Fighting in the Streets
Chapter 46 – DK's Jungle Parkway
A/N: I'm writing what I would at the bottom up here for a reason. This didn't take me ages to do. I just had a very busy February. I did about half of this at the end of January when I was still writing quickly but the rest of it was in early March.
February 14, 2015 – 11:00AM
Zurlon, Northwest Résethal
On the northern edges of the town lied a small patch of farmland. This was where most of the food consumed by the Koopas in Zurlon was grown. Thankfully, being quite a distance away from the eastern woods, the fields were not affected by the forest fire that happened here two weeks ago.
The yield was almost always promising and it kept the Koopas fed almost all of the time. Either it was due to the amount of food they got for eachother or how well-grown it was and how well-maintained it was. Doing a lot of work behind the scenes in the Zurloners was Johan. Although he was and considers himself a hostile Koopa, he still cared for and looked after the people of his town. He was a proud member of the Zurloners and what would now be again part of the new Takharim tribe. Johan was in fact on the farmland at this point in time, picking up carrots and potatoes on the patches. As he was doing that, he noticed a figure approaching him from the northeast. It was a Koopa from Vilrus, and he came alone, and unarmed.
"Hey, I don't want anything between us." Johan got up from the soil and looked towards the Koopa approaching him. The Koopa raised his arms in the air as he walked on to the field. Johan began to recognise the Koopa, and more importantly the mess he was in. He had a few bruises on his arms and a couple of cuts from yesterday, but seemed well enough to walk. "Ata?" Johan questioned, pulling out his pistol from his shell and aiming it at Ata's face.
"It's okay." Ata tried to calm him. "Something very important happened yesterday- wait. Has Illias not told you?"
"Told me what... No?" Johan looked back at him confused, lowering his pistol slightly.
"Mywithe's been chased out of Takhar, the Takharim hostiles have collapsed and the town supports me now."
"W-what's that got to do with Illias?" Johan stuttered.
"Because in the morning Illias came over to Vilrus, saying he had given up on his attempts to become the leader of the tribe. So he asked to help us, and we did. We saved the Unhalvalorians from Takhar and put an end to Mywithe's schemes to take control of everyone here himself."
"So now it is you against us? If Mywithe is out of the subject."
"No, because Illias told me something of great importance; he told me that there would be no more fighting between us if we dealt with our common enemy. He also told me that he misses all of his friends and that he wouldn't have lost them if it wasn't for all of these fights and the Red Martyrs getting in the way of it all. After all, he did say that you were pretty much all he has left. You and one other person." Johan began to understand Ata, despite having doubts on whether to believe him or not. "May I see this other person he mentioned?"
Knowing that he came on peaceful terms, Johan led Ata back in to the town of Zurlon, trying to keep him hidden from the people living there as he was recognised by many as an enemy. He took Ata across the old football pitch they once used when times were brighter, and down the nearby road past Illias' house to Nikola's house, looking more abandoned than ever before. Johan gave a few knocks on the door, waiting for it to be opened from the other side. He felt awkward standing around Ata, for he was nobody Johan would expect to stand with. At this point the two were no more than strangers to eachother.
The door opened, and on the other side of it was Verida. She smiled to see Johan but it was short lived after noticing the other Koopa on her doorstep.
"What's he doing here?" She looked back at Johan, who looked a bit clueless at the moment.
"So this is all that's left of the important hostiles of Zurlon..." Ata stated, also looking back at Johan.
"I don't know what kind of sick game you're playing-."
"No, Verida. It's fine. Ata's not here as an opp." Johan interrupted her. "Apparently a lot of things have happened over the past few days. Things are going to get better from now on, right?" As he finished the sentence he eyed on Ata from looking at the ground.
"I take it he hasn't told you either." He could tell that Verida was showing a genuine expression of a mix of frustration and surprise.
"I don't want anything to do with that stupid spineless Koopa!" She was about to slam the door on them but Johan intervened and held the door open just enough to get her to stop. "There is no more hostile activity in this town. You can both fuck off." She lowered her voice a bit after letting some anger out. Johan could tell that she really missed her brother and wanted to blame Illias for everything that went wrong in their town.
"What do you have against the Koopa?" Ata asked her. "As far as I was aware, you two were good friends."
