It's good that you all are enjoying this story. I figured I can't just drag on this story, so things are gonna speed up.

Chapter 11: The Finals Announced! Take Off to Sedan Valley!
It's been a month since the beginning of the F-30 Grand Prix. The Smashers have successfully won many races. The only Smasher disqualified is Game & Watch; the others have all passed their preliminaries. Except for one at the moment…

-

Samus must catch up to the racer in front of her—the Green Biker Dude. This is her last race, and though she already has two winning records, she wouldn't lose this race still! She wants to get first place no matter what!

The Green Biker Dude is so sure of his victory that he performed a wheelie using his bike to show off. But then, he is shot in the back by Samus's plasma gun and is blown to pieces.

And so, Samus got first place after passing the line! "And first place goes to Samus!" exclaims Talko. "Congratulations on winning first place in the Onett Forest race!"

"Yes! I won!" exclaims Samus, jumping up from her starship.

-

That night at the mansion, the Smashers are celebrating over this because they all have successfully passed the preliminary tests. Well, except for one person…

"This is so great!" says Falco. "I'm so excited about the finals!"

"Now my dream of getting a mountain of food is getting nearer and nearer!" says Kirby with excitement.

"Yeah!" cheers Yoshi. "Your dream is my dream too!"

"Hey, don't get too happy," reminds Peach. "Remember that Game didn't pass the race."

"Never mind, it's nothing big," says G&W.

"I still feel bad for you," says Fox. "It's such a shame that you lost so quick."

"Guess racing isn't what I'm up for…"

"So what's next?" asks Ness. "Now that we passed the preliminaries…"

"Hmmm… If my memory serves me right," says Captain Falcon, "father was sent to the main headquarter of the F-30 Grand Prix some time after passing the preliminaries."

"You mean we're going to the place where they hold the official finals of the race?" asks Ness.

"I'm sure it is, but not exactly sure where the location is. Well, we just have to wait for news."

And the phone rings…

"Someone pick the phone," says Bowser. "I'm having a bit of sore throat… I know very well who is calling."

Mario goes to the phone and answers it, "Hello? Oh hi! Yes, theez eez da Smasher's house. You're da priest, right-a? Oh, I see… Okay. I will tell da others about-a eet. 5 days from now? Okay… Got-a eet. All right-a! Arrivederla!" And then Mario hangs the phone.

Note: Arrivederla is Italian for 'good-bye'.

"A priest called, right?" asks CF. "What did he say?"

"He sez that-a the finals eez held-a at the official headquarters of Sedan Valley."

"Sedan Valley? That's the name of a valley in the country Toyota, one of the lead manufacturers of cars," says Fox.

"And he sez we have 5 days to prepare."

"So we set off after 5 days? How long does it take to get there?" asks Ganondorf.

"Well, if we go by plane, it's only about 7 hours ride. Toyota isn't very far from Eagleland," explains Samus.

"But-a he did not-a say how we go to da valley," says Mario.

"Oh yeah! Now I remember!" says CF. "After my father arrived in Toyota by plane, he had to go and find Sedan Valley himself! It was part of the test to make it the headquarters in a limited amount of time. If you cannot make it before the deadline, you're automatically disqualified."

"That sounds bad…" says Luigi. "But how do we get our cars there?"

"Da priest also said that-a we just show da airport our certificate and they will offer us a free ride-a! They will also load-a our car into a special cargo plane," explains Mario.

"Oh boy! A free plane ride!" says Pichu. "I always wanted to fly!"

"But those not in da race must pay."

"Doh…"

"So let us pack our bags and get ready for it!" says CF. "I'm sure we're gonna be staying there for many days."

"So is everyone coming along?" asks Roy.

"Well, we racers must go," says Bowser.

"I wanna go!" says Pichu. "It's gonna be more fun than staying home!"

"Right! I wanna taste the foods there!" says Yoshi. "They have restaurants there, right?"

"The problem is that if you don't have a certificate, then you need to have your passport and payment. We racers only need to show the certificate and passport and then we can get a free ride," says Samus.

"I'm sure Master Hand can do something about it," says Zelda.

Then there is a beeping sound coming from the certificates. Each of the racers look at their cards, which has a message saying, "Depart 5 days from now to Toyota. Arrive at Sedan HQ within a week's time."

