Disclaimer:I don't own Wreck-It Ralph!

Arcade Armageddon

Chapter 1

Vanellope woke up to another beautiful, sweet morning in Sugar Rush, opening up the pink (or salmon, in King Candy terms) curtains to welcome the first rays of the always-shining atmosphere of the game. The sun was always shining in the candy racing game, emitting light to its frosting and cherry-topped fields and chocolate rivers. The princess could see the Diet Cola Mountain in the distance, feeling a small sense of homesickness. Although Vanellope's true home was the Sugar Castle, she missed living in the soda-themed volcano that stood tall and proud in the heart of Sugar Rush. For fifteen years as a glitch, Vanellope had called the Diet Cola Springs home, and had been used to it during that period.

Now that she was living in the castle as royalty, Vanellope had more than a handful of responsibilities as President of Sugar Rush, and, that in itself, was not an easy task.

Vanellope stretched, loosening up from a good night's rest and to another promising day of racing. She'd placed second in yesterday's Random Roster Race, which hadn't been the worst she'd ever placed but it would have been nice if it were first, which her sister Taffyta had taken.

Ever since the King Candy/Turbo incident, and she and the other Sugar Rush racers had made amends, Vanellope, Taffyta, and Candlehead had grown closer than than they had been before, which led them to being more like sisters. Rancis had even taken a liking to Vanellope, offering her a hand whenever she needed or if he just wanted to talk and get to know her more. The other racers also looked up to her as a role model, always relying on her to protect the game they loved dearly. Vanellope became so well-received among her her fellow racers that she could hardly believe how much of a turn her life made after Turbo's defeat and her reclaiming the throne. It felt as if her fifteen years of neglection and mistreatment had been a dream.

A sudden knock was heard at the door, causing Vanellope to let out an eep and snap her out of her thoughts. Then she recognized the monotone voice following it. "Princess? Are you awake?"

"Come in."

Sour Bill entered the room, a chocolate clipboard in his detached hands. He held his always-seemingly lethargic expression as he skittered up to his president, although it was more serious, unlike other instances. Vanellope was certain it was something important.

"So, what's up?"

"You do remember what I told you yesterday about the possibility of Litwak's applying an upgrade to Sugar Rush, right?" The piece of sour candy asked.

"You did. You said you weren't sure if it was true or not." Vanellope stared down at her adviser intently, recalling what Bill had told her yesterday.

The arcade and its games had to undergo inspection, a semi-annual procedure for all arcades, which had been last week and that everyone was required to remain in their games until the brief look-over was complete. The technician had deemed everything in working order...except for one detail, which had sounded simple as Bill had relayed the information to Vanellope. To the technician, on the other hand, it had been considered a big deal, and a major one at that, from what Sour Bill had heard from the conversation between the arcade owner and the technician. Their game was not up to date with the other copies of the candy-themed racing game.

Vanellope knew what this usually meant (Dance Dance Revolution had to go through this same ordeal), but last night she hadn't been listening carefully.

From his present expression, however, the princess realized that it was all true. Sugar Rush was getting an upgrade, and a powerful one at that. She couldn't help but wonder how it would affect the gameplay, namely the attention they would get afterwards, the environment, and even herself and the other racers. Did this mean more tracks? Improved karts? Would they get more players? Vanellope was not certain of any of these, nor was she aware of all the details concerning it.

"So, how's this upgrade going to affect the game?" Vanellope inquired, "Are we gonna have more tracks and power-ups? Or new avatars?"

"I don't know everything about it, princess," Bill replied. "I only know that we're going to have an upgrade for sure. And that Litwak is planning to upload it on Friday."

"Okay, then. But if you pick up anything else, you'd better relay it to me, Sour Patch."

Bill nodded, not in the least bothered by the nickname.

"Attention! The arcade opens in five minutes. Please report to your games." The familiar, blaring voice of the intercom system was heard, which earned Sour Bill a glare from his president.

"Bill! Why didn't you wake me up sooner? You know what I usually do before the day starts!"

"Forgive me, princess."

Vanellope burst into a fit of giggles. "I'm just messing with ya, Sourpuss. Sure, I'm a little miffed about it, but I can't stay like that forever. Even if I were mad, it wouldn't have bothered you anyway."

"Mm-hm." Sour Bill nodded in his usually bored manner as he left the room, slowly closing the door and leaving Vanellope to get prepared for the day.

Vanellope sat down at the foot of her vanilla-themed bed, thinking about everything Sour Bill had said. She smirked, the thought of an upgrade sounding fun, though a bit scary at first, considering that they would not know what a character would go through during the process. Also, how would the other racers react once she told them of the sudden improvement to the game? Especially when nobody knew exactly how it would be affected. More importantly, how would the upgrade affect her glitch-like teleportation? Which made it just as scary for her more than anything, seeing as she'd grown attached to her extra ability. So many questions were swimming through Vanellope's head; however, there was plenty of time to ask them later.

For now, though, she had the day to focus on, and glancing down at herself still in her mint-green pajamas, she had to get a move on.

Read and REVIEW!