Chapter 13 – Taffyta's Mission

When Jubileena stepped back into the lounge, she found that everyone was staring at her.

"What?" she said, trying to be casual.

"Where's Gloydster?" asked Swizzle with a raised eyebrow.

Jubileena resumed her spot next to Adorabeezle and picked up the spoon in her cherry fudge sundae. "He, uh, went home to feed Mr. Spitfire."

Adorabeezle swallowed her mouthful of ice cream. "Oh, come on, Jubi, you know you're a terrible liar," she sneered. "Gloyd went to check on Crumbelina, didn't he."

She said this more as a statement than a question.

"Okay people, coins forward!" Swizzle barked. He whisked an official Sugar Rush gold coin from behind his back and slapped it heavily on the bar. "I'm starting the betting pool right now! Minimum bet stands at one gold slab with the waffle callin' of my best bud and his glamour gal to be an item by the week's end!"

Any of Swizzle's doubt that had been present while stuffed in that cabinet with Minty hours ago seemed nonexistent now as he shouted about like a top-notch dealer at the casino.

"Too soon," Adorabeezle said without hesitation, placing her own gold coin on top of his. "Give it another month at the least."

"They're both tough nuts to crack," Rancis offered. "It'll take way more time before they actually start something if at all."

"But Mom and Dad fell in love in a single night!" Candlehead joined in.

As the kids clamoured over the 'will they's and the 'won't they's, Sour Bill just rolled his eyes as he added a tiny pink paper umbrella to a small glass of lemonade to replace the one lost to Swizzle's crash-landing. Out of all the elaborate orders, this was by far the simplest to put together. Balancing it in his jelly bean hands, he waddled over to the far end of the U-shaped bar to where the racer who had ordered it was seated. Coincidentally, she was also the only one not offering her two-cents or gold coins to the ongoing debate.

"You holding up, Madam President?" Sour Bill drawled, nudging the glass across the counter towards her. "You've never asked for lemonade before. You sure you don't want your usual strawberry shortcake cobbler with extra glitter sprinkles?"

Taffyta sighed as she stared dully at her drink. "No thanks, Bill," she said in a low voice so that their exchange would just be between the two of them. "I'm just bummed out, I guess. I have a bad feeling that nothing is going to be the same around here anymore. Every one of us was scared out of our minds tonight."

Sour Bill eyed her despondent face carefully. She was looking almost as gloomy as him.

"I wish I could give you some helpful advice," he mumbled. "This wouldn't be the first time I've had to deal with code problems. But this…is a little out of our control. Maybe your candle friend isn't so far off this time…asking Fix-It Felix to run a quick check each time we get an update might be our only choice. He doesn't seem to mind doing it."

Rested her chin on the bar, Taffyta reached up to swirl the paper umbrella in her glass, watching the bubbles rise close to her troubled face. There was every reason in the world why the castle's code room was forbidden, even from her. With so many vital wires feeding data to thousands of delicate code boxes that secured their very existence, contamination from the outside could have devastating effects. One bump, a single careless nudge of an intruder's wayward foot…any code box could get knocked off-balance, or a wire snagged loose. There was no telling what that would affect.

As if that wasn't plenty enough reason, that room had been the heart of Turbo's evil scheme that had wiped out the memories of all of the game's citizens and forcing Vanellope to live as a fugitive for 15 years.

"You know how dangerous that place is," she muttered. "I can't just ask Felix to go swimming in there every single time. Everyone and everything we know are at risk from anything that steps into that creepy vault. I'm getting creeped out just thinking about it! But at the same time, Snowanna and Gloyd are right. What if our so-called awesome flashy new developers let another one of our codes slip again? That's even worse."

She then gazed over at Candlehead who was happily stuffing her face with cake, oblivious to their serious conversation. "Everyone was so thrilled about this update," she muttered. "It's all we talked about for weeks when we found out we had been bought by Juerugemu…even if we really are livin' life to the fullest, we're still gonna be terrified whenever the next update shows up."

She shut her eyes. "I don't want to rule a kingdom of fear."

Bill grew quiet for a moment as he tried to think of something to say. "Then I guess the least we can do is keep everyone calm," he said at last.

