The roaring of King Candy's kart engine swallowed out the synchronized sound of Citrusella's and Sour Bill's screaming to the point where either of them couldn't be positive they were screaming at all. Her white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel never once faltered as she reflexively steered the kart left and right, avoiding trees and jawbreaker boulders.

She quickly spared a glance at the floor to see Sour Bill attempting to regain his footing but failing due to the violent vibrations of the kart, his eyes wide and swimming with fear. She looked to the right and saw row after row of the candy grandstands, all themed after a specific racer, all empty and desolate. The Royal Raceway on the other side of the stands.

Color after bright color zoomed by her at the speed of light. Swizzles', Rancis', Adorabeezles', and Taffyta's fan stands quickly past her, the popcorn box archway approaching on her right side, the same popcorn box that both King Candy and Vanellope would erupt from and announce the start of the Random Roster Race every night.

Not knowing what else to do, she cautiously turned right and sped under the arch, practically exploding out the other side. She turned right again to face the starting line which was still multiple yards in front of her, causing her to severely fishtail and lose control of the kart for about a fraction of a second before regaining control, now speeding to the starting line.

She worriedly peeked down to Sour Bill, who had given up at trying to stand and was lying face down with his eyes clamped shut and limbs sprawled outwards, and shouted.

"Sour Bill! Push the brakes!" Whether Sour Bill couldn't hear her over the deafening roar of the engine or if he was just choosing to ignore her due to his current horrified state she wasn't sure. She nudged him with her foot. He forced his eyes open and he looked up. "The brakes!" She repeated. His eyes darted from her to the brakes then back to her. His eyes widened in realization.

He set his gaze towards the brake pedal, gulped, and then reached one tiny hand forward to pull himself towards it with the floor still vibrating uncontrollably under his small body, creating multiple clicking sounds against his hard candy body.

After a cautious eternity, Sour Bill made it to the brake pedal, rose shakily to his feet, then propelled his tiny mass into it.

The pedal fought against him. The pressure of the pedal wanting to push him backwards rather than the other way around. He pushed for all he was worth, but only succeeded in bringing the kart to a bone-jarring halt sporadically before it sped forward to the starting line, whipping Citrusella's head forward in back.

She looked down at Sour Bill and saw him ramming himself into the pedal. Had the circumstances been less horrifying, the sight would have been humorous. It was like watching a live pinball game. Instead, she rolled her eyes. "Oh for the love of," she stomped her foot down onto Sour Bill, pushing him forward and into the pedal. He gave a sharp yelp of surprise as he was being crushed by her foot.

The plan didn't exactly happen as Citrusella was hoping.

Her original plan was to slow the kart down to the point where she and Sour Bill could safely jump and roll out of the runaway kart, but no such success was awarded.

Rather, because of the stuck gearshift, the kart was fighting in an invisible game of tug-of-war. The combined weight of Citrusella's foot and Sour Bill pushing down on the brake pedal fighting against the kart itself, wanting to break free from their control, like a bull waiting for the gates to open.

Citrusella clamped her eyes shut and pulled her body backwards, still hanging onto the wheel in a petty attempt to bodily bring the kart to a stop. The kart however did slow down. The rear wheels were spinning wildly, screeching loudly and sending a cloud of cocoa dust into the air. She thought she could hear Sour Bill mumble something to her, but couldn't exactly make it out due to his face being unceremoniously shoved into the brake pedal combined with the roaring engine and the screeching tires.

The steering wheel jerked left and right, the tires fighting against her iron grip.

Mercifully, the kart did slow to a safe speed to bail out. The only problem was the moment she jumped out, she wouldn't have any time to get Sour Bill out too.

She pushed harder on the pedal, not even realizing she was holding her breath. The screeching grew louder, the smell of burning rubber permeating the air around her.

Slow down you stupid,

SNAP!

"GAH!"

Her heart plummeted and skipped a beat simultaneously as she lost her footing on the brake pedal (and Sour Bill), a loud snap was heard and the pedal fell to the floor, as did Sour Bill, who went rolling back on the floor. Citrusella's head whiplashed backward as the kart shot forward again at full speed, sending Sour Bill flying back and landing between her feet.

The kart rocketed over the starting line.

She ignored Sour Bill's wide, angry eyes and his cries of protest as another turn came up ahead. She sharply banked left and exited the racetrack.

Meanwhile,

"Just hold still you big baby!"

