"Man, this is awesome!" Jimmy said before taking a gulp of his root beer. He set the mug down and let out a loud belch. He and the rest of the boys of Sugar Rush had reserved a table at Tapper's and were enjoying their umpteenth round of drinks. They had decided to simply take a day, as fellow guys, and drink until they dropped.
The others laughed when they heard Jimmy belch. "This was a great idea Jimmy. No worrying about not being gross, no having to be careful, no girls nagging us. Just us guys. We should do this more often." Swizzle said as he and Gloyd clanked their mugs together.
Patrick and Petty both laughed before each of them downed a mug of root beer. They then both fell back unconscious. "Ha-ha! Lightweights!" Jimmy said bursting out in laughter.
Manny smirked down at the two. "Don't be too hard on them. This is our… how many rounds have we had again?" He asked before hiccupping.
"Who cares? Order another! It's on me!" Jimmy said slamming his hand on the table.
Larry sighed. "Don't get too carried away Jimmy. You'll end up sleeping the day away tomorrow is you do, and you know how you get when you have too much root beer." He said. Last time it took him, Fang, Manny, and the twins to wrestle him into submission.
Jimmy blew a raspberry. "Stop being such a killjoy. The arcade is closed tomorrow and I don't have any kingly duties to fulfill, so I can sleep in as much as I want." He said. "And anyway, why haven't you drunken any?" He asked.
"I have. Just not as much as you. I have a date with Jubileena tomorrow, so I can't get too buzzed." Larry explained taking a small sip of his root beer.
Manny made a whipping sound and motion with his hand. "That girl has you on a tight leash doesn't she?" He said with a smirk.
Larry smirked right back. "No. She doesn't know I'm going to take her out. I meant it as a surprise. Being spontaneous is a major key in romancing a woman." He said bringing out a rose.
"Romance huh?" Swizzle said sitting back in his seat. "Well, as a pretty romantic guy myself, I guess I can kind of understand that."
Gloyd chuckled and Swizzle raised an eyebrow at him. "You, romantic? Just because you get Minty to swoon over you doesn't make you romantic. You just set the bar so low that even the littlest thing means the world to her."
Swizzle said up looking annoyed. "Oh, and your mister romantic? If I recall the reason you decided to come today was because you ticked Vanellope off with a prank."
Jimmy sighed. "Look, if it makes you feel any better neither of you two is very romantic. It's a wonder why Vanellope or Minty has any interest in you." He said bluntly. "If you want to be romantic, just watch and learn from me."
"You? The guy who's 'girlfriend' is always telling him to buzz off? That's rich." Rancis said spinning his hat on his finger.
Larry snapped his fingers getting everyone's attention. "Hermanos, please calm down before this spirals out control. I have an easy and simple way to settle this." He said looking around. "We should have a contest."
Manny grew a smirk. "Oh, that sounds interesting. What are the rules?"
"As you know, tomorrow the arcade is closed. So we'll spend the day trying to romance the ladies. Whoever is the most successful wins, and is the most romantic of the group." Larry explained.
"How do we decide who wins?" Rancis asked.
"We'll judge based on the girls reaction." Larry said. "I think everyone will have enough sense to tell who will be the most won over by our acts of love."
Jimmy slammed his hand on the table. "I'm in!" To be honest the whole romance competition thing didn't sound all that interesting to him, but a challenge was a challenge, and he never back down from one.
"This sounds stupid… but fine." Fang said. He hadn't done anything really considered 'romantic' since he and Tea started dating. He wasn't too good at it, but he'd give it a shot.
"Sounds like fun." Manny said before finishing his mug of root beer. It's not like he had anything else to do tomorrow anyway.
"I'm gonna totally own this." Gloyd said looking amped. He pulled some of the most complicated pranks in the entire arcade, this would be a cakewalk to him.
Swizzle put his hands behind his head. "This'll be easy." He said. Minty was already crazy about him. There's no way he could screw this up.
