Chapter 12: The Road to Sedan Valley and the Appearance of Black Shadow!
At Toyota Airport, Bon Clay and his men have just arrived, along with the racers from Onett. "Where do we meet the Smashers, Mr. 2 Bon Clay?" asks one of his men.
"The Smashers are coming in another method, so I doubt they are in the airport anymore," explains Bon Clay. "But do not feel bad, for we will surely meet them in Sedan Headquarters! The bond of friendship is bound to bring us together again! Hurry along, my beloved subordinates! Let us follow the call of the spring wind that is ahead of us!"
"Yes, Mr. 2 Bon Clay!"
And so, the large group of oddly dressed people marches out the airport while many people give them weird stares.
Wario and Waluigi step out into the waiting area of the airport. You know, the place where you go meet your friends who just arrived from the plane. "Where do we go from here?" asks Waluigi.
"Let's go fetch our car first," says Wario. "And then we'll ask for directions on how to get to Sedan Valley. Let's hope we make it there on time."
-
Meanwhile, the Smashers are somewhere in the countryside of Toyota. They are all driving in their cars, and of course, since everyone doesn't have cars, they must share.
Mario and Luigi drive their Red Fire as usual. Peach somehow didn't mind riding with Bowser in his Green Beast. Zelda and Young Link rides along with Link's King of Red Lions. Fox and Falco ride in their Arwing Car. Yoshi and Kirby ride on the warp star. Samus rides her starship and Captain Falcon in his Blue Falcon. DK rides his barrel car and carries the 3 little Pokemon along while Mewtwo simply follows them by flying along the ground. Ganondorf and Marth sits on the Black Stallion, and Roy and Lilina ride the orange motorcycle. G&W brought his black, flat car along, and he rides with Dr. Mario. Ness is riding on his upgrade bicycle with Parry resting in the bike's basket. As for the Ice Climbers, they are riding on a spare warp star that Master Hand gave them.
"Where do we find Sedan Valley?" asks Parry.
"How would I know?" replies Ness, though he didn't answer the question.
"Hey look, there's someone on the side of the road," points out Zelda. "Let's ask him."
The Smashers come to a stop and CF asks the man on the side of the road, "Excuse me, sir, do you know where we can find Sedan Valley?"
"Saddam Valley, you say?" says the man.
"No, Sedan Valley."
"Let's see… uh… I think… I think… It might be… I guess… Perhaps it's… I believe it's in… Nah, it must be…" says the man strangely, and then he stops to take a drink from his beer bottle. "I believe it's gotta be either here or there…"
"Everyone can tell that he is a drunkard," says Dr. Mario. "It's useless asking him."
"Right…" agrees CF, and the Smashers drive off again.
"I know! It's this way!" says the drunkard, pointing to his own crotch.
-
Wario and Waluigi are driving across the countryside, and they come across an old lady sitting besides a table on the roadside. When they stop their car next to her, the old lady asks them, "Would you like to buy a Wii?"
"You mean the Nintendo Wii?" asks Waluigi. "How can that be possible? It's not even out yet!"
"Oh! But I got it already! See!" The old lady points the table with lots of odd-looking Wii consoles on it.
"Anyone an tell those are fake! They look like they're cut out of wood!" says Wario. "Anyway, we want to know the direction to Sedan Valley."
"Are you sure you don't want to buy a Wii?"
"No, because those are fake!"
"What do you mean you don't like my Wii?"
"Just answer our question, you hag!"
"Okay, then follow this path, and when you see a scarecrow on the left side of the road, turn right. Follow that path and you'll eventually reach there."
"Thanks!"
"So you don't wanna buy a Wii?"
"I'm not gonna waste my money on a fake product like that!" With this, Wario steps on the pedal and zooms off.
After they have been driving a while, Waluigi thought of something and says to Wario, "I'm wondering, Wario… Have you seen the movie Rat Race?"
"Yeah, so what?"
"Remember when those two ladies asked for directions from the squirrel-selling lady, and when they didn't want to buy a squirrel, the seller made up a fake direction that send them crashing down a cliff. Do you think it's possible that…"
Wario stops the car immediately and thought about it. "Hmmm… You have a point there… Hey look, the scarecrow!"
They turn to the left side and see a scarecrow there, and then they look the right and see a path leading down a slope. They look down further and see many crashed vehicles lying in a pile down there. "Guess I was correct…" says Waluigi.
"Hmph! Someone's gotta teach that hag a lesson before more people gets hurt!" says Wario. "I'll blast her up good using the Wario Missile!" He presses a button on the controls and the car trunk opens, revealing a missile launcher. It launches a missile into the distance behind them, and soon an explosion can be seen.
