The King of the Koopas waited.
His latest attempt to kidnap and marry the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach Toadstool, had, once again, blown up in his face spectacularly. It seemed no gimmick or cunning trick up Bowser's sleeve could stop that pathetic plumber, Mario, from sweeping in with his stupid, bushy moustache and tattered denim overalls and saving the day.
Truth be told, it was starting to get on Bowser's nerves.
Still, King Koopa held out hope. He had fought Mario enough times - surely that man could only have so many surprises; surely the experience Bowser had gained with each fight would mean that, once and for all, he could toss that plumber into the pit of lava beneath him, once and for all. Hopefully, this would be that time. The last of Bowser's forces formed the final line of defence between that Brooklynite and the castle's throne room. From the set of double doors led a wooden bridge across a bubbling pit of hot lava; across this bridge sat Bowser, his red eyes trained on the door opposite him as his bulky frame sat on his imposing throne. Bowser's clawed fingers rhythmically tapped the throne's armrest as he occasionally shot a glance above him, to his right; there, Princess Peach rested in a metal cage suspended by a chain, waiting for her knight in denim to come to her rescue.
And sure enough, to the surprise of absolutely no one, he did. The doors burst open violently as a Koopa shell skidded across the bridge before teetering on the edge and falling into the lava pit below. Through the doorway emerged Mario; red hat, red t-shirt, blue overalls, and the same annoying presence as ever. Bowser scowled, bearing his teeth, the mere sight of the plumber enough to make his blood boil.
"This ain't gonna work out your way, King Koopa!" Mario warned in his thick accent. "Last warning! Hand Princess Toadstool over peacefully!"
From his throne, the King of the Koopas stood. His yellow, scaley skin occasionally glistened in the reflection of the torches that lined the walls. Bowser's outline was certainly menacing: his green, spikey shell bulged out behind him; his thick tail swung back and forth as he riled himself up; the thick, ginger eyebrows on his green head furrowed in anger. "You'll never learn, plumber!" Bowser growled. "This is a fight you won't come out of alive!"
"I'll never learn?" Mario braced himself. "How many times have you fought me and lost?"
"Sooner or later, plumber, I will win!" Bowser snarled, crouching down on all fours. "And when I finally take a bite out of the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest champion, all this world will be mine!"
With that, Bowser bounded forward, roaring with each sprint. Not at all deterred by this display of ferocity, Mario sprinted towards him, somersaulting over the Koopa King. Bowser may be bigger and stronger, but that holds him back when it comes to his weight and momentum; before the giant lizard could even turn around, Mario had grabbed him by his tail and begun swinging him around as he inched along the bridge, finally letting Bowser go when he sent him flying into his throne, reducing it to a pile of rubble.
"Mario!" Peach cried from her cage, a gloved hand reaching out towards him.
"Don't worry, Princess!" Mario puffed. "I'll help ol' Bowser come to his senses!"
Pushing himself back onto his feet, Bowser turned and dropped his jaw, unleashing a flurry of man-sized fireballs towards the plumber. Without any semblance of fear or uncertainty, Mario hopped and dive over and beneath them, swerving around them as if they were nothing, before finally coming within close distance of Bowser; reeling his fist back, he flung it upward into Bowser's jaw, sending the beast stumbling backwards. As Mario landed, Bowser was quick to swipe him in one hand, holding him up in the air as the defenseless human struggled. With a ragged roar, Bowser tossed Mario away from the bridge.
Mario shoved his hand into the pockets of his overalls, fumbling around before at last retrieving a Propeller Mushroom. With no time to waste, Mario quickly threw it into his mouth. An orange jumpsuit and a propeller cap materialised on top of him; the plumber quickly utilized this power-up to propel himself back up towards the bridge, landing on it safely. This served to further enrage Bowser, whose feet pounded towards him. Readying his claws, King Koopa swiped at the plumber only for Mario to fly out of harm's way at the last moment. Mario pushed his feet down, stomping the top of Bowser's head before bouncing off of him, watching from behind as King Koopa, momentarily dazed, swayed on the spot before spinning around violently, knocking Mario off the bridge with his tail.
Bowser knew that the impact from his tail would deactivate Mario's propeller suit. He waited eagerly for the sound of Mario hitting the lava, the smell of sizzling flesh, the pained screams of his most pesky opponent.
He waited, but the sound never came.
Then, there was the sound of scuffling coming from behind Bowser; turning, the King of the Koopas found Mario, dressed like a cloud, climbing up onto the bridge. A cocky smirk grew beneath the plumber's moustache.
"You didn't think I'd come underprepared, didja?" Mario scoffed, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a Fire Flower. Digesting it, Mario's cloud suit was replaced with a set of red overalls and a white t-shirt-and-cap combination, a fireball ready in his gloved hand.
