicked it to each other, then launched it back over the net. Ryuko leapt up and spiked it down onto the other side, winning them a point.

"One to zero!" the scorekeeper shouted.

Touma and Mikoto

Mikoto used the velcro on the flowers to fasten them to the side of the float.

"I'm done with the front of the float," Mikoto said. "Are you done with the globe?"

Touma took his mouth off the opening, breathing heavily. "Almost… oh god…"

He blew a few more times into the globe before capping it.

"Okay, I'm done," he said. Mikoto ran over to Touma to begin rolling the giant inflatable globe towards their float.

As Touma got on top, Mikoto pushed it up as Touma positioned it onto the float. However, once they did that, it began rolling off the side.

"Dammit!" Mikoto shouted, running after it. She grabbed it and rolled it back to Touma, who put it back in its position again.

"Okay, okay," Touma said, stepping off the float. They ran back to their truck to get more props, but the globe fell off and began rolling through the plaza.

"This ball moved with the wind," Mikoto explained. "It wasn't a significant wind, but it was enough to knock it off the float. That was really annoying for us at first, but then we realized there had to be some kind of reason why our globe wasn't working out."

Mikoto pulled out the photo and looked at it.

"Look," Mikoto said. "There's a very thin ring on the bottom. That's probably what's keeping it in place."

"What we ended up seeing was a very small ring at the base that was keeping the globe steady." Touma said. "And that's what it needed to keep it from rolling all over the place. It was very easy to miss, so I think that was one huge part of the challenge."

"Do you see it?" Touma asked.

"Found it," Mikoto said, grabbing a large, thin, ring and running back to the float. She set it on the floor and positioned the globe on top of it, keeping it steady. "Alright!"

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha arrived at the float Detour.

"This one on the left," Taki said, choosing their float. The judge then handed them the image.

"Okay, Mitsuha, search for a globe balloon." Taki said.

Mitsuha ran to their truck and looked around. "Found it!" Mitsuha shouted. She grabbed the globe and pulled it out of the truck. "I have a bike pump, too!"

Hearing that, Touma turned around to see Taki and Mitsuha begin inflating the globe with a bike pump.

"Seriously?" Touma asked. "There's a bike pump in there?"

"Yeah?" Taki asked. "Did you not use it?"

"I spent ten minutes blowing that up with my mouth!"

"Well, this pump's pretty weak," Taki said, pumping it up. "I don't think this is going to be significantly faster."

Kirito and Asuna: Score: 8-23

Kirito and Asuna spiked their ball down to the opposite court.

"Yes!" Kirito shouted. "One more and we're outta here!"

Souma and Erina: Score 7-19

The pros launched the ball, but it got caught in the net, giving Souma and Erina another point.

"Eight to nineteen!" the scorekeeper shouted.

"Two more!" Souma shouted.

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro presented their final drinks to the bartender.

The bartender quickly counted them up before handing them to the siblings.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 6th Place

"We're doing Party," Sora said. "It's a real easy choice."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"How did they get ahead of us?" Raphtalia asked, looking at Sora and Shiro.

"Don't worry about them," Naofumi replied, shaking up the drinks and pouring. "We're almost done."

After making two more drinks, they put them up onto the counter as the bartender gave them the clue.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 7th Place

"Volley," Naofumi said. "Let's go."

Ritsu and Mio: 20 Cocktails Finished

"Ritsu! Smash!"

"Huh?"

"Smash the limes! That's why half of yours are getting thrown out!"

"Oh, right, forgot about that."

Okabe and Kurisu

Okabe and Kurisu continued wandering around the beach.

"Okay, it's been half an hour, we should just look at the clue and ignore what Sora and Shiro said," Kurisu said.

They looked at the clue.

"Make your way to the beachside bars by Copacabana Beach," Okabe read. "Aren't those the bars that Sora and Shiro were at over by the sidewalk?"

They sprinted back over, to see Ritsu and Mio, as well as Kazuma and Megumin still there.

"Where's the clue?" Okabe asked.

"Ours was sitting right at the counter," Mio said. "But it looks like there's one clue per station. There should be one bar around here that still has it."

The scientists left and looked at each bar until they found one.

"Dammit," Kurisu said, opening up the clue.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in Last Place

"If we survive today, I'm gonna give them hell," Kurisu said. "Why the hell would they do that?"

"They are members of the Organization!"

"Not the time!"

Kazuma and Megumin: 25 Cocktails Finished

"I just don't understand why you won't let me try it!" Megumin shouted.

"Just shut your damn mouth," Kazuma said. "I'm your friend, not a babysitter."

"K-KAZUMA!" Megumin shouted, dropping her cocktail shaker and smacking Kazuma's chest.

Kirito and Asuna: Score: 9-26

After Asuna served, the pros vaulted it back over the net. Kirito jumped up and hit it to Asuna, who volleyed it back over, and the pros kicked it back.

However, it landed out of bounds, scoring Kirito and Asuna their last point.

"Here you go," the scorekeeper said, handing them the clue.

"Yes!" Kirito shouted, ripping it open.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Kirito read

[i] Proceed to Pit Stop: Christ the Redeemer

Christ the Redeemer is by far one of the most recognizable landmarks of Brazil, and is now one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It will now be the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here may be eliminated.

Kirito and Asuna didn't bother changing into their regular clothes before grabbing their bags and booking it to the street.

"We could finally… huff… get a win today," Kirito said. "After two consecutive second places."

They quickly hailed a cab and got inside.

"I love you," Asuna said.

Souma and Erina: Score: 9-28

"We just need to win one more time before they score twice," Souma said. "We're gonna be cutting it close here."

Erina served it, as the pros passed between each other and kicked it back.

They rallied the ball two more times before Souma leapt up and spiked down on their side.

"Ten to twenty eight!" the scorekeeper shouted, pulling out a clue and handing it to them.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Souma read.

"Team SAO just left," Erina said. "We could overtake them and get another win, you know."

Mako and Ryuko: Score 3-10

Ryuko spiked down the volleyball with enough force to spew sand all over their opponents' eyes.

"AAAAHH! QUEIMA COM O FOGO DE MIL SÓIS!"

"Sorry?" Ryuko asked. "What?"

The pro didn't respond as he fell to his knees and covered his eyes.

"Four to ten!" the scorekeeper shouted.

"Whatever. Let's go!" Mako said.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio received their clue from the bartender.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 8th Place

"Detour: Party or Volley," Mio read.

"Party," Ritsu replied. "Duh."

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 9th Place

"We're doing Party," Kazuma said.

Okabe and Kurisu: 25 Cocktails Finished

"I'm honestly so mad," Kurisu said. "We're last now, and we were what, eighth leaving the challenge?"

"I'm upset too," Okabe said. "But we have to finish if we want to stand a chance, right?"

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto grabbed the flags and inserted them into the back of the float.

They looked at their postcard, then looked at the float.

"Does that look good to you?" Touma asked.

"I see no problems," Mikoto replied. "Can we get a check?"

The judge walked up to the float, and looked at it. He looked at the globe, checked for its support, then looked at the decoration work on the sides.

[X] Globe Facing Incorrect Direction

"No," the judge said.

"Okay," Touma said. "So, something's wrong."

"What's wrong here?" Mikoto asked, looking around.

Taki and Mitsuha

After blowing up the globe, Taki and Mitsuha rolled it onto the float.

"Let's work on the flowers now," Mitsuha said. "They look like orange chrysanthemums."

"I don't even know what that is"

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Let's do this!" Raphtalia shouted, running up to the courts.

"It's up to you to serve," The player said.

"I'll serve, then," Naofumi said, serving the ball. Right then, it immediately got caught in the net.

"Not off to a good start, I see," the pro replied.

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro arrived at the plaza as they ran up to one of the floats.

"Alright, sis, let's make up some time!" Sora enthusiastically shouted. They looked at the postcard, then ran to their truck to pick up the flags.

Touma and Mikoto

"Maybe it's the globe," Touma said. "Like… this one is facing the wrong way, right?"

"I don't think it's going to be something small like that, but we can check," Mikoto replied. She climbed up to the float, then rotated the globe 180 degrees. "Can we get a check now?"

The judge looked at their float, then inspected it. "It's good,"

"You've gotta be kidding me," Mikoto said. "Whatever."

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 3rd Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Touma read.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina continued to ride in their cab.

"Winning a second leg would be great for us," Souma said. "It'll establish us as one of the stronger teams right off the bat."

Kirito and Asuna

"I mean, we just barely missed out on first place by seconds in the last two legs," Kirito said. "We definitely deserve a win the most out of anyone here."

"That's right," Asuna said. "But deserve doesn't always equal 'will get'."

Souma and Erina

"Right here?" Souma asked. The driver nodded, stopping at the side of the road.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna packed up their bags and leapt out of the taxi.

"Let's get this win." Kirito said.


Hinata waited at the Pit Stop, as Kirito and Asuna came around the corner.

"Come in, come in!" Hinata shouted. Both of them ran up and jumped onto the mat.

"Kirito and Asuna," Hinata said. "You're team number one."

Kirito and Asuna: 1st Place

"YES!" Kirito shouted. "We won!"

"Finally!" Asuna replied, smiling.

"You've won 100,000 yen each!"

"Yeah! Woo!" Kirito shouted.

"Just winning this leg puts a huge smile on our faces," Asuna said. "We're ecstatic, we've done so well, getting two 2nd places, and then a win."

"Hopefully we can keep up this good winning streak until the finals," Kirito replied.


Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina ran in and hopped onto the mat.

"Souma and Erina," Hinata said. "You're team number two."

Souma and Erina: 2nd Place

"Damn it," Souma said, kicking the floor. "Whatever. We'll get better."

"As you can see, we're both very competitive people," Souma said. "At Totsuki Culinary Academy, we have these things called Shokugekis, which are basically cooking battles that we use to settle all sorts of disputes. If you can't win, then you're never going to get what you need. This race is very different, as in, we're not going to be super disappointed every time we don't get first, but we're still very competitive, and we're still gunning for the win."


Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha secured the flowers to the side of the float, then ran up and put the props onto the top.

"Can we get a check?" Taki asked.

The judge came up, then looked around at the float.

[x] No Globe Support

"Sorry," the judge said. "No good."

"No good?" Mitsuha asked.

Okabe and Kurisu: Currently in Last Place

After finishing the bartending challenge, Okabe and Kurisu ripped open their Detour clue.

"Detour," Okabe read. "Party or Volley?"

"Party," Kurisu said. "Let's go."

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio arrived at the float challenge, followed shortly by Kazuma and Megumin.

Mako and Ryuko: Score: 9-23

Mako tossed the ball to Ryuko, who shot it over the net. The two pros then kicked it, but lost their hold as the ball clattered to the ground.

"Yes!" Mako shouted. "Ten! That's ten! Wait… hang on… one… two… four...five… yes, that's ten!"

The judge walked up and handed them their clue.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 4th Place

Mako and Ryuko then dashed towards the street.

"We're not changing?" Mako asked.

"Waste of time," Ryuko replied. "And we've been through worse."

"Eh, fair."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Score: 5-17

Sora and Shiro

Sora pumped the bike pump rapidly, inflating the globe balloon.

"I've got everything else done," Shiro said. "The globe's the only thing left."

"That was fast," Sora said. "Well, great."

He finished pumping up the globe as they rolled it over to the float, then lifted it up and placed it in the center.

"It's rolling everywhere," Sora said. "Hmm…"

"Well, there has to be some kind of support, right?" Shiro asked. "Look at the photo. There's a ring around the bottom."

"Well, then let's get it!"

Sora and Shiro ran to the van before running back out with the ring. They quickly laid the ring on the floor, then rolled the globe over it.

"Check," Shiro said. The judge walked up, looked around, then handed them their clue.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 5th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Sora read.

Touma and Mikoto

"Touma and Mikoto, you're team number three."

Touma and Mikoto: 3rd Place

"Alright!" Touma said. "Our best placement yet!"


Mako and Ryuko ran up to the Pit Stop mat.

"Mako and Ryuko," Hinata said. "You're team number four."

Mako and Ryuko: 4th Place

"Not bad," Ryuko said. "Not bad at all."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki ran up to the globe and steadied it. "Damn wind keeps pushing this and messing it up."

"Just relax," Mitsuha said. "I'm sure it'll turn out fine. Can we get another check?"

The judge inspected their float once again.

"No."

"Seriously?" Taki asked. "Does it have to do with the globe rolling everywhere?"

Mitsuha stared at the photo for a maddeningly long time before she saw it. "Oh. Oooh. There's some ring on the bottom of the globe to support it."

Taki snatched the photo out of her hand before running to the truck to get it. As they were doing that, Okabe and Kurisu pulled up.

Okabe and Kurisu

The scientists ran into the plaza, but the judge stopped them.

"I'm sorry, this Detour is full," he said. "There is a five-team limit. You must either do the other Detour, or wait here for the possibility that someone switches."

"Damn," Okabe said.

"Fine. Let's go," Kurisu said, getting back into their cab.

"That is so annoying," Okabe said. "There's nothing we can do, though, and I doubt anyone's going to switch."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha secured the globe around the rubber ring. "Okay, check now?"

The judge looked at their float, then handed them their clue.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 6th Place

"Let's go," Taki said, running out to the road with Mitsuha.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Score: 9-28

The pros slipped, causing the ball to get caught up in their net.

"Here you go," the scorekeeper said, handing them the clue.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 7th Place

"We could very well be the last ones," Naofumi said, getting into the cab. "So don't expect anything."

"I don't think we're last today," Raphtalia replied.


"Sora and Shiro," Hinata said. "You're team number five."

Sora and Shiro: 5th Place

"Okay," Sora said. "We made up some time since the soccer thing, but I'm not that proud with our position today."

Kazuma and Megumin

Megumin furiously pumped the bicycle pump to inflate the globe. Meanwhile, Kazuma began setting up the rest of the float.

"This is the flag of Brazil," Kazuma said, picking up the flag from the truck, then running over to the float to put it up.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio moved their globe on top. "Can we get a check now?"

The judge looked at their float.

[x] No Globe Support

"Sorry, no good," the judge said.

Okabe and Kurisu

After getting changed, Okabe and Kurisu raced their way to the volleyball courts.

"This is going to be painful," Kurisu said. "I can feel it."

Kurisu served it, but the pros very quickly kicked it back, causing both of them to miss it.

Kazuma and Megumin

After rolling the globe to the top, Kazuma noticed that it wasn't exactly staying still.

"How do we get it to stay still?" Kazuma asked. "There's no way this is acceptable."

He scoured the photo, then noticed the ring on the bottom.

"Megumin, can you go in there and see if there's anything that looks like the base of a condom?"

"What?"

"Can you find a giant rubber ring?"

Megumin ran in, then ran out holding the giant ring.

"Got it!" Megumin shouted. They ran up, set it on the floor, then rolled the globe over it and centered it on top.

"Check?"

The judge looked at it, then handed Kazuma and Megumin their clues.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 8th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Kazuma read.


"Taki and Mitsuha, Naofumi and Raphtalia," Hinata said. "You're teams number six, and seven."

Taki and Mitsuha: 6th Place

Naofumi and Raphtalia: 7th Place

They smiled as Taki went to hi-five Naofumi, but he just awkwardly stared in return.

"No hi five? Fist bump?"

"No."

"Okay."


Okabe and Kurisu: Score: 2-16

Okabe held a hand up to his forehead to shield his eyes from the burning sun.

"I don't know if this is doable for us," he said.

"We just have to keep trying, though," Kurisu replied. "You're the one who knows the most about 'keep trying'."

"I know, but unlike that, we're kind of on a time limit."

Ritsu and Mio

"I honestly don't know what's wrong," Ritsu said. "Everything looks exactly as it does in the photo."

"Calm down," Mio said. "I'm sure we'll find it."

Ritsu sighed, walked up, and realigned their globe.

"Check," she said.

"No," the judge replied.

Okabe and Kurisu: Score: 5-30

"That makes thirty!" the scorekeeper shouted. "We go back to 0-0!"

Okabe squatted on the sand, hands in his face.

"It's okay," Kurisu said, patting him in the back. "It's alright."


"Kazuma and Megumin" Hinata said. "You're team number eight."

Kazuma and Megumin: 8th Place

"We survived," Megumin said. "Yeah!"


Ritsu and Mio

"Maybe what we're missing has something to do with stabilizing the globe," Mio said. "Because there's no reason a functional float would have that globe that's just rolling and bouncing all over the place."

Ritsu stared at the photo.

"I see nothing," she said.

"Give me that," Mio replied, grabbing the photo. "Right here! There's like a black rubber thing at the bottom."

She walked over to the truck, pulled out the rubber ring, then returned, placed it on the float, and rolled the globe over it.

"Check," Mio said.

The judge handed them their clue.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 9th Place

"Finally," Ritsu said. "Make your way to your next Pit Stop."

Okabe and Kurisu

"I'm just wiped right now," Okabe said, sitting on the sand.

"Well, we gotta keep trying," Kurisu said. "It's not over yet."

Okabe stood up for the next round. As Kurisu served it, the pros bounced it back, to which Okabe leapt up and hit it back. The pros couldn't recover and the scientists won a point.

Ritsu and Mio

"You know how little of a chance we have, right?" Mio asked.

"Well, ya never know," Ritsu replied. "It could be another non-elimination."

