Race 3: Brisbane

"Welcome back, race fans, to the next leg in the Magical World Grand Prix!" Lightning announced. "Today our GP takes us to the sunny city of Brisbane, Australia for a mix of both street and off-road racing in the Outback!"

"And we have some special helpers for this race today," Mickey added. "The stars of the Disney Junior show "Bluey" are here to run both the starting line and Pitstop challenge! It's always great to have friends wherever you go, so don't be shy to say hello to them as you race by, teams!"

"Jet Pack Guy, what's the lowdown on the course today?" Lightning asked.

The camera swapped over to Jet Pack Guy in front of a map. "The race starts here at the Heeler residence, going through the neighborhood and out into the city where the Pitstop Challenge will be held." Tapping on the pitstop pulled up a camera feed of the area, where the Australian cattle dog Bluey waved to the audience. "After that the race will continue out into the Outback, where racers will need to be extra careful as the terrain gets rougher, before finally finishing at Calypso's school where the crowds will be waiting to congratulate the winner."

"It's definitely a more relaxing race than last week," Rookie added. "Not that that's a bad thing."

"Well then, let's get down the racers so we can begin!" Mickey announced.

[***]

"Huh, so this is a Disney Junior show world," Adam mused.

"You have a problem with that?" Toren asked, Nico and Jasiri giving the cyborg a judging look.

Adam held up his hands and laughed nervously. "I didn't mean to offend! Lots of programing for kids today is actually watchable by adults too, and Disney Junior does a good job of actually having story in their programing. At the very least it's better than the mindless trash that YouTube kid channels put out."

"Ain't that the truth," Toren nodded.

Satisfied with Adam's answer, Jasiri went back over to Gabriel, the raven bouncing on his feet with a smile on his face. "Oh, hey Jasiri, what's up?"

"Just defending my honor against potential naysayers," Jasiri said. "You seem excited today."

"We're here in Brisbane, the home of Bluey and friends," Gabriel explained. "It's one of my comfort shows, one that I can just put on whenever I feel down and instantly lift my mood back up. So you could say that getting to meet them today has me excited."

Jasiri giggled. "Okay then, but remember that we do have a race to win. You can get your autographs later."

Gabriel laughed, but then looked over to see Logan brooding in his car. "He did not take coming in last well at all…" the raven sighed. "Hey Logan! Beautiful day for racing, am I right?"

Logan shrugged. "I guess…" he then looked around and raised an eyebrow. "Why do I get Animal Crossing vibes from this place?"

"Probably because it's a preschool show," Ant Man shrugged. "I think Spidey has one of these now."

"Okay racers, let's get to your vehicles so we can start the race!" Cruz announced.

The racers did as they were told, lining up at the end of the cul-de-sac and revving their engines. Instead of Cruz waving the starting flag, that honor when to Bluey's little sister, Bingo. She looked nervous about everyone watching her, but her mother, Chili, was there to support her.

"Come on, Bingo, you can do it," Chili said reassuringly.

"Okay," Bingo replied. She held up the flag, but then looked to Chili. "Mum, can you hold me up so everyone can see me?"

Chili smiled. "Of course, sweetie." The older red heeler picked Bingo up, placing the pup on her shoulders as Bingo raised her flag high. "You ready now?"

Bingo nodded, smiling as she began the countdown.

3..

2..

1..

Go!

Bingo waved her flag, with the racers all zooming off down the neighborhood street. "And Gabriel's team takes the lead, followed by a fierce battle for second between Logan, Rachel, and Toren!"

"These roads are more packed than usual, so be on the lookout for the chaos items may bring," Mickey warned just as the teams all grabbed the first set of items on a turn.

"Time to make our enemies quiver in fear!" King said, tossing a bomb that spun out the Concerto Comet.

"Ah! Good shot," Gabriel said as he fell behind.

"And now for us to pull ahead," Poe said, using a firework to knock Logan back.

"Now's our chance to pull ahead!" Silver cheered as Aurora activated her special, boosting the Blue Royale all the way up to first place with Heart of a Jaquin.

"I think the universe is trying to spite me," Logan seethed.

"Banana attack!" Sprig called as he attacked the SEA Racer.

"I we return to you a bomb attack," Athena said, precisely hitting the Hex Rider and pulling into seventh place.

"They just UNO reversed us!" Aline said in shock.

