All of the contestants flew forwards from their starting positions and into the pinball cannon. The race had begun and now it could not be stopped. I worriedly watched as Waluigi drove past other contestants to catch up with Bowser who was in first. But of course: Bowser had already started cheating. He had a mushroom in his hand and immediately used it to get ahead a good amount.

''Any ideas, Shawn?'' Waluigi asked.

''Just wait until you grab one of the item boxes that's ahead of you. If you get a green koopa shell: snipe him. If you get a banana: your best bet is to just hold it behind you until you get your next item box.''

Waluigi drove into one of the item boxes placed in a row before you came into the area where the giant pinballs would roll. 

''I got a green shell, I'll try to snipe him.'' Waluigi said.

''Let's hope that nobody got a red shell for you then. You'll be defenseless until your next item box.'' Shawn warned him.

Waluigi was close to Bowser, I could see him concentrate to try to get a throw that was as precise as possible. He threw the green shell... but it was going too much to the left! I discretely pointed a finger at the shell and made it go in the same direction as Bowser. It hit his car and he spun around a few times before getting back to driving normally again. Now Waluigi was in first place with Wario in second and Bowser in third.

''Faye! I know it was you who did that! What did I tell you?!'' Waluigi said.

''Sorry, it was a reflex!'' I said.

Waluigi got his second item box in a big curve. ''I got a banana peel, I'll just keep it behind me for now.'' He said. ''Has any of the contestants got a lightning strike?''

Shawn looked at the side of the screen where all the contestants were displayed on a list of what items they had. ''No, nobody has one yet. You're safe.''

Now they were in the bumper zone. There were no pinballs there yet, but it would get much harder to drive there in the second and third lap. Bowser was having trouble getting first and decided to cheat again. He pulled out a small chain chomp and attached the chain on the front of his car. The small chain chomp started to grow bigger and bigger until it was bigger than Bowser himself! It aggressively started jumping forwards, dragging Bowser's kart with it.

''Waluigi! Bowser has a chain chomp! Keep close to the sides of the track!''

''You've got to be kidding me!'' He mumbled.

Because of this, Waluigi missed the next row of item boxes. And with the help of the chain chomp, Bowser gained first place in no time. The chain chomp's chain broke after a few seconds and it happily bounced away on its own until it disappeared into thin air.

''Should I try to throw my banana peel in front of him?'' Waluigi asked.

''No, you're close to the pinball cannon anyway so it wouldn't do much,'' Shawn said. ''Dispose of it when you get your next item box.''

''Lap two has started! Prepare for incoming pinballs, contestants!'' The announcer said excitedly.

Waluigi went through the cannon again and drove to get another item box. He only got a simple mushroom. But for some reason, he was happy about it. ''I'm going to make the shortcut with this!'' He said.

''What?! No! It's too risky!'' Shawn exclaimed.

But of course, Waluigi wouldn't listen. He went off the first ramp, made a trick in the air which gave him a speed boost. Then used the mushroom. He was close to falling off the track but miraculously made it. Now he was in first place again!

''The adrenaline rush is wonderful!'' Waluigi laughed.

''Don't scare me like that, Waluigi!'' I yelled.

''Hey hey, no need to yell. I'm not a beginner at this, I know what I'm doing.'' He said annoyed.

Then I saw it: the giant pinball. It was right behind King Boo which was in last place. It was faster than the kart and crushed it completely. King Boo was fine though since he was already... well... dead.
The pinball rolled along the track, making several contestants to slow down and keep close to the sides. The koopa racer, though, lost control of his kart and the whole backside of it got crushed by the pinball. The koopa miraculously survived, though. The audience cheered and started chanting different contestants' names.

''Waluigi, be careful of the pinball!'' Shawn said.

Waluigi drove close to the side to let the pinball past him. But being close to the side decreased your ability to turn good and Waluigi ended up losing a lot of speed. Now he was right next to Bowser, fighting over first place in the bumper zone while the pinball from before was going in unpredictable directions from bumper to bumper.

''Get lost, loser!'' Bowser yelled. ''I'll win this race! And when I do I'm betting that your girl will come swooning over to me!''

But Bowser hadn't noticed that they had already gone past the next row of item boxes, Waluigi was armed with a green shell and shot Bowser's car with it, making him get all the way down to sixth place.

''Ooooh, one lap left, everybody! The excitement is real!'' The announcer said as the crowd cheered.

Now was when all hell would break loose. The pinballs started to burn, the bumpers got sharp spikes all over them and some parts of the track got puddles of oil. This was Bowser's form of entertainment.
Waluigi got shot out of the cannon and grabbed the item box. Banana, nothing useful. He kept it behind his bike and continued to drive as fast as possible to ensure that Bowser wouldn't get in first place.
But no, his attempt failed. Bowser had yet another banned item: the Bowser shell. It came towards Waluigi in an extremely fast pace and it was practically impossible to dodge. It made the bike fly up into the air and spin around a couple of times before landing harshly, Waluigi let out a horrible scream of pain while he dropped down to tenth place and tried to get his bike up on its wheels again.

