Sweet and Sour
Chapter 7 - Answers
##SUGAR RUSH SPEEDWAY##
][CANDY CASTLE][
Candlehead, Minty, and Vanellope took their time to get to the Princess' bedroom. Once they got there, Vanellope helped herself into bed and fell asleep before her head hit the pillow. Minty put her forehead to Vanellope's forehead again. She was still warm, but not as bad as the night before. Candlehead left for the castle kitchens to see if the castle chefs could cook up a warm soup. Unfortunately, all the chefs knew how to make were sweets and pastries. She knew of one place that made excellent soup, but it was dangerous to enter another game when the arcade was open. Determined to help her Princess, she hopped into her kart and left the game.
][SOURPUFF RACEWAY][
Taffyta, Anjelly, and Swizzle were chosen by players for a three-man race. Taffyta and Swizzle's gamer used Bakery time to increase the speed of their karts. Anjelly's gamer spent her Bakery time improving the traction of the wheels. The race was on.
Each time either Taffyta or Swizzle would land perfect hits on each other or on Anjelly, they would spin out of control moments later. At one point in the race, The Swiz was driving backwards. It took warning sirens a few seconds later to alert the gamer that he was going the wrong way.
In the end, the race was down to the two girls. Anjelly had a decent lead, and had Lemon Juice, for just in case someone tried to pass her up. Taffyta picked up a Sugar Rush speed boost. Thinking the extra speed would win the race, the player used the speed boost. It gave Taffyta just enough speed to pull within a kart's length of Anjelly. As Taffyta pulled up to just barely touching Anjelly's rear bumper, Anjelly let go of the Lemon Juice, splashing it into Taffyta racing goggles and caused her to swerve into a jelly bean near the finish line. That slowed her down enough for Anjelly to win the race and for Swizzle to pull up and take second.
After the race, the three racers met up near the finish line. Anjelly was holding her first ever trophy which contained 10 gold coins.
"This track is not a speed demon's friend," Swizzle commented as he picked up pixy powder and studied it between his fingers, "My wheels weren't able to get a good grip on the track at all!"
"My gamer fixed up my wheels," Anjelly said as she placed the trophy in her kart. The three watched as their karts reverted back to before the gamer upgrades. "I wonder if they learned about the updates before playing."
Taffyta sighed and wiped her helmet clear of lemon juice. "That was disappointing. I still lost, even after Swizzle raced the wrong way!" This caused Anjelly to giggle and Swizzle to blush and grumble about it not being his fault.
##FIX-IT FELIX JR.##
Candlehead drove through the barrier and quickly hid at the junkyard entrance. She watched as Ralph knocked over brick after brick and Felix masterfully dodge each one while repairing broken windows with his golden hammer. She watched as Felix received his medal and the Nicelanders threw Ralph over the edge of the building.
Ralph stood and brushed himself clean of mud. He glanced over at the junkyard and recognized a candlelit cap. He walked over, allowing the rest of the mud to slide off of his overalls. He walked up to the lone racer, wondering why she was out of her game during open hours.
"What's going on, kid?" Ralph asked, looking up at the screen and making sure there was nobody coming up to play.
Candlehead stared at her feet. She wasn't used to talking with Ralph without Vanellope around and was still slightly scared of him from the time he chased them off after destroying Vanellope's self-made pedal kart. "Um, well..."
Ralph watched as the girl shuffled her feet nervously. Not wanting to waste much time, he knelt down and spoke, "So, how's Vanellope?"
"She's okay," Candlehead squeaked, but shook her head soon after. "No, wait, she's not. She's sick, and I was wondering if you would ask your friends to make her some hot soup?"
"Why not wait until tonight?" Ralph asked. He looked up again and saw a kid about to put a coin into the machine.
"Because I wanted her to have something to eat when she woke up," Candlehead answered.
Ralph nodded. "Alright, I'll ask them when I wreck their windows. Wait here." He entered the game frame and started with his traditional "I'm gonna wreck it!"
Candlehead watched as Ralph destroyed window after window. She saw him stop at one of the windows and saw a female Nicelander pop her head out. Ralph continued his climb up the building and started knocking bricks over the edge. She watched as Felix came out, wielding his magical golden hammer, and started fixing everything that was wrecked. Unfortunately, his movements were a little too slow and a brick landed on his head. Felix fell over and the words "GAME OVER" flashed on the screen.
Ten minutes, and three games later, Ralph came back with a small pot of soup for Vanellope. "Sorry it took so long," he said, "Seemed like this guy wouldn't give up until he ran out of quarters!"
"Thank you!" Candlehead exclaimed before taking the pot and driving off.
