"Welcome to the first part of the Power of Three tournament!" Gabriel announced as the eight teams lined up in what looked to be a loading bay. "As was previously announced, the first part of the tournament is a race across the Animal Kingdom, done in part with the Speedstorm track system. I'll let you take it away from here, Arbee."
The AI program winked at the raven before turning to the racers. "Okay everyone, this course is set to take you all around the Animal Kingdom, which is hashtag: NotAZoo, by the way. The route is set and item boxes have been placed, so all you have to do is get to the finish first!"
Jameson raised his hand. "Um, sorry for asking but… how exactly are we supposed to race?"
"I hope they don't expect us to walk the entire thing," Mirage scoffed.
Arbee suddenly gasped. "Oh, that's right! You guys need your cars, and we've got them right here. Activating car construction protocol!" A swarm of drones flew in, projecting holograms that quickly materialized into cars for each team.
The Dream Walkers had a black buggy car with white racing lines on it, a purple owl head printed on the front hood. Forest Fighters got a golden offroad vehicle with tiger stripes on the side. Ladies of Victory had a sleek, expensive looking red sports car with blue and pink markings. Animal Instincts got a duck boat style car with wooden detailing and blue paint, as well as fake dinosaur horns on the hood.
King of Beasts had a fierce-looking hot rod that was neon green, with a front engine that looked to be tricked out with space-age technology. Team Chaotic got a military style truck done up in camo, with the exterior seeming to have extra armor on it. Incredible 3 had a Japanese sports car that was midnight blue, with hyena spots painted in the sides. Finally, Brian's Team got a street racing car in dark purple, a silver wolf's head fitted on as a hood ornament.
"Woah, check these things out!" Ben said, hopping into his car and revving up the engine. "Oh yeah, I can roll with this."
"Shame we don't get to design them ourselves," Almyra said. "But this ride will do for now."
"You can always stop by Autopia another day to have them made to your liking!" Arbee said. "Now then, Gabriel if you would hashtag: TakeOverForMe?"
"Right. Unlike the Magical World Grand Prix, we've changed over to the Speedstorm system, meaning items have been altered a bit," Gabriel explained. "Also, special skills have been regulated to just team captains for the tournament. You guys get all that?" The teams all nodded. "Good. Then let's get to racing!"
"Wait!" Seth exclaimed. "How is Carno supposed to fit into a car?" The dinosaur in question started poking Seth's car with his nose.
"Oh, right. Moon Girl got me some of her shrinking potion to fix this problem," Gabriel said. The raven produced a bottle of elixir and carefully put a drop of it into the Carnotaurus' mouth. The dinosaur instantly shrunk down to person size, and with a bit of effort was able to be put into a seat of the car. "Okay then, now we can start the race!"
The room faded away around the teams, revealing the track and starting line to be at the Tree of Life. The crowd cheered for the competitors while Gabriel reappeared in the commentator's booth. "Okay everyone, this is the moment you've all been waiting for! Let's start your engines!" The cars below roared to life as Makini, Rafiki's apprentice, climbs onto the starting gate with the racing flag. "On your mark, get set… 3… 2… 1… GO!"
The cars all tore down the track, racing away from the Tree of Life and into the Africa section of Animal Kingdom. "Looks like we're off to a rocketing start with Jameson taking the lead! Tomada, Ben, and Melody are all battling for second place, and everyone else is hanging around the back. Make sure to say hello to my Pride Lands friends as you pass them by!"
With the Africa section now in front of them, the racers passed by animals as they blazed across the savannah. Coming up to the watering hole, Makuu's float tossed out item boxes to the teams as they passed by.
"Okay, what did we get?" Jameson asked.
"Hm… It looks like a bomb of some kind," Violet observed.
"We will dispose of it!" Venom said, eating the item as it exploded in his gut. "Mmm, tastes like ash."
"…I think we were supposed to use that against the other teams," Violet sighed.
With the other groups, they were having more luck in using their items. "I hex this bomb to hit true!" Mirage called, using magic to hurl the bomb at Team Chaotic, knocking them back a place.
"That cat reminds me of my home world," Ventress said. "I will show her the true power of the Dark Side!" The Sith lady readied their team's item, only for it to give the car a jolt forward. "What is this!?"
