Author's Note: Here is a story I wrote sometime ago, back when I was 12 or 13 years old, I think. I wrote this out of pure frustration because of the fact that they replaced Koopa Troopa with Wario in Mario Kart 64. As if that wasn't enough, they went ahead and added Paratroopa instead of the normal Koopa in Mario Tennis for the N64, AND replaced Koopa with Dry Bones in Mario Kart DS. I found it whilst sifting through some old files in my laptop and decided to post it here. It may not be that good, since it is from back when I was an inexperienced writer, ha ha. Oh, by the way, I really hope you catch the trend in my naming of fanfics. Please review. And kiss giraffes.

Mario and his friends, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, Toadette and Yoshi, were discussing about a recent event in the Mushroom Kingdom - Koopa Troopa's disappearance! Koopa was last seen by Yoshi when the dinosaur visited Koopa at the beach.

"Let me tell you, I visited Koopa some days ago!" Yoshi said, "He told me something very curious... Yoshi!"

"What did he tell you, Yoshi?" Toad asked.

"He said there was someone harassing him... in the next day, BAM, he's gone! Yoshi!" Yoshi revealed to everyone, leaving them speechless.

"Oh, my! But... who would do something like that to..." Peach was confused. Koopa didn't have any notable rivals or enemies, with the exception of one particular individual...

"Hey... I know who might have done this to Koopa..." Yoshi said quietly.

"Who?" Everyone asked at the same time.

"WARIO!" Yoshi shouted, shocking everyone.

"Wario? Are you sure, Yoshi?" Toadette asked. She thought Wario was too dumb to scheme a devious plan against Koopa, since all that greedy plumber wanted was to spend days and days on his comfy throne in his palace in the middle of the desert.

"Don't you remember? Our second racing tournament? What Wario did... Yoshi!"

"Hmmm... My memory is cloudy... oh well, flashback time, I guess!" Peach exclaimed, proceeding to begin the flashback session.

Koopa Troopa was one of the eight participants of the first go-kart racing tournament in the Mushroom Kingdom. The tournament was held in honor of the appearance of a majestic, mystical, multi-colored magical road of miracles known as "Rainbow Road".

This fantastic road appears within the vicinity of the Mushroom Planet every once in a while, and along with it, many Item Boxes held within comets land from outer space throughout different locations, mostly on the race tracks themselves. Mysteriously, karts are also introduced with Rainbow Road, prompting Mario and his crew to participate in the racing tournament.

Some years after the last tournament, Mario, Luigi, the Princess and Toad were watching the beautiful stars in the sky. When Mario peered through the telescope, he noticed a shiny, multi-colored object in the sky which seemed familiar.

"Could that be... Rainbow Road?!" Mario shouted, catching the attention of his friends.

"YOU SAID WHAT NOW?!" Toad asked happily.

"Oh, sweet! It really is Rainbow Road! You know what that means, Mario... hee-hee!" Peach said. A new racing tournament was to be held in honor of Rainbow Road.

"Tomorrow, we're going to the Mario Kart Lobby and get those karts ready for the race!" Peach exclaimed, smiling. They were all really excited for this next tournament. However, they wouldn't be able to race without some sleep, so they all headed home. They could barely sleep, though - the excitement was enough to keep them thinking of how fun all the races would be.

In the next day, everyone was gathered around the Mario Kart Lobby, waiting for the opening ceremony. The crowd of Toads waited patiently outside the lobby, cheering for the participants. The ceremony was taking a bit too long to begin, though. After some time, the Toads started to get horribly worried. Not even a signal from Mario or the Princess.

Meanwhile, inside the lobby, Mario and his friends were all ready for the ceremony - the guests, Yoshi, DK and even Bowser, had arrived and were ready to begin. However, one participant was missing from the group - Koopa Troopa.

"Hey, where's Koopa? We need all of the participants in order to start the ceremony!", said Luigi.

"Maybe he didn't receive the invitation?" Toad suggested.

"I've been to Koopa's house some days ago, and he did receive it! Yoshi!", Yoshi replied. Things started to get ugly as the crowd became more impatient.

"Oh, Mama Mia! What are we gonna do now?" Mario asked, which was followed by the door being slammed open.

"Ha ha ha! Now this pathetic ceremony is finally gettin' good! Wario saves the day once again, ha ha!" It was none other than Wario, the greedy troublemaker.

"Wario! What are you doing here? We don't need you around now!" Peach said.

"Ha ha! 'Course ya need me, ya need 8 drivers for this competition!" Wario replied sarcastically.

"We already have eight participants! Koopa Troopa is just kinda late for the ceremony...", in the words of Luigi.

"Heh, I'm 'fraid ya won't be seeing that little freak..." Wario shouted, shocking everyone.

"W-what do you mean?" Yoshi asked innocently.

"Ah, nuthin'... Koopa asked me to replace him in the tournament 'cuz he has some business to take care of. So, here I am! Wario!"

"Mario..." Peach murmured to Mario, "I don't trust him. He must have done something to Koopa..."

"But we must go on with the ceremony!" Mario cried.

"Yeah, I guess so... I hope Koopa is able to make it to the lobby soon..." Peach sighed. She wasn't exactly fond of Wario, especially his smell.

"So, let's get started, shall we? Ha ha!" Wario said.

Eventually, the grand door of the lobby finally opened as all participants drove their karts through the course, making an epic entrance. Everyone cheered from the sidelines and watched as the racers performed incredible stunts on their karts. They did wonder why Wario was one of the drivers though.

"Hey, what is Wario doing there?" A Toad asked.

After the ceremony was finished, Princess Peach explained the situation to everyone.

"Thank you, thank you. Unfortunately, Koopa Troopa wasn't able to participate with us this time... So, don't forget to applaud our newest participant... ugh... Wario. Yay." Peach said uncomfortably. Needless to note, no one applauded that rascal Wario. Not that Peach minded.

"Heh heh, that timid turtle is no longer a probl-" Wario was murmuring to himself when he was suddenly interrupted.

"What did you say, Wario?" Toad asked.

"Uh... nuthin'. Move along, shroom!" Wario replied and pushed Toad lightly.

Unfortunately for Wario, Toad had noticed a light green part on his kart's purple paint job. Things soon fell into place for Toad when he remembered that Koopa's kart was painted light green.

"Hey, Princess, look at Wario's kart! It has a light green part on the back!" Toad shouted, bringing Peach closer to the kart.

"Oh, my! You're right, Toad!" Peach said. She walked over to Wario angrily, and started her rant.

"Wario, I know you stole Koopa Troopa's kart! Don't lie to me!" Peach said, waving her fists at Wario.

"You plank, I didn't steal that guy's kart! Ya can't prove it!" Wario replied.

"Then, explain why your kart has some light green paint on it!" Peach asked furiously.

"YEAH!" Toad added, trying to look cool but failing miserably at it.

"Well, I didn't want it all purple, y'know... one color is not enough for Wario!"

"Uh..." They couldn't think of a proper response.

"And besides, I knew you guys would accuse me of stealing his kart, so I went through the trouble of taking a pic of Koopa's kart, safe and sound on his garage!" Wario then proceeded to show them a picture of a cardboard cutout of Koopa's kart, which, unsurprisingly, convinced everyone that Wario didn't steal the kart

"Oh... so, maybe you didn't steal Koopa's Pipe Frame, after all..." Peach murmured whilst looking down.

"I believe ya owe me an apologize! Ha ha ha!"

"But, Wario didn't really steal Koopa's kart, Yoshi..." Luigi said.

"I still think he did it... and, besides, who else would want Koopa outta the picture?" Toad replied.

"Hmm... I think I know someone..."