Chapter Thirty Six – Sweet Dreams
FLASH!
"HUH!?"
Vanellope opened her eyes….and everything was okay.
The castle was back to normal, the sun was out, and the birds were chirping.
"W-what?" the girl gasped, rushing over to a window "Sweet monkey milk-!"
Outside, the entire village was a-bustle with people, candy citizens walking about merrily as if nothing had happened. There was not a trace of virus or corruption to be seen anywhere, Sugar Rush having never been so beautiful in its entire game life.
It…it was PERFECT.
"I'm…I'm home?" the girl said, her heart beating and her spirits lifting so high that she could have sworn that SHE was floating off the ground "I'M HOME!"
Whatever had happened, it must have been quick. The anti-virus bomb must have worked, the game must have reset and things were back to the way they should be! But-!
"Where is everyone else?" Vanellope asked as she jumped back down, rubbing her chin "Tha others GOTTA be around somewhere an'-!"
"VANELLOPE!"
The girl glitched in her tracks, ducking down.
"S-Sarge?!"
"Vanellope, where are you?"
Wait, that voice didn't at all sound like the space marine….but….but it sounded so familiar. Vanellope quickly darted behind the throne once she heard someone marching in and once she saw the figure.
Her heart stopped.
Her jaw dropped.
Something flashed in her eyes, something sparked up her spine. She began to shake horribly, surprised that she just didn't begin rolling on the floor at how excited she was becoming.
"Ah, there you are." Said the figure, walking up to the throne.
"N-No….no way!" the girl whimpered as she continued to hide "M-MOM?!"
A plump figure smiled dainty towards someone in the distance, a massive and gaudy dress wrapped on her frame, one that was bringing about all sorts of memories in the girl's mind.
Memories she had long since thought had been deleted by Turbo.
But this was true; her mother was standing before her in full pixels.
"Dear?"
What should Vanellope do? Should she come out of hiding? She should say anything?
This had to be a trick!
It could not be real!
"Now, what did I tell you?"
"A-About what?" Vanellope shivered, becoming more and more upset at the realization of what was happening "M-Mom….mom please! I don't-!"
"DON'T hang out with those under-class sweets!"
The racer's eyes sprung open as another voice echoed throughout the massive room.
"Ah, see? I knew you were listening to me."
Who was that?
Vanellope peeked from behind the throne and who should be before her….
But HERSELF.
"Why of course, mummy…." Said the princess, wearing her own awful dress and making Vanellope sick to her stomach but there was something else that 'Vanellope' wore one her face that made her even more upset.
That arrogant smile.
The one that Taffyta used to give her when Candy was in control. It was a smile that Vanellope hated to her very bone….but she was the one who was making it this time and she could only dread as to why.
"I know your father really wants this race to go on…." Continued the queen, putting a hand on her daughter's back and leading her out of the throne room "But there can only be so much before the entire idea gets RIDICULOUS if you ask me."
"What do you mean, mummy?" asked the Princess.
Yes, what DID she mean?
"I can understand uniting with our neighbors, I can understanding showcasing this kingdom off to the rest of this sweet, SWEET world but if Tobias thinks for a moment I am letting MY daughter, my precious BAAAY-BEE, race with a CRIMINAL?!"
Vanellope, the real one at least, tucked and rolled down the hall, her glitch being too bright NOT to notice in this case.
"You mean Nuthinfudge?" said the Princess.
Nuthinfudge?
Muttonfudge?
TAFFYTA?
Vanellope peered out from around the corner, her knees shaking together "W-What is goin'-?"
"I saw her on the grounds today." Sai the princess, a sour look about her face "Rancis must have brought her along with the Hanabi kid. Candlehead is her name?"
"Oh?"
"Yes…." Continued the Princess "I don't know what he sees in either of them but the more Taffyta talked, I saw what you meant."
The Queen peered down at the Princess, the girl crossing her arms and pouting.
"I don't trust her. Not at all!" said the Princess "It's bad enough that her dad is a BAD GUY but her mother is so big and scary too!"
The Queen rolled her eyes "Malva? Puff, a rabid mongoose in sheep's clothing. I learned that the hard way."
"If they were to come to the races, they would make the entire kingdom look bad."
