Part 2 – Trust Me

The evening sun had begun its gradual disappearing descent over the highway-adorned horizon of Los Aburridos, California, painting a hazy orange glow upon everything within the arcade's doorway vicinity.

With his patrons departed and his employees going about the routine preparations for closing up shop, Mr. Litwak switched off the neon OPEN sign, then turned on his heel to stroll – almost eagerly – to the Sugar Rush console.

Considering how many kids had played that sweet little racing game today, he could only imagine what awaited him inside the quarter tray.


"Thanks for lending me your spot today, Gloyd," Vanellope said.

Gloyd Orangeboar smiled his crooked-sort of smile. "Hey, no probs," he shrugged breezily, tossing his racing helmet into the driver seat. "It only made sense."

"Yeah, there's no way they would have been this happy if they saw you back in the game, but not as a playable avatar," Jubileena Bing-Bing grinned, giving Vanellope's shoulders a playful shake.

Even though she was filling in for Crumbelina, Vanellope had spent the whole day racing in Gloyd's playable spot on the avatar roster while Gloyd himself had volunteered to occupy Crumbelina's non-playable position.

As the last of the fanfare petered out, the racers gathered together at the Royal Raceway winner's circle, buzzing with excitement and swapping stories over the day's performance, with many of them corralling Vanellope with questions of how she liked being back in the game.

But Vanellope wasn't the only one in the spotlight: the newest racer on the roster, Minty Sakura, had made her official debut to the game and had proven herself to be just as popular with the players. Those serious gamers had recognized her from Japan's original 1996 Sugar Rush release and had subsequently flocked the controls to select her as their avatar. Right now, she was surrounded by a crowd of citizens and racers, all eager to meet her for the first time. Minty Zaki in particular seemed especially interested in her.

"So you're the Japanese exclusive racer we've heard so much about," she mused with fascination. "Around here, you're practically a folklore legend. It's a bummer you had to hover around as just code all this time."

Minty Sakura was smiling broadly as she removed her sparkling helmet, revealing her green chocolate-speckled hair. "I'm just pleased to be a part of the game at last," she simmered wistfully in a voice intoned with a sweet, almost musically Japanese accent.

She then bowed her head low to the green-apple racer. "A thousand thank yous again, Minty Zaki, for your kindness to let me race in your spot today," she said with all gratefulness.

Minty swung an arm roughly around her shoulders. "Ah, don't mention it. Anything for a fellow-racer," she grinned. "It's only fair you get the chance to make up for all those years lost."

"That was some sweet drifting you did in Gumball Gorge," Adorabeezle Winterpop marveled, shaking her cotton candy-lined head in wonder. "You gotta teach me how to do that!"

Suddenly, Swizzle Malarkey waved his arms at the squad. "Yo, cheese it, dudes!" he barked. "Litwak's sayin' something about our game!"


The burst of euphoria rushing through Litwak's chest nearly gave him a heart attack.

"Just take an eyeful at this, fellows!" he exclaimed as a couple of his striped-shirted employees watched him unload the quarter tray. All three had the same astonished stare at the sparkling collection of silver coins resting inside, like they had just dug up a chest of buried treasure. "In just one day too! It looks like the root of all our problems is well on its way to Timbuktu as we speak."

One of the employees ran a hand through his spiky black hair. "And all this because of a couple of avatars," he said in disbelief. "These kids will stick with anything they love."

"They love Vanellope, Connor," Litwak said as he handed the collection tray to the young man. "It hit them so hard when she stopped making appearances, but the ho-hum conundrum of it all was that I couldn't explain to them why. I tried asking anyone I could think of who could riddle out games better than me and had no dice."

"Better than you?" Connor quizzed, shifting the weight of the heavy tray to a better position on his way to the backroom. "You're the biggest gamer fanatic we know! I mean, when it comes to these retro arcade games, anyway. Stuff like Wizard Quest and Slaughter Race not so much…"

Litwak chuckled. "Heh, online doohickeys ain't my cup of tea. Too much violence and social wars for my liking. Besides, there's enough hairy happenin's with these here old-timers to keep my hands busy. Especially ol' Sugar Rush here."

