A/N: Hey, welcome back to another chapter! I wanna just say a quick thank you to all of the people who have given this story a chance. We finally reached 50 reviews on this story! For a basically unknown author, I'd say that I'm doing alright for myself! All of you, whether you're new to the story or have been following since the firsts couple chapters, have my thanks. Whenever I get a review or a favorite or a follow, it makes my day a little brighter, and I hope that I make your guys' days a little brighter as well. You guys keep me writing.
Anyways, enough of the sappy stuff! There's enough of that coming up this chapter! Without further ado, to the chapter!
Chapter 26: From One Racer to Another
While Villager was finishing his tenth lap, he started thinking about his trusty assistant, Isabelle. He had just up and left all of his villagers in his town, leaving Isabelle to take care of the town all by herself. Even with her busy schedule, she found the time to visit him as well. He was truly grateful for her. She was the hero that he needed, but not the one he deserved.
"That's it!" Villager exclaimed. "I'm gonna earn the right to deserve her as a hero!" He took his kart and drove down the path that Isabelle had walked down thirty minutes ago.
He bobbed and weaved through deku plants, piranha plants, and random cows to try to catch up to Isabelle. He caught her just as she was about to get on the train to head back to the village.
"Wait! Isabelle!" Villager yelled.
"Oh! Mayor Villager!" Isabelle gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"You have to come back to Moo Moo meadows!" Villager exclaimed. "Take my place on the tourney, please! You deserve the spot more than me. I'll take care of the town while you're gone."
Isabelle looked at him in shock. "Are you sure, sir?"
"Absolutely. As mayor, I order you to participate in the prix." Villager climbed aboard the train.
"Hey, Villager!" Toon Link, who was conducting the train, waved at him. He needed a little extra moolah, and his winnings in the contest were not enough to pay the bills. No, not the bills of the housing. They didn't have bills for that. I meant the bills to feed his chocolate addiction.
"I... I don't know what to say! Thank you!" Isabelle said. She hopped onto his kart. "See you in a couple of weeks!" With that, she drove off, dodging the plants almost as well as Villager had done.
"Man, she was eager to get away." Toon Link said.
"Yeah, I don't think I've ever given her a day off." Villager sighed. "Besides holidays."
"Ouch. That's rough."
"Yeah... I'm working on it."
"Alright. Well, I guess it's time to head out. Choooo chooooo!" Toon Link yelled. The train started with a spurt, and started accelerating away from Moo Moo Meadows.
"Goodbye... Gold trophy." Villager whispered while he watched the sun set on the huge, restricted barn of the meadows.
Speaking of the barn, Link had been falling for at least five seconds through it before he finally landed on solid ground. He just lay there, face down, basking in the agonizing pain. He should have rolled when he landed.
A few seconds later, he felt something soft hit him with tons of force. He yelled in pain.
"Hyah!" He screamed. That really should be what he says all the time, but it really wouldn't work if he was going to be in the story as much as he is.
"Oh, Link! Thanks for catching me!" Peach said. She got up and dusted herself off. Link was still laying on the ground. "What a wimp... That wasn't even that painful of a fall!"
"Shut your mouth." Link grumbled. Peach giggled and helped him to his feet. Once Link was able to stand, they took a good look at their surroundings. They had fallen for a while, but not for that long. Considering the size of the barn, they were probably in the attic. There was also a latch that led deeper into the barn to their left. High above them, the spot where the roof had cracked could be seen. All around them were buckets, hay, and various farming tools.
"So... What do we do?" Peach asked. "Oh! Do you have your dreamy clawshot?"
"Dreamy? Why is it dreamy?" Link asked.
"Oh. No reason." Peach smirked.
"Anyways, no, I haven't brought it." Link looked up to the hole, which was well above jumping range for them.
Suddenly, the two people heard a meow from the top of the roof. A few seconds later, Cookie's head popped into view. The cat looked at them in amusement. It seemed to be teasing them.
"Look! It's Cookie!" Link gasped. "She can help us!"
"How?"
"Well, if I transform into a wolf, I can communicate with her! Problem is... I don't really have Midna to help me transform at the moment..." Link went back to looking dejected.