"They're not going to have another non-elim so soon." Mio said. "Besides, the author's already struggling to write ten teams in leg three, and needs people gone so he can focus more time on each character."

"What was that?" Ritsu asked.

"What?"

"Something about an author struggling about writing characters?"

"I didn't say that. That makes no sense. Why would I even say something like that"

"What just-"

Okabe and Kurisu

As the ball soared through the air, both Okabe and Kurisu leapt for it, clashing heads in the process.

"Ah, dammit," Kurisu said, rubbing her scalp.

"Worst day ever," Okabe replied.


Ritsu and Mio ran to the Pit Stop mat.

"Ritsu and Mio," Hinata said. "Rough day?"

"We were at that float challenge for hours, man," Ritsu said. "It was just hell. Just… just tell us the words."

"Yeah, you're a little late." Hinata said. "There is some good news…"

"Huh?" Mio asked.

"You are not the last team to arrive."

"What?" Mio repeated, jumping up.

"Ritsu and Mio, there is another team still out there on the course, you are team number NINE!"

Ritsu and Mio: 9th Place

"Who is it?" Ritsu asked. "Who screwed up worse than us?"

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see," Hinata said. "Why don't you go to the hotel and get a good rest? You deserve it."

"Thank you!" Ritsu said, bowing down.

"I honestly can't comprehend the miracle we just witnessed." Ritsu said. "We're not last, we get to survive another day."

"We really do need to step up our game, though," Mio said. "We shouldn't need to rely on miracles to win this thing."

Okabe and Kurisu

Okabe served the ball again, but he didn't have enough energy as it stopped against the net.

"Okabe and Kurisu!" Hinata shouted, approaching them.

"Oh, no," Kurisu said, standing up and bringing Okabe with her.

"Okabe and Kurisu," he said. "The last team checked in almost two hours ago. It's getting dark, and we can't keep doing this all day. I'm sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the race."

Okabe and Kurisu: Eliminated

"Yeah, I'm just really upset," Kurisu said. "I mean, if Brother and Sister never lied to us, then we'd be done with the cocktails really quick, and gotten to the floats in time, and probably be done with the floats challenge and checked in ages ago."

"Well, there were six people who wanted to do the floats, and four who wanted to do the volleyball," Hinata said. "Even if you weren't lied to, someone would be forced to do the volleyball Detour against their will, and they'd likely be in the exact same predicament as you. Unfortunately, Sora and Shiro's actions seem to have put you specifically in that hot seat."

"Now that we've had time to reflect, I'm less mad at Sora and Shiro," Kurisu said. "Someone would've been screwed by that either way. And it was kind of our fault for believing them over our clue."

"We'll be rooting for everyone," Okabe said. "We had a good run, but it's our turn to leave."


Race Stats


Next Time on the Amazing Race: Hope's Peak Edition:h

The remaining nine sprint their way through the East African city of Accra, Ghana.

"Shoes!" Raphtalia shouted. "Shoes for sale!"

"Does anyone here want to buy shoes?" Mikoto advertised.

There, Taki and Mitsuha run into taxi troubles.

"Where is he?" Taki asked. "We can't find a new cab at this place, we were supposed to hang onto him!"

"He's gone, Taki," Mitsuha replied.

And the race's first U-Turn pulls some strings.

"I mean, it's something that's put there for us to use." Kirito said. "If we get there first, we're planning to U-Turn Souma and Erina."


A/N: So yeah, sorry this last chapter took a few months to get out. Life is hard. But on the bright side, it's a pretty big chapter. So yeah. Hoping to get back into the swing of things soon.

Chapter 7: Leg 4.1 (Accra, Ghana)

Chapter Text

Previously on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition

Ten teams raced from Las Vegas to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In Rio, team SAO and the Chefs faced off for the first place spot. In the end, Kirito and Asuna came up on top.

"Kirito and Asuna, you're team number ONE!"

However, a little fib by Sora and Shiro…

"It's over by the beach," Sora said. "It's really crowded, but there's a guy with a very distinct red and yellow swimsuit."

"The clue said-" Kurisu argued.

"Well, we found the clue over there." Shiro replied.

... sent Okabe and Kurisu packing.

"Okabe and Kurisu, I'm sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the race."

Nine teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?


Leg 4.1


This is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And at the top of Corcovado Mountain, Christ the Redeemer, one of the most famous spectacles of Brazil. It will now be the starting line for the fourth leg in a race around the world.

Kirito and Asuna won the previous leg, and will depart first at 5:00 AM.

Kirito and Asuna: 1st to depart, 5:00 AM

Asuna ripped their clue open.

"We're going to Africa!" Asuna shouted. "Fly to Accra, Ghana!"

[i] Fly to: Accra, Ghana

Teams will now leave the tropical city of Rio de Janeiro and fly eastwards to the West African country of Ghana. After touching down in the capital city of Accra, teams must make their way to this cocoa farm to find their next clue.

"Warning: Double U-Turn ahead," Asuna read. "Oh, that's not good."

Kirito and Asuna shoved their bags into the trunk of the taxi as they headed off to the airport.

"It feels so good to win a leg after getting second place twice," Kirito explained. "But on the other hand, winning a leg right before a U-Turn is likely to put a lot of the targets on us."

"You know, we do have an active alliance with the siblings right now," Asuna said. "We could maybe try and coordinate somethinge to eliminate Souma and Erina tonight."

"Souma and Erina are so far, our biggest threats," Asuna explained. "They're the only team who's finished up there in the final three with us each leg so far. So, we'd love to get rid of them if we can."

Souma and Erina: 2nd to depart, 5:06 AM

Souma and Erina rode in their cab to the airport.

"I don't think we should use the U-Turn today unless we absolutely have to," Souma said. "There's going to be at least one more later in the race, maybe even two more, but right now, I think we should save it."

"There's a rule that you can only use your U-Turn power once in the entire race." Erina explained. "So if we U-Turn this leg, we won't be able to U-Turn in a later leg."

"If we use our U-Turn now, then if we get U-Turned in the future, we won't be able to U-Turn a team behind us to try and save ourselves, and we could end up being the only team U-Turned." Souma said. "That's going to be a really bad scenario if it does end up happening."

"Oh, there's also something else we really need to discuss," Erina said, pulling out their double Express Passes. "We have to give this out to someone this leg."

"Yeah, I forgot about that," Souma replied. "It should be someone who's pretty weak. We obviously can't give it to ourselves, and I think it's safe to take SAO and the siblings off our list because they both won legs and could be threats in the future…"

"We should decide by the time we get to the airport," Erina said.

Touma and Mikoto: 3rd to depart, 5:25 AM

"So far we've been in a middle performance," Mikoto said. "So, we're not exactly threats that people want to target, but we're not exactly the weak team that stronger teams U-Turn to save themselves."

"What if we get a chance to use it?" Touma asked.

"U-Turn team SAO, I guess…" Mikoto replied. "Or no one at all really, if we don't need to."

Touma pulled out the plane tickets. "They already gave us pre-determined tickets, so I assume we're all on the same flight. There goes our chances of a lead."


Rio de Janeiro Airport

The nine remaining teams lounged around the airport. Of course, talk of a U-Turn was imminent.

Kirito and Asuna brought Sora and Shiro over to the corner of the terminal.

"We have a plan to U-Turn and get rid of Souma and Erina," Kirito said.

"Oh, alright. Do tell." Sora replied.

"Well, between the two of us, we try to get to the U-Turn board before anyone else," Kirito said. "Whoever gets there first will U-Turn Souma and Erina. Whoever gets there after will U-Turn the first team, which will have no effect, and make the second slot useless. That way, Souma and Erina won't be able to U-Turn someone else to save themselves"

"That's a pretty good plan," Shiro said. "Count us in."


Ritsu and Mio talked with Souma and Erina, as well as Touma and Mikoto.

"Yeah, I really don't think we'd be able to get to a U-Turn board early enough to use it anyways," Ritsu said. "It doesn't really matter. I'm pretty sure both of us are agreed that we won't use it unless we're in second-to-last or something like that."

Erina pursed her lips and nodded.

"The issue with a conversation about a U-Turn is that you never know who's telling the truth," Touma said. "Of course, if someone is plotting to U-Turn you, they're never going to say that to your face."

Souma reached into his pocket. "If you promise to not U-Turn us, nor assist with U-turning us, we have something for you."

"Us?" Touma asked. "Or them?" He pointed to Ritsu and Mio.

"Well, the girls," Souma said. "If you promise not to U-Turn us, and both of us survive this leg, we will give you our spare Express Pass."

Mio's eyes lit up with delight. "R-Really?"

"Well, we do need to get rid of it today," Erina said. "And you two looked like you needed some help."

"You're serious?" Ritsu asked.

"Well, only if you survive the leg, and you don't U-Turn us." Souma said. "We don't want to hand it off to someone and have them use it to U-Turn us immediately."

"Yeah, fair point," Touma said. "I kind of feel like we're left out of this conversation now."

"Don't worry about it, we'll give you our original express pass!" Souma shouted.

"Really?"

"No."


The nine teams boarded the airplane.

"I know everyone's talking about U-Turn drama, but I'm actually pretty thrilled we're going to Africa," Taki said. "It's not really somewhere I'd go for vacation or anything, so I'm glad we get to go there to race."

"I really hope that this leg isn't our last," Megumin said.

"Bon Voyage, Brazil!" Ritsu cheered.

The plane got onto the runway, then took off.


Kotoka International Airport

The teams sprinted out the door and to the line of cabs waiting for them.

"TAXI?" Mako shouted.

"Woo!" Raphtalia shouted, hopping into their cab. "Another hot location."

Mako and Ryuko

"We need to go to the town of bbbb," Mako said. "Can you drive?"

The driver nodded and ran up to his cab, inviting them inside.

Taki and Mitsuha

"It's insane being in Africa, and especially in East Africa," Mitsuha said.

"The best part about The Amazing Race is that it brings you to places that are on your bucket list, and some places you'd never ordinarily want to go. What's great is that you get to see a very underrated part of the world."

Sora and Shiro

"U-Turn's coming up," Sora said. "We need to make sure that we get to the U-Turn board first."

"Our goal was to get to the U-Turn board first and try to get rid of Kirito and Asuna," Sora explained. "Yes, they trust us, but that's what makes them such an easy target."

"They're easily the biggest threats on this race," Shiro replied. "Just barely edging out the chefs in the averages."

"We agreed to their plan to U-Turn Souma and Erina, so if they manage to get to the board ahead of us, we don't have to worry about anything." Sora explained. "But there's no way we're going to follow through with this plan."

Kirito and Asuna

"I'm just so glad that Sora and Shiro have our back," Asuna said. "One less team to target us, right?"

"I guess," Kirito replied. "But the way they were acting was kinda shady. I don't know if it's safe to trust them."

"They basically just gave us the answer in Vegas, Kirito," Asuna replied. "I think it's safe."

Touma and Mikoto

"It's really hot here," Touma said. "Man, I was hoping to go somewhere further north."

"Well, that's what you get when you go on a worldwide race, idiot."

Souma and Erina

"When I think of Africa, I do not think of traffic…" Souma said. "Especially not traffic this bad."

"Well, to be fair, it's just as bad as Tokyo traffic," Erina replied.

Ritsu and Mio

"You see that car up there?" Ritsu asked. "We need to beat them. We're in a huge race right now."

"Can you just calm down…" the driver said. "And just take it slow?"

"Sorry," Mio said. "But we are in a huge rush right now."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"Huh," Raphtalia said, gazing out the window. "I'm amazed at how many different cultures you have here! This place is so different from the last three places!"

"Yeah, it really is amazing," Naofumi said. "But some places are more fortunate than others. That's how it was back in your world, that's how it is here."

"As we were leaving the main city and going to more rural places, it just made me see how good we have it," Raphtalia said, almost crying. "I used to be on the bottom, I used to be a literal slave before Master Naofumi came in and rescued me."

"She's technically still a slave," Naofumi said.

"He just came in and treated me so well." Raphtalia said. "For how cold he acts, he really is a caring person. I'm just so glad to have someone like Naofumi in my life."

Kazuma and Megumin

"Kazuma, Kazuma!" Megumin shouted.

"Yes, I'm Kazuma."

"Clue box!"

Kazuma looked out their cab to see it pulling up to the clue box outside the farm.

"Oh!" Kazuma shouted, leaping out of their cab. They ran up to the clue box and opened it, pulling out the clue.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

"Detour," Kazuma read. "Cacao Harvest or Cacao Process?"

Cacao Beans are one of Ghana's most famous exports. Teams will now have to experience one of two sides of it. It will be their choice: Cacao Harvest, or Cacao Process.

[D] Cacao Harvest

In Cacao Harvest, teams must run around this farm to harvest 100 ripe cacao pods. Once the farm owner checks their work and verifies they are ripe enough, teams will get their next clue.

[D] Cacao Process

In Cacao Process, teams must work in the Cacao fermentation process. Teams must open these ripe cacao pods, then spread the resulting beans on this 100-square-foot tarp to ferment. Once the judge deems that enough cocoa beans have been laid out on the tarp, teams will receive their next clue.

"What do you think?" Megumin asked.

"Harvest," Kazuma replied.

Kazuma and Megumin ran down the marked path, where it branched, clearly labelled with "Cacao Harvest" and "Cacao Process".

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

"We're doing Cacao Harvest," Souma said.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 3rd Place

"Cacao Process," Sora said. "Less physical."

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 4th Place

"Cacao Harvest," Ritsu said.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin ran into the Cacao Harvest Detour.

"Okay, what do we do?" Megumin asked. Kazuma picked up a basket and handed it to Megumin.

"We run around and grab cacao pods, right?" Kazuma asked. "Let's go!"

Kazuma and Megumin then ran into the farm.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina grabbed their baskets and ran in after Kazuma and Megumin.

"I don't know anything about raw cacao," Souma said. "Because I always get the store-bought chocolate".

"Eugh…" Erina replied. "I do. You can't tell if they're ripe by the colors alone because there are several different types. I don't know what types grow here, though."

"How do you tell then?"

"I think you can shake them." Erina replied. "If you hear it sloshing around, it's probably ripe."

Kazuma and Megumin

"Just take the red ones," Kazuma said. "Green ones are unripe."

"How do you know?" Megumin replied.

"All fruits are like that."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro ran to the Cacao Process detour.

"Okay, what do we do?" Sora asked. The judge walked up to them, then spoke to them.

"You need to crack the pods open, take out the contents, then lay them down on the tarp." he said.

"How do we crack them open?" Shiro asked. "Do we have a knife?"

"Use your hands," the judge replied.

Sora picked up a pod and karate-chopped it as it cracked open.

"Okay, that's actually more fragile than I thought," Sora said. "Ow!"

He shook off his hand, then pulled the seeds out of the pods.

"I see…" Shiro said. "So we have to crack open possibly hundreds of those to fill up this tarp."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 5th Place

"Cacao Harvest," Naofumi said.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 6th Place

"Process," Taki said.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 7th Place

"What do you think?" Kirito asked.

"I think we should do Cacao Process," Asuna replied.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 8th Place

"Harvest," Ryuko said. "Hands down."

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in Last Place

"We're doing Cacao Harvest." Mikoto said.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio ran around, plucking every single cacao pod they could see.

"I don't understand why anyone would pick the other one over this," Ritsu replied. "This is, what, going to take us ten minutes?"

Souma and Erina

"That should be thirty," Souma said. "I think they're all ripe."

"We should go back and get them checked before we continue," Erina said. "Just to make sure we're doing well."

They ran back through the farm and to the woman who was judging.

"Can we get these ones checked?" Souma asked. They handed her the baskets full of cocoa pods and then looked at each one, shook it a bit, then tossed it into a container with their name on it.

After a few minutes, the judge placed each one in the container, then scribbled "30" on the sign.

"Those were good," she said.

"When she was shaking the pods while judging them, not really paying attention to the color at all, we knew that was what we would need to look out for," Souma said.

"Okay, so we know that shaking it is the key," Souma said, running back to the cocoa farm.

"I told you, didn't I?"

Kazuma and Megumin

"Kazuma, Kazuma!" Megumin asked. "Our baskets are full. Should we return?"

"Well, what do you think?" Kazuma asked. "Our baskets are full. What do you think?"

Kazuma sighed before they ran to the judge.

"Can you check these?" Kazuma asked.

The judge grabbed their baskets, then looked at it. She pulled one out of the basket, shook it, then dumped it into the trash can right next to them.

"Oh no," Megumin said.

She tossed pod after pod into the garbage, only accepting six of the thirty-two they recovered.

"What?" Kazuma asked. "How? Why?"

The woman shook her head and pointed away from the station.

"I wanna blow her up," Megumin said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia arrived at the Cacao Harvest detour, picking up baskets.

"What do they look like, Master Naofumi?"

"Well, not sure," Naofumi replied. "I've never worked with chocolate in its raw form."

"Chocolate? This is chocolate?"

"Well, they're what chocolate is made of," Naofumi said. "Come on, I see some big ones."

Naofumi sliced a few pods off their branches and placed them in his basket.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha arrived at Cacao Process, right ahead of Kirito and Asuna

"Where's the knife?" Taki asked. "Knife? For the cocoa pods?"

Sora and Shiro didn't answer.

"I think we have to use our hands," Kirito said. "Look at Sora and Shiro."

Kirito and Asuna gestured to Sora and Shiro, who were opening the pods barehanded.

