Mario: It's-a-time for chapter three! Mariohohoho!
Lakilester: Duuude, like…I don't know why that moon thing wouldn't let you be on my team…
Twila: Oh dear…are we sure Lakilester is capable of playing this game?
Brighton: Wahaha! All is well! Let's get to the next part of the game, shall we?
Twila: I suppose so….
A/N: Chapter Three! In this chapter, the contestants will begin their very first prize challenge! Who will win, and, how many coins will they add to their vault? Find out on this episode of The DreamStakes!
Thanks to those who reviewed!
Freek Sheet: I liked that part too XD! I'm sorry I made everyone look at you strange .-. Thanks so much for all of your positive comments! They really make me want to continue writing!
ultimateCCC: Thanks for always being so loyal! Now that the teams are set, let's see how they do!
RedLumas: Oh thank you so much for reviewing! I read some of your stories, so hearing feedback from you means a lot! Thanks so much!
Yoshpa Kong: You think it was excellent? *Wipes sweat off brow* Thank you! And I did that for a reason :D I mixed up a lot of favorites so the game wouldn't be one-sided. We'll see how Yoshi does :D
TCKing12: Thanks so much! Your words of encouragement let me know there are readers out there! I'll be sure to keep up the good work :3
The DreamStakes!
"Welcome back!" Twila said grandly, sweeping her arm in a dramatic gesture. Beside her, Brighton's sunny disposition glowed. The radiant host complemented his sister with an opening line.
"Last time, we announced the teams and paired up the contestants! Now, they're on their first mission! Who will be among the first to add coins to their vault? Let's find out!" Brighton cried, seeming positively giddy for what was to come. As Brighton and Twila opened the show, the focus returned to the players. The starting shot for the challenge had just been delivered, and the twenty contestants made out to be the best in the bunch.
The Mushroom Kingdom's most popular couple was leading the pack. With great strength and athleticism, Mario and Peach dashed for the crate house…not that they knew where that was.
"Mariohohohoho!" Mario laughed, twirling his bushy mustache. "Come princess! With-a-me, you'll never face elimination!"
"Oh Mario," Peach said with a flush of emotion as she did a triple somersault into the lead. "You're just so sweet!"
Both of them laughed with excitement as they ran ahead. Behind them, the other athletic duos raced ahead.
"Whoa!" MC Ballyhoo shouted with glee. He was riding atop the back of Yoshi, who was running at top speed. It didn't take long for the duo to overtake the heroic couple, and soon they were in first place. However, another team had developed a similar strategy. Hanging on for dear life, Noki sat atop the orb-like Boo, who floated along at a rapid pace.
Boo: Noki is very sweet…and normal. She's like a breath of fresh air amidst this crazy gang of fools! I'm very glad I ended up with her as my partner.
While the teams ahead fought for the first position, Don Pianta grabbed Rosalina by the arm and dragged her into a shrouded alley.
"Hey!" Rosalina cried. "We need to follow the others!"
"Zip ya trap, toots," Don Pianta hissed. "You think dey know where da crate house is? Hehehe, I lived here for thirty years of my life! I know exactly where da joint is."
"You do!?" Rosalina cried out, seeming surprised.
"Of course I do, ya knuckleheaded princess. I'm a local!" Don Pianta exclaimed. "Now come on, we ain't got all dang day!"
With that, the crime lord hustled Rosalina down the alley, the two of them making a stealthy break for the crate house.
Meanwhile, the observant Kolorado had noticed the disappearance of the platinum princess and her comrade.
"I say!" Kolorado exclaimed. "That thuggish tree man was just here! Where in blazes did he go?"
"Don't worry about it dude," Lakilester said with a laugh. He stuffed some foreign herb into a glass pipe, lighting the plant with a flame.
"My good man, what ever are you doing?" Kolorado cried.
"Just relax," Lakilester said with a laugh, inhaling his herb. Puffing out a massive cloud of white smoke in Kolorado's face, the Lakitu smiled.
Lakilester: Kolorado's always so intense, dude. He's running this way and that, never stopping to smell the roses. When this is all over, I'm taking him on a trip to funkytown…hahaha!
Slapping Flurrie in the face, Princess Shroob let out a rough command.
"Forward slave!" She screamed. "We cannot delay!"
"M-my goodness…," Flurrie whined, completely dejected. At the brink of despair, the aged actress was about to retire from the game when someone came up behind her.
"Ladies," Pauline said, interrupting Princess Shroob's orders, "can't we be civil?"
"Oh! What's going on?" Birdo asked, coming over.
"Just shut up Birdo!" Pauline hollered, completely over the pink dinosaur. With a moan, Birdo sat down on the tiled plaza ground.
"Speak, knave," Princess Shroob spat at Pauline.
