Chapter 7: Void
"Location: The Void, July 4th 2109"
"Look at that void. So large and endless like... an endless void." Candlehead whispered.
"Yeah, thank you, Miss Obvious." Taffyta said sarcastically.
"Your welcome." Candlehead said brightly.
The Sugar Rush racers were wandering along the rock towards the village, not far from the edge. From there, they could see the void stretch in all directions.
"Well, on the bright side, at least we're alone, right?" Citrusella asked.
Click.
"Hands where I can see them!" a voice ordered.
A small squad of soldiers was standing in front of them, weapons readied.
"Oh, you just had to say that, didn't you?" Candi asked.
Vanellope and Jeremy crept through the darkened, dusty old building. There was no one in sight, but it's layout suggested that it may have come from a university.
"Interesting. Look at the date." Vanellope whispered, looking at an old blackboard.
Jeremy turned to the blackboard and read it.
"November 2nd 1902. No wonder there's so much dust in here." Jeremy said.
Vanellope nodded and looked further down the hallway, where a little glimmer of light was visible under one of the doors.
"Wait, someone's here. Follow me and get ready." Vanellope ordered quietly.
Jeremy nodded and produced a large rocket launcher from his arm. Vanellope stared at it for a moment before creeping onward. She carefully reached for the doorknob and slid it open.
Thwack!
She was thrown back by the force of... a pile of newspapers?
"Oh, sorry, my dear girl!" a voice said.
A man in suspenders and a dark green bowtie burst out the door, reaching down and helping Vanellope to her feet. He wore old-style glasses, and the chain of a fob watch was visibly running from his pocket. He was clearly not from the 22nd century.
"My apologies. I was expecting a break in. Dr. Domini McFlambe, Princeton University. May I help you?" the man asked.
"Princeton?" Vanellope asked.
"Of course.. well, it used to be Princeton. I don't have a clue as to where we are now. What is the date, anyway? I believe I've been stuck here for three months." Dr. McFlambe asked.
"It's, uh, the 22nd century. The year..." Vanellope started to reply.
"The 22nd century? So I've experienced time dilation! Fascinating! Tell me, dear girl, did anything ever become of that 'flight' fad?" Dr. McFlambe asked.
"Well, yeah." Vanellope replied.
"Marvellous!" Dr. McFlambe said. He turned to Jeremy and asked "Aha! A humanoid automation! I had believed such things were restricted to Wells and Verne! Tell me, how does it work?".
"It has a name." Jeremy replied angrily.
"Oh, it's sentient! Incredible! That must mean you have some kind of computing device in your head, smaller then I would have expected..." Dr. McFlambe started to say.
"Yeah, we don't have time for this. Look, I'm President Vanellope von Schweetz of Sugar Rush, and this is Jeremy. We need to find out what's on the statue rock." Vanellope explained.
"Shadows, dozens of them." Dr. McFlambe replied.
"Shadows?" Jeremy asked, unconvinced.
"Living shadows. That cad in the black suit's minions. Rarely seen, but agile and impervious to firearms. They are the ones who sent me to this blasted void." Dr. McFlambe replied.
"Wait, you know the Man in the Black Suit?" Jeremy asked.
"Know him? He tried to steal my research! Said it was for the greater good! Those radio improvements were to be used for good, not for the... the abomination he desired!" Dr. McFlambe replied angrily.
"The broadcast." Vanellope whispered.
"All radios constructed to my plans would have been malleable to his desires. And of course, he sold it to Marconi, who would build a radio station on the moon if he could. By your time, he'd had likely introduced my principles to every communications device on Earth." Dr. McFlambe growled.
"So that's how he did it." Vanellope said.
"Well, that and the dark powers, I guess." Jeremy said.
"So he's already done it. And yet, you don't seem to think your too late to stop him." Dr. McFlambe said.
"Hey, we save the world. It's what we do." Vanellope said.
Dr. McFlambe grinned.
"Well, I like that attitude. Come! I have something that might just help you." Dr. McFlambe said.
"So let me get this straight, sergeant. You saw fourteen unarmed children walking around, looking not the least bit threatening, and you took them in as POWs?" Lieutenant Brooke asked.
"Yes, sir." Sergeant Arthur replied.
"Genius." Brooke said sarcastically.
The Sugar Rush racers had been brought to a command post in a wrecked apartment building, where a weary looking lieutenant was reprimanding the squad that had captured them.
"Apologies, sir, I was just saying..." Arthur started to say.
"I know, Arthur, I know." Brooke said. He turned to the group and asked "So, why are you here?".
"We're trying to stop the Man in the Black Suit. Can you help?" Nougetsia asked.
"That gent? You missed him by about four weeks." Brooke replied.
"We know, but we think that there might be something on his rock that can beat him." Taffyta explained.
"And how do you intend to get over there without some form of flight?" Brooke asked.
"Me." Minty, who was still in her Sakura form, replied.
"Right. How could you possibly..." Brooke started to ask.
He trailed off as Minty transformed into the hovercraft.
"I'm not even surprised anymore." Arthur muttered.
"You and me both." Brooke said.
