Summary: During the movie. What if one unlikely racer stood up for Vanellope when she was being bullied?
A/N: Another fanfic of where Vanellope get's bullied and someone stands up for her. Read on, and you'll find out which one it is; it obviously isn't Taffyta, since she is the bully. Well, we'll see when we read on, won't we?
The Burn Of The Flame
Candlehead never really liked bullying Vanellope; she just did it because Taffyta and the others did. Truthfully, she felt sorry for the glitch whenever Taffyta or one of the others threw an insult when she was in their path. She had even considered speaking up for herself and Vanellope for once, but didn't want to risk it; the others would neglect her, too.
She was sometimes even pressured into bullying the poor girl; she threw insults that hurt herself inside and out. It wasn't that noticeable to most of the racers, but sometimes, Taffyta had noticed a change in Candlehead's spirit.
It upset her deeply to see Vanellope being bullied constantly, only because she was a sweet, gentle soul who cared for others deeply, even if they were slightly different. To Jubileena's in-game description, she said ha! Jubileena, as loving and cheerful as she was, enjoyed bullying Vanellope; she had been corrupted by the others to do so.
Today seemed to be the worst day of all for Candlehead; Vanellope had made herself a new kart, which actually looked pretty cool. Of course, Candlehead didn't say anything. Then, Vanellope had somehow managed to get hold a gold coin, giving her access into the race. Candlehead pretended to be shocked, but really, was happy that Vanellope had finally accomplished her dream.
However, Candlehead knew that wouldn't last for much longer; Taffyta had rounded up the racers, and had told them to find Vanellope and destroy her kart as an act to keep her from racing. Still, Candlehead went along with the plan.
The green-haired girl slowly hopped into her birthday cake ride and fired up her candle exhaust fumes. She sighed and began to follow Taffyta's Pink Lightening. The racers all knew where Vanellope usually hung out by now, since they had bullied her so much.
"Candlehead!" Taffyta shouted to Candlehead suddenly, "Remember; if she doesn't agree with us, wreck her kart! Believe me! It's the only way to keep that thing from racing!"
A thing? A thing!? Candlehead gritted her teeth in anger; Vanellope wasn't a thing! Her fire atop of her candle on her hat began to light up slightly more; Candlehead's candle would explode if she ever got angry. Luckily, that hadn't of happened yet. But, if Taffyta continued talking about Vanellope that way, the whole of the junkyard would be blown up. Oh, if she could access the game's code, she'd give Taffyta an experience she'd never forget!
"Candle? Are you OK? Your candle seemed to have got bigger..." Rancis asked from behind her, "Oh well, never mind. I'm sure you're OK; your always cheerful, so there's no need to panic."
Why the fudge did Rancis care weather Candlehead was angry or not? Not to mention that she honestly didn't have a clue of what he was talking about, it just angered her even more. If she didn't calm down before she, and the other racers, arrived at the junkyard, then things would be very...explosive...
After a couple of minutes, which seemed like a whole lifetime for Candlehead, they had all finally made it to the junkyard. Vanellope was there, fixing up her kart. Candlehead, luckily, had managed to sustain her anger, but now, was hoping that Vanellope would drive away before the others could corner her.
Unfortunately, Vanellope didn't drive away; instead, she looked around in awe at the other racers as they parked their karts around her, one by one. Candlehead sighed, jumping out of her kart along with the other racers. Time to put on her angry face.
"Hello, fellow racers!" Vanellope exclaimed happily as the others approached her angrily; Fellow racers? Candlehead was surprised; why would Vanellope attempt to be friendly if she knew what was coming next, "Candlehead, Taffyta, Rancis, you're looking well. Came by to check out the competition, huh? Well, here it is the Likkity Split! Built it myself! Fastest power west of the Whack-A-Mole, check her out!" She jumped into her kart and began to pedal, honking the horn whilst she did.
Candlehead gazed in awe; even though it was junky and homemade, it looked fast and awesome to Candlehead. She just hoped it would stay up, and wouldn't be wrecked.
"Oh Vanellope," Taffyta smirked, "It's so...you..." Candlehead pretended to chuckled a little, facing Rancis as she did. She couldn't believe she just laughed, "But, you have to back outta' the race. Yeah..."
"Oh, no, no I don't. Yeah, cos' I payed my fee, and I'm on the board, so yeah, I'm definitely racing." Vanellope retorted, putting her arms in the pouch of her hoodie.
"Well, King Candy said glitches can't race." Taffyta retorted, flicking her lollipop away. Candlehead was shocked; Vanellope wasn't a glitch! She was just...well, different. And, who cared what King Crazy said about glitches racing? Candlehead's candle began to burn dangerously now; she was full of tears and anger, alike. She could burst down crying and lash out at the same time.
"I'm not a glitch, Taffyta; I've just got pixlexia, kay?" Vanellope retorted, suddenly backing down a little. Candlehead, as much as she didn't want to, nodded her head. That was a good excuse, indeed.
However, Taffyta still didn't listen; she walked over to Vanellope, "The rules are there for a reason, Vanellope. To protect us. OK...now say I'm you," She hopped into Vanellope's kart, "I'm in my werid little car, and I'm drivng, and I actually feel kind of cool for one. Until...all of a sudden...oh no, g-g-glitching!" She broke the steering wheel off Vanellope's kart.
"Hey!" Vanellope retorted in sadness, glitching a little; Candlehead could start crying and punch Taffyta any second now.
"See, you're an accident, just waiting to happen!" Taffyta smirked, throwing the torn-off wheel at Vanellope. Candlehead's candle began to burn even more now that it was noticeable to anyone; however, everyone was too busy laughing at Vanellope to notice how angry and upset Candlehead was.
