Yes… it's another update! And I finally got me own Nintendo, so I have more experience now. Please review guys; one review per chapter isn't much motivation. I hope this chapter's ok, advice is gratefully accepted; blatant flaming while supposedly apologizing is not. It is possible to be polite and kind while criticizing, you know.
Without further ado… CHAPTER – ERR – (checks notes) FIVE!
Recess: The Video Game
5
Tears In The Darkness
The Recess gang shielded their eyes from the sun. When their eyes had adjusted, they looked around in surprise and wonder.
The scenery had changed. Instead of the Mushroom Race Track, a great desert-y landscape lay before them. The cars were lined up in front on a road through the dry dirt. The road led between two canyon walls. They could hear fierce winds blowing down there. No one spoke.
The other riders were getting into their cars. Their seconds came with them, hopping on the back.
TJ looked to his dejected group and narrowed his eyes, wondering if he should or could make a cheerful speech to rally their spirits.
"Alright," he said, trying to appear tough, "we're going out there. And I don't know about you, but I'm not becoming scenery! I'm going to win and avenge Gretchen's death. Who's with me?"
"I am!" shouted Spinelli. Vince nodded gravely, and Mikey gave a sad sigh.
"I miss Gretchen." He said. TJ sighed as well.
"Well there's nothing we can do about it. Maybe if we win, that woman – what was her name?"
"Janette." Vince said.
"Right. Maybe she'll give her back. And I know we can win, because we're all really good at Mario Kart." TJ said, impressed with his own speech.
"Alright, TJ, we get the point. Yay team." Spinelli said, not as impressed as TJ. "Now let's go!" she looked around for a car.
"Hey wait a minute. How come we don't get seconds?" asked Mikey.
"Because there's no one left!" shouted Toad. Donkey Kong growled at him, and Toad became silent.
"We're left!" cried Spinelli. "And we're even. TJ, I'm your second! Vince can take Mikey. They didn't give me another car anyway."
"No." said TJ. "Mikey and Vince still have their cars, so they should keep apart. The more separated we are, the less people will be lost in an accident."
Silence met his words. Then a whistle sounded – the race was about to begin!
They hurriedly got in their cars and Spinelli perched in the sort-of backseat of TJ car.
BEEP. Red light.
BEEP. Yellow light.
TJ tensed.
BEEEEEEP! Green light.
24 tires squealed as the riders sped off. The Princess scraped TJ's car as she sped off, laughing maniacally.
They sped through the canyon, and saw what was inside the walls.
The ground was sloping inwards, the sand pouring into a giant sinkhole. TJ didn't want to know what would happen if anyone fell in.
The wind was immense, spraying sand into everyone's face, screaming so lud you couldn't hear anything else, and it didn't help with steering away from the pit.
On either side of the pit, in the middle of the road, floated boxes. These were the weapon/prize boxes, upgraded just like the riders were with their seconds. Vince and Mikey hit the boxes, but TJ and Spinelli missed, roaring between them. Spinelli cursed.
Vince watched his dashboard. After a bit of jingling, he saw a banana appear there. He threw it out the back.
Unfortunately, he was so distracted by doing this that he didn't notice the glowing Luigi coming up behind him, music playing loudly from his car, until the demented Italian had rammed him with all of his magic star/lightening bolt/invincibility might. Vince spinned wildly around in a circle for a few minutes, then stopped. He only paused a second before he began to drive again.
"Damn!" he shouted over the roaring wind, staring at his dashboard. It announced he was in sixth place.
His dashboard had a weapon box, a thing that told him his place in the race, and a map that showed where everyone was. He quickly sped up, but it was hard in the sand – he had been spun off the road.
Mikey had gotten a speed mushroom (yeah, I know, haha). He sped easily along the side of the pit canyon and out onto the open road. He looked at his map.
The Princess was first, followed by Kong, followed by TJ and Spinelli, followed by Yoshi, followed by Luigi, followed by Vince, followed by Toad, followed by himself. He was last. Fudge.
He sped up, quickly overtaking Toad on the long, bare road. The wind had stopped blowing, but the air was smoky and dirty from the road dust being kicked up by the riders. Everyone had driven out of the pit.
TJ drove out into the open air, feeling relieved. He didn't like the pit canyon one bit.
He saw another row of boxes right before a turn. He drove through them, and a wonderful thing appeared on the dashboard. A red shell.
Spinelli grabbed it and glared at Kong, who was ahead of them, but barely.