"I never liked him, but ever since he started talking with that blonde boy from the south, everything here just went downhill." She began to sob, making Ata feel very awkward as he only wanted to see her and not endure a sad story about it.
"Illias has given up on his stance to become the leader."
"Then why are you here?" She cried. "If you're not here to kill me, why are you here?"
"Because Mywithe has also given up. I drove him out of Takhar. There will be no more bloodshed of any our people from this day onward." Verida looked back at him. "Consider this an act of mercy as I know what you did to one of my friends."
"Are you really going to forgive me for what happened two weeks ago?" She asked whilst wiping a few tears off of her face. "You're expecting us to live side by side when just before we were killing each other?"
"Verida, it's a new chapter. Things are different now." Johan still held the door ajar, only seeing the side of her face while the rest of her body was still behind the door.
"I don't believe you." She responded with a small pinch of anger and rage.
"I know you are still upset from all of this, but we will now work together to try and get back all of our friends." Ata tried to convince, reminding her of Nikola and the others. "I too have a friend who's been captured by the Red Martyrs."
"Get off my doorstep... now." She said softly from behind the door, being more firm with it from the other side.
"Please Verida." Johan begged.
"I said, off my doorstep." The two outside heard the sound of a gun getting loaded. "Leave me alone!" She pushed as hard as she could and sent Johan off of the entrance of her house, slamming the door shut and putting the lock on it from the inside. Ata and Johan looked back at eachother, worried for her. Shortly after, the two heard the sound of something being smashed on the floor a few times. Despite being curious to know what it was, the two agreed that it was best to leave her front door alone and go look for Illias instead.
"I just have one cause for concern, Ata." Johan turned back to face him after crossing the road together. "How are we going to get all of our people back, and even if we try, what makes you believe they are still alive? How do you know for sure?"
"That was Illias' idea. He said that to me when he came to visit yesterday. I found it hard to believe him, but maybe he can talk about it with me more today." The two stopped once again outside Illias' house to overhear screaming coming from Nikola's house. It was so loud that they were able to hear it from the other side of the road and through the walls of the house. The two began to feel really bad for Verida, but the fact that she loaded a gun on them, they couldn't tell how she'd be if they saw her again.
Knock! Knock!
The two waited outside the next house for Illias to open the door for them, except this time it wasn't Illias. As the door opened, the other side revealed a short, pale Koopa who looked up to them anxiously.
"You again?" Johan complained.
"Who's this?" Ata asked.
"It's Dirrug Kurupa, a pale Koopa who's one of ours but does a lot of the work outside of the area." He responded back to Ata then turned back to speak directly to Dirrug. "I thought you had gone missing."
"It was t-the Red Martyrs, t-they got me by mistake. They only released me yesterday." He replied timidly, allowing the two in without noticing Ata directly.
"Wait, they released you?" Johan looked back to Ata. "That means there's a chance." A sense of excitement rushed through him, intrigued to know that his friends might actually be kept there. "Who else was there, did you know anybody?"
"Nikola's there, Malcolm, Koopreme, all of them."
1:00PM
Luke's Penthouse, Mushroom City
For convenience for some, the race was scheduled at 2pm today, instead of the usual noon time for most daylight themed races. Still, the Parkway was on the southeast edges of the jungle, quite a distance to go by car, especially for the fact that some of the local streets were becoming busier as the congestion on the highways towards DK Jungle was increasing.
Tom was still a little bit after spending the most recent sunrise in the beaches of Meterene and Isle Port, a place much quieter than the ones they had been to on the other mornings. For everyone else that went, being Peach, Daisy, Luigi, George, and Toby, it helped them freshen up in the morning and feel less tired. It wasn't the same for Tom.
At least Enrique was wide awake though. Having finished lunch he was ready to start driving to the jungle in preparation for the sixteenth race of the series.
"You ready to leave Tom?" Enrique reminded, debating whether to put his jacket on whilst opening the door out of the penthouse. As he stepped outside to go down the stairs to the floor below he was hit with that early afternoon heat wave, making him change his mind on wearing the jacket today. He decided to go in just a t-shirt and shorts, just like what Tom had been doing for the past few days as well.
"Yep, ready now. You're driving us up there this time." Tom headed out of the door to catch up with him, as he stepped out he turned to face inside briefly. "Will you guys be in when we get back?" He asked the others inside, who were currently relaxing on the sofas after having finished their lunches too.
