A-Plus Cassiopeia: You stay right where you are. We aren't done yet.
AlecReyes20: Calm down, they aren't going to hurt you. After all, then less people would review this story.
Jubileena: You can say that again.
Penelope lay chained up in the cold, damp cellars of her own dungeon, an punishment of cruel irony. The Nightmare Scrappies had stripped her of her royal outfit, deeming her unworthy to wear those, and she instead wore simple, tattered clothes.
The Nightmare Scrappies, prior to having gone to the Sugar Rush Kingdom, had rounded up all of Horror Rush's candy fans and randomly imprisoned them in the many cells in the dungeon. All of the cells were full to bursting with candy fans or any other citizens.
Penelope, aside from several Candy Fans, was also imprisoned with Sore Bill, Ore, Winkle and Dunant, and a few CLAW officers.
"So, there's still no sign of any of the Nightmare Racers," Penelope said to Ore, who hadn't been chained up but still had no way of escaping.
"They just left into the forest," Ore explained with a sigh. "For all we know, they have no idea what's happened to Horror Rush."
"Why would they leave?" Penelope wondered aloud, staring up at the ceiling. "What motive could they have to-"
"Hey, quiet up in there!" Popsy Frowzy, the Nightmare Popsicella, shouted from outside the cell. She had been left the guard the prisoners. With her was Sorbent Creams Coney, the Nightmare Sorbet, and Crum Glass, the Nightmare Crème.
"Sorry," Penelope insincerely apologized.
"Oh, you'll be sorry," Sorbent threatened. "The rest of us Nightmare Scrappies are taking over the Sugar Rush Kingdom, and once we do, we'll have a permanent food supply in the form of all of you!"
Ore gulped. "Hey, I like my cream inside of me, alright," He said.
Suddenly, the prisoners heard a crashing sound from up upstairs. "Huh, it looks like someone's broken into the Horror Acropolis," Winkle commented. The prisoners heard loud thumping sounds heading towards the dungeon, and Dunant added, "Something BIG!"
The thumping sounds reached the hallways where the cells were located. The prisoners heard the sounds of the three guards screaming out in surprise and terror, followed by the sounds of someone getting viciously thrashed. The prisoners heard the Nightmare Scrappies shout out "Oofs!" and "Aughs!", before culminating in an abrupt silence.
After a moment or two, the cell door was smashed open to reveal Ralph, Felix and Calhoun. Behind them, Popsy, Sorbent, and Crum lay unconscious on the floor.
"What are you doing here?" Penelope asked in surprise. "I banished you, remember."
"We're here to save your posteriors, ghoulie, so shut up and be thankful we bothered to come back for you," Calhoun said as she whipped out her blaster and shot Penelope's restraints, freeing her.
The Core 4 heard the sounds of the Scrappies pleading from within the cell next to Penelope's, and Ralph elbowed the door, smashing it open. Instantly, the Scrappies raced outside of the cell.
"That was close," Witchy said, wiping her forehead. "I thought we'd be stuck in there forever."
"Where are my subjects?" Penelope asked Witchy as Ralph began to smash open the doors and free the other prisoners. Hearing this, Ralph stopped shorting of smashing another door, and he turned towards the Nightmare Queen, a look of rage on his face.
"Your subjects?" He asked through gritted teeth. "They were busy wrecking four kinds of Game Over back at the Sugar Rush Kingdom!"
"They WHAT?!" Penelope shouted, showing the most genuine shock the Core 4 had seen her display.
"Yeah, we just barely managed to contain their destruction when the Nightmare Scrappies showed up and all Hell really did break loose!" Ralph went on. "Now, both your subjects and Vanellope's are trapped in the castle with those hellions at their heels! And if you don't help put a stop to this, so help me Mod..."
Penelope, however, wasn't listening. Instead, she aimlessly wandered for a bit down the hallway, still trying to process what her subjects had done, and she slumped down against the wall, mentally exhausted. Licorice, despite not knowing Penelope, walked up and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay, everything will be alright," She reassured.
Felix laid a land on Ralph's massive hand. "Brother, we need to focus on how we're going to stop those... things," He said. Ralph closed his eyes and nodded.
"Queen Penelope, do you know a way to stop these monsters?" He asked the Nightmare Queen.
Penelope's eyes lit up, and a smile formed on her face. Quickly, she wiped away the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks and she sprang to her feet.
"Yes, I have an idea!" She said triumphantly. "Follow me!"
Soon enough, the Core 4 and the escapees had arrived in one of Penelope's secret rooms. There, a control panel in the form of PS2 controller was stationed on the wall.
