To the Guest that asked: Summer has a tan with bouncy curly blonde hair and blue eyes and a slightly curvier build. Raven is a little taller than the other two and is thinner with olive skin, stick-straight black hair and dark brown eyes. (I tried to name them according to their hair color)

Ahh, I wish you guys could've seen the smile on my face when I wrote this one, I nearly busted with happiness by the time it was over. Oh, and Turbo said he'd give whoever reviews a piece of chocolate :)

Save Me from My Dark Side

Chapter Twenty-Five

Day Twelve of Turbo's Sugar Rush "Vacation"

"Laaadieesss and gentlemeeeeen! Booooys and giiirrrls!" Vanellope was calling out in a little microphone that Sour Bill had brought out for her. "And Stinkbrain too."

"Ha. Ha," was the dry, unethused laugh from the back of the crowd.

Vanellope smirked before going on with her practiced speech. "I proudly present to you...our very own..."

She paused to look down beside her with lowered eyes and impatiently whispered, "Bill! Drumroll!."

Sour Bill hadn't been paying attention but snapped to when he heard his name, his giant orbs blinking a few times before registering what was going on. "Oh! Uh...rrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

"Our very own...Candy Corn Maze!"

She waved her hand out proudly over the now completed walk-through maze that had taken them exactly twelve days to complete. Before she even had time to say that it was okay to run through it for the first time, all of her co-racers had stampeded to the entrance with a simultaneous cheer of "yaaaaay!". Their president just shrugged at the lost cause, tossed her microphone carelessly at Bill who was accidentally bonked in the head with it, and took off chasing after her friends.

"Tell me again why we have to go through this autumn-colored jungle?" Calhoun leaned down slightly to ask Felix through the side of her mouth, obviously not very happy at having to spend her time wandering around in a maze full of screaming children. "I can't believe I'm making a pun here, but it's kind of corn-y."

"Now, Tammy, it's for the kids," Felix gently reminded her as he tried to hide an amused grin from her view. "Besides, Turbo worked very hard on it as well and we need to be supportive."

She gave a quiet "pah!" at that but she decided not to argue any more on the matter. Up ahead, Minty and her two color-swap sisters had taken to riding on Ralph's shoulders and the top of his head, which he really did not approve of since they were digging their shoes into his skin and tearing his hair out. Skittles was prancing about and whinneying at all the visitors he had. The Swizz leaped onto his back, one hand holding onto his black mane and with his other arm pointed forward, shouting,

"Hi yo, Skittles, awaaaaay!"

Turbo had one of his arms thrown around Rosie's shoulders while she had one of her hands in his pocket while they walked, and he had said something close to her ear to make her laugh. Putting a hand next to her mouth, Calhoun called out,

"It's sappy enough around here without you two adding to it!"

The racer twisted his head just enough for the sergeant to catch a cocky grin and he playfully threw the bird at her, to which she in return threw two back. Turbo just shook his head in jest as if he couldn't believe she'd dare do such a vulgar thing and went back to chatting with the missus.

"You know," he started off, lightly running a couple fingers down her arm, "it won't kill you to let me come home a bit early."

"Oh?" Rosie cocked a brow up and gave him a teasing smile. "And what do I get out of the deal?"

The only response he gave was a deep insinuating chuckle and she gave him a playful shove. "Tempting offer but I think you can survive two more days."

"Yeah, can we just skip the Anniversary Party and go straight home?"

"How are you going to see me in my new dress if we do that?" she baited him along.

Turbo's eyes lit up at that but he paused to pretend thinking it over. Then he leaned his head over by her ear to whisper, "Well...you can show it to me real quick before we rip it off."

She hadn't expected that and she slapped a hand over his mouth to shush him up, which only made him chuckle more.

"Don't talk like that in front of kids!" she whispered back, glancing behind her to make sure one of them wasn't sneaking around back there.

"Oh you mean, like that practicing comment you made the other day?" he asked in a muffled voice when Rosie didn't pull her hand away.

"SHHH!"

"They both seem to be doing a lot better," Felix mused quietly to his own wife as they continued to walk behind the other couple at a distance, watching them have fun goofing around with each other. "I certainly hope things stay positive for them once he goes back home."

"Oh stop worrying, from what I've been hearing people would rather deal with him than look at that snake in the police uniform."

