Fighting in the Streets
Chapter 11 – Mushroom City
A/N: Chapter 7 has a list of all of the contenders and their selected karts, if you do not remember you can have a look there. Yes Mushroom City, the first race of 32, commences here. Note that there are many things around the lands happening at the same time – the finish of one race will not always be directly before the start of the next, though one race every 2 chapters seems feasible. So if the first race is chapter 11, this fanfic will have... around 75 chapters? Blimey. This will take some years, and then there are the sequels...
2018 July Update: There's a new poll up on my profile about the teams, if you have an account be sure to check it out and fill it in. I want to hear your opinions on your favourite racers.
For each corresponding team given, the first of the two names is the designated driver. If they are changing throughout the race then it will be said by their team name. (See Chapter 7 for the order of Teams)
Mario – Luigi
Bowser – Bowser Jr
Changing
Changing
Changing
Changing
DK – Diddy Kong
Paratroopa – Koopa Troopa
Toadsworth – Toadbert
Changing
Funky Kong – Cranky Kong
Changing
Changing
Dry Bones – Kamek
Rosalina – Pauline
Enrique – Tom
January 15, 2010 (1) – Around 8:00PM
Mushroom City, Mushroom Kingdom
The race was set and ready, being viewed by the hundreds of thousands. From the majority it seemed addictive to view, even for the likes of the one by the name of Koopak Asquia, who stood on an abandoned rooftop looking down secretly to the streets of Mushroom City, getting a near-perfect view of the top. He had binoculars with him; being able to view all the racers from a good distance and able to see who attacks who with what weapon. He had temporarily abandoned Jeanette within the city; hence he had already ruined their bookings to going northward for the excitement of the races had taken over his will to hide perfectly away from sight. He was playing moderately loud underground music from the rooftop to soothen the mood of the night time race. With all the doors from the bottom floor leading up to the rooftop locked up and sealed, he thought this would be a good way to chill out in the evening before setting off into the grasslands northward afterwards.
Back down by the streets however, things were as intense as they could get. Everyone was ready to go. The Lakitu counted down with his fingers and the lights on the traffic light flashed red – 3 – some engines began to growl with sound, but not fully active. The lights flashed another red light once again – 2. Everybody's vehicles revved up, readying a turbo boost. Those who weren't driving would be staring at everybody else to see their vehicles. The third red light appeared – 1 – the engines were still ready to go. All sixteen pairs were thrilled with adrenaline.
The lights flashed green...
The 32 charged off ahead all successfully boosting at the start, racing quickly down the road to the first set of items and coins. Tom and Enrique still had the lead, with the Hammer Bros and Koopa Troopas directly behind them. A gap began to widen between them and the rest. The Hammer Bros picked up three bananas and launched them back as quickly as they could, hitting some of the racers. Tom picked up a green shell and held it behind them as they turned the first corner and on to the main roads. As the road straightened up, their lead had thinned and famous racers such as Bowser, Mario and Rosalina had already sped ahead. They all drove straight underneath the bridge, arriving to the next item boxes. More shells, more bananas and mushrooms. Fire Bro lead their kart into the shortcut in the centre of beneath the bridge, quickly swerving around and escaping to get a lead against the rest. Pauline picked up a green shell, ready to aim at someone else.
"Go for Bowser!" Rosalina called, noticing the two creatures speeding past by their left. Pauline attempted the throw but Bowser had evaded the projectile, stressing out Rosalina as they were overtaken. The two approached the centre junction, on a collision course with several racers coming from the right intending to go straight ahead. They collided with Wario and Waluigi, swerving aside and about to crash into DK and Diddy Kong, who shrieked and turned quickly to go right as well. Rosalina growled, knowing she was around ninth place now. The Mario brothers were currently in the lead, with the Koopa Troopas, King Boo and Petey, and Tom and Enrique shortly behind, creating a gap between the rest as they began to ascend upwards to the bridge again to start lap 2. In eleventh place, Yoshi and Birdo picked up a POW block and activated it as soon as they could. POW blocks appeared in front of each kart.
"POW Block!" Tom yelled at Enrique as they drifted up the lane.
"What do I shake?" Enrique questioned back as he shuffled the steering wheel, quickly jumping as the POW phase ended. They had successfully evaded the block. In front of them was the spinning Koopas, who were affected by the block. It seemed like a good start for the Earth-beings as they passed the finish line for lap 2. However, Funky Kong and Cranky Kong sped past with a golden mushroom item, overtaking them and pushing them down to fourth. Bowser was not to be seen by the two, perhaps held back by the rest of the crowd.