"Indeed they would." said the Queen, nodding in agreement "If it were not for Berlingots, we wouldn't have gotten into trouble with Candicus in the first place. He wouldn't have found out about our families secrets nor would he have-!"
The Queen stopped, shaking her head as she looked down at her daughter.
"Vanellope, darling? You have to keep your wits up about the Muttonfudge clan. They are of bitter stock from father, to mother, to DAUGHTER! They are ALL bad people!"
Vanellope could not believe what she was listening to. It was as if….as if she were listening to Turbo tell the other racers just how BAD she was, everyone buying the truth of it. The thing that scared the racer the most though was that as the Queen continued to talk, it began to come back to her. The pieces were falling right back into place because they were true. They were right there in the story of Sugar Rush. What she was listening to was not some warped memory that Turbo had implanted nor a twisted vision from a virus.
This was how things were written.
This was how the backstories were placed.
What Vanellope was witnessing was HER backstory.
This…..this was HER beginning.
And it was nowhere as sweet as everyone had told her it was.
"How can father trust them so much?" asked the Princess "Daddy says that I should open up more to the other children in the kingdom but…."
"Tobias has a sweet heart. It is one of his strengths…." said the Queen "But it is also his weakness as well. For the things your father LACKS, I must step in and one of those things he lacks is the backbone to keep our kingdom SAFE. That is the hardest thing about being royal, Vanellope. Everything you do isn't going to please EVERYONE, but it's ALWAYS for the right cause."
Vanellope frowned again, looking off to the side "Royal or not. I am NOT racin' with a BAD GUY."
BOOM.
Is that where that had come from?
I am NOT racing with a GLITCH!
I am NOT racing with a BAD GUY!
Vanellope felt herself falling down to the ground, her head filled with memories of what was written and what was experienced. All those years of being bullied by the other kids? Was it just a reflection of what had happened in the story? A cruel twist to Vanellope's own behavior? This could not be so. Turbo could not have been that cruel but with everything he stole, with everything he had taken from the racers, it was possible.
That was how he did it.
He gained knowledge of the story, he warped it in his own way, and he turned EVERYTHING against Vanellope. She was princess but the things she had said about her 'friends'.
They were not sweet, they were not kind.
SHE was not kind.
If only Ralph had been there to hear everything, to hear the little Princess express her hate for 'Bad Guys' or what she considered bad guys.
"Your father will understand your concern…." said the Queen as she led Vanellope, the one from the stories away "If he loves you, he'll make certain that the Muttonfudges don't go near the track. It's for the best and for the protection of EVERYONE in the kingdom."
This was too much!
It was too much like Turbo!
The real racer rocked on her feet, holding her ears shut but she could not push the images away.
"No, no! It's just a backstory! JUST A BACKSTORY!" she cried, glitching from behind the throne and running away. She ran, ran, ran as fast as she could, the people of the sweet world paying her no mind as she rushed past the shops but….but she began to slow down as she took notice of her surroundings.
They…they looked different than what was in the game, everything much more busy and bright. The shops that she and the others had walked by so many times before…they looked odd.
The Candle Wick Café?
Muttonfudge Dance Studio?
Where were these in the game?
"What…what are these places?"
Vanellope just stood before the entries, not sure what to do or where to go. The tiny candy people continued to mill about her, ignoring her as if she were just a tree or another object to pass by. The girl was shaking as she looked at the studio, the sign decked out in strawberries and pink.
Muttonfudge.
She could hear music playing inside, the soft sounds of a piano coming from upstairs.
Dare she?
It wasn't as if anyone was telling her no.
She might as well not exist.
Look one way, then another.
*GLITCH!*
She could only go so high, her glitch taking her just high enough where she reached the thin sill of the second floor window and there she hung.
"A-ah! One more time!"
*GLITCH!*
She managed to glitch through the wall this time, landing hard on the floor of a massive dance studio. The piano playing was much louder this time, the girl catching notice of a man at the instrument, his back turned towards her. She got up, hoping that she had not been heard and crept somewhere to hide.
He was small, round and short. A plump body, tiny graceful gloved fingers, legs so short they didn't even touch the ground as he sat on the bench in front of the piano. Vanellope peeked further, seeing his cream-white hair and thick, dark brows, a big dark mustache only accenting his chubby pink cheeks. He continued to play, lost in the long melody but he hit the keys harder and HARDER as if something inside of him was at war. Vanellope had never heard music playing in such a way so she stopped, she listened.
