The new leg of the race begins as Olga drives Carl, Donut, Finley, and Quemada down the dirt track under heavy acid rain. Team Free Love quickly pulls ahead, the Lady Dominators overtake them, and Carl learns that a shot from a plant-like racer missed its intended target and instead hit Osvaldo's team. Osvaldo confirms that his group survives, but the opening moments already show how chaotic and dangerous the course is.

Inside the vehicle, Quemada suddenly collapses into a severe panic attack. She raves that the racers have been repeating everything over and over, asks whether she is crazy, and spirals after whatever the elf mage said before the race. Olga explains that Quemada has a panic disorder and has been unstable since Helado, the ice fairy who used to calm her, was killed by a chain demon.

The group enters the jungle, where darkness, mud, acid, and narrow trails make driving even harder. Donut casts Torch so they can see, and the teams split at the first branching paths: Team Free Love takes the safer long route, Team Sparkles, One Fine Pig, and Osvaldo go left, while Carl's group follows the same middle path as the Lady Dominators. Before Carl can gain ground, a giant hot-dog-shaped vehicle from another heat suddenly merges onto their trail and blocks them, forcing Olga to stay behind it.

As the pressure rises, Quemada becomes openly self-destructive and begs to end everything. Finley stops the crisis by using a sleep ability on Quemada and carefully setting her down, admitting she has not been right since Helado's death. Immediately afterward, Imani contacts Carl from behind, says her team has already lost Henrietta and her partner to a trap that swallowed their mount whole, and confirms they can handle the cliff ahead. Carl sends Imani his route and decides his team will wait long enough to make sure they get through.