"As we get closer to Brisbane city limits, more of the extended Heeler family are here to help out in the race," Mickey said as the racers came up past Uncle Stripe's house. Lined up on the road was the next set of items, set out by Bluey's younger cousins, Muffin and Socks.

"Let's go racers!" Uncle Stripe called as they whizzed by.

"Dad, I want to race too!" Muffin shouted.

Stripe looked sheepish as he replied, "Sorry Muffin, but you have to wait until your older to be in this kind of race."

"Wow that kid has some pipes," Toren winced, scratching at his ringing ear. The Jaquin was so distracted that he didn't register that Silver's team had another special ready and aimed at them.

"Now Cinderella!" Silver commanded. The princess used her special to toss a pumpkin bomb at Heart of a Jaquin, which not only spun it out but turned the vehicle into a pumpkin carriage, making it slower to boot.

"You know, I don't get the hype behind riding inside a giant vegetable," Nico said.

"Finally, a good item," Logan said as he team boosted ahead a place.

"Hey Adam, why don't we team up so we can move ahead?" Aline offered. "I'll go first: firework attack!" Her item went past Adam and hit Beth, moving her back a place.

Melanie raised an eyebrow. "Why would we help you after you rudely hit us before?" she questioned. "And besides, we have another bomb." She dropped the item, hitting both Aline and Beth as they moved ahead in the race.

"I think the universe is out to get you and Logan now," Scratch said as he lounged on the back of the Hex Rider.

"Not helping, Scratch," Luz muttered.

"Hey, we got our own special this time!" Rocket said. "What's it do?"

"My special lets us drive off-road without slowing down, but I don't know how that's going to help us here in the city," Jasiri said as they went into the main part of Brisbane.

Gabriel hummed, looking around for any potential shortcuts. "Lop, do you have anything on your scanner?"

"Not unless our car can drive on water," Lop replied. "We can cut through the upcoming park if we could drive across the lake and up that ramp."

"I can do that!" Jasiri nodded. Activating her power, the Concerto Comet glowed purple as it was enveloped in the image of a spectral crocodile. Jasiri's powers over nature allowed the car to essentially turn into a speedboat, racing over the lake and going off a jump to get back over the road.

At the same time Wendy, a Japanese spitz and next-door neighbor to the Heelers, was out on her morning walk when Gabriel's team suddenly flew right over her head, giving her a fright. "Morning, Wendy!" Gabriel shouted as they drove off.

Wendy quickly backed away from the road as the other racers raced past soon afterwards. "My word!" the spitz said, shaking her head before returning to her walk.

"Was that shortcut even legal?" Beth wondered.

"I mean, that ramp was on the track for a reason," Bonkers shrugged.

[***]

Once they reached the middle of the city, the racers all came to stop at a central plaza where Cruz was waiting for them. "Pitstop!" Guido said.

"That's right, the Pitstop Challenge is now," Cruz said. "And for today, we have Bluey here to give you guys your challenge."

"Hello," Bluey said, waving to the teams.

'She's so cute!' most of the racers thought to themselves.

"So Bluey, what' the challenge for today?" Cruz asked.

Bluey raised her hand into the air to speak, but then looked confused and put her hand down. "What' the matter, squirt?" Bluey's Dad, Bandit, asked.

"Well, I just realized that I didn't actually think of a challenge for them," Bluey admitted.

"WHAT!?" the more impatient racers shouted in disbelief.

"Guys, she's six years old, give Bluey some slack," Gabriel said, shaking his head. The raven went over and knelt down to talk to Bluey. "Hey there Bluey, I'm Gabriel the Dream Keeper. It's nice to meet you."

"You're a talking bird!" Bluey said in amazement.

Gabriel chuckled. "Yep, and you're a talking dog, so we're not that different, are we? I heard you were having trouble coming up with the Pitstop Challenge, and I just wanted to say that I believe in you. Just think of this as one of the games you play with your sister."

"Oh, okay," Bluey replied, smiling and nodding. Like a lightbulb going off, the blue heeler gasped as her tail wagged with excitement. "I know, let's play Dance Mode!"

"Oh, not Dance Mode," Bandit groaned.

"What is this 'Dance Mode; you speak of?" Lop asked.

"Whenever music's playing, you whack the person in Dance Mode on the tail so they start dancing," Bluey explained.

"So it's a dance competition, kind of," Rachel said.

"But we don't have any music," Toren pointed out.

