The next day, the nine racers who were on today's roster gathered at the track, giving their karts pre-race once-overs.
"Morning, Rancis." Cinndon says, sitting on the hood of his kart. "How did you sleep last night?"
"I slept fine. I'm just so worried about Nelly, Cinndon. She normally never leaves when I want to talk to her." Rancis says, polishing his kart mirrors. "I mean, why is she so sensitive about her birthday? She's gonna be the big 1-0 and everything."
"Well, maybe she's a bit on edge since she became president. It's a lot of stress on her. I mean, now that she has the castle back and she's ruler once more, it might be a bit too much on her at the moment. She probably confides in Ralph and Felix because she needs time out of the game. Except for Bad-Anon, when she brings Felix and Calhoun to watch the races." Cinndon says. "I know that for sure because they're here to see her race almost all the time and they're spending the night in the castle with her as well."
"Were they here last night?" Rancis asks Cinndon, who's jumping into the CinnaKart.
"Felix was here last night, but since Ralph had Bad-Anon, he met her and Felix at Tapper's for drinks." Cinndon replies, adjusting his cinnamon-themed goggles.
"Oh, but do you think Nelly would be willing to talk to me today?" Rancis asks him, looking a bit desperate.
"Well, probably so. Wouldn't hurt to ask her." Cinndon says, leaning back in his kart.
Just then, Vanellope pulls up in the Candy Kart, pulling her kart into the second position. She sees Rancis' kart parked next to hers, then looks down at her feet. She really left Rancis behind when he wanted to talk, and she felt bad as she pulled her racing goggles from her hoodie pocket.
Before Rancis could get Vanellope's attention, the arcade started to open and he knew it was time to start the day's races. He'd get a chance to talk to Vanellope later, for sure.
Meanwhile, in Almond Joy Alley, the NPC's that didn't have to be at the track were gathered in the little shed that they live in.
"Hey, Rainblo! Pass me another creamsicle soda!" Mitchell yells from the marshmallow sofa he's sitting on to watch the day's races.
"Get it yourself, you lazy bum!" Rainblo yells, staring at a rack of CD's next to her stereo system. "And Pepper, quit humming like a sugar mosquito. What in the hell are you doing, anyway?"
"In case you're not aware, Di Sherbetty, I'm meditating." Pepper says, sitting cross legged, her arms spread apart, and her hands with her fingers spread out. "You should try it sometime."
"Are you crazy? I don't want to look like you, you peace- loving-meditation-on-a-daily-basis hippie! Save your meditation for someone who cares!" Rainblo says, putting on a CD and slipping on her Skittle earphones, tuning Mitchell and Pepper out.
"Mod, who peed on her Oreos?" Pepper says, still cross-legged on the floor.
"Beats me, Pepper. I think she's just in one of those moods." Mitchell says, now watching the races. "I know girls who get in those kinds of moods aren't ones to be messed with."
Pepper nods in agreement, then goes back to meditating. Mitchell turns back to the races.
In the Candy Cane Forest, Neo and Nea were sitting side-by-side on a single-stripe branch, watching the day's races go on.
"Wow, those are race karts? They're fast!" Neo says, now realizing what his sister was talking about. "Still, we can't race. We're NPC's, sis. Our job is to give the basic instructions on how to choose avatars, accelerate the karts, and use the power-ups."
"I know, Neo. I'm not stupid. I just want to be a racer like them." Nea says, folding her arms. "Why can't you see that?"
"I can see that, sis. But remember the last time you built a kart and tried to join a roster race?" Neo asks her.
"Yes, I remember..." Nea says, remembering it like it was yesterday.
(Nea's Flashback, Part 1)
Nea comes out of the kart bakery with a kart made to look like a neopolitan ice cream cone with chocolate tail pipes and Oreo wheels.
"Finally, I have my own kart! I can race!" Nea says, practically leaping out of the bakery with her newly made kart. "Now, to find a coin and join the roster race!"
She finds a coin laying by the cotton candy bushes near the bakery and smiles, feeling the cool metal of the coin on her hands. She gleefully stuffs the coin in her hoodie pocket and jumps into the kart, driving it to the track.
She arrives at the track, where all the racers were watching Vanellope give her normal speech that she makes after the arcade closes. Nea parks the kart next to Taffyta's, covering it with a pink candy wrapper, then she lines up as the other racers are throwing in their coins.
She gets more excited as the racers move up. The names all sounded a bit familiar to her, but she didn't care. She was just ready to race!
Finally, it was her turn. She throws in her coin.
"Nea Politan!" the announcer yells.
"Yay! I'm in the race!" Nea jumps for joy and smiles.
It was then that Vanellope took notice. "Hey, you!" she shouted at Nea. Nea jumped in her kart and drove away.