"Why don't we engage in a little coalition?" Pauline offered. "Three beautiful women and their pet could go quite far, hmm?"
"Am I one of the beautiful women?" Birdo asked.
"For Grambi's sake, of course not!" Pauline cried. With a devilish laugh, Princess Shroob extended her hand.
"The deal has been struck," the alien queen said, fire dancing in her eyes.
"If I may interject," Flurrie began, "do we even know where the crate house is?"
"I do!" Birdo said, waving her arms.
"Well great," Pauline sighed. "No one knows where it is."
"B-but I do!" Birdo whined.
The three women ignored her, not even hearing her ugly mouth say those very words.
Meanwhile, another coalition of four had taken place. Bowser and his daughter, Wendy, were talking with Kammy about the potential location of this crate house. Wario picked his nose while waiting for his much smarter partner to devise a plan.
"I'm going to rise up high on my broomstick and scour the area for the crate house," Kammy said. With a nod of approval from Bowser, the old hag boarded her broomstick and rose into the air. Peering across the zone, she couldn't see anything. Then, after wiping her glasses, she saw a big sign that read "Delfino Crate House!"
"There!" Kammy pointed up high. "There it is!"
Everyone in the plaza heard her cry. Looking up, all the other teams now knew exactly where the crate house was.
"Well dammit all!" Bowser roared, breathing fire all over Kammy. Her broom now a pile of ash, the old aide crashed to the ground. "Let's go Wendy!"
"Whatever," Wendy said, inspecting her nails. She was quite fed up with both Bowser and Kammy. Stalking off, the koopaling didn't say much of anything. Bending down, Wario picked up Kammy and stuffed her under his arm. The Magikoopa then passed out from the horrible stench of his armpit.
"Come on!" Zess T. shouted, ushering Toadsworth forth.
"I'm so tired!" The aide shouted. "Where is the princess!? Have you seen her anywhere!? She could be dead, or worse, kidnapped!"
"Come on, you big worrywart," Zess T. said with a giggle. "We've got to find the crate house!"
"PRINCESS!?" Toadsworth shouted, absolutely mortified.
On the other side of the plaza, Don Pianta and Rosalina were the first team to make it to the crate house.
"Ay Bill," Don Pianta said to the man inside. "How's da wife?"
"It's the Don!" Bill the pianta said with a smile. Shaking the mob boss' hand, Bill smiled.
"What can I do ya for, chief?"
"I'm in some competition," Don Pianta began, "ya see, Frankie and Francesca thought it'd be good for my cholesterol…"
"Jesus, man! We don't have time for this!" Rosalina shouted. "Bill, or whoever you are, tell us what to do!"
"Oh, just take one of these crates with you," he said, pointing to the ten crates stacked up. With a nod, Don Pianta was able to easily heft the crate onto his shoulders due to his strength. As they left, Mario and Peach arrived.
"See?" Rosalina said to the Don, folding her arms. "You wasted time talking to that Bill and…,"
"Listen toots," Don Pianta said, lowering his shades. "Bill's a good friend of mine. Don't you eva bad talk Bill. His wife Charlene is a real sweetie, ya know? She's the type of gal…"
"Just shut up!" Rosalina yelled, swiping the crate from his and smashing it on the floor. The box splintered into a million pieces. Inside of it was a tiny scroll and a key.
"What excellent fortune!" Rosalina squaled in delight.
Taking the scroll, Rosalina read the instructions.
Take this scroll and head on down. Go to the place where no water is found. Surrounded by it on all sides, but not once a time wet, go here with your key and victory shall be set.
"Where could this lead?" Rosalina asked, quite stumped.
"I bet ya didn't know," Don Pianta said as he leaned, his eyebrows wiggling. "This town has a big sewer city underneath, but they haven't been used for decades. Now they're just emptied out tunnels."
"But not once a time wet…," Rosalina said under her breath. "Yes! The sewer system would be surrounded by water, wouldn't it?"
"You could say so, you could also say…"
"Let's go!" She shouted, taking his arm and dragging him along.
"It's-a-me, Mario!" Mario shouted, grandly entering the crate house.
"And I'm Bill," Bill said, shaking Mario's hand. Handing the royal duo a crate, the kind pianta bid them goodbye.
Moments later, Noki and Boo arrived with Yoshi and Ballyhoo. One by one, the teams entered the Crate House as pointed out by Kammy Koopa.
Kammy Koopa: I really mucked up today…his vileness is going to really lay it on me later…
One by one, the teams acquired their crates, but none knew the solution to the riddle as Don Pianta had. However, one special local, who wasn't all that special, knew the answer.
"Boo," Noki whispered, getting the phantom's attention. "I think it might be referring to the old sewer system."
"Sewer?" Boo asked, horribly disgusted.
