"Mario… Mario…" The monotonous, nondescript voice said. He or she, for there was no way to tell from just its speech, was devoured by shadows. It had chosen a good place to do business; the wreckage of a cement tower. It was dark at all times of day, and black things flickered at the corners of the guest's eyes, things that he knew were the product of unspeakable evil. Its newly-hired worker shivered, and tried to ignore them. The thought of flying away as soon as the deal was made comforted him enough to keep himself still.
Lakitu squirmed in his little nimbus under the gaze of this stranger. All he could see of it was its eyes, and they blazed crimson under this canopy of eternal night.
"We need to get his attention without kidnapping the princess. If we do that, he will only suspect that bumbling Koopa yet again. No, we must attempt something that has never been done before in this land of mushrooms and monstrosities. We must elude, evade, and eradicate Mario." Its voice became mocking as it talked about the Mushroom Kingdom, as if it were a laughable subject.
Lakitu nodded, it would actually be rather easy to pull off if done correctly. The plan was to advertise for a Grand Prix. The prize for first place would be a monstrous cake homemade by Princess Peach herself. They had already conscripted her into doing it, but only after they agreed to let her compete. They knew she would share the cake with Mario, of course, but if their plan worked Mario would be far, far away from the Mushroom Kingdom by the time the deciding race even began.
Lakitu was being hired by the mysterious figure as a sort of one-man pit crew, but for all the participants. If they lost control and went over into the water or fell off a high edge, Lakitu would have to save them and return them to the track. In between races, he would be the repairman for all of the karts and bikes. It was quite the paycheck for a pretty easy job, so of course Lakitu took it. He didn't like the idea of working for this… this thing, though.
He did a hasty check of the cloud to see if everything was in order, and flew away from the rubble in this uncharted corner of the Kingdom. He was so glad to be directly in the sun's rays once more, to have the freedom of flying and disobeying gravity itself. That was all going to change soon, and for the worse, but of course nobody knew that yet.
…Right?