KABOOM!
"That's that! Let's go!"
-
"Excuse me, my dear sir," Barney asks a passerby. "Do you know the way to Sedan Valley?"
"Just follow this path and turn left at the fork," replies the passerby.
"Oh thank you!" Barney gives the man a big, fat hug.
"Ugh! Can't… breathe…" And then man passes out from lack of air. The surrounding people see it and run away screaming at the top of their voice.
-
The Smashers come to a stop for the night…
"All right, we'll rest here," suggests Fox. "It's pretty late already."
"Are you sure it's safe here?" asks Luigi.
"It should be safe. The Arwing Car's radar didn't detect anything. It's out in the open fields, so nothing can happen."
So they pitch a camp and cook dinner using the foods they brought. "Well, we didn't get any information today," says CF, rather disappointed.
"I'm sure we will tomorrow," says Samus. "We still have 6 days to find it."
After they have eaten and are satisfied, each of them goes to sleep. Some slept in their cars and some slept in sleeping bags that they brought. Mewtwo is told to keep guard for the night. He's the only person that can keep watch of surroundings and at the same time sleep. Incredible for a psychic, isn't it?
A couple of hours went by, and no sound can be heard, except for cricket chirping. Mewtwo opens his eyes and looks around, and he sees a mysterious figure moving about among the Smashers. "An enemy…" he says to himself. Without thinking twice, he dashes at the 'enemy' and gives it a powerful swipe from his tail.
WHACK!
-
The next morning, the Smashers are on the move again. "All right! Everyone rise and shine!" says CF. "It's time to go!"
"Just a few minutes…" mumbles Ness, still in his sleeping bag. "10 minutes…"
"Do you want to miss the race? Get up and move!" CF lifts up the sleeping bag and Ness rolls out of it and all the way into a rice field.
"I can't believe someone would dare hit dear Lilina!" says Roy angrily. "If I get my hands on him, I'll surely break his neck!"
"Are you sure you didn't see your attacker?" Marth asks Lilina.
"It was too dark and I couldn't make things out…" says Lilina, who has a bleeding nose and a swollen eye on one side. "He went away very fast right after dealing a few blows on me."
"That guy must be a girl molester," says Peach.
While they are talking about this, Mewtwo is standing at the side, looking as innocent as possible, and in his mind he is thinking, "How can I not recognize Lilina until I hit her…?"
-
And so, the Smashers continue their journey to look for Sedan Valley. They traveled all over the place and asked many people for directions. For 3 days, they spent time looking for the valley, and on the 4th day, they have finally found it!
"At long last…" says CF, looking down into the valley. "We found it…"
"Where's the headquarters?" asks Kirby.
"We'll have to look for it," says Fox. "Now that we're in Sedan Valley, we can find it easily." So they all go down into the valley.
The valley is full of rocks, but at the same there are several trees. "How can a big headquarter be built in a place like this?" wonders Yoshi. "There's almost no food here!"
After a bit of driving, they come to a large lake. "Oh look, a lake!" says Peach. "Why not rest here and refresh ourselves?" So they agree on this and decide to take a rest here.
"Let's go for a swim!" says Young Link.
"Great idea!" agrees Ness. "I brought my swimming trunk along, so let's go!"
After the two boys have changed, they rush towards the lake and jump into it with a big splash. The others just stood at the side of the lake to relax while Kirby goes fishing. "Hey! Don't swim around here!" Kirby yells at the two swimming kids. "You'll scare away the fish!"
-
"We're here at last…" says Waluigi.
"Right… I thought we would never find Sedan Valley…" says Wario.
"I'm so tired…"
"Me too…"
The Wario Bros. slowly falls asleep while still driving the car. Because they are asleep, nobody is there to steer the car. The car just keeps on moving forward and forward…
-
"This fish is good!" says Yoshi, taking another bite of his fish. "You sure caught a lot of fish, Kirby!"
"I'm always good at finding food!" says Kirby proudly.
SPLASH!
"Did I hear a splash?" asks Pikachu.
"I guess everyone did," says G&W. "Except for DK, of course."
"Boars?" asks DK. "Where?"
They all turn to the lake and see some bubbling on the surface, and someone underneath the water seems to be coming towards them. "It must be a sea monster!" says Luigi. "Run!"
"But theez eez a lake," says Mario.
"Then it's a lake monster!"
Then the thing emerges from the lake, and it appears to be the Wario Car! "Ptooey! Who told you to fall asleep!" Wario scowls at Waluigi while spitting out water.
"You're the one who's driving, not me!" Waluigi reminds him.
"Then you should wake me up!"
"Hi Wario!" Mario greets them both.