The handyman clasped his hands in front of him and sighed at the ground. "I just can't believe he'd do something like that. I've never had a problem with him."

"You're not a teenage girl either, apparently," she commented with a scowl, still wishing she was allowed to throw the cop into a pit of Cy-Bugs or even in front of a firing squad composed of her team. "Guy's nuttier than a tree full of rabid squirrels."

"You don't imagine he'll try anything, do you?"

"What, with everyone watching his every move? He'd be a bigger fool than I already took him for."

What with all the Sugar Rush-ians antics, it had taken about two hours to get anywhere close to the end of the maze. It didn't help that Gloyd (who had memorized his hand-drawn map) would purposely get people lost in order to prolong it, which did not sit well with Calhoun. Vanellope and a few of the others would sneak off to themselves sometimes and whisper about something than no one else could hear. Turbo thought he saw them shooting quick glances at him but Rosie would start yakking about something to get his attention off of them, as if she was trying to distract him from noticing.

Or maybe he was just being paranoid-slash-cautious.

However, when they finally did reach close to the maze's end, his suspicions were verified when Vanellope came up to him and said,

"All right, you have to close your eyes now!"

Turbo stared at her in a wary fashion then cast the same expression at all the other children, who were humorously enough all wearing identical wide toothy grins as if attempting to radiate innocence. Ralph managed to hide a smile and shrugged his shoulders as if to say that he knew nothin' about nothin'. Calhoun looked as confused as Turbo did until Felix waved her down and whispered something in her ear, to which she gave a small crooked smile and nodded her head once in understanding. Turbo glanced over at Rosie who was trying to keep her level of enthusiasm toned down but as usual she was unable to, her cheerful grin and bounciness giving her away.

"You know I don't care for surprises," he forcefully muttered to her, feeling more than uneasy.

She placed a firm grip on his shoulder to reassure him. "I promise you'll like this one."

He knew better than to argue with her if she was going so far as to promise him, so he sighed and reluctantly closed his eyes. He heard a few giggles coming from the children which made him more antsy and then felt someone (Rosie) push him from behind to get him moving forward without walking into anything. After about three minutes of this ridiculous and somewhat humiliating behavior, he heard Vanellope yell out for him to stop so he did and Rosie squeezed both of his shoulders from behind to let him know everything was perfectly fine.

Turbo's stomach was twisted into a mess of knots, having no idea what to expect. The only thing he could hear was some giggles coming from a few of the kids. He felt himself start to get annoyed but then finally he heard Vanellope say,

"Okay, you can open them now!"

His eyes landed immediately on what the children had showcased in the grassy field and he was so taken aback that he didn't even jump when they all yelled "SURRRRPRIIIIISE!". He stood there looking completely dumbfounded and he turned his head to look at Rosie as if to check to make sure this was real. She had tears brimming her eyes but she had a big smile on her face, and she gave him a shooing motion with her hands to coax him to look again. He turned back around to stare at his gift, and stammer out,

"Is...is that my...?"

"Well, not the real one of course," Vanellope butted in from her place close to his right. "It's as close to a replica as you're gonna get though."

It was kart composed of a red velvet cake body with an elongated front, a thick stripe of white icing on either side, Oreo cookies for the wheels, a black licorice steering wheel, and a chocolate sponge cake for the seat. It even had a spoiler in the back just like the old one.

He heard Rosie say behind him, "I couldn't remember all the details so I hope it looks all right."

Turbo's heart busted with joy and the biggest smile spread across his face. He spun around and grabbed Rosie by the face and gave her a big "mwah!" kiss so fast that she almost wasn't sure it actually happened.

"All right?" he repeated hoarsely, turning back around to look at his kart. "It's turbo-tastic!"

Vanellope grinned when she saw the excitement written on his face and she started to ask, "So you like it?" but she only got the first three words out. She found herself suddenly picked up off the ground and squeezed like a teddy bear by her former nemesis in a choking hug.

"I love it, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Ralph leaned over to Felix and said, "Never thought I'd see that in a million years," to which Felix just chuckled and nodded. "I guess this means we need to build him a garage now."

The handyman slapped his forehead lightly. "Jimminy jamminy, he's gonna be even pickier about that than he was the house."

"Air...need...air..." gasped Vanellope, her face starting to turn red from being hugged so long.