An then he stopped.
She meeped, fearful that someone had finally saw her but all that came from him was a long sigh, hitting a few keys in his funk.
"Sacrebleu…."
Funny; his voice was MUCH deeper than someone of his stature was showing off.
"I….I remember his voice…." Vanellope thoughts to herself "I…I remember hearing it sometimes and-!"
*SLAM!*
Vanellope nearly tumbled forward, footsteps racing up the stairs, crying accompanying them.
"Taffyta?"
A flash of pink entered the room, a girl slamming the door behind her as she slid down, hands over her face and sobbing.
"Taffyta!" said the little man as she jumped up and raced towards the girl "Goodness, what is it berry-butt?"
"D-Daddy?"
Taffyta's father!
"Oh my gobs…." Vanellope whispered "I-It really is him! S-She looks just like him!"
The little man took a handkerchief from his pocket and began dabbing his daughter's cheeks "Taffyta, Taffyta! Calm down before you flood the entire studio! We'll have to call that weird plumber guy again if you do that!"
"They said it again!" cried the strawberry racer.
"How-bitty-bubbity-WHUT?" the man said, a brow arched "Who is THEY and WHAT did they say?"
Such a way of talking, this man possessed.
Taffyta looked cross, growling loudly "It's-It's that fart-head Princess! She-! She called me a bad guy again!"
"Princesse Von Schweeeeeeetz?" the man said, getting his daughter up and walking her over to the piano bench "But I thought you two were friends. Reese's kid was taking you to the castle all the time so-"
"SHE'S NOT NICE!" Taffyta shouted.
"HMM."
"I-! I don't know WHAT happened but-!"
Taffyta looked as if she were about to come up with another wave of tears, the girl burying her face in her father's chest and clutching onto him tightly.
"Oh!"
Through it all Vanellope hid, wanting to know exactly what 'SHE' had said. It was more than enough to hear such words coming from her own mouth as well as her mother's but…but was she really THAT bad in her backstory? Truly this could not be the case.
Taffyta managed to calm down, looking up at her father "Daddy?"
"Yes, poodle-top?" the man responded, putting a hand on is daughter's head but Taffyta moved out from under the hand.
Vanellope knew Taffyta was sensitive about her hair as well.
"Do….do you think I'm a bad guy?"
The man sat next to his daughter on the bench, a comforting arm around her shoulder "Why would you ever think that you were? I mean, I know people say I'm a massive jerk but-!"
"Because….because…."
Vanellope could see the strawberry girl biting her lip. She was hesitating but for what?
"Because….because I'm your daughter." The girl said sadly "Princess Vanellope said that since…that since you're my dad and you used to work for Candicus in his circus that means I'M bad too."
Vanellope's eyes widened even more as she continued to listen.
"I…I don't know what happened between you and this Candicus guy but….but I don't wanna be a bad guy, daddy! I DON'T WANNA BE A BAD GUY BUT EVERYONE SAYS I AM!"
"And you are NOT!" the man said, his voice dropping even LOWER the angrier he became "I severed my ties with that goon long ago! What I did in the past means nothing to your future!"
"But-!" Taffyta cut in "But it does! Daddy, I AM a bad guy! Everyone says I am!"
Everyone?
This was starting to sound familiar.
"Everywhere I walk now, everywhere I go….since Princess Vanellope said it I hear them all the time. They say I'm a bad guy, they say MAMA is a bad guy….and they say you're the worst of all."
Taffyta hung her head down.
"They say they want you out of the kingdom, they want ALL of us out of the kingdom. They say Muttonfudges bring bad luck and worse? Candicus will come back because of-!"
"Me?" the strawberry man pointed to himself. Taffyta shook her head.
"No, because of ME!"
"YOU?" said the man.
"YOU?!" said Vanellope, slamming her hands over her mouth once she realized she had screamed so loudly.
"ME."
Vanellope gasped, turning around to see….TAFFYTA!
"What-?! WAIT! YOU'RE HERE?!"
Taffyta, the one that Vanellope was so familiar with, stood beside the racer, lowering a hand to help her up.
"Ah…."
"Vanellope said that Candicus is coming back for me because…because that's how bad I am! I'm just Candicus' little follower and that's all I'll ever be! I'll be part of his circus forever!"