They were all struck by lightning. Speeding by was Rosalina and Pauline, redeeming themselves after missing that green shell. She bashed the two in their Standard Kart as she zoomed past in the Twinkle Star, almost pushing them off the gaps in the bridge. Tom looked behind and saw a swarm of racers approach the finish line. He spotted at least eight karts and bikes. All itemless.
"There's many behind us- hahaha!" Tom burst into laughter after noticing his squeaky voice from being shrunk by the lightning.
"Oh my god, this is what we sound like?" Enrique said as they slowly turned the first bend to the item boxes. Triple red shells. Bowser, who was right behind them, gasped as he saw the appearance of the shells. Tom picked one up and threw it ahead, searching for Rosalina and Pauline. Bowser was cautious, not wanting to go ahead of Tom and Enrique as they would throw their second shell at him. Enrique peeked into the distance and saw the red shell being cancelled by Pauline's triple bananas.
"Take a right." Tom ordered as Enrique spun the wheel, going in the direction that was not the same as Rosalina and Pauline's. "No use going for them." Tom threw the second red shell onwards, going past the corner to hit Funky Kong and Cranky Kong, who were unfortunately itemless. Tom threw the third shell as they approached Funky and Cranky, hitting them again and annoying them at the same time.
"AND KING BOO AND PETEY TAKE THE LEAD AS THEY APPROACH THEIR THIRD LAP, THAT'S QUITE A LEAD THEY HAVE THERE." Ballyhoo announced through the speakers assembled around the circuit.
"Already?" Kamek said to Dry Bones, as the two tried to get out of double-figure positions. They passed the second set of item boxes and acquired a bullet bill.
"Things are going to get messy." Dry Bones said to Kamek, quickly turning rightwards out of the main junction, following everyone else they could see. Kamek activated the bullet bill, speeding ahead and hitting almost everyone they passed, pushing Toadbert and Toadsworth into another moving vehicle, causing them to collide and be bashed around, putting them into last place.
The race went on, with drastic collisions and constant changes in positions. King Boo and Petey's lead was slowly diminished as the other racers caught up with their red shells and mega mushrooms. As the final lap began to take place, Bowser and Junior had the short lead, not far in front of Mario and Luigi, Toadbert and Toadsworth (who made an exceptional comeback with a bullet bill) and Funky and Cranky. The swarm of other racers lay about 5 seconds behind the rest. Bowser thought he had this one in the bag, with Junior having three bananas ready to defend with. They turned around the first road bend towards the area under the bridge, speeding off ahead with maximum coins. Three green shells appeared right by their tails, bouncing in all directions. Junior made an attempt to cancel them out with their bananas whilst Bowser drifted around the roads. He evaded two, but was hit by the third as they went to the short-cut, their position dropped down to 5th in such a short time. The race was too competitive for their liking. Funky Kong and Cranky Kong took the lead, but shortly after, Dry Bones and Kamek called forth a lightning bolt, disrupting everybody's attempt to win. Tom and Enrique, who were one position behind and unaffected by the lightning, picked up a blue shell, this would create havoc at the convenient time that is the final lap.
As most racers exited the underground stage of the track, the blue shell headed its way to first place, where many people were, competing for first. The blue shell landed directly over Funky's head, creating a large explosion affecting five other teams. Peach and Daisy sped off quickly, unaffected by the explosion, directly heading over the finish line for first place, escaping the mess behind them.
"WE HAVE OUR FIRST RACE WINNERS!" Ballyhoo called out to the audience. Rosalina and Pauline rushed ahead quickly into second place, shortly after the other princesses. Afterwards, the victims of the blue shell massacre quickly raced towards the finish line, with nothing but raw speed to help them finish. Bowser and Junior luckily came third, so they didn't fall so far behind compared to their arch rivals. King Boo and Petey achieved fourth, and Funky Kong and Cranky Kong achieved fifth. After the Mario and Wario brothers achieved sixth and seventh respectively, a gap was created at the end of the underground stage of the track. A series of bob-omb explosions and banana peels affected several other racers. From what the current completionists could see it was hard to determine who finished next, but the leaderboard shown on the projector screens would be accurate. All the finished racers had stopped their karts a few metres after the finish line and looked around at the audiences. Peach and Daisy raised their arms in celebration looking around at the cheering crowds. As all racers finished, a projector screen was displayed at the side of the starting line, it showed the results of the race.
