Fighting in the Streets

Chapter 40 – Daisy Cruiser

February 7, 2015 – 7:00PM

The Powerhouse Blockade

Bursk of Unhalvalor knew that there was something related between the Powerhouse Peninsula and the entirety of the north getting most of its electricity. He still believed about the rumours of threats being made by Koopas in other towns that they would shut off the power. So he remained at the blockade he made to make sure nobody would pass. What better else to do than sit by the cliffs and feeling the breezes knowing that you're doing a good service to people by making sure they were living their lives with electricity.

Eventually though, somebody he didn't know showed up in his sights. Three Koopas, actually, all armed. They carried their weapons on their shoulders and treaded through the woods up to the blockade where he could clearly see them. Their weapons looked like none Bursk had ever seen before. They wielded rifles of a make completely unknown to the north.

"Greetings, fellow Koopa." The Koopa in the middle addressed Bursk in the distance. They stopped a few metres before his campfire by the blockade, standing in place and watching him. None of them had lowered down their rifles yet. Bursk got out of his seat by his campfire and went over to grab his pistol on top of a nearby crate. "What's the meaning of this wall you have built across the gate to the Powerhouse?"

"Mywithe? What brings you all the way up here?" Bursk tried to keep his cool, but the feelings of anxiety and fear for his life started to invade his mind. "This wall is meant to block people off. I've heard rumours that some idiots in the area were threatening to invade it and try and shut off the power somehow. I can't let anyone do that." Bursk had his friends nearby along the blockade, able to help him if the Koopas in the woods would point their weapons at him. He knew that Mywithe was the Koopa he heard about in regards to threatening to shut off the power, but he didn't want to specifically call him out in front of him and his other armed friends.

"What town are you from?" Joris, the Koopa on Mywithe's right, asked, looking like he was about to position himself.

"Which town are we from?" Bursk said with a smile. "We are friendly folk from Unhalvalor." He put his pistol back in to his shell, hoping to make peace with the Koopas approaching his campfire on the blockade.

"Consider yourselves lucky then." Joris muttered, followed by a short laugh. "Ha!"

"Pardon my friend over here." Mywithe grinned. "These rumours you heard about shutting off the power... I'm sure nobody meant it, whoever they might be." He made Bursk feel relieved for a short moment. "However, you're probably aware of my intentions to come to lead this land, are you not? If so, I'm sure it wouldn't do you any harm as to support my cause. Because if not, it would be a shame if those same Koopas who didn't mean to shut off your power would maybe... do it anyway?" Bursk froze briefly, looking around at his friends along the blockade to see what they think of the rival Koopa's threat. "Look at those tiny guns you've all got. We can get you some of the best ones in the world. We got them all the way from Seven Farms." Mywithe kept trying to negotiate with Bursk, but he didn't utter a word. He began to feel nervous in front of the three Koopas, hesitating to draw his gun on them. Joris and Chorus had their fingers twitching to draw theirs, waiting for the next person to speak.

"Just as long as you're not Illias." Bursk broke from his trance, and tried to keep the blockade area clean of any potential blood spill.

"I'll keep an eye out on that guy." Mywithe smiled back at Bursk. "I heard half of his followers are behind bars in Aypyidaw, and half of those left have also deserted him."

"I just need to make sure nobody messes up the power, or everything will go to shit."

"We will have that covered, both of our people. Nobody can ever threaten the safety of the north again." Although Bursk and his friends did not originally buy it at first, Mywithe became rather convincing to him, hoping that he could make everything better for the people of Unhalvalor...

...

February 8, 2015 – 8:30AM

Elhelm, South Mushroom Kingdom

"...And on that note I'm pretty certain I'm going to let go of my original apartment in Mushroom City. Elhelm's always been way calmer and quiet compared to the big city. Ninety-nine percent of the time I'm here, I feel way more relaxed. Also it's convenient with work." Manes discussed with Luke over breakfast, taking a big bite out of his jumbo sandwich, a specialty made by Luke. Over the weeks since their first time meeting eachother, the Koopa and human developed a healthy friendship, keeping in contact with eachother and seeing each other more often. It was a very convenient thing for Luke to do since he's now spending almost all of his time in the lands of Muhu Delfethal instead of on Earth.

