Chapter 18

The following day, all the racers lined up at the starting line at the volcano in Hawaii and waited for Lacey to shoot off the starting pistol. Once she did, the Catmobile drove off and started its 60-second head start. Once the Catmobile reached the ocean, they turned their car into a hot air balloon and flew over the sea. Then they pulled a few ropes in their balloon, making it go faster. Once their 60-second head start was over, Stephanie reshot the starting pistol, and the other racers raced off after The Cat Balloon.

The Cat Balloon is in the lead, The Tropical Surf is in 2nd, The Heroic Racer is in 3rd, The Jungle Explorer is in 4th, and The Alligator Speedster is in 5th. The Alternate Choice is in 6th, The Flower Truck is in 7th, The Portable Volcano is in 8th, The Piano Trap is in 9th, and The Apple Picker is in last. Once the Tropical Surf and the Heroic Racer reached the sea, they turned their cars into planes and flew over the ocean. Once the Jungle Explorer reached the sea, they converted their vehicle into a powerboat and rode it across the water. Once the Alligator Speedster got to the ocean, they turned their car into a sailboat and sailed across the sea. Once the Alternate Choice reached the sea, they converted their vehicle into a powerboat and rode it across the water. Once The Flower Truck and The Portable Volcano reached the sea, they turned their cars into sailboats and sailed across the ocean. Once The Piano Trap got to the sea, they turned their car into a helicopter and flew over the sea. Once the Apple Picker reached the ocean, they converted their vehicle into a powerboat and rode it across the sea.

Once the wind picked up, the Volcano Sailboat sped up, and they passed everyone from 7th to 4th and took 4th place. The Cat Balloon was flying high in the air and was in 1st place when they saw the boat racers catching up, so they dumped a barrel of nuts and bolts out of their balloon and hit everyone from 2nd to 4th place in the ocean. The Alternate Powerboat and The Jungle Powerboat sped up their powerboats, passed everyone from 6th to 3rd, and The Alternate Powerboat took 3rd place while The Jungle Powerboat took 4th place. The Alligator Sailboat was sailing the ocean neck and neck with The Flower Sailboat. Once The Flower Sailboat saw The Alligator Sailboat, Katie started firing eggs at it so they could pass them.

Once the Team Alligator saw the eggs coming, their sail got hit, so they lowered their sail, and all the eggs fell into the ocean. Then, a whale emerged from the sea, shocking Team Alligator when they saw it. Then the whale ate them and returned to the water. The Tropical Plane flew over the ocean when they saw the Pianocopter in second-to-last place. Once they did, they blew a whistle, but it made no noise. Then, a bunch of shark fins came swimming toward all the racers racing in the ocean. Gabby said, "The shark whistle worked."

Once the racers reached California, they turned their boats, planes, helicopters, and balloons back into cars and raced to their pit stop. The Portable Volcano was in 6th, neck and neck with The Flower Truck, which was in 7th. The Tropical Surf, in 2nd, saw The Alternate Choice catching up, so they pulled a lever in their car and launched water balloons at The Alternate Choice and The Jungle Explorer. Team Choice put a shield around their vehicle, made the water balloons bounce off them, and hit The Jungle Explorer. The Catmobile was in the lead, and when they saw The Tropical Surf catching up, they pushed a button in their car, fired eggs at everyone behind them, and hit everyone from 2nd to 8th. The Heroic Racer was in 5th and turned on their windshield wipers so they could clean all the eggs off their windshield. Then they flipped a switch in their car, threw a smoke bomb behind them, and blinded everyone from 6th to last.

The Alternate Choice is in 3rd, and when they saw The Jungle Explorer behind them, they blew up part of the road with a bomb, causing both The Jungle Explorer and The Heroic Racer to fall into the hole that the other racers had driven around. The Flower Truck is in 5th, but they hit the drill set in their car and drilled underneath the track. Then, they drove up to the surface and took the lead. The Piano Trap is in 6th, but they have passed The Portable Volcano and now find themselves in 5th place. The Apple Picker was in 7th, but then they activated their tar launcher, which hit everyone from 6th to 3rd place, covering them in tar. Then the Apple Picker passed everyone whom they covered in tar and took 3rd place. Team Hero and Team Jungle then used grappling hooks to pull their cars out of the hole they had fallen into. Team Jungle took 8th place, while Team Hero took last place. Then they passed The Portable Volcano and all the other racers, which got covered in tar and took 4th and 5th place. All the racers covered in tar shook the tar off their cars and got back in the race. The Tropical Surf was in 6th, and The Alternate Choice was in 7th, but then both The Piano Trap and The Portable Volcano passed The Alternate Choice, putting them in last place. The Apple picker was neck and neck with The Catmobile. Then The Apple Picker passed The Catmobile and took 2nd place. Jacqueline said, "We just need to pass The Flower Truck, and we'll be in the lead."

The racers are headed out of California and into Arizona. The Flower Truck is in the lead, The Apple Picker is in 2nd, and The Catmobile is in 3rd. The Catmobile then hit its turbo boost button, sped past The Apple Picker and The Flower Truck, and took the lead. The Catmobile, The Flower Truck, and The Apple Picker are heading into New Mexico and toward their pit stop. The Piano Trap was in 7th, but then they shot knives at everyone in front of them, blew out the tires of everyone from 6th to 4th, and then took 4th place. The Piano Trap then headed out of Arizona and into New Mexico. The Portable Volcano and The Alternate Choice drove by everyone who had their tires blown out and headed into New Mexico.

The Catmobile was the first to arrive at their pit stop, and The Flower Truck was the 2nd one. While the racers in Arizona were fixing their cars, the other racers headed to their pit stop. Once they arrived in New Mexico, they all stopped at their pit stop and checked into their hotel with Team Cat and Flower. After reaching their hotel, they went to dinner and refilled their gas tanks before bed at the nearest gas station. Team Jungle was the first to fix their blown-out tires, return to the race, and head into New Mexico. Once they reached their pit stop, they refilled their gas tank at the nearest gas station, checked into their hotel, and ate their dinner before bed, just like the others. Team Hero fixed their car next, headed into New Mexico, and arrived at their pit stop. Once they arrived, they went to dinner, refilled their gas tank at the nearest gas station, and then went to bed at their hotel. Team Surf arrived at their pit stop last after fixing their car. Then they checked into their hotel, refueled their gas tank at the nearest gas station, and went out to dinner before retiring for the night.