Vanellope gulped, everything coming back from the story but she had never seen it unfold from this point of view. All her memories of her backstory were meant to be presented from her own angle but somehow Vanellope had found herself inside Taffyta's portion of the tale.
Or better yet, she had found herself inside of Taffyta's memories.
"W-What is this?"
"This is the great Taffyta Muttonfudge…." The strawberry racer said "I was a crybaby then….and I still am now, I guess."
"But-!" Vanellope blustered "But….those things that happened! They-! I-!"
"Turbo made me feel like I was on top of the world…." The strawberry racer said "When he put his own vision in our heads, there was none of this."
Vanellope looked over, Taffyta crying as the plump little man held her.
"It'll be fine my little, berry." The man smiled "Do you want daddy so shoot some holes in some walls?"
"NO."
"Then how about I have your mother kick a few people?"
Her father was joking; that was his way of handling everything. Even if the sight before her was just a story, just a memory, hearing her father being so silly made Taffyta, the REAL one, smile.
"When King Candy took over, there were no tears because this was the part that he took out." continued the girl "In his world, he made me his darling pet. Not his PRINCESS, but his PET. If this part were out, I would never have been so close to him. If I remember this, I would have never followed his orders. But he took out the story to make me feel like his own special darling and of course, what kind of 'KING' would let a MUTT be by his side?"
"A mutt?" Vanellope asked.
"That's what I am…." Taffyta sai with a miserable smile "A mutt, a freak,….a bad guy."
The girl looked down in shame, her eyes stinging.
"Taffyta Muttonfudge. Back then, I was just the kid of criminals. My papa, a BAD GUY. Considering the things HE did, Ralph would have gotten off EASY. Ralph just WRECKED things. My dad…..he helped try to take down a kingdom. YOUR kingdom! Th-this is my legacy! You're the PRINCESS, I'm the PAUPER!"
"Taffyta….this isn't right! I mean-! It's just a BACKSTORY! You're not really a-!" Vanellope said "Th-this isn't the way thing worked out for you ALL the time was it? I mean….if it was this bad, why did you –"
"Why did I feel so much better when I read the book?" the girl said, a small smile on her face. She then pointed back to the scene, the man hugging Taffyta warmly.
"Now listen to me, cream-top! You are NO bad guy!"
Taffyta, the one from the memory, sniffled "I-I'm not?"
"NO! No you are not!" the man said "You are only a bad guy when you CHOOSE to act like a monster, when you hurt other people! DO YOU WANT TO DO THAT?!"
The girl sniffled again, shaking her head no. The chubby man puffed out his chest, strutting in the room with his arms behind his back, his head held up high.
"Candicus. Candy….HEH, he CHOSE to be such a little piece of bitter chocolate."
The man stopped, smirking at his own words. He patted himself on the top of the head, his cheeks blushing a bit.
"Little? He was taller than ME...YOU'RE taller than me!"
"Daaaad…."
"What I am saying, Berry-bottom is that….is that you do have a choice. I had a choice and do you know what I got?"
The little girl shook her head no, the man letting out a laugh so loud and powerful that Vanellope was certain the entire studio shook.
"I gotta flufffle-butt wife and a daughter who I KNOW is gonna follow in her footsteps!"
The strawberry girl moaned, looking off to the side "I'm not good enough to be like mom. I…I wish I were but…."
"Look at me, Taffyta." The man said in a gentle tone "What do you want? What do you want to be?"
"I….I want to be…."
The girl thought for a moment as she peered up at her father. Even if he were so small, so small, so small from her point of view he looked so BIG. He looked big and strong and nothing like the bad guy everyone had said he was.
He was her big, silly, huggable father.
The girl furrowed her brows, standing up on her feet.
"I wanna show everyone that the Muttonfudges are not BAD!" the girl shouted "I wanna show them that I'm good, mama's good, and YOU'RE good! I wanna be in that race!"
"Okay, that's wonderful…." The man said in a chuckled "But Taffyta?"
"Huh?"
"Don't just put the entire focus for the race on ME. I want you to have FUN. You deserve to have fun and not live out your life in my shadow."
The man snorted loudly, taking his place back on the piano bench.
"Even if in realty, my shadow is really tiny."
Taffyta looked so bright and happy as she looked at her father, jumping into his arms for another hug.