Taffyta slumped the side of her face on the shiny countertop. "Yeah. And a great job I did at that today," she huffed. "I tried to keep everyone from breaking down. But all I could think of doing was calling Vanellope for help. You saw the way she got us all to smile again just by setting foot in the castle. And how she calmed Gloyd down just now. I could never do that. She's a way better leader than I ever was."

Looking away from her, Bill rubbed the bar's stainless surface with a damp candy wrapper rag. "This isn't meant to make you feel better, Miss Taffyta," he groaned softly, "but it's not like this is the first time this has happened."

The girl blinked out of her sulking state. "W-Wait, what?"

"It isn't the first time a video game character has disappeared from suffering damage," Sour Bill explained, now speaking even lower than ever. "Apparently, there have been games in the past that didn't have the codes boxes for some of their characters installed all the way…likely due to programming errors and hasty first-releases on the developer's side, that sort of thing. But after the character took on regular damage during gameplay and would normally respawn, it was too late."

The other racers' conversation seemed to drown out entirely as Taffyta slowly lifted her head and sat up to face her assistant directly with narrowed eyes. "How do you know this?" she asked, her insides going cold.

"King Candy was never known to keep his thoughts to himself," Bill answered with a frown. "He often talked out loud, not caring if I was around him or not…he was used to ignoring me. But I gathered enough intel from his ramblings to piece this much together. He knew more about codes and hijacking programs than anyone and there's apparently a long history of vintage game characters who have died from faulty codes in their own game."

He gulped and gazed down at his reflection upon the counter surface. "He knew Miss Vanellope was still on the loose in the game somewhere," he drawled. "His main objective every night after the Random Roster races were over was to find and eliminate her for good. With her code disabled, it was all a matter of finishing her off. She would have no chance of regenerating."

Taffyta stared at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. "That's…that's disturbing," she murmured. "How come he never finished the job?"

"Because she was too quick for him to catch," Bill replied simply. "He sent guards, devil dogs, C.L.A.W. team, the whole deal to scope her out. Came close to capturing her, but she escaped him every time."

A moment of silence fell between them as Taffyta glanced over at the empty stool between her and Candlehead. "That sounds like Vanellope all right," she finally said. "But why didn't you tell us any of this while Crumbelina was out?"

Bill kept his gaze low, looking a little ashamed now. "I…didn't want to add more fear to the fire," he finally responded.

The strawberry racer slumped her shoulders. "Fair enough. But still…those game characters who died because of their code…it means they were total goners without even knowing it. Crumbelina was one of them."

"Come to think of it…" she suddenly frowned as a new mystery sprung to mind, one that hadn't even occurred to her and seemingly no one else until now. "…how in the Haribo did she regenerate?" she quizzed out loud.

"That, I don't know," Bill admitted. "I was quietly wondering that myself. Didn't think she was going to make it, to be honest."

"Did Turbo ever mention anything about surprise returns like this?"

Bill shook his body 'no'. "Not from anything I heard," he said. "This is the first time I have ever heard of a character regenerating after something like this. My best guess is that something kicked her code back into motion somehow. I would suggest checking it over to be sure, but of course, with the risks involved…"

His last statement actually made Taffyta smile a little. At least there was someone other than her and Vanellope who understood how deathly fragile those code boxes were.

She glanced at her friends, still arguing about Gloyd and Crumbelina's supposed romance. Though Taffyta certainly wasn't one to miss out on the latest gossip or dig up the big scoop of the day, she found that she wasn't nearly as interested in solving the mystery that her friends were so engrossed with…no, this one was far more important. If Juerugemu did indeed give them another faulty update, figuring out how to regenerate after suffering a broken code may be their last hope.

Sour Bill followed her gaze. "Should we tell the others what we know?" he asked.

Taffyta pondered this for a quiet moment.

"Not yet," she finally decided. "We need more answers, not speculation. Don't wanna get them all excited for nothing. Right now, we need to think up a better idea to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"And besides," she suddenly added with a devilish smirk, "if we mention the codes to them too many times, they might remember that there actually is a sure-fire way of telling if Crumbelina likes Gloyd and vice verca. You know what it is, right?"

