Archive of Our Own

The steps were quiet.

Today it had been very quiet in the castle over all, no voice ringing through, no clinking of armor clashing together or chattering from the royals.

Guests hadn't come, the Queen hadn't been blabbering all the lies she usually told, the kingdom wasn't a panicking mess-

It was truly peaceful.

Or that's what the Dark Mage would say if he didn't know what he was here for.

Especially due to certain… discoveries. 

It had truly been a long project, especially if one knows that it's been over two decades since these studies began.

Even if it always felt like something...

Missing.

Keeping the walking speed to an average level, the mage was soon enough met with the giant doors leading to the main throne room.

Painted in greens and gold, their gloved hand pressed against the harsh material of wood and metal, admiring it in a way.

Something only the greatest could get.

But in the end, shaking his head was the only thing he could get as he pushed the giant doors open with his two arms, deciding for a somewhat dramatic entrance.

“Your Majesty. I've come to bring the new information.”

Their eyes met for a moment, and it was clear that the broccoli on the throne was utterly exhausted.

If the eyebags didn't tell you, it was the unkempt hair. If that didn't show, then the mess of clothes you call royal garments was another striking point.

But in the end, that wasn't as important right now as the King seated himself up.

“Perfect. You said it was about the… uhm… ‘God Activity’?”

A firm nod was given in reply.

“Of course. It had been plaguing our land for such a long time…and I might be finally finding a source!”

That made the King finally widen his eyes, standing up straight for a moment as the shadows he hid in were finally hit with the sweet moonshine of the night.

A glint of curiosity and determination was brought too.

“Are- are you sure-?”

Despite everything, the mage couldn't help but grow a small smirk as he approached more, getting in response a step forward down from the throne from his sire.

The next firm nod was given with a simple motion of the hand, pulling out a few pieces of scribbled over paper.

“Indeed. You see… in the middle of the Broccoli Kingdom, I found that an outlandish energy source has settled here a while ago!”

The king quietly looked over to the talking mage before bringing his gaze back down to the pieces of paper, one containing a map of the Kingdom with a blue circle in the middle.

It seemed to almost root around certain locations, spreading out like a tumor.

A Giant Tumor. 

“It doesn't seem to be strong enough to bring itself into our world or go with any connection… So it will be hard for me to do any research.”

Dammit.

As much as the King didn't want his disappointment to show, he did slump his shoulders a bit and avert his eyes from the mage he hired a long time ago.

“Ah, uhm… Well, I'm sorry-”

But a clothed finger pressed against his mouth though, almost scrambling the papers in surprise.

“I wasn't finished.”

The Dark Mage gently pulled on a specific paper he held, slowly bringing it to Broccoli's attention as he looked at it closely.

It seemed to be a paragraph, one talking about the different levels of energy that have been detected and how it could possibly work…

The current level seems to be 37%.

“You see, it's not strong enough now. But if we get a power source to slowly power it up more and more around the kingdom…”

Flipping the page over with a smooth hand, he moved the Kings away for a moment.

It was a simple drawing of a magical force powering up the blue circle and creating a being… or a portal.

There seemed to be more than one possibility for this, depending on what it could be.

“...There is a possibility we will be able to interact with it!”

The Dark Mage looked almost proud, squeezing the other hand for a moment with a wide smile and that one that kept staring back.

No emotion that the broccoli could truly discern.

But there were concerns to be had and the King made no hesitation to speak up about them, letting go of the other’s hands and looking at the papers closely again.

“But we can't just attach devices everywhere or do heavy Magic around the people, can we? That'll attract attention from the other kingdoms! Imagine the suspicions the people will have-”

It was a worry to be had.

People were very easily swayed by his queen and would forgive her no problem, but… he would get all the blame-

And besides, the folk could get hurt if the thing was most literally below them.

As the king of this land, he didn't want his people to get hurt. They… didn't deserve that.

Nobody did.

But the mage of course sprung back again as he wrapped an arm around the shoulder most swiftly.

“Oh, we don't need that.”

With another hum, they pulled out another paper out of their cloak, giving it right to the king and grabbing the papers from before.

From all the research he could actually decipher - he swore all the symbols meant something - there were drawings based on lightning, powering up as the people used devices left and right.

Yet, they didn't seem to notice they were doing anything important at all or even affecting said circle.

“It seems that this entity is based on ELECTRICITY as well as magic. Meaning we just need a power source people won't notice yet use, doing the work right for us.”

The King's eyes widened at such information.

Yet again, the papers full of research were doused in moonlight, shining from the windows that the castle provided as the king thought.

Nobody would notice.

The Mage…

“You mean-?”

And the smirk told the king everything, but you could truly more describe it as a thin, long smile.

“A cover up. And I already got the perfect idea. You just need to trust me to handle everything for the week.”

The dark-cloaked figure spoke in a low tone that the King knew all too well from so many other sources… from villains, from creatures-

His queen.

The pure idea of her speaking that way once again made him want to puke.

It seemed to have been noticed, as the mage put the other paper from his hands and held them in response with a softer gaze.

You could call it comforting, even if it was only softened up and shortened a little bit.

“As one of your head mages, I will promise not to misuse this power. I swear on my job.”

On his job-?!

A short gasp escaped the King, tensing up at the mere offer of dropping the job this man had for over 30 years now.

Especially due to his son-

Quiet hesitation broiled up as he thought of the possibilities, closing his eyes and putting his hand to his mouth or more or less his fingers.

It could be a good opportunity, especially if the people won't notice or might even have fun with it… perhaps it'll get positive attention?

Heck, they could bring his guard, the strong M.A.G.E in the forest and…

Urgh.

The Kingdom thief into this.

It might not be that bad if they will just casually interact with it while everyone else is so distracted by fun!

Then, it might not be a bad idea.

With a quiet huff, the Broccoli King looked up again, squeezing the other's hands while furrowing his brow in a concerned manner.

“...Fine. But please, be careful.”

Soft snickers escaped the other at that sentence, letting go for a moment to put a hand on his chest, closing one eye.

But it never made a difference, as the king couldn't even see that one.

“I will be as careful as a Candlebug.”

The smile never left his face, calm as ever.

A truly trustworthy mage, especially of his caliber.

Another sigh, the last one before the king let go, put his arms behind the thing one would call royal garments and nudged his head to the side.

“Good. You are dismissed.”

The Dark Mage smiled, bowing his head before turning around, not caring too much what the king would do now as he opened the doors with both arms yet again.

Loud echoes rang through the silent halls as they creaked up, slowly falling shut and soon enough leaving no gaze from the King left.

As he passed them and heard the big THUD as they fell close, he looked at the papers yet again.

Oh, he had an idea.

A ridiculous one.

But one that would be a perfect Cover up.

Something… simple.

Like.

   - - - - - - -

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     —- - -

[LOADING WIZZRO'S HOUSE] . . .

[Tip: Mages are known for their magic, but they can require more TP than any other class. So be prepared to stock up on recovery items!] 

- - -

– - - - -

    -- - 

“A Grand Prix?”

“Yeah! It just got into Wizzro's mail!”

Once in a while, a person needs to question what goes through their mail everyday.

Today, that was a certain carrots job as the blueberry couldn't care less.

Karoto stared, a bit baffled at the letter they had gotten, looking at the information provided with it that spoke of a great race all around the Broccoli kingdom.

Leaning against the wall for a moment, he undid the fine papers that kept it together, walking along to wherever Nabiu was going as he pushed himself off the wall.

Soon enough with the reading skills he had acquired from Wizzro's classes, Karoto's eyes scanned the papers soon enough.

It read pretty simply:

“As the King of the Broccoli Kingdom, I invite you specifically to get registered for the Grand Broccoli prix! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a giant reward, just in five rounds all across the Kingdom.”

“There aren't many rules, as anyone can join!”

“So please, apply if you want to for this opportunity!”

A lot of words, but luckily ones he could understand nowadays.

The carrot couldn't help but raise a silent brow as he followed Nabiu along to the kitchen, letting her jump to the fridge and off-handedly catching the cookie she threw at him and munching on it.

It's not like he wasn't interested in a huge price from the kingdom, as it already piqued his interests from just reading it had a trophy.

A real trophy! And anyone could join, which included him for once!

Perhaps he did truly just want to join to rub it in everyone's face that he's now a normal citizen… not a dastardly thief.

Beside the community work, that is.

But his thoughts were stopped for a second as the fridge door was slammed shut, causing the smallest flinch.

Would have been harsher if he was talking about earlier times.

Her excitement was immeasurable, the bright grin not leaving her face the entire time she spoke from pure glee.

“Can you imagine? We could drive together on the tracks! We could even share the prize if one of us wins!”

Nabiu slid over on the counter, grabbing the flyer. She flailed it around happily, looking over it as if it was a prized possession, munching on her own cookie in the meantime.

She seemed a bit too excited to race when she probably wasn't at the legal age for this one-

But to be fair, there didn't seem to be a legal age for this race, especially reading all the tiny rules it had.

Which made it all the weirder.

Who would just let a child race?

It didn't stop Nabiu to ramble on about it though, reading a bit more and sharing it with the one she called her brother.

Something he learned to appreciate over these past months.

“You think I'll get a real car? Perhaps you can ride a bicycle!”

A snort escaped him, even if he restrained it under his breath as he looked over to Nabiu, leaning more over the container and crossing his arms.

He motioned his hands, flailing the cookie around with it.

Probably getting crumbs everywhere.

“As much as a bike sounds like a fun option, I think I'll get last place with that, Nabs.”

Nabiu made an “O” with her face for a moment, but quickly grew a bigger grin again as a giggle escaped her.

The snickers slowly grew across the kitchen, slowly munching the pack of cookies away which caught a certain M.A.G.E's attention.

A gentle yet old voice rang through, which caught both attention, turning their heads over to the source.

“What do you both seem to be laughing about?”

Even if he couldn't exactly see the smile, Karoto could still see that Wizzro didn't mind the two being in the kitchen at all.

A thought crossed the carrot's mind as he saw the old M.A.G.E, quietly leaned his head to the side to see the doorway and the room behind it.

Through the corner of his eye, he saw the interns trying to make a potion, speaking to each other as it bubbled in all sorts of colors.

Puffs of steam and gas escaped it, bubbling along in its own habitat, just waiting to be changed again and again by nature and young hands.

He wondered if it would explode sooner or later.

Yet again, Nabiu interrupted those thoughts as she stood on her tip-toes, flailing the flyer around with excitement.

“Oh! We have gotten invited to a giant Grand Prix!”

“Made by a Grand PrickooWWWW-”

The amount of times he was smacked in the back of the head were uncountable.

He didn't deserve it-

“A Grand Prix?”

Wizzro tilted his head, grabbing the flyer handed to him and reading the words within, widening his eyes in surprise, even without reading glasses.

Probably didn't need them. Probably.

Karoto didn't know and didn't care.

“Huh. We never had a race like this in this Kingdom before.”

The M.A.G.E exclaimed in rather quiet surprise, scratching his beard and tilting his giant head back a bit as he looked up to the two.

But Karoto rolled his eyes, almost scoffing at that sentence, as he looked off into the next wall as a preference.

“Yeah, well… the streets aren't wide enough. And even if they are, they are filled with markets and people keep using them either way.”

There was a bitterness in the tone at the mention, even if there wasn't much in the sentence that would justify such a tone.

It was just the general disdain for the kingdom at this point, lurching through his brain like a worm in an apple.

A quiet wave was made as Nabiu looked over with concerned eyes, Wizzro just giving a calm but concerned expression as he patted the head of the unsatisfied bard.

Small grumbles left the Carrot with that, but he made no attempt to move away from the touch, even leaning in to some extent.

That's what affection starvation does to you, even if it is in the recovering phases.

“Even so, it would be a great event! Do you two plan on joining?”

The thief knew for a longer time now that the old M.A.G.E was a trusting individual with the ones he trusts, but that didn't stop the carrot from giving squinted eyes and glancing at Nabiu.

Multiple times.

She was rather small and fragile, despite her strength.

Even as she nodded and jumped on the counter, fully standing on it and still not reaching the ceiling to Karoto's amusement.

A small little blueberry with big dreams and a giant hat.

But also a Blueberry of ways to quick decisions he hadn't properly agreed on yet.

“Of course!”

“MAYBE.”

A quick hand almost swiped before her mouth.

Karoto almost interrupted Nabiu, gaining a mixed message that Wizzro could only smile and chuckle at as he kept his hands to his back.

There seemed to be hesitation on one side at least, but Wizzro never minded these two's differences.

It only made it all the more special.

Yet that wasn't too much on his mind, as he absently looked outside the window, reminiscing about the older times.

“Well, that's good for you two! I wish I was young enough to ride around like that….”

A silent brow raise came from the carrot and blueberry, looking at each other with the same gaze of recognition as an idea came into their head.

It wasn't like their dear Mentor wasn't allowed too… any age could!

Which Karoto still judged, but this was a good opportunity.

Smiles grew on their faces quickly as they turned back to the Wizard, the bard quickly shooting finger guns at Wizzro.

“Well, why don't you go with us then?”

An offer. A simple one really.

Once again, the Wizard widened his eyes in response as he looked between the two, waving his hands for a moment in dismissal.

Perhaps a chuckle of nervousness left him.

“Ah, I don't think-”

But before a response could come from the old man, Nabiu immediately poked the hat, pushing it into itself as Wizzro huffed.

It looked like a crumpled up UFO with the sheer size of it. Or a deep dish bowl. Whatever fits.

A giggle left her as she stimmed with her arms, flailing them up and down as she stepped more properly back onto the counter.

“But it'll be fun! So many people could be there! YOU'LL BE THE AWESOME HEAD M.A.G.E!”

As giggles felt the air, Wizzro's eyes gleamed with a faint bit of excitement.

Especially due to being called the awesome head M.A.G.E, but there was something else that nudged his thoughts along.

Perhaps it was the idea of just driving around like an insane grandpa but one couldn't miss such an opportunity to be free again!

To just drive around at high speed, beating other opponents with perfect drifting and only mildly delayed responses to curves.

Especially if the interns were gonna watch, he could be a role model. They could be inspired to do more and try their hardest!

Even with no good placing for the old Wizard.

“And- and Imagine! Your own racing car! The amount of drifts you could pull off!”

The mental image Karoto was getting from that made him snicker under his breath, putting a fist to his mouth with a low wheeze.

But nobody seemed to mind, as Wizzro did a soft hum in response matched with a rather gentle expression.

Maybe a normal kart? He wouldn't mind a Jeep either. Perhaps a go-kart…depends on what's allowed.

Truly, it could be a good idea.

And the M.A.G.E seemed to go along with it slowly but surely, scratching his beard once again as a faint smile grew behind it.

“Well… you are convincing me.”

Nabiu's smile brightened at that sentence, almost stepping over the counter before Karoto absently put a hand near the legs.

Like a little warning sign, which seemed to work with two little steps back from the little blueberry.

“Then be convinced!”

The two M.A.G.E's seemed to babble on and on about convincing each other as Karoto rolled his eyes, looking back at the interns that were currently going over the potions that they were making.

Quietly, he squinted his eyes as Mono and Tate were staring at a specific potion, Wizzro’s grandson especially looking worried as they spoke about something-

Tate waved Mono off before slowly pouring an entire bottle of Lava into the bottle.

….It was bubbling.

Foaming.

Shaking-

WAIT, SHAKING-

“MONO-”

Wizzro barely had time to react as Karoto rushed past him to handle the mess himself, having to catch Nabiu as she stumbled off the counter.

But alas, the carrot was too late as with a big SPLASH-

It exploded onto him, painting him in reds and purples with flaming-hot liquid.

The day was filled with whines and grumbles as Nabiu cleaned him off, Mono crying apologies from what had happened.

But what about the race? Well…

Throughout the upcoming week, there have been noticeable changes around town that came along with magic and general talk.

Lines and signs that showed where to go, boxes that apparently had items stored in them, even faint lines that showed secret paths-!

Some people even whispered about the tracks being far and wide, even Wizzro getting visitors once and showing a mage around for… some reason.

Karoto didn't question it, especially as he could verify that day that they were gonna join the races too.

Surprisingly, there were no construction noises at night, which made Nabiu theorise to him that the driving ways and secret paths were pure magic.

Easy removable for sure, especially for later! 

Now, there was one thing Karoto wasn't exactly sure of.

Who else was joining the races!

They wanted to ask Brocco, but he was too busy that week with Guard work, especially as the leader.

Both didn't mention that they might be joining the races.

And all their friends mentioned getting a letter and perhaps joining the festivities in the crowd.

But that all had to wait…

Till that fateful day.

_

______

______________ _ _ _ 

[Quest received!]

{ `PATH TO THE WINNER STREAK!` }

•{~Win the Broccoli Cup~}•

Current Objective: Get to the Race!

Today was said day.

And Nabiu and Karoto had been the last ones to leave, as Wizzro wanted to go early with the Interns to get good seats for the race!

Brocco had his duties to attend to, so that left the two to finally make their way to the races, already hearing the cheering and chattering that the tourists and people attracted.

Even just from the hourclock forest.

“Urghhhh… early mornings aren't my thing.”

“They were once!”

Karoto groaned under his breath as he stretched himself, putting his arms behind himself and looking ahead to the many trees that ticked along to the time.

9 AM. 

Too early.

But the mage that visited did tell them that all these races would happen in the day… didn't mean he wasn't gonna complain about it though.

“‘Were’ is the keyword here, Nabs. I like my restful sleep.”

Nabiu snickered along as she adjusted her hat, venturing ahead to the exit of the forest where the broccoli kingdom Plaza would soon be ahead!

Soon, there were also so many voices that chattered around, talking about getting snacks, some about some school trip actually being awesome, the others about their seats.

Flaps, steps, voices and rustling came from all places, noises filling the area from such an unique event in the broccoli kingdom, filling the place with life.

Probably also money and overpriced snacks.

There were a lot of people slowly finding their places and talking about the race, going up the stairs where the first track would be located!

Wait.

Stairs-?

“Karo, LOOOKKKKK!”

One tug from his little sibling made him shoot his gaze up, flinching as he realised the shadow above did not come from a cloud.

But rather from the RACE TRACK.

It seemed to be in… the air. The literal tracks were in the air, casting a big shadow over everything and making it an effort to get up there.

Exercises, surely, depending at least if you're on the ground. Anything with wings or teleportation magic must be feeling lucky today.

Karoto raised a brow, but silently brought his attention back… to the crowds.

Vegetables, carrot families, animals, objects, humans, birds… so many people that were about to watch this race, constantly walking.

The air felt tight for a moment.

A big breath in as he held it, gripping onto his scarf and trying to avoid most of the attention even with his stupid phobia-

It's fine. He knows what to do-! He learned this-

Shakily going along, he pulled the gloved hand that probably stored a gallon of sweat right now out of his pocket, ignoring the goosebumps going up his skin.

His little space was leaving, less room to move with all these BUMPS, SO MUCH WARMTH AND BREATH-

Breathe. It's alright. It's alright… nobody will hurt you.

Quietly, he grabbed onto Nabiu's hand and pressed it, breathing more silently while making sure to avert his gaze from any eyes.

Eyes that stared back with heavy judgement, perhaps confusion or suspicion.

Wanting to know why he is here, why he isn't in jail even after all these months of community service-

It's alright.

It'll… be alright.

The little blueberry responded with a gentle grip back, giving a small smile to the gaze that the carrot gave her.

Despite everything, he returned the gesture rather softly, trying to not force it like he did before.

For now, they should get their main task done.

A quiet huff left his throat, focusing on the feeling of Nabiu’s hand as they finally followed after the other people up the stairs.

Averting his gaze down the railings that have been set up, he breathed once more to calm his breathing.

So, there would be… 10 more competitors. Interesting.

Should be easy enough.

Even without a driving license.

A quiet ping made him flinch, but he noticed that it was just your everyday textbox that made him aware of this strange world.

[Objective Complete!]

Current Objective: Get a Vehicle!

Oh, that was a whole other issue that the carrot hoped would be resolved soon enough.

“Stay close!”

Small tugs came from the little M.A.G.E as they finally reached the top, stepping from the stairs to the warm concrete of the tracks, only getting bumped to the side from the other people.

Soon enough… Karoto looked over to the giant tracks.

Huh.

It was not just a loop, but one that had a few obstacles. First straight, a turn… zigzag, and then forward as item boxes appear.

A few more turns till you return the loop.

He faintly noticed Nabiu stimming, hearing babbling on how great this was gonna be and how everyone is gonna be so great at driving-

Without a driving license that is.

That part made him still raise a brow, but for now he simply peeked over at the crowd, filled with faces he could recognize to a degree.

A fellow Candy cat, students from Celestial High, Wizzro's interns, objects, some fellow shopkeepers for food and items…

Maybe he'll get food later, but for now…

The usual. Karoto was a carrot who knew too many, especially nowadays with how many friends he made.

Or assumed… he made.

Hoped he made.

For now though, they should lo-

“KAROTO?!”

Oh wait, he recognized that voice.

With little to no hesitation, Karoto snapped his head over along with Nabiu's, finally noticing all the racers that were competing and-

Oh, you gotta be kidding me.

THIS ISN'T REAL.

The voice that called out to him was Lycra!

And behind him, talking with each other in small groups or preparing themselves for the king to appear?

Was about every person he claimed was a friend.

Or kinda was someone he knew.

Arti, Tomaria, Cameron, Lily, Lemlo, Pfifferling, Brocco, T-

Wait.

BROCCO-?!

Karoto shot his gaze up at the guard that had absolutely never mentioned he was going to join the races, never had anything about knowing about it-

Well… perhaps he knew it from the King? Was he forced too?

Because the Broccoli guard sure as hell didn't look like he expected any of them to be standing here right now.

Any thoughts were cut off however, as Lycra patted his jacket and talked to him with high excitement along with his brown cape on.

“Karo! Didn't know you were joining too. I should have guessed.”

One click of the tongue came from Karoto as he waved him off, looking to the sky and letting his pupils go one around before heading back onto Lycra.

Always staring down.

Shortie.

“Please, I wouldn't have if this little blueberry here hadn't convinced me!”

“Yep-yep!”

Snickers came from Nabiu as she jumped up and down, slowly letting go of Karoto's hand as the crowds finally disappeared into their seats.

“A-Ah! I didn't- Well…”

“It'll be fine. Even as a Bat, people won't mind you driving.”

Only now had the thief noticed the lemon bat talking to Tai, hearing a conversation of two as they encouraged one another, with Pfifferling joining in soon enough surprisingly.

Lemlo seemed nervous, Tai was calm as always as she adjusted her wide hat and Pfifferling was rubbing her hands together, seeming ready to start chaos.

What a menace.

“I'm more surprised that Lemon cake joined the race!” Karoto mentioned, nudging Lycra's mushroom head due to the size difference, getting a grumble in response.

“You did something to affect that, didn't you, Lanvas?”

As much as others like to ignore Karoto's intelligence, he could easily guess cues and ideas others had the moment he got a bit closer to them.

Which meant due to simple glances from the lemon bat to the painted mushroom, it gave a few hints that there might have been a few conversations.

And Nabiu was sticking her head into that analysis, tugging on the poor guy's arm.

“Yeah, is it a test? We do a lot of tests at Wizzro's!”

Chuckles gave the sense that they must have been right as Lycra crossed his arm and nodded, bopping the round head along.

“Indeed. She needs to slowly learn to take failure as natural as achievements! So a few races may help.”

Yet Karoto raised a brow at that sentence.

“What if she wins, Rainbow Lantern?”

“Karoto-”

“I'm allowed to tease!” Karoto let an eye roll slip with that. "Don't judge me!”

A smack on the wrist got a snicker out of the carrot as Nabiu grumbled, but there was no anger coming from Lycra.

“Well, even then… It can help with confidence! It shows she did her best and got a reward from that.”

Well, it was a good idea. Nothing Karoto could deny on his part.

So, a quiet nod was given as Nabiu took Lycra's attention for a few moments, giving him time to look at the other contenders.

He noticed Lily was a bit off to the side, talking to Dorago over the railings and giving that soft yet worried smile.

High probability that was due to the race.

Silently, there was a moment spent wondering if she ever drove a car with that princess status of hers or if her subjects usually drive her along.

With horses and… what was it called?

Kutsche?

Wait, wrong language, he thinks. Maybe. He isn't sure.

Slowly his eyes moved over to Dorago, who despite not changing expressions, still came here to watch his dearest girl compete with all the others.

Sometimes he wondered how it would have been like to have such a Caretaker.

Whatever. Wrong thought.

His eyes slowly averted to the others-

Like… Arti.

His old teammates. Team leader even.

Before, it left a much more bitter taste in his mouth but it had gotten much better recently after some healing and talking about their issues.

The amount of things you could do with your voice.

Extremely exhausting, but it gives satisfying results.

Mostly.

Tomaria and Cameron were there too, talking to Wizzro about something as the old M.A.G.E held the wolf's hammer as he seemed to clean it off.

There was something about innerly hearing what the cream-colored hammer wielder was talking about with the three, even without hearing it…

Or noticing the little details in Tomaria's movement as she simply rolled a bomb in her hand like a ball.

Or how Arti was glancing even with the vines at-

Oh.

HEYLET’SNOT-

Karoto really liked the ground right now. Pretty. Seemed to be cleaned.

Horrible at interactions as one could see. Even with all the talking in therapy and learning.

…Hesitantly, Karoto looked back up, noticing how Wizzro let go of the hammer and went to the carrot instead.

He wasn't that interesting, but to everyone their own.

“Ah, Karoto! Good to see you safely arrived!”

Today everyone was greeting him as well, the patting from the wizard giving him a warm feeling after everything that has happened.

“Good to see your back didn't break during yours, you wrinkled banana.”

That one surprisingly got a chuckle out of Wizzro, simply putting his arms behind his back and readjusting his fabled yellow hat.

Karoto couldn't help but let a chuckle slip himself as Lycra and Nabiu looked up to them, feeling one of the more honest smiles creep onto his lips.

Just a bunch of creatures having fun, being happy-

“Why are- WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE-?!”

Oh, he forgot Brocco.

“Hey, Tin man-”

This carrot took serious expressions with humor as a coping mechanism, only slightly feeling nervousness creep up as the guard came up to the four.

The stare from a giant Broccoli down onto a little carrot was one hell of a thing, especially with the shadow being cast down from above.

“Why are all of you- You especially. On the RACETRACK-?”

Pointing right at his chest, Brocco took his pupils around like a gun, shooting stares at everyone involved, even at the ones not looking at him like Lemlo or Arti.

But only a shrug was given in reply from Karoto as Nabiu commented along with her big grin, putting his armored arm.

“We are joining the races, like you seem to be doing! Wizzro is joining, Karoto, Pfifferrrlllinngg-”

Brocco looked dumbfounded. Truly flabbergasted even.

This didn't seem legal.

“Wha- Nabiu, you're 16.”

Nabiu gasped offended, putting her hand to her chest in pure disbelief as she ran over to the other groups and pointed right at Lemlo.

“Well, I'm only 6 years younger than her! Not that much!”

Lemlo of course, was flinching and raising a brow at what the hell she was accused for while the cannibalistic Mushroom and Nut just stared in confusion.

This attracted the attention of Arti, Tomaria and Cameron as well, getting a tilt of the head from the Artichoke as the situation got a bit out of hand.

Lily and Dorago both got to look over as the crowd seemed to slowly go along, getting wind of the current argument.

Lycra barely stepped closer, nervously glancing at Wizzro while one simple carrot barely blinked like a frog.

And then-

“Do any of you EVEN HAVE A LICENSE???”

…..

That got.

Maybe a few stares.

EVEN FROM THE CROWD.

“Uhhhh.”

“Well, I can ride Petunia-”

“Flying is technically riding a car!”

“I did get driven by my people once or twice-!

“No.”

Bluntness, nervousness and excuses flew through the air as the guard got his answers in a bunch of rambles and speeches.

Soon, facepalming was the best reaction to it all.

“Oh my Nantes-”

Whispers slowly coursed the air as the crowd seemed to be realising that perhaps, this wasn't the most safe festival-

Some people in the crowd even spoke up.

“Is… this safe? There are children here.”

Candaline, a candy cat in purple slowly spoke while raising a silent brow, holding her peach child close to her side for safety, wrapping the roller tail around her.

The peach child - name being Lena from Karoto's memory - quietly looked up, having her hands on her mother's skirt.

A nod came from a nearby icicle guard, that one being Cyrus… specialised in ice magic. He came forward, simply sighing as he held onto the red rope and looked towards the seated crowd.

“It depends. This is a tutorial track after all and I have been informed that the area around the crowd has specialised magic shields.”

Two knocks were given into what was seemingly air, before it gave two barely recognizable shockwaves that formed like a round globe.

Seemingly, a magic shield as confirmed previously.

“So… there should be no danger.”

That's a relief at least.

Wizzro came closer in admiration too, going through the invisible shield but also being able to poke it, probably only activating when it senses importance.

Quite the advanced magic Karoto didn't understand, he had to admit.

“May I mention another issue?”

This time, Tai spoke up, her little birdie seating itself onto her hat as she raised her finger, tipping the coolie hat upwards while walking past Lemlo.

“Wherever is the king and the ‘Head mage’ you mentioned?”

That's.

A good question.

“That's right! Where is the old man???”

“Tomaria-”

Tomaria immediately peeked up and jumped up to Tai's side as she began noticing the absence of said king as well, only mildly being stopped by Cameron.

The bat lemon beside them instinctively shivered, but couldn't help but nod along with a soft mention.

“Well…she's right. Where is the king-?”

With that sentence ended, people started to take glances and steps around as well, no king, queen or mage being in sight despite them hosting this race.

Karoto thought along but mostly just pocketed his hands into his jacket while keeping close to his little blueberry companion.

“Don't tell me the literal Sire of the land is late.”

