[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

(If succeeds): Willis runs toward the first slippery face and presses herself flat against it. The ice balls now collide harmlessly with her back. She now reaches out with one hand and finds a good handhold, which she grips tightly. Using this method, Angela slowly inches her way up the pyramid face until she is able to reach out with both arms and grab onto the edge. She can now haul herself up onto the next level as easily as climbing into bed.

[Xiomera]

Patel’s determination paid off, as she slowly but surely ascended to the top of the first level. She gave a smirk to the disappointed Pyramid Defenders as she stood up.

Willis, following a method similar to Patel’s, fared equally well; she managed to make it to the top of the first level relatively easily.

Brody did not fare as well; as he made a leap to one of the footholds, a snowball caught him square in the face. He tumbled off the Pyramid and landed with a soft thud on the cushion below. Tohuitlnoch chuckled softly. “I wonder if he got a brain freeze from that snow cone!”

Xiyāōtl, meanwhile, showed off the skills he learned in the Xiomeran military, dodging the snowballs and even catching one and pegging a Pyramid Defender in the face with it. He then climbed up relatively quickly, bowing to the two women at the top of the first level and helping the Pyramid Defender he had hit with the snowball up. “No hard feelings, right?” Xiyāōtl said, laughing, as the Pyramid Defender did not look amused. Nor did Tohuitlnoch. The host did not seem pleased with the sailor’s showboating.

“All right, let’s see what you can do to get to level two!” Tohuitlnoch shouted as the three remaining contestants of Round 2 began their climb. As they did so, the host raised his arms dramatically, waving his hands and muttering in Huenyan. He looked for all the world like a sorcerer conjuring up a spell.

Without warning, sudden blasts of wind begin slamming into the contestants climbing up the Pyramid. It’s unclear where the wind is coming from - or even how the Xiomerans are generating the random wind in a completely open amphitheater - but the effect is very real. The contestants must now try to climb the pyramid while caught in the middle of a tornado.

[Lauchenoiria]

(If succeeds): Reena Patel stops in place, waiting and getting a feel which direction the wind is pushing her. She then proceeds slowly, trying to move with it rather than against it where possible - very grateful that she'd remembered to tie her hair back before they began.

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

(If succeeds Willis pressed herself firmly against the wall, as long as she kept her body weight leaning into the wind she could keep her footing. That was her theory at least. Putting this methodology to the test. Willis took a hesitant step forward and found that her body weight was doing quite a good job of counteracting the wind's force. Using this method, Willis carefully began her climb to the next level.

[Xiomera]

Patel’s plan to move with the wind paid off, as she slowly but surely ascended to the next level. Willis also fared well, counteracting the wind with her own weight effectively and making it to the next level as well.

Xiyāōtl, however, struggled a bit with the onslaught of wind. He nearly fell off at one point, before grasping the next section of wall and essentially throwing himself in desperation over the top of the ledge. He tried to stand up and make it look graceful, like the move was intended, but did not succeed. Tohuitlnoch gave him a look that plainly said, Please do not embarrass us, before shaking his head and urging the contestants up to the next level.

[i]Level three was no further away than the other two levels - but it would seem a mile away, as the latest trick was pulled by the Pyramid. Beetles - hordes of slimy, crawling, flying, pinching beetles - began pouring out of holes in the walls of the Pyramid, descending upon the climbers in a wave of bugs.

[Lauchenoiria]

(If succeeds): Patel bit her lip to hold back a yell of disgust as the bugs crawled over her. Inside her head, she had a flash of regret for the entire thing - as a privileged granddaughter of a Kerlian Councillor, her upbringing had not quite prepared her for something like this.

Outside, however, she used her skills in masking her true feelings (a necessity for any Kerlian), shook her limbs one by one to knock some of them off, and climbed, shaking each limb as she moved it to knock off as many as she could, and trying her best to ignore her desire to vomit. She gritted her teeth against the pain of the pinching. This seems like the kind of thing my grandmother would do to a prisoner, she thought as she climbed.

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

"EW! Ew. Ick! disgusting!" Willis whined angrily as she swatted the creatures away. "Get off me." She could feel herself getting rattled and loosing her footing. She knew she had to get her act together if she was to succeed.

