Rancis' Sticky Situation

Rancis was a boy of pride and fine things. If he wasn't showing off on the track he was showing off some other things.

His new game, his new book, his new anything.

If he got it, he would always flaunt it but if there was ONE good thing about.

"Play with it all you want!"

He was always willing to let the other share.

But if there was ONE thing, just ONE thing in Sugar Rush Rancis was extremely protective over.

"Hey Rancis, you have something in your hair!"

"I GOT IT! I GOT IT!"

It was his hair.

No one why but there was always something about Rancis and his hair. The boy prided his hair, he loved his hair, he cared for his hair.

Aside from the coins and trophies in the game, Rancis' hair was the most golden and shiniest thing in the land.

One day, Rancis awoke to a nice warm spring day.

"I'm to get ready!" he said with a smile as he sprung out of bed.

Wash.

Rinse.

Repeat.

Curl.

Lookin' good as usual.

A smile on his face, his heart upbeat and ready to concur the game, Rancis stepped out of his house.

And instantly felt a sense of dread come over him.

His spine shook.

His skin tingled.

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

The boy looked about in worry, the skies clear as usual but there was something odd about the weather. He couldn't put his finger on it but something was off.

Very off!

"I have to warn the others!" Rancis said as he ran back into his cottage at the speed of light. What could have been bothering him and what could he have possibly needed at a time like this?

Back in the village, Vanellope and Taffyta chatted about when a strange sight met their eyes. They were stunned, they were shocked! They saw-!

"Rancis?!"

Dressed from head to toe in slick rain gear was Rancis' the boy looking at the two girls with a serious glint in his eyes. Vanellope and Taffyta looked at the boy up and down, completely taken away by how MUCH gear the boy was wearing.

Rain slicker.

Umbrella hat, complete with umbrella belt.

Super special protective hat.

EVERYTHING.

"You're going to need this…." Rancis finally saying, tossing the girls a pair of umbrellas and slickers. Vanellope caught the items in her hands but she was still looking ahead in shock.

This couldn't be real.

This couldn't be REAL!

And then.

"BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Both girls erupted into bouts of loud laughter, so loud that the candy people had to stop and look.

But Rancis?

He remained serious and strong.

"Rancy, you're about as nutty as Swizz' fans!" Vanellope giggled, slapping her knees.

"It's almost eighty degrees out here. Aren't you hot?" snickeresd Taffyta, wiping her eyes.

"Hot? I don't have to be hot!" said Rancis "There's a storm coming!"

"A storm?" Vanellope smirked, looking up at the clear skies. She shook her head as she gave Rancis another smile "There's not a rain cloud in the sky."

"But I felt it!" said Rancis.

"Where?"

"In my HAIR!" the boy said, pointing to his perfect curl "And when I feel that, I know something bad is coming! There is NO WAY that I'm going to allow rain to spoil THIS!"

"Oh, now you're being RIDICULOUS!" said Taffyta, looking a little annoyed "Can't you go ONE DAY without talking about your hair, Rancis?"

"But I'm telling the truth!"

"Rancy, I'm sure we all have many talents….but even I can't predict the weather that far in advance!" said Vanellope "Now take off all that stuff before ya bake in it. Its hot."

Rancis paid the girls no mind and went huffing down the path.

If they weren't going to take his words, maybe someone else would.

As he walked about, he found Sakura in her garden checking the condition of her blossom trees.

"SAKURA!"

The girl nearly fell to the ground as her name was ROARED at her but as she looked up….

"RANCIS?!"

"Don't let the look fool you but-!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

More laughing.

Just what the boy needed now.

"R-Rancis?!"

"It's going to rain…" the boy said in annoyed tone "You might want to cover up your blossoms and your hair."

"A little water never hurt them…." Said Sakura with a smile "They could use the water in this heat and I can always dry my hair off."

"You think this will be water?" the boy said, arching a brow "Do you know what time of the year this is?!"

"Ah, I think I do….Summer?"

"Right, and you know what comes down in SUMMER, especially on hot muggy days like this!"

Sakura didn't have the time to listen to Rancis rant and rave on about rain, especially with how busy she was.

"Rancy, what else do you need to tell me?"

"Cover up, be careful and make sure it doesn't touch your hair."

"Right….." the girl grumbled, going back to work "I'll remember that."

Rancis knew sarcasm when he heard it.

Perhaps it was best to move on.

Down the path the boy went, trying to warn anyone who passed along the way but being as excited and as worried as he was, he came off more as frantic than truly concerned. Nonetheless, he had to get the news out.

"Watch out everyone!"

The boy then heard music coming not so far away. He continued down the path and came upon Snowanna's cottage by the edge of the soda sea, the girl strumming on her guitar, Crumbellina accompany on violin and Adorabeezle sitting by dreamily.

"Girls, GIRLS!" said the boy, waving a few colorful umbrellas over his head "I have these!"

Snowanna hit a bad chord and Crumbellina nearly sent her bow LAUNCHING in their air from the scream. All the girls looked over to see Rancis running towards them, gear in hand.