"EAT THIS!" she shouted, throwing it at him. His car flew off the road, spinning madly in circles, and all the other cars rushed by him. His second flew off into the distance. TJ and Spinelli were now in second, and gaining on the Princess.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightening hit all the riders except for Toad. They shrank and slowed down.
"Oh no. Not the shrinking mushroom!" Peach (the Princess' second) cried out daintily.
Toad began to gain on the other riders, squashing Yoshi in the process. Yoshi didn't get up. Mikey realized just how dangerous this game was. Here, there might not always be a friendly ghost to save you when you fell, and you wouldn't pop back up after being squished. He tried not to barf when he passed Yoshi the Roadkill. His blood was green.
Then everyone grew back to his or her regular size. TJ and Spinelli were neck-and-neck with the Princess and Peach. Vince was close on their heels, being pursued by Toad. Mikey was, thankfully, not last. Luigi was a ways behind him, slow as ever. He assumed Kong was too.
Suddenly, Toad threw a green shell at Vince. It hit Vince's fender and he spun wildly.
Man do I hate spinning! He thought woozily as he stopped. He immediately began driving again, although now he was next to Mikey.
TJ and the Princess kept ramming each other from the side, threatening to knock Spinelli and Peach from their perches. They called out indignantly, but their drivers did not hear. Princess and TJ could only see the road and themselves.
They made a turn, hitting some weapon boxes. Spinelli prayed for a red shell. They got a mushroom. Was it speed or size, though?
She hit it. They zoomed forward, and she almost fell. She whooped with glee as they passed the Princess.
Then they saw the ledge.
"Uh-oh," TJ said, as they flew off of it and began hurtling downward to another road below…
Mikey and Vince stayed together. When their weapon boxes finally stopped, they both had green shells.
"Aw man!" Mikey groaned.
"No, wait! If we both throw at the same target… it could do some real damage." Vince shouted.
"Do you know how hard it is to aim and drive?"
"No. But I'm about to find out." He picked up his green shell and Mikey did the same. They both hurled them at Toad. They might've hit, had not Toad fallen off the edge of the earth at that moment.
"What the-" but Vince was cut off as he too plunged off the edge.
Spinelli was thrown from her seat and only barely hung on to TJ's seat in front of her. Her legs flailed in the breeze behind her.
"Hold on!" TJ shouted way too late.
"You jerk!" she screamed. "Next time I drive!"
They slammed down, and Spinelli fell back into her seat. They didn't stop for a second.
They drove around the corner and across the finish line.
"Jesus, it's only been one lap," Spinelli said, stunned by the fall still.
They were first, Princess was second, Toad was third, Vince was fourth, Mikey was fifth, Kong was sixth, and Luigi was seventh.
The cars sped into the pit canyon and hit the weapon boxes. Luigi had caught up and was trying to pass Mikey. Mikey quickly threw his red shell. It hit, resulting in a fantastic explosion because it had been at such close quarters. Luigi screamed as his car rolled over and over down the sandy slope, finally falling into the pit, his screams instantly silenced by the pouring sand.
Mikey stared in disbelief. He had killed someone! He had never done something so horrible in his life. He tried to tell himself that Luigi was fake, not to mention an enemy, and that it didn't count. But he didn't really believe it. He fell into seventh place, but he didn't care anymore. What had he done?
Vince looked around for Mikey, but couldn't see him through the tearing wind and other riders. Someone threw a green shell at him and he dodged. His weapon box showed an invincibility star/lightening bolt. He pressed it, and began to glow and emit loud music.
TJ and Spinelli were still in first, but the Princess was just behind them, practically foaming at the mouth with road rage. She stared from her back seat, making sure the Princess didn't throw something at the.
"HOLD ON!" shouted TJ, and Spinelli turned. Banana peel!
They hit it and spun madly, as the cackling Princess sped past them, soon followed by Kong, who had managed to catch up, and Toad. As soon as they stopped wobbling TJ hit the gas again. He noticed Vince next to him.
"Hey! I see you got spinned. Sucks, doesn't it?"
TJ focused on the road. "Yeah. Now I'm in fourth place. Dang."
They sped down the road, avoiding obstacles and hitting the prize boxes and came to the ledge.
"HOLD ON!" TJ shouted as they once again fell off. Spinelli was once again ripped form her seat, barely hanging on. She felt better when she saw that all the other seconds were doing the same.
"I am SO getting my own car next time," she grumbled.
After they hit, TJ began gaining on the others again. He came up behind the Princess just as they crossed the finish line. The final lap.