"Thanks, daddy." The girl said, feeling so much better after her talk "Thank you so much…."
"I love you Taffyta." Said the man, holding his daughter tight "You remind this ol' circus freak how lucky he is."
Vanellope was taken away by the exchange, glancing over at her friend who was now trying her best to hold back her own tears.
"That's why I was so happy…" said the real Taffyta "My dad might have been 'bad'….but he loved me. He didn't want to use me for his own goals like Turbo did. Turbo….Turbo never loved me like that. He never hugged me like that. He never read me stories, never made me laugh when I felt bad…..Turbo…he wasn't a king and he wasn't my father."
The girl began to shake again, her knees feeling weak.
"My dad, my REAL dad, was a bad guy. But the best bad guy ever. Turbo? He called himself good, a king….but he turned my life into a NIGHTMARE…"
The two heard the door opening again, Vanellope looking over.
"Who is- BWHOA!"
One.
BIG.
STRAWBERRY!
"MAMA!"
Vanellope ducked under the drapes as a MASSIVE figure entered the room, a figure who looked to be the same TOWERING height as Ralph!
"W-Who is-?!"
Taffyta said nothing, her face now turned towards the wall "I don't know why RALPH shocked me. I live with HER."
"Malva!" said the man, a smirk on his face "I was wondering when you were going to arrive home. There were no people screaming in the streets so I got worried."
The massive woman huffed, removing her large fluffy coat and allowing the trail of massive pink curls to unwind, the mass burying Vanellope on the floor.
"URRF!"
"Really…." The woman began, her voice as smooth as chocolate "Berlingots, do you know what type of example you are setting for our daughter by acting in such a w-OH!"
Before Malva could finish, Taffyta had jumped and spun into her arms, hugging her mother round her neck.
The 'Stay Sweet' move.
It had come from SOMEWHERE and now both girls knew where.
"I'm gonna race!" Taffyta said happily "I'm gonna race and we won't have to move and everything will be better! You'll see!"
Malva blinked, pulling her daughter away "What do you mean, child?"
"I talked with daddy! I know what I'm gonna do now and they'll see! The Muttonfudges aren't bad guys!"
Malva stalled, looking over at Berlingots with a worried look.
"Dear?"
"Taffyta…."
The strawberry girl looked, worry coming on her face "Y-Yes?"
"Baby….I know you wanted to race but…."
"B-But? But what?"
"But…."
"But what mama?"
"But….."
"Mama?"
"But…."
But
But
BUT
BUT!
The scene froze, Taffyta's worried face frozen before all as the entire area began to shake.
"W-W-What's happenin'?!" screamed Vanellope, falling onto Taffyta "I don't remember hittin' pause on this!"
Horrid laughter filled the area, the still shot shattering all around. The girls screamed as they tumbled about, falling, falling, falling until-!
"NOT SO FAST!"
They stopped in their tracks, strong hands holding them both by their ankles and pulling them up. The world of Sugar Rush began to melt around them, returning to the horrid place in the code void.
"W-We're still here?!" gasped Vanellope.
"Why of coooooourse…." hissed Beta, the virus fully transformed into the monster that it was "But I wanted to give you two a little treat before I finally did you in."
Taffyta growled as she tried to fight back but it was no use "Say it again. Say it again like I won't kick your teeth out!"
"Mmmm, so tart." Laughed the virus "I must admit as seeing you two act in such a way so SOOOOO charming. It reminds me of so many other games my hive have been to, that we have destroyed and assimilated. What I love so much about YOU game however is just-! Is just-!"
Beta let out a little laugh, knocking the girls together.
"Oh, I just love the twist in all of this!"
"What do ya mean?" asked Vanellope scowling angrily.
"Just think about it, darling. In the truth of the story, YOU'RE the horrible bully that everyone in this arcade said they HATE. I mean think about it, if everyone KNEW your story, the way you had treated everyone even without Turbo-whatshisname, do you even THINK people would give you the time of day? Do you think they would even CARE about you at all?"
Beta then looked over at Taffyta, rubbing her head roughly.
"And who was the poor, unfortunate, boo-hoo MISFIT? Why, Ms. Muttonfudge and her mutant freak family, that's who. I would have LOVED to see you cry even more, all that mascara running down your face as someone brings up the awful truth of just how malodorous your family really is!"
