Cheri J Lee had been stressed out at all the races today. She had experienced the attacking of the cy-bugs firsthand, and was worried on how Sugar Rush was doing. She was so distracted that during the Roster Race, she rammed her kart right into a gumball. Since it was after-hours, the kart got no instant repair, and one of her friends, Almonda, decided to help out afterwards.
"So how did you wreck this thing?" Almonda asked as she slid a cherry wheel back on the axel.
"I dunno," Cheri replied, rubbing her neck. "I guess I was just distracted about everything that's been going on lately. I mean, if Turbo takes over, we'll probably be forced to be slaves to the racetrack or something!"
"Wow, and I thought I got dramatic sometimes," the almond racer snarked. All Cheri did was stick out her tongue, and the smile on her friend's face dropped. "Okay, you're right; Turbo's a serious threat, and an army of cy-bugs is no laughing matter either. But, the princess and the other Vanellope and her friends all seem to have a handle on it. We should trust them to be able to defeat him. After all, they did it before, right?"
"I guess so…."
"Princess Vanellope told us Calhoun's got a plan that has all of our game going to Tapper's for safety." Almonda heard the wheel click into place. She got back up, and explained, "Look's like your kart's fixed. Glad I was here to help; you were so distracted, you didn't even touch it!"
"Huh?" Cheri blinked. "O-oh, yeah, um….thanks for your help, Almonda." The brunette gave a wave as the Almond Joy racer drove away. The cherry racer gave a heavy sigh as she got in her own, but it failed to start. She muttered, "Come on you stupid…" but then she caught something out of the corner of her eye. It was blue and flickering, almost like a glitch. She turned to see that it was indeed a glitch…..and Monty was right near it.
"Monty!" She blindly ran to give him a hug. "I was so worried that you de—!" Her body went right through him, and she looked at her own body, confused. "Huh?" She looked back to Monty, only to see the blue pixels she went through reform. "Monty, why are you all blue like that? You look like the Surge Protector…"
"I know…" the cheesecake racer looked down sheepishly. "It's because I'm a glitch, b-but not bad, okay? I wouldn't hurt the one's I love." He gave a little smile to her. "The point is, somehow, I survived. You see, I think that once code is put in, it can never be permanently deleted."
"B-but, I saw your code get torn in two by Turbo…."
"Forget about that! Don't you know the links that code has, to all other parts of the system?" He scoffed, "Of course! You were in there! But what I'm saying is those still exist, and that...is what I am, right now." Cheri gave a nod that she understood.
"That's great! You're…..slightly alive!" she cheered. "But wait a second, do you know how to get back and reset yourself?"
"Yes, I do; I'll have to 'cross' the finish line. I figured I would sorta act as a 'glitch in the machine.'" He pointed to the Cherriot. "I'll place myself into this kart here, which would….maybe qualify as me crossing the finish line. It's a long shot, but it just might work!" Cheri let out a cheer of joy, but Monty quickly realized, "But we gotta do this quick! Because….Turbo's here, and he's growing into his strong cy-bug form."
"How do you know that?" The cherry racer tilted her head as she saw her friend getting nervous.
"I….kinda-sorta 'respawned' in the candy cane forest where he's lurking. I headed to the track, but because I'm really limited with the glitching, I ended up here." The brunette went back over to her kart.
"Then there's no time to lose! Wait….I think I have a way that this can benefit us both. First…." She hopped into the Cherriot. "Get in the kart or whatever you have to do." Monty nodded and glitched straight "into" the kart. The only indicator that he was in there was the eerie blue glow the exhaust started to give off. Cheri eyed it for a second and then gave a thumbs-up. "Second…..we need to lure this lurker out of here!" She then headed towards the exit to the game, wondering what Calhoun would think of her plan.
In Hero's Duty that day, Sergeant Calhoun was busy drawing up plans on how she should kill this "king of the cy-bugs" once and for all. She gave Kohut the job of guiding players through the game that day; some of the regulars to the arcade and the game found it a nice change of pace. By the end of the day, the sergeant had prepared for Surge Protector to do an emergency reset of both Sugar Rush and its new sequel. But she knew the characters wouldn't want to lose their memories again, so she decided they would take shelter at the games she deemed "safe": Fix-it Felix Jr., Tapper's and Burger Time. Her men would stay out in Game Central Station while everyone else would be at their own game. She had to lure out King Turbug in some way; if only she knew how.
"Sergeant Calhoun! Sergeant Calhoun!" Suddenly, an answer came calling out to her. She was in Game Central, reporting her plans to Surge Protector; she turned around to see one of the Sugar Rush racers coming to her. The small brunette skidded to a stop, and stood there, idly shuffling her feet around. "I….I have something to tell you!"
