The day was beautiful as ever. The race would be taking place in Neo Bowser City, but it was a nice and sunny day here today. Something that a lot of people thought was impossible. Many of the guests were surprised that Bowser would allow them to race in his city, but he had no problems with it. Probably because he usually participated in the world tour races, and if not that, he was the commentator, like he would be today.

The racers were polishing their karts and bikes, taking care of scratches or dents, or fueling up. The only people who were just idly sitting or standing around were the audience that was there for the entertainment. No one was bored though, everyone was excited to see the racers partake. From Goombas to Chain Chomps to Toads, people from all over the world came to watch!

Shortcake was fixing up her Kart with some of the pit-crew Toads. Her Kart was called the Macharon. It was a Kart that was decorated with macarons of different colors all around the perimeter of the car. The Kart itself was carved like a pink macaron, and had pink wheels that matched. There are two completely different rumors of the Kart's design: the first, and more popular, is that it was created based on Princess Peach's trip to France one summer, and the pleasant experience she had with the pastries; the second rumor is that it was created in the Flowerbed Kingdom based around Princess Rose's love for baking.

Knowing both princesses and their experiences, Shortcake would not deny or confirm either rumor.

The other Racers were:

Daisy on the Mach Bike
Pauline in the Yellow Taxi
Birdo on the Sports Bike
Koops in the Standard Kart
Ms Mouz on the Wario Bike (much to everyone's surprise)
Pianta on the Spear
Piranha Plant in the B-dasher
Whomp in the Wild Wing
Bombette in the Bullet Bike
Bicorn on Foot
And ... was that Mario with the Flame Runner ?!

Shortcake stared at the shilouette being as he cleaned his bike without the need of assistance. It was a silver Flame Runner with gold flames. Her eyes shined like stars. This bike was the ideal bike for any racer, and she had to ask where he got it! She abandoned her pit crew members just for a brief moment, and skipped over to the metal Mario.

"Heya Mario! I like your new bike," Shortcake complimented in her usual cheerful way. The figure didn't respond. He didn't even look at Shortcake when she had approached. She tilted her head after a few seconds of silence.

"Um, Mario," she questioned. Getting closer to him though, he seemed ... shiny. Why was that? She was about to ask, but ...

"Racers! Everyone must be at the starting line in THREE MINUTES," Bowser announced through the speakers. The racers immediately got to their places at the starting line. Engines revved up, and the crowd began cheering.

Rose clapped the loudest as Riba cheered for her, "Go Shortcake," though he hadn't done more than stand by Rose's side politely when cheering. It wasn't until the cheering died down that Rose felt a little uneasy. Riba glanced over at her, noticing the negative expression, even if it was faint.

"Princess Rose, is everything alright," he asked. She looked to him, and then looked around. She felt that she was being watched, but she nodded. He could tell she was lying, or at least not sharing the full truth in her nod. Riba did not pry; not for now, at least. They watched the race as the karts and bikes zoomed off.

"And we're off to a RAGING START," Bowser roared, "and we've got some new items in store, too! BWA HA HA HA, I can't wait to see the items used!"

"Me too, papa! Ba ha ha ha~," Bowser Jr. cheered. Bowser's eyes widened with embarrassment, and he shooed his son out of the commentary room.

Currently in the lead was Pauline, with Birdo and Daisy neck and neck behind her. Shortcake was roughly around sixth, but she wasn't worried. She just got triple mushrooms from an item box, and used one. This allowed her to pass the whomp and Bombette, getting her into technically third, but she considered it fourth with the other two ladies neck and neck for second. Her eyes widened as she felt something wet fall onto her head.

Suddenly, there was a loud KA-BOOM, and suddenly the city broke out into a raging storm. The winds were so strong that Birdo and Daisy started to swerve out of their high place, getting passed by Shortcake, Whomp, Bombette, and Ms. Mouz.

"oui, sorry m'ladies, but I vill be getting virst place," Mouz giggled as she left the two in her dust.

"Why did it suddenly start raining," Birdo asked Daisy as others passed them. All of a sudden, the race hadn't mattered so much to them as it had to many of the other racers. No one prepared for slippery roads, which made this very dangerous.

"I'm not exactly sure! It was all sunshine and daisies just seconds ago," Daisy yelled as Bicorn passed them.

