Bay 12 Games Forum

  Crank was no stranger to Bowser; it was hard to not know the Koopa King.  Undoubtedly he had some nefarious scheme in mind for his racing career.  He wasn't about to let him pass, though.

The strange object thunked next to him in his kart.  What was this?  The puzzlebox?

"Boomer!  What the heck is this?"

Six sides... there's probably a combination of some sort.  Maybe it spells something?  Can you spell PHANTO with these emotions?  Crank saw a clear Happy and Angry face, but what was P, then?  Maybe Phear?  Or was it Pissed and Afraid?  Worth a shot?

DRAFT - don't pass Waluigi while he's still dragging that thing - while trying to solve this puzzle!  Push the Pissed face, maybe?  If that doesn't explode things push Happy and Afraid?

  Foul start.  It's a wonder Crank managed to keep his place in the pack; Waluigi was hot on his tail and certainly not backing off.  He'd have to keep up the heat, and take all the chances.

"Thanks for the hot tip Boomer!"

Aggressive driving!  Hit the stunt!

  Crank knew he had to do far better than last time.  Maybe the contraption the research team sent would help?  It was pretty adaptable; right now it was compensating for his cold start, but he could change it on the fly.  He'd probably need to.

Rocket start!  Compensate for cold start!

  Crank had been holed up in his trailer for quite some time, it was true.  He would certainly object to the word "sulking" but maybe it wasn't too far off from true.  He had indeed felt zero interest in talking to the media, and he had mostly ignored the first banging on his trailer; when he checked that out, all that was there was a torn piece of paper and an empty drink bottle.  Boomer certainly knew how to command attention, however.

Crank considered the options.  While new racing fuel mixes were always appealing, he was extremely leery of the association.  Did he want to be associated with Boom Boom's... non-educational focus?

No.  He didn't go to years of Alchemical Academy to blow it all away.

Metaphorically.

Bit late for the literal sense.

"Call up the research team.  We'll take their repair device; Mario knows I've been hampered by damage enough in my career.  And the flag's not half bad either.  Who knows what else they'll find up there?  Maybe something to help with engine overheating, or... I don't know.  We'll see where this goes."


Take the Arctic Compensator!  Slap it in and have it start Compensating for Cold Start!

  Front half beats the back half.  Crank would have to take what he could get.

Shortcut with the cheep! If the Koopa King ate his fish first, ram inside?

Well, I'd like to see what happens in the next couple turns (really curious to see if my island foothold held) but if everyone else is done, I won't drag it out.

  Crank gave his pit crew a friendly nod as he blasted out.  Several of them were old hands from his previous career, and another came from his tour in the underground league.  Back in the big time, he knew the value of people he could trust.  His skill on the track was built on the trust in the pit.   Sadly, his skill had failed him so far this time, but he could at least get in the front half...

Aggressive driving!

I'm going to be out of town from Monday through Friday, so I'll probably posting actions exclusively on the Discord until then.