"Humph! It's the Mario Bros.!" says Wario grumpily. "So you made it here also."
"Wanna travel with us?"
"Why should I?"
"Hey Wario, look on the bright side!" Waluigi tells him. "Perhaps we can make it to Sedan Headquarters faster if we go along with them!"
"Well, you have a point there, but I'm don't like the idea of traveling with my eternal rival."
"Just come along-a with us," Mario tells him. "I don't-a see you as my enemy."
"Why must they travel with us?" Bowser asks Mario. "They will be our opponents in the race!"
"Well, you and I are also opponent-a. What-a right do you have to say that-a?"
"Um… You have a point."
"Come with us," Peach tells the Wario Bros. "If with go as a group, there will be less things to be afraid of and we can make it there faster! After all, our destinations are the same."
"Well, if you insist…" says Wario. "Then I'm your special guest and I demand to be treated properly!"
"That's just like him…" mutters Luigi.
"Well then, let's get going!" says CF. "You don't want to stay here and wait until the last day passed, do you? We only have about 3 days left to get there!"
"Right! Let's get moving!" says Ganondorf.
And so, the Wario Bros. temporarily joins the Smashers in their journey to reach Sedan HQ.
-
Days to reach Sedan HQ: 2 days left
"When will we get there…?" complains Pichu. "We are in the valley, aren't we?"
"Hmmm… Why would an official stadium be hidden from our views?" wonders Fox.
"This is the test to let racers conquer," says CF. "They will see whether you're up to it or not. If you easily give up, then you are not fit to be in the race."
"But still, it's a bit too well hidden…"
Where are the Smashers now, you say? They are traveling along a mountain trail. Though the setting doesn't look like a valley anymore, it's still part of the place called Sedan Valley. Luigi looks down the side of the trail and sees a rather long drop below. "Oh… The terror if one falls down… I can't watch…"
"Are you sure that we're going the right place?" asks Wario. "I don't think we're in the valley anymore!"
"Well, Game2002 wrote that we're still in the valley, even though the setting may not look like it," Samus tells him. "Just follow us quietly and shut up!"
"I'm your special guest! How dare you speak foul words to me!"
"You're no special than any of us!"
Meanwhile, high on a cliff above them, Pokey stands there. "So Ness made it this far already," he says. "Let's see if he's up to it!" He goes to a nearby boulder and tries to push it off the cliff. He is planning to drop it on the Smashers and get rid of them, though he's really only interested in Ness. However, the boulder is too heavy and refuses to budge. "Darn boulder! Get moving!" After much pushing, he became very tired and stops. "Ugh… This is too hard." He turns around to take a break, and then he farts. Amazingly, the force of the fart pushed the boulder off the cliff!
The boulder hits the trail and begins rolling downward, heading towards the Smashers. "Hey, did I hear a rumbling?" asks Pikachu.
"Ah! A boulder is rolling this way!" gasps CF.
"What do we do?" asks Ganondorf. "This is a really narrow trail and all our vehicles are traveling in one straight line. How can we get out of this mess?"
"We'll just have to smash it into pieces!" says CF. "I'm not too sure if I can do it!" CF gets into fighting position as the boulder comes nearer and nearer. "C'mon…"
Just when the boulder is only a few yards in front of CF, a black figure rushes in from the side and impacts into the boulder, shattering it into several pieces.
"Uh?"
"What happened?" asks Ganondorf.
In place of the boulder stood a man fully covered in black suit and also wears a black mask with bull-like horns.
"You…" says CF. "Black Shadow…"
"So it is I, Captain Falcon," replies Black Shadow. "It's been a while, son of Falcon the First."
"You… You were the reason my father didn't win the race, right?"
"How good of you to remember this. Yes, I beat your father in the race, but unfortunately, I did not even win the race myself either."
"That's what you get for picking on others!"
"This time, I will win the race and let my wishes come true. Your father was a great racer, so I expect you to put up a challenge for me. That is why I destroyed the boulder and rescued you."
"I could've done it myself!"
"I expect to see you at the headquarters, Falcon. You are not very far from it. Make it through this place and you will come to a cave, and then the destination will not be far. Now I must go." After saying this, Black Shadow raises his arm and a dark cloud surrounds him, and when the cloud disappears, he is nowhere to be seen.
"Black Shadow… I will beat you in the race…"
"So he was the guy who you called your archenemy, right?" Ganondorf asks him.
"Yes, and he was responsible for making my father lose the race 30 years before. Now I must defeat him in the race!"
"Let's hope you do! Okay, now that he told us the direction, let's get going!"
So they travel in the direction Black Shadow told them.