The audience wasn't exactly happy about the rain either. Sure, Bowser had some automatic drapes that activated upon water hitting the switch, but the rain didn't start from a simple sprinkle, it was pouring instantly. Toads, Piantas, koopas, and all other species alike were pretty upset. Rose sighed and took this time to go get some snacks with Riba.

The two walked over to the chili dog stand that was ran by a man in a Sonic the Hedgehog costume. Rose felt a shadow loom over her, and she turned around, with Riba by her side. Rose's eyes narrowed at the strangely tall man, and Riba took out a pocket knife and held it out at the man.

"Who dare bring harm to Princess Rose," Riba asked — or threatened — the man. He was tall, with the same purple overalls and a purple shirt from a few days ago. His ginger hair was mostly kept under his purple cap with a backwards and upside-down L.

"WAH! WAHT THE FACK," the man screamed as he backed away about one step. He pulled out a news paper that depicted the destruction of the Flowerbed Kingdom.
"I'M WALUIGI, AND I SEE YOUR KINGDOM IS RUINED! I GET FLOWERS THERE EVERY YEAR! I WANNA KNOW WHEN I CAN GET FLOWERS AGAIN!"

"How selfish," Riba scoffed, "I bet you don't even pay for those flowers."

"WAH!? YOU HAVE NO PROOF THAT WALUIGI DOESN'T PAY! I ALWAYS PAY! BY RETURNING TO GET MORE! WAH-HA HA HA HA!"

The two watched Waluigi laugh, and got their chili dogs. Riba put away the pocket knife, and they decided to leave the man to laugh alone like an insane person. He quickly caught on though, and started swimming towards them.

"WAIT! YOU NEVER ANSWER MY QUESTION," Waluigi shouted at them. Riba sighed and turned around.

"Look, unless you would like to help us, you won't be getting flowers any time soon. We do not know what is wrong with the kingdom's climate," Riba explained with an annoyed tone.

Waluigi seemed confused. Why would anyone expect him to help?

"It would be a great help if you would venture with us," Riba continued. Waluigi looked at him, then at the Princess. She was smiling in agreement. Neither of them seemed to be judging Waluigi for the villain that he was. Waluigi was surprised that there were two very not-ugly people that weren't judging him by his looks. Running away or screaming in fear.

"Well, fine. Waluigi only help this once! Then, I get life time supply of FLOWERS, OKAY," Waluigi demanded. Rose nodded. A lifetime supply of flowers was no issue for her, since he would be seen as a hero to the Flowerbed Kingdom.

Riba looked at Rose, who nodded in agreement, so Riba said, "deal. You may shake on the deal with the Princess."

Waluigi instantly broke out in a nervous sweat. Never had he touched the hand of someone who wasn't hideous, like his brother Wario. He had no clue how it would feel to do so, either. He looked at the small hand that was being held out to him. What if he crushed it? What if her arm was that of a twig, and snapped? He looked at Riba, who gave an annoyed stare.

The two finally shook on it, no arm snapping or crushing of bones.

Waluigi sighed out of relief loudly, and the three of them returned to the audience seats.

"Onto lap two, with Pauline just dropping into second," Bowser roared into the mic. Pauline swerved into second place as the metallic Mario came screeching by. Her eyes grew in size as she saw the lightning sparks on his tires as he took the sharp turn. That was definitely not formed from his drift. Then a thunder clap was made, and he boosted off. He hadn't even had a mushroom behind him to use! Bicorn galloped past, taking second place from Pauline, with Shortcake, Pianta, and Ms. Mouz knocking her into sixth.

This was where things started to get ... questionable.

The metallic man looked behind him and saw the karts and bikes gaining on him. With a smirk, he snapped his finger, causing some heavier winds to blow Pianta and Ms Mouz off the track, with only one Lakitu going after them. Shortcake used another one of her mushrooms to boost ahead to him, only to slip on a puddle and swerve in circles.

"Woaaah," Shortcake yelled as she bumped into the wall. 'Mario' let out a filtered chuckle, and that was when she knew that this man was not the Mario that she once knew. Shortcake tried to start up her car once more, but couldn't. She was soon passed by Bicorn.

