CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: The Race.

The karts kicked up tons of dirt as they sped off down the valley. Bottles had managed to break an early lead, but the other, more experienced drivers eventually overcame him.

"Nice one, Dumper!" yelled Tiptup, cutting ahead.

The road suddenly funneled inward as the path went under a tunnel.

"Watch out!" said an unfamiliar lady bat with cleavage when she suddenly began to spin out, sideswiping the mole's kart.

"Whoa!" Bottles shouted, desperately trying to avoid smashing into the wall just to the right of the tunnel entrance.

Darkness swept over the racers as they drove into the opening.

The mole fiddled with buttons and knobs. "Where is the switch for the headlights?"

"Since when do karts even HAVE headlights?" questioned Kazooie.

They were switched on just in time to see racers spilling tacks ahead of them.

"Great, cheaters!" Bottles punched the dashboard in frustration. Suddenly a magnet pushed out of a compartment behind the license plate of his kart, attracting the tacks to it and off the road.

"Guess they're not the only cheaters," said the feathered one, poking her head out from inside the backpack.

The contestants had cleared the tunnel. A series of hills and mounds lay before them.

"Yay, a minefield!" yipped a mouse who seemed to be Pipsy's masochistic little brother.

"Minefield?" said the mole. "What kind of race is this?"

"A kind where one of the largest known pieces of platinum is up for grabs?" suggested Kazooie.

Bottles tightened the strap on his visor. "Then away we go." The mole cut off two of the racers and nudged a third. "Nice day, isn't it?" he asked the driver.

"Why, yes it is," said Krinch, Krunch's older cousin. It distracted the kremling just enough for him not to realize he was running over a mine.

Boom.

"I'm staring to like this side of you," said the impressed bird.

Bottles became a force to be reckoned with as he caught the lead. Unfortunately, Tiptup gained speed and began to tail the mole.

"Where do you think your heading?" asked the turtle. "I've got 162 little girls at home who are waiting for their precious metal bracelets!" He readied his homing missiles.

Bottles looked back to the dashboard. "Let's see what this does." He pressed a button shaped like a lightning bolt.

An electrical beam shot out from the behind the kart, striking the missiles before they could be launched.

Tiptup's pupils shrunk to pinpoints. "Doody..."

The resulting flaming tires soared out in two directions, activating nearby mines.

Bottles and Kazooie roared in front, blazing past the smoke screen. "We're unstoppable!" exclaimed the Breegull as they started crossing the bridge to the finish.

But as they were halfway across, she realized she had spoken too soon.

A shadow suddenly rose up from under the bridge, where it had been waiting. The figure swooped low on its broom as it came into view.

"No way!" yelped Bottles. "It can't be."

"But it is," Kazooie insisted.

It was Squinty.

"Well, guess who thinks he's gonna win the trophy!" said the evil mole. "You always were my underdog."

Bottles leaned hard on the gas.

"Hit him with everything you've got!" urged the Breegull. "What are you waiting for?"

"I… I can't hurt family," admitted the mole.

"Not so fast, Bumper!" said Squinty. "You can't possibly think I'm going to let you win this race to help Blackeye, do you?" A bright orb expanded in his hand. "Especially when I do this?" He tossed the spell at the section of bridge ahead of them.

The path exploded on impact, cracking open an impassible gap between them and the finish line.

"Oh no!" yelled Bottles. "What do we do now?"

"Losing stamina, eh?" said the bird. "Just keep flooring it!"

"What?"

"Do it!"

The space between the kart and the unbelievable gap became smaller and smaller as Squinty became perplexed. "Death by heights ain't a good thing," he said with a cackle. "You can trust me on that."

Closer and closer the kart sped. "I hope you've got something in mind," said Bottles. Mere inches away from the cliff edge, he closed his eyes.

It felt like a dream.

A soft flutter filled the mole's ears. The harsh grinding of the tires fell away, and the engine subsequently stalled out.

He opened his eyes.

Kazooie was fiercely flapping her wings, keeping the kart in the air as it soared over to the other end of the bridge.

"Y--you're a genius!" gasped the mole.

"No sweat," wheezed the bird, struggling to keep the vehicle up. "I'm –pant- sorry, Bottles, but--" and she spat out a fire egg towards the completely befuddled Squinty.

It was a direct hit, setting the evil mole's broom afire. He quickly dived under the bridge and out of sight.

As the kart landed safely onto the other side, the engine suddenly came back to life, and Bottles hit the gas.

"I see them!" uttered Taj, peering through binoculars as the mole's vehicle approached the finish line. "Yes, yes… It is Bumper! What a large lead he has! I do not even see the other racers!"

The crowd erupted with delight as Bottles slowed and finally stalled out again when he crossed the finish.

"Congratulations! Bumper has won the DK Valley Kart Racing Challenge!"