Disclaimer: I hereby do not, in any way, shape, or form, own anything. All trademarks, characters, names, brands, franchises, products, logos, songs, and locations are the sole property of their respective owners. I understand that any form of copyright infringement is strictly prohibited.

Mario is a property of Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo. Ridge Racer is a property of Namco.

"...This epic duel has been taking place on the famed Seaside Route 765, the world's most famous intercity track ever! You've seen the racers battle it out in multiple circuits, and it's almost time for..."

The emcee continued his enthusiastic introductions to race fans that had just arrived, accentuating the fans' emotions that came from roaring engines and burnt rubber on the tarmac. Many spectators commented on the cars, took pictures, and waited anxiously for the next set of races to begin. It was a good day for racing, with mild temperatures and a slightly arid humidity, meaning maximum grip for the tires and optimal heat levels for the engines. Drivers talk with fans, signed autographs, and discussed nitrous paths and drift angles with other prepping racers. The day was far from over, but there were only a handful of races left to run. And as such, UFRA had saved the best for last.

Reiko Nagase parked her machine in a reserved spot, and stepped out. She wore a simple silver dress, with the skirt reaching just above her knees. The weather was warm enough for summer wear, after all. In her hand was a black USB drive, and she started walking towards the crowd of race fans. She passed by them and eventually reached a tent in the distance. There a single person sat in the driver's seat of the parked 1960's Formula One lookalike, set up with aerodynamics. The man was typing quickly but calmly on a laptop, with a wire that lead out into the engine of the kart. Reiko walked past the open hood, and tapped on the door, signaling the man's attention.

"Got the plug-ins. You wanted the SS Booster or the OverLimit Start?"

Mario faced Reiko, and took the USB. "First of all, thanks for getting me that. And OverLimit. Hopefully, I won't be too far back during the race for me to need the SS Booster." He jacked the USB into the port, and opened the OL-S file. After a few minutes of uploading, Mario saved the settings and closed the laptop. "There we go, ECU has been calibrated."

Mario got out of the kart, disconnecting the laptop from the engine and placing it on a nearby table. He then took a swig from a water bottle. "Any word on your opponent?" Reiko asked. "Nothing," said Mario.

Reiko sat down on a nearby chair. "So you got your plug-in. Anything else you need me to get before the race starts? You still have..." Reiko checked her watch. "Two hours. You've already trounced the Angel duel of the Mario Kart X Ridge Racer event anyways, and many of your Mario Kart teams were eliminated, so this will be the last one. " Mario averted his gaze from Reiko for a moment while he gave some thought on the situation. "Uh, Rivelta engine mods, NOS nitrous, suspension and tires, and the plug-in. I think that's it." "Well, that's that then. I'm gonna go grab a bite, do you want something?" Reiko asked. Mario frowned a bit. "Nah, I'm good. Maybe I'll just take a nap until it's race time." Reiko smiled. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Mario. It's OK." And with that, she walked off.

Mario got into his kart again, and pushed the seat back all the way down. "Yeah, except that my reputation with that guy practically on the line for this race..." Within minutes, Mario dozed off into a dreamless sleep, the roaring engines but an afterthought.

"...report to the race line, I repeat, will Mario report to..."

Mario cracked open an eye, and glanced over to his kart's dashboard. He then reversed into the service lane, pulled a J-turn, and sped through the pit stop at the relatively 'low' speed of 88 km/h. It wasn't until then he noticed a Post-It stuck on his front fender with Reiko's handwriting on it. He parked his kart on the starting grid at second place, and as various flag girls and pit crews surrounded the three cars on the line, Mario ripped off the note to read it closely.

"Mario, you're facing the White Angel. He drives a special machine tuned by Kamata. I've given you some specs on their performance, but as far as I can tell, this is going to be a tough fight. It's a quick 3-lap race, but don't underestimate them. I've actually talked to some company reps, and they're hinting that they expect a loss from you, of all people."

Mario frowned, and tossed the note to the right. He had won the Mario Kart Grand Prix finals with the largest margin in Mario Kart history. The manufacturers must have spent a lot of time on these so-called 'special machines'.

Something clicked within Mario's mind, and he realized that he hadn't read the rest of the note yet. He picked up the crumpled note, and read the bottom half. As he went down the list, his eyes started getting wider and wider. Top speeds of 345 and 350 km/h, 0-100 in less than 4 seconds, 100-0 in less than 5 seconds, skidpad ratings, weight distribution percentages, and other numbers blazed past Mario's experienced mind. These machines were purpose-built, and Reiko wasn't naive in warning him.

Tossing the note away again, Mario looked to his right, and saw Reiko in his pit stop. She waved at him and yelled, "good luck!" He waved back, but in his heart, he was now a tad nervous. A pit technician suddenly appeared at his right window, and said, "Mario, tire pressure's been equalized and nitrous has been filled. You need us to check the engine?" Mario shook his head wordlessly, and the technician walked back to the pit stop with the rest of the crew.