He patted the pink console fondly. "Characters poppin' in and out for years at a time, new tracks croppin' up out of nowhere, and now the return of our star racer and one from the original game! Maybe it's these enigmas that keep the kids coming back for more."

His other employee, a young female with braided blond hair and large purple glasses, gazed at Sugar Rush's twinkling lights. "Well, I hope Vanellope stays for good this time," she remarked in a high-pitched voice. "Just look at how many kids left the arcade smiling today! With enough luck, she might bring back enough cash to make up for the last few months."

"At this rate, she just might," Litwak said to her. "Let's be very thankful she's decided to show her cute little face on the screen again! I had at least four kids promising that they'll be back to play tomorrow."

"Then it's a good thing you decided to reopen Sunday hours," the young woman replied.

In the backroom, Connor listened them and snickered as he stowed the quarters safely away. "No offence, Mr. Litwak," he called around the doorframe, "but I think all these bright lights and ping-pong chimes are starting to get to your head. You don't really think those candy people are alive, do ya?"

Turning his head towards the vibrantly-painted cabinet again, Mr. Litwak stroked his white mustache. "At my age, Con, I could never be too sure with this arcade," he said with a warm smile. "One thing I am sure is…these games are like a big goofy family to me. Stephanie, would you be a dear and dust down the screens? I'm gonna go sort out that mammoth shipment of party hats that came this morning."

The old man departed for the storage area, but Stephanie paused to give another glance over at the Sugar Rush cabinet. Her mind began to play back the memories of when she used to race as Vanellope. Even in the span of over seven years ago now, she could still recall her first win. The burst of youthful joy in her chest as she had activated a carefully-timed glitch to teleport across the finish line first. And the smile upon the sprinkled-haired driver as she danced about with the golden trophy and delivered a powerful fist-bump to the screen that Stephanie returned…it was as if both she and that excited girl knew how special that victory was.

Of course, she knew that Vanellope von Schweetz was neither alive nor real. Everyone knew that. But sometimes, knowing something and feeling something are two completely different things. In that one moment seven years ago, it had really felt to Stephanie that Vanellope was both alive and real. A real driver who had just won her best race ever.

That bit of childhood nostalgia still clinging to this game was what made her lean towards the Sugar Rush screen after making sure that her boss and co-worker weren't watching. "You did great today, guys," she whispered. "Keep up the good work. And…welcome home, Vanellope."

Maybe it was her imagination, but as Stephanie headed off to fetch a damp cloth, she swore she heard the sounds of tiny voices cheering.


"Did'ja hear that?!" Candlehead squealed, squeezing Taffyta in a very tight and joyous hug. "Mr. Litwak sounds so happy with us!"

"This is even better than when we got the update!" Snowanna Rainbeau added, pumping a victorious fist in the air.

Rancis Fluggerbutter was one of the few who managed to keep his cool while still looking pleased. "Looks like things are finally looking up," he said to Vanellope.

Walking down the sugar-dusted steps to the racetrack was the massive nine-foot blocky build of Wreck-It Ralph, followed closely by Fix-It Felix and Sergeant Calhoun, who had come from their respective games to visit the kids and attend tonight's Random Roster Race.

"Would it be an understatement to say you had a rousing success?" Ralph asked in a booming voice that caught everyone's attention.

In a flash, Vanellope glitched her way to the big man's shoulder before he had time to blink. "Hey Admiral Underpants!" she squeaked happily, playfully mussing up his unkempt hair with a speedy hand. "Did'ja see me way up on your rooftop?"

"I saw you and that goofy smile of yours," Ralph grinned up at her broadly. "You were smokin' out there today, kid! What was it like zippin' around on your old tracks again?"

"A-doy!" Vanellope laughed, tossing her hands into the air. "It was a blast being back in the old grind! I forgot how much I missed the sweet smell of sugar in the morning."

"I'd say the players share your feelings," Felix remarked brightly, stumbling a little backwards as Candlehead tackled him in a hug. "That lineup must have stretched all the way to Street Fighter!"

