This Is Madness!

“Okay, who’s going first?”

Patrice and Jordan looked at each other and then back at Eligh. “You.” They both said, even nodding their heads to assert their stance.

Eligh frowned. “But—”

“You’re young.” Jordan said, though he was only in his forties.

“You’re brilliant.” Patrice added, though she was the one who’d called him dopey-looking before.

“You’re agile.”

“You’re brave.”

“You’re determined.”

“And capable!”

Eligh laughed, “Are you guys going to keep fake flattering me?” He asked.

“Absolutely, if it works. Is it working? I’d rather you cross that bridge than me.” Patrice insisted, tossing her chin in the direction of the Spring Step Bridge which was currently flinging contestants trying to cross it up to the high heavens.

Jordan chimed in. “It’s the real risk of being sliced and diced for me.” He said, referring to the huge blades swinging back and forth at opposite times and directions as contestants hurried through them, cradling their eggs.

“And you both haven’t considered what that might mean for me?”

“Oh, you’ll be fine.” The two said in unison, and knuckle bumped each other in response.

Eligh scowled, Bastards, he thought and picked up an egg from the crate. He grabbed the long wooden spoon and placed the egg on top, then walked over to the starting line of the field-long contraption with deadly obstacles that others were failing horribly at. “Okay, I can do this.” He bounced on the balls of his feet.

“Go Eligh!” Jordan shouted, and Eligh did.

He hobbled forward at a half-jogging, half-walking pace toward the spring step bridge and hopped onto the circular step nearest him. Involuntarily, his body froze as he waited for the springs to send him flying. Nothing happened.

“H-H-Hey! I’m safe! It’s not moving!” Eligh called through a rush of relieved laughter.

“The hell are you doing, young’un? Get goin’ before it sends you to Hell!”

“I think she means Heaven because that’d be the other direction, but I get the sentiment! Go now!” Jordan called afterwards, earning a taste of Patrice’s iciest side eye.

Go, Eligh did, and the moment he jumped to the next step, he was reduced to little more than a rag doll. The spring shot him so high, he could see over the tops of the jungle’s highest trees.

“Oo-aaaaaaagh!!!” He cried, having lost control of his own body. Then, his body peaked at an incredible height and started its way back down. That’s when he spotted the egg falling faster than he was.

Crap! The egg!

Eligh fought against the wind and angled his body downward, increasing his falling speed and catching up to the egg. He reached out with the wooden spoon and tensed his fingers against his left palm, slowing his speed so he could move his body underneath the egg. Eventually, the egg was settled, and he coasted back toward the contraption.

“Whew!” He cried and immediately started on the unpredictable bridge again. He pushed air from the bottom of his foot gear as he hopped from step to step, managing to keep his balance and control of the egg even when the springs shot up like dolphins out of the water.

Soon, he reached the second obstacle: Pendulum Blades, which the bowling ball-haired announcer was currently insisting was “deadly, deadly, DEADLY!” over the public announcement system. Eligh filled his cheeks with air and blew it out. His eyes swayed back and forth as he tracked the movements of the sharp, silver blades which scissored rhythmically over a solid plank.

“Thank goodness this one’s not moving,” Eligh mumbled and took no more time hesitating. If it’s just about timing, then I’ve got this in the bag! Eligh remembered his days on the playground as a kid, dipping through the swings before the kids sitting on them could kick his teeth out.

He walked with quick steps across the plank, moving other contestants out of the way with his free hand. He paused between the blades, sometimes lying spread eagle on the plank for the blades to pass over him. And towards the end, he just left caution to the wind and ran for it, no need to use his gear at all.

“Who-hoo!” He shouted, giving his egg a little smooch, then looked ahead at the remaining two obstacles. He approached the third set and swallowed down his fear. It was the Boulder Drop, made up of those small black orbs controlled by that damned Kaien.

