Race 1: Magic Kingdom

"Hello racing fans!" Lightning McQueen announced. "I'm Lightning McQueen, here with the one and only Mickey Mouse to cover the exciting Magical World Grand Prix!"

"Heya Eerybody!" Mickey greeted. "Great to be here! This first race of the competition is taking us to my home turf of the Magic Kingdom. Here to give us the eye in the sky overview of the track is the penguin with a great choice in flight gear, Jetpack Guy!"

The camera feed changed over to show a red-colored penguin in a secret agent suit with a jetpack on his back. He held a flipper up to his ear before speaking. "Thanks for the head's-up, Mickey. Today's race will be taking our teams in a clockwise path around the Magic Kingdom, including a daring jump over the river to Tom Sawyer Island."

"That's gonna be so cool to watch!" the cameraman said.

Jetpack Guy shook his head. "Rookie, remember that you're the cameraman, so try to stay quiet while we film."

"Oops, sorry!" Rookie appoligized.

"The racers will make a stop in Fantasyland for the Pitstop Challenge, before finishing the loop and coming back around through Disney Castle to end the race," Jetpack Guy said. "Now then, let's get the camera down to Cruz Ramirez to start the race."


The teams were soon all lined up in their vehicles at the beginning of Main Street USA, engines purring as they waited for the countdown to begin. Sprig looked over to Logan, who was giving a death glare to Aline.

"Logan, I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Sprig said. "We can still be friends after this, right?"

"I'm not mad at you, Sprig," Logan said. "I'm just going to focus on beating cat girl to show you why I'm your best friend!"

"Technically Anne is my best friend, but you're up there for sure," Sprig replied. "Uh, anyway, just try to have fun out there, I guess."

"Logan's really letting Aline to get to his head," Dastan whispered to Della, the duck nodding in response."

"Racers, get ready to start the race!" Cruz announced, holding up the start flag. Everyone focused on the lights as their cars roared to life.

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1

GO!

The racers all peeled out of the starting line, zooming down Main Street. "Silver's team pulls ahead for an early lead, followed closely behind by Aline, then a dead head between Adam and Logan!" Mickey announced.

"They better be ready for the hard left turn coming up," Lightning noted. "These racetracks cover all kinds of terrain, and Adventureland is known for its mud and swamplands."

As the Partners statue came into view, Silver took the Blue Royale into a drift, crashing through a holographic box that manifested a large banana peel in Elsa's hands. "What's this?" the ice queen asked.

"It's an item!" Silver explained. "As the shooter, it's up to you to use them so we can get ahead of the other racers!"

Elsa nodded, tossing the banana peel behind them as Aline approached. In typical cartoon fashion, the item caused the Hex Rider to spin out, pushing Aline's team back a spot. "Oh, it's on now!" Aline said. "Sprig, how can we fight back?"

The frog boy held up a shooting star. "I think this is one of those Special Power Ups, like in a video game! We can use our special moves with one of these!"

"Then give it to Luz so we can pull ahead," Aline ordered as Adam started to pass them.

Luz took the star item, an aura forming around her as she pulled out a set of glyphs and tossed them on the road. A pillar of ice shot out in front of Adam, causing the cyborg to veer off the road into the thick grass of Adventureland, which let Aline pass him by. "That Ice Glyph bought Aline's team enough time to regain their position!"

Aline gave Luz a high five as they continued through the jungles of Adventureland, driving next to a river and waving to a Jungle Cruise boat passing by. Team Hex Rider's victory was short-lived, though as Rachel came up next to them thanks to a Chili Pepper boost item, temporarily increasing the Sweet Vision's speed. As the race transitioned of the jungle and into the Western desert of Frontierland, the back of the pack was getting heated up.

"With an expertly-placed throw, King manages to smack the Toon Buggy right on the windshield, letting Team Heart of a Jaquin pass them by!" Lightning announced.

Beth tried to look around the offending piece of food blocking her vision, which forced her to slow down so she didn't hit anything on the road. Stitch crawled out of his seat and grabbed the banana peel, eating it all in one go. "Great job, Stitch! Now all we have to do is-" Beth didn't get a chance to answer as she ran into another banana peel, this time from Logan's team. "Okay, we just, have to stay positive and try to catch up."