Although his crew was finished, the RT White Angel crew had not, and Mario managed to catch a few glimpses of the cars he would be racing.

His rival car, which was all white, and had a similar non-reflective finish. The design of the car was like the "Supercar of the 1990s", with the driver sitting in the center. Like his kart, it was also very low-slung. There was only a word "Tuned by KAMATA" read on upper section of windshield. There were a small blue angel logo on its front and blue accentuations on doors.

He also wondered why someone made a statement concerning stuff like this in motorsport, of all places.

"This is it, folks! Kamata Motor Company, Ltd. present to you... The Kamata Angelus!"

The crowd roared, and the engines flared up, matching the audiences' noises in raw power. Mario blocked out the noise, and focussed on his inner self. This is it, he thought, three laps to battle with these masterpieces. All or nothing. Do or die. Nothing but us and the asphalt beneath our wheels.

The lights lit up. In a mere two seconds, Mario would be having quite possibly the most elite race in the history of motorsport. And with that thought passing, the light had already turned green. The race had begun. Mario shifted to second gear in an instant, taking advantage of the OverLimit Start and shot to 85 km/h in less than two seconds. The G-forces were heavy, but he was used to it. In less than the time to comprehend an image, Mario had a lead on the Angelus.

However, Mario's early victory would not last long, as the Angelus' ultra-efficient 2nd-to-5th gear ratios allowed it to accelerate to 200 km/h way before Mario Kart could, and overtook the rival when the track lead to the highway tunnel. All two guys initiated a drift as the tunnel kinked right, cars gathering nitrous for which was going to be an uphill battle for all. As soon as the turn finished, Mario initiated a stage one nitrous that propelled him in front of the Angelus. With orange flames leaping from his exhaust, his kart gathered an ultimate charge from the double hairpin before the bridge. He quickly checked his rearview mirror and saw both machines doing the same, whoever the companies hired as the drivers, they were definitely good. Wasting no time, Mario shot out another stage one nitrous after passing the chicane past the bridge, getting another ultimate charge from the 90-degree turn.

A surprising sight then befell Mario: the Angelus passed his kart. He then noticed the remnants of green flame from their exhausts after also getting an ultimate charge. "What, double nitrous already? Man, the machine must get nitrous quickly..." Right before the north chicane where most of the crowds were watching, Mario let out a third stage one nitrous for another upcoming hairpin. The kart passed the Angelus and got another ultimate charge, filling his nitrous system to the brim. He checked his mirror again, and the machines apparently didn't get an ultimate charge. He smiled through gritted teeth, and unleashed a triple nitrous, expending all of his nitrous reserves in one long blue-coloured blast. Speeds quickly reached 400 km/h as Mario drifted through two soft turns, one of which went through another tunnel. Mario was surprised once again as the Angelus pulled up right beside the kart and roared ahead of Mario, both of which were also running a triple nitrous.

A tad shocked at how developed the nitrous technology was for the special machine, Mario's triple nitrous ended right as he entered a decreasing radial turn, and he drifted once again for a massive ultimate charge. His nitrous system topped up again within seconds, and he unleashed his second triple nitrous. The Angelus had the same plans, and also achieved ultimate charges for yet another triple nitrous. The White Angel caught up to Mario at the start line, and all two cars posted times within microseconds of each other. Reiko watched from the sidelines, a bit worried but confident in Mario's skills. "42.692 seconds, each car within 0.004 seconds of each other. C'mon, Mario..." she murmured. The cars roared past the pit stop, the drivers with nary a thought for tires or fuel.

Lap two had begun, and the Angelus' higher top speed gave it the edge over the kart as both drifted into the first turn, triple nitrous still running. In unprecedented synchronicity, the nitrous stopped for all cars at the same time, and as a result every car got an ultimate charge on the double hairpin. Mario unleashed a stage one nitrous to propel him to the 90-degree turn, and filled up his nitrous again from the resulting drift after forming a ten-length lead on the White Angel. Behind him, the Angelus had activated double nitrous, and quickly caught up to the kart in the north chicane.

"Oh, c'mon!" Mario complained, and he let loose another triple nitrous after drifting past the hairpin. As expected the other machines also had triple nitrous, and used it liberally. With the raw top speeds of both prototypes, the Angelus quickly caught up to and overtook Mario. Both cars drifted in tandem in the final decreasing radius turn and activated yet another triple nitrous after garnishing an ultimate charge. Mario did the same, but his kart's top speed could not match that White Angel, and started the last lap in last place. The margin was still minimal however; the cars were only separated by 0.342 seconds, and both had lap times improve by over five seconds.

