Chapter Eleven- Brain Storm

Vanellope knew what she had been told. She had been told to remain in Sugar Rush for the safety of everyone there.

Herself, the Candy Races, EVERYONE.

But that was an order she just could not obey. Felix's life was on the line and she wasn't about to let herself sit out the danger, knowing that at any moment, that any second, his life could be on the line.

No, Felix was her friend. She wasn't going to let him down.

And with that, this was ONE order she was gleefully about to disobey.

Sneaking around for the girl was no issue; a glitch here, a glitch there. She could glitch herself anywhere!

But wait! Stealth. She had to have that as well. Aside from that, she didn't want to run out of energy before she came to her destination, a little hub in the middle of Hero's Duty.

A hub that belong to Mouse.

It didn't take long but the little racer soon found herself standing outside the door, hearing the loud tapping of fingers on keys, beeps and blips, but most of all….

"URGH! DAMN IT!"

Words she should NOT have heard.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Just by looking at her, Vanellope could tell that Mouse was beyond frustrated. Maybe FRUSTRATION would have been better than what Mouse was feeling at the moment but seeing as Vanellope came this far…

"NO, NO, NO!"

Careful. Her name MIGHT have been Mouse, but she had the rage of a tiger.

Plus, there was that THING about the Cybug eyes.

Vanellope, her hand shaking, tapped the door of the tech's dorm. Just as she expected, Mouse was much too busy to hear so she tapped harder.

"Wait, maybe if I…."

And harder.

"No! That's IMPOSSIBLE!"

And HARDER.

"URGH! WHY CAN'T I-!"

"MISS MOUSE!"

Mouse spun around in her chair, showing to Vanellope that her goggles were once again off to her dread.

Those eyes. How in the world did MOUSE end up with them?

Vanellope glitched in fear as she backed away a bit but something in Mouse's eyes told the girl she was a little relieved to see her, if not a bit surprised.

"Vanellope?"

"U-Um…." The girl said, walking back a bit further "Did I come at a bad time?"

Mouse moaned as she slouched in her seat, rubbing her temples "Bad? BAD is when we have a huge line of kids FIGHTIN' ta play us! BAD is when we have a few CYBUGS lose, tryin' ta get Cookie's leftovers! THIS is beyond BAD!"

"Then maybe I can help?" Vanellope smiled softly, walking in "I mean, it looks like ya could use some extra hands?"

"Hands? I don't thinks so…." Mouse snorted "A few extra MINDS? Some up-to-date equipment?"

"But you were made in 2012!"

"Hey, tech ages every second!" Mouse said in a know-it-all tone "Either that or I'm just gettin' slow."

"Look, Mouse I don't wanna sound like I'm naggin' ya for info but I'm scared!" Vanellope said "It's been HOURS since Felix was taken an' we haven't heard word ONE of anyone findin' anythin'!"

"Sorry kid, it's just…." The woman stopped, rubbing the bridge of her nose "I have some clues. I have some IDEAS but…but nothin' is breakin' through!"

Vanellope stepped in front of the woman, her eyes wide "C'mon, I know ya can do this! I mean, ya helped us with those guys before AN' ya did it when ya were hurt! Nothin' can stop that brain of yours!"

The cadet smiled, feeling a little better after hearing Vanellope's words but she could not deny the wall she had come against. Whatever Mal had done, whatever she had planned, she had done it in such a way that even the techs at Hero's Duty couldn't follow the path she had made. If anything, it really showed the cadet that Mal wasn't as insane as she first thought she was.

Ever since the viruses first appeared, everyone felt that Mal, being the one who did the most talking and action, was always a little off in the head and that most of her attacks were just based on causing as much damage as she could at the moment. Nothing about her seemed planned, unless someone else PLANNED it for her.

That had been the case when Turbo had returned, his orders for both woman and husband to attack Litwak's but something about this was just odd.

Maybe Mal WAS controlled but she wasn't as mad as they first thought. Even in the midst of all the damage she had done, she had made sure that everyone was distracted so she could go on with her real duties. She knew the weaknesses of everyone around her during the attack.

She knew what to block off, she knew how to talk the others into letting their guard down and she knew at what moment to finally throw Felix into the void.

No, this wasn't the work of some maddened woman. She knew EXACTLY what she was doing, having fun along the way.

But Mal's plans couldn't have ended there. Not at all, there had to be more.

But what?

"Hey, sit over there…." Mouse said, pointing over to her cot "I'm gonna need ya in a sec."

Vanellope did as she told, sitting atop the cadet's bed as she watched her continue typing away. The girl looked around the room in silence, getting a full view of what was in the tech's collections.

Many books, many weapons, many spear computer parts.

And pictures.

Lots and lots of pictures.

Some of them looked like they were already programmed into the game but others….

Mouse with the team.

Mouse with Calhoun.

All of them looking so happy together.

The one thing that Vanellope noticed however were the goggles, the glasses, the bangs.

They all covered Mouse's eyes.

And considering what the little racer had seen in the church, she now understood WHY….but that was only part of the story. She swung her legs over the bed, her hands held tightly together as she bit her lips.

There was something else aching to escape.

Just one question.

"H-Hey Mouse?"

The woman continued to type, her eyes not leaving the screen "Yeah?"