"Yeah I perfectly agree with you. Here you have work; you have the speedboat, the garage. Your car parking shouldn't be too much of an issue if you wanted to visit your other friends. I think selling your place in the capital will be a great idea." Luke replied, swallowing down his mouthful. "I'm not gonna lie there's nothing I can think of that you'd be better off with living in the capital than here. It's probably overrated for the average person. It's a great place for humans to live, the place we have is alright but it could be a bit bigger. I might consider getting an actual property there if I get myself enough coins here."

"You say that but watch as the economy's going completely shift again once the races are over. Speaking of those..." Manes turned his head towards the window. He was able to see the beach from his place and a fraction of the docked ships in the corner of the window view. "...Have you got a ticket for today's one? It is only a few minutes down the road." He laughed.

"It was a perfect day to stop by yours in the morning." Luke smiled. "George, Toby and I all have tickets for this one. I had gotten a fourth one for another friend of ours but he's very busy recently so he isn't able to attend. I presume you are watching it too... Don't you have any other friends that bought tickets for the races?"

"I actually haven't got a ticket for these races. None of my friends watch them in the venues; we just usually watch them at home or together." Manes replied to him, knowing that Luke would respond back to him with the offering of watching the race with him and his friends.

"Wow, that's kind of convenient. Maybe you could make use of this spare ticket I bought!"

"Funny I thought you'd say that." He grinned. "I'd love to join you guys. I sure hope it's gonna be safe on that ship." Both Manes and look peered out of his window again, seeing the view of the cruiser from a better angle. The Toad management crew were already there, setting up the event. It seemed like way more goes on in preparation of a race than what all of the racers and spectators see when the venue opens up. It was still just under three hours to the event, and from the outside, the ship was having extensions built around it. Several areas on the cruiser were being modified specifically for spectator seating. Luke also noticed a giant structure recently built that stood up far out at sea off the coastline of Peach Beach. From what he could see it looked like several tall pillars built from underwater and railings to connect them all.

"Look over there." Luke diverted Manes' attention from the cruiser to the structure in the sea by putting his hand on his head and rotating it slightly so it was facing the structure. "That looks like where they will send the cruiser. That way it's at sea and steady in the water when the race is going on." Manes' eyes widened upon hearing Luke's thoughts on the structure.

"That looks incredibly dangerous to me. Are you sure that's what it is?" He off his chair and took the plates from the table they were eating at to his kitchen to be put in his dishwasher. "Why don't we go outside and get a closer look at it?" He said, washing his hands in the kitchen and drying them with one of his tea towels.

"Sure." Look got up and headed towards the door, making sure he hadn't left anything in Manes' apartment before they left. Manes took his important belongings from the house and put them in his shell and other pockets before leaving. As they closed the door and locked it, the two headed towards the elevators in the building, selecting the rooftop floor instead of the bottom floor. Manes also wanted to show Luke the view from the roof of the building.

It did appear to be what Luke thought it was. The pillars that were built up from the ground looked a lot like stands for viewers to sit in. Most likely those who paid more than most for VIP seating as it probably gave vision of the entire top deck of the ship. More than half of the race track was on the top level, including the starting line, both sets of stairs and the swimming pool, now made accessible as of the seventh major grand prix.

"Looks like people are already queuing up for the event." Manes pointed towards the other side of the beach where the boats were docked up at. Luke was still staring ahead towards the stands, and afterwards he turned to his right and looked all around the town from his spot on the rooftop. The apartment building was taller than most in the town, and the top floor was higher than the hills around the outskirts of the town. Luke was able to see Frinméy Beach to the west from where he stood, and the entirety of the Peach Beach racetrack as well as the cruiser. To the north he could see the rest of the town, the train tracks, and the roads that led out of town. Reminded of the race by Manes, Luke turned around and walked over to the edge of the rooftop where he could see the cruise ships at the dock. The roads before the dock were filling up with spectators, all queuing up to watch the event on the ship.

"We should start making our way down before that queue gets too big." Luke turned around and rushed back to the door that led them to the rooftop.

"What about your friends?" said Manes, following him.