At this, her assistant smiled back, which might have been his attempt to match her smirk. "Mmhmm. Double-tapping the character codes will turn it into a snooper's paradise. Personality programming…coded ability and skill sets…preferences…likes…dislikes…everything put on full display."

Meanwhile, the debaters were still firing at full force. A tower of around 30 gold coins now stood on the countertop like a giant stack of flapjacks.

"You're the expert on love, Jubi," Citrusella insisted to her twin as she chewed on the last of her Starbursting Supreme. "Can't you tell if Gloyd and Crumbelina are into each other?"

Jubileena twirled one of her pigtails absent-mindedly. "Well, I know they like each other…but if this is actual love…it's a little harder to tell this time…"

"What do you mean hard?" interjected Minty, sounding almost insulted. "You were able to see the chemistry between me and Swizzle instantly!"

"Yeah, well you guys were way too obvious," Jubileena smirked. "But Gloyd…he's not exactly an open book. He's an expert in masking his emotions, so it's really hard to tell exactly what he's feeling. But Crumbelina can also mask her emotions. You're asking me to unwrap the biggest Kinder Surprise ever…"

"Dude, you serious?" Swizzle snarked, crossing his arms. "Have you not seen the way Miss Drizzlecap flirts with him? She plays him like a fiddle!"

"But I thought Crumbelina plays the violin," Candlehead said with a confused frown.

Adorabeezle looked across the bar to Snowanna. "Is there anything you know about Lina, Snowanna? Does she like like Gloyd?"

"Like, like like LIKE like?" Candlehead asked eagerly.

Snowanna looked at the numerous pairs of eyes staring expectedly at her. She raised her hand.

"Sorry, guys, but I'm not joining in your betting pool," she said firmly. "And I'm definitely not spilling anything from Crumbelina's private life unless she wants me to. In fact, I think I'm going to go now before you all try something funny."

She then picked up the rest of her ice cream sandwich and her acoustic guitar, and headed for the door.

"Aw, come on, Anna," Candlehead whined. "Can't you tell us anything? How come Lina likes Gloyd all of a sudden?"

Snowanna stopped with her hand on the door handle. Maybe she could drop a subtle bit of truth, one that couldn't hurt.

"Well…she did tell me one time that Gloyd understands her."

Without waiting for any replies, she left.

"Oh great," Swizzle said, throwing his hands up. "That doesn't help squat. So how else are we gonna find out if Gloydster and McGlamour are the next Sugar Crushers?"

"We're not."

Everyone looked at Jubileena when she said this.

"Look everyone," she said in a serious tone, "I'm as curious as you are about Gloyd and Crumbelina. But…I'm siding with Snowanna on this one. And I think you guys should too. It's best that we leave them alone for a while. Gloyd's had a really rough night, so I think we should give him and Crumbelina their space. Let them sort anything out themselves without us butting in. I also think that unless Crumbelina asks for one of us specifically…tonight we let Gloyd tend to any of her needs."

"Besides," she warned, "we can't bug him too much. If he finds us annoying, he might get second-thoughts of wanting to hang out with us."

The racers fell silent at her words. Swizzle looked down as he ran a hand through his long hair. "Yeah…I guess he could use a break," he muttered at last.

Jubileena smiled, looking relieved.

"Speaking of Gloyd," Minty said thoughtfully, "did any of you notice that when he was ranting about another unplugging and faulty updates…he said he was scared of losing us, and not once did he mention himself?"

"Yeah, I did notice that," Adorabeezle replied, licking chocolate crumbs off her fingers. "That's not quite the carefree Gloyd I remember from a couple months ago."

Candlehead smiled sweetly. "Gloyd's kinda different now," she pointed out. "I like him. I mean, I liked him already…but I kinda like him more now."

"Me too," Jubileena said with a nod. "And you know what? He reminded me of something way more important here. It doesn't matter if he and Crumbelina will get together or not. That first kind of love I mentioned earlier…that's not tonight's lesson…the second one is. And that's the love I have for you right now. ALL of you!"

