Chapter VI
Ashleigh races past the first three racers whose engines burst in a cloud of black smoke. Speeding toward the first turn, she's already up to ninth. As she prepares for the first turn she sees the racers in front of her hop from the ground and drift hard through the turn. Blue and orange sparks fly from the back of their tyres, and then zoom through the turn like they just got a tiny speed boost.
"What was that?" Ashleigh says to herself.
"DRIFT!" Yells Toad through her headset.
"Ahhh!" She screams, as she pulls her bike to the right. She took the turn too wide, only creating small blue sparks from her back tyre. She bumps into the wall, and two racers drift past her.
Down to P11.
"Come on Ashley!" Toad yell's through the helmet. "Get your head in the game!"
"I'm fucking trying, dipshit," she responds.
"HEY! That attitude will get your butt right on the bench, missy!"
Toad is not being helpful, but the poor Mushroom man was having too much fun.
"Ughhh!" Moans Ashleigh, as she revs her bike back onto the course. Suddenly A racer zooms directly in front of her, almost causing an accident. The racer jumps from a ramp, lands on a boat, and jumps from another ramp on the boat, and speeds up a ramp onto an array of canopies. The girl could not believe what she was seeing. These creatures were defying all laws of physics. It seemed as if everyone had access to magic.
Down to P12.
"What the heck is going on Ashley?!" Toad yells once again.
"Shut up Toad," she yells back, turning onto a small bridge into a market. "I need your help, dammit."
"Talk to me."
"I need you to teach me how to drift," she pleads, navigating the market.
"What?" Exclaims Toad. "You were drifting earlier?"
"Yeah, but that was real world drifting-" she runs over a speed boost, and shoots out of the market so fast, she almost falls off her bike. "The drifting these other racers are doing is different. Their hopping in the air and orange sparks come from their wheels."
"Okay and?"
"And, how do I get the orange sparks? How do I hop in the air and drift like they are?!" There was a silence in the helmet as she turned into a small town going up hill.
"I don't know," Toad starts. "You just do it."
"What do you mean I just do it?!" She shouts back.
"I've never had to explain drifting before, you just know how to do it!"
Ashleigh began doubting her situation once again. She's stuck in dead last with no way of catching up. She bounces off another wall as the nearby spectators watch in great concern.
"Just try doing what everyone else is doing," Toad recommends. "You did say you've been racing bikes since diapers. Try trusting your instincts."
"Trust my instincts," she thinks to herself, as she turns out of the town. She notices the racer in front of her driving on the wall like Spider-Man climbing on the side of a building. To her astonishment she watches him trick off of ramps and land with a burst of speed. As she continues to watch in awe, Toad shouts into her head set.
"Look out!" He exclaims.
Ashleigh notices herself heading straight for a trolley car filled with spectators. She swerved out of the way and bounces once again against a wall. Ashleigh's frustration begins to rise. "How the fuck can you drive on walls too?!" She yells.
"The karts detect the gravity changing and then change the wheels to configure your kart to almost magnetize to whatever surface you're driving on."
Ashleigh's overwhelmed. She didn't realize how much different this world's racing is to the real world. She once again begins wondering if she's truly in over her head, but before she begins spiraling, she shakes the doubt off of herself and begins thinking of what Toad told her.
"Trust in myself"
As she turns down a large hill she notices a ramp right in front of her. Revving her bike she speeds to the ramp. As she starts flying off the ramp she grabs her handles and jumps in her seat trying her hardest to lift the bike. To her surprise it felt as if the bike was as light as a feather. She jumps off the ramp. Glowing rings wrap her bike, and once she lands she gains that same boost of speed so fast she is forced to wheelie on her bike. She zooms past her opponent in 11th. Up to P11. She's astonished. She couldn't believe that it actually worked. Her bike races to the final two turns before the next lap with the finish line in sight. She hops her bike again into a drift left. Sparks fly from her bike, and when she releases, her bike gains another brief speed boost. She drifts around the last turn and as she passes the line into lap 2, she passes the next two racers. Up to P9.
"WAAHOO!" Toad shouts in triumph, as she passes his view. "That's it Ashley! Now dig in, stick to your lines, and let's get it back, one driver at a time!"
