Met Guard : Well, it looked like I took my time, this time around. *shot viciously with a watermelon* Ah-hem, I'm glad you liked the challenge, because, well, they seem great in my imagination, but since I'm a really good writer, I thought it would come out as a very uninteresting one. Well, some challenges are worse, like the one of this chapters. It also looked great on paper too, though... Your guess was still fairly accurate, I think ! ^^ Thanks for the review. ^^

Champ : Hide your joy. *shot* Well, I knew Flurrie wouldn't last long because almost nobody likes her, and I had a bit of trouble portraying her faithfully. I'm glad you liked her departure. XD See, you were right with your prediction about Flurrie (although I kind of suspect it was your wish... XD). Thanks for the review, and don't worry about forgetting. You don't even have to do it, but you're kind enough to do it, so thank you. ^^

Koopa2pa : Yes, I also think she was being a little too selfish during her time on the show. ^^ And sorry for your list, but you know, that's the same thing for me. All the obvious non-Moles leave when I've crossed them from my list a long time ago. And in the end, I end up with two suspects, and it usually the one that I do not suspect who is the Mole. XD Thanks for the review.

Previously, on the Mole, Toad and Bootler were still going for the exemptions, willing to sacrifice twenty thousand coins. On the other part, Noki, Mario, Flurrie, Jojora, Birdo and Pauline were racing like crazy to pass the two exemption-hungry players in order to add those twenty thousand coins into the team pot. In the end, both teams were neck to neck, but Toad and Bootler eventually won their exemptions when it was revealed that Flurrie's car was damaged. After that, the players could do whatever they wanted to do. Toad filled Flurrie, Noki and Birdo on Jojora's plan, and the latter dismantled her coalition, leaving an upset Pauline, a planning Mario as well as a collected Bootler without the clue to the Mole's identity. During the third execution, Flurrie left, taking with her fifty thousand coins after a shocking twist. Six genuine players remain, who will leave next?

First name : Birdo

Surname : Ribbon

Birthday : May 15

Job : Fashion Designer

First name : Bootler

Surname : Majordome

Birthday : September 6

Job : Butler

First name : Noki

Surname : Delphis

Birthday : August 7

Job : Air Hostess

First name : Toad

Surname : Phalloïde

Birthday : June 1

Job : Gardener

First name : Jojora

Surname : Teeheena

Birthday : December 27

Job : Sculptor

First name : Pauline

Surname : Celeste

Birthday : June 16

Job : Model

First name : Mario

Surname : Mario

Birthday : January 22

Job : Plumber

12 : Challenges from Home

Monty Mole was gone, that night. Where? Nobody but him, the crew, as well as some special guests knew it. He had business to attend to, and could not stay at the hotel. Unbeknownst to the players, he was actually preparing the next challenge they would have to try to win.

Now awake and eating around the lunch table, the players were questioning Monty's absence.

"I find it very peculiar that Monty Mole is not sitting with us at this very moment," commented Bootler, cleaning his mouth with his towel. "Usually, it is around that time that he tells us what the challenge will be or when and where it will take place."

"Yeah, it's odd," agreed Mario. "Maybe the challenge has already started?" Jojora shrugged. Pauline shook her head.

"It can't be, I mean... Well, you know, we usually have some kind of clue to begin a challenge. Here, we've got nothing. And I kind of doubt that we can win a challenge randomly. It would be pure luck." Birdo looked up from her plate.

"I heard a helicopter last night," piped in Birdo.

"Well, that was awkward. Why would you say that you heard one last night anyway... It's not relevant, right? And why would you remember it?" inquired a suspicious Pauline.

"Well, the question should rather be : Why didn't you hear it and why can't you make the link between Monty's absence and the helicopter Birdo heard last night? I can't believe I'm surrounded by fools," Jojora sighed deeply, as if all the misery of the world was on her shoulders. Pauline shot her an angry look.

"Geez, it sure looks like a great way to start the day," noted Toad. Beside him, Noki nodded her head.

