Fighting in the Streets
Chapter 52 – Airship Fortress
A/N: I used the no clip dot website to get a nice preview of the DS version of Airship Fortress. Have a look at that whilst reading to give yourself a reminder of what it looks like. Note that the 3DS version is slightly different. The railings on the side of the track are accessible.
February 18, 2015 – 2:00PM
Peach's Castle, Mushroom City
After having eaten her own delicious lunch with her best friend, Queen Peach was hesitant to check her phone for any messages once again. She had sent more back to him asking for his whereabouts and if he knows anything about the task she had assigned Luke with. She was getting nothing back from him, and saw no read receipts from him either. He was clearly not looking at his phone today she thought.
"Daisy, this is slightly concerning me. Enrique is meant to be in Mushroom City, right?" She asked her on the picnic bench right outside the castle doors. The two had their parasols up and held against the table to shade them from the intense sunlight that finally returned today.
"Yeah. He came back with Tom and Luke after the race, right? They were in Luke's car. I recognised it last night from the window." She leaned over the table and peered at Peach's phone. "What's the matter?" She was shown the phone in front of her now, making her not have to lean over as much and turn her head to read the messages Peach sent to him already.
"He's not picking up any calls, and not seeing any of the messages either. They're delivering to him, but I can't see him seeing it with that read symbol." Peach began to feel a little worried, debating whether to check up on the boys in the penthouse just to see if they are OK. "Tom's not picking up either, so I'm going to have to schedule a visit to them and see."
"Let's go now." Daisy suggested, getting up from her seat. "We can get the Toads to clean up our lunch and whilst we're there, we could get the numbers of the other boys. Just in case we need them, you know?" Peach nodded in agreement, and got out of her seat.
The two were not in their dresses today. Instead, they were dressed more casually and conveniently for the times. Since there were races happening every single day, there would not be an appropriate time in the day to wear them for a long period of time. Having casual wear made it easier for the two to put on their biker outfits without having to make significant changes. Since it was warm out, the two only had one or two layers on, making it easier to slide in to their outfits for the races. Their large dresses were also inconvenient for the scorching weather they were still having during their summer anyway.
2:30PM
Luke's Penthouse
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Another convenient thing about their casual outfits was that they more likely to blend in with the public. Wearing the dresses would have them noticed by everyone wherever they go. Wearing shorts, trainers and a t-shirt would only get them recognised by few, and it would be their haircuts or their hair being what attracts the people nearby... or the fact that they are humans in a city where humans are a significantly small minority. There are native humans in the lands, but they were more common in the Wuhu Kingdom. Even there, they are still a minority.
The door to the penthouse opened, and on the other side was George, occupying almost the entirety of the doorway.
"Oh... This is quite the surprise!" He smiled. "Nice to see you two here! What brings you here? Oh wait, why did I even ask?" He laughed off his awkward greeting. Noticing they were both dressed casually and with nobody else behind them, George opened the door more and let them both in. Inside they could see the mess that was currently going on inside the penthouse. Peach and Daisy first heard the sound of taps being run in the kitchen, but the first people they saw were Luke and Tom. Luke was lying on one of the sofas, watching the TV and being attended to by Tom. They immediately noticed several bandages being wrapped around the side of his chest and back where the wound they didn't know about was. They then saw Toby in the kitchen washing dishes, and Will was most likely asleep in one of the bedrooms, being left alone there.
"Peach? Daisy?" Tom turned around and addressed the two. "Sorry if I haven't been answering any messages. I left my phone in Luke's car. I was going to collect it before heading off for the race in an hour. It's going to be a long car journey up north."
"Hey-hey." Luke said immediately after. "If you're here to ask for anything, I'm afraid you've come at the wrong time." He watched both Peach and Daisy react to his wound.
"Oh my goodness!" Peach rushed over past George to see to Luke. "What happened to you?" She got down on her knees and sat right before him on the sofa, looking at his wounds.
"I'll be fine." Luke laughed off some of the pain. "We got in to a bit of trouble."
"What did you do?" She asked, turning around to see Daisy get welcomed in to the house as well. George closed the door behind him and headed back to the sofa opposite Luke's to sit and continue watching TV and listening in to Peach talking to him.
"We managed to find one of the Koopas you were desperate to look for. Pom can now account for her crimes." Luke smiled back at her, still feeling the agonising pain every few seconds. "When we get her back here, you can deal with her. For now, we have to wait until I'm ready to go there again."
"Where's Enrique?" She looked up to Tom after kissing Luke's forehead, wishing him a swift recovery. "Also, do you think you need any of my people's services? Anything you need, I am happy to supply for you." She looked down to Luke again.
"Funny that." Luke laughed a second time. "A month and a half ago, your people were trying to kill and arrest us."
