Oh, by the way, My Wii has been broken for a few months now, meaning that I haven't played MKWii in a while. (⁄ ∖) That goes to say, if anything is wrong or if a track description doesn't match what it actually is, then please politely point it out in the review. I'm using my 3DS to hit up Mario Wiki as I write, and that particular site is slow at loading on it (And my neighbours move their AOSS point sometimes), so please accept my apologies for any mistakes—including the scoring following this AN. It shall be fixed later if necessary. ( ) ⊥⊥ (Crappy table flipping)

Now, other than that, please enjoy and review! They make me really happy~! And don't worry; I'll get a new Wii soon. (. ω .)b

The sound of the engine noise that emitted from the bike was almost deafening. Purachina revved up the engine a few more times before taking off with the coveted rocket-boost, leaving the other eleven racers in the dust.

As of now, it was two in the afternoon. It was a sunny day at Koopa Cape, where her and a few more members of the gang gathered to practice one last time before hopping on the jet the next day. Toadette, who chose to be the scorekeeper, stood by the finish line and held a clipboard in her petite pale hands. The paper attached had the following recorded, in pretty pink ink to be precise.

The Scores Thus Far:

Mario: 45

Purachina: 42

Luigi: 36

Waluigi: 30

Daisy: 27

Peach: 27

Wario: 24

DK: 22

Toad: 15

Koopa: 10

Bowser: 7

Yoshi: 5

She watched as all twelve racers sped off at such a fast rate, leaving her pink hair to blow in the wind caused by the vehicles. Now all she had to do was sit patiently until the third lap…

Purachina looked in her rearview mirror: Mario was right behind her. She smirked daringly as she gazed at the reflection. There was no way she was going to let him pass. If she won this track, then she'd be in first place for the whole practice run. She leaned her bike to the left as she rounded the first turn, reaching her hand out for it to pass through an item box. With a sparkling ting, three red mushrooms appeared in her hand.

Huh, she chuckled in her mind. Three mushrooms in first place. How rare…

Holding the shrooms tightly in her right hand, she sped up a small ramp, doing a small trick. As soon as she landed, she sped towards a patch of grass, and threw the first mushroom on the ground in front of her wheel, making her rocket through the obstacle. She drove straight, and jumped the quarter-pipe, increasing her speed as she landed back on the cement.

With a small yelp, Purachina zoomed off the boost pad and landed in a small stream. She didn't see anyone in her rearview, so she figured it was safe to perform a wheelie for extra speed.

Unfortunately, out of nowhere, Mario bumped into the side of her bike, making her wobble and lose a great amount of speed.

"Hey! Mario!" She yelled, clearly pissed off. Mario, who was now ahead of her, winked and poked out his tongue as he jumped of a small ramp. He hit my fucking blind spot!

Purachina scowled and threw another shroom on the ground in front of her. Mario was just out of reach. Then she dropped the last one, just in time to grab a stay item box, and laughed as she rocketed past the plumber, bumping him as well.

She looked in her hand and found a red shell. Perfect, she though deviously. Just wait till he gets closer behind…closer…slow down a bit, Pura…

"Mama mia!" Mario's Dolphin Dasher flipped as he drove straight into the red shell, which appeared behind the girl at the last second.

"That'll teach you to get in front of me, plumber!" She yelled, rounding the right turn.

Whoosh! She fell down at a straight ninety-degree angle, adjusting her bike so it would land on her wheels. Her lime green tank top was sprayed with mist from the waterfall that was only a foot behind her.

Thunk!

Purachina dashed forward, listening to she screech of wheels on Plexiglass as she drifted.

This was her favourite part of Koopa Cape. The underwater section of the track was always so peaceful, so calming, despite the intensity of the situation.

She dodged the rays with extra care, not getting hit by them once. She jumped out of the tunnel with the assistance of a speed boost, and proceeded to the quarter pipe. She then zipped past and line and Toadette, waving as she did so.

Her tracking map on her dashboard beeped. Mario was still in the tunnel. "I'm that far ahead?" She laughed, covering her mouth. "Oh, my God, this is gonna be easy! Two laps to go~!"

Toadette scribbled on her clipboard as the last driver passed the finish line. Written on a new page, again, in pretty pink ink, was the following:

Koopa Cape:

Purachina

Mario

Peach

Daisy

Luigi

DK

Waluigi

Wario

Toad

Koopa

Yoshi

Bowser

Purachina jumped off her bike and ran over to Mario. She hugged him from behind, laughing the entire time.

