"Okay, people, the arcade's closed!" Yuni from the DDR game shouted. That was the signal from her that Mr. Litwak had closed the arcade, and the others were free to roam about and do as they pleased. Most headed to Tappers, but for the game of Sugar Rush, it was time for the Random Roster Race. Little did they know they weren't the only one's having one tonight. Mr Litwak had just installed the new Sugar Rush Unlimited in the evening, meaning it hadn't been played yet. That also meant no racers had been chosen.
Meanwhile, inside the Sugar Rush Unlimited console, the racers were getting ready at the starting line. There was Malty Milshak, Nougan De Carmillo, Sue Tauzo, Peter Burter-Cupp, the Twins in thier Double Mint Racer, Cheri J. Lee, Monty Ray Jack, Babel Gumi, Muffintop, Kissibell Hershwitz, Almonda Joyboar, Britt McTwizz, Orbetta Rainbeau, and Tartley Azzureberry. But, the main racer of this race-track resided in the popcorn grandstand marked, "PV." Princess Vanellope came up in her racing uniform and announced, "My royal subjects, it is with great pleasure that I announce the first random roster race. Now that all of the racers are prepared, it can now officially begin!" The princess was brave in jumping from the grandstand into her cart, but the game soon said, "Three..."
The racers revved up their engines...
"Two..."
Two rival racers, Cheri and Babel, gave a sly glance to each other.
"One..."
Princess Vanellope smiled as she gripped her hands on the wheel. She couldn't wait to race; it was in her code!
"GO!" Every racer sped off in hopes of getting on the roster. It wasn't too hard; there were 15 racers and nine spots, but all the racers knew that the middle square was going to be reserved for the princess. And it was only their first time! Vanellope sped ahead of all the racers, being the first to get to GumballPass. It was filled with dangers, and Almonda was the first to experience it. Her cart drove into the pass, but her nut car was immediately smashed by a gumball. Nougan and Sue soon sped up, with Cheri and Babel tailing them. Monty, in his cheesecake-kart, was far behind the others.
Sue was the first racer to get a power-up; a syrup slick, to be exact. She soon hit it, leaving a puddle of slimy syrup to make the other racers slow down. Most of them hastily avoided it, but Malty slid right into it. Her tires completely stopped, and when she tried to start it up again, the engine gave up on her. Many racers sped past her, leaving her cart in the dust. The Cakeway portion was up next, and Cheri had a sly idea. Using her exhaust, she lit up the cherries that lined the uphill slope of the cake. Cheri sped past Sue, and Sue's cart got blasted by the cherry bombs. She wasn't the only one. Two others, Nougan and Peter both had their karts stop after the explosion.
Babel sped past them, the Peppermint Twins not too far behind. As she headed up Cakeway, she got the idea to finally use her power-up. Her engine splurted out nasty sticky cotton candy fumes. The twins didn't get hurt, but it gave Babel the advantage of speeding up ahead of them. The cotton candy racer soon caught up to her rival, Cheri, on the Ice Cream Slopes. Both girls were neck-and-neck on the Rainbow Road, and then, the advantage came for Cheri. Both girls got power-ups, but the cherry racer had a Sugar Rush. She sped ahead, and headed out of the cavern, getting in the first spot on the roster.
Babel growled as she pulled up to the finish line, but was still happy she was in the second spot. Third place was gotten by the twins, fourth by Muffintop, and the middle reserved always by Princess Vanellope. The four remaining spots were filled by Kissibel, Britt, Orbetta, and Tartley. Vanellope announced, "And that concludes tonight's roster race. Everyone's allowed to roam and Sour Bill has informed me that a little village is being set up by Rock Candy Mountain. You're all welcome to choose your houses and design them." The princess got down from her podium and went off to her castle, Sour Bill following behind. Monty's cart came up to the finish line, but he was soon to notice that the races were over. He jumped out and ran over to Cheri. "What? The races are over? How did I not get in?"
"Easy," Cheri laughed, "you obeyed the speed limit. The point of racing is to be free."