Peach and Daisy: +20 (20)
Rosalina and Pauline: +17 (17)
Bowser and Bowser Jr: +15 (15)
King Boo and Petey: +13 (13)
Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: +12 (12)
Mario and Luigi: +11 (11)
Wario and Waluigi: +10 (10)
Toadbert and Toadsworth: +9 (9)
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: +8 (8)
Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: +7 (7)
Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: +6 (6)
Shy Guy and Lakitu: +5 (5)
Dry Bones and Kamek: +4 (4)
Toad and Toadette: +3 (3)
Yoshi and Birdo: +2 (2)
Tom and Enrique: +1 (1)
An unsurprising start for most racers, the spectators viewed the current leaderboard and couldn't stop cheering. Several other surrounding screens displayed the racers from surrounding cameras. Many of the racers seemed happy at their position and tried to make a good appearance to the crowds, knowing that millions of people were watching. Peach looked around the stands, seeing the people in their thousands. She ended up staring directly at Duncan again, who's eyes widened as he stared back, getting ready to leave. Tobias, who was next to him, stood up and gave a mocking salute to Peach as they headed out of their stand.
"They are leaving." Peach's smile disappeared as she spoke to Daisy, being overheard by Tom and Enrique, who then slowly approached her.
"That's the last we'll see of them I bet." Enrique mentioned. Peach clenched her fists and looked around to Enrique.
"You are no competition to Bowser." Before she could say anything else she remembered everyone was watching her, so she quickly put a smile back on her face and waved at the crowds. Most of the racers had already started walking back along the fences towards Peach's castle. Several tens of reporters had their news microphones pointing through the gate to any racer they could catch and question. Funky Kong and Cranky Kong were being interviewed by at least seven different reporters.
"What do you think of fifth place?" One Koopa reporter asked the two.
"It's an okay start." Funky said loudly. "There are loads of races to go and I'm sure we will do better in those, I'm not a fan of Mushroom City, but I promise you there's way more to see from us!" He chanted. Cranky Kong smiled and nodded in agreement. "We will do better soon!" He said.
"What do you think of the newcomers?" Another interviewer asked.
"Well I've never raced with the Hammer Bros; I never really encountered them in that race either. I guess they are alright."
"What about the humans?" Funky said nothing for a short while.
"I have nothing to say about them, they came last and probably shouldn't stay on the races." He said back.
"Who are your rivals?" One more interviewer asked.
"Whoever is ahead of us." Cranky answered for Funky, causing several surrounding people to laugh.
Further down the fences, Peach, Daisy, Tom and Enrique were the last ones to leave the track. There were several cameras pointing to them as they walked along the pathway. Peach knew that she had to have an interview with some of the Toad reporters, to boost views and make herself look good. She dragged Daisy over to a crowd of interviewers behind the fences.
"Princess Peach, how did you find the race?" One asked.
"It was a pleasant drive in the city; expect to see more races like that!" She smiled after replying.
"I am guessing some races will be more thrilling than that though." Peach looked confused when she heard the second reporter.
"Yes, they will be, a large sum of money here is at stake and I am sure all the racers are trying their best."
"And we know this because Bowser came third." Daisy added a witty joke, making some surrounding viewers laugh.
"It seems like Rosalina and her partner made a close second, what do you think to that?" A third reporter asked.
"It was a fluke." Peach said. "We will come on top I promise you." She finished answering questions. "Now, have a goodnight everybody!" She blew a kiss and walked onwards back to her castle. The paparazzi and interviewers kept taking photos with their flashes as the last people left the walkway. As Peach disappeared from the crowds' vision, the curtains on the side of the stage folded to a close, and Ballyhoo further announced the conclusion of the night's race. Background music was played and projections of racers were displayed on the streets again. He stood down on the stage in front of the thousands on the streets and began to talk about statistics.
"What an impressive first race! The princesses stole the lead for today, but will they maintain the lead?" The thousands in the crowd constantly cheered on to any mention of a racer. "Come on, settle down now." Ballyhoo quietened the audience. The curtains unfolded once again to display several large screens, each showing clips of camera recordings of the race.
"We have a quite unsurprising set of results for this race." Ballyhoo displayed the leaderboard again. "We have arch-nemesis Bowser and his son in not second, but third place! The cosmic queen Rosalina and great singer Pauline snatched a nice 17 points away from the evil tyrant." The crowd turned silent and Ballyhoo put a sneaky smile on his face.
"What's that, Big Top?" He listened to his hat. "Fan favourites you say?" The volume of the crowd began to rise. "After all, who doesn't love a bit of entertainment during a race, who's not the best, but the most interesting racers. Who loves it when the races get a little... funky?" Ballyhoo displayed a picture of Funky Kong on the screens and the crowds turned wild.
