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The hallway was dark and a long line of drivers stood waiting for their turn to enter the Kart Selection Room. Each driver was made up of thousands of tiny pixels. Above the door of the Kart Selection Room there was a neon logo spelling out the words "NINTENDO", and next to it there was a large screen which was currently lit up with the pixelated face of Lewis Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo slipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out an item box. It glowed a bright purple and blue colour and he held it in his hands for a second, his eyes shining. Then, with a huge grin on his face, he turned around to face Max Verstappen, who was behind him in the line. Max's eyes widened at the sight of the item box, and the glow lit his face up.
"Can I?" asked Max, excitedly.
"I swiped it from the storeroom for you," laughed Daniel, placing the item box in Max's hands. "So, yeah!"
Max tapped the item box, causing it to activate. The items inside it shuffled around until a green shell appeared in his hands. At this moment, Lewis Hamilton's face disappeared from the screen on the Kart Selection Room, and Lando Norris's face replaced it as a robotic voice read out his name. Lando entered the Kart Selection Room, and Max squeezed the green shell, causing it to double in size. Then, with careful precision, he crouched down and aimed towards the white pixel shoes of the young Ferrari driver a few people ahead of him. He pushed the shell, and it slid straight at Charles Leclerc, hitting him in the foot. Charles topped straight over, exclaiming in surprise and causing a cartoony squelch noise to play as he hit the floor. He turned around and saw Max grinning at him, and then the two boys laughed.
"Where did you get an item box from?" laughed Charles.
"Daniel got it for me, from the storeroom!" explained Max. "Pretty fun, right?"
Oblivious to the shenanigans happening behind him, Alexander Albon was now at the front of the queue. He could hear the muffled noise of Lando Norris selecting his vehicle inside the room. He was excited - he knew Mushroom Gorge was a circuit where you could choose either a Kart or Bike, and he knew exactly what he was going to pick. In no time, Lando's face on the display was replaced with Alex's, and the robotic voice called his name. Alex stepped into the room, and heard the door close behind him. The dark room lit up, and his eyes were drawn to a hologram in the middle of the room, where he was able to surf through the list of all Karts and Bikes. As soon as he saw the Dolphin Dasher, Alex selected it, and immediately the plain grey Dolphin Dasher transformed in a flurry of pixels to have the Red Bull livery on it. The lights in the room turned from white to green, and the driver exited the room through a different door.
Alex emerged to a bright and colourful track where there was a faint smell of freshly cut grass (probably thanks to Valtteri in qualifying), and in the distance he could see humongous red and green mushrooms, both with white spots. The mushrooms stood tall, their bases at the bottom of the cliffs and their tops forming part of the circuit. Alex was feeling nervous - he'd only ever raced at Mushroom Gorge once before, and he knew it was a very tricky circuit due to the mushroom jumps having a small margin for error. Plus, there was extra pressure on him and Max - Red Bull had a partnership with a mushroom factory, and sometimes the circuit was referred to as the Red Bull Gorge.
When Alex arrived at the grid, about a third of the drivers were already waiting for him, including one of his good friends Lando Norris, who was stood next to a Cheep Charger that was painted in the typical papaya orange McLaren livery colours. Beside Lando, Daniil Kvyat was walking past, wheeling a Torpedo Bike alongside him. He smiled at the two younger drivers, and they said a polite hello. For this race, the first race of the year, Alex had qualified fairly well and would be starting the race 4th on the grid, right behind Lando Norris who had surprised everyone by taking third. Alex's teammate Max Verstappen would be starting directly in front of him, in 2nd, with Valtteri Bottas on pole position. Alex leaned to the side to try and see what vehicle Valtteri had chosen, and was not surprised to see the Finn had chosen his old favourite, the Offroader. It had been a Kart that came in very useful in qualifying, when Valtteri had gone off track a little bit.
Max Verstappen emerged from the Kart Selection Room having chosen the Flame Flyer, one of the fastest Karts available. Daniel Ricciardo was right behind him, pushing a Renault-yellow Jetsetter. Daniel hadn't done as well as Max in qualifying, so he would be starting down in 10th place. Nicholas Latifi was next out the Kart Selection Room, having chosen a Wild Wing. When all 20 drivers were waiting on the grid, Max glanced across at Valtteri Bottas, sat in his Offroader in pole position. His eyes narrowed, he knew Valtteri was the one to beat this race.