Noki : Game-wise, I believe I'm in a great position, right now. Currently, and as far as I know, Birdo and I are the only two persons in a coalition. Jojora may have the clue to the Mole's identity, but we maintain good relationships with the other players. And anyway, a clue is useless if you can't understand it.

Birdo : I'm still upset about Flurrie's departure, yet quite happy for her since she's going to help her friends with it. Flurrie is my friend, my coalition partner, a person that I didn't suspect to be the Mole and I kind of think that she wouldn't have faced a red screen, yesterday.

Mario : Yesterday's twist really annoyed me, and still annoys me. I'm trying to stay very polite with you guys, but this twist...totally killed my game.

Soon enough, Mario was finished with his meal. He stood up from his chair and asked the question which answer was needed by everyone. "So... What are we supposed to do now?"

Obviously, nobody had the answer, but Birdo had an idea. "We could always try to knock on Monty's door to see if he really is here, or not?" She received various nods.

"Well then, it is settled. Let us go to the Mole's room!" chuckled Bootler heartily, followed by his fellow players.

…

Going up the stairs noisily and conversing loudly, the players arrived to the room of "Mole", presumably for the host's surname. Crowded around Room 106, the players waited patiently for an answer after Mario had knocked three times on his door. However, they were never given a proper answer, as Monty Mole greeted them from behind.

"Hello! May I be of any help?" Noki let out a shriek, but calmed herself when she realized it was only their host.

"Please, stop surprising us like that!" she ordered. Jojora stepped forward.

"We were looking for you. Where were you?"

"I was actually preparing your next challenge, that's why I wasn't here until now. And now that I'm finished, we will be able to begin, if that's okay with you, of course. Let's go back to the dining room, if you please."

Toad : This game is full of surprises. You never know what might happen. I think our next mission is really important, since, you know, Monty Mole needed to go somewhere in a helicopter to prepare it.

…

Monty Mole, followed by the players, went down the stairs and back into the dining room. There, he turned back to the players, and asked them a simple question : who shouldn't take part in the next mission?

"How much time do we have?" questioned Noki.

"Well, I don't have any restriction for you guys, but try not to be too long. It would be useless and really stupid," answered Monty Mole, after he sat on a chair.

"Well, it's a tough one. We don't even know what kind of mission we'll be playing in," noted Pauline. Toad scratched the back of his head.

"We can sit out a weak player, someone who we think is the Mole or someone that deserves to take a break. I think those are our choices. If it were only me, I would choose to reward someone for their hard work."

Bootler rubbed his chin. "Why would you do so?"

Toad nodded and coughed a bit before giving his answer. "As far as I recall, according to the researches I've made prior to the game...the only time Monty asked this question was when the players had to take dares. Humiliating dares, I mean."

Birdo smiled weirdly, sneezing at the same time. "I think I have a cold, so maybe I can sit out of this one?" The others sent her bored looks. Birdo coughed another time. When she saw that it did not affect the others, she gave up. "Okay, maybe I'm not that sick, but even I deserve to take a break once in a while!"

"You were useless during the last challenge."

Birdo glared at Jojora. "Shut up."

Pauline saw the confrontation as an opportunity to ditch Jojora, even if it was only for a challenge. "How about that? Since Jojora always brings negativity with her, we could make her sit out of this challenge, right?"

"I like that idea," smiled Birdo, truthfully. Bootler shook his head.

"We need to think rationally. We cannot sit out a player simply because they are not liked. Let's hear everyone's input on that matter. If I had to sit out a weak member, it would be myself or Pauline, because she is still wearing high heels."

Jojora : If Pauline is suspicious? Heck yeah she is! We've told her plenty of times to stop putting on high heels but she keeps on doing otherwise. Those are only shoes, for god sake, if she weren't so full of herself, she could add more money to the pot, but it's like she doesn't care. With an additional five thousand coins, she could buy at least ten pairs of shoes! People only look at big sabotages and totally forget about that kind of thing, because they think nobody can change people's personality. I can tell you that it's rather easy to mask your true feelings and to play a role.

Toad shrugged. "Well, I don't know. I would nominate Mario, because I think it's like the challenge in season one."