"I'll always be in today. You won't need to worry." Luke responded to them first, smiling at them back.
"Thanks." Tom also smiled before closing the penthouse door, meeting with Enrique to head down the steps. As they turned round the corner, they noticed the door going in to the floor below open up widely, causing them to stop in reaction. The two watched the door close and see a familiar friend come through.
"Oh my goodness." Enrique gasped. "You look so different... you look... better." The two gazed on the figure that just faced them, it was Will.
"This is quite the bad time to see you; we're just on our way to the next race in DK Jungle." Tom was thankful to see his friend again, but knew that it would cost so much to be late to the race.
"Are you alright though?" Enrique asked. "We'll come back to talk with you afterwards. The other three are inside."
"Thanks..." Will replied slowly. "I'm still hurt, but I'm no longer contagious." The three brushed past eachother and swapped positions, nodding once more at eachother as they parted ways...
...
1:45PM
...
A lot of the journey in to the jungle was similar to DK Mountain. This time, the two took a later exit to go further in to the jungle where they saw the paths leading up to the Parkway. Neither Tom nor Enrique had ever been this deep in to the jungle, and it looked noticeably different to how they thought it would. For starters, the river going through was clear instead of yellowish.
As they arrived, they noticed that the participants' tent was almost empty. On the look down to the starting line they saw most of the racers already set up and waiting for the race to start. The fans filled the stands and the venue became all quiet. It looked like the two were the last to arrive.
"Hurry up you two, the race is about to start!" Toadant yelled across the side of the tent at them, indicating to them that their kart was empty and ready for them to get in to it.
Not responding back, the two quickly slid down the top of the hill next to the start line and headed straight for their kart.
POSITIONS:
FIRST: Toadbert and Toadsworth
SECOND: Yoshi and Birdo
THIRD: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro
FOURTH: Dry Bones and Kamek
FIFTH: Tom and Enrique
SIXTH: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong
SEVENTH: Bowser and Bowser Jr
EIGHTH: Wario and Waluigi
NINTH: King Boo and Petey
TENTH: Mario and Luigi
ELEVENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu
TWELFTH: Rosalina and Pauline
THIRTEENTH: Toad and Toadette
FOURTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa
FIFTEENTH: Peach and Daisy
SIXTEENTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong
SCOREBOARD:
FIRST: Bowser and Bowser Jr: 176
SECOND: Rosalina and Pauline: 172
THIRD: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: 161
FOURTH: Peach and Daisy: 147
FIFTH: King Boo and Petey: 141
SIXTH: Mario and Luigi: 139
SEVENTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: 138
EIGHTH: Wario and Waluigi: 137
NINTH: Yoshi and Birdo: 133
TENTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: 131
ELEVENTH: Toad and Toadette: 116
TWELFTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: 115
THIRTEENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: 115
FOURTEENTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: 111
FIFTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: 108
SIXTEENTH: Tom and Enrique: 108
They sat down in their standard kart, ready for the race to start. Both Tom and Enrique received a bad look from Daisy in the back, as well as the Toads in front of them. There was no time to complain however, as the Lakitu already started to come down, the item boxes were lit and the sound completely vanished from the track.
3...
2...
1...
GO!
The Lakitu waved his flag as the racers sped off from the starting line, all taking the first right turn immediately. Some racers stayed back at the boxes and waited for other people to overtake. That way they could get a more effective item from the boxes to keep for later.
After catching a draft, Funky Kong and Cranky Kong were the first ones to go drive across the river jump, behind them were the other front runners of the track so far, starting in the top four. The racers continued on smoothly, with very few position changes until the small narrow bridge. As Funky Kong crossed the bridge, Cranky Kong began to litter all of his items in the small space, placing two bananas halfway across. Toadbert saw it coming and went within an even smaller gap on the left side, avoiding the items and still being able to drift around the next turn. Unfortunately for Yoshi and Birdo, seeing Toadsworth throw a green shell backwards in the only space they could fit through, the two had no place to go and had to drive into one of the bananas, causing their bike to spin around and slow them down. The two began to get overtaken by the racers behind them, pushing them in to the mud and slowing them down yet again. Yoshi grew agitated watching their position drop quickly. To put salt on the wound, a POW indicator also appeared in front of them as they were taking the final turn in the cave, causing them to stop their drift. The two spun on the spot once again and then got immediately starred by Tom and Enrique, who were going through the mud cut in a star. By the time they recovered, Yoshi and Birdo were now in last. Thankfully for them, it is only the end of lap 1. They still have lots of time to catch up on the other racers. After all their punishment, the two were rewarded with pulling the shock at the first set of boxes lap 2.
