Sweet and Sour
Chapter 3 - Update
##LITWAK'S ARCADE##
It was nearly four in the afternoon when the all six consoles were installed and connected to the TV. Now he was installing the update disk into the consoles. It would take another two to three hours until all six consoles received the update. Mr. Litwak was hoping to leave the shop earlier, but the consoles were delayed by traffic and the technicians hired to connect the games to the TV couldn't find their way to the arcade. In the end, what was supposed to be an easy, short day turned into a much longer and stressful day.
##FIX-IT FELIX JR.##
The racers were given permission to use the tracks at nine in the morning. Before then, each of them walked the tracks to get used to the lay of the land. At nine, Vanellope gathered the racers in front of the Nicelander's apartment with Ralph, Gene, and Felix standing behind her, Gene and Felix each holding a stopwatch given to them by Vanellope.
"Okay, fellow racers!" Vanellope began, "Today's challenge: race the fastest time on both tracks! Each of us will have two chances to drive two laps around each of the tracks. The fastest lap will be the time used for the contest. Ralph asked a Nicelander named Gene to be the timekeeper at his Wreck-It Raceway while he keeps track. Mr. Felix will be the timekeeper and recorder in his Fix-It Speedway. The one who gets the slowest time on each track will split the cost for root beer at Tapper's later this afternoon!" The racers cheered at the announcement. "Each of us has walked the tracks and should be somewhat familiar with its twists and turns, however, this will be our first time racing on them. We don't know if any parts of the track will damage our karts, so two Nicelanders named Deanna and Mary have agreed to help us with any baking in their kitchens to patch things up until we can access the Kart Bakery."
"We will take a break around noon. The moles from the Whack-A-Mole have provided the Nicelanders with fresh ingredients from their hidden garden to fix us up a nice lunch. I understand all of you brought sweets from home, so we can have a block party and share our food with everyone! The rest of the day can be spent racing or hanging out. And we can't forget our Tapper's celebration!" Vanellope cheered and hopped into her kart. "Let's go!"
The racers agreed to split up evenly and tackle the challenge faster so that they had more time to hang out and relax.
][WRECK-IT RACEWAY][
Taffyta, Candlehead, Rancis, Gloyd, Jubileena, Citrusella, Crumbelina, and Vanellope wanted to test out the junkyard track. Taffyta wanted to be the first to run the track. She hopped into her kart and revved it up.
"Alright, Taffyta, two laps!" Gene said and looked at the stopwatch. "Ready, set, GO!" At Gene's signal, Taffyta sped off, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. The track itself was short, but the dirt road made it difficult for Taffyta to control her kart. Each turn would cause the kart to drift and she found herself slowing down at each turn. After her two laps, Taffyta marched up to Ralph and complained about the road conditions.
"Hey, I was just doing what I was asked," Ralph said, raising his arms in surrender. He looked down at the stopwatch and wrote in her time, causing the angry racer to harrumph and stomp away.
About 25 minutes later, all eight were talking about the difficult race track. Taffyta sighed when she found out she had the slowest lap time so far of 1:00:37. She hoped any of the seven racers who haven't tried the Wreck-It Raceway would have a much more difficult drive and race a slower time. Rancis, with his big peanut butter cup wheels, had an easier race and the fastest time of 0:38:04.
][FIX-IT SPEEDWAY][
Minty, Torvald, Sticky, Adorabeezle, Nougetsia, Snowanna, and The Swizz lined their karts up along the walls of the track. He checked the rainbow lollipop wheels of his kart, buffed it a bit with the elbow part of his sleeve, and drove up to the starting line.
"Okay Swizzle, are you ready for your two laps?" Felix asked and got ready with the stopwatch. Swizzle, who was focused at this point, gave quick thumbs up. "Very well, then. On your mark, get set, GO!" At Felix's cue, The Swizz raced off.
The first few hundred meters of the track was a relaxing, straight drive. That, however, would be the last of the relaxing. The rest of the track was filled with sharp turns, including one area that featured an inclining S-bend, which had them take a sharp left immediately followed by a sharp right. The end of the track featured another S-bend, not as bad as the first, just before the finish line. There were times where Swizzle thought he'd lose his candy cap as he sped through the turns.
Soon after Swizzle crossed the finish line after his second lap, he walked up to Felix, who was recording his fastest lap time - a decent 0:59:11. "Man, Mr. Felix, you sure do know how to construct a track!" The Swizz boasted, adjusting his cap and watched as Snowanna jumped into her kart, "That was one awesome drive!"
