Chapter 12

While setting up camp, Hannah and Zach went to the Nile River and got some fresh water. Once their camp got set up, they sat by the fire and roasted marshmallows while Hope and Nichole told ghost stories. Once they finished eating, all the racers got into their sleeping bags, said "goodnight" to each other, and went to sleep. The next day, all the racers dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls, lined up at the starting line, and waited for Lacey to shoot off the starting pistol. Once she did, Easter Town started their 60-second head start and raced off to El Paso.

Easter Town started to do the same track they did, only backward and raced through Egypt. They saw two arrow signs once Easter Town reached a fork in the road. One pointed down the left path and said, "Racers This Way," and the other pointed down the right direction and said, "Warning- Quicksand." Sarah thought about it for a moment and got an idea. Sarah exited the car and turned the sign around so the arrows pointed in the wrong direction. Then Sarah returned to her vehicle with Narita and drove down the left path. While Easter Town headed to Libya, their 60-second head start ended. Then Stephanie re-shot the starting pistol, and all the other racers raced off to El Paso.

The Speed Canoe is in 2nd, and when they came to the fork in the road, they looked at the arrow sign and read it. Nichole said, "According to this. We need to go down the right path." Hope said, "OK." Hope hit the gas, drove them down the right path, and directly into a puddle of quicksand. Hope said, "Oh, darn. Now we're going to sink." Hope and Nichole opened the sunroof at the top of their car and climbed out. Then they jumped off the top of their vehicle and out of the quicksand while their car sank. Then they walked back down the path and spun the arrow sign around until the pointers pointed in the right direction again. Hope said, "Wait a minute." Nichole said, "What?" Hope said, "I think someone did this on purpose." Since they were out of the race, the network sent a helicopter to get them. Then Jennifer dropped a rope ladder down, Hope and Nichole climbed it up to the aircraft, and Jennifer flew them back to the network.

Easter Town is in the lead, The Wheeled Mummy Case is in 2nd, The Frog Hopper is in 3rd, The Genie's Bottle is in 4th, The Speeding Monkey is in 5th, The Flower Truck is in 6th, The Catmobile is in 7th, The Poker Machine is in 8th, and The Werewolf Howler is in last. The Genie's Bottle is still in 4th, but when they saw The Speeding Monkey catching up, Heather pulled a lever in their car and dumped a bunch of car scraps onto the track. Angi yelled, "Scraps straight ahead!" Team Monkey, Team Flower, and Team Cat all stopped their cars and tried to find a way to get past the scraps. Once Jackie and Penny saw them, Jackie pushed a button in their car, shot a ramp in front of them, drove up to it, and jumped the pile of scraps. Once they made it across, The Poker Machine took 5th place. Penny flipped a switch in their car and deactivated the ramp, turning it back into a cube. Then Jackie activated a claw in their car, grabbed the cube, and put the ramp back in their vehicle. Jackie said, "So long, suckers." Everyone from 1st-5th raced into Libya and did the track they previously did in reverse.

Meanwhile, everyone from 6th to last got blocked by Team Genie's pile of scraps. To take 6th place, Team Cat activated the drill setting, dug under the junk, and returned to the surface. Once they got to the surface, Team Cat put themselves in 6th, and everyone behind them drove through the same tunnel and made it through. The Catmobile is in 6th, The Flower Truck is in 7th, The Speeding Monkey is in 8th, and The Werewolf Howler is in last. The Flower Truck is in 7th when they saw The Catmobile right ahead of them. Katie said, "Hey, Mary, want some ice cream?" Katie pushed the ice cream button in their car and grabbed two cones. Mary said, "Thanks." Katie had chocolate, while Mary had vanilla. Katie said, "Now watch this." Katie pushed a button in their car and shot chocolate syrup at The Catmobile, but they missed. Joseph said, "Hey, they're spraying us with chocolate. Cool." Then Mary threw a giant ice cream cone at them and trapped everyone from 6th-3rd in it. While trapped, everyone from 7th to last passed them and took 3rd-6th.

Chris said, "So much for your cool opinion. Now we're all stuck inside a giant ice cream cone." Joseph said, "Oh, stop complaining and start eating." Joseph started to eat the giant ice cream cone. Hannah said, "Eat? What good will that do?" Joseph said, "If all six of us eat, we can eat through this cone and escape. So, start eating." Chris, Angi, Jarrett, Hannah, and Zach all started to eat through the cone with Joseph. Then Lacey and Stephanie saw them on their TV screen. Lacey said, "A few of our racers are taking a snack break." Stephanie said, "Yes, eating through that giant cone could take all day. Meanwhile, our other racers are leaving Libya and heading into Algeria."

The Flower Truck is in 3rd. Katie then pushed the soda button in their car and grabbed a soda bottle. Then she gave the bottle to Mary, and Mary sprayed everyone behind them with it. Once they got hit, Team Frog, Genie, and Poker shrunk to six inches tall. Desiree said, "Why are things getting taller?" Jackie said, "They're not. We're getting smaller." Katie and Mary each took a natural soda and clinked them together. Katie said, "I'd love me some shrink soda." Lacey and Stephanie saw what happened, and everyone from 4th-6th fell behind while everyone from 1st-3rd pulled ahead. Lacey said, "Looks like Team Flower just pulled another food fest on the racers. This time, they shrank them, and they're falling behind. They must get past the first two leading racers to be in the lead." Stephanie said, "Yes, and I would say with the other racers trapped and shrunk, they'll need brains to win this race."

Meanwhile, everyone trapped in the ice cream cone finally ate through. Chris said, "Oh, I'll never eat again." Angi said, "Later." Team Monkey hit the gas, drove out of the ice cream cone, and took 7th place. Team Werewolf also sped out and was catching up with The Speeding Monkey. The Catmobile also speeded out of the ice cream cone and raced after the others. Then, The Speeding Monkey, The Werewolf Howler, and The Catmobile all headed into Algeria and chased after the other racers. Lacey and Stephanie saw the racers on their TV screen and saw they were catching up to the tiny racers. Lacey said, "Looks like our racers have busted out of their ice cream cone and are catching up with the tiny racers. Meanwhile, the top three leading racers are heading into Morocco."

Team Poker was tired of being so small, so they activated their growth ray, shot themselves, Team Genie, and Team Frog with it, and returned them to average size. Then The Poker Machine caught up with The Genie's Bottle, passed them, and took 5th place. Team Poker saw The Genie's Bottle catching up to them, so Penny pulled a lever in their car and dropped a trail of tacks onto the field. Then, everyone behind them drove onto the path of nails and popped their tires while The Poker Machine speeded away and headed into Morocco. While everyone from 6th-last was fixing their tires, the top three racers approached the ocean while The Frog Hopper and The Poker Machine were neck and neck through Morocco.