"They are just bugs, just bugs, just bugs" she said out loud as she began to climb. "They can't hurt me. They can't impair my climbing." Willis' fear began to dissipate with each step up. "I've got this!"

AS Willis finally climbed over the top of the wall, she yelled in exaltation. "I did it! Take that you filthy bugs!"

[Xiomera]

The determined grittiness of Patel and Willis allowed them to forge ahead, making it to the top. Xiyāōtl had tried a different approach: stopping and clearing the bugs away before climbing upward. Navy types didn't encounter bugs as often as their ground forces counterparts, and that lack of experience would prove to be the Xiomeran sailor's undoing. As he tried to scoop the bugs away, they just kept coming, faster than he could clear them away. As he tried scooping faster with one hand, his other hand slipped on a mix of crushed bugs and slimy goo. He tried to grab back onto the Pyramid with his free hand, but failed, plummeting to the safety cushion below to a chorus of profoundly disappointed boos from the Xiomeran audience.

His failure was not helped when Tohuitlnoch let out a shout of disappointment. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, he may be pretty, but clearly, he can't climb worth a damn. Don't date this loser!" the host shouted, jeering as Xiyāōtl was helped off the cushion, looking particularly crestfallen.

"Let's see if we can knock someone other than our own people off for a change, eh? Up to level four, ladies," Tohuitlnoch grumped as the two remaining contestants prepared for the next level. "Tame our pet cats, if you can!"

As Patel and Willis tried to climb up the next level, a slot in the Pyramid opened, and a life-size "jaguar" appeared. While a robotic creation that wouldn't seriously harm the contestants, its swiping paws and mouth full of "fangs" were a serious enough challenge to get past. The robot "jaguars" swiped angrily at the contestants, snapping at them with their jaws as well. The question was: fight it off, climb over it, or something else?

[Lauchenoiria]

(If succeeds:) Reena Patel paused, looking at the jaguar. She then sighed, and reached down, taking off her shoes and socks. She tied the socks around her belt, in case they came in handy later: she needed the shoes, but climbing barefoot would be safer than climbing in socks. She then used one of the shoes to swat the jaguar's paw away and quickly shoved her other shoe upright in its mouth, causing it to be unable to move its jaw. She then used the first shoe as a weapon to fight the claws as she climbed past, though she tried to stay out of its reach as much as possible. When she was above it, she paused, and, making sure she was secure, leaned back to grab her shoe out of its mouth.

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

(If Succeeds Undeterred by the ferocious beast, Willis lunged for the jaguars front paw. She clutched the paw with all of her strength as the animatronic recoiled and began to shake wildly. Willis then proceeded to grab onto the beat's head, yanking downwards with all her force. The machine fell face first down the pyramid side and smashed to pieces at the bottom. Willis jumped up and down with glee while screaming "Veni, Vidi, Vici!" ("I came, I saw, I conquered") before climbing the side of the pyramid uncontested. She began laughing uncontrollably upon reaching the next level, visibly overcome with euphoria.

[Xiomera]

Patel's swatting nearly proved to be her downfall, as an unexpected swing from the "jaguar" nearly sent her flying. She recovered well, however, with the mouthful she gave the metal beast giving her time to get over the wall. Willis, meanwhile, defeated the level in far easier fashion, sending her tormentor to a crashing fate below.

Tohuitlnoch looked decidedly disgruntled as both contestants managed to get past the angry animatronic beasts unscathed. "All right, all right, you made it, yeah yeah," he said, looking irritatedly at the shouting Willis. "Since you're so skilled, let's try something new - and I mean really new!"

As the contestants began their climb of Level Five, it became disturbingly clear what he meant by "new". The climbers began being pelted by babies from the top of the pyramid. Not real babies, naturally, as the X[sup]3[/sup] Network's insurance policy certainly didn't cover that. But the baby dolls - supplied by the toy division of Mizhua Corporation, a caption helpfully noted for parents needing a Pyramid-themed gift for their kids - certainly cried, made noises and talked like babies. They were just toys, but would being pelted by a wave of plastic infants send the contestants home crying?