Now focussing on utmost precision, Mario finished off his triple nitrous before the double hairpin and achieved maximum efficiency on the resulting ultimate charge drift. The Angelus did the same, but Mario could tell they were getting a tiny bit sloppy on drift angles and timing. Deciding to change things up a bit, his kart let out a green double nitrous right after the bridge, passing the 90 degree turn and drifting a bit in the north chicane for a minor ultimate charge. Mario knew this was a gamble, but NOS systems offered an extra tank of reserve nitrous in their products, and Mario was banking on using that up in the near future. The Angelus were behind him, but they were still close-by. Passing the north hairpin, Mario started another triple nitrous as the drift finished, and the White Angel did the same. Hands with a death grip on the steering wheel, Mario guided his kart through the soft turns as the Angelus inched ever closer with their top speed bonuses. In the final decreasing radius turn, Mario forgoes all pretence on proper ultimate charges and started a double nitrous in the middle of his final drift, exhaust blazing and wheels screeching as the car was literally seconds away from the finish line. He gave a quick look backwards, and noticed the Angelus doing the same, except with triple nitrous. Mario's jaw dropped, but at this point it was only a straight line to finish, and everything was left to the performance of the car. And he knew with the inherent additional power the triple nitrous had over the double and the superior top speed of the other machines, the kart could very well lose this matchup. Nitrous blazing, both screamed towards the finish line. The Angelus sped forward, creeping up towards the kart like a shark towards its prey. But the finish line was close, and it was impossible to tell who would win by the naked eye alone.

The cars passed the finish line, with a high speed camera recording the finish. Mario let go of the accelerator, and coasted his kart for quite some distance until he finally stopped. Tired and unsure of the results, he U-turned the vehicle and drove back to the pits. The Angelus were already there, and crews had already gathered around the owner, gathering data and making sure no damage occurred. Mario parked his kart beneath the garage with the "Mario Kart" banner, and got out. Reiko greeted him almost immediately with a hug. "Mario, that was incredible!"

Half-smiling through his tiredness, Mario said, "Well, it was a tough race. Still not sure exactly what happened at the end, but, regardless, that was by far the craziest race I've ever done. Three minutes of unbridled racing fury."

An official walked up to the pair, and motioned for their attention. "Reiko, we have the final results. As per the request of R&D scientists from many tuners, we had recently installed timers that recorded to eight decimal places. It turns out their request was well-founded."

Reiko responded with an eyebrow raised. "Really? The times were that close?" The official nodded. "Practically speaking, the times were the exact same when recorded to thousandths of a second. But to be absolute with numbers, Mario won by approximately 8 millionths of a second."

Mario's jaw dropped. "I WON?"

Reiko laughed, hugging her friend tighter. "That's great! You won!" The two laughed, and the official motioned for their attention again, a bit miffed.

Reiko, still smiling, let go of Mario and said, "C'mon, go. I bet they've got good news for you." Mario, chuckling, said "Yeah, they'll be happy that I rendered the Ridge Racers useless in a race." With that, Mario walked off to the RT White Angel pit. There, he found the aforementioned 'representatives', both which were wearing extremely expensive suits and black ties.

"You wanted to see me?" Mario greeted the men. They exchanged handshakes, and Mario was then sure that this was going to be good news.

One of the men stepped forward a bit. "Mario, we are well-aware of your exceptional 'drift racing' abilities in all UFRA-sanctioned races and your continued success with White Angel in said races. This is precisely the reason why both Kamata and their RT White Angel had decided to use you as a test subject for Project Singularity they participated in." Mario smiled a bit, acknowledging his oddly flattering prose.

The other man started talking. "Project Singularity was designed to start a new generation of vehicles for the future. Our initial attempts are for racing vehicles, but Project Singularity has begun branching off to companies such as Gnade and Assoluto, who are researching different future-car concepts. For example, Danver, who was the first company to join our efforts, has just finished development on the Bass Cruiser and Hijack, super-armoured SUVs designed for the 'tuner' market while still surviving anti-tank mines. We have send requests to many manufacturers, all of which have agreed to contribute. Furthermore, we would like to invite you as a test driver for these vehicles."

Mario's eyes nearly popped out. These guys were offering him a chance to drive car prototypes that would be practically exclusive to him and a handful of drivers. Excitedly, Mario stammered, "I don't care if there's a catch or whatever. I'm saying yes to this."

Both of the reps smiled. "Thank you, Mario. We will send details concerning your employment and work in a future date, within the next three weeks. Until then, enjoy your victory with your friends." The men walked off into a Gnade G00, and drove off.

Out of nowhere, Reiko grabs Mario into a hug from behind. "So, driving special machines, eh?" Mario beams, and says, "Yeah, pretty much. And I'll make sure I'll give you access to whatever tech the R&D guys will have." Reiko returns Mario's smile, and kisses him on the cheek.

Mario then turned to face his own kart, got back into his kart, and drove back home.