-
Days to reach Sedan HQ: 1 day left
They Smashers are in front of a large cave. "This is surely the cave Black Shadow spoke of," says CF. "Let us go in."
"So we'll find Sedan Headquarters inside?" asks Parry. "It's so weird to have a building inside a cave like this."
"This cave is so creepy…" says Luigi. Nevertheless, they go into the cave.
Inside the cave is very quiet, but there is a bit of light shining in, so it isn't very dark. They soon come to two large openings on a wall. "Which one do we choose?" asks Roy.
"There's a sign here. Let's read it," says Samus.
The sign reads: Audiences please take the small passage. Racers please drive your cars into the large passage.
"So we choose the large passage," says CF.
"And audiences like us take the small passage," says Mewtwo. "These passages surely lead to the same place."
"But why make two passages?" wonders Link.
"Let's just go in and see."
"Let's meet on the other side!" says Marth.
"Be sure to make it out alive, Roy!" Lilina tells Roy.
"I will!" he promises.
And each people went into his or her respective passages.
-
In the large passage where the racers went into…
They are all driving at constant pace so one can catch up with the one another. "Where does this passage lead to?" asks Ness.
"How would I know?" says CF. "It's my first time here."
"Why does this passage seems to take forever?" asks Luigi. "I clearly see light ahead but we don't seem to be reaching it!"
"Come to think of it, you're right," says Link. "We've been driving for like 10 minutes!"
"Wait! The light seems to be growing!" points out Wario.
The light ahead of them starts to get brighter and seems to come towards them. "Oh no! A train is coming!" gasps Luigi.
"That-a can't be a train," says Mario.
"Then what is it?"
Before they can react or do anything, the bright light engulfs every one of them. "Ah! I'm blind!" cries Kirby.
"MARIO!" screams Luigi.
"WHAT IS THIS!" gasps Samus.
And everything went so bright that their view is blocked…
-
Captain Falcon opens his eyes and looks around, only to find himself floating around in darkness. "Uh? Where am I?" He continues to drive around, looking for a way out. "What is this place?" After a while of driving, he sees something up ahead. "There's something there!" So he zooms off towards that direction.
When he got near enough, he sees his fellow Smashers all unconscious and locked up in a cage! "Whoa! What happened to you guys!" gasps CF.
And then a loud voice booms in from nowhere, "Begone! The path ahead is dangerous! If you value your life, then leave!"
"How about my friends? What's wrong with them?"
"Leave now or forever hold your peace!"
"I can't just leave them there like that! I must get them out!" CF zooms his car towards the cage, but when he got near, an unknown force sends the car moving backwards! "What happened!"
"If you value your life, then leave at once!"
"I won't leave here until I rescued them!" CF zooms forward again, only to get pushed back like before.
"Why do you struggle to meet your death? Value your life and leave!"
"The lives of my friends are as important as mines! Plus, Sedan Headquarters must be ahead of there too! I must not miss this opportunity to get there! Now get out of my way!" Once again, CF zooms towards the cage. Though he is blocked by the unknown force, he still tries his best to get pass it and reach the cage. "Hold on, everyone! I will rescue you!" He struggles even harder than before, and slowly he overcomes the power of the unknown force. "HAAAAARGH!" At this instant, a bright light bursts into the scene and blinds him. "UGH!" Just before CF passes out, he thought he saw a large building of sorts in front of him, but he didn't get a clear view, and then his view blurs out…
-
"Huh!" cries CF as he gets up. He looks around and finds himself in a room, and he sees his tester Carlos sitting against the wall.
"Oh, you have awakened," says Carlos.
"How did I get here? I was in a dark place with a cage filled with my friends, and there was this eerie voice telling me to go away!"
"Seems like you have passed Carma's test."
"Carma? You mean the voice talking to me just now was Carma?"
"Yes, it was a test to see if you care for your friends. Normally, even friends can become enemies when they are in opposing sides of a race. So Carma wants to test to see if you still care about your friends even if you are competing with each other."
"I see… So, where am I?"
"First things first… Congratulations on reaching Sedan Headquarters on time!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Alas! The Smashers have reached Sedan HQ! This is where the real race starts!
I hope you enjoy this story and look forward to upcoming chapter! And I hope for your reviews to be good and detailed. Let me know that you are interested in what's gonna happen next!
Preview
Bowser: Spiky hair, big sword... It's you!
Mario: Who?
Luigi: Oh, him...
Cloud: Oh, it's you again.
Bowser: We promised to have a duel back that time, right? Let's do it!
CF: Hey! This isn't time for fighting! Let's look forward to the race instead!
Coming up next chapter: Arrival at Sedan HQ! All Racers Gather Together!