ic Quirk Kart (IC)

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Consuelo shrugged non-committally at Quirk’s music choice. “OK.” Seeing the red Koopa bearing down on her, she tossed her banana peel to throw them off track. But the inside part of one of the strips stuck to her finger a little bit, and her aim was wide. “Frick!” She fake-cursed. Hmm. Quirk took away my steering wheel . . . maybe I could pull the same trick on his lackeys!

 

Dividing her attention between driving and manifesting her disintegration powers, a black warped field appeared near the front of the onrushing Koopa’s kart. But it proved to be a case of too much multi-tasking. Not able to effectively target the steering wheel, her powers only succeeded in creating a small, harmless hole in the Koopa kart fuselage.

 

“Arrrgh!” Consuelo raged as the Koopa pummeled into her kart, scraping her against the rails of the bridge and killing her speed. A shadow passed over the two interlocked racers, and Consuelo instinctively ducked. WHAM! A massive tentacle came down, smashing the Koopa and disengaging their karts. Little stars and birdies circled around the Koopa’s head, but it dismissed them with a vigorous shake and continued to race on, neck-and-neck with Consuelo.

 

“All right, tough guy – no more tricks! Imma gonna take you out oldskool!” She threatened her terrapin competitor.

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass II

Mizuki was having none of this... with the Kopas coming back she got desperate.

 

"So... if this follows the rules of your typical Kart game... My kart'll probably become some sort of Jet-Ski..."

 

She floors it to the lower track, then as her kart splashes down in the water for a moment Mizuki regrets not wearing her "uniform"... but then she hears a sonar ping... and no water rushing past her skin. Opening her eyes she discovers she's in a fast mini-sub! Looking something more like something from SeaQuest than any research sub.

 

"Guys... I found a shortcut... will be trying to catch up soon, hang in there."

Edited December 30, 2023 by The Sailor

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence was watching the scene ahead of him intently as the new threat Quirk had cooked up reared up out of the water. When he saw Mizuki veer off the track towards the water, he hoped she knew what she was doing, but had no choice but to let things play out. Shifting gears of his racer, the blond teen stepped on the gas, accelerating as fast as he could. As he went, his racer flickered in and out of space with temporal distortions that jumped it forward in leaps and bounds.

 

"Good show Vicki." He called out as she managed to cause one of their opponents to crash into another, keeping both being able to do anything to interfere with the teens. He then flickered out of time once more just as a tentacle was coming down toward him. After a few more jumps, he was back up near Consuelo and the Koopa she was dueling with.

 

Hearing Mizuki report she was fine and had a short cut under the water Lawrence gave a small sigh. "Cheers Mizuki. Stay safe, and the yacht club is coming up, so you are likely to be running out of water soon. See you when you get back up here."

 

Just as Lawrence indicated, the track continued on through the North Bay Yacht Club, filled with larger yachts and sailboats, before the track climbed up the hills to North Bay above. The tentacles were still flailing out of the water and the three remaining Koopas were trying to close once more….

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass II

 

Mizuki's submarine launches out of the water on to the path that winded through the marina. She weaved through the course once landing, adding some drifts to her turns to keep speed while moving, eventually the lower road met up with the gang. Keeping her speed she pulls into her team's pack, lining up near Consuelo.

 

"Made it... back in the pack, baby!"

 

She looked back at the approaching Koopas... "Any ideas about our tails though?"

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Glaring at the nearby Koopa, Consuelo focuses her disintegration powers on it. The thing is surrounded by black distortions and gives out a yell of discomfort. Unable to focus on its driving, it falls behind just as Mizuki pops back up into the mix.

 

"Yeah, sure, 'Zuki, I got an idea. I'm gonna disintegrate the bridge behind us and dump these fools into the river!"

 

Not having bothered with anything like a safety belt, Consuelo shifts around in her seat until she is kneeling on it, facing backwards. Driving with a controller instead of a steering wheel helps a lot with the maneuver.

