The Hersey's Highway was buzzing with excitement. Usually it was the NPC fans that filled the seats, but today it was packed with characters from the arcade. Everyone was eager to see the outcome of today's race. Would the Candy Kingdom racers be able to pull of a win and hang in the competition? Or would the Sweet Tooth racers end the competition here and now?

Crumbelina and Jubileena stood on the side lines preparing for the race. Vanellope walked over towards the two girls. "Hey, you know if you two don't want to go out there, I won't hold it against you. I wouldn't ask anyone to stick their neck out just for me." She said.

Jubileena patted his on the shoulder. "Hey, there's no way we'd back down from these guys. And c'mon, we're friends. Sticking our necks out for each other is what we do." She said smiling.

Crumbelina nodded in agreement. "Besides, we wouldn't let you end up getting hitched to that pompous prince." She said giving her a thumbs up. "Just watch, we're gonna smoke these guys."

Vanellope smiled at the two. "Alright then, make sure to leave them in the dust!" She said before glitching back over to her seat. She took her seat beside Gloyd who was glaring at Garry. Today he wasn't riding on his blimp like he usually was. He was sitting in the stands with the others.

"Something is definitely up with him. He's always watched the races on that big blimp before, so what makes today so special?" Gloyd said suspiciously.

Vanellope glared. "No clue. But we know for sure that he hasn't been able to put anything on the track. We've had eyes on it since yesterday. And both Swizzle and the Oreo guards were here all night keeping watch. I also sent a handful to guard the garage in case he tried to sabotage their kart, but they didn't report anything."

"I still have a bad feelings about this." Gloyd said.

"Me too." Vanellope admitted.

Larry rose from his seat and then stretched his arms out. "Ah, are you ready to put an end to this thing hermano?" He asked looking towards his partner

"Of course. Are you?" Jimmy asked.

"What's that mean?" Larry asked back.

Jimmy sighed. "You know as well as I do that trying to win this thing will be tricky, and not because of Crumbelina or Jubileena. Garry is going to try and pull something out there, and I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire just because I dragged you out there. If you don't want to do this I won't hold it against you Larry."

Larry chuckled and then walked out and put an arm around Jimmy's shoulders. "Hey amigo, we are best friends, brothers. You don't honestly think I'm going to let you go into this alone do you? Who else is going to yank you out of danger at the last second."

Jimmy chuckled. "You know Larry will probably want our heads after this right?" He asked.

Larry shrugged. "It's not like he didn't want your head already." He said. They heard a horn and then Sour Bill made the call for the racers to come to the starting line. "C'mon hermano."

Jimmy stood up and then followed after his partner, but then felt someone grab onto his arm. He turned around and then saw Sydney. "Jimmy, please. Don't do this. Just throw the race." He said. Jimmy pulled his arm away and began heading towards the starting line.

Larry jumped onto the back of the kart and then looked over at Jubileena. The red head gave him a smile and waved. "I want you to know mi amor, no matter what the outcome my feeling for you will remain as strong as ever." He pulled out a candy rose and then tossed it to her.

She caught it and smiled before sniffing the rose. "I'm glad to know that. Let's both do our best."

Crumbelina climbed onto the back of the kart and then looked at Jimmy. He looked back at her from the drivers seat. He hoped she remembered to bring the shield just in case. She pointed to her had and nodded to him and he nodded right back.

Jubileena and Jimmy turned towards Sour Bill and nodded. "The rules are... the same as every other race so far." He said flatly. Both Jubileena and Jimmy revved their engines. "Okay!"

"3! 2! 1! GO!" Sour Bill waved his flag.

Both Jubileena and Jimmy slammed onto the accelerator and sped off. The first part of the track was simply a short bridge that led onto the actual Hershey's highway, which was riddled with heavy traffic. There were, M&M and Jujubes cars, candy box trucks, and cookie themed motorcycles flying up and down the track.

