The Koopalings' tower echoed with shrieks of joy and enthusiasm. Any member of the Koopa Troop was safely well away from whatever horrors their imaginations believed laid inside. However, contrary to whatever rumor was circulating through the castle, the Koopalings weren't fighting for once.

"GO, LIVI!" Everyone cried, screaming and cheering from their respective positions around the room. The large TV screen at the front of the room displayed live feed from the current Mario Kart race. Without their father in the race, the Koopalings would normally pay the others no mind. But, while Bowser was scheming for his latest storm-Mushroom-castle-and-kidnap-the-Princess-for-the-third-time-this-month plan, the Koopalings had been banished to their room. So with nothing better to do, they turned on their race.

Imagine their surprise upon finding their father's replacement to be a much older, very different looking, but still familiar fangirl.

"Quick!" Morton cried as the screen cut to a few other racers they honestly couldn't care less about. "Somebody go get Kamek before the fan girl comes back on!"

"We'll go!" Iggy and Lemmy shouted, racing out the door.

"…Everything appears to be in order, sir." Kamek said, flipping through the stacks of notes.

"So, we can go now, right?" Bowser laughed, bearing his fangs in an amused smile.

Kamek gave him a look over his glasses. "…I suppose… though, as with most of your rash decisions, I would advise against it, my King."

Bowser snorted, blowing smoke though his nostrils. "Fine. But, I want it done by tonight. When's the race over?"

"Five o'clock this eve, if memory serves…" Kamek said automatically, summoning a quill to add something to the notes. "I'll send word for the airships and troops to be ready."

"Good." Bowser snapped, regaining his smile. "You sure everything will go smoothly?"

Kamek only stared at him. "…how long have I been your advisor, sir?"

Bowser laughed. "Good point."

"KAMEK! KAMEK! KAMEK!" The two turned to find Iggy and Lemmy barreling down the halls as quick as they could, and Bowser only just managed to bring them both to an abrupt halt.

"Whoa! Whoa! Cool it!" The Koopa King roared. "What's your problem?"

"We need Kamek!" Iggy shrieked.

"Can we just borrow him for, like, five minutes?" Lemmy pleaded.

Bowser rolled his eyes. "It'd better be important—Kamek's busy. What do you want?"

The two took a deep breath, then screamed, "LIVI'S RACING DAD'S SPOT IN THE MARIO KART RACE!"

Kamek only stared at them, in complete and utter shock. "…wh… what? She's already back?"

"Yeah!" Lemmy cried. "They said Mario and Luigi got her to do a last-minute fill-in!"

"They're on their third race and she's in fifth place right now!" Iggy put in.

Kamek turned to Bowser. "…um, sir… I don't suppose…"

Bowser laughed, waving him off. "Hey, you said everything was in order right? We'll watch the race for a while. What could it hurt?"

Kamek smiled eagerly and bowed to Bowser before rushing after Iggy and Lemmy. "Thank you, thank you, sir!"

"Where is she?" Kamek demanded the moment he set foot in the Playroom.

"You just missed her!" Larry said. "They showed her take Yoshi down with a blue shell—it was great!"

"Ve zink she is in zird place now." Ludwig threw in. "She should come back on in a few moments."

Kamek took a seat amongst the Koopalings, demanding every detail he had missed. Bowser came in quietly behind them, shutting the door and taking a seat on the floor—about three Koopalings instantly moving to climb on top of him.

"So they got the fangirl to replace me, eh?" Bowser asked.

Wendy nodded. "Yeah, and she's acuawy weally good!"

"LOOKLOOKLOOK! THERE SHE IS! THERE SHE IS!" Lemmy cried, bouncing up and down on his ball and gesturing frantically to the screen.

Sure enough, Livi raced onto the screen, leaving a bewildered Daisy spinning off to he sidelines. Livi screamed and fist-pumped enthusiastically as the announcer's cried out "Unbelievable! The Fangirl pulls a sneak-attack and takes first!"

The crowd—and everyone in the Playroom—went wild with cheer and applause. "See?" Bowser Jr. cried out. "She's whoopin' their butts!"

Kamek laughed, then suddenly went silent as he watched the screen. "…she looks so… different…"

Iggy bit his lip. "Well, it's been—what? Four years? She's older."

