by SpiderBraids
Preparations the following morning for the final leg of the JWG. Otto has just stepped on Squid's Maori dictionary. Everyone's squabbling, especially in light over the windsurfing incident from yesterday, and if you'd been involved this incident or something like it, you'd probably be tweaked too.
The Ditz is defending Reggie over said incident ("Why don't you just leave her alone?"). Instead of following Twister's suit however, Reggie is actually apologizing for "trying to get back at Raymundo". Reggie adds: "I blew it for the team, and I blew it for you, Otto." I would have expected her to add something like, "I should have just kept going," since, well, she should have, but no joy here. Anyways, she spews crap about how being friends "makes us better" than the other teams, adding: "If we can't get that back together right now, this whole thing is going to be a bust."
Phil's Understudy is calling everyone, saying they got five minutes before they have to get on some helicopters for the snowboarding race, so if there's gonna be any apologizing, it better be now. And it better be fast. And it better cover everything. And... I guess Otto's apology will do fine.
Reggie asks Tawiki: "Got any Maori words of wisdom for us before we head out?" Squid sez, "I think the traditional woogie would be more appropriate." Here comes some more woogies, and even though it's only the third woogie, it's really getting on my nerves already. You're not bowling moms. Heck, you don't even bowl. Heck, most of you can't even be moms.
OK, now that we've got all that covered, they're in the helicopter, and time to check in with the standings, in case you forgot they're in the JWG, which is a RAAAACE. Also in case you've forgotten: waaaay back at the start, they said that the team with the fastest combined time wins, and Twister kept trying to remind Otto after legs 2 and 3 that the team was still doing OK. This "team" thing (a hitherto completely foreign, no pun intended, concept for Otto) is coming into play in the pre-race exposition of this leg. The team is in second place (despite Reggie's major windsurfing debacle... must have been a close leg), but if they can put in a good combined time, they could still win.
"Hey, doesn't Otto still have a chance to win", you ask? Well, like it or not, those two losses haven't taken a beating out of his chances: Theodore has 1 1/2 wins (thanks to that tie with Reggie), and a win in this race will give Otto 2. Meanwhile, Otto is actually telling Reggie that she has a chance to win. Sure, she said it herself two legs back and that got Otto steamed, but this time, she's being reminded (by non-team-believer Otto, no less!) that if she wins this leg, she'll tie for first with Theodore.
Reggie adds, however, "As long as the team takes home the win, I'm cool." And ditto with Otto. Really. He's now caring about the team results just as much now, if not more. Hallelujah.
Enough with that, what about the course, Squid? "The only thing we need to watch out for is right here. The Flat Stick Fork. Make sure you go right at the rock formation." Right. And I bet the McGills' strategy will involve going left.
Yyyyyep, and although it's the longer way around, Chester is recommending Theodore to cut across out of bounds. His excuse for such blatant cheating: "It's insurance, like the Rocket Boy's wheel coming loose or the windsurfing map with the sandbar in the wrong place. (...) I fixed it for us so the crown of Waikikamukau stays on the head of a McGill where it belongs." Somehow, I begin to doubt the legitimacy of Chester's win... and I can imagine major Nicktoon fan Don Del Grande saying "What took you so long?" Del Grande said over at Nickdisk: "The minute Ray mentioned what happened to him in the first race, I was 95% sure how it was going to end, and it became 99.9% when they revealed that the course for the final race was the same one Ray used way back when."
Anyways, Theodore sez, and I emphasize, "Dad, I want to win the race on my own." Look, it's nice that wanna play fair and all, but Chester's already tainted two of your legs, and you lost the other leg to Otto. You really think you stand a chance on your own? Dad is thinking in the same way, and he sez, "You will go to the left." Alrighty then...
Back to Ray and his two kids, and time for the final peptalk. Actually, it's more like a "apology for putting that pressure on him" kind of talk in Otto's case. "I get it, Raymundo. Thanks." Over to Reggie then... and Ray sez: "I do care...about both of you...equally." Blech. Tito, on the peptalk: "Nobody could have done it better, bruddah." Me: "Nobody could have raised my blood sugar any higher, bucko." That peptalk was pretty sappy, so if you're diabetic, you might want to check your blood sugar soon.
OK, we go over to the top of the mountain, and it's conch shell time. There's that song with a message again. "Don't change yourself for society"... unless your name is Otto Rocket, in which case you should stop being such a selfish jerk. OK? Look, if you're going to have a song with a good message, why not have a little ditty about what girls can achieve? At least it would fit Reggie's efforts to win...
Ray and Tito are looking at the action through binoculars, setting up a rare genuinely funny moment, as Tito sez: "Your binoculars are filthy, bro. You have to clean these lenses every day." You'd half-expect one of the lens-caps to be on as well... Yeah, another TAR 5 reference.
Back to the race. Sammy sez: "You guys are on fire!" Unfortunately, not literally. Anyways, the gang are approaching their jumps. Mini-Colin goes first, and as Twister and Reggie approach next, The Ditz takes the high road. No, not suddenly believing in the church (not that anything's wrong with it), but just choosing to take the higher jump instead of Reggie.
I suppose that not looking where he's leaping qualifies Twister for extra Ditziness. For sure, it qualifies him for some major knee pain. Time for Reggie to call back Otto to see what's wrong, and for Nick to get in a few more plugs... and for diabetics to check their blood sugar.