Rancis and Taffyta were just about to lose what little patience that they had left after the days' events. Now they had to put up with the grouchy guy whining as they so nicely offered to rinse both him and Don off after they fell into the taffy pond, leaving them covered head to toe in the purple, sticky substance.

"Well, stop touching me then! I can get this off myself!" Deanna and Mary made several tsk noises and shook their heads, but couldn't hide the amused smirks that were growing on their faces.

"Stop laughing at us you two! We're like this because we're the only ones actually trying to find them!" Taffyta rested her knuckles on her hips. "Hey, I've been helping too. Besides, you guys look good in purple." Gene scowled at her. "Well, I don't remember asking for your opinion, Pretty in Pink! Hey! Watch where you're rinsing!" He shouted at Rancis.

Rancis stood back up from behind and sighed. "Alright, I think that's all we can do by ourselves. Gloyd, you can stop now."

The boy dressed in orange sighed and stepped away from Don, flicking his hands rapidly, purple taffy flying from them. Gene straightened out his slightly stained suit. "Hmph, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't know how you kids can stand living here."

Gloyd shrugged. "This is a racing game. We don't usually have any need to come back here that often. These trees are just for decoration. Besides, Rancis told you guys not to touch the double stripes." Don refitted his sailor hat. "Well, in our defense, we couldn't exactly hear you guys from all the way up there."

Rancis shooed off their conversation. "Sorry, whatever, but did you guys see them or anything?" Don shook his head. "Sorry, son. We didn't find Ralph or your friend." Rancis' shoulders dropped and a look of disappointment and frustration fell on his face. "Are you sure you got a good look? You did fall before you got to the top. Maybe you could climb back up again."

Gene, having overheard the two of them talking, decided to voice his opinion . . . again. "Oh no, Pretty Boy! We are not going back up there again! You heard the man, we didn't see them, that's it! Simple as that!"

Rancis, not looking to pick up an argument with the small man again, sighed and wiped his hand down his face. "Alright, fine. Come on guys, let's keep looking."

Everyone's eyes shot wide open.

"What? You still want to keep going?" Asked a perplexed Gloyd. "Look dude, I wanna find these two just as much as you do, but we've been at this all day and haven't so much as found a clue to where they went. Don't you think we should call it a day and try again tomorrow?"

Rancis eyed his friend in what resembled confusion and disbelief. "Call it a day?" He repeated. "Call it a day?" Everyone backed up at the tone of Rancis' growing voice.

"Have you guys already forgotten the whole reason we were on this search in the first place? To find our president! Because without her, our game isn't going to be played as often, maybe even at all! And you know what that means, right? We've earned ourselves a one way ticket to Unplugged Boulevard! But hey, our game would still at least last a little while, your games won't last a full week before being unplugged if we don't find Ralph and the other guy! And you still want to give up? What is wrong with all of you?"

He was given no response. Instead, he was met with hung open jaws mixed with shameful downward glances from Gloyd, Mary, Deanna, Candlehead (who may be just gazing down out of oblivious interests or just wrapped up in utter and pure indifference), and even Taffyta, with her hands folded in front of her and eyes darting up and down between a jawbreaker stone and Rancis' scathing glare.

Rancis, with his hands held out in front of him as if awaiting for an acceptable and plausible excuse from his search party, finally shook his head in frustration and resentment, and sighed. "You know what? Whatever. Fine. Just forget it. Do what you guys want. I'm going to find my president."

With that, Rancis spun on his heel, turned his back to the colorful assortment of racers and eight-bit midgets, and marched. He didn't make it a full five paces until the sound of a faint go-kart engine reached his and the others' ears.

Candlehead perked her candled-head up with wide, curious eyes. "Um, am I the only one who hears that?"

The roaring engine grew louder and louder, the strangely familiar smell of graham crackers reaching the groups noses.

Rancis furrowed his eyebrows and turned around. "Is that a, a kart?"

As if on cue, a glittery white go kart erupted from the shadows. Gene, Taffyta, Gloyd, Deanna, Mary and Candlehead yelped in perfect unison and dove in separate directions, leaving just enough room for the kart to pass through.

Rancis' heart skipped a beat and his eyes nearly popped clean out of his head. He stepped to the right as the kart sped by him. His breath caught in his throat once he was given a clear view as to who it was.

