racing at the speed of love
this was supposed to be for last year's(!!!) February Ficlet Challenge, day 3. decided to finish and post it anyway, because why not. The prompt I chose was Drift. Another stumper until I thought: drifting as in racing > Mario Kart > rarepolyship I hadn't written for! and then it still stumped me until today, whoopsie doodle >_>;
Mario's taillights were a wavy blur in the distance. Peach squinted through the Item Box shards obscuring her vision and wished for...
"Triple Reds!" she exclaimed in triumph, throwing one immediately at the Shy Guy who had just passed her, then throwing the other two, spaced evenly apart.
Then she gasped and jumped into a drift, hands sweating as she skirted the cliff that came up too fast; Choco Mountain was no joke.
Back on the straightaway, she blew out a breath. She could see Mario trying to restart his kart; she was gaining on him.
She laughed in triumph as she passed him for first place-- and then horror seized her as she saw a Bullet Bill zoom up in her rearview mirror.
It bowled over Mario and transformed behind her. Bowser, a Golden Mushroom in hand.
She kicked into a draft around a tiny turn-- there were the item boxes, if she could just snag something--!
"Nothing personal, Princess," Bowser yelled over his roaring engine, golden light belching as he rocketed past her.
Then all hell broke loose.
A banana peel the Golden Mushroom smoke had obscured sent her careening off course, knocking into the cave wall just shy of its entrance. The time it took to get moving meant she was just in time for the bat swarm to fly right into her, which meant she couldn't get to the item boxes and get some protection from the shells that hit her moments later.
She caught a glimpse of red while trying to recover-- Mario passing her, several of the pack right behind him.
Peach let out one screech of frustration, somehow managing to only think a string of swears rather than letting them out. Then she straightened her helmet, resettled on her seat, and gunned it through the item boxes.
A few tense seconds later, the image of a Bullet Bill appeared on her HUD.
Elation filled her. She punched the activator-- no, wait-- instead she stopped, calculating while she navigated the course. On the straightaway, the Bill would be a waste. She wouldn't be able to get another item until she used it, but being at the back of the pack meant she would be safe(r)...
"I have to get to the hairpins."
She just needed to keep drifting.
Mind made up, she fell back into a flow state, coming out of it long enough to Bullet Bill her way through the hairpin turns-- always a nailbiter no matter how she did it.
She saw Mario recovering from a crash up ahead; she flew by him with zero remorse. Her radar showed Bowser held a commanding but not insurmountable lead.
Peach's mission was to change that.
She slowly yet steadily made up ground, drifting and taking shortcuts and having blessed timing on her last runs through the caves. And then-- praise be!-- a double item box granted her a Blue Shell.
Bowser was still in first. She was in fourth; she couldn't see him, but she didn't need to. She launched the Blue Shell and instantly let loose with the Golden Mushroom she'd gotten as a double.
She caught up to him just as the blue dust was settling.
"That was personal!" she yelled, not looking back as she zoomed toward the finish line.
She, Birdo, and Mario were the top 3, Bowser ending up in fifth place after a photo finish where Daisy came out of nowhere.
He was still complaining about all of this at the AirBnB later, the three of them flopped on the couch in front of the flatscreen TV.
"Why are you two so mean to me," he said flatly, pouting.
"Because you're cute when you mope about it," Peach said with a smile.
"And we know that you know it's all in good fun," added Mario.
"Even though you'll never admit it."
Peach giggled at Mario squeezing her hand and giving her A Look. They'd always made a good team; collectively teasing Bowser was no different.
"Anyway, honey," she said leaning back across Bowser's shell from where she was perched on his shoulder, "you get to pick what we're watching tonight."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Loser's choice."
But she could tell when he was trying not to smile.