"Hold it, short-stack," Calhoun put her hand in front of the racer's face. She then pointed to a random terminal with the same hand. "All SRU racers go effective immediately to the Tapper's game."
"We're going to be tampering with both games," Surge chimed in. "We want you to be in a safe place; we know how much memories are valuable to you." Cheri let out a groan to the superiors.
"That's not the point! I need to put myself in danger because…I know how to get rid of King Candy!" Just as Surge Protector was about to protest this, Sergeant Calhoun shushed him; she was interested to see what this confident little girl could come up with. The blonde told her, "Go on."
"As you know, one of the racers was 'killed' by King Candy." She put air-quotes around the word, only making Calhoun more interested. "But his code still exists, as detached code strings. He's become a glitch in the machine, or more specifically, my kart. If he crosses the finish line 'in a kart' and 'in a real race,' just like President Vanellope, he might reset the game!" Calhoun's eyes went wide, and so did Surge's, but the soldier was quick to ask, "How will that get rid of King Turbug? Resets may work on cy-bugs, but they don't work on pure viruses." The brunette gave a devilish grin.
"I'll tempt him out with what he knows best: racing."
The candy cane forest was right by the track, between GumballPass and Cakeway. Cheri drove her cart and screeched it to a halt once she came in between the two racing landmarks. She got out and went into the forest, calling, "King Candy, King Candy, where are you?" It didn't take her long to hear the shaking and crashing of trees coming her way. One turn around, and she found the face that she had dreaded to see for so long. She was actually glad he came when she called; his greeting to her came out as a snarl.
"You know, someone would call you brave for staying back….brave and stupid."
"Yes," she replied, a smirk coming across her face. "And I could say the same about you for staying back when our game is going to be given a reset." She then saw a look in his eyes that was something she never expected: fear.
"I-I was talking about my cy-bug invasion! B-But how….why-what-!"
"Calm your molasses, King Candy. Y'know, maybe Turbo would be able to keep his cool…" Suddenly, the cybrid's head glitched from Candy's panicked expression looking away from her to Turbo's, glaring directly down at her. Her eyes narrowed and she formed a grimace as he gave a yellow smile. "You a betting man, Turbo?"
"If you're talking about a race," he laughed, his Cheshire grin now stretching to its limits, "I'm all for it. But what're we bettin' on?" The brunette walked over to her kart, the cybrid following eagerly behind. She explained, "Well, I figured, if I win, you leave, and our game will go on the happy, peaceful world it was before. But…." Her expression dropped as she leaned her elbows on the edge of her pie kart. "If you win, you can rule and both Sugar Rush's and their citizens will suffer the miserable fate you place upon us."
"Perfect." If Turbo stretched his smile out anymore, his jaw would come unhinged. "But I have one little condition that I'd like to add to this race…" An sonic insect howl blasted at Cheri's ears; she covered them quickly. When she took her hands off her ears, she noticed the candy cane trees were covered with baby cy-bugs. "Not only will you be competing against me, but you'll also be competing with my precious little babies! And they're all mighty hungry…." He could see the horror in her eyes, but all of that washed away when she hopped into her kart.
"You've got a deal, Turbo." She held out her small hand, keeping one on the wheel. "Shake on it?" He let out a growl and his head glitched back to King Candy's as he shook with his massive red claw. Suddenly, a Player One and Two logos appeared above their heads. "Looks like the race has begun…"
"And I'm going to get the head start!" The cybrid rolled up into a ball and started speeding down the track. The cherry racer, left in the dust, called, "Hey, that's not fair!" She slammed on the accelerator and shifted gears; there was no time to lose! It didn't take her long to catch up, but she had made it to the middle tier of
Cakeway. Still rolled up like a pill bug, King Candy ramped up to the top tier of the cake, but he knew he wouldn't make it. He got out of his ball form, used his wings to glide to the next part of the track, and used his back claws to skid to a stop. The brunette had caught up, and as soon as he made it to the other side, she went right between his legs.
"Looks like I caught up! Suck my lollipop, King!" she taunted, though she knew she'd regret it. She heard the re-curled up king gaining on her, but that's not all that she heard; there were chirps and chitters of active bugs. Despite the speed she gained on the Rainbow Road, she had to slow down whenever possible. The bugs had started chewing up the taffy track!
The cy-bug king was gaining; Cheri noticed in her rear-view mirror. Both of them were out of the cave and on the homestretch, and King Candy could now feel the heat of her exhaust. Now was the time to make his move; he uncurled and held down her back wheels with his claws. The cherry racer was pushed by inertia out of the kart, and fell just a few feet from the finish line. The cybrid pushed the Cherriot aside and slithered over to the girl and snatched her up. He cackled, "Well, dearie, I think it's time you say hello to your new king." But Cheri showed no fear in his iron grip.