Once they got got onto the road it was clear who held the advantage. Jimmy and Larry easily took the lead. Jubileena pressed the gas petal as hard as she could attempting to catch them, but she also had to take extra care to avoid the cars and trucks on the road. "This was easier when we were the only ones on the track!" She said.

"We have to try and get to the inner part of the track. There's less traffic and it'll be easier to make the turns!" Crumbelina advised.

"Got it!" Jubileena said speeding towards a nearby trick. She skilfully drove underneath it and made her way to the inner part of the track. They weren't far behind Jimmy and Larry, but they were slowly falling behind.

Larry looked back and smirked. "You know I've spent many days chasing the ladies, but I never thought I'd see the day where the ladies would be chasing me." He joked.

"Tell me about it." Jimmy mumbled.

Larry reached out and grabbed an item wrapper. He turned and began opening it up. "It's a shame we're going to have to shake them." He said sadly.

"CHERRY BOMB!"

Larry tossed the cherry up and down in his hand. "Forgive me, mi amor." He said before tossing the explosive towards Jubileena and Crumbelina.

"Oh fudge!" Jubileena swerved out of the way just in time to avoid the bomb. It bounced back and then blew up a M&M car to bits. Jubileena sighed with relief and then looked forward. She gasped as she saw a candy truck heading right towards them. She swerved out of the way once more and found herself struggling to avoid being hit by the traffic.

During all the commotion Crumbelina reached out and managed to snag a candy wrapper. She quickly opened it up. "SWEET SEERKERS!" A canon appeared on their kart and fired off three sweet seekers. They headed straight for Jimmy and Larry.

"We got a problem." Larry said frowning.

"No we don't." Jimmy said drove forward and then made a sharp turn underneath a nearby truck. The first sweet seeker crashed into the truck causing it to tumble over.

"Whoa, no way." Swizzle stunned.

The second one was gaining on them, but right before it crashed down Jimmy slammed onto the break causing it to miss. He then pressed his foot on the petal and sped back up. "How in the world can he be able to time that?" Vanellope asked.

"What's his plan for the last one." Candlehead said in wonder.

As the last sweet seeker began gaining on them they came up to a tight turn. Jimmy turned the wheel and began drifting around the corner. The small flames shooting from the pistons began growing hotter and brighter the longer the drift was held. "Almost there." Jimmy said smirking.

"Dude, it's catching up!" Larry said as the sweet seeker inched closer.

"Relax, I got this."

"Dude! Hurry up!" Larry shouted. He could have literally reached out and touched the sweet seeker at this point. Just then the flames from the pistons turned blue, and the kart boost forward just before the sweet seeker hit. It crashed into a car blowing it apart. "That was close."

"You have to be kidding me!" Crumbelina said shocked. She'd seen a few people able to dodge one sweet seeker before, just by a fluke. But they had easily avoided all three.

"I don't believe it. How in the world was he able to pull that off." Snowanna said.

Manny who was sitting beside her smirked. "I bet you thought Jimmy and Larry would only be a smidgen better than us right? Well you were wrong. He may be second to Sydney, but it definitely isn't by much. When it comes to pure racing skills, those two are on a whole different level. There's no way that those girls can win." Manny explained.

Snowanna frowned. "We'll see..." She said trying to hide the doubt in his voice. As much as she wanted to say Crumbelina and Jubileena would definitely make a comeback, she couldn't see how it was possible. Jimmy and Larry clearly had both the skills and stats on their side.

Manny glanced over towards Garry who was still smiling. He frowned and gripped his seat tightly. That smile bothered him. As clear as it was that Jimmy and Larry were going to win, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. That Garry was up to something.

Jimmy and Larry were still steadily increasing their lead. Crumbelina reached out and grabbed another candy wrapper. She quickly opened it.

"BUTTERFINGER BOOMERRANG!"