Going back to the top ranks, Funky Kong and Cranky Kong managed to keep their lead, having eventually hit Toadbert and Toadsworth with a fake item box, the two got ahead by a few seconds with nobody in sight behind them as they drove through the third item box set. Cranky Kong had three bananas in defence and another fake item box in hand. The two were loaded with defence, ready to block the bridge once again. By the time they got there, they noticed that there was already a red shell on the bridge, likely placed there due to somebody losing grip of it when being hit by an item.
"Put them all down!" Funky commanded, causing the bridge to be more littered with items than ever.
Approaching the bridge in second place was the Hammer Bros. They slowed down slightly and managed to traverse the bananas, the red shell and the fake item box. Despite losing a small amount of time to first place, the two were still able to get out of the mess with the item they still had, which was a single mushroom. The two used it to cut the mud and try to catch up in their Wild Wing.
Third place approached the bridge completely different. Enrique was heading towards it and Tom was holding a mega mushroom that they managed to keep since the lap before when they used a star to get across the mud.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Enrique turned back to see Tom and all of the other racers behind him. Tom turned his head as they started crossing the bridge and laughed. Enrique swerved the Standard Kart towards the bananas and the red shells and turned sideways. Tom immediately activated their mega mushroom and grew enough in size to completely cover the width of the bridge. Tom began to hum the mega mushroom music as he watched all of the racers in the positions below get flattened by the two stalling on the bridge. Items began spewing out on the flattened racers as Tom and Enrique laughed and watched the misfortune. In sixth place, Wario and Waluigi became flattened and lost the bomb they had in hand, causing it to fall out and land right on the other flattened racers, sending them up into the air. Another pair drove in to Tom and Enrique and spat out a star for them, causing the two giants to become shining in rainbow colours. The two burst in to laughter for another second until they were pushed aside by a bullet bill user, going past all of them. The bill user also struck several flattened racers, sending some of them off of the bridge.
A/N: This play was inspired and based off of the streamer SwordOfSeals.
By the time Tom and Enrique deemed it enough, the two turned in their star and shrunk back down to normal size. As they were going across the mud cut, the cave darkened even more as the first shock was used. Yoshi and Birdo chained item boxes before the bridge and saw several racers being lifted up from the river by the holographic Lakitus, avoiding the effects of the shock. Birdo released a confusing sound to Yoshi, showing him their golden mushroom they got from the bridge. As they crossed the bridge, they went from sixteenth to ninth, and as they took the short cut with their item, they jumped all the way to fifth place.
Halfway in to lap three saw the most compressed pack of racers but also the biggest stretch between first and sixth. As sixth place crossed the finish line in to lap three, the Hammer Bros had just landed from the dash panel jump and Funky Kong and Cranky Kong had already gone past the second item box. The top two were gone.
As Tom and Enrique drove around the spiral turn, they managed to see the racers who got off the bill in the distance. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were the ones to take third place, and behind them were Toadbert and Toadsworth, quite significantly far behind. For once in a while a few of the racers could simply drive at the top in peace. Tom held his triple green shells in his hand for the time being, debating whether to deploy them so that he could get an item next set.
"Keep them in your hand." Enrique said. "We have no need to use them at the moment. I don't want us to get a thundercloud here."
"Good point." Tom kept the items in hand as Enrique drifted around the bend after the second set of item boxes. As they kept going through the dirt track through lap 3, they noticed a blue shell appear in the air, going straight towards the bridge and in to the cave. The bridge was clear, except until when the Hammer Bros decided to place a fake item box on the right side of the middle of the bridge. Thankfully, it wasn't a hazard enough for them to be hit by it, so it was rather a smooth drive in to the cave.
The blue struck, and Funky Kong and Cranky Kong went up in the air a few seconds in front of the first set of item boxes. The Hammer Bros would then go on to combo them as Fire Bro threw a red shell at them to strike them as they recovered from the landing. The Hammer Bros were now in first and an agitated Funky Kong got himself driving again in between the new front runners and the other Kongs.