"Uh, yeah, I also want you to say hello to my friend you killed." She grunted as she pulled a hand to point to the Cherriot. "He's right in that kart over there." All of a sudden, the kart started to move on its own. As it did, it crackled and radiated blue electricity; a glitch in the machine. It wasn't far from the finish line and crossed it all to King Candy's terror. The finish line lit up and sparkles appeared in the driver's seat. Monty Ray Jack appeared in the seat as a world-healing wave spread across Sugar Rush Unlimited. The cy-bugs who were now chewing on the scenery dissolved into non-existent code. The cybrid virus was not affected by this, the reset not bringing any anti-virus protection; but he was in shock, and let Cheri slip out of his grip and onto the track.
"What'd I miss?" the cheesecake racer asked as he got out of the kart. Cheri was happy she could finally hug him, and did so with glee….until she realized there was still a massive cybrid behind her.
"You…." Candy growled slowly, his energy a bit sapped from the resetting wave, "will not…..get out of here….ALIVE!" Before his words were even finished, the two racers sprinted off to the terminal, hoping the train could outrun a full-grown cybrid.
All of Game Central Station as a hub was silent, save the Hero's Duty soldiers and Surge Protector waiting for some sort of signal. The signal came in the form of children screaming and them yelling, "He's here! He's here!" The soldiers turned their guns to the Sugar Rush Unlimited terminal, being careful that the racers were out of their line of fire. Once the two came out of the terminal, Surge led them over to Tapper's. King Candy came crawling out of the terminal, much to Calhoun's pleasure.
"Ready to see all of your dreams crash in front of you?" the sergeant taunted the monster. She turned to where Surge Protector was, and shouted, "Surge, NOW!" The blue man zapped over to the Sugar Rush terminal, and all he had to do was place his hand on the copper cord. The cy-bug king watched in silent shock, for all the terminals (except the one he came out of) were protected by antivirus gates. The cord filled with pulsing blue electricity as the world reset. But he didn't have time to lament if Vlad had been killed; he had soldiers to deal with.
"If you're going to shoot me, you might as well do it now." Calhoun would be pleased to, but the grin on his face threw her off. What was he hiding? Still, the woman nodded as a signal; her men all fired at him, but he brushed off the blasts like they were nothing. He chuckled, "Now it's my move," and pounced towards the soldiers.
When Surge Protector reset the game, two things happened. The first thing that happened was to President Vanellope. She, the racers, and the NPCs were all confined to the apartment building of Niceland in Fix-It Felix Jr. All fifteen racers and a few small assorted fans had made themselves comfortable in the penthouse with the other Nicelanders. Felix had received a small walkie-talkie from his wife, and all of them were crowded around it, waiting for a signal that the plague of King Candy had finally been defeated.
"Man, I'm bored," Vanellope grumbled, Ralph right by her side. The wrecker gave her a raised eyebrow.
"Kid, it's only been 15 minutes since you and your friends got here."
"That's long to us," Rancis argued, though he didn't get up from where he was sitting.
"Yeah," the president agreed, "and another thing…" Before she could complain about the complete lack of food, she started to furiously glitch. The Niceland residents, though some had seen her do it before, took a step back and gasped. The Sugar Rush racers, a little less concerned, were quick to ask why it had happened. Throughout the mutters and concerns of Vanellope's friends, one voice came out on top.
"Hey, are you okay?" Ralph picked up the tiny racer in his huge hands. He wasn't afraid when she started glitching like some others were. Though it was usually a strength for her, this worried him. She always felt safe in his hands, and the wrecker let out a sigh of relief when her glitching started to become less frequent. Once the glitch ceased, he put the president back down. "What was that, Vanellope? Are you hurt?"
"Nah," she replied, though she let out a tiny cough, "I'm fine. I think whatever that was…they just reset the game." She paused as scattered cheers filled the room. She then turned to Felix, who was right next to the walkie-talkie. "Didn't Calhoun say they'd do that once they killed King Candy?" All eyes turned back to the handyman. As Calhoun's husband, they knew all her tactics were relayed to him. But being put on the spot, Felix tried to remember what his wife had said.
"I think….that Tammy told me that we should reset your game 'once she lured that sneaky cybrid outta Sugar Rush.' Now, all we can do was wait." There were a few quiet groans from the children, for they all knew this would take a while. The second thing happened inside of Sugar Rush.
As soon as the game reset, the world was restored from its eaten state and the cy-bugs were vaporized….except for one. Whether it was him hatching inside the game at the time, or his massive size, Vlad was not affected physically by the reset. Instead, his memories were; in that moment, he was taken back to his programmed memories of the wedding and the dynamite gal he almost married. He also remembered his purpose…and realized he had been lied to by King Candy. When he first came to the game, he asked only one question:
Why am I here?
