AN: Spoilers for "Book of Boba Fett" in this chapter! It's a minor one, but if you don't know how Boba Fett survived escaping the Sarlacc Pit, be warned!
Race 2: Boonta Eve Classic
"Welcome back, race fans, to the sweltering heat of Tatooine!" Mickey announced. "The desert sands are ready for our racers to tear through today!"
"That's right Mickey," Lightning nodded. "And a special shout-out to Boba Fett for sponsoring the race today. As the Daimyo of Mos Espa, he's the one in charge of these parts, so it's an honor for him to let us use his track in the Magical World Grand Prix."
"Speaking of which, as our racers will be travelling through a course that's usually reserved for Podracing, they'll be needing special modifications in order to cross the treacherous terrain," Mickey said. "Let's head down to the track where the Pitstop Challenge is already underway!"
[***]
"Pitstop!" Guido said to the camera.
"That's right, Guido, the Pitstop Challenge this time happens before the race begins," Cruz said, taking the camera crew into the garage. "Our teams are all setting up their vehicles with special anti-gravity wheels that will allow their cars to glide along the sand like Podracers."
"It's just like in Mario Kart," Logan said to his team. "Della, how's it looking down there?"
"All good kid!" the duck replied.
"This is a piece of cake," Rocket scoffed, pressing a button on the Concerto Comet's console. "I had this baby hooked up with all the gadgets from the start."
"Very proactive of you, Mr. Rocket," Lop nodded.
The other teams were similarly having an easy time installing the anti-gravity wheels, whether it be through technology or magic. Silver, however, was having a bit of trouble, as neither he nor the princesses were mechanically inclined for the job.
"I wish Belle was here," Silver sighed. "Her dad's an inventor, so she'd probably have an idea of what to do."
Suddenly, Beth popped up behind Silver, tapping him on the shoulder and making the boy jump in surprise. "Hey there!" she greeted. "I noticed that you're having some trouble installing the new wheels. Care for some help?"
"That would be nice, yes," Silver said.
"You're not going to secretly sabotage our car, are you?' Elsa questioned.
"Why would I do that?" Beth asked. "This race is all in good fun, so I'd be pretty mean to do something like that." She whistled and called Stitch over. "Stitch, help these guys install the anti-gravity wheels, please."
Stitch nodded and got to work, installing the tech in record time. "Thanks Beth and Stitch," Silver said.
"Anytime," Beth smiled.
"Racers, get your cars out to the track for the race to begin!" Cruz called. Everyone went out to the track, lined up in the order they came in last race. "Activate your anti-gravity wheels and start your engines!" With a push of a button all the car wheels folded inward, creating a repulsion field that levitated them off of the ground.
"Hope you're ready to eat my dust, Gabriel!" Toren said.
"We actually have an air filter to keep the sand out of our faces as we drive," Jasiri called back.
"Oh," Toren said.
"Oh? You're just going to let them brush off your banter?" Nico questioned.
"I mean, I don't really have a comeback for them," Toren shrugged.
"Call them beneath us!" King said.
"Uh… you're beneath us?" Toren said, a bit confused.
"No, you guys are beside us," Adam called.
"We just had to be next to the two people that you can't properly have friendly insults with," Nico sighed.
"And remember, racers, this race is only one lap around the track, so make every second count!" Mickey announced.
3
2
1
GO!
The racers all zoomed out of the arena… well, most of them did. "It looks like Team Blue Royale is having engine troubles!" Lightning announced.
"Come on, work!" Silver said.
"Oh dear, this isn't good," Cinderella said.
"Why do I get the feeling that I know who caused this," Elsa sighed. Using her powers, she gave the team a boost with a blast of ice, giving the car enough of a jumpstart to actually start racing.
With the Toon Buggy, Stitch laughed as he babbled on to himself. "Stitch, did you sabotage Silver?" Beth chided.
"Ah, a little monster after my own heart," Eda laughed.
"Don't encourage him," Beth sighed.
The teams stayed close together as they raced through Starlite Flats, picking up their first sets of items as they entered the dangerous Mushroom Mesa, which was filled with tall mushroom-shaped rock formations.
"Give my regards to Aline," Poe said as he tossed a banana back at the Hex Rider. While it didn't make much sense physics-wise for a banana to trip up a floating vehicle, cartoon logic won out as Aline was sent spinning dangerously close to the rocks.
"Yikes!" Aline gasped, getting control of her car to move out of danger. "Sprig, Firework to our right!"
The frog launched the projectile, the momentum pushing their team away from the wall while also hitting the SEA Racer, pushing them against it instead.
"Hey, we just got this thing repainted!" Tony yelled as they were passed by.
"Alright, this is my kind of race!" Logan cheered. "It's just like what Anakin did in Episode 1, where he-"
"Yeah, yeah, you gave us the whole rundown on the prequels before the race, remember?" Dastan interrupted. The Prince of Persia suddenly pointed forward. "Look out!"
Toren's team had tossed a banana their way, and Logan had to swerve to get out of the way. The slammed into the wall, dragging them to the back of the pack. "Darn it! Scott, toss that bomb so we can get back in the race!"
