Chapter 10: Earn Your Stripes

Dark Demon 122: Of course I win this round. I can't be beat! I also have Captain America ready to defend me. YOUR MOVE! :p

Dixie Darlin: Nelly's a teenager, she has to know about urges. And I'm sure if she told Ralph instead of Calhoun, he'd rip off something important to Rancis.

ANOTHER Disclaimer? You people really don't know who you're messing with. FINE: I do not own Wreck-It Ralph, NASCAR, or Pop-Tarts as mentioned in this story.

Rancis groggily woke up from his slumber. The excitement that he felt the previous two mornings had burned off like an old candle. Not only was the peanut butter cup boy depressed at how much of fool he made himself look, he was also depressed for wrecking his fellow competitors. Rancis sat on the edge of Vanellope's bed, head in his hands as he thought long and hard as to what to do. He didn't notice Vanellope get up and crawl over to him. She laid her head on his shoulder and massaged his back lovingly.

"Are you okay Flugs? Do you want to talk about it?" Vanellope offered and lightly kissed his ear. Rancis jolted slightly at being touched. He loved being close to his Nelly, especially when they were both still warm from cuddling under the blanket.

"No, it's alright Vanellope, I'm just thinking about how I can improve from that disaster last night," Rancis replied. He sighed sadly and brushed his hand through his hair, alerting Vanellope just how depressed he was.

"Aw Flugs, please don't be sad," Vanellope cooed and lightly kissed his neck, "with practice I'm sure you can improve, but I still think you're one of the best," she continued and hugged his naked torso. Rancis looked back at his girlfriend with a smile on his face.

"Thanks Nelly, you know how to make me feel better," Rancis said and got up. Vanellope also rose from the bed, revealing her bra and pantie nightwear, which made Rancis freeze. Vanellope noticed and teased Rancis mercilessly.

"You're not the only one who can make people stare at their bodies Flugs," Vanellope said in a teasing tone and went into the bathroom to shower. Rancis breathed in deeply and wiped the sweat from his brow to calm down. The previous night, before everyone went to bed, there was a rumor going around the arcade that Mr. Litwak had come down with the flu and wouldn't open the arcade again for awhile.

"Nelly, do you think Mr. Litwak is really sick?" Rancis called through the door.

"I think so Rancis, Pac-Man and Sonic would never kid about him being sick," Vanellope called back through the door. Rancis heard the shower knobs switch off and the water cease running.

"Well, Mr. Litwak usually comes in about half-an hour early to get everything set up before 9:00 and its 8:45 already," Rancis called back. Vanellope stepped out of the bathroom in her usual mint green tank top, brown shorts and black combat boots. Rancis walked over to her and held her shoulders while kissing her on the lips. "Do I ever tell you how beautiful you are Nelly?" Rancis asked softly.

"Uh, only every day Flugs," Vanellope teased and playfully shoved him out of the way. "Race ya to the kitchen slowpoke!" Vanellope called out and ran out of the room.

"Aw come on, no fair!" Rancis chuckled as he ran as fast as he could. The two ran down the spiral staircase, kicking Sour Bill out of the way, who gave out a Wilhelm scream as he flew off the side of the stairs. Coming to the last hallway leading to the kitchen, Rancis used the marble flooring to his advantage and slid on his side to gain momentum and beat Vanellope.

"Nice one Rancis," Vanellope congratulated Rancis as they caught their breath and took big swigs of chocolate milk. The two eventually caught their breath and sat down at the table, drinking chocolate milk and eating Strawberry Pop-Tarts with no frosting. Vanellope swallowed her toaster pastry with a swig of chocolate milk and asked, "So, what are your plans for today Rancis?" The peanut butter cup boy looked up from his Arcade Newspaper and thought.

"Well, I was going to go back to Challenge of the Champions and get some lessons from Richard and hopefully not piss anyone off anymore," Rancis explained and flipped through the newspaper, "Oh, looks like the Surge Protector refuses to talk to the characters from Challenge of the Champions, I wonder what happened there. But, what are you going to do today babe?" Rancis rambled on. Vanellope looked up from the toaster.

"I'm going to hang out with Ralph today, we haven't had an 'us' day in awhile," Vanellope replied. Rancis nodded and put the newspaper down.

"Well, have fun with that Vanellope," he said and kissed her cheek, "I'll see you later!" He called out and left the castle. Vanellope smiled at the tingling sensation on her cheek. But, she was also concerned. She didn't want Rancis to quit racing altogether if things didn't work out in NASCAR, and she certainly didn't want her nightmare to come true.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, he's got Richard freakin' Petty teaching him," Vanellope told herself and put the milk away in the fridge. She then put her licorice hair tie in to put her hair in a ponytail and left the castle. Sour Bill had gotten up from the floor and shook his head from the fall he took.