"Because you're game got unplugged. I'm taking you in. Now, you should remember your purpose…" Those words had been repeated many times by Turbo, and Vlad despised it. Well, now he knew his purpose, as the boss of Hero's Duty. But like the soldier he was before, he could hold a grudge, and right now, his only purpose was to get rid of King Turbug. He made his way over to the exit, making sure not to knock anything out of place. He would go over to the other Sugar Rush and get rid of the "cy-bug king," but he soon would find he would not have to travel that far.
The Hero's Duty soldiers were getting desperate. Back home, they had an unlimited supply of ammo; outside of the game, many of them were starting to run out. With his mix of a hard sugar-coated shell and clever glitchy dodging, King Turbug was one tough boss to beat.
"Incoming!" one of Calhoun's men shouted as the cybrid lunged to them again. Because he had been doing it consistently, he had been able to break up the troops, and was now picking them off one by one. Two had already been severely hurt by the cy-bug king, leaving only five and an impatient sergeant left. The soldier that called out the others was viciously swiped by the giant bug; though he was wearing armor, the force was enough to knock him out. When he turned, Turbug knocked out two others with his tail whips. He ran to Sergeant Calhoun, swatting another soldier out of his way. The bug screeched to a stop when the last soldier standing, Kohut, stood right in his path. Kohut wasn't afraid to point the unloaded gun at the king's head.
"I will protect my commanding officer with my life…" The soldier's words came out hoarse and harsh. Despite Kohut being intimidating, King Turbug didn't even flinch; the cybrid just rolled his eyes, and hissed, "Then you will end it doing so…." The cy-bug king just smacked him away like all the others, and he and his weapon dropped like flies. Sergeant Calhoun would admit she was terrified right now, but tried her best not to show it, even when talking to the gruesome creature in front of her.
"Huh, you didn't kill my men, and seemed to be coming for me…." Despite her fear, she gave a slight smirk of cockiness. "If you're looking for a trophy from this 'battle,' you're going to actually tousle with it." The cybrid let out an evil cackle as he bent his head down to meet her gaze.
"Well this trophy will be maimed and murdered when I'm done with her…." The sergeant prepared herself for whatever pain he was about to unleash. Just as he raised a claw to strike, something forced it from hurting the woman.
"You will not lay a finger on that dynamite gal if you know what's good for you." Vlad's words dripped with venom, and his face filled with burning rage. The prideful king, trying to get out of the other cybrid's grasp, growled, "What are you gonna do about it? You're lower than me if you remem-!" With just a twist of his claw, Vlad flipped King Turbug over his back and into the cold hard ground.
"I'm only 'lower' in your mind. I've remembered who I am, King Candy; I should be in Hero's Duty. But before I go back where I should be, I should put you where you should be….IN A GRAVE." Alarm signals were going off in the king's head; he had to act fast. With what little strength he had against the now confident boss, he got out of the other's grip and back to his feet. Vlad growled and hurled a nearby bench at Candy's head; the king batted it away with a hand.
Calhoun was impressed that her former fiancé was saving her, but she needed to get her unconscious soldiers out of harm's way. Carefully moving around the rumble between the cybrids, she began to pile up her men near some random, but close terminal. Vlad decided to help her out by trying to corner King Candy. This was easier said than done; despite average fighting skills, the racer was an excellent dodger.
But finally, the boss of Hero's Duty was able to grab Turbo by the neck, and slammed him to the wall of a game terminal. The king's body glitched and writhed with pain as it was electrocuted by the console's plug. With the free hand, Vlad, now possessing the strength to do so, slashed into the other cybrid's chest. He knew the plug would fry him; he just wanted to make sure Turbo stayed dead this time.
Once Vlad made sure it was enough, he let the cybrid go from his grasp. The dead king had one final electric twitch spread through his lower body when he hit the ground. Sergeant Calhoun had finally rounded up all her soldiers, and grabbed a gun out of a fainted Markowski's hands, aiming it at the big dead bug.
"Knowing Markowski, even if he didn't out of ammo, he'd start panicking anyway," the woman told Vlad as he took a few steps back. She hit the former king's head, and both watched at the oddity that was Turbo's death. His body, from head to tail, turned to 64-bit, then blocky 16-bit, and finally to a flat 8-bit. He then disintegrated into red binary, leaving nothing behind except a napkin from Tapper's.
"Tamora?" Calhoun heard her first name, and only people with a close relationship to her called her that. She first thought it was Vlad, but he just gave a shrug. She then noticed it came from the walkie-talkie on her belt. She held it up and heard Felix's voice. "Is everything alright? We've been waiting an hour! Is Turbo…gone?" The blonde gave a smirk and quipped through the communicator, "Y'know, I realized today why the programmers never let me fight the boss. Turbo is now gone; we've finally won." The cheers of Nicelanders and the like echoed into Game Central Station.