 

"Alright, Koopas, y'all're going down!"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence continued to accelerate in his racer, rippling forward at times in a temporal distortion as his powers kicked in. These jumps helped push him out of reach of the remaining Koopa that was up toward the front, and ended up around Consuelo. Several tentacles lashed down after the blond teen, Consuelo and the lead Koopa, but all missed.

 

Muzki was back up out of the water just as the track began climbing up out of the bay in which the marina sat and up into North Bay proper. The racers zipped by sprawling estates with massive mansions at the track turned to the southwest and toward the ruins of Kingson. Vicki unfortunately fell behind, tangled up with one of the Koopas.

 

In short order, the group was entering the outskirts of Kingson, which quickly gave way to destroyed buildings and homes, the massive form of the Doomforge looming to the north. Lawrence had pulled a good way ahead of the pack and could see Quirk and the girl up ahead. But then his attention was drawn to several figures that were coming from the direction of the Doomforge. "Everyone I think I see the next wrinkle Quirk has for us. Omegadrones."

 

As Vicki and Consuelo entered into the ruins of Kingson, looking to the north, they could see the rapidly approaching forms of at least a dozen large, armored figures flying through the air towards them….

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass II

 

Things got rather exiting as they screamed towards the City Center, but they had to go through Kingston and the Doomforge... And with the busy airspace above she knew she had to floor it. "Guys, drive it like you stole it, don't go in a straight line or you'll give those drones an easy target." She hit the throttle, seeing the Koopas having their troubles. But there was one in particular making their way towards the next item set. She hits her gas then she drifts bumping the koopa off course. Then a Drone manages to shoot at her, but TL's reflexes picked up on the threat and her jerking the wheel makes her hit the item box... It's random system cycles through the possible items...

"C'mon... C'mon...." Then a Star comes up. "Guys... it's showtime." She activates it and suddenly it seems like she's surrounded in multi-spectral energy, her main costume appears... She got it... the invincibility star. "Funnel them my way, I'll clear 'em out and we'll be home free!" She sees one Koopa head towards Rot. "Oh no you don't."

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Zipping into the decrepit Kingston area, Consuelo does her best to keep her speed up. It doesn't help that a contingent of flying robots appear with the apparent intent to make everyone's day miserable.

 

"Scram, ya tin cans!" Consuelo yells at the omegadrones, and she manifests a disintegration field between them and her to try to get the point across.

 

But these alien robots are pretty nifty, and one dodges around the interposed deathfield to stab her with some kind of glowy spear thing. "Gah! I ain't gonna lie. That did not feel great." But she manages to keep both hands on the controller and doesn't lose much speed.

 

"I really don't like those spear thingies!"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Keeping an eye on the approaching Omegadrones, Lawrence began swerving his racer erratically as he continued along the course, even as Mizuki gave her warning about evasive maneuvers. It slowed him down some, but he was still well head of the others and the Koopas, and continuing to get closer to Quirk and that girl that was with him.

Of course the Omegadrones were still able to close with him, both firing energy blasts from their power pikes. The first went well wide of the teen, as Lawrence had at the last minute veered to one side, throwing off the Omegadrones aim. However the second timed its shot better, and the energy blast streaked towards Larwrence, only for a time distortion to suddenly move Lawrence back to where he had initially been, causing the attack to miss at the last moment.

 

"Hang in there Consuelo, we are almost through Kingston and to the Lindroos Bridge to the City Center. Hopefully the Omegadrones won't follow us there." Lawrence replied.

 

Up ahead, Consuelo and Mizuki could see the course continue through the ruins of Kingston, before crossing over the indicated bridge and into the City Center downtown. For the moment at least, the Omegadrones seemed intent on pursing all the racers…

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

"The heck with this!" Consuelo flies up out of her go Kart, while steering it on the track with her controller. She zips up to the omegadrone that stabbed her and swats him with her disintegration powers. "See how you like it, buddy!"

 

She flies back down to land in her speeding racer, grumbling to herself. "Frickin' power pikes. . . ."

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass

 

She was glowing... as if every color of the spectrum was surging through her. Her speed was amplified, and so was she... The Koopa sneaking up on Consuelo had no chance. "Oh no you don't!" And she slammed into them, sending them spinning away... where to, she didn't know. But then there were a couple shots from the Omegadrones, one hitting her square in the shoulders... doing nothing. But there wasn't much time left. She knew power ups like this don't last very long.

