A/N: I am finally back. *Grunt* And I mean finally. Exams are over- for now. Yay!
So Camille DiCaramello prompted me to do a Sugar Rush unplugged fic way back when, and I have to apologize to her because she had been waiting for a whole month for this. So sorry (;}.;)
And here it is, my first shot at writing about the Sugar Racers. I tried to base their personalities on canon but failed miserably. If they're to OOC, or if this simply sucks, you're welcome to criticize.
Have some candy and I hope you enjoy this!
"Day 23
Dear Vanellope,
I don't think I'll last long."
As Taffyta wrote her arm hurt and her stomach rumbled. How many days had she gone without food now? Starving, she continued to scribble:
"I hope you're well. You're the only hope Sugar Rush has now. I'm elated that you got out of here, president. I really am. If you ever read this, please know I'm extremely ashamed of how I treated you before realizing you are, after all, our princess- our president. Please also send my gratitude to Ralph. Thank mod he sort of saved you from the storm."
Her mind journeyed back to the day Sugar Rush lost all of its peacefulness.
"A great day of racing, huh?" Vanellope and her fist-bumped and shared a grin. "You were quite impressive back there. Too bad I glitched in front of you."
"Stop smirking, pres. I will overcome you someday." Taffyta threatened jokingly, unknown to what the future held.
"Hmm, someday," Vanellope grinned. "Well, I'm off to find Stinkbrain. Later!" She waved at Taffyta and Candlehead.
As she watched their friend skip away, Candlehead suggested, "Hey, why don't we-"
Before she could even finish, a thunderous howl shattered their eardrums. "Why does that noise sound so familiar!" Taffyta yelled over the noise. Then something in her mind clicked.
The last time she heard this screech, it was the day Vanellope was revealed to be the princess.
That meant...
"Cy-bug!" Taffyta grabbed Candlehead, who was covering her ears, in alarm.
Candlehead's eyes widened. "But- aren't cy-bugs from Hero's Duty? How did they break in?"
"Don't ask. Come on, we gotta-"
Another shriek emitted, and a monster as tall as Diet Cola Mountain emerged from the sugar-coated ground.
The monster had the talons and flapping wings of a cy-bug, but Taffyta could clearly make out the complexion of a person- a person they believed long dead.
"It's King Candy! RUN!" Taffyta hissed, frightened that their former tyrant would hear them. Thank mod, his back is facing us. She clasped Candlehead's hand and ran for the audience stands. Lifting a banner, she gestured for Candlehead to follow her. Together they crawled under Taffyta's fan's bleachers. Checking that King Candy- Turbo- didn't notice them, the two friends continued edging their way to the village.
"Hell-o, my loyal subjects!" Turbo laughed maniacally. (So his voice didn't change with the body. Taffyta mused, still escaping. Weird.) "I'm back! Did you miss me?" Just then, his form flickered with red binary. Taffyta held her breath. Turbo, with his creepy yellow eyes and lame helmet had appeared instead of King Candy's face. What she thought was more bizarre was that he glitched, but his pixels were red and not blue. Taffyta knew glitches' pixels were blue after all that time bullying Vanellope (which she regretted), and red probably meant something bad. She signaled for Candlehead to crawl faster.
They were out of the bottom of the bleachers which meant they were exposed. Picking up speed, they dashed as fast as they could, Candlehead huffing and puffing. She'd just caught a glimpse of their former king and was probably freaking out inside.
Fortunately they made it to a house. Candlehead burned a bit of the gingerbread door, leaving a little hole for them to crawl into. Taffyta threw the chunk of burnt biscuit away and the two climbed into the empty house.
"What do we do now?" Candlehead inquired, fear shining in her eyes. Taffyta knew Candlehead usually relied on her for answers, but Taffyta for once mumbled, "I don't know. He'll find us soon enough."
"Then we can't just hide here!"
Taffyta spotted two satchels made of licorice hanging off a nook on the wall. She turned to face Candlehead. "Grab a satchel. Find some food and if we're lucky, first aid supplies."
Lucky she was. With a satchel full of supplies she broke off a piece of the biscuit table and started hacking at the ground.
"What are you doing!" Candlehead asked.
"Trying- to- dig- a- tunnel- so- we'd- be- safe- underground!" Taffyta breathed loudly.
"Stop! Vanellope herself told us cy-bugs give birth in dark places! There might be cy-bug eggs somewhere down there- you know, last time they broke out of the ground and started eating, remember?"
"You're right," Taffyta bit her lip. Then she grinned. "Ah! I know just where to hide."