"That banana peel put's the Toon Buggy in last place," Mickey said. "But don't count them out just yet! Our teams are racing right towards Big Thunder Mountain, where the big jump across Tom Sawyer Island is set up! Be careful, racers!"

Silver, Aline, and Rachel all stayed in the lead as they went into the heart of Big Thunder Mountain, crystals shining in the rocks to light their way. With the sound of a rushing waterfall, the teams looked ahead to see a mighty thunderbird standing a cave opening, it's feathers charged up to help the teams make the jump over the river.

"You know, that bird is the reason my father died," Melanie dully said to Adam.

The cyborg nodded. "Yeah, but that's what happens when you build your mining company on sacred Native American ground."

The thunderbird shout out lightning, which struck the cars as they passed out of the cave, launching them over Tow Sawyer Island like a railgun. Jetpack Guy and Rookie took a picture of each of the teams as they passed by, with many of them posing for the camera like it was the big drop on Splash Mountain. Landing safely on the other side of the river, the teams raced through the graveyard behind the Haunted Mansion.

"Here ya go, racers!" the Hitchhiking Ghosts said, tossing items to each team as they passed by.

Silver's team got another banana peel, which the boy contemplated on who to use it on. Closing his eyes he shouted, "Sorry Aline!" before Elsa tossed the item to slow Team Hex Rider down.

"I get the feeling we're not exactly the fan favorites here," King snarked.

"Take this you friend-stealing jerk!" Logan shouted, his team tossing a bomb to further slow down Aline's.

"Seriously dude?" Aline shouted back. "You're gonna hit us while we're down?"

"Head's up, Adam!" Gabriel warned as Rocket fired his own bomb at the SEA Racer.

Adam smirked, with Athena activating a force field that bounced the item away. "Good try, but our shield item made your bomb useless," Adam called back.

Said bomb bounced up high into the air… only to come back down on Aline's team, pushing them even further into the back of the pack. "Gabriel, why did you betray us?" Aline said.

"Hey, it's okay! We can still catch up!" Molly assured her friend.

"Hey King, see you at the finish line!" Eda called as the Toon Buggy raced on passed the Hex Rider thanks to a speed boost from her harpy form.

Toren's team was soon driving next to Aline's, the girl giving a pleading look to the Jaquin. "Please don't tell me you have an item to hit us with too," she asked.

Toren shook his head. "No, but I do have some advice: try to look on the bright side and have fun!" His fur shown with Special power as the item activated Toren's crystal magic, his positive emotions giving the Heart of a Jaquin a unstoppable charge towards the front of the pack.

"With that special move, Team Heart of a Jaquin is now up to third place!" Lightning announced. In the background you could hear Aline shouting, "Oh, come on!" "With the Liberty Square part of the race coming to an end, though, it looks like the Pitstop Challenge is right around the corner!"

[***]

Soon the racers all came to a stop as Guido held up a large stop sign. The teams got out of their cars as Cruz was waiting for them nearby. "Hey guys, welcome to your first Pitstop Challenge," Cruz said.

"Pitstop!" Guido said.

"Guido is going to make sure all of your cars are tuned up for the next part of the race, so follow me for your challenge," Cruz said.

The teams all came to stand in front of the It's A Small World Clocktower, it's smiling face spinning around. "Uh, why are we here?" Logan asked.

"You're first challenge is simple: just ride the ride," Cruz said. "Every member of your team must participate here, and the faster you get it done, the bigger of a head start in the next part of the race you'll get."

Almost everyone in the group groaned at the challenge. "Nope, not doing this!" Rocket said, walking back to sit in the car.

"But Rocket, we have to!" Gabriel said.

"Yeah, it's for the team," Jasiri added.

The raccoon shook his head. "You ain't gonna make me ride that thing, even if you paid me."

Lop tilted her head. "But it's just a theme park ride, right? It can't be that bad."

"Lop, you don't wanna know what goes on in there," Rocket said, shuttering a bit.

"It's a Small World, let's go!" Silver cheered, jumping onto the first boat alongside Aline's team. Rachel and Adam got on next, with Beth not far behind them. Logan's team, however, was more hesitant to do so.

"Ugh, of all the rides, why did it have to be this one?" Logan asked.

"Come on, it's a classic!" Della said.

"Cassie liked it… when she was a kid," Scott added.

