"This place aged well for being 15 years old," Jubileena said as they got inside Sugar Rush. It definitely wasn't as crisp as Sugar Rush 2, but it didn't look bad by any means.

"Now let's find us some racers!" Candlehead said cheerfully. It's like a scavenger hunt, but for racers!

Markowski tried to hide his smile by forcing the corners of his mouth straight, but you can imagine how awkward that actually looked. It should be illegal to be that adorable, right?

"I wonder if they had their race already," Spears said, "Might be a good place to start."

"Hmm, could be.." Markowski said. What's that cold chill?

"Hello!" Vanellope said as she snuck up behind them, "What brings you guys here?" Well I was going to go find Ralph.. King Candy may have his announcer and racer job back, but as Sugar Rush's president I can't very well ignore visitors.

"Racer spotted!" Candlehead beamed excitedly and impulsively picked Vanellope up. Candlehead, as many who knew her well could attest, had a habit of picking up or hugging things she found cute. It was a huge shock to her system when she learned she was holding a Cy-bug egg just the day before. So adorable! So this is little Vannie..

"So you must be Candlehead," Vanellope chuckled, "And you must be Jubileena." She turned her head to look at Jubileena while resting her elbow on Candlehead's arm and resting her cheek atop her lightly balled fist.

"And I'm Spears, and this is Markowski," Spears said. Isn't this the girl who was the maid of honor at Sarge's wedding?

"Evening," Markowski said while briefly raising his hand to give a lazy man's wave. That's gotta be the same girl. Come to think of it the older one was also the one who beat Minty in her race..

"We were wondering where we could find little me and Candlehead," Jubileena said. And probably everyone else, knowing Candlehead..

"Hm.. Well, if it's Candlehead, she's probably with Taffyta and Rancis," Vanellope said as she patiently allowed herself to be held. She can let me go any time now though.. "Those three are always together. I'm not sure where little you would be.."

"That's odd, Jujube and I are almost always together in our game.." Candlehead said while lightly furrowing her brow. Oops. She doesn't like to be called that unless we're alone.. She lightly cringed at Jubileena as if to apologize.

"Things must've changed between games," Vanellope shrugged, "You might want to check around either the Junkyard or in town." Doesn't Jubileena usually keep to herself when we're not racing? Jujube though? She chuckled to herself. That's kind of fitting.


In Sugar Rush 2 around that time.

"Excuse me," Calhoun called out to Rancis and Taffyta as she noticed them driving in their kart. She turned her cruiser around and cruised alongside them, "Would you happen to know where we can find a place to eat here?" For all I know the layout changed between games. I don't need to go gallivanting around aimlessly.

"Oh, we know just the place," Taffyta said through a cheeky grin, "We were headed there ourselves, just follow us." Is she from Hero's Duty like Kohut and Loya? The armor looks the same..

"Why, thank you, friend," Felix said cheerfully as he tipped his hat. It's certainly amusing to see these racers grown up and goin' on dates..


A few minutes later, once they had finally arrived at their destination.

"Oh hey Crumbelina.." Taffyta said sweetly as she and Rancis made their presences known at the table Jet and Crumbelina were seated at, "So you must be Jet, the new guy. I'm Taffyta." Play it off cool, he might act like a normal person since he's new here. I don't need to make any enemies..

"I'm Rancis. Nice to meet you," Rancis said with a nervous smile. Normal enough so far. Uh-oh.. Don't do it Taffyta.. Why didn't I think of that before?! This is bad..

"Ah, hey.. Sorry about the whole.. You know.." Jet said nervously. We all know what I'm talking about, right? Do I have to say it?

"Well, don't worry too much about it," Taffyta said softly with a hint of nervousness, "Nice racing earlier." How'd he manage to get third place though? She could feel annoyance ever so slightly bubbling to the surface. No.. It was luck. It was luck. Don't get mad about it.. She fought the urge to sigh and just continued to smile awkwardly. Let's be honest, with what Jet has done in the past, anybody would be scared witless.

"Thanks.." Jet said with a nervous smile. They're being.. nice. Do I really have to worry about getting on her bad side? Not like I want to..

