The Nightmares and the Sugar Rush Racers headed through the town and towards the Horror Acropolis, where Vanellope and Penelope awaited them. The two leaders were standing at the steps of the castle, staring at the dozens of racers and candy fans arriving.
Soon enough, the racers and fans came to a halt in front of the president and queen.
Rancis pushed his way past the crowd. "Vanellope, could you explain why we're here?" He asked. "This better be important if you called nearly every racer to the castle."
"I'm your president, so don't smart-mouth me," Vanellope warned. "And besides, this is VERY important, especially to you."
"What are you talking about?" Rancis asked, folding his arms. "What do I have to do with any of this."
"Remember your…brother, Peterbelly Reese?" Vanellope asked. Rancis' eyes widened.
"Of course I remember him," He said uneasily. He didn't like being reminded about it, though.
"You know, you and him were brothers of Creamy Buttercap until she got envious of your popularity and bumped off your brother at Ralph's game," Vanellope explained.
Rancis narrowed his eyes. "I'd like to be spared memories of that, do you mind?" He said, somewhat offended.
Adorabeezle walked next to Rancis. "Vanellope, this isn't the right time," She said. "You know how he gets reminded about his brother and sister."
"Don't worry, I have…um, news concerning Peterbelly's demise," Vanellope explained.
"And what do we have to know about Peterbelly's death that we don't know already?" Rancis asked, aggravated. "I was there when he got killed, remember?"
"Well, uh, that's the thing," Vanellope said, twiddling her fingers. "Peterbelly-"
All of a sudden, the doors burst open, and a small brown-haired boy with a black jacket and blazer appeared. Rancis' eyes widened in shock when he saw him.
"-Isn't dead." Vanellope finished solemnly.
The brown-haired boy stared down at Rancis in shock, and he whispered to himself, "Oh my mod."
Rancis' jaw hit the floor. Candlehead nearly pissed herself. Taffyta rubbed her forehead. Swizzle spat out some juice he was drinking.
"What the fudge!" Rancis shouted when he saw the boy, recognizing him instantly.
It was none other than Peterbelly Reese, Rancis' supposedly dead recolor.
Silence omitted through the town. All eyes were locked on Peterbelly as he stared down at the other racers, especially Rancis. It was like time had stopped; no one was moving at all.
Finally, Peterbelly himself broke the silence.
"This is, uh, awkward," Was all he managed to get out. Instantly, all the Sugar Rush Racers flung themselves up the stairs, tackling a shocked Peterbelly to the ground. Penelope jumped a bit, but then saw they were all hugging him.
"I thought you were dead!" Rancis said as he hugged his brother. "Wait a minute, how are you NOT dead?!"
Peterbelly didn't answer. He was too busy being crushed by all the racers. Vanellope gestured for all the racers to move off of him.
Peterbelly gasped as he tried to regain his breath. He breathed heavily and got to his feet.
"This is-this is a long story," He said. "But all you need to know is-it's very complicated."
"You fudging DIED!" Adorabeezle screamed. "And now you're all alive and stuff! At this rate, I think we can handle a little more complicatedness!"
"…Okay, you have a good point," Peterbelly mumbled. "I mean, you all think I'm dead for about 15 years and then all of a sudden, BOOM! I'm alive in front of all of you!"
"Just explain!" Rancis shouted, shaking in anticipation. "This is-I don't know what to think now! Explain why you're alive!"
Peterbelly sighed. "Okay, if you really want to know," He said casually. "Well, there we were in Fix-It Felix, Jr., when Creamy tried to assassinate me. You were trying to stop her, I was trying to avoid any deaths, Creamy was trying to cause deaths."
"We were there!" Swizzle reminded, flailing his arms around. "We just want to know why you are alive. You got-"
"-Speared in the chest by Creamy's knife," Peterbelly interrupted. "It wasn't a very good moment for me. I mean, do you have any idea how painful it is, getting stabbed like that?"
"Well, Adorabeezle sure knows," Crumbelina said, referring to Adorabeezle's temporary death at Creamy's hands months ago. Nougetsia smacked Crumbelina in the face in response.
"Well, anyways, it was painful, and excruciating," Peterbelly explained. "But…it wasn't necessarily fatal."
"You got stabbed in the fudging chest!" Rancis shouted. "How is that not fatal?"
"The knife didn't quite get so far into me that it impaled my code," Peterbelly said. "I was stabbed, but I was still alive. I fell into unconsciousness."
"We took Creamy away," Rancis explained. "We wanted to take you as well, but that handyman said something about trying to 'fix you' or something, so we left you."
