Intro

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As the screen faded in, several shots of different locations around VG Central were played. The final shot showed a very familiar host walking on what looked like a huge field.

"This is Twilight Fair Grounds. This huge field normally holds a fair once a year, which makes this field one of the biggest tourist attraction in VG Central." The overweight Rilgarian, Mr. Jowai, said to the camera. "But today, sixteen teams will depart from this place in a race around the VG Universe in a quest to win the one million dollar prize already given to two lucky teams."

Archive footage of the last race played, showing Tiny & Dingodile winning.

"Following in the footsteps of Billy & Lilly, best friends Tiny & Dingodile overcame all odds and won the second edition of the race." Mr. Jowai explained. "But the real question remains: Which of these new sixteen teams will be the one to stand alone on the Finish Line?"

As Mr. Jowai was explaining all of this, four buses were seen driving through the huge field, driving towards the starting point of the race.

"Four buses are driving to the Starting Point to drop the sixteen teams off with me." Mr. Jowai explained. "Once everyone arrives, the race of their lives will begin. The sixteen teams are…"

As each team's name was announced, said team then proceeded to get off the respective bus.

Team 1: DRAKE MALLARD & GOSALYN MALLARD

Representing: DARKWING DUCK

Relationship: FATHER & DAGHTER

Drake was clad in a blue shirt with a black jacket overtop of it, and a pair of brown slacks. A red baseball cap rested on his head. Gosalyn, on the other hand, was wearing her usual purple jersey underneath a similar black jacket. Due to the nippier weather, she was wearing brown pants as opposed to her shorts. Her twin pigtails, however, were still present.

"Gosalyn has been hooked on the race since the first season, and I have to admit that she got me into it about three legs into the second one." Drake admitted. "She figured that this would be a good way to spend some quality time together. The only thing I'm worried about is if any villains start attacking St. Canard while we're gone…"

"Dad's always worried that villains will attack if he takes a vacation." Gosalyn laughed. "Hey. He's not the only superhero around. The real dangerous guys are all in jail and the other heroes are keeping an eye on the city, so I keep telling him there's nothing to worry about. I intend to have a lot of fun on this race, because this is something I've always wanted to do."

Team 2: DEXTER DOUGLAS & STEFF

Representing: FREAKAZOID

Relationship: DATING

Dexter was wearing a deep blue sweater with the hood pulled down, and a pair of brown pants. The colder weather was occasionally making his glasses fog up, but Dexter simply wiped them off to fix the problem. Steff was wearing a white sweater with a pink stripe across the middle and her usual blue jeans.

"I see this race as an opportunity to get to know Steff more." Dexter said. "My job as Freakazoid has been known to take up a lot of my time, so I decided to put everything aside for a second and do something fun with Steff."

"I'm extremely happy that Dexter is willing to put aside his superhero job for me." Steff said. "And now here we are, preparing to run a race around the VG Universe. I want to spend as much time with him as possible, because we could get eliminated at any point during the race."

Team 3: BLUE MONKEY & PINK MONKEY

Representing: APE ESCAPE

Relationship: PARTNERS (but Blue has a severe crush on Pink)

Blue, like his name suggested, was a monkey, and an unusually tall one at that. He wore a denim jacket with matching jeans, and the bangs of his silver hair covered his right eye. Pink, standing at least two feet shorter than her partner, was wearing a pink coat and pink pants. Her shoulder-length, blonde hair was bobbing up and down as she walked.

"I see this race perfect for us to do." Blue said. "I mean, I've got the speed and Pink's got the talent! We'll get all the tasks done quickly and leave the other teams in the dust! The only thing I'm worried about is Pink turning to her 'other side', which is known to make her become a psychotic, rampaging monster."

"Blue needs to stop worrying about me." Pink muttered. "I have the self-control to keep myself sane! He just doesn't believe me and insists that he keep an eye on me to make sure I don't do something I'll regret. Well, I'll run this race and show him that I have the ability to keep my split personality at bay!"

Team 4: DONALD DUCK & GOOFY GOOF

Representing: CLASSIC DISNEY

Relationship: BEST FRIENDS

For the first leg, Donald had decided to wear his traditional sailor's outfit. Even though he wasn't dressed as warmly as some of the others, Donald somehow looked unaffected. Goofy, walking with a slight slouch and his usual grin, was wearing his orange sweater and blue pants from his 'Goof Troop' days.

