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With the water and energy bar pack held in one hand, Boaz was about to start working on a steady pace along the course in accordance with his intended plan when the sight of the people armed and ready with water balloon slings and super soaker guns flanking them all made him stop short in his tracks. And it was right about then when it dawned upon him what the space blanket, that looked kind of out of place in an event like this awhile ago, might come in handy for.

Oh s**t.

He was already making a dash for it without even waiting for the coordinator to finish with the rules, figuring that he could still listen while running as he tried to cover as much ground as possible when the course was still safe. When the countdown hit 3, the blond quickly darted behind a pile of sandbags then used the remaining seconds to scope and plan his intended route with respect to the cover avail to him along the rest of the course.

The ones with the super soaker guns were the ones that he had to avoid at all cost since there was no telling the range of those things. The water balloons, he probably stood a better chance against since those would need to be reloaded more often plus he should be fine so long as he was careful and kept moving between the cover. He could always make up for the loss of speed much later if he survived this.

Crouch low and use the cover to run through the course! It’s a little slower, but safer, no?

With his water and energy bar in hand, Ianto felt rather successful. However, Ianto also felt rather encumbered, considering he didn't have a very logical place to store things. Well, he could shove it down his shorts, but he was rather uncertain if it would stay there. After all, he had never worn this pair before and he wasn't sure of all of their capabilities. While on that odd stream of thought, one of the chick's running this thing started yelling into a megaphone and some other people with water guns and things, quickly explaining what was going down.

There was no time to stop and think, so Ianto just reacted. He scrambled, moving as quickly as possible as he yanked his shirt from his back like it was on fire. From there, he merely shoved his shirt down the front of his shorts, gave a second to make sure it was secure, and then ran for it as fast as he could. There was of course, a small, odd hand movement while he was running, just a brief prayer that was sent to the heavens fully expecting the place to be empty. His hand quickly did a cross across his chest as Ianto ran, attempting to keep at least one other person who was fleeing the scene between himself and the others who were running. He had his shirt safe, so unless hitting your skin made you "die" he should be safe, but just in case it was better if it was one of them instead of him.

[a] Sprint as fast as you can, trying to get out of range!

Paint carnage, everywhere! Only those clever enough to wrap their blankets around themselves, or use available cover while moving manage to make it through. The others, those fool-hardy enough to simply sprint without any sort of cover, and those who decided to stay still and make themselves an easily cornered target, find themselves splattered with paint. Whether they notice it immediately, or when a stern-eyed Marathon Official calls their number to indicate that they're out, facts are facts. Their shirt's been hit!

The following individuals make it through to the next round, hurrying past those unfortunate souls who continue to deal with the paint gauntlet to what lies ahead:

Dennis Terry
Ian Davis
Delilah Masters
Destiny Kent
Madelyn Caspian
Rowan Drake
Sable Winchester
Mathias White
Ernest D. Ritter
Leo Torres
Boaz Crawford
Elalinde Pope

After a large amount of running, you arrive at a fairly large mud pit, a coordinator quickly informs you that said mud is in fact lava, and if you fall in it, expect a fiery death! There is no way around the mud on this course, but you can see two immediate ways to traverse it: a small, slippery looking plank to balance upon and above, an equally dubious pair of ropes stretched across the expanse to swing/pull yourself along, monkey bar style.

Which route do you take?
[a] Forget that, I’m going to run and jump across this puddle.
Monkey ropes! I was the champion of it back in elementary school!
[c] I’m more balanced than a breakfast in a cereal commercial! The plank, it is!

[Instructions: Please include your character's NAME in your narrative, so we know who they are. Please write what your character attempts, and we will let you know in the next prompt if they succeed! You are free to include your character attempting to use the item they won in the first prompt! Sometimes it will affect the outcome, if they use it properly, sometimes it won’t! To use an item, simply bold the item in red somewhere in your narrative and let us know that the character is going to see what they can do with it, and see what happens!

You have 24 hours OR until everyone has posted! - 12:30am, Tuesday.

****If you were just eliminated, you may write one final exit to show us how your character deals with defeat, but please indicate by putting EXIT at the top of your post.****]

Mathias was glad to discover that sometimes his father had good advice - but only just a little - as he looked over this second obstacle another one of his old stories came to mind. The plank looked far to slippery for him to get across without falling into the "lava" and he knew he wasn't as good a jumper as to sail across it in one go.

Looked like the monkey ropes were the way to go.

Wiping his hands on his shirt, he wrapped his hands with his bandages to hopefully give him a better grip and avoid rope burn and choice made began to assail the monkey rope.

Monkey ropes! I was the champion of it back in elementary school!

"Eiii, so far so good!" Madelyn said to herself, crawling out of the last bit of cover and feelings very confident in herself, though the moment was short lived when she caught sight of her next obstacle. Mud is lava? She hadn't played a game like that in... forever! She knew she couldn't jump across- not even Gwen was that athletic! And one look at the ropes made her hesitant- swinging was all fine and dandy, but the thought of hitting another person and knocking them or herself into the 'lava'? That wouldn't settle well with her conscious at all!

However, the ropes did give her an idea, and she looked up to see if there was a branch above the planks. If she could fasten her bungee cord to her waist and slip the other end to the branches above, she could balance herself across slippery planks!. It wasn't a perfect idea, but it was definitely worth a try! Besides, she was more confident in her balancing abilities than her swinging- Gwen wasn't the only one in the Caspian family that good stay on her feet!

"Here goes nothing!" Madelyn said, tying the bungee cord around her waist and slipping it over the closest branch to the plank to use for balance. This contest was really testing her brain!

[c] I’m more balanced than a breakfast in a cereal commercial! The plank, it is!

Editted for clarity.

Delilah crossed her arms and considered her options for a moment. She liked to think she was reasonably balanced and graceful, bu that plank just didn't look sturdy at all - too many variables there. It could crack, or she could slip and fall - no, that was a nasty injury waiting to happen, never mind an elimination. The monkey ropes looked just as dubious, but she had always been the girl brave enough to swing across the monkey bars - and rope courses were always fun. The theoretical third option, taking a running leap, was the worst of all in her opinion.

Wishing briefly that she had grabbed bandages to protect from rope burn, Delilah Masters hopped up and grabbed at the first rope.

Monkey ropes! I was the champion of it back in elementary school!

Blanket still wrapped around him, Dennis paused only briefly to consider his options. Ropes, plank. The ropes looked like it would be very easy to get caught in a line or be slowed by others, and not as easy to make his own path on. Or there was a third, more inventive option, but he didn't really let it pass through his head. He could not make that jump, at least not without a running start.

So he would do that. Hit the plank and jump when he was clear. There would be others in his way but he could always just get by them, use them as meat shields for the paint fire, or just push them out of his way, right? Whatever it took, he reminded himself without needing to.

There was never hesitance there.

He grinned and took off again, heading for the plank with his plan firmly in mind. Maybe his running so recklessly on it would shake and jostle it for the other runners, too. As long as he kept his own balance that was all he cared about. This was a contest, and there was an age old saying about contests.

He wasn't there to make friends.

[c] I’m more balanced than a breakfast in a cereal commercial! The plank, it is!