"The only rule is that there are no rules," Babel chimed in. Cheri grabbed Babel's hand and said, "Come on, I want to see the houses that are being set up." The other racers heard her and murmured in agreement. She led the other racers to the village, and they found undecorated cupcakes, but only ten. They all groaned, but Almonda, stepping up on a jawbreaker, said, "Hey, at least we have houses. I bet those guys in the original console don't even have houses." There were murmurs of agreement, then Cheri stood up next to Almonda. "I have an idea. The winners from tonight's roster race can have first pick at their houses. The others can wait until tomorrow." They all nodded; her idea sounded good. Muffintop then raised her hand.
"Not to put a damper on anyone, but I want my house to be a muffin."
"I'm sure that wouldn't be too hard for the royal bakery to make. Anyone else have any comments?" Babel Gumi then raised her hand.
"I don't really want a house, even though I 'won' it. Do I have any takers?"
"Oh! Me!" Almonda exclaimed, pointing to herself. Babel nodded and Almonda squealed, getting off the jawbreaker. Cheri followed suit, and the group of racers disbanded, deciding to start decorating thier houses. Cheri came over to Babel and stated, "You know, it's really generous of you to give someone your house like that..."
"Y-Yeah..." Babel replied, looking at the rock candy mountain, not too far away. "'Generous.' Look, I'm going to do some exploring. I'll see you when the arcade opens, alright?" The cotton candy racer went on her way, and the cherry racer waved good-bye. Babel gripped onto jagged pieces of rock candy, and started her acenscion. She didn't really take as much notice of the cupcake houses as she did the rock candy mountain, which she noticed had a cave. It didn't take longer than five minutes for her to reach the cave, but it was worth the climb. She had a great view of most of Sugar Rush, and knew this was the perfect spot to get away from the other racers.
In the few hours the game had been plugged in, she hadn't really liked hanging with the others. Whether it was in her code or an error in programming, she didn't know. All she did know was that thier petty "friendship" made her feel sick to her stomach. All she cared about was racing, and winning. She also was curious about cheat codes, as in, whatever she could do to win. Maybe she'd find a hidden level, or something that could make her car teleport in front of all the others! Yeah, that'd be sweet! But, for now, she'd have to settle down in her new home.
Not far above, she noticed the cotton candy clouds were just hitting the peak of the mountain. Climbing further up, she pulled some of the clouds down from the sky, and shoved it in the cave to make a cushy bed. Now, all she needed was a few other decor items before she installed the traps. She climbed back down, and explored for some items. She came upon graham crackers, pieces of dark chocolate, and a marshmallow. She fashioned the graham crackers into a sleigh and using some Twizzlers, she pulled the thing back to her home. It was hard pulling the so-called s'more sled back home, but it was even harder to bring the materials up to the cave.
She then put the dark chocolate bars to make a three-selved bookcase. She took the graham crackers and made a desk, using the marshmallow as a seat. She sat on the cotton candy bed, looking at her work. She thought, This is perfect.
Fix-It Felix and Wreck-It Ralph headed through Game Central Station to Tapper's. Since the incident with Ralph's game-jumping, the two had become closer. Though they still had thier hero-villain dynamic when the arcade was open, they were like brothers after-hours. As they went by, Ralph noticed something. "Hey, Felix." The bad-guy got the fix-it man's attention by tapping him with one of his hands. Felix turned and asked, "What is it, Ralph?" He pointed to the terminal that read overhead, Sugar Rush.
"Isn't the Sugar Rush train on the other side of the arcade?" The sign then moved to reveal the word Unlimited stuck on at the end. Ralph gave a glare to the sign; he hated signs that never showed the full title. Felix, noticing the full title, exclaimed, "Oh, nice! They got a new game! Maybe Vanellope would like to meet the racers from this one." Ralph shrugged.
"I dunno. She usually just hangs out with me. The racers are nicer to her now, but...maybe she'd like to meet them."
"It's worth a shot." Ralph nodded, and the two headed off to the original Sugar Rush, hoping Vanellope and her friends would be eager to meet the new racers.