Kamek's head dropped to his hands. "…I guess you're right… I don't know why I didn't see it coming… I just didn't expect her to be so much older… It should've been only a year or two in her world…"

"Maybe ya jus' fergot what she looked like…" Roy suggested. "'s more of a shock."

Kamek sighed. "…makes sense…"

In truth, Livi had matured much more than anyone could expect in those few years. She was out of high school now—visiting the Marioverse on her last break between high school and college. Watching her race now, maneuvering her bike—still at amateur level, but with no clumsiness—it was painfully obvious how she had grown. She had abandoned the spastic childish innocence and naivety she had first graced Kamek's presence with. It was hard to believe this was the same girl that had dropped into his life like an atomic bob-omb and taken him from his home.

"Are you sure it can't wait?" Bowser randomly wondered.

Kamek glanced up, though didn't pause as the two continued down the hall. "Sir?"

"The others." Bowser clarified. "Can seeing them not wait until after this whole thing?"

Kamek sighed, running a hand tiredly over his face. "…there's no way. As soon as we capture Peach, both brothers will come after her. Livi's going to want to come. Luigi won't allow it—I know him."

Bowser shrugged. "So, she'll just be waiting when it's over. Maybe you can see them then."

Kamek shook his head. "No, sir—Livi will find a way to follow them. It's just the sort of trouble she'd stir up. Luigi's going to send her straight home as soon as we strike."

Bowser sighed heavily, running a hand back through his fiery mane. "…I dunno what to tell ya, Kamek… I wish I could make it happen, I just—"

Kamek shook his head. "My loyalty is to you, my King. I just won't get to see her this time. It isn't a big deal."

Bowser surveyed Kamek for a long time before speaking again. "…when will you see 'em again?"

Kamek gave a sharp breath, then shut his eyes and quickened his pace. "…impossible to say."

"Hoooooooooo boy, I'm nervous…" Livi mumbled to herself, drumming her fingers nervously on the handle of her bike.

"Don't be." A silky voice cooed as a bright green boo appeared before her. "We'll be watching the course for you the entire time."

Livi smiled and released a shaky breath. "Thanks, guys."

"Yeah, yeah." The Lakitu to her right snapped, fixing a small headpiece to her ear. "Look, I know it looks scary—it's a Bowser's Castle course. They're all rough. Just chill, listen to me, and you'll be good."

Livi shakily nodded, though she was still obviously jittery. "Okay… Oh good Grambi, I'm gonna die…"

"No, you aren't, dear…" The boo cooed, stroking her hair with a ghostly flipper.

The Lakitu whipped around to shoo her off. "Alright, Taboo, knock it off. A little nerves is good for ya. Keeps ya on your toes. And she's gonna need it if she wants to make it out of this death-trap alive." He flashed Livi a smile. "No pressure."

Livi glared. "Gee, thanks. Whatever would I do without you, Spikester?"

"You'd whine and cry and wish somebody was here to feed you every trap on the field." He informed her with a pat on her head.

"THIRTY SECONDS TIL START!" The head Lakitu called, taking his place at the front of the start line.

The racers assistants threw their racers final bits of wisdom and one last good luck before dashing off back to the base.

"Good luck, kid! Don't worry about a thing—we gotcha!" Spikester called before floating off after the others.

Taboo floated up, pecked Livi on the cheek, and whispered, "You'll be wonderful, darling…"

With both of her assistants gone, Livi turned and flashed a smile to Luigi. He waved back, giving her a thumbs-up in reassurance.

"Testing, testing…" Spikester's voice rang in Livi's ear. "You got me?"

"Can she hear us?" Taboo's voice cooed from the background. "Let me try…"

"Will you knock it off?" Spikester snapped. "Alright, Liv, we've got a full few of the track from up here. We'll keep you on the alert, alright?"

"Gotcha." Livi agreed. "I could use all the help I can get."

The Lakitu in front of the start banner put a hand to his earpiece-obviously receiving a signal from the announcers-and waved for the racer's attention. Other Lakitus readied their cameras, and the racers enthusiastically revved their engines as the lights dangling from the head Lakitu's fishing pole began to count down the seconds to start.

With a sudden flash off green, fifteen racers shot off at unbelievable speeds. Creepy music, screaming cheers, bikes and karts and shouts of racers filled the air.