Sora and Shiro

"Graah!" Sora groaned, rubbing the side of his hand.

"Karate-chopping the pods worked well for the first… ten or so pods." Sora explained. "But after that, it started to hurt the side of our hands, and it got worse and worse with each pod we opened."

"You have an idea?" Sora asked.

Shiro thought for a second before trying to smash the pods into the ground.

"It's soil… too soft," Shiro said. "I have an idea."

She placed a cacao pod on the ground, then smashed another pod on top of it.

"Oh, good idea! That's my cute little sister!"

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki smacked the pod open, pulling the slimy seeds out.

"This is kinda disgusting," he said, pouring them onto the tarp.

"It's not embarrassing… like making sake with your... spit." Mitsuha replied, not exactly fazed by the sliminess of the fruit.

"Spit sake doesn't taste that bad, actually."

Mitsuha gave him a questioning look, but didn't pry.

Mako and Ryuko

"How do we know if they're ripe?" Ryuko asked.

"I dunno," Mako replied.

"Um… let's just pick ones that look like they're ripe."

"What does that look like?"

"..."

"Switch?"

"Switch."

They put their baskets down, then ran over to the other side.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio ran over to get their cacao pods checked.

The woman checked each pod and then tossed around half of them into their container before scribbling the number 16 on their sign.

"Only that many?" Ritsu asked. "Argh."

"That's fine," Mio replied. "Let's keep going."

Touma and Mikoto

"What do ripe ones look like?" Touma asked.

"I don't know? Why are you asking me, idiot? Just pull off ones that seem like they're big enough."

Sora and Shiro

As Sora emptied a pod, Shiro got on her hands and knees to spread the beans all over the tarp.

"Does that look good?" Shiro asked. Sora stood up and looked at it from above.

"I think so," he replied. "Judge!"

The judge walked up to their tarp, then looked at it from a few angles.

"No," He said. "Too spaced out. You could fit more beans."

"Okay," Sora replied. "My hands are numb…"

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin came back with another two baskets of pods.

"Okay," Kazuma said. "Here you go."

She checked each and every one of them, only throwing in four of the thirty they brought.

"Oh… come on!" Megumin shouted, stomping her foot on the floor. "This is stupid!"

"Let's just switch," Kazuma said. "This is going to take us forever."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia presented their baskets of pods to the judge. She checked them, then threw only about a third of them into their bin.

"Seriously?" Naofumi asked. "We've only got nine?"

"This is going to take forever…" Raphalia pouted. "What do you think? Should we switch?"

"Yeah," Naofumi said. "That's a good idea."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitusha continued emptying their pods.

"Come on," Taki said. "This is really difficult to do fast."

"Trying to break those pods wasn't difficult, but doing it fast, over and over, begins to strain your hands." Mitsuha explained. "To stop it from aching and hurting, you had to find new ways to break them open with different parts of your hands."

Mitsuha gripped the cacao pod with her left hand, then smashed her right elbow into it.

Souma and Erina

"Fifty…" Souma said, looking at the new number scribbled on their sign.

"Hey," Ritsu said, running next to them. "Is there some kind of trick? How do you know if they're ripe?"

"You shake it," Souma said. "If you can feel the liquid, it's ripe."

"You idiot!" Erina shouted, smacking his shoulder. "Why are you helping other teams?"

"I think it's fine!" Souma replied. "Aren't we going to give them the Express Pass anyways?"

"Well, yeah, but if something happens, we need to have as many people behind us struggling as we can." Erina replied.

"Before we started this race, we both decided that we're not going to help people unless we have to." Erina said. "I mean, this is a competition, and we're not too concerned with any kind of social aspect. We don't want to drag people along with us, and we don't want to be dragged along by others. We need to prove our worth by ourselves. In our minds, there's no one on this course but us."

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko ran into the Cacao Process Detour.

"Hey guys," Mako said, running to a station.

They ran to the nearby cacao pods, then grabbed a handful and ran back to their station. Mako and Ryuko rapidly cracked them open, pouring their contents into the tarp.

Kirito and Asuna

Asuna spread out the slimy cocoa beans over the tarp to get a good estimate at how much they had complete.

"Looks like around hal-"

Then, one of her hands slipped on the beans, causing her to faceplant into the slimy surface.

"Eugh!" she shouted.

"Ha!" Kirito shouted. "Okay, let's get up."

She stood up and brushed the beans off her front. "This is disgusting. Why is chocolate so disgustingly slimy?"

Sora looked over at them. "Nice, a hot girl all slimy over her chest and face!"

"I'm going to kill you," Asuna replied.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu shook the pod back and forth. "Yup, sounds like liquid in there."

"Then just put it in the basket," Mio said. "I really appreciate how they helped us back there."

Mio grabbed another pod, shook it, then tossed it into their basket.

Touma and Mikoto

"Only twenty?" Touma asked. "But we brought, like, twice that."

"Well, obviously some of them aren't ripe or acceptable," Mikoto replied. "Did you notice how she shook the pods with her eyes closed?"

"No?"

"Idiot. Since she didn't look at them, it's obvious we need to shake them in order to tell if they're ripe. The color doesn't matter."

Mako and Ryuko

Ryuko bashed a pod over her knee, then cracked it open.

"I don't know why we didn't pick this one to start," Ryuko said. "This is really fun!"

"Owchie!" Mako shouted

"What?" Ryuko asked, dropping the pod and looking at her.

"Splinter!"

Ryuko gave her a look of disapproval before picking up the pod and continuing.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin began cracking open their pods.

"If only I could destroy all of these with my Explosion instead!"

"No."

"But I thin-"

"No."

"It wou-"

"You can't."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia ran into the Cacao Process detour.

"Was there something wrong with the other side?" Kirito asked. "Three people switched."

"I don't want to talk about it," Naofumi said, rushing by them to the next open station.

Touma and Mikoto

"You feel that?" Mikoto asked, handing him the pod. "It's sloshing around in there. I think that's the key."

"Well, if you say so."

Ritsu and Mio

The musicians ran up to the judge, handing them their pods.

She judged each one, then dumped them all into the container.

"That's forty," Ritsu said. "Sixty more to go!"

Souma and Erina

Erina clipped a pod off the tree, checked it, then brought their basket over to the judge.

The judge checked each of them before throwing them all into the pot, discarding one.

"Seventy," Souma said. "Thirty more."

"We're getting close," Erina replied.

Sora and Shiro

"It's almost full," Sora said. "Just a few more pods and we're out of here."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki smashed the pod open and pulled out the innards.

"This is getting very exhausting," Taki said. "It doesn't help that it's like a hundred degrees out."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"I just really wish I had the sword with me," Raphtalia said.

"My shield would do really well too," Naofumi said. "But whatever. It doesn't matter here."

He cracked the pod with his palm before pouring the contents onto the tarp.

"I'm really good with punching, because when I was in the other world, the only real weapon I had was my fists. I wasn't allowed to use anything except my shield, so I guess you can say I've gotten better at hand-to-hand combat, and as such, better at breaking things with my hands."

Kazuma and Megumin

"Kazuma, my hands are tired."

"Who cares?" Kazuma asked. "We switched, so we have to follow through."

Megumin threw a pod at his face, causing him to fall back.

"Hey!" he shouted. She then threw the goopy, slimy insides at him.

"Augh!"

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto returned to the judge with a full basket of pods.

"That's half," Touma said.

Souma and Erina

After looking at the pods, the judge tossed them into the container, then handed them their clue.

"Woo!" Souma shouted.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 1st Place

"Find the town's post office for your next clue." Souma read.

[i] Proceed to: Mampon Post Office

Souma and Erina ran to their cab, then hopped in.

"I think we're the first ones out," Souma said.

"We're under agreement that we're not using the U-Turn, right?"

"Yeah," Souma replied. "There's no real need to."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro spread the beans out to each corner of the tarp.

"That was a lot more work than expected," Sora said. "Can we get a check?"

The judge looked at their tarp, then nodded and handed him the clue.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 2nd Place

"Finally," Shiro said, sighing. "Let's go."

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 3rd Place

Kirito and Asuna grabbed their clue from the judge and ripped it open.

"Make your way to the town's post office," Asuna read.

They chased the siblings out of the farm and to the cab.

"Remember," Kirito said. "U-Turn the chefs, then burn the other slot!"

"I remember," Shiro said, climbing in.

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio handed their baskets to the woman, who judged them, then poured all of them into the container.

"Alright, let's go get another round," Ritsu said.

"No, no, no, you're done," she said.

"Huh? We're done?"

"Yeah. 100."

The woman then pulled the clue out of her pocket, then handed it to the girls.

"I don't think we've done a challenge this well," Mio said, ripping the clue open.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 4th Place

"Let's go," Mio said.

Touma and Mikoto

"Well, looks like the girls and the Chefs left," Touma said.

"That's not important right now," Mikoto said. "We're over halfway there. Chop chop!"

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki split open the last pod before piling it out onto the tarp.

"Check!" Taki shouted. The judge walked up and looked at it.

"Spread out," he said.

"Huh?" Mitsuha asked.

"You need to spread it out over the tarp. It's in a pile," he said.

"Oh, okay," Taki said. "Help me spread this."

Kazuma and Megumin

"I'm so glad we aren't a threat," Kazuma said. "Because if we get U-Turned, which is unlikely, I'm seriously going to lose it."

"This is so hard!" Megumin shouted, busting the pod open. "We're almost done… huff…"

"It's not harder than fighting slimy toads," Kazuma replied.

"But here I'm stressed for time!"

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia sped up their maneuvers to outspeed Kazuma and Megumin.

"Let's do this," Naofumi said. "We're almost done."

"Great work, Master Naofumi!"

Mako and Ryuko

"Just a few more," Mako said. "And we'll be outta here."

"I don't think we're at risk of being U-Turned," Ryuko said, "But that doesn't mean we can be relaxed about it. We're near the back, and if there's a slot open, I think our only choice is to use it on one of the three other people here."

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina got out of their cab, followed almost immediately by Sora and Shiro

"Shoot," Souma said. "We have to beat them there."

"There's the arrows," Erina said. They ran to the post office, guided by the arrows, until they entered the building and found the U-turn board before Sora and Shiro.

Two teams now have an opportunity to slow down two other teams with a U-Turn. The U-Turned team must backtrack and complete the side of the Detour they didn't pick before they can continue racing.

Today's U-Turn is Blind, meaning the people who use the board do not have to reveal themselves as the perpetrators.

"We choose not to U-Turn anyone," Souma and Erina simultaneously said.

They then grabbed the clue that was sitting at the base of the U-Turn board, then ripped it open.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way to Makola Market," Souma read.

[i] Proceed to: Makola Market

Teams must return to the capital of Accra and find this bustling market. Once they do so, they will find their next clue.

The chefs left the post office as Sora and Shiro dug through the U-Turn photos.

"We're not sorry," they said, putting Kirito and Asuna's faces on the board.

U-Turn x2

Kirito and Asuna

Courtesy of [BLIND]

[Empty space]

Courtesy of [BLIND]

They then ripped open the clue.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way to Makola Market," Sora read.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna pulled up to the post office just as Souma and Erina hopped into their cab.

"Hopefully Sora and Shiro got there first," Kirito said.

As they got out of their cab, they saw Sora and Shiro running up to them.

"What is it? Did you U-Turn them?" Asuna asked.

"You've been U-turned," Sora said.

"What?" Kirito asked.

"We got there second. By the time we got there, Souma and Erina were putting your names on the board." Sora said. "We have to go."

"Today's U-Turn was blind, which actually worked in our favor," Sora said. "We realized that since Kirito and Asuna were right behind us, and our own names weren't under the "courtesy of" section, we could blame this on the chefs. If they survived, there wouldn't be any ill will towards us, and the two strongest teams here could get into a tiff and destroy each other."

Sora and Shiro got into their car and left.

"We've been U-Turned?" Asuna asked. They shrugged and ran into the post office, seeing the board with their names on it.

"Dammit!" Kirito shouted. "Fuck!"

"Well, we have to U-Turn someone else, right?" Asuna asked. "To survive."

"Right, right," Kirito said. "Who should we do?"

"So, when we got to the U-Turn, it was definitely very disheartening." Asuna said. "But forget that, we needed to U-Turn someone else because a slot was available. It needed to be a team who wasn't very strong, and a team that we knew 100% was behind us. We couldn't U-Turn the teams at the other Detour because we're not certain if they're behind us or not."

Kirito pulled out the photos of Kazuma and Megumin, Naofumi and Raphtalia, and Taki and Mitsuha.

"Them?" Asuna asked. "Fine."

They sighed as they hung one of the photos onto the board.

Chapter 8: Leg 4.2 (Accra, Ghana)

Chapter Text

Leg 4.2


Kirito and Asuna

"Who should we do?" Kirito asked, pulling the photos of the three teams behind them.

"Well, someone weak," Asuna said.

"Naofumi and Raphtalia," Kirito said. "They're the weakest of the three teams left."

"Them?" Asuna asked. "Fine."

They sighed before hanging Naofumi and Raphtalia's names on the board.

"We're sorry but we have to do this to stay in the game." Kirito said.

U-Turn x2

Kirito and Asuna

Courtesy of [BLIND]

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Courtesy of [BLIND]

They ran out of the room, then got back into their cab.

"Back to the cocoa farm," Asuna said. "Man, that sucks!"

"So, it clearly has to be the chefs," Kirito said. "They're probably trying to knock out the next biggest threat."

"Well, obviously," Asuna replied. "I mean, we saw them running out, then Sora and Shiro told us… and we know we can trust them."

"Yeah, you're right," Kirito replied.

Taki and Mitsuha

"Check!" Taki shouted, standing up. The judge walked up and looked over their work.

"Good job," He said, giving them their clue.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 5th Place

After reading their clue, Taki and Mitsuha ran out to their taxis.

"Where's our taxi?" Taki asked.

"Huh?" Mitsuha replied. "Isn't this our taxi?"

"No, that's someone else's," Taki said. "We can't find a new cab at this place! We were supposed to hang onto him! Where is he?"

"He's gone, Taki," Mitsuha replied.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia spread out their cocoa beans on the floor before Naofumi contacted the judge.

"All good," he said, handing them their clue.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in 6th Place

"Woo!" Raphtalia shouted.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto continued to run around the farm, picking up more and more pods.

They shook them lightly. "Alright," Touma said. "That should be enough, no?"

"I think so," Mikoto replied. "Let's go."

Touma and Mikoto ran to the judge, handing them the pods.

Mako and Ryuko

"Check!" Mako shouted, throwing hands into the air.

"You just need to smooth it out onto the tarp," the judge said. "It's in a huge pile."

Taki and Mitsuha

"Jesus christ," Taki said. Naofumi and Raphtalia ran right by them and hopped into their waiting cab.

"Where the hell is he?" Mitsuha asked. "Are we seriously going to lose the race because of a taxi?"

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin stood up, looking at their work.

"Check!" Kazuma shouted.

The judge looked over their work, bent over, then looked at the beans more intensely.

"It's good," he said, giving them a clue.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 7th Place

"Yes!" Kazuma shouted, pumping his fist up in the air. "Let's get outta here!"

Touma and Mikoto

The judge counted up their pods, then handed them their clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 8th Place

"What are you doing, idiot? Let's go!" Mikoto shouted.

"Sorry," Touma replied.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha ran around the streets of this remote town until they glimpsed an unoccupied taxi.

"Is that him?" Taki asked. "Emmanuel?"

"Yes, it's Emmanuel," he said, rolling the window down.

"Where the hell were you?" Taki asked, opening the door and hopping inside.

"You took so long, so I decided I should get gas."

"Okay, fine, whatever, let's go! You already cost us a lot of time!"

"Sorry, sorry, just trying to do my job…"

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio ran up to the U-Turn board.

"U-Turn!" Mio shouted. "Oh, it's not us. Good."

"Looks like Kirito and Asuna, and Naofumi and Raphtalia got U-Turned!" Ritsu said. "Wow."

Mio bent over to grab the clue, then ripped it open.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 3rd Place

"Return to Accra…" Ritsu read.

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko gestured for the judge to look at their work. He loomed over it, then handed them their clue.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in Last Place

After reading the clue, Mako and Ryuko ran out of the farm, where they encountered Kirito and Asuna.

"What are you two doing here?" Mako asked. "Oh, did you get U-Turned?"

"What do you think?!" Kirito asked, dashing back into the farm.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia ran into the post office.

"We've been U-Turned," Naofumi said.

"What?" Raphtalia asked. "By who?"

"Don't know," Naofumi replied. "But there's nothing we can do about it now."

Raphtalia sighed as they ran back outside, passing by Kazuma and Megumin.

Kazuma and Megumin

"It's not us!" Kazuma shouted. "Heh. Shows them for not allying with us."

Megumin grabbed their clue and ripped it open.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 4th Place


Accra

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina's cab pulled up to the bustling market.

"Oh my god, it's so busy," Souma said.

"In Japan, we do have large markets, mostly for fish, but I've never seen something as chaotic as that market." Souma explained. "There's just so many people, the sun's shining on the back of your neck, and it's also very loud."

"Focus," Erina replied. "Let's find the clue box."

They entered the market and began looking around.

Sora and Shiro

"Oh… crowded… eugh…" Sora said.

Shiro grabbed his hand as they walked into the market together.

"I wanna be in a small room with no doors and windows…" Shiro whimpered.