Calhoun bent down to scoop Jubileena and Adorabeezle up, one in each arm. "Happy faces on all those arcade-crunching juveniles aren't anything to sneeze at," she commented with a smile. "Heard what Litwak was saying when we flew in. You sugar cakes are looking at a bigger plate of success than a squad of gorillas at a banana convention."

The racers all giggled, except Candlehead.

"I don't see any gorillas," she said, peering all around in confusion.

Jubileena beamed. "We couldn't have done it without Vanellope."

"Yeah, she's the real reason Sugar Rush got so much attention today," Rancis said.

Vanellope sat herself comfortably on Ralph's shoulder. "Hey, come on. I can't take all the credit, guys," she insisted. "Our newest recruit Minty also had her share of fame!"

Felix turned to the pink-kimono racer and smiled. "Is that so, little lady?" he asked. "What did you think of your first day in the program?"

"Oh, Mr. Felix," Minty Sakura gushed, bringing her long-sleeved hands up to her cheeks in utter happiness, "it was everything I had ever dreamed of it to be and so much more. Thank you for granting me this chance."

"Think nothing of it," Felix said proudly. "In this family, no one is left behind! And might I add, that is a stunning new look you have working for you!"

Vanellope made an effort to smile, but couldn't help feeling a little jealous.

Due to a very strange string of circumstances that would take way too long to explain, Vanellope, Crumbelina, and Minty Sakura had been the only racers to not have received the newly improved render that had been a major part of Juerugemu's big software update. Everyone and everything else belonging to Sugar Rush had been outfitted with a fresh new look that gave them a sharper, glossier, enhanced appearance. It wasn't until last night that Crumbelina had finally received her new look too.

Yet somehow, just before the races started this morning, an hour or so following Felix's successful venture into the code vault to locate and properly integrate her code block in with the others, Minty Sakura got it. She took everyone by surprise when her whole body let off a bright flash of pink light and swirling sparkles identical to the display that had encapsulated Crumbelina last night, resulting in Minty's new upgrade and Vanellope as the last untouched citizen standing.

The sudden contact of a four-fingered hand brought her back to reality; Candlehead was feeling Vanellope's forehead as if inspecting for a fever.

"Still nothing?" she asked in a most sympathetic voice.

Vanellope forced a small smile. "Nothing to report," she told her, knowing that she wasn't the only one hoping for her missing update to pop in at any minute.

"No bounce in your pixels?" Jubileena suggested hopefully, who was listening in. "No spike in energy or anything that makes you feel like a new racer calibrated right off the data board?"

"Not a morsel to be found."

"Yeah, kid, how come you're still not updated in flashy colours like all your little friends here?" Ralph asked her.

Vanellope shrugged helpfully. "Dunno. Guess I had to actually be here for the update to link up to my code. Missed the bandwagon looks like it."

Given that Sugar Rush had remained the exact same during TobiKomi's ownership, Vanellope had never experienced an update before, so she didn't fully understand how the mechanics worked. But her best guess was that her absence during the update installation meant that these new features couldn't be applied to her simply because the software didn't recognize her. As with Minty, well, who knew what the case was with Minty. The girl had been a lost piece of code floating about in the depths of the program; it was a miracle that she had updated at all.

Ralph chuckled slightly. "Well, that's what you get for skippin' off to Slaughter Race," he teased. "You miss out on a lot of stuff when you goofing off at the Internet!"

How right he was, but he had no idea, she thought. She glanced at the large congregation who were still fawning over Minty Sakura's success.

"This girl totally rocks too," Swizzle was saying. "You shoulda' seen the way she ripped through those frozen molasses puddles on Soft-Serve like they were made of candy wrappers! She was all like …ka-whoosh! And then she was like…KA-POW!"

Watching this very loud boy re-enact her supposed performance today, Minty Sakura closed her eyes humbly. "Oh, it was not that impressive," she simmered, bringing her hands together and completely concealing them from view beneath her long sleeves. "I have spent 22 years in isolation to build up a passion for racing. It may have been simply instinct."

