Andy raced to the second pole, finding enough grip on the meager footholds and handholds to lift himself up.

"IT LOOKS LIKE OUR NEW ARRIVALS HAVE CHOSEN THE SECOND POLE, THAT IS THE ONLY UNMARKED OPTION!" the announcer said.

Andy shimmied his way up, trying his best to pass the woman on the first pole, about five feet to his left and fifteen feet ahead of him. She had a big head start.

He put one foot over the other, one hand over the other, hoisting himself up little by little. Soon enough, he had ascended almost twenty feet.

Then his foot slipped as a peg broke out from under him.

A pang of panic shot through him as he caught himself, holding on with all his might to keep himself from falling.

A fall from this height could very well be fatal, especially if I land wrong, Andy thought. I better slow down, and besides, they picked the wrong pole, so it's not like I have anything to worry about. I am technically ahead…

"Be careful!" he heard Kermit call from below.

Andy took more deliberate steps, one foot over the other, one hand over the other.

The cloaked woman reached the top of the first pole, about fifteen or so feet higher than him. She reached to the pole's cap, retrieving something small and shiny, like a gold coin.

"I got it!" she called.

"THE FORTUNE FINDERS HAVE RETRIEVED AN EMBLEM!"

Just gotta continue, Andy thought.

"Get the other ones too!" the elepholk man called in a gruff voice from the ground. "Just in case, you know?"

"Good point," the woman said. She hung off the side of the pole, but she couldn't reach...

Oh no, she's going to…

Andy scrambled as fast as he could, climbing the pole with reckless speed.

"Slow down!" he heard Arlene call.

Andy approached the top, and just when he did, the woman on the left pole jumped, slamming into Andy.

Andy hugged the pole tightly, he felt the structure begin to sway under the force of the woman's landing.

"What are you doing!" Andy said, terrified. "You're going to get both of us killed! You said you wouldn't aggress–"

"I said I wouldn't attack first," the woman said. "This isn't an attack, this is a race." She stepped on Andy's shoulder as she reached for the top of the pole.

Andy tried his best to shift around, but he couldn't. Not without falling to his death.

"Got it!" the woman called. "Going for the last one now."

She stepped onto Andy's shoulder and began to push off, jumping to the third pole.

But as she did, Andy lost his grip. She had shoved off too hard, and his shoulder had given way as he hung on the pole with his legs and left arm.

As the woman pushed off, Andy's shoulder fell, and her footing was lost.

"Re!" the elepholk called.

"No!" cried the little girl in the pink dress.

The woman reached out for the third pole, but she wasn't going to make it. Not even close.

She didn't scream as she fell. She didn't make any noise, except a sickening, crunchy thud as her body hit the ground.

"No!" the elepholk yelled, rushing to the woman's side. He immediately knelt down beside her, putting his hands on her to heal her.

"You did this!" the little girl exclaimed, pointing to Andy. "You are going to be sorry, mister!"

Andy began scrambling down the pole. When he got to the last ten feet, he jumped the rest of the way, rolling as he hit the ground.

"She's dead," the elepholk said, standing up, his eyes beginning to glisten with tears.

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Arlene and Kermit rushed to Andy's side.

"We don't want any trouble," Andy said. "It was an honest mistake, and we agreed not to fight."

"Re may have agreed not to fight," the elepholk said, brandishing his shield and warhammer, "But I didn't. And I'll be damned if I let her death go unavenged."

"What are you talking about?" Andy said. "She fell because of her own carelessness. I didn't do anything on pur–"

The elepholk charged, shield on one arm, giant warhammer in another. He wielded it one-handed with ease.

"Get them!" the little girl cried.

Arlene drew her bow and fell back, trying to get some distance between her and the charging enemy.

Kermit stood motionlessly.

Andy picked Kermit up with one arm and tossed him several feet away, then drew his weapon.

The elepholk was upon him now.

Andy activated Fluid Strike. Time slowed as he looked for weak points in the elepholk's armor.

This may be the only chance I have, Andy thought. I need to put everything I have into it, even if it exhausts me.

Andy activated Wallop and readied his Greatsword. He felt the familiar rage, the thirst for justice, well up inside him as he swung his great sword. His blade found the elepholk's unarmored elbow, slicing clean through it. Andy spun, bringing his sword through the elepholk's other elbow, slicing through. He spun a third time, finding the elepholk's unarmored neck.

Time sped back up as the elepholk's lifeless body fell to the ground, forearms and head detached.

"MY GOODNESS FOLKS, IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A DISMEMBERMENT!"

Many in the audience gasped, many groaned, some applauded, a few laughed.

Andy panted. He was spent. He had pushed it to the edge. But now the threat was neutralized.

"No!" he heard the little girl cry.

Andy didn't want to do it, but he felt he had no other choice. In the moment he had acted to defend himself and his friends.

"I'm sorry," Andy said, exhausted.

"No," the little girl said, her voice lowering into a growl. "But you will be."

The girl began to giggle, then laugh. It sounded like she had two voices.

"What is this exorcist shit?" Arlene said, a look of terror coming over her face.

The girl threw her head back and her body exploded into tentacles, which surrounded a maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.

"WOW, A SHAPESHIFTER," the announcer called. "WHO COULD'VE EXPECTED THIS."

Andy tried to lift his sword but he was too tired.

Arlene ran over to the cloaked woman's body, scooping up the two medallions.

"I've got the emblems!" Arlene said. "Let's run!"

The group darted back for the red route as the tentacled monstrosity threw itself at them. It had somehow grown more gargantuan, crashing into the ground and sending a wave of sand forward.

The group crossed through the first golden door. At least now a stone wall stood between them and the monstrosity.

As soon as they cleared the door Andy fell to the ground, exhausted. He had pushed it too far. He couldn't push himself up.

"This is it for me," Andy said. "I can't go any further."

Tentacles slammed into the wall behind them, climbing their way over the edge.

"PL!" Kermit called to the pig in the next room.

The giant boar arose, eager to follow Kermit's voice as it sprinted through the hole in the wall, past its cage.

Kermit motioned toward Andy.

"Can you carry him?" Kermit asked.

The boar didn't understand.

Tentacles slammed down from above, beginning to rip the outer wall apart.

Arlene helped Andy up, putting his arm around her shoulder.

Kermit made a motion to the boar's back.

The boar put his head down, allowing Arlene to help Andy onto his back.

"Let's go!" Kermit said, leading the charge through the hole toward the shrine courtyard. "Let's get him outta here!"

The boar followed Kermit as the tentacle monster ripped through the outer wall and into the red route, its mouth open, teeth threatening.

Arlene ran up to the courtyard wall, scaling the rubble. Then she paused, looking behind her at the tentacled monstrosity.

She attached an alchemical vial to an arrow, notched it, and pulled back her bowstring.

"This better work," she muttered as she let the arrow fly.

It struck the monster in the mouth, exploding, sending teeth flying every which way as the monster reared back in agony, its tentacles writhing.

"WHAT A SHOT, EH?" the announcer said as the crowd cheered.

Arlene turned and continued to run through the shrine courtyard.

Meanwhile, the boar continued charging. It was headed straight for the wall with Andy still on his back.

Oh shit, Andy thought. Fat chance I survive this impact.

"Woah!" Andy called.

PL didn't listen. The boar slammed right through the wall.

Andy held on to the boar's mane as tightly as he could. Several bricks and stones pummeled him. He felt one hit his skull, another cracked into his shoulder.

The boar didn't stop, it ran through the other wall too, back to the starting area.

This time Andy fell off, skidding on the ground to come to a rest right in front of the entrance gate.

Everything went black.