"Damn teenagers," he muttered to himself and grabbed a bottle of Xtra Strength Root Beer.

(With Rancis)

Rancis had started making his way to Challenge of the Champions in the RV1 when he spotted Swizzle and Jubileena just strolling along the road. Rancis shifted the RV1 down to first gear and stopped right beside the couple. "Hey guys, what's up today?" Rancis asked with a smile.

"Not much Rancis, just takin' a walk with my Sweet Cherry Pie here," Swizzle said and wrapped his arm around Jubileena's torso and pulled her in closer, causing her to giggle up a storm.

"Well, I'm heading over to the NASCAR game to get some help from Richard to make last night never happen again," Rancis said as he stared off into space, thinking about the previous night.

"Aw come on Rancis, it wasn't that bad," Jubileena said, attempting to cheer up Rancis, who gave her a weird look that said, 'You did watch the same race right?'

"Jubileena, I wrecked my car and three others whose drivers chased me to the garage area with pipe wrenches and jack handles," Rancis admitted in a point out the obvious tone.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad Rancis," Swizzle said, "but you have 12 champions to help you, and 11 of them aren't total narcissistic a-holes who try to rape your girlfriend," Swizzle added on a joke.

"Ugh, don't remind me about him, he even wrecked Richard for the win last night, but Richard brushed it off rather quickly," Rancis replied, "anyway, you two are more than welcome to watch tonight if you want, cheerio!" Rancis called as he started up his kart and drove off.

"Do you think he'll really improve Swizzy?" Jubileena asked as she leaned on Swizzle.

"Well, he didn't quit trying to get Vanellope to be his girlfriend, so I think he'll improve somewhat, but that might take awhile. But at any rate, let's go get some breakfast babe," Swizzle said and took his girlfriend's arm and led her to the game's breakfast bar.

"By the way, did Rancis just say cheerio?" Jubileena questioned. Swizzle thought about it to try to remember if Rancis had or not.

"Yeah, I think he did, that's weird," Swizzle replied, "he's never said that before." Swizzle finished.

(Back to Vanellope)

Vanellope had stopped off at Citrusella's house to get the scoop on her and Jeff, but Citrusella wouldn't say anything but how much of a sweetheart Jeff was. After Vanellope had left her house, she made her way to the exit of the game and on the way, said hi to Swizzle and Jubileena. "Hey Vanellope, you want to join us for breakfast?" Jubileena offered. Vanellope politely shook her head.

"No thanks guys, I stuffed myself on chocolate milk and Pop-Tarts earlier; now I'm on my way to visit Ralph!" She cheerily said. Swizzle and Jubileena nodded and told Vanellope about Rancis' offer.

"We're probably going to watch Rancis race again later on today, so will you save us a seat?" Jubileena asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I for my two best friends?" Vanellope exclaimed. She then remembered her nightmare that for some reason kept on bugging her, so she decided to tell Swizzle and Jubileena. "Um guys, the other night I had a dream and it was a bad one," she admitted.

"What was it about Vanellope? Was it about that Johnson asshole?" Swizzle asked. Vanellope shook her head and looked worriedly around in case Rancis was still in the game. She didn't want to let Rancis know about it and crush himself mentally.

"No, I had a dream that Rancis died in a crash and it seemed so real," Vanellope yelled. She sat down on a giant gumdrop and rubbed her temples with her hands. "Should I tell Rancis? I don't want to make him worry about it in case it's just a silly dream," Vanellope muttered. Swizzle motioned to Jubileena since he was bad at comforting other girls besides Jubileena.

"Listen hun, I think you should when you feel it's the right time because some dreams are premonitions; you could end up saving his life," Jubileena explained while hugging Vanellope. The President thought about it and decided that her Cherry friend was right.

"Alright Jubileena, I'll tell him, but not now; I don't want to crush him any further than how he was crushed last night," Vanellope replied and got up from her seat and dusted herself off. She parted ways with Swizz and Jubileena and headed for Fix-It Felix Jr to see her best friend in the world. She weaved through what seemed to be the endless sea of game characters inside GCS who were both glad to have a few days off and worried for their owner. Trying to weave through the crowd in a bigger body was still more difficult than she imagined. Vanellope lost count of how many times she said 'sorry!' and 'my bad!' She eventually knocked someone over by accident. "Oh Gosh I'm so sorry- hey Uncle Felix," Vanellope nervously said as she helped the little fixer to his feet.