"Instinct," the bow-wearing Minty repeated, hand to her chin. "I like that."

"And I like that there are literally two Mintys in this game to pal around with now!" Swizzle snickered.

He was immediately cut short when his girlfriend's frowning face was suddenly an inch away from his own.

"But there will only be room for one Minty in that candy heart of yours…right Swizzle?" she hissed in a dangerously stern tone.

Swizzle leaned his head slightly back from her. "Ab-sitively posi-lutely," he gulped with a loyal salute.

Sour Bill rolled his eyes while Jubileena and Adorabeezle giggled uncontrollably. Minty Sakura tilted her head with interest. "Is this normal?" she murmured.

"Totally," Torvald informed her calmly. "Swizzle races for 50 miles…"

"…then Minty pulls his leash back…" Sticky chimed in.

"…and the whole game resets," they said in unison.

Candlehead, oblivious to all that, began to twirl spontaneously on the golden pavement, arms spread out wide as she were ready to take flight. She always did this when she entered her 'happy haze'.

"Y'know, it almost feels like we're a whole new game all over again!" she tittered. "And with all these players, Mr. Litwak will have to keep us forever and ever! All thanks to Vanellope!"

Felix's smile wavered. Calhoun's mouth flattened and her eyes narrowed. Ralph scratched the side of his head awkwardly.

"Um…but, kids," the wrecker said cautiously, "Vanellope's only stayin' with us for a little while. She has to go back to Slaughter Race, remember?"

Such magic words caused all the happiness to dampen and die away as the racers seemed to quietly recall that this surge of popularity and Vanellope herself were only temporary…after all, Vanellope was only planning on staying for as long as Crumbelina was out of commission. Then she would be due to return to the Internet. An awkward silence now hung in the air and Calhoun tapped her hip with a scowl on her hardened face.

Despite that familiar weight starting to sag on her shoulders again, Vanellope reacted quickly. Already, her plan was being put into action. She turned her head towards Taffyta and upon catching her gaze, the two racers exchanged a silent nod. Taffyta stood on the seat of her kart to face the crowd, holding the extendable mouthpiece of a chocolate megaphone feature she had asked Sour Bill to install into the Pink Lightning for presidential purposes.

"All right people, listen up," her amplified voice spoke out, prompting all faces to turn to her. "Now's not the time to get all mopey again. We still have a Random Roster to get on with first. You got 15 minutes to chill your molasses before we all head to Starburst Circuit."

The racers all exchanged looks of confusion. "Fifteen minutes?" Rancis parroted. "Don't we usually break for like three hours?"

"Yeah, what's the rush, Taffyta?" Jubileena asked. "We have all night. The arcade won't open till 10 tomorrow."

"And I can't kick butt tonight without chuggin' my energy cola first," Swizzle complained. "There's a mug in Tapper's with my name scribbled on it!"

"Well, you'll just have to try to live with the disappointment," Taffyta told him impatiently. "We're all here, it's there, we might as well stick around. Besides, it takes time just to drive up there, so consider this break generous."

"Also," she went on with a sudden snooty kind of flair, "since this track hasn't even been unlocked yet, I fear poor Vanellope might get lost trying to find it. So, I thought it best that we all travel together to guide her. Your break starts now, so rest up!"

Feeling only slightly annoyed by that last comment, Vanellope rolled her eyes, but let loose a smile of approval. Taffyta had done her job well.

Carl the marshmallow pit tech pointed his remote to the Jumbotron. The big screen fizzled as the scoreboard was replaced with an information board displaying the Random Roster Race location and a countdown. A breeze of collective confusion rustled among the spectators, for they too were baffled as to why the race was happening so soon. Nonetheless, the citizens got up and began filing out, starting their journey to the designated track.

Unsure of what to do with a mere 15 minutes for relaxation, the racers began to disperse, either to give their karts a quick maintenance check for the upcoming race or to simply lie down on the candied pavement to watch the cotton candy clouds.

"Think I should wear my shades?" Swizzle asked Minty. "They always make me look good on camera…not saying I don't without 'em, but still."

