Chapter 2

Following the ceremony in front of the castle, Mario took Bower aside and firmly stated, "I want a re-match, private, just you and me at Luigi's Raceway." Bowser laughed, "You want to race me? Your kart wouldn't even start. You see this trophy?" Mario could see his reflection in the finely polished gold cup Bowser was triumphantly and mockingly displaying in front of him. "I am the best! No one can beat me!" "Cut the act Bowser, I know about the sugar. I want a re-match but just a good-old, grass roots, man to man shoot out. No standard NASKART regulations and no weapons." "No rules you say?" repeated Bowser. "This sounds like my kind of race! I accept your request Mario, but be warned, you have made a fatal mistake." Bowser stomped off roaring in laughter thinking his day just couldn't get any better. Once again, Mario smirked to himself, how quickly the big dumb lummox had fallen right where he wanted him. The showdown was scheduled one week from now.

Back at Bowser's castle, the King Koopa called together all of his men and announced the upcoming challenge presented by his arch rival. "My fellow subjects, Mario has challenged us to a one-on-one race." The gathering incessantly booed at the mentioning of the opponents name. "He has foolishly made the terms of the race no weapons and no standard NASKART rules. This kind of race is in our domain my friends. We have much work to do. First of all, because there are no dangerous items, we can start by taking my "special" heavy duty armor off of the kart to make it lighter. Also, I have made plans for a secret stash of golden mushrooms. This will provide me with an edge in the absence of weapons. I will be able to run laps around Mario and he will suffer another humiliating round of defeat!" "ALL HAIL BOWSER!" cried the assembly at his evil genius. "Now off with you all, prepare my kart and have that engine running like never before! This will be a performance Mario shall not soon forget!"

As the Bowser kingdom was frantically running about, Mario sat quietly in his arm chair, a Pick-Me-Up in hand (one of his favorite drinks from back in his SNES RPG days), Staring off into space, only he knowing what he was contemplating. "Mario won't you please take off that cap while you are in the house," Peach suggested as she came into the room. This was a habit she had to remind him of regularly. "Oh sorry Peach, but I was just on my way out anyways," Mario apologized as he rose from the chair and headed out the door. "Hey, where are you going?" asked peach. But he was already gone.

Mario walked over to the driveway and climbed into his newly refurbished kart. It started up instantly and idled perfectly, the boys back at the shop had done a good job. He was headed down the beautiful green country side of the Mushroom Kingdom Parkway. Quite a ways from town, he turned left onto a discrete dirt road that was the beginning of a hidden entryway. At the end of this slightly rutted dirt path stood a modest looking brown barn. It was moderately weathered with a few planks missing here and there but it had endured the test of time throughout a number of generations. Mario parked to the side of the barn and headed to the large double doors that securely sealed the structure. Taking out a key, he unlocked the chain looped through the two metal handles. With one swift pull, he swung open both doors, stirring up the still dirt. The sun beamed rays in-between the boards of the old barn and they fell upon a blue tarp that covered something in the center of the straw strewn dirt floor.

Mario grabbed the front of the tarp and started to slowly peel it back, a radiance of metallic gold shined as it emerged from underneath the canvas which had been in place so long. Next to be uncovered, were two chrome hood locks which both sparkled in the light. Mario continued to pull the tarp back even further. Again, Mario found himself again staring at his mirror image. This time, his reflection looked back with a much more satisfactory expression from the surface of a flawless highly polished hood. The NASA designed dual Ram Air intakes on the top were anxiously waiting to inhale a fresh breath of oxygen again. Going on, a sports roof was unveiled next, not one blemish or sign of rust. Mario took a deep breath and with a flick of his wrists, the tarp flew up into the air, revealing the downward sloping lines of the fastback that ended at a rear deck spoiler. The tarp gently floated back down to rest beside one of the forged alloy rims as Mario took in the sight of his 1973 Mustang Mach1 which was now standing prominently in all her glory.

It had been to long since he saw her last. Walking over to the driver side in a semi-dazed state, he inserted the key into the door. The ginger-knit vinyl bucket seats, sports steering wheel, and Hurst 4-on-the-floor, coaxed him to come inside. Pulling the door shut after him, Mario griped the wheel with both hands and imagined the power he'd been waiting to take control of. Nervously, his gloved hand went up to slip the key into the ignition. Torquing the key, he gave it a half rotation. With one more turn she came to life. The cars dormant ignition wires carried juice once again. The silence of the still country scene was broken by a deep and intimidating rhythmic rumbling coming out of the dual Flowmaster exhaust tips as the eight cylinders did their job. They were bored .30 over and housed inside a 351 Cleveland 4V motor which was wearing a racing style double pumper carburetor for a crown. Mario's foot went down on the accelerator and gave it a slight push. The tachometer needle jumped up to three thousand. The engine perked up responding with a rev but he could tell that he may need to do a little tuning before the race.