-

Pokey looks at his certificate, and it shows the same message. "So the finals at last," he says to himself. "It makes me nervous, but makes me angry whenever I think of Ness! I must do something to get rid of him so he doesn't meddle with me!" He paces back and forth across the room and wonders what to do, and then his eyes caught notice of an advertisement on the newspaper that is lying on the table.

The headline of the newspaper ad says:

Mercenary 4
You pay us, we get the job done.
We fail; you get your money back.
$110 per job
Success rate: 99.9
Contact No. 438-3733

At seeing this, Pokey's eyes lighten up and an evil grin spreads across his face.

-

RING

"You pick the phone."

"Why me? You're near the phone!"

"I'm busy! Are you blind?"

"That's no excuse to not answer the phone!"

"Why you, Kazena!"

RING

"Just shut up and answer it, you cracked-up lizard twit!"

"Argh! All right! I'll get back to you at this!"

CLICK

"Hello? Yeah, what do you want? Make it snappy!"

"Lee, don't be too loud. You'll scare away our customer."

"You don't need to tell me, I knew it!"

"Um… Is this the office of Mercenary 4?" asks Pokey on the other side of the phone.

"Cough… Can I be of…"

"What do you mean 'I'? It should be 'We'!"

"You shut up!"

"Give the phone and I'll answer it."

"Fine! Here!"

"Hello? Sorry for the havoc earlier. What can we do for you?"

"Hehe… I have a big job for you guys," says Pokey.

-

The days went by fast and the Smashers soon found themselves packing their bags to prepare to set off for Sedan Valley. "Okay, so Master Hand said he would take us to Toyota using the Final Destination," says Fox. "He should be here anytime. Is everyone ready?"

"All ready!" say the Smashers. Each of them has their luggage and cars placed at the front yard.

"Um… Yoshi… Keep the refrigerator at home… You don't have to bring that along…"

"Why?" asks Yoshi. "It wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?"

Just then, a large shadow looms over them. They look up to see a giant round platform descending. "Make way! The Final Destination is coming!" says Master Hand, who is at the top.

"Hey! You're gonna crush us all!" cries Luigi. But the FD stops halfway in midair, just above them.

"So, are you all ready to go?" asks MH.

"Ready!" they all reply.

"First things first, I'm not taking you directly to Sedan HQ, but I'll drop you in some random place in Toyota."

"Why? Why don't you just drop us at Sedan HQ?" asks Ness.

"Isn't reaching Sedan Valley by yourself part of the test? If I take you there immediately, then it would be considered cheating. That is why I will just drop you in Toyota and you must find your way their by yourselves."

"That sounds good," says CF. "A true racer will not skip any opportunity to face any challenges."

"Okay, then hop aboard, everyone! Don't forget your stuffs!"

MH lands the FD in a large open area near the mansion, and the Smashers bring their luggage and drive their cars onto the surface of the FD. After some while, they are all ready.

"Ready?" asks MH one last time to make sure.

"All 26 of us are here," says Samus.

"Hey! How about me?" asks Parry.

"And me!" says Lilina. "I'm here to follow my beloved Roy!"

"Fine… 28…"

"Hold on tight! We're going!" says MH, and the FD slowly lifts up from the ground, ascending higher and higher into the sky.

-

After they have left, the phone in the mansion rings. And like always, the answering machine kicks in, saying, "We are attending the F-30 Grand Prix in Sedan Valley. We will not return for a long time, so please leave a message the instant you hear the signal. And if you're calling to order from Caesar's Pizza Palace, then don't bother leaving behind a message, because you won't get your pizza."

-

Meanwhile, at the airport…

"Here's our racing certificate," Wario says to the lady who checks passports (I don't know what they're called). "Our car number is 2079. It's a purple and luxurious-looking car. You definitely can't miss it."

"Okay, so you're going to Toyota?" says the lady. "That would be the two of you, right? May I see your passport?"

Wario hands her both Waluigi and his passport. "Say, Wario, the Smashers aren't anyway here," says Waluigi.

"They're probably on the plane already," says Wario. "There's no way they would skip this big race."

