"I still can't believe you made this. How many karts did you say you've made again?"
Vanellope smiled wide as she continued to fasten the steering wheel to the last set of tires.
"It isn't that big of a deal."
"Van, I'm being serious. This is almost cooler than my hover board. It is almost like a professional made this thing." Calhoun praised Vanellope's obvious skill of designing and creating Go-Karts.
As Vanellope continued to work under the Kart, Calhoun tucked a lose strand of hair over her eyes behind her ear and let her fingers run over the side of the vehicle. It was incredibly smooth and complex. The kart was longer rather than the heavyweight karts other children used to race. It may not have possessed a great deal of strength in its design, but its aerodynamic form made it seem as if this Kart could move fast enough to take off up into the deep blue sky. The corners of the Kart cut sharply to give it a unique design. There was little variety in color to the kart, but the simple dark chocolate made it feel sleek, sexy even.
"You must really like it if you keep touching it like that? I can't say I'm surprised, I actually designed it to look like some of your things. Like your armor and guns for example. I know you had to leave your armor behind back when we first dropped, but I hoped this would kind of feel like a replacement."
Calhoun was stunned speechless.
"Van, I love it, but I hope you know you are going to be the one driving it, right?"
"Well, the sniper chair sure isn't mine. I've never shot a gun off in my whole life. Actually, since you offered."
"I never offered."
"Fine. We will just put that request on hold. Lucky for you, the fabled Sand Gummy Wyrm messed up my left leg instead of my power leg."
"Your what?"
"Power leg. It's-Never mind."
"Anyways, yeah. I just didn't want to make another Kart that looked like mine, you know. If it works pretty well, I may even use it for a race or two. Just don't get your hopes up." Vanellope and Calhoun giggled at her sense of humor.
The girl hoisted herself up near the steering wheel and reached out to wrap her hand around the dark chocolate circle. Calhoun watched the front set of tires swivel from left to right as Vanellope continued to yank on the wheel.
"Look at that! It's almost finished. I believe all that is left is th- theā¦" Calhoun listened to a stutter roll off of the racer's tongue. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the hazel pair before they clouded over in despair.
"Oh no." Vanellope's sentence ended on a whisper. Calhoun felt as if her throat felt like it was closing up.
"Oh no? What does 'Oh no' mean, exactly?" Calhoun's heart pounded against her chest.
The girl that was giggling only a matter of seconds ago was now trapped in a deep silence. Calhoun needed to snap her out of it, now.
"Van, I need you to talk to me okay. What happened?" She pleaded with the girl to say something, to say anything.
"I can't finish it." Vanellope's words began to sound hollow. This was bad.
"What do you mean when you say that you cannot finish the Kart?"
"I don't have an engine."
"Okay. Before we freak out, let's work through this logically. Is there any way we can make one ourselves? We built this entire kart by ourselves." Calhoun tried to keep herself calm and rational. There had to be a way out of this.
"You can't just make an engine. All the Karts I've made ran on pedal power. Ralph and I had to break into a Kart factory to even get a proper kart."
Calhoun picked up on the sound of Vanellope's elevated breathing rate before she continued on.
"I screwed up. There isn't any time left, and I don't know what to do." She choked. Her tiny hands crawled up her face and grasped at her dirty raven hair. The soldier watched the tears well up in the corners of her eyes. She was only a moment away from being in a place where she wouldn't be able to reach her.
"Hey, hey. Look at me."
Vanellope clouded eyes shot up in a desperate search for comfort, for any sign of hope in the ocean blue ones that held her gaze.
"Don't you dare give up on me. I told you that I trust you and I believe in you. That hasn't changed. We are going to figure this out. Okay?"
"You don't get it. There isn't a solution to this one. Engines need gasoline and they are made of metal. They are the only thing that isn't made of candy in this entire game. Where are we going to find metal at a time like this? Let alone fill it with a raw type of energy." Vanellope continues to tug at the roots of her hair.
Raw energy.
Calhoun's mind starts to spin and rush into overdrive. She closes her eyes to tune everything out. A deep breath presses out of her nostrils. Her heartrate slowed as she pressed out the distractions in order to focus. There has to be something nearby. Something we have. Something with an amazing type of power, force. Something powerful enough to cut through-.
That's it.
She lets her arm twist around to the holster that settled on her lower back. The weapon found its way into the palm of her hand and was strewn out on her lap. Her fingers tug and wind around the gun until she displays a satisfied grin on her face and pops open the top compartment on the Laser gun. Vanellope listened to the rustling Calhoun made as she fiddled with the weapon in her hands. She managed to catch the soldier pop an interesting looking cylinder from its position on the gun.
Letting her eyes trail up to greet Calhoun's blue orbs filled with a new found excitement and determination.
"You want to know something that is even better than an engine?" Calhoun lifted the cylinder up to display the answer to her partner.
"A rocket."
"What?! You think you can make a rocket thruster from that thing? Are you kidding me?" Vanellope surged with excitement once more.