"Oh that's fine Vanellope, how are you doing on this glorious and stressful day off?" He cheerily exclaimed.

"Oh I'm fine Uncle Felix, I'm just heading to see Ralph is all," Vanellope replied with a chuckle. Felix rubbed his chin with his gloved hand, thinking about where Ralph was.

"Well, he's not home, I just left there, he might be in Pac-Man having a last minute Bad-Anon meeting," Felix offered her a clue. Vanellope smiled and hugged the fixer.

"Thanks Uncle Felix, I'll see you later, say hi to Aunt Tammy for me!" Vanellope exclaimed and once again tried to weave through the ocean of game characters. Vanellope stood, looking up at the Pac-Man gate and walked through the tunnel to get to the tram. After the short train ride, she arrived at the station and exited her tram. The door to the meeting room was closed so she knocked softly and waited for either Ralph or one of the Bad-Anon characters to answer. The door opened slowly and the Zombie from House of Dead answered.

"Grr, Ralph, your daughter, at door!" The zombie declared while waving his hatchets around. Ralph stood up and politely pushed Zombie out of the way.

"She's not my daughter guys, but what's up kid?" Ralph asked with a smile.

"Nothing much Ralph, I just wanted to hang out with you today!" Vanellope exclaimed while hugging Ralph. Ralph chuckled and hugged her back.

"Well, you can hang with me during the meeting, then afterwards we can have lunch at Tappers!" Ralph replied and sat down on his chair. Vanellope smiled and sat down on the floor next to Ralph.

"Sounds like fun Ralph!" She exclaimed and let Clyde resume his speech.

(Back with our favorite Peanut Butter boy)

Rancis parked the RV1 inside the gate at the train station in CotC. He gulped nervously as he rode the train down the tracks. "I hope they're still not pissed about last night," Rancis said to himself and took in a deep breath. He imagined Darrell and Rusty rushing him and beating him up for his pathetic racing the previous night, and frankly, he wouldn't blame them. He let out a little yelp when the train came to a screeching halt and flung him onto the floor. The door opened and Rancis stepped out to a track he hadn't seen before.

"Well, look who is back," Tony said with a chuckle, scaring Rancis. The boy clutched his heart and gathered it up.

"Yeah hi Tony," Rancis replied, "do you know where Richard is by any chance?" Rancis asked while looking around.

"Yeah, he's over in the hauler area, he's expecting you too," Tony said and entered the train. Rancis wondered where he was going and brushed it off to find Richard. This track was strange to Rancis. It wasn't anything like Atlanta, Talladega or Phoenix; it was like Sugar Rush Speedway to be honest. The track had a coliseum type architecture. There were grandstands surrounding the whole track. The racing surface itself was white instead of a dark gray and the track itself was small. Walking through the garage area, Rancis nervously said hi to his new friends, and he was relieved when Darrell and Rusty didn't try to kill him again.

"Richard's still over in his hauler," Jeff said to Rancis. Jeff was currently under the hood of his Rainbow Warriors stock car with a wrench in hand.

"Thank you Jeff," Rancis replied and bumped into Jimmie on the way over. "Oh it's you," Rancis muttered.

"What was that about?" Jimmie asked with the worst innocent act Rancis ever heard.

"Look Johnson, I don't like you and I don't trust you. You're greedy, selfish and you wrecked Richard last night, and that's not the worst of it," Rancis angrily said. Jimmie cocked an eyebrow at the last statement.

"What is the worst of it kid?" Jimmie demanded.

"You tried to get fresh with my girlfriend," Rancis replied and got in Jimmie's face. "I'm fine with you making fun of me, but if you even try to talk to my girlfriend again and she complains about it again, I will kick your ass into the next century with my indestructible shield," Rancis threatened.

"What shield?" Jimmie asked curiously. Rancis groaned and explained.

"When my game was first plugged in, I had an indestructible circular shield that I used to block my kart from incoming projectiles. King Candy made me take it away because he claimed it was cheating. It's been gathering dust in my closet for 15 years and I'm not afraid to use it on your pathetic ass," Rancis threatened again and walked off to find Richard. Once he found Richard's hauler, Rancis knocked softly.

"Yes?" The King asked as he answered the door, "Oh hey Rancis, what can I do for you?" Richard asked kindly.

"Well Richard, I was wondering if you could give me some instructions today if you're not busy, you know on different tracks like this one?" Rancis asked. Richard flashed his grin and chuckled.