"Prepared to be schooled in the ways of romance." Rancis said confidently. "What about you Dough?"
They turned to see Dough staring off into space. "What? Oh, I'm sorry. What were we talking about again?" He asked confused.
"Fudge it, let's just go." Jimmy said getting up. The others got up and began following him out, leaving a very confused looking Dough.
The next day, everyone had agreed to meet in the courtyard of the Sweet Tooth castle. They went over the few rules there. The first of course was not to tell the girls. It was supposedly so that none of the girls tried to help them win, but really they were afraid of getting in trouble.
They didn't want the girls thinking it took a bet for them to try and act romantic. The second rule was that they had to stick together. No one could go running off to prepare beforehand. Whatever you brought with you was whatever you could use.
They drew lots to decide the order. The first up had been Manny, who seemed fairly confident. He made his way towards Snowanna while the others hung back from an unseen spot. "Yo Snowfro." He said approaching his target.
Snowanna looked up from her kart, which she had been doing maintenance on, and raised her eyebrow at Manny. He usually didn't come to her on they're day off. They typically waited until about noon until they 'accidentally' bumped into each other in the forest. "Well, isn't this a surprise. Did Dough get lost around here?"
"No." He said before pointing up towards the sky. "I wanted to show you something. Just sit down and keep looking up." He said before pulling out his bow and arrow.
Snowanna looked at him clearly confused, but leaned against the hood of her kart and looked up towards the sky. He took out a handful of arrows, and then began firing them off. "I… I don't understand, you're just firing arrows into the sky…"
There was suddenly a loud explosion, and smoke appeared in the sky. More explosions went off, and the smoke eventually layered over one another. It began to take form, and Snowanna looked shocked to see that it was her face. It even have all the colors of her afro included. "Ta-da." Manny said putting his bow away. "What do you think Snowfro?"
Snowanna looked at him surprised. "You… you did that for me?" She asked. Manny nodded proudly. She smiled at him. "Not bad hotshot. What made you think that up?"
"Nothing in particular." Manny said casually.
She walked towards him. "Well, it was sweet." She said before giving him a kiss on the check. "I guess I'll see you later. We're heading to the hot springs, right?"
"Course." He said tipping his hat.
He turned and made his way back to the others. "The hot springs?" Jimmy asked.
"Don't worry about it." Manny said. "Anyhow, I'd say scoring a kiss means I'm pretty high on the romantic list, don't you think?"
Swizzle waved his hand. "Oh come on. You made her face in the sky and didn't even get a kiss on the lips. I'm about to show you guys the definition of romance."
Minty read through her book until she felt someone nudge her shoulder. "Hey, I think your boyfriend is about to do something stupid…" Adorabeelze said. "Again."
The green haired girl looked up at the giant screen near the race track and saw Swizzle revving up his kart. He pulled up and mic and turned towards the camera. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Today I'm going to do the unthinkable. I'm going to jump over Diet Cola Mountain!"
"Oh my gobstopper." Minty said worried.
Adorabeezle crossed her arms and smirked. "Well, this should be good."
"And I'm going to dedicate this jump to the most beautiful, smartest, and sweetest girl in the arcade, Minty Zaki!" He shouted.
Minty stood up looking terrified. "He's going to WHAT?! Swizzle, no!" She shouted running to her kart. She quickly jumped in and began heading towards Dirt Cola Mountain.
Swizzle slammed down on the accelerator and sped up the Mountain. As he approached the top of the mountain, he pulled out a candy wrapper. "SUGAR RUSH!" His kart sped up and he went shooting off into the air.
"Ha-ha! Look at this air! I don't believe it! I'm totally gonna make it!"
Jimmy shook his head. "He totally overshot it…"
"Yep." Rancis said.
"Bigtime." Fang added.
"The wipeout is going to look totally awesome though." Gloyd said.