The sound of Noki's voice was finally heard. "To be honest, I would nominate Mario too, because I think he did not make us lose much money during the previous challenges. He deserves this break."

"Look, okay, we got it. The only thing that's bothering me, is that Mario is the most physical player of the entire show. If we need strength, I'm sorry to say that, but we're screwed if we rely on Toad and Bootler," demonstrated Jojora.

"Mario, why wouldn't you choose for us?" Noki asked kindly. Mario jumped out of his trance.

"I think that's harsh, Noki. In the end, someone will be the odd man, or woman, out. Since Birdo didn't really want to play in the next challenge, I choose her. Is that okay with everyone?"

Various forms of indifferent replies were heard, leaving Mario to assume that everyone was fine with his decision. Monty Mole nodded and ordered Birdo to come by his side. "Birdo, come here, please. As the selected player, you will not participate in today's challenge. But fear not! We have a special surprise for you... Mysterious Person, please reveal yourself!"

Coming from behind the red curtains was an individual that Birdo knew and recognized instantly, for he was Yoshi, her romantic interest. She squealed, delighted, and ran at full speed towards him, throwing herself into his arms in the process. The others were left mouths agape.

Toad : I'll be honest with you guys, but I don't really think Birdo deserved to get a break, since she isn't really the one who helps the most during challenges. At the same time, I'm just glad Jojora didn't win the right to see someone she liked.

Bootler : What bothers me is this single question : what would have happened if Birdo had not been selected? Surely, Yoshi could not be the reward of everyone, so how did they know exactly that Birdo would have the opportunity to see him? Then again, Birdo did volunteer, and quite rapidly if I do say so myself.

"Well players, I guess that sets the tone for you next mission, right? Now please follow me, you will be having your next challenge very soon. Oh, and Birdo, before I forget. Since the players elected you as the person who did not have to partake in today's challenge, you can do whatever you want to do with Yoshi, your loved one. Please be sure to join us in the lobby in one hour or two, however."

Birdo smiled. She then whispered some words in Yoshi's ear, and although he frowned slightly, he still seemed to have agreed with her. "Since the others were really cool to let me have this break, Yoshi and I think it's only natural to cheer them on for this challenge."

"I'm not sure it will be really feasible, but if you insist. You might want to order some drinks before they start, so just to let you know, meet me before Gate Five."

With that, Monty Mole set off at a brisk pace, forcing the six other players to jog to keep up with him.

…

Fifteen minutes later, Monty Mole and the players, minus Birdo, were all standing before Gate Five. Monty Mole was wearing a small grin upon seeing the faces of the nervous six contestants. Eventually, he began to explain the rules of the challenge.

"First of all, this challenge is named 'Family Problems'. If you win this challenge, thirty thousand coins will be added to your pot and all six of you will get to see your loved one. Your relatives, whomever they might be, will stay with you for the entire episode. Obviously, they won't be able to help you during challenges, though."

Monty Mole cleared his throat and went on with the explanations. "This mission will be really tricky - I guess some of you already knew that after you nominated Birdo to rest, a few moments before. Each of you will be competing against a loved one. One of your relatives, so that makes it six in total, is hiding behind one of those gates, waiting for a challenger to come. Before you goes against anyone, you will be informed of the contents of the mini challenges they prepared for you. Each of you must take up a challenge, nobody can go twice. If you win, you will free a loved one and add five thousand coins into the pot. However, if you lose, you will earn nothing."

"I can already smell a twist, aren't I correct?" besought Bootler.

"Huh? A twist?" asked a bewildered Toad.

Pauline : In my honest opinion, Bootler could be the greatest Mole we've ever had. Smart and sly, he can easily cover up every mistakes he makes. I've also noticed that he seems to always save the day, yet he sabotages and nobody pays him any attention, because, like, he's way too old, give the guy some slack, no way, he's too likeable, and everything, you know?

Mario : Birdo's my prime suspect for the Mole. But I have to say that everyone is fishy. I kind of doubt it's Jojora, because she takes everything seriously. Well, if she is the Mole, I'm totally gone this episode, since she has my entire trust. I don't even know why I'm digressing like that when you only asked my opinion about Bootler, but whatever.