"We'll meet them when we get there. I don't want to spend too much time standing up for nothing." The two started making their way down the building via the elevator. It was conveniently still on their floor by the time they got to it, meaning they wasted no time having to wait for it to return to them. When they got outside the building, the streets began to look more populated. Either due to people making their way to the event, or something else that may also be happening in Elhelm at the same time. The road leading to the Peach Beach racetrack seemed rather empty of both vehicles and citizens, blocked off with bollards. Luke decided to head over to that road and use it as means of getting to the port faster. By the time they arrived, they started to notice that the port was in full use. Some of the racetrack of Peach Beach was being used for queue paths, and the grey flat stretch where the crates and containers were usually kept was filled to the brim with the queues. Small huts were built on the edges of the dock, where people were able to buy food to eat during the race. As Luke and Manes reached the beginning of the queue before the dock, they looked around to see if they spotted anybody that they knew. Manes looked up at the cruiser to see all of the modifications that the Toad management crew were doing to it. He could only hope that the management crew leave the garages alone beneath the docking platform, for he still had some belongings of Kugen that he didn't want anybody to know about.

...

At the same time, a certain four others were also queuing up to watch the race; three Koopas and a Lakitu to be exact. They had watched some of the other races and had tickets for this one, as well as DKs Jungle Parkway to be on the fourteenth.

"Kooper, it's those humans again." Koopie whispered to her brother as they were queuing up, discretely pointing towards the back of the queue. They saw Luke meeting up with George and Toby, about to endure a long period of slow walking and standing before being able to board the cruiser. Koopol, now with a painted orange shell to look a little bit less like Koopak Asquia, was looking the other way. It was the first time he had visited Elhelm, and the first time he had seen the Daisy Cruiser up close. It was far bigger than any of them thought it would be, spanning just over a hundred and fifty metres in length. The front of the cruiser was already far out at sea.

"They ain't gonna be sitting near us this time. There's gonna be so many seats in so many different areas." Kooper looked at the humans, standing in the queue that they were no longer the back of. He turned around to look at the ship. The management crew had assembled the participants' tent, which was situated on top of the ship in between the starting line and the swimming pool section.

"I wonder how all the racers are going to get there." Jagem stood next to Kooper and stared up at the ship with him. The crowds around them began to cheer loudly as they noticed Peach walking on the top platform outside the tent, waving at everyone below her before going inside.

"Some racers are there already it seems." Kooper responded. "I wonder if Tom and his friend are already here, now that his friends are queuing up.

"There's got to be some sort of boarding station on the other side of the ship." Koopol suggested, having a look at all he could see of the ship. "That's probably how they all boarded."

"I wonder if Rosalina's going to be here this time." Said Jagem. "She was my favourite."

11:00AM

The ship began to board all of its passengers. The passengers being all of the spectators that paid for tickets. As they boarded, the queues shrank massively, and those on board were put in to various areas throughout the ship. Those that paid for an inside ticket, including the four Koopas who attended, were redirected to the rooms where their seats were. These seats were inside the ship and gave them viewing points to see areas such as the kitchens and the dining hall that weren't on the top deck. However, those that paid for an outside ticket, such as Luke and his friends, were taken to other rooms on the lower decks and kept inside those chambers until further notice. By the time all of the spectators were on board and all of the racers were on the top deck, the boat disembarked from the dock and set out to sea. Going very slowly, the boat turned slightly and continued doing so until it became parallel with the construction that was recently assembled. The cruiser then parked and slowed down, docking up inside all of the pillars that were viewing stands for those who paid for outside tickets. The management crew deployed anchors from the rear of the ship and opened the doors for the other spectators to exit the ship via the walkways that connected the parked ship to the stands. Luke went with George, Toby and Manes and headed over to their seats on one of the stands. From where they now sat, they were able to see the starting line as well as the final straightaway, the steps going up to it, and the sharp turn at the front of the ship. All of the karts and bikes were readily set up at the start line and some of the racers were there too. Some of the spectators in their stand started chanting the name: "FUNKY!" He was currently third overall and one point ahead of Peach and Daisy.

As well as the stands, billboards were also built up from the ocean floor. There were also screens put up on parts of the track to display the current standings of the races so far.