"Well since then, you applied to the Mushroom Accords, remember?" Peach smiled, and looked back to Tom.
"I'm pretty sure Enrique's still in Blockfort where Pom Pom is kept. He's doing fine there, I trust him on it."
"So that's where she is?" She nodded, understanding why. "Well... Enrique's not been responding to his texts today. I've been trying to get to him all afternoon."
"So have I, but he barely checks his phone." Tom replied. "You'll have to speak to him once we get to the next race. It's an important one for me anyway."
"I can understand that." Daisy grinned, sitting on the end of the sofa by Luke's feet. "How is everyone doing then?" She looked around at everyone else in the room. Toby was still washing the lunch plates, and George was laid back looking at the television.
"Doing great thanks." George smiled. "I'm still surprised you two came yourselves to see us. I was expecting a Toad messenger or something."
"We like to keep ourselves low-key for certain things. I really needed to see how Enrique's doing because I don't want him to miss this race like when Rosalina missed two of them, and look what happened to her in the end." Peach mentioned, worried about his whereabouts. Eventually she would have to trust Tom's belief and assume that he's doing OK looking after Pom in Blockfort.
"Scary." George nodded, not showing that much interest in talking to Peach and Daisy and looking back to the news. "Oh, look at this." He got the attention of the others and made them all watch the TV. There was a news report going on about authorities finding an important figure. Footage shows several Toad Brigade soldiers escorting what looked like Cyra Asquia out of a field. The reporter talking on the TV described the location where they found her to be a few miles north of the source of the Delfino River, near the town of Groztu on the edge of the disputed region. Peach had a proud smile on her face, knowing that the Toad Brigade were working towards finding the rest of the criminals involved in the siege of Uldersal. First they got Kromark, Mikey, Taur, and then they will have access to Pom Pom, now Cyra. Although Koopak was still missing, the hiding associates with him are running out, and all soon to be captured.
"Oh, wow. I'm so happy!" Peach praised the television, happy to know that they have another source of information. "Soon we will finally bring all of these criminals to justice, and that we can finally put the pain of my fallen princesses to rest." Within a few seconds, she shed a tear and tried to cover her emotional look from the others. Daisy too was happy, but more so for Peach. "You need to get better quickly if you want to be the detective." She smiled back down to Luke, putting her hand on his left arm firmly.
"I'll be fine. For now, I'll be watching the races right from the TV here. Best of luck to you all today."
"Thank you so much." Peach and Daisy replied.
"Peach?" They overheard a voice from behind the kitchen. It was Toby and he was finished with cleaning everything up. "Could I speak to you outside for a short moment?" He beckoned her over and started heading over to one of the doors going outside on the top floor. Peach nodded and moved away from Luke, heading over to the balcony door to see Toby outside.
Outside was a table, chairs, plants and a few washing lines full of clothes used by the others. Peach slowly headed over to the table and sat down on one of the chairs, waiting for Toby to join her after closing the door for her.
"What can I help you with?" She asked, getting his attention as he headed over to her. He said nothing for a few seconds, waiting to sit down and make himself comfortable before responding back to her.
"I have a few questions that I need to ask you regarding somebody else inside. It's about our other friend, Will. You probably know about him and the condition he is currently still suffering." Peach nodded and kept listening to him. "Your doctors said to him that if he is still showing signs of pain and no sense of recovery, we will have to bring him back to your infirmary immediately."
"Yes..." She replied slowly. "I believe that they will be able to see to it more if there is no good outcome for him at the moment. My heart goes out to him. I knew that he wasn't as comfortable being here as the rest of you guys, and for him to endure most of his time here in a depending sort of state, it must be annoying for him so much as he is missing out on so much."
"That's the problem." Toby quickly paused Peach. "He doesn't appear to be recovering and we may have to send you back to him. I am just very concerned because he told us about how he was treated by your medics, nurses and doctors when he was there." Peach felt a bit surprised to hear this from Toby, but she didn't say anything immediately as she wanted to hear more of it from him. "You see, I was the one who suggested bringing him back there in the first place, but he refused. George and I kept asking him what the problem was, and he described what it was like being there to us. He said it made torture feel like a massage compared to what he experienced. I don't know if that makes much sense but he basically said the pain he felt couldn't necessarily be described in words. He does not want to go back."
"Right..." Peach assumed he was being super honest here, so she needed some time to think of what to say back to him. "One thing I can say is that I assume he is feeling less pain now than when he was there. The Toads operating on him must have done something to help it."
"But it's not enough." Toby leaned over the table to convince Peach. "I worry for him, every day, even though Luke spends most of his days caring for him. Now that he needs his own care for his wounds, we are undergoing a lot of stress having to deal with both of them."