Lycra said in a surprised manner as he painted up a box, sitting down on it to match everyone else's height, obviously more confused by it than annoyed.

By that, Lily decided to walk over, letting Dorago take a fly up to the top of the crowd seats to have the best view of the race.

“Well, uhm…Often Kings and Queens have a lot on their plate. Perhaps he lost track of time?” 

“Still-”

Lily sighed quietly as Tomaria spoke up, Cameron following along as Arti had just started to sign a response, moving their fingers along.

“Do you have any information, Brocco?”

They added the self-made sign for Brocco, this one forming first forming a square with the left hands middle and ring finger and with the right hands middle and index finger-

-Which were then moved to switch up and down to make a sphere shape.

A bit complicated, but special for their friend.

Brocco quietly stared, but crossed his arms as he spoke.

“Well, he informed me that he had to discuss something… so it mi-”

“HHRUFFF-’

All eyes snapped over to the sound at the edge of the race track as a purple cloud appeared, slowly disappearing to show exactly 2-

Wait.

Karoto checked again as Nabiu stood beside him, peeking closer at the sight.

Three people standing there, a smaller cloaked in purple tones being there with the head one as the King seemed to be heaving against him.

“Y-You- huff…could h-have told me we-”

“-Could have teleported? Yes, but you decided to panic talk to me for ten minutes, so seeing you run was funnier.”

“Y o u s u c k- hURGH-”

“Geez-”

What an arrival.

Pfifferling decided to speak up first even when Brocco and Wizzro came up to the king to assist him, letting the small person take a step back.

"You're late. You don't let people wait for their food or their races.”

Despite being an authoritative person on the usual side, the king couldn't help but look sorry. Despite the fact he was sweating and looking to the side.

A quiet ‘thank you’ came from him as Wizzro handed him a handkerchief, wiping the sweat and approaching the group of drivers.

“My apologies, you all. Me and my - huff - mage needed to discuss a few last- uhm… minute subjects.”

The thief decided to not question all this as Lemlo walked up beside him, flapping her wings a bit to get rid of any potential rests of leaves or dust.

A step forward was made from the head mage, almost seeming to look down upon everyone despite any seating option or size difference as he spoke.

“Indeed. What is important now is that everyone is accounted for… are we 12 people now?”

Looking around, eyes started to count around every now and then, almost in a small race themselves to see who could count the fastest.

But Nabiu was first, happily jumping up and down as she got on the box from Lycra, getting a squeak as he almost fell down from it.

“YEP! Exactly 12!”

“11 from them WHO CANT DRIVE-”

Brocco exclaimed right afterwards as Nabiu grumbled, crossing her arms as Wizzro softly patted the armored shoulder.

“It'll be alright, Lime…There must have been a reason for that.”

The head mage silently looked over to the M.A.G.E., giving a simple nod of agreement. “Indeed.”

A quick pat to his side and the small cloaked guy came over, quietly adjusting his cloak and apprehensively looked around all the contestants on the track.

He raised his finger as he spoke, letting the one see-able eye from his clock which stared into others souls simply blink along.

“As for these races, there is no need to have real driving skill…you will all constantly bump and mess each other up.”

Karoto widened his eyes along with everyone else's, even if Pfifferling snickered along or Lily gasped in surprise.

“B-but…doesn't that endanger the entire group of people who drive along-?!”

That was a worry to be had as Lily mentioned it, slowly looking towards Nabiu especially due to her young age.

Karoto was on the flower girl's side, if he was honest for once.

Despite all the snarkiness he could give everyone and everything, dying or getting heavily injured on a track was most definitely not a nice idea.

And even though he joked earlier, he genuinely had no idea how to drive a car- If anything, he only ran away on occasions with wagons due to it being held with horses he could lead.

But… this seemed different.

Also, this carrot preferred not to have the nice people he met crushed into a wall, thank you very much.

“Yeah, isn't there any safety to this-?”

Cameron mentioned as he growled slightly, lowering his ears as Arti quietly patted the wolf to calm him down from the head-mage.

But the man just hummed before speaking.

“Of course. All the cars are completely magic-made on the spot with my strongest spells. Would you like an example right now?”

Wizzro seemed interested as he let the king be with Brocco for a moment, going over to said head-mage out of curiosity.

“It would be interesting to see… go on?”

With one last soft huff, the cloaked man nodded, patting the little guy's head and slowly backing away as he put his hands together.

His eyes closed, slowly whispering words that Karoto sure as hell didn't understand while a purple magical circle formed-

“Machina Deum adiuvat. Agnosce, et cresce.”

Language-?

WOOOOOSSSHHHH-

YEAH, HE DIDN'T NEED TO DO THAT-

Karoto coughed from the giant purple cloud that formed, glittering with cyan sparks and making him hold Nabiu as close as possible as she coughed into his chest.

He shivered, opening his eyes to a lot of…

Vehicles?

He blinked a few times more.

Sure, they were vehicles but they looked like they were dunked in paint, glitter and probably other chemicals that shouldn't have been in the mix.

Or when you put Nabiu on coffee and give her all the time in the world to make something.

Both work.

“WAIT, IS THAT A RAINBOW JEEP-”

Lycra was the first to jump out of the smoke, catapulting himself up with his brushes and running over to the Jeep in white… it had brown wheels and paintbrushes on the back!

On top of the hood and the trunk were rainbows, each color given one line going forwards.

Karoto had to admit, that was pretty. Even if there was nothing on top.

But the mushroom had fun, so who was he to complain here?

“Told you… please all take your cars before I continue speaking as it'll make things easier for me.”

With that, a whole other chaos began as everyone looked around for the cars they would fit in, just noticing that Pfifferling seemingly didn't have a car.

BUT HER VERDOG PETUNIA-

“Awe, my sweet girl! What are you doing here?”

Must have teleported here instead of a car.

She simply petted it, grazing the smooth texture of the stem as it kept making those… noises.

There were distorted sounds coming from the thing, sounding like choked breaths of a dying corpse. Perhaps something without actual lungs.

Either way, Nabiu almost immediately tried running up to it, which resulted in the carrot grabbing her blue poncho.

“I wanna pet it though! I'll ask!”

“Sorry, don't want you eaten, Nabs.”

“It won't! I'll just have to be realllllyy carefuuull-”

Not that her struggles were successful as he kept her back, listening to the cooking of the cannibalistic Mushroom as she carefully slid on top.

He had to admit, there was a lot of care in the motion so that it? He? She-? Wouldn't be uncomfortable, not even a saddle being on.

Two motions to pat the sides came, which he could only recognize as Pfeffer making this aggressive Verdog calm yet excited for the race.

Since this carrot didn't want to endanger the blueberry, he simply walked over to a nearby Carriage that had appeared due to the magic-

Painted in natural greens, this vehicle had lots of golden lining from the windows to the door, lining it in a more majestic shape than the other cars.

Up on the top-sides were some white petals from a literal Lily, probably to showcase the origins of the Flora Kingdom.

Just the only thing out of place, was the fact that there weren't any horses, but instead a wheel inside of the carriage.

Whoever decided that was a good idea must have had a lot of fun.

“I'll see you on the road, you two!”

Lily greeted kindly as she gave a high-five to Nabiu, getting a thumbs up in response from the young M.A.G.E.

“Get ready for a real match, Lily!”

“See you soon, Wilted.”

She rolled her eyes at the nickname but quickly got inside, hoping to adjust as quickly as the others.

As Nabiu headed over to someone Karoto didn't care much about, he peaked over to Cameron and Tomaria having an everyday conversation that was all too familiar.

“Alright, would you want to switch every race or?”

“Maybe! I could throw bombs at everyone!”

Cameron gave a questioning flick of the ear as he stood on top of the red and blue - separated by a bit of gray - painted bumper kart they were assigned too, which apparently had a metal platform at the back!

Tomaria was seated in the kart, testing buttons and opening the yellow painted round trap doors on the side occasionally to test the abilities they had.

On the front, as Karoto noted, was a star painted in a sweet yellow as well.

It fitted them. They were famous heroes after all.

“Alright, you ready to beat everyone else, Cami???”

“I simply hope to not fall from the speeds you will go-!”

The Tomato simply snickered along as she let the engine run, heating up the kart and letting it get ready for the big race.

As Karoto looked around, Nabiu was already talking to the head M.A.G.E, which was Wizzro with his hat and potion car.

One could call it ridiculous, but Wizzro seemed to have a sweet adoration to it as he looked over the features.

“This is a rather unique car. It reminds me of a lava lamp…”

“Maybe we could get you one sometime!”

As they talked, Nabiu took note of the round form that the bottom took, having a potion shape that was blubbering restover liquid bubbles out of the puffer.

The top was almost like an UFO, but it was actually representing the yellow hats they all usually wore, just with the triangle part being opened up with all the car necessities inside.

“Now, Nabiu. Drive safely, alright? I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, my dear girl.”

As Wizzro got into said car, Nabiu quickly responded with nods and a big thumbs up to her Mentor.

“Of course! Have fun-!”

Happily, she strolled back to Karoto, following his eyes as he looked over to Lemlo and Tai with a relatively eased out face.

Conversations were rather interesting today, it seems.

“Lem, I hope you will have something from this.”

A quiet flinch came from the lemon bat, who seemed to admire the other car, a bit due to its shape… It was painted in heavy greens, cape on the trunk and a roof that had a transparent cloth with it.

Pearl lines hung off the doors in pretty blues, shining grey-ish colors and twirling around- 

And in the very front was one pretty flower, a white Lily too.

“M-maybe-? I don't know if winning is the goal here.”

She nervously rubbed her wings ends, wrapping them almost in a self hug as Tai patted the shoulder.

“It'll be alright. Your car seems to be one of the more normal ones.”

And the nut didn't seem to be all that wrong on that.

The car seemed to be normal in shape, something like what they would call a “mini cooper”, (Karoto was seriously not good at cars) but he could see that there was a flower on top of the hood in white, surrounded by a yellow background which kept on the trunk.

The doors were green with vine patterns all over it and petal seats in a soft yellow… one of the more normal cars.

But that didn't make it any less pretty.

“Doesn't that make it weaker...?”

Tai chuckled softly at the lemon’s comment, but not in a mocking way as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder, tilting the circular hat to one side.

“I think it's just perfect. And my friend here agrees.”

The little green birdie chirped along, rubbing against Lemon's right ear, eliciting a rare soft chuckle out of her, and a nod.

“If you say so?”

Both slowly exchanged nods as they went into the cars, Lemlo carefully adjusting her grip on the steering wheel due to her wings and Tai making sure that none of the accessories got stuck somewhere.

Some conversations were starting to bleed through as everyone got ready.

“Perhaps you could come into my restaurant. I bet I can prepare you a perfect meal.”

“Maybe, but we--”

“Tomaria, seriously, no.”

Cameron and Tomaria were currently slightly leaning away from a curious Petunia who was leaning down to sniffle the fruit, Pfifferling only snickering along to said interactions.

Could be an intimidation strategy. Could be her having ideas for recipes again.

But the Verdog seemed to be satisfied by repeatedly bumping its head against the Tomato’s golden headpiece, somewhat gnawing on it.

But it was more of a pulling motion due to its noodle maw.

Cameron glared towards the cannibalistic Mushroom as she snickered along, holding onto the beast with her mycelium legs.

For now, Karoto decided to ignore the chaos going on behind him and instead focused on the next event.

Wizzro had been leaning over to talk to Lycra, conversing about certain topics that Karoto would have rather not heard.

“So, have your therapy sessions been going well?”

“Yep! Pretty good week. All patients seem to be making good progress.”

“Even Karoto?”

“Even Karoto!”

He rolled his eyes despite their proud praises.

Whatever they say. Karoto wasn't sure if he believed it quite yet.

Rolling his eyes to a different direction, the carrot flinched as he looked over to the overgrown monster truck that towered above the others like it was absolutely nothing-

Arti's monster truck, apparently.

“Oh, Arti!”

The small voice caught their attention, Vine’s face looking over as Karoto forced himself to go over the details as a quick calm down method.

The wheels were purple mostly, but painted with four-spiked yellow stars that made it already unique from others, which did include… something that looked like a stuck up firetruck pipe in green on the back.

Weird.

Artichoke leaves were all over the trunk, covering it in a protective layer as the doors even matched their fake purple scar process.

Vines had been completely encasing the hood, tightly holding it together so nothing would be harmed. But the most special piece was in the front-

A METAL PLATE that would normally be used to not only protect the front, but to probably also ram said front right into people if Arti were to speed up.

Now also encased in lighter green vines, with hints of red.

But the distractions stopped there as a tap came from said Artichoke.

Karoto hesitated to look up despite all the talks they had before to recover from past experiences, where the little blueberry that he called his sister simply stared up in soft confusion.

In the end though, the thief knew there was nothing really to fear.

Quietly, he brought his gaze up to the face completely encased in vines, shadows covering their face due to the giant yellow hat….

And well, because their whole face was hidden away, but you get his point-

They signed, something he could translate due to their past and the fact he forced himself to relearn any sign language he forgot.

‘I'm sorry if I distressed you.’

Oh, woops.

Instinctively, Karoto shook his head.

“NO! I- Imeanyoukindadid, but it's not your fault-! Just my anxiety.”

Awkward chuckles left the thief's throat as he rubbed the back of his head, not being able to help himself but to hold Nabiu's shoulder as a form of support, the awkwardness making him cringe.

Soft grips were given back to his fingers, telling him enough, forming a rock in his stomach.

“Seriously, I hope you can have fun in this race.”

Arti stared for a few seconds while Karoto read their body language, shoulders relaxing as they signed once again.

Faster, comfortably.

‘Good luck to you too, friend.’

He allowed the soft smile to grow on his face at the motion.

That finally made him turn away, adjusting his jacket, giving a last nod before walking back forward to inspect their surroundings…

“Alright, we should be at our vehicles soon!”

Nabiu mentioned as she walked beside him, listening and watching the others while having just as much fun jumping around everywhere like a frog-

Karoto simply gave an encouraging nod with a soft smirk, pressing a hand to his chest and the other to the waist with distinct sass.

“Well, ours will simply be the best! Just look at us, we do- don't…”

But he couldn't help but stop himself as he stood beside the one car that they hadn't yet inspected from the others. 

Brocco's.

“Oh, there you two are. I was wondering already where you two l-st your–lf.”

“-e didn't lose ou–elves any–ere!”

Karoto blocked out the conversation for a moment, ignoring the rest of the car - wagon ? - to stare… at a certain part.

The.

Spears.

Piercing through his skin at some point. Cold and metallic, scratching against anything that didn't belong.

Where he didn't belong.

A lump caught in his throat as well as his breath.

“Karoto?’

He blinked.

Dissociating was probably not the best option currently…

“A-ah- Sorry, I just noticed how boring your wagon is!”

“Oh, really?”

The tone of the annoyed guard almost immediately got the thief's mood up, ignoring the front and inspecting the rest of the car without much issue.

Definitely one for the simpler yet protected karts. There was a shield engraved in the back, holding the symbol of the Broccoli Kingdom within it.

Karoto held back a disgusted glare for Brocco's sake.

Strength across the far was something close to the head-guard’s colored cape, showing off in all its purple glory, a green metal with a rusted golden line going around beneath.

Simple, yet indirect. Like every guard.

Beside this piece of weed.

“Yeah, really. Picked a real rusty model, just like you!”

Brocco groaned for a moment but simply held it back, adjusting his sitting position as he talked to the two younger folks who looked up at him like bugs.

“Whatever- Your cars are up-front if you are searching for them.”

There was mild disappointment from the carrot as the broccoli guard just moved on with their conversation without a thought, even if Nabiu strolled forward with quite the satisfaction.

He quietly leaned over the car, feeling a drop of sweat roll down his face despite all the spears he held for practice before.

“Hey, uhm. Those spears-...They're just accessories, right?”

For a moment, Brocco widened his eyes in surprise, looking over to the carrot who had just been snarky to him ten seconds ago but now… seemed hesitant.

Scared even to an extent.

But, he knew better now, and softened said gaze.

“Probably. It's alright, Karoto.”

“I know! I know… just making sure.”

Waving it off like it was nothing was a simple achievement on the outside, but on the inside he was still broiling with the slight anxiety of the past.

Therapy, Karoto. Remember your lessons.

Breathe and go through.

It can't hurt you.

“Just do an emergency stop if it's too much-”

“Yeah, yeah. Old man, I got this.”

And even with the remaining snarkiness, a light pat on the hand was given before the carrot stepped away, receiving a pat on the shoulder from the bigger vegetable.

Simple as that, Karoto walked off to the front, finding a sort of pride in knowing that his car was in that position, first to everyone else's in the back-

“Alright, why does he get the motorbike then-?!”

Lycra's voice rang through just behind him, which led to some confusion on his part as Brocco on the side responded with something that didn't reach his ears-

But that's when he spotted it.

Oh, he surely spotted it.

There was a gleaming motorbike, painted in oranges, greens and (surprisingly) blues that stood right before him, ready to be driven and mounted by someone his size.

It was like it was literally inviting him.

The sudden ping distracted him for a moment as the box appeared again.

[Objective completed!]

L o a d i n g . . .

Complete the tutorial track! [0/1]

Karoto could surely do that, just give him a minute.

“Oh, yours is so pretty!”

Nabiu's cheerful voice was right beside him as she eyed his bike with glee, letting his glance quickly catch onto the smaller car.

If… you could call it that.

Because instead of a normal vehicle like everyone else beside Pfifferling and Wizzro, Nabiu got a potion ON TOP of a book with wheels as a vehicle!

Heck, the bottle was literally filled with some kind of purple liquid, this time with the cork on the front!

He had to say. Creative as hell though.

Even if it looks like a living hazard.

“Well, yours too! Gotta say, mine is cooler though.”

“Nuh-uh. For that, mine is creative.’

“Nah.”

“Yep!”

“Definitely not.”

“Sure, it is!”

The sibling bickering could have gone on for another hour if the head-mage didn't finally come onto the road, stepping his foot down and looking at the cars with his one eye and pupil.

Staring most literally into their souls.

“Alright, silence. There is one more thing I have to mention before we test your choice of ride.”

Quietly, the little cloaked person appeared again, seeming to hesitate to even come forward from the Dark Mage's side, clinging onto the fabric of the cloak.

There was a hint of softness that came from the gaze, quietly rubbing the head which caused a huff to come out from the little person.

“My son will join the race. Not only for safety, but I want to give him a chance as well.”

Surprise quickly rang around for a good reason as the mage squinted his eyes, Tai almost immediately speaking up alongside Cameron at the idea of such a thing.

“Isn't that a bit… unfair?”

“Yeah! He could be cheating for all we know-’

For a moment, the dark gaze intensified. Almost as if he didn't want his son to be accused of such things-

But it soon softened up again, patting his son's back and giving a deep bow to the cars and their individual drivers with a clear underlying respect.

Or none. He wouldn't know.

“I promise you, Sickle is in no way a rule breaker. I trust him to play fair and square in this festival.”

Sickle, as it now has been spoken, simply nodded along with his father, coming a step forward while adjusting his cloak and fiddling with it nervously.

“That… is correct. I promise that I just want to try my best, not cheat my way through.”

Karoto had to admit, the kid seemed honest, despite his body being completely covered in those purple patterns and that extra poncho.

Suspicious, but some seemed to be convinced anyway.

‘Some’ seemed to include Wizzro.

“Well, come along then! Take your place.”

“Are you sure we should let a weed join in?”

Of course, protests came from one side of Pfifferling, some of the crowd starting to whisper as Sickle walked forward through the cars.

There were also some with the experience of being an outcast.

“H-he doesn't seem that bad. Give him a chance.”

Lemlo spoke up softly as she reached her wing over the car door, slowly being supported by Lily as she opened up the window.

“Right! Just go to the back for now, there's a spot open.”

Sickle sighed, but seemed to quickly speed up to the back, speaking some strange words that the carrot could not hear from over in the front-

But it surely made some magic cloud appear for the cloaked kid to ride on, so he didn't care too much anyway.

Now with everything settled, the Artichoke signed for a response, quickly being translated by Cameron, as he could see the signs from the metal platform.

“Are we finally going to get started?”

With that, the Dark Mage chuckled for once as he rubbed his hands together.

“Indeed.”

A step back was taken as he summoned a red and green flag, rolling the green one up for a moment to point to the track that had been created.

“Now, before anyone worries, nobody will be able to fall off the track. There's specific barriers beneath us just for that…”

A quick hum as he raised the red flag.

“Observe.”

Without any hesitation whatsoever, the mage THREW said flag into the upcoming abyss, pretty much chugging it onto the ground-

Is what would have happened if the damn thing didn't just LITERALLY BOUNCE BACK INTO HIS HAND.

“You'll be set back into the position you were before, obviously having also a minor setback in your previous position if you're unlucky.”

Karoto quietly watched the man as he went around, gingerly rubbing his hands along the hand clutch to prepare himself and perhaps warm up the engine.

Did… it have an engine?

Honestly, he wasn't sure at this point.

All that mattered for now was that he was going to learn the basics to win all the other races, hopefully to get a trophy.

Some gold without getting chased.

Mocked. Fair and square won.

That sounded like a dream.

“Your cars are also provided with special… add-ons, which you will most likely experience in the races.”

Interested glances were taken around the karts for a moment from the contestants, for example Arti taking a peak at the weird tail-like thing she had.

Or Tomaria snickering as she checked the little openings the bumperkart had.

“Bomb atttacckksss-”

Brocco had his-

…his…

Karoto blinked and looked over to Lemlo, who was quietly noting the designs the cars had and for once, smiling to herself at these ideas.

“Perhaps mine will be like camouflage… or faster driving?"

He heard Tai absently mumble to herself as she rolled the pearls in her hand, the bird chirping along as it safely sat down near the audience members.

One could imagine what some special moves may be depending on the person.

As long as Nabiu doesn't spray him with blue liquid out of the bottle, he won't mind.

“Now, last important mention. See those boxes over there on the track?”

Taking a peek over to their right, the mentioned boxes from before spun, hovering over the ground in their rainbow scheme.

An orb was inside, sparkling prettily in white and letting sparkles and circles spin around it.

“Those are item boxes, containing several objects that you can use during the drive. Speed up, obscure someone's vision, electrocute them-”

Nabiu snapped her head over at that, pretty understandably.

“All options to make this race a special one… but it's all based on luck. So good luck.”

A simple nod as he brushed back whatever hair no one could see.

“Any questions before I start the countdown of the race?”

At first, no one really responded to said question as the Dark Mage looked around, quietly checking the side of the road near the crowd to see the king.

He looked better now, the sweat all gone as he comfortably sat in a special chair with a tired expression, waving back.

As much as Karoto wanted to despise the guy, there was a hint of sympathy for a king who did try his best.

…Whatever.

Before the mage could speak up however, Lily raised her arm for a question.

“Hey, uh- Do we get breaks in between? Just for safety!”

A quiet sigh before he shook his head, clapping his hands as a paper appeared and flew in the sky for everyone to see.

“Of course. In-between every race today, there is a short break where the competitors can talk with the audience, take a sip, just relax… whatever is needed.”

Relieved sighs came from the people as Pfifferling softly patted her pet's head and Lycra seemed to quickly chat something up with Lemlo.

Not that Karoto understood, listening in for once.

“But despite that, all races will have three rounds beside this one. So be prepared. Anymore?”

The quiet reigned once more and Karoto noticed that Nabiu leaned over to him ever so slightly-

“I will beat you.”

Huh. Competitive today.

“Nah, you won't.”

“Yuh-uh.’

“Nuh-uh.”

“Yuh-uh-”

“Absolutely not-”

“Ahem.”

Both shot their stare at the mage who was clearly not pleased with the small discussion, but both snickered due to it.

Winking one last time, they prepped themselves up to their devices, slowly hearing the engines starting to run and a certain Verdog start to growl and step on the ground.

“Alright. Now… get ready.”

 •<[TUTORIAL TRACK]>•

< ABOVE THE BROCCOLI KINGDOM >

○ ○ ○

One quick jump led to the guy landing on a cloud, summoning one piercing black eye to stare at everyone, but making a screen for the audience appear.

Something like a camera, Karoto assumed.

“One.”

Breathing quietly, the engines started to run through his ear as he didn't just yet pull the grip.

For once, the audience didn't say a word.

Not that he noticed anyway.

“Two.”

A deeper breath as he leaned in, positioning the motorbike just right.

Pressing and turning the gas like holding a rope, but not yet moving it.

It reminded him of horse waggons. Perhaps it's not as difficult. Maybe.

Could be.

“Three-”

Singular thoughts disappeared as the green flag flew into the air-

And all the engines went off.

“GO!”

And the race began.

And honestly?

KAROTO ALMOST FLEW OFF IF HE DIDN’T GRIP CORRECTLY.

“WOWOWOWSHIT-”

“CAREFUL NOW-!”

Quickly grabbing onto the bike properly again and stepping up, he made a quick turn so he wouldn't fall into the barrier, looking into the left mirror to see the other contestants.

Barely peeking, needing to focus on the road but noticing how people like Lemlo, Tomaria and Cameron, Tai, and himself seemed to struggle just a bit.

“Steady, Petunia. Steady-!”

He heard out of range where Pfeffer seemed to hold her Verdog on the lines, probably ready to end someone without the competitors even knowing-

As long as she didn't actually do it.

But back to not falling off the edge of the road.

“Alright, let's see here-”

Karoto murmured to himself as they got to the zigzag part, quickly leaning in and turning to drift which he only really saw in the movies-

Many wheels were making scratchy noises, as the drift kept going back and forth to probably either throw people off or get them used to the momentum-

“EEP-”

Oh, by the way. IT ALSO MADE KAROTO FLINCH.

Why? Cause Nabiu fell off for a moment, jumping right back in as she got behind Wizzro and Arti, leaving her in… about seventh place.

“I'm alright!”

Bless her heart, but dear Nantes.

Just calm down. Focus on yourself. Look and see. It's fine. Just zigzag and forward now.

To count positions for himself right now, Brocco had a head start and was in front of him, Pfifferling was almost beside him and a speed up caused Lycra to actually go first!

The others were right behind, the little cloaked guy named Sickle actually gaining speed despite being on a cloud-like skateboard, following up to Lemlo.

Or a skateboard-like cloud, but there was no time to question that.

Admitting it for once, this track was good practice, even with all the chaos going on.

From what he counted, he was in third place! Well, switching between third and fourth due to PFIFFERLING-

“OY, SCOOT OVER!”

“How about YOU scoot over, Carrot!”

A grumble left his throat as he sped up, not caring that much about the speed he was going, reckless abandon just being a style at this point.

It didn't matter that much if he had a broken arm, Wizzro could fix it if it happened!

Though, a bitten-off one could be dangerous as that pet Petunia was literally BITING at him.

Shaking his head and ignoring the rivalry, he sped past the pesky plant, quickly going past Brocco with a quick drift as they got to a part he didn't notice before-

A bumper part where they could jump over!

The smirk on his face finally grew again as he jumped up from the bumper, flying in the air and even doing some spinning tricks just for style.

“Careful, Karoto-!”

He huffed quietly at the concern the Broccoli was showing, so he simply waved at him.

“I AM!”

Laughter rang through the air as the others followed, failing the jump, normally driving over the bumps or doing tricks as well!

From the spins he once did in the air, he quickly caught sight of Sickle actually letting himself jump from the board and letting a new one appear as a trick.

Tai seemed to be fast, but slowed down every now and then due to the bumpers, keeping the speed up however, which he was impressed by.

Tomaria actually jumped along in the car as Cameron hung on for dear life during it, gripping the bar handles like he was on life support as he yelled, probably about in ninth place.

“BECAREFULHRUGH-”

“DON'T VOMIT ON THE TRACK, IT MAY COST US MONEY-”

What a race.

Quickly focusing back on the road, he noticed that Lycra was having the time of his life speeding carefully over the bumps, which gave Karoto a chance to get first place!

Pumping up was the first objective, quickly pulling on the hand clutch and letting the motorbike rumble as it got to the last bumper and-

SWOOSHHHHH-

“SEE YA, YOU PARODY!”

The offended gasp that he could catch from Lycra's attacked face was priceless to him as he sped around the corner, landing on his wheels and-

CRACK-

Indirectly smashing into an item box on the way.

Recovering quickly from the shock was easy, but the glowing in his hand probably needed a bit more as he tightly grabbed the steering wheel while staring at it.

And it turned into a most literal potion.

Karoto stared at it for at least a second before he decided these must be one of the items that the mage talked about.

Well, bringing that in the front won't work-

So he most casually threw it right behind him, only barely caring about the shattered glass that will be splattered on the road.

Turning the last turn of the race, he quickly shot a glance behind to what the hell he just did with that potion-

Turns out, IT COVERED THE ENTIRE ROAD IN SLUDGE.

Panic yelps and curses came from the contestants like Lycra and Brocco as they slipped up, falling off the platform but immediately being catapulted back onto it.

Wizzro barely dodged it but still slithered almost off the end of the road, slowing down to make sure he didn't accidentally land upside down somewhere.

Obviously though, some who were in the back like Lily and Lemlo got to speed up immensely, dashing past and getting near 5th and 6th place!

One of the little things he noted before turning back however was one specific item someone else had, looking almost like a round thing with a rope-

No time to think more about that.

The ones right behind him now were Lemlo, Pfifferling, any others he didn't care to recognize as he sped up one last time and-

! F I N I S H !

But the race was over sooner than he knew it, racing past the finish line and turning to finally slow down the motorbike he was riding.

A shaky breath left him as he watched everyone else race past, with the last seeming to be Tai for this race, only giving a soft huff.

Seemingly a good loser as she shot a quick thumbs up towards the carrot, which he gave a quick nod back.

Everyone did well, Karoto had to admit.

Heavy clapping filled the area quickly, cheers and yells from the audience as they stood up and applauded for the first race as everyone got out of their vehicles.

