Author's Note:

This is the third and final installment of a trilogy of prequel stories that explores the lives of Turbo and Vanellope, from their origins to just after the events of the movie. It follows A Racer's Pride and The Girl in the Turquoise Hoodie. I encourage all of you to read my main series of post-movie fics first, since this trilogy freely delves into things that are considered major plot revelations in those stories. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read this one first, the two aforementioned prequel fics are the only context you'll need.

Chapter One:

Flight of the Glitch

Vanellope von Schweetz didn't know who she was.

Okay, that wasn't strictly true. She knew her own name. She knew that she was a part of the game called Sugar Rush. She knew that she was one of more than a dozen little children who inhabited the game, under the auspices of King Candy, their monarch. She knew the layout of the game, more or less. She'd seen a lot of it already, ever since they'd been plugged in not so very long before. All that, she knew of a certainty.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she didn't know what she was.

She'd been certain that she was a racer in the game. It was a racing game, after all. She could drive karts…or so she thought she'd remembered. But she'd woken up with her body periodically flickering blue, and a feeling of…instability, she could call it, inside her. In a panic, she'd gone to King Candy, begging him to help her understand what was happening. To her astonishment, the king had told her that she was a glitch, a dummied-out character who'd been abandoned by the developers early on. Her code, her very existence- nothing but the detritus of creation, like the shavings that fall from a piece of wood as its being shaped into something more. And before the revelation could fully sink in, she'd been accused of trying to takeover the game. Vanellope didn't remember any of that, but the end result was that she was now on the run from Sugar Rush's resident donut policemen, Wynnchel and Duncan.

Well, them and a whole host of devil dogs.

Vanellope was already almost breathless as she hurried across the chocolate plains of her home. Despite being clad in nothing but thin pajamas and a pair of slippers, she was already lathered in sweat, as much a result of her fear as her exertions. Every so often, she would 'glitch', flickering briefly and shooting forward a foot or two. Her goal was the rainbow path that led out of the game. Upwards it curved, into the face of a mountain against the game's wall. She'd never been beyond it, but she knew that it led to Game Central Station, the place which all the games were joined to. If she could just get there, maybe someone could tell her what was happening to her.

Splat! Vanellope landed waist-deep in a mud pool. Desperately, she pulled herself out on a vine. As she stepped out onto the solid ground, she realized that she'd lost her slippers, and that her lower half was covered in mud. She glitched forward, shaking the mud away, and then glanced back to see that Wynnchel and Duncan were closing in, together with the Devil Dogs and a swarm of Oreo guardsmen.

Vanellope glanced ahead. Seeing that the rainbow bridge was just ahead, she glitched towards it, and sprinted up its length. The bridge felt oddly soft beneath her feet- not what she'd expected from something resembling a fruit roll up. But there was no time to think about sensations. The opening was just ahead-

-"Ooof!" Vanellope found herself bouncing backwards, landing on her bottom as she was forced away from the exit. Confused, she tried again. Again, the same result.

"What?" she exclaimed. "How?"

She slammed her fists against the invisible barrier in frustration. Hearing the sound of the Devil Dogs behind her, she tried again. And then again, and again. And every time, the result was the same; she was blocked.

Vanellope drew away from the game's exit, her eyes wide with astonishment. She barely registered the arrival of her pursuers; almost the whole of her mind was occupied with the revelation that she was confined to the game. It wasn't until she hear a loud click and felt a sudden pressure on her left wrist that Vanellope snapped back to reality. As soon as she did, she heard another click, and felt a similar pressure on her right wrist. And then she realized that her hands were cuffed behind her back.

"Got you at last, glitch," she heard Duncan say.

There wasn't much point in resistance when she was surrounded, Vanellope decided. Doubly so when, despite how furiously she glitched, a pair of Oreos held onto her arms with surprisingly tight grips. So she had to give in quickly, and allow herself to be escorted all the way back to the castle. Still, at the castle gates, she hesitated briefly.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, trying not to let her nervousness show. The only response was a spear point that briefly pricked her back, forcing her to keep moving forward.

She was led through the castle's entry hall, and then into the throne room. King Candy was there, seated on his throne with his cane across his knees. He was in his usual gaudy outfit of purple, gold, and caramel, with the little crown perched atop his balding head. Wynnchel and Duncan took a step back, while the Oreos prodded Vanellope forward until she was about ten feet from the throne. They then stepped back also, arranging themselves in a semi-circle about the middle of the throne room.

Vanellope stood alone in the ring of enemies. Facing the king, she was suddenly keenly aware of how disheveled she looked, with her pajamas dirtied, her skin smudged, and her hair sticking out wildly at the fringes. She swayed nervously. Unable to steady herself with her hands cuffed behind her, she instead planted her feet more firmly on the flagstones. She tried to look King Candy in the eyes, but his glare was so intense that she had to look away almost immediately.

"You tried to run," King Candy said. "That makes you look guilty."

"I didn't do anything, though," Vanellope protested, her voice tremulous.

"We've already been over this," King Candy said, sighing with apparent exasperation. "You tried to code yourself into this game. You might not remember it, but it still happened. And you need to be punished."

Vanellope raised her eyes. "Punished? Don't I get a trial?"

"Trial?" King Candy snorted. "Your guilt is obvious. You were seen by too many people." Then, grinning, he added: "Besides, it's the sentence that's always the fun."

"Se-sentence?"

"Don't you get it, silly girl?" King Candy said, still grinning as he stood up and approached Vanellope. "You're going to have a nice, long stay in the dungeons. Maybe after a few years behind bars, you'll know your place!" His grin faded as he snarled the last word, poking her in the chest with the tip of his cane for emphasis. Vanellope glitched backwards, landing on her bottom. Two Oreos quickly hauled her to her feet, as King Candy turned back to his throne. He was about to head back towards it when he paused in mid-stride, and then spun about on his heel.

"Those clothes are filthy," he said, gesturing at Vanellope. "Better give her a nice new uniform." Then, smiling once again, he added, this time to Vanellope: "Don't look too downhearted. Maybe I'll come and visit you down there. That is, if I ever get bored."

"Like that'll ever happen," Vanellope said. "But if you do visit, be sure and bring my lawyer, 'kay?"

King Candy's smile faded briefly, before returning with a vengeance; it had been a hollow quip, and both Vanellope and he knew it. He made a sharp gesture, and Vanellope felt herself being manhandled out of the throne room, towards a side door that led to a long, downward curving staircase.