"Or who loves it when the races begin to feel... spooky?" He then displayed King Boo and Petey. Ballyhoo carried on showing other pictures of racers and entertaining the audiences.
After the rest had finally arrived at Peach's Castle, Enrique hurried over towards Bowser who was planning to leave with his son back to his castle for the two days before the next race – Yoshi Valley.
"Hey, listen, we didn't think it was going to be so difficult." He contemplated his last place to Bowser.
"Don't worry about that, it's only my life that's at risk, just need to get ahead of the princesses and first should be easy. We have so many more races to go anyway." Bowser was extremely nice to Enrique despite providing no competition so far. "I saw the two boys in the stands when we raced. There's going to be a hunt for them now, I think Peach saw them too."
"Yeah I saw them." Enrique agreed. "Probably."
"May I have everyone's attention please?" Peach addressed the racers, who were in the groups just talking to each other about the race. "Thank you all for this introductory race, I guess you all remember the positions you finished in." She smiled and giggled. Tom sighed and looked back at Enrique. Lakitu grinned at Tom noticing his disappointment.
"Next race is Yoshi Valley, this race will start at midday in two days, I recommend you get there an hour in advance; you should all know how to get there. Additionally, all races from now on will be more properly managed; we won't have the need for any ceremonies or interviews until much later into the tournament." She announced. "You will all have to make it there yourselves, as of now you are all given Free Passage until the races have ended. This doesn't matter to the majority of you; this is only for a certain few. The audiences will be informed about the next races start time etcetera but these will have a lot less effort involved from now on. We race and we wait for the next one, simple!" Daisy stood next to her in a delightful mood. "One more thing, as you all have Free Passage, try not to get in a bit of a mess with anything up north. The Brigade is watching." She finished.
"Have a good night everyone!" Mario cheered everyone as he led his brother, Pauline and Daisy in to Peach's Castle, quickly having the doors sealed behind them.
"That is all for now everyone, except for Tom and Dry Bones, may I speak with you for a few minutes?" The crowds of racers around them stared at the two as they sighed again and moved forward to the princess. She signalled Tom and Dry Bones to approach her closely as she distanced herself from the crowds. Peach sat herself underneath one of the trees next to the hedge around her castle walls. The other racers were too far to be able to hear their discussion.
"Now you two have been brought up by the managers of the racers and we have come across an error with your race decisions. And sadly, I have had to have a look at yours as well because they are to be removed and resubmitted due to various reasons." Peach turned her head to speak to Tom first.
"Tom, I'm sorry but so called 'Incendia Castle' does not exist, I've never heard of that race before so I want you to write down a new race on this sheet of paper with this pen." Peach tore the paper in half uniformly and handed the pen and paper which she already had here over to Tom, making him write a different track.
"Are you sure it doesn't exist? I swear it does." Peach shook her head back at him, making him think of another track. He stood there confused and in thought of another track, since he has no knowledge of the tracks that exist in this world. "Does Aquadrom Stage exist?" Peach facepalmed.
"No." Eventually, Tom folded the paper multiple times with a confirmed race written inside. "Are you sure this is a real race."
"Yes." Tom replied. Enrique began to approach the three sitting by the tree. "I'm done here now, right?" He asked.
"Yes, Tom." Peach said solemnly. "I do not need you now." Tom walked over towards Enrique who stopped in front of him.
"What's the issue?" He asked Tom.
"Apparently my race doesn't exist here; I had to decide a different one. I could've sworn Incendia was a Wii race."
"Incendia Castle? That's a custom track, doesn't exist." Enrique confirmed to Tom.
"Right, well that settles that." Tom began to overhear Peach now speaking to Dry Bones.
"I'm afraid we've got severe problems to do with getting stable power for item blocks and coins for your track, so your chosen track is no longer in use. We're going to have to remove your choice of Desert Bone as well." Dry Bones looked down in depression. Peach handed over the second sheet of paper and the pen to Dry Bones, making him write another race down. Tom collapsed to the floor.
"That doesn't make any sense! I swear that one was custom too! How does Desert Bone exist and not Incendia Castle?" He groaned as he fell down.
"Well you got me; by all accounts it doesn't make sense." Enrique agreed.
"Is everything ok there?" Peach asked from the distance. Tom jumped up as quickly as he could and brushed off the dirt from his clothes.
"Yeah we're fine." Tom quickly informed, still surprised at the Desert Bone existence.
"So which race have you chosen now?" Enrique questioned, intrigued to know.
"That my friend is a secret." Tom replied sinisterly. "I don't know yours, you don't know mine."
"I guess we'll race our own races."