"Hey, this is what you wanted though, right? You wanted to explore this place, remember? I say we head down the latch! We're already here anyways." She put her hand on the latch. "And besides, it'll be fun, yknow. Just the two of us. We could share life stories while we explore. I'm sure we can find a way out at the bottom. A door or something."
Link groaned. "Why is it me that always gets stuck with you..."
"Aw, don't be like that! Cmon!" Peach grabbed Link's hand and jumped down the latch before he had time to protest.
Meanwhile, Villager had just lost sight of the meadows from his sight in the train.
"Hey, Toon Link. When do we get to my city?" He asked.
"An hour or two. We have one stop before we get there." Toon Link said, shoveling some coal into the giant furnace-engine. "Hey, do you mind helping me with this?"
"Sure." He grabbed his golden shovel from his pockets and started shoveling as well.
After a few minutes, Toon Link decided that there was enough coal, and went back to monitoring his decently-sized train. "You can chill with me until we get there."
"Thanks!" Villager expressed. He sat down in a sturdy wooden chair next to Toon Link, who was steering the train.
Now that I think about it... How do you steer a train? Isn't it already on a specific track? Eh, whatever.
Villager tried to start up a conversation, but Toon Link wasn't saying much because he had to tend to the train. That's when Villager had the idea to write letters to all of his villagers. He could use Toon Link's toon loftwing (it's basically a cuter version of the already adorable loftwings from Skyward Sword) to send the letters to them before to inform them beforehand of bus arrival. Taking out a couple pieces of paper and a pen, he got down to writing.
When he had finished writing, Toon Link stopped the train. "We've reached the next stop!"
"I gonna hit the train's restroom, be right back. Could you send those letters while I'm gone?" Villager asked.
"Sure. We don't leave for another thirty minutes anyways. Then it's another thirty minutes to your town."
Villager walked out of the conductor's room, to the first train car out of many. There was a good number of individuals present in the train. He rushed to the bathroom, which was in the third train car, and did his business.
As he exited, he noticed a blue animal-crossing styled cat sitting alone on a seat.
You see, in this universe, there are multiple kinds of animals. One kind, like this cat, have characteristics like Villager, because they are from the world of animal-crossing. All others are just like the animals in our world, like Cookie. Some say that there is a way to switch between the two, but that's a story for another time.
After more observation, he noticed that this train car was empty besides the cat. It was probably because it was the last train car in the train.
He was walking past the cat when the cat noticed him. "Hey... I remember you!" The cat called.
Villager looked around. "Who, me?"
"Yeah! I met you on a train once! You were heading to a town! Don't you remember me? Rover? Rover the cat?" He looked at him with his big red eyes.
Suddenly, everything came rushing back to Villager. Rover, of course! When he had first left his parents to pursue his dreams, he had met this kind cat on the way to his destination. He was Villager's first "friend," I guess, once he had left his home.
"Oh yeah! Rover! I do remember you!"
"Yeah, I knew you would! Why don't you sit down? I haven't seen you in forever! And, frankly, I never thought I would." Rover scooted over, which was really unnecessary in the nearly empty train car, and Villager sat down.
"So, how have you been?" Rover asked.
"Alright." Villager asked. "Could be better."
"Aw, why? Something go down?" Rover looked quizzically at him. "Cmon, you can tell me!"
Villager hesitated.
"What, you don't trust me?" Rover asked.
"No... It's just that I don't really want to make a big deal out of it." Villager sighed.
"I understand. Sometimes you just feel sad for the sake of feeling sad, you know? A life full of only happiness and no sadness is a life where you don't improve." Rover nodded his head. "Yep! If I'm sad about something, I think 'The world gave me a reason to be sad, so the world must think I'm a threat!' Just remember that, and you'll be fine." Rover smiled at him.
"Yeah, I think I will." Villager said quietly. "Thanks Rover. I'll remember this."
"No problem, pal!" Rover cheered. "Hey, what's your favorite fruit?" And so the cat and the mayor proceeded to talk about this and that the rest of the ride home, but Villager couldn't care less about what they were talking about after that point. The conversation had ended in his mind already, and Villager would take Rover's words to the grave...