"I really wanted to do this race with Daisy, but she had an important meeting to attend to at the last minute." Donald explained. "I needed a partner, and knew that Goofy would probably like running a race like this, so I gave him a ring and here we are. I hope we can have good teamwork like we did in Kingdom Hearts, but anything can happen."

"Gawrsh, this here race is gonna be a blast fer Donald and I to run together." Goofy laughed his patented laugh. "I sure hope Max, Mickey, Minnie and the others are cheering fer us, because I just dunno how long Donald and I can stick around fer."

Team 5: CLOUD STRIFE & TIFA LOCKHEART

Representing: FINAL FANTASY

Relationship: FRIENDS

Cloud was dressed in his Kingdom Hearts 2 look, entirely in black. The only major difference was that he was wearing a black jacket as well. Tifa was also clad in her Kingdom Hearts 2 look, and was wearing a white jacket over her black outfit.

"The main reason I agreed to do this race was because I might find Sephiroth somewhere and finally destroy him for good." Cloud explained. "But if I don't, it won't be a wasted trip for me, because it would be interesting to see what other nodes outside of anything from Square are like."

"It took a bit on convincing, but I managed to get Cloud to apply for the race with me." Tifa said. "I hope I can make him open up more, because he's been keeping to himself for the past while. I've always though that something like this would get him to loosen up and forget about Sephiroth for a minute."

Team 6: MR. C & MRS. C

Representing: CALVIN & HOBBES

Relationship: MARRIED

"Due to the fact that their names were never revealed in the comic strip, Calvin's parents will go under the names of 'Mr. & Mrs. C'." Mr. Jowai explained.

Mr. C was wearing a brown jacket over a white shirt, and a pair of black trousers. He was having a similar problem as Dexter, as his glasses were fogging up every once in a while. Mrs. C was wearing a green sweater and brown pants. Her brown hair was lightly waving in the breeze.

"My wife and I were always wanting a good vacation away from the house." Mr. C said. "With Calvin always getting himself into trouble, we figured that it was time to take a breather from the hectic everyday life we had and feel young again by running this race. I just hope that he'll behave at his uncle's place while we're gone, because he just doesn't seem to like that babysitter we usually get him."

"For my dear husband and I to win the race, it'll take every ounce of willpower we have to advance." Mrs. C continued. "The main thing that'll be on our minds is that Garfield & Arlene made it to the final four, and their strip was our main competition in the comic market before ours ended. We want to be the first comic characters that break into the final three, and like I said, it'll be a real challenge for us to do that, but we'll give it our best shot."

Team 7: SASHA & ANGELA CROSS

Representing: RATCHET & CLANK

Relationship: FRIENDS

The first thing that was noticeable about these two was that they were both shorter than the average human. Sasha looked like some sort of feline alien, and was dressed in a purple jacket with black pants. He black hair went down to just above her shoulders. Angela, on the other hand, was a lombax, the same species as Ratchet from the first race except a little taller. She was clad in a bright green sweater and brown pants. Her hair was done into a ponytail, which bounced in the air as she walked (much like Pink Monkey's hair).

"The people whom played our games may think that Angela and I are rivals for Ratchet's affection." Sasha said. "That couldn't be further from the truth. Angela and I happen to be good friends and she respects the fact that I'm Ratchet's girlfriend. I hope that we can get as far as Ratchet & Skidd managed to do in the first race, because that would really make our day."

"I don't care that Sasha is Ratchet's girlfriend because I happen to have a boyfriend myself and that happens to be Ratchet's race partner Skidd McMarxx." Angela pointed out. "Sasha and I hope to put all rumors of rivalry to rest and win this race, because we really need it to help get the Solona Galaxy back together. We want to be the first all-female team to make it past seventh place, and we're not going to let anything stop us!"

(Author's note: Angela and Skidd being a couple isn't official. That's just a pairing I wrote a fanfic for to solve the love triangle between Angela, Ratchet and Sasha that was going on.)

