Chapter 10- The Kids are Alright
~Several Hours Ago~
The events that were taking place in the castle were unknown to those in the village. For all they knew, things were going on as normal; just sugar and sweets, and lots of treats. Nothing odd had been seen and everyone was just going about their day. The racers were at the track doing the daily roster and the other citizens were milling about, just happy to be awake for another day.
It was just the very thing the virus wanted.
It WANTED people to be unprepared for its attack, not only to prevent anyone from fighting back but because it also loved the thrill of the hunt.
Nothing satisfied it more than unprepared, unsuspecting prey.
At that moment, Swizzle and Minty had found themselves going to their usual retreat of the Chilly Cow Milkshake Bar in an attempt to take some of the edge off of what happened during the previous race. Neither one of them had slept well and they just couldn't find the energy to make it to the roster race so rather than just watching, they decided to skip the race all together. They chatted amongst themselves about their usual things but as they both predicated, their conversation quickly turned to that of what was going on during the races, especially when Vanellope was concerned.
"It's just not right!" Minty said in a gruff voice, taking a sip of her malt "First, Nelly takes to the wheel as if she's never driven before, then she starts goin' off on us an' smashin' us every chance she gets! But tha topper?! She just EXPLODES on us for no reason! Good GOB, what in the world is goin' on her?!"
"A bit of reprogramming?" Swizz joked, slouching a bit in his chair.
Minty didn't find the joke too funny as her eyes were now going into the racer like daggers, "DON'T…you DARE mention that. Ya know it's not funny!"
Swizz raised his hands in defense, "Aw, come on Mintz! Ya know I was jokin'! Maybe Nelly's just let all of this royal duty go to her head or somethin'!"
"Come on Swizz! You're supposed to be the smart one here! I know YA know that there's somethin' deeper goin' on!" Minty replied, a little shocked that Swizz was just being so LAX on the situation at hand.
"Look Minty, I just…."
"You just WHAT?" asked the mint racer, scooting a little bit too close for Swizzle's comfort.
"Look, it's just not my place to question Nelly right now. I mean, I know what she's been doin' for the past week has been INSANE but there's just somethin' about it, ya know? I just don't want to upset her more than she already is."
Minty shook her head as she crossed her arms, "Swizz, Swizz, SWIZZ. This isn't like you! If something ODD happens here, you're ALWAYS the first to try to dig in an' find out what's goin' on! What's it about this situation that gots ya all, I dunno, CHICKEN?!"
Swizz glared at Minty; he apparently did not appreciate the comment.
"I just…." The racer sighed as he looked down at his hands "Okay, I will admit. What Nelly said REALLY hit home last night. It's just that….everything she said, about US…."
Before Swizz could finish, he found himself being held in the tight grip of Minty and shaken even harder than a chocolate shake.
"SNAP OUTTA IT SWIZZLE! I DON'T NEED YA GETTIN' ALL GLOOM N' DOOM ON ME!"
"GAH! OKAY! IF YA JUST STOP SHAKIN' ME!" the racer screamed, his hat flying off his head.
Minty then let go of the boy and took her seat in front of him, "Now, what did you hafta say about Nelly bein' crazy?"
"As I said, it's something even I can't answer; this is something she's going to have to figure out HERSELF….But I will admit one thing…."
"Yeah?" Minty said, getting a little closer.
Swizz began to rub his chin, a sign that he was in deep thought "During the races, have you noticed that Vanellope has been using EVERY tactic under the sun EXCEPT for the one she's given?"
"Ya mean her glitchin' powers?"
"Yeah…I know they can only take her so far during normal game play, but still. You'd think she'd use one of her most VALUABLE assets in the game rather than just driving like she just came outta Tapper's!"
Swizz's eyes began to brighten as everything in his mind began to click. A smile formed on his face "Wait! That's IT!" he said as he leapt from his seat, almost knocking Minty out of hers.
"What's IT?!"
"It all makes sense! I've been too busy focusin' on drivin' rather than-!"
Swizzle then stopped, a look of dread coming on his face.