A large boomerang shaped piece of chocolate appeared in Crumbelina's hands. She looked over the item for a few seconds before smiling and taking aim. She brought her hand back and then threw it as hard as she could. It whirled forward heading towards Jimmy and Larry.

"That's troublesome." Jimmy said as he watched the weapon approach from his side mirror.

It turned down and nearly struck them, but they swerved missing them only by a few inches. It curved back around and headed towards them. "The Butterfinger Boomerang. It won't stop until it hits its target." Manny explained.

The boomerang once again narrowly missed them and curved back around for a third attempt. "I can only assume this boomerang is led by the undying love of my beloved." Larry said smirking.

"Stop babbling about love and do something about that thing!" Jimmy snapped.

The boomerang came again and Jimmy swerved hoping to dodge it, but this time it hit the side of their kart sending them spinning towards the side of the road. They quickly managed to make their way back to the track, but Crumbelina and Jubileena had nearly caught up.

"We almost got them!" Crumbelina said.

Jubileena nodded. "If we can snag another useful item we can take the lead."

Larry shook his head and got himself together. He then reached out and managed to grab a item wrapper. He looked down at it and recognized it immediately. It was his character item. He looked up at Jubileena and looked hesitant.

The licorice themed boy was more than willing to admit that he was more style than substance, his character item however was not. It was big, powerful, and destructive, especially in this particular stage. He didn't like using this against anyone, let alone Jubileena.

"Larry..." He looked over towards Jimmy who was glancing back at him. "We have to go all out here, otherwise Garry wins." He stated.

Larry looked down knowing he was right. They needed to win here, they had to pull out all of the stops. He looked up with resolve and prepared to open the item. "Forgive me mi amor." He said before pulling on the candy wrapper and unleashing his item.

"CHARACTER ITEM! TWIZZLER TWISTER!"

Two licorice whips suddenly appeared in Larry's hands. He held his hands up began spinning around as fast as he could. The crowd watched as the whips twirled around in the air, and then created a large red tornado on the back of the kart. "What in the world!" Vanellope shouted.

"The Twizzler twister." Petty said shuttering.

"I hate that thing." Patrick said nervously.

Both the twins pulled their hats over their eyes. The twist began pulling everything that wasn't rooted to the ground into the air. Cars, trucks, item wrappers, even some of the smaller audience members found themselves to be clinging to their seats to keep from being swept up.

The only ones who seemed to be unaffected were Crumbelina and Jubileena. "How are we supposed to deal with that?!" Jubileena said shocked.

Crumbelina jumped up and managed to grab a candy wrapper being sucked in by the storm. "Maybe we can knock them out of it!" She said opening the wrapper.

"SWEET SEEKERS!"

The three candy projectiles shot towards Jimmy and Larry, but the tornado easily swept up the oncoming attack and hurled it right back at them. "Oh crumbs!" The red head began swerving around managing to avoid the attack, but much more was coming.

The tornado was hurling everything that it had pulled in it's path at them. The girls drove around desperately trying to avoid the falling debris, and leaving complete carnage in their path. "The twister is already a devastating character item, but here where their so much stuff to throw, their near unstoppable." Manny said.

"Their going to crush them!" Taffyta said panicking.

"Oh, would you relax. Larry never likes hit anyone directly with this item." Garry said from a few rows up. "Besides, even if there is a little accident, they'll regenerate after all."

Vanellope glared at him. "You! You better not have messed with the track!" She said standing up.

"I did no such thing. That would be dishonorable and underhanded." Garry said smugly.

The president glitched forward in front of him. "I swear, if you harm even a single hair on their head then-" She suddenly felt herself being picked up by her hoodie. "What the-! Hey, put me down!" She said trying to shake loose from Ralph's grip.

"Calm down kid." Ralph said.

She crossed her arms and Garry chuckled. "Relax, I didn't pull anything against your little teammates." He said looking back towards the race.

