Mario Kart: The story

[S1x]

Note that reading part 1 is not necessary (but still recommended) to enjoy part 2.**

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Rushing past the finish line at an abysmal fourth place, I felt another string of hope inside my heart snapping again.

Everybody claimed Goombas would never be able to race. Their lack of arms made them unable to steer. They wouldn't even be able to hold their own against a Bloober. I finally got my chance to prove them wrong, and I'm blowing it with every passing week.

My kart was made by my own grueling work. It still followed all the rules of the Mario Kart standards - standard engine, same tires, just slightly lower to the ground in the front. The steering wheel was titled so that I could steer using my sharp teeth. I kicked the item boxes open. Everything of mine was planned out, but the track sponsors declined my plans to race. I argued against them how they let my Koopa friend Koda be able to participate in the races and that I deserved my authority to participate as well.

Koda was amazing. He perservered sometimes through entire nights without sleep, learning how to drive faster, turn tighter, and blast away from the competition. Mario saw him practicing on his own one day and realized his determination. He then challenged Koda to a 1v1 race. The Koopa won by more than seven seconds. After Mario told everyone else about his awesome kart and skill, he got to race regularly, earning over 700 Coins a month in winnings.

It wasn't as easy for me. After a big debate, which turned into a fight, which almost turned into a huge war, a bargain was finally made. I would be allowed in eight races along the next several weeks. If I was the winner in at least three of those races, I, along with all other Goombas, would be able to qualify for regular races. I gladly accepted, being confident I could win, with only one small setback. I wasn't winning.

I had already been in two races so far, and finished fourth both times. With just six left, I wasn't sure I would be able to accomplish my goal. However, Koda reassured me that things were still possible, and there was still time for improvement by practicing over and over again. He also noted that next week's race was taking place the same time Princess Peach was giving one of her conferences. There would only be five people racing that day: Me, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, and my pal Koda. Maybe, just maybe, I stood a chance this time. I gathered research on where the next course would be and studied it until 3 in the morning, in which I fell asleep without turning the lights off, dreaming of emerging victorious in a grand prix.

[Damon King]

Why'd you stop? It was gettin good!
I liked it, hurry up and make anotehr part!

[S1x]

I nervously but calmly drove my kart up to the starting line. The track was Wario's Stadium course, three laps of crazy jumps and bumps. Lights from every corner of the stadium lit up the track with their annoying brightness as if they were miniature versions of the sun. My concentration had to focus completely on blazing off the starting line to try for an early lead. It didn't seem so hard when I just pictured it in my head.

However, the competition then pulled up as well. Wario and Waluigi were their usual greedy selves, and Bowser looked just plain scary today, most likely because he realized that this was a chance for him to finally win, just like me. Plus he had the brute strength for nobody to mess with him. You couldn't just jump on his head to immobilize him.

Koda was the last one to drive to the starting line, off to the far right. We had a small conversation before the race about what we were going to do.

"You know I can't just let you win, Charles. I really need those coins in order to keep my home and the shell on my back, ya know?"

"I get it. I'll just be watching myself, then."

"Yeah, but watch out for the Wario brothers and their cheap tactics. I can't tell you how many near-victories I've had because of their tricks."

"I'll be too ahead for them to even eat my dust!"

"That's the spirit." After that, he examined his kart while I was leaving.

The Lakitu arrived on his marshmallowy cloud, carrying the light that signaled when we would take off. In mere moments I would be defending my reputation and the records for all Goombas. The first light came on. Sweat was forming onto my forehead, but even though it bothered me like a hungry mosquito, I completely ignored it. The second light flashed. I revved up the engine at the exact moment all the others were. Nobody's spirit could match mine at this very moment. Wario was in it for greed, Bowser was racing for pleasure, but I had the biggest moral to satisfy. The only question now was if that moral would be able to take me to the finish line before anybody else.

The green light lit. I got a fast start, but it wasn't fast enough to beat Waluigi. I kept on his tail until a huge jump sent me slightly to the right and down in fourth. I went straight through the item box and three mushrooms were inside. Staying straight through the turn, I cut down it with my first boost of speed. I moved ahead of Koda to watch Wario and Waluigi trying to battle for the lead.

We went through a series of bumps next. Trying to stabilize my kart through these bumps was like trying to teach a Thwomp to speak French, but I somehow got through without losing any ground. Straight pathway was next. This was where I released my other two mushrooms to cause a three-way battle for the lead. Wario used a Starman and bumped Waluigi, crashing him off to the side. He tried ramming me, but I barely swerved to the outside. After it wore out, he tried speeding away from me. But I made sure he wouldn't be able to pull that off.