"I apologise in advance." Peach reached over for Toby's right arm and held it with her left. "May I get back to you on the conversation with Will and ask you about Luke... did he get shot? That wound looks very peculiar."
"He did." Toby replied almost immediately. "He was talking to us about it last night and this morning. He was trying to keep his secret between himself, Tom and Enrique but he had to tell us as well. I need to be able to trust you here, because they specifically didn't want any sort of Brigade involvement with what they did yesterday."
"You can trust me, what did they do?" Peach asked, gripping on his hand. "I may end up telling Daisy, but you can trust me when I say I trust her. If I tell her a secret, she can keep it. She's very good at keeping secrets."
"OK..." Toby took a deep breath before continuing. "The night before last, Luke and Enrique went to the Delfino Capital security prison and released the Koopa known as Taur Rovin. They used him as a hostage and a lead to find Pom Pom, who is currently kept as a prisoner inside Taur's own mansion in Blockfort. That's why they were there yesterday. The reason why Enrique was late for Wild Woods and early to leave was because he wanted to head back there as quickly as possible. Luke spent yesterday and the night before in the residence and keeping Taur and his wife – who was the only other person living there at the time – as hostages in their own house. He gave them some freedom, cooked and nourished them, the lot. In the evening, Luke met up with Enrique and Tom after they both took the train from Zephenwood back to Blockfort. As they were trying to capture Pom, a fight broke out and the Rovins managed to escape their own house according to Enrique. Luke was caught in some crossfire hence the wound being in such an unusual place, and Tom brought him and himself home. Enrique's still out there looking for them, with Pom still being locked up in their prison in the estate. If you want to see Enrique then you'll have to wait until he shows up to Airship Fortress. But for now, he's probably out of town finding them. He must have left his phone in the estate by accident. None of us have been able to get back to him." Peach took a few seconds to take in everything that Toby had just said to her. It was like being explained a plot of a story to her.
"If Enrique doesn't show up, we're going to have to enforce the Brigade however. This is a rule that goes above all others. I hope you understand that." Toby nodded back to her, looking like he was agreeing.
"Yes, that is fine." He smiled. "If he doesn't show up, then we would be concerned as well. We will be happy to have the Brigade involved on a search for him and the Rovins."
"There is another small problem though."
"What's that?"
"You freed a prisoner, and lost him." She frowned and looked at Toby with disappointment. "That's against the law."
"Oh..." Toby scratched his head.
"Anyways, on that note, unfortunately we cannot let Enrique get away with this. He will have to pay for his actions. Additionally, I mean what I mean when I say that the Brigade will report to Blockfort if Enrique is unable to attend the race. We will go to the Rovin Estate and take Pom out ourselves and bring her down here. However, I am happy to have Will seen to a private doctor and medic team to see to his condition and make another attempt to heal it. I'm sure there are other methods that could be used on this."
"Very well." Toby nodded back to her, finishing his need for her outside.
"Anyways, this talk was nice. It's good to speak to you all. I think Daisy and I best get prepared to head up north for the next race. Enrique better be there."
"Yes. You do that." He smiled. "I'll be here with Luke and Will and George, watching the race from our penthouse. We'll have to look in to buying tickets for the next races available once they became public and on sale."
"You do that. The next four after the ones upcoming will be released this evening!" Both Peach and Toby got up and headed back to the door to exit the balcony. They walked in to the others mid-conversation. Peach managed to catch a glimpse of Will, sleeping in one of the beds, looking terrible and unwell as usual. Daisy was still talking to Tom and Luke, and George was still on the sofa opposite, listening to the news.
"Tom, are you ready to depart?" Peach asked, getting everyone's attention. As she started talking to him, Toby leaned over past her left and closed the bedroom door that Will was sleeping in, hoping he wouldn't wake up.
"Hey..." Tom replied instantly. "Yes, I'll probably be making my own way up there in my car anyway."
"Can we come with you?" Peach asked, looking over to Daisy, who turned her head back to Tom and put a big convincing smile on her face.
"Sure..."
"Great! We'll let the management crew know about our plans then!" Peach smiled and offered her friends' hands to head outside with her.
5:30PM
Airship Fortress, Somewhere between Koopa City and Bowser's Castle
Most people would probably know what the surroundings of Airship Fortress would look like. During its debut during the fifth series of racing tournaments, Bowser had allowed the ships to be all in the air to give an amazing night's view. Now, atop the edge of his castle's walls, the Toad Brigade, Patrol, and management crew worked together to bring up one of Bowser's old airships to its docking station. Even though it was invading his land, the crew were able to set up several stands within one of the surrounding towers and along the walls, with some VIP tickets having viewing access on the ship that was used in the track. Like Wild Woods, there were few tickets available, and as usual, all of them were sold out.