"No," Noki corrected herself. "They're totally dried out. They haven't been used in years. But…they run underwater and under the town!"
"You're brilliant!" Boo said, giving her a hug. "Let's try and sneak away!"
Turning invisible, Boo ran through Noki. Soon, both ghost and sea-shelled creature were invisible, and using their stealth, they were able to sneak away to find the entrance to the sewer system without being caught.
MC Ballyhoo: Whoahoho! I'm particularly observant, ya know? I could've sworn that ghost and his irrelevant friend were here one minute…and then they were gone the next! Sounds like a catastrophe if you ask me!
The women's alliance didn't have a clue either. Princess Shroob had never been to Delfino, nor had Pauline. Flurrie had been here on tour once, but the riddle made no sense to her.
"I know! I know!" Birdo shouted.
"Ladies, do you hear something?" Princess Shroob asked.
"Sounds like a faint cry in the wind," Flurrie mused. "Pauline? Do you hear that?"
"I hear nothing but the strings of my heart hearing the discordant snaps Mario has given by emotions," she said.
"Um…ok then," Flurrie said with a gulp. "Guess we're stumped then?"
Birdo stomped around, grabbing Flurrie by the throat.
"LISTEN TO ME!" The horrific animal thing cried. "I KNOW THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE!"
Everyone outside the crate house turned to look at her.
Birdo: Jesus I'm such a failure…
Meanwhile, only two teams had solved the riddle and made into the old sewers. Deep in the bowels of the hollowed out sewer system, both teams were on the search for where their keys fit.
"Hey!" Boo cried, "it's a chest!"
Noki jumped up to inspect, but she soon frowned.
"It has Kammy and Wario's face on it," she said. "Oh wait! We just need to find the chest with our faces on it!"
"Thanks for da tip!" Don Pianta laughed, he and Rosalina having been eavesdropping around the corner.
"Why…that was low!" Boo protested. However, the other team didn't pay them any mind. Sprinting away to find their chest, the cosmic princess and her businessman friend left Noki and Boo in the dust.
However, the wishes of Boo and Noki didn't matter. Rounding the corner, Don Pianta and Rosalina soon found their chest. With the Don's local knowledge and Rosalina's speedy habits, the pair was quite formidable. Opening their chest, the two found instructions to be the first team to reach the outside of the Delfino Court House.
"There's a ladder over there!" Don pointed to an exit from the sewers. The duo rushed over and climbed out. As the sun hit their eyes, they found themselves standing outside of the Court House and facing a welcome party of Brighton and Twila.
"Oh joy," Twila spat. "It's Rosalina."
"Congratulations!" Brighton beamed, ignoring his sister. "The winners of the first team challenge are…Don Pianta and Rosalina!"
"Yes!" Rosalina cheered, hugging the Don and kissing him on the cheek. After doing this, she stuck her tongue out at Twila. The hostess replied with her own rude gesture.
"Hubba hubba…," the Don said, getting dizzy from the kiss Rosalina had given him.
Twila rose into the air, shooting off a fantastic firework.
"The challenge is over!" She declared grandly. It took a few minutes, but soon the other teams arrived. Most all of them had been stumped on the riddle outside of the Crate House, save Boo and Noki. The ghoul and his tropical teammate soon arrived, looking rather sour.
"It's our pleasure to award both Don Pianta and Rosalina with 25,000 coins each!" Brighton announced.
"Aye, dat's what I'm talking about!" The Don cheered. Rosalina clapped with ecstasy.
Don Pianta: Even doe we won da first challenge…dat pesky Boo needs ta go! He's a bit too smart for my tastes…
"Please follow us to the Delfino Hotel, here in the plaza," Twila announced. "Tomorrow, we'll begin our first immunity challenge!"
"How exciting!" Brighton cheered, leading the way to the hotel. Behind them, several teams congratulated the duo while some looked rather unpleased.
Wario: It's a good thing the Don won some money! Maybe he'll forgive my casino debt!
Toadsworth: I was so relieved to see the princess when the challenge ended! I thought she might have been dead, or worse, gotten lost in the town!
Yoshi: It's no matter. Tomorrow's another day for King Yoshi. I'll win that immunity challenge, you bet I will!
As the teams made their way to the hotel, one person stood behind. Her gaze fixed on a particular princess in pink, Pauline looked ready to commit murder.
"I will have what I deserve…," she hissed. "I will take what is mine."
And with that, she stalked off to the hotel, her blood red heels pounding against the plaza's cobblestone. As the sun set over Delfino Plaza and night began to fall…each player started to cook up their own recipe for success.
Yay! A new chapter is out! Thanks to all who reviewed! Please continue to read, favorite, follow, and review!
You're all the best :3
-AdmiralBobbery