"And that's where I come in," Gabriel said. With a bit Fantasia magic, the raven summoned a boombox for Bandit to hold.

"Woah, totally retro!" Bandit said. "I haven't seen one of these since the 80s! This is how we played music before it was all on your phone, Bluey."

"For real life?" Bluey questioned. She pressed a button on the boombox and watched in amazement as music started playing. "We can do Dance Mode now. Hooray!"

"But some of us don't have tails for this to work," Adam said.

"Then we can just slap your hand instead," Gabriel said as he started bouncing with the music. "Hm… This wasn't my first choice for dancing to, but it should be fun either way. Bluey, tag me it!"

Bluey giggled as she slapped Gabriel's tail, the raven starting to move and clap along to the song as he started singing too.

Boom clap

Boom de clap de clap

Boom-boom clap

Boom de clap de clap

Boom-boom clap

Boom de clap de clap

Boom-boom clap

Boom de clap de clap

"Try it with me, here we go!" Gabriel said, tapping Jasiri, Rocket and Lop on the tail, which magically compelled them to follow their leader in the dance. Jasiri even shifted into her more anthropomorphic form in order to dance with Gabriel better.

Boom-boom clap

Boom de clap de clap

"That's right!" Gabriel laughed.

"Ugh, I can't believe we're doing this," Rocket sighed.

"Just glad it's you and not me, mate," Bandit laughed.

Boom de clap de clap

Boom-boom clap

Boom de clap de clap

"One-Two-Three! everybody come on off your seats!" Gabriel said, going around and tapping in the other teams to dance. "I'm gonna tell you 'bout a beat that's gonna make you move your feet."

I'll give the barbecue

Show and tell you how to move

If you're five or eighty-two

This is something you can do

"Follow with me now!" Gabriel said.

Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it

Gabriel put his left arm out, then brought both arms in to his sides before shuffling to the left and poking at the air with his right

Countrify it then hip-hop it

Gabriel put his hands to his hips like a cowboy holding his belt, tapping both heels to the front before sticking out his right foot and arms in a hip-hop dance step.

Put your hawk in the sky

And move side-to-side

Gabriel put his arms together and threw them upwards, miming a bird in flight with his hands, then bouncing his crossed arms to either side.

Jump to the left, stick it, glide

Gabriel scooped his left leg around his right in a jumping dance step before bringing his feet back together and sliding backwards with a pushing motion forwards.

Zig-zag, across the floor

Shuffle in diagonal

Gabriel did a zigzag pattern with his right leg, going for a heel touch into two steps to he right before shuffling to the left twice and backwards twice.

When the drum hits, hands on your hips

One-footed 180 twist

Gabriel imitated hitting a drum while kicking forward two steps, bringing his hands down to his hips before turning around and hopping on one leg to reface the front.

Then a zig-zag, step slide

Lean it left, clap 3 times

Gabriel did another zigzag touch move, but this time his slid to the left before leaning back and clapping three times.

Shake it out, head to toe

Throw it all together, that's how we roll

Gabriel did a shaking dance in a circle before throwing his right hand down and bringing both hands up.

Do the hoedown (throwdown!)

Do the hoedown (throwdown!)

Do the hoedown (throwdown!)

Throw it all together, that's how we roll!

"Are we done yet?" Logan asked. "This is kinda embarrassing."

"Do don't it for yourself, Logan, do it for the kid," Della said, pointing out how Bluey was enjoying the show.

We get to 4, 5, 6

And you're feeling busted

But it's not time to quit

Practice makes you perfect

"Go Silver!" Gabriel called.

Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it

Countrify it then hip-hop it

Silver and the Princesses popped and locked as best they could.

Put your hawk in the sky

And move it side-to-side

"Now Toren!"

Toren and Nico just flapped their wings for the hawk part.

Jump to the left, stick it, glide

"You can do it Rachel!"

Thanks to her ballroom dance training with Poe, Rachel was pretty well versed in the field of dancing.

Zig-zag, cross the floor

Shuffle in diagonal

"Come on, Logan!"

"Fine…" Logan sighed, following the dance steps alongside his team.

When the drum hits

Hands on your hips

One-footed 180 twist

"Twist it out, Adam!"

Despite only being a cyborg, Adam was the most robotic with his dance moves compared to the rest of his team.

Then a zig-zag, step slide

Lean it left, clap 3 times

"Think you can do it, Aline?"

