Hex swiftly flew ahead of the group while the others were jogging behind her as they all walked through a narrow corridor that only allowed them to walk in a single file.
"I can't believe they solved the puzzle just as quickly as us; do you think they have a gamer on their team too?" Olivia asked jokingly, to which Storm just shrugged and Trikore calmly stated he wasn't a gamer.
"Anyone who can speedrun any twenty-hour game, in under two hours is automatically a-," Olivia managed to say as she closed her eyes and Storm pulled her backwards when he grabbed her scarf. Olivia turned around and asked what the big idea was as she placed her hands on her hips. Storm pointed out that she was about to walk straight into the door while literally pointing at the door.
"Oh... thanks for that," Olivia muttered as Hex, after landing on the ground, was trying to push the door open but to no avail. Hex glanced upwards and noticed the flashing light above her on the ceiling high above. Hex asked if she could investigate the light and Olivia said she could. Hex quickly floated up to the light and noticed it was a flashing button. Hex placed her hand on her chin and pretended to ponder whether she should press the button before instantly pressing it. The door began to slowly open and Hex zoomed back to Olivia before the group peered through the door.
"I think there used to be a game show similar to this on the television," Trikore mentioned as the group looked upon the obstacle coursed that bared a striking resemblance to the courses presented on the Total Wipeout TV show, even including the large pool of water below the course.
"You really are old, you just said television," Xinia muttered as Hex flew past the door frame before immediately plummeting like a heavy rock towards the floor; luckily she was caught by a quick-reacting Olivia. Hex glared at her wings and noticed they were rapidly vibrating when she tried to fly while asking what gives.
"Must mean there is a super no-fly zone barrier in this challenge area," Trikore stated; Hex asked what that was and Trikore explained that unlike a normal no-fly zone barrier, which only stops magic-based flying, a super one stops all forms of flight no matter how it is performed.
"That so?" Olivia said as she placed Hex on her back and gave her a piggyback.
"I take it we just need to get to the end of the obstacle course right?" Storm asked.
"If this challenge is only like the television show then that will be the case but given the previous challenge had two aspects to it; so, we should be prepared for anything," Trikore recommended. The others nodded before they all got ready to jump across the spaced-out balloon-shaped platforms.
Meanwhile, another door opened before Kai and Ruby raced into the Total Wipeout challenge area and almost fell off the small platform that was under the door. Luna landed on the floor before she and Sophia walked through the door.
"Are you trying to make us lose or are you really just that clumsy, Ruby?" Luna asked with a slightly condescending tone. Ruby denied Luna's false claims and said she was just checking how far down the water was. Luna rolled her eyes and turned towards Sophia.
"Do you think you could use your teleportation, Fifi?" Ruby asked. Sophia shook her head and Luna stated that she assumed Sophia can't teleport since she can't fly in this area. Ruby excitedly pounded her fist together while jokingly saying even if Sophia could teleport the audience would probably get mad.
"Hey Kai-," Ruby said before she looked down towards Kai and noticed she wasn't standing next to her any more. Ruby darted her head behind herself and realised Kai was rapidly hopping between the balloon platforms.
"Does she ever sit still?" Ruby asked rhetorically as she felt Luna smugly staring at her.
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"I don't think you're allowed to complain about someone not staying put, Ruby," Luna cheekily remarked; Ruby rolled her eyes with an annoyed demeanour before she raced after Kai. Sophia asked Luna if she needed her to carry her but Luna turned her down.
"Just because I can't fly doesn't mean I won't be able to handle something as simple as park-," Luna stated before she gave a quick look at the obstacle course and squinted her eyes at the ballon platforms. Luna stared at her feet and attempted to jump but only went up by a millimetre.
"Ok... maybe I do," Luna muttered stoically and with a serious glare on her face. Sophia crouched down onto one knee and Luna quickly climbed onto Sophia's back before Sophia hurried after Kai and Ruby.
From inside the private booth, Lola and all the other kids excitedly watched as both teams made their way through their respective Total Wipeout obstacle courses. Lola quickly climbed over to and rested her chin on Zalroth's shoulder.
"Papa, you gotta do something like that for my training," Lola requested with a pleading tone. Lola nuzzled her face against Zalroth's head when he didn't respond to her request. Lola peeked her head to the side and realised Zalroth was out cold. Lola pouted before repeatedly poking Zalroth's face until he began to show signs of waking up. Zalroth yawned and clicked his neck as he slightly opened one of his eyes.
"Yes?" Zalroth lazily asked as he sat up, causing Chronia, who was laying on Zalroth's chest, to roll down and flop onto Zalroth's lap.
"She said she wants you to make one of those for her so she can use it as a playground," Chronia remarked as she pointed at the screens showing the teams participating in their respective Total Wipeout challenges. Lola embarrassedly denied Chronia's claims and stated she only wanted it for very serious training purposes. Zalroth glanced up at the TV before back at Lola.
"You want me to make a Total Wipeout-themed playground that functions like that one level from that game you play with the noodle-limbed bean people?" Zalroth tiredly asked which made Lola confidently nodded her head as she crossed her arms.
"Absolutely" Lola stated without a hint of hesitation, which made Chronia and to a lesser extent Zalroth amusedly chuckle. For a split second, Lola confusedly wondered why her parents were laughing before it clicked in her and she flusteredly fluttered her arm around wildly.
"Wait no; I ah- mama confused me," Lola frustratedly said as she pouted and puffed up her tails. Lola continued to adamantly defend her position on her request being a training ground and not a playground as Sophia and co continued to parkour their way up to the top of the obstacle course.
Kai tirelessly manoeuvred her way around the fake blades and raced for the finish line when she noticed the finish line had a locked door between it. Kai reached the door and realised it had a phrase inscribed on it that read: when using an oven which side of it is the coldest. Almost like clockwork, the moment Kai read the phrase the two large pipes on the ceiling opened before gallons of water gushed out from them. The falling waterfalls crashed into the large body of rising water and began to make it rise at an accelerated rate. Ruby finally caught up to Kai, shortly followed by Sophia and Luna.
"What's an oven?" Kai asked, and Luna explained it to her by giving a basic description of what an average oven is. The other girls read the phrase on the door while Kai stared down at the still rapidly rising body of water.
"And here I thought they heated things evenly throughout the whole oven," Sophia commented.
"Well, it depends on the make; if it has coils then it would be but if the oven has a fan then the area directly in front of the fan might be slightly colder," Luna stated; however, when the door showed no response the group figured Luna's answer wasn't correct. The girls glanced down at the rising water as it drew close to the girls' level.
"It seems this requires a stupidly obvious answer," Luna muttered as she looked over at Ruby, which made Ruby agitatedly place her hands on her hips.
"Hey! Just because I thought the answer was the outside was the coldest side doesn't mean I'm-," Ruby managed to retort before the door started to glow. The door crumbled away as the large pipes closed and the body of water below disappeared. Luna double-facepalmed and groaned in disbelief.
"Of course, it was outside," Luna complained as she hopped down from Sophia's back. The group walked through the finish line and the sound of Kiki's voice began to come through the coliseum speakers.
"And team...., I was going to say ruby but I'm pretty sure that's copyrighted, Zalka has made it through to the third challenge, so let's hope team Hex can get past their door quickly and keep things neck and neck!" Kiki joyfully exclaimed as the applause from the spectators rose to new heights.