 

Then she saw two Koopas lining up on Lawrence. "Lawrence! On your 5 and 7! I'm using the last of my power up here so I'm rushing the one at 5 O'Clock to try to disrupt them!"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

"Yeah, they have been on me all through Kingston." Lawrence replied with a bit of humor in his tone. The blond teen continued to drive somewhat erratically, making himself a harder target to hit. The maneuvering caused one of the Omegadrones to wildly miss. However, he just barely dodged the other, the blast impacting beside him, causing Lawrence to briefly lose control of his racer and by the time he had regained full control, he had slowed down a bit, as Consuelo and Mizuki managed to close the distance with him.

 

As the three teens came to the end of the bridge and into the City Center, the Omegadrones broke off their pursuit, turning back towards Kingston. The Koopas choose to fall back as well. As they did, the last of Mizuki's invulnerability faded away.

Then the three teens hear Quirk's voice once more. “Well, so far so good. Maybe time to make things more interesting, how about some opponents you are at least familiar with some of your training sessions.”

 

The sound of revving motors sounded to the side of the course and three new racers came pulling onto the course near the three teens. And sure enough, they recognized them from one of the Doom Room training sessions toward the start of the year, Blur, Widowmaker and Incendiary….

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

As Quirk trots out the three hapless villains the principal had trotted out in the training exercise, Consuelo can't help but feel a little sorry for them, doomed as they are to be repeatedly beaten down by aspiring young heroes, even though they weren't real. Is that why they call it the Doom Room? It's like that legend about the old Greek guy pushing the rock up the hill. What was his name? Syphilis?

 

Consuelo manages to reel herself back into the present. Well, I took out Widowmaker and Incendiary last time. Blur is probably . . . fast. Better zap that guy.

 

"Hey, has-been!" Rot calls out to her simulated opponent. "Eat my dust!" Lashing out with one hand, dark shadowy swirls dance around the bottom of Blur's kart. A moment later, that kart doesn't have wheels anymore, which quickly slows it down. "Ha ha! Sucker!"

 

Rot smashes the A button and zips ahead. 

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass II

 

The last of the Invincibility star wears off, and Torpedo Lass stops glowing. Seems Incindiary saw that and threw a fireball at her, but somehow, someway she managed to shrug it off. With only some smoke damage on her outfit, and some carbon scoring on her Kart in non-essential areas. "Looks like I'm back on the menu..." Looking over herself she's surprised she's still in costume. "Anyways, Find it odd that Professor Fathom isn't here?"

 

She focuses on her driving. "Just need a power up and there's none to be found..." she thinks. Pushing her speed and steering as much as she could. Going Serpentine so she's harder to hit.

Edited January 31 by The Sailor

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence continued to try to focus on his driving and the new opponents that Quirk had thrown at them. The blond teen grinned as Consuelo took Blur out of the race, he had been a bit worried about how much pressure Blur would be able to put on them with his superspeed, figuring he might not be as downgraded in power as he had been during the Doom Room training.

 

However, the other two members of Arsenal that Quirk had conjured up where very much in the race, and while they fell a bit behind the teens, they were both able to lash out with ranged attacks. Flames from Incendiary struck Mizuki, but Lawrence barely had time to worry about that, as the loud sound of a shotgun rang out and Widowmaker fired his automatic shotgun at the teen.

 

Just as the shotgun blast was about to strike Lawrence and his racer, there was a temporal distortion around them, and suddenly Lawrence was just slightly to one side of where he had been, causing the attack to miss him completely. Unfortunately, the defensive move threw off the teen's concentration slightly, as he released a wave of temporal energy aimed at stopping the two superpowered mercenaries (while avoiding his friends). Unfortunately the wave of energy washed harmlessly over everyone, and the five racers continued speeding along the course which had now brought them close to the Wading Way, the financial heart of Freedom City.