"I was born for this!" Aline said, confidently busting out her dance moves.

Shake it out, head to toe

Throw it all together, that's how we roll

"Finish us off, Beth!"

The enthusiastic girl giggled as her team brought the dance around to the end.

Do the hoedown (throwdown!)

Do the hoedown (throwdown!)

Do the hoedown (throwdown!)

Throw it all together, that's how we roll!

"I wanna turn!" Bluey said. "You two, Dad!"

"Bluey, wait-!" Bandit tried to said, but she slapped his tail and he was compelled to dance. "Everyone, I'm doing this for my kid!"

Gabriel laughed. "Work it, Bandit!" The raven freestyled for a bit alongside Jasiri, even grinning as he saw Rocket starting to do his own dance moves despite protesting earlier.

Boom dap clap, ba-boom dap clap, clap, clap

Boom dap clap, ba-boom da clap, clap, clap

Boom da clap, boom de clap de clap

Throw it all together, that's how we roll!

The song ended, and Gabriel gave a bow as the crowd cheered.

"That was fun!" Bluey laughed. "Can we do it again?"
'Sorry squirt, but these guys have to get back to the race," Bandit said.

Bluey gave an aw of disappointment, which made Gabriel smild softly. "Don't worry, Bluey, I'll make sure to come back here another time and we can play some more."

"For real life?" she asked.

"You bet," Gabriel said with a nod.

"Just make sure it's not dancing next time," Rocket added. "I can't let Quill know I kinda, maybe, sorta enjoy doing this stuff…"

"You wouldn't be saying the same thing if Lylla asked you to dance," Gabriel said slyly.

That got the raccoon blushing. "Hey, leave Lylla out if this!"

"Who's Lylla?" Rachel asked.

"Rocket's soulmate from the comics," Gabriel explained. "She's been in a few of the video games as well and might even be in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but that's beside the point."

"Okay racers, let's get back on the track!" Cruz called.

[***]

"After that Pitstop Challenge, time to get back to racing!" Lightning called. "The Concerto Comet is out in front, followed by the Blue Royale and Heart of a Jaquin."

"We'll be in the Outback soon, so the racers better make use of the paved roads while they can," Mickey said.

"I got the Sweet Vision in my sights," Rocket smirked as he fired off a banana to slow Rachel down.

"Watch out for this, Silver!" Toren called, tossing a bomb his way.

"Two can play at that game," Silver retorted, tossing his own bomb that spun out both Toren and Gabriel's vehicles.

"Everyone's really competitive today!" Gabriel said.

"You seem happy about that," Lop said, confusion on her face.

Gabriel just smiled. "I feel really good today, so nothing is going to keep me down!"

"Vanellope, it seems that you have your special," Poe pointed out.

"Yeah, but you gotta save this stuff for the right moment," the racer replied.

That moment came when Logan tossed a bomb at them. Vanellope responded by "glitching" the Sweet Vision, making it intangibly and nullifying that attack, letting them keep fourth place.

"Great job there," Bruno gave a thumb's up.

"It seems that Aline is right behind us now," Dastan said.

"Then let's keep it that way," Logan said, driving to cut her off.

"Molly, can Scratch help out here?" Aline asked, seeing the girl had her special ready.

"Yeah, yeah, don't have to yell," Scratch sighed. He phased ahead to see what was up on the track then came back. "So, you might want to slow down a bit for the kangaroo crossing."

"You aren't making that up, are you?" Luz questioned.

"No, look!" Molly pointed ahead. Sure enough, the race was now out in the Outback, and the racers had to weave through a pack of kangaroos as they trekked through the fields.

"It's double item time as the finish line comes closer and closer!" Lightning announced. "What will happen in this last leg of the race?"

Rocket grinned as an aura surrounded him. "Oh yeah, I've been waiting for this!" the raccoon said. He stood up from his seat and loaded a special round into his blaster. "Check this out: Cluster Flark Bomb!"

"Language!" Silver called as he and Toren both activated their shield powerups, protecting them as grenades came raining down on them. Logan and Rachel weren't so lucky, as their firework attacks were outgunned by Rocket's bombs and forced them to fall behind, which let Aline get in front of them too.

"Oh, come on!" Logan groaned.

"Deep breaths, Logan, deep breaths," Della said.

The racers soon entered a forest, the last part of the race in sight. "Give your all in the final push, racers!" Mickey cheered.

