Chapter 3

Mario couldn't help but wonder how he had ended up here, even after he had accepted it. After all, only moments ago he was home in the Mushroom Kingdom. He had taken a pipe that, according to Toad, would have sent him to World 2 to rendezvous with his friends. Foolish, he thought, that he could have trusted Toad with directions. Toad, after all, had actually got it into his polka-dotted head that this was World 2. No, instead he had found himself in a candy-coated wasteland, whose leader had mugged him moments before challenging him to a race. To her credit, she had the decency to provide him with a kart. (Even the karts, he noted, were constructed of candy.) And she had agreed to let him set the terms for the race… Mario shrugged it off for now. "This might not be so bad after all," he thought to himself. After all, they were going to play it his way.

…

Vanellope couldn't forgive herself for getting herself stuck in such a situation. Sure, that coin of Mario's was so shiny… but now, now that the pressure was on, she almost wanted to throw it back into his mustachioed face. It was too late now, however. Now that she was racing under a completely different set of rules and against the best character from another racing game. But she couldn't back down. Not this time. Her pride was infinitely more valuable than that crummy Star Coin.

…

One would think that whenever the president of a game challenges an outsider to a kart race, the result would be a grand affair. Such, however, was not the case. The only audience to speak of was Toad (who reluctantly watched, wishing he could participate as well) and a handful of assorted citizens of Sugar Rush who came to witness the foreign wonders of Mario Kart.

It wasn't that different, Vanellope was reassuring herself. There were still item boxes and power-ups. There were still the same turbo and drifting mechanics. Really, how bad could this be? Yet now, at the starting line, she continued to find herself wallowing in her own doubts.

Mario, for his part, was feeling right at home. After all, he was racing a 9-year old in a familiar kart race. He chuckled to himself. "This might actually be fun," he thought. "Just can't get too carried away here, though. Gotta get that coin back and head home."

A race fanfare derailed Mario's train of thought. Frantically, he tried to get his head back in the game. The race was starting.

Despite officially being a Mario Kart race, a floating marshmallow was taking the place of Lakitu as the referee. And, as usual, it was carrying a stoplight for the countdown.

3. "It won't be so bad. It won't be so bad…"

2. "Just gotta get Luigi's coin back so I can get home…"

1. Vanellope was startled by a noise coming from her rival's kart. Mario had already begun to rev up his engine. She frowned. Why was he doing that?

"GO!"

On the word "go", Mario's kart rocketed forward like a bullet. The race had only just begun, and he was already leading her by a wide margin.

Vanellope gasped. Mario had pulled off a rocket start! How did he do that?! The only other person she had ever seen doing that was King Candy, former ruler of Sugar Rush. And hadn't he turned out to be from a different game too?! "C'mon, c'mon, I'm losing here!" She slammed both feet on the accelerator.

It was several turns and bends before Mario came into sight again. And he wasn't alone. The first row of item boxes was coming up.

Mario drove through the box in the dead center, which produced a banana peel. Nonchalantly he tossed it behind him. After all, you could only ask for so much when you were this far in the lead.

Dodging the banana, Vanellope passed through another box, which gave her… huh? A turtle shell? They used some pretty bizarre weapons in this game, she thought. Curiously, she threw it in front of her.

Instantly, the shell emitted a beeping noise, and took off at high speed in Mario's direction. "Oh, I see," she said to herself, "it works just like a Sweet Seeker!" Mario spotted the flash of red only too late, right before it hit him.

"Yes!" yelped Vanellope as Mario's kart flipped over. Mario continued accelerating, but it wasn't much help. He had lost a lot of ground from that Red Shell.

Further up the road, he spotted the one chance to make up ground- a trick ramp. He immediately sped off in its direction.

But Vanellope was close behind. She was following Mario to the ramp, trying to weigh her options. Mario was going too fast to be able to pass him, and since he was much heavier than she was, getting into a shoving game would surely result in her getting pushed off the track.

She continued to inch behind Mario- and was too distracted by her thoughts to notice the streaks of blue her kart was emitting. Mario had noticed, however, and frantically tried to drive out of Vanellope's way, but too late. Without warning, her kart lurched forward at high speed- right off the trick ramp. "Woohoo!"

Mario ground his teeth- suddenly he was the one losing. To think he- he, of all people!- he had let her get away with drafting from behind him! He drove over the ramp, executed a trick, and took off in pursuit of her.

As she passed through the final row of item boxes, Vanellope was feeling pretty confident about the race, now that she was well in the lead. How bad could it have been, anyway? No way could Mario make up this much ground by now. An item would make sure of that, she assured herself.

And she was right- as she passed through an item box, she was given a Mushroom. The resulting boost solidified her lead. What could go wrong now?

Vanellope wheeled around. Mario had just passed through the same row of boxes. If an item was going to save him, she thought, it would have to be a powerful one.

But as she approached the final bend, an odd noise startled her. It was faint at first, but gradually it became apparent. And it seemed to be coming from above her…

Vanellope looked up. Another turtle shell, much like the one she had used earlier, was hovering high above her kart. This was no ordinary shell, however- this one was blue, sported a pair of wings, and was covered in pointy spines that ran down its carapace. For a moment, the shell hovered above her, froze, and without warning, converged.