##SUGAR RUSH SPEEDWAY##
][CANDY CASTLE][
Candlehead returned and saw Vanellope sitting up in bed and chatting away with Citrusella and Sour Bill. Sour Bill had just finished telling Vanellope everything he heard when he went to check on the three new racers. He was supposed to tell the boys of that group of their punishment when he overheard their conversation.
Candlehead handed Vanellope the soup and sat on the bed next to Citrusella. Citrusella filled Candlehead in with what she missed while she was away while Vanellope helped herself to the hot soup.
"So, what are we going to do about it?" Candlehead asked, watching as Sour Bill paced near the bedroom door.
"I'll take care of it tonight," Vanellope replied and handed Citrusella the pot of soup. "I need to get to the bottom of this before anything bad happens."
"Gonna have to do something about it soon," Citrusella said, jumping off the bed, "Taffyta and Gloyd were in a race with Anjelly at one of the new tracks and lost. They didn't look that happy watching a rookie walk off with the trophy."
"They acted all friendly with Anjelly after the race, but Taffyta started grumbling about losing moments after." She continued, "And you know what she's capable of when she's angry."
][WINNER'S CIRCLE][
Everyone stood on the Winner's Circle soon after the arcade closed for the day. Anjelly became an instant favorite and won three of the seven races she was chosen for, and placing either second or third in the other four races, netting her a total of 44 coins on her first day.
After she was awarded her 3 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze cups and a bag of coins, she left in hopes to meet with the Princess.
Once Anjelly got to the gates, she saw Vanellope and Sour Bill walking towards her.
"We need to talk," Vanellope said to the other racer as she walked up to her. "But I have someone else to talk to right now." Without even a quick glance at her fellow racer, Vanellope walked off to take care of other business.
Sour Bill looked up at Anjelly, "Please meet us at the throne room," he said, "Your friends will arrive there shortly." He bowed and raced off to follow the Princess.
Vanellope walked up to Taffyta and Rancis and pulled them away from the rest of the group.
"What's going on, Princess?" Rancis asked.
"How do you feel about the three new racers?" Vanellope questioned back, sitting on a nearby candy rock.
Taffyta scowled. "The two boys are nothing but trouble!" She scoffed, "They don't know how to keep their mouths shut!"
"And the girl?" Vanellope continued her questioning.
"She's not that bad," Rancis replied, "But it seems like she's easily swayed by the boys."
"Why do you ask, Princess Vanellope?" Taffyta asked, confused.
"I'm about to meet with the three of them," Vanellope replied. "I just don't know if I should meet with them alone or with everybody else."
"We'll be there!" Taffyta exclaimed, "One of those boys charged at you earlier, I want everyone else to be there to stop him if he were to do that again!"
"Okay then, I can't stop you guys from being there," Vanellope smiled. "Can you tell everyone to meet me in the throne room?" Taffyta and Rancis nodded and ran towards the winner's circle while Vanellope made her way back to the throne room.
][THRONE ROOM][
Anjelly was pacing around the room when she caught a glimpse of two displays near the throne. She walked up to them and read each of the stories told on the parchment. She teared up after reading King Candy's story. Her tears were non-stop after reading about Vanellope.
"So, now you know my story," a voice said at the entranceway of the throne room. Anjelly quickly turned and saw the Princess walking up to her. Without hesitation, she ran at Vanellope and enveloped her in a big hug, letting the tears flow and apologizing repeatedly in between hiccups.
The other racers walked in and saw Vanellope trying to comfort Anjelly. The racers turned toward the other entrance when they heard someone yell in anger.
"YOU BUG! What did you do to her?" Lucas screamed, struggling against the binds put on him by Wynchel. "Let's race! I'll prove to everyone that you're a fake!"
Anjelly and Taffyta looked ready to yell back, but Vanellope spoke up first. "Fine, if that's what it'll take to make you listen, we'll go once around the circuit. No upgrades and no power-ups." She gave Anjelly a quick smile, assuring the other racer that she would be fine.
Taffyta and Candlehead walked up to the duo. Taffyta glared at the two prisoners before speaking, "Are you sure about this? He's a nutcase! I'll race in your spot!"
"Besides, you're coming out of an illness and you just got out of bed" Candlehead added, worried about her friend's health and safety.
Vanellope hugged both of them, "I'll be fine. Besides, I didn't get to race today. I want to get out there and feel the breeze!" At that time, the rest of the group walked up to wish their Princess luck.
"We finally get to see the Princess race in her new kart!" Minty cheered, "Can't wait to see what we'll be up against!"
Vanellope walked up to the throne, jumped into her kart, and drove up to her race opponent. "Your kart is in the castle garage. The upgrades you added have been temporarily disabled until one of us crosses the finish line."