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

(If succeeds)
Willis felt her pulse intensify. Although the dolls weren't heavy they were still numerous and traveling at great speeds. Willis instinctively pressed her body against a wall but this did little to reduce the pain and shock that followed being struck by the plastic objects. She winced in pain but began to climb, slowly putting her aching arms above her head and stepping up. She slowly powered through the pain of constantly being hit and rolled over the top of the wall with incredible satisfaction.

[Lauchenoiria]

(If succeeds:)
Reena Patel wasn't affected by the crying. Being a Kerlian from that family, she was well accustomed to crying - although, when her grandmother had taken her to visit prisoners it was generally accompanied by begging for mercy. She gritted her teeth against the pain of being pelted with plastic and moved upwards, pressing her body in as close to the wall as possible and almost sliding up it.

[Xiomera]

Willis rolled to the top of Level Four with relative ease; as she rolled over the top of the wall, the crowd let out a cheer in appreciation.

Patel, however, did not have as easy a time of it. While sliding up the wall, she slid just a bit too much, nearly losing her grip and falling off. Only a herculean effort managed to save her as she practically threw herself over the wall. She landed hard on Level Four, clearly a bit winded and sore.

Tohuitlnoch did not seem at all sympathetic. If anything, the fact that the stubborn Kerlian and Maximusian had made it this far seemed only to bring him annoyance.

As the two now quite-sore competitors began their ascent to Level Six, the host snapped, "Climbing so long must be making you hungry. Let's give you some good Xiomeran cooking!" Tohuitlnoch donned a chef's hat, to the confusion of the climbers. An explanation would come soon enough, however.

As Patel and Willis climbed towards Level Five, Pyramid Defenders popped out of holes in the wall, also wearing chef's hats. They began pelting the competitors with random food items. Breads, pastries, various entrees and side dishes....soon an entire menu of a Xiomeran restaurant was hurling towards the climbers. Along with drinks, of course. The worst part would be the hot liquid dishes....soups, stews, coffee, hot tea and the like. None of it was hot enough to actually burn the climbers, but it certainly wasn't comfortable, as it alternated with cold items such as puddings and cold drinks. Various condiments arrived as well.

As the climbers were pelted with food, Tohuitlnoch turned to the camera. "Our dinner for our intrepid climbers is being catered tonight by Lohuā Licā Companies. Remember to live the Lohuā Licā lifestyle at your dinner table, just like our competitors!" the host laughed, with a smirk on his face.

As the two remaining contestants continued, the food drop soon began to have live items....a live chicken, dropped on the head of Willis; a live fish, dropped on the head of Patel and flopping wildly. "I guess our chefs forgot to cook everything!" the host said, with an evil grin.

As the competitors fought off the live dishes and looked up in horror, a pair of Pyramid Defenders dangled live lobsters over them with malevolent smiles.

[Lauchenoiria]

(If succeeds:)
Reena Patel squirmed a little, shaking her head to dislodge the fish. As it fell, she resisted the urge to gag at the smell of all the food items mixed together. As she continued to climb, trying her best to ignore the unpleasant sensations of being hit with things of different temperatures and textures, and was careful to make sure that the liquids hadn't made the surface slippery. Upon reaching the next level, she glared angrily up at the pyramid defenders, aware she was losing her patience slightly.

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

As the live chicken squawked its way down onto Willis' head, a certain sense of clarity washed over her. The chicken could be a meat shield. At that, willis grabbed the chicken by the body and tossed it upwards, intercepting several large bowls of soup. It wasn't the moral thing to do but it gave her a brief second to begin scaling the wall. By the time the chicken had the sense to stop desperately trying to fly out of harm's way, Willis was nearly at the next level. She just needed to keep calm and ignore the stream of lukewarm soup being dumped on her head. It worked, she was able to pull her body over the ledge with relative easy. The poor chicken had tumbled all the way down the pyramid and was now squawking angrily at the bottom.