Tom looked behind again, still with the triple green shells in hand and wasn't able to see Toadbert and Toadsworth as they entered lap 4. Further back, they must have been struck by other items from players behind them or they could have pulled a thundercloud instead.
Enrique drifted around the left turn towards the second item boxes. They were both happy to keep a safe and secure fourth place for over a lap now. With only two to go, securing fourth place would be a lot for them in their hopes to get more points. Tom had nothing much else to do. Nobody was behind him, and the stands he could see were all cheering him on.
"Want me to do anything?" Tom asked Enrique as he was focused on driving.
"Can you stand?" Enrique replied.
"Wait, what?"
"I want you to be my eyes in the air." Enrique said back. "Deploy the green shells now. Let me go tight and tell me if there are any items on the floor." Tom knew that standing on the kart would be risky, especially when there was only one proper handlebar where he always had one of his hands gripped on. Enrique drove over a box at the third item set and pulled a red shell.
"We're loaded, are you sure you want me to do this?" Tom asked once again.
"Tuck your foot inside the handlebar." Enrique suggested as he took a relatively wide turn on his kart. "If you can see the items ahead, I can always go the tightest turns. The Kongs will be scared of the green shells." Tom was unsure whether to do this, and before he could even attempt it, another shock happened, right as they were heading towards the bridge. The Kongs' items sprayed across the bridge, with one green shell going in front of Donkey Kong and causing him to collide with it. Tom and Enrique's items spewed all over the first side of the bridge. Unfortunately they were shocked after the boxes, and were itemless as a result.
"Try standing up now." Enrique turned his head and spoke up to Tom in a very squeaky voice.
"Your voice is funny." Tom laughed and then realised.
"No shit." Enrique giggled as they crossed the bridge, avoiding the items on it easily due to their small size.
"No swerving." Tom reminded as he stood up, putting one of his feet inside the handlebar and digging his other one behind the back of the standard kart's seat. He managed to keep his balance while Enrique drifted around the last turn, heading in to the final lap. As they resized, they strayed closer towards the Kongs in second and third. The Hammer Bros were still really far ahead, and weren't even in sight as Tom and Enrique got to the first item set. Coming out of the cave was fifth and sixth place. Tom turned around to see Mario and Luigi lurk behind them in fifth, itemless, and sixth place was creeping up on them too in a bullet bill that was about to end. Tom acquired a single mushroom from the item set and watched the bullet bill to reveal sixth place being Bowser and Bowser Jr. They had finally caught up to the front spots after being trolled by Tom and Enrique on the bridge in lap 2.
"We're coming for you guys." Bowser threatened Tom in front of Mario and Luigi to the side. They both got an item as Enrique began drifting around the spiral. Tom wasn't able to see what items they got from the top of the dash panel, but was told by Enrique to use mushroom a second after landing. Things began to look scary for Tom as standing on the kart, the effect of the mushroom usage through dirt almost made him lose his balance. Up ahead they pulled another item. It was only a fake item box. The turns ahead were pretty littered with items but they were mostly in the middle of the track.
"Go tight." Tom called out from above, ordering Enrique to catch up to the Kongs. On the next straightaway Diddy Kong attempted to back a green shell, but since Enrique took the turn tight, the green shell was too wide to hit them in their path.
"I'm going back down once we get to the straight before the bridge." Tom mentioned as they took another left turn, heading to the third item box set. Tom started to put the fake item box in defence as they acquired their next item. It was three mushrooms. This was probably the best item that a racer could get in fourth place in a sixteen player event. A mega mushroom was only available to at best fifth place.
"We should be sorted now." Enrique told Tom to get back down for safety, taking the turn before the bridge somewhat tight, out of the way of any items being backed.
"It looks like the Kongs aren't going for eachother."
"I wouldn't be surprised. Try and throw the F.I.B." As the two approached the bridge, Tom stood up again and began to throw the fake item box across the bridge. His aim was too high and it landed past them and on to the dirt inside the cave. Although it did not hit them, the positioning of the fake item box made them change their paths, causing them to slow down a bit and head off-road slightly. Diddy Kong littered all of his bananas inside the cave, but it wasn't enough for them as they saw Tom and Enrique speed through the mud with their mushrooms and tightly around the shortcut, overtaking both pairs in the process. Diddy Kong screamed loudly with frustration, but still able to cross the line in a high spot. By the time they all crossed the line, the sky darkened yet again and all of the racers who had stopped over the line shrank down to tiny size. They could only imagine what a catastrophe inside that cave on the final lap would look like. The four pairs of racers watched the rest of the racers all come out of the cave over the next twenty seconds. When that ended, the scores were determined and the positions of each player were registered.