Up ahead, were the three twisting towers of Pyramid Plaza, rising up to dominate the city skyline. The three teens could see that the course wrapped around the base of the Plaza, and then up into the air, weaving in and out of the three towers as it followed them all the way to their top, before ending in a ramp, with the course continuing after a large gap on a lower level, as it appear to slope back down in the direction of the North End and Liberty Park.

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

The course becoming more technical now, Consuelo focuses all of her attention on staying on the track - the increasingly elevated track - leaving thoughts of disintegrating her opponents for another time. 

 

Zig. Zag. Drift. Draft. Brake. Accelerate.

 

Holy Smokes! We're at the jump already! "Aaaaah-a-wahooooo!" Consuelo zips by Widowmaker, who appears to be having a disagreement with the sidewall, just as she hits the jump. She clears, barely. Widowmaker falls just a little short, screaming and bouncing off architecture on their terrifying, accelerating return trip to the ground.

 

Hmm. Widowmaker. I wonder if they were married?

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass II

 

This is it... she thought as she started hitting the turns, one after the other she timed her drifts perfectly, but Incindiary was keeping up even gaining slightly... seems he knew a thing or two about drift racing. But soon solid ground was running out as the ramp across the gap made it's appearance. Luckily on her last turn her nose was dead-on perfect and lined up for the jump. She floors it then at the last possible moment hits her jump... which somehow her kart was a natural at.

 

"LETS GOOOOOOOO" She shouted as she started pulling tricks in the air, which somehow were keeping her ahead of Incindiary who was also pulling off some mad tricks. When she landed she lost no momentum... it almost seemed like she gained some as she pulled ahead of the pack.

 

"How we doin' crew? Are we alright?" she asked as she had her eyes on the road, but her peripherals on her mirrors, noticing Incindiary was still hot on her heels. "I still got a tail but I'm gaining ground."

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

As the racers approached Pyramid Plaza, Lawrence took a moment to study the course as it rose up to twist in and out of the various towards of the plaza (something he was able to do in a faction of the time it might otherwise take). Focusing back on the course, the blond teen gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter as he came to the first sharp turn, slowing down ever so slightly as he made the sharp turn, his racer whipping around the curving track and staying within the main part of it and not losing speed. The two remaining members of Arsenal both managed to keep up, making the first series of sharp turns as the course continued to rise into the air.

 

The blond teen began to accelerate as he managed to skillfully control his racer as the course weaved in and out of the towers, pulling slightly ahead of some of the others. Then, the course straightened out briefly, before coming to a sudden end. Lawrence's racer sped off the end of the course and into the air, the next portion of the course visible some distance ahead at a slightly lower height. Not wanting to risk possibly failing to make the jump, the teen focused on the course ahead and he and his racer were surrounded by a temporal distortion and then disappeared from view, only to reappear out of another temporal distortion down on the course ahead.

 

He sped along the course as both Consuelo and then Mizuki came landing down near him after completing their jumps. While Incendiary managed to make the jump, he was some distance behind the three teens as they sped into the North End, the course stretching out ahead and into Liberty Park.

 

Up ahead, the teens could see Quirk on his racer, the young girl in the princess dress right beside him. This was the closest any of them had gotten to the pair all race. Lawrence glanced over to the two girls and smiled. "Almost to the end. Let's go show him up." He said with a grin. Behind the, Incendiary suddenly dropped out of view.

 

Suddenly, the "Rick" announcer version of Quirk appeared again in the upper right corner of the teen’s vision. "WOW, what an incredible race so far. Team Claremont has been incredible, with so many close calls and exciting finishes, isn't that right Vic?"

"Oh, most definitely Rick!" Responded the grey sweater wearing Qurik now in the upper left corner.

 

"Well, they are nearing the finish line." Stated "Rick" as he reappeared in the upper right-hand corner. "But now Team Claremont has to face off with the final three opponents, why don't you introduce them Vic."

 

"Would be my pleasure, Rick! We have some real blasts from the past! First up, we have Aries, the speedy powerhouse from the Zodiac group that has tussled with the Freedom League in the past!"