Dry Bones eventually returned to Kamek and they both left Toad Town. Tom and Enrique looked back at the crowds and saw about 10 people still there. The four Kongs were about to leave, and Bowser was speaking to Rosalina, Wario and Waluigi at the back of the grassland, close to Bowser's clown car. Junior was asleep inside, and Pauline had followed the Mario brothers indoors. Tom and Enrique re-approached, for Enrique was with them before he went to check up on Tom.
"What's up, guys." Tom greeted. The rest nodded back.
"You two must have had a good time." Rosalina said sarcastically.
"At least we took part." Tom giggled a bit. "How come you two are on good terms?" Rosalina and Bowser looked back at each other.
"We're always on good terms, mostly." Rosalina replied. "We are both concerned at the same things at the moment and may as well sort it out together."
"I must say this is quite exciting, despite my life is at risk, I suppose something's bound to happen somewhere near the end of this." Bowser stated. "But there's so many fishy things happening at the moment. I'm sure everyone noticed the twins yesterday and now they've probably disappeared. Rosalina's brother has escaped prison, word has it."
"That would be Marrec's doing."
"Peach has changed as well; it's as if she's making things easier for me as well." Bowser concluded his list of curiosities.
"What did she need you for?" Rosalina asked Tom.
"Apparently my race doesn't exist."
"Doesn't exist?" Bowser gasped.
"What was it?" Rosalina asked, seeming a lot more serious.
"Incendia Castle." Enrique laughed. Rosalina facepalmed immediately after that response. "Didn't I ever brief you on those races?"
"Incendia Castle? Never heard of that." Bowser seemed interested. "Sounds like a good race, a fiery course, like my castles. What is it?"
Rosalina looked back at Bowser. "Don't worry; Tom's just a bit lost here still." She turned around at Tom, glaring at him. "What did I tell you?" She turned angry at him.
"Hey it's not his fault." Enrique backed him up. "Apparently Desert Bone exists."
"Yes it does, it's newish, but obsolete." Bowser confirmed.
"Good point." Rosalina noticed.
"It's one of the entries for what would be a ninth professional tournament, shame it might not be happening though with all of this going on. There's many other possible entries though which would be in that tourney, Wild Woods, Dragon Driftway, Ice Ice Outpost, Fishdom Island, Lost Fortress to name a few." He carried on. Tom looked back at the Koopa Tyrant and started noticing his calmer attitude after the race. He came to realise that this race period would last over 60 days, and a lot of things were going to happen within this period. Bowser must have calmed down after the announcement due to this purpose.
"Well whatever it is it has happened now." Tom muffled around, trying to end that topic of conversation. "We should find out where those twins have been off to, or at least find Rosalina's brother."
"Why would I want to see my brother, he is far worse than Peach or Bowser. He just deceives the minds of anybody he talks to and tries to get them to turn against their friends." Rosalina mentioned.
"He tried to do something between me and Peach." Bowser also stated, reminding the others of Zane's power. "He sent Peach all the way to my castle whilst he was captured in hers, and persuaded us both to join with each other against the myth of the overpowered enemies of the north. I know there are foes, but they seem harmless to both of us. I would never side with that bitch even if it meant saving my life. It has never been this way in all of my ancestor's times." The others took in Bowser's recap, they all had a mutual feeling of secluding themselves with each other and not to trust anybody else who may become a future rival either in the races or not. The Kongs had left the town.
"How dangerous is this Zane to us, as people." Waluigi asked. "I have never properly encountered this man but he seems to be a threat to a lot of people."
"He is the stronger sibling." Rosalina replied.
"The problem is, is Peach's forces are too busy focusing on irrelevant things at the moment such as Koopak Asquia's family and my human friends." Enrique stated. "Like Koopak is irrelevant at the moment, plus we have larger threats up north." He turned towards Bowser. "I'm afraid this myth may be true after all. And Zane only wants us to turn against each other at the wrong time, or cause alliances that should not occur."
"This, Marrec you mentioned before." Wario spoke in turn. "Does he have any magical powers, Rosalina?"
"Not that I know of, he is of Galaxyë descent though." She replied uncertainly.
After their lengthy discussion after the race they had lost track of time. They sky was dark and well in to night-time. Peach had her castle doors locked but Toad Town was still empty of its residence, having to be forced out of their homes and to live elsewhere for the night. Bowser began to offer lifts to the others for them to get home before he would return to his desolate castle.
Without having proper homes, Tom and Enrique would follow on without leaving the town. Rosalina had warped herself and vanished back to the observatory far up in the sky to be at rest for the night with her Lumas.
