SMG4: Race for Freedom

Chapter 1: Qualifying

Two days later, SMG4 and his friends arrived at where the start of the race had been set up. They marveled at the sight. The start was in an upside-down L-shape, with the Pit Lane on the left-hand side of the vertical section of the track, while the starting line was on the horizontal bit, sporting twenty-four white, half-boxes for the cars' starting positions. On the right side of the track were stands for the audience, and on the left was a field in case of a crash. On the Nintendo side of the race were Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina. On the other side, at least to his knowledge, were SMG4, SMG3, Meggy, Tari, Belle, Melony, Saiko, Shroomy, and Chris.

Meggy: I didn't expect it to be this big...

SMG3: Me neither...

Their thoughts were interrupted as they heard the whine of an engine. They all turned around just in time to see a Formula 1 car with the number 44 race past them and across the finish line.

Announcer: Lewis Hamilton; 2 minutes, 3.4 seconds. Second place.

The driver's name showed up on a board underneath someone with the name 'Jim Clark.' The group looked at the board next to the leaderboard and saw an outline of the track.

Chris: Well, we'd better find our tents then.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. They each walked along the row of pit crews until they each found theirs. SMG4's tent was placed right before the Nintendo tents. He saw a big YouTube logo on the tent, which could only mean that it was his sponsor. As he looked around, he heard arguing coming from the tent next to him. He looked over to see Lawyer Kong arguing with a race official.

Lawyer Kong: Why should we have to qualify? Our racers should be in the front row!

Official: Rules are rules, Mr. Kong. If your racers don't do a qualifying lap, they will be placed in the back.

Lawyer Kong: This is outrageous.

Official: Well, you should've thought of that before you signed up for this.

The official walked away without another word, leaving Lawyer Kong seething in anger.

???: Four?

SMG4 turned around and saw the blue, blocky form of SMG1 standing behind him.

SMG4: One?

SMG1: Yes, it is.

SMG4: What are you doing here?

SMG1: Well, I heard you needed a crew chief, so I volunteered. 2's acting as SMG3's crew chief. Oh, by the way, your car's arrived.

SMG1 led SMG4 into the tent where he saw a Formula 1 car painted white with a red YouTube logo on the front and a white number 4 on its side.

SMG4: Whoa...

SMG1: Yep. This came straight from Ferrari. It's an F2004.

SMG4 watched the Nintendo team do their qualifying laps. Mario managed to knock Lewis Hamilton down to third place, Luigi got in seventh, Bowser in tenth, Peach in fifth, Daisy in eleventh, Donkey Kong in twelfth, and Rosalina took twenty-first. Then, it was time for the others. As SMG4 walked up to the track, he saw that, in addition to the Nintendo characters, Jim Clark, and Lewis Hamilton, other people on the leaderboard were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kimi Räikkönen, Sonic, and Scout. The cocky merc pulled into the Pits in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII painted red with the RED Team logo on the hood and a number 16 on the side painted up like a bomb.

Scout: Beat that, Chucklenuts.

What Scout meant was that he had finished in fifth place, bumping Peach down to sixth. As for the others, Sonic held seventeenth, Räikkönen in twenty-second, Jeff Gordon in fifteenth, and Earnhardt in twenty-third.

Before he did his lap, SMG4 had a look at his friend's cars. Chris had a 2020 Ford Mustang GT500 painted Army Green with Navy Blue stripes and the number 14 painted on the side, Meggy had a 2022 Porsche 911 Turbo painted orange with the number 17, Melony had a 2021 Dodge Challenger with the number 21, Belle had a Ferrari LaFerrari with the number 20, Shroomy had a McLaren Senna in McLaren racing colors with the number 4, Steve had a 2020 Aston Martin Vantage in Aston Martin racing colors with the number 12, Saiko had a 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat with the number 19, SMG3 had a 2018 Dodge Challenger Demon with the number 3, and Tari had a Chevrolet Impala SS NASCAR with the number 18.

For sponsors, Meggy was racing for Porsche, Melony for McDonalds, Saiko for Red Bull, Ferrari for Belle, the Mushroom Kingdom Armed Forces for Chris, Twitch for SMG3, and SMG4's company Glitch Productions for Tari.

SMG4: Nice cars, guys!

Meggy: Thanks! The Porsche is really growing on me.

Saiko: And I'm loving the Hellcat! Even its name... it sounds terrifying. I love it...

She grinned psychotically. Belle slowly backed away from her.

Chris: Mine's fine, it's my crew that's probably going to cost me the race.

His pit crew consisted of Swag as the crew chief, Sergeant Mark handling the fuel, and Admiral Greg handling the tires.

Swag: Wut?

Soon, they did their laps. Meggy scored fourth, Saiko in sixth, Melony in eighth, Shroomy in seventeenth, Chris in twentieth, SMG3 in twenty-third, Tari got fourteenth, and Steve finished dead-last in twenty-fourth.

Finally, it was SMG4's turn. He drove his car up to the starting line and revved the engine. He heard the starting sound, saw the light turn green, and drove off. A few feet after his start, the road made a subtle S-curve. After that, he drove down a long, wide straightaway through Mushroom City. Once past that, he made a sharp left turn into a forest. As he entered, he quickly realized he was driving on dirt and eased off slightly on the throttle. Once off the dirt track, he floored it all the way through New Exton, Francisco Fajardo, and Silica City before Tokyo-Drifting onto a spiral section of road that led to a large suspension bridge and into the grassy fields of Onett. He drove through Rockford and Belmont before entering the smokestack-factories and machinery of the Industrial District. From there, he tore down the gentle curves and straights before finally coming back to the main starting point. He crossed the finish line and slammed on the brakes.

Announcer: SMG4; 1 minute, 2 seconds. First place.

SMG4 stepped out of the car and was surprised.

Meggy: Great job, SMG4!

Shroomy: Yeah, we're all super proud of you!

Then, a voice laced with a Scottish accent spoke up.

???: You're not the only one.

SMG4 turned around and saw a man, possibly in his sixties, and in full racing gear standing behind him.

Belle: I'm sorry but, who are you?

Jim: I'm Jim Clark, one of the racers, and that has to be the best qualifying lap I've ever seen.

Then, another racer walked up.

???2: And believe me, he knows how to race.

SMG4: And you're...

Hamilton: Lewis Hamilton, pleasure to meet you.

He held out his right hand for SMG4 to shake, which he did.

Jim: Drivers these days tend to exaggerate.

Hamilton: And you're just modest.

Jim just rolled his eyes in a way that made SMG4 think he got this kind of attention a lot.

Chris: We should probably get some rest. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.

Hamilton: You've got that right.

Everyone went their separate ways, each with their mind on the outcome of the race.