"My parents were NOT freaks!" Taffyta shouted, pulling her hat up "They were-!"
"FREAKS. Let is just be like that." Said Beta "I wasn't kidding when I said 'Mama Mammoth' looked like a burnt stick and Papa Potbelly looked like a bloated strawberry! Swirl those mixtures together and no wonder you get an ugly looking MUTT such as yourself!"
"STOP IT" shouted Vanellope, jumping before Taffyta "Why are ya doin' this ta-! Ta all'a us?!"
"Vanellope, don't act as if this is new. Those words were all agreed upon by EVERYONE here. So imagine it. Even if I weren't hear and news got out on the truth of everyone in this game, people here would STILL think Taffyta is a freakish mutt of a bad guy! It's just so wonderful to think of all the misery to come from this!"
"You're LYIN'! THAT IS NOT TRUE!"
"Oh, but it is Von Schweetz…" Beta said, revealing the other racers behind them, their bodies motionless, their eyes shut.
"What did ya do ta-!?"
"Hush, hush, hush…they are asleep."
The two girls looked on, seeing that above the sleeping racers were code boxes, boxes that revealed every inner memory they had, whether it was from their story or things they had gathered through their lives in the arcade, past and present.
"Consider this is a parting gift from me…." Beta said sweetly "All those memories you were hunting for? They're back, back for good. But not all those memories are sweet now are they?"
Beta moved over to a few racers, placing their clammy hands on the surface and letting the virus leech through.
"I can bring out all those bad memories from the past…."
Candlehead kicked and thrashed in her sleep, the box showing out her greatest fears. She was running from something, running from laughter and jeers.
"You're just a stupid kid!"
"Yeah, big dummy!"
"N-no…." Candlehead whimpered, tears coming from her eyes "M-Mom! Papa!"
"Oh, so so sad….." the virus said mockingly "Mommy and daddy aren't here to make things better. They don't exist in this game, remember? But oh, how some things never change. They called Candlehead stupid in the story. Guess what they call her in the ARCADE?"
Vanellope watched as memories from only a few days prior were then brought up. At first she thought it was part of the story but then she saw that Candlehead was running through the station, trying with all her might to escape whoever was chasing her.
STUPID!
BULLY!
BIG STUPID BULLY!
SHOW HER WHAT WE DO WITH BULLIES!
"Stop, stop!" cried the girl as she ran away "I-I'm sorry! Just leave me alone!"
"Who are ya gonna run to?"
Candlehead looked back, seeing Vanellope, or BETA in Vanellope's form, standing over her smirking.
"Where are ya gonna go? HOME? There is no one there for ya, Candle-Dip. No one ta hear your cries!"
"Vanellope, stop!" the other girl said.
In the void, the real Vanellope was growing more and more angry with what she saw. This wasn't how things were supposed to go, this wasn't how she acted, nor what she wanted from the other racers.
"When we get out of this?! I-I'll-!"
"You'll do what?" Beta said, making the viruses seep through each racer, causing them more and more pain "Even if you did manage to get out, guess what? This will keep happening. This will keep happening because of you!"
"Why are you blamin' ME for this?!"
"The other racers are NOTHING, Vanellope. Your voice said that and everyone believes it!"
"THOSE WERE NOT MY WORDS!"
"Are you certain?"
"I NEVER WANTED THA GUYS TO GO THROUGH THIS!"
"Are you sure?"
"I-!"
Vanellope was winded, the virus looming over her and Taffyta.
"I-I-!"
"YOU…." Beta finished "Are MINE. And soon enough, the entire arcade will be mine as well. The master will have another addition to add to their collection, more games in their graveyard."
Vanellope and Taffyta clutched onto each other, neither girls knowing what to do as the virus hovered over them.
"T-Taffyta!"
"V-Vanellope!"
"This….this can't be it! We can't let it end this way! We already lost so much! I just wanted ta race! I never wanted people ta turn me inta this! I just wanted-!"
Vanellope stopped.
"I just wanted….."
Beta snickered, enjoying the girl's pathetic cries.
"I just wanted what everyone else wanted here….We wanted out memories back…we wanted out stories back."
She then looked over at Taffyta, the strawberry racer confused.
"A-and?"
"An'…..an' we got 'em!"
