[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/240315/de039f859a0f7ed86c79f6d4265d3386.png[/img]

[b]Word Count:[/b] 941
[b]Level 5 Captain Falcon:[/b] 16/10
[b]Exp Gained:[/b] +2
[b]NEW EXP Balance---[/b] 18/10

[H3]Kooky Cabbies II[/h3][/center]

[color=1f66b2]”Good luck with your Doctor’s appointment, Mr. Perkins.”[/color] Captain Falcon cheerfully told elderly passenger as the man exited the cab. [color=1f66b2]”And have yourself a fine day!”[/color] He added, calling back to his waving passenger as he sped off back into another search for a fare.

“Thank you, Captain!” called the elderly man, but unfortunately it seemed Falcon was already away before he could hear that.

Unlike Roxas - who stuck to a specific area; or Ganondorf - who didn’t even bother to participate - the Captain had been zooming along the streets and roads of the entire island city. His sticking almost exclusively to red fares meant that his passengers were requesting locations all over the city, near and far. It also had the side effect of really racking up Cap’s earnings and overall standing on the minigame’s scoreboard, not to mention him almost never being in danger of running out of time. He really had become the driver to beat. But if his career in the Grand Prix taught him anything, it was that being ahead of the pack also came with having the largest target painted on your tail.

And Falcon certainly wasn’t wrong. Indeed, as the minigame marched on and more and more of the competitors were eliminated, those who remained seemed to become that much more focused and aggressive in their tactics. Some of them in fact began to outright single out the Captain in multiple attempts to sabotage him and eliminate him from the game. The most obvious of these perpetrators were Bowser and his son, Junior. Bowser’s modus operandi appeared to be the direct approach as he would often try ramming Falcon’s cab or running him off the road. And his experience from Kart racing made him a genuine threat in this regard. But these were tactics that Falcon had become all too familiar with thanks to his time here in Carnival Town racing against Morton and Lemmy Koopa, who often employed similar if not identical direct attack strategies against him. Some clever braking and creative steering was usually enough to avoid getting steamrolled by the king’s big car. [color=1f66b2]”All the muscle in the galaxy doesn’t mean much if you can’t actually hit anything with it, you know!”[/color] He called to Bowser briefly after managing to dodge one of his rams and then zooming away from him.

By contrast, Junior’s M.O. appeared to be a less direct approach. His smaller size meant he couldn’t be as liberal with ramming other drivers. So instead he appeared to use his oversized paint brush to literally paint sludgy hazards on the roads in his wake wherever he was driving. The obvious solution to this was to simply avoid driving the same roads and routes that Junior took. But that wasn’t always possible, as sometimes a requested destination was right in the thick of where Junior had laid some of his paint traps down. Avoiding those wasn’t always possible, and at times required Falcon to ease up on the gas to avoid losing control and spinning out. Aggressive driving was one thing but the Captain was certainly not fond of people utilizing actual weapons of any kind. It took something away from the skill element and made the game rely a bit more on chance as a result. Not exactly his cup of tea, as the Captain preferred to earn his trophies the old fashioned way. But nevertheless, he couldn’t control how others chose to play the game. But after a round of playing “dodge the goop” with Junior, Cap shot him with a concerned look. [color=1f66b2]”Best not overdo it with the traps. Wouldn’t want to accidentally fall into one yourself, now would you?”[/color] He warned the prince as he zoomed ahead to continue on toward his destination at the time.

And then there was the robotic girl, Blazermate. A classic example of yesterday’s teammates becoming today’s rivals. Although based on the interactions Cap had with her during Film Those Freaks, he hadn’t taken her for the sabotage type, and yet here they were. Then again, unlike the Koopas, she wasn’t exactly “targeting” Falcon in the strictest sense. Rather she was driving recklessly and that on occasion put her on a collision course with Cap and his blue taxi cab. He had to pull a handbrake maneuver to avoid getting sideswiped by her cab. [color=1f66b2]”Close, but no dice I’m afraid! Hahaha!”[/color] He told her, not even sure if she had been intentionally trying to take him out. Either way, the Captain kept on living to continue driving for the time being.

After this things seemed to quiet down a bit. It was probably because more competitors had run out the clock and thus there were fewer still on the road. In fact by Falcon’s count, there were only a small handful still driving. More and more he passed by cabs that weren’t moving or other competitors who were no longer in their cars, which signified to him that they’d been eliminated. There couldn’t have been much more than maybe three or four drivers left by now. Five, tops.

[color=1f66b2]”Seems we’re at the final leg. Even my own timer is starting to get lower now.”[/color] He said to himself, noting that even he couldn’t keep his time going forever. He made course for another red fare, figuring he could maybe get one or two more done with his current time. Maybe three if he really pushed it. [color=1f66b2]”The checkered flag is growing nearer, folks. Time to see who claims it first!”[/color]