Swizzle excitement slowly died down when he passed off the other edge of Diet Cola Mountain. "Oh man, I totally overshot this…" He said before pulling out a helmet and putting it on. "Glad Minty put this thing in here…"
The kart crashed onto the ground and began rolling and spiraling out of control. When it finally did stop, the kart was a complete wreck. "Should we check on him?" Fang asked.
"Well, seeing as he's probably dead and will regenerate soon, I wouldn't." Jimmy said.
Minty's kart drove up and next to the wreckage, and she quickly jumped out and ran towards him. "Swizzle!" She saw him laid out next to the car and gasped. "Oh my glob! Swizzle, are you okay?" She asked as she knelt down placed his head in her lap.
"Minty, did you see? I made it! I actually made the jump!"
Her eyebrow twitched and then reached down and pinched his cheeks. "Geez! I thought you were going to die you big jerk!" She said clearly angry with him. "Why would you do something so stupid? And what was with that dedication to me?"
Swizzle sat up. "What do you mean? I obviously did it to impress you."
She blushed when she heard that, then pouted and turned away. "If you wanted to impress me, then just being me flowers or something. Don't go jumping over a volcano." She said. The rest of the boys were snickering at the sight. Not only had Swizzle's plan failed, but it had downright backfired. "But it was a little sweet I guess…"
They watched in surprised as she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. "You got to be fudging me." Jimmy said scowling.
"I told you. He set the bar so low that no matter what he does or how stupid it is, she'll appreciate it." Gloyd said rolling his eyes.
Once Swizzle got back from the infirmary, with a dislocated arm twisted ankle and numerous bruises mind you, they decided to carry on with the contest. It was Fang's turn, and he had taken Tea towards a nice spot in the forest where you could see a great view of the Big Rock Candy Mountain.
"I have to say Fang, this is a really nice spot." Tea said as taking in the view. "But why did you bring me hear again?"
Fang smiled towards her. "I wanted to do something special for you." He said before taking a deep breath. "Satsu no Sugar Rush!" He activated his character item.
Tea covered her face as the red aura around his body pushed the dirt and dust away from him. She then looked up concerned. "Fang, your character item."
"Don't worry, I won't push myself." He said calmly. He suddenly sped up towards the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Tea watched as he ran across the side of the mountain, punching and kicking lines as he did. When he was finally finished, he jumped down next to her, and then brought his hands together.
He then fired off a beam of energy from his hands, focusing it as he carved a shape around the letter he'd punched in earlier. When he was done, the side of the mountain had a giant F+T carved into it, and a heart shape surrounding said letters. He turned towards her. "Do you like it? I mean, I know I'm not the most… feeling guy, but I just thought-"
Tea hugged him cutting him off. "It's perfect." She said hugging him tighter.
He smiled and hugged her back.
After about an hour, they realized that Fang had no intention of coming back, and decided to move on. It was Rancis turn now, and he had apparently had something big planned.
"How long is this going to take dude?" Jimmy said impatiently.
"Don't worry, she should be here any second." He assured.
Just as they were about to ask who, a sponge cake shaped kart drove up near them. They watched as a girl jumped out carrying a picture. "Victoria?" Jimmy asked confused.
"Hey guys." Victoria greeted. Victoria was an NPC, who would occasionally race along with them for fun in her costume made kart, and owned an art museum/shop.
"What the-?! The rules say no outside help!" Gloyd snapped.
Victoria looked confused. "Helping him? I was just holding on to this for him." She said handing Rancis the picture. "I've been helping his work on it for a while. Last night he wanted to put the finishing touches on it though."
"That has to be against the rules! We said you could only use what you bring with you!" Manny said pointing at Rancis.
Rancis scowled. "How did you expect me to carry this around all day? It would have gotten broken by some point and you know it. Besides, if Fang gets to use a Character Item, I should be able to bring a picture I've been working on for weeks."
The boys all looked towards each other and then either scowled or sighed towards him. "Fine."