Turbo placed her back down on the ground so she could pant some oxygen into her lungs before bounding over to examine the kart, almost too scared to touch it in fear that this was a dream and it would disappear on contact like a double-striped candy cane branch.

"I can't believe you guys!" he exclaimed, gently leaning over to look inside the cab at the pedals. "It looks almost exactly like my old one!"

"It was really Taffyta's idea!" declared Candlehead loudly as she pointed over at the now mortified strawberry racer, who had wanted to remain anonymous.

"I...uh...hey, don't read too much into it," she spat out, composing herself as quickly as possible. "I just thought it would snap you out of your funk, is all. Can't do what you're programmed to do if you don't have a vehicle, you know. And don't you dare hug me."

She pointed her lollipop at him with a warning glare.

"I think I like that kid," Calhoun muttered under her breath with an amused grin.

"And it runs on chocolate syrup!" Candlehead continued happily. "It's all filled up and everything!"

Turbo wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his hand, completely overwhelmed by the extreme kindness. "Thanks everybody...this...this means a lot."

"You're not supposed to cry," Jubileena whispered to him from the side and he patted her on top of her head to let her know he was fine.

Minty stepped up and cleared her throat. "Also, we decided to dedicate the Lemonade Loop to you, that track you crashed in a couple weeks ago? We sorta dubbed it the Turbonade Track."

"Just don't tear it up anymore!" Torvald piped up, prompting a laugh out of everyone.

Turbo smiled and rolled his eyes playfully, but he crossed his heart with a finger, saying, "I promise to take good care of it, racer's honor."

Vanellope glitched her way through her friends to where Turbo could see her and patted her hand on the side of the kart. "Wellll...are you gonna jump in and take it for a test-drive or what?"

The idea of driving again was more than his code could handle. It had been several months since he had driven an actual car, candy-based or otherwise (the motorcycle that had been lent to him by Slim Jim didn't count, in his eyes anyway), and now here he was with his very own kart. Not one that he had stolen as his own, like King Candy's had been or a borrowed one, but his. The familiar feel of ownership fit him like a glove and he hopped over the side to sit himself behind the wheel.

"Kinda roomy in here."

"Yeah, well, we thought we'd give you one of the bigger cabs in case you wanted Rosie to ride with you sometime," Vanellope whispered to him as she rested her arms against the side, throwing in a sly smile before adding, "Know what I mean?"

His cheeks turned a faint shade of pink at the implying tone she used, wondering in the back of his mind how these nine year olds even knew anything about "certain things" to crack jokes about it.

"Take it for a spin already!" he heard Taffyta shout at him impatiently.

Turbo looked over at Rosie expectantly, but she shook her head and waved her hands at him to tell him to go on and enjoy a solo drive. There'd be plenty of time later on for her to ride along. He gave her a little smile and he turned his eyes back to the kart itself, starting the engine and hearing the oh-so-familiar purr it gave. He felt his very code come alive at the sound and he gripped the steering wheel in front of him with both hands.

And he drove.

The wind whipped at his face as he soared alone down the Cake Way, the track comprised solely of chocolate cake, the scenery flying by in a blur. God, he missed doing this! Maneuvering around turns, dodging obstacles, living in the moment, the rush of adrenaline in his veins, it all came flooding back to him instantaneously.

He couldn't believe the very people that he had once hurt, most of whom he had thought so little of, had gone through all this trouble to do something so thoughtful for him as to make him his very own kart! It was so awe-inspiring, so downright mind-blowing that he couldn't wrap his head around it. They had all forgiven him and accepted him as part of their family. It was a miracle that they all deemed him worthy enough of this honor, that they had seen something in him that convinced them to give him a chance.

He screeched to a stop when he got halfway the lone Cake Mountain, which overlooked the entire world of Sugar Rush. It looked so breathtakingly beautiful from up here, with the sun shining down through the cotton candy clouds and highlighting every bright and delicious color that made up the world. Everything hit him like a ton of bricks and a happy cry erupted from him as all the emotions poured out. He felt that his life was pieced back together and that everything that had been wrong with it, everything that had been haunting him, had vanished like the ghosts they were. Weights that been on his shoulders for so long were now removed and he felt lighter and more free than he had in a long time.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, he actually loved his life...and he loved himself.