Phase I, Level 7: Turbulence
"And just what IS our ride?" Ralph asked tentatively.
"Don't choo play wit' me, foo'! I know you know what it is, even if you wanna try an' make me think ya think I don't !" Kitty replied in a huff, convinced that he knew all along and just wanted to annoy her.
"Dude! it's got surfboards on the sides!"
"Uhh… last time I rode in something like that, I nearly flattened half the characters in Game Central Station… and nearly demolished Sugar Rush!" Ralph felt the need to point out in order to justify his curiosity which Kitty had found bothersome.
"Don't worry Ralph, this model's a lot more primitive and stable than the one you swiped from Hero's Duty that time." Calhoun assured.
"I thought that was just an escape pod, honey?"
"Yes, but it was still jet powered like a normal airplane."
"We're riding in an AIRPLANE!?" Ralph panicked. Especially after that incident with the 'just an escape pod', he wanted to keep both feet planted firmly on the ground.
"What's wrong, baby boy? Scared?" Kitty teased.
"No way! I'm not scared!"
"Then prove it! Last one to the bird's a rotten egg!" Sonic challenged, and was in the plane before the others had even taken a step.
"Whoahhh… DOUBLE air-surfboard, all the way! How totally awesome!" the easily amused lifeguard called, and was quite easily the second person aboard. The rest took their time to get there, which may have had something to do with the fact they were the ones carrying all the luggage.
Kitty was the third to alight the aircraft, and she surprised the others by heading straight to the front and seating herself in the pilot's seat.
"What!? YOU'RE driving!?" Ralph exclaimed, suddenly seriously considering aborting the mission altogether.
"Gah-doi, dude, she's in the pilot's seat, t'cha." Jake interrupted, who probably also thought himself the wing-man now, judging by his seat by the window closest to the right wing, as if the seat you claimed suddenly qualified a person for the role.
"Mmhmm. Got a problem wit' 'at?" Kitty replied, challenging him with a look that said if he dared, he'd end up runway meat.
"Oo! I'm co-pilot!" Sonic exclaimed, teleporting mid-way through his declaration right next to Kitty.
"If anyone's co-piloting, it's ME, Spikey. I'm the only one here who's actually QUALIFIED to!" Calhoun asserted, picking the hedgehog up by the scruff of his neck.
"Hey! NO ONE picks up a hedgehog!" Sonic indignantly yelped, running in mid-air in a futile attempt to release himself with sheer speed alone.
"Ex-CUSE me? This is MY aircraft, and ya'll need ta SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and BUCKLE UP… 'afore I throw ya'll out an' LEAVE ya here. I'd like ta see yous find a way to complete your mission THEN!" Kitty's commanding tone and finite words got even Calhoun to follow orders and take her seat.
"It's ok, darling. We can sit together now!" Felix soothed his grumbling wife, displaying his trademark honey-glow expression as his excitement at the prospect grew. This expression soon won Calhoun over and by the time they reached proper altitude, her attitude also normalized.
With everyone in their assigned seats, they finally began the first leg of their journey. 'This is it, we're gonna find them... I'll find you, Vanellope.' Touching his minty necklace for support, Ralph closed his eyes and braced himself for takeoff.
Leaving Sour Bill and the donut cops in charge of staking out the train station for any signs of Candlehead or the Muffin Man, Vanellope led the others in a trip back to the castle, where they were to get some food, as they were all in dire need of nourishment and rest. They were about halfway there when a rumbling sound began from the palace, and rippled out in all directions. As it approached, even the ground itself seemed to flow with the ripples, and by the time it reached the group, she realized that the ground WAS moving. It trembled and shook beneath them, eliciting panicked cries from all present. The earthquake proceeded past them and continued out until it reached the very borders of Sugar Rush, destroying landscape as it proceeded.
When all was calm, Snowana was the first to speak, "Wh-what was that?"
Vanellope wasn't sure, but something felt –wrong-. Ever since she had found herself back in the train tunnel, something had felt very wrong. It may have just been her sudden loss in glitching ability, but something told her it was more than that; the feeling kept growing steadily worse. Forcing herself to keep composure and looking about her to see who else was still composed, Vanellope started issuing orders, if for no other reason than to keep them busy so they wouldn't erupt into another panic.