"Where?"
Taffyta didn't answer. Instead she noticed a notebook lying on the table. She presumed it belonged to an artist for the candy wrapper was smooth to the touch and some pages had fascinating pictures lovingly drawn on it. Next to the notebook was a chocolate pen and Taffyta grabbed both. Flipping it to a new page she started to sketch the outline of a map- the map of Sugar Rush Mainland.
"Hey, that's here!" Candlehead was puzzled, as Taffyta continued drawing something that resembled the Rainbow Bridge, Diet Cola Mountain, the main racetracks, the village where the fans lived in- where they currently were.
Taffyta looked so serious Candlehead wasn't sure if she was drawing a map or a battle strategy plan.
"We hike through the Ice Cream Mountains and- hey, you're not afraid of the cold, right?"
Candlehead, being the witty person she was, couldn't help herself from letting out a tiny giggle. "Taffyta, we race through the mountains every single day!"
"It's raced if we don't pull through," Taffyta said sternly. "After the hike we'll reach the Ice Pop Caves and I hear the Strawberry Pop Cave is probably deepest and hence safer. You ready?"
"As always." Candlehead assured her. "Don't worry, we will stay alive."
The two set off, silently hoping what Candlehead said was true and that bug- Turbo wouldn't spot them. He didn't. He'd headed towards the Candy Cane Forest.
"Do you think the others will, you know, live through this?" Candlehead nervously asked.
Taffyta tightened her grip onto Candlehead's hand, making the latter wince a little. "I hope they do. Mod help them. I wish I could do something but then we'll die as well." I sound so selfish. But please, let them survive. She thought of Rancis, one of her best and most loyal friends. She hated to admit it but he was in some ways a more trustworthy friend than Candlehead. He'd tried to lie about their bullying when Vanellope was revealed to be the princess by saying that it all were jokes, while Candlehead blamed it on her (which was partly true. Taffyta did start the bullying- only because she gave her mind blindly to the ex-tyrant).
Her mind drifted over to the other girls. Snowanna was always optimistic and helpful. Jubileena was always fun to talk to. Minty was cool and Adorabeezle liked to teach everyone skiing. She heaved a miserable sigh. The others she'd miss a lot. If they didn't make it, Taffyta… She wasn't the snobby person Vanellope once thought she was. If one of them died, it would feel like a part of her died as well. After all those years of racing together, even the most competitive- Taffyta- considered the other racers as family, and Rancis and Candlehead her siblings. Vanellope had forgiven her for her mean actions before the cy-bug incident, and the two had grown quite close.
Where would Vanellope be now? With Ralph, she presumed and hoped. She would be safe. She would be out of reach from harm. Ralph would keep her out of danger, out of the evil hands of his former nemesis, he would guard her and be her friend. She'd be homeless but Taffyta believed Ralph, and that Felix person, would let her stay in their game. She would never experience the horrors Taffyta was going through right now. Which was good. At least a part of Sugar Rush had survived.
I can't be jealous. I can't be selfish. My friend is alive and well and knowing that I must not ever dream of envying her. She's alright and that's all that matters.
"I can't say I'm exactly alright, Vanellope. Candlehead is by my side but both of us are starving. Ironic, no? A land of sweets and we're hungry." Taffyta chuckled without humor to herself. "Please don't come back. The state of your former game is devastatingly horrendous. As much as I wish I could see you again I don't want you to know what happened to us. What happened to Sugar Rush.
"Are you well? 23 days I've survived and I didn't even ask you this. What would you feel if you find out that all of us are close to death? I fear there aren't many of us alive. Soon Turbo will discover us and I hope, one day, when this is over, when you come back, you'll read this. You'll find out what happened. You'll mourn but know that you're fortunate to have been gone during this time.
"Last question I've been yearning to ask. I don't want this to ever occur but: Why can't you come back?
"I know you're out there, underneath blue skies and sunshine. We still have light but I don't think I have sunshine inside my heart anymore. But you do.
"Stay strong for me. For us. All of us. Alive or not, you're the only survivor Sugar Rush has left. But most importantly…
"Stay sweet, Vanellope. Taffyta."
A/N: Oops. I swear, I made this way too OOC. I am so sorry. Someone needs to send me ro author jail right now. So leave a flame, or a simple review, to tell me how bad/ horrible/ good (?) I am at this. Thank you again, I love you guys.
(Also, if you get the reference to the title, you're awesome. I don't mind a review suggesting/ guessing which film it is from. If you don't know where it is from, I'll reveal it in Chapter 2. Thank you!)