"Oh no…."
Minty blinked, "What? WHAT?!"
Without even thinking twice, Swizz took off for his kart, "Taffyta called me earlier about seein' Nelly this mornin'! But if I'm correct, she could be in a lot more danger than she realizes!"
"HEY! WAIT FOR ME SWIZZ!" Minty cried as she gunned off for her own kart.
The two then blasted away towards the Candy Castle but from the way Swizz was burning rubber, Minty could tell that something urgent was going on. She reeved up, pulling alongside her friend.
"Mind tellin' me what exactly is goin' on?!" Minty said over the roar of her engine.
"Yeah, we have an unwanted guest takin' up space in the castle, that's WHAT!"
"What are you talkin' about?!"
"Let's just say we got a visitor from the Cord, Mintz. An' it's one that's gonna turn this entire game into its personal buffet!"
Swizz then sped off towards the main road but despite the energy that was pumping in his mind, he knew full well that he had no idea what he was doing. He was making a charge but if the villain he and Minty were about to face was as dangerous as he feared, what chances did either one of them have against it?
These were two kids going up against a threat that could have been powerful enough to wipe out the entire game in the blink of an eye if it wanted to.
But Swizz knew why he was going ahead.
Because his friends were in danger.
Taffyta was being led astray by a monster and Vanellope was still lost and in danger.
"Hey Minty…." Swizzle said as he made a quick glance to the other racer "Ya still know this moves Zangief showed ya?"
"Yeah! Why'd ya need ta know?" Minty said, a grin forming on her face.
There was butt-kicking ahead. Minty liked butt-kicking.
"We're gonna need 'em….." Swizz replied, speeding up towards the main gate.
The two were nearly towards the castle but as they rounded the entrance, their presence on the road triggered something. As soon as their tires touched the cookie pavement, their fates were already sealed. Swizz heard a large explosion from in front of him but as hard as he looked, he could not see the source. He attempted to keep his attention on the road but as soon as he took his eyes away for a moment….
"SWIZZLE! LOOK OUT!"
Swizz looked up just in time to see what appeared to be a large grey blob heading towards him. The boy gave a cry as he made a quick turn, the mass slamming into the side of his kart. The impact was just powerful enough to send him back and onto the side road before hitting a jawbreaker formation.
"Oh CRACKERS! Swizz!" Minty said, skidding to a halt and trying to back up as fast as she could.
Back in his kart, Swizz tried his best to gather his senses from the crash, only to find that he saw two of everything in front of him.
"Okay, can't say that was my WORST crash, but still-!"
A bit of dark ooze dripped on Swizz' helmet, the boy taking notice when the sludge began to eat its way through the eye shield. He looked up, only to see what appeared to be some sort of monsters mutation of one of the cookie guards and a blob eyeing him hungrily. The boy let out a horrified scream as he fidgeted for his seatbelt but the blob was on him in a second, tearing tooth and claw to get to him. Swizz managed to kick the monstrosity in its face, pinning it between his foot and the steering wheel.
"Oh, I KNEW somethin' was up!" Swizz said, trying his best to hold off the monster.
The monster continued to growl and roar at the boy, using all the strength it possessed to push him back into the seat and pin him down with its sharp claws.
Swizz knew EXACTLY what was going on now; INFECTION.
All his fears had been correct; a virus had infiltrated Sugar Rush and somewhere in the game, it was turning anything it came into contact with into a drone.
Swizz also knew that when one was bitten by a drone, they were only doomed to become a drone themselves.
If they were that LUCKY of course.
At the moment, the cookie virus looked so furious that it was on the verge of just ripping Swizz to shreds. It had no intentions of saving him for the hive.
"D-D-D-D101010-STROY!" growled the virus, ready to plunge its teeth into Swizzle's flesh. The racer continued to kick but it was no use; he was not strong enough to fight back against the virus' new power.
WHAM!
Just when Swizz thought he was going to end up as virus food, he felt the rushing air of something coming into contact with the virus' face. The monster gave a great howl in pain as it flew back, landing somewhere in the ditch below. Swizz turned and saw Minty standing before him, a large peppermint cane in her hand.