In order to get to the venue, spectators had to arrive in Koopa City and take special transport up to the castle's walls. For the racers, the participants' tent was set up inside the centre of the racing tower. A hatch was used for them to get on to the track at the bottom of the spiral. Then they would have to walk a short distance all the way to the starting line. With extra reminders to get to the race relatively early, almost all of the people participating showed up within thirty minutes before the race was due to start, with the exception of two people. One of them, as some would have thought, was Enrique. The other was Kamek, and he was nowhere to be heard of either. Thanks to the management crew, Tom was able to park his car at the foot of the tower. Bringing Peach and Daisy with him, the three were escorted up the many floors of the spiral via an elevator and taken to outside the tent. There, they were met with the rest of the attending participants as well as the others operating in the management crew. Before heading in to the tent to see most of the others, Tom saw off Peach and Daisy and noticed Lakitu sitting by one of the windows of the tower, looking outside and seeing several tiny clouds occupy the sides of the starting line and surrounding parts of the race tracks. Tom noticed what he was looking at and peered into the distance to find out the clouds were occupied with other Lakitu-Koopas, all of them holding cameras.
"Look at them all out there." Lakitu said to Tom after noticing that he was approaching him.
"They're not holograms, are they?" He asked, sliding beside him to watch the surrounding skies with him.
"No, these are real workers. Now they work for the crew and have been for over a month now." Lakitu pointed at them all. "The ones that rescue people when they fall however are programmed and created by the management's coding for the races. It's how everything gets lit up and operated. That's been here for years though. You probably don't know much about that." Lakitu looked back to Tom.
"It's always nice to learn a little more knowledge." Tom grinned. "Speaking of that, there are many Lakitu-Koopas about. I actually know a few of them myself. They all have different names though... do you have a specific name that you go by? Perhaps one that isn't just 'Lakitu'?"
"That's classified." Lakitu replied back. "But you can simply call me Lak, if it helps you distinguish me from others." Tom knew for the future just to refer to him as Lak now.
"I suppose that helps a lot, Lak." Tom nodded awkwardly and started to move away from him, heading back to the participants' tent. "I'll see you on the track then."
...
"Tom, where's Enrique at?" His eyes widened to see Pauline rush over to him and ask him questions he didn't know the answer to. "Have you seen him anywhere today?"
"I don't know!" Tom yelled back. "Is he not here? I thought he would have been able to make it here on his own."
"If he's missing, and you know where he might be. Tell me." Rosalina, who was behind Pauline and standing next to Daisy, spoke to him next. She appeared to be far less worried than all of the other girls confronting him. He was surprised to not see Peach right in front of him. In the corner of his vision, he saw her being occupied with the other Toads and the management crew members.
"Yeah, fine. We'll get back to Blockfort after this race, and be careful. We don't know what's going to be there if Enrique wasn't able to get here in time without telling us."
"Excuse me Tom, could I get pass?" Tom overheard Kamek's voice from behind him. Perhaps Kamek was just late, and Enrique could be extremely late. "And what's that about Blockfort? More unrest there?"
"Don't worry." Tom shuffled over to let Kamek get past him and the other girls.
"Right... I'll keep that in mind." Kamek looked back to Tom whilst moving past the others. He eventually turned his head and ran over to Dry Bones and Shy Guy to sit with them before the race was due to start. Near those three were a depressed-looking Bowser accompanied by his son and many of the Kongs. They all seemed to be talking quietly and probably about Peach.
"Peach is going to be so pissed off when she finds out that Enrique's not going to be here for this." Daisy grew frustrated. "Not only are the people watching going to find out that yet another person hasn't showed up to a race, but Peach told me that she really wanted to talk to him about something after it."
"Hey, it's worse off for me. I have to now drive the track that I specifically chose alone and with difficulty managing items. How did you cope with the times Rosalina wasn't there, Pauline?" Rosalina scratched her head awkwardly and looked away.
"I kind of gave up on the first one. The second one however was not as bad. I got ninth, but that was mostly due to luck." Pauline replied, going closer to Tom and trying to comfort him. "You'll be fine. At least with Enrique, we know where he might be. I'm sure he'll definitely be back for tomorrow if he isn't already here in time."
"Fine..." Tom said with a stressful tone. "I'm going to the track." He turned around and headed out of the tent. The girls inside with him soon began to follow, and in minutes, the rest of the racers attending began to make their way to the track. The karts and bikes were set up in their positions, and above the walk to the start line was one of the many screens now displaying the current scores of the races so far.