“That's my girl.”

Dorago quickly got up and flew over to Lily, hugging her as she happily returned the favor by nuzzling against his chest, seeming proud of herself as she jumped up and down.

His wings wrapped around her flawlessly, just cradling her as Karoto frowned a bit for a moment.

“Brocco! Everything alright-?!”

“I'm fine, just a mild brain shake-”

Wizzro of course had to check up on his lime as he checked up Brocco's armor and general health, hoping that no injury happened due to the incident.

Just in case he got his brain thrown out of his head.

Not like that didn't happen a few times before, thought Karoto with a silent snicker.

The irony that Brocco complained about them not having a license, he swore to Nantes-

“YOOO, NABIU! THAT WAS AWESOME-”

“N-next time be a bit more careful-”

“Maybe, no promises!”

Nabiu had quickly gotten over to the interns who cheered from the audience, talking to Tate and Mono, who both seemed to have very varying reactions from it all.

Inwardly, he agreed with Mono for a second that Nabiu should really be more careful, even with the safety on.

Tai huffed, letting her little birdie fly onto her hat as she gave a quick high-five to Cameron, who was currently stretching himself-

And quickly turned into a post bumper kart turmoil as he heaved to the site, getting pats on the back from the sudden sickness while gripping his chest like death.

Yeah, fair point, wouldn't want to stain that fur.

“Alright, before all the cheering here gets too loud-”

The Dark Mage spoke up amidst all the constant talks, getting people to look over as he spun his hand around, sparkles of purple and a flow of magic that looked like a cloud but moved like water-

“Everyone's positions for this race.”

The magic got shot in the air, creating a giant leaderboard that ranged everyone's positions from first to last-

Karoto peeked at it curiously.

_____________________

○ ° POSITIONS : ° ○

• 1st: Karoto

• 2nd: Pfifferling

• 3rd: Lemlo

• 4th: Arti

• 5th: Lycra

• 6th: Lily

• 7th: Wizzro

• 8th: Nabiu

• 9th: Cameron/Tomaria

• 10th: Sickle

• 11th: Brocco

• 12th: Tai

_____________________

He couldn't help the smirk that rose to his cheeks as Arti slowly approached him, looking down onto his tiny form as he crossed his arms.

“Anything you wanna sign to me?”

They silenced.

Before placing their hand near their mouth, moving it crookedly down and putting it in a cupping position for both of their hands.

Then they put both of their hands into fast and tapped with the right fist twice against the top of the left fist.

‘Good job.’

With that, another Objective Box appeared.

[Objective completed!]

L o a d i n g . . .

Complete all Races! [0/6]

Win the Broccoli Cup!

A snicker left the proud carrot’s throat as he looked to the side.

Sickle didn't look that satisfied as he looked at the score, tensing up as Tomaria nudged his shoulder. Or wrist with that little height.

“Heh, I'm before you!”

“...Right.”

Slowly, the mage approached his son, looking down upon him as Sickle seemed just a bit afraid, bringing his head down.

Perhaps expecting a yelling fit from his father-

But only getting a small pat on the head in response, showing softness in that one eye as he quietly ruffled whatever hair or head he had underneath that hood.

“You did your best.”

With a quiet look upward, Sickle smiled silently as he hugged his caretaker, bringing Karoto to stare at the town with a rather unfounded jealousy.

How would he be?

He had no caretaker.

Or… parents. Whatever people called it, it didn't matter, as his probably never existed in the first place.

Shaking his head though, he quietly looked over to Pfifferling, who was currently grabbing a rather living rat as the Verdog took it without complaint.

The snout - if he could call it that - grabbed around the rat, slowly encircling it in its grasp to duck the nutrients out of the little critter.

Happy pats were given to Petunia, being careful and rubbing the legs as well as dusting off the feet, plugging out any debris or stones that might have gotten stuck.

After all, a happy pet makes a happy person. Or mushroom for this situation.

Rolling his eyes, he approached Nabiu as they seemed to be getting a break for a minute, patting her head.

“So, how was driving a car into the abyss?”

One quick smile being given to him told the carrot enough as the little blueberry squealed, jumping up and down with her hands stimming like a propeller.

“IT WAS GREAT! I was so fast, even though I got eighth.”

Karoto also noticed the little wolf intern Cyle coming forward, swaying his little tail as he pointed to Cameron.

“Well, my cousin did good too!”

A snicker left his throat as he finally looked over to Lemlo and Lycra as he drifted off from the children yapping about something he didn't care that much about, even if he absently patted Nabiu.

Even through her nervousness, her stand was much more upright as Lycra clapped and patted the lemon’s side.

“You did great! Third place for the first time is good!”

“I, uhm… think you deserve it better.’

Awkwardly looking away was a gimmick he too often used, but Lycra jumped up on her shoulder just as quick to diversify the gaze.

“Nonsense! You did your best, and I honestly did go right into that… item.”

The mushroom quietly looked up at him, giving him a stare that told the thief something.

Avoiding eye contact was really neat.

He couldn't help but avert his gaze to the audience, staring as so many people cheered together for once, even that one beer glass and moth.

Seemingly, this singular big race brought a huge audience for its insanity.

Not a surprise to him, races are extremely rare generally if they existed at all… outside of wild police chases.

Karoto would know.

“Alright, so how do we get down without trouble again-?”

“I delete the platform.”

What.

“What-”

The Broccoli King responded with Karoto’s exact thoughts as the mage slammed his hands on the road without remorse, a loud CRACK erupting.

With that?

“WaitWAIT-”

“HOLY SHIT-”

“LANGUAGE-”

“NOT THE TIME FOR THAT, LEMON-”

Everyone, even the audience stumbled along as the entire arena cracked, before finally-

Swish.

It disappeared entirely and with that, the entire audience plus drivers vanished for just a second-

Swish!

“HHSHSHDHHURGH-”

Some people like Cameron who were currently recovering from sickness, didn't take the teleportation that well as he heaved once again.

“Ew. You're really not good at keeping things clean.”

“Shutup.”

Pfifferling unapologetically patted the back, mainly using it for balance rather than to comfort the shaking wolf, quickly supported by Arti with their big hand.

Being back on the ground felt nice for Karoto, though, as the King steadied himself, approaching the crowd that luckily kept their seats and standing points.

Tidying up his cape with the help of the Dark Mage, the king coughed, walking across the hard concrete of the streets as the cars got in order of first to last with the help of said teleportation.

“I apologize for any sickness that may come from here, my people.”

Audibly, one of the people coughed vomit into the back, a little leak that got quietly by his toxic fruit friend that was an Acke.

The young carrot beside them simply rolled his eyes, just quietly checking that he didn't get as sick.

He felt just a tad sorry since he knew the feeling of constant sickness.

“Alright. Before the next race, you get ten minutes to prepare yourself mentally or physically! In that little room right there-”

Brocco pointed towards the entrance that icicle guard by the seats, seemingly a red door that slowly opened to a much bigger room to the inside.

He was surprised there was a room due to the fact it was just A THIN WALL BEHIND THERE.

“You can be away from the audience as long as you like, get a drink, or just take a minute. Once the mage yells for everyone to come again, the race starts!”

The authoritative voice didn't sound as tired as before, some people even respecting their king as the contestants nodded along.

“Everyone seems to be in the clear, so… BREAK STARTS!”

The mage chimed in with a dark voice, rolling the eye from previously in his hand.

“Make it count.”

Finally.

Karoto brushed his stand back as he decided to take said break to be alone for a moment, heading for the room already and only barely watching what the others did.

Though his curious gaze immediately made his eyes lock on Lycra, who was currently talking to the candy cat Candaline with those rose tinted cheeks.

Chuckles, laughter, and praise came from them too, especially the cat, as she patted the smooth surface of the mushroom, getting a hum out of the other.

Perhaps a compliment slipped by, he wouldn't notice.

Rare to see those, but the carrot couldn't help but stick out a disgusted tongue at their little lovey-dovey talk as the cat kept patting her kid, and keeping it close.

The amount of disinterest he got from seeing a couple really made him not as distinct.

That meant that he quickly turned around and proceeded his journey into the large room, only stopping due to the icicle guard with that weird hat.

Almost like a naptime one-

“You have permission to enter too, carrot.”

“Oh- I. I know. I'm aware.”

Karoto stuttered uncharacteristically for a second, tensing up mainly from a single guard that technically not even harming him-

Trauma goes a long way, apparently.

“W-well… see you?”

Cyrus quietly looked up, not much judgement in as she? He? They? Probably all, nodded along and lightly patted the shoulder.

“See you.”

One relieved sigh left his throat before entering and inspecting the simple room.

Big, with five couches against the back of the walls, connected together since they were in pieces. Who the hell decided to cut up couches?

There was a nice green carpet, the walls had a warm red-ish tint to them, the ceiling had some fairy lights that helped set the mood, and there were even small fridges with the drinks and snacks.

Grabbing was of course the immediate action Karoto took, flinging the door open and taking a cold grape soda, quickly taking a big gulp from it.

It fizzled in his mouth for a moment, where he could only respond with a shiver, as he laid back on the couch with a quiet sigh.

Of course, there were going to be other people who entered, one seeming to be the ninja nut that took a packet of cold tea and cracked the lid open.

Loser and winner sitting beside each other, but neither seemed to even mind.

“...You did good for your first time.”

Tai commented quickly, taking a long sip to take in the flavors, which he did from having learned to read from packets to be green tea.

Boring. Bland.

He didn't say that though, Wizzro said that's rude.

Though at that statement, he quickly returned a chuckle, waving away his gloved hand which now had the smallest stains of black on it from the hand clutch.

“Pfff, not my first time! At least, not in that way-!”

Karoto quickly shot the statement down, straightening up and holding out his arms as if he was holding a rope.

“I raced in wagons from the guards before! Perhaps I got my training from there, hm?”

Despite the snarky tone he had, the faint memories of the time before all this community work brought a stone into his stomach.

Nothing that he couldn't move on from.

Nabiu taught him that.

“Gotta say, you did your best. I hope you aren't too sad about losing?"

Slight concern grew into his tone as he gulped down another drop of the soda, seeing Tai respond with a small headphone.

“No. It's not my best moment, but this isn't life or death. Just a simple trophy game that needs some learning.”

Agreed on that innerly, but his mind rolled his eyes at that comment.

Simple. They could be getting a real gold trophy of all things! A GOLD ONE!!!

But there was a tiny bit of knowledge that told him that this nut never was the one to want the big riches in life, perhaps just try and be happy.

Train maybe?

He truly didn't know much about her besides small bits, so he couldn't judge her accurately.

“If anything, I just want to learn more to become better. Wasn't that what the point of the test race was?”

Correct. I was surprisingly better than all of you.

“...Right.”

She tilted her head gently to the side, being the one to turn her head to the new visitor while Karoto stared at the ground in silent thought.

“Ah! So that's how it all looks… surprisingly cozy!”

Lily, as he recognized that ever-so-sweet voice, one of tiredness from being the princess of the Flora Kingdom.

Nothing that he needed to care about, leaning back and taking yet another sip.

Tangy. A lot more sour than he imagined too, but nothing that he couldn't take. It was just a simple fruit after all, nothing alive or thriving.

She soon seated on a separate couch than the other two, having grabbed some cacao from said fridge.

“Sad that nothing's warm.”

“A small loss, but nothing that will ruin our flow… speaking of flow, how was the driving?”

“Oh, it- it was great! Everyone did great out there!”

“Agreed- w-...”

Karoto blurred out the talk for a while after that, if it was only for the remainder of the 5 or so minutes they had, staring at nothing in particular and closing his eyes after that nothing ended.

What would happen if he didn't win the cup?

There is nothing to be disappointed over, but people could mock him for the fact he didn't win as the kingdom thief.

If he DID win, he might be accused of cheating due to his reputation.

Not like he wasn't used to it, but-

Wizzro shouldn't need to heed such stress to protect him. And Nabiu. And Brocco should not as well.

It all is so confusing, even if he was recovering from the heavy hate the people put on him.

Maybe he-

“EVERYONE! TEN MINUTES ARE UP!”

Ah.

“Ah, there we go. Karoto, are you coming?”

“Yeah! We shouldn't be late!”

Karoto quietly looked between the flower and the nut, looking down at the empty bottle of soda now left between his gloved fingers, the texture of glass barely felt.

Just a droplet in there, one which he licked off before putting it in one of those fancy bottle containers.

“Course. Go on, then!”

He just played along once again, standing up and adjusting his scarf so it wouldn't get stuck anywhere on the motorbike as he finally stepped on the rocky way, rushing to his vehicle.

Soon enough, everyone was seated and ready, Brocco quickly waving to Wizzro and pointing out some things Karoto wished he could block out sometimes.

But he liked to be aware.

Paranoia, anxiety, and everlasting curiosity mixed to listen to everyone.

“Hm… and you're sure glass being right beside your wheels and the rocky ground won't crack it?”

“Hah! No, it's made of magic! So it's most likely a special glass!”

“How are you so sure?”

“I'm not!”

….

Ridiculous. All of them.

But that's what the 12 ravers were probably chosen for, which meant he was one of these ridiculous people that currently was seated right at the front row beside Pfifferling.

Very quietly ignoring the sniffling Petunia was doing to his face, shoving it away in a very gentle, please-don't-touch-me manner.

“She likes you!”

“Evidently.”

Karoto ignored the chuckles from the mushroom as he looked behind, quickly seeing everyone adjust to the grip and properly prepare for the real race now.

Just get to the highest spot possible. Nothing below eighth. That could get risky.

The Dark Mage got on the cloud yet again as the King went to sit with the audience.

“Now, the real race will have a few… specials. This includes the true activations of special abilities. One detail I left out though…”

An orb that sparkled in beautiful purple, pink, and yellow colors appeared, which he rolled around in his hand and quickly placed on his cloud.

“This little orb is the only thing that can activate them, randomly appearing a maximum amount of three times.”

Quick nods and determined glances were exchanged, Sickle even curiously doing grabbing motions since he was actively still on some sort of skateboard-cloud.

Tomaria quickly fistbumped Cameron, who was now the one driving!

“The points will be working differently now as the leaderboard too. Meaning that if you get a bad spot but get first later, you might still have a chance to catch up.”

Of course.

That's good. Always good.

Yet with that announcement, the trees of the hourclock forest moved around to make a perfect racetrack entrance, showing their first proper track.

•<[HOURCLOCK FOREST]>•

< BETWEEN TREES AND GIBBONS >

○ ○ ○

Karoto readied himself as always as the crowd cheered for a moment but slowly silenced, getting it all shown through cameras once again.

“One.”

Deep breath in.

He needed to be careful of Pfifferling, Lemlo, and Arti as they were all right behind him-

It could be fatal with all these giants.

“Two.”

Steadily holding the hand clutch, gripping it, and slowly turning it in the middle.

Letting the warmth fill him, concentration flowing through him in this very moment.

Even if he's not first for now, that's alright.

“Three-”

There is always an opportunity.

Always a way.

A simple technique.

To catch up later.

“GO!”

NNNNHEWWWW-

Now, Karoto admittedly messed-up at the beginning, being just a bit off from the usual speed up that at least 5 drivers got in front of him-

Arti, Lemlo, Lily, Nabiu and Lycra!

Whatever, nothing that can stop him from getting a better place.

For now, he needed to focus on the location as the cheers from the crowd got further and further away, looking forward as he gripped tightly onto the bike.

The Hourclock Forest was unlike any other forest, as it constantly ticked along, and for a second-

CRRKK-

The trees moved.

Going along with the time, they moved slowly but surely along to form a new path, one you would have to know once the clock ticks by.

This could be quite irritating if you didn't know the way-

But for now, it should be fine. The race wouldn't take that long for sure.

Jumping along with his bike was easy as he used the roots from the trees as ramps, quickly scooting by Lycra with a smirk.

“You go here often?”

“Focus.”

A laugh left him as he sped up, doing quick turns along with the others who seemed to be rivaling in the front. 

Nabiu seemed to be out for blood as she kept trying to speed past Lily - but to no avail for now-

But with a quick turn, their first opportunity for new items seemed to be coming, as item boxes came into his view.

Perfect.

Everyone in the front grabbed one before him, quickly cycling through the items as he focused onto the road for a few seconds until-

POP.

And most suddenly, VINES WERE ATTACHED TO HIS BIKE.

He flinched for a second as he seemingly also avoided a literally ROLLING NUT going past him, shot from Lily.

That was only slightly confirmed from her outstretched hand from the window, quickly retracting in panic from the carrot’s gaze.

To be honest, he wasn't even mad.

Whatever. Better test out the new item.

To test it out, the bard quickly pulled a vine that had attached to his vehicle, looking almost like a lever-

SWISHHH-

And with a TUG, it attached itself onto the car right in front of him! Unluckily for them, it was Arti's!

Any fear was unreadable on the artichoke's face as they turned around, a flash of tension appearing on their shoulders before they were forced back, and pulled right behind him, in turn happened to crash into Wizzro's car, only stopped by the fact that they gripped onto the big hats’ side.

Karoto barely restrained a snort at both of the adopted father-child faces.

But quickly, he focused back on the road, barely missing the paint flower that Sickle was using to slow Tomaria and Cameron down-

Or the bomb that Brocco had thrown towards Pfifferling, fogging up their vision with a cough as he raced past towards the 8th and Sickle towards the 9th.

Shaking his head, Karoto moved forward to take the 4th place for now, just jumping over the roots and turns to gain speed and-

SWIPE.

OH.

OH, THOSE PIECES OF-

“GET OFF MY SCARF-!”

Gibbons were truly one of the hell spawns that made this usually peaceful place unenjoyable, constantly trying to hit him and take his precious belongings!

At least the others seemed to be struggling too, especially Lemlo as they tried taking her-

BUMP-

“OWWHAT-”

That thought didn't finish as he got hit by something, zooming past him like hell and soon to reach the first checkpoint!

Flashing in yellow, zapping around, quickly turning into something so normal and green.

Tai, having a quickly disappearing Lycan item from her hands.

Dammit.

Lily got hit back too, but that was nothing he cared about as both her carriage and his bike sped up again quickly, looking behind him to see Wizzro!

The old man sped up well, he had to admit.

And soon-

{ CHECKPOINT! }

From what he assumed, they needed to reach something.

Which meant less time for him to become first!

Which wasn't good.

Quickly speeding up due to drifts, he made sure to avoid any annoying Gibbons or trees that blocked his way, quickly noticing that instead of just item boxes, there were also one of said orbs-!

Karoto could get a special ability! 

Nabiu luckily missed one while slamming a page of her car, Lily hit an item box instead, he wasn't sure what Lemlo got but from the annoyed yelp from Nabiu it was probably another type of nut.

Karoto went to grab it but-

Missed.

“DAMMIT-”

He cursed immediately as he jumped over one of the obstacles, looking back with a glare who got it instead of him.

But only having a growing dread as he noticed that it was the one he just insulted as an old man.

Wizzro got the orb.

With that, a quick flash was given across the entire road as a warning, seemingly pulling something out to his own surprise wh

Wait.

WAS THAT A SHADOW CHILD-?!

Karoto's eyes were wide as saucers, which included Lycra and Brocco, who were right behind him as he just stared dumbfounded for a moment.

Before shrugging with a hum.

“Whatever works.”

And then it turned into the dumbest thing he has ever imagined-

AS WIZZRO MOST LITERALLY THREW KIDS EVERYWHERE.

Lycra let out the most girlish yelp he had ever heard as one of those critters hit him right in the face, kicking him in the shins as he tried pulling it off.

Brocco barely missed them as he sped past the mushroom, who was slowing down to the extreme due to the incident.

But-

“WEEEEEEE-”

“ARGHGETOFFGETOFFFF-”

And now Karoto had one of the ghostly critters on him, touching his face and grabbing onto his limbs like he was a chewing toy! 

A hiss went through his system as it screamed at him, Wizzro quickly proceeding through all the chaos as he gleefully threw children around onto karts.

At least they weren't real ones.

Yelps from the front came too, Lily seeming to suffer with a shriek as one of the children covered her window, panicking her into slowing down.

Anyone would, her shocked face speaking volumes as her own birds tried to pick the kid off.

And the poor windshield cleaners too.

Nabiu barely seeming to dodge them-

“YOU NEED HELP???”

“SHUT UP, NABS-”

Karoto growled and finally ripped the kid off him, proceeding to let it disappear into the air as he concentrated back on the race.

That was a hassle he would not want repeated-

Nabiu seemed to be before him as he couldn't even see Wizzro, deciding to at first tackle the student in front of him, even without items.

A few well placed drifts quickly landed him forward, ignoring any commotion on the back that included Tomaria seeming to triumph abound getting an orb.

But she was far, far away.

That meant any bombs being dramatically exploded back there didn't mean anything to him.

A jump from a nearby tree was made, kicking away a nearby Gibbon who screeched in pain before he got beside Nabiu, housing a smirk as he patted her shoulder.

“Everything good with you, Nabs?”

Nabiu of course quickly snapped her head to him, taking a curve as both of them were approaching the final checkpoint.

She snickered happily, nodding her head and adjusting her grip on the steering wheel.

“Mhm! It reminds me of driving my small toy car.”

Karoto restrained any dumb comments for once as he readjusted a page from her book-and-potion-mix kart, flinching as he almost fell off the bike.

Nervous laughter left him but was quickly replaced with a genuine yet competitive smile as he gave a thumbs up.

“Alright, let's go now! Do the best you can, Paintball!”

And with a quick thumbs up back that turned into a fistbump, she gave a sharp nod.

“I will!”

With that-

{ LAST CHECKPOINT! }

The final part of the race started, Nabiu already going faster due to her lack of weight.

Nothing he couldn't compete with.

…Or could. A small appreciative hum left him at the fact he has now at normal weight-

But there was no time to muse, as the trees seemed to move around right in the path, forcing all the cars to make quick turns.

By now, the bomb weather seemed to have settled, just returning to the normal chaos of the road as everyone followed along.

Hourclock birds chirped along, even Gibbons cheered, and someone jumped from a particularly big root, showing their support.

Karoto felt above them and he couldn't be happier as he did a spin, hitting his wheels right back onto the dusty road as he tried to get in front of Nabiu despite it all.

It almost worked even, with all the might-

SWISHHHHH-

Something like a blue, crystallised thing flew past him, causing a shiver to force itself through his system as the mere sight.

What the hell.

WHAT THE HELL-?

The crystal ignored everything else, seeming to be shot from a distance as it kept going, flying faster and faster till it reached first and somewhere in the front-

Shrip.

Something cracked, exploding in the front as the crystal shattered into a million pieces and melted away into nothing, Karoto only catching what's going on…

Because Lemlo was frozen before them, crystallised for a moment-

CRACK!

“HUrgh-”

Before cracking back open, the engine starting by itself again as she was behind Nabiu and in front of him now!

He had the opportunity to speed up, to completely forget and get a better place now that she was stunned for a bit-

But instead, he slowed and let her pick up speed again, meeting her ragged breaths with comforting words.

“Everything alright, Citrus?”

Lemlo looked back with an uncertain expression but un-tensed, probably at the fact someone cared less about the competition and more about a fellow racer's health.

“Uhm- I'm… I'm fine. It just felt weird.”

She didn't seem to lie, quickly grabbing the wheel again and exchanging a glance with the carrot right behind her while Karoto let her speed up.

Well, it seemed to be one of the items.

Just… with a bigger boom.

Well, for now he should focus on staying 5th pl-

SWISHHH-

“SEE YOU, CARROT!”

Oh, you gotta be KIDDING ME,

As if it wasn't enough that he was 5th, he was now 6th due to the fact that Brocco SPED UP for some reason.

A suspicion caught him that this might be the fault of the red rod ball the guard was holding.

And even if he could get an item, or do something else in the last second with drifts-

! F I N I S H !

The last finish line had already been passed as the five before him waited right there.

There was a quiet moment where he innerly cursed himself, but nothing could have been done about that.

Maybe.

Not with the insanity of such a race.

“THERE YOU ARE! YOU DID GREAT, KARO!”

Karoto snorted a laugh anyway as the little blueberry jumped out of her car and towards him, getting into his arms with a nice hug.

One that definitely cracked a few bones just now.

“H-Heh-! Thanks, you were good too!”

The carrot couldn't bring himself to be bitter at his little companion, patting her head as he looked over to the other contestants while everyone arrived.

Tai and Wizzro seemed to be in a good mood for their places.

“Ah, you ended up first. Not bad, mister M.A.G.E.”

Wizzro chuckled softly, acting like he didn't just do the most insane move in racing history with one of those orbs, rubbing the back of his head.

“Oh, my dear. It was no big deal, especially with all the insanity that has been shown.”

It was all waved off so easily, but Brocco quickly wrapped an arm around his lover's shoulder with a hum and a teasing glance.

“No big deal to throw shadow kids?”

“NOT LIKE I HAD A CHOICE-”

It was ridiculous, but the carrot snickered along anyway as all the other racers slowly but surely drove into the goal, seeming to have reached…

Wizzro's house? 

Worry about that later.

Karoto looked through the 11 other competitors, Lily coming over to pat Arti's back with a soft smile as her own birdies even rested on top of the giant yellow hat.

“Hey, you were right behind me-!”

She tried to cheer the big artichoke up, who turned their faceless head over to the flower girl…

And gave a soft nod, brushing a hand through her hair and ruffling it as the princess chuckled along, holding onto said big hand.

She did have to adjust Lily on the head, getting just a bit dirty as Arti helped keep the dress tidy.

Probably a habit as a hero from princesses, queens and kings after the usual savings.

Even others-

“Ah, salted pudding… Guess we gotta go faster next time, hm?”

-seemed to be alright about the change of places.

Pfifferling hummed under her breath, pulling onto that long mushroom edge of hers until Petunia made noises that sounded from beyond god-

But seemingly comforted the mushroom despite her acceptance, giving a quiet sigh as the Verdog received pets from her owner, even if they lost.

“Hey, at least you two were almost first last time-”

“And we will get it at some point, especially with my friend’s speed!”

At least she wasn't that mad, even as Cameron flicked an ear to the side at said comment, grumbling about their supposed position.

At some point someone is going to vomit from this.

The tomato was right behind him, snickering as she rolled a bomb in her hand and walked forwards.

“Well, at least… we got… what places do we have, actually?”

Tomaria finally spoke up as she jumped and hung onto Lemlo’s back to look around, causing the poor bat to almost stumble with a heave from lack of strength.

“P-please don't do that-”

“Oops-”

Lycra quickly steadied the poor bat as the healer bomber jumped off, but did ask the right question.

One that luckily was answered soon as Sickle ran forward to a certain spot, not caring about any smudge on the silk of his pretty bathrobe.

A certain spot that glowed in pretty colors, curling around with purple lines and sparkles before the Dark Mage teleported right before everyone with a readjustment of his cloak and a stare that told some stories.

“Sorry for the delay, I needed to calm the crowd from their cheering.”

He absently let Sickle press against his side as the big mage gingerly rubbed the head, quickly pulling up the leaderboards for everyone to see.

And the reactions made sense pretty quickly.

_____________________

○ ° POSITIONS : ° ○

• 1st: Wizzro

• 2nd: Tai

• 3rd: Nabiu

• 4th: Lemlo

• 5th: Brocco

• 6th: Karoto

• 7th: Lily

• 8th: Arti

• 9th: Tomaria/Cameron

• 10th: Sickle

• 11th: Lycra

• 12th: Pfifferling

_____________________

“Well, it could have been worse!”

Tomaria perked up without much complaint, snickering instead as she got a half-hearted fistbump back from Cameron, who didn't seem that excited.

But he went along, despite it not being a big move up from the test race.

It was all just for fun, yet Karoto doubted it in a way.

Lycra huffed quietly, but decided to put his worries away to give a pat to the nut’s side, still smaller despite her being one of the smaller contestants.

He knows the paint mushroom would put his own anger aside to be a good loser.

“You did good too, especially since you were 12th last time.”

Tai quietly hummed in response as she brushed off her outfit, leaves and some bark flying off that the little birdies helped pick off.

She tipped her head gracefully in return though, nudgíng his shoulder back as a sort of ‘you too’ response while her birds chirped along, one kicking off a stick.

Karoto snickered softly as he lightly brushed off his jacket as well, but only to adjust his once again from all the wind.

“Definitely gonna have to pluck my scarf later-”

He muttered under his breath as he plucked a singular small branch bit off it, luckily not ripping any bit of scarf in the progress.

That's still panic attack territory.

But the carrot averted his attention as couldn't help but turn his head to Lemlo, seeing a hint of sadness from the bat from the fact she could have gotten first if the crystal instance didn't happen-

There was a hint of bitterness at the thought that he couldn't identify.

Perhaps because it was unfair?

But it was an item, so-

What was the point of even thinking about it?

But luckily, he didn't have to awkwardly go over there and assist her, as another comforting pat on the side came from Wizzro as he decided to give encouragement.

“Well, despite me being first, I will say you did your best. That's what matters!”

A dry nod came while averting her eyes to the ground, but Karoto could sense the fact she appreciated it nonetheless.

Almost no-one could resist the head M.A.G.E.’s charms, which he had quickly come to realise over time with all the practices they had done.

Brocco nodded along to his lemon and slowly looked over to the little M.A.G.E beside him, who gave a simple nod as well in response, along with that big sweet smile.

Nabiu happily got under her wing, hugging the fruit as a way of comfort… which seemed to at least work as an encouraging method.

The broccoli guard decided to talk to the Dark Mage’s kid, who seemed just a little bit bitter over his placing despite his best efforts.

To join a race provided by your father and fail over and over.

Must feel shitty.

“You did good too, despite your placement. I hope you aren't too demotivated?”

Sickle only sighed quietly and gave nothing more than a slow shrug, letting his white pupils roll around before meeting the guards hidden face once more.