Logan grumbled as he got into the boat, with Toren's team looking equally as bummed out. Eventually Gabriel had to use his magic to pick up and forcefully pull Rocket over to the boats so they could finish the challenge. "No, don't make me go in there!" Rocket pleaded. "Please anything but this!. NOOOOOOOO!"

One ride of "It's a Small World" Later…

"It's a small world after all!"Silver sang.

"It's a small world after all!" Aline sang as well.

"It's a small world af-ter all! Gabriel added in his voice.

"It's a small, small world…" Rocket chimed in, his voice dull and on the verge of tears. "Now it's gonna be stuck in my head all day…"

Iit wasn't that bad," Jasiri rolled her eyes as she hoisted Rocket onto her back to carry him to the car.

"I thought it was quite nice," Lop agreed. "Getting hear all the different languages of the world was fun."

"Okay racers, your Pitstop Challenge is complete!" Cruz said. "Now get back out there and race!"

Gabriel's team immediately booked it back to their car, needing to make up for lost time as the last team to complete the challenge.

[***]

The race was now in Fantasyland, where the streets wound around the rural village. Belle waved hello from the center fountain as the racers picked up more items, before the bookworm princess was back to reading her latest novel.

As the Fantasyland Carnival came into view, Rachel looked over at Silver. "We're still friends after this GP, right?" she asked.

"Of course!" Silver replied.

"Then no hard feelings, okay?" and with that, Poe used his special attack to launch a fireball at the Blue Royale, making Silver have to slow down as to not overheat the engine. Luckily Silver had a boost to keep his position afterwards, but Rachel was now the one leading the pack.

Toren and Logan were both side by side, bantering about who would pull ahead in the race. Dastan pointed out something behind them, and Ant Man activated their shield power, much to Toren's confusion.

"What's that for?" he asked, only to be answered as Adam's team lobbed a bomb at them. The Gracious Bird was unaffected, but Heart of a Jaquin spun out, letting SEA Racer get ahead of them.

"Note to self: use our own shield of others around us use theirs," Nico said.

Agent P spoke up, grabbing their shield powerup from King and activating it just as Beth launched a firework rocket their way. "That was close, but don't take things that belong to you!" King reprimanded, though Perry just rolled his eyes.

"Aw, we were so close too," Beth sighed.

Meanwhile, Aline's team had earned a special, this time going to Molly. "Okay Scratch, go find us a shortcut!" Molly asked.

"You better have some good food for me ot eat for this," Scratch said, floating head of the car. He soon came back and pointed to one of the circus tents. "Go through there."

Aline drove the Hex Rider through the tent. There was a collision of loud noises, clown horns, and a lion's roar before they exited, the back of the car now having a perfect stack of elephants on the back. Aline looked to Sprig, shrugged, then had Luz use a Plant Glyph to safely drop the elephants back onto the ground as they group made their way out of Fantasyland and into Tomorrowland.

"We're coming up on the special Bonus Item round!" Mickey announced. "There's a chance that each team could earn a bonus Special move from the next set of items, so be on the lookout, racers!"

As they took a quick trip through Space Mountain, each team picked up an item box, with Rachel boosting ahead to maintain her lead. Silver found himself having to navigate the streets of Tomorrowland carefully as Logan came up to his side with a boost of his own.

Toren's team picked up a special item, with King glowing as he bounced in his seat. "Time to show you guys what I've got!" the little demon said. "Sonic SCREAM!" The shockwave of sound hit Concerto Comet and Hex Rider, both drivers holding their ears as their co-pilots had to take over, losing them a position. Gabriel's team was then put back further by a banana peel from Adam's car.

"Wish we had our own special move to fight with," Rocket grumbled, cleaning out his ears from the sonic attack.

"We just have to hold fast and keep going!" Lop insisted. "Punch it, Gabriel!"
"And we're on the final stretch, folks!" Lightning called. "The castle is in sight now, all the racers have to do is make for a final push!"

Beth continued to race as best as she could, even if she was at the back of the pack. "You got this, kid," Eda encouraged.

"Sprig, now's the time for your special attack!" Aline said.

"On it, Aline!" Sprig gave a solute, then pulled out his slingshot and fired off multiple pellets rapidly. Gabriel reached quickly and used the shield item he'd been holding on to, while Logan, Adam, and Toren all were spun out by the attack.