The orbs piece themselves together into massive boulders the size of full-grown cows for this obstacle. Eligh and his egg just needed to make it across the plank to the other side. His heart was beating so violently that Eligh could only release shuddering breaths.

“Okay.” He said to himself. “Let’s g—”

Someone slapped a hand against his shoulder and said, “Hey, Eligh!”

“Aaagh!!”

Eligh’s egg went flying into the air and was crushed by a falling boulder.

“Don’t be mad at me. Please? It wasn’t on purpose, I swear!”

Eligh had a frown of concentration on his face. He was back at the Boulder Drop after going back to obtain a second egg from the crate and redoing the first two obstacles. His mood was soured, but Mara wasn’t at fault. Jordan had hit him with the, “You’re back already? Man, I think even I could have done better than that! Let me in there!”

… Would it be against Games regulations to choke Jordan out if Eligh said he was doing it for his own peace of mind?

Eligh huffed, “I’m not mad… at you.”

In fact, Mara being here at the same obstacle as him made him feel loads better. It was the first time this tournament that they hadn’t competed together, and it felt strange only seeing her now. But here she was.

“You sure? I can… break my team’s egg! Although it’s already our third try…” Mara said, her eyes round and worried.

Eligh laughed and said, “No worries, no need to go that far. Let’s do this together.”

Now, Mara smiled. “Right.”

They looked high up at the little orbs buzzing around like bees. When a challenger stepped onto the plank, the orbs conjoined in a flash and plummeted to the ground, knocking the challenger and their egg off the contraption. It was a tricky challenge, but Eligh and Mara were ready to show their teammates how to clear it.

“Charge.” The pair said, willing their gear to gather energy in a concentrated area. Right now, they focused on their feet, the metal growing a little warm on their skin. Mara tilted her wooden spoon downward, until the egg nudged haphazardly against the edge. Eligh, noticing, did the same.

Then together, they shouted, “Boost!” and charged forward with running leaps more powerful than any human leg could handle. The boulders dropped, crashing onto the plank and sending other challengers spiraling away. Eligh and Mara held their eggs against the pressure of their speed, zigzagging around falling boulders until they reached the end.

“We did great!” Eligh said, high-fiving Mara. She smiled back, ecstatic about finally moving past the boulders.

“Now, it’s just Smash Wall.”

“Now it’s just Smash Wall.” Eligh repeated, but looking at the obstacle, he noticed something. “You know what?” He watched the parallel walls meet each other like arms, retract, and smash again on the lower half, like feet. Sometimes, it was fast, sometimes, it was slow. But the timing was always the same in between either of the two speeds. “I say we just gun it.”

Mara looked at Eligh, her right eyebrow cocked upward, “Should we?”

Eligh shrugged, “Why not?” He was sure with their speed, they’d make it through almost anything.

After one more dropped egg on Jordan’s leg of the relay—Eligh fought hard not to be petty. And lost that battle. He made sure Jordan knew what a screw up he was—the team cleared the second leg of Obstacle Course Mayhem.

They had left the arena in fourth place and had only one leg left. They were still in the game!

Moreover, Eligh suspected that Oliver’s team was in the lead, and his desire to catch up to his younger brother spurred him on even more. His team flew fast over the trees and could see the obstacles at the final leg of the course— of the Games! —before reaching the beach.

“No. Freaking. Way.” Eligh said on heavy breath.

It was amazing.

The final leg of the course appeared difficult and larger than life. From the air, Eligh’s team saw three teams already tackling what looked like their own massive 3D puzzles.

Each project being constructed was different. There was a giant blue and yellow flounder fish down the far-left side of the beach, a brown and black gorilla next to it, and an intricate pale pink seahorse being pieced together beside the two of them. If Eligh didn’t know better, he’d say the beach had its very own jungle animal art exhibit. Beautiful!

The sight of it made him feel lightheaded, but it was because of all possible things, it had to be a puzzle challenge.

Eligh sucked hard at puzzles.