Team 8: LUCKY GLAUBER & BRIAN BATTLER

Representing: KING OF FIGHTERS

Relationship: HOMEBOYS

Anyone looking at these two were instantly reminded of Tiny & Dingodile, because Lucky & Brian were the tallest racers of the entire bunch, but still not as tall as the last winners. Lucky, a dark-skinned basketball player, was dressed in his favourite yellow shirt, purple jacket and purple trunks. His purple cap was resting backwards on his head. Brian, the Caucasian football player standing a little shorter than Lucky, was wearing his blue sweater and powder blue jeans. His shoulder pad (which was usually worn when he fought) was absent.

"Brian and I make up two-thirds of the neglected USA Sports Team, and we haven't seen any real work since KOF'98." Lucky said. "It's too bad there's only two people allowed on the team. Heavy D! would have loved to enter this."

"Yeah, but he's got that big boxing bout, so it's not like he'll be missing much." Brian offered.

"Yeah. You're right."

"Lucky and I are homeboys to the end, and we'll stick up for each other when needed to." Brian said. "We have some of the best teamwork on the race, and that's gonna be essential for us to win this thing."

Team 9: JON ARBUCKLE & LIZ WILSON

Representing: GARFIELD

Relationship: DATING (yes, it's official now. Check the Garfield website)

The happy couple stepped off the bus and followed the other teams. Jon, trying to prevent himself from looking tacky in front of Liz, was wearing a brown jacket and a pair of black trousers. Liz was wearing a dark purple jacket and some jeans and had a red headband in her jet black hair.

"I never thought Garfield would do so well in the last race." Jon admitted. "I can only hope that Liz and I are able to match the progress he and his girlfriend managed to do. Liz and I are hoping to put our newfound relationship to the test and win this for both of our families."

"I know Jon's planning to attempt to impress me on this race." Liz chuckled. "That's kinda what I like about him. Back on all of those dates we had in the past, he was always trying his hardest to impress me, which itself was really what sparked my attraction towards him in the first place. I hope to go far in this, because that would give me a lot of time to spend with Jon."

Team 10: VANILLA & CREAM

Representing: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

Relationship: MOTHER & DAUGHTER

Vanilla definitely wasn't as tall as the average human on the race, but she was still taller than one might expect. Rather than her usual pink dress, Vanilla was wearing a red sweater and a pair of blue jeans. The tuft of brown hair on her head was wavering n the breeze. Cream was wearing a green jacket and a pair of red pants. She was wearing her visor (from Sonic Riders) to keep the sun out of her eyes.

"Cream always insists that I don't get as much action or excitement as I should." Vanilla chuckled. "This seems natural with her knack for getting into trouble with Sonic and Amy. I agreed to do this because Cream got me watching it partway through the second race and I have to admit that this looks like it'll give me a lot of memories for me to give my grandchildren."

"Mom needs the excitement at least ONCE in her life." Cream shrugged. "The last time she was given the adrenaline rush, she was falling from an airborne capsule in Mr. Sonic's arms after he saved her from Eggman. I want her to have a good time here, because she really needs and deserves it."

Team 11: BASS & ROLL

Representing: MEGAMAN

Relationship: FRIENDS

Due to them both being robots, both Bass and Roll didn't need anything to wear other than their usual attire. Bass was wearing his black and yellow armour and Roll was clad in her red dress, her blonde hair done into a ponytail with a green ribbon.

"Roll and I are the only positive force in this whole 'Light vs. Wily' thing that's always going on." Bass said. "She and I are always on good terms, and it was always her to get me to help her idiot brother Megaman whenever I aided him. We see this race as an opportunity to get Dr. Light and the blue punk to realize that I'm not as bad as Wily. I mean, I hate him almost as much as they do."

"I want to show my father and brothers that Bass is good on the inside. He just wants Megaman as a rival rather than a mortal enemy, after all." Roll said. "I hope that this race will give Bass the will to actually leave Wily, because he deserves so much more than that old geezer."

Team 12: TOAD & TOADETTE

Representing: MARIO

Relationship: DATING

It was quite obvious that Toad & Toadette were the shortest team on the race, although they were each about the same height as Pink Monkey. Toad was wearing a long-sleeve blue shirt and Toadette was wearing a long-sleeve pink shirt, although she had a dark pink vest over it. Toadette's twin ponytails hung down from her 'cap' and beside her head.