POSITIONS:
FIRST: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong
SECOND: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro
THIRD: Mario and Luigi
FOURTH: Wario and Waluigi
FIFTH: Toad and Toadette
SIXTH: Peach and Daisy
SEVENTH: Bowser and Bowser Jr
EIGHTH: Rosalina and Pauline
NINTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong
TENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth
ELEVENTH: Yoshi and Birdo
TWLFTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu
THIRTEENTH: King Boo and Petey
FOURTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa
FIFTEENTH: Tom and Enrique
SIXTEENTH: Dry Bones and Kamek
SCOREBOARD:
FIRST: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: 215
SECOND: Bowser and Bowser Jr: 211
THIRD: Rosalina and Pauline: 210
FOURTH: Mario and Luigi: 198
FIFTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: 182
SIXTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: 170
SEVENTH: Peach and Daisy: 169
EIGHTH: Wario and Waluigi: 169
NINTH: Yoshi and Birdo: 167
TENTH: Toad and Toadette: 166
ELEVENTH: King Boo and Petey: 159
TWELFTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: 151
THIRTEENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: 143
FOURTEENTH: Tom and Enrique: 143
FIFTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: 133
SIXTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: 131
Since he was starting near the very back, almost all of the other racers would go past him to get to their vehicles. As they showed up, they noticed that Enrique was missing, and kept asking Tom where he was to which he replied with 'I don't know' every time. The fans in the nearby stands were all excited to see the racers get to their spots, with some of them paying attention to Tom sitting in the front seat of his standard kart. No Enrique was a concern to many of them.
Peach was one of the final racers to head to her vehicle. She too noticed Tom alone, but made no comment on him. Instead, she got in to her vehicle and started talking to Daisy quietly. Tom tried to listen in to their conversation they were having through the voices of people like Yoshi and Toadbert who were in between him and them.
"Not here?"
"Typical."
"It's because he brought that Koopa out of prison, I won't tolerate this."
"He's caused a massive disruption to the races and he should know about this..."
"Arrest?"
"Yeah definitely. He's getting arrested after these events are over and when we find him."
"Unacceptable."
"I don't care of the situation he's in. He's broken the rules, and the law."
Tom managed to get much of the conversation from them as they began to speak louder as they complained more. Bowser grew restless sitting in his kart next to theirs, disgusted at the way this tournament hasn't been controlled perfectly. Eventually, the background chatter between everyone that Tom was watching and listening to came to an end after the soundproof barrier was enabled and the course lit up. He looked around one more time to see if he would make another surprise entrance, but he wasn't here. The holographic Lakitu appeared at the start line and was ready to send the racers off. Even Tom was frustrated that his friend wasn't here.
3... 2... 1... GO!
Somehow he managed to get off a boost start, but it wasn't as effective as most other racers'. The beginning of the course was the large straight where racers would need to dodge the banzai bills that were being fired from the moving blaster. In the fifth series they originally used bullet bills, but when the tournaments reintroduced this track for the seventh series, they upgraded the blasters to banzai bills. Taking the first left would send the racers to the first set of item boxes. Tom saw several racers going stopping before the boxes and waiting for others to pass. Since he was the only one racing alone, having items would be problematic for his driving. To avoid the chances of them being a problem, Tom drove straight through one of them and overtook many racers. It would be better for him to stay up there and just deploy items for defence. That way he wouldn't have to worry about strategic item usage and driving at the same time. He also felt that in the recent races, the front runners have been able to stay at the front for a lot of the race unless something major impacted them and broke their lead. He was now in fifth place and had three red shells in his left hand. With the wheel on the right, Tom began to feel less confident in his driving. He deployed the red shells as defence and kept them there, letting him put his left hand back on the wheel and making him feel better at driving and drifting.
Funky Kong and Cranky Kong were not actually at the front of the pack this time. A few seconds after going past the first set of item boxes, they were met with a fake item box snipe. Somebody behind them threw one forward after the small boost ramp and landed it right in front of their eyes, causing them to collide with it and fall behind in the ranks. The lead passed over to Mario and Luigi, who were able to out-drive the Hammer Bros for the first ten seconds of the race. There were a few racers just behind him, including Tom on his own. The tight turn going around the lower floor of the airship made it even more difficult for Funky Kong and Cranky Kong to get around whilst staying up in the high spots, so they began to lose more distance from the front.
Mario and Luigi had a single banana as defence, going over the second item box from the right at the second set. They were given a green shell, of which Luigi just held for the time being. Currently in second place were the Hammer Bros, quickly followed by Toad and Toadette, Wario and Waluigi, Tom, and Toadbert and Toadsworth. The second set of item boxes were all taken, some of the racers were unable to get a new item. Toad and Toadette missed a box as the Hammer Bros had stolen theirs. Since they were the ones to throw the fake item box forward to hit Funky Kong and Cranky Kong, they still remained defenceless. Toadette grew nervous after seeing Tom with his three red shells lurking closer and closer behind them. Tom purposefully crept behind them, as he didn't want to get another item box. Waluigi to his left was holding a mega mushroom, scaring both him and Toadette. She drove to the side and scraped the right wall of the airship. One of Tom's reds was broken by the crates in the middle of the central room, rendering him slightly vulnerable to other projectiles.