"Oh, I think this is one of those "boost" items Vanellope told me about. It makes you go faster for a short amount of time," Ralph recalled.
"We can still catch up if we drive fast enough," Roman assured Ventress.
As the racers came to the edge of the Pride Lands, they entered into the jungle, feeling the air shift as the track magically transitioned to the world of Pandora. The various alien creatures roamed around as the racers made their way over the terrain, their cars hopping between floating islands as they did so.
"Looks like we have a special move ready," Max said.
"Then let's punch it!" Melody exclaimed. The hyena girl activated the powerup, their car suddenly gaining rocket boosters that let them soar over the ground for a few moments, keeping to the front of the racing pack. She looked over to see Ben's team nearby as they landed. "So, wolf guy! What's your story? I saw you in the Hero's Rumble a while back, but I want to know more."
"I'm just a guy that wants to make himself known to the world," Ben replied. "I also want to prove to Logan that I'm ready to become a Dream Defender like he is." The wolf grinned. "Now then: punch it, Rocket!"
The raccoon activated their boost powerup, sending them flying forward… and off a cliff. Nuka started screaming, comically grabbing onto Ben's face as they plummeted towards the ground. "We're going to die!" the lion shouted.
"Get off my face so I can see, Nuka!" Ben said.
"That's it, I'm taking over!" Rocket said, grabbing the steering wheel and pressing a button on the car's dashboard. Instantly the car started moving backwards, like a moving being rewound in reverse, until they were back on the track.
"Wait, we're not dead?" Nuka said, opening his eyes.
"They put recall buttons in these things so we do go crashing off the side like that," Rocket explained. "Now get driving, we're losing ground!"
King of Beasts were off after that, catching up to the other racers as they entered into a cave. With some magic flare, the cave opened up into the world of the past in dinosaur times. "Jameson still has the lead, with Melody on his tail as Ben plays catchup after that cliff incident," Gabriel narrated. "Be careful of where you drive out there, racers, as dinosaurs aren't going to slow down for you!"
"Carno, stop rocking the vehicle!" Seth called out as his dinosaur partner started leaning out of the car.
"He can't help it! His dinner is right over there!" Reptil said, pulling on Carno's tail as they passed by some plant-eaters. As that was happening, the racers all came to the next set of items to use. Jameson and Melody both got boost items, letting them keep their lead for the time being.
"Aim for the falcon!" Mirage called, slinging an item at Tomada. It hit true and spun Forest Fighters out, but Tomada wasn't about to give up yet.
"Let's push forward, guys!" Tomada called as he activated his special move. Their car started to glow as Shere Khan and Bambi hopped out of the car, running alongside it as a magic barrier appeared in front of them. With a burst of speed the team easily pushed aside any dinosaurs in their path, as well as putting them towards the front of the pack.
"Good recovery, Tomada," Shere Khan complimented as he hopped back in the car. "Much more useful than the buzzards back home…"
"We've got an attack incoming!" Ralph warned as Seth's team approached Roman's from behind.
"I will deal with this," Ventress said. She activated a shield item, blocking the incoming bomb from striking them.
"Time for our special!" Brian called, their car phasing into the shadows as the dinosaur land around them dropped into a river valley, the cars now driving on top of water. Brian snaked around the other racers, using the river's speed to make some moves. Once they came out of the power, however, they didn't see Ben's team ahead of them, the wolf dragging the back of the car to splash water in Brian's face, making him slow down and lose a few places.
"Doesn't seem to have done much…" Lord Dominator frowned, crossing her arms.
"You know, you're a lot less intimidating without your armor on," Hunter pointed out.
"Sh-Shut up!" the alien conqueror blushed, looking away.
"It's true though! You're actually kinda cute-" Brian said, only to get a whack to the back of the head. "Hey, don't hit the driver!"
"Let's keep it civil, everyone! Especially as you enter into the mountains of Nepal!" Gabriel said, the racetrack turning icy as the racers started to drive up the mountain. "Say hello to the Abominable Snowman if you see him!"
Driving through some temple ruins led to the next set of items. "Time for some dream power!" Jameson called, opening up a portal and diving into the realm of dreams to move ahead on the track.
