Vanilla Turtles
Chapter 8
Challenging Yourself
"It's too hooooooooooooot!" Vanellope whined. After mastering the toughest tracks in Sugar Rush, Vanellope was desperate for a challenge, so Jr had invited her to race him in Mario Kart. They were about to race through the special cup and he'd made sure Lakitu would immediately catch Vanellope if she fell off the track. The first stage was Dry Dry Ruins, boiling by human standards, but Jr could take a bath in lava so he had an edge here.
"Now who's a crybaby?" Jr teased from his sprinter. Vanellope stuck out her tongue at him and quickly started to sputter when a sudden wind blew sand right into her face. Jr laughed; this was already a fun day. After Vanellope had gotten the sand out of her mouth Lakitu started the countdown.
3… "You're going down cookie dough face!"
2… "Not in this stage I'm not!"
1… "Eat my Dippin' Dots!"
Go! Copious amounts of sand and dust flew into the air as the two cars rocketed out of the starting gate. Prize blocks were smashed into by both competitors giving Vanellope a banana and Jr a red shell. Jr tossed the red shell toward Vanellope who dropped the banana just as the shell was about to hit her, destroying it. Vanellope kept to the inside of the next turn, avoiding a pokey. She had to swerve a bit to avoid another pokey on the bridge, but managed to grab a prize block containing a mushroom on the next turn.
After avoiding a few falling pillars Vanellope entered into the temple part of the course. Her lead was ended as a swarm of swoopers suddenly crashed into the side of her car. "Holy sugar!" Vanellope shrieked in surprise. She pulled hard to the right to keep from falling over a ledge and crashed straight into a wall. Jr sped past her a second later, giggling maniacally.
Vanellope backed up quickly and accelerated down the road with renewed vigor. Sadly she was slowed down by the piles of sand giving Jr an even bigger lead. After clearing the passage she came into a large room with gigantic pokeys moving around in an even bigger bowl built into the floor. Sand poured down from the ceiling, slowly filling the indentation. Vanellope kept the pedal to the metal as she swerved through the obstacle, coming out on the other side only to be attacked by another group of swoopies. This sent her careening into another wall. She recovered immediately and rocketed back onto the road using her mushroom. She passed the finish line and steeled herself for the next two laps.
Despite her best efforts Vanellope lost the first round. She congratulated Jr by promising to kick his shell on the next track. "Remember garbage-head, the npc cars on this track can run you over like it's nothing, so don't touch em!" Jr warned her. The countdown ended and the racers were off. Vanellope picked up a prize right off the bat, getting a green shell. She avoided the first car with ease and moved smoothly down the road.
She was about to pass the toll gate when she noticed Jr right behind her. She shot her shell right at him sending him backward into a truck. Sorrowfully for Jr once you start getting knocked around by cars in Moonview Highway, it was rather difficult to stop. Vanellope barrelled forward, picking up a red shell prize on the way. She drove over every speed enhancer she could see even after entering the tunnel. She jerkily avoided a few more cars before blasting past the finish line. Vanellope won the other laps, admittedly with many close calls. Jr congratulated her by hitting her car with a shell on the victory lap.
"Don't be such a sore loser," Vanellope berated as they were teleported to the next stage. She took one look at the track and exploded, "That's not fair!" The stage was Bowser's Castle, one of them anyways, he had way too many in Vanellope's opinion.
"Don't be such a sore loser," Jr mocked. The countdown started and the kids got back into their racing positions. The race began with speeding down a hill and up a wooden incline, then driving off into the air and landing on the balcony. Vanellope picked up a banana in a prize block and shot down a hallway that moved like an ocean. It was a bit nauseating.
Vanellope took a hard left and was shocked when a thwomp slammed into the ground right in front of her causing a crash. Jr passed her a quarter of a second later; Vanellope stomped on the gas when the thwomp rose into the air again. Several sharp turns and thwomp avoidances later, Vanellope was thrown off another ramp into a gigantic metal net over a lake of lava while a huge robotic Bowser shot fireballs at her. At least when she fell off the edge Lakitu saved her before she fell into the lava.
After getting past that nightmare Vanellope tried to take the inside of another turn only to swerve desperately to avoid a pillar of fire, then she once again slammed into a grounded thwomp. After dodging more thwomps and driving over a small lake of lava she was nearly barbecued by geysers of lava. She crossed the finish line and switched her goal from winning this round to surviving.
"I think that might have been the worst racing experience of my life." Vanellope told Jr, her wheels had been turned to syrup, her ponytail was burnt, and one of her headlights had been smashed. The koopa pit crew did an almost perfect job repairing it but it was still a blow to Vanellope's pride.
Sensing this was a horrible time to poke fun Jr spoke in a comforting voice, "If it helps, Mario did way worse his first time through this course." That was true, Mario had actually gotten out of his kart after the first lap to take a cold shower and gather courage for another try.
Vanellope smiled at Jr gratefully, "Thanks Jr, that does help." The course vanished and Vanellope gaped at her new surroundings. Rainbow road was simultaneously the most beautiful and most dangerous track in the game. The countdown began before Vanellope could take it all in. There was an ocean of stars, ribbons of shimmering colors, and below them a wonderfully done graphic of the Earth as seen from space turned slowly.
The final count sounded and all Vanellope's wonder was replaced by an overwhelming competitiveness and red hot adrenaline. She flew down a steep slope, rocketing through rings to increase her speed and was propelled off to another part of the road with arches of stars and a sharp left turn, she was so focused on the road she didn't think about the red shell she had acquired until she reached a wavy part of the course and heard a shell coming for her. She shot her shell at it and picked up a banana to replace it almost instantly.
Vanellope shot over another edge and gracefully maneuvered through a figure-eight shaped part of the track. Twists and turns led her through a bright rainbow tunnel and onto another road before soaring through rings of stars. This was what Vanellope loved about racing, the feeling of freedom and thrill that came with it. She felt weightless and for a moment, surrounded by stars, planets, and galaxies. She just felt happy to be there.
The spell was broken as Vanellope landed on the track. She took the road to the right and went over every speed enhancer. She had to wrench her steering wheel to keep control of her car. If it wasn't such an amazing rush Vanellope would have called it too much. As she crossed the finish line she realized why this place amazed her so much. It wasn't the colors, the track, or even the background music, it was the feeling of forever that the background gave her, the feeling that the endless universe would always have a new challenge for her. Forever can be scary, unless you know what you want to do with it.
"Whaddya mean a tie!?" Vanellope demanded. She had completely dominated rainbow road which left the score 2-2.
"Yeah, the even number course thing bugs me too, but if you really wanna get your butt whooped there are seven more cups," Jr announced arrogantly. Vanellope smiled, there was always a challenge.
Author's Notes:
I think that was the fastest I've ever written a chapter.
Vanellope's an adrenaline junkie and thrill seeker, so she gets pretty bored without a challenge. Luckily Mario Kart exists.
The game they're playing is Mario Kart Wii, I'm pretending the game Jr inhabits is all the games in one.
Vanellope didn't glitch because she's trying to CHALLENGE herself, glitching would make things too easy.
The Sprinter is an unlockable kart in MKW, I forget what you have to do to get it.
Admit it! Bowser's castle is a nightmare world and rainbow road is a work of art!