Minty raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "Swizzy, it's just the Random Roster, not the premier for your own movie."

"Not a bad idea," Swizzle remarked. "But this is Starburst Circuit we're talking 'bout, Mints! We're the stars of the show! It's only right that its founder gets his swag on."

"You are not the founder! This track came with the update, you moron."

"I found it for us, didn't I? Can't land a better definition for a founder than that."

Vanellope listened to the pair squabble. "What does Swizzle mean by he found it?" she asked Rancis. "What's so special about this new track anyway?"

"You'll see, Vanellope," Rancis told her with a soft smile. "The new developers went all out with this one. You'll like it."

He headed off to his kart, leaving Vanellope feeling slightly annoyed on account of now having more questions than answers. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder.

It was Gloyd. "Uh, Vanellope, is there time for me to get Crumbelina?" he asked in a low voice, his face taking on an orange tint.

Vanellope smiled and gave him a pat on the back. "Don't worry, Gloyd, she'll be looked after," she assured him. "Trust me."

Looking rather doubtful, the Halloween-themed racer shuffled back to his kart. Vanellope shook her head. "Hopeless dork," she sighed. She then turned to face Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun.

"Lil' Choco Butter raised a point, Van, honey," Calhoun said to her. "You don't usually start your qualifying race till at least 2100 hours."

"Yeah, kid, what's up?" Ralph asked.

Felix looked worried. "Is something wrong, sweetie?"

Hearing the grown-ups voicing their immediate concern for her made Vanellope feel immensely warm inside. She tucked her hands in her pockets. "No, nothing's wrong. It's just that…" – she paused to choose her words carefully – "…Taffyta and I sorta have a little plan goin' on. And it starts off by gathering everyone in the same spot at the same time under the impression that we're doin' the Random Roster. I just have a little important announcement I wanna make."

Ralph frowned. "Announcement? Then how come you didn't just say it right here?" he asked, sweeping his massive hands around him. "A few seconds ago, your whole game was here picking gum off their shoes."

"All but Crumbelina, Ralph" Felix reminded him.

"That was my original plan," Vanellope shrugged her shoulders, "but for some reason, Taffyta really wanted to do it up at one of the new tracks. She won't tell me why though. Maybe it's got a fancier stage or something."

Felix ran a finger along his golden hammer. "Well, would you like to tell us privately?"

His kind offer was tempting and Vanellope was strongly considering it, thinking it might unload some stress off her mind if she told her most trusted friends right now, when Taffyta strode up to them looking very pleased with herself. "Well, princess, did I meet your expectations?" she asked smugly.

"You did good, Taff," Vanellope told her. "Although I don't remember us agreeing on that junk about me getting lost."

"That was just a little lemon twist," the platinum-blonde sneered. "You know me, I like to give my speeches that special flavour for good taste."

"Flavour my pixels," Vanellope retorted, crossing her arms. "Just for that, I'll have to kick your fender with extra Sweet Seekers tonight. But seriously, that went great. Just give the word, and we're away!"

Taffyta nodded, then flounced off to get her kart ready.

Ralph watched her go. "Okay, seriously, kid," he said, now growing a little impatient. "What's this about? And how did Taffyta get in on this?"

"You'll see, Ralph," the girl assured him. "But first things first…"

She turned to the other two. "Felix and Calhoun, can I trouble you for an itty-bitty bite-sized favour?"

"Why, no trouble at all, Vanellope!" said Felix with an immediate smile. "Any flavour of favour! What is it that you need?"

"I need you to pick up Crumbelina and take her with you to Starburst Circuit. She can give you directions on how to get there. You know where her mansion is, right?"

Calhoun was already extracting her cruiser strapped to her back. "There's only one palace decked in fancy dress around these sweetscapes besides your fairytale castle," she said briskly, dropping it into hover position inches over the ground. "Leave it to us."

Vanellope gave two thumbs-up. "Sweet! Me, Ralph, and the rest will meet you there. And while you're at it, tell her to pick out something different to wear tonight. Something smart-casual. That ought to give a certain pumpkin-headed boy a mild sugar-crash," she said with a cheeky grin.