"What?"
"Ya put tha pieces back together….." Vanellope said, feeling something forming within her "In tha last moments, ya made us remember EVERYTHIN'. Who we are, where we come from…."
The smile grew bigger, Vanellope starting to glow with a glitch.
"An' maybe I wasn't as perfect an' as wonderful as everyone keeps sayin' I am! Maybe I was a bully in our story but ya know what happened in tha END of tha Sugar Rush tale?!"
Beta scowled "What are you blabbering on about you little piece of trash?"
"We all got back together!" Vanellope said, grabbing onto Taffyta's hand "AN' WE BEAT CANDICUS AGAIN!"
Without so much as a warning, Vanellope SPUN Taffyta and FLUNG her into Beta's face!
"GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAURGH!"
"Taffyta!" Vanellope shouted "DO THAT MOVE YOUR MOM TAUGHT YA WHEN THAT JAW-BREAKER SAID YOU HAIR WAS DYED!"
Ding.
Another memory back.
If only the others were there to see the devilish grin appearing on the strawberry racer's face.
"Oh yeaaaaaaah."
STAY.
SWEET!
*KA-POW!*
"AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUURGH!"
Taffyta was storing up so many years of anger in that one kick, her foot landing such a blow she could feel the hard, crunchy insides of Beta's form breaking under her feet. She bounced back, landing right next to Vanellope.
"Oh-HOOOOOO did that feel GOOOOOOOD." The racers laughed, rubbing her gloves together "So, SO GOOOOD!"
Beta recovered looking at the girls with hungry eyes "Do you think that is e-!"
"Taffyta!" Vanellope cried, reaching for a code-box marked 'red-hots' "HOT POTATO!"
"Hot potato!"
Vanellope quickly tossed the box over to Taffyta, the other girl activating it before tossing it over to Beta, the thing spraying out scalding hot candies in its face.
"W-WHAT IS THIS?!"
"Ya may have gotten my looks right…." Vanellope said, kicking another random item code box into the virus' face "But you'll never BE me, Ugly! Nor will ya know how we really kick things in this game!"
Taffyta reached for another box, this one labeled-
"Special delivery!"
Taffyta Trap
Using her powerful legs, Taffyta launched the box at Beta and as soon as it exploded, it covered the entire creature with sticky, gooey, impossibly gummy TAFFY!
"UURGH! Wh-what is this?!"
"Present from the 'MUTT'! How ya like it!?"
"Taff!"
The girl looked, over Vanellope, signaling up to her.
"Up here!"
Making certain that Beta was distracted, Taffyta pushed herself upwards towards the others, Vanellope already working away at pulling the infected cords off them of them.
"Help me!"
"On it!"
"RRRRRRRRGH! YOU WORTHLESS TWITS!"
"Hurry!"
"Ughn, Vanellope?" Rancis moaned, finally able to move again "W-What is-!"
BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!
"GAH! Let me go back to sleep! LET ME GO BACK TO SLEEP!"
"No time!" Vanellope said "We hafta get this thing outta here! Maybe if we reset then-!"
"We can't!" said Taffyta "Not without the anti-viral bomb! It's tha only thing that will wipe that monster from the game once the reset is enabled!"
"Then who has it?!"
"Mrs. Sargent Tamera Jean Calhoun does!" said Candlehead "B-but she an' everyone else got knocked outta here before we could grab it!"
"That's riiiiiiiiiigt…." said Beta, whirling itself around the children "And it's so tragic that in the end, you fought such a fight but you still lost. I guess if that shows anything, Sugar Rush really is the most defenses game in this place! I mean, look at how many times it's been attacked, not because it holds something PRECIOUS! But rather because everyone within it sucks!"
Vanellope scowled; she had been glitched, she had been lied to, she had been held captive for years and years.
NO ONE.
TELLS HER SUGAR RUSH SUCKS.
Beta continue to laughed, continue to cackle, its claws ready to rip the game apart.
"Allow me to savor the moment, allow me to remember the looks on your faces before your demise! I want the master to-!"
"Tha MASTER…." Vanellope growled, taking Taffyta's hand again "Will have to wait for another game."
Beta looked down, seeing the racers grabbing their hands, one after one, after one.
"You can't not expect me to buy this without laughing. My sides hurt enough as it is!"