RESULTS:
FIRST: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: +20
SECOND: Tom and Enrique: +17
THIRD: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: +15
FOURTH: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: +13
FIFTH: Toad and Toadette: +12
SIXTH: Rosalina and Pauline: +11
SEVENTH: Bowser and Bowser Jr +10
EIGHTH: Mario and Luigi: +9
NINTH: Yoshi and Birdo: +8
TENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: +7
ELEVENTH: Peach and Daisy: +6
TWELFTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: +5
THIRTEENTH: Wario and Waluigi: +4
FOURTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: +3
FIFTEENTH: King Boo and Petey: +2
SIXTEENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: +1
UPDATED SCOREBOARD:
FIRST: Bowser and Bowser Jr: 186
SECOND: Rosalina and Pauline: 183
THIRD: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: 174
FOURTH: Peach and Daisy: 153
FIFTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: 153
SIXTH: Mario and Luigi: 148
SEVENTH: King Boo and Petey: 143
EIGHTH: Yoshi and Birdo: 141
NINTH: Wario and Waluigi: 139
TENTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: 136
ELEVENTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: 131
TWELFTH: Toad and Toadette: 128
THIRTEENTH: Tom and Enrique: 125
FOURTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: 118
FIFTEENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: 116
SIXTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: 115
A/N: Some of the additions do not add up here and there is a reason for this. Before this race there were 3 extra points in the system. 2 belonging to Wario and Waluigi and 1 belonging to Koopa Troopa made in errors of the points of Waluigi Stadium and DK Jungle respectively. They had not been noticed nor accounted for until today's race.
Queen Peach was not happy, and all the people on the track felt it around her. By the time she got out of her vehicle she headed straight for the exit, heading back to the tent. She remembered that the next race was tomorrow and it would be coconut mall, but it was time to announce the four races afterward, scheduled to also be every day.
"Peach, is everything ok?" Tom headed in to the tent after her, seeing her scramble around the Toad management workers in the tent for the box of papers with the names of races on them. There were only ten left. Another thing Tom noticed in the tent was a large amount of Toad Brigade soldiers circling the circumference of the tent. Instead of it being more of a lounge, the tent seemed to serve less of a casual purpose and only for important information before and after races.
"How did you get here so quickly?" Peach was startled, turning around to see him at the entrance. "Did you chase me up here?"
"I mean yes, that race didn't look so good for you I take it." Tom proceeded in to the tent with unease, still earlier than everybody else.
"What you and Enrique did was completely foolish and silly, and because of you, Daisy and I weren't able to get out of the pack. It was a nightmare that race, and that bridge is too narrow."
"Hey." Tom butted in. "Your bike can get across it easier than our kart, and besides, what we did worked out for us in the end. This may be a trial for Bowser, but you treated this like an official tournament."
"And stopping on the bridge was not good sportsmanship. It shouldn't be allowed." Tom heard Enrique wailing outside, being chased by several Koopas and Toads around the grass whilst he was listening back to Peach.
"There's nothing in the rules that oppose doing things like that." He angered Peach a little more as she brought the box over to the front table in the room.
"You want to play dirty then? I'll show you dirty." Peach grinned, still looking back at Tom with an evil expression. "Go and sit down and wait for everyone else to show up. There are only ten races in this box left, and I have to draw four more today."
"I'll be looking forward to seeing them drawn." Tom moved around the room and sat down at the front on one of the seats, waiting for everyone else to show up.
The first ones to appear through the entrance of the tent were Bowser and Bowser Jr. Bowser gave one small menacing look at Peach before heading over to the back to sit with his son. Next to arrive were the Kongs, all of them looked at Tom before moving to the back as well, on the opposite end of where Bowser was sitting. Bowser and DK nodded at eachother as they sat down. Mario and Pauline showed up next, along with Luigi and Rosalina. They all shifted down one end of the front row to sit next to Tom. The room was unusually quiet, making many feel awkward in there.