POSITIONS:

FIRST: Wario and Waluigi

SECOND: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong

THIRD: Toad and Toadette

FOURTH: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong

FIFTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth

SIXTH: Dry Bones and Kamek

SEVENTH: Peach and Daisy

EIGHTH: Mario and Luigi

NINTH: Rosalina and Pauline

TENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu

ELEVENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa

TWELFTH: Bowser and Bowser Jr

THIRTEENTH: Tom and Enrique

FOURTEENTH: King Boo and Petey

FIFTEENTH: Yoshi and Birdo

SIXTEENTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro

SCOREBOARD:

FIRST: Bowser and Bowser Jr: 153

SECOND: Rosalina and Pauline: 137

THIRD: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: 129

FOURTH: Peach and Daisy: 128

FIFTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: 120

SIXTH: Yoshi and Birdo: 109

SEVENTH: King Boo and Petey: 109

EIGHTH: Mario and Luigi: 106

NINTH: Wario and Waluigi: 104

TENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: 99

ELEVENTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: 98

TWELFTH: Toad and Toadette: 92

THIRTEENTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: 90

FOURTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: 85

FIFTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: 84

SIXTEENTH: Tom and Enrique: 75

With 20 races to go and 78 points between first and last, it was still anyone's game, without putting skill into perspective.

"Any of you guys think that Bowser's just going to get further and further ahead of everyone else and take this home early?" Toby wondered in his seat, opening up the wrap he bought at one of the vendor stands whilst queuing up.

"If he gets significantly further ahead, I think people might start to team up on him." George thought. "The Toads might target him just so that he doesn't score as well."

"I think it would be more interesting to see an underdog victor, but then again that will mean Bowser loses." Luke grinned. "Hey, what's that commotion about?" They all began hearing extremely loud cheering from across the ship. The other stands were clapping and standing up, looking at something on the other side of the ship. Eventually, everyone managed to see what they were cheering for. For the first time in three races they saw Rosalina, slowly making her way down to the starting line from the tent, alone, but smiling. She reacted to the sound of cheer with waves back at the stands.

"Oh my goodness, could it be her?" Manes gasped, holding his burger with his hands.

"Rosalina's back!" Toby cheered.

"The interviews will be good after this!" George laughed.

...

It was nearly noon and the race was about to start. The final participants started making their way down to the track. The viewer count for this race hit a recent high, the highest amount of viewers tuning in to a race since the very first one in Mushroom City. Most of the racers had seen Rosalina previously before the starting line, and the rest were still shocked to see her returning. The spectators watched to see Pauline offer Rosalina the front seat of her bike, letting her take control of the driving for their team this race. The sound barrier was put on the cruiser, and the item boxes began to light up along the track. The crowds in the stands also quieted down as they watched the race about to commence. Peach and Daisy got in to their mach bike, this time with Daisy on the driving again. They had Toad and Toadette in front of them and the Koopa Troopas behind them. As the holographic copy of Lakitu came down in his cloud with his traffic light, Daisy revved their bike's engine. Everyone's vehicles had started, waiting for the countdown.

3...

2...

1...

START!

All of the racers drove off quickly from the starting area, heading up towards the first set of item boxes along the metal walkway. The boxes were all taken as they drove towards the swimming pool and the ground became littered with items immediately. Wario and Waluigi were the only ones to keep their item un-deployed; a single banana was what they got in first, and they had to make sure they wouldn't be hit by any of the mess. As Wario was driving, Waluigi turned around to see Diddy Kong gripping on the back of his Offroader with one arm and holding three green shells with his other three limbs, preparing to throw them all in different directions. One went to the left and hit Toadbert and Toadsworth as they entered the pool. The second green shell went straight in to a bomb being deployed by Cranky Kong, causing a massive explosion in the middle pack, hitting several racers. The third shell was destroyed by the explosion in the process. As a result of this explosion, the front four racers began to break away from the rest as they descended the stairs at the rear of the cruiser, heading in to the lower floor. This was near where Jagem and his Koopa friends were watching the race. They had screens inside their room to see the upper floor, but they began to see through the one-way windows the racers leading the pack. The viewers in the room cheered at seeing Wario and Waluigi still in first, with both Kong teams and Toad's team hot on their tail.

