Paper Luigi X

Chapter 20: Driven to the Next Level

"Are we there yet?"

"No…"

"Are we there yet?"

"Again, no."

"Hw about now?"

"For the 24th time and counting Blooey, NO!!!!"

"Actually, it's "YES" this time-"

All five members of Team Luigi were against the window at the sound of Bosco's voice, eager to see the island. After a few moments, a speck of green came into view, gradually growing into an island with a medium-sized green wall around it, but you could hear the sounds of cars zooming around a track and the peaks of amusement park rides just over the walls. Everyone instantly started getting excited.

"I can't wait to get racin'!" Blooey cheered, sitting in a chair and pretending to drive a car. "Vroom vroom!"

"Yeah, but I've gotta see this Torque guy before anything…" Tails pointed out.

Blooey waved a tentacle. "Of course! That'll be our first priority!"

Luigi was chilling out in the front seat. "Ah, can't wait to get behind the ol' kart again…it's been a while!"

"I can't wait to actually drive one!" Malon cheered. She turned to Tails whose nose was back in the boat book. "How about you Tails?"

Tails shrugged. "I've been in karts before…not that fun-"

"Not that fun?!" Luigi squealed, outraged. "How else do you get that rush of adrenaline like when you pass someone to gain a place, or the thrill of the wind in your mustache, or how your blood pressure rises 100 degrees when that darned blue shell appears out of nowhere and crushes you just when you're about to win a race on the final lap and everything!?"

Luigi started panting angrily, causing everyone to turn to him and give him strange looks. Luigi coughed an calm down.

"Anyway, it's better than what you've been in Tails…"

Tails gave a stiff nod. "Yeah…"

After a few more minutes of sailing peacefully on the sea with no interference from pirates, the group finally docked at Circuit Break Island.

"Well, here we are! Hope you youngsters have fun!" Bosco called to them. Luigi, Malon, and Tails waved.

"See you soon Bosco!"

They headed down the path that led to the only opening in the wall, and Luigi showed the guards at the front their Green Passport. The guards nodded to each and opened the doors. Once inside, the entire group had to gasp.

"Oh wow! This is amazing!" Luigi gawked. The island was the racing cousin of Glitzville. The main attraction was obviously the race track, which wound around the island (and they were standing ten feet away from the outer edge), and all the shops and things were inside the track. There was a Gift Shop, a Repair Shop, the amusement park, and a place where you could buy racing clothes. Three cars whizzed by them, causing a ferocious wind to follow shortly after, nearly knocking Blooey into Malon.

"Incredible…" was all Tails could remark.

Malon placed her hands on her hips. "Before you men get hypnotized by the cars, can we go sign up for a race already? We still have compass pieces to find, ya know!"

Luigi and Tails snapped out of their trances.

"Right, right…there should be a Sign-Up sheet around here-" Luigi began. Tails sudden ran over to the wall, pulled a piece of paper off it, and came back.

"I found another Conveniently Placed Map!" he stated.

"Wow- they sure are convenient!" commented Jerry, standing on his tiptoes to see. The map showed that the Sign-Up sheet was at the Sign-Up booth, which was just a short walk to their right. Luigi folded the map and stored it for safe keeping- after all, it did show where the rest of the attractions were.

One Short walk later-

"Hello, good sir!" Luigi called cheerfully to a bored looking Frog who could care less about life. Sitting on his five foot high stool, he glanced down to the girl, plumber, and fox and grunted.

"You wanna sign up for a race?"

"Yup! As soon as possible!" Malon explained. The frog just sighed.

"Well you'll have to wait until tomorrow. The race for today has already been put together and will be starting in two hours. So, I'll pencil you in for tomorrow. Names?"

"I'm Super Luigi!" Luigi stated boldly. "You know, Mario's little brother?"

The frog instantly perked up. "Mario?! Oh man- I love that guy! We have things in common- we both do the same thing every week! I get tired of signing people up; how does he not get tired of saving that princess? I wish I were him…"

Luigi coughed.

"Oh, sorry. Who're you again?"

Luigi groaned loudly. "Luigi Mario, or Luigi Seagle if you want to be more or less official-"

"Next!"

Tails shifted. "Do we have to use our real names?"

"Yes. Name?"

"M-Miles Prower…"

The frog actually grinned. "Cute name. You'll fit in well around here."

"My friends just call me Tails though…"

"I see…" his eyes rolled to Malon. "…and what's you're pretty name, Miss?"

Malon giggled. "I'm Malon…um, I don't think I even have a last name though…"

The frog shrugged and penciled them in. "Your race is tomorrow at high noon, because today's race will be in two hours. You'll need to get karts by then…oh, and there's nice little hotel next to Torque's garage you can stay in…"

Tails' eyes lit up. "We'll be sure to stay there!"

"Thanks for the help!" added Jerry as they headed off.

"Did you hear that? Torque's place is right next to the hotel! It's fate or something!" Tails exclaimed excitedly. "We should head there first!"

"Then we can go find some karts for tomorrow, then we can see a race, then we can explore the island!" threw in Malon. "It'll be so much fun!"

Luigi was consulting the Conveniently Placed Map, studying how to get to the garage.

"Hmm…it says that Torque's place is also the place where we get karts!"

Tails grabbed Luigi and Malon's hands. "So what're waiting for?! Let's get there already!"

He took off into the air, flying his friends over the attractions and to the garage. Luigi looked positively terrified while Malon couldn't help but laugh. Blooey and Jerry hung onto Luigi's leg and hoped for the best.