When all the drivers were ready on the grid, a silence fell at Mushroom Gorge. From his position on pole, Valtteri was able to see the item boxes spawning on the track. Valtteri clutched the wheels of his Offroader, waiting for the race to begin. He knew he needed to be patient, even though he was very excited to get started. He knew Max would be one to watch this race as well - the Dutch driver had won here last year, and was thirsty for a third win in a row.
Suddenly, a loud fanfare played, and all the drivers started their engines, watching the lights. Each light lit up, one by one. When all 5 were lit, they all switched off, and the calm silence at Mushroom Gorge was suddenly filled with the sound of 20 karts and bikes speeding off around the track. Valtteri had an excellent start, his fast reflexes paying off once again, while just behind him, Max and Lando were driving side by side, fighting for position already. Alex and Lewis were also fighting for 4th behind them. Lando crept ahead of Max slightly, but then he felt the wheels of his papaya Cheep Charger touch the grass, slowing him down. Max retook the position and Lando continued to chase him down. Slightly further behind them, Charles Leclerc made the same mistake as Lando, driving off the track slightly in his attempt to hold off Sergio Perez's pink Wild Wing. With Max comfortably back in second place and Valtteri leading the race, they approached the first set of Item Boxes. Valtteri, Max, Alex and Lewis each managed to grab one. Valtteri and Max both got bananas while Lewis and Alex each got a green shell. Lewis threw the green shell at Max, but Max used his banana to expertly block the enemy shell. As this happened, Alex and Lewis went side by side, but Alex managed to keep his position. Lando continued to put pressure on Max, keeping close behind him. Unfortunately Max's Flame Flyer was much faster than Lando's Cheep Charger, but Lando was keeping a good pace. Lewis tried once again to get past Alex but saw Alex was holding his green shell and backed off.
A few corners later, Lewis managed to hit another Item Box, this time being given a Mushroom. Mushrooms were his favourite powerup as they gave an excellent speed boost. Seeing Alex in his Dolphin Dasher just ahead of him, Lewis activated his Mushroom, gaining a massive speed boost and gaining the position on Alex. Alex sighed in frustration as he dropped down to 4th - his Dolpin Dasher couldn't match the speed of Lewis and his B-Dasher, especially with a Mushroom activated. Someone at the back of the field activated a Blooper, causing ink to spray over everybody's faces. While everybody was distracted, Lewis blindly fired a red shell forwards, and it hit Max. Max's car spun, and then skidded onto the grass where it refused to start up again. He watched, frowning, as everybody else overtook him. He tried his hardest to get it starting again, but it was no use, and he retired from the race.
Later, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were battling for position. Charles took the corner well, causing Carlos to run slighly wide. Behind them, Sebastian Vettel saw a gap and charged into it, hoping to gain a position on Carlos. What Seb didn't notice was that Carlos had just been through an Item Box, causing him to get 3 red shells. He activated them just as Seb was charging through, causing the three shells to spin around Carlos protectively. When the two cars touched, one of the shells hit Seb, and he spun. He lost a lot of positions, but was able to get his car back up to speed.
Lando was driving on a straight when out of nowhere came Sergio Perez, who had just activated a Mushroom powerup. Sergio zoomed past Lando as they entered the mushroom jump section of the track. Ahead, Lando could see Valtteri, Lewis and Alex leaping over the giant mushrooms, bouncing through the air at a high speed. Lando took a nervous breath, knowing that if he messed up this section of the track, he would be out of the race. Towards the back of the pack, George Russell was driving his Blue Falcon, painted with the white Williams livery. Like Alex, he'd only driven once before on Mushroom Gorge, and had been feeling quite nervous about the mushroom jump section of the track. He kept his speed high as he bounced from mushroom to mushroom. A green mushroom was in front of him, and as he jumped onto it, he realised his mistake - only red mushrooms bounce you. George fell off the mushroom and into the chasm below. He landed on a huge soft cloud, and saw some pixelated marshalls sat on clouds bringing his car back to the paddock. It was frustrating to be out of the race, but George knew he would come back stronger. Several other racers had been eliminated from the race here as well, including Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean.