With limited room on the bridge, the plumber and the lizard fought it out in a firey display of combat. Mario managed to sneak in a few hits with his fireballs before a punch from Bowser sent him flying back; conveniently, towards Bowser's throne. On this side of the bridge, an axe sat poised above its rope, ready to drop the bridge at any moment. The tired Bowser, recognising Mario was ready to drop the axe, prepared to meet the same, firey end that he had met a countless number of times.
But the axe didn't drop. Had Mario shown mercy? Why should he, after all the evil Bowser had committed; why, after all the times he had kidnapped Princess Peach, after all the times Bowser had given Mario grief, would he finally show forgiveness? Bowser's eyes opened and, looking up at the plumber, he saw his surrounded by a strange, blueish glow.
"What?" Mario looked down at himself, confused as the glow seemed to intensify. "What is this, Bowser? Some kind of final trick up your sleeve?"
"No!" Bowser replied defensively, noticing that he, too, was being engulfed by this mystical glow. "You knocked out the last of my Magikoopas! This is something else!"
"It's happening to me, too!" Peach panicked, the glow growing brighter and brighter. All three let out panicked yelps as they disappeared into a bright flash, leaving the throne room desolate.
The flash subsided. It took a few seconds for Mario's eyes to readjust, but when they did he realised that he was no longer in the throne room of Bowser's castle. He seemed to be stood in the middle of a curved corridor. The place had a sleek, metallic design, with blank screens lining the walls in front of him. Bright flashes appeared either side of him; his head looking back and forth, he saw Princess Peach materialise, along with King Bowser. Mario quickly wrapped Peach in his arms.
"Princess!" Mario sighed in relief. "You're alright!"
"Mario!" Peach held the plumber. "I'm okay - but where are we?"
"This can't be right..." Bowser grumbled, looking behind Mario. Turning around, the plumber was greeted by a glass window; on the other side of it, their planet.
"We're in space!" Peach gasped. "We're in orbit around our world! But what are we doing here?"
On that note, a series of bright flashes appeared behind them; as each one faded, a familiar face appeared. Donkey Kong. Birdo. Yoshi. A Hammer Brother. King Boo. Waluigi. Dry Bones. Princess Daisy. It went on, and on, and on, all around the spaceship.
"Daisy!" Peach grabbed the bewildered princess of Sarasaland by the arm, pulling her in towards her and Mario.
"Peach! Mario!" Daisy appeared flustered, naturally caught off guard by this strange event. "What's going on?"
The tomboyish Princess turned to see Bowser, a scowl appearing on her face. "Let me guess; the ol' Lizard King has decided to kidnap us all!"
"This is not me!" Bowser stated apprehensively. "I'm telling you, whatever has brought us here has nothing to do with me!"
"Daisy, have you seen Luigi anywhere?" Mario asked, his eyes widening in concern.
"I was just with him, and then the next thing I know we're both glowing!" Daisy recounted. The screens that lined the walls lit up; racing stripes lined the edges of the screen as a bright "Welcome!" text bulged inwards and outwards. The speakers screeched before a bouncy voice spoke out over them.
"Welcome one and all!" it greeted. "Please wait patiently while the first line-up is selected!"
The on-screen welcome text was replaced by an empty leaderboard, with room for twelve spaces. From the bottom, they began to fill up: King Boo, Rosalina, Funky Kong, Bowser, Iggy, Lakitu, Shy Guy, Roy, Toadsworth, Dry Bones, Luigi, then Mario.
"Luigi!" Mario's attention was at its peak, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him. Next to the leaderboard, images began to flash before they froze on one labelled "Mario Circuit".
"'Mario Circuit'..?" the plumber read aloud before finding himself engulfed in blue light again. "No, no, no..!" he panicked, reaching out for Peach only to disappear into the bright light.
When his vision came back, Mario saw a road ahead of him; smooth, dark grey concrete, with what appeared to be sand or gravel either side of the road. Mario himself was sat in a driver's seat of an old-looking racecar, its body white and long with a windshield above the steering wheel. Mario looked behind him to his younger brother, Luigi; taller, skinnier, and clad in green rather than red clothing. The brothers shot each other a look of relief.
"Oh, brother!" Luigi tried to unfasten his seatbelt, only to find that it seemed to be glued in place. "What's going on this time? Don't tell me it's because of that mean, green, fireball-spittin'-son-of-a-"
"It's not Bowser!" Mario exclaimed. "I don't know what this is..."
Then, the same voice from the tannoy on the spaceship echoed out around them, frightening Luigi. "Ladies, gentlemen, and creatures of unknown gender, it's a pleasure to have you all here! I hope you're as excited to watch our first round of racers as I am! Without further ado, here is the first race in the thrilling, the stirring, the riveting... Mario Kart Tournament!"
And just when Mario thought his face couldn't drop any further. "Mario... Kart... Tournament..?"
Before he could get anywhere close to an answer, a set of lights above the goal line in front of him began to light up. 3... 2... 1...
A/N: I thought it would be cool to give Mario Kart something resembling a story, so here we are! I've got the first four chapters planned out meaning hopefully I'll make some good progress with this fic!