She wrapped her arms around Adorabeezle and Minty. Taking the hint, everyone else got off their stools and gathered close.

"I love you guys," she declared out of the blue. "And I want you all to know right here and right now that I care way more about you than how many races I win or how popular Sugar Rush is to the players out there. That's what I got out of this scary night. No matter how many updates or unpluggings threaten us, we're a family no matter what. And as long as we're together, we can conquer anything!"

Candlehead pounced onto Jubileena's back from behind, clinging to her like a monkey. "Yeah! If we stick together, then nothing can tear us apart!" she chimed in.

"Exactly, Candi," Jubileena grinned. "Once a Sugar Rush racer…"

"…ALWAYS a Sugar Rush racer," the racers chorused as they all stepped in for one big group hug. Competitors they were out on the racetrack, but friends to the end they would always be. If last year's unplugging hadn't taught them this loud and clear, then nearly losing Crumbelina tonight surely had.

Candlehead looked over the crowd and noticed that Taffyta was the only one still sitting in her spot. "C'mon, Taff!" she giggled. "You're a racer too! And even you, Bill! I mean, you're not technically a racer, but you're still part of the family!"

But Taffyta was staring blankly at her untouched lemonade, her expression suddenly unreadable.

"Stick together," she said out loud.

"That's what I said," Candlehead chirped brightly. "Now get over here! The hug still needs you!"

Taffyta didn't seem to hear her as she just sat motionless, a strange look flying through her frowning eyes. "Stick together," she parroted again. Sour Bill raised a green eyebrow.

And then suddenly, she leapt to her feet, almost knocking over her drink. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "Candlehead, you're a genius!"

"I am?" the candle-racer gasped, clueless.

Without answering her, Taffyta briskly hopped out of her seat and made a beeline towards the door. Sour Bill dutifully hurried after her, tossing his bow tie over his nonexistent shoulder.

"Hey! Where are you going, Taffyta?!" Candlehead called out as the other racers in the pile swiveled their heads around. "You didn't even touch your lemonade!"

"You can have it!" Taffyta shouted as she and her assistant left the Racers' Roost.

The remaining racers disbanded as they stared at the golden door left ajar, looking more bewildered than they had following Vanellope's sudden dash.

"That was weird," Rancis said, breaking the silence.

"What, Taffyta making like a banana split or calling Candlehead a 'genius'?" Swizzle chortled. He immediately received a shoulder-whack from Minty.

Adorabeezle twirled her cherry pom poms. "Well, one thing's for sure," she said loftily. "There was a whole lot of weird things goin' on tonight. Mysteries all around."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Swizzle replied with a wave of his hand. "But the real mystery is if I can perfect this back-flip n' twist combo before we all die!"

And as if to make himself quite clear, he leapt onto his stool and tried once more to execute the tricky move, only to misjudge his landing again, this time launching himself smack onto Adorabeezle and knocking them both down to the floor. CRASH! WHAM! SPLAT! "OW!"

"Maybe you better read the instruction manual first, Swizzle," suggested Candlehead innocently as she slurped at Taffyta's lemonade.

Minty sighed as she looked directly down at her boyfriend while Jubileena tended to a snarling Adorabeezle. "Why do I bother with you, Swizzle?" she told him. "That's the real mystery."

"Even after all these years, this place still gives me the heebie jeebies," Sour Bill drawled nervously.

Taffyta kept her gaze determinedly forward as they walked. "Well, I don't blame ya. It totally creeps me out too."

The president and her assistant were walking in the deepest part of the castle, situated at even lower levels than what remained of the Fungeon and the emergency candy bunker. Deep in the forbidden bowels of underground, this narrow passageway was surrounded by enormous humming tubular wires, plugs, and cables made not of candy and sugar, but of synthetic materials found in the inner machinations of video games everywhere. Very rare to find in a world made entirely of food and baking utensils, but this room was its own world entirely. Hidden well from the players' view, so integral it was to the game's very existence that it was highly restricted from anyone unless they had official business down here.

And to Taffyta, she felt the burden on her shoulders filled every criterion that 'official' had ever called for. The sheer presence of this area seemed to vaporize her previous strike of excitement back at the bar.

