A/N: Happy summer! Things have been rather quiet from my previous stream of content, haven't they? Well, that's 'cuz I've been composing this multi-chapter story (and a second multi-chap) for several months now.
The ending of my previous big fic Devastated deliberately left Vanellope's conclusion ambiguous, and I received numerous requests to see what would happen to her specifically following that story. It became clear that one more narrative was needed to fully integrate her back into the main cast before moving on. That's what this is, and it continues the story immediately after the epilogue of Devastated (literally the next day). Go read that to get you up to speed. If you're all caught up, read on! I did have a brainstorm for this story, but in the form of a short one-shot that involved a much smaller cast which was actually teased in Chapter 15 of Devastated through a brief throwaway line that Vanellope makes, suggesting that the racers take her to check out the new features added to Sugar Rush while she had been away. That's basically what this story's main premise is, but with a whole lot more included.
This goes without saying, but whenever I write a fic dealing with such a pivotal element from the canon stuff (i.e. Vanellope leaving the arcade, which to no surprise has been one of the biggest choices for a story-writing topic), I always find myself wanting to say a little disclaimer just to stay on the safe side. Lots of other authors in the past have also handled this exact same subject, so any similarities found in my fic with others is unintentional. That's not to say I don't read other people's takes on how the whole Vanellope gallivanting off to Slaughter Race schtick is dealt with, because I absolutely do. It's interesting to see how each fan handles it and I subsequently get lots of inspiration to craft my own take. But rest assured that there shall be no plagiarism here. (I'm a science graduate; I'd be arrested instantly if I did that.)
And as per the norm with my stories, there's a whole ton of references that only the most dedicated WiR fans and my most avid readers will spot. See if you can find them all!
Welcome Home, Vanellope
November 9, 2021 – July 20, 2022
Part 1 – Time Never Freezes
There are few kids out there in today's modern world who can deny that out of the seven days of the week, Saturday is something special. A day that has historically marked itself in the young minds of millions as a day of rest following a very stressful week. The ultimate finish line and reward for running the grueling marathon of sweat and toil in the race called life. For today's youth population, Saturdays and good times went together like chocolate on strawberries.
The precious untouchable Saturdays, especially Saturday mornings, were no strangers to Litwak's Family Fun Center and Arcade. This string of hours was always met with a bustling rush of kids eager to splurge their pockets of allowance money on Stan Litwak's prized games; games that were so famously known to be carefully preserved from being swallowed up by the sands of time. Classic oldies like Frogger, DigDug, Pac-Man, Fix-It Felix Jr., and more had a secured place of residence at Litwak's.
Upgrade that to a Saturday during Spring Break, well, that was just icing on the cake for Litwak and his employees. Business always spiked during school holidays.
But this particular Saturday of March 2019 was already proving to be extra special.
"Hey! Vanellope's back!"
"All right! She's playable again!"
"Are you kidding? Dibs on next game!"
In just a few hours, the traffic for Sugar Rush reached a new peak. Word spread as it often does with the younger generation, and before long, more kids were bustling in to see the miracle for themselves. Kids who hadn't initially planned on spending their Saturday at Litwak's were now impatiently awaiting their turn to race as their favourite avatar, who hadn't been seen for a good year.
Mr. Litwak watched as the queue maintained a steady growth throughout the day and smiled. For just over a year, he had kept a concerned eye on Sugar Rush's dwindling quarter collection. For the past 13 months, he had silently hoped that Vanellope von Schweetz would reappear on the roster. The exact number of emails and phone calls he had sent was all but a forgotten integer by this point. He had contacted Juerugemu (TobiKomi's succeeding developer), his maintenance man Harvey, numerous software experts he'd found online, and even a talented game junkie that his nephew knew. But no one had seemed to work out how to bring back the missing racer that all his customers kept asking him for.
But now, by some great miracle, only the second following the mysterious appearance of the elusive Sugar Rush steering wheel on his doorstep sent by an unknown saviour a year ago, all his concerns seemed to vaporize out the door. Indeed, Mr. Litwak couldn't hold back his smile as he observed the magnificent sight that never failed to brighten his day: children whooping with glee behind the console as they raced with Vanellope, using her glitching ability she was known so famously for to jump the competition.
"This is awesome!" a happy girl squeaked as Vanellope danced in front of her with a golden trophy in hand, the reward for being the first to cross Soft-Serve Speedway's finish line. "I haven't played as Vanellope since forever!"
"Me neither," said her friend, who was clad in an oversized hoodie that read Sugar Rush! and featured tiny chibi-heads of the racers. "Now move over, Kate, it's my turn!"
'Thanks for bringing her back, Mr. Litwak! You rock!"
"How'd ya do it, Mr. Litwak?"
Just how many kids approached him that day, overwhelmed with constant rounds of praises, and all of them thanking him for supposedly solving the problem of Vanellope's disappearance? Mr. Litwak lost count.
But as if that weren't bizarre enough, they were also thanking him for bringing in a new racer: a pink kimono-wearing girl named Minty Sakura, who apparently (according to the most avid fans of Sugar Rush's lore and history) was exclusive to only the original Japanese version of the game. She was unquestionably also contributing to the big surge in gameplay today. Regarding her appearance, Litwak had no explanation whatsoever.