More wreckage flew towards them, but Jubileena managed to avoid it all. It was clear Larry wasn't trying to hit them directly, he was just trying to slow them down with as many obstacles as he could, and it was working. She could see them getting further and further away.

"We have to find a way to get past them!"

Crumbelina ducked down seconds before a billboard knocked her off the back of the kart. She saw a nearby candy wrapper tumbling by the road. She grabbed onto the back of her seat and leaned out as far as she possibly could to grab it. She clung to it with her index and middle finger and then quickly pulled herself back.

She sighed in relief and then looked as the candy wrapper. "I'm going to try another item."

Jubileena looked at her as if she was crazy. "Are you nuts?! Whatever we throw at that thing is going to get thrown right back at us!"

"Well we have to try something!" Crumbelina said.

Jubileena sighed. "Open it."

Crumbelina nodded and then opened it up.

"CHARACTER ITEM! MILK CHOCOLATE MUDWAY!"

Crumbelina waited for an item to appear in her hand, but nothing came. She suddenly heard her parter gasped and then turned around to see what was going on. She looked shocked as melted chocolate began to appear over the entire track.

"What the heck?!" Jimmy watched as the melted chocolate finished consuming the whole track. He tried to keep the kart steady, but it was like driving through mud. Everything that hadn't been swept into Larry's tornado was sinking into the bog like chocolate.

"This is crazy." Vanellope said amazed.

"This is a perfect chance for them to catch up!" Rancis said excitedly.

Jubileena worried that she'd end up sinking into the swamp, but it seemed every part of the chocolate they drove over hardened. "We may actually be able to pull this off!"

The red head then looked up and grew a terrified look on her face. A huge truck was heading right towards them. Crumbelin screamed and held her arms up bracing for the impact, but as she did a part of the chocolate swamp rose up like a wall and stopped the truck. It sunk down into the swamp and both Jubileena and Crumbelina looked stunned. "You can control that thing?"

Crumbelina looked at her hands and then smiled. "Oh yeah." She said raising her hands. She threw them back down and a large wave of melted chocolate formed and began heading towards Jimmy and Larry.

Jimmy frowned and tried to sped up, but it was clear the wave was going to catch up. Larry frowned and then spun even faster. The tornado managed to suck up the wave of chocolate, but he realized the the licorice whips he was holding were now covered in hardened chocolate. In a matter of seconds the whips broke and crumbled apart.

The tornado dispersed and Larry fell to his knees and breathed heavily. "Are you okay?" Jimmy asked looking back at his partner.

"It just took a little more out of me than I thought. Just keep heading towards the finish line." He said as he grabbed a nearby item wrapper. "I'll slow down their attacks as much as I can."

"CHERRY BOMB!"

Larry threw the cherry bomb back, but Crumbelina lifted her hands and the chocolate rose up and formed around the explosive. It hardened and they drove by easily avoiding it. Crumbelina once again lifted her hands and chocolate began coming around Jimmy and Larry's kart. Jimmy tried to keep moving forward, but the chocolate was slowing them down.

He gritted his teeth. "Larry, switch!" Larry nodded and the two quickly switched seat.

"Now what?" Larry asked.

"No make sure I don't end up drowning on chocolate." Jimmy said taking his hat off.

Larry looked confused and then shocked when Jimmy jumped off the back of the kart. Larry quickly pulled out his whip and then swung forward. He managed to catch Jimmy around his ankle just before he dived into the chocolate.

"Wha-?! Hey! He left the kart! Is that legal?!" Taffyta asked.

"It can't be legal!" Gloyd shouted looking up towards Sour Bill.

The sour candy quickly flipped through the pages of the rule book, but could find nothing. No one had ever left their kart in the middle of a race before, so there was no rules concerning it. "It is clear that there is no rule AGAINST leaving the kart. Besides, even if there was Larry is still hanging on to him, so it wouldn't could." Garry said smugly.

"This is so sour!" Swizzle yelled.