Souma and Erina

"Here it is," Souma said, spotting the clue box in the middle of the walkway. They ran up to it, then ripped it open.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 1st Place

"It's a Roadblock," Souma read. "Who wants to sell out?"

[R] Who Wants to Sell Out?

Makola Market is one of the busiest markets in Ghana. In this Roadblock, teams must join these Ghanan salesmen and sell some sandals. Once teams have made 100 cedi (around 17 dollars), they will receive their next clue from the salesman.

"I'm doing it," Souma said, running into the market.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 2nd Place

"Ooh…" Sora muttered. "Neither of us are good at being social… but you can attract people with your cute charm, so you should do it."

"Fine… I'll do it," Shiro said.

Souma

Souma walked up to the stand.

"Okay," The salesman said. "You're going to pick up a pair of shoes, then walk around and offer them to people. You may sell them in any part of the market, but this is the only spot where you can pick up more stock. Every team will be coming back to this stand. You can't sell them for less than 20 cedi. Once you give me 100 cedi, I will give you the clue."

"Thanks," Souma said, picking up a pair of sandals.

Shiro

"So… so busy…" Shiro whimpered.

"As we've undoubtedly mentioned before, we're shut-ins," Sora explained. "So for either of us, just simply being in such a crowded area was a huge deal for either of us."

Shiro ran up behind Souma and picked up a pair of shoes.

Taki and Mitsuha

Followed closely by Touma and Mikoto, Taki and Mitusha ran up to the U-Turn board.

"Looks like Kirito and Asuna and Naofumi and Raphtalia were U-Turned," Taki said.

"It's not us," Mitsuha said, picking up their clue. "Let's go."

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 5th Place

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 6th Place

"I'm pretty sure Naofumi and Raphtalia were only U-Turned to save Kirito and Asuna," Mikoto said. "Because I'm sure no one sees them as a threat yet."

"Yeah," Touma replied. "I see it."

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna ran back to the judge holding their basket of cacao pods.

The judge shook them, then tossed them into either the garbage bin or the container with their names in it. Once they finished, the judge scribbled the number twelve onto their container.

"Only twelve?" Kirito asked. "That's only half of them!"

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko looked at the board.

"Oh my god," Mako said. "I didn't think anyone would use it this early!"

Ryuko bent over and grabbed the clue from the floor.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 7th Place

"Make your way to Makola Market," Mako read.

Souma

Souma wandered around the market.

"Hey, can I interest you in purchasing some shoes?" he asked.

The man put a hand up, pushed Souma away, and walked away.

"Ah, haha…" Souma said. "This is gonna be hard."

Shiro

Shiro walked up to a couple.

"H...h...hey…"

"Hi!" the girl said. Shiro tried to get something out, but couldn't muster up the words as the couple walked away.

"Such a nice girl…" the boy said.

"I'm bad with speaking..." Shiro said. "Sora does most of it for me… but if he said I should do it… then I'm going to do it."

"Wait…" she quietly muttered. They didn't notice her, so she ran up back to them and tugged at their clothes .

"Huh?"

"W-Would you like to buy some shoes? They're only 20 cedi…"

"Sure," the boy said. Shiro handed them over as the boy handed her the money.

Shiro: 20₵

Souma

Souma walked up to an old lady. "Would you like to buy some sandals from me?"

"How much do they cost?" she asked.

"Um… twenty."

The woman dished out the cash and handed it to Souma, making the exchange.

Souma: 20₵

Kirito and Asuna

"The judge was shaking the pods," Kirito said, shaking one of the pods they were about to harvest. "So that makes me think that shaking is a way to tell if they're ripe or not."

"She wasn't even looking at them," Asuna said. "That has to be it. I don't think the color or the size is too important."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia ran into the Cocoa Harvest Detour.

"Hey," Raphtalia said. "Thanks. Thanks for that."

"We're sorry," Kirito said. "We had to."

Asuna snapped her fingers in front of his face and gestured for him to continue working.

"I've had my share of betrayals back in the other world," Naofumi explained. "But unlike those times, I'm not that upset at team SAO. They did what they had to, it's in the name of the game, unlike Trash and Bitch... I'm not happy about it, but I don't fault them at all."

"Raphtalia, don't harp on them too much," Naofumi said. "Just ignore them and focus on completing this as fast as we can to catch up."

"Right, Master Naofumi."

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 3rd Place

"Roadblock," Ritsu read. "I think you've got this one."

"What? N-No! You do it!"

"Why not?" Ritsu asked.

"You know how I am with being in front of a lot of people…"

"We are literally on TV right now. What's the difference?"

"That's a camera. These are people."

Ritsu groaned. "Ugh. Fine."

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 4th Place

"Hu hu hu…" Megumin said, clue open. "The amazing Megumin will blast this pitiful challenge right open!"

"What?"

"N-N-Never mind, okay! Just let me do this!"

"Fine."

Souma

"Can I try them on?" a potential customer asked.

"Huh?" Souma asked.

"Try them on? See if they look good on me?"

"Well, sure, but if you decide not to buy them I'm going to silently judge you."

The customer shrugged and took off his shoes to try on the sandals Souma was selling.

Shiro

"Can I not just pickpocket some of these people and get the money that way?" Shiro asked. "I don't want to confront people."

"I still don't understand why you made me do that Roadblock," Shiro said, looking at her brother. "You know how I am dealing with people."

"Like I said, I figured they'd rather buy from a cute girl than a teenage boy." Sora replied, scratching the back of his head.

Ritsu

Ritsu grabbed a pair of sandals. "This place is total chaos."

"It was like one of those places you only see on TV but one that you would never… actually go to. Though, to be honest, being in such a chaotic environment was actually really fun."

"I'm having a lot of fun too, but that market was not in my comfort zone," Mio replied.

"Hey, can you buy some sandals from m… okay…"

The guy she was talking to completely ignored her and continued walking.

Souma

"So? What do you think?" Souma asked, looking at the man who tried on the sandal.

"Yeah, I like it," he said. "What's the price again?"

"Twenty" Souma said.

"Ooh, twenty? That's really cheap."

The guy dug into his pocket and gave Souma 20 cedi.

Souma: 20₵

"Thank you," Souma said. "Oh, and by the way, you said it was cheap?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"One guy that I was selling my shoes to mentioned that I was selling them at a very cheap price point. So I figured to interrogate him and figure out how much a pair of sandals like this would typically go."

"How much would sandals like these normally cost?" Souma asked.

"Hm… maybe around 30? 35?" he replied.

"Alright, thank you, I'll keep that in mind,"

Megumin

Megumin stood in the middle of the market, sandals in her hand.

"I was sitting there, wondering about my price point," Megumin said. "I needed to think of a price that was most effective. If it's too cheap, you attract more customers, but you have to sell more of them. If it's too expensive, you have to sell less, but less people are willing to buy them."

"Okay… Thirty? Thirty's fine…" Megumin muttered.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 5th Place

"Roadblock," Touma read. "I'll do it."

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 6th Place

"Selling stuff," Taki said. "It's all you."

"Got it," Mitsuha replied.

Kirito and Asuna

"I don't know how much we've emphasized this, but this really sucks," Kirito said. "I really hope the Roadblock is a point where we can catch up."

Kirito and Asuna walked up to the judge with their basket of cocoa pods.

"Please approve," Asuna said, handing her the basket. The judge pulled them out and shook each one of them, before throwing most of them into their approved bin.

"Forty-six," Kirito said. "That's good."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia ran around, collecting more pods.

"The worst part is that we were at this Detour initially and we switched," Naofumi said. "And now we have to do it anyway."

"Well, with all the downs, there's always an up. We get to race a bit more, right?"

"Huh, I guess you're not wrong."

"What do you mean 'I guess'?"

Naofumi and Raphtalia ran to the judge and handed her their baskets.

The judge checked each of them, then tossed six of the thirty they retrieved into their bin.

"Seriously?" Naofumi asked. "I seriously don't get this."

"Well, there has to be some kind of trick to this," Raphtalia replied.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 7th Place

"Me! I'll do it!" Mako shouted, raising her hand.

"Okay, sure," Ryuko replied, pushing her into the market while Ryuko walked over to sit with the six other non-participating members who were watching the market.

"The only people who aren't here are the two teams who got U-Turned," Mio said.

"It doesn't seem like the people who got here earlier have too big of a lead." Mikoto replied. "So it's really anyone's race for first place."

"Yeah, we've only been here for around fifteen minutes," Sora said. "So we're all really close."

Sora then turned to Erina. "Thanks for U-turning them. Really bought us some valuable time."

All eyes shifted onto Erina.

"Eh?" Erina asked. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Sora replied, hiding a smirk.

Ritsu

"Can I try them on?" a customer said.

"Sure," Ritsu replied. The customer tried the sandals on and hopped around in them.

"Do you like them?" she asked. The customer nodded. "That'll be thirty cedi."

"Oh, I don't have the money," he said.

"Okay.. um… how much money do you have?"

"None." he said, smiling.

"Then why would you ask to try on the shoes if you don't have any mo-"

Mitsuha

Mitsuha shook hands with a woman, holding the twenty cedi in her hand.

Mitsuha: 20₵

"This isn't too bad," Mitsuha said. "But it's still way too hot for my liking."

Souma:

Souma made the exchange of sandals for money.

Souma: 55₵

"I think my price point of 35 cedi is working well," Souma said. "Because I don't feel like it's slowed down my business too much."

Shiro

"T-Thank you," Shiro said, putting the 20 cedi into her back pocket.

Shiro: 40₵

"I need to sell three more," she said.

Mako

Mako screamed at the top of her lungs.

"SHOOOOOOEEEESSSS!"

A circle of people had formed around her, around a third of them filming her with their phones.

"What the hell is she doing?" Ryuko asked.

"Hey, do you wanna buy some shoes?" Mako asked. "Or, sandals?"

A handful of people walked up to her and handed her some money, while others walked away.

"How much?" a customer asked.

"Um… twenty… no… thirty!" she shouted.

Mako: 60₵

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" she cheered.

Megumin

Megumin handed some shoes to a guy, who put them on, then dashed away.

"Did I just get robbed?" she asked. "Stupid..."

Souma

"Hey, do you want to buy some sandals from me?" Souma asked, walking up to what seemed to be a nuclear family. "It's for a good cause."

"What cause is it?"

"Well… um… I'm in a competition with a few other people and we need to make 100 cedi as fast as we can."

"How much have you made?"

"55 cedi," Souma said. "Would you please buy some?"

"Okay," The mother said. "We've been needing some new sandals anyways. I'll give you 45 for two."

"D-Deal!" Souma said. "Thank you so much!"

The mother handed him 45 cedi in exchange for two pairs of shoes.

Touma

Souma walked around, holding the shoes. "Anyone want to buy some sandals from me?"

As he was walking, he ran into some woman who was holding a glass of juice.

"Woops!" she said, spilling it all over his shirt.

"Aaah!"

"Sorry!" she said.

"Just my luck!"

Souma: 100₵

"Go on and beat your friends," the father said.

"Thanks, I will! See you!" he said, running off back towards the shoe stall.

"I've got the cash," he said, running up to the vendor. The vendor looked at him and stretched his hand out, to which Souma threw his cash into.

The vendor counted out the money, then handed Souma a clue.

"Nakiri! I've got it!" he shouted. Erina stood up and ran straight to him as they ripped the clue open.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Souma read.

[i] Proceed to Pit Stop: Black Star Square

Black Star Square, also known as Independence Square, is symbolic of Ghana's independence movement. It will now be the Pit Stop for Leg 4 of a race around the world. The last team to meet me here at the mat may be eliminated.

"Woohoo!" Souma shouted. "Yeah! Let's gooo!"

"You're a little too excited," Erina said, picking up their bags. "We haven't reached the Pit Stop yet. We're not first yet."

"You're right," Souma said, grabbing his bag from Erina's shoulder. "Let's do it!"

Shiro

"I need forty more cedi," Shiro said, talking to a group of people. Could you buy one or two more sandals for that price?"

"Sure, kid," one of the potential customers said. "Here ya go."

Shiro threw the two pairs of sandals at them as she snatched the money and ran off.

Shiro: 100₵

"L'il devil girl," he said.

Shiro ran back to the shoe vendor and handed him the money.

"Here you go," The vendor replied, handing them their clue.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Sora read.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna ran up to the judge and got their pods checked.

"I'm certain this is the last one," Asuna said. "Let us just get out of here already…"

The judge counted their cocoa pods, then tossed them into the bin before handing them their clue.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 8th Place

"Thank you!" Kirito shouted, taking Asuna's hand and running out of the farm.

"Naofumi and Raphtalia are still there," Asuna said, getting into their cab as it departed for the post office again. "Hopefully they don't figure out the trick to tell if it's ripe or not."

"It'll be even better if the Roadblock is hard and teams get stuck there." Kirito said. "But that sounds a bit unlikely."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

The judge tossed around three-quarters of their pods aside.

"I just don't get it," Naofumi said. "And now team SAO is gone."

"It's fine," Raphtalia said. "We can catch up at the Roadblock."

Megumin

"Can I interest you in some sandals?" Megumin asked. "I'm sure they'll look awesome on you!"

"I dunno…" the customer said. "Will they?"

"Yeah!"

The customer took off his shoes and tried them on.

"Don't go running off!" Megumin shouted.

"I'm not, chill!" he replied. "Wow, these do look awesome! How much?"

"Um… thirty!"

"Alright, here!"

He handed her 30 cedi.

Megumin: 60₵

"Two more," Megumin said. "Maybe even one."

Ritsu

Ritsu made a transaction, putting the money into her wallet.

Ritsu: 40₵

She then looked up to see Sora and Shiro wheeling their tires through the market.

"They're done already?" Ritsu asked. "How?"

Mako

"My outburst really worked well there," Mako said, laughing with no tinge of embarrassment on her face. "I just need to sell one more and I'm outta here."

Touma

"Thank you," Touma said, grabbing the cash and exchanging it for the pair of sandals he was selling.

Touma: 50₵

"The people of Ghana are actually a lot nicer than I imagined people in an urban African city to be," Touma said.

"These people are actually really pleasant to deal with," Touma said. "No one's been particularly rude."

"I got robbed," Megumin interjected before running off.

"I guess every fruit basket has some bad apples…"

Ritsu

Ritsu pocketed some more cash as she picked up a new pair of sandals.

"I have seventy-five yen- I mean cedi right now," Ritsu said. "I just need one more person to buy at my price point."

Taki

"Come on, you know you want it!" Taki teased, holding shoes up to people's faces.

"No, sorry," a passerby said.

"Aw, damn."

Naofumi and Raphtalia

Naofumi and Raphtalia put their baskets in front of the judge.

"I swear, please, please be enough," Raphtalia muttered.

"Don't stress," Naofumi said. "It's not your fault."

The judge looked at each cocoa pod. After throwing a handful away, she tossed a few into their bin.

"Congratulations," she said, handing them their clue.

"That took forever," Naofumi muttered before snatching the clue and ripping it open.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in Last Place

"Make your way to the Mampon Post Office," Naofumi read. "Okay, come on. Let's make up some lost time."

Kirito and Asuna

"We're back to the… scene of the crime, where the evil… chefs U-Turned us," Kirito said, running up to the board and then grabbing their clue from the floor.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 7th Place

"Make your way to Makola Market," Kirito read. "Okay, let's do this."


Souma and Erina leapt out of their cab and dashed to the Pit Stop in the center of the square.

They both leapt onto the mat as they greeted Hinata.

"Welcome," Hinata said. "To Accra. What do you think of the city?"

"It's a nice city," Souma said. "But right now we're more interested in our placements."

"I'm sure you already know what placement you're in," Hinata said.

"Then let's make it official. Tell us what we won." Erina said.

"Souma and Erina, you're team number one."

Souma and Erina: 1st Place

"Yeah!" Souma cheered.

"For winning this leg of the race, you have received an upgrade to business class on your next flight."

"That sounds great." Souma said.

"Comfort's something that's pretty lacking in a race like this. I'm sure it'll definitely help reenergize us for the next leg." Erina said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in Last Place

Naofumi and Raphtalia returned to the post office, where they picked up their clue.

"It's the last one," Naofumi said. "To be expected."

Raphtalia ripped the clue open and read it.

"Make your way to Makola Market," Raphtalia read.

They ran out and into their cab where Raphtalia began resting her head on Naofumi's shoulder.

"I'm just so disappointed," she said, tears welling up.

"Come on, now," Naofumi said, patting her on the head. "It's not over until it's over."

Mako and Ryuko

"Come on! Can I get one more! One more?"

"I'll buy one!" a very energetic man said, running up to them. "How much?"

"Twenty!" Mako shouted.

The man pulled out his cash and tossed it to Mako, who tossed his sandals back at him.

"Yeah! I'm done!" Mako shouted, running back to the shopkeeper.

"Congratulations," The shopkeeper said, handing her the clue as Ryuko stood up and applauded.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 3rd Place

Mako and Ryuko ran back and entered into their waiting cab.

"You know, you're going to end up on the Ghanan internet after a performance like that," Ryuko said.

"I don't care," Mako said. "I thought you learned to not have shame!"

"Not to have shame with my body… this is a different level of embarrassment. Eh, whatever, I'm not you, so if you're not embarrassed, I'm not embarrassed."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro ran up to the Pit Stop mat.