Her feet came to a stop, and now she was staring pointedly at the large NES controller mounted in the silver chrome door at the end of the passage. "You have the code?" she asked her companion without taking eyes off her objective.

Sour Bill reached behind his back and produced a grubby crinkled Tapper's napkin, one of the very few things personally owned by the imposter King Candy that Vanellope and the racers had not destroyed or erased. Taffyta took it, and gazed for a brief moment at the faded code still scribbled on its corner. She had known for years that they had this, but still couldn't quite believe that she was holding a copy of the legendary Konami Code, known throughout arcades everywhere.

She reached forward and slowly inputted the secret code right into the controller.

Up – Up – Down – Down – Left – Right – Left – Right – B – A – Start

With a bone-shuddering hiss, the whole door rotated 90 degrees and opened; a brief rush of icy-cold air blasted their faces as they now stood before the endless void of pitch-black darkness, lit up by the giant supernova of brilliant light in the centre: the vault of precious codes that held the world of Sugar Rush together. Each one of those blocks shimmering in neon purplish pink hues contained vital data, serving the all-important purpose of maintaining every element in this virtual world. From the citizens and the karts to the giant gumball machines of Gumball Gorge to the last truffle tree, absolutely everyone and everything here stood in existence because of these codes.

Following Juerugemu's big takeover, all of the blocks had been subjected to a fresh stream of updated data…except for one.

Taffyta stood still as Sour Bill carefully tied a heavy-duty licorice rope securely around her waist.

"All set," he informed her.

Glancing up, he noticed that his leader was gazing into the dark abyss of the vault, the many thousands of code boxes and even more glowing wires in the distant depths. She let out a heavy sigh. "I sure hope this works."

Then Taffyta reached behind her back and pulled out an official Sugar Rush power-up box. It hovered within her gloves, shimmering in a glittery, rainbow gleam across its perfectly square faces. The strawberry-themed racer spent a quiet moment staring at it before turning to the vault again.

Twisting his jelly bean hands around, Sour Bill followed her gaze into the darkness. "Pardon me for asking this, Madam President, but…" he hesitated and wiped a small bead of sour sweat from his round face, "…why are you doing this?"

Taffyta looked down at him. "This is just something I feel I have to do, okay?" she told him icily. "Vanellope left me in charge of Sugar Rush, and we almost lost a racer. One of my friends almost died under my watch."

She said this with an awful taste rising in her mouth. It was painful to stomach what could have been, even now.

"It wasn't your fault," Sour Bill reasoned. "It came from the developers. You had no way of knowing this would happen."

Taffyta curled her mouth. "Doesn't matter," she stated firmly. "Now that we know that it can happen, if there's even a bite-sized morsel of a thing that I can do about it, I will. I can't let this happen again. I just can't."

She frowned as she dropped her eyes down to her shimmering power-up. "That's becoming of a good leader, isn't it?" she muttered. "Vanellope always said this job was about doing what's right no matter what."

Hitching the double loop of licorice higher up her waist and grasping the power-up block tightly, she began walking determinedly towards the code vault's entrance as if she were an astronaut about to enter her capsule, ready to blast off for a life-defining mission to uncharted territory. But before she could dive in, she felt a tug at the hem of her dress.

"Miss Taffyta?"

She stopped and looked down at him. "What is it now?"

Sour Bill met her impatient gaze for a moment, then lowered his hand. "This talking stuff isn't really my thing, and please excuse my silent observations," he muttered carefully, "but you've been awfully hard on yourself this past year ever since Miss Vanellope entrusted Sugar Rush to you. And I don't think you need to beat yourself up all the time like this."

Taffyta said nothing. She eyed the little green sour ball silently. Sour Bill took this as an invitation to keep talking.

"I know you're trying very hard to be as good a leader as she was," he muttered. "But between you and me…you're doing just fine."

He then gestured to the open vault's doorway. "Just the fact that you're choosing to do this shows you care about your racer friends and everyone in this game. If you ask me, that's a great quality to have as a leader."

