Sweet and Sour

Chapter 2 - Preparations

##SUGAR RUSH SPEEDWAY##

"Early tomorrow morning, our game consoles are going to be unplugged..."

"WHAT?!"

"No way! What happened?"

"It wasn't because of the President's glitch, was it?"

Vanellope watched as racers and candy alike panicked at the incomplete announcement. Sour Bill, who knew what the unplugging was all about, rolled his eyes and climbed up on to Vanellope's shoulder. Straight into the mic, in a loud, monotone voice, he yelled "QUIET!"

Immediately, the attendance in the room was silenced. Pleased with his success, he jumped off the President's shoulder and resumed his position at her side.

"Thank you, Sir Bill!" Vanellope whispered and faced the crowd again. "If you would let me finish my announcement, I'll probably answer any questions you'll have and minimize the panic. If you still have questions, I'll answer them at the end. And no, Taffyta, it's not because of my glitch, so drop it!"

"Now, as I was saying, early tomorrow morning, our game consoles are going to be unplugged...TEMPORARILY," Vanellope continued her announcement, putting emphasis at the end. "During the time we're unplugged and being updated, Tapper's has saved us a hidden level party room for us to hang out in."

"The Nicelanders in Fix-It Felix Jr. have allowed us to stay in their neighborhood to relax and enjoy the day off." She paused for a moment, then smiled, "As we speak, Mr. Felix is fixing up a few apartments for us to rest in for the day, and plans to ask Ralph to wreck up the junkyard and create a race track in his style! Mr. Felix has also agreed to create a race track of his own in a cleaner, less smelly part of Niceland." This caused the racers to grin. They were able to bring their karts and practice on terrain other than sugary sweets.

"Just because we're being unplugged, doesn't mean we're going to be homeless or game-less," Vanellope added, "We will be back to our game soon after the big update." A loud sigh of relief was heard throughout the room, causing Vanellope to grin.

"Now for the update," She continued. "Because of the our popularity, Mr. Litwak has ordered and will be receiving four more race consoles, so now up to six players can play. We're also getting our own separate power strip because, along with the six consoles, a big screen TV and speakers will be plugged in so that spectators can watch the race in split-screen on the TV monitor instead of crowding around a single console and watching from a small screen. We will still have the same port in Game Central Station, but please don't go exploring around the area around the TV and speaker. That is, unless you want to die a quick, but painful death."

"We will be getting new tracks, new power-ups, and, according to some sources, new racers." Vanellope added, "So please make them feel welcome! This update is themed, based on the sour, tangy candies of the world. I just hope the new racers don't have sour attitudes!" This caused some of laughter among the racers. "Unfortunately, I don't have specific details on what the tracks will look like, what the power-ups do, and who the new racers will be. I'll be coming back immediately after the update to gather up as much information as I can to share with you. We'll have a post-update meeting here tomorrow evening, and I'll invite the new racers to introduce themselves!"

"Mr. Litwak will be coming in to make the changes at seven in the morning tomorrow, so I want everyone to meet at the bridge an hour before we're unplugged. We'll do a quick head count to make sure no one is left behind. The consoles will be plugged in almost immediately after a new power strip is put in, but I want everyone to be safe and stay out of the game until after the update." Vanellope looked up at the crowd, who were nodding in agreement about their safety. "For those who want out tonight, Tapper's is a 24-hour bar, so you're welcome to stay there. After making this announcement, I'll check with Mr. Felix and Ralph to see if there are any rooms ready for those who want to rest away from the game. And that's it. Any questions?"

##FIX-IT FELIX JR.##

Felix looked at the row of apartments he had just built with nearly half of the scrap bricks gathered up in the junkyard. There were 5 apartments on each side of the street, 10 in total. And at the end of the block stood a large race track that would amaze racers from any game. Blue and yellow flags lined the street near the apartment and continued on in alternating patterns along the walls of the building of the speedway. It was a pure asphalt track, with many sharp turns, but no ramps and jumps. He didn't want anyone getting hurt, or worse, on his track. After all, if you die outside your game, you don't regenerate.

Felix turned and heard pounding not too far away, and saw a large dust cloud coming from the junkyard. He had asked Ralph to create a race track in the junkyard, but to keep it as safe as a scrap yard of bricks can be. Ralph was ecstatic to help his little friend out. Q*Bert, on the other hand, was angered because of all the noise and shaking because of the pounding. The little orange critter didn't have the guts to bleep out in anger at the large wrecking machine. It had heard stories about the adventures Ralph had in Sugar Rush, how it was supposed to be impossible to break a jawbreaker in half, and how he was able to do it with his bare fists. He respected the big guy. After all, Ralph did give him a home.

Ralph gave his version of a race track one last pound before looking at what he completed. It was a track similar to one he had constructed in Diet Cola Mountain, but with brick scenery and no falling Mentos into hot cola waiting to explode and burn you. He considered his track safe, but he asked Felix to do a once-over to make sure. Felix used the rest of the bricks to construct a wall around the outside perimeter of the track. In the end, there wasn't a single scrap brick in the junkyard. At least until the arcade reopens on Monday.

Vanellope popped in just before Midnight and saw everything that had been built. She was excited about using the two tracks. After she was given the tour of the apartment space, she already planned to spend many Sundays kicking back in one of the apartment pools and hot tubs.

Vanellope looked at Felix and Ralph and asked if it was okay for candies and racers to come in tonight. Felix said that it was okay, just as long as they wait until morning to use the race tracks. Vanellope nodded and, giving both men a quick thank you hug, she sped off to share the news with the residents of her candy haven.

##SUGAR RUSH SPEEDWAY##

The time to move out was coming close. Almost all of the candies have already left to Niceland to enjoy the apartments built for them. Some were still terrified of Ralph, but most were able to accept him after witnessing how close he and their princess/president were. He may be a bad guy, but those who saw how much Vanellope loved the big guy (like a big brother, of course); they learned that he wasn't really a bad guy.

At around six in the morning, Vanellope asked her fellow racers to drive around and make sure that no one stuck around. Vanellope stayed at the rainbow bridge, watching as last minute residents went through the game barrier and into Game Central Station. Half an hour later, the racers returned with the all clear then they too sped off. When the last racer went through the barrier, Vanellope turned and stared at the now empty candy covered world and smiled. She hopped into her kart and went through the barrier.

##LITWAK'S ARCADE##

At promptly seven in the morning, Mr. Litwak came in and unplugged the two Sugar Rush Speedway consoles. He left the games and walked to his office to grab a new power strip and the update disk. He would have to wait until the other four consoles came in and everything was installed along with the TV and speakers before he made the updates. Mr. Litwak stared at the manual that came with the update disk. On the front cover, three new racers were featured, posing with their karts in front of two new race tracks while each holding three new items, which he assumed were the new power-ups for the game.