''Come on, Waluigi! Can't you walk faster?'' I said in excitement as Waluigi was calmly walking behind me.

''Why are you so excited to go to the training grounds? You've been there before.''

''I know but it was such a long time ago! I'll meet Shawn again and maybe even other people that I haven't seen for years! Do you think Wario will be there too?''

''Highly unlikely.'' Waluigi said as he twirled a green koopa shell on top of his finger. ''Wario has to take care of his casino, so he has a private training room next to his office.''

''Oh, right... I forgot.'' I said and grabbed his arm. ''But Shawn will be there, right? I've missed him so much.''

''Why wouldn't he be there? He practically lives in the garage.'' Waluigi sighed again. ''And did we really have to leave Polari alone at home? You remember what happened last time?''

I chuckled and swept away a strand of hair from his face. ''Calm down, he will not feed avocados to your piranha plants again. I've made sure that he understands the consequences.''

Waluigi let out a low growl in disagreement. 

I ignored it and gave him a patient smile. ''Hey, come on. Be happy for once. I know the world we're living in is dark and gloomy but you've got to smile sometimes.''

He directed his eyes away from me as he pouted. 

''Hey,'' I said and leaned closer to his face. ''You'll get to train with me. Isn't that something to smile about?'' 

He looked at me, I could see that he was trying very hard not to smile, but he gave up very fast. ''Okay, you're right. That is something to smile about.''

We eventually arrived at our destination. I was so thrilled to be there. I could hear that several people were already racing against each other on the practice racing track. The smell of burnt rubber was everywhere. But the high walls surrounding the big area didn't make me able to see anything until we would enter.

''Okay, you know the rules. Don't call yourself by your real name, only ''Faye'', don't act like you know anybody you didn't meet as Faye and most importantly-'' He corrected my wig to make sure that it sat firmly on my head, hiding every inch of my normal hair. ''never take off the wig.''

I sighed while smiling. ''Walu, I know. You don't have to worry about me, we're focusing on you today.''

''Alright, alright. Let's go.'' He said and grabbed my hand as we walked through the entrance.

I immediately saw the tennis courts, most of them empty with only a few koopas playing on two of them. Then, right next to the tennis courts were the golf field. It's the most uncommon sport to see in the tournaments so I guess that Bowser's not a very big fan of it. Then, next to the golf field were the baseball field and the racing track where everybody was gathered to train before the tournament. But it was also popular to come and watch the training races, so almost half of the people that were gathered there were just observers.

''Come on, let's go get my bike.'' Waluigi said. We walked to a row of garages that was close to the racing track. 

Every garage had a number and the one where Waluigi's bike was in was number seven. He opened the garage port and walked in.
In the middle of the garage was his bike, a purple one with black and white parts here and there. It was nicely polished and looked like it was brand new, although Waluigi had been driving it for three years. He used to drive a kart before but thought that a bike had better controls... and he also said it made him look cooler.

Next to the bike on the left were some lockers standing against the wall. They were filled with sporting equipment that Waluigi didn't have a place for at home. Such as golf clubs, his football armor, skis and items like koopa shells and bananas.

Next to the bike on the right were two doors. One leading to the backside of the garage, it was mainly used if you had already locked the garage port and wanted to get out. The other door led to a toilet. 

And right next to Waluigi's bike sat a white shy guy on a chair, sleeping peacefully. It was Shawn, Waluigi's trusty sidekick. He was his training partner but also his mechanic, he also had the job to save Waluigi if something would go wrong during the tournaments. Waluigi kicked the chair away, causing Shawn to fall down face first onto the floor. I would normally stop Waluigi from doing that to someone, but it was different with Shawn. The two had a very peculiar friendship, instead of saying a friendly hello they would always do something to hurt the other. Not as much so they will get hurt, just irritated. I didn't really get it but as long as they were both fine with it, I would allow it.

''So you're back I see?'' Shawn said, chuckling while still remaining on the ground without moving an inch. ''Couldn't you have let me sleep at least five more minutes?''

''Nope, get up. We have company.'' Waluigi shortly replied in a cold tone.

Shawn quickly got up on his little feet and directed his gaze towards me. ''Oh, hi Faye! Long time no see!'' He went closer to embrace me. 

I picked him up to give him a hug. ''Hi Shawn, it's so good to see you!'' I laughed and put him down again. ''How's it going?''

''Ah, nothing much. But you could maybe tell your boyfriend to stop interrupting me when I sleep.''

''If you went to bed earlier then you wouldn't be tired in the mornings,'' Waluigi muttered.

''I would if it weren't for the fact that I have to polish your oh-so-precious-bike until it's shining like the sun! That takes time, you know. And why don't you do it yourself? It is, after all, your bike!''

''Then I wouldn't be able to get as much sleep to gain new energy so I could train.'' He shortly explained.

''AHA! So you admit that polishing the bike takes a lot of time!''

Waluigi grabbed the handle of his bike and started rolling it out of the garage. ''Yeah, but somebody still has to do it. And that somebody is you because I sure as hell can't do it.''

With that, the conversation ended. Shawn and Waluigi always argued with each other so much that I was so used to it by now and did nothing to try to solve it. They would just forget about it a minute later and everything would be as usual again. So it was unnecessary to waste my energy on it.

''So you followed him today?'' Shawn asked me as we went towards the racing track.

''Yeah, he needs some ''extra'' training,'' I explained. ''He was extremely nervous about the sports change yesterday when he came home. So I offered to help him again.''

''I see. Then I hope that it goes well.''

Shawn knew that I was secretly the cosmic queen. If you didn't count Waluigi and Polari: he was the only one in the whole world that knew about it. He also knows about my situation with my broken wand and always tries to help me in any way he can. I always enjoy his company, he's generally a very sweet and charming shy guy, he likes to sew, he's even made a bike outfit for me if I ever wanted to race. Although I have only used it maybe two or three times and I feel a little bit guilty about it.

''Alright everybody. The next race is in five minutes. Contestants go to your starting positions and everybody else please sit down on your seats in the crowd area.'' A Lakitu announced. 

I went to sit on a seat together with Shawn. Waluigi was sitting on his bike by the starting line and waited for the race to start. After a short while of waiting the Lakitu finally came flying over to the starting position with a starting light hanging on his fishing rod.

''Alright, let's get started, contestants! Ready...''

A rumble coming from the engines could be heard.

''Set...''

Everybody tensed up and got the back wheels rolling already so they could get a starting boost as soon as the race started.

''Go!''

All of the karts and bikes flew forwards as soon as the Lakitu turned on the green light.
The race had started.