"Yeah, thought ya might like something BETTER ta chew on!" the girl yelled, shaking her fist.
"Minty! Have I NEVER been happier to see ya take your rage out on someone else!" Swizz cried in jubilation as he finally freed himself from his mangled kart.
"Uh, ya mind tellin' me what the heck THAT was?!" Minty said, still clutching onto her candy cane.
"That was trouble and if we don't head back to the village an' warn everyone, it's gonna eat a lot more people!"
"But I thought we were gonin' inside the ca-!"
"Not anymore!" Swizz said as he hopped on the back of Minty's kart "We gotta get back to the village before more of those things show up!"
Still a little confused, Minty did the only thing she could do and hopped back into her kart and sped off. Thankfully, she drove at a steady enough pace that she didn't throw Swizz from the vehicle but once she got to the village, she wasn't stopping for anyone. She barreled down the roads, almost hitting candy citizens left and right.
"EVERYONE! THERE'S SOME MAJOR INSANITY GOIN' ON!"
Minty then stopped in front of the soda fountain though in her rush, she finally managed to fling Swizz from the back of her kart right into the middle of the fountain.
"GAH! Swizz!"
Swizz was not fazed by his sudden swim and began to climb to the top of the fountain spout.
"EVERYONE! COME HERE QUICK! IT'S AN EMERGANCY!"
Racer and citizen alike began to form around the fountain, awaiting words from Swizzle.
"Swizz, what's goin' on?!" asked Snowanna.
"Is everything alright?!" said a worried Citrusella.
"Guys! Guys! We need ta get outta here and get help! We have a virus on the lose!"
The crowd gasped; after having gone through the panic of having their leader begin kidnapped by a virus, they only dreaded the thought of one being amongst them.
"What are we supposed to do?!"
"Who's gonna help us?!"
Swizz whistled towards the crowd to get them to calm down though he too was in a great panic, "Listen! For now, the virus only seems to be centered 'round the castle but if we evacuate soon enough an' get someone from Hero's Duty ta come in here, we might be able to save everyone before all heck breaks loose!"
"Yeah, like it hasn't already!" Minty said angrily.
"Minty! At this point, it's the only thing we can do! We don't have the artillery to fight off something like this!"
Adorabezzle began to turn pale as she held her hands to her face, "Oh goodness! We were almost eaten by Cybugs! I don't wanna go through that again!"
"Beezie, we won't! We just have to-!"
Before Swizz could reply, a large explosion knocked him from the fountain and into the crowd. Being directly in the heart of the explosion, the candy people began to scream and scatter all over the place.
"W-Wait!" Swizz said as he gritted his teeth in pain, his sides hurting from falling on the ground.
"Oh SNAPS…." Snownna said as she looked towards the outskirts of the village "Seems like those viruses are arrivin' just a BIT early!"
Swizz' heart almost stopped once he saw the hoard of virus looming over the entrance of the village. He then looked off to the side and to his dismay, he found that there were large gatherings of viruses at every corner.
They had been locked in, like prey ready for the slaughter.
"Swizz, LOOK!" cried Jubileena.
To Swizzles horror, he watched as smaller viruses began to surround and attack the candy citizens, some of them being devoured on sight while others were infected and turned into drones. Despite his want to rush in and save them, he was frozen in horror.
It was like the Cybug invasion all over again.
There the kids were, looking at the face of doom yet they were unable to do anything. This time however, they were under the control of no one and they knew that somewhere out there, their leader was in danger and needed them.
Yet they were too scared to do anything.
The racers looked on, the looming viruses only getting closer and closer to them.
What else could they do?
"Er, Swizz…." whispered Rancis.
"Y-yeah?"
"This is the PERFECT time for a plan!"
Plan? WHAT plan?
Swizz' mind felt as if had been locked in place when he saw what he was up against. He already knew the strength and power of a virus first hand so what could they do?
Wait.
There was one place.
One chance.
It was a dangerous chance, but at this point it was better than nothing.