Suddenly Jimmy shot out of the chocolate and pulled himself up onto the kart, dragging an item wrapper with him. He looked back and saw Crumbelina and Jubileena were right on their heels. He quickly opened up the wrapper.

"RED VELVET ROSE!"

A candy rose suddenly appeared in his hands. "What the? What am I supposed to do with this thing?!" Jimmy said not recognizing the item.

Larry looked back. "Blow on it!" He said.

"What?" Jimmy said confused.

"Just do it!"

Jimmy sighed and then blow on the rose. The petals flew off and then made their way towards the girls. The rose petals fluttered around them wildly and blocked their vision. "Hey, what's going on?!" Crumbelina said trying to swat the petals away.

Jubileena tried to focus on the road but then one of the petal flew into her eyes. "Ah!" She quickly reached up attempting to swat away the petal, but to no avail. The car swerved over and before either girl knew what was happening the car crashed into the side of the road.

Vanellope and the others looked shocked. "No..." Gloyd mumbled.

The melted chocolate began to disappear from the road. Larry looked over towards the crashed kart with a worried expression. He looked like he was going to run over and check on them, but Jimmy put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, we'll check on them after the we win!"

Larry nodded and the two switched once more. Jimmy slammed his foot on the gas and then sped towards the finish line. They were finally going to put an end to this thing. Gloyd gripped his seat tightly. "No, this can't be happening." He said panicking.

If they crossed that finish line it was over. Garry was going to take over the whole game, and he was going to lose Vanellope! He looked down at Jubileena and Crumbelina. Jubileena was out cold from the crash, and Crumbelina looked like she was out of it.

The twins stood up and jumped up and down. Dough stood up and smiled happily. "Alright, their going to do it! It's finally going to be over!" He said relieved.

"We did it!" Patrick said.

"We won!" Petty stated.

Manny couldn't believe it. They were really going to win. This nightmare of a competition was finally going to come to an end. He looked over at Garry to gauge his reaction. Garry chuckled and then grew a wicked smile across his face. Manny immediately frowned and then stood up and turned towards the track. "STOP!" He shouted.

Everyone turned towards him looking confused. "Manny? What's wrong?" Dough asked looking towards his partner. "Their going to win, like you said."

"Don't cross that finish line!" Manny shouted. It was useless, they couldn't hear him from here.

Garry laid back in his seat. "Too late..." He muttered to himself.

Just as Jimmy and Larry approached the finish line they heard a cracking sound. "What the?" Jimmy said confused. The kart suddenly cracked down the middle and snapped in two. The back half of the kart which was carrying Larry stopped and he tumbled against the ground.

He looked up and saw Jimmy's half still moving forward. Jimmy tried to take control of his kart, but none of the controls were working. The breaks were shot, and the steering wheel was jammed. Jimmy suddenly heard a beeping sound. He grew wide eyed and recognized the sound.

Explosives.

The front half of the kart suddenly blew up into pieces. There was a shocked silence in the audience. The silence lasted for only a minute, but it felt like a month. After what seemed like an eternity Crumbelina finally spoke up, stating what everyone had on their minds.

"H-he didn't regenerate."

Rarely, if ever, did a character actually die in Sugar Rush. It was a game filled with candy after all, death almost seemed like an impossibility. But on the rare occasion there was an accident, the characters regenerated on the spot almost immediately. But for some reason, it hadn't happened.

"What's going on..." Larry said as the situation slowly began to sink in.

"What happened?" Vanellope asked standing up.

Everyone suddenly heard footsteps behind them. Garry was waking down the stands and towards his blimp. "Oh my, a tragic accident seems to have taken place, and Jimmy hadn't responded. I should hurry back to the castle and look into this strange occurrence." He said.

Vanellope looked down at him with a look of utter shock. He'd done this. He had really just... murdered one of his own racers. She knew he was underhanded when he cheated in the last race, but she also knew Fang getting hurt was a miscalculation on his part. But this time, he had deliberately taken down on of his own. This wasn't dirty or underhanded, it was pure evil.