“Well, what else can you really do, Guard? I'll just… try my best next race.”

And the father quickly agreed as he rubbed his shoulder, kneeling down to the cloaked kid to meet his son's face with a rather comforting gaze.

Still creepy in appearance though.

“I'm sure you will, Junebug.”

Pfifferling seemed to only give a shrug in response to all the support from the others but at least got a sweet nudge from her pet.

She didn't seem to care that much about the race, even if she did tease and push him during it.

And they seemed to be close, which was something Karoto couldn't deny, even if he didn't like either of them.

He almost bit him after all - not the kindest greeting in his opinion.

But all this small talk pushed one specific question away.

Which luckily, Nabiu asked quickly enough.

“Say, why are we at Wizzro's house? We don't have work today!”

Karoto could only nod as he looked back at the mage and then the M.A.G.E, giving a suspicious stare to the banana-colored wizard with a frog-like blink.

“You two working together, or something?”

He somewhat expected the two to deny everything, shooting down any questions asked-

But the two wizards of their kind seemed to correspond, Wizzro chuckling softly in response as he tilted his hat upwards while the Dark Mage huffed quietly.

“Not exactly, no! But the king asked my house to be a track!”

What.

“What-”

“YOU MADE YOUR HOUSE A WHAT-”

Brocco didn't seem to have agreed to the terms and services of Wizzro's ‘I do whatever I want’ mindset.

“I can explain-!”

Wizzro immediately shot his hands up in protest to all the immediate confused reactions and Brocco getting in his face, getting a response from the others as well.

“Respectfully… I don't think the cars will fit in there.”

Lily mentioned softly as she pointed to her big carriage where currently Tai and her own birds were resting onto, nestling onto the curvy top.

"What about the crowd? Not everyone can get in there, even if your house likes to defy logic.”

Arti had signed with simple motions, remembering how they had gotten lost several times as the house was bigger on the inside rather than the outside, even as a newly adopted child all those years ago.

The rooms were confusing. Very confusing.

You think you know where the kitchen is? Good for you, but you will have to live with the fact it is most definitely not in that edge of the house where you think it is.

A staircase sure fits in there with multiple rooms, but you start to question where the hell it's edge is on the outside.

Simply?

It followed the rules of ‘shut up and don’t ask.’

Wizzro scoffed just a bit, but at least listened to one more suggestion from his partner as he booped at the nose pointedly.

“Also, how did you even get the idea that this was gonna work?”

…For a moment, both mage and M.A.G.E blinked at each other like frogs once more, before having the little moment that made a few people squint.

Which was because the two of them had not at all noticeable but perceivable grins on their face, looking at each other as if they wanted to rob a bank.

Wizzro leaned in for a moment, speaking to the other audible enough for Karoto and some others to hear.

“Did you do your part with the crowd?”

The Dark Mage couldn't help but smirk ever so silently, just having that outstretched smile that told even more shit than the glare.

“Of course.”

Both snickered like high-school girls about their favorite boys, but Karoto wasn't sure if the cloaked weirdo even had someone.

The guy reeked of “divorced”.

Whoever decided to invent something where to get bound to the person that you lay with, you need money, whilst also being forced to PAY money to get rid of said bound person, was probably a moron.

Or an obsessive piece of shit. Or perhaps someone who wanted to truly show love and affection.

Probably not important.

“Well, everyone… that means I can show you quite easily. Come inside!”

Karoto averted his attention as Wizzro waved everyone over, getting a few stares and looks before the group decided to head into that cozy home of his.

“Hm, I have never visited such a place… quite cozy, I must admit.”

Pfifferling said, for once in a calm manner, as she peeked into the kitchen quite fast, seeming to just find curiosity of the culinary section and potions.

Probably needing more ingredients. Or new ones.

It fitted her plate in any manner, especially from what the thief experienced from their last encounter.

Though the noises that came from behind him from her… companion probably made the carrot flinch more than necessary, taking a step back from the giant beast.

It lightly curled around his little green root, shivering and curling around with the voice of a broken, dead corpse that lost all its vocal chords-

But it continued on to its owner, slinging around and causing the Dark Mage to grumble once it passed.

Only the appreciative hum and pat was seen before the two disappeared into the kitchen, finally giving him the opportunity to avert his attention.

“Oh, it's such a lovely, warm home… so… normal.”

Lily whispered out loud as she let her hands rest on top of the tablecloths and chairs, seeming to take a glance at all the things that made a normal home.

Not a kingdom.

The quietest of sorrows laid upon her expression.

Karoto didn't really know much from her kingdom besides the fact that they got a lot of treasure and plant-based foods for everyone, but from being a princess?

Must be hard. Especially if all eyes keep being on you.

He wasn't even sure if she was next in line to the throne or not, but that was definitely something.

“It's cozy, I'll give it that.”

Sickle looked through the books especially, getting Lycra to join in for a moment to absently browse, even recommending some.

The library was full of books of all kinds, after all. So much knowledge Karoto didn't need to seek, like the anatomy of humans.

Ew.

Tai and Lemlo cozied up to the plants for a minute, watching them grow and flourish while Arti stood to the side, listening to the facts.

Only mildly flinching with one of Tai's rare yelps as the plant sprouted by accident, forcing a squeak from the bat when the plant was quickly grabbed.

Probably panic from the big past-predator.

Karoto looked away casually.

They'll handle it.

Brocco still sighed, upset with the way that only a little had been told to him about this, especially with Wizzro being his very-close-best friend.

You know.

Boyfriend.

But soon enough, said boyfriend squeezed the guard's armored hand, getting one squeeze and a silent huff back.

Hopefully a reassurance for next time, that they’d discuss this. Karoto was not in the mood for his two - cough cough - guardians - COUGH - to have random fights in the middle of the day.

That would be a tragedy! His poor naps would be ruined!

Also his one safety due to all the screaming and yelling.

Their healthyitsfinetheytalklikenormalpeople.

The one other thing he noted was Tomaria and Cameron sitting down for once, talking together as she cleaned off any bombs she brought along, and snickering.

“Did you see me-? I was absolutely killing it back there!”

Cameron let a chuckle slip while catching a bomb that was thrown at him, of course not having it activated for safety, and he cleaned it off as well.

“Yep. Next time, keep the bombs just a bit away from our car, it almost tipped over.”

“That's the funnnnnn-!”

“Toma. I don't want to be blown up.”

Tomaria shot finger guns and laughed along, twirling the rope of the round explosive while kicking her legs along, getting a small tail wag from the wolf.

Best friends.

And only best friends, something Karoto knew beyond a doubt from when he was still in their team.

At least they were on better terms now.

“Hm… what do you think is going to happen?”

Nabiu slowly leaned towards her bigger friend, seeming to glance outside where all the karts had been kept for now, starting to gain dust.

Or rather, disappear from some kind of magic poof, probably to preserve it for the next spell.

“Maybe they just wanted to play chess at this rate.”

A chuckle left both of the idiots' throats, snickering along like teenagers, which was more than true for Nabiu, and acceptable for him.

…To be honest, Karoto did try to learn chess at one point because that one masked intern kept wanting to play it with everyone, and Mono kept being busy.

But then the kid kept blabbering about letters and numbers and really complex moves and-

“Vita nostra parva est ut sit corpus nostrum.”

Wha-

SHROOooooooommm….

Karoto blinked.

Several times, actually, as he felt the floorboards beneath him, smelling wood, ten year old dust beneath the cracks and probably cracker pieces that had now rotten away.

“H-hahh….”

The sound of a small blueberry beside him caught off guard, looking over as-

“HATCHU-”

“Gesundheit.”

Nabiu sniffled as he quickly shot his gaze around, noticing that everything had gotten bigger or from all the confused screaming-

“THIS IS SO COOL!”

Everything had gotten smaller.

Tomaria questionably decided that now after being shrunken down on a chair, it was a great idea to casually JUMP OFF IT-

“WEEEEEEEE-”

“TOMAWAHAAAAIT-’

Those idiots even came in too as Cameron stumbled off it the same way, yelping and screaming for his life as Nabiu gasped and ran forward, quickly pulling out her rod-

Catching Tomaria first, getting the giggling tomato, and saving her from splatting-

“HFF-”

“Gotcha!”

And the latter getting caught by Brocco, holding the wolf close and putting him carefully down on his tippy toes as the others soon came closer.

Arti had used the simple method of running forward, using a quick needle swing to reach heights while Lemlo came in tow, carrying Tai along while the birds chirped.

Luckily, the Artichoke picked up the desk princess on the way, putting her down at the same time as Tai jumped down from the exhausted bat's grip.

“Why- why are we so TINY-?!”

Lily panicked first, brushing off her dress and yelping as the constant cracks proved to be a danger to someone of such a tiny size.

Even Wizzro had some trouble as he carefully jumped across, getting help from Arti and Brocco so as to not accidentally get stuck between the cobwebs and old dust clouds.

That was an abyss not even Karoto would want to take on.

“COMING THROUGH-!”

From the side, Lycra came along on the young cloaked kids' magical cloud skateboard, jumping from it as Sickle made it disappear.

“Alright, this is… unique, to say the least-”

The mushroom looked over with a quiet glare, getting a few follow-ups on nervous stares that were all directed at the yellow wizard.

“Soooo… any explanations you wanna provide, you insane ding-dong?”

Karoto decided to speak up again as he walked forward, shooting up his fingers and raising a rather curious brow and adjusting a loose bit of his scarf with a smirk.

Said wizard quietly looked at the commotion, rubbing the back of his head like he was just caught jaywalking across a road with a crosswalk just beside him.

“Well, uhm. Me and the Dark Mage thought this was a creative idea!”

That was one hell of an excuse, but he was right.

It was one creative idea for sure.

Brocco squinted harshly at Wizzro before putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a sweet look.

“You're sleeping on the couch tonight.”

"Evidently."

The only sound interrupting anything else was the stomping of the Verdog approaching them, the little ball claws smacking down on the wo-

FWSH-

“WOAH, WATCH IT-”

Yeah, no, that perhaps was only a TINY BIT accidental.

“Ah, sorry… Petunia rarely gets such space!”

Pfifferling laughed it off as the sounds emitted again from the horrid beast, leaving Tai to tilt her head at it while her birds quivered.

What a chaotic mess.

“...Well, anyway. To the side, everyone.”

And without much effort he clapped his hands, and with magical glowing of purple and blue and a few spoken words-

“Ostium ad me.”

THMP.

Oh yeah.

Why not teleport THE WHOLE FUCKING CROWD OVER HERE, HUH-

The whole stage was casually teleported into the middle of the room, earning yelps, complaints, cheers, and probably vomits from the same leek.

Poor guy.

“Now… get used to your tiny appearances, as the race starts in 20 minutes-”

“What happened to the ten, Sir?’

The Dark Mage shot a glare at the little M.A.G.E who looked at him like an innocent sheep, blinking repeatedly with those big eyes of his.

A groan left him before he answered, the other contestants already splitting.

“They got doubled for motion sickness, now leave me be!”

With that and nothing more than a shrug from the blueberry, she set off somewhere for her break, leaving the carrot to choose for his own.

Well…

Hm.

What could he really do?

Stepping around felt weird to an extent, but Wizzro seemed to be conversing with a certain part of the crowd.

Despite all the other contestants that he could relate to, Wizzro was one of the most comforting due to his calm voice and general gentleness.

He was nothing more than a sweetheart beneath that giant banana hat of his.

So, as everyone did their own thing, he decided to step over there, only mildly noticing any other interactions.

Lemlo was talking to Brocco for once, about the giant plant that had now turned thrice the size of them with the bat’s plant power…

Pfifferling was for once conversing with Sickle, somehow getting a conversation going despite all that these two didn't seem to have in common.

Arti was with Tai, speaking quietly in sign language - the nut must be learning it from the artichoke.

Lily seemed to be with Cameron, having the calm aura probably a balsam to her nerves as he wasn't as crazy as everyone around them. The thief would know.

Lycra was with Tomaria, only panicking a bit from her jumpy nature as he heard a bomb go off in the distance, while Nabiu decided to play hot potato with the three.

He was only a bit worried, but it'd be fine-

“-ust wouldn't want your students to get sick, that's all!”

“Thank you, Mister Wizzro. But we will be fine overall.”

Finally, he had reached his destination.

Apparently, Wizzro was talking to a rather dark-purple dragon with hot-pink spiral marks going along their wings, and wearing some sort of cyan cloak.

Actually, some other people in the crowd even had that same cyan-to-soft-blue cloak, which he thought the old man told him about once or twice.

Celestial High School, or something?

Nothing he cared about too much - it probably wasn't even that important over all to him.

But from the knowledge he had gained, Wizzro sometimes did potion or ingredient deliveries for their classes and something called… the counsel?

Didn't really matter.

The only kid he somewhat knew there, due to classes and the constant studying, was a carrot like him, albeit 19, called-

“Oy, Pipsqueak! Give me a towel, Lemini needs one!”

“Just call me Kiri. Dear Nantes, why am I even trying…”

A sigh came from the dragon at the chaos coming from the three individuals, one being the carrot, another one from a leek (that was the person vomiting)… and an acke, painted with a red head and four eyes that were known for their type of toxic fruit.

“Hey, it'll be alright, Lemini.”

“Urggh, this feels like h-hell…”

Said leek seemed to Lemini, wearing the same blue uniform that adorned all the students, currently wrenching into a bag due to the teleporting sickness.

The toxic fruit quietly pulled out of his vines and patted the back, holding the waist and stomach securely for support.

“Maybe you should have expected the fact that magic was gonna be used if-”

“Don't finish that sentence. Maybe you'll be better off studying in your room instead.”

“Ackee, Kiri, could you two just behave-? We are in public!”

Kiri only scowled and crossed his arms as he was scolded by a star in the back, seeming to be with another counselor that happened to be a blackmore, who blinked patiently.

Ackee, the… acke only rolled his eyes before redirecting to his smaller friend, patting the head and helping with the mess as the star rolled his eyes.

What a mess.

“We apologize for all the trouble, mister Wizzro. I hope it isn't as bad-”

A living potion quietly came in, rubbing her hands together nervously while her rainbow-like, fluid hair dangled down, luckily getting a bit of a back rub from the dragon beside her.

…Karoto weirdly got the same feeling that he felt with Wizzro and Brocco.

Girlfriends.

Wizzro chuckled softly but shook his head, resting his arm on the wall and shaking his head towards the two counselors.

“Oh, nono! It's alright, we all were teenagers after all!”

Karoto felt bored just listening to the conversation, grimacing at the lackluster chatting of older people that had seen the world.

Even he had seen it, and it was only magical in certain parts.

So, the carrot decided to walk around once more, hoping to kill time before the race finally started, noticing Arti in particular admiring a flower petal that had fallen off to the floor.

So, he casually brought his arms up behind his head and walked over with a cheeky smirk, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Arti! My old friend, why are you looking at a petal all alone?”

The artichoke turned slowly with no recognizable expression, only lightly raising their silk-like lines on the back.

No answer was given for now as they kneeled down, still towering over the thief as they carefully touched the lost life with their claws, only lightly cutting the texture that was slowly rotting away.

He couldn't help but grow nervous at the fact he wasn't getting a clear response, just having to watch the petal get cut bit by bit.

Maybe.

Hmpfh.

Even with all the recovery, talking without just using his silver tongue wasn't as easy as it sounded.

It was all about emotions.

“...Alright. I, uhm. I….”

Intelligence didn't connect to said emotional talk for him as he just sat down, not wanting to force the giant artichoke to look right at him.

He seated his ass down beside them instead for good measure, looking to the side to perhaps distract his anxious mind.

All Karoto really wanted from this race was to. Well- race-! 

But he didn't want to really spend his breaks anywhere else by walking anywhere else with his tiny body.

No amount of exercising or health protocols could make him.

…Maybe food but-

God, FOCUS-!

“Alright, I- …I just wanted to say that your… driving has been good! Yeah. Exactly. Your- your driving, uhm…”

A little stutter here and there wasn't existent as it filled up his vocabulary, reminding him once more that speaking the truth was so much harder than the honey that made up lies.

Truth was more like… glue. But not hot. Just glue. Dried glue, especially.

It sticks everywhere, it's hard to get rid of, and you can't even properly twist it if it hardened on the surface already.

Clenching his hand helped to at least numb the sensation as the other balled its fist into the scarf, shivering from the idea of even talking, not knowing if they'll leave him again and-

Pat pat.

Karoto let out a breath he didn't realise he was choking on.

A quiet hand went over his strand of green hair, brushing it back and scratching the scalp for a moment as he relaxed into the comforting motion.

There was a faint voice, telling him whatever this was, he didn't deserve it.

Sometimes, he listened to it, but it got better.

So a smile slowly rose to his cheeks, a rare, truly genuine one, as Arti sat down right beside him, the towering state not as scary once you saw them as a parental figure.

Someone who would protect you, even if not as closely.

“Sorry, I-I guess I just got that high-level anxiety, huh?”

Flat joke.

But the hero only huffed as they brought part of their giant, heavy cloak around him to shield the faint sun rays coming from the sky, shining down on their tiny forms and onto the lost petal.

In a way, it was beautiful.

Sure, it was a sign of lost life, but it meant there could be something new growing in the pot it was lost from.

Wizzro told him that once.

If something is gone, something new can start its way.

Karoto breathed as he realised they might not have to talk that deeply yet, relishing the minutes passing as they just sat there in the silent understanding.

And for once, the silky petal seemed to survive just a bit longer than usual for the two.

…While said time passed, the carrot decided to take a small peek around one last time with bleary eyes, barely dozing off against the cloak as he was supported by his companion.

Sickle seemed to for once be talking to Nabiu, taking a walk together and conversing about something he didn't quite understand.

Nothing he needed to understand as the kid posed with open arms, maybe telling about his dark, dark past.

Or maybe, he was conversing about books with Nabiu.

Again, nothing he would know from a distance as Nabiu only patted the cloaked kid's side, seeming to at least get the smallest softening up from him, even if he turned away right away after.

Nabiu made a lot of people happy. Karoto knew that.

So he wasn't surprised that she could even cheer up that introverted kid, who seemed to struggle with some things. Not too much interest on that face, or a true expression.

Whatever it was, he wasn't gonna know it until he spoke to him.

Not that that was gonna happen now, though.

The wood was hard, but he was used to it as a small, croaky voice replied beside him.

One that Arti used rarely.

“I'm not m-ad. Just so yo-you. Kn-ow.”

Right.

A part of his brain argued that it was a lie, but the bigger part that started to love itself responded back by kicking the arguing side in the shins.

The imagery got a giggle out of him, where Arti even responded back with their own little raspy laugh, rubbing the jacket with the same softness.

The small carrot leaned his head a bit closer. Just like old times.

…Karoto wasn't entirely sure how much time they had left.

“I th-think-”

The carrot hushed the artichoke for a moment with a finger, adjusting himself to look at them.

“You can sign if you want.”

A blink.

Vines unraveled from the face to show a soft expression, a smile, and a quiet glance from the one working eye as they signed with their hands, making the motion fluid and good to read.

“I think Tomaria and Cameron drive great. Even if they're in the back.”

It was nothing he couldn't agree on, especially as the two were doing their best, no matter how annoyed Cameron could be at their loss.

Both did what they could.

That included them most definitely blowing people up.

It was not new at all.

“Yeah, but you do great too! Something I... I couldn't say properly before.”

Karoto mentioned with an encouraging thumbs-up, letting one eye stay open while looking to the sky, where the sun rose above everything else.

It probably would burn him like a child with a piece of glass, so keeping away from it was the best option.

Wouldn't want to turn into mush now, would he?

And for a little while after, it was just peaceful silence, listening to sweet nothings and any voices that poked out from behind or beside them.

That should have been about 15 minutes if he was right, meaning that soon… there would be the next race.

And he was sure that he would do better than last time! It just meant he needed to drift.

A lot.

And get lucky.

DEFINITELY LUCKY WITH THOSE ITEMS.

So, his feet quietly propped themselves up as he stood up, getting a gentle look from the artichoke that was still bigger than him, even if they just sat.

They raised both of their hands, before slowly motioning them crookedly downwards.

‘Leave?’

The carrot simply chuckled and nodded, stretching his arms with more excitement than before the small dozing-off session.

“Yep! I gotta get ready for the race, you coming?”

Karoto always had that look of curiosity and determination in his eyes, even if it faded at some points in his life.

It brought a lot of people with him and convinced them of hope.

But Arti simply shook their head, tilting it to the side as they placed their tongue over their bottom teeth, and used a slight head shake. The dominant hand moved backwards a couple times while swinging at the wrist.

‘Not yet.’

They kept at the wooden floor for a bit, watching the tomato and wolf do their shenanigans before soon going to the race themselves.

But that was not now.

Eh. Whatever they wanted.

A simple shrug left the carrot as a response, nudging Arti and waving off with his right gloved hand.

“Your loss. See you soon, Spikey!”

The nickname slipped rather fast as he walked off yet again, yawning and putting his arms behind his head as he looked around for the last five minutes.

Though he finally did spot Nabiu, who was a teensy tiny blueberry with a giant head, zooming around like a mouse as she went towards him.

Waving was quickly said and done, quite like a fan as she tugged on the brown coat with the biggest smile possible.

A bit exhausted perhaps, but that was reasonable with their size.

“I got to talk to Sickle and Wizzro!”

Ah, two wizards.

Mages? M.A.G.E.s? 

He sure as hell didn't know the difference, just that Wizzro seemed to be more mechanical and that the Dark Mage… used actual magic?

Whatever it was, both seemed to have fun at the activity that Karoto only understood the smallest things about.

“Ah, what did they tell you? Nerd stuff?”

That pout on her face told him that he succeeded at his teasing.

“No! They told me magic spells!”

Excuse me?

Blinking was probably the best response you could get from a 16-year-old who previously at the age of 15 threw objects out of windows by accident.

And apparently, NOW KNOWS MAGIC SPELLS.

“W-what kind of magic spells-?”

“This!”

With a quick circling of her hand, rubbing them together and then doing a quick ball motion-

SHPHEW-

…

Alright so.

There's apparently brownie monster spells.

At least, that was the message he gathered from what appeared in her hand, a literal mini brownie with tiny legs and two dot-eyes that blinked around like a lost puppy.

Nabiu seemed just as surprised as he was.

“That's not- They told me it was a fire spell-!”

She gasped in disappointment despite the small accomplishment, at least getting an encouraging lick from the small chocolate dessert.

He.

Had to try.

Truly hard was it to not accidentally grab and eat it, sweating a tad from the pure amount of internal dedication it took.

It was a brownie. Who cares if it was alive, BUT NABIU WAS RIGHT THERE.

WHY MUST IT BE A LIVING BROWNIE-

RIIIIIIINGGGGGG-

“EVERYONE! THE RACE STARTS SOON!”

Hungry urges needed to be put aside, it seemed, as the vehicles poofed in existence for the start of the next race.

A new chance to get first, this time to hopefully win the race!

At least three times.

His little blueberry friend immediately perked up and jumped forward, outstretching her hands as the crowd cheered once more, excited.

“Ohhh, this is gonna be amazing! I'll have such good chances!”

Karoto rolled his eyes with a laugh, picking Nabiu up and throwing her onto his shoulders with a tight grip.

“Not if I get first! Then I'll eat your brownie.”

The gasp that came from Nabiu's throat as he started to walk was one of distraughtness, betrayal, and probably shock, as she shook her head.

“NOOOO, IT’S A PUPPY-”

“ITS FOOD-!”

Karoto laughed evilly as he ran, getting yelps yet snickers from the M.A.G.E as she clung tightly to him, enjoying the piggyback ride she was getting.

And soon, he could spot more of the drivers arriving, including the king himself as he brushed off his outfit.

“Alright, this is going… well! Surprisingly!”

Said broccoli seemed to be relieved as he wiped a bead of sweat off his face, yet getting a side-eye from the Dark Mage, who had been dusting off his cloak.

“Have you doubted me, your highness?” 

Eyes wide as saucers at the comment, the king wildly shook his head.

“Oh, NO-! I meant i-it like- due to the contestants-”

But the mage only snickered at the panicked rambles as he shut his mouth with a hand, getting a huff from the other.

A smirk rode to his black cheeks, the white eye adding on a sharp yet amused stare.

“I was kidding. I can imagine it's a lot of stress to handle this, especially with how I feel already.”

One tiny nod was given back as the Dark Mage quietly rubbed at his back, giving some support for the upcoming race.

Well… he's sadly sixth, so he slowly but surely went between Brocco and Lily, where only the broccoli knight seemed to have arrived for now.

Everyone else seemed to slowly be flooding in for the race.

“Is everything alright back there?”

Brocco’s voice rang through the cheering and whispers, giving an amused look to the carrot who previously got his fifth place stolen.

“Haha, yeah, I'm fine, you vomit-cloud.”

There were about a hundred quick nicknames he had in store for insults and the broccoli squinted a brow at every single one.

Not even that metal helmet could hide it.

The carrot snickered to himself as the broccoli simply rolled his eyes, letting all the racers come in, and stole a glance from Wizzro.

Happy waves were shared as Brocco called out.

“Good luck, Lemon!”

“You too, Lime!”

He liked to actually not be in the middle of weird romance perks, looking over to the crowd and waving to it.

He actually got a few back, which came from a beer bottle with a rather encouraging smile, some vegetables, perhaps a few objects like cassette tapes.

People who were definitely on his side, waving along to all the other racers as well.

“Hey, Karo!”

Turning his head, he noticed the voice came from Nabiu, who was accompanied by Lemlo, the fruit quickly flying to her cart and stepping down on the seat with a quick flap of her wings.

She also brushed her ears back for a moment, breathing in and out.

It'll be alright. Maybe she can get before Wizzro this time.

Tai had been chatting with Lycra for once, letting him hop from her side to his car with a thumbs up, letting the engine run and warming up for the upcoming race.

Lily was talking to Dorago once again, the dragon flapping his wings and seeming to say something to her.

It was hard to tell with that constant stoic face he had, never showing a smile, even despite hugging her.

But the snickers and relieved smile seemed to give all these emotions that are hard to tell a way to express themselves.

Karoto shrugged simply as the rest came, which included Sickle with Tomaria and Cameron, the healer bomber giving a pat to the other’s back, and the rogue a wag of the tail, before jumping on the car.

Tomato ready to drive, Wolf holding his hammer to attack.

And Sickle sighing as he made his floaty cloud appear, forming it just so it might go faster for this lap, with particles floating all around.

Whatever makes the cloaked kid feel better.

The last ones to come…

…Were Arti and Pfifferling, the mushroom seeming not all that happy about the fact her precious Verdog was teleported away.

“Oh, Petunia! I can't believe it-!”

She huffed, patting the creature whose sounds were still like a dying corpse currently being delivered to the morgue.

Apparently, that's what happiness sounds like for some strange creatures in the wild.

Arti gave a singular pat to Tomaria and Cameron as they sat down in their car before him, the tomato getting to chatter some more along with Lily, who nervously joined in as she almost hung out the door.

Everyone seemed excited to finally get this show on the road.

And to be honest? So was Karoto, at this point, bringing his hand to the clutch and gripping it tightly as a smirk grew onto his face.

But the Dark Mage had one last thing to say as he came before everyone, letting his giant cloud appear with the ever-watching eye.

“Alright, just for your information. Wizzro, Sickle, as well as anyone who lives in this area don't have any advantage here.”

Alright, rude.

Karoto blinked a couple of times as he perked over to the audience's attention being stolen, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

Too much talking, NOT ENOUGH MOVING.

Luckily, his wish seemed to come true as lights filled the sky once again, including the usual text-box.

•<[WIZZRO'S HOUSE]>•

< THROUGH POTIONS AND GIANTS >

Second race, here we go.

The Dark Mage sighed under his breath as he quickly cleaned off the eye, letting it go to the sky again as everyone got ready to race.

It was not easy, Karoto was aware.

“Ready.”

All that matters is concentration and speed.

These races are two minutes long.

That's quite a small amount of time.

“Set.”

But it'll be alright.

Just be fast.

And-

“GO!”

NYYEWWWWWW-

The vehicles started speeding up, Karoto already kicking Brocco away to get to fifth place, hearing a yelp in response.

Very quickly, a smirk started to grow on his face as he started to speed up around the first area to get to the first checkpoint-

The Office.

Or whatever Wizzro liked to call it, the wizard didn't seem to care much if-

SPHEW!

AN ORB WAS ALREADY GRABBED-?

Karoto forced his stare upwards as he followed the book trail up to the main table, already spewed with books he could do speed boosts on.

But someone grabbed the orb! Someone was able to-

“EEEEP, AAAAAAA-”

That was Nabiu.

Her potion-X-book car simply rolled off into the back as she almost hit him on the way, hopefully not spewing any fluids.

But that got the thief to think.

If he was saying that the orb attack only affected the ones in the back as they didn’t fall behind, then--

SHRIP-

…

Thinking was hard with thorns ripped out of the ground like those dastardly spears.

-A quick breath as he continued his thought, shooting his gaze around against the wind as he jumped and dodged the path of dangers that had been laid.

Vines. Or thorns, rather.

And the only one truly affiliated with plants was-!

“AH, DAMMIT-”

Karoto quickly dodged a book and an ink trail from a pen as he looked back quickly, the strike of the thorn seeming to have hit Brocco and get him off-road-

Only for a moment though, of course, as the Dark Mage pulled him out, at least what he saw from the short gaze he could keep-

The pissed expression of said mage almost made him snort.

But it didn't matter-

This carrot needed to win a Grand Prix! 

He grabbed the closest item box on top of the highest book stack, holding it in his arm before popping it open.

A… Rod.

Or rather, a red crystal ball on top of a golden handle, glowing right in his hands as he decided that today he wasn't going to question item logic.

He quickly attached it as they started to slide down on a particularly large book, obstacles made of crumbs and more discarded pencils facing them.

