We were discussing in Discord if this would be the last Thunderdome of the year, or the first of 2025. We went with the former option, and I was a bit relieved because I don't know the first thing about starting threads and what kind of information goes there and so on. This leads to a very cookie cutter prompt, but nonetheless,
I want to read a story where the protagonist(s) have to complete a task, don't feel ready, and are working against the clock.

1500 word limit

Flash Rule 1: SA is also celebrating its long, funny and sometimes very dumb story. One of the sagas I enjoyed the most is the Zybourne Clock. Any reference to that will win you 100 words. That is 100 words for each, with a maximum of 5.
Flash Rule 2: In fact, fuck it. Make it a Zybourne Clock story and you have no word limit at all. You can disregard the prompt entirely too.