Citrusella does last-minute tune-ups on her kart as Jubileena pulls up. "Hey, Citry!" she chirps.
"Hey, Jubee," her friend says back. "Good luck in the races today!"
Jubileena beams. "Thanks! I'm so excited! I haven't been in the races in a while! Are you gonna go down to the starting line?"
"Yeah, I just have to finish checking my kart."
"Okay. See ya down there!" Bursting with excitement, the cherry-themed racer drives away.
Citrusella smiles and turns back to her kart. Everything looks good, but she should wash the mirrors one more time. Though she's not racing today, she likes keeping her kart in top shape. She cleans one mirror and is cleaning the other when she spots something on it. She rubs that area harder, but nothing changes. It shouldn't be that dirty already. She peers closer, wondering what could have caused the spot.
Then the spot grows bigger. And bigger and clearer until she recognizes it. The ground rumbles beneath her, making her shake. The spot is growing awfully fast in the mirror. She turns around – and comes face-to-face with the creature. She opens her mouth to scream, but it snatches her in its claws, muffling all sound as she punches and kicks at its fingers, begging for it to let her go.
Nougetsia Brumblestain anxiously taps her foot as she stands by her kart and glances around at the crowd. "Are you okay?" Crumbelina asks the nougat-themed racer.
"Citrusella's not here yet," she says quietly. "She should be here by now. We always do our secret handshake before the arcade opens, for good luck."
Crumbelina's heart melts for the pink racer. "Hey," she says, putting her hand on Nougetsia's shoulder, "it'll be okay. She's probably running a little late."
"Yeah," Nougetsia sighs, hanging her head.
"Here." Crumbelina brings from behind her back a little cup filled with brown liquid. "It's some of my hot chocolate. I have it between races. Maybe it could help settle your nerves."
Nougetsia, who is rather shy, ducks her head as she accepts the warm cup. "Thank you, Crumbelina," she mumbles.
"You're welcome." The Italian dessert-themed racer curtsies to her friend before heading off to her own kart.
Candy peers around the back of the popcorn stand. "Just look at them, Sour Bill," he whispers. "This is better than I remember."
"Hmmm," the sourpuss says.
"I wish I could go out there and talk to them." Sour Bill and Citrusella didn't tell the others about King Candy, thinking Vanellope should be the one to share the news of the long-lost king. They all decided he should hide until he can race and reset the game.
They can hear a kart, and they turn around in time to see Vanellope drive up in her trusty multi-colored kart, parking right next to them and hopping out. "Hey, Dad," she says, a huge grin on her face. "I'm back. Did you miss me?"
"Where did you go?" he asks.
"I had to get something, but first, kneel down."
"Why?"
"Just do it." The king shrugs and complies. "Now, close your eyes."
"What-"
"Shush! Close 'em!" He just chuckles and goes along with it. Vanellope grabs something from the pouch of her hoodie and loops it over his head. "Okay, now you can look." Candy opens his eyes and sees a cookie necklace. It's covered in red frosting, and in thinner white frosting are the words "To Puffy-Pants."
"Um, thanks?" he says unsurely.
"Turn it over."
He does, and he stares at the light purple frosting with white words that read, "Welcome Back, Dad."
"I made it for you," she says when he remains silent and stares at the cookie. "For when you race later today and become a real racer again. Not that you weren't a real racer before."
He lets the cookie necklace fall as he takes his little girl into his arms and hugs her tight. "Thank you, Vanellope," he says, eyes squeezing shut as he savors the moment. She hugs him back, her eyes also closing. Sour Bill's lip trembles and he wipes his eye.
"Quarter alert! Quarter alert!"
They open their eyes and release each other from the embrace. "Gotta go!" As she steps nearer to the staircase that leads to her perch, she adds, "Remember, you're supposed to be a surprise for the racers! So wait here!"
"I will!"