Getting past the flames, Mario and Luigi went through the airship cannon (originally replaced with a glider ramp but reworked back to a cannon fire for the tournament) and flew across the sky in to the tower, going down the spiral that went around the chambers where the participants' tent was set up. They dropped their banana out of the landing spot, and drifted outwardly down the tower, going over an item box in the process. They also backed their green shell with hopes of hitting somebody going down it as well. The Hammer Bros landed on the banana placed down by Mario, causing them to slow down a bit and get overtaken by the rest. Since they weren't up to speed quick enough, one of Tom's two remaining red shells struck them, sending them further behind the frontrunners.
Drifting down the tower, Toad and Toadette avoided the green shell. They let Wario's bike and Tom's kart pass them, now being right next to Toadbert and Toadsworth. The shell went on to miss all of the front pack and began to rebound off the back of the tower's spiral. Wario and Waluigi took the spiral tightly and tried to catch up to Mario and Luigi. Tom on the other hand, threw his red shell forward, going in front of Wario and Waluigi before being able to lock on to a target. As Tom drove through another box, the red shell went forwards and headed for Mario and Luigi. Unfortunately for him, the red shell was disjointed from the part of the broken track out of the tower. Luigi was able to keep an ever-increasing lead, dropping a fake item box in a really tight spot on the last turn. Wario and Waluigi were still in second, but they also had their mega mushroom to scare Tom away. He had a single mushroom which he had to hold as he didn't want to force Waluigi in to using the item. He didn't want to risk being flattened by them. Now, naturally, the pack began to spread out simply through item usage, but it was only a matter of time before people like Peach and Bowser were going to catch up with their better items. Airship Fortress didn't have any major shortcuts, so it would be less effective to have a powerful item further back in the pack.
Heading in to lap 2, Mario and Luigi held on to the left-side rail of the straightaway. They seemed to be driving in first like it was a time trial. Mario could see in the distance that Waluigi was holding a mega mushroom behind Wario. All he had to do was try to litter items and hope that they would waste it after being hit by something. He also noticed in the corner of his vision that someone else drove in to the fake item box that he tightly placed. King Boo grew angry, and tried forced Petey to start using the golden mushroom. The two charged ahead on the left rail, creeping up behind some of the racers in the middle. All of them drove off it, with the Koopa Troopas being hit by one of the banzai bills launched from the blaster.
Mario and Luigi now had another item. In first place they received a green shell. Mario threw it forwards after going over the boost ramp, hoping it would rebound from the back wall and head for the people behind him as they took the right turns and a final left turn heading inside the airship. Wario gasped, and forced Waluigi to activate their mega mushroom. With this, the two drove around the bends tightly, flattening the moles and rocky wrenches coming out of the small holes on the airship floor. Their increased speed and superior drift allowed them to catch up to Mario. They were now right on their tail in the top two spots, with King Boo, Petey Tom being a bit more far behind in third and fourth respectively. Mario and Luigi drove in to one of the item boxes at the second set and received a fake item box. Wario drove over the leftmost box and received a red shell, perfectly convenient for them. Mario gasped and tried lobbing the fake item backwards, knowing that he would likely be hit by their red shell. Wario evaded its deployment, and Waluigi kept hold of the red shell as they drove past the crates and the burners in the next room, waiting to throw the red shell after using the cannon. King Boo and Petey appeared to be itemless, and Tom had just used his single mushroom to get back in to third place. There didn't appear to be any threats coming from behind Waluigi, so he was confident in using his item once they landed after using the cannon.
The events of lap 2 escalated and Wario and Waluigi took the lead. They acquired a set of triple bananas at the last item set to keep them well defended, and Mario acquired another fake item box, causing him to be immediately hit by King Boo with a red shell again, repeating what just happened to them by Waluigi. Mario and Luigi now began to massively fall down the ranks as they crossed the line in to lap 3. A blue shell appeared in the air and the top seven racing pairs were inked by a blooper as well. Now King Boo and Petey had the lead, with Tom driving just behind them. He got another lucky item pull of triple green shells in second place. The chances of getting this item in second were extremely low. Mario and Luigi avoided the bills slowly, but were now surrounded by his rivals in the middle of the pack. Peach and Daisy were the furthest ahead of him, holding on to two spare mushrooms. Rosalina and Pauline were also just in front of them, surrounded by green shells. Bowser was just behind them, and Bowser Jr appeared to be hiding an item from them. It was unknown to them what he could possibly be hiding, but judging from them spending most of the race at the back. They could either be keeping a star, the bullet bill, or even possibly the shock. Funky Kong and Cranky Kong's item was also kept hidden. They definitely had one of those three items.