Swizz stood up on his feet, glaring at the group of viruses in front of him.
"Guys? We need ta go to our place."
Gloyd looked back at Swizz as if he were crazy, "What?! But we haven't been there for MONTHS."
"Trust me…" Swizz said, keeping his voice down "It's the only place we can go now…."
"But how are we gonna get there when we have THOSE brutes blockin' us?!" asked Minty through gritted teeth.
Swizz then took Minty by the hand, pulling her closer to him, "Burst…."
"What?!"
"BURST!"
Minty blinked but then turned to her kart which was still near the fountain. She knew exactly what the boy wanted her to do. She gave a quick nod as she began to inch her way back to her kart, knowing that the viruses were still glaring at the bunch. Swizz continued to stand in place.
"Guys, on the count of three, I need you ta head near Gingersnaps Gate!"
"But that's near the entr-!"
"Just. DO IT."
Everything was silent in the middle of the village. Viruses surrounded the area and in the heart of everything stood a small group of children, unsure of what fate was to fall on them. Minty looked at Swizz and gave another nod, her sights set on a particular button in her kart.
"One…."
Minty ducked down a bit, reaching towards her kart.
"Two…."
A virus stirred, noticing that one of the racers seemed to be missing. It began to rushes towards the cowering group.
"THREE!"
And with that, Minty leapt towards her kart and kicked one of the main buttons on the console and not a second later, a large eruption of mint dust EXPLODED from the back tail pipes.
"MINTY FRESH BURST!"
Not only had this succeeded in momentarily blinding the encroaching virus who was ready to take a bite out of Minty, it gave the kids a chance to run for their lives. Swizz lead the front of the pack but as he looked back, he noticed that someone was missing.
"H-Hey wait, a second….WHERE'S CANDLEHEAD!?"
Where indeed?
At the very moment that the village was being attacked, Candlehead sat alone in her room. The events from the previous night had hurt her so much she wasn't sure if she could really come out to talk to anyone that day.
"D-do they all think I'm stupid?" she said to herself, sitting on her bed.
So deep in sadness was the poor girl that she had not noticed the loud noises that had gone on outside her little cottage. For all she knew, they were just more fireworks or explosions from another one of Vanellope's victories. She was much too glum to see for herself.
BAM BAM BAM!
Candlehead let out a shocked cry as she nearly leapt a foot in her bed, only to stumble out a second later. She looked around, trembling a bit.
BAM BAM BAM!
The candle-headed racer looked towards her window, only to find a silhouette pressed on it. Approaching it carefully, she was shocked to find the exhausted form of Swizz, the boy desperately trying to get her attention.
"Swizzle?! Wh-what in the world are-?!"
"YA GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!"
"W-wait. WHAT?!"
"CANDLEHEAD! GET OUT!"
Candlehead bounced over to her door, opening it to take a peek at Swizz, the poor boy so out of breath it looked as if he were going to pass out right in front of her.
"Swizz, if there is something wrong, why don't you tell me?!"
Swizz slapped his forehead; he knew Candlehead MEANT well but of all the times for her to be CANDLEHEAD!
Wasting no time, the boy ran forward and grabbed onto Candlehead's hands.
"Okay, if we're not outta here in two seconds, we're-!"
Before the two had a chance to make it anywhere, they were grabbed by a huge bear claw citizen. Candlehead shrieked as she was lifted off the ground, only to fall silent once she looked into the deep maw of the virus infected citizen. She turned a bit blue in the face as an unstable grin began to form.
"Eh-heh-heh. Please tell me this is some special surprise ya guys set up an' this isn't gonna end as badly as I think!"
"NOPE. It's gonna end badly…." Swizz said, just as petrified as Candlehead.
"M-M-MASTER NEED 10101001 RACERS! We-we-we- shall BRING them!" the bear clawed growled, glitching in and out every few seconds.
"Master?! I don't know who this MASTER of yours is but you're not gonna take me to 'em!" Candlehead said, kicking her little feet in the air in a poor attempt to escape.