Too many pencils. One had to wonder if this was Wizzro's fault or if it was made for the race.

He shook his head, deciding this was the perfect moment, as Lemlo was close in sight! 

The boost was only on for a bit as thorns slashed past him, giving him the opportunity to finally use the boost!

CRACK.

Which kinda caused the whole orb to crack, gripping harshly onto the bike as it VROOMED right past Lemlo and rolled down the book at high speed.

He almost coughed his lungs out as he kept jumping from pencil to pencil, speeding up past not only Lemlo, but Tai, the girl not even knowing who was passing her.

Though, the carrot couldn't resist giving a wave with a dorky smile as he slid down from the books, quickly dodging a forward-placed pole that seemed to have belonged to a table.

A table where apparently, young interns hid potion stains or old gum underneath, leaving all sorts of puddles.

He could feel Wizzro's unamused state from behind him.

But-

ZAP!

What.

Karoto raised a brow as his entire car shook, seeming to change its form-

It had. Eyes.

IT HAD EYES.

Karoto was barely able to yelp as a hand reached out from one of the black puddles and slammed at him, causing him to-

Wait. His controls.

He nearly let out a shriek as the motorbike went the exactly opposite direction, causing him to accidentally move the bike over to that direction and-

-accidentally going back to the left path.

Away from the… monsters.

That's it.

His CONTROLS WERE REVERSED-!

And he wasn't the only one with problems, as shrieks from the back coming from Lily and Nabiu caused him to hold his mimic bike tight for a moment.

Both had run into the goop, seeming to slow down as Tomaria and Cameron finally got to speed up, the wolf sighing in relief and the tomato sending a snarky wave down their way.

There was an inner hope that both were alright as he kept speeding, keeping the bike under control as it growled and hissed.

“Oy, MY CONTROLS!”

He hissed right back at the teary-eyed bike as he slapped its front, causing a whimper to erupt from it as he avoided the puddles of different elements

One included popping hot liquid, akin to coffee, that he quickly jumped over whilst grabbing the next item, keeping the steering straight.

Pop!

….

Another potion.

Currently, he had other things to worry about than to stop his opponents, so he kept it at the back of his bike and got ever-so-close to Wizzro.

“Old man!”

The old M.A.G.E huffed with a quick wave as he sped up anyway as the cruel and stupid crumpled up banana he was.

A grumble left his throat as the bike seemed to slowly but surely return to normal, losing its eyes as he got to jump over a very normal water puddle.

With fish in it.

Very normal for such a small puddle, definitely. 

He almost snorted at his own inner conversation as he finally saw-

{ CHECKPOINT! }

Ah, that's it.

Another chance as he sped up away from that dastardly table, noticing that instead, a bunch of books that slowly turned into tablecloths held up by forks-

That they were driving on top of the oven and general kitchen!

Nothing too unusual for this race.

Simply adjusting his hold was enough to erase any sweat that might have rested upon his palms as he kept racing, rolling past the oven heaters or wh-

SPHEWWWWWWWWWWW-

Okay, th-

SPHHEWWWW-WWWWWW!

OHMYNANTES-

Karoto barely dodged out of the way as a fucking GIANT FLAME erupted from the plate, almost making him fall off the oven itself as he sped through it as fast as possible.

Also, that sound meant that another orb must have been activated-!

There was not much time to see who it was, quietly gripping onto his bike as he rolled over falling bags of chocolate chips, spilling the contents everywhere.

What a waste of food.

Quickly, his head moved back and forth at the dirty kitchen top to see whoever might have gotten the orb, finding nothing for a moment as he kept speeding up-

Faster, faster, FASTER!

Karoto heard a huff from somewhere, though, nearing Wizzro as he grabbed the closest item box after a strong turn away from the chocolate chips pile.

Instead, he landed into the hell that was KITCHENWARE, which meant he was speeding over spoons and going up rams of cooking ham.

He jumped over those as he finally noticed the item at his disposal-

A red nut.

A. RED NUT-?

He raised a brow, before finally getting a notification from another thing entirely to avert his attention.

Beepbeepbeepbeep-

The end of his orange and green bike was blinking, the one that didn't seem to blink all that sweetly still held the potion he kept before.

Why was it-

CRISH.

“Ah, this ungrateful shrew of an orb-!”

…

Alright, so Tai had been invisible for some reason, unknown to him, so the potion that he kept exploded right in her face.

Karoto couldn't even laugh as he shrugged hard, going back to the race as if an invisible nut didn't bump into him.

Though, he finally noticed that Wizzro seemed to grumble at his item.

A simple coin! Nothing more, not even a potion.

But there was-

FWEEEH-

ALRIGHT, ALL THESE IDIOTS NEED TO STOP THROWING CRAP AT HIM.

This time it was a green nut that Wizzro quickly looked away from, going off the kitchen with a spin as the bubbles of a pot on the floor were rising up to the sky.

Jump able. And so…easy to avert the path with!

The thief snickered quickly as he sped up, jumping on the bubbles alongside everyone, slowly but surely approaching the checkpoint that led to the basement entrance.

But first-!

He threw the red nut as fast as he could, noticing it working like a missile, zapping towards Wizzro and-

“aAA-”

-Knocking him straight out of the sky, ready to get caught by the Mage like anyone else that joined this race.

He laughed triumphant, looking back with the most snarky smile while falling down from the last bubbles as he decided to check his current competitors.

And it didn't change a whole lot, but it seemed fine-!

He was first, of course, but Nabiu was seemingly second, following along numberwise against Tai, Wizzro, Lemlo and if he saw right, Tomaria and Cameron!

All quite looking surprised, but Nabiu, Tomaria and Cameron looking especially determined to get this done, soon landing on the ground like him.

Quite the placing, but with a few well placed drifts-

{ LAST CHECKPOINT! }

He won't have anything to worry about.

Karoto's kart went down the stairs, only slightly worrying about flipping over and cracking his head open, but it was only a mild worry as he sped over them.

He did gasp and cough when it hit his stomach particularly bad, grabbing an item box barely on the way as he let it switch to -

POP!

…That's a coin.

Karoto gripped the coin and decided to ignore any logic or dignity he had left, throwing the coin behind him.

Directly at NABIU'S KART.

“THATS UNFAAAIIIRRR-”

“NO, ITS NOT-”

Please don't break the rules, you know. The non-existent ones that he silently prayed weren't actually existing.

There was beginning to be quite the distance between the other racers and him as he humped in and out of boxes, filled with various obstacles and rather interesting environments.

A box full of glowing mushrooms, one that had small slimes growing out of it, some weapons here and there that he could luckily live with right now!

All the while he either just got coins or nuts to put behind himself for protection.

This would be fine!

He was already reaching the last box, where it was just a turn and a road away from the goal, nothing stopping him b-

Beepbeepbeepbeep.

Another nut?

He groaned under his breath as he didn't worry about it, just putting the shell behind him for the next worries, proceeding to drive forward.

But.

The sound was just a bit different, letting his hearing pick up on it.

Sharp, direct, not quite speeding up like a nut or whatever that mimic was, but-

Wait.

WAS THAT THE CR-

CRCK.

The

Sens ation. 

He c ant f e el 

I ca n t

H u- r ts

M yb o dy h urt s.

All h a rd. E n ding. N o pu lse. 

It s. .h o r rr I'd.

I-im.

Sorry.

A.a.aaA AA.AAAAAAAAA-

CRCK!

WHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEACTUALHELL-

Karoto's breath almost ceased as he gripped on his bike, losing focus as he shot his gaze everywhere but the road.

His body was shaking.

His entire form felt like it had been frozen in time, never to be shifted, just by that simple-

What was that.

Was that how Lemlo felt? Was this the punishment for getting this far?

Breathe. Don't have a literal panic attack on track, COME ON-!

He could only grasp his breath and grip the hand clutch till his fingers fell off, because there was nothing else to say to that matter.

How are you even supposed to react to such a thing?

To such an atrocity.

He needs water later.

His head hurts. Like seriously after that encounter. Maybe their next occupation has a lake, perhaps just a small place to relax even.

Everything is better then, all he needs to do is-

! F I N I S H !

A deep choked up breath left his throat at the jingle.

The smell of rubber against wood was not one he enjoyed, currently not caring about any updated objectives as he pressed himself against the nearest wall.

Which was very much the one near the crowd, but he couldn't care less.

It's stupid. He should be handling this by now, why was this so HARD-

Breathe. Just. Remember how to breathe.

Quiet breaths left his throat as he used the others as a distraction, coming in after another to compliment everyone's skills as always.

So simple. So easy, truly.

He pressed his fingers against the wall once more, just to compose himself.

“Karoto-?”

Oh, yeah. People.

The faint sensation of a wing on his back got a flinch out of him, but it quietly melted away into warmth as he pressed his forehead against the wall.

Said pressure comforted him, even if he felt that faint sharpness of the crystal again.

There was only rubbing and the cold wall for a hit as the chattering didn't matter to him that much, at least not currently as a few more steps came along.

This one was larger, giving him some shadow, patting his head quietly and seeming to use its voice once more.

“Do…you ne-ed t-to v-vomit?”

Karoto was currently unsure of that, but for now, he shook his head.

He didn't feel physically sick. Just….uncomfortable. 

“Y-Yeah, it doesn't feel nice.”

Arti took a few steps back as Lemlo spoke from the sounds of it, leaving the carrot to sigh and compose himself once again.

“Urgh. You don't say?”

He couldn't help but sarcastically roll his eyes while rubbing the back of his head, focusing on the others as they all seemed rather alright with their positions.

Especially Toma.

“SEE? I told you we will get a better place!”

“Right- Good job.”

Cameron lightheartily patted the top of Tomaria's helmet, getting a snicker out of the bomber from the affection as he absently wagged his tail.

Arti had approached them as well, dusting off their teammate's kart, where the rubber already started to wear thin despite everything.

One hell of a magic car, huh?

Karoto absently looked over to the ones he barely saw in the race for all the focusing he had to do, which included Pfifferling, Lily, Brocco and Lycra.

The one thing cheering him up was the utterly defeated expression on the Broccoli's face beside Lily, who looked quite apologetic for the guard.

He got hit way too many times by these special orb transformations.

Not that it wasn't funny, but-

Pfifferling seemed more than alright with the current placing, even if it was low for their standards.

Even if he couldn't hear what the mushroom was saying. Not that he truly cared with such a splitting headache.

But he'll work with it.

He always has. It's part of the recovery, no?

“So, uhm..”

While rubbing the back of his head, the lemon bat quietly stood beside him, watching them all celebrate no matter the placing.

She rubbed her wings together, the skin still smooth like silk go his tired eyes, only getting an acknowledging grumble out.

“Are you…alright? I know i-its, uhm. Not the best feeling.”

No shit, he let slip in his mind, but it never muttered out as his gaze instead landed to the empty ground, just to bring his attention away.

Dirty. Surely it would be incredibly clean from the perspective of the usual height, but right now…

There were crumbs in the edges, dust speckles on the side and probably lost potion drips that have been lost to time.

But it was something, that's for sure.

Home.

Maybe.

“I'm good-...just. headache. Urgh…”

A look of sympathy was easy to receive from the bat, it's something he noted from all the interactions she kept around her throat.

Which was more than usual, if he was gonna be the one to say it.

She of course wanted to speak too, but he rather not.

“Are you g-”

“I'll be fine. Thanks, but a-again. Just a headache.”

It was a barebone excuse for a carrot with one of the most known silver tongues of the Kingdom, but the facade he put on had really worn down over the years.

He thinks the module left once he finally accepted the warmth of others.

A fair trade, one would say.

He slowly redirected his fingers to massage his forehead, walking forward as the crowd cheering and the chattering from the current win bore into his head.

Please let there be a lake, anythingwithairsoon.

“Oy, Karoto! You saw me, right?!”

Tomaria didn't help, her little feet approaching him and shaking that frail body of his, only getting a faint groan in response.

Perhaps that is what got her to stop, only looking up with a sweet smile as Cameron came along with a pat to the shoulder.

“Nabiu almost caught up, but that crystal helped, hm?”

Yeah, that crystal.

He didn't want to talk about that darn crystal anymore, but he gave a weak nod anyway to keep up the charade of normal talking.

Like a normal person in a normal society in a normal crowd with normal people.

“Yeah. Did she tell you or did you see my frozen shocked face from a mile away, cream pallette?”

Karoto jokingly nudged the shoulder with his arm, getting a simple chuckle from his wolf friend, who responded by looking over to said happy blueberry.

She seemed to be conversing with the others, talking in happy patterns to Tai particularly and even running over to the crowd to talk to any interns, students or general fans.

Which included talking to Cyrus, the literal guard and having to kindly be picked up and put to the side by Candaline, which immediately turned to talking and blabbering with Lena.

A chatter box, so he could simply assume that she blurted it out.

“It came from her, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. I think, uhm-”

“LYCRA THREW IT AT YOU-!”

…

What.

“What.”

Cameron only huffed at that certainly unexpected response as the carrot could only blink, almost giving a short glare towards the mushroom, the one who wasn't doing much more than congratulate Lemlo once again-

Therapist, THROWING LITERAL CRYSTALS AT HIM-!

But was stopped by a gentle grip to the hand by the tomato, causing the gaze to change into a more questioning tone.

“But-! Butbutbut I don't think he truly meant it. Arti shot it last round!”

Oh?

They were the one who used such an item against Lemlo of all people-?

Why would the Dark Mage allow such horrifying things?

Might have to ask that licorice-themed clothing hanger later.

For now though, he only raised a silent brow as he excused both Arti and Lycra from using items they probably didn't…mean to use.

Not like anyone knew what was happening or how anything worked.

No rules, no order.

A lie in the kingdom if he was speaking the truth from experience.

But in the end, he finally got a chance to look at the board of all their placings as it had already been placed by the Mage in question.

And it got a smirk out of him.

_____________________

○ ° POSITIONS : ° ○

• 1st: Karoto

• 2nd: Nabiu

• 3rd: Tai

• 4th: Lemlo

• 5th: Wizzro

• 6th: Tomaria/Cameron

• 7th: Sickle

• 8th: Pfifferling

• 9th: Brocco

• 10th: Lycra

• 11th: Lily

• 12th: Arti

_____________________

A place well earned, even if he got a migraine in return for it.

“Alright, everyone! I need to activate two spells, so if you're magic sick, simply get a vomit bag.”

Karoto barely looked over to the Dark Mage speaking up as he was making a big circle with some kind of paint, probably magic based.

Nothing that important, but something that was has been currently running towards him.

In the form of a small blueberry.

“KAROTO! Are you ready for the next race? It'll be so awesome!!! And you'll be awesome too!”

He rubbed his forehead once more, feeling the small beating of pain that only numbed down a bit from previously.

That didn't stop him from gently putting a hand on her head as she hugged his side, giving a soft smile in return.

Wonder if there's magic spells against literal splitting headaches.

He’ll probably ov

Wait, Lycra told him to not make those jokes anymore

“Karoto? Kid asked you a question.”

Oh yeah, world to him.

Shaking his head and trying not to look like it was feeling like a bomb, he forced up his usual smirk.

“Ah- Of course! Can’t leave without the trophy now, hm?”

“Yeah”

The two snickered together as the carrot quietly brought his hands underneath Nabiu, before scooping her up like a ball and placing her on his shoulders!

As long as it got her to laugh, he didn't mind the extra weight exhausting him.

“Alright. Everyone, stay put.”

It was finally time to use the spells, which kinda made him grip the kid harder.

Especially if it's two. 

“Aperi ianuam ad floridam laetitiam - Adduc parva ad normalem!”

Damn, Word garbAAAAaaA-

SWISH.

A 

Ah.

Teleporting.

Quick, painless, but he now understands the kid that kept wretching into a bag.

The sun was shining ever so brightly as there were no true trees to protect them anymore, shining down from above to bring light onto the world.

Light that hurt the current migraine even more as he groaned, unintentionally grabbing harder onto the poor kid's legs.

Where the-...hell…

“Is…THAT'S MY KINGDOM!”

Lily's voice struck through his turmoil as he finally forced his tightly shut eyelids to open up, seeing-

A giant kingdom. The Floral kingdom if he was exact, filled with flowers, a giant castle that was as green as ever, surrounded by a giant town that had been turned into a perfect race track for them.

Seats had been properly placed around as well, filling the area and letting the audience finally have a proper look and choice where they want to watch on the track.

Probably still gonna use that eye though so they can watch at all times.

“It's quite beautiful, madam.”

“Oh, thank you! I know it can truly be amazing, even with its own. problems-”

The flowery princess seemed to know the issues more than anyone else in the room as the scent of fresh flowers, bark and all the smells of nature filled up the kingdom.

Frankly, he didn't like the smell overwhelming his nostrils.

Not much of a flower person.

Tai seemed to be interested though, as her birds flew off to pick the nearest Berry Bush, which there were plenty of for everyone's preferences.

Said Nut only made sure that they didn't get close to any toxic flowers or potion ivy.

Lemlo actually had her own fun as well in this open area, flying up to the sky and taking a breath of fresh air to prepare for the next race.

Break must have started, which means 20 minutes of free time.

Honestly, Karoto was guessing at this point as the blaring headache made all attempts at listening painful.

Time to actually find a quiet spot with water.

“Hey, Nabs-! How about you look around and. You know. Look. Around?”

Perfect skills. Immeasurable.

God, his sarcasm is horrible.

“Alright! We will see each other soon at the RACE OF FLOWERSSSS!”

Faint chuckles still got to be coaxed out by Nabiu as she laughed along, stumbling her way through the Flora Kingdom as he finally breathed.

Okay, NOW go find a quiet spot.

Flora Kingdom was quite the lush place as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around to see the giant leaves, constant flowers everywhere and insects filling the place with life.

Some of its inhabitants seemed to be waving and talking to the other contestants, which included Brocco, Wizzro and Sickle surprisingly as the kid only seemed displeased.

Was he the whole time like this?

A few more notes he could make with his pained state was that Lycra seemed to be coming along with Cameron, having a small drink at a nearby garden.

Would the whole kingdom count as a gaURGRH-

YEP. WAter. Now.

Speeding up his step, he looked frantically while trying to not focus on the constant pain that was pounding in his head, hugging himself.

There has to be somewhere, it's a fricking Floral kingdom for Nantes sake, where is-

THERE. 

Someone in the sky finally decided to listen to him as he spotted a pool of water, almost looking like a literal pool if it wasn't for the one shield that said otherwise.

“No drinking water. Keep away.”

Karoto looked up to see Pfifferling letting the Verdog dunk their legs in it and sit right there.

Well.

Fair point, he guesses? Did those things need to drink???

He can imagine that they need to at least hydrate.

But it didn't matter- He quickly walked his way over to the water, taking a deep breath and taking a seat right in the aligned white space.

Perhaps taking a quick look around as he put his legs halfway there, wanting some cool down from the constant headache.

It hurt. Shouldn't it have passed by now like with Lemlo-?

The universe likes him suffering, it seems.

“Ah-! Karoto!”

Apparently, the universe also doesn't accept peace to come to mind as Lily's voice rang through his unrested ears once again.

Deep breath. You're overreacting. Just go along. It's f i n e.

“Ah, Spathe. What can I h-help with?”

While innerly cursing his staggering and stuttering, Lily quietly drew her hair back and kneeled down in front of him, having quite the gentle and apologetic expression.

“My apologies, Karoto. I was searching for Tai, as some of the berries here are quite rare and toxic and she has birds with her. Have you seen her?”

What a problem to have.

Well, he did see her previously going off to the left where the forests start, but she rather quickly disappeared beneath all the plants.

So whatever he would say right now didn't matter.

And besides, if he thinks too much about it, his head will only hurt more, even if it's now starting to cool down from the fresh breeze this land has.

“Well, Princess, I did see your little nutty noon to the left, but she might have vanished.”

He could almost see Pfifferling looking up at that comment as Lily squinted her eyes and crossed her arms while keeping a flat hand barely away from it.

“T-That is a horrible nickname.”

Karoto barely restrained a chuckle as he didn't really think about it.

He never thought much about the consequences as too many people judge too many words based on their toxified brain.

So, a shrug will have to do while rolling his eyes, slowly closing them as he laid his back against the surprisingly cold ground.

“Eh, maybe you all should stop taking everything to your head.”

The white lily only sighed as her clothing faintly laid against the ground, seemingly not leaving just yet as the expression turned to one of…

Concern.

“Are you alright?”

If he counted how many people asked him that, maybe it'll turn into a drinking game.

Which was ironic, because he surprisingly hates drinking despite his mental state.

He turned over, only looking for a singular moment before retracting his gaze to the sky, sun burning as bright as ever as he closed his eyes.

“Why are you asking today? Do I look that shitty right now?”

A low chuckle came as he pressed his arms behind his head, still leaving his legs to float in the cool water.

“Oh, no-! Not at all, it's just…I heard that there was something with a crystal?”

Alright, he was getting seriously tired of this repetitive talk.

“Nah.”

“Are y-”

“Yes, I'm sure. I would have probably told someone if I was feeling especially like a burned potato.”

For a return, Lily seemed to almost snort at that, finally letting her legs go upright and giving the smallest bow to the carrot.

Keeping watch that nobody noticed a princess did it to a famous retired thief.

“I'll believe you. Thanks again for telling me where Tai is-! Or where she…could be.”

And finally, finally, the flower princess left on quick feet to the forest where the berries reside, probably wasting about 10 to 12 of his precious 20 minutes.

The sounds coming right before him from that horrifying Verdog did nothing to cheer him up, if you were asking.

But at least the migraine vanished, along with his care to complain about everything in this world.

The thief quietly breathed in and out, leaving his eyes closed as the silence and darkness were a blissful combination with the water.

He got better at breathing too. It was a simple thing, but at least he didn't panic every two minutes due to the most simple things.

One thing the carrot also noted was that the breeze was heavier here, which could be from the water and the trees giving their oxygen.

Maybe.

Karoto wasn't good at biology and didn't care.

His legs were also still dunked into the water, still and quiet, pretty wet and having one of his legs-

Wait.

Something WAS GRABBING HIS LEG-

Karoto flinched away harshly, kicking water grabbed him with a yelp as he got to his very wet feet-

THUMP-

-Which caused him to slip and fall back first back onto the floor, letting out a pained groan of sorrow.

“Awe, you don't wanna play with Petunia?

Shakily raising the middle finger that popped into existence was the only response Pfifferling got, who responded with a small snicker.

“Well, she just wants to have fun! It is free water after all.”

Sounds of a dying frog were not fun, but who was he to care at this point in time, blinking blearingly from the lost relaxation.

As long as no one touched his scarf, he was alright.

He thought over how long his body had been laying on the ground, gripping part of his coa-

“RACE STARTS IN ONE MINUTE!”

Ah.

19 minutes then.

That meant he had to stand up, which means he had to not slip up again and fall on his ass to get to the race and win it.

Bleh.

So, he moved to stand up and m-

SPLISH- THUMP.

EWEWEWWETPIECEOF-

“Easy, Petunia! Don't want to crush our friend now, hm?”

Getting splashed on by the creature twice due to getting out of the pool and shaking itself intensely to dry off didn't improve his mood.

Especially with that MUSHROOM laughing along like it was the greatest joke in the world, hoping on and giving pats of appreciation.

“I'll see you, Karoto. Don't sweat it!”

The stupid cannibalistic was already walking away with her dog.

Which caused him to finally stand up with a grumble, brushing off his clothes and stretching himself as he ignored any wet spots his clothes may have.

It didn't matter, he'll get dry during the race.

Looking to the side, he did notice one flying fish, which he remembered was named Finn from their once almost death encounter-

“Hm. The waters do look good.”

The bounty hunter was however, rather without emotion in the face, leaning over the water and watching his ever moving reflection in the water.

It was nice to not constantly see Contestants.

But if one fish is in the sea, another one which was a Catfish might just come along-

“OOOOOOOO-OO-OOO, WATER!”

Diving RIGHT into the water, splashing the poor flying fish full as he remembered that that was Mahi, a lycan corrupted being.

He thinks. Karoto is genuinely unsure if there's any other reason she would look like that.

A snort left Karoto's throat as he finally stretched himself once more, turning his hand and waving to the two wet fishes.

“Well, that happened.”

At least there was no more migraine.

Karoto quietly started to walk back to the start of the race, the big castle in the distance as he already saw his companions get into their cars.

“Oy, Mint!”

He waved towards Lily, walking over to the carriage and taking another look at the Floral kingdom, giving an eyebrow raise.

She quietly looked out from the window and held onto the edge of the door, looking at the carrot.

“Yeah-?”

“Did you allow this or like, did you get any say in this? At all?”

It was a question for sure, especially as the princess of the Kingdom. Or was there a King? Or Queen? Or anything else????

Karoto didn't know as much about this Kingdom as the other ones.

But sweat was the only response Lily gave, looking away as if she didn't want to answer the question given to her.

Nothing that he didn't feel before, especially during his recovery.

Too much talking, not a lot of healing if you don't do it though.

But he decided to keep space as everyone did with him, patting the shoulder and shooting the most reassuring smirk he could muster.

“Hey, at least that means you can show off your skills here!”

A blink.

Before he got her to smile softly, a soft snicker leaves with a determined nod, closing the door that keeps her from driving.

Well, that's that.

Finally heading over to his bike though, he flashed another smirk over to brocco, pointing with a rather snarky gesture.

“Perhaps you get to use your special attack, Brocco.”

The only thing returned was a quiet huff, patting the shoulder of the bard as if he didn't even care if the race was won or not.

Not like they needed too, he was so getting that trophy!

“Right, just…be careful this time. You seemed ill earlier.”

Yeah yeah yeah, I don't care.

“Mhm, yeah. Don't get your wig snatched.”

“NOT. A. WIG.”

He would have choked on wheezing at the guard’s heavy glare if he didn't want this man to roll him over in the race.

He prefers not getting his body squashed to pancake, thank you very much.

Oh, he almost forgot another thing!

Quickly heading over beside his bike, he leaned onto Nabiu’s little book contraption, making grabby hands with a simple intimidating grin.

“I want that brownie.”

“I don't have it, so no!”

What.

“W H A T.”

Karoto may have had an eye twitch right then and there at the lack of brownie he was getting from his sibling, staring the girl down with an intense stare.

She blinked innocently back with that dorky smile, giving a thumbs up.

“I left it at Wizzro's!”

…

You live another day, brownie.

He only let out a sigh and a nod as she simply waved him goodbye, jumping up and down while keeping near the steering wheel.

“GOOD LUUUUCCKKK-!”

“YOU TOOOOO-!”

As Karoto finally landed on his bike, the Dark Mage appeared as always, getting on his floating cloud with the same eye as always.

It was blinking rapidly, before he gently grabbed it and gave it eye drops.

Well, fair. It did need to follow them around the racetrack, so it's bound to get things stuck in its eye.

Now…

•<[FLORA KINGDOM]>•

< FLOWERS AND RAVENOUS VINUS >

○○○

“Alright, Ready up!”

So, it starts again.

With the same race they needed to finish.

“Ready.”

Floral probably means plant obstacles.

Which probably means Venus flytraps.

It'll be a struggle, but nothing he hasn't done before.

“Set….”

All that's important now.

Was to be the fastest and keep at first place.

Just speed up.

“GO!”

NYEWWWWWWWWWW-

Karoto sighed as he gripped onto his bike, letting it speed up across the lush plants as cheers of the people filled the air as there was indirectly a boost panel.

In a straight street no less with an orb ahead!

He could finally get one for himself!

Gripping harshly onto the hand clutch, he steered towards the orb spawning point, trying to get into a proper position to grab and use it-!

And-

SWISH.

Nabiu grabbed it instead.

“HAAAHAAAA-!”

Well, that didn't go as well as he expeHRURGH-

Karoto surely expected a special attack, but not one where he drove into EXPLOSIVE POTION BOTTLES.

A panicked scream left him as it covered his eyes, forcing him to take the turn while slowing down to wipe away the mess that the girl had made, racing beside the giant castles.

He heard more hisses and the laugh of a certain blueberry as he moved back, noticing many others who were in front also being forced to do the same.

As he finally wiped the toxic fluid off his face with surprisingly minimal injury which he could assume was from a spell, he counted the ones in front-

Sickle was nearest, and so was Tomaria with Cameron driving, so he definitely had to be aware of any items.

Anything in front was something he could deal with quickly if he was fast enough.

The ramps as of currently were more boost panels in the form of vines throwing you forward, using that to his advantage to get near the circle when the item boxes came.

Andddddd-

POOF!

A Paint Flower!

He will use that in a minute when he focused on not running into a wall!

With many quick rounds around the castle done, a detour led them to the Royal gardens, which was filled with quick turns and apparently, potion ivy to dodge as rings.

Perfect.

Now, he just had to-

Wait, GIANT DUST CLOUD-

He turned heavily, letting the bike screech in pain as Sickle avoided it as well with a groan, seeming fully focused on the race.

Even more perfect!

He activated the flower, attaching itself onto the front of the car and firing it right onto his nearest opponents for effect as he dodged the harsh walls of the hedge maze.

Only hitting them like twice, but it was fine. He had a bike!

The first hit Sickle, causing the poor cloaked kid to flinch as the paint clocked up the steering wheels and any chance to drift!

The same he did with Tomaria as he got close, not only splashing her face as she blinked baffled before hitting the car as well, messing up the wolf's delicate fur.

“HEY, YOU JERK!”

“PARTTT OF THE GAME, YOU SOUFFLE!”

He could almost hear the eye twitch from the wolf as he couldn't help but reach his hand out to the many flavors filling the stage, almost to distract Sickle even more.

He liked bullying people.

“Urgh, stupid-”

Muttering cursing was like a lullaby to his ears.

If he had any.

But that meant he was moving up the spots, letting the leaves and petals fly along his way as he reached-

{ CHECKPOINT! }

His first goal, now to the next!