"This is terrible Luigi, we've lost our lead!" Mario groaned, getting more frustrated after losing an item box to Rosalina and Pauline. Rosalina narrowly missed colliding with them with her shells, but Luigi's lack of confidence in driving near them caused them to fall behind a bit more.
"We need to get a strong item at the next set Mario. If we fall behind too much, then our race is pretty much over!" The two were unsure which exact spot they were in, but Mario couldn't see too many people behind him now.
"Keep driving Luigi. I have no idea what everyone has. I can't read their minds or their hands." Mario kept himself safe inside their kart, allowing Luigi to navigate the upper floor of the airship. They slowed down a bit more after colliding with one of the red shells spat on to the floor caused by Toadbert and Toadsworth in front of them being hit by one of the rocky wrenches. Now they were really far behind after being overtaken by the Koopa Troopas and both of the Kong pairs. Mario now started to believe that they were in last.
"Spaghetti meatball, now it's really over." Luigi slammed his left fist on the side of the kart as they started to go down the sharp slope of the airship to the lower floor. They drove past the second set of item boxes and received a star. "Brilliant." He groaned, having Mario use it at the same time. They both looked miserable as the magical rainbow colours sparkled and shined around them. Some of the VIP spectators that were watching from inside the airship cheered them on in last. Some of them laughing were at them, seeing the irony of the two being sad and upset whilst under the effect of a star. To their surprise, they also dodged a shock just before the cannon. Even though it barely did anything for them, the two entered the cannon with a slight bit of relief, getting a small glimpse of some of the tiny racers heading out of the tower and some passing the finish line going in to lap 4. Bowser was regular-sized, and so was Shy Guy and Lakitu, who were about to overtake first place. They must have dodged in a mega mushroom without Bowser noticing. Everyone that they were nearby were now tiny and behind him. Mario and Luigi began to descend the tower, going over an item box and collecting a golden mushroom from it. They needed to use it immediately or at least so that it would run out before they get to the first set in lap 4, as they needed to catch up as much as they could. On a track on like this, staying at the back in the final two laps was almost always a recipe for a low score.
Bowser began to pass more and more people, with his confidence in the race ever-increasing. In his head he was counting the seconds that passed since the shock was used, using that and the places people would be at the item boxes at said times to know when to use the item his son was now holding. They had a star after using the shock, and were holding in the whole was to the cannon on the fourth lap. They were currently in sixth place, and driving carefully around some racers who had items rotating around them in defence. Behind them was Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, and Diddy was holding a bomb carefully with his hands and feet whilst gripped on to their kart. That was Bowser's only concern when driving near them; he didn't want them to throw it forward and hit him somehow. This item that his son was holding is crucial for them to secure a high spot, potentially first place. Although Shy Guy and Lakitu were now really far ahead, a dodge might just be enough.
The drive in the airship in lap 4 was dangerous and risky. The Hammer Bros were backing shells around every corner, and Wario and Waluigi began to litter items between all of the crates. Diddy Kong threw his bomb forward, aiming for Wario. The trajectory of the bomb was aimed well enough to land just in front of them, hoping to cause the explosion right in front of them. Instead, the bomb was caught in the line of the burner mid air, causing it to explode sooner than they had hoped. Bowser's eyes widened and he slowed down as quickly as he could. The Hammer Bros took the full force of the bomb, causing them to be sent up in the air and losing their green shells in the process. Bowser on the other hand, managed to delay his impact with the bomb. The two only span out of control for a second, slowing down slightly. He tried to accelerate as quickly as he could, hoping to avoid a POW block that just appeared in front of him as they took the left turn in to the cannon. They just managed to escape its effect, keeping their star. He still managed to keep count of the seconds passed since the first shock was used. A shock could now possibly happen, but since there are people much further behind, he didn't want to use it so quickly. Only an idiot would use a shock and dodge a quarter of the racers during the cannon.
The journey down the spiral was smooth, and Bowser's superior drift and speed allowed them to overtake a few racers, catching a draft from Peach and Daisy, allowing him to overtake them as well. The final lap was now in session, and Bowser roughly knew when the shock would be in play. Just a few more seconds and the two would be in their star immunity and going straight through the banzai bills. The crowds in the nearby stands were filled with excitement, seeing their favourites head down the straightaway and ball up closer and closer together. The pack began to tighten up, with more people nearing to the front. Peach and Daisy were now in third place, still right behind Bowser's tail. Daisy noticed the item in Junior's grasp, and widened her eyes in surprise.