"You traitor!" Logan shouted as the Hex Rider passed them.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to talk to him after this," Sprig sighed. "Destiny is usually better at calming him down, though…"

Adam recovered quickly and sped up to reach Aline, while Logan growled, aggressively gunning the Gracious Bird to try and pull ahead of both Adam and Aline. With the middle of the pack fighting, Rachel and Silver were neck and neck with a special in hand as well.

"See you at the finish line!" Silver waved goodbye as Aurora used her special, a berry themed speed boost.

"Bruno, you know what to do," Rachel said to her partner.

Bruno's eyes glowed green, then he gasped. "Turn right to go left!" he said.

"Oh, I know that reference," Vanellope said. "Let me handle this."

Rachel nodded, then let Vanellope take control as she hit a hard drift to go the long way around the Partner's statue. When she pulled back onto the straightaway, the power of her drift created a slingshot effect that shot the Sweet Vision right up behind the Blue Royale as Aurora's boost ended. With a last-second slipstream, Rachel pulled off from Silver as they crossed the finish line, making it a photo finish in favor of Team Sweet Vision.

"And Sweet Vision wins the race!" Lightning announced. "Blue Royale earns second, with Gracious Bird pulling a last-minute position change to third!"

The racers all came to a stop behind the castle, where Magic Kingdom citizens gathered around Rachel's team to celebrate their win. "Good job racing out there," Daisy said, wearing her reporter attire as she held a microphone towards Rachel. "Tell us, how do you feel about winning this race today?"

"I want to first thank Silver and his team for giving us a run for their money," Rachel said.

Silver blushed. "Gee, I just wanted to try and win as much as you, Rachel."

"I'd also like to thank Bruno for his vision there at the end. It really gave us the edge," Rachel said, throwing and arm around Bruno.

"It was nothing," Bruno said, though he smiled at bit at being complimented for his gift.

"I think everyone is going to be talking about Bruno after this race," Daisy laughed.

As the other racers gave their compliments to Rachel, Gabriel went over and tapped Logan on the shoulder. "You okay, man? You seem more, aggressive than usual? I mean, I know having race against as close a friend as Sprig is hard for you, especially after… You know, everything you've been through."

"I don't want to talk about it," Logan said, crossing his arms.

Gabriel stepped back. "Okay, just remember that we're all here for you. And hey, maybe if you got to know Aline a bit better, you might find that she's not that bad of a person."

"It sounds to me like you're easy to forgive her," Logan shot back.

Gabriel frowned. "She's a girl that was pressured by her parents to be the best, and that made her act mean towards others. I've seen her start to grow past that, and I'm pretty sure Sprig wouldn't be friends with her either if she was still the same way she was back in the Sorcerer's Arena. Just, don't let the competition get to your head, or else it might get yourself and your friends hurt." The raven sighed and walked away.

Logan didn't respond, but he looked at the crowd cheering on Rachel. Nearby Della had seen the conversation between the two boys and thought to herself, "I'm the mother of three boys, and I can tell when someone's being hard on themselves. I know that feeling all too well. Don't worry, Logan, I'll help you get through this."


Total Points:

1st Rachel (8)

2nd Silver (7)

3rd Logan (6)

4th Aline (5)

5th Adam (4)

6th Gabriel (3)

7th Toren (2)

8th Beth (1)


Author's Note

And that's the first race! If you want to know how I got the item distribution and who hit who, it was all determined by the roll of the dice, literally! I set up a chart to determine things like how well teams do at the start of the race, during the Pitstop Challenges, and which items they get and who uses what special. This also means that whoever wins the competition at the end is completely random, and I'm so excited to see who ends up the overall winner!

As for the first Pitstop Challenge, it's in reference to the infamous It's a Small World ride, which you either love and sing along to or you try to avoid it with all cost. Either way that song isn't going to leave your head for the whole day.

And we have some more on the Logan/Aline subplot. Logan is a very competitive guy, but he's also worried about losing his friends due to that happening to him before in the past. Hopefully Della and his other teammates can help him get out of his funk, or at least cool the tension between himself and Aline.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to improve on writing the race, as this is the first time I'm writing a story like this.

Next Race: we head to a galaxy far, far away to race on an iconic track!