He could admit, it was beautiful to race through here, even if it meant distorting the fields with their dirty wheels.

Innerly, Karoto apologized to the flowers as they now approached the fields, where a giant road with wide ends had been laid out with vines and flowers.

Happily, the carrot gripped onto his bike and sped up, having sadly lost the timer for the flower…but it was fine.

It was all fine.

In sight he now had his next racers, using the big bumpy hill to ride his bike up and get a good look on who's in front of it all-!

Wizzro, Lycra and Nabiu in the front!

He only faintly heard the dilemma in the back as his bike hit back onto the ground, hearing frustrated yells from the tomato and wolf.

Probably had a bad luck charade, but that's their problem.

He sped up as he grabbed another item, letting it circle through as he couldn't spot who took the next orb with their stupid destructive powers.

Well, he either finds out, fucks around or gets hit with a painting while driving the hills, only seeing pollen hitting the ground to be an obstacle.

Or the slamming vines that also were good for jumps as he finally circled to a red rod ball, snickering as he used it to sped up and-

POOF.

AHCAT-

“HIisSSSS-”

“GET OFF ME, YOU STUPID-”

Karoto most seriously did not need a cat on his face with exactly three heads, BUT OF COURSE SOMEONE USED AN ITEM FOR IT.

Hissing back seemed like a good option as he ripped it off him, throwing it right behind him as he heard the yelps and panic from them.

Probably no one important which he cared about, like the painting flying towards him.

….

Wait like the whaAAAAAAA-

CRISH-

“OHDEAR-”

To be honest, the reason any of these attacks are unexpected are probably because no one ever used an orb before and nobody knows what it does.

So one could feel sorry for the wizard as he got a literal canvas stuck on his head, quickly getting it ripped off by another contestant.

The carrot couldn't help but thank the Dark Mage for literally giving him the thinnest vehicle to dodge said attacks.

Quick turns were given as he avoided any pollen, only coughing from the nearby ones getting in his throat from all the wind.

“HAH! ART REALLY CAN HURT!”

“YOU’LL HURT SOON TOO, PICASSO!”

“H u h-”

And as he finally passed the paint mushroom and avoided any sludge that might been left by the special attack, drifting towards his goal-

{ LAST CHECKPOINT! }

The last lap finally turned its head towards him, going the path back to the forest as Nabiu was his last obstacle…

And apparently.

VENUS FLYTRAPS.

“EEP-”

Yelping once or twice was a hard urge to resist when you were getting bitten and barely getting chewed at from these green plants.

They occasionally bit trees or twigs that they ALSO liked throwing right at you for really good measure.

He liked giving them the middle finger for good measure as he drove past and sped up, using their roots to do trick jumps.

“Naaabbsss-!”

The bard called out in that singy-songy voice while rubbing his hands together for a moment immediately gripping his bike as the blueberry looked into the rear view mirror.

A shocked gasp was clearly seen from said fruit, giving a determinate expression as they drove to the heavy forest full of Venus-flytraps and thorns.

None of the thorns weren't sharp, so he was careful to not touch them as he snickered along, looking around for any item or orb.

These hosts were greedy as hell, not giving that many boxes, he could end all the competition in a second-!

But of course, he wouldn't get any! Because he's a lowly thief with too many crimes to even-

Alright, too many thoughts actually.

He was almost there too! Just a bit more speed and Nabiu was right behind him, watching him race over the finish line!

SSSSHHLINK-

That sound just meant that someone must have picked up the orb, but he was fast and avoiding any traps, passing slopes at high speed.

It's not too long, he just needed to-

S L I S H.

…

Time froze.

Karoto's breath caught at the sudden pain in his side.

Slicing. Piercing. Just like

…

‘Spears aren't bad!’, his brain told him at the very moment time slowed down. ‘You were taught this at therapy! Maybe it isn't even a spear!’

But it was.

It cut. Right around his belly. Cutting skin tissue as it flew right past him and on the ground, yet not causing a single scream to rip from his throat.

It was too busy breathing.

Attempting to.

B re athe-

No hand clutch resisted as he suddenly slowed down. What else was supposed to happen? He was gonna bleed out anyway.

Blood would fly around the track. His blood. HIS BLOOD-

The heavy wind flew past him as the other vehicles passed by at full speed, the sound faint as the ringing full blown drilled into his brain.

The bike stopped and he barely stumbled out.

Falling to his feet as a croaked cry came out, not even a scream, his eyes blurred from the tears welling up.

‘You got help! Why are you afraid?’

“It's just a spear! It's just a small injury.”

‘Why are you crying.’

Why is he crying.

HE SHOULDN'T CRY, HEHEALEDFORTHISFORFUCKSSAKE-

But his body and throat didn't obey, struggling to breathe as he weakly crawled over to the next tree, gripping onto the loose roots.

He forcefully bit down onto his glove and pulled it off, almost biting too hard.

He needed

It can't be

He touched the

B loo d.

Warm. It's warm.

ITS WARM. THESPEARHITHIMANDHESGOINGTODIEBECAUSEOFIT-

It got worse. His breathing hitched more heavily as he gripped onto his scarf.

It's not alright. HESNOTALRIGHTTHISISPATHETIC.

HESADISSAPOINTMENTWHYISHELIKETH

URRGH-

…

…Acid coursed through his throat before whatever was left in his stomach, quickly hit the floor.

The smell of vomit stung his nose and only got him to grip his stomach harder, keeling over as he puked.

It only stopped after about 20 seconds. He didn't count? He did?

HEDIDNT

…

Steps.

Steps cut through the ringing as a shadow approached him, getting him to curl up and sob on the spot as he covered his face.

They can't see. They'll hate him. Maybe the person watching already does.

“------”

What.

Nothing came out as his sobs got quieter, trying to listen despite his shaky breathing as the shadow became a tiny bit smaller.

“Ka–to.”

His name.

….He forced his arms to move away a smidge to take a look at who it was, his eyes blurring his vision at the dark figure.

Darkmage. HewasannoyedbyhimandeveryoneANDHERUINEDTHERA-

“Bre-the. 3 i-. - o–.”

Breathe? How do you breathe.

HOWDOESAFAILURELIKEHIMBREATHE.

He held tighter. Gripped harder at his scarf as his eyes hurt. His side hurt. A low sob left his throat once again as he tried speaking-

“I-i- can-can-t-”

But the figure encouraged as it came closer, getting flinched and whining out of the usually snarky carrot.

God. He was a mess.

“You ca-. Fo—w me.”

The Mage. Mage?please. Made a soft breathing motion he could recognize through the blur, 3 in-

“In…”

….and…

“..Out.”

He needed to follow. That’s the one thing he can do right.

Sharply, a breath was taking in as he shook and flinched, barely lifting his head for something that the other offered.

Affection.

And even if the Dark Mage flinched for once as well as the thief sharply exhaled and shook-

“...Alright…”

The muttered response was wrapped with a soft motion to hug the carrot, bringing his arms around the small figure.

He gripped back for his dear life as he wetted the shirt with freshly shed tears.

“Shh…here…let me…”

The wound.

The bleedingdisgustingwound

Got slowly closed from what he felt. Closed and healed as a warm glowing hand moved over it, almost like a heater.

“Keep breathing. Come on, Pumpkin.”

Nicknames are his thing.

His thing.

But

Itcomfortedhimrightnowsohedoesntcare.

Breathe. Right. Breathing is important for a person.

….he took a short breath in, waiting the three seconds as if he was gonna get hurt if he didn't.

And….3 out.

Breathe in.

….

Breathe…out.

That continued on as the ringing faded.

His vision not blurred as much anymore as the warmth remained, but not dangerously or like the rotten blood he was birthed with-

But comfortably warm.

….The guy's cloak was really soft. Karoto couldn't help but grip it with a soft huff.

Internally, he grimaced at the vomit still dripping from his chin, gently being wiped away with a cloth.

“Ah, are you alright again? You took quite the…Detour.”

Hesitation. A thing he knew himself for way too much.

But despite all this comfort, he couldn't help but force up that snarky side that never wanted to be weak in the first place.

“O-Oh, yeah…detouuuurrr…! Like you constantly go, eh, b-”

“How about we bring you to your friends before you start lying to yourself?”

…

Alright, that one hurt his ego more than he wanted to admit.

Admittedly, he didn't stop gripping the cloak at first either, rubbing it between his fingers now that his glove wasn't on.

He averted the gaze only once before giving the most shallow nod yet.

What a horrible round.

The cloud the Dark Mage used appeared, the man himself going first before offering a hand, pulling the small carrot to his side and holding the side.

“Hold onto me. This will be fast.”

Soon the soft cloud ascended into the sky, giving him even more air to breathe in, watching the clouds and counting them silently to get the rest of the stress away.

Floating away through the sky was a rare sensation, only few could get it.

Besides if you have a sibling with an Echo road with no control.

The small eye from before peacefully laid beside him, seeming to have closed its eyelids once they stopped performing for their crowd.

But finally-

The crowd, cars and his friends were in view.

Karoto couldn't resist being a bit funny, grabbing onto the edge of the cloud and waving heavily towards his small friend.

“NABIU! UP HERE!”

And the blueberry looked up, which he expected to turn into happiness and glee once she saw her big brother including the others usual banter-

But.

It was just concern.

“KARO-!”

Huh.

They reached the ground at some point as he stumbled off, by which the peace didn't last long as he was TACKLED in a hug by her.

And despite his confusion, there was a hint of fear that mustered up as Brocco came close with immense guilt written over his face.

Even. Pulling off his helmet.

His stomach bubbled again, getting his vomit senses up as he restrained them again.

Dear Nantes, Spare him.

“I-..Are you alright-?”

A silent stare was quite the thing to give the warrior after such an experience, but the carrot couldn't resist to smirk anyway.

Waving it off, he hoisted himself up, holding onto Nabiu and rubbing the upset blueberries back.

“Of course, why wouldn't i be?”

“You bled-! And you almost hit several trees!”

Snitching wasn't nice, Wizzro. 

The wizard of course gave his word too, being as concerned as all the other times his panic ruined their time and place.

But rolling his eyes was the optimal solution, deciding to put his panic somewhere else, widening his eyes at the realisation.

HE FORGOT HIS BIKE.

“Well, the bike had more damage! You scratched it!”

Something to complain, that's what one needs to ignore the issues currently present-

That didn't keep Nabiu from pressing on through, stretching herself in Karoto's arms and grabbing his face, giving the eye contact of death.

His arch-nemesis.

“BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU???”

Wave it off, it needed to be waved off-

“Nabiu, it's fine. I'm alright! Not a scratch on my body, you see?”

She only squinted her eyes as the broccoli couldn't help but check as well.

Despite his resistance, warmth started to pool in his stomach from all the attention and care he was getting from his family.

A few people were staring, perhaps even the contestants that were mixed with concern, numbness or simple ignorance.

The crowd was so silent too as whispers filled the air.

How much did everyone see?

And as he pulled up his objectives to distract his thoughts, he finally got a look at the placing.

And paled despite his suspicions.

_____________________

○ ° POSITIONS : ° ○

• 1st: Nabiu

• 2nd: Lily

• 3rd: Brocco

• 4th: Lycra

• 5th: Sickle

• 6th: Wizzro

• 7th: Lemlo

• 8th: Pfifferling

• 9th: Arti

• 10th: Tai

• 11th: Tomaria/Cameron

• 12th: Karoto

_____________________

His first place was gone.

It was just last place now from his STUPID PANIC ATTACK-

Karoto forced down a hiss and the urge to grip his own arms at this stupidity, reposting to himself that it's not worth getting angry over!

It's just a place. But it's not. But it is.

BUT IT’S NOT.

“Alright, no wound…your work?”

"Obviously. I consoled him after all.”

The Dark Mage spoke with absolutely no bother, shrugging it off as one of the other contestants seemed to try and at least change the topic.

He appreciated it without words.

“Say, uhm…as a princess myself, where is the king? If I may ask-?”

Lily attempted to ask as she rubbed the back of her head, which was a rather valid question after not seeing that broccoli for a while.

Didn't he literally host it?

But Sickle seemed to know the answer, coming up from behind his father and starting to prepare another spell for teleportation.

For a second time, he was getting sick at the thought of magic being used.

“The king is settling matters on the next track. Miss bats land is quite restrictive after all-”

“WAIT, WE’RE GOING TO THE CAVE-?”

Of course Lemlo would be horrified at the thought of returning to that mess of a ‘home.’

Nobody seemed to blame her as she opened her wings a bit too far, smacking by accident against Tomaria, kicking her over like a bowling ball with a yelp.

“Hey, it'll be alright! We'll make sure no one does anything.”

Lycra encouraged gently as he grabbed the wing before it smacked someone like Arti in the face, folding it back in and patting the side with a reassuring gaze.

He quietly eyed the Dark Mage, to which the man simply looked away from it all and gave one more warning before he did anything bad.

“Yes, but we will be going back to ten minutes for this break, as you said…”

He barely restrained an eye roll while tucking on his cloak, seeming dismissive of the species for unsaid reasons.

“They would rather have us leave as soon as possible once we're there.”

Some didn't like said bat's for this one specific rule they follow with all the ones they called intruders.

Leave without disturbing the peace as much as possible.

Karoto learned that while visiting with Nabiu to get things for their exiled friend, getting constant hisses and glares from the side.

But that's their business. Not his.

Soon they'll teleport again and he will HOPEFULLY get the first place he wanted, especially now that it might get tight.

He didn't know if it was gonna be point based, time based, place based- He would be forced to win three times then to still win and-

Pat.

A hand placed itself on his head, gentle and rather soft.

Wizzro's.

A breath caught in his throat from it, but nothing bad as all he did was lean into it.

It felt safe, despite all that went wrong today.

“You'll be alright. Come to me if you need reassurance. Alright, my boy?”

Faintly, Karoto nodded.

It'll…be alright.

Just another day of healing, he supposed.

And it w-

“Omnes ad speluncam sumite.”

SWISH.

Teleporting was truly a mastery by how fast they had gotten to the one cave he didn't like.

At least other caves were quiet and protected from rain.

Karoto yelped as ground returned to him, gripping onto Wizzro's cloak as the heavy chattering of the folk filled his ears, including his eyes getting a relief from the light.

Opening his eyes gave him the sight of the giant cave kingdom.

Filled with a lot of holes and caves, plants, more holes for light at the ceiling, rock spikes and a racing-shaped hole in the middle of it all.

It wasn't even that a second passed from everyone teleporting there that hisses and angry clares passed through most of the species.

Bat's didn't like people. They were rather rare to see outside in nature.

So they preferred to have peace.

But apparently, the chattering that seemed to have brought this event on in the first place ran into his ear.

“-asure, dear Li. I hope my subjects are…not being too much of a trouble?”

“Oh, No, not at all! We can't blame them for wanting peace, you just need to console them properly sometimes.”

The rather gentle waving of hands from the broccoli king interacting with the colorfulness of the bat queen was quite an interaction to see.

Especially with how happy she looked. Quite the difference from the bats.

Beside Lemlo, because that Lemon was shaking like a leaf as she clung onto Lycra for dear life.

Exiled. Exiled for a crime he didn't believe she would commit at 7.

There was a faint bitterness for this stupid kingdom as he rubbed the rest over wetness from his eyes, definitely needing that ten minute break.

Urgh. Emotions suck. No matter if they're healthy or not.

And he even forgot to check the objectives he wanted to make sure of-

God.

The king seemed to finally step forward however, giving a bit wave and getting a magic ball from the Dark Mage, so everyone can hear.

“Alright! Ten minute break before the next race!”

They were going faster, he noticed, but it was probably for the best with the current audience already being hissed at from other bats.

Cyrus barely poked them away with his ice shards, keeping a harsh look and even getting some help from Dorago.

Sometimes he thinks this was all a bad idea.

But for now, he might as well get around to comforting himself for this race, so might as well play the fool and find something to do.

While avoiding Brocco for a bit, because he was not into turmoil boiling in his head from apologies.

That meant that Lycra and Lemlo were gonna have a fine conversation with the snarky little carrot that had a panic attack on track!

And maybe because he was worried about the yellow spoon.

Tapping his feet along the stones was easy enough, jumping over rocks, avoiding bats that were hissing and biting the moment he got close-

Bats truly didn't like him.

One specific one tried hissing again, grabbing onto his arm for a moment-

Before he pulled their arm close, growled and hissed himself, biting them right in the shoulder as a warning as they whined heavily.

Running off like a coward soon after.

…urgh. This will get him on a board somewhere here.

When did he start biting people?

Karoto shook his head at the hundred thoughts cursing through, finally finding sweet little Lemlo sitting in a corner with Lycra, chattering along.

Walking a bit slower to give them space seemed like a good idea, absently looking around for others.

Nabiu was jumping around with Pfifferling surprisingly, being allowed to pet the giant beast that put him like ten times already.

Lily was with Wizzro, seeming to talk about something that he couldn't care less about but seemed about crystals, admiring those.

Tai was sitting back, taking in the shade with Tomaria, who was painting her bombs and smiling around.

Cameron was talking to Brocco though, who-

Nope.

Not yet.

Nowhere was Sickle though, not even a speck of the cloaked kid, even if he got good placing.

But it was only a shrug worth of concern as he finally stood before the therapist and client, getting a flinch and a curious look.

“Hello, my fine folk! Can I join the talk or is it work related?”

His smirk came just as natural as breathing despite all the recovery that had taken place, the facade like a mask one could put on and off.

But that didn't mean it wasn't becoming easier to read for some.

“Ah, No. But you can sit down with us if you need company.”

Need company.

Like he was stupid.

Which wasn't what Lycra implied, but his brain liked to not follow along with kindness.

“Oh, if you insist!’

Karoto snickered along as he sat down beside the bat and mushroom, absently bringing his hand up to rub her wings and looking around for any other bat's.

Didn't need more issues than necessary.

“So…”

He unconsciously scooted closer, flinching every time a bat shot a glare for some reason, as if he didn't care before-

Stupid body, stupid functions.

“Anything special going on for our remaining…8 minutes?”

Lycra shook his head, but lightly pressed his big, colorful head against Lemlo’s side, which was quickly reciprocated by hugging him.

Nearly engulfing the poor mushroom with her giant wings.

“T-The…people don't l-like me…”

As if that wasn't evident for the exiled bat, which he could somewhat relate to due to his general past reputation in the most beautiful kind of work.

Thievery.

But this lemon bat didn't deserve it, not at all.

Shaking his head, he absently brought his guitar out and looked towards the other bats who got a bit too close for his comfort.

“Well, what did they do, linguini?”

He succeeded in at least getting a small snort from the nickname from Lemlo, but it quickly turned back into that miserable frown.

Rubbing her wings together, she spoke in the same timid tone as usual as she spoke, averting her eyes away.

“They k-keep pushing me, glaring, whispering-! I know my reputation, but…i h-hate it..”

Understandable.

Lycra also tried to communicate, keeping himself in the wings to comfort the scared lemon.

“Yeah, just watch a bit and you see the disdain. It doesn't make motivating any easier.”

Karoto nodded silently as he watched others pass by, his fellow contestants doing their own thing and from a distance, the Bat Queen and Broccoli King still talking.

Despite his hate for any kind of royalty, he didn't think that the King did it on purpose.

He would have noticed by now.

But despite his lack of care for any of the bats, that didn't mean that his friend should fail the race just because she's scared.

“Welllll…I can assure you, I'll make sure their hearing is broken if they hurt you!”

Lemlo finally perked up with wet eyes as he spun his guitar with that same smirk, blinking in surprise at the assurance.

“Are..you serious?”

And he couldn't restrain a chuckle this time, patting the head and ruffling her ears as she squeaked, flicking her ears.

“Of course! That's the duty of a ‘hero’, no?”

Sometimes, Karoto still said it, despite everyone already having seen past that lie from all that community work he had to do.

A quiet blink from the mushroom got the smile to falter for a moment though. Perhaps his tone wasn't as convincing? Or did the canvas already look through it again?

Fairly, he had ignored the panic attack from earlier pretty well if you ask him.

Not if you ask the therapist though.

“Well, surely.” Playing along at first, Lycra still looked suspiciously at the thief as he leaned in. “But are you alright?”

Forcing down an eyeroll was harder when sarcasm was your usual response to anything that included therapeutic conversations.

Shaking his head, he almost wanted to walk away and ignore this talk in its entirety, but he probably wouldn't be able to get anywhere before the race started.

Or Karoto could walk into Brocco.

Which is worse.

He liked avoiding his feelings even nowadays, thank you very much.

“I'm…fine?”

It sounded more like a question if he was honest about himself, averting his eyes just like Lemlo to a random plant that coursed through the wall.

And as much as he could avoid it once again till he was home, it could risk another panic attack in the race.

…Might as well, emotional recovery might as well give him stomach aches now.

“It was just. The. Spikes-”

His stomach acids almost wanted to make him puke into the grass again.

The taste came back, but he swallowed it down as he gripped his stomach.

“Hey. Breathe- like…like me.”

Lemlo spoke up as she rubbed the back, feeling the emotional turmoil that currently caused through both of their bodies.

Two in misery is better than one, huh?

Or whatever that stupid saying was, HE DIDN’T CARE.

But breathing Karoto attempted, silently following the others as he held his guitar so as to not push his fingers into his own carrot flesh.

Keep talking. Talking helps.

“I guess…uhm. Well. You know. I don't- I don't like spikes. And Brocco. Brocco had spikes.”

Mhm. Yes. Talking is his passion. Look how great he is making conversation happen.

He restrained a choked chuckle at his own sarcasm for this one.

“And that's why you don't wanna talk to him?”

Karoto faintly nodded in response to Lycra’s question, fiddling with his hands and tugging at his gloves, not wanting to bite his fingers again.

Apparently unhealthy, as Nabiu likes to mention.

More rubbing to his back. The carrot focused on that, leaning back as the glares seemed to slowly avert themselves as the seconds of the last minutes ticked by.

Perhaps just one minute.

A few seconds?

“Look, I…know we don't have the time for a whole conversation, which we will do in our NEXT session.”

Karoto chuckled nervously as the therapist gave one of his famous intense glares that he really loved to avoid.

But he kept listening anyway, absently hugging himself.

“But you should at least have a small talk before the race starts. Because it’l-”

“EVERYONE! RACE STARTS SOON, GET IN YOUR SEATS AND ADJUST THE SEATBELTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD!”

They

They had seatbelts this whole time.

Does his bike have some?

“-Give you just a small window of time to solve this, as you don't want all that turmoil IN the race, do you?”

Lycra finished with not much issue, giving a soft stare as he stood up and assisted Lemlo in standing up.

Karoto sat a bit more for only a moment but slowly stood up too, grabbing his guitar and acting as a bodyguard for a moment.

Just so Lemlo wouldn't get harassed by everyone.

Sliding down onto the rather 8-shaped-looking track, just without the track intertwining into each other, because everyone would crash into each other-

The track filled once again with people, but he got one more pat from Lemo with a soft smile.

“Thanks for protecting m-me- it helps, seriously.”

Karoto only gave a nod back as he gave a high-four with Lycra, who didn't have four fingers as of currently and left with a chuckle.

Nabiu waved to him, getting a quick help from Wizzro to enter the car without opening the door…

Pfifferling laughed as she patted Petunia, getting the Verdog to wrap its tail around the mushroom and bring her on its back.

Arti made sure that Lily had no rocks on her car or any plants due to the last race, Tai had one last chance with Tomaria and Cameron-

Sickle was talking too…

Alright, he needed to stop avoiding this conversation, even if it would just last a few seconds.

“Brocco-!”

The broccoli head almost immediately snapped over as the conversation from Sickle was cut off, looking over as well with a quiet stare.

Annoyed even, probably from getting interrupted as he shook his head and said something Karoto blocked out.

From guilt? What guilt.

Ruining the race? Making Brocco guilty? Or even just annoying everyone with his issues-

“Karoto? You, uhm…Wanted to talk?”

A H

“OH, YES- I. I mean, yes, I uhm. Of course.”

His silver tongue only worked when he wasn't under the nervous grade ten, that's what he learned as well.

The carrot and broccoli watched the cloaked kid walk away to his 5th spot.

That only left the two to stare at one another, blinking rapidly while the taste of vomit returned one last time to haunt him.

Even a pain in his side wasn't leaving him to his own devices.

“I…am sorry. For the previous race.”

Brocco started and regret was already boiling in his brain. Would a talk even help? Maybe. Maybe he should actually-

Thump.

…

Karoto moved.

Forward and hugged.

The guy.

Because hey, why would you not hug the guy and be awkward and like, actually talk your issues out.

The carrot literally could feel the stare from others and the broccoli guard himself, feeling an embarrassed blush raise to his cheeks, but-

Brocco hugged right back.

And he couldn't help but notice that they might not even need many complicated words this time, hugging tighter now.

“...Alright. You rather we talk about this at home?”

Well, or do that. At least this is somewhat solved? HE THINKS???

….Somehow, he actually believed that nervous talk, as cheesy as it was.

But shaking his head, he slowly separated as he saw the cloud from the dark Mage approaching, giving a quick wave as he walked back to his bike.

For once the guard lifted his helmet and gave a small wave back before putting it back on, getting to his…begrudgingly last place.

That just meant there was catching up to do.

“Everyone, listening up once again. This will be important.”

This time, he wasn't the only one on the cloud.

The bat queen and the broccoli king joined them, said broccoli going crisscross applesauce as he waved along and quietly patted the small eyeball.

And the rainbow bat [Which he faintly remembered as Rainy from their last visit-] simply chuckled, seeming to be rather relaxed despite all the precious stress marks on her wings..

Too stretched, sat in one position for too long, maybe not drinking energy drinks, what does he know?

“This race will be faster and much shorter than the previous ones…and probably the most chaotic by the people's choice.”

Speaking seemed to already displease the rapid bat crowd, as they rolled their eyes, glared and tapped their wings and feet against the ground impatiently.

At least some seemed excited as they sat down or hung around rocks.

“There will be a lot of traffic, so most places might change due to this…all I will say?”

Once again, the round watcher that was the eye appeared above everyone as he threw it into the cave middle, this time seeming to just chill around.

Our crowd seemed to have the perfect view, cheering and clapping for the second-to-last race.

“Just do what you got, there will be nothing but a finish announcement.”

Ah, so a surprise.

•<[BAT CAVE]>•

< BETWEEN PLANTS AND ROCKS >

○○○

Quietly, he adjusted his grip on the motorbike that seemed to not have a single scratch on it, only a bit of dirt due to his derailment.

Impressive. Probably due to it being magic produced.

No more vomit taste too, so it'll be better to just breathe and get it over with.

“Ready.”

The only important part was getting a chance to win once more.

After his failure, he preferred to not do it again.

Perhaps….

“Set…”

He just needed a singular orb.

A power up to get the entire track in absolutely madness.

And to avoid any other activation-

He just needed to dodge this time.

“GO!”

NYEWWWWWWW-

Alright, first things first was to focus on the road, which included heavily gripping his bike and turning into the separated 8-shape of the road.

Most people got an item box of course, cursing through as he just tried to focus on getting forward. Karoto especially focused on the ones in front of him.

Cameron seemed to be driving once more while Tomaria lead, with Tai and Pfifferling following and getting into a tight turn-

The fact they were technically already around half the track soon-?

“OW- DAMMIT-”

Ah, the orb screams he's gotten so familiar with.

He tried looking forward, quickly spotting the issue at hand as he turned right around while grabbing the next item box available-

Arti has got it.

And the car had gotten a rock tail!

“OWWWWIEEE-”

“NANTES, WHY-”

They were advancing fast as they kicked Lemlo and Sickle away, quickly racing forward as he focused on his next item, getting at least one place forward while waving off Tomaria and Cameron.

The wolf only raised a brow while the tomato waved right back, before panic encased her face as she looked back-

Catching up with 1st and 12th place was truly not difficult, which meant they were overdriving the last ones!

Though, that didn't change as all the items caused so many coughs, slips and chaos to appear that it truly was not important.

Also, he had really forgotten which lap they were on. Maybe they were still in the first? 

DIDN'T MATTER. ITEM.

He looked over, only seeing a glimpse of wood and-

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA-”

SWISH.

….

Alright, Doortal’s are terrifyiOOOOSHIT-

A loud yelp left the carrot as he had to seriously GRIP onto the hand clutches to turn into the sudden wall he could have catapulted into-

Alright, he was-

Wait.

HE IS IN FRONT PLACES-?

Taking a panicked look around as he made sure to keep the bike stable, he noticed that now he was behind Brocco…which meant 4th place!

How the.

You. You know what, he should be thankful, he is not gonna jinx this for himself.

This time, he had to turn quickly around the curses as some chaos had been planted from the previous items and now, repeating screams-

Luckily now, from right behind him as the screams indicated what was happening as he avoided tight potion puddles, vines on the floor and gas leaks-

Also nuts, as mainly green ones almost hit him due to the turn around-

“GET YOUR VERDOG UNDER CONTROL-”

“OH, she's just playing! Get over it, purple grape!”

Alright, that's an orb down for Pfifferling, which also meant-

Poof.

MeoHISSSSSSSssssss-

Karoto instinctively threw the Purrberus from his face as he made a tight turn, avoiding the choking noises from Petunia throwing people back.

Must hurt to be choked rather than bitten, but who knows what's hurt more by now?

Those poor people.

Oh, well. 

Quickly taking the tightest turn he could, which almost resulted in scratching against rocks - the sounds already beginning with little sparks - he sped up past Brocco!

For once, there was no malice as both couldn't help but wave at each other.

This was fun!

Karoto snickered along as he just needed a small boost, noticing all the cars slowly pouring together even the last places bleeding in due to the small track-

Yet his eye caught something else entirely.

Sparkling in the sky as the Dark Mage passed by, the cheering getting silent as he finally noticed-

AN ORB IN HIS WAY!