"No, not me. But, I think I know someone who can."
Before Vanellope had a chance to ask, Calhoun tossed the Cylinder in her direction. Vanellope grasped the cold metal out of the air as if it was the most precious thing on the face of the earth.
"Tammy, I don't know if I can-"
"I know you can do this. You are so much smarter than you give yourself credit for. Just take a moment to think about it." She pushed the girl on.
Vanellope couldn't help but nod in agreement. She couldn't let her down when she held faith for her ability.
"How does your gun work? If I have a better understanding of how it operates, I may be able to open it up so I can increase the force. This may help it act as if it was a thruster on your typical rocket.
Remembering everything she was told about her weapon arsenal back in training, she recited everything she knew in hopes it would be what she needed to hear.
"Inside, this cylinder is filled with plasma. The trigger on my gun pulls another trigger located on the inside of the gun that activates the plasma into exploding out the other side. The energy passes through a crystal before it leaves the opening to focus the raw energy derived from the plasma into an intensive beam of energy. That is roughly how the Laser works, I believe."
Vanellope soaked up all the information given to her about the workings of this plasma cylinder. Calhoun watched the girl's mind crank out some sort of solution. It was absolutely amazing to watch the kid think. Her eyes looked as if they were a raging inferno ready to destroy all obstacles that stood in her path.
"If this is going to work, I'll need the cylinder inside alongside the trigger that activates it. The focusing crystal won't be of any use here, so leave it alone. If you are correct about how the cylinder pushes out the raw energy. I may be able to tamper with the end to give the exit a wider path so it will be able to push out more force.
"If this comes together correctly, the aerodynamic, lightweight design of this Go-Kart is perfect for being able to make the most out of the speed that only rocket thrusters can achieve. We may be able to rush through these caves at a faster mileage than most of the karts found at the track."
Vanellope smiled at her partner. "I think we have a real shot."
Calhoun smiled back and placed her hands on top of the girl's shoulders.
"Van, you are a genius. You just saved our lives, you know."
"Me? You are the one who hatched up the rocket idea. I just made it into a working reality. I'd say that we make a pretty great team. If I do say so myself." Modesty blanketed her reply. Calhoun couldn't help but grin.
"I'd say you are absolutely right kid."
The soldier continued to fiddle with the back end of her weapon as she spoke.
"I would guess that we used about half of the plasma in the cylinder you have from just slicing out the kart from the Hershey rocks. If we use it without the focusing crystal, more plasma will be able to escape the cylinder at a greater rate than in the gun. I'd say we have about 7-10 minutes of power in this cylinder."
Vanellope's heart sank in her chest.
"10 minutes? That is hardly enough time to even get us down the hall, let alone the entire network of caves. " She began to panic.
"Calm down, the laser gun provides one spare canister if needed. If I'm right, the extra will give us about 20 minutes of power." We can just place the one with a greater amount of time into the kart and not have to worry about the 10 minute one unless we absolutely need it."
"Right. You are absolutely right."
The two divided their attention to begin prying open the ends of the cylinders. Calhoun opened hers fairly quickly, and Vanellope resigned to pass hers along to Calhoun to finish opening the extra.
While Calhoun was occupied with the prying, Vanellope lowered herself below the Kart to fasten and secure the thruster into the end of the Kart. Taking only a moment to attach the go and stopper pedals to the thruster, Vanellope believed she was successfully able to attach a working rocket onto the back of her newest ride.
When Calhoun finishes the extra, she pockets the cylinder into the spare pouch located on her belt. She fastens a straw of licorice rooted in the chocolate floor over the pouch to make it certain that the flap on the pouch doesn't fly open as they reach incredible speeds.
Vanellope crawls out from under the belly of the Kart and attempts to climb into her seat, but her bum leg decided to choose now as a good time to become irritated.
Calhoun lifted the racer off the ground when she saw her struggle. She eased her legs down into the floorboard. Only when she was sure Vanellope was settled, she climbed into her perch just behind the driver's seat. It was elevated ever so slightly to give Calhoun more room to maneuver her gun without much of a chance of hitting the driver.
Once everything was in position, Vanellope enveloped her fingers around the cold chocolate of the steering wheel. She pulled the licorice safety belt across her lap and made sure that Calhoun did the same. Vanellope exhaled a deep breath from her lips she didn't even know she was holding.
"It is the moment of truth. You ready for this?"
Vanellope tapped her foot on the gas pedal lightly and the kart lurched forward in preparation for a sudden lift-off.
"As ready as I'll ever be." The racer replied once final time.
Deciding it was now or never, she pressed down her foot on the gas pedal, and the Kart was thrown forward like a rocket. The sheer force nearly knocked the two from their seats, but they managed to hold their positions. It was faster than she expected, but she is able to keep the kart under control as she spins around the room.
"You ready to get out of here? Calhoun shouted over the roar of the exploding thruster.
"Let's go." She could barely hear the reply before they began to speed off down into the darkness of the cave.