"You're insane." Mario joked to Tom as he sat down. "I'll-a get you next time for that." He made him start to grin himself, thinking about everyone's misfortune beside him as he was in a mega mushroom. Within the next few minutes the rest of the racers entered the tent, with the last ones arriving being Enrique and the Hammer Bros. They rushed in to the room without realising how silent it was, apologising to Peach when they stopped. They were surprised to see all of the Toad Brigade there as well. The three then proceeded to sit on the end of the middle row of seats next to Dry Bones, who came in just before they did. Everyone now awaited to see Peach, joined by Daisy, address them all on the next races.
"Thank you all for staying. As you know already, the next race will take place tomorrow afternoon. These next eight races, four of which you know of so far, will all be daily." She addressed the room with Daisy.
"Now it is time we unveil races twenty-one to twenty-four, taking place on the nineteenth to the twenty-second respectively and in that order." Daisy cheered, walking over to the box. "Time for you to draw the first one." She presented it over to Peach, giving it a small shuffle with the small amount that was still in there. Everybody else in the room noticed how small the pile was getting. After a few more seconds of shuffling, Peach selected one of the papers and picked it up, drawing it out of the box and unfolding it.
"The twenty-first selection goes to... Mario with Mario Kart Stadium." Peach nodded, thinking it was a safe and suitable track selection made by him, presumably his favourite as well.
"Number twenty-two is..." She got another piece of folded paper from the nine that remained. "Bowser Junior with Thwomp Ruins, interesting."
"I didn't think Koopa City would be allowed." Bowser Jr whispered to his dad in the back corner.
"Not in its current state." Bowser whispered back to him. "I like that track regardless. You made a good choice son."
"Number twenty-three is..." Peach got out the next piece of paper. "Hammer Bro, with Delfino Island." A lot of the audience looked at eachother confused.
"Delfino Island?" Enrique inquired. "Are you sure that one is allowed?"
"I wonder if it's how I think it is." Tom turned his head and responded back to him.
"We never had that one in any of the tournaments, are you sure we can race it?" Luigi asked Peach and Daisy at the front.
"I spoke to him about it. It is allowed, and it has been rather unoccupied so if anything, it is convenient." Peach said back. "We never specified anything against whether the track has been used before or not."
"But I've never driven on it?" Shy Guy complained from the back.
"Too bad." Hammer Bro laughed back at him.
"Calm down everyone." Peach settled down the volume in the room, still preparing to draw the last paper. "Anyways, the twenty-fourth is... Dry Bones, with Dry Dry Ruins."
"That's better." Peach heard muttering going on in the audience and managed to distinguish something audible.
"I would like to make one more final announcement before concluding the event today." She got everyone's attention one more time. "We have reached the halfway point in this tournament slash trial. To make things even and balanced, I will be stepping down as the games master for this, and handing it over to my head of management, Toadant. He will be the head-coordinator of the races and in charge of the times and set up for the rest of the time. He has already done an amazing job with the rest of the Toad management crew in terms of setting up all of the stages and making them all welcome to the public, so can I have you all give a nice round of applause for him. Welcome, Toadant!" Peach beckoned the Toad over and had him come up on to the stage. He waved back at the people in the room and had his eyes focused on the Brigade at the back. All of the Toad Brigade members clapped their hands for him as well as some of the participants. All of the Toad participants cheered him on and Peach and Daisy stood beside him with eager smiles on their faces.
"Thank you everybody. I must thank the Queen and Princess Daisy for the honour of allowing me to be the head manager for this to begin with. As for everyone else in the room, I wish for smooth action in the coming days, and when we start to wrap this up, we will have the whole land tuning in for the most intense event so far!" Most people in the room were excited to hear his speech. Unfortunately the Kongs at the back were still far from impressed, and Bowser, always knowing about the fact that this determines his fate, was looking back at Toadant with disappointment. Although Bowser may be enjoying the competitive aspect of it and knowing that he was still ahead, he wasn't able to be himself and share the glory with those around him due to the worry and shame he would bring on his rivals all in the same room. Additionally, the thought of being taken back to his castle and being watched on twenty-four-seven every day also bored him. His thoughts were mixed, but covered in sadness.
...