Swizz wasn't having any better luck; the monster was just too strong and as he could see, the other racers were making their escape like he had told them. The racer gave Candlehead a pained look, regretting that he was unable to do anything.
"C-HEAD! IF THIS IS IT, I WANNA APPOLOGIZE FOR DRAGGIN' YA OUT LIKE THIS!"
Candlehead continued to thrash, "Ya?! Apologize ta me?! There's no need for it Swizz!"
"WHAT ARE YA-!?"
Candlehead let out a rather unladylike snarl as she dug her little teeth into the bear claw's hand. The giant beast let out a painful roar as it dropped both racers onto the ground, both scrabbling hands over feet to safety. Of course, Candlehead did this all the while trying to rid her mouth of the horrible taste of the bear claw. As much as she hated to admit, she HAD bitten a few of the walking food items in her own game and even she had to admit that in their corrupted forms, they tasted HORRIBLE!
"PHHTH! Urgh, it's like metal and dirt!"
"I have never been so happy of your bottomless stomach than NOW!" Swizz said as he took the girl by the hand and tore off.
The bear claw took a quick turn and noticed that the racers were getting away. With a roar it began to lumber towards them, its gait slow due to its size. Swizz turned around, seeing the growing distance the two had between it.
"HA! Try n' catch us NOW slow-!"
"SWIZZLE!" Candlehead cried as she stopped din her tracks, pulling Swizz back with her.
The two then looked around, only to see that they were surrounded by viruses once again. Candlehead gulped, gripping onto Swizz' shoulders.
"Hate ta tell ya but I even I don't think I have the stomach ta bite 'em all!"
Swizz knew he had to come up with a plan and fast but with the way things were looking now, it seemed that his luck had run out.
BOOM!
A large explosion rang out from the distance and all eyes went to the sky, only to see some sort of large eruption coming from the rainbow bridge.
What was going on?
Before anyone could investigate further, debris from the bridge began to rain down towards the village, pelting anything that was hapless enough to be caught underneath it! Candlehead cried in fear, ducking down to prevent from getting hit but Swizz knew this was possibly their only chance! He grabbed the girl and made his way out of the crowd of viruses.
"Ya know, I've heard of close calls but now this is getting' RIDICOULOUS!" Swizz said, not even caring anymore as to what had saved them at the moment.
Candlehead turned back for a moment, looking up towards the bridge. As the smoke began to clear, a figure rose from the dust, only to be tackled again by viruses.
A flash of pink was seen as the figure continued to thrash away.
"T-Taffyta?!"
Before Candlehead could say anything else, she found herself being dragged deeper and deeper into the candy forest, Swizz still leading the charge.
"SWIZZ! I THINK I SAW TA-!"
"THIS ISN'T THE TIME, C-HEAD!" Swizz roared angrily, tearing through thick bush and vine.
Candlehead took one more look at the village that was now slowly disappearing from view; viruses swarmed the entire area, destroying everything that it came into contact with. The girl put a mouth to her hand to muffle a cry.
She couldn't believe this was happening.
When King Candy was in charge, he used to fill the racers' heads with horror stories of Vanellope destroying the game. When the evil monarch himself became the very embodiment of the monster he had warmed them against, Candlehead thought she had seen it all but there was one huge difference between that and what was happening NOW.
Back then she and the others had escaped.
She and the others had made it to the safety of the station.
Even though she knew her home was in danger, she knew that King Candy couldn't get her.
At least she HOPED he couldn't get her.
But this time? This time she was in the middle of the chaos.
She COULDN'T escape and the station felt like it was hundreds of miles away.
Now, she knew that things were truly turning into the nightmare King Candy had put in her mind but this time, it wasn't lies perpetrated by a usurper of the throne.
This was real.
"H-Here we are!" Swizz puffed as he came to a stop in front of a large peanut brittle rock.
Candlehead looked at the rock and instantly knew what to do. She pushed the formation in, though with a bit of trouble. An entrance then appeared and after making sure they hadn't been followed, both racers dove in.