"Sora and Shiro," Hinata said. "You're team number two."

Sora and Shiro: 2nd Place

"It looks like you're kind of inconsistent with your placements so far," Hinata said. "You got almost last on leg 1, you won leg 2, then you were in the middle for leg 3, and now you're in second place. What's up with that?"

"I think it's mostly a disparity between our mental skills and our physical skills," Sora said. "As you probably can tell, we're absolute calculators when it comes to mental challenges, but we struggle really hard with anything remotely physical. Hopefully that doesn't bite us too hard, but time will tell."

Ritsu

"Will you buy this for forty?" Ritsu asked.

"Forty?" the customer asked. "Ooh… that seems really steep."

"I know it's overpriced but once I sell this last one I'm done." Ritsu said. "I need to get out of here as fast as I can. I'm in a competition with others and it's really high stakes."

"Ooh, a competition I hear?" the lady asked. "I know all about rivalries…"

Her eyes narrowed as Ritsu just stood there staring at her awkwardly.

"So… you gonna buy the sandals… or…"

"Oh, yeah." she said. "I don't even need sandals but I take competitions really seriously. Take care!"

Ritsu: 100₵

"Yeah!" Ritsu cheered. She ran up and hugged the woman who bought the shoe and then ran back to Mio and the shopkeeper. "Mio! Mio! I got it!"

"Alright, great!" Mio shouted. The shopkeeper exchanged their cash for their clue.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 4th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Ritsu read.

Megumin: 100₵

Right after Ritsu finished, Megumin came darting through the crowd and back to the shopkeeper.

"Here," she said, giving him the cash in exchange for their clue.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 5th Place

"Kazuma, Kazuma!"

"Yes, I'm Kazuma."

"I did it!"

He ignored her, ripping the clue open. "Make your way to your next Pit Stop,"

"Kazuma, aren't you proud?"

"Sure," he said.

"Mmmm!"


Mako and Ryuko

"Mako and Ryuko, you're team number three."

Mako and Ryuko: 3rd Place

"We're still in this!" Mako said.

Taki

"Shoes? Anyone want shoes?" Taki asked.

"My strategy of just asking people if they wanted shoes wasn't exactly working very effectively, so I just began to try to sweet-talk the women into it." Taki explained. Mitsuha looked at him in disapproval.

"Hey, girl, you want to try some shoes? They'll look gorgeous on you, I swear," he said.

After she tried them on, she agreed to buy it and handed him the money.

Taki: 90₵

"In hindsight, probably should've made that 30 cedi," Taki said. "Oh well."

Touma

"Hey, can I interest you in some… no? Okay."

"This is painful to watch," Mikoto said. "He's clearly not good at advertising, I should've done this one. He is making progress, but that double U-turn is really saving us right now."

She turned her head to look to the right. "Speak of the devil. This doesn't bode well…"

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 8th Place

Kirito and Asuna ran to the clue box in the middle of the market.

"Roadblock," Kirito read. "Who wants to sell out?"

"I'll do it," Asuna said.

Kirito walked over to the spot where the rest of the non-participating members sat.

"Hey," Mitsuha said. "Did you U-turn Naofumi and Raphtalia?"

"Duh," Mikoto said. "Why else would such a non-threatening team be U-Turned?"

"Yeah, that's right," Kirito said. "Damn chefs U-Turned us."

"Well in that case, I really hope Naofumi and Raphtalia are much further behind than you are." Mitsuha said.

"Why's that?" Kirito asked.

"You didn't hear? Back in their world, Naofumi and Raphtalia worked as merchants." Mitsuha said.

"Oh," Kirito said. "Damn. In that case, yeah, I really hope the cocoa plant tripped them up enough."

Touma

Touma made his last transaction before counting his cash.

"Eh? I only have ninety… oh wait, never mind, I'm done!" he said, rushing back.

Taki

"Those shoes are going to look phenomenal on you, it really matches your outfit." Taki said. The woman blushed as she bought the sandals.

"That's enough," Taki said. "Thank you for your purchase!"

Both boys ran back to the shopkeeper and received their clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in 6th Place

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 7th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Mikoto read.

"At this point it's just the battle between the two U-turned teams," Mitsuha said.


"Ritsu and Mio, Kazuma and Megumin," Hinata said. "You two are teams number four and five."

Ritsu and Mio: 4th Place

Kazuma and Megumin: 5th Place

"I'm just so glad to be in the top half for the first time," Ritsu said.

"Same here," Kazuma said.

"Um, actually you're technically smack in the middle so it's not exactly top hal-"

"Shut up." Megumin said. "Let us have our moment."

Asuna

"Can you buy my shoes? Please?" Asuna asked, running around. "I have some shoes for sale! Only thirty cedi!"

"By the time we got to the market, it was very late in the day," Asuna said. "And it showed. The market was less crowded and many of the shop vendors were closing up. That just made it harder for us than it did for the earlier teams."

"Can you buy some shoes for me? I'm desperate." Asuna said.

"How much?"

"Thirty cedi," Asuna said. The man nodded as they made the exchange.

Asuna: 30₵


"Touma and Mikoto, Taki and Mitsuha," Hinata said. "You're teams number six and seven."

Touma and Mikoto: 6th Place

Taki and Mitsuha: 7th Place

"Okay," Taki said. "We'll take it."

"Same here," Mikoto said. "We're not exactly… proud… of this position, but we're happy to be able to keep on racing until tomorrow where hopefully we'll be in cold Europe and somewhere that's not a bajillion degrees in the middle of October."

Asuna

"Please, I need more people to buy, we're in a huge rush." Asuna said. "Please, can I interest you?"

"Sorry," the man said, shooing her away.

"This is so stressful," Asuna said.

Naofumi and Raphtalia

"We're here," Naofumi said, waking Raphtalia up. They both jumped out of their cab as they dashed into the not-as-busy market.

"Oh, no," Kirito said, hand over his mouth.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in Last Place

"Roadblock," Naofumi read. "You want to do it?"

"Yes, I'll do it," Raphtalia said.

Asuna

"Thank you," Asuna said, shaking the hand of the man who just bought another sandal. "Now I've got sixty, I need either two more or one person to buy it for forty which is a little steep."

She looked behind her and saw Raphtalia move into the marketplace. "Oh, no," she said. "This is so stressful. This is so stressful."

"Throughout the entire race so far, we've been in the top two positions." Asuna said. "Being near the bottom was a new feeling that neither of us had really ever experienced before. Even in SAO, we were two extremely strong players. We're not used to being this much at risk."

"Oh my god," she panicked. "Okay, breathe. Breathe."

She did a few sharp inhales and a long exhale.

Raphtalia

"Shoes for sale! Shoes for sale!" Raphtalia shouted. No one really bothered to come by, though a few people motioned towards their heads, pointing out her raccoon ears.

"Come on! Seriously?"

Asuna

"Please, can you buy a sandal? It's for a good cause."

"What is that?"

"Clearing my anxiety."

"Sorry, but I don't have any money," he said.

Kirito bit his nails as he watched her. "Come on, Asuna. You got this."

Raphtalia

"Can you buy some shoes please?" Raphtalia asked, sweating. "It's only thirty."

"Okay," a guy said. "This'll make a nice birthday gift."

He gave her the cash as he walked off.

Raphtalia: 30₵

"Come on, come on," Raphtalia muttered.

Asuna

"Are you interested?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah," the woman said. "I'd like some."

"Would you be okay with paying forty for them?" Asuna asked, biting her lip.

"Um, that's a little pricey," she said. Asuna grimaced. "But I guess it's fine."

The woman pulled forty cedi out of her bag and handed it to Asuna in exchange for the sandals.

"Ohmygod oh my god," she said. "Thank you so much!"

Asuna raced towards Kirito and the shopkeeper as they exchanged their cash.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 8th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Kirito read. Naofumi watched as they left the market, then he sighed.

"Well, I guess that's it."

Raphtalia

"Hi, can I interest you in some cheap sandals?"

"How much?"

"Thirty."

"Sure," he said, pulling out his wallet. He counted out his cash and handed it to Raphtalia.

Raphtalia: 60₵

"Two more," Raphtalia said. "Just two more and we're free."


Kirito and Asuna ran up to the Pit Stop mat.

"Kirito and Asuna," Hinata said. "Tough day?"

"It's probably the most stressed I've ever been," Asuna said. "And that's coming from SAO survivors."

"That U-Turn was grueling," Kirito said.

"Well, I have good news for you. Kirito and Asuna, you're team number eight, you're still in this race."

Kirito and Asuna: 8th Place

"You survived the U-Turn. Any thoughts?"

"The U-Turn sucks and I hate it." Kirito said, laughing a bit.

"In all seriousness, I'm not too upset at Souma and Erina because we were plotting to do the same thing to them." Asuna said. "What a shame though that we had to U-Turn Naofumi and Raphtalia to save ourselves, though. We didn't want to resort to that but it was what we had to do."

Raphtalia

Raphtalia collected the last of their cash as she exchanged it for their clue.

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Currently in Last Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Naofumi read.


"We're last," Raphtalia said, staring out the window. "No doubt about it."

"Well, it's unlikely, but they could've gotten lost on the way there. Or someone could've lost a passport, anything could help us at this point," Naofumi said.


"Naofumi and Raphtalia," Hinata said. "You are the last team to arrive."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Last Place

"And I'm sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the race."

Naofumi and Raphtalia: Eliminated

They slowly nodded.

"I expected something like this might happen," Naofumi said. "I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"Like we mentioned before, we don't hold any contempt against Kirito and Asuna, because unlike our previous experiences, we can see why they did it, and this is a competition." Naofumi said.

"It is a real shame that we got eliminated so early, though," Raphtalia replied. "I really wanted to make it further."


Race Stats


Next Time on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition:

The race hits Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

"I-I can't tell," Touma said, sniffing several tulips.

And Sora and Shiro run into trouble.

"Neither of us have ever ridden a bike," Sora said. "Let alone a tandem bike".

Eight teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?

Chapter 9: Leg 5.1 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Note: For the next few chapters, on Ao3, I will be using images. These images are not art, as I can’t draw lol, but they’ll be location images from online or ripped from Google Street View (lol) about these specific places the teams are going. I feel like this might help describe the situations teams find themselves in and the locations they’re travelling to, especially in less famous areas. Let me know if you like it or not and I’ll decide whether or not to make it permanent for the rest of this story (and potentially add some to prior chapters). I know pictures in fics sometimes are a turnoff so please be genuine about your opinions. 

I will also be adding a map that will track the teams’ routes.


Previously on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition:

Nine teams raced from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Accra, Ghana.

The race's first Blind Double U-Turn ripped up some drama from the cast.

"We choose to U-Turn Kirito and Asuna," Sora said. "And we're gonna pin it on the chefs."

"We're going to U-Turn Naofumi and Raphtalia," Kirito said.

In the end, the U-Turned teams Naofumi and Raphtalia and Kirito and Asuna duked it out in Accra's Makola Market.

"Shoes for sale!" Raphtalia shouted.

However, Naofumi and Raphtalia fell short.

"Naofumi and Raphtalia, I'm sorry to say that you have been eliminated from the race."

Eight teams remain. Who will be eliminated next.


Leg 5.1


Previous Leg:

"You've won the leg," Hinata said. "Congratulations."

Souma and Erina silently celebrated.

"However," he said. "There's something we need to address. Your Express Pass."

"Oh, right," Erina replied.

"You have not given it to any team yet, and this is the last leg you are able to do so." Hinata explained. "So, you must tell me two teams right now that you want to give the Express Pass to. I will take it, and it will be given to your first choice, or your second assuming your first choice gets eliminated, upon opening the first clue for the next leg."

"Eh, I get it," Souma said. "We agreed on this back in the airport. Our first choice is Ritsu and Mio, and our second choice is Touma and Mikoto. Right?"

"That's right," Erina said.

"Alright, hand it over, one of them will receive it tomorrow."

Souma pulled the Express Pass out of his bag and handed it to Hinata.

"Thank you, have a good rest tonight." Hinata said.


Accra, Ghana

This is Accra, the capital of the West African nation of Ghana. And in the middle of the city, Black Star Square. This will now be the starting line of the fifth leg in a race around the world.

Souma and Erina won the previous leg, and will depart first at 4:35 AM.

Souma and Erina: 1st to depart, 4:35 AM

Souma ripped their clue open and read it.

"Fly to Amsterdam, the Netherlands." Souma read.

[i] Fly to: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Teams must now leave the heat of Africa and fly north to Europe and the Netherlands. After touching down in Amsterdam, teams will find their next clue outside the airport.

"Let's go, Europe!" Souma shouted.

"We won another leg," Erina said. "And now we've given away our Express Pass to the music girls, someone who probably really needs that help."

"We didn't U-Turn anyone yesterday, but given how many people are still racing, I'm almost certain it was used." Souma said. "I guess we just need to wait and see."

Sora and Shiro: 2nd to depart, 4:46 AM

"Fly to Amsterdam, the Netherlands," Shiro read.

"Yesterday, we U-Turned Kirito and Asuna," Shiro said. "And we tried to get them out."

"Since it was a blind U-Turn and our faces weren't going to be on that board, we decided to try our best to pin it on Souma and Erina," Sora explained. "So that way, in the event that Kirito and Asuna survived yesterday, they would still have good trust in us and are willing to work with us."

"I kind of hope they survived so we can see the drama between those two teams," Shiro said. "It's gonna be a real entertaining airport confrontation."

Mako and Ryuko: 3rd to depart, 5:15 AM

Mako and Ryuko climbed into their cab.

"So far, we haven't made any huge mistakes," Ryuko said. "But we haven't exactly been doing exceptionally well either. We're hoping soon we can establish our places as one of the stronger teams."

Ritsu and Mio: 4th to depart, 5:21 AM

Ritsu and Mio stood at the Pit Start as a member of the Race crew walked up to them.

"Here," he said. "Souma and Erina decided they'd give this to you."

He handed them the Express Pass as the girls' eyes lit up.

"They didn't go back on their word," Mio said. "I'm so excited."

"The Express Pass is something that definitely helps," Mio said. "I would say we wouldn't need it, but, to be honest, we probably will need it."

Ritsu and Mio quickly hailed a cab and climbed in.

"This has been so fun so far," Ritsu said. "But to be fair, I'm already a little sore."

"We need to get used to that. We're only a third of the way into the race so far," Mio replied.

"So far, we've kind of been looking at the race as a fun activity tour over a competition," Ritsu said. "So we don't really care what position we get as long as we're not eliminated. Of course, we're trying to win and we're trying to do well, but both of us acknowledge that we need to take some time to just kick back and have fun."

Kazuma and Megumin: 5th to depart, 5:23 AM

"Ritsu and Mio literally just departed," Kazuma said. "And off camera we're standing literally five feet away from them."

"I've noticed that despite your superior Luck stat, we really haven't been lucky at all in this race." Megumin said.

"True," Kazuma said. "On leg 1, our flight got delayed. I can't really think of anything that happened to us being significantly lucky."

"I think the spiky-black-haired boy said that he was significantly unlucky though," Megumin said. "So maybe being on the same flight as him overshadowed your own luck."

"Maybe," Kazuma said.

Touma and Mikoto: 6th to depart, 5:26 AM

Touma leaned over the street and began coughing.

"Oh god," he said, between coughs. "Just my luck."

"I ended up getting sick during the Pit Stop," Touma said. "Just my luck."

"Getting sick abroad is the worst," Mikoto replied. "I have to share a room with him so I won't be surprised if I end up catching his bug."

"I cough a lot, my head is throbbing, and my nose is super stuffy," Touma said. "Hopefully this passes soon because it's super miserable. I can breathe out my mouth just fine so I doubt it's going to be a significant hindrance, but honestly, this is terrible"

"I'm gonna ask Souma to switch places with me on the plane," Mikoto said.

Taki and Mitsuha: 7th to depart, 5:30 AM

"I'm really interested to see who survived the U-Turn yesterday," Taki said.

"A U-Turn's a huge thing to overcome," Mitsuha explained. "And U-Turning someone else is a really huge hindrance. So whoever used it has some explaining to do."

"I can feel the drama starting already," Mitsuha said. "I think we shouldn't try to support anyone because we shouldn't start making enemies."

Kirito and Asuna: Last to depart, 5:56 AM

"Hopefully Europe treats us better than Africa," Kirito said, getting into a cab.

"Our last leg was really tough, mostly because of the U-Turn," Asuna said. "We really didn't want to have to U-Turn Naofumi and Raphtalia, but we didn't have a choice. If we didn't, we would be eliminated. We'd be in their position right now."

"Of course, we're going to confront Souma and Erina," Kirito said. "We're not particularly mad at them, we don't have a big grudge, heck, we even had a plan to U-Turn them and get rid of them. We just want to tell them that we understand it's in the nature of the game."

"The worst part is that we used our U-Turn, so we can't U-Turn for the rest of the race." Asuna said. "That could be really problematic if we get U-Turned a second time, because then we can't save ourselves again."

"It looks like everyone's on the same flight, so our time disadvantage isn't going to be a huge problem." Kirito said.


Kotoka International Airport

Souma and Erina sat in the terminal as the teams began filing in.

"Hey, guys," Souma said, putting a hand up.

Sora and Shiro sat across from them as Mako and Ryuko sat down right next to them.

"Hey," Ryuko said. "Nice job with the U-Turn."

"Eh?" Erina asked. "U-Turn?"