"I can give rides to you two, since you're on the way." Bowser offered to Wario and Waluigi, who kindly accepted and cheered to each other. A few seconds later, Tom received a phone call. He reached for his pocket and took it out quickly, it was Jack.
"Just a second, guys I need to take this, it's Jack." Tom alerted the others, Enrique moved closer in hoping he could hear the other side of the call. "Hello?" He said.
"Tom, how are you feeling?" Jack on the other end asked, referring to the race.
"Never better, it was fun regardless."
"Where are you?"
"In Toad Town, been here for a few hours. What about you?"
"We're still in the lounge, and waiting to find a place to stay for the night. Who's with you?"
"I'm here with Bowser, Enrique, Wario and Waluigi, we're about to leave though."
"Ask who he's with." Enrique said back to Tom.
"...and you?"
"It's the gang: Me, Ronald, Luke, George, Toby and Will. Fawful left as soon as the race finished."
"Ask him about the other dude, the Fisherman." Enrique asked again.
"He also left; we managed to find out his name though."
"What is it?"
"His name is Jaapayo, spelt with two as then another third a, like jaa. No idea where he's from but he's probably not an earth-human."
"Fair enough, what's he gone and done?"
"He's just disappeared into Mushroom City, probably knows people here and found a place somewhere else to stay."
Tom peeked through the hedges of Toad Town and tried to see what it was like on the streets at this hour, it was still very busy for night-time and Tom does not want to be seen if he was to go out to find rest.
"Listen Jack." He said. "I think it's best for all eight of us to just crash out in the lounge building. Luke said it's very comfortable and it would be great to see you guys again."
"That's a good idea, but I can't find a way to bring you"- Jack paused.
...
""
...
"George and Toby have gone down to get you; they're on their way to Toad Town."
"Alright I'll speak to you soon, I have to end the call to say goodbye to Bowser."
"Don't worry; I'm on the phone now." Enrique took the phone and started talking back to Jack. Tom had gone to go and say his goodbyes to the Wario brothers and Bowser, for Enrique had done this already.
"What's up my man, we're looking forward to seeing you two."
"I am tired Jack, but it would be nice."
Bowser had finally departed from the castle with the other two and his son in his clown car and quickly disappeared from the skyline. Enrique and Tom walked over towards the hedge that separated Toad Town to Mushroom City to see if the others had arrived. He spotted Toby running ahead along the pavement parallel to the hedge wall.
"Sorry I can't say much, the others have arrived. See you later." He handed the phone back to Tom and climbed over the soft hedges. They both approached the other two humans and greeted with handshakes and small hugs.
"Unlucky about today." George mentioned. "Don't worry; you're not racing to win."
"Of course." Tom agreed.
"Now let's go back." The four rushed along the quieter streets trying not to be seen by any citizen to quickly get back to the private lounge. After minutes of running through alleys and climbing up stairs, they arrived back at the rooms with the rest of them. Enrique began to fall asleep after collapsing onto an unoccupied sofa.
"Leave him." Tom said. "He's really tired. I don't think he slept well the night before."
"So glad to see you, Tom." Luke waved and rushed over.
"I think we all criticised Enrique's driving today as well, maybe that's what caused last place." Ronald wondered.
"Don't worry, everything's fine." Tom replied. "We're all safe here and now it's time to recover, the next race is only in two days haha."
"You two will do better next race." Luke smiled.
"One thing I should mention is we all saw those kids you kept mentioning some time way back." Jack reminded Tom of the twins.
"The twins!" George stated.
"That's the name you specified."
"Earth-kids, like we used to be." said Toby.
"They're in their teens now I think." George also stated.
"Yes, the princesses are on the hunt for them now, that's what Bowser said." Tom moved over to sit down on a sofa next to Luke and Ronald, with George, Jack and Toby on another sofa. Will lay fast asleep sunk into a chair in the corner of the room.
"Do tell us about Bowser." Luke asked. "How was he in the races?"
"I think he came second." Toby thought.
"No it was third, Rosa beat him just I remember." Jack discussed with Toby.
"Third then, he must be mad at Peach beating him." Toby wondered, picturing an image in his head of Bowser breathing fire in rage after that race.
"Trust me it wasn't that bad, Bowser isn't even mad anymore. This thing lasts like two months." Tom explained.
"Fuck that's long." Jack thought about it.
"How were Fawful and the Fisherman?" Tom asked, wanting to get more details on Jaapayo, the 'new' guy. "Was he not very social or did you turn him into a number seven?"