She revs her bike, and drifts into the first turn. Her confidence soars as she tricks off the ramp onto the boat, and off the ramp on the boat into the market. Up to P6. Ashleigh's natural talent shocks the crowd. They've never seen a human race like them before. Tricking of ramps, chaining drifts into mini speed boosts. It's unheard of for a human racer to master those skills, let alone so quickly. She drifts through the town and around a large turn up hill, passing the racer in P5. Now up to P5 in sight is the racer in P4. She drifts out of town trying her hardest to catch up, she sees him race up the large wall nearly avoiding the trolley car on the road.
"This shit better work Toad!" She stammers into her radio. She jumps into a drift heading straight up the curve of the wall. Suddenly her tires make a small hop and turn parallel to the wall. Her car glows a light blue with a blue button appearing on her handle, and, just as Toad said earlier, her bike grips to the wall, and she begins speeding towards P4. Tricking off ramps and still sticking to the wall, she is in awe of how the laws of gravity are just completely ignored in this world. The racer ahead of her jumps off a ramp and reconfigures onto the road; Ashleigh follows right behind him, inching ever so closer. She revs her bike and rides just inches behind his kart. They both trick off a ramp, jumping over a trolley car rolling down the hill. Ashleigh was like a pest riding behind P4's Kart. They jump into a drift left and then immediately drift back right into the final straight. Suddenly Ashleigh's bike gains a burst of speed. Drafting behind P4 shoots her past him and zooming into the third and final lap now up to P4.
"The top three are just ahead, not that far behind!" Exclaims Toad. "You can do this!"
She drifts hard into the first turn, diving straight towards the ramp. She backflips off of it, onto the boat, and then 360's off the ramp on the boat. She speeds up a ramp onto the tarps of the market. She drifts hard right, tricking off the ramp and back onto the road. As she sees the leaders turn left into town, she notices a thin road leading up toward a different part of town. Weary at first, she takes the risks and zooms up the narrow road.
"Where are you going Ashley?! You're throwing the race away!" Toad shouts over the mic.
She turns up the road and notices a dead end that leads back onto the track below, but directly in front of her is an alley. She has to make the jump across the gap. "No Riskā¦" She shouts back at Toad. Revving her bike, she hops over the gap. "No reward!" She soars through the air seemingly in slow motion as the crowd stares at her in awe. Finally, she slams on the ground and races back toward the track. Hopping a curb, launching past the leaders. For the first time in the race, Ashleigh has taken first place.
"Oh my goodness!" Exclaims Toad. "Let's go Ashley! Home stretch baby!"
Ashleigh drifts out of the town. In her mirror, Morton and Petey Piranha appear visibly infuriated, trying their best to catch up. Ashleigh's confidence soars high, as she drifts up the wall onto the boosts, and tricks over the ramps. Suddenly, a massive green shell zips past her, just barely missing her bike. She looks behind her to see Petey holding another green shell and Morton getting more and more frustrated.
"Toad!" Shouts Ash, "Do you see this?!"
"You're in a dead zone," Toad starts. "The cameras can't see until you start going down the hill."
"They're throwing turtle shells at me!"
"Oh no," he stammers. "I should've known they would do this. Bob and weave, Ashley. Bob and weave!"
Petey lines up her shot. Ashleigh desperately revs her bike. Petey throws the shell; it shoots toward Ashleigh. Inching closer and closer, brushing up against her back tyre. She hits the blue button, and her bike falls to the ground avoiding the shell. She watches it zoom past her, hitting a wall, and ricocheting back towards the two behind her. Morton swerves, hits a wall and stalls shortly. The green shell continues past him and connects with Petey and her kart gets thrown off the wall and crashes onto the ground. Ashleigh is all alone in first place. With no one in her mirrors and a clear road ahead, she dashes down the hill filled with excitement. The crowd roars in approval and astonishment as they are about to witness history.
"Let's go!" Toad screeches. "Bring it home, baby!"
She drifts down the hill through the last two turns. She launches out of the final turn racing toward the finish line. She revs her bike and a gust of wind throws her off balance. It's Morton darting past her. He crosses the finish line right in front of her. He stops short, jumps off his bike, and his team rushes him in celebration. Ashleigh, however, crossed the finish line in P2. She slows to a halt and watches them celebrate in disbelief. Fighting back tears she pulls her bike off the road and shuffles toward the pits.