Ryuko gave a quick thumbs' up before falling silent. Souma and Erina shrugged it off as more and more people began filing in.


Finally, Kirito and Asuna walked into the terminal

"Eyy!" Taki said. Sora and Shiro hid their scowls for a few seconds before returning with a fake, pleasant expression.

"You survived!" Sora exclaimed. "Nice job!"

"I guess that means Naofumi and Raphtalia are gone," Kazuma said. "Oh well."

"Thanks," Asuna said. They locked their eyes onto Souma and Erina. Asuna sat on the left of them while Kirito sat on the right.

"Eh?" Souma asked. "What's this about? A human sandwich?"

"Thanks for the U-Turn," Kirito said.

"What do you mean?" Erina asked.

"You U-Turned us, but that's fine," Asuna said. "We get it, it's a game, we're your strongest competitors, we should've expected it. In fact, we were going to U-Turn you if you didn't get there before us."

"Woah, woah, slow, slow." Souma said. "We didn't U-Turn you."

"What are you talking about?" Kirito asked. "You U-turned us. We know. You don't have to hide it."

"We didn't," Erina said.

"Of course you did!" Kirito replied. "Sora and Shiro told us."

The uninvolved parties all walked backwards as the three teams began to accuse and defend each other.

"This is going to be fun," Kazuma said, pulling a bag of popcorn out of his backpack.

"Why did you tell them that we U-Turned them?" Erina asked, turning towards Sora and Shiro.

"Because you did?" Sora replied. "We were right behind you. We saw you put their faces on that board."

"Oh, no, I'm not going to take this," Erina said. "I'm not going to be hated for something I didn't even do."

"When did you get to the board?" Souma asked.

"Right after Sora and Shiro. They told us as they were leaving." Kirito said.

"So we arrived first," Erina said. "Then Sora and Shiro, then you guys. Right?"

"Yeah, that sounds right," Shiro said.

"So that means Sora and Shiro U-Turned you."

"No, no, we trust them." Asuna said. "They helped us so much in Vegas. I don't think someone would help us only to U-Turn us."

Souma sat down, putting fingers to his face.

"I'm telling you, we didn't-"

Kirito groaned. "Dammit, whatever, let's go."

Kirito and Asuna walked off to talk to Touma and Mikoto and Kazuma and Megumin.

"We weren't mad at them initially, but it's the fact that they won't admit to it that's really ticking us off." Kirito said. "They're not strong, they're just afraid of the confrontation."

"And to pin the blame on someone else, how scummy is that? We trust the siblings. We have an alliance with them, one to take out Souma and Erina. Why would they flip the script and U-Turn someone who they know likes them and will help every step of the way?" Asuna asked.

"They just straight up lied to our faces," Kirito said. "I'm so pissed off right now. I mean, just because it's a blind U-Turn doesn't mean no one's going to ever figure out it's you."

"I dunno, maybe you should at least listen, Maybe someone overlooked something and it was really someone else who U-turned you." Mikoto said.

"Well, the only other person who could've possibly done this to us was in a huge agreement with us." Kirito said.

"Well, we're not involved, so it's not really our business, so I don't think we have the authority to comment on this," Touma said.

Back in another corner of the airport, Sora and Shiro hi-fived each other with a wide grin on their faces.


Teams are now flying to Amsterdam, the Netherlands via London Heathrow Airport.


Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: 7:30 AM

The aircraft landed into Amsterdam's international airport as the doors opened. As a result, all of the teams pushed and shoved their way out of the aircraft and out onto the arrivals terminal.

"Comin through!" Taki shouted.

"Sorry, in a race!" Mio said.

Evading innocent passerby and swerving to find the most optimal route, the teams all raced outside the airport in a distinct order and to the clue box outside.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 1st Place

Taki and Mitsuha opened the box and ripped their clue open as the other teams all swarmed the area.

36 percent of Dutchmen use bicycles as their primary source of transit, putting the Netherlands among the highest in the world. Teams must now use this two-person tandem bicycle until instructed otherwise.

[i] Proceed to: Keukenhof

Teams must now bike to Keukenhof, one of the world's largest flower gardens. It is here that teams will find their next clue.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 2nd Place

"Biking?" Ritsu asked. "Fuck yeah!"

Mio smacked her in the back of her head. "Language!"

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 3rd Place

"What's a bicycle?" Megumin asked.

Kazuma facepalmed. "I should've seen this coming. Don't worry about it for now, it's a tandem bike, so it should be fine with only me pedaling."

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 4th Place

Mako and Ryuko strapped on your helmets.

"Your helmet's on backwards," Ryuko said, adjusting Mako's helmet to work properly.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 5th Place

Erina fiddled around with the map in her hands as she tried to figure out where to go.

"Have you found it?" Souma asked.

"No," Erina said. "Give me some time."

"What if it's not marked?"

"Well, that's a possibility, but I don't want to rely on locals if we don't have to." Erina replied.

"Self-navigation is the one thing that worries us in this competition," Souma said. "We know we can tackle challenges and running, that's no biggie for us. But so far, everything has been a taxi ride. The only thing that's really been navigation by ourselves was the initial drive to Tokyo airport, and since then we haven't had to worry about it. Getting lost can be a death sentence."

"Let's just leave the airport and then we can find directions from there on." Erina said.

"That sounds like an alright idea." Souma replied.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 6th Place

Sora and Shiro mounted their bikes.

"..."

They stalled.

"We don't know how to ride a bike," Sora said, facepalming.

"Shiro and I are NEETS." Sora explained. "And as such, we don't know how to do a lot of normal outside activities. Riding a bike is one of them."

"On the bright side, we are very fast learners." Shiro replied. "But even so, you can't learn strength or speed. Even if we figure this out quickly, we're going to be nowhere near as fast as the other teams. And that was worrying."

Touma and Mikoto

"You wanna get in front?" Touma asked.

"You go front," Mikoto replied. "I don't want to be held responsible if we get lost."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha mounted and left the airport.

"Okay, so you just pedal, and I'll steer," Taki said.

"Got it," Mitsuha replied. "Do you know where we're going?"

"We can ask someone." Taki replied. "But if we're just leaving the airport we should be fine until then."

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in Last Place

Kirito and Asuna left the airport and looked at their map.

"We're really lucky we bought this map in the airport," Kirito said. "This is a really good map, too. We know exactly where to go."

"Yeah," Asuna replied. "We've been buying a map every leg since the Vegas Roadblock, so now that's really starting to pay off."

Ritsu and Mio

Mio stopped the bike on the side of the road.

"Ritsu, do you have the map?"

"Map?"

"Yeah. The map that I asked you to buy once we were in our layover in London."

"Oh. Ooh. Yeah, no, I forgot."

Mio sighed. "I should have known better than to have trusted you with that."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro mounted their bikes and pushed off.

"Okay!" Sora shouted. Then they immediately collapsed.

"Augh!"

"Shiro? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine… I scraped a knee but it's not a big deal."

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma showed Megumin how to sit on the bike.

"You just sit there and just try to balance. Don't worry about steering; I'll do that."

"Got it," Megumin said.

Kazuma pushed off as Megumin sat behind him, going into the road.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha got off their bikes and ran into a gas station.

"Hey, we're trying to get to this place called Keukenhof, and were wondering if we could get some directions."

The clerk nodded and then looked at his computer.

"Is google maps fine?"

"Yeah, that's good."

The clerk typed in a few things, then printed out a map and handed it to them.

"Thank you!" Mitsuha said, bowing before running back outside and looking at their map.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina walked into the same gas station that Taki and Mitsuha had just left.

"Hi, we're trying to get to Keukenhof, but our map doesn't seem to have it. Could you take a look at it?" Souma asked. The clerk nodded and looked at their map.

"Here's your problem," he said. "This is a map of Amsterdam proper. But Keukenhof is in a neighboring town called Lisse. So I can print you a bigger map that has Keukenhof on it."

"That's great, thank you," Souma said. "How long of a ride is it to Keukenhof?"

"Around an hour if you don't make any mistakes."

"Thanks."

Mako and Ryuko

"The Netherlands… it's just so clean, and green…" Mako said. "Wait, what the hell is that guy doing?"

"Best you don't think about it," Ryuko replied. "Let's just focus on getting to this flower garden as fast as we can."

She waited, but there was no response. All of a sudden, she felt the pedals suddenly get more resistance.

"Mako?"

She looked behind her to see that Mako had fallen asleep.

"How do you even fall asleep on a moving bike?"

Kirito and Asuna

"I mean, it's really far away, Asuna," Kirito said.

"I know it's far away, but I'm just making sure we're going the right way, because if we're not, then we'll have to backtrack and that'll take forever."

"We are going the right way."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

Touma and Mikoto

"Are we getting close?" Touma asked.

"How should I know?"

"You're in the back, so you should be navigating, right?"

"That was our agreement for driving! Not for biking!"

"You can take out the map and start navigating, right?"

"Not while we're moving! I'm gonna fall off!"

Ritsu and Mio

"Where are you going?" Ritsu asked, as their bike pulled into a nearby store.

"To get a map," Mio replied. "Stay here and watch the bike."

Mio ran inside as Ritsu stood outside. After a few minutes, Mio came outside with a map.

"Alright," Mio said. "The clerk in there was nice enough to mark it. Let's go!"

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma clutched the brake of the bike as Megumin continued to pedal, resulting in them flipping over.

"Ngh!" Kazuma shouted. "You idiot!"

"W-I-You know I don't know how to use this thing!"

"When I'm braking, brake!"

"I don't even know what a brake is!"


Kirito and Asuna

Almost an hour later, Kirito and Asuna biked down the side of the road.

"There! Red and yellow arrow!" Asuna shouted.

"Great find!" Kirito replied. "Let's go."

Kirito and Asuna swerved in the direction of the arrow, into the gate. After biking a few more meters, they got out and ran to the clue box in front of the garden.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 1st Place

"Roadblock," Kirito read. "Who can tell flora from faux-a?"

[R] Tulip Mania

During the 1600's, the Netherlands underwent a phenomenon known as Tulip Mania, in which a single tulip could be sold for the price of a mansion. In this Roadblock, teams must run around Keukenhof Flower Garden and find one of one hundred synthetic tulips hidden among the fields of real tulips. Once teams have pulled the fake tulip out from the ground, their clue will be attached to the bottom. However, if they pull out a real tulip, they must run all the way to the front of the park in order to dispose of it.

"It sounds like it's attention to detail," Kirito said. "I think you should do it."

"No," Asuna replied. "It sounds more like a needle in a haystack, so I don't think it'll matter which one does it. I've done two, and you've done one. You should do it."

"If you say so," Kirito replied.

Kirito left Asuna at the entrance as he stepped inside the garden.

"Oh my god," Kirito said.

"This garden was massive." he said. "There must've been hundreds of thousands of flowers in that garden. But, I knew how to narrow down the areas. The clue specifically said that we'd be looking for tulips, so I would say it's safe to disregard the other flowers."

"Okay, that narrows it down… not really that much, actually."

He walked up to a field and began kneeling down, looking at each tulip closely.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

"Roadblock," Erina read. "I'll do it."

Souma nodded as he went to stand next to Asuna.

"Hi." Souma said.

"Don't talk to me."

"Are you still upset?"

"Why don't you just admit it? If you admit it, we won't be mad."

"Well we didn't…"

Asuna groaned and leant back against the fence.

"Sora and Shiro are lying to you. You have to realize that."

"The Siblings basically did the entire Detour for us in Vegas. I trust them with our lives."

"Well, I warned you. If you're going to be that naive, no one can take responsibility for your elimination but yourselves."

She scowled.

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro continued biking through the Dutch countryside.

"Oh my god," Sora groaned. "This is just like running!"

"Sorry, I can't pedal anymore," Shiro replied. "I'm certain we're not getting lost, though."

"Yeah, we're definitely in last right now. Our only hope of catching up to someone on the way there is if they get lost."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha stood at the side of the road, looking at their map on the ground.

"We're really lost," Mitsuha said. "We don't know where we went wrong… but we must've taken a wrong turn somewhere."

"I don't understand how we could've gotten lost when we had such concise directions." Taki said.

"You're the one steering," Mitsuha said. "So, it's your responsibility."

"Oh, cut the crap."

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto continued riding their bike towards the flower garden, as Mikoto heard a snap coming from the back of their bike.

"Huh?" Touma asked. "What was that?"

"No idea," Mikoto replied. All of a sudden, their back wheel popped off as Mikoto slammed into the ground, and Touma lost his balance and fell over.

"What the heck?" Mikoto asked.

"Damn thing broke… just my luck."

"What do we do?"

"Well, I don't think we really can do anything besides wait for a replacement bike."

Mikoto sighed. "This better be a tough Roadblock."

Erina

Erina was reaching forwards and feeling the petals of the flowers.

"I'm choosing to feel each one," Erina said. "I don't think the fake ones will be able to nail the texture correctly. I don't trust my eyes enough to just go off that."

Kazuma and Megumin

"You finally figured out how to pedal and brake," Kazuma said sarcastically and antagonistally. "I am so proud."

"Hu hu hu! Of course a Crimson Demon like thyself can learn such a simple maneuver in a few simple sectors of time!"

"It seems like you still have to figure out sarcasm."

They biked towards the garden and then turned inside to reach the clue box.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 3rd Place

"Roadblock," Kazuma read. "I'll do it."

Kirito

Kirito began sniffing the flowers as he went along.

"Nope, all smells like flowers," he said. "Well, it's surrounded by normal flowers… so I guess that won't really help… heh."

Kazuma

Kazuma ran in and went straight to the field of tulips next to Kirito.

"Hey," Kirito said. Kazuma said nothing, blindly pulled a tulip, and then pulled out a clue from the soil underneath.

"Uhh…" Kirito said, looking at him. "What? How?"

He smirked, said nothing, then ran off.

"I have extraordinarily high luck," Kazuma said. "I mean, back in Belzerg, the kingdom I was in for a while, my luck stat was one of the highest it could possibly get. Even before Belzerg, when I was home, I still had amazingly good luck. For example, I've never lost a game of rock paper scissors in my life. I just had faith in my luck for today, and it paid off,"

Kazuma ran back to Megumin at the gate.

"I got it! Let's go!" he said.

Souma and Asuna both mouthed "what the fuck" in perfect sync as Megumin ran up and ripped the clue next to Kazuma.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

"Proceed via tandem bicycle to Rikjsmuseum and search for your next clue," Kazuma read.

[i] Proceed to: Rikjsmuseum

Teams must now bike back to Amsterdam and find their way to Rikjsmuseum, the national museum for Amsterdam's art and history. Teams will then find their next clue near the entrance.

Kazuma and Megumin hopped on their bikes and returned the way they came.

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko came into the gate just as Kazuma and Megumin left.

"Was that.. Kazuma and Megu…" Ryuko started. "Never mind."

They ran to the clue box and opened it.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 4th Place

"Roadblock," Ryuko read. "I'll do it."

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 5th Place

"You," Mio said. "I did the last one. It's fair."

"I'm okay with that," Ritsu said, Mio walking over to the other non-participating members.

Ritsu ran into the flower garden and scanned each flower bed for a few seconds before moving onto the next one.

"I'm just skimming each flowerbed before I really began searching," Ritsu explained. "Because I don't think that the change is going to be obvious, but it doesn't hurt to skim it just in case it is."

Kirito

Kirito felt the petals and stem of each flower.

"I think this one's fake…" he said. "It feels a little more rigid…"

He grabbed it and pulled it upwards only to snap the stem and reveal it was a real flower.

"Dammit! I have to stand up and run all the way over to the entrance now?"

Taki and Mitsuha

"Finally," Taki said, turning into the flower garden.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 6th Place

"You!" Taki said.

"Got it," Mitsuha replied.

Erina

"Oh, this one's a bit discolored…" Erina said, looking at a tulip that was slightly lighter than the ones surrounding it. She leaned over the tulips in the way and plucked it out of the bed, pulling the clue alongside it.

After unrolling it to make sure it was the clue, then brushing the dirt off, she stood up and ran back to Souma.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way via bike to Ricks- Rkjs- r… yeah," Souma read.

Ryuko

Ryuko crawled on her knees, looking intensely at the tulips.

"This one seems a little short," she said, reaching to it, then tugging on it. "Oh, that's definitely plastic."

She pulled out the false tulip, which had a rolled-up clue attached to the bottom, below the soil.

"Got it!" she shouted. She picked up the clue and ran back outside.

"Ryuko! Ryuko!" Mako shouted, running up and clinging to her. "You did that fast!"

"I get it, let go," she said. Mako did so as they ripped their clue open.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 3rd Place

"Yeah!" Mako shouted, grabbing their bike and making their way out of the garden.

Sora and Shiro

Sora grunted as Shiro heaved heavily on the back of the bike.

"Seriously?" he asked. "How much longer do I have to endure this?"

"What's going on here?" Sora asked, looking forward to see Touma and Mikoto sitting on the side of the road.

"Did you two get lost or something?" Mikoto asked.

"No…" Shiro replied. "We're just really bad at biking."

"Oh," Touma replied. "Our bike malfunctioned so we're waiting for a new one. Don't worry about us, just go."

Sora acted like he cared about them before riding away.

"Like we would stop and help them anyway," Sora muttered.

A few minutes after they left, a Race staff member arrived with a new tandem bike for them.

