"BEEEP! BEEEP!" Toad's alarm clock buzzed, waking him up at 10:00 A.M. He slowly got up and looked at his calendar.
"2:00 P.M at Dry Dry Desert!" he said, happily. He got ready and prepared for the race, his chance to win the minor-league glory. And be away from Bowser. At 10:50, he called Bowser to prepare once more. Once again, their training session didn't go too well.
"Get in your Karts!" the Lakitu said, hovering above the eight racers. The top eight minor-league racers sat lined up before the finish line, ready to compete for a chance at moving up to the major-leagues. Toad sat in his kart quietly, with Bowser grumbling in the back. Despite Bowser's attitude, Toad had to win this one. It was the only way to get rid of him.
Finally, the Lakitu hung a black traffic light above them, which started to flash. Red, Yellow... GREEN! Sand and dust flew into the air as the eight go-karts sped off. Toad felt confident right from the start. After all, he had Bowser's huge spiked shells, and the shiny blue Mushroom Kart, which proved to be one of the fastest karts in the league. For the first lap, they raced unlike they had ever raced before. They dodging items from other karts, avoided pokeys on the road, and kept the other seven karts out of sight. The Lakitu then hung the sign in front of their heads, saying "Lap 2".
"Hey, get this thing outta my way!" Toad shouted, annoyed by the sign. He almost crashed, like he did when he first started Mario Kart races. Toad saw a kart in the distance from the rearview mirror, and found that it was the #1 ranked kart, the one team of racers that did better than Toad and Bowser during the season. Koopa and Paratroopa sat inside.
Throughout the whole race, Bowser shouted things like, "Move it, mushroom head!", or "C'mon, step on it!" Although Bowser shouted rude comments, Toad was able to stay calm; he was used to Bowser's negative attitude. Finally, they saw the sign over their heads, saying "Final Lap". Toad noticed a problem. First off, the "Final Lap" sign was blocking his view again. But worse, the tires were screeching, and the kart seemed to be going slower.
"Nice going, Bowser!" Toad thought, knowing that this was Bowser's fault. The small, light kart easily faced problems with the large weight of Bowser inside. Also, Toad was forced to speed up after Bowser's comments, which slightly damaged the tires. But Toad still felt confident that with the quality of his kart, the tires would make it through. Then, through all the sand and dust floating in the air, Toad saw the black and white checkerboard finish line up ahead. Behind him, however, he heard the roaring motor of Koopa and Paratroopa's kart.
"Do you want to win or not? Slowpoke!" Bowser shouted at Toad in his deep, angry voice.
Toad had had enough. Bowser was an unfit partner for anyone, and now, seconds away from crossing the finish line, he was still shouting rude comments. Toad thought about the shining championship trophy on the sideline, and hated that Bowser would be able to hold it if Toad could finish first. Even worse, Bowser would be headed to the major-leagues, when he really had no talent at all. Still, there was a draft every year for new racers, so Toad was going to try replacing Bowser, if he could.
So this was it. Toad's last race with Bowser. Only a few more-
"Are you trying to get to the finish line or hit pokeys! Learn how to drive!" Bowser's loud voice interrupted Toad's thoughts, and sure enough, there was a pokey right in front of him. He swerved quickly to the right, but he couldn't turn in time. He had already dented the right side of his kart badly, and was now spinning rapidly, completely out of control. He tried to control his kart, but the sand got in his eyes, and he couldn't see where he was going.
Then, he felt himself rise, still spinning. He looked down below him, and saw the #1 ranked kart speed by under him, into first place. He was in a tornado. The tornado violently threw him away as the other six racers passed him. Toad saw the ground rushing toward him, falling quickly, and he closed his eyes, ashamed. Then, everything went black.