"Gloyd, I want you to lead the guys in a border patrol. Take your racing cars and circle out to the limits of Sugar Rush looking for any damages and abnormal activity. Minty, take Snowanna and Adorabeezle and see if the bakeries have sustained any damages; utilize any unharmed factories to start producing materials to fix the damages we find. Taffyta, you're in charge of rounding up all the candy citizens. They're going to have questions too, and we're all going to report back to the castle in 2 hours for a debriefing. Crumbelina and Jubileena, you're with me. We're going to check out the castle." The other racers nodded and dispersed to do their duties. That is, all except Taffyta, who pulled Vanellope aside.
"Why am I doing this by myself? I… I don't think I can do it!" She protested, and bit her lip to keep back sobs that were threatening to burst forth. Putting a hand on Taffyta's shoulder for reassurance, Vanellope responded, "Don't say that, Taffyta. It's because I KNOW you're capable that I didn't assign anyone to go with you. You're the strongest person I know, so I ask you to keep up a strong stance for all the citizens of Sugar Rush, because I know they all look up to you."
"Well, I know THAT!", Taffyta scoffed, her old self showing through for a moment, "But… Candlehead was always the one who looked up to me the most!" That did it. The floodgates were opened and Taffyta's mascara was running down her cheeks as she sobbed.
Vanellope's expression softened as she witnessed this, and taking pity on her, motioned to Crumbelina. "Alright, take Crumbelina with you. And don't worry, I'm sure Candlehead is perfectly fine." The president assured with a smile, even though her gut feeling told her that was most likely a lie.
As Jubileena and Vanellope walked off in the other direction to get to the castle, Jubileena asked, "Tell me honestly, Vanellope, do you think Candlehead will come back ok?"
Taking her time to respond, if only to stay composed, the crestfallen leader whispered, "I certainly hope so… but I don't have a good feeling about it; not at all."
The doctor winced as a bit of code dripped out of the pipeline and fell on his face. All things considered, the patching job was going fairly well, although the initial reconnection seemed to cause a bit of a stir when he soldered it back together. Now it was just a matter of trying to get as much data back in as he could before he finished closing it up – another bit of data leaked out and landed on his arm - that is, if he could get data to stop falling out, anyway.
Something caught his eye this time. The spot on his arm where the data had collided and been rejected had fizzled with blue zeros and ones for a second. 'Vanelleope's glitch…' he reasoned to himself. He had stolen – with every intent of returning it, of course - that bit of code from her before he sent them back to the train tunnel so that he could teleport down the busline Candlehead had got herself sucked into. Without it, he wouldn't have stood a chance of getting ahead and intercepting the data transfer like he had. If only it had been enough. With a depressed sigh, he suppressed the tears that threatened to fall yet again, and tried to get back to work instead.
'Wait…' Eyes widening as he was struck with a revelation, he dropped what he was doing and immediately rushed back to Candle's side. His hands alternated between himself and Candlehead, and after a few clock cycles, he was panting with exhaustion. "Come on, Candle… Come back to me" he pleaded, unable to stop the tears coming this time, which only obstructed his vision and inhibited his ability to work efficiently.
"Mm…" A groan sounded and the vibration felt like heaven on his hand. Eyes snapping open, he cried, "Candle! Can you hear me?!" Wiping the excess moisture from his face, he cupped her face with both hands and tried to get a further response. "Wake up, Candlehead, please!" Another groan sounded, followed by a bit of fidgeting. He was so beside himself with joy, he came close to crushing her with a hug before he caught himself and let go just as quickly as he'd latched on.
"Who…?" The first intelligible reply came.
"It's me, Dr. Muffin Man. How are you feeling, Candle? Does it hurt anywhere?"
Apparently it hurt quite bad, 'cause a whimper was her only reply.
"Alright, Miss Candlehead, just hold still and I'll try to get rid of the pain…"
"That was TOTALLY AWESOME!" Jake yelled as he disembarked from the airplane, "Yo, Sonic! Race ya to that big building over there!"
"Hah! You don't stand a chance, buster!" Sonic called, but did slow up out of courtesy for his new friend as he chased after him.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Ralph declared, green-faced and wobbly-legged.
"If that got you sick, just wait 'til our NEXT flight!" Kitty declared, laughing and giving Ralph a good slap on the back.
"Hah. Very funny..." he shot back sarcastically. Kitty wouldn't scare him so easily.
"I ain't kiddin' you, that was just the ride ta get to the regional airport here. And after that, we gonna need an international flight!"
"WHAT!?"
"Don't worry, Ralph, the larger planes are a lot more comfortable." Calhoun reassured.
"Oo, HOW comfortable?" Felix inquired, hoping that meant he and his wife could get a private room.