Having passed the mushroom jump section, Alex and Sergio were now fighting for third place. Sergio had taken third during the mushroom jump section which he was quite experienced at, but Alex was determined to get his first podium. As Sergio took a corner, Alex dived past on the inside, activating a mushroom to give him the extra boost. He reclaimed his position, and sped away from Sergio, now hunting down Lewis. As this was happening, Kimi Raikkonen was driving his Rally Romper towards the back of the pack. Ahead of him, Dany had a banana, and dropped it on the track. Kimi's car hit the banana, and it caused his wheel to become loose and fly off. A Rally Romper with three wheels is impossible to drive, so Kimi stopped the car.
Alex now had a chance to overtake Lewis, as him and Valtteri's cars were starting to slow down a little after being pelted with several Spiny Shells and Lightning strikes. Alex and Lewis both hit Item Boxes - Lewis was given three green shells, and Alex was given three Mushrooms. Alex used his first Mushroom trying to overtake Lewis on the outside of a corner. He used his second one on the straight after a corner. Then, he used his third one on the next corner, trying to get past Lewis on the outside. Lewis chose this moment to activate his three green shells, and just like how Carlos had dealt with Seb, Lewis's shell tapped into Alex, causing him to spin into the grass. Alex wanted to yell in frustration as this wasn't the first time a green shell had taken him out right before the end of a race.
Behind the leaders, Charles and Lando were battling for, both were using Mushrooms to try and get ahead of each other. Lando then hit a fake item box, causing him to lock up, and giving Charles the position. Lando tried fighting back, but Charles was already ahead. Charles still had a Mushroom left, and used it to get past Sergio, climbing into third position. As this happened, Alex, who was now right at the back of the pack, activated a POW Block. Most drivers were well trained and knew how to dodge a POW, but Lewis made a mistake and it caused him to spin. He dropped a few places, losing about five seconds due to Alex's revenge. Lando and Sergio were fighting for position, and both of them activated three green shells at the same time. Their shells hit each other, causing a bit of a bump, but no damage to either of the cars. Daniil Kvyat was struck by lightning and it caused one of the wheels on his Torpedo bike to blow up. This eliminated him from the race as well.
Having cleared the mushroom jump section for the last time, it was the final stretch of the race, and Lando was in 4th place. He could see Lewis was almost a whole second in front of him, and it seemed like there was no way for Lando to overtake his fellow Brit to earn his first podium. As he saw the last set of Item Boxes ahead of him, Lando felt a little sad - not even a Mushroom would give him the speed to overtake Lewis. It was just impossible. Still, he thought, there was no harm in trying. He hit the Item Box, and to his amazement.. he'd got a Bullet Bill! Without hesitation, Lando activated it, feeling his car transform into the giant bullet. Lando sped around the track, seeing Lewis's car getting closer and closer to his, and the finish line also getting closer. It was going to be close, Lando could barely watch as his bullet sped him towards the line, causing the gap between Lewis and him to get shorter and shorter. He zoomed past Lewis right before the line just as his car transformed back into the Cheep Charger. Lando hopped out of his car and fell to his knees in excitement, screaming "YES!" and punching the air. His teammate Carlos, who had just finished the race, hopped out of his own car and charged straight at Lando pulling him into a tight hug.
"I am so proud of you, mi pequeño!" said Carlos happily, his chest bursting with pride.
"Thank you!" screeched Lando, almost unable to believe it. "I don't wanna celebrate too early, though, what if something happens to disqualify me?"
"Don't be so worried, Lando," said Lewis reassuringly. "Yes, you used the Bullet Bill, but you earned it fair and square against me. Well raced!"
"GG boys!" shouted Lando, his voice filled with joy. "This is the best day of my life!"
From a distance, Alex watched his friend take his first podium, his eyes welling up with tears slightly. He was happy for his friend, but also devastated that his chance of a first podium (or even dare he think it, a win?) had been taken away from him by Lewis once again. He looked back at his trusty Dolphin Dasher, and let out a sad sigh. Next race would be his chance. He was sure of it.
Now, on to the next race for our 20 Formulario Kart drivers.
*mario kart music begins to play*