 

As Quirk spoke a racer pulled onto the track near the teens, it was a male figure on a large quad runner, wearing a white one-piece costume with metal banded gloves and boots and a golden colored helmet with a full-face mask and two small horns on either side of the helmet.

 

"Quite the hard charger there, who is up next Vic?"

"Well Rick, next up is the psychic sadist, Mindfire!" Quirk announced in his other announcer persona as another racer pulled on the course near the teens. It was an attractive redheaded woman in a red and black sight bodysuit and riding a motorcycle. Ghostly flames seem to swirl around her and her eyes glowed with a yellow/orange light.
 

"Oh, could be bad news if she gets her mental hooks in any one on Team Claremont. And for the last opponent Vic?"

 

"Oh last, but certainly not least Rick, we have the Anit-Earth version of Johnny 'spoilsport' Rocket himself, Johnny Speed!"

 

At the announcement, the three teens heard a faint *CRACK* of something breaking the sound barrier and then a loud BOOM behind them as a third racer came streaking up between them to slow down slightly just ahead. It was a sleek formula one style racer that crackled with electricity and was driven by a man with short blond hair that was the spitting image of the former Freedom League speedster Johnny Rocket, only he wore a dark colored costume and had an evil leer on his face. "Hey kiddies, ready to get trounced by a true speed freak?" He called out.

 

"Well, one thing is for sure Vic, this is sure to be an exciting finish!"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawerence looked over at Johnny Speed and then glanced around at the other opponents and his friends. Focusing back ahead and realizing they were in the final stretches of the race, the blond teen decided it was time to just focus on going all out to beat Quirk at his game. Focusing for a moment, a temporal distortion rippled out from the teen, washing over Mizuki and Consuelo, who suddenly felt their perceptions of the world around them change, as if everything was moving differently, almost in slow motion.

 

"Let's win this." Lawrence simply said to his friends, as he shifted his racer into high gear. Instantly his racer became a distorted blur as was the case when Lawrence used his powers to move quickly through time. Only this time, the distortion zipped forward far faster than the two teen girls had ever seen Lawrence go.

 

But even as the teen sped forward, Johnny Speed's racer also became a blur, shooting forward with a loud *CRACK* and then a louder BOOM as it broke the sound barrier. "Not so fast boy!" They heard the villainous version of the retired speedster call out before he was going neck-in-neck with Lawrence.

 

Meanwhile, the racer identified by Quirk as Aries tried to keep up, going quite fast himself, but it was nowhere near the speed of most of the others, eventually falling a short distance behind Mizuki.

Mindfire did not even bother trying to keep up with the others, instead focusing her gaze on Consuelo, as ghostly fire seemed to surround her and similar ghostly fire surrounded Consuelo’s head as the teen felt a searing pain in her head from the psychic attack.

 

As the course took the racers over the South River and back to South Freedom, Lawernce and Johnny Speed had almost caught up with Quirk and were running right in line with each other. The alternate dimension villain looked over at the teen and sneered. "Your mom got lucky with a sucker punch, don’t think you will be able to do the same."

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

"Gah! Ouch! Rah! What the freaking heck? You attack me by giving me a migraine? Of all the super-villain simulations I've had to smack down, you're making a good case for being the most annoying!" 

 

Feeling a little woozy, Consuelo shake the last of the phantasmal fire off her head and turns back to her attacker. "Mindfire, for crimes against my head, and for violation of the cosmic laws of fashion, I hereby banish you from the race!"

 

Hungry shadows reach out from Rot towards Mindfire. They swirl around her, obscuring her from view. When the shadows dissipate, the super-villain is just gone - not even a shred of red and black latex is left behind. 

Edited February 4 by Huckleberry

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass II

 

Lawrence came in clutch, accelerating everyone up to almost meeting up with Quirk themself. This was after getting ahead of Aries as well.

 

"Well well... that's one heck of a power up!" She said, looking over to the speedster. "Of course Quirk would pick a speedster."

 

Then it slipped into her mind, if Quirk is following the rules of the game she's copying... "Guys watch your six, we might get rubber-banded!"