Princess. TJ. Kong. Vince. Toad. Mikey. There were now only six riders.
Mikey was so far behind now, that he was in front, chugging along through the sand in the pit canyon. The Princess smiled and winked back at TJ.
"Your friend in slow. Should I give him a push you think?" she shouted over the skin-stripping wind. She laughed and TJ frantically searched the weapon box. All they had was a banana. Spinelli threw it, but missed the Princess as she rammed Mikey's car, sending him rolling towards the pit.
"MIKEY!" Spinelli screamed. Mikey seemed stunned. He always was a gentle spirit, and she realized that the place must have been getting to him. Or was it just Gretchen?
He didn't try to steer away. Instead, he threw a red shell at the Princess.
TJ, Spinelli, and Vince watched, as if in slow motion. Time slowed and noise vanished. The grains of sand in the wind stood still.
The shell soared through the air, exploding against the Princess' car as Mikey teetered on the edge of the pit. The Princess's shock and hatred on her face, as Mikey fell in after Luigi. Peach crying out and abandoning ship as the pink car exploded in a burst of flame.
Then time and noise came back and they sped out of the pit, hitting weapon boxes on the way.
"MIKEY!" screamed Spinelli, staring back at the pit. Vince's face was frozen in shock, staring straight ahead, disbelieving. TJ hunched over the wheel in a pose that would make a chiropractor cringe. He fixed his cap on his head, making sure it was backwards and gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.
They drove down the dirt highway, silently, all noise seeming to vanish once again. They fell off the ledge and drove for the finish line. TJ in first, Vince in second, Kong in third, Toad in fourth, and Peach, stumbling after them in a burned and filthy gown, in fifth.
They stopped in front of the building that was a weird old-fashioned bar run by enslaved cheaters.
They got out of the cars and all the riders walked towards the restaurant again. They were all silent, as if the other riders felt loss as well. Maybe they would miss Princess, Luigi, and Yoshi.
The solemn trio collapsed into a booth. Spinelli was crying silently, making clear tear lines across her blacked and dirty face. Her hair stood up in all directions, falling out of their ties. Vince was still blank-faced. He was just as filthy, if not more. His eyes looked a little off, like he'd been spun too many times, and TJ remembered his earlier speech. He did not cry though. He knew that someone had to keep control. Vince and Spinelli were losing it.
"So, who do you think is next?" Vince said softly, looking at the tabletop.
"What?" TJ asked, just as soft.
"There are five races. There used to be five of us. It's obvious, isn't it? Each one of us dies each race. You're the leader, so the next person to die will be me or Spinelli."
"Don't say that!" TJ said. He would've shouted if he had the energy.
"We-"
He was interrupted by someone coming over to their table. It was Peach. They stared up at her – Vince blankly, but Spinelli and TJ with hatred.
"I'm sorry," she said in her cutesy but soft voice, before they could say anything. "I just wanted to tell you that I've always hated the Princess and I'm sorry for your loss." With that, she walked away to her own table and sat alone.
"Well." Spinelli said, but couldn't think of a response. Then a waiter came over with Coca-colas and wonderful-smelling stew.
"You'll be spending the night here and then race tomorrow," the waiter said with a Scottish accent, "so when you're ready to retire, tell me and I'll take you to your rooms." Then he left.
Spinelli tasted the stew cautiously. "Well, it tastes wonderful. At least they won't starve us." She dug in.
"I'm not hungry." Vince said softly.
"Yes you are. You got to keep your strength up. It looks like your going to fall apart!" TJ exclaimed. Vince did not argue, he merely began to eat his stew while he stewed.
The waiter showed them where the shower and their rooms were. After washing, they all went to bed, exhausted both physically and mentally.
TJ gripped his blanket hard in the darkness, thinking about Mikey and Gretchen. He would win. He would get them back. And then he would kill Janette.
"So, who do you think is next?"
TJ blocked the thought from his head. Everything could wait until the morning.
What had the lady said the next race was? Right. The "Forest." Well, he would be prepared. And he would win.
He repeated this over and over until he fell asleep.
END OF CHAPTER FIVE
Well? What did you think? Does anyone know the names of the other seconds? And should I bring Gus into this? Should I give up this story entirely?
"Yet in this, as in so many other things, fairies rarely give much thought to the consequences of their actions. They procreate or steal other people's children, and twenty years later they are amazed to discover that they have a house full of grown men and women."
-The Ladies of Grace Adieu