Torque's Garage-

When Tails finally brought everyone back down to the ground, Luigi was afraid he was going to get airsickness while Jerry fainted on the ground.

"Okay guys! This is the place!" Tails exclaimed. Malon raised an eyebrow.

"You're awfully excited about this…" she pointed out. Tails couldn't stop grinning.

"I know- but it's strange…I feel like I was meant to come here!"

He opened the door and poked his head in. Inside, a small turtle-like creature with a green shell was working hard on a green go-kart with a big "1" on the front. On the shell was a wrench, which he was using to turn a bolt on one of the tires. He then removed the wrench, somehow swapped it with a screwdriver, and started to tighten a few things up. Tails walked in with no problems.

"Hi there Torque!" he called cheerfully. "It's me, Tails!"

Torque looked up from his work to see Tails grinning cheekily at him. He stopped in his work and headed over to the group.

"'bout time, eh?"

"We ran into pirates!" Luigi instantly blurted out. When he saw everyone staring, he quickly grinned sheepishly and shuffled away.

"Pirates? Hmm…Oh, you must mean Bomberto's old crew!"

Malon gasped. "What do you know about Bomberto?"

Torque sighed. "Bomberto used to be part of that crew…but he eventually wanted to be a simple sailor and left Bomb Beard. This made Bomb-Beard so furious, he wouldn't let anyone in or out of Circuit Break Island, afraid to lose another crew member, and to prevent Bomberto come back."

"…and you still asked people to come assist you!" exclaimed Tails.

"I needed someone who could best the pirates and do a mighty fine repair job!"

Before Tails could speak, Malon started up again. "Well then Tails here is definitely your guy! He's an incredible mechanic and he's the one who finished off the captain of those stupid pirates!"

"She's making me sound better than I really am though-"

"Stop doubting yourself!" she suddenly snapped. "Even ask Luigi!"

"W-Wait…why?!"

"Boost his self-esteem!"

"How can I do that if I don't even have any!"

Malon smacked her head and groaned.

"He did take out Bomb Beard and he does do a great job of fixing things…" Luigi trailed. Torque nodded.

"Well if what you're saying is true then I suppose I'll let you take on the challenge of fixing my best kart: The Big Green 01!"

Tails pulled out his wrench and smiled. "That'll be easy! Just leave it to me! It won't even take long at all!"

Now prepared, he dove straight to the kart and furiously tightened things, pulled strings, and replaced several parts of the kart. Torque, and everyone else, stared wide eyed as Tails just about brought the kart back to life.

"Well, it was a bit sudden, but I fixed it! There really wasn't even much wrong! Just a few bent things, a couple parts that needed to be replaced..."

Torque just gaped. "…wow. That's better than I could've hoped to ever do!"

"Thanks!"

"Now, besides that repair job, what are you folks here for?"

"We're entering tomorrow's race to get the Compass Piece on the trophy!" Luigi explained.

"But we need a couple of karts…" Malon added. Torque understood and nodded.

"Nice. See, I'm the main kart rental guy here, but I can't just hand out karts to anyone…however! Since your little fox friend helped fix my best kart, it'll be my treat!"

Malon clapped her hand. "Great! Thanks!"

"You can pick them out now, but you can't take them until tomorrow…"

"That's okay. We figured that anyway," Jerry said, staring at a red one.

"Which one should we get Blooey?" Malon asked. Blooey jumped up and down, pointing at one in a corner.

"I want that Super Blooper Kart! It's in the shape of me, and it themed your color!"

Malon's eyes lit up. "you're right! It's like it was made for us!"

She jumped into it and pretended to be driving. Blooey hopped in the back and made car noises.

"there's no car here that suits me!" Luigi complained. "That one's too small, that's for a girl, and that one's PURPLE! I absolutely DESPISE purple!"

"Hey Luigi! Check out this sweet bike I found! Whoo!" Tails exclaimed, riding around on a light orange Standard Bike S. "I feel so alive!"

Luigi sagged. "I'll never be able to find a good kart…"

Torque looked pitiful. "Hmm…well, I suppose I could give you the Big Green 01 since you helped me get it fixed, but I swear, if anything happens to it, I'll wrench you head off and turn it into a screw!"

Luigi gulped. "I-I understand…"

Torque smiled. "Good! Now, come pick your karts up for the race bright and early tomorrow so you can get a good spot!"

Malon got out of her Super Blooper and nodded. "Of course! Thank you, Torque!"

"Hey Torque…" Tails began, parking his bike back where he found it. "Do you want to be my racing partner?"

"Hey! I was supposed to be your racing partner!" Jerry complained.

Luigi made a face. "What's wrong with me?"

"You scarred me, that's what!"

"I know, but…there's just something about Torque! It's like there's some hidden connection of something!"

'Weird…I'm feeling the same thing!" Torque realized. "Well, actually…I'd be happy to race with you! I've never really been in a race, but there's a first time for everything!"

Tails grinned. "Thanks!"

"Well, we'd better be going now…there's so much to prepare for!" Luigi stated.

"See you tomorrow! And remember, Luigi…if anything happens to my kart, you're doomed! DOOMED!"

Luigi went completely pale.

And hooray, everyone just loves Tails. ^.^

Next time: the gang explores Circuit Break Island before their big race, and run into mishaps, mischief, and a guy who's probably a mistake of nature...