We were now approaching the biggest jump of the course. We easily cleared it, and I aimed for another box. This time, I found a red shell. This was perfect for smacking Wario enough for me to blaze ahead of him. Waiting for the final turn, I threw it at him and he bounced off to the side like a helpless sea creature. At the end of the first lap, I was in the lead. But now Koda and Waluigi were catching up to me, followed closely by Bowser.

Going off more hills, I set down a fake item box within a group of real ones. Koda and Waluigi must have been close enough to see me do this, but a second later I heard a "GRRRAAAGHHH" which could only mean that Bowser fell for it. He was way down in last place.

Positions didn't change for a while until the second part of bumps. My kart ended up hanging slightly to the left, and the loss of speed put Koda and Waluigi barely in front of me. I got a red shell and waited for the right time to aim it at second-place Waluigi. The moment I fired, he tossed a banana backwards to negate the shell! I wasted an item, but definitely not the race.

Something horrific happened several seconds later. Approaching the giant jump, Waluigi pulled out a red shell. I gasped and tried to shout something, but my voice was completely masked by the loudness of the engines. Waluigi released the shell, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Koda lifted off the jump. The red shell collided. His kart dropped quickly from under him. He retreated into his shell to not get mortally injured. I didn't see what happened after that because I passed the jump at that point.

Entering the final lap, two red shells approached me. I shot down the first one by firing a green shell backwards, but the second one nailed me. Wario passed me and sent his third one at Waluigi. I zoomed by his crash and was in second again.

I trailed Wario like a dog, but was never quite able to catch him, even going deep inside on the turns. The items didn't help me, either - all just bananas or fake item boxes. The other two were far too behind at this point for it to matter. Once I got a Starman, but only caught up to Wario and he merely laughed and pulled away again.

Near the point where Koda must have crashed, I saw no wreckage. He must have left immediately. Opening another item box, wishing for no more bananas, I got a green shell. A red shell would have helped so much more, but I had to work with what I had. Crossing the big jump for the final time, I realized that I had to aim it now. Luckily, I gained some ground on Wario because he went far outside on the turns.

We were close to the finish line. It was now or never. I kicked the green shell towards Wario, who was too busy staring at the finish line to notice it. It was, going, going.... but a feeling of dread crossed my mind as I realized the shell was going slightly to the left. It would miss him. Wario would be the victorious, and I would yet again burn away my chances...

Maybe I should just be glad I got to race with these guys at all. Perhaps Goombas couldn't keep up with the other great people. Feelings of insecurity and doubt kept crossing my mind. I wanted them to go away. They wouldn't. I knew that the end was approaching, and the burning flame inside my heart was put out once again. And it was suddenly ignited again as I saw a miracle unfolding.

I'm not sure whether the wind was strong, there was a small obstacle on the track, or it was a red shell painted wrong, but the green shell that was slowly but surely heading towards the left aimed directly back towards Wario. He never saw it coming. He collided off to the side in pure surprise, recollected himself, and finished in second place by one and a half seconds. I had finally won.

Still in disbelief as I collected my 50-coin winnings, I looked around and saw that Wario had the most annoyed look on his face ever. Waluigi was sitting off in a corner and Bowser was calling for his Koopa Cruiser. I didn't see Koda, however. I assumed he would be there to celebrate my first ever win on a professional Mario Kart Circuit. A while later, he told me that he actually was there, watching me cross the finish line, but that only confused me more.

Note: I'm only continuing if people want me to continue.


The Entria Saga - a universe and series of stories by S1x

[ July 14, 2004, 11:57 PM: Message edited by: Puzzlemaker S1x ]

[Brooser]

That's good! Keep it up!

[ADVENTURE BUS]

GO! GO!

[S1x]

Days slipped away faster than sand. The next race came too quickly. I, along with nine others, pulled up to the starting line of Peach's newest circuit, a five-lap dash built along a field northeast of her castle. Up for grabs this time was 150 Coins, three times the amount I'd won last week. I used the 50 Coins as soon as I could on a variety of food and some basic TV channels, such as "Tayce T.'s home cooking". I tried in vain to make a Mushroom Cake, but it ended up looking like Mushroom Ice Cream. I stored it in the fridge and decided to not eat it just yet, because if I got sick, it better be after the race instead of before it.

Still, my house was quite small. It was more like a hut. I had a small bed, a fridge, a small TV, and a table. The only Coins I recieved were from "Bowser's Small Fry Charity". It took me two years of saving to make my kart, along with some extra money from Koda. He was back in this race, repairing his vehicle quite quickly.

It was my fourth time seeing the Lakitu dangling the lights over our heads. After I won my third race, a day later a Toad reporter came to ask me about my victory. All I told him was "Quiet, you'll ruin the cake" and then closed the door on him. After all, I was far from being in the clear.

Mario, who was directly to the left of me, said "Good-a luck, Charles" and then revved his engine up. I did the same, but Mario was the first off when the green light beamed down on us. I tried staying straight on his path, but DK shoved me aside, and when I got back on track I was down in ninth, only ahead of Bowser by a little bit.