"C'mon guys! Let's show this oversized booger how we do things, SUGAR RUSH Style!"
"What can you do?!"
S-U-G-A-R!
"You can't defeat me!"
S-U-G-A-R!
"What can YOU do?!"
JUMP INTO YOUR RACING KART!
"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"
A mighty roar came from the kids as they launched themselves forward, attacking Beta all over.
The laughter stopped.
"I'm CURIOUSLY strong!" roared Minty, punching the monster in the face "HAVE SOME!"
"Hope you're hungry." Said Gloyd, shoving his entire inventory of Pumpkin Bombs in Beta's mouth "These are mighty sweet!"
"BLAUGHR!"
The kids moved in, the literal RUSH of energy powering them through to distract and over run the virus villain.
Punches.
Kicks.
Bites.
Scratches.
Whatever they could do, the kids did it.
They were not going to let their game go down this time.
"Swizz, we need your brain man!" said Vanellope "We have ta get Calhoun's bomb in here but how?!"
"Lemme handle this!" the boy said as he wink, floating up to the code-box of the main controls. He managed to push in the code lock, scrolling through and through until-
"Tha intercoms!"
*Beep*
A microphone materialized in front of the boy, the thing turned up to full blast.
"How ta get in! How ta get in!" Calhoun blustered, her mind losing focus "We can't-!"
*SCREEEEEE-!*
"AH!"
"S-S-S-SARGE!?"
Ralph and Felix looked up, noticing the speakers on the track shaking as Swizz' voice came through loud and clear.
"Is that-?"
"Sarge, can ya hear me?!"
"Y-Yeah! I CAN! I CAN!" the woman looked around, unsure if Swizz could hear HER.
"If ya get this message, I'm gonna need ya to throw your virus bomb INTA THA CUP!"
"Tha cup?" asked Felix, turning to see the giant winner's cup topped over "B-But is it still functionin'?! An' why would-?"
Calhoun didn't miss a beat as she already had an inkling of what the boy was telling her to do. She dashed off to the massive trophy, climbed up the hill of debris and chucked the belt and the bomb inside.
"There!"
"CALHOUN!" cried Ralph "That was our only means of killin' Beta! Why did ya-!"
"We need ta duck, NOW!" Calhoun shouted as she took both her husband and Ralph over to the nearest garage.
Why had Swizz told Calhoun to throw the bomb into the cup?
Anything that goes into the cup…..
Is sent STRAIGHT to the code room.
"C'mon, c'mon…." Swizz chanted, seeing the data of the bomb arriving through the cup's code "YES!"
"It's here!" cheered Vanellope but her hopes were cut short when Beta let out a thunderous roar, blowing the other racers away.
"THIS IS NOT HOW ITS GOING TO END!" the monster cried out "I WORKED TO HARD FOR THIS! I AM NOT GOING TO LOSE MY CHANCE TO-!"
"And I am not gonna lose my home OR my friends again!" Vanellope growled, the bomb in her hand. She could see Beta's eyes shrinking down in fear, as if it could feel the energy of the bomb already.
"I-If you let that off in here, with all of you! You'll be vaporized!"
"So?" growled Vanellope "If that means gettin' your pimply face outta this arcade, it's a risk I-!"
"WE'LL!"
The girl looked down, the racers gathering behind her.
"G-Guys?"
"It's a risk WE'RE all gona take!" said Taffyta, looking back at the others "For Sugar Rush?!"
FOR SUGAR RUSH!
"No! I won't let you!" cried Beta, growing bigger and angrier towards the racers "A VIRUS WILL NOT STAND TO BE BEATEN BY CHILDREN! TO BE BEATEN BY A GLITCH! BY A BULLY!"
"I am NOT a GLITCH." said Vanellope, a few racers gathering under her, her feet in their hands.
"And I am NOT a BULLY." said Taffyta, the others repeating the same action with her.
Vanellope was launched towards the virus.
"NO!"
Taffyta was launched towards the main code set box.
Erase.
Reset.
"NO!" roared Beta "NO, YOU CAN'T!"
YES!
WE!
CAN!
It happened so quick, it happened so fast….
Vanellope SHOVED the bomb in Beta's chest, Taffyta hit the reset button on the controls.
Click.
Ping.
Tick, tick, tick…..
…..
Everyone held their breaths.
BOOM.