"Being the faithful retainer of Princess Peach, I don't get a lot of time to myself or to Toadette." Toad said. "This race will not only give me the vacation I've never received, but I'll be able to spend the entire time with Toadette, and there's no one I'd rather have the vacation with over her."

"Toad's always been a faithful boyfriend to me." Toadette said with a smile. "He's always sweet, kind and knows how to treat a lady. I hope this race will bring us closer together, but I'm honestly not sure how much closer we can get." Toad blushed as Toadette chuckled.

Team 13: YAKKO WARNER & WAKKO WARNER

Representing: ANIMANIACS

Relationship: BROTHERS

Both brothers whistled as if there wasn't anything wrong, even though they looked the least dressed for the colder weather. Yakko was clad in his trademark beige slacks and wore a red vest, but nothing else to prepare himself for the cold breeze in the air. Wakko was wearing his usual blue shirt and large red hat, but like Yakko, wasn't wearing anything really warm. Despite this, neither of the two seemed to notice.

"Eh, after our show ended, we didn't really have much to do." Yakko admitted. "Things were getting pretty dull around the lot, so Wakko and I decided to apply for this race. We aren't worrying about Dot, because she's preparing to start her career as an entertainer, so she said herself that she didn't have a lot of time to do the race."

"I hope we come upon an eating task soon." Wakko said, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "If we do, I'll gobble everything down like Garfield and Shaggy from the last race and put us on top. Everyone had better watch out, because my appetite combined with Yakko's leadership skills will be a force to reckon with."

Team 14: KATHY & ANNE

Representing: SUIKODEN 3

Relationship: BEST FRIENDS

Kathy was clearly excited to get the race going, because she looked like she was struggling to keep herself from running to the Starting Point rather than walk there with everyone else. Kathy was a Caucasian girl, wearing a white shirt with a beige vest and blue jeans. Her blonde hair was short, and recently cut. Anne, being a Karayan, had a slight tanned look to her skin, but her long hair looked almost as blonde as Kathy's. Her wardrobe consisted of a white sweater and black pants with her black sandals.

"Our boyfriends, Samus & Reed, made it to the final three in the first race!" Kathy said excitedly. "Anne and I are gonna give it our all to make it that far as well, because we have just as much teamwork and determination as those two. I just hope I can make Reed proud of me after this is all over."

"After seeing the results of the first race, Kathy approached me and insisted that we needed to try out ourselves." Anne, clearly the older and more mature of the two, chuckled. "I was too busy to apply for the second race, but we applied for this one and were accepted. Now all we need to do is try our hardest to last as long as our boyfriends did, because then we'd be able to see more nodes that way."

(Author's note: Like with Angela being Skidd's girlfriend, the concept of Kathy & Anne being the girlfriends of Reed & Samus (respectively) is made up, because I invented those pairings due to the fact that Reed & Samus were two of my favourite Suikoden characters and weren't getting enough attention.)

Team 15: FRED JONES & DAPHNE BLAKE

Representing: SCOOBY DOO

Relationship: DATING

Stepping out of the bus, people were able to see that Fred was wearing a white shirt and a light blue vest with a pair of blue pants. Daphne, on the other hand, was wearing a purple jacket, red shirt and green pants. She had a green headband in her red hair.

"Seeing Shaggy & Velma finish so well in the last race made Daphne and I apply ourselves." Fred stated. "I think we have the skill and willpower to go the distance. We just need to focus on the task at hand and do our best to complete it before moving on. Hopefully, that will work and get us along in the race."

"I've been watching the race since the first season, so it's always been a dream for me to race on it like I am now." Daphne said. "And the fact that I'm racing with my boyfriend makes it that much better! Now the only thing we need to worry about is staying in the race long enough to win, because I've seen the competition and it's going to be tough."

