As Carl readies the team for the final heat, he confirms Jamal's flamethrower is ready and thanks Hedy for her help, treating the moment like a possible farewell. At the same time, Elle reports that the Bleak Congregation has left the realm and will be replaced for the last race, which immediately ruins the team's calculations. Donut reacts with mixed pride and concern, and Carl watches Osvaldo ride out on Bruna, assuming Osvaldo likely knows enough of the larger plan to act on his own.

Carl and Donut review Osvaldo's abilities and try to predict what he will do if forced into a desperate choice. Carl concludes that Osvaldo's likely move is smart, dangerous, and hard to counter, so the truck has to be ready for it. Jamal is brought only as a backup, and Carl hopes the final heat will last less than a minute if the rules are not changed again.

Meanwhile, Pontiff sends Carl new information about the top-floor casino portal. After buying a spell and consulting Rosetta, Pontiff explains that testing the portal himself may reveal whether it leads out of the playing field or somewhere useless, which would determine whether the escape plan is still viable. Carl does not want Pontiff to risk himself, but Pontiff insists because he wants to make amends for the kind of person he used to be. Carl accepts the help and sends Pontiff one more message for Herot as a contingency.

When the team enters the starting block, Carl notices the final heat works differently from the earlier ones. The racers seem to change scale as they approach the apartment lobby, and this time Carl can see other heats as well as the street and garage behind them. Dwight appears beside Carl's team with a missile launcher and taunts Carl, while his GPS uses Lucienne's likeness and voice to provoke them. Carl ignores the bait and prepares the truck's weapons, ordering Dr. Metcalf to time a shield-piercing shot and Mordecai's updated potion for the exact start. Their new GPS upgrades let Dr. Metcalf overclock systems and hide information from rival GPS units.

As Carl studies the visible heats, he realizes the final setup may have been rearranged in a devastating way. He spots a heat made entirely of NPC-driven teams, which suggests the old assumptions about the race may no longer apply. Then he sees Chris placed in the same heat as Imani and Elle, and in another heat Florin and Lucia Mar are matched against Louis and Britney. Those pairings mean all of Carl's careful planning may have just collapsed before the race even begins.