Upon entering the dining hall, the racers were met with more item boxes. These ones were shifting through the room with another obstruction. The tables were wired beneath and slid through the room with them to re-enact a shaky cruiser. Wario drifted around the tables on the outside, losing a little bit of a lead, but making sure it was out of the way of any hazards. He was still first after leaving the dining hall as he didn't get hit by any item or table. Toad and Toadette bashed in to them as they reached the narrow passages where the drop shortcut is. They drove straight through the middle. Being more familiar with the track, they were able to do so without being hit by the tables. As a bonus, they also pulled a single mushroom leaving the room. Neither team went in the drop cut also as it would slow them down. Going back outside, Toad and Toadette used their mushroom, pushing Wario and Waluigi aside and against the railings of the cruiser, slowing their speed greatly. Toad and Toadette now began to get their own lead in first, despite being itemless. As for Wario, he growled as he started to accelerate his bike, losing two spots to Funky Kong and Donkey Kong. Waluigi threw his banana at the corner of the last turn before the final section outside. They were both surprised to see a lack of activity behind them as they turned around the front of the ship. Waluigi couldn't see anybody as they went up the stairs, meaning their gap between them and fifth was at least five seconds.

"What's going on back there?" Wario asked with his eyes on the road. Their final item box was a single mushroom, which they used along the flat space at the start line to catch up with those in front of him. Waluigi looked back and started to see some racers in the distance. By the time they reached the first set of item boxes in lap two, he lost sight of whoever was in fifth. He only saw a small glimpse of the vehicle of the racers and couldn't catch sight of any racers. They were at least five seconds behind.

Waluigi's next item was a red shell. He noticed that in front of him the racers were all protected with defensive items, so it wouldn't be worth throwing the item down to hit them unless it was from the side at point blank range. Wario tried to get behind Donkey Kong, hoping to strafe behind them and not get hit by their backings. Funky Kong to their left began to overtake DK with the sheer speed difference between the Torpedo bike and the Offroader kart, heading straight for the Toads in first. As Wario entered the swimming pool to try and save time than by going around it, Waluigi threw their red shell backwards, appearing invisible underwater until it would leave and head straight for the wall on the other side of the open area. Unfortunately, it didn't hit anybody, as the racers were still too far behind for them to make use of it.

"I don't know what happened." Waluigi replied, finally getting sight of the racers as they descended the stairs a second time. He believed to have caught sight of Tom and Enrique in fifth place, but other racers were right behind them. As they drove in to the dining hall, Waluigi noticed that Tom was holding on to a bullet bill, hiding it from the people behind him but not those in front. "Tom's got a bill." Waluigi whispered to Wario as they exited the hall, going in to the sharp turns section of the lower floor.

"He's got to use it soon. There could be a shock." Wario drove out of the lower floor, going through a box and giving Waluigi a fake item box. The racers in front of him began to spread out slightly as they drove up the stairs to the finish line to start the third lap. A blue shell also came from further back, and as they saw that, Tom activated the bullet bill and sent both him and Enrique inside it, speeding up the steps and overtaking Wario and Waluigi. The Kongs drove wide to avoid the path of the bill, but the other Toads at the front were struck with the blue shell instead, sending them flying above the path of the bill. As they landed, they were struck by lightning and shrunk down to tiny size. Funky Kong's bike span around as they shrunk as did the Offroader driven by DK. The bill was struck but it did not affect Tom and Enrique as they were inside it. Their bill path eventually ended and they reappeared at normal size and in first.

"Yes! I knew it would happen then... final box chain!" Tom cheered as they sped off ahead of the others, breaking away in first.

Another team dodged. Rosalina and Pauline shrunk down to normal size after being under the effect of a mega mushroom. They began to overtake Wario and Waluigi and the Kongs, heading in to second but still quite far away from Tom and Enrique. The racers originally at the front of the pack started to resize as they got to the swimming pool, picking up new items to use for defence. Wario and Waluigi drove through an item box and picked up another fake item box. They were currently in sixth, and the racers currently in seventh, Dry Bones and Kamek, drove through another box on the set, pulling triple red shells. Dry Bones noticed the fact that Waluigi had no defence for their bike, so he threw a red shell at them, hitting them and slowing them down once again. The two got very frustrated as they saw themselves get overtaken by the middle pack. Peach, Bowser, Mario and Yoshi all drove past them as they waved their arms in the air in aggression.

"No luck at all!" Waluigi growled. "Let more pass and get a better item." He insisted to Wario, expecting him to slow down after they just accelerated back to normal speed through the swimming pool.