"My pleasure, kids," he simply answered their jubilant faces with a kind ageing smile.
In the end, he deduced that the new update, a flashy upgraded program distributed by Juerugemu a month ago that he had lost no time in purchasing and installing, had worked out the mysterious bugs and brought the two racers back. Hopefully for good, because the last times he had seen his customers so excited to play Sugar Rush was on the day he plugged it in and the day Vanellope von Schweetz first appeared.
Some of his employees swung by to see this spectacle for themselves. "Well, looks like Sugar Rush is still in the game, no pun intended!" one of them joked.
His boss could only nod in agreement. "It sure seems that way," he said, his voice filled with highest relief. "There's a lotta' funky mysteries with ol' Sugar Rush, I tell ya. And I don't think we'll ever know the answer to this one."
What Litwak also didn't know was how right he was. No one would ever understand the true reasons behind all of these unexpected occurrences…it would simply be too much for a mere human brain to handle.
At Soft-Serve Speedway, Vanellope von Schweetz stood on top of the podium that bore the Number #1 beneath its frozen layer of ice shavings. Her hands, undeterred from the frigid air, clamped tightly around yet another gold cup as she danced and pumped her fist in the air, performing her routine winning 'animation' for what surely must have been the thirtieth time that day. The warm elation of helping yet another player claim victory must have been burning off the chilliness she should have been shivering from in this snowy environment, because she didn't feel cold at all. She didn't feel the least bit tired either. Good thing too, because she had raced nonstop and had done this same animation for practically the entire day. And it was only noon.
But it was the smiles and cheers of the kids in the arcade that made it all worth it. Clad in her mint-green hoodie, peanut-butter cup wrapper skirt, mismatched leggings, and Twizzler holding up her sprinkle-coated hair – while sporting the same racing skills as she had wowed the players with a year ago, it was like she had never even left.
"Golly, I've missed this," she whispered down to Taffyta Muttonfudge as soon as her animation sequence ended. "Like really missed this. Hearing those players so happy to play and win…that's something you just don't get in Slaughter Race."
With the peppy toe-tappin' Sugar Rush theme song chiming from the racetrack loudspeakers, candy confetti falling from the sky, and the bursting cheers of all the citizens filling the air, everything just felt so nostalgic. Vanellope savoured it all: the familiar sights, sounds, and sweet smells of candy engulfing her.
Taffyta was standing next to her upon podium #2 holding a silver cup. "They missed you," she corrected while still maintaining her smile for the crowd despite the chattering of her teeth as another gust of chilly mountain air rushed past. "Shocking there haven't been fights for the console with you back on the slate."
Vanellope didn't answer back, instead taking the brief moment they had to gaze longingly at the scene around her – taking it all in and then closing her eyes to let old memories cascade through the sprinkles of her mind. Memories that included her very first race, and how she had felt to win that bespectacled girl her first golden cup. A year and a month had passed since her decision to stay in Slaughter Race following the unplugging fiasco. A decision that she had made within a single night in the Internet server had unknowingly caused her native game to suffer without her knowledge.
And to counter this, an unexpected single night in her native game, last night in fact, was all it took for her to revoke her own decision, along with the mountain of intense regret for making it in the first place. But Vanellope was done toying with emotions and hiding secrets. She planned to fix everything she had broken and she was going to do it right.
But now was not the time to be thinking of that. Right now, she needed to keep her head in the game, giving her 100% to the players and the races. After all, it didn't look like her duty as the avatar was going to be over anytime soon today.
Still, her mind couldn't help but ponder in between quarters.
"We're still good with the plan, right?" she whispered to Taffyta, quiet now so Candlehead, who was bouncing on her heels upon podium #3 would not hear – not that she could since the noise of the crowd was drowning out anything she said.
Taffyta nodded. "Yep. Arcade closes, round everyone up, tell 'em we're doing the triple R, we skip on over to the new track, and you do the rest," she said, sucking on a fresh strawberry lollipop.
Vanellope smiled gratefully, though still felt anxious inside. She did have a plan to settle this once and for all, but it came with a risk. One that she felt fairly certain was not actually there, but she wasn't taking any chances.
"You okay, Vanellope?" Taffyta asked, the smile on her face finally changing to a frown of concern.
The raven-haired girl sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Well…kind of," she mumbled, knowing she was failing to sound convincing. "Maybe it's just my nerves going a bit high on sugar dust."
Taffyta extracted her lollipop and sidestepped closer across her podium so she could whisper low. "If you're nervous about what you're going say to everyone tonight, I'll pass you a free sample of advice right now…don't be. All you're doing is apologizing and promising to never be a dummy again. Nothin' to worry 'bout."
Vanellope fidgeted with the handles on her trophy. "You make it sound so easy…"
"That's 'cuz it is," Taffyta countered.
"But what if they still got a bitta hate still sitting in the cookie jar?" Vanellope asked, tugging the drawstrings of her hoodie. "Every time I think about what I caused just by leaving you guys…it kinda stings."