"Of course Rancis, we got your car all fixed up from Phoenix, just hop in and we'll go driving. But this time, I'll be on top of your pit box, coaching you on your driving, okay?" Richard said to make sure Rancis understood.

"That sounds great Richard, I'm ready for it!" Rancis exclaimed and walked with Richard back to the garage area. The 10 others were working on their cars and talking to each other when Richard and Rancis entered.

"Hey guys listen up!" Richard declared, "get your cars ready, we're racing Bristol in a few!" Richard continued. The drivers closed the hoods on their cars and climbed in them to drive to pit road. Rancis made his way to his bleak and blank car and climbed in. He made his way to pit road and sat in the last position. Rancis put on his helmet and visor and got ready for Jeff's command. The engines fired soon after and Richard's voice came on over the radio. 'Okay Rancis, this is a 100 lap race, just try to keep the fenders on and log in laps to get a feel for it. Now for Bristol, the top lane is the preferred line.' Richard instructed. Rancis took it all in and prepared to race. Coming out of turn four, the flag man dropped the green flag and the race commenced.

"Let's get it on," Rancis told himself and shifted quickly from second gear, to third, to fourth. Going into turn one, Rancis hit it pretty well, he let the car go from the bottom to the top groove and got a good launch on the high side of Cale Yarborough.

'Okay good job Rancis, now don't over drive it in three!' Richard barked through the radio. Rancis got it and got around Cale with just a slight scrape to the wall, but nothing serious. 'Nice pass Rancis, just be patient and pick them off one by one.' Richard keyed in. About forty laps later, Rancis had moved from 11th to 6th by doing what Richard said, but his car's handling had gone down the toilet.

"Richard, why is my car sliding around so much? I can't control it!" Rancis said as he slid around turn four and lost sixth spot.

'YOUR GOING TOO HIGH STAY IN THE GROOVE!' Richard shouted. Rancis' car slid up into the wall and bounced off it. His car slid down into Bill Elliot's, spinning them both into the inside wall and ending their race.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Rancis shouted and threw his gloves down as his car was reset back to the garage along with Bill. "Sorry about that Bill," Rancis apologized.

"Don't worry Rancis, it was your first time here, and you tried to save it," Bill said with a smile and patted his back. Richard entered the garage with his headset around his neck.

"You did okay out there Rancis, but you gotta keep control of your car. If you want to finish first, you must first finish," Richard said.

"Well, I'm not ready to give up Richard, where are we going next?" Rancis asked. Richard flipped through his notebook and stabbed it with his finger.

"Looks like we'll be hitting Las Vegas next, hope Lady Luck's on your side," Richard chuckled. Rancis sat on top of his pit box and watched the rest of the Bristol Race which Rusty ended up winning. Richard had fixed Rancis' car and the track morphed into Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "Get out there," Richard told Rancis. Rancis climbed back in his car and studied the HUD on his car's dash board. The track was almost like Atlanta, but it had a tri-oval and not a quad-oval. About this time, Swizzle, Jubileena, Vanellope and Tony came back. Tony rapidly got in his #14 car and drove off pit road with the pack.

'Hey Flugs!' Vanellope called in through the radio. Rancis smiled and felt better that his girlfriend was there.

"Hello Nelly, I'm glad your here," Rancis replied, "I have Richard coaching me today on racing, so let's see what damage I canNOT cause," Rancis chuckled. The cars rolled off pit road and onto the track. The flagman dropped the green flag, and Rancis mashed on the gas pedal. Tony spun his tires on the inside and Rancis dropped in front of him. Since it was like Atlanta, Rancis actually moved through the field after 10 laps up to 7th! However, after lap 20 of 60, Rancis' car again started to lose its handling.

'Rancis, you need to cool down, you're over driving the corners!' Richard radioed to Rancis. He didn't know that he was over driving the corners, but it was gaining him spots so Rancis kept doing it. He entered turn one under neath Bobby Allison and his car broke loose under him and shot his car up into Bobby's, spinning them both out into the outside wall. The caution was out and Rancis and Bobby's cars were tansported back to the garage. This time, Richard wasn't too happy. "Dammit Rancis! When I tell you you're over driving the corners, that means to stop going in so hard and just take it easy until the pit stop!" Richard raised his voice.

"Okay, I got it Richard, now let's try this again, I'm not giving up that easily!" Rancis declared and helped fix his car.

(MONTAGE TIME!)

"Okay, we're gonna try Dover now Rancis," Richard said. About ten minutes later, Rancis pulled into the garage again with a beat to hell race car. Vanellope, Swizzle, and Jubileena's faces scrunched when Richard threw his notebook across the garage area. "Well, at least he's lasting a decent amount of time," Swizzle said.