Meanwhile, Peach and Link were exploring the barn. There was not really any light, but luckily Link brought his lantern, as well as lantern fuel. But somehow he did not bring his clawshot. What the heck, Link?
When they went down the latch, they were greeted with a small room, barely big enough to hold the both of them. There was a door to their left and their right.
"Hey, I have a brilliant idea!" Peach said. "Why don't we split up? I'll take one and you take another!"
"We only have one lantern, dummy." Link said. "And I'm not going to be the one the stumble in the dark." Just then, Link's lantern ran out of fuel, leaving them with no light except each other's eyes. Wow, that sounded really romantic... But I meant it in the cartoony way. You know how in cartoons, when it's completely dark, you can still see the character's eyes? Like that.
"Well, I guess we're both just gonna have to stumble around." Link sighed.
"Don't worry! We'll use the buddy system!" Peach took out a ribbon, and tied herself to Link by the wrists. "Follow me!"
"I think you should follow me." Link said. "I still have some skills from my time as a wolf, and I retained a little bit of my wolf sense. I can see slightly in any light!"
"Neat." Peach said. Link slowly made his way to the door on his right. He tried the door, but found that it was locked.
"This one's locked." Link said.
"But this one isn't!" Peach yelled, opening the other door. She ran inside, dragging Link across the floor by the ribbon.
When they entered, they found a small work room. Inside was a small table, with a lit-up lantern on it. There was also a couple unreadable letters and a rusty key.
"Wait a minute... why is this lantern here?" Link asked.
"Uh, duh! It's a lantern! They all belong in barns!" Peach said.
"Um, good try, Peach. What I meant is; why is the lantern lit? If the barn truly was abandoned, then there should be nobody to light this up! It shouldn't be lit... Unless..." Link and Peach gasped.
"The barn's haunted!" Peach murmured in fear.
"Uh... I don't think so." Link said. "That means that someone else is in here!" Peach and Link looked around quickly, but nothing stirred.
"You think we should get out of here?" Peach asked.
"How can we? Nobody known we're in here. The only way to get out is inside the barn. Besides, I'm sure we'll be fine." Link said, chuckling half-heatedly. Very quietly, he added "I hope..."
"Fine... Of look! A key!" Peach cheered. "I bet we can open the other door with this! I should know, I've played every single Legend of Zelda game!"
"Well... I'm the star of the game series..." Link mumbled.
"Shut up, Zelda!" Peach said slyly. Link tried to say something, only to give up and sigh instead.
They went back to the other door, taking the other lantern with them, and sure enough, the door opened. The little jingle from the Zelda games even played. Not really. But it would be cool if it did.
On the other side of the door, they were met with a big surprise. Most of the floor of the room was broken! Only a few boards remained, and even they looked like they couldn't support someone the weight of Link. Not that's he's fat. Well, Peach seems to think otherwise, but that's none of my business.
Neither Peach nor Link could see the bottom of the floor beneath them.
"Well, time to turn around." Link said.
"Oh no you don't!" Peach grabbed Link by his pointy ear.
"Owowowow! Why? Why? Why me? Please!" Link yelled.
"We're going through this room, and there's nothing you can do to stop us!"
Link sighed for the nineteenth time in the chapter, and said, "Alright, whatever."
Link led the way. He tested each board before stepping on it. Their goal was to reach the other side, where a boarded up window was. If they managed to reach it, then they could break it open and escape!
Link took his time, taking thirty minutes to get through half of the floor.
After another twenty minutes, Peach lost her patience. "Hey, I bet I can make the jump to the window! Move over, slow poke!" Peach rushed past Link and stepped on the board he was testing.
"Peach, no! That board's-"
Right before Peach was about to jump, the board broke under her. "Link!" She screamed as she fell into the darkness.
Link was panicking beyond all belief before he remembered that their wrists were tied together. He braced himself for when the ribbon would run out.
He held the ribbon, and pretty soon felt the weight of Peach at the end of it.
"Hold on, Peach! I'll pull you up!" Link shouted.
"Okay!" Peach yelled back.