People took all the items away. That's the problem with being back in the pack. Bowser was gaining on me, but I kept ahead of him and went by him in the turns. Eventually I did the same to DK and Wario without the use of any items. I caught up to Luigi, who put down a banana and slowed DK down pretty well. I maintained seventh until the first of five laps was completed.

Luigi and I were catching up to Koda and Peach. They both grabbed the items ahead of us, watching Koda hurt Toad with a red shell and Peach not using whatever she got just yet. Toad accelerated just behind me, and I wasn't sure if he had an item or not. I sped closer to Luigi's kart, trying to cooperate with him to speed by Toad. He was very quick on the turns, however, and passed us up. I had barely gained some distance ahead of Luigi and was basically frozen there. I gained on him in the turns halfway through the second lap, and had Peach in my sights.

Out of nowhere, a great lightning bolt shot down towards all of us. I was stunned for a little, but continued forward and noticed that Peach was giant. The grass was giant too. I had shrunk! Watching her pull away, she somehow smacked into a stray green shell, tumbled down a hill, and the giant Peach crashed down into the water in the center of the track. It reminded me of a book I read somewhere.

When I sprung back, I was up with Toad again in fifth place. Mario, Waluigi, Koda, and Toad were all the people I still needed to catch, and the second lap was winding down. Towards the last group of item boxes, Toad took my item again. I was getting frustrated with how few boxes I was actually getting. When I tried pulling myself in front of him, he merely showed me that he picked up a red shell and blasted me with it, full-force.

In my rear-view mirror, just as I was getting back up to where Toad was, I saw Luigi thrown up into the air by Wario. He had three red shells, and his third one was still in his hand. He promptly dropped it on the ground and it started heading for me. If I fell back behind the heavyweights, there would be almost no chance of me trying for the lead. I did the only thing I could do and decided to floor it.


The Entria Saga - a universe and series of stories by S1x

[S1x]

Eh, I kind of wanted to continue doing this. But does it even matter right now? I'm checking to see if people actually are not reading this or are just too lazy to post.

[ADVENTURE BUS]

cmon now, I like it, keep goin

[The Doctor]

Mostly people are too lazy to post. I think it's good, so keep going by all means.

Have a Nice Day!

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

I agree, it's a great story so far. You don't really need us cheering you on to continue it.

[S1x]

I was fast, but that shell was faster. It gained on the back of my kart at about a meter per second. It was like running on a treadmill that's going faster than your actual pace. With the force I was putting on my kart to speed up, I thought that maybe my vehicle would blow up before the shell had a chance to reach it.

Toad was a little in front of me. He took the item on the right, and luckily for me, I was parallel to the box over to the left, so I wouldn't have to turn. As the shell loomed ever closer, I checked inside the box. A mushroom! Within half a second of grabbing the box, I took off with the mushroom of mine to pull by next to Toad. My small boost in speed allowed me to pull right in front of Toad. This confused him since he thought he would drift past me a few seconds later, but he didn't realize what my plan was. He was directly between me and the shell, and was so concentrated on passing me again that he had no time to get out of the way. After a loud POW, his kart jumped into the air and I tried to play catch-up again.

The next set of items was all mine, finally. Inside the next box was a Starman. I activated it, sped through all the turns, and got the other three in my sights. Two and a half laps out of five were complete. I had another two and a half to get by three more racers without falling behind. This was when I tried to test something new. I jumped over to the right side of my kart, turned heavily to the left, and tried cutting deep inside the turn. This was very risky - if I turned too loosely, the kart could lift out from under me and I'd fling myself into the wall, and if I turned too much, I'd end up facing the wrong direction. Once I initiated it, the motion I felt was too bizarre to describe. I felt like I was attempting to resist the impact of a Bullet Bill shoving against me. I was sure I messed up.

After I straightened out again, I realized I was very close to Koda and Waluigi. The "power slide" seemed to work wonderfully. The two took the last group of items, and I coasted slightly behind to see what would happen. We crossed the checkered line again - three laps done, two left.

[The Doctor]

Go grease Lightning your turning up the quarter mile, (Yeah, I probably got that line wrong, but meh!)
Nice work, carry on S1x!

[SilverWind]

I just came in this forum, and saw your story, S1x! ^__________^ It's great! I instantly felt a connection to your protagonist (and he's so cute)! You also not only tell a good race, but characterize people well, telling an actual story, which many people miss when they write about battles or fights or races or whatnot. Grammar and spelling is great, and the sentences flow well. Keep on writing!

[Lord Umbra]

Wow. This is good stuff. Never thought that Mario Kart could actually be turned into a good fanfic.

[S1x]

*self-reminder post*

[Legion]

Live topic, live!