''Shawn! I... I think my arm's broken... and my foot!'' He panted.

''Breathe, Waluigi! It's almost over, just two-thirds of the track left, then we can go home!'' Shawn said in a stressed tone.

''You can do it!'' I said. ''Don't give up! Just aim at finishing the race! Don't bother if you get last or even first! Just... survive!''

''Oh no,'' He said angrily as he started driving again. ''I'm going to fucking show that damned dragon-koopa the fury of Waluigi!''

''What? No! Waluigi! You're only going to make it worse!'' Shawn yelled. But he wouldn't listen. 

He got an item box. Inside of it was a Bullet Bill. He used it and miraculously got to second place. He was close to Bowser, and the big koopa was rather surprised to see him.

''Missed me, bitch?!'' Waluigi yelled.

When he got right next to Bowser they started fighting over first place again. But then Bowser did something that made the whole audience gasp: he tried to scratch Waluigi with his claws. He lashed out his claws against him several times, and Waluigi couldn't dodge it. His face became more and more scratched and soon blood started to cover up the left side of his face.

''I'll teach you not to mess with me!'' Bowser said. 

I was on the verge of screaming in anger and horror. And then, Bowser grabbed Waluigi's broken arm and yanked it towards him, inflicting even more pain on him. He then tried to drag Waluigi off of his bike!
Out of anger I quickly rose from my seat and hurried down the stairs to the garage. I found my biker suit, quickly put it on, then grabbed Shawn's bike and, blinded by rage, drove out of the garage and onto the track.

''What's this? An outside contestant? Someone new has joined the race!'' The announcer said confused. ''What's happening?! Where did they come from?!''

I caught up with the contestants and easily drove past them. The security bike was faster than the allowed speed for the contestant's vehicles to have. I continued driving until I was behind Bowser and Waluigi. They were still fighting. I could hear Waluigi whimper in pain the more Bowser tugged his broken arm and it only made my rage stronger.

We drove past a row of item boxes and I got three red shells. I threw one at Bowser, making him leave Waluigi alone. I threw another one at him, it made his kart fall spin out of control once again.
The last shell I threw hit his kart so hard that it actually made Bowser fall out of it, his large body tumbled around on the ground and managed to hit me who was behind him. I lost the grip on the bike and fell down as well onto the shiny pinball floor. Bowser was furious as the other contestants drove past us, I ran towards my bike and tried to escape but Bowser was ready for something like this.

''Kids!'' He yelled and all of the Koopalings appeared out of nowhere in front of me, driving in their own karts. They were armed with red shells and blocked every possible exit around me. I was trapped.

The contestants crossed the finish line and race was over, but Bowser wanted every contestant over where we were right now. I was so scared. Bowser could do anything. The pinballs disappeared and the bumpers around us turned normal again as all of the contestants came to see what was going on. Waluigi had a worried look on his face under all that blood but didn't say anything.

''Who sent her after me?!'' Bowser shouted. ''Who sabotaged the race?!''

They were all dead silent. Bowser shot a deadly stare towards Waluigi. ''You! She's your girlfriend, isn't she?! Did you ask her to do this?!''

Waluigi shook his head in fear as he stared at the ground. ''No, King Koopa,''

Bowser growled. ''Don't lie to me!''

''Leave him alone!'' I yelled.

Everybody looked at me, the audience was as silent as the contestants.

''Nobody asked me to do this! I did it with my own will!'' I said.

Bowser got closer to me. ''Well, somebody oughta have to teach you a lesson about respect!'' 

He swung his fist towards me, I wasn't ready for it and my whole body flew away a few feet. I landed hard on the ground and felt a horrible pain in both my stomach and back. The whole audience gasped as well as the contestants. I looked at them, their mouths were wide open as well as the king himself looking quite baffled. I quickly realized why and looked down. Next to me lied my wig. My long platinum blonde hair had been exposed.

''It's you...'' Bowser said in awe. ''Rosalina?''

I stared at him angrily and got up on my feet again. ''Yeah, unfortunately, it's me. You thought I was dead or something?''

Bowser looked back at Waluigi. ''You hid her from me for all this time?! How could you betray your king like this?! Do you know what the punishment for hiding the cosmic princess is?!''

''He's fully aware, King Koopa,'' I said calmly and started walking towards Waluigi. ''But he still kept me safe... until now. You tested my patience and went too far. If there's something I hate more than anything else...'' I paused and stood protectively in front of him, staring at Bowser with angry eyes. ''It's when I see my loved ones getting hurt.''

Bowser chuckled evilly. ''Well look at you two. A happy couple. The beauty and the beast. But you forgot, dear Rosalina, that as soon as you had landed in this kingdom... you belong to me and were to become my wife.''

''I'm afraid that I cannot accept that,'' I said and slowly started backing away together with Waluigi. ''My dear Walu is the one I have sworn my love to. It would be very inappropriate to marry you.''

Bowser slowly started following us. ''Really? Then I guess I'll just have to force you to marry me!''