Felix chuckled as he hopped swiftly onto the cruiser to join his wife. "Consider it done. There's no job in the arcade that we can't handle!" he declared with a bold thrust of his arm, which he quickly had to swing around to grab Calhoun's armoured leg as they rose high into the air and soared away to Racers' Ave in a billowing flash.

Ralph and Vanellope watched them go until they were out of sight. "Man, those goofballs really know how to make an exit," the wrecker observed.

Once they were out of ear-shot past the bon-bon hills, Felix popped the question. "So what do you suppose Vanellope's plan is, Honeybunch?" he asked, the sugary landscapes nothing but a colourful blur beneath their feet.

"Hard to say, Shortstack," Calhoun answered, skillfully drifting over the golden-dipped edge of Great Caramel Lake. "There's no telling what goes on in that sprinkle-dusted head of our vanilla-flavoured delinquent after going AWOL. But…"

Felix sensed the rare hesitation in her voice. "But what?" he asked tentatively.

Calhoun had grown quiet in thought as they approached Racers' Ave. A long white road of sugary gingerbread pavement snaked the ground below, bordered by chocolate truffles. Distinct candy houses could now be seen dotted along the street, offering a fun guessing game for any visitor to work out who owned which property. A cute little cherry cottage, a glossy strawberry-glazed suite, a red velvet cupcake house, a blue popsicle tower dusted with powdered sugar, a shiny green apple condominium…and at the very end, a huge luxurious mansion of tiramisu and white marble cake.

"But I may have a hunch," she finally murmured, bringing the cruiser into a smooth descent. "Let's just hope I'm right."


"Something different to wear, huh? Man, you are one deviled egg, sister."

"Around here, we call 'em deviled dogs," Vanellope snickered. "Gloyd's the master when it comes to playing tricks, but every now and then, I can pull a fast snack-attack on him. Besides, he'd totally love it if Crumbelina shows up tonight in a frilly lil' dress, so we're doin' him a favour."

Ralph smiled, having quite missed Vanellope's shenanigans.

"Now are you gonna tell me what's your big plan here, kid?" he asked, becoming serious again. "'Cuz if you had to make all these over the top thinkin'-aheads, then it must be pretty darn important."

He knelt down to her level. "You know that if there's anything on your mind, you can tell me, right?"

Vanellope smiled gently and placed both her little palms upon one of Ralph's brick-sized finger. "It is darn important, Chumbo," she said, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "And I promise, you'll find out absolutely everything before the night is over. Everyone will. But I need to do this right, and make sure all the folks of Sugar Rush are there when it happens. Just trust me with this, okay?"

Though Ralph felt unsure, he did trust his best friend, so he complied. If she wanted everyone, then it must truly be ding-dang-dong darn important.

"Okay," he said with a confident nod.

Vanellope's smile grew with gratefulness, but she felt that twinge of nervousness kick her gut again. Ralph trusted her. But she wasn't entirely sure she could trust herself to pull this off.


You'd be surprised how short 15 minutes is. Before she knew it, it was time to go.

All the candy-faced citizens had long departed and the marshmallow techs had gone to prepare the track for the nightly race. So too had Wynnchel, Duncan, and the security staff, for they always liked to supervise the operations. The only ones left were Ralph, Sour Bill, and the racers.

The kids boarded their candy karts, which were not standing in the usual groups of five before the starting line, but rather in one single line. A long convoy of tasty vehicles stretched from the starting line all the way back to the lollipop fields that grew at the very end of the track.

Taffyta and her kart stood waiting to lead off at the front. The Pink Lightning growled low and powerful, shaking the ground beneath its hard candy wheels. Sour Bill was precariously sitting just behind Taffyta's head, clinging to the back of the driver's seat.

"This has never exactly been the safest place for me to ride, Ms. Taffyta," he groaned, his entire round body trembling, not from fear, but from the intense vibrations.

