Chapter 1: A New Discovery
"Location: Litwak's Arcade, The World Of Disney, October 14th 2110"
It was a peaceful day in the arcade. There was nothing to do because it was closed for the day, so everyone was taking the time to rest.
There were no races going on or missions having to be done in Sugar Rush, so the racers were spread throughout the game, doing whatever they wanted. Crumbelina was sitting in her room in the house she had in Sugar Rush, reading a volume of short stories. She had thought about going back to the castle in Richmond, but Vanellope had her stay for some reason, so she decided to go through her house's library and look for something to read.
After some time of reading, Crumbelina heard the sound of a portal outside. She set the book on a nearby table and stepped outside just in time to catch Taffyta on her way back in from somewhere, as there had been an emergency and she had been the one to go and stop it.
"Interesting mission?" Crumbelina asked, noticing a series of long claw marks on the sleeves of Taffyta's jacket.
The blonde haired girl was irritated.
"Vanellope sent Candi and me to Royal Woods to take care of something. Some sort of creatures were mobilized around the Baseball Stadium." Taffyta replied.
"And they snuck up on you?" Crumbelina asked.
"In my defense, I've never seen those things before. Their small, fast, and really have nasty bites. One of them wounded me." Taffyta replied.
She held up one of her hands to show a hole punched clean through her glove.
"Where's Candi?" Crumbelina asked.
"I'm not sure. She came back before I did. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go see Vanellope." Taffyta replied.
Crumbelina nodded and walked away, deciding to go see what else was happening in the game.
The recently built Racer's Lounge seemed the place to be that particular morning, Crumbelina noted. Citrusella sat on a stool at the counter, filing her nails and pretending not to listen to Candlehead and Gloyd as they played cards at a table.
"You are totally cheating! There's no way you could be beating me so bad!" Candlehead shouted, throwing her cards down suddenly.
"Go Fish is my game." Gloyd said, casually setting down another set of pairs.
"He's a trickster and a pro at games, Candlehead. Of course he's going to be good at this." Citrusella said.
"Hey, don't take his side!" Candlehead said, recovering her cards nonetheless.
"I'm not. I'm just inputting some commentary." Citrusella said.
"Well, uh... don't!" Candlehead said.
"Anyway, do you have any fours, Candlehead?" Gloyd asked.
Candlehead threw down a few cards, crossing her arms in a pout.
"Aw, no WAY! Why did I agree to play with you?" Candlehead asked angrily.
"Your an idiot." Citrusella replied.
"Anyway, do any of you know where Candi went off to?" Crumbelina asked.
"She was in here a minute ago getting a snack, but she said she had something to do this afternoon. She's probably with Rancis. They got the PS4 working again yesterday." Candlehead replied.
"I'll find her, if you like. I need something to occupy my time anyway." Crumbelina said.
Standing outside the Racer's Lounge as though ready to enter was Minty.
"Good afternoon, Crumbelina." Minty greeted, nodding respectfully.
"Hey, Minty. Anything of note going on?" Crumbelina asked.
"Not particularly. I was looking for Adorabeezle. I wanted to hear about the results of her last experiment. Rumor has it that she's figured out info on those things Taffyta found." Minty replied.
Crumbelina raised an eyebrow.
"Really? I didn't know she was looking into anything like that." Crumbelina said.
"Well, she is. Let's go see what she has." Minty said.
The two found Adorabeezle in her laboratory in her and Nougetsia's house.
"Good day, you two." Adorabeezle greeted.
"Hey, Beezle. We came to see about your latest research, Adorabeezle." Minty said.
"Oh, yes! I just finished drawing up a chart for such an explanation. I've got a torrent of exposition all ready for you." Adorabeezle said.
She rushed over to a nearby desk and lifted up a series of complicated notes and diagrams detailing her research. The girl cleared her throat and held up an image of a pathetic shriveled little creature that looked like a ghostly worm.
"This, girls, is the species in it's most basic form." Adorabeezle said.
Crumbelina's eyes widened considerably.
"Those are the things that almost defeated Taffyta? That little worm?" Crumbelina asked.
"Ah, but it has much more bite then bark. In any case, this species is unique in that they seem to affect a certain part of the body. From my research, it's possible to ascertain that they are programmed to seek out and eliminate the matrix. I call this species the Probus." Adorabeezle replied.
The matrix was around the place a normal person would have their heart. The matrix was the heart of a game character. If that was to collapse, even in a character's own game, they would die. Just getting it corrupted could be fatal if left long enough.
"That's an interesting name, if they target the heart." Minty said.
"Yes. Their rather interesting though, don't you think? I can only imagine why such a creature out there." Adorabeezle said.
Minty nudged Crumbelina in the shoulder.
"You said that Taffyta ran into the Probus today?" Minty asked.
"Oh, yes. Taffyta said she and Candi ran into a large group of them in Royal Woods today. She was wounded in the hand by one of them." Crumbelina replied.
Adorabeezle suddenly became excited.
"Was she? Do you suppose she's already healed the wound? I'd like to have a look at it to add the notes to my research." Adorabeezle asked.
Crumbelina shook her head.
"I don't have the slightest idea. We ought to check, though, and ask Candi. You know how Taffyta get's in battle. Candi will have gotten a better look at them." Crumbelina replied.
To save time walking all the way to Taffyta and Taffyel's house, Minty opened a portal there with her portal key.
"Taffyta, are you in?" Minty asked.
There was no response.
"She had gone to see Vanellope a while ago. Maybe she isn't back yet." Crumbelina replied.
"Come in!" Taffyta called out through the portal.