"U-um….."

A bit of hesitation. Was this a question she should even be asking?

"A-about the….about the ey-?"

"'Member the part during the intro of the game that explains somethin' 'bout a experiment gone wrong?" Mouse suddenly said "Backstory? I'm part of something that went RIGHT."

Vanellope blinked, relieved to find that Mouse wasn't angry at her for asking but now even more curious to find out about the story.

"Right? But what ha-?"

A loud BLARING noise sent Vanellope to the ground as she ducked for cover but as she looked over, Mouse was MORE than happy to hear the noise, her screen blinking brightly.

"Oh, YES!"

"What?! WHAT?! Is tha game on fire?! DID TURBO ESCAPE?!"

Without warning, Mouse grabbed her tablet in one hand and Vanellope in the other, taking off for the main halls of the game.

"Move, MOVE!" Mouse shouted, easily pushing the bulky marines out of the way, kicking others as well "HOT NEWS COMIN' THROUGH!"

Mouse didn't stop her run even after she got into the meeting room, KICKING down the door where Calhoun and Ralph stood.

"I FOUND A BLIP!" Mouse cried in triumph, her hands going to her hips, forgetting that Vanellope was still in her hands. Ralph's jaw dropped as he looked at the girl, Vanellope blushing brightly as she waved towards him.

"Kid, what are ya doin' here?!"

"Um, helpin' research?"

"A blip? What do ya mean, Cadet?" Calhoun said as she pushed the wrecker aside.

"I took a while to get it…" Mouse said as she placed her tablet on the table, the others moving close to get a good view "But I managed to crack through Mal's lil encryption trick! She left a trail WIDE open for us to follow!"

"Oh. Okay…." Ralph said, his brain hurting as he looked at the bright screen "Please explain to me how this works becauuuuuuse….."

"Okay, see this?" Mouse said, her fingers trailing on a blue trail "THIS was the residue from Mal's data that was left on Felix when he was thrown into that void."

"Residue?" squeaked Vanellope, trying to get a view herself "Virus' leave stuff like that?"

"Yes, yes they do!" Mouse said "Call it left over bits of dead data or whatever but in this case, it may have helped us more than that lil freak planned on!"

Calhoun grabbed the device from the table, looking through the charts and maps "But this doesn't tell us EXACTLY where Felix is! I mean, he could be-!"

"Sarge, look!" Mouse said "This entire area? It's EVERYTHING here within mile of the arcade! While the data does fade out a bit as it gets further from here, look! It actually stops not too far!"

"Wait…." Calhoun said, looking closer at the screen "WiiFiiDDoughnuts…Doughnuts?"

"Isn't there a doughnut place up the road?" said Ralph "We see a lotta people comin' in with cups and bags with the logo so-!"

"Felix MUST have been thrown into THEIR network an' landed in SOME device…" Mouse said "Considering he hasn't moved in a while, that's the only reasonable explanation so-!"

"So we can get him back…." Calhoun said in a whisper, the color returning in her face "WE CAN GET HIM BACK!"

"There is one snag to this though…" Mouse said "If we want to get Felix back, we need to cut our way into the fed but we can't!"

"Aw, come on!" Vanellope said "Ya mean ta tell me that there's no way we can get ourselves into the signal?! Network….thing…WHATEVER IT IS?!"

"I could try but I don't know how long it would take!" Mouse said "The network is RIGHT there since its close but going in on our own like that? It would be too dangerous!"

"Hmmph, ya act like ya've NEVER done ya job here before, CADET." Smirked Calhoun.

"Sarge, I'm serious!" Mouse said in a worried tone "There's just too much to risk. I mean, if ya guys thought the CORDS were dangerous, you have no idea what it's like going through a wifi flow unprotected! If anything were to happen to CUT the signal off, you could lost forever in limbo, your code could be split up! ANYTHING!"

"Could I be mutated into a three headed version of myself, with one giant leg melded together and teeth growin' outta my ears?" Vanellope asked curiously.

Even in the midst of the crisis, Mouse stopped, tapping her chin as she thought "Mmm, if tha flow is right, maybe."

"COOL!"

"Nelly…"

Calhoun gripped her fist as she looked down at the screen. Felix was so close yet so far from her that there was no way she was going to let things end here. Risk or no risk, she knew she had to take it.

And there was ONE person she knew who could make this possible.

"Mouse?"

"Yes?"

"Ya don't have to worry about puttin' anythin' together…." Calhoun said, her voice solid "We have just tha person ta help."

"Who?!" Mouse said, suddenly looking rather offended at the prospects that there was a better tech in the arcade than she "Show 'em an' I'll-!"

"You know EXACTLY who I'm talking about, kid." The older woman said, placing a hand on the cadet's shoulder. Even with her goggles placed back upon her head, Calhoun could see the woman's eyes widening in complete horror.

Yeah, she knew EXACTLY who Calhoun was talking about.

"Are ya FREAKIN' kiddin' me?" Mouse said, her voice cracking.

"Who?! WHO?!" Vanellope said, jumping up and down. Calhoun said nothing, going right for the door and marching down the halls.

"Sarge, where are ya going?!"

"To have a talk with someone…." The woman replied "Someone by the name of Mal."