Edited February 6 by The Sailor

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

Consuelo watches as the rest of the racers start to really pull away from her at the end. She looks down at her gaming controller as though it has betrayed her. What the heck is wrong with my acceleration button?

 

"Quirk, I call foul! My controller's rigged." She watches as the Aries, the rearmost of her rapidly diminishing competitors, puts more pavement between them. Frickin' Aries! Who are these jokers Quirk keeps coming up with, anyway? 

 

"Grrr!" Dark shadows stream out from Rot towards the target of her ire. He doesn't appear to enjoy it, and slows down considerably, although not enough for Consuelo to catch up. 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence looked over at Johnny Speed at the villian's comment about his mother’s encounter with him. "That is not what I heard happened." The teenager said, pausing for a moment before adding. "I heard you just go beat." With that, Lawrence pushed his racer even faster, the temporal distortion that marked his path seeming to accelerate even further as he vanished in a ripple of time.

 

Johnny Speed reacted by accelerating as well, another sonic boom echoing in his wake as he sped along with Lawrence. But as fast as Speed was, he began to lose ground, and the began to fall well behind the teenager. Both of them raced past Quirk and the little girl riding alongside him, but Speed quickly became a distant second as Lawrence pulled into a commanding lead.

Thanks to Rot’s shot, Aries slowed down just enough that Mizuki was able to stay ahead of him and pretty much catch up with Quirk and the little girl.

 

When Lawrence crossed the finish line, confetti shot into the air and there was thunderous roar of crowds cheering from…somewhere. Johnny Speed crossed the line sometime after, but even as he pulled up to a stop not far from Lawrence, Quirk snapped his fingers and the villain vanished, as did Aries.

 

Quirk, Mizuki and the little girl all crossed the line next, pulling into the winner's circle where Lawrence had stopped and climbed out of his racer. Consuelo followed along a few moments later. As the teens entered the winner's circle, their racers powered down and stopped operating.

 

Quirk climbed out of his and started over towards Lawrence and the others, holding the little girl who had been racing alongside him in his arms. "Wow, great job everyone!" The impish multi-dimensional being said as he looked over the teens a grin on his face. "Love all the hustle, teamwork and ingenuity. Believe me, you are going to need it."

 

The grin faded from Quirk's face as he stepped up to Lawrence, focusing on the blond teen. "Lawrence, you and your friends need to be ready. Your robed friend has his power source, and his traps are almost complete."

 

Lawrence had a calm, almost annoyed expression as he regarded Quirk. "The only reason I put any real stock into anything you have to say about this Quirk is because the Praetorians confirmed what happened with the singularity. Unless you are willing to give more specifics, your warning is appreciated, but I could do without the games."

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

After several minutes of sustained pressing, the acceleration button and grips of Consuelo's gaming controller finally give way to the residual disintegration leaking out of her hands. She holds up the busted controller in disgust.

 

"Ya see what I've got to work with here? Ya call this craftsmanship? Quirk, I think you need to fire all the monkeys working in your factory."

 

Her go kart putters to a halt near the other racers. "Hey, why does everyone look so serious? You mad, Lawrence? Can't ya see that Quirk just Miyagi'd us? You know, like, wax on, wax off? He's a benevolent spirit of chaos whose only concern is for your welfare, obviously." She makes a healthy eye roll.

 

She tosses the broken controller down on the ground. "So like, why are you such a prize, L-Dog?" She asks her time controlling classmate. "How come the, uh, guy in the bathrobe wants to trap you?"

[The Sailor]

Torpedo Lass II

 

Mizuki screeched to a halt after reaching the finish line, her dive vest suddenly inflating like an airbag before her chest hit the steering wheel. Seems quirk's sense of humor was also helpful... She bounced back from her collision her back about to hit the back of her seat when the kart de-rezzed below her. She moaned for a second before brushing herself off and standing up. She was about to feed Quirk a few choice words but thought otherwise... wasn't sure if this playful imp could be Sisko'd either. At least she kept the costume when it was put on her during the invincibility phase.

 

Then came Quirk's warning...

 

"Well color me stumped." She said walking over the Lawrence. "Okay... this... something I should know about?"