Chapter 5

All was not well within the world of Mario Bros. The Toads' initial shock at the absence of Mario had been temporarily subdued by the first wave of feasting and music, but by the fourth many of the partygoers had begun to get antsy. Mario had to be somewhere in the Kingdom- surely he wouldn't abandon the game on the day of its anniversary. Nevertheless, his absence was startling, and it had only just begun to settle in on the citizens of Mushroom Kingdom.

"There's no way Mario could have taken this long to get here!" informed one of Peach's Toad guards. "He would have to have taken a wrong pipe in the Koopa Kingdom! It's the only way!"

His companion elbowed him in the side. "Told you."

The first guard frowned at his partner. "I should report as well, Princess, that we've received word from the Koopa Kingdom that evil King Bowser is reported missing as well! At least that's good news, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, but in case you haven't noticed," retorted the second guard, "Mario's the one everybody's celebrating today, and he's not here."

The princess did not answer. It was all she could do to conceal her tears. From her chamber she could see the many partygoers down below who went about the hall, happy, oblivious. And here she was without anyone with whom to celebrate.

"It matters not," she whispered at last, almost to herself. "Mario will come. I have faith in him."

…

Mario Kart was a foreign concept indeed to the denizens of Sugar Rush. After winning the race by a wide margin, Mario quickly became the talk of the Kingdom, and all the locals- including the game's racers- came to get a glimpse of him. For his part, Mario was invited to participate in the daily roster race.

This time, the crowd was much larger than ever before, as everyone in the game wanted to the see the mustachioed marvel in action. Their first glimpse of him was met with huge applause, partially as the game's other racers were carrying him on their shoulders. Even after he had hopped into his kart, they continued to surround him, and swamped him with innumerable questions.

"Mario! Can I get your autograph?"

"Teach me how to do a rocket start, Mario!"

"Hey Mario, I love your mustache!"

"Please-a, please-a!" Mario practically had to shout over the requests of his devotees. "I'll be-a taking questions after the race-a!"

One of the racers, who sported a lit candle atop her head, seemed particularly fond of him. "Good luck Mario," she called out to him from the starting line.

"Thank you so nice," Mario said vaguely, but he wasn't really listening. Something kept troubling him. That kid whom he challenged to a race for his coin hadn't returned. What had happened to her? He hoped she was okay… and more importantly, where was Luigi's coin?! Suddenly he remembered. "The anniversary party! IT'S-A TODAY! Mama spaghetti, I need to find-a that coin and get-a going!"

Mario had already started off, but he didn't get far. Quite unexpectedly, he found himself face-to-face with the green-haired girl that had wished him luck.

"Where do you think you're going, Mario?" she inquired in a slightly seductive voice. "You wouldn't leave now, would ya?"

"Well… eh…" Mario began, but the race fanfare cut him off. He was left with no choice but to partake in one last race for the day. Glumly he returned to the starting line, with Candlehead (Mario quickly learned that that really was her name) trotting at his side.

The race turned out to be less eventful than the citizens of the game's world had expected. Only Mario nailed the rocket start, of course, but even after the start did the game's other racers encounter several stumbling blocks. The items were completely foreign to them, and as a result the majority of them incurred wipeouts.

Though Mario was well ahead of her, Candlehead, who held second place, seemed to be making a heroic effort to gain ground on him. Just as she was about to execute a turbo boost, however, her kart was knocked aside.

"What th-!"

A much larger kart- one constructed out of chocolate fudge and charred planks- had entered the fray, and its drivers were closing the gap between themselves and Mario's kart.

"Okay, Spikehead, let him have it!" Vanellope yelped with delight.

Spikehead slammed a button on the dashboard, and a large bomb was ejected from the underbelly of the kart. It squarely hit Mario's kart, flipping him over.

"Yes!" Vanellope exclaimed, as she and Spikehead began to pass Mario around the final bend- just as Spikehead punched another button. This one, however, had no effect, other than enclosing the top of the kart inside of a giant glass dome.

From her spot in the backseat, Vanellope got a perfect view of Mario's face. She blew him a big, wet raspberry, and Mario's already dejected-looking face became one of utter irritation. Then Mario's eyes landed on Spikehead, and suddenly they widened. Frantically, looking horrified, Mario began shouting something and waving his arms.

"How you like me now, you crummy-" Vanellope started, but it wasn't any use. If she couldn't hear him through the glass, there was no way he could hear her. "Hey Spikehead!" she called. "Take this dome down! I wanna taunt Mario!"

"Don't think so, Princess," said Spikehead, somewhat menacingly, as he slammed the accelerator. The pair of them passed over the finish line- and then kept going.

"Um, y'know, the trophy was back there and all, you can't keep going like this-"

"Oh, I think we can, kid," growled Spikehead, sounding truly irritated now.

"Is Spikehead in there? I'd like to speak to him, please…"

"SHUT UP!" roared Spikehead, in a voice that no longer sounded faintly human. On that command, he deliberately drove off the road and took off at high speed.

"Spikehead! What are you doing?!" Vanellope shrieked.

Spikehead wheeled around- and in so doing, his hood came off. For the first time, she could see his face- or rather its face, for the creature was quite plainly inhuman. It had a long mane of red hair, scaly green skin, and two rows of razor-sharp teeth that it now bared at her in an insane smile. And with that smile, everything clicked into place. Vanellope was now fully aware of the position she was in. She had stepped in a trap.

"You can call me 'Spikehead' all you want, you little brat," he spat at her. "After all, you'll be seeing a lot of me from here on out. But if you must know, I actually DO have a name- and it's Bowser, King of the Koopas."