"And be even further away from the front? We need to get back up there again. We are behind enough." He didn't want to argue with his brother during the race, but still kept going to the next item boxes without slowing down even more. What they didn't realise is that the pack began to spread immensely across the track. The gap between last and first was about half of the entire track. In other words, the entire length of the cruiser and all the turns included. Behind them was Toad and Toadette as well as the Hammer Bros, and that wasn't even last place. They couldn't see any more racers behind them but there were some anyway. As they got to the dining hall for the third time, Wario drove through another item box and gave Waluigi a golden mushroom. It was finally a good item for them to use, but Waluigi decided to hold it and save it for later. A shock happened less than thirty seconds ago, and the likelihood of another being used across a five lap race was small.

...

Back at the front of the pack, Tom and Enrique drove up the final stairs to conclude lap three in first. They were equipped with triple bananas for defence as well as a green shell in Tom's hands. Behind them were Rosalina and Pauline, with a red shell in deployment and a fake item box in Pauline's hands. They were about a second and a half apart, which was just enough time and distance for Tom and Enrique to be out of range of Pauline's possible fake item box throw. Tom started to deploy his bananas at the first straightaway before they got to the first item boxes. After doing so, he then put his green shell at the back of the kart for deployment, making sure he was able to get a new item box at the sets. He pulled an extra banana, and immediately threw the green shell forward, rebounding off of the railings and heading straight back to Rosalina and Pauline as Enrique drove on to the swimming pool section. Rosalina drifted around the vector of the green shell to avoid it, watching the shell go backwards and end up hitting Toad and Toadette further back in the positions behind the Kongs. Heading in to the dining hall in lap four had Tom and Enrique in first, Rosalina and Pauline in second, the Kongs in third and fourth, and now Dry Bones and Kamek in fifth. Enrique had gotten used to the pattern of the moving tables and item boxes now, so he was able to drive through it smoothly without being hit by any tables. Rosalina was already experienced in it, so she was able to go through it slightly faster. Pauline threw her fake item box ahead, landing right at the corner before the turn out of the dining hall. This forced Enrique to take a wide turn out of the dining hall, closing their gap from second place slightly. Rosalina wheelied through the dining hall and drifted around the tight turns better than Tom and Enrique did, getting ever so closer to their tail. Tom tried to throw their banana back at them as well as they drove in to the set of item boxes by the path split. Rosalina avoided that one as well and ordered Pauline to throw their red shell at them. Luckily for Tom, his item turned out to be another banana, and he was quickly able to deploy it as defence by the time the red shell reached them. The items cancelled, and Tom and Enrique became itemless. Rosalina and Pauline drove through the item boxes and pulled a single mushroom. Unfortunately it wasn't the offensive item they could use to hit Tom and Enrique to take first, but as they were heading up to the final section of the fourth lap, it might just be the item they need. The two teams drove up to the final item boxes. Since Pauline already had a mushroom in her hands, they didn't receive any item from the boxes. Tom and Enrique however pulled three bananas, which Tom immediately put them at the rear for defence. He waited by them in attempt to throw them back in deployment as they started to see the other racers behind Rosalina on the final straightaway. A green shell was heading their way, being thrown by Cranky Kong. It started to bounce everywhere by the finish line, almost hitting them. Rosalina and Pauline drove around it as well in attempt to not get hit by it. The shell bounced around and eventually collided with Donkey Kong, flipping their Offroader around on the line. Now that that was no longer a problem to them, Tom started to litter the back with their bananas, trying to get Rosalina and Pauline to hit them and secure a lead. As they got towards the first set of item boxes on the final lap, Tom began to notice another blue shell in the air, heading straight for them.

"Blue shell incoming!" He called to Enrique. They both turned to look up at it and watch it fly down to hit them. Everyone nearby watched them get sent up in the air and fall back down a few spots behind. Rosalina and Pauline now had first place, and they had a single mushroom in Pauline's hands. They could be able to keep first place even if a blue shell came to hit them now. The two headed through the swimming pool short cut and down the stairs to the lower floor for the last time in the race, avoiding all of the items left on the floor as a result of other fights between racers. As they entered the dining hall with their single mushroom, they were struck by lightning a second time, this time going from normal size to small size. Pauline's mushroom fell out of her hands and landed just behind their bike. Rosalina slowed down and reversed in to the mushroom, giving them a boost and saving a small amount of time compared to not going for it and just driving ahead normally. The tables appeared to go much faster than usual now that they were tiny. As they drove by them, Pauline spotted a red shell coming from the other side of the room, being sent by another racer.