Bootler smiled elegantly and answered. "If we look closely... We only need to 'beat' our loved ones at their own game, don't we? And, as far as the rules go, we are free to defy our own relatives. Then, assuming that nothing else was omitted, we can safely say that we will win this game easily. If we were to tell our friends and family to let us win, they would let us win. I have no doubt about that."

Noki looked stoical. "Yes, I've noticed that too. And the title of this mission was bothering me for some reason."

Monty Mole chuckled. "You are all as sharp as ever. It seems like you are merging with the game. But enough dillydallying. Victory won't be as quite easy to reach as you would imagine. Beforehand, we told your loved ones that you were told that if you were to beat them during a challenge, you would be able to see them and win money, and that it was completely false. We told them that in order for you to see them, they would have to beat the opponent that came to defy them. Of course, we never told them how psychological this game was. And we lied to them. To add spice to this challenge, of course. Be warned that you cannot communicate with them, and that we forbade them from doing the same. Are there any questions? If not, we might as well start now, since Birdo and Yoshi seem to be ready to join you."

Nobody spoke up. The host saw that as a cue to continue. "Well then, I'll tell you about your opponents." He pointed toward Gate Three. "Behind this gate is Chucklissa, Jojora's best friend. Someone quick, nimble, who has a lot of stamina can overcome this challenge, as it involves dodging things thrown at a great speed."

The players looked intently at the gate, while Yoshi and Birdo murmured quietly between each other, exchanging thoughts. "Let's choose who will take this challenge," suggested Jojora. "I personally nominate Mario."

"What about Toad?" tried a shy Noki. "He has great speed and his tiny body – no offense – could let him have an advantage..."

"I think we should hear what the others challenge are about," agreed Toad. Jojora clenched her fits.

"Look, I know you don't like me, but it's no reason to ignore me. Five thousand coins are at stake, and I'm convinced only Mario can beat her. I mean, look at you! There's no way anyone else can win this. Trust me, I know her, and she is far stronger than anyone else. But since Mario can lift overgrown turtles, he might have a chance."

Pauline shrugged. "We'll see after we heard about everything. Monty, please continue."

"Very well. Behind Gate Four is Toadette, Toad's girlfriend. It is a culinary challenge, people who know how to bake a cake can surely participate in this challenge, as long as their creativity is existent and their taste buds alive. On a side note, the judge will be a weirdo, so be careful not to wet your pants." The players looked at Monty Mole, incredulously. "What? It's not my description."

"Right," chuckled Mario, followed by the others. "Anyway, next one please."

"The next one is this very gate. Behind it awaits the only one that can best Mario's jumping abilities, his own brother, Luigi. Someone who is geared up for anything might want to give a speedy go to this challenge." The host paused. "The pun isn't mine, we let your loved ones explain the things you would have to do!" he protested, when he heard sniggering.

"We'll need someone who knows how to drive... Flurrie would have been more than helpful," noted Noki.

Monty Mole looked at everyone and went on. "Behind Gate Six is Pianta, Noki's friend and associate, who is also a pilot. People who know how to adapt in time of crisis have better chances to win this challenge." When nobody said anything, he explained who was behind Gate Seven. "Behind Gate Seven is Grace, Pauline's childhood friend, who introduced her to the model agency she was working for. A stylish and fashionable person that knows how to coordinate clothes and satisfy clients will most likely succeed in this challenge."

"Easy," bragged Pauline. "This one is all me!"

"Hurry up with the final one!" snapped an impatient Jojora.

"Right... Finally, behind Gate Eight is Lady Bow, a Boo princess that is also Bootler's loved one. People that know proper etiquette are likely to win this challenge, as long as they are good negotiators," finished Monty Mole.

Birdo : I found it amusing that the descriptions the loved one gave matched up with the players' abilities and personalities.

Immediately after Monty Mole finished his announcement, Bootler decided to compete against his own relative and went towards Gate Eight, while Pauline did the same and went to Gate Seven.