"Heads up, Liv!" Had Spikester's voice not been mounted right next to her ear, Livi never would have heard him. "The road drops down-sharp-then shoots up to a boost ramp. Its gonna shoot you over the lava and into the castle. Just hold straight and you'll be fine."

Livi nodded-knowing Taboo would be able to tell she had received the info-and kicked her bike to a higher speed to take the ramp with the best boost possible.

She hit it, braced herself for the impact, and hit the track with a new boost of speed. The halls before her moved up and down in waves, but she knew the track by heart and hit the hills with the special kick-start hidden below her heel, adding to her boost with each one.

"Yeah, baby!" Livi cried, digging her heel into the stone floor to smooth out her next turn. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

"You go, girl! You got 'em!" Spikester cried. "Now, look out, okay? This next hall looks alright, but from up here its crawling with Thwomps."

"Thwomps-gotcha." Livi repeated, her eyes scanning the ceilings.

"Oh, never mind that!" Taboo cried, obviously snatching the headpiece away from Spikester. "You're coming up on Wario and Toad. Grab an item from those blocks and I'll bet you could take them both out!"

Livi smirked, locating the opponents a few feet before her. She dipped her bike to the side, reaching down to let her hand pass through the ghostly block. The moment it emerged, she held an item. "Green shell! Score!" She cried, hurling the shell immediately. It smashed into Toad-flipping his kart over to land right on top of Wario's. Livi overtook them both and was far ahead in a matter of seconds.

"Watch the jump!" Spikester cried.

Livi's attention returned to the field just long enough to make it over the lava moat below and onto the steel-cage half-tunnel. Heat and steam rose up through the holes in the floor, red-hot lava bubbling dangerously down below. A giant mecha-Bowser loomed dangerously at the end of the track, roaring to the racers, swiping at them with his giant, steel claws, and blowing huge balls of fire down the tunnel.

"Up the walls, Livi!" Taboo suddenly, calmly commanded. "The boost-tracks at the tops of the walls should be enough to get you over the gaps. You can't linger in the middle too long or he'll fry you."

"Um… okay…" Livi confirmed, still very uncertain. Swallowing her nerves, Livi jerked her bike abruptly to the right, shooting straight up the walls. Sure enough, a boost-track lined the tops of the walls, and she was able to kick off of it to jump over a gap in the cage to the rest of the tunnel on the opposing side.

"Head straight, Liv!" Spikester yelled before she could try the same thing. "You're gonna have to pull the same stunt, but you're heading right for the same ramp on the left side! Just go for it!"

Livi nodded once, revved her engines to a higher speed and took off towards the second jump. She made it with only a slight bounce on impact. It shook her up considerably, but she managed to hold the track.

"'atta girl!" Spikester cried in joy. "Now take the path to the right of the 'bot-it'll lead you to the path outside!"

Livi veered off towards the instructed course, aiming her jump carefully around the rotating streams of fire that flared up before her. She made the jump, and found herself once again on the stone floor of the castle. The hallway was, once again, covered in Thwomps, but other than that, she met no obstacle.

"Princess Peach, dead ahead!" Taboo sang.

Livi smirked, ducking down to snatch another item. She was granted a bob-omb. Untrustworthy, hard to manage, difficult to aim, but it would do. "Heya, Peachy!" Livi called.

Peach turned and smiled to the fan girl. "Looking good, Livi! You're doing just fabulous!"

"You're doing just fabulous!" Livi quietly mocked with a sneer on her face. She then took the bob-omb's golden twist in her teeth and gave it a few turns before pulling her arm back and slinging it towards the Princess.

It missed. By a long shot. Luckily, the explosion was enough to scare Peach out of her wits and veer her drastically off-course (off-course, here, meaning turning her vehicle at a ninety-degree angle straight into the nearest wall).

Livi laughed loudly, rushing past Peach and taking a jump off the staircase into the outside courtyard. "Later, Peachy!"

"Livi, watch the field! There's lava geysers all over the place!" Spikester warned.

"Oh! Lava! Right!" Livi confirmed, returning her attention to the course. She veered left and right, dodging anything that shot up in her path.

Until the ground exploded beneath her.

She was flying through the air. Then in the next second, she was on the ground. She might have screamed. She didn't even remember.

Everything was black.

Then there was nothing.