[Xiomera]

As Patel shook her head to dislodge the fish which had unceremoniously landed on top of her head and tried to avoid the slippery surface of the food-covered Pyramid, she was doing well....until the Pyramid Defenders above her let go of the lobsters they were holding. She managed to fend off one, but a second lobster gave her a solid pinch on the hand - not enough to actually injure her, but enough to make her slip. As she tried to grab onto the wall with one hand, it proved to be just too slippery. She lost her grip, falling unceremoniously to the safety cushion below.

The crowd let out a long cry of dismay as the Kerlian was helped off the cushion. The Xiomerans had genuinely not wanted to see her go. "Tough luck, but we still love you, kid!" Tohuitlnoch said sympathetically as Patel was given a chance to wave goodbye to the Xiomeran crowd who cheered her toughness.

While that was all going on, Willis' use of a chicken as a meat shield proved to be wise, as the chicken was a convenient way to bounce the flying lobsters off. The chicken, taking a pinch or two, was not quite as happy as Willis, who was the victor of the second round.

[Xiomera]

As Willis was led off the Pyramid to await the next round, Tohuitlnoch stepped up to the microphone. "Wasn't that fun?" he said, only to have to duck a shoe thrown at him by Xiyāōtl, the Xiomeran contestant who had fallen off just moments earlier. Unruffled, Tohuitlnoch picked up the shoe from the ground and threw it back at Xiyāōtl. The shoe hit dead center on Xiyāōtl's forehead, sending him sprawling again. "Looks like you're good at falling!" the host said, laughing obnoxiously as Xiyāōtl was carried off stage moaning in pain.

"All right, enough of that. One more round before the finals, kids! Let's see who's up next to see if they can tame the Pyramid!" Tohuitlnoch shouted, as the remaining four contestants for the elimination round stepped forward. "Our first contestant for this last elimination round is a scuba-diving instructor from Zamastan who's hoping a tidal wave of quetzals will help her escape the watery life. Jayna Harsi, everyone!" Harsi stepped forward and waved, a smile on her face as the crowd clapped politely.

"Our second contestant is well-known to anyone who watches TV, at least if you watch in Kvask! She's a newscaster who is competing to inspire transgender people everywhere - I'd say that's a noble cause. Sisil Czrn, give her a hand!" The crowd clapped enthusiastically as Czrn waved.

"Our third contestant is a hotel manager from Lauchenoiria, more familiar with checking people in. But he hopes to check his rivals out of the Pyramid and show everyone back home what he can do. We'll soon see what that is.....Reginald Smith, everyone!" The Lauchenoirian stepped forward, raising both his hands over his head in an enthusiastic gesture.

"And our last contestant....the last Xiomeran in the contest, the Lion from Lōlotlchitl....he's a former ASI agent, he's the defending champion of Pyramid of Misfortune, the current Master of the Pyramid, and the last chance anyone from Xiomera has to keep the title in the hands of the locals....but no pressure, huh? Ladies and gentlemen, your favorite and mine, Tlachyāōtl!" An impressively muscled, athletic-looking man, very tall for a Xiomeran, stepped forward with clear confidence. He raised a single fist over his head in a gesture of victory, before lowering his arm and turning to the Pyramid.

"Well, we're not getting any younger, so start climbing already!" Tohuitlnoch said, shooing everyone to begin up the Pyramid. "But first, here's a question: do you like going green? I hope so!" the host shouted with malevolent glee.

As the four final contestants begin their climb on the first level, they are pelted with artificial examples of plant life from various levels of the Pyramid. Shrubberies, small trees, flowers, and larger pieces of "trees" begin hitting them from all levels. Also, as they climb, more "trees" begin randomly emerging without warning from openings on the Pyramid wall beneath them. Whether they're an environmentalist or not, the contestants will need to be true tree-huggers to make it to the next level.

[Lauchenoiria]

(If succeeds:) Reginald tries to climb faster in order to preempt where the trees are popping out and making sure he's past them, at the speed of a fleeing Kerlian trying to climb the border wall to escape.

[Zamastan]

(If succeeds Jayna slows her pace to watch for any pattern in the emergence of the trees on the pyramid. She memorizes, then rushes upward and dodges the trees as they spring forward.