"Barely spoken to us." He replied. "It seems like he's spent too much time away from others that he has lost a lot of socially interactive skills." He further elaborated. Jack pointed over towards the seat that Will is currently sleeping in. "That's where he would sit whilst you were racing, and we'd all be on the sofas cheering and relaxing."
"It was a good sight to watch." Luke gestured a thumbs up and praised the racers, letting out a yawn straight after.
Tom looked outside and blocked out sound coming from the others muttering to each other. The streets still seemed to be busy at this time of night despite having the race been and gone to the public a few hours ago. Suddenly he heard a finger click sounding right in his left ear. Jack and Luke were still trying to get his attention.
"W-what?" Tom hesitated, having no idea what he missed.
"The man asked you a question." Luke stated. Tom turned his eyes back towards Jack.
"What else do you remember about what Bowser is up to nowadays?" He asked, Tom began to recall the events further back in time to directly after the race.
"I remember a lot about what he wants to do. He is concerned about the north like all of us are, but he also wants to know the whereabouts of Zane and Marrec, and the twins. Koopak Asquia is not really a threat nowadays."
Suddenly, all of the boys awake in the room jumped in shock after the front doors of the lounge were busted open. Heavy breathing came from the worried Koopa who had just entered. She was nervous and scared; her face slightly pale.
"Where is he?" The Koopa asked quickly and worryingly. She hurried forth into the room, with all the boys looking towards her in response.
"Jeanette?" Tom recognised the familiar face.
"Who?" Toby questioned. "And who is 'he'?" He then referred to the person Jeanette was talking about.
"Koopak, I haven't seen him all day, we're supposed to leave tomorrow." She faced Tom.
"No idea." Jack replied. "I've not seen him anywhere in town of back near Bowser's."
"Koopak's the one everyone's trying to hunt down right?" Luke questioned. "Well I'm sure he wouldn't be here, there was no need for you to bust down that door, and how did you find us here anyway?" As Jeanette and Luke descended into a long conversation about the whereabouts of her partner, Tom diverted his attention back towards Will. He had not moved out of position, but he noticed one of Will's eyes twitch and open slightly. Shortly after, he closed his eye again, pretending to still be asleep despite being woken up by the racket just made by Jeanette.
"My best guess is that Koopak took refuge on a rooftop, where he can't be seen." Ronald pointed out. "If you're telling us that you lot stayed here for a few days where everyone's basically looking for him, then he would obviously hide somewhere with maximum protection or somewhere really secret."
"Why the busiest place in the world?" George also asked. "It's a bit stupid if you asked me. Why don't you just head to wherever you're going now?"
"Because we're waiting on someone else, someone who can get us across the mountains and well beyond Castelia, that is the objective." Jeanette concluded. The others sat there taking in the information. Most of them had never met Jeanette before, but roughly knew about the agenda with Koopak.
"I think you should get some sleep." Tom got up and escorted her back to the damaged door.
"I need to find Koopak or the guy we're supposed to see." Jeanette reminded.
"You don't know the guy who's taking you?" Ronald yelled from across the room.
"Wait!" Jack called. "I remember something." He got out of his seat and ran to the door next to Tom. "I spoke to someone who said he knows Koopak or something like that. Boom Boom." Jeanette listened in. "When I was coming down from Résethal, we got on the same train and he got off at Moo Moo Meadows, he said he was going to speak to someone who knows Koopak II. That person is probably the guy who's taking you north."
"Why doesn't she just get the train with him?" Tom asked.
"Because when I was on my way down, there must have been some sort of security or surveillance which spotted us." Jack reached down to pull up his trouser, revealing a dark red bullet scar on his leg. "Somewhere near Mushroom Gorge the brigade opened fire on us while we were on the train, Boom was unscathed but I got hit once." Tom and Jeanette gasped at the look of the wound.
"How bad is it?" Jeanette asked.
"It's nothing, just sensitive now." He replied. Tom stared at the wound in deep thought.
"It seems like Peach had been far more aggressive to you lot before we all met in her castle that one time. She must have wanted to kill you." He pictured, the rapid change in choices Peach has made recently have backed up Tom's belief that she has changed for the worse. "I guess the train is definitely a no-go."
"Don't get on any train." Jeanette warned Jack. "For your safety you can't afford anything like that to happen again, the brigade are everywhere."
"Peach didn't even see me today luckily."
"Go now, Jeanette." Tom advised. "You need rest for this big day tomorrow; I will try and help you out if I can for finding this man and Koopak." He regretted saying that after realising that he would be involved with the dangerous Koopa. Perhaps Koopak would be colluding with hostiles this whole time.