"Red shell!" Pauline called out to Rosalina, making her turn around to see whereabouts it was. She drifted around in her bike to the side of a table, making the table break with the red shell as it slid across the room. As they were coming towards the end of the dining hall, the other racers started to appear behind them. They saw many racers for once, nearly half of the entire roster appeared in the dining hall at the same time. All Pauline could do was watch them drive around the tables and throw items at eachother before they resized. Since they were both currently small, Rosalina took the right side shortcut as they drove out of the dining hall, falling down to the secret chamber and resizing back to normal size as they landed, maintaining a constant high speed. They were currently itemless but were able to save time by taking the shortcut and not get hit by the walls during the drop to it. Rosalina got out of the cut with the cannon launch and headed for the last set of item boxes before the final run up to the finish line. First looked in their favour, but the amount of racers behind them coming from the normal path scared Pauline. They all had items in defence, and threatened to hit eachother. As they drove around the last corner at the front of the cruiser, some of the racers were struck with these items. Bananas and shells started going all over the place on the final straightaway. Rosalina started to wheelie on the straightaway before the finish line and hoped not to be hit by anything. A green shell almost skimmed them and a fake item box landed just on their left, but they were able to cross the line before all of the other racers. Rosalina drove for two more seconds before slowing down, turning around and seeing everyone else cross the line. About ten teams crossed the line over a space of three seconds, and then the rest of the racers started to reach the finish line with the items they had at the end. Rosalina looked around the outside of the cruiser and saw all of the stands held up by pillars from the sea containing all the spectators watching and cheering for her. The soundproof barrier disappeared and the voices and chants of the people were heard by her. Eventually, taking a little more time than usual, the scoreboards began to light up to show the scores.

RESULTS:

FIRST: Rosalina and Pauline: +20

SECOND: Tom and Enrique: +17

THIRD: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: +15

FOURTH: Wario and Waluigi: +13

FIFTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: +12

SIXTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: +11

SEVENTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: +10

EIGHTH: Mario and Luigi: +9

NINTH: Bowser and Bowser Jr: +8

TENTH: Toad and Toadette: +7

ELEVENTH: Yoshi and Birdo: +6

TWELFTH: Peach and Daisy: +5

THIRTEENTH: King Boo and Petey: +4

FOURTEENTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: +3

FIFTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: +2

SIXTEENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: +1

UPDATED SCOREBOARD:

FIRST: Bowser and Bowser Jr: 161

SECOND: Rosalina and Pauline: 157

THIRD: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: 144

FOURTH: Peach and Daisy: 133

FIFTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: 130

SIXTH: Wario and Waluigi: 117

SEVENTH: Mario and Luigi: 115

EIGHTH: Yoshi and Birdo: 115

NINTH: King Boo and Petey: 113

TENTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: 110

ELEVENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: 100

TWELFTH: Toad and Toadette: 99

THIRTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: 97

FOURTEENTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: 93

FIFTEENTH: Tom and Enrique: 92

SIXTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: 86

The gap between first and last shrunk slightly, going from 78 points to 75, and the gap between Bowser and second place was even smaller now. Rosalina felt thrilled and excited once again, seeing all the praise she was getting from the crowds. The enjoyment of being considered the best racer amongst them all got back to her again, and the memories of all the other races came back to her. The smile she had on her face as she looked at all of the spectators stayed there for a long time. Even as some racers started to get back to where the participants' tent was at the top of the ship, she stayed with Pauline and couldn't stop waving back at the fans. She could tell that they were praising her, either for her amazing performance that race or the fact that she was back and still good at it. Sadly for her though, she still couldn't remember what exactly happened to her. She felt her pockets again and still felt that cold feeling of not having her wand on her. Rosalina turned her head towards Pauline, who couldn't help but stay with her and appreciate her presence once again. She then walked up to Rosalina and gave her a nice, warm, big hug, as even she couldn't take in all of the praise.