"And if it's any consolation," he added with a tiniest pinch of bounce in his otherwise drawling voice, "on a personal note…it's been a pleasure working for you just as much as for Miss Vanellope. You and her…you both care about the game you rule and its citizens. King Candy only cared for one of those things."

The rhythmic sounds of the humming cables and the faraway echoes of the code boxes in the vault resonated throughout the passage as Taffyta Muttonfudge just stared at Sour Bill.

Then with her features softening ever so slightly, her mouth curled into a very tiny smile. She even bent down to pat his head gently. "Thanks Bill," she murmured. "That…that means a lot. Really. But just let me do this tonight, okay?"

Sour Bill nodded, then clutched the candy rope tightly as Taffyta turned back towards the open chamber and began advancing forwards. "This is gonna take a while, so better make yourself comfy," she told him. "Hum some tunes or something, y'know?"

And without another word, Taffyta jumped bravely into the black void, the power-up sugar cube tucked securely under her arm. Bill watched her pink and white form become smaller and smaller, until he lost sight of the girl swimming into the bright collection of precious code boxes, the licorice rope trailing her path like a long scarlet snake.

"Well," he muttered with an amused smile crossing his green face as he sat down, "I've always been somewhat partial to Beethoven…"

A/N: Mysteries all around. But one thing I discovered myself to enjoy by accident was interpreting Taffyta's relationship with Sour Bill. This is an interaction that I haven't really seen anyone attempt before, making it all the more special. It makes sense to me since in the context of Vanellope leaving Sugar Rush to Taffyta, she becomes Bill's new boss. Again, like many of the other things I've done with these characters, I tried to do something a little different from what most people would naturally assume their relationship to be.

This is just scraping the surface of what's really going on, but we'll leave it there for now so y'all can offer your thoughts in the review roster. And speaking of which, time now to respond to some:

darthsand: You and me both. The sibling-like bonds among the racers and the core characters are truly what I am trying to push with these fics of mine, especially this one. Give me 5 minutes to rethink over why Ralph Breaks the Internet still gives me a disappointed frown and a sour taste in my mouth, and it always somehow leads me back to cringing over the fact that Vanellope is so distant from the other racers, the racers are marketed not as friends but as feral freaks, and Ralph went from brave big-hearted hero to wimpy cringy doofus. I love these characters, but the sequel really tests my ability to do that. Writing this kind of story serves as one of my bigger coping mechanisms for the mistakes they made, as well as simply a nice contribution to the list of WiR fanfics out there.

momojelly: I think it's clear to see that this tragedy was just the kicker that Gloyd needed to start making a true turn-around. And because of that, he just might be able to understand Crumbelina's playful actions as those subtle, genuine hints to respond back. Rancis was the first WiR character I decided to break down in a writing sense, long before Swizzle and Gloyd. Notice that it was the trio of male racers who were targeted to launch almost all of my WiR fics. Seeing his offscreen change in RBiT was what first got me interested in developing him as an opposite to his vain persona indicated in the films.

Ghost milk with cheese: Swizzle and Minty will always be my go-to pair for a good visual laugh. Glad you caught the story while it was relatively still early!

ColdSpike2475: No worries pal, this story will be up and posted for as long as Fanfiction is still a thing. It'll be ready for you when you're ready for it! Like Cheez Whiz. It just sits in the fridge without going moldy…waiting for you when you're ready for it.

Seth: Haha, you finally figured it out! Glad to have you avidly following the story so closely and even happier now that I don't have to know you as a mere guest. A pleasure it is to finally meet you, man. I always love your long analytical reviews as you've come the closest to noticing and breaking down the small easily-ignored details I've deliberately sprinkled into the story. There are some very hidden clues and cryptic references that all contribute to the main plot in some way, so I'm thrilled you're here to pick them out! It might take some rereads to catch on to all of them. If you ever make yourself an account and want to reach out, please do. I'd love to talk to you directly and share some thoughts. You don't even need to publish any stories to make an account; many people just do it so they can PM with authors. Keep those long reviews coming; I always enjoy hearing what you have to say and seeing if you can uncover all the easter eggs. As for wrapping up…let's just say that we've still got some unexpected unwrapping to do!