Felix blushed at the praise, "I thought you all would like it this way," he laughed, "After seeing all the twists and turns of Sugar Rush, I thought it'd be a good idea to try and replicate that here." The Swizz nodded and gave Felix a thumbs up before walking up to Snowanna at the start line.
][NICELAND APARTMENTS][
At around 10:30 in the morning, the moles of Whack-A-Mole delivered one final batch of their fresh produce to Deanna. Both she and Mary spent the next two hours making some delectable dishes - tomato soup, baked potatoes, and a green salad with julienne carrots. Roy went to the Niceland Market earlier in the day and was now grilling some burgers and hot dogs. There were three tables filled with sweets from the citizens of Sugar Rush - peppermints, pies, cakes, chocolates, taffies - you name it, they probably had it.
At around one in the afternoon, the block party began. It was an hour later than planned, but that didn't matter. They all planned to just hang out before going to Tapper's for their root beer. The only mystery now was who had to float the bill for the root beer.
Vanellope helped herself to another baked potato and topped it with bacon bits, sour cream, and shredded cheese. She and the other racers never thought eating healthy would be so delicious, and each of them praised Deanna and Mary for a job well done. She set her plate down on a vacant table before going up to the top doorstep of one of the apartments. Ralph, who had been laughing at the reactions of the racers toward the healthy cooking, saw Vanellope and handed her the final results of the contest. When the other racers saw Ralph stand and walk over to Vanellope, each of them quieted and waited anxiously for the results to be announced.
"Here we go! The results for the morning contest!" Vanellope exclaimed before scanning the two pieces of paper handed to her. "Remember, the two slowest will split the bill at Tapper's later today! The slowest lap time for the Fix-It Speedway...Rancis, with a time of 1:31:20!"
Rancis sighed. He kept on crashing into the walls during the turns. He was hoping speeding through it would do him good, but it didn't help him at all. It also didn't help that he tried to sneak a few peeks at himself in his side mirror.
"Candlehead had the fastest time for the Fix-It Speedway, a speedy 0:58:63! Here's some funny news," Vanellope paused and grinned at Rancis, "Rancis, you had the fastest time at the Wreck-It Raceway. The two slowest were Taffyta and Swizz. With a difference of one-one hundredths of a second, the slowest racer for the Wreck-It Raceway is...The Swizz, with a time of 1:00:38!"
Taffyta let out a big sigh of relief. Swizzle snapped his fingers and popped a lollipop into his mouth. "Rancis and Swizzle would share the bill at Tapper's later today." Vanellope announced, "We'll go to Tapper's at around 5PM tonight. Hopefully, I can take a sneak peek into the game to see what I can gather about the update."
At that moment, Sour Bill walked up to Vanellope. "Miss President, leave the information gathering to me," he said in his usual monotone voice, "It is, after all, the duty you gave me." Vanellope snickered at the word 'duty'. Ralph caught on and rolled his eyes.
"Thank you, Sir Bill," Vanellope grinned, "And thanks for keeping up with your DOODIES!" She broke out in laughter and walked away. Sour Bill shook his head and sighed before walking in the opposite direction to help himself to another sour Warhead.
##SUGAR RUSH SPEEDWAY##
Around 6:30pm, the updates to the six consoles were complete. The new drivers were programmed to know the current characters and the designs of their karts. One of the three new drivers spent her time exploring the land when she came up to Candy Castle. She watched as a girl in a kart she didn't recognize drive into the castle as if she owned it. She also noticed the lack of security at the castle gates. Afraid that something might have happened, she shifted her kart to drive and was about to speed off when she saw a green ball of candy walking up to her.
Sour Bill rode back into the game with Vanellope. He noticed a new racer driving up to the castle and alerted his President of the guest. She gazed at the kart for a moment, said something to him and waited for him to hop out of her kart and drove into the castle.
Sour Bill walked up to the new driver. He assumed she was a new update, so she wouldn't know about Vanellope's title as President. He studied her Key Lime Pie kart, wondering how to address her, before finally speaking. "Miss, Pres-I mean Princess Vanellope requires your attendance, as well as the attendance of the other two new racers tonight at the castle gates," he droned. He bowed and walked toward the rainbow bridge and left the game. He had to deliver similar messages to the other racers.
The new racer sat in her kart for a moment, in shock. The castle messenger had left the game, which meant their Princess had to find safety outside the game while strangers took over the castle. And what of their King? Why was the Princess presiding over the meeting and not King Candy? She had to share her findings with the other two racers. Sugar Rush might be in trouble, and she knew her two friends won't let it go down without a fight!