Time seemed to slow down to the point of perfect, unnoticeable motionlessness as Citrusella's blue pigtails were blowing behind her as if they were in a wind tunnel. Her hands were wrapped so tight around the steering wheel they might as well have been glued on. A look of absolute horror and dread was melded onto her face with a wide open mouth which may be screaming, but was not audible over the kart's engine. In spite of himself and of the sporadic event that had unfolded before them, his face twisted from surprise to confusion as he figured out exactly whose kart she was driving.

In the blink of an eye, time worked back up to its original speed. Citrusella, driving King Candy's kart rounded a corner and sped down an aisle of more candy cane trees, leaving a cloud of cocoa dust lingering in the air, causing Rancis to cough uncontrollably.

The others ran up to his side. "Was that Citrusella?" Gloyd asked.

"Why in the name of Wonka was she driving King Candy's kart?" Taffyta added, her eyes wide as well.

Rancis caught his breath and glanced back to the direction of the fleeing kart.

"She's heading for Diet Cola Mountain! Come on! Let's go!"

Meanwhile,

"CaAaAaAaaaan't y-y-ooooUUU St-st-o-o-o-p thiiiiiiis thiIiIiIng?!" Sour Bill cried out, the uneven terrain of the forest floor causing him to stutter and skip obnoxiously.

Citrusella looked down to him. "I've tried! I can't! Now unless you have anything actually helpful to say, shut up and let me think!" Sour Bill instantly silenced himself, partly due to the bumpy road throwing off his speech pattern, but also allowing the panicked racer a moment to collect herself and create any sort of plan that would save their skins.

Before any sort of rational thought could be formed in her mind, the kart gave a sudden jolt, lifting Citrusella a few inches off of the seat before landing back hard onto it, the same having happened to Spur Bill on the floor. Her head was spinning, her eyes unable to focus on the terrain in front of her.

With a shake of her head, she regained her sight and puckered her lips in confusion.

It seems that quick jolt was a complete change in scenery. Instead of candy cane tree after candy cane tree coming into her field of view, the trees were replaced with gumdrops of all shapes and sizes and colors. She twisted her head back and saw the last remaining trees of the forest fading from her view. She turned forward and saw a path of chocolate road created by two rows of gumdrops.

At this point, Citrusella was doing, not thinking. On instinct, she twisted the wheel to the right, cautious as to not flip the kart in the process. Much to her horror, the two right wheels rose off of the ground, causing the kart to list dangerously on its side.

With the strength she could muster, she pushed the wheels back down onto the ground and was now speeding down the off-road path with gumdrops surrounding her on all sides.

Then, something miraculously popped into her vision.

How she hadn't noticed before, she wasn't at all sure. No way could she even begin to fathom how something so colossal and massive that it was almost painfully obvious even escape her line of sight.

She was speeding straight for Diet Cola Mountain.

Sour Bill, still trying to regain his balance, noticed her wide-eyed, horror filled expression. Even though he was bouncing and rolling aimlessly and uncontrollably, he was still able to make out her quivering jaw.

"Citrusella! What's the matter?"

"Um . . . Uh . . ."

She attempted to speak, but the words were lost in her breath before she could even think about speaking.

Her grip on the steering wheel grew miraculously tighter.

The broad side of the mountain drew closer and closer.

She wanted to swerve in any direction but was stopped by two factors: the fact that if she were to jerk the wheel too hard, they would no doubt flip. And the fact that they would run into a stray gumdrop and crash or flip and whatnot didn't help her case either.

Her heart was beating so hard and fast, it almost physically threatened to jump straight out of her chest and run away. They entered the shadow of the mountain, its threatening and graceful stature dominated over them, like a boot right before squashing an insignificant bug.

She returned her gaze to the rapidly approaching base of the mountain. In spite of everything, in spite of the dire situation unfurling right before them, she couldn't help but squint her eyes in confusion at the strange formation right in front of them.

Touching the base of the mountain appeared to be two lollipops, their sticks bending and crossing over one another and created an almost subtle arch, leaving a space cleared directly under it, almost as if it served as some sort of invisible entrance.

Her inquisitive thoughts were cut short as the sputtering of the engine once again snapped her back into reality and she fully realized the full weight of the situation.

They were now on a direct collision course with the mountain.

The base drew closer . . .

Closer . . .

She closed her eyes.

She screamed.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

FZZZBBBTTT

Rather than the bone jarring impact that she was anticipating, she was met with a wave of sudden warmth and humidity. The smell of burning chocolate reached both of their noses.

Her eyes opened.

"Huh? Whoa!"