"Sorry for the door." Jeanette apologised. "Thank you, I should hopefully see you tomorrow, and if not, good luck with the future races!" She blew a kiss and dashed along the hallways and down the building. Tom turned back to Jack and let out a big yawn.
"I say we get some shut-eye." Jack suggested.
"I agree, how are the others doing?" Tom walked with Jack back into the main room. Ronald got up and walked over, showing the others who were all asleep. George and Toby occupied the sofas, while Will was still on the chair in the corner.
"Had a good talk?" Jack asked Ronald.
"Just arguing about some subtle things, like how far we'd go if we stole someone's kart, like a racer's kart... It's a bit silly I guess" He replied. The other two gathered that George and Toby brought that discussion up.
"This isn't a time for joking around." Tom looked at George and Toby, fast asleep. "Blimey I haven't eaten anything all evening."
"There's some bread and butter over by the worktop over there." Ronald pointed beyond Will's chair. Tom crept over to grab some food to eat.
"There are only two unoccupied sofas in here." Jack stated after walking in to the other room.
"Be quiet if you can." Luke whispered from one of the occupied sofas in that room. "Don't wake up Enrique." Jack looked over at the two available sofas and then returned back to the main room.
"Don't worry about me; I'm staying up for a bit more." Ronald said. Jack looked at his watched and noticed the time was almost one in the morning. Tom returned to the room of the sofas with Jack, getting ready to sleep. He had noticed Ronald leave the lounge through a door on the other side, leading up to a balcony next to the rooftop, where he decided to stay for a few moments before sleeping. Tom settled in on the sofa next to Enrique's after finishing off his sandwich. Jack rested on the sofa next to Luke's and fell fast asleep.
It was 25 degrees outside at night-time in Mushroom City, very hot even for the summer months in the lands. Ronald chilled in a lounge chair on the balcony, taking in a nice cool breeze whilst hearing the unusually soothing noise of congestion happening down below on the streets. The city lights and the black sky created a calming sensation for him as he sat outside, simply just taking in the breeze.
A few minutes later, the door leading inside opened up. Ronald turned his head to see the human walking out. The short but heavy, dark-haired, tall, brown-coloured figure stretched his arms wide and let out another yawn.
"Will, nice if you to come outside." Ronald greeted the one guy he knew the least, and hadn't actually spoken to him one-on-one.
"My neck is hurting like anything." He groaned. "I hoped I was the only person still awake."
"Nah not me, I'm staying up for a bit, don't want to go to sleep just yet. This breeze is to live for." Ronald covered up his worry of making a bad impression to Will as he didn't seem very happy at all. "Pull up a chair." Ronald offered the one next to him kindly.
"I'd rather stand." Will replied deeply, crushing Ronald's hopes of getting to know him well. He then best thought to leave him alone and go inside to sleep.
"I'll let you be alone here. Have a goodnight." Ronald bowed and opened the door leading back inside. Will ignored him and remained staring out directly ahead of him. In front was the southernmost road of the city leading straight out of the city on the left. Most of the view beyond the city was dark, but it was mostly greenery mixed with the light from the moon reflecting off the distant southern ocean. He stole Ronald's want for being alone just taking in the atmosphere, and sometime soon finding a place to sleep, most likely still outside because it's too cramped inside with all the sofas taken. Will looked back into the rooms and noticed Ronald had taken his old seat, this time Ronald was lying perpendicular to the normal way of sitting on the chair. There was no inside space for him. The only choice left was to sit on the chairs outside and look at the stars until his eyes close and then later fall asleep.
Will was unsure what his purpose was here. He knew he had the sideman feeling in him despite trying to do his own thing by getting lost from the rest of the group. He felt too lazy to follow the rest tomorrow as well, wherever it is they would be going. He overheard some of the conversation between Jeanette, Tom and Jack and it sounded like nothing he would be interested in. Will never specifically told the others his aspirations here, most people think he is just here because he's a friend of Tom's and wants to make use of the 'extra' time.
He got out his phone and went to the alarm app. It was 1:30am, Will set an alarm for 6, ready to leave bright and early in the morning. Just before he was about to close his eyes after putting his phone back in his pocket, he became irritated over the repeated sounds of sirens, ambulance sirens specifically. He peeked down below and noticed several brigade vehicles rush westwards, to his right. Along the road he noticed flares a few buildings down. One had caught fire, shortly leading to a gas explosion.
"Koopak..." Will thought out loud...
EOC: First chapter with only one scene going on, but it was worth it with the race! The next race will most likely be in Chapter 13. Let me know your favourite racers!
If you have any questions, please ask! I have some regulars but if you don't know about something do let me know.
See you soon!
