AN: This chapter is more than twice as long as the previous one. Wow. Anyway, read and review!
Far ahead in Sugar Rush, a huge race track was crowded with fans. They swarmed in the stands and on the ground, chattering excitedly. Racers zipped up to the starting line in variety of cars, bikes, mobiles, and karts. Bright, peppy music played in the background.
Above the noise, a flat, bored voice cleared its throat. Everyone looked to a medium-sized white peppermint with brown stripes sitting on the rail of the biggest stand. The candy tapped the top of a small microphone he was holding and said in that same flat tone, "Citizens of Sugar Rush..."
Unnoticed by any of the characters, a boy dressed mainly in white, the same one Cole had met just moments earlier, peered out from underneath a stand. He ducked back under the stand for a second then snuck out, pulling a kart covered by a dirty tarp with one small hand. In his other hand, he clutched the Medal of Heroes.
"All hail our rightful ruler," droned the candy announcer.
The boy in white mouthed the words everyone had heard a hundred times before as he secretively pushed his kart to the starting line and hid behind it.
"King Candy," the announcer finished.
Behind him in the biggest stand, a curtain opened and a character dressed in purples and grays jumped out. Despite his dark attire, he was quite cheerful and swept off the crown he was wearing in a deep bow to many cheers. He put out a gloved hand.
The announcer sighed deeply and gave over the microphone. King Candy, for that was who the crowned character was, said happily, "Hello, my loyal subjects! Have some candy!"
He threw handfuls of candy out of the stand, scattering it to the crowd below. The crowd cheered him on, snatching the treats from the air and hollering at the top of their lungs.
"Thank you for that stirring introduction, Sour Sam!" The king continued merrily.
"My name is Samukai," the candy corrected crossly. "Sour Samukai."
"Of course, Sour Sam, whatever you say," King Candy agreed.
Samukai groaned.
King Candy grinned, showing gleaming white teeth. "And thank you to today's avatars. It was a wonderful day, it was. And I'm not just saying that because I won every time I played. But now the arcade is closed, so it's time to wipe the slate clean and race to decide our new roster."
The crowd cheered louder than ever.
"We all know how this works. The first nine racers across that finish line will represent Sugar Rush as tomorrow's avatars! Isn't that great?" King Candy asked needlessly.
"RACE! RACE! RACE! RACE! RACE!" The crowd chanted.
"Yes, okay," King Candy said into the mike. No one could hear him over the ruckus. "Calm down. Calm down! CALM DOWN OR YOU'RE ALL GOING TO THE FUNGEON!"
The entire game went silent.
King Candy smiled. "Okay, good. Listen, this event is pay-to-play. We all know this. The fee to compete is one gold coin from your previous winnings; if you've ever won, which I have, of course. Let me go first."
He pulled a lever in the stand and a rainbow swept across the starting line, beginning down by the track and curving up towards a giant winner's cup.
King Candy closed his eyes and tossed a gold coin through the air. It landed on the rainbow and bounced on it as if the rainbow were a diving board, the coin twirling through the air to land in the cup. There it gave a merry 'ding!' and dissolved into code.
A huge billboard overlooking the scene blinked on. The words 'Contestant Board' danced across it. An excessively perky voice announced, "King Candy!" as the same words scrolled onto the board in purple.
Beaming, the aforementioned king leapt into the air and struck a pose. The crowd cheered wildly.
While all this had gone on, the game's other racers lined up by the side of the track. King Candy's name on the board was the signal the racers had been waiting for. Now it was their turn to pay for a race.
The first racer, dressed all in various shades of pink with matching light pink hair and big pink eyes, tossed up a coin. She barely even watched it get into the cup, having seen the process too many times to be impressed.
"Taffyta Muttonfudge!" The same perky billboard voice announced, the name appearing on the screen.
The racer ran a hand through her hair dramatically, jumped into the air, and struck a pose, a lollipop raised high above her head. "Stay sweet!"
Others followed her example, the Contestant Board simultaneously announcing their names and writing them up as coins fell into the winner's cup.
"Adorabeezle Winterpop!" "Gloyd Orangeboar!"
All of the racers were congratulating each other on qualifying yet again for the preliminary race. All of the fans were watching the Contestant Board, cheering as their favorite racers made it in.
"Crumbelina Di Caramello!" "Minty Zaki!" "Snowanna Rainbeaux!"
No one was paying any attention to the waiting line.
"Rancis Fluggerbutter!" "Jubileena Bing-Bing!" "Swizzle Malarkey!"
No one noticed that the line had just gained another 'racer', white hoodie disguising his head and pale hands clutching not a gold coin, but a medal from an entirely different game.
"Candlehead!" "Citrusella Flugpucker!" "Torvald Batterbutter!"
No one noticed that just behind the stands, a large character covered with taffy was trudging towards the race track, mind only on retrieving that same medal, panting "Catch that kid. Catch that kid."
"Sticky Wipplesnit!" "Nougetsia Brumblestain!"
No one noticed, that is, until after the last 'racer' was the only one left in line. Beneath the hood of his sweater, the face of the boy in white peeked out. He hugged the medal quickly and threw it onto the rainbow.
It teetered around, wobbling its way all the way to the edge of the winner's cup. The boy in the white hoodie closed his eyes, unable to watch.