"Should we run?" asked Snowanna. Crumbellina said nothing and simply nodded, darting off quickly with both Adorabeezle and Snowanna in her clutches.

The door shut….

*SLAM!*

And once more Rancis was on his own.

It was a predictable thing; with everyone person he went to, they would dash off or laugh….or in some cases BOTH.

"It was too much of a good day to rain!"

"Take off all that stuff, Rancis! You look silly!"

"I welcome the rain! Its flippin' hot!"

Rancis had no one's ear….

But he knew it would be best to have them prepared for everything and as such.

"Take this!"

"Have an umbrella."

"Stay dry and safe!"

Even with all the doubt he got from his friends, Rancis still gave them supplies.

How could he not? They were his friends after all and even if they didn't believe him, even if they thought his worries were silly he just could not leave them alone.

It was sometime later when Rancis began strolling back home. All the umbrellas aside from his own had been given out and his slickers were gone. He looked up at the sky to see the sun shining bright but the gut feeling he had could not be ignored. He was worried about something, something bad but from the looks of things around him could he have been wrong? Was he just panicked over nothing?

Had his hair lied to him?

"Maybe I did go a bit overboard…." The boy said with a sigh, lowering the hood of his slicker and looking down at the ground.

But then…a sudden chill.

"Huh?"

A small gust of wind blew past Rancis but it didn't hold the warmth it had held before nor did it hold the same sweet summer scent.

It was cold and smelled of bubble gum,

BUBBLE GUM?

That feeling! The signs!

HIS HAIR!

Rancis reached for his umbrella and ducked under the corner of his house and with great speed and timing as no sooner had he done so, a large CRACKLE of thunder boomed through the area! Back with the others, they were nearly knocked to the ground from the shock and as they looked into the sky….

Dark clouds loomed overhead.

The air felt heavy with a thick sweet smell.

And then….

IT HAPPENED!

Great big globs of sticky, PINK bubble gum began to fall from the sky, landing with loud splats EVERYWHERE.

And on EVERYONE.

The racers, all of them still out in the open, screamed in utter terror as the gum landed on them.

"GAAAAH! NOT AGAIN!" screamed Vanellope, getting slammed in the face with a huge gob.

Taffyta flailed about, thanking every programmer in the heavens she had a hat on "BUT IT WAS SO CLEAR!"

It seemed that Rancis was right about something as the boy's hair did not lie. It might have been summer in Sugar Rush but in their bliss of the weather around them, the other racers forgot ONE important thing.

Summer was the season for the gum storms.

And if there was anything so messy, so annoying, so utterly DISGUSTING about the gum storms….

It was that it got everywhere.

"MY PLANTS!"

It piled everywhere.

"Don't stand under there! The roof might come down!"

And it STUCK everywhere!

"My hair!"

"My pigtails!"

"My curls!"

"MY…..EVERYTHING!"

And as all of this was going on, Rancis just stood safely by in the forest near his home. He was completely unaware of what the others were going through in the village and as he stood by, looking up the sky…

"At least I got home before it really came down."

Only an hour later the rain stopped, the skies returning their normal clear color but things were not calm and peaceful. Rancis was going through his comb collection when he heard a knock on his door.

"Who could THAT be?"

As soon as the boy opened the door, his answered were revealed.

EVERYONE.

All the Sugar Rush racers stood outside his door, wet, sticky and covered in pink gum.

But most of all MISERABLE.

"Guys?"

Vanellope stepped forward, her fingers stuck in the goo that was soaked badly in her air.

"Rancy?"

"Yes?"

"Ya have anythin' ta share for THIS?"

Rancis smiled but it wasn't one of arrogance. Yes, he had warned his friends of the impending rainstorm and he went mostly ignored but he was just so happy to see that they weren't angry for him.

"I have just the thing!"

What's the best thing to get bubble gum out of hair?

PEANUT BUTTER SHAMPOO.

Rancis sent each of his friends home with a bottle, assuring everyone that the gum would be washed out in an hour's time.

"Trust me, it works!"

Begrudgingly, the others went home and thankfully Rancis' words rang true once more. They scrubbed, the washed, they were covered in suds and foam but the gum fell off.

"Ah, thank goodness!" said Vanellope.

"Yes, perfection!" said Taffyta.

"Much better…" sighed Crumbellina.

The next day, Rancis came to the village to see that the others were trying their best to clean up the remaining gum from the storm.

"Need a hand?" the boy smiled as he reached for a rake and bucket.

"As much as we can get…." Grumbled Vanellope "I just wanna ask ya a question though, Rancy."

"Yes?"

"Just…just how did ya know it was gonna rain like that? I mean, there wasn't a cloud in tha sky nor did anyone else say anythin' about it!"

Rancis smiled with pride as he ran a finger through his large, giant golden curl.

"Vanellope, my dear sweet! My hair is not only STUNNING, it PROTECTS me! "

All the brightness and pride Rancis was showing was quickly snuffed when an angry Taffyta came up from behind him…..

And shoved a bucket of soapy water on his head.

"Most of the time…."