"What's that for?" Ralph asked, carrying the three unconscious Nightmare Racers on his broad shoulders.
"I only use it for emergencies," Penelope said as she took hold of the control panel. "I'm going to activate the turbine engines of the Horror Acropolis and lift this thing into the air."
"Wait, what?" Felix asked, astounded.
"I'm going to fly the castle to the Sugar Rush Kingdom and pick up both of our subjects," Penelope explained as she began to press a few buttons on the control panel.
"Man, you Nightmares get all the good stuff," Candella commented, folding her arms in envy.
"There's just one problem," Penelope said as she began to activate the Horror Acropolis' turbine engines.
"And what is that?" Calhoun asked, putting a hand on her hip.
Penelope sighed. "When the engines are activated, all energy is channeled to make this castle fly," Penelope explained. "That means all other energy is totally shut off, including the dungeon systems."
"Well, we don't have much choice, do we," Witchy said. "So, let's take this thing into the air!"
Penelope took a deep breath, and she pressed the final button. Instantly, everyone present heard the sounds of the roars of an engine, followed by a loud rumbling. The castle began to shook as it was lifted from the ground by the heavily powered turbine engines.
"Hang on, it's going to be a long ride," Penelope stated as she took hold of the control panel to fly the castle as it took off into the air. Everyone braced themselves as the Horror Acropolis took flight.
"Hey, Penelope, were there any other prisoners?" Licorice asked the Nightmare Queen as she piloted the flying castle. "Because, as you said, all the dungeon systems would be shut off."
"Well, there was one prisoner, but hopefully, she doesn't cause too much trouble," Penelope said.
Down the cellars of the dungeon, Creamy was immobile, still suspended in the air. Her breathing was heavy and she was on constant pain, feeling as if her limbs were being stretched to the very limit.
She was in such agony that she hadn't noticed the Horror Acropolis take flight. But as it did, all the dungeon systems shut off. The electrified chains dismantled and unlocked from around Creamy's limbs. The girl fell silently to the ground, landing on her stomach.
Creamy coughed a bit as the collar detached from her throat, allowing her to breath properly. Slowly, she got to her feet just as the door unlocked.
Creamy stared at her escape exit, and a malicious grin formed on her face. Quickly, she sprinted through the door and raced out of the dungeons.
From within the Sugar Rush castle, the racers ran down the hallways, Vanellope at the lead. Nightmare Scrappies followed close behind, clumsily running towards them.
"Come on, we're almost there," Vanellope urged the racers as they made their way towards the attic of the castle. Vanellope swung open the door and ushered the racers inside of it. As she did, the Nightmare Scrappies began to near. However, Vanellope was ready for them.
With a few well placed punches and kicks, she knocked the pursing Nightmare Scrappies back. She kicked Candela in the face so hard she sent her flying into a group of Nightmare Scrappies, knocking them onto the ground.
Once the last racer had gotten into the attic, Vanellope dove in herself, locking the door behind her. The moment she locked it, one of the Nightmare Scrappies punched a hole through the door. Vanellope gulped and took off up the narrow stairway, following the other racers.
"Do you see the escape hatch?" Vanellope asked, trying to move through the dark stairway.
"Yeah, we found it!" Rancis called from up the stairs. Vanellope, relief washing over her, took off up the stairs to find the racers lined up on the stairs, Rancis and Tabitha both opening the hatch leading to the rooftops.
"Okay, everyone, let's move out one at a time," Vanellope said.
Tabitha instantly dove up out of the escape hatch and onto the roofs. However, before Rancis could follow, Tabitha whipped out the pink gun, which she had retrieved beforehand. She pointed it at Rancis' face.
"Hey, what the-" Rancis said in surprise.
"Only the Nightmares get to escape," Tabitha said, the gun trained at Rancis. "You Sugar Rush Racers will serve as a distraction while we get to safety."
"Oh, come on, Tabitha, this isn't fair," Peterbelly argued as he walked towards the escape hatch, but Tabitha aimed the gun at him, too.
"You're not one of us, anymore," Tabitha declared bitterly. "You stay with the Sugar Rush Racers."
This time, Kendall was the one to step forward. "Oh, come on, Tabby, we're wasting time," She pointed out. "Those mean cannibals are getting closer by the minute." As if to prove her point, the racers heard the sound of the Nightmare Scrappies beginning to break through the door below.
"Yeah, let's all escape," Joanna claimed, squeezing through the crowd of racers in the limited space.
Tabitha unexpectedly pointed the gun at the other Nightmares, switching between Kendall and Joanna.
"This isn't your decision," Tabitha threatened darkly. "You have two options: Come out, or stay and die."
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