Several minutes later, the two competitors were off to the races. For most of the race, they were practically driving next to each other. Lucas constantly tried to race dirty by crashing into the side of Vanellope's kart. He succeeded a few times, but later in the race, he found himself crashing into the walls of the race track.
They got to the Gumdrop Half pipe and Vanellope shifted into fifth gear, weaving left and right, dodging the gumballs. She got to the track speed boost and easily jumped the ramp over the Cupcake Canyon.
Lucas only drove this track once other time, when he raced Taffyta and Rancis earlier on the week. He still had trouble learning the rolling pattern of the gumballs, but managed to get through unscathed. He missed the speed boost and barely had enough to make it over the jump. He had Vanellope in his sights, but he was already in fifth gear and she was slowly pulling away. He soon crossed the finish line, and whole eight seconds after Vanellope.
Vanellope jumped out of her kart and walked up to Lucas, who was just pulling up to the castle. "Will you listen now?"
Lucas hopped out of his kart and grumbled, "No promises."
Taffyta looked ready to pummel the boy, but someone else beat her to the punch. In the blink of an eye, Harry's fist connected with Lucas' cheek, knocking the boy to the floor.
Anjelly marched up and stood next to Vanellope, hands on her hips and glaring daggers at her fallen friend. "You got your race and lost. You were given a punishment, and I honestly think Princess Vanellope went easy on you when she issued it. You were sent to the Fungeon after trying to attack the Princess, and you still won't listen? If only we had a candy giant come and knock some sense into you!" She stepped away for a moment, trying to cool down.
"Princess!" Candlehead and Jubileena yelled from where they were watching the race. Vanellope turned and saw that they were pointing toward the bridge connecting Sugar Rush to Grand Central Station. Vanellope looked up at the bridge and saw Ralph walking down, accompanied by Felix and Sgt. Tamara Calhoun.
"Ralphie!" Vanellope cheered and jumped up to embrace her giant friend the moment his group walked up.
Ralph laughed and hugged his friend, "Good to see you too, Vanellope."
"Looks like you're feeling better, short stuff," Tamara said, "Heard you were feeling under the weather, so we brought some goodies to share with everyone to celebrate your successful update!"
"Great! But let me take care of something first before we party," Vanellope said and walked up to the three new racers. After introducing them to their visitors, she led everyone to the throne room and pulled Lucas over to the displays.
"Sour Bill told me that you thought I was a fake person coded into the game to ruin it," Vanellope said, "Anjelly has already read everything in these two displays and I'm going to assume she told Harry everything during our race. Judging by the bruising on your cheek, I'm also going to assume that he regrets everything he did and wishes to apologize. She turned and grinned at the other new boy, who blushed and gazed down at the ground.
"My life isn't exactly the pampered life expected of royalty," Vanellope continued, "At a point in my life, I was considered a mistake, a glitch, an outcast banished to the junkyard and had to glitch my way to hide and live in an explosive mountain. Then I met these guys," she motioned over toward Ralph, Felix, and Tamara, "And they practically risked their lives and their games to make sure ours didn't die."
"King Candy fought and was deleted by a racer named Turbo from another game. Turbo used what he learned from the deleted code and turned himself into King Candy. He went on to locking away everybody's memories and tried to delete me, so that he would have complete rule over Sugar Rush," Vanellope paused for a bit, looking over at her old race kart. "I have the ability to glitch around because of how much Turbo tampered with my code. The patch included in your update made it difficult to do so now. Before, I was able to glitch freely. Now, I get tired after glitching even just once!"
Lucas fell to his knees after reading the displays and listened to everything Vanellope told him. "Hopefully, before you go ignoring orders and causing trouble, you stop and learn about everything instead of assuming what you thought was right." Vanellope finished, leaning against her display, still slightly exhausted from her glitching the night before.
Lucas nodded and apologized for all the trouble he caused. He noticed her exhaustion and signaled for someone to come and help. Ralph walked over and lifted Vanellope up to his shoulders, where she was able to sit and rest.
"You okay, kid?" Ralph asked, glancing over at his best friend.
"I'll be fine," Vanellope replied and smiled, "Besides, we still have that party! To the ballroom!"
Felix and Tamara placed the food they brought on the tables along the walls of the ballroom. They partied until just before midnight when Vanellope decided to call it quits so that she could be rested and ready for the next day's races.
A/N: This is it, the end of Sweet and Sour! Hope you all have a wonder New Year! Happy 2013!
Keep an eye out for a sequel, featuring two new racers and the completion of the Diet Cola Mountain track!
