A Doll's Destiny

"And how do I know which one I got," Clara replied. She wasn't familiar with the layout on the screen or any of the symbols that might be on anything to know what her powerup might do and what she should do with it. She assumed since he was saying throwing it, it meant that he was to mess with another character's kart.
 
"It'll show up in the upp left corner of your screen," Aiden said, driving his kart across a green turbo pad.
 
(OOC: I haven't played this game is so long, I don't remember any of the powerups, so I'm not going to go into detail.)

Clara glanced over to the upper left corner of her screen to see what she had. Once she had figured it out, she pressed the button to release it and let it go. She continued to race her kart, hoping to do decently well. But it was clear that the game controlled characters were playing to win as well and would use the powerups too.
 
(OOC: That's perfectly fine.)
After completing the first lap, Aiden broke another question mark box and got what appeared to be a bowling ball. He released it, and it roll forward, hitting a wall and exploding.
 
Clara seemed to unknowingly run over one of those turbo pads and started to go faster, which threw her off a little bit since she wasn't quite used to it just yet. But she was starting to figure things out as the race went on and started to use the powerups she got a bit better than the first time around. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," she commented.
 
"You're doing great," he praised her. Now on the second lap, Aiden hit one of the boxes of orange fruit, then got a rocket powerup, which boosted him forward a ways.
 
Clara smiled. Now that she was getting the hang of the controls and the way the game worked, she was starting to enjoy it more. She got another powerup and used it to knock one of the other racers farther down the line. Of course, it was one played by the game itself and not Aiden. She didn't feel right to do anything to him.
 
"Ooh, you got 'em good!" Aiden laughed, driving over a turbo pad and narrowly avoiding a potion someone placed on the track.
 
"Yeah," Clara replied with a smile on her face. It was nice to try to get closer to the first place area, though sometimes it could be hard to do. There were a lot of other racers and they were all trying to knock you back as well. Sometimes they succeeded too. But Clara was able to come back after using some of the turbo and some other powerups too.
 
When Aiden crossed the finish line, the words "final lap" appeared, and the music's tempo increased. "Come on, come on!"
 
"So, whoever gets to the finish line first on this lap is the first place winner, right?" Clara replied. He hadn't told her how many laps there were going to be, but it was pretty obvious that the words 'final lap' would mean the end of the race. With that in mind, Clara tried her best to climb the numbers and get closer to first place just as all the other cars were.
 
"Yep," Aiden said, throwing three rockets. Driving over the final turbo pad, he crossed the finish line, ending in fifth place.
 
Clara nodded after she heard Aiden's response. She continued to make her way towards the finish line, getting there in seventh place, which she felt wasn't too bad for her very first time playing the game or any game for that matter. She was just glad not to end up in last place as that would have made her upset with herself.
 
"You did great, Clara," Aiden grinned. "Wanna go again? I could switch tracks if you'd like."
 
"Thanks. Yeah, we can try it again," Clara replied. It didn't seem to be as hard as she thought it would be for her, and it most likely would get easier the more she played it anyway, so she thought she might as well try another track. She didn't have anything else she needed to do and he wanted to play it as well, so they might as well try a few more races together.
 
"Alrighty then," Aiden said.
Returning to the track, Aiden changed it to "Roo's Tubes" and started the race. Aiden took off right as the countdown finished, allowing him to get ahead of the pack. "You can also do that."
 
"How?" Clara asked. She obviously wasn't familiar with any tricks yet. She started as normal with the others, but at least she knew what to do this time and didn't start out behind. She was with the main crowd now and knew to get some powerups or drive over the turbos in an attempt to land in a better position. "How many laps are we doing on this one?"
 
"Before the light turns green, you can rev your engine and take off before everyone else. It helps you stay ahead, and we're doing three laps," Aiden said.
 
"Oh okay," Clara replied. She nodded when he told her how many laps they were playing for this race. She wasn't aware of any tricks and tips. He would have to tell her beforehand about them for her to even be able to use them anyway though, so it wasn't like she could do anything with the information he just told her. Maybe in another race, but this one had already started. She hit a turbo pad and started to go a little faster.
 
"Also, when you hit a jump, right before you get off, press the L or R1 button to jump a little higher, so you can get a small turbo boost when you land," Aiden explained. Providing an example, he crossed the finish line and jump off a ramp just ahead. When he landed, there was a brief turbo boost. "See? Like that."