He almost missed it due to his excitement but quickly drove with one hand, catching the falling ball and rolling it in his hand with the most devious smirk known to man.

A sure strike in the right direction.

Without much hesitation, he crushed it beneath his hands, feeling the same energy cursing through it as his beloved guitars sixth point-

CRACKLE-!

Karoto's bike gloved in beautiful yellows as he stood up from it, gripping the object he knew so well in his hands and with pure instinct-

His electric guitar played its song-

“ARGH-”

“OOOHMYDEAR-”

“THAT SOUNDS AWESOME, BUT OW-”

The sound raptured across the cave, letting it shake and letting the cheering get to its loudest yet as the bats squeaked in surprise.

For a moment, his bike glowed in a strange blue color as well, which he could only guess was from the orb energy!

It was even sparking!

Wait should it be sparking

But cars crashed together, all places perfectly obscured by the mess as the karts even glowed the same color.

Why…did they glow the same-

! F I N I S H !

Huh.

Well, those are things to worry about after the Grand Prix.

Quickly, he let his bike drive up the stonewall and onto the normal path, drifting to slow it down, finally letting the wheels get to a stop.

The other cars followed, drifting and sometimes missing their path as exhausted gasps left everyone, including him.

No lie to the fact that it was fast, huh?

“There we go.”

“Ah, that sure was a lot of wind-!”

Rainy chuckled for once, albeit nervously as she hung on the dark Mage, who walked off the cloud and watched everyone.

“Try not throwing up-?”

“I'm trying-”

Lemlo squeaked as she held onto poor Lily, who was shaking from all the turnarounds and spins that others also got sick off.

Which included in his current petty favorites:

Pfifferling, who grumbled as she brushed off the debris and dust from the rapid driving across. This also included Petuniay who shook herself to get the dust off-

Which hit Sickle's face, causing a coughing fit which Wizzro assisted by patting the back.

Arti seemed barely fazed by it, letting the rocks fall off their giant yellow hat as they held the dusty blueberry and shook her.

“We. E e e e ee-”

The artichoke seemed to chuckle under all those vines, also plugging off faint rock bits out of Cameron's hair, who was rather displeased with all the dirt.

Tomaria seemed rather unfazed, as does Brocco and surprisingly Tai.

Even if her hat looked like a frisbee.

Before he looked at any leaderboards for this race though, he quickly pulled up the Objective list.

L o a d i n g . . .

Complete all Races! [5/6]

Win the Broccoli Cup!

One more.

One more and then they are finally done-

“Alright! Here's your list, careful now while getting off-”

The Dark Mage helped the Queen get off the cloud, not wanting her wings or claws to get entangled in the soft fabric.

Noble, one would say, but he rather focused on his current place.

Looking at it-

He gasped in surprise.

_____________________

○ ° POSITIONS : ° ○

• 1st: Karoto

• 2nd: Tomaria/Cameron

• 3rd: Pfifferling

• 4th: Arti

• 5th: Brocco

• 6th: Tai

• 7th: Lemlo

• 8th: Nabiu

• 9th: Sickle

• 10th: Wizzro

• 11th: Lily

• 12th: Lycra

_____________________

HE IS IN THE FRONT ONCE AGAIN, HELL YES.

“This. Is fine.”

Karoto kept down a snort as Lycra grumbled, forcing his own smile and raising his shoulders in annoyance, which was rather valid.

Pfifferling could only snicker along, never restraining a single emotion as she patted the guy's back without much care.

Not a single care about the annoyance, probably found it amusing to an extent.

“Awe, well…better luck in the last race!”

His little blueberry friend seemed content with any spot in the race, jumping out of Arti's hands, as she could probably use her kart as a champagne replacement.

Would you die if you drink it?

He would risk it, he drank paint a lot.

“Well, everyone did well, no?”

“Surely.”

A spat response caught his attention though, turning his head to a conversation that had nothing to do with him whatsoever.

But it certainly was interesting.

Sickle seemed from his suspicion rather displeased with his current placements, and who could truly blame the guy? But the fact he had the audacity to actually be cocky to the king-?

Well, nothing he had done before, but it usually ended him with a tight cell and disgusting guards.

Not a drop of that there.

Must have mage father privileges.

“Hey, kiddo-”

The king could do nothing but weakly reach out as the small cloaked kid stomped off, the dark Mage only sighing in response.

Probably used to it, if that reaction to his child walking off means anything.

Makes one wonder if the guy was a bad father, but he couldn't judge from how he treated the panic attack earlier.

“Hmm-”

Wizzro's uncle instinctively kicked in, but Karoto had other instincts that made him bring an arm to block the M.A.G.E off from the raging…teenager?

Adult? Child?

“Let him. Probably will get a bit of fresh air once we're at the last race.”

An unsure stare came his way, but there was nothing to be done as the light of the next teleporting spell caught his eye.

Once again, foreign words were spoken as the audience sat back, the bats glaring as Cyrus made sure to block any of them off with icicles.

And so-

“Ultimus statur pulmentum vegetabile est.”

WEEEEEEEE-

MIGHT AS WELL HAVE FUN IF YOU'RE TELEPORTING!

Because this carrot decided to do a full on BACKFLIP as they teleported to the broccoli kingdom, the sun shining brightly in the sky with only clouds obscuring its vision sometimes.

His black feet landed right back on the ground, a snicker leaving him as he noted a certain blueberry doing a jump too-

And almost falling on her face if he didn't have fast reflexes, catching her hand and almost-

THUMP.

Actually no, faceplanting himself was very much what happened as a gasp left the little blueberry.

“OHNO- I'm sorry-!”

“I t s. F I n e-”

A low cough was the least of his problems, which is why he so easily kneeled up, looking at Nabiu and ruffling the little hair of hers.

But her worried expression turned soon into one of glee as she jumped up, seeming to have remembered what she was even here for.

“Oh! What I wanted to tell you-!”

He turned his expression to where the blueberries' tiny fingers were pointing, which was at first to a dark Mage that didn't even seem to care that much to announce anything.

Rather, scribbling down in notes with somewhat of an uneasy smile as he kept looking right back at town, specifically where the plaza would be.

The king was also conversing, looking at the papers, pointing around and blinking worried at whatever was on them.

“We have a 30 minute break! Just to prepare for the final race, but I have to run and tell people cause he's really busy!”

Real busy, huh?

Whatever a Mage could be busy with would either cause a world wide catastrophe or ovenless brownies.

Or the in between happens and you get Wizzro's little incident where a lava pudding turned into a slime and tried to bite literally everyone.

“Oh, and they even hired a little stand to get us food and refreshments for the crowd and contestants!”

Pointing to the right, Karoto had to squint his eyes to see what she was even blabbering about, but-

OhdearNantesthatsthestupidracoon.

Chance.

“What if I don't want a refresher.”

“When's the last time you drank.”

….

Fair point, he didn't drink and went to the rest room in quite a while now, but from his eyesight, he could see that Pfifferling was talking with Tai about something certainly, with Lemlo surprisingly joining in.

And he did have priorities with the little cloaked kid, so he might actually have better chances to have a conversation if they both got something to chew or suck on.

But the raccoon really likes making the carrots dear items overpriced.

Fucking PRICK-

Well.

Guess he's gonna go bankrupt, his sarcasm decided as it was off the charts today.

“Alright- Thanks for informing me, Nabs.”

He chuckled softly anyway, leaning down to his little sibling figure as she blinked right back like a lizard.

“Now, you gonna go talk with the others?”

With a quick nod, she affirmed it as she once again pointed to some specific people in the crowd, which included a beer and some kind of blue block.

Don't question it.

“Mhm! I WANNA CHAT WITH EVERYONE IN THE CROWDDD!”

And without any ability to reply, Nabiu just ran off with the most excited tippy taps of all time, stimming her hands like a propeller and zooming to her Objective.

Well, that's her thing.

Now to his.

Karoto finally walked on the stones on the ground as the crowd talked and cheered, some bats even joining in as the crowd seemed bigger than ever before.

So many people, where he could even glimpse Lily, Arti and Dorago talking together, taking their last break before all will be revealed.

Though all seemed happy, and he even passed Tomaria and Cameron once as they waved right over, seeming to have their snacks already.

Specifically a slushy in green, blue and red for Tomaria and hotdogs with roasted onions and way too much mustard in his opinion.

He also waved, but proceeded to Chance's stand, where she was already rubbing her ear back and serving Brocco and Wizzro their food.

Brocco seemed to have gotten a rather potion-like drink, glittering in all its beautiful colors with a sweet vanilla pudding.

Wizzro was currently grabbing his nice, boring water and a Sugar Cane stem, which made him wonder if he got two drinks on purpose to hydrate himself.

“Have a fun race, you two! Wouldn't want my customers to crash, so be careful.”

“Will be, miss Chance.”

Brocco simply nodded as they turned around, which caused Wizzro to quickly notice the carrot with the sweetest smile under that beard.

“Ah, Karoto! You too have fun, even if you may not win.”

“Of course, Wiz. Who am I to be a bad loser?”

With both snickering despite Karoto's statement being an absolute lie because he IS THE BADDEST LOSER OF ALL, he went over to the stand with a shaky grimace of a smile.

The smirk growing on Chance was already making his blood boil.

“My deaaaaarrrreeesst Customer-! What can I get you?”

“A discount.”

Ripping a genuine snort and laughter out of the Racoon got his smile to widen just by a smidge, even as she practically plastered herself over her own wares.

“Hah! Alright, let's be honest here…I actually have to give you a discount.”

.

Huh?

Karoto stared. Then blinked as his eyes widened with something of glee and pure mischievous joy at those words, blinking once again just to be clear.

“Wait, you do?”

He could practically feel the inner anger at his excited and mocking tone, fiddling either that scarf of his as she gave a reluctant flicker of the ear.

“Yeah. King does NOT want me to make unfair wares, so you get the ‘privilege’ to have the same price as everyone.”

The raccoon's sarcastic tone was like honey to his ears as he slowly looked over the wares, thinking it over as he absently tapped the counter.

His gaze right up at her, he decided that he might as well ask for recommendations.

“Any drinks that fit a purple-wearing cloaked kid that is currently pissy because he got a bad placing?”

Chance seemed to at least think on the question, swaying her big tail and thinking it over as she grabbed a random bottle in purple.

“Grape soda. Butttt just for your enjoyment-”

Popping up the lid by turning up the medal line and letting the carbonate out, she drizzled some strawberry syrup in there, closing the lid again-

AND SHAKING IT OF ALL THINGS-

“Aahahaha, that's gonna actually blow-”

“Nah, We're good.”

Chance chuckled but opened it again, the bubbles becoming full and like a thick foam layer…but seemed to at least calm down rather fast.

A snicker left her throat as she slid it over the counter of her little stand, kneeling down to grab something else without him even asking.

“Free drink?”

“You wish. But I already know you well enough for your constant orders-”

That comment got him a rather specific big cup on the table, which he couldn't help but appreciate the details from.

It was applejuice…which sounded simple, but she quickly put a few more items on the table, which means she wasn't quite done yet.

Karoto counted in his head if she was as specific at remembering as the raccoon said.

Two apple slices came in, with a fine syrup made from the sweetest blueberries, coating the bottom as she grabbed a spoon and quickly spun it.

A few pearls purely made of sweet agar agar jelly came next, dropping the cubes in as some actual sugar pearls joined in for him to munch on.

One more pack of sour powder was poured in, right after she pulled out a spray bottle of that sweet apple cream she always kept, making a nice little mountain on it on the poor cup.

And last…an orange straw, because he had no manners and would just bite into the cream anyway.

“You're one of those people with the weirdest taste, you know that?”

Karoto could only shrug with a little smirk as he sipped from the drink, crushing the pearls in his mouth as he was just delighted.

Just how he liked it.

He even let out the smallest noises of enjoyment as he pulled out his money and gave it right to the racoon without a question.

“Well, you go play babysitter to the random kid. I've got a huge crowd to get- I mean…serve.”

Another snort as he nodded, letting only a single comment slip as he licked off the whipped cream from his lips and walked off with one handgun hand.

“Sure you do.”

Grape soda in tow, he walked around, catching glimpses of many kinds of people that were all enjoying the last break before the Grand Prix was finally over.

One could imagine everyone's excitement over who wins, innerly giving him the question if anyone at all was rooting for him.

Probably Nabiu, BUT SHE WAS A CONTESTANT.

Smells were everywhere, the lights of stands flickering as mushrooms, potatoes and bacon made their way up his nose, even if one could not see it.

It was a bit claustrophic, but sticking to the middle surprisingly helped not bump into too many people.

And the more he walked and looked around, the less people were there.

The less stands…which might be a lonely place.

Perfect for a lonely little kid.

Which his suspicions were confirmed for as he reached one particularly giant bridge, painting in whites with pretty simply green patterns to represent the broccoli kingdom.

And to none of his surprise, his find was quite the easy one.

Sickle.

With his arms over the bridge, looking at the endless sky above, clouds slowly became thicker as the sun shined, the blue of the sky as pretty as always.

The river was quite sweet too, reflecting the light off as Karoto couldn't help but view it himself.

“Grape Soda for your troubles-”

He nearly cut himself off as the kid did a full body flinch, snapping his head over with a hesitant blink, almost making him expect a yelling session.

But as fast as the stare came, it left just as fast with a melancholic expression towards the carrot, averting the gaze right back to the sky.

The only hint that the soda was accepted was the light tapped on top of the barrier.

Joining was sometimes harder than leaving, but for Karoto?

It was all the same.

Placing the soda on the barrier, he copied the posture and looked towards the sky as well, feeling peace as he couldn't help but relax his shoulders and body.

A softer smile rose onto his cheeks as the trees and water both swayed in the wind, a quiet breeze atoning for all the warmth as he closed his eyes.

Only opening one halfly to watch Sickle take a sip from the soda, licking his lips and rubbing against the bottle's cold glass as he watched the sky.

Both didn't seem to kind the company as much as they might have expected, the silence inviting bird chirps, far away chattering and even the rustling of trees to come.

Lightly scrapping his fingers across his own drink was nice as he took a gulp, the sizzling taste of carbonation and sourness kicking just right as his face was covered with whipped cream in an instant.

And the soft agar agar cubes were also chewed on, leaving him to lick his messy lips once again as his leg rubbed against the bridge's textures.

Rocks…yet weirdly clean. Not quite sharp enough to cut into his foot.

In a long time, a sensation he did not desire.

“So…anything you wanna talk about? I'm here to have you spill that soda or your life.”

Karoto decided to break the sweet silence, but only with a tone he was surprising himself by.

Sweet and soft, gentle and understanding as if he didn't have to hide himself in front of this cloaked kid of all people.

But hey, if it happened before with a Blueberry so who was he to judge?

And at first, there wasn't even an answer as the gaze averted itself down to wherever one needed to look, only giving an answer in a while.

“I'm disappointed in myself, I guess.”

The carrot decided to restrain a snort at the tone, as the thought of laughing at someone's issues made him actually bitter.

So, he decided to go along in a peaceful way.

“Pfff…can imagine, especially if you constantly got a bad one. Your dad pressuring you?”

Taking another sip of the sweet drink, it took a bit for Sickle to reply properly to the question given, but it did come out in a hesitant yet still assured tone.

“No. He…he is actually sweeter in private, believe it or not.” He swirled the soda and watched the bubbles pop before continuing. “I just want to be as great as the others? I. Uhm…think.”

Sympathy flowed between both for a moment as he got a bit closer, brushing his shoulder lightly against the other as the affection didn't seem as awkward as one would think.

It was almost warm, even if they were strangers. Understanding each other's issues was as hard as it could be easy depending on the person.

Wanting to be great- Above everyone.

If that wasn't a feeling he felt his whole life.

“Well, if you want me to say a thing- I think you were great! Not everyone goes into racing completely blind after all.”

Sickle quietly blinked in surprise, looking over to the carrot if he just said something so obscure that it might not even exist.

Maybe that's what one needed to hear though, as a hand came on his shoulder.

“Look. I'm gonna tell you something I heard from a Blueberry Bush, a banana tree and a broccoli…even if I hate those usually!”

With a laugh, he patted the side and looked tight up to the sun, only ever so slightly hidden by the clouds as he raised his flat hand towards it.

“We all do our best. Sure, we might be absolute garbage at it, might not even be as good as others….but trying is all we can do.”

There was a small amount of acceptance in his words, looking at the flat hand and returning it close to his heart.

“Everyone makes mistakes others might not make, but for that? Others notice their own mistakes more than you do. After all, everyone scribbled paint with no meaning before they became a great artist.”

Monologues were his thing, especially with that silver tongue, to the point where he almost didn't look at Sickle anymore.

“We all tried our best. So if you get last place, an In-between or even the first-! That…never puts away how much you are loved.”

Nabiu told him that.

So many tries it took for that to bore into his head and even now…it was sometimes hard to believe that saying after a while.

But hey.

He was trying his best.

“So, yeah. Even if you might not believe it, an overcooked soufflé might disappoint you, but your friends will love your attempt anyway.”

Looking back up, he inspected the expression Sickke held with the care he had for his guitar and sibling.

This time, there were even a few tears as he sniffled, wiping his tears as the carrot actually almost panicked.

WOOPS, TEARS-

“O h- SORRY-”

“Nono, i-i…needed that. Thank you.”

Sickle admitted with a shaky voice, rubbing his eyes as Karoto couldn't help but rub the back, the world not changing.

But that didn't matter as long as one person was being helped by his hands, or at least that was his opinion.

As the tears dried, both of them looked a bit closer together at the sunshine again, sipping from their sweet drinks as they emptied out as all these minutes passed.

Soon, there would be a race.

Someone would win it.

Someone would get a trophy.

But even then, Karoto had fun and maybe, despite Sickle's losses-

He did too.

“...Can I admit something?”

Karoto looked over as he stared at their drinks, almost empty as the blueberry sauce coated the end of the drink and soaked the paper within, a few broken up agar agar bits left with some sugar pearls.

“Spill the juices.”

He said nonchalantly and he licked off the rest off the whipped cream, keeping the cup until he found a trashcan to throw it away.

The glass bottle was kept as well.

“...I think…this race isn't just for a Grand Prix.’

Blink.

Blinkediblink.

“Huh?”

The carrot finally had his attention taken from the sunrise as the cloaked kid looked towards the floor of the bridge, one hand away from its walls.

Deep in thought, he still responded to clear up the confusion.

“The Kartz and your bike have been glowing more blue at the end of each race. I…only started noticing it at the Flora Kingdom.”

Sickle leaned against the wall as he gripped onto his cloak, rubbing the fabric beneath his fingers as Karoto kept a hand on the wall that was rather warm.

Almost sticky now due to the tension.

“It rattled. I felt something and- uhm- my d-dad has been working on and off for weeks now too. I-..uhmm…”

He constantly interrupted himself, but Karoto couldn't bother to mention it as he gripped his own scarf in pure curiosity.

What could the race be for then if not a giant trophy?

“I'm…worried. That this will not end well, you know? What if they explode-! Orororeven do something so insane that we won't get-t- get out off!”

Sickle was panicking and if he was honest, the care that was lost before was now focusing on the fact that he didn't want the kid to have a panic attack.

So, stepping forward it was as he entangled one hand on the other's black glove.

“Hey-! Come on, even if that happens…We got so many Mage’s and strong people! A bit of a boom won't hurt!”

A blink this time came from the little Mage himself, blinking as he gripped onto his accessory pouch around the waist, a few trinkets here and there.

Cards, potions, a knife, a small potion and a book-

Keeping that around all the time must be heavy-

Maybe he's focusing on the wrong thing here. Especially now he felt like stealing it.

“A little boom wont- You are so fricking careless???”

Karoto gave one of the most ‘what the hell do you want me to do’ shrugs in the world as they both stared at each other, the emotional climax slowly going down.

The only thing left was to sigh as both now leaned against the ends of the bridge, which was NOW awkward.

…Might as well make small talk.

What better things did he have to do?

“Well, yourrrr uhhhh- Dad is a big, protective Mage. He probably has fields of vision and protection! Our Kart going boom is probably the least of the dangers.”

Another stare.

Oops.

Sickle barely restrained a silent groan as he crossed his arms, looking back to the ground as the last minutes or even seconds ticked by on their clock.

“...Look. Whatever happens, we'll be together. I wouldn't let another fellow Contestant be in danger!”

“We throw bombs at each other?”

“Clean companion ship!”

“IT ISN'T????”

And for once, both couldn't restrain a snort from their stupid banter, pointing fingers and being dumb before the big end.

“Look, I know my way around! I, as a companion, will surely be able to reach it all before you even get there!”

“Oh, yes, because you're so slick nowadays, Mister Kingdom thief.”

“PRIVATE NAME, YOU EXPIRED FRUIT GUMMI.”

“Oh, so private-”

DING DONG. BING BONG.

“EVERYONE! THE RACE STARTS SOON, SO GET IN YOUR SEATS AND BE READY FOR THE FINALE!

Oh.

It seems that the break finally reached its end.

“...Well. You ready for this?”

Sickle stared once more as he seemed to space out due to the last call, but took one more look at the carrots determent expression.

A hand was given out for the kid to take.

…And maybe, who was he to not take it?

“Yeah. Might as well find purpose in my 25 years.”

W

What.

WHAT.

“YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME-????!!???”

Karoto could not restrain his flabbergasted self as he gripped the hand a bit too tight as they walked together, staring at the man like he had eaten a living carrot.

“Yes-? I'm literally taller than you.”

“MOST PEOPLE ARE TALLER THAN MY MALNOURISHED ASS.”

Sickle snicker broke through the confused ramblings of the carrot, walking through the emptied stands as even the owners themself were gone, finally reaching their spot.

Surrounded by a crowd who was cheering loudly, the king himself brushed against the dark Mage and his fellow friends who were getting into their cars.

He threw away the empty cup and put the glass bottle down, giving a last opportunity to high five before the race.

“However it ends, you did good.”

And with one last soft stare, he smiled towards the carrot, giving a high five back and going towards his own spot in the back.

“You too.”

Might as well give a heads up to everyone before the race, because he really wants to actually communicate with people for once.

His excitement was going off the roof, even if he restrained it as best as he could.

That meant skedadling over to Lycra and giving him a smack on the arm, leaning over his rainbow Jeep and smiling towards the confused mushroom.

“So, how's your trip going?”

“Well, whatever happens, happeeeensss…”

Lily was right beside her special carriage, sitting on the stairs and snickering as she brushed her hair back and tidying it up for the crowd.

Perhaps even for the people from her kingdom, to give them something to not complain about.

“Didn't you just grumble about it-?”

“N o.”

Karoto snickered along with their banter, patting the head teasingly before jumping off the kart stairs and clapping along to the next.

“You got this, Painty! Flora, Don't let your kart fall over!”

With one annoyed and the other left as a snickering blooming flower, he walked to the next row with Wizzro and Sickle, giving one wave before leaning over to the weirdest kart of them all.

Nothing to be hated, it just looked like a massive UFO soup.

“So, Wiz! You ready to move those bones or you gotta crack your back in ways never imagined?”

“I already do that with Brocco, Karoto.”

The stare.

The stare he almost gave was one with the straightest blinks as the old man chuckled, enjoying catching the carrot off-guard.

How dare he.

“Sorry, Sorry- I am excited, even if I don't win. I hope you will have fun as well, Karoto, even if the road has been rocky.”

Karoto couldn't help but smile as just once, he hugged the old M.A.G.E as a small goodbye, holding on for just a bit as he nodded and jumped off the kart.

“I will, my dear road block triangle!”

Next was Nabiu and Lemlo, which both seemed to already be chattering their hearts off about fruits and what they could buy with the trophy.

“I'll buy a. Chocolate fountain.”

“And- And then-?”

“I'll. Buy. Another chocolate fountain.”

Ah yes, such sophisticated conversation that he adored to go into, holding onto the brim of the book that brought Nabiu's car together.

“We will share though.”

“No, Mine.”

“Sharing.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“One strawberry.”

“O N E.”

Lemlo couldn't do anything else but watch the two's banter as they stared into each other's souls, smacking each other's arm and probably both wanting to have food now.

Should have gotten it earlier then.

“And you, Spoonful of syrup? What will you do with it?”

Karoto decided to ask as well as the lemon flinched, but there didn't seem too much fear in what she's gonna say.

“I'll…I'll just put it up on a shelf. I don't want that much!”

Of course.

It was all the same and he simply nodded as he gave her a high-wing and waved it off with two finger guns as he headed to the next row.

“You got it!”

Next was Tai and Brocco, and he absolutely grabbed the edge of the shield, jumped up from it onto the innocent Broccoli's shoulders AND RUFFLED HIS HAIR.

“HHSHS- KAROTO-?”

“HEY, BIG GUY!”

Karoto laughed as Brocco flinched yet still snickered, grabbing the carrot and holding him as he ruffled his little green hair with his hand as well.

Tai watched it all, giving a silent chuckle as the birds chirped along to the two's shenanigans, which left Karoto in the other wagon for a moment.

“Don't get petty if I win. I deserve this!”

Brocco rolled his eyes towards the small carrot and picked him up, putting him out the kart with a rather calm yet knowing expression.

“Surely.”

He chuckled himself as the carrot went forth with more excitement than ever, which led him to Arti's and Pfifferling's spot.

“Arttttiiiii-”

Karoto perked up with a mischievous grin, ready to wipe that non-existent expression on their face-

Before he was grabbed like a football by the giant claw.

“A h”

Today there was a lot of blinking for sure. Pfifferling watched along, no care in their system for winning this race as they patted Petunia.

The Verdog wrapped their snout around Karoto for a moment, picking him up and for once rather gently putting him down.

Still smacked the back of his head though, just to get her owner to laugh.

Karoto grumbled, but the smile was never restrained as he gave one last smirk to Arti, finally reaching his bike and looking beside himself.

“TOMA! CAM!”

The wolf flinched as he seemed to be the one driving in the last round, as Tomaria was already setting up a bunch of bombs at their end and finishing up the hotdog that the wolf didn't eat.

“KAROOO! GOOD LUCK, ORANGE!”

“I WILL!”

“I KNOW!”

“Please stop screaming, even if I love and like you too.”

Awkward chuckles were the usual as Karoto finally settled on his bike, adjusting his scarf and bringing his hair back as the exhilaration was perfect to him.

And the Dark Mage was already on his cloud, a smile grazing his white lips for once as he waved to everyone.

“Well…Final race everyone. I want to thank you all for participating already.”

The king was also on said cloud, resting his body and leaning against the other man as he decided to talk as well.

“Indeed! I'm happy to see the winner of all this!”

The cheering increased, clapping and yelling beyond it all as the contestants cheered along, which Karoto of course joined in on.

This was gonna be awesome.

Even…if Sickle's words were on his mind.

Eh, whatever happens will be dealt with later, he could beat someone's ass anytime!

“ALRIGHT! GET READY!”

•<[BROCCOLI KINGDOM]>•

< LAST HURDLE FOR THE TROPHY >

○○○

So, it started for one last time.

Karoto gripped his hand clutches as tight as possible, ready to absolutely win a race.

“Ready.”

But he knew he didn't have to win.

People would still adore the race and party after.

Everyone truly did well.

“S e t.”

In the end.

Even if their karts already glowed blue.

It will be one hell of a race.

“GO!”

NYEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW-

Karoto was already having fun the moment everyone sped up towards the castle, taking one big turn to drift towards it.

He gripped harshly, sometimes ‘accidentally’ hitting Tomaria and Cameron to get them out of the way as it was not illegal.

The boost panels helped a ton to achieve this, and the sound from afar-

POP!

-affirmed the first orb was snatched as everyone got their item as they went right through the castle, which gave him the huge advantage!

In the very back, he heard screams about certain flowers interrupting others vehicles and birds apparently giving someone a hover.

So he could only guess that Lily got the orb, which wasn't his problem as he took a quick turn towards a shortcut he knew.

Luckily, he was a thief who was really starved and sad, so he knew that around the third room, there was a secret way through the castle for emergencies!

Speeding through it was a bit risky when you're literally driving, which caused a few scratches against the bike due to the rocks-

But the blue glow of the bike helped a ton to handle this, which means he was in and out in a jiffy.

Happily in front of everyone and having avoided items that could have been a risk to him, leading him to the dining area!

Who's gonna clean this up? He asked internally and then remembered that the Queen can yell a lot.

That meant that driving over the table while Nabiu and Arti followed was one of the funniest things he has ever done in this castle.

There was happy cheering and laughter from everyone through the castle, giving a smile to Karoto's face as he avoided the castle trap which included-

• Spikes. [E w]
• Hands from paintings.
• Spray attacks.
• Pebbles.

Whoever decided that Pebbles was a good option to throw at literal karts and people, really didn't like thieves.

It all made it worth it through the annoyed yells from his contestants, especially the ones who fell back and were replaced by Wizzro and Lycra.

Speeding up shall be an option then!

He could see the end in sight, the sun glowing through the doors of the rather yellow and green castle, which probably meant-

{ CHECKPOINT! }

Already there! 

A laugh left him as they now scurried through town, the breeze going through his hair as ramps allowed him to get onto houses!

“DONT TRIP, YOU GUYS!”

Karoto teased with a chuckle as he watched everyone else race behind him, Brocco especially giving a stare of annoyance yet also amusement.

“YOU GOT IIEEEEEE-”

“TAKE THAT!”

Apparently, Sickle actually got an orb for once, which he could perfectly view from up from the houses as the man literally shot purple orbs.

The yelps were glee in his ear and the glowing and electric zapping from their karts was also great as they started to get clo-

Wa

Wait.

Electric zapping?

Actually taking the moment to stare down at his bike as he probably should focus on the race, he noticed the fact that they weren't just glowing.

But loading something up.

