Vanellope didn't know where she was; it seemed like Sugar Rush, but something wasn't right. The colors of the sophisticated palette it usually had were grayed, and it was eerily silent, the chipper theme tune not even playing. She could make out she was in a clearing of some sort, not far from the racetrack. Not even remembering how she got here, she made her way down to the speedway, only to find it deserted as well.
"Taffyta?!" She cried out for someone, anyone. "Adorabeezle? Swizz?! Gloyd, this better not be one of your pranks!" There were no carts for her to drive, but she knew there would be one place to get answers: the castle. Vanellope made her way as fast as her little legs could carry her, and soon found shelter in the castle.
But she couldn't even begin to take in what she thought was a safe haven. The walls were as grayed as the scenery outside. The curtains and tapestry were torn, as if a monster had ravaged through here. She then spotted a small green dot near the throne; if anyone would tell her what was going on, it would be Sour Bill!
"Bill!" The sour ball immediately glanced up to see who shouted his name. The president ran over to him and exclaimed, "Thank goodness you're here! Everyone's gone and something's happened to the game!"
"Y-you're not here…." the sour ball stammered, starting to back away. "It c-can't be!"
"Hey, come on, Sour Bill…..wh-what happened?"
"G-Get away from me!" the green ball ran away, and Vanellope just looked at him in confusion. She then noticed the actual throne seat that was programmed in was here. Usually, she put her own cart there, because she had used it more often. She asked, expecting no answer, "Hey, where's my cart?"
"What do you mean, 'my kart'?" Oh no, that voice; it was the voice that she had not long forgotten, as it was just heard yesterday. She turned around to see the monstrous cybrid that had haunted her many times before; why would this time be any different? Then, she realized he was back.
"Turbo! How did….you get back to being a cy-bug so fast?!"
"Oh-ho, that doesn't matter," he laughed. "What does matter is how you got out of the cold storage I put you in, glitch!" It didn't take the president long to try and make a move. She hopped into the driver's seat of the unfamiliar Royal Racer, but quickly took handle of the controls. She hit the gas and sped right through the cybrid's legs.
"Oh, no you don't!" the king hissed, rolling himself up like a pill bug to chase her. She maneuvered her way out of the castle and through the gate, but that's when the monster caught her cart. He held it down, sending her flying out of the seat from the momentum. She skinned her knees, but that didn't stop her from quickly getting back up. She ran for it, the cybrid cackling behind her as he chased her. She didn't know how long she had been running; as long as she heard the king's dissonant goofy laughter from behind, she'd keep at it.
But then she felt something; a blinding light that made the cybrid disappear. She embraced it, and didn't stop running towards it. Suddenly, she found herself falling, but her fall was suddenly broken by a stone pathway. She was in a garden, not like any of Sugar Rush or any other game she knew. This place was extremely overcast, but it was better than the scene she was just in, so she didn't care. She followed the stone pathway straight foreword to open iron gates. Beyond the gates was a fountain in the center, and surrounding it, a few archways that looked like they once had doors.
"Hello!" a cheerful-sounding voice called out. Suddenly, she found that there was someone beside her. Vanellope couldn't tell if the thing was a he or a she, and frankly, she didn't want to insult it. The only thing she could make it out to be was a jester, clothed in mostly purple with a red gem on its chest. It stared at her with cat-like blue eyes, and exclaimed, "Wow! I haven't seen a visitor that looked like you in a while! And I see visitors from every game in existence. What's your name?"
"Um…" the racer made it out rather quickly that this jester was not to be feared, but trusted. "My name's Vanellope, Vanellope Von Shweetz."
"Nice to meet you! My name is NiGHTS, and all game characters come here when they dream."
"You kinda look familiar. You ever heard of a guy named Sonic?"
"Actually, Sonic and I are from the same company, SEGA. He's, of course, much more famous than I am."
"Wait, you said this is a place game characters come to dream, right? So that thing chasing me was just a nightmare?" She let out a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness! For the most part, I thought that would actually happen!"
"….But it will happen, won't it?" Vanellope's smile faded and she sighed again, this time in sadness.
"You're right; Turbo's still out there and taken over DietColaMountain. Soon, he could take over all of Sugar Rush. But…how do you know about that?"
"Oh! Well, because I'm a Nightmaren, I have the power to view your dreams. And don't worry! The Nightmaren thing's just a name; I didn't make you dream about him. I'm afraid that if this is happening in real life…then the dreams will happen more often. But really, what are you afraid of?"
"It's just that….all my friends saw him die once. They probably wouldn't believe me if I said that he was here again. My other self said that Calhoun would come here, but I'm not even sure if I should trust her already…"
…..llope!
The president's head perked up when she heard the voice. "Do you hear that?" She then noticed her body was starting to glitch up.
"I don't hear anything," the jester replied. "You must be waking up."
…nellope!
NiGHTS grabbed the glitching girl's hands and smiled. "Good luck with your problems in the real world. Maybe we can see each other again! Remember, face your fears and remember that your friends are always there for you!"
Vanellope!
The girl awoke to find herself in her candy-coated bedroom. Beside her was what she made out to be Calhoun, only the figure was about the same size as her. She wore a black vest, a brown and red striped shirt underneath, red shoulder pads, red pants, and black boots. The president could still tell this was some form of the soldier she knew.