"How has he got that? Did he hold it for so long?" She yelled in front of Peach, hoping to get it out of him.
"Throw the red." Peach ordered right as another POW showed up. The red went on the ground and locked on to Bowser, but the banzai bills got in the way of the collision. The POW made Bowser use his star anyway, slightly earlier than he had hoped to. He wasn't near any drops or ramps so he wasn't able to avoid its ground effect. Bowser accelerated ahead under the effect of the star, cutting through the rocky wrenches and distancing himself away from those behind him. The shock didn't come unfortunately. Instead, Bowser ended up traversing through the airship itemless. He could see Shy Guy and Lakitu a few seconds ahead, but they had no item to deal with them. Bowser went through the second set of boxes to acquire a single mushroom, which he used right away just to get ahead. Peach and Daisy also drove over an item box, but they received a single banana. They were too far behind Bowser to be able to snipe him with it, so they decided to use it as defence. It looked like third place would have to be what they could aim for. Tom was also lurking behind them, picking up a thundercloud at the second set. Luckily for him, he would be able to remove it once he would get into the cannon. There was plenty of time for him to get towards it. However, the rest of the middle pack began to show up, and right before Bowser was about to take the left turn in to the cannon, the room darkened. Shy Guy and Lakitu managed to avoid the effect of the shock whilst in the air, but the rest of the racers in the rooms were shrunk down to small size, with the exception of the current bullet bill user that was now overtaking everyone. The shock was chained at the first set of item boxes, used by a pair of racers who were very far behind from the rest. The bullet bill ended and the racers were revealed to be the Koopa Troopas. They crept up all the way to third by the time they got to the cannon, being able to catch up with Bowser and Bowser Jr before they could resize going down the spiral. The middle pack was very compressed, with some racers being able to pick up items at the second set after the effect of the shock, now being almost tied with those who were originally ahead and without a box. The racers all began to speed down the spiral, overtaking one another several times a second. Projectiles were being thrown and boosts were being activated. Another bill was in play and a blue shell was sent up in the air. Within the next ten seconds, the racers rounded up to the finish line, with the exception of two at the very back. One was significantly far behind whereas the other was pushed off at the broken section of the track at the very end. The blue shell was originally locked on to first place, but flew down on them after they had crossed the line. Tom drove his vehicle to the side and stopped it immediately, getting out of it as quickly as possible and looking over to the nearest screen. Avoiding any contact with other drivers, he leaned against the castle rails, waiting for the screen to update. He couldn't quite determine his position as so many crossed the line at the same time, what he could remember was pulling three mushrooms at the last set. He hoped to use them to the best of his ability whilst driving. Perhaps he could overtake a few people whilst doing so.
RESULTS:
FIRST: Shy Guy and Lakitu: +20
SECOND: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: +17
THIRD: Bowser and Bowser Jr: +15
FOURTH: Yoshi and Birdo: +13
FIFTH: King Boo and Petey: +12
SIXTH: Tom and Enrique: +11
SEVENTH: Peach and Daisy: +10
EIGHTH: Wario and Waluigi: +9
NINTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: +8
TENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: +7
ELEVENTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: +6
TWELFTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: +5
THIRTEENTH: Mario and Luigi: +4
FOURTEENTH: Rosalina and Pauline: +3
FIFTEENTH: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: +2
SIXTEENTH: Toad and Toadette: +1
UPDATED SCOREBOARD:
FIRST: Bowser and Bowser Jr: 226
SECOND: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: 217
THIRD: Rosalina and Pauline: 213
FOURTH: Mario and Luigi: 202
FIFTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: 187
SIXTH: Yoshi and Birdo: 180
SEVENTH: Peach and Daisy: 179
EIGHTH: Wario and Waluigi: 178
NINTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: 178
TENTH: King Boo and Petey: 171
ELEVENTH: Toad and Toadette: 167
TWELFTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: 163
THIRTEENTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: 157
FOURTEENTH: Tom and Enrique: 154
FIFTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: 148
SIXTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: 140
Well... At least Mario and Luigi beat two of their rivals that race.
...
After looking at the board and feeling proud of his result that race, Tom quickly turned to Peach and Daisy, begging for their attention. "Can we head out now?" He said, aiming to get to Blockfort before 8:30PM.
"Yes, let's go!" Peach responded, running down the track with him. The crowds were slightly confused, but most of them were either cheering or booing after seeing Bowser take the lead again. Some were happy to see Shy Guy and Lakitu win, but others were not the biggest fans of Bowser.
EOC: I'm going through these quickly so there is nothing much new to say.
See you next chapter anyway!