The Ludicrous Escapade Pt.3

10, 2, 4

Twenty days had passed since the fourth stage started, meaning there was still a full day till your arrival at Kansas City. The sun would probably set in around two hours.

The three of you stopped at the edge of a river.

Gyro pointed to a few of the hot air balloons floating around nearby. "Being seen isn't an issue, but being followed by those balloons is a problem. Let's move through the trees. Also, when you talk, cover your mouth with your hand." He started following his own advice.

"But why?" Asked Johnny.

"So they can't read our lips." You assumed that's what the Italian was getting at. "Mr. Steel is definitely affiliated with the people trying to get the corpse parts. So the people up in those air balloons might've been trained to lip read."

"Pocoloco's here! Sandman's coming, too." Gyro watched them begin crossing the river. "Looks like we're somewhere towards the lead." He began calling out. "Hey, Sandman! Sandman! We need to ask you something! Who's in the lead right now? Have you seen Dio? Come on, tell us!"

"We want to know what's going on right now." Added Johnny.

"Could you please tell us?" You figured you should at least try to ask nicely.

Sandman stopped running and turned to you. "I saw Dio's tracks this morning. He's about an hour ahead of us. He took the route with fewer rivers."

"I see. Thank you." You gave him an appreciative smile.

"An hour!" Gyro didn't like the sound of that.

Johnny was already unfolding his map. "We still have a day left. We can catch up to him."

"If only we hadn't been caught up by Ringo. Then we'd be way ahead of him by now." If the others had listened to you the first time you said it was a Stand attack, perhaps you wouldn't be having this problem.

"And one other thing." Sandman switched his gaze to Gyro. "A storm is going to hit tomorrow. The last stretch of the race is going to be difficult. In the first stage, I was awarded victory instead of you. That's why I'm telling you this... Now we don't owe each other anything." So he continued on with his sprinting.

"It's a clear sky right now, but we can trust what Sandman says." Gyro took the map from Johnny's hands. "So Dio is an hour ahead of us. And it's going to be a storm tomorrow, not just rain? Then that means traveling by horse is going to be nearly impossible in tomorrow's weather. (Y/N), one of your guys wouldn't happen to be able to change the weather or something, right?"

You stared up at the sky, "In another timeline, maybe..."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Gyro had been expecting some kind of jokey response. Not whatever you had just said.

"I think she means... no." Answered Johnny in your stead.

"I had gathered that much." The Zeppeli started prodding at the map. "Anyway, we have to change plans. It's almost dark, but let's move our horses as far as we can. Then we'll wait out the storm tomorrow in a quiet spot and head straight for the goal! The place with the Turbō..." He pointed to the little x that had been drawn. "We'll go here after we finish the race and retrieve the next corpse part! You two okay with that?"

Johnny shook his head. "No... We can't do that."

"What? Why not?"

You traced a line on the map with your finger. "If Diego's taking the route with the fewest rivers, he's headed straight towards the corpse part. If we want to get the part before him, we'll probably have to take the same route."