He blinked more surprised than anything as they glowed brighter and brighter, snapping his gaze between his friends and the literal insane modifications that the bike was doing to itself.

We're the others gonna be ok-

SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK-

CRACK! CRICKS- CRACKCRACKSHRIK-

“WHAT THE FUCK-!”

“HUH-”

“OHNONONO-”

The.

The ground. 

It was ripping open and glowing in a sick cyan color, finally expelling the blue from their own bikes and causing confused yells and panic from the crowd to appear.

What- WHAT WAS GOING ON?!

He let out a yelp himself as the houses actually glitched, causing him to land back on the ground as the stones were starting to reflect everything.

Like.

Like crystals-

His throat dried up and he didn't even know why, but he completely guessed it was panic, which must have been correct-

So many yelps and panicked yelling came from behind him as the floor cracked open more, glowing that color as he could barely make out the Mage and king in the clouds.

He.

He. He needed to get them to SAFE GROUND-

“EVERYONE!”

Karoto finally yelled with nothing like his usual voice, desperation and panic clinging to his tone as he waved over and got everyone's attention right on him.

Especially Nabiu's, he can't lose her, SHESAKID-

“FOLLOW ME! I KNOW A SHORTCUT THROUGH THE PLAZA!”

While no one truly answered beside screams, questions and even cries sometimes due to the earthbending shaking the world was currently doing, they followed.

And Dear-...Dear NaNtes-? Whatever. Whatever-

WHO EVEN IS THAT GUY-

Clouds were starting to boil up in the sky, lightning in a pure cyan and yellow color going right through the stratosphere to give the town a warning.

“KAROTO, I’M S-SCARED-”

His dear little sister was right beside him, and he couldn't help but grip the book that her potion car was made up of and gave a straight nod to her.

“Itll- it'll be alright! Just FOLLOW!"

That's all they could do really as the plaza was oh-so close, letting the engines grow so hot that they probably could risk actually exploding-

Beside Sickle, but he probably wouldn't have the best ending either if they didn't get out of t

CRACK.

CRACK-

“OHFUCK-”

“NONONOBROCCO-”

“IDONTWANNADIE-!”

“STUPID WEATHER GODS-”

“NABS-” “KARO-”

A nd

The g r o u n d

Ri p p Ed d

O p e n.

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                        s̴̡̛̫̫͍̤̹̝̱͑̈́͑̇̑̌̈̉̏͗̂͊͂̊̉͆͛̂̂̓̊͑̈́͌͗́̋͌̾̋̊͑̃̍̇͘͘̕͝͝͝

[LOADING C̷̡̢̡̻͇̞̠͔̼̦̝͙͓͎̹̪͈̬͓̗͙̫̼̟̩͕̤͍̼͍̝̻͖̞͓̤̳̫̤̯̹͕͇͍̟̞̠͒̀̄̑̔͆̽͑͜͜. r̶̢̧̧̧̢͎̬̥̳̤͇̯͇̹̫̠̰̮̯̜̹̹̟̘̞̗̬͍̱̳̼̺̬̫̺̳̩͇͙̥̥̳̦͎̥̤̱̭͎̜̭̠̤̣͇͎͚̬̯̀̔̅̇͂̍͛̑͋̈́͌́́̌̔̒̒͒͂̔́͆̈́̀͊̽̂͋̆̌̄̌͂͊̽͋̿͌̃̾̅̏̂̏̐͌̂̊͛͂̉̑̃̚̕͘̚̚̚͘̚̚̚͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͠ͅͅỳ̶̡̢̢̡̢̢̦̫̥̬̮̰̪̼̞͉͉̙̻̫̻̪͎̯̬͓̰̻̩̺̠̖̤̬̝͈̭͚̬̜̝̘̭̠̰̝̟̠̫̣̘̤̹͇̹͙̠̳̋̓̈͂̎̀͛̈́̚͝ t̷̨̨̢̡̛͇͎̰̰̰̞̤̰̥̖̩͍̬̐̇̍͌̔̌̅͊͐̋̈́̿͋̇̌͊̅͛̐͐̈́̂́̽͆̔̾̊̈́͛̆͛̋̈́̌̒̈̎̒͐̎̆͘̚͘͜͠͝͠͠. ȃ̷̧̡̢̡̨̧̡̢̨̡͖͚̰̹̬̲̱͔̖̖̰̮̪̱̩̰͍̩͈̻͍̰͇̮̯̱̪̫͕̻̙̫͓͔̟͓̠̘̳̱͕̤̤̟͚͇̀͌̎̈̆͂̉̃̈͆̓̈́͒̾̒̈́̑͒̾͂͆͌̀̒̈́̅̿̈̍̏͗̎̕̚͘͝͠ͅͅl̷̡̡̨̢̡̧̢̢̧̢̛̗͓̻͍̞͉̖̯̮̺̥̲̣̦̺̻͈̣̘͎̼̪̲̬̗̯̱̰̠̪̠̲̲̠̖̱͓̗̙̝̬͇̠̞̣̪̯̯̮̙̰̺̲̺͔͚̳̫̫̎̃͗̀̈̑͊̍̿́͋͂̐͑͋͛͐̓͋́̚͝͝ͅ ̵̡̡̢̧̡̛̛̙͙̦̖̖̺͈̦̮̘͎̝̩̖̟̙̦̜̰͖̤̳̺̠͙̱͈͔̙̖̦͉͇̋̒͛̿́͛̉̆̉̈́̀͛͋́́͆̈́͑͂̔̃͋̈́͌͗̈́̂̓̍̈́̃́̕̕̚̚͜͜͝͝͝ͅẀ̴̡̛̛̜͚̖̋́̐͌̅̑̈́͗͂͗́͌͗̽̒̀͆̐̀̊̿͛͐́͒̆̀̇̾͌̈́͛̏́̑̇͆̑̾̂͆̄̅̑̋̍̔͒̋͗̅̍̾̿̚͘͘̚͝͝. ơ̷͇͔̯͚̟̲̙̝̙̖̘̮͈͍͖͓͓̫͓͚̬̤̤̝̥̲̜̬̤͖̤̯̟̝͕̲̳͇̻̥̮̜̳̤̗̘͙̙͎̠̜͍̻͆̅̏͛̈͐̈̀̈͋̔̌̃̈̃̇͐̎͘͝͝ͅ. r̵̨̡̢̢͍͍͖̠̰̯̝̣͖̰͚̜͍͕͍̙̖̹̝̖͔̟̮̫͓̺͍̫͓͕̙̱̞̟̱͔̞̙̟̫̩̮̱̻̼̪͓̞̹͙̩͗͗͑̈́͐̒̌̔̾̆̆̍͒̋̂̀̓̈́̽̿̈́̐͊̏̇̈́̍̈́̔̉̾̈́͘͘̕̚͝l̶̨̹͚̳̤̫̰̪̱͙͎̗͔̙̮̼̪̩̗̣̞̤̬̩̮͛́̆̿͐͒͋͌̅̿̄̍̿̽̑̍̾̐̔́̄̅̒̒̿̆̍̈͛̒̊̈́͋͆̊̀͒̅̾̿͂̎̌͋̎͒͂͜͜͝ͅd̶̡̡̡̧̨̨̛̛̛̟̜̗̬͔͕̙͎̖͕̝̪̫̣͈̬̙̻̜͈̣͂̈̉͆͆͌̈̽͛͑̿͂̊̀̿̂͗͗̽͑̉̄̑͛̒̉̐̄̋͛̈̊̍͒͛̿̈́̀̔̌̀͌̂̊̀̂̑̈́̓̉̐́̆̋̚͘͘̚̕̚͜͠͠͝͠͝ͅ] . . .

[Tip: W̷̧̢̛̪̤̱̘͍̺͍̱̞̫̙̰̱̘̘͉̥͖̘̬̖̙͈͖̮̫̲̦͇̳͈̦̽̂̉̈́́̓̀̽́̆̆̅̒͌͛̉̄͛̊̅̏̊̏̿̽̑͑͋̐̾͊́̕͘͜͝͠͝͝͝H̶̨̡̢̛̛̲̝̝̖̦͚̯̱͙͖͇̪̠̬̩̜͔͙͍̬̩͍͈̻͓̱̝̔̓̐̒̃̂̀̀̒̓͂́̐̍̿̄̃̃͒̒͌̈́́̌͌̓͐̇̇̓̂́̎̚̚͜͝͝͝͝͝͠ͅA̵̢̨̢̢̢̤̭̩̯̹̭̩͕̯̟̟̲̯̯̟̼͕͖̤̳̤̮̗̱̖̘̺̼̠̣̫͙̱̼͔͑͆̌͗͒̿͋͐̉̂͋̀̑͒̊̍͛̀̈̐̆̄͊̓̚̚͜͜ͅͅȚ̶̡̥͈̖̥̫̼̰̏̇̾̈́͊̍͆̈́̏̌̈͐̐̓̽̔̀̈́͆̉̂̏̈́̌̈̾̌͋͘͠͝͝ ̸̯̦̥̫̲̈̉͋͐̈̽̉͂̓̏̈́̿̈́̀͑͊̌̈̔̆̓̕͜͝͝D̵̛̛̪̼͓͑͋̍̂̏͒͊̾̈́̔̓̐̐̾͋̾̓́͊͒̀̿̈́̀̽̂͌̆̓̈́͑̋̓͊̒́́̉͐͌̄͐̈̓̽̍͑̂͂̐̓̈̔͊̆͒̚̚̚͘͝͠͝͝͝͝͠͠Ḯ̸̡̧̢̡̞̲̰͈̥͔͍̙̪̮̥̝͓̱̹̙̼̀̑͆̈̽̓̇̃̀͒̈́͒̾̿̓̊͘̕ͅḐ̴̡̡̧̧̧̢̲͓̪͓̘̜̠͕̬̠̼̟̜̼͈̝̗̬̠̻͇͈̘̪̣̝͙̩͈̮͕͈̙̙̜͓͍͎̼̹̥̹̲͍̘̳̹͖̳̼͈̤͇̙̥̭̞͉͍̩̯͉͋͌̿͘͘͜͜ͅͅD̵̨̧̧̡̢̨̛̠̞̹̖̙̠͈͍̼̲̠͍͙̩̹̟̝̥̼̙̦͕̱͕̻̳̗͉͙̥͖̠̜̘͍͎̖͔̱̮̼͖̦͖̝̦̱̫͚̞̭̙̳͈̦̅̈́̂̇̃̔͗̅́̽́̈́̅̈́̈́͛͘̚͘͜͜͝ͅͅ ̸̢̧̨̢̛̫̳̖̬̜̫̮̳̱̥̪͔͍͕̻͍̼͎͈͓̳̭̺͇̩͖͙̹̘̻̺͉̬͙̙͕̗̳̓̆̍̀̊͒͐̌͌̇̈́́̄̈́͂̄̓̌́͊̇̏͋̑͒̈́̿̈̒́̽̈͌̆͆̂̀̀̿͘͘̕̚͘͘̚͠͝I̵̧̨̡̛̛̙͇̘̹̝͍̘̮͇̼̦̘̹̺̟̣̳̩̳̩͖̥̦̖͕͈̻͎͕̟̰͓͓͖̩̝͎͚͉͐̍̂̈̈́̿̀̋̽̍͛͐̌̊̽̈́͂̈́͛͐̾͂̈̇̈́͒͛̀͛͂̅̌̃̈́̾͛̔͐̑͊̽͊̆̎̉͊̀̏̏̋̎͆̇̌̽͌̒͂͛͘̕͠͠͠͝͝͝ ̶̢̨̧̨̧̠̣͇̠͓̠̱͙͇̪̼͇̺̫͔̲̞̲͔͇̺̝̟̣̰͓̳̹̤͎͔̰͍͓̠̟̘̙͈̳̼̥͎̯̭̲͖̗̞̙̙̼͎̹̟̖̑̾̈́̽̀̋͊͌̐̇̈̉̊͌̍̓̐̃͆̀͆̑͌̊͐̈́̏̒̾̂̅̋̈́̎͂̕͘̕͘͜͜͜͠͝ͅͅḐ̵̨̨̨̢͓͕͍̲̭̥̬͔̫̰̭͕̳̰̦̮̙̟͚̭̘̳͔͙̥̤̞̯̪̩̦͊̀̂͋́͗̏̒̈́͛̊̔̌̒̏͆̆̎̔̐̈́͂̈́͜͠͠ͅͅƠ̵͙͇̠̲͉̥̣̌̋̎̀͒̐̋̀̋̓͂̓̔̊̄̾̀̂͒̄̍̿͗́̆͛̀͒̀̅̀̓̃̋̈́̂̑̾̄̎͗͊̑̚̕̕͜͝͝͠͝ ̷̢̡̛͔̳̫̬̝̼͔̖̠͇̗̠̦̭̖̠̣̻̦͈̺̩̯̩̮̞̣̹̲̎͗̒̓̏̏͒̅̒̈́͒́̐͐͊̆̓̓̊̊̿͂͑̂̑̊͘͝͝͝ͅT̵̨̡̢̛̗̤͙̻̮̝͉͓̪̫̼͈̳̱̺̼̖͎̝̰̯̰̼͎͇̦̹̺̻̖̹̤̳̦͔̠͉͍͕̲͎̥̲͍͚̟̥̦̘̣̦̭͍̲̞̲̐̐̍̃̅̏̃̎͒͗͗͆̊̿̑̉̽̃̀̔̃̎̒̿̈́̿͐̓̊͋͌̾́͆͌͂́͑͐́̌̑̀̚̚̚͘͝͝͠͝ͅỠ̶̢̢̢̡̛̺̣̩̰̘̝͖̤̥̲̭̣̙̳̼̬̟̼̲̣͚͍̗̣̟̖̱̩̼̳̣̳͔̻͔̱̟̳̖̥̝͇̞̗͉̼̲͖̻̭̲̦̟̃̏͂̿̃̐̊̀̄̾̎͌̂͌̎̓͐̀́͗̓̏̇̀͐̀̀̐̃͒̾̊̈̏̌̽̐̉̅̊͆̍̑͐̌͆͒͛̅̏͆̽̓̈̕̚̕̚̚͜͜͜͜͝͝ͅ ̸̢̡̛̗̼͚̘̯̘͔̹͙̳͚͕̺̥̖̱͍̺͙̞̤̙͕͈̫̯̺̙̗̝̤̥͇̳̦̦͚̳̮͙̺̰̙̺̭̭͛͆̉̐̒̉̑̈́́̉̊͋͋̋̒͒̿͐̈́̔̔͂͐̏̏̐̈́̐͋̇͗͗̌̆͒̾̓̍̃͛̋̋̄̿̑̑́́̈́͑̀͗̔̀̀̀̔̈́̌͗́̉̉́͘͘͘̚͘͘̚͜͜͝Ḑ̵̧̛̪̹̝̤͙͔͍̫̬͖̦̤͎̥̜͙̱̼̜̱͇͉̥̫̫̭͓̺̠͓͙̫̭͓͉̘̣̞̼̙̹̗͓͍̽̓̾̈́̀̃͑̈́̊͌̀̊̿̃̈̉́̀̽̍͌͋̿͂͊̀̎͌͋̈́̿̽͐̽̀̇͊̔͋̄̈́̏̊̍͐̿̈́͂̋͊̓̆͐̄̄͛́̔̈́̇̚̕̕͜͜͝͝͝ͅÈ̷̢̧̢̨͙̹̻̳̮͈̜̮̱̦͚̝͓̹̯̤̲͖̣̦̠̮͍̪̪̻̭̜̪̼̭̝̖̫͚͈̝͚̭̥̲̈́̑̅̑̃̈́̈̆̈́̃̈́̎̑̊͜͜͝͝ͅͅS̴̩͚̹̰̩͚̥̪̬̣̯̳̳̝͇̩͔͚̮͚̈͆͊͂̀͛̋̎̎̇̇͑̄̎̐̔͐̿̉̋͂͌̾̔͐ͅẸ̶̛̯̜̳̟͉͇̜̥̜͎͉͉̹̜͈̖̯̯͖̙͉͚̜̳̪̯͉̰͍̬̺͙̫̝̟͍̬̫̼̭̟͔̙̜̫̲͔̭̩̱̘̥͊̂͑͗̉͂̾̈́͆͆̿̂͒̚̚͘͜͝Ṛ̶̢̡̛̫͕͚̠̲̹̟̤̗̬̲̙̣̞̹͇̘͙̔̒̆̍̓͐̽͑́̃̌̀͌́͂̓̔̑̑̄͛̿̈̀͌̆̽̃̈͛͌̓͑͊̎̃̂̒͂̽́̌̅́͊͘̚̚͜͜͝͝͝͝͝V̵̡̡̡̨̧̛̰̜̙̟̱͖͎͉̭̙͉̙̖̩̞̯̬͎̠̰̲̜̼͈̞̹̪̖̥̥͓̟͔͎̞̯̳̭͉̪̥̫̝̣̖̲̘̞̺̫̞͊̑̏̋͐͒̀̈́̾̇̽̐̓̿̏̍̐̇̾̓̈́́́̈̃͆̌͐̈́͊̇̄́͒̅̀̎̈́̏̐̀̌̃́̐̈͂̓̕͝͝ͅͅE̸̢͖͎̜͙͖̩̼̎́̇̽̃̐̽̍́͐̎͂̓̽͗̓̏͌͛͑̿̄͋́͗̾̒̿̿͋̾͘̚̚͝͝ ̶̡̨̛̤̘̘̯͕̲̩̮̮̰̼͉̗͈̘̠͙̮̩͈̱̝̩͈̙͚͖̺̯̣̲̺͇̜͍͉̱̙̰͎̠̥͕̊̀́͛̌́͌̀͌̔̒̃̀̆̀̾̊̈́̕̚͜͜͠͝ͅͅT̴̢͕̼͎̱̙͔̭̫͕͓̳̳̣̹̩̫͕̖͍͖̞̼̝̖̉͊͋͌̀̒̆̈͑̏̅̓͑͝͝͠H̷̢̞͓̠̯̣̞̳̙̤̞̖̼̖͍̟̪͔͓̻̯͉̥̦͈̭̉̊͐̒͌̅̄̓̔̔͌̓̄̌̋̒̇̾̽̈́̓̇͐̀̈̔̄̿̚͜͝͝I̷̡̢̛̛̛͔̠̰̥̝͔͇̦͍̤̲̩̞̰͉͈͍̖̱̠̭̙̲͚͉̹̠̠̠̮̱̺͊͌̉͒̈͌̌́̈́̅̾̓̃̋̾͋̐͑͌͛͗̉̈́͑̀͐̊͌̾͐̅̋̈́͋͐̈́̂̔͆̾̂̽̊̈̌͗̊̿͆͒̓͛̏́̈̽̔̚̕͘̕̕͝͠͝͝͝͠S̶̨̨̛̛̛̝̱̘͓̹̤͓̥̜̙͖̜͓̜̩̓̔͛́͒̽̆̈́͌̾̔͆̓̔͐͂̌͋͆̀̔̏͒̿̋̇͊̈͌͆͋͋̽͛̎͆̀̊̐̊̉̊̏͆̕̕̕̕͘͜͝͝͝͠ ̴̧̨̨̢̢̨̧͈̖̰̟̳̬͚̰̘̮͚̱͔͔̳͔̳̟̝̥̥̹͇̜̮͉̘̳̗̣̣͉͉̫̘̻̠̹̖̞̙̳͙̝̳̰̔̓͆͌̉͐̊̔̉̈́͋͌̏͐̊̀̓̀̑̔̒̐̾̓̀̋̔̎̒͘̚͘͜͝͝ͅͅF̷̡̨̢̢̡̧̧̨̨̨̧͉̯̘͇͈͙͙͍͉͎̫͍͇̭͇̪̯̬̜͉̮̳̲͔̺̠̝̹̝̝̯̜̝̩̱̩̹̦͚̻͎̹͉͚̮̺̤̤͈͕̠̻̏̂͌̒́̽͛̌̅̔̉̂͊̈́͆̍̓̌̃͆̀͆̅͒̓͘͜͜͜͝ͅͅĄ̸̧̢̡̧̛̦̦̜̣̭̰̺̥̻̬͍̤̟͖̻̺̲͙̳̮̰̻̞̘̦̹̳̻̪͉̜̮̘̟̠͔̘̙̔̄̉̇̈́̾̈́͑̊̀͛̑̔̋̎̆̏͌̕̕͜͜ͅŢ̵̨̢̧̛̛̛̺̫̭͎̟̣̺̫͖̥͕̟͕̝̣̪̺͈͙̺̠͕͈̗̬̼̰͔̥̻̼͈͙͔̣̋́͑̈̇̿̌͌̋͆̃̿͆͂̏̔̇̉͊̋̐̓͌̾̿̀͋̐͂̆̔̀̃̀͘̕͘̕̕̚͜͝Ȇ̵̢̧̢̨̧̢̛̛̟̹̻̮̪̪͖̲͇̘̥̪͙̙͈̱̬̥̟̥͕̬͖̭̗̪̮̥̝̱͖̝̤̺̲̞͙͖̰̟̲͔͔͕͕̩͈̦̎͗̅͛̎̄̋̀̂̓͂͐͗̊̓̉̉̐̊̇̇̆̄̊͊͑̏̾͂͆͛̆̏͆͆̔̍̉̆͋̑͊́̐̕͜͠͠͠͝ͅ] 

- - -

– - - - -

    -- - 

It took.

A second as blue completely engulfed everyone's vision, almost beyond saving as screams and cries filled the area.

Karoto didn't know where they were.

He scurried the world, heard every rumor, heard every single trinket of being.

But he couldn't 

CRASH-

When Karoto could breathe again, the only thing getting out of his throat was a gasp, a yelp and cry as his instincts betrayed him.

He almost straight up fell out of his bike if Nabiu’s kart-

Nabiu's

NABIU-!”

“NABS-? NABS-”

“IM ALRIGHT-!”

That voice almost brought him to tears as he ignored whatever was happening and hugged the small blueberry in her seat, holding her as close as possible.

“Shit- Imim so glad-”

“Imsoscared-”

Through his tears and panic, he finally heard the others' voices too and he couldn't believe that he was so genuinely happy to hear those god-forbidden sounds from the Verdog whimpering.

“I-is everyone alright-?!”

“We-..We are good, I think-”

Wizzro and Brocco rung through as Lily immediately took care to watch everyone, getting of course out of those karts to make sure there were no injuries.

Arti grabbed Lycra, Tomaria and Cameron and dusted them off, checking closely for injuries as their vines were finally off.

Always in emergencies.

“Fuck- Is…m-my dad-”

Despite Sickle's age, he seemed near tears at the thought of his father not being here, sniffling softly while Lemlo patted his back as this whole thing-

Where.

Where were they?

Hugging the blueberry still as tight as Nabiu herself did, he finally looked around.

The first thing that he noted was that he was seriously getting sick of the color blue and this dimension WASN'T HELPING.

[Beside Nabiu, he couldn't hate Nabiu.]

The sky of this world was full of clouds in a faint purple color, having crystals hanging everywhere and glittering along in sometimes normal yet also weird ways.

The lighting was wrong. It was off. Not…correct at times.

The sky beneath those clouds was a dark blue, yet shining ever so brightly as if the moon was always awake, always glittering, always painting it in a purple hue.

And the floor.

The floor. Was full of hexagon glass patterns, glowing in cyan and going on endlessly across the horizon.

The ones they were on…were like a road, lifting themselves up on purpose.

Or were they?

“This- What is this-?! This place doesn't even have plants!”

Pfifferling complained first as she got off Petunia and looked around, even the cannibalistic Mushroom finding this place weird as there seemed to be no escape.

“Our…Our way in is gone-!”

“I noticed…”

Tomaria was for once panicked as she actually threw a bomb in the sky, but the explosion was almost cancelled indirectly as it did nothing to the endless clouds, which Cameron could only comment on helplessly.

There was nothing to do, and Tai didn't even have her birds as she pouted worryingly.

“This…isn't normal. Lemlo, can you fly up-?”

That only made the lemon flinch as she wanted to cry herself along with Sickle, shaking her head repeatedly as she shoved just how much air flow there wasn't.

“No…I. I can't flap my wings properly. I'm sorry…”

“It's- it's alright. Well figure it out.”

Brocco seemed so much more scared than usual, which made him just as scared as he kneeled down to Nabiu's level.

“I-I wanna go home! I wanna g-go back to the house-”

The blueberry cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as he couldn't help but slowly wrap his arms around her and rub the back till she quietened down.

She was just a kid.

“We will. Shhshh….we will. It's alright. I'll protect you.”

That's what he needed to do. Find a way out, protect Nabiu and make sure ever-

THUMP.

The sound.

The sound rang through the entire dimension and towards a specific direction as of course, everyone heard it through this empty vast space.

Silence.

No one dared to turn their head at first.

But, he just stated, so that means-

Karoto turned his head and felt his entire body turn cold and pale white.

It was. A lycan 

But.

Lycans are yellow, usually full of energy, constantly zapping around, not really that heavy if you think about it, have a leyline somewhere and-

Aren't.

Cyan.

This one. This one standing a few meters away from them right on their road, was sparkling in purple, blur and especially can from the eyes as the mouth was ripped almost straight through their head.

Low breaths left the thing, labored breathing being everything you could even imagine.

The worst thing.

The entire thing was a hard, unloving crystal that stared right back at them, unlike any Lycan they have ever seen.

“W-What the fuck.”

Karoto dared to whisper as he could feel everyone having a staring contest with the being on the other side, being able to kill them.

There are 12 people.

BUT THEY DIDNT EVEN KNOW THIS-

[NEW QUEST!]

The attention was averted as a new dialogue box was put up, getting everyone to finally move away from that goddamn thing that still didn't move.

[GET TO THE END OF THE ROAD WITH ONLY ONE SINGULAR RULE!]

What.

What do. What do they-

  /       \

/             \

|Don't fall off|

\             /

\    /

Karoto wanted to scream bloody murder and sob his heart out right now.

They were on a track. There were no rails or anything to keep them from falling off and returning to the road.

He was scared for everyone's life right now.

Nobody could speak. What are you supposed to say when the light at the end of the tunnel was staring at you with no emotions in its light?

“I. Don't wanna die.”

Nabiu was the only one who admitted it and everyone internally agreed, but there was no voice that spoke through as kart doors were closing and opening.

Engines running as he looked behind everyone else.

“It'll- It'll be alright. We got this-!”

“WE ARE STANDING AT DEATHS DOORS-!”

Yeah, maybe that shouldn't have been said, especially if Brocco of all people was afraid yet also utterly pissed.

“We…shall…see…?”

Wizzro never sounded so scared before as he looked over to the others, Lemlo seeming very close to a panic attack as not even Lycra found a good reason to calm her.

What the hell was all this about.

The platforms that weren't lifted were disappearing, falling into the endless void that no one knew the end of.

….He prayed that it was the way back home.

“Who will be my ancestor-!?”

“I don't…what about my students?”

“I-I wanna see my dad again-”

“...May peace be with us if I see my mother again.”

“Fuck- I can't join the other experiments yet-!”

“I-I Don-Dont…wanna die….”

The voices of the others didn't calm his nerves as he looked straight ahead, the Lycan itself readying its hard crystal feet onto the floor with a silent hiss.

The End. Of a Grand Prix.

His breathing grew shallow as the thumps were their indicators.

Thump.

“I wanna be remembered, Cameron-!” “I-i know. Me too. We got this.”

“...My poor restaurant won't have any visitors anymore if I leave. Either you, me or we both go home together, Petunia.”

“I don't even…just when I redeemed the greatest thief-”

It hurt.

It hurt to breathe and think as he gripped onto the hand clutches, hearing the falling of platforms right behind them.

THUMP.

“...I I'm. S orr y. My c ubs.”

“Karoto.”

The last voice sent a chill down his spin as he looked right at her.

“I don't w-wanna die, Karoto.”

He doesn't either.

But-

THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP-

NYEWWWWWWW-

The fear of death clung onto him like a tumor, driving over the smooth environment which was so unnatural when you talk about the previous locations.

But it didn't matter.

He needed to focus on not actually dying, even if that included speeding up like never before as the floor rattled with every fast step the creature took.

The very tiles they were supposed to drive on were shaking, plunging and shaking, uneven and shaky-

Focus, focus, FO-

“WaitwaitNONOO-”

…

A voice cut off as one of the hexagon platforms.

Completely flipped over.

Karoto's pinpricked eyes barely registered who just fell down, not even turning his head as he was still along with Nabiu.

But it was. Cream and red.

Tomaria and Cameron just

The vomit in his throat returned, but any acidic fluids were taken down as he ignored the ringing in his ears.

It returned back home it returned back home the screams are gone THEYAREBACKHOME

The chattering of the others and especially Arti's yell was not something he could listen to as he kept driving close to Nabiu.

The road changed.

The road changed as the Lycan kept running them into their demise, getting it just like the tutorial track as there was a zig zag.

JustrepeatdontdiejustREPEAT

Gripping the hand clutches until they were bleeding his gloves full was easy as he turned and drifted, helping Nabiu follow along with a hand.

“C-Come on, stay close-”

Nabiu sniffled all the same, but kept tears from springing as he just wanted to hold her hand and lie that everything's gonna be Okay-

Looking at the sky he-

OH HOLYCRAP-

Yeah, let's have FLYING POTIONS COME OUT OF THE SKY THATLLMAKEHISANXIETYLESSEN!

He sped up once, holding onto the book case for a moment so Nabiu could come right with him and th

SHWWWWUPP-

“SHCR-”

“PAAAPAA-”

Two more.

He recognized both voices and the fact that he knew that both were large vehicles, big enough to

Big enough to slip easily away from the potions.

Lily and Arti are gone.

HISFRIENDSAREDEADARENTTHEYFUCK-

Karoto decided to let the dissociation kick in to focus on just the racing, wanting to let any grief that may happen be postponed until later.