"What are you guys up too?" Victoria asked clearly lost in this conversation.
They all looked towards her, and she tensed slightly. If they told her what they were doing, she might end up telling the other girls. "Nothing." They all said at the same time.
"Well, you're obviously lying, but it's none of my business." She said walking towards her kart. "Good luck with whatever you're doing!" She said waving.
They waved back and watched as she drove off. Rancis walked up to the door and then knocked. A few seconds later Taffyta answered. "Rancis? What are you-?"
He held up the picture towards her. It was a colored drawing of Taffyta ad himself standing back to back on the #1 pedestal. They were holding a trophy above their heads and giving a peace sign. "Like it?"
Taffyta took her lollipop out of her mouth. She reached forward and lifted his chin before kissing him on the lips. Rancis stiffened slightly but then grew a dumbstruck look on his face. She finally finished the kiss, still lifting his chin with her finger. "I do." She said smiling.
"Well… that's good."
"I'd say that ranked pretty high." Jimmy admitted.
"Si." Larry said looking impressed.
Jimmy looked nervous as he looked across the road at Crumbelina's house. She was currently in her front yard, watering her daises. "Why you looking so nervous Jimmy?" Manny asked in an amused voice. "Worried she'll shoot you down like she usually does."
"Shut up!" Jimmy snapped. He turned back towards her and blushed. "Just… just don't laugh at me when I do this. I swear if I hear a single chuckle then I'm going beat you to a pulp."
They all looked confused as Jimmy made his way towards her. What exactly was Jimmy planning on doing? Crumbelina noticed him approaching and raised her eyebrow. "Jimmy, aren't you a little late. On off days you end up bothering me in the morning rather than the evening." She said about to turn back to her flowers.
Jimmy reached out and grabbed her hand before she could turn away. She looked back at him confused. He knelt down on one knee and cleared his throat. "Dancing aglow, with love and wonder, sparkles and flashes. Of lightning and thunder, dreamlike states they cast me headlong. Piercing with brilliance, weaken, yet strong smiling and dazzling."
"What the actual fudge…" Rancis said stunned. Jimmy was reciting poetry. The guy who had always been fist first, violent, and headstrong, was reciting poetry.
Crumbelina had an unreadable expression on her face. Jimmy looked down slightly and sighed. He took his hat off and then slicked his hair back, something he did when he was nervous. "Hypnotic and warm, they hold my gaze, with their grace and charm. Caressing and comforting as warm blue skies I'm hopelessly lost in my Angel's brown eyes."
Once he was finished he looked up at Crumbelina, as if expecting her to yell at him. Instead she just stared at him with a strange expression. "Where did you learn that?" She asked.
"I heard you talking to Larry in Spanish about how you liked to read poetry sometimes, and I figured if I memorized some… I don't know."
Crumbelina grew wide eyed. He had really learned that poem just for her? She stepped forward and then gave him a hug. "Jimmy, that's the sweetest most romantic thing you've ever done."
Jimmy seemed surprised, and then hugged her back. "Glad you liked it."
"He's not coming back either!" Gloyd said looking annoyed. After their long hug, they went walking off to who knows where, and never came back.
"Well, let's just say he's did great and keep going." Larry said yawning. "I believe that you're next, aren't you Gloyd?"
Gloyd smiled and nodded. He turned around and then reached into his backpack before pulling out a ukulele. "How did that fit in your backpack?" Manny asked.
The brown haired boy just shrugged before walking into the courtyard. "Vanellope!" He shouted. The doors to the Balcony opened and the girl quickly rushed out.
"What is it? What's going on?" She asked looking around. She then noticed him standing there. "Oh, it's you Orangeboar. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to serenade you." He said holding up the ukulele.
She looked confused. "Sere-wha? What are you doing with that Violin?"
"It's a ukulele." He clarified before clearing his throat. He ran his hands across it a few times and then tuned it carefully. "You ready?" He asked.