The trio entered Taffyta and Taffyel's room through the portal to find that Taffyta had been busy doing a little redecorating in the twenty minutes since Crumbelina had last seen her. A fresh coat of cheerful lavender paint had been haphazardly flung all over previously pink walls, and colorful sun catchers in the shape of stars and moons hung from the ceiling on pink string. Throw pillows were tossed around piles of fluffy blankets, and Strawberry-flavored incense wafted across the room in tendrils of smoke. Taffyta herself was kneeling in front of a mirror, whistling "Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah" and curling her hair.
"Hello, fellows! How does this evening see you?" Taffyta asked in an odd voice, waving with her other hand.
Crumbelina, Minty, and Adorabeezle took a moment to survey the scene.
"Taffyta, we were... just coming to ask about those new creatures you found." Crumbelina replied.
Taffyta giggled, tossing her hand.
"Oh, those silly old things? No matter no matter! They were sooooo mean! Like oh my GOD. I didn't think Kandi and I were gonna get out! They were all shape-shifty and stuff!" Taffyta replied.
"'Like oh my God'?" Crumbelina asked.
"'Kandi'?" Minty asked.
"Shape-shifting? Really?" Adorabeezle asked.
She pulled out a notebook to write that down.
"Yeah, they could like... turn into little teethy-guys an' stuff." Taffyta replied.
She began to hum again, fluffing up her hair and standing up to twirl around in circles in front of the mirror.
"Somebody's gorgeous!" Taffyta shouted.
Near the doorway, Adorabeezle was still furiously taking notes as Crumbelina and Minty eyed each other.
"Something very strange is going on. She wasn't like this earlier, Crumbs, was she?" Minty asked.
Crumbelina looked puzzled.
"No. I think perhaps Sylvia's been dumping her dead herbs into the arcade water supply again." Crumbelina replied.
"Maybe she's not feeling well from his encounter with the Probus earlier." Minty said.
"Taffyta, might I have a look at your wound from today?" Adorabeezle asked.
Taffyta waltzed over and pulling off her glove.
"Oh yeah! I was gonna heal it up earlier, but it was like, really itching, so I decided to wait until later to do it. Look at the rash! Isn't it like totally weird?" Taffyta asked.
Taffyta's hand had a small pink heart-shaped rash centered by the fang marks Crumbelina had noticed earlier. The wound hadn't quite closed yet, very unusual for a game character in their own game, but even more unusual was how warm to the touch the platinum blonde haired girl's skin felt. Adorabeezle glanced at her notes concernedly, and then up at Taffyta.
"Taffyta, you said it's been itchy? And this was from one of those new creatures?" Adorabeezle asked.
Taffyta pursed her lips and nodded.
"Mmhmm, Kandi and I got attacked earlier while we were on patrol. I got bitten in the hands and, um... I think Kandi got nicked in the ankle. Mean little buggers! Looked like little worms, but then they got these big teeth." Taffyta replied.
Adorabeezle closed her notebook suddenly.
"Ah. Thank you, Taffyta. That's all I need." Adorabeezle said. She then turned to Crumbelina and Minty, and ordered "Crumbelina, Minty, follow me back out.".
Taffyta suddenly hopped up and down.
"Hey, you guys should totally stick around! I'm gonna make some tea and cookies, and we can sit around in a circle with all my new pillows and talk about our feelings! I'm telling you, there's this beautiful little flutter in the place where my heart would be lately. I think I'm in LOOOOVE!" Taffyta cried.
"The tea sounds lovely, Taffyta, but we're a bit busy today." Crumbelina said as she ducked through the portal.
"Er... yes. Maybe some other time." Crumbelina added, following the others out.
"That was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen." Minty said simply.
Adorabeezle's face was a mix between triumph and horror.
"I can't believe it. I thought the data was just a fluke, but it looks like I was right." Adorabeezle said.
"Did you leave something out of the explanation, Adorabeezle? Perhaps, something involving permanent side-effects?" Crumbelina asked.
"It sounded impossible. A few of my reports found the presence of some kind of some sort of organism in the saliva of the Probus. The Probus are so weak, it's difficult to imagine anyone being overtaken by them, resulting in the loss of one's matrix." Adorabeezle replied.
"So they evolved a parasite to pass onto their victims instead?" Minty asked.
"Yes. Data suggests that this parasite slowly inhibits the function of the matrix, rendering the victim into a state I will colloquially refer to as 'ukefication'. This state wipes the personality and demeanor of a victim completely clean, replacing it with one of complete and utter submission. This causes the victim to become weak, fluffy, emotional, and completely incapable of standing up for themselves, wanting only to be in contact with others to further spread the epidemic." Adorabeezle replied.
"So Taffyta has the parasite, and she's lost her matrix. That would explain the giggling and the sissy redecorating." Crumbelina said.
"Poor Taffyta." Minty said, looking horrified at the thought.
The group began a brisk walk towards castle.
"We must alert Vanellope before it spreads." Minty said.
"Wait. Just... how contagious is it?" Crumbelina asked suddenly.
Adorabeezle thought about it for a moment.
"In a sealed wound, I wouldn't think it too bad... but Taffyta's wound has been open all day. Has she been around any of the others?" Adorabeezle asked.
"She went to see Vanellope earlier. And she was with Candi when the attack occurred. Candi was in the Racer's Lounge earlier and she's with Rancis now." Crumbelina replied with concern.
"More immediately, perhaps, we were just in contact with Taffyta." Minty said with dawning terror.
There was a short pause.
"We'll split up. Adorabeezle, you go find Candi and check the rest of the game to see if anyone else has been affected. Minty, you head to the Lounge. I'll go speak with Vanellope. Meet me there when you've finished and we'll discuss what we're to do." Crumbelina ordered.