"Mario! You did awesome!" She yelled in his ear, making him jump. "I mean, you were so close to winning! Then I got first place! But it doesn't matter that you didn't, because you still did awesome~!"

"Purachina calm down," Mario told her. "And get off of me, you're too old to be climbing all over me."

"But I'm serious, Mario!" Purachina pouted. "You did an excellent job…"

"Thanks, Purachina." Mario ruffled her black hair. "You did too. You ranked the highest for the entire tournament. I think you're ready."

"You think so?" The rookie's eyes grew wide and sparkly, and a large, hopeful smile was plastered to her face.

"Of course," Mario reassured with a smile. "You got what it takes to race in the All-Cup."

"I agree, Purachina." Luigi approached the pair, wiping the sweat beading from his forehead with his sleeve. He smiled. "But practice plays an important part. We'll be racing a lot this month."

"I understand." Purachina's shoulders drooped.

"Don't get too discouraged." The younger bro said with a comforting glint in his eye. "You'll do perfectly."

With a nod of agreement, Mario's stomach rumbled. With the other two staring at him, he laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"You hungry, Mar?" Purachina smirked.

"Eh heh, yeah…let's go get some hotdogs with the others…"

"Waluigi, hand me the ketchup."

"Get it yourself."

"I'm too far away!"

"Not my problem."

Purachina scowled. Her and Waluigi didn't get along at all. Waluigi was always such a pervert to her (He had a crush on both her and Daisy) and Purachina was always picking fights with him. Her reason was "He's so annoying". His was "She's too loud". You couldn't leave the two alone in the same room without some bloodshed, in most cases Waluigi's.

"Do you want me to climb all over you to get it?"

"I wouldn't mind that." Waluigi smirked. "In fact I encourage you to do so."

"Gross! Mario!"

Mario sighed, swallowing his hotdog. "Waluigi, hand her the damned ketchup," he deadpanned. He—as well as everyone else—was sick of the two fighting.

"Why should I? She can eat without it."

"Waluigi, would you like me to give Miyamoto-san a call?" Peach piped up, setting her cup of iced tea down on the table with a noticeable thud.

Waluigi hesitated. He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't—a smart move. He grabbed the ketchup bottle and lazily threw it at Purachina, who caught it easily. She stuck her tongue at him.

"You use honorifics, Princess?" Toad asked. He was sitting to the left of her, also sipping at an iced tea. "Since when?"

"I don't really know, Toad. He's Japanese, so I thought it was appropriate."

"You should call him by 'Sensei', Peachy," Purachina cut in, squirting a ton of ketchup on her wiener. "It's more appropriate."

"What's that mean?" Luigi asked. He wasn't eating anything, he was happy just reading a book at the picnic table.

"It means like 'teacher' or someone of a higher status. I'd prefer to call him 'sama' or 'sensei', but that's just me."

"Showoff…"

"Shut up Waluigi!" She punched his shoulder. "I wasn't talking to you!"

"Oh, my Grambi guys, just stop," Daisy seethed. "In fact, I have a better idea…Waluigi, switch places with me."

"Anything for you, darling~!" You could practically see the hearts in his eyes—the poor, lovesick man.

The two stood up, and much to Purachina's (as well as everyone else's) liking, switched places. This way, no one could piss each other off anymore.

"Thanks, Dais," Purachina whispered, biting her hotdog.

"No prob, Pura," Daisy replied, taking a new can of Shroom Shake and opening it with a hiss… "Just try not to piss eachother off when in front of other people. It's rude."

"But I know everyone here—"

"Doesn't matter. Drop it."

Small silence followed. Everyone was still tired from the past race, so that was kind of expected from them. Even Purachina was a little drowsy.

"Eeeyaaagh," Bowser stretched and yawned, rubbing his head. He held up his empty can of Koopa Kola and asked: "You guys got anymore Kola left? I'm thirsty."

"Uh-uhn," Luigi shook his head. "Besides, you don't need anymore. You drank, like, twenty of those." He lazily flipped a page of the book as a talked.

"It was only five! And that race was exhausting! I'm thirsty!"

Purachina sighed. "I was gonna save mine for later, but I guess you can have it, Bowser."

Bowser fist pumped. "Awesome! Thanks, bro!"

"Mhm, you owe me though. Catch." She held the can over her head in a throwing posture. The koopa held out his big, scaly hands, and caught the can when it was thrown. He had his fingers on the top, ready to open it, but Wario stopped him.

"I wouldn't open that. Wait five minutes."

"Psh. Yeah," Purachina agreed, taking another bite of her hotdog. "Unless you wanna clean up after it. Did you expect it not to blow up after I threw it across the table?"