Heh. Well, I'm speechless. I've seen many Mario Kart fanfics over the years, but they're all complete tripe compared with this one.

Well done.

[Nabooru98]

Where's the "thumb's up" icon when you need it? Perfectly awesome.

[Viceroy Nute Gunray]

Wow. Awesome. This is really good. (what else can I say?)

[S1x]

The three of us kept struggling for second place for nearly all of the fourth lap. We all had been successfully driving without crashing that we were all starting to get pretty darn fast. Almost everything, including the track itself, was a fluffy blur against my powerful amount of speed. I managed to identify where Koda was by his shell, and I could identify Waluigi by his nose.

I kept missing the items because I couldn't see them. While I was getting the hang of that power-slide thing, the other two were naturally good at turning already. Halfway through the fourth lap, my slide went too far to the outside, and I bumped Waluigi. This sent both of us out of Koda's pace, but I was actually able to see where the next set of items was.

Three green shells was what I managed to pluck out of the box. This would be a lot more helpful if Koda hadn't pulled away from me so much. My only decent target was Waluigi, who was to the right of me looking at his own present. This was my chance to knock him back. I let the shells rotate around me, and with one swift, gentle motion, I glided off to the right and smacked him with one of the weapons. He bounced off course in fourth, possibly fifth.

The end of the fourth lap and the beginning of the final one was all a deep straightaway, so maybe if I fired randomly, I could hit Koda and pull myself into second. However, this was a pretty big gamble for me. I always learned that I had to look at all possible viewpoints of a situation, and I mastered doing that really quickly. I can't describe exactly what flowed through my mind, but it was probably something like:

Okay, if I keep my shells, I could try gaining on Koda myself without firing them. Then I could save both shots for Mario when I see him. However, I might lose too much time trying to not hit Koda. Maybe I should catch up and only launch one shell. If it hits, I can chase Mario. But maybe I should launch one shell right now and hope for the best. Then again, I'm tempted to just randomly shoot both the shells. But what if they crash into each other? I'd have nothing to defend with... I'd be taking a big gamble, just like with that cake I made. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that cake. Argh, I'm getting hungry! What the hell, I'll just fire both.

This all went through my mind in about one and a half seconds. Each of the remaining two shells did their thing, but they ended up not doing anything important. My momentum took me a little closer to Koda, and I grabbed a Mushroom at the end of the first turn. The next straightaway, I dropped it into my engine and took off, positioning myself on the inside of the next turn beside Koda. He quickly glanced at me and said something I couldn't hear as I passed him up.

Something was wrong here. Mario was nowhere within my sight at all. I didn't hear his engine, I couldn't see his tire marks, I couldn't even smell his exhaust. I only breathed clean air. He was so far ahead of me that not even a miracle would let me catch up. This was not how I wanted to end up finishing. After all that effort, it still wasn't enough effort to best Mario. It was hard to admit defeat, but I realized that I must try even harder if I wish to permanently stay racing. I gritted my teeth as I pulled across the finish line in second.

_______________________________________

"It's not over yet, ya know."

"Yeah, I already knew that. I just thought I'd do better."

"You finished in second."

"The point is, Koda, I didn't win." There were four more races I'd have to endure. I had to win at least two of them still, or else that was it. Koda secretly knew the bleakness of my situation, but was trying to cheer me up anyways. I had four days to prepare for the next race. For now, I was hanging out at Koda's place. It reminded me of my hut - except it was a larger, more decorated, cooler hut. It appeared as if three or four people were living here, but in actuality, it was only his lonesome self. I guess he accepted that for now.

"Hey, Charles, I got a question for ya."

"Yeah?"

"How'd you manage to slide through those turns so well?"

"Dumb luck."

"Seriously?"

"I don't know exactly how I pulled that off. I guess it was because I felt what my kart was doing."

"Nah, it's because you're set on racing, and nothing else. You're in that zone. You were meant for this. Keep that up, and I don't see how you won't win your next four races."

"Thanks for the speech, but I'm not sure it's going to help me. What's the next course?"

"Bowser's castle - the northwest interior. I'm not going to be able to make it to that one, though. I have to meet somebody that day."

"Who?"

"Just somebody. I could give you tips on the course, though - I've gone through it before."

"Sure. That would help a lot."

He took out a pencil and a large sheet of paper and wrote various things on it. "Okay, so you start right... here, and stay towards the outside, not the inside, or else you'll get hit by Thwomps right... here. When you get to the bridge, stay straight, and prepare for a sharp left..."

Edit: I ended that race too abruptly. I extended the last paragraph of the actual race a little bit.


Origin of Entria

[ June 14, 2004, 01:03 AM: Message edited by: Puzzlemaker S1x ]

[The Doctor]

Wow. You know, If I could make my wrestling one as good as this, *to self* that a point I need to update mine, I would put it on that fanfiction place.