Noki: I really found suspicious the fact that they never let us discuss about the choice we should make. The justification they gave us were not really satisfying. They were saying things like : "We can easily win this challenge since we know what to expect from them", but really, I think they wanted to sabotage the mission without making us angry.

Mario : From the get-go, Pauline and Bootler decided to take care of their relative's challenge, without asking our point of view, thus limiting our possibilities. I am fairly sure Noki could have won Lady Bow's challenge, and I'm sure mostly everyone here could have won the fashion challenge.

"Who knows how to cook? I don't, so I can't take my girlfriend's challenge," Toad told everyone. Noki quickly noticed the direction in which three pairs of eyes were turned.

"Fine, I'll do it! But that does not please me one bit..." Toad thanked her.

"Thanks Noki. Well, now it's us three. I can drive a car, so maybe I could race with Luigi? And then Jojora could take care of Pianta's challenge and Mario could do Chucklissa's? That's only a suggestion..."

Mario looked at Jojora for a minute and nodded. "Yeah, I'll do this one. Hopefully it's not impossible to win..."

Monty Mole looked delighted. "We can finally begin this challenge. Birdo and Yoshi, you can look at the players' progression on this laptop. Players, I wish you good luck. Enter your pipes."

The players, more or less anxious, depending on the task they were assigned to, entered the Warp Pipes shyly. Just after that, Monty Mole turned to Birdo, a smirk drawn on his face. "Well Birdo, I wanted to ask for your predictions later, but since you are here, we'll proceed differently. Everyone but Bootler will have to remain quiet in front of the relatives, or at least, let's say that they won't be able to respond to the relatives' taunts." Yoshi looked at Birdo, surprised to see her so focused.

"Please go on," Birdo demanded gently.

Monty Mole now wore a big grin. "Well, it's now your chance to win a plus one for your next quiz. Mario, Jojora, Noki, Toad and Pauline cannot speak to the relatives, but the relatives can. To earn your plus one, you will have to choose one of the relatives who will be asked, secretly, to break the ice with his or her opponent. Should the player respond, his or her part of the challenge will be worth two thousand coins instead of five thousand. Whether they win or lose won't matter : the exemption will be yours. So, do you choose to stimulate one of the players?"

"You bet I'll choose one! I'm tempted to choose Jojora, but I think Pauline is more likely to break the rules...like always. So, please contact Grace, I really need this boost since the previous episode did not really confirm whether or not I was on the right track," justified Birdo.

"Very well."

"Wow, I actually thought you would refuse," trailed an astonished Yoshi.

Birdo chuckled. "Well, in a game like this, you can't really dismiss such an opportunity, can you?"

…

A Lakitu from the crew brought Mario to his destination, Chilly Waters. Obviously, Mario was dressed adequately. The Lakitu escorted him to the right of a giant Mr. Blizzard, and he took note of an ugly yet quite strong woman with pink hair and plenty of make-up on, who was certainly two times as tall as him.

"Well, you both know the contents of this challenge. Chucklissa, your goal is to aim snowballs at Mario. Shoot him three times before he reaches the big wooden panel on which is written 'START' and you win. Mario, you now know what you have to do. You can't start yet, but at the sound of the buzzer, you may. If nobody wins the challenge within two hours, it will be considered as a draw, and as such, Chucklissa will be declared winner."

Mario quickly went behind a ramp, and spied on the Lakitu and Chucklissa. "Well, she really seems strong, so I'm glad someone like Birdo didn't have to take this challenge, but still... I'm not sure that I can do it myself... With the snow and everything..."

Mario looked ahead of him and analyzed his surroundings, probably trying to find which route would be the safest. A few minutes after that, he heard a buzzer and carefully stepped his way out of his hiding out. As soon as she saw him, Chucklissa threw a snowball at an alarming speed toward him. He dived out of the way, but it was useless, the snowball touched his shoe. "Crap, only two more tries!" he exclaimed.