She had not a moment to spare to gape at the sudden and drastic change of scenery. The bright and colorful world of Sugar Rush, now a dark, warm and unsettling enclosure with sharp chocolate stalactites and stalagmites on the floor and ceiling. Much like the path on the outside, this secluded area had a path that lead straight and rounded a corner where light was flickering rapidly.

"Citrusella! What, what's happened?" She looked down to see Sour Bill, his look of horror replaced with one of curiosity and anxiousness. She twisted her head left and right. Again, no words found their way to her lips. As she grew closer and closer to the corner, the humidity grew to a near boiling point. A single bead of sweat permeated on her brow.

The flickering light grew brighter.

The corner approached. She turned left. To her amazement and relief, the karts' wheels stayed planted on the ground.

Then her jaw dropped.

What opened up before her was a sight she could not have prepared herself for even if she tried. The source of the heat and the light was coming from a lake.

A round lake at least a hundred feet in diameter was lying right in front of her, filled to the brim with a broiling liquid that was colored with a sickly mixture of yellow and orange. It fizzed and bubbled and popped violently.

With a shriek of surprise, Citrusella steered the kart to the left to avoid falling into the lake. The kart sharply banked in the direction she willed it to, sending Sour Bill flying to the side once again, hitting the side of the kart with a frightening impact.

The kart sped forward again, approaching a hill. It climbed the hill with ease, until she crashed into a barrier that seemed to have just jumped up from out of nowhere. She tore through the road barrier like it was made of paper, bits of blue metal flew in every direction. Citrusella sharply turned right to avoid crashing into a wall. The kart straightened out and sped onward. It didn't take her long to realize that they were on another road.

She continued forward, sending another cloud of chocolate dust flying behind them as she did. The new road bent into a slight curve to the right. She followed it and the terrain beneath the wheels once again shifted. It switched from smooth and steady to bumpy and rickety.

She looked forward and saw that the new road was constructed out of long, pink, rectangular wafers. She followed the road with her eyes and nearly had a heart attack after she laid her eyes on what was awaiting in front of them.

The wafer path continued forward before slanting up into a rapid ascent. She realized that this structure was being held up entirely by large pretzel sticks. The wafer path was supposed to create a bridge over the lake of boiling liquid so the player could safely drive over and continue onto the other side of the track.

Supposed to.

On the other side of the lake was the remaining part of the bridge with its own continuing path of pink wafers. But where the actual bridge was supposed to be, there was no bridge.

A freakishly large gap was in between the continuing section of the track.

For the umpteenth time that day, Citrusella's jaw dropped.

With no other alternative in sight, she reached a conclusion.

Citrusella let go of the wheel, bent down, scooped up Sour Bill into her arms, and stood up on the seat. Sour Bill's eyes widened. "What, what are you doing?!" He wailed. He turned and saw the gap rapidly approaching. Before he could scream, Citrusella climbed up on the crown cutout back section of the kart and managed to slip into a sitting position, her other arm resting on the tip of the crown for support.

With the wind blowing her hair wildly and the unnerving thought of the plunge into the extremely hot lake presently burned into her mind, she shook her head, closed her eyes, and slid off the back.

She hit the wafer floor feet first. The speed she was traveling at swept her feet from under her and she tumbled head over heels backwards, tucking Sour Bill close to herself instinctively. In the process of tumbling uncontrollably, she managed to catch a glimpse of the glittery white candy kart fly off the edge and out of her view.

She grunted and yelped as she made contact with the ground. Finally, the surface beneath her disappeared.

Acting purely out of desperation and instinct, she reached her hand out.

With a combination of luck and mercy, her hand gripped the outside edge of the wafer. She felt her arm strain under the pressure of having to support her entire weight as she swayed forward and backward, dangling helplessly over the lake. She looked down and barely saw King Candy's kart finally land in the lake with a loud PLOP.

It sent up a small, thick splash of hot liquid and bobbed for a few moments before sinking nose first in the lake. The white exterior dissolved like paint and spread across the lake's surface like an oil spill. The white, paint-like liquid lingered for a few moments before vanishing completely with a hiss.

Citrusella watched as King Candy's kart finally disappeared under the lake.

HHSSSS

They looked at the spot where his kart had been for a moment longer in complete, awestruck silence.

Ignoring the searing hot pain in her arm as she hung there like a ragdoll precariously over the broiling hot lake, Citrusella swallowed.

"Oops."

Meanwhile,

"Citrusella!"

"Citrusella! The brakes! Hit the brakes!"

"Come on, girl! Get out of that kart so we can go back to our game!"