"it's our time to shine as well!" Almyra said, her special calling down a spotlight that magically made everyone else move out of the way for them to move forward.
"Time for some payback!" Lord Dominator shouted, using a homing shot powerup to hit Ben's car. Just as it looked like the wolf was going to fall off the cliff again, they were suddenly pulled back on track by Ventress, who was using the Force to do so.
"Woah, thanks!" Ben said.
"Don't thank me. Thank your 'friend' for convincing me," Ventress huffed, pointing at Roman.
"We gotta stick it out together as Logan's students," Roman replied.
As the racers entered into the mine tracks that went into the mountain, Seth found it was time to activate his power. "Reptil, hold on tight!" Seth called, jumping out of the car and transforming into triceratops. He rushed forward, pushing the other racers to the sides of the track while pulling the Animal Instincts car behind them. Once he was done, Seth made sure to jump up and high five the Abominable Snowman as they passed by. "Oh yeah, that's how you do it!"
"This race is coming to an end! I wonder who's going to get to the finish line as they enter the final stretch!" Gabriel cheered. The mines soon faded into dirt roads as the track magically turned into the tunnels of an ant colony, specifically that of "A Bug's Life". Worker ants tossed the last set of items to the teams as they raced through the tunnels.
"Here we go!" Jameson said, only for the engine on his car to start sparking. "What's happening!?"
"Sounds like some snow from the last part of the track got into the engine somehow," Violet said. "Venom, if you could get in there and unclog the pipes."
"We will do that," Venom nodded, turning into goo and sliding into the pipes of the car. Other racers were passing by, though, including Brian, who used a homing shot to hit Seth and overtake him.
"See you later, falcon boy!" Melody called as her team got a boost forward.
"Oh no, we're keeping this lead now!" Tomada said, using his own boost.
"We've got to get ahead somehow…" Ben said. "Now's the time for our special move!" Pulling out his staff, the wolf pointing it backwards and fired off a blast of wind, which slingshot the car forward, though it was hard to steer now. As the racers exited the ant colony, the track returned to regular size as they came up to the Tree of Life where the finish line was.
"It's close, but we've got some butting heads here!" Gabriel announced. "It's Melody, then Tomada, then Jameson, then Seth… Wait, Ben's making a move now! But will it be enough before we get to the end? Melody, Tomada, Jameson, Molody, Seth, Tomada, Melody… It's TOMADA OF FOREST FIGHTERS THAT TAKES THE WIN!"
As the racers all crossed the finish line Tomada jumped from his car and struck a pose, pointing a finger to the sky with a smile. "All right! We're in the lead for this competition now, everyone!"
"Yes, good… driving, is what you call it?" Shere Khan said.
"We did well for sure," Bambi nodded.
As the other racers finished, the results were scored up: Tomada in first, Melody in second, Jameson third, Brian fourth, Seth fifth, Almyra sixth, Ben seventh, and Roman in last. "Good job, everyone, but that was only the first task," Gabriel said as he came down to the track. "The puzzle rooms are next, and you'll all have to pitch in to get a good time there."
As everyone followed Gabriel to the next part, Roman and Ben looked at each other. "Thanks again for the save," Ben said.
"As a fellow wolf and a student of Logan, we have to fight on to reach the top," Roman said. "These other trials are just to get points: the battles at the end will truly shows who wins."
"Yeah…" Ben nodded, clutching his staff tightly. "I'll show the world what I've got, and stand out on top!" He smiled and looked at his team. "Let's get going, guys!"
Author's Note
And that was the racing part of the Power of Three tournament! I tried to make sure each part of Animal Kingdom got a spot in the race, so I hope you enjoyed that quick trick around the Not A Zoo!
As I said last time, you readers will be able to give extra points to each team based on their performance in the tournament for things such as teamwork and good sportsmanship. For each team just give them 0 (zero) to 5 (five) points, and I'll total them up for the bonus round. As of now, the points are as follows:
Tomada- 8 points
Melody- 7 points
Jameson- 6 points
Brian- 5 points
Seth- 4 points
Almyra- 3 points
Ben- 2 points
Roman- 1 point
Next Time: the teams all have to face a puzzle room designed specifically for them! Will they make it out in time?