Taffyta grew silent for just a moment. "We might still feel a bit betrayed here and there," she murmured with more sincerity this time. "But we did have a whole year to toss any of that confused hate out the window. Everyone's gonna be so, so thrilled to have you back. I mean, look how happy they are right now. Those players aren't fighting for the wheel and 'chewsing' you because you can rock it in a hoodie, y'know."
She gave her arm a sweep around at some of the other racers at the track, getting their karts ready for the next race. "Open your eyes, Van. You really think someone like Jubileena could still hold a grudge against you for this long? How 'bout Candlehead?"
They both glanced over at the girl in question; sweet and ditzy fire-loving Candlehead was thoroughly oblivious to her friends' hushed conversation as she hugged her bronze trophy to her chest like it was her new slush puppie, all the while waving cheerfully to the crowd despite the nippy mountain air.
"Let's put on some perspective for a moment, Vanellope. If someone like me can forgive you, what makes your think they can't?"
Vanellope grew quiet when she heard this. Her conscience didn't want to admit it, but Taffyta's words were calming her down a little. But she still felt the tiniest bit of dread over the possibility of her plan failing tonight.
So far, only Taffyta and Sour Bill knew about it. Everyone else was blissfully unaware that they weren't just enjoying an extended visit by their old friend and former leader. Not even Ralph knew the truth. Same with Felix and Calhoun. And Vanellope was feeling antsy about how tonight was going to unfold with the reveal of her change of plans. Clock was ticking, and every hour that passed, she was becoming more anxious.
What if Taffyta was wrong, and the other racers didn't want her back after she had basically abandoned both her game and duty to lead them for 13 months? What if they were still upset with her for leaving them without explanation or even saying goodbye? Yeah, they were elated to see her now after a year of being apart, but what were their feelings locked deep inside? And would it be too far a stretch to hope that they may consider accepting her as their leader again? She was willing to retake the role, partly because Taffyta still didn't want it, but also because it could possibly signify their trust and forgiveness. And being president again would allow her plenty of chances to make amends thoroughly.
Her thoughts turned over to Felix and Calhoun. How disappointed in her were they still? Felix, though always so kind and understanding, fully regarded the importance of their responsibilities to the players as a staple to his code, being such a long-standing arcade citizen and all. And Calhoun…well, no one wanted to be at the business end of her reprimanding finger. Being scolded by her was ten times worse than having a fully-charged ion blaster pointed at your forehead. Even those she cared for the most had no such immunity when it came to committing wrongdoings.
And finally, Ralph. Her very best friend Ralph. The one who was without question the most affected by her actions. He had been at the center of her decision, having been there in the Internet when it had happened, and was the sole witness of her taking her leave. So how was he going to handle this abrupt turn of events? Nowhere in Vanellope's mind was any doubt to be found that he would be overjoyed that they would be reunited…but after a whole year, she had accepted that he had been right and she had been wrong about her departure. Ralph loved her to bits, but he still had that temper and firmness inside him when it came to setting the record straight. An experienced arcade citizen just like Felix, even big goofy Ralph did not joke around when it came to their duties to the arcade.
These three people, characters from worlds outside of Sugar Rush, had done so much for her those seven years ago to tear down Turbo's reign. They had risked their lives to protect a little girl they had just met and help her reclaim the life that had been stripped away from her. And they had remained her first and firmest friends. The racers had subsequently made every effort to welcome her back into their circles again, transforming from bullies to friends. And practically everyone belonging to every other game in the arcade had befriended her in their own unique way. Even grouchy stuck-up Gene was her friend.
So how could her act of what was ultimately betrayal and total abandonment be simply brushed aside? Just thinking about this was making her stomach churn and she hoped with all her might that tonight would go at least a little smoothly…
Her rumination was interrupted by Taffyta's voice again. "Vanellope, it doesn't have to be complicated. Just do exactly what you did to me last night. Tell them you're sorry."
How simple it sounded when put like that, but Vanellope still wasn't sure if it was. "Right," was all she could mumble right now.
It was moments like these when she wished that the chill of Soft-Serve Speedway could freeze the clock to bring time to a halt so she could stop and think some more.
The familiar warning bell of a quarter-alert began to sound off, indicating that another round of races was just seconds away.
Sucking in a lungful of sweet mountain air, Vanellope shoved her worries aside. With a ZOOP of pixels, she glitched off the icy podium and passed her newest trophy over to Sour Bill for safe-keeping. To anyone else, he looked as bored and stoic as ever as he stood wearing a pair of oversized purple earmuffs and deadpan expression. But after having him around as her assistant for six years, Vanellope had learned to understand Bill's spherical body language. Right now, she knew he was silently smiling inside. "Ready for another race, Ms. Vanellope?" he droned in his usual flat voice.
"Ready to win another race, Bill!" she said with a bit of a forced grin before joining the scurry back to the waiting vehicles, briefly skidding on an icy soda patch. Extracting her magenta racing goggles from her pocket, Vanellope decided that she still had some time to figure out how it would all go down tonight.