"Calhoun? Is that you?" she asked to be sure. The blonde gave a firm nod, and explained in a voice that sounded much higher, but still firm.
"That's right; I kept up to my promise with the other Vanellope. I'm going undercover because I noticed some of your citizens are properly paranoid of game-jumpers. The Surge Protector somehow was able to make me look like this as long as I'm in the premises of this game. I think whatever cybugs have come to this place, they brought the boss with them."
"Actually….I don't think Princess mentioned it, but….I saw King Candy. He messed with the code in the new one and actually deleted a character! You gotta…." A flicker of doubt came in the former glitch's eyes. "You do believe me, don't you?" The soldier responded back with a question.
"Vanellope, have you ever given me a reason not to believe you? If you say he's up and fighting again, I'll make sure that once we beat him again, he'll stay down and dead!" The sergeant gave a confident grin, and the president smiled as well, hopping out of bed.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"The best thing for you and your friends to do now is stay put. We'll wait until the cy-bugs are ready to attack; then, we strike."
"Why can't we just attack the hive right now? We know where they are."
"Yes, but their queen-or king, in this case- is still at large. He'll make sure there are still cy-bugs being born. The worst part is, he's still part of this game, so even if he dies, he'll respawn."
"But, when I reset the game, didn't that delete him from the source code?"
"Yes, but you're forgetting two things. One, that he still has the King Candy coding from this game; two, that he is a virus now, and viruses have their ways of spreading…." Calhoun took out a handheld gun and belt. She put the belt around her waist, and placed the gun inside a holster. She laughed, "Surge spot-checked me for weapons before he let me in. Little did he know I'm very handy when it comes to hiding these. I'm going to check for anything suspicious. Until something happens, I want you and the new Vanellope to draw out some plan of attack."
"Better safe then sorry, right, Calhoun?"
"Right. Stay safe, miss president." Vanellope saluted to the sergeant, and she did the same. The two ran off, one going to the track, the other heading to the sequel of Sugar Rush.
"Ugh!" King Candy exclaimed, preening himself while looking at a small compact mirror he had on hand. "Vlad, I tell you, when you are a cybrid and you grow, you must go through an awkward stage. Apparently, I've reached mine." The former king was right. Half of his grey Turbo skin had shown up on his face, and his teeth had turned yellow. He finally had his cy-bug wings, but his right arm was the only other cy-bug appendage that had grown back so far. This left him looking very awkward indeed.
"King Candy, don't take this the wrong way, but get over your dreadful appearance," Vlad told the "superior" cybrid in a snappy tone. "You were in the middle of teaching me how to run the hive when you leave?"
"Yes, yes," the king sighed and placed the mirror down. He flew from the upper levels of the small hive down to the bottom where the cola hot springs had once been. There were a few dozen cy-bugs in dormant state and he landed in the middle of them. "These cy-bugs here will be the ones to lead the attack. They need little food while in dormancy; just enough to survive…. But sometimes, I like to sing a lullaby to them…."
"What?" Vlad growled out the word, thinking the king was going to expect him to do that. But King Candy was doing it himself; in a soft, lisp-y voice he sang:
Sleep my little cy-bugs
Let your dreams take wing
One day, when you're big and strong
You'll help me be king
He came over to Vlad and whispered, "Tomorrow, we'll unleash the first attack, and you'll be king of this hive…" The king then started to crawl around the few levels he had made in the bottle-shaped mountain.
I've been exiled, persecuted
Left alone with no defense
When I think of what that brute did
I get a little tense
But I dream a dream so pretty
And I don't feel so depressed
'Cause it soothes my inner cy-bug
And it helps me get some rest
The sound of Ralph's last dying gasp
His little friend squealing in my grasp
Their citizens' mournful cries
That's my lullaby
Now in the past I've tried forgetting
And my foes I could forgive
Trouble is, I know it's petty
But I hate to let them live
"So you found yourself somebody
To chase Ralph right up a tree…" Vlad despised singing along, but he figured he might as well help his king out. King Candy gave a smirk.
Oh the battle may be bloody,
But that kind of works for me
The melody of insect growls
A counterpoint of painful howls
A symphony of death, oh my!
That's my lullaby
King Candy's gone, but Turbo's still around
To love these "little lads"
'Til they all learn to be killers
With a lust for being bad!
So sleep you little termites!
Uh, I mean precious little things!
"One day when you're big and strong…"
You'll help me be king!
The king had reached the topmost level of the hive; he could almost scratch the surface of the Mentos cork. Suddenly, red glitches spread up and down his body. He chuckled as his other arm became a cybrid claw.
The pounding of the drums of war
His legs became that of a cy-bug's and he sprouted another pair of legs.
The thrill of all our mighty roars
His neck now extendable, he looked to the "cork" of the mountain and started clawing.
"The joy of vengeance; Testify!" Not only did Vlad continue the song for King Candy, he also rallied him on.
I can hear them cheering, "Turbo, what a guy!"
Payback time is nearing-!
The former king gasped as daylight hit his face; he had finally broken through the Mentos cap. He started clawing through more, in hopes to get out.
And then our flag will fly
Against a blood-red sky
He managed to squeeze through the hole he'd made, and stood triumphantly on DietColaMountain.
That's my lullaby!
As his evil laughter filled the innocent world of Sugar Rush, the few racers still in the game after hours turned to look. It sent a chill down their spine to see that the king was still in power.