This time, Mario did not try to be careful. He ran at full speed toward three big trees, hearing the sound of the snowballs crashing behind him. After a few seconds, he decided that his strategy could do the trick, and once again, tried to reach an igloo, behind which he could hide. However, the snow around the igloo was thicker, impeding Mario's progress. Chucklissa scored a direct hit, and Mario was left in a daze. Thankfully, he still managed to reach the igloo, and tried to recover from the hit.

During that time, he grumbled and elaborated a strategy. "I may have still a chance to win if I know where she throws the snowball, but if I keep my eyes out of the way, I might trip of something..."

Nevertheless, Mario gave his strategy a try, and solely focused and Chucklissa's snowball. He almost fell one time, but quickly recovered and narrowly dodged a snowball. When he couldn't see her anymore, because his neck would not allow him, he made a sharp bend and hid behind what looked like a tomb. He could see victory approaching, but at the same time, he knew that Chucklissa only needed one more snowball to connect with her target to win. And she now had an advantage as he could not see her anymore. Cleverly, Mario created a diversion. He threw a snowball on a nearby panel, the sound it produced drawing Chucklissa's attention. Mario sped at full speed behind big trees, where her snowballs could not reach him, and eventually reached the finish line, winning the first challenge and allowing Chucklissa to come with him.

Chucklissa, who was not aware of this twist, was not particularly happy to see Mario winning the challenge. "You blew my only chance to see my best friend! Now I'll have to wait forever to see her again, since she's on the show!"

Mario looked surprised, but explained everything to her. "Relax and just come with me, this is a little more complex than what you imagine it is. Since the challenge is over, I guess I have the right to talk to you, so I'll explain on our way."

…

The cooking challenge, behind Gate Four opposed Noki to Toadette, and took place at Koopa's Seaside Soiree. Toadette was already waiting there, chatting happily with a Koopa who was the owner of a little hotel. Brought there by a Goomba who was part of the crew, Noki arrived, looking a little intimidated at Toadette, a person to whom she had never talked. Sensing her nervousness, Toadette greeted her.

"Hello, my name is Toadette! Don't be so shy, I don't bite!" she laughed. This single sentence reassured Noki, who smiled a little.

"Well, my name is Noki and I'm very pleased to meet you," she greeted in a formal way. "So, I guess you are my opponent for this challenge?"

"Oh right, I almost forgot that we had a challenge. May the best woman win, then," she winked.

"So, are you ready girls?" asked the enthusiastic owner. "Your goal is simple : you have one hour to bake a cake. You've been provided with your own utensils, your own cooking table and well, everything you need in order to cook, I guess. Just so you know, our oven are extremely powerful, so you won't need to wait an hour to have your cake baked. Well, the challenge begins now, so good luck girls!"

Toadette flipped through the pages of her book and found the cake Toad liked the most. Although she was not an extremely good cook and had never done this recipe before, she thought that it was also probably new to Noki too. She decided to make Chocolate Brownies.

As to Noki, well, she settled on a Framboisier, a sweet raspberry cake. She had only tasted one once and it was a long time ago, but she knew she could score extra points if she cooked an original cake. And she was one hundred percent positive that Toadette did not know a thing about this.

Noki prepared her ingredients and started to work efficiently. Thinking an hour was not sufficient to do follow the entire recipe, she decided to forget about the first 'useless' part of the cake and to directly work on the biggest part. "So, let's start by putting the sponge cake inside of the cake ring..."

As the recipe was telling her, she cut two rings of sponge cake, of the dimension of the cake ring, and placed the first one inside of this very cake ring, storing the second one. She soaked gelatin sheets in cold water and let them inside. She then warmed the raspberry coulis inside a pan and added caster sugar. The recipe then actually told her to dry the gelatin sheets, but she totally forgot to do it. Instead, she directly went on to the next par which consisted on putting the gelatin sheets on the lukewarm coulis, which she did.

She had a little trouble stirring them, because she had forgotten to dry them, but eventually she succeeded and placed the coulis inside a clean frying pan. From time to time, she stirred it so that it wouldn't liquefy, but lost valuable time in the process.