"Well, I was unconscious, so I'm not sure exactly how that went," Peterbelly said. "I guess because I was, well, unconscious, they thought he failed at fixing me and wrote me off as deceased."
"Then what happened?" Jubileena asked, intrigued.
"I woke up in some room," Peterbelly said. "Of course, I had to get back to Sugar Rush, so I left the game and went off through Game Central Station and back to Sugar Rush."
"And then what?" Rancis asked. "Why didn't you return to our house?"
"I was kind of nauseated and confused," Peterbelly said. "After all, I did get stabbed and was out cold for who knows how long."
"That sounds stupid," Taffyta scoffed.
"Well, Sugar Rush is a big place. I didn't know where I was going, and I somehow stumbled into the Candy-Tree Forest," Peterbelly explained.
"And then you got into Horror Rush," Rancis correctly guessed. Peterbelly nodded.
"The Nightmares found me," Peterbelly explained. "Their ruler, Penelope von Sweets, had the doctors heal my wounds. During my stay, I actually got a little used to Horror Rush. It was an alright place."
"But why didn't you come back?" Rancis asked, somewhat irritated.
"I was tempted to dozens of times," Peterbelly said. "I mean, I had been in the Sugar Rush Kingdom for months. But, I kept convincing myself I would stay in Horror Rush for a little bit longer then return to the Sugar Rush Kingdom. Unfortunately, I guess I lost track of time."
"It was fifteen years!" Rancis screamed at Peterbelly. "You didn't feel like coming to me and saying 'hey, I'm not dead'."
"Well, uh…" Peterbelly mumbled.
"Do you have any idea how traumatized I was?" Rancis shouted. "I spent years thinking you were dead! Do you know what that's like?"
"I didn't think of it like that," Peterbelly mumbled.
"I was driven into self-harm a few times!" Rancis continued. "I blamed myself for your supposed death! On several different occasions, I contemplated suicide if it meant getting to see you again!"
"Well, you got to see me again," Peterbelly said, shrugging. Rancis threw back his head and shouted as Vanellope and Candlehead struggled to comfort him.
Penelope stepped in. "Hey, Peterbelly liked it here in Horror Rush," She sneered, standing next to Peterbelly. "Can you blame him for preferring this place to yours?"
"Um, Penny, I don't think you're helping," Peterbelly warned. Penelope ignored him, however.
"Peterbelly stayed because he wanted to stay," Penelope snapped at Rancis, who was seething in anger. "Besides, you never checked back at that fixing game to see if he was alive or not."
"What the-what are you getting at?" Rancis said.
Penelope got into his face. "You just assumed he was dead and that was it. You never asked if he survived or something. Surely you would have tried asking those other game characters if he was truly dead."
"They never told us!" Rancis defended.
"All I see is a boy getting mad over nothing," Penelope sneered. "He spends years moping about his brother supposedly dying, but when he sees he's alive, he's suddenly all angry at him instead of rejoicing that he's alive at all! What does that tell me about you?"
Rancis' eye twitched and he clenched his knuckles. Penelope breathed heavily as she stared with a triumphant expression on her face. The Sugar Rush Racers and Nightmares stepped away, nervous at what might happen next.
Before either of the two could react, however, one of Mindy's candy fans came running towards the Nightmare Queen.
"Your Highness, danger has been detected!" She shouted.
"Thank mod, an interruption," Peterbelly said, sighing in relief.
"What is it, Cindy?" Penelope asked the fan. "She has a name?" Minty asked in disbelief.
"It's…them," Cindy explained to the Nightmare Queen. "They're coming back to Horror Rush."
For the first time, Vanellope saw a glint of fear in Penelope's eyes. Forgetting about her confrontation with Rancis, Penelope ushered for all the racers and citizens towards the Horror Acropolis.
"Come on, get in, get in!" She shouted in a panic as the Nightmares and candy fans bolted towards the Horror Acropolis in a wild craze.
The Sugar Rush Racers stood there in confusion. "What is this?" Vanellope asked. "Who's them?"
Peterbelly, who was following the Nightmares towards the door, stopped and turned to face Vanellope.
"The Nightmare Scrappies," Was all he said before he sprinted through the door.
Vanellope's eyes widened in shock. "Nightmare…Scrappies?" She whispered in horror. Then, she heard a hissing sound coming from in the forest. She and the other Sugar Rush Racers turned around, shaking in fear, to see the source of the hiss.
And then they saw them.
Dozens of glowing red eyes, peering from inside the dark forest. Glowing red eyes staring right at them.
A/M: End of chapter ten. Please review.