Ant Man did so, but Silver's team was prepared, putting up a shield to nullify the attack. The race soon came out onto Ebe Crater Valley, where the racers had to avoid falling into the large holes in the course. "At least these are naturally made holes and not ones dug up by kids at summer camp forced to look for buried treasure," Adam mused.
The course quickly narrowed out as the racers dropped into Beggar's Canyon, a winding part of the race that also held each team's next set of items.
"Time to move on up!" Aline said, activating her boost as they came around the corner.
"You'll have to keep up the pace to pass us!" Rachel called, her team boosting ahead as well.
"Looks like it's Lop's turn with the special," Gabriel said.
"There's a service ramp up ahead that we can use to get ahead," Lop noted on her scanner.
Gabriel grinned wildly. "I always wanted to do this!" he said excitedly.
"Looks like the Concerto Comet is heading for the service ramp!" Lightning announced.
"The Gracious Bird and Toon Buggy have the same idea as well!" Mickey noted.
Gabriel drove their car up the ramp, waiting until they were airborne to give the signal. "Now Lop!" he called.
The Lepi girl nodded, then closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. The Concerto Comet soared through the air, Lop steering them safely over the canyon as they landed right behind Rachel. They were so close to first place now!
"Let's go!" Logan cheered, activating his own personal power. With a quick drawing in his sketchbook the Gracious Bird gained an nitro engine that blasted them off of the ramp and forward a few places. Their car grinded on the ground after they landed, but it was mostly safe.
"I'm going to have to inspect the undercarriage after this race," Della sighed.
"Why do I hear singing?" Scott asked.
Looking above them, Logan gasped as Beth's team soared ahead of them, the team leader using the power of music to slow down the nearby racers so she could pull ahead. "It's always the singing ones that get in our way, isn't it?" Logan sighed.
Coming out of Beggar's Canyon, the track opened up into the most dangerous part of the track, Arch Canyon. Filled with rocky archways, the racers had to carefully maneuver through the terrain, or else they'd end up squashed against the rockface. Items were scattered about, making it even more perilous than normal.
"You know, we probably could have omitted items and this still would have been an interesting race," Lightning mused.
"Bruno, you got a special again," Rachel said. "Tell me what you see."
"I see… an explosion?" he said. "Wait, it's in front of us, right about- slow down!"
Rachel hit the brakes as a bomb soared over them, nearly hitting them. The pause to avoid danger, however, let Gabriel and his team pass them by. Shaking her head, Rachel hit the gas and let Bruno guide her through the archways. "Gabriel knows how to keep it interesting," she chuckled.
"What I wouldn't give to be out of this place!" Silver shouted.
"Let me help with that," Elsa said. Using her special, the snow queen created a path of ice for their car to drive over, taking the Blue Royale up and over the archways entirely!
"Thanks Elsa," Silver sighed in relief.
Diving into the Laguna Caves, the racers came out on the other side into the infamous Canyon Dune Turn, a wide turn where Tusken Raiders hid out on top of the canyon to attack racers. Like any other race, the teams had to now dodge laser fire raining down on them as they came up on the next set of items.
"I. Don't. Like. This!" Toren shouted, frantically avoiding the shots.
"You know, with Boba Fett in charge, shouldn't these guys be-?" Della started to say.
"No spoilers!" Logan interrupted. "I haven't seen Book of Boba Fett yet!"
"You really need to catch up on the Disney Plus shows, man," Lightning said over the radio.
"Don't remind me," Logan rolled his eyes.
Entering the narrow Bindy Bend, the double items were ready for the racers as they kept on going. "Oh boy, this'll be fun," Aline said as her special move charged up. "Hey Rachel, remember how I was turned into a cat for awhile there?"
"Yes," Rachel called back.
Aline held up her hand and drew a magic glyph in the air. "Well, watch this: Cat-tastrophe!" Activating the spell, the Sweet Vision was transformed into a cat, which in turn meant the Rachel had no control over the vehicle, causing them all to hold on for dear life as they lost their leading position in the race.
"Slow down you crazy cat!" Vanellope called as they fell back into fourth place.
"You've gotta show me how to use that glyph," Luz asked. Suddenly their car froze in place as if someone had pressed pause on a video. Beth's team raced past them, with Bonkers being the culprit as the bobcat held a stopwatch in his grip.
"I knew having you on the team was a good idea," Beth said. "Cartoon logic is our advantage today!"
"Bonkers used that stopwatch to literally stop time for a brief moment on the Hex Rider!" Mickey said.
"And the racers are just now coming out onto the Hutt Flats, so close to the finish!" Lightning announced. "Make your final push and go, go, go!"
Toren's scarf glowed red as he shook his head. "We're not gonna lose, we're not gonna lose!" With the power of anger the Heart of a Jaquin blasted forward like a fireball, making the other racers swerve out of the way to avoid them.
"We can still make up for lost time," Silver said, pulling ahead two places.
"How are we still in the back of the pack!?" Logan shouted.