"Here you go," he said. Touma and Mikoto ditched their broken bike and got on it.

"Well, let's make up some time," Mikoto said.

Kirito

Kirito looked around, then tugged at a flower.

"Hmm…" he said. He tugged it a bit more, before pulling it out with a clue attached to the bottom. "Yes!"

He rolled it out to make sure it was what he needed before running back to Asuna.

"I've got it," Kirito said. "Let's go."

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 4th Place

"That was absolutely ridiculous," Kirito said.

"That's fine, we didn't lose too much time," Asuna replied.

"Where are Sora and Shiro?" Kirito asked.

Mitsuha

Mitsuha got on her hands and knees as she looked through the roses.

"Okay, come on!" Mitusha said. "I've already been here for so long…"

Ritsu

Ritsu browsed through the daisies as Mio watched, hands on her head.

"Why is she bothering with those?" Mio asked, away from the Roadblock area. "They're tulips!"

"Mitsuha's doing the same thing," Taki replied. "It's so painful not being able to tell them what's wrong."

Sora and Shiro

"Finally!" Sora cheered, turning into the garden. He and Shiro parked their bike before running to the clue box. "No more biking!"

Shiro ripped their clue open.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 7th Place

"Roadblock," Sora read. "Attention to detail seems more like your thing. You should do it."

"Okay," Shiro replied.

As Shiro ran into the Roadblock site, Sora saw Touma and Mikoto arriving and opted to stay around the clue box instead of walking off with Taki and Mio.

"I have an idea," he muttered.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto biked into the garden and ran to the clue box.

"It's a Roadblock," Sora said, in a voice that was just out of earshot of Mio and Taki. "It's a lot of brute strength, there's not a lot of thinking involved."

"We were in the back of the pack, so we figured there would be no way to survive normally, assuming we had to bike more," Sora explained. "So, I decided it would be a good idea to try and push down Touma and Mikoto. From what I've heard, Touma has extraordinarily bad luck, so, if luck really is a thing, having Touma do this challenge will keep them here for hours."

"You didn't tell me you did that," Shiro said.

"Do you have a problem with it?"

"No, I'm really proud, actually" Both siblings laughed in tandem.

"Really?" Mikoto asked, opening the clue. "Well, if it's brute strength, you should do it."

She turned to Touma.

"Like, I think I'm better at fights because I'm the Electromaster, but I can't use that." she justified.

"I'm sick, though," he said. "Never mind, it's fine. Thanks, Sora."

Sora nodded and ran off.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in Last Place

"Roadblock," Touma read. "We've already agreed that I will do it."

They opened up the clue and read the further information.

"Wh-" Touma said, mouth agape in shock. "T-This is the worst kinda challenge for me to do!"

Mikoto looked up at Sora, who was trying his hardest to mask his smirk.

"Why didn't we look at the Roadblock prompt and not just trusted him..." Mikoto said. "Whatever. We can't change who does the Roadblock after we declared it. Go in and do it."

"But I-"

"NOW."

She fired a bolt of electricity towards him as he held up his right hand to cancel it out and defend himself.

"Okay!" he said, running into the flower garden. Mikoto stormed towards Sora with a death glare.

"This is gonna be fun," Sora muttered.

Notes:

Okay, sorry this took so long. Life has been really busy.

Chapter 10: Leg 5.2 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Chapter Text

Leg 5.2


Sora

Mikoto advanced on Sora and then grabbed his collar.

"Wha-"

"Why'd you do that?"

Mio and Taki instantly stood up to watch the commotion.

"What're you doing?" Taki asked.

"They lied to us to sabotage us!" Mikoto argued. "They told us this was a brute strength task to get Touma to do it!"

"What's so bad about Touma doing this challenge?" Mio asked.

"Well, have you seen his luck? Luck is a huge factor in a challenge of this scale." Mikoto said.

Sora opened his mouth to argue. "Look, I'm sorry-"

"No you're not," Mikoto replied.

"We're just really bad bikers and we need all the time we can get." Sora said. Mikoto dropped him and walked a few feet away.

"Fine. Whatever. Tell us whatever sob story you want. But I'm never trusting you again. Mio, Taki, take notes. I think we figured out who U-Turned team SAO." Mikoto outed.

Taki slapped Sora on the shoulder. "Not cool, bro. That's not technically cheating, but that's a real scummy thing to do."

Mio just stared as Sora sat alone.

Touma

Touma blew his nose into a tissue.

"God, and I have to do this while I'm sick and can't even smell the flowers?" Touma asked. He kneeled over to sniff the flowers. "Yeah, I can't tell."

Ritsu

After searching for around twenty minutes, Ritsu pulled out the clue from her pocket and read again.

"...okay…okay… oh, tulips, tulips, tulips…" Ritsu said.

"I was searching almost every flower bed in there, and I was like, is this really right? Did everyone who arrived ahead of us and left really take this long?" Ritsu asked. "So I just pulled out my clue, and then it told me what I was doing wrong."

"Okay, so I should narrow it down to tulips… wait, what do tulips look like again?"

Ritsu shrugged and ran up to Mitsuha.

"What is it?" Mitsuha asked.

"Do you know which flowers are tulips?"

"I figured since we still had Shiro and Touma behind us, it would be safe to tell Mitusha the secret in exchange for her telling me which flowers were tulips." Ritsu said.

"Why?" Mitsuha asked.

"The clue says we need to search for a tulip," Ritsu said.

"Oh. Oh… thanks." Mitsuha replied, gritting her teeth. "I totally overlooked that."

"So, then, which flowers are tulips?"

"I think, the ones in that field over there," Mitsuha said, leading Ritsu to the field of tulips.

Shiro

Shiro was rummaging through the flowers, touching each stem and squeezing it a bit before moving on.

"There's no way the fake one will not be plastic-y." Shiro said. "I'm pretty sure touching them is the only way we're going to be able to find it."

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin biked their way back into Amsterdam proper.

"That's a really long bike ride," Kazuma said.

All of a sudden, a car honked behind them.

"Get the fuck outta the road!"

"Woah!" Kazuma shouted, swerving around. "Where the hell are we supposed to bike, then?"

"In the bike lane!"

The driver pointed to the bike lane, then flipped them off and drove away.

"Sheesh," Megumin said, as they biked over to the bike lane.

Souma and Erina

"Kazuma didn't leave too far ahead," Erina said. "We could catch up and get another wi-"

A car honked.

"What is it with tourists not biking in the bike lanes?!" he shouted. Then he started swearing in Dutch.

"What's his deal?" Souma asked. "Eh. whatever."

Touma

Touma looked through the tulips.

"This sucks, this really sucks." he said. He pulled a tulip out of the ground, only to see it's a real one.

"Fuck!" he swore, before standing up and dashing out of the garden.

Mitsuha

Mitsuha tugged at a flower before pulling it up, with a clue attached to the bottom.

"Yes!" she shouted.

"What does it feel like?" Ritsu asked.

"Here, just touch it."

Mitsuha handed the flower to Ritsu, who felt it a bit before giving it back.

"Thanks," Ritsu said. "That's really distinctive."

"Since Ritsu helped me so much, I figured I might as well help her a bit more before leaving," Mitsuha said.

Mitsuha ran out with Taki and ripped the clue open.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 5th Place

"Bike yourselves to Rikjsmuseum," Taki read. "Nice work out there."

Kazuma and Megumin

"Is this a museum?" Megumin asked. "Man, it's big."

"Never really thought of it much, but you don't really have museums in Belzerg, huh?"

They stopped in front of the museum and ran up to the clue box in front.

"There it is," Megumin said. She grabbed the clue and ripped it open.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

"Detour," Kazuma read. "Cheese Wheel or Word Reveal?"

[D] Cheese Wheel

In Cheese Wheels, teams must find this cheese shop. After picking up a phone order, teams must match the cheese with the order, then transport the giant wheels of cheese to the address marked in the order. Once the customers are satisfied, teams will get a signature. Teams must then return to the cheese shop and present the signature to the cheesemaker to get their next clue.

[D] Word Reveal

Amsterdam is known as the "Venice of the North" due to these frequent canals peppering the city's streets. In Canal Spellin', teams must find this marked dock and get into one of these motorized boats. After searching around the designated length of the canal, teams will find several marked letters, which they must unscramble and present to the judge to get their next clue.

"We're doing Cheese Wheel," Kazuma said. "Alright, let's get outta here."

"Are you sure Cheese Wheel is a good choice?" Megumin asked.

"Well, we don't know if the word we have to unscramble is going to be easy or not. If we don't know it at all, we'd be screwed."

Ritsu

Ritsu stroked the petals of a flower.

"Oop," she said. "I think I got it!"

She tugged at the flower to pull it out as well as the clue on the bottom.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 6th Place

"You know, if you're having trouble, you should read the clue first," Mio said.

"I wasn't having trouble!" Ritsu replied before ripping the clue open.

"Bike your way back to Amsterdam," Mio read.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina arrived at the clue box. They pulled the clue out of the box, then ripped it open.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

"Detour," Souma read. "What do you think?"

"The canal," Erina said. "I don't want to navigate more than necessary."

"I can see that," Souma replied.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 3rd Place

"Cheese it is," Ryuko said.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna stopped by the side of the road to talk to some citizens.

"Hi, we're trying to get to this museum, we were wondering if you could help us?" Kirito asked.

"What's it called?"

"Rjk- Riks- rjks… museum."

"Oh, Rikjsmuseum, it's just down the street, then you turn left in around three blocks, over the canal, and you're there."

"Got it," Kirito said.


Mikoto sat on the ground, hands on her knees, eyes locked on the only other person in the area.

Sora glanced at her, then put a hand to his forehead and behind his neck nervously.

"Um," he said. "I really don't like attention like this."

"..."

"Can you look somewhere else?"

"No."

"..."

Touma

Touma plucked a flower out of the ground.

"Dammit!" he shouted, running out of the garden and throwing the tulip into the garbage bin. He came back, then pulled another flower before repeating the process.

"This place is going to be empty by the time I'm out of here."

Shiro

Shiro used the palm of her hand to brush over the tops of the flowers near the edge.

"Hm?" she asked. She brushed it again and then centered her attention on one flower. After pulling it out, she noted the clue that was attached to the bottom.

Shiro then grabbed the clue, threw the flower away, and then sprinted back towards Sora.

"I got it," she said. Mikoto sharply exhaled as Sora stood up and ran over, quickly throwing a glare towards Mikoto, and ripped the clue open.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 7th Place

"More biking?" Sora asked. "No!"

Shiro sighed as they grabbed their bike and ran it outside.

Ritsu and Mio

"We're in the back of the pack," Ritsu said. "But remember we've got the Express Pass!"

"I know," Mio replied. "I don't think we should use it immediately though, we should hold onto it for as long as we can until we're convinced we absolutely need it to survive."

Taki and Mitsuha

"That's a gorgeous museum," Mitsuha said. They dismounted their bike and ran to the clue box.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 4th Place

"Detour," Taki read.

"I think we should do the canal word scrambler," Mitsuha said.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin arrived at the cheese shop.

"Let's do this!" Megumin said. "Ugh! It stinks in here!"

"Yeah. It's cheese. It stinks." Kazuma said.

They walked up to the storeclerk.

"Hello," he said. "I've got 'er phone order right here."

He handed them a receipt that had the names of four cheeses.

"Edam, Gouda, Beemster, Maaslander." Kazuma read. "Okay, Megu, start searching."

"Those wheels of cheese were massive." Megumin explained. "Like, they were almost half my height."

"Got it," Megumin said "Well, the Gouda."

"Alright, I found the Beemster," Kazuma said, lifting it off its pile, then dropping it onto the ground. "It's so heavy!"

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna stopped their bikes by the clue box and grabbed their clue from within.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 5th Place

"Let's do the canal," Kirito said.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina biked their way to the edge of the marked canal.

"There it is," Souma said. They moved their bike over to the nearby bike rack and then locked it up before running to the side of the canal.

"Choose a marked boat," Erina read. Souma and Erina stepped into the nearest boat, tied on their life jackets, and then untied the anchor.

"How do we move?" Souma asked. "There aren't any oars."

"You're right next to the motor," Erina replied, pointing behind him.

"Oh, gotcha!"

Souma powered on the motor as they began moving through the canal.

"How do I steer?"

"Rudder's right behind you." Erina said.

"Which direction?"

"Are you blind? There's a sign right there that says which direction we should move!"

Erina pointed to a sign with an arrow pointing to the left.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin moved all their cheese into one spot.

"Okay," Kazuma said. "That looks like all of them."

"Now we just have to move them," Megumin replied.

"It's too heavy to just pick it up and walk it. We have to roll them."

Megumin picked up one wheel of cheese, but struggled a bit to pick up the second.

"Eh. Eh." she groaned, reaching over. Kazuma bent over and moved it up to her hand. "Thanks."

Kazuma picked up his cheese and began rolling it out the door.

"I can't fit it through the door." Kazuma said. "Reminds me of the long sword incident."

"One at a time." Megumin said.

Kazuma rolled one wheel of cheese outside, set it up on the wall outside the shop, and then went back in to grab the second wheel.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina began moving their boat through the canal.

"So we're looking for letters," Souma said. "I have no idea how many letters we're searching for."

"Just look for as many as we can." Erina replied. "Look! There's a T sticker on the side of that boat."

"Okay, T…" Souma muttered. "T."

Sora and Shiro

"My legs are jelly," Shiro said.

"Yeah, same." Sora replied. "Oh my god I need to take a break."

Sora and Shiro pulled to the side of the road as they pulled out a few bottles of water.

"I really hope there's a taxi segment sometime soon." Sora said.

Mako and Ryuko

"Is this the cheese shop?" Mako asked. "Cheese, cheese, cheese!"

They parked their bike and ran into the (wrong) cheeseshop.

"What do we do now?" Ryuko asked.

Mako pulled out the clue. "We have to deliver four cheeses to some address."

They walked up to the storeclerk.

"Hi, do you have the order?"

"Order?" he asked. "Did you make some mobile order?"

"Um… yes?" Ryuko said.

"Name please."

"When we went into the cheese shop, we didn't know it was the wrong shop." Ryuko explained. "We thought the guy was just bad at English and there was something wrong with his speech, we didn't really notice he was trying to tell us he wasn't involved with the Race."

"Um, Mako and Ryuko?" Mako said.

"No, I don't have a Mako or Ryuko on here," he said. "Was it an online order?"

Mako leaned into Ryuko's ear. "Do we need to buy the cheese?"

"I mean, maybe." Ryuko said. Mako smiled and ran around the shop to pick up four small wheels of cheese.

The guy grabbed the cheese and tallied up their price, which they paid.

"Alright, have a great day!"

"Wait, but what about our clue?"

"Clue?"

"Like, where are we supposed to deliver this?"

"Are you… Grubhub or Uber Eats or something?"

"Um, no, we're on The Amazing Race."

"Oh, Amazing Race! I would never do that. I don't like the idea of being stuck on an island for forty days."

Mako sat deep in thought. "That's the wrong reality show. Big Brother is-"

"You're not working with The Amazing Race?" Ryuko interrupted.

"No."

"Dammit," Ryuko said. "Come on, Mako, let's get outta here."

They left the confused shopkeeper as they ran to their bikes and hopped on.

"We just wasted tons of money," Ryuko said.

"But hey, cheese!" Mako said, grabbing one and taking a huge bite out of the rind. Then she began choking on it because the rind was wax.

Souma and Erina

"We've got T, E, C, and I," Souma said. "We don't know how many letters there are but I don't think you can make any word with CET and I."

"Look. That poster by the side of the canal. It has the letter N on it."

"Good find," Souma said.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin wheeled their giant cheese wheels through the streets of Amsterdam.

"This is a lot more taxing than I realized," Kazuma said.

Megumin lost her hold on one of the cheeses as it began rolling forward into the street.

"Nooo! Come back, cheese!"

"Fucking hell," Kazuma said, dropping his cheese and running after Megumin's.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 6th Place

"Roadblock!" Ritsu read.

"Detour." Mio corrected.

"Detour!" Ritsu read.

"Canal," Mio said.

"Canal!"

Touma

The camera panned over the flower fields, now with several blank patches peppered around the garden.

"No, no, no!" Touma shouted, veins popping out of his forehead.

Mikoto sat down at the gate, hands on her knees.

"This sucks," she said. "At this point, unless there's some kind of challenge or some team gets lost, I'd bet that million dollars that we're not going to survive."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha climbed into their boats.

"HEY!" Taki shouted.

"WHAT?" Souma replied, looking over his shoulder.

"WHAT DO THE LETTERS LOOK LIKE?"

"THEY'RE LETTERS."

"YEAH, BUT WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?" Taki asked.

"THEY'RE MADE WITH LINES AND CURVES."

"That's not very helpful."

Souma and Erina

"I don't know what he wanted me to say," Souma said. "But we've got six letters. N, N, C, E, T, I."

"We've been here for a while and we can't find any more." Erina said. "I think at this point it's safe to start unscrambling."

"Cen.. Centi?"

"Cenni." Erina muttered. "Nope, not a word."

"Nicen?"

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin continued rolling their cheese.

"What's the address again?" Kazuma asked.

Megumin handed him the receipt as he looked it over.

"Okay, it should be coming up soon. It's one of these houses."

They looked at the house addresses and rolled their cheese until they found it. Megumin knocked on the door as the resident came to the front.

"You've got my cheese?"

