The Special Cup had been a tradition of the Mario Kart tournament, along with the Mushroom Cup, ever since its inception. It always consists of longer, more tedious courses, often sharper turns and areas where falling off the edge is common. Even though a huge variety of courses, every single time the last course is the notorious Rainbow Road, while 90% of the time the second-last is the lava-filled Bowser's Castle. Luigi, who had experienced the sheer intensity of this cup more than a few times, thought of it as the most challenging car races in Mushroom Kingdom history - and each year the courses get harder than the year before.
This year, the first course of this prestigious cup is Luigi's Mansion. The name is controversial, as the mansion is owned - not by Luigi - but by the resident boos, and technically it isn't Luigi's course either (each racer is allowed an absolute maximum of one course which they own, and Luigi's is Luigi Circuit of the Mushroom Cup). Some have stated that it is better to refer to it as "King Boo's Mansion" - but the name "Luigi's Mansion" had stuck.
On race day, Luigi and Toadbert drove in the L Charger via a long, winding road full of dead trees and animal carcasses to the entrance of the mansion, where the pole position shootout will be taking place. Except for Mario, Bowser Jr. and Rosalina, no other racer had already arrived yet, and the front area is still largely deserted.
The course layout is long and complex. It starts inside the mansion, and, unlike all other courses, the path is exceeding narrow making overtaking difficult and in some parts impossible. Starting with a few tightly-contested turns, it then makes way for three item boxes, before going into a narrow spiral staircase (the steps have been replaced by ramps to allow kart access). It then leads to the second floor, another series of tight turns, before ascending again to the third floor. On the third floor, racers have to deal with various holes in the floor which would automatically receive them a DNF should they fall down them. Then it is a long, long downwards-sloped turn all the way back to the start/finish line located on the first floor. Again, five laps.
The pole position shootouts started, and Luigi, coming first, was started the round. He raced closely and with precision, and zipped through the course. The three laps gave him a highly respectable time of 3:15:21.
Mario was next up. The Red Racer did the same, although taking advantage of each turn more than the L Charger, and came home with a 3:12:26. Almost three whole seconds in front! Luigi, who was feeling proud of himself then, gasped.
Rosalina, with this being her first Mario Kart tournament (and having no knowledge of this track), unfortunately did not go so well, and a 3:15:57 meant she had earned a place behind the younger Mario bro.
Bowser Jr.'s time wasn't any better, and he got a 3:16:11. Yoshi and Wario all didn't even come close.
The race then prepared to start. Lakitu went onto the course and did his usual actions, and then the race started - with blistering pace. The course, being so narrow, meant that in the first few turns the racers pushed and scraped each other's karts. Bowser Jr. was trying to overtake on his left, and Rosalina was risking an outside overtake on the right. The Koopa Chaser's distinctive spiked design made distinctive marks and scratches on the L Charger's surface.
But then, at the item box area, both racers attempted for the box, but it just doesn't happen. Luigi threw his red shell at Mario, in front, something the Red Racer just couldn't avoid.
Bang. Crash. Luigi takes the lead.
This high-octane action continued up the staircase, and once again there was some violent pushing and shoving, but it wasn't harming Luigi, who was way out in front. The second floor's turns wasn't contested by anyone on Luigi either, and his lead extended. On the third floor, Luigi then all too easily avoided the holes, but for the other racers - who was still bunched up - it wasn't so simple. Wario saw a gaping hole right in front of him, and slammed on the brakes - but Peach, who was behind him, continued to push. "NOO!" Wario shouted, and fell through the hole. Peach then released her mistake but the Heart Kart fell in right behind him. DNF.
For Luigi, the race was a breeze as the second lap started. Into the item box area, and he got a banana. These were extra useful in this narrow course, and put it right in the middle of the course. Some time after, it claimed its victim, who turned out to be Yoshi.
Luigi, once again, was unthreatened throughout the second lap, although Mario had pulled away from the group and is now gaining with every turn.
Luigi went up the spiralling staircase, still in front. He was not sure just how far Mario was behind him, as he could not hear Lakitu's commentating, and Toadbert, who was miles away from Team Mario's pit, had no idea either. Luigi looked at his rear view mirror, hoping that his brother wasn't yet in sight, but unfortunately he was too distract and went straight at a 90 degree turn. Mario slammed the brakes - Luigi was blocking the road.
The L Charger went straight in, and Luigi, if it wasn't for his seatbelt, which stopped him abruptly, he would have went straight through the windscreen. Instead, he banged into the steering wheel. Which hurt.