They slid down a hard-candy caramel slide only to end up landing on a soft marshmallow pad and no sooner had both racers landed than they were greeted by their relieved friends.
"CANDLEHEAD!" Jubileena cried as she ran towards the racer, hugging her tightly "We were scared those horrible creatures got you!"
"Nah! C-Butt was just too slick for 'em!" Swizz said with a laugh, trying his best to ease the tension.
"W-Well, we're all here but….but now what?" Sakura asked nervously, shaking a bit in her boots.
"Th-there's nothing we CAN do except wait for the time to go for help…." Swizz said in a grave tone, unsure when such an opportunity would arise.
"Are ya kiddin'!? Those viruses are EVERYWHERE an' by the time we CAN get out, it might be too late!" Gloyd yelled angrily, taking Swizz by the collar of his shirt.
"Hey, hey, hey! We have enough problems with those monsters up there! We don't need any more fightin' down here!" Minty said as she broke the two up.
"A-as much as I hate to say it, I agree with Gloyd…" Adorabezzle piped in nervously "Without any means of communication to ANYONE outside the game, how can we hope of getting any kind of help?!"
Swizz prepared to say something to comfort the obviously frightened racer but before he could utter one word, Candlehead jumped in.
"Taffyta is goin' for help!"
The entire group of racers gasped in shock at the revelation; Taffyta was going for help?
"Wait, Taffyta's been at the castle all day! How did she manage to-?!"
"I saw her Swizz!" Candlehead said, grabbing onto the racer's collar in a burst of excitement "I saw her on the bridge! She was fightin' off a'buncha viruses but it looked like she was about ta escape an'-!"
Candlehead stopped, looking down at the floor as all of the excitement seemed to drain from her.
"An'?! AN'?! Don't leave us like this girlie!" Snowanna said, her hands clasped together.
"I saw her getting' jumped…."
Silence fell on all the racers; Taffyta had been attacked? What did this mean now? For all they knew, she could have been infected or even eaten.
"Aw man….ya think she made it out?" Sticky said, shaking her head.
"S-she had ta have made it out!" Candlehead said, looking a bit angry although the group could see tears forming in her eyes "We all know Taffy! She never gives up when a challenge comes her way!"
"Yeah, but this CHALLENGE came in the form of bit-eatin' viruses…." Swizz said, sitting down on a rock candy formation, the color draining from him.
Sakura sniffed a bit, wiping her tears on the edge of her sleeves, "First Vanellope! Now Taffyta! Are we to be picked off one by one here?!"
"N-NOW COME ON GUYS!" Candlehead yelled, much to the shock of the others "W-we can't give up hope now! I believe that Taffy made it out! Can't we at least hold that much hope for her?!"
The others looked at Candlehead, surprised to see the racer they considered an air-head to be so serious, though by now her eyes were full of tears and they were rolling down her cheeks. After a few moments, the racer couldn't take it anymore and broke down, going to her knees as she wept bitterly. Minty quickly scooped her friend in a hug and held her tightly.
"C'mon, it's okay C-Butt."
"N-No its not! W-what if Taffy didn't make it?!" wept Candlehead.
"Then….then it's up to us…." Swizz said.
"Yeah, but what can we do? It's not like we're armed of anything!" replied Jubileena.
"Come on guys! Are ya tellin' me that you're not up for a little action here! I mean, yeah, we're kids but we're not WEAK kids! Vanellope is depending' on us here!"
The racers murmured amongst themselves but they knew that Swizzle was right; they couldn't just stay in their hiding spot forever.
"Right now, it's best to wait until nightfall ta do any sort of attack which leaves us with a few hours ta plan out attack!" the twisted racer said as he gathered his friends closer.
"Do you really think this plan will work?" asked Rancis, wringing his hands nervously.
Swizz looked down at his feet before looking back up at his friends again. He wasn't too sure himself if the group could take on the ever increasing number of viruses but at this point, they had to. He gave the peanut butter racer a serious look.
"It's tha only thing we can do now bud….an' for Vanellope and Taffyta, I'm willing to take a risk!"