"Yeah," Kazuma said. He pulled out the receipt. "You need to sign here."

"Got it," he said. "Just leave the cheese on the doorstep; I'll bring it in myself."

The man signed the receipt and then gave it to them. "Give it to the shopkeeper."

"Thanks," Kazuma said. "Let's go."

He and Megumin began booking it back towards the cheese shop.

Mako and Ryuko

"This is the right shop, right?" Ryuko asked.

"For TAR? Yes." The shopkeeper said.

"Thank god," Ryuko said. "Mako, stop eating that cheese!"

"But we bought it and it tastes so good!"

"You can eat it once we get back to the Pit Stop."

Mako groaned. "Fine."

They grabbed the receipt and began looking through the shop for the correct cheeses, which they found with little to no effort as they picked them up and began rolling them.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito put the life jacket onto Asuna.

"I'm not a kid, Kirito, I can put it on myself."

"Okay, fine, I was just trying to be a good boyfriend, but if you insist."

Asuna sighed. She reached for the strap, but it had fallen somewhere behind her and she couldn't reach it.

"Kirito…" she said. "Can you help me?"

"Wow."

Souma and Erina

"I can't help but feel like we're missing a letter here." Souma said.

"I got it," Erina said. "It's INCENT."

"Like incense? Because that's spelled with an SE."

"No, Incent. Like incentivize. Incentive. Like that."

"I've never really seen that word alone before, but it's worth a shot."

They moved their boat towards the judge.

"Do you have the word?" he asked.

"Incent." Erina said.

"Nope, I'm sorry." he replied.

"Hmm…" Souma said. "What if it's a name?"

"Well if it's a name, it could be anything." Erina replied.

"Well, what about Vincent? There's a chance that we're not having all the letters, and there's a possibility that Vincent would work."

"Well, let's try it." Erina said. "No harm in trying."

They looked towards the judge. "Vincent?" Souma asked.

The judge stood and stared at them. "That's correct."

"Wow, I never would've gotten that." Erina said. "Why Vincent?"

He handed them the clue, which they ripped open before even moving away from the judge.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way by taxi to your next Pit Stop," Souma read.

[i] Proceed to Pit Stop: Van Gogh Museum

Vincent Van Gogh was one of the most famous Dutch painters, and his museum here, the Van Gogh museum, will now serve as the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here at the mat may be eliminated.

Souma tried to power on the motor, but it sputtered and died.

"Seriously?" Erina asked.

"W-It's not my fault!"

"Just jump into the water then," Erina said, standing up and jumping into the canal to swim to shore.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin ran into the cheeseshop.

"Here's your damn receipt," Kazuma said.

"Here you go," the shopkeeper said, handing them their clue.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way by taxi to your next Pit Stop," Megumin read. "Yes, no more bikes!"

Sora and Shiro

"Yes!" Sora said, biking in front of the museum. "Finally! We're here!"

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 7th Place

"Detour," Sora read. "Let's do the canal."

"We can do that immediately," Shiro replied. "Oh no, more biking."

"Dammit! "

Touma

Touma brushed his hand against a flower, then rooted it from the ground.

"Yes!" he said, thrusting the clue upwards. "I got it! After literal hours!"

Mikoto noticed him, then stood up. "Come on!" she shouted. "We don't have all day!"

He dashed towards her and opened their clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in Last Place

"Make your way to Rikjsmueum," Touma read.

"If we end up surviving from some kind of miracle," Mikoto said. "The evil twins are on our radar."

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko rolled their cheese wheels.

"It should be coming up," Ryuko said. "Right here."

"Here?" Mako asked.

"Yeah," Ryuko said. Mako ran up and knocked on the door.

"We've got some cheese for you," she said.

"Thanks," the resident said. "Hand it over. I'll sign it."

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin rode in their taxi to the Pit Stop.

"I think this might be our first first place," Megumin said.

"Yeah," Kazuma replied. "It might be. Assuming no one beat us on the other Detour."

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina sat in their taxi.

"We've been doing really well so far," Souma said. "But another 1st place will be welcomed."

"We don't strive for anything lower," Erina replied. "We come from a super competitive atmosphere. There is no 2nd place. It's win or lose."

Kazuma and Megumin

"It'll be coming up here," the driver said, stopping.

"Alright, 1st place, here we come!" Kazuma shouted.

Souma and Erina

The chefs packed up their bags and closed the door of the taxi.

"Okay, where is it?" Souma asked.


Kazuma and Megumin ran around the corner, approaching the Pit Stop.

"Woo!" Megumin shouted, jumping onto the mat.

"Kazuma and Megumin," Hinata said. "You're the first team to arrive."

"Yes!" Kazuma shouted. "Finally."

"However-"

Their smiles both faded as they looked straight at him.

"Nah, I'm just kidding."

"I hate you." Megumin said.

"Too soon." Kazuma replied.

"You're team number one!"

Kazuma and Megumin: 1st Place

"I knew we could do it," Megumin said.

"Eh, I was pretty doubtful, but I guess I'm just too used to Aqua's existence bringing our success rate way down." Kazuma said.

"For winning this leg of the race, you have won a trip to Iceland."

"Alright," Kazuma said.

"Do you not care about Iceland?"

"Not really," Kazuma replied. "I was hoping for money. Eh, I guess we can wait till the Finish Line for that."


Souma and Erina ran up to the Pit Stop mat.

"Souma and Erina," Hinata said. "You're team number two."

Souma and Erina: 2nd Place

"Dammit," Souma said. "Whatever. We'll redeem ourselves tomorrow."

"You two do know that you're already the highest performing team at this moment, right?" Hinata asked.

"Well, when it comes to this race, on the final leg, 2nd place isn't enough." Erina said. "Let's just consider these first eleven legs as training for that."

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio arrived at the canal, where Kirito and Asuna and Taki and Mitsuha were paddling around.

"Alright," Ritsu said, climbing into the back. "We just need to keep a keen eye and not get distracted."

"Right, because not ever getting distracted is what we do best." Mio replied.

Taki and Mitsuha

"I don't know if it's a Dutch word or an English word," Taki said.

"Come on, use your brain." Mitsuha replied. "How would they expect us to come up with a Dutch word?"

"I don't know, it could be like Sauerkraut or something."

"That's not even Dutch."

"You get the gist."

"No, I really don't," Mitsuha said.

"Whatever. We've got T, V, E, and N."

"Could it be VENT?" Mitsuha asked.

"Worth a try." Taki said. They moved over to the judge. "Vent." Taki said. The judge shook his head and shooed them away.

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko ran back to the store and handed him their receipt.

"Here you go," the clerk said, handing them their clue.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 3rd Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Ryuko read.

Kirito and Asuna

"I mean it has to be an English word," Kirito said.

"I mean, it could be a name." Asuna replied.

"It could, but I really hope it's not like Slarjarbar or something."

Taki and Mitsuha

"I'm starting to see something," Taki said. "Maybe INVENT?"

"That does fit," Mitsuha said. "Let's try it."

They moved their boat towards the judge.

"Invent?"

"No, sorry," he replied.

"Dammit,"

Kirito and Asuna

"Seven letters," Kirito said. "That's all we could find."

"Well, if we can't find the last letter, that's probably all there is." Asuna said. "T, N ,V, I, N, C, E"

"Is Vince a word? Wait, no, then you have an N and a T left," Kirito muttered. Asuna slapped his shoulder.

"Vince? Plus N and T? Doesn't that spell Vincent?"

"It does…" Kirito said. "Sounds like the best option."

Asuna steered their small motorboat towards the judge.

"Vincent." Asuna said.

"That's correct," the judge said, pulling their clue out and handing it to them.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 4th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Kirito read.

Ritsu and Mio

"We've got five letters," Mio said.

"How many are there?"

"I don't know,"

"Shouldn't we start thinking of possible scrambles while we look, then?"

"That's not a bad idea, but that's kind of multitasking and I don't know if we can do both efficiently." Mio argued. "I guess I can't stop you though."

Taki and Mitsuha

"Cenvin… no, that's not even a word…" Mitsuha muttered.

"Mitsuha," Taki said. "I'm thinking about switching."

"Switching Detours?" Mitsuha asked.

"Yeah. I mean, this is honestly really difficult."

"But we've spent so much time here."

"I know, but think about it. Sora and Shiro were behind us. We know they're going to do this over the cheese rolling, and the fact that they're not here means that we've at least got some leeway."

"Fair." Mitsuha said. "Alright, let's do it."

Taki and Mitsuha moved their boat back to the dock.

"Where are you going?" Ritsu asked. "Did you get it?"

"No, we're switching." Mitsuha said.

Taki and Mitsuha got out of their boat and ran to their bikes, where they set off.


"Mako and Ryuko," Hinata said. "You're team number three."

Mako and Ryuko: 3rd Place

"Alright," Ryuko said, hi-fiving Mako.

Ritsu and Mio

"Intent?" Ritsu asked.

"No, we found a V and a C," Mio replied. "We need a word that has those two letters in it."

"Vic… Victor?" Ritsu muttered. "No…"

"Actually," Mio replied. "I think you're onto something with the name."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it could be the name of a famous person who lived here or something."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha arrived at the cheese shop.

"Hi, what do we need to do?" Mitsuha asked.

"You need to find these cheeses in my shop, and deliver them to this address." the cheesemaker said, handing them their receipt.

"Looks like the cheeses are labelled," Taki said. "Right here. It says gouda."

"Okay, then it seems we don't need to worry much about this first half." Mitsuha replied.

Ritsu and Mio

"Cent… Nivcent…" Ritsu muttered. "Oh my god, it's-"

"Vincent." Mio cut off.

"You… You totally stole my thunder!"

"You were taking too long!" Mio argued.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. Let's just get it checked."

They moved their boat towards the judge.

"Vincent," Mio said. The judge nodded and handed them their clue.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 5th Place

"Yeah!" Ritsu shouted. "Let's go!"

Kirito and Asuna: 4th Place

"Seems you've made a recovery since last leg," Hinata said.

"Well, we weren't U-Turned, so we don't really have an excuse to come late." Kirito said, laughing and scratching the back of his head.

"We're trying our best to not let it get to us," Asuna replied. "Rage isn't going to get us very far."

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in Last Place

"Detour," Touma read.

"I think we should do the cheese," Mikoto replied. "There's just too many variables for the second one."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro arrived at the canal.

"If we have to bike more, or row, or something, I'm gonna lose it." Sora said. They parked their bikes and locked it up before running down to the boats.

"They're motor boats," Shiro said.

"Thank god."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha rolled their cheese out of the door.

"These wheels are too big," Taki said. "If you lose one, you really have no choice but to drop the other because it's super hard to bend over while holding it."

"Seriously, who's going to eat this much cheese before it spoils?" Mitsuha asked. "It doesn't matter. Let's move. Chop chop."

Sora and Shiro

"Keep your eyes open." Sora said.

"I don't need you to keep reminding me. I know what we're doing." Shiro replied. "I see a V… a C… and a T."

"Well, there has to be some vowels at least in there." Sora replied.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha continued rolling their cheese down the street.

"Hey," Taki said, running up to a man who was putting on his helmet and preparing to bike. "We were wondering if you could help us find this address."

"Alright," the guy said. "It's just around two more blocks down the street."

"Got it," Mitsuha said. "Thanks."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro moved their boat over to the judge.

"At that point, we hadn't found all the letters, but we figured it would be a good idea to try to arrange what we had and see what came up, see if there were words we could form that had a gap, things like that." Shiro explained.

"Convict." Sora said.

"No."

"Victor."

"No."

"Victory."

"No."

"Incentive."

"No."

"Invect."

"No."

"Incest."

"Oh, god, no!"

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio dashed to the Pit Stop mat.

"Ritsu and Mio," Hinata said. "You're team number five."

Ritsu and Mio: 5th Place

"Yeah!" Ritsu shouted. "We survived again!"

"It's leg five." Mio said. "Seven more legs to go until we finish this journey."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha laid their cheese outside the customer's yard.

"Alright," Mitsuha said. "Just sign here, please."

The man signed it, then handed them the receipt.

"Looks good," Taki said. "Let's get back to the shop."

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto arrived at the cheese shop.

"We just need to find four cheeses," Touma said. "Doesn't sound so difficult."

"It might be for you," Mikoto replied.

"W-What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

Sora and Shiro

"Victorian."

"No."

"Vincent."

The judge looked at them, then handed them the clue.

"You got it correct," he said. "After… who knows how many attempts."

Shiro snatched the clue away from him as they opened it in the boat.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 6th Place

"Yes, taxi!" Sora shouted. "Fuck yeah!"

"My legs still hurt," Shiro replied.

Sora began to steer them back towards the dock.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto began rolling their cheeses out of the shop.

"This is a lot heavier than it looks," Touma said. As he looked down at his cheeses, Taki and Mitsuha ran and slammed into him.

"Ow!" he said.

"Are you two okay?" Mikoto asked, staring at Taki and Mitsuha.

"Ng.." Taki said, standing up. "We're fine."

"I'm alright, too." Touma said, sarcastically. "Thanks so much for asking, Biribiri."

Taki and Mitsuha stepped around them and ran into the shop.

"Here you go." Taki said, handing over the receipt.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 7th Place

"Make your way by taxi to your next Pit Stop," Taki read.

Sora and Shiro

"It feels so good to have someone else drive us." Sora said. "Hey, driver, faster!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" he argued.

"We didn't see anyone at the Detour," Sora said. "So for all we know, we could potentially be in last place. I'd say it's unlikely, but it's possible."

Taki and Mitsuha

"I'm not sure if switching Detours saved or lost us any time," Taki said. "But at the very least, Touma and Mikoto are starting, and assuming they don't get lost, it should take them around twenty minutes to find the place and ten minutes to run back."

"They could have the Express Pass, though." Mitsuha said. "Remember? Souma and Erina won the express Pass and had to give it to someone on the last leg. We don't know who has it."

"But they're in the back," Taki said. "If I were them, I definitely would've skipped the Roadblock, or at the very least the Detour."

"Maybe they're not just that bright?" Mitsuha asked.

"Well, they go to Academy City, so at the very least we know they're not dumb." Taki replied.

Touma and Mikoto

"What are you doing? Roll!" Mikoto scolded.

"Sorry," Touma replied, continuing to roll. "One of my cheese wheels was caught in a rock or something."

"Jesus christ, get it together, idiot! We can't make up time if you're stalling like that."


"Sora and Shiro," Hinata said. "It seems like you've had a tough day."

"Yeah." Sora said. "Please tell me we're done with bikes for the rest of the race."

"I can tell you… that you will not have to bike for your primary transportation any longer."

"I'll take it." Sora said.

"You're team number six."

Sora and Shiro: 6th Place

"Sixth?" Shiro asked. "Who did we pass? We know that Touma and Mikoto and us were the only ones-"

Then, Taki and Mitsuha began running into the scene.

"There's your answer," Hinata said. "Taki and Mitsuha."

"Hey," Taki said. "Tell us we're still in it."

"You're still in it. You're team number seven."

Taki and Mitsuha: 7th Place

"Far from ideal, but we survived," Taki said. "Come on, give me a hug."

"No." Sora said.

"I was talking to my girlfriend, you stick figure." Taki said.

"That's... one of the more unique insults I've heard." Hinata said.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto dropped their cheeses off at the address.

"And that's that." Mikoto said. "Let's go back."


Touma and Mikoto exchanged their receipt for their clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in Last Place

"Make your way by taxi to your next Pit Stop," Touma read.

"Alright, well, hopefully someone choked on the other side of the Detour." Mikoto replied. They quickly hailed a cab and hopped inside.


"Touma and Mikoto," Hinata said. "As you can probably guess, you are the last team to arrive.

Touma and Mikoto: Last Place

Mikoto sighed. "Yeah."

"Are you feeling angry right now?" Hintata asked.

"Of course we are," Touma said. "If we had just read the prompt with no intervention by Sora, we would've likely had a better chance at catching up to the rest of the group. I guess that just didn't happen."

"I don't appreciate the siblings' play style, but it's still a play style, and we fell victim to it." Mikoto replied.

"So I heard you have really bad luck," Hinata interviewed. "How much of a factor do you think that was today?"

"That was, definitely, the defining factor." Touma said. "If I had even average amounts of luck, I guarantee you that we would've beat Sora and Shiro 100%."

"Well, your luck's not all bad." Hinata said. "Because this is a non-elimination leg."

"Really?" Mikoto asked. "We're still in it?"

Touma stayed speechless.

"You're still in it." Hinata said. "However, please note that sometime during the next leg of the race, you will have to face a Speed Bump, an additional challenge that only you have to do. You must complete the Speed Bump and then check in in front of at least one other team in order to survive the next leg."

"We're ready," Touma said. "We can redeem ourselves."

"Another shot at the race, another shot to knock out those two pesky siblings. Get ready, we're coming for you." Mikoto said.


Race Stats:


Next Time on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition

Teams embark on a nationwide race throughout Germany.

"What the hell are they doing?" Sora asked, driving a car, looking at Ritsu and Mio's car.

"It's not working!" Ritsu said, fiddling with the shifter.

The chefs finally get into their element.

"We don't make sausages often," Souma said. "But this is by far, one of the most in-our-element challenges on this race."

And Touma and Mikoto face even more struggles.

"The train's full." Touma said. "And the next train leaves almost two hours later."

Series this work belongs to: