...Go.
Impulsively, the racers pressed down on their gas pedals, speeding ahead. Mario never was much of a driver; even when he was a real plumber back in Brooklyn, he left driving the van to Luigi. Mario skidded around the first corner, losing his position in first place; thankfully, Luigi slowed down to allow his older brother to catch up.
"This ain't so bad!" Luigi grinned, driving alongside Mario in a kart that appeared to be themed around the Poltergust handed to him by Professor E. Gadd. "Being forced to go-kart? Not the most evil scheme, huh, bro?"
"Not for you, maybe!" Mario gripped the wheel with intense focus. "There's a good reason I left control of the old van to you, Luigi!"
"Watch it, plumbers!" Roy heckled as he sped past. Luigi shot Mario a look, one his brother knew all too well; his younger brother could be a bit hot-headed at times, especially when it came to competition.
"I've got a feeling we oughta step on the gas, Mario!" Luigi encouraged. "Just focus on the road!"
"What do you think I'm doin'?!" Mario exclaimed, his face twitching in panic as the kart sped up. He follow Luigi around the corner, drifting, barely avoiding the gravel, when the pair of brothers spotted some strange obstacles up ahead. It wasn't until they drove closer that Mario could establish what they were; spinning, translucent cubes consisting of faded colours. A question mark appeared to be floating in the middle.
"What're those things?" Luigi raised his voice to be heard over the roar of his engine.
Mario examined them further, forcing himself to make a quick decision as the distance between him and the objects continued to close. "Back home, boxes with question marks on them gave us power-ups. I'm thinking these things might not be so bad!"
Pressing hard on the gas, Mario flew past his brother, much to Luigi's surprise. He braced himself as he drove through the box, shattering it before another quickly materialised in its place. Following suit, Luigi drove through the box and, looking down at his dashboard, saw a kind of slot machine start spinning. It stopped on an image of a Gold Mushroom, which then appeared in Luigi's hand; Mario, on the other hand, drew a Bullet Bill.
"Check this out!" Luigi remarked; there were all manner of weird fungi back in the Mushroom Kingdom, but Luigi had never seen nor heard of a Gold Mushroom.
"A Bullet Bill?" Mario eyed the object sceptically. "I guess we'd better try these out - I don't wanna know what happens if we lose!"
"Right!" Luigi prepared himself. Squeezing the mushroom, his kart was suddenly given a boost; jets of fire shot out of the back of his car, leaving Mario in the dust.
"Here goes nothin'..." Mario winced, squeezing the Bullet Bill. In no time at all, he transformed into the projectile, seemingly able to navigate itself as it zoomed across the track. A few seconds later, Mario suddenly found himself back in his original form, catching him off guard as he now had to man his vehicle. Luigi drove up alongside him; they were now in the middle of the pack of racers.
"Mario brothers!" Toadsworth cried from behind them. "Thank goodness you're both alright! What of the Princess?"
"She's back on the spaceship, Toadsworth!" Mario called back. "She's safe - at least, I hope so!"
-Photo Finish-
From on board the spaceship, the remaining captives watched the screens intently. A map of the track was displayed, with each racer's live position indicated by a still image of their face. Peach shook her head in disbelief.
"What is this place?" Peach wondered aloud. "Who do we know who could have designed such an elaborate scheme?"
Daisy, still at Peach's side, placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure whoever's behind this is bound to reveal themselves sooner or later."
"I mean, who could it be?" Peach continued, so deep in thought that she didn't even acknowledge Daisy's words. "Bowser is on board, and he's the only one I can imagine with the potential to do something like this. King Boo is here, King Bob-Omb..."
Peach trailed off as another thought occurred to her. "But if we're in space, there are a few people who might know what's happening!"
Without warning, Peach broke into a sprint, raising her dress slightly as not to trip over her. An exasperated Daisy had no choice but to follow.
"Wait!" Daisy called as she ran past the audiences still glued to the screens. "Who are you looking for? Rosalina's in the middle of a race!"
"I know someone else!" Peach declared before she ground to a halt, her face lighting up. "Lubba!"
A large, purple Luma turned around upon hearing its name. "Ah, Princess!" he grinned. "Was wonderin' where you'd be!"
"Lubba, you've seen your fair share of spacefaring, right?" Peach asked, the words flowing so fast out of her mouth that Lubba was struggling to keep up. "Who do you think could be behind this? Does any of it seem familiar?"
"Can't say it does, I'm 'fraid!" Lubba pouted. "In all my travels across the galaxies, I've never heard something so strange as people being forced to race against one another in go-karts! Beats me!"
A Whittle appeared from beside Lubba, its voice rattling. "Unknown force. Nothing like it. Whittles unsure. Eldest one. He may know."
"Eldest one..?" Peach repeated, unsure.
"Pardon me, Princess, but I think y'oughta wait 'til Princess Rosalina returns," Lubba advised. "She seems caught up on her intergalactic folklore. If anyone knows what mean son of a gun is behind this, it oughta be her!"
"He's right, Peach," Daisy agreed, although she was unsure of who exactly this creature was supposed to be. "C'mon, the race is almost over; they're already in their last lap. Rosalina will be back in no time!"
"Already?!" Peach looked back to the screen, finding that the racers were halfway around the track.
-Photo Finish-
The racers skidded around the track, smashing through another series of item boxes. Mario's eyes flickered between the display on his dashboard and the road ahead of him, uneasily steering his wheel until a picture of a Bob-Omb appeared in his item display. Grabbing the bomb in his hand, he steadied his aim and tossed it ahead of him, catching Roy, Funky Kong, and Dry Bones in the blast. The pack was tight enough for the rest of the racers to zoom past, leaving them behind in the bottom three positions.
As Mario drove over the goal line, he found himself being consumed once again by the blue light. Where could it be this time; back to the spaceship, or to another course?
His first prediction turned out to be true; as the light faded, he found himself looking back out towards home, his brother Luigi at his side. At last, he could hold his brother in his arms.
"Oh, mama mia!" Luigi sighed, relieved that he and his bro were, for the time being, safe.
"Now what?" Mario looked up to the leader board on the screen. Shy Guy first, Luigi second, Mario third, Toadsworth first, and so on, until Roy was dead last in twelfth place.
"That'll show that Koopa!" Luigi smirked. A loud buzzing sound played over the speakers, and a red cross struck through Roy's name. A crowd began to form around the returning racers, who seemingly all rematerialized within the same general vicinity of one another. Everyone was here - everyone except Roy.
"Where is he?" Bowser's large head looked around, although Roy was nowhere to be seen in the crowd of racers. Then, there was a weak flash a few feet above the ground; from it, a polaroid picture floated down gently, landing face-down on the floor.
With no one else seeming to be willing to check it out, Mario took it upon himself to pick it up. Pinching it gently between his fingers, Mario turned it over and gasped; the image showed Roy, shades and all, seemingly stranded in a pitch-black setting. Even with the sunglasses on, an expression of fear was recognisable on his face.
"Well?!" Bowser snarled, reaching his paw out for the picture. "What is it?!"
"Bowser..." Mario sighed, reluctantly handing the picture to King Koopa. Holding it between his claws, Bowser raised it to his face. Possibly for the first time in his life, Mario saw true despair on Bowser's face. This expression was fleeting; within moments, the picture had dropped to the floor, and Bowser unleashed his fiery breath at the ceiling.
"What is this?!" Bowser roared, steam puffing from his nostrils. "Show yourself, whoever is behind this! I'll tear this wretched ship apart if need be!"
As if to answer him, a section of the wall parted; from it emerged a tall, cloaked figure. Beneath its red hood, only a set of yellow eyes could be seen. The polaroid floated off the floor and into the hands of the figure, who examined it closely. Not one to be ignored, and not particularly caring of this unidentified individual's potential, Bowser stormed up to them, raising a clawed hand.
But as if he were nothing more than a leaf blowing in the wind, Bowser was flung back into the crowd, knocking down a group of captives. Mario hadn't taken his eyes off the figure; all it did was wave its hand.
Undeterred, the plumber darted forward, stopping a few feet away from the figure. "Who are you?" he demanded. "How do you know me? What do you want from all of us?!"
Slowly, the figure raised its hand and Mario braced himself to meet the same destiny as Bowser. Nothing happened, though; the figure's hand continued to move, reaching across its cloak and slowly, gently grasping it. Then, in one dramatic swoop, the figure removed its cloak.
Tall and lanky, clad in a racing suit, purple skin, and a wide grin, striking a flashy pose. "Welcome one and all to the Superstar Shuttle!" she announced, her voice recognisably the same as the one that had been making announcements. "Since you all have the pleasure of being here, it's time you meet your host; I present to you, the wonderful, the undefeated, the fastest racer alive: Kartra!"
She held her arms open, and bright, sparkling fireworks quickly appeared then faded.
"Kartra?" Rosalina frowned. "Never heard of you."
"Impossible!" Kartra feigned offense. "I am the most victorious racer across a hundred different universes! No matter - even if you peculiar lot haven't heard of me, I've most certainly know a lot about you! In fact, I've had an eye trained on this universe for quite some time now!"
"You've been watching us?" Luigi asked. "That's... how you know our names, what we look like."
"A gold star! Correct, Luigi Mario!" Kartra giggled. "Hah, Luigi Mario. What a funny name - but not nearly as funny as Mario Mario!"
"Hey, that's enough!" Mario stepped forward. "What d'you call this, huh? Is this all some kind of game to you?"
"As a matter of fact, it is!" Kartra declared theatrically. "Like I said, I've been watching you wonderful cast of characters for some time now. I've seen your wonderous feats, and your hideous blunders - regardless, the former tends to outweigh the latter. Hence, why I have brought you all here! I deem the citizens of this universe to be worthy opponents."
Bowser climbed up off of the people stuck beneath him, staggering forward, smoke still erupting in plumes from his nostrils. "This is no game! Give Roy Koopa back to me, now!"
"Oh, you want one of your seven - no, eight - Koopa Kids back?" Kartra pouted sarcastically. "My, haven't you been busy! Tough luck, King of the Koopas - Roy, old boy, is staying right in this photograph!"
Kartra waved the photo in the air, further angering Bowser - Donkey Kong tugged him back, stopping him from suffering a worse punishment than the one already handed to him.
"What do you mean, staying in there?" Peach appeared from the crowd. "You're telling me... Roy is stuck in that photograph?"
"You catch on quick!" Kartra scoffed. "Yes, Princess Toadstool, I'm afraid King Bowser is going to have one less child to hurl at these plumbers!"
"Roy came last in the race..." Luigi realised. "Are you saying that whoever comes last in each race... gets trapped in those pictures?"
"My oh my! I had no idea I'd stumbled upon a universe of intellectuals!" Kartra cackled hysterically. "But the smartest brother is correct. For each race, twelve of you will be randomly selected. You'll race, and race, and race, and race, and race, and then, when one of you has finally eliminated the other, the champion of this universe will race me!"
"That's sick!" exclaimed Peach, appalled. "And for what reason? Your own amusement?"
"Precisely!" Kartra clicked her tongue. "Yes, it really is that simple. I have already wiped out about one-hundred-and-twenty universes. I intend to keep that streak going! Now, now, we're wasting time! The next race is about to begin!"
Mario blinked, and Kartra had disappeared; a notice board below the screens had Roy's picture pinned to it, the first of many. The screens began to flash as a new line-up of racers was selected, and each of the Mario brothers' stomachs dropped when Peach and Daisy appeared on the leader board.
"Princess!" they each said in unison. Mario held onto Peach's hands, and Luigi onto Daisy's, before both princesses vanished.