Vanellope leaned against the balcony with a smirk. "This ought to be interesting." He then began playing.
"Oh dear princess, I like you dress. You're like a beautiful treasure, I want to open your chest. Cause I think you're great, I wanna be your mate, or maybe go on a date! Cause it feels like there's a spark inside my body, like there's a spark inside my heart. And that this spark is going to going to consume me, if we keep waiting for this thing to start. Ohh, I feel like I'm all warmed up inside, I feel all warmed up inside, I feel all warmed up inside!"
When he finished he looked at Vanellope with a smile. She laughed and fell back onto the ground holding her stomach. "Ha! All warmed up inside huh? How long did it take you to come up with that mushy line?" She said hysterically.
Gloyd just shrugged and held up his Ukulele. "Well, that's it for now princess. Thank you and good night!"
Vanellope got up still laughing and held up her hand. "Wait just a second Orangeboar. What exactly was that just now?" She asked giggling.
"Just wanted to bring you your daily smile. It worked didn't it?"
"Oh yeah, it worked." She said.
He took a bow and then turned and walked off. Once he got to the others he held his hands out. "Nice job, huh guys."
"You were supposed to get like a kiss, or a hug, or something." Rancis said crossing his arms. "All you did was make her laugh."
Gloyd placed his hands behind his head. "For me it's the same thing. Seeing her smile is just as good as any-"
"Gag." Swizzle said sticking his tongue out. "That's sounds like something out of a chick flick."
Larry raised his hand. "No, no. That actually is very romantic. To do something so silly just to get a smile or laugh out of your beloved is truly something noteworthy. If I had to pick a winner I'd pick either you or Jimmy." Larry said simply. "In fact, I doubt anyone could come up with anything that even comes close to what you two did."
"Oh come on!" Swizzle snapped.
"Bull roar!" Manny shouted.
Gloyd smirked. "Ha, you see! And since Jimmy isn't here I win!"
Larry held up his finger. "Yes, nothing could even come close… except this." He snapped his fingered and suddenly roses began shooting up out of the ground. The flowers kept on growing and spreading everywhere. The courtyard, the castle, the forest. It seemed like the entire game was budding roses. "Behold, the master piece that is-"
"Hold the fudge on!" Goyd interrupted. "When did you do this?!"
Larry ran his hands through his hair. "This was my plan from the beginning. I brought the seeds with me and spread them at each of our stops." He said picking a rose and sniffing it.
"What the fudge!" They heard Vanellope yell from the balcony.
"I planted them in the castle while you were singing." Larry said proudly. Just as the others were about to barrage him with questions, Jubileena walked around the corner. "Ah, mi amor."
Jubileena saw him and then smiled. "Larry! I can't believe this! I know you said you had a surprise for me but I never expect this."
She ran over and hugged him. Larry smirked towards the others. They all looked back at him stunned. Had he planned this from the beginning? "You son of a…"
"I told you, romance is all about…" He flicked his hand and a rose appeared. "Surprise."
A/N: So, I tried to put a little extra effort into this one. I know it's not completely Larry focused, but at least the end has him stealing the show. I also just wanted to make a story about all the guys competing. Seemed funny. And a story about romance seemed fitting for him. I mean you guys know Larry. Always the lady killer. I had thought about ending it on a note where the girls found out and got mad at them, but that seemed a little too cliched.
Some things to get out of the way, the song Gloyd song is obviously not mine. It's from Adventure time and was written by Rebecca Sugar. Go check out her stuff, so awesome.
The poem Jimmy recited isn't mine either. I got it off the internet. Don't know who it belongs to, but it ain't mine.
And oh, I almost forgot. Victoria Strawber belongs to DreamerAwaken. I knew she was looking forward to Larry's story, so I threw her in there for a cameo. Hope you liked it. And go check out her story Gloyd's Past-Island of shadows. It's really good.
I hope you guys liked it. Not there's only Cindy, Dough, and Garry. Who's next?