"Not THAT comfortable; keep your hat on." Calhoun burst his bubble mercilessly.
Once they had made their way to the airport building, Ralph discovered that there were quite a few other characters roaming about this one, rather than back at Kitty's, when they had been the only ones there. He didn't recognize any of these characters either, though he noticed that some were dressed similarly to Kitty, and also had a blue ethereal appearance.
"Are those friends of yours?" Ralph asked, pointing out a few of them to her.
"They're in the mail server business, but I don't see anyone I know right now. Regardless, I suggest you keep to yourself; never know what sort o' folk you'll run into at airports."
Not sure he wanted to risk assumption of sarcasm, Ralph decided to keep to himself, just in case. Luckily this was easy since their layover wasn't long at all, though he wasn't too keen on getting back up in the air either.
"So far, so good!" Jubileena called happily.
"All clear here!" Vanellope echoed back. She was pretty darn glad that so far, the castle proved to be in pristine condition.
"Guess that leaves the Fungeon." Jubileena mused. Not that anyone cared if anything HAD happened to the Fungeon. For a place with 'fun' in its name, it really wasn't that happening of a place. Maybe if they added some disco balls and music or something…
Unfortunately their spotless report on the castle was tarnished when they reached the Fungeon, for there was a large pit through the floor, and the circumference encompassed nearly the entire grand entryway, leaving the rest of the passageways inaccessible – which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. However, with the rest of the castle resting on this foundation, it called into question the structural soundness of such a set up.
"How deep is it?" Jubileena asked.
"Only one way to find out!" Vanellope announced, then picking up a stray piece of rock candy, chucked it into the opening and waited to hear feedback. None came.
"Maybe you should try a bigger piece?" Jubileena suggested hopefully.
Ralph was quite pleased to find Calhoun's statement to be true. This regional plane was quite cozy and spacious, all things considered – like the fact that they were all TRAPPED… in a BOX… in the AIR. By the end of this flight, he still hadn't quite gotten his 'sea legs', but was hoping that the next flight, since it was bigger than the regional, should be even more comfortable, right?
When they landed at the international airport, the only phrase he could think to describe it was "chaotic monolith". There were planes taking off and landing everywhere – and indeed, their plane had to do a few 'circles' before its turn to land, which didn't at all help his seasickness – and there wasn't just one HUGE building… there were SEVERAL. He suddenly had a lot more respect for Kitty's assistance in this mission and her overall abilities – anyone who could navigate a system like this without getting lost deserved a medal or something. He wondered how Kitty might feel about accepting a medal for her assistance – acquired by a little visit to Hero's Duty. He chuckled to himself at the mental image of Kitty circumnavigating a maze of Cy-bug eggs; with her airport navigation abilities, she just might stand a chance.
When they were finally able to disembark - which for some reason took a lot longer than at the regional airport – he was slammed with how busy it was. It was easily more crowded and confusing than 20 Grand Central stations! Every which way he looked, oodles of characters, personnel, and baggage were in his sights. The sounds, too, where overwhelming. People were all conversing, calling, and bustling; personnel were shouting over their frustrated customers; loudspeaker announcements were drowned out by the din. It was so loud, he hardly noticed when Kitty and the rest of the group had started to move off to who knows where. "Hey, wait for me!" He called, but was most likely not heard.
When Candlehead had fully come to, she was still rather disoriented and shaken up, and the Muffin Man's haggard appearance didn't aid to soothe her nerves any. He was sweating profusely now, and his breathing was noticeably labored – truth be told, he looked a little worse off than Candlehead.
Despite her own anxiety, Candle asked, "Are you ok, Mister?"
"For the time being, as good as I'll ever be. But we'll need to make good headway to get back while we're still both in relatively good shape. Once you're back in the game, your code should stabilize and you'll feel a lot better."
She looked apprehensive, however, so forcing a small smile, the doctor added, "Here, look…" And with that he scooped up a bit of code that had fallen from the bus line, rolled it in his palms a bit, then presented it to the traumatized girl.
He grinned with self-satisfaction as her pupils grew big as saucers and face beamed involuntarily as she beheld it. "It's so SHINY!" She exclaimed, snatching it at once and holding it up to admire it better. It was but a simple spoon, but probably also the shiniest piece of cutlery she'd ever see.
"I know how much you like shiny things." he chuckled, though the excess muscle motion it took ignited a fresh wave of pain. "Now let's get moving" he called.
'I don't have much time...'
True Word Count for Turbulence: 2,655
True Word Count for story thus far: 25,572