"Purachina…Don't talk with your mouth full…" Luigi put his book down on the wooden picnic table. "I'm going for a walk…"

Purachina swallowed her food before talking—a first. "Can I come with? Please?"

"If it's okay with Mario."

"Mar, can I go with Luigi?" Purachina twisted her back to look at Mario, who shrugged.

"Don't go too far. We're leaving as soon as everyone eats."

"Arigatou~!" Purachina ran after the younger plumber, who was already walking. "Lou, wait up!"

The waves crashed against the shore in a slow, steady motion—very hypnotic and tranquil. Catawacks roamed the sandy beaches freely, tending to their own business. Some of them were sitting or waddling on the fine, white sand, while others splashed in the water.

Two figures could be seen on the beach, one a grown man and the other a smaller, naïve and wet-behind-the-ears girl.

"So, Luigi," she asked, holding her shoes as she dug her toes in the soft sand. She held on to Luigi's right arm as they walked. "You've raced in a bunch of All-Cups before, right?"

"Nine, to be exact," he interrupted.

"Exactly, so I have a question…what was it like racing your first All-Cup? Were you nervous at all?"

"What kind of question is that?" Luigi scoffed at her innocent, but silly question. "I still get nervous! In fact, everyone does."

"Bowser and Wario don't look anxious. Waluigi don't either."

"Doesn't, Pura. And deep down, I bet they all are. You can't tell by just looking at them."

"So, I'm guessing it's okay to be nervous…?" Purachina smiled a bit.

"Yeah, it's normal," Luigi replied. He took off his hat, combed his fingers through his dark brown hair, and replaced it back on his head. "In fact, it helps us concentrate, and the anxiousness drives us to do our best. I think you're stressing too much…"

Purachina turned to face him with an angry glare. "I am not! I'm fine!"

"Bullshit." Luigi laughed at her. "Underneath that happy, carefree mask of yours is a feeling of doubt and angst, huh?" He patted her on the head. She only went up to his shoulders, so he had no problems in doing so. "Just learn to cope with those feelings. They'll help you in the long run."

"Grr, get your hand off my head," Purachina laughed jokingly, pushing his hand away. "And thanks. I guess I needed that. Truth is, I never been around the world before…and I race for fun most of the time. Other than those minour grand prixs we do, of course, but this All-Cup is a big deal, ne? It might be too much for me."

"Hey, don't say that." Luigi stopped walking, Purachina followed. "You'll do fine. And who said these races won't be fun? Just treat it as you would do otherwise; just a nice, little race for kicks. That involves traveling to different regions and space. You know, you gotta race Rain—"

"Don't! Don't you dare say that track's name." Purachina poked a finger at his chest. "Say that name and we will all die."

Luigi gulped. This girl looked serious. "Uh…fine. You have to race that track too. You can't keep putting it off."

"I'll race it when the time comes."

"It doesn't work like that, Purachina.'

"Doesn't matter, I—Lou, look!" Purachina pointed out to sea. "Dolphins!"

"Luigi squinted his eyes as he looked. "I-I don't see anything."

The girl groaned and walked up to him. She twisted his head to another direction. "There." She said. "See them now?"

Sure enough, there they were—a pod of dolphins jumping out of the water, then submerging themselves again with a splash.

"Whoa," Luigi gaped, speechless almost. "How many do you think there are?"

"I can't tell from here, maybe eight." She pulled out her camera and snapped several pictures of the sea mammals. "Can't wait till I put this on derp-book…"

"Of course you can't…Oh, Grambi, I can hear them squeaking from here."

Purachina shut her mouth and lowered her camera. "Oh! Me too! They sound so cute~!" She jumped in the air like a little kid.

"Heh…I haven't seen dolphins in a long time…" Luigi chuckled. He placed a hand on Purachina's shoulder to calm her down."

"Me neither. In fact, this is my first time seeing any at all…aww, they're leaving."

"Yup…Say 'goodbye', Pura."

"Shut up, you sound like I'm a baby."

The pair stayed silent for a few moments, watching the dolphins disappear into the horizon, and then sighed.

"Well, I'm happy now," Purachina giggled.

"Yeah…Let's go back to the others. They're probably packing everything up by now."

"Probably…Luigi, I have another question."

"What is it?" Luigi asked.

"Anata wa, Daisy-chan aishiteimasu ka?"

"P-Pardon?"

"Do you like Daisy?" she sniggered. "Like, 'like-like'?"

"Sh-shut up!"

Ne? (Neh?): Huh? (This pizza's good, ne?)