"There is no way I will ever race with a NPC. Minty, Swizzle, come on." Adorabeezle says, hopping into the Ice Rocket. The candy apple girl and swirl pop boy nod and hop into their karts, following Adorabeezle.
(Nea's Flashback, Part 2)
Nea was in the junkyard with her kart, looking around for any signs of the racers.
"Phew, outran them." Nea says, leaning her back against a pile of old tires.
But, it wasn't long until she heard the roars of other kart engines approaching the junkyard. "Oh, no...they found me..." Nea says sadly. The racers park their karts and hop out, scowls on their faces, and the Candy Apple Swirled Icepop trio approaching Nea, the leader of the trio smirking gleefully.
"Well, well, what do we have here? A NPC!" Adorabeezle says, folding her arms. "And what is this little hunk of junk you have here?" she asks, walking around the kart with Swizzle and Minty following her.
"This is the Neopolitan Crush...the fastest kart that will defy all odds on the track!" Nea shouts at the winter racer, who just looks at her with a mean look on her face.
"Oh, Nea, this kart is so YOU!" Adorabeezle says, touching the kart's smooth surface. "Buuuuut...you have to drop out of the roster race." she says, popping a Rocket Pop into her own mouth as Swizzle and Minty chuckle lightly. "Yeah."
"Oh...oh, no, Miss Winter Racer...I paid my fee already and I'm on the board, so I'm afraid the answer is no." Nea says in an attempt to save her kart.
"Well, President Vanellope says that you're only an NPC, and you know the rules about NPC's." Adorabeezle says as she gets closer to Nea's face.
"NPC's can't own karts for racing, only for the jobs they're programmed to do." Swizzle states, his arms folded and a rainbow lollipop hanging out of his mouth.
"Swizzle is right, you neopolitan NPC. You can't race. So, do you know what we plan to do to your kart now?" Adorabeezle asks the neopolitan girl, who's trembling with fear.
"N-No, what?" Nea asks, now scared.
"We plan to smash it to bits!" Adorabeezle shouts. The racers around her cheer in agreement and start ambushing the Neopolitan Crush. They start damaging the kart until it's beyond repair. But Nea runs and grabs Adorabeezle's arm.
"Hey! What gives?!" Adorabeezle yells at Nea.
"Please, don't destroy my kart! I just want to race like you guys! I wanna be like you!" Nea says, hitting her knees.
"Ha! You want to be a racer? What a funny joke, little NPC. You're just a NPC, a lonely little NPC, and THAT'S ALL YOU'RE EVER GONNA BE!" Adorabeezle shouts as she tosses Nea into a rotten chocolate milk puddle.
All Nea can do is cry as the racers destroy the kart she worked so hard on.
(End Flashback)
"Now you know why you can't race." Neo says to his sister. "We're NPC's, Nea. Not racers. If we try to build karts and enter the race, the other racers will come after us. The NPC's who cheer them on can have karts as transportation, but we're not allowed to have our own karts, end of story." Neo says as he climbs down from the candy cane tree.
"I understand now, Neo." Nea says sadly.
The two siblings go to the Grape Soda River and sit at the edge.
At the end of the day's races, Rancis parks his kart and walks up to Vanellope, who was taking off her racing goggles.
"Hey, Nelly? Do you have time to talk?" Rancis asks Vanellope, who's climbing out of her kart.
"Sure, Rancis, what's up?" Vanellope says as she faces Rancis.
"Well, I know it's almost your tenth birthday and all, but I wanna know something. You haven't really been yourself lately, why is that?" Rancis asks his girlfriend, who is looking worried.
"Well, the truth is, Rancis, I haven't been myself lately because I've been thinking about all the stuff that happened since I've become president. These two NPC's come up to me and ask for an invitation to my birthday party. Naturally, I wouldn't know how to answer their request, so I reply with a no. My birthday parties are racer-only events. Then they ask me that if they were racers, would they get invitations, and I answered that with a no. NPC's can never become racers. It's game policy." Vanellope says with a sigh. "It's just these same two NPC's come up and ask me a series of questions. I can't take it anymore, Flugs. I just wish they'd quit bothering me every hour of the day. That's why I've been hanging around with my friends so much. Just to get away from them."
"So, the stress of your tenth birthday isn't getting to you, Nelly?" Rancis asks her.
Vanellope shakes her head. "Are you crazy, Flugs? I'm psyched to be turning ten, and I've planned my birthday party for MONTHS!"
"That's good to know, Nelly. Wanna go to the Chocolate Bar and grab a few drinks? My treat." Rancis says, smiling.
"I would love that, Flugs." Vanellope says, kissing Rancis' cheek and jumping into her kart, driving off. "Last one there is a rotten chocolate bar!"
"You're on, Nelly!" Rancis says, jumping into his kart and following her all the way to the Chocolate Bar.