Chapter Four:
An Explosive Kart Crash
Mario Circuit. Aside from the occasional oil spill puddle, the place was clean and colorful, with the tracks surrounded by multi-colored brick walls that prevented the karts from accidentally rolling out of the arena during a race. Today was a good day for go-kart action in this arena.
Whirring engines shook the track as a pair of karts streaked by, one purple and one green. Mario's younger brother, Luigi, and his counterpart, Wario's lanky partner, Waluigi, were engaged in a little racing competition.
The Wah-man had given Luigi some trouble a few days prior and challenged him to a go-kart race, one-on-one, just the two of them, and with no fancy Power-Ups.
Determined to be less cowardly, Luigi accepted his greedy counterpart's challenge and agreed to meet with him at the Mario Circuit in the afternoon. Now, they were a lap into the race, and Waluigi was giving the timid plumber quite the run for his coins.
In fact, the Wah-man was ahead of Luigi the whole way, having upgraded his go-kart's engine since the last Mario Kart event. However, Luigi was not about to let Waluigi get the best of him.
The green-clad Italian hero put the pedal to the metal, stomping on the pedal as hard as he could, and his engine vroomed louder. He drove around the corner behind Waluigi, and then he activated the boost button. The engine roared, and Luigi's mustache shook as he accelerated, narrowly getting ahead of his counterpart.
"Oh yeah!" Luigi cried, "Go, Luigi! Go, Luigi! Go, Luigi!"
A chime indicated that he'd just entered the next lap, and he didn't look back, already aware that Waluigi was on his tail. Luigi just had to keep the momentum up, and then he would beat his lanky counterpart with no trouble.
However, it would take more than luck for Luigi to stay ahead of the competition and beat his rival. He knew that well, and he could not get overconfident or let up his guard. Luigi drifted around a corner and let his engine burn, then he boosted along the path towards the next turn. Right behind the green-clad jump man, Waluigi chuckled and sneered.
It seemed the Wah-man wasn't too worried about Luigi getting ahead, not by a long shot. Despite laying out the rules, Waluigi was ready to pull out all the tricks he could to one-up Luigi and get the best of him.
And now was the time to strike!
Taking his hand off the wheel, Waluigi reached into his inventory and pulled out a purple ball with a yellow button. The lanky crook tapped the button, and the ball vanished in an orb of light, transforming into a new shape: Waluigi's weapon, the Waluigi Launcher. Waluigi chuckled with glee and took aim at the back engines of Luigi's kart, ready to open fire.
One hand gripped the wheel, the other held the launcher by the handle. Waluigi kept his foot on the gas; the engines continued to rumble, and he kept his sight set on Luigi. Steady, steady. His finger dangled over the trigger, preparing to squeeze it hard.
He kept his eye on the ball, ensuring the target remained in sight. Waluigi drove closer towards Luigi's kart, and the green Italian didn't suspect a thing. A little more forward, nice and steady, and fire!
Waluigi hit the trigger, and the Waluigi Launcher fired off a Wah-Missile that went right for Luigi's kart like a homing missile. Luigi heard a warning blare on his dashboard and didn't look back until it was too late. WAH-BOOM! The rocket struck his kart, sending it flying off the track, and the wheels caught fire. Luigi cried out in shock, his eyes wide with disbelief.
And then, to add insult to injury, Waluigi brought out a Bob-Omb and threw it at the damaged kart. The bomb exploded, and the kart crashed into the wall; Luigi fell out, rubbing his head and moaning in a dazed manner.
"Ohooooohhh... Mama Mia..." He said.
"WAH-HA-HA!" Waluigi shouted as he drove past the green plumber and the wreck of his kart, "TAKE THAT, LOSER! YOU JUST GOT WALUIGI'D! Waluigi's number one, and you're player number two forever and ever! I'm gonna come out on top in this game, and you suck! HA-HA!"
Luigi stood up and looked at his kart, seeing how totaled it was. He admitted defeat and pulled out his phone, dialing the number of Mushroom Tow Services to come and help with his broken-down ride. Judging by all the damage that had been done, it would take a while to fix it, probably all day. But no one decimated his kart, not even Waluigi.
Perhaps another day, Luigi would race that lanky nut again once his kart was fixed. And this time, he would beat him, hopefully...