"Olly olly oxen free!"

Rancis, Taffyta, Gloyd, Candlehead, Gene, Mary, Don and Deanna ran as fast as their legs could carry them, shouting at the top of their lungs until their throats were sore knowing full well that there was no way that the blueberry themed racer would be able to hear them from that great distance and over the sound of the kart's engine. They knew their attempts to communicate with her were all but futile, but found no better alternative.

The eight of them passed the last row of candy cane trees and were met with a field of gumdrops, Diet Cola Mountain now sitting in plain sight.

"Come on . . . She went this way!" Rancis panted, following the fading sound of King Candy's kart as well as the tire marks left in the ground.

Gloyd, panting heavily and resting his hand on his chest, began falling back behind the Nicelanders. Taffyta turned and narrowed her eyes in his direction as she continued running behind Rancis. "Come on, Gloyd! Hurry it up!"

The group was now over half way to the base of the mountain, Rancis was still ahead of the pack, ignoring the searing pain in his lungs and the stabbing pain in his feet as he continued onward.

They each entered the shadow of the mountain, passed the last corner of gumdrops and found . . .

Nothing.

Rancis, Taffyta, Gene and everyone else except for Gloyd, who was still trailing behind, stopped dead in their tracks as they looked at nothing but the empty wall at the base of the mountain.

Rancis furrowed his brow in confusion, trying to find the words that could even remotely describe the perplexed state his mind was in right now. Suddenly, the panting of Gloyd brought him back into reality as he finally caught up with the group. Once he finally caught his breath, he looked up and silenced his gasping breaths and took on the groups' confused persona.

"But, but, I saw her! She went this way!" Rancis had his hand outstretched forward, gesturing toward the spot where he had predicted Citrusella would be. Gene hmphed in frustration. "Well, if she came in this direction, she must be around here somewhere. Let's spread out and keep looking."

Rancis and the group nodded in agreement and dispersed, looking behind gumdrops and sugar-free lollipop trees, except for Gloyd, who had his hand perched on a green gumdrop, still struggling to catch his long lost breath. Once he saw the group break up and begin searching the area, he let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his face tiredly.

"Oh come on!" He let go of the gumdrop and stood up straight, leaning his neck back. "Just who exactly are we looking for, now? First we're looking for Vanellope and that bug guy, now for Citrusella? Can't we just sit down for a bit?"

He began walking to the base of the mountain with his hands in his pockets. He turned his back to the wall and leaned back.

"We've been at this for hours! Besides, even if she crashed, she'll just regenerate, right? So why not just take a breather?"

He leaned back on the wall.

"WhaaaAAAAAA!"

FFZZZBBBTTT

Rancis stood up from behind the red gumdrop he was searching behind and looked at the spot where his friend once was. "Gloyd? Gloyd? Where'd you go?"

The rest of the group stopped what they were doing and looked over at the empty base of the mountain. "Now where did that trouble maker get off to?" Rancis looked unappreciatively over at Gene.

FZZZBBTTT

Rancis and Taffyta flinched at the strange sound. They looked over to the wall and found . . .

"Guys! Guys! You gotta check this out!"

No one could describe exactly what it was they were looking at. The upper half of Gloyd's body was sticking out of the wall, a ghostly white, pixelated circle was surrounding his waist, and a small, blue three by three grid appeared in the wall at the center where Gloyd was standing. He looked at them confusedly. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Come on in!"

He vanished in the wall.

Rancis and Taffyta turned toward each other, shrugged, and walked over to the wall with everyone else following.

Before any of them knew it, they were standing in a large, warm room.

"Hm, I don't recognize this place," Candlehead inquired.

"That's because the race track doesn't go past here." Taffyta explained.

"Well, whatever the case, we've got a new place to look. Alright everybody, let's"

"Rancis? Taffyta? Is that you?"

Rancis stopped in midsentence at the sound of the new voice. He turned and his heart nearly sank.

Beyond a corner, a strange, bright light was flickering. Two shadows, both large, but one significantly larger than the other, became noticeable. The two shadows became smaller, and smaller, footsteps and multiple clicking noises were heard.

The shadows began shrinking and their shapes became more and more definitive. One was taller, had a very round head, and two pigtails on both sides of its head. The other was small, very small, and round.

They rounded the corner. Rancis gasped.

"Citrusella?"

"Sour Bill?" Taffyta added.

"Hey guys," she waved shyly. "Look what we found. Heheh."