That was when King Candy noticed a racer he couldn't identify. "Sour Sam, who is that last one?" He asked distractedly.
The entire Contestant Board glitched, almost as a response, and a new name appeared. "Za-ne-ne-ne Von Jul-ul-ulien!"
The entire crowd gasped in horror.
The boy in white slowly stepped backwards, his hands over his face to hide himself as best he could. Almost inaudibly, he whispered, "I am in the race. I am in the race."
"The glitch?!" King Candy yelped. His microphone screeched with interference and the crowd winced as one.
Down on the track, Taffyta had found the tarp-covered kart. Ripping off the dirty sheet, she scowled down at the lopsided kart. "The glitch!"
Everyone began to panic, fans and racers alike.
"Now, now, everything is alright. No need to panic," King Candy soothed.
Then a stand collapsed sideways and everyone screamed. The boy in white, better known as Zane or the glitch, had backed up all the way into a supporting pole. The back of his hoodie caught on a peg and it pulled away from his face, revealing him to everyone.
King Candy grimaced. "Okay, now you can all panic. Security!"
Two large donuts wearing badges that read 'Kruncha' and 'Nuckal' barreled out from underneath the king's stand. They looked around widely, locked eyes with Zane, and ran across the track towards him.
"C'mere, kid," the one with the badge reading 'Kruncha' yelled.
"We're not going to hurt you," the one whose badge read 'Nuckal' panted, "you little freak!"
Quite wisely, Zane was skeptical of this. He freed his hoodie moments before the two donut cops could get to him and made a break for it. He was much faster and more agile than the cops and quickly outpaced them.
"Get back here!" Kruncha hollered.
"Slow down!" Nuckal added futilely.
Just then, a taffy-covered creature stomped out onto the track, blocking Zane's escape path. Candy cane twigs and various sweets stuck to him, making him look like quite the monster.
"What's that?" King Candy gasped in horror from his spot high above the chase.
"YOU!" Cole yelled through the candy. He swiped at his own face in an attempt to clear off the taffy but only managed to knock some into his mouth. He spat it out and continued, "Give me back my medal, right now!"
Zane looked back at the donuts coming towards him. He looked forward at Cole coming towards him. He was stuck in the middle. One side of his face flickered into blue code briefly. He waited a second then scurried sideways under a spectator's stand.
The donut cops and Cole collided, taffy flying everywhere. Cole got up quickly to stumble after the boy he believed still held his medal. The donuts stayed down longer, stunned.
"Get back here!" Cole yelled furiously. He lifted up the stand, revealing Zane.
"Greetings," the boy said pleasantly.
Cole didn't bother returning the salutation. He simply growled and struck out with one sticky fist.
Zane barely dodged it, rolling to hide under an adjacent spectator's booth.
"I'll get you!" Cole roared, consumed with anger. He tipped over the stand fully and smashed into the next one.
Zane crawled quickly under the next stand. Cole followed, knocking over booth after booth. The crowd scattered, fans and racers alike.
"What are you doing?!" King Candy wailed, hopping up and down in his own stand. He dropped his microphone and hastened to recover it.
Having run out of nearby stands to take shelter under, Zane dashed under a cupcake water tower. Cole attempted to do the same but he was too large. He slammed into the legs and staggered backwards.
"Huh?" Cole mumbled, rubbing his head. He looked up as the cupcake topper tipped, falling down on top of him. His taffy-covered head popped out of the top.
Unable to move, Cole could only watch as Zane ran out of sight behind the stands on the other side of the track.
The donut cops rushed up to him and looked him over, giving up on chasing the glitch.
"Oh good, the cops," Cole said with no small amount of relief. "The kid went that way- oh, hey!"
The donuts ignored him and started hitting him with pretzel batons.
"Hold still, ruffian!" Kruncha yelled.
"Take that!" Nuckal added.
"What are you doing?!" Cole yelped. "Stop it, stop it!"
In the highest stand, King Candy had finally recovered his microphone. "Okay folks. Calm down! Everything's all right. The monster's been caught and we'll get the glitch too. We'll repair all the damage. Don't worry; we will have our race before the arcade opens."
Zane peeked out from a tipped over stand. Allowing himself a small bit of satisfaction, he said quietly, "And I'm in it."
He hopped into his lopsided kart and pedaled away.
Taffyta picked herself up off the ground and watched Zane pedal away. She grimaced and declared, "There is NO WAY that I am racing with a glitch."
The girl turned and clapped her hands. "Rancis, Candlehead, everybody, get up! We've got a glitch to hunt down."
One by one, the racers got up, started up their various vehicles, and drove off.
Having noted this, King Candy remarked proudly, "Good for them. But I'm not sure they'll be able to keep the glitch from racing. Sour Sam, that glitch cannot be allowed to race!"
Samuki sighed. "Mmm-hmmm. What are you going to do about it?"
Slowly, a grin spread across the king's face. "I have a plan."
"Well, that's almost never good," Samukai remarked blandly.
"All of you, clean up this mess," King Candy ordered the fans. He turned to the donut cops and pointed down to Cole. "And bring whatever that is to my castle."
Cole grunted. "My name's-"
"Silence!" Kruncha yelled.
Nuckal tried to hit Cole with his pretzel but accidentally whacked his fellow cop over the head instead.