A few minutes had passed, and most people were allowed to leave. Bowser acknowledged the fact that Coconut Mall's race was to start at midday on the fifteenth, tomorrow. Now, he stood by his clown-copter and waited for Bowser Jr to be done with chatting with the Koopas behind the tent. As he was waiting he noticed somebody worth talking to appear from around the corner. Rosalina was walking away on her own, going nearly in the direction facing him.
"Rosalina." He desperately tried to get her attention. She turned her head towards him and looked back at him with a neutral expression. Seeing him on his own made her proceed forward, seeing what he has to say.
"What do you want?" She asked him.
"H-how do you feel?" He first asked anxiously. "You know... I heard something about you being hurt. What happened to you?" She froze for a few seconds upon hearing from him. Bowser grew slightly concerned, as if he cared for her in the slightest.
"Oh." She snapped. "It's nothing, really."
"Be honest with me." He leaned over to her slightly.
"Ha... It's just... Joharnés and I... we got in to quite a pickle the other week." She responded slowly, thinking in her head about as much as she could remember. "I don't remember much about it, and I would rather not talk about it. It brings a lot of sadness and shame to my mind."
"I've heard of him before." Bowser replied. "Do you know what happened to him now?"
"I just know that he is missing, and he has Captain Toad. Apparently he murdered hundreds of Brigade soldiers when they assaulted Uldersal once." She told Bowser, frightening him a little bit.
"That is... like genocide." Even the arch-nemesis of the government felt the slightest bit of remorse and sorrow for all of those fallen Toads. "Peach must have been heartbroken to hear about that, and the relatives of those."
"Why have you gotten so pitiful all of a sudden? It's not like you would care." Rosalina snapped back to him, putting him off a little bit.
"I may have done a lot of things, but when did I ever murder somebody? Of all things I am, a murderer is not one of them. If I was a murderer then Peach would have been dealt with the first time I captured her. It was for political advantage, not violence." Rosalina said nothing back to Bowser for a few seconds, taking her some time to realise that what he said was actually right. She knew this part about him, and almost felt sorry for him a little bit. "Speaking of that, there's something else I have to ask you." Rosalina turned to face him directly, staring in to his eyes.
"What?" She asked him softly.
"I know that I have quite a high chance of winning this by the way it is so far..." He began slowly. "...and I probably will, but if I don't, they will execute me. You are currently second. Do you race for the intent of making sure I lose?"
"I don't try to win so that you will die, if that's what you're thinking. I would never wish death on anybody or try to kill them... well... maybe there's one exception but it's definitely not you." Bowser nodded back at her in agreement. "However, I am trying to win because I want to win. This may be a trial for you, but it is also a tournament that I see as the biggest that has ever existed. Take out the aspect of this being your trial and whoever wins this basically determines who the best in all the lands is."
"Nonsense." Bowser joked, confusing Rosalina slightly. "If we were to hold a tournament to determine who the best is, then we wouldn't be doing it in a double-dash tournament." She caught on to his joke a little later, laughing back with him.
"Wow, that's kind of accurate if you ask me..." She grinned. "...anyways, take out the evil side of you... err... relative to everyone else... you're a pretty cool guy, and a very good racer." Rosalina smiled back at Bowser. "Tell you what. I am still going to try in this like everybody else is I presume, but if you do win, and you are set free and you change your ways and join society like I have in a friendly manner ya-da-ya-da, we should hold another tournament in the future. Perhaps a smaller one, but only with the very best. I'm talking you, me, Funky, Daisy, Peach, Tobias and Duncan, Toby. You know, all the really, really good players only. That would be lots of fun. What do you say to that?" Rosalina smiled.
"It better be my bikes and mach bikes only." Bowser teased, causing them both to laugh once more. "Anyways, I'm going to have to head back. The Toads will be waiting for me back in the castle. Where is my son?" He peered around and couldn't find him.
"I'm over here, dad." Bowser Jr came around the other side of the tent, heading towards the clown-copter quickly.
"Just in time, what were you doing?" Bowser asked his son.
"I was just talking to some of the friends over on the other side. We were thinking about what the other remaining races could be." Junior replied as he stepped inside the clown-copter. Within seconds, it turned on and was ready to depart. Bowser turned around one more time to wave goodbye to Rosalina, who then went around the tent as they set off to head home to his castle.
EOC: I said what I meant to say here above.
See you next chapter though, I am back on pace.