Team 16: FENTON HARDY & LAURA HARDY

Representing: THE HARDY BOYS

Relationship: MARRIED

Fenton & Laura were definitely the oldest team on the race, despite only being in their forties. Fenton had dark hair, but had a few streaks of gray running through it. He wore a dark gray jacket over a white shirt and brown trousers. Laura had lighter hair than her husband's, but still had some gray going through it. She wore a beige jacket and a powder blue shirt, as well as a pair of jeans. Unfortunately, much like Dexter and Mr. C, Laura was having fogging trouble with her glasses.

"Being the parents of Frank and Joe, we've earned somewhat of a name for ourselves." Fenton chuckled. "However, we don't want to be known as the parents of popular detectives (even though I myself am one as well) all of our lives, so Laura and I chose to apply for this race. We may be the oldest team this race, but that's not going to stop us from beating these younger teams at their own game."

"One disadvantage to our getting older is that we don't have as much energy as we used to." Laura admitted. "It will take a good amount of effort to last longer than some of the more-fit teams on the race, but Fenton and I are still going to give it our best try. Who knows? We may end up surprising ourselves…"

The shot then went to the middle of the field, where all sixteen teams were lined up, facing Mr. Jowai as he prepared to give the final explanation before sending them upon the world. Located about fifty feet away were sixteen pairs of backpacks.

"In just a moment, you will all embark on an adventure of a lifetime." Mr. Jowai said. "During each leg, you must remain with your partner at all times except for 'Boss Battles', which only one person must perform."

"Uh…What about the money?" Roll asked timidly.

"Yeah. We gotta do a lot on this race." Yakko agreed.

"At the start of each leg, you'll receive a small amount of cash which you can use to spend on the leg." Mr. Jowai explained. "Remember that any money not spent can be carried over to the next leg. Also keep in mind that you'll have to pay for everything on the race, save for airline tickets, which you won't need to pay for."

"Definitely makes things easier." Mrs. C sighed in relief.

"You've got that right." Angela nodded.

"However at the end of each leg is a Pitstop. You'll want to hurry to each of these as fast as you can, because if you get there last, you'll be eliminated." Mr. Jowai explained. "The final leg will bring the three remaining teams back here to VG Central, where all sorts of franchises collide. Now, before I start, I'd like to point out a few things."

The teams waited for Mr. Jowai to finish as he turned to a couple of racers.

"Dexter, I don't care how popular he is." Mr. Jowai said. "You are prohibited from turning into the Freakazoid at any point during the race, as he gives you super speed and unlimited stamina."

"Don't worry, sir." Dexter said with a smile. "I wasn't planning to, anyway."

"Thank you." Mr. Jowai said as he turned to Cloud and noticed what he was holding. "Cloud, you can't take that oversized sword of yours."

Cloud's gelled hair drooped. "But…I like the stabbities…"

"Tough cookies, sword boy. Fork it over."

It took the combined efforts of Lucky, Brian, Mr. C and Fred, but they finally got Cloud to hand his huge sword to Mr. Jowai. The portly host looked around, wondering if he forgot anything. After he was satisfied, he nodded. "Okay. After I give the signal, you all must run over to your backpacks, where you'll find the first clue on it. What you do after that is entirely up to you, but the first team to cross the Finish Line at the end will win the one million dollar grand prize!"

Everyone cheered, clearly excited at what was at stake.

Mr. Jowai lifted his arm (the one he wasn't holding Cloud's sword with) into the air. "You guys ready to begin this for the third time?" He asked.

The racers responded by getting into position to begin running.

"Have fun…"

Blue, always the speedster, prepared to lunge at the backpacks like his tail was on fire.

"Play hard…"

Mr. & Mrs. C looked at each other and held hands, then prepared to run together.

"Travel safe…"

Kathy wiggled her fingers around as a smirk of anticipation appeared on her face.

"And may the best team win."

Donald rolled up imaginary sleeves and prepared to run.

Mr. Jowai looked back and forth between the racers for a second, then swung his arm down. "GO!!"

Right after Mr. Jowai gave the signal, all thirty-two racers took off running, flying past the portly host and starting the third race.

To be continued…

Race Trivia: In the first race, I spelled Skidd's name wrong the entire time. In the third Ratchet and Clank game, Skidd's name was spelled 'Skidd' and not 'Skid'. I didn't realize this until the first race was finished.

Author's notes: Well, here we go again. Heh. I guess this is my way of kicking off the new year. Please read and review!