The president and the little ball of sour hurry up to the ruler's box. "Oh, before I forget," she says. She takes out from her pouch another piece of cookie jewelry, this time a badge. One side is covered in dark green, and the white letters read "To Sourpuss." The other side is mint green, and brown frosting spells out "Best Assistant Ever."
"It's just a way of saying thanks," Vanellope says. "For helping me through all this."
Sour Bill's face remains expressionless as he nods and says, "You better get ready." But as soon as she turns away, he smiles at his new badge.
Everything goes on as normal, though some of the racers and citizens are worried that Citrusella isn't here yet. She's never missed a race, whether she played or watched. They try to act normal as the gamer chooses Nougetsia, and everyone rushes to their karts as Vanellope gives her speech. The light turns green, and all nine racers take off. Vanellope and Sour Bill watch the jumbotron. The player is doing really good, and soon Nougetsia is in first place. The nougat-themed racer is feeling pretty good, too. It's been a while since she was in first place. She finishes the Cakeway portion and is now on the rainbow, sparkly roll-up track. She nears the Ice Cream Mountains.
Nougetsia screams when a shadow rises up from the mountains. If it weren't for the gamer in control, she'd drive away right now.
The moppet girl is confused. She comes to the arcade every day, and Sugar Rush is one of her favorite games to play. She's an expert at it. And she's never seen any creature like the one that just flew up and off-screen. "What?" she mutters. She continues playing, but as she's driving through the tunnel, the thing appears at the end, this time laughing maniacally. It makes a swipe at her as she drives out of the mountains, but she drives around it. The moppet girl is so close to winning – but right before she crosses the checkered finish line, the thing snatches at her once more, this time making contact with her racer and causing the screen to glitch. "Come on!"
"What is it, sweetheart?" Mr. Litwak asks, coming over to one of his favorite customers.
"The game's busted," the moppet girl tells him dejectedly. "And it's one of my favorites, too."
"Whoa. Nothing's ever gone wrong with this game before." He takes a couple of quarters out from the pack around his waist. "Here you go, sweetheart."
"What's gonna happen to the game?" she asks, sliding out of the seat.
Mr. Litwak rubs the back of his head. "Well, I can have someone come in and take a look at the game, but if we can't fix it, I'll have to take it out. Too bad. I like this game, too."
The racers slam on their breaks when they see King Turbug at the finish line, holding Nougetsia's kart in the air. She looks down, but it's too high to jump out, so she presses herself against the back of the seat, eyes wide. "Hello, little girl," he says tauntingly.
"I knew he wasn't dead!" Vanellope hisses to herself before running downstairs, Sour Bill pattering after her. "Dad, it's King Turbug!"
"I know!" Candy says. "I saw him fly over to the Ice Cream Mountains as the game was starting. I wanted to warn someone, but before I could, all the racers took off, and the citizens were too busy cheering to listen to anything."
"What are we gonna do?"
Nougetsia screams as she's plucked out of her seat and her kart is thrown at the Sugar Rush racers. They scream and run away as the kart comes crashing down.
An idea pops up in Vanellope's mind. "Dad, think you can go over to Fix It, Felix Jr. and tell them about King Turbug?"
"Of course." Candy runs over and hops into his purple and yellow kart.
"Good luck!" she calls out as her dad drives away.
An orange light descends upon the land, and everyone watches the jumbotron in horror as an orange "Out of Order" sign is posted on their game. "No," Vanellope says.
"Out of order," King Turbug says. "You brats had it coming."
"Let Nougetsia go!" Sticky Wipplesnit, the most caring racer, cries.
"But then who would keep your citrus friend company?" Everyone stares at him as he cackles and flies away, Nougetsia screaming the whole time.
"No!" Vanellope shouts, running to the place King Turbug had occupied only seconds before.
"Was that King Candy?" Candlehead asks. "I thought he was dead."
"No, that was Turbo, remember?" Rancis tells her.
"But how can Turbo be back?" Snowanna asks. "Isn't he, like, dead?"
All the racers begin to speak up. Vanellope casts a glance back at Sour Bill. They both know they can't keep the truth hidden any longer.