He hefted Peach up very slowly. She was very hard to pull up, and Link considered himself very strong. But that's none of my business.
Just as Peach was an arm's length away, he felt the board start cracking beneath him.
"Um... Peach?" Link said nervously.
"Yeah, what?" Peach asked. She was currently putting on more makeup. Don't ask me how.
"Hehe... Funny story actually..." Link was in a cold sweat. "The board's cracking."
Peach panicked. "What! Hurry and pull me up! Hurry!" But it was too late. The board cracked at that instant, sending the two of them, screaming, into the black void underneath...
"Our next stop: Smashville!" Toon Link's voice rang throughout the intercom.
"Well, it looks like my stop's here." Villager said. He got up from his chair.
"It was nice chatting with you again!" Rover said cheerfully.
"Nice chatting with you too." Villager said. He was about to exit the train when a thought crossed his mind. "Hey, Rover?"
"Yes?" The blue cat said.
"I just noticed; you must meet a lot of people, traveling like you do. How did you remember me?"
Rover just laughed. "Don't worry about that. I'm what you call a gateway. A gateway to a new journey. Gateway's never forget, right? I show up whenever someone is in need of a revival. Not of life, but of spirit. I guess the two aren't really that different though, right?" He chuckled yet again.
"No, I guess they're not." Villager smiled. "Hey, Rover... You're a very special cat. Remember to write me!"
"I'll be sure to." Rover nodded.
"Alright, I guess this is goodbye." Villager said sadly.
"Well, let's just call it a 'until next time.' I'm sure we'll meet again. And who knows? Maybe you'll be the one there for me next time!" Rover laughed.
"Heh, yeah." Villager jumped out of the train. "Until next time."
As Villager watched the train leave, all of his villagers came to greet him.
"Mayor! You're back!"
"We missed you!"
"Let's throw a party!"
Villager greeted all of his friends, remembering all of the old times.
"You're not mad at me?" Villager asked.
"What! Why would be mad at you?" A blue eagle asked.
"I abandoned you guys!" Villager cried. "And I'm so sorry!"
"Aw, there's no need to apologize!" A small squirrel said. "We understand! Follow your passions is my motto!"
"Me too!"
"Me three!"
"It's an alright motto, I guess."
"Thanks, guys!" Villager said. "Cmon, let's all head to my house! Perfect fruit salads on me!"
"Yay!" They all cheered. They picked him up and carried him towards his house by the beach.
"Oh yeah... I remember why I loved being mayor..." Villager said, laying back.
Somehow, Link managed to land first, again. He also happened to land right next to a mattress.
"Well, I guess I should've expected that..." Link grumbled, writhing in pain.
A few moments later, he found himself back to butt with Peach yet again.
"Oh, hey Link!" Peach said.
"Uhg..." Link groaned.
"Whoa! Where are we?" Peach asked. There was another door in front of them. It was a sorry excuse for a door, being composed of only three flimsy boards. A bunch of unnatural blue light was emanating from inside the door. Link and Peach also heard the humming sound that they had heard outside the barn.
"Hey, that's the humming sound!" Peach whispered. She turned around to look at Link, only to find him sound asleep on the nearby mattress.
"Link! Wake up!" She whispered. Nothing.
She walked up to him and whispered into his ear. "Yo. Wake up." Still nothing.
The. She remembered the last time she woke him up. She took out another Link cookie (she peaked more of them because she loved how they tasted) and waved it in front of his face. Link's nose twitched, and he awoke with a start,
He sleepily looked in front of him. "Oh, a cookie." He snatched it from her hand with his mouth and gobbled it up in one bite. He put his head back down to sleep, but was slapped by Peach.
"Ow!"
"Get up! Do you hear that?" Peach asked.
"...!" Link got up quickly and rushed to the door. "This must be the source of the sound! See? I told you that I was right!"
"Finally..." Peach said as Link opened the door.
The next room was just like the rest, except for the giant circular gem floating in the middle of it. It was protected in a solid-looking glass case.
"Whoa... That is awesome!" Link said. "Imagine how much rupees that could be worth... I wouldn't have to run around chopping down bushes or breaking pots for weeks!"
Peach stared at the gem. "It's beautiful..."