"This isn't good," Stitch shook his head as the Toon Buggy failed to gain any lead.

"We did our best, but not enough," Iron Man sighed.

"Sorry Rachel, but I have to place higher to win!" Logan called, drafting behind the Sweet Vision before pulling ahead a place.

"It's down to the three of us," Toren said.

"And no matter what happens next," Silver added.

"We're all going to be winners today!" Gabriel shouted.

The three of them were neck-and-neck, before Calypso's school came into sigh, the Australian Shepard waiting at the doorsteps alongside Bluey and her school friends. It was Gabriel, then Toren, then Silver, until finally…

"It's a photo finish!" Lightning announced, the crowd cheering as the teams came to stop. "Rookie, give us the replay so we can see who won today's race!"

"You got it, Mr. McQueen!" Rookie saluted before pulling out a projector to show the teams what had happened at the end. Setting the video to super-slow motion, everyone watched to see who got first place this time. It was a very tight finish, but in the end the Blue Royale's hood ornatment crossed the line first.

"That makes the Blue Royale our winners today, followed by Heart of a Jaquin in second and Concerto Comet in third!" Mickey announced.

The kids all gathered around to give their congratulations to Silver, the boy looking bashful as Daisy came up for the interview. "Silver, congratulations on your win. You and the princesses put in a lot of work out there. What's your secret?"

"Well, honestly I don't know how we won," Silver admitted. "But I was just glad that I got the chance to place so high today with my friends."

"Toren's team certainly had us there for a moment," Cinderella said.

"Gabriel's team pulled some good tricks as well," Aurora added.

Elsa laughed softly. "You know, it's almost fitting that the Blue Royale team one the Bluey race."

"Heh, that is funny," Silver laughed.

"Alright kids, I believe you have something for our brave racers today?" Calypso said. Each of the kids went to one of the teams and presented them a picture drawn of said team. It was a sweet gesture and a nice send-off to the race.

"Hey you go, mister," said Jack, handing his picture to Logan.

He took it, smiling a bit as he did so. 'Heh, it reminds me of when I first started drawing,' Logan thought. "Thanks, uh…"

"Jack!" the Jack Russell responded, tail wagging.

Logan patted him on the head. "Thanks Jack, it's nice."

Gabriel stood off to the side, smiling. "I hope Logan can lighten up a bit now," he said to himself.

"Yeah, and if we can get Aline not to taunt him back, the two could actually become friends," Silver said. "Or maybe…"

"No, we don't ship our friends like that!" Rachel said, swatting Silver on the back of the head.

"I was joking!" Silver said, holding his head where Rachel had struck. "You know Gabriel, I was surpsied that you knew the Hoedown Throwdown. It doesn't seem like your kind of music."

Gabriel shrugged. "I mean, I'm not a Hannah Montana fan, but I am from Texas, so you kinda need to know a thing or two about country."

"Learn something new about you every day," Jasiri chuckled.

Bluey then came up to Gabriel with Bingo in toe. "Mr. Dream Keeper, you are going to come back and visit, right?"

"You bet, and I'll bring my other friends too," Gabriel said.

"Pinky promise?" Bingo asked.

Gabriel did the gesture with both sisters. "Pinky promise."


Total Points

Aline (17)

Gabriel (17)

Silver (17)

Rachel (16)

Logan (11)

Toren (12)

Adam (10)

Beth (8)


Author's Note

A surprise race, this time in the world of Bluey! While not created by Disney, Bluey is distributed by Disney here in America and is on Disney Plus, so it qualifies for his story (similar to how Miraculous Ladybug has in previous stories of mine). Bluey really is a comfort show of mine and I've wanted to write Gabriel and Bluey meeting for some time now. It gives me the laid-back vides of playing Animal Crossing, especially in the amazing soundtrack. If you've seen the show before you might even catch a few callbacks to some of the episodes!

The Pitstop Challenge was fun, even if I used "Hoedown Throwdown" more because it's a cheesy song rather than me genuinely like it (it's one of those "yeah it's bad but you go along with in anyway" songs for me). Rocket once again having to deal with doing embarrassing things, but I think he'll warm up to the Dream Keeper antics soon enough.

And wow was the ending close this time! Silver's team winning was a chance roll of the dice, but the blue team winning the Bluey race really is fitting, huh?

Next time: a race through a city with BIG heroes on the scene!