"Coming to the tent, Rosalina?" Enrique called from the stairs going up to the top of the ship, getting both her and Pauline's attention. They turned around from looking at the fans to him and said nothing. They stood together rather awkwardly to him but they felt the friendship and warmth of each other's company on the track. Together they eventually walked over towards him and followed him back to the tent. The Toad management crew had already put a message on the board showing the time of the next race. DK Jungle was to start at midday on the tenth. After a few minutes, all the spectators were escorted out of their stands to the rooms and chambers inside the cruiser, ready for it to disembark from the structure at sea and head back to mainland. As that happened, the boat rocked slightly on its course, shaking some of the things inside the participants tent. Tom's chair he was sitting on began to slide across the room, making him collide with Donkey Kong. Tom fell off the chair and landed in front of the Kongs, apologising to them and grabbing hold of the nearest hard structure in the tent. The shaking continued on for another minute before the cruiser eventually docked up back at Elhelm. The journey back in the tent was almost entirely an awkward silence, but as the racers started to leave and get their own smaller boat transport back to the mainland, others started to talk with each other again. Peach started walking over to Rosalina, who was sitting together with Pauline and Enrique. The ship was much calmer now.

"Congratulations on first place." Peach made herself noticed and interrupted the conversation the three were having.

"Peach, what happened to you? I didn't see you all race." Rosalina joked, expressing to her that she clearly didn't want to talk about her disappearance. She knew that she doesn't know what happened yet and had nothing else to say her to it.

"Bowser and I had a bit of a big battle in the back, but we both forgot about everyone else." Peach replied. "At least he didn't do very well this time."

"So you'd rather try and kill somebody on the track than be seen as the best racer in the entire world?" Rosalina smiled. Peach assumed that she wasn't thinking about her past at all, as if all her memories had come back but she just didn't want to tell her about it. She became concerned for her, but didn't want to embarrass her in front of the others in the tent.

"I don't need validation on that matter. I am the best racer." Peach went with Rosalina's jokes, and with them aside she considered herself to be one of the best, but the best? Peach wasn't so sure on that. She thought that maybe after these events happen and in a time of peace she could hold another mini tournament against Rosalina and some other racers to prove who the best really is.

"Keep telling yourself that." Rosalina and Pauline started laughing. Enrique, sitting beside the two, didn't see it as funny and just put on a fake laugh to go with them.

"...Well I'm glad to see you much happy again. You look healthier too." Peach smiled and bowed to Rosalina, leaving her and going back over to Daisy and the Toads. On the way, she was stopped by Toadant.

"My Queen. The viewers are getting off the ship, but the press and news anchors are outside requesting interviews. What shall we tell them?" Toadant asked, looking up to Peach.

"None today." She replied immediately. "I don't want to do any interviews until race sixteen, and then every four races. Let the crew know this and make sure the channels don't come and occupy space for the people when they are trying to leave."

"Yes my Queen." Toadant nodded and turned around to return back to his colleagues.

Rosalina watched Peach return to Daisy and the other Toads, sitting in a circle and joining in their conversation. She tried to eavesdrop on them as they were talking, and at the same time she noticed Lakitu on the other side of the room trying to be discrete in staring at her. He was smiling and realised that she was also looking back at him. Rosalina gave a small wave to him and he blushed, quickly turning back to his friends in the room. He was sitting with the Hammer Bros, Mario and Luigi, and Tom. As she was hearing the conversation between Enrique and Pauline in the background, another memory came in to her mind. Rosalina stood straight and stared ahead of her blankly. Seeing Lakitu reminded her of him being wounded once before and being held hostage by another Koopa. Several visions flashed before her eyes as she sat in between Rosalina and Enrique. She saw herself on the windowsill of the Asquia Manor in Uldersal, and the face of Joharnés Asquia, the gun firing a bullet and the sight of the sky on that evening sunset. They all warped into her memory and she phased back to reality.

"I have to go." Rosalina rushed up from her seat, surprising the two sitting next to her.

"Is something wrong?" Pauline grabbed on to her arm as she watched Rosalina stand up. Rosalina lifted her arm and removed Pauline's grip from it, storming out of the tent after another second of standing up. Enrique got up from his seat and tried to chase Rosalina out of the tent. Pauline soon followed. The two saw her turn a corner of the tent and followed her around it, only to not see her as they reached the back of the tent. She had vanished...

EOC: Thirteen races done. Now that we are over halfway, they will be happening more frequently. There is so much to write but the most important things matter.

See you next chapter!