Link and Peach slowly approached it. Suddenly, Link felt something sweep his legs from underneath him, and he fell to the ground, dropping the lantern in the process. The lantern fuel spilled into a nearby haystack, setting it ablaze. It spread at an alarming rate, and soon the two adventurers were stuck in the middle of a giant inferno.
"Oh no! What did I do?" Link screamed.
"Link, what happened? Why did you trip?" Peach yelled. She clung onto his arm as a falling piece of flaming wood fell next to them. They kept running from the flames, but were soon surrounded in a corner.
"I didn't do it! Something, or someone, tripped me! The other person in the barn! It must have been them!" Suddenly, a piece of wood struck Link from above. That, combined with the smoke and the fact that he'd fallen over 70 feet that day caused Link to faint.
"Link!" Peach screamed. She knelt next to him. She turned his body over so that he could breath. Peach looked up to look for something to help her case, and saw a figure on the other side of the fire. Behind her was an open door, and beyond that, the outdoors. "Help me!" Peach yelled to it.
The figure appeared to have not hear her, or just didn't listen, because it walked away from them and to the door. It walked through the door, and shut it. Peach heard a devastating click as the door was locked.
"No!" Peach screamed. Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from above her. She looked up to see the ceiling above her on the verge of breaking.
In a flash of genius, Peach took out her umbrella, opened it, and covered both Link and herself in it just as the barn collapsed all around them.
The next thing she remembered was waking up underneath a pile of rubble. Link was lying next to her on his belly, still unconscious. Looking over her shoulder, Peach could see the night sky.
A glimmer of hope rushed into Peach, and she grabbed Link and used the last of her strength to pull the two of them past the rubble and into the nighttime air.
Even though it was nighttime, the scene Peach got up to was very bright. Half of the barn was still on fire, and Zoras were currently trying to put it out. A huge crowd was surrounding the scene, and Peach could see a ton of koopa police cars in the distance. Not to mention, there was also the gigantic crystal gem floating on top of the rubble. The glass case had prevented it from breaking.
In the distance, Toad and Yoshi were trying to calm the cows down, with little success. One had just kicked Toad in the head, and the other had thrown Yoshi off of it and into a nearby mud pit. Yes, a Yoshi riding a cow. Only to be thrown off into mud. Peach couldn't help but laugh.
Mario was the first to see Peach. He'd recognize that laugh anywhere! She, along with Link, had been reported as missing earlier, which brought Mario into a furious frenzy. But, seeing Peach almost burnt to a crisp made him forget about his anger for the two of them for being so irresponsible.
"Peach! You're alright!" Mario ran up to her and hugged her. "I'm so relieved!"
"Thanks..." Peach mumbled. She turned her attention to Link. When Mario saw, he gasped.
"Mama Mia!" He yelled. I can't believe he hasn't said that in this fanfic until now.
"He needs medical help, Mario! Please!"
"Oh course!" Mario called over for two medical toads, who carried him away on a stretcher. Two more came and started tending to Peach's wounds as well.
"What happened?" Mario asked.
"Link, he-he tripped... The lantern fell... I'm so sorry, Mario. We didn't listen to you..." Peach sobbed.
"It's ok, Peach. Everything will be okay..."
Mario tried to comfort her. Why had they gone to explore the barn anyway, after he told them not to? And why did they go together?
"Wait, you're saying that Link caused the fire? There could be serious consequences if that's true." Mario said.
"I don't know... We think there was someone else there..." Peach tried to talk more, but nothing came out. The memory of Link falling to the ground was still stuck in her head. "I need... Some rest..."
"Of course, Princess!" Mario carried her to a makeshift bed next to where Link was, and she drifted into sleep in mere minutes...
A/N: Dun dun duuuuuuuunnnn! Another cliffhanger! What will happen next to our heroes on this epic saga of kart racing?
Ok, that sounds kinda lame if you put it that way, but Mario Kart is anything but lame.
Any suggestions and reported spelling/grammar mistakes are appreciated! I can't catch every mistake, because I'm busy typing (on an iPhone keyboard no less), and I have slight dyslexia. Oh well.
Until next chapter!