The first thing he did was check himself for any signs of serious injury. Although there was some light bruises in his head, he could still drive. Luigi then turned the ignition key of the L Charger, hoping that he could still race. It did not respond. Luigi at first thought that the kart was broken, but then he found that the ignition key had snapped clean off.
Luigi told Toadbert the news. "Any chance of a re-start?" Luigi questioned nervously.
Toadbert, within seconds, responded. "Yes"
Toadbert's instructions was loud and clear. "First, look under the steering wheel. You should see three wires"
"Yes"
"Ok. Now cut the blue wire and the yellow wire, but leave the red wire alone"
"You sure about this?" Luigi didn't like the idea of cutting wires.
"Yes, I am sure. Now cut it"
Luigi looked for scissors, but there wasn't any. Instead, he used his teeth.
"They are cut. What should I do now?"
"Tie the wires together"
Luigi did as he was told. The old, battered engine of the L Charger slowly chugged back to life.
Luigi then went out of the tight curve. Fortunately, and miraculously, since he blocked the road the racers behind him formed two lines, honking their horns impatiently. But now the L Charger was moving again - and as fast as ever.
Mario already tried to overtake him on the second tight turn, but Luigi held him off securely. Mario tried the turn after that - to no avail. Luigi then went up an ascending corridor to the third floor, narrowly missing some of the turns. After that, the L Charger could finally use its power-up on the way down - a mushroom. The L Charger had now regained its pace and charging ahead. Third lap.
The item box was found to be a green shell for Luigi, triple green shells for Mario, and a blooper for Rosalina, who was coming in third. No blue shell this time. Luigi breathed a sigh of relief.
But Mario didn't keep his shells as a shield around his kart - he threw them. The first one bounced dangerously close to the L Charger's right hind wheel. Then came the second - aimed straight at the kart - but luckily, there was a tight turn and it again missed.
Mario cursed and then fired his last shell.
It sped towards Luigi at an alarming rate. But the L Charger hasn't used its own single green shell yet!
Lucky.
No racer dared an overtake, and the fourth lap didn't see much shuffling. Now, of course, was the fifth and final lap. Although largely uneventful, Luigi was still leading as they made their way down the final portion. Mario was right on his tail.
BANG. Mario used his item and blasted into the lead!
"NOOO!" Luigi should desperately, but it was decided. Mario had won the first race of the Special Cup. The L Charger and the Rainbow Comet then raced through the line side by side, but it was later decided that Luigi was just quicker.
Lakitu informed everyone of the times:
Driver: | Kart: | Time:
Mario | Red Racer | 7:36:21
Luigi | L Charger | 7:36:58
Rosalina | Rainbow Comet | 7:37:00
Yoshi | Yoshi Egg | 7:39:11
Bowser Jr. | Koopa Chaser | 7:40:24
Waluigi | Purple Buster | 7:40:48
Donkey Kong | Konga Kart | 7:41:25
Toadette | Pink 'Shroom 2 | 7:42:03
Daisy | Flower Power| 7:42:29
Bowser | Koopa King | 7:45:33
Diddy Kong | Banana 1 | 7:45:49
Toad | Mushroom Dynamite | 7:46:30
Koopa Troopa | Shell Smasher | 7:47:57
Birdo | Pink Powerhouse | 7:52:07
Wario | Gold Buster | DNF
Peach | Heart Kart | DNF
The course, due its narrow nature, means that the line-up hasn't changed much. Soon, the all-important scores showed.
Driver: | Kart: | Score:
Luigi | L Charger | 62
Mario | Red Racer | 59
Rosalina | Rainbow Comet | 53
Bowser Jr. | Koopa Chaser | 46
Yoshi | Yoshi Egg | 41
Donkey Kong | Konga Kart | 25
Wario | Gold Buster | 22
Toadette | Pink 'Shroom 2 | 18
Waluigi | Purple Buster | 18
Peach | Heart Kart | 17
Bowser | Koopa King | 11
Daisy | Flower Power | 9
Toad | Mushroom Dynamite | 1
Diddy Kong | Banana 1 | 1
Koopa Troopa | Shell Smasher | 0
Birdo | Pink Powerhouse | 0
Luigi expected a warm welcome back in the pits, however, in though he is still first on the board, the focus this time was on Mario. The red-hatted plumber wasn't too satisfied with his score, thinking he should have done better, and was shaking his head as he got out of the Red Racer, and waved the mass of reporters and cameramen aside, and he and Toadofsky went into their own small-sized small room located just behind their pit. They wanted to win this - and they still had two races, which was plenty of time, to do so.
Luigi thought about the next course, which was Bowser's Castle. As the scoreboard shows, that race, plus Rainbow Road, would well and truly be a fight to the very finish.