"Keeping your nose clean, I take it?" Calhoun asked in a slightly more authoritative tone than usual as she and Felix got off her cruiser. She had been watching from afar just to gauge the mood until then. He's getting quite popular.. They should know what he did already, right? I wonder what's up..

"Yes ma'am," Jet said carefully. Calhoun was one of the people he wanted to be around least, for obvious reasons. She must be here to keep an eye on me.. Don't worry ma'am, I'm going to be a good boy. Not that it makes up for what I've done..

"Good," Calhoun said dryly as she sat at a nearby table, though it was still somewhat far away. Almost looks like he was on a date until those two showed up.. She tiredly glanced over at Felix, who was loitering at Jet's table. What is he doing still over there?

"Well that looks nice," Felix said cheerfully, "What is that one called?" I haven't had pizza since that one time in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, come to think of it.

"Pizza siciliana," Jet said with a grin, "You should try it." I wonder if I should tell him it has anchovies on it.. Well a harmless prank should be okay, right? I hope Calhoun doesn't get mad at me for this.. Crap. It's too late to take it back. He lightly winced in regret, though Felix didn't notice.

"You coming?" Calhoun called out. Are we here to eat or not?

"Right away!" Felix chuckled as he quickly made his way to the table Calhoun was sitting at. Pizza siciliana, hmm? Well maybe a couple of slices would be alright.. I sure got the envie for it now.


A few minutes later.. Rancis and Taffyta were both now seated at Jet and Crumbelina's table, talking amongst themselves. Felix and Calhoun were a bit preoccupied though, so they didn't really pay it much mind.

"Oh! There's anchovies," Felix said in a loud and surprised tone. Gross.. He began picking them off.

"Quit picking them off," Calhoun said firmly, "You ordered them, now eat them.. That's an order." Why did he order it in the first place? She sighed. "Here, let's do this.." She grabbed one of his slices of pizza and slapped some of her spaghetti onto his plate. "No more complaints." It's just some oily fish. What's the big deal?

Felix was grateful to have been rid of half of his mistake, and the two ate quietly while trying not to make it too obvious that they had begun to eavesdrop on the conversation at Jet's table. They regretted not paying more attention in the first place as they did so as well.

"You don't really mean that, do you?" Jet asked reluctantly while staring at the middle of the table, though he was almost stating it as fact. His heart ached, because deep down, he wanted, almost needed this.. but he was too afraid of potential negative outcomes to allow himself that luxury. How can Crumbelina possibly even want to go out with me in the first place? Especially after everything I've done.. He had even told her that the only reason he wasn't taking over games anymore is because he was satisfied, and didn't even know how to do it anymore. It wasn't 100% true, of course, but for all she knew, it was. I'm a bad guy. It's a miracle alone that she's associating with me at all..

"Hey, come on.." Crumbelina said softly as she nervously put her hand on his wrist. That really hurts.. but I guess I can't blame him for reacting like that. I don't really even feel strongly one way or another, but he's cute, and there's just something else.. She didn't know what she was getting herself into, in all honesty. Even then she felt rather foolish about it. Rather than thinking rationally, it was more like she was just reading his overall mood and felt as though it might work out somehow. She was winging it.

"Did I.. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything," Taffyta said nervously as she started getting up, "Come on Rancis, I think we should probably sit at a different table." Why did I say that anyway? There's a difference between giving someone a chance and playing matchmaker for them. Especially considering the kind of person Jet is. Or was.. Just what in the world am I thinking?

"It's fine, Taffyta, you don't have to get up," Crumbelina said seriously as she shook her head, "I'm going to bring Jet inside so we can talk this out." She stood up, her face burning red from embarrassment. They hadn't even eaten much of what they ordered. "Come on Jet."

Jet reluctantly stood up and followed her inside the cafe, his heart pounding and full of dread, and other various emotions he'd rather not be dealing with.


"See? It wasn't so bad, was it?" Calhoun asked dryly as they finally finished eating. It's killing me, not knowing what's going on in there.. She glanced at the cafe without turning her head, then back at Felix. Oh well.