Taffyta checked her gauges and smirked, another lollipop rolling between her teeth. "Don't sweat yourself, Bill. If Vanellope's plan goes without a hitch, this'll be the last time you'll have to bum a ride offa my wheels. You'll be sittin' on her fudge-splattered spoiler by morning," she said over the noise.

"Imagine my relief," Sour Bill muttered.

"But y'know," Taffyta added in a lighter tone, extracting the lollipop and twirling it in her fingers, "if we're really bein' honest here…I think I'm gonna miss you. It's been nice to have an extra pair of assisting hands…or y'know, jelly beans."

Bill was quiet as his otherwise unchanging dull expression softened just a little. "Well…the same goes to you too, Ma'am," he finally said. "It's been a pleasure serving under you. Are you sure you want to hand over the reins?"

Taffyta glanced down at her steering wheel, then up at the track beyond the starting line. "I'm sure," she said, flicking her lollipop out of the kart as she reached for the megaphone mouthpiece. "But for now, just hang tight."

"I am," he mumbled, his jelly bean hands gripping the hard candy seat even more.

Vanellope didn't hear them. Not possible, since she was all the way at the end, 15 karts away. From way out here, she could see the road signs that had directed her to the custom track Ralph had whipped up for her. Amazing that they were still up after all this time.

Even while at the tail of this colourful convoy, she could still pick out details from the scene before her; all the racers had a unique way of preparing themselves before a race. Directly in front of her was Candlehead, playfully revving the Ice Screamer to make extra sparks shoot out of its exhaust candles much to her delight. Ahead of Candlehead, Swizzle was making his front wheels bounce a little off the pavement with fierce growls of his kart's souped-up engine. In front of him and Jubileena, Rancis adjusted his side mirror to give himself what Vanellope knew to be a tiny confidence boost. And Taffyta was probably sucking on her mandatory 'warm-up' lollipop right now.

And although Crumbelina was the only racer not present, Vanellope could still draw up a vivid image of her golden-jacketed friend sitting behind the wheel of the Tira Missile, warming up its state-of-the-art engine, letting a rumbling purr echo throughout the racecourse to deliberately intimidate the competition.

"You ready for one sweet ride, Ralphie?" she shouted back to her passenger, her loud voice muffled by the noise of revving engines.

Ralph was sitting atop her spoiler, just like he always did when they used to go driving together. "You bet, Lil' Boogerface!" he boomed in a voice that had no problem being heard. "Are you ready?"

"What d'ya think? I was born ready before I was ready!"

Then Taffyta's amplified voice holler over the din. "RACERS, LET'S BLOW THIS POPSICLE STAND!"

The cheers of all the children and Ralph's whoop of approval filled the sweet air, and Taffyta hit the gas, speeding off down the golden track. She was followed a split-second afterwards by Adorabeezle, then Gloyd, then Citrusella, and so on down the lineup like they were jet planes taking off down the runway one-by-one, each racer only a fraction of moments after the other to maintain their order. Only until Candlehead had peeled off did Vanellope slam the pedal. Her Gummi tires squealed and a burst of flavourful sparkles shot from the kart's Pixy Stix pipes, and she playfully chased after her friends.

"Whoa-ho!" Ralph gasped, clinging to the spoiler as they took off. "Forgot how much pick-up this jalopy packs!"

So did I, thought Vanellope to herself with a grin as they set off down the candy road. The cavalcade soon disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of sugar dust.


A/N: As a little wink to the die-hard WiR fans, the order of the racers when they drive away is the same order as their names were announced in the first movie.

I had to look up the location of Litwak's arcade. I found the answer in Ralph Breaks the Internet from the eBay cashier lady…but since she stated the location within the same line of dialogue that she messed up the arcade's name, I felt a little weary to trust it. Honestly, I'm hesitant to trust anything from RBtI, what with it screwing up both the big details and the little details, like stating that Ralph was a loner for 27 years. Did the sequel forget that big ol' 30th anniversary celebration in the last movie? Fireworks over the building? The numbers 3 and 0 placed together? But since we have nothing else, we're going with Los Aburridos (which humourously translates to 'Boring'). Hey, that movie couldn't get Litwak's first name right either, what else have we got?