A wild ride, over stony ground
Such a lust for life, the circus comes to town
We are the hungry ones, on a lightning raid
Just like a river runs, like a fire needs flame
I burn for you

"Okay, we'll try Pocono!" Richard exclaimed. Rancis lasted only one turn when he clipped the grass and spun into Jeff. Richard ripped his notebook in half and Vanellope face-palmed.

I gotta feel it in my blood whoa oh
I need your touch don't need your love whoa oh

And I want and I need
And I lust animal
And I want and I need
And I lust animal

"Indy!" Richard shouted. Again, Rancis pulled into the garage with a wrecked race car. "This can't possibly get any worse," Jubileena said.

Cry wolf, given mouth to mouth
Like a movin' heartbeat in the witching hour
I'm runnin' with the wind, a shadow in the dust
And like the drivin' rain, yeah, like the restless rust
I never sleep

"Texas!" Richard said in an annoyed tone. Rancis wrecked his car under the warm up lap when he accidentally pulled the steering wheel out of the dashboard and the car careened into the wall and bounced into Jimmie Johnson. "I stand corrected

Huh!
Ah!
Cry wolf, baby cry tough
Gonna hunt you like an, an, an, an, an, animal
Gonna take your love 'n' run

"Chicagoland, Richmond, Kentucky, Kansas, Auto Club, Homestead, Martinsville, Darlington, New Hampshire, Charlotte, Michigan!" Richard declared again and again the remaining non-road course or non-plate tracks. And as you guessed, they all ended the same.

And I want and I need
And I lust animal
Take me, tame me
Make me your animal
Show me stroke me
Let me be your animal
I want, ooh yeah, animal

As Richard threw his headset on the ground for the umpteenth time, Rancis, Vanellope, Swizzle and Jubileena sat on the pit wall of Michgan all with their fists holding their heads up. Rancis' firesuit had a few burn marks on it and his face was smudged with dirt.

"You know what the best part about this is?" Swizzle said. The others looked over to him.

"I still have Nelly as my girlfriend?" Rancis said sadly.

"No, you got all the wrecking out of the way and plus you don't have to pay for the damages," Swizzle said.

"And I don't think Richard can get any more pissed," Vanellope said as Richard threw his cowboy hat into his car.

"Well, I'm going for a drink if you guys want to come along," Rancis offered as he hopped off the pit wall. Vanellope followed him.

"Sorry Rancis, but Jubee and I want to hang out alone again," Swizzle apologized and took the first train back to GCS. As Rancis and Vanellope waited for the second train, Rancis sat on the bench and sighed sadly.

"God, I am a pathetic racer," he said to himself. Vanellope hugged him to cheer him up.

"I still love you Flugs," she said sweetly and kissed his lips.

"Thanks Nelly, but I still want to work at this, but for now, I'll buy you a drink," he said as they entered the train. Back with Richard, who gathered up his things and cooled down, was talking with David Pearson.

"Look Richard, for now, I think he needs you to take him to the toughest track and have him test there because I think he doesn't know what 'loose' and 'tight' means. He's never had to adjust his cars before now and that might be screwing with him," David explained. Richard sighed and put his cowboy hat on.

"Maybe you're right David, but I really need a drink at the bar, I'll see you guys later," Richard said as he left his friends. David studied Richard as he left and didn't expect someone to be standing behind him.

"How's Richard doing Dave?" Dale asked.

"Ah! Oh hi Dale," David said, "he's stressed out trying to teach Rancis how to drive. Richard's putting too much pressure on himself and Rancis. Basically what I told him to do is take Rancis to the toughest track and teach him one on one how to control his car and to conserve tires, otherwise, he'll never make it here," David explained as Dale leaned on the cinderblock wall of the garage.

"So you think Rancis can still do this?" Dale asked.

"Of course Dale, he did last a lot longer at every race than he did at Phoenix last night," David replied. The two looked over at Rancis' car and shuddered at the thought of Rancis racing at Talladega or Daytona.

"Well, at least he's definitely earned his stripes today. Racing doesn't come easy in a new league," Dale said. "He's on his way," Dale concluded and walked out of the garage area. David clicked his tongue, thinking. He then walked out of his garage stall to look at Rancis' car. He then looked up in realization.

END CHAPTER 10!

That was a fun chapter to write! Yeah, torturing Rancis is kinda hard for me, but that's how the story works. Next chapter, will Rancis FINALLY get a handle on a stock car, what did David find out? What does Rancis's shield mean? Tune in next time to Chapter 11! And please review since I am updating WAY more frequently than ever.