Larry looked at the scene before him. The full gravity of the situation had just sunk in. Jimmy was not coming back. His friend. His partner. His hermano. He was gone, forever.

"By the way Bill. I believe this Jimmy and Larry's kart was destroyed, this means that they win right? A shame, but rules are rules." Garry said heading towards his blimp.

Larry turned around and stared at Garry blankly for a few moments. Suddenly a look filled with pure hatred filled his face. "You! You just killed Jimmy!" He shouted taking out both his whips. "I-I'm not going to let you get away with this! You're going to pay!"

Garry glanced back at him and then smirked. He then turned back and began heading towards his blimp once more. "DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!" Larry shouted rushing towards him. A few of the Gum Guardians ran towards Larry to stop him, but with a flick of the wrist Larry had easily sliced them apart with his whip.

Just as he was about to aim for Garry, Cindy and Sydney slid in front of him. Cindy didn't hesitate to fire her pistol at him, but Larry easily knocked them away. He aimed his whip as he ankle and then pulled her feet from under her knocking her over.

Sydney then moved forward and easily the whips from Larry's handa. Larry glared angrily at him. "Your still going to defend him after what he just did?! He killed Jimmy!"

There was doubt written all over Sydney's face, but he didn't waver. The gum guards moved in to capture Larry who looked ready to fight, but suddenly Vanellope glitched in front of him. "Back off!" She snapped.

Garry who was now sitting on his blimp chuckled. "Coming to his defense. Noble of you. I understand Larry has just lost a dear friend and clearly isn't thinking straight, but he had threatened the prince, and he is my subject."

"Too bad! He's coming with me!" Vanellope said sternly.

The rest of the racers all came to her side, along with Ralph, Felix, and Tamora. A number of other arcade characters looked like they were ready to jump to her aid as well. The gum guards moved forward but Garry lifted his hand. "No, it's fine. If she wants to drag Larry along with her, then let her. Consider it an early wedding gift."

In an instant Vanellope had glitched in front of him. She reached forward grabbing him by his shirt collar and yanking him forward. "You better enjoy your last night of freedom Garry, because after I beat you I'm going to lock you in the fungeon, and no one is ever going to see your slimy little face again." She said angrily.

Garry looked at her surprised and then glared. "You're actually threatening me? Listen to me little girl. For you sake, you better hope I win. Because the alternative will be much, MUCH worst."

Vanellope pushed him back down and then returned his glare. "We'll see." With that she glitched back down with the others. Garry's blimp began to fly off.

Larry fell to his knees and then began punching the ground. How could he have been so stupid?! Why hadn't just he listened to Jimmy and defied Garry earlier! Then this might not have happened! "I'm a fool..." He said beginning to cry. He'd let his best friend die right before his eyes. He should have done something!

Manny got up and began walking of. "C'mon guys." He said. Dough and the twins were all sniveling as they followed after him.

"Where are you going?" Cindy asked.

"To tell Fang and Tea what happened." He said as he kept walking. And after that he was going to have a little chat with Garry. He had let things go on like this far enough. He should have just taken Garry down when he had the chance. But not anymore. He was going to make sure Garry didn't hurt anyone else anymore.

Gloyd balled his fist up and then looked towards Garry's blimp. Garry wasn't a prince, he was a tyrant. Eliminating anyone who got in his way. He would never let someone like him rule over Sugar Rush, let alone marry Vanellope. He would stop him at all cost!

A/N: Hey guys. I find myself once again apologizing for the long update. Lot of family stuff to deal with, college courses, all that jazz. This chapter was a real tearjerker huh? Bet you guys didn't see that coming. Anyone the story is starting to approach it's climax. I just want to thank everyone again for their support and encouragement. I only started this fic to get some more Gloyd/Vanellope out there, and it turned out much greater than I could ever have hoped. I have you guys to thank for that.