After that, Noki beat the liquid cream into a whipped cream and put a quarter of it into her coulis, and mixed well with a whisk. She looked at Toadette and saw that she had chosen to make brownies. Needless to say, Noki was relieved to see that her efforts would surely be more rewarded than Toadette's.

When she obtained a perfect mixture she poured it into the remaining whipped cream and once again mixed it, but with haste, this time. After having vigorously mixed the mixture, she poured half of its contents into the cake ring. She put some raspberries into her masterpiece and poured the remaining mixture in it and smoothed out the surface of her cake with a metal spatula. She removed the cake from the cake ring, beat whipped cream to Chantilly and added icing sugar. Using a special bag, she decorated the cake with chantilly – hiding some slight imperfection, by the way, and finished her chef-d'œuvre by putting more raspberries on top of it, sprinkling them with sugar. She put them in the fridge and waited a little moment.

Eventually, the 'judge' tasted both cakes. Immediately, a weird reaction occurred. "OOOOOOOH MY GOOOOD! THIS IS SOOOOOO GOOOD!" The obese judge, who has had cake-triggered orgasms for his whole life, began to jump up and down, screaming excitedly, and ran everywhere at full speed, bumping into angry customers.

"Ew... Such a disturbing sight," commented Toadette, looking at Gourmet Guy who was foaming at the mouth and blabbering non-sense. Noki shivered.

When he settled, he thought both of them were exquisite but ultimately rewarded Noki for her hard work. Then, Noki and Toadette tasted the two cakes before leaving the Koopa.

"Well, too bad I lost... Oh well, make sure Toad doesn't say silly things in front of millions of viewers," laughed Toadette, trying to sound happy.

"Why wouldn't you tell him yourself? It's actually a good thing that you did not win the challenge, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to see him. Come with me, I think Monty Mole has to explain you some things," smiled Noki politely.

…

Toad followed the Lakitu who was guiding him through two warp pipes, and finally ended up high above the sky, on what appeared to be a racetrack. Greeted by an honorable Star Spirit, he quickly found out that his game would be rather simple, yet terribly hard at the same time. Beating the ace kart racer that was Luigi could be very problematic.

"Hey!" greeted Luigi. Toad did not respond. "Wow, that was rather cold... Well, I guess I won't have to hide my joy once I've won this challenge. Let's go !"

Looking at the race, he found it extremely familiar to figure eight, another racetrack he had been driving on for a few years. Toad put his seat-belt and hopped into his kart.

"Well, it will be a simple race. No item, three laps, foxes only, final destination!" cackled the Lakitu in a weird way. "Errr... Forget what I just said, okay?" Toad and Luigi were still uneasy in their seat, but quickly focused and sped up like blasts of light as soon as Lakitu gave them the permission to go.

The two racers were really neck to neck during the race, and while Toad gained an advantage during the second lap, when Luigi collided into the race's outline, but quickly lost it as Luigi pulled through rather easily, and reclaimed first place. Soon, they were in the home stretch, when Toad, full of surprises, rammed into Luigi's kart and shoved him away. Luigi's kart went out of control, as he did not expect such a low blow coming from Toad. Toad then resumed racing and crossed the finish line first.

Luigi was not particularly happy at the outcome of the race, but said nothing. Toad then noticed him, and invited him to go back to Monty Mole. "It will be worth it, I tell you. C'mon Luigi, don't be such a baby, I had to win because Mario asked me to win this challenge so he could see you."

Luigi raised an eyebrow, not saying anything. Eventually, he began to follow Toad.

Three had succeeded to beat their opponents. Three remained. Would all of the players be able to see their loved one? Only time would tell.

Oh, the pain of writing about Noki's part... I don't even know half of the specific words I used in her challenge in French, so... You don't imagine how horrible it was. And boring. I should have written something else, but oh well... I also apologize for my lack of culinary knowledge. I don't like to eat, and I know what a cookie or what a brownie is, but the things you call waffles... I've never seen them in my whole life, so I took the easy way out and made Noki bake a French cake ? Or at least, something that exists here. ^^'

That rant aside, I hope you still like the story. Thanks for your reviews, and sorry for the very late chapter. ^^