"I'm not ordering it again," Felix said confidently with his arms crossed. Anchovies, yuck!

"Good," Calhoun said firmly before smiling, "You're pickier than a cactus when it comes to normal food." He's adorable when he's like this..

"Well it just looked so good at first," Felix said as a subtle smile broke through his pouting. I would have never ordered it if 'anchovy' was in the name.

"Can we get you anything else?" a waitress asked them as she collected their plates.

"I would like a lemon tart," Felix beamed, "Oh, and some coffee with lots of cream and sugar." What could possibly go wrong? I've had lemon pies before, so it shouldn't be much different.

"I'll just have some coffee, thanks," Calhoun said, "No sugar or anything."

"Alright, I'll be back in a moment," the waitress said while stifling a giggle before walking back inside. Maybe we should put a warning that there's anchovies on that pizza.


Back in Sugar Rush.

"There she is!" Candlehead yelled happily as she pointed out little Jubileena in the Junkyard of Sugar Rush. They were just at the Junkyard's border, with little Jubileena being closer to its center. They walked the whole way there, because they simply didn't have enough kart space.

Vanellope had glitched out of her grasp after a while of patiently letting herself be held. What is it with my friends from Sugar Rush 2 always wanting to hug and hold me? Is that just a downside to being an adorable winner?

"Candlehead?" little Jubileena asked as she turned around. She jolted slightly upon seeing Candlehead being so.. tall. "Oh, you must be from our sequel." We grew up well in our sequel, I see.. She had been tuning up her kart and was enjoying the solitude of the Junkyard until they showed up. She didn't really understand why it was always so deserted, but that's the way she liked it.

"Look out, she's gonna grab you!" Vanellope beamed in a loud voice, cupping her hands around her mouth to make sure her voice carried. Escape while you can! She laughed.

"Shh!" Candlehead said with a sheepish smile and a finger over her mouth as she shot Vanellope a playful glare, "See? She's on guard now.." I'm still gonna catch you, little Jujube! She turned her gaze back to her target and grinned.

"Hmm, was I always this cute?" Jubileena asked, "..Say yeah." At least put in some effort Spears. I'm no good at this kind of thing.

"Yeah?" Spears chuckled, knowing full well that there was obviously no other right answer.

"Good.." Jubileena said while smiling a bit as she watched her young counterpart make a small, futile effort to evade Candlehead, only to be caught and held in a tight hug. "Candlehead, don't crush little me okay?!" This place is like heaven to her right now, isn't it?

"So where is little me?" Candlehead beamed while pressing her cheek against little Jubileena's. Oh, like I'd crush anybody; I'm gentle as they come. Isn't that right little Jujube?

"Probably with Taffyta and Rancis if I had to guess," little Jubileena said as she tried squirming out of Candlehead's arms. I wonder why she's with big me instead of Taffyta and Rancis.. She stopped squirming when she realized it wasn't so bad being held. Well I guess they're probably on a date..

"Didn't we always hang out together though?" Candlehead asked, furrowing her brow in confusion. I'm finding it hard to remember right now for some reason.

"Not that I can recall. You're almost always with Taffyta and Rancis, even when we're not racing."

"Oh.. Well do you know where they are?"

"Not really. Have you checked in Diet Cola Mountain?"

"Oh you mean that bonus track is in this game too?" Candlehead beamed.

"Well it's not finished," little Jubileena shrugged as she rested her hands on Candlehead's arms, "We're not really supposed to go in there anyway, what with the falling mentos. But it's not really that dangerous. And since the 'ghost' turned out to be King Candy.."

"Ignoring the rules, eh?" Vanellope said mischievously as she and the others made their way over, "I may have to give them a bit of a scare.." Not that I mind people going in there so much anymore. It was a load off of their collective minds, finding out that King Candy was the 'ghost' living in Diet Cola Mountain, and that he wasn't actually the bad guy Turbo made him out to be. All the same, there were a lot of bad memories that she would like to forget. It should be fine for me to go in there for a little while.


Author's Note: This takes place during chapters 3, 4, and 5 of 'The Honeyglow Surge'.