Birdo and Daisy finally caught up with the power of the golden star and a bullet bill, and Pauline was back in the race as well, using the lucky seven to make her way to catch up with Daisy and Birdo. The three saw Shortcake trying to start up her Kart, but she couldn't get it working and was getting visibly upset.

"SHIT! It's not working," Shortcake yelled as she pressed on the acceleration. Birdo pulled over.

"Hey sugar, what's the matter? You're using those big-girl words," she asked. Shortcake sighed, and said, "sorry, but my kart won't start up again! I just wanna win, so Rose can know that this wasn't a waste of time."

"Hun, it's about having fun, not winning," Birdo explained, as she hooked her bike and the kart to each other. Shortcake looked confused, and asked Birdo, "why did you hook my kart to your bike?"

"AW, HOW CUTE, TEAMWORK," Bowser chuckled over the intercom in an almost mocking way. Many people cheered for the two however, as Birdo started to speed back up on the Sports Bike. Unfortunately, she was going at a much slower pace now, and was passed by Koops, who apologized as he passed by. But they weren't in last. Last place went to Pianta and Ms Mouz currently, who had still not been retrieved.

Daisy caught up with 'Mario' since she was on a vehicle with better stats than Pauline was. She was now neck and neck with the man and could see him clearly. He was made out of metal ? She decided to leave questions behind for now and just shouted, "HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?! I TOTALLY SAW YOU BOOST WITH THUNDER! NOT THE LIGHTNING ITEM!"

Metal Mario was silent, and simply boosted ahead. Daisy roared like a dragon and performed a wheelie, granting her better speed to catch up with him.

Metal Mario had had enough now. Daisy looked at his hands as they started to spark up with electricity, and barely managed to turn out of the way as he shot it from his hands towards the ground where her bike was.

"Hey! That's cheating," Daisy yelled at him, but all he did was laugh. The two crossed the race line, and were on the final lap. This lap did not consist of anything new, as Metal Mario continued to shoot lightning at Daisy, and the winds blew harder. Daisy would throw shell after shell at Metal Mario, but he seemed to be immune to them all. Even with a shell frenzy — some new feature Bowser had added to "spice things up" — he was still standing and using his power.

It wasn't until they were almost at the finish line for their last lap, that Bicorn rammed into Metal Mario as he boosted with a mushroom, and crossed the finish line first. Daisy crossed second. Metal Mario started up the engine again, but was knocked off the rail by a bullet bill, and soon almost all the racers passed him up, making him get tenth. Only tenth because Pianta and Ms Mouz were never found after they fell off the edge.

"AND WE HAVE A WINNER," Bowser yelled into the mic. Bicorn was cheering for himself as everyone was seeming to applaud for him.

"I can't wait to tell sonny about this one," he cheered, as he stood on his back hooves and neighed.

"PRINCESS DAISY!"

Bicorn's moment of glory was taken from him, as some women dressed as Bowsette gave Daisy the golden trophy and briefcase of coins.

"Hey! Why didn't I win, I crossed first," Bicorn asked. One of the Bowsettes looked to him and said, "you never had a kart to begin with. You should read the rules next time. having no Kart or Bike doesn't forbid you from entering the race, but it does make you ineligible to win the prize money or prize trophy."

Bicorn sighed in defeat and galloped away.

Rose, Waluigi, and Riba ran to Birdo and Shortcake, as Rose hugged her toad companion.

"Are you alright, Shortcake," Riba asked. Shortcake nodded.

"She just crashed, and her kart wouldn't start up, again," Birdo explained.

Pauline and Daisy joined the group, and Pauline said, "hey, isn't it kind of weird that it started raining though?"

"Yeah," Daisy agreed, "and then that guy shot lightning at me! He was trying to kill me!"

This caught everyone's attention.

"WAHT? KILL YOU?! NOT LIKE I WOULD MIND BUT STILL," Waluigi yelled. Daisy rolled her eyes, and said, "Yeah, nice to see you too, Waluigi." The two glared at each other, as Rose tried to break up the feud.

"Oh, well, we should figure out how he was able to use those powers," Shortcake suggested. The girls, and the two guys, agreed. None of them knowing that Metal Mario was watching them from afar. As he left, the sky became blue once more.

There would be a bigger struggle for those girls.

He would make sure of it.