"Oh no, I g-g-glitch too!" Jubileena hopped onto the action. She whacked the hood off the kart. Candlehead knew that the others had corrupted her, big time.
The other racers then got an idea; they ran towards the kart, and began to kick, punch, poke and break it. Candlehead, however, didn't; she watched in upset and anger at the same time as her so called 'friends' began to wreck her kart.
"Hey! Stop! You're breaking it!" Vanellope shouted, glitching tremendously.
"G-G-Glitching!" Rancis smirked, breaking a couple of more items on Vanellope's kart. Candlehead lowered her head angrily and sadly, her candle now flickering tremendously. Her fists were clenched together.
"Please!" Vanellope pulled Taffyta away from her kart, glitching, causing the platinum blond haired diva to glitch too, "I just wanna race like you guys!" Candlehead loosened the grip on her fists ever so slightly; maybe Taffyta would give up.
Taffyta gasped, before backing Vanellope towards a chocolate puddle, "You will never be a race, because you're a glitch, and that's all you'll ever-" But before Taffyta could finish her sentence Candlehead screamed out loud, distracing everyone from wrecking the kart.
"STOP IT!" She bellowed, her candle now burning wide and dangerously, "L-Look..." Tears began to stream down her face, "W-What is it with you, h-hurting poor Vanellope? W-Why is it so f-fun to bully her, huh? Well, I say ha to that!" She sniffled, her fists again clenched together, "W-We can either back away from Vanellope's kart, or I'll punch the fudge out of you!"
Vanellope stared both in fright and shock at Candlehead's immediate change of emotion every second; did the green-haired girl just...stick up for her? She thought that Candlehead was a close friend of Taffyta, and loved every second of bullying Vanellope.
Taffyta crossed her arms, "Candlehead? So, you're like, one of her then?" After that, she chuckled, "And anyway, sweetheart, sorry to burst your little burning flam, but your not gonna beat all of us up, now are you?"
"I dunno, Taff," Minty retorted nervously, "You know what happens when Candlehead get's angry, don't you?"
"Yeah..." Swizzle added, "Maybe we should stop bullying Vanellope and let her race, huh? Maybe we can talk to King Candy about it."
"I'm sure he'll understand," Snowanna nodded her head like crazy, "I mean, he's nice to all of us. Maybe if we talk him into it, he'll be nice to Vanellope too."
"NO, NO, NO!" Taffyta screamed, "I don't know what this thick-skulled, candle-for-brain freak told you all just now, but she's corrupting you! She just want's to be in charge of everyone! She doesn't really care about the glitch, now does she?"
"W-What did you just call me?" Candlehead asked both in upset and anger. Tears were now flowing down her face, her candle almost ready to explode in Taffyta's face, "WELL, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S THICK-SKULLED, TAFFYTA! A-ALL YOU EVER CARE ABOUT IS YOURSELF, ISN'T IT! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT US! ALL YOU WANT IS TO TORTURE VANELLOPE, DON'T YOU!" She screamed, tears ruining the make-up on her face, the heat from her candle melting the icing on her cupcake hat a little.
Taffyta backed away in fright, along with the other racers. She quickly ran towards her kart, but Candlehead was too fast and too angry to let her go, "A-A-Apologize right now, Taffyta!" She threatened, her voice however much quieter then before.
"No! You can say goodbye to our friendship then, Candlehead!" And with that, she jumped into her kart and attempted to drive away. However, before she could, Candlehead's candle had exploded into a million pieces, in Taffyta's face.
Taffyta began to wail, mascara dripping down her face, "WHAA! S-S-She hurt me!" And with that, she drove away, the other racer glancing at Candlehead behind them.
Candlehead collapsed to the floor as her cute, cupcake hat was shattered into a million pieces. Vanellope had cleverly hidden behind a lollipop just as Candlehead's candle was about to explode. The small, raven haired girl approached the green-haired girl, who was now wailing in agony, "I-I..." She began, "That was a pretty brave thing you did for me, back there." She smiled, helping Candlehead up.
Candlehead sniffled a little, "T-Thanks," She wiped her eyes, "T-Truth is, I've been wanting to say and do all of that for ages now...I-I' sorry I didn't say anything sooner, but I was afraid of-"
"Taffyta ditching you? Look, don't worry about what the others think. I think you should of done what was right from the beginning. But...I guess this was a pretty good accomplishment, huh?" She smiled sheepishly, "And, were you crying because of Taff and the others ditching you?"
"N-No..." Candlehead sniffled again, "I-I love my candle...and now, I-I don't have one...I-I don't even have a hat to go along with it...it's just, that's what happens when I g-get angry..."
"Oh..." Vanellope sighed, "Well, I think I know where we can get you a new candle and hat." She smiled, holding out a hand for Candlehead, who was still attempting to recover from the aftereffects of what had just happened to her.
"T-Thanks Vanellope...you're m-my new best friend..." She smiled, which she hadn't done for real in a long, long time.
"And you, too, Candlehead. Getting you a new candle and hat is the least I can do for you. You sacrificed your friendship with the others to save me from getting the puddle treatment again...and for that, you're my new best friend..." And with that, Vanellope pulled her new friend in for a giant hug.
Candlehead giggled, wiping away her tears; even though she would be neglected by the other Sugar Rush Racers, she didn't care; with Vanellope as her true best friend, everything would be new and fun for them both. Candlehead was sure of it.
A/N: Phew! Done! So, there's nothing much to say except say what you think. Did I choose the right character for the main role?