"I guess so…"

After they're done with passport checking, they make their way through the flight terminal until they got aboard their plane. This plane is specially prepared for racers who are attending the F-30 Grand Prix. It even has a large luggage compartment that holds all their vehicles.

"Ah! What luxurious plane this is!" says Waluigi.

"Indeed it is!" says Wario. "I always wanted to ride a first-class plane!"

Waluigi looks around for the Smashers, but sees none of them. "They aren't here…"

"Ignore them. Why should we care about them anyway?"

"You're right."

"I love flying! I love flying!" sings Barney happily, who is sitting in his seat not too far from the Wario Bros.

"Argh… Someone shut that dino freak…" grumbles Wario.

"He passed the preliminaries too, did he?" wonders Waluigi.

-

About 3 hours later, the plane has already taken flight and is flying at a smooth pace. Wario and Waluigi are relaxing and Barney is reading a storybook about silly and stupid fairy tales that make no sense in whatsoever way. Frank is resting on his chair comfortably while watching TV. Random Racer No. 45 is just sitting there, as still as a piece of wood. Sweet Tooth is negotiating with the flight attendant about the food. Sunaman is reading a travel brochure of sorts. There are also several other racers, but I'm not gonna bother talking about all of them.

Pokey is eating his meal while looking out the window. He can't help but wonder why the Smashers aren't aboard this plane. Just then, he sees something flying in the sky far in the distance, and that figure is coming closer and closer towards the plane. He begins to worry that it might be something dangerous, and he cries out, "There's an enemy plane attacking us!"

This caught the attention of everyone. "What? Where?" asks Frank. "I'll show him not to mess with the great boss of the Shark Gang! Make fun of me, will he?"

Everyone gathers around Pokey's window and looks out at the figure. It turns out to be the Final Destination!

-

"Hey look! I can see several familiar faces in there!" points out Ness.

"It's the ice-cream clown!" says Yoshi. "He's on the plane too!"

"Yay! Now we will able to taste his ice-creams!" says Kirby happily.

"Well, Sunaman…" says Ganondorf with not much interest. "He made it to the finals too, eh?"

Falco sees a familiar and stupid, purple face on the other window. "That purple freak made it too…" he says weirdly. "Incredible… for someone like him…"

"All right, enough with this sightseeing," says MH. "Let's move ahead!" And the FD zooms ahead of the plane.

-

"So that explains everything…" says Waluigi.

"Tsk! I knew they were up to something when they didn't show up on this plane!" says Wario.

"Ganondorf made it to the finals…" says Sunaman. "I look forward to compete with him again."

"Argh! That ape! Thinking of that day makes me so mad!" growls Sweet Tooth. "Wait till I get my revenge on him! I'll make him lose miserably this time!"

Pokey continues to eye the Final Destination as it flies over the horizon. "Soon you'll meet your match, Ness!" he says to no one in particular.

-

After a long ride, the FD finally arrives in Toyota, the country that is the lead manufacturer of cars.

"Here we are!" says Master Hand. "Welcome to Toyota!"

"I just figured that we never went through any passport checking sequences," says Dr. Mario.

"Who needs it when you have a big hand to help you?"

"Where is this place?" asks DK, looking around. Apparently, they have landed in some countryside field.

"I don't know. You'll just have to look around and ask for directions."

After getting their luggage down, the Smashers decide on what to do next. "So where do we start?" asks Samus.

"I don't know. I have to go now," says MH. "I have some appointment with someone in the sky. See ya!" He goes aboard the Final Destination and takes off into the sky again.

"He wasn't much help at all…" mumbles Marth.

"Everyone, liven up!" says Captain Falcon. "We have one week to get to Sedan HQ! With our super speed vehicles, we can surely make it their in a very short time! Therefore, let us move now!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

And so, the Smashers are on their way to Sedan Valley. Can they make it their in time? Only the next few chapters will tell!

This chapter foreshadows some pretty big events that will come in future chapters. I hope this suspense keeps you waiting! And you probably guessed where the name Toyota comes from. C'mon! You just have to know it!

And if you still haven't guessed it, the Green Biker Dude is from Megaman X2. Remember in the intro scene where X is riding a hoverbike and a green guy is riding next to him but then got blown up a few seconds later? That Green Biker Dude sure got a large fanbase going around here…