"Yeah, this kid needs to work some things out," Della muttered to herself.
Adam and Rachel looked at each other, then nodded as they pushed their vehicles to their limit.
"Eda, I'm not going to lose to you today!" Luz called as her team passed the Toon Buggy.
"You make me proud if whether or not you win, kid!" Eda called back with a smile.
"The finish line's up ahead!" Lop called. "I can't believe it, are we about to…?"
"Concerto Comet crosses the finish line in first place!" Mickey announced. "Hex Rider comes in a close second, with the Toon Buggy in third!"
Gabriel pulled the car into a drift, deactivating the anti-gravity wheels as the crowd started to gather around them. The raven gave a respectful bow to their fans as Daisy came up for the post-race interview. "Well, well, if it isn't our very own Dream Keeper Gabriel that takes the win today! How was it like getting to be on such a legendary racetrack like the Boonta Eve Classic?"
"Well Daisy, believe it or not but The Phantom Menace was my first ever Star Wars movie," Gabriel said. "I grew up with my little brother as the prequels were coming out, and we even dressed up as Obi-Wan and Darth Vader for Halloween the year Revenge of the Sith came out! So let me just say that it's a dream come true to be able to race here on Tatooine."
"It was certainly a rush out on the desert flats," Jasiri added. "I almost wanted to stick my head out of the car and feel the breeze, if it wasn't for all the dangers we had to face."
"But the Force guided us to our victory today," Lop said.
"And the car! Don't forget the car," Rocket interjected.
"You know, it's fitting that the only team that has a Star Wars character on it wins the Star Wars track," Adam mused.
"Ugh, I just now realized how much sand was in the air as we raced," Aline said in disgust, taking off her shoes and pouring out a comically large amount of sand. "Luz, break out the ice glyphs so we can get some water running. Seriously, why is there all this sand?"
Logan looked at Aline and smirked. "Well you know what they say about sand: it's rough, coarse, and gets everywhere."
"You didn't just prequel meme on me, did you?" Aline asked. Logan just smirked and walked away. "Did you!?"
As everyone went back to the garage to fix up any damage done to their car, Gabriel and Rachel were pulled aside by Jet Pack Guy, along with a man wearing green and red armor. "Gabriel, Rachel, this is Boba Fett," Jet Pack Guy introduced. "We wanted to talk to you about something strange that happened during the race."
"As you know, I was taken in by a tribe of Tuskens after I escaped the Sarlacc Pit," Boba Fett explained. "I earned my place among them, and as the new Daimyo of Mos Espa I came to an agreement with the nearby tribes to not disturb the races that were held during the Boonta Eve Classic."
"But we were attacked by Tuskens out there today," Rachel finished. "Could it be a rouge tribe?"
"Unlikely," Boba Fett shook his head. "I would have been made aware of any new tribes entering my territory."
Gabriel put a hand to his chin and hummed. "It could be one of two things: either they were bribed to attack us, or it was someone pretending to be Tuskens."
"Either way, it's something the Elite Penguin Force is going to look into," Jet Pack Guy explained. "We're here to make sure the Magical World Grand Prix runs smoothly. Hopefully this is just a one-time prank (and a very funny one, mind you), but if something else turns up, we wanted you two to be the first to know."
Gabriel and Rachel shared a look. "So, what should we do now?" the sword mage asked.
"Just continue racing and act like nothing unusual happened," Jet Pack Guy said. "If there is a villain plotting against us, we need to make sure they don't know we might be on to them."
Total Points
Rachel (13)
Aline (12)
Gabriel (11)
Silver (9)
Adam (8)
Logan (7)
Beth (7)
Toren (5)
Author's Note
If you're going to do a race and have it set in the Star Wars universe, you have to pay tribute to the Podracing scene from Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. The story Gabriel tells about his experience with Star Wars is my own real-world one, as my brother and I watch episodes 1, 2, and 3 first, then went back and watched the Original Trilogy on my dad's VHS tapes. My most important Star Wars memories came from the video games, though, especially the original Lego Star Wars. In fact, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga comes out tomorrow the day I post this, so I'm excited to get back to my roots as a Star Wars fan!
Not every Pitstop Challenge will be in the middle, and this time it gave all of the cars a new anti-gravity mode! This'll come in handy for some of the more out-there tracks they'll have to face. But Stitch was a bit mean to Silver back there, wasn't he? Beth will have to give him a talking to later.
If you didn't know, it's a running gag in the Magical World that Logan is woefully behind on keeping up with current shows, so that's why he's sensitive when talking about spoilers. He's also a fan of the Prequels, so he gets a bit of petty revenge on Aline with Anakin's infamous "not liking sand" quote, along with the "For the better, right?" meme. There's hope for their heated rivalry to smooth out yet, especially if Della steps in to steer the kid straight.
And what's this, someone might be trying to sabotage the race? The EPF are going to keep an eye out for trouble, but with the two